“If we don’t have much time, then why are we still sitting here?” asked Twilight. “Let’s get started!”
The purple mare trotted upstairs, the others close behind her. When they got to the second level her friends were shocked to see the diagrams strewn out along the tables, and drawn on the floor. In the center was a large circle around a six-sided star. At each tip was a smaller circle, each which was marked by a wing, a horn, or a hoof.
Twilight situated herself in the farthest circle—which was marked with a horn—and indicated for the others to do the same. All but one seat was taken.
“Princess, I can’t ask you to do this. Should I get a pegasus to volunteer?”
“No,” she replied “I can take it. I have complete trust in you, my faithful student.”
Twilight sighed. This is going to be the hardest part.
Cautiously she brought her hoof to her horn, levitating a bowl underneath. Slowly she cut her ankle, dripping blood into the bowl. When it was half full she placed it in the center of the great circle, and then Twilight began to explain.
“You see, I need you five to help me. In theory I could do this myself, but that would be... well, let’s not go there. The point is that the side-effects—when divided—are tolerable. Rarity, you’re going to be the magical anchor. If things go badly, you have the power to stop the spell. I might not be able to if things go wrong.
“Pinkie, AJ, you two are the grounding elements. If any excess energy is put forth, it will flow through you two before going to Rainbow and Celestia, who will be a sort of storage unit. When the spell is stopped, that energy will flow out through me again. Does that make sense?”
“No,” groaned Rainbow Dash, “but let’s start it already!”
“Okay, brace yourselves,” warned Twilight, closing her eyes.
A bright light filled the room. The chalk lines on the floor filled with a bright violet light, and small tendrils connected to Twilight’s horn. Slowly, she managed to adjust the incredible level of power, and a pulsing could be seen in the light. Twilight opened her eyes, which glowed a pure white, magic filling her very soul.
Then the same tendrils began to spread towards the others. When they touched, each pony gave a harsh shudder before adding their own power into the mix. In the end the chalk was a dark red, pulsing in a strange rhythm.
A voice echoed through the room. “The Beast is out.”
Everypony opened their eyes and saw a ghostly image in the center. The transparent image looked exactly like Fluttershy, except her eyes were completely dark. Nothing was there save for an infinite depth. Her voice continued to echo. “The Beast is out.”
Suddenly, more appeared. There were three; no, ten; no, twenty-seven Fluttershys. It quickly grew to a number too great to count, each echoing their own thoughts, and yet through the whole thing one thought was constant, “The Beast is out.”
“I should’ve stayed.”
“They deserve to know.”
“The Beast is out.”
“But then they would hate me.”
“Rainbow’s already told them.”
“The Beast is out.”
“What if they didn’t find the letter?”
“The Beast is out.”
“Then it doesn’t matter.”
“Of course, Pinkie would find it.”
“The Beast is out.”
“But what if—”
“Cut the spell!” cried Celestia.
“The Beast is out.”
“I can’t go back.”
“I’m trying!” screeched Rarity.
“The Beast is out.”
“I can’t hurt them.”
“I’m so sorry,” whispered Rainbow Dash.
Then a blinding flash filled the room. Rarity screamed.
When the dazed ponies recovered their vision, they saw the circles had disappeared. Rarity was collapsed, sobbing in fear. Pinkie sat next to her, lightly stroking her mane.
“What was that!?” yelled Applejack.
Celestia rose, and uttered a single word in response, “Counter-magic.”
Everypony looked to Twilight, expecting an explanation, but instead she merely lay there. Her eyes were distant and unfocused. Her ears twitched, as if tracking some far off noise. Her nose was scrunched in pain and concentration. Slowly her mouth formed the words, “The Beast is out.”
She staggered to her hooves, feeling unsteady and off-kilter. She took slow, measured strides towards the bowl, unsure of what she might find. She peered down, examining her scarlet reflection. She saw tear streaks trailing down her face. Is this really how she feels? There’s so much pain...
Then a ripple disturbed her crimson mirror. She dismissed it at first, as just a falling tear, but then the blood started to rise, slowly filling the bowl. She stumbled back, unsure what had gone wrong.
“What’s going on?” asked Pinkie.
Celestia sighed. “This is the problem with Blood Magic: the target pays the price as well.”
From the balcony, they heard the flutter of wings. Luna stormed into the room, and screamed, “WHO DAREST USE THIS UNHOLY MAGIC? PREPARE TO DIE THOU FOALISH KNAVES.”
Meanwhile...
Fluttershy awoke with a start as a bright green light flooded the room. The gem in the doorway glowed with the fire of a thousand suns. Groaning, she turned over, trying to block out the light. It was in vain, however; Angel began shaking her, struggling to wake his owner.
A heat slowly washed over her, drowning out other sensations. It quickly progressed to a burning that moved its way up her spine until—
“Aaah!” she screamed. White lines shot across her vision. Searing pain went through her and her mind went blank. The pain overwhelmed everything, casting a harsh violet over her vision. Sweat poured down her, pooling in the sheets. Her throat went hoarse, yet she couldn’t stop screaming. Soon she lost all semblance of rational thought.
Her mind was blank.
Darker than night.
So dark...
She vaguely felt herself being moved, but it was so far away. All she knew was darkness.
Darkness, and pain.
Where’s the light?
A deep voice echoed around her. “Sister, come back to us.”
Who is that?
“Come back to us.”
How? Why?
“The darkness is in us all, only to be banished by light.”
Light... I think I remember...
“Remember those you love. Run towards them, towards us.”
I will.
“Come back.”
And suddenly she gasped for air, back in the world of light.
“Allow us to understand. You gave permission to use blasphemous magic, endangering the kingdom in doing so, and then proceeded to participate in said forbidden magic?” asked a very confused Luna.
“Yes, and they are not to be punished,” replied her sister.
“Werest thou aware of the prices?”
“Yes, although I’m not certain that Twilight was. Not anymore.”
“How hast she handled it?”
“I’m not sure,” the princess mused. “I’ve never seen her like this before.”
“What prices?” asked Applejack.
“Well,” began Celestia, “there are three prices to Blood Magic: energy, blood, and psyche. Normally there are only two prices: energy and psyche. The reason that this magic is so powerful is that it delegates some of the energy you need into the other prices, which allows for much easier casting. The downside—of course—is that using this without preparation requires the caster to pay all of the prices.
“What Twilight seems to have stumbled upon was an advanced way of changing their distribution. The energy would come from us, and the blood would mostly come from the target. What she didn’t realize is that when you cast Blood Magic, there is an innate connection between you and whoever is affected by your spell. In this case it would be Fluttershy, since she’s presumably the one who transmuted the spell.”
“So basically, Twilight was in her head?” summed up Pinkie.
“Essentially, yes,” confirmed Luna.
When Fluttershy came to, she was back on her pallet. Her entire body felt sore, as if it had been pulled apart and stitched back together in her sleep. She slowly raised her head to see where she was.
It came crashing down soon afterwards. She had never felt this weak before. It was as if somepony had stolen her strength.
“I wouldn’t do that if I were you. You need your rest.”
It’s that voice. Who is it? It sounds so familiar. He sounds so familiar. What’s his name?
“Cleon!” she yelled.
“Yes. Who else would it be?” replied the confused gryphon.
“What happened? The gem started glowing, and then... I can’t remember anything. I remember it hurt, but other than that it’s a blank.”
“Well,” he began, “there were some rather mysterious spells cast recently, ones that we haven’t seen in a thousand years. It concerns us, since they were directed towards somepony in this monastery. Do you see what I’m getting at?”
Fluttershy’s heart sank. He couldn’t possibly be asking her that. She couldn’t leave now!
“You want me to go?”
“Absolutely not! If anything, we want to protect you. The problem, of course, is that you haven’t told us why these people are trying to find you.”
Fluttershy sighed. Yet another person who’s going to reject me.
“Do you have time for a long story? One of darkness, families, and loss? Are you sure you want to hear the reason I fear for my friends’ safety? I can’t stay around them anymore. There’s no way that I can protect them—not anymore, if what you say is true. I can still protect you, though. If I leave now, then maybe you’ll be safe.”
“Look at me,” he commanded. “As long as you are here, you are safe. We protect any and every creature within these walls as if they were The Founder himself. None shall harm you, or us.”
“Then we might as well get started. Lately I’ve called this: The Saga of The Beast.”