//------------------------------//
// White Knight, Grey Plans 
// Story: Dusk's Dangerous Game 
// by Airstream 
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Twilight's study was still recovering from the disastrous attempt at divination, which had blown one of the doors off of its hinges and made a general mess of the place. Everything was reorganized, but there was still a bit of structural damage needing repaired, so Twilight had taken her books and scrolls elsewhere, in order to avoid hindering the reconstruction efforts. Her quarters were ill-suited for such a task, and there were few places she could take the books without bumping into somepony who would distract her from her studies.

She had begun applying herself to the problem presented by the stone circle and the small rock she had seen in the pool. She had requisitioned Golden Radiance's notes, and had filled in the details as best she could, including as many of the strange runes as she could remember. A quick review with the crystal around her neck had shown that although the runes may have been a mystery, the layout of the circle was very familiar. The structure served to focus and collect energy. The only question, of course, was what kind. Twilight thought she might have had an idea, and so she had taken her notes to an abandoned aviary, and waited. 

She didn't have to wait long. Soon enough she heard the low concussions of massive wingbeats, and the joyous alarm being raised from the walls at the approach of her oldest friend and truest companion. He had been gone for nearly a month, and was at last returning from parts unknown, seeking an answer to the questions she had been studying for quite some time. Twilight made sure the way for him to land was clear. After moving the last of her books out of the way, she scrambled back just in time to make room for the large purple dragon to land with a heavy noise.

"Spike! Welcome back!" she cried, running towards him happily.

"Hey, Twi. Good to see you!" he replied, catching her in a hug and swinging her around before depositing her gently on the ground. Spike had grown into a magnificent specimen of a dragon, easily three or four times the size of Celestia normally, though with effort he could shrink himself down enough to fit inside most buildings. His scales gleamed brightly in the noontime light, a bright and lustrous purple that ranged from colors almost as light as Twilight's coat to the deep shade of the night sky. The ridges along his back had all but disappeared, though they still retained their emerald hue. His wings had darkened in hue as well, a leathery black shade that reminded Twilight of the smoke of a dying fire. His teeth were now nearly as long as Twilight's legs, and he could maintain a stream of fire hot enough to melt rock for minutes on end. Every movement was one of hidden power and deadly grace, speed and strength being his in equal measures. Underneath his fearsome exterior, however, lay the caring heart of her very best friend, and a keen and intelligent mind. 

"How was the trip?" she asked, as he unslung a rough bag from his bag, laying it down out of the way.

"Disappointing, I'm afraid. Not a creature I talked to could figure out why the Element was behaving like this." he said, drawing forth the diadem from inside of his satchel.

The Element was a mere shadow of its former self. The gold was tarnished, and it had bent in several places. The stone glittered dully in the light of the aviary, its luster long since fled. A single crack ran down its middle, threatening to split it in two. The smaller gems around it were crumbling similarly, and some were completely gone. That wasn't the worst of it, however. When Twilight had worn it for the first time, she could feel the magic in it, a powerful force that bordered on the all-powerful. When she tried to find that same power now, however, she was only able to feel a weakly pulsating force, hidden behind some sort of veil, there for now, but dying quickly.

"It looks so fragile." she said, taking hold of it gingerly, as if it could break by being held too tightly. And for all she knew, it could.

"No one could give me an answer. I talked with other dragons, with the Minotaur hordes up north, with the Zebra tribes out east, but I couldn't get any information. The Element of Magic is dying, Twilight. I think that soon it will just be another collection of rocks and metal."

She laid it on top of a low shelf of rock, and pulled her notes forward. "I think that I have something that can tell us what's happening to the Element." she said. "While you were gone, we've not been idle. It started with another session with Celestia in the garden..."

She filled Spike in on what he had missed, from her plan for Canterlot to the talk with Celestia to the divination and even to the armor now sealed up tightly in a vault of her own design. Spike listened carefully, nodding occasionally and attempting to understand the full implications of what was happening.

"And you feel certain that Celestia didn't want you to find the stone?" he asked after she had finished. "You and I both know that she can move extremely well. She's good at manipulating others."

"Only with a lot of prior planning. I'm positive that whatever was on top of that mountain was something I was never supposed to see."

Spike thought about this for a moment. "And you said that there was a stone in the pool?"

Twilight nodded. "In the shape of a starburst, same as this one."

"The stones...they were set up to collect energy?"

"Yes. I've set up circles like that for some of my spells. That circle is made to channel a lot of energy and keep it there, come what may. And I think it must be focusing the energy into the pool. It was in the direct center, which means it was the focus point."

Spike exhaled slowly, blowing smoke out of his nostrils. Twilight recognized this as his "thinking face", and remained quiet, allowing him to finish his thought. A minute went by in complete silence, and then two. Finally, he straightened up, and looked at her directly. "Do you remember that conversation we had with Celestia, right after the Embassy? Where she told us her side of the story, about the aftermath of the Celestial Wars? How she ended the Post-Classical Era?"

Twilight nodded. "She told us about how she...oh."

Spike nodded. "Can you project that memory from your crystal? I want to be sure I have it right."

Twilight closed her eyes, as the crystal lifted into the air, restrained only by the cord around her neck. A soft light filled the room, which solidified into a perfect replica of the Princess herself. It froze for a brief moment, and then began to speak.

"I sequestered myself on the tallest mountain I could find, one where the wind howled and the snow blinded me to the world below. I found a spot and I stayed there, Twilight. For ten years I stayed there. I let my heart rime over with ice, just as a thick layer froze on me."

Twilight shut this projection off just as she brought another one up. This one was fuzzier, having only happened in her and Celestia's heads, right before she had lost her memories. 

"The process itself came to me near the end of my exile on the great mountain at the top of the world...For two years, I tied their will to mine, and at last, on the day of the strongest sun, I succeeded in forging them into the ultimate tool of Order..."

Spike nodded. "I do believe that you found Celestia's place of exile, Twilight."

The unicorn thought furiously. "On the day of the strongest sun...the solstice, the Summer Sun Celebration. But it's been decaying, the Element. Why?"

"Because it isn't tied to the other Elements?"

Twilight shook her head. "No. Because Celestia bound it to her will. But we unbound it. Now it's escaping. The Power of Magic is leaking out of the Element, Spike. It's dispersing. Like it used to be, before it was Bound by Celestia."

Spike suddenly understood. "But now it's being regathered, in that pool at the top of the world. It's being recollected by Celestia. She's making a new Element, Twilight."

She looked at the Element in front of her. "We need to seal this. Cut off the flow of the Element, make sure that it can't emit magic until we find a way to counteract this. I'm going to call a Council meeting, we're going to fix this."

The dragon realized something. "Twilight, if Celestia does recreate Magic again, what happens?"

Twilight Sparkle, the most powerful of mortal mages, felt fear. "We could ask the ten thousand Gryphons under Ashtar Sharestan what happens. As for me, I can only guess. My friends are tied to their Elements because of Celestia. She could very well do the same to me."





Shining Armor's head swam as he looked at the papers in front of him. He rubbed his head with one hoof, cursing the headache that had been building up around his horn. They had been getting more and more frequent, and he hated how weak they made him feel. As the Commander of the Guard, he had to set an example for those who followed him, and he could not do that if he was incapacitated by headaches. And it wasn't just the pain. It had been getting harder and harder to focus as of late. More often than not, his thoughts turned towards Cadance, though he saw her every day.

He realized that he should probably be taking time off to deal with this problem, and that the unique nature of his and Cadance's relationship had meant that the problem would be getting worse before it got better. He wasn't sure when things would be coming to a head, but he knew the time was close. He gazed out of the window and shivered. The weather in Canterlot was finally getting towards winter, and he fully expected snow in the next few weeks. Shakily, he grasped his pen, signing off on the order to issue winter gear to all Guardsponies, be they in the field or in garrison. He did not want his ponies underprepared. Things were about to start moving very quickly, and he wanted to be ready.

Rolling it up and setting it aside, he reached for the small glass of water on his desk, downing it in two quick gulps. Thirst was a problem as well, though it was hardly a major issue for him. He would be loath to leave the Guard, even for such a short period of time as it would take to alleviate the problem. However, the new Captain, a Pegasus by the name of Snowy Spear, would make a fine substitute while he was incapacitated. It was to this order that he bent himself next, pen scratching against paper loudly in the quiet confines of the office he occupied.

As he worked, he began to labor for breath. Realizing that another attack was about to set in, he calmly rang the small bell on his desk. From outside his door, he heard the sound of hooves departing rapidly, and the second sentry pushed the door open, allowing for greater airflow. Shining Armor continued filing paperwork. His vision began to dim and flicker, and his pulse grew in volume and speed, at least to his own ears. Cadance appeared in front of him, whole and unmarred, as he had seen her when they first met. She was joined by several others, all cajoling for his attention. They were ignored, as he finally filled out the last page, signing his name at the bottom. This task accomplished, he allowed himself to slump to one side, head spinning as he waited.

A hoof was felt on the side of his face, and he looked up, into the beautiful lavender eyes of his wife, who smiled at him compassionately before they both disappeared from his office, reappearing in the suite they shared. She gently laid him on the bed, removing his uniform and setting it to one side. Her horn glimmered with azure light as she touched her horn to his, sending him into merciful blackness.





Shining Armor woke with a start to see Cadance lying next to him, a blissful smile on her face, eyes closed and breaths coming steady in sleep. She didn't let on, but Shining Armor could tell that she was just as exhausted as he. Lines creased her brow, her shoulders slumped when she thought nopony was looking, and she slept longer now. But even though she was hurting, she still went out of her way to spread love and cheer where she could, to attend to her duties as a Princess, and to remain Shining Armor's wife, lover, and even after all these years together, his very best friend in the world.

She shifted a bit in her sleep, grumbling at some figment before subsiding once more. He took in everything about her. The slight upturn of her nose, the delicate points of her ears, her lustrous pink coat, the beautiful colors of the dawn in her mane, the soft purple near the base of her wings, everything about her was perfection. His eyes rested on the scar that had been left by his sister.

And yes, he still considered Twilight his sister, and yes, he still loved her, despite all she had done. He had never had the opportunity to speak with her directly, and so he didn't pretend to know her thoughts, but he felt sure that she was confused, frightened, and reacting out of fear. At that moment, all Shining Armor wanted was a moment to speak with Twilight. Just her and him, and maybe their parents. He knew that would never be the case, that she would die rather than submit to Celestia that way. They shared the same stubborn streak, he and Twilight. There was hardly a moment's peace in their house growing up, as they alternately fought and played together, two rambunctious and talented magic users. She had left for the tutelage of the Princess three years before he had joined the Regulars, on his way to the Guard. Even then, she was still a bookworm, the brains to his brawn...he chuckled. He hadn't thought back on their foalhood together in years.

Once again, he looked at the scar left by his sister. He sighed, feeling himself drift off to sleep again. He had made his choice. Country over family, and husband over brother. Those were the cards he'd drawn, and now he was playing them as best he could.