Welcome Home

Twilight had to stop her story while her friends recovered from the news of spikes death. Most of them hugged each other and crying. Some of them turned to her for support but Twilight just sat by, while they dealt with the news. Twilight knew it would come to tears in many parts of this story but, she also knew that it should.

Looking at those who called her a friend Twilight saw grief in many distinct forms, all of them she’d seen before in many places. Rarity was silent and regretful, Fluttershy laid down and cried silently, Pinkies mane and tail were flat, AppleJack had her hat over her eyes, Rainbow dash sat on the ground and looked at her hooves. The princesses looked somber, but kept their composure.

When they all looked at her again, she took that as a sign to continue her story.

-1000 years ago, Exsilium Quietis-

It had been two weeks since Twilight had arrived in this forest. Her hope for rescue dwindled every day and lately she had taken to laying down by a small pond she had found. Looking across the lake she saw the small grave marker she had made. No body lay in the grave but that didn't matter, not anymore at least.

Twilight had seen little life around here. Those that she had seen were strange bi-pedals, usually accompanied by a wagon holding what she assumed was trading goods. Some of them had tried to grab at her, but blast of magic had kept them at bay.

Twilight had long since given up on trying to get home on her own, and she was quickly losing hope in her princesses getting her home either.

About a mile away a band of mercenaries walked through Ignis woods, their armor and weapons clinking as them moved. The leader of the group talked with his second in command as they got close to their destination.

“So whats the mission again?” asked the leaders second, “It’s so ridicules I need to hear it again.”

“A small purple unicorn with pronounced magical abilities was seen in the area, we are here to capture, and bring it to the highest bidder.”

“Any restrictions on damage?”

“If it starts slinging spells around, your free to destroy the catalyst, other than that, no further unnecessary harm.”

Howard Quess looked at the mercenary group with mild interest as they passed him. He had heard what their plan was and what they planed to do when they caught the unicorn. He himself was planing to visit the girl when these buffoons passed him, since then he had a change in plans.

The mercenaries were known for having little self control when mad, despite thinking themselves quite calm. Howard had no doubt in his mind that this would end in violence. Howard waited for them to pass before freezing the air in front of him into a disk. Stepping on the disk, he floated above the canopy and started a small journey to the location of the unicorns pond.

When he got their he found a familiar face waiting for him. “I didn't expect you to get involved in all this Jales. Aren't you more interested in berserkers and the like?”

The hulk of a man in front of him, standing on what appeared to be a claymore on fire, just grunted. “She has potential.”

“Aye, that she does. What that potential turns into really depends on her though. She’s Passionate but still has a amazing grasp of the arcane.”

“Haven't heard you give out that complement in a long time Quess.”

Twilight looked up from the pond, eyes bright. That was it, the epiphany she had been waiting for. It was changeling magic that had sent her to this strange place to it would be changeling magic that would get her back. Granted Twilight had never studied changeling magic but it couldn't be that hard, she was the element of magic after all.

Twilight’s horn started glowing with green energy, the spell about to get through before an arrow hit her front left leg. Many of those strange bi-pedal creatures started to walk into the grove, one of them holding a net. Twilight started panicking. She had just learned how to get home, she was not going to loss her opportunity. She started channeling another spell.

What looked like the leader of the group took a small hammer from his belt and threw it at her, hitting her horn and cracking it near the base. The untempered energy of the spell exploded outwards, covering the clearing with a blinding light.

Howard took this as his cue to step in, biding his old friend goodbye Howard sent a pulse into the disk of ice making it shatter. Dropping into the clearing Howard dropped the damper on his ambient energy. The pond started to freeze, grass turned still, the breath of the mercenaries made clouds in the air. Everyone was still dazed from the blast, making it that much easier for Howard to deal with everyone, not that it would have been hard in the first place. Howard’s hands started glowing a soft icy blue as he chose spots in his web of energy to power. Mercenaries started dropping as the blood in their veins froze over, and their skulls cracked because of the expanding liquid inside them. Howard continued to walk towards the leader of the group, who at this point was looking at him in terror.

“You know,” Howard started, “I usually let at least one person live to tell the tale but you did just break the horn of a very promising magic user.”

Howard snapped his fingers and every atom in the leaders body froze, the molecular structure collapsing in on itself as it reached absolute zero. Howard watched with a blank expression as the Mercenary leader got sucked into millions of tiny black holes.

Howard returned the damper to its place and the clearing slowly returned to normal temperature. Looking at the mare passed out on the grass Howard sighed. That mercenary just made his job a lot harder.

Twilight opened her eyes to darkness. She blinked a few times to no result. She tried to move her legs but something was holding her. That was when Twilight started panicking.

“Hold still, will you. Your safe.” A masculine voice said, “Those mercenaries were dealt with.”

“W-Who are you? Where are we? Why can’t I see!?”

“I’m someone who came to help, We are currently one hundred feet about the ground moving towards safe haven at seventy miles a minute, and the magical backlash from you horn being cracked caused an explosion that not only shattered your horn but burned away most of your eyes as well.”

Twilight was rendered speechless. Shattered her horn, burned away her eyes. She would have cried but she couldn't do that now could she.

“I know a place where you can be healed if thats any consolation. Its not conventional healing but you will regain you sight.”

Twilight just nodded.

Howard sighed, looking down at the purple unicorn, who was “looking” at the ground far below. Howard slowed down the ice disk as they approached a large mountain. Touching down on a cliff outside a crack in the mountain Howard turned to Twilight.

“Were here, but I must warn you, the place were about to enter will change you. The sheer amount of magic energies in the air alone is what will heal you but it will burn away all that it deems unnecessary.”

Twilight seemed to consider for a second, before nodding, “Ok.”