Those Left Behind

by the7Saviors

A Princess' Magic

Luna and I sat huddled in the dark living room of the mostly intact house.

Luna had finished explaining what had happened to her and the others -- speaking in hushed tones and pausing every once in awhile when there was a sudden noise. Now I sat quietly in a corner of the living room ruminating on everything she had told me.

Rather than shed any light on the situation, Luna's story had only raised even more questions. Things were so far out of our control that I almost couldn't help but laugh. I would've had it not been for the fact that Mount Canterhorn was now a crater, Ponyville was completely destroyed, Equestria was a wasteland in general, and everypony had been reduced to ash.

That's not even mentioning the thing that caused it all.

I couldn't even begin to sort out my emotions at this point given everything that happened. They all just seemed to coalesce into one big mass of... I don't even know.

I felt sorrow, anger, frustration, despair, grief and a whole other slew of emotions I couldn't identify at the moment. I was beginning to wish that numbness I had felt earlier would make a return, but no.

Now I sat here in this room with Luna in silence while we both hid from some abomination pulled straight out of the deepest depths of Tartarus.

Tartarus...

I wondered what happened to it.

Did it somehow suffer the same fate as Equestria?

Who knows...

The one thing I did know is that if I had to stay here another moment longer doing nothing but thinking these dark thoughts, I really would go insane.

I glanced at Luna from across the room to see her wincing in pain as she repeatedly tried to cast some kind of spell. I frowned and looked up at my own horn, debating whether or not to try casting my own spell. After a minute I decided to give it another shot and lit up my horn, attempting to cast a simple Telekinesis spell.

My horn sparked to life and an overturned chair nearby lifted into the air held aloft by a magenta colored aura. The utter relief I felt was almost enough to banish all the emotional turmoil I was feeling.

Almost.

I breathed a sigh of relief and gently set the chair down just in time to see Luna giving me an odd look.

"I guess my Magic's back," I whispered, smiling back at Luna awkwardly, "what about you? Any luck?"

"Neigh," she replied with a shake of her head, "I still have no access to my Magic," she looked up at her horn in frustration, "I'm certain it should have returned by now. I am unsure as to why it hasn't."

"I don't know, Princess," I said with an apologetic frown, "it's possible mine only returned because I'm the Element of Magic, but other than that... I have no idea."

Luna stared at the ceiling, humming to herself in thought before looking back to me with a small grin.

"This is good news, Twilight Sparkle," she whispered, "if you have access to your Magic, you can fight against the--"

"No!" I hissed, "nonononono! I don't... I can't do that, Princess -- especially after what you told me!"

My wings fidgeted and my skin crawled just thinking about confronting that thing.

"Twilight," Luna said with a small frown, "I know I'm asking much from you -- too much perhaps -- but we cannot move forward with our search for Cadence and my sister while that demon is free to roam about."

She trotted over to me and rested a hoof on my shoulder.

"I know I put you in undue danger when I left -- and again, I apologize about that -- but right now, you are the only one I can count on," she stepped back and looked towards the window as she spoke, "as much as I hate to admit it, I'm useless as I am right now. Had I the strength to stand up to the demon in your stead, I would do so in a heartbeat, believe me, Twilight Sparkle."

She turned back to me with that same odd look from earlier. She didn't say anything for a moment and her expression became unsure before hardening into a determined frown.

"Celestia told you how to access the ambient Magic around you, yes?"

I nodded, already knowing where this was going -- I had the same thought after all.

Nevertheless, I let her finish.

"It's risky, Twilight, very risky," Luna continued, "but if you draw upon enough ambient Magic, you may be able to gather enough power to end this menace once and for all."

"I thought as much myself," I admitted before giving Luna a bemused frown, "but, if I may ask, what's the risk in using ambient Magic? Princess Celestia said this kind of power in the wrong hooves could destroy Equestria, but..."

I trailed off and glanced towards the window as if to make my point.

Luna nodded with a grimace as she followed my gaze.

"You are correct, Twilight," she agreed, "I am... beginning to fear that it is much too late to worry about that now," she turned back to me and slowly shook her head, "but that is not what I was referring to when I said it would be risky."

"Then... what did you mean?" I asked in confusion, "did Princess Celestia not tell me something about harnessing ambient Magic?"

"It would appear so," Luna replied before trotting outside the view of the window and lowering herself to her haunches, "a rather foolish thing to leave out sister..." she muttered more to herself.

"Princess?" I asked in concern, "what do you mean?"

Luna didn't respond for a moment -- instead opting to silently stare at her hooves.

"Lun--"

"This may come as a surprise to you, Twilight Sparkle," the midnight blue alicorn said suddenly, "but there was once a time in which I was the one who had to stop my sister from falling to her dark desires."

"What?" I cried before covering my mouth and shooting a look at the window. When it became apparent nothing was going to happen, I turned back to Luna and spoke in a whisper, "what are you talking about? What dark desires could Princess Celestia have possibly had?"

"Power," Luna replied solemnly, "more than she already had."

To be honest, I found this very difficult to believe, even coming from Princess Luna. I'd known Princess Celestia almost my entire life, and I'd never seen her once display any inclination towards a desire for power. She was in fact, one of the most humble ponies I knew -- for a Princess anyway.

I was fully aware of how ridiculous it was to compare my life with Celestia to Luna's, but I couldn't help it. I just couldn't picture my mentor and mother figure as some kind of... would-be evil tyrant.

I couldn't wrap my head around it.

Luna must've seen the utter skepticism on my face because she actually chuckled.

"I don't blame you for doubting me in the slightest," she said with a wry smile, "but I assure you, I only speak the truth," she turned away with a wistful sigh, "there was a time when my sister wielded the Elements of Harmony much you and your friends do--"

"Did."

Luna paused and looked at me in confusion. I turned my gaze down to my hooves as a shudder passed through me.

"They're gone, Luna," I whispered, "they didn't--" my voice hitched and I tried again, "I-I know for s-sure... at... at least one of them di-didn't make it."

I suddenly found it hard to stand and fell to my haunches. I could feel myself shaking, but the tears wouldn't come.

I felt the numbness return and I welcomed it.

"Cadence and I searched all over what was left of Ponyville and even the Everfree Forest -- which itself is now nothing but more wasteland -- and we didn't find any of my friends... or Spike."

Luna grimaced at the news.

"That is... most unfortunate," Luna replied, giving me a sad look, "I am sorry to hear that, Twilight. I wish I could do something to ease the pain of your loss."

I just looked away and nodded once. Keeping my eyes trained elsewhere, I decided to get back on topic.

"So what were you saying about wielding the Elements, Princess?"

Luna looked at me with a concerned frown before continuing.

"Well, Celestia was once the sole wielder of the Elements of Harmony," Luna explained, "in terms of raw magical power I am actually much stronger than my older sister, believe it or not."

"Really?" I asked, my curiosity peaked despite my current state of mind, "Princess Celestia never mentioned that before."

"I imagine it was most likely something that wouldn't have come up in normal conversation," Luna replied knowingly.

"I guess not," I muttered, "still a surprise though."

Luna nodded and continued her explanation.

"While I may have been -- and still am -- the stronger sister naturally, the fact that Celestia wielded all six Elements made her a force to be reckoned with to all those that would threaten Equestria. Even I couldn't compare to her strength once she unleashed the full power of Harmony."

I listened to Luna's story intently, desperate for a distraction from my own sorrows.

"I will not go into too much detail as I know not how much time we have before that thing appears once more," Luna said, giving the window another glance, "so I'll just get to the point.

"When you are connected to the Element of Magic specifically, you become attuned to the ambient Magic around you," the midnight alicorn turned back to me, "you know this already."

I nodded again.

"What you do not know -- or rather what my sister did not tell you, is how addictive -- how seductive raw unfiltered ambient Magic can be to a unicorn. This is doubly true for alicorns. Normally this is not a problem because regular ponies and alicorns do not have access to ambient Magic. It is as unusable as the air is invisible."

I nodded again, now too invested to interrupt. I had already known that unicorns couldn't interact with ambient Magic directly, but I had always assumed alicorns could. Apparently that wasn't the case unless you were wielding the Element of Magic.

"The Element of Magic expands your Magic senses so that you can see, feel, and use ambient Magic," Luna continued, "or that is how my sister explained it to me at any rate."

"So basically what you're saying," I surmised, "is that I'm in danger of being corrupted by the desire to draw upon the ambient Magic around me? Is that what happened to Celestia?"

Luna nodded gravely.

"Magic is not sentient, but it... has a desire of its own. It wants to be used, Twilight, and that is why tapping into raw Magic in the atmosphere is so dangerous. My sister did not understand that when she first discovered she could use ambient Magic and... well..."

"You had to stop her." I guessed.

Luna nodded.

"It was back when we were at war with the Griffonian Kingdom," she said hesitantly. "we... my sister and I were in a very bad position due to a traitor in our midst and we were about to lose the war," she sighed heavily, "that was when my sister unleashed the full might of the Element of Magic, wiping out the entire Griffonian Army in one fell swoop."

My eyes widened in surprise and horror.

"Yes, it was just as shocking for me," Luna agreed, "but not the worst of it I'm afraid. I knew something was wrong, my sister wasn't acting like herself. She wanted... more. More power, more destruction, more chances to show her might and completely overwhelm her enemies.

"She wanted to destroy the entire griffon race."

I gaped at Luna.

"Believe me, Twilight Sparkle," Luna said with a slow shake of her head, "had I not born firsthoof witness, I would not have believed it myself."

"But... but you managed to talk her out of it... right?" I asked tentatively, "she didn't actually attempt genocide on an entire race, right?"

"No, she didn't thankfully," Luna replied, "it took time, and there was a fight between my sister and I, but I did indeed convince her to break free of her madness."

She turned her gaze towards the ceiling in contemplation.

"Celestia may have broken free of her corruption, but many died by her hoof before it passed -- both friend and foe alike. It is something that still haunts her to this day."

"I just... wow," I muttered as I stared at my hooves, completely dumbstruck by the news, "I... I thought the Elements of Harmony were a force of... well... Harmony. How could that've happened, Princess?"

"It is an unfortunate effect of wielding the Element of Magic specifically," Luna answered, "like I said, Magic -- raw Magic -- desires to be used, and it cares not whether the wielder uses it for good or ill. If used in excess, the user will become the used.

"Unfortunately, we did not discover this until after my sister had regained her senses."

I swallowed nervously.

"Has... anypony else ever used the Elements of Harmony besides Princess Celestia and... my friends and I?"

"Not that I know of," Luna answered with a shake of her head, "if there has been other users of the Elements of Harmony, the information has been lost to time. Celestia suspected that Starswirl may have been a Bearer, but we never found out for sure."

"And... you want me to tap into the ambient Magic, knowing what could happen?" I asked with a worried frown, "even knowing that I could become the... the same way Celestia did?"

Luna sighed and gave me a tired nod.

"At this point, Twilight, I don't know what else to do," she trotted over to the front door of the house and turned back to me, "in all honesty, I am hoping your natural affinity for Magic will help keep the corruption at bay."

"I... don't know, Princess," I replied uncomfortably, "I don't think I'm ready to wield a power like that."

Luna was silent.

She remained quiet for some time, looking at me with an unreadable expression. It was actually rather unsettling and I began to shift uneasily under her blank gaze. Just as I was about to comment she finally spoke up.

"I see..." she said quietly before looking away, "very well then, Twilight. We will try to find another way to proceed -- after all, it is best not to risk it if you are not confident in your own abilities."

Something about the way Luna said that caused a spark of indignation to surge through me and I found myself having to bite back a retort. Instead I just nodded and put on a forced smile as I trotted over to where she was standing.

"I fear we have stayed here overlong," Luna whispered, "we will move locations and seek another shelter. Remember to keep quiet."

I nodded and Luna gently pushed open the door.

How it was still intact I have no idea, but it didn't matter.

Luna surveyed the area before her and motioned for me to follow. As I trotted behind her, I couldn't help but think of her last comment regarding my abilities.

It almost felt as though she was trying to provoke me... but why?

Shouldn't she have been completely against this plan after what harnessing raw Magic did to Celestia?

It didn't make any sense to me, and on top of that, if even Princess Celestia couldn't resist the Magic, what made Luna think I could?

My talent?

I doubt that would've helped me in the slightest.

What cemented my doubt, was the fact that I had already almost given in to the influence of raw Magic once when I had first accessed it.

If Celestia hadn't been there to stop me when she did...

Would it have really mattered in the end?

Comments

[Black Hoof]

Raw magic is very attractive...
I can imagine Celestia wiping the griffon army while saying "I HAVE UNLIMITED POWER!!!"
I am eager to read what happens next.

[Sir Budginton]

I understand why Luna wants her to use ambient magic while celestia didn’t. Back when celestia said it they didn’t know equestria was dead, but now they do. Honestly the only ones at risk from twilight using it are celestia, Luna, and cadence, and I wouldn’t be surprised if at this point they thought themselves as acceptable losses if it meant defeating the monster.

Then again that would leave twilight alone for basically the rest of eternity, which can’t be good for her sanity.

[FanficReader920]

Theory Time:
We still don’t know who the “demon” is, and we just learned that Ambient magic can have the power to wipe out an entire race AND is a corruptive agent, and the “demon” could have EASILY caught Luna, as she was right behind her for some time. No doubt the “demon” wants something.

The Destroyer Of Equestria is Twilight Sparkle.
After using Ambient Magic, she becomes corrupted and uses it to kill the other three Alicorns and her future self. But, with no one else left to destroy, Twilight uses the time travel spell from the S5 finale to travel back in time to destroy Equestria and ensure her corruption, thus creating a never-ending loop of Destruction.

Thank You, I’ll be here all night!

[the7Saviors]

8870552
Obviously I'm not gonna confirm or deny that, but it is an interesting theory. Also it's not certain whether or not ambient magic could wipe out an entire race. Luna only said that Celestia wanted to, not that she could. Though if it has the power to destroy Equestria, I guess being able to wipe out an entire race would go without saying...

[Gundamdragon]

Twilight has one option of escape alive and still can have her friends,

Mirror mirror on the wall.

[FanficReader920]

Second theory Time:

That line by Twilight, referencing the fact that Luna was trying to provoke her to use ambient magic got me thinking. I think that isn't Luna. Le the explain.

We know Ambient magic is EXTREMELY POWERFUL. Well, I'm willing to bet that it might allow the ability of transformation. Yes, I think Twilight's future-self has used her magic to make herself look like Luna in order to lull her past-self into a false sense of security. My evidence?
Luna relayed her tale on how she survived the explosion of Camterlot mountain firsthoof, meaning that she could have very well been lying.
My theory is that Celestia and Luna were both killed by the Canterlot mountain explosion, and while Twilight was unconscious, her future self found her and took her to wherever we are now. So that "monster" that "Luna" was escaping from "A Princess' Regret" and are currently hiding from right now, isn't a monster at all. It was Cadence, trying to get Twilight back from who she now knows is an imposter Luna.

All I know is that we have A LOT of holes right now when it comes to perspective. Twilight's Black-out is already a big hole that needs to be taken into consideration, as well as the obvious undertones hidden throughout the latest chapter with the reveal of ambient magic. When it comes to anything that occurred within that amount of time, DO NOT TRUST ANYTHING. This story is a first person perspective, meaning we learn details of the the situation the same way Twilight does, so the time from when she backed out to woke up is a large dark spot that we have to be mindful of.

Anyway, I can't wait to see how my theories hold up!

[Kirtai]

I really like this so far. Followed.

BTW,

"When you aree connected

are

I nodded again, now to invested to interrupt

too

[Lovecraftia]

"But... but you managed to talk her out of it... right?" I asked tentatively, "she didn't actually attempt genocide on an entire race, right?"

Correction: That my dear Author is called Xenocide.

[Phoenix Nebula]

"Celestia told you how to access the ambient Magic around you, yes?"

Good I see your aware of Chekhov's Gun

"It is an unfortunate effect of wielding the Element of Magic specifically," Luna answered, "like I said, Magic -- raw Magic -- desires to be used, and it cares not whether the wielder uses it for good or ill. If used in excess, the user will become the used.

I wonder would that really matter in Twilight's case? She is a representation of magic itself... I mean if it did work that way then it would kind of remove the conflict in the story if she actually kills this thing...

"At this point, Twilight, I don't know what else to do," she trotted over to the front door of the house and turned back to me, "in all honesty, I am hoping your natural affinity for Magic will help keep the corruption at bay."

I see the author is way ahead of me.

"I see..." she said quietly before looking away, "very well then, Twilight. We will try to find another way to proceed -- after all, it is best not to risk it if you are not confident in your own abilities."

So I see Checkov's Gun still rests above the fireplace... I'm excited to see when it's actually used.

[Golden Fang Ryu Shenron]

"Cadence and I searched all over what was left of Ponyville and even the Everfree Forest -- which itself is now nothing but more wasteland -- and we didn't find any of my friends... or Spike."

"The Element of Magic expands your Magic senses so that you can see, feel, and use ambient Magic," Luna continued, "or that is how my sister explained it to me at any rate."

Hmm, makes sense....

"It was back when we were at war with the Griffonian Kingdom," she said hesitantly. "we... my sister and I were in a very bad position due to a traitor in our midst and we were about to lose the war," she sighed heavily, "that was when my sister unleashed the full might of the Element of Magic, wiping out the entire Griffonian Army in one fell swoop."

Dear Faust!

"She wanted to destroy the entire griffon race."

Damn....

If Celestia hadn't been there to stop me when she did...

...the same thing would've happened to you Twi....

Would it have really mattered in the end?

Good question....

[Greenback]

I really like the explanation of how magic is somewhat sentient, and how corrupting it can be. That Celestia herself, the embodiment of grace and divinity, was almost consumed by it is a gripping idea.

Of course, this means Twilight's going to have to use that power at some point. I can't wait to see what happens.

[Ice Star]

"Cadence and I searched all over what was left of Ponyville and even the Everfree Forest -- which itself is now nothing but more wasteland -- and we didn't find any of my friends... or Spike."

I guess that means they didn’t find the elements?

[lunlight]

I...do not trust Luna, something is off...and I hope it's not what I think it is

[Sunny]

Huhm huhm, if Twilight goes power crazy and tasers a space monster I suspect Luna is fine with that

[darklight731]

...unleash the magic...
...unleash the magic...