The Elements of Virtue

by Rakoon1

The Tale of Stygian

Now that Twilight and her friends had been set free from their stone prison, it was time for everyone to come up with a plan to defeat the Pony of Shadows before he could recover and engulf the work in darkness.

They were gathered in the Mirrored Library, with the ones present being Star and his friends, Twilight and the other holders of the Elements of Harmony, Star Swirl, Mistmane, Flash Magnus, Rockhoof and Mirror Coat. Golden Paladin and Blue were reinforcing the defenses of the kingdom, along with Heartbeat and the other Generals.

“Now that we have the power we need to defeat the Pony of Shadows” Star Swirl said. “By combining the power of both the Elements of Harmony and the Elements of Virtue, we will be able to create a powerful force capable of, not only neutralize the Elements of Chaos, but also send him back to Limbo.”

“Limbo?” Dusk asked. “What’s that?”

“It’s a place between places” Star explained to him. “It’s a very harsh place to be trapped in. Because it’s between places, so time stands still what causes it to feel like you’re never there.”

“But, Star Swirl, with all due respect, a spell like that, when not perform by the General of Portals, requests a lot of magic” Twilight told him. “The price for its use will be tremendous. It would mean the casters would have to stay trapped in the Limbo as well.”

“In the past, we used Ponhenge’s magic” Flash Magnus said. “Can’t we use it again?”

“The magic of Ponhenge is contaminated” Mirror Coat replied. “The Lord of Chaos used it to release the Pony of Shadows. Because of that, we can’t possibly use it.”

Star Swirl passed his hoof through his beard with a thinking look and then said:

“We could use the Elements of Harmony and the Elements of Virtue’s magic in Ponhenge’s place” Star Swirl replied. “Mirror Coat, can we do adjustments to the spell we used last time so it can still be used now?”

“You insult me with that question” Mirror Coat replied, with his emotionally distant tone of voice. “The spell you used is like a master key to all spells. It can be easily adapted. You can easily adjust it.”

“Okay, but should I really need to be a party pooper and say that in order to use the spell we need to find him?” Pinkie Pie asked.

“I can’t believe I’m saying this, but Pinkie is right” Rarity said. “We need to find the Pony of Shadows.”

“But how can we do that?” Jonagold asked. “It’s not like he wants us tah find him.”

“That’s too bad, because in that way we would be to give him the beaten of his life” Rainbow Dash replied.

“Ya mean like when he turned us into stone?” Applejack asked, cynically, to her friend.

Rainbow Dash tried to answer that, but she simply was not able to find the right words, so she said:

“Shut up, Applejack.”

“Despite his immense power, the Pony of Shadows still has weaknesses” Mistmane explained.

“I was able to hurt him” Star said. “That’s the reason why he went away.”

“Then that means he will need to recover” Star Swirl replied. “For that he will need to draw power from the darkest of places. Before he can do that, I shall create the spell so we can strike as soon as possible.”

“And I can help” Twilight said.

“So can I” Star added.

Star Swirl nodded to them, accepting their help. He then turned to Mirror Coat and requested:

“Mirror Coat, you can use the Observer to find any possible locations for him, right?”

“I could do that…” he replied.

“Then what are you waiting for?” Rainbow Dash asked. “Get into it.”

“Yeah, I can’t wait to finally give a piece of my mind to that Pony of Shadows” Gunter said, while hoovering beside Rainbow.

“Oh, I like your style” Flash Magnus said to both Rainbow and Gunter.

“However… there’s a problem” Mirror Coat replied.

He activated the Observer that projected a map of Equestria, with dark clouds surrounding a great deal of the south region.

“The dark clouds represent all possible places where the Pony of Shadows can be nearby Ponyville” Mirror Coat told.

“Yeah, that is not very helpful” Pinkie Pie commented.

“That is the result of the Great War one year ago” Mirror Coat said. “The damages caused by Ten-Tails and the Lord of Chaos’ followers may have been mostly repaired, but there’s still a lot of dark energy surrounding that area.”

“Great War?” Flash Magnus asked. “Ten-Tails? Lord of Chaos? Wow, we did missed a lot while we were out of commission.”

“What about the Ghastly Caverns?” Rockhoof suggested. “I remember those being especially dark.”

“Thanks to a thousand years of erosion, they are now known as Ghastly Gorge” Mirror Coat said.

“And the Appeloosian Wastes?” Mistmane asked.

“Oh, Ah know that place” Applejack said. “Many of mah family go there a lot. It’s quite a popular square dancing destination.”

“And what about that dark island at northeast?” Flash Magnus asked.

“Oh, you mean that island that used to be cast in eternal night where the Pony of Shadows could draw power and wreak havoc while ponies were powerless to stop him?” Pinkie Pie asked, in her own theatrical way, before adopting her sudden and more serious tone. “Yeah, that is where this big city has been built and it made quite a comeback. Now the night there is so bright it looks day.”

“Ah…” Star Swirl said. “Looks like there are not much dark places nowadays besides those caused by that Great War.”

“But we still don’t know where to find the Pony of Shadows” Galena said. “And that’s a lot of land to search.”

As soon she said that, the Tree of Crisis started to glow and the same went for the Cutie Marks of all the holders of the Elements of Harmony and Virtue (for Gunter, it were his claws). They moved around and then placed themselves over a certain place on the map.

“Maybe we should try there?” Pinkie Pie suggested.

“Fascinating…” Star Swirl commented, noticing the Tree of Crisis. “What is that?”

“A creation of mine… along with Purple Smoke” Mirror Coat replied. “The Tree of Crisis can detect any threat through all the Pony Reality.”

“So that must be where the Pony of Shadows is” Star said.

“Indeed…” Star Swirl said.

“That place…” Twilight said. “Isn’t that…?”

“The same place the Lord of Chaos and his villains used to hide during the Great War” Mirror Coat replied. “Arismaspi’s territory.”

“Be as may, now that we know where the Pony of Shadow is, it’s time to prepare ourselves” Star Swirl said. “I shall prepare a new spell, while the rest of you prepare yourselves for battle.”

“I’m sorry, but I can’t help but feeling there’s something about this” Moonlight said. “Is banishment the only option? I mean, we already had a lot of villains, many that seemed irredeemable, and we managed to get through them. Isn’t possible to… talk with the Pony of Shadows?”

“I doubt a simple conversation can be used to stop the Pony of Shadows” Star Swirl replied, with a serious look.

“But we can try” Moonlight said.

“Moonlight, please…” Star said, placing his hoof over her shoulder. “Even if it is still possible to talk with him, we still need to be prepared in case that is not possible. Not all villains can be reached… not when they don’t want that.”

“And the Pony of Shadows is one of those villains” Star Swirl replied. “He was never interested in reconciliation. Once a villain, always a villain.”

Those last words really hurt Moonlight, but she did her best to control her anger and not let it be visible to the others.

“Now we need to get to work” Star Swirl replied. “Princess Twilight, Prince Star Knight… would you accompany me? I could use your help.”

Star Swirl advanced towards the Science and Magic section, with Twilight following him. Star traded a look with Moonlight before following him. The others went towards the exit of the library, knowing it would take some time before the spell could be completed. Moonlight remained behind, thinking about the all situation. Galena and Gleaming Shield approached her, with Moonlight saying:

“I know Star Swirl is a great wizard, but something tells me this plan is… wrong.”

“What do you mean?” Galena asked.

“The only one that can truly understand a villain is another villain” Moonlight replied. “Despite everything that happened to me, I was a villain, so I can understand what goes in the mind of one.”

“You didn’t take that well that remark of Star Swirl, did you?” Gleaming asked. “Moonlight, he has been fighting villains after villains. His opinion on them is not very high. You cannot let him get to you.”

“It’s not him I’m worried about” Moonlight confessed. “It’s Star. I’m worried he may let himself be carried away by his admiration towards Star Swirl.”

“My cousin does admire him… and so does my aunt” Gleaming Shield said. “But I have faith neither of them will not hesitate to do what is right.”

“I hope so too…” Moonlight said.

“If only there was a way to know more about the Pony of Shadows” Galena said. “We could ask the other Pillars.”

“No… there’s somepony else that can give us that information… and be more precise and truthful” Moonlight said, while turning around. “Isn’t that right, Mirror Coat?”

Mirror Coat was still there, organizing some books.

“And what makes you think I will answer you anything?” Mirror Coat asked, ending staking the last book he had and turning to Moonlight. “After all, it’s not like I’m your only source.”

“No, but you’re the one with an open-mind” Moonlight replied. “You rely on facts and you know the truth is more than it appears to be.”

There was a pause and then he sighed, saying:

“You really know how to use that element of yours. I have to say, it’s unsettling that you got to know my code of ethics that much. So, what do you want to know about?”

“Everything about the Pillars and the Pony of Shadows” Moonlight replied. “For what I could notice, there’s more between them than what it has been let to know to us.”

“You’re right about that” Mirror Coat said. “If you want to know, the Pony of Shadows was once a young unicorn called Stygian and he was, if we put it bluntly, the Pillars’ sidekick.”

“What?!” the three fillies asked at the same time.

“The Pony of Shadows was the Pillar’s sidekick?!” Galena asked. “Now that’s something was not totally expecting.”

“But, nevertheless, it’s totally true” Mirror Coat told. “In fact, Stygian was the one to unite them, after seeing the Darkness growing in power. Despite being more of a scholar than a hero, he was the one to recognize the need of the Pillars and caused them to gather and unite. Because of that, the task to defend the Pony World from the Lord of Chaos became so much easier.”

“But what happened?” Gleaming asked. “I mean, if he was their sidekick, what caused him to become… evil?”

“Unlike the Pillars, Stygian didn’t have any particular… talent that could be used in battle against threats” Mirror Coat told. “His magic was not as powerful as Star Swirl’s or Mistmane’s, he was not strong like Rockhoof, he didn’t possess healing abilities like Mage Meadowbrook and he couldn’t fly like Flash Magnus and Somnambula. Not to mention he was not particularly courageous or intuitive. Because of that, he grew resentful and jealous of that. He stole the Pillar’s objects, in an attempt to use them in a certain spell. Feeling betrayed because of that, they casted him out.”

“Without even knowing what he was planning to do with them?” Moonlight asked. “I can’t believe it…”

“Well, they did hope he would return and seek forgiveness, but that is not what happened” Mirror Coat answered. “After leaving the Pillars, Stygian turned to the Darkness and let himself be filled with its power and so he became the Pony of Shadows, someone capable of devouring the light and spread the darkness, and so he went to seek revenge on the Pillars and… the rest you already know.”

“But… why did he steel the Pillar’s objects?” Moonlight asked.

“Why, I can’t possibly tell you everything, can I?” Mirror Coat answered. “It would take all the fun.”

“Wow, so Mirror Coat does know the concept of fun” Galena commented.

“Can you at least tell me what the Pillars thought the spell would do?” Moonlight asked.

“To their belief, Stygian was trying to take their powers for himself” Mirror Coat told.

“Wait, is that even possible?” Galena asked. “Take someone’s power through an object?”

“Well, at that time, their objects were representations of the Elements of Virtue which were connected to them” Gleaming reflected. “Maybe, with the right spell, that could be done.”

“Maybe… but there’s still something in this story it doesn’t fit quite right” Moonlight replied. “I don’t know… it’s just… a feeling.”

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