//------------------------------//
// The Star-crossed Conspiracy 
// Story: A Traitor's Song: Act I 
// by etempco 
//------------------------------//

	Both of their silent contemplations went uninterrupted until the chariot beneath them gave a big thud. Duskmane turned around to see the white marble walls and tall gilded towers that rose from the city that hung over the cliff of the mountainside. Its majesty compared nothing to any pictures he had seen in his books. A waterfall flowed from the mountain above which formed into the mote that spanned the threshold of the city, which had a lowered drawbridge across it. Duskmane was in awe of the spender before him. Sure, it was not nearly as colorful as Ponyville was, but the fine details and stylish setting reminded him much of home.
“Welcome to my hometown, Canterlot.” Twilight said with her gaze also upon the city. “It's been quite a while since I've been back.”
“It's... wow.” Duskmane managed to exclaim beneath his amazement. The architecture shouted regal splendor. Of course Twilight would have came from a place that almost matched her beauty and grace, he thought.
“Well, let's make our way to Celestia's palace. There's even more to see inside.” Said Twilight.
Duskmane blinked. “Oh, right.” He said as he followed Twilight's across the drawbridge. Two other royal guards peered at them, especially at the unrecognized Duskmane, as they passed under the arching gate and into the city.
The white marble that marked the threshold of the city turned into an earthly green stone that paved the roads of the interior. The style of the buildings still continued, however, with lots of white-stoned buildings and golden outlines. The ponies walking about seemed strikingly familiar to Duskmane in their pose and attire, wearing exquisite black suits and colorful dresses. Another thing he did notice is that almost every pony outside was a unicorn, making him feel a little uncomfortable, as if he did not fit in. He quickly straightened his mane as best he could with his hooves in his attempt to camouflage with the crowd.
“You know,” Twilight paused at an intersection between two roads. She turned her body to face down one of them. “I use to be the caretaker of that library down there.” She pointed a hoof at a tower that stuck up above the smaller buildings that lined the road. It appeared to be annexed to another shorter building that had a huge telescope mounted on the side.
Duskmane's eyes widened “Wow, I don't think I've ever seen a library quite as lavish as that.” He turned to face Twilight. “What made you leave such a place? I mean, Ponyville seemed really great and all, but this is.... truly something else!”
Twilight turned and continued towards the Princess's palace. Duskmane yanked his gaze away from the tower in the distance and galloped back to Twilight's side. “I use to be a bit of a... hermit.” Twilight said. “Princess Celestia sent me on a task to make more friends when she saw that I had my nose in my books far too much.” She paused, then smiled. “Although, I suppose I still do, but now I make room for all of the good friends I've made since I moved to Ponyville.”
Duskmane saw Twilight give him a smiling glance, which he met back with a smile of his own. The trek down the road went by without a worry as they continued to elaborate on each others' hometowns and the history of them. Duskmane did more listening than talking, since he never did much outside of his home, and had very few friends of his own to talk about....
Duskmane heard of Twilight's thoughts on Princess Luna being the alicorn that the prophecy pointed towards; how she has the “image of the divine”, “Cast down by her worldly sires”, and that she her wanting of revenge for her millennial imprisonment.
“You really think she'd do something like that?” Duskmane asked after hearing Twilight's hypothesis.
“I want to hope that she wouldn't... and that this prophecy might not be true, but something in my gut tells me it's not something to be ignored.” Duskmane could see a hint of fear in her eyes as she stated her feelings, which brought a feeling of fear into himself.
Suddenly, Twilight turned her head forward. “Oh, we're here!” Duskmane turned as well to see a small stretch of the stone path with small trees and bushes lining the sides, instead of the elegant buildings of the town. A huge white structure rose to the sky at the end of the path ahead of them. Two giant doors marked the threshold of the Canterlot Palace, the seat of the Equestrian government, hanging over the cliff in regal splendor in testament to the immortal power of reigning Princesses. Duskmane has seen many pictures of the Canterlot Palace in his books, but to see the light of the sun dance of the white and gold exterior was much more captivating. He continued to follow Twilight forward with his sites still set on the palace. Twilight turned to him and found his captivation somewhat amusing. “Amazing, isn't it?” She asked.
Duskmane turned to see Twilight smiling back at him. “Oh yes. Everything here is so amazing! The hundreds of pictures and stories of its history hold nothing against seeing it personally. I've always wanted to come here since I first heard of the history of the two Princesses back at school... I wonder what they are like.”
“Celestia is a very kind and a great leader.” Twilight responded, “She always has the best interest of her people in her heart, but as you've probably figured out, she's usually very busy.” She made no mention of Luna, considering her conflicting thoughts of the matter at hoof.
They found themselves only a few hoofsteps from the giant double doors with a royal guard at each side. They both stared at Twilight briefly, then turned to Duskmane, who received a much longer study. “You're free to enter.” One said. Both guards stomped their hind hoof, signaling the large doors to open.
The door closed with a great thud behind them as the two ponies cleared the threshold into the palace. Duskmane felt a familiar pressure grip him. It was the much like how his mother expected him to act posh when around her guests at the manor, the grip of high expectations. Although his mother was nowhere nearby, the setting itself imposed its will upon him. The roof of the foyer reached high above them, supported by great marble columns that lined the edges of a great red carpet with golden trim. The carpet went forward and up a flight of stairs that branched into two doors on the second story, while two other doors were visible on the first floor of the foyer. The most impressive piece of the foyer was the large stain glass that was visible above the stairs that led to the second floor. It showed a classic image both Twilight and Duskmane recognized from their books, the depiction of the two Princesses in unison flying around the sun and moon.
Although Twilight had been in the palace many times, it was still very large and easy to get lost in. All she could recall for sure what that the ball room was on the second floor and through the right door. “Alright, now we just need to find Princess Celestia's room.” She said.
“You don't know where it's at?” Duskmane replied, “I thought you were her student.”
“Still, I've never been to her private quarters.” Twilight pondered for a bit, the Princesses' rooms were likely to be very high in the palace. “Let's go upstairs, and we can search from there.”
As they passed the two doors on the first floor, Twilight peered down both to see they led to another smaller corridor with doors lining the sides, not likely to lead to the quarters of the Princess. Twilight trotted up the stairs with Duskmane following close at her side. She looked into the right door to see the familiar ball room that holds the annual Grand Galloping Gala, all cleaned up from the wreck she and her friends left it during their last visit. She then turned to the left to see the other door led to a bend that continued out of sight.
She entered the doorway and turned to see a large room, rivaling the size of the foyer. Immediately present were the two giant alicorn statues, one made white marble and the other of black obsidian, taking rearing poses with wings spread that reached high into the air. The two alicorns' horns crossed over another red carpet that led to three other doorways on the sides of the room. The left one had two royal guards stations at the door. Twilight and Duskmane turned to the doorway opposite of it to see two ponies also guarding it, but they looked nothing like the white, gold-armored pegasi that they've encountered in the rest of the castle. They had a dark gray coat and amber colored eyes. They wore armor the color of a moonless dusk that covered the tops of their bodies, including their wings. Instead of the blue plume of the royal guards' helmets, their helmets adorned a crest that looked not unlike the sharp dorsal fins of a fish. They stood with the same pose as the royal guards, although their armor gave them a very menacing appearance. The doorway on the opposite side of the room from Twilight and Duskmane was atop a length of stairs that had two of the white royal guard stationed at the bottom of the stairs. 
“I remember where that leads, now.” Twilight said, motioning towards the doorway atop the stairs. “That leads to the chamber where the Elements of Harmony are kept. I imagine they keep it well guarded ever since what happened with Discord.”
“Discord? Who was that?” Asked Duskmane.
“Oh, nothing. Just a little problem that needed dealing with.” Twilight answered, feeling now was the wrong time to go into detail about the second time she and her friends used the Elements of Harmony to return peace to Equestria, although she did want to tell him about it eventually once the current escapade was done with. Twilight gave Duskmane and uneasy smile, which he met back with a frown of disbelief. “I'll tell you more about it when we get this mess settled.”
“Alright.” He nodded.
The placement of the statues and the types of guards at the doors led Twilight to believe that Celestia's quarters were behind the royal guards, whilst the area beyond the dark guards must have held Luna's quarters. Along with that realization came a brilliant idea that caused her to unintentionally perk up. She quickly regained her composure and leaned closer to Duskmane.
“I'm going to sneak into Luna's room.” She whispered.
His eyes widened, “But!...” He spouted. He lowered his voice down to a whisper as well, “But why sneak by? The guards will let you through, right?”
“I'm only Celestia's student, I highly doubt her guards would recognize me. But who knows, maybe they'll have heard of me... I'll go ask.”
Duskmane followed Twilight as she walked closer to the two dark guards. Only a few hoofsteps away with Duskmane behind her, she addressed the two guards; “Hello gentlecolts, I was wondering if--” They lowered their heads to face her, and she was taken aback by the slit pupils that had only ever belonged to Nightmare Moon. She blinked, recovering from her brief scare, “...If it would be alright if I speak with Princess Luna?”
One answered back in a deep, rasp voice; “Luna is not here today. Begone.” Something struck Twilight as odd, more-so than the guard's aggressive nature.
“Not here today?” She thought. “It sounds like they know that Luna is busy with... something outside the palace. There's got to be something in her room that might point to what she's up to.” She left her thoughts and spoke up. “Surely there's no harm in just taking a quick peek, right?” She gave a nervous laugh.
“By Luna's decree, trespassers will be detained and severely punished... maybe with just a  dungeon sentence if you're lucky.” The other guard answered. “Forever.”
“She must be hiding something to have given such an order!” Twilight shouted mentally. She spoke; “Thanks... gentlecolts. We'll be on our way.” She turned around with Duskmane shadowing here. She stopped near the entrance to the room they have came from, out of earshot of the guards.
“I suppose we'll have to wait for Luna to return.” Said Duskmane, peering over at the guards.
“I have a better idea.” Twilight said bravely, “I know a spell that will daze them long enough for me to slip by without alerting the other guards.”
“No, don't.” Duskmane said quickly, “Their armor... I recognize that material from one of the smiths at Saddlestone; It's an ore that is extremely resistant to magic. If they catch you casting magic on them, they won't be very happy.”
Twilight was surprised and somewhat skeptical, but took it to heart none-the-less. “If that's true, then we'll need to think of another way through.”
“You still want to get passed them?” Duskmane asked nervously.
“I must!” She said solemnly, “I feel like there is something important hiding in there... and I'm usually right about these things.” She gave Duskmane a smile that he did not quite understand. Seeing the confusion in his eyes, she retracted her smile and refocused on the problem at hand.
“I could try to distract them.” Duskmane suggested.
“If the dark guards are anywhere near as disciplined as the royal guards, I don't think that would be possible.” Twilight remarked.
“They didn't seem all too kosher, I'm willing to try.” Duskmane could feel his blood rushing, just the thought of encountering those guards himself caused him to become tense with apprehension.
“Are you sure?” Twilight said, her eyes mirroring the worry in Duskmane's.
He nodded. “Yes. Now, be ready to enter whenever you see an opening.” Twilight tucked back against the corner of the doorway, almost completely out of site from the dark guards. She peered around the corner as Duskmane slowly walked towards the guards. To add to his nervousness, he did not have a single idea as to how he might get the guards' attention.
He stopped in in the same spot Twilight had as the guards lowered their piercing gaze to address him. “What do you want now?” One of the dark guards asked.
Duskmane had no idea what to ask, but figured he would strike a normal conversation for now, to see if there was anything he could use against them. “Hey, guys.... So... how is the princess doing?” He knew he didn't sound very sincere.
“Her gracefulness is very busy with very important matters.” Said the other guard, with a hint of admiration.
“Oh, I see.” Duskmane answered, scrambling together his next sentence in his mind as fast as he could. “What exactly is she doing, anyway?”
Both of the guards cast a menacing look at Duskmane “That's none of your business, whelp!” Said one of the guards.
Duskmane jumped back in his fright of the guard, but composed himself as best he could and continued, “I... I did not mean to, er, intrude.” He paused, wondering what to say next. “Could you guys please show me to Princess Celestia's--”
“Princess Celestia...” One of the guards interrupted in a very begrudging tone. “We will have nothing to do with... her.”
“Go find your own way to your precious tyrant.” Said the other guard, the disdain seething from his teeth.
Their hate of the Princess Celestia really surprised Duskmane; he had heard nothing but good things about her. “But... I thought she was a great leader!” He tried to sound assured in his exposition.
“Oh?” One of the guards responded as they closed in on him, giving a look of hate and malice only matched by a few looks given to him by his mother in the past. “Is that so?!”
“Princess Luna would not stand for such lies!” One guard turned towards the other, “I think we should throw him into the dungeon to show him the error of his ways.”
Duskmane began to step backwards as they closed in on him. “N—No!” His apprehension quickly turned to fear, what had he gotten himself in to? “The Princess wouldn't let you--”
“The princess isn't around to hear your cries...” One said as Duskmane felt himself bump against the large statue behind him. The guards overlooking him both gave a dark smile.	
“Yes... Perhaps the dungeon will set him straight.” They both began to laugh under their breaths. Then suddenly, Duskmane heard a slight popping noise as he saw Twilight had teleported (or as the unicorns liked to call it, 'winked') into the doorway the guards had walked away from. She gave him a worried look, seeing his current predicament. The guards must have seen him staring, because they too looked back towards the doorway. Duskmane's heart skipped a beat; if they saw Twilight there, they would know of his attempt to distract them. To his relief, Twilight had already scurried around the corner, out of sight.
“What's going on here?” Said a familiar voice, but not that of one of the dark guards. One of the royal guards stepped forward, confronting the two dark guards.
“Official business that you have no part in.” One of the dark guards responded.
“If I heard right, you were going to lock up this pony in the dungeon. What has he done to earn such a punishment?”
“He spoke ill of her majesty Princess Luna, more than deserving of a visit to the dungeon.”
“I did no such thing!” Duskmane called, “I only spoke good things of Princess Celestia.”
“All the same, you foal.” A dark guard hissed at him.
“While Princess Luna is not present in Canterlot Palace, you have no authority to enact punishment of any sort to the visitors of the palace outside of Luna's wing.” The guard said boldly, “You should know that by now.”
The dark guards gave him a hateful look of acknowledgment, then returned back to their post by the doorway, but not before giving Duskmane another menacing glare.
“T—Thank you.” Duskmane stuttered to the royal guard. The royal guard merely responded with a nod, and then returned to his spot guarding the doorway to Celestia's quarters. He took the moment to catch his breath, and allow his pulse to slow back to normal. “I really hope Twilight finds what she's looking for...” He thought.

~

The corridor she found herself in was very dark, and not just because of the lack of light. The walls were a solid black, with the carpet and tapestry being deep shades of blue and purple. Not a single window was visible inside the corridor; faint white orbs hovered in the air against the walls, giving off a pale light. “Wow... I didn't expect Luna's place to look anything like this.” Twilight thought. From what she could see, corridor was high and wide, with many doors on the sides and one very large one at the very end opposite of her. “I probably shouldn't make any magical light of my own, there might be more guards in here.”
She stuck close to one side of the corridor, her coat and mane matching well with the huge variety of tapestries depicting large landscapes at night, or Luna herself. She slowly pressed open the first door she came across and peered inside. She could make of the shape of several small beds, much too small for the Princess to use. She also saw pony shaped stands (much like the ones at the Carrousel Boutique) holding sets of armor much like the ones the guards outside wore.
A sudden movement from one of the beds startled Twilight, although she withheld her yelp. “The guards off duty must be sleeping in here.” She thought, backing out of the doorway and closing the door as quietly as she could. “I need to get out of here as fast as I can once I find what I'm looking for.”
She decided to ignore all of the smaller rooms, and instead continued straight down the corridor, assuming the most important areas to be at the end of it. She trotted to the end of the hall, where a large door came into view. She neared it, keeping a keen eye out of any other guards that might be nearby.
To her relief, she made it to the large door without spotting any other ponies. The door was much larger than any other in the hall. It was made of wood painted over in a deep purple, with golden metal lining the edges. She gave a sigh of relief, “The must be her room...” She whispered to herself with a certain satisfaction. “I just have to press open the door and...” She pressed, but the door did not budge. She gave it a brief inspection to see the door did not have a mechanical lock, but she could sense a strong magic lingering in the door itself. “It must be magically locked.” Although disappointed, she did not drop her resolve. “I could try to dispel it... but trying to overcome the magic of Princess Luna would be a true feat of its own... I must try!” She began to focus as used her magic to try to unravel the power woven in the spell. As she expected, it was not a spell she recognized. She knew, however, that all spells are formed by arcane words woven in different fashions (with alicorns able to fashion much more complex arcane strings). She used her extensive magic knowledge to attempt to decipher the magic within...

~

Duskmane had only been waiting near the white alicorn statue for a few minutes, but he was already worried about Twilight. “She just needs more time...” He thought. “She knows what she's doing.” At least, he hoped. He really disliked the feeling of being helpless, and the seconds that passed by felt like hours. 
After a few tense minutes, he figured there was a way to make himself useful, even if only a little bit. “The least I could do is find Celestia before Twilight gets back.” If Twilight was right (and he had no reason to doubt her), her room was just beyond the royal guards. He left his spot in between the two statues and proceeded towards the door guarded by the royal guards. After his ordeal with the guards, talking with these guards seemed like a blessing. “Er... Is Princess Celestia in at the moment?”
“Her Majesty is currently busy speaking with another clients.” One of the guards responded “You may wait in the lobby until it is your turn.”
He looked beyond them into the next room to see it was filled with large padded benches, most already occupied with waiting ponies, with the walls made up an inviting wood pattern instead of the authoritative white marble that constructed the rest of the interior. Duskmane took the guard's message as an invitation and walked into the lobby.
With the whole room in view, he saw that almost every spot had a waiting pony in it. “It's going to take forever for it to be our turn...” Duskmane thought. He took one of the remaining benches and waited patiently, drowning out the voices of the other ponies with his hopeful thoughts of Twilight's success.

~

“Annnd... Got it!” Twilight whispered triumphantly as she managed to decode and dispel the magic holding the door shut. She had a massive headache and felt extremely exhausted from her task. Not wasting any time, she very slowly pressed the door opened, peeking inside for any threats. Seeing the coast was clear, she went inside and gently closed the door behind her. Her heart swelled in excitement, she was so close to her goal, although she knew not exactly what it was yet.
The interior of Princess Luna's bedroom was better lit than the corridor before, and Twilight eagerly took in all the sites of the room. The first thing that caught her attention was a large glass globe atop a wooden pedestal, and what appeared to be little white dots suspended inside the glass. She walked closer to it, with the white dots suspended inside taking familiar shapes that she could not quite put her hoof on. After a few seconds of thought, the answer came to her. “It's a magical star map... I can see all of the major constellations in here...” She said in awe. What she wouldn't have done to take the it with her, but knowing it was complete folly, and she returned to her search with a feeling of loss.
The next thing that instantly caught her eye were the large black shelves that covered one side of the room, packed edge to edge with books and tomes of all shapes and sizes. Twilight could identify a few of them just by looking at the spine, but she did not recognize a majority of them. “I might be able to learn something by the books she's keeping... But that would take way too long to look at all of these.” She thought.
A large, circular bed crowded one corner of the room, with what appeared to be a glass door covered by large, black blinds. Sunlight seeped underneath them, meaning it probably led to somewhere outside. To the side of her bed was a dresser with a large mirror, whose frame was adorned with many large jewels that sparkled in the pale light of the floating white orbs. “Probably isn't anything in there...”
Another turn brought her facing a large metal pedestal with a closed book held at the top. She was about to dismiss it, but something about the book looked familiar. She walked closer, and saw the the golden unicorn emblem across the front. “Predictions and Prophecies!” She gasped. The book appeared to have a bookmark popping out of the top. She brought the book down off the pedestal and laid it on the dresser. She magically turned the pages to where the bookmark stood out, only to be brought to a pair of blank pages. “This is...” Before she could finish her thought, the red words of the prophecy of nova slowly surfaced to the page, giving the whole room a faint red glow. “But how?...” Twilight was surprised, why did the words now appear in Luna's book? The thought coursed every crevice of her mind; she felt that this question may have been the clue she has been looking for.
She began to mentally list details of when she saw the prophecy in her own book, trying to find the connection. “I was in my bed, late at night... Wouldn't appear in the morning. Luna's book shows in the middle of the day, so it's not caused by the time of day.” She delved further into her memories, “The words only appear after the book has been opened, which means they disappear when the book is closed... Then it must be something that's touching the pages.” Although her conclusion seemed solid, she was confused; never had anything touched the pages on her book, or when she opened Luna's book. “And it had to be something that never touched those pages before that would have caused it not appear any other time...” The closer she got, the farther away the answer seemed to be from her grasp. Her intensive thinking only worsened her headache. “Arg! It's got to be something! But the only thing touching these pages is the... light...” The last word brought about an idea that seemed to lock in with all the other puzzle pieces. She looked up at the white orbs lighting the room. “When I saw the words in my book, moon-light was shining in through my window.” There was only one way Twilight could prove her hypothesis. She magically hovered her saddlebags over the book to where it was shadowed from the orbs near the ceiling. The red glow from the pages persisted for a few seconds, but slowly began to dim and recede back into the pages. She felt a huge rush of glee as she witnessed her experiment go in the direction she had hoped.
“Those orbs must be emitting moonlight, then!” She deducted. “That also means whoever wrote this particular prophecy wanted Luna to see it, and only Luna.” While it made sense when she said it, it only brought about more questions, who exactly would want Luna to see such a thing, and why only her? Regardless, Twilight felt that her discovery would be invaluable to her investigation, even if it did not give any details as to Luna's whereabouts.
She pulled her saddlebags back onto her back, but accidentally pulled out the bookmark in the process. Not wanting to make it obvious that anyone had been in Luna's room, she magically picked it back up. Before she was able to place it into the book, she noticed something on the paper bookmark; closer inspection revealed them to be words. Curious, Twilight unfolded the bookmark to find what appeared to be a very short letter address to the princess. She squinted to read the tiny letters in the red light that had reemerged in the room: 

L,
We are ready, and will make our move towards Canterlot once the portal is opened.
-S

She figured L must have been code for Luna, but had no idea what the S meant. The message seemed very cryptic, but the threat in it was obvious. “The princess must see this!” Twilight thought, “This is the proof I need, now I know Luna is up to no good... But why...” She did not want to believe the Princess she had just befriended last Nightmare Night sought to bring about the end of Equestria, but everything seemed to point towards Luna's involvement in the coming catastrophe. She put the note into her bags and closed the book, placing it back onto the pedestal. She quickly turned towards the door to leave, but a noise from outside cause her heart to skip a beat. She listened over the thudding of her pulse in her ears;
“It's time to change shifts already?” She heard a dark guard say. He sounded somewhat distant from the door.
“Yeah, I'm ready to hit the hay. Another boring day, but almost had the chance to send two nosy ponies to the dungeon. One of Celestia's guards came and ruined the fun, though.” Said another guard.
“Curse them, things are gonna change once Luna gets back from her trip.”
Twilight really wanted to hear what they had to say next, maybe they would reveal something that would really tell what Luna was up to. She took a step close to the door, pressing her eat against it.
“When her little friends make their way here though, then things will belong to us!”
“Quiet down!” One of the guards hissed. After that, their words became indistinguishable mumbles. Twilight pressed her head harder against the door trying to listen in. In her desperate attempt to learn what they were saying, the door opened from her pushing, creaking loudly in the quiet hallway. She jumped away from the door and hoped the guards had not noticed.
“What was that?! The Princess's door is open!” She heard of the guards yell over her hopeful thoughts.
“I need to get out of here.” She frantically looked around the room, panicking as she attempted to create an escape plan. She caught eye of the door to outside, and quickly dashed to it. She could hear the metal boots of the guards stomping up the stairs as she pressed the door open. She found herself on a semi-circle shaped balcony that hung over the cliff of the Canterlot Mountain. Before she could close the door all the way, she heard Luna's door bang open. She left the balcony door ajar and pressed her body against the outside of the palace. She took hushed, staggered breaths as she tried to remain as quiet as possible.
“Somepony must have removed the lock... They're still here. I smell their fear.” She heard a guard cackle.
“Whoever's in here, you better come out quietly, and we might just let you slide with a life's sentence to the dungeon .” They both snickered darkly. Twilight looked around, there was nothing except a fatal drop into the Everfree forest below on all sides. If she had enough magic power remaining, she would give herself wings, but the breaking of Luna's spell still left her almost empty on energy. “If they catch me, I'm doomed. If I jump, I'm doomed! Think Twilight, think!” 
“The balcony door's open!” She heard one say. She was out of options, and getting captured by the dark guard seemed like the worst possible alternative; they would not only have her, but also confiscate the piece of evidence she had to put a stop to the prophecy. Everything seemed to move in slow motion as all but the sound of her pulse faded away. She saw the door to the balcony creak open; she immediately turned and leaped.
The wind whipped her mane about as she plummeted towards the earth. Canterlot palace was high above her now, and only the forest remained below. She was counting on the fact that she would be able to save herself, but her exhaustion and panic left her unable to perform even the most basic of spells. As the ground neared closed, tears leaked from her eyes. “I've got to try!” She screamed, charging what was left of her magic into her horn. “Somewhere, anywhere!” She thought. White sparkles sprung her horn and began to encircle her. But before it could finish, the fatal details of the ground became crystal clear. There was a white flash, then darkness...

~

“She's been gone too long.” Duskmane thought, having a bad sensation fluttering in his chest. “I hope she didn't get caught.” He resumed his quiet meditation on the bench.
“I swear, she's been with the same pony for an hour now.” He heard one of the other waiting ponies exclaim, and heard many of the others respond in agreement. However, a quick silence fell upon the room as the large door to the throne room opened. A pony emerged from the doorway, cloaked horn to tail in a steel-blue colored robes that masked their face and body. Followed behind her was none other than the Princess Celestia herself; a tall white alicorn with a flowing florescent mane. Even if Duskmane had never seen pictures of her in his books, he would have guessed immediately who she was; she stood nearly twice the height of any regular pony and wore a jeweled golden crown.
The crowd of the waiting ponies were completely silent, some of whom awaited Celestia's call to see who she would speak to next, while a few others were surprised of the cloaked pony who had begun to leave the room. Before the masked pony left, they paused and turned their head slightly towards the crowd. Duskmane saw a glint from beneath the hood, but could not quite tell if the pony was looking at him, or somepony else. But soon after, the pony resumed their way out of the room. Once the pony had left, Princess Celestia spoke, “My dear ponies,” Duskmane saw everypony bow their head, and he followed suit, “I'm afraid I must take a short break to take care of an important matter. I'll return as quickly as I can, thank you for your patience.” Her voice were waves of compassion and elegance upon Duskmane's ears, but also that of urgency. Nopony verbally objected her request as she quickly proceeded through a gilded white door on the other side of the lobby. Duskmane figured that led to her private room, which was confirmed by the agitated whispers of the other ponies around him. A few of them even got up and left, muttering about coming back tomorrow.
Duskmane was still left alone in his worry for his friend, with his thoughts becoming more and more pessimistic of Twilight's fate. “She's a smart pony... She knows what she's doing, she'll--”
“Princess Celestia!” Called out a deep voice. Duskmane perked up to see two royal guards rush into the room, one who appeared to have something stretched across his back. They stopped at the entrance to Celestia's room “Princess Celestia, it's important.” With the guards stopped, Duskmane could take a closer look; across the guards back was a limp lavender pony. Duskmane's blood ran cold as it seemed his worse fears came true.
“Twilight!” He said, rushing passed everypony to get closer.
The guard not carrying Twilight turned towards Duskmane at his shout, as did many of the others in the lobby. He stepped in the of Twilight with a very serious face.
“This is a very serious matter, please remain where you are.” He claimed.
Before Duskmane could respond, the door in front of him opened, and out emerged Princess Celestia. “Princess,” Said the guard carrying Twilight, “This pony was found inside the chamber of the Elements of Harmony, but she appears to be unconscious.”
“What was she doing in there?!” Duskmane thought. “I thought she wanted something from Luna's room...”
The princess gave Twilight's motionless body a quick look over, her scared expression turning into relief as she exhaled a long breath. “She will be fine.” She said to the guard. “I will take her into my quarters. My dear ponies,” She addressed the rest of the lobby, “I'm afraid I must cancel all further hearings until tomorrow, it seems more than one pressing matter has presented itself.” Rather than met with the annoyed muttering he heard, the sound of the ponies this time were much more worried, lots of which were questioning if the limp pony was alright. The Princess gently levitated Twilight from the guard's back and hovered her into her room. Duskmane tried to squeeze past the guard to get in as well, but they both held out a hoof to stop him.
“Please! I must see Twilight!” He yelled.
The Princess looked down on Duskmane with a calm face. “It's okay, he can come in.” She said. The guards lowered their hooves and walked out of the lobby behind the rest of the crowd. “Please, come in.”
Duskmane walked in at her request, the room appeared to be a small room, aglow from the lit fireplace against the wall. The Princess had placed Twilight on a soft mat in front of the fireplace, her eyes still closed and body completely motionless.
“Will she be alright, Princess?” Asked Duskmane fearfully, fighting back the tears in his eyes.
“Yes, she will be fine.” The Princess reassured him. She closed her eyes as her horn shimmered a bright yellow. A soft yellow beam shot from her horn and into Twilight, which wrapped her in glimmering gold blanket of magic. The glow dissipated, and Twilight slowly opened her eyes.
“Twilight!” Called Duskmane happily, unable to resist the tears any longer. He embraced her as she tried to awake, causing her to jump in surprise.
Princess Celestia stepped closer, a smile across her face. “When a unicorn uses all of the magic in their body, they become extremely weak until after they rest. I merely gave her a spark of magic to reinvigorate her.”
Duskmane released Twilight from his somewhat embarrassing grasp and stepped back, allowing her to stand up. “Duskmane!” She said happily as she witnessed him brushing the tears out of his eyes. “And Princess Celestia...” She said in a much more perplexed tone. “Er... What exactly happened?”
“I'm wondering that myself.” Celestia responded. “The guards told me they found you in the Chamber of the Elements of Harmony, which is strictly guarded and all entry forbidden. You were unconscious when they found you, and they brought you to me. It appears that you've expended all of your magic, which you know causes unicorns to enter a deep sleep until they are rested. Now, tell me. What exactly were you up to?”
“Princess...” Twilight started, “You have no idea how happy I am to see you. There are so many things I need to show you, although I'm not entirely sure how I ended up near the Elements of Harmony...” The Princess nodded at her, allowing her to continue. Twilight levitated her version of Predictions and Prophecies out of her saddlebags. “Before I explain anything else, I found out why you couldn't see the prophecy I wrote to you about.” She opened the pages until the blazing red pages were opened to the Princess's eyes.
The Princess leaned forward and read it. “Oh my...” She whispered.
“The reason you couldn't see it, Princess, was because the only way to make the words appear was to expose them to moon-light. Zecora gave me a little something that made the letters remain on the page.”
“But how did you figure that out?” The Princess inquired.
“I'll get to that in a little bit.” Twilight answered. The Princess nodded and looked back down at the book. After a long stare, the Princess closed her eyes with a serious wrinkle in her brow. “I think the prophecy might be saying that Nova is--”
“Luna...” The Princess interjected dolefully.
Twilight's ears perked in surprise. “That's who I thought as well.” She said.
“And you believe this prophecy is true?”
“Something tells me this isn't one to be ignored....” Said Twilight. “And I also have this.” She removed Luna's letter from her bags and laid in front of the Princess. Celestia gave it a quick read before looking up at Twilight with a very serious face.
“How did you get this?” The Princess asked solemnly.
“I decided to do some private investigation.” Said Twilight, seeing Celestia give a very suspicious face. “I had to! I didn't think you would believe me without some sort of proof that Luna might be Nova, Harbinger of the End.”
Princess Celestia paused before questioning her further. “So you bypassed Luna's guards and found this in her room?”
“Yes.” Twilight nodded. “I only barely made it from the guards.”
“How exactly did you manage to slip pass and evade Luna's royal guards? They don't take to trespassers lightly.”
“A little help from my friend Duskmane here.” She said. Duskmane was unsure if he should act triumphant about helping break the law within the Princess's own palace, so he only nodded silently.
“The son of Madam Sapphire. How is she doing these days?” The Princess asked casually, which surprised Twilight considering the present matters.
Duskmane jumped a bit, not expecting to be addressed. “She's doing... er, good. The mines still run at peak efficiency.”
“That's good to hear.” The Princess smiled widely. She then turned back to Twilight. “You still haven't told me how you ended up with the Elements of Harmony. I must admit I'm quite curious.”
“With Duskmane's help, I managed to get passed the guards near the entrance to Luna's quarters and get to her room, where I found that note. I accidentally alerted the guards to my presence, which led me having to...” She paused. “I can only remember jumping off the balcony... I recall trying to cast a spell, but I don't remember anything else.”
Princess Celestia's eyes widened. “That is quite a tale.” She said. “Although I may now know how you ended up near the Elements of Harmony.” Both Duskmane and Twilight leaned in. “When ponies are faced with great danger, they can perform extraordinary feats that would normally be impossible for them. Twilight, I think your will called out to the Element of Magic inside the chamber of the Elements of Harmony, and with its help, your magic brought you to it.”
“But please don't do anything like that again!” Duskmane said worriedly.
“It was my only option.” Twilight reassured. “Had the guards caught me, I would not have been able to get Luna's note to Princess Celestia. Speaking of which... Princess, what do think the note is pertaining to?”
The Princess looked down upon the short note again. “...Master's instruction...” They heard her mutter.
There was a long moment of silence as they let the Princess concentrate. After a several minutes of thought, the Princess turned to look out the large window. “I'm glad you showed me these things, my faithful student. It seems my fears as of late have been legitimate.”
“What do you mean?” Twilight asked.
“Ever since her return to Equestria, I see the hate and resentment for me in Luna's eyes. I was hoping that we may love each other again, like olden times... before she gave into the corruption that made her Nightmare Moon. The evidence you have brought me tells of the gears in motion against me and my kingdom... Luna must be stopped.” She turned around and stared down at them. Twilight was shocked, all doubt of Luna's innocence faded, even against her most dire hopes. This brought a bittersweet mix of triumph and melancholy. “Which is why I must call upon you for this very important task, Twilight and Duskmane.”
Duskmane looked over at Twilight to see her eyes closed and a frown on her face. “I wouldn't abandon Equestria in its time of need, but why us?” She asked.
“The note... I believe I know what is headed towards Canterlot. I must ready the guards to defend the capitol, and be here myself should Luna decide to show herself.”
“Ready the guards?” Twilight asked, “What exactly is headed towards Canterlot?”
“Do you recall what helped Nightmare Moon escape her thousand-year imprisonment?” Celestia asked.
Twilight paused a moment. “The will stars aid in her escape.” she recited her memory of the prophecy of the return of Nightmare Moon.
“Yes. I believe the “master” in the prophecy are the stars. Unfortunately, I am unsure as to what could mean for us. That is why I must prepare for the worst.”
“I see.” Twilight answered, “What is it exactly that you need us to do?”
Princess Celestia walked over to a large square table opposite of the fireplace. Duskmane and Twilight followed, to see it was a map of the area around Canterlot, including all of Ponyville. Half of the map near the portion labeled “Ponyville” was nothing but a large expanse of trees labeled Everfree Forest. Only a few points of note were visible in the forested area, including a spot labeled “Zecora's hut”, and a picture of what appeared to be a castle. Twilight assumed it was the abandoned Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters, where she and her friends defeated Nightmare Moon.
“While our ultimate goal is to prevent Luna from uncovering the power of Nova, first we must find her.”
“Find her? Equestria is huge... She could be anywhere!” Duskmane exclaimed.
“That's just it, though. Normally, no matter how far away she was, our sisterly bonds would always point us to where the other was. However, I haven't felt any sign of her for several days. The only sure-fire way we might discover her whereabouts is recovering a powerful artifact known as the Animoria.” Twilight and Duskmane turned to each other and exchanged vague looks; neither of them have ever read about an artifact by that name. Celestia noticed their confused looks and elaborated, “The Animoria was a very powerful artifact that was a gift to us from... an old friend.” The last words came out mournfully. “It had the ability to record our memories, no matter how far we were from it, to capture all the goods times my sister and I had together.... It was left behind after an ancient war left our old palace in ruins. A place you are familiar with, Twilight Sparkle.”
Twilight nodded. “If the Animoria is in there, we'll retrieve it for you.”
“Thank you, both of you. As I said earlier, I'd go and retrieve it myself, but should Luna strike before we do, I must be here to defend Canterlot and the Elements of Harmony.” 
Twilight looked at Duskmane to see him plastered with a worrisome frown. She gave him a reassuring smile.
“I would also ask that you two to not tell anypony of your mission. We have no idea who might be secretly in league with Luna, and even telling your best friends can put Equestria at risk.” Celestia gave them a very serious look, almost frightening.
“Of course...” Twilight replied halfheartedly. She knew she could always count on her friends, but she would not disobey Celestia's request. She did see the danger in telling anypony; for they could accidentally reveal it to the wrong pony, one working for Princess Luna.
“So it's just us two, then?” Duskmane asked.
“Yes. Now, please be on your way.” Celestia said as she escorted them out into the empty lobby. “A great deal rests in your hooves, but I know I have the right ponies for this assignment.” She smiled at them.
“We won't let you down, Princess!” Twilight affirmed.
“Of... Of course.” Duskmane stuttered. Leaving one castle to go to another did not exactly fill him with joy, especially if it was abandoned in the middle of the infamous Everfree forest (which even he knows about from his books).
Twilight and Duskmane turned around and started walking their way out of the palace. The thoughts of the task ahead both weighed heavily on their chest. Duskmane turned to hopefully see Twilight with courage in her eyes and resolve in her step, but instead saw that she appeared very occupied with troubling thoughts. Duskmane tried to break the apprehension with some questions he was holding back.
“Hey Twilight... What was Princess Celestia saying about the Element of Magic?”
Twilight snapped out of whatever lingered in her thoughts, “The Element of Magic, the mysterious sixth element of Harmony. My friends and I had to find and use the Elements of Harmony to defeat Nightmare Moon when she returned to Equestria. With the help of my friends, I was able to unlock the power of the Element of Magic to complete the Elements of Harmony, which removed the dark corruption from Princess Luna. I'll admit I'm not entirely sure myself, but I think the Princess means that I'm tethered to it somehow... And good thing, too. I would not have lived from my trip into Luna's room otherwise.”
“You... you used the Elements of Harmony? That's amazing Twilight!” Duskmane exclaimed. His fear of the coming events at the Royal Sisters' Castle faded away; he knew he was with an extremely talented pony, now. “Only the greatest ponies in history have ever used the Elements of Harmony! Certainly Luna doesn't stand--” He caught himself before he shouted too loudly, “Luna doesn't stand a chance against as long as you're on her case.” He finished in a whisper.
“Then perhaps you understand why I'm not too keen about our journey now. The Elements only work when they are all together and working in unison, much like my friends and I. However, as you heard the Princess say, I'm not to tell any of my other friends about what's going on.”
Duskmane felt slightly insulted, but understood completely. “I hope I make a suitable substitute...” He muttered.
Twilight looked up to him, her expression turning that of appreciation. “I'm very happy to have you along. You're right, we'll do just fine. What danger could possibly be lurking in a palace once owned by the Princesses, other than the denizens of the forest itself.” Duskmane mirrored her smile.
The two exited the palace and continued down the path back into the city of Canterlot. Twilight felt a bit uneasy seeing all the unknowing ponies of Canterlot continue about their lives, completely ignorant of the danger that loomed on the horizon. Suddenly, that feeling came to her again; she was being watched. She instinctively looked around, seeing nopony in particular casting their gaze on her. Her eyes widened as caught sight of a cat peering in her direction from behind a potted plant outside one of the shops. It was light blue in color with violet colored eyes, looking very similar to the one she saw in Ponyville. She stopped abruptly and blinked.
“What's the matter Twilight?” Duskmane asked as he stopped besides her, trying to follow her bewildered gaze.
She shook her head, and before she knew it, the cat was out of sight. “Oh... It's nothing.” She said. “I... uh... thought I saw a pony I knew. False alarm.” She laughed nervously and continued walking.
“Oh, I see.” He responded. “You must know quite a few ponies here, considering your amazing feats and all.”
“Yeah, I guess you could say that.” She said uneasily. She retreated into her thoughts “That cat again... There's no way it could have got here from Ponyville that fast... I must be imagining things... It's just another cat.” A mixture of confusion and apprehension toiled in her mind like ocean waves amidst a storm; thoughts of recent events, and things to come. So many things seemed to be happening so quickly, she had to gather the details and let them settle gently where they belong. This helped her alleviate the stress of all the things on her mind and focus better on her current assignment.
Before she knew it, Twilight could see the gate leading out of Canterlot and the royal chariot just beyond that. She and Duskmane both quickened their pace and quickly jumped into the chariot once they were near.
“To the... er... What was it called again, Twilight?” Duskmane asked.
“I think you mean the Royal Sister's palace.” Said Twilight, “But I don't think we could safely land in this thing directly inside the forest, let's just have them drop us off a Ponyville and we'll continue from there.”
Duskmane nodded at her. “Please take us to Ponyville.”
“Of course, master Duskmane.” And once again Duskmane and Twilight were flowing through the clouds.
It was another silent trip as they both mentally prepared for the dangers that lurked ahead. Twilight was quite confident in her magical abilities, but Duskmane felt a bit under-equipped for the task. He did not want to be a burden and let Twilight do all the work, but he also did not want her to go alone on such a potentially perilous journey. “I must... be strong.” He thought. “But I'm not strong....” He turned towards Twilight, who had her eyes set on the dark forest in the distance. “I... I can overcome. I will not be useless...I must prove mother wrong, even if she isn't there to see me do it.” He looked down at Ponyville coming into view. “I must prove it to myself.”