//------------------------------// // Cost of Life // Story: The Untold Story of Mystic Sparkle // by Admiral Q Ponyform //------------------------------// Mystic was surrounded by lavender before it flashed away. She took stock of her surroundings. She was still in the graveyard of Celestia's students; however Luna, Fluttrershy and Rainbow were missing. As well as her sisters coffin. She went to the door way and peeked out. The castle had no signs of damage. She had done it. She was in the past. Now for the million bit question – had she gone back far enough? There was only one way to find out. Delving into her saddle bags, she pulled out a time beaten scroll, which unfurled to reveal a map. But it was no ordinary map of Canterlot Castle. Luna had had this mailed to her as they planned out this course of action, with the lunar alicorn feeling it would be advantageous for her to have it. After consulting the scroll, she went over to the corner of the room. In the corner was a rubbish bin. She counted the bricks – three up, and two across – before she reached out and tapped a stone brick. It moved without making a sound, and soon a hidden doorway appeared, with a passageway beyond. She could not just waltz around the castle. She would be completely unknown to the guards, and would be detained immediately. Plus, considering how corrupt the guards were at this point in history, she would be unable to explain her plan without fear of hoofing herself into the enemy. Luna had given her the scroll showing all the secret passages that exist in the castle, and noted where Twilight was staying, as well as where the guards stations normally were. She needed to stay undetected. With a deep breath Mystic walked in. She lit her way with her horn, glancing down occasionally to check the map, making sure she hadn’t taken a wrong turn. Thankfully she hadn't, but she couldn't dawdle. She didn't know how much time she had before it was too late. She finally approached the door closest to Twilight's room and opened it. Right into a janitor's closet. Mystic had to snort. Years of talking with Luna in the dream realm taught her that the sisters have a trolling sense of humor. Or at least Luna still did. Celestia had lost hers when Twilight died, and with Luna she may still laugh, but Mystic always saw the lingering pain there. She opened the door to the closet and glanced around. With no sign of any guards nearby, she sneaked around on her way to Twilight's room. Where she should have seen guards standing at attention there was no pony. That didn't bode well. Forgetting stealth she ran to Twilight's room charging her horn. As she approached the doors again she didn't see the guards that should be there. She rammed through the door with a loud bang. Several Lunar and Solar Guards were around Twilight's bed, with Gallant Heart having the knife near her sister's neck. With a bolt of magic she blew Gallant away from her sister. “TWILIGHT! WAKE UP! TREASON!” She screamed, as she dove towards the bed. Upon landing, she raised a shield and summoned a blade. Her sister was quick to awake. “Wait what?” She said in confusion before she looked around. She then saw the several guards facing her, with Mystic in a defensive position in front of her. “Princess, this unicorn has broken into the castle. Allow us to secure you and deal with the intruder.” “You lie.”Mystic responded. “You were all here to kill her.” She pointed a foreleg towards the blade on the bed. “Twilight check out that knife; it's made of orichalcum.” Mystic heard the sound of a blade being lifted as she watch the traitors. “This is orichalcum.” Twilight said. “This metal is extremely rare and highly regulated, because it's the only known metal that can reliably harm an alicorn.” “And I found him with it by your neck.” She pointed a hoof at Gallant Heart. She heard Twilight gasp and ask. “Gallant, WHY?” She eyed the stallion and he actually looked sad. “I have no choice Twilight.” He answered. “Actually you did, but you had to be stupid.” Mystic retorted. But before she could go on further she felt something impact her shield, forcing it to collapse. She dodged, and eyed a unicorn with a smoking horn. 'Crap he overcharged his horn to bust my shield’. A nearby Night Guard took a swing at her, but she ducked and upper cut him, and he went flying. Her shields may not be as good as her brother's, but he did train her well in fighting. While he was still in the air she did a sudden turn and bucked him into the wall. She spotted another trying to get Twilight from behind, before an intense beam came from Mystic's horn. The concentrated magic went right through the guard, in the chest, and out the flank. That was two down four to go. A bolt from Twilight sent another flying, and Mystic jumped over her sister to collide with another guard and they both traded blows. A hoof to the nuts made the stallion scream before she snapped his neck. She saw Twilight cornering Gallant. Twilight had her back to Mystic but she heard the hurt and hate in her voice. “Shiny thought of you as a brother, yet here you are trying to kill his sister. AND FOR WHAT!” “Twilight please I had..” Twilight lunged and decked him; he collapsed to the floor out cold. Mystic smiled at that but she noticed movement out of the corner of her eye. Snapping her head around, she saw a wounded unicorn with the orichalcum knife in her magical grip - and she was aiming for Twilight. Mystic scrambled. “Twilight! Behind you!” Mystic dived into the air and she felt something her. It hurt like Tartarus. She landed painfully and laid there before seeing the mare that hit her collapse, missing the top part of her head. She looked down and saw the knife between her fore legs. 'Oh that's not good.' She thought, and heard the sound of hooves galloping on the stone floor. She felt hooves grab her and support her head and neck. It was Twilight. She was looking over her with such concern on her face. “Hold on I'll get help just hang in there.” She looked away. “MEDIC!” Twilight screamed in the Royal Canterlot Voice “I....I think it's too late for me Twilight. Besides......... can you even........ trust a medic considering what …......just happened.” She likely didn't have much time left. She had to make it count. “Before you try........... to argue about it..........I know wounds. My brother taught me.....all about it. A life for a life..........I can take that......Twilight......in my saddlebags........there's a book............It has all......you need......to prevent what had happened..........use it please.” Tears were in Twilight's eyes. “I will, I promise. I'll even Pinkie Promise.” She went through the motions that Mystic had only heard of and never seen. “Thank you for saving me.” “I'm grateful to ….meet you......my sister.....” Mystic stopped hurting and things went dark before she saw a light. It radiated happiness and she walked towards it. * * * * * Luna burst into Twilight's chamber for the night and what she saw shocked her. Several Royal Guards, mainly her Lunar Guards either dead or knocked out with Twilight hunched over a strange unicorn; a mare with a white coat, and a light blue mane that had a dark purple stripe. The mare had a knife sticking out of her and blood trickled out of the corner of her mouth. What was very strange was that the mare was that she had a slight smile on her face. “Twilight, what happened here?” She asked, confusion and horror evident in both voice on face. Twilight broke off from her staring at the mare to look at Luna. On the young alicorn's face was sheer sadness and tears fell freely. “Treason Luna, treason. These guards all attempted to kill me, but this mare saved me. She saved me, and called me sister.” Twilight looked back down on the deceased mare. Luna scowled and took charge, turning to the guards who had responded with her. “Secure the room and get my sister here now. Till the extent of the treachery goes I will stay with Princess Twilight Sparkle.” She looked at her younger peer and her features soften a bit. “Twilight, are you okay? Need any medical attention for your wounds?” Twilight just shook her head, and Luna sat by her side. Twilight continued to stand vigil over the dead mare. “I'm confused Luna. She claimed to be my sister with her last breath, and I see bits of myself and Shiny in her. Especially that mane cut of hers. But I was the last child my parents had, and her apparent age makes her the same age as I was when I was sent to Ponyville. So I should know about her, but I don't. Yet she knew about me and knew about this whole thing. How?” 'That is odd. From what I have seen of the family they are open and generally happy. The dreams I see showed no side of any unfaithfulness so where did this mare come from?' Outwardly Luna asked this of Twilight. “Did she leave any clues?” Twilight snapped up. She looked around the room, and then, with her magic, she grabbed a set of saddle bags that were near the door, bringing them to herself. She began looking through it, and quickly found a book. “She said this would help.” Twilight opened it and began reading. Luna was about to look over her shoulder when the doors burst open and a worried Celestia appeared. “TWILIGHT!” Celestia cried. Luna had to be honest with herself. She has never seen her sister move so fast outside of combat, or in the presence of cake. But this would put those times to shame. In a flash of white she was hugging Twilight. As touching as it was Luna wanted to move to a more secure location. “Sister, as comforting as it is to hold young Twilight Sparkle, I will feel safer if we took this to my chamber.” “Perhaps my chamber for now Sister, I want you to get all this evidence secured as well as the castle.” Celestia looked at her sister and Luna saw a cold fury she had never seen before in her sister's eyes. “I want those responsible for this attempt found. If not tonight, soon.” Luna nodded and saw her sister and Twilight Sparkle disappear in a flash of gold. With anger rising in her heart, she got up to start her task. * * * * * Less than an hour later the castle was in full lock down, and the evidence and the unknown mare secured in a warded area. She found her fellow alicorns on a couch by the fireplace. Twilight reading the book while Celestia laid next to her. A wing covering the smaller alicorn. Luna took notice of her sister's appearance. At a glance she seemed the same monolithic mare that has ruled Equestria for a millennium alone in peace and prosperity. However, knowing her sister for several millennia she could see the difference. Yes she has had the hard look before when facing a foe, but that wasn't what was different. No, her etheral mane which normally looked like a sea of rainbows rolling in waves, had taken on an appearance more like flames of a fire. Even having a orange tint to the normal rainbow colors. With admittedly a bit of trepidation she let her presence be known. “The castle is on lock down and the mare and the other bodies in a secure and warded spot.” “Good.” Celestia with a coldness luna has never heard before. “And of the survivors?” “Only a hoofful had lived. They are secure in the old dungeons. Now has any light been shown on what has happened tonight?” “Indeed. Twilight, why don't you reveal what that book has to say.” Celestia's voice had once again returned to the kind motherly tone, and Celestia leaned in to nuzzle the younger mare. Twilight nodded, took a deep breath and began. “According to the book. Her name was Mystic Sparkle, and she was my little sister. She has some how manage to create a new time travel spell, and used it to come back to this exact time. She came to save me.” Twilight had tears running down her cheeks again. “According to this book, I am supposed to be dead right now, and it was only the start of so much suffering. In a matter of years Equestria had to endure a rebellion and an invasion of a country called New Unicornia. She...my sister believed I could have stopped it if I had lived.” Twilight looked down at the book. “It all started because they hated me so much.” At that point Twilight broke down and cried hysterically. Likely venting all the fear, frustration, and despair of what had been revealed. Both celestial sisters closed in and hugged the mare till she exhausted herself to sleep. Once deep asleep, the sister's left her on the couch with Celestia placing, a silence spell over the couch so they could talk without waking Twilight Sparkle. “This is most troubling sister. A plot to not only to kill Twilight Sparkle, but to invade our country, is astounding.” “It's worse then that Luna. It is no mere invasion, it's a coup attempt with outside support. After all I have endured and sacrificed to them. And how do they respond? They try to MURDER MY DAUGHTER! I understand you more now then ever, sister. How you felt one thousand years ago.” Celestia's mane abandon all pretense of the calm rainbow and had indeed turned to fire. Luna could feel the radiant heat rise. Never before has she seen her sister so fully embody her sun. “Read this sister. This is the list of the Royal Guard we can trust according to Mystic.” Luna read the list and was shock to see all it contained. She looked at her sister. “So few.” “Exactly. half of my guard and fifteen percent of yours can be trusted.” The shock and disgust engulfed Luna as she tried to process that. “Then were do we keep her safe then? Certainly not here in Canterlot. I'm not sure if Ponyville is even safe.” “The Crystal Empire. From the book it seems that Mystic and Night Light fled there after Canterlot was first attacked by rebels. We haven't read all of the book but nothing so far shows any threat from the Empire, and I find unlikely for them to harm a savior of their nation and the sister in law of their princess. So we send Twilight there in secret. Only you, I, Shining, Cadance, and her friend will know where she is. A mare did the impossible, and came back in time to save Twilight. She even lost her life doing so. I will not waste that sacrifice. We will have meetings in your dream realm sister. And when we are ready we will show these ponies why it is unwise to mess with the Celestial Sisters, with any… of my family.” Luna had to admit. It was scary to be on the receiving of such a proclamation rather then the one saying it.