//------------------------------// // Chapter Seventeen: Control, Your Delusion // Story: The Amulet of Shades // by Sparkle Cola //------------------------------// Luna’s Airship: The Emissary - 8:04 PM Lieutenant Lanyard’s hooves vibrated as they rested on the deck of the bridge of the Emissary, Luna’s personal vessel. The whine of her arcano-tech turboprops complemented the gathering tension in the collective mind of the crew. As helmsman for Princess Luna’s personal vessel over the past six years, he had only seen the crew prepare for Expedited Departure Code One on two previous occasions. On neither of those occasions did Princess Luna Royal demeanor slip.  Tonight, however…   “Captain Stellar Flare?” Luna’s clipped tone brought all ponies on deck to immediate attention, sitting up just a little taller than they had been. Captain Flare’s mane of yellows and oranges fluttered to the side as she turned to address her commanding officer. “Yes, Princess?” Princess Luna’s gaze had not moved from the forward viewing window. Nothing could be seen but the blackness of night, but that didn’t stop the Princess’ pensive glare. “Notify me when we are at the outer boundary of Fillydelphia.” She turned and began to stride towards a doorway to the side. “I’ll be in my ready-room. You have the bridge.” All officers maintained their salute until the Princess stepped into her quarters. Stellar Flare bowed her head before looking back to the view window, her gaze now locked on the same void that had so engrossed Princess Luna. Once the doors slid shut, an almost audible sigh went up as the ponies resumed duties at their posts. All except Comet Chaser.  Deadeye Lanyard tried to not roll his eyes as he kept his gaze on the helm, but it was no good. The still-green navigation officer was staring at him from the side. He could see it at the corner of his vision.  Now he was leaning closer. “You ever seen her like that, Deadeye? I mean… it's like the princess saw a ghost! What do you think is going on?” Lanyard frowned. “You mean… you didn’t attend the briefing?” Comet’s eyes widened. “Briefing?” Inwardly smiling, Lanyard shook his head. “You know… the briefing!” He blinked, then spun around to the officers at their posts behind him. “Ensign Storm, were you at the briefing? Ensign Snow?” Each officer turned their head and nodded in the affirmative. Comet’s eyes widened further.  After a moment, all eyes in the bridge were turned on poor Comet Chaser, the stallion’s breathing quickening as he took in all of the judgemental gazes. “I… never got the memo! I read all of my memos this morning. Every morning! I…” Deadeye Lanyard’s muzzle finally split into a grin. “Ah, you’re too easy, Comet.” The rest of the bridge broke into some scattered chuckles. “You didn’t miss any briefing…”  Comet Chaser’s posture slumped in relief until Lanyard leaned into his personal space. “We perform our duties with precision and professionalism, Comet. We follow orders.” He reached out and poked the pegasus in the chest. “We don’t speculate as to the mood of the Princess or what things might be classified or not. We. Follow. Orders. For Princess Luna.” As if in echo, the rest of the bridge murmured the same: “For Princess Luna.” His impromptu speech done, Lanyard turned back to the data display at his station. Abashed, Comet nodded his head and turned back towards his console. “Aye. For Princess Luna.” Sampling the mood currently in the air, Lanyard pressed his lips together before turning towards the Captain. “Captain Flare, permission to speak freely?” Stellar Flare raised an eyebrow before turning her head to regard him. “Yes, Lieutenant? Permission granted.”  “Thanks, Captain. Methinks Comet is feeling some nerves. Perhaps an errand would do him some good? Like securing some coffee for himself and the rest of the bridge? Stellar Flare sneaked a glance at the clock just to the right of the view window and frowned. Three thirty-five in the morning? “...An excellent idea, Lieutenant!” She looked around the bridge crew as the other ponies began to smirk. “All in favor say aye?” “Aye!” Came the chorused reply.  Comet Chaser pursed his lips before he gave Lanyard a flat gaze. “I hate you.”  “Ah, but what better way to serve hate than with coffee, eh?” Lanyard grinned. “Get to it, Ensign!” With a sigh, Comet slumped off of the bridge. A second round of chuckles was heard as the doors slid shut.   Twilight’s Castle - Map Room - 8:04 PM In a split second, the map room went from stunned silence to an uproar of voices. Spike slapped a palm over his face and sidled over behind the map. The massive slab of magical stone that marked the center of the room didn’t provide any true cover, but he wished it could. Having the Elements of Harmony walk in on his impromptu make-out session with Starlight Glimmer was embarrassing, but having Princess Celestia witness it too?  Ugh. Having his muscular frame towering over the surface of the map still made him feel a little too exposed. He could still feel his cheeks burning.  Peering out from between two fingers, he raised an eyebrow as he noticed that the map had become active—for the first time in five years. All six of the cutie marks, those of Twilight, AJ, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, and Fluttershy, were busy circling above a distinct location on the map—the ancient ruins of the Castle of the Two Sisters.  He would have thought this development to be sufficient to draw the attention of eight rather distracted mares… He swore under his breath. Could he just sneak out a side window?  “Spike?” Rarity’s voice bubbled to the surface. Its silky, yet steeled tone seized his attention. “Haven’t you anything to say?”  Spike grimaced as Rarity began to round the table. Oh no, it’s that look. The same kind of look she’d give him all those years ago, when she caught him swiping jewels that were intended for sewing on dresses.   His little scene with Starlight Glimmer had gone from a simple distraction to a three-ring circus.  But why should it? He was a free drake! Besides, he was of age… What should it matter to Twilight and the rest if he was kissing a mare, whether it be Starlight or anyone else?  Before Spike could raise a finger, Starlight teleported directly in front of the fashionista. Even in his stupor, Spike could see the daggers the mares were glaring at each other as they stood muzzle to muzzle. Then the fireworks began, Starlight meeting every accusation with a sharp riposte of her own. As their voices surged, other voices in the room seemed to dwindle.  From what Spike could make out, he overheard Rarity defending his honor and his innocence while Starlight was yelling about his maturity and ability to choose. …and the fact that Spike would’ve been a more appropriate bearer of the Element of Generosity than the current holder.  Two mares yelling about… him? Spike glanced at the floor. If he was honest with himself, he couldn’t really decide how he felt. He was gratified Rarity was trying to put his best interests at heart, but Starlight? She seemed to be a little more up-to-date on how he was feeling. And it was this thought that caused his heart to flutter just a bit.  In a blur of movement and color, Rainbow Dash dropped in above, wrapping a lazy foreleg around his shoulder while her wings kept her airborne. Her rose colored eyes glimmered with mischief.  “Spike, you old player, you! How long have you had this kind of action going on?!” She eased off, only to punch him in the shoulder with a hoof. Hard. “I mean—I thought you had your sights on Rarity, you know? Some of the mares down at the Manticore have had a running bet going for the past—” “Rainbow,” Applejack piped up, “I don’t think right now is the time that we—” “And that’s two debts I’ll owe after tonight!” Rainbow waved AJ off. “80 bits to the pool—I was betting on you and Rares by the way—and a bucking 500 bits to Celestia! No thanks to her guards!” Rainbow spun around to point an accusatory hoof at the Sun Princess. “Not cool, Celestia! I call interference!”   “Rainbow, consarn it!” Applejack pulled Rainbow down by the tail. She got a blue hoof to her forehead for her trouble.  “Nope, not this time AJ!” “That’s enough!”  Celestia’s amplified voice broke over the din. Everypony froze, then turned their heads to the Princess.. Except Rainbow. She landed on the castle floor and narrowed her eyes at the Princess.  “Not cool.” Walking over to Spike, Celestia placed a protective wing around his shoulders while regarding Rarity and Starlight coolly. “Spike, I’m sorry that we walked in at such an inopportune time, but we do have some rather urgent business to take care of.” After her gaze lingered on the two mares for another moment, she turned and addressed her former student. “Twilight? Please lead your friends to their respective places around the map. I do believe the table has become active and has something for us all to see.”  All eyes flicked back and forth from Celestia to the map, then from the map to the once-bickering mares. “I… Yes, Princess Celestia, you’re right of course.” Twilight sighed, watching as her friends filed to either side of the table, climbing onto their respective thrones. Spike came up as well, standing dutifully by her side and avoiding eye contact with anypony. Frowning, Twilight leaned in towards him. “But you and I need to have a chat about this later. Right, Spike?” “I’m still here!” Starlight called out, placing her forehooves on the table. “Anything you have to say to him you can say to us both!” Twilight whirled around, her eyes making daggers at Starlight. “I’ll have a separate, and a very… clear conversation with you later!”  “Please!” Celestia called. “Everypony needs to take a deep breath and sit back.” She lowered her voice, her smooth and measured tone evening out the agitation in the air. “I know everypony is trying to come to grips with this new revelation, but if we can just—” Smoke and rainbow sparks cut Celestia off. With a poof, Discord dropped onto the table and sat on the map’s representation of the Canterhorn. He clasped his hands together. “Ooo! The atmosphere in here is positively electric!” A few sparks danced between his talons.  “Why didn’t you tell me we were having a celebration? I would’ve brought balloons and party favors!” Discord snapped his fingers, party horns magically appearing between the lips of all present. Beaming, he scoped the room only to find nopony smiling back.  Except for Pinkie. She was gathering up the noise makers her friends were spitting out onto the floor.  Discord scratched behind a horn. “What? Did I not read the room correctly?” Celestia merely gave him a look, before her eyes darted to the now active map with a gesture.  Discord followed her gaze before his eyes widened in surprise. “Hm? Well, lookie there!” He grinned at the little swirl of cutie mark images, circling over the map’s representation of the Castle of the Two Sisters like a miniaturized dust devil. “All six cutie marks! The last time that happened was when you dropped in on Starlight’s town with your away team. And nopony played the red shirt!   It was Starlight’s turn to use the look.  Oh, wait… there was also that time with the pony of shadows…” Discord stroked his chin. “Well, if you already restarted it with all of the updates and it's still wonky, we should try calling tech support.” Discord brought a flat, brick-like device device up to his ear. “Hello, Apple? I need to troubleshoot one magic table.” “Hello?” A tinny voice piped up from the device. It sounded eerily like Granny Smith. “You need to troubleshoot a what now? Who’s zat talkin? Uncle Crumble izzat you?” A lasso suddenly latched onto the device, yanking it out of Discord’s claw. It clattered to the floor in front of Applejack who brought down a hoof, smashing it flat. The bricklike device sparked, then went silent.   “Really, Applejack?” Discord protested. “You’d hang up on your own granny?” “If we are done here,” Twilight growled, “can we get to the business of the map?”  “Quite.” Rarity chimed in, smoothing her mane with a hoof. “Let’s stick a pin in our earlier discussion and see what the map has in store for us, hm?” “A pin? But what about my balloons?” Rarity ignored Discord as she looked over the map, her eyes widening as she took in the swirling cutie mark images spiraling above the ruins of the castle in the everfree. “Twilight? Are you seeing this? It doesn’t look like our marks are hovering directly over the castle.” Twilight’s eyes narrowed as she studied where the marks were hovering. “You’re right, Rarity. I think they’re positioned exactly over the grotto that hides the Tree of Harmony.” All of the ponies crowded in, discussing what it could mean, until Celestia held up a hoof. “One more thing, my little ponies. “Before we depart, I’d like to know a little more about what Starlight is currently holding in her hooves. The information might prove important.”  All of the eyes in the room were on Starlight again, who smiled weakly in response before holding up the amulet. “What, this little thing? Eh heh. What do you want to know about it?” Fillydelphia 8:05 PM “Psst! Back here!” Tempest’s ears twitched as she located the unseen speaker. She had been making her way towards the 3rd platform of the terminal station, just as Meadow had told her before the earth pony had floated off to make her escape. But when she had come within sight of the station, she was surprised by what she had found. Many of the waiting “passengers” seemed to be holding newspapers up in front of their faces, but their eyes were focused on everything but reading. It was time to back off and think of something new.  Tempest’s horn ached from her invisibility spell—a spell for two no less, if Meadow had managed to remain within the area of effect. Tempest frowned. Meadow had departed the alley prior to Tempest utilizing Princess Luna’s shadow jumping technique. Granted, she only jumped into an alley across the street, but how had Meadow been able to anticipate where she was going?  Tempest backed up to round the corner Meadow’s voice had come from, slamming the brakes to prevent a rear-end collision.  “No way! How did you stay within range of my spell, Meadow?” Finding the smaller pony’s fluffy chest, she pushed her backwards into another alley, ducking behind some crates before deactivating the spell. “Or should I say: Maelstrom?” The light blue earth pony rolled her yellow eyes. “Please. I told you, he’s giving me advice, not controlling my every move. And what were your choices? You needed to shadow jump to another place within range, right? Only works line of sight, right? The alley across the street was most likely.”  “Uh huh.” Tempest eyed her friend…if she could really call her such at this point.. It was possible the mare was telling the truth as she understood it, but this definitely wasn’t the same Meadow as before. Was that Meadow still somewhere in there, and if so, for how long? Tempest’s heart clenched. Shecouldn’t just blindly push ahead and hope for the best. She needed to save her new friend too. But how?  Tempest forced a smile. “Well, good on you then. I must have a loud hoofstep for you to follow.” Meadow grinned. “Again. Easy to parse out, since we were headed this way in the first place. Then the train station came into view, once we turned on Commerce Avenue.” Meadow’s smile slowly evaporated. “So… what now?”  Tempest tapped a hoof on her chin. “Well, if I made myself a flight amulet like yours, we’d both have more options.” Meadow tapped herself on the nose. “Ah. Now you're thinking clearly.” “But my horn is pretty spent, and if I need to make an amulet, and then trust my invisibility to get us completely out of the city… I’m not sure I can do that. But taking a train is completely out of the picture. It seems like plainclothes agents are all over the station. News travels fast in modern Equestria.” Meadow pressed her lips together. “As surprised as you might feel about that, Tempy, you have to understand that technology is not like it was when you disappeared from Equestria a thousand years ago. We have much faster and more thorough ways of sending information. We don’t know if the Manehattan Police have combined their information with the Fillydelphia police, and that Canterlot is informed as well. But it seems likely, given that crazy unicorn agent that tied us up. He knew your name and connected you to the library!” Tempest frowned. “You’re right. And you know the technology better than I, so How do we make it out of Fillydelphia without half of law enforcement on our heels?” Meadow’s mouth drew to the side as she thought. “Well, there’s only a few options. We walk out on hoof, just keeping to the shadows… That’ll be a hike. And we still have to secure passage across the country to Vanhoover. Or we can find some way to sneak aboard that train.” “That wouldn’t be very smart.” “Right!” Meadow paused, rubbing her hoof across the pavement. “There is also the airship option, but I’m willing to bet that security is even worse… I know, we can just steal… Ehrm, borrow somepony’s car!” Tempest crept back to the edge of their alley, reactivating her invisibility spell. “I really don’t want to involve the innocent ponies of this town any more than we already have, Meadow.” The distant wail of a siren pierced the air, joined by a second moments later. A third siren much closer then began to sound. Tempest turned to look at Meadow, then included her into the scope of her spell.  “Aw, thanks Tempy!” Watching from their corner, Tempest noted several of the ponies she suspected as plainclothes officers beginning to clump together in conversations. “What do you think is going on? There’s a bunch of activity now among the ponies at the station.” Tempest watched several conversations began to appear more agitated.   “Don’t know. What if we got close enough to listen? Or used another eavesdropping spell?” Tempest considered it, then gave a single nod of the head before she enacted an eavesdropping spell, using a nearby lamppost as a soundwave receptor.  An hushed conversation between several ponies filled her ears. “There are fires… four of them.” Tempest relayed to meadow. “There are four separate buildings, all ablaze, all separated from each other by at least a city block. The only theory anypony has is that this was arson, and the local fire station in that portion of the city has not responded to any calls.” Tempest’s eyes widened. “The industrial district—we were just there! Do you think that Narcisse had anything to do with this?” Tempest’s mind raced. What if touching the mind of that unicorn with Maestrom’s effect caused a similar reaction to what happened with the Librarian? How much more damage could this unicorn—this very powerful unicorn—do compared to the older mare? “This is perfect, then.” “Say what?” “We needed a distraction. This is the perfect distraction. Look!” Tempest looked back over at the train station. A good number of those that were gathered were now running back the way she and Meadow had come from. Of the few remaining, more ran off to the side.  “They probably think we’re behind the fires, too.” Meadow trotted ahead, the sound of her invisible hooves clopping on the street in front of Tempest. “Taking any official means of transportation is probably right out. So we’ll make our own. Let’s find a spot for you to make your very own flight amulet. A spot that won’t draw any attention with your light show.” Tempest followed. “And then, once we’ve floated out of the city, we’ll lay low, and then secure something else, maybe a small, private vehicle for passage?” “There you go!” Meadow beamed. “Floating would take forever. And like I said before, Temp. Bits aren’t really an issue. We’ll get us a flight. “C’mon!” Twilight’s Castle 8:12 PM Spike adjusted a knob on the ARC resonator as he spoke, almost sounding like Twilight as he went on. “And after that energy reading displayed a net loss of less 2% of the energy emitted by the incident beam, we knew we were getting close the right mana frequency. That’s when we hit upon the idea of using a buoyancy spell…”  Starlight stood back, grinning with pride as she allowed Spike to continue telling about their breakthrough: the right combinations to crack the mystery of amulets. She was hoping for a method to draw him back into the good graces of the gang as seamlessly as possible.  She hadn’t ever considered Spike as a potential romantic partner before this past year, but after the phenomenal growth spurt he had, coupled with the heart of gold he had always dazzled her with? Warmth covered her cheeks as she covered up a small titter. Her eyes lidded slightly as she listened to his mind work as he brought the mares up to speed coherently in a technical subject. Delivered in such a way that the jargon didn’t even leave Rainbow behind. Well, not too much. Her eyes were crossing just a little.  But the realization had struck her like thunder. Spike as her central love interest? Yes. Full certitude. All she had needed was the right opportunity, and she would make her move. Twilight flying to Fillydelphia was that opportunity. And this whole crazy research project about amulets? It was the perfect excuse! It didn’t hurt that Spike was smart, too. And sarcastic—she loved his sarcasm, he could always make her laugh.    Never in a million years would she have thought there was actually something to the foals' tales about amulets. Well, slap her flank and call her a donkey. But then—to not only break new ground in the arcane sciences, but to get the stallion as well? Well, not exactly a stallion per se, but why should that matter? He returned her feelings! She, Starlight Glimmer, former conspirator and evil doer?  She couldn’t stop smiling. But then to have the rest of the gang pop in by teleport, right in the middle of their moment? Ugh. She was sure that she would eventually catch flack from the others, especially Rarity and Twilight, but this was rather sudden and harsh.   Although… maybe it was better this way. Like ripping off a bandaid all at once. To sum up, she had pulled a few major coups today:  Discover new science doodad? Check. Gain sexy stallion? Check. Perform emergency emotional damage control? Check. She was in the zone! Starlight giggled again. Trixie was going to get a long letter about all of this.  “That’s incredible, Spike!” Twilight exclaimed. “I know I should feel upset about not being able to be part of such an amazing discovery, but I just can’t! It’s just too wonderful for words!” Starlight looked around the room, pleased to see the rest of the gang either nodding in agreement or shaking their heads in disbelief. At first, there was disbelief all around until she called Spike over with the water beaker so he could do a live demonstration. Like something out of the alchemy class that she taught to the 4th years in the School of Friendship. Hm. Should she pioneer a new arcano-amulet curriculum? Twilight gave a relieved chuckle. “Whoa. Well, thank Celestia. That totally explains it!” Spike blinked in confusion. “Explains what, Twi?” “Well, the kiss of course!” Twilight beamed, a few strands of mane springing out of place. “You two were just caught up in the moment of discovery! Could’ve happened to anypony…” “Uh…” Spike pursed his lips. Others around the room took a small step back as they watched Twilight with some concern. Spike glanced over at Starlight, and for a moment, her heart froze in her chest. What was he going to say? Was he going to back out of this so soon, and deny the new feelings they were both having? He was sharing the same feelings, right? Right? Starlight swallowed as she glanced over at that fashion-hussy. The expression on Rarity’s face was entirely unreadable. “Well, uh…” Spike scratched at his ear fins, his face flushing red. He glared at Discord, who merely reached into a little red and white paper sack and threw a few more popcorn kernels into his mouth. “We were excited about the discovery and all… but…” “But…?” Twilight almost fell forward as she was leaning out over her hooves.   Spike gave a small chuckle, leaning back from her before glancing back at Starlight, rubbing the back of his neck with a claw. “But there was more to it than that…” Starlight didn’t care what else happened today; in the room, or across Equestria. Her palpitating heart suddenly came ablaze, her eyes moistening as they lived up to her surname. Before she knew it she was trotting towards her new beau.  Starlight sidled up beside Spike, on the other side from Twilight. “Thanks, hot stuff!” She ignored the look that Twilight was giving her.  With a flash of shimmering yellow magic, Celestia lifted the amulet out from the beaker Spike had been using for his demonstration. She gave it a grim look. “Before this plays out any further, I’d like to have a word with all of you. Especially you two, Starlight and Spike.” Starlight placed a hoof over her chest. “Did I… did we do something wrong, Princess?” “No, my little pony.” Celestia gave a wan smile. “Not so much. But there is much to discuss, and we are still on a tight schedule.”  From atop his makeshift perch of the Canterhorn mountain, Discord rolled his eyes. “Ugh. That’s just like you, Celestia. Ruining a perfectly good scene, right when it was about to get interesting.” He snapped his fingers and began to shrink, materializing a blanket and pillow to take with him to the map’s mock up of Canterlot Castle. After he slid into one of the castle’s windows, a light snore could be heard, with little visible “z’s” floating out from where he had entered.  Celestia rolled her eyes and then faced the others. “There was a time when amulets did exist among the ponies of Equestria.”  A chorus of gasps erupted in front of Celestia. “You knew this? Then why aren’t there any…” Twilight’s eyes widened. “Did you tell your ponies to destroy all of the information? Why?!”  Spike clenched his hands into fists, his teeth bared as he dropped his head in a frustrated grimace. “You mean… We weren’t the first?” “I’m afraid not.” Celestia let out a long breath. “But only a few relics remain from that haunted time.” Celestia glanced down at her peytral, or more specifically, the massive violet gem that was mounted in the front of it. She tapped it with a hoof for emphasis. “All this time…” Starlight was thunderstruck. “Right under our noses.”   “More like right under the Princess’ nose you mean,” Applejack muttered, folding her hooves. “Seems a little dishonest if you ask me.” “I’ll tell you their history, or at least an abridged version of it, since time is short. And I’ll explain the reason for their removal from Equestria, if you would permit me to explain.” Celestia bowed her head and closed her eyes. Twilight glared at Applejack before lifting a hoof towards her old mentor. “Of course, Princess Celestia. I am sure your reasons were benevolent. Right, girls?” Twilight looked around the table, but was only met with confused and equivocal expressions. Celestia looked back up, tears now moistening her eyes. “Some one thousand years ago, at around the same time that Princess Luna’s paranoia caused her to fall to the enticements of the Nightmare, there was a young unicorn attending my school.” “But—” Twilight lifted a hoof. “Didn’t Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns start in the year—”    “Correct.” Celestia nodded. “But this was Sisters’ School… A precursor, if you will, to the later institution you are familiar with. Lulu and I started Sisters’ School three hundred years before then, to further our efforts in unifying the unicorn tribe with the other two. They were being… reluctant.” Starlight sneaked a glance over to Twilight, smirking. The alicorn seemed to be hanging on every syllable like it was the key to all of Harmony.  “This young unicorn, who we’ll call Windstorm, had forged a very strong bond with Princess Luna. She was perhaps the biggest enigma in the events that followed Luna’s banishment to the moon.” As Celestia spoke, motes of light and flickers of images drew themselves over the surface of the map.  First appeared a greatly enlarged image of the Castle of Two Sisters.  Other buildings long forgotten then sprouted up in silvery light, reaching upwards like seedlings and transmuting into shops and keeps, barracks and marketplaces. Roads streamed in all directions from the castle as if they were spokes of a great wheel.  Celestia took all of this in stride, her mouth hanging open for only a second. But instead of commenting on it, she shrugged and resumed her story. “This was Ponyvale.” She motioned over the rapidly growing village with a hoof, all coming together with magical flickers of silvery light forming structures and roads. “It was the Capital of our young nation, built up around our most sacred grove.” Starlight’s eyes tracked back to where she knew the Tree of Harmony was. Why did Celestia decide to leave it, abandoning the tree to the Everfree forest? “I imagine this depiction is matching the timeframe I was referring to, when Temp—erhm, Windstorm was attending the school. It was mostly a peaceful age, but there were still tensions and hatred that could be found in certain groups, groups that maintained their anger for generations.”  Starlight only now noticed something. “Princess? Where is the Everfree Forest?” Celestia frowned. “The Everfree Forest sprung up from the surrounding countryside and nearby forests, overtaking this land with amazing swiftness. The Tree of Harmony had barred my entrance to the grounds, but I stationed guards there for a couple hundred years. Just to be sure, until the area fell out of common memory.” This is a version of history Starlight had never heard before. She snuck another glance at Twilight, curious if the younger alicorn was as surprised as she was. Such was the case, if her hanging jaw was any indication. Celestia pointed with a hoof, her eyes distant. “Here was the school, adjacent to the back walls of our castle, and here—,” she traced a line over to a stately building that couldn’t have been more than a half a kilometer away, “-was Parliament. Luna and I allowed our ponies as much self-governance as we could, letting each of the tribes have their interests represented as laws and statutes were crafted for our nation.” Rarity raised a hoof, the silvery light of the ghostly images reflecting in her eyes. “Which is all very interesting, Princess, but… what do these things have to do with amulets?” Celestia blinked, her eyes refocusing on the topic at hoof.  “Ah. Yes.” Celestia cleared her throat. “As I said, Luna had grown paranoid. I believe she had been dealing with the whisperings and enticements from this… Nightmare entity for some time, before she finally went through some sort of transformation, revealing herself in a new form as Nightmare Moon. During the time just before her fall, she had been spending significant amounts of time with this young unicorn mare, Windstorm.” At this, the map somehow zoomed in on the castle, the building growing much larger in scale, The map continued to alter the image until the throne room had expanded to occupy a large portion of the table.  The soaring windows on either side of the throne room exploded outward, glass shattering violently. Fluttershy recoiled. The others flinched and gasped. Starlight thought she heard Rainbow Dash mutter the dreaded “G Word.” In a moment, the image had opened up to show the inside of the throne room where Nightmare Moon was hovering, exulting in some kind of victory, while Celestia, battered but not beaten, was drawing the Elements of Harmony to her before they began to circle up into a formation. Almost in slow motion, they fired in a flash of light so brilliant that Starlight had to shield her eyes. When she looked again, the scene had changed, Nightmare Moon having been banished from the room. With a flurry of movement, guards broke in, rushing past the crumbling doors as they secured the area. Just behind them, following into the scene of devastation, was a smaller pony who stumbled forward, only to rise up again and start screaming at Celestia. There was no sound, only images. Celestia gave another sigh, a tear sliding down her cheek. “Nopony took Luna’s banishment harder than Windstorm. She accused me of being the aggressor, and as the next several days played out, she wasn’t the only one. The event nearly tore Equestria apart. In my grief, I still had to manage the school, as well as calm the hearts and minds of my ponies before the situation could evolve into a civil war—disrupting everything that Luna and I were trying to do. At the same time, Griffons were threatening with the specter of war to our east and across the sea. It marked the most difficult and chaotic time of my rule.” “What…” Twilight’s voice came out as a hushed whisper.  “What happened to Windstorm, Princess? Did she develop amulets?”  “Indeed.” Celestia explained. “Months had passed before Windstorm had spoken to anypony. I thought she would return to her hometown of Hoofdale, but instead, she persevered. But she changed. She became obsessed. She had been working on a science project under the tutelage of Luna, and while she had not arrived at a breakthrough, I knew she was close. It wasn’t until after she had graduated, but finally, she did it. The first amulet had been made. Little did I know the harm it would cause.”  “Harm? What happened?” Starlight was surprised to find it was her own voice that had piped up.  “Windstorm’s ultimate goal in the creation of one very special amulet was to kill me.” A quiet chill ran up Starlight’s spine, and she could tell that the others around the table felt similar. “After she sold the technology to a company owned by my regime, the Canterlot Department of Magical Technologies, she disappeared. I didn’t see her again for nine years.”  “Wait, wait!” Rainbow held up both hooves. “Canterlot? I thought this was Ponyvale! Unless you moved…”  “That’s right, Rainbow.” Celestia agreed with a sad smile. “The reasons I wanted to move were personal, but there were other reasons for my ponies. Especially due to the increasing violence between different factions and groups.”  The map changed again, this time showing masses of demonstrating ponies, shouting at each other and getting into violent altercations.  Blinking in surprise at yet another visual display from the map, Celestia continued. “Our ponies needed a transition. They needed projects, and an economic boom. They needed to be busy, and to have a unifying cause, especially because of the aggressions of the Griffon nation. Making Canterlot the pinnacle of our military and economic power was a movement that made sense for a lot of reasons. And my ponies needed me squarely on my throne.” “But why were they fighting?” Fluttershy’s bewildered voice piped up. “Nightmare Moon was always seen as a monster, right?  “It wasn’t so simple.” Celestia replied. “You see, there were no living eyewitness accounts of Nightmare Moon.” At that, the map reverted, again showing the throne room of the Castle of the Two Sisters. This time, a group of guards was depicted, desperately pounding on the main doors and back entrances to the structure. Celestia grimaced. “Many castle guards responded to the attack, coming to my aid on that fateful night. The first to arrive were the Lunar Guard, made up mostly of bat ponies. Among that number was their Captain… and Luna’s lover. They had gained entrance into the throne room before Nightmare Moon sealed it.”  Again the scene changed, this time showing Celestia being hurled through the roof of the building, having been thrown down by her darkened sister. After taking a moment to cackle in eerie silence, the shadowy figure dove in after Celestia through the new hole that was made. While the battle raged, guards garbed in Lunar attire streamed in through the doors until Nightmare Moon’s horn lit up, slamming the doors shut with a glow of light.  Celestia’s eyes began to shimmer. “Luna was not in her right mind.” Another tear trickled down Celestia’s cheek. “It is good that she kept the rest of the guard sealed outside.” There was a flash of brutal magic. Starlight blinked, then saw that all of the guards had been frozen in place—that, or writhing as crystal encased them. Stunned, she looked around the table to find she wasn’t alone with her feelings. A barely audbile croak, with a tinge of crying, escaped from Pinkie’s lips.   Still… a different, more aloof part of Starlight’s mind started asking questions. Did this crystal have anything to do with Sombra? And the Crystal Empire? Celestia wiped her cheek, gathering herself before continuing. “Without eyewitnesses, and the fact that the majority of those killed in action were from the Lunar Guard, there were many ponies claiming that I was the aggressor in some kind of coup. Given circumstantial evidence like that, they made a good case.” “But—that’s crazy!” Twilight complained.   “Again—not to be insensitive, Princess,” Rarity faltered. “But where do amulets factor in?”  “It was during this time that amulets were gaining use. At first, only in very restricted capacities while agents in my government tested them thoroughly. Or so I thought. They began there, and then were permitted for government and medical applications, before they were finally approved for general use. Two years before Windstorm’s return, they entered the marketplace, quickly revolutionizing a number of industries. The technology to make them, however, was not shared. Many ponies tried to copy the technology, but nopony could get close without experiencing a mana burnout in their horn. The output is tremendous.” At this, Celestia looked over at Starlight and Spike, her eyes trailing up to Starlight’s horn. “I don’t see any signs of magical exhaustion or mana burn.” Starlight turned and pointed behind her, raising a brow as she noticed Spike had done the same gesture. Back where Spike had been standing earlier when he was giving his impromptu lecture on amulet research, a slender device stood. It’s rather narrow cannon-like barrel was still aiming downward at the end of a small table where they had been working, carving magical runes into gems. It was a little bit of arcano-tech developed by Twilight a few years earlier, something she called an Arcane Resonance Coil, or ARC for short.  Twilight had developed it over ten years ago as part of her studies on the magic of Equestria, designing it to create a narrow beam of magnified and resonating mana. The energy it put out was rather intense, and it brought up a question that had been nagging at Starlight.  “We used Twilight’s device over there, her ARC coil. How did Windstorm do it—making amulets, I mean?” Starlight turned back to the Princess, her bangs swaying to the side as she cocked her head. “Nopony back then had invented an arcane resonance coil, right?” “Well, no.” Celestia replied. “Instead, Windstorm used a disembodied unicorn horn. That was the secret.” Among the encore of gasps, Rarity’s tremulous voice broke in. “A unicorn’s horn is to be kept intact. To defile the deceased in such a way—such a thing is vile…” Then she gave a larger gasp. “Unless Windstorm removed one from the living?!” “No, Rarity. Nothing as macabre as that.” Celestia replied. “Windstorm merely used one from the cadaver lab back at the medical wing of my school.” The room looked at each other in stunned silence. “Yes, but… regardless, a unicorn’s horn?” Celestia gave an uncomfortable frown. “I shaped public opinion to look down on the very idea of using a horn to do what Windstorm had done.” Twilight looked like she was in pain. “But… why?” “Recall that I said Windstorm had disappeared for nine years? When she reappeared, she challenged me to a duel to avenge her mother Princess Luna.” Another chorus of questions and exclamations spun through the room, with Pinkie’s voice coming out as frosting on the top: “What? Princess Luna had a daughter?!” “It was never confirmed. And for reasons I’ll not get into right now, I haven’t brought it up with Luna. And while she didn’t succeed… she came close.” “How?” Twilight tried to keep the anger out of her voice. “Your power should be magnitudes greater!” “Because of her amulet. With a little more patience, she could’ve… and with that one action, all of the peace and healing we were able to cobble together broke out into violence again, like a festering wound.” After a few seconds of silence, Rainbow Dash spoke up. She didn’t sound as confident as she had a few minutes ago. “Are… are amulets really that powerful?” “This one was. Previous to selling her technology, Windstorm had devised a way to link all of the amulets that had been fabricated together. Almost like an enormous funnel, it allowed her to access all of those amulets at once and focus that energy into one enormous outlet of destruction.” Starlight and Twilight exchanged horrified looks, but before they could formulate a question Celestia continued. “And she did it by convincing the company to include a clause in the contract, one that required that they add her own proprietary rune to the back in exchange for selling the technology at a substantially lower price. She told them it would give her the recognition she sought as the originator of the technology.” Celestia looked over to Twilight. “You have faced a weakened version of the very same amulet.” “The Alicorn Amulet?” “Precisely.” “In the fallout from this attempt, Parliament, with my approval, decided to eliminate all traces of Amulets.  The way they saw it, If power could be pooled in such a manner over nine years, what more could be done if that technology were further refined? If it came between this new technology and security, my ponies chose security.” “But… Princess, that’s terrible!” Twilight exclaimed.  “Yes it is, Twilight. And yet that is what we did. Equestria was in a very tenuous state. Amulets had become synonymous with my attempted assassination. So much so that when the nobility formed their task force, there wasn’t that much resistance. But there was resistance…”  Starlight raised a hoof. “Does Princess Luna know?” “No. I had planned on telling her soon. Looks like that will be much sooner.” “Well!” Discord awoke from his nap, inflating himself like a balloon emerging from the windows of the Castle of Two Sisters. He looked back at it, scratching his beard. “Huh. Looks like the Princess is in another castle. If we are done expositioning the Tartarus out of all of this, are we ready to proceed to the tree?” “But I still have more questions—” Twilight began. Rainbow darted over to Twilight and blocked her muzzle with a hoof. “Well I don’t! And neither does Twi! Because she realizes that we really need to get going? Like… in a hurry?” “Agreed.” Celestia replied. I would be happy to discuss this in greater detail when we aren’t pressed for time, but we really need to see what needs to be done at the Tree of Harmony so we can get back to Moonlight Sigil. Are you ready for another Teleport, Twilight?” “I know the area well enough by now, Celestia. Let’s go. You want to take Spike and Starlight in your group, and I’ll take Rainbow?” “Now, hold on just a min—!”  Starlight didn’t get to hear the rest of Rainbow’s objection, since they all disappeared at that point in a teleportation flash.  Fillydelphia -- 5:05 AM Cirrus watched as the Emissary slowly aligned with the docking gantry of the precinct’s air terminal. He had received word that Princess Luna was en route three hours before, and heaved a sigh of relief that she would be taking over on the scene. All of the ponies around him were conversing in mollified tones, grateful that a Princess had come. He had to agree, though he would prefer to work with Princess Celestia.   The night hadn’t just gone badly. Everything in Fillydelphia had gone straight to Tartarus. Six buildings had been burnt to ashes. Twice that many buildings had taken moderate to severe damage. He had no idea if there was a cost in casualties or lives. It would be a miracle if there wasn’t. The ponies of Fillydelphia were fighting to save their city, and to add chaos to the situation, the fire station that was positioned closest to the area was more than likely the cause of the fires. It was unthinkable. Ponies that had made a career out of putting their lives on the line to save ponies were now committing widespread arson. It defied reason. Maybe if one became mentally ill, but the entire team?  Cirrus coughed for a moment before he shook his head, wiping soot out of one eye. He was utterly spent, and numb with the shock of it all. Fighting fires side by side with other civilian ponies was not how he saw this mission going. He hadn’t even begun to process it. Only now was it starting to sink in.  Hopefully, all of the ponies responsible were now in custody, but a niggling thought told him not to bank on it. One pony in particular was glaringly absent from the reports coming in.  Luna would want to be briefed, of course. Cirrus didn’t relish the thought of that. Especially on matters pertaining to Narcisse, the operative who was now unaccounted for. Luna was likely well aware of the friction he had been having with her agent, and for one crazy moment, Cirrus wondered if Luna would hold him accountable for whatever happened to that unicorn.  No. I am not culpable. And there are bigger things happening right now. Princess Luna and her retinue were now descending in the lift. In moments, she would be joining all of the officials waiting with Cirrus on the landing. As the lift doors opened, having reached the landing, Cirrus’ heart sank. Luna’s eyes met his own far too soon. She did not look pleased.  Well, Crap. After greetings were extended, Princess Luna insisted on being briefed on the way. By the time they had hastened to the large oak doors of the conference room she had been appraised enough to understand the situation. Stopping at the doors, Princess Luna turned to address the ponies assembled. “Thank you Chief Blueshield, for your expert leadership in tonight’s crisis. Your efforts will not go unrecognized, nor unrewarded. I have a word to say regarding the ponies responsible for the multiple acts of arson you have had to deal with.” Princess Luna paused, though there was no need. All eyes in the corridor were on her. At least there were no journalists around. “I have reason to believe that the ponies behind these acts have been magically touched in some way, in which their normal personalities and behaviors have been modified or entirely wiped away with something else in their place. Until we have more information, nopony is to make magical contact with their minds.” That brought a chorus of mutters from the police and fire ponies present, but Princess Luna paid it no mind. “Beyond that, we have further reason to believe that this… magical contagion, as it were, will not necessarily be obvious. Until we have better information, I want it announced to the city that nopony is to use magic of any sort upon the person of another. When you report to the periodicals of the city, please avoid causing panic. Please only convey that there is some kind of potential magical contagion. Don’t draw a line of causality to the arson that was committed until we have proof. Otherwise, you could find yourself out of a job.”  Her point made clear, Luna paused before giving a wan smile. “And be of good courage: our work is not yet done. There may be others as yet not apprehended, and we need to find them all.  Find them, but please subdue them with only as much force as necessary. And keep them sedated until I come for them. I will supervise their transition back to Canterlot for treatment.” Luna’s eyes panned across the ponies in front of her. “Any questions?” After a chorus of responses to the negative, the ponies departed to carry out her orders, all save two police chiefs and a fire chief who likely had more to say. Princess Luna grimaced. “I’m sorry, my ponies, but until I recover my agent, the entire situation you have fought to stabilize could topple at any moment. My highest priority is finding Agent 012, Narcisse. If he is behind this, everything else at this point is secondary. Please re-organize your efforts, inspire your teams, and be ready for whatever else may come.  “Agent Cirrus?” Princess Luna’s eyes found his again. They were no less intense. Cirrus tried to swallow but he didn’t have enough spit. “Y-your Highness?” “You’re with me.” Luna stepped into the conference room, using her magic to close the doors behind her. “Tell me what you know of Narcisse’s last whereabouts.’ Cirrus described his argument with Narcisse on the previous night because he thought it relevant. It was the last time he saw the unicorn in full charge of his faculties, and acting like the egoist he knew him to be. Not that he would describe him exactly as such to the Princess. Then he discussed the matters of the following evening, discovering him alone and unconscious in the warehouse. Unresponsive, but for all thoughts and purposes physically intact. “I see.” Luna’s brow furrowed. “Then we must assume the worst. Until we know better, we must treat Narcisse as if his mind has been taken over by an evil force. Come with me; we need to take a higher vantage point. Cirrus followed as Luna took wing from the balcony of the briefing room. He pumped his wings hard to keep pace with the Princess—she certainly wasn’t here for a sight-seeing tour. Landing on the roof of a neighboring bank office building, Luna began to draw runes onto the surface of the structure.  “I will use some more… archaic magic to find him. There are a few methods here that might bear fruit…” No sooner had Princess Luna drawn the second rune than a commotion of explosions and shouts erupted down the street. Rushing to the side of the building and looking down, Cirrus noted that the police station three blocks away was engaged in some kind of battle, where weapons, nets, and magical fire was being exchanged between two… groups of police? Princess Luna joined him, looking down at the scene. Cirrus looked up at her, raising an eyebrow. “Or, do we follow our ears to the most chaotic scene available? After you, Princess.” Luna nodded, her eyes growing steely and grim. “Come, then.”