Heartbreak

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.