The Nexus

Chapter 2: Book of Ages

In the dark of the night, Twilight Sparkle, prized student of Princess Celestia and the Element of Magic, was having a difficult time trying to find the runaway Rainbow Dash.

She had separated with Spike an hour ago to cover more ground in the palace, but now, when the elongated, never ending corridors of the palace became a labyrinth, Twilight wasn't so sure it had been one of her better decisions. That and giving Derpy the letter to give to Rainbow Dash. Twilight Sparkle's footsteps echoed loudly inside halls as she tried to track down her friend. A few cyan feathers here and there were the only clues to where the prismatic Valkyrie was located. It worried Twilight more than she was willing to admit, but she doubted that she could find Rainbow Dash in the palace. After all, the palace was giant and Rainbow Dash was, well, Rainbow Dash. If she didn't want to be found, then she wouldn't. She contemplated going to see if Princess Luna could help her find her friend and Element but Twilight wasn't sure if that was the best choice right now. After all, she had insulted the Moon Goddess in her fit of rage, and Princess Celestia, or the staff, would have alerted the Night Sovereign of what had transpired down in the throne room. If Nightmare Moon was anything to go by, then Twilight did not wish the rage of Princess Luna upon Rainbow Dash.

A heavy sigh escaped her lips. Illuminating the halls with her violet magic, –she was going into the restricted area of the palace where there was no active lamps–  Twilight wearily eyed the portraits lining the halls. They had always creeped her out during the day, but at night, it was a thousand times worse. She briefly wondered how the Princesses could withstand the leering eyes of the dead. The deeper Twilight Sparkle ventured into the bowels of the prestigious castle–she thought she was going down because she had encountered a flight of steps half an hour ago– the creepier the portraits of the dead became. A thought struck her as she walked. She wasn't certain, as she was many things today, whether or not Princess Celestia would be angry at her because she went into the restricted section. It had not been that much of a problem during her childhood because Princess Celestia was always with her when they went this far, but without her it did not seen as safe. Especially with the Princess's sudden rage. Well, not so sudden considering all the cruel things Rainbow Dash had screamed in her face. Twilight had not seen Princess Celestia that mad before. Ever. Mad enough to yell? Yes, a handful of times. Mad enough to actually backhand Rainbow Dash? No, that was new. The thought of causing the ire again was enough to make her pivot on her heels to walk out of the restricted area. However, another part berated her self actions.

Rainbow Dash needed her!

Head held high, she turned back to continue her journey into the deeper workings of the Canterlot palace with the purple light as her guide. She tried not to shrink into herself as the shadows seemed to move with ever step she took and the portraits seemed to watch her every step, judging her. Twilight Sparkle was a good distance into the restriction section of the palace when a portrait grabbed her attention. Moving towards the portrait, Twilight gaped in amazement. She had seen many fabulous and wonderful paintings in the royal palace during her time as Princess Celestia's student but never before this one.

The portrait was of a female Valkyrie in full silver armor. Dark grey hair cascaded past her scarred shoulders as her hands rested upon dual short swords, carved to look like lightning. The woman stood upon a pile of bones while a banner brandishing the symbol of the Valkyrie fluttered in the background. Wings of white with rainbow tips engulfed the rest of the painting.

Commander Hurricane, the gold engraving read.

Twilight Sparkle looked on dumbstruck at the painting. She had never seen a picture of the famed commander before and had honestly thought the commander had been a guy from the way she had been described. Twilight urged herself forward, tearing her eyes away from the commander and founder of the Valkyrie city, Cloudsdale, telling herself that if she wanted to find Rainbow Dash, then she shouldn't be waiting time on silly portraits. However, the golden eyes of the Valkyrie commander sent shivers down her spine, drawing her attention back to the highly realistic painting. Berating herself for getting lost in the painting, she raced down the extravagant halls with one thought on her mind.

Finding Rainbow Dash.

Using more magic, she illuminated the entire corridor, and those that branched off it, in a purple glow while creating a decent size ball of light to float next to her. As dusk fell upon Canterlot and Equastria, Twilight Sparkle flew down flights of stairs like a bat out of Tartarus. Skidding around corners, racing down corridors, and calling out the name of her best friend, Twilight Soarkle was more than determined to set things right. Rainbow Dash would see logic and reason one way or another. As the purple haired Alchemist with magical abilities that potentially rivaled that of the Sun Goddess, the pure ball of concentrated light revealed the telltale cyan feathers of the missing Valkyrie.

(Princess Celestia)

Princess Celestia, the physical embodiment of the sun, sat opposite of her sister, Luna, with a less than pleasant frown marring her beautiful features. It was not an unusual sight to see in the castle, where the walls shielded the two goddesses from the public eye; however, it was unusual to see the Moon Princess wrapping her elder sister's right hand in gauze instead of using magic to heal the broken fingers.

The Sun Sovereign, in her rage after discovering the traumatic truth of Rainbow Dash, had proceeded to punch the closest thing in her physical range once Twilight Sparkle had vanished to find her friend, and the guards had been dismissed. The object she had proceeded to punch with all her might and fury happened to be a stone column. Stone. While she had broken her first two fingers and her thumb, a few other bones she couldn't name, the stone pillar looked far worse. Actually, it was no longer standing. She had obliterated it into a million tiny shards of white stone that had gotten embedded into her hand, too. Celestia had promptly gotten the servants to clean up the mess while she transported to her study to then call Luna for help. The injury was the first real one she'd gotten in the last thousand years since Luna and her's epic fight. The pain she had been reintroduced to was a foreign, disembodied feeling that Celestia wasn't too sure what to think of it as. The physical pain was considerably less compared to the emotional agony she felt.

Hissing in pain, Celestia shot her sister a dirty look.

"It's your fault, sister." commented the younger royal.

"I know." dryly retorted the self-pitying Celestial. "I know."

"What in Mother's name did you do, sister, to break this much of your hand?" Luna asked.

"I punched a column."

"But, sister, those have been around for ages! How could you break your hand on one of those?" exclaimed the Moon Princess, looking incredulously at the Sun Goddess. "Never mind, sister. I don't want to know. Though, sister, why did you punch one if you don't mind sharing it with me?"

"I was angry." grumbled the miserable Celestia.

"Angry?"

"Yes."

"Was it Blue Blood, sister? Because I can have a word with him if you-" started Luna.

"No, it was not him. It was me." sighed Celestia. She quickly pulled away her broken hand once Luna was finished, nursing it in the other. Her almost crimson eyes closed in thought. "I failed her so much. I thought I knew what was best for her. What would protect her. I thought I knew what I was doing before was right, but now, now I'm unsure. Unsure of everything I've ever done. It's been a cruel thousand years without you or Dizzy. Everyone just expects so much from me in their short years on this planet. It's the same thing over and over again."

"Sister-"

"Wait, Luna. I need to say this."

Celestia took a breath, trembling. Whether it was from the pain or the weight of the guilt upon her shoulders, Celestia couldn't tell. She only hoped Luna would forgive her.

"When you were banished to the moon, I was so uncertain whether or not I could rule the country in your absence. First Discord, then you. It was almost too much to bear. I had almost resigned myself to the fate of solitude. Leave Equestria to the people to rule. Have them stumble through the darkness before they could taste the light. But I knew it wouldn't work, not when they had become so dependent on me that if I left, then they would crumble."

"They had never gotten along in the first place. It was only through us –Celestials– that the three clans united after the deaths of Commander Hurricane, Queen Platinum, Chancellor Puddinghead, and Clover the Clever. Even then they despised one another. Seclusion was looking far better with each passing year as the pain of rising the sun and moon took it's toll on me. It was only by the power of the Elements of Harmony that I didn't leave. I couldn't leave, really. I was just as much of a prisoner as you and Discord were. The Elements couldn't be left alone with the three clans. Not when history could repeat itself. We swore to protect the Elements, Discord, you and I. With the two of you gone, it fell to me. It was in the middle of the night, on a blue moon, when the Elements had chosen their new hosts. I had almost given up hope by then. Only one thing kept me going." It was here that her voice broke. "I'm so sorry, Luna. I-I made a mistake and I broke your trust by-" she could not finish.

"Sister, there is nothing to be upset by." Luna tried to comfort her sister. "You kept this country running when you could have easily just upped and left them to their own devices. You did what was right."

"No, Luna. I did not." argued Celestia.

"Sister, you don't give yourself enough credit. While Nightmare Moon took control of me, you did what was necessary. Not everyone would have done what you did. You saved Equestria from the wrath of Nightmare Moon. You kept it going. The sins of the past aren't yours to bear alone. I'm here to help you and so will Discord once he realizes-"

Before Luna could finish, a letter arrived in a flash of green fire, dropping upon the lap of Princess Celestia. Frowning at the parchment, Celestia looked towards Luna for approval. A nod was given. Tenderly gripping the letter in her golden magic, the parchment unfolded itself for all to see. However, instead of the elegant writing of her student, it was the hurried script of Rainbow Dash. Celestia was more hesitant than ever about reading the letter than she had been before talking to Luna. Swallowing the trepidation that welled in the pit of her core, Celestia's eyes quickly scanned over the writing. Once. Twice. Thrice. Her heart stopped beating.

"What does it say, sister?" quietly inquired Luna.

The Sun Goddess stiffly shifted in her seat. The feather stuffed cushions– which she absolutely detested because Celestia and Luna a set of wings– did nothing for her rigid posture. If anything, Celestia became even stiffer.

"Sister?"

"We must hurry, Luna." Celestia finally said. "It seems that Rainbow Dash has found Father's private library."

(Twilight Sparkle)

"Rainbow Dash!" called out Twilight.

"Twilight?" answered a voice from within the eternal darkness of the castle's bowels. It was too low to be Rainbow Dash's. Despite it definitely not being her friend, Twilight Sparkle was glad that someone else was down here other than her.

A figure ambled out of the shadows, stalking towards her with tiny steps. Twilight immediately took a step back in fear of the person not being human. Her fear was instantly dissolved once the young dragon she had raised from birth stumbled into the light, looking worse for wear, with a smile upon his face.

"Spike, what happened to you?"

"Twilight!" Spike exclaimed, hugging the legs of Twilight Sparkle. "You wouldn't believe how glad I am to see you!"

"What happened?" She motioned to the baby dragon's swollen black eye.

She could already see the puss dripping out of his injured eye. The edges of the eye had turned his purple and green scales a deep brown with the inside a hideous yellow. The baby dragon just shrugged it off like it was an everyday occurrence, but flinched when Twilight Sparkle gently grazed it.

"Oh, this? Huh? Just bumped into something in the dark, Twilight." he lied.

"Just bumped into something, Spike?" exclaimed Twilight Sparkle. "You have a large number of cuts and bruises all over your body, and a black eye! A black eye, Spike! Who did this to you?" In a low voice, she murmured, "Was it Rainbow Dash?"

"Rainbow Dash? What? No! Rainbow Dash would never- no, Twilight!" replied Spike. "I just fell down a couple flights of stairs and walked into a suit of armor. It's dark down here, Twilight. Why would you even think she would?"

"I don't know, Spike. Rainbow Dash has just been...she's just not herself." Twilight offered lamely. She gingerly lifted the baby dragon up to her shoulders where he curled his tail around her other shoulder to steady himself. "Come on, Spike. We still need to find, Rainbow Dash."

"I don't really have a choice now do I?" muttered the dragon.

Twilight paid no attention to him. She had more important things on her mind than a grumbling baby dragon. The labyrinth of corridors were dwindling down to only a couple of doors while the actual width of hall considerable shrunk until only a single person could comfortably walk. A few cyan feathers had gotten stuck into the carved stone, meaning that Rainbow Dash had come this way. Why she had, though, made Twilight Sparkle wonder.

As a Valkyrie, wouldn't the appropriate choice of action be to fly? Why come to the very foundations of the palace? Twilight Sparkle knew that Rainbow Dash was more than capable at evading the Royal Guard and getting out of the palace. During one of their little unplanned escapade to get a signature from one of Twilight Sparkle's favorite authors, Rainbow Dash had personally flown her out of the castle while being chased by Iron Shield and his squad of "goons" as Rainbow Dash liked to call them. Shining Armor was less than pleased when Hearth's Warming Eve came along and he had to explain why his armor had been dyed a hot pink.

It had been one of the most embarrassing days of her life because Princess Celestia had then sent a special edition and autographed copy of the book to Twilight that Hearth's Warming Eve. Oddly enough, she had not punished neither Rainbow Dash or Twilight Sparkle for wreaking havoc upon Canterlot and the palace. If Twilight Sparkle remembered correctly, then Princess Celestia had also given Rainbow Dash a backstage pass to meet and greet the members of the esteemed Wonderbolts. The only reason why she remembered was because Rainbow Dash had bragged about it for days, saying how a mysterious benefactor had delivered the platinum tickets during Hearth's Warming Eve. This thought led her to wonder if Princess Celestia knew how bad Rainbow Dash's home life was like. If so, then why did the Princess do nothing?

Well, it did explain why Rainbow Dash was so hesitant upon revealing anything about her family. When she had, though, Rainbow Dash had portrayed them as fun loving and just as awesome as her. Perhaps they had been. Before her dad committed suicide and her mother became an alcoholic. It would certainly explain why Rainbow Dash had taken a liking to Scootaloo. As far as anyone knew, Scootaloo was just a lonely and miserable as Rainbow Dash secretly was until the Mane Six came to be. Thinking of the Mane Six, Twilight Sparkle frowned. She briefly wondered if Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Rarity or Fluttershy knew about Rainbow Dash's situation. And if they did, why hide it? They were all friends, no? And friends told friends everything, right? At least, that's what she read.

Shaking her head of those treacherous thoughts, Twilight Sparkle plowed on through the darkness. She couldn't stop now. Not when she was so close to finding Rainbow Dash. And she was lost. Not that she would admit it or anything. The ball of light suddenly revealed an end to the seemingly endless corridors. It was an old wooden door warped by age and moisture. The hinges were rusted beyond use. She tried to pry the door open with her bare hands but the door wouldn't budge. Angrily kicking the door, her hands brilliantly glowed violet, engulfing the door in the same glow before ripping it out of it's doorframe.

"Twilight!"

"It wouldn't budge!" she shrugged.

"But this is the palace! Won't Princess Celestia be mad if she found you blasting away doors?"

"No, because it's for a good cause." Twilight said, stepping into the room.

The first thing she did was dispel the ball of light. The second thing she did was frown. The room was nothing like she pictured. If anything, it was unlike she imagined a secret room in the bowels of the restricted area of the palace to be like. The room was ginormous with a high ceiling and a crystal chandelier. Book shelves lined the walls from bottom to top, filled with ancient tomes and scrolls that predated the founding of Equestria. The stone walls that remained untouched by the shelves were littered in maps and charts of Equestria and the Griffin kingdom. A large, wooden table sat in the middle of the room with a giant map of the world with little wooden pieces, like on a chessboard, painted different colors. A dagger or two were stuck in certain locations.

However, standing at the table with a book that looked far too big to be an Atlas or reference book was Rainbow Dash bent over. A frown marred her tear stained face. In her hand, the same short sword she had seen in the portrait of Commander Hurricane glistened in the crystal light.

"Rainbow Dash!" Twilight exclaimed happily.

"Twilight."