Within moments, everyone was trekking doggedly across the clearing and into the woods, trying to put as much distance between themselves and their nightmarish ordeal as possible. Celestia seemed to know where she was heading, and no one had the inclination or the energy to question her. However, after only a few minutes had passed, Fluttershy stopped in her tracks and muttered to herself, “That’s not right.” She was staring at a squirrel who was staring right back at her from atop a stump.
“Move it, Fluttershy.” Rainbow Dash probably sounded more exasperated than she meant to. “We can’t stop to make friends with every living thing between here and the coast. Sheesh.”
Fluttershy shook her head and kept moving. But she stopped again before another minute had passed, this time for a small brown bird perched on a low branch. “No, this isn’t right. Something’s definitely wrong with this bird.” This time the companions gathered around. The bird perched just within reach of Celestia’s horn, but it didn’t flit or stir as the ponies gathered around to stare at it.
Pinkie Pie cocked her head to one side, then the other. “It looks fine to me.”
“Yeah,” Applejack added with a yawn. “What’s got yer feathers all ruffled, ‘Shy?”
“I don’t know.” Fluttershy sounded deeply upset. “It just looks really sad.”
Rainbow Dash glanced sideways at Fluttershy and dramatically rolled her eyes. “The bird looks sad? Did the bird get captured by changelings and dragged into some smelly hole in the ground? Ugh, that’s it! I give up.” She huffed and turned to the Princess, motioning her to lead on.
But Celestia stared at the bird too, with a concerned expression on her face. “Fluttershy, we must leave.” Celestia stroked Fluttershy’s mane so that Fluttershy turned, her sea-blue eyes reflecting back the light. She looked like she was on the verge of tears, but she couldn’t say why. Celestia continued, “They will be fine, all of them, but we must keep moving. There’s nothing we can do for them.” Fluttershy did not look reassured. “I promise you, there’s nothing we can do.” Celestia’s voice grew more determined as she addressed the entire group. “We must not stop again until we find shelter. It isn’t safe out here. Follow me. And stay together, no matter what you see.”
They walked for a few more hours, and the trek became more and more eerie the further they went. They passed more wild creatures than Twilight had ever seen in one place before, and not one of them reacted to the presence of seven ponies and a snoring baby dragon traipsing through their woods. An entire herd of deer all stood or lay down without moving, or watched them go by without the slightest hint of concern. A trio of wolves lay out in the open, making no move to even watch them walk by. They just looked bored. Bored to death, perhaps. Everyone seemed to find it creepy, except for Fluttershy, who merely looked heartbroken. Applejack dropped back next to Fluttershy and said, “I’m just a mite unsettled. What’s going on out here? It’s like we’re all invisible or somethin’.”
Fluttershy didn’t focus her eyes on anything. She bit her lip. “I’m. . . I’m not sure. It’s like they’re all empty inside. It’s horrible.” Applejack looked like she might try to say something reassuring, but she couldn’t think of anything to say.
Twilight might have been more concerned, but she was having trouble enough just placing one hoof in front of the other without tripping on roots or branches. Her every muscle ached and shook with strain. She wasn’t even sure how she’d made it as far as she did, but she refused to give up. Twilight was already embarrassed by how she’d fainted back in the hive, and how she’d needed to be carried more than once. She refused to go through that again. Worse than that, her mind kept going back over the evening, reliving all of her mistakes. She was the one who sent the parchment that revealed the Princess to the changelings, she was sure of it. And beyond that she’d made an even worse decision. She’d sent Rainbow Dash ahead because she’d felt responsible for the Princess’s dilemma, and it had nearly cost Dash her life. If that didn’t make Twilight a horrible friend, at the very least it made her a dangerous leader. Twilight felt enough shame that the sting of it kept her on her hooves through the night.
Eventually, the flank in front of her stopped, and Twilight walked right into Rarity’s tail. Celestia had descended a small trail around the base of a hillock, and the entrance to a cave was visible beneath an overhang of solid rock. She could hear a stream not far from them, murmuring to itself somewhere just beyond the trees. Celestia ignored the cave and walked towards the sound of water, encouraging everyone to accompany her. The stream didn’t look very deep, and it was less than a stone’s throw across.
Celestia gently woke Spike up, and set him by the bank. Twilight hadn’t realized how thirsty she’d become, and she ducked her parched lips to the stream and drank deeply. The water was cold and pure, and in that moment it was the most delicious thing she’d ever tasted. Rarity gently held her mane back with a hoof while she drank, but Applejack just waded out and plunged her head under the water completely. Rainbow Dash stopped drinking to chuckle a little. Once everyone drank their fill, Celestia urged them all back towards the cave they’d passed, as she topped off a couple of canteens.
The eight companions filtered into the cave, finding room enough for everyone to stretch out and then some. The cave was large without being enormous, and a brief check ensured there weren’t any surprises, like a family of bats or a second entryway through which they could be found. Applejack removed the packs she’d taken from Pinkie Pie awhile back, set them down gently and immediately flopped onto her side, panting heavily. She should have been uncomfortable on the uneven stone, but her posture gave no indication that she was going to move anytime soon. Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy were in little better state. Pinkie Pie practically crawled into the cave and collapsed, and Fluttershy made a visible effort to open her pack and pull out a pair of bedrolls she’d thought to bring.
Celestia settled Spike onto a blanket pulled from her own pack, and immediately moved to check Applejack’s wounds, despite the straw-maned earth pony’s protestations. Twilight found a relatively even patch and fell upon it, heaving large and unsteady breaths.
Celestia made sure everyone was as settled as they could be before withdrawing the last of the bandages and a canteen of water, and setting herself to cleaning out the worst of Applejack’s bites. A couple of them had been fairly deep, and the one on her left leg had started bleeding again while they’d hiked. Celestia spoke softly, “Sleep now, my friends. I will stand watch. We are as safe as we may be.” Twilight still had unanswered questions, but they weren’t enough to keep her awake after the night they’d had. As the sky in the east began to lighten with the first hints of sunrise, Twilight fell hard into a deep, deep sleep.
Twilight awoke all at once, stifling a scream with a hoof, her eyes darting around the cave in a panic. It took a minute for the dream to fade and a minute more for her heart to stop hammering. Twilight looked frantically around the cave until her gaze settled on Rainbow Dash asleep on a thin bedroll. The pegasus pony was stretched out on her stomach with her chin straight out and her hooves stuck out in every direction. Her unkempt mane partially hid her face. Awake, Dash always looked bold and tough, ready to take on the entire world. But asleep, she just looked strangely vulnerable.
Twilight didn’t know what she would do if she lost any of her friends on this journey, but she knew she wouldn’t handle it well. Especially if she were to blame for it. Twilight felt another sharp stab of guilt for risking Rainbow Dash’s life the way she had, and before she’d made a conscious decision, she was on her hooves, picking her way through the early morning light streaming through the cave entrance until she reached Rainbow Dash’s side. Then she carefully squeezed herself onto the bedroll next to her friend, gently put a foreleg around her and closed her eyes. Twilight sighed, and eventually she fell into more peaceful dreams.
Hours later, Twilight floated up through thick, groggy layers of sleep. She blinked her eyes clear and looked blearily around. She was still stretched out by Rainbow Dash, but Rarity had curled up on Dash’s far side, and Fluttershy stirred next to Twilight. Every single one of them had moved during the night, including Spike, in order to cluster around Rainbow Dash. They had formed an enormous pony pile. Twilight stretched and rose, marveling at how much better she felt after a few hours of good sleep.
Spike had woken up moments before Twilight, and had beaten her to her packs. He rummaged around and pulled out a clawful of oat bars, the very same ones he nearly ate before boarding the train. Twilight glanced at the angle of the sun shining outside the cave and guessed it to be about midday. Has it really only been a day and a half since we left Ponyville? Twilight mused. It feels like a week has passed. Spike tore into an oat bar like a wild animal, but as ponies stretched and blinked awake, Spike tossed them all something to eat.
“Thanks Spike! I’m crazy hungry.” Rainbow Dash barely stopped to tear the packaging before demolishing the compressed rectangle in three bites.
“Woah there, nelly.” Applejack took a step back. “The food ain’t goin’ nowhere, Rainbow.” Applejack yawned, pulled her mane back into a ponytail and slid her cowboy hat back onto her head before tipping that hat to Spike in a gesture of gratitude. “Thanks for the breakfast, shortstuff.”
“You’re a great pal, Spike!” Pinkie Pie added with her mouth full.
Fluttershy just chewed pensively, saying nothing. At the last, Spike tossed an oat bar at Twilight’s feet, offering her a sad smile. He looked so small. He looked so defenseless and innocent. But when push came to shove in the middle of a dark and dangerous changeling hive, he’d kept his head. In fact, Twilight was certain that none of them would have made it out if it weren’t for his help. And she would tell him as much, and apologize to him for hurting his feelings.
Just as soon as she’d eaten something. She’d thrown around more magic last night than she did in most months, and she’d eaten nothing since lunch the previous day. Twilight hadn’t realized it was possible to be so hungry. She was certain that if she didn’t eat something right away, her stomach might try eating her own backbone. So Twilight tried to apologize and thank Spike with a warm, genuine smile while she settled down to eat. I’ll sort things out after breakfast. She thought.
Pinkie Pie found some hay in a pack and passed it around, along with one of the canteens. “Ugh,” Rarity said, “Plain hay. I haven’t eaten just hay in ages. I suppose I’ve been a bit spoilt, living in Ponyville. It’s awfully easy to forget to be grateful for the important things in life, like good food and a warm bed, until one has to do without.”
Pinkie Pie nodded somberly. “I hear ya, sister. Hey, where’s the Princess?”
“Keepin’ a lookout, I suspect.” Applejack said. “Maybe somepony should bring her somethin’ ta eat. You know, in case she hasn’t eaten already.”
“On it.” Rainbow Dash held a hoof out to Spike, who threw her a few more oat bars. At the mention of Celestia, Twilight’s mind began retracing the previous day, reliving all the vague inconsistencies and moments that didn’t make sense. In particular, she thought of one question she probably didn’t need to ask Celestia.
After Rainbow Dash vanished from the cave leaving nothing but a rainbow-colored blur across Twilight’s field of vision, she spoke up. “I’m curious about something.” Everyone stopped and gave her their full attention. “The chamber we were all trapped in. . . how did you all manage to escape and come and rescue me?”
“Oh! Oh!” Pinkie Pie bounced to her hooves and began pantomiming wildly while she spoke. “At first, you went all glowy and poofed into thin air, then Celestia got real upset like ‘grrrr’ and said you’d been pony-napped, and she was about to do her own glowy poofy thing when Rarity stepped up to the door and made a weird hummm-y noise and the big rock just sort of shuffled and ka-chunked by little bits and pieces into a whole new doorway! It even looked pretty, you should have seen it Twilight! Then fresh air well not fresh air but fresher air kind of wooshed into the room and the changeling made a break for it but I clobbered it on the head with my packs like thonk and Spike jumped onto its back and whispered something terribly not-nice into its ear and then Celestia ran ahead to find you like fwoom! And. . . and that’s it, I think.” Pinkie Pie stood panting in the center of the companions facing Twilight with wide blue eyes and a giant grin.
Twilight couldn’t help it, the corners of her mouth turned up a bit. “It’s a good thing I’m fluent in ‘Pinkie’ or I’d need somepony to translate for me.”
“I understand it better’n I can speak it.” Applejack added.
“I speak enough ‘Pinkie’ to get by.” Rarity sniffed. “I mean, I can get directions and order in restaurants and such.” Spike laughed.
“But Rarity,” Twilight grew serious again. “How did you move the stone out of the way when nopony else could?”
“Why Twilight,” Rarity flashed Twilight a dazzling smile. “I asked politely, of course.”
Twilight didn’t think that was any kind of answer, but she could see that Rarity wasn’t joking with her. Twilight pondered this for a moment. Maybe it had something to do with her Element. Twilight nodded to herself. She could pursue that later. In the meantime, another question bothered her even more. “Okay, here’s something else strange. The changelings, they feed by mimicking a pony who has a life and friends, and they absorb the love and affection they receive, right? Like emotional parasites.” Her friends shrugged or nodded.
“That’s what the changeling queen said.” Spike said.
Pinkie Pie shook her head, her tousled pink mane bouncing around as she did so. “Actually, Princess Cadence said that. The moldy swiss-cheese queen just agreed with her.”
Twilight didn’t remember exactly, but she trusted Pinkie Pie’s strangely accurate memory more than she trusted her own. Twilight continued, “Ok, and they seem to gain some mental control over whoever they’re feeding off of. So, it’s in their best interest to remain undiscovered, isn’t it? I mean, it’s got to be impossible for them to feed off of affection if everypony knows who and what they are, right?”
“Perhaps they can feed off of other emotions.” Princess Celestia said from the entryway to the cave. The sun shone full on her, illuminating the colors in her mane and glinting off of her crown and peytral. She was studying Twilight with an odd look, a strange combination of awe and unfamiliar unease. She started forward, crossing into shadow with Rainbow Dash pacing her at her side, and her expression smoothed into practiced neutrality.
Twilight’s brow creased in thought. “Even if they can, everypony knows that friendship and love are the most powerful forces in the world. Why did the changelings invade Canterlot openly? For a chance to feed off of fear and anger? It makes no sense!” Celestia said nothing. She seemed to be waiting for something. Twilight’s eyes widened in comprehension as something Cinder had said clicked with her own memories. “When we reached Canterlot Tower, it was absolutely crawling with changelings.” Twilight continued in a much softer voice. “They never wanted the city, did they? They wanted a distraction so they could steal the Elements of Harmony.” She reached up to touch the crown still set atop her head. It hadn’t fallen off during the night.
Celestia paused for a moment before answering. “Well, they certainly did want Canterlot. Yet it seems they were after the Elements as well. Creatures like that are always looking for more power, however they can find it. It seems I had protected the Elements well enough, for they didn’t reach them before Princess Cadence and your brother ousted them from our fair city.”
Twilight added, “Even if they did get their hooves on them, they wouldn’t have been able to use them, right?”
Celestia smiled and addressed the entire group. “No. Of this I am certain. When my sister destroyed the physical representations of the Elements, some of their essence was drawn into the six of you. Each of you now lives and breathes a portion of the spectrum of their power. You are living Elements, I suppose. The physical aspects of these Elements merely contain what remains of those crystals shattered in the Everfree Forest. They can help you channel your latent power, but much of that power lies within each of you now.”
“Princess,” Twilight asked. “Had the changelings found the Elements, assuming they could use them, what did they plan to do with them?”
Celestia turned and looked her pupil in the eyes. “I’m not sure, Twilight Sparkle.”
Out of the corner of her eye, Twilight saw Applejack recoil as though she’d been slapped. Twilight glanced towards her, and saw a strange, faraway look in her eyes. Twilight had a strong sense of déjà-vu, but her train of thought was derailed by another question.
For the first time since waking up, Fluttershy spoke. “Um, Princess? What happened to all the animals around here?” Once again, Fluttershy’s eyes shone with worry. Rainbow Dash moved to stand by her side, waiting for Celestia’s response.
The Princess threw a very concerned look at Twilight before closing her eyes and shaking her head. “Perhaps there will be time for questions later. We still have a long way to go, and even at our best pace, it’ll be long days before we reach Manetreal by hoof. I suggest we gather our things and set out.”
As Applejack and Rarity began picking up scattered supplies, and Spike started gathering what bits of trash had fallen to the ground, Twilight glanced at Fluttershy in consternation. Fluttershy looked sad, but it was clear she was planning on following Celestia’s lead. Twilight, however, wasn’t ready to drop it. She’d gone long enough without having her questions answered. “Princess Celestia?” The regal alicorn froze in mid-step. “I’d also like to know what happened to the wildlife in this area. Was it the changelings?” Twilight’s tone was conversational, but what she said felt very confrontational. Everyone stopped and glanced nervously at the Princess.
“Twilight,” Celestia sounded low on patience. “I think it would be a good idea to answer this question later.” She said without glancing at her student.
“Why, Princess?” Twilight asked very nicely, but a bit of stubbornness glinted beneath her voice.
Celestia closed her eyes and took several slow, steady breaths. When she opened her lavender-colored eyes again, they were full of frustration. “Fine. We shall address this now.” Spike and Pinkie Pie exchanged a nervous glance, but no one spoke. Celestia composed herself and settled back on her haunches. “Twilight Sparkle, what is magic?” She asked in a tone Twilight remembered well from any number of lessons she’d had in the past several years.
Twilight answered right away, as though she were reciting a litany she’d memorized years ago. “Magic is the unicorn ability to shape energy with will.”
Celestia nodded. “While that certainly is true, where does that energy come from?”
Twilight shifted uncomfortably. “Um, it comes from deep within the self. But Princess, I don’t really see what. . .”
Celestia interrupted her. “That’s not a good answer, and you know it.” The Princess flicked her tail in annoyance. “What ‘energy’ does one draw upon? Name it for us.”
Twilight had never encountered that question in her studies. “Um, well, I have guesses, but I don’t think you’re looking for a guess, are you?”
“Naturally not, Twilight Sparkle.” Celestia paused for a moment. “Then let me approach the question from another angle. What forces hold the universe together? The stars and the planets?”
Twilight pondered that before answering. “I’d say gravity. Gravity and inertia, I suppose.”
“Correct. And what about the very small? What forces do we find holding atoms together?”
“Oh, I haven’t studied physics in so long. . . Augh.” Twilight’s brow creased in thought as she leafed through memories. She stamped a hoof, kicking a couple of loose stones about. “I remember something about a strong nuclear force and a weak nuclear force, but I didn’t understand them very well, I’m afraid.”
“You have answered well enough, my student.” Some of the haughtiness drained from Celestia’s voice, replaced by compassion and tenderness. She glanced at Fluttershy, but turned back to Twilight as she continued. “And what forces hold ponies together? Ponies and birds and squirrels and dogs and goats, what universal forces hold the living world together and keep us all connected?”
Twilight didn’t respond, but her eyes grew unfocused and distant. Rarity offered an answer instead. “Well, you’re referring to love, of course. Aren’t you? Love and friendship and compassion?”
Celestia nodded. “Among others. These forces are indeed magic, and they hold the whole of our world together, as you all have discovered. The ties between friends, between lovers, between family, these are the sparks which compose the magic of our world. Yes, much of this magic resides within the heart, but much more exists between us, within the ties which bind us together.”
Twilight spoke. “It was me.” Fluttershy gasped in comprehension. Twilight’s voice was empty and dull, as unfocused as her gaze. “I drained the life right out of this forest, didn’t I? When I fought Cinder.” She paused as another memory came back to her. “He even tried to warn me, tried to tell what I was doing.”
“How could you?” Fluttershy whispered, shocked horror in her eyes.
Celestia pitched her voice to address the entire cavern. “Perhaps I am to blame. Had I better instructed you in the nature and origin of magic, perhaps you would have known. But this is a dangerous secret, only usable by a few, and not something we make a habit of teaching in schools.” Celestia walked over to stand next to Twilight and draped a comforting wing over her. “The creatures of this forest will remember themselves. Given time, they will rediscover their spirits, and the connections between one another.”
“Sure.” Twilight did not sound the slightest bit comforted. “If they don’t starve to death first. Or let themselves get eaten.”
Celestia’s brow creased in consternation, and she slowly withdrew her wing. She also couldn’t refute Twilight’s words. “I am sorry my student. I had no wish to lay this at your hooves now, when we still have so far to go.”
“Hey, she didn’t mean to.” Rainbow Dash said defensively to no one in particular. “It was an accident. Wasn’t it, Twilight?”
Twilight said nothing. Celestia urged everyone once again to get ready to leave. Then she approached Twilight and, in a very soft voice asked, “What else did that changeling say to you?” Twilight continued to say nothing, but deep within her mind dark thoughts were beginning to surface. Feelings she hadn’t allowed herself to examine, but they had been there nonetheless, eating away at her since her brother’s ill-fated wedding. Twilight was no longer certain she could rely on her monarch, her mentor. Not for protection from the dark things of this world, and not for the entire truth it would seem. Twilight felt as cold as if she’d been doused with ice water. Outwardly, all Twilight Sparkle offered was silence and a dull stare.
Celestia shook her head sadly and reached out to touch Twilight’s mane. Twilight flinched away a bit, and Celestia withdrew, a faint look of genuine pain on her face. Twilight felt a stab of pain too, but she didn’t allow herself to show it. Spike, Applejack and Pinkie Pie had resumed picking up and repacking supplies, so Twilight found her bags set neatly in a corner, and she hoisted them onto her back without magic. Until she had more answers, what else could she do but blindly follow where the Princess led? Celestia took Pinkie Pie’s pack and settled it over her own flanks. When everyone was ready, Celestia spoke again. “If we set a steady pace, we should reach Manetreal in two days. It’s important we don’t get separated. Dash, that means no flying ahead. Everypony, follow me.”
Twilight was lost in a fog of conflicting feelings. What had Cinder meant about Celestia ‘hiding’ her power? Why hadn’t Celestia told her it was possible to draw power from outside oneself? Just how much damage was Twilight herself capable of doing to the world? And why did she have the sinking feeling that Princess Celestia still wasn’t telling the whole truth? As they walked out into the early-afternoon sun, Twilight chewed these thoughts over, chasing them around and around in her head, determined to piece together some kind of answer.