Oblivion walked up to Twilights home and his hoof rapped against the door, loud enough to be easily heard but not loud enough to startle. His ears flicked as he listened and he heard hooves scrambling across the wooden floor. The door flew open and he saw Twilight looking intently at him as Sasa yowled in surprise. Her purple eyes scanned him and she sagged at the realization that it was only him and Sasa. He was not carrying anything in his magic nor was a case sitting in front of her.
“Hello, Twilight.” He said to her and she managed a smile in reply to him.
“Hi.” She mumbled. “Come on in.”
Sasa purred and he waited as the she-cat walked into the room ahead of him. Twilight smiled thinly at him as he walked past her into the front room of the Library. Sasa looked around the room and he was fairly sure she was looking for Spike. Whether it was to torment him or to love on him he was not sure. He reached the table in the middle of the room and stood next to it, he looked back and motioned for Twilight to join him. She summoned two pillows and set one down for each of them.
“Anything?” She whispered to him as she sat down across from him.
“If you are asking for the Elements themselves then I am sorry to disappoint you. I was certain they would not bring the Elements with them when they came to try to take this one.” He said to her as he put his hoof over the medallion around his neck.
She looked up at the ceiling for a moment and he heard a whisper of a breath come from her as she brought her eyes back to him. “How can I help?”
“Do you wish to know what has been done so far?”
She gave a thin frown and looked closely at him. “I hate to admit it but…” She paused as she leaned back on the pillow under her. “I don’t really care. I just need to do something to help.”
“Very well.” He said to her. “I am going to be using one of Starswirl's spells to help us track down the case the Elements are held inside. I will be modifying it slightly to accomplish something more than its original design.”
She looked thoughtful for several seconds before she nodded and looked certain. “I know what spell you’re talking about. But I didn’t think it could be modified at all, if it’s the one I am thinking of.”
“I am altering the part of it that controls the distance it can track from.”
“I didn’t think that could be done. That spell is pretty solid on its own. The downside to it is that you need to have a way to guide it and a direction to search from.”
“Not exactly.” He replied to her.
She looked at him and her head tilted slightly to the right. “Explain.”
“If you power the spell enough it should be able to bypass the limit that it was originally designed with.” He explained to her and she looked back at him and motioned for him to go on. “If I can power the spell enough then the limit that was put on it when the spell was made can be bypassed.”
“That’s a good idea actually.” She said to him. “I never thought about how much power the spell would need. Originally it was designed to find things in a rather small area. Like if I was searching for something I would use that spell to search an area the size of an orchard maybe. It might be able to search in an area that size but it was not designed for it.”
“I agree you are most likely right about that limit. But I think if I overpower the spell I should be able to enhance its search area.” He reasoned back to her.
“Okay, I get what you mean.” She agreed with a nod. “Do you have an idea of where it might be though?”
“I do.” He said to her and she nodded as a small smile came to her mouth. “I will also be adding in a second spell to the first.”
“What spell?”
“It’s a spell that was made to show a location. By using it together with Starswirls overpowered spell we should be able to see where the Elements are being stored.”
“What do you mean by the secondary spell?”
“The spell is one that shows the image in an enlarged photo in front of you. It’s like when you take a picture but this is not a physical image so much as a projection of the sight we will see through Starswirls spell.”
“Oh, I get what you mean. But how do you know it will work?”
“I don’t.”
Nervousness fell over her face and she shifted on her pillow. “Okay, how are you so sure it will do what you want?”
“I am going to power enough magical power into both spells that will allow it to add into the ability to display the image. By overpowering both spells it should be enough to show us where it is.” He explained.
“Okay, so I assume that you know where it is or have a good idea of where it is.” She reasoned.
“I do. I am almost certain it’s in Canterlot.”
“What?!” She nearly shrieked. “Then why are we still here?!”
“Easy Twilight.” He said to her and raised a hoof to stop her from getting to her hooves. “I said I am fairly certain, but not exactly certain. I do not know that it is there without a doubt. I believe it is in the red light district of Canterlot beneath a bar.”
She settled back onto her pillow while nervousness and curiously flowed through her spirit. “Okay. I’m listening.”
“From the information, I have gotten there is an underground group of ponies that are based out of Canterlot. They are the ones that organized the original attack on Canterlot to steal the Elements from the castle. They are also the ones that recently tried to take the Element from me.”
Her eyes went wide and she began to look him over and then her eyes went to Sasa. “And your both okay right?”
“We are both fine.”
“What about Soarin? You didn’t bring him with you.”
“He’s fine as well. He is back in Canterlot with the Wonderbolts waiting for me to call on him if needed.”
She looked relieved and a sigh escaped her. Sasa got to her paws and went to the mare and she nuzzled her as she purred. The feline sat down beside her and laid down in place at her side. He saw her sag for a moment and a chuckle escaped her.
“I kind of wish I had asked more questions or let you tell me everything about when they came after you instead of saying I didn’t care.” She lamented.
He chuckled and shook his head. “Do you wish me to explain everything?”
“No, it's fine. Keep going. I’ll ask if anything does not seem to fit in my mind.” She said. “So how are we going to get the spell to track that far from here?”
“The spell was originally designed as we discussed to track only so far. The way I am altering it will allow it to track all the way to Canterlot if we need it to. It was designed for a mile or less we will be asking it to go much further.”
A shock went through her eyes as she stared at him. “Okay but I do think we have an issue.” She said to him and he tilted his head slightly. “The spell Starswirl designed is pretty slow-moving. It moves slowly to allow you to scan the ground for whatever you’re looking for.”
“I think we can bypass that by overpowering it. By powering it as much as I plan to it should also speed it up. We will start out with it acting normal but if we need to then I will push it a bit further.”
“Okay. So how are we going to get the case back once we know where it is?”
“WE will be going into the location and taking it back.”
Her eyes went wide as she stared almost blankly back at him. His bland expression stared back at her as he let the silence go on. She raised a hoof and pointed to herself and he nodded. She then pointed at him and he nodded again. Her hoof dropped back to the pillow and she then looked at Sasa who nodded sagely back at her.
“Oh.” She whispered.
“If you wish to join in then you can but I will not push you into it either so...”
“I will not be left out of this.” She interrupted and her gaze was set with a determined expression.
“I am ready to start the process when you are.” He said to her.
“What do I need to? What is the procedure?”
“I will need you to focus on the case and the spell that it is protecting it.”
“What will Sasa be doing?”
“Sasa will be staying back as she is not able to hide her appearance on her own.” He explained with a glance to the great cat.
Sasa gave a low grumble and Twilight ran her hoof over the cat’s fur. “I can put an illusion over her if we need to. I just think the more power we have with us the better.”
“I agree but I was not able to maintain an illusion on her constantly so I will leave it to you while I tend to the rest.” He reasoned to her and she nodded.
“What are we going to do to get the case back once we find it?”
“We will be using an illusion of our own to get into the bar and into the tunnels that exist under the bar. I have already designed the illusion spell that we will be using once we are just outside the location.”
“How will we get them to let us into the tunnels?”
“We will be using the Element of Spirit to get them to open up to us.” He explained.
“What do you mean by ‘using’ it?” She asked.
“The ponies that came after it was supposed to take it from me and reunite it with the others to allow them to sell it as a full set. Once they see it they will be more than happy to let us walk inside the bar. We can also use the same spell to track the rest of the Elements once we are inside.”
She looked uncertain for several seconds as she considered what he had said. “Okay, I’m on board. I don’t like using the Element of Spirit as bait but you’ve been doing that all along so I guess it works.” She said as a laugh escaped her and he shrugged. “I can’t put an illusion on if I’m using the one on Sasa.”
“I will take care of the illusions on you and me when we get close. Once we are inside you will need to follow me and act like a lackey. I will have an illusion of the pony that led the charge against me. You will be one of the ponies that followed him that we have in custody.”
“Does the organization know you have them?”
“They shouldn’t. We kept their capture silent aside from a few. Only a few trusted guards know of their capture that Luna and Celestia trust. They are the ones guarding them and nopony else knows about them.” he assured her. “If they have found out then this will be a long fight.”
“I’m ready for it.” She said to him.
He saw the determined set of her jaw and he nodded at her, understanding in his own gaze. “Very well. If you are ready then we can start the process now and see where it leads us.”
She nodded and got to her hooves. “Let’s do this.”
He got to his hooves his horn lit as she did the same. “I will focus on your magical signature and we will use that to start the track on the case. Hold still.”
She stood still as his magic flowed over her horn and he focused on learning her magical signature as he had with the Element of Spirit. Her magic was still as he learned her magic and after a moment his magic had it memorized and he allowed his horn to go dormant.
“I have it. I will bring the spell from Starswirl forward and use your magical signature to track the case that the Elements are stored in.”
“Then we will overpower the spell to allow it to reach Canterlot if that’s where they are being stored?” She asked.
He nodded and his horn lit as he focused on the spell from Starswirl and brought it into the front part of his mind to allow him to invoke it. His magic flowed easily as he channeled more power into the spell to allow him to overpower it easily. Twilight stood by in silence as her own magic faded out and she watched him closely.
“Should I do something?” She asked him.
He looked at her and was about to tell her no when the look in her eyes gave him pause. He was not sure why but the look made him hesitate. He went over the spell in his mind and decided that her adding her own magic to it could only add more power and even greater focus to the spell. The Witcher nodded at her and he raised his head to focus on her.
“Channel your magic into mine and by using it then we can add greater focus to Starswirls spell.” He said to her and her horn was covered in her aura and she covered his horn in her aura.
He brought the spell forward and he began to channel even more power into it as he invoked the spell. It flowed easily from him and over the ground. Twilight looked alarmed as a circle of magic went over the ground and slowly sank into the ground under her hooves. She looked at him and he gave her a nod to calm her and she focused on keeping her aura steady with his own. He closed his eyes and he let the magic flow from him and into the ground. He heard Sasa get to her paws and he heard her pad over to him and sit down close by them.
“How is it going?” Twilight asked him, her voice tentative.
“Hold on.” He said back to her and she fell silent.
The Witcher was silent as he sent the magic further around them. He used it in the same fashion that he had when cleansing the village of the miasma from before. The longer he channeled it the more power he was forced to pour into it and the further afield he sent it. Using Twilight’s magical signature and her active aura gave it more focus to track. He gave it several minutes before he added a bit more force to his search and he felt something shift. He opened his eyes and brought the second spell in to allow him to give a picture of where the Elements were being stored. His azure flame became more intense and Twilight backed up a step in response to it.
“Here we go.”
“Did you find it?” Twilight asked her voice insistent.
“I think so.”
An image began to become clear on the floor between them and he shifted it to be broadcast against the far wall instead of the cluttered floor. A dark room was shown on the wall and Twilight looked perplexed as she stared at it.
“Where the hell is that?” She barked at him.
He looked at her and bit back a chuckle at her choice of words. “Hold on a moment.”
He began to pull back his magic to allow them to backtrack through the building that the Elements were stored in. As he pulled back the image flickered until he stopped and it showed a hallway with dim lights. He pulled back further and it flickered and the image went black for several seconds.
“Oh no. No, get it back.” Twilight shouted.
“Easy.”
The image came back and it showed a storefront of what looked to him like an old run-down inn or something similar. He couldn’t see any signs to give it a name or anything that showed its exact location. He stared at the image for several seconds before he glanced at Twilight, who looked even more perplexed than he did.
“Any ideas where that is?” She asked.
“I have no idea.” He replied.
He let the image fade again as he pulled the magic back and allowed it to refocus again. It showed a narrow street that was cluttered with trash and broken chairs.
“It looks like the streets of the red-light district,” Twilight said to him.
“Does it?”
“Yeah, the streets can’t handle a chariot or anything they're too narrow. Three ponies might be the maximum that can walk side by side on those streets.”
“Did you ever go into that district?”
“Of course not,” Twilight replied, affronted.
“Then how do you know about the streets?” He teased.
“I asked a guard when he came back complaining about that district and his patrol in it.” She growled.
He cast her a slight grin and she glared at him in response. “Well, it seems we know where to go. But let’s see if we can’t confirm its Canterlot. That’s the farthest I set it to search but still.”
“It can’t hurt to confirm just in case.” She agreed.
He pulled his magic back further and the image flickered. The further he pulled back the larger the image got and it soon showed an image of Canterlot City. He looked at the mare with him and she nodded.
“You were right. Canterlot.” She said to him.
“I was hoping I would be correct. I am fairly certain that bar is called the Rusty Horseshoe. We were told about it by the leader of the ponies that came after me for the Element.” He replied.
“Finally.” She said and looked at him, a smile finally crossing her face.
A grin tugged at the side of his mouth and he looked from her to the wall and back to her. “Know we know where to go and we can get them back. We need to do this in the next couple of days. Otherwise, we will be out of time and they will know that the retrieval group failed to take it from me.”
“So when do we do this?”
“Tomorrow.”
“What?!” She asked him as his magic began to fade out.
“We need to do this quickly.” His magic faded and the image on the wall blacked out. “WE have limited time to do it and we have to make sure they haven’t gotten wise enough to move them. They do move them then we are in trouble.”
She looked uncertain for several seconds but then she nodded in response. “Okay. I’m with you. So what’s the plan?”
“Tomorrow you and I will teleport to Canterlot and I will put an illusion on both of us and you tend to the one on Sasa if you wish to bring her.” She nodded with a look at the feline who gave her a toothy grin. “I will come to you just after dawn and I will teleport us to the Menagerie. From there we will go to the bar and get into the tunnels that are underneath it. Then we can get in there and retrieve the Elements of Harmony and bring them back here.”
“Okay.” She broke into a smile and nodded in agreement with him. "What do I need to do when we get there?"
"You will support me from behind. I am combat trained and I am more than able to operate in a confined space if we are in a hallway. Your job is to use your magic to combat them from behind me."
She looked nervous for several seconds but a determination set to her jaw told him that she was not the scared filly that Celestia seemed to think she was. She was a grown mare with the magic to back up her intelligence. He did not doubt that she would be able to provide him the support that he might need if things went wrong in the tunnels.
"Okay. Let's do this."
“Until tomorrow.” He said to her.