"There it is," said Rainbow Dash, "Dust followed most of them to some caves over by those mountains in the distance, but the big one and a few others ran here." She swayed on her hooves before dropping her rear to the rapidly cooling ground. "Those things," she said, her breath still heaving, "it's like they jump from shadow to shadow. I could totally keep up with them, but dang, they're fast."
"A Celestial Mission," said Twilight, "the princess told me they had all been destroyed. Heck, she destroyed most of them herself if you can believe the history books." She passed the looking glass over to Argent and ducked back under the ridge of the hill they hid behind.
"Let's assume I skipped that day of school," said Argent as he studied the crumbling stone structure, "Why would the princess destroy something named after her?"
"I'll pretend for the moment that I didn't just hear you admit to hypothetical truancy," said Twilight with a stern look on her face, "but most schools wouldn't teach ponies the history of the Missions." She sat, raised her hooves, and adopted a professorial demeanor. "The Celestial Missions began popping up after the Princess was forced to exile her sister over a thousand years ago." She caught the spyglass that Argent tossed to her and placed it back in her bag. "Princess Luna was corrupted because she felt unappreciated," said Twilight, "and Princess Celestia made sure everypony knew that to be the case. She didn't want her citizens to feel that Luna was truly evil; that she did the things she did because she wasn't herself." Twilight shivered and twisted the warm scarf Rarity had given her around her neck. "She had the best intentions, of course," she said, "but some of the more... zealous... ponies decided that if Princess Luna could fall, so could Princess Celestia. They built these missions to 'spread the love of Celestia' to all corners of the known world to prevent the corruption of the last remaining princess."
"That doesn't sound so bad," said Rarity, "surely the princess doesn't mind being appreciated for all she does for everypony." She adjusted the silk shawl over her mane and hesitantly took a drink from the dented metal canteen Applejack proffered.
"These ponies decided that appreciation wasn't enough," explained Twilight, "they decided that if you didn't worship the princess with the proper respect and fervor, then you were courting disaster on all of Equestria. The Celestial Missions became places where ponies were brought to impress upon them the importance of placating some imaginary vengeful version of Princess Celestia, oftentimes against their will."
"That sounds mean," said Pinkie, looking up from her elaborately crafted sand recreation of Sugar Cube Corner, "making somepony sit in a boring old building rather than playing outside."
"They did more than just make them sit inside," said Twilight, "They imprisoned ponies in cells beneath the Missions. They tortured them and tried their hardest to break the will of anypony who didn't properly venerate the Princess."
"Cells?" asked Argent, "you don't think..."
"It's worth looking into," said Twilight, "those beasts didn't seem like the type to take prisoners, but like I said, this is all too coincidental." She looked up at the hovering airships and shook her head. "It's risky though," she said, "there's sure to be more of those things inside."
"Well it's a good thing we brought these," said Applejack as Soarin landed beside her, a sturdy wooden case in his hooves. She opened the box to reveal five jeweled necklaces. One by one, she tossed the necklaces out to her fellow elements of harmony. She reached for her own and found the box pulled away from her.
"That's enough, Angel," said Soarin, "I went along with this little trip, but I'm not about to let the mother of my foal put herself in danger any more than she already has." He snapped the box shut and set it down beside him.
"The elements don't work without me," said Applejack, "and I'm not about to let my friends go in there without me."
"You don't even know what that magic will do to you in your condition," said Soarin, "let alone what it will do to our foal."
Applejack furrowed her brow as her frustration reached a boil. "I am not some no good layabout," she said angrily, "and if Twilight doesn't succeed, nopony, not even our foal, will be safe." She butted her forehead against his and stared him down.
"Then I'm going with you," he said matter-of-factly, "Miss Bounty knows enough to keep the Sparrow from floating away, and ya'll need another stallion watching your backs, no offense to the captain's abilities."
"None taken," said Argent as he dug through his saddle bags, "If I had my way we'd have an entire squad of royal guards going in with us." He extracted Twilight's crown and placed it on the alicorn's brow.
"Fine," said Applejack, thrilled to finally feel useful. "So what's our plan?"
"Rainbow is in no condition to do anything," said Twilight, "and I don't think fighting more of those things in the dark is a very good idea."
"I'm good to go," protested Rainbow Dash. She quickly rose back to her hooves but staggered around dizzily as the exhaustion of the last day finally caught up to her. "Just as soon as the world stops spinning."
"Thank you for making my point," said Twilight. She steadied Rainbow Dash by walking up to the mare and letting the pegasus lean against her. "We'll wait until morning," she said, "that will at least give us a chance to come up with a real plan. No more stumbling into the unknown for us."
"He came after me on his own," said Twilight, "I tried to stop him. If I had my way, he would have stayed behind. I tried to keep him from following me."
"Oh, Trixie is so sure," said Trixie. "You have him wrapped around your hoof, just like always. If he listened to his big sister, he wouldn't be trapped here waiting for the worlds to end, and I'd be back in our world, figuring out how to clean up the mess you made."
"Two minutes Trixie," said Argent. "Two minutes doesn't mean you can presume to know what's best for me." He looked at the small dim nimbus of light surrounding Twilight and Trixie. "I followed her on my own accord, and guess what," he said, "you were wrong. I wasn't wasting my time."
Trixie chortled in mock amusement. "Trixie is sure she gave you some heartfelt confirmation of all your hopes and dreams," she said coldly, "but Twilight Sparkle's words aren't worth a rusty bit. She promises friendship and forgiveness, and then sends her cabal of small minded townsfolk to do her dirty work. Then she casually takes the only pony you have left in the world."
"Do we have to replay this same old argument again?" asked Twilight, "How many times have I reached out to you? I've begged Argent to go to you. I've given him every odd piece of news that passed my desk so he could pass it on to you; every missing pony report; every magical anomaly." Twilight reached through the bars and tried to grab Trixie's hoof with her own. The unicorn mare glared at the hoof and let it hang between them. Twilight sighed and dropped her leg back to the ground. "What do I have to do to convince you that I want to be your friend?" she pleaded.
"Look Trixie in the eyes and understand that she is as serious as any pony has ever been," said the older unicorn. "Trixie will never be your friend. You've given Argent some token tidbits of information to send Trixie's way? No doubt information that you knew was worthless." She stamped the ground in irritation. "You 'begged' him to come to help Trixie?" she asked, "you've held him in your service for over half of his life. You obviously haven't been begging hard enough." Trixie spat at the ground beneath her feet. "Trixie neither wants nor needs your friendship," she growled, "she is better off without your so called help."
"You're lying," said the younger Trixie, "or you're deluding yourself." The young unicorn rolled onto her side in the dark and looked towards the small globe of light illuminating the older mares. "Trixie felt like you not long ago," she said, "Trixie blamed Twilight Sparkle for all of her failures. Trixie humiliated Sparkle; she exiled her from her home; she tormented her friends, but still, Twilight Sparkle took in Trixie in her time of need and risked her life helping her fix her magic."
"And how has your faith in the perfect Princess Twilight served you?" asked the older unicorn, "Stripped of all your power; alone in the dark; at the mercy of these monsters and their awful nightmares." She went back to her futile digging at the stone around a loose bar, her hoof barely chipping away the smallest fleck of rock. "And Trixie sees that you gave this Sparkle our magic," she said, "can Trixie assume you've given it to every unicorn who asked? Is our spectacular display of illusory dweomership now a parlor trick for every unicorn in Equestria?"
"Trixie made the mistake of thinking that she had to do everything on her own," said the younger Trixie, "Nopony made Trixie seek this place out. Trixie came here for the same reason she seeks out any of these strange, out of the way, places: Our parents." She shakily rose to her hooves and created her own weak globe of light. "And Trixie is not alone," she said, "and neither are you. Twilight and Argent came for you. They may have failed, but they still came to help without Trixie even having to ask."
"Just give over Trixie," said Argent to the younger mare, "she's had a lifetime to stew on these feelings. One conversation isn't going to change her stubborn ways, even if it is between herself and herself."
Twilight pulled herself away from the staredown she had been engaged in and walked back to the other side of her cell, bringing her dim magical light with her. "You're right," she said to Argent, "there's no time for it now anyway. I don't know how long we've been down here, but I get the feeling it's been some time." She reached out and ruffled Argent's grown out mane. "Whatever caused this respite won't keep our captors away for long," she said, "I've got a plan to get us out of here, but it's risky."
The older Trixie sniffed loudly. "We're beyond worrying about risk," she said coldly, "you do whatever it takes to get us out of here so I can fix this mess you've made."
"Oh we're all going to have to partake in this risk," said Twilight.
The royal cabin aboard the Sun Skimmer was royal in name only. The cramped quarters barely had enough room for the twin sized fold out bunk that Twilight and Argent laid in. "You're not mad at them for following us?" asked Argent, "you made it pretty clear that you wanted to do this alone."
Twilight snuggled her back into Argent's chest and used what little magic she had left to pull the blanket over both of them. "We'd have been in serious trouble without them," she said. "I don't like the idea of putting my friends in harm's way like this, but there's really no way around it now I suppose." The lanterns hanging from the gimbals on the walls dimmed and extinguished themselves as Argent's golden aura surrounded them.
"You know you'll have to tell them," he said into the back of Twilight's neck, "you can say that you wanted to leave them behind for their own safety, but they and I know that there's more to it than that."
"Well how exactly am I supposed to tell them about her?" she asked in annoyance, "'Oh girls, I forgot to tell you, this pony you all have had the pleasure of meeting is actually me from an alternate future. She ripped open a hole between worlds and now everything is doomed unless I find her and figure out how to seal it.' They'll have even more proof that I'm a magical disaster waiting to happen."
"That..." said Argent, pausing as he tried to follow her reasoning, "is the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard."
"Exactly," said Twilight, "how can they have confidence in me as a friend and leader if I keep causing these magical mishaps?"
"No," said Argent, "the fact that you think your friends will think less of you because of something somepony else did: That's ridiculous. The idea that anypony could doubt your abilities is ridiculous."
"That somepony else is me," said Twilight, "and go easy on the flattery there, lovercolt. You've been with me long enough to see your share of my magical blunders." She squirmed in his embrace and turned herself around so their noses were touching. "They've been around me for years now," she said, "they've seen worse than spontaneous hair growth."
"At least I didn't need a coat for a day or two," said Argent. "Not a bad spell for a crisp autumn day. You need to give yourself a break, love." He squeezed her tightly and kissed her on the tip of the nose. "You're writing new magic on a daily basis," he said, "any unicorn who knew the smallest fraction of what you've tried in these last few months would be awestruck by your ability. We're all just repurposing old magic that's been passed down for generations: You're a true, honest to Celestia, magician."
"There's that flattery again," said Twilight with a smile, "but I would still rather not have my friends know what my magic is capable of. I know they're proud of me for my magic, your sister taught me that, but I don't want them to be afraid of me because of it."
"You worry about other's feelings alot don't you?" he asked.
"It's what any good friend would do," replied Twilight. "I know what you're going to say; I know what the princess would say; but I'd still rather all of Equestria not live in constant fear of the new princess blowing up their world."
"I can respect that," said Argent, "I don't like it, and I think you're being too hard on yourself for something you have no control over, but at least you're honest about it." He closed his eyes and rested his head on the long pillow they shared. "Given the situation, I think you can be forgiven for your paranoia," he said, "I'm just glad they're here to help."
"Well how are we supposed to make smores without a campfire?" asked a sulking Pinkie Pie, "This is the worst campout ever."
Applejack dropped the formerly full bucket of water onto the deck of the Sparrow and quickly ducked down into the small cabin. "I don't care how much you want to toast marshmallows," she called up the stairs, "you're not starting a fire on the deck of an airship." She grabbed a few towels and carefully made her way back up to the slightly charred, but mostly wet, deck. "Sorry Rarity," said the farm-pony to the shivering, nearly catatonic unicorn. "Ya'll know how careful we are with fire on the farm."
The thick terrycloth towel floated from around Applejack's neck and immediately began swaddling Rarity. "And 'ya'll' know how long it takes to recurl my mane," said Rarity as she worked the excess moisture from her coat, "is it really too much to ask for a 'watch out Rarity?'" Satisfied that she was as dry as she was going to get, the unicorn levitated her emergency 'Fabulosity' bag and pulled out her styling kit. She wouldn't admit it, but she welcomed the chance to distract herself from the constant reminder that she was still trapped on an airship hundreds of feet above the ground. She gave an exaggerated sigh and began brushing her coat with long calming strokes.
"Ah said I was sorry," said Applejack, "and I did offer you the cabin, ya know."
"And leave a pony in your condition to sleep on a hard, crowded, drafty, and now burned and soggy deck?" asked Rarity, "what kind of element of generosity would I be if I allowed such a travesty?" She dropped her brush back into her bag and pulled out the mane curler. "If it would ease your conscience, you could persuade Twilight to reconsider her plan."
"Sorry Rar," said Applejack, "you're just gonna have resign yourself to gettin' a little dirty."
"It's not that," replied the unicorn, "you earth ponies and pegasi don't know what it's like to wear oneself out using magic." She walked back to the edge of the deck and looked down at the ruins and the surprisingly intact roof. Like Twilight showed her, she lowered her horn and directed a ray of blue magical energy at the same spot on the room that the alicorn had focused on before she was forced to retire to bed.
"Yeah," said Applejack sarcastically, "I'd never understand feeling tired."
"You know I don't mean it like that," said Rarity, "forget I said anything. Just go enjoy your warm comfy bed with your hunk of a wonderbolt, and I'll cast myself into exhaustion."
Applejack grumbled to herself as she sat between Rarity and Pinkie Pie. "If I stay up a little while and, ugh, gossip," she said, "would that make you happy?"
Rarity's ears perked up and she fought to keep the smile from showing on her muzzle. "It might," she said coyly, "but I'm ever so cold, tired, and wet. Somepony would have to carry my usually stellar side of the conversation."
Applejack looked over to Pinkie who was doing her best to turn graham crackers, cold chocolate, and untoasted marshmallows into a tasty treat and realized that that somepony was going to be her. She gritted her teeth and did what had to be done. "So Rarity," she said flatly, "I reckon ya'll have been out and about with Zephyr an awful lot lately." She enunciated every word, making it clear to Rarity that she was doing this for her benefit.
Rarity kept her concentration over the side of the ship, but was thankful for anything to distract her mind from the dizzying height. "I suppose I have," she said, switching the curler to another part of her mane, "it's absolutely adorable the way he reacts to the things we take for granted. I had to convince him that my sewing machine wasn't a magical relic to be feared."
Applejack chuckled and pointed at Pinkie Pie. "That one plied him so full of cupcakes that he couldn't walk," she said, "not that he minded much."
"He had to make up for lost time," said Pinkie around a mouthful of uncooked smore, "He's 5,832 cupcakes behind me, counting those eight."
"I would worry what all the sugar would do to his health," said Rarity, "but he's always off trotting somewhere new. I joined him on one of his constitutionals. He led me all the way up to the reservoirs above town." She neglected to mention the zebra's first swimming lesson, preferring to keep that memory to herself.
Despite her general disdain for idle gossip, Applejack found herself enjoying the chat with her fellow non-fliers. Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, and Lightning Dust had found a nice fluffy cloud to bed down on for the night. It shone like silver in the bright light from the nearly full moon. Remembering what Oracle had said about her foal, a thought occurred to her. "Do ya'll think I can keep up with a pegasus foal?" she asked.
"It's not so hard," said Pinkie, "Pound Cake's a hoofful when he does that creepy ceiling walk thing, but once you have a good hold of him, he can only drag you so far before he tires out."
"That's true," said Applejack, "but what I meant was: How will I relate to her?"
"Her?" asked Rarity with a smile, "I thought you wanted it to be a surprise."
"Wishful thinking," said Applejack. "I'm worried that we won't have anything in common. What if she's like her daddy, and wants to be a famous flier? I won't be able to help her with that."
"Well that's what Soarin is for, not to mention Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, and Twilight" said Rarity, "and forgive me if I'm making light of your worries, but I find it hard to believe any foal of yours not having something to do with apples. We all know you'll be able to help her with that." She reached over and hugged the farm pony to her. "As long as you remember that you have plenty of friends desperate to babysit, you'll be fine." Applejack smiled as her two friends sandwiched her in a tight hug.
"That's it," said Twilight, "careful, the transfer can be botched if you lose concentration." She watched as Argent removed his forehead from his younger sister's and stepped back. "Okay," she said, "now like I showed you, pass the charge to me."
Argent carefully walked over to Twilight, the pink aura around his horn quavering ever so slightly. He place his horn through the thick iron bars and pressed it against Twilight's. The feeling of familial camaraderie that he had felt while in contact with Trixie was replaced with the strong physical and emotional attraction he had with Twilight. It resonated between them, causing both of their cheeks to burn and threatened their concentration. That particular quirk in unicorn anatomy had caused them to fail two times as the night had stretched on. With a deft magical touch, he allowed the trickle of energy Trixie had fed into him drain into Twilight's waiting grasp. When the aura had completely drained, he concentrated and drew on the small amount of magic he had regained since the last transfer. He wheezed as Twilight pulled away; expending this much magic repeatedly had him feeling run down physically as well.
"Trixie still says this is a stupid idea," said the older Trixie. "Trixie thinks you should try forcing the lock again."
"That wasted an hour of transferring," said Twilight, keeping her temper in check lest she lose the charge she carried. "Shaping the energy into a spell has too much overhead. This is the only way, and you're the only one who can do it." She took a deep calming breath and waited for the unicorn to approach. "Unless you have any other ideas, hurry over here," she said, "every moment you delay, I lose a little more of their energy."
Trixie growled under her breath and stalked to the waiting alicorn. She choked back another snarl as Twilight had to tilt her head lower. "Why does she have to be taller than Trixie too," she thought angrily, "Isn't it enough that she can fly?" Further thoughts were blown away like dust in the wind as their horns connected. Strong feelings of annoyance and irritation flowed from Twilight, further angering Trixie. The thought that her rival considered her nothing more than a nuisance irritated her to no end, especially after she had crossed the seas of time and space to find her. But what truly enraged the unicorn was the constantly growing sense of pity: Pity for the poor broken unicorn.
Twilight struggled against the onslaught of anger and outright hate that flowed forth from Trixie. She had tried talking to the mare as she waited for some small amount of magic to trickle back into her, but no matter what, the hatred seemed to become more and more intense as the night wore on. She tried consoling her; she tried confronting her; she even tried self deprecating humor, but nothing seemed to work. Argent had suggested that she accept it for now and let it rest, but Twilight couldn't acknowledge it. After seeing the friendship the younger version of herself and Trixie had forged, she couldn't help but feel sympathy for her rival. As Trixie's anger grew, so did Twilight's sympathy.
"You do realize that if your plan works, Trixie will be the only one free," said the older unicorn, "initially anyways. She will of course free Argent and the other her." Trixie walked around her cell, the layout now familiar despite the near total darkness they were surrounded by. The dim magical auras were all the light they had seen since the transfers had started. "It will be nice to have some control over the great Twilight Sparkle for once."
"You can get in line behind everypony and everything else," said the alicorn, "Do you have any idea how much I miss reading for the shear joy of it, not just because I need some obscure lore to avert one disaster or another." She slumped against the bars separating their cells and closed her eyes. "Power and responsibility can be a prison," she said, "one I trapped myself inside for far too long. I would think you would understand that more than most."
Trixie stopped in mid-step and looked towards Twilight. "Trixie does what she must," said the unicorn, "if her quest is her prison, that means she escapes when she completes it. Trixie will take all the power she can get if it helps her find our parents."
Twilight shook her head ruefully and walked back over to Argent and caressed his cheek through the bars. "It's almost over," she said, "just hold on a little longer."
"I've got a few more in me," he replied weakly, "how can you three take this so easily?"
"Practice," she replied, "I guess your sisters are just as used to casting while tired as I am. Take a nap, I'll wake you when we're ready to go again."
Four sets of hooves hit the dusty desert ground, followed quickly by four more. Rainbow Dash, Soarin , Fluttershy and Twilight each tucked their wings and trotted next to the wingless ponies. The sun, directly overhead, cast small shadows directly underneath the ponies. Rarity, for once unconcerned with getting dirty, fondly hugged the ground the best she could while Pinkie Pie hopped around Rainbow Dash excitedly. Applejack adjusted her hat and waved off her concerned fiance. "I'm fine sugar cube," she said, "ya'll were as gentle as a lamb flying me down." She checked the coils of rope tucked into her saddlebags and nodded in satisfaction.
"Okay everypony," said Twilight, "you all know the plan. Stay together, and watch the shadows." She brushed against Argent and nodded her head. The stallion led the seven other ponies across desert plain towards the imposing stone building. Up close, it seemed much more like a fortress. Rusted iron bars covered the few narrow boarded up windows on front of the mission. The cracked and crumbling remnants of the structure's masonry facade had fallen into small piles of debris around the perimeter. The occasional fleck of gold or white paint could be seen on what was left of the thin exterior layer that hadn't yet disintegrated to the desert floor. As badly as the facade had suffered, the underlying stone was as unyielding and and implacable as it had always been, even after a millennium of disrepair and disuse. A large set of wooden double doors was the only obvious entrance that they had seen with their aerial surveillance. Argent trotted up to them and gave an exploratory pull to the extremely dense ironwood planks.
"They're not locked," he said warily upon returning to Twilight, "they either don't think they need locks, or they're counting on us coming in."
"Let's not disappoint them then," said Rarity, "it's the height of rudeness to arrive late for a soiree."
Argent nodded and flared his magic. The large doors shuddered and creaked on their ancient iron hinges as the golden aura pulled them open. A large dark room awaited them. Despite the sunlight streaming in from the open door, Argent couldn't see the other side of the massive room, nor could he see much of the ceiling. "Take the rear Lieutenant," he said to Soarin, "everypony else be ready for anything." He levitated his shield in front of him and cautiously walked into the large central nave. The dim illumination revealed row after row of rotting wooden pews. The tattered remains of unreadable gold covered books lay scattered amongst the ruined furniture. The stallion ached to create a light with his horn, but reminded himself that Twilight knew what she was doing.
"Keep going," whispered Twilight from behind him.
Argent gulped and moved into the center point of the long rectangular room. He stepped over a bent and tarnished silver candelabra. The stallion took a deep breath and let his rear hoof clip the long metal shaft, sending it rattling across the stone floor. Fluttershy squeaked in surprise, her dainty voice echoing between the large support columns that lined the long room. Twilight stopped behind Argent and listened in anticipation. It began as a soft whisper, like a gentle breeze blowing over an unmowed meadow. Twilight flared her horn and used her magic to shove away all detritus that surrounded the group of ponies. The loud sound of wood scraping against stone woke the remaining beasts. Glowing, blood red, eyes snapped open all around the room.
"I don't like this," said Rainbow Dash, "I can't see anything. I can't fly if I can't see." She turned around quickly as the wind intensified. With the newly awakened creatures joining their sentries, the non-wind sounded like a blustery fall windstorm.
"Stay calm," said Twilight, "flank to flank, like we discussed." She stood to the right of Argent and waited for Rainbow to take her place on her right flank. "Get in the middle Rarity," said the alicorn, "and remember everypony; not until they're right on top of us." They formed a ring around Rarity, leaving the unicorn enough room to spin around in all directions. "Over there, by the door," she warned just before the large wooden planks slammed shut.
With the only source of light extinguished, aside from a few small shafts that bled through holes in the shuttered windows, the creatures advanced upon the ring of ponies. From behind columns and piles of debris, the malevolent red glow of the creatures' four red eyes heralded their owners approach. The wind, now a roaring gale, was becoming difficult to shout over.
"Get ready everypony," bellowed Twilight while charging her horn, the fierce magenta aura providing some scant illumination. The red beacons now formed a larger ring around the ponies. Rarity mumbled to herself as she spun around quickly, her detail oriented eyes picking out each individual creature by the glows of their eyes.
"Thirteen," she shouted as the creatures began tightening their snare. A hollow boom shook the ground beneath monster and pony alike, causing a brief but noticeable interruption in the wind. Several of the red eyes blinked in surprise. Several stopped their advance altogether and backed away.
Twilight cursed their luck and adopted a wide stance. "Now!" she screamed, "close your eyes!"
Rarity aimed her horn skyward and fired a ray of blue magic towards the ceiling. It struck and quickly suffused a large circular portion of the roof directly above them with her blue aura. In an instant, a shaft of the purest white sunlight burst through the ceiling like water through a crumbling damn. What had formerly been a sturdy slate roof that had survived a millennium of the elements, became a blizzard of sparkling silver dust. The shear volume of it blocked out the sunlight initially, so when the beasts looked skywards to see what had happened, they received a face full of the fine dust.
They slammed their eyes shut, shredding their corneas with the fine metallic sand, causing them to open their eyes reflexively, only to be blinded by the bright beam of light. Several of them fell to the ground and began writhing in pain, tearing at their faces with their forepaws. The largest of the beasts, now visible, was among the small group that backed had away. It bared its fanged maw and dove into a shadow.
"Positions, girls," said Twilight, "you boys take care of those." She pointed to several of the incapacitated creatures. Argent and Soarin each saluted before charging headlong at the stunned beasts. The five other Elements of Harmony reformed the ring, but with Twilight at the center. She closed her eyes and pulled her magic through the Crown of Harmony. She felt the heartbeats of her five best friends through the elements around their necks. Each jeweled amulet radiated a warm energy matching the color of the gem within.
Magic opened its now luminous eyes and used its wings to hover a few feet above its fellow elements. With the power of Harmony flowing through it, Magic looked through the eyes of its component elements. One of the uninjured beasts leapt from behind a pile of rotted wood. Through the eyes of Laughter, Magic saw the enemy rushing headlong for their exposed position. It only had a moment to react before a lancing rainbow striped ray of light erupted from Magic's crown and enveloped the six legged beast. Magic felt the innate will of the creature resist its power, but it took but the slightest intensification of the light to break through and send the beast flying across the room and into a wall.
Thinking the alpha pony distracted, the large beast emerged from a shadow directly behind her and pounced with its front four claws protracted and ready to rend flesh from bone. Magic saw the beast through Kindness's vision and, without turning around, erected a shimmering wall of multi-chromatic light between the elements and the beast. It smashed into the barrier and recoiled violently. Magic lashed out with another rainbow ray, but the large beast dove into a shadow and disappeared before it could connect.
Two more unmarked beasts flanked the cluster of mares and charged Generosity and Honesty. Magic dropped a conjured warhammer of light onto Honesty's attacker, stunning the creature. Honesty, fully aware of the danger that required Magic's attention, pulled a rope from its bags and quickly lassoed the beast. Magic, meanwhile, created a dervish of spinning light around the other attacker. Through Loyalty's eyes, Magic saw the pegasus stallion flying towards it, a silver shield bearing the element's sigil strapped to its foreleg. Honesty's memories stayed Magic's hoof, and it watched as the stallion soared above it just in time to crash into the large beast as it pounced from the shadows behind the columns near the ceiling.
Knowing that Honesty's avatar cared a great deal for the stallion, Magic snatched the cartwheeling pony from the sky with a rainbow colored telekinetic aura and laid him gently to the ground before turning its attention on the beast struggling to its many paws. "You cannot be here beast of the void," said Magic, "your kind forfeited that right long ago."
The rush of wind responded loudly. "You opened the way Magic," it said, its words understandable by Magic, "You broke the rules first."
"The mistakes of my avatars are not of your concern," replied Magic, "they do not absolve your kind of their sins." Magic raised its forehooves and spoke as if pronouncing the beasts punishment. "As we cannot breach the barrier, we have no choice but to reform you, First One," said Magic, "we shall remove the shadow that lies over your minds."
"The hunger is all we are Magic," said the beast, "if you take it, you destroy us."
"We know," said Magic as it drew the power of the elements to itself, "and we are sorry, but you would never stop." Magic floated down to the center of the ring made by the other elements and created a conduit of pure white light between each. The beast tried to limp away, but with two of its right legs broken, it only stumbled to the ground in pain. Magic unleashed the full might of their combined power and sent forth a torrent of energy at the creature. It flinched as the magic surrounded it in a nimbus of swirling white light. Magic watched solemnly as the beast thrashed violently in the spells embrace. Its dark ebony coat transformed into a brilliant, scintillating bronze while it's superfluous appendages receded back into its abdomen. Its face, once set in a perpetual rictus of malevolence, softened into a serene countenance of peace. As the red of its four eyes faded away, a dark green glow took hold. It gave Magic a thankful smile and looked through the hole in the roof as its physical form began dissolving in the maelstrom of light.
A tear fell down the cheek of Magic's avatar as the creature disappeared. Magic steeled itself and completed the spell. From the mass of light that had surrounded the largest beast sprung rays of energy that unerringly slammed into the forms of the stunned and incapacitated creatures scattered around the room, starting the same process all over again. Magic watched impassively as the beasts, one by one, were immolated and purified in the magic of Harmony. Its eyes passed over the stunned face of a unicorn stallion kneeling over the grimacing pegasus that had assisted it. Magic held the stallion's gaze as the final creatures disappeared. Bars of light erupted from their remains, converging above Magic's head. A rainbow exploded out of the hole in the ceiling and angled towards the mountains in the distance.
Magic felt her hold on her avatar slipping. It had spent much longer in the material that it normally did. As it faded, it called out to the stallion. "She is not responsible for this," it shouted, "tell her that. And tell her that Harmony cannot repair the barrier, only Equilibrium can." The crown emitted a powerful wave of magic and light, knocking everypony to the ground.
"Okay," said Twilight, "that should be enough." She pulled her horn away from Trixie's and stumbled back towards the other side of her cell. "Remember to hold it as long as you can," she said, "we need the detonation to be a strong as possible."
"Trixie knows what she's doing," said Trixie, "just make sure you don't break your neck."
"I'll be okay," said Twilight from the corner farthest away from Trixie.
"Trixie was speaking to her brother," said the unicorn, "now hold on to something." She flared her horn as strongly as she could, concentrating all the energy they had harvested between them into a single unshaped spell. The table she had been lying on for the better part of two months sat propped against the door of her cell, it's thick ironwood top flush against the bars. It took only a few moments for the flickering to begin. Sweat began to trickle down Trixie's brow as she wrestled with the chaotic nature of her uninhibited magic. She cursed the loss of her Limiter, but realized that her unique condition was the only reason this foolish plan stood a chance. She paced back and forth as the strain of holding in her magic consumed her.
"Hold it in," shouted Twilight, "don't let go until you absolutely have to. I thought you were a great and powerful magician!"
"Trixie knows that you-" she said, before a sharp migraine pain lanced through her head, "just shut up!"
Argent and the younger Trixie said close together near the rear corner of Argent's cell. "Did you tell her to say that?" asked Trixie.
"Yeah," he said with a smirk, "what kind of brother would I be if I didn't know which of her buttons to push?"
"Not helping," said Trixie, her voice straining with effort, "and if you think anything Sparkle says to Trixie would phase her, you are gravely mistaken." She focused herself on a knot in the wood of the upturned table, studying the intricate swirling patterns in the flickering pink light of her horn. The magic begged to be released, it fought through every crack of her will, wriggling through her determined grasp before being wrestled back into submission. Her magical aura strobed at an increasingly nauseating frequency, causing Twilight and the others to shut their eyes to avoid being sickened.
Trixie, beyond caring about who, or what, might hear her, screamed in agony as she released the torrent of energy. It burst forth with the force of several stampeding bulls, creating a spherical shock wave centered on the older unicorn. It slammed into the upturned door forcing it into the heavy iron bars with an astonishing amount of force. The iron pins holding the barred gate on its hinges sheared in half instantly while the weaker lock mechanism shattered noisily. The momentum of the explosion carried the door and table into the hallway, slamming it against the cells on the other side.
Trixie stumbled drunkenly on her hooves, her head aching, her ears ringing, but her spirits soaring. With no more magic to light her way, she felt along the front of her cell and stepped into the hallway. After months of captivity, her previous sojourn into the depths of this cursed place seemed like an echo of a dream, but she marshaled what strength she had in her legs and pulled herself towards what she thought was the small jailers room where she had found the cell keys so long ago. She felt along the wall and smiled in triumph as she entered the small alcove. Her hoof kicked several heavy objects before she found her way to the small desk. She felt around until the jangle of metal on metal announced the presence of the keys she was searching for. She fumbled with her hooves, trying to pick up the ring. A dim flash of light and voices from far away shocked her out of her reverie. Her ears perked up and down as the sound of wind was carried into the subbasement. She quickly bent over and seized the key ring in her teeth. Faster than was probably wise, she turned around and navigated her way down the hallway, the periodic bursts of faint light helping her to see where she was headed.
"Well," asked Twilight, "did you find them?"
"Yeth," said Trixie around the mouthful of metal, "bu ere cominc."
"Ponyfeathers," cursed Twilight, "here, come to my voice."
Trixie quickly found the door to Twilight's cell and tried desperately to get the thin metal keys to cooperate. "Ow do ear ponees do thes?" Fortunately, the first key that slipped in turned easily and the lock clicked open.
"Great job Trixie!" whispered Twilight. She pushed open her door and deftly pulled the key from the lock with her teeth. She continued down the hallway and in quick succession, had Argent and the younger Trixie's cells open. "Okay," she said while standing behind the older Trixie, "lead the way Trixie, you know this place better than we do."
"Hmm," said the unicorn, "could you say that to Trixie again? She'd like to remember this moment." The younger unicorn snickered from behind Twilight.
"Later," laughed Twilight, "as soon as we make sure there's a later for us."
"Trixie will hold you to that," said Trixie as she carefully moved back down the hallway. She stopped as they passed the jailer's room. "Hold on," she said while kneeling and feeling around the ground. Her hoof hit the same heavy bundles she had encountered before. "Here" she said, passing them behind her to Twilight, "Trixie thinks those might be yours."
Twilight blindly manipulated the familiar straps and smiled as she felt the smooth polished metal inside. "Brilliant," she said happily. The sounds of metal clasps engaging preceded Twilight's horn coming alive with her magenta aura. She happily probed her bejeweled breastplate for its remaining magical charge. "Now we're in business," she said while pushing past Trixie. She dug through the piles of debris in the jailers room. Two purple cloaks, adorned with stars flew into Trixie's hooves followed quickly by the matching hats.
The older mare tossed the newer, less worn articles to her younger self and looked over Twilight's shoulder. "There," she said pointing to a corner, "Trixie's harness."
Twilight nodded and grabbed the tangle of fabric, wires, and devices, placing them in Trixie's waiting hooves. Argent's round wooden shield soon found its way onto his back. "That's everything," she said, "stay quiet and be ready to run. I've got enough magic in the well to light our way."
Trixie expertly slid into her custom fitted harness, tightening the straps around her shoulders and haunches. She slipped the limiter onto her horn and holstered the various tricks of her trade in the folds of her cloak. "There's a basement above us," she said as Twilight began ascending the narrow stairwell, "that's where they jumped Trixie and Trixie before."
Twilight nodded and dimmed her magic as they entered the basement. The muffled sound of raised voices from above caused her to stop in her hoofsteps. She looked around cautiously before pressing forward. She weaved her way around the old crates and statues, as Trixie kept her pointed towards the ladder and hatch that led to the main floor. She scrambled up the ladder, stopping at the top and peeking her head just above the hatch. A pile of debris, blocked her view of most of the room, but the large hole in the ceiling with sunlight streaming in was hard to miss. She climbed the rest of the way out of the basement and looked back in, waving her hoof in a "come on up" motion. She stood up and tried to look over the tall pile of wood and metal junk. She wrinkled her brow and held a hoof to her ear.
"Please wake up Angel," pleaded a vaguely familiar voice, "darn you, I know I should have stopped you. You're too stubborn for your own good."
Twilight crept along the debris pile until she reached its edge. She looked around it and gasped loudly. All of her friends were laying on the ground underneath the perfectly circular skylight. A fine silver sand surrounded everything, sparkling in the bright sunlight. Her outburst was not overlooked by the stallion kneeling over the unconscious alicorn.
"Who goes there," he said loudly. He rose to his hooves and levitated his shield in front of him. "Your leaders are gone," he said, "If you leave now I promise that you won't join them."
Twilight ducked back behind the small mountain of junk. "Why here?" she thought to herself, "why now?"
"Brother?" came a voice from behind Twilight. The alicorn spun around and shook her hooves from side to side before pressing one to her lips. The younger Trixie blushed and shrugged sheepishly.
"Trixie?" said the startled young stallion. He turned to the stallion lying beside Applejack and motioned at the young alicorn. "Stay with them," he said before rising to his hooves, "Trixie, is that you?" He walked towards the corner he heard the voice from. Wary for a trap, he kept his shield raised in front of him.
Twilight sighed and realized that even with the small well of magic she had, there was no way she could whisk them away magically. She took solace in the fact that their illusions still held, despite their magically drained state. She once again mentally thanked Trixie for her amazing spell. She turned and saw the two Trixies and Argent standing behind her. With a resigned shrug, she looked behind herself and waved the younger mare to go to her brother.
"Argent," cried the young unicorn as she ran into the open. Argent let his silver shield fall to the ground and stared slack jawed at his sister. She galloped to him and tackled the young stallion to the ground. "How did you know Trixie was here," she asked, squeezing her stunned brother around the neck.
Argent gathered himself and hugged his sister back. "I didn't," he said, "we were looking for-" His sharp eyes caught the glint of a stray beam of sunlight bouncing off of a burnished gold and bejeweled breastplate. "You!" he shouted at the group of ponies trying to sneak across the cluttered floor. "Not another step!"
Twilight looked at Argent and then to the door across the long room. He shrugged and began walking over to the younger stallion. Twilight turned to Trixie and used what little magic was left in the well to cover her in an illusion. The blue mare's coat darkened to a deeper shade of blue while her mane darkened to a glossy black. She turned, began walking towards Argent and raised a hoof in greeting. "Argent, dear," she said, "you have no idea how good it is to see you." She waved behind her at the older Trixie and waited for her to join them. "This is, um..."
"What's wrong," came a tired sounding voice from underneath the hole in the roof, "can't think up a lie quick enough?"
"Twilight!" exclaimed Twilight, "no, this is an old friend of mine, Savory. Savory, say hi to the princess Twilight Sparkle."
Trixie raised a hoof and casually said, "Hi."
"Savory?" said Pinkie Pie, transitioning from unconsciousness to hyper in a blink of an eye, "that was my Grammy Pie's name!"
"How coincidental," said the younger Twilight as she rose to her hooves. Argent hopped up and galloped to her side, holding out a hoof to steady her. "There's a lot of that going around lately," she said calmly. She slowly walked over to Soarin and rested a hoof on his shoulder. "How's she doing?" she asked.
"I'm right as rain Twi," said Applejack groggily, "just a little more tired than usual. This one's wing isn't looking so good though." She pointed at the limp wing hanging at Soarin's side.
"Just hold on for a little while," she said to Soarin, "we'll get you both to a doctor as soon as we can." She walked over to Rarity, Fluttershy, and Rainbow Dash as they milled around one of the larger piles of sand. "Everything good girls?" she asked.
"We're fine," said Rainbow, "at least I think we are. I don't really remember what happened." She rolled her eyes as Rarity shoveled another hoofful of the sand into a chipped bowl she had managed to dig out of a pile of debris. Fluttershy, pressed into service by Rarity, filled a second vessel with the glittering dust.
"Take all you can Rarity," said Twilight, "you deserve it. I couldn't have cast it better myself."
"It was your brilliant spell, darling," said Rarity, "I'm just glad I didn't muddle it up."
Argent led the weak kneed alicorn back to the older ponies they had been seeking. "So," she said, "crazy finding you two here. What brings my favorite secret alicorn and her stallion protector to the middle of the desert? Other than the mysterious shadow beasts of course."
"Well you see," said the older alicorn, "I had another premonition, and I saw that Trixie was in trouble, so we left for the desert-"
"And you didn't come to me," said the younger Argent, "my sister's safety isn't something that concerns me?"
"I saw that you would be in grave danger if you came along," said the older Twilight, "Horizon and I had to come alone, but it appears as if my vision didn't guarantee our safety as well. If it weren't for you and your friends, I'm afraid we'd still be at the mercy of those monsters."
"And the note about 'visiting your family?'" asked Twilight.
"We didn't want to worry anypony," replied the older Twilight.
"You're unbelievable," said Twilight.
"Pardon?" asked Twilight.
"Knowing what I'll believe is useful," said the younger mare, "I'll give you that, but it goes both ways. There's no way to explain this away 'Oracle.' Just tell the truth."
"I... I knew these creatures were a threat," lied Twilight, "We wanted to stop them before they could hurt anypony."
"That's enough," growled the younger Twilight. She flared her horn, pulling extra magic through her crown. She easily grabbed the older mare in her levitation field and picked her off her hooves.
Argent, moved to aid her, but was intercepted by his younger self. "She won't hurt her," he said, his shield hovering between the two stallions, "I think this should play out between them." The older stallion glared at his younger self and slowly turned around. Without warning he reared up on his forelegs and delivered a strong buck to the silver shield, knocking it into the young stallion.
"You shouldn't hold a heater shield that close to your face," he said with a growl, "it's a real rookie mistake."
Twilight narrowed her eyes and swept up the older stallion as well. "That wasn't very nice 'Horizon'," she said, "many ponies would consider self flagellation a disturbing trait, but I suppose it has its uses." She held the two ponies firmly in her magical grasp and placed them on the ground in front of her. She charged her horn and bathed both in her magenta aura. The dispel stripped away the enchantments disguising both ponies, and with no magic left, the elder Twilight found herself unable to counter the younger's magic. Shocked exclamations burst from the ponies underneath the hole in the roof as the two older ponies transformed into near mirror images of their friends.
The younger mare strode to the older until their muzzles were inches apart. Violet eyes met violet eyes, the pony behind each pair silently waiting for the other to speak. Twilight lowered both older ponies to their hooves and released her magic. She wrapped her forelegs around the alicorn and sighed in relief. "That's for everything you've done for us," she said, squeezing the older mare tightly. She stepped back, raised a hoof and gave her a stinging slap to the cheek. "That's for lying to us," she said before stepping in front of the older stallion and slapping him as well, "and that's for hitting Argent."
Trixie stood beside her younger self and laughed out loud. "Trixie likes that one," she said gleefully.