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Prologue456 words
Chapter 1: Going Out Your Door 6,440 words
Chapter 2: When in Doubt, Ask Around6,995 words
Chapter 3: Entering and Breaking7,307 words
Chapter 4: Matters of The Heartstone7,774 words
Chapter 5: Push, meet Shove5,353 words
Chapter 6: Before (and After) the Fall6,511 words

Chapter 6: Before (and After) the Fall

The Coltshire district was unusually quiet. On most nights, long after the sun had set, the dilapidated section of Canterlot would once again squirm with life. The shady activity that took place here under the cover of darkness was an accepted occurrence, but tonight the streets were still. For some, such a lull might have been cause for suspicion, but there was at least one person who was not about to look a gift horse in the mouth.

Padlock brought the back of his hand up to his face as he tried to stifle a wide yawn. Between having worked a double last night and the nagging of his on-again, off-again girlfriend during the day, he hadn’t gotten much sleep. His boss’ warehouse wasn’t someplace that the Coltshire thugs usually approached since it was so close to the edge of the district, but all the same he could appreciate the quiet stillness that filled the air tonight.

The chair beneath him creaked slightly as he locked his legs out straight, stretching the torpid muscles. He glanced left and then right, his gaze lingering just long enough to be thorough as he scanned the moonlit alleyway that contained the warehouse’s side entrance for anything amiss. Nothing, as usual.

Padlock scratched his head and ran his fingers through his dark grey hair with a sigh. To think that Lily actually wanted him to dye it brown. It wasn’t like it was getting grey with age; it was his natural color for Celestia’s sake. He had always thought it made him look cool. And brown, of all colors? How bland could she be?

He heaved another sigh and looked down the alley again, this time lifting his sight to the bright moon that shone down upon the city and admiring the unicorn-shaped shadow that played across it’s surface. When he was little, his grandmother used to tell him an old children’s tale about how the shadow got there. He pursed his lips, trying to remember how it went.

A sharp sound from the other end of the alleyway made him leap out of the chair, his hand gripping the hilt of the sword belted to his hip instinctively as he spun. He saw nothing. He stared down the alley intently, searching for movement among the few old crates and broken pallets that dotted the space. A single splintery plank - one that Padlock was sure had been leaning against the warehouse earlier - now lay across the middle of the alley.

“Who’s there?” he spoke after a moment. “Show yourself!” There was another pause before a small marmalade cat padded out from behind a pile of discarded wood near the fallen plank and started toward him. Padlock’s shoulders slumped and he released the white-knuckled grip he had on his weapon.

“Of all the- you nearly got your head chopped off, you dumb cat!” The apparently friendly animal mewled softly in response as it nuzzled his leg. Chuckling, Padlock reached down and picked it up, scratching gently behind its ears and eliciting a soft purr. “Still, if you’re the only excitement I get tonight I’ll be happy.”

No sooner had Padlock spoken than the entire alleyway was bathed in a sudden darkness. Thinking that a heavy cloud must have passed in front of the moon, he turned and looked up. He stared for a moment, blinking twice to make sure his eyes weren’t just playing tricks on him, then craned his neck even further backwards. “What in the...”

Where there had just seconds ago been open sky and a clear view of the moon now stood a massive tower - hundreds of feet tall and so wide at the base that Padlock couldn’t see the sides past the alley walls even though it looked like the structure met the ground almost a block away.

“Hey, Doorknob!” he called out over his shoulder, but the silence he got in return told him that the guard stationed at the warehouse’s front entrance hadn’t heard him. He repeated the shout, to the same effect. “Idiot probably fell asleep again.” Padlock stared at the impossible building for a long moment. He knew he needed to go and rouse his fellow guard, and he sure as hell wanted someone else to tell him he wasn’t going crazy, but for some reason he didn’t want to look away. It felt as if averting his gaze for even a second would cause the building to vanish again.

The cat in his arms twitched suddenly, squirming free of his grip and dropping to the ground where it scurried off down the alley away from the tower. Padlock briefly turned to watch it run, and just as he looked back to the tower he felt as much as heard the thunderous snap that split the air. The ground trembled beneath his feet as the tower shifted, a long spiral crack crawling up the outside and releasing a series of dusty puffs. Padlock’s eyes widened, unable to look away.

“Oi, Pad!” a shout came from behind him a moment later as Doorknob finally appeared at the other end of the alley. “What was that… whoa, where’d that come from?” Padlock opened his mouth to answer but another loud shattering sound stole the voice from his lips. The rumbling in the earth intensified as the tower began to sway ever so slightly.

“Oh, no,” Padlock murmured. “Please don’t, please don’t, please-” The tower gave another, softer crack as it tipped in his direction. “... Damn.” The base gave way. The tower was falling, and the shadow it cast over the alleyway did not waver. Padlock knew what that meant.

“Pad,” Doorknob asked, his voice breaking, “what the hell is going on?”

Padlock swallowed as best he could, his heartbeat suddenly the loudest sound he could remember ever hearing, and turned to look at the other guard.

“Run!”

The entire city of Canterlot felt it.

The resounding crash of Spellbinder’s tower coming down on the Coltshire district in the dead of night and the resulting tremors were enough to rouse all but the heaviest of slumberers. Windows rattled and foundations shook all the way to Canterlot proper, where the residents of Celestia’s Academy startled awake in confusion. They and many others across the city did what they could to try and puzzle out the source of the disturbance. Many correctly ascertained that it been a collapsing building, but few knew the exact location or the extent of the damage. Dozens of warehouses and storage facilities were destroyed; crushed beneath the titanic tower as it toppled over and flattened a roughly v-shaped area that extended nearly three city blocks from its base. Only one person had seen the entire collapse from start to finish and now had a sombering view of the devastation.

From her private balcony near the top floor of the Academy, Princess Celestia viewed the rising cloud of dust and debris through slitted eyes, and sighed.

Rainbow Dash breathed heavily as she stooped over, bracing her hands on her knees, about a block and a half in the opposite direction of the fallen tower. She and Applejack had been lucky; they had just taken off down the street after getting out and sprinted for their lives without even thinking to look behind them. If the tower had decided to come apart just a little differently…

She shook her head, forcing the thoughts away, and glanced at the unconscious forms of Thunderlane and Snowflake laid out on the side of the road at her feet.

“Idiots never even woke up,” she said under her breath, bending down and flicking Thunderlane in the temple with one finger. “You guys both owe me for this, y’know. Big-time!”

“Ya make it sound like ya carried ‘em both out yourself,” Applejack said through shallow panting. She stood a few feet away with one hand against the side of a building while the other rested on her hip.

“‘Owe us’,” Rainbow spat with a frown. Applejack shook her head once before turning around and staring at the rising plume of dust that was still billowing into the sky, as if some great dirty volcano had suddenly erupted in the middle of the city. Rainbow punched her own thigh. "Aw, man! That job was gonna be the best payday I've had in months! Now I've gotta..." She trailed off and grimaced as she noticed the hand at Applejack's side balling into a fist. "Uh... sorry. Hey, maybe they found another way out? I mean your one friend was a wizard, right? Maybe she 'ported?"

"Yeah," the cowgirl breathed without turning around, "maybe."

A shrill whistle cut through the night, accompanied by the shouting of men, and the two girls turned in unison. A host of armored Royal Guardsmen were visible at the farthest end of the street and making haste toward them.

"Sure, now they show up," Applejack grumbled as she adjusted her hat. "Listen, I ain't exactly keen on the idea of gettin' arrested, so let’s keep exactly what happened under our hats for now, okay? The guards’re more likely to believe us if we both say we had nothin’ to-” She turned back to Rainbow Dash only to realize that the swordswoman was no longer there. She was half a block up the street, high-tailing it away from the approaching Guardsmen. “Hey!”

“Sorry!” she laughed over her shoulder. “The Guard and I don’t really get along! I’m kinda wanted for a couple of things.”

“So after all that yer just gonna bail on these two?” Applejack pointed to Snowflake and Thunderlane.

“They’re in good hands; I’m sure they’ll be fine! See ya!” came the dwindling reply as Rainbow turned a corner and was gone. Applejack crossed her arms with a frown and a huff before turning around to await the arrival of the guards. Her gaze was inevitably drawn back to the thick cloud of dust that was starting to settle, and her expression softened.

“I hope she’s right… I hope the three of ya did make it out of there, somehow.”

An alleyway a fair distance north of the collapsing tower glowed with purple energy, and a runic circle pulsed to life in the dirt. Magic swirled some nearby debris as a ‘pop’ heralded the arrival of three women and a pseudo-dragon, albeit about a foot above the ground they had been aiming for. With a collective shout they collapsed to the dirt in an awkward heap. Twilight and Trixie groaned from their respective places near the bottom of the pile as Spike, his eyes unfocused, rolled off and onto the ground. Pinkie Pie, however, sprang to her feet with the force of a thousand sugary cookies.

“Wow-wee! That was really close! I mean, my Pinkie Sense tells me when stuff is gonna fall all the time, but this time it was telling me that we were gonna fall, and I don’t mean like that time when I visited the Cakes and fell into one of their big mixing vats filled with buttercream frosting!” She paused for a moment and grinned, her eyes taking on a glazed look. “Mmm… that was a splendorific day.”

“Ugh, does she ever shut up?” Trixie complained, shoving Twilight’s legs off her lap. She attempted to stand only to pitch forward.

“Oh my gosh!” Twilight’s arms intercepted her fellow student before she wound up facedown in the dirt. “Trixie, are you all right?”

“Ha,” she replied weakly, “as if teleporting a mere handful of people would be enough to tire out the Great and Powerful Tri-Trixie,” her voice dropped away as her head bobbed. She blinked a few times, but her eyelids continued to droop and her skin was starting to take on an unnatural pallor. A loud crash turned their heads to look down the alley, where they saw the rising cloud of dust in the distance. Twilight’s eyes widened.

“Whoa,” Spike said in awe as he scrambled up Pinkie’s back and perched atop her wide hat for a better view, “that really would have been a big fall!”

“I… I don’t understand,” Twilight said. “How did you do that? I couldn’t even get us to the street below, and that tower is six or seven blocks away! Long-range teleportation magic is so difficult that even fourth year students need special permission to take the class! How did you-?” Trixie tried to smirk but the action came off looking more like a sneer.

“It’s like Trixie tried to tell you,” she struggled to stay awake, “you won’t get anywhere if you always play it... safe...” With that her will succumbed to exhaustion, and Trixie’s head slumped forward. Twilight’s mouth worked soundlessly as she shifted Trixie over onto her back and laid her down gently.

“Spike! Pinkie!” she said when she found her voice, turning to her friends. “Trixie needs help! There’ll be Guardsmen all over the place after a disturbance like that; please find some and bring them here!”

“R-right!”

“Okie-dokie-lokie!” With that the two of them darted out of the alley, Spike still clinging to Pinkie’s hat as she rounded the corner and took off down the street. Twilight turned her attention back to her classmate. She tried to brush a lock of silvery hair from Trixie’s face, but even her light touch caused the unconscious mage to flinch away and shiver, her features contorting in pain.

Another loud crash from the direction of the crumbling tower echoed through the night, coupled with the piercing whistles of the Royal Guard and the growing swell of panicked shouts from Canterlot’s citizens. Twilight swallowed uselessly as she felt a hot tear run down her cheek.

“Oh, Trixie… what have I done?”

Several hours later, Applejack stood in the courtyard of Celestia’s Academy, having been escorted there by the quartet of Guardsmen who now stood watch over her. From their gruff countenance and stoic refusal to speak with her beyond things like ‘keep moving’ or ‘this way’ she gathered that they hadn’t exactly believed her when she’d tried to deny any involvement with the collapsed tower. Not that she was surprised; she’d never been all that good at lying anyway.

Still, she’d managed to convince them to take Snowflake and Thunderlane somewhere for medical aid, and they hadn’t thrown her straight in jail like she’d expected them to. She wasn’t sure what to make of the fact that they’d brought her to the Academy, but it was better than being behind bars.

A shout from outside called for the gates to be opened, and when they did a moment later Applejack’s face split into a wide grin.

“Twilight! Pinkie! Spike! Ya’ll’re ok!”

“Applejack!” the two girls and one pseudo-dragon said together as they caught sight of her. They rushed forward, ignoring their own escort of Guardsmen, and wrapped Applejack in a tight group hug.

“I’m glad you made it,” Applejack clutched at them a little harder. “For a while I thought…”

“We did too!” Twilight nodded. With some effort, she pushed herself free of the embrace as Spike rebalanced himself on her shoulder. “Between Rainbow Dash and the building suddenly collapsing I was so worried!” Applejack grimaced a little as Twilight inadvertently confirmed for the nearby guards that she had lied to them, but if it was news to them they didn’t show it.

“Well I wasn’t worried for a second!” Pinkie beamed. “There was no way Applejack was gonna lose to Little Miss Multicolor or a falling building!”

“I can see that now,” Twilight smiled. “I’m glad you managed to escape in time. I have no idea what could’ve made the tower fall like that. If it had been some kind of trap left by Professor Spellbinder I should have been able to sense the wards.”

“Well, uh,” Applejack scratched the back of her head sheepishly. “Hey! Did you find it? The gem you were lookin’ for, I mean.”

Twilight’s face saddened and her gaze fell to the ground meekly. “We did… but it was stolen again.”

“Aw, sugarcube, I’m sorry.”

“It’s not your fault,” Twilight said quietly, “it’s mine. Losing the Heartstone, the damage caused by the tower, Trixie’s condition... it’s all my fault.”

Applejack furrowed her brow and turned to Pinkie. “Who’s-”

“Twily!”

The group turned at the shout to see a tall, helmetless Guardsman - a captain, judging by the insignia on his chestplate - striding toward them at a swift pace. Applejack’s eyebrows rose at the strange nickname she could only assume was directed at Twilight. “Friend o’ yours?”

“No,” Twilight glowered, crossing her arms over her chest and fixing her gaze on the approaching man, who gave her a tired but relieved grin.

“Twily, I’m so glad you’re ok. When I heard that you’d gone missing I-”

“Save it Shining,” she cut him off.

“C’mon Twily, I’m just trying to-”

“I said I don’t care!” Twilight all but shouted. “And stop calling me that! My name is Twilight!”

Just for a moment Shining Armor stared at her, his mouth slightly agape, but his expression quickly hardened and his jaw set. He stepped to one side and extended his arm toward the Academy. “Princess Celestia would like to see you, Ms. Sparkle.” Twilight nodded, her eyes still full of anger, and stepped forward. When Applejack and Pinkie tried to follow they found their way blocked. “Alone,” he clarified.

“It’s ok girls, I’ll… I’ll be fine,” Twilight pried Spike from her shoulder with her magic and floated him over to a frowning Applejack. She gave them all a weak smile before turning and striding away across the courtyard.

“I don’t know who you are or what she dragged you into,” Shining Armor said once Twilight was a fair distance away, “but thank you.” He motioned to the guards. “Escort these ladies to the Guardhouse and see that their needs are provided for.”

Two of the men glanced at each other. “But Captain, shouldn’t we put them in jail until-”

“That’s an order,” was Shining Armor’s firm reply as he wheeled around and stalked off in the direction Twilight had gone. The guards looked at one another again and shrugged.

“This way, please.”

“Who do you think that guy was?” Pinkie whispered conspiratorially as they followed the Guardsmen, though she was anything but quiet. Spike merely shrugged his tiny shoulders.

“I dunno; I think I’ve seen him once or twice before but Twilight’s never mentioned him.”

Pinkie’s face suddenly lit up and she let out a high-pitched squee. “Oooh, oooh! Maybe he’s an old flame, and the two of them have a tragic and heart-wrenching past!”

“I don’t doubt them havin’ a history, Pinkie, but I don’t think that’s quite it,” Applejack mumbled as she mulled over Shining Armor’s words of gratitude to them. After all, it wasn’t the first time she’d seen an overprotective big brother.

For the third time that day, she stood in the presence of Princess Celestia of Equestria; for the second time in Celestia’s own quarters. For most, to share an audience with the immortal ruler who controlled the sun and moon was something they could only dream about; a soul-changing experience to be treasured for the rest of their comparatively short lives.

Such was not the case for Twilight Sparkle, who now struggled to keep her clasped hands from shaking. If she had been nervous before, it now felt as if she were standing in wait for the executioner’s platform.

The executioner herself sat at her desk, her back to Twilight and Shining Armor, who stood side by side. She had not spoken a word since granting them permission to enter and was hastily scratching away with her quill on an open scroll. Minutes continued to slip by as Twilight’s stomach knotted, each passing second stretching into eternities as her over-tired mind churned.

What will she do to me? I’ve never failed a test before... what if she gives me detention for the rest of the year? What if it’s until I graduate? Or maybe I’ll have to take remedial lessons? Twilight bit her lip. Oh, but I didn’t just fail her test! What if she makes me responsible for cleaning up the mess the professor’s tower made? I’ve seen what they do to vandals; they have to fix everything without the use of any magic at all! It’ll take me years!

An even more terrifying train of thought entered her mind. What if that’s still not enough? What if she bans me from practicing magic outside of lessons? Her eyes shot open wide. What if… what if she revokes my library privileges?!

“Shining Armor,” Celestia’s clear voice cut into her panic and snapped her back into the present before she could start to hyperventilate at the thought of never checking out a book again. She thought she saw Shining Armor twitch slightly at the sudden sound as well, but she couldn’t be certain. The glowing scroll Celestia had just written drifted through the air and into the Guard Captain’s waiting hands. “Take these orders to the disaster site. They are authorization for you to assume command of the cleanup and relief efforts. Please try to ascertain exactly how many people were injured or killed, as the preliminary reports so far have varied greatly.” She did not turn around to face them the entire time.

“Yes, Princess,” Shining Armor said with a bow. He gave Twilight one last sideways glance as he turned and left, but she barely acknowledged it or the sound of the door closing behind him.

K-killed? Twilight stared at the floor in front of her. The possibility had entered her mind, but to hear it stated with certainty was something else entirely. People… innocent people died because of me? Because of what I did?

“Look at me, Twilight Sparkle.”

Twilight complied, lifting her head as fresh tears wet her cheeks. She had not even noticed the princess turn her chair around so that they were now facing one another. The Celestia she had spoken with earlier was gone, replaced by one whose face showed no sign of the kindness and compassion she was so well-known for.

“You are aware of the seriousness of your actions tonight?”

“I’m sorry, Princess, I’m so…” Twilight choked on the words.

“I’m afraid apologies will not be enough,” Celestia said. “The damage to the Coltshire district is immense. The cost of rebuilding will be nothing compared to the reparations that must be paid to all whose property was destroyed. Tens of thousands of bits is, at best, a conservative estimate, and that sum does not even begin to consider the true cost to the people of Canterlot.” She closed her eyes and shook her head slightly before continuing. “The loss of life, while thankfully low due to the location and late hour, could still rise into the dozens. On top of that, the Heartstone is now truly lost to us, and from what I gather your fellow student Trixie overexerted her magic and nearly killed herself.”

Twilight let out a slight gasp. “Is… will Trixie be all right?”

“She is still unconscious, but Nurse Redheart assures me that she is stable and should recover in due time. I will deal with her later.”

“Oh thank Celes- I mean, thank you Princess,” Twilight stopped herself and offered a bow, “but please don’t punish Trixie, your highness! This… this was my fault.”

“She violated a Royal Order just as you did, and was it not her actions that ultimately set tonight’s events in motion?” Celestia asked with a raised eyebrow. “Was she not the one who declared she would retrieve the Heartstone and then goaded you into it as well?”

“Well, yes,” Twilight said, her eyes falling back to the floor, “but after you spoke with us she changed her mind. I still wanted to impress you by passing your test, and Trixie tried to talk me out of it. She didn’t leave the Academy to pursue the Heartstone, she was only trying to stop me, and if she hadn’t followed I would’ve-” Twilight paused and took a deep, steadying breath. “Even if she was the one who started all this, my decisions are still what led to this outcome. I was the one who violated your orders to pursue the Heartstone, and I was the one who failed to get it back from Professor Spellbinder. Please don’t punish her for-”

“Spellbinder?” Celestia interrupted. “He was the one who stole the Heartstone? You’re certain of this?” Twilight nodded and Celestia looked away, her eyes cast downward in thought. “Of all people,” she muttered. “I almost can’t believe it.”

“Princess?” Twilight furrowed her brow. Celestia breathed a heavy, disappointed sigh before standing and beginning to pace back and forth with her arms crossed over her chest.

“Many months ago it became clear that there was a spy somewhere among the members of my court. Since a spy who believes themselves still hidden is more valuable than one captured, I attempted to discover their identity without their knowledge, but they always covered their tracks far too well.” Her eyes narrowed. “Now I know how.”

“I don’t understand, why would anyone want to spy on the royal court? Equestria has been at peace for centuries, and our relationships with neighboring countries have never been better.”

“That is not important at the moment,” Celestia answered brusquely. “In the end, I was forced to take drastic measures in order to lure them into the open. I offered them the one thing in my possession that I knew they would not pass up the opportunity to obtain.”

Twilight’s eyes widened as ball of ice formed in the pit of her stomach. “The Heartstone.”

“Yes,” Celestia said with a nod as she stopped pacing and faced Twilight once again. “I presented them with a seemingly golden opportunity to steal the gem, after having enchanted it with a subtle spell that would allow me to find it no matter how far away it might be taken, but now I’m afraid that’s no longer possible.”

Twilight stood stock still, eyes unfocused and mouth slightly agape. “You were using it as bait. It was never a test for me; you forbade anyone from going after the Heartstone because you wanted it to be stolen. You pretended to keep the theft a secret out of pride so the thief wouldn’t be suspicious of the lack of pursuit, and would not only expose themselves but also lead you straight to whoever they might be working with. It’s brilliant!” A small smile spread across her lips for an instant, only for Celestia’s unforgiving gaze to remind her of the situation. “And I ruined it. Oh Princess, I’m so sorry! I was so sure that you were trying to test me; that if I could get the Heartstone back you would…” she trailed off, her mouth working silently. Her head tilted forward as she once again stared unfocused at the floor. “I was wrong. How could I have been so, so wrong?” A long, vacant moment passed before Twilight snapped out of her daze. “Oh! This means that the Heartstone isn’t really gone! You can still find and recover it using your tracking spell, can’t you?” she said hopefully, but Celestia was already shaking her head.

“No, I cannot. At some point during the events of this evening, my dweomer was dispelled. Only very powerful magic could have done such a thing, which brings me to my next question.” Celestia took a step forward so that she was now towering over Twilight, her stern face a stark contrast to the beautiful, ever-flowing hair that nearly filled the young girl’s field of vision. Twilight’s heart froze in her chest. As exhausted as she was, the sheer intensity of Celestia’s presence threatened to overwhelm her. The magnificent Princess leaned forward until her face was mere inches away. “Twilight Sparkle, you must answer me truthfully,” she all but whispered. “What did you see when you touched the Heartstone?”

“How did you know I-” Twilight stopped, telling herself that it didn’t really matter. Her dry throat offered only a cracked voice. “I- I blacked out; I remember seeing something but I can’t- no, wait.” A strange sense of calm washed through her as her eyes took on a faraway glaze. “I think… I think there was a shadow. A shadow in the sky? No, it wasn’t the sky… the moon. A shadow on the moon.” She stiffened, her almost vacant eyes locking stares with Celestia. “Nightmare Moon.”

The Princess gasped and jerked back from Twilight as if she had been struck, her eyes wide and wild. She spun away from the young mage, as if trying to hide her shock. Twilight closed her eyes in a pained grimace and shook her head, and when she opened them they were once again focused and aware.

“Princess? What just-”

“It is all right, Twilight Sparkle,” Celestia cut her off. “Truthfully, I should not be surprised. I have always known this was going to happen, eventually.” Before Twilight could inevitably ask what she meant, the Princess turned back around, her face once again the textbook definition of composure. “I have another Royal Order for you… that is, if you think you can follow it.”

Twilight nodded vigorously. “Of course Princess! I swear!”

One corner of Celestia’s lips turned up in a smirk. “Good. If and when you speak to anyone of tonight’s events, you will not mention anything regarding the Heartstone or what you might have experienced through it’s magic. Especially that name. Do you understand?”

“Y-yes Princess.”

“Good… now, as for the matter of your punishment,” Celestia said, her voice taking on a darker undertone. “The people of Canterlot are a hardy folk, but they will not blindly accept destruction and disturbance on this scale. They will demand that someone be held responsible. As ruler I will bear the brunt of their blame, but as you have so passionately pointed out, much of what took place this evening was a result of the decisions you made. As such, I assume you will have no problems with my decision.”

A trembling Twilight bowed deeply. “I won’t, Princess.” Don’t take away my library card; don’t take away my library card! Oh please, oh please, oh please!

“You are hereby expelled from the Academy for Gifted Spellcasters.”

Twilight gasped. Or rather she tried to, but the air tangled up in her throat and resulted in only a strange choking sound as her body went rigid and a chill danced along her spine. Her wide eyes stared at the stone floor in front of her, as she was unable to will her body to make them look anywhere else.

“All rights and privileges associated with being a student of the Academy will be stripped from you. You will be escorted from the premises immediately, and will not be allowed within these walls again. Your things will be collected from your domicile and sent to the local Guard garrison where you may pick them up at your convenience.”

Twilight was no longer listening. All the strength left in her legs vanished and she collapsed to her knees with a muted cry. Her shaking arms just barely prevented her face from cracking against the ground as her sorrow darkened the stone. Her hair shifted, cascading down to hide her face behind its dark hues.

“Relay my decision to the Guards on your way out and they will escort you to the gate,” Celestia finished as she turned her back to the fallen girl. “You may leave.”

The room was silent for several long moments, the stillness broken only by Twilight’s ragged breaths and the occasional half-sob that managed to escape her constricted windpipe.

“I,” Twilight finally squeaked out, her voice barely audible, “I don’t have anywhere else to go.”

“Perhaps the two young women who aided you tonight will be willing to aid you further,” Celestia offered as she made for her balcony, slipping out of the room without so much as a glance for her former student.

Another minute or so passed until Twilight, slowly and shakily, rose to her feet. She sniffled as she pushed her hair back behind her ears and wiped one dirty sleeve across her face, barely aware of her surroundings as she staggered out of the Princess’ chambers. She stopped just before the door and turned back around, glancing toward the balcony where Celestia had gone. She lingered for just a moment longer before gently pushing open the ornate oaken doors.

“I’m sorry.”

Princess Celestia stood in the shining moonlight, the billowing of her ethereal pearlescent hair unaffected by the light breeze, and with a heavy heart once again surveyed the astounding destruction Spellbinder’s collapsed tower had wrought. She had not been exaggerating; it truly would cost many tens of thousands of bits to even begin to repair the damage and make reparations to those who had been injured - physically or financially - but that was not what was troubling her most.

How could she have been so blind? Spellbinder had been one of her closest aides and confidants for almost three decades, and even before that he had served Equestria with conviction and loyalty. Never in all her thousands of years would she have expected the spy in her court to have been one she placed so much faith in.

She felt a swell of pride in her chest as she recalled the first time she had laid eyes upon the young mage in the Grand Market, standing between one of his classmates and an irate shopkeeper who had accused them of theft. The shopkeeper was ready to extract the cost of his goods from the pair with violence, but rather than see his fellow student hurt, Spellbinder had declared that he alone was the culprit - not unlike how Twilight Sparkle had tried to shoulder the blame herself - and taken all of the merchant’s blows before the Royal Guard arrived to make the arrest. He was absolved when the real thief was caught later that day, and the shopkeeper had apologized profusely, but Spellbinder had borne him no malice. Celestia knew then that she had found a student worthy of her attention.

So why had that gentle, wise-beyond-his-years boy now betrayed her? What had happened beyond her sight that made him her enemy? Celestia knit her brow and forced out a deep sigh, followed by a light chuckle at her own expense. This wasn’t the first time one whom she had taken under her proverbial wing had turned against her. One would think that living for so long would have given her the insight she needed to truly understand people, and yet they still found ways to surprise her from time to time.

Movement in the street below drew her gaze to where Twilight Sparkle was being led away from the Academy’s main gate. A girl dressed in vibrant pinks had one arm around Twilight’s shoulders and was gesturing wildly with the other, while a taller, blonde woman trailed behind them carrying both a large hammer and her former student’s pseudo-dragon familiar.

“Yet another disappointment,” the Princess mused quietly.

“Are you certain it’s wise to simply send her off on her own like that?”

Celestia nearly jumped at the thin, reedy voice behind her, but this time her millennia of experience provided enough control to keep her surprise in check. After all, the fact that she had thought herself alone on the balcony right up until the voice spoke told her exactly who it belonged to.

“Why are you here?” she asked evenly, not even bothering to turn around. The voice chuckled.

“Oh, come now Celestia, do I really need a reason to visit an old friend?”

“Your time in this world is limited,” she countered, “I find it hard to believe that you would choose to spend it with me.”

“I suppose you’re right,” the voice sighed. “You never were much fun to begin with, and I see little has changed in the last few thousand years. How boring.”

“Why are you here?” Celestia repeated, and she could practically feel the grin forming on the person’s face.

“I see that hasn’t changed either; you still like asking questions you already know the answers to.” There was a short pause as Celestia felt her visitor sidle up behind her and slightly to her right. “You felt it as clearly as I did, I’m sure,” the voice now whispered huskily in her ear. “The Elements have awoken. The time to face the demons of your past is almost upon you… and yet, you’re sending away the one person in the whole world who might be able to stop it. Now, I’ve never been a fan of making sense, but your actions here are more than a little strange for one so wise and powerful, wouldn’t you agree?”

“Hm,” Celestia smirked. “Perhaps I’m not as wise as you believe.”

The voice laughed again. “Don’t think you can trick the trickster, Celestia. I recognize a scheme when I see one.” The speaker spun and began pacing back and forth behind her with uneven footfalls. “Your enemies know your every move. If they were to learn of the importance of this girl she would surely become their target. Tonight’s events prove that you can trust no one - not even your own court - so you’re sending her away in order to protect her.”

“She is not ready,” Celestia said with a shake of her head.

“She will never be ready unless you teach her.”

“What she needs to learn is not something that can be taught; it is something that must be experienced first-hand. Besides,” she countered with a wry smile, “there is more to my plan than simply hiding her away.”

The visitor gave her a derisive snort. “Very well, I suppose I’ll just have to wait and see, as boring as that prospect is. Hopefully you’re correct.” Celestia rolled her eyes at the words, and the speaker somehow picked up on her disbelief. “I’m serious; I truly do hope that everything works out for you and your little would-be protégé. After all... I’m counting on her as well.”

Celestia wheeled around, eyes wide, only to behold an empty, silent balcony. She stared hard at the space for a long moment, her visitor’s parting words echoing in her mind. It was possible they were simply an attempt to unnerve her - in fact, given the speaker it was more than likely - but a small voice in the back of her mind persisted.

She turned back to her city and shook her head, focusing again on Twilight and her companions just as they vanished into the distance.

“Twilight Sparkle… perhaps there is more to you than even I know.”

~END PART ONE~

Author's Note:

Alternate working title for this chapter: YOU DONE BUCKED UP NOW!

OK! I hope everyone has enjoyed the ride so far, and I want to thank all of you who read these words for sticking with this story. I'm a pretty busy pirate, and I feel bad taking so long between updates but unfortunately it can't be helped.

This marks the end of part one of the Legend of the Six series, but part two, Siren of the Everfree, is right over here!

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