The Twilight Years

by Kendrick

Harmony Lacking

Twilight cantered down the hallway. It had been several months since she had been in the castle, even longer since she had been in this part of it. And she had never been here as she was now. Even with all of the hundreds of years she had walked these halls in her former life, she was unnerved by them now. She wondered if being shorter had anything to do with that. Everything seemed so much more imposing now. Perhaps some of that came from the fact that she technically wasn’t supposed to be here now. Princess Celestia didn’t know she was coming to this part of the castle. While some of the guards had looked askance at her being allowed into the secret archives, she just chuckled to herself. How little they knew of how often she had been there already, and how differently they had acted towards her before. But however mischievous she felt, she had to keep it to herself.

There had been something bothering her for some time, though. And here was the only place she could see if her fears were correct, or if she had been worrying for nothing. While she was certain that she had found a solution to Luna’s problem, she couldn’t return to Ponyville until she checked on one last thing.

Approaching the doors she was annoyed to find the hole she needed to reach a lot less convenient than she remembered. Rearing up on her back hooves she turned uncomfortably to insert her horn into the lock. Triggering the spell that she had herself created, she released the wards protecting the room from magical intrusion and unlocked the door. Inside she saw the Elements of Harmony just as she remembered them. Nervously she approached the tiara in the center. Using her magic she lifted it slowly and set it gently upon her head.

It had been ages since she had wielded the Elements, but it was not something Anypony could forget. Reaching out she touched her magic to the power of the Element. Instead of the warm connection she had hoped for, there was nothing. She could feel the power there, but it didn’t respond to her. She had released her claim upon it so that another, more suited pony could wield it.

“Twilight Sparkle! What are you doing in here?” Celestia’s cry interrupted her thoughts.

Twilight jumped, nearly dislodging the tiara from her head. Nervous as a filly, she turned to face Celestia and bowed, tiara hanging in her mane.

“I just needed to see something, Your Highness,” she answered.

Celestia levitated the tiara away from Twilight and placed it back on the pedestal.

“While I appreciate your special… situation, you shouldn’t be wandering into restricted areas without at least checking with me first.” She cast a glance at the guards behind her before fixing Twilight with a stare that spoke volumes. “Now is there some threat to Equestria I don’t know about? Should we summon your friends for the rest of the Elements?”

“No Princess. Nothing like that. There is something, but I think I should tell you about it later,” she said, also glancing at the guards. Twilight hoped that Celestia was doing what she thought she was, and acting upset for the benefit of the guards.

“Very well, Twilight,” she replied as she herded Twilight out of the room, “Come to me this evening after sunset and we can discuss whatever it is you need to see me about. Until then, please try to remember that even my personal student shouldn’t be wandering where nopony has any business being.”

“Yes Princess!” Twilight answered hurriedly.

Relief flooded through her. Unless she missed her guess completely, Celestia’s meeting was timed so that Luna could be present as well. That would make everything so much easier. She could tell her what she had learned about the oath binding spell while she was there. If Celestia agreed to her plan it would make things so much easier for Luna. For a moment she wondered if it would be good to let the rest of the Element bearers in on the secret as well. So much of their combined power depended upon trust and a bond that, unknown to them, had been disrupted. While she loved each of them dearly, they had no idea that their love wasn’t given to the pony they thought it was anymore. She wondered if that was part of why the Element didn’t respond to her any longer.

It was going to be a long afternoon.

Comments

[BenRG]

Ah... Of course, Twilight, the real Twilight, is The Element of Magic, not Celestia. There may be some way to transfer control back but there also may be none. They need, urgently, to come up with an explanation as to why 'Luna' is suddenly The Element of Magic and pray to the god of their choice that there isn't a mind-link between the Elements when they are used or the whole thing is going to be blown wide open (Can you imagine Rainbow or Pinkie being able to keep this secret? No, me neither).