//------------------------------// // 6. Prologue, Final Part: Setting Sun // Story: Tartarus Forged // by SvenFoxx //------------------------------// Tartarus… Seventeen years after arrival… “This spell is both old and only partially understood. Crossing the dimensional barriers on faith and hope alone is a recipe for disaster. There are quite literately an unlimited amount of ways you could die. You know that, right?” Tirek pointed out. “Tartarus and the planet Equus are connected,” Twilight stated somewhat distractedly. She was busy alchemically crafting one of the ingredients she needed for the spell. “I’m not sure what exactly the connection itself is, but it is there. If I use the connection as an anchor, and use my magic, a magic born of Equus, as a secondary anchor, the spell should drop me in Equestria.” Tirek nodded. “A fairly good theory… but ultimately flawed.” Twilight sighed and gave Tirek a mild glare. “Fine, oh wise and trolling one. What am I missing?” she asked with not a little sarcasm. “Your magic was born of Equus, but you’re forgetting that the magic of Equus suffuses everything, not just the surface. If you use your magic as a secondary anchor, you could wind up teleporting yourself right into the bedrock, the core, the ocean, a mountain… and yes, there is a small chance you’ll wind up on the surface, though where on the surface is anyone’s guess.” He chuckled at Twilight’s rapidly paling face. “I… um… Then how do you explain how I arrived here?” she asked defiantly. “Recall that you arrived in a crater, the bottom of which was well over a hundred feet below the surface. The crater was not there before your arrival, and you were surging explosively at the time as well. Do the math.” “Oh,” Twilight’s face became downcast. Contrary to what she had assumed, she didn’t arrive on the surface and then cause the crater by Surging. She had arrived in the ground at least a hundred feet down, and then her Surge caused the explosion that made the crater, likely saving her life. “…oh.” Tirek held up a book. Twilight realized it was the very same book she had found the spell to get her home in. “You need two things to make this spell work. A way to indicate what universe you want to go to, and a way to focus the exit point at one specific location. Using the connection between Tartarus and Equus as the anchor is a bad idea for two reasons. First, by your own words, you do not understand the connection. Even a novice spell-caster knows you don’t use magic you don’t completely understand. Second, Equus is far from the only world Tartarus is connected to. One small mistake and you might end up following the wrong connection.” Twilight winced. She had forgotten about that, actually. In her giddiness at finding a means of getting home she had completely forgotten that there were other worlds that connected to Tartarus, some connections far more open than the one to Equestria. It would be very easy to accidentally latch onto the wrong one. Tirek continued after a moment. “Using your magic is a bad idea because, as I already explained, your magic alone will get you to the planet you came from, but beyond that it’s random. You need something more defined. If I hadn’t altered your body I would have suggested your blood, but that’s pointless now. There are no humans in Equestria, meaning your blood as a stabilizer would just make the spell implode on itself trying to locate a viable exit point related to humans.” “Then…” Twilight sank into her chair. “Then this is pointless?” Tirek shrugged and dropped the book on her desk. “I promised to not stop you if you found a way home in exchange for your service. I won’t stop you, but helping you will shorten your stay, meaning I get less use out of you. Figure this out for yourself.” He turned to leave. “Wait…” Twilight called, making him look over his shoulder at her. “If you aren’t going to help me, then why did you just do exactly that?” she asked, more curious than anything at his apparent hypocrisy. “What good is a tool that is dead or beyond my grasp?” Tirek asked in turn, and then left. Twilight stared at the book for a few minutes, upset at how close her apparent salvation was, only to be snatched away. She picked up the book and leafed through it, not really paying attention to what she was reading. The action was more for comfort than anything. …and do not add the powdered undead tooth. The magic inherent within the powder will cause necrosis once the salve is applied on the… The book itself was found in Tirek’s library, and the centaur hated anything that wasn’t useful. If the spell wasn’t torn out of the book, then that meant it would work. However, as he had pointed out, she was missing a key ingredient. Something to define the exit point beyond “Equus”. Her magic would be a suitable primary anchor, but she still needed the secondary anchor. …Now, while the solution is bubbling, add Nightshade and let boil under the full moon for exactly one hour… Her blood was useless, her fur was likely useless, and even her body was useless. For all the perks Tirek’s fiddling with her biology had given her, there were also drawbacks, and one of them was biting her in the flank right now. Maybe an artifact from Equestria? No, the artifact wouldn’t define a location, other than possibly where it was made, or where the material that made it came from. Considering the vast majority was likely metal ore, then that was a bad idea. …While the nature of the soul isn’t completely understood, it is well known that the soul never forgets its home… She glanced at the workstation where she had been mixing things to create ingredients for the spell. She decided after a moment of thought to continue acquiring the ingredients she would need. After all, the spell wasn’t useless, just incomplete at the moment. …careful when mixing the light and dark magic together, as both are temperamental when applied to each other... Twilight blinked. “Wait…” She scanned back through the book and focused on the passage she had skimmed over. The soul is both a powerful and fragile component to life. It is also the key ingredient in most spells performed by necromancers. While the nature of the soul isn’t completely understood, it is well known that the soul never forgets its home, allowing a necromancer to recall a soul from beyond the veil if the ritual is performed in the soul’s old home. “That’s it!” Twilight stood, grinning. “My soul! It knows where in Equestria is my home!” She grimaced after a moment. “I better be careful. Tampering with my soul could go very badly if I make a mistake…” Course set, Twilight cast a stasis charm on her workstation to prevent anything bad from happening while she was gone. Then she set off for Tirek’s library again to find any material on the soul she could. She needed to be absolutely certain about everything if she was going to do this. --- Equestria… One year and eight months after Twilight vanished… “Good morning everpony…” Starlight yawned, walking into the dining room of the castle. A few guards returned her greeting with a nod, and the few servants at the table did likewise. She smiled at Sunburst, her friend, as she sat next to him, and then looked around. “You know, even after a year of eating in here, I still can’t believe I eat breakfast and dinner with Princess Celestia every day.” Sunburst chuckled. “Indeed. I still marvel at it myself sometimes, and I was her student!” Starlight nodded. She frowned as she stared at the table. “Yeah… I just can’t believe you became her student. I mean, that spell was impressive for one done on the fly, but to become her student?” She shook her head. Sunburst shrugged. “I asked her that myself, and why she made my sister her student alongside me. She never really answered me beyond the fact that we were twins and our magic was uniquely attuned to each other.” Starlight also shrugged. “I guess…” She noticed Sunburst looking a bit forlorn. “She’s still not answering your mail, is she?” she asked, putting a hoof on Sunburst’s shoulder. Sunburst shook his head. “No. I don’t know why, either. We never let an argument keep us apart for long. This? It’s been almost five years now.” He sighed. “I miss her.” The doors leading into the more restricted area of the castle opened at that moment. In walked Princess Celestia, and behind her was an orange coated mare with a red and yellow mane and tail and teal colored eyes. Her coat was somewhat scruffy and dirty, but her eyes were sharp and focused. “It is good that I managed to convince her to return then, is it not?” Celestia asked with a smile. Sunburst’s magic flickered out, dropping the utensil he was eating with as he stared at the mare in shock. “S-Sunset?” Sunset Shimmer, sister of Sunburst and once Celestia’s student as well, smiled at her brother. “Hey ‘Burst.” Her expression darkened however when it turned back to Celestia. “Alright, you told me you would explain everything after you dragged me here. Start explaining.” Sunburst ears flipped backwards at the harshness in his sister’s voice and expression. Starlight leaned towards him, not taking her eyes off Sunset. “Is it me… or is she more of a jerk than I remember?” she asked her friend. Sunset heard her though and turned to the mare. “I don’t want to be here,” she growled. “Right now, I’m only here because she,” She pointed at Celestia. “Grabbed me in a targeted teleport from out of the blue and called in a favor I owe her. I shouldn’t even be in Equestria, on account of the fact that I was exiled.” She glared at Celestia, who didn’t even bat and eye. Sunburst gaped at this revelation. Sunset looked back at Starlight. “I’m not here to pander to anypony’s sensibilities. I’m going to do my work, and then I will hopefully never see the inside of this place again.” Starlight’s eyes narrowed. She opened her mouth to say something in return, but Celestia chose that moment to speak up. “That will be enough,” Celestia admonished gently. “Sit, Sunset, and enjoy a nice breakfast. We will get to the details once everypony is fed and ready to work.” Sunset grunted, but walked over to Sunburst and sat on his other side. “Fine.” Everypony resumed eating, or in some cases began to eat. As she did every morning, Celestia made small talk with everypony else. Sunset however ignored the Princess’ every attempt to include her in any conversation, eating slowly with her magic. Sunburst frowned, noticing that his sister was eying the food strangely, like she half expected it to explode in her face. Sunburst and Starlight glanced at each other in confusion. They both silently asked the same question. “What happened between those two?”