//------------------------------//
// The Astrum [pt 1] 
// Story: Forging Harmony 
// by LunaSilverscale 
//------------------------------//

Having thanked and dismissed the chariot drivers, Luna led Twilight towards the throne room where Celestia should have finished the paperwork. 

The saddlebags had been re-adjusted to Twilight’s new frame, courtesy of Luna’s transformation magic, since Twilight had politely refused the aid of a guard in carrying her bags. Now the straps - instead of getting in the way of, or trapping, Twilight’s wings – had been altered to include slots which allowed the wings to slip through comfortably and would, in theory, allow the bags to remain secure in flight. I’ll have to ask Rarity to see if she can duplicate the alterations, so I can use a smaller bag to test the feasibility of carrying them in flight. Of course, I’ll have to get used to the idea of flight first. 

Twilight managed to contain her questions, knowing now that the history of the Elements was extremely limited knowledge, but only barely. Her curiosity still prodded at the back of her mind.

Both Princesses were intercepted on route by one of the Solar Guards. The guard bowed low to both of them,

“Princess Luna, Princess Twilight. I bear a message from Princess Celestia.”

Seeing Twilight was uncomfortable with the deference shown her title,  she’s still not used to her elevated status, perhaps I should offer some guidance to Twilight on expected protocol?, Luna spoke to the guard. Taking note of the insignia of rank as she did so;

“Rise and speak my sister’s message, Lieutenant.”

“Princess Celestia extends her apologies that her paperwork is such that she could not greet you on arrival as she wished. She also asks that Princess Luna begins enlightening Princess Twilight on the matter at a location of choice and that she’ll join you as soon as she is available.”

“Very well, please convey to my sister that we’ll be found within the Astrum.” 

The guard bowed once more and left. Luna turned to Twilight, slightly curious as to her reaction to another delay in seeing Celestia and to her choice of location.

“Have you ever been in the Astrum during your time as my sister’s student, Twilight?”

Twilight had a thoughtful look on her face as Luna turned to her. Paperwork delaying Princess Celestia? There must be some sort of problem facing Equestria.  Her thoughts were derailed by Luna’s enquiry. 

“No, the Astrum was a restricted area to students of the School for Gifted Unicorns.” Twilight shook her head.

“Even to Celestia’s personal protégé?” Luna asked amused as she started to lead the way.

“It was.” Twilight confirmed, following Luna.

“In one way that’s a shame. In another, it is a blessing.”

“Princess?”

“Please, Twilight. Call me Luna.” The Night Princess corrected gently and then explained her earlier comment.  “It’s a shame as the Astrum is a very peaceful location for private study. A blessing as I’m able to show you its glory.”

“I used the Solarium for private study.” Twilight observed, picking up her pace to draw alongside Luna, now even more eager to see the restricted area for the first time.

“Like the Solarium is Celestia’s retreat from the political pressures of ruling, the Astrum is my retreat.” Luna explained, though she couldn’t resist adding, “Officially at least.”

Twilight was intrigued by Luna’s cryptic comment.

“Officially your retreat? What else could it be that wouldn’t be noticed by the castle staff?”

“You’ll see soon enough,” was all Luna would say and refused to be drawn on the topic no matter what Twilight tried.

Their one-sided guessing game lasted til the pair got to the door. Just outside the Astrum, Luna paused and turned to Twilight.

“You want to do the honours or shall I?”

Twilight looked between Luna and the Astrum’s door. Now she was close up, she had time to study the details.

The door was engraved with Luna’s Cutie Mark positioned in the exact centre, around it were Arcane Runes. Some Twilight recognised as those of protection, identical to those on the Solarium. Those would represent the nature of the room as a retreat,  Twilight supposed. The other Runes seemed to be an amalgam of illusion and enchantment, which she could only guess at the effects they would hint at – combined Runes were very finicky things to get right.

Twilight would have loved to study those combined Runes further, but she was fully aware of the company she was in, so she tore her gaze away and looked for the opening mechanism.

“Princess Luna, there doesn’t appear to be a method to open this door.”

“Now you know how the secrets of the Astrum are hidden from the staff.” Luna smiled mysteriously and lit her horn up. 

As Twilight turned to face Luna with a quizzical expression, a matching glow of magic came from the engraved moon. In quick succession, the glow leapt from the moon to the Runes of Protection and an internal click signalled the unlocking of the door. Again the magic glow jumped Runes – this time to the outer most of the combined sets.

Luna entered first, followed closely by Twilight. The door closed softly behind them. Then the glow faded.

“Welcome to the Astrum, Twilight Sparkle.” Luna watched the youngest Princess take careful steps from the doorway.

“This is…absolutely unbelievable…. the magic necessary to maintain this place…..” Twilight murmured as she tried to take it all in.

The floor had been tiled in two different colours:  gold and silver. The walls appeared to be non-existent, having been painted to look like drifting clouds. In fact, the clouds did move around, some of them even fading into the distant simulation of a horizon.

Above, where the ceiling should be was a perfect replica of the sky. Though it wasn’t the night sky that could be seen, it was a reflection of the late summer afternoon. The Astrum was lit by a replica of the sun – casting long shadows from the two Princesses.

“I trust the suspense I put you through was worth it?” Luna enquired, if it is, my modifications on my return would not have gone to waste.  The Astrum door had only born her Mark and the Runes of Protection. Princess Luna had placed the other Runes herself while she was recovering her energies. The floor was the only part left unaltered by the changes.

“More than worth it, Princess,” Twilight answered, “The views were certainly unexpected.”

Luna smiled, “Those were my additions and different settings can be conjured through different combinations of the Rune blends. I noticed your interest in them.” Moving to the centre of the room, Luna settled into a forward reclining position.
“Considering Tia asked me to start, shall we begin?”

Twilight walked towards Luna, eager to begin;

“Yes, I brought the parts of the history of the Elements that I was capable of updating from the already published works.” 

Her magic delved into the bag to withdraw her writing. Five sheets of parchment were held suspended in a purple aura between the two alicorns.

“Let’s start with reviewing those then.” Luna suggested, glad to have an easy starting point. She gestured for Twilight to join her so that they could both read the beginnings of Twilight’s project.

The page dealing with basic descriptions of the Elements was skimmed over, there was no real need to expand on or correct any of that. The same could be said of the section about the retrieval and recent history of the Elements.

The usage of the Elements proved a more interesting section – in particular the part about King Sombra. Luna pointed this part out,

“The Elements were indeed used on King Sombra. However the disappearance of the Empire was not directly due to their usage.”

Twilight brought out quill and ink so she could make side notes as Luna spoke. First she crossed out, ‘only speculation – it is unknown whether’. 

Luna, seeing Twilight was ready to transcribe the new information, continued;

“King Sombra was confronted by my sister, she wanted to try and sway him from his path. She failed, but Sombra having tasted part of her power – realised that he wouldn’t be able to face the both of us in combat. He created and cast a spell – we could sense its power, but not its purpose until it was too late.”

“As you’ve already noted – the Elements converted him to shadow, scattered and sealed him under ice. It was then we realised the spell’s purpose. The Crystal Empire sank beneath the snows as the last vestiges of Sombra’s power dissipated.”

“The spell tied the Empire’s Fate to his. It took all of his magic to cast – and only worked once. Though to retain that link for a thousand years, which showed how much power he had at his command at the height of his rule.”

Twilight frantically scribbled the tale down while Luna spoke. The quill was finally laid down, and Luna read over the rest of Twilight’s work. With a decisive nod, Luna turned her attention to Twilight.

“Now for the ancient history, I believe Tia asked you to bring the Elements?”

Twilight nodded and brought out the container that held them. 

“They’re in here. Apart from the Element of Magic, which I’m wearing.”

“Take the Six Elements and place them in a circle in front of us. You’ll need to see them for this part.”

Twilight began as Luna asked, her crown joining the necklaces to be placed in a ring.

Princess Luna considered her next words carefully as Twilight organised the items.

“You’re aware of the concept of magic resonance, are you not?”

Twilight nodded, what does that have to do with the Elements? The words of response were given by rote, Twilight Sparkle having reverted to the familiar role of student.

“Magic resonance is based on the principle that no two casters have the same colour of magical aura and that the signature of their casting imprints itself on the target area or item.”

Luna nodded, recognising the shift within Twilight, not particularly liking the role of teacher. It has been a long time since I was last in that position.   So instead of giving Twilight a direct confirmation, she prompted her to continue with:
“And how does one detect residual signatures?”

Twilight considered the question, searching her mind for anything relevant and how it could link into her request.

“Residual signatures can be read by another caster by a variation of the arcane perception spell; however this has the drawback of potentially contaminating the reading with the caster’s own aura.”

Luna wasn’t surprised that Twilight knew the answer; she was surprised that Twilight hadn’t mentioned the method of overcoming the limitation of the spell. 

“Theoretically, how can the risk of contamination be removed from the equation?”

“In theory, a magic filter could be applied to the spell at the time of casting. However blending two spells is not recommended due to uncertain side effects.”

“While that is recommendation is true for untrained casters, wouldn’t trained casters be able to control the effects of a spell-merge?” Luna was now wondering if Twilight had ever tried such a merge under surpervision.

“Yes, if under the guidance of another that has already mastered the spell-merge in question.” Twilight answered carefully, then posed a question of her own, “Are you proposing that I attempt to use the combined filter-perception on the Elements?”

“Yes. Have you cast either component before?”

“Only the arcane perception and I have never performed that blend.” Twilight looked nervously at the Elements, “What if I mess up?”

“I will guide the shaping,” Luna said, I’m guessing Tia wasn’t fond of the blending aspect of magic , then offered, “Or you could link into my magic as I cast the combined spells. Of course, that would mean you’d see double for the duration – what your eyes see and what my magic sees.” And link casting is uncomfortable…. for both parties.  The dual vision for the one and for the caster it was a matter of personal space and trust. The caster was extremely vulnerable to the other while the link was active, the two effectively sharing the arcana-space produced by the connection.

Twilight knew the theory behind linking magic. The few books that had mentioned it had recommended against such a process unless there was complete trust between all participants.

“You’d really do that, the link casting I mean?” Twilight asked in mild disbelief and wonder. “And how would you guide magic shaping without a link being made.”

“I would Twilight. As for guiding magic without a link, think of my magic forming the walls of a corridor for your magic to flow through. A mild resistance would be encountered, and would gently press the flow back into the right place, should the woven magic try to deviate off course. I would, of course, apply a filter to my own magic so that it would not interfere with the arcane perception.”

Luna paused as she eyed the circle of Elements, Twilight was the one that thanked me for trusting her with the story – so I guess I should show it in other ways too.  

“The choice is yours.”

Twilight didn’t take long to consider the options. The practical aspect of blending spells was not part of my education, though I did manage to combine more than two spells during that Ursa Minor incident. So I could do it, though I am curious about link casting. How would that actually feel?  That was what decided it for Twilight Sparkle.

“Could we use the link method please, Luna?”

Luna smiled as Twilight finally remembered to drop the title, though perhaps that was due to her blatant enthusiasm for experimentation and learning new things.

“Indeed we can. Please settle in a comfortable position before we begin.”

Twilight moved her saddlebags to one side, before stretching out alongside Luna.  Now, if only these wings weren’t so unwieldy…..  She had mostly got used to having them, but her regular relaxing positions had to be adjusted each time. 

Fidgeting done, Twilight nodded at Luna;

“Ready.”

“To start the link, bring your horn close to mine and let a small charge flow from its tip to complete the magical circuit.” Luna instructed, lowering her own head to make it easy for Twilight.

 So that’s what happened at the Wedding, when Cadence shared her strength with Shining  Armor. Now I know what the link looks like from the outside – or at least a combined large range species-specific repelling shield one looks like…  Twilight followed Luna’s instructions; a small arc of lavender lightning flying across the small gap.

As soon as Luna felt the tingle of ‘foreign’ magic on her horn, she supressed the natural instinct to repel and concentrated on the combined spell.

Twilight could feel the spells taking shape, and committed their flows to memory. Just in case the need to cast it again arose outside the link. Luna’s own pool of magic was within touching distance of her own, only a small gossamer-like veil keeping them apart. The slightest push of power from Twilight and she could tear it apart.  Now I know why complete trust was a strongly recommended requirement. 

Luna released the spell, the Six Elements temporarily bathed in a dark blue aura. This quickly faded to reveal the Elements surrounded by a silver glow that seemed to pulse with each breath.

Twilight’s vision was very disorientating to say the least; her open eyes could see the Elements – resting normally in position as if Luna’s magic had not affected them in any shape or form. However, super-imposed was another image, that of Elements pulsing silver light. If Twilight closed her eyes, the second image remained while the normal vision disappeared.

After a few blinks, to be sure that both her eyes and mind were seeing truly, Twilight softly spoke – not wanting to break Luna’s concentration – or her own.

“They’re silver…. All of them glow silver.”

“Is that all you see, Twilight?” Luna enquired, her eyes closed as she maintained the spells.

Twilight looked closer, noting the pulses – she had missed them before with her blinking - and timing them, feeling that they were important somehow:

“The Elements are all linked by a thin thread of the same colour as the magical signature. And the signature seems to vary in strength based on a regular cycle.”

----------

Princess Celestia sighed as the last piece of paperwork was filed away. Her messenger had delivered her messenger and informed her that her sister and Princess Twilight had moved to the Astrum.  Interesting choice of location. Though I can see her reasoning behind it. 

Celestia swiftly moved to the room in question. 

Seeing the door closed, Tia hesitated.  Can I intrude on my sister’s private rooms? Then again, Lulu does know I’ll be joining them – so can it even be considered intruding? 

Glancing at the door Runes, Tia first lit up her horn. A soft golden glow surrounded it.  It is my sister’s retreat so it’s keyed to her magic… so all I need to do is replicate it. 

Her eyes closed, as she concentrated on calling up the memories of raising the Moon in her sister’s absence. The first decade had been the hardest; the Moon didn’t want to respond to her calls. She had forced its obedience through raw power, but had eventually learned of an easier way. If she mimicked Luna’s magic – the Moon responded a lot more readily.

It was still difficult to copy another’s signature, even after centuries of practice. Tia’s glow darkened slowly and traversed the spectrum into the midnight blue of her younger sister’s magic. With that done, Tia could unlock and enter the Astrum.

As quietly as she could, she released her copied magic and watched it follow the path of least resistance. That is, her sister’s last destination pattern. 

Luna had always been very creative with her magic – and the Astrum’s door was no exception. The door had a number of destinations equal to the number of combinations of the rune amalgams. Tia was just glad she didn’t have to try all of them to find her sister.

The door clicked open, and Celestia stepped through. The door closed behind her and she stopped to take in the sight.

The Six Elements sat in a circle and next to them were Luna and Twilight. That wasn’t what gave her pause however.

Both alicorns were under a dome of Luna’s magic. It was translucent enough for Celestia to see their horns linked by an arc of magic.  Is that arc purple? .  As well as take in their relative positions.

Luna had one of her wings extended over Twilight, almost protectively, as the newest addition to the Royal family leaned into Luna’s torso.

Celestia blinked,  Perhaps I should suggest Luna takes a student of her own. That image seems so familiar…