“So tell me, Celestia, why exactly do you need me?” Twilight asked the Princess. Celestia had offered her a bath, which she took, and a meal before they sat in her quarters to speak. Now that she was clean, as was her outfit, Celestia got a good look at the girl. She had relatively long, dark purple hair and lavender eyes. Well, eye. She wore a loose black sleeved shirt that, even after being cleaned, was full of wrinkles. She wore black cargo pants and combat boots to match.

“I’m going to be completely honest with you. I’m simply not strong enough to defeat the nightmare, should she return. I can’t tear the innocent Luna away from her nor do I have it in me to destroy them both.” Celestia answered.

“And you think I can? I’m just some powerful psychopath you found in a prison dedicated to tearing you from your throne.” Twilight asked. Celestia put a hand to her chin and smiled at the girl.

“Let’s just say I see something in you. If I didn’t, then I wouldn’t have invited you here. What do you know about the elements of harmony?” Celestia said. Twilight answered by putting her hand up, as if she was holding something, and the glyph on her hand flashed and a book appeared. Celestia knew that book. It was called ‘The elements of Harmony and the Mare in the Moon’.

“Primordial forces that you and the old Princess Luna commanded to bring peace in Equestria. She lost the rights to it when she succumbed to the nightmare, and you did when you banished her. Am I correct?” Twilight asked, looking up from the thing after flipping through a few pages.

“Exactly so, I had wondered where that book had gone. It seems you know a lot more about our history than most ancient historians.” Celestia replied.

“I have copied or acquired every single book in the royal library, even in the most restricted sections. I keep them in an artificial rift that I created, as well as a great many other things. I started it when I first found that prison not long after inventing this glyph. Had to keep my mind busy somehow, and I was still recovering from blowing my face open.” Twilight explained.

“You still haven’t told me how that happened.” Celestia cut in. Twilight smiled and reclined, the book disappearing once more.

“You never asked. When I created the glyphs, I carved them into my hands. After they recovered and I got used to them, I decided to brand it like a blood glyph. I didn’t tell it to brand my eye, but that’s where it went, and the force almost literally blew my face open. My face and half of the village.” Twilight answered.

“So I’m guessing that not only does the glyph on your eye do whatever you want it to, it also stores ambient magical energies and acts as a focal point to focus and create even more power. Correct?” Celestia deduced.

“Exactly so. Except for one thing, I can use it to absorb magical energy in general.” Twilight replied. She then opened the eye and the red glyph pulsated slightly. Celestia gasped as she felt her strength fading. It stopped and returned to her before she collapsed.

“What most magicians and mages don’t know is that their life force is directly tied in with their core magical power. You can’t use up that core power in any way, at least through normal means. This core power is what keeps you alive, what constantly generates usable magical energy and what gives you strength. It’s immensely potent, but takes a long time to recover once lost. And if too much of it is lost, your body no longer has the energy to live.” Twilight explained, closing the eye again.

“I know of core energy, can your eye sap that energy away?” Celestia asked, recomposing herself.

“It can. It doesn’t just sap it, though, it steals the energy and adds it to my own. You should know that the core energy can last for days after a person has died. Every person I’ve killed, the exact number being seven, I’ve stolen their core energy for my own. It is also how I subdue people I do not want to kill, I leave them with just enough to stay alive.” Twilight answered.

“That is genuinely frightening that one person can do that...” Celestia said lowly. Twilight just giggled and crossed her legs.

“Thank you. I have my morales, though. Just like you could send the sun crashing into the earth, I can steal the life force of other people. But we won’t, not without reason at least.” Twilight explained simply.

“I see your point. I trust you to make the right decisions with that ability.” Celestia said.

“Good. Now, back to the original subject of me being here, what do you know about the return?” Twilight asked.

“It will happen in the next few months. During that time I will personally teach you what I can and then send you to a little village called Ponyville. That is the most likely place for her to show up, and that is also the place that I can detect the most harmonious energy gathered up.” Celestia replied. Twilight adopted a thinking pose and sat forward in her seat before speaking.

“So what makes you think I can do anything with the elements, if that is in fact what you’re asking of me?” She asked.

“Just a hunch, really,” Celestia started with a shrug. “but I’ve had hunches like this before. They’ve always been right, so I’ve learned to follow them.” She continued.

“Well if it means I get to learn from the best and vacation in a nice little village I’ll try my best.” Twilight said with a grin.

“Good. So, before we start anything, what do you know about friendship?” Celestia asked.

Author's Note

So I think these chapters are going to vary in size, this is after all just me putting scrambled ideas into story form so don't expect a super solid storyline with this one. Even more so than sun and sparkle.