Rarity got a new job in Canterlot: designing for the top ponies in all of Equestria! But it comes with a price. Rarity sends letters to her friends back in Ponyville, and they will soon find out about what Rarity REALLY does.
Rarity dreamed of life as a star. Fashion, photography, red carpet premieres, and all of that fame and glory. But she didn't know what she had to do to get there. Equestria isn't all happy-go-lucky ponies smiling without end. Rarity knows the terrible truth that all only the princesses and four other ponies, including her, have tried to keep hidden for years. Rarity can try to tell her friends, but she is unsure that they will listen or see the clues.
Letters from Rarity.
THIS IS TWILICORN. None of the fics that are in my Starring the Mane 6 series have really anything to do with each other. They are all separate stories that don't have any relation. You could say that they are all in their own little universe.
I send this letter to you as a warning. I left Ponyville before Twilight came back. I left to become a star. I left so that I could become one of the most well-known ponies in Canterlot for a reason other than saving their butts using my Element.
I thought it would make me smile. I thought that it would make me happy. But no. I was better off at Carousel Boutique. So much better off. Though I cannot tell you why, please try and figure this out. This letter is for your eyes only. Please PAY ATTENTION to what I have TO say and be BOLD. These LETTERS are very important for you to know.
You have not heard from me since I stopped visiting about a month after I left for Canterlot. That is when I became quite busy. You see, the princesses have told me the fate that I cannot tell you. They are trusting me completely, and I trust them too. I figured that Equestrian royalty were all lying about how happy Equestria is. But then again, I was wrong about them. Equestria has always had the top safety ratings in the known universe. I'm sure that the overall security of Equestria is even higher than I thought! Many ponies could not begin to comprehend. You may not understand what I am saying, but you simply must come here to Canterlot so you can learn about all of the fun things I do here! The Royal guard was supposed to be very secretive, but I learned that their secrets are nothing really. I also have a dilemma! For my windowsill, should I have red roses or blue roses? Hmm, its quite an apalling situation. I also have another question. Will you come visit sometime? If you're not too busy that is. Oh, well. I should tell you that I've seen many Wonderbolt derbies. Being the high class pony I am, I am utterly concerned about how many derbies Fleetfoot has lost.
Please visit very soon! I hope you GET THIS MESSAGE. I still need help with that rose situation. Did you know that Canterlot is the capitol of Euquestria? I knew that long ago.
Ciao!
Rarity
PS. I would REWRITE back to me. THE life here can get a little boring at times. Be BOLD and send me some more LETTERS, won't you darlings? I do hope that I receive your messages as YOU GOT MY MESSAGE. Ciao again!
Well now that you know HOW TO READ thanks to Twilight, THESE LETTERS will be easier and easier to understand! Please PAY ATTENTION to these words that I so carefully selected. I understand how TO be BOLD like you guys, so no need to speed through these LETTERS!
I thought that this week I should send you another important letter. It has been my pleasure writing these to you girls! I hope that you understand that it is not very humid here in Canterlot. A huge rainstorm just rained yesterday! Oh, I should tell you about my secret fashion line I've been working on! You would all simply love it. Must the parka season be over so soon? That's why I transformed it into something incredible! Will the other fashion designers be jealous of my amazing powers? I sure hope not! This is their victory as much as it is mine. Can you tell from the sound of my voice that I am very excited about something? Anyone can see that I am excited that I finally decided on red roses! They will look lovely on my windowsill. The package is late though. It was due yesterday and it still isn't here today! Would you ever think of doing something so rude? I sure hope that those wilted roses won't ruin my reputation here in Canterlot. Those poor lives that were lost in the recent carriage accident! Of all of those ponies' families, I feel sorry for the pegasus ponies the most. I mean, what shame! Those pegasus ponies have wings, they could be flying everywhere but those poor pegasus ponies inside the carriage couldn't fly out fast enough.
It is so sad. But, onto more extremely important measures, I should tell you about the upcoming Garden Party! I don't blame those ponies for waiting all these years to send that invitation after what happened last time. You girls were such a hoot last time! It made me realize how important you are to me. The other ponies have come and gone over the years, but I must say that you guys are the only ones that matter the most to me! That Upper Crust's butler may be able to cook up some delicious daisy sandwiches, but only you girls can make my day the most memorable! I'm sure that all that bribing we did to Twilight for that Gala ticket so long ago didn't help her one bit on deciding who to take. We're all absolute gems! Please excuse me. I must have to wait on my enthusiasm for the next time I see you girls! For that day will be the most memorable day since the opening of Equestria itself! Oh, I have more information on my new fashion line. It will be coming to fashion theaters really soon I hope! That reminds me, I have work to do.
Ciao for now!
Rarity
PS. Are you still going to REWRITE me? THE loneliness here is overwhelming. I insist on more BOLD LETTERS from you Ponyville girls! Ciao again!
Another week gone and past! I suppose YOU KNOW HOW TO READ THIS BY NOW? Twilight sure is a great teacher!
I have decided to take on an apprentice. I thought of this long before moving to Canterlot, so I hope that I can have many apprentices over the years! I sure hope that this apprentice will be as helpful as Spike was! Oh, the little rascal, how is he? After I told him I knew about his crush, well he simply died! Poor little dragon. He was always the cutest in our group of friends! The Princesses hired me to work on a new fashion line. The parkas will have to wait, unfortunately. I began just yesterday. I simply had to comment on the princesses for their ruling over Equestria though. Such great monarchs! It seems like just yesterday I was meeting them for the first time. A new bouquet of roses had to be delivered to their doorstep, just to show them how new kindness can be spread each day! After all these years, I still can't get the rush of conquering evil with the elements out of my system! Can you imagine Celestia and Luna harnessing three of those things at a time? Power rush! I love the smell of a single rose. More than two at a time is simply too much, darling, too much! To smell a dozen, oh my! The power of that fragrance would be overwhelming! I also met a stallion. He was named Fancy Pants, as I'm sure you heard of him. Imagine if his name were to be Elixtracate! Why, what a mouthful, darlings, what a mouthful! Fancy Pant's sister was a great cook. He is lucky to be related to that Fleur De Lis! Was a stallion ever so happy? I think not! Fleur de Lis was good at this one drink mix. She could make a Manehatten and a Martini plus everything between the two! I wonder if Discord, Chrysalis, and Sombra ever had service like this! I wouldn't think so. Fancy Pants was such a gentleman. He offered to take me around the lake! But of course I said yes. He was only the most well-known pony in Canterlot! Besides me, of course. The lake was the most beautiful in Equestrian history, I'd imagine! Though those sharp rocks at the bottom looked quite dangerous. After I went back to my room in the castle (which was no longer up for rent, of course), I noticed a little creature sitting with Opal. After all, she was the most beautiful she-cat in the history of Canterlot! The creature with her was a tom cat she found on the streets. He was simply a crime! I had to take him to the pet parlor. Afterwards, the cat looked like something amazing! That Opal was so smitten! I think I hear the paw steps of little kittens on the way! Everyone will want one of them! Opal would have wanted it, I'm sure. And I won't soon forget!
Then the princesses invited me to their dining hall for a dinner party! I was so excited! I did my mane, I had an extra shipment of hoof polish, and I got to the dining hall as soon as possible! Which was of course three hours. And the other dinner guests looked like something incredible! Though I was still the prettiest. Who would think otherwise? The dinner was delicious! All of the guests had brought something for dessert or appetizers, and I felt terrible that I didn't make anything! I went back to my castle room as soon as the party was over. I cannot believe I was so foolish as not to make something to bring! To tell them sorry a million times would not cut it for the princesses. So I decided to make them dresses. Even you would love those dresses, Applejack! What the princesses will say about these beauties will earn me a spot next to the princesses themselves! They will appoint me the royal dress designer, and they will be glad that they did! Maybe they will even give me a crown of my own. Oh, but I'm just daydreaming, now aren't I? Oh well. I'll just have to tell you all about it when I visit! In time, darlings, in time. I'm still quite busy here in Canterlot! The next time I see you will have to be during one of the slower seasons. Don't forget to write a letter back! And don't forget to REWRITE those BOLD mail service ponies. They deserve some thankful LETTERS too!
About those kittens! I took Opal to the vet about one week after that tomcat left the suite. The cat scans (pardon my humor!) showed that Opal has the extremely high chance of expecting! Imagine what monsters those little kittens would be! Mind of a beauty queen, heart of a rogue, am I right? And I'm also starting to hang around Fancy Pants more. He took me out to a nice dinner! He is quite the gentleman, let me tell you. He had cherries put into his apple-tini! It was quite fancy, as I'm sure you can understand. And his sparkling water was so sparkly it out-sparkled the costumes that I made for Sapphire Shores just a few years ago! Why, he took me around the palace gardens! The flowers and hedge sculptures were quite pretty, almost prettier than me, but we heard some sort of screaming from the dungeons!!! Why it scared me half to death. A new victim everyday to the law, am I right girls? Of course I am.
What I liked the most about my little evening walk through Canterlot was when I went to see the sunset from the highest castle viewing sight in all of Equestria! You girls would all love it! I can make you the prettiest dresses! You're going to need some high-class hip-wear if you're going to hang around me. No offense. But really most any pony willing to hang around me needs to at least be someone important, which means that all you girls, who all wield the Elements of Harmony, are definitely at the top of my list.
Oh, and Pinkie, I need you to tell the Cakes that they have an important delivery to make! I just couldn't settle on anyone else to bake the sweets for the Garden party that I'm attending! I will pay them when they get here with my sweets.
I really hope that you girls might be able to make it to my fashion show! The princesses will be there too! I know how all of you love enjoy spending quality time with the princesses. Of course, we've been doing a lot more of that ever since Twilight became an alicorn. Seriously, I didn't even know that was possible! The spell must have been complex! But, Celestia would have had many millenium to write it and rehearse it. What with her being a princesses.
I should talk more about fashion! I think my biggest (and only) weakness is making dresses a bit too fancy. The only casual dress I ever made was Twilight's dress! Then again, when she asked me to revise it for her wings, I kind of upgraded it a little...
Yeah. Anyways, I just saw the movie Of Hooves and Hearts. It was kind of a cheesy romance, and the effects were TOTALLY fake, but hopefully the sequel will be better.
I also met this other stallion while walking through town. I think he's Applejack's cousin or something, because he has the freckles... and the mane.... and those dirty hooves.... plus breath was simply amazing. It was like rotten squash mixed with earth pony perfume! Maybe he was wearing some rancid concoction he thinks is the ultimate cologne or something stupid. Anyways, Hayseed Turniptruck? Applejack? I'm going to want an explanation. Ahem.
I hope that creature Opal brought home doesn't come back. We don't need another house in Carousel Boutique. When Sweetie Belle and her Cutasically Fantastics or whatever they're called get their dirty little hooves on him, I don't want to be there. I don't know how you can handle those three, Fluttershy! I would either lock them in my spare room and hire Snowflake to guard them, or just give them away to some pony else. So, please visit soon!
They're onto me. They know that I've been telling you these things. I don't think the code was secret enough. I should've had Twilight help me or something, but I don't have much time. Please, come to Canterlot, they are taking me in about five minutes!!! It is only up to you girls to find the former King and Queen. I will be gone to who-knows-where by the time you read this. Please, girls, don't let Celestia know that you read the letters! It is up to you to save Equestria.
-Rare
PS. WAIT! Stay in touch with my inside source. She is
Twilight: I understand your concerns. We will try to visit, but we're all so busy! It might take a number of weeks.
And are those things that you did actually real? Or is it just a cover for what you told me?
We are all researching into this matter as hard as we can. It might take a week to find all of the correct books while maintaining or suspicion level, so we will try to get back to you as soon as we can.
Fluttershy: Oh my. Maybe I can get a special order into Ponyville while remaining undercover... I know some ponies. We will try to stay as much in contact with you as possible. Please send more information!
Pinkie: OH. MY. CELESTIA. You need some help STAT! We don't have time for my usual shenanigans! This calls for EXTREME MEASURES.
Applejack: Oh my. We'll get right on to solving the problem, Rare! I promise!
Rainbow Dash: Oh my sun and moon! This seems serious! I'll try not to alert the weather patrol, but while I'm out working in Las Pegasus this weekend I'll keep a lookout for anything suspicious!!!
Twilight: Please, Rarity, try to keep these letters undercover. The code is a little obvious, Rare. You should've asked me for help! I'm in Canterlot almost daily!
I promise you that we will keep your secret safe. But we are all a little affected by the last letter. Being a princess, I myself find it personally hard that the princesses are hiding such a secret. We all look tired because we stay up all night researching Equestrian history and researching the Princesses. Even my sister-in law! I have to admit, Rarity, when I read the first letter I was a little wary about those Apple-tinis you seem to like to drink, but then I realized the seriousness of the situation, your tone in the letter, and that a drunk pony simply would not be able to develop a code like that, no matter how crude.
Oh yeah, no offense.
But you really should try and do these letters privately. Make sure there are no hidden cameras or speakers. If there are cameras, go into the bathroom and write the letters or quickly. The princesses are at least classy enough to not hide cameras in the bathroom. If there are speakers, then don't read aloud as your writing. Maybe try and keep the quill quiet too? Quick and fast quill scratches against paper are suspicious if you ask me. I mean, if I heard that on my hidden speakers (not that I have any...) I would at least send in the Royal guard with a warrant to investigate. So, just try to keep under cover, will you Rare?
Just some suggestions!
But we all will protect the secret until it can be... destroyed? Kept at bay? I don't know, but trust us Rarity, as we all trust you.
Trustfully and honestly, Twilight and the Elements
Elixtricate eh? Sounds evil. And a mix between those three? How do you even know this? Ugh, never mind. I'll have the girls working on more narrow searches. That way, we can see how to best harness this monster. And please send more info! We really need to keep working on this problem! Ponies have started to become suspicious, I'm afraid. By now, all five of us have bags under our eyes from lack of sleep! Especially AJ. I mean, she has apples to harvest! The town can't afford the lack of apples this year. We're short enough on sweets and barley as it is! The Cakes are busy without Pinkie to help them, and the twins are going through some tough times right now. They're really fidgety! And no one knows why. Maybe its a sign? And Apple Bloom has been out crusading too much with Scootaloo and your sister, so she forget to water the barley plants! Its all downhill in Ponyville right now. Another sign? I don't know, but we're going to need more info. I think that this may call for another visit. But here are a few words from Rainbow:
Rarity, I have some more information! I just returned from Las Pegasus. My visit was cut short by a rogue twister headed towards the city! We had to evacuate the city and scat. But, I think this may have to do with that monster thing you described! What do you think this monster did? Ugh, we need answers and of course, none of Twilight's books have any information! She says once she gets a hold of the situation here that she will try and ransack the royal library or something crazy like that. WE NEED HELP RARITY! And please, listen to Twilight's suggestions. It wouldn't be good if either one of the princesses found out about these letters. Princess Cadence wouldn't know, because of her being in the Crystal Empire. Its just that Celestia and Luna have been here long enough to understand that a severe punishment is necessary for betraying the princesses themselves! I suggest we send Spike's cousin, just born a few months ago, to help you with dragon to dragon mail. Seriously. Its more secure.
Critically and seriously, Twilight, Rainbow, and the Elements
We looked in my History of the Palace Dungeons edition of the encyclopedia after you told us where Elixtricate was! We finally found out all about him. We know absolutely everything about him now. Well, everything except for his biggest weakness... Rarity, we will visit as soon as we can. But maybe you can tell us in the next letter? It will take us a while to visit because we are all so busy here in Ponyville! Even Pinkie shortened her visit to her family at the Rock Farm just to save Equestria. Please, Rarity, stay under cover. You may have switched to dragon mail, but I don't think that's cover enough. Please take into consideration all of my suggestions from the previous letters. But Fluttershy has a little more information on Elixtracte you may want to hear, if you haven't already.
Rarity! This is urgent! I'm not my usual shy self. I haven't been ever since I found out this new information. The princesses may have been lying before, but now their just lying to you even more! It turns out that Elixtricate was the supreme ruler of our world! He was the one who created hate, agony, and fear. The princesses' parents were the ones who eventually turned him to stone and overthrew him, just like Celestia and Luna did with Discord. But the magical stone casing was not strong enough to hold Elixtricate. He escaped from the casing, and tormented creatures of all different species. Eventually, he found his way to Equestria after leaving his isolated cave in the faraway mountains. His magic was so strong that the princesses' father disappeared right in midair. No pony has seen him since. The princesses' mother, Queen Goldenray, had just given birth to Luna. She evacuated all of pony kind to Canterlot and placed a masking spell over the entire city. Ponies lived in horrible conditions and in fear for decades. When Celestia turned twenty years old and Luna turned seventeen, Queen Goldenray decided that enough was enough. She left Celestia in charge of the ponies. Queen Goldenray went in search of Elixtricate. She finally returned after another thousand years. Elixtricate was not a prisoner. He had agreed to work with the princesses at first. But this is where he differs from Discord. The changing spell wore off on Elixtricate because his heart was truly dark. So Goldenray, Celestia, and Luna all put together their magic to permanently chain him in the cellars. The Royal family agreed that someone should watch over him. So it was unanimously decided that Goldenray were to stay with Elixtricate. It seems that the influence of being around an evil being was a little brain-draining or something, but in the book it said that Goldenray grew to trust the monster. She eventually grew to love the hideous creature. The two grew very close, but Elixtricate did not return the love. Goldenray was tricked into giving birth to the creature's son, who was named Creature of Chaos. Soon after Discord's birth, Goldenray was imprisoned in a fountain that only appears once a year, each time in a separate place. There's a whole other legend on this. But Celestia and Luna were heartbroken. They fought for control over Equestria, with Elixtricate and his son ruling one half and the sisters ruling the other. It was therefore named the Dark Ages. Discord was eventually placed into stone. Elixtricate and the sisters made a deal. If Goldenray was kept alive, then the Princesses would keep Discord alive. So, Elixtricate was ordered every so often to make small disasters happen to keep the deal undercover. Everypony thought that Elixtricate was destroyed. Well, everyone except for the author of this encyclopedia. Twilight says he lives with the princesses. A spell was cast on him so he could live almost as long as the princesses without being an alicorn. He is the oldest living pony that isn't part of the Royal family. After the incident, Celestia and Luna combined their magic so that no pony would even remember Elixtricate. But because of the Encyclopedia, Elixtricate is still given the orders. Maybe even as we speak! Rarity, I don't think that we need to find the elements to maintain Equestria. We need the royal family and the most powerful ponies known to ponydom.
Rarity, we've thought it over. What Fluttershy is saying makes sense. We need the help of Celestia, Luna, Starswirl the Bearded (the author of the Encyclopedias), Twilight, and we some other ponies. Next time we visit, the search begins for King Night Sword and Queen Goldenray.
A purple-maned mare scribbled the last few messy words onto the parchment. She was about to write the most critical information.
"My inside... source... is..." she muttered as she wrote. It didn't matter that the princesses would hear her now. They were already coming for her, according to -
"Drop the quill and don't move!" a voice boomed as the door banged open.
The mare turned around slowly to see the entire Equestrian navy standing at her door. They had on silver armor, with their spears pointed directly at her. She just smiled at them.
"Hello boys! Any new recruits?" she said with a faint Canterlot accent.
"I said DON'T MOVE!" the captain shouted. "The Princesses are on their way now. The things you will be charged of! You don't deserve to know my sister."
"Yes, but where would you be if I didn't design your wife's dress at your wedding? It would've been a complete disaster," the mare laughed it off.
"PUT YOUR HOOVES INTO THE AIR. NOW," the Captain ordered. "AND DON'T SAY ANOTHER WORD OR WE WILL BE FORCED TO ATTACK."
"Why, how courteous of you, Cap-"
The mare's sentence was cut short as the Captain fired up his horn and blasted the mare with a flash of red light. A simple freezing spell. This was usually typical for such arrests. The mare rolled her eyes and opened her mouth, her lips forming words, but no sound came out. The mare's eyes grew wide with surprise.
"I used a freezing spell," the Captain explained. "And a Silencing spell. The non-violent one of course."
What's the violent one? the mare mouthed.
"Where the pony rips out their own vocal chords."
The mare kept her mouth shut. The Captain felt she was secure enough to take off his helmet. His multi-colored mane hung loose onto his shoulders. It was three colors, all various shades of blue. One dark, one normal, and one light. His coat was a pure white and his eyes were a deep blue. A kind blue, some would say. The mare mouthed his name with a smirk on her face. Just as he was about to retort back, regal hoof steps interrupted him.
"Captain Armor," the serious feminine voice spoke. "I see you've done your job well."
"I do it for Equestria's safety, Princess Celestia," he replied back. "We all know what's at stake here."
The princess turned towards the mare with the white coat and purple mane. "Rarity," the princess said with narrowed eyes. "You have much explaining."
The darker princess that followed her sister spoke to the guards. "All of you will leave except for Shining Armor."
The doors shut behind the last soldier to leave. Princess Celestia nodded to Shining Armor and the spell that was cast upon Rarity was taken off. She smiled at the captain, brother of one of her best friends.
"A little dark for a new father," Rarity smirked in her classy accent. Shining cleared his throat nervously. Celestia just rolled her eyes and Luna stomped one of her fore hooves.
"We don't have time to banter about Cadence's pregnancy," Celestia said darkly. "We need to know what's in those letters. Why did you switch to DragonMail? Where is that dragon? Who were those letters to?"
"I switched to DragonMail because its faster and easier to send," Rarity said, sitting down happily in the desk chair on a fluffy purple pillow. "I sent the dragon when I heard you were coming."
"How did thou know that We were coming?"
"I know because I know," Rarity said, being a little stubborn. "Back to the original questions. This isn't one of Twilight's quantum physics lectures in Hoofington. When I went there with her, it was just question after question! I'd prefer much simpler things. Anyways, those letters were to my friends."
"Okay then," Luna said. The shadows of the room seemed to twist like snakes. No lights were on. The evening stood still, as Celestia was interrupted from setting the sun because of this. "Why doth thou send these letters to you're friends? What are thou hiding from Us?"
"Can a girl not write to her friends? I haven't talked to them in a while you know," Rarity said. "And I think the better question is, what are you hiding from me?"
"You said you didn't want this to be complicated," Celestia said flatly. "So lets leave it at that."
"Princesses, do you think that this might have something to do with him?" Shining Armor pointed out. Rarity's ears flattened against her head. Her eyes were wide with worry.
"Of course!" Luna face-hooved. "Why did we even tell her that?"
"Because we knew she'd tell her friends," Celestia said. She cursed under her breath. "Tell me, Generosity, when are they coming?"
"I don't know," Rarity said, her voice shaking.
"You're lying."
"I'm telling you, they never told me when they were coming to visit!" Rarity insisted.
"You were writing something when my forces showed up," Shining Armor spoke coldly. "Would that happen to be a letter to your friends?"
Rarity was a little frightened on the outside, but inside she was panicking like canopy hats were back in season. She couldn't think of an answer, they were onto her!
She had to do this quickly.
In a heartbeat, Rarity stuffed the letter inside her saddle bag. She threw it over her back and began to perform a powerful spell, coursing all her energy directly into her horn. She had researched the spell as a school project in her senior year of high school, but she had never actually performed the spell.
"Wait, what is she-" Celestia barely had time to answer before a powerful blue-and-white explosion pulsed from Rarity's horn. It was shaped like a long tube, going up into the roof of the castle suite. The sound was like being stuck in a million 100 mph windstorms at the same time. Celestia, Luna, and Shining all covered their ears in agony.
The blue and white tube wrapped around the suite like a ribbon, until the whole castle suite was covered. Rarity opened her eyes and stopped the spell, as she had done her job. She raced to the open window and jumped out of it, falling halfway down the castle as a giant boom sounded behind her. She landed in the small lake just below her and dived under the water as the blue ribbon imploded. Some form of electricity stretched out in a circular formation around the suite. It stretched out so wide that nearly half of Canterlot was subject to its prison. The electric sphere acted like a black hole and consumed itself along with the castle suite. The rest of Canterlot was burned, flaming with blue fire, and Rarity made her way to the surface of the pond. She was upset that her perfect curls were ruined by the water, but that was the least important of her matters. She needed to find the train station.
Darkness. No sight. No light. No safety. Only fear.
Hoof steps echoed, the sound dancing between the slanting patterns of rain slashing through the air and exploding on the ground. The dark clouds covered the sky. But it wasn't clouds. It was smoke. Smoke that rained. A side effect of powerful magic spells.
Suddenly, a flash of bright white lit the dark world for only a few seconds. A glimpse of the pony making the sounds of hoof steps was revealed. She was wearing a dark cloak, but her horn glowed with a dark pink light. She had captured the flash and used it to light her path and her path only. Her coat was lilac, and her mane dark purple with pink and blue stripes. She was known well across Equestria, the reason for her cloak. Also the reason why she had charmed the light so that only her eyes could see it.
"Malikcall ellidonit, shambulldon mistasna," the pony spoke a dead language. It had not been heard for millions of years. The only other ponies alive who could speak it were Celestia and Luna. But this unicorn was speaking an ancient spell.
"Balik dash dolikinon," the pony shouted into the magic rain. Her eyes glowed the same color as her horn, the magic aura growing brighter and larger. But still only she could see it. "DARKNESS BE GONE."
The magic exploded past the range of the unicorn. She was lifted into the air as the smoke cleared from the sky, and the rain stopped. Her eyes were not glowing anymore and her horn wasn't either. Her powerful alicorn wings beat hard, keeping her in the air. But they were not strong enough. She fell back to the ground with a yell and a grunt as her bones were smashed into the earth.
Ponies emerged from tents pitched next to half-burnt houses. Though Twilight's eyes were closed and her head dizzy, she could hear the astonished mutters of the ponies. Twilight took to the sky again, this time staying afloat. She landed on a soft cloud high above the Canterlot ruins. From her point of view, the once-pretty cliffside was cut in half by a jagged line shaped like a half-circle. The buildings on the edge looked like they would collapse at any second, their blackened frames showing with burnt cushions and clothes inside. Broken wood and light metals, and other remnants from kiosks and lampposts that were on the streets, piled together in a heaping line against the side of the mountain. The impact of the Blue Ribbon, what the ponies had name the mysterious spell, had forced them across. Water was flowing rapidly off the edges of the broken cliffside. Though half of the mountain (and city) was missing, melting water still flowed through the rivers and down waterfalls from the peak. Tired and weary stallions were gathering some of the wood and metals, to build more sturdy shelters than the tents donated by Appleoosa. Mares and fillies were kept together, huddling by small fires. It was nighttime. Twilight assumed that they had been hidden underneath for about a week. She didn't know for sure though. The magic smoke had covered the moon and the sky. Celestia and Luna were staying at the top of the mountain, making sure that the days and nights continued. Since the smoke was gone, they would be making their way back to the former-city.
Twilight sighed and closed her eyes. The moon shed light onto the wrecked city. Strange shadows were cast along the streets from the broken buildings. Twilight flew from the cloud, spreading her wings again. She had to check the perimeter. It was her job. Even though she had not managed to fly through the black smoke like Celestia and Luna, she had been assigned to protect the citizens from any potential creature on the loose. Twilight didn't know what that meant until what she guessed was the day before. She had traveled through the smoke for what seemed like hours, until she finally reached the broken cliffside. She flew around the side of the hill, spotting old mining sites forgotten deep underground, giant mole holes, and even ancient artifacts. But she also found where she was headed to now.
Twilight reached the cliffside. Trees hung onto the side, their roots half-revealed into the cold, unforgiving night air. Twilight stayed parallel to the cliffside and traveled straight downwards, trying to reach the spot halfway down the mountainside.
"Finally," she breathed as she reached the giant hollow space. Water was still dripping from the slimy, pointed stones on the roof of the hollow space. Twilight laughed coldly and shook her head at the term, "hollow space". She knew better than to call it a cave.
Twilight walked deeper into the hollow space. the light from her horn cast long and strange shadows on the otherwise dark floor. Her hooves clacked against the cold stone. She breathed outwards deeply as she found what she was looking for. This strange sight... it reminded her that there was something ready to fight. That Rarity was right about everything. The princesses weren't as god-like as they were made out to be. Twilight should have known this as much as any pony.
The sight. It was a dark stone cage, meant for something much larger than even Cerberus. There was a metal gate in front of the stone, much like something you'd put in a jail cell. Twilight's eyes grew dark as she once again spotted it. The hole in the gate, the metal twisting outwards. It was left by something, something that wanted to escape and did.
It was left by Elixtricate.
Twilight sat down and put her head on her hooves. Tilting it, she stared at the ripped metal of the cages. Funny how it looked so... destructive.
Twilight had assumed Elixtricate was nothing more than another nemesis to defeat, like Evil Discord or Chrysalis. She underestimated the whole "all of them combined into one" fact. By a lot. Looking at the strange metal bars, she straightened again. She put a hoof forward. And another. Slowly, catiously.... she took her first step into the cage.
She gingerly placed one hoof upon the cold stone of the inner cage. It was pulsing, she realized with a sickening feeling clutching her senses and making her whole body numb. But she took another risk, and put her other front hoof forward.Then her two back hooves. With nothing wrong except for the pulsing, Twilight walked the perimeter of the cave, staring at the walls covered with red stains. There were claw marks ripped into the stone. They were deep. Twilight had been looking upwards and to the sides instead of looking on the ground. When she nearly tripped over something large and hard, her head snapped downwards. As her eyes took sight of the thing that had caused her to loose her footing, her wings clutched to her side.
"Oh my Celestia..." Twilight muttered with wide eyes. "What is it?"
The "it" was pointed. A razor-like design was on the edge of it. It was twice as long as Twilight was from mane to tail. The pearl-like whiteness of it reflected the light that Twilight didn't even notice was coming from torches along the wall. They had lit upon her entry.
Twilight gasped suddenly. She whispered to herself, "It's a tooth."
And then she saw it. On the very edge of the tooth she caught a gleam of silver. She followed the direction of light to the center of the cage. She saw two giant hoof-cuffs lying on the ground next to the silver platform. The metal was ancient and rustic. Twilight took a hesitant step forward.
The chains were twitching on the ground like jumping beans. Glowing blue lines, almost like magic aura, twisted away from them, disappearing into the air like smoke. The blue aura was thin. White sparks jumped from the lines.
"Like a blue ribbon," Twilight said out loud. She assumed that the Blue Ribbon had caused the chains to break, enabling Elixtricate to break open the metal gate.
The silver platform in the center seemed calm as Twilight went to investigate it. As she got closer, the platform appeared to be the source of the vibrations.
"What the hell?"
Twilight lifted her wings and hovered above the platform, hesitantly, before plunging onto it. The air was knocked out of her on impact. The vibrations crawled through her hooves and made her stomach churn and her head become dizzy. All was silent for a few seconds. A few precious seconds.
Then it came. The metallic screaming pierced Twilight's brain. Her eyes grew silver like the platform. Just screaming echoed in Twilight's head. She put her hooves to her ears, screaming with the unseen creatures.
"STOP IT!" she cried out as loud as she could. Even with her ears plugged, she couldn't hear her own thoughts. Or her own voice. "LET ME OUT OF HERE! STOP IT!"
Then there was white. Twilight's stomach lurched. Her nearly exploded. Her face became cold with sweat. Her brain felt like somepony was twisting a knife in it.
And then calm. There was a slight ringing in Twilight's ears. She flicked them a few times. Her vision was too sharp, but it soon faded back to normal. White hooves appeared in front of her face. She immediately straightened up and bowed, dipping her still-dizzy head.
"Your highness," she exclaimed. "Thank you for saving me."
"It was not I who saved you," Celestia said.
Twilight now stood upwards. She gazed at the dark alicorn staring at her with serious turquoise eyes.
"We prefer not to reuse the dark magic spells We learned thousands of years ago," Luna spoke, her tone as serious as her eyes. "But it times like this, We find them to be very useful."
Celestia's brows were furrowed. Twilight stared deeper at Luna's eyes and realized the layer beneath seriousness: fatigue. Twilight assumed her eyes were troubled, dazed, and tired as well.
"What will we do now?" she muttered. Her clear voice rang out in the dark, lonely caverns, echoing along the empty, silent walls. Her reply was water dripping slowly off of the stalactites and the stalagmites.
