Dominant Species

by DarkPhoenix

Conversations with a God

Chapter 7: Conversations with a God

Twilight stared at Cadance. “You know what this is?” she asked again, indicating the jewel.

“Yes, Twilight, I do.”

The others around the table were intrigued. None of them had any idea what the gem was, only that Celestia had given it to Twilight right before teleporting her away from the wall of fire.

“Well,” the ever impatient Rainbow asked. “What is it?”

Cadance lifted the jewel up in her magic, floating it just over the center of the table. “It is a soul gem.”

Twilight racked her mind, trying to come up with any information about soul gems. Yet she couldn’t even remember ever hearing them mentioned before. She liked to consider herself well read, so to not know anything about a subject was unusual.

She was sure that the looks of confusion on the faces of those around her mirrored her own. “What’s a soul gem?” she asked.

The soul gem started spinning slowly. The facets catching the light and reflecting patterns onto the table. When the light hit it just right, the inscriptions could be made out on the reflections.

“A soul gem uses ancient magic, from even before the founding of Equestria,” Cadance explained. “Each gem is unique; the inscriptions never the same. The purpose of it is to capture the soul of a pony, their essence. Usually after death.”

Silence reigned around the table. Twilight felt her gaze glued to the gem as it still revolved. A gem that was designed to hold a pony’s soul. Such magic would need to be powerful. The inscriptions could be used to amplify a unicorn’s power, or they could be keyed into a specific soul. Either way, only the most powerful of unicorns would be able to perform the spell.

“Why?” Rarity asked. “Why would anypony want their soul in a gem?”

“To know that, you need to know about the history behind these gems.” Cadance took in a deep breath. “It’s not a very pleasant history.”

“I think that by this point, we can handle it,” Twilight said.

The alicorn nodded. “Very well. It all started before the founding of Equestria. The Unicorn tribe was trying to find more and better ways to increase their hold on the other tribes. They experimented with magic, trying to unlock its secrets.” She paused a moment. “The records from this time, those that weren’t lost, have all been destroyed. But what is known is that one mage somehow figured out how to capture the souls of ponies.”

She pointed a hoof at the floating gem. “Those inscriptions, they are carved by a unicorn while focusing on the life of another pony. The actual carving takes place during a ritual, which must include certain aspects of the pony whose soul you wish to encase.”

“What aspects are we talking about?”

“I don’t know the specifics, but you would need something important to the pony, as well as something containing their magical signature. A lock of hair, for instance.”

“That’s it?” Twilight asked. “That’s all you need to carve a gem and send a pony’s soul into it?” She looked around the table. “So for example, I could cast the spell with AJ’s hat and some of her hair?”

Cadance nodded. “I’m sure there are other things needed that are lost to time, but yes.”

“But why?” Fluttershy spoke up. “Why would anypony want this?” The pegasus gave a shudder at the thought of a pony’s soul being trapped inside a gem.

“I daresay some saw it as a chance at immortality, their soul living forever inside a gem. For others, perhaps a way to gloat over conquered enemies. Though we’ll never know since no more records exist of the research. Celestia and Luna had them all gathered and destroyed.”

“What for?” Twilight asked. “The breakthroughs that could be achieved in something like this...” She trailed off as her mind calculated the possibilities. Even being able to encase a pony’s soul was magnificent! If you could do that, then how long before you could use those gems to hold other things like latent magic? There were huge possibilities for something like this. To just order all traces of it destroyed...

Another thought occurred to her. “And if all traces of it were destroyed, then how do you know anything about this? I don’t ever remember reading about soul gems, and I’ve even read things in the Restricted Archives in Canterlot.”

Cadance sighed. “I only know because Auntie told me about it. She said that I needed to know and understand, as soul gems tie into the Crystal Empire’s history.” Twilight was about to ask another question, but Cadance cut her off. “Just let me speak, then you can ask any questions. I’ll answer the ones I can.”

Twilight nodded. “Okay.”

Continuing from where she left off, Cadance spoke. “Soul gems were supposed to allow ponies to live on. Inside the gem is the entire consciousness of the pony, almost as if they never died. There is even a ritual to allow that soul to appear and speak. This way, family members and loved ones never have to leave.

“But like most things, there exists the capability to misuse it. And so it went that one unicorn, whose name remains unknown spent years amassing soul gems. The only problem is that he didn’t have the permission of those ponies he collected.”

She paused, taking a sip from her glass. “This unicorn went mad, collecting as many souls as possible. Townsponies would complain about missing items, then turn up dead a few days later. When they finally figured out who was behind everything and raided the unicorns home, they found the basement full of soul gems. Hundreds of them. All filled with ponies who had been murdered.”

Twilight gasped, which was echoed by all those around the table. Except Discord, who only leaned back in his chair, eyes glancing about the table. He’d been alive for a very long time, so it was possible that he knew something about the subject at hoof. Perhaps it would be a good idea to ask him about soul gems.

“But why would he do that to so many innocent ponies?” Fluttershy asked, her voice going even quieter than usual, to where Cadance had to strain to hear her.

Cadance shrugged. “Who knows. Maybe the unicorn wanted to feel powerful. Maybe he felt the need to dominate those around him. Or maybe he was simply lonely and wanted as many ponies around him as possible. Each scenario is likely. What does matter is the fallout from his choice.

“See, soul gems, since they are made to hold a pony’s soul, are made with powerful enchantments, making them almost impossible to destroy. That way the soul inside is safe. Another reason the process was supposed to be voluntary.”

“So that means...” Applejack said, a hoof to her chin as she thought.

“It means that the hundreds of ponies in those soul gems were trapped, unable to move on. Families had lost loved ones, ponies lost friends. And now those same lost ponies, who had been mourned once, were mourned again, for a different reason.”

Twilight could now understand just why soul gems were considered dangerous. Any unicorn with the power could trap a ponies’ soul, forever. Though that still didn’t explain why the Princesses ordered all records destroyed. Information like this could simply be restricted so that responsible ponies could work with it and learn from it.

What had happened to those poor ponies was despicable. Poor Fluttershy was curled into a ball and rocking back and forth in her chair. The empathic pegasus must be close to a breakdown as she felt for the trapped ponies.

“So what happened to the unicorn, and the gems?”

“The unicorn was probably executed. As for the gems, some were perhaps destroyed, those families that could afford it that is, but most would have been given to their families. But that was thousands of years ago. I would imagine that those not lost to time are sitting in somepony’s basement or attic right now, with nopony knowing what it is other than it’s some keepsake or hand-me-down.”

Cadance took another sip from her glass, the gem still hovering and revolving in the air. Knowing now what it was, Twilight felt apprehensive about it. There was a good chance that somepony’s very soul was in that gem she’d been carrying around for days now. The big questions were who was in there, and why the Princess had kept it so close to her.

“Cadance,” Twilight said. “You mentioned that there was a way to summon the soul of whoever was inside. Do you know how to do that?”

She smiled and nodded. “I do. And I admit to being as curious as you about this gem.” Her smile faded. “Only, one problem. The ritual needs certain reagents, most of which are fairly common. Though one of the needed reagents is water, infused with some of the base magic of Equus.”

“I’ve... never even heard of that,” Twilight admitted.

“There used to be several sources, pools of water through which the magic of Equus flowed. The water was said to be able to cure any disease or ailment. It’s also a powerful magical reagent.

“But the reason you’ve never heard of it, Twilight, is because all sources have been destroyed. Some by the windigoes before the founding of Equestria, others by greedy ponies who wanted the magic. There used to be one source left, the Moonwell. It was guarded and regulated by Princess Luna.”

“What happened to it?”

“When Luna fell to Nightmare Moon, she used dark magics to corrupt the Moonwell, poisoning the waters. She wanted to use the very magic of Equus against Celestia. In the process, she destroyed the Moonwell. The magic ran rampant across the land. Trees grew uncontrollably, the animals mutated. Even the sky was affected. Today, we call the area affected by the well’s destruction, the Everfree Forest.”

That explained a lot to Twilight. The magic of the Everfree always seemed different to her, not like the magic found in the rest of Equestria. It was hard to put a hoof on it, other than when she used magic inside the forest, it had a different ‘feel’ to it. That must have been due to the corrupted magic that had been unleashed.

Corrupted magic also explained why the area refused to conform to the rest of Equestria. Why it was so wild and untamed. Why, no matter how hard anypony tried, it could never be regulated. She wondered why the history of the Everfree wasn’t in any book she’d ever read about it. All those pages contained were theories and conjecture.

“So it’s not possible to perform the ritual?”

“I didn’t say that,” Cadance replied. “Remember, the Crystal Empire vanished thanks to Sombra’s spell before the fall of Luna. Before the Moonwell was corrupted.”

“So then you have some water from the Moonwell,” Twilight said, putting the pieces together.

Cadance nodded. “Yes. Though I can’t remember how much we have. No more than a single vial would be my guess.”

“Oh! This is superrific! Now we can finally solve the mystery of who Twilight has been carrying around all this time. And before her who the Princess was carrying around. We need to throw a party for whoever it is. I bet they’ve been cooped up in that stuffy gem for a long time and are just dying to come out. And when they do, we’ll have all the lights off and we’ll be hiding so that when they show up we turn on the lights and jump out and yell ‘surprise!’”

Someday, Twilight would figure out how Pinkie managed to say so much without breathing. “Ugh, Pinkie. We don’t even know what the ritual entails. Let’s figure that out first.” She turned back to Cadance. “Okay, you said the other reagents are fairly common, so I assume you have those on hoof as well.” Receiving a nod of confirmation, she continued. “Okay, so we need to gather the items we need and perform the ritual.”

“Uh, sugarcube,” Applejack broke in. “As excited as we all are to figure this thing out, it is late. Don’t you think this would be better left until the morning?”

“Oh no. No, no, no, no. This could be very important. We need to know who’s in here. Princess Celestia wouldn’t have carried it around with her otherwise.” Her eyes lit up. “I wonder... Could it be Starswirl the Bearded?” The mere thought of meeting her idol banished all thoughts of sleep from her mind.

“Twilight, we don’t even know if there is anypony in there. It could be empty,” Rarity pointed out.

She did have a point, Twilight had to admit. But that only made her more determined to figure out once and for all. “All the more reason to perform the ritual. Don’t you get it girls? This is our chance to answer some questions.”

“Twi, you know that I’m up for an adventure,” Rainbow said. “But this can wait until morning.” She lazily waved a hoof around. “None of this is going anywhere, it’ll still be here.”

How could they not understand? This was important. She needed to know just why the Princess had given her this gem. Especially something important like a soul gem. There was no way she was going to sleep tonight. And if she wasn’t going to sleep, she might as well be doing something productive.

“Cadance, what are the steps to the ritual and what items do I need?”

“Twilight,” Cadance’s voice went stern. “You really should sleep tonight.”

“I can’t. Not when I’m so close to figuring things out. I need to know. I need to know why Princess Celestia gave me this.” She stared at Cadance, hoping that she would understand.

The alicorn matched her gaze. The staring contest went on for several long moments. Finally, Cadance sighed. “Very well. It would seem there’s no convincing you. I’ll write down the ritual and you can prepare it.” She summoned a servant, who went to fetch a scroll and quill.

“But,” she continued. “I want to be there when you actually perform the ritual.”

Twilight nodded. “Of course.”

“So do I. Something about this sounds awesome,” Rainbow said.

One by one, the rest of her friends all chimed in that they’d want to be there as well. Big Mac and Mr. Cake both declined, and Granny Smith was asleep in her chair.

After making a promise to wake them all up, Twilight eagerly watched as Cadance used her newly delivered scroll to write down everything she’d need for the ritual. The only sound in the room was the scratching of the quill, and the snores of Granny Smith.

Cadance continued to write, taking quite a while. Twilight feared that the ritual was very complicated. Little conversations broke out around her, but still she watched her sister.

When she was done, after ten minutes, Cadance passed the scroll to Twilight. Scanning across the page, she read off the ingredients and steps necessary to summon the soul inside the gem. It honestly wasn’t that long of a list, the hardest part would be transcribing the glyphs and symbols onto the floor. The figure that Cadance had drawn was quite complicated.

Most of the ingredients were common: powdered taro root, fenwick seeds, ash bark, and several others. These could all be found in any apothecary or reagent store, and any unicorn studying magic kept a supply on hand. The only two difficult ingredients were a dragon scale, and the water from the Moonwell. The dragon scale she could simply get from Spike, and the water was, according to Cadance, in the palace’s vault.

“Thank you, Cadance.”

“You’re welcome. I know how much this means to you.” She scrawled a quick note on another scroll, passing that one to Twilight as well. “When you’re ready for the water, show this to the guard by the vault, they’ll let you in.”

The alicorn yawned. “I’m feeling quite tired. If you all would excuse me, I’m going to head on up to my chambers. You can ask a servant to show you to your rooms.” With that, she stood up and left the dining room.

“I think bed sounds like a good idea. It has been several days since I’ve gotten to sleep in a real bed,” Mr. Cake said.

“Eeyup,” Big Mac chimed in.

The two stallions left as well, exchanging good nights with the others. That just left Discord, her friends, and Twilight in the room. The draconequus had been silent throughout the whole conversation, unusual for him. Typically, he felt the need to interject into every conversation around him. Or at the very least spice things up using his Chaos magic.

“Twi,” Applejack said. “Are you sure you want to do this? You’d probably think clearer with some sleep.”

“I’’m fine, AJ. I need to do this.”

“Well, alright. I’m gonna go hit the hay, but wake me if you need me.” The farmer’s sentiment was echoed by each of her friends, and together they left the room.

Twilight glanced at the only other occupant. “What about you?”

Discord shrugged. “I just slept for over a day. I’m not exactly in the mood to be sleeping, anymore, so I guess I’ll accompany you.”

“Umm, okay. But no messing up what I’m trying to do. Especially with the water. I may never get another chance at this.”

“Oh come on, Twilight. Do you really believe I’d do something like that?” Her glare was all the response she needed to give him. “Well, I admit that I do enjoy messing with you. Your reactions are just so... amusing, but I quite like not being a statue, so I won’t mess you up.”

“Good,” she said. Gathering the scrolls, she rolled them up and placed them inside her saddlebags along with the gem. “Well, come on. We’ve got a lot of work to do.”

She left the dining room, Discord floating along above her. Their first stop would be where Cadance had indicated the common reagents would be located in the palace: a storeroom on the first floor.

She had to ask a servant exactly where it was, but soon the two of them found it. Twilight opened the door, seeing shelves stocked full of ingredients and reagents.

“Wow. That’s a lot of stuff. I wonder how old it all is? The Crystal Empire was essentially frozen in time, so none of it would have aged or decayed.” She gasped. “Why, some of these items could be over a thousand years old! Oh, I wonder how that would affect spells cast with these?”

A soft paw hit her on the back of her head. She stopped speaking, instead glaring at Discord. “What was that for?”

“Focus, Twilight Sparkle. There will be plenty of time for this later.”

The irony of Discord telling her to focus wasn’t lost on her. This was unusual behavior for him. Generally he was the one they had to rein in, not the other way around. Ever since the soul gem had appeared, he’d been quiet.

While she checked the labels on the shelves, stocking her saddlebags with what she needed, she questioned the draconequus.

“Discord, you’re certainly being different.”

He floated above her, sticking his upside-down head right in her face. “Now what makes you say that?”

She walked around him. “You’ve been quiet. Ever since the soul gem was identified, you’ve barely said a word. And now you want to accompany me on what will, to you, be a boring setup for a ritual.”

She sat on her haunches as she placed the powder of Aspho in her saddlebags and looked directly into Discord’s mismatched eyes. “What’s going on?”

“Nothing, Twilight Sparkle.” He crossed his arms over his chest, matching her stare with one of his own.

“Discord, you don’t really expect me to believe that, do you?”

He held out his lion’s paw. “I don’t know. Do you?” His paw approached her head.

She stood her ground, letting him poke her. “You and I both know you wouldn’t do anything. Empty threats, Discord.”

He poked her a few more times before retreating. “Bah, you’re just no fun anymore. There was a time when me doing that would cause ponies to shake in their hooves.”

“Those days are gone, just like so many others.”

“Yes, they are.”

Standing up, Twilight continued to gather the items she needed. “Though you’re still avoiding the question.”

“I’m insulted you’d even suggest such a thing. I never avoid questions, I simply don’t answer them.”

Discord was certainly avoiding the question. He knew something, she could just feel it. But getting him to open up would be nearly impossible. Especially trying to be blunt and engaging him directly. She’d have to try a different tactic.

“Well, alright then.” With a shrug of her shoulders, she finished gathering up the reagents. “Come on, we still need to visit Spike and get a dragon scale, then the vault to get the water.”

There was a slight ripping sound from behind her. She turned around, expecting to see Discord doing something he shouldn’t. Instead, he was holding out a red scale to her.

“Did you forget I’m part dragon? Let your assistant sleep.”

She took the scale, setting it in her bags. “Thanks, Discord.”

“Don’t mention it. Ever.” He floated off down the hallway.

Sighing, she trotted after him. She’d still get what he knew out of him, why he was being so different around the soul gem.

She followed the draconequus through the palace until they reached the vault. Located towards the top of the tower, the vault sported a fairly large door, guarded by a quartet of ponies.

Upon her arrival, the guards straightened up. One of them approached her while Discord hung back. “Can I help you?”

“Yes. I need to get into the vault.” She pulled out the scroll Cadance had given her. “Princess Cadance has given me permission to remove one item from here.”

The guard took the scroll, glancing at it. When he looked up, his gaze faltered, lowering a bit before snapping back up. His cheeks gained a noticeable red tinge to them.

“I, uh,” he stammered. “This is... You can...” He stopped, swallowed, and continued, his eyes looking somewhere over her shoulder. “You may go in.” Glancing over his shoulder, he spoke to the other guards. “Open the vault for her.”

One glance at the other guards, and they were having equal trouble looking at Twilight. Or in one case, he was having trouble looking away. Something was going on here, and she guessed it had something to do with her.

Glancing down, she discovered what the problem was. She was now wearing socks, long socks that went up her legs almost to her midsection. They were pink and purple striped, rather pleasing to the eye.

This would explain why the guards either couldn’t look at her, or couldn’t look away. “Discord!” she shouted.

Behind her, she could hear him laughing. “Oh, but you look so good in those! Wouldn’t you agree?” he asked the guards.

The lead guard refused to say anything, but the rising blush on his and all the others’ cheeks was answer enough.

“Discord,” Twilight growled. “Remove them.”

In hindsight, that may have been a poor choice of words, as the one guard who couldn’t stop staring at her choked a bit, going even redder. “Are you sure?” Discord asked.

“Yes.”

He snapped his paw. “Oh, very well. Though you pull off that look ever so well. It’s a wonder you’re still single.” There was a flash of light and he appeared next to the staring guard. “You hear that? She’s available.” He nudged the guard.

“Enough!” she said. “Discord, stop tormenting these poor ponies. Let’s just get what we came for.”

She marched past the lead guard, looking expectantly at the vault door. One of the guards got the hint, quickly opening the door for her.

She entered the vault, seeing a large room filled with various objects. Glancing at Cadance’s note, she couldn’t see any indication of where the water was in here. She’d have to simply look for it.

Despite there being a large amount of items in here, it was all organized. Everything had a place, be it sitting on the floor, inside a chest, or on a podium. Searching would only take a while because there was so much stuff.

“Discord, come help me find this. And don’t touch anything.”

He saluted, floating off down the rows and stacks.

Twilight regarded the guards. “I apologize for him. He just doesn’t know how to control himself, sometimes.”

The lead guard smiled. “It’s okay. We, uh, we didn’t mind.”

Choosing to let that one go, she started searching for the Moonwell water. Discord had vanished off towards the far end, so she decided to begin at the entrance and work her way back. With luck she’d meet him halfway and one of them would’ve found it.

Searching was a matter of logic. The item they were looking for was small, fragile, and precious, so the odds were that it would be on its own, most likely sitting on a podium. She didn’t even bother to check the large stacks of items, as only an idiot would store it there. Instead, she wandered up the rows of podiums, glancing at each one.

There were helmets that belonged to ancient commanders, a few weapons, shields, objects of power, scrolls, even items that had once belonged to ancient, powerful ponies. About a third of the way through the room, she even came across the startlingly well-preserved, severed head of a gryphon. It’s eyes were open, staring blankly at her.

She backed away from the head, until her flank hit another podium. Quickly she turned around, afraid that she had just knocked over something precious. The large hammer laying on a pillow on there was in no danger of falling over, so she left it behind, continuing her search.

What worried her was the she hadn’t heard Discord since he went off. Hopefully he was taking this seriously and just being quiet, not off somewhere planning another prank; not that he ever really seemed to plan anything. Winding her way around a particularly large stack of armor sets, she had to know where he was.

“Discord?” she called out. Several moment passed without an answer. “Discord!” she tried again, louder.

“What is it, Twilight Sparkle?”

She jumped, the voice coming from right behind her. “You know I hate it when you do that,” she said, not bothering to turn around.

He chuckled. “Aw, but you always have such good reactions. Besides, I found something you may be interested in.”

Turning around to face him at that, she saw him standing on the floor for once. Clutched in his eagle claw was a tiny vial that glowed a faint blue.

“Is that...?”

“It is.” He held the vial up to the light, letting her see the liquid inside. “Probably the last pure source of magic left on Equus.”

Twilight reached out with her magic to grasp the vial, but she felt herself being blocked. “What? Discord, let go of that.”

In a flash of light, the vial vanished. “What are you doing? Bring that back right now! I need that for the ritu—”

Her voice cut off as her entire muzzle vanished. She panicked, her hooves grasping at where her muzzle just was. That was her nose and mouth, how was she supposed to breathe?

Holding her breath, she glared at Discord. She gestured furiously at her face, hoping to get him to restore her back to normal before she passed out from a lack of air. He only stared at her as her lungs burned.

Finally she was able to hold it no more, and she gasped. Smooth air flowed into her lungs, being released almost immediately. Drawing in several more breaths, her mind caught up to the fact that, despite no longer having anything to breathe with, she could breathe normally. A feat which should be impossible.

The panic fading, she glared at Discord. Despite being able to breathe, she still couldn’t utter even a sound.

The draconequus wasn’t even fazed by her stare. Instead, he sat, balanced atop one of the stacks, looking down at her. His face contained the most serious look she’d ever seen on him.

“Has anyone ever told you that you panic a lot?” he asked. Without waiting for an answer that wouldn’t come anyway, he continued. “Now that I have your attention, allow me to ask you something.” He slithered down the pile, coming to rest on the floor.

“Are you sure you want to do this? Water from the pure Moonwell, and as I said, is perhaps the last pure source of magic. Do you really want to use it on something so selfish? Wouldn’t it be better to use this water for something else? I bet you could figure out a way to make a new Moonwell with it.”

Twilight started to gesture again, only for her hoof to bump into her newly returned muzzle. Opening and closing her mouth a few times, she spoke. “Discord, what are you getting at? You know something, I know you do. Instead of trying to distract me, why don’t you just tell me what you know.”

“I can’t do that.”

“Has anyone ever told you that you’re frustrating?” She turned his own words against him.

“Many, many times. It’s one of my strong points.” He placed his eagle’s claw over his chest.

“Listen, either tell me what you know, or give me the vial. I’m going through with this, and I will get Fluttershy if I have to.”

Discord looked almost sad for a brief moment. “You’ve had the vial this whole time,” he said.

She dug into her saddlebags, finding the little vial tucked away. Breathing a sigh of relief, she made for the exit to the vault. A soft paw on her shoulder stopped her.

“Twilight, just remember that you can’t undo things once they’re done.” He lifted his paw off of her, floating up and over the stacks towards the door.

She watched him go. Whatever it was he knew, he was being serious about it. She wasn’t entirely sure what to think about that. The only times she’d ever seen him be serious before was when somepony was in mortal danger.

Surely there wasn’t anything dangerous about this ritual, or the Moonwell water. Sure the ritual could backfire, but she could place wards around it to contain any magical backlash. So what had him so worried that his normal carefree attitude was nearly absent? Other than the socks, he hadn’t even played a prank on her yet.

Well, he’d made it clear that he wasn’t going to tell her what it was, so she could only continue with her plan. Winding her way around the stacks, she made for the exit.

The large door stood open still, the four guards back in their places. Discord was chatting with the one guard who’d stared at her, all traces of his seriousness gone. Upon her exit, one of the guards closed the vault door.

“Thank you for allowing me inside,” Twilight told them. “I hope you all have a good evening.”

She turned around, taking her leave of them. The sound of hooves approaching caused her to stop.

The young guard, the one who had been so enamored with her in the socks, entered her view. “Um, w-would you d-do me the honor of, um...” he stammered and trailed off. Drawing in a breath, he steadied himself and spoke again. “Would you join me for dinner tomorrow night?”

Twilight faltered. This was somewhat unexpected. Her first reaction was to tell him no and walk off, but that would be rather rude. Especially since he seemed rather nervous.

She’d been asked out before, but nothing had ever lasted long. Either they found out that she was just some bookish mare, or she found out that they were only using her to get close to the Princess.

If she was honest, she didn’t want to join him for dinner. It was nothing against him, he was most likely a nice stallion, it was just with everything she’d been through in the last week, and everything that was coming up, she didn’t feel in the mood for a date.

Flashing him a smile, she let him down gently. “I’m sorry, but tomorrow just won’t work. I’ve got a lot planned in the next few days, and very little free time.” A small lie, but nothing harmful.

“Oh, well, that’s okay.” His face fell and he turned to go back to the other guards.

Twilight felt bad for him, but the only other option was to reverse her stance and agree to a date. No, this was for the best. She didn’t even know his name, and it was too late to ask after she already rejected him.

He rejoined the other guards, one of whom placed a hoof on his shoulder. Twilight left them behind, turning a corner. It was time to find a room to perform the ritual in. The throne room was a good option, as it was a very open room, which would give her room to draw the symbol and set up wards.

“That was cold, Twilight,” came the voice of Discord. “That poor little colt bared his heart to you, and you crushed it.”

“Oh please. He just met me. If anything, you were the one that convinced him to do anything. What were you telling him while I was still in the vault?”

Discord floated in front of her, a smile on his face. “Who, me?” He pointed at himself. “How dare you accuse me of, say, egging him on. I’d never do such a thing.”

“Uh-huh.” Twilight rolled her eyes. “Discord, no meddling in my love life.”

“Or lack thereof,” he chimed in.

“Thank you for that,” she said, sarcasm dripping from her voice.

He bounded off down the hallway, chuckling to himself. He paused only long enough to turn a passing guard’s armor a bright pink. The guard didn’t notice, patrolling the hallway.

Stifling a giggle, Twilight bit her tongue, not informing the guard about his new armor. It would seem that Discord was back to his usual self. He’d said what he had to say, and that was that for the draconequus.

She caught up with him outside the throne room, passing by another guard who was grumbling to herself, trying to scrape the flowers out of her mane, and a window that opened at her passing, singing a rather raunchy song. The poor castle servants would have a fit trying to fix that one.

Together, they entered the empty room. Moonlight streamed in through the windows, while a few candles provided their scant light. Discord summoned a lounge chair, sitting in it while Twilight dropped her saddlebags near a column.

One quick burst of magic later, the carpet leading from the door to the dais was rolled up and against the wall. Now she had plenty of empty floor to work with.

Drawing a piece of chalk and the instruction scroll from her bags, she started drawing the symbol on the floor. A light sketch went first, just to make sure she got everything. Her eyes constantly moved between the hovering scroll, and the growing symbol on the floor. There were lots of intersecting lines and loops. A ring of glyphs circled the outside. Everything had to be exact, or the spell would fail.

She finished the sketch, checking it over and over versus the scroll. When she was satisfied that it was exact, she went back over every mark, making it deeper. One of the benefits to being a unicorn meant she didn’t have to worry about walking over the symbol, erasing her marks.

It took her almost an hour just to trace the symbol. The next step, while she still had the chalk, was to place the wards around the area, just in case something went wrong.

Walking around the symbol, she drew more glyphs on the ground at certain intervals, pausing after each one was complete. She ignited her horn, a beam of lavender connecting with each glyph. The chalk would glow a bright purple for a moment, until the magic sank into the glyph, where it would only glow softly, signalling it’s readiness. Each ward was designed to activate automatically in case of catastrophic failure, or she could activate them manually if needed.

When the wards were all set and charged, she put away the chalk, setting the rest of the reagents on the floor. Cadance’s scroll once more in front of her, she set about combining them into a bowl.

With a mortar and pestle, she crushed the fenwick seeds, dumping them into the bowl. The powder of Aspho went in next, the two getting mixed together. One by one, the reagents went into the bowl, except the dragon scale and the Moonwell water. Those were the last things to be added, and only when she was truly ready.

The bowl of reagents was set in the middle of the symbol, where a star was drawn. All the setup had been completed. If she performed the next step, there’d be no going back. It was time to wake the others and get them down here.

She looked over to see Discord lounging in the chair. He had one of those silver screens she’d seen ponies using to catch the sun at the beach, only he was using his to catch the moonlight. “Discord?”

He glanced down at her over his sunglasses. “What is it? Can’t you see I’m trying to work on my tan?”

“Right. Well, I need you to go wake the others and get them down here.”

He sighed. Folding up the screen, he tossed it over his shoulder where it hit the floor and burst into flames, leaving behind a scorch mark. With luck that would be covered by the carpet and nopony would have to scuff it out. “Very well.” With a flash, he snapped his paw and vanished.

Twilight was about to check over the rest of the ritual, one more time, when there was another flash of light. She turned around, seeing a very confused looking Applejack laying on the floor.

“Wha— What?” She blinked, looking around her. “Where am I?”

Before Twilight could answer, there was another flash and Rainbow joined Applejack on the floor. “What the hay?”

“Rainbow, what are you doing? Get off of me.”

Another flash, and a shrieking Rarity was added to the growing pile. She was still wearing a facemask and blinders over her eyes. “Discord,” she spat out. “It. Is. On.”

Yet before she could extricate herself from the pile and wreak vengeance upon the god of chaos, there was another flash and Pinkie Pie landed on the pile. Somehow, she managed to land standing up.

“That was fun,” she said while giggling. She hopped off the pile of ponies.

Twilight just placed her hoof squarely on her face, waiting for the rest of them to show up. Expecting Discord to do anything normally was foolish. She should’ve just sent a servant to wake everypony up.

Another flash, and Fluttershy appeared. Though rather than land on the pile, she was standing up and off to the side.

“Oh my,” she said upon seeing the tangled web of limbs. Each pony was trying to extricate themselves while fighting the other two, which only made the mess worse.

One final flash, and Cadance was unceremoniously tossed onto the pony pile. Discord himself sauntered into the room through the doors, admiring his handiwork. “I still have my aim,” he proclaimed.

“Discord, any particular reason you decided to set Fluttershy to the side, but not the Princess?” Twilight asked him.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” He ducked down behind her as Fluttershy gave him one of her stares.

Cadance was being sucked into the pony pile as Applejack, Rainbow, and Rarity continued to fight each other. Exasperated, Twilight ignited her horn, surrounding each of her friends in a levitation field. Quickly, she pulled them all off of each other.

“Okay. As you can all probably tell, you’re in the throne room.” She gestured behind her with her head. “The ritual is ready.”

Twilight moved to stand just outside the circle, but inside the wards. “If you could all stand outside the wards, please. Should something go wrong, they’ll protect you.”

“Go wrong?” Rainbow asked. “What could possibly go wrong?”

“Magic from back in those times is much more unpredictable. It relies a lot on reagents and alchemy,” Cadance explained. “When dealing with such processes, the magic can become very unstable and lash out. Spells are much more prone to backfiring on the user, or the surroundings.”

“Which is what the wards are for,” Twilight said. She prepared herself, triple-checking everything. When she was satisfied, she regarded her friends once more. “I’m going to begin.”

Igniting her horn, she channeled magic into the bowl, mixing it with the ingredients inside. The contents glowed red, getting brighter and brighter, until they burst into flames.

Green smoke poured out of the bowl as crimson flames danced into the air. The symbol on the ground started gently glowing red, the latent magic infusing it. Step one was complete, on to the next step.

She picked up the dragon scale, hovering it just over the bowl. When she let it go, and it vanished into the flames, a column of red fire leaped upwards. Several of her wards glowed a bright purple as they safeguarded against the inferno.

Twilight wasn’t beyond the wards, so she could feel the intense heat. Sweat dripped down her face, threatening to obscure her vision. She shook her head. Now was not the time to lose focus.

The gem was next. She levitated it into the column of fire. As soon as she let it go, the flames died down, becoming a small fire inside the bowl. The gem hovered in the air, being bathed in the smoke and magic.

The symbol grew brighter, becoming nearly blinding. Twilight had to squint to see around it. A presence in the back of her mind alerted her to more of her wards coming active. The reagents were multiplying the magic she placed into the spell. Magic like this was very powerful, though it had very limited uses.

There was still one final step, one more ingredient. She picked up the vial of Moonwell water. With a tug, the cap was removed. She could literally smell the magic rolling out of the vial. It smelled earthy, like a field just after a rainstorm. Or like a forest. This was extremely powerful stuff. No wonder the ritual only needed a single drop.

She could barely see the vial as it floated over the bowl. Squinting, concentrating, she titled the vial, letting a single drop fall out. Before the drop landed, she put the cap back on the vial.

When the single drop landed, the flames went from red to blue, and a wave of power slammed into her. She was picked off her hooves and thrown backwards. With a jolt, she impacted the barrier that her wards has erected.

The power held her there, squeezing her, crushing her. She couldn’t breathe, could barely see. Pain lanced through her as her own wards stopped her. It felt like her bones were being ground to powder inside her body.

Something must have gone wrong. She must’ve gotten the mix incorrect, or the symbol wasn’t quite right. This was too much power. Distantly, she could sense one of her wards failing. And errant bit of magic broke containment, lashing out at one of the columns.

A blue shield popped up, stopping it, absorbing the magic. She couldn’t see who had cast it. She couldn’t hear anything beyond the rush of the magic. Her body was pressed even harder against the barrier, sinking into it. Her whole ward system was about to fail. If that happened, the entire throne room would be destroyed.

Another ward failed, and another. Soon they would all fail. She tried to summon the words, tell her friends to run, get out of here. But she couldn’t even open her mouth. Her vision narrowed, going dark around the edges.

Just when she was about to pass out, right before all of the wards failed, the power dissipated, drawing back into itself. With nothing to prop her up, she fell to the floor. Drawing in deep, gasping breaths, she let the air flood into her lungs.

There wasn’t anything that didn’t hurt; she would definitely be sore tomorrow. She could hear the sounds of her friends calling her name. Trying to speak, she could only cough a few times.

Gently, she was able to sit up, her hooves shaking. A comforting pair of hooves steadied her. Glancing over, she could see Fluttershy, a worried look on the pegasus’ face.

“I’m alright,” she said. Fluttershy looked as if she didn’t believe her, remaining at her side.

Twilight looked around. Half of her wards had failed, the glyphs nothing more than a blackened mark on the ground. The other half were sputtering, fizzling. Several scorch marks stained the walls and columns where rogue magic had escaped. The servants would be busy tomorrow in here. Since this was her fault, she’d come down and help them.

The symbol on the floor still glowed a bright blue, so bright that the center of it was obscured. But it was dimming, fading. Already she could see the gem still floating there.

If she squinted, she could just make out something above the gem. It looked like a pony.

As the glow dimmed even more, details could be made out. White coat, very long legs, a lithe body. A quad colored mane: pink, green, blue, and purple, flowing in an ethereal breeze.

Twilight rubbed her eyes, blinking them a few times. The glow faded until it was almost nonexistent, leaving a clear view of what was above the gem.

“Princess Celestia?” Twilight asked.

The figure of the Princess wasn’t quite solid. The far wall could be seen through her. But it was indeed the Princess; no other pony looked quite like she didt.

“Indeed. It is I, my faithful student.” The Princess smiled.

“No. No, this isn’t possible. This isn’t happening. I got knocked out during the ritual and this is all just some horrible dream. I’ll wake up to find that the ritual failed.” Twilight closed her eyes and opened them a few times just to be sure.

When the ghostly figure still hovered there above the gem, she slapped herself. Pain shot up from her muzzle while Fluttershy gasped.

When next she looked, the Princess was still there. “This... This isn’t a dream,” she said, resignation in her voice.

“I’m afraid not, Twilight,” Celestia said.

“I don’t get it,” Rainbow whispered, though Twilight was still able to hear. “What’s the big deal?”

“Rainbow,” Pinkie said. “That’s a soul gem. It holds the soul of a pony who’s died.”

“Oh.”

Twilight shook off Fluttershy’s hooves, approaching the gem. “So you’re really gone?” A shimmer came to her vision.

Celestia nodded. “The fact that I’m speaking to you from this gem should prove that.”

Twilight’s legs gave out and she collapsed to the floor. Tears sprang forth from her eyes. Ever since she’d seen the sun move, she’d hoped, hoped that Celestia was alive somewhere. Hoped that she was only injured, or recuperating. Hoped that one day soon, the Princess would return and lead them, tell them what to do.

But seeing her here, talking to her after summoning her from the gem, brought the truth crashing down. Celestia was dead.

Twilight could hear the whispers of her friends, but she ignored them. Her mentor was gone, never to return. Even if everything returned to normal, it wouldn’t be normal at all.

“Why?” she choked out through her tears. “Why save us? Why not save yourself?”

Celestia kneeled down, bringing her figure closer to Twilight. “There wasn’t much time. You and your friends are the bearers of the Elements of Harmony. If there is anypony who would stand a chance of defeating that creature, it’s you.”

“The Elements didn’t work! They failed!” Twilight sat up, her face twisted with anger. “If anypony can do anything, it’s you. You’re the one who’s supposed to lead us.”

The Princess didn’t retreat in the face of anger. “Twilight, any good leader must know that there will always come a time when they aren’t needed. Some will try and cling on however they can, like Sombra. But that’s wrong. When the time comes, one must learn to step aside.”

“Princess, Canterlot is destroyed, the Royal Guard is wiped out, and the entire country is in disarray. How can now possibly be the time to step down?”

“Because now is not the time for a Princess. How many ponies see me as a leader in war? Twilight, I’m not a warrior, I never have been. That was more Luna’s side of things.”

Celestia turned her gaze outwards, towards the others who were standing back a ways. “When the whole world is threatened, I would simply get in the way. Ponies would be looking to me, when they should have be looking to somepony else.”

Her vision returned to Twilight. “I had to make a choice. I could either save myself, or save you and your friends. I couldn’t do both.” She paused a moment. “Twilight, you’ve been like a daughter to me. There was no choice.”

“But...” Twilight’s anger was fading, being replaced by sadness once more. “But even if you couldn’t lead, you could still be here. For me.”

“Even though you may not see it, this is what needs to happen.”

Twilight’s head fell, her chin resting on her chest. Her eyes closed, squeezed tight, but still tears fell, down her muzzle, falling through the air, landing on the ground with a soft splash. “Who, then. Who needs to lead? I’m no leader.”

“Twilight Sparkle,” Celestia admonished. “You are far more than you think you are.” She sighed. “But you are also correct. You’re not the one to lead. You have another, more important job.”

Twilight looked up, seeing Celestia gazing past her. “Cadance.”

“Yes, Auntie?” Cadance stepped closer, coming to rest beside Twilight. One of her wings unfurled, wrapping itself around the unicorn.

“Cadance, you need to lead the ponies.”

“Wh— What? But I know even less about leading and war than you!”

“I know that Shining Armor taught you plenty. You also have military advisors, listen to them. But beyond war, you must play a different role.” Celestia swept a hoof around her. “Your city is already a beacon to everypony around. You must make that beacon shine brighter. Make your city a light in the darkness. Give ponies hope.”

Cadance looked flustered. “I don’t know how, or even if I can.”

“You can, Cadance. And you do know how. You’ve already been doing it, ever since you took the throne.”

“I have?”

Celestia nodded. “Indeed. Your ponies love you, your city is thriving. You are a leader, Cadance. But now you must expand that role.”

“I can try. But why, Auntie?”

The purple eyes of Celestia moved from Cadance back to Twilight. “Because you’ll be giving Twilight a chance.”

“A chance to what?” Twilight asked.

The figure sat down, her tail tucked around her. “Twilight, there’s something you must do. It won’t be easy, but it must be done.”

“What is it?”

“Before I tell you, there’s something you need to know. In those final moments, just before I died,” The way she so calmly and casually said ‘died’ chilled Twilight. “I reached out to the dragon, tried to make contact with it.

“It was so focused on attacking, on wiping us out, that I was able to slip past its defenses. In that moment, our minds connected, mine and the beings. I... Learned things.”

She stopped speaking, her eyes, while still on Twilight, seemed to be focusing on something far away. “Princess?” Twilight said.

“The enemy we face is far more terrible than we could have ever imagined. I know not where it came from, nor what it even is, but I was able to learn about what it wants.

“It travels the stars, going from planet to planet. When it arrives, it does there what it did to us. It picks what it thinks is the biggest threat to it, and it wipes it out. From there, it will rebuild it’s shell, stripping the world of it’s natural resources. Any native populations are either killed or forced to gather those resources.

“By the time it’s shell is complete, the world will have been stripped bare, devastated. Any beings that live there will face centuries of hardship to recover, not that they’ll have a chance. As it leaves, it circles the planet once, covering everything in hellfire. When completed, there’s nothing left.

“It then leaves, heading for another planet so the cycle can begin anew.”

When Celestia finished, there was only silence as everypony digested what she’d revealed. Twilight could barely believe it. How could something like that even exist? Where was it from? How did it have so much power? She had so many questions.

“Twilight,” Celestia’s voice interrupted her thoughts. “You and your friends have a task.”

“What is it?”

“If we,” she paused, collecting her thoughts. “No, if our planet is to survive, then only by banding together can we hope to defeat the dragon and ensure the survival of our planet.”

“But, Princess, the Royal Guard is gone. Even if we round up the stragglers, plus the Night Guard and the Crystal Guard, it still won’t be nearly enough. They’d just get wiped out again.”

“You misunderstand me, Twilight. All of Equus must stand together.”

“But, how?” Twilight wasn’t sure what her mentor meant. What did she mean when she said all of Equus?

“Twilight, you and your friends must journey to the other nations; the Gryphons, Minotaurs, Zebras, even the Changelings and Dragons. You must convince them to join Equestria in one attack against the dragon.”

“But, how?” Twilight repeated herself. “I’m certainly no ambassador. And how do we know that the dragon won’t simply wipe us out tomorrow?”

“I have faith in you Twilight, you’ll find a way. Just know that not only Equestria, but all of Equus is relying on this. As for the dragon, from what I was able to glean, it’s always been consistent. After landing and wiping out the biggest threat, it lays dormant for a time, before beginning to rebuild its shell, so there is time.”

Celestia had faith in her, but Twilight couldn’t even begin to fathom how she was going to go about doing this. Or whether it was even possible. Equestria was a peaceful nation, but the others were far from it.

Tensions ran high between nations, with Equestria generally seen as the neutral mediator. Getting them to cooperate would be impossible. In all her studies of history, never before had she heard of an alliance between every nation.

“Princess, is this even possible?”

“It has to be, Twilight. If we stand alone, we will fall. Uniting together is our only chance.”

Celestia spoke the truth, Twilight knew it. She’d been there, seen what the dragon was capable of with her own eyes. The Royal Guard, the strongest fighting force in Equestria, was wiped out in minutes. There was no way they could take on the dragon like that. They’d need help.

The question was, would the other nations even consent to helping them? The zebra’s might, they’d always been on good terms with Equestria. But for the rest of them, it would take a miracle to get even one nation to help, much less all of them.

Twilight turned around, facing her friends. “Girls?” She wanted to know what they thought.

It was Applejack who spoke first. “Princess, are you sure about this?”

Celestia nodded. “I am. This is something that has to be done.”

“But can it even be done?”

“I think that it can. Or at the very least, you must try.”

Everypony was silent. Twilight certainly thought that Celestia made a good argument. It was just the impossibility of the task that was preventing her from agreeing. How was she, a single unicorn, supposed to even begin this task?

Looking at her friends, she could see that they were all lost in thought. Even Pinkie had a contemplating look on her face. Twilight supposed the question they were all asking themselves wasn’t “should they,” but “can they?”

“Girls?” Twilight asked her friends again.

“Do we really have a choice?” Rainbow asked. “The Elements didn’t work.”

“Just think of all the new friends we could make, visiting other places. I wonder if they all like parties, too?” Pinkie wondered.

“Darling,” Rarity said. “I’ll be the first to admit that I don’t want to go. I just found Sweetie again, and I’m not a pony for wandering around foreign places.” She bit her lip. “But... we have to.” She seemed to force those words out, like she didn’t want to believe them.

“I agree with them,” Fluttershy said.

Twilight felt the wing around her draw her closer to Cadance. “Twilight, can you keep a secret?”

She nodded. “I can.”

Cadance looked around, before lowering her head to Twilight’s ear. “I’m terrified. Celestia’s asking me to pretty much become her. There’s no way I can do that, it’s just not possible. That’s way too much to try and live up to. But, I’m going to try. Do you know why?”

Twilight shook her head. “No, why?”

“Because it’s what needs to be done. But beyond that, if Shining were here, it’s what he’d want.”

Cadance’s words echoed in Twilight’s mind. She knew her brother, and Cadance was right. He’d want for her to step up and lead. If he were here, Shining would be the first one telling her to go on Celestia’s mission.

It’s what Shining would want. It’s what her friends were telling her to do. It’s what her mentor wanted her to do. All those ponies were wanting her to undertake this impossible task.

She tried to smile, but to her it seemed grim. Turning her sight back to Celestia, she spoke. “Okay, I’ll try.”

“That’s all I can ask of you,” Celestia responded with a smile of her own. She looked around at everypony else. “I know this is asking a lot of you, but will you accompany her? I fear she will need friends like you on her journey.”

“Princess, do you even have to ask?” Rainbow said.

“Yeah, we’d go even if you didn’t ask us,” Pinkie added. The others all nodded, even Rarity.

“Girls... Thank you,” Twilight said. She reached out her hooves, inviting her friends forward.

They came together, sharing a hug. Twilight was in the middle of it, pressed between Applejack and Fluttershy. It was warm and comforting in there. She loved her friends, and briefly wondered what she’d done to deserve them. No matter the situation, despite any spats they had amongst themselves, they could always be counted on. It was at times like this that she truly felt the power of their friendship.

They held each other for several long moments before separating. Twilight turned back around to see Celestia still gazing down on them.

“The ritual can only summon me for a finite amount of time. Until the magic fails and I fade, I will answer any question I’m sure you have.”

Twilight thought. She had so many question, but time was short. She needed to organize them by importance, make sure to ask the most important ones first.

“I’ve got one,” Applejack spoke up. “If you’re gone, how come the sun and moon are still moving? Luna was injured, but is she still around somewhere?”

“Answering that requires you to know a bit about my sister and I.” The figure sat down once more, going into what Twilight recognized as ‘Lecture Mode.’

“Luna and I are True Alicorns, meaning that we were born as we are.” She pointed a hoof towards Cadance. “Cadance is what’s known as an Ascended Alicorn. She was born a unicorn, but ascended to become an alicorn. The difference between the two is a matter of power, and longevity.

“Cadance is more powerful than a unicorn, stronger than an earth pony, and faster than a pegasus. Luna and I are both better than her in all those aspects. We have the best traits of all three tribes.

“Cadance will far outlive any other pony. Unless something unfortunate happens, she will easily live to be a thousand. Luna and I are immortal.”

“Hold on,” Twilight said. “If you’re immortal, how are you...” She trailed off, unable to bring herself to say the word.

“Dead?” Celestia finished. “Because being a True Alicorn means that while we will never die of old age or disease, we can still be killed. True, it is very difficult to kill us, but it is possible. It’s not our bodies that are immortal, but our souls. Our souls are tied to the jobs we do.”

Celestia pointed her hoof at the roof. “Luna’s soul is tied to the moon, mine to the sun. So long as those two things exist, so shall we. Should our physical bodies die, our souls will flee to the heavens, insuring that no matter what, life can continue on Equus.”

Twilight pondered for a moment. “So your soul is in the sun right now?”

“Yes, and no. Rather than in the sun, more like it is a part of the sun.”

“But if your soul’s in the sun, how are you here, in this gem?”

Looking down, Celestia regarded the gem. “A soul gem could never hope to contain my soul. Instead, this one was made to capture only a small part of me.”

“So what about Luna?” Applejack asked.

Celestia looked around, before her gaze landed on the large, white orb that was currently visible through one of the windows. “I can feel her, she is on the moon.”

“So Luna is gone as well?”

“Yes, Applejack. I’m afraid she is. The dragon was able to deal her a mortal blow.”

That bit of news wasn’t as surprising to Twilight. With the clarity afforded by Magic, she’d been able to clearly see Luna’s wound. The others would’ve been too far away to get a good look at it. The dragon had nearly torn her in half. If that hadn’t killed her, then the wall of fire would have.

“Is that it? Are you gone for good? Stuck as part of the sun while the memory of you slowly fades away?” Twilight asked.

“No, Twilight. There is a way for me to regain a body. But,” She cut off Twilight as the unicorn opened her mouth. “It is a long process, taking a thousand years.”

A thousand years was a long time. That meant that after this, unless she performed the ritual again, she’d never see her mentor again. The finality of that thought was like a slap in the face. The cold truth finally sank in, and no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t lie to herself.

Her mentor, the mare who was like a second mother to her, was gone. While she could take solace in the fact that someday Celestia would be back, it would be long after Twilight was dead.

Luna as well, trapped on the moon for another thousand years not too long after she got back from just such a fate. Twilight gasped as something clicked into place in her mind.

“Princess, then Luna, back when she was Nightmare Moon, that thousand years she spent on the moon...”

“Twilight, I am a Princess no longer. You’ve never listened to me before when I asked this of you, but maybe this time will be different. Just call me Celestia.”

“Okay, Pr— Celestia.” The name rolled off her tongue, seeming unfamiliar without the royal title before it.

Celestia chuckled. “See, that’s not so bad.” Her face grew serious once more. “But in answer to your question, yes. When I used the elements against Luna all those years ago, she was killed.”

“But how? I thought the Elements couldn’t kill.”

“What the Elements do are up to the wielder. When I used them, I was desperate. The Nightmare had given Luna incredible strength and magic, magic she had used to imbue her armies with great power. What the history books leave out is that Luna was winning the war. If I hadn’t used the Elements, I would’ve lost, and the world have been plunged into eternal darkness.

“The Elements were never meant to be used like I used them. They draw on the power of the one who wields them. When you six use them, each one draws upon the power of the Element that resides within you. Back then, I was but one of the bearers, same as you. Luna was another, and four regular ponies made up the others. One of the first things Luna did was kill the other four, ponies we considered friends. She had hoped to render the Elements useless.”

“But that didn’t work. You used the Elements.”

“I did.” She sighed. “The Nightmare was like a cancer on Luna. The only way to save her was to excise the cancerous part, a delicate thing. When I used the Elements, it was like performing the surgery with a warhammer. You’d get the cancer, but everything else as well. The Elements were never meant to be used alone. If I wasn’t a True Alicorn, the attempt would’ve killed me.”

She paused, thinking over her words. “The Elements were unfocused, imprecise. Rather than simply cut away the Nightmare, they tore Luna’s soul from her body.”

Twilight winced. That sounded extremely unpleasant. Celestia must’ve been truly desperate if she was willing to use the Elements like that against her own sister. She couldn’t imagine being put in that situation, knowing that you had no choice. Eternal night is a death sentence for the world; there was no way her mentor could’ve allowed that to happen. She had to make a truly tough choice.

“Even though using the Elements nearly killed me, it was the thought of what I had done that hurt worse. The Elements were unable to stop the Nightmare, she was still a part of my sister. Instead, all I had done was prolong Luna’s torment. She’d be trapped on the moon for a thousand years, trapped with her hatred and anger and sadness. I truly thought that the experience would break her, forever.

“As the ages passed and the time of her release drew near, I knew that I needed to find new bearers for the Elements. By using them alone, I had severed all ties to them; never again could I use the Elements. I used my school to find a new bearer for Magic, as that is the most important Element, always the last to manifest. Once I found you, Twilight, I knew the others had to be nearby.

“I was unable to find any trace of the other Elements in Canterlot, so the only other option was Ponyville. I sent you there, knowing that your connection to the Elements would lead you to the others. When Nightmare Moon returned, and you were able to defeat her and bring back my sister, Twilight, I was more proud of you than I’d ever been.”

“But how were we able to succeed where you weren’t?”

“Because each of you represents one of the Elements. By using them, the Elements were able to manifest at full power. And you, Twilight were able to direct them with precision. To go back to my previous metaphor, where I performed surgery with a warhammer, you used a scalpel, only cutting away exactly what needed to be removed.”

Celestia kneeled down, bowing before Twilight and her friends. “Thank you, Twilight Sparkle, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, and Fluttershy. Thank you for bringing my sister back to me.”

“Aw shucks, it was nothing,” Applejack said. “Besides, you got your sister, while I got the best friends I could ever ask for.”

The others all chimed in with their agreement to the farmer’s words. But something Celestia had said was nagging at Twilight.

“Celestia, you mentioned that you knew my connection to the Elements would lead me to the others. So does that mean that our friendship is only because of the connection we share? If it weren’t for the Elements, would we even be friends?”

“Twilight!” Rarity exclaimed. “How rude of you to ask that.”

Celestia held up a hoof, silencing the fashionista. “It is a fair question, Rarity, and one that deserves an answer.”

Rarity shut her mouth, holding back whatever rebuke she’d been about to deliver. That didn’t stop her from making her displeasure known with a look directed at Twilight.

“I can only speak through my experience with the Elements and being a Bearer. With Luna, it was easy, we were sisters. But with the other four, it was different. Before we found them, there was this subtle tugging I felt, leading me towards them. After I found them, the six of us fell right into being friends. I admit that I found some of them to be slightly... annoying, and still did, even up until their deaths, but that didn’t stop us from being friends.

“It is my opinion that being connected to the Elements did not force us to be friends, it only made the connection easier. Even without the Elements, the six of us would have been friends. I have no doubt that it’s the same for you, Twilight. You would have found these five eventually, and you would still be right where you are today.”

Celestia’s explanation certainly made Twilight feel better. She’d thought that her friendships, her entire life, was simply the result of manipulation by the Elements and her mentor. To know that wasn’t the case was a burden lifted off her heart.

“Thank you, Princess.”

“You’re welcome, Twilight. But, call me Celestia.”

The figure of Celestia began to shimmer and fade, before resetting itself. “My time is nearly up,” Celestia said. “The ritual is almost out of power. We have but a few minutes left. Ask any final questions you may have.”

“Why did you send us to the middle of nowhere? We nearly froze to death,” Rainbow blurted out.

Celestia’s cheeks went red. “That was... A mistake. I may have been a bit hasty with my spell casting and mixed up the coordinates for the landing. Though I am glad to see that you made it here.”

“A mistake?” Twilight asked. Surely that was impossible. Celestia never made mistakes.

“Yes, Twilight, a mistake. I am just as susceptible to them as others. Being immortal does not make one exempt from mistakes.”

“But...” Twilight’s ears drooped. Celestia was perfect, she always knew just how to react to any situation. She always gave perfect advice. She never did anything wrong. If anything, she was always fixing the mistakes of others, including Twilight.

To learn that Celestia was just like any other pony, capable of making mistakes, was a severe blow to Twilight’s view of her mentor. That just wasn’t possible.

“Twilight,” Celestia’s soft voice broke through Twilight’s thoughts. “Don’t feel sad, Twilight. I know that you’ve always had an... inflated view of me, but I consider my ability to make mistakes something good. If I never mess up, how can I learn? You wonder how it is I always seem to know what to do? It’s because over the millennia, I have made many mistakes. But I’ve learned from each one. It’s a process that never stops, for every mistake I learn from, I make another, different one.”

Her words made sense. Making mistakes was an integral part of any pony’s life. It’s how they learned about things that can’t be taught, how they experienced things for themselves, and the consequences that came with it, good or bad.

But Celestia was a Princess, and an alicorn. If anyone should be above little things like mistakes, it would be her.

“Remember Luna, Twilight? She made one mistake, she gave in to her jealousy and anger at me. It gave way to the rise of Nightmare Moon, and a war that killed many. It led to her being trapped on the moon for a thousand years. It led to our land being permanently scarred. All of that, from one mistake.”

It was true. Whether Luna had meant to or not at the time, giving in, becoming the Nightmare, was a mistake. And Luna was Celestia’s sister. So if Luna was capable of making mistakes, then it was logical to assume that so was Celestia.

Twilight was proud of her logical skills. She prided herself on being able to logically deduce answers and conclusions with a high chance of being correct. If logic was telling her that Celestia was capable of making mistakes, then based on her large pool of data, it would be true.

The fact that it was true didn’t make it any easier to accept. She’d always seen Celestia as perfect in every way. Her mentor was a goddess, above such petty things as mistakes. But now, that view was shattered, like so many other things had been in the last week.

"Everypony found out they aren't alone in the universe, but their cosmic neighbor isn't visiting on the best of terms; The Princess couldn't hold back the creature's power and the Elements of Harmony all but failed to contain it and, to top it all off, Celestia made a mistake and everypony nearly died because of it. How Discord wasn't cackling at such displays of chaos, she didn't know.".

Celestia shimmered once more, fading out even more. “The magic is about to fail.” She regarded each of them, including Discord, who still stood off to the side where he’d been watching the whole affair. “This is goodbye.”

Her purple eyes fell upon Cadance. “Cadance, I know that you will become the leader that the ponies need right now.” Her gaze shifted towards the draconequus. “Discord, lend Cadance a hand. And try to not cause too much trouble.”

Surprisingly, he nodded. “Very well, Celestia. Just know that in a thousand years, I will unleash a torrent of pranks against you.”

“I look forward to it.”

Finally, her gaze rested upon Twilight and her friends. “Twilight, you have something very important to do now. But you will have your friends by your side. Rely on them, as they will help you in this task.”

“You can count on us, Celestia!” Pinkie said, giving a salute.

“I know I can.” Her image sputtered, almost disappearing. “This is goodbye, my little ponies. I wish you the best of luck.”

Twilight lurched forward, reaching to try and grasp onto Celestia. She wanted, she needed to feel her mentor one last time. She needed to feel those large wings wrap around her, draw her in close. It was safe in there, nothing could ever happen inside that cocoon.

Instead, her hooves passed through the image, like it wasn’t even there. “Wait, Celestia!”

Celestia was almost gone, she could barely be seen. “Goodbye, Twilight. I know that you’ll do me proud. You always have.”

As the last words echoed in the room, Celestia faded away entirely. The soul gem dropped into the now empty bowl, and the last bit of magic powering the symbol faded, leaving only the chalk lines remaining.

“Celestia...” Twilight’s hoof was still reaching out, trying to grasp something that wasn’t there anymore.

The truth threatened to crush her. Celestia was gone. She wasn’t coming back, not in Twilight’s lifetime. Never again would she be able to hug her mentor, or be hugged by her. Never would she be able to hear her voice, without performing some complicated ritual. And the reagents for that ritual were running out.

When the spell nearly exploded, she’d dropped the vial. It was laying on the ground. Fortunately, she’d placed the cap on, so the precious liquid was still inside. In the faint blue glow it gave off, she could see that there wasn’t much left. Maybe three, four drops of it, before there was none. When it ran out, the ritual would be unable to be performed.

As much as she desperately wanted to repeat the ritual, see Celestia again, she knew that she couldn’t. And that was what hurt the most. Celestia had always been but a letter or train ride away. If Twilight ever needed to talk, she was available. But now, that was no longer an option.

Twilight picked up the vial, gazing at it a moment before floating it over to Discord. “You knew,” she said. It wasn’t a question, but a statement.

He nodded. “I did. I’ve known about her soul gem for a long time now. She had one made, just in case.”

“That’s why you’ve been so quiet, why you didn’t want me to go through with this.” Again, he nodded. “Why?”

“Despite what you may think, I am not just a fun-loving, ever-pranking creature, though that is mostly who I am. I have a heart, small though it is. I knew who was in that gem, and I knew the pain it would cause you to find out.”

“So you cared about me.”

“I did, and do. In the beginning, I resented you all, even hated you. You were so quick to dangle the Elements over me, threaten me with imprisonment. You preached about the magic of friendship, and love and tolerance. It made me gag.”

He moved closer to her, laying his paw on her shoulder. “But I admit, your flower-hugging ways won me over, eventually.” He plucked the vial out of the air, holding it out to her.

“Keep it. Make sure it gets back to the vault. I’m afraid if I have it, the temptation to use it will be too much.”

Folding his claw around it, he nodded. “I understand.”

He backed off, but his presence was quickly replaced by others. Her friends all drew her together. “Twilight,” Pinkie said. Her hair had lost much of its usual bounciness, falling straight around her shoulders.

“I’m... I’ll be okay, girls. I just need some time.” She returned the hug, briefly, before squirming out of it. She walked over to the doors into the throne room. “Cadance, tell the servants not to worry about the throne room. I’ll clean it myself.”

Without waiting for an answer, she left the room. She needed to get out of the palace, even if it wasn’t very far. It was too depressing in here now, too many things hanging in the air.

She left the palace, nodding to the guards at the front doors. It was very late at night, or very early in the morning, depending on how one looked at it. The streets were empty, with only the occasional pony out on some business, or guards patrolling the streets. She wandered, no real destination in mind, lost in her thoughts.

Tonight had been less of a revelation, and more of a confirmation. Ever since she’d last seen Celestia, standing on the hill and smiling her coy little smile, she’d known. Ever since she’d ended up in some frozen wasteland, she’d known. Even when she saw the sun moving across the sky, she’d known. She’d known that Celestia was gone.

Hope. She’d let herself feel hope. Hope was dangerous, it could lead ponies to believe in something that wasn’t true. Hope could delude a pony, hide the truth beneath lies. And worse than lies told by a friend, these were lies told by oneself, to oneself. The hardest lies to ignore, because they were so insistent.

She had deluded herself, fooled herself into believing that which she knew in her heart to be untrue. And tonight, those lies came crashing down around her head, shattering at her hooves; the truth hurt.

Now, no matter what, she could never go back to believing those lies. The wool had been forever pulled from her eyes. Celestia was dead.

Time had little meaning for her as she wandered, picking streets at random to turn down. Eventually, she found herself in a residential section, with nice little houses all lined up. Most houses were dark, though the occasional one had a small light spilling out into their yard.

Everything looked so normal here. A casual observer wouldn’t be able to tell that a nation had been torn apart, its’ leaders dead. Nopony could tell that so many lives had been shattered, turned upside down. Here, on this street, everything was normal.

Twilight wished for normalcy right now. True, her version of normal was different from somepony elses, but she wanted it. She wanted to wrap her hooves around it and never let it go.

She glanced up, seeing the moon sliding lower in the sky. No matter how much she wanted to avoid it, she needed sleep. Her body was starting to give up. She was no stranger to late nights, but she’d been so long without a decent night’s sleep that she desperately needed one.

It was time to head back to the palace, which meant she first needed to figure out where she was. She could see the palace, standing tall over everything else. If she could make it to one of the main streets, she could follow it straight to the palace.

Turning around, she retraced her steps down the street she was on, following it to a crossroads. She was in luck, glancing towards the palace, it looked like this road went all the way there. Somehow, during her wandering, she’d managed not to stray too far from the main roads.

Taking the turn, she was able to reach the palace shortly. She was lucky to have stayed so close by the palace. By taking the random turns, she could’ve ended up anywhere.

Sharing another nod with the guards at the door, she went inside. As much as she didn’t want to, she needed to go back to the throne room. It had been quite a mess when she left, and she needed to clean it up. It wouldn’t be fair to the servants to make them do it.

The doors into the throne room were closed, but a short burst of magic took care of that problem. Inside, the long carpet had been replaced, and any sign that a nearly failed ritual had taken place here was gone.

She wondered who had cleaned up. A quick check under the carpet showed her even that was clean, her chalk symbol gone. The bowl and gem were also missing.

She was happy to see that it was done, as that was one less thing she needed to do, but she had wanted to do it herself. But it was already done and there wasn’t anything she could do.

Leaving the throne room, she made her way to her room, heading inside and closing the door behind her. The room was spotless, the bed made perfectly. Rarity’s necklace was gone, but in its place was a familiar gem.

Climbing into the bed, she saw that the gem was sitting on a note. She slid the note out from under the gem, bringing it up and reading it.

Twilight,

I was going to put this gem in the vault to keep it safe, but I thought that perhaps you might want to hold onto it. If you ever need to talk, know that I’m always available to listen.

Cadance

Twilight set aside the letter. Cadance really was the best sister she could ever have.

Getting into the bed, she pulled the gem towards her, cradling it into her chest with her hooves. She could almost swear that she felt Celestia’s essence, her warmth, emanating from the gem.

Maybe it was foalish of her, but she wanted to feel close to Celestia again, just one more time. This gem was all she had left of her mentor, and it contained a piece of her soul.

Curling up, the gem tucked safely in her hooves, she closed her eyes. She thought about her mentor, about all the times she’d seen her. She fell asleep to the blissful images of a waving mane.

Author's Note:

Edited by:
Sasha Nein
TheAspiringWriter93

I don't normally do this, but question for you readers. How long is too long for a chapter? This chapter is certainly my longest yet, and there is a current trend towards each chapter being longer than the previous one.

I told myself that if a chapter ever went above 15k words, that I'd break it up into parts. All the parts would be posted at the same time, but hopefully it would seem less daunting.

I suppose then, do y'all like having long chapters, or would you like me to break them up into smaller parts?

Comments

[Zecoro]

Some interesting facts in here that i think should be in the series. Like the history behind the Everfree for example. Well made story :)

[PinDrop]

Chapter 5:

Berry laughed, the sound ringing out through the room. “Princess Celestia can’t make mistakes, she’s the princess!”
Twilight smiled. “You’re right. She must’ve meant for us to be out here. But anyway, we got lost in the storm last night and your mother was kind enough to let us stay here.”
Twilight’s smile was tinged with sadness. Not wanting the filly to notice, she looked over at Applejack. The farmer did notice, as her own face adopted a similar look. Princess Celestia wasn’t perfect. It was rare, but Twilight had seen her make mistakes before. But how could you explain that to a filly without ruining her view of the ruler?

Chapter 7:

“Why did you send us to the middle of nowhere? We nearly froze to death,” Rainbow blurted out.
Celestia’s cheeks went red. “That was... A mistake. I may have been a bit hasty with my spell casting and mixed up the coordinates for the landing. Though I am glad to see that you made it here.”
“A mistake?” Twilight asked. Surely that was impossible. Celestia never made mistakes.
“Yes, Twilight, a mistake. I am just as susceptible to them as others. Being immortal does not make one exempt from mistakes.”
“But...” Twilight’s ears drooped. Celestia was perfect, she always knew just how to react to any situation. She always gave perfect advice. She never did anything wrong. If anything, she was always fixing the mistakes of others, including Twilight.
To learn that Celestia was just like any other pony, capable of making mistakes, was a severe blow to Twilight’s view of her mentor. That just wasn’t possible.

Either Twilight thinks Celestia is perfect, or she doesn't. Pick one. Having a character do a complete 180 on their view of something in just 2 chapters, especially when you use a dozen paragraphs on the subject, is extremely jarring.

[Widow Peak]

Well, as expected, the gem contained Celestia's soul. At least I saw that coming, not sure about the rest.

Shame she will not be able to bring her back...