Twilight found herself staring at her brother with a blank expression, mouth open. “Sh-Shining, I…”

“I know it might be a lot to take in but—”

“What on earth is wrong with all of you?”

Shining Armor blinked. “...What?”

“Why did nopony tell me this the second I became an Alicorn?!” Twilight paced back and forth, a scowl on her face. “It’s been weeks for crying out loud. Unintentional homicide seems like a rather important detail.”

“Whoa, calm down, Twily.” Shining Armor stepped back, holding up a hoof. “The power drawing phase doesn’t come until a few weeks later. Most of your Alicorn magic is still dormant, but that's changing as we speak. That’s why Celestia wanted you here. She was going to help bind you to a star system and explain all this.”

Twilight groaned. “So I really can’t use magic?”

“I'm not really sure. Celestia mentioned something about a white book with her mark on the front that—”

A wavelength bar flashed up to the side of Shining Armor, the spell spurting static as it crackled to life. “Sir, we need backup!” a voice echoed out. The loud bangs of magic bolts could be heard in the background along with muffled yelling.

Shining Armor winced at the volume. “Whoever this is, please go to command with your transmission. I’m in the middle of something important.”

“Command already sent what they could. It's the infiltrators—They’re trying to hijack the tower!”

“What!?” Shining Armor and Twilight yelled in unison.

The sound of wood smashing to pieces, splintered bits giving hollow notes as they hit the floor, met their ears over the transmission. Someone yelled, ‘They’ve broken through. Whatever you do, hold them back!’ Spell bolts hissed through the air, crashing with heavy booms in the background. Hooves hitting stone echoed over the spell for a moment before the guard’s voice returned.

“I…” The guard breathed heavily. “I made it away for a moment. We’re doing the best we can but—”

A vicious crack spiked the wavelength, making Twilight and her brother flinch. There were a few shouts and more impacts, then only hoofsteps could be heard fading away.

“Private!” Shining said. “What’s going on? Can you hear me?”

Static answered, but now another set of hoofsteps tapped louder and louder. The steps got closer, and after a few gargled clicks, a new voice spoke. “Well look at you, thinking ahead and calling for backup like that. I suppose that would have been clever had you actually made connection before Blackout broke your face in. Heh, that’s quite the nasty crack there...”

Shining Armor immediately tensed, the air around him almost seeming to shift. His pupils shrank and his mouth contorted into a tight scowl. “...who is this?”

“Oh. There is a connection then. That’s interesting. Does that mean you're alive still?”

“Screw you,” the guard choked out.

“Come on, no need to get upset.”

Another voiced yelled down a flight of stairs, sounding a fair distance away. “Slipstream, quit playing around and come up here, you lazy piece of shit! You’re making me do all the work and just strolling along like this is some sort of tour. Come on already.”

“I’m only serious when I have to be,” the voice mumbled.

“What have you done to my soldiers?” Shining asked, still speaking calmly. Despite his intonation, Twilight could see him practically crushing into the floor with his hooves.

“You sound familiar. Would this happen to be Captain Shining Armor?”

“It is.”

“Haha, well this will be neat then. We’ll get to take out multiple problems in one shot. That’s nice and convenient.”

“What exactly are you trying to pull? If you're after the power cells, it’s useless. The crystals in that tower don’t generate enough energy to level the castle no matter how many of you there are. Taking them won’t do anything.”

“Hm, see, that’s the thing. We’re actually just using the power cells to call for backup. That and the elevation helps the signal for telekinetic waves and such.”

“What?”

“Sorry, I’m not really interested in explaining it to you, even if you could stop it. I’m hanging up now.”

Armor clanked and scraped across stone as the telltale pitch of magic casting echoed over the transmission. The guard holding the transmission coughed and struggled, crawling away as best he could. “No, don’t!” he said. A loud bang rang out, and the transmission fell to lifeless static.

Twilight could feel a lump building in her throat and her eyes stinging. “Shining, is he…?”

“Twilight, don’t,” he said as he lowered his head and stopped the spell. “Just...don’t ask that question.” Shining Armor turned away, and Twilight thought she could almost see him trembling.

She took a tentative step forward, but stopped and brought her hoof against her chest. Twilight had never seen her brother like this before. It was like he hung in the balance between crying and bursting with fury. Whatever this was, it was serious, and here at the capital they had everything to lose. Right now, nothing made her more afraid.

“Shining...” Twilight’s eyes flicked back and forth across her brother's face. “Shining… there has to be something we can do.”

Shining Armor gave a half-hearted shrug. “Well, Celestia mentioned a tower. Maybe there's a way, but I don’t know a whole lot about it.”

“Wait, what?” Twilight perked up and came closer. “Shining, if there’s a way to solve this, you need to tell me. I don’t want to hurt anyone with my magic, and if Chrysalis gets out when Celestia isn’t here...”

“I know.” Shining Armor eased her away. “But I need you to stay here. I know you don’t like it, but it’s just too risky to go anywhere right now.”

“Shining!”

Shining stomped his hoof. “I said no!” Twilight reeled back at his outburst. “Do you not understand that I care about you? That I wouldn't be able to handle it if you got hurt, or Celestia forbid, died? My answer is no, and Twilight, I mean it. I've seen what these high-level infiltrators can do, what I know they're doing to my soldiers. I understand that you want to do something about this, but you're just going to have to stay here.”

Twilight felt tears welling up at the sides of her eyes and she glared. “Fine…” She turned and walked over to a collection of pillows by a bookshelf and flopped down on her side, facing away. “I’ll just be up here, doing absolutely nothing."

Shining Armor sighed and turned to leave. He stopped at the door, putting a hoof against the side frame and glanced back at Twilight. Her side rose and fell in steady, slow rhythm, tail twitching every so often. “I'm sorry, Twilight. Just...stay safe,” he breathed and shut the door with a soft click.

Twilight snapped up to look over her shoulder, ears swiveled towards the door. Hoofsteps echoed down the halls for a bit, along with the sound of another transmission opening up. Shining said a few words she couldn’t decipher, then there was a crack like muffled lightning, signaling that he had teleported. Twilight leapt up and ran to the shelf nearby.

Sorry, Shining, but you can’t expect me to sit idly by like this—not when ponies are getting hurt.

Her eyes fell upon the rows of volumes before her. Shining had ironically put her in one of Celestia’s private studies. Maybe the Princess had something on Alicorns that could help. Shining Armor had even hinted at that there was something she could do. Twilight scanned across the shelf for anything that might help, eventually settling on a book labeled Pony Breeds.

Twilight instinctively flared her horn and grabbed it with her telekinesis. A sickening wave of nausea interrupted her and the book dropped from her grasp, slamming to the floor. Wisps of purple energy swirled across the carpet and an icy feeling flooded through her nerves. Twilight reeled back and clenched her eyes shut. She’d never felt anything like this. It was like her whole body was vibrating and being doused in cold water.

She tried to stifle a groan as the room began to spin. W-What’s going on? Is this what Shining was talking about? An odd tingling sensation assaulted her nerves along with a feeling like she was not only here, but all over the castle. Her hooves walked across the cold tile floor outside in several different strides and stances, her eyes scanned the halls while at the same time remaining closed. The sounds of a hundred different perspectives echoed through her head, becoming clearer with each passing second.

She could still feel her main perspective retaining dominance, but it wavered now and again. All around the room, objects began to lift into the air like they were caught in some sort of anti-gravity zone. Her eyes faded back and forth from her usual purple irises to the bright glowing sight that she could recall having with the elements. Twilight gritted her teeth, her brain overloading from the sensory onslaught. She desperately clung to her own senses as they became more and more mixed.

Focusing everything she had, Twilight flared her horn and shoved down against the building pressure. The mana spinning around her wobbled for a minute but continued to build. Twilight bit her lip, drawing blood, and crushed down with her will again, crying out and giving everything she had. The whirling mana let out a warped whine then burst outward with a bang. The objects that had previously been left floating tumbled to the floor as bright particles evaporated around Twilight. She fell to the floor, panting, a few beads of sweat on her muzzle.

I can’t believe this. It’s way closer than Shining Armor thought it was. I can't even use basic telekinesis. Twilight shook her head and shakily rose to her hooves. I can’t give up though. At this rate, Chrysalis is going to be released before Celestia can make it back, not to mention the elements are still in the vault. If ponykind loses its best weapon, who knows what will happen.

Twilight eyed the books that had been scattered around the room. The titles ranged from Equestrian law, to geography, to meteorology, but nothing about magic or Alicorns. “This is one of Celestia’s studies,” Twilight said as she turned to scan what was left of the shelves. “There has to be something here that—”

Twilight stopped herself as her eyes came to rest on an alabaster book with a golden sun emblazoned on the cover. It had been hidden behind the others on the shelf, but now lay exposed.

The words of her brother suddenly echoed through her head. Celestia mentioned something about a white book with her mark on the front.

Her horn flared up and she reached out. She winced and quickly released the mana before casting. Her ears went back against her head and she gulped.

“No magic… right.”

She looked behind her and unfurled her wings. A smile worked its way across her face and Twilight made a mental note to thank Dash for the flying lessons as she took off. She grabbed the book, glided back down, and opened to the glossary. Her eyes scanned the page a moment before she noted a number and flicked through, counting as she went.

After flipping to the right page, Twilight found herself staring at a diagram of a star above a ruby maned Alicorn with an alabaster coat. She read the side passage aloud.

“Seeker Star, Alicorn research Entry 89: Looking through history, mythic heroes of the past such as Rallek, the awakened, or Asha, the fire heart, were said to have achieved supernatural feats through some sort of connection with the stars.

Old Equish tales tell of a 'conduit' to the heavens that created a bridge, allowing them to enter into what the stories called ‘their full form.’ The second part of the legend details a ‘song’ that must be channeled through the magic of our world. This ‘song’ is represented as a series of glyphs – see figure 8e on the next page.”

Twilight turned the page. A diagram written in ink charted out sets of symbols that ran across in rows. The symbols were unrecognizable, but even if she could read them, she wasn't looking for some historical song. She felt a sinking feeling in her chest. “This can’t be what Shining was talking about. It’s useless lore.”

She had to admit, the Old Equish legends apparently did have some truth to them, specifically the celestial connection bits, but it was more likely that they used some kind of magic rather than some ancient song to trigger a connection. There had obviously been something lost in translation through the ages. The glyphs didn’t even make any sense when one looked at them as music. There was no time signature, no key. Each supposed note was just written one after the other, making what would have been a constant erratic melody.

She looked around the room, noting titles one after another for a second option. None of them were what she was looking for, either dealing with meaningless records or unrelated topics. The answer was supposed to be in this book, Celestia had even said so. Maybe this wasn't even the right book.

Twilight felt cold in the quiet of the room and she slumped down. I really can’t do anything then... What would Celestia think if she came back and the elements were gone? Ponies are going to die—are dying, and there’s nothing I can do about it without magic or the elements. Twilight felt moisture stinging at the corners of her eyes. “Is that all I’m really good for—a few magic tricks?”

She glanced down at the book again. The title of the song was “Amicitiae”, the translation below reading ‘fellowship’ in parentheses. Twilight smiled. Even the song reflected what Celestia had always striven to teach her: Friendship had a magic to it, allowing one to overcome any obstacle in their way. Twilight smiled. It was still useless, but at least the song had a good symbolism to it. Friendship is magic, she thought.

Twilight froze, then jolted down to the page. Friendship is magic. Does that mean...? Her eyes flew back and forth as she read over the symbols. Twilight drew back, and her mouth dropped open. She couldn’t believe she hadn’t seen it before. The glyphs, this supposed sheet music of legend, it showed more similarity to a magic book than anything else. Even the symbols looked slightly similar to the simplified notation they used today.

Twilight picked up the book and stared at the page, going over it time and time again to make sure she hadn’t made any mistakes. “No… I’m right. This isn't music at all. This a spell for connecting to a body!” she said, eyes widening as she spoke. Twilight felt a huge grin spread across her face. “Yes, I did it! I can cast this spell at a conduit like the book said and…” Her sudden enthusiasm deflated, her smile replaced with a frown. “Wait… what is the conduit to the heavens? Is it like a tower?”

She turned the page and saw an illustration of a grand tower, with sharp and rigid spikes rising to the peak. The body stood covered in gold and a great glass eye rest at the top.

Twilight quirked a brow. “What in Equestria is this thing? I’ve never seen anything like it, even in Old Equish legends. Maybe something about this had been misunderstood like the song? The conduit has to exist here for Celestia to have called me to Canterlot. If it’s somewhere else, she would have asked me to go there instead, and we would have left earlier to make better timing with the Alicorn magic issue. So if this conduit tower exists here, then what exactly am I really looking at?”

Twilight stared at the image, looking for some form of misconstrued metaphor. Canterlot had gold in places, but no tower was explicitly made of it, and the spiked design was too fantastic to be real. Those had probably been liberties taken by the artist, but the glass eye… that they couldn’t have changed. That had to symbolize something somehow—it was too unique, too well defined.

A glass eye to the heavens… What could have been misunderstood in old writing as a glass eye? Twilight scrunched her face for a moment, then let up as realization dawned on her. “The observatory,” she said. Twilight stood to her hooves, a new vigor in her step. “They mean a giant lens to focus on a star or system. I’ve got it now. I need to get to the observatory, pick something to align to, and then cast the spell. I can do this.”

Twilight moved toward the door, carefully remembering to use her hooves instead of magic to open it, but stopped, biting her lip. She slowly closed the door, remembering the guards she had sensed earlier. Shining had been extra careful posting sentries to make sure nothing happened to her, and there was no way they'd let her past. She glanced over her shoulder at the balcony and unfurled her wings. Not that they could do anything if she flew to the observatory instead. It was on the edge of Canterlot, placed to be unobstructed by the eastern mountainside, or as much as possible anyways. The observatory still wasn't far, reachable in maybe a couple of minutes by wing.

Twilight trotted over to the book and ripped out the pages with the legends and the spell. She winced at mutilating the tome, but it was better than trying to carry the whole thing while flying, and the spell and information was far too long to memorize. She'd have to bear it and repair the book later once her magic was restored. A small messenger bag hung on a hook nearby, and the pages folded easily into it as Twilight slung the leather pack over her shoulder.

The clouds moved lazily outside the window, a light breeze pushing the orange plumes in the early morning light. Twilight opened the balcony window and took a deep breath, steadying her nerves. “You can do this,” she whispered. “You've been working at flying for a while now. You'll be fine, just try not to look down too much.”

Her legs trembled slightly at the memory of feeling open air beneath her hooves. Pegasi were born used to the feeling, but she had lived on the ground all her life as a unicorn. Granted, Twilight had practiced hard to become proficient, considering it an assignment in a way, but flying still made her nervous. Only this time there was no Rainbow Dash to help her if she panicked and only a few thousand Canterlot citizens' lives on the line—no pressure.

Twilight shook her head and focused on the task at hand. Celestia wouldn't have backed down from flight jitters. Twilight opened her wings, reared back, and launched off with speed that would have made Rainbow proud. Wind whipped through her mane as a fresh gust surged around Twilight, making her eyes water a bit. She rolled to the side and turned west. Her hooves pushed out ahead of her like Rainbow had taught her, and Twilight began pumping her wings.

The city looked ominous underneath her. The sun was still making its early rise from the east, painting the city a blood red while the streets lay barren and lifeless. Just above the cityscape, Pegasi circled like vultures, the glint of their armor catching the light now and again and sending flashes of gold up to Twilight. A few even sat perched on rooftops, scanning the city. Among the many buildings, the defense towers pulsed a faint pink, signaling the magic charge pad at the top stood armed and ready to super-charge bolt archers with mana.

The towers directly under her flashed for a moment before the pads went dim and several bright glints filled the air below. Twilight tilted her head. More glints appeared and the pegasi seemed to start rushing to and fro. What's going on? Are they having a malfunction?

A rumbling thunder, like the sound of following a mach flyby from Dash, met her ears. The glints formed into full bolts as they came closer and Twilight's eyes shot open. The towers weren't malfunctioning at all. They worked fine, and they had fired at her. Twilight banked to the side as the first bolts surged by, shaking the air with their momentum. Another flew past, coming within inches of her face and leaving a sunspot like a pillar in her eyes. Twilight jerked and bobbed in the air, blinking rapidly and trying to clear her sight. The spots faded, and Twilight looked down just in time to see a group of four bolts converging on her from different angles. Her heart nearly stopped.

There was nowhere to go.

The bolts arced in and her whole world went white. A ringing filled her ears, and Twilight's body burned and ached like she had never felt before. Each muscle felt like it had been seared, pulled apart, then put back in place. A sensation of weightlessness along with a tingling cold filled her being, replacing the agony at its apex. Her mind drifted as her body shut down. Twilight found her thoughts coming to Celestia, of disappointing her. If she had one regret, it was that she had failed her mentor.

The white around Twilight's vision faded and she found herself staring down at a crimson city, the red buildings slowly rushing up to meet her. She looked through hazy, half opened eyes at the scene.

“Canterlot?” she mumbled. Twilight's muddled brain struggled to put together the pieces. Why was she at Canterlot? More importantly, what was that horrible stinging in her back? In a split second, everything clicked again and her eyes shot wide.

A burning sensation filled her and she cried out as the feeling in her nerves returned with a malevolent vengeance. She looked back and saw one of her wings had blackened, a trail of little singed feathers coming off like chaff behind her. The other wing looked more like a tattered scarecrow, with crazed feathers and bits of bone sticking every which way. Only a numb, throbbing sensation returned from it. Thankfully that looked to her to be the worst of it. Her sides and hooves had bits of charred skin that almost made Twilight lose her lunch, but for the most part, she was okay—somehow. Before she could think anything of it, the messenger bag flew past, a black smoke trail drawing a line through afterwards.

“The spell!” Twilight said and dove down. A sharp crack met her ears and she cried out in pain as her left wing shot signals to her brain. Her wing had already looked like it was on its last legs, and without thinking she had further dislocated it. She wouldn't be able to fly without healing it first. Twilight grit her teeth and pulled her wings in, tempting more searing jolts of pain, and nosed down as hard as she could. She'd just have to figure something out when she got to the ground.

She cut through the air like a missile, wind howling in her ears like a storm gale as she shot down. The bag seemed to rise up to her, strap flailing wildly in the air. Twilight jerked a hoof forward, grabbing for the strap. She felt the material on the end of her hoof but she only caught the edge of it, causing it to spin away from her. Her eyes stung from the cold wind, and she clenched them shut, groaning in frustration. Twilight blinked away her irriation and saw the messenger bag tumbling down under her, seemingly taunting her just a few feet away. The ground rose up faster and faster behind it, threatening to crush her within seconds. One of the towers stood just below, it's magic induction pad giving off the slightest shade of pink.

Ten seconds… give or take. Twilight surged down and strained her front hooves, grabbing at the bag again but only managed to nudge it away again, having not been used to grasping things like earth ponies did. She glanced over her target to see the top of the tower rushing up to meet her, now only a few breaths away. It was too late to find way to land, even if she had gotten the bag.

The tower's threatening pink glow surged, and jagged sparks of lightning danced up to meet her as Twilight descended. She tightened her stomach and locked her eyes shut, a sense of hopelessness settling in her chest. Twilight waited for the hit—helpless, falling. Everything seemed to move in slow motion: the beat of her frightened heart, each exhaled breath, the tickling sensation of losing control in flight, a static lick rolling up her horn and through her chest. Her eyes snapped open. She’d recognize that feeling anywhere. Mana! With only a split second of thought, Twilight cast the first spell that came to mind. A huge wave of wind exploded beneath her just as Twilight roared into the tower's top floor. Her shoulder rammed into the surface with a harsh crunch, spreading a spiderweb of cracks across the pad. Her world spun in a blur as she glanced off the glass surface and tumbled through the air. She slammed into the short side wall of the tower, and her mouth dropped open, almost anticipating the scream. She only quivered, closed her eyes, and fell to her side like a ragdoll. The pad flickered a few times then went completely dark under her, draining away any chance at more magic. Twilight let out a faint whimper as moisture licked at the corners of her eyes. A wet and warm feeling touched against her head as her vision blurred in and out. Her whole body ached like nothing she had ever felt before.

But she was alive.

The wind spell had done its job, slowing her just a pinch and redirecting her to hit at an angle, instead of straight on. That was lucky, Twilight thought. Very lucky. If the pad hadn’t linked up... She shoved her thoughts down—Twilight didn’t want to think about it.

Movement just out of her field of view caught her attention as she struggled to stay conscious. A pony walked up through an opening on the far side of the tower. Thank Celestia Twilight thought. The guards will see me… they can heal. I don’t know how much longer… stay awake...

Twilight squinted, trying to see who it was. Her vision cleared for just a moment, and her heart almost stopped. Before her, stood a lavender unicorn with a pink star cutie mark. He turned and looked straight at her.

Her pupils shrank to pinpricks and she felt her heart skip.

She had landed on the tower the changelings were taking over. Her skin went cold as she imagined what might lie just below her—what might happen to her soon if she didn’t move. The tower’s circular overlook almost seemed to shrink as he walked closer.

She tried to scramble to her hooves, but her head swam as soon as she lifted off the ground, and she lost her balance. Twilight clenched her jaw and tried again. Her legs trembled under her, giving out every so many inches as she slowly lifted herself.

The changeling stopped in his tracks and tilted his head to the side. Twilight heard a muffled, “...You’re alive?” and the creature lowered his head, eyes locked on in a wide-eyed stare. “You look just like me…”

Twilight aimed her horn, but only meant to feint. It was all she had left. Casting was out of the question and there was nowhere to run; the tower’s round upper floor stood maybe three, four stories from the ground. She’d never survive the fall, not like she was now.

The throbbing in Twilight’s head increased to unbearable levels and her legs began to tremble, feeling like jelly as she struggled to stay upright. Tears now flowed freely as she glared at her enemy. Her mind felt jumbled and a ringing surged through her ears, black curtains closing over her eyes.

She willed everything she had into just keep standing. Princess Celestia is depending on me. I can’t… I can’t pass out—not here. she thought, gritting her teeth. Everything she’s taught me, everything I’ve experienced because of her—I-I don’t want it to be for nothing. I don’t want… With a final ringing that surged through her ears, all feeling left her and her eyes closed as she fell to the ground.

I don’t want her to regret it.

Author's Note

So... slower update than I planned...

This chapter got a lot longer and in depth than I ever thought it would. The document labelled chapter 3 is literally 10,000+ words and is still incomplete, so I choose to publish a more bite size piece before I took on a fourth week of not updating. Hopefully next update won't be so slow. It's really the perfectionist editing combined with my own writers block but I'm learning to deal with them more and more.

Big thanks going out to AspiringWriter and Descriptor for editing/pre-reading.

So then, what do you think is going to happen to Twilight?