The Darkest of Stars

Ten Days Later...

Twilight was sitting in her room in the castle in Canterlot, pouring over a book on the landscapes of Equestria. Her room was about the size of her old house in Canterlot, before she had moved to Ponyville. Celestia had personally seen to it that it was lined with more books than Twilight had ever had before.

The room had a very high, domed glass ceiling and telescope for viewing the sky. She had opted to use the telescope in her old library instead of the brand new one the Princess had offered. It had some good memories with it in any case.

Despite all of the luxuries she now enjoyed her mind was troubled. She couldn't help but think of her friends in Ponyville and what they were up to. It had been two weeks since she had seen them last, including Spike. The stretches between seeing her friends was getting longer and longer. It made her heart ache a little, to be honest. Actually...it made her heart ache a lot. She missed spending time with her friends dearly.

She got up and walked into her private bathroom. It was designed to complement her own colors. Light blue was the dominant scheme in the room. Lights decorated the edge of the mirror. She took a look at herself. Her hair was a mess, she realized. Then she remembered how little sleep she had gotten over the past few weeks. She smiled a little when she thought about what Rarity would say about her mane.

She stretched out her wings and stared at them for a while. She still hadn't gotten completely use to them yet. Somehow, they didn't feel that...natural. She figured that it would take some time before they would be.

Twilight heard a knock at the door. She straightened out her mane as best she could and answered the door to her room. “Come on in – oh it's you, Kassandra.”

The white unicorn smiled. “Hey, Sparkles,” she greeted. The two of them had gotten to know each other somewhat over the past few weeks. Somehow, that nickname stuck and there was nothing Twilight could do about it. “I just wanted to stop in and give you an update on Princess Luna.”

Twilight had almost forgotten about the search for Luna. The princess had been missing for about three weeks now. Celestia was on edge, understandably. She tried to put on a brave face, but Twilight could tell that during her lessons that her heart was elsewhere. “Oh that's right,” she said. “Have you found anything?”

Kassandra looked up and moved her head left and right. “Ehh...yes and no,” she answered vaguely.

Twilight raised and eyebrow. “Which is it?”

“Well...we haven't actually found Luna,” she admitted. “But I do have an idea as to where she might be.”

“That's great!” Twilight said excitedly. “We can start searching there then!” She spread out her wings as if about to take off.

Kassandra grabbed her wings and pulled them down. “Whoaaa, Sparkles,” she said as if she were on a farm. “Easy girl. I said an idea.”

Twilight looked confused. “We should still search there, right?”

“Well...” Kassandra looked around. Seeing the globe at the center of the room, she lifted a pen from off a nearby table. She began to circle a large chunk of Equestria, including the southern and eastern parts and the Badlands. “That's quite a lot of ground to cover.”

Twilight looked crestfallen, her wings and ears drooping. “Oh...”

Kassandra tried to sound optimistic. “But hey, at least we've narrowed it down a bit. We're that much closer to finding her.” She patted her on the back.

Twilight smirked. “Yeah...yeah you're right. Thanks for telling me.”

Kassandra bowed. “No problem,” she said. She turned to leave. “See you later, Sparkles.”

“Wait!” Twilight called out. “I've been meaning to ask you something.”

For a moment, a brief look of alert flashed across her face. She quickly collected herself before she turned around. “What's that?”

“You've been really helpful with the search and everything,” she mentioned. “I was just wondering...why?”

“What do you mean?” Kassandra asked, suddenly wary.

“Why are you helping out so much?” Twilight clarified, not sounding challenging but curious. “I just met the two of you not even a month ago. It's just...a little strange is all.”

Kassandra thought for a moment before walking away to another part of the room. She flopped down on a nearby bed.  “Twilight...may I see that spell you rewrote?”

“What spell?” Twilight asked.

Kassandra looked her straight in the eyes. They seemed to glimmer in the candlelight. “The spell from Starswirl the Bearded. I'd like to see it if you don't mind.”

“Oh!” She walked over to a table next to a bookshelf on the far end of the room. The table held a book floating in a glass dome. “I keep it protected here, just in case.” She lifted up the dome and took our the book. She stared at the book for a while. She suddenly realized how steeped in lore and legend this piece of literature was.

Kassandra glanced at the book. She had a confused look on her face. “So that book contains the spell?”

Twilight nodded, still looking at the tattered old book. “You know...I almost messed up my friends' lives completely with this. I was so stupid...”

Kassandra got up from the bed and stood beside her newfound friend. “That's true,” she agreed, smiling. “But you fixed it all in the end. That's the important part.”

“I guess--” Twilight immediately turned to Kassandra, looking suspicious. “Wait...how do you know about that?”

Kassandra gulped. “Oh...yeah, well I spoke to Celestia before Radley and I came to visit you,” she lied by omission.

“So you guys know Celestia too?” Twilight asked, eyes widening.

“Kind of, yeah,” Kassandra said weakly. “It's a long story.”

Twilight's eyes had grown even wider with curiosity. “I'd love to hear it!”

“Maybe later...” Kassandra said, looking uncomfortable. She tried to rerail the conversation. “How about the spell?”

“Oh right,” Twilight said. She opened her mouth to recite it, then looked hesitant. “The last time I said this, I nearly led Ponyville to ruin.”

“It shouldn't be a problem,” Kassandra insisted. “After all, you fixed it didn't you?”

“Yeah...I'm just a little worried,” Twilight admitted. “I'm still not sure what this spell does exactly.”

“Don't worry about it,” Kassandra said, looking determined. “Just read the spell.”

“Alright...you might want to stand back a little.” The white unicorn did so. Twilight began to recite the spell:

“From all of us together, together we are friends

With the marks of our destiny made one, there is--”

Suddenly a blast of black magical energy knocked Twilight off of her hooves and into the bookshelf, knocking it over and sending all of the books placed on it onto the floor. Dazed and confused, Twilight looked up to see Kassandra with black smoke coming from her crooked horn. Black veins came from the corners of her eyes. She was speaking strangely and incoherently to herself. “Ab igne inferni flammis,” she said. The jewel around her neck began to glow. “Ad malum hoc et hoc planum esse rediturum.”

“Kassandra, whats--” Twilight jumped up when she saw a black flame rising from the floor. The book was aflame. “NO! Stop!!” She began to conjure her own magic to dose the cursed fire consuming the tome.

“Don't do it Twilight Sparkle,” Kassandra warned. She had a look of grave seriousness in her eyes. “Leave it to burn!”

“Have you lost your mind!?” Twilight screamed. There was hurt and anger in both her voice and face. “There are countless spells and information to be learned in this book!!”

Kassandra growled and pounced on Twilight, knocking her to the floor again. She pinned her down. “You don't get it do you Twilight!?” she said, gritting her teeth. “That spell is not what you think it is!”

Twilight tried to struggle out from under Kassandra. “What in Celestia's name are you talking about!?”

Kassandra pressed her face against Twilight's as the book continued to burn away into nothing. “That spell you rewrote, the one made by Starswirl...is meant to kill alicorns!!”

~

Zecora was a skilled alchemist. She could make any kind of potion for just about any ailment or need. The secret was in the magic found all around the world she lived in. Most ponies think incorrectly that magic comes from within them and manifests itself when reading spells or from strong emotion. The truth was that magic was a form of energy that existed everywhere. Unicorns are inherently able to draw from this “pool” by use of their horns. However, anypony – including zebras – are able to use magic so long as they know how to do so. The most common way (or at least it used to be) for ponies to do this was through the use of alchemy.

Alchemy was a little more than just making potions and making water appear from nowhere. Alchemy was an art and a science as well. If one understood the flow of magic in the world, one could break it down and then remake it into any form one needed to. For instance, lead could be transformed into gold. A dying tree could be restored to its full health. A lake could be turned into nothing but gas. The possibilities of alchemy were nearly limitless.

Currently, she was mixing a brew that could restore someone's eyesight. The last time she got somepony to test it, their eyes ended up going askew. She had been trying to perfect it for years, but had up until now been unsuccessful.

Knock, knock.

She heard a knock at the door. She wondered if it might be Applebloom coming for a visit. Then she remembered how late it was. “I say, who could this be?” she asked herself aloud. “It's far past the late hour of three.” She opened the door and was shocked to see who it was standing before her.

“Princess Luna, the ruler of the night,” she said cheerfully. Then her cheerfulness turned to worry. “My goodness, are you alright?”

Luna didn't respond. Something about her did seem quite wrong. The crest around her neck was torn and crown was off center. She was sweating and breathing heavily. Her wings were extended, but had fallen down at her side. She swayed too and fro, as if she were about to fall over. Her eyes were closed.

“Something is amiss...” Zecora realized, taking a step back. “You are not the princess!”

“Esir dna evil lliw rats tse kradent,” Luna spoke with an echo in her voice. “Seid dna sedaf rats tsethgirb eth nehw.”

It took all of two seconds for Zecora to see who it really was at her door. “Oh no,” she said silently. She quickly slammed the door and ran to the back of her house. She jumped into the air to grab a bottle from the ceiling in her teeth.

Luna knocked the door off of its hinges, sending it flying into the far back wall. Zecora tossed the potion at the alicorn princess. Immediately, fire sprung up at her doorway. The flames quickly spread, licking hungrily at the wooden abode. The fire spread in an almost perfect circle all around the cottage. It seemed to affect Luna not all, who began to approach her.

Zecora took another potion from the ceiling and smashed it on the floor. The blue liquid seeped into the floor and vanished. Then lines began to form all around, spreading out from the center of the impact. They formed several symbols in between the lines as well. She closed her eyes as she began to speak loudly and clearly in some strange language. “Nequam spiritus inferni profunda animam committe male!”

As soon as she finished speaking, the lines and symbols turned black as well as the fire. Luna suddenly stopped. She looked like she was choking on something. She took one final breath before collapsing to the floor.

Zecora opened her eyes. “Absisto!” The flames and the lines died away, restoring the cottage as it once was. She stood before the body of the princess, looking worried and confused. “How can this be?” she said to herself. She turned around. “There's no possible way that I can--”

She stopped talking. She was beginning to feel cold for some reason. There was slight, sharp pain in her side. Actually...it was beginning to grow more and more painful. She coughed violently and discovered with horror that blood had come up as well.

Luna lifted her off the ground and threw her off of her horn across the room, slamming her into some shelves. Zecora's blood dripped off of her face, accentuating her gruesome smile.

Luna's horn had punctured both of her lungs and the impact had broken a few of her ribs. Zecora was still alive, but barely. She was breathing heavily and holding her side, trying to stow the flow of blood but it was no use. She looked up to see the alicorn princess standing over her.

Zecora spoke defiantly and clearly despite her condition. “Even though...you will send...me to the depths...by the hand...of the Order....you will meet...you death!”

Luna smirked and stepped hard on the zebra's neck, cracking it in two.