//------------------------------// // True Understanding // Story: Homecoming // by seeker9709 //------------------------------// The moment Rainbow zipped from the room, the guards who had been attempting to force their way inside sprang into action. Over a dozen of them slammed into Twilight, effectively pinning the unicorn to the floor, as several others peeled away to attempt to chase the cyan blur. The chaos that had ensued for several minutes was brought to a screeching halt in just a few seconds, but nopony was breathing easier. Twilight was roughly grabbed and shoved backwards by the armored stallions. Clearly, they were hesitant to give her room to move until they were sure she was safe or subdued. She was forced back onto the pathetically small cot that hung in the far corner of the room, sitting straight up so that her captors could keep a close eye on her. However, despite the aches and pains that ran across her body, she still smiled her wide smile at the stallions. It had taken its usual place amongst her features, and still shone strong as she stared at them. In the hallways, multiple guards still ran about. Some were in pursuit of those chasing Rainbow Dash, others were trying to locate Celestia and Luna, and several were simply standing about, waiting, in case anything was about to happen. Though the initial panic had gone away, there was still heavy tension floating in the air. Nopony knew what was going to happen next, if anything at all. Soon, the hallways calmed down as ponies ran off in different directions, each with their own tasks to fulfill, leaving eleven guards in total watching over Twilight. Four of them stood watch in the small room on the other side of the one-sided mirror, tensed and watching the purple mare for any signs of aggression. Three were stationed outside the door waiting for their comrades to return with news of Rainbow Dash or the Princesses in tow. The last four were inside of Twilight's cell, making absolutely sure that she was still confined. These last four, while still keeping their distance, eyed Twilight closely. They looked at her like she was a bomb, and they didn't know when she would go off. As they watched her, she would occasionally make eye contact with them, staring in their hard eyes with her mad, black ones. The others would avert their eyes, or flinch backwards whenever she looked to them. They preferred to not meet her insane stare. One guard, a unicorn who happened to be the closest one to Twilight, found it in him to keep his eyes locked with hers, unlike his comrades around him. The second unicorn was right behind him, only a few steps away, hoof on his comrade's shoulder. Most likely he was there in case his friend decided to act, or fight if Twilight attacked them. The third was a pegasus whose wings fluttered at his sides while he watched on, unable to contain his nervousness. And the last was an earth pony who stood cold and silent, with wide eyes that seemed to hold a strong gaze, but who could still not meet Twilight's. Twilight focused a bit more on the first stallion, seeing as how he was the only other one brave enough to face her. After several minutes of no reaction, a quiet hissing voice filled the dead, silent room. “This one doesn't seem to be afraid,” Twilight rasped, her hard stare keeping even with the other stallion's. “Tell me, who is so brave that they would meet my eye?” The stallion didn't respond, and neither did the others. Instead, they watched on, albeit gripping the weapons at their sides a bit tighter. After several moments without a reaction, Twilight spoke again, still in the raspy, venomous tone. “No takers, hmm? Maybe you aren’t as brave as I thought you were. Maybe, behind that stern boulder of a face there is a little colt, ready to piddle himself in his armor. After all, you can't even seem to find it in you to tell me your name, how could I expect you to fight me if I managed to get free?” Hearing that, the earth pony and pegasus drew metal batons from their sides and raised them, ready to swing. The unicorn behind the first stallion moved closer to his comrade, horn sparking once. On the other side of the mirror, the four guards tensed up and shifted in their armor, wondering what exactly was going wrong and how safe they actually were. The stallion in front of Twilight finally broke his long silence as his comrades prepared for a possible battle. “Don't get too hasty, boys. She's just trying to mess with us. Remember what they told us, yeah?” He told the three stallions around him, trying to catch the eye of each and make sure they didn't do anything rash. However, his words seemed to have little impact on his partners, as they still didn't lower their weapons. Twilight gave a low chuckle, seeing the poorly hidden fear behind the guards' 'brave' faces. “Well, well, it appears one of you is brave enough to speak to me. But what about the others? Will his friends have the courage to match their comrade, or will they just look on like scared little bunny rabbits?” Nopony in the room moved. All eyes were on Twilight, scrutinizing the mare as she spoke. They dared her to move or lash out. Their bodies were tensed, and their minds were on the edge. For Twilight, it was the same, although she relished what she felt. She watched the four stallions before her, wondering how long it would take until they would break. Would they scream and yell? Would they lash out and strike her, daring her to fight back? Maybe they would just stand still, not looking at her and acting like she wasn't there. Or would they just stay like they were, tense and on nervous, waiting for the penny to drop and to spring into action at a moment's notice? The silence went on, as nopony even dared to breathe. “BOO!” Twilight yelled, suddenly. One of the guards, the pegasus, jumped so high he nearly knocked his head against the ceiling. The second unicorn stumbled in place, while the other two stallions simply let out the breath they had been holding. She had just been testing them. Seeing their reaction, Twilight fell back in her bed, laughing a low, raspy laugh. It was a sound was equivalent to a snake's laugh, when it has found something about its prey particularly funny. Despite her obvious pleasure in her cruel joke, the guards that she'd embarrassed didn't find it as funny. “Oi, Braveheart?” The second called to the first. “What the hell are we here for, to get toyed with by this bitch?” The first unicorn, Braveheart, spoke calmly to his comrade. “You know what we have to do. Just wait for a few more minutes, the Princesses will be here to take over.” As if on cue, the metal door behind them swung open. One of the guards from the other side poked his head in. He pointed to the earth pony, calling him over to where he stood. Once there, the other guard whispered in his ear in a hushed tone before looking at Twilight. The earth pony smiled before turning back to the others. “See, everything is all fine. They found the Princesses and are headed back now. Guess you were right Braveheart, nothing to worry about.” He smiled at his comrade. The head pony snorted in amusement. Twilight laughed again, calling back the attention of the five guards. “You know I'm still here, right? You shouldn't talk like I'm not. I'm very dangerous, after all.” She said this last part in a mocking, pouting tone. The others didn't seem bothered by her attitude now. The pegasus snipped back, “Please. The Princesses are on their way back, and they made sure you wouldn't move an inch. Besides, you're useless without your magic. How the hell do you expect to fight out past a legion of guards and two alicorns when you're completely powerless?” Twilight gave them a confused cock of her head. “What do you mean, powerless?” She looked up at the three rings encircling her horn, her mouth forming an O, as if she had just realized she was still wearing them. “Oh, these? These aren't a problem.” She reached up, her hooves suddenly free of their restraints. Calmly, she pulled the rings off of her horn, showing them to the guards who stood before her in utter shock. “See,” her face still held its wild grin, “I deactivated these over an hour ago. They won't bother me now.” There was a long, dead silence in the room. Twilight stood still, while the five guards all gaped at her in horror. All of them were too shocked to move. “I suggest,” Twilight said softly, “that you run very quickly.” She tipped her hoof, allowing the silver rings to fall to the floor. The guards, finally broken from their temporary stupor, turned away from the purple unicorn. Whatever was about to happen would most likely be nasty, and none of them wanted to be there to see whatever it was. They didn't stand a chance. Nopony could have moved that quickly. Not even Rainbow Dash could have gotten out in time. As the first ring struck the floor, Twilight's horn burst to life, throwing a wave of black magic across the room that swallowed the five ponies before any of them manage to take a single step. Before the wave struck him, Braveheart had one final thought, before he lost consciousness. 'Bastard just had to say something, didn't he?' “Celestia, what is it?” Luna called to her sister. She had finally managed to tear herself away from the stack of books she'd been engrossed in. After a moment, she realized she had to find out her own answer to her question, much to her dismay, but Celestia had made it sound important, whatever it was she found. Luna hoped it was what they had been searching for. A way out of this seemingly never-ending nightmare. As she approached her sister, she noticed Celestia's wide-eyed stare as she looked at the pages before her. She had an unbelievable look on her face, and it seemed to be punctuated by an expression of... fear? Was that fear in Celestia's eyes? Surely whatever she found couldn't be that bad. Even the darkest texts Luna had found had only served to anger her. But fear... Fear was a whole other thing. She and Celestia were brave, but Luna was a pebble compared to the immovable mountain that was Celestia's resolve. She had the straightest face, the greatest will, and the brightest smile. That was why she was the face of the kingdom, while Luna preferred to work in the shadows. To see Celestia look so frightened greatly worried Luna. Whatever her sister had found, it was important, and Luna felt that she was going to be greatly needed. It was a nagging feeling that had persisted in her mind ever since they brought Twilight in. “Sister?” She called again, trying to reach the other alicorn. But Celestia's eyes still stayed glued to the sheet. “What worries you, Celestia?” She tried yet again, this time making her voice more insistent, and finally succeeded in gaining a response from her sister. “Sister, I feel we are in more danger than we ever imagined.” Hearing Celestia's words caused Luna's blood to run cold. She could hear fear and fury in her sister's voice. Not the outward rage that a pony has when they are usually angry. Instead, her tone implied the fury that was barely hidden in her voice. It was the tone of a pony who just realized that they had made a critical mistake. It was the last thing Luna wanted to hear. “Celestia, what is it? What's wrong?” Luna practically begged her sister, hoping that whatever the problem was, they could solve it together. After several moments, Celestia tore her gaze away from the page, giving a look to Luna that swept her hopes away like a whirlwind. Just by her expression, it appeared it was far worse than Luna had ever imagined. “It started when I was reading through these texts.” Several books held in Celestia's warm yellow glow floated in front of her sister. Detailed sketches of runes and diagrams used for bindings, sealing, summoning, transmuting, transporting, destroying, etc... The list went on and on, and clearly so did the usability of the elaborate circles and diagrams. “These contain some of the most powerful spells I have ever seen, Luna. With spell circles like these, a pony could do almost any task. There are even spells for communicating with the dead.” Celestia shook her head at each page, while Luna gazed forward, still waiting on an explanation. Clearly this was serious, but it couldn't be that bad. Symbols like these would take some time to create, not to mention that one had to have all of the proper ingredients and trinkets for some of them. One couldn't just drop a circle on the ground and imbue it with magic. There was a process, and it was a lengthy one for most of these. Some of these enchantment could take days or weeks to prepare. “This is all very scary Celestia, but what is the point of all of this? What does this all mean?” Luna asked, trying to hurry her sister. Who knew how long they had, before whatever had Celestia so scared took hold? “Bear with me sister, this has a meaning, I promise.” Though Celestia's voice sounded uplifting, her tone was far from it. Instead, it seemed to only attempt to mask her fear of this unknown factor that had suddenly come into play. “Then please, Celestia. Hurry.” Luna urged her sister on. Celestia nodded, continuing as one particular text moved into Luna's vision. It was a quadruple-sized page, folded inside of itself, within a small leather-bound book. “It wasn't until I came across this, that I began to understand what was truly at play here.” The huge page, once unfolded, contained the intricate diagrams of a binding circle. Or to be more accurate, a large set of binding circles. Elaborate shapes surrounded circle after circle as they were stacked into one another. Each circle was home to any number of shapes, patterns, drawings and characters. This spell was especially powerful, with dozens, if not hundreds of counters, negators, and anti-spells. To work a spell like this, of such immensity, would take incredible power and the aid of magical items. But Luna recognized this pattern. She recognized it all too well. She could count every swirl and pattern, knew every word and character from any of the languages that were a part of the spell. It was the one she and Celestia had worked, over a thousand years ago, aided by six mysterious items. It was the spell used to seal Discord into his stone prison. Luna sat dumbstruck, her eyes unable to fully understand the meaning of the symbols on the pages, of the spell that was in front of her very eyes. She knew what it was, but she couldn’t understand how she saw it before her. The spell worked on Discord long ago was more powerful than any spell that had ever been created. Even the spells that contained Tartarus were child’s play compared to the intricacy of Discord's trap. There was no way anypony should have been able to recreate it. “How can this be? Nopony has ever seen this spell other than us. Anypony who could have seen it has been dead for over a millennium. We forbade anypony from studying or using the Elements. How can it be here? How does SHE have it?” Luna shook her head, her voice trying to sound mighty but only coming out as a whisper. “I'm afraid there is an answer to that question, sister, but you will not like it.” Celestia continued. “When I saw this, I thought the same as you, but I denied it myself. I thought it couldn't have been what we used long ago, but it is. And there is more.” Sitting on the table, amongst all of the assorted parchments, papers, and journals, was a medium-sized wooden box. The outer work was plain, just a simple mahogany box scarcely the length of a foreleg. 'But what lies within this 'simple' box?' Luna wondered to herself as her sister drew the box closer to them with her magic, the lid flipping open. With her magic Celestia levitated multiple objects out of the box, setting them down on the table. Luna glared down, her eyes scanning each and every item placed in front of her. A chicken's foot. A dragon's scale. A snake's tail. The cloven hoof of what looked to be a donkey. A small glass vial that pulsed with light and, if her senses were to be believed, heat. Upon closer inspection, Luna saw it what it truly was. Dragon's Breath. A notoriously difficult item to gain, as to harvest it involved killing a dragon. Several leaves of Aconite, also known as Wolf's Bane, were inside a small jar. Petals from a Yarrow flower. Adder's Tongue. Heather. Sulfur powder. Wormwood. Several other assorted plants, compounds, and... items, were separated into bags, vials, jars, or just sitting out with others. Clearly, Twilight had worked long and hard to collect some of these items; Dragon's Breath and Wolf's Bane alone were notoriously dangerous to find, let alone harvest. Celestia saw her sister's discomfort, and she could offer no solace, for she knew there was even worse to come. Another box made its way onto the table, this one slightly bigger than the other. “Luna,” Celestia began with a shaky voice, “I think you should brace for this.” The box opened to reveal a sickening sight. One that filled Luna with pure rage and anger. Inside the box were several items. The beak of a Griffon, a lion's paw, a unicorn's horn, and the wings of a bat pony and a pegasus. For a moment, Luna was stunned. Every item that came from a living creature was one of the assorted creatures Discord was made of. Every plant and herb was used for summoning rituals or the removal of curses. It was the end of Luna's patience. With a blast of magic, she destroyed the boxes in front of her. Luna hurled the hovering book containing forbidden knowledge across the giant room, screaming in rage. The previously crisp pages were torn from the sleeve that bound them. Before they could come to rest, a blast of dark blue magic disintegrated them, leaving only a few pieces of ash floating through the air. Luna screamed again, sending a blast of magic flying into one of the tall bookshelves. A hole was torn through the center of it, leaving not a single scrap of paper nor splinter of wood left in its wake. But she didn't stop there. She turned again, sending a blast of silver magic into another bookshelf, then sending a shower of fire into a third. With each shot of magic, she uttered a cry of rage so loud it would have sent animals fleeing in terror and caused ponies to collapse in fear. At that moment, nothing could stop her rampage. Celestia stood a ways behind her, having backed away at seeing her sister's rage. Luna had her way of dealing with grief, and Celestia had hers. The elder alicorn stood stony and silent, her expression even and unmoving as she watched her sister's paperback massacre through glazed eyes. She understood her sister's anger perfectly. They knew what caused this. They knew who was to blame. And yet, it had danced in front of their noses this whole time. They should have gone to him first. Even inside of his stone prison, the spirit of chaos was still powerful. He still had his reach, and it went farther than they ever could have expected. Twilight Sparkle was the minion of Discord. She was here for HIM. Not to murder innocent ponies, not to get revenge on the alicorns who failed her. She was here for Discord, and Discord only. Celestia focused on Luna, who had sent a blast of flame towards a map of Equestria hanging on a nearby wall. As the giant map burned, Luna finally ceased her assault. She slouched where she stood, panting from her exertion. Shelves that once held hundreds of books were now shattered, their precious and vile contents scattered across the massive room. Books with knowledge that wars had been fought over were flung about, their pages either torn to ribbons or reduced to ashes floating through air. The floor was now home to craters and burn marks where surviving scraps of paper rested. Precious knowledge that could benefit or destroy a whole kingdom had been lost in Luna's rampage. But she didn't care. Her anger had pushed her over the edge. When she had first entered, she could see the good amongst the bad, but the more she had read and the more she had delved into truth, the less doubt she'd had in her own mind as to what she needed to do. This place contained only evil. How much pain and suffering had gone into each of these books and manuscripts? How much blood was mixed with ink, as these words had taken form on their pages? The name flashed through her mind over and over again. Discord. Discord. Discord. Discord. It had been obvious the whole time, but they had been too blind to see it. Too ignorant to think of it. Too arrogant to consider it. Who else could have guided her, a filly of eight years old, to where she needed to go to learn to fight and survive? Who else would be evil enough to put a foal through that? Only one name brought her to the obvious conclusion. The master of chaos himself. They had been such fools. But that time was over. When Luna and Celestia left here, she would go straight to Twilight while Celestia went to reinforce Discord's bindings. Celestia always was better at sealing magic than Luna was. However, before she had the chance to catch her breath, the somehow untouched doors to the library burst open. An armored pony ran through the doors, panting and sweating heavily. “Princess Luna!” He yelled. With a shudder, her eyes open wide and bloodshot, Luna turned her head towards the guard. Before she could even say a word, the guard's eyes, locked with hers, widened in fear, and he tore out of the room, terrified of facing the wrath of the clearly furious alicorn. There was a moment of silence before Celestia ran out of the library to follow the poor guard who had been unfortunate enough to see Luna while she was in her present mood. Luna watched as her sister chased the guard, she herself unsure if she should follow. Though her anger was great, she would not turn that upon her citizens. It would be unfair of her to lash out at others, especially now. Now she needed a level head, and a clean conscience. Twilight Sparkle was going to attempt something Celestia and Luna had thought impossible, and they needed all the help they could get. Slowly, Luna made her way outside of the library, her head held high as she prepared herself for a fight. She imagined she would get one. And though she doubted Twilight would be able to accomplish her task, one that was considered impossible for many good reasons, she remembered that impossibilities seemed to be the purple unicorn's specialty. One that she delivered with a cold heart, and a missing conscience.