Chapter 5 - Freedom
Written by TheLunarArmy
Edited by Ezn and SciontheKitsune
The entire Canterlot castle was dead quiet as two of the most powerful ponies in Equestria stared at each other in a grim showdown. On the one side there was the infamous, former, dark mare of the moon, Princess Luna, well-known for her harsh treatment of traitors and Princess Celestia’s magical equivalent. Twilight Sparkle was on the opposite side of the large room, standing on a velvet carpet lined with the royal pony sisters' insignia. The purple unicorn was also well respected by the Canterlot population, if not by her peers, then certainly by the various lecturer ponies from the School for gifted Unicorns; many of whom were standing behind the guards blocking the doors.
The dark alicorn bore a very displeased and subtly angry face; one could cut the tension with a knife. The whole room remained absolutely still, as nopony dared to make a move on either pony. Twilight knew she was in serious trouble. She had one plan to get out. This was her only chance to save Rainbow Dash.
"Twilight. Just, stop," said Luna, "I will not let you leave with that tome. You don't understand what power you are dealing with..."
Twilight angrily snapped back at the alicorn.
"No Princess. It is you who don't understand friendship."
All the spectators in the room started to whisper to one another.
"Twilight, I know this must be hard for you, but this is not how you should save your friend. You may be loyal to her, but there are safer ways to..."
"No no no!" cried the Twilight, "For the first time in my life I have real friends who didn't abandon me when I needed them most. And now I can't face them. All because I led them into danger and somepony got hurt!"
Her face was pouring with tears, but the distressed pony still held a focused, somewhat angry, glare at Luna.
"Maybe if you never showed up... Princess..."
Twilight suddenly realized what she said. How could she? Nightmare Moon wasn't Luna's fault! Oh, by Celestia, what have I done? Scorned the unicorn.
"That is enough, Twilight. I promise if you back down, then we will pardon this entire episode and I will escort you back to Ponyville. Rainbow Dash needs you at her side, not going crazy and dipping into dark magics."
The crowd gasped in disbelief. Princess Celestia's most powerful student? A dark unicorn? This certainly caused everyone to stir, and a few of Twilight's former lecturers even fainted. The guards were now on full alert, drawing swords, pikes and various other weapons, clenching them in their mouths.
Suddenly Twilight's saddlebag flung open, casting a blinding light throughout the entire room. The mystical book and her Element had somehow reacted with one another, causing the entire room to become frozen in time. All of the guards, ponies and staff remained absolutely motionless, no pony blinked moved or even breathed! Twilight looked around, noticing all the various expressions on every pony's face as they remained static in position.
Twilight opened her saddlebag to take a look inside the ledger. Inscribed on the front page was a note. Strangely, it was directed at her.
Twilight Sparkle, guardian of Magic.
This codex was written to preserve the power of those who need it most.
In dire situations it has the power to pause time for a single hour.
Use this time to accomplish goals you would otherwise not be able to.
Be warned that after the sixty minutes expire, so will these pages.
Act wisely.
Wasting no time, Twilight sprinted past the idle alicorn and straight towards Ponyville. She could feel her muscles ache but it didn't stop her. Nothing could hold her back from her goal. She continued to read the black ledger while maintaining a steady pace towards home.
<>--<>
After about forty minutes worth of running, Twilight finally managed to get back inside her library. Everything was still frozen, and naturally the noiseless, motionless surroundings gave hollow conjecture. The unicorn's mind was racing with all the various incantations she had memorized; all this while fighting the exhaustion from the punishing run she just endured. Twilight took a few seconds to catch her breath before placing the large book in front of Dash. She had about fifteen minutes before the spell wore off.
She opened the ledger with her magic and turned to the section she was looking for. Page 645: Unbinding non-unicorns from arcane comas.
The instructions were clear and precise. This would be the first time Twilight was to attempt a powerful spell without the help of Spike. So after a nervous sigh, she closed her eyes and mimicked the words from the page, causing her horn to glow with an ominous orange haze. Various symbols appeared around Dash, cryptically branding themselves into the wood floor. Additionally, some arcane halo-like chains wrapped around the pegasus, covering her body, hooves and wings in a bright orange snare.
Twilight opened her eyes and yelled the enchantment while bowing her head to focus the built-up magic straight at Rainbow Dash's stomach. In a beautiful display of colour, a powerful streak of light extruded from Twilight's horn and sliced right into Dash's flesh. However, it caused no visible damage, so it was obviously an ethereal blade. Twilight continued to make an magical incision though Dash's stomach and towards her neck, slicing through the ropes wrapped around her.
<>-Meanwhile-<>
Inside Rainbow Dash's conscience, the pony slowly waddled through the dark pool, nearing the Kyuubi's cage. Dash had no expression on her face - she was completely mesmerized by the fox's tempting proposal and willingly moved closer to his grasp.
"Yes, haha, YES! Rainbow Dash!" he yelled. "Join me, and together we will make all your dreams come tr-"
However, before the demon could finish his sentence, a bright light pierced between the cage and the pegasus, who was literally inches away from the fox's claw. White lassos poured out of the tear and ensnared the fox's body, suppressing the demon deeper into his prison. At the same time, a single rope latched around the paralyzed Dash. It secured a tight knot around the pony's waist and pulled her towards the tear.
It was at this moment Dash finally snapped out of the Kyuubi's mental bind. Her body felt weak, unlike she anything she ever felt. It was like the fox was drawing the very life essence out of her. If the ropes had not appeared when they did, things may have ended for her. She could only manage to open her eyes a crack, but it was enough to see what was happening.
"Huh, what they hay is going on?" she whispered, seeing the magical lassos holding the fox down as it snared and snapped at its attacker. The mighty beast fought valiantly, but it was no match for ethereal constraints. The fox could do nothing but back away as the ropes slowly dragged Dash into the crack in the floor. Even though he was defeated, the demon managed to send one more chill down the weak pegasus' spine.
"It seems our meeting has been cut short, pony!" chuckled the fox. "Rest assured, I will still be here. Watching! Waiting! Don't forget what I said! You'll see! Ahahaha!"
The laughter soon faded as Dash was pulled to safety. She saw the dark room disappear in the distance as the magic lassos rapidly closed the hole they had made, sealing the dreadful prison from sight. However, the pony could not keep her eyes open anymore, and she embraced the warm energy enveloping her as the scene slowly faded to white.
<>--<>
Just as the spell's energy wore off, Twilight Sparkle found herself back in Canterlot, standing in the middle of the castle's lobby. There were many guards covering the doors leading away from the room and many ponies stood in shock at the spectacle in front of them. Princess Luna stood opposite Twilight's position, in front of the large doors leading to the outside. Twilight was completely confused about what was going on; only a few seconds before, she had been casting a release spell on Rainbow Dash when...
Twilight’s mind 'clicked'. The book had sent her back to before the spell had been released!
Almost expectantly the dark alicorn spoke: "That is enough, Twilight. I promise if you back down, then we will pardon this entire episode and I will escort you back to Ponyville. Rainbow Dash needs you at her side..."
This was her cue to clean up the mess she made. To everypony's surprise, Twilight immediately dropped the saddlebag and ran towards the alicorn, her eyes doused in fake tears. Luna initially thought she was charging at her, but soon saw the pony's disconsolate expression as form of surrender. The sympathetic princess immediately dropped her guard and wrapped her wing around the poor unicorn's trembling body, attempting to brace her.
"There, there," said Luna, "It's okay."
"I'm so... so... sorry... Princess. I don't know what came over me," cried Twilight. "Please... please forgive my actions, and those mean things I said about you."
Princess Luna comforted the unicorn as she continued to sob. She looked up at the guards and, with a silent nod, they backed down and returned to their posts. She wasn't sure how to deal with the situation on hoof. Twilight had broken many rules and injured an innocent bystander in the process. However, could she really blame the poor, confused unicorn? It was only two nights before that she attacked the Summer Sun Celebration. Had Celestia punished her? This thought decided Luna’s next course of action: she would show the same kindness as everypony else had during her crusade as Nigthmare Moon.
"It's okay Twilight, you were just confused about what to do. Take my advice: have faith in Celestia and have faith in Rainbow Dash. You need to show them the same faith they had in you - that is the magic of friendship!"
Twilight relinquished a hidden smirk, away from Luna's sight. She still pretended to pour her eyes out into the alicorn's brow. The clever strategist had successfully convinced Luna to believe her; she was unaware of the book's powerful time stopping spell that had given Twlight the opportunity to save her friend.
Twilight felt exhausted after the entire fiasco. After looking into Luna's eyes, she unwillingly passed out, surprising the alicorn a little. The benign princess couldn't help but smile at the sleeping unicorn as she wrapped her completely in her large wings.
Luna called for the nearby maiden ponies, who quickly carried Twilight to one of the bedroom suites down the hall. Another maiden came to fetch her bag, but she was stopped momentarily. The alicorn carefully removed the tome from the bag before allowing the maiden to take it to Twilight's room. All the other ponies cleared the way as Princess Luna walked back to Celestia's room.
<>--<>
The sand dunes cast a majestic atmosphere over the city of Bronkonia. The large emerald city was enveloped by an impressive dome, about the same size of Canterlot and with one entrance. Many chunks of earth hovered around the city’s mind-blowing skyscrapers, all of which nearly touched the large protective bubble. Inside the city, one could see lush green parks with trees and flowers, all surrounded by plazas, walkways and libraries. Although Canterlot was known for its School for Gifted unicorns, it was Bronkonia that possessed the perfect environment for unicorns to test their magical prowess.
Princess Celestia galloped over one of the large sand dunes and headed straight for the main gate. She was wearing her white cloak and it reflected a beautiful blue and pink haze in the moon’s crescent glow. Even though there was little light around, the few ponies awake at this time witnessed the alicorn's arrival from inside the dome.
The two unicorn guards bowed as Celestia walked past them and onto the mosaic plaza leading towards an impressive jade castle directly in front of her. She had not visited Bronkonia in the past year, but the urgency of this matter did not excuse her presence. She had to speak with the Council of Magic before Rainbow Dash became locked in statis for all eternity.
It did not take long for the mighty alicorn to burst into the main lobby of the castle. The massive halls echoed with the slamming of doors. At the receptionist table, Celestia could see a familiar unicorn. She walked over to the stunned pony, spreading her wings in almost dominant manner.
"Faerie Fyre, am I glad to see you," said the alicorn, lowering her hood to reveal her sparkling mane that somehow flowed in the windless room.
It took the unicorn a few seconds to grasp her situation before breathing a sigh of relief.
"Princess Celestia! What a surprise! It’s been almost a year since we last saw you here. How do you fare?"
"Not well, Faerie. It seems a dark and mysterious force has crept its way into Equestria again, and I fear it may have corrupted one of the Elements of Harmony."
The silver unicorn shuffled her orange and teal mane away from her face to get a better look at Celestia. The alicorn was known for her subtle jokes every now and then, but Faerie Fyre could see this was not one of them.
"We need to assemble the council as soon as possible," said the unicorn. "Give me a moment."
Faerie Fyre walked to the middle of the marble floor, and her blue eyes ignited with a bright orange flame as her horn sprung to life. The unicorn levitated off the ground and cast a powerful spell, sending many colourful sparks through the castle's walls. Celestia intensified the expression on her face as, one by one, the Council of Magic appeared around the room.
Poly Cure, a tall black unicorn with bright green mane who was the Master of Potions, appeared in blaze of green smoke. His cutie mark was a set of dragon wings.
A scroll also appeared in a puff of smoke. It opened and out jumped Daylight Scribble, Mistress of Scrolls and Seals, a majestic crimson unicorn with dashing white mane bearing a quill cutie mark.
The final council member then appeared in a lightning strike. She was Ginger Blitz, an orange unicorn with yellow mane bearing a thundercloud as a cutie mark, and the Mistress of Nature and Incantations.
Faerie Fyre then dissipated in a flash of blue fire, only to reappear alongside her fellow council members. This surprised Princess Celestia, as she did not know of the unicorn's promotion.
"My, my Faerie, you made the council as well?"
"Yup," boasted Faerie Fyre. "I now bear the title of Spell Mistress, teehee."
"Now with pleasantries out of the way, let’s get down to business," said Celestia. "The Elements of Harmony have been summoned once more, and I fear a dark spirit may be looming over Equestria."
The council seemed a little shocked by the news. They looked at one another before Ginger Blitz spoke.
"Once more? You mean... you know of this entity?"
Princess Celestia lowered her wings. She had hoped that this day would not come, but she had no choice in the matter; Rainbow Dash was in grave danger.
"Yes. Back when I used the Elements of Harmony to free my sister from Nightmare Moon's grasp, I could feel a spirit living inside the Element of Loyalty."
"What kind of spirit?" interrupted Poly Cure.
Celestia closed her eyes as her own horn sprung to life. Behind her the sun started to rise, slowly bringing light through the windows of the jade castle. The unicorns watched intently as she mumbled her spell. The sun stopped moving, castling a white halo over Celestia's figure. The council could only watch in awe at the alicorn's beautiful aura.
At last she reopened her eyes and spoke.
"A cunning demon from another dimension!"
<>--<>
It had been a long and eventful evening. Luna stood on the balcony facing east, concentrating while awaiting the sun's slow ascent over the mountains. On cue she focused her magic and brought the moon down in a geosynchronous fashion; a perfect dawn to a dark night. The princess walked back into the marble hall and slowly made her way towards Twilight's room.
The unicorn was already up, bathed and ready to leave for Ponyville. The alicorn crept into the bedroom to see her packing the elemental tiara into her saddlebag and then tossing the loose baggage over her back. Luna smiled when Twilight's eyes finally met her own.
"I don't usually say this, but uh... good morning," asserted the alicorn. "I see you're ready to go?"
Twilight returned the greeting but immediately looked away from the princess, ashamed at the harsh words she had used the previous night. Luna, however, could see that something was troubling the young mare and decide to have a heart to heart.
"Listen, Twilight. What happened last night was a proof to me that you really care for your friends. You were willing to pay a terrible price and I commend you for your loyalty. But sometimes it's better to just take a step back, and approach things with caution."
The unicorn was willfully keeping herself from telling the truth. Nopony should know that her spell had actually succeeded and Rainbow Dash would likely be back to her normal tomboy self later that day. Twilight simply nodded and smiled innocently at Luna's touching words.
"Never forget to have a little patience, young one. Greed and the desire for power can turn you away from your goal. Remember this."
"Thanks for understanding, Princess," said Twilight, "I hope I can put this entire experience behind me."
"Don't worry too much about. Now, let’s get you onto the next chariot leaving for Ponyville, shall we?" smiled Luna.
“Sure thing. But first I should pay a visit to Copper.”
To be Continued...