Camaraderie is Sorcery

by FireOfTheNorth

Chapter 2:3 - A Sorceress's Burden

Author's Note:

Translations for this chapter can be found here.

Chapter 2:3 – A Sorceress’s Burden

The armies of Nir Tiya were crushed and drained, the bodies left as little more than husks on the floor of the valley. Only Prince Sigi and his entourage managed to escape, and the claimant sought out the great Yliiena the First in Arbor. She was moved by the plight of the Nir Tiyans and set in motion a plan to bring an end to the Great Ones once and for all. Joining the seventy sorceresses of the White Tower and the nineteen Adherents of Ming, along with Hunters of the Orders Hawk, Eagle, Falcon, Owl, Vulture, and Ibis, she set out on her great task.

Together, they were able to bind the Shadow Realm Tartarus and encase it in wards that would prevent even the Great Ones from escaping. The sorceresses and Hunters faced Lord Tirek on Dromoth Plain [Canter Plain] and did battle. Yliiena the First fought Lord Tirek personally, and the battle between Alicorn and Great One tore a gash in the land, the Crescent Rend [Galloping Gorge]. In the end, Tirek was confined to Tartarus and life returned gradually to the Calloping Plain [Moskyin Expanse]. Lord Tirek was the first Great One confined to Tartarus, but many more would follow as mages and Hunters continued to work together to hunt them down and imprison them.

Twilight Sparkle sighed and rubbed her eyes before turning the page. This book said much the same thing as all the other books stacked next to it. At least they were in agreement, mostly, though there wasn’t a great amount of information to go on. Nothing explained exactly how the Great Ones had been bound to Tartarus, only that they had been confined there by Hunters and powerful sorceresses including Yliiena, the first alicorn. A few grimoires had brief explanations of spells that would be effective against the Great Ones, but those were even scarcer than record that wasn’t written as a legend.

Precious few resources remained from the time before the Great Ones had roamed freely. That had been during the Age of Uncertainty, which had ended over six millennia earlier, and records suggested that the Great Ones had been defeated much earlier than the end of the age and the first coming of the White Procession. What records hadn’t been destroyed during the Long Winter had been lost over time, until the Great Ones had become largely forgotten, a myth like the titans. Twilight had with her all the records that the Cant’r Laht Archives had on the subject, sent here at her request by Celestia.

Over a month had passed now since the events in Onon’r Laht, and no more of Discord’s soul fragments had been found. Meanwhile, Twilight studiously read every book that the sorceresses of Cant’r Laht had beaten her to to learn about the Great Ones, but her recent progress had become meaningless since no new material was discovered. She was now fairly certain she could cast the spell Count Arnwulf had used to extract the soul fragment, but there would be no way of knowing for sure until another soul fragment was found. There wasn’t exactly much she could do to practice the spell without a pony possessed by a Great One to test it on.

Count Arnwulf. He’d left Onon’r Laht with the diamond containing Greed (as Twilight had taken to referring to the soul fragment) and brought it to Celestia for safekeeping. It wasn’t until after they’d parted ways that she’d learned he hadn’t been entirely honest with her. Celestia had never sent him. He’d been in Celestia’s presence when Bitter Leaf had Awakened and overheard enough of Celestia’s conversation to piece together what was going on. It wasn’t clear exactly why his first action after obtaining that information had been to double-time it down the mountain, until Twilight learned why he’d been in Celestia’s presence in the first place. He, and many other Cant’r Laht nobles, were petitioning Celestia for the title Prince of the City, left vacant now that the Blueblood line was extinct. According to many mares in Cant’r Laht, Rhaegis had fathered bastards aplenty, but none of the claims seemed legitimate enough to raise them to princehood. No, Celestia would be choosing another noble family to take the title, and Count Arnwulf had seen assisting the Brave Companions as his ticket to the front of the line. Twilight had to admit that it would probably work too, since none of the other petitioners seemed to have done anything of note except attempt to undermine each other. Still, being lied to didn’t feel right, especially after the unpleasant times with Applejack during Discord’s brief reign.

“Is this a bad time?” Spike asked as he entered the room and Twilight turned to look at him.

“Not at all, I could use a break,” Twilight admitted as she glanced at the tome in front of her, “What is it, Spike?”

“I spoke to everypony, and they’ll all be able to make it later,” Spike reported, “I also sent Ream to fetch more parchment. With all the notes you’ve been taking lately, our reserves are getting rather low. It’s a good thing I haven’t had to send a letter to Celestia in a while, or we’d probably be out by now.”

Ream. There are still two Cant’r Laht guards here in Ponieville to protect me, though I’ve never really seen them do any such thing. I’m sure they’d rather be back in Cant’r Laht than running errands for me here, but Celestia insists they stay. It’s not a terrible idea, since I won’t necessarily be able to respond to every threat, but I’d need them closer for them to be useful. I drove them away when I first came here, didn’t I? Just one more mistake I’ve made that needs to be righted. Wait, what was that about not sending letters to Celestia in a while?

“How long ago did I send my last progress report to Celestia?” Twilight asked urgently.

“I don’t know,” Spike said as he scratched an itchy patch of scales on the back of his neck with a claw, “About a week?”

Twilight rose from her books and trotted over to the desk she kept her planner in. It was stuffed full of her plans for each day with markups aplenty and revisions where she’d had to deviate from the plan for one reason or another, so it took her some time to find the last time she’d sent Celestia a letter.

“Not ‘about a week,’” Twilight said, “Exactly a week. I sent my last progress report the Second Day of the Third Month, and today is the Ninth Day. We had better add that to the list of things to do today.”

Twilight Sparkle bit her lip nervously as Spike found a quill and ink. She stared at the stack of books nearby. Did I complete anything this week that I can report on?

“Spike, what are my ongoing tasks?” Twilight asked nervously, “I want to be prepared for what will go into the report.”

“Let’s see,” Spike said as he found the list of Twilight’s projects, “General study of sorcery, including learning existing spells, fabricating new spells, and researching magic theory.”

“I have not looked into that in weeks,” Twilight said self-accusingly as she began to pace, “What is next?”

“Microeconomics and agronomy, especially as it relates to local conditions and the unique situation of the Apples’ charter,” Spike read from the list.

“Not since Applebuck Season, but that was before even the trip to Onon’r Laht,” Twilight said, shaking her head worriedly, “Next.”

“Study of Hearthfire Incantations and other spells to combat the White Procession,” Spike said.

“Next.”

“Battlefield spells.”

“Next.”

“Lost histories of the Third Age, especially those relating to Nightmare Moon and the Equestrian Diarchy.”

“Next.”

“Gryphon culture, traditions, and history,” Spike said, looking up at Twilight with concern.

“Next.”

“Learn Cainhiran Zebrikaanian and teach Zecor’ah-Hizarrah Low Equestrian.”

“Next,” Twilight said with a mortified look.

“The Hunter Bestiary and general monster physiology.”

“Next.”

“Conjunction history and theory.”

“Next.”

“History of the Great Ones.”

“Next,” Twilight said, glancing at the stack of books.

“That’s the end of the list,” Spike said nervously.

“That is the end of the list … the end of the list,” Twilight repeated to herself as she increased the speed of her pacing, “I have not completed anything this week, nothing of note to report to Celestia.”

“But, that’s not really a problem, is it?” Spike asked, trying to coax Twilight away from the mental cliff she was headed towards, “Celestia never commanded you to send her weekly reports. Besides, you never sent her reports when we were in Cant’r Laht.”

“That is because we met face-to-face every week in Cant’r Laht,” Twilight objected, “In all the time I have been in Ponieville, I have never failed to send her a weekly update on my progress, so Celestia will be expecting one. If I fail to send one by the end of the day she might think I am not taking my studies seriously enough. She could summon me back to Cant’r Laht or dismiss me as her apprentice!”

“Yeah, I doubt it,” Spike said.

“I am not willing to take any chances, Spike,” Twilight berated him, “Celestia is the greatest living sorceress, and I do not intend to disappoint her or give her any grounds to find a new apprentice. Is there anything on that list that I could finish today and still have time to send a letter?”

“Well …” Spike said, looking through the list, but Twilight was no longer paying attention to him.

“Of course! I was ready for another lesson with Zecor, but other things forced it to be postponed,” Twilight Sparkle proclaimed, “I can find her, complete the lesson, and report to Celestia on the progress we are making. Where are my books on Cainhiran Zebrikaanian and Low Equestrian?”

“Twilight, I think you’re overreacting,” Spike spoke plainly as the rushed around the laboratory trying to find the books Celestia had sent her a year earlier, “Celestia will understand if you don’t have anything to report this week. If you want, I could even write her a letter to that effect.”

“Hold off on that letter, Spike,” Twilight said as she stuffed her books into a pair of saddlebags, “I will have something to report to Celestia, I guarantee it.”

Spike sighed and covered his face with his claws as Twilight galloped out of Golden Oak’s laboratory. There is no way this will end well.

***

Twilight Sparkle galloped through Ponieville, getting concerned looks from the ponies she passed. If a sorceress, much less one of the Brave Companions, was in a rush, then there was a high likelihood that something important or dangerous was either happening or going to happen. The townsponies had seen enough in the past year to know that much, and many of them headed home as soon as Twilight was past, even though it was the middle of the day. They had no way of knowing that the disaster Twilight envisioned did not affect them at all.

I must get to Zecor; it is the only way I can avoid being late in sending my report to Celestia. The sorceress barreled past Rarity’s shop and barely heard her friend crying out ‘no’ what seemed like a hundred times. When it did register, she slid to a stop. Or is it? Maybe Rarity has some issue that requires my help, and I can report on that in case I am unable to complete the lesson with Zecor. She thought over it for a moment, and helping Rarity won out. Sure, the time she had left was decreasing, but Rarity was here now, and she still had enough time to help her and find Zecor in the Everfree Forest if necessary.

“Rarity, what is the matter?” Twilight asked as she let herself into the shop.

“Twilight!” Rarity exclaimed, popping up from behind the counter, “I didn’t expect to see you here.”

“You sounded like you were in trouble,” Twilight stated anxiously, acutely away of the passage of time.

“Oh, yes!” Rarity said and Twilight’s hope soared (though she tried not to let it show), “An entire bolt of cloth has gone missing. I’ve nearly turned the shop upside-down searching for it, but I can’t find it anywhere!”

“A bolt of cloth?” Twilight asked, trying now to hide her disappointment. That’s it?

“Yes, I had to specially order it. I need it for the outfits I’m to send to Cant’r Laht for Hoity Toity, and I only have three days to complete them! Without that fabric, I won’t be able to send them in time and he might cut off our business. Things are still rather tenuous between us,” Rarity explained. To be a seamstress for the ponies of Cant’r Laht, that is Rarity’s dream. Surely helping her to save her dream is worthy of at least part of a letter to Celestia.

“Believe me, I understand completely, Rarity,” Twilight said, being in the same time-sensitive situation, “Rest assured that you will be able to send your outfits to Hoity Toity on time, and I will not rest until either that missing fabric is found or I devise some way to replace it. You can rely on me to-”

“There!” Rarity said, suddenly exuberant and pointing at the floor.

“There?” Twilight asked, puzzled.

Rarity got low to the ground and rocked a nearby cabinet against the wall with one hoof. With another, she reached under and fished out the missing bolt of cloth.

“Opalescence, you naughty cat, did you pull that under there?” she asked the fat feline, who paid her as much mind as always, which was none.

“You found it,” Twilight said, trying not to sound too disappointed, “Is there … anything else I can help you with?”

“No, this was all,” Rarity said as she turned her back on Twilight and placed the cloth on a table to brush it off, “Thank you for being here.”

“Of course,” Twilight replied dejectedly.

“Twilight, darling, is something the matter?” Rarity asked, but when she turned the sorceress had already fled the building.

***

I lost some time, but I can still make it. I have more than enough time to reach Zecor’s home in the Everfree and go through the next session of our lessons on Cainhiran Zebrikaanian and Low Equestrian. I can do this! So long as I don’t run into any other distractions and stay focused on my goal.

She made it out of Ponieville without incident and across the fields between the hamlet and the Everfree Forest. Well, most of the way across, anyway. As she entered the lands belonging to the Apples, she was startled by a bellowing roar in the distance. A monster outside the Everfree on the Apples’ lands! The Everfree was nearly in reach now, but to stop a monster from attacking her friend’s farm or threatening Ponieville itself, surely that was worthy of a whole letter to Celestia. Twilight spared a glance at her book-filled saddlebags before taking off in the direction of the roar.

She teleported closer and closer until at last she caught sight of the beast near the Apple homestead. The monster was on the bank of a nearby lake, and it resembled a huge frog with a back made of jagged stone. Mentally she ran through the spells she knew that might have an effect on the creature. If only I’d continued my study of the Hunter bestiary, I might be more prepared for this.

“Twi’!” Applejack called out from behind a bank of earth, “What’re y’ doin’ here?”

“Applejack? What are you doing?” Twilight asked as she turned to face her friend, “Should you not be getting out of here to look for help? Unless you intended to try to fight that monster yourself?”

“Nay, I think Rainbow Dash has it covered,” Applejack replied with a grin.

“Rainbow Dash?” Twilight asked before turning back to face the frog-monster.

The Hunter swooped down from the sky, tossing bombs that exploded into clouds of gas, obscuring the beast. It shot out its long, frog-like tongue at her, but she flipped at the last second and sliced clean through it with a sword. Tossing a grappling hook under the monster as she flew past, she tugged on the line and managed to flip the creature over, exposing its soft belly. Rainbow Dash shot up into the air before plummeting down and sinking her sword into the beast. It thrashed around as she impaled it, but Rainbow hovered above the struggling creature and out of the path of the acid spitting out of vents on its back.

“Way t’ go, Rainbow!” Applejack called out in congratulations as the monster ceased moving and the pegasus hopped back to clean her sword, before turning aside to Twilight, “I found that thing in th’ lake this mornin’ an’ went an’ found Rainbow t’ put an end t’ it afore it decided t’ attack on its own.”

“I see,” Twilight said, disappointed that she’d missed her chance to do something to write to Celestia about.

“All in a day’s work,” Rainbow said as she trotted over to Applejack, “Hey, wasn’t Twilight here a moment ago?”

***

“Zecor, forz ulo Twilight Sparkle,” Twilight announced as she struck her hoof against the zebra’s door, “Effrir tun eva pron’bel?^[1]”

There was no response from within the cottage and Twilight anxiously paced in front of the door. She knew exactly where the sun was in the sky and the time of day, but she looked up to check anyway. It wasn’t one of the prayer times of the zebra religion, so that couldn’t be what was holding Zecor up. She peered in through a window, moving the curtains with her magic, but the cottage appeared deserted. Where is she?

Twilight Sparkled sat down heavily in front of the zebra’s cottage. Failure; I’m a failure. If Zecor isn’t here, then how am I supposed to finish our lessons on Low Equestrian and Cainhiran Zebrikaanian? There’s nothing else I can accomplish before the end of the day. I’m going to be late, Celestia will summon me back to Cant’r Laht, and my studies will end. Maybe, if I’m lucky, Celestia will let me live out the rest of my days in Ponieville, but I’ll never again have the opportunities I had as her apprentice. Maybe that’s okay … but it still hurts.

“Twilight?” Fluttershy’s quiet voice caused the sorceress to suddenly jerk her head up and the druidess nearly fled from the motion, “What are you doing here?”

“Fluttershy? What are you doing here?” Twilight asked, surprised to see the druidess.

“Zecora asked me to tend her garden while she was away and make sure the wards she placed around it protected it from the Everfree’s beasts,” Fluttershy replied.

“I did not know that,” Twilight lamented her wasted time, “How long will she be gone.”

“I’m not sure,” Fluttershy said thoughtfully, “I think she’s supposed to return by the autumnal equinox.”

Nearly a month away. That won’t do.

“Why? Were you looking for her?” Fluttershy asked, “Shouldn’t you be in Ponieville for the get-together tonight? I was just about to head there myself after checking on Zecora’s garden.”

“Of course!” Twilight cried out and tried to teleport back to Ponieville, forgetting that the Everfree Forest interfered with her magic, and she ended up on top of a tree half a league north of where she’d started.

She didn’t let that dampen her spirits, though. All six of the Brave Companions together, surely something will come up that I can report on! We seem to attract adventure, or at least challenges that need to be overcome. It’s perfect! I need to get back to Ponieville, to my friend; that’s how I’ll find something to report to Celestia!

***

As the sun neared the western horizon and the day began to cool, the Prancynge Ponie became a lively place. The outdoor tavern bustled with activity and ponies spilled out into the nearby street. At a secluded table sat five of the Brave Companions, the sixth spot set aside for the sorceress that had arranged this meeting through her page. They traded small talk as the waiter eyed them, wishing they’d order something instead of waiting for their friend.

When Twilight did arrive, she caused quite a stir, teleporting into the crowd. After hurrying back to Ponieville, she’d realized that there was still a small amount of time before the gathering she’d set up and returned to Golden Oak’s laboratory to search for something, anything that could save her at the last minute. She’d been unsuccessful, and the stress showed on her face.

“Twilight, are you alright?” Fluttershy asked, “I was worried after you disappeared in the Everfree Forest.”

“The Everfree Forest!” Rarity exclaimed, “Whatever were you doing there?”

“Not important,” Twilight said quickly as she sat down, and the waiter watched expectantly for them to beckon him over, “I want to hear all about you. Any problems, conundrums, or oddities that I can help you with, preferably within the hour?”

“Um, no?” Rainbow Dash said, confused.

“What about you, Pinkamena? Have you had any premonitions lately?” Twilight asked desperately.

“Nothing major since we had to go to Onon’r Laht,” the bard admitted.

“What about you, Twi’?” Applejack asked, “Y’ look like y’ just fought your way up a waterfall. Is somethin’ th’ matter?”

“Yes! I am going to be in terrible trouble unless I can figure this out and you can help me!” Twilight burst out, and the others leaned forward to listen attentively, “My weekly report to Celestia is nearly overdue and I have not done anything this week worth reporting to her!”

“Is that all?” Rainbow Dash asked and got a glare from Twilight, “Sorry, it’s just that it doesn’t seem like as big a problem as you made it out to be.”

“While Rainbow Dash may lack tact, she has a point, darling,” Rarity said, giving the Hunter a pointed look, “What is so terrible about not having anything to report to Celestia? So, nothing exciting happened in the past week. What’s wrong with telling her just that in your report?”

“You do not understand,” Twilight objected, “I am Celestia’s apprentice, and she expects me to make progress in my studies. If I tell her that I have not made any progress, she may think I am not taking my studies seriously. She could dismiss me as her student or summon me back to Cant’r Laht!”

“Even for Celestia, that seems extreme over just a late letter,” Fluttershy commented.

“Are y’ sure y’ aren’t just workin’ yourself up o’er nothin’?” Applejack asked.

“It is not nothing! If I do not have something to report to Celestia before the end of the day, it could change everything!” Twilight said frantically, “If there is nothing you are facing that I can help with, nothing that I can include in a report, then I will need to find something myself!”

“I have something you can help with, Twilight,” Pinkamena said, “You can sit down with us, enjoy a meal, and relax.”

“I have no time to relax!” Twilight exclaimed, and Pinkamena frowned in concern, “I have very little time to solve this problem at all! I need to get to it!”

“Do you think she’ll be okay?” Fluttershy asked after the sorceress teleported away.

“I don’t know what else we can say t’ her t’ try t’ calm her down,” Applejack admitted, “Maybe when nothin’ bad happens, she’ll realize she was overreactin’?”

“That’s assuming nothing bad does happen,” Rainbow Dash pointed out, “We should probably find her and make sure she stays alright.”

***

“Come now, Twilight, this really is not a good idea,” the sorceress spoke to herself as she burned a magic circle into a field outside Ponieville, “What other choice do we have? The day will be over soon, so we need something big to report. What could be bigger than this?”

She stood back and admired her work. The circle was huge and intricate, but it matched what she’d extrapolated from her readings perfectly. She’d have to compensate the farmer on this land for their lost crop when she was done, but that was a small price what she was about to pull off. After leaving the Prancyne Ponie, she’d returned to Golden Oak’s laboratory and in increasingly concerned Spike. A few minutes with the stack of books on the Great Ones and she’d left again to find a suitable place for this spell.

“Reading the same books over and over again will never result in a breakthrough in my studies,” Twilight told herself as she prepared to cast the spell, “No, the only way to truly study the Great Ones is to open a gate to Tartarus and study the Great Ones in the flesh!”

Her eyes darted back and forth between the sun, which was barely still peeking over the western horizon, and her magic circle. Twilight’s reading and rereading about Tartarus made it easy for her to locate the shadow realm, and she began to build the necessary bridge. The runes and lines burned across the ground like wakening embers, pulsing in time to the flow of magic. The world seemed to darken and the sound of a thunderstorm came, though there were no clouds in the sky and the sun still projected more light than could be perceived. A chill wind blew around Twilight and spun about the edge of the magic circle. Frost began to form over the circle, but the lines beneath glowed even brighter, like living coals.

Twilight pushed on. I must have something to report! A thread of light shot up from the center of the circle, halting and wavering at the height of five ponies. With the sound of grinding ice, shifting stone, and erupting lava all at once, the gateway began to open. The thread served as the crack between invisible doors that slowly swung open. A blast of air that seemed somehow brittle struck Twilight in the face as the gap widened, and she blinked her eyes repeatedly to keep them moist.

The doorway creaked open and she caught sight of Tartarus, the first pony to do so in millennia. Barren and rocky wastes stretched as far as the eye could see, and the horizon in the distance curved strangely upwards. Mountains and valleys were dusted with ash that seemed to be snow at first, until some of it blew through the portal. The sun was still setting in the west and the moon beginning its ascent in the east, but above Twilight the sky seemed to be of another world. The canopy overhead was a deep red in which the stars were few and shone weakly. Another moon hovered too large and too close, and cracks were beginning to form across its surface.

With ear-piercing shrieks, creatures began to converge on the opening gateway from the other side. Long, wickedly sharp claws grasped at the edge of the doorway as they pulled themselves through. Part of the creatures’ bodies resembled those of ponies, but the resemblance didn’t go very far. They were hairless and without eyes, their faces bizarrely smooth, though they seemed to have no trouble getting around. The long claws replaced the hooves on their forelegs, four to a limb, and the back half of their bodies were like those of a spiny fish. As they exited the gateway, they began to fly around the magic circle with no visible means to aid flight.

“The wardens,” Twilight whispered to herself, “What have I done!”

The wardens began to throw themselves against the maelstrom surrounding the magic circle now, trying to break free. Twilight reached out with her magic to the gateway inching its way opened and tried to force it shut. It resisted all her efforts and continued to grow wider. Shadowy figures appeared on the other side, waiting until it was open wide enough for them to pass through. Twilight continued to try to close the gate, but the effort was too much and she was left shivering in the flattened wheat.

“Twilight!” Pinkamena’s voice came from what seemed like extremely far away.

The sorceress looked up to see the bard come hurtling through the wall of wind, striking a warden as she fell. The eyeless beast faced her only for a moment before deciding she was beneath its notice and getting back to work trying to break through the barrier.

“Pinkamena? Rarity?” Twilight asked disbelievingly as another of her friends hurtled into the magic circle, “What are you doing here?”

“Twi’, what’s going on ‘ere? We went t’ th’ laboratory an’ Spike said y’ took off t’-” Applejack asked, then stopped as she caught sight of the gateway and became mortified, “Did y’ open a door t’ th’ Abyss?”

“No, Tartarus, but it makes no difference!” Twilight cried, “I cannot close it!”

“Tartarus!” Fluttershy exclaimed, having appeared during Applejack’s speech, “Isn’t that where the Great Ones are … like Discord?”

“Yes, I have doomed us all!” Twilight yelled with regret.

A warden broke through the swirling wind and the barrier fell, releasing all of them. Rainbow Dash, who was still outside the circle and had been throwing the others in, let her instincts take over and swung her sword at the wardens. She wouldn’t be able to catch them all, though, and the wardens were the least threatening things that could escape from Tartarus. The gate was still opening and forms were becoming visible on the other side, great and monstrous forms straining at chains.

“Why did y’ do this, Twi’?” Applejack asked.

“I had to do something!” Twilight cried, “I had nothing to report to Celestia, no breakthroughs, no progress, no important events in our lives. When I saw there was a way to open a gate to Tartarus, to study the Great Ones, I thought it was the only way. I needed something to report and the day is almost over!”

“You might want to look again, Twilight,” Pinkamena said uneasily, pointing to the west, “The day is over.”

The sun at last finished sinking below the western horizon as Twilight watched with defeat. Her head snapped around in the complete opposite direction as a portal roared open to the east. Out of it strode Celestia, her face in a hard frown which made Twilight quail. The ancient sorceress reached out toward the gateway to Tartarus with her magic and forced the doors to reverse their course. As ponderously as they’d opened, they now swung closed. Cries of anger and anguish came from Tartarus as the gateway closed completely and they were cut off. The world gradually shifted back to normal, except for the wardens still flying around, seeking out souls to imprison. Blinding lances of light shot out from Celestia, impaling each of the remaining wardens and turning them to ash.

“Twilight Sparkle, you will meet me in Golden Oak’s laboratory,” Celestia said with a stern look before teleporting away.

“Goodbye everypony, I hope you will all come to visit me in Cant’r Laht, so long as I am not sent somewhere farther away,” Twilight sighed before teleporting away too, leaving everypony staring in shock.

***

“I have one question for you, Twilight. Why?” Celestia asked once they were alone in Golden Oak’s laboratory (though Spike was listening anxiously from the next room), “You are smarter than this. Why would you try to open a gateway to Tartarus on your own without proper preparation and study?”

“Because … because I had nothing else to write about in my weekly report to you,” Twilight admitted, “It all turned out to be for naught, though. I still have nothing to report and I did not send you a letter today. I failed.”

“You failed, but not because you didn’t send me a letter,” Celestia said and Twilight looked up at her mentor in surprise, “Twilight, I read your weekly reports because you send them, not because I demand them. If you think I would dismiss you as my apprentice simply because you failed to send me a letter, you are greatly mistaken. I know what kind of an apprentice you are—I have never seen any sorceress as dutiful and studious as you—and no lack of a weekly report is going to change what I think.

“You failed yourself, not because you were not studious enough, but because you were too studious. I have seen the list of your studies and it is too much for one pony, even you, to handle,” Celestia said and Twilight began to object, “No, you must cut down your studies or realize that you cannot work on them all simultaneously. You have also other responsibilities, to your friends, for one thing. Balance, Twilight, you must learn balance or you will burn yourself out! Do you understand?”

“Yes, Celestia, I think I do,” Twilight said.

“Wait!” Pinkamena yelled as she burst, out of breath, into the laboratory, “Don’t take Twilight away!”

“She isn’t th’ only one t’ blame!” Applejack added as the rest of the Brave Companions entered as well, then suddenly clapped her mouth shut as she realized who she was speaking to.

“Twilight told us her problem, but … we didn’t listen,” Fluttershy said in shame.

“We thought she was overexaggerating and worrying about things that didn’t matter,” Rainbow Dash said, “Even so, we should’ve tried to help her and kept her from going so far.”

“Twilight, darling, can you ever forgive us for brushing off your concerns so flippantly?” Rarity asked.

“I can,” Twilight replied, glad she knew these ponies and wishing she’d listened to them earlier.

“Please don’t take Twilight back to Cant’r Laht just because we let things get so out of hoof,” Fluttershy said.

“Very well,” Celestia said after acting as if she were considering it for a moment, “I leave Twilight Sparkle in your care and expect you to be responsible for her. I will add, furthermore, that if this ever happens again, that you should remind her that I trust her as my apprentice to act without sending me reports, though I do enjoy receiving them and reading about her life and progress. Also, to take the burden off of Twilight, if any of the rest of you have anything to share or report, I’m sure that Spike would be willing to take it down and send it to me. Right, Spike?”

“Um, y-yes,” Spike said in embarrassment at being found out as he entered the room.

“Now, I must return to Cant’r Laht. Doubtless, the city’s mages are running around in a panic after sensing the opening of a gate to Tartarus,” Celestia told Twilight, “It’s a good thing that Spike made me aware of the struggle you were going through so that I could arrive before much damage was done. Farewell, my most faithful apprentice.”

“Farewell, my dearest mentor,” Twilight replied as Celestia opened a portal and returned to Cant’r Laht.

Spike, you’re always looking out for me. I really ought to listen to your advice more often. I can rely on my newfound friends here in Ponieville to help me in most situations, but you knew from the start how terrible a path I was going down, didn’t you? You’ve known me your whole life and you’ve always been there for me. Thank you.

Comments

[EngageBook]

I love how you turned the weirdest episode into something much mote plausible. Though reckless and rash, I can see this happening.
Thank you for the story so far! I can't wait to read more!