A Twilight in Time

The city was ablaze with panic. Stallions, mares, guards and civilians alike were dashing through the street in a flurry of fear. The screaming of loved ones, the yelling of orders, the speeches of doomsayers, and the whispers of prayers all meshed together in Twilight's ears as she made her way through the chaos to the center of Canterlot's glory, in Queen Platinum's castle. Her home was one of the most oldest structure on the mountains, built twenty-five years ago as a display of power to their avian brothers at the time. The pegasi were outraged by the audacity of the Unicorns to claim the mountain range, the natural home of the pegasi. In retaliation, pegasi from attempting raid on the structure, but their efforts were in vain. But now the symbol of unicorn dominance has become the last stand for the unicorn hierarchy.

Twilight weaved through the gathering crowd of ponies who were waiting to enter the castle, and found twenty guards holding back a sea of desperate ponies, and only letting a small trickle at a time walk into the structure making it more possible to control flow of traffic within the halls. When Twilight moved to the front of the crowd and met the guards holding the line, they recognized her robes and rank and gave her a small gap to enter the palace before closing back into one line.

The purple mare trotted through the grand stone arch and past a set of giant wooden doors, her aim being a path to the left that went along the side of the fortress.

She continued along the path in hopes to find the Clan Stardust high council quarters, and report to them before asking to leave for the teleportation chambers. On Twilight's left, she could see arrow slits built into the walls of the castle for shooting at any flying threat to the fort. While she was moving down the empty halls she could see glimpse and glimpse again, of the battle raging on on the cliff side of the mountain, as pegasi and gryphons were dodging and weaving away from bolts of lightning being thrown, with varying degrees of success. Twilight could hear every shockwave of the thunder that was being cast from the cliff guards, and sometimes even the screams of some unfortunate flyer. Despite being the avian invaders being held back, the intensity of their drive only made Twilight worry more.

As Twilight neared the end of the hall, signaled by old oak double doors and the guards posted in front of it, she could hear loud muffled voices from the council room ahead. As she approached these guards they, like the ones that were outside, recognized Twilight's rank and nodded to her.

With her clearance, she open one of the doors slightly, as to not interrupt the rather heated discussion going on.

After the door closed behind her, Twilight saw a big, bright, light blue head of a stallion in the center of the rather large council room. Underneath the large projected image was a large stone table surrounded by many robed figures, with varying degrees of anger noted on their face, unlike the stallion they were talking to, who was wearing a smile of a cool demeanor.

The large head spoke in a very smooth fashion, "I am very sorry about your local troubles, but I simply cannot spare my forces on a failing rebellion. My heart goes out to you for I support your noble cause, but I simply cannot afford to expend my power to push back the inevitable."

A mare of high position addressed the head with agitation and desperation, "You cannot sit idly by, Sombra. We gave you position your position in the old Heartland, and now you must use that position to send aid. This is more than simple titles at stake here. This is the very fabric of unicorn society becoming undone. Our very position in nature is being stripped."

An older stallion with his hood up, thus concealing his face in shadow, spoke up, "If we combined our Sky Council's forces with an army from the Heartland, we could blow through the Coalition's defenses and kill Sunny Rays and Blue Moon, thus ending this entire conflict."

"I'm sorry, but I cannot simply muster up all of the Heartland's forces on a whim and send them to fight and die for a ponies that have abandoned their ancestral home," Sombra said in a false forlorn voice, "That would just be unethical for me as the, very recently placed, sovereign to put the interests of my political allies over that of the lives of my little ponies."

This time a different elder stallion spoke up in anger, "Damn you Sombra, we know very well the state of the Heartland and the type of research you are conducting. When we finish this conflict, your political allies will be speaking again with you very soon and you'll definitely have more pressing worries than that of your ponies."

"Very well. We can speak of this after thy exile from... what is the Coalition of Equal Ponies going to call the land now... Equestria? And before you ask, my home will not house refuge for the Queen's usurpers. I hear she is rather miffed about this entire incident as it is, and I wouldn't want that type of attention from her. Now if you will excuse me, I have an Empire to run and I believe you all have some running to do yourselves."

As the face faded out of sight, a few of the council unicorns used their magic to light the torches on the wall, revealing the faces of a the many councilmen there. Among these bearded, wise, stallions and mares, was the Leader of the Noble House Stardust and Member of the High Sky Council, Star Mapper Bright Shadow. He was a big and rather toned for a unicorn. He had tan fur and an amber mane and beard. He held his head up high, and looked into space searching for answers, while the many councilmen argued amongst themselves. Twilight approached the stallion, with hesitation from the intense aura of strength and respect that surrounded him. It intimidated her, as it did to so many other unicorns who were not of equal standing, or physical height. But slowly she did made her presence known to him.

He stirred from his focus and looked down toward the purple mare, "Twilight Sparkle, we were about to send somepony to retrieve you, but it seems you are already one step ahead of us. What brings you to these chambers?"

"I.. uh.. well, I was told to come to the castle and request a... uh, ask to use the long distance teleportation chambers."

"By who's order's?"

"Umm, Baron Heartstrings, sir. He took charge over my post when the sun rose."

Bright Shadow gave a short humorless laugh and looked off to the side, "That stallion." He smiled and shook his head, "From sleazy poet to knight in shining armor in a matter of moments. Perhaps there is more to the tail chaser than I thought. "

He sighed before looking back to Twilight, "Nevertheless, he must have already came to the same conclusion as the Sky Council. We have already been evacuating the high ranking members of the Helios and Lulamoons. We were just wrapping up the last order of business before making our way there ourselves."

He looked up from her to address to the other members of the room and spoke loudly over their conversations, "Members of the High Council," at this, the room had ceased all conversation and all eyes were on Bright Shadow, "since the last order of business here has been conducted I would like to remind thee that is nearing our time to leave. We will make our way to the teleportation chambers and reconvene for another meeting with the remaining pieces of our forces into the western fishing village of Vanhoover." He paused for a moment before reciting the ending procedure to all formal Stardust gatherings that demanded his presence, "Until we realign the stars once more, meeting adjured."

Soon the robed ponies opened the doors and walk out the double doors, at a fast but dignified pace. Twilight was about to follow suit, when she felt a strong hoof on her shoulder holding her back. Bright Shadow, didn't speak and just looked over her, until they were the only ones in the room.

"Star Mapper Bright Shadow, why..."

"Twilight Sparkle, I have something to give thee, and thought it best to present this to thee alone." He reached into a pocket within his robes and took out an medallion. It was round and flat stone around the edge, but in the center was a smooth, dull copper dome with a white symbol in the middle. "This is the medallion of the Arch Magus of the Stardust Clan. This has been passed down from Arch Magus to Apprentice since the dawn of Unicornia. It is a symbol of your rank, your wisdom, your strength, and your honor. You are a very special unicorn Twilight Sparkle. I might not have told you this then, but you have surpassed my magical prowess by years and your mastery of the arcane may be a match that of StarSwirl himself, though he would never admit."

Twilight eyes were wide from shock and wonder. She knew she would reach this rank one day, but... "What of Night Light, sir?"

Bright hesitated, "I, must apologize Twilight, but thy mentor was, silenced in his chambers by a traitor within our ranks, which we could only capture after the fact. It is with a heavy heart to bestow this to you so soon and under such ill circumstances, but in a time so many plights, it is a relief to find such capable hooves to take up the mantle and responsibilities of such a high position."

Bright used his magic to hold it forward between himself and Twilight, "It carries with it the wisdom of a thousand generations of the greatest mages to ever grace the Earth. The secrets it hold can allow one to rewrite destiny itself. Take this and wear it with pride wherever destiny may take you. You are the greatest achievement of the Stardust Clan, know that you can accomplish anything and every achievement you perform and challenge you overcome will be reflected as an honor unto us all."

Twilight was caught in awe of the moment and took quiet, shallow breathes. She reached out to grasp the medallion with her magic. The reverence it held with Twilight and many unicorns across all of Unicornia was that of a religious relic. This alone was more treasured than any dragon's personal cave of gold or the buffaloes' stomping grounds. As she took the amulet closer to her, the medallion reacted to its new owner's presence and a golden chained lit up from the amulet and reached around Twilight's neck, before light dimmed out. She released her magic and let the medallion fall to her chest. Its weight magic felt deeper, and her senses have been sharpened. Her astonishment of shocked her, but not in a physical sense. Her mind was opened wider, her this symbol had made her swell up with pride and renewed strength.

She looked up to see Bright Shadow smiling at her with a deep sense of hope.

"The Medallion of the Arch Magus doesn't always react to it's owner, but when it does feel that the new title bearer is worthy, it may share its power and wisdom from time to time. Thou hast not just inherited the most coveted relic the Stardust Clan, Twilight, but you have also acquired a strong ally."

Twilight couldn't fathom the depth of his words, but cherished them none the less.

"Now come, we will speak over your new responsibilities and what is to be expected of you later. We still have to make our way to Vannenhoover."