Secretariat

by LunaUsesCaps

Rating: everyone
Tags: Sad, Adventure
Length: 8638

After defeating Sunset Shimmer and returning home, Twilight discovers that not only had her magic grown weak, her friends had become distant. Lost and alone, Twilight will have no choice but to find out what the Magic of Friendship really means.

After defeating Sunset Shimmer, Twilight's connection to the Element of Magic begins to slip away from her. Lost and confused, she will have to travel to the end of the earth if she wishes to right a world tearing apart at its seams—a world that might not cut her a break.

Published 1970-01-01 00:00:00 UTC
Last updated 2013-11-03 17:18:17 UTC

When I Was a Foal

Luna & Celestia,

When I was a foal, I used to gaze up into the vastness of the night sky, and listen closely for the song of the stars. I would aim my telescope up into the great expanse of sparkling nothingness and hope—pray—that something, anything would sing to me. I listened to the moon and all he wrote, for those words ever to be lost on the parchment of his backdrop, written in braille upon the canvas of what once was. I tasted life and its fruits, death and the chill of its ever blowing wind, the earth and its pull as it turns unending. I can feel the stars upon my coat, bathing me in their glow as I relish in the warmth of the past. For I am only what I am not, become what I should be: a gear turned upon its rusted chamber trapped in cycle to forever grind its wretched grind, balance for sake of balance churning against the cold wind beating head-first senselessly into the climax of the story of its hour.

I never heard that song, but I often imagined what it would sound like.

I have grown older now: I have left those ways behind. The vibrant charm of what was has now been replaced by the grace of the faceless. Such is not my woe; age do I of the wills to be in spirit for that of which can be done anonymously; though I lament: the acorn is not to know the decay and rot of an oak tree’s bark—for then it would refuse upon fear the sprouts of life which it is to bear. It cannot differentiate, discern nor decide the fate of itself based on that which it gains nor loses: it is indefinitely as much as it is unchanging. The oak’s wisdom dare not penetrate the thin shell of its seed, for should it grasp this knowledge, it would be a tree in that image with no room to grow. An acorn must never know that it shall become an oak until that time has long passed. When I am alone, I now stare into the moon and, if for only a moment, feel the moon cast its gaze down upon me as if I am in its same presence as it is in mine.

Do you still remember how it all began?

—Twilight.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears

Looms but the Horror of the shade,

And yet the menace of the years

Finds and shall find me unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate,

How charged with punishments the scroll,

I am the master of my fate,

I am the captain of my soul.

—Invictus,

William Ernest Henley

One… two… three…

Twilight breathed in, closing her eyes as she snapped her wings open and braced her hooves. Her nostrils flared as she felt the overwhelming rush of cold air flow through her, its chilling breath warming as it fused with her body in equilibrium. She relaxed her ears, allowing nothing but the sense of nature around her to flow through her being unobstructed. Silencing all of her thoughts and fears, she spoke only one word:

“Go.”

Twilight’s eyes shot open as she leaped, smashing off of the cloud with as much force as her hooves could muster. As soon as she hit open air, she dove, grinding her teeth as whipping winds barraged her unprotected face. Her eyelids narrowed, tears ripping themselves forcefully from her body as she accelerated in her nosedive.

Come on, is that all you’ve g—

Twilight’s train of thought was interrupted as a surprisingly potent cloud bashed into her left side, immediately stopping her descent and sending her shooting out towards the right. She bent her wings back, spiraling in an attempt to regain control of herself. Once she had wind beneath her wings again, Twilight reaffirmed herself, curving the air around her as she shot downwards at even greater speeds than before; however, her victory was short lived: as soon as she got control of herself, she felt herself being sent spinning upward as a tornado assaulted her from below.

Gasping for the air that had been painfully knocked out of her, Twilight closed her eyes in concentration. Okay, you can do this. Complete focus, Twilight. There is no different angle, no clever solution. This is no riddle. Stop treating the air like it’s magic and face it head on, she resolved, opening her eyes again. She started down a third time with all of her wing’s force, crashing through cloud after wretched cloud as she made her descent.

Through the debilitating cone of air pressure, Twilight made what she assumed was some sort of grin as the land, and the item she was looking for, came into view. She redoubled her efforts, speeding toward the small red dot below her.

Then, suddenly, she felt her grip on the air weaken as an even more powerful gust of wind hit her. This time, however, her assailant revealed herself: Rainbow Dash made no further attempt to disguise herself behind clouds, openly thrusting her wings toward Twilight with powerful flaps as she rained blow after blow down upon her friend’s racking body. After what seemed like an eternity of effortful flapping, Rainbow’s work finally paid off: for the third time in what could have been only thirty seconds, Twilight lost control of herself, her head rearing back as she tumbled lifelessly through the atmosphere.

Rainbow’s eyes widened when after a few seconds Twilight made no attempt to right herself. Twilight didn’t so much as breath as gravity wrapped its all-encompassing claws around her, pulling her ever faster toward the earth in her terminal descent. Rainbow dove after her, wordlessly speeding faster than two newlyweds as she raced on in what was then her second fight with the clutches of the planet to save a friend in need. Rainbow’s eyes watered as she got close to Twilight’s limp body, extending her hooves to make the faintest contact with Twilight’s back leg as they fell…

… only to helplessly watch as Twilight opened her eyes and smiled innocently, delivering a powerful flap of her wings upward at Rainbow. The blast thrusted Twilight downward as Rainbow thrashed about the sky with an utterly dumbfounded look on her face.

Twilight decided that now was not the time to gloat, flapping her wings like a hummingbird as she made her way down closer to the red dot of victory. Closing in on the ground, she would swear that at that moment she could actually smell the flowers in the field sucking her toward them. Only meters away, Twilight gave her exhausted, burning wings one last flap as she extended her forelegs toward the prize—just to see Rainbow enter her line of sight at the last second, blowing an uncharacteristically vengeful blast of air up at her. Nowhere else to turn, Twilight was sent tumbling to the ground, kicking up a mixture of dirt and roses in her wake as she skidded to a cracking halt.

Groaning and spitting out a stray flower from her mouth, Twilight dusted herself off and rose unsteadily to her hooves. As she got up, her eyes traced over toward a triumphant Rainbow Dash, who was happily munching on the victory apple as she sat atop that stupid tree trunk of hers.

“Wow, Twilight, you don’t look so good,” Rainbow commented in between bites as she did a once-over on her friend. “You could really use a shower and a preening.”

“You’re… a cheater, a dirty chea”—she stopped to gasp and spit out a rather large patch of dirt—“and your face is ugly.”

“Oh please, Twilight, look who’s calling who dirty,” Rainbow said, walking over to brush some dust out of her friend’s mane with a hoof. “I’m a shining beacon of feminine grace and charm. Why is it they made you princess instead of me again? You’re not nearly as radical,” she criticized.

“Always appreciate the words of encouragement.” Twilight growled, sitting down as she bit a few blades of grass from out of her feathers. “So, how’d I do this time?”

“Better, I guess,” Rainbow said unenthusiastically. “But you’re still not thinking like a pegasus. I’ll admit, you tricked me—and really freaked me out a little there—but you didn’t charge right at me. You took the run like a unicorn would, trying the out think the other mage in order to gain the upper hoof. The problem is, Twilight, we weren’t in a magic fight: we were flying, something you didn’t focus on out there.”

“I know, I’m sorry,” she admitted, dropping her head as she drew circles in the ground with her hoof. “I tried to cancel out all of my thoughts, but I couldn’t; I kept running all of these calculations in my head trying to figure out where you would strike next and how to deal with you when you came up. I know that I was thinking like a unicorn, but I can’t help it: I am a unicorn, Rainbow.”

“No, you’re not a unicorn,” Rainbow lectured, pointing a hoof at Twilight’s sulken face. “You’re an alicorn. Voodoo wizard of all three types of ponies. You’re as just as much a pegasus now as you are a unicorn, and you’ve got to connect with that whether you like it or not.”

“Ugh,” Twilight sighed, burying her head in the dirt. “I know, I know! It’s not as easy as you think, Rainbow. This is like throwing who I am to the wind! I’ve always been a unicorn and now I have to think like someone else? It’s the exact opposite of Twilight Sparkle. You can’t expect me to get it on my first few tries!”

Twilight felt a soft hoof on her chin as she finished her yelling, breathing slowly as her head was brought up to meet Rainbow’s gently smiling face. “I don’t,” Rainbow said quietly, pulling Twilight onto her hooves as she spoke. “But I know you’ll get it. You’re Twilight Sparkle, you always get it. You just have to keep working at it, okay? I believe in you.”

“Thank you, Rainbow,” Twilight said, wiping at her eyes. “I needed that. The past few days of flight training have been really stressful for me.”

“No problem,” Rainbow said, lightly punching Twilight in the shoulder. “And hey, when in doubt, remember that you have the single-most awesomest flight coach to ever grace the skies of Equestria!”

“Oh, I got Spitfire on my service?” Twilight asked, batting her eyelashes playfully as she slid past Rainbow in her stride. “I never got the memo.”

Rainbow deadpanned, staring at Twilight for a few seconds. “Go to your room,” she concluded. “Your coach commands you.”

“Oh, not today, Rainbow,” Twilight laughed, turning back to see Rainbow begrudgingly following her. “I’ve got to plan my revenge for this afternoon’s events, don’t I?”

Despite herself, Rainbow chuckled alongside Twilight.

“Whoa nelly! Hold on there partner!”

Applejack grasped her rope in her teeth, jerking her neck as she cast it out around the neck of the violently thrashing monster. The massive, building-sized beast, which looked like a dark thundercloud that had taken the shape of a scorpion, glared angrily at Applejack with glowing red eyes. She clenched her jaw down again, yanking the rope back to tighten it. The scorpion screeched in response, flailing its massive tail into nearby stores and homes as it struggled to escape Applejack’s binds.

“Come…” Applejack slowly began stepping back, steadily towing the scorpion from its position in the town square. “… on!”

However, as soon as she got a hold on it, the scorpion vanished, vaporizing into thin air. Applejack gaped, staring wide-eyed at her rope as it fell to the ground with a light, almost inaudible thump. She pulled her rope back to her side, shooting a confused glance up to a gliding Fluttershy who only shrugged in response, giving her a similar look of perplexion.

“Alright girls,” Rarity began, speaking in an authoritative yet altogether feminine tone. She stood in the ground between Applejack, Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy, looking between all three of them as she spoke. “We need to work together if we want to beat this thing. Even though our situation may appear grim, this bug can still be squashed. Time is on our side, and even though it has taken out a few windows, it has still yet to do any real da—”

Before Rarity could finish speaking, her monologue was interrupted as a black cloud formed over the roof of Carousel Boutique. Within mere seconds, the cloud opened its scarlet eyes, materializing once again into its terrifying scorpion form. With a powerful thrust of both claws, the scorpion bashed at the roof on which it stood. Before either pony could blink, the top floor of Rarity’s prized home and workplace had been reduced to rubble and smithereens.

“My life’s work!” Rarity wailed, falling to her knees as she wept. “My designs, my art! They’re ruined, all ruined!” she exclaimed, crawling over and looking up at Applejack as she held onto her leg. “How will I ever go on!?”

“Consarnit, Rarity, we can figure out how to fix your house later,” Applejack said, swiftly tearing her leg out of Rarity’s surprisingly powerful grasp. “Right now we need to work on how in tarnation we’re going to stop something that can teleport right out of my ropes!”

“Applejack’s right, Rarity,” Pinkie said, not turning to either pony as she continued what appeared to be stacking multicolored pies and cakes in columns next to her. “Her barn falls over like every other episode!”

Fluttershy stared blankly at Pinkie Pie for a moment before leaning down to Applejack and Rarity. “You know, we could try asking it nicely to leave,” she said, a soft smile gracing her features as she put her forelegs around Rarity and picked her up from the dirt.

“Fluttershy, we’re going to try and think of something else, but that is a great backup plan.” Applejack said, turning toward the rampaging scorpion. “If only we had some way of—”

“Fire!” Pinkie shouted, raising her foreleg as a group of unicorn fillies and colts began hurling her pastries at the beast. Unsurprisingly, the cakes and pies had no effect on the scorpion, flying straight through its body as if it were made of thin air. “Wait a second,” Pinkie said, squinting her eyes as she surveyed the scene. “Why do pies go through it if it is solid enough to hit through buildings?” she asked, staring silently for a moment before suddenly taking in a loud gasp. “It’s an evil wizard! Don’t worry, I know just the trick!” With that, Pinkie disappeared, running at full gallop toward the outskirts of Ponyville and leaving a herd of confused children in her wake.

“Oh great,” Rarity groaned, rolling her eyes. “We lost the sugar queen. Whatever shall we do?”

“Girls! Girls!” exclaimed a rough, squeaky voice from behind. “I brought help!”

All three ponies turned around to face a panting Spike—or, at least what they assumed was a panting Spike: his face was entirely covered by a gilded chest which was just a little too large for him to be carrying. Heaving, Spike dropped the casket, falling to his knees with it as he tried to catch his breath. “Now… you can… fi”—he stopped to gasp—“you can stop this thing with the Elements.”

“Thank ya kindly, Spike,” Applejack said, opening the box to inspect it before closing it again. “But I don’t think the Elements of Harmony will be of much help right now. In case you didn’t notice, we’re sort of, you know, lacking three of the ponies these are bound to at the moment.”

Their conversation was cut short as the scorpion began advancing on the group, knocking over stray hay bales and market carts in its wake. Applejack grabbed Spike by her mouth, swinging him onto her back as she and the others ran from the quickly approaching monster; however, they didn’t get far before the beast snatched up Rarity in one of its ethereal claws, shaking her above its head as it held her and ignoring her high-pitched squeals of horror.

“Make that two!” a rough voice shouted from behind the scorpion. But as soon as the scorpion heard it and turned around, it was already too late: Rainbow Dash was too close for it to react. Flying at full speed straight into its claw and grabbing hold of her friend, Rainbow lowered Rarity to safety before charging again into the mouth of the beast. This time, however, she was met with little success: when Rainbow made to strike the head of the scorpion, she quickly found herself striking a pile of dirt below it instead. Pulling her leg out of the ground, Rainbow retreated, joining her friends in their position a few meters away from the scorpion.

“What is that thing?” Rainbow asked, wincing as she rubbed the leg she had just tried to turn into a plant. “Why can it touch us but we can’t touch it?”

“Rainbow, I think I recognize it,” Twilight chimed in as she entered, drawing the attention of everyone around her. “It sort of looks like one of those things we encountered when we went to the moon with Luna.”

“Now that ya mention it, it sort of does,” Applejack agreed, turning her head sideways as she considered the scorpion. “But them moon-y thingies just looked like clouds, why does this one actually have a shape? And why for ponyfeather’s sake can’t we hurt the blasted thing?”

“I’m not sure,” Twilight admitted, enveloping Spike’s chest in a deep pink aura as she levitated it, bringing it to the center of the group. “And I don’t think we have time to worry about it. Time to suit up, girls. We have a bug to squash.”

“What about Pinkie Pie?” asked Fluttershy as she gently picked up her butterfly necklace and wrapped it around her neck. “Can we do it without her?”

“We’ll have to try,” Twilight said, placing the casket down and levitating the balloon necklace onto her assistant. He looked down at himself before shooting Twilight an annoyed glare. “Spike, you’re Pinkie Pie,” she said, turning to face the beast before her. “Ready girls?” she asked.

“Ready as burnt pie,” Applejack said.

“O-okay,” Fluttershy agreed.

“Prepared for general kick-flankery, your highness,” Rainbow Dash said, lowering herself in a halfhearted bow.

“If you are sure this is the right way to go, then I’m with you, darling,” Rarity said, casting an uneasy look at the scorpion. “But I’m not going to like it—not one bit.”

“Yep, we’re all about to get eaten by an angry cloud monster,” Spike said, earning the angry glares of everyone in the party. “What?” he asked, crossing his forearms. “Everypony’s thinking it.”

Ignoring him, Twilight and the others refocused their attention to the raging scorpion. Closing her eyes, Twilight began to feel the obscure surge of magic that came with using the Elements of Harmony. It wasn’t like it made her feel more powerful, per se, just… different. She felt calm, as if her insides were being cleaned and rejuvenated. Twilight could never put her hoof on what it was, but the Elements felt like a type of magic that she had never been able to understand. A type of magic that she was certain nopony save her and the princesses had ever been able to experience. A type of magic that didn’t exist outside of her star-shaped crown. She let the energy rush over her, taking control of every inch of her body as it grabbed hold of her, slowly lifting her off the ground. Then, as soon as it all began, Twilight Sparkle opened her eyes—but something was wrong.

Her eyes weren’t glowing.

Before she could even think on the matter, her mind melted as all of her friend’s energies made contact with her horn, forcing every color of the rainbow to expel from her in one unified spectrum of multicolored light. The rainbow spiraled in a tornado-like cone, wrapping itself around the massive body of the scorpion. Then, the rainbow closed in on its target, encasing the beast inside a technicolor cocoon of light and magic. The scorpion writhed and fought, its appendages bulging out of the rainbow as they hit and kicked at it. Finally, though, the scorpion’s wrestling subsided, allowing the Elements of Harmony to take hold of it.

Then, suddenly, the cocoon shattered, showering everypony in what looked like shards of glass before all remnants of it vanished entirely. The scorpion roared, narrowing its eyes as it focused in on the group.

Immediately after the Elements’ influence dissipated, Twilight fell gracelessly to the ground, clutching her head. “Ugh…” she groaned, cringing as she massaged her temples slowly with both hooves. “I can’t even… see straight…” she complained. Instinctively, Rainbow Dash and Applejack formed a barrier around their friend, growling at the angry scorpion with fury that matched—or even exceeded—its own rage. Rainbow extended her wings, lowering her body as she stared down the furious monster. Fluttershy and Rarity joined them, whispering to Twilight as they tried to comfort her and tend to her unknown wounds; however, they didn’t seem to be of much help: Twilight had gone from mumbling into outright moaning over the course of a few seconds.

“Now what do we do?” asked Spike, looking to the others, who neglected to answer him.

“If we die here,” Rarity began, conjuring up a magical handkerchief and wiping her eyes with it. “I just want you all to know how much I love you.”

“We ain’t gonna die, Rarity,” Applejack said, knocking the tissue from her light blue aura. “We’ll figure out something. We always figure out somethi—”

Applejack was cut off as she heard the faint sound of music playing in the distance. The group turned to look toward the source of the sound: a bouncing Pinkie Pie and a focused Zecora who had a small, wooden flute resting between her lips. To everypony’s surprise, the scorpion in front of them suddenly halted in its venomous gaze, staring off into space with a glazed look in its eyes. Entranced, the scorpion began to sway gently with the music, rocking back and forth as Zecora played note after soulful note. After a few moments of what appeared to be a giant cloud monster dancing, the scorpion began to shrink in size. From the height of a two story building and length of a small train, the scorpion condensed into a pony-sized version of itself, transforming from cloud-shaped and black to light blue with yellow eyes and a more formed, defined body shape.

The significantly less-threatening scorpion approached Twilight with a curious look on its face. Rainbow Dash and Applejack tightened their shield around her initially, but after a few moments of tensely examining the calm scorpion, Twilight motioned for them to allow it to pass. The scorpion walked up to Twilight, looking into her eyes which had now begun to form hints of tears at their edges. The scorpion turned its head sideways and raised its claw, looking deeper into Twilight. Though the other ponies around only looked at them with confused glares, Twilight nodded to the scorpion, allowing it to proceed. The scorpion then touched its claw to her horn, causing Twilight to gasp as small rays of light shot out of her horn in all directions. Both her and the scorpions eyes began to glow white for a quick moment before returning to their normal hues.

“Th-thank you…” Twilight sputtered out, wrapping a foreleg around the scorpion. “Thank you so much.”

The scorpion nodded, returning the hug before it let go, making its way toward Zecora. Twilight watched as the scorpion passed by her, nodding before it walked away. It left them, eventually disappearing behind the trees that separated Ponyville and the Everfree Forest.

“You have a connection with the spirits, my princess,” Zecora said as she approached, kneeling down to place a hoof on Twilight’s shoulder. “That is something few ponies can claim to possess.”

“Yeah Twilight,” Rainbow started, looking down at her friend. “How in Equestria did you know to let that thing touch your horn? I didn’t even hear it say anything to you.”

“I… I don’t know,” Twilight admitted, looking between Zecora and Rainbow Dash. “I just… knew to let him do what he was going to do. I felt like I knew him somehow, like he was my friend. Like I had known him for my entire life.”

“Him? I don’t know, Twilight,” Fluttershy interjected, surveying the destruction that the spirit had caused. “I’m usually the one with a connection to animals, and I didn’t feel anything coming from that scorpion, even after he was all nice and happy.”

“But that was no animal, dear Fluttershy,” Zecora corrected. “It was a dark spirit that passed us by.”

“A dark spirit?” Applejack asked, raising an eyebrow at Zecora. “What was a dark spirit doing in Ponyville? And how did you know to play the flute for it?”

“I do not know why it came here, but it was not enraged from the start,” Zecora said, looking at her flute before placing it on the ground next to Twilight. “Even the most tainted of souls need a bit of joy to be brought from the dark.” Zecora turned again to Twilight, looking into her eyes as she spoke. “Your highness, I have no intent to dampen your day, but I believe Princess Celestia might have something to say.”

“You’re right, Zecora,” Twilight said, rising to her hooves shakily. Applejack and Rainbow Dash quickly moved to help her up from the ground. “I don’t know what went wrong with the Elements, but I’ve never had something like that happen to me. That was… excruciating, to say the least. If anyone has some light to shed on the matter, it would be Princess Celestia. I think it’s due time I took a visit to Canterlot.”

“I’m coming with you,” Rainbow Dash said, stepping in front of her. “Whatever that was, there could be more of them. Even with Zecora’s flute, I’m not going to let you face those cloud spirit things alone.”

“Okay, Rainbow Dash,” Twilight reluctantly agreed, giving her friend a concerned glance. “But nopony else. Whatever these things are here for, I don’t want to put anyone else in unnecessary danger. Zecora, I need you to stay here and keep watch over Ponyville while Rainbow and I are gone. There doesn’t seem to be anyone else who knows how to deal with these things, so I want you here in case any of them decide they want to come back for round two.”

“I will stay here for you, your majesty,” Zecora said, bowing to Twilight. “I will faithfully follow your every decree.”

“Thank you,” Twilight said, turning to the rest of the group. “Girls, I promise that Rainbow and I will be back to help you as soon as we know what we’re dealing with. Try to organize some cleanup for today and do damage control.” She said, gaining a nod from her friends and a salute from Spike. “Ready to head out Rainbow? We have a long flight ahead of us.”

“Long flight? Psssh,” she said, waving a hoof as she leapt into the sky. “We can get from Ponyville to Canterlot in like ten hours flat.”

Twilight groaned, looking up at Rainbow Dash. “That’s exactly what I was afraid of.”

All in all, it was calm—but Philomena twitched.

Luna raised an eyebrow instinctively; however, she managed to keep both her eyes closed and—save for her ears perking up—her body otherwise motionless. The strong, outgoing scent of jasmine tea filled the room, infecting and intoxicating the nostrils of both Luna and Philomena. They sat parallel to each other facing an aged stone statue depicting an earth pony stallion with a somewhat messy mane. The pony wore a thick cloak that was fastened around his neck with a brooch in the shape of the sun and its rays.

The brooch itself was the only part of the statue not made of stone: it was a translucent white, like a diamond that someone had stained with liquid pearls. The statue was tall, standing about two ponies tall and looking at an upward angle toward one of the many stained glass windows in the castle hall. It was turned away from the red carpet and cobblestone floor that Luna and Philomena sat upon, refusing to cast its gaze downward to the ponies who came to visit it.

The statue was eternally detached from the world.

“You both came at a good time,” Luna said, opening her eyes as she lit up her horn, levitating her teapot and pouring its steaming contents into two crude cups made of cracked stone. “Philly and I made tea.”

“You heard us come in?” Twilight asked, her and Rainbow simultaneously lowering themselves from the air. “I was almost sure we flew silently, I didn’t want to disturb your meditation.”

“You have done nothing to disturb me,” Luna said, beckoning them toward her. “And neither has Rainbow Dash; although I must inquire: what has brought you to Canterlot during the middle of the night? Certainly this is a matter of great urgency, or you would have waited until morning to come here. What is less obvious is why this matter cannot be written. You come with news and prophecies, but further, time to have collected your thoughts. This is unlike your nature. Why are you here, Twilight Sparkle?”

“Actually, I was looking for Celestia, but she isn’t in her bedchambers,” Twilight explained, picking up one of Luna’s teacups before sitting down next to her. “You wouldn’t happen to know where she is, would you?”

“I do know,” Luna said, sipping her tea. “But I’m not going to tell you—she’s asleep.”

“Look, your highness,” Rainbow said, jumping in front of Luna and causing Philomena to back up in astonishment. “I know the princess needs her beauty sleep, but this is kind of something that can’t wait till tomorrow.”

“If it could not have waited until sunrise,” Luna began, blowing a puff of air out of her nostrils. “You would not be here. I assure you, Rainbow Dash, I can help you and Twilight with anything you need for the time being.”

“The thing is, princess, I don’t know if you can,” Twilight interjected, turning from her tea to look at Luna and Rainbow Dash. “After me and Rainbow finished up our normal flight training yesterday morning, we came back to Ponyville to find a dark spirit—like one of the ones we saw on the moon—terrorizing the town.”

“Except this one was a lot bigger,” Rainbow said, standing on her hind legs and opening her forelegs wide above her head. “And we couldn’t even hit it! Everything just kept flying straight through it.”

“Right,” Twilight said, nodding to Rainbow. “We tried using the Elements of Harmony on it, but they only ended up giving me this really awful splitting headache. Eventually Pinkie Pie brought in Zecora, who played this flute”—Twilight reached into her saddlebags and pulled out the instrument—“and immediately calmed the spirit down. Then the spirit came to me and cured my headache by touching my horn, and after that it just walked away like it was nothing.”

Luna’s eyes narrowed, her mouth working silently. Finally, she spoke: “How many spirits were there?” she asked.

“Only the one,” Rainbow Dash said. “But Twilight and I think there may be more.”

“What makes you think this?” Luna asked.

“We’re not sure,” Twilight said, placing her cup down as her eyes wandered over to the statue in front of her. “But I feel like whatever that thing was, it brought more with it. I don’t know why one spirit would suddenly pop up out of nowhere.”

“It wouldn’t,” Luna said, letting out a tired sigh. She and Philomena both rose from their sitting positions, Philomena flying onto Luna’s back as Luna traced the statue gently with a hoof. “Do either of you recognize this pony?”

“That’s Philomena,” Twilight said, looking up to stare into the corners of the statue’s eyes. She held her gaze for a moment, her train of thought escaping her.

“Wait a second,” Rainbow Dash said, craning her neck as she looked around the base of the statue. “There’s no writing on this thing. How do you know his name?” she asked.

“I…  don’t know…” Twilight said slowly, walking closer to the eyes Philomena’s statue. “I just… know it somehow.”

“Twilight knows his name because their spirits are intertwined,” Luna said, using a hoof to direct Rainbow’s attention to the brooch on Philomena’s cloak. “This is the original Element of Magic—the Element that Philomena possessed.”

“Wait, hold on a minute,” Twilight said, ripping her eyes from the statue’s to join Luna and Rainbow. “Philomena was an earth pony. How could he have been the first Element of Magic?”

Luna smiled, raising her foreleg to give her bird a better perch. “Like a phoenix, Philomena the earth pony learned to transcend the natural cycle of life. Legend has it that he gained this wisdom from the Sun himself—the wisdom to reincarnate himself and bend the physical world to his will. Whether the legends are true or not, one fact remains: Philomena not only became the first Element of Magic, but he brought with that the ability for some ponies to learn magic as well. It was then that many earth ponies began to conceive foals that had horns and, long after Philomena passed, one pegasus mother gave birth to two pegasus fillies that also grew these horns.”

“You and Celestia…” Twilight said, locking eyes with Luna. “So if Philomena was able to transcend lifetimes and reincarnate himself, why isn’t he still here now?”

“His essence lives on within the Elements of Harmony, for he has no physical form,” Luna explained, pointing to Twilight’s crown. She looked back and forth between both Rainbow and Twilight, drawing their gazes to her. “All of you, and the Element bearers before you, are connected with him; however, the Element of Magic, being the key that binds the other five, is the only one with whom Philomena is truly intertwined.”

“This is absurd,” Twilight said, rubbing her temple as she looked down and shook her head. “If this is all true, why didn’t Princess Celestia tell me any of it before now?”

“She didn’t tell you,” a voice began from behind the statue. “Because she doesn’t trust you with the knowledge. That, and she doesn’t believe you’re ready.”

Though Luna only grinned and remained stationary, both Twilight and Rainbow turned around in astonishment to see Sunset Shimmer standing before them. Her green eyes, once full and bright, had began to pale, and her main was unkempt—but only slightly. Nopony would be able to truly tell unless they gave it a second glance, but Twilight noticed. Maybe not Rainbow, but Twilight definitely noticed.

That said, Rainbow definitely noticed Sunset Shimmer in whole: immediately after Sunset made her entrance, Rainbow Dash yelled out, charging hooves-first at her victim with all the speed she could muster. Sunset didn’t seem to mind, though: the second Rainbow got close enough, Sunset sidestepped away from her, knocking Rainbow out of her balance with a subtle flick of the hoof. Rainbow tumbled off to the side, sliding back-first across the floor until her body resembled nothing but a technicolor pile of pony.

Twilight’s approach was much more enthusiastic, smiling as she ran up to give Sunset a hug. “It’s so good to see you, Sunset,” Twilight said, extending a wing around Sunset’s back. “But how are you here? It hasn’t even been two lunar cycles since I left your world, let alone thirty,” Twilight said.

“That I can explain, and I think I can shed some light on your situation,” she said, looking over to Rainbow. “But I think you might want to explain to your friend that, even though the last time she heard of me was when I broke into the Crystal Palace, her and I are friends in our other lives.”

Rainbow growled up at Sunset from her position on the floor. “I don’t care about any other universes,” she said, shaking off her legs as she got up. “Nopony in this Equestria steals from my friends and gets away with it!”

“Really, Rainbow, it’s alright.” Twilight said, walking over to place a reassuring hoof on Rainbow Dash’s shoulder, which didn’t actually seem to make any visible difference in her friend’s temper. “Sunset, we would all be forever grateful if you shared any information you have with us.”

Sunset nodded to Twilight. “As all of you know, before I left Equestria and ventured into the human world, I was Celestia’s personal student just like Twilight is now. The only difference is, I was uncontrollably fascinated by a strange mirror in this very room; in fact, its very presence drove me mad—I just had to find out what it was, but Celestia refused to tell me. One night, I broke into one of the forbidden wings of the palace library in search of any information about the mirror. I read through book after book on magical science and history, and although I didn’t actually find out anything about the mirror itself, I learned just about everything else about magic and all of its friends.”

“That still doesn’t explain how you got here,” Twilight pointed out.

“You’re right, it doesn’t, but I was getting there,” Sunset explained. “In one of Celestia’s books, I read about a comet that can enhance any unicorn’s magical abilities.”

“That’s Secretariat,” Twilight said, her eyes lighting up as the gears turned in her head. “It’s the comet that passed overhead during my battle with Queen Chrysalis. It came about two months before I entered your world.”

“That it did,” Sunset agreed, nodding. “But the human world is a mirror to Equestria. Since the comet passed over Equestria two months before the thirtieth moon cycle, it passed over the human world two months after the thirtieth moon cycle, only a few days ago. When the comet came, I felt an incredible surge of my old unicornian magic wash over me—something I hadn’t been able to tap into since I left Equestria. I used every ounce of energy I had to reopen the portal between our worlds and return to the Crystal Empire.”

“Ever since then, Sunset Shimmer has been living with me,” Luna said, looking between the three ponies. “She came down from the Crystal Empire and asked that I house her under the radar while she re-adjusts to this universe. I trusted that she would explain herself when she was ready,” Luna stopped to give Sunset a soft smile before continuing. “So I didn’t ask any questions.”

“After you brought my old self back to me, I decided that I wasn’t meant to live in the human world,” Sunset explained, turning to look out of one of the windows. “Equestria is and always has been my home, and I belong here more than anywhere else. I just don’t know how to explain that to Princess Celestia just yet.”

“Alright, I think I’m following now too,” Rainbow Dash said, scratching her head. “The only thing I don’t get is how you managed to open the portal when even powerful magic like Celestia’s isn’t able to open it before the cycle of the moons is completed.”

“That brings me back to the library,” Sunset said, turning from the window to Rainbow Dash. “The book that talked about Secretariat also said that the comet was capable of breaking any existing magical spells or bonds while it was visible in the sky.”

“That explains everything…” Luna said solemnly, lowering her head as the rest of the group turned to look at her. “… I know why there was a dark spirit in Ponyville. It was the doing of the Nightmare.”

“Wait, you mean Nightmare Moon?” Twilight asked, turning her head to the side in thought. “The evil spirit that possessed you and Rarity?”

“Her name is Yuèliàng, the spirit of the moon,” Luna clarified. “She is the guardian of all spirits, and they all serve to bend to her will. When my spirit was bonded with Yuè’s, she told me that in the days before the unicorns, she also watched over the physical world.”

“Possessing you must have been her way of trying to regain that power,” Twilight said, placing a hoof to her chin. “But how did a spirit like Yuè lose her power in the first place? It seems to me that she would have been able to withstand anything.”

“The answers also lie in the stories of Philomena,” Sunset interjected. “According to legend, Philomena was just a normal earth pony who lived under her rule. It was a very calm time; however, Yuè began to assert the dominance of spirits over ponies. Ponies became second-class citizens, sold off to spirits as slaves and segregated from higher society,” Sunset explained, walking closer to Philomena’s statue. “And obviously, Philomena decided that this just wasn’t okay, so he confronted Yuè about it, but when he did, she only grew angry with him. Yuè sent Philomena to live in exile for the rest of his life, cursed to travel north west through the unforgiving deserts.”

“What a loser,” Rainbow grumbled, kicking at the ground.

“I agree, Yuè was quite the sore loser on many levels,” Luna said. “If you don’t mind Sunset, I would like to take it from here.”

“Of course, your highness,” Sunset agreed, slightly lowering herself to Luna. “Go right ahead.”

Luna nodded to her. “In his exile, Philomena meditated under the desert Sun. Instead of rejecting it and wishing for relief from its heat, he embraced its knowledge and power,” she said, looking up toward the statue’s head. “It is said that after thirty desert moons, Philomena was granted the chance to speak freely with the Sun. When he told the Sun of his troubles, the Sun granted Philomena some of his power and wisdom. He told Philomena that the stars would soon align and, when they did, he would be granted immeasurable power.”

“The stars aligning?” Twilight asked. “That sounds awfully familiar…”

“It should,” Luna said, turning to Twilight. “It was the same surge of power that allowed me to free myself from the moon three years ago. Philomena used the power of the stars to create the divide that separated the plane of spirits and the material world. He alone decided that all spirits were to live on the moon until the end of time, never to return to oppress the inhabitants of earth. He imbued the power of the stars into a single crystal at the center of the North Pole, creating an invisible forcefield around the earth that prevented any spirit from entering our world again. What he didn’t anticipate, though, was that the stars would align once again: his forcefield would only last for the next ten thousand years.”

“The Crystal Heart…” Twilight breathed, turning to the north. “His forcefield was broken when you escaped… and I think I figured out the missing puzzle piece to this story. Yuè must have used the power of Secretariat to enter the physical world a thousand years before the stars converged.” Twilight stopped, suddenly gasping. “She must have used the comet to enter the physical world again!” she exclaimed. “And this time with more spirits!”

“That would be my best guess,” said Sunset. “According to Celestia’s books, the weakest point in the forcefield is at the South Pole, so that must be where Yuè has brought most of the spirits she came with.”

“So the objective is really easy,” Rainbow Dash said, grinning to herself. “All we have to do is go to the South Pole and flute up some spirits, then we’re done. World saved again thanks to Team Elements!”

“Not quite, Rainbow Dash,” Sunset said, letting out a sigh. “We have another problem: the books also said that after the comet passes over the earth its first time, it loops at an ellipses around the Sun and will return to earth one hundred and forty days from when it first appeared.”

“One hundred and forty days?” Twilight asked to herself. “That’s only a couple of weeks away!”

“And it can only get worse,” Luna said, cringing. “I suspect that Yuè plans to use Secretariat to retake control of Equestria and dethrone my sister and I,” she explained solemnly. “I fear that her vengeance upon this world will be furious and unending. Twilight Sparkle, you must act immediately.”

“Me?” Twilight asked, gaping as she pointed a hoof at herself. “Why me? Why can’t you and Celestia do it?”

“If I am to fight Yuè myself,” Luna began, looking up to meet Twilight’s eyes. “History would see it as nothing more than one angry soul destroying another for power. No, it must be the Element of Magic that defeats the spirit of darkness. It must be you, Twilight Sparkle.”

Twilight clutched her head in her hooves, lowering herself to the ground. “No, no, no,” she said, ignoring the concerned approaches of Sunset and Rainbow. “Two weeks isn’t enough time! Nightmare Moon is the baddest pony on the planet, possibly in the entire universe! Or system of universes! What if I fail? I’ve always had my friends by my side to help me, what if I can’t save the world by myself?”

Sunset sighed, kneeling down to look into Twilight’s eyes. “I know you’re scared, and I am too,” she said, maintaining a calm and even tone. “But if you don’t step up to this one, Twilight, I don’t think there’s going to be a world to save anymore.”

Twilight’s expressionless eyes had began to grow dry and crusty, her mouth hanging open no more than a centimeter as she packed her saddlebags with various maps and tomes. Satisfied, she levitated a brown woolen cloak and hood onto her back before doing the same with the matching brown saddlebags. She fastened her cloak with a simple pin, tossing the hood above her head as she finished.

“Going out for a walk?” a tired voice from behind her asked. “I’ve never seen you look so mysterious before, Twilight—it’s not even that cold outside.”

Twilight turned in astonishment, coming face to face with an unusually exhausted looking Celestia leaning against her doorframe, her mane frayed at the ends and her coat patchy. Her mane no longer flowed in the solar winds; instead, it simply dropped down like every other mare’s mane. The only way Twilight would have described it is that Celestia looked more like a normal pony than ever.

“Princess Celestia!” Twilight exclaimed, rushing over to wrap a foreleg around her mentors neck, a gesture that was halfheartedly returned. “I thought you were asleep? I was going to tell you we were leaving, I jus—”

“No you weren’t,” Celestia interrupted, moving Twilight’s hoof from her neck. “But that is alright. You are a princess now the same as I am, and I thank you for not wanting to burden my old heart with this one. That said, I have known of the Nightmare’s presence since the comet passed in the human world a few days ago. I am used to initiating these adventures of yours, it is welcoming to see that you have grown enough to figure out your place on your own.”

“But I didn’t figure it out on my own,” Twilight said. “Princess Luna explained to me a lot of what I have to do.”

“When it comes to the old tales, my sister is very religious,” Celestia said, sighing. “She claims to have spoken with Philomena’s spirit before our battles with Discord and King Sombra; though I don’t believe her words. Maybe she believes herself, but I do not; neither of us are old enough to have seen the truth. The tale of Philomena has never sat well with me—it is too farfetched, too grandiose. Even still, I have never had the connection with spirits that Luna was naturally born with. I suppose it has something with being tied to the moon, the world of the spirits. She may possess knowledge that I never will.”

Twilight nodded slowly. “Princess, maybe you still could give me some advice,” she suggested, watching as Celestia’s ears perked up slightly. “When I used the Elements of Harmony on a dark spirit yesterday, they didn’t work, and they ended up hurting me. Was it because Spike was there instead of Pinkie Pie?”

“The Elements belong not to the bearers,” Celestia said. “But to those who act with pure intentions. That is why Luna and I were able to use them a millennium ago. They did not belong to us, but they judged us as worthy. The Elements of Harmony had disappeared at that time—I hadn’t seen an Element of Magic since Starswirl the Bearded. Before you came along, I thought the bearers had gone extinct since he planted the Tree of Harmony.”

“Alright, well, now what?” Twilight asked. “If it wasn’t Spike, what caused them to attack me?”

“Unfortunately, Twilight, I do not know,” Celestia said solemnly, lowering her gaze to the floor. “My knowledge of the Elements of Harmony ends here, as does my sister’s unless you choose to believe her old stories. There is nothing more I can tell you to help you on your quest.”

Twilight offered Celestia a shaky nod. “Alright. I think I have to get going then. I only have two weeks, you know.”

“Mhmm…” Celestia mumbled as Twilight passed her by. Then, suddenly, her eyes shot open. “Wait! There is something I remember.”

Twilight turned to her. “What is it?” she asked, raising an eyebrow at Celestia.

“The Dragonbird spirit,” Celestia said. “I knew him when he was alive in the physical world—the last of the dragonbirds. He used to be Yuè’s most trusted ally, quite literally at her right hoof, but he escaped her grasp. He is one of only free spirits to ever reenter the physical world, and he may have the answers to your questions.”

“Okay, but there’s a problem,” Twilight said, eyeing Celestia incredulously. “How am I supposed to find some ancient spirit—who probably wants to keep himself hidden—in two weeks? How will I even know if he has what I’m looking for? It could be just a waste of a trip. How do I even know he would care to answer me?”

“Oh, I think he would be very fond of you,” Celestia said, smiling a Celestia smile that Twilight hadn’t seen yet this morning. “You two have already met, in fact. I believe you know him as ‘Larry,’ do you not?”

Twilight gaped, staring slack-jawed at Celestia. “Larry is the ancient spirit!? I know where he is!” she exclaimed. “He and Jerome split up after we returned from the moon, he lives in the southwest mountain ranges! It’s not even that far off of our path to the south pole! Just wait till I tell Rainbow and Sunset!”

Then, immediately, it hit her.

“Oh, I…” Twilight trailed off. She could literally feel Celestia's body deepen.

"I know." Celestia knelt down, letting out a heavy sigh as she wrapped a wing around Twilight. “When she is ready, tell her I still love her, Twilight. I never stopped loving her.”

Twilight returned the gesture slowly, but this time, she didn’t know what to say anymore.

So she didn’t say anything.