Heart of Courage

Twilight Sparkle’s hoofsteps echoed down a cold, dark hallway. Not alone, she proceeded onward, flanked by two hulking beasts wielding wicked-looking spears. A small torch placed every dozen strides or so, glowed just bright enough for her to pick out a few distinguishing features of her escorts. Even under thick shaggy coats, their dense muscular arms bulged noticeably outwards, each ending at a clawed hand that looked like it could easily extinguish the life from her before she could even scream.

She carefully walked forward with purpose through intervening shadows before reaching the next patch of light. Her gaze darted upwards, only to be met with a predatory glare in their eyes that put ice in her veins. The fiend noticed her scrutiny and its lips curled into a snarl of elongated jaws, revealing a mouth with pointed teeth more numerous than any living creature deserved to have.

An involuntary shudder washed through the purple unicorn. Don’t panic, Twilight. The wulven can sense fear. Calm down, you can do this. You have to.

Only words of self-reassurement kept her from succumbing to panic. This deep in the mountainous region beyond the Frozen North gave her little faith she could return home by herself. Twilight did her best to focus on the mission at hoof and remind herself how much her friends back in Equestria depended on her.

Eventually, the trio reached a golden door large enough for an ursa minor to navigate without trouble. One of the beasts hammered his clawed fist against it twice, creating a deep resonating boom. Two loud clangs reverberated through the hall and the door slowly began to open. Twilight watched in awe until a sharp prod from one of the guard’s spears made her jump forward in fright. “Move, unicorn,” a growling voice snapped at her, “and don’t talk unless you’re spoken to. If we see your horn glow, you will be dead before you can use your magic.”

“Okay, I’m sorry.” Twilight squeaked, only to yelp as she was poked again.

“I said no talking! Now move!”

She complied with both demands this time. As they passed through the doors, Twilight noted that they had been opened by several more wulven warriors. Even though the golden slabs must have been heavier than a small house, it didn’t seem to faze them in the slightest. Their eyes hungrily rested upon her, but she swallowed the lump in her throat and kept walking. She had a job to do and too many lives depended on her actions today.

Up ahead, a massive wolfish monster adorned in golden armor lounged in an equally adorned throne. Taller and larger than the half a dozen guards surrounding him, he easily could have looked Princess Celestia in the eye without trouble. The bipedal canines clutched at their weapons with white-knuckled grips and they watched the little pony with malice as their leader spoke.

“Hmm, Twilight Sparkle I presume? I see the all-powerful Celestia finally sees it fit to acknowledge our presence with an ambassador from Equestria.” His smoldering voice echoed throughout the mountain hall, stressing each syllable with an acidic inflection.

Twilight fought to keep her pride in check as she kneeled before the throne. “King Moonclaw, I am honored to be in your presence. I come from Canterlot with a request from Princess Celestia to ask you for peace between our lands.”

“Ah, yes. Celestia wants to resolve our little disagreement, does she?” The King chuckled and leaned forward in his throne. “She wants to forget about past grievances and let bygones be bygones. If she cares so much about her little ponies, why did she refuse to see me herself? Is she afraid of me?”

His dismissal of Princess Celestia and the severity of the situation they were currently in made Twilight’s eyes narrow. She spoke carefully, hesitant to displease her dangerous host. “With all due respect, your majesty, this is more than a little disagreement. We have confirmed reports of small towns and villages being attacked and burned to the ground by your forces. Princess Celestia understands your anger at her and she thought it would be best to not risk alienating a chance for peace with her presence.”

“Of course she would understand!” Moonclaw roared, causing Twilight to flinch in fear. “Her and her sister are the ones who locked me away thousands of years ago. Don’t stand there and tell me she is surprised by what I’ve done? What did she expect me to do after I escaped Tartarus? Did she think I would forget the challenge I made?”

Twilight averted her eyes and tried to ignore a nervous itch under the coat of her neck. “You challenged her?”

“Of course I did, I have to show her how wrong she is. Why else would I create my perfect army?” Moonclaw motioned to the dozens of wolf-like beasts in the throne room with them. “Miss Sparkle, it would be my honor to formally introduce you to the wulven.”

Two tall musclebound forms stepped out of the line of warriors around Moonclaw’s throne, looking very much like the two guards who escorted her throughout the frozen mountain. “These are my main foot soldiers; my carnibeasts. No other creature can match their raw physical strength, not even your hardy earth pony kin.”

The two creatures returned to their original places as a lone wulven moved into Twilight’s field of view. Missing the beefy stature of the carnibeasts, this one had a much more limber appearance. The reason for this became apparent to her as soon as she noticed the two large leathery wings folded along its back. “To compete with your pegasi, I needed flyers. My wraithwolves will negate the air superiority that you ponies have been fond of so far. I find that claws are far more lethal than hooves.”

Baring its teeth at her, the wraithwolf bent its knees before leaping into the air, wings stretched wide. A few quick flaps and it vanished in the dark recesses of the ceiling above. As Twilight looked back down, a new beast stood forward from the rest. Not as well built as the carnibeasts, or as limber as the wraithwolf, she felt just as frightened of this one as she took note of the two ram-like horns curling around its head. “I sure cannot wait to see your best spell castors go up against my hellhounds. How well do you think Celestia’s prized student would fare against one?”

Twilight didn’t acknowledge the threat. Instead, she gulped nervously while the hellhound wulven sauntered away, heading down an adjacent hallway leading off to who-knows-where. She waited until it had fully disappeared before meeting Moonclaw’s smiling face. “Of course, I saved the best for last; my honor guard. How would you like to face all three at once, Twilight Sparkle?”

The king had just finished when a trio of dark forms fell from the ceiling and landed hard on the stone floor in the intervening space in front of the throne. Their sudden entrance forced Twilight to step backward in order to assess the newcomers in front of her, and when she did, the cold hand of dread gripped her tightly. Standing in the epicenter of each impact was another wulven creature. This one though had the physique of a carnibeast, wide curving wings like a wraithwolf, and long spiraling horns mirroring a hellhound’s.

They stared down the pony in front of them before one by one, a dark aura began to encompass their horns. Three starbursts suddenly popped to existence, temporarily blinding Twilight, and as she blinked back her vision, she only saw empty space where they had been. She breathed heavily, glancing every which way, but the powerful creatures were nowhere to be seen.

“I… I still don’t understand.” The purple unicorn asked after taking a moment to calm herself down. “Why would you create an army to mirror pony-kind and what do they have to do with your challenge? Your warriors are powerful and vicious, but at the end of the day, they are just fabrications; magical constructs. They aren’t actually real. So why are you doing this?”

A look of surprise graced King Moonclaw’s face and his mouth curled into a hair-raising smile. “Oh, Celestia didn’t tell you, did she? Tell me what she did choose to reveal to you about our little spat back in the day.”

“Princess Celestia told me that you were not pleased with her becoming the ruler of Equestria.” Twilight retold the tale of what had happened long ago, leaving out a few, more incendiary, details. “She said you tried to take over the Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters, but she and Princess Luna stopped you.”

“That’s certainly a small part of the whole story. I know Celestia must have told you more than that.” Moonclaw’s lips slowly lowered and he raised an eyebrow at the small pony, daring her to continue.

Gulping, she tried to tread carefully. “She mentioned that you saw nothing to gain by helping the united pony tribes prosper.”

Twilight unfortunately seemed to strike a nerve and Moonclaw lost his patience, swiping through empty air in frustration. “We tied ourselves down when we settled with the tribes in Equestria. We had so much potential to be mighty rulers over these lands; so powerful that no one would have ever challenged us. I tried to reason with Celestia, but she refused to accept what we were becoming.”

“What do you mean?”

He glared at her. “She made us weak.”

“Weak? But Equestria is not weak!” The little pony bristled at Moonclaw’s assertion. Around her, wulven guards shifted threateningly as they reacted to her accusatory tone.

The king then did something that she did not expect. His scowl vanished as he leaned back and let out a hearty laugh from deep within his chest. Twilight cocked her head, not seeing the humor in the situation and somewhat unsure how to respond.

It took a moment, but Moonclaw finally calmed down enough to notice her reaction, or lack thereof. “Oh, you actually believe that, don’t you?”

Twilight answered gently, feeling a little unease by his seemingly random mood swings. “Your majesty, I don’t know why what I said was funny. Would you mind explaining?”

“All you ponies think your nation is safe and secure. Have you already forgotten about Nightmare Moon? How about Discord, or King Sombra? What about Queen Chrysalis, and all of the other threats and dangers Equestria had suffered in the past that are now lost in legend and myth? If your past is any inclination, then I doubt your future will fare much better.”

“But we defeated Discord, and King Sombra! We stopped Queen Chrysalis, and brought back Princess Luna! How can you say those things when we stopped all of them?”

“You speak of victories, but not one of those struggles ever had to happen in the first place. If Celestia had only listened to me, then her sister would never have turned on her. All she wanted was a willing ear to listen to her plight. Then maybe, her jealousy wouldn’t have gotten out of control which allowed that malevolent parasite to take hold.”

Moonclaw continued raving, his voice growing more intense with each sentence. “And the changelings, Discord, or Sombra? I can’t believe that Celestia would be irresponsible enough to send you to stop them alone. The entire nation’s future, resting on six feeble little ponies. What a joke, what was she thinking? If she had seen things my way, then we would have effortlessly crushed our enemies by our combined might. No one would have dared threaten us ever again.”

“There is no way to know those things for sure, your majesty.” Twilight took a step towards his throne, and the wulven guards adjusted to hold their weapons in a more aggressive stance. “It took the combined power of the Elements of Harmony…”

“Stop!” His command cut her off mid-sentence, and he waved a paw through the air as if swatting away an annoying fly. “Don’t even start lecturing about those antiques; relics of an ancient time. I’ve heard it before and I never understood why Celestia put so much faith in those fickle artifacts; each so particular about the bearer who wields it. Her greatest sin might well be the fact that she gambled with the fate of Equestria just to help some unsociable bookworm make some friends.”

Twilight’s ears flared back and she glared at King Moonclaw, stamping a hoof against the ground. “You don’t understand what the Elements of Harmony truly are! Because of that, Princess Celestia is a much wiser ruler than you are, your majesty.” Her sarcastic inflection did not go unnoticed, and the wulven on her right reversed its grip on its spear before slamming the pole down hard onto her back. She cried out and collapsed onto the ground in agonizing pain, whimpering faintly.

As she fought to catch her breath and see through tear-filled eyes, King Moonclaw stood up off his throne and sauntered over towards her. “You disrespect me, Twilight Sparkle. If you do not control your outbursts, I will make sure that Celestia’s sun will never grace your face again.” The King circled around Twilight’s prone form. “As for your request, I am going to have to say, no. If Celestia can’t see how pathetic her little ponies are on her own, then I am going to show her.”

The king stopped in front of her and hunched over so that his face was only inches from hers. As she struggled through the pain lancing along her spine, Twilight stared into his eyes. Twin irises of brilliant gold speckled with obsidian betrayed the intelligence resting behind them, even if it was tainted by a flawed reasoning. She understood now that Moonclaw meant every single thing he had said, and he would carry out his promises no matter what the consequences might be.

“It doesn’t have to be this way.” Twilight’s shaky voice whispered, pleading one last time to end this peacefully. “I just know that we can solve the dispute between you and Princess Celestia. There’s no need for any bloodshed. Please….”

For a brief flicker, she saw guilt in Moonclaw’s large golden eyes before it was replaced with a pity directed at her. “Unfortunately, we are well past that point, little pony. I do admire your determination and courage though. Hold on to them, especially the last one. You will need it in the dark times to come.”

King Moonclaw turned his back and made his way to the throne. “Goodbye, Twilight Sparkle. The next time we meet will not be under the best of circumstances. Guards, return her to Equestria.”

The two wulven grabbed Twilight’s front legs and unceremoniously dragged her out of the throne room. As the door slammed shut, she squeezed her eyes closed and tried to stem the flow of tears trickling out of them. The entire time, only one thought filled her mind. I failed….

A week later, Twilight stood in front of a large open history book. Alone in a small ancient library, she poured over the tome in front of her looking for some piece of information that might help Equestria in this terrible war. The extensive underground repositories of Canterlot held vast swaths of knowledge; much of it forgotten over the centuries. She and her friends were supposed to leave for the Crystal Empire soon, but she still had not found anything useful.

This one is a bust. Twilight frowned, thinking bitter thoughts as she levitated it back to its original place. The lavender unicorn reared up and pulled at another one when a sharp pain shot through her back, causing her to drop it. As the book’s impact with the hard granite floor faded away, she rubbed the spot where the wulven guard had struck her a week before. Why can’t I do anything right?

“Darling, are you alright?” asked a cultured voice behind her, sending another wave of agony through her body as she jumped in fright.

Trying to not grimace, Twilight answered haltingly, “Rarity, I’m fine. I just… pulled something this morning when we were training.” She played it off to keep from worrying her friend, but the cheesy grin plastered on her face did little to convince the white unicorn.

“Twilight, I may not be the element of honesty, but I can still tell when you’re lying. Now, you’re going to tell me what’s wrong, right now.” Rarity gave Twilight a look to let her know she would not take no for an answer.

Twilight’s ears drooped in submission “I feel like I’m holding everypony back. I’m the only one who hasn’t done anything to seriously help Equestria.” Eyes closing in shame, she let out a heavy sigh as her head hung helplessly. It was a thought that had plagued the lavender pony quite often since her ambassadorial visit had ended so poorly. Meanwhile, her friends had all used their skills to help Equestria, both behind the front lines and on it.

Fluttershy’s work in the infirmary helped teach many lifesaving techniques, and Pinkie Pie’s baking skills kept scores of refugees from going hungry. Applejack and Rainbow Dash served as commanders in the ground and air corps respectively. Even Rarity, the last pony to ever get her hooves dirty, had surprised all of her friends with her skills as a sharpshooter. She even helped to design the combat and formal uniforms used by Celestia’s troops.

Thinking of her friend’s accomplishments only served to further dampen Twilight’s spirits. They had all succeeded in positions well suited for their own individual strengths, while she had failed at one thing she was supposed to be good at, diplomacy. I could have stopped all of this from ever happening, but I didn’t so here we are.

Rarity paced around the little alcove in which Twilight was using to read, glancing at all of the different sized and colored books. “Don't be silly Twilight; you’re going to be the pony that will save all ponykind.” She smiled over at her friend. “And once Moonclaw shows his hideous face, we will use the Elements and send that ruffian packing! Don’t let what happened in his fortress get you down. Obviously, he made his choice long before you arrived.”

“But personally, I’m just glad you made it back safe.” Rarity walked up to her and gave her a warm hug before letting go and placing a hoof on her shoulder. “Anyway, it’s time for dinner and it would be rude to keep the princesses and your friends waiting.”

Twilight sighed but couldn’t hide the small grin on her face. Leave it to Rarity to say the one thing that could get me to stop reading. She mused as she regarded the dusty bookshelves around her. “Well, okay. I guess I can call it quits for tonight. I am feeling a bit tired now… but I’m going to wake up extra early tomorrow.” The last statement was spoken more as a challenge but Rarity just tossed her flawlessly groomed mane and laughed.

“That’s perfectly fine with me dear, as long as you enjoy yourself tonight. You need some rest before we leave Canterlot again.” Gazing at the immense collection of books crammed into the shelves in the alcove, Rarity asked, “Have you explored all the bookshelves in this section?”

“Not yet. I’ve been to every row from here to the door but haven’t gone past that one.” Twilight pointed with her hoof at a tall multi-tiered bookcase far down the line.

Rarity trotted over and took a peek around the corner. “Well Twilight, you’re almost done with this…” She stopped talking and stared at something at the end of the aisle. “Oh my! What is that?” She hollered out before immediately disappearing down the pathway.

“Rarity! What about dinner? Ugh!” Twilight sighed and followed her path at a brisk trot. Thoughts of food made her stomach growl and the pain in her back was flaring up again, but she ignored both.

As she rounded the corner, Rarity appeared at the very end of the cases. In front of her stood an open archway tall enough for Princess Celestia to easily pass through without ducking. It led to a strange room in the shape of a dome, twice as high as its entrance. Intrigued, Twilight galloped forward to get a closer look. Maybe I’ll find something I can bring back this time. A new hope flared to life in her heart, replacing her exhaustion and pain.

Twilight ran past an awestruck Rarity and entered the room. Following her friend’s startled gaze, her eyes fell upon a stone table in the middle of the room. On the table sat a dusty golden stand, about the size of an old record player, and held at its heart rested a crystal sphere holding a beautiful silver hourglass.

As Twilight stared at the hourglass, her breathing steadily grew slower and the ambient sounds of the castle became muffled and distorted. It took some concentration and will, but the unicorn pulled her violet eyes off of it and everything snapped back to normal. She shook her head to clear it before glancing over to see what had captured Rarity’s attention. At the base of the stand, a partially dusty diamond the size of her hoof sparkled in the dim torch light.

“What a magnificent gem! I have never seen such a flawless diamond of this clarity! I simply must take it for my collection. Such a waste that it has been sitting down here getting dusty for ages!” As Rarity moved forward, Twilight stopped her with a hoof.

Something about this device gave the lavender mare an uneasy feeling in the pit of her stomach. “Wait,” she started “it’s attached to that hourglass thing, and I don’t particularly trust it. I think it will be safer if we leave it alone and ask Princess Celestia about it later.”

Rarity pouted and she gave Twilight the most downtrodden face she could muster. “Okay,” she conceded as she re-composed herself, “you’re probably right. I wouldn’t want to turn into something icky and slimy. That would be the worst, possible, THING!”

“What’s taking you so long, Rarity? I thought you said you knew how to get Twilight to stop reading and come eat!” the voice of Twilight’s number one assistant echoed down the row of books. Food seemed to be on the baby dragon’s mind at all times.

Twilight turned to see Spike and the rest of her pony friends walking down the dark aisle, before coming to a halt right outside the room. “Hi everypony, we’re coming.” Twilight smiled at them. “Rarity just wanted to look at a pretty rock.”

“It’s more than just a rock, Twilight Sparkle!” Rarity scoffed. “Oh, how I wish I could take it.” She walked over to the diamond, gazing at it like a mother watching over her child. Before turning around again, she blew the small covering of dust off of its otherwise flawless surface. As both unicorns began to leave, a faint click stopped them in their tracks. “What was that?” Rarity twisted her head around and fixed her eyes on the table.

The diamond had dropped down an inch into the device, and it now glowed and hummed with power. Above it, the little hourglass spun rapidly inside the crystal sphere. Twilight’s eyes grew wide as she felt the enormous amount of magical energy beginning to coalesce inside the device. It had a telltale signature of the same kind of energy she used to create barriers and shields, but this felt several orders of magnitude more powerful than what she commonly dabbled with. Both unicorns exchanged terrified glances when they both reached the same conclusion. This device was powering up for something.

Twilight Sparkle reacted first, trying to save her friend who stood frozen with fear. The lavender unicorn rushed between Rarity and the table, whilst twisting her body around. Then she bucked the immobile pony straight through the archway with a kick that would make any Apple family member proud. Rarity flailed through the air with an audible oof and plowed into her other friends, knocking them down like bowling pins. Without wasting precious time, Twilight turned and dove for the arch. Everything seemed to slow as she flew through the air.

The archway was so close. I’m going to make it! Twilight thought, but right before she passed through the opening, a wall of magical energy popped into existence right in front of her. The unicorn smashed into it and rebounded off, slamming into the unyielding ground. The impact all but rendered her unconscious.

Twilight opened her eyes and looked around. The walls and floor radiated a dull, red light, and a transparent crimson barrier shimmered in the archway. Her friends all crowded in the opening, staring at her wide-eyed with fear. Wobbling to her feet, she took note that the hourglass currently spun around in its stand even faster now. In her horn, she could feel a different type of magic growing in strength; one that terrified her beyond reason.

For a unicorn who studied the subject nearly every day of her life, she knew about almost every form of magic that existed. Only a select few particularly worried her and this was on that list. Twilight tried to use her own magic to break out of the room but whatever the device was, it just overpowered every single attempt. There was nothing she could do to escape. She was utterly and hopelessly trapped.