My Little Pony: Lights and Shadows - Part II

by OmegaTale

Chapter 11

They searched Sweet Apple Acres, but the crusaders were not there. They had searched the Everfree Forest, Ghastly Gorge, White-Tail Woods, and every inch of Ponyville, with no leads. Pegasi flew out in the dozens to Cloudsdale, Dodge Junction, Appaloosa, Manehattan, Rainbow Falls, and even Starlight’s village. The Cutie Mark Crusaders were nowhere to be found.

Twilight stood over the Cutie Map, her eyes darting about to different locations in Equestria. Occasionally they drifted over to the east, but she always returned them to Equestria. Applejack, Rarity, Rainbow, Pinkie, Fluttershy, Spike, Starlight, and Starfall all stood around her, waiting.

Closing her eyes, Twilight paused, only to open them again, her gaze having shifted over again. “I’m sorry girls….but our search is going to have to be put on hold.”

“Twilight…” AJ said, stepping forward. “They’re our sisters….we can’t just abandon ‘em.”

The princess turned to the orange earth pony. “We don’t have a choice Applejack. The griffons and the dragons are going to war; any day now they’ll start fighting, we need to stop them before that happens.”

“So that’s it!?” Rainbow said angrily. “We’re just gonna give up on them!?”

“No!” Twilight replied, shaking her head. “The pegasi will keep searching, word will spread, and they will find them, but you need to remember what’s at stake here.”

Rarity stepped up now. “We know EXACTLY what’s at stake Twilight! My little Sweetie Belle is somewhere out there, and so are Apple Bloom and Scootaloo!” she stamped her hoof down hard. “And I, for one, will not rest until they are safe and sound!”

“Yeah!” Rainbow added on. “Scootaloo needs me! The CMCs need all of us!”

Continuing to look down at the map, Twilight weighed her options:

According to Granny Smith and Big Mac, the CMCs hadn’t been seen since the day everypony left for the Grand Summit. It had been four days since their return to Ponyville, and they had performed a search grid all over Equestria that ended in complete failure. No pony had seen anything regarding the three fillies, no leads, no tracks, no anything. There was no guarantee that any progress would be made on it anytime soon.

While they had been searching for the three fillies, Griffonstone and Fireglow were given four, undisturbed days to prepare for war. Gabby had been helping them search for CMCs, but Gilda agreed to return to Griffonstone and spy on their advances for Twilight. With only Ember and Scorch to rely on from the dragons, there was little proof that the princess would hear of movement until it was too late.

With a heavy heart, Twilight looked back up at her friends. “I’m sorry you three; we are to begin preparations for our peace missions immediately.”

There was a mixture of sadness, anxiety, and anger in the eyes of the three mares. Their sisters were lost somewhere in the world, and now they were being told they had to push it aside?

“Rarity and AJ,” Rainbow said sternly, turning and flying out of the room. “Let’s go.”

The two didn’t hesitate to leave with the pegasus, leaving the chamber in an awkward silence as Twilight let out a defeated sigh. Taking a deep breath while using her calming technique, she refocused on the task at hoof. “Spike, begin a travel checklist for our journey tomorrow.”

“Yes ma’am!” Spike saluted her, taking off out of the room.

“Pinkie, Fluttershy, pack us some food, we may be gone for a while.” Twilight continued.

“But Twilight,” Pinkie replied. “Winter Wrap Up is tomorrow!”

Fluttershy was quick to pitch in. “Couldn’t we just leave the day after?”

“I’m afraid we’re going to have to miss it,” Twilight said in an uneasy voice. “We’ve already given the griffons and dragons too long to get ready, we need to get over there as quickly as possible.”

Pinkie and Fluttershy both looked diminished at hearing that, but didn’t argue. They nodded and took off out of the room as well.

“Starlight,” Twilight continued, stepping up to her. “I need you to go through whatever spell books you can and look for an explanation as to what happened at the summit, Celestia said she thought it was a kind of dark magic; if you suspect even for a second that something seems possible, bring it.”

“Got it.” Starlight replied, teleporting to the library.

Starfall walked up beside the princess. “What will you have me do, Twilight?”

Turning to him, she said, “Come with me, Mayor Mare needs to know that we will not be able to participate in Winter Wrap Up tomorrow.”

---

Shadow had been all over Ponyville, asking around about the CMCs. He had trotted over every inch of it and asked everypony in town. His hooves were sore, he had been walking and galloping so much. Twilight and the others were probably still up at the castle, and she was likely deciding whether or not they would keep searching.

He understood why Twilight would want to put the search on hold, and didn’t hold it against her. He cared about those three fillies, but he didn’t let that care blind him from the facts; if there really was a full-scale war between two nations, it took priority.

That being said, Shadow figured he’d just stay in Ponyville for all of that. The last time he got involved with something important, he ruined it by having that vision, and these memories had a bad habit of popping up at the absolute worst of times.

When he got to thinking more about his memories, the thought of his sister rose once again. Despite the horrid timing, he wanted to have the next memory come to him, and he prayed that he could just get a glimpse of her. Or maybe get a memory from further back and see his parents, although he had already realized that in each memory, he was older.

He had thought of it time and again, always leaving him feeling the same, lonely. To know so little about himself, to only remember in tiny fragments, and know that, at one point, he must’ve done something terrible. His past self didn’t seem all that bad. Yeah, sure he was rough around the edges and lacked in the common sense department, but certainly wasn’t evil. He was nothing like…..

The mere thought of the creature from his nightmares made him shutter.

“I am nothing like that thing.” He said to himself.

Lifting his cup, he sipped from his tea. Golden-Leaf, very relaxing.

Looking out the window of Fluttershy’s cottage, Shadow let out a sigh. He had become drawn between two desires once again; staying who he wanted to be or knowing who he was.

Of course he wanted to stay who he was, but at the same time, the curiosity and emptiness of his past continued to chip away at his resolve. It was both invigorating and infuriating, and it never seemed to go away entirely.

Above all else, he had to stay beside his friends. Greater pillars of strength couldn’t be asked for. While he still felt most comfortable around Fluttershy, the others had definitely become family to him. Applejack was the hard-working, strong country-girl who made him feel like he had a purpose here in Ponyville. Pinkie was the energetic, crazy spirit he wished he had and that made him happy all the time. Rarity was the radiant, expressive beauty that constantly reminded him that he was unique. Rainbow was the awesome, unstoppable dreamer that cheered him on and made him feel like he could do anything. And Twilight, she had the purest heart of them all; always putting the needs of others before her own, always putting on that supportive smile that told everypony how much they mattered to her, and always…..being there for him.

He loved each and every one of them. While he cared about Spike, Starlight, Starfall, and everypony else in town, those six meant the world to him.

“I can’t let them down.” He said quietly. “I won’t let them down.”

Shadow put down his tea cup and stood, walking over to the door and opening it wide. Nothing was going to stop him from helping his friends…..not now, not ever.

---

“Whatever are we going to do?” Rarity asked, the three ponies sitting inside her boutique. “I won’t be able to get a wink of beauty sleep unless I know my little Sweetie Belle is home.”

Applejack sighed. “Ah s’pose Twilight has a point y’all. It ain’t like she don’t want to help look for our sisters, she’s got herself a whole lot of responsibility for that there conflict.”

Rarity huffed out a breath. “You’re probably right….”

“Hey!” Rainbow interrupted them. “If Twilight wants to go off and save Equestria, again, she and the others can do just that, but I’m not doing anything else until I find Scootaloo!” Placing a map on the table, Rainbow gestured her friends over to her with her hoof. “Now, we know the pegasi have the west covered, they’re out past Las Pegasus and Vanhoover searching everywhere. Cadence and Shining Armor have the north covered, and since Twilight is going to the east, we can assume she’ll have the east covered herself.”

“What are you sayin’ Rainbow?” AJ questioned her.

Rainbow slammed her hoof down onto the map. “I’m saying the three of us go to the Mysterious South and search for our sisters ourselves!”

Rarity gasped. “The Mysterious South!?”

“What makes you think we’ll find anythin’ down there?” AJ asked.

“It’s the only place no pony has searched yet!” Rainbow replied. “Look,” she pointed to the railroad tracks, which went off the bottom of the map and out of sight. “We take the train as far south as we can and start looking. No pony has seen or heard ANYTHING since we started searching, they have to be down there somewhere!”

Looking a bit concerned, Rarity lifted her hoof to her chin. “But what if Twilight need us to come with her to the east?”

Rainbow had been worried about that herself, but she knew Twilight, and it ultimately made up her mind. “Twilight, Fluttershy, and Pinkie can handle that themselves. She’s a princess of Equestria, her duty is to her subjects, we’re the CMCs’ sisters, our duty is to them.”

Applejack and Rarity looked to one another. There was a pause, but then they both nodded, turning back to Rainbow with determined looks on their faces.

“We’re in.” Rarity said confidently.

“Good!” Rainbow replied, looking back down at the map. “I’m gonna go find the best map that I can for the land beyond the southern border, you two should go pack up and meet me at the station in a few hours. We’re gonna go save ourselves some Cutie Mark Crusaders!”

---

Emerging from Town Hall, Twilight and Starfall began to trot back to the castle. Spring was coming tomorrow, and it had been a long winter. Naturally, the mayor was disappointed that Twilight wouldn’t be the All-Team Organizer this year, but she understood that the princess had her reasons and that it was beyond her control.

“So if we leave early on the Friendship Express tomorrow, we can all reach Griffonstone with plenty of time to explain to King Gale why they shouldn’t fight.” Twilight explained as they went. “I’ll have Spike send a letter to Ember and set up a meeting with her and her father in two days’ time so that we can move directly from Griffonstone to Fireglow and stop this conflict before it escalates.”

Starfall looked over at her. “Do you think we can convince the king to stand down in a single day?”

“I don’t know….” She replied, her gaze lowering slightly, only to be lifted up immediately. “But we’re just going to have to try.”

The princess and her guard trotted through town, enjoying the cheer in the air as everypony was excited for tomorrow. Winter Wrap Up was one of the first Ponyville traditions that Twilight had ever taken part in, and she had been involved every year since, so it did hurt to know she wouldn’t take part.

Looking over at her loyal guard, Twilight said, “Thank you for everything you’ve done to help so far, but you’ve been guarding me every moment since we came back to Ponyville, do you want to take the rest of the day off?”

Starfall shook his head. “No, of course not, I’m not tired at all.”

“You sure?” she asked. “Everypony needs a break every now and then.”

Before Starfall could reply, somepony called to them. “Twilight! Starfall!” The two of them stopped and turned their heads to see Octavia and Vinyl Scratch sitting at a table outside a restaurant. “Would you like to join us for lunch?”

Twilight took notice that the timing was perfect. “Sorry, but I have a lot of work to do at the castle, but Starfall here would love to!”

Starfall spun about, facing the princess in the blink of an eye. “Twi….I um, you don’t-”

Twilight stopped him by placing a hoof on his shoulder. “Go relax Starfall, you more than deserve some time to recharge after everything you’ve done for the past week.”

He wanted to protest, but one look from the Princess of Friendship told him that he wouldn’t win. Starfall looked over at the two mares sitting at the table, and then back to Twilight.

“Go on,” she said, returning her hoof to the ground. “You enjoy yourself and come back to the castle today whenever you want.”

Starfall slowly nodded. “I won’t be long.” Smiling one more time, Twilight continued trotting on her way, as her royal guard walked over to the table. “Hello ladies.”

“Good afternoon Starfall,” Octavia said politely. “I take it you and Princess Twilight have been very busy over the past few days?”

“We have.” Starfall admitted, sitting down in the chair. “We’ve practically searched all of Equestria for those three…..with no luck.”

“How dreadful,” the musician then took notice to how heavy Starfall’s eyelids looked. “When was the last time you got any sleep?”

He gave them both a not-so-sure look. “Ehh….” He replied.

“Goodness, Starfall, you sure are dedicated.” Octavia complimented him.

Vinyl used her magic to write a note, lifting it up while hosting a smug grin.

Able to go all night, my kind of stallion.

One would think Starfall would have expected that, but no, his face lit up a bit in surprise, and he quickly grabbed a menu to hide it.

“Vinyl!” Octavia snapped at her, the DJ shrugged her shoulders.

What? It was a compliment, Octy.

Giving her roommate a pair of narrow eyes for a few more moments, Octavia turned back to Starfall, who had overcome the red flush of color on his face. “We’ve heard about a conflict of some kind going on between the griffons and dragons, is that true?”

“Unfortunately, yes.” Starfall answered her. “That’s why Twilight couldn’t stay, she and Starlight have a lot to do before we leave tomorrow.”

Vinyl was quick to write this next message.

So, you’re going over there to stop a war, right!?

“Umm, yes, we are.” Starfall replied, reading the note and her smile and catching on that she was excited about it.

That’s wicked cool! You’re gonna kick some serious tail!

Octavia sighed and face-hoofed, embarrassed by how her friend was taking the news. “Vinyl, he’s going to step in between griffons and dragons who want to start fighting, are you telling me you aren’t the least bit worried about him?”

Looking undeterred, Vinyl wrote down her next message with a relaxed smile.

You kidding? My Starfall here knows a thing or two about fighting, isn’t that right, stud?

Starfall was left with wide eyes. My Starfall?

---

The castle library was cryptically quiet, a lone unicorn being its only inhabitant. She sat looks down upon an open book that explained the effects of complex forms of dark magic, but she wasn’t reading.

In her head, Starlight had been warring over a single question, one that made her feel so guilty that she hid it from her friends.

“Is it my fault that the Cutie Mark Crusaders are missing?” she asked herself quietly. Her suspicions over the fillies’ request right before she left for the summit should have been greater. What were the odds that the three of them would disappear on the same day Starlight gave them one of the most powerful potion components in Equestria? “I should never have made them that runic potion…” she scolded herself. “What is the matter with me, giving something like that to such young fillies?”

She had been wondering for some time what the crusaders could have done with it that made them disappear, but even she knew very little about how to use the potion; it always seemed a bit too extreme to use in experimentations, even though she knew it had literally hundreds of uses.

Her guilt and curiosity won her over and she levitated her current book away, bringing a whole stack of others over, older books that explained the ingredients and uses of ancient potions. It didn’t take too long for Starlight to find passages about runic potions, but the passages were mostly left blank, the few there only stating that if used incorrectly, the potion could be very dangerous. This, of course, did not help the unicorn feel any better.

“Come on….come on….” She said to herself as she kept searching for uses, but found none. “Ugh! Not a single one of these ponies knows what that potion is used for!?”

Blazing through book after book, Starlight’s stack got smaller and smaller until there were none left. She leaned back in her chair and closed her eyes. She knew how to make the runic potion because she had seen the instructions before, they were located in the same place she found Starswirl’s Time Manipulation Spell, but there had been nothing else about it.

Wanting to get just a few minutes’ rest, Starlight let out a deep breath, keeping her eyes closed.

“Tired already?” Twilight asked, trotting past her. Starlight was up in a flash and almost fell off from her chair, catching herself at just the right time as the princess sat across from her. “Wow, you searched all of those already?” she continued, looking at the large stack of books.

Starlight’s eyes darted over to the stack and she looked back to Twilight, offering an uneasy laugh. “Hehehe, yeah, all searched already….” Using a levitation spell, she made the books return to the shelves rather quickly. “Found nothing so far.”

“Well that’s disheartening.” Twilight replied, starting a magic assembly line of books for herself.

Starlight wanted to tell her, but what difference would it make? If she didn’t know what the potion could be used for, it wouldn’t help them find the crusaders anyway, and besides, Twilight had just told everypony that they needed to focus on stopping the war. Telling her that she could be responsible for the fillies’ disappearance wouldn’t help the situation.

The two sat in the library for what felt like hours, compiling books that could be of use and setting them aside for the journey to the east. They took notes from useful passages and conversed with each other only to elaborate varying effects of dark magic spells they thought of.

Unfortunately for Starlight, she had no experience with dark magic, and therefore had to rely on Twilight’s knowledge of the matter. She had never seen such a spell being cast before, but understood that their use only stemmed from negative emotions. She had been curious about the magic form in the past, but again, she never had the means to use it. Twilight was lucky enough to have her Copying Spell and have been showed such magic by Princess Celestia. Even if Starlight were to have the Copying Spell like Twilight, she would need to experience the spell in order to use it.

“So….somepony must have cast a Fear Possession Spell on those dragons and griffons, forcing them to attack one another.” Twilight theorized.

Starlight stopped writing her notes to ask, “Fear Possession? Isn’t that one of the highest levels of dark magic?”

Twilight shook her head. “Not quite, but it is an extremely difficult spell to cast.” She rubbed her chin as she continued to read from the ancient tome. “Whoever cast it must be a powerful unicorn…”

Hearing that such a spell wasn’t even among the highest forms of the art made Starlight even more fascinated with the subject. She couldn’t help but be interested in the uses of dark magic, despite its disturbing nature.

“They must have simultaneously cast a Frenzy Spell to cause such an instantaneous reaction in the surrounding crowds.” Starlight added, having read about the spell’s effects.

“Hmm….that’s right….” Twilight said quietly, racking her mind for answers. “Dual casting spells of that level is….well, almost impossible for any normal unicorn. I don’t even think the princesses know how to use magic like that.”

Starlight was left rather intimidated at the thought. “So….whoever did this is more powerful than an alicorn?”

Twilight looked up at her, a worried expression on her face as she shook her head. “I don’t know, Starlight.”

The two got back to reading, wanting to understand more. This was a truly shocking development, no pony knew how to use dark magic that well except….

Twilight stopped reading, her heart skipping a beat. She sat back in her chair, her eyes squinted slightly and her face left in a questioning matter. Starlight took notice and tilted her head.

“Twilight?” she asked. “What’s wrong?”

It couldn’t be him, he was destroyed, she saw it herself. The light from the Crystal Heart shattered him to pieces and blew away his shadows. There was no way it could be him….right?

“Twilight!” Spike called out, running into the library. The princess managed to pry herself from the trance, turning to see her assistant reach her side. “Letter for you from the princess.” He said, holding out a scroll.

Lifting the scroll with her magic, Twilight opened it.

Dear Twilight,
I know you must be very busy organizing your peace missions to the east, but this is a matter that can no longer be kept a secret. Meet me at the Tree of Harmony in an hour’s time. Come alone, there is something you must know.

Princess Celestia

---

Rainbow stood at the station, tapping her hoof impatiently as she waited for her two friends. A saddlebag rested comfortably on her back, and she had already purchased the train tickets for them. Having noticed a visible change in her friends over the past few weeks, Rainbow had a lot to think about.

She wasn’t given too long to ponder about it, as Rarity and Applejack both arrived together with saddlebags of their own.

“You two sure took your time.” Rainbow barked, crossing her hooves.

“If ah recall, y’all said to meet up here in a few hours,” AJ replied. “Didn’t say nuthin’ bout showing up at a specific time.”

Rainbow grunted and touched down to the station platform. “Alright then, here, have a look at this.” She took out an old-looking map that didn’t look familiar to the two at all.

“Rainbow,” Rarity asked. “That’s not a map of Equestria?”

“It’s not meant to be, Rarity!” Rainbow snapped. “This is the land south of Macintosh Hills and the Badlands, see?” She pointed her hoof to the train tracks, which were faded on the old parchment. “We follow the tracks down to their very end, here.” Her hoof stopped over what looked like a small station. “From there we begin searching, and asking around if anypony has seen them.”

AJ didn’t look too confident that the map was very accurate. “Rainbow, are you sure we can trust that there map?”

Rainbow rolled it up and stuffed it into her saddlebag. “Of course I am! Now where’s that train?”

Rarity shared AJ’s concern, and while the condition of the map was appalling, that wasn’t what frightened her most about it. “Rainbow Dash, darling, do you even know if there are ponies that far south?”

The question caught the pegasus off guard and she was left wondering about it herself. “Umm….nope, but I guess we’ll find out soon enough! There it is!”

Approaching Ponyville, the train slowed on the tracks, its whistle declaring to the town that it had arrived. Coming to a halt, the doors opened and a few ponies stepped off.

“How did Twilight take it when you told her we were leaving?” Rarity then asked Rainbow.

“I didn’t tell her.” the pegasus replied nonchalantly.

“YOU WHAT!?” both AJ and Rarity said at the same time.

Not fazed by the outburst, Rainbow said, “You two know Twilight; if I told her, she would’ve tried to stop us from going, its better this way.”

“Rainbow!” Applejack scolded her. “We can’t just up and run off like this without tellin’ no pony!”

“Applejack is right!” Rarity added on. “Imagine how worried the others will be!”

Rainbow spun around and glared at the two ponies. “Will you two just listen to yourselves!?” she shouted at them. “Pinkie and Fluttershy will be there to help Twilight, not to mention Starlight and Starfall! Who will be there to help Sweetie Belle? Or Apple Bloom?” Rainbow shook her head, her anger dimming as concern took over. “And I know Scootaloo isn’t really my little sister, but I’m going to be there for her like one! Twilight doesn’t understand, and she has plenty of reason to have her attention elsewhere, but we don’t! Nothing is going to stop me from finding those three fillies and bringing them home!”

Silenced by Rainbow’s speech, the two mares were left stunned. Rainbow huffed and puffed, turning around and calming herself.

“If you two don’t want to come, then fine.” She said boldly. “I’ll go find them myself.”

She stood alone in front of the train door for only a moment, only to have her friends walk up alongside her. Exchanging apologetic looks both ways, the three ponies nodded to one another and boarded the train.

---

When she really thought about it, Twilight came to realize that she hadn’t been to see the Tree of Harmony since she and her friends unlocked the chest and defeated Tirek.

The cave was so dark now, the tree no longer illuminated the darkness with its glow. Upon the tree itself, only two of the elements maintained their glow; the Elements of Magic and Loyalty. The other four were lightless and dull. Even when standing away from the tree, Twilight felt a kind of malevolence, a feeling of torment and pain. It wasn’t enough to make being down there unbearable, but it was also too strong to ignore.

On the cave floor, looking up upon the tree, Princess Celestia watched in sadness. Her ears were flat to her head, the very sight of the tree in this condition giving her heartache. She knew that her pupil was there, but still she said nothing.

“What’s happening to it?” Twilight asked her.

Celestia’s gaze faltered and fell to the floor. Glancing back at the purple alicorn, she replied, “She is dying.”

Mouth left slightly agate, Twilight joined her fellow princess as they looked up upon the darkened tree. “She…?”

Now, finally she would tell the story.

A long time ago, beyond my sister and I, beyond Starswirl the Bearded, and even beyond the Elements of Harmony, there existed a land called Alarei.

It was such a happy place, with ponies, griffons, dragons, nymphs, and changelings all living together in peace upon a mountain known only as Home. Far out and around this mountain stood five great towers called the Pillars, and atop those towers there shined strong lights, each a different luminescent color.

The Sun and Moon did not require magic from below to move, for they were drawn into a never-ending cycle by the magic of the Pillars. Within the boundaries of these towers, life thrived. There were differences and conflicts, but being different meant you are special, and having conflicts meant you were overcoming troubles with your friends together. And so the inhabitants of Home lived peacefully under the magic of the Pillars, not questioning why the world existed in this way.

Outside of the pillars, however, life existed a whole different way. In shadows beyond the reaches of darkness, there was no happiness, no love, and no hope. Those within the sphere of influence from the Pillars stayed away from those lands, frightened by the very thought of living in a place without light, and without friendship.

Among the inhabitants of Home, two very special ponies were born. Despite being twins, they shared very little in common with one another, but even though they were different, they were very close.

The sister always found wonder from the world around her. She was quick to make friends, and those friends looked up to her as she cared for them in every way a friend should be. She grew to become a beautiful mare, and soon found love with a childhood friend. During her years living upon Home, she experienced honesty, generosity, kindness, laughter, and loyalty. And from these experiences she learned that friendship was the only magic she ever needed.

The brother, however, did not share his sister’s view of the world. He was shy, he never truly learned to put others before himself, even though he constantly did try. Unlike his sister, he grew to become a more intimidating pony, and even though he had friends, he never could find out how to trust them completely. Over the years, he came to experience life from very different aspects than that of his sister; deception, greed, cruelty, sorrow, and fear. It was from these experiences that something happened to him, something that broke his sister’s heart and changed the world forever.

“How?” Twilight asked her. “How do you know this?”

Celestia’s eyes moved away, looking in the direction of Canterlot, more specifically, the summit of the mountain. “A friend told me.” Before the other princess could respond, she said, “I was also told the brother’s name.” Twilight sat in complete silence as Celestia lowered her head. She lifted it once again and said, “His name was Erebus.”

“Wha….but, you said-” Twilight began to say.

“My mother was wrong.” Celestia answered, shaking her head. “The siblings weren’t gods, they were alicorns, and they were born that way.”

Twilight looked down for a moment, connecting the dots. “Just like Flurry Heart…”

Celestia nodded and turned back to face the tree. Twilight noticed and looked up upon it as well. The shadows of the cave seemed to surround the four, dull elements, as the remaining two warded the darkness away.

“So….what’s happening to them?” Twilight asked.

“The Elements of Harmony represent the power that friendship holds.” Celestia explained. “When together, they form the powerful magic that you have seen time and again alongside your friends.” This is when the princess’ gaze fell, her eyes growing sad. “But they are not the only great power in the world….”

Twilight looked away from the tree to her again. “What do you mean?”

“Just as the sister experienced the power of friendship, the brother experienced something else.” She continued. “His life left him in great pain, and even though he tried so hard to be happy like his sister, he never could. His torment gave him power, dark power, and what power exists in the world without a purpose?”

“Are…” Twilight began to say. “Are you saying that…?”

Celestia nodded once again. “The Elements of Harmony were made from the memories of the sister, the experiences that led her to understand that friendship is magic. But the brother experienced power of a different kind, and his memories became something else….”

Author's Note:

Hey there everypony!
Rainbow is leading Rarity and AJ on a quest south while Twilight and the others prepare to head east.
And we finally get a more clear history lesson! How did Celestia obtain this knowledge? And why did she hide it from the rest of the world for so long?
Now that we know who Shadow was, when will we find out what he did?
More is soon to come!
Stay awesome everypony!