“No, no, this can’t be happening! I saw her die! She can’t be doing this! This can’t be possible! No, no...” Michael was inconsolable by this point. Not that any of the ponies had tried to do so, yet. They were too busy with each other.
“Jessie? Isn’t that the girl he told us about? The one who is dead?” Rainbow Dash asked her friends.
“Yes, it is. But this doesn’t make any sense! She’s dead, she can’t be terrorizing Equestria!” Twilight added to the confusion.
“Well, I can sure as hay tell he ain’t lying. Whatever’s goin’ on, it has somethin’ to do with that Jessie character.” Applejack turned back to her friends.
“Oh! If that is his friend, does that mean we get to throw her a party too?” Pinkie received five disapproving glares, “You’re right, girls. She doesn’t deserve a party after that!”
“This is just dreadful!” Rarity held a hoof to her forehead, “Poor Michael was so happy just a moment ago.”
“Michael!” Fluttershy was the first to go to his side, but not the last. She held his head to her chest, doing her best to comfort him.
“There has to be something we can do for him!” she was close to tears herself.
The other mares stood around them, in varying degrees of discomfort. None of them knew what to do with the wreck of a man before them, or the tearful pony doing her best to help him.
“Twilight!” Fluttershy cried, “Please! Do something!”
“I-I don’t know,” she stuttered, “What should I do?”
“Something! We can’t just leave him like this!” Rainbow Dash looked as lost as the others.
The prodigious unicorn found herself becoming overwhelmed by the demands to help Michael. Her breathing accelerated, and her horn started to glow. Leaning forward, she touched the tip to his forehead. He stopped moving. He stopped doing anything, actually. He had fallen unconscious, put to sleep by the unicorn’s spell.
“W-what did you do?” Fluttershy spoke, still holding Michael close.
“I-” she started, pausing to take a breath, “I put him to sleep, and gave him good dreams.”
It was then that the six element bearers realized the chaos present around them. Ponies were panicking in the streets, screaming their lungs out. The Cutie Mark Crusaders had awoken from where they had hurriedly been set after Balance’s speech.
“Applejack, what’s goin; on?” Apple Bloom’s voice was weary.
“Don’t worry ‘bout it, AB. We’ll handle everything.” The orange mare told her sister.
“Rarity, why is everypony running around like that?” Sweetie Belle sounded scared.
“It’s okay, Sweetie. I’ll explain, later. We just need to get you home for now.” Rarity’s
voice belied the comfort she was trying to express.
“You’ll handle anything bad, right Rainbow?” Scootaloo sounded the most confident out
of the three.
“Of course, squirt,” the speedy pegasus ruffled Scootaloo’s mane. “Let’s just get you home.”
"Okay, you three take the girls home, then get back here as soon as you can! Pinkie
Pie, Fluttershy, we need to get Michael inside." Twilight took on a commanding tone. Five heads nodded in response, and the ponies set off to their respective tasks.
“You two take an arm, I’ll levitate his legs. We’ll put him on my spare bed for now.” The bookish unicorn told them.
Fluttershy sniffled a couple of times, and took his right arm over her back. Pinkie wrapped his left over hers, and said “Why can’t you just carry all of him in your magic? He’s not that heavy, even with all that cake in him.”
“I would,” Twilight responded, as a magenta glow covered everything below Michael’s waist, “But I feel an odd resistance to my magic whenever I use it on him.”
“Magic doesn’t work on him? That’s awesome! He could just walk right up to that weird ‘Balance’ lady and she couldn’t do anything to stop him!” Pinkie would have been bouncing in excitement, if not for the dead weight on her shoulders.
“No, magic works just fine. But it’s like it effects him differently. My only theory is that it is because he isn’t from our world, and there’s something fundamentally different about his body. I’m afraid that if I use too much on him at once, there could be some dangerous side effects.” Twilight explained, moving forward with the others.
Pinkie Pie had a face of dawning comprehension, and said nothing more on the subject. The three walked inside the library, Fluttershy occasionally glancing at his face, as if she were checking to make sure the spell had done as Twilight had said.
“Spike!” the only unicorn present called, “Get the spare bed out, now!”
The young dragon came running down the stairs, shouting “Twilight! What happened? Who was that voice? What was she talking about? What is going on?”
“Spike!” she repeated, more forcefully, “Get the spare bed out, now!.”
He looked at the three ponies, and their burden. Pinkie Pie didn’t seem to be having any trouble, but Twilight had a look of intense concentration on her face, and Fluttershy was trembling occasionally.
“What happened to him?” Spike asked, pointing to Michael. Twilight gave him a stern look, one that spelled no good things for the young reptile.
“Spare bed, that’s right! Coming right up!” he dashed to the basement, and the girls hear a cacophony of clanging noises come from the lower level.
Spike was quick to return, following the urgent signals he had gotten from the ponies. He made quick work of the bed, setting it up in the main room in a manner of minutes. With the frame set up, he dragged the old mattress up the stairs, and did his best to place it evenly on the construct.
The three mares set Michael on the bed as quick as they could, and each let out a sigh of relief once the weight was gone. It was then that the shouts of the panicking ponies outside finally registered in their minds.
“Oh, no! I need to get out there and help!” Twilight was already halfway out of the library, “Pinkie Pie, you can come with me! Fluttershy, Spike, stay here with Michael, in case he wakes up!”
Pinkie gave her a stout salute, and was soon beside her. “You got it, Twilight!”
The two were almost out the door, when it blasted open.
“Twilight Sparkle!” A loud voice called, “Your Princess demands your presence!”
“Princess Luna!” Twilight nearly fell over at the sudden stop she had to make.
“Yes, tis I!” her voice had not changed volume. She cleared her throat, and added in a quieter voice, “I apologize for using the Royal Canterlot voice like that. But it was quite effective in bringing the populace to order.”
“The populace? So you have things under control?” Twilight leaned to the side, trying to look past the Princess of the Night.
“Yes, my night guard is handling the situation. But I am here to gather you and the other elements.” Luna took a step inside, the door closing behind her by her magic. “My sister was quite insistent that I bring you to Canterlot immediately.”
“Well, of course she was! With the elements, we can handle this ‘Balance’ pony no problem!” Pinkie Pie’s upbeat attitude shone true.
This managed to elicit a small smile out of the other two ponies. “Yes, well, I see a third. But where are your other three friends?” Luna questioned, “And who is lying in bed at a time like this?”
Luna approached the bed, with Fluttershy still hovering over Michael. “O-oh, this is just Michael. I think Twilight told Princess Celestia about him, but umm... I don’t know if she told you.” Fluttershy said to the Princess.
“She did mention that Twilight had found a new creature. But I am afraid that she did not tell me that he would look like this. Are we sure he is safe?” the blue alicorn asked.
“Oh! He wouldn’t hurt anyone, he’s really nice! You should have seen him at the party earlier, he was so happy.” Pinkie came up to the bed, Twilight beside her.
“And then Balance made her announcement,” the studious unicorn added, “After that he started crying. We couldn’t console him, so I put him to sleep.”
Luna had a thoughtful look on her face. “Did you cast a spell to affect his dreams as well?”
“Well, yes, I did. Should I have not?” Twilight became nervous, believing she had done something wrong.
“Hmm, I am not sure. I can feel that his dreams are currently, interesting, to say the least.” Luna was staring intently at the sleeping human. “Perhaps if I,” she didn’t finish her sentence, her indigo magic sparking on her horn.
“Twilight, we’re back!” Rainbow Dash threw the door open as she flew in, Applejack and Rarity behind her. The attention of everypony present snapped to her.
The magic in Luna’s horn dissipated, and she stood straight to speak “Good, you are all present. Now, we must go to Canterlot.”
“Hold on one second, what the hay’s goin’ on here?” Applejack looked at the Princess, “No offense, your majesty.”
“No time to explain!” Twilight told her, “Suffice to say, she’s right. We need to go to Canterlot, now!”
Twilight frantically began to search around the library, grabbing any books she thought held even a smidge of relevance. Spike found himself roped into the task as well, as per usual.
While the manic unicorn dashed to and fro, Luna approached the other three ponies and informed them of the situation. They quickly agreed to go, and in a short while Luna watched as the five ponies trotted out of the library ahead of her. Spike was told to stay behind and keep an eye on the library, to which he readily agreed.
“Wait, five?” she thought, “That’s not right.”
The blue maned princess looked back into the Golden Oaks library, searching for the missing pony. She spotted her, the sixth element who hadn’t left her spot.
“Fluttershy,” she said, “What are you waiting for?”
“I-I can’t just leave!” it took an incredible effort on her part to say that. “Michael needs me!”
That’s right, the human. What was Luna supposed to do about him? From what Twlight Sparkle had told her, he might have some useful information. And it wouldn’t due to leave him there, alone. Gently, she wrapped him in her magical aura and levitated him beside her.
“What is this resistance?” she pondered, glancing at the unconscious human.
“We will take him with us, then.” Fluttershy let out a relieved sigh, and followed the princess. The shy pony was glad that she didn’t have to stand up to royalty anymore.
The ride to the royal city passed mostly in silence. The events of the night were replaying in everypony’s heads as they rode in Luna’s chariot.
Fluttershy felt the cool night breeze flow through her mane. She kept a worried watch on Michael. The Princess had set him down next to her, his slumber unbroken.
“I wonder what he’s dreaming about.” She had taken his hat when Twilight had first put him to sleep. She was clutching it to her chest in worry. Her unicorn friend had told her that he would have good dreams, but only a few minutes later she said she wasn’t certain if her magic affected him like it did ponies. The kind pegasus kept a constant watch on his features, waiting for any sign of discomfort.She wasn’t entirely certain why he meant so much to her. Well, that wasn’t entirely true. She knew that any of her friends would tell her that it was just her kind nature that made her care for him so much.
But at the same time, she hardly knew him. There were few moments during his stay where she actually learned something about him. But at the same time, she still got an impression of his true personality, even before he had changed.
Michael Greenfield, to her, was a strong man. He wasn’t one to let others comfort him, and even less likely to go to them. He could hold his feelings inside for a long time, if only to keep from burdening others. This had been taken to an extreme during the majority of his time in her home. She only knew as much as she did from the few times that his mask cracked, and an emotion leaked through.
He had disappeared one morning, on a day that he was scheduled to work with Applejack. She had watched him leave, and thought nothing was off at the time. But when the farm mare had come to her door, asking where he was, worry reared its head inside of her.
“Michael didn’t show up at the farm?” Was her first reaction.
“Nope, I haven’t seen ‘im all mornin’. He was supposed to help Big Mac with some fences today, too.” Applejack told her, “You know where he might have gotten to?”
“No, I don’t. I hope he’s alright.” Fluttershy stepped outside with Applejack, “Maybe we should go look for him?”
“Sounds good to me. Lead the way.” The two walked down the path from Fluttershy’s cottage, not entirely certain where to start looking.
“I’m sorry, but I haven’t seen him all morning.” Twilight told them when they asked her.
“After the last time when we were almost caught sneaking him into town? No, I’m afraid Michael hasn’t been here.” Was Rarity’s answer.
They finally found a clue when they almost literally ran into Pinkie Pie.
“Oh, I’m sorry about that!” she apologized.
“It’s okay, sugarcube,” Applejack assured her. “Have you seen Michael around anywhere? We’ve been working our flanks off tryin’ to find ‘im.”
Pinkie held a hoof to her chin in thought for a moment, and the two were almost certain they saw a light bulb appear over her head as she said “Oh, yes! I saw him walking towards Zecora’s this morning! I waved to him, but he looked a little busy, so I don’t mind that he didn’t wave back.”
“Zecora’s? What in tarnation is he doin’ ‘round there?” Applejack looked to Fluttershy.
“I don’t know. He’s never said anything about her before.” The pegasus replied.
“Oh, I wish I could go with you! But I’m just on my lunch break, I need to get back to Sugarcube Corner!” Pinkie Pie looked disappointed for a moment, before snapping back to her cheerful demeanor. “I’ll just have to bake him a cake! Oh, but I might not be able to get it to him for a few days, we’ve got a lot of orders to do! See you later, girls!” she shouted as she bounded off to work.
The two just waved to her as she left, making their own way to the Everfree Forest. The short journey passed in silence, both contemplating why someone like Michael had bothered to go to see Zecora.
“Well, shoot. I don’t think I could possibly know until we jus’ go up an’ ask ‘im.” The orange pony shook her head.
Fluttershy just nodded her head as they turned a corner, putting Zecora’s home in sight. The door was shut, and neither zebra nor human could be seen as they walked up to the hut.
As Applejack was about to knock on the door, it swung open.
“Oh, Applejack,” Michael looked down to her face, “I apologize for not showing up to work. I had something I needed to ask Zecora. I’ll go straight to the farm now, see you there.”
Both Fluttershy and Applejack just looked on dumbfounded as he walked away, as though nothing had happened.
“Ah Applejack, Fluttershy. How good to see you, though I must ask, why?” Zecora greeted them from the still open doorway.
“Oh, we were just looking for Michael. And we found him, so we’ll just get out of your mane.” Fluttershy started to turn away.
“Now hold on a second there, I’d like to know why he was here at all.” Applejack put a hoof on Fluttershy’s shoulder, keeping her there.
“It was no great task, he just had a question to ask.” Zecora answered.
“A question? What kind of question?” Applejack looked downright confused.
“I’m afraid I can not just answer that on a whim. For the answer, you must ask him”
“Well, thanks to ya anyways. Come on, Fluttershy. We’ll jus’ have to ask ‘im at the farm.” Applejack turned away. “You comin’, Fluttershy?”
“Yeah, just a second. I’ll catch up with you.” She answered, receiving a nod as an answer.
She looked back to her zebra friend, and asked “It wasn’t anything bad, was it?”
“No, of that you can be sure. He may not show it, but his heart is pure.” Zecora gave her a smile.
“Thank you, Zecora. I’d stay and visit, but I should catch up with Applejack.” Fluttershy returned the smile.
“It is okay. I am just glad to see my friends, even if you can not stay.” The zebra waved to her friend as Fluttershy flew away.Quickly catching up with Applejack, the two weren’t long from Sweet Apple Acres.
They found Michael waiting at the border of the farm, leaning against the fence.
“Applejack, Fluttershy.” He nodded to the both of them.
“Michael,” Applejack said, “Would you mind tellin’ us why you were out there?”
“Applejack!” Fluttershy gave her friend a shocked look, “Couldn’t you have been more gentle?”
“It’s okay, Fluttershy,” he told her, “That’s just who Applejack is. And to answer your question, I was asking Zecora if she had found anything unusual in the forest. I recently realized that I had a few things with me when I arrived, and I have lost them.”
“What kinds of things?” Fluttershy asked.
“My wallet, and a pair of reading glasses. I had originally assumed that they simply had not come with me. My memory of my first day in Equestria is hazy, at best.” He looked away “Zecora hasn’t seen them.”
Neither pony knew what to do. His voice showed no emotion, but some body language was universal, it would seem. The way he avoided eye contact with them, and his slow movements belied his neutral mask.
“Well, that’s a shame to hear. I’m sure that they’ll turn up eventually, though, don’t you worry!” Applejack patted his hand with her hoof.
“It is okay, Applejack. We should just get to work.” He walked past her and into the farm.
“Okay then... See you later I suppose, Fluttershy.” Applejack spoke slowly, catching up to the sudden way Michael had moved on.
“O-okay,” Fluttershy replied, “I guess I’ll just head home.”
She spent the rest of the day worried about Michael. But when he came home, he seemed fine.
Now, though, looking at his face as he slept she could only wish she had pushed harder to comfort him. All of the pain he hid, how could she had let him push it all down? Maybe if she hadn’t let him bottle up his emotions, if she had forced him to talk about it, he wouldn’t have had his meltdown. Maybe he could have been happy sooner. And maybe he wouldn’t be in a forced sleep, with a good dream implanted into his mind.
“Now don’t go beatin’ yerself up about ‘im. It isn’t your fault, sugarcube.” Applejack’s familiar accent broke through her thoughts.
“I-I know,” she said softly, “But I just can’t help but think that I could have done something better.”
“You did everything you could! It’s the rest of us who should have done more.” Twilight stepped into the conversation.
“Yeah! I shouldn’t have treated him so badly, for one.” Rainbow added.
“And I should have seen how tortured his soul truly was. You can learn a lot about a person through their clothes, you know.” Rarity helped to comfort her friend.
“But he was happy just a little while ago! We all saw that smile he had! That was something special. You can take my word on that, I’m an expert when it comes to smiles!” Pinkie Pie joined the group.
Fluttershy looked at the comforting smiles each of her friends were giving her. “Th-thank you. I guess I needed that.” She wiped a tear away.
“Oh, come here!” Pinkie Pie said, wrapping her up in a hug. The other four were quick to join, and soon all six with wrapped up in a giant hug.
“We’ll be landing soon,” Luna said to them. She was smiling at the touching scene that had happened only a few feet from her.
They separated as the chariot landed. Luna was quick to lead them away from the grassy knoll they had landed on, and into the throne room. She instructed several servants along the way to take Michael one of the nearest guest rooms. Fluttershy barely managed to give them his hat before they were out of reach.
“Ah, how good to see you my little ponies.” Celestia greeted them from the throne as they bowed before her. “I only wish we were meeting under better terms.”
“So do you want us to go get the elements of harmony, find Balance, and kick her flank?” Rainbow Dash spoke up, her voice eager.
“I wish it were that simple,” Celestia said, “But there is a slight problem with that solution.”
The gathered ponies looked at their ruler, her head hung low in worry.
“Sister,” said Luna from her position beside her sibling, “You did not say there was a problem with the elements before I left.”
“I did not know then that there was. I had been busy directing the guards in the city, and only was able to go to them after you had left.” She explained, levitating the chest containing them from behind her throne. “It was then that I discovered that something was out of place.”
The lid to the chest opened, and everypony present looked inside.
“I don’t get it, Princess. They look fine.” Twilight gave her teacher a quizzical look.
“Think, Twilight. Does something about them feel different?”
She, along with her friends stared at the elements intensely. Luna’s eyes widened, and she looked to her side at her sister. Celestia merely nodded to her, but said nothing. Luna understood that she wanted the other six to discover on their own.
“I think I know what you’re talking about.” Twilight said, “It’s like their magic is just, gone.” Apprehension spread through the others, and they quickly agreed.
“Yeah!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed, “Usually when I touch my element, I feel extra happy and excited! But now it just feels like a boring old necklace!”
“While I would hardly call them boring, Pinkie does have a point.” Rarity added.
“What’s goin’ on here, Princess?” Applejack asked their ruler.
Celestia took a deep breath, and looked each of them in the eye. “I myself took some time to discover that. From what I can tell, a magical force swept over them, negating their abilities. I became more worried than I had ever known when I realized this, but something else occurred to me. I had already felt their magic tonight, I just hadn’t realized it. When it swept over me, I thought it was simply them reacting to the shockwave Balance sent out. However, I was wrong.”
Both Twilight and Luna took on a look of shock. “No no no! That can’t be possible! There is no way that could be possible!” Twilight shook her head, fear evident in her voice.
“What can’t be possible?” Rainbow was quite confused at this point, and she wasn’t alone.
“The magical shock wave that spread over Equestria before Balance’s announcement had the same magical properties as the elements of harmony.” Twilight’s voice was filled with dread.
They all looked to Celestia for confirmation. She nodded her head solemnly.
“Sister, what are we to do?” Luna asked as the others digested the new information.
“I am afraid that we have no choice but to defeat Balance without the elements of harmony.”
“Without the elements? How are we supposed to do that? It’s not possible!” Twilight’s mane begun to fray in places.
“Have you already forgotten that you did just that in the Crystal Empire?” Celestia told her, Luna “I know that it will not be easy, but I have confidence that together we can stand up to this new threat.”
Bolstered by their leader’s confidence, the six ponies calmed down and stood tall. “What do you need us to do?” Twilight asked.
“That’s the spirit, my little ponies.” Celestia smiled at her subjects. “First, we will need information. Can any of you tell me anything about Balance?”
They all looked around, thinking hard. It was Fluttershy who spoke up. “Well, Michael did say something before Twilight put him to sleep.”
“Yeah, that’s right! He was talking about that girl he knew. Jessie, I think.” Rainbow added.
Celestia took a moment to think on the new information.:”If that is the case, then we will have to question him. Where is he right now?”
Luna explained that she had him taken a a guest room. Celestia nodded her head, and stood. The elements of harmony floated from their chest, and onto each of their bearers.
“Hold onto these,” Celestia told them, “They may not be able to help much, but they are still valuable. And perhaps their magic will return to them in time.”
They made their way to the room Michael was sleeping in, directed their by one of the servants who had brought him to the room. Soon after, all eight of them stood gathered around his bed, watching him sleep.
“I suppose we should wake him up,” said Twilight. She shook his shoulder with her hoof when the other agreed.
“Odd,” Fluttershy said after almost a whole minute of Twilight trying to wake him, “He’s usually a very light sleeper.”
Luna stepped closer, and said “Perhaps I could try something.” She touched her horn to his head, and it glowed for a moment. She lifted her head again, and said “I believe your spell has had a much stronger effect on him than you intended, Twilight Sparkle.”
“How so?” her eyes were filled with anxiety. She didn’t want to believe that she had hurt Michael, but she had done something.
“You used a spell designed for ponies on the mind of a human. It appears to have placed him in a magical coma.” The younger Princess explained. “The only way I know of to wake him without the risk of damaging his mind is to enter his dreams and convince him to awaken from there.”
“Sister, are you sure of this?” Celestia asked.
“Yes. If the spell were forcibly broken, there is a very high chance that his mind would follow.” Luna kept her tone as calm as she could. The smaller ponies around her, however, were not so. Twilight’s head was on the floor, her hooves on top as she muttered to herself. Pinkie Pie and Rarity were trying to comfort her, while Applejack and Rainbow Dash were doing the same for Fluttershy. The timid pony had begun to tear up when Luna told them of Michael’s condition.
“Very well,” Celestia said, looking at her subjects, “Each of you and Luna will have to enter his mind, and awaken him from there.”
They all looked at her. Every one of them looked ready to help their human friend. But Luna burst their bubble.
“I am afraid that won’t be possible. I can take two of them in with me, but no more. My magic can not stretch that far. I am sorry, sister.” She looked down, ashamed of her inability.
“That is okay, Luna.” Celestia’s tone was comforting, “We will have to make do with that.”
“But, Princess, who will she take with her?” Twilight looked to her mentor.
“I think that the six of you should decide that.” The solar Princess told her. They looked at each other, and huddled into a circle.
“Okay, girls, who should do this?” Rarity asked.
“I will,” Twilight said, “I’m the one who put him is this situation. I should be the one to get him out.”
The others nodded in agreement, except for Fluttershy. She looked like she had something to say, but didn’t want to speak up.
“Oh! Oh! Can I go! I bet he’s having super cool dreams right now!” Pinkie Pie’s peppy tone made the others chuckle.
“I don’t think that’d be the best idea, sugarcube.And I don’t think I should go in, either. Can’t say I know a whole lot about magic.” Applejack added.
“Well, I would love to help him but I’m afraid I just don’t know him that well.” Rarity chimed in.
“I should totally go in! With my awesomeness, there’s no way he won’t wake up!” Rainbow Dash pumped one of her hooves.
Twilight looked around the huddle, and asked “Does anyone have a problem with Rainbow and I going in?”
They all seemed to agree. They were about to break the huddle, when Fluttershy spoke up. “I don’t think you should go in, Twilight.”
They all looked at her in confusion, “What do you mean, darling?” Rarity asked.
“Well, it’s just that magic is what got us into this mess. I don’t think it would be a good idea to bring more magic into it than we have to. I think that maybe I should go, instead. I know him the best, after all.” Fluttershy looked at her friends, “I-if that’s alright with everyone.”
Twilight took a deep breath, and a moment to think. “I agree. As much as I feel responsible for this, I don’t want to make the situation worse. Fluttershy, you and Rainbow Dash should go with Luna.” She looked around at them, “Any objections?” They all shook their heads, and informed the Princesses of their decision.
“Very well,” Luna said to them, “Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, stand by my side. I will take us into his dream.”
The two pegasi did as they were instructed. Luna’s horn began to glow a brilliant blue, which enveloped all three of them, and Michael.
The remaining five watched the spectacle unfold. Slowly, the magical field faded, leaving two pegasi and one alicorn asleep on the floor next to Michael.
“What do we do now, Princess?” Twilight asked, looking up to her mentor.
“For now, we do the only thing we can. Wait, and hope they are successful,” was her answer.
Just as the only awake occupants of the room began to sit and discuss their situation, a guard burst in through the door.
“Princess!” he shouted, “There’s a situation in the garden!”
Celestia was immediately alert, “Tell me more,”
The guard took a moment to breath, clearly having sprinted. He stood up straight, and began :”It’s-”
He was interrupted by a magical force that flung him from the room. Each of the ponies present were on high alert, looking around for the source of the magic.
The doors slammed shut. They all jumped at the sharp slam, before looking around even more frantically.
“Show yourself!” Celestia commanded.
Whatever was in the room took this in the opposite direction, however. Every light immediately went out, and every window became dark.
“Princess, what’s going on?” Twilight asked, afraid.
“I’m not sure, Twilight. Just stay calm, I will keep us safe.”
A light came then from behind them. They all spun around, and watched as a circle of fire formed in the air, standing vertical. It separated into many smaller balls, and begun to spin. It’s rotations came faster, and it started to shrink. Eventually it compressed into one large fireball, burning higher than Celestia was tall.
It was then that features started to form in the blaze. First, the arm of a lion. Then, the antler of a deer. Following that was the wing of a bat. And then, two yellow eyes gazed upon the ponies, the red pupils boring into them. The pyre disappeared then, replaced by a creature that seemed to be made of many others.
“Oh, it is good to be back!” It said, its voice clearly male, “And so soon!”
Celestia glared at him, and hissed “Discord.”