//------------------------------// // Chapter 19: The Sage and his Secret War // Story: Turmoil Rising // by JFT //------------------------------// Luna gazed to the horizon as the airship was returning to Canterlot, her thoughts burdened with worry. What Twilight told her about what happened at Jagged Ridge yesterday was not a good sign in any way: Grogar’s return, Discord’s loss of power, Gusty’s betrayal… How’s her sister going to take the news? Of course, she also had to deliver the news to the active princess as well. She traipsed past the airship’s crew which was going about its business and went below deck where rescuees were. It was noisy; the Council of Friendship, all bandaged up and band-aided, was sitting at the table. Twilight, Spike, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Pinkie Pie were stuffing their faces with food and drink after being malnourished for a whole day, Rarity’s been desperately trying to comb her mangled up mane. The only two exceptions were the zebra, who sat on the floor by the wall, rummaging through her saddlebags, and the yellow pegasus who was coddling a patchworked rolly-poly in her embrace. “Despite what you’ve been through, you seem to be doing well, Twilight Sparkle,” the Mare of the Night complimented her. “Princess Luna, you’ve no idea the position we’ve been in,” the Princess of Friendship told her. “Were it not for Zecora we would’ve still been trapped in there.” “Were it not for your striped friend I wouldn’t even be here,” the dark mare responded, and pulled out a piece of paper with a few scribbled words and a symbol of the sun. “I’m thankful for your words of appreciation, but I acted to prevent further tribulation,” the shaman responded. “Though I must say, former Princess of the Night, how did you not arrive before us, even in flight?.” She sighed. “I would have… My sister received the message, and since she was tied down with things back at Canterlot, she sent me to organize the rescue mission immediately. But just when we were about to depart… a thunderstorm spread across the city and its surroundings.” “A thunderstorm?“ Rainbow Dash wondered as she stopped stuffing her face for a moment. “Didn’t you call Cloudsdale to disperse it?” “We did. But they couldn’t do it. The storm was simply too strong, untamed, almost as if it had a will of its own. And it remained active throughout the following night, so we had to remain moored. It was only in the morning that it finally dispersed on its own.” “Great,” Twilight rubbed her head. “Things just keep getting worse. Just for once, is it too much to ask to have some good news?” “Yes, about that,” Luna resumed, “it seems fate was on our side. Since we had to wait until the next morning to begin with the rescue mission, something came up in the mail. For you.” The Mare of the Night pulled out another piece of paper, handing it to Twilight. It was an envelope addressed to her and it was already opened, yet inside were multiple letters with short scribbled sentences and several photographs. After skimming through the letter, she gasped. “IT’S FROM HIM!” It got everybody’s attention. “From who, darling?” Rarity asked. “It’s from Starswirl!” she exclaimed. She cleared her throat and began reading it out loud. Dear Twilight, I must apologize beforehand for going silent for a long time. I had expected that my stroll through the Hayseed Swamps would be a little more than a hop, skip, and a jump, but it all expanded into an adventure that I had to experience in full. I never got to explore the uncharted wonders of southern Equestria in my lifetime, the lands before ponykind, so I decided to follow the trail of a great adventurer. Unfortunately, this untamed jungle contains forces that made it difficult for me to remain concealed, so I’ve compiled photos of all the sights I’ve seen on my journey and sent it directly to you while the forces ruling this place are distracted. I’ll be going on the final stretch for the temple soon, and as soon as I get out of this overgrown place, I can - “Wait… it just cuts off?” the fashionista asked. “Yeah, it just stops mid-sentence… and the envelope was opened… which means he must’ve sent it in a state of emergency! He must be in trouble!” “Well, where is he?” Applejack questioned. “I don’t know,” the princess replied, as she emptied the whole envelope, “there’s no indication as to where he’s gone. All he had are these pictures he seems to have taken during his trip.” She spread the photos over the table, they were showing all forms of jungle flora and fauna, and on some of them, stone structures were sticking out of the canopy. Twilight really couldn’t tell from pictures alone where he went. Rainbow Dash bent on the table to look at them. “You know… that actually looks like one of the temples from Daring Do’s adventures.” “Wait, what?” she turned to her. “Now that I think about it, all these structures… they look like the temples in Tenochtitlan Basin. Look, this one even shows the shape of Ahui-“ she stopped before finishing the sentence. She recognized this giant dark purple creature with a long maw and a hand at the end of his tail; the resident that had played as the protagonist’s foil for a long time. “Wait… maybe that’s why he sent them… as a call for help,” she speculated. “Maybe Ahuizotl caught him and sent it directly to you as a sign!” Everybody just stared at Twilight as she had bug eyes, then her horn began to glow and, in a flash, she disappeared. Pinkie Pie, who was still stuffing her face this whole time finally stopped and looked where the princess was just a moment ago. “Did she just… “poof”?” Applejack banged the wonderbolt on the back of her head. “Dash, what in tarnation were you thinkin’? You know full well how on edge Twilight’s been lately, and now you’ve scared her off to teleport!" “I agree,” Rarity joined. “You really didn’t need to give her the idea that the only pony who may know what’s going on is in danger.” “But Ahuizotl is a legitimate threat!” she tried to defend her actions. “Rainbow Dash, this is Starswirl the Bearded we’re talking about,” Luna addressed her. “A unicorn that singlehandedly kept the Everfree Forest from going rampant before the Tree of Harmony was planted. It’s unlikely that some dog-ape hybrid creature from a jungle can pose a threat to him.” “But but… Ahuizotl has a ferocious army of… cats.” There was a moment of awkward silence before the Mare of the Night resumed. “I rest my case. What we must do now, however, is to return to Canterlot immediately and report to Celestia everything that’s happened. After that, we will have to travel south and retrieve Twilight Sparkle. In the state that she left she’s not going to pose a threat to anypony.” “Well, emm, I have a suggestion,” Fluttershy finally spoke after being preoccupied with the former Lord of Chaos. “We can tell Starlight Glimmer and she can get us down there quickly.” “Yours would be, Fluttershy, a plan most sound, if a problem in it I had not found...” Zecora told her. FLASH! Twilight appeared out of the thin air. Before her stood the scenery she saw in the picture, exactly as it was. Suddenly, she felt a gravitational pull from the loss of ground under her hooves and fell on a tree, tangling herself in vines as she came down. “Okay, note to self: never use teleportation spell again to a place where you don’t know the exact lay of the land,” she moaned. “It was a hard lesson to learn, that’s for sure.” A voice spoke within an earshot of her. She struggled to turn in a tangle and she had to wiggle a bit before the vines finally turned around. And there he was: wearing an explorer’s outfit didn’t disguise the one noticeable trait for which this old unicorn was known. He was just sitting there, having a cup of tea. “Starswirl?!” she finally noticed him. “Hello, Twilight,” he greeted her, “you are the last pony I’d expect to show up here.” “Starswirl, are you okay?! I got your message and…” she struggled to talk as the vines turned a full circle, turning her gaze away from him. The old unicorn used his magic and teleported the princess out of the tangle, setting her down before him, before noticing the state she was in. “Are you okay, princess? You really shouldn’t be going about carelessly like that in such a bad state.” “I had to come Starswirl! I received your message and the way you left it gave an impression that you’re in danger and need help.” He took a sip of tea. “Oh… you received my compilation. That was my mistake.” “Your… mistake?” Twilight was confused. “I was on the exploration trail described in miss Daring Do’s books,” he explained. “I wanted to explore the lands beyond Equestria that haven’t been touched by ponykind yet even after all this time. Unfortunately, after the first week, I had to stop sending letters since I realized I was being trailed. I decided to compile the notes from the whole jungle experience until I finally got out. I managed to stay consistent for a few weeks, but this morning when I was writing down the letter to add to the compilation, I got jump scared by one of the unsavory characters that live here, and, in shock, I accidentally sent it to you.” Twilight paused for a moment. “Soooo… you’re not really in danger?” Suddenly she heard rustling in the nearby bushes and quickly turned; a small white kitten came walking out of it. “I think we’re both about to be,” Starswirl said as he poofed his teacup away, picked up the alicorn, and ran off. “Starswirl, what are you doing?” she spoke as she got levitated away. “It’s just a harmless little cat.” “Yes, one harmless little cat that’s bringing a whole gang with him.” And just as he said it, several other felines came out of the bushes and started to chase after them, the runt of the group lagging in the back. They ran after them, not stopping for a moment as the older pony dragged the younger one with him, zig-zagging around the jungle corners and ruin remnants. Sometime later, the grey unicorn finally hid behind a nearby wall, giving his pursuers a slip as they ran past him completely unaware. “Emmm…. Starswirl?” the alicorn tried to get his attention as she was still being levitated while he was peeking around the corner. “Sorry Twilight if I made you feel worried over my mishap,” he apologized, “I can see you came at your own inconvenience. So, if it’s okay, I’ll send you back and I can send you a proper letter in a few days.” “WAAAIT!” she screamed for him to stop as he began charging his spell, startling him, and immediately shoving a hoof in her mouth after realizing they could be found. After a few moments passed she finally resumed. “Starswirl, please we need your help. I’ve been looking for you because some mysterious dark force has awakened and nopony, not even Princesses Celestia and Luna know what it is, and you’re the only one left who could shed some light on it.” He finally put her down. “Well, I’ll try as best as I can to assist, Twilight. What exactly has happened?” She inhaled. “Chrysalis somehow escaped her petrified prison and managed to discover where the legendary Alicorn Amulet had been hidden and then used it to summon some dark sinister force in the Everfree Forest. We don’t know what it is.” The elder unicorn stroke his beard. ”Hmmm… that is very unfortunate, but what you’re describing is very vague. And what exactly is “the Alicorn Amulet”? Saying it’s “legendary” doesn’t really jog my memory.” Twilight quickly conjured an image of the amulet with her magic. “This is the Alicorn Amulet. A long time ago Trixie found it and used it in a duel against me, it granted her immense magical power and after we tricked her into giving it up, Zecora hid it away, but we speculated that somepony else also knew about it.” She waited for a response. She noticed the legendary wizard squinting and approaching the image as closely as possible. Did the image finally jog his memory? “Tell me,” he finally asked, “when your friend donned this “Alicorn Amulet”, was she perhaps overcome with hatred?” “Yes, actually. Do you remember it now?” He didn’t respond to the question, instead, the expression on his face turned from searching to concerned. “Twilight, we need to get back to Canterlot right now. From what you’ve described, it’s-“ Unknown to the two ponies, a figure loomed over them on top of the broken wall, holding a giant straw bowl the size of a house and he soon brought it down, trapping the two inside. Ahuizotl laughed as he’s managed to capture the invasive pony who trespassed into his jungle. Soon the feline members of his gang joined him, licking their lips. As the cats surrounded the bowl, their leader lifted it for them to pounce on their prey… and there was nothing. The two ponies were gone. From the distance, a loud howl of anger was all that could be heard by the other residents of Tenochtitlan Basin. The airship in the meantime already returned to Canterlot, and the passengers, accompanied by the shaman, quickly returned to the castle to inform Celestia about what had transpired from yesterday, from both the Council of Friendship and The Mare of the Night. “…and that’s what happened,” Luna finished telling her older sibling. “Yeah, and if the idiot here hadn’t opened her lawn chewer, Twilight wouldn’t have gone missing,” Applejack glared at the blue pegasus. “Sorry,” she apologized. “And with Starlight Glimmer away at the Crystal Empire we can’t get to her quickly,” Fluttershy explained, while Discord hung around her neck. “We need to go and depart for Tenochtitlan Basin,” Spike urged. “Who knows what will happen to Twilight the longer we wait.” The former princess sat in the chair she always had for a long time, rubbing her head trying to process things. “Just when I thought things couldn’t possibly get worse. One thing is certain: Twilight may have been able to keep this whole thing under the rug for as long as she did, but at this point, I fear we’ve no choice but to-“ FLASH! Everybody’s attention in the room was grabbed by the sudden burst of magic as it came from the balcony outside. Soon two forms emerged, one older, now wearing a blue hat and cloak, with a purpose in his stride, and the other younger, acting a bit woozy from fatigue. “Wow,” Pinkie said, “talk about an entrance.” “Twilight!” the little dragon yelled as he jumped to her side. “Are you okay?! Did Ahuizotl hurt you?!” She smiled. “I’m fine, Spike. Though were it not for Starswirl it would’ve come to that.” “Everypony, I’ll skip the pleasantries and get straight to the point, so gather around,” the Bearded one announced. “Twilight has given me some vague details on what happened, and I may have an idea on what you may be dealing with, but I need some proof of this “sinister force” that she said had awakened in the Everfree Forest.” They all looked at the zebra, knowing she had it in her possession. Zecora walked over to their side of the table, then reached into her saddlebags and pulled out the jar she’d been entrusted with, placing it on the top. The old wizard squinted at the strange black mass within, spotting a single spark of light inside it, and then flinched as the black mass came to life and tried to break through the glass. “That was the parting gift that thing in the Forest left us,” Rarity explained. “That tiny speck inside is all that’s left from the Spirit of the Tree of Harmony after it ate it.” “No…” Starswirl the Bearded grimaced. This was a side of him they’ve not seen before; the look of horror on his face was something else completely. How serious was the situation when even the world’s most powerful unicorn sorcerer showed such great concern? “Starswirl, do you know what this is?” the Princess of Friendship asked. “I do…” he responded, “I can tell you more… but not here. We need to go to my old archives.” His gaze turned to the two sisters. “Celestia, Luna, this is a matter that concerns you two especially.” The two alicorn mares looked at each other in confusion. FLASH! They all found themselves in the place where it all started, the Castle of the Two Sisters, where the Treehouse of Harmony stood, now dull and lifeless. “It’s a good thing the students didn’t come along this time around,” fashionista lamented. “They wouldn’t be able to handle returning to this place after the last time.” Their destination wasn’t the Tree itself, but rather the structure behind it. Long ago in the distant past, this castle served as the home of the younger alicorn princesses, as well as their mentor. Whatever answers the old wizard could provide, they had to come here and visit his old study. They were all about depart, but the key participant was missing, as he stood into the distance, looking at the cloud of darkness rising from the forest. “Have things truly gone this bad already that its power is beginning to leak?” “Do not burden yourself, old sage, for the darkness is still in its cage,” Zecora answered as she came to Starswirl’s side. “All I did was make it appear visible on-stage.” He looked at her. “You… made it visible to the naked eye? But you’re not a unicorn. What kind of magic did you use to do that?” Before the shaman could answer, a prod came from nearby blue pegasus. “You two can talk about magic when we’re done. We’re in a hurry, remember?” “Right,” the old stallion rushed ahead of the group and led forward, with the zebra pacing behind them all. They climbed the stairs of the old ruins to where Starswirl’s old study was. It seemed like the place remained untouched for hundreds of years with the gust of dust that came rushing out as they opened the door. The room was densely covered with spiderwebs and the level of dust build-up nearly reached the end of their hooves. The wizard entered and traipsed to the far end of the room where the shelves with books stood. Twilight imagined that must’ve been where all the knowledge they required is, it’s been just sitting there in the open for so long and they never even thought about looking for it. However, the old unicorn then used his magic, blowing away the shelves along with the wall, lifting a giant curtain of dust in the process. Everybody coughed, but by the time it settled down, they understood why he just did that. Behind the shelves, behind the stone wall, was actually a giant door, sealed with runes and a single orifice in the middle of it. Starswirl the Bearded approached and inserted his horn into it. With a magical glow, the runes on the door lit up and the gateway opened. He turned to his company. “Everypony, stay close and watch your step.” He turned to the purple alicorn. “Twilight, please walk with me and explain in full what happened in my absence.” She joined him and they descended into the dark stairway, followed by everybody else. As they worked their way down deeper into the underground passage to which only the elder was privy, he lit the way with his horn, while Twilight explained how all that’s transpired to have led them to this point; from her dreams to meeting Queen Chrysalis reborn and the Manifestation of Hatred, all the way to Grogar’s return and Discord’s loss of power. “I still can’t believe all of this began because of a dream,” the grey unicorn said. “Princess Luna made sure to dispel it when she finally came back,“ Twilight explained to him. “But as to what was the source, who caused them, she couldn’t tell. Only Grogar seemed to have a grasp on who’s responsible but we got cut off before he could-“ “We’re here,” he announced. The stairway ended and they arrived in a great dark hall. The light on the wizard’s horn rose and spread in several directions, lighting up torches all around. The light illuminated the surroundings, revealing giant archives, shelves upon shelves stacked with papers and books. The purple alicorn was agape at the maw, drooling slightly. “Starswirl… I can’t believe it…” Celestia said in amazement. “All of this... you built it right under our noses?” “This is a place where I stored critical information from across all of my lifetime, there wasn’t a place up top that could contain all of this while keeping it safe, but primarily, I built it to harbor the knowledge that should have remained forgotten by ponykind… for their own sake,” he told them as he led them further in. “But what kind of knowledge would be so horrible that nopony should’ve remembered?” Luna asked. He stopped, as did the rest, then turned around. “Everypony, step away from the sigil.” They all looked to the ground. A sigil was engraved on the stone floor, resembling fire and darkness intertwining. As they all moved away from it, the elder unicorn’s horn lit up again and in turn, so did the sigil. There was a sound of grinding stone as frames of fire and darkness began to move, and as they did, the light started to shine. It took a moment for their eyes to adjust, but by the time the sigil split, they could see what was on the floor. Stained glass was illuminated by a magical light on the other end. “Tell me, Twilight, does this look familiar?” Starswirl asked her. The stained glass depicted a purple dark alicorn, his mane was bright, resembling fire of the sun, wearing a golden armor with a bejeweled crown attached to it. He was firing a shot of energy from his horn, directed at… Twilight paused, her eyes being wide open. How couldn’t they be? The edge of the glass portrayed a mass of shadow… with six faces. The nightmares may have been gone now, but the images were burned into her memory. “That’s… Starswirl what is that thing?” she asked, desperate to finally know the truth, as was everybody else present. The look on the elder unicorn became dark, as he seemed to have suddenly lost that youthful spark he had not long ago, uttering a single word. “Turmoil.” There was a sudden chilly breeze that caused everybody to shiver, even though there was no way for the draft to come in. “And… what exactly is Turmoil?” Spike asked the obvious question. Starswirl took a deep breath. “It is darkness made manifest. Nopony knows where it came from, but this is where it appeared more than a thousand years ago, long after ponies settled Equestria… before this castle was known for belonging to “the Two Sisters”. “ “So, this evil truly is older than us?” Luna wondered. “Not quite,” the former teacher replied. “You two were already born by that time, you were just too young to be aware of the world around you, so naturally you wouldn’t have remembered it.” “So, what exactly made Turmoil so horrible?” Rainbow Dash asked. “Doesn’t seem to be particularly threatening.” “You’re looking at the stained glass, miss Dash,” he addressed her, “but to stand in its presence, that very certainty would be overcome by doubt, it would consume your hopes and disinter despair, it would inhale your courage and breathe out fear, and all the peace and love you’ve ever known would be replaced by anger and hatred. That is what it meant to stand before Turmoil… only those of truly strong will could face up to it. And even then… our magic could not harm it.” “But how was it stopped? Who did it?” Rarity asked. The elder sighed, his eyes wandering back to the stained glass. “You’re looking at him.” Everybody looked at the alicorn, but Pinkie Pie voiced what they were all thinking. “So who’s this anyway?” “That, miss Pie, would be the first… and the last alicorn prince… or rather, king of Equestria. His name was King Titan.” His head turned to the Mares of the Sun and Night. “Your father.” “WHAT?!” the two alicorns shouted in unison, their “royal voices” completely overshadowing the exclamation of the Council which had about the same reaction. “We… we had a father?!” Celestia questioned. “What? Did you think you were born from a cabbage patch or something?” the wizard frowned. “Surely you’re old enough to know where fillies and colts come from.” “Well, yes, but still… why haven’t we heard about this from anypony before?! Not even history books mention him!” the younger sibling joined in. “And neither is the darkness he fought. And that’s because…” he paused, preparing himself for a reaction to what he was about to say. “Because I made sure that part of history remained forgotten by the world.” “WHAT?!” this time the shout came from everybody. “Starswirl, what were you thinking?!” Twilight yelled at him. “Why for the love of Celestia would you purposely remove any knowledge of some great evil and the one who saved us from it?!” The bearded unicorn inhaled, his horn lighting up once more. “I will show you… so you can understand the gravity of my decision.” And bright light enveloped the entire room. They found themselves in the courtyard of the castle again, but the treehouse was no longer there and the castle was no longer just a ruin, it looked like an impregnable fortress. Ponies were pouring in through the front gate in panic while the soldiers barely held the line, and they immediately understood why. Darkness covered the sky across the distant horizons and a giant pillar of shadow connected it to the earth itself, and that same pillar was on the move, quickly approaching them. Suddenly, a purple face emerged from the darkness, letting out a maniacal cackle, and soon after five other faces appeared; the first breathed cold icy winds, freezing everything it touched, the second rained down lightning, leaving tracks of destruction in its wake, the third breathed fire that scorched the land, the fourth vomited water that drowned everything that wasn’t on its height, and only the fifth did nothing, its green eyes slithering across the dark mass of shadow. It was fast approaching and nothing could stop it; soldiers who tried to fight it head-on were quickly consumed by the dark body. This was it. This is precisely what Twilight had experienced in her dream… but Starswirl experienced it firsthand. Then a flash happened behind them and they all looked back, except for the conjurer of the vision; he already knew what would follow. As the flash dissipated, two figures emerged: the unicorn wizard, old and grey as he’s always looked, but he seemed to have been roughed up by something, and the alicorn king, standing tall and unshaken. He opened his wings and a burst of radiant light followed, awing all who were present. He took flight and with great speed dashed in the direction of the encroaching darkness. Turmoil took notice of the lone approaching spark of light. Its face extended forward, its gaping maw opening wide, and just then when the alicorn’s body enveloped itself in the light magic, its mouth shut closed on him. A gasp followed by what they just saw happening, but the watchers weren’t expecting what came next. A single ray of light broke out from what was considered the amalgamation’s head, followed by another, and more followed. The six faces writhed and screamed as the light began to tear them apart until an explosion erupted that blinded everything, sending a shockwave that knocked down nearly everything in sight, but not before three visible magical trails were seen passing across the sky into the far distance. When the dust settled, the darkness was gone, and the light began to shine through parting clouds. Cries of joy and cheers began to rise among the crowd. It was over. The darkness had been vanquished. “And this is how he met his end…” Starswirl answered in a forlorn tone. “Sacrificing himself, to protect his kingdom and his people.” It took some time before the rest finally got notice of him, Twilight addressing him. “But you’ve won! If Turmoil was defeated, why would you purposely make sure nobody remembered him?” “He wasn’t,” he replied, with the scene around them fading away, and another reappeared. “Some time passed, and things settled down, damage done had been fixed and everypony went on to live their lives, celebrating their king’s heroic act. But I knew something was wrong; I could see some form of agitation on other resident’s faces, gossip of sinister whispers in the dark, some of them even starting to succumb to their own inner unrest. And then one night, as I was drowsing away at my desk in my study… I heard a whisper; it was dark and sinister, probably what the rest of the populace was talking about. So, in the dead of night, I decided to follow its beckoning, and it led me to where the shadow met its end. And what I saw was the truth.” He revealed an image of him standing on the edge of the crater, at the bottom of it, a familiar twisted tree stood, sinister green substance oozing out of it profusely, creating a pond underneath it. “Turmoil’s essence was imbued into a twisted tree. But my attention was elsewhere. It came from a source that lay not far. I recognized it: one of the radiant red gemstones that was once embedded in King Titan’s crown. However, there was something else as well close by, a tiny spark of light, it was calling me out, it begged me for help, yet I paid no attention to it, as its voice was so small and frail, while that of the red gemstone was loud, asking me to pick it up. Yet when I did, I suddenly felt a great burden inflicted upon me; the gemstone, it radiated such immeasurable amount of hatred, its spiteful words were like poison; I had to let it go before I lost all my senses to it. And that’s when I noticed the flora around coming to life; Turmoil’s tree began to exude its influence all around, forcing it to do its bidding. I had no choice but to take the gemstone and the spark of light with me. However, there was one more thing I had to do first.” The elder scooped the red gemstone into his hat so he wouldn’t come in contact with it, before turning his attention towards the tree, and then the unicorn’s horn lit up. Suddenly, huge mounds of the earth arose from the sides and filled out the crater, completely flattening the entire area, before he ran off. He resumed. “I returned to the castle after I managed to bury what was left of Turmoil, but its influence on the populace was already clear. As long as everypony knew about Turmoil’s existence, their thoughts would be burdened, meaning they could succumb to his influence. I realized I had to put an end to it, but… that also meant I had to erase the memory of alicorn king as well. And so, with a heavy heart, I cast a powerful spell on the surviving populace that was present that day when the hour of our doom came, wiping their memory.” “That’s why nopony remembers?” Twilight questioned him in an angry tone. “You wiped everypony’s memory out of fear?” “Twilight Sparkle, look at me!” He gave her a stern look. “Knowing what you know now, what you experienced, were you in my position; look me in the eyes and tell me with absolute honesty if you would have done it differently?” She was about to speak, but after she thought for a moment, she realized he was right. To be in presence of a force that could have one’s darkest feelings bubble up to the surface just by its mere existence, and knowing her own magic couldn’t harm it, after having to live through it for several nights, wanting to forget it… she would’ve likely done the same. “It wasn’t a decision I made lightly,” Starswirl sighed. “But it was the only way to truly free Equestria from Turmoil’s grasp. However, the mysteries of a malicious gem and the whispering spark had yet to be uncovered. I speculated that a fragment of Turmoil’s power was imbued into the remnant of King Titan’s crown jewels when he destroyed it, and I quickly came to the realization that the gemstone was simply too dangerous to be left as it was. I decided to create insolation around it, so its influence could only be limited to when one actively tried to draw power from it. After all, metals and rocks have unique properties when interacting with magic.” “The Alicorn Amulet?” Rarity asked. “You’re the one responsible for making it?” “Yes…” he replied. “Although I never gave it that name, nor did I forge an equine head and wings on it. My guess is somepony else did it to “fancy it up”.” “But what about Turmoil? Surely that couldn’t have been the end of it?” questioned Applejack. “Of course not,” the wizard answered. “Though for a long time I believed it was the case. I simply resumed with my life’s work, exploring magic and gazing into other realities with the spells I created, all the while being a teacher to the growing princesses. That however changed one night, when a certain somepony was so frustrated she wanted to prove she can be just as capable as her sister.” His gaze moved to the Mare of the Night, and she knew precisely what he was talking about, so did her elder sibling. “Oh yeah, that little misadventure. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to forget it.” “But what exactly changed, Starswirl? What made you think differently?” Mare of the Sun wanted to know. “What you told me, Celestia: “A voice spoke to her.” A voice that your sister heard, but you couldn’t,” he explained. “That is what stood out. I have bore witness to many different worlds, which is what made me rethink my perspective on the situation. Many of those worlds I visited before contained evils that have devoured the light of their own world, that’s when I asked myself “What of ours? Where is the darkness that seeks to devour the light of OUR world?”. Perhaps the spark of light that called out to me was not some random thing, but rather the very light that was devoured by Turmoil, the evil of OUR world, and with its destruction, it was set free again, frail as it was. But it made me think: if the dark forces from another realm could draw in Luna, what is exactly stopping the darkness of our realm from trying to take her as well, BOTH of you in fact? And so, the next night after that event, I decided to venture out into the forest once more to try and confirm my suspicions, but I did not get far this time around. The forest… had come to life.” “Come to life?” Fluttershy questioned. “The forest seemed to have gained a mind of its own. Even with the Turmoil’s husk buried six hooves under, its influence over the flora hasn’t ceased. Every day it passed, the forest kept growing, and after the events of the night before, I came to realize that it was coming to claim its prize. I still wasn’t sure why, but after that, I had no choice but to move both sisters away from their old home, somewhere where the sinister clutches couldn’t reach them so easily. And thus, I had them built a new home… Canterlot. During the day I was the teacher of the two royal sisters, while at night I returned to the old castle to fight my own secret war against what we know today as the Everfree Forest.” “But you couldn’t have kept doing it forever!” Mare of the Sun pointed out. “Surely there had to be a permanent solution to this?” “You already know what the answer to that question is, Celestia.” There was a moment of silence, nobody was sure immediately what the old sage was referring to, but the zebra voiced her thoughts. “To fight the darkness which threatened the land, a force of light was made with might, so it could withstand.” The old unicorn smirked. “Well put, miss zebra. While I was doing all of that, I tried to unravel the mystery of the spark of light I found so long ago. It was frail, and I had no idea how to help it. That is until I imbued it with my own magic, and to my surprise… the spark actually grew, even so slightly, its voice started to become clearer. And I wondered whether or not the very light that Turmoil once consumed, could be used to keep it at bay. But that proved to be a difficult task, for just as the manifestation of darkness fed on one’s strife to grow stronger, the spark of light needed nourishment of its own… it required virtue. My own magic wouldn’t be enough for the task and I was simply too preoccupied to set out and look for somepony of high moral values. And as result I tried working around the problem; if I couldn’t find a way to pacify the darkness, maybe I could create a spell that would TURN IT instead.” “Turn it? You mean as in “change it into the opposite of what it is”?” Spike questioned his choice of words. “Yes, that would be the case, Spike. But that too proved to be a difficult thing to accomplish. There exist numerous mind-altering spells in the world to influence one’s behavior, but to change one’s nature, one’s DESTINY… that was something even beyond my own capabilities… the one work that I started, yet could never finish.” The Council looked at one another and lastly at the Princess of Friendship. Was he talking about what they thought he was? He resumed. “But my luck would soon change. As I was busying myself one day in the garden, a group of unlikely individuals turned up. These legendary heroes from across Equestria I’ve only heard rumors about came to me, with a request from an average unicorn that brought them together. They asked for my assistance, and I of course obliged. After our task was finished, I came to realize I found what I was looking for. Each of these ponies embodied a virtue of which they were a paragon: healing, bravery, beauty, strength, hope; with these, the spark of light could be fed. So, we met in a cave underneath the old castle and channeled our energy into the spark of light. When the ritual was complete, the spark of light turned into a single seed, which we then planted in that very spot. As soon as that happened, it sent a magical shockwave across the area. I wasn’t sure whether or not what we did worked, until some time later as I noticed that the flora stopped spreading and it became less aggressive. The Everfree Forest had been finally pacified.” “That still doesn’t explain how the Alicorn Amulet ended up in some trinket shop where Trixie got it,” Rarity was curious. “That is, unfortunately, the result of my own carelessness,” Starswirl lamented. “When I discovered that Stygian stole our artifacts for some purpose, I went to confront him while I was still hauling my traveling wagon around. And in my zealous pursuit and bad weather, it tipped over, and... that was when I lost track of it. I’m not sure how many times it changed hooves and how many innocent lives it ruined, but at that point, it was already beyond my ability to intervene.” The Bearded one’s horn stopped glowing and they found themselves back in the forgotten archives, where he finally exhaled. “And now you all know the truth. I returned back to the world after being stuck in Limbo with the rest of the Pillars, and despite the circumstances at the time, I was delighted to know that the Tree that was planted to suppress the darkness I had to battle for so long, withstood the test of time…” “Yeah, until King Sombra somehow managed to return and destroyed the Tree along with the Elements,” Pinkie Pie jumped into his word. A loud gasp followed from the yellow Pegasus after hearing what she said, not for herself, but the small form that soon after jumped off her and then skittered away, back up the stairs. “Discord wait! She didn’t mean it like that!” Fluttershy called, as she tried to run after him, only to be stopped by Twilight, levitating her off the ground. “Fluttershy… just let him be alone for a moment,” the princess told her. “But…!” They all looked displeased, still remembering what happened, especially knowing who was responsible for the umbrum king’s return in the first place. But they weren’t spiteful enough to step all over the draconequus after what he’s just been through. Letting him be alone is the only way they could handle this for now. “Okay…” she said in a disappointed tone as she got put back on the solid ground. “Yes…” Starswirl resumed. “What happened was… disastrous, to say the least. When I felt the Tree die I feared the worst. The only thing that was stopping the Everfree Forest from expanding was now gone and to make matters worse, your town was now standing on its very borders. Even if we pushed it back it would keep encroaching. I did not expect however that six of you would’ve ended up fixing the problem on your own.” “Yes, the Everfree Forest has been pacified once again, but that didn’t stop Turmoil from returning, Starswirl!” Twilight said in a frustrated tone. “Sadly. I had believed that simply burying away its remains where they couldn't be reached would've been enough, but now it appeared that simply wasn't the case in the end. Much like the Crystal Heart of the Crystal Empire is keeping the northern storms from spreading southwards from the Frozen North, so too did the Tree of Harmony and its Elements, the Council of Friendship’s own power, was always only keeping the Everfree Forest in check… but not the one who controlled it.” “And now we’ve met one of its faces, the one that breathed ice." Rainbow Dash shivered at the thought of the experience he had in the encounter. "The thing Chrysalis called Manifestation of Hatred certainly isn’t just a tree, old-timer.” The wizard looked at the wonderbolt with a frown. “That remark aside, I fear my original theory has been wrong based on what I’ve been told now. The “Alicorn Amulet” may not have contained just a remnant of Turmoil’s power… but actually one of its aspects, one that the Queen of Changelings has now revived.” “One? Ya mean to tell us there’s more than just the one that breathes ice and snow?” Applejack inquired. “You’ve all seen their faces, miss Apple. There are four others still out there, who together make up Turmoil as a whole. My guess is, much like Hatred, those too have been locked away in one of the first king’s crown gemstones.” “Isn’t there a way to stop this altogether?” Rarity questioned. “Other than preventing the other aspects from coming together? I fear not, miss Rarity. Which makes this situation all the more urgent. It seems Queen Chrysalis, as well as Grogar, have both been made pawns to Turmoil’s desires. We cannot allow them to find and gather all the other missing pieces, because if that comes to pass, should all of the Turmoil’s aspects reunite once again with his husk…” Starswirl couldn't finish his sentence, as Twilight’s low voice of realization interrupted him. “He’ll return…” That was it. That was about the only logical conclusion they could’ve come to after what they’ve all experienced and heard now. “So… now that we know what we’re dealing with, what’s our plan of action?” the country pony awaited a response.