The alicorns in the center of the study are starting to sweat.
"They really are taking their time." Twilight grunts. The strain of holding the time travelling spell is taking it's toll, not just on Twilight. The two senior alicorns are also feeling the pressure of significant magic drain.
"I'm not normally one to worry, but I haven't used this level of magic in a long time." Celestia added, tension in her voice.
Just as that was said, the ball of magic shifted and pulsed. The three alicorns recoiling slightly as they felt the magic from the orb push back.
"That must be Starlight. On my count." Twilight ordered. She counted to three and they all poured what magic they had left into the ball.
The portal formed and Grey stepped through with Starlight being spat out onto the ground beside him. The spell was released and the three alicorns gasped for air as relief took hold.
"No!" Starlight shouted, reaching for where the portal was as it slammed shut and dissipated.
"What's wrong, what happened?" Rainbow asked, rushing to help Starlight.
"An unnecessary... sacrifice... may nature... reclaim you." Grey said, a small bow of his head following his words.
Starlight proceeded to recall the events that transpired in the past, with Grey's limited input to fill the gaps.
"So what, you put on a cape and they just handed her over to you?" Rainbow asked, her skepticism still clear.
"What's yer problem with him, Dash?" Applejack spat. "Even I get that this'll turn sour fer us without Grey's help." She added.
"We should be thanking Grey for bringing this to our attention." Celestia started. Rainbow's ears lowered, recognising she's the only one on her side. "Who knows what could have happened to Ponyville, or even the world, should this be allowed to spread any longer." Celestia continued.
"Something doesn't add up." Starlight chimed in, gaining everyone's attention. "Why has it taken so long for anyone to find out. It took minutes to spread across this city. Maybe even hours for the city to be destroyed." This made the group fall silent. What stopped the tears and spirits from spreading beyond Suyaa Riin?
"What ever the answer may be, we should focus on scouring this study for ways to remove these tears." Luna said, bringing the group back on track. She moved over to Grey and took the book from him. "Twilight, I require your assistance."
"Please hurry. I don't want any more of those scary monsters to come and Spike is hurt pretty bad." Fluttershy said meekly, concerned for the drake she had tended to. Said drake had recovered somewhat, if only his wings were so lucky. They had taken the worst of the beating. The membrane having been torn is multiple places.
"I'll be fine. Tis but a scratch." He said with a huff, knowing it would take a long time for them to heal properly.
"Shh!, that green, glowey thing just spat out some more monsters." Pinkie hushed. A few of the group joined Pinkie at the window, huddling close to the wall for cover. A lack of screeching or rushing into the building gave the idea that these spirits were not aware of the group's location.
After an hour of searching the study shelves and translating titles, the group had managed to narrow it down to only three books. Twilight had given Luna plenty of grief too, constantly being distracted by the wealth of knowledge before her.
They also had decided that at least one of them should be at the window, taking turns to watch the tear for any change.
Confidence was not strong with only three books having been found. Especially since the translation was only loosely related to what information they needed. Luna, Celestia and Twilight set out on reading the books, trying their best with only one translation to share. Twilight was already having trouble as old equestrian was hard enough to understand, she was essentially translating twice. Celestia wasn't in much of a better state having forgotten most of the ancient language over centuries of not using it. Luna, however, was having far less difficulty. Who would have thought being isolated from society for so long would benefit her in any way.
"This book talks about spirit magic, a way to connect with beings on the other side of the veil. That is what these beasts are, aren't they Grey?" Luna asked, pulling away from the book she had just finished.
"To... my knowledge... yes." Grey replied.
"Apparently, the ents didn't have magic as we know it. They used the spirits to influence the world. Truly remarkable."
"This one seems to be a record of the spirits the ents had encountered. There are both good and bad." Celestia started. "But it has nothing on the spirits taking a physical form, or being able to connect the two worlds so far. I will keep reading."
"Although very fascinating, this one turned out to be useless." Twilight huffed, placing the book down gently.
"So, what now?" Rainbow asked. The room filled with a brief silence before Starlight chimed in with a stroke of genius.
"There was a book trader in the market... in the past. Maybe there's something there?"
"No." Grey said with a pause. "Even if... the books... survived... there were none... of what... we search for."
"Maybe we would find something in the castle, then." Starlight added.
"That's good enough for me. I'll just fly over there and check it out." Rainbow stated, proudly, preparing to zoom off out the door.
"No way ah'm letting you go off on yer own." Applejack said as she grabbed a firm hold of Rainbow's tail, halting the young mare. Rainbow turned and began to loudly voice her disagreement, when Applejack quickly placed her hand over Rainbow's mouth. "Are you forgettin' there's things out there that want t' kill us?" Applejack hissed, only causing Rainbow to roll her eyes. "Ah have no doubt you could get through that there castle n' back before any'v us could say apple buckin', but it's just too risky." She continued, releasing Rainbow.
"AJ's right, Dash. We don't know what's in that castle. You could get injured, or worse, there could be a really bad spirit in there." Twilight added. "It would be best for us all to stick together."
"Most definitely." Celestia said. "I've just come across 'spirits of emotion'. From what this book says, they are very powerful and unpredictable. I could go on, but I think we are starting to waste precious time." She finished, standing up. "I think we had better make a move on this castle before it gets dark."
With the group in agreement, they decided to press on. Grey picked up Spike and held him on his back with his left arm. The group left the study, sneaking through the halls in search for another exit. They made their way to the lower floor and found a hole in the wall they could all squeeze through.
Managing to make it down to the streets without being spotted, Grey turned back to see if the Grey Willow was still standing. There it was, standing tall and proud, its thick canopy seemingly hovering as it spread out. Unfortunately it was above the tear, those spirits had control over that tree for now.
"Let's keep moving, Grey." A voice pulling him back to the group and the task at hand.
"A grey willow. A friend of yours?" Fluttershy whispered to Grey as they moved along. Cautious to keep low and quiet.
"Yes... it gave... my new... arm" Grey answered, almost sadly.
"I'm sure it's glad to have been able to help you."
"I hope... but it is oddly... quiet... not singing... silent." Grey's words took Fluttershy by surprise.
"They sing?" She asked.
"Yes... all Willows... sing... in my... presence."
"Wow, that must be beautiful. I wish I could hear it."
"Yes... it brings me... peace." Fluttershy smiled. She had witnessed a side of Grey she wasn't sure existed. 'He has feelings too.' she mused to herself.
Rainbow led the group as she was deemed the lightest on her feet. She was a natural at sneaking around, guiding the team from building to buildling, using cover where they could. They made their way to what could have been guessed as the main road. They peeked down the road and saw that it was busy with spirits. A couple tears long the way.
"Damn it, we'll have to go another way." Rainbow spat, turning back and leading the group down a smaller, quieter road.
"You're doing a splendid job , darling. As long as we get there safely." Rarity reassured. Rainbow quickly looked back at her friend.
"Why do you girls keep tempting fate like that." She sniped, causing a few giggles at the expense of their superstitious friend.
It wasn't long before they came to a troublesome obstacle. They were going to have to cross a road in the open to continue towards the castle. Not too bad, but what made it troublesome was the large tear a few meters up the road they needed to cross. Even worse, there were quite a lot of spirits wandering around.
"We're going to have be very quiet." Rainbow started as she then informed the rest of what she had seen and her plan to get them all across. She had planned that they would cross one at a time, hoping to attract the least amount of attention as possible.
Slowly, one by one, they cross the road. It was working well and Rainbow even thought that maybe they could have just crossed all together. It would have made it faster, but surely a big group would have caused one of the spirits to notice. No, with this plan Rainbow could control when someone crossed, timing it with when the spirits were looking in another direction.
There were only four of them left to cross now; Rainbow, Twilight, Fluttershy and Spike. The young dragon had convinced Grey to put him down, that way if it came down to it, Grey could fight properly. He was also adamant that he could still use his legs.
Just as Pinkie was making her way across the road, she was filled with an overwhelming sense of dread, freezing her in place. That was when that horribly familiar screech resounded through the city. She twisted round to see one of the spirits lunging toward her, razor claws coming down. Everything seemed to slow right down, life flashing before her eyes. She couldn't move, she didn't have time to move. 'Is this it?' was all that came to mind.
The world started whizzing to the left, the spirit's claws narrowly missing her and time returning to it's normal pace. That was when she had realised that the world wasn't moving, she was. Something wrapped around her waist, had pulled her to safety.
Thanks to Luna's incredible reactions and fast casting of magic, Pinkie had been closely saved. Although it didn't seem fast enough as Pinkie let out a pained cry, grasping for her left shoulder. One of the claws had managed to graze her, leaving a gash that was spitting blood at an alarming rate.
More chilling screeches filled the city, the spirits wasting no time to attack the group.
"Run!" Rainbow shouted, turning back and pushing the three with her back the way they had came. The spirit that had swiped at Pinkie now separated the group and with many more now closing in on their position, they had to get away fast.
"Get to the castle! We will meet you there!" Twilight added. A few distant cracks and booms almost making her words unheard.
The four of them ran as fast as they could, turning corners and rushing through broken homes. A few glances back proved that they were losing their pursuers.
They came to a halt as Spike found he couldn't run any further. His beaten body reaching its limit. He collapsed onto a wall, barely keeping himself on his feet.
"Just... gimme... a second." He spoke, gasps of air interrupting him.
"We'll go inside this building and you can sit down." Rainbow said as she guided Spike inside. "I think we've lost them for now."
"Why do those spirits want to hurt us?" Fluttershy asked, also gasping for air.
"They must be bad spirits." Twilight started. "They must be lashing out from whatever makes them bad." Her tone wasn't it's usual matter of fact. She may know more than the three with her, but all she could really do was guess.
"Rainbow, do you think you could fly up and find a way to the castle?" Twilight continued, having caught her breath.
"You know it." Rainbow replied, her bravado lightening the mood some. She headed to the point they entered from, careful to look for any spirits that might have found them. After seeing the coast was clear, she spread her wings and took to the sky. The city seemed a lot more calm from above. The castle was easy enough to spot and it looked like they had a clear shot to it as well. A bright, golden flash caught her eye and she looked slightly to the right to see the rest of their group were in a fight. 'I'm sure they can handle themselves.' Rainbow thought, trying her best to suppress the urge to go help. Her worry, however, was cut short as a green bolt shot by, inches from her face. A small yelp escaped as she lost her balance and dropped a few meters before composing herself. She looked to the ground to see another green bolt flying right for her, nothing she couldn't dodge now that she knew it was coming, after all, she is a master in the air.
What cast the green bolt gave her pause, though. A hovering, half skeleton surrounded in the same sickly green glow as the tears. There was two, but just the sight of them was enough to run shivers up her back and make her fur stand on end. Rainbow didn't hesitate to drop back to the ground.
"Good news, we've got a clear path to the castle." Rainbow started.
"You say that like there's bad news, too." Twilight said.
"Can't get much worse than this." Spike added.
"I was seen by the spirits, we'll have to move now if we want that clear path." Rainbow's words made Spike sigh. "That's not all." She continued, helping Spike to his feet and ushering the group outside.
"There's more?" Fluttershy asked, trying her best not to give in to panic.
"There were these other spirits. They were gross, like floating skeletons that shoot magic."
With Rainbow's lead, the four made quick movements, narrowly missing the chasing spirits.
"I saw the others, too." Rainbow informed as they moved. "They were in a fight."
"I hope they're okay." Fluttershy worried.
"I'm sure they're fine. With Grey and the two princesses, they've got plenty of fire power." Spike said with confidence, quickly getting hushed by Twilight.
They continued to make their way through buildings and avoiding spirits. As they neared the castle they could begin to hear the shouting, crashes and booms of battle. They followed the sounds in hopes of reinforcing their friends. They could see the magic being cast over the buildings infront of them.
"They must be just through this alley." Rainbow instructed, leading down the gap between buildings. Just as they were about to exit, a familiar form crashed into the corner of the walls, sending debris flying and the form skidding across the ground. It was Grey. He shakily got to his feet. The four were about to rush to his aid, but they all froze as this massive Beast of a monster grabbed Grey with it's giant hands and hoisted him off the ground. Grey, acting quickly, grunted as sharps spikes formed all over his body for a brief moment. The monster roared before throwing Grey into another building.
Twilight! Over here!" Twilight looked to her left and saw Applejack waving her over with the rest of their friends just behind her. They were standing outside of the castle gate, fighting off a few smaller spirits and trying to prevent them from getting inside. The group of four wasted no time in moving for the gate, using whatever energy they had left to get there as fast as they could.
Unfortunately their attention wasn't all that Applejack had received. The giant monster flicked its head around to see the small group running. With a ferocious roar, it gave chase, gaining on them quickly. The larger group of ponies holding the castle gate shouted and screamed at them to run faster. The three ponies used their wings in desperation. Spike flapped his wings too, but with the holes his wings weren't working. The Giant hand plummeted for the young drake.
"SPIKE!!"
