Chapter Four: The Test of the Cores
The train station bustled with ponies going preparing to get onto the train. Aqua Star and the Heroes of Equestria standing on the platform as Aqua Star looked around. Her ears moving to track sound as she glanced at the colors surrounding her. Applejack was by her side to keep her calm, something that Aqua Star was thankful for. She had taken notice that Twilight Sparkle, though an Alicorn Princess, was teeming with questions. Same with the bouncing pink Earth Pony known as Pinkie Pie. Aqua Star surmise that the questions the ponies had were quite different from each other and for different purposes. Twilight Sparkle seemed to be fascinated with history and knowledge. Something typical of a bearer of an Arcane Core. Yet without the test Aqua Star was uncertain if her assumptions were correct. As for Pinkie Pie, Aqua Star couldn’t get a read on her. She seemed to love to get to know ponies simply to see them smile. She had noticed that Pinkie Pie was very good at cheering up crying children. Though Aqua Star did have to stop her with a barrier before handing out sweets. At first Pinkie Pie didn’t understand before realizing exactly why the filly was crying. She seemed to have a toothache from eating sweets.
“How did you catch that?” Twilight had asked her when they were heading to the station. Aqua Star looked at her for a moment before saying. “My younger brother, he didn’t like taking care of his teeth so he would get toothaches a lot of the time. I had to keep my parents from spoiling him.”
Twilight had gone silent after that. Aqua Star knew that they were finding it awkward that she would bring up the past so casually. It may not have seemed hard for her to mention him. Inside it was destroying her.
“You mentioned a younger brother before?” the light gold colored pegasus asked, Fluttershy if Aqua Star recalled her name correctly. Aqua Star nodded her head and Fluttershy looked at her. “What was his name?”
“Sirius,” she answered honestly and Applejack shot her a worried look. “He was aiming to be a High Mage in Archon.”
“High Mage?”
“Archon?”
The cyan colored pegasus seemed interested in the title. Rainbow Dash was what she was called. They hadn’t really introduced themselves yet but Aqua Star knew how to listen. So she decided to address each of the short questions. “Yes… High Mages are Unicorns with an Arcane Core and the Mage Specialization. I do not know much about their training but reaching the rank of High Mage is hard to do despite being the next step. Acolyte, Mage, High Mage, Great Mage, Grand Mage, and Archmage. Each rank represented the Heroes that formed Equestria.”
“Like Private Pansy and Commander Hurricane,” Rainbow Dash mused and Aqua Star nodded her head before turning to answer Fluttershy’s question. “Archon was the original capital in Equestria. A shining beacon of hope and companionship. To Sombra and Midnight Sun, it was a symbol of corruption and elitism. Where they only used unicorns to advance their knowledge and never thanked them for their service no matter what had happened to them. He must have destroyed it while I was shielding the Crystal Heart.”
Fluttershy reached out with her wing and used it to give Aqua Star a hug. The white unicorn, Rarity, thought for a moment before asking. “Was it the way they thought? Sombra and your friend?”
“Yes… and no,” Aqua Star answered honestly as she frowned. “There were those, like Midnight Sun’s parents, who were a prime example of everything he hated. They looked down on my family because of my mother’s condition. I never got to see the capital often. I was from Hessarian, a small village near the border, it was one of the few places that didn’t mind my mother being partially Corrupted….”
“Corrupted?” Applejack was the one who asked this question with Twilight Sparkle. She was one of the few that had pulled Aqua Star to the side before they left to introduce herself. Aqua Star sighed before jumping as the train approached. A barrier formed around the ponies on the platform causing most to panic as well. A figure moved by Rarity placing something into her bag.
“It’s alright!” Twilight called out as Applejack and Fluttershy went to calm Aqua Star down. “She’s never seen a train before.”
“It’s alright, just a machine,” Fluttershy told her as Applejack led her to examine it. Rainbow Dash frowned, not really understanding why Luna could adapt so quickly to their society and this pony couldn’t. Twilight glanced towards her before whispering. “Considering that the last thing she remembers is Sombra attacking her, she’s going to be on her guard for a bit.”
“Yeah, Princess Luna was Nightmare Moon and was sealed away for a thousand years,” Rainbow Dash pointed out but Pinkie Pie bounced by her saying. “She was aware this whole time! Aqua Star wasn’t!”
Twilight gave Rainbow Dash a sideways glance before getting on the train herself. Aqua Star was examining everything closely before talking to Applejack about something called Ceàrds and how the technology was similar that they would have had at the height of their civilization. ‘She might not be too bad, just really slow.’ Rainbow Dash thought watching as Aqua Star walked into the train car. Twilight and the others move to find an empty train car. Applejack was leading Aqua Star to a seat while Fluttershy spoke up. “Girls… we probably should hold off on the questions.”
“Why?” Rainbow Dash asked before looking at Aqua Star. “She doesn’t really seem to care about answering them.”
“Just because she doesn’t seem to care doesn’t mean we aren’t dragging up a reminder that everypony she knew is gone,” Fluttershy pointed before looking at Twilight. “Imagine if you had woken up in a thousand years only to find out that your brother is dead. Princess Luna is lucky that Princess Celestia was there to help her adapt to this future.”
“She is right,” Rarity sighed and Twilight looked away saying. “I’m sorry, I just got too excited about the knowledge that we can learn.”
“Maybe instead of asking questions about her past, we can ask questions about her,” Fluttershy told them, seeing Applejack and Aqua Star talking before the taller unicorn pulled out something from her bag. The others noticed as well and moved to investigate.
“Rubbing this on your hooves and muscles will help with the soreness you get when farming,” Aqua Star was telling her before glancing at the others. “My apologies for the concern, Applejack was just telling me about some soreness she gets when she wakes up in the mornings. I was giving her a potion I made.”
“You make potions?” Twilight asked to take a seat and Aqua Star nodded her head. “Yes, I’m not as good with them as I am making barriers but it is a pleasant hobby of mine.”
“The barrier you made back there was most impressive,” Rarity commented as she began to look through her bag. Twilight nodded her head before saying. “Do you know other forms of magic? I mean in your journals you speak of a lot of spells but you only talk about them in regards to tests. You’re a Barrier Master, right?”
“Yes,” Aqua Star was quite surprised and the others looked at Twilight in confusion. “I did not realize that ponies nowadays knew about Cores and their Specializations.”
“I got a brief explanation from Princess Celestia,” Twilight answered honestly. “She told me that the Cores are a source of one’s personal magic, we rely on surface magic currently allowing us a broader range of spell casting. Specializations were classified long after Cores were discovered, it’s like a talent in your personal magic.”
“It is a decent explanation,” Aqua Star said before thinking with a frown on her face. “You can cast a broader range of spells with just surface magic?”
“Of course darling, we have no knowledge of Cores or Specialization, so we just cast magic as we normally do,” Rarity told her as she held up a few gems near Aqua Star’s eyes. “You do not?”
“No, one with a Light Core such as mine can not learn from the Arcane Core’s studies,” Aqua Star retorted before looking away. “That is what we were all taught. Light Cores cannot dabble in the Arcane or Shadows, Shadow Cores cannot venture into the spells of Light and Arcane, Arcane Cores shall not show interest in the ways of Shadows and Light.”
“Well that’s dumb,” Rainbow Dash pointed out, very honestly and Applejack shushed her. “It is, I mean why don’t they want you learning from each other?”
Aqua Star was quiet for a moment before saying. “Our society was not perfect, Unicorns held secrets from the Earth Ponies and the Pegasi. However we also held secrets from each other. My guess is that they do not want another incident like the one of the Demon King to happen again.”
“The Demon King?” Twilight asked and Aqua Star nodded her head before fishing out a journal, handing it over to Twilight. “Yes, the Tale of the Demon King was used as a way for parents to scare their children into behaving. Yet according to the evidence of ancient civilizations and imprint stones there is proof that he once existed.”
“What’s the tale?” Fluttershy spoke up quietly as Rarity noticed a strange gem in her bag. Aqua Star thought long and hard before opening the book. “Long ago, before the founding of Equestria but after the split of the races a Demon had found a trace of Corruption and found its way to our world. Since the Mother of Darkness had been sealed he ruled over the Corrupted instead and began a reign of terror that lasted for years. Six heroes rose up, two from each tribe, to lead their people to victory. From the Pegasi tribe were Storm Seeker and Sky Glider. The Earth Ponies chose Steel Edge and Fable. From the Unicorn Tribe came Warm Heart and Calm Heart. Though they worked together many times only Fable sought to heal the wounds caused by the Great Heroes that came before. Seeing a threat in Fable the Demon King captured him and used him to lure in the others. When they arrived the Demon King swiftly started to destroy them easily, revealing Storm Seeker as a traitor among them. Steel Edge, angered by this betrayal moved to attack Storm Seeker while the Pegasi was sealing the Demon King away and the explosion destroyed all but Steel Edge. He returned to the Tribes speaking of the betrayal and deaths of the ponies who turned to blame the Pegasi tribe for producing Storm Seeker. Steel Edge, believed that Storm Seeker was still alive but was taken to the world that the Demon King had originated from and refused to die until she was brought to justice.”
“Does the story ever tell why Storm Seeker betrayed everypony?” Fluttershy asked and Aqua Star shook her head. “To all of us at the time, it was but a tale. However I have the pieces of a Ceàrd imprint stone that holds a memory of the event. Master Star Swirl, Midnight Sun, and myself found it within the ruins of the Demon King’s castle.”
“Strange,” Rarity muttered, causing the girls to look at her. “This was a different color a moment ago.”
“Maybe it’s a different gem,” Applejack pointed out glancing at the large crystal held within Rarity’s magic. Aqua Star’s eyes widened as she leaned forward to get a better look at it. “A Spirit Crystal.”
“A what now?” Rainbow Dash asked and Aqua Star held out her hoof. Rarity placing the crystal on it gently. “A Spirit Crystal, used to discover one’s Core. Well one of the requirements. I have never seen one so large or pure before.”
The train car darkened as the train itself passed through a tunnel as the crystal lit up the air as gold eyes glowed. “It is time.”
The ponies in the car fell unconscious as magic lit up a pair of horns. Something floated in the air before a mouth shut around the objects.
Twilight groaned as she opened her eyes, in front of her was the empty train car. “Girls? Aqua Star?”
Looking at the other end she saw a figure in the distance. It appeared to be another unicorn staring at her. At first Twilight thought it was Rarity, so she moved after her passing from one car to the next towards the back of the train. Some of the cars were full so Twilight had to squeeze past the other ponies. The light that would pass through the windows did help a little but the worry in Twilight grew. None of her friends were there and the ponies seemed strange. When Twilight reached the end of the luggage car the last door would not open. No matter how much magic Twilight used against it. Sighing she turned around seeing the train gone and instead was a dense fog. Once in a while a strange yellow light would peek through. She noticed that the air itself was hard to breathe almost like this place was trying to suffocate her. When she looked up the “sky” was green, yellow, and white, with thick rolling clouds. Twilight felt panic grip her when she realized that she was all alone. “Hello?”
“Twilight?” Applejack’s voice rang out through the fog. “Where are you?”
“I don’t know,” Twilight answered before she cast a light spell above her. She intended for it to be bright yet small. Instead she got a light the size of a beach ball and was as bright as the sun. The force of the magic forced the fog back enough that Twilight could see rocks floating in the distance. A sound caught her attention and she looked left just as Applejack ran up with Aqua Star next to her.
“What’s going on?” Twilight asked, hoping that Aqua Star had some form of explanation.
“I am not sure. We are in the Core Realm, I am just not sure how.” Aqua Star answered, looking around. “Spirit Crystals can only be activated by Testers, Guardians, or the Great Spirits themselves. Nor has more than one pony at a time entered here during the test.”
“Well you did say that Spirit Crystal was the purest you have ever seen. Maybe it has something to do with it,” Applejack pointed out as Twilight turned around seeing a giant wall.
“Twilight!” Pinkie’s voice called out in the distance. Twilight’s head turned seeing the rest of her friends running towards them. “Run!”
“What in Celestia’s name are those?” Applejack exclaimed seeing a horde of monstrous creatures moving after them.
“I have never seen those creatures here before,” spoke Aqua Star before slamming her back hooves against the wall and an opening appeared. “Into the maze, quickly!”
Twilight ran in with her friends right behind her before turning around to see Aqua Star throwing up a barrier just as a large ghastly raven slammed into it. Six red eyes glowed as Aqua Star shouted. “Go! I shall meet you at the end!”
Twilight ran after her friends knowing that Aqua Star had more knowledge of how this place worked than them. She caught up to them rather quickly seeing them stopped in a clearing. In front of them were three paths behind a tree. Her ears twitched at the sound of a booming crack.
“Where is Aqua Star?” Applejack asked as Twilight looked behind them. “We can’t leave her behind!”
“She said she would meet us at the end,” explained Twilight and Applejack looked like she was going to protest. “We don’t stand a chance facing those creatures head on. Aqua Star knows more about this place than we do. She said that she will meet us at the end. All we have to do is find the way.”
“All that is are three paths with images of Discord, the Crystal Heart, and the Tree of Harmony,” Rainbow Dash said looking at the roads before looking behind them. “We should split up, it’ll confuse those monsters, I’m heading down the Discord Path.”
“Now hold on darling, we have to think about this first,” started Rarity before a roar caused her jump. “RUN!”
The ponies each headed down the path of their choosing: Rarity and Twilight down the path of the Tree of Harmony. Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie down the path of Discord. Finally Applejack fled down the path of the Crystal Heart.
“Choose?” Fluttershy muttered under her breath before looking behind her. “I am not choosing until I am sure Aqua Star is safe. I’m going back.”
Massive figures flew past her following her friends down the paths except for two. The ghastly raven and a terrifying gryphon. Their eyes gleamed with madness and anger as they charged forward. Fluttershy swallowed but held her ground. ‘I am going to get past them my way.’
Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash ran until they came to the next area. It was another clearing amongst the trees with three more paths. Each was marked by a symbol on the tree next to it. A hammer, a crossbow with a wing etched on it, and a book marked with a chess piece. Rainbow Dash let out a groan before heading down the path marked with the hammer. Pinkie was about to go down the path marked with the crossbow when her whole body shivered. Somepony was in trouble. Two figures flew down the path that Rainbow Dash took and two stayed behind. One was made of stone, glowing blue runes covered its body and its eyes were glowing blue as well. The other was silent, its form ever changing. Pinkie took a deep breath before bouncing forward with a grin on her face.
Applejack ran for a long time down the path that she had chosen in the second area. The hammer had to represent strength whether it was physical strength, a weapon, all she knew was that she had to defend her friends. When she came to the third area she paused. Three more paths. Yet these were marked not with symbols but with images of her friends, her family, and a mysterious pony.
“There are times when you think of those you truly love,” a disembodied female’s voice echoed around the area. “Tell me, who do you think of the most? Your friends, your family or the one you vow to be with?”
A frown grew on Applejack’s face before realization hit her. Fluttershy wasn’t there. At first Applejack assumed that she had gone down one of the other paths. Yet somewhere deep inside she knew that Fluttershy never chose a path.
“I ain’t answerin’ these questions until A’hm sure my friend is safe,” Applejack stated as she turned around. Two creatures stood there: A monstrous lion and an eerie minotaur. “Even if it means turning back to face the monsters.”
Rarity ran quickly knowing that she was still being chased. She dared not look back as she came to a field. Three paths led to three different locations. One of which happened to be a castle. She glanced at the other locations. A lake and a mountain. Making up her mind Rarity headed straight towards the castle just as a paw swiped towards her. A large black panther stared at his paw before following her with another creature behind him.
When she made it Rarity couldn’t help but gasp at the decrepit state the place was in. She could tell that it was a beacon of hope in its time.
“I simply can not let this pass,” Rarity said to herself as she began on her new quest to fix up the place. “More like a keep than a castle.”
The two creatures were now watching her with interest.
Rainbow Dash did not slow down as she approached the mountains. She had to find something to defend herself with. That was when she came across a cave filled with weapons. Grinning Rainbow ran to the swords leaning against the wall. She ignored the shields and the tomes her eyes took in the blades. She grabbed the platinum and jeweled encrusted claymore just a growl sounded behind her. Spinning around seeing a large bear with large spikes and a hideously large parrot. She steeled herself before charging towards them. She had to go back for her friends.
Twilight moved further into the castle, a white tome strapped to her side. A low growl caught her attention. Turning her head, Twilight saw a large black wolf with nine red eyes. The top of its ears brushed against the ceiling. Right behind it was a muscular dragon-like creature with a stout and squashed head. Twilight backed up before turning to run. Even at full speed the creatures were beginning to gain on her. That was when she saw another hall. Taking a deep breath Twilight took the sharp turn almost hitting the wall as she bolted down the new hall. Her ears twitched as one of the creatures let out a shriek that echoed around her. Looking behind her, Twilight noticed that the wolf had shrunk and had followed her through the gap. Moving her head so she could see the path in front of her seeing the hall open up into a massive room. She came to a halt when she saw that in the middle of it was a gargantuan white dragon with gold eyes.