Points of Interestby TheSilentAuthorChaptersOn The Road.Sir Goldwin, and IcesesThe Gathering of Ego'sOn The Road.“So a new source of magic has revealed itself deep benieth the city’s floor? Strange, in all my visits I never felt something out of the ordinary... no matter, I shall go to Canterlot, and see whatever it may be. If Celestia and Luna have called for my help than it must be important. Who knows, it may be the answer I've been looking for. Twilight clutched her satchel as the wind began picking up again. "It's getting colder by the minute." Spike said shivering. "Why couldn't we just take the train to Canterlot again?" "Princess Celestia told me to come by road." Twilight said looking off into the distance. "She said that it would be better for me to do it this way." "The train would have been better for the both of us." Spike said to the side. Twilight kept her eyes focused forward at the road that was ahead of her. In the distance she could see the great city of Canterlot, resting in the cold winters day. She kept recalling the context of Celestia letter over and over again. Whatever it was it had to be important for it asked only for her presence. "What do you think Celesita needs?" Twilight asked aloud. "I mean she didn't say much in the letter, and she asked me to come alone." "Maybe it has to do with you being a princess, and all." Spike said. "You know, top secret stuff." "Maybe." Twilight said with a smile. As the two of them came to a curve in the road, they noticed something off in the distance. It was a small figure, a pony from what Twilight could tell. Whoever it was, they were moving quite slow. The movements resembled that of an injured pony or one of great age. The figure was also shrouded in a solid black cloak, with a hood shielding it's face. "Not going to lie, little creppy." Spike whispered to Twilight as the figure got closer. "Hush Spike, we don't know if they can hear you." Twilight responded. The figure was within reaching distance of them before stopping in it's tracks. "Hello." A soft elderly voice spoke. "Hello." Twilight answered back. "You wouldn't mind helping an old fool get some sense of direction would you." The figure said removing his hood. The pony that stood before Twilight was quite odd looking. His mane was barely there, must have been due to years of natural aging. His eyes were dull, and had no color to them. Overall his posture showed that he must have been quite sick. "Of course sir, but may I ask why you are out here in such dreadful weather?" Twilight asked removing her scarf. "Here." "Oh, no I don't need such a thing. I'll be fine. Thanks though" The old stallion said. Twilight reluctantly wrapped the scarf back around her neck. "Now, where is it you need guiding to sir?" "Canterlot." The old colt said coughing violently. "Canterlot is the place. I got some family there, and I seemed to lost my map. Can you tell which direction it's in." Twilight exchanged a look with Spike, as he galnced at the obvious mountain with Canterlot on it. "Well sir, I am heading to Canterlot right now actually. You can come along with me if you want." She said kindly. "Oh, I would be most grateful for that." He said. "I feel like I have been wondering around these parts for hours." "You don't need to worry about that anymore." Twilight said perking up. "Spike and I will make sure you'll get there in not time. Right Spike?" "You bet." He said. "Thank ye both." The stallion said. "I'll just follow where you go then." "Well we wouldn't want to keep anypony waiting now do we?" Twilight said moving forward. The old pony kept up with them for the most part. He stumbled a couple of times, but Twilight made sure that he was alright. Spike kept glancing over at him, and then back to Twilight. She knew what he was getting at. "So I never caught your name." The he said finally. "May I ask who is guiding me to Canterlot. "Oh, my name is Twilight Sparkle and you are?" Twilight asked. "Wic......ens......fields." The colt said quickly. Spike looked at Twilight to show that he wasn't buying anything he was saying. "And does most of your family live in Canterlot?" Twilight asked conversationally. "Just a few here, and there. I never get around to seeing them often but I thought I should try more these day." He said."May I ask why you, yourself are heading to Canterlot?" "Offical royal business." Twilight said. "Ah, a pony of business I see." The stallion said. "Never could get my head around that sort of things. Must not have been that important though. I mean no offense, but why are you taking the road? I can clearly see that you have wings to fly with." "My instructions were to come by road, though I don't fully understand why myself. Seems I could have gotten there a lot faster." Twilight said. "Well at least you take you business serious. If I had a better means of getting there I would just take it." He said with a laugh. Twilight nodded at this and kept looking forward as the city grew closer. She also began taking notice of the stallion's breathing. He was wheezing, and overall it seemed that he had trouble doing it. At one point she feared that he would just collapse right then, and there. "You doing alright sir?" Spike asked. "Little tired thats all, do you by chance have some water I can have? I do hate asking for it but I lost my with my other stuff." He asked. Twilight stopped and from her satchel she produced a small jug. She gave it to the stallion, who quickly gulped down the containments. "Thank you." He said. "You are most kind to a complete stranger, such as myself." "Well I always try to help others when I can." Twilight said taking the jug back. As the sun began it's dissent, the air began getting colder. Twilight didn't want to admit it, but their new traveling buddy was starting to become more and more of a hassle. It seemed like ever second he had to stop and say something about their surroundings while going off on a long story. Spike whispered that he should start writing it all done for a book. Though she enjoyed a good story, it was starting to become one big blur after awhile as he went on and on. Eventually they came to the mighty gates that spereated them from the city. Twilight swore she saw the greatest expression of joy come across Spike's face as they went through the gates. Soon they were inside the walls of Canterlot. "Well here we are." Twilight said. "Really? That was faster than I thought it was going to be." The stallion said moving forward without her. "Thank you a thousand times Twilight, and good day to the both of you." "Are you sure you know were you're going mr. ?" Spike asked. "Oh, I'll find it eventually don't you worry about me." He said. Both Spike and Twilight looked at each other then back to him. "Well you mind telling us where your family is so we can make sure you get there safely?" Twilight asked. "What in Equestria do you mean? I am as safe as the next pony." He said while stumbling as he stepped. "Thanks for the offer though. Now you run off and attend to whatever it is 'royally' you needed to do." Twilight sighed. "You have a good day, and I hope you have a good time with your family." "Oh, I will." He said before disappearing around a corner. "Well that was interesting." Spike said aloud. "I thought I was going to lose it." "Yeah it was." Twilight said walking forward. "Um Twilight, the palace is that way." Spike said pointing. "One second Spike." Twilight said turning the same corner as their friend did. Turning, she could find no trace of the stallion anywhere. It was as if he didn't even turn down that street at all. Spike joined her, looking for the pony's presence anywhere. "No sign of him anywhere huh?" He asked. "No, strange." She said to herself. "Well we can figure it out later, but for now lets head to the palace." The two eventually came to the palace doors, and soon they were escorted inside. As they came to the main hall they began hearing the voices of Luna, and Celestia. Also accompany they're voices was a soft, whispering voice. "Princess Celestia, and Princess Luna. May I present Princess Twilight Sparkle." The guard said. Twilight smiled as the two princesses came forward to greet her. She look around them to see the owner of the other voice. Her eyes fell upon a larger, cloaked figure sitting in the back of the room. Their face wasn't visible, but she noticed that the hooves of the figure were quite large. "Twilight, its so good to see you." Celestia said. "We are both glad that you could come." Luna added. "I am always happy to be able to come whenever you need me to." Twilight said. "That does remind me, why did you need me to come. Also why could't I just take the train like always?" "Well the walking part wasn't our idea." Luna whispered to Celestia. Celestia smiled. "I will explain everything Twilight, but for now I would like to introduce you to somepony very special." She said motioning for the figure to approach. The figure moved quickly, and quietly towards them. He stood in between the two sisters looking down at Twilgiht. She could barely see the figures eyes, which were a pale yellow color. "Twilight we would like you to meet are dear friend, Mikaeus." Celestia said gesturing to the figure. "Hello." Twilight said. The only response from the figure was a grunt. "He means to say hello." Luna said after a long pause. "Nice to meet you sir." Twilight said, feeling a bit awkward by his silence. "Now Twilight, I trust that you are wondering while we have called you here." Celestia said cutting in, noticing that the introduction was going nowhere. "We have a great issue on our hooves." "An issue? What kind of issue?" Spike asked nervously. Luna went to the window to peer out to the city. "About a week ago, some mining company sought to investigate the old crystal caves of this city." She began. "They found plenty of rocks, but they came across something else." "Something else?" Twilight said. "Something that is of mystical properties." Celestia said. "The miners came into contact with a tunnel while they were down there. When they tried to go down it though, they found themselves not being able to get anywhere near it. It was as if some sort of wall was standing in their way." "Then we went down there ourselves, and discovered a powerful field of magical energy was guarding the tunnel." Luna said. "Thats when it happen." "What happen?" Twilight asked. "As soon as Luna, and I tried to break the barrier we felt something else. It was coming deep within the tunnel. It's presence is strong, stronger than anything we have ever felt before." Celestia said. "Thats why we called you, and Mikaeus here. We need help to figure out what's causing this strange presence, and to figure out what true power it really holds." Twilight looked at the hooded figure then back to the princess. "So theres an unknown source of magic just sitting beneath the city? Hasn't anypony every discover this beforehoof?" "Apparently not." Luna said. "It is strange that we haven't felt this presence in all our years here." "Not to sound like a barrier of bad news, but what can I do to help with this? I mean if you two can't do it than what chance do I have?" Twilight asked. "That's why they invited me." Mikaeus spoke in a soft whisper. His voice caused all of them to stand still. The pony slowly removed his hood to reveal the rest of his head. Twilight gazed at the unicorn that stood before her, for he seemed quite intimidating. His mane was white, and his coat was a pale blue. "That's why they invited the others as well." He spoke again in the low tone of voice. "Others?" Twilight asked. "Yes two others." Luna nodded. "But you already meet another didn't you?" "No, I haven't meet anypony besides him." Twilight said gesturing toward Mikaeus. The two sisters looked at each other with concern looks. "It was his idea to meet her on the road wasn't it?" Luna asked. "Thats what he said, it isn't usually like him to go against his ideas." Celestia agreed. "Are you sure you didn't meet a unicorn by chance?" She asked Twilight. "No ma'am, the only pony we meet on the road was this old earth pony." Spike chimed in. "Seems like we were just ahead of him, or something?" He shrugged. "It's not like that egomaniac to be late when he boasts about doing something." Mikaeus whispered aloud. "Your majesties?" A guard said stumbling in. "Yes?" Celesita asked. "A do hate interrupting, but I have a 'Goldwin' here to see you. He's not on the records of seeing you today, so should I escort him out?" The guard asked. "No, bring him here." Celestia said. "So I guess now you'll get to meet him. Sorry about making come here by the road Twilight. It was his idea that he should meet you somewhere outside the city." "So it was his idea that we walk all the way here?" Spike asked. "And he didn't even show up?" "Well at least it was pleasant." Twilight said, trying not to sound like the whole effort was wasted. "Sir Goldwin, presenting." A booming voice came from behind her. As they turned Twilight was caught off guard at the site before her. Standing there was the old pony that they meet while traveling to the city. "You?" Both Spike and Twilight asked. Sir Goldwin, and IcesesTwilight shook her head in disbelief. "This is the other guy who's going to help with the magic stuff?" Spike asked. "But he's not a unicorn." "Looks can be deceiving young one." The old pony said with a laugh. Suddenly, a flash of light and smoke came over his body. Before their eyes the old stallion transformed into a broad, stern looking unicorn with a dark cream colored coat. His huge golden mane almost hit the floor before he arrange into a style he liked. Twilight's heart froze upon seeing this transformation. "Wait, you're that Goldwin? Like in Sir Goldwin of North Order, Goldwin?" Twilight asked almost flabbergasted. He nodded his head to signal yes. Twilight's mind began racing with many questions. "Theres so much that I want to ask you. I don't know where to begin." "Maybe you can began explaining who this guy is?" Spike asked, observing her reaction to the stallion. "Sir Goldwin, of the North Order is one of the most respectable ponies in the field of magic. There is literally books, upon books about the things he has discovered. He's the one who developed simpler teleportaiton spells for others to learn. Then theres the book about his levitation spells, and the one on weather control. The list just goes on and on." Twilight breathed heavily. "Well I wouldn't say that there are that many books." Goldwin said trying to play off the compliments . "But yes, I am Sir Goldwin, of the north. I am glad that you are familiar with my works, it should help later when we're working together." "Working? With Goldwin?" Twilight said to herself. He moved forward and gave a slight bow to all three princesses. "I am glad to see that you were able to meet Twilight outside the city. You had Luna and I worried that you messed up your plans." Celestia said. "So wait, this is the guy who made us walk to Canterlot?" Spike asked. "Spike!" Twilight whispered. "Not now." "Ah yes, I was going to explain why I had you come by road." Goldwin said to Spike, in a less meaningful tone. "Like all colleges I work with, I like to get a grasp of what they are like beforehoof. Usually I pretend to be some pony in need, or like today, an old story teller who's lost. I do it to see how they would treat me, almost like a test. It just shows who they really are, and it exposes themselves to me." "So you wanted to see how I was, without knowing who you were?" Twilight asked. "Indeed, and I must say that you were most kind to me. Usually when I play that character ponies will find me to annoying to help. You would not believe some of treatment I have received over the years. But you treated a total annoying stranger with kindness and patients. Also you stayed with me the whole time, and in all my experiences I have never had that happen before." He said with a warm smile. "Now then shall we get started with the task at hoof?" "We are still waiting on one more." Luna said with a look of concern towards Celestia. "Yes we have to wait." Celestia said in agreement. "One more?" Goldwin asked. "But I thought there was only going to be three of us? Princess Twilight and I, and.......Mr. Happy over there." He said. Twilight noticed that Mikeaus had concealed his face again in the hood. "Who else do you need for this small task?" Goldwin asked. "It's just a simple field of magic that needs to be cracked open, not like it's going to end the world right?" "The pony we have invited is an expert in energy fields, and we brought them here just in case we can't figure it out." Celestia said. "And we invited 'her' here because we thought it was in the best interest of this situation." Luna added. Twilight watched as Goldwin became stiff with the mention of the word 'her'. His face showed that he was begging to become angry, but it also showed that he was a tad bit afraid. "Please don't tell me you invited her." He said. The two sisters didn't say a word. "Please tell me you didn't invite her, please tell me." He pleaded. "And what if we did?" Luna asked almost upset with his question. "Oh, for the love of all things in the world." He said bitterly. "Why of all the ponies in the known plains of existence, would you invite the one who knows how to make me angry. The only one who is nothing but a ravaging wolf in disguise as a pony." Twilight caught Celestia holding her hoof up to her mouth, to show that she wanted Twilight to be quite. A blast of cold air rushed past Twilight, and soon small dots appeared in the air. They were small specs, like snow flakes, and they began forming an almost cloud of dust behind Goldwin. Gradually, they began taking form of a pony shape sillloete. Soon, and to her surprise, an alicorn appeared from the cloud. Spike was about to say something, but Twilight hushed him. The alicorn's coat was white as snow, and her mane was dark blue that matched her eyes. "She's nothing but a lair, theif, and an arrogant brat if there ever was one. She is a backstabber who delights in the fact that I fail, and she is usually the one behind. Oh, others think that am crazy when I say that but I'll tell you this. She is out to get me and once she gets here, it'll will show. Trust me she is nothing but a cruel witch!" Goldwin shouted, with his face growing red with anger. "Oh please do go on, I do enjoy flattery." The alicorn said in a sweet voice. Goldwin spun around, almost knocking the pony off her hooves. Their noses were touching "You!" He spat. "Yes, me." The alicorn said with a smile stepping back. "You vile she devil!" Goldwin spat. "Sir Goldwin, I will have to ask you to calm down." Celestia said growing concerned. "Yes Sir Goldwin." The alicorn said in a mocking manner. "You'll have to calm down before talking to me." Goldwin's horn lit up with a bright, yellow aura. "Speak to me like that again, I dare you!" The alicorn matched his aura with a dark blue one of her own. Her smile was now gone and replaced with a stern look. "You are overreacting, just like every other time." Goldwin was shaking with rage. "Overreacting, really!?! I have ever right to act this way for all the things you put me through! All the humiliations, all the misery still burns fresh in my mind! So no, am not overacting! I am acting just about right when dealing with scum like you!" "Sir, Goldwin cease at once!" Luna shouted. The two ponies payed no attention to the princess. "Threatening me is not the smartest thing to do Win, you should know that by now." The alicorn said then motioning for Twilight to step out of the way. "I would have thought you would have learned from the last time." Goldwin chuckled. "Oh, but last time I was still young and stupid...." "You're still as stupid as the day I first meet you! No matter what you think you have achieved, no matter what you have done, you're still that gullible fool who thinks he's better than everypony else." The alicorn quickly commented. "You will pay for that comment." Goldwin growled. "I am three times the wizard that you could only dream of being." "Then prove it." The alicorn said beckoning him on. The two ponies stared in a gridlock, ready for the other to make the first move. Twilight looked on helplessly as the two began taking stances. Suddenly, Goldwin leaped forward at the alicorn with a terrible scream. "ENOUGH!" Mikaeus shouted. Instantly both ponies froze in place like statues, only their eyes moved to look at the unicorn. At first Twilight thought that they were just afraid of the sudden outburst. Then she noticed they couldn't move at all. Mikeus removed his hood to reveal that he too had his horn glowing with magic. Goldwin's groaning only confirmed Twilight's theory that it was the mysterious unicorns doing that froze the two. "You two fight like birds over a berry." Mikaeus said getting in between the two. He turned to face Goldwin. "You will sit down and not raise your horn to fight anymore while you're here. Got it? And the next time when one of the princesses tells you to do something, you better do it! You are in their home as a guest and you will do exactly what they say." He then turned to the alicorn. "You know better to antagonized him like that. It's hard to defined your actions when you act like this in front of others." He said shaking his head. "Do something like this again and I will make sure both of you stay this way for eternity. Now on the count of three I am going to release you. If any of you try something I will not think twice about my previous threat. Alright, ready? One, two, three." Like motions of a wave both ponies fell to the ground gasping for air. Goldwin was the first to stand. "Try something like that again old fool, and I will..." "You will remain silent until spoken to!" Mikaeus shouted, quickly causing the proud unicorn to ball up. "I am very sorry about this my dear princesses, it shall not happen again." He said putting his hood back over his face. Twilight almost giggled at the expression on Celestia's and Luna's faces. It showed that Mikaeus must have had never used that tone in front of them before. "Right, now that's all settled we would like to discuss the actions that are going to be taken place. We would like to formulate a plan on how to deal with our situation." Celestia said before making sure both ponies were calm. Goldwin slammed his hoof into the floor dashing her hopes. "I will not speak to anypony as long as that, that pony is in the same room." He pointed to the alicorn. "If any of you need me I shall be in my cambers." He said storming off. Mikaeus went after him. "Why you..." "Let him go." The alicorn said. "You'll be wasting both time, and energy trying to stop him." "Well he seems a little cranky." Spike said. "He's always like that, don't worry about him though. He acts like that only when I am around so he shouldn't stay that way the whole time." The alicorn said to him. "We thought that he would have matured by now, but it seems that there is still ill feelings within him." Luna said. "At least he wasn't able to cause to much of a scene." "I feel Win will always be like that when I am around, but enough about him. So this is the princess I been hearing about? Twilight Sparkle right?" She asked turning to Twilight. "You're the one who solved the secret of Star Swirl?" "Yes ma'am, I am that Twilight Sparkle." Twilight said. "Ah, it is a privilege to meet you then. I am madam Salem Iceses of the eastern islands." Iceses said while bowing. "Iceses?" Twilight said. "That name, you're from the college of the costal wizards right or am I thinking of somepony else?" "You got it right my dear, I am professor Iceses at your service." She said with a bow. Twilight smiled. "Thank you." Iceses stood back up. "Now then, Princess Celestia and Luna, I have been studying similar fields like the one around the entrance to the tunnel like you asked me to. With the description you gave, whoever casted it wanted it to last a long time." "Do you think you can break it though?" Luna asked. "It will take time to conjure up a spell to do this, but I think I can. I need to look through the library for any history on those tunnels, you know me, have to learn the history of things. Who knows, maybe there is something there that can help us!" Iceses said excitedly. "Oh, I would like to go there now if thats okay with the three of you please." "You may go." Celestia said. "Thank you!" Iceses exclaimed with a jump then a bow. "As for you Twilight I shall see you in the morning. We got a big day ahead of us, with this mysterious thing and all." She giggled before disspereaing in front of them. "Well that was interesting." Spike said. "Seems like they called everypony out of the woodworks here." He mumbled to Twilight. "Princess Celestia, Luna." Twilight began. "Why did you call all of these ponies here? I mean, don't you think that one or two could of handled it? Not that am doubting your decisions but it seems kind of unessacery." Twilight said. "We don't know what we are getting into Twilight, it doesn't hurt to be prepared for the worst." Luna remarked. "Plus we thought it would help Goldwin and Iceses come to terms with each other." "Whats the deal between those two? I mean as soon as you mentioned her, he went all psycho." Spike remarked. "Bad blood." Mikaeus spoke. "Iceses is a great wizard who has accomplished many things, some though came at a price." "A price?" Twilight asked. "Goldwin and Iceses have worked together on several occasions, each time they discovered something new. At first, many thought they would go on to become the most legendary pair of wizards of history. Then something changed in Iceses as the years past, though Goldwin didn't leave her much of a choice." He said closing his eyes as if to recall the past. "He started to be risky and didn't care how dangerous something was. One day, Goldwin wanted to manipulate one of Star Swirl's famous time spells. Though he calmed he wanted to just see what would happen for the sake of knowing, Iceses claims that he seemed to have something else on his mind about it." "Which was?" Spike asked. "She has never said, but he needed her for it. Goldwin wasn't as powerful as Iceses and she was familiar with the spells." Mikaeus said. "She kept telling him that it was to dangerous to mess with such magic." "She refused." Twilight concluded. Mikaeus nodded. "Exactly, she abounded they partnership leaving him, which filled him with resentment towards her. Though it didn't end there. Over the years they clashed ego's, and each time Iceses proved to be the better. Even though Goldwin was a respected wizard, he was often mocked for his attempts to prove that he was the superior. Soon though it became a game for Iceses and she would go out of her way to prove that he was wrong on whatever he was working on." Twilight looked at Celestia, who nodded to show what Mikaeus was saying was true. "So they're enemies now?" Twilight asked herself . "Oh, that sounds splendid." Spike said. "I am sorry for their behavior, I'll make sure that it doesn't happen again." Mikaesus said to Celestia and Luna. "I am sure it will be fine now but thank you. He'll will calm down eventually." Celesita said. "Don't count on it." Mikaesus mumbled. "Now the sun needs to set, and the moon needs to take over the sky. I suggest that you should go ahead and get some rest Twilight. Tommorow we are going to tackle this task, with full force." Celestia said. "Thou are going to need it if Goldwin and Iceses act the way they did all day." Luna said. Twilight bowed. "I shall be in my room if anything comes up." She said before walking away. "It was nice meeting you Mikaeus, come Spike." The unicorn grunted, giving her the only sign that he had ecnoualged her. "Good night Twilight, see you in the morning." Celestia said. "Same to you to princess Celestia, and princess Luna." Twilight said before exiting. Twilight and Spike walked down the hall a little before speaking to each other. "That was quite the party huh?" Spike said. "I mean talk about some interesting ponies." "I know, and I am absolutely thrilled to work with two of them." Twilight said. "So this Goldwin is this supposedly well know wizard?" Spike asked. "You sure got excited once you saw him." Twilight stopped. "Are you kidding me?" She asked. "He is only the most respected and well renowned wizard thats still around, apart from Iceses. For years I heard stories about him but I never thought that I would ever meet him." She sighed. "It's just so incredible. Though it does seems weird that he can acts like a complete child towards somepony else." "And Iceses?" Spike asked. "From what I heard from others she is a genius amongst wizards. Like Mikaeus said in there, she is the only one to come close to cracking Star Swirl's advance times spells." Twilight said. "Also as you can see, she happens to be an alicorn." "I was wondering that, isn't being an alicorn only for royalty?" He asked. "Guess not." Twilight shrugged. A sudden force came whooshing behind her. "Twilight." Mikaeus voice whispered. Spike almost jumped at the sound of the unicorn's voice. Turning around the pair stood before the large wizard. "Princess Twilight, you must come with me for a moment. I promise not to waste too much of your time." Mikeaus said with a bow. Twilight looked at Spike and nodded for him to leave. "I'll be there in a minute Spike, you go on ahead." Spike eyed the unicorn. "Okay, if you say so." He said while backing away slowly, keeping his eyes on Mikaeus. "I am sorry once again princess Twilight, its just that Celestia and Luna wanted me to show you something before you went to bed." He said removing his hood. "Tell me, are you familiar with advanced detection spells?" Twilight looked around curiously not knowing what he was getting at. She kept a blank expression to see where he would go from there. "Good, that means I still have something to teach you. The princesses wanted me to show you a particular spells that we feel is in your best interest while you're here." He said. "Really, they wanted you to teach me something? I mean I know plenty about detection spells, the basics that is." Twilight said. "Ah, but what am going to show you is something totally different than anything you learned from books." The unicorn said. "The spell I have in mind with let you sense other fields of magic such as other wizards natural energy. It will bascaily tell you when you are near the field of a barrier or fellow magic user." "So your saying there is a way to feel the presence of other magic users around me? Like a radar?" Twilight asked. "Yes and..." He looked up and down the hall, then he said a few words causing a flash of aura from his horn. "It's safe for now, but the princesses wanted you and I to keep a close eye on this situation." "Really?" Twilight said looking around. "Any reason why?" "I don't like how Goldwin has done nothing sense arriving, before you journeyed here he sat in his room all day. Both Celestia and Luna think that he has good attentions, but they just want to have an extra set of ears hanging around." "Just in case something happens huh? I am sure he's not going to be any trouble." She said hopefully. "Always better to be prepared than being caught helplessly against a wizard." Mikaeus quoted. Twilight perked up at the reference. "Ser parearuble number two hundred and six right?" "Celestia taught you well, most students only learn the first hundred only." He said "Thanks, I kind of read all of them." Twilight said bashfully. "So what was the spell you were going to show me?" "Right, right, so would you like to learn the spell I spoke of?" He asked. "If the princesses think I need to, I guess I am. As long as you tell me what I need to do to learn it." Twilight said eagerly. "Close you eyes and let your mind be free." Mikaeus said. "Think of a waterfall, roaring into a soft stream." She did as she was instructed, and soon silence was filling the area. Then out of nowhere Mikaeus's voice was somehow mumbling within her thoughts. She peaked open her eyes to see what he was doing. It almost made her jump though, for he was standing before her motionless with his head hanging down. "There." His voice echoed. His body sprang back to life as his voice was no longer present within her mind. Twilight shook her head. "Did....you....just?" "Something else that you'll have to learn down the road. But for now I want to you to tell me what you are feeling. Anything strange?" He asked. She felt this tiny shock of energy snip at the back of her mind. It was faint, but then a big shock came when she turned her eyes back to the sturdy unicorn. "I feel something in the back of my mind. It's like telling me that something is here." "You're feeling my natural energy right now, and the energy of the field around that tunnel entrance." He said. "You'll also feel if somepony is trying to disturbed the field too. Don't worry though, just like other spells you learned you can make yourself not feel anything that you don't want to." Twilight concentrated on the odd feeling and soon it was gone. Then she tried recalling it, just like that it was back. "That's incredible. You planted it in my mind, and I instantly know how to do it. How come you're not one of the famous wizards like Goldwin? I don't think I ever head of anypony being able to do something like this." Twilight said. "I have my reasons of keeping quite but for now the hour is growing late. We both need rest and I certainly need to prepare for the task thats ahead." Mikaeus said. "But there's so much I want to ask you now. Like where did you learn that ability? How long did it take for you to master it?" Twilight began. He let out a quite sigh. "If you want to know more about my ways then I suggest you should come out to the garden in the morning. I shall be there taking my meditation there. As for now I bid thee good night. Also keep that new found sense of yours on, you never know when it my come in handy." He said before bowing to her. "You don't have to bow before me sir. I am honestly still not quite use to it." Twilight said. "I always show respect to those who earned it." He said. "I am sure you'll grow to it in time." Twilight smiled at this. "Thank you sir, and good night to you too." He returned her smile, which was the first expression she saw him make since meeting him. She didn't know how to react to it though, for it caught her off guard. So she nodded and went straight to her room. Upon entering she obviously woke Spike up from his early sleep. "Twilight? I am not asleep yet." He said. "How did it go with creepy guy?" She stopped for a moment to think about the spell that Mikaeus had given her. There was so much she wanted to know about how he was able to do such a feat. Then another thought crept in her head. If he was able to do that, what else was he capable of? "Um Twilight, you alright?" Spike asked. "What? Oh, yeah just fine." She said. "So what did he have to say?" Spike asked. Twilight looked out the window that showed the city resting. She could feel the presence even stronger, now that she was looking in its direction. Along with that she could feel little presences that must have been all the unicorns in the city. "Nothing much, but he taught me a really neat spell." Spike raised an eyebrow. "That seems interesting." "It's something alright." She said with a yawn. "Say, all that walking has really done a number on me. Think it's time for me to get some sleep. How about you?" Spike let out a lounge yawn. "Way ahead of you." Soon she was curled up in her bed as Spike fell asleep in his. As the night went on the weird feeling of the field didn't really bother her. It was as if it was just in the background, not really making it's self known. Then out of nowhere she felt another feeling joined in her head. It was just as faint as the first so it raised no concern to her. Out of the blue though, a sharp pain roared through her head. She tried her best to ignore it, but it kept growing and growing. Concentrating, she focused on not feeling any magical presences. As the thought came across, the pain was gone. "Wonder what that was all about." She thought. Within an instant she fell asleep, awaiting for what tomorrow would bring. The Gathering of Ego'sTwilight shivered as she pulled the covers around her. It was all in vain though, for she couldn't get back to sleep even if she tired. Opening one of her eyes she could see that the sun had just begun it's rise in the sky. "Morning already?" She asked herself. She slowly sat up and began rubbing her eyes to wake them up. The first thing that came to her mind was the detection spell that she had learned the previous night. Concentrating, she focused on how the strange feeling felt. Like an old memory, the feeling came sparking back into her mind. Unlike last night it was no longer painful and was relatively quite soothing to her. "Good." She said. "Spike? You awake yet?" She asked looking over to where he slept. The pattern of snores answered her question. She smiled to herself and quickly hopped off the bed. Strecthing her wings, she made sure not to awaken Spike from his slumber. Quietly, she went through her morning routines and was out the door in no time. As she went down the deserted hall she could feel much more than just the one presence in her mind. It was strange but she felt a total of five strong magical presences from all around. "So am I feeling everypony here right now?" She asked herself. "I must be feeling both Celestia and Luna, as well as the others." Her mind quickly alerted her of something. "Mikaeus, garden." she said to herself. Hastily, she made her way outside of the palace walls. Making her way to the garden she felt one of the presences begging to grow stronger. Turning a corner she spotted Mikaeus sitting on the ground in a relax position. He had done away with his cloak and hood, and was now wearing a dark blue robe. His white mane was catching the wind, sending it all over the place "Morning sir." She said coming up to him. There was no response. She waited at bit before asking again. "I am not disturbing you am I?" She asked. Still, there was no response from the unicorn. Walking forward she peered around him too look at his face. His pale yellow eyes where staring off into the distance, not moving at all. Suddenly, he sprang to life. "What? Oh, good morning princess Twilight." He said with a bow. "Sorry, I was in deep thought. I hope I hadn't kept you waiting long." "No I just walked up, how are you today?" She asked politely. "Been better, but I can't really complain." He said. "Sleep well?" He asked. Twilight nodded. "So you didn't feel anything strange?" He asked with a slight hint of disappointment. "No sir." She said catching the hint. He closed his eyes. "It was probably good that you weren't disturbed cause it turned out to be nothing. Though that's what Celestia said it was." "Wait, what happen?" Twilight asked. "I felt the field around the tunnel being disturbed by something or somepony. Whatever it was, it was trying to break the barrier that was discovered. I made my way as fast I could there, but the time I arrive there wasn't a soul near in site." Mikaeus said. "I don't think it was nothing, I know that it was something." "So that was the pain I felt last night. I am sorry for not keeping watch sir, it won't happen again." Twilight said with a stern look. "It's alright, but in the future just be prepared. I don't know what it was but I have a strong hunch that it was somepony here. That doesn't leave much room for the imagination, for only a few know about this. We both know that it wasn't either of the you princesses, or me." He said slowly. Twilight thought out loud. "That would only leave Goldwin and Iceses." "I told them that they would be nothing but trouble." Mikaeus mumbled loudly. "Tonight, I need you to leave you detection ability fully alarmed. If you would like to learn of a way to deal with the pain, should it come up again I can teach you." Twilight sighed. "That would help actually, I never felt something like that in all my life. How on earth do you deal with that?" Mikaeus chuckled. "It's not that hard but I will show you later. Now tell me, do you meditate much?" "No sir not really." Twilight said. "What is used to bring you peace then? Where are you most calm?" He asked. Twilight pondered. "Well, when I am a relaxed situation I like to read. I guess that's when I am at peace?" "Reading is good, words can be more useful than actions." Mikaeus said looking off. "Are you familiar with any meditation techinecs at all?" "I know some basic ones, but besides that not much." Twilight said. "That will have to do." He said. "Care to join me then?" Twilight began feeling a nagging presence in the back of her head. It wasn't the one far off, but it kept getting closer and closer. "Sure." She said. "Somepony approaches, it's probably just Celestia walking through the garden." Mikaeus said noticing Twilight's reaction. Mikaeus then proceeded to sit on the ground while tilting his head back. Taking a few breaths, he lowered his head back forward and rested his chin on his chest. "Smooth waters travel down a stream." He said. "Let your mind flow down this stream, so that you can see how far down it goes." Twilight slowly repeated his actions, and soon the two sat in silence. She felt calm for the most part, but the nagging feeling kept growing and growing. As best as she could she tried to ignore it, but soon it began ringing in her ears. Focusing quickly she no longer was using the detection spell, granting her peace. Mikaeus breathed out. "Now, think about a time where you young. Focus on that and…." Iceses appeared out of thin air and a few inches from Mikaeus's face. "Good morning!" She exclaimed cheerfully. Twilight opened her eyes to see Mikaeus fall on his back from the outburst. "Iceses!" Mikaeus said while getting back up. "You know how much I hate it when you do that." "I didn't mean to scare you old chap, but I am sorry if I did." She said with a giggle. "I am sure you are, now why have you disturbed us?" He asked. Iceses threw her main over her shoulder. "Oh nothing, just wanted to see what you were up to. With the princesses doing their royal business, I thought I would find somepony to talk to before taking breakfast. When I saw you two out here I thought I would come by." She said while tugging at Mikaeus's robe. "This is a lot a better than the table cloth you wore yesterday." Mikaeus stepped back so that she couldn't continue messing with his garments. "I was just showing princess Twilight here how I do mediation." "Oh, has he showed how to leave your body yet? Like all ghost like!" Iceses exclaimed waving her hooves around in a manner of one trying to get scares while reading a ghost story. "Um, no." Twilight said. "Oh Mikaeus, off all the things about your mediation you leave out the most interesting part?" Iceses asked. Mikaeus's face showed that he was becoming annoyed. "There isn't a reason for me to teach her that and no, I will not teach you it either. So stop asking." Iceses frowned at this. "After all these years of studying together and you still want tell me this secret. " "Some secrets are to be kept in the dark." Mikaeus said rolling his eyes. "Fine." Iceses said rolling her eyes. "I will figure it out one day, and then it won't be a secret anymore." "Come back to me when you do." Mikaeus said sarcastically. Twilight felt awkward just standing there while the two ponies talked. She tried to think of an excuse to leave without being rude. "I do hate cutting in but, I have to go and wake Spike." Twilight said softly. Mikaues nodded. "Of course your majesty, do whatever you need to do." "Oh please." Iceses mumbled to Mikaeus response. "Thank you, I guess I'll see you two later on when Celestia calls for us." She said walking away. "See ya." Iceses called after her. Mikaeus began walking in the opposite direction."Iceses may I speak with you for just one second? Last night, there was something that alerted me….." Twilight made her way out of the garden and back into the palace. She couldn't put a hoof on it, but something was off about Iceses. She just appeared there, and out of nowhere. Though she seemed to be giddy it just didn't feel right. Like she was trying to cover up that fact that she just showed up. A knew thought sprang up in her mind, just how long was Iceses really there for. Could she have been standing there for a minute before revealing herself? How come Mikaeus didn't feel her right in front of him? After all she could have just been truly curious about what they were doing but then again. "Maybe he is right about them." Twilight said. "Princess Twilight." Goldwin's voice called. Twilight immedialty stopped in her tracks, spinning around she saw the majestic unicorn coming up to her. He had his mane done up in a fashion that was only typical for mares to sport. "I hope you are having a good morning." He said with a bow. "Yes sir, I am." She said. "Good, now princess Twilight, I wanted to apologize for my behavior yesterday in front of you." He said. "I was out of line and I should have kept my anger under control." "It's alright sir Goldwin." Twilight said. "Still though, I apologize for causing an awkward scene for you as well as the other princesses." He said. "It will not happen again." Twilight nodded. "Thank you sir." "No problem, I am keeping you from somewhere? I don't mean to if I am?" He asked. "Oh no, I was going down to get some breakfast." She said forgetting about her other task. "Really? I was thinking about going to get something to eat myself. Care if I join you then?" He asked. "Absolutely." Twilight said almost immediately. "I mean of course you can, Sir Goldwin." Twilight took the lead, as the two began making there way down the hall. Her mind had begun racing with questions that she wanted to ask Goldwin. As each thought passed through her head she began feeling a little bit awkward. 'Maybe she shouldn't ask so many things to him, she thought. I don't want to come off as an obsessed fan or something like that.' She thought. "So Sir Goldwin." She began. He let out a chuckle. "You don't have to call me that all the time you're majesty. The 'sir' part is only when I am at formal occasions or presences, you may call we Goldwin or Win for short." "Oh okay, so Goldwin I been meaning to ask you a few questions on one of your books." Twilight began nervously. "Which one?" Goldwin asked with interest. "Rules of Levitation." Twilight said. Goldwin smiled. "You and every other pony has been asking me questions about that one. I can probably already guess which section you are going to question me on. Funny, it seems rather simple to me but to everypony else they seem rather frustrated by it." "I too have become frustrated over it if I may admit. It's just that, how do you concentrated hard enough to move great objects like you described. I mean I can lift rocks no problem, but in the book you say that one can move buildings if concentrating correctly." Twilight said. "It just seems, not impossible, but challenging to wrap my head around." "Remind me to show you later, then it won't seem so 'challenging'." Goldwin said. "Anything else?" Twilight wanted to start listing off things but the two came to the doors that held the dining hall. "Looks like we're here." Goldwin said. He opened the door for her politely. She nodded thankfully and proceeded inside. The table that laid in the middle of the room was already set for the meal that was being prepared. Goldwin went forward and pulled out for her to sit in. Twilight barley had a chance to sit down before a server came rushing up to her. "How can I be of service this morning you're majesty?" The stallion asked. "Oh, I didn't know if breakfast was finished or not. If it is, I thought I would like to start off with a bit of toast." Twilight said. "Of course ma'am, and for you sir." The stallion asked Goldwin. The unicorn waved his hoof to signify that he require anything. Goldwin just kept looking around as the server left to go retrieve what Twilight requested. "So Twilight, I heard a lot about you abilities from Princess Celestia. May I say that from what she told me you sound quite to be the natural gifted at sorcery." Goldwin said. "She even mention how you solved some of Star Swirl's secrets?" "Oh that, that was nothing to major." Twilight said trying to minimize it. "You could say that I had a better understanding on somethings that he didn't." "Still anything related to Star Swirl's work is important, let alone the fact that you solved something that he couldn't." Goldwin said. "As you know I am a studier of his work." Twilight nodded. "I remember your book about your research about his time spells. Though I know that in the end you found it frustrating that he didn't leave much for others to follow his notes up." Goldwin nodded. "Now Twilight, Princess Celestia didn't really go into specifics about what you discovered. So I was wondering if you could…." A sound from behind caused both of the ponies to look at the door that was being opened. Mikaeus came strolling in, with his stern look dressing his face. He gave a nod to Twilight and took a chair at the table. "Morning Goldwin." Mikaeus quietly. "Morning, and how are you today." Goldwin said with clench teeth. Mikaeus gave a grunt to signal that he was done talking. Twilight watched awkwardly in silence as the two other unicorns did the same. One of the servers came back and asked if any pony needed anything. Mikaeus nodded his head to say no and once again Goldwin waved off the stallion. Twilight smiled. "So, has Princess Celesita told you two what she thinks is behind the barrier down in the tunnel?" "Come to think of it she hasn't." Goldwin said. Mikaeus nodded. "She hasn't told me anything, neither has Luna." Twilight noticed that Iceses had appeared right behind Goldwin, with a smirk spread across her face. She was about to alert the unicorn but it was already to late. "I haven't heard anything either." She said in Goldwin's ear. The scene that followed almost made Twilight worry that she would have to get Celestia if things went south. Goldwin's face showed that he was trying not to explode with anger. He slowly turned his head, only to be greeted by Iceses face. "Good morning." She said. He stared at her, not saying a word. Iceses used her magic to force one of the chairs over to her so that she could sit. Then she proceeded to scoot the chair as close as possible to Goldwin's. "Come now don't be such a big grump." She said sitting down. "Surprising, you haven't ordered anything yet? Maybe I can get you something huh?" With a flash of magic, a plate of food appeared before Goldwins spot on the table. Iceses giggled as she caused napkins and a cup to appear. "Ta-da, now eat up." She said. Goldwin closed his eyes and let out a quite sigh. With a second he caused the plate to disappear as fast as it was summoned. "I am not hungry." He said. "Well you should have said something to let me know then. You would have spared me the trouble then." Iceses said with sarcasm lacing her voice. "Iceses, thats enough." Makaeus said. "Princess Celestia approaches, so please do me a favor and not act like a pack of wolves." Iceses and Goldwin both looked at him with curiosity Iceses slowly asked."Wait, how do you know that she's..." Twilight heard the door unlatching from behind her and soon Celestia came strolling in. She gave a smile to Twilight and took the spot at the head of the table. "Good morning." She said to the three wizards. "Good morning." They all repeated, except Goldwin's response was a little weaker due to his present annoyance. "And how are you today Twilight?" Celestia asked. "I am doing good, I think we are all ready to get started on that barrier thing." Twilight said. She tried hinting to Celestia about the present scene of the two bickering wizards. "If it's okay with everypony else here that is." "Well then, if no pony objects then we shall start immeidlaty. Iceses, care to share with us your findings from the library yesterday?" Celestia asked. Iceses nodded and made a pile of scrolls appear on the table. Taking one, she rolled out so that all those there could look on its contents. "Alright, so these mines were made way back in the day when ponies thought there were a bunch of treasures to be found. One could say that this barrier here is a product of simple unicorn greed. For it was quite common for that time, since the company that started mining was actually own by three unicorn brothers. The company fell under their bickering and thus why the mines were left alone, but that isn't' the case with our barrier." She said pointing at the scroll. "This area is different from the surrounding tunnels in one major way. I will spare you the details, but based of the rock samples collected by the miners, this part of the tunnel is over five hundred years older than any part of the mine." "So it was dug a long time ago before the other mines." Twilight said. "That means this wasn't made by ordinary ponies." "Exactly." Iceses. "That doesn't make sense though. How can there be a tunnel in the mountain if there wasn't any other sign that there was another tunnel leading in." Goldwin said. "Thats the big question." Iceses said bopping his nose with her hoof. "This chamber was made by somepony who was able to teleport inside the mountain. There they created a chamber which is now protected by the barrier. Then years later on miners dug and we know all the rest." "But why would some pony go through all that trouble just to build a chamber in the mountain?" Twilight asked. "To hide something?" Goldwin questioned. "It would be the perfect spot if you think about it. At the time, whoever did never thought in a million years that ponies would get near it." "Smart." Mikaeus said. "What do you think Princess Celesita?" "It's in interesting theory Iceses, but the only way we can prove anything is by breaking the barrier. Did you find anything that could help with this yesterday, anything that could give us some answers?" Celestia asked. Iceses shook her head. "I am sorry but I was not able to find anything that could help us. The barrier itself like I said is nothing I have ever encountered before. At first it feels like a innocent little shield spell, but once you start trying to focus on it thats when things go crazy. While I was testing on the frequencies around the mountain, it felt like the field was aware of my actions, and it got harder and harder as I went along." "But you can figure out a way to break it right?" Twilight asked. "I am afraid not, this is beyond my capability" Iceses said grimly. "But that doesn't mean I can try." She said with a sly grin. Celestia let out a sight. "Oh dear." "But thats okay, you invited two other equally powerful wizards that can help." Iceses perking back up. Twilight noticed that Goldwin seemed to smile at the comment that was made. For the first time since she saw the two in the same room together he wasn't mad. Maybe the two of them could get along again in time. Iceses very slowly leaned her head on Goldwin's shoulder. "And of course you invited Goldwin here too." Goldwin's expression turned back into the same stern look. He polity positioned himself so that Iceses wouldn't have a place to rest anymore. "So much for that." Twilight said to herself. "So do you think we should head for the tunnel today? I mean I probably the only pony here who hasn't seen dealt with it yet and I think it would help." "Of course Twilight, thats actually what I had in mind." Celesita said. "We can go whenever we are all ready." "I am ready." Goldwin said distancing himself from Iceses. Iceses used her magic to push him right back. "Me too!" "Mikaeus?" Celestia asked. "Yes your majesty." He said in a low tone. "Though I do need to go get some things from my room first before heading out." A server came out and looked over the room occupants. "Breakfast is ready your majesties." He said with a bow. "Of course, after breakfast and all." Celestia said with a smile. After they were all done eating, Celestia finished her water and looked at the trio of wizards. "All of you may go and if you need to go get something than you can, anything that might help you here is free for you to use. I wish that you do make haste, for I do want to see if we can solve this problem quickly if possible." Celestia said. Goldwin immediately got up and stormed out of the room as fast as possible. This left everypony else to leave the room in a silent fashion. Twilight made her way to her room so that she could wake Spike up. Upon entering she found that he wasn't there at all. "Spike?" Twilight called out. "Anypony here." "Right behind ya." Spike voice said behind her. Twilight turned around. "Oh, there you are, I was just coming to wake you." "Oh thats all right I was awake soon after you left." He said stretching his back. "So what's on the agenda today?" "We're actually all about to head out to the tunnel right now." Twilight said. "Everypony? What about mr. Goldwin? Has he calmed down since yesterday?" Spike asked. Twilight nodded. "He's seems to be trying to keep himself in check, but I don't know how long it will last. At breakfast today he was able to hold off from erupting on Iceses. Though if he did I could completely understand." Twilight said. "She knows that he dislikes her but she went out of her way to annoy him. It was kind of like the antics of an annoying little sibling." Spike sighed. "Well let's hope he can put up with it for the time being. So when are we heading out?" "Right now." Twilight said walking towards the door. Spike closed the door and the two were quickly off to meet up with Celestia. As they made there way down, Twilight felt this strange feeling begging to creep in her mind. She couldn't put her hoof on it but it was like somepony was watching them. Though there wasn't anypony there when she turned her head, she kept feeling it. "Spike do you feel like, somethings watching us?" Twilight asked. Spike looked around. "To tell you the truth, I do. I thought I was just imagining it though." Twilight stopped for now she could feel something in the air. "It's weird, but it feels like somepony is literal a couple of feet away from us." "Yeah." Spike said backing up towards her. The two became still, and soon a silence fell upon the area. Twilight tried to think of something that could confirm her weird feeling, then it came to her. Mikaeus's spell. Concentrating she focused on the feeling she felt this morning and then within a second her mind was irrupted with energy. A presence was before her, it was so close that it was almost making her have a headache. "Twilight, you alright?" Spike asked. "I know you're there!" Twilight said. "Show yourself." Spike looked confused. "Um Twilight, who are you talking too?" Twilight hushed him. "I know you're there, I can sense you. Show yourself right now!" With that the presence vanished, leaving the two of them once again alone. "They're gone." Twilight said. "Wait so you mean somepony was actually watching us? How could you tell?" Spike asked. "This spell Mikaeus showed me last night lets me feel magical presences, like fields or fellow wizards. He told me to be on guard in case anything starts to seem odd." Twilight said. "Right then, I felt a strong presence standing near us. Somepony was watching us, and I don't know why." Spike nodded nervously. "Lets get to Princess Celestia before I start shaking." Twilight nodded and quickly began heading towards the place she needed to meet the others. Soon the hall they were just in was now empty and silent. "Little brat, how could she have detected me? There is no way that's possible unless…….." Twilight kept one eye constantly looking around so that she may detect anymore strange intrusions. She soon began hearing the voices of Celestia and the other wizards. "Well then it shouldn't take so long, should it?" Iceses asked. Mikaeus let out a violent cough. "It all depends on how strong the barrier is, and depending if these spells you want to try out are strong enough." Twilight turned the corner to see the small cluster of ponies standing there. "Ah, there you are." Celestia said. "Good morning Spike." Spike nodded. "Good morning to you to princess Celesita." "So we all set to go out now?" Twilight asked. All three wizards gave a nod to both her and Celestia to signal that they were ready. "Everything seems to be in order for us then, shall we?" Celestia said while walking forward. "Now we need to at least be able to make some progress on breaking the barrier down today. If we could at least get inside the chamber by sundown, that would be fantastic." "Is there any reason why you have such high hopes for it today? Not that I am doubting our capablitlites, but what makes you so enthusiastic?" Goldwin asked. Iceses immediately jumped to his side. "Cause we're all here together and there is nothing we can't accomplish." She said very cheerfully. He made the space between them larger.
On The Road.“So a new source of magic has revealed itself deep benieth the city’s floor? Strange, in all my visits I never felt something out of the ordinary... no matter, I shall go to Canterlot, and see whatever it may be. If Celestia and Luna have called for my help than it must be important. Who knows, it may be the answer I've been looking for. Twilight clutched her satchel as the wind began picking up again. "It's getting colder by the minute." Spike said shivering. "Why couldn't we just take the train to Canterlot again?" "Princess Celestia told me to come by road." Twilight said looking off into the distance. "She said that it would be better for me to do it this way." "The train would have been better for the both of us." Spike said to the side. Twilight kept her eyes focused forward at the road that was ahead of her. In the distance she could see the great city of Canterlot, resting in the cold winters day. She kept recalling the context of Celestia letter over and over again. Whatever it was it had to be important for it asked only for her presence. "What do you think Celesita needs?" Twilight asked aloud. "I mean she didn't say much in the letter, and she asked me to come alone." "Maybe it has to do with you being a princess, and all." Spike said. "You know, top secret stuff." "Maybe." Twilight said with a smile. As the two of them came to a curve in the road, they noticed something off in the distance. It was a small figure, a pony from what Twilight could tell. Whoever it was, they were moving quite slow. The movements resembled that of an injured pony or one of great age. The figure was also shrouded in a solid black cloak, with a hood shielding it's face. "Not going to lie, little creppy." Spike whispered to Twilight as the figure got closer. "Hush Spike, we don't know if they can hear you." Twilight responded. The figure was within reaching distance of them before stopping in it's tracks. "Hello." A soft elderly voice spoke. "Hello." Twilight answered back. "You wouldn't mind helping an old fool get some sense of direction would you." The figure said removing his hood. The pony that stood before Twilight was quite odd looking. His mane was barely there, must have been due to years of natural aging. His eyes were dull, and had no color to them. Overall his posture showed that he must have been quite sick. "Of course sir, but may I ask why you are out here in such dreadful weather?" Twilight asked removing her scarf. "Here." "Oh, no I don't need such a thing. I'll be fine. Thanks though" The old stallion said. Twilight reluctantly wrapped the scarf back around her neck. "Now, where is it you need guiding to sir?" "Canterlot." The old colt said coughing violently. "Canterlot is the place. I got some family there, and I seemed to lost my map. Can you tell which direction it's in." Twilight exchanged a look with Spike, as he galnced at the obvious mountain with Canterlot on it. "Well sir, I am heading to Canterlot right now actually. You can come along with me if you want." She said kindly. "Oh, I would be most grateful for that." He said. "I feel like I have been wondering around these parts for hours." "You don't need to worry about that anymore." Twilight said perking up. "Spike and I will make sure you'll get there in not time. Right Spike?" "You bet." He said. "Thank ye both." The stallion said. "I'll just follow where you go then." "Well we wouldn't want to keep anypony waiting now do we?" Twilight said moving forward. The old pony kept up with them for the most part. He stumbled a couple of times, but Twilight made sure that he was alright. Spike kept glancing over at him, and then back to Twilight. She knew what he was getting at. "So I never caught your name." The he said finally. "May I ask who is guiding me to Canterlot. "Oh, my name is Twilight Sparkle and you are?" Twilight asked. "Wic......ens......fields." The colt said quickly. Spike looked at Twilight to show that he wasn't buying anything he was saying. "And does most of your family live in Canterlot?" Twilight asked conversationally. "Just a few here, and there. I never get around to seeing them often but I thought I should try more these day." He said."May I ask why you, yourself are heading to Canterlot?" "Offical royal business." Twilight said. "Ah, a pony of business I see." The stallion said. "Never could get my head around that sort of things. Must not have been that important though. I mean no offense, but why are you taking the road? I can clearly see that you have wings to fly with." "My instructions were to come by road, though I don't fully understand why myself. Seems I could have gotten there a lot faster." Twilight said. "Well at least you take you business serious. If I had a better means of getting there I would just take it." He said with a laugh. Twilight nodded at this and kept looking forward as the city grew closer. She also began taking notice of the stallion's breathing. He was wheezing, and overall it seemed that he had trouble doing it. At one point she feared that he would just collapse right then, and there. "You doing alright sir?" Spike asked. "Little tired thats all, do you by chance have some water I can have? I do hate asking for it but I lost my with my other stuff." He asked. Twilight stopped and from her satchel she produced a small jug. She gave it to the stallion, who quickly gulped down the containments. "Thank you." He said. "You are most kind to a complete stranger, such as myself." "Well I always try to help others when I can." Twilight said taking the jug back. As the sun began it's dissent, the air began getting colder. Twilight didn't want to admit it, but their new traveling buddy was starting to become more and more of a hassle. It seemed like ever second he had to stop and say something about their surroundings while going off on a long story. Spike whispered that he should start writing it all done for a book. Though she enjoyed a good story, it was starting to become one big blur after awhile as he went on and on. Eventually they came to the mighty gates that spereated them from the city. Twilight swore she saw the greatest expression of joy come across Spike's face as they went through the gates. Soon they were inside the walls of Canterlot. "Well here we are." Twilight said. "Really? That was faster than I thought it was going to be." The stallion said moving forward without her. "Thank you a thousand times Twilight, and good day to the both of you." "Are you sure you know were you're going mr. ?" Spike asked. "Oh, I'll find it eventually don't you worry about me." He said. Both Spike and Twilight looked at each other then back to him. "Well you mind telling us where your family is so we can make sure you get there safely?" Twilight asked. "What in Equestria do you mean? I am as safe as the next pony." He said while stumbling as he stepped. "Thanks for the offer though. Now you run off and attend to whatever it is 'royally' you needed to do." Twilight sighed. "You have a good day, and I hope you have a good time with your family." "Oh, I will." He said before disappearing around a corner. "Well that was interesting." Spike said aloud. "I thought I was going to lose it." "Yeah it was." Twilight said walking forward. "Um Twilight, the palace is that way." Spike said pointing. "One second Spike." Twilight said turning the same corner as their friend did. Turning, she could find no trace of the stallion anywhere. It was as if he didn't even turn down that street at all. Spike joined her, looking for the pony's presence anywhere. "No sign of him anywhere huh?" He asked. "No, strange." She said to herself. "Well we can figure it out later, but for now lets head to the palace." The two eventually came to the palace doors, and soon they were escorted inside. As they came to the main hall they began hearing the voices of Luna, and Celestia. Also accompany they're voices was a soft, whispering voice. "Princess Celestia, and Princess Luna. May I present Princess Twilight Sparkle." The guard said. Twilight smiled as the two princesses came forward to greet her. She look around them to see the owner of the other voice. Her eyes fell upon a larger, cloaked figure sitting in the back of the room. Their face wasn't visible, but she noticed that the hooves of the figure were quite large. "Twilight, its so good to see you." Celestia said. "We are both glad that you could come." Luna added. "I am always happy to be able to come whenever you need me to." Twilight said. "That does remind me, why did you need me to come. Also why could't I just take the train like always?" "Well the walking part wasn't our idea." Luna whispered to Celestia. Celestia smiled. "I will explain everything Twilight, but for now I would like to introduce you to somepony very special." She said motioning for the figure to approach. The figure moved quickly, and quietly towards them. He stood in between the two sisters looking down at Twilgiht. She could barely see the figures eyes, which were a pale yellow color. "Twilight we would like you to meet are dear friend, Mikaeus." Celestia said gesturing to the figure. "Hello." Twilight said. The only response from the figure was a grunt. "He means to say hello." Luna said after a long pause. "Nice to meet you sir." Twilight said, feeling a bit awkward by his silence. "Now Twilight, I trust that you are wondering while we have called you here." Celestia said cutting in, noticing that the introduction was going nowhere. "We have a great issue on our hooves." "An issue? What kind of issue?" Spike asked nervously. Luna went to the window to peer out to the city. "About a week ago, some mining company sought to investigate the old crystal caves of this city." She began. "They found plenty of rocks, but they came across something else." "Something else?" Twilight said. "Something that is of mystical properties." Celestia said. "The miners came into contact with a tunnel while they were down there. When they tried to go down it though, they found themselves not being able to get anywhere near it. It was as if some sort of wall was standing in their way." "Then we went down there ourselves, and discovered a powerful field of magical energy was guarding the tunnel." Luna said. "Thats when it happen." "What happen?" Twilight asked. "As soon as Luna, and I tried to break the barrier we felt something else. It was coming deep within the tunnel. It's presence is strong, stronger than anything we have ever felt before." Celestia said. "Thats why we called you, and Mikaeus here. We need help to figure out what's causing this strange presence, and to figure out what true power it really holds." Twilight looked at the hooded figure then back to the princess. "So theres an unknown source of magic just sitting beneath the city? Hasn't anypony every discover this beforehoof?" "Apparently not." Luna said. "It is strange that we haven't felt this presence in all our years here." "Not to sound like a barrier of bad news, but what can I do to help with this? I mean if you two can't do it than what chance do I have?" Twilight asked. "That's why they invited me." Mikaeus spoke in a soft whisper. His voice caused all of them to stand still. The pony slowly removed his hood to reveal the rest of his head. Twilight gazed at the unicorn that stood before her, for he seemed quite intimidating. His mane was white, and his coat was a pale blue. "That's why they invited the others as well." He spoke again in the low tone of voice. "Others?" Twilight asked. "Yes two others." Luna nodded. "But you already meet another didn't you?" "No, I haven't meet anypony besides him." Twilight said gesturing toward Mikaeus. The two sisters looked at each other with concern looks. "It was his idea to meet her on the road wasn't it?" Luna asked. "Thats what he said, it isn't usually like him to go against his ideas." Celestia agreed. "Are you sure you didn't meet a unicorn by chance?" She asked Twilight. "No ma'am, the only pony we meet on the road was this old earth pony." Spike chimed in. "Seems like we were just ahead of him, or something?" He shrugged. "It's not like that egomaniac to be late when he boasts about doing something." Mikaeus whispered aloud. "Your majesties?" A guard said stumbling in. "Yes?" Celesita asked. "A do hate interrupting, but I have a 'Goldwin' here to see you. He's not on the records of seeing you today, so should I escort him out?" The guard asked. "No, bring him here." Celestia said. "So I guess now you'll get to meet him. Sorry about making come here by the road Twilight. It was his idea that he should meet you somewhere outside the city." "So it was his idea that we walk all the way here?" Spike asked. "And he didn't even show up?" "Well at least it was pleasant." Twilight said, trying not to sound like the whole effort was wasted. "Sir Goldwin, presenting." A booming voice came from behind her. As they turned Twilight was caught off guard at the site before her. Standing there was the old pony that they meet while traveling to the city. "You?" Both Spike and Twilight asked.
Sir Goldwin, and IcesesTwilight shook her head in disbelief. "This is the other guy who's going to help with the magic stuff?" Spike asked. "But he's not a unicorn." "Looks can be deceiving young one." The old pony said with a laugh. Suddenly, a flash of light and smoke came over his body. Before their eyes the old stallion transformed into a broad, stern looking unicorn with a dark cream colored coat. His huge golden mane almost hit the floor before he arrange into a style he liked. Twilight's heart froze upon seeing this transformation. "Wait, you're that Goldwin? Like in Sir Goldwin of North Order, Goldwin?" Twilight asked almost flabbergasted. He nodded his head to signal yes. Twilight's mind began racing with many questions. "Theres so much that I want to ask you. I don't know where to begin." "Maybe you can began explaining who this guy is?" Spike asked, observing her reaction to the stallion. "Sir Goldwin, of the North Order is one of the most respectable ponies in the field of magic. There is literally books, upon books about the things he has discovered. He's the one who developed simpler teleportaiton spells for others to learn. Then theres the book about his levitation spells, and the one on weather control. The list just goes on and on." Twilight breathed heavily. "Well I wouldn't say that there are that many books." Goldwin said trying to play off the compliments . "But yes, I am Sir Goldwin, of the north. I am glad that you are familiar with my works, it should help later when we're working together." "Working? With Goldwin?" Twilight said to herself. He moved forward and gave a slight bow to all three princesses. "I am glad to see that you were able to meet Twilight outside the city. You had Luna and I worried that you messed up your plans." Celestia said. "So wait, this is the guy who made us walk to Canterlot?" Spike asked. "Spike!" Twilight whispered. "Not now." "Ah yes, I was going to explain why I had you come by road." Goldwin said to Spike, in a less meaningful tone. "Like all colleges I work with, I like to get a grasp of what they are like beforehoof. Usually I pretend to be some pony in need, or like today, an old story teller who's lost. I do it to see how they would treat me, almost like a test. It just shows who they really are, and it exposes themselves to me." "So you wanted to see how I was, without knowing who you were?" Twilight asked. "Indeed, and I must say that you were most kind to me. Usually when I play that character ponies will find me to annoying to help. You would not believe some of treatment I have received over the years. But you treated a total annoying stranger with kindness and patients. Also you stayed with me the whole time, and in all my experiences I have never had that happen before." He said with a warm smile. "Now then shall we get started with the task at hoof?" "We are still waiting on one more." Luna said with a look of concern towards Celestia. "Yes we have to wait." Celestia said in agreement. "One more?" Goldwin asked. "But I thought there was only going to be three of us? Princess Twilight and I, and.......Mr. Happy over there." He said. Twilight noticed that Mikeaus had concealed his face again in the hood. "Who else do you need for this small task?" Goldwin asked. "It's just a simple field of magic that needs to be cracked open, not like it's going to end the world right?" "The pony we have invited is an expert in energy fields, and we brought them here just in case we can't figure it out." Celestia said. "And we invited 'her' here because we thought it was in the best interest of this situation." Luna added. Twilight watched as Goldwin became stiff with the mention of the word 'her'. His face showed that he was begging to become angry, but it also showed that he was a tad bit afraid. "Please don't tell me you invited her." He said. The two sisters didn't say a word. "Please tell me you didn't invite her, please tell me." He pleaded. "And what if we did?" Luna asked almost upset with his question. "Oh, for the love of all things in the world." He said bitterly. "Why of all the ponies in the known plains of existence, would you invite the one who knows how to make me angry. The only one who is nothing but a ravaging wolf in disguise as a pony." Twilight caught Celestia holding her hoof up to her mouth, to show that she wanted Twilight to be quite. A blast of cold air rushed past Twilight, and soon small dots appeared in the air. They were small specs, like snow flakes, and they began forming an almost cloud of dust behind Goldwin. Gradually, they began taking form of a pony shape sillloete. Soon, and to her surprise, an alicorn appeared from the cloud. Spike was about to say something, but Twilight hushed him. The alicorn's coat was white as snow, and her mane was dark blue that matched her eyes. "She's nothing but a lair, theif, and an arrogant brat if there ever was one. She is a backstabber who delights in the fact that I fail, and she is usually the one behind. Oh, others think that am crazy when I say that but I'll tell you this. She is out to get me and once she gets here, it'll will show. Trust me she is nothing but a cruel witch!" Goldwin shouted, with his face growing red with anger. "Oh please do go on, I do enjoy flattery." The alicorn said in a sweet voice. Goldwin spun around, almost knocking the pony off her hooves. Their noses were touching "You!" He spat. "Yes, me." The alicorn said with a smile stepping back. "You vile she devil!" Goldwin spat. "Sir Goldwin, I will have to ask you to calm down." Celestia said growing concerned. "Yes Sir Goldwin." The alicorn said in a mocking manner. "You'll have to calm down before talking to me." Goldwin's horn lit up with a bright, yellow aura. "Speak to me like that again, I dare you!" The alicorn matched his aura with a dark blue one of her own. Her smile was now gone and replaced with a stern look. "You are overreacting, just like every other time." Goldwin was shaking with rage. "Overreacting, really!?! I have ever right to act this way for all the things you put me through! All the humiliations, all the misery still burns fresh in my mind! So no, am not overacting! I am acting just about right when dealing with scum like you!" "Sir, Goldwin cease at once!" Luna shouted. The two ponies payed no attention to the princess. "Threatening me is not the smartest thing to do Win, you should know that by now." The alicorn said then motioning for Twilight to step out of the way. "I would have thought you would have learned from the last time." Goldwin chuckled. "Oh, but last time I was still young and stupid...." "You're still as stupid as the day I first meet you! No matter what you think you have achieved, no matter what you have done, you're still that gullible fool who thinks he's better than everypony else." The alicorn quickly commented. "You will pay for that comment." Goldwin growled. "I am three times the wizard that you could only dream of being." "Then prove it." The alicorn said beckoning him on. The two ponies stared in a gridlock, ready for the other to make the first move. Twilight looked on helplessly as the two began taking stances. Suddenly, Goldwin leaped forward at the alicorn with a terrible scream. "ENOUGH!" Mikaeus shouted. Instantly both ponies froze in place like statues, only their eyes moved to look at the unicorn. At first Twilight thought that they were just afraid of the sudden outburst. Then she noticed they couldn't move at all. Mikeus removed his hood to reveal that he too had his horn glowing with magic. Goldwin's groaning only confirmed Twilight's theory that it was the mysterious unicorns doing that froze the two. "You two fight like birds over a berry." Mikaeus said getting in between the two. He turned to face Goldwin. "You will sit down and not raise your horn to fight anymore while you're here. Got it? And the next time when one of the princesses tells you to do something, you better do it! You are in their home as a guest and you will do exactly what they say." He then turned to the alicorn. "You know better to antagonized him like that. It's hard to defined your actions when you act like this in front of others." He said shaking his head. "Do something like this again and I will make sure both of you stay this way for eternity. Now on the count of three I am going to release you. If any of you try something I will not think twice about my previous threat. Alright, ready? One, two, three." Like motions of a wave both ponies fell to the ground gasping for air. Goldwin was the first to stand. "Try something like that again old fool, and I will..." "You will remain silent until spoken to!" Mikaeus shouted, quickly causing the proud unicorn to ball up. "I am very sorry about this my dear princesses, it shall not happen again." He said putting his hood back over his face. Twilight almost giggled at the expression on Celestia's and Luna's faces. It showed that Mikaeus must have had never used that tone in front of them before. "Right, now that's all settled we would like to discuss the actions that are going to be taken place. We would like to formulate a plan on how to deal with our situation." Celestia said before making sure both ponies were calm. Goldwin slammed his hoof into the floor dashing her hopes. "I will not speak to anypony as long as that, that pony is in the same room." He pointed to the alicorn. "If any of you need me I shall be in my cambers." He said storming off. Mikaeus went after him. "Why you..." "Let him go." The alicorn said. "You'll be wasting both time, and energy trying to stop him." "Well he seems a little cranky." Spike said. "He's always like that, don't worry about him though. He acts like that only when I am around so he shouldn't stay that way the whole time." The alicorn said to him. "We thought that he would have matured by now, but it seems that there is still ill feelings within him." Luna said. "At least he wasn't able to cause to much of a scene." "I feel Win will always be like that when I am around, but enough about him. So this is the princess I been hearing about? Twilight Sparkle right?" She asked turning to Twilight. "You're the one who solved the secret of Star Swirl?" "Yes ma'am, I am that Twilight Sparkle." Twilight said. "Ah, it is a privilege to meet you then. I am madam Salem Iceses of the eastern islands." Iceses said while bowing. "Iceses?" Twilight said. "That name, you're from the college of the costal wizards right or am I thinking of somepony else?" "You got it right my dear, I am professor Iceses at your service." She said with a bow. Twilight smiled. "Thank you." Iceses stood back up. "Now then, Princess Celestia and Luna, I have been studying similar fields like the one around the entrance to the tunnel like you asked me to. With the description you gave, whoever casted it wanted it to last a long time." "Do you think you can break it though?" Luna asked. "It will take time to conjure up a spell to do this, but I think I can. I need to look through the library for any history on those tunnels, you know me, have to learn the history of things. Who knows, maybe there is something there that can help us!" Iceses said excitedly. "Oh, I would like to go there now if thats okay with the three of you please." "You may go." Celestia said. "Thank you!" Iceses exclaimed with a jump then a bow. "As for you Twilight I shall see you in the morning. We got a big day ahead of us, with this mysterious thing and all." She giggled before disspereaing in front of them. "Well that was interesting." Spike said. "Seems like they called everypony out of the woodworks here." He mumbled to Twilight. "Princess Celestia, Luna." Twilight began. "Why did you call all of these ponies here? I mean, don't you think that one or two could of handled it? Not that am doubting your decisions but it seems kind of unessacery." Twilight said. "We don't know what we are getting into Twilight, it doesn't hurt to be prepared for the worst." Luna remarked. "Plus we thought it would help Goldwin and Iceses come to terms with each other." "Whats the deal between those two? I mean as soon as you mentioned her, he went all psycho." Spike remarked. "Bad blood." Mikaeus spoke. "Iceses is a great wizard who has accomplished many things, some though came at a price." "A price?" Twilight asked. "Goldwin and Iceses have worked together on several occasions, each time they discovered something new. At first, many thought they would go on to become the most legendary pair of wizards of history. Then something changed in Iceses as the years past, though Goldwin didn't leave her much of a choice." He said closing his eyes as if to recall the past. "He started to be risky and didn't care how dangerous something was. One day, Goldwin wanted to manipulate one of Star Swirl's famous time spells. Though he calmed he wanted to just see what would happen for the sake of knowing, Iceses claims that he seemed to have something else on his mind about it." "Which was?" Spike asked. "She has never said, but he needed her for it. Goldwin wasn't as powerful as Iceses and she was familiar with the spells." Mikaeus said. "She kept telling him that it was to dangerous to mess with such magic." "She refused." Twilight concluded. Mikaeus nodded. "Exactly, she abounded they partnership leaving him, which filled him with resentment towards her. Though it didn't end there. Over the years they clashed ego's, and each time Iceses proved to be the better. Even though Goldwin was a respected wizard, he was often mocked for his attempts to prove that he was the superior. Soon though it became a game for Iceses and she would go out of her way to prove that he was wrong on whatever he was working on." Twilight looked at Celestia, who nodded to show what Mikaeus was saying was true. "So they're enemies now?" Twilight asked herself . "Oh, that sounds splendid." Spike said. "I am sorry for their behavior, I'll make sure that it doesn't happen again." Mikaesus said to Celestia and Luna. "I am sure it will be fine now but thank you. He'll will calm down eventually." Celesita said. "Don't count on it." Mikaesus mumbled. "Now the sun needs to set, and the moon needs to take over the sky. I suggest that you should go ahead and get some rest Twilight. Tommorow we are going to tackle this task, with full force." Celestia said. "Thou are going to need it if Goldwin and Iceses act the way they did all day." Luna said. Twilight bowed. "I shall be in my room if anything comes up." She said before walking away. "It was nice meeting you Mikaeus, come Spike." The unicorn grunted, giving her the only sign that he had ecnoualged her. "Good night Twilight, see you in the morning." Celestia said. "Same to you to princess Celestia, and princess Luna." Twilight said before exiting. Twilight and Spike walked down the hall a little before speaking to each other. "That was quite the party huh?" Spike said. "I mean talk about some interesting ponies." "I know, and I am absolutely thrilled to work with two of them." Twilight said. "So this Goldwin is this supposedly well know wizard?" Spike asked. "You sure got excited once you saw him." Twilight stopped. "Are you kidding me?" She asked. "He is only the most respected and well renowned wizard thats still around, apart from Iceses. For years I heard stories about him but I never thought that I would ever meet him." She sighed. "It's just so incredible. Though it does seems weird that he can acts like a complete child towards somepony else." "And Iceses?" Spike asked. "From what I heard from others she is a genius amongst wizards. Like Mikaeus said in there, she is the only one to come close to cracking Star Swirl's advance times spells." Twilight said. "Also as you can see, she happens to be an alicorn." "I was wondering that, isn't being an alicorn only for royalty?" He asked. "Guess not." Twilight shrugged. A sudden force came whooshing behind her. "Twilight." Mikaeus voice whispered. Spike almost jumped at the sound of the unicorn's voice. Turning around the pair stood before the large wizard. "Princess Twilight, you must come with me for a moment. I promise not to waste too much of your time." Mikeaus said with a bow. Twilight looked at Spike and nodded for him to leave. "I'll be there in a minute Spike, you go on ahead." Spike eyed the unicorn. "Okay, if you say so." He said while backing away slowly, keeping his eyes on Mikaeus. "I am sorry once again princess Twilight, its just that Celestia and Luna wanted me to show you something before you went to bed." He said removing his hood. "Tell me, are you familiar with advanced detection spells?" Twilight looked around curiously not knowing what he was getting at. She kept a blank expression to see where he would go from there. "Good, that means I still have something to teach you. The princesses wanted me to show you a particular spells that we feel is in your best interest while you're here." He said. "Really, they wanted you to teach me something? I mean I know plenty about detection spells, the basics that is." Twilight said. "Ah, but what am going to show you is something totally different than anything you learned from books." The unicorn said. "The spell I have in mind with let you sense other fields of magic such as other wizards natural energy. It will bascaily tell you when you are near the field of a barrier or fellow magic user." "So your saying there is a way to feel the presence of other magic users around me? Like a radar?" Twilight asked. "Yes and..." He looked up and down the hall, then he said a few words causing a flash of aura from his horn. "It's safe for now, but the princesses wanted you and I to keep a close eye on this situation." "Really?" Twilight said looking around. "Any reason why?" "I don't like how Goldwin has done nothing sense arriving, before you journeyed here he sat in his room all day. Both Celestia and Luna think that he has good attentions, but they just want to have an extra set of ears hanging around." "Just in case something happens huh? I am sure he's not going to be any trouble." She said hopefully. "Always better to be prepared than being caught helplessly against a wizard." Mikaeus quoted. Twilight perked up at the reference. "Ser parearuble number two hundred and six right?" "Celestia taught you well, most students only learn the first hundred only." He said "Thanks, I kind of read all of them." Twilight said bashfully. "So what was the spell you were going to show me?" "Right, right, so would you like to learn the spell I spoke of?" He asked. "If the princesses think I need to, I guess I am. As long as you tell me what I need to do to learn it." Twilight said eagerly. "Close you eyes and let your mind be free." Mikaeus said. "Think of a waterfall, roaring into a soft stream." She did as she was instructed, and soon silence was filling the area. Then out of nowhere Mikaeus's voice was somehow mumbling within her thoughts. She peaked open her eyes to see what he was doing. It almost made her jump though, for he was standing before her motionless with his head hanging down. "There." His voice echoed. His body sprang back to life as his voice was no longer present within her mind. Twilight shook her head. "Did....you....just?" "Something else that you'll have to learn down the road. But for now I want to you to tell me what you are feeling. Anything strange?" He asked. She felt this tiny shock of energy snip at the back of her mind. It was faint, but then a big shock came when she turned her eyes back to the sturdy unicorn. "I feel something in the back of my mind. It's like telling me that something is here." "You're feeling my natural energy right now, and the energy of the field around that tunnel entrance." He said. "You'll also feel if somepony is trying to disturbed the field too. Don't worry though, just like other spells you learned you can make yourself not feel anything that you don't want to." Twilight concentrated on the odd feeling and soon it was gone. Then she tried recalling it, just like that it was back. "That's incredible. You planted it in my mind, and I instantly know how to do it. How come you're not one of the famous wizards like Goldwin? I don't think I ever head of anypony being able to do something like this." Twilight said. "I have my reasons of keeping quite but for now the hour is growing late. We both need rest and I certainly need to prepare for the task thats ahead." Mikaeus said. "But there's so much I want to ask you now. Like where did you learn that ability? How long did it take for you to master it?" Twilight began. He let out a quite sigh. "If you want to know more about my ways then I suggest you should come out to the garden in the morning. I shall be there taking my meditation there. As for now I bid thee good night. Also keep that new found sense of yours on, you never know when it my come in handy." He said before bowing to her. "You don't have to bow before me sir. I am honestly still not quite use to it." Twilight said. "I always show respect to those who earned it." He said. "I am sure you'll grow to it in time." Twilight smiled at this. "Thank you sir, and good night to you too." He returned her smile, which was the first expression she saw him make since meeting him. She didn't know how to react to it though, for it caught her off guard. So she nodded and went straight to her room. Upon entering she obviously woke Spike up from his early sleep. "Twilight? I am not asleep yet." He said. "How did it go with creepy guy?" She stopped for a moment to think about the spell that Mikaeus had given her. There was so much she wanted to know about how he was able to do such a feat. Then another thought crept in her head. If he was able to do that, what else was he capable of? "Um Twilight, you alright?" Spike asked. "What? Oh, yeah just fine." She said. "So what did he have to say?" Spike asked. Twilight looked out the window that showed the city resting. She could feel the presence even stronger, now that she was looking in its direction. Along with that she could feel little presences that must have been all the unicorns in the city. "Nothing much, but he taught me a really neat spell." Spike raised an eyebrow. "That seems interesting." "It's something alright." She said with a yawn. "Say, all that walking has really done a number on me. Think it's time for me to get some sleep. How about you?" Spike let out a lounge yawn. "Way ahead of you." Soon she was curled up in her bed as Spike fell asleep in his. As the night went on the weird feeling of the field didn't really bother her. It was as if it was just in the background, not really making it's self known. Then out of nowhere she felt another feeling joined in her head. It was just as faint as the first so it raised no concern to her. Out of the blue though, a sharp pain roared through her head. She tried her best to ignore it, but it kept growing and growing. Concentrating, she focused on not feeling any magical presences. As the thought came across, the pain was gone. "Wonder what that was all about." She thought. Within an instant she fell asleep, awaiting for what tomorrow would bring.
The Gathering of Ego'sTwilight shivered as she pulled the covers around her. It was all in vain though, for she couldn't get back to sleep even if she tired. Opening one of her eyes she could see that the sun had just begun it's rise in the sky. "Morning already?" She asked herself. She slowly sat up and began rubbing her eyes to wake them up. The first thing that came to her mind was the detection spell that she had learned the previous night. Concentrating, she focused on how the strange feeling felt. Like an old memory, the feeling came sparking back into her mind. Unlike last night it was no longer painful and was relatively quite soothing to her. "Good." She said. "Spike? You awake yet?" She asked looking over to where he slept. The pattern of snores answered her question. She smiled to herself and quickly hopped off the bed. Strecthing her wings, she made sure not to awaken Spike from his slumber. Quietly, she went through her morning routines and was out the door in no time. As she went down the deserted hall she could feel much more than just the one presence in her mind. It was strange but she felt a total of five strong magical presences from all around. "So am I feeling everypony here right now?" She asked herself. "I must be feeling both Celestia and Luna, as well as the others." Her mind quickly alerted her of something. "Mikaeus, garden." she said to herself. Hastily, she made her way outside of the palace walls. Making her way to the garden she felt one of the presences begging to grow stronger. Turning a corner she spotted Mikaeus sitting on the ground in a relax position. He had done away with his cloak and hood, and was now wearing a dark blue robe. His white mane was catching the wind, sending it all over the place "Morning sir." She said coming up to him. There was no response. She waited at bit before asking again. "I am not disturbing you am I?" She asked. Still, there was no response from the unicorn. Walking forward she peered around him too look at his face. His pale yellow eyes where staring off into the distance, not moving at all. Suddenly, he sprang to life. "What? Oh, good morning princess Twilight." He said with a bow. "Sorry, I was in deep thought. I hope I hadn't kept you waiting long." "No I just walked up, how are you today?" She asked politely. "Been better, but I can't really complain." He said. "Sleep well?" He asked. Twilight nodded. "So you didn't feel anything strange?" He asked with a slight hint of disappointment. "No sir." She said catching the hint. He closed his eyes. "It was probably good that you weren't disturbed cause it turned out to be nothing. Though that's what Celestia said it was." "Wait, what happen?" Twilight asked. "I felt the field around the tunnel being disturbed by something or somepony. Whatever it was, it was trying to break the barrier that was discovered. I made my way as fast I could there, but the time I arrive there wasn't a soul near in site." Mikaeus said. "I don't think it was nothing, I know that it was something." "So that was the pain I felt last night. I am sorry for not keeping watch sir, it won't happen again." Twilight said with a stern look. "It's alright, but in the future just be prepared. I don't know what it was but I have a strong hunch that it was somepony here. That doesn't leave much room for the imagination, for only a few know about this. We both know that it wasn't either of the you princesses, or me." He said slowly. Twilight thought out loud. "That would only leave Goldwin and Iceses." "I told them that they would be nothing but trouble." Mikaeus mumbled loudly. "Tonight, I need you to leave you detection ability fully alarmed. If you would like to learn of a way to deal with the pain, should it come up again I can teach you." Twilight sighed. "That would help actually, I never felt something like that in all my life. How on earth do you deal with that?" Mikaeus chuckled. "It's not that hard but I will show you later. Now tell me, do you meditate much?" "No sir not really." Twilight said. "What is used to bring you peace then? Where are you most calm?" He asked. Twilight pondered. "Well, when I am a relaxed situation I like to read. I guess that's when I am at peace?" "Reading is good, words can be more useful than actions." Mikaeus said looking off. "Are you familiar with any meditation techinecs at all?" "I know some basic ones, but besides that not much." Twilight said. "That will have to do." He said. "Care to join me then?" Twilight began feeling a nagging presence in the back of her head. It wasn't the one far off, but it kept getting closer and closer. "Sure." She said. "Somepony approaches, it's probably just Celestia walking through the garden." Mikaeus said noticing Twilight's reaction. Mikaeus then proceeded to sit on the ground while tilting his head back. Taking a few breaths, he lowered his head back forward and rested his chin on his chest. "Smooth waters travel down a stream." He said. "Let your mind flow down this stream, so that you can see how far down it goes." Twilight slowly repeated his actions, and soon the two sat in silence. She felt calm for the most part, but the nagging feeling kept growing and growing. As best as she could she tried to ignore it, but soon it began ringing in her ears. Focusing quickly she no longer was using the detection spell, granting her peace. Mikaeus breathed out. "Now, think about a time where you young. Focus on that and…." Iceses appeared out of thin air and a few inches from Mikaeus's face. "Good morning!" She exclaimed cheerfully. Twilight opened her eyes to see Mikaeus fall on his back from the outburst. "Iceses!" Mikaeus said while getting back up. "You know how much I hate it when you do that." "I didn't mean to scare you old chap, but I am sorry if I did." She said with a giggle. "I am sure you are, now why have you disturbed us?" He asked. Iceses threw her main over her shoulder. "Oh nothing, just wanted to see what you were up to. With the princesses doing their royal business, I thought I would find somepony to talk to before taking breakfast. When I saw you two out here I thought I would come by." She said while tugging at Mikaeus's robe. "This is a lot a better than the table cloth you wore yesterday." Mikaeus stepped back so that she couldn't continue messing with his garments. "I was just showing princess Twilight here how I do mediation." "Oh, has he showed how to leave your body yet? Like all ghost like!" Iceses exclaimed waving her hooves around in a manner of one trying to get scares while reading a ghost story. "Um, no." Twilight said. "Oh Mikaeus, off all the things about your mediation you leave out the most interesting part?" Iceses asked. Mikaeus's face showed that he was becoming annoyed. "There isn't a reason for me to teach her that and no, I will not teach you it either. So stop asking." Iceses frowned at this. "After all these years of studying together and you still want tell me this secret. " "Some secrets are to be kept in the dark." Mikaeus said rolling his eyes. "Fine." Iceses said rolling her eyes. "I will figure it out one day, and then it won't be a secret anymore." "Come back to me when you do." Mikaeus said sarcastically. Twilight felt awkward just standing there while the two ponies talked. She tried to think of an excuse to leave without being rude. "I do hate cutting in but, I have to go and wake Spike." Twilight said softly. Mikaues nodded. "Of course your majesty, do whatever you need to do." "Oh please." Iceses mumbled to Mikaeus response. "Thank you, I guess I'll see you two later on when Celestia calls for us." She said walking away. "See ya." Iceses called after her. Mikaeus began walking in the opposite direction."Iceses may I speak with you for just one second? Last night, there was something that alerted me….." Twilight made her way out of the garden and back into the palace. She couldn't put a hoof on it, but something was off about Iceses. She just appeared there, and out of nowhere. Though she seemed to be giddy it just didn't feel right. Like she was trying to cover up that fact that she just showed up. A knew thought sprang up in her mind, just how long was Iceses really there for. Could she have been standing there for a minute before revealing herself? How come Mikaeus didn't feel her right in front of him? After all she could have just been truly curious about what they were doing but then again. "Maybe he is right about them." Twilight said. "Princess Twilight." Goldwin's voice called. Twilight immedialty stopped in her tracks, spinning around she saw the majestic unicorn coming up to her. He had his mane done up in a fashion that was only typical for mares to sport. "I hope you are having a good morning." He said with a bow. "Yes sir, I am." She said. "Good, now princess Twilight, I wanted to apologize for my behavior yesterday in front of you." He said. "I was out of line and I should have kept my anger under control." "It's alright sir Goldwin." Twilight said. "Still though, I apologize for causing an awkward scene for you as well as the other princesses." He said. "It will not happen again." Twilight nodded. "Thank you sir." "No problem, I am keeping you from somewhere? I don't mean to if I am?" He asked. "Oh no, I was going down to get some breakfast." She said forgetting about her other task. "Really? I was thinking about going to get something to eat myself. Care if I join you then?" He asked. "Absolutely." Twilight said almost immediately. "I mean of course you can, Sir Goldwin." Twilight took the lead, as the two began making there way down the hall. Her mind had begun racing with questions that she wanted to ask Goldwin. As each thought passed through her head she began feeling a little bit awkward. 'Maybe she shouldn't ask so many things to him, she thought. I don't want to come off as an obsessed fan or something like that.' She thought. "So Sir Goldwin." She began. He let out a chuckle. "You don't have to call me that all the time you're majesty. The 'sir' part is only when I am at formal occasions or presences, you may call we Goldwin or Win for short." "Oh okay, so Goldwin I been meaning to ask you a few questions on one of your books." Twilight began nervously. "Which one?" Goldwin asked with interest. "Rules of Levitation." Twilight said. Goldwin smiled. "You and every other pony has been asking me questions about that one. I can probably already guess which section you are going to question me on. Funny, it seems rather simple to me but to everypony else they seem rather frustrated by it." "I too have become frustrated over it if I may admit. It's just that, how do you concentrated hard enough to move great objects like you described. I mean I can lift rocks no problem, but in the book you say that one can move buildings if concentrating correctly." Twilight said. "It just seems, not impossible, but challenging to wrap my head around." "Remind me to show you later, then it won't seem so 'challenging'." Goldwin said. "Anything else?" Twilight wanted to start listing off things but the two came to the doors that held the dining hall. "Looks like we're here." Goldwin said. He opened the door for her politely. She nodded thankfully and proceeded inside. The table that laid in the middle of the room was already set for the meal that was being prepared. Goldwin went forward and pulled out for her to sit in. Twilight barley had a chance to sit down before a server came rushing up to her. "How can I be of service this morning you're majesty?" The stallion asked. "Oh, I didn't know if breakfast was finished or not. If it is, I thought I would like to start off with a bit of toast." Twilight said. "Of course ma'am, and for you sir." The stallion asked Goldwin. The unicorn waved his hoof to signify that he require anything. Goldwin just kept looking around as the server left to go retrieve what Twilight requested. "So Twilight, I heard a lot about you abilities from Princess Celestia. May I say that from what she told me you sound quite to be the natural gifted at sorcery." Goldwin said. "She even mention how you solved some of Star Swirl's secrets?" "Oh that, that was nothing to major." Twilight said trying to minimize it. "You could say that I had a better understanding on somethings that he didn't." "Still anything related to Star Swirl's work is important, let alone the fact that you solved something that he couldn't." Goldwin said. "As you know I am a studier of his work." Twilight nodded. "I remember your book about your research about his time spells. Though I know that in the end you found it frustrating that he didn't leave much for others to follow his notes up." Goldwin nodded. "Now Twilight, Princess Celestia didn't really go into specifics about what you discovered. So I was wondering if you could…." A sound from behind caused both of the ponies to look at the door that was being opened. Mikaeus came strolling in, with his stern look dressing his face. He gave a nod to Twilight and took a chair at the table. "Morning Goldwin." Mikaeus quietly. "Morning, and how are you today." Goldwin said with clench teeth. Mikaeus gave a grunt to signal that he was done talking. Twilight watched awkwardly in silence as the two other unicorns did the same. One of the servers came back and asked if any pony needed anything. Mikaeus nodded his head to say no and once again Goldwin waved off the stallion. Twilight smiled. "So, has Princess Celesita told you two what she thinks is behind the barrier down in the tunnel?" "Come to think of it she hasn't." Goldwin said. Mikaeus nodded. "She hasn't told me anything, neither has Luna." Twilight noticed that Iceses had appeared right behind Goldwin, with a smirk spread across her face. She was about to alert the unicorn but it was already to late. "I haven't heard anything either." She said in Goldwin's ear. The scene that followed almost made Twilight worry that she would have to get Celestia if things went south. Goldwin's face showed that he was trying not to explode with anger. He slowly turned his head, only to be greeted by Iceses face. "Good morning." She said. He stared at her, not saying a word. Iceses used her magic to force one of the chairs over to her so that she could sit. Then she proceeded to scoot the chair as close as possible to Goldwin's. "Come now don't be such a big grump." She said sitting down. "Surprising, you haven't ordered anything yet? Maybe I can get you something huh?" With a flash of magic, a plate of food appeared before Goldwins spot on the table. Iceses giggled as she caused napkins and a cup to appear. "Ta-da, now eat up." She said. Goldwin closed his eyes and let out a quite sigh. With a second he caused the plate to disappear as fast as it was summoned. "I am not hungry." He said. "Well you should have said something to let me know then. You would have spared me the trouble then." Iceses said with sarcasm lacing her voice. "Iceses, thats enough." Makaeus said. "Princess Celestia approaches, so please do me a favor and not act like a pack of wolves." Iceses and Goldwin both looked at him with curiosity Iceses slowly asked."Wait, how do you know that she's..." Twilight heard the door unlatching from behind her and soon Celestia came strolling in. She gave a smile to Twilight and took the spot at the head of the table. "Good morning." She said to the three wizards. "Good morning." They all repeated, except Goldwin's response was a little weaker due to his present annoyance. "And how are you today Twilight?" Celestia asked. "I am doing good, I think we are all ready to get started on that barrier thing." Twilight said. She tried hinting to Celestia about the present scene of the two bickering wizards. "If it's okay with everypony else here that is." "Well then, if no pony objects then we shall start immeidlaty. Iceses, care to share with us your findings from the library yesterday?" Celestia asked. Iceses nodded and made a pile of scrolls appear on the table. Taking one, she rolled out so that all those there could look on its contents. "Alright, so these mines were made way back in the day when ponies thought there were a bunch of treasures to be found. One could say that this barrier here is a product of simple unicorn greed. For it was quite common for that time, since the company that started mining was actually own by three unicorn brothers. The company fell under their bickering and thus why the mines were left alone, but that isn't' the case with our barrier." She said pointing at the scroll. "This area is different from the surrounding tunnels in one major way. I will spare you the details, but based of the rock samples collected by the miners, this part of the tunnel is over five hundred years older than any part of the mine." "So it was dug a long time ago before the other mines." Twilight said. "That means this wasn't made by ordinary ponies." "Exactly." Iceses. "That doesn't make sense though. How can there be a tunnel in the mountain if there wasn't any other sign that there was another tunnel leading in." Goldwin said. "Thats the big question." Iceses said bopping his nose with her hoof. "This chamber was made by somepony who was able to teleport inside the mountain. There they created a chamber which is now protected by the barrier. Then years later on miners dug and we know all the rest." "But why would some pony go through all that trouble just to build a chamber in the mountain?" Twilight asked. "To hide something?" Goldwin questioned. "It would be the perfect spot if you think about it. At the time, whoever did never thought in a million years that ponies would get near it." "Smart." Mikaeus said. "What do you think Princess Celesita?" "It's in interesting theory Iceses, but the only way we can prove anything is by breaking the barrier. Did you find anything that could help with this yesterday, anything that could give us some answers?" Celestia asked. Iceses shook her head. "I am sorry but I was not able to find anything that could help us. The barrier itself like I said is nothing I have ever encountered before. At first it feels like a innocent little shield spell, but once you start trying to focus on it thats when things go crazy. While I was testing on the frequencies around the mountain, it felt like the field was aware of my actions, and it got harder and harder as I went along." "But you can figure out a way to break it right?" Twilight asked. "I am afraid not, this is beyond my capability" Iceses said grimly. "But that doesn't mean I can try." She said with a sly grin. Celestia let out a sight. "Oh dear." "But thats okay, you invited two other equally powerful wizards that can help." Iceses perking back up. Twilight noticed that Goldwin seemed to smile at the comment that was made. For the first time since she saw the two in the same room together he wasn't mad. Maybe the two of them could get along again in time. Iceses very slowly leaned her head on Goldwin's shoulder. "And of course you invited Goldwin here too." Goldwin's expression turned back into the same stern look. He polity positioned himself so that Iceses wouldn't have a place to rest anymore. "So much for that." Twilight said to herself. "So do you think we should head for the tunnel today? I mean I probably the only pony here who hasn't seen dealt with it yet and I think it would help." "Of course Twilight, thats actually what I had in mind." Celesita said. "We can go whenever we are all ready." "I am ready." Goldwin said distancing himself from Iceses. Iceses used her magic to push him right back. "Me too!" "Mikaeus?" Celestia asked. "Yes your majesty." He said in a low tone. "Though I do need to go get some things from my room first before heading out." A server came out and looked over the room occupants. "Breakfast is ready your majesties." He said with a bow. "Of course, after breakfast and all." Celestia said with a smile. After they were all done eating, Celestia finished her water and looked at the trio of wizards. "All of you may go and if you need to go get something than you can, anything that might help you here is free for you to use. I wish that you do make haste, for I do want to see if we can solve this problem quickly if possible." Celestia said. Goldwin immediately got up and stormed out of the room as fast as possible. This left everypony else to leave the room in a silent fashion. Twilight made her way to her room so that she could wake Spike up. Upon entering she found that he wasn't there at all. "Spike?" Twilight called out. "Anypony here." "Right behind ya." Spike voice said behind her. Twilight turned around. "Oh, there you are, I was just coming to wake you." "Oh thats all right I was awake soon after you left." He said stretching his back. "So what's on the agenda today?" "We're actually all about to head out to the tunnel right now." Twilight said. "Everypony? What about mr. Goldwin? Has he calmed down since yesterday?" Spike asked. Twilight nodded. "He's seems to be trying to keep himself in check, but I don't know how long it will last. At breakfast today he was able to hold off from erupting on Iceses. Though if he did I could completely understand." Twilight said. "She knows that he dislikes her but she went out of her way to annoy him. It was kind of like the antics of an annoying little sibling." Spike sighed. "Well let's hope he can put up with it for the time being. So when are we heading out?" "Right now." Twilight said walking towards the door. Spike closed the door and the two were quickly off to meet up with Celestia. As they made there way down, Twilight felt this strange feeling begging to creep in her mind. She couldn't put her hoof on it but it was like somepony was watching them. Though there wasn't anypony there when she turned her head, she kept feeling it. "Spike do you feel like, somethings watching us?" Twilight asked. Spike looked around. "To tell you the truth, I do. I thought I was just imagining it though." Twilight stopped for now she could feel something in the air. "It's weird, but it feels like somepony is literal a couple of feet away from us." "Yeah." Spike said backing up towards her. The two became still, and soon a silence fell upon the area. Twilight tried to think of something that could confirm her weird feeling, then it came to her. Mikaeus's spell. Concentrating she focused on the feeling she felt this morning and then within a second her mind was irrupted with energy. A presence was before her, it was so close that it was almost making her have a headache. "Twilight, you alright?" Spike asked. "I know you're there!" Twilight said. "Show yourself." Spike looked confused. "Um Twilight, who are you talking too?" Twilight hushed him. "I know you're there, I can sense you. Show yourself right now!" With that the presence vanished, leaving the two of them once again alone. "They're gone." Twilight said. "Wait so you mean somepony was actually watching us? How could you tell?" Spike asked. "This spell Mikaeus showed me last night lets me feel magical presences, like fields or fellow wizards. He told me to be on guard in case anything starts to seem odd." Twilight said. "Right then, I felt a strong presence standing near us. Somepony was watching us, and I don't know why." Spike nodded nervously. "Lets get to Princess Celestia before I start shaking." Twilight nodded and quickly began heading towards the place she needed to meet the others. Soon the hall they were just in was now empty and silent. "Little brat, how could she have detected me? There is no way that's possible unless…….." Twilight kept one eye constantly looking around so that she may detect anymore strange intrusions. She soon began hearing the voices of Celestia and the other wizards. "Well then it shouldn't take so long, should it?" Iceses asked. Mikaeus let out a violent cough. "It all depends on how strong the barrier is, and depending if these spells you want to try out are strong enough." Twilight turned the corner to see the small cluster of ponies standing there. "Ah, there you are." Celestia said. "Good morning Spike." Spike nodded. "Good morning to you to princess Celesita." "So we all set to go out now?" Twilight asked. All three wizards gave a nod to both her and Celestia to signal that they were ready. "Everything seems to be in order for us then, shall we?" Celestia said while walking forward. "Now we need to at least be able to make some progress on breaking the barrier down today. If we could at least get inside the chamber by sundown, that would be fantastic." "Is there any reason why you have such high hopes for it today? Not that I am doubting our capablitlites, but what makes you so enthusiastic?" Goldwin asked. Iceses immediately jumped to his side. "Cause we're all here together and there is nothing we can't accomplish." She said very cheerfully. He made the space between them larger.
