//------------------------------// // 6. Of Statues, Dogs and Wolves // Story: The Tears of Gaia // by Redback Spino //------------------------------// Pony after pony came galloping and flying down the woodland path at the sound of Twilight’s call. As the back of the lavender pony came into view, her five friends sped up, ready to confront whatever may await them. “You okay, Twi? Are they friendly?” called Applejack, still unable to see these mysterious Grey Ones. “Oh, you have to need to worry, they’re fine.” came Twilight’s reply. She looked over her shoulder at the approaching group and waved a forehoof. “Come and see, girls! Quick!” The mares skidded to a halt by Twilight’s side, and saw with some relief that the Grey Ones were, indeed, quite harmless. Before the six ponies stood a short plinth, about two feet high, carved from a single massive grey granite boulder. Around the top of the plinth were carved woven patterns of flowers, vines and leaves, winding its way around the sides. Atop the plinth, carved from the same grey stone, there stood a stallion and a young mare. Both were earth ponies, the stallion’s mane cropped and combed over the eyes. His impressive build and short mane and tail vaguely reminded the six ponies of Big Macintosh. A cutie mark of a broad green leaf was carved into his flank. The mare, meanwhile, was a small, stocky pony with a long braided mane and tail, and an intricately carved tulip woven into her forelock. She leaned gently into the stallion, gazing up at him with loving eyes. He seemed to gaze back into hers with a content smile. On her flank was a cutie mark of three snowflakes. Fluttershy smiled up at the carved lovers. “So this is what the riddle meant by the Grey Ones. It really is a lovely statue, isn’t it?” “Yeah, they make a cute couple! It’s really lifelike too… I wonder who they are.” Pinkie thought aloud as she and Rainbow Dash approached the statue. The pegasus trotted around the entire sculpture, examining it from the back and the front. “Hey, check this out!” Pinkie was by Rainbow’s side in an instant. Rainbow pointed to the base of the stone ponies’ tails. Standing out against the grey of the granite was a silver band, wrapped around each pony’s tail. Embedded in each band was a massive round jewel, near the size of a conker; a ruby on the stallion’s band, and a turquoise on the mare’s. “Sweet Celestia, look at the size of those things!” squealed Rarity as she joined Pinkie and Rainbow behind the statue and spotted the jewelled rings. Twilight, Applejack and Fluttershy came to join the others behind the statue, and each pony gasped with amazement at the beautiful wedding bands that were worn by the statues. Rarity was practically salivating at the sight of the perfectly spherical gems. “The craftspony who carved these jewels was truly a master! No scratches, no markings, completely flawless…” “Yeah, well keep yer hooves to yerself, Rarity. Don’t go swipin’ the gems or anythin’,” Applejack said with a snide grin. Rarity glared back accusingly at Applejack, before resuming her examination of the rings. “How could you ever even suggest such a thing?! I may have a lifelong passion for fine jewels and crystals, but I would never stoop as low as graverobbery!” Twilight returned to the pathway to look up at the statue from the front. “So, we can guess that they are the Grey Ones from the riddle, and if those rings are any indication, they’re definitely married. What I’m more interested in is just who these two ponies are…” “Yeah, I see what you mean, Twilight. It is kinda weird to just have a statue like this in the middle of nowhere.” Rainbow Dash nodded. “Plus, why use real rings? Why not just carve them into the statue?” Pinkie Pie’s eye was caught by a marking on the front of the plinth. Sweeping aside the long grass and shrubs that had grown around the base, she called aloud with delight, “Ooh, lookie! There’s writing down here!” Quick as a whip, all six ponies were huddled around Pinkie, peering over her shoulder at the words carved into the front of the plinth. Erected in loving memory of Earthheart & Snowshimmer Humble heroes of the Northern Valleys Now only their rings remain Their bodies may fade But their love transcends all time Pinkie smiled at the simple memorial. Nice and simple, nothing too fancy. She swept the plants out of the way of the words, pulling up clumps of grass and flowers and setting them to the sides, until the message was completely clear. She stood up and stepped back to admire the inscription with her friends. For a few minutes, they stood in silence, pondering whatever story these two lovers may have had. Were they warriors? Maybe they were great leaders of some sort? Pioneers? Maybe they just lived a life of happiness and love, spreading it to all around? Whatever it was, each pony was doubtless that it would be quite the tale to tell. Rarity stepped forward, her horn glowing gently. In mid-air before them, a small wreath of white flowers suddenly popped into existence, surrounded by a light blue aura. Rarity slowly lowered it to the ground until it leaned against the base of the plinth. The unicorn looked back to her friends and shrugged. “It just felt like the right thing to do.” “It’s lovely, Rarity.” Fluttershy said, patting her on the shoulder. “I’m sure they would like that… Erm, Twilight?” she added, as she looked back and saw Twilight rifling through her bag for something. “Oh, I’m just getting some parchment to get some notes down. I wanna see if the library at home has anything about them.” Rainbow Dash snickered, “Heh, even on epic quests you’re still an egghead, eh Twilight?” “You know it,” Twilight replied with a grin. As she copied down the inscription on the plinth, the words of Rowanoak’s riddle came to the top of her mind. “’Forsake the path, cross country’s way… Stay on the trail and lose your life.’” Pinkie Pie looked in her direction. “What’s that, Twilight?” The unicorn rolled up her notes and slipped them into her bag. “I was just thinking about the next part of the riddle.” “What’s to think about? It’s simple enough,“ Applejack joined the conversation. “From here on out, we gotta leave the trail and go cross-country.” “Yes, but in what direction? Going cross-country could mean anything!” “Um, perhaps, “ Fluttershy meekly raised a forehoof, “We should go in the direction of the mountains?” Twilight paused in her musing and muttering to glance up and over the treeline, where the purple and grey mountains loomed in the distance. “Oh…heh, yeah, that would make sense.” The six ponies continued their push through the woods, the trees becoming taller and denser as they went. Twilight, as always, marched at the head of the group, map levitating before her. Behind her was Applejack, who would pause momentarily to pluck from the ground anything that appeared edible: berries from bushes, wild garlic cloves, mushrooms and leafy greens. She plucked them up, sometimes presenting them to Twilight or Fluttershy for a second opinion on their edibility. Above her hovered Rainbow Dash, brushing branches out of her way as she flapped through the lower canopy. Rarity was just off to the left of the main column, opting to take the route closest to the path, and therefore with the least low branches and shrubs to worry about. Pinkie Pie, however, did not share such sentiments as she bounced along, giggling and crashing through the undergrowth. Twilight hastily grabbed the excitable pony in a magical aura, lifting her to join the rest of the column. “Keep it down, Pinkie!” she muttered urgently, “We don’t want to attract attention out here.” “Attention?” asked Pinkie, struggling against Twilight’s magical grip. “From what?” “I’d reckon from whatever would make us ‘lose our life’ if’n we stayed on the trail,” said Applejack. Twilight nodded, brushing a low-hanging branch out of the way. “Exactly. Until we find out exactly what’s waiting for us on the path, we need to keep quiet.” Pinkie was deposited back on the ground. She joined the back of the column and, with a great deal of effort, trotted along with only the slightest bounce in her step. Without the inexplicable “BOINK!” noise of Pinkie Pie pronking alongside them, a gloomy mood descended on the party as they trod the leafy undergrowth of the woods. No sound of birds of beasts could be heard anywhere around. Twilight’s thought went back to Ponyville. Even in the dead of night, or in the depths of the Everfree Forest, there was at least the sound of owls or crickets to break the silence. Here, in these strange lands of the North, there was nothing. She looked back at her friends, and was slightly unnerved by the lack of smiles. Hard to blame them, a voice in the back of her mind said. It was only meant to be a simple trip to the mountains, and already you’ve run into strange cloaked monsters and a flesh-eating kelpie, and you’re barely in the foothills! Twilight gulped as she looked back at Rainbow Dash, who was still visibly shaken from her encounter in the swamp, and with a few clumps of dried mud clinging to her mane and tail. What that kelpie would have done, had she and her friends not come running to her aid… She shuddered. The unicorn was brought back to reality by the sound of somepony sniffing behind her. She twisted her head round and saw the group paused a few feet behind. Fluttershy stood at the front with her snout in the air, sniffing the breeze. “I…I can smell smoke,” the pegasus said in a voice barely above a whisper. “Somepony’s lit a fire nearby.” “How big of a fire? Like, a brushfire or somethin’?” asked Applejack nervously as she craned her head to try to spot the glow of flames. Rainbow Dash shook her head. “Nah, if it was a forest fire, we’d probably see the smoke too. I’ll bet it’s just somepony with a campfire up ahead. But who’d be camping out here besides us?” “Rainbow Dash, if there’s one thing I’m learning from all this, it’s that sometimes one might do better to have no assumptions about what lies ahead,” Rarity replied as she peered through the trees. “Hmm... Ah! There, I can see it! There’s a faint glow over through those trees up ahead.” Applejack stood beside her, peering along Rarity’s pointing forehoof. “Oh yeah, I see it now… Yeah, can’t be anythin’ bigger than a campfire.” “Do you think it might be whom we were meant to avoid on the path?” Twilight inquired. The cowpony nodded. “I’d bet my hat on it.” As they silently approached the glow of the far-off campfire, Applejack saw to her delight that her hat was in no danger of being forfeit. She and the others peeked through the branches of a bush on the outside of a clearing, and saw three figures sitting around a small, crudely-made campfire. Rarity gasped, nearly giving herself away. “It’s them! It’s…it’s…them!” The three beasts, the shortest almost twice as tall as a pony, were sitting hunched around the campfire, their gargantuan paws holding a long branch with various leaves and roots skewered into a crude imitation of a kebab. Each wore a tattered and ragged vest, far more ragged than the last time Rarity and her friends had encountered them, and a black collar around their neck, decorated with a single yellow jewel. Everypony recognised them in an instant. “Diamond Dogs!” Twilight spat under her breath. Like her friends, she held no fond memories of the savage creatures. “What are they doing this far out here? I thought they lived near Ponyville, in the rock-quarries!” But before anypony could reply, one of the dogs, the biggest of the doglike creatures began to speak. “Rrgh, veggibles yesterday night, veggibles tonight, and dig me an ‘ole if it not look like veggibles again tomorrer!” grumbled Fido, the largest of the Diamond Dogs. “We not had a good bit of food for weeks now! No fish, no big juicy cave-grubs, not a scrap of meat for ages… “Shuttup, big lug! You’re makin’ me hungry too now!” The smallest dog threw a twig at his massive companion, which bounced off Fido’s skull. Turning his attention to the third Diamond Dog, he yapped, “You said we’d find lotsa gems up these ways, Rover! Well, we’re far away from home, stuck in the middle of a forest, no good caves for miles around, no food and no gems! I could eat a horse right now, I’m so hungry!” “Oh, be quiet, Spot!” Rover muttered, clapping a paw to his ears to block out the smaller dog’s whines. “There’s plenty of gems up this way. We just gotta go a bit further. There’s mountains up in the northlands called the Crystal Mountains…” “Crystal Mountains?” Fido grunted. “Why’re they called that?” “Well obviously it’s because of the lovely forests, why do you think?!” Fido deadpanned. Rarity had to bite her hoof to stop herself from giggling aloud at the three bickering dogs. As cruel as they had been to her, they were amusing in a strange way, especially when arguing. “C’mon, we’d better get moving,” whispered Twilight. “You heard them, if they spot us they probably wouldn’t be above eating us. We can sneak around them if we’re silent.” But Rarity had other ideas. “Oh but Twilight, it would be rude to pass them by without at least saying hello,” she crooned, a smile of malicious glee on her face. Before anypony could stop her, she had donned her hood and pushed through the bushes into the clearing. Sneaking close to the campfire, she cleared her voice and gracefully stumbled into the firelight. “Oh my! Oh, woe is me!” Rarity cried in mock-fright. “A pack of vagabonds and bandits! Whatever shall I do?” The Diamond Dogs whipped their heads around as Rarity stumbled gracefully into their campsite. The looks of surprise on their faces turned to cold grins as they recognised the form of a small pony beneath the cloak. “Ooh, what luck!” barked Rover, ignorant of the mocking tone of Rarity’s voice. “Some poor pony lost in the woods!” “Huhuh, looks like we’re eating meat tonight!” chuckled Fido in his gravelly voice. Spot was up and before Rarity before the others, a knobbly club in hand. “May as well give up, pony! Three of us, one of you, and you got nothing to protect yerself!” “Oh I wouldn’t say that.” Rarity replied in a deceptively calm voice, before tossing back her hood. The three Diamond Dogs froze on the spot, weapons forgotten by their feet. Their eyes, wide with shock and fear, were set firmly on the white unicorn that they had hoped to never cross paths with again. “Hello, gents. Remember me?” she asked, with a flutter of her eyelashes. “Y’know, those dogs run pretty fast for such short legs,” Rainbow Dash commented as she and the other ponies went about searching through the now abandoned Diamond Dog camp. “You’d be runnin’ too if ya knew ya were about to be on the recievin’ end of Rarity’s whinin’!” Applejack said with a wry grin. Rarity smirked back. “I’ll take that as a compliment. Ooh, emeralds!” Her smirk turned to a smile of delight as she exhumed a small bag of the shining green jewels from one of the dogs’ tents. “pee-yew! Will those dogs never learn to bathe?!” Fluttershy hung back, nervously pawing at the dirt as she watched her friends rifling through the dogs’ tents and bags. “Erm… isn’t it a bit…well, mean, just taking their stuff like this? I mean, they didn’t even do anything to us.” Pinkie popped her head out from within a tent. “Of course it’s fine, Fluttershy! They even said so. It was kinda hard to make out, but I definitely heard one of them say…” Pinkie then hunched her back, exaggeratingly copying the Diamond Dogs’ snarling faces, and shrieked in a whining, mewling imitation of Rover’s voice, “AAGH! Just take them! Take all of it, just don’t let the white pony start talking again! Please, her voice is unbearable!!” The little performance had the six friends laughing together, even getting a little giggle out of Fluttershy. As they went through the campsite, Applejack stumbled on a strange little device. “Hey Twi, whadaya make of this?” she called as she looked over the contraption. On a simple frame embedded in the ground, there hung a small bell made of tarnished brass. To the top of the bell there was tied an incredibly thin black string, which ran along the ground out of the campsite and through the woods. When Twilight took a look over the strange setup, she followed the black string as best as she could through the trees, until she found herself by the path again. Stooping low, she found the string looped around a tiny wooden stake planted on either side of the path, stretching the string across. Twilight tentatively tugged at the nearly-invisible string, and heard the response from the campsite of the ringing bell. “Ah, so that’s it. See, Applejack? A tripwire.” Twilight got back up as she explained the simple trap to Applejack. “Anypony who comes down here wouldn’t be able to see the tripwire, so they’d trigger the trap and make the bell ring.” “So then those dogs would know somepony’s comin’ down the road, and rush off to ambush them!” Applejack finished. “Y’know, for snarlin’ beasts, those Diamond Dogs can be cunning if they wanna be.” Moments later, they were joined on the path by the other four ponies, saddlebags now resupplied with what little food they could find at the campsite, as well as a few bags of jewels (Rarity insisted that she was not stealing, but liberating them). “Well, no sense in tirin’ ourselves out by avoidin’ the path, now that we’ve gotten past the dangerous bit.” Applejack reasoned, shrugging her saddlebags onto her back. Rainbow Dash took a moment to wrap her Wonderbolts scarf around her neck. “So, everypony ready?” The five ponies all voiced their unanimous ‘yes’, though Rarity was a little late on the delivery as she was donning her fabulous feathered hat. “Alright then, let’s get going!” And with that, the six ponies continued on their way away from the campsite and down the road, the Crystal Mountains looming ever nearer with every step. After what seemed like hours of hiking, the six ponies finally came to a merciful stop. The path had come to a stop in a small grove where the trees were less dense, by the base of a particularly high hill. Or possibly it was a particularly short mountain. Or something in-between, but either way it was different to the previous hills and rocky outcrops: the stone was a light purplish-grey colour, and twinkled ever-so-slightly in the light of the moon, which hung high in the sky above. Somehow, despite her exhaustion, Twilight was able to conjure up another of her magical fires, which bathed the campsite in an ethereal purple glow. Unable to face the exhausting task of cooking food, the ponies settled for a quick bed-night snack, rummaging through their bags for apples, mouthfuls of trail-mix or just a swig of water, before unfolding their cloaks back into blankets, and curling up for some much-needed restful sleep. For whatever reason, however, Rainbow Dash found her sleep to be anything but restful. Tossing and turning, she mumbled and groaned aloud; asleep, but unable to relax. Finally she gave up, her eyes snapping open once more and staring up at the dark sky above. It was then that she noticed that she was not the only pony awake at that hour. “Rainbow Dash? Are you awake?” whispered a demure voice from her side. Rainbow rolled over and saw Fluttershy looking back at her. “Mm… Yeah, I dunno what it is, I just can’t settle down and just go to sleep,” Rainbow replied. “I guess I’m not used to sleeping on the ground like this. I mean, the blanket’s nice and all, but nothin’ beats a good cloud.” The rainbow-haired pegasus sat up, staring up at the high, dark trees that surrounded them. “I’d probably fly up and catch a snooze in one of those trees, but…” “But something about them makes you uneasy?” interrupted Fluttershy. Rainbow Dash nodded. Fluttershy continued, “I’m feeling that too. It’s like I said earlier, something feels… off about them. They’re so different to the trees near my cottage back…back h-home.” She swallowed. The mere mention of home brought a lump up in her throat. She did not want to say anything, but Rainbow could definitely see the first signs of tears welling up in her friend’s eyes. Oh please don’t, she thought to herself. I’m no good with crying ponies. I’m clueless with all that sensitive stuff.. But as soon as she heard the first near-inaudible sobs from Fluttershy, instinct too over and she huddled up by her side. Needing no second bidding, Fluttershy leaned in and buried her face in Rainbow’s fur. “You’re homesick, huh?” asked Rainbow softly. Fluttershy nodded, unable to reply without whimpering and sobbing. “Ssh, it’s alright. I mean, it’s not like you’ve never been away from Ponyville like this before.” “B-but, those times were d-different,” whimpered Fluttershy. Rainbow put a reassuring hoof around her withers. “How? We’ve been out travelling on the road like this before.” “Yes, but those times, we actually knew w-where we were going!” She had a point. Rainbow stopped a moment and thought back on the startlingly extensive list of long, epic adventures that she and her friends had gone on in their years together. True enough, every time there had been a definite destination, be it some delivery or artefact, or some plant, or an event happening in the next town that they had been invited to. “And then there’s now,” Fluttershy continued, “when we’re up here in these dark woods in a part of Equestria we’ve never been to and… well, I don’t want to doubt Twilight’s theories, but… Oh Rainbow Dash, what if there are no Tears of Gaia, and this whole trip was a waste and…and…oohh!” She could say no more as the floodgates at last opened and she broke down in quiet little sobs. Rainbow Dash did her best to calm her friend, cuddling up close to her and hushing her gently. “Ssh, c’mon now. Lemme tell ya somethin’.” Fluttershy sniffled a bit and looked at Rainbow with red eyes. “First of all, if Twilight says these Tear things are out here, I’m willing to believe her. I’m pretty sure she wouldn’t let us come with her if she was just acting on a hunch and nothing else,” she reasoned. Fluttershy wiped at her eyes with a forehoof. “Well… I guess that’s true.” The blue pegasus went on, “And even if it was all a big bust, even if we finally get to wherever these Tears are, and there’s nothin’ there, I wouldn’t call this trip a waste.” “You… You wouldn’?” She shook her head with a proud smile. “No way. Think about it Fluttershy. We’ve been on the road for… what, four nights? And what have we seen already?” “Um… Well, we saw those grassy fields, we saw that little inn, the Warm Welcome… Erm… Oh, Neighagra Falls-” “Neighagra Falls, yeah! That was pretty awesome, right?” Rainbow nodded encouragingly. Fluttershy shrugged. “Yes, but what about those monsters that attacked us before we reached the falls? What about that kelpie, Rainbow Dash?” “Aww c’mon Fluttershy, quit looking at just the negatives! We’ve seen awesome stuff on this trip and you know it!” Rainbow replied, playfully poking Fluttershy on the nose. She was relieved to see a smile hesitantly sneaking up on the shy pony’s face. “Sure we’ve run into some nasty stuff on the way, but that’s what makes it an adventure! Otherwise, it’d just be a week-long hike with nothing happening! “And besides,” Rainbow lay back down and pulled the blanket up to her chin. “At least you’ll have some stories to tell when we get back.” Fluttershy gazed down at her friend lying beside her, and smiled. Scooting a little closer to Rainbow, she snuggled down in her blankets and at last, she felt sleep slowly overcoming her. Suddenly, everything seemed much more peaceful and calm, with less of that feeling of tension in the air. The sky above was just the same as back in Ponyville. The trees, as foreign and strange as they felt, seemed less intimidating. And even the orange, glowing eyes that peered at her through the thick branches… Wait, what?! She sprang upright, eyes riveted on the amber orbs that stood out in the darkness. Fumbling with a forehoof, she frantically tapped the sleepy bundle of feathers and blanket that was Rainbow Dash on the shoulder. “Mmph, c’mon Fluttershy…” the rainbow mare mumbled. “You’ve had your motivational speech, now it’s time to sleep already… “But Rainbow Dash…” “Look, I can sympathise that you’re homesick and all, but…” “Rainbow Dash, just look!” Forcibly rolling her over, Fluttershy pointed desperately towards the trees. Rainbow squinted, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. Her eyes snapped wide open as she spotted the eyes, staring back at her and Fluttershy. Then another pair of eyes started glaring at them. And another. And another. “Twilight, Twilight, wake up!” Rainbow reached over and shook the sleeping unicorn that lay by her side. Twilight sleepily opened her eyes. “Mmm, what is it…?” she muttered. In answer, there came a deep, guttural snarling from the orange eyed creatures in the trees. All around them, the six ponies all came to, freezing stock still as they made eye contact with the amber-coloured orbs. “Everypony huddle around me, right now.” Twilight whispered hastily. “Whatever are those things?!” Rarity whimpered as she cowered close, her exquisite blanket forgotten on the ground. As if on cue, the beasts advanced into the clearing, and a large, clawed, wooden paw stepped into the firelight. “Timberwolves!” Applejack said aloud, her voice hoarse with fear. Indeed they were, monstrous things, nearly twice the size of a normal wolf, with a skin seemingly made of bark, hackles of twigs and pine-needles, and eyes like solid chunks of amber. She and her family had dealt with such beasts back home for years, but she knew how vicious they could be. “O’ course! Wooden ones with amber eyes, just like the riddle said!” The six ponies cowered closer and closer together, until they were practically piled ontop of eachother. “Pinkie Pie, get your pots and pans out, and start bangin’ them together, smart like!” Applejack muttered out of the corner of her mouth. Pinkie nodded fearfully, fumbling to reach her saddlebags without separating from the group. Again and again, the strap slipped from her grasp as the timberwolves crept nearer and nearer, sap oozing from their mouths in a gruesome imitation of salivation. “Anytime, Pinkie!” Rarity said, barely able to keep herself from shrieking as the wolves came ever closer. But Pinkie was unable to keep her hooves from shaking, and the pot slipped from her grasp. The clanking noise of it hitting the ground drove the wolves back for the briefest moment, but it was not long before they began to advance towards their terrified prey. “NOW, Pinkie!” Shouted Twilight. But there was no time. Channelling her magic into her horn, she concentrated it and refined it, preparing to let loose with a barrage of magic missiles. She might not be able to cause damage, but they might be able to hold them back… But before she could churl any such eldritch blasts, a voice, strong and commanding, rang out through the grove, “TAKE COVER!” In an instant, a bolt of ruddy-yellow light seared through the air above the six mares, slamming into the ground between them and the timberwolves with an earsplitting CRACK! The lupine monsters reeled back in fright from the sudden light and noise. Before they had a chance to regroup, another blast of yellow magic came close to zapping them, and they fled into the darkness of the trees. As the echoes of the snarling timberwolves faded into the darkness, silence fell over the grove once more, broken only by the soft thump of approaching hoofsteps. Still gripping eachother tightly for dear life, the ponies turned around and stared at the direction where the magical bolts seem to come from. Through the dark, there approached the figure of a pony, clad in a long, heavy cloak, and a tall pointed hat. As he came into the clearing, the ponies suddenly became aware of a new sound that followed the newcomer. A minute ring of tiny bells, that jingled and sang with every step. He came into the clearing, and was visible in the light finally. It was a stallion, a little shorter than Big Macintosh and not as well built, and obviously well on in his years, his dirty-blonde coat and hazel eyes faded with age. A long silver mane flowed from beneath his blue, pointed hat, and a full thick beard sprouted from his chin, reaching almost to his hooves. He cleared his throat, the bells hanging from the hem of his cloak and hat jingling as he did so, before pointing with a forehoof at Twilight and speaking in a deep voice, “Ahem, Twilight Sparkle, I presume?” Twilight was only able to nod feebly as she stared with wide eyes at Starswirl the Bearded, the greatest conjurer of the pre-classical era, before keeling over and fainting on the spot.