The cavern smelled of chalk and death. A candle hovered along the path, revealing faded bricks and bits of wood embedded in the limestone walls. Broken quills and bits of paper littered the floor.
A magical light gathered all of the scraps into a pile. The jingling of bells approached the light, and the pile crumpled into a ball. Star Swirl eyed the ball before harrumphing and tossing it in his saddlebag. “Nothing like the brochure, this place,” he said. “Far too much litter for a catacomb.”
Star Swirl levitated a map from his other saddlebag. “Now where am I on this blasted thing?” He turned the map on its side and squinted at it. “Oh, darn it all. This is the blueprint for Everfree Castle, not my map for the Caverns of Maretania!” He shook his head. “I should’ve known not to leave Celestia in charge of organizing my papers. Such a wild child.” He continued down the corridor, humming.
His candle illuminated a speck of bright red on the wall. Star Swirl raised an eyebrow, then moved the light closer to the dot. “Well, I’ll be,” he muttered, putting his eye up to the dot. It stood out against the wall, sparkling in his candlelight.
“I do believe that’s a ruby!” He stroked his beard, running his hoof through the tangles. “Hmm, now what did that book say about the Maretanian symbology for rubies? Something about death or sacrifice or some such thing…” Then his eyes went wide as he noticed the painting behind the ruby. The gem rested on a depiction of an insect, pure black and beetle-like.
A glint caught the corner of his eye, and Star Swirl turned up to look at it. Another ruby sat atop another insect far up on the wall. Then he noticed another, identical setup. And another. And yet another. He stepped back and threw his candlelight across as much of the wall as possible. Hundreds of ruby-specked insects covered the surface, forming a graveyard of red and black.
“That can’t be good,” Star Swirl said, furrowing his brow. “Well, best not to linger. There is adventuring to be done, and my sandwich won’t eat itself!” He prepared to turn down the hallway again, but stopped just short. Something caught his attention, and he approached a section of the wall.
A single insect broke the mural’s pattern. It was painted identically to the others, but the ruby was missing.
Star Swirl raised an eyebrow. “Curious… Why would there be a single unmarked insect? The Maretanians were well-known for their attention to detail, so I find it hard to believe—”
His candle flickered out. There was a shriek, and Star Swirl screamed.
***
“They’re called shadow leeches,” Celestia said, pulling her head from the book.
Star Swirl paused in rubbing his temples and looked over from his chair. “Eh, what’s that? This headache is terrible, Celestia. I’m afraid you’ll have to speak up.”
Levitating the book with her, Celestia rose from her spot and stepped over to Star Swirl. “Those insects you saw depicted in the Caverns of Maretania. Apparently they’re called shadow leeches, and they’ve been extinct for a long time.”
“Does the book mention what was so important about them as to paint hundreds of them on a wall?”
“Not exactly,” Celestia said, flipping a page. “No one seems to know exactly what they did, just that the Maretanians marked them for death and apparently hunted them to extinction. Those were the rubies you saw.”
“Fascinating…”
Celestia sighed and slammed her book shut. “But nothing new. You didn’t find anything else of interest while you were down there?”
Star Swirl hummed. “There was the strange matter of my sandwich being eaten without my knowledge…”
Celestia brought her hoof to her face. “Star Swirl, for the last time, you didn’t bring a sandwich.”
“I most certainly did!”
“No, you didn’t. Luna and I forbade you from ever bringing sandwiches on adventures again after you got jelly all over that sacrificial altar. Remember?”
Star Swirl’s eyes shot wide. “Oh. Yes, of course I—” He clutched his head and groaned loudly. “Agh, mercy.”
Raising an eyebrow, Celestia said, “You’ve had that headache for a while. Ever since you returned, now that I think about it. Are you sure you don’t want me to cast a healing spell?”
“Goodness, Celestia. I’m not sick—I’m old. There’s a difference, though not much. I’ll be fine. Regardless, I…” One of Star Swirl’s eyes twitched. His horn flared, and the book in Celestia’s grip burst into flame.
Celestia screamed and recoiled. “Star Swirl! What were you… that was an original copy!”
Blinking, Star Swirl shook his head. “Oh, bugger me. Sorry, dear, I’m not sure what came over me there. As I said, I am rather old, and that trip took more out of me than I care to admit.” He rose from the longtable and wandered to the door. “I’m going to my chambers. Good night, Celestia.”
The door shut before Celestia could make her reply. She screwed up her face in confusion. “That was odd, even for Star Swirl,” she said. She looked outside at the moon, and—as if on cue—she yawned fiercely. “He does usually know when to call it a night, though.”
Celestia leaned over and blew out the candle, throwing the study into darkness.
***
A hoof prodded Celestia awake. “Sister, wake up.”
Celestia grumbled and rolled over, wrapping her head in a pillow. “I’ll raise the sun in just five more minutes. Morning doesn’t start until I want it to, anyway.”
Luna’s magic yanked Celestia’s pillow away. “Sister, get up. Something is wrong.”
At that, Celestia turned over and looked Luna in the eye. She frowned at her beneath a serious glare. “What is it?” Celestia said. “What’s happening?”
Luna’s eyes narrowed. “Star Swirl.”
***
The two princesses galloped down the corridors, Luna leading by a small margin. They rounded a corner as Luna said, “You do not understand, Sister. He’s acting strange… much stranger than usual. He’s… he’s scaring me.”
“You’re overreacting, Luna,” Celestia said. “Whatever it is he’s doing, I’m sure it can be explained. It’s Star Swirl. We’ve known him for ages! He can’t surprise us anymore.”
“I am not overreacting.”
“I promise you that you are.”
“Am not!”
“Are too!”
Suddenly, Luna wheeled on Celestia, baring her teeth at her. “He threatened me, Celestia!”
Celestia screeched to a halt. The air fell dead silent around them, save for Luna’s heavy breaths. Celestia blinked once, then twice, then said, “Star Swirl… threatened you?”
As if having given up the will to stand, Luna collapsed on her haunches. “Yes. That’s how I noticed his behaviour in the first place. He shouted at me, then he… threatened my life. And right now he’s—”
“Where are they?!” cried Star Swirl’s voice. The sisters gave each other a look, then walked slowly around the corner. At the end of the hall, Star Swirl stood in a rotunda throwing furniture about and turning over the cobblestones in the floor.
“Star Swirl!” Celestia cried. She rushed forward.
“Sister, wait!” Luna called, galloping closely behind.
Hovering a large desk above himself, Star Swirl froze. He turned to Celestia and leveled a glare at her. “Princess Celestia!” he roared. “I know they’re here. Where have you hidden them?!”
The two ponies stopped at the entrance to the room. Celestia said, “Star Swirl, what are you doing?! What do you mean by ‘them?!’”
“Don’t play dumb with me!” He heaved the levitating desk into the wall. It exploded into splinters not far from them. “The Elements of Harmony! Tell me where they are!”
“Are you mad, Star Swirl?!” Luna said, stepping forward. “You helped hide them!”
“Liar!” Star Swirl leveled his horn at Luna and shot a bolt of lightning. It struck her in the chest and sent her careening down the hall. She screamed until she collided with the ground and skidded to a stop dozens of yards away, motionless.
“Luna!” Celestia cried. She turned on Star Swirl with wild eyes. “What are you doing, Star Swirl?! Stop this!”
Star Swirl chuckled deeply. “I should scorch you on the spot, child. Do you not remember? I am the greatest unicorn alive! I am Star Swirl the Bearded! And you are inferior in every way imaginable. So you and your pathetic sister can just—” In an instant, Star Swirl collapsed to the floor, clutching his head.
Clenching his teeth and wriggling about on the floor, he looked up at Celestia with panicked eyes. “Celestia! Shadow leech! Help!”
Celestia gasped. “Star Swirl, what are you—”
He screamed and threw his head back, launching his hat across the room. He glared into Celestia with eyes that weren’t his own. “Die!” he shouted, firing a green bolt of magic at her. Celestia dove sideways, and the magic annihilated a fragment of the stone wall behind her.
Raising a hoof to him, Celestia said, “Star Swirl! This isn’t you! I don’t know what this is, but you can fight it! You can defeat it! Please!”
“You are wrong, Princess!” Star Swirl aimed his horn at her, and it started to emanate sparks violently as it glowed green. “This is my will. My dark magic! My destiny! I am Star Swirl the Bearded, and you are—”
A blue bolt threw him sideways into a bookshelf. With a harsh crunching noise, he slumped to the ground unconscious.
Luna limped into the room, her eyes set on Star Swirl. She turned to Celestia, who was staring at her with wide eyes. Celestia shot to her hooves and galloped over to embrace Luna. “Ow,” Luna said as Celestia squeezed her tighter.
“Sorry,” Celestia said. She pulled away, smiling at her. “I just… I’m so… How are you feeling?”
“A little worse for wear, but I’m likely faring much better than Star Swirl.” The two of them turned to his limp figure. His chest moved—barely, but steadily. “Did you discover what drove him to this madness?”
“Kind of,” Celestia said. “I think a shadow leech attacked him in the Caverns of Maretania.”
Luna quirked an eyebrow. “And what, pray tell, is a shadow leech?”
Her eyes hard as metal, Celestia stepped closer to Star Swirl. “I don’t know,” she said, “but I’m about to find out.” She knelt down next to Star Swirl’s head and touched her horn to his. A faint golden light appeared around her horn, and a wisp of magic arced from the tip of her horn to his.
A blue ball of something like plasma appeared in her mind’s eye. Black tendrils laced their way through it, all of them stemming from a strange beetle in the sphere’s center. Celestia prodded the creature with her magic and felt it grab her. It made her magic feel slimy and wrong—foreign in her own body. Fire seared her brain. She shrieked and pulled away.
“Sister!” Luna said, leaning over Celestia’s prone form. She frowned at her. “Are you okay? What did you attempt?”
Celestia tried to rise to her hooves, but a sharp pain stabbed her head. She grabbed her temples and collapsed to the floor. “It was just a simple healing spell,” Celestia said. “But… I don’t know. Whatever that thing is, it responds to magic unlike anything we’ve encountered before.” She tilted her head to look at Star Swirl. A sudden heat rushed to her eyes. “It must be horrible for him.”
“Surely there is something that can be done,” Luna said. “Perhaps the Elements of Harmony are needed once more.”
Slowly, Celestia finally managed to push herself to a standing position. She groaned and shook her head. “I’m not sure, Luna. You know what the Elements did to Discord. I… I wouldn’t want to subject Star Swirl to the same fate.”
Clenching her eyes shut, Luna sighed. “Nor would I, Sister. But… time is of the essence. He will not stay unconscious for long, and there’s no telling what he will do when he awakes.” She opened her eyes. “Do we have another choice?”
Celestia bit her lip. She looked over at Star Swirl’s hat lying sideways on the floor, far from his body. One of the bells had fallen off. She finally sighed. “I suppose it’s worth—”
A bolt of magic whizzed past her head and grazed her ear. Celestia screamed and recoiled as Luna whirled around.
Star Swirl rose to his hooves, his glare piercing through the princesses. His teeth ground together, and he growled. A green aura pulsated around his horn, bubbling more like acid than magic. His shriek rattled the windows in their frames, and he whipped a streak of magic at Celestia. She fired her own beam back at him, and their streams collided in the air. The beams froze in the middle for a brief moment, then Celestia’s overtook his and reached Star Swirl, wrapping him in a golden aura. Celestia cried out, and so did Star Swirl.
“Sister!” Luna called. “The Elements!”
“There’s no time!” Celestia said. She collapsed to her knees and winced hard. “Think of something else!”
Luna scanned her eyes around the room, wide and wild as they searched for anything useful. Something grabbed her attention as she looked at Star Swirl himself: A golden, triangular medallion swung behind his beard as he thrashed about. Realization clicked behind Luna’s eyes, and she said, “Celestia, I’m going to open the Gate to Tartarus! Once it’s open, you must throw him through and imprison him there.”
Celestia’s eyes shot wide. She looked over at Luna and shouted, “Luna, this is Star Swirl! Our mentor! Our friend! There must be something else that—”
Dark magic flickered around Star Swirl’s horn, and Celestia shrieked again. Her own magic wavered for a moment but held him in place. She squinted up at Star Swirl, writhing in pain. She held her focus on him for a long moment, until tears rolled down her cheeks. Finally, she squeezed her eyes shut and shouted, “Okay. Luna, do it!”
Luna nodded. She widened her stance and summoned her magic. Within seconds, a hole opened in midair, crackling and sparking along its border. Darkness filled the other side, save for the outlines of some hills in the distance. Luna hesitated for but a moment before saying, “Now, Sister!”
“Farewell, Star Swirl,” Celestia whispered. She hurled him through the hole and relinquished her magic, crumpling to the ground. Star Swirl roared one last time before Luna closed the Gate to Tartarus. Dead silence filled the room, save for the sound of two princesses panting.
Eventually, Luna turned to Celestia. “Are you okay, Sister?” Tears had formed in her own eyes now, and they flowed freely down her face.
Trembling all over, Celestia stood. She slowly made her way across the room to Star Swirl’s hat. She grabbed it in her magic—as well as the stray bell—and brought it to eye level. She frowned as her eyes quivered, and she buried her face in the hat’s fabric.
A hoof grabbed her shoulder. She turned to Luna, and the sisters joined in an embrace. “I’m so sorry, Tia,” Luna whispered. “I wish there could have been another way.”
Celestia sniffled, then said, “Tomorrow.” She pulled away from the hug, wiped her muzzle with a forearm, and looked Luna square in the eye. “Tomorrow, we go to Maretania and learn everything we can about shadow leeches. If there are any more of them out there, we will find them and destroy them.” She looked at Star Swirl’s hat. “Nothing like this can ever be allowed to happen again.”
“Agreed.”
The two sisters looked back at each other, then rejoined in their hug. The bells on Star Swirl’s hat jingled faintly as a breeze rolled past.
“Give my regards to Cerberus.”
Tirek levitated the princesses through the Gate to Tartarus and dropped them on a hill. Iron shackles manifested around their limbs. Celestia looked into the sky and saw the throne room for one final time before the Gate vanished. She sighed and hung her head. “We’ve done all that we can. It’s up to Twilight now.”
“She’ll do it,” Cadance said, trying and failing to rise to her hooves. “It’s Twilight. She’ll do it.”
“I pray that you are right, Cadance,” Luna said, still staring up at where the portal had been. “For the time being, though—” her head lowered to the rock floor “—there is nothing to be done. I am exhausted.”
Celestia nodded. “It would be a good idea to get some rest.”
Cadance frowned and looked between the other princesses. “Are you sure it’s a smart idea to fall asleep in the middle of Tartarus? Aren’t there things here we should be watching out for?”
“If you haven’t noticed, Cadance,” Luna said, not even looking up, “we are in the middle of Tartarus without any magic. If anything were to attack us, we would not be able to defend ourselves regardless.” She closed her eyes. “It is hopeless to do anything but rest.”
Cadance lowered her eyes and slumped to the floor. Celestia reached a hoof over to her and smiled. “Everything in Tartarus is bound here just as we are, Cadance. Nothing can reach us. There is nothing to fear.”
Cadance sighed. “I guess you’re right.” She yawned harshly. “And Luna’s right, too. This has been an exhausting experience, and I could do with some sleep.” She looked up at the sky one more time. “Good luck, Twilight.”
“Good luck, Twilight,” the others repeated. All three princesses closed their eyes and quickly fell asleep atop their hill in Tartarus.
Soft clicking sounds came from the darkness nearby. Cadance shuffled in her sleep, and the shadows encroached.
***
Every part of Celestia ached as she lumbered into her bedroom. With bags under her eyes and lead in her gait, she closed the door behind her and kicked off her metal slippers. She sighed as her hooves sank into the carpet. “Tirek, take all the magic you like so long as you never make me sleep on the floor of Tartarus again,” she whispered. She collapsed into her bed without so much as lifting a blanket over herself.
Heavy, bright light pounded against her eyelids, and she groaned. Celestia craned her head, and the sun stared back at her from the horizon, awaiting her command. It took several minutes, but Celestia eventually forced enough willpower into her limbs to rise from the bed. She walked over to the balcony and summoned her magic.
Warmth rushed to her horn, and then something shrieked. Celestia recoiled as a chill shot from her horn, then she stumbled and slammed her head into the balcony railing. Her world tumbled into blackness.
***
Celestia was cold when she awoke, yet her head throbbed with heat. Her horn lit as she pushed herself to her hooves. She winced, but the sharp pain in her head dulled to an ache. She opened her eyes. Night had fallen around her on the balcony, and moonlight painted her bedroom grey. Blinking the blurriness from her eyes, she said, “What in Equestria just happened?”
Something black moved on the floor in front of her. She focused on it, and her eyes flew wide.
An insect the size of her head twitched on the carpet. Pure black with an oblong body, the creature whimpered as it tried to right itself.
Celestia screamed. Pushing through the exhaustion clouding her body, she fired a beam of light at the creature, striking it square in the stomach. A screech tore through the air as the bug erupted in a puff of smoke. Celestia stood over the scorch mark in her carpet, panting heavily. A weight formed in her gut.
Her bedroom door slammed open as two guards rushed in, brandishing spears. “Princess!” one of them said. “Is everything alright? We heard you shout and came as quickly—”
“Where is Luna?” Celestia said, turning her frantic eyes on the guards. The two guards shared a look. “Where is she?!”
The guards winced. The second guard said, “She’s currently holding night court, Your Highness. Would you like us to—”
In a flash, Celestia vanished.
***
“And when I showed up at her house, there was, like, another dude already there!” The stallion gritted his teeth together and glared at the mare standing beside him. “Like, seriously?! I totally bought you flowers and everything, and then you just, like, go behind my back like that?!”
The mare slammed a hoof to her face. With a groan, she said, “For the last time, I wasn’t cheating on you! I don’t have any idea who you could’ve possibly seen me with today anyway! If you didn’t notice, Equestria was kinda in the middle of a catastrophe all day.”
“Yeah? Well then who was that buff red dude I saw you with?”
“What, you mean Tirek? The thing that was terrorizing everypony in Equestria?! You saw him attacking me and you didn’t do anything?!”
The stallion rolled his eyes and blew a raspberry. “Attacking you? Puh-lease! It looked like he was leaning in to kiss you, and I, like, didn’t see you do anything to stop him! Broke my freaking heart, man.”
“Wow, are you seriously this stupid?!”
“And now you’re insulting me, too! So not cool. You see what I’m putting up with here, Princess?”
“Don’t bring her into this!”
“That’s, like, why we came here in the first place!”
As the two ponies bickered, Princess Luna leaned her head into her hoof and sighed. She turned to the aide by her throne and whispered, “Raven, tell me, is this truly a matter that requires my royal intervention?”
Raven adjusted her glasses and said, “I think that’s what they’re trying to decide, actually. There’s nothing stopping you from just stepping in right now, though.”
“Let them argue.” Luna squeezed her eyes shut and rubbed her temples. “Perhaps it will allot me some time to work past this dreadful headache.”
“You’ve been complaining about that headache ever since you got back from Tartarus.” Raven looked up at her. “Should I send for a doctor?”
Luna shook her head. “Unnecessary. ’Tis merely the product of a most stressful day. A good day’s sleep will surely—”
A white flare erupted between the arguing couple, sending both ponies reeling backwards. Celestia appeared in the midst of the light, none of her regalia adorning her body. She focused on the throne and shouted, “Brace yourself, Luna!”
Luna raised an eyebrow. “Sister, what are you—”
Her own scream cut her off as Celestia shot a beam of light into her horn. Luna’s eyes flashed white, and she writhed onto the floor as Celestia’s magic pulsed through her. After a few eternal seconds, two massive insects exploded from Luna’s horn and soared across the room. One collided with the wall, and Celestia annihilated it with magic before it hit the ground. The other insect smashed through a window and vanished into the night.
Luna blinked hard and groaned as she pushed herself to her hooves. “What… what just happened?”
“Shadow leeches, Luna,” Celestia said, walking up to her. “There were two of them clinging to your magic.”
At those words, Luna’s eyes went wide. Her pupils dilated as she searched Celestia’s face and found only grim, serious determination. “That cannot be,” Luna said. “The shadow leeches have been extinct for centuries, Sister. We made sure of it after they claimed Star Swirl!”
Celestia nodded. “I believed so too. But apparently…” She stared out the broken window, her eyes hard as iron. “…apparently we were wrong. I think some of them may have been hiding in the shadows of Tartarus, and they latched onto us when Tirek imprisoned us there. We had no magic—no way to defend ourselves—so we failed to notice them.”
Slowly, Luna nodded. “A sound theory. But, Sister, if you’re right, then that means…”
“There’s no time to waste.” Celestia’s wings flared open, giving off a strong gust. “I’m going to the Crystal Empire immediately. You stay here and find the leech that went out that window, then send word to Twilight. Meet me in the Empire as soon as you can.”
“Understood.” Luna pulled Celestia into a one-armed embrace. “Be safe, Sister.” Without another word, Celestia beat her wings and took off through the window. Luna turned a hard stare on her aide. “Raven, handle things here. I must be going.”
Raven nodded curtly. “Of course, Princess.” Luna shot out the window, leaving the throne room in silence.
“Umm…” said the stallion at the end of the room. Raven turned to him. Both he and the mare were covered in soot and staring at her with wide eyes. “So do we get, like, a raincheck or something?”
***
Shining Armor paced next to the Crystal Heart. Clad in his captain’s armor, he stared at the ground in silence. Nothing but a gentle wind, the sound of his hoofsteps, and the hum of the Crystal Heart filled the night air.
He stopped pacing at the sound of hooves approaching. He looked up as Flash Sentry cantered up to him and saluted. “Anything?” Shining Armor asked.
“Negative, Sir,” Flash said. He lowered his hoof. “The east side of the Empire is clear. There’s…” He blinked and sighed as he slumped over. “There’s no sign of her anywhere…” he whispered.
Shining Armor settled a hoof on Flash’s shoulder. “I appreciate the work you’ve done, soldier. You’re free to take a break if you need to.” Shining forced himself to swallow the lump in his throat. “All the other guards are still searching.”
“Which is exactly why I need to keep searching too.” The two stallions locked eyes. A silence passed between them, their stares hard yet scared. Shining nodded, and Flash opened his wings. “I’ll do another sweep of the eastern fringe.” He beat his wings and was off.
A heavy sigh forced itself from Shining’s mouth, and he collapsed to his haunches. He stared at the set of four gold slippers resting beneath the Crystal Heart. He squeezed the heat from his eyes and let out a shaky breath. After a moment, he stood and prepared to gallop into the streets.
“Shining Armor!”
He wheeled around instantly and saw Princess Celestia land next to the Crystal Heart. “Princess!” he called, rushing forward and bowing hastily. “I’m so glad you could come. I’m surprised my letter reached you so fast, actually.”
Celestia panted as she caught her breath. She lifted an eyebrow and said, “Letter? No, Shining Armor, I haven’t received any letter. I’m here on urgent business. I need to see Cadance. Immediately.”
Shining Armor blinked hard. He looked back down at Cadance’s gold slippers, and Celestia followed his gaze. A pregnant silence ensued. “Shining Armor,” Celestia said, her voice breathless, “where is she?”
“I…” Shining sighed and shook his head. “I don’t know. When we went to bed, she was complaining about a bad headache. But… that was the last time I saw her. I woke up about an hour ago and… and she was just gone…” He gestured to the slippers. “She left these.”
“How many ponies are looking for her?”
“Every guard is either searching around the Empire or asking the citizens if they’ve seen anything.” He hung his head. “Nothing so far.”
“Shining Armor, listen to me very carefully.” He turned to look at Celestia, and her steely eyes bore into his. “We must find her as soon as possible. I fear that shadow leeches latched onto her while we were imprisoned in Tartarus, and there is no time to spare.”
“Shadow leeches?” Shining Armor raised an eyebrow. “I remember Twilight talking about those a long time ago. Something to do with Star Swirl the Bearded, I think.”
“They are evil creatures that latch onto pony magic and corrupt it, forcing the pony to do terrible deeds. They drove Star Swirl to insanity, and they will do the same to Cadance unless we find her and cleanse her quickly.” Celestia stared at Cadance’s slippers. They shimmered in the Crystal Heart’s light. “She is strong, but her magic will not hold out forever.”
“We’ll find her.” Shining Armor stood up straight and stared out into the Empire. “I’ll find her and save her if it’s the last thing I do.”
“If we don’t find her before it’s too late, it may very well be the last thing you do, Shining Armor.” Celestia opened her wings. “I will help with the search. Luna and Twilight should be here before long. I’ll send word of the situation to them before they arrive.”
Shining nodded. “Thank you, Princess. Good luck, and let me know if you find anything.” He turned and prepared to dash off.
“And, Shining Armor?” He looked over as Celestia stepped over and rested a hoof on his shoulder. She smiled at him and said, “We will find your wife. That much, I promise you.” They held each other’s stare for a split second, then they took off.
***
Midnight had come and gone before her cry split the night. “Shining Armor! Princess Celestia!”
Both of them looked up into the sky. Twilight dove towards them at breakneck speed, Spike on her back and Luna not far behind. She slammed into the ground in front of Shining Armor and stumbled into him. He caught her in an embrace and said, “Twily, are you okay?”
She pulled away and looked him in the eye. A frown was engraved in her expression, and the fur beneath her eyes was wet and windswept. “Have you found her yet?” she croaked.
Shining Armor shook his head. Twilight’s expression collapsed, and she crumpled back into his embrace. Shining stroked her mane with a hoof, and Spike inched closer to throw his arms around her too.
“Sister,” Luna said as she landed. “It has been nearly an hour since you arrived here. How much time do you think remains before Cadance is lost to us?”
“She won’t be lost to us,” Shining Armor said. He squeezed Twilight tighter.
Celestia frowned. She said, “I—”
“Prince Shining Armor! Princesses! Come quickly!” The group turned at once to look down the street. A crystal pony guard beckoned them over and galloped down an adjoining street. They galloped after her in a heartbeat.
They reached the edge of the empire and kept going out into the dark tundra. The guard became a faint outline in the snowflakes, so Celestia lit her horn bright and continued running. Before long, they came across a second guard. He knelt in the snow and only turned when Celestia’s light washed over him.
“Shining Armor, sir!” he called. “We’ve found something!” The group slowed as they approached, stopping behind the guard to look over his shoulder. As the last of them came to a stop, a heavy silence ensued, shattered only by the howling storm around them.
Cadance’s tiara sat half-buried in the snow, charred and dented.
“Is that…?” Spike said, pointing a shaky claw forward.
“A trail of hoofprints starts not far from here,” one of the guards said. “The wind’s made it hard to see, but they seem to lead farther into the tundra.”
Shining Armor stepped forward. He levitated Cadance’s crown out of the snow and brought it to eye-level. He looked it over for a bit, then shut his eyes. Twilight rested a hoof gently on his shoulder. “Shining Armor, we have to…” She sniffled. “We have to… keep going.”
Shining bit his lip hard. He breathed in deeply, pulling a hoof to his chest, then extended his hoof as he breathed out. He opened his eyes and faced the guards. “Tell all the other guards to move the search to this area. Now.” The two guards saluted and ran for the Crystal Empire.
He turned to the others and said, “Hurry.” He galloped into the tundra, dropping Cadance’s crown in the snow. The princesses followed suit. Twilight levitated Cadance’s tiara into Spike’s hands, and he clutched it close to his chest.
The hoofprints in the snow were faint, and they were becoming fainter as the snow whipped across them—they were almost impossible to see even with Celestia’s light. And just as they started to become more well-defined, they vanished entirely. “She must’ve flown from here,” Shining Armor said.
“Who in their right mind would fly in a storm this crazy?!” Spike said.
“She’s not in her right mind, Spike,” Twilight said. “Shadow leeches, remember?” Spike winced, then frowned and hung his head, holding Cadance’s crown closer.
“Cadance!” Shining Armor called, but the storm shouted him down. “Cadance, where are you?! It’s me! Shining Armor! Please, let me know that you can hear me!”
The wind answered him harshly, hitting him square in the face with a flurry of snow.
Princess Luna stepped forward. “Please, allow me, Shining Armor.” She held her head high and her back straight and shouted, “Princess Cadance!” Her voice muffled the wind to nothing. “We are searching this arctic tundra for you! Please, offer us some sign if you are able to—”
A howl tore through the storm, and a windigo streamed into the light surrounding them. It charged for Luna and slammed into her side. She screamed as the windigo pinned her in a snowbank.
“Luna!” the group cried. Celestia leveled her horn at the creature.
A blue bolt of magic hammered into the windigo, annihilating it before Celestia had the chance. Wide-eyed, everyone threw their gazes around. “Where the heck did that come from?!” Spike said.
“And aren’t windigoes supposed to be extinct?!” Twilight said.
“As are shadow leeches,” Luna groaned, shoving herself out of the snow. “That, however, is not what we should be concerning ourselves with right—”
“Help!” shrieked Cadance’s voice. Everyone turned to stare at a spot in the darkness. There was a yelp, followed by a faint blue streak in the sky. “I can hear you!” Cadance cried. “Please, help me!”
Shining Armor bolted into the darkness towards her. The rest shot off after him.
Within seconds, Celestia’s light illuminated Cadance as she thrashed in the snow. Bruises and scrapes covered her body, and she screamed hoarsely as she threw herself this way and that. Her eyes landed on Shining Armor as he stopped a few feet from her. “Shiny, help! I can’t—” A bolt of lightning blasted from her horn, narrowly missing Shining’s head. Cadance shrieked again.
Shining Armor gaped, and he blinked quickly as tears streamed from his eyes. Rooted to the spot, he didn’t even flinch as Princess Celestia stepped past him. “Cadance,” she called, her voice strained “you need to stay still. I can stop the shadow leeches, but you need to stop moving!”
“I—” Cadance briefly opened her wings, shooting into the air and careening sideways into a snowdrift. “I can’t! It hurts, Celestia! It hurts so much!”
Biting the inside of her cheek, Celestia lowered her head. She aim a white stream of magic at Cadance’s horn, but Cadance writhed out of the way and the magic scorched her mane. She screamed, and her eyes bulged. She dug her head into the snow, wailing all the while.
Celestia bit her lip. “Luna, Twilight, hold her still.” The two princesses stepped to Celestia’s sides, Luna frowning and Twilight crying. Spike looked on with trembling features as Twilight’s magic and Luna’s magic both wrapped around Cadance, putting her in the air and holding her there. Cadance gritted her teeth and howled as her eye colour flashed between purple and green.
“Look away, Spike,” Twilight said, and Spike clenched his eyes shut.
Summoning her magic again, Celestia fired a white streak directly into Cadance’s horn. Cadance let out a guttural cry, her eyes going stark white. “Stop! Celestia, stop! It’s getting worse! Please, it’s getting worse!”
Celestia’s eyes hardened. “The pain is temporary, Cadance! You’ll be better soon. I promise. I promise you’ll be fine!”
“Sister, how many leeches?” Luna said.
“Five.” Luna’s pupils shrank, and Twilight gasped.
“What do you mean, five?!” Twilight cried. “It only took one to drive Star Swirl to madness. Why did so many attach to her?”
“I don’t know, Twilight!” Celestia screamed, her eyebrows slanting and sweat beading on her brow. “All I know is that—”
Cadance screamed, tears pooling in her own eyes now. “It’s not working! Celestia, it’s not working! Stop! This is unbearable!”
“It’s for your own good, Cadance!” Celestia said. “I promise it is!” Cadance howled again, and something blue-black coalesced from her horn. It started as a blob, twitching and wriggling in Celestia’s magic. Just as quickly as it had appeared, though, it sank back into Cadance’s horn, and her scream cut through the night like fire. Spike slammed his hands to his ears, dropping the crown into the snow.
“This isn’t working, Princess!” Twilight said, cutting off her own magic. “We’re… we’re too late! The leeches have fused too closely with her magic.”
“No!” Celestia cried. “This has to work! I can save her!” The beam of light doubled in intensity. One of Cadance’s eyes flickered. Sparks exploded from her horn, and a hairline fracture formed along its length.
Luna glared over at Celestia. She released Cadance from her magic, but Celestia’s magic kept her in place. “Sister, you must stop now! Twilight is right. It is too late. She will not survive this!”
Tears flowed down Celestia’s cheeks as she stared at Cadance. “You’re wrong! We’re not too late! I can—”
Shining Armor rammed into Celestia’s side, knocking her over and cutting off her magic. The world fell dark again, the only sounds being the howling wind, Cadance’s sobs, and Celestia’s panting. Shining lit his own horn and said, “I’m sorry, Princess Celestia, but… I couldn’t stand to watch that anymore. You were going to kill her.”
Celestia looked across the snow through tear-stained eyes. Cadance whimpered and squirmed, like a foal in terrible pain. “You did the right thing, Shining Armor,” she said. “You love her, and you protected her. I love her too, but… I can’t…” She swallowed a hard lump in her throat. “I can’t save her. Not anymore…” She hung her head and squeezed her eyes shut, crying silently.
Shining Armor reached out to her, but Cadance’s broken scream pulled his attention back. He galloped forward and threw her in a tight hug. She struggled in his grip, but eventually managed to hug him back. “I’m so sorry, Shining…” she said, her voice scratchy and strained.
“Don’t apologize,” Shining said. He buried his face in her mane. “I love you so much, Cadance.”
“We… we have to be able to do something…” Spike said, looking around at all the ponies. “I mean… what happens now?”
“If history is to repeat itself,” Luna said in a low tone, “the shadow leeches will corrupt her from the inside out. She will lose control of who she is and become as a monster.” She looked at Cadance and Shining Armor with a thousand-yard stare. “We will be forced to banish her to Tartarus, where she will live out the rest of her days.”
“No…” Shining Armor whispered. Then Cadance cried out, and a shock wave sent all the ponies reeling away from her. Shining looked up at her and met a fierce glare that was not her own. A windigo manifested from her horn, bound straight for him. It shattered before it could reach him, though, and Cadance screamed again as she crumpled in on herself.
Shining looked to all the princesses in turn and said, “That can’t happen. That can’t happen! You can’t banish her to Tartarus. I won’t let you.”
“Shining Armor,” Princess Celestia said, rising on shaky hooves, “it is the last thing I ever want to do. But… there is no other way. She will become a threat to herself and Equestria if given the time. For the good of us all, we must—”
“No!” Shining cried, baring his teeth. “You can’t do that to her! This isn’t her fault! There has to be something else we can do! The Crystal Heart! The Elements of Harmony! Something!”
“Shining Armor…” Cadance whimpered, but the wind silenced her. She recoiled and shrieked again.
“Those…” Celestia sighed. “Those artifacts wipe out dark magic entirely. They’ll destroy her. It won’t work.”
“Then think of something!” Shining Armor pulled his hoof back and prepared to strike Celestia. Luna rushed forward, wrapping him in her magic.
“I have an idea!”
Everyone except Cadance fell silent and turned to Twilight. She stared at Cadance, her eyes quivering as she bit her lip. Again she said, “I have an idea.” She faced the others. “When Tirek was attacking Equestria—when we were afraid he would come to steal our alicorn magic—all of you gave your magic to me. You put your magic into another vessel so that Tirek couldn’t get to it.”
“Twilight,” Celestia began, “what are you—”
“The shadow leeches have only corrupted Cadance’s magic. They haven’t actually corrupted her yet.” She frowned over at Cadance as she writhed in the snow, grunting through clenched teeth. “If we… separate her from her magic entirely… then they can’t get to her. She’ll be safe.”
Silence reigned over the scene. Eventually, Luna stepped forward and said, “Twilight Sparkle, are you suggesting—”
“Yes, I am!” Twilight shouted. “I hate the idea as much as anyone else, but it’s the only thing I can think of! I’d rather have my sister without magic than have no sister at all.”
“Twilight…” Celestia said. She moved forward and placed a hoof on Twilight’s shoulder, meeting her eyes sadly. “I understand how desperately you wish to save her. I…” She exhaled a strained breath. “I wish to save her just as badly, but we can’t simply take her magic from her. That would be—”
“Do it.” All eyes turned on Cadance. She leveled a hard stare at Celestia, trembling heavily. Her eyes were harsh, but they were her own. “Please, just do it! Twilight’s plan! Do it now!”
Celestia stared at her with the eyes of a mother watching their foal die. “Cadance… I… do you understand—”
“Of course I understand!” Cadance screamed. “I don’t care if I’m never able to use magic again! It’s not nearly—” She wailed, firing a bolt of magic into the sky. “It’s not nearly as important as my love for this world. My love for all of you!” She looked over at Shining Armor—both of their eyes had become puddles. “I can’t lose you…”
Slowly, Shining Armor walked over and knelt next to her. He leaned in and kissed her, a kiss which was broken by her fierce trembling. He pulled her into an embrace, whispering something in her ear. She grabbed him tightly in her arms and whispered something back.
“I…” Celestia watched Cadance sadly. Even as she rested in Shining Armor’s arms, she twitched and grunted, her face twisted in agony. Celestia squeezed a tear from her eye and said, “Okay. If you truly wish to do this, Cadance, we need to find a vessel. Quickly.”
“Perhaps,” Luna said, “this will do.” She opened a small hole in the air and levitated a shadow leech from within. It twitched and whined in Luna’s hold, and everyone flinched away from it.
“Luna!” Celestia cried. “What are you—”
“Once I found that wayward shadow leech in Canterlot,” Luna said, “I chose to imprison it in Tartarus rather than destroy it. My hope was to have a live specimen to study, but I believe it will suit our purposes well here.”
Celestia made to say something, but Cadance’s cry cut her off. She threw herself out of Shining’s embrace. She trembled in the snow as she tried to push herself to standing. Her eyes opened, green and petrified. In a guttural tone she said, “I… can’t…” She collapsed with another shriek and fire a bolt of magic into the sky. “I can’t do this for much longer!” she cried, tears welling in her eyes. “Hurry! Now!”
Tightening her chest, Celestia nodded to Luna, and the two of them stepped over to Cadance. “Cadance,” Celestia said, not even attempting to hide the tremble in her voice, “are you sure—”
“Yes!”
“Time is up, Sister,” Luna said. “Do it.”
Celestia breath in deeply, then she slammed her horn against Cadance’s. She gritted her teeth as her magic came alive and arced into Cadance’s horn. In a fraction of a moment, Cadance’s eyes went white and her body stopped convulsing entirely. A blue, plasma-like ball rose from her horn, wrapped in thick black coils. As the ball disconnected from Cadance’s horn, her body went limp, and her cutie mark vanished.
Through tear-soaked eyes, Celestia glared at the shadow leech in Luna’s hold. She rocketed the ball of magic into it, and the insect wailed. It twitched and pulsed and steadily began to grow larger, but Luna opened the Gate to Tartarus and heaved it through before it could manage anything. The Gate slammed shut, and everything fell silent. The wind had finally died down.
Everyone turned to look at Cadance’s motionless body. Seconds passed without her so much as opening her eyes. “Is she…?” Spike said, blinking hard.
Shining Armor rushed forward and slid into the snow next to her. He carefully grabbed Cadance’s head between his hooves and turned it so she would be looking up at him. “Cadance,” he said, “it’s over. You’re safe now.”
It took a moment, but Cadance’s eyes finally flickered open. Her irises were tinted greyish-white, but they slowly faded back to purple as she blinked. She smiled, and Shining Armor wrapped his hooves around her.
As the others looked on, Spike hopped down from Twilight’s back and grabbed Cadance’s crown from the snow. He stepped over so he was next to Cadance’s head, and he offered it to her. She looked over at him and smirked. “Thank you, Spike,” she said, her voice hoarse. She stared at the tiara for a moment, as if expecting it to move on its own, and she blinked when nothing happened. Her expression snapped into a frown, and she buried her face in Shining’s coat.
“It’s really gone…” she said. “My magic. It’s really, really gone, isn’t it?”
“Yes,” Shining Armor said. He levitated the crown from Spike’s hands and settled it on Cadance’s head, behind her fractured horn. He pulled her up so that she was looking at him, then smiled and pushed her mane behind her ear. “But you’re still here. And, to me, you’re more magical than ever.”
“Everything’s gonna be okay now, Cadance,” Twilight said, stepping over and kneeling next to her. “It’s going to be harder now, sure, but you’re not alone. You have so many ponies who still love you, magic or not.”
“‘Tis a terrible tragedy, Cadance,” Luna said. But then she smiled. “However, if there is one thing I have learned in my lifetime, it is that the most precious things in this world have nothing to do with magic or power. They are found in the heart, and you have the greatest heart of anyone I’ve ever known.”
“Cadance,” Celestia said, frowning and hanging her head, “I’m so, so sorry.”
They all turned to look at her. “‘Sorry?’” Cadance said. “You just saved my life, Celestia. What could you possibly have to be sorry for?”
“I am sorry that I doubted your strength, even for a moment.” She met Cadance’s gaze. “Yesterday, we willingly gave up our magic to prevent Tirek from possessing it. It was a dreadful, dreadful feeling, one that I’m sure none of us wish to experience again.” All of them nodded, silently.
“But we did it because it was necessary, and because we believed Tirek would not prevail. We knew Twilight would keep our magic protected, and we knew we would see our magic again. But…” She sighed heavily. “But you, Cadance, gave up your magic just now with the full knowledge that you would never see it again. Despite my foolhardy attempts to persuade you otherwise, you were strong enough to give it up, and that is the only reason you are still here now. Still here: living and loving.”
She kneeled down next to Cadance, and she finally smiled. “You are strong, Cadance. With or without magic, I will always admire you for that.” She bowed her head. “I thank you, and I am sorry.”
Cadance reached an arm out and wrapped Celestia in her embrace. Twilight, Spike, and Luna all stepped in to join the hug too, and warmth flooded through them all.
“Thank you, everyone,” Cadance said, smiling. “I love you all so, so much.”
