Twilight stepped silently through the lower halls of the Royal Observatory, utterly spellbound by the wealth of ancient texts and artifacts before her, but didn't allow herself to study them as she wished. Instead, she walked ever onwards, towards the Princesses and well away from the only area secluded enough to hide the sound and light of her teleportation spell. A few moments later, she heard the murmur of voices, and casting the most delicate veil she could she crept up and sat some ten feet from the twin Princesses.
She settled in just in time to see Luna frown slightly, and Twilight recognized her Princesses excitement only from her posture. “You see the potential?”
Celestia nodded. “The necromancers have always been lead by six. Six Bearers to fight them, you and I are a match for any army that could be fielded as quickly as our force. It could be done.”
"Yes it could," Twilight interjected as she dropped the veil, and it took quite a bit of effort to not laugh at the shocked and appalled faces the Princesses wore as they noticed her.
“How are you here?” Luna asked her, her tone a war between pride and confusion. “The only way for a mortal to enter is to be brought by my sister or myself.”
“Did you think you were the only one who knew how to make an entrance?” Twilight lightly taunted back as she dropped the veil that hid her scars and fangs, revealing her natural, defiant little smirk. Luna's reaction was instant, a subtle shift in bearing that she knew meant Luna was amused.
'Celestia thinks you've threatened her, now make her know you have,' she heard her Element whisper in her mind.
She snapped her eyes to Celestia and shifted her bearing slightly, making her seem more intensely focused, as if she could lunge at any second. "Yes," she said, "that's exactly what I just did. I'll apologise when I'm done telling you how to save the country."
"I told you she was a wild one," Luna said, and Twilight could see the concern hidden underneath the Princesses grin. She realised that the Princess had no idea what Twilight was up to, and that suited Twilight just fine for the moment.
Celestia, meanwhile, practically radiated terror, which Twilight found rather strange, considering how quickly she would be a stain on the floor if she fought either Princess. “You've certainly changed,” the Solar Diarch said, “but would it pain you to not flaunt it so much? You are like a daughter to me, you know.”
Twilight heard her Element snort softly, and she hardened her voice with the truth she'd learned before replying. "I am a weapon to you. Powerful, loyal, and controlled." Twilight watched Celestia's face morph from shock to dismay, and she exaggerated her smirk a little on impulse. "I'm not angry. I just wanted you to know I figured it out."
Twilight saw both Princesses emotions intensify as Luna said, "Did I mention she is most perceptive?"
Twilight heard Celestia's teeth grind together with effort as the Princess carefully controlled her fear. "I'm not one to stand on ceremony, but really she is a bit much!"
"She moved the moon," Twilight heard Luna say, but she focused entirely on Celestia. "She has earned her confidence."
'Wow,' Twilight thought as she watched Celestia shift from controlled terror to a far more existential fear. 'She really is paranoid.' "I can do the sun too," she said aloud, and the chill in her voice even surprised her.
Twilight barely saw Luna move to stand in front of her. "Be careful Twilight, this is not the place for your sharp tongue," the Lunar Diarch said, and Twilight was utterly certain she was one wrong word away from the painful lesson Luna's grin promised.
Twilight threw up a smile that begged for just a few more moments of tolerance and rapped herself harshly on the head to assure Luna she realised she'd gone too far. "It can be a little hard to control sometimes," she said, knowing Luna would realise she was talking about her newfound temper, "I'm sorry." Then she levelled a carefully calculated glare at Celestia, hoping her old teacher would show her spine and show how wrong her Element was about Celestia's raging cowardice and paranoia.
She was dismayed when Celestia gulped in nervousness before strutting up to level a half-hearted glare at her. “Listen to her, Twilight," Celestia rasped out in a tone that Twilight felt was a rather weak attempt at frighteningly cold. "I won't stand to be so boldly threatened. Even by you, especially not here.”
Twilight hesitated a bare second to see if Luna would grant her the moments she'd begged for, and when silence told her she had her time she smiled. "Why do I feel," she said, lacing contempt and pride through her voice with Luna's wild magic, "like you're the only one in the room that's afraid of what might happen if I keep pushing?”
It nearly broke her heart when Celestia flinched and averted her eyes. The next thing she knew, she was on the ground and she could taste the blood in her mouth, and she hoped Luna hadn't broken her neck with the force of the blow that had so easily broken her jaw. She hissed in pain as her jaw snapped back into place, and she saw equal measures of disgust and rage in Luna's eyes.
"Enough!" Luna snapped, and Twilight fought to keep from shuddering at the murderous finality in that voice. There would be no more games today. "Did I teach you this poorly?" the Princess continued, contempt simmering in her voice, "to threaten and mock? And where in the world has this insufferable attitude come from? I would not like to remind you of your place again..."
Twilight's mind scrambled for an answer before Luna's wrath went from merely abusive to outright lethal, and her relief at hearing her Element's voice call out was palpable enough to make Luna frown in consternation.
Twilight shook her head roughly as her mind returned to her library home. 'Focus now, deal with that later,' she thought to herself as she glanced around at her assembled friends. All five of them looked dejected and frightened, but there was determination and anger there too. Luna had delegated the job of making them more angry than afraid to her, and she had resolved to do it if only to make up for how deeply she had embarassed Luna with her little display in the Observatory.
"You all look very... not confused," Twilight began. "I take it you know what's happening?"
"We all saw those things in the woods that night," Applejack muttered, her voice hollow and rough. "Ah don't claim to know what in the hay they were, 'cept wrong. Ah ain't been that scared since the night Mama Apple died."
"Yeah," Rainbow picked up, her own voice even raspier than normal. "Some voice in my head is nothing compared to those things, and if you say it's really my Element, I won't argue."
"Ponies need something to hold on to when they get scared," Fluttershy whispered. "My Element is real. I know that. It's comfortable."
"Okay!" Twilight said brightly, "that's good! Not much to explain then."
"Ah didn't say that!" Applejack retorted hotly. "Ah ain't seen you since. You'd best start talkin' 'bout what happened and where you've been."
The rest of Twilight's friends nodded slowly, and Twilight felt a faint stab of anguish that they'd lost so much faith in her. "You want answers," she said carefully, "I get that. Really, I do. I'll give them to you, but not until you know that they won't make it any easier to deal with."
"Darling," Rarity said, her voice tight, "we're here because nothing seems easy right now. None of us have the slightest idea what's happening. The truth couldn't possibly make it worse."
A few dark chuckles escaped Twilight before she could stop herself. "Husks. They were husks," she said, and the confusion in her friends faces almost made her smack herself in the head. "Dead ponies," she clarified. "Kind of like zombies, but a lot faster and stronger."
Pinkie burst out laughing and flopped on her back. "Don't be silly, Twilight!" she said through cacophonous explosions of mirth, "zombies aren't real!"
Twilight let her scar and fangs show, and she added a deadly glare to them that silenced Pinkie in a heart beat. "Three days ago, vamponies weren't real to you," she said, her voice uncompromising but calm. "Here I am. Do any of you think I'm lying about that?" She was answered by the sound of five terrified heartbeats. "Didn't think so. What happened? I killed all three of them. As for where I've been, they almost killed me, and this is the first chance I've had to speak with you since I recovered. I'm guessing Rarity told you about how I heal, so I won't explain that."
Her friends looked horrified, and Twilight cursed her temper for what seemed like the millionth time. "Look. Killed is really the wrong word. They were already dead, I just.... helped them realise it."
"That ain't what's got mah goat," Applejack said slowly. "It's you. Killed 'em? Twilight, that ain’t who you were before."
"Not it's not," Twilight answered flatly. "Next question."
"Dangit Twi!" Applejack burst out, her anger getting the best of her. "It ain’t right what yer tellin' me!"
"Indeed not," came Luna's voice as she stepped into the room, her impatient glare making Twilight's earlier effort seem like an adorable kitten's smile. "And yet, she is being perfectly honest with you. Such is the nature of war."
Twilight watched her friends pale slightly, but she saw the spark of fierce determination in all of them flare up at the same time. "War?" Rainbow asked. "It's that bad?"
"Yeah," Twilight said quietly. "It's going to be... bad. The Princesses and I will be fighting."
"Ah reckon fightin' dead ponies is a bit worse than bad," Applejack drawled, eyes narrowed a little. "Why do they need you Twi? Royal Guard is supposed to handle this."
Rainbow snorted rudely. "Come on AJ, you saw how Twilight was fighting. If three of them almost took her down, the Royal Guard can't fight them."
"Vamponies were made to fight husks and the things that create them," Twilight cut in. "It's my purpose, more or less. But.... we need five more ponies like me."
Five roughly simultaneous gasps later, the room exploded into a chaotic din of clashing voices and outraged yells. Twilight folded her ears back from the racket and patient waited for it to go from outraged, to angry, to grim before she cut in. "I wouldn't ask you to do this is there was any other way!" she practically yelled, using Luna's wild magic to make her voice almost painfully loud in the enclosed space, silencing her friends instantly. "I won't try to force you, but please, think about it at least."
"We ain't soldiers Twi," Applejack strained out, "what could we do?"
"Your duty," Luna answered, her voice cold and hard. "Just as you did when you faced me, just as you did when you faced Discord, just as you did when you faced the Changelings."
"Ponies are going to die if we don't," came, much to Twilight's surprise, Fluttershy's voice. The gentle pegasus had been mostly silent during the other's outburst, and her eyes were filled with something fierce now. "What do you need from me?"
"Luna can turn you, then you learn some basics, then we fight," Twilight explained. "The war's already started. Celestia says one city has probably already been wiped out. There's no time to train you better than that."
Fluttershy nodded, then she settled down to look expectantly at the others. "You'll all do what's right," she said in soft, gentle voice. "You know that."
A flash of light cut off any further reply, and it faded to reveal The Unconquered Sun clad in her ancient golden armour, a sight that brought a low whistle from Rainbow Dash and a muttered blasphemy from Applejack. It covered her head to hoof in gleaming metal, even her horn encased. Her mane and tail flowed freely despite there being no apparent hole for them, and a gentle light glittered softly from the eye slits, just barely hiding the Princesses gaze. A tremendous mace was slung around her neck, and Twilight was quite certain she would barely be able to lift it, let alone fight with it. "Hello, my little ponies," she said softly. "Am I interrupting?"
"That was unexpected," Rainbow said quietly, "and that armour is seriously cool. Just sayin'."
"I could have a suit made for you," Celestia said in a serene voice that suggested she was smiling under the metal.
"I'm in," the pegasus said quickly.
"And you, Rarity," Celestia continued. "What of your sister? Would you not fight to protect her? Applejack, your family? Pinkie, the Cakes? Without all of you, I cannot guarantee their safety in the days to come."
"That ain't fair!" Applejack snapped out bitterly.
"I know," Celestia answered sadly, "but it's true."
"Please, girls," Twilight practically begged. "Equestria needs all of us. I need all of us, together."
Applejack's sigh betrayed a depth of rage that made Twilight wonder if she'd pushed too far. "Applebloom is gettin' older now," the farm pony ground out. "Ah reckon she can take over some of the work on the farm. Fine, Ah'll fight, but my family stays safe, you hear me? Safe."
"When do we start?" Rarity asked grimly.
"There won't be very many parties, will there?" Pinkie asked plaintively, but she nodded.
"We start immediately," Luna said. "If you would all come with me..."
Twilight's eyes opened to see The Void. She greeted The Keeper with her customary polite nod, then immediately snorted in annoyance. "A lot happened. I'm tired. I wanted to sleep."
"Unfortunate," The Keeper intoned at her, his face as merciless as ever. "Six to stand against six. I find the symmetry appealing."
Twilight raised a hoof. "About that. Six, the six, original six. There's just a bit of an experience gap between us and them. We can't win that fight."
"If you truly believe that," The Keeper said, a faint note of humour in his corpse-like voice, "then open your throat now and save your enemies the trouble."
Twilight scowled. "That's not what I meant and you know it. You seem to want me to win for some reason, I'm sure you've got something for me right about now."
"Yes," The Keeper answered. "Two lessons, if you are willing."
Twilight promptly sat down and started paying close attention. When The Keeper spoke, she had learned, it was never a bad idea to listen.
"The first is in the power of your blood," The Keeper began. "You are mortal, yes, but Luna has made a gift of her power to you. Even she is unaware of the implications. Are the old stories of Gods and Titans still told?"
Twilight blinked at the non-sequiter before answering. "No, but they've been recorded. I know a little about them. I thought they were just old legends?"
"Some are, some are not," The Keeper explained. "There was indeed a race of Gods long before your kind was concieved, and they were indeed ended by the Titans."
Twilight hummed low in her throat. "Well. That's interesting. The stories I know say that some of the old Gods used the sun and moon as magical batteries that two of them could..." Twilight trailed off as her eyes went wide.
The Keeper nodded in satisfaction. "Yes. The magic of the Gods is in the moon, and in time, you will learn to draw from it. It is not the force it once was, but it is still a tremendous amount of power."
"So that's what Luna meant," Twilight said, breathless.
"I would not tell her you know this," The Keeper advised. "She would be most defensive of another touching the source of her power. Celestia even more so."
"How old are they?" Twilight managed to ask.
"Old enough to measure their age in the passing of geological epochs," The Keeper answered.
"Wow. Okay," Twilight said, giving her a head little shake. "There's no way I could handle that. That kind of magic would rip me to pieces before I had the chance to channel any of it."
The Keeper smiled. "Any other mortal, yes, but The Element of Magic? I think not. When you are capable of accessing that power on your own, you will be powerful enough to remain whole."
"Wow," Twilight repeated, still a little shaken.
"Would you like to hear the story of how that power was used to slay the last Titan?" The Keeper asked.
Twilight nodded enthusiastically.
"Very well," The Keeper said, and after a moment of silence, he began his story. "The Titans were a punishment, sent by The Giver to wipe clean your realm," he said, and at his words, the mist of The Void roiled and twisted around her, congealing in a way that made something in Twilight's brain twinge and blocking The Keeper from view. One shape started to flicker in and out of focus, as if her eyes refused to see it for more than an instant, and it seemed to constantly generate and absorb limbs and mouths and things she had no name for with each flash of detail. This, she gathered, was a Titan. "They were terrible beings, living engines of war, and their step cracked the earth even as their howls split the sky."
The flickering shape shifted and moved, disturbing the mist around it, and Twilight heard a faint echo that reminded her of a chorus of dissonant horns. Quiet as it was, it grated at her ears, and for a second she even thought they were about to start bleeding, but then the sound faded. "At first, the Gods abandoned their great civilisation and became nomadic, always fleeing from the beasts, and wherever a group was caught by one of the foul things, they would die." A city formed from the mist surrounding Twilight, all delicate towers soaring skywards and full of tiny moving shapes that Twilight could barely make out as alicorns. The dissonant chorus of horns came again, and the Titan rampaged through the city of mist, tearing apart buildings and alicorns alike.
The scene shifted several times, from other cities to mountains to forests, and in every scene a Titan was destroying everything, no matter whether the Gods ran or tried to fight. "After hundreds of years, and half their number, had passed, a council was called by the king of the Gods, Jupiter. There, it was decided that what strength remained in them would be thrown against the Titans, a final war of desperate survival. This was when Celestia and Luna first came to be, the creation of Jupiter and his consort, made to be the Gods weapons against the Titans."
The mist that had formed the Titan morphed again, turning into the shape of tall alicorn that glowed with a gentle golden light. This, she assumed, was Jupiter. Mist formed ornate armour around him, as well as a strange weapon that looked, to her, like some ancient predeccesor of a halberd. Even in miniature, she could tell the king of the Gods had been a giant, even by alicorn standards, and just the form of him radiated a steady, calming power.
"He did not make them Gods, for he had seen that divinity was no protection from the Titans, but he did bless them with true immortality. He planted them within his consort, and for the next two and a half thousand years, the Gods moved in force. Even the Titans feared to face the assembled might of so many deities of war and death and battle, and so there were few incidents during this time. Eventually, they were born, and to the Gods eyes, they were small and frail things indeed. In time, however, they grew to be what they are today, though it took some ten thousand years."
Two embryonic little figures appeared beside Jupiter, which rapidly morphed into two figures Twilight knew very well.
"This is when they were bound to the sun and the moon. Through magic I will not speak of, all the Gods offered a tithe of their strength to the celestial bodies, and then they marched to war. They hunted Titans, and though Gods fell by the score, they were winning the war. In time, there came to be a single Titan still alive, and though only a paltry dozen Gods remained, Jupiter knew he could rebuild so long as he survived."
Jupiter and the Princesses exploded, and from the swirling mist two orbs formed, one a blazing star and the other a cold little stone. Beneath them, Twilight saw the tiny alicorn figures she'd first seen in the mist city form again, and two little sparks of light rose up from each figure, one each for the sun and the moon. Then the celestial bodies faded, and the small alicorn figures swelled slightly as they formed into ranks, lead by what she could only assume were representations of Jupiter and his daughters. The shape of a Titan formed again, and Twilight blinked when she saw the difference in scale between the Princesses and the Titans. 'Even the little ones are like mountains,' she thought as she watched the army of the Gods tear down Titan after Titan, ignoring losses that seemed to her to be utterly ruinous. Finally, only twelve remained, facing a single Titan.
The Keeper's voice turned hollow for a moment. "He was the first to fall. His wings were torn from him, his tongue pulled from his mouth, then the beast devoured him." Twilight watched the figures in the mist play out the scene, and when Jupiter's gentle golden light winked out, she felt an inexplicable sense of loss, as if every light in the world had gone out at once. Nine more alicorn figures faded, but the Princesses remained. "Demoralised, the remaining Gods surrendered, and their fate was the same, except for Luna and Celestia. Both their parents dead, they flew into a rage, and drawing upon the sun and moon, they dealt the Titan a blow so great it cracked the foundations of the earth, splitting what was once a single continent into the three you know today."
The celestial bodies formed again, and this time they both seemed like blazing stars. She watched the figures of Luna and Celestia fly up, cross horns, and then there was a flash of light so great it made her cry out and avert her eyes. Cursing herself, she wrenched them open again and turned back towards the display, but it was gone, and The Keeper was visible again. All that remained of the scene was a little map that she recognised as the protocontinent some geologists theorized to have once existed, with great cracks spread through it. Twilight's mind reeled. She'd broken some things in her life, but a continent?
The Keeper's voice regained it's customary strength as even that faded into the mist. "The final battle won, but the war effectively lost, they sealed themselves away for millions of years, until their grief was spent. Such was the end of Gods. Some few lived, who had fled the world entirely, and they live still, but they are rarely seen."
"Who were the survivors?" Twilight asked quietly.
"Lasciel, Goddess of Love. Gabriel, God of Time. Anduriel, God of Power. Polaris, God of Forgotton Things. Ramiel, God of Thunder. Lillith, Goddess of Lust," The Keeper answered.
"Where are they? I could sure use their help!"
The Keeper snorted. "They are cowards. Seek no aid from them them, Twilight, except in dire need. I will speak no more of them."
"Alright," Twilight said, cautious of The Keeper's anger. "Noted. That's lesson one, then?"
"Was it only one?" The Keeper asked her, a small grin beginning to form on his face. "We shall speak again soon."
"Wait!" Twilight called out, leaping to her hooves, but The Void was already fading. She muttered a few choice blasphemies, but she knew there was nothing she could do to remain in The Keeper's realm after he dismissed her. Settling in to wait for herself to wake, she tried desperately to calm her racing mind, but nothing seemed to work.
'Of course,' she thought. 'Of course he distracts me when I have work to do...'