Chapter 4
Where the Void Leads
It was quiet at the Ponyville train station. No trains arrived for the many hours since news of the disaster in Canterlot circulated. The attendant on duty knew it was only a matter of time until a train filled with refugees from the disaster appeared. And it seemed that not an hour after sunrise passed did the first train arrive.
The train of pink cardboard and cotton balls slowly squeaked to a halt at the Ponyville train station. Once it had stopped, the passengers all filed off, and hoped that their troubles from Canterlot hadn't followed. Among them, two Cutie Mark Crusaders and the Mushroom Princess.
The three walked off the platform, and Peach was able to briefly take in the scenery of the town. All around, the ponies of the town went about their business. Many of them tried not to react to the arrival from Canterlot, while few others quickly trotted over to receive their friends and loved ones who had been at the palace the night before.
To Peach, it seemed like everyone there was trying to act as if nothing had happened. Whether or not they simply didn’t want to face the prospect of such danger so close to their home, or if they didn’t know know any other way to handle it, she didn’t know. But, instead of dwelling on the unpleasantries of the previous night, Peach decided to move ahead, and try to resolve the issue.
“Well. We’re home,” was all Scootaloo said.
“It looks like those guys from Canterlot didn’t get here yet,” Sweetie Belle said. She was suddenly unsettled by her own words. She knew it would only be a matter of time before the villains in Canterlot spread out to other towns. Time was an important factor, and they had to move quickly. “Let’s get to the library.”
Peach followed after the fillies, knowing that their hurried pace was caused by what they had experienced. She hated to see children so young worrying themselves so. During their walk, she decided that she would try to ease their minds with a gentle conversation.
"Oh my goodness. What a nice little town. I almost feel like I'm back in Toad Town here,” Peach said.
"Sure, it's nice to be back home. But, we still have a problem we need to fix," Scootaloo reminded her.
It seemed that it would not be so easy to quell the worry of the fillies.
"That's true. But, I don't know if we can solve it on our own. Do you two know anyone in town who can help us?" Peach asked.
"The only pony I can think of is Twilight. But, I haven't seen her since Canterlot blew up," Scootaloo answered.
"Oh," Peach said grimly. She didn't want to think the worst had happened to the Bearers of Harmony. But if they were anything like the Mario Bros, they would be reappearing in no time. "Did either of you see any of them escape?"
"No. That last thing I remember seeing was that gold dragon guy chasing them around in the crowd before that explosion," Sweetie Belle said. She stopped walking when a terrible thought occurred to her. "Do you think they... their game ended...?"
"Sweetie Belle! Don't talk like that! Rainbow Dash's game won't end that easily! I know she's still out there somewhere! And she's going to come back with everypony else, just like she always does!" Scootaloo said.
To Peach, Scootaloo sounded so certain, even she was working purely off of blind faith. She knew nearly nothing about the Equestrian heroines, but if Celestia and Luna held them in such high regard, then Peach believed they would surely be coming back.
"If that is so, then we'll have to wait here for them to come back. And in the meantime, we must do what we can to aid them in the quest that awaits them," Peach said.
"That's right, Princess! We're gonna help them like there's no tomorrow!" Scootaloo said.
"How?" Sweetie Belle deadpanned, thus crashing Scootaloo's excitement.
"For starters, we need to find out what we can about our new enemy, and whatever magic he's using. Furthermore, we need to find out where we can meet with the Bearers once they reappear. Tell me: is there a place in town where they usually meet?" Peach answered.
"Yeah. Whenever there's trouble, they all go to the Golden Oaks Library. So, I guess waiting there is as good a place as any, right?" Sweetie Belle said.
"And we can see if there's any books about gold dragons there," Scootaloo said.
"Then, it's settled. The library will be our next stop," Peach said.
"Come on. We know the way," Scootaloo said as she and Sweetie Belle trotted ahead with Peach in tow.
Peach was suddenly reminded of the heavy air in Ponyville. When she happened to hear the hushed voices of the ponies, she could hear mentions of the incident in Canterlot. Among the troubled whispers, she noticed that some of the ponies she walked past stared at her.
"I wonder if everything's alright around here," Scootaloo said.
"Everything looks okay. Why? What's wrong," Sweetie Belle asked.
"Nothing, really. It's just that Princess Peach is getting a lot of really weird looks from the ponies here."
"I'm sure it's nothing. I am visiting royalty, you know. Some of them probably just recognize me," Peach answered simply, trying not to pay any mind to the staring ponies.
"I said we're looking for three Mushroomers!!" a gruff voice loudly shouted nearby.
In spite of their raising hopes, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle began to feel a familiar sense of dread and apprehension.
"Maybe we should go another way?" Sweetie suggested.
However, Princess Peach went to investigate the trouble. Not wanting to be left alone, the fillies cautiously trailed after her.
The closer they walked toward the commotion, the more the fillies realized they were headed right toward the Golden Oaks Library. There, right in the path to their destination was the source of the trouble.
There was a goomba and a paratroopa, both wielding golden equipment, and both bruised, scraped and irritated.
Peach watched for a moment, when she recognized the paratroopa as the one who had attacked her at the Grand Galloping Gala.
"We got a problem here! It's not a very big problem, but you're making it harder than it has to be! All we're looking for is three humans from the Mushroom Kingdom! Two fat, mustachioed plumbers, and a blonde in a pink dress! They shouldn't be that hard to spot!!" the paratroopa said, as he grilled an elderly green mare for information
"I keep tellin' ya, youngun: I ain't seein' much today since I lost my contacts 'round here. I couldn't tell a griffin from a lion with a bird on its back unless I did," the mare answered.
"Listen, you walking glue bag: unless you start talking real fast, things are gonna get ugly!" the paratroopa said as he walked forward, nearly stepping on a small lens when he did.
He stopped suddenly, and choked loudly when he felt something hook around his neck. Glancing over his shoulder, he saw Princess Peach halting him with the handle of her parasol.
"First fillies, and now defenseless old mares? One might start to think you're afraid to fight someone your own size," Peach said to the paratroopa.
With a quick jerk of her arm, she yanked the paratroopa away, who fell over his goomba companion. Both quickly stood up from the dust, and faced the Mushroom princess.
"Don't try me on this, blondie! First, we get blown out here to this hick town, which gives me a headache like a thwomp's using my head for trampoline! Then this guy gets an email, saying we're looking for you and the Mario brothers! And it’s eating into my break time!!” the paratroopa shouted.
"Come on, lady. Cut us a break. This guy's really hard to work with when he's grumpy, and we could really use a half day after the night we had. So, could you please come quietly, and let us kidnap you right about now?” the goomba said.
"I'm sorry to inconvenience you, but I strongly disapprove of what you're doing. So, I'm afraid I'm going to have to...ask you to leave," Peach said as she daintily held her parasol.
Sweetie Belle shook her head in dismay. Scootaloo dragged her hoof down her face. And the goomba and paratroopa began to laugh.
"You didn't hear a thing our boss said last night, did you?" the paratroopa said, "Oh well. I gotta vent somehow, and I guess you'll make a nice punching bag--"
No sooner did he finish speaking, did he receive a thrust of a parasol between the eyes. Followed by a crack to the head, and a swing to the neck.
"Hey! What gives? She's not supposed to know how to do that! She's just supposed to yell for Mario!" the goomba said, before he received a powerful golf-style swing in his face.
Once the goomba stopped rolling, he saw the paratroopa go swooping back to Peach.
Peach deflected him with her open parasol.
The goomba rushed in for a headbonk.
Peach hooked her parasol’s handle into the goomba’s open mouth, and slammed him to the ground.
In one graceful movement, the Mushroom princess dodged the paratroopa's next attack, swung the hooked goomba right into his face, picked up the fallen contact lenses, and gave them to the mare who lost them.
Both members of the Koopa Troop laid in a crumpled heap, and looked up at the Mushroom princess. Never before did a young, parasol-twirling princess in a pink dress look so intimidating.
Neither member of the Koopa Troop was terribly injured, but they almost felt insulted by how much trouble Peach was giving them. If Bowser kidnapping her was any indicator, it should have been an easy job.
Peach stepped backwards from her opponents, but always kept her eyes on them.
Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle approached her sides.
"Where they hay did you learn that," Sweetie Belle asked in awe.
"Well, after being kidnapped so many times, I thought I could use a few self-defense lessons," Peach answered as she smoothed out the crimps and wrinkles in her skirt, and fixed her crown.
Had she a fork, Sweetie Belle would have eaten her own words that she spoke before Peach arrived in Equestria.
"Aren't you going to finish them off?" Scootaloo asked.
"There's no need for that. They got the message," Peach said.
Indeed they had. As humiliating as it was to be defeated, the two from the Koopa Troop were in no condition to keep fighting after the explosion they survived. They quickly scrambled to their feet, before the paratroopa gave his parting speech.
"Yeah, so what if you got us this time!? You just wait until we're back in fighting condition! We'll get you then!" he said.
"Hey, fella," said a deep, bass voice to the paratroopa’s side.
Looking to the direction of the new voice that addressed him, the paratroopa and goomba only saw a very large pair of hooves come flying toward them.
With a solid buck, Big Macintosh sent both of them flying over the horizon.
“Thanks fer the help, grandson,” Granny Smith said, as she finished putting on her contacts.
“Nopony bucks with my granny,” the large stallion said.
“I wish I could do that with a hammer,” Peach heard a familiar voice say from the back of Big Macintosh’s wagon.
The Mushroom princess circled around the side of the wagon. Her spirits rose greatly when she saw Mario jump off the back of the cart, along with Spike.
“Mario!” Peach said.
“Peach!?” Mario said, at once surprised, relieved and delighted to see her safe.
There was barely any time for the plumber to move when Peach greeted him with a kiss.
“Eeyuck!” Spike briefly wretched, before he ran inside the nearby library to find the book he needed.
Mario and Peach took the moment to reconnect after the disaster.
“Honey, I’m so glad you’re safe! I thought for sure you’d be in trouble by now!” Mario said.
“Don’t worry. I’m fine, now that you’re here,” Peach answered.
Sweetie and Scootaloo exchanged a confused glance. After how they had seen the Mushroom princess hold her own against two (admittedly incompetent) members of the Koopa Troop, she was acting like a dainty damsel.
“You’re just lucky Big Macintosh here got to those guys first. I’d hate for you to see what I’d do to them,” the plumber boasted.
“Eeyup,” Big Macintosh shrugged.
Now that the danger had passed, the fillies felt they could approach the large stallion.
“Hey. Is Apple Bloom with you?” Sweetie Belle asked.
“Nope. I thought she’d be with you two,” Big Macintosh answered.
“Now that ya mention it, why ain’t yer sisters with ya?” Granny Smith asked.
"Well, uh..." Big Macintosh hesitated to tell his grandmother what had happened. How could he tell her that his sisters were in the castle when an explosion happened, and he hadn't seen them since? Though he spent hours looking for them before he left, he knew that Granny Smith would accept no excuse for his actions.
The sound of flapping wings interrupted the situation. Everyone stepped back as a gray, wall-eyed pegasus mare with a mail pouch alighted to the ground.
"Delivery for Mario. He wears a red hat with a big 'M' on the front," she said, as she presented an envelope to the plumber.
"Uh, yeah. That's me," Mario said as he accepted the envelope, wondering who could have sent it to him.
"Okay. One delivery down. Onward to mail," the mare said, before she flew away.
Mario briefly examined the letter, and found no return address.
“Who could it be from?” Peach wondered.
“Hopefully, nobody trying to end our games,” Mario replied.
Before he could even try to open the envelope, it jumped right out of his hands.
Everyone nearby took a step back as the envelope started jumping around on the ground. Finally, it popped open, and out came to folded up pieces of paper. Soon after popping out, they unfolded to reveal Luigi and Apple Bloom.
“Next time, we need a bigger envelope,” Luigi said, as he smoothed out his edges. He looked around for his brother, but couldn’t see him anywhere. “Mario?”
“Luigi!” Mario exclaimed.
Luigi jumped high, and landed facing his brother.
“Apple Bloom!” Granny Smith said, as she rushed to her granddaughter, followed by Big Macintosh, Sweetie and Scootaloo.
"What the heck were you doing in there?" Mario said.
"Just hitching a ride out of danger, bro," Luigi said as he looked around, "Peach!? You're here too?"
"I am. As are two of our friends from Canterlot," Peach answered, indicating the fillies she traveled with.
"Jeez, this is great! I almost thought finding you guys would be a royal pain in the butt," Luigi said.
"Implying that's not what everything else right now is already," Mario said.
“Aw, shoot. You had to remind me about that,” Luigi said.
“Remind you about what?” Peach wondered.
“Okay. While me and Apple Bloom were trying to get away from Canterlot, we heard some of the Koopa Troops talking. You know what they said? They said that gold guy that took over Canterlot put the kibosh on Bowser!” Luigi said.
"He what!?" Mario and Peach said together.
"Yeah! Bowser’s done for! Kaput! Game over! And this new guy took over the Koopa Troop after scrapping him! And the weird thing is, nobody knows who he is. They don't even know his name!" Luigi continued.
"What could he possibly have done to finally get rid of Bowser?" Peach wondered.
"Maybe there's an answer in here," Mario said, as he revealed the book he had.
"What's this? Some kind of notebook?" Peach asked, as she examined the book.
"I don't know. But, Spike said he recognized some of the drawings in here from a book in the library."
The front door of the library opened, and Spike leaned out.
“Mario! I think I found it! I found the book!” Spike excitedly called.
“Alright! Finally, some headway!” Mario said, as he hurried into the library.
“Wait!” Peach said, as she followed after.
“Yeah! Headway for what?” Luigi said, as he ran inside next.
None of the present ponies had any idea what was going on, and wanted answers as well.
“C’mon, y’all. Let’s see what’s goin’ on,” Apple Bloom bade her two friends, and guided them inside.
Big Macintosh too was curious, and followed the others in.
“Wait just a second there. Ya still ain’t told me where yer sister’s gone,” Granny said, as she followed her grandson inside.
Everyone gathered to where Spike led them. The table in the middle of the library was piled with books. Most prominently of all was a very large book, which was sprawled open. On the pages, Mario found pictures that greatly resembled the ones in the notebook he was given.
"What the hay's all that scribblin'?" Apple Bloom asked.
"It looks like somepony's old art book," Sweetie Belle said.
"Or some kind of doodle," Scootaloo suggested.
"Looks like the pictures from my last doctor visit," Granny said, earning a grimace from her grandchildren.
"It's none of that! It's Starswirl the Bearded's notes about some kind of magic," Spike said.
"Who the What's huh?" Luigi asked.
"Come on, Luigi. I spent a week learning about your kingdom before you came. You could've done the same for us," Spike admonished the plumber.
"Not when it was just sprung on us," Luigi said.
"What's up with this magic," Mario asked, getting back to the point.
"Get this! Thousands of years ago, Starswirl created the Elements of Harmony to maintain the balance of everything, right?" Spike continued.
"Yes. Lulu and Tia told me about that the first time we met," Peach said.
“But, here’s the thing that most ponies don’t know: somepony once tried to destroy them with six other…” Spike trailed off. He turned around to read the book on the table.
The others watched briefly as his eyes darted across the page.
“Six other what?” Apple Bloom wondered.
The dragon continued to look across the page for a moment more, before he turned back to face the others.
“I don’t know. The book doesn’t say what was used. Or how they were made, or who made them. All it mentions is some kind of evil magic that some other wizard used,” Spike said.
“What are you getting at? Are you saying that that gold dragon might have been using that same magic?” Mario said.
“Exactly,” Spike affirmed, as he flipped a page.
On the page Spike flipped to, there was a picture of a tall, bearded unicorn facing against six golden shadows, who all had vague, unrecognizable forms as they overlapped one another. Around the unicorn floated six magical items that had been rendered to useless stones by the power of the trinkets the six golden shadows held.
"Holy cannoli," Mario muttered.
"Yeah. It turns out that Starswirl didn't count on the Elements actually getting beaten,” Spike said.
The dragon turned the page. There was revealed an illustration of the evil shadows overpowering the Elements of Harmony. Starswirl the Bearded stood stalwartly before his opponents, as the six Elements were pushed back under their power.
“But, what happened after that? He must have beat that guy somehow?” Luigi asked.
“Hang on a second. I didn’t read that far yet,” Spike said.
The dragon turned to read the rest of the page. It seemed the air of curiosity and the gravity of the situation had gotten to the others as well. One by one, Mario, Luigi, Peach, Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle, Big Macintosh and Granny Smith all gathered around to read the page over Spike’s shoulder.
“Okay, I got it. It says that Starswirl used the last remaining power of the Elements of Harmony to seal away the power of the other wizard. But, by doing that, he used up all of the power the Elements had left in them. After that, the Elements of Harmony had been in the Castle of the Two Sisters ever since,” the dragon read.
“But, they’re gone now! How can we stop that dragon, if we don’t have the Elements with us?” Scootaloo said.
Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle continued to read the page, hoping to find something of use. The second they turned the next page, they found it.
“Hold it! Take a gander at this, y’all,” Apple Bloom said.
“What is it?” Peach asked, as she and all the others looked to the passage Apple Bloom was pointing at.
“This. It says that Starswirl left a map to find the Elements, in case something happened to them,” Sweetie explained.
Lights turned on in Mario’s and Spike’s brains. The picture on the page before them was a cluster of stars, which formed no particular pattern. Next to them, there was what looked like a tab of some sort.
It was something they both had seen before. Spike didn’t have to say anything to make the plumber take the notebook from his item pocket. Once Mario held it, he thumbed through the pages, until he found what he was seeking.
The picture in the notebook was identical to the one on the table. The only difference was the note on the facing page of the small book.
Any door may be opened, so long as you dare to turn the key.
The plumber tried to make sense of the message, as he thoughtfully examined the page. He looked back and forth between the notebook in his hand, and the book on the table, trying to make some connection between them and the passage.
Mario reread the note, and glanced to the facing picture. His eyes lingered on the drawn pull tab.
It was the longest long shot he could conceive, but it was the only thing he could conceive.
Though it was not a key, it was the closest thing he could think of trying.
Mario felt slightly silly when he touched his finger to the drawn tab. He didn’t know what he was expecting to happen. Finally, he dragged his finger, and was shocked to see the drawing move, as if he had pulled a popup tab.
The notebook drifted out of Mario’s hands. Everyone in the room watched in awe as the stars on the page came alive. One by one, they started swirling about in all different directions, but always in a circular pattern.
With a gentle thud, the notebook set itself on the table. Above it, the swirling stars started to color themselves in. Once they were all colored, they leveled themselves to a single plane of orbit, and drifted around the table.
"What're we gettin' ourselves into," Big Macintosh wondered, sensing that something big was about to happen.
Sure enough, an image appeared in the space between the stars, taking the transparent form of a small, familiar town.
"That's Ponyville," Apple Bloom said, as they all examined the image.
Even though the image of Ponyville was clear, there was still a great mass of foggy, indiscernible images around it.
"It's a lovely likeness, but it doesn't actually show us anything," Peach said.
Of course, she didn’t know what was to come.
After Twilight had been struck by the stranger's magic, what happened next was like a nightmare.
All she could see was a world of shifting shadows, unlike any kind of darkness she had seen before. All of them twisted and warped before her, making her feel as if she had somehow changed to be like them as she flew by. Soon, it became too much for the unicorn to bear, and she closed her eyes, hoping the horror would end.
A gentle swishing noise made Twilight dare to uncover her eyes, and what she saw amazed her.
No longer was she surrounded by the nightmarish shadows. She was instead in a peaceful, green meadow, with a blue sky above, and a stream nearby, as a gentle breeze made the grass quietly wave around her.
"What is this place?" Twilight wondered.
All around, there was nothing but peace and quiet. It was as if the world suddenly reset itself to the peace and tranquility it normally knew.
Quickly, she rushed to the riverbank to examine her reflection. In the water, she saw nothing disconcerting about herself. Everything was fine, and there were no worrying injuries. But, the tiara atop her head was another matter.
Twilight reached for the Element of Magic, and examined it as she gingerly held it in her hooves. Whatever had happened, wherever she was, her hopes of fixing the calamity that happened were quickly dwindling.
“The others!” Twilight realized.
The unicorn frantically looked around for her friends. She ran through the fields of green, hoping to see them, or hear their voices somewhere nearby or far off. They were still there with her. She knew it. They had all been struck by the same magic, and were likely sent to the same place.
Twilight’s pace slowed to a stop, just before the river. For all she knew, they were miles away from one another, with no hope of every reuniting.
With a defeated groan, Twilight placed the useless Element of Magic in her mane. She hung her head, and gazed at her reflection. There was a mare who was always at her strongest with her friends beside her. Now, what power did she have?
Then, she noticed something.
In the reflection of the river, she could see a large tree. In the shade under the tree, Twilight thought that she could make out the shape of something else. Looking up from the river, she saw that she was correct. Under the tree, was a shape, colored white, and resting peacefully.
"Rarity!" she said to herself.
Twilight quickly splashed across the river. Her hopes raised with every step she took. She hiked up the nearby hill, and saw the white form taking shape.
"Rarity, I'm here," she called.
The closer she came, the more she realized that it was not Rarity she was calling to. Indeed, it was not.
When she was upon the white shape, she found it to not be a single pony, but rather two creatures, both dressed in white. They were both two-legged creatures, but not from the Mushroom Kingdom. One was dressed in a white suit, with a long white cape, and a tall, white hat resting on the ground next to him. Adorning his face, barely noticeable against his pitch black skin was a monocle.
Next to him, resting peacefully was another creature with pure white hair, and milk-colored skin, wearing an equally white dress. The trims of the dress, however, were tinged with all the colors of the rainbow. Somehow, looking at the dress she wore, Twilight had the feeling she was looking at something gentle and pure, like a butterfly had become human.
Though she didn't sense any danger from these creatures, Twilight decided to let them both rest quietly. Before she even moved, the male creature awoke, and looked at her.
Twilight froze, hoping for a friendly encounter.
"Hello, traveler," the dark creature greeted her.
"Um...Hello," Twilight said. "I'm sorry I woke you up."
"No, no. Don't be. It's not often we have visitors here. Please, won't you stay a while?" the dark creature implored.
"I..." Twilight hesitated at first, but since there was nobody else to talk to in that place, she decided to oblige him. "Alright."
"Tell me, how did you find this place?" the dark creature wondered..
"I came here from Canterlot. And...well, there was a fight. And I got magically sent here," Twilight answered.
"I see. I'm somewhat familiar with such a thing myself. Did you come here alone?"
"No... My friends were attacked with the same magic. So, they have to be here somewhere. Is there somepony else here who can help? Maybe a town?"
The dark creature’s mouth changed to the slightest of frowns.
"I'm afraid not," the creature said, "My beloved and I have tried to find others like ourselves here. But, alas, it would seem we are alone."
"No! We can't be alone here! There needs to be something!” Twilight said, fighting the encroaching feeling of hopelessness.
"It’s true. There does need to be. But, there is not,” the dark creature said, matter of factly. “For as long as we have been here, we have not found anything or anyone we have come to know before. It is as though we had somehow stepped into the very essence of nowhere. But, I am content. So long as I am with my beloved," he said as he stroked the hair of the female creature.
The light creature shifted slightly in her sleep, and held more tightly to her beloved.
"You said that you had come here with your friends. Perhaps if you found them, you too would learn to accept this place,” the dark creature said.
Twilight didn't know what to make of what she heard. The dark creature made it sound like there was no escape from wherever they were. If that were true, then she would have to simply do as the creature said. But, that would be like admitting defeat.
"I can't stay here. There's trouble back home that my friends and I have to fix." When Twilight heard her own words, she realized that defeat may be the only option. "But, I don't know if my friends are even here with me..."
The dark creature smiled at her, giving the mare a strange kind of warmth from it.
"When we first arrived in this place, my beloved and I were separated far from one another. Despite the hopeless odds, and immeasurable distance between us, we knew we would find one another. And surely enough, we did. It wasn't long after that we found this place. And we have been here ever since. So, you see, if you wish to find your friends, then you need only to look. And should you find them, you would be welcome to join us here."
Hearing the creature's words kindled a little more hope into the unicorn, who looked into the distance of the peaceful field before her. Though she had no way of knowing where her friends were, she needed to find them.
With a small breath, Twilight took a small step forward. And then another. Soon she was slowly walking away from the tree to begin her new journey.
"I must warn you: the world beyond here is not as kind as it seems. Only from a distance does something so peaceful look so inviting."
"Thank you. I'll remember that," Twilight said, before she started walking forward, leaving the two creatures to the company of one another.
As she walked away, she began to feel as if the creature she spoke to was wrong about the field beyond. There was nothing but peace all around her, which made her worry for her friends ebb slightly. If they were out there, surely they were safe. Then, it happened.
[End Music]
The hill with the tree was far behind her, and with one single step, she seemed to have passed into another world entirely. No longer was she in the peaceful field from before, but in a garden like none she ever knew before.
The leaves of the plants and the petals of the flowers all sat perfectly still, and gray as stone. The paper that made up their petals had turned stiff and brittle from seemingly ages of neglect. The cardboard cobblestone path beneath her hooves had all but worn away, revealing its corrugation beneath. And to her sides, the tiny fences that cordoned off the path were equally worn. Their foil had peeled away, and rust had worn them down. It was as if the garden had been forgotten by time itself.
Twilight reached to touch one of the flowers, only for it to crumble under her hoof. As she looked around, she wondered how alive and beautiful the place had once been. When the garden was loved and cared for by the creatures attending to it. But, those days were eons behind.
Somewhere in her mind, Twilight felt as if somepony were guiding her onward. She couldn’t tell why it was, but the feeling in her paint compelled her to carry on.
Her hoof stepped through a foliage, and into nothingness.
Twilight stumbled slightly, an recovered herself. Using her magic, she cleared away the overgrowth and found that she was now overlooking a large cliff.
An overgrowth of vines draped down the cliff’s face. To Twilight, it looked like there was once a path that led down the cliff to the ground below. Unfortunately, it seemed that a mix of corrosion and overgrowth had all but destroyed the way down.
The last thing Twilight wanted to do was to climb down the vines to reach where she needed to go. As much as she hated to do so, she knew that she would never find her friends by idling around. So, swallowing her fears and doubts, she began the slow descent down the cliff.
The wind buffeted and battered Twilight, threatening to blow her away like a piece of litter.
As the unicorn descended, the vines shook and wobbled in the wind. To her, it seemed the vines had come alive, and were reaching for her to grab them. To once again feel the loving touch of a pony to care for them.
To feel the longing of the plants in the forgotten garden, Twilight began to feel terrible for them. It was almost like her days before moving to Ponyville, when she was unloved and uncared for. All the world never knew she existed, except for Princess Celestia and Spike.
Twilight stopped climbing for a moment, when her mind traveled back to those she loved. She never knew the fates of the Royal Sisters, or of Spike. Though her relationship with Spike had not been at its best in recent memory, she felt her heart waver at the thought of him being sent to the place she was in. Or worse.
A quiet rustling, snapping noise broke Twilight’s thoughts. Looking up, the unicorn saw the vines were beginning to break.
Purely on instinct, Twilight tried using her magic to regrow and repair the vines.
The plants broke quicker than her magic could act.
The vines broke, and Twilight desperately grabbed for another one. Her descent was slowed, but not stopped by her desperate clamoring.
Under the weight of the unicorn, the vines continued to break.
In a second, Twilight was falling through the air.
In a last ditch effort, Twilight used her magic to make the vines lash out and grab her.
The vines reached down and wrapped around Twilight’s waist.
The unicorn’s whole body jerked, as she stopped mere inches above the ground before she impacted.
Twilight sighed after a moment of dangling. Her relief turned to surprise, when the plants holding her broke, dropping her to the ground.
Unnerved, but unhurt, Twilight carried on.
As she journeyed through the garden, she began to feel that what the dark creature had told her was right: she had stepped into the very essence of nowhere. The longer she traveled on the broken path through the petrified garden, the more she felt as if there really was nothing beyond where she was. Until she found something.
There was a tall, foiled fence before her. One that was just as dilapidated and derelict as the tiny fences on the sides of the path.
Past the fence, there was a section of the garden that held flowers larger than any Twilight had seen before. Looking at them, she thought that a pony could have fit inside of a bud.
The longer she looked, the more she imagined what the flowers looked like before. Surely, this part of the garden was reserved for the most beautiful and rarest flowers of them all. Now, what was once a garden of love and beauty had been reduced to a drab, gray, useless panorama. Frozen in time, as if to try to preserve itself in its last moments.
Something in Twilight’s mind was telling her that there was the place to be. For whatever reason, she thought something had guided her to the garden, to find what was lost.
Twilight looked through the fence, looking for a sign. Something to tell her that she had not searched in vain.
Somewhere in the middle of the garden, she saw the largest flower of all. In its center, she saw a hint of color. One that was not at all like the others around herself.
Somepony was there, she knew. Now, she was able to reunite with her friends.
“Hey! Over here!” Twilight called.
Feeling her hopes rise once more, she used her magic to pry off bars on the fence and hurried through the garden. Around her, the plants crumbled and turned to dust when she touched them. Finally, after making her trail through the dead plants, she started climbing the petrified flower.
"Hold on! I'm coming up!" Twilight said.
Though time had worked its machinations on the great flower, its sheer size and fortitude kept it from breaking underneath her hooves.
The unicorn climbed up the massive petal, and pushed her way past the overgrowth of roots and ivy.
Finally, Twilight reached the center of the flower, and was delighted by who she found.
“Rainbow Dash! Thank goodness you’re here!” Twilight said with a beaming smile.
Dash didn’t say anything to Twilight. She didn’t even look in her direction. Not even her ear twitched. It was as if she hadn’t heard Twilight at all. Or she simply didn’t care. She merely kept her head hung, with her gaze to the ground.
Twilight immediately knew something was off. Nothing about Rainbow Dash seemed like herself.
This was hardly the friend Twilight knew. If the mare before her didn’t look exactly like Rainbow Dash, Twilight would have thought she made a mistake. But, there was no error. Something had happened that had made Dash the way she was.
“Hey. Are you alright?” she gently asked.
Dash didn’t answer.
“Rainbow Dash, come on. Let’s go save the day, like we always do,” Twilight tried to prod her friend.
Dash remained silent.
“Dash? What happened to you?”
Twilight walked closer to Dash’s side. There, she noticed the Element of Loyalty, still fastened around Dash’s neck. Exactly the same as her own Element, it was as gray, as useless and as dreary as the flower they were in.
She wished Dash would speak to her. If only to let her know she wasn’t alone in that place, Twilight wanted to hear her friend’s voice.
Twilight gently touched her hoof to her friend’s chin, hoping that if Dash were to see her, she would answer.
The second her hoof touched Dash, a tiny light shined from the Element of Loyalty.
The light drifted off, and hovered in the air a moment. Twilight could see it was a kind of magic. Thankfully, not the golden magic the dragon from before used. Instead, it was the familiar harmonious magic that she had grown accustomed to seeing when things seemed the darkest. However, only a tiny glimmer of light came from them, instead of the blindingly brilliant light from every other time.
Twilight watched the light, as it drifted away. In a moment, it disappeared.
[End Music]
Back in the library, Mario, Luigi, Peach, and all the others watched as the image of the map before them began to glow.
Suddenly, the misty, undefinable portions of the map became clearer to see. The image of a mountain range appeared on the surface of the map.
Nobody said anything, but they all knew it: this was where their adventure would begin.