The Herald

“Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster. And if you gaze long enough into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you.”

― Friedrich Nietzsche

The Aspect of Magic drifted through the Realm of Arcana, using it as a place of calm, a retreat from a reality she did not like. In return, some of the Aspects were not quite happy with Twilight, particularly the Aspect of Faith.

Most of the Immortals thought Twilight simply wanted time to learn about her powers as an Aspect, but Wisdom knew the truth of the matter. She knew that Twilight was in fact trying to control her powers and also her emotions.

A gateway, a perfect Gateway of Shadow that only three beings had ever mastered, opened up into the Realm of Arcana. Twilight shifted her True Form- a pure lavender flame with tongues of black- to see what was coming through it. “Wisdom,” she greeted curtly.

Wisdom’s front talons clacked on an invisible surface not unlike marble as she exited the portal, gesturing lightly at it. The Gateway closed, but not before a few pools of shadow dripped their way in. Paying no heed to them, Wisdom kindly greeted Twilight, “Hello, Twilight. Are you faring well?”

Twilight let out a sigh. “No, not really.”

The grey Gryphon raised an eyebrow. “Oh?”

“I know that I shouldn’t be able to use Shadow Magic fully, but I can still sense my Shadow Font,” she explained. The Fonts are, put simply, pools of magics within the mind that will slowly refill from their respective Realms after being used. Twilight, who had been exceptional even as a Mortal, had vast magical Fonts of practically every kind- she even had a small Divine Font.

Usually, when one loses access to a specific form of Magic, they lose their Font as well. “Are you sure?” Wisdom asked, surprised.

Twilight extended a fiery hoof towards the small pools of Shadow, and the pools started drifting in her direction. “See?” the fact that Shadow Magic still wanted to refill her Font indicated her statement was true.

Wisdom, truly amused, tapped a talon against the invisible floor. “So your block on Shadow is mostly a mental one... I think that I know how to help you regain control of Shadow.”

“How?”

Smiling ever so slightly, Wisdom said, “Why, we ask the one in charge of Shadow.”

Twilight shook her head. “The Herald is dead, as you know.”

“Yes, he is. For the most part. Killing an Old One is nearly impossible, seeing as they represent a major aspect of the Universe as a whole. What they represent, I do not know.

But I doubt that The Herald will be coming back anytime soon, if at all. The current Ruler of Shadow wants you, the Aspect of Magic, to be able to wield Shadow. Very few of us can use Shadow Magic, Twilight, and it would be bad if that list shortened even more.”

Shrugging, Twilight’s True Form shimmered and rippled. “But how can I regain my connection to the Realm of Shadow?”

Wisdom drifted closer to Twilight, and extended a grey talon to the Aspect’s form. The talon began to glow an eerie black, the color of Shadow. “It will not restore your connection immediately, but the current Ruler of Shadow has given me a blessing to give to you, a Mark of Shadow. With time, you will regain your connection to the Font of Shadow.” Gently, Wisdom tapped Twilight’s fiery form, letting the black glow spread on to her. With the blink of an eye, the glow vanished.

The Mage’s green eyes illuminated the Realm of Shadow, and her warm, kindly voice filled silence. “She has taken the Mark.”

The white eyes that represented The Herald’s Shadow blinked open. “Excellent. Perhaps, with time, she will even be able to awaken The Herald’s blood within her.”

“And what,” began The Mage, “Would that do? She is already an Immortal.”

“During my- The Herald’s- time on this world, he spent a long time researching the Old Ones. What he discovered was that the Old Ones are essentially Aspects on a greater scale,” responded the Shadow calmly, avoiding the question.

“And?” prompted The Mage curtly.

Hesitating slightly, The Herald’s Shadow answered. “The Old Ones are the Aspects of Mind, Body, and Soul. The Herald was the Aspect of Soul, where the Truth is housed, which is why his Name includes Guardian of Truth. You are the Aspect of the Mind, where the connection to Magic is housed. The Maker- or as some prefer, The Creator- is the Aspect of Body, or the physical form.

As the Mind, Body, and Soul are the basic foundation of this world, they are even more constant than the Truths of the world, meaning that there must always be Aspects of Mind, Body, and Soul.”

The Mage, being quite clever, filled in the rest. “Which is why my brother lives on in multiple fragments. Immortal Titles are handed down to second generation descendants, so that would mean that either Twilight Sparkle or Shining Armor will gain the title of Aspect of Soul.”

There was no answer from The Herald’s Shadow.

The Mage picked up on this, and pushed again. “Is that not true?”

A whispering wind came from The Shadow; something The Mage realized was a resigned sigh. “That... is what The Herald intended for you to think.”

Ancient whispers that The Mage had heard from inside the threads of the world suddenly came to light. She gasped as they fit together. “Oh dear... The Maker is really outclassed here. He set up heirs to our powers... The Herald knew there was only one way for this to be fixed...”

The Shadow finished the thought, and dread rippled through the Realm of Shadow. “is to start over... without him, without The Maker, without you... without the First Ones.”