In a white flash, Discord whisked the alert royals to Canterlot Castle. The halls seemed empty, so bare of life. The fact it was nighttime and a shadow was slowly covering the moon didn’t help ease the nervous feelings the group had.
Sunset asked, “Discord, could you turn on the lights?”
He replied, “I’m on it.”
When he snapped his fingers, the candles relit themselves. After the hallway was lit up, the royals saw a group of guards lying on the floor. The royals carried them to some guest rooms before visiting Celestia and Sombra’s chamber. They opened the door and found the former king and queen lying on the floor.
Snow Pea cried, “Grandma Tia! Grandpapa!”
Spike calmed her, “It’s okay, Snowy. They’re just under the sleeping curse. They’ll be fine.”
After the group put Sombra and Celestia in their bed, they ventured towards the Star Swirl the Bearded wing and opened the gate.
The three fillies exclaimed, “Whoa!”
Sunset herself was in awe of this and remarked, “Oh, wow! Mom and Dad must be pretty lucky to have this many books and scrolls by Star Swirl himself!”
Apple Jewel asked, “Wasn’t that because he was close friends with Grandma and Aunt Luna?”
Sunset corrected her, “Er…I would think they were more confidants than friends. You see, Star Swirl didn’t understand friendship all that much. He spent most of his time just studying and creating spells.”
Discord crossed his arms and said, “Does it remind you of anypony?”
Sunset retorted, “Can Twilight and I help it if we like to read and study magic?! Is that so wrong?!”
Discord could only snicker.
The group then combed the wing, but with no luck. Snow Pea groaned, “We’ll never find the magic spellbook at this rate.” Suddenly, the tiara on Snow Pea’s head began to glow and sent her flying her across the wing. She yelped, “Who-o-oa! Where are you taking me?” Then, without warning, she landed on a glass case. She looked inside and saw a book with a star on it.
She turned her head and shouted, “Guys! I found the book!”
Sunset’s voice called out, “Where are you, Snow Pea?!”
She began to say, “I’m right he-“
Before she could finish her sentence, a bright, brilliant amaranth glow emanated from the tiara with such intensity. She had to cover her eyes from the strong light.
When the other royals came to Snow Pea, Discord said, “Turn off that light, Snow Pea! We’re right here!”
“I don’t know how!”
Just then, the glow died down and everypony could see again.
Sunset gasped, “Snowy! What are you doing on the glass case?” She levitated Snow Pea down. The filly still had her eyes covered.
“Am I blind?”
“Open your eyes and find out for yourself.”
Snow Pea slowly opened her eyes and to her relief, she could see everyone and everything.
As Sunset went to open the glass case, Spike asked, “How’d you find the book, Snow Pea?”
“I don’t know. I was searching for it and suddenly, the tiara flew me across the room until I landed on the glass case.”
Discord said, “Well, I think I’m starting to believe Zecora now.”
Sunset held the book with her magic and started flipping through pages. She muttered, “Let’s see…Halo of Cirrostrata…disguise spell…the contest between Meadowbrook and Parlor Trix…” Suddenly, the aura surrounding the book turned brilliant amaranth and the book’s pages began rapidly turning. Sunset cried, “Wha- Hey!”
She looked up to see the tiara on Snow Pea’s head glowing. Snow Pea apologized, “I’m sorry, Aunt Sunny! I don’t know what it’s doing!”
Just then, the pages stopped at a section with an illustration of four pieces of jewelry. Sunset cried, “Ah! What do you know? It’s right here! Thanks, Snow Pea.” She read the following section:
“’The Elemental Jewelry was created to harness the four elements: fire, earth, air, and water. At the request of the society, which shall not be named here, each of four different non-pony tribes crafted one piece, which represented an element. The dragons forged the Fire Tiara with their fiery breath and the molten ore from their volcanoes. The yaks created the Earth Bracelets from the iron, silver, and gold found in the nearby mountains. For the Air Vest, the griffons also used metal from their mountains, but they also used the cloth created from the wool of mountain goats and sheep. The kelpies crafted the Water Necklace from the valuable rocks and pebbles for most of it and two white pearls for decoration.
“’But none of the pieces of the jewelry were made by one tribe alone. The tribes contributed their part to every piece to represent the unity of the four elements. Then, the elders of the society along with the elders and shamans of the four tribes imbued the Elemental Jewelry with powerful magic pertaining to their elements.
“’The Elemental Jewelry doesn’t just harness the powers of the elements in physical form. These very potent pieces also create power for the ideals of which each element is represented. Fire brings energy, Earth enhances strength, Water influences and can be influenced by emotion, and Air gives wings to any wingless being who wears the vest. All of them have been hidden because of their great power. Whoever wields all of the Elemental Jewelry will gain total and complete control.
“’However, a failsafe had been imbued in the pieces. If the wearer is wearing a piece when danger comes, it shall protect that being from harm. However, if the wearer succumbs to the darkness, the piece he or she is wearing will be as corrupted as the wearer is. If a dark being possesses a piece that has not been worn, that piece will turn dark when he or she wears it. It is vital that the pieces of Elemental Jewelry must remain hidden or dire things will happen if they fall into the wrong hooves.’”
Sunset looked at the illustration of the Elemental Jewelry, but she noticed that the picture of the Water Necklace was blotted out. She turned the book towards the group and said, “It looks like the Water Necklace got smudged out for some reason.”
Just then, she saw Snow Pea collapsing to the floor. She asked frantically, “Snow Pea, are you okay?”
Discord put his paw on Snowy’s forehead, but drew it back when he touched the tiara. “Ouch!” he cried as he waved his paw to cool it. “The tiara’s fire hot!”
Screwy said, “I think it’s because the tiara’s been using its magic.”
Snowy panted, “The cold doesn’t bother me, but the heat does.”
Discord said, “Well, let’s find the dragons who made the tiara before your brain gets fried!”
Out on the balcony of the Canterlot hall, the royals emerged before the crowd of non-ponies below them. The crowd was asking frantically:
“What’s happening?”
“Where is the sun?”
“What’s happened to every pony?”
“The moon’s being covered by a mysterious shadow!”
“What should we do?”
“I say it’s the royals’ fault!”
Just then, Sunset used a spell to amplify her voice and quelled the crowd, “Citizens of Equestria and other countries! I am Princess Sunset Shimmer, daughter of Celestia and Sombra, former rulers of Canterlot. Equestria is under a sleeping curse and it’s affected only ponies, including most of my family. The reason my niece and I are awake now is because we are wearing Elemental Jewelry. We didn’t know what they were until recently.”
A gruff voice came from the crowd, “Are you sure you didn’t plan this?”
“No! We would never jeopardize Equestria like this! You have to believe us! Snow Pea is in serious trouble because the tiara is giving her heatstroke! See for yourselves!”
Discord came forward and showed a barely-conscious Snow Pea to the crowd. She was sweating like crazy and the tiara was still glowing a less intense brilliant amaranth. The sight of the suffering princess elicited gasps from the crowd.
Sunset continued, “Any magic the tiara used wasn’t done by Snow Pea, but by itself. If anyone knows the original crafters of the tiara, please tell us.”
After several moments, an elderly female dragon stepped forward. She said something, but her voice was too small to be heard on the balcony.
Sunset said, “Hang on. Come inside and then you can tell us what you want to say.”
The royals went inside and downstairs to meet the elderly dragon at the door. The dragon said, “I know one of the crafters who made the tiara. He came up with the design for it and supervised its creation. His name is Firestone and he lives in Fillydelphia with his daughter. But I’d best hurry if I were you, because the filly might not have much time.”
Sunset nodded, “Thank you so much. We shall repay you when we get back.”
Discord said, “Oh, let’s pay her now before we forget.” He snapped his talon and a huge bag of gems appeared.
Spike said, “Discord! She can’t carry all of that!”
The elderly dragon said, “Oh, you’d be surprised.” She grabbed the bag and flipped it onto her back. As if the bag was as light as a feather, she exited the castle the same way she entered.
The royals were astonished by this and Spike said, “Okay…I guess I was wrong.”
In the Umbrum world, Belladonna was reading in her private library when a voice asked, “You’re not like the Umbrum, are you?”
Belladonna turned to see Nightmare Moon at the door. She decided to dismiss the interruption and answered her question, “You saw this little beauty?” Her mane magically lifted itself to reveal the cutie mark Nightmare Moon had seen on the balcony. She told the princess, “It’s just a stark reminder of who I was before I became who I am now.”
NMM asked, “And who were you?”
The Umbrum princess scoffed as she covered her flank again, “Nopony who’s important now. She’s gone from my life forever.” Just then, there was a rumbling. She exclaimed, “What in Equestria was that?!”
Nightmare Moon said, “I’ll go see what it was. I’ll inform you right away if there’s trouble.” Within a moment, NMM turned into a blue mist and sped out of the library.
Earlier, the sirens were talking amongst themselves with Pip looking on in the mirror. He said to the sirens, “You know you cannot keep me trapped forever! My family will set me free!”
The sirens turned towards him and then laughed wickedly.
Adagio floated up to the mirror and said, “Oh, I highly doubt that. You are our slave now, so you have to do what we say.”
Pip said, “Bet you can’t control me when you’re singing.”
Sonata gasped dramatically, “Oh! Oh! You did not just say that!”
Aria retorted, “We’ll prove just how wrong you are!”
Adagio began singing, “I put a spell on you…and now you’re mine…You can’t stop the things I do…I ain’t lying…It’s been too many years…Right down to the day…Now the siren’s back…and there’s heck to pay…I put a spell on you…And now you’re miiiiine!”
When Pip felt a tremor created by Adagio’s voice in the mirror, it gave him an idea.
She continued, “I put a spell on you…and now you’re gone!”
The two other sirens sang, “Gone, gone, gone…So long!”
“My whammy fell on you…and it was strong…”
“So strong, so strong, so strong…”
“Your wretched little life has now been cursed…’Cause of all the sirens working…I’m the worst! I put a spell on you…and now you’re mine!”
“Watch out, watch out, watch out, watch out…”
Pip sang, “Are you lying?”
Adagio sang in protest, “If you don’t believe, you better get superstitious…Ask these sirens!”
Aria and Sonata sang, “Oooh, she’s vicious!”
“Ah! Eee! I put a spell on you…A wicked spell! I put a spell on you…Sirens!”
All three sirens sang, “Ah-say-into-pie…Oppa-maybe-uppen-die!”
Pip sang in a louder voice than the sirens’, “Ah-say-into-pie…Oppa-maybe-uppen-die!”
In protest, the sirens sang in a voice louder than Pip’s, “In-kama-koray-ah-ma!”
Still, Pip sang more loudly, “In-kama-koray-ah-ma!”
They continued to sing in louder scales, practically dueling each other.
“Hey!”
“Hey!”
“High!”
“High!”
“Say!”
“Say!”
“Bye!”
“Bye!”
“Bye-iii-iii! Bye-bye!”
When the sirens sang that last verse, their volume was so strong that it shook the castle and broke all of the mirrors within it. Their moment of victory was short-lived, however, when they realized that they broke the wall mirror.
Sonata uttered, “Uh-oh.”
Adagio quickly grabbed the hoofheld mirror, but it, too, was broken.
Aria said, “This is not good.”
Sonata whimpered, “Ohh…We’re in for it now!”
Just then, a blue mist appeared in the room. The mist then transformed itself into Nightmare Moon.
The sirens gasped, “Nightmare Moon!”
When NMM looked all around the room, she saw that the mirrors were broken. She demanded, “WHAT HAS HAPPENED TO THE MIRRORS?!”
Adagio nervously chuckled, “Oh, heh-heh…Funny story, Your Excellency…Er…You see…”
Sonata then blurted out, “It wasn’t our fault! The prince didn’t believe we could control him by singing, but then we sang so loud we broke the mirrors!”
Aria jabbed Sonata with her elbow.
NMM said in an apathetic tone, “He tricked you, didn’t he?”