The air around the path was still, not even a bird’s call sounding to break the tense silence. Luna stood there, a hand placed against the wound on her arm. It was nothing more than a graze, and she had already healed it underneath her palm. However she continued the act, waiting for an opportunity to strike. But the question was would she? Although he had fired at her and his aim still held true, Vince was Dustin’s friend. How would he react if he were to learn his best friend was slain by his mentor’s hand? It would be so simple to just teleport behind him over the gorge surrounding the ruins and be done with it, and had she still been Nightmare Moon this would have been a certainty, but Vince must have known this as he stayed within a few feet of Claire.
So it caught both Luna and Vince off-guard when Claire landed a punch straight to the side of his jaw. As he stumbled Luna wrenched the gun from his grasp with her magic, crushing it within her aura before flinging it into the forest.
“What the hell?” Vince shouted, coming face to face with his friend. His cross expression met by one mirroring his anger. “She’s the dangerous one!”
“She protected us!” Claire countered, holding her ground. “What is your problem with her Vince? She’s trying to help us.”
“Like she helped Dusty?! Way to help him by letting him free in a forest. That’s the reason we’re here, isn’t it?” He shouted, sparing Luna a momentary glare. She remained motionless, her empty stare all the confirmation Vince needed. “Somehow, for whatever sadistic reason, she decided to let him go free like an animal. And in a forest like this? Yeah, brilliant help she’s giving us.”
“That’s not what happened and you know it.” Claire snapped, bringing his attention back on her.
“Prove me wrong then.”
“Enough!” Luna spoke up, silencing both teenagers. Taking a calming breathe, she looked back to them with her emotionless mask in place. “Claire, please go ahead and search for Dustin.” Her gaze then focused on Vince. “Vince and I need to speak privately.”
Claire immediately shook her head, stepping in-between the two of them. “Hell no. I’m not leaving you two here just so you can kill each other!”
“The longer the three of us remain here, the more likely it is that Dustin is in peril. If you go ahead then at least one of us is searching for him. Please Claire…” Claire wasn’t budging, crossing her arms and standing her ground in-front of the concealed princess. But a hand coming to rest on her shoulder made her jump and she spun around, swatting away Vince’s hand. She expected him to still be angry, so when she saw him wearing a subdued expression it threw her off for a second.
“Claire,” he spoke, his tone trying hard to sound calm and positive but merely coming off as tired. “Please do what she says. I know you don’t like this, but I’d rather you be off saving Dusty instead of stopping a fight that’s going to happen anyway. So please, go save that idiot on wheels already.” Claire looked at him for a while, studying him long and hard before turning to Luna, who solemnly nodded. Looking back at him, she grabbed Vince’s collar and pulled him close.
“You know Dusty won’t forgive either of you if you die here, and neither will I. Got it?”
Vince smiled a small yet familiarly confident smile. “You make it sound like I have no chance.” Letting him go, Claire turned to head up the path but was stopped by Luna as she fished something out of her jacket.
“Should you run into danger on route to the ruins, use this.” She said, giving Claire a finely crafted wooden whistle. “But only as a last resort. Blow into it three times in quick succession then hide, and aid will arrive.”
Claire nodded, pocketing the whistle before looking back at the agent. “Promise me you won’t hurt him.”
Luna simply looked at her exhaustedly before sighing. “I will try, but I can promise nothing more than that.” Claire stared pleadingly at the agent before sighing and heading off at a sprint up the path. Both she and Vince stood in place, watching her run further in before turning a corner and disappearing from sight.
“Well,” Vince murmured, taking up a boxing stance as he focused squarely on Luna. She imagined he was expecting her to use an underhanded tactic to start things off. “We going to talk this out or what?” Slowly, as if her reluctance to do this bled into her movements, Luna turned to face him. As she did this cracks of light beginning to fracture over both her skin and clothing, shining brighter and brighter.
“Yes. Let us talk.”
~~~
“Turn around, slowly.”
Dustin slowly began breathing through his mouth, trying to calm down his racing heartbeat. He truly thought he had given the soldiers the slip, but it was clear now that they only wanted him to think that. He needed to get out of there, and the teleportation spell was the first thing that came to mind. His horn still felt a dull ache from teleporting from Canterlot, but it was the only way he could see himself getting out of this.
“Oh, and I wouldn’t try teleporting if I were you.” The voice added, cutting off Dustin’s concentration. The light from his horn died out and for a moment there was darkness in the cave before two hissing sounds were heard and golden lights shone from behind him. “I know you can due to the report from my men on the bridge, and I bet it takes a lot out of you to do so, right?”
Dustin’s eyes widened, yet he hid it from them by staring straight ahead at the large dragon-like craving. “How’d you know?”
“You just told me.” The voice replied, to which Dustin mentally kicked himself. “And even if you did make it out of here, I have men spread throughout the forest in case anyone foolishly stumbled onto our operation. If you were caught out there after a jump, I doubt you’d be able to last more than a few minutes.”
Dustin was sweating now, his mind reeling as it realised this soldier was right. Considering how much magic was needed to teleport from Canterlot to the middle of the forest, he felt barely had enough magic to make half that journey, and his evasive actions on the bridge didn’t help either. He didn’t know whether the claim of additional soldiers was a bluff, but if it was true and he teleported he was a dead pony.
“Now I’ll say ask nicely once more. Turn around slowly.”
Gulping, Dustin did as he was ordered, slowly circling to see not one soldier but all five that he hid from earlier, two of which had their rifles trained on the tawny-shaded unicorn while the other two were holding flares in one hand and pistols in the other. Dustin’s gaze nervously shifted between them before landing on the helmetless leader, and suddenly his fear began taking a backseat to confusion when he recognised the scar on his face.
“Who, or what, are you and why were you sent here?” The leader asked, but when he saw the unicorn looking at him strangely he realised something was off. “Why are you staring at me like that?”
“…J-Joel?” Dustin finally managed to ask, the soldiers stirring a little when the creature they thought a monster knew their leader’s name. “Joel Selwood?” The look of confusion on Joel’s face lasted for about a second before he readied his rifle and took aim, firing a warning shot at Dustin’s hooves. The unicorn looked back up to see a face of controlled aggression.
“How do you know who I am?” He growled, aiming now at Dustin’s head. The others slowly spread out in a semicircle around him, trapping the pony between them and the cave wall.
Dustin looked nervously around at the other soldiers before turning back to Joel. “I-It’s me, Dustin. Dustin Rosewater… Vince’s friend, remember?”
Joel slowly lowered his weapon as the connection was made, while a few of the soldiers spared their commander a glance. “Dustin?” He asked, his voice laced with confusion and another emotion Dustin couldn’t identify.
“Y-Yeah. I mean, I have changed but it’s me. I was attacked by these... soldiers…” Dustin trailed off as he put two and two together. The fact horrified him but here it was standing directly in-front of him. His mouth opening in shock, he started backing up slowly. “You...” he whispered. “The attack on the university... the attack on me... it was you, wasn’t it?”
“Well,” Joel sighed, a small yet sinister smile starting to form as he matched Dustin step for step. “I personally wasn’t there, but I did authorise it. I’ve always been pleased that Vince had smart friends. But it seems you’re too perceptive for your own good, aren’t you?”
“B-But why?”
“Because you were distracting Vince from what he should have been focusing on; helping us protect humanity. He is one of the best soldiers I have and yet he wastes his time waiting hand and foot on you. So getting rid of you would be the best motivator for Vince to help me in whatever way he could. I’ll tell him the witches did it. It’d be easy enough to fake after all, especially with you looking like this.
“So Dustin,” Joel asked as Dustin backed into the base of the lizard carving, scared eyes focused on the gun now looking him dead in the eye. “Any last words you want me to pass onto Vince?”
Dustin couldn’t speak, so paralysed was he with fear of his impending death. No matter how much his mind screamed at him to reply, teleport or even move, his body refused, unable to take his eyes off of the barrel. Please help me, he mentally prayed. To God, Luna or anyone that cared to listen. But before Joel could pull the trigger, a bright green light flared into existence on the ground between the group and Dustin. Looking down, they saw the edge of a magic circle, somewhat similar to the one Luna used, surrounding both him and the sculpture above him. The circle began spinning faster and faster, with green cracks of light racing haphazardly up the lizard’s body.
“Kill him!” Joel shouted, stepping back before opening fire along with his subordinates. But even though Dustin teleported behind the soldiers, the bullets ricocheted off the edge of the circle anyway. All present witnessed the cracks of light reach the top of the sculpture before expanding, encompassing the statue in a now blinding light. While they shielded their eyes from the light, it suddenly blinked out of existence, leaving a large cloud of smoke and dust in its wake. Dustin lowered the foreleg from his face, looking up to see that, above the cloud, the top of the sculpture was missing. Before he could find out where it went, something struck him across the left cheek and knocked him to the ground. Opening his eyes from the pain, Dustin looked up to see an enraged Joel now standing over him.
“What did you do?!” He roared, stalking his way to the downed unicorn.
“I-I didn’t do it-” Dustin replied, but was cut off by Joel’s foot landing hard on his neck, pressing down hard enough to cut off his air supply. Joel, meanwhile, glared down at him while bringing his rifle into position inches from the unicorn’s muzzle.
“I don’t want to hear the lies of a traitor to his species.” Joel spat out the words, taking aim at Dustin’s temple. “Now what. Did. You. Do?!”
“Sir, incoming!” Yelled one of the other soldiers. Joel heard it and leapt off of Dustin just in time to avoid a large stream of green flames that was aimed at him. Coughing while trying to regain his breath, Dustin looked up to the dust cloud that now began fading.
The soldiers also turned back to it and saw a large silhouette beginning to take shape. It stood on four legs, with its head curled low near the ground while curved spikes ran from the top of its head down its spine. Then a large purple claw emerged, soon to be followed by the rest of its scaled body. Dustin’s mouth slowly opened of its own accord as the group looked upon a lean but muscular lizard the size of a horse, almost like a dragon without wings. It raised its neck, at full height standing about a foot taller than Celestia, and the tail which its green spikes ran down to gave it a couple of feet in length against the princess as well.
“Leave him alone.” It spoke in a threatening male tone, astounding those around him as his green eyes narrowed while it stared daggers at Joel.
“Take him down!” Joel shouted as all five men concentrated their fire on the dragon. The bullets just bounced off his purple scales however, and he returned fire by breathing more emerald flames at the soldiers, forcing them to take cover. Dustin quickly got to his hooves and was about to run for it until a large thud sounded off next to him. Looking up, he saw the dragon standing between him and the soldiers, and that he was holding something in his right claw, just like the statue had.
“Hold on!” The dragon instructed Dustin as he picked him up with his tail before dropping the unicorn onto his back. “Don’t lose this!” He tossed Dustin something like a small stone before racing off, barely giving Dustin enough time to grab hold of his spines.
Joel looked out from his cover of a large crystal to see the dragon beginning to scale the cave wall towards the exit. Acting quickly, he grabbed a grenade from his belt and hurled it as hard as he could, shouting “Frag out!” as he did so. The grenade hurtled through the air before detonating a few feet away from the dragon, illuminating the cavern. The shockwave of the blast broke Dustin’s grip on the object he had been charged with, slipping from his grasp and falling back down to the cave floor below. His instantly followed it down as his grip on the dragon also faded. As the floor approached, Dustin thought fast and teleported to barely half a metre off the ground, his legs buckling as he landed in a tumble.
Looking up, Dustin spied the small rock that the dragon wanted him to protect, but as he got up he also saw a soldier running at him; the knife in hand ready to gut him like a fish. Before he could get close, the dragon leapt down from the wall and latched his jaws around the soldiers’ arm, eliciting an immediate cry of pain. The dragon then swung his neck and flung the soldier away before jumping and blocking another grenade with his tail, the explosion seemingly having no effect on him.
“Grab the stone!” The dragon yelled at Dustin as he turned back to one of the soldiers in cover, rearing his back as a light grew brighter from his gaping jaw. A high pitched whistle began building before the dragon let fly a single green fireball at the soldier. The soldier leapt away from the boulder he was hiding behind but it mattered little as, upon contact, the fireball exploded in a destructive display, the sounds of a man screaming in pain heard amongst the carnage. Dustin took hold of the stone in his telekinesis before being dumped back onto the dragons’ back again. This time they successfully completed the climb as the soldiers regrouped below. Dustin hopped off and was immediately through the hole to the outside while the dragon turned around and launched another fireball into the centre of the cave, forcing the soldiers to take cover before he too left.
“Thanks!” Dustin had to shout as the two rushed for the exit.
“Don’t thank me yet.” The dragon replied, his focus squarely on their surroundings. “Now move. We need to get back to Canterlot as soon as possible.”
~~~
Claire had to stop and bend over, hands resting on her knees while she caught her breath having run as fast as she could up the path. She knew Dustin needed her, but she still couldn’t help but worry about Vince and Luna. However, she hadn’t seen any lightning or heard thunder or explosions, so that was hopefully a good sign. Standing up, Claire started walking again and brushed the hair out of her eyes while looking at the whistle Luna had given her. Seeing as how she wasn’t a big expert on plants, she wasn’t exactly sure which kind of wood it was made from, but noticed a small golden engraving near the end in the shape of what looked like a wolf head.
“How is this going to help me if danger shows up?” Claire asked out loud, getting her expected answer of nothing. She knew Luna had instructed her to only use it as a last resort, but she needed to know what this thing did if she was going to use it in a pinch. Shrugging, she brought the whistle to her lips and gave it three puffs just as Luna instructed. She looked around, expecting something like D.S.I agents to emerge from the forest or something. Nothing happened. Sighing irritably, Claire pocketed the whistle and began heading back up the path but stopped when she looked ahead.
From around the corner before her came a soldier, outfitted and armed like those she saw at the university. From the look in his eyes he was surprised to see her as well, yet that quickly faded as he fired at the ground by her feet, causing her to cease reaching for the whistle.
“What are you doing here?” He demanded, cautiously stepping towards her as she stepped back.
“W-Well...” Claire stammered, looking down at the rifle and praying Luna or whatever answered the whistle would come to her aid. “I-I got lost... from my tour group.”
“The road was closed off from the edge of the forest.” He curtly replied, knowing she was lying as Claire’s back hit a tree.
Before she could offer another excuse however, something set Claire’s nostrils on fire. An excruciatingly bad odour wafted along the wind, forcing her to lock her nose in an attempt to breathe fresh air. The soldier was also effected by the smell, backing up a few steps before coughing to clear his lungs. Claire saw this opportunity and made a run for it, making it about ten metres before looking over her shoulder to see the soldier take aim.
But instead of a gunshot, an animalistic snarl was heard.
The soldier looked to his left to see a large blur leap from the woods and snatch his rifle away from him, another leaping onto him before he rolled back and flipped it off of him. Quickly getting to his feet, the soldier pulled out his sidearm while Claire slowly walked backwards, keeping her eyes on the scene playing out before her. The two animals were like nothing Claire had seen. They resembled wolves, yet their entire bodies were made of twigs and logs of wood, and their eyes glowed a bright yellow. A third wolf emerged from the forest, joining the other two in forming a circle around the soldier. He waited a few more moments before firing a few shots at the wolf in-front of him, blasting its head to splinters, the rest of its body falling apart. He rolled forward onto one knee before turning to face the other two, the pistol aimed at them stopping them in their tracks.
“Try anything and you’ll end up like your friends you bastards!” He jeered, an arrogant grin looking right at home across his face. “That’s right. You’re too scared to move, aren’t you? You dumb monsters.” With his focus directed at vilifying the beasts, the soldier was unable to see what Claire was seeing. The shattered remains of the first wolf were slowly moving on their own, scuttling behind the smug soldier and reforming. Within moments the wolf was whole once more, inching closer to the kneeling human before it.
And by the time the soldier recognised the smell coming from behind him, it was too late.
Before he could turn the wolf bit deep into his neck, causing a roar of pain to erupt from the man before it started dragging him backwards towards the woods, violently shaking its head to tear the flesh from its victim as it moved. The soldier was finally able to blow the head off his attacker but then the other two joined in; one leaping on top of him and biting at his left arm while the other stared thrashing away with his right leg in its jaws. Struggling to keep the wolf on top of him away from his face, the soldier fired into the wolf’s stomach, blasting it to pieces before kicking the other off of his leg and planting a bullet in its wooden face. As he was struggled to stand, a fourth wolf leapt out of the woods and pounced, forcing the soldier back to the ground before setting its jaws around his right arm. The jaws squeezed so tight the snapping of bone could be heard by those close by, as well as the screams of pain and pleas for mercy.
The gun now dropping from the soldiers’ limp right hand, Claire watched in horror as the first wolf reassembled once more and bit down on the other side of the mans’ neck. The amount of blood lost, combined with the relentless assault from the wolves started taking their toll on the man as he put up less of a fight, the eyes starting to close of their own accord even as he weakly pleaded for his life. As the two wolves dragged him out of sight, Claire started backing up slowly, her saucer-wide eyes not leaving the scene in-front of her. But then she saw the two remaining wolves reassemble and, upon spotting her, slowly approach her. Claire couldn’t help but notice the blood staining the wooden jaws, and weighed up her options on whether she could outrun them or not, quickly coming to the conclusion she couldn’t.
Before they could get any closer, a light flickered to life between Claire and the wolves. When it disappeared Luna stood in its place in her pony form; wings flared and fierce gaze quickly looking down at the wolves. The wolves took one look at her and, without a sound, retreated in the direction their pack had dragged the soldier away.
Luna sighed, folding her wings and turning to face Claire. “Thank goodness I caught up with you. Are you alri-” A slap across Luna’s cheek interrupted her, Claire looking as frustrated as she had been before, if not more so.
“So instead of giving me a gun you give me a whistle that summons uncontrollable wooden wolves? How the fuck does that keep me safe?!” Luna brought a hoof to her stinging cheek before looking back at her, understanding and calm in place of the anger Claire had been expecting.
“I had no firearms to give you.” Luna replied, looking Claire in the eye. “Given the circumstances it was the only way I could ensure something could protect you when I could not.”
Claire sighed, looking away before she could ask the important question that popped up. “What about Vince? Is he..?”
“He is fine.” Luna said, her tone tired. “I have given him some matters to reflect upon.”
Before anything more could be said, an explosion could be heard rumbling off in the distance, birds screeching as they flew away from the rising pillar of smoke from deeper in the forest.
“Dusty.” Claire said as the breath caught in her throat. She started running towards it, but she felt herself being lifted off the ground. A blue aura surrounded her as she floated onto Luna’s back.
“Hold on Claire.” Luna ordered, flaring her wings and crouching down. Claire barely wrapped her arms around Luna’s neck before she rocketed into the sky and soared towards the castle ruins.
~~~
“Wait a minute!” Dustin called ran through the halls to escape the castle, quickly coming towards the exit. “Who are you? Why were you trapped in stone?”
“We can ask each other questions later.” The dragon shot back as they made it past the ruined entrance chamber, partially blinded by the sunlight before a sustained gust of wind gave them pause. Looking up, Dustin and the dragon saw one of the helicopters hovering above them, its chain gun whirring to life with them in its sights.
“WATCH OUT!” The dragon yelled as he curled himself around Dustin just as the helicopter opened fire. Though the bullets did not penetrate the dragons’ scales, the draconic roar showed he definitely felt the pain this time. Rearing his head back, the tell-tale whistle of a charged shot was heard before the dragon let loose at the copter, which barely swerved to the left to avoid.
“Stay out of the way!” The dragon ordered, not giving Dustin a chance to respond before he turned and leapt at the helicopter, his claws missing it by inches. Upon landing, the dragon looked back to see the helicopter fire a missile at him. With not enough space for him to launch a counter-attack, the missile exploded into his side, causing a loud roar of pain to erupt from the dragon’s maw as he fell to the ground near the edge of the gorge while scorch marks adorned his side.
As Dustin saw he was inches from tumbling into the abyss, the dragon looked back up to see the copter ready to fire again. But just as it did, Dustin slide in-front of him and charged his magic before the two teleported, leaving the missile to explode into the edge of the cliff. The two reappeared in the centre of the cleaning in-front of the ruins, and immediately focussed on the helicopter rounding on them. Dustin tried preparing another spell, but his exhaustion began truly weighing down on him. His telekinetic hold on the stone the dragon entrusted him with barely holding.
But before the copter could fire again, lightning arched across the clear blue sky with a thunderous roar. It struck the aircraft in the side, shorting out all its circuits if the sparks seen through the cockpit glass was any indication. As the machine twirled uncontrollably into the gorge, the two looked to the direction the bolt had come from. There Dustin began to smile as Luna and Claire flew towards the ruins, landing next to them.
“Dusty!” Claire yelled in relief, hopping off of Luna to hug the young unicorn before he could say anything. Smiling, he was about to thank his teacher before he saw the stern, angered glare she was giving him. Luna didn’t even notice the dragon or react when the helicopter’s crash landing within the ravine rang out with an explosion; her attention was focused on Dustin.
“Luna, I-”
“Save your excuses for later.” She interrupted, her attention turning to the ruin entrance where Joel and two other soldiers emerged.
His scowl deepening, Joel opened fire at the group only for Luna to raise a magical shield, deflecting the bullets as each impact created a ripple across its surface. When they ceased fire, Luna merely moved her head a fraction before the ripples reversed, returning to their point of origin. There they floated off of the shield like water droplets in space before merging with each other into one sphere of light. With a stomp of Luna’s hoof, the orb shot out, barely missing the soldiers before exploding further inside the castle.
Joel stood up from taking cover to see Luna’s horn shining brightly before flashing, engulfing her and those around her. When that light faded, Joel fought a losing battle to contain the anger inside him. The enemy was gone and standing at the far end of the bridge was an exhausted Vince, dismayed and confused at the scene before him.
~~~
Once the spell dissipated, Dustin and Claire found themselves back in Luna’s cavern. Only now, instead of Celestia, the cavern’s owner was the one angry at them rather than standing up for them.
“Luna, I’m sure he had a good reason for-” Claire started, though the princess of the night paid her no heed and stalked up to stand over Dustin, looking down at him with blatant fury.
“What in Mother’s name were you thinking?!” She finally shouted, her voice nearing the level used in for the Royal Canterlot Voice.
“Well...” Dustin said, standing up and backing up a few steps, not daring to look the angered princess in the eye. “I... I was just trying to help.”
“Help?” Luna repeated before moving towards him in one stride as Celestia fluttered down to witness the scene. “Help?! Your actions were reckless beyond imagination! Do you have any idea how close you came to death? How foolish it was to charge into the Everfree Forest of all places on your own? Had I not arrived, what would have happened Dustin? Tell me!”
“Um, Princess Luna?” The dragon asked, but it may as well have been as if he whispered it from a kilometre away as Luna continued backing Dustin into a wall, scolding him all the while.
“I promised your mother that I would protect you. How am I to uphold that vow if you willingly charge headlong into danger? Furthermore, your appearance could have put our secrecy in jeopardy.”
“Luna, that’s enough!” Claire yelled, moving to her side and grabbing her shoulder only for the princess to bat her hand away with a wing and level a blood-freezing side glare at her as well. But before Luna could return to scolding Dustin, a green flash signalled his teleporting somewhere else. The only thing left in his place was a small stone.
“What the fuck is your problem?!” Claire yelled. “You didn’t even give him a chance to explain.”
“You know full well what the problem here is, Claire Neidheart!” Luna countered, now focusing her attention on the teenager. “He could have broken our cover, gotten himself and others wounded or killed. As he falls under my care I am responsible for his safety.”
“Luna.” A calm yet firm voice interrupted, and Luna turned to see her sister looking at her with a soft look upon her features as her mane flowed ethereally.
“Sister. Surely you understand, right?”
“I understand more than you realise.” Celestia calmly replied. “I understand that he did indeed do something reckless. However, your anger is not entirely because he disobeyed you, but also because you are worried for his safety. While this is welcomed, you are pushing him away by piling all of this guilt upon his shoulders. A teacher should know when to scold a student and when to soothe them. Especially when they have done something that, though fraught with danger, yields a reward.” Following Celestia’s pointing hoof, Luna and Claire’s attention finally came to rest on the dragon that had teleported along with them, looking understandably nervous by the scene he’d just witnessed.
“A-A dragon?” Claire asked incredulously, though Luna’s features bore even more shock as she approached the reptile.
“Spike?” She asked tentatively. “Is that really you?”
“Um, yes?” He replied nervously before finding himself caught between two alicorns hugging him.
“But... But we thought you had perished searching millennia ago.” Luna stated as the sisters released their hug. “How did you survive?”
“Well,” Spike began as he sat down. “I was searching and decided to set up base in the caves beneath your old castle. But I kind of got hungry, so I started hording jewels.
“And then I-” Spike stopped his story when his eyes widened. “Ponyfeathers, where is it?”
“Where is what?” Celestia asked, concern slowly creeping onto her features.
“The jewel I had.” Spike explained as he frantically started searching the area. “I gave it to that unicorn you were yelling at before we escaped.”
“You mean this thing?” Claire asked, and the two alicorns and dragon turned to see her holding up the rock, which only now both sisters took the time to examine. In her grasp was not a stone, but a dirty jewel; magenta in its original colour and shaped in a six-pointed star.
“You found it, great!” Spike said, coming up to Claire and smiling at her; an unnerving sight when she saw the fangs he was sporting. The jewel in question, however, hovered out of the teenagers’ hand in a golden aura before coming to a stop hovering before Celestia’s face.
The sisters were speechless, awe-struck that what they had searched for millennia for was now with them once more. Tears came unbidden from Celestia’s eyes as too many emotions fought for space within her, though sheer joy and relief were the strongest she felt. Looking to Luna, the princess of the sun saw her sister nod in understanding with a small smile before Celestia silently motioned for Spike to follow her with a wing. As she turned to walk away, she heard his claws falling into step beside her before she teleported them both to her bedchamber. It stood high on a ridge overlooking the large teal crystal. Spike took a second to look upon the large jewel before following Celestia to her bed. It was identical to Luna’s except for the colour, with lavender covers neatly made over white sheets, and it was onto the bed that she gently set the jewel down upon. For a time neither dragon nor alicorn spoke, simply looking at the jewel as memories flooded their minds.
“You... you think she’s okay in there?” Spike asked, breaking the silence between the two. Celestia turned to him, the apprehensive fear on her face matching his. Taking a deep, calming breath, she looked back to the jewel.
“Only one way to find out.”
With that, Celestia’s horn flared to life, light and magic building around it as Spike backed away to allow the princess all the room she needed. A stream of golden light gingerly made its way from the tip of her horn to the bed, coiling around the jewel and disintegrating the dirt that had gathered on it over time. The jewel emitted a faint flash and then Celestia concentrated, her focus being cast back eons to memories of a cherished time. She gathered all the memories that she could and, along with a substantial amount of magic, forced it all into the jewel. Upon receiving them, the jewel flashed blindingly, forcing Spike to raise an arm to block out the glare. The jewel began pulsing with light in a rhythm resembling a heartbeat. Timing it just right, Celestia gave the jewel another burst of magic and the light engulfed the entire cavern, the flash able to be seen from far of in the darkness of the caves.
When Celestia and Spike opened their eyes, they saw no jewel before them. Instead, they saw a unicorn mare resting on the alicorn’s circular bed; her lavender coat matching the covers she lay on and her mane and tail were cleanly cut and dark purple with a lighter purple and pink strip running down the length of each. Adorning her flank was a magenta six-pointed star surrounded by five six-pointed white stars and, as she slowly stirred, her bleary purple eyes opened, trying to recognise where she was. Before she could do so she was quickly surrounded by white as Celestia rushed onto the bed and embraced her, hugging the unicorn with her forelegs and wings as tears of joy ran unimpeded down her cheeks.
“...W-What..?” she questioned, her voice dry and raspy. “P-Princess Celestia?” Celesia sniffed as she nodded, resting her head on top of the young mare.
“Yes,” she replied, letting her emotions run free as the princess’ heart flooded with happiness. “W-Welcome back Twilight Sparkle.”