Sins of the Ancients

by Tundara

Chapter Ten: Jasmine Revealed

Sins of the Ancients

Chapter Ten: Jasmine Revealed

"An evil barred for two thousand years stirs,
Danger forgotten approaches the land of Sun and Moon."

-From the Prophecy of the Purple Wizard

Gentle rays of sunlight caressed Rarity’s face bringing the pristine white unicorn out of a dreamless sleep. Fog clouded her mind as she stretched her hooves, gently dragging her pillow closer. At some point in the night she had kicked her covers off, the goose down blanket laying tangled around her lower body. That gave Rarity the first moment of pause; she didn’t own goose down blankets. The second moment was courtesy of the voices filtering in from bellow her room.

Why were there ponies in her boutique, arguing no less, at such an early time, Rarity wondered. Her eyes flashed open as the thought fully registered. There were uninvited ponies in her boutique. Without looking Rarity tried to leap from the bed, only to have the blanket drag her to the floor with a jaw aching crash. Groaning Rarity rubbed a hoof across her face as she kicked her legs out of the treacherous blanket.

It wasn’t until she again opened her eyes, planting her hooves to rise herself shakily, that Rarity noticed that she wasn’t in her boutique. Instead the warm brown tones interspersed with flashes of colour like a rainbow painted by a Pegasus buzzing on sugar greeted Rarity. She was in Twilight room in the local library Rarity registered, finishing the process of escaping the dreadful blanket. Why was she in the library, and not her own opulent boutique? Rarity pondered the question as she slowly shuffled towards the door.

Slowly, in bits and fragments, the previous evening came back. The nightmare and rescue followed by the fleeing to the library and Twilight’s insistence on placing heaps of salt at the door and all the windows. The last thing Rarity remembered were a pair of red eyes burning into her own crystal blue eyes through a window, and then waking up in Twilight’s bed. Shaking her head to clear the cobwebs of sleep and the memory Rarity decided to find Twilight and ask for a full explanation. Rarity certainly needed one.

Catching sight of herself in Twilight’s mirror, Rarity let out a small lady-like gasp. Her mane was a disaster. Biting her lower lip, Rarity made her way to Twilight’s dresser. Surely Twilight wouldn’t mind too much if Rarity borrowed her comb, just this once. Plucking the comb from the dresser Rarity pulled the brush in long firm strokes through her mane. As the comb went about its work held within a soft blue light Rarity heard the voices that had woken her filtering in through the floor.

“Ugh, Spike, where is the black powder?”

“Uh, what’s black powder, Twi?”

“Oh, um, a compound of sulfur, potassium nitrate, and charcoal.”

“Potato ni-what?” the baby dragon asked clearly confused.

“Potassium nitrate! Gah, it’s more commonly called saltpeter. Together they make a black powder that when ignited goes ‘boom’. Where do I keep that?”

There was a pause as Spike processed Twilight’s words.

Rarity was confused by Twilight’s request. Rarity was no alchemist, but what Twilight was asking for sounded dangerous.

Spike seemed to have the same thought, saying, “I don’t know, Twi, you keep anything that interacts badly with fire out of my reach, remember?”

A short pause.

“Of course, how stupid of me. Baby dragon. Fire. Right.”

“If it’s anywhere in the library it’s probably in the store room beside the laboratory in the basement.”

“Hmm, I’ll go have a look. Maybe the other items I need are down there,” Twilight said in a dull tone, her voice followed by a door slamming open followed by hooves descending down stairs.

Putting the comb away Rarity poked her head into the library’s main room. Below her was a scene of organised chaos. Twilight had books arranged in heaps around a table, one Rarity recognized as having been in Twilight’s basement laboratory. Rarity didn’t recall the table or the books strewn around it being present the previous night. The entire library looked like it had been turned over top to bottom twice. Twilight was clearly in one of her ‘Research Modes’.

“Rarity! You’re awake! Oh boy, we’ve been so worried about you,” Spike called, bounding along the library when he spotted Rarity.

“Good morning, Spikey-wikey,” Rarity replied stifling a small delicate yawn as the last vestiges of sleep left her body. “I see Twilight is in one of her... ‘moods’.”

Rarity gave the baby dragon a warm smile as he screeched to a halt in front of her. Spike had a half-dazed expression on his face, a look Rarity was used to seeing the dragon have in her presence. That Spike had a childhood crush on her wasn’t unknown to Rarity. To her shame she had on a few occasions even played with Spike’s affection. There had never been anything cruel or malicious in such teasing, but at the same time Rarity knew in her heart that it was unfair to Spike. Over time Rarity had come to think of herself a bit like an aunt to Spike, a young, beautiful, sophisticated aunt, but an aunt nevertheless. Continuing to smile Rarity indicated with a gesture for Spike to follow as she made her way to the kitchen.

“I don’t suppose, Spike, that you know what happened last night?” Rarity asked as she threaded her way through the organised chaos that was the library.

Twilight was definitely in one of her full-blown research modes. Rarity cringed hoping it wasn’t as bad as the time Spike had the Dragon Flu. Twilight had gone into a manic frenzy trying to find something, anything, on dragon illnesses. Books had buzzed around the library in a mad dance as worry ate away at Twilight. It had taken Rarity, Applejack, and Fluttershy working together to calm Twilight down enough so that the unicorn didn’t try something crazy, like magically purge the illness from Spike.

The smile twitched into a larger grin at the memory. Lost in the past Rarity almost missed Spike’s response to her question.

“Honestly Rarity, I don’t have a clue,” the dragon grumbled kicking a lone book in passing.

“How about all...,” Rarity nodded to the stacks of books.

Face darkening Spike shook his head.

“She started all this up the moment you fell asleep. I don’t think she’s gotten any sleep herself. The library was like this when I got up. And Twilight’s acting weird,”

“Weird?”

“Yeah, not at all like herself. I’m starting to get worried, Rarity,” Spike muttered clutching his tail in his claws.

Stopping on the threshold of the kitchen Rarity looked down on the dragon. Worry and concern was indeed etched onto his face.

“There was Twilight just racing off into the night, then coming back with you in tow, followed by all those strange orders for salt. Then you shrieked and wouldn’t calm down for hours. And now this.” Spike indicated the heaps of books littering the library. “What’s going on?”

“I don’t know Spike,” Rarity admitted as she suppressed a shudder at the memory of the previous night. The cruel malice in the eyes and words of the creature she saw through the window still echoed in her mind. “Twilight seems to know though.”

“Yeah, she does. But how does she know? I mean, she can’t remember where anything is in the library, and if she hadn’t been re-reading all her journals I don’t think she’d remember her own brother.”

Rarity pressed her lips together as Spike continued to release the fears and questions that had been growing.

“Yet she knows all this weird stuff. Like the salt, and rescuing you, and that weird language she speaks sometimes under her breath when she thinks I can’t hear her. It’s like it’s her, but not her, you know?” Spike clapped his claws over his mouth gasping. “What if Twi’s been replaced by body snatching aliens?”

“Spike, darling, Twilight is extremely well educated, it’s not implausible that she knows far more than either of us,” Rarity pointed out hoping it’d calm the dragon a bit. “In fact, everything here seems totally normal for Twilight, don’t you agree? You of all ponies know how she can get.”

Spike pinched his little brow together then shook his head. “No, it’s aliens, I’m sure of it.”

“Aliens, Spike, really?” asked a bemused Twilight from across the chaos of the library. “Let me guess, they dragged me under my bed one night and replaced me with a doppelganger. And now I’m just waiting for the right opportunity to steal your souls and drag you down to Tartarus.”

“Uh, Twi, demons do that. Aliens take you up to their space ships and probe you!” Spike’s teeth chattered as he chewed on the ends of his claws. “Then they erase your memories and give you hypnotic suggestions so you’ll be a spy! Then they fly down in their huge saucer ships and blow up Canterlot!”

Rolling her eyes Rarity sighed patting the dragon on a shoulder before he could work himself up any more. “Really Spike, you need to stop reading those silly comics.”

“Their not silly,” grumbled Spike looking dejectedly at the floor.

“No, I have to agree with Rarity, they sound really silly and implausible. I mean, space beings, really?” Twilight also rolled her eyes before picking up a small string tied to several flasks containing a grainy black substance.

Rarity gave the flasks a leery look. From what she overheard the substance they carried was flammable and explosive in nature. Why Twilight had them baffled Rarity, but she had little doubt it had something to do with the many experiments Twilight was known to conduct in the basement. To Rarity having something that could potentially blow up your home wasn’t something to keep stocked in the basement.

Depositing the flasks on the table Twilight began to rummage through a pile of scribbled notes. Rarity watched her friend for a few minutes before a rumble from her stomach reminded her of her purpose in going to the kitchen.

“Spikey-wikey, do you want to assist me in the kitchen getting some pancakes ready?” Rarity asked, her voice dripping with honey.

Immediately the dragon’s head perked up his eyes dancing with happiness. “Would I?” he exclaimed making a dash into the kitchen. A moment later the clatter of pans came wafting through the door. Rarity asked if Twilight wanted some, receiving a curt affirmative, before trotting into the kitchen. A half hour later three steaming plates of pancakes, two plates of blueberry and one with sapphires, sat waiting on the table. Attracted by the sweet smells Twilight trotted into the kitchen her mouth visibly salivating.

“Mmm, these are amazing,” she gushed taking a bite.

Rarity noticed that Twilight ate from the plate like an earth pony, not using her magic to hold a fork. Watching Twilight eat until her plate was half empty Rarity considered how to phrase what she was going to say next. She didn’t want to hurt her friend’s feelings mentioning Twilight lack of magic. Twilight had always been extremely proud of her magical skill.

“I guess you’re still having difficulties with your magic, darling,” Rarity finally said between bites.

“Huh? Yeah, kinda. I managed to lift that wood statue that was in the middle of the library last night, but then I crushed it. Fine control seems a long ways off. Besides, I don’t have the time right now to get a handle of this magic. Not with your little haunting problem.” Twilight grumbled a thin snarl passing her lips.

“My little haunting problem? You mean that red eyed monstrosity I keep seeing?”

“Well, yeah, are there any other ghosts around town that are terrorising you?”

The seriousness of the question startled Rarity. Twilight really was asking if there were more ghosts haunting the town. Rarity wanted to scoff at her friend. Every pony knew that ghosts weren’t real. Ghosts were just something to put in amusing stories told around camp fires and on Nightmare Night. But even as she wanted to laugh at the idea, Rarity somehow knew in her heart that it was true.

Gulping down rising panic, and a mouthful of blueberry pancakes, Rarity said, “Ghosts, don’t be absurd Twilight. Every pony knows they aren’t real, right?”

Surprisingly Twilight chuckled.

“I wish they weren’t real, Rarity.”

Spike was visibly shaking at his side of the small round table, his little claws digging into the tabletop.

“G-ghosts? Real honest to spookiest ghosts?”

“Not ‘ghosts’, a ghost, singular, one, an individual. Goddess, I hope it’s only one anyways.” Twilight corrected before finishing her breakfast.

“And how darling is that exploding powder supposed to help stop,” Rarity gulped, “a ghost.”

“Well, on its own it won’t. But I can use it to make something that will.” Twilight nodded her head twice giving Rarity a reassuring smile. “I just need to go collect a few more things and we’ll be able to deal with the ghost.”

“May I ask how you know this will work?”

“I, ah, read it somewhere.”

“That doesn’t exactly fill me with confidence,” Rarity pointed out as she floated the plates into the sink and started to run water over them.

Twilight shrugged.

“I’m going to need your help collecting the rest of the reagents. Also, I think it is best if you stayed near me. We can’t be sure that it won’t find some way inside the library.”

Suppressing a shudder Rarity agreed to help Twilight with her little collection errand. With her magic still off Twilight would be unable to reach anything high up and Rarity didn’t want to have to face the ghost alone again. The two mares got a pair of saddle bags and made their way out of the library. At once Rarity noticed something was wrong.

Ponyville was still and silent.

Rarity felt the back of her mane prickled as she followed Twilight through the empty market. Stalls hadn’t been set up and there were only a couple ponies moving about, dashing from building to building looking everywhere but at each other. Even the birds were missing, their normal chorus silent for the first time Rarity could remember. Rarity wondered if the weather team had scheduled rain for the day, but found the sky a clear crystal blue.

“It’s working faster than I expected,” Twilight said as the two mares made their way towards the Whitetail Woods.

“You mean that ghost you were talking about in the library?” Rarity asked trotting to keep pace with Twilight.

“Yeah,” Twilight sighed looking up at all the shuttered windows. The town looked like it was preparing for a storm. “I’ve never seen one drive such a malaise so quick before.”

Rarity gave Twilight a raised look.

“Um, how could you? Is this part of your returning memories?”

Sighing louder Twilight said, “Yeah, something like that,” before her voice trailed off bitterly.

“Heya!”

Rarity gave a strangled yelp as a frighteningly pink head popped up in front of her and Twilight. Clutching a hoof to her chest Rarity shot Pinkie a withering look saying, “Pinkie, darling, how many times have I asked that you not just pop up like that. You’re liable to give me a heart attack one day.”

Ears flush with her head Pinkie shrunk back a short distance apologizing before her ears perked back up again as she noticed Twilight’s saddlebags.

“Oo, oo! Where are you two off to? You can’t be shopping because all the shops and stalls are closed, which is weird, even Sugar Cube Corner is closed, which it never is! And Mr. and Mrs. Cake are all grumpy wumpy pants too! Even the twins are being all ‘blah’ and ‘grr’ and saddy frowny faces and when I tried to cheer them up every pony was all super duper extra grumpy and... hey, where are you going?”

Pinkie spun on the spot having noticed Twilight had left both of the other ponies behind. Snapping out of her Pinkie induced daze Rarity gave her friend an apologetic smile before hurrying to catch up to Twilight. Shrugging Pinkie followed with her customary bounce.

They were silent the rest of the way to the Whitetail Woods, Rarity contemplating all the oddities about Twilight, Twilight staring at the ground in front of her hooves deep in her own thoughts, while Pinkie continued to bounce along smiling and, in an act of un-Pinkie-ness, quiet. After a half hour they reached the edge of the woods, Twilight snapping out of her reverie to search for the needed herbs and incense.

The search led them deeper and deeper into the tranquil woods. All the birds that had been missing from Ponyville seemed to have taken refuge in the woods. Tree branches were covered in swaths of reds and blues, the birds singing merrily to each other. Such was the tranquility Rarity felt all the fear and trepidation of the past few days leak from her body like sand through an hourglass. It couldn’t have been more relaxing Rarity thought as she slowly made her way forward looking for the plants Twilight needed. Then Twilight soft voice filtered through the trees in a slow sad melody.

From over the Frozen Mountains North,
To cities wide and fortresses old.
The dames were crying on the docks,
The seas were storming against the rocks.

The Ancients sinned, its evil spread,
Hearts like torches blazed with pride.
Through the doors night surged,
Cast down the cities purged.

Spirits rose, voices moaning in the dark,
Great Gaia shook, heart weeping.
The fire burned away the impure,
In shelters deep the chosen secure.

“Wow wee, that was a neat song Twilight, but what is it about?” Pinkie asked bouncing up beside the lavender unicorn as the last fading tones drifted away as if on a mist.

“The end of an ancient civilization. I, uh, read it in a book last night,” Twilight explained.

“I thought the lyrics sounded a bit, um, grim,” Rarity said as Pinkie deflated a little, her ears flat against her head.

“I can’t seem to recall the remaining verses though,” Twilight said picking several golden flowers and placing them in a small bag. “All I need now is a small branch from a birch and a sprig of mistletoe and we’ll be all set.”

“I know I’m not as learned as you, darling, when it comes to magic, but this all sounds so... odd. How will these plants and powders help us be rid of this pesky ghost for good?”

“They aren’t directly, but they will help me make something that will.”

“I see...” Rarity said her voice trailing off in obvious confusion.

“Wait, did you say ghost?” Pinkie asked her eyes growing to the size of dinner plates. “Plants aren’t going to stop a ghost, duh. You have to chase them off with laughter! Remember, you need to mulph.”

Rarity sighed, her hoof firmly planted in Pinkie’s mouth before the pink pony could burst into song. Twilight either didn’t notice the exchange or she didn’t care as she pointed up at a thick cluster of the needed plant.

“Rarity, do you think you could get a sprig or two. Make sure the leaves are young and fresh with some of the berries.”

Nodding Rarity reached up with her magic carefully plucking a hoofful of sprigs. Moving on it was several minutes later that they came to a stand of tall old birch trees deep in the Whitetail Woods. At Twilight’s direction Rarity broke off a short branch from near the tree tops. Double checking her bags Twilight smiled.

Before Twilight could slip the bag of collected herbs, flowers and branch away Pinkie let out a yelp glancing over her own shoulder at her pink rump.

“Twitchy tail! Twitchy tail!” Pinkie exclaimed as she scampered in a tight circle head darting every direction. “No, wait, combo! Twitchy tail, right ear flop, itchy nose, pinchy hoof! What does that mean?”

At the first exclamation of ‘twitchy tail’ Rarity had begun to look for any sort of cover in the woods. Not spotting anything she had opted to cover her mane with her legs as a last act of defiance against whatever was about to fall out of the sky. At the mention of a combo Rarity relaxed, slightly, giving her pink friend a wary look. For her part Pinkie sat rubbing her chin slowly a look of deep contemplation on her face.

Twilight however stood a short ways off giving both of the other mares a perplexed look. Rolling her eyes and shaking her head Twilight turned back to the bag of gathered plants.

“Huh, it’s stopped,” Pinkie muttered examining her tail. Poking the poofy pink hair a couple times she shrugged. “Why’d the combo stop?”

Rarity was about to respond when a low hissing not unlike gas leaking from a pipe began to work its way through the woods. All three mares stood warily glancing around the woods as the hissing grew louder until it sounded similar to the fuse of fireworks about to ignite.

“Twilight, Pinkie, do either of you know what that noise is about?” Rarity asked slowly backing her way down the path they had been travelling.

“N-nuh-uh,” Pinkie said moments before her tail jittered, her right ear flopped, her nose itched, and her hoof pinched again. “But I think whatever it is has something to do with the c-combo.”

Shooting Pinkie a baleful glance Twilight opened her mouth to speak, no doubt about Pinkie’s Pinkie Sense if Rarity had to guess given her knowledge of her friend, Twilight’s memory issues, and the events of the first time Twilight had encountered their pink friends predictive powers. Instead she was cut off before she could even talk.

In the air above the three a small little blue disk popped into being. Emitting a low hum it spun as if it was hanging on a wire from one of the branches high overhead. As it completed each rotation it grew a little in size so that after a few moments it was the size of a dinner plate. The spinning slowed finally stopping with the disk a bit larger than the lid of a barrel. Blinking all three approached the disk. It was perfectly blue and smooth with the edges turning a shimmering silver.

“Twilight, darling, do you know what this is?” Rarity asked as the three stopped a few feet away from the object.

“I-I think it’s a gate or rift. But I’ve never heard of one spontaneously just opening in thin air.”

Pinching her brow together Rarity shot Twilight a reserved look not bothering to point out that Twilight couldn’t remember what kind of tea she drank or how to use her horn. Suspicions were brewing in the back of Rarity’s mind, she could feel them like a nest of bees that grew every time Twilight opened her mouth. But they could wait until after they had figured out whatever was going on with the blue disk.

“Well, at least we know what the combo was for, don’t we Pinkie?” Rarity asked wearing one of her false smiles and looking over at her pink friend.

Pinkie for her part was wearing a frown as she glared up at the disk as her tail continued to twitch and her right ear flop.

“I don’t think that was the combo, Rares.”

“Well, if this isn’t what the combo was for, then what is it trying to tell you?”

“I think that!” Pinkie yelped thrusting her hoof towards the disk.

From the middle of the disk a small clawed hand protruded. The hand was quickly followed by an arm and then a head and finally a scrawny red body that tumbled out onto the ground in front of the mares. Sitting up the creature gave the three a wide smile. For a moment Rarity wondered if it was some sort of rare hairless monkey, but it didn’t look much like a monkey on closer inspection with skin a rich scarlet with black talons on hands and feet. Horns protruded from its slender sloping brow and at the elbows and knees and on the end of a long hairless tail. Maybe if it had fur and no horns it’d have been a monkey Rarity decided, but what the creature really was she had no idea.

“Oh, I hope that’s not what I think it is,” Twilight murmured squinting her eyes to examine the little creature closer.

“Lookie, lookie, there is another one coming out, and another, and another,” Pinkie jumped up and down as three more of the little red creatures plopped down onto the ground.

“Oh, no no no, this is bad,” Twilight said backing away from the creatures. “Very, very, VERY bad. That’s not a gate, it’s a Door.”

“Twilight, what are these creatures,” Rarity asked eyes darting from the four small things to the still hovering disk and back to the creatures.

“Girls, we have to go,” Twilight said turning back towards Ponyville and grabbing the bag. “We jush goh sho hoh uhhing worsh comes shrough,”

“Pardon me?”

“Duh, Twi said, ‘we just got to hope nothing worse comes through.” Pinkie rolled her eyes as she began to creep slowly towards the four creatures.

For their part the creatures had been sitting, sedately watching the three mares with huge black eyes. As the pink pony approached all four gave out long cackling laughs before scampering on all four limbs into the bushes.

Spitting the bag back out Twilight turned to shout to her friends, “Pinkie, leave them alone. They can be mischievous little trouble makers, but are harmless, mostly.”

“Hey, do you think they would like a party? Oh, what am I saying? Everything like parties!”

“Pinkie! Leave them alone, I’ll come back and deal with them later when - hey!” Twilight gave a shout as a red form scampered from a low shrub, snatching the bag from beside her before scampering up one of the trees.

Rarity blinked away her surprise as Twilight twisted around to glare up at the creature.

Cackling it tossed the bag it’d stolen from one claw to the other.

“Brothers, brothers, look what I have, look what I have, Heh-ha-ha-ha!”

“Ooo, they can talk? That is so neat! Heya, my name is Pinkie Pie and welcome to – mulph.”

Pinkie’s wide eyes adjusted down to the white hoof that had been shoved into her mouth.

“I do not believe now is the time for that Pinkie, darling,” Rarity said with a sad smile to her friend before turning towards the tree where the creature had taken refuge. “Now, you give that back right this moment you ruffian!” Rarity shouted up at the creature, stamping a hoof for emphasis.

Twilight laughed shaking her head saying, “Don’t waste your breath, Rarity. If we want that bag back were going to have to take it back.”

Before Rarity could say anything a purple aura enveloped Twilight’s horn and the tree. With a grunt Twilight sent a surge of telekinetic force into the tree that made Rarity’s mane bristle with the excess magic leaking into the air. Her jaw fell open moments later as a long crack echoed through the woods. In a shower of splinters the entire length of the tree exploded into two halves like it had been pulled apart. Howling with cackling laughter the little red creature spun to the forest floor where it impacted head first, its body listing to one side.

“Y-you killed it!” Rarity stammered in shock at the display of raw strength and the creature’s broken form.

“Killed it? Hardly.” Twilight called back as she made a dash towards the bag.

Before she reached it the remaining three creatures leapt from the shadows. One snatched the bag, a long stream of crackling trailing through the crisp air as it dived into a bush. Growling in frustration Twilight sent another burst of pure force out of her horn. Trees groaned as the wave of energy washed over them as brush and dirt was ripped into the air churned into a rolling breaker of green and brown. The bag flew into the air over top of the wave of earth and energy as more cackling filled the air.

Running towards the bag Rarity reached out with her magic plucking the bag from the air with practiced ease. She may not have the raw power of Twilight, but Rarity made up for it with finesse and fine control, both a necessity in her work as a seamstress and fashion designer. Hovering over her head in a blue-white aura Rarity smiled proudly forgetting for a moment that Twilight had just killed one, maybe two, of the creatures. Then one of the remaining creatures leapt through the air snatching the bag out of Rarity’s hold.

“Oh, you get back here you little scamp!” Rarity shouted giving chase.

“Imp actually,” Twilight corrected running after Rarity. “They are imps, little mischievous critters usually in service of powerful wizards or more malevolent forces. Scamps live in water.”

Rarity thought to question Twilight more about the creatures but was too busy concentrating on the creature as it moved through the woods.

“I have bag, I have bag, Heh-ha-ha-ha-ha! No bag of spells for the little ponies! Master be pleased!” The creature taunted over its shoulder as it jumped from tree to tree avoiding Twilight’s brute force and Rarity more precise attempts to grab the bag.

The creature’s cackles turned to a howl of anger as one of Twilight’s telekinetic punches caught it by the tail flinging the creature up into the air and the bag out of its claws. Still howling the creature plummeted out of sight while the bag was caught by the last remaining creature. Snarling and cackling the remaining imp stopped running, instead leaping on Rarity’s back and pulling at her mane. Unleashing a primal scream Rarity picked up several small stones littering the ground. Flinging the rocks around her like the moon and sun that orbited high above Rarity managed to knock the creature from her back, the bag tumbling from its claws.

Before it could reach the bag Twilight was on the creature, her hooves pressing into its chest pinning it to the ground.

“Who do you serve?” Twilight hissed through her teeth.

“The Master comes, the Master comes, he who is fire and water, who blackens out the sun and devours moons, the Master comes. Your world will burn as it drowns in blood,” the small creature laughed, brackish blood bubbling around cracked black lips. “The Doors open soon, and when they do, all you ponies will die. Sins be repeated, Heh-ha-ha-ha, Sins be repeated!”

Twilight narrowed her eyes into dangerous lavender slits. Keeping a hoof pressed to the creature’s chest she lowered her head down beside the creature.

“I don’t get it, why are you hurting them Twi?” Pinkie moaned from where she stood near the blue disk a pleading note of misery in her voice.

Twilight ignored Pinkie instead continuing to bore her gaze into the injured Imp. Coming up beside Pinkie, Rarity draped a hoof over her friend’s shoulders and made a soothing noise. Beside her she could feel Pinkie shaking with barely suppressed emotions.

“Tell your master that we’ll be waiting for him. That we will not repeat the Sins.”

Again the creature laughed, more of its brackish blood spat onto the grass where it hissed and sizzled.

“You, but not you. The Sins will be repeated. The Purple Wizard comes, and she dooms all she seeks to save. Heh-ha-ha-ha!”

The creature’s dark crazed laughter trailed off into wheezing gasps as Twilight moved her hoof from the creature’s chest to its throat. Rarity had never seen a look quite like it in her friend’s eyes, so remote, dispassionate, and grim. Rarity wanted to shout, to tell Twilight to stop, that she was strangling the creature, but instead all Rarity could do was stand and watch, her mouth slightly agape, as her friend crushed the life from the creature. For a full minute the creatures arms and legs twitched even after Twilight removed her hoof. Rolling its head to one side, forked tongue dangling from its mouth the creature stared at Rarity with cold dead black eyes before bursting into flames. Back-peddling Rarity gasped as the creature’s body turned to ash.

“Come on, we need to get back to the library and prepare the ritual,” Twilight said in a toneless voice. If she felt anything for what she’d just done Rarity could not see it.

“Twilight, you... you... you killed those creatures,” Rarity sat staring at the spot where the creature had been. All that remained was a little scorched outline of the creature perfectly burnt into the grass. “H-how could...?”

“Killed it? I suppose I did, technically, and with exceeding ease I may add. I put my hooves to its throat and squeezed the life out of it. Not the first time, and it won’t be the last time, I’ve killed something.” Twilight shrugged picking up the bag of flowers and leaves. “Now, please come on, we have a ritual to finish.”

“W-who are you?” Pinkie asked quietly.

Twilight stopped the bag half stuffed into her saddlebag.

“Excuse me?”

“Who are you?” Pinkie asked louder, her voice almost cracking under the strain of containing rising emotions. “Are you a ghost that possessed Twilight?”

A thin smile, haughty and cold, crossed Twilight’s face.

“I’m Twilight, of course, protégé of a goddess and the Element of Magic.”

“Lies,” Rarity spat joining Pinkie’s accusations and pawing at the ground as anger made her ears flush and eyes narrow. “I don’t need to be Applejack and the Element of Honesty to know a pack of lies when I see it. The Twilight I know, my dear friend, would never, ever, so callously and casually harm another living creature. You’ve not been the same since the incident in the cafe.”

Pinkie picked up where Rarity left off, saying, “You’ve not been Twilight since then, have you? Who in Celestia’s name are you? I’ll ask again, are you a ghost or spirit that has stolen my friend?”

The lavender pony Pinkie no longer believed to be Twilight let the smile drop from her face. Finishing stuffing the bag into her saddlebags she gave out a little sigh muttering to herself. The exact nature of the muttering eluded Rarity it was so low and almost feral. After almost a full minute muttering to herself the lavender pony sat down and took a deep breath.

“My name, my real name, is Jasmine Blackcloak. Your friend and I switched places when I was attacked by the spirit that has been haunting your village these last few days.”

“Switched places?” Rarity asked unable to hold back the incredulity from her voice.

Twilight, no, Jasmine nodded slowly, saying, “Yes, we switched places. More than that really, we switched worlds.”

Rarity blinked twice at the statement saying in a numb voice, “this is... I just don’t know.”

A long low laugh erupted from Jasmine.

“You really don’t know much about Magic, do you Rarity,” Jasmine’s words were more stating a fact rather than asking a question. “There is so much it is capable of doing, really limited only by a wizard’s imagination. Why do you find it difficult to believe your Twilight and I swapped bodies? Why, I can name a half dozen spells capable of doing what I am suggesting, from Soul-Swapping to Memory Displacement. Fate manipulation could be capable of doing it as well.”

Rarity tried to work her jaw, which had half way through Jasmine’s explanation fallen open. She was painfully aware that she wasn’t as well versed in magic and the theories surrounding it as Twilight, or any unicorn that went to Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns. Her cheeks burned with embarrassment as Rarity tried to discount what Jasmine was saying. A part of her screamed that it was impossible to ‘swap bodies’. Jasmine made it sound as simple as changing dresses. But Rarity had no idea wither what Jasmine said was completely made up or true. The only ponies who’d know were the Princesses and Twilight.

“Okay, and I am not saying I believe this story, but it’d certainly explain a few things,” Rarity conceded. “So, what are you doing about it?”

“You mean, getting me and Twilight back to our proper bodies? Well, that is kinda why I need these flowers and branch. Once I get a new Focus that’s attuned to me I can set about catching the spirit, an Elemental by type actually, that’s been making a nuisance of itself. After that I should be able to trace back to my original body and set everything right. Simple.”

“Simple, right darling,” Rarity muttered rubbing her face with a hoof. She was so pre-occupied with the development with Jasmine that Rarity didn’t even realize she’d just rubbed dirt on her face.

Jasmine chuckled rolling her eyes as she gestured that they should leave the forest. Sharing a wary look Rarity and Pinkie slowly followed the pony who looked like their friend. Like when they had entered the forest Pinkie kept silent, though this time it was more from brooding. Out of the corner of her eye Rarity could see that Pinkie’s hair had taken on an unnatural dull tone and was a little too straight. Memories of Pinkie with straight hair danced and tormented the back of Rarity’s mind. She never wanted to see her pink friend like that again.

“I have been curious about something,” Jasmine said a few minutes later as the tree-line of the woods came into view. “Why is the Elemental so interested in you, Rarity?”

Sniffing back a snappish response Rarity conceded she had no idea why any spirit, ghost, or creature would be interested in her. They hardly seemed in need of a brilliant ensemble.

“There has to be a reason though,” Jasmine persisted. “Is there anything other than making dresses that the Elemental could be interested in? Some skill or spell you alone have in the village?”

“Well, I am the Element of Generosity,” Rarity said in a tired voice.

“No, that can’t be it. I’ve read Twilight’s diaries and journals. There are six of these Elements of Harmony, including Twilight. It’d have been easier to go after one of the others after last night rather than persist in following you. But the Elemental followed you to the library and tried to gain entry when you were alone. No, there is something else.”

Sighing Rarity said the only thing that came to mind, “Well, the only other skill or magic that is special to me is my ability to find and enchant gemstones. Not that I’ve practiced much in the last few years. I can give a gem a magical charge or make it glimmer, that sort of thing. I use it in my dress making as you, well, Twilight, knows. My Grandmare was far more adept than I though.”

“Gem enchantment? That would be something the Elemental could be interested in attaining, but why? Hmm, something to worry about later.”

“And what about those, Imps you called them?” Rarity asked turning the conversation away from the ghost and its interest in her. The whole idea made Rarity’s mane prickle. “Do you know what it was talking about?”

“Oh, that? I’d not put much stock into what an imp says,” Jasmine rolled her eyes snorting in derision. “Pretty typical stuff actually. World is going to end, kingdom will fall, so on and so forth. You’d think they’d come up with something original eventually.”

“Uh huh,” Rarity said musing over the encounter with the imps. Each time she closed her eyes she was treated to the vision of Jasmine pressing her hooves, Twilight’s hooves, down on the creature’s throat. Shuddering Rarity wished the image would go away, but she knew it wouldn’t, not for a long time, if ever.

Ponyville had come to a moderate amount of life while the three ponies had been in the woods. A few shops were open, but the malaise, the oppressive sense of gloom that clung like a blanket over the town in spite of the clear blue sky was still present. The few ponies about shuffled and went around with their heads hanging low, eyes drooping to the stones in front of their hooves. Applejack alone seemed unaffected, the orange earth pony sitting at her cart and trying in vain to sell apples. Rarity barely noticed this, too lost in her own thoughts.

At last the library came into view, the three ponies slightly picking up speed and Rarity finally clearing her mind. There would be time to think things over once the real Twilight was back. Taking heart in the idea that soon the Elemental, ghost, spirit, or whatever the entity that had been stalking her would soon be dealt with Rarity managed a smile. The smile grew even wider when the rounded the corner and saw a golden chariot sitting near the Library’s door.

Next to the chariot stood two Pegasus guards at attention. Just past them sat the radiant white form of Celestia, the princess in rapt conversation with Spike and a small white filly with a pink and purple toned curly mane and tail. Rarity noted that the filly was wearing saddlebags, most probably from school given the day in the week.

“Princess Celestia, Sweetie Belle, Spike” Rarity cooed dipping into a formal bow, to her left Pinkie did the same, though with far less enthusiasm. Jasmine however did nothing instead heading towards the library door. Rarity’s mouth fell open at the behaviour.

“Rarity, Pinkie Pie, and my most faithful student, Twilight, I am glad to see all three of you,” the Princess said with her customary warmth and calm. “Young miss Sweetie Belle and Spike have been keeping me company while I awaited your return.”

Nervous smile firmly in place Rarity gave her sister a quick glance.

“I hope my sister hasn’t been a bother, your majesty,” Rarity said, her tone oozing with concern and a hint of hope.

“Not at all, she’s been very polite and concerned for your safety, Rarity.”

“Yeah, where’ve you been, sis?” Sweetie Belle added turning the full force of her light green eyes on Rarity.

“Oh, cut the charade,” Jasmine muttered rolling her eyes and altering her course from the door to the small unicorn filly. “I can smell you.”

Pinkie and Rarity shared concerned glances as Celestia’s brow pinched and Sweetie started to back away from Jasmine.

“Twilight, what are-”

“That’s not Twilight. That’s some scary meanie killy red monkey imp stompy body swapper,” Pinkie growled glaring daggers at Jasmine.

“Excuse me?” Celestia blinked back her surprise at the force of Pinkie’s statement. It was the first time Rarity had ever seen the Princess anything close to uncomposed. Even Celestia when angry had a certain grace and dignity about her.

“Well, I don’t think I’d go that far. The body swapping thing was an accident after all. You think I want to be some sort of purple miniature horse?” Jasmine rolled her eyes and snorted.

“Excuse me?”

This time it was Rarity who had spoken incensed at the idea of being called a miniature horse.

“The important part here is that the young kid over there isn’t all she appears to be,” Jasmine proclaimed thrusting a hoof at the cringing and cowering filly. “She’s being possessed by the spirit.”

“Now, see here Jasmine or whoever you are, you do not just go around and accuse my sister of being possessed. If she is possessed by anything it is a sense of adventure and mischievousness that gets her and her friends into trouble.”

Jasmine stared at Rarity like the white unicorns horn had suddenly sprouted flowers from its tip. After a moment she just sighed, shook her head and started to argue back. Instead she was interrupted before starting for the second time that day.

“She’s quite perceptive,” Sweetie cooed in a voice that oozed disdain and malice. “But she is right, I am not Sweetie Belle, though she is still in here, screaming and begging to be let out.” Sweetie’s normally light green eyes darkened as she spoke until they were a dark rich crimson. From out of the filly’s saddlebags came a long handled knife clearly being levitated but without any sign of a magical field.

“Now, Rarity, give yourself over to me willingly, or I’ll cut your sisters throat and add her soul to myself.”

Comments

[Gyvon]

Been waiting for this. I no-shit "Pinkie Gasped" when I saw that this was updated.

[Tundara]

759957

Thanks! I hope it didn't disappoint.

[Honey Mead]

I finally started reading this and I have to say I am pleased I did.

[Tundara]

764907

Thank you, I'm glad you're enjoying the story.

[warpd]

Read it all in one sitting, quite enjoyable.

I like how you balance the nativity of the ponies with the cold harsh reality the humans live in.

[Tundara]

1070508

All in one sitting? That must have been a long read.

One thing I wanted to do was have the humans be the ones unadvanced and ignorant of a lot of sciences, with the ponies, especially Twilight, more knowledgeable. There are some reveals planned in the near future for how and why things are like they are for the humans. I'm currently on track for a Monday release of chapters 11 and 12.

[warpd]

1070588
When I read, I can plow through stuff in mere moments. Your story took me about a couple of hours.

It seems that the humans seem more ignorant of their lost sciences, though they do have magic now. Then you have humans like Jasmine who seem to know a whole lot. True the role reversal between human and pony is interesting and I praise you for doing something different with a human/pony story.

Now the big question, does the magic Twilight learns as a human carry over when she gets her body back?

[Tundara]

1070652

If she got her body back and Equestria had a similar nature to its Ley Lines, then it would carry over, yes. Will she get her body back and does Equestria have similar Ley Lines? That I am not saying.

[warpd]

1070723

Fine, keep your precious secrets. I'll read it later.

[Tundara]

1070743

Twilight's ultimate fate isn't something I've actually planed. I want to see how the ending works out and be surprised, so I honestly can't really answer that question. Not planning some things has managed to bite me in the butt a few times in Sins already. I have several general plot points I know I want to hit and aim towards, but as a rule of thumb I want the story to reveal itself to me as I type.

As for the differences between Equestria and the Protectorates, that I have planned out. Some of the differences are show-cased in chapter 12. We're also getting close to where the actual 'Sins' alluded to in the stories title will be revealed. At least in part. I've been working on and off on the setting for the last ten years, slowly adding lore and history.

Edit: Just looked at my oldest notes and it turns out it's closer to 14 years since I started work on the human's setting. Oops.

[warpd]

1070869
Their sins equate to nuclear fire I'm guessing, not really surprising. Thanks Ancients for making Fallout happen. At least the apes didn't take over this time. They messed up here and in the Star Gate universe. Can't they do anything right?

[Tundara]

1070919

Nope! Though, they made Atlantis, but they seemed to have forgotten to mention how to create new Zed Pee Ems for the city.

It's been nice chatting with someone about Sins. It's been a while since no one in my family cares much for this story, they prefer Tiger Bloom.