Chapters Clockwork glanced at the timekeeper on the far side of the room; it was five past ten. Silas stood opposite from him, his keen eyes narrowed in contemplation.
“Five after,” Clockwork said calmly. “Have you thought of anything yet?”
Silas’s eyes shifted to the timekeeper and back to the table in front of the two of them, and upon the open scroll that rested upon the table’s polished surface. His eyes fixed upon the only writing on the scroll: “1010” written much larger than seemed necessary in onyx-colored ink in the center on the paper.
“Silas?” Clockwork pressed in an identical tone.
Silas matched Clockwork’s dull gaze with a piercing one.
“It is not opposite, but we know that it still may be acceptable.” Silas informed the other. Clockwork nodded and once again checked the timekeeper.
“Two till.” They lapsed into silence, avoiding both each other’s eyes and the scroll. “Are you sure your solution will balance it? After all, the last time it overcompensated it—”
“I am well aware of what it did. None of them know what happened though, correct?”
“That is correct. This thing,” he gestured with one hoof towards the scroll in front of them, “remains unknown to nigh all of Equestria.”
“Twenty seconds.” Silas murmured, watching the clock. “Ten…five…time. Ten after ten.”
He sighed and summoned up his magic, making his horn glow a bright blue. The scroll on the table responded, the edges of the thick paper matching the blue shade in an eerie glow.
“Let it be known to the power and the magic that I, Silas Endeavour, am restoring the balance.”
The pair of ponies watched as the right-hand 10 glowed a pale gold in response to the statement. Silas nodded and continued.
“I am restoring the balance that was broken via the command that the 1010 spell scroll is henceforth invulnerable to anything put against it, set by the unicorn pony Clockwork exactly twelve hours ago.”
The pale gold 10 shimmered and blazed into a bright golden hue that could contest the sun itself. Silas closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
“I restore balance by commanding that from this moment on anything that can speak will have the ability to control the 1010 spell as long as the scroll itself is present, as has been set previously.”
The ponies watched with baited breath as the scroll considered the command put to it. After what seemed far longer than it actually was, the left hand 10 turned a golden color even to the other, then both subsided. Silas smiled and exhaled quietly. Clockwork nodded.
“Anything that can speak can use this now?” Clockwork asked Silas in confirmation.
“That is correct. I was nervous that it would reject it, but it did seem ‘opposite’ enough from your command that it would be acceptable. After all, I don’t want to know how it would compensate for what you put to it, making it indestructible. Has anyone tested that yet anyway?”
“Yes. Several of the royal guards tried to simply rip it up, and it would not tear. In addition to that it has been put against fire, water, puncturing, lighting… Princess Celestia even tried to destroy it using her magic, but failed.”
“Wow.” Silas regarded the open scroll, 1010 staring back up at him. “The perfect time, the ultimate balance, and magic more powerful than anything ponykind has ever witnessed lying right beneath it. I guess all it took was a couple of exceptionally intuitive ponies to tap into the power.”
Clockwork snorted. “Don’t flatter yourself too much. I discovered it first, and I wish I hadn’t.”
“What do you mean?’
“Think about everything that this scroll can do. It can create-”
“Or destroy.”
“Yes, thank you, or destroy anything as; as far as we know, that is. But even beyond that, think about the scroll itself at this point.”
“You mean everything we’ve turned it into?” Silas stretched his neck.
“What else would I mean?” Clockwork replied bluntly. “This scroll is now invulnerable to anything, can be controlled by anything that can speak, the commands it grants are irreversible, there are no limits to what one can command of it… the list goes on.”
“You’re right Clockwork, I had not thought of that, no. But this scroll is hidden, guarded, protected by magic, kept secret from nearly all of Equestria, and so far has not impacted almost any lives.”
“I still feel that if there is anything that could truly destroy Equestria, this is it.”
“You worry too much, Clockwork. I don’t want our home to be destroyed, but honestly, how could it be? I mentioned how it is guarded and secret, but, as you like to say, even beyond that it is quite impossible to use if you don’t know how to use it. Proper time, proper order of what needs to be said to it, what needs to be said… besides, we’ll be long gone; cold in the ground, as they say.”
“There is an instruction scroll for how to use 1010.”
“Which nopony knows the location of. I don’t know where it is, you don’t know where it is… I think that Princess Celestia is the only pony that could give you that information, and there are good chances that she won’t be telling.” Silas smiled.
“You seem reckless, but it does make sense.” Clockwork nodded, and smiled for the first time. “After all, who could find 1010 anyway, and who would the Princess trust with it?
One thousand seven hundred and fifty four years later, Twilight Sparkle was carefully looking through every shelf in the Starswirl the Bearded wing of the Canterlot Library of Magic frantically trying to remember where Pinkie Pie had found the time travel spells.
“Spike, anything yet?” she called over to the baby dragon, who was currently pouring through scrolls on the other side of the room.
“Nothing yet. Why don’t you just ask somepony where they are?”
“Do you see anypony besides us here?”
Spike glanced around the room. Twilight was right, they had seen almost no one since they had arrived. He sighed and pulled more scrolls out in hope of somehow finding the time travel spells.
“Hello Spike.” Came a soft voice from behind him.
Spike turned to see Princess Celestia standing before him, rainbow mane flowing as usual, with her usual smile that she greeted everypony with.
“Oh, Princess! How are you?” Spike replied while attempting to avoid tripping over the vast number of scrolls he had removed from the shelves.
“Very well, thank you. You know Spike, most ponies just take out the scroll they want instead of tearing through all of them.”
“I know; it’s just that Twilight is looking for the time travel spells, and we can’t remember where they were at.”
“Why were they out in the first place?” Celestia’s eyes looked pensive.
“I…what?”
“Those spells, along with other powerful time-altering spells are supposed to be locked away.”
“Oh hello Princess!” Twilight appeared from around the corner and trotted over to where the alicorn and dragon were conversing.
“Hello Twilight, Spike was just telling me that you are interested in the time travel spells.”
“Yes, I forgot where I put them after I used them a few weeks ago, and I wanted to take another look.”
Celestia nodded and moved past the smaller unicorn to one of the many still unchecked shelves along the back wall and, after moving a mass of books and scrolls to one side, summoned up her magic and put her horn perpendicular to the back of the bookshelf. There was a moment of silence, then a loud click resonated around the room, and the entire bookshelf shifted to the left with a terrible grinding sound. There before them was another room, smaller and much less occupied with scrolls and books, but contrary to the room they currently stood it, it was much more organized, with signs above the shelves and nooks depicting what they held.
Twilight, Spike and Celestia moved into the room and the bookshelf immediately closed off the exit. Twilight and Spike gasped almost simultaneously and spun around to try and prevent the bookshelf from closing, but Princess Celestia merely gestured to a lever on the adjacent wall and moved over to one of the shelves on the right. Twilight and Spike joined her. The sign above the shelf read: Time-Altering Spells.
“Here’s where that time travel spell you used should have been. I’m not sure why it was removed, but it is still missing. Don’t worry about it though, I’ll have the room scoured until it is found.”
Twilight Sparkle barely heard what the Princess was saying; her eyes were fixed upon the scrolls now before her: Time Stopping, Slowing Down Time, Speeding Time Up, Controlled Event Altering, Event Altering, Future Travel, but Past Travel was indeed missing from the collection.
“Well Twilight?” Celestia asked.
“Hmm?” Twilight shook her head as she came back to reality.
“I asked if you want to take one of these back to Ponyville to study since you didn’t get the scroll you were looking for.”
“Oh, I mean take. I mean yes that would be great! You would let me take one of these to study?”
“Absolutely Twilight, I know that you are smart enough to be safe with them. Just be sure that when you come to return it you put it away correctly.” Celestia smiled.
“Could I take a scroll as well?” Spike asked, looking through another shelf.
“Of course.”
After a quick lesson and demonstration on how to open the secret room, Twilight and Spike found themselves on the train back to Ponyville, scrolls in saddlebag and claw.
“So Spike, I haven’t seen what you took.”
“It’s a scroll on the magical properties of dragon fire. I thought it might be useful to see what else dragon fire can do besides burn and deliver messages.” He smiled as he skimmed the first few sentences. “How about you? What did you get?”
“The time stopping spell we were initially looking for when I was certain that there was going to be a disaster because of future Twilight.”
They lapsed into silence. The train pressed forward, the constant rumbling of the heavy wheels filling the wordless air. Eventually the train arrived in Ponyville. It was a bright and pleasant day. There were just enough clouds to keep the heat down, but not enough to block out the vividly blue sky. Twilight and Spike made their way through the town to the library. It seemed that everypony was out enjoying what could only be described as the perfect temperature. The library on the other hand, was quite cool and dark.
“Spike, can you open the windows please?” asked Twilight as she flipped on the light and placed their scrolls on her desk.
“Already on it.” Spike replied from the other side of the room as he began opening the windows to let the day in.
“You’re so good, Spike. What would I ever do without you?” Twilight chuckled.
“Find another assistant?” Spike replied.
“Oh, I could never find anypony as good as you.”
Spiked smiled he picked up his scroll off the desk. Out came a smaller, and far older scroll. Spike didn’t notice this as he went over to a chair on the other side of the room and began to read about the various magical aspects of dragon fire. Twilight went over to the desk to retrieve her scroll, stepping on the smaller scroll that lay upon the floor.
“Hmm?” Twilight levitated the small scroll off the floor. “Spike, did you grab two scrolls from the room?”
“No, why?”
“Another scroll showed up. I guess it must have been folded inside of the others. No worries, we’ll just return it with the others in a few days.”
“What is it, anyway?”
Twilight opened the scroll and began to read:
Herein lies the official procedure and steps required to
First, the 1010 scroll must be both open and present in the hooves of
Second, the time must be exactly ten after ten.
Third…
Twilight grew silent, continuing to read, yet not aloud. Her face was the essence of confusion, and her eyes squinted in an effort to comprehend what she was reading.
“Hey Spike, have you ever heard of anything by the name of 1010?” She called over to him without looking from the scroll.
“No, and I’m guessing you haven’t either.” He replied from behind his own reading material.
“It’s a good guess, as you are right, I haven’t.” she paused, shaking her head slightly at the perplexing object. “I don’t understand how I could not have though, the procedure to even perform this spell is one of the longest I have ever seen, not to mention exact. There are quite a few minute details that have to be performed perfectly for this to work. I’ve studied enough complex magic that one would think I would have come across this already.”
“Well, today was the first time you’ve been inside that hidden room that the Princess showed us.”
“Even so, I recognized many of the spell and scrolls inside there just from reference in the books I have here. This one is completely new to me.”
“I would think that you would be quite pleased right now.” Spike commented.
“How’s that?”
“Well, it’s another complex and probably powerful spell for you to study and try.”
Twilight smiled, Spike was absolutely right. This new spell would allow her to study new material, and increase her magical horizon. Plus, the spell was quite complex, which made it all the more challenging, and therefore rewarding.
“You’re right Spike; but I want to see if Princess Celestia knows anything about this before I start. Just in case.”
Four days later, Twilight Sparkle her way back to the Starswirl the bearded wing of the Canterlot Library of Magic. The guards nodded in greeting and unlocked the heavy iron gate. The room had been put back together since her last visit, with the shelves reorganized and stacked neatly in tight rows and stacks. Twilight quickly opened the hidden room, replaced the borrowed items, sealed the room back up once more, and went off in search of the Princess.
After inquiring a few guards about where Celestia might be found, Twilight trotted over to her old quarters. It was anypony’s guess why Celestia would be over there, but her guards were not known to lie. Twilight found Princess Celestia poking about the second floor of the library that she used to spend her days in while living in Canterlot.
“Hello Princess.” Twilight called as she entered.
Celestia started, but smiled once she saw who it was. She descended the stairs in her usual elegance.
“Hello my faithful student. How are you?”
“I’m doing well. If you don’t mind me asking, why are you here?”
“I was looking for a book that seems to be missing from the main library. Of Parasprites and Ponies, have you read it?”
Twilight nodded. “It’s a great book; sad, but great. Spike would know where it would be; he practically memorized the location of every book while we lived here. Now he can tell me the location of any book in the library back in Ponyville.”
Celestia smiled. “Well, I’ll just have to find it later. Are you just visiting?”
“Actually I was looking for you. I found an extra scroll that must have been wrapped up in one of the scrolls that we borrowed from the hidden room. It talked about a strange spell that I had never heard of before.”
“Didn’t you look it up?”
“That’s just it Princess, I’ve read just about every book on complex magic that is available, and it was completely new to me. Also, it was so specific in what needed to be done, when it had to be done, and in what order.”
“What order?” Celestia’s eyes took on an almost suspicious look.
“Yes, it was quite specific about what order the steps had to be taken in so the spell would work.” Twilight looked about the library, memories flooding back to her. She did not see Celestia’s growing concern.
“Do you have the scroll with you still?”
“Absolutely. I wanted to see if I could find anything more about it in the hidden room, but after I looked about a bit I thought it would be good to check with you before pursuing it.”
Twilight levitated the scroll out of her saddlebag and over to Princess Celestia, still mentally captured by the thoughts of her life of study in Canterlot. She did not notice the look of horror that came upon Celestia when she unraveled the scroll, nor when Celestia staggered backwards slightly, staring fixedly at the scroll.
“You said that you already looked in the hidden room for more about this?” Celestia’s voice was dry and quiet.
“Yep. I didn’t find anything though.” Twilight glanced over at Celestia and did a double take. “What’s wrong Princess?”
“Does anyone else know about this? Did you share it with anyone?” the alicorn’s eyes were wide and fearful.
“N-n-no. Spike read it once, I think. What’s wrong?”
Celestia closed her eyes and breathed heavily. She slowly opened them to look at the scroll she levitated in front of her. It had been so long, so many years since. She thought that the trials of having to worry about this were over, that they were over with that final balancing of power. But, she reminded herself, this was only the sheet on how to use the spell, and the spell itself was locked safely away. Yet Twilight knew about it, and it would be a good idea to ensure that if she and Luna ever passed away, by whatever means, that somepony who was trustworthy would be able to look after the spell.
“Walk with me Twilight.”
Twilight followed the Princess out of the library and through the extensive halls and corridors of Canterlot. Twilight, at first, continued asking questions as to the Princess’s sullen attitude and the nature of the odd scroll, but Celestia merely told her to wait. Twilight kept her many questions to herself, mulling over what was happening. She was lost in thought and had not realized where they had been going. Twilight nearly walked right into the door that Celestia had paused at, checking herself just in time. Before her was the massive door that acted as a vault to the Elements of Harmony. Celestia inserted her horn into the center, and immediately the magic flared to life, spreading across the design of the door. There was a low rumbling as the doors opened slowly, revealing the jeweled box that held the Elements themselves.
“The Elements of Harmony?” Twilight inquired. But Celestia did not reply. Instead she walked into the room and gestured for Twilight to follow.
When they were both inside, Celestia summoned her magic once again and closed the vault doors. The room was lit from the inside, the powerful lights blazing high above them, white light flaring up from some unknown source as to forever illuminate the weapon that had defeated Nightmare Moon and Discord. Twilight waited for Celestia to open the case, but the Princess passed by uninterestedly. She crossed directly over to the opposite side of the room, which looked vapidly uninteresting comparatively to the objects that the vault was there to protect.
“Tell me, Twilight, what do you think is the most powerful magic known??” Asked Celestia without looking over at the smaller unicorn.
“Isn’t it the Elements of Harmony?” replied Twilight.
Princess Celestia sighed and glanced over at the jeweled box.
“I wish it was Twilight, I wish it was.”
Celestia, once again, summoned up her magic and placed her horn against the back wall. There was a moment of silence, and then the wall simply melted away to reveal a hallway, the light of the vault seeping into the inky blackness of the yawning hall.
“Show no emotion, say nothing, walk at a normal pace, and whatever you do, DO NOT look to either side. Just look and walk forward.” Celestia was like a stone, placid and without any revealing feature in her demeanor or facial expression.
Twilight nodded and they entered. Like the hidden room in the library, the door closed immediately behind them, cutting off the light and plunging them into a starless night. Twilight did not slow, and attempted to peer into the darkness without changing her expression. She could hear Celestia’s hoofsteps next to her. She yearned to look to her side, regardless of the fact that she knew there was no way to see anything that might be there. Even if there was some light, the Princess had sounded almost fearful when she instructed Twilight not to look to the sides, and that was something that you just didn’t question.
It was impossible to determine how far they had gone, or how close they were to where they needed to go. That was the worst part, not knowing anything about what was happening. The number of questions in Twilight’s head had doubled since they had entered the vault, and then doubled again when the dark hallway had been opened up and she was told how to go through it. What could need all this protection? First, anyone attempting to get to this thing would have to know his or her way around Canterlot, and the city is a maze in itself. Second, there are there are an increased number of royal guards surrounding the area where the vault is located. Third, there is the challenge of making it through a door that only Celestia can open, and then there’s this, whatever it is. There’s a good bet that there are other defenses that I’m not aware of, Twilight mused.
Without any warning, a bright light erupted all around them, causing Twilight, despite what Celestia had told her, to wince and look away. When her eyes had adjusted, Twilight looked up and gasped; a massive, domed room had replaced the dark hallway. Metallic looking walls stretched up to a rounded ceiling high above them, and chrome tiles lay underhoof. The room was lit by a gleaming orb of light that hung far above them towards the top. In the center of the room was a circle of obelisks, black and ominous.
“I will answer your questions now.” Celestia had some of her usual personality back, but was still very cold in demeanor.
“What was that hallway that we just passed through?” Twilight asked.
“It’s a gateway to this place. This room exists far away from Canterlot, and it can only be accessed through that hall. It teleports whoever walks through here, but it is not required to return.”
“How do we get back then?”
“You will see when we are done here.” Celestia started forward towards the obelisks with Twilight in tow.
“What did you mean by that you wish the Elements of Harmony were the most powerful magic? What magic is greater?” Twilight began to look about the room, only now noticing that there were signs placed upon the obelisks, and that the obelisks themselves were of different heights. They made no sense to her, as they read Shattering, The Majestics, Apocalyptic Factor, The Greatest Gift, and Supremacy of and for the Ages.
Celestia stopped in front of the tallest obelisk and turned back to face Twilight.
“We have lied to the citizens of Equestria for a long time, telling them that the Elements are exactly what you believe. It helps that there were not that many ponies who actually knew what the Elements were, but after the events of the recent past with Discord and Nightmare Moon, they have been discovered all over again. By telling you that there is nothing greater, Equestria believes that it is safe against all threats. That is more or less true, as the Elements are incredibly powerful. Magic as powerful as the Elements is often very unstable and has a mind of its own. The Elements do have a mind of their own, as they are now bonded to you and your friends instead of Luna and me. Thankfully we can control them though.” Celestia gestured to the obelisks that stood around them. “Long ago I had two royal archivists who began to study magic and see what magic we had not yet discovered. The magic they found was astounding, untapped for centuries, hidden in plain sight. For instance, the Majestics is a type of magic that varies in power, but can only be found within the cells of royal blood. It has the ability to sap and destroy the power of any creature with royal blood in them, as well as create new royalty, and the decision of how much power to give them lies completely in the hooves of whoever creates the new royalty. The new royalty is also under his or her complete control forever, an effect that cannot be reversed.”
“Pardon me Princess, but how exactly is that stronger than the Elements of Harmony?” Twilight asked.
“There are aspects of that we do not yet know the nature of, but we do know exist, and the Elements’ effects can be broken. After all, Discord was able to break out of his stone prison.”
Twilight had to admit; it was true that the Elements were not always permanent. Discord had escaped once, and Nightmare Moon had broken free of her imprisonment in the moon as well.
“This,” Celestia continued, levitating the strange scroll in front of her, “is a key on how to use the greatest of all magic.”
Celestia bowed her head to the tallest obelisk, but instead of using her magic to open the black pillar, she rammed her horn into the glossy exterior, shattering the obelisk and revealing a rolled-up scroll lying peacefully inside.
“This,” she seemed all too unaffected by slamming her head into seemingly very solid object. “is the spell known as 1010. 1010 is currently the most powerful magic in existence as far as we know. It is the magic of absolute balance.”
“Absolute balance?” asked Twilight.
“Something you may have noticed, although it is quite hard to tell, is that at ten after ten, the hands on the clock are in perfect balance.”
“I’ll confess that I didn’t notice that, no.”
“Well, it’s isn’t just the clock hands. Everything is balanced at ten after ten. Time, the positions of the sun and moon, the position of every living thing, every shadow, every cloud, is balanced. All magic and energy flow seamlessly together at that exact moment. It lasts for only sixty seconds, and happens twice a day.”
“All magic flows together at ten after ten?” Twilight still wasn’t convinced.
“Yes. My royal archivists Clockwork Chromatic and Silas Endeavour found this and were able to tap into the flow of magic. What they gained was, for sixty seconds, unlimited power to create, or destroy, anything.”
Twilight’s eyes grew wide. Unlimited power to do anything? Was that even possible? Either this was a trick, or Celestia was being serious. After all the security procedures they had gone through just to get here, there was a good chance that this was for real.
“I…I…” she stammered, having trouble finding the correct words for the situation. “I don’t want to sound ignorant or seem like I don’t believe you, but I’m having trouble with all of this.”
Celestia nodded. She had been very solemn ever since Twilight had given her the strange scroll in the library.
“I understand. After all, if everything was in perfect balance twice a day, even for sixty seconds, wouldn’t you be able to notice it?”
“I was going to ask you that very question.”
“This world and our lives are so busy that we rarely take time to observe time and the events around us. To sit back and notice sixty seconds twice a day is hard to do; and to observe a specific sixty seconds twice a day… taking time to observe a specific time is among the hardest tasks that you could try to accomplish, especially if it is twice a day.”
Celestia grew silent. Twilight peered at the 1010 scroll, turning everything she had been told over in her head. The scroll lay there harmlessly, and yet, maybe it was everything she had been told about the scroll, but it seemed to be looking back at her, similar to the way an abyss would. Twilight continued to stare at the ancient paper, captivated by it, drawn into its aged surface by an invisible hook that had clasped her mind and did not seem to want to let go. The room faded from around her, Celestia disappeared into the gloom, the floor fell away into the void, the other obelisks shattered one by one and all there remained was 1010 and her. The scroll began to unravel by itself, growing larger in size. The color of age disappeared from the paper, as if it had just been made. The scroll continued to grow as it unraveled until it towered over her, completely open. There, in the center of the sheet, was 1010, the ancient numbers scrawled with an onyx colored ink, yet it was as if they were carved into stone, for it had immortality. The numbers remained dark for a moment, and then blazed into a magnificent golden hue that blinded Twilight’s eyes, changing her purple irises to match the numbers. The light continued to move through her, consuming her mind and body. Her horn glowed and the world was at her command.
“Twilight!” Celestia yelled.
Twilight jumped at the sudden noise and looked around. Celestia was looking at her, the obelisks behind her, and the metallic walls behind them, stretching up to the ball of light. The 1010 scroll lay peacefully exactly where it had been.
“What happened?” Twilight said softly, glancing about.
“You didn’t hear me.” Celestia smiled. “Lost in thought?”
“Thought…” Twilight shook her head quickly and looked back up at Celestia. “Sorry Princess, I don’t know what just happened. You had gone, along with everything else, except for the scroll and me.”
“I wasn’t joking when I said it was powerful. Just like the Elements of Harmony can bond to one pony or another, other types strong magic can affect you if you are in contact with them.”
“Princess, there is one thing I don’t quite understand; if this magic is so powerful, then why not use it to solve all of Equestria’s problems? Why did we have to endure and defeat Discord, Nightmare Moon, and the Queen of the Changelings? Why don’t we have constant peace?”
Celestia nodded and glanced back over at the scroll.
“Do you remember what the magic of 1010 comes from?”
“Universal balance.”
“Perfect universal balance. The balance must be maintained, and when 1010’s power is used, it throws off the balance. The only way to reset the balance is to use the same magic to do something that is approximately opposite of the first use.” She paused, collecting her thoughts. “There have been balances in the past that do not seem like they would be considered opposite, but they have worked to reset the balance. But that is the key to using this magic, resetting the balance within twenty-four hours of the disruption.”
“What happens if you don’t balance it?”
“The magic will balance itself through any means necessary. The longer the balance is kept unbalanced, the greater the unbalance is and the greater the balancing effect must be. Clockwork and Silas found that twenty-four hours will not create a mass disruption and the effect will not have to be greater than the initial unbalancing, but after that…”
“Are there still remnants of what 1010 has been used for today?” Twilight moved a step closer, her interest piqued by the sudden thought that perhaps she had been living around this all along.
“The Elements of Harmony.” Celestia was very matter-of-fact.
“What?”
“A long time ago there was another kingdom of ponies that was neighbors with Equestria. For many centuries we were at peace with them, but then there was a revolution. The current leaders that we had been friends with were executed and the new oligarchy decided to declare war on us. The current captain of the Royal Guard gained control of the 1010 scroll and used its power to create a weapon that, if used, would both defeat our enemies and restore Equestria to a state of harmony. The Elements were created by the power of balance. They were enough to discourage the neighboring kingdom from attacking us. However, in celebration that we were not at war, everypony forgot about the fact that the balance was off and did not work out a way to reset the balance. Twenty-eight hours later 1010 activated and reset the balance. Tell me, have you ever been to the settlement known as Appleoosa?”
The question caught Twilight off guard.
“Yes, Applejack has family living over there so we all got to visit.”
“That settlement is, strictly speaking, outside of Equestria’s boundaries. If you had to tell me where it is in relation to notable landmarks, how would you reply?”
“Just on the southern point of a large desert.”
“That desert was previously a large and powerful country. Fruitful, healthy, and full of life.” Celestia looked directly at Twilight. “That is how the balance was restored for creating the Elements of Harmony. Everypony forgot about the need for 1010 to be sated, and to reset the balance, so after twenty-eight hours 1010 activated and destroyed the neighboring kingdom.”
The room went very quiet. Twilight had gone slightly pale and Celestia was still in a state of very little emotion. A couple of minutes passed. Twilight eventually shook her head and looked up at Celestia, a mix of anguish and confusion mirrored in her face.
“Why did you tell me this?”
“Because one day Luna and I may not be here anymore, by whatever circumstances. We needed to find somepony who was trustworthy and could look after these should such a time ever come.”
“Why not tell Princess Cadance or Shining Armor?”
“They would be the obvious choice. A secret is safer with those who are not expected to know, for they will never be asked. I doubt that anything besides us even knows about 1010, or any of these, but it is better to take precautions.”
Twilight nodded. It made sense, but the amount of stress that had suddenly been put upon her, without her consent, was enough to completely change her life. She still didn’t even know about nearly anything else in the room, but perhaps that was for the best. There was still one question that needed answering.
“Princess, where are we?”
“We are in a room that exists far outside of Equestria’s borders, deep underground. It is impossible to break into from the outside, and is nearly impossible to get out of if you don’t know the proper procedure. We call it The House of Four Doors.”
“Why?”
“It’s just a lyric from an old song: ‘House of Four Doors, you’ll be lost there forever, House of Four Doors, would it be there forever?’”
“How do we leave, anyway?”
Celestia walked over to one side of the rounded room and beckoned Twilight to follow.
“Shouldn’t we replace the obelisk? I mean, you shattered it.” Twilight said, walking back over to the stand upon which 1010 rested.
“As soon as we leave it will repair itself. Come, I need to get back to the castle and you need to get back to your studies.”
Twilight grinned and nodded. “You’re right, I do have new material to study.”
Celestia finally smiled. It was good to see that she was returning to her normal self. Twilight walked over to join Celestia next to the metallic wall. Celestia’s horn glowed a dim red and the wall opened to reveal a hallway that Twilight recognized as one of the main halls within Canterlot.
“How…”
“The House of Four Doors is impossible to escape unless you know every detail of the area that you want to return to. When this room was created I memorized several rooms and halls within Canterlot down to the smallest detail. They have never changed since.”
“What happens if you remember incorrectly?”
“You are transported someplace far away.” Celestia replied, “We don’t know exactly where it leaves you.”
They stepped through the opening from the House of Four Doors into the Canterlot hallway. Twilight ran over to a nearby window to see that the sun was just about to set. Looks like she would be returning to Ponyville in the dark. Celestia took her leave and Twilight left the palace and headed to the train station. The guards walked the streets, but there was no threat at the moment, so they did nothing more than glance at her as she passed by. The sun had ducked down behind the horizon; the sky was painted a magnificent red with stripes of orange and purple intertwining to create a tapestry worthy of any palace, but the one that could never be hung up on the wall to be prized.
The train had just begun the boarding process as she arrived, the few nighttime passengers taking their places. Twilight stood by one of the many windows, staring up at the moon, as the train began its long descent into the country. She felt slightly guilty, but as the Princess had reminded her, she had to get back to her studies, and now she had new material. Twilight lifted the flap of her saddlebag and peered inside. The 1010 scroll was tucked safely away, not doing much of anything for the moment.
Twilight crept into the library. It was very late, and Spike was sure to be asleep. It would be best if she didn’t wake him, as there was plenty of study and work to be done, and the less Spike knew of this would be better for him. He was trustworthy and completely loyal, yes, but this was something new…something powerful. After all, this thing scares Celestia, and if the stories about what it can do were real, then it was best for everypony if it was kept in secrecy; for the moment, at least. Twilight moved upstairs and silently past the sleeping dragon and over to her private study on the upper floor. She did not use her private study excessively, as she really didn’t have a lot that needed to be kept secret from her friends. Even then, it wasn’t that the things she was dealing with were necessarily dangerous; it was just that occasionally Princess Celestia sent her notes or materials that were not for everypony to see.
Her study was small, but fit for working. There were a couple of bookshelves, crammed full of every type of book and essay. There was a desk, a few quills and inkwells, plenty of blank paper, and other basic objects that one would expect to find within a study. Twilight stepped in and closed the door behind her, locking it as she did. She levitated the 1010 scroll out of her saddlebag and onto the desk. It did nothing, but she remembered her experience in the House of Four Doors, how everything had simply dropped away until there was only her and the scroll. She could not quite place it, but she felt that the scroll was…watching her? Waiting for her to try and use it? Toying with her? It was an odd feeling, and one that Twilight could not place currently; there were still too many questions that needed answering.
Twilight checked the time, it was about fifteen minutes past midnight, so there wouldn’t be any tests of the scroll’s power until later on that day, and even then she needed something good to test it on. The fact that the balance had to be reset after the scroll was used was firmly implanted in her mind, so it was vital that she test it on something that would be easy to balance, with minor negative effects. But, there was no time to think of that right now, right now was the time to study and see what she could do with this thing until it was ten after ten. Celestia had taken the instruction scroll from her, but Twilight was a good student, and knew the value of taking notes and copying down important information. She had made no less than five copies of the instruction scroll, just in case. She unrolled the 1010 scroll and pinned the corners down. It was just as she had seen in the House of Four Doors, there was nothing on the scroll except for “1010”, written in dark ink, smack center of the scroll. Twilight stared at the scroll and the scroll stared back. Silence took the room as Twilight tried to decide what to do next. See what happens when it is activated and it isn’t time? Put it aside and see what the instruction scroll had in store for her to study? Twilight stared at the scroll and the scroll stared back.
“This can’t be all,” Twilight muttered to herself as she peered down at the letters. “Perhaps there’s something hidden?”
She summoned up her magic, a simple spell to reveal hidden text or writing. Immediately the scroll responded, the edges began to shine a pale crimson, it was very weak, but the reaction was immediate. Twilight smiled and moved her glowing horn closer to the scroll. The crimson light flared into intense red flames of magic that encased the scroll, blocking her out and hissing as a fire would. Twilight dropped the spell and backed away in one clean movement; the fire subsided. Keeping her eyes locked on the scroll, she summoned up her magic once again and levitated a quill from her desk, dipped it into an open inkwell, and waited. The scroll did not respond. She lowered the quill to the surface of the scroll and waited. The scroll did nothing. Twilight drew breath and, in painstaking slowness, drew a single line above the letters, and then proceeded to take the quill away. The line held, and then faded away, as if the paper claimed the ink for its own.
The results were interesting, no doubt, but useless currently. Well, perhaps ‘useless’ was incorrect. They demonstrated that the scroll certainly had power, and did not like to be tampered with. Twilight wrote down her finding and rolled the 1010 scroll back up and placed it at the top of the desk. She levitated the instruction scroll over to her and unraveled it. Once again she brought the revealing spell to bear, but it gave nothing back. The instruction scroll seemed to be clean, and relatively harmless, save for the fact that it was information, and information could be just as deadly as any tangible weapon. Twilight began to read the scroll once again. She had read it multiple times while the original was in her possession previously, but she there was always the feeling that she was missing something. Her first questions that she had asked herself when the instruction scroll had first come into her possession was who were Clockwork Chromatic and Silas Endeavour. Celestia had answered that question for her, but what Celestia had left out her books filled in. Clockwork had been a member of the royal guard before becoming an archivist, and had to quit because he had been injured quite severely by a rouge magic lightning bolt that had been cast during a training routine. Silas had been a mercenary for different groups of ponies in both Equestria and its neighbor. While he had never done anything too drastic, he was captured on the charge of treason, but Celestia had struck a deal that if he became an archivist, then he would be spared from having to go to prison.
Hour after hour, Twilight poured over the two scrolls, not daring to activate her magic too close to the 1010 scroll after the last reaction, and finding nothing special on the instruction scroll. She yawned and exited the study. Spike was already up, as his bed was vacant, and the sun was over the horizon. Twilight’s sleep-deprived eyes looked over at the clock; it was a little past seven, which gave her time to find something to test the spell on; and perhaps something to eat.
“Good morning Twilight,” Spike called out cheerfully as Twilight descended the stairs to the main floor.
“Hmm? Oh, good morning Spike.” Twilight shook her head in an attempt to remove the tiredness from her eyes.
“So, what did you find out about the odd scroll that we managed to bring home?”
The purple unicorn hesitated. She did not want to lie to Spike; after all, he was her number one assistant. But, she reminded herself, it was in order to keep him safe from potentially dangerous knowledge. Besides, it did not concern Spike. If he needed to know, then she would tell him; but until then it was to be kept a secret.
“Oh, it wasn’t anything important. Just an old spell that was used to…teach ponies different types of spells, and in this case it was spells that required multiple steps to perform.”
“Oh, ok.”
Suddenly, Spike belched out a small burst of green flame, out of which came a newspaper.
“What’s that?” Twilight asked, pointing a hoof over at the rolled up newsprint.
“It’s Manehattan’s newspaper. I decided to have it sent to us every morning so we could see what news there is all over Equestria. After all, Manehattan is the biggest and most cosmopolitan city in Equestria; and that means if there is news they are the first to know.”
“Good idea, Spike. So, is there anything interesting today?”
Spike began to flip through the pages, skimming the headlines and the matching pictures. He merely shook his head.
“Nothing good?”
“It’s just that there seems to be a lot of unruliness in Equestria since the Changeling attack. Crops are going bad, the economy is steadily getting worse, there’s a drought since Cloudsdale hasn’t received sufficient water to supply the rest of Equestria, and there’s even been those who are vocally doubting the Princess.”
“What? Why?” Twilight ran over to look at the newspaper with Spike.
“Well, Celestia didn’t see that Cadence was an imposter, and once the disguise was dropped, she tried to fight Chrysalis off, but lost. So, there are ponies all over Equestria who are saying that Celestia is loosing her touch, so to speak, and that she should be replaced.”
Twilight was shocked. “That’s ridiculous! Everypony makes mistakes! We should be forgiving and understanding when somepony makes a mistake, or falls short, just as we would want.”
“I agree with you,” Spike replied, looking back at the newspaper, “but, you have to admit, her mistake just about caused Canterlot to fall. It’s not something that you can just forget.”
“They will forget though, everything slips away into time in the end.” Twilight sighed and glanced up at the clock. It was seven-thirty. Then her mind clicked. “Did you say that crops have been failing?”
“Yeah, all over Equestria. Remember Applejack’s concern the other day?”
“That’s right, she said the entire south field wasn’t growing anything worthwhile.” Twilight paused, taking another look at the clock. Let’s see, she had a reason, time, and it would be helping a friend. Above all that, it was a minor bit of magic compared to what 1010 had apparently done in the past, so it should be easy to balance. She needed a test, and the troubles of the world were all too happy to give her one.
“I’ll be back in a little bit.” She informed Spike as she started out the door.
“Where are you going?”
“I just want to go see how Applejack is doing, now that you mentioned that she could be having some troubles. Maybe she could use some help.”
Twilight left without hearing Spike’s response; knowing there was a good chance that it wasn’t too important at the moment. It didn’t take incredibly long to get down and back from Sweet Apple Acres, but she wanted plenty of time to find a problem that would be adequate to test 1010 against, and sufficient time to ensure that she knew the procedure backwards and forwards. This last thought made her smile. She had already memorized the procedure for the spell, she had it down the first night the instruction scroll had come into her possession. She was a good student; she knew the importance of studying, and committing whatever she needed to memory. Still, better to be safe when dealing with anything potentially, or confirmedly, dangerous.
About twenty minutes later she had arrived at Sweet Apple Acres. The barn and house were empty, so it was a fair bet they were all down in the fields. Twilight made her way down into the massive grove of apple trees. Above her the not-yet-ripe apples shimmered and reflected the bright morning sunlight. Birds chirped from their nests high up in the branches, and underneath her hooves the still-wet leaves padded the rocky ground. It seemed to her that everything was as it should be here, but, then again, the Apple family was not here. It was not long before she had moved out of the first grove and into the next. She could not hear voices coming from further down within the trees. The words were not quite clear yet, but the general tone was one of anxiety. She moved closer, slowing her pace as to not make as much noise. It was not a problem that she visited; at least not that she knew of. If they were too busy then she would leave, but the hope of finding something to test her newfound power on urged her to keep listening and moving on. She moved ever closer to where the voices were resonating, she could now make out that it was Applejack and Big Macintosh arguing over something, but the words still managed to elude her. Twilight moved off the trail and crept around behind the trees. It was not long before she had a view of the earth ponies talking, but she wasn’t looking at them. The entire field before her seemed to be rotting away. The brown fruit lay, half decomposed, on the ground, and the trees themselves seemed to be withering. It was strange that this crop failure had not affected the entire orchard.
“Twilight?”
Twilight looked back from the orchard to the pair of ponies who now watched her.
“Oh, hi Applejack. I had remembered that you said there was some trouble with your crops, and I wanted to see if there was anything I could do to help you.”
“Why were you creeping around the trees instead of using the path?” Applejack asked.
“I though that you and Big Mac were arguing about something, so I didn’t want to disturb you.”
“Well that’s gracious of you, Twi.” Applejack half-smiled. “No, we were just discussing what we were going to do about this here crop failure that has sprung up.”
“It looks pretty bad.” Said Twilight as she moved down to join the pair. “Do you know what’s causing it?”
“Some sickness, I reckon.”
“Eyup.” Big Mac added.
“The thing is, it started just after the wedding business, along with all of the other troubles in Equestria right now. We thought that we could stop it, but it continues to spread regardless of what we do.”
“Troubles?” Twilight pressed. It was not that she didn’t know about the various problems that had popped up, but everypony might have something new to add to the list.
“You know, the drought, the decline of the economy...have you heard that some ponies don’t think that Celestia is fit to rule anymore?”
“Yeah, Spike was telling me about that earlier. I’m hopeful that it will all just blow over soon. Celestia isn’t perfect, but the good she has done significantly outweighs the bad and the mistakes. We all need forgiveness, as we all make mistakes.”
“That’s well said, Twi.”
“Eyup.”
“But still,” Applejack continued, “I mean, I agree with you, but I am worried that with everything that is happening that they might gain more support, enough to be a concern.”
“I hadn’t thought of that, but you are absolutely right. With the droughts, the crops, the economy…”
“The Everfree.”
“The Everfree…wait, what about the Everfree?” Twilight gave Applejack a confused look.
“There have been a lot of strange creatures seen closer to the edge of the forest recently. I mean, the forest is strange regardless, but the ponies who have traveled in there have reported sightings of things that were either completely new to us, and others that have, up until now, only lived deep within, towards the center. There have been no attacks, and no towns are in danger, yet, but it’s just another thing to worry about.”
“Eyup.”
“What sort of things are we talking about here?” Twilight inquired.
“I don’t know much about these things, but I heard about something called the “Shilo”, that apparently haven’t been seen in decades. Don’t know what they are though.”
“Ok, I’ll do some research. While I’m here, is there anything that I can do to help you with your crops?”
Applejack sighed and shook her head.
“Mighty kind of you to offer, but I don’t know what would be helpful to try and what would be harmful.”
“I completely understand. I hope that they do heal up in time for the applebucking season.”
“Thank ya, but I think it would take a miracle to get this field ripe and stop the sickness.”
“That could be arranged.”
“Beg pardon?”
“Never mind, goodbye.”
“Bye Twilight.”
Twilight began to trot back home, deep in though. There was a multitude of issues that could be addressed through the 1010 scroll, but, being so new to the spell, was it wise to try and address something as large as, say, the economy, or the drought? Even if she did, what would balance it that wouldn’t have even worse effects on Equestria? She remembered how the spell had been balanced through the destruction of another kingdom in the past, so it was possible to send the balancing power somewhere far away, but to be unsure of where it would end up could be equally as damaging, and could come back around to harm Equestria in the end. No, it was better to simply test the spell on something simple, something like Applejack’s farm. If it is worthwhile, if it actually works, then perhaps she could dream a bit bigger.
It was just a little past nine-thirty when Twilight arrived back home. She quickly prepared for ten after ten, laying the instruction scroll and the 1010 scroll out on her desk in her private study. Spike was gone for some reason, so there was really no reason to lock the door, but something told her it was a good idea to. She had a little less than thirty-five minutes before she tried the thing, but that was thirty-five minutes to look up what in Equestria a “Shilo” was.
“Shilo…Shilo…mythical creatures perhaps?” Twilight mumbled to herself, glancing over the extensive bookshelves.
She removed the book and flipped through it to no avail. The Strangest Things was next, but again she was unsuccessful. Pages flipped and time passed as Twilight searched for the odd creature, but without success. Whatever this thing was, it must have been hidden for decades if she wasn’t able to find it here. She glanced up at the clock once again; it was two minutes past ten. Time to get to work.
Twilight headed back up the stairs and into her private study. The scrolls lay, waiting for her. She paused, trying to think of anything that might have worked its way around her though process, but nothing came to mind. Find a problem, upset the balance, ensure that it works, reset the balance, survey the consequences, and repeat if she deemed it worthwhile to use 1010 to solve the problems of Equestria, as long as the aftermath of using the spell wasn’t too catastrophic. Besides, in this particular situation she was aiding a friend in need through what seemed to be the only means that could help currently, surely nopony would criticize her for that. Five minutes past the hour, Twilight’s heart began to race slightly. She could not understand the emotion she was experiencing currently. She had been anxious about trying out new, particularly hard spells previously, but had always been in control, and had never actually worried her to the point where she had been incredibly nervous as she was now. Well, she reminded herself, her entrance exam all those years ago did get her quite nervous, to the point of despair even. But that had been so long ago, and she had learned so much since then, not to mention having grown in her skills and ability when it came to the magical arts. Magic was her life; it consumed both her mind and her time in majority, contested only by her friends. Twenty seconds to go before it was ten after ten. Twilight focused on the rotting trees and crops of the Apple family’s farm, and the despair that had been evident on the faces of Applejack and Big Macintosh. She could not back down because of a little bit of anxiety, not when the well-being of her friends was on the line, as wells as perhaps finding a cure for the many ailments of Equestria itself. It was time.
The clock made no sound as the second hand marked the beginning of the sixty-second period, and yet Twilight heard a loud bell ring inside her head, marking the beginning. She cleared her throat, gathered her thoughts, and cast her doubt and fear into nothingness as she turned to focus on the 1010 scroll that waited expectantly before her.
“Let it be known to the magic and the power that I, Twilight Sparkle, am disrupting the balance.
The left-handed 10, of the 1010 marking in the middle of the scroll, glowed a dull silver in response to the breaking of the balance.
“I am breaking the balance that will be restored within a period of twelve hours by another command put to the scroll of an opposite command of the one that caused the disruption.”
Once again the 1010 scroll reacted, as the left-handed 10 increased the intensity of its silvery light, piercing any shadows that dared to exits within its presence.
“I disrupt the balance by commanding that the farm known as Sweet Apple Acres, located within the town of Ponyville, will be healed from the disease that has infected its crop, and furthermore that it will become immune to this sickness.”
Twilight watched as the scroll seemed to consider what was being asked of it. As it silently mused, she reflected once again on what she had been taught by the Princess, that at this moment all magic and energy from every corner of the world was flowing together in harmony, that the seamless joining of a mass variety of powers were coming together, and she was bending them all to her will. She smiled. Twilight could almost feel the magic run through her, the exhilarating rush of unlimited power bowing before her, and she had it all. Everything, the elements, the living, the dead, the immortal, the earth and stars were hers to command, and there was not a single pony who could stand in her way. She was the master of all. Life and death were hers to command, the fate of others in her hooves. She…was scared. The scroll brought her back to reality as the right-handed 10 lit up in such a way to match its left-handed brother. Twilight smiled once again, it had been accepted. The balance was disrupted, and Applejack’s worries about the fate of her livelihood and family business were over. Twilight would wait for a little while before visiting them once again to see the fruits of her labor, and the fruits of their farm. She silently congratulated herself and reached forth with one hoof to move the 1010 scroll once again to the top of her desk, but hesitated, suddenly remembering what the activation of the spell had done to her. She had never felt that way before; something about the spell had revealed a part of her she didn’t know existed. Or perhaps it wasn’t that it had been hidden previously, she had had all energy, magic and power running through her for a brief moment…could that have created something new? Something dark? No, it couldn’t be. She couldn’t have just grown another personality/mentality; it was impossible. Still… Twilight sank down into a sitting position and bit her lip in thought. She had, up till now, never desired to be ruler of anything, or anyone. Yes, she did enjoy being a leader at times, but that wasn’t the same as holding the lives and fates of others in your hooves. Was that what Princess Celestia did? Hold her subjects in such a way that she could smite them at any moment? It was no secret that Celestia’s power was incredible, and it would be no surprise to Twilight if the Princess could do something drastic if necessary. No wonder there was talk of replacing her. They were saying she failed to protect them, yes, but now that the most recent threat had passed, who could stand against her now? Maybe it was time for a certain regime to fall…
“No!” Twilight yelled into the silence. She gasped and shook her head. Had she really just said that? “I am loyal to the princess, and I would do well to remind myself that.”
If she really was loyal, then why did she go as far as theft of a priceless and extraordinarily powerful object during the time that the Princess was showing her just how much she trusted her?
“The Princess trusts me, and I must uphold her trust, and should there ever come a time where I must stand and use these things to save Equestria, I need to be able to use them competently.”
Still, that is a pretty low thing to do; stealing a priceless object from a vault that Celestia herself showed to you in faith that you were the best choice. Way to go Princess, you chose incorrectly. Look at me now.
“Stop it!” Twilight’s eyes flashed furiously as she yelled at herself. “I am her loyal student, and I do not condemn her!”
The internal argument was silenced. Twilight waited for her own response, but it never came. She nodded, satisfied, and walked back down to the main floor of the library. She paused for a moment, envisioning the meeting with Applejack and seeing the result of her…tampering with natural events. Applejack would be, naturally, very surprised; even to the point of disbelief. It would, on the whole, be a very happy meeting, and no doubt the Apple family would want to have some sort of celebration. The news would travel quickly across Ponyville, and perhaps beyond to some of the more populated cities in Equestria. After that, who knows what would be the outcome of this news? She might learn about other small problems that she could mend, but the more she used the spell, the more curious other ponies would become, and the more they would try to discover what was healing them and their plights. Word would eventually reach Celestia herself, and there was the very good chance that she would recognize the power necessary to perform these actions, and then it would all lead back to Twilight, so how to disguise that? Fixing small problems do not exactly point to a spell that has been locked away for centuries due to its incredible power and devastating and blood-soaked past. But the fact that something negative must happen after every fix is a telltale sign that can, and probably will, be recognized by interested parties. But, Twilight reminded herself, Equestria isn’t exactly in the best of times currently, so another negative aspect, especially if it happens to be small compared to the others, would most likely be overlooked by the general population.
Satisfied with her thought process, and consideration of consequences, Twilight once again set out to meet with Applejack again. It was turning out to be a very good day after all. For the Apple family, it was probably one of the best days they had ever had the privilege of experiencing. What was the word that was used for such amazing occurrences? Miracle. That was it. It was a miracle, what happened to the Apples, in a couple of very literal ways as well. The dusty road she trotted on was pleasing to the senses, and the environment was ideal for walking. She passed a couple of ponies who smiled warmly at her. Life was, very simply, very swell. She took a deep breath, and enjoyed the feeling of the clean air filling her lungs. But almost immediately the clean air turned foul and she coughed. A most unpleasant though had dared to intrude upon her bliss, but it was a worthwhile interruption. If Twilight randomly came down to the farm not one hour after her last visit in order to see how the crops were doing…that’s suspicious behavior. Suspicious nothing, it basically screams ‘It was me, I did something.’ Twilight stopped in the road and frowned. She had not considered that previously. She moved off to the side and mused silently. She could simply wait for a couple of days and then go back, but word will have gotten out already, and it would be impolite to not go and see immediately, not to mention strange. Very simply, if something fantastic happens, you go and see immediately. The only excuses that were acceptable were: you’re dead, somepony very close to you has just died, you are a very long ways away, or it doesn’t concern you in any way, shape or form. Otherwise, you show up. But, what about if you just let the word travel first, and then do exactly what the rule said? Show up then. That was an idea, let somepony else tell her what happened, act surprise, and gain anonymous praise from everypony, while avoiding suspicion. Twilight smiled.
***
“Hey mate!”
The onyx-colored eyes closed and the heavy frame rose and fell in a sigh.
“Mate?”
“In here, Flailer.”
A grey pony with a pure white mane and tale peeked in a doorway, grinned, and entered. The latter, who had been sitting patiently inside, narrowed his eyes at the guest. Flailer might be useful, loyal, and very apt at his job, but was he ever annoying. Flailer was very lanky, and almost slunk when he walked. His eyes were very white, with a hint of indigo in the center to mark some sort of consciousness. Flailer had been feared in his hometown, regarded as some sort of natural reject. As a result, Flailer had become irate from the constant insults and whispers behind his back. So, he did what he did best to those ponies who looked down upon them: flailed against them. He was a madpony when he fought, having no sense of elegance when it came to fighting, but simply flailing his hooves around, striking anything that came close. His cutie mark reflected this, being a flail, which seemed repetitive, but it did drive the point home. Flailer was embraced by the underground society in Manehattan for his loyalty to those who were kind to him and gave him something to do. He respected his betters, but would never back down from a fight. Nearly killed him several times, trying to tangle with unicorns who had no qualms about using their magical ability to crush their enemies.
“Oh, hey there mate. How are you?”
The onyx eyes shifted to Flailer’s white ones. Flailer averted his gaze.
“Aggravated, simply. I have been troubled lately.”
“With what?”
“Have you been following what ponies all across Equestria have been saying?”
“A bit, mate. What are you talking about?”
“There are a lot of ponies who believe that Equestria is the way it is currently because of our ruler.”
“Celestia?”
“No Flailer, the other ruler.” Came the sarcastic reply. Flailer was loyal, but oh my, could he be stupid.
“I don’t know about any other ruler.”
Another sigh.
“Yes, I mean Celestia.” He quieted, deciding how much he wanted Flailer to know. “There has been talk about…replacing her. No longer trusting our well-being to a single pony. Letting the masses have the say.”
There was a moment of silence.
“What?” Flailer asked, blinking stupidly.
“I mean, that we might have the ability to finally not be on the bottom anymore. Look at you Flailer, you have never been anywhere else besides the pits of society. Hated at home, used by others. Haven’t you ever wanted to be something more?”
“I don’t really know. I guess I never thought of it before, what you said.”
“Look. You’ve been my friend for many long years, and we have had some good times. But if there is unrest among the lowlifes of Equestria-“
“Like us?”
“What?” Flailer backed away as the other rose to confront him. “I have had my share of trouble, my share of service, and having to give everything I rightfully earned to those who believe them better than me, but I am no lowlife. All I am is unlucky, and a victim of unfortunate circumstances. But, as I said, if ponies are starting to raise their voices, then we can have profit and gain here. You and me, rulers of Equestria, how do you like the sound of that?”
Flailer smiled and slunk back forward. “Sounds pretty good to me, mate.”
“I’m glad. But right now all this is words. Nopony has the guts to go against an alicorn, much less two-”
“Two?” asked Flailer.
“There’s another one, but she only comes out at night. As I was trying to say, nopony has the nerve to go against an alicorn alone. We have an idea, and idea that is so very real to so many ponies. If we can make this idea a reality, then we can become so much more than we are right now. How would you like to live in Canterlot?”
“I would. It looks really good.”
“It’s better than nice, my grammatically challenged friend, it’s amazing. I grew up there. How do you think I got my name?”
“I never thought about it.”
“Believe me, I didn’t think you had. Now then, what is my name?”
“Ras.”
“That’s correct, Flailer. It’s Ras: a combination between the name of a powerful ancient god and the title of a wealthy noble, or lord, of another country that I forget the name of at the moment. So what am I? A god, or a king? Very simply, I’m both. Ras the usurper. Ras the destroyer. Ras the creator. Ras the ruler.”
“How long have you waited for this?”
“A surprisingly intelligent question, Flailer.” Replied Ras, “long enough. For many years it was to simply be something more than what I am now. I was raised by wealth, but never got to truly enjoy it. Do you understand?”
“No.”
“Don’t worry, it doesn’t concern you. So, my friend, tell me what you think is the first step in starting a revolution?”
“Um…” Flailer tilted his head slightly. “Getting more followers?”
“Close, you have to get the idea out there first; it has already been spread by the newspapers that flow from Manehattan, Las Pegasus, Canterlot, etc. The idea is out there currently, so it makes our job easier. Now comes the step you just mentioned: recruiting. We already know that there are ponies who share our same ideals, but a revolution is a very fragile thing to form. If the ponies who follow the idea begin to believe, even for a moment, that they cannot win…then they leave. We can’t allow that to happen.”
Silence followed. Flailer was busy piecing together everything he had just heard, while Ras sat back down. Ras was a powerful unicorn, who excelled at manipulation of others at their expense. He was a pony who looked like he was in charge, and deserved to be feared. It was not an inaccurate statement, as he was the type who believed that the ends justified the means. In many ways he was one of the best ponies one would ever have the privilege to meet, as he was true to himself. He never faltered in his personal beliefs, and met every goal he set for himself. He could be charismatic if he wished, but he found the ability rather useless. His cutie mark was direct juxtaposition to the rest of his natural hue: a bright golden sun with an odd red symbol in the center. He had never quite figured out what that symbol was, but it did not matter to him. This was the only bright aspect that one could identify when observing Ras. He was one continuous shade all the way through: onyx. His horn, eyes, mane, coat, hooves, and tale were all stained the same dark color. His favorite way to pass the time was to bide the time and wait. If there was anything he was good at, it was waiting until the timing was exactly right to strike.
“Ras?”
“Yes?” Ras looked back over at his loyal friend.
“How do we, you know, get ponies to follow us?”
“What do you mean, Flailer?”
“I mean, that there must be other ponies who think that this is a good time to get power for themselves. How do we get them to come with us instead of them?”
Ras’ eyes widened, but it was rather impossible to see that in the dark of the room. Twice Flailer had surprised Ras with a good question that he wasn’t supposed to have the capacity to think of. Perhaps Flailer was becoming smarter, which could be better or worse.
“Simple,” Ras half-grinned. “we give them a reason to.”
Twilight was positioned in the middle of a veritable mob of ponies. Sweet Apple Acres had become the most popular spot in Equestria in a matter of minutes. The majority of the crowd was ponies from Ponyville, but it was evident that there were ponies from all over Equestria. High-end ponies from Canterlot, the crafty business ponies from Manehattan, and even a few of the less desirable crowd from Las Pegasus had all shown up to verify for themselves that something no less than a miracle had occurred, and that hope for the slipping state of Equestria could be raised once again. Twilight had anticipated that word of the Apple family’s crops would spread swiftly, but even to her it was staggering to see how far ponies had traveled to see this. While it was excellent that ponies were beginning to see a change, regardless of how it came about, it also meant that Equestria’s current state was even worse that she assumed. It ponies were truly willing to travel immense distances on a moments notice just for a bit of news, regardless of how great, it was an obvious sign that things had been truly bleak for Equestria’s greater cities.
“Can you believe it? How do you think this happened?” A pony at Twilight’s shoulder, whom she did not recognize, asked.
“Who cares how it happened, just as long as it did happen!” another pony replied, glancing back at the original speaker.
“It’s about time things started to shape up. Now if only a little bit of this here miracle fell onto our economy, then I would be celebrating.” The voice was close enough to be heard above the noise of the crowd, but the speaker could not be seen. More faceless voices started to join it.
“I hope it cures the illness that has been spreading.”
“Maybe the rest of the crops will also improve, now that this orchard has.”
“The Everfree Forest needs to be contained before any of the rumors start to become true. That’s were the miracle needs to travel.”
“And the drought!”
“Yeah, what he said!”
How about replacing Celestia?
Twilight spun and tried to identify the pony who had just dare to incite rebellion. But none of the ponies around her had the same voice as the one she had just heard. The voice sounded cunning and malicious, but in this crowd there were no malicious thoughts it seemed. Everypony was just too happy about the healing of the orchard. Plus, the voice had been quite quiet, the only way she could have heard the voice was if the pony who it belonged to was right beside her. There were ponies to either side of her, but she could hear their tones easily, and neither of them matched. She shook her head, dismissing the odd voice and pressed forward into the crowd. Moving forward was difficult enough considering the number of ponies present, and the space they all were attempting to fit into. It did not help that everpony was attempting to the same thing she was: get to the front for a better view. Granted, she also wanted to find and talk to Applejack, but it was inevitable that she would be able to talk to Applejack all she wanted after the masses dispersed. However, she managed to find gaps that allowed her access to the front. It was not long before she could see the orchard. It was magnificent; there was no other word for how it looked. Every trace of the sickness that had infected the orchard was gone. In fact, the trees had never looked so healthy. Twilight had no trouble finding her orange friend, as the earth pony seemed to be having four conversations at once with ponies who kept coming up to ask her what had she done to heal the crops. Applejack looked stressed, but happy all the same. Big Macintosh, Granny Smith, and Applebloom were all there as well, answering questions and giving the same general answer: “We’re just happy.” Twilight could not help but smile at this. She had helped her friends, hope had been given back to the residents of Equestria, and all was well. 1010 might be an extremely dangerous tool, and powerful enough to make Celestia herself fearful of its magical ability, but it had still been used for the blessing and joy of others.
“Reaction.”
Twilight may have only caught the one word of one of the many sentences that could be heard, but it caused her smile to fall, and the feeling of joy, as well as a bit of pride for a job well done, began to vanish. She still had to reset the balance before it overcompensated and resulted in something horrible. She still had to decide what would have to suffer. Her eyes grew wide and her gaze fell as the reality came upon her once again. Something had to suffer, and become ill, and it would be by her hoof that it would have to wither, suffer, and eventually die. But, she reminded herself, she did have control over what would bear the illness, and she did have the ability to simply choose something insignificant that nopony would miss, or even care about; not to mention would not be able to cause repercussions for her actions. She focused back on the situation at hand and managed to push herself to the front of the crowd, and next to Applejack.
“Twilight!” Applejack exclaimed, “Can you believe it?”
“It’s incredible, that’s for sure.” Twilight responded, attempting to avoid lying, but still sound amazed by the event.
“Incredible doesn’t even begin to…yes, thank ya’ll very much, we’re very happy…but it was just this morning that we were talking about this, and not eight hours later the orchard was healed.”
“Do you have any idea what could have...” it was not necessary to finish, after all, there were no other topics that could have been directed to.
“I could not even begin to guess. Maybe it was the Princess somehow, or just the luck of things changing.” She smiled.
“Do you think that this will protect your other fields, or heal the crops of other ponies?” Twilight was genuinely interested in Applejack’s answer. How contained was the magic of 1010? She had commanded that it would heal Applejack’s orchard, but could its power spread by itself?
“I’m hopeful, and I do think that it is possible if this happened. I mean, this all just happened so suddenly, so who’s to say what will happen or not? Shoot, I would love for Equestria to be healed, and it seems that perhaps something has been listening to us.”
“What do you mean?” Twilight asked.
“I mean, that there is a chance that this was just a coincidence, but how it Equestria could it be? Of all the problems that ponies have been worried about, it has been the crops that have caused the most unrest among folks.”
“I had been aware that the crops were one of the most pressing issues, but I did not realize that they were the greatest concern.”
Applejack shrugged, something she did not often do. It worried Twilight; but she could not place why it worried her. Something about the action sent a warning into her. It was just too nonchalant. The crowd moved and stirred, and Twilight was pushed away from Applejack. It was not a huge concern at the moment, as she would have ample time to speak with her later, as she had previously reminded herself. She moved her way around the crowd, looking for a way out of the throng. Her path was paved with “excuse me” and “oh, sorry for stepping on your hoof”. By this time most of the Ponyville ponies had come and gone, it was just the visitors who remained, along with a few spell-bound ponies who had apparently forgotten where they were, such was the shock of hope. Twilight eventually did move past the crowd moved towards the farmhouse and the exit to the Acres.
“Twilight Sparkle!” a familiar voice rang out.
Twilight turned about to see both Rarity and Fluttershy moving towards her. She smiled and met them halfway. There was no real reason to speak where they had met, as it was not the most social atmosphere, and Rarity was worried about her coat and mane becoming, as she said, horribly disfigured by the crowd. It was not long before they found themselves at one of Ponyville’s more leisurely cafés. They purchased drinks and moved to sit outside and enjoy the warmth of the sun. Some cloud cover would have been nice, as the sun blazed, but the shade more than made up for it.
“I really couldn’t believe it when I heard the news.” Rarity was saying as they took their seats outside the café. “I was worried about how the Apples would fare if their crops died off. I mean, that is all that they do!”
“I’m glad that the sickness was stopped before it could spread. It caused the trees and fruit to die, so what about the animals?” said Fluttershy.
Twilight nodded, taking a drink. It was a cold, clear drink with a satisfying citrus tone to it. No ice, as it would have lessened the flavor. Rarity proceeded to speak.
“That’s a good point Fluttershy, could this be the same sickness that has been inflicting ponies? The crop failure has been much more dreadful and widespread than the other disease, but could they be related? Twilight, what do you think?”
“It wouldn’t surprise me, considering everything that has been going on lately, but if it was similar, I would think that more ponies would have been getting ill. Like you said, the crops have been affected on a much grander scale.” Twilight glanced up at the sky, squinted, and looked back down. “I haven’t heard how you two have been doing.”
“I’m fine.” Fluttershy replied in her usual short and sweet fashion. Rarity was another story altogether.
“Oh, it’s been quite hard actually. With the economy the way it is, ponies can’t buy fancy clothes anymore. Even then, the prices of things are dropping severely. Thankfully I can find my own gems, and don’t have to buy them, but even so…”
The conversation continued as the day waned on, shadows slowly began to creep out from the corners of houses and under the hooves of ponies. The sun threatened them, but was helpless at the moment to do anything about it. Twilight finished her drink, ordered another, enjoyed it, said goodbye to her friends and moved in the direction of home. The day was still young, but she wanted to decide what the reaction was going to be, and what aftermath would be the result. The last thing she wanted was to cause Equestria more pain, especially after hope had been raised. She had survived round one with 1010, and now it was time to see how good she really was. Well…it wasn’t time just yet. She still had about six hours to go before the time was, quite literally, perfect.
Twilight began to look through her vast collection of books. She wasn’t even sure what she was looking for, or if she would know when she found it. Ever topic, subject, genre, and author was nothing more than a shot in the dark in order to find…whatever it was she was trying to find. Someplace to place the sickness she had just removed, something to infect perhaps…whichever one it was.
The Circle.
Twilight turned her head slowly and peered out the corner of her eye. Nopony besides her was in the library, and yet the voice had been close to her. It couldn’t have been Spike, she as he had not been home when she arrived, and Spike was exactly the quietest of creatures when it came to making an entrance. Twilight shook her head and focused on the book she had propped open in front of her. She turned a page and continued to skim.
The Circle.
Twilight spun around this time, a small chill kissed its way up her neck, leaving her feeling very cold and alone. The library was empty save her. She turned back to her book, breaking her line of sight of the room only at the last moment. She took a deep breath and turned the page.
“Your being silly, Twilight.” She told herself. “You’ve had a long day, and its nothing more than your mind playing tricks on you.”
She went quiet and thought about the words: the circle.
The circle, she thought to herself. The circle. She chuckled slightly and moved back to her book, running the words through her head.
The Circle.
“That’s right,” she said quietly, “The circle.”
The Circle. Send it to The Circle.
“Why?” she asked the silence around her without realizing it.
Because it is The Circle. What could it do to you?
“What is the circle?” Twilight turned a page, skimming the titles of chapters and sub-chapters.
It is The Circle.
“Which circle?”
The Circle!
“I don’t know what that means.”
“What what means, Twilight?”
Twilight’s head snapped up and turned. Spike was standing on the other side of the room, watching in a manner most curious.
“I…what?”
“You just asked what does that mean.”
“What does what mean?” asked Twilight, glancing about the room.
“That’s why I asked you, I don’t know.” Spike replied, shrugging his shoulders.
Twilight sighed and moved back to her book, but found that she couldn’t concentrate on it. Her thought process had been completely derailed, and she found herself unable to quite remember what she had been thinking about. It had something do with balancing 1010, that much she did recall, but there was something else that was just out of her mental grasp. It had been a long day, and she was tired. Her first actual use of the spell had taken more out of her than she had first realized, or even felt. But the activities and emotional rush of the day were wearing her down, clouding her mind. She glanced at the clock, reading that she had just under six hours before she had to reset the balance. She blinked a couple of times and yawned. What to do…what to do...she was just about to drift off into a deep and soundless sleep when the idea struck her. If her books could not answer her many questions and give her some direction about how to go about her task, then why not consult the one pony in Equestria who would have the answers in one form or another? After all, she was trusted completely.
One hour later, Twilight was in conversation with Princess Celestia.
“Are the Shilo found anywhere else in Equestria besides Sihr?” Twilight asked, jotting down notes as the Princess continued her role as her teacher.
“Well technically Sihr is not even part of Equestria. When this land was first settled upon, we took only a small part of the Everfree Forest, and even then our boundaries have been extended only slightly since. To rule and manage the Everfree would take more ponies and time than we can spare. Beyond that, the Everfree is not the most hospitable place to live. The Equestria that we live in is both safe and bountiful, we can afford to leave the more dangerous places to the resident inhabitants.” Celestia was sitting opposite her eager student, sipping tea.
“How many sections is the Everfree broken up into? My books only mentioned five.”
“Some of the sections have been combined for one reason or another, so the number changes from time to time. I believe that there are eleven currently.”
“Eleven?” Twilight asked, writing the response down. “There’s the Everfree that borders Ponyville, the Outer and Inner Centres, the Briar Sanctum, and Sihr.”
“Those are the most common sections, and the only sections that we have records of. The rest we know of by their location and names, but have no record of what or who lives in them. Tihr is the neighbor of Sihr, as you may have guessed, and beyond that is Dense Ceol, Sparse Ceol, the Burned Krumholtz, the Ash Woods, and the farthest section known as the Mist. The Mist borders an ocean we have seen and sailed on via alternate routes, and as such we have seen the Mist. It is clear that there are trees within the unmoving cloud that inhabits the section, but beyond that we know nothing about it.” Celestia informed her student as she refilled her tea.
“And you said the Shilo only live within Sihr?”
“That is where they are born, yes. Sihr’s terrain is full of caves and sinkholes that make ideal living conditions for the Shilo. As a result they almost never stray from their section of the forest, and nothing else dares to live alongside them.”
Twilight jotted a few notes down, pondered a moment, then looked back up at the alicorn. “You had said something earlier about the fact that Shilo are drawn to power, and as such are liable to be controlled. What did you mean by that?”
“I mean that Shilo base their society off of the greatest of them is in control, but should something else decide to come along that is more powerful than the Shilo, as they have no magic and aren’t exactly intelligent, they are drawn to them and will follow almost blindly because they truly believe they should.” Celestia looked out the window. The sun’s magnificent rays cut through the clouds, drawing patterns for the ground to enjoy. The shadowy murals constantly shifted, ever changing, it was as if the ground became bored with the natural art all too quickly, and the wind much appease it. Celestia spoke without looking back at the unicorn. “You said that your friend Applejack had heard of these things and had told you?”
“Yes, she had overheard a few ponies talking about them.”
At this point Princess Celestia stood and walked over to the same window, gazing out of it at her kingdom. Twilight hesitated for a moment, then proceeded to join her. For several long minutes there was absolute silence. The shadows proceeded to dance around the ground, the rays slicing through the clouds in a brilliant display of light and pattern. Questions and thoughts hung on Twilight’s lips, but were restrained, unsure of whether she should break the silence. As fate would have it, it was Celestia who spoke first; yet her words were unexpected.
“What’s happening to my kingdom?” Celestia spoke quietly, and indirectly. She turned to Twilight. “The last time Shilo were used against ponies was ages ago. It could be that the Shilo that were seen could have been lost, but even then…” she looked back out, her ethereal mane flowed without any source.
“What controlled them last time?” Twilight asked.
“A powerful creature of magical origin. It was insane, proclaimed itself ruler of every living thing, and anything that stood against it would perish. Well, this was back before our neighboring kingdom was destroyed, so we made an alliance and combined what military strength we had. Equestria has never had much in the way of soldiers, then or now. But anyway, long story short, we stopped the creature. It fled and the Shilo returned to their homes. As you are well aware, there are those out there who would be able to control Shilo. Nightmare Moon, Discord, the Changelings, powerful ponies, creatures of the Everfree…”
“When you said the creature was of magical origin, did you mean that it was created through magic?” Twilight continued to write as she spoke.
Celestia looked at her.
“I mean, I know that it is possible to create other beings out of magic, but could something both intelligent and powerful be created without allegiance to anypony? I’ve read a lot on the subject, but all the examples in my books are things along the lines of golems or doppelgangers.”
Celestia looked away, but whispered a very faint “yes”. Twilight back away from the subject, unsure of what she had just come close to tapping into. Silence retook the room.
“Um, Princess.” Twilight spoke up timidly.
Celestia looked back over at her.
“I had another question about something that I…”she stopped, how had she come to think about this anyway? “I don’t remember.”
“Something that you read about?” Celestia tried.
“Hmm? Oh, I had…heard about something called The Circle. It sounded quite bad, but I haven’t been able to find anything about circles besides the geometry.”
At this the tall, white alicorn, Princess Celestia, ruler of all ponies and the one who raised the sun every single day, backed up. Her eyes were wide, and there was a clear trace of consternation on her face.
“Where did you hear this?” She asked. She asked the question unusually firmly, but there was no disguising the fact that this was something she was very concerned about, in a way that came close to worry.
“I don’t remember exactly, I think I overheard it during my time over at Applejack’s farm while I was mingling in the crowd.
Celestia glanced about. Twilight did the same, but not for the same reasons.
“Twilight, listen to me. I want you to put that out of your mind. I would tell you to focus your studies on that which is good, but I feel that that is impossible considering everything that is currently happening. But if there is one thing that you need to remember, it’s this: The Circle does not concern you. Don’t look for it. But, if you hear somepony mention it again, take note of who it is, the come to me immediately.”
“Why? What is it?” Twilight began to write again.
“These are hard times Twilight, but you are straying into things that are far more dangerous and harmful than our current situation. I was wondering when you first came in asking about the Shilo what you had been up to, but now this. These are dark subjects, too dark. I don’t mind telling you about the Shilo, lest your friend’s sources be correct, but ignore the other. Your mind can, and should, be free of these questions and concerns.”
Princess Celestia arranged for a royal Pegasus carriage to take Twilight back. Twilight was very quiet the ride back. The pegasai ponies pulling the airborne carriage weren’t talking either. She looked out across Equestria. It was so different seeing it from up here, the differing shades of the land, the mountains, fields, streams, hills, and towns. Far off in the distance she could see the haze of some large city. She turned around to observe the opposite direction and was faced with the Everfree forest. She felt slightly cold and, as luck would have it, a darkened cloud passed in front of the sun. The forest had always been intimidating from the ground, but from the air…it was terrifying. The deep green of the foliage was twisted from being visually appealing by the gnarled, bare branches that jutted out of the tops of the trees. It was as if the forest was trying to claim the sky, but the dead vines that were curled around the base kept it down, chained to a living hell. Beyond that she could barely make out where the green disappeared and became a blackened shroud of twisted and broken trunks and branches. Twilight shivered and turned once again. The cloud moved away from the sun.
It was ten till ten. Twenty minutes to decide what would have to endure the agonizing sickness that had been lifted from Applejack’s farm. Twilight had already prepared the scroll; Spike was already asleep. Sleep sounded nice, she could go for some sleep, and the use of this thing would most likely take everything she had left emotionally and physically. The town was near silent, a few ponies walked about the roads, going their own way. Clouds blotted the moon, yet somehow a few stars still managed to show their greatness. A small breeze worked its way into her study, extinguishing her candle and plunging her into a haze of deep blue. Where the breeze had come from was anypony’s guess, but she did not pay any sort of heed to it, as her mind was focused upon the events of far greater importance. She relit her candle and glanced at the clock again. The minute hand shifted to tell her that she still had nineteen more rounds of the second hand before it was her time, in all and every essence of the saying.
Twilight Sparkle began to pace around the room. Why was she so anxious? She had used 1010 before, why was it so very different now? The asking of these questions to herself was both ignorant and feeble-minded, and she knew it. It was not merely the use of the spell and the scroll, but it was what it truly made her. She, as previously stated many times, held all power in her hooves for sixty seconds. Life, death, health, sickness, wealth, ruin, prosperity, loss, destruction, creation, rule, fall, time, creation, happiness, pain, sorrow, joy, bliss, wrath, pity, spite, goodness…and malicious intent. She was a goddess for a short time, but with limited scope. She had disrupted the balance, and now it was time for her to decide what would suffer her power and judgment. She had not yet decided, but there were the obvious options: send it to the desert, but now that she knew the truth about the history of the barren wasteland she could not face it. There was the Everfree, send it to the depths of the Everfree where the land was already blackened by some unknown factor. What more could a little sickness to an already hospitable land do? Better yet, she knew the names of the various sections, so it would be easier and more direct to make that choice if she found it the optimum choice. There was also the risk of using sickness to heal. Could she sicken the drought? Could a drought be sickened? Perhaps it could be if Famine, pony of the apocalypse, was revealed and tangible, but a myth cannot be touched, much to her dismay. Twilight glanced at the clock again, she had fifteen seconds? How did she let time get away from her?
The magically apt purple unicorn trotted over to her desk where the scroll lay. Time was short; pressure and stress had already risen, and continued to rise to a point Twilight did not know about prior to this. She snapped her head over to the clock, her mane swished. Five…four…it had to be the Everfree…one…it was ten after ten.
“Let it be known to the magic and the power that I, Twilight Sparkle, am restoring the balance.”
The right-hand 10 glowed a pale golden hue. Twilight closed her eyes, sighed, opened, and continued.
“I am restoring the balance that was broken via the command that the herbal sickness infecting Sweet Apple Acres would be lifted, and the farm would become invulnerable to the disease henceforth.”
The same right-handed 10 increased its light display as the pale gold intensified into a brilliant golden shine.
“I restore the balance by proclaiming that the sickness lifted from Sweet Apple Acres must now be placed in the section of the Everfree forest known as the Mist.”
A moment of baited breath later, the left-handed 10 glowed in equilibrium to its brother, and then both subsided. Twilight tried to smile, but found herself needing to cough. She rasped at the air, and then fell into a dead faint. Above her on the desk, the 1010 scroll rolled itself back up. A voice, quite distant and ethereal, yet so very close, murmured in delight. Up in the night sky the light of a single star was extinguished, and deep within the ever-present cloud of the Mist, the already black ground within a circle of toadstools wilted.
Ras was not in the mood for mistakes. It had taken all of his influence and credibility to see this particular pony. This pony was the first step in a rebellion. Ras hated that word, rebellion. Yet he could not deny that was what this was. A rebellion indicated battles, blood, pain, sorrow and other aspects of life he was all too familiar with. If he was to honestly try and take Equestria from the hooves of the immortal alicorns, then it would have to be quiet, quick and above all, as peaceful as possible. After all, who would there be to rule if all of them were killed in the process? There would be survivors of course, but what is the few compared to the masses? Less is not always more, especially in this case. Ras quickly checked behind him to ensure that Flailer was still behind him. He was not too overly worried about Flailer abandoning him, but it was still wise to keep tabs.
The two ponies were in an exceptionally atrocious area of Manehattan. The only ponies who dwelt here were those who could thrive in the misery of others and somehow make a profit, or those who simply didn’t have a choice but to drift here and live among the degenerate. Ras knew the rules of the streets well enough to know not to look at the ponies who leaned against the walls or shifted behind them. Flailer knew no such rule. He had very few rules and paid attention to only a select four of them. He would stare down anypony who dared look at him. He might be a bit slow, but that didn’t stop him from being menacing. It was fortunate, if unexpected, that nopony challenged their arrival, as it would have…dampened their first appearance with this certain pony. When they were not twenty feet from the entrance to the pony’s home, Ras turned to Flailer.
“You say nothing, do nothing, and think nothing. You are here because…actually, don’t worry about why you’re here. Just remember, you don’t do anything.”
“What if he speaks to me?”
“If he speaks to you then you give a short, sweet answer and shut back up. Don’t insult him by keeping silent, and don’t bore him by rambling. Give the best minimalist answer you can.”
“Ok.” Flailer turned to look at the door. There were two very large earth ponies positioned directly in front of it. “How do we get past them?”
“You let me worry about that. Now then, he likes his guests to be punctual, but being late would be unacceptable, so let’s go; and remember, you don’t say anything.”
Ras and Flailer walked over to the door. Immediately the earth ponies stationed in front of it moved in front of their path. Ras began to mumble words too incoherent, lest you were the owner or intended recipient, to understand. But the guards parted and bid them inside, closing the door immediately after them. The room inside was decently well lit. With more than the standard naked, hanging bulbs that were trademark in this particular end of the city. Inside were a few other ponies, all who were silent, but watched the pair as they entered. Ras scanned the room, taking in the staring faces around them. Off in the shadowy corners more eyes watched without faces. Unicorns were scattered about, eyes wide and staring. A few had their heads cocked slightly to one side. Pegasai could also be seen above them, resting on well-placed rafters. The earth ponies may as well be statues. As they did not breathe, blink, twitch, or turn.
“We’re here upon permission from Vareen.” Ras broke the silence with a voice of authority and reason. Flailer remained silent.
Silent eyes and faces faced them. The hidden faces blinked, and the unicorns cocked their heads. There was a moment before any sort of response came. A small sound, which sounded of a compromise between a screech and a squeak, came from above them. One of the pegasai was crawling along the rafters, peering down at Ras. Ras met the curious eyes with his own hard gaze and held it without so much as a waver. Flailer kept his own sight on those who deemed it their purpose to watch.
“Where’s Vareen?” Ras asked the Pegasus calmly.
The Pegasus made the sound again in reply.
“Vareen.” Ras repeated, a bit more firmly.
Sound.
Without warning, a door opened, causing the watching ponies to scatter. Their movements were near completely silent. Each action seemed fluid and practiced. In the new doorway stood a tall, slender, and elegant Pegasus.
“Vareen.” Ras smiled as he called out to the figure.
Vareen laughed. His coat was almost completely white. His mane was short cut and light grey in its hue. He wore a white suit to match his coat, along with a blood-red rose placed within his shirt pocket, juxtaposed against everything he was. Vareen was a pony whose very being was the embodiment of class. To be friends with this pony rewarded a title of great importance, the name of which is unknown less one has it already. Yet the fact that Celestia had given her royal guard permission to kill Vareen on sight could not be overlook.
Vareen invited the pair into the room from whence he had just emerged. It was better lit, and furnished. A luxurious desk was placed closer to the back, where paper and money could be seen in small stacks. Paintings and other art of great value were organized around the wooden walls. Over to the far left was what seemed to be a personal kitchen, complete with menus. A coat of arms stood in between two marble statues, and above that a coat of arms was displayed in a majestic quality. But what would the inner working of one of the most celebrated and feared ponies of the city’s underworld be without the two massive bodyguards positioned to either side of the door. Just in case Vareen had to keep somepony out…or in.
As the host took his place behind the desk, Ras stepped forward, eager to start.
“Thank you for seeing us Vareen.” He bowed his head in respect.
“No, please. The pleasure is, how you say, all of mine.” Vareen replied warmly, the thick accent working its own way around the words.
“Still, I know you don’t see everypony who wants to talk.” Ras smiled.
“Ah, this is true. I do have schedule and priority, and you are both, yes?”
“I do hope so. I—” Ras started before being cut off by Vareen’s loud laugh.
“I joke, my friend, I joke. I know you are both or else you would not be here. You would be with my friends who like to jump out and say ‘boo!’”
Ras’ eyes shifted. “I beg your pardon?”
“Those outside of my room. I, how you say, destroyed their minds and now they are mine.”
“Are they useful?”
“Oh my yes. They need no reward, do anything…good workers. But, enough about them, you say you have business?” Vareen asked as he poured himself a drink from a bottle on his desk.
“Yes. I was contemplating the state of our country right now, and I found it to be…lacking, to say the least.”
“Many problems.”
“Yes, exactly. There’s the drought, economy, the sickness infecting the various crops, disease, and there are rumors of strange creatures off closer towards Canterlot.”
“Yes, I have heard about the forest monsters. I do not worry about things that are not close. But, what is it you are asking exactly, Ras?”
Ras swallowed. It was the first time Vareen had used his name, which had varying meanings.
“I was thinking that, because of the way things are, well…ponies are not exactly happy with the way things are going, and they blame Celestia for it. I was thinking that we could get some of the more powerful ponies over here in Manehattan and perhaps a couple of the other major metropolitan cities to…have a regime change?”
“A rebellion?” Vareen took a drink.
“Well, yes but with as little bloodshed as possible. No sense in killing those we want to have follow us.”
There was a moment of silence as Vareen regarded this, then he laughed.
“Ras, you are smart. Good, my friend, good. I know what you are asking. You would take on the princess, but you lack, how you say, workers.”
“Exactly.” Ras smiled, things were going better than expected.
“But,” Vareen’s tone dropped along with his smile. “Who takes power?”
“I came to you didn’t I?” Ras replied. Vareen grinned, nodding.
“Yes, I knew you were good. Ah, my friend, I do enjoy talking business. Drink?”
Ras accepted the drink, levitating it over to him, taking a sip before letting it hang in the air close to him. It was a strong drink, too strong for his tastes, but it was unwise to reject the gift, or to look unhappy with it. Flailer stayed back, obedient to his friend.
“Who do you want to help, Ras.” Vareen asked as prepared to write down whatever names the unicorn produced. He gripped the pencil in his teeth, placed the tip to the paper and gestured for Ras to start.
“I was thinking about Sycamore, White Hoof, Fortinbras, Searin…”Ras listed off the names, keeping an eye on Vareen’s reaction to each. So far, so good.
In all, Ras had listed thirty names, five of which Vareen had chosen to disregard for one reason or another.
“This is good, my friend. I am glad you came to me first. When I rule Equestria, you will have anything you want.”
“I’m glad we could form a partnership.” Ras replied. He glanced back at Flailer. The white tail of his companion swished and he nodded.
“One question,” Vareen said off-handedly as he looked over the list of names. “Do you have any worries about what, how you say, would cause trouble?”
Ras’ eyes went wide as he finished the drink and guided the now emptied glass back to the desk. He needed to know, yes, but was this the right time to ask? Well, perhaps. After all, he was on good terms currently, and he could probably get away with asking about…him. He didn’t know anything about him really, besides the fact that he was dangerous and could cause major complications.
“Well,” he started, attempting to sound offhand. “I heard about a certain pony a while ago. I don’t know much about him besides the fact that he possibly couldn’t be trusted and I was wondering if he is still a threat.”
“Good, you are thinking correctly. Name the pony, please.”
Ras took a breath.
“Balancer.”
The two bodyguards immediately started forward, but Vareen held up his hoof to stop them, but did not send the back.
“How much do you know about him?” Vareen asked calmly.
“Almost nothing.”
“He is most likely dead. He ran off into the forest with the monsters many years ago. No threat to us now.”
Ras smiled and nodded. Vareen poured the two of them another drink and invited Flailer over to join them. Everything went perfectly. Away in the Mist, a pair of perfect black eyes observed the three through a haze of obscure color. It was the best he could do currently. The Mist has a negative effect on magic, but he still managed to get through, far enough to watch his potential enemies. The black eyes blinked and the connection was severed. He walked at a slow pace through the fog, watching the trees loom out in front of him, as if coming out of a dream. He stopped at the strange occurrence he had happened upon earlier, that odd circle of toadstools with the withered ground. He stood and regarded it.
“What? No way!”
The five friends sat gaping at Rainbow Dash’s latest news.
“Yep, I’ve been accepted into the Wonderbolts.” She beamed. “I start tomorrow.”
“How did you get in?” Fluttershy asked, “I mean, there haven’t been any tryouts recently have there?”
“Ah reckon they just saw her perform at the wedding and had to have her.” Applejack replied.
“Well whatever it was, congratulations Rainbow.” Twilight smiled, “I know it’s your dream and all, but are you a bit nervous?”
“Heh, are you kidding? This is not only my dream, it’s a dream come true! I’m never nervous.”
“Darling, you may be a confident flier, but you are not a confident liar. It’s obvious that you are nervous and you have a right to be!” Rarity added, giving her friend an encouraging smile.
“You know what this calls for? A celebration!” came the predictable outburst from Pinkie. “I’ll get everything ready.”
“Sounds good, Pinkie.” Twilight confirmed. “On a different subject, how are you coming with those books I sent you?”
Rainbow’s smile grew false. She avoided Twilight’s friendly gaze as she attempted to coolly give her reply.
“Oh, ya know, I’m enjoying them. Really.”
“Good, I will send more when I have them.”
The group talked a while longer, sharing a few stories and making general conversation for the sake of community; but the evening grew late, and Luna’s magnificent moon began to wake and start the long journey across the darkened sky. It seemed like a lonely journey, as the stars did not seem to want to follow the moon in its travels. Rainbow took her leave and proceeded home, the icy breeze that is only accessible in the sky chilling her blue frame. She shivered and sped up, feeling the tiny ice crystals clinging to her feathered wings. She arrived at Cloudsdale cold and tired. It had been a long day; a more eventful and challenging day than she was used to. After all, it wasn’t every day a Pegasus pony engaged in magic, powerful magic at that.
She entered her cloud home and collapsed upon her bed. The gifted books lay unopened where she had dropped them; the interest wasn’t there currently. Why hadn’t she just asked Twilight why she had put the odd scroll in the saddlebag? Or if it was a mistake, then why not just give it back? Rainbow rolled over to gaze upon the artifact that lay upon her nightstand. Strange how she was able to invoke the scroll’s power, and convenient how there was a coupled scroll with specific directions as how to work the magic. Yesterday she was a Pegasus in pursuit of a dream; today she was a Pegasus who had everything she could have wanted. There was just one problem though, those few words that simply stated that the opposite must transpire. What was the opposite her actions though? She had commanded the scroll to allow her to join the Wonderbolts, and that she would be accepted. Did her actions mean that eventually some pony who was originally destined to join the legendary group would fail? That she had potentially destroyed the lifelong dream of some other pony who longed for a chance at greatness? There must be another way…another chance for somepony else; but she could not see it.
The time read that it was a mere fifteen minutes till the ghastly time. Rainbow solemnly forced herself to rise from her bed and unroll the wretched thing. The number was waiting, watching her both thank and hate the thing.
“Why didn’t I just tell Twilight what happened? Or maybe just ask her if she sent you accidentally?” she half-smiled, “I have to admit though, you are pretty awesome.”
Then use me.
Rainbow spun around, ready to face the intruder, but did not see anyone. She blinked. “Wha…? I must be more tired than I realize.”
She shook her head, and turned back to the task at hand: balancing this dreadful thing. It really wasn’t as awesome now that she was faced with the inevitable consequence of wielding such power. She wondered if this was how Princess Celestia felt at times, in control of the magic to hold the sun in her hooves. Her thoughts turned to her friends, and their reactions should she cause something terrible to happen. She thought of the foals who idolized her, and what had happened the last time she had allowed her personal gain to interfere with not only her friendship, but the safety of others.
Rainbow, you’re stalling.
Rainbow Dash was not frightened easily, and now was no exception. Again, she turned to the voice with the same results.
“I’m not afraid of you! Show yourself!” she yelled into the emptiness.
There is no need to fear me, Rainbow.
“Why are you hiding? Come out!”
I have, you just haven’t the will to see me.
“What? Sure I do!”
Then why can’t you see me?
Rainbow didn’t consider herself amazing at debate. She lacked a rebuttal to the challenging comment. She wasn’t about to give up though, winning was in her blood, no matter the challenge nor competition. Every contest, whether it concerned wit or strength, was all about what angle you approached it.
“So I can’t see you, ok. How do you know my name?” she quizzed the voice.
Oh, Rainbow…how could anything not know your name?
She was taken aback, but pleased. “Oh…well, of course. I should have realized. I am pretty great.”
I feel that you don’t give yourself enough credit.
“Well, humility is a form of greatness.”
Indeed. Truly you are superior to any other pony.
“Well, I don’t know about that.”
Oh, but isn’t it true?
Rainbow started to reply; yet something internal prevented this. Why was this thing suddenly praising her after condemnation? Time to end this.
“So…whatever you are, why did you ask me to use you?” She smiled to herself. If this thing didn’t want to be known, why ask a revealing question?
The voice went silent. At first Rainbow felt victorious, but the feeling faded quickly. There was something unnatural about the silence. It seemed that her victory in conversation with the phantom was either ill timed or false all together.
“Well?” she questioned the voice again.
Do you know what your downfall will be, pony?
“My…downfall?”
Pride. Your downfall will be your pride. You adore the crowd, the glamour. You cringe at the success of others, no matter how high you may rise.
“That’s not true.”
Fool. You lie to yourself even when the absolute truth is presented to you. Your jealousy nearly cost the lives of innocent ponies. You were willing to change yourself just for some recognition.
“Stop!”
But what of it? No matter how hard you try, you could never be as great as others, and you never will be.
“ENOUGH!” Rainbow shrieked.
There was no reply. The voice was gone, the insults with it. Rainbow felt the rage begin to leave her body, a fluid passing coupled with an equilibrium of enervation. Rainbow sighed, crawled into her bed, and within minutes had emerged within her own dreamland, seeing things only she would ever witness yet never remember. The time was twelve after ten.
***
To the west of Ponyville, activity had ceased and spirits were low. Vareen’s rebellion had come to an abrupt halt. There was no drive behind it anymore; just the few dedicated with nothing more to live for, and those who had planned the rebellion from the beginning. The initial suspicious were correct: the ponies of Equestria weren’t interested in overthrowing Celestia. Most hard feeling had past, as they are always bound to do eventually. The economy was suffering in the greater cities, but it was nothing a bit of indulging in luxury couldn’t fix. The drought was wearing off, and the crop failure was simply gone. The various rumors about creatures in the Everfree wandering from their shadowy and lonesome home wasn’t affecting them, the Everfree was far away, so why be bothered with a problem that didn’t concern them yet? Maybe their Princess had been hard at work fixing the various woes of her subjects, and now somepony else and his so called “uprising” was going to fix what didn’t need to be mended? There was no immediate threat to their way of life, so why attempt to change it?
Vareen sat in his makeshift office in an abandoned house within Trottingham. He rapped his hoof upon the table in thought as he waited for Ras to arrive. It was time to end this pointless pursuit, to move on and seek out other victories. Hadn’t life been easier back home? Why did he ever take up this mission? If Ras wanted Celestia overthrown, he should be the one to try and do it, not him. He stretched his wings and sighed. It was time to leave this and go back to follow other endeavors. He glanced up as the door opened. Ras entered with Flailer in tow.
“My friend,” Vareen began as they walked to his desk expectantly, “it is time to end this.”
Ras said nothing.
“This world, it is not so bad anymore. Your Princess seems to have adjusted her strategies to, how you say, make things better.”
Again, there was no reply.
“Besides, if we stop now, before they notice, we can simply go back and not have to worry.”
A sigh. Ras shook his head and glanced at Vareen though his grey eyes. “I didn’t expect it to come to this so early. I at least thought we would have gained a bit more ground before…” he trailed off, shaking his head.
“I…don’t understand.” Vareen replied.
“No sense in hiding it anymore, I suppose.” Ras shrugged, looking back at Flailer, who cocked his head slightly. “Vareen, you were never meant to rule Canterlot.”
Vareen smiled hesitantly. “I am afraid I still don’t get you.”
“There was no real rebellion.” Said Ras. “I just wanted to return to Canterlot, but I can’t without forcing my way.”
“You lied to me.” Vareen’s eyes narrowed. “I correct myself, you will not be safe.”
The Pegasus motioned to call his guards into the room, but didn’t get the chance, as Flailer attacked him before any words could escape. Ras watched the gruesome spectacle with an eerie calmness. It was strange how Flailer worked, no concern for style or painlessness. Ever since Ras had left the royal city he had been exposed to a life of loneliness and hardship, and the murder of another pony was not a foreign spectacle, yet Flailer performance was more brutal than most. He did have to admit that upon the audible crack of the bones within Vareen’s wings he did shudder a bit. Once or twice Vareen got a sliver of a cry out, but Ras was well aware that even if he had successfully called for his guards earlier it wouldn’t have had any benefit. Flailer had been rather quiet about those, at Ras’ request. Eventually what could technically be described, as Vareen’s corpse lay heaped in a corner as Flailer returned to Ras. The earth pony looked to his master for approval.
“Impressive,” Ras nodded, “why the part with his teeth?”
Flailer shrugged as the pair exited the room. “So Ras?”
“Yes, Flailer?”
“How did you know he was going to give up?”
“I didn’t. It was just good timing for our purposes.”
“So what happens now? Was there really no rebellion? Are we not going to rule?”
“Slow yourself. There never was a true rebellion. The truth is that the Alicorns cannot be undone by their subjects. The royal family is too powerful for a simple mass of ponies to overthrow them. The princesses need to be challenged by someone, that is true but we don’t want to be the ones to do it. Besides, we don’t want to rule.”
“We don’t?”
“No, Flailer we don’t. Envision this, we can either be relaxing in Canterlot, being waited on hand and foot and only looking out for ourselves, or we can be in charge of an entire kingdom, be blamed for everything, have the woes and cares of everypony upon us, or we can enjoy the spoils of high society while those in power are ridiculed and resented, as they always are.”
Flailer seemed confused by this, but eventually the meaning of Ras’ words became clear. He smiled and nodded. “Yeah, I like that. So why aren’t we there already? What was the point of all this?”
“Fair question. Very simply, I can’t return to Canterlot without help. I used to live there, yet I caused my own destruction and was exiled from the city. I wished to return; yet I was forced to live in the filth of this kingdom. I longed for a way to return, so when Celestia fell during that conflict of hers and the whole of Equestria began to have doubts, I knew it was the perfect time to strike. We take over the city and cut off all communication to the outside world, true communication that is. I am free-”
“Who was watching you?” Flailer cut in.
“That’s not of your concern. In any case, I escaped my prison. Now the city is still cut off from communication, but once Vareen is found it will be active again, so we need to move if we are to redeem ourselves at Canterlot.”
“So who’s going to challenge the princesses? You said that somepony was, right?”
“Things are still in motion, my friend. Do not worry yourself with that for the present.”
They had arrived at the edge of the town. A long dirt road stretched off into the darkness. Ras stopped for a moment, his thoughts private. Flailer paused as well, observing the former, mimicking his actions. The two stood there for a long while; Ras deep in his own mind, and Flailer standing with nary a though passing through his own.
***
The sun rose over Equestria, as everypony expected. The fauna woke and began their daily tasks of survival. The ponies rose at varying times, as in accordance with their own tasks. It was still very early, and nopony expected the day to go any differently than expected. Expectations differ from pony to pony, yet each was within reason, based upon prior days and events. This was to be no different, and within that assumption nopony took caution or warning into account as they began another day of their ever-shrinking lives.
Twilight Sparkle was rearranging books within her library, Applejack and her family were busy tending their crop, Rarity continued to sleep, Fluttershy tended to the animals of the forest that had come to rely upon her for survival, Rainbow Dash, troubled by dreams of a most unnatural nature, continued to wander through the subconscious, and Pinkie Pie enjoyed her excitable personality. The forecast, set by the Pegasus ponies, called for a glorious day, bathed in pure sunlight for the enjoyment of everypony, with just enough of a cool breeze to make the relentless heat comfortable. In Canterlot, the ponies of high society felt safe and secure as their every whim was catered to. The royal guard patrolled the streets and managed their posts, keeping watch on the ponies that crossed their paths. Celestia herself sat high within her palace, reading her lengthy agenda for the day, prioritizing the various needs of her subjects, categorizing the bills set forth from the unicorns that took note of the sine qua non from every corner of her domain. Luna, attended by her own dark guard within her shadowy domain slept through the light of day, the requirements of her lofty position concluded for the time being.
“Twilight?” Spike called out as he replaced a book.
“Yes, Spike?”
“Why do you have so many books?”
Twilight giggled. “They’re not all mine Spike. Don’t forget that this is Ponyville’s library. Everypony considers it mine now, but technically these are all of Ponyville’s books.”
“Yeah, but you’re the only one who reads them.”
“Oh, Spike. There are plenty of ponies who like to read.”
“Not as much as you.”
“Maybe not, but I’m not the only pony who reads around here.”
“Yeah, I guess you’re right, as usual. Has Rainbow finished those books you gave her yet?”
“I gave them to her about two days ago, how fast do you expect her to read?”
Spike shrugged and resumed his work. It was a tedious chore, replacing everything that had once been in order, thrown into disarray either intentionally, or just that the chaos had been assembled through a lack of vision, turning a blind eye to the clutter and state of disarray until it needed to be dealt with, when it was a problem too large to ignore, and took dedication to even begin. Spike was just dusting off some lesser-known title when a shadow fell across the tattered cover, giving it an even more unloved appearance. His mind was preoccupied, however, and the shadow was unnoticed.
Clouds began to form above Ponyville, stretching out to the horizon and beyond to where reality stops and Uncreation begins. While those hard at work turned a blind eye to the change of events, the metamorphosis of the sky was not overlooked by all. Pegasai took to the sky to remove the sudden invasion of clouds. Other ponies shut themselves away, hoping that it would be the only change the day had to offer.
The sudden gloom was not limited to Ponyville, however. Canterlot suffered the unexpected interruption of sunlight as well. The royal guard took time to glance at the sky, to move from their posts to wonder. Within the palace chambers, Celestia stood looking out.
“Princess,” a voice called from behind her. The alicorn turned to welcome a member of her personal guard. She bade him inside. “My apologies for interrupting, but we’ve received a number of inquiries concerning the weather.”
“Why?” Celestia almost whispered ask she asked. It was not a pointed question, nor a question phrased as a response to the news.
“Princess…?” the guard replied slowly.
“Are my subjects truly this concerned about the weather?” she turned back to the window.
“It appears so, your highness.”
“There have been sudden changes in weather prior to this with little concern. Should there be any reason this instance draws so much attention?”
“I suspect it is just because it is a rare occurrence, your highness, and that the last time there was a sudden change in the weather Discord was released.”
“Your point is well taken, thank you.” Celestia replied, cutting the guard off. It was a troubling thought that some antagonist had arrived. Yet there was no threat against Equestria that she was aware of, and she was well aware of the threats against her rule. She had taken notice that the news coming from the greater of her cities had not changed recently, and as such had posted guards around the borders of the towns closest to the metropolises. There had been ponies sneaking about in the filth there, as there always were, yet no true threats to her, so there was no need to be concerned. She had constant watch on several individuals of disreputable company, and few had ever escaped her eyes.
“If I may, your highness.” The guard began again, “do you know what is happening?”
“I have my predictions.” There was nothing more to discuss. The guard bowed and showed himself out.
“Luna.” Celestia called out. The princess of the night appeared suddenly in the center of the room, swiftly crossing it to join her sister.
“What are your predictions, sister?” asked Luna, following the elder’s gaze.
“The clouds are moving in from the Everfree. Do you recall what I revealed to you after your return?”
“I do, and it continues to trouble us.” Luna replied gravely. “Is this a result?”
“Inevitably, as everything in Equestria is controlled by us save for the Everfree.”
“But sister, what power does it have here besides holding the forest? If its power has grown through the passing of time, surely it would have grown enough to strike prior to this, and more viciously.”
“The single breach has not grown in power since its arrival into our domain. This weather is spurred on by something else there, yet the breach allows it to be.” Celestia turned from the window and headed towards the door. Luna hesitated to follow, initially turning; yet looking back at the grey billowing rolls of cloud that rejected her sister’s command.
“Surely there is something we can do.” Luna called after Celestia.
“I already caused this, I fear that more action will result in graver consequences.
“The blame rests equally upon us, as it does you sister.”
“You know as well as I that that is not true.” Celestia gave a solemn look back at her younger sister before she left.
“Where are you going?”
“I need to check that something is still there.” Came Celestia’s voice from around the corner before the door closed.
The rain started to fall. The ominous clouds cried upon the confused land. Luna stared at the drops as they fell upon the window, each one a silent plea to enter. The same rain fell upon the homes of Ponyville, whispering to each ear. All across Equestria, the rain fell down to dampen the spirits of the happy, and to increase the misery of the sad.
“Where did this come from?” Twilight asked to nopony in particular, staring up from inside the library at the sky.
“Maybe the Pegasus ponies are playing a prank on us. It seems like something they would do.” Said Spike.
“Yeah, maybe. But it’s not just our town, there’s nothing but clouds as far as the eye can see.”
“Good point.”
“Maybe they just forgot to tell us about an early shower. These are done pretty quickly usually. What time is it anyway?”
Spike walked over to where he could see the clock. “Uh…ten after ten.”
There was a bright flash within the clouds, quickly followed by a long peal of thunder. Twilight exclaimed instantly, clasping a hoof to her head and sinking down, teeth clenching.
“Twilight?” Spike ran over to help the unicorn back up, but a knock resounded upon the door just as he reached her.
“I’m all right,” Twilight gasped, slowly rising. “See who’s at the door.”
Spike opened the door to see a wet, but happy Pinkie Pie half-smiling.
“Oh, hi Pinkie.” Spike stepped aside to let the pink pony enter; yet she stayed where she was.
“Hi Twilight, hi Spike. Are you two ready to go?” she asked.
Spike glanced back at Twilight, who shrugged before addressing her friend.
“Go where, Pinkie?”
“Oh, you know.”
“I’m afraid I don’t know.”
“Oh, well I guess I don’t either; but we have to go there now.”
“Why?”
“Because we should, you know how it is.”
Spike chuckled, but Twilight, glancing back at the clock, moved a bit closer to her friend, who back away in turn.
“Who all is going?”
“Don’t know. You were closest, so I thought I’d ask, but I really don’t have the time to check whether who else is. Everypony should though.”
“Well Pinkie, I think I am going to half to decline. I have a lot of work to do.”
Pinkie’s smile fell away suddenly. The face that replaced it was not one of sadness, but of hidden annoyance, as if Twilight was being irritable.
“Fine.” She said shortly, and left in a huff, the rain falling upon her. Spike closed the door slowly, watching her go.
“What was that about?” Twilight wondered aloud. “I’ve never seen Pinkie like that before. Sure she’s random, but that was something new altogether.”
“Twilight.” Said Spike.
“I wonder if we should have followed her, just to see where she was going.”
“Twilight.”
“I mean, why wouldn’t she tell anypony else what she was doing? That certainly isn’t like Pinkie.”
“Twilight!” Spike exclaimed.
The unicorn turned towards the baby dragon, who was looking out the window.
“What is it?” she asked, striding over. She didn’t need a response; there was no need as it was quite obvious ‘what’.
Ponies were all walking in one direction, their faces vacant, eyes glazed over, their relatives and friends talking to them as they moved forward. Occasionally it seemed that one of them would reply to the pleading of the ponies attempting to restrain or simply talk the latter into returning. Twilight had no words for the scenario. How many ponies were there? Fifty? A hundred? There was no telling.
“So why aren’t we affected?” Spike asked. Twilight did not reply.
***
“Ras!” Flailer yelled. “Ras!”
The onyx-colored unicorn simply materialized next to the earth pony, and held up a hoof to silence the other. Words were not necessary, as it was rather clear what the excitement was about. Ponies were simply moving in one fluid mass in a singular direction. It truly was a sight to behold, as there was nothing visible prompting them to behave in such a way. Ras silently analyzed the ponies who were moving: vacant expressions, glazed eyes, silent for the most part, and besides living the in the same town, many of them were unaffiliated with each other.
“You said we needed a way forward towards Canterlot, Ras. Is this it? Should we join?”
Ras mulled over the idea for a moment before dismissing it.
“No. You can be certain that this group will be watched very carefully, which would hinder our progression substantially. We’ve ensured that Canterlot is not watching this half of Equestria, but they will be watching this, which means as soon as their gaze is completely focused upon whatever is happening here we move. So I suppose in a way you are right, this is our way.”
“Why are they doing that?” Flailer asked, cocking his head to one side as he watched the mass of ponies move forward.
“I don’t know, Flailer.” Ras replied, shaking his head, “but as long as it doesn’t affect us directly I don’t care.”
***
Another knock resounded upon the door of the library. Twilight opened it to find none other than the Princess standing there before her, the constant stream of ponies still moving behind her.
“Twilight, thank goodness.” Celestia exclaimed upon seeing her pupil.
“Princess, what’s happening?” Twilight asked as Celestia moved inside the library. “Why are they acting like this?”
“Perhaps you should tell me.” Celestia’s expression turned from concern to something teetering on anger.
“Me? I don’t know.” Twilight spluttered at the unexpected question.
“You seem to be proclaiming your innocence rather quickly, my loyal student.” Said Celestia, putting an emphasis on ‘loyal’ that made Twilight cringe. “Where is it?”
“Where is what?”
“Don’t do this Twilight, we can still fix this if you just tell me where it is.”
“Where what is?” Twilight began glancing around for some clue as to what the Princess was talking about.
“I never would have guessed. My prized pupil lying when she has been found guilty.” Celestia shook her head, every word dripped disappointment.
Twilight started to cry, her head still throbbed from the earlier pain, and with Pinkie Pie’s odd behavior it was all too much for her. Celestia began to doubt her accusation, yet the evidence was overwhelming. Perhaps she had forgotten, perhaps she was just scared. Either way, as angry as Celestia was concerning the matter, she was not without love.
“Twilight,” she said, her voice soft. “I need the 1010 scroll back. Nopony has been to the House of Four Doors since your visit, and I certainly don’t have it. Please give it back to me.”
Twilight sniffed and attempted to halt the passage of tears. She glanced up at the Princess. “I’m sorry, I wanted to learn about it. Because if I was to protect it, I...I…” she sniffed again. “I don’t have it anymore.”
“What?” asked the Princess.
“I don’t have it anymore. I sent it back to Canterlot with a note apologizing for taking it.”
“Did you use it?”
“Yes, I removed the disease from Sweet Apple Acres; but I did balance it.” She hastily added.
“How?”
“I sent the disease to the Mist. It seemed like the safest place.”
Celestia sighed and closed her eyes. Her student had meant well, and proven her capabilities again, even if the means in which she did were questionable. This was not the time for congratulations and celebrations, however.
“Did you use it any other time?”
“No, Princess.”
“What did you do with it?”
“I placed it in a saddlebag and prepared to send it out…” she stopped, the wheels turning. “Spike!”
Spike, who had been hiding around the corner, appeared. “Yes.”
“There were two saddlebags on the desk, one for Rainbow, one for Canterlot. Where did they go?”
“I thought they were both for Rainbow Dash, so I sent them off with her.”
It became very quiet. Celestia and Twilight both stared at Spike, who was very bewildered. The rain tapped on the windows, accompanied by the voices of ponies outside. Twilight’s jaw hung open in disbelief. Celestia was merely stone-faced. Spike, still very confused about what was happening, attempted to speak, but found himself unable to form the words necessary.
“Meet me at Canterlot, next to the Harmony Vault.” Said Celestia with little emotion. She turned and exited the library. Twilight and Spike looked at each other.
“Did I do something wrong?” Spike asked.
“No, but I did, and I’m afraid Rainbow is going to pay for it.”
***
Approximately an hour later found Twilight, alone, next to the vault that held the Elements of Harmony. She paced back and forth, both desiring the Princess to appear, and dreading it at the same time. She took a moment from her anxious worry to admire the door. It truly was a great feat of craftsmanship. The elegant strands of engraved gold, infused with magical properties, complimented by the bright gold frame, and silvery orbs placed within the door. Beyond it lay even greater treasures, the magnificent elements and the passage to the House of Four Doors. Strange how being near such a place, and able to rest a hoof upon a mastery of craftsmanship could also be a place of such dread. Twilight turned from the door and resumed her pacing. What was taking the Princess so long?
Her answer came swiftly. There was a bright flash, causing Twilight to cover her eyes. When her vision was restored she beheld a grim-looking Celestia, accompanied by a very forlorn Rainbow Dash. It was clear to the unicorn that her blue friend was terrified by the whole ordeal.
“I’m sorry, Twi.” The Pegasus started, “I just couldn’t help myself. When I saw the scroll, I first wondered why you sent it to me, but then I read how to use it…”
“You can tell her later. Let’s go.” Said Celestia.
The alicorn activated the door leading to the vault. Inside the jeweled box holding the elements glistened. The eternal light radiated from above, giving an everlasting illumination to the locked room, yet shedding no redeeming light upon their predicament. Rainbow, still clearly terrified, seemed not to notice the brilliance of the room, yet did notice the gaping blackness Celestia summoned from the opposite wall. The crushing blackness seemed eager for the three ponies to enter and risk their lives within its grasp.
“Twilight, inform Rainbow what is required of her to pass through the hall.” Celestia called out before departing herself into the corridor.
Twilight was at a loss for words. Rainbow was in no condition to travel through that thing, much less follow the guidelines that dictate a safe passage.
“Rainbow,” Twilight began, turning to the blue pony.
“Twilight, wha-what is that?” Rainbow asked, her voice cracking.
“I don’t know exactly, but we need to go in.”
“Why?”
“We will find out.” Said Twilight, but realized that the answer was not encouraging. She sighed and moved close to her friend. “It will be all right.”
Rainbow glanced up at her and tried at a smile, yet it fled her face. Twilight moved Rainbow closer towards the black hole.
“Don’t run, don’t slow. Don’t show any emotion and do not look to either side. Keep your eyes focused straight ahead, and do not stray from the path. Keep walking in a straight line.”
“Can I talk?”
“No. Here we go.”
Twilight moved smoothly and swiftly into the gloom, immediately and silently consumed by the shadow. Though it was silent within the tunnel, she somehow felt the presence of the other near her. The feeling was slowly fading, however, instead replaced by an intense loneliness. It had not been as such with Celestia. She had known of the presence of the Princess the entire time, and though frightened, felt reassured through the mere knowledge of the other. Here Rainbow’s presence was quickly whisking away. Just as the feeling of having been abandoned was close to consuming her entirely, she broke out into the massive dome that held the strange obelisks, which protected the magic the rulers of Equestria deemed too dangerous to be released into the world, much less even let a mere knowledge of it be allowed. Rainbow appeared at her side not long after her own entry. The Pegasus’ face was paled, yet no emotion shown upon it. Upon seeing the trial had passed, she collapsed.
“Rainbow!” Twilight exclaimed, kneeling down.
“You were gone.” Rainbow mumbled. “You remember how we said we were all connected?”
It was an unexpected question. “Yes,” Twilight replied slowly. “How we were friends before we had even met.”
“We weren’t in there. I didn’t have friends, or anypony. Nopony knew me, nopony cared whether I lived or died.”
“I was feeling the same.” Twilight admitted.
“Where are we, anyway?” Rainbow asked suddenly. Seeing her friend had quickly rejuvenated the Pegasus.
“The House of Four Doors.” Came a voice from across the room.
Twilight and Rainbow looked over to see Celestia standing before the greatest of the obelisks. The top had already been shattered, and the 1010 scroll replaced in its rightful place.
“Rainbow Dash, you may now tell Twilight what you did.” Said Celestia sternly.
Rainbow gulped and looked at her friend.
“I didn’t want to hurt anypony, especially my friends. You know this.” Rainbow began qualifying. “I love you guys.”
“I know, Rainbow.” Twilight nodded.
“It has always been my dream to join the Wonderbolts. I think I’m a great flyer, and after winning the competition, performing a sonic rainboom for your brother and Princess Cadance, and using my wings to help Ponyville in many ways, I thought that I maybe could finally be accepted.” She hung her head. “But I doubted myself. I felt that I couldn’t do it. That I wasn’t good enough. Rarity was right, I was nervous, more than nervous; I was terrified.”
She looked at the 1010 scroll, resting within the obelisk, waiting to be resealed and once again locked away from creation and those who might use it.
“Then I saw the scroll, and how to use it. Luckily for me it was just before the right time, so I simply followed the instructions and not long after I received a letter from Spitfire confirming my acceptance into the group. It was a dream come true, so I didn’t tell you what I had done, or asked why. I simply accepted.”
“It sounds like you did everything right, Rainbow. How is this your fault?” asked Twilight.
“In my excitement I did not think about what could happen. I thought I knew what was happening and thought I could control it. I always can. I always have.” Said Rainbow sadly. Twilight smiled in memory. Still bold, still brave, as Rainbow Dash always was. Rainbow took a breath and continued. “But when the time came to rebalance it I was distracted.”
“Distracted? How?”
“I kept hearing a voice. I think it was just my conscious tormenting me. It kept telling me how great I was and then belittling me. When I was done arguing I simply fell asleep, and then all this started happening.”
“Wait, so you didn’t rebalance it?” Twilight exclaimed.
Rainbow merely shook her head. Twilight attempted to form words, but found none that were correct. Celestia walked over to the pair.
“But…wouldn’t the balance just be removing me from the group, or even having it disband? How could I have caused this?” Rainbow asked the unicorn.
“Rainbow used the 1010 spell to allow her to join a group. One pony joins another small group; the balancing would have been minimal. Twilight, do you remember what I told you about what the scroll does should the balance not be reset?”
“Reset itself. Overcompensate for the unbalance.” Twilight replied gravely, the stories of genocide and mass destruction from Equestria’s lesser-known history flooding back to her.
“Yes. Rainbow joined a group, and you are correct that the balance would be having ponies leave a group.” Celestia told the blue pony. “However, the passing of time increases the unbalance, causing the spell to take drastic measures in order to be certain that the balance is completely reset. No mistakes. So, one pony joins, many ponies leave.”
“How many?” Twilight inquired.
“We won’t know for certain until they have all left and a census is taken, but I would guess about one tenth of Equestia’s population has left.”
“Where did they go?”
“They headed into the Everfree. We don’t know why, but I’m also guessing it has something to do with the fact that 1010’s magic exists within the farthest reaches thanks to Twilight.”
Rainbow turned to now look upon Twilight with surprised eyes. The latter hastily attempted to redeem herself and justify her actions.
“But…no, I-I was trying to help. Sure…surely you can’t blame me.”
“Your decisions, your lack of judgment and weakness of willpower, caused this. If you had left the spell where it had been kept, up till the day I showed you, then none of this would have happened.” Accused Celestia, glaring down at the spluttering unicorn, “I do not know what presence 1010 now holds within the Mist. You can be certain, however, that it will not be contained. The creatures of the Everfree are drawn to power, as it is the greatest that rules the others. Why my subjects would travel there is unknown to me presently. Once we have regained order throughout Equestria I will send ponies out to follow and report.”
“The ponies who left,” interjected Rainbow, “any of our friends?”
“I know Pinkie left, I do not know about the others.” Twilight answered solemnly.
“What?” Rainbow began to retreat into the room, staring in disbelief at Twilight, “No…I couldn’t have. I don’t hurt anypony, especially my friends.”
“It was an accident.”
“No! I-how could I have been so foolish?” Rainbow bellowed.
She continued to back up, distancing herself from the pair. Muttering in disbelief, keeping her gaze locked, accompanied by small turns of the head. She continued the unnerving course of action until she found herself backed into one of the many obelisks. Distracted, Rainbow broke her line of sight and turned to now read the sign placed upon the dark stone monument. It read: Amaranthine.
“Fitting, how you should back into a new type of magic you will become very familiar with.” Celestia muttered.
Rainbow was not familiar with the word written upon the plaque, and backed away from the thing, yet upon hearing Celestia’s quiet announcement cast her eyes about, yearning for an exit.
“There is no way out, Rainbow.” Celestia’s vision was cold and unyielding. “You must face your punishment.”
“Let me help,” Rainbow replied, now retreating in a singular direction.
“You will be.” Celestia calmly informed her, “You will ensure that this never happens again.”
Rainbow sprinted to the far wall, preparing to rise into the air. There she still had some control. Yet her wings became bound, complicating her movements and causing her to trip. She cranked her neck around to see Celestia shatter the Amaranthine obelisk. Inside lay a golden rose, lined with a very fine gold, and a stem of purest emerald green. Thorns coated the stem, each one curved towards the ground, as if yearning to escape the flower. Twilight stood dumfounded and helpless as she watched the Princess raise the flower from the obelisk and remove a single flawless petal from the head. Another quickly rose to replace the petal. Celestia replaced the Amaranthine and strode towards the struggling Dash.
“This is a petal of an Amaranthine flower,” Celestia informed the pony calmly, inspecting the fragment of plant, “the Amaranthine is an eternal life. It will never die, never wither, never loose its way, nor its petals. As such, it causes immortality in ponies as well. It causes them to never age, never grow sick or old. They do not gain any other strength from it, yet as the flower cannot move, and is bound to a single place for all eternity, the petals of the Amaranthine can bind a pony to a single place, such as this room for instance.”
Rainbow increased her struggle against the magical restraints as she watched the alicorn slowly approach her. The petal floated in front of her, close to the ever-flowing mane.
“You see, you are the element of Loyalty, correct? Well then, you now have the opportunity to be more loyal than anypony for eternity. I had trusted Twilight with protection of the 1010 scroll, yet it seems its tantalizing allure proved too much for even her. You will guard the House of Four Doors until either the world ends or something destroys you.”
“No!” Rainbow cried, struggling. Yet it was all folly, as even her great strength could not usurp the magic of the immortal.
Celestia had reached the Pegasus, cold and indifferent. Twilight had begun to approach them, but to this she paid no attention. She summoned her magic and held Rainbow still, then placed the petal upon her forehead. For a moment nothing happened, then the petal simply sunk into her head, causing Rainbow to go very quiet, very still. Celestia released her magic, yet Rainbow did not rise.
“Why did you do that?” Twilight demanded of the Princess. “What’s happened to you?”
“I did what was necessary, my student. Be glad it was not you.”
Celestia called upon a perfect memory of a hallway within her palace. The image formulated before them rapidly, coming together to become a reality. Twilight looked towards the still very calm and quiet Rainbow Dash, who still refused to move, and began to move towards her. Celestia extended a wing around her student and forcefully cast her through the image and into the hallway, following quickly. Twilight rose quickly in the Canterlot passage to find Celestia moving away from her, silently weeping.
Reunion and Revolt, or the Art of Unknowing
His name was an archaic slur of barely plausible syllables pulled together into one string of sound purely made for him. So he could have an identity. So he could be like the rest of Equestria’s ponies. He was not though, and he knew that he would never be the same. He was born out of power and into a position of endless servitude, but for the longest time he did not mind this, as he was born without a mind. No conscious mind to ponder life with, or his position. He, for the longest time, accepted the fact that he was where he was, and there was no way to change that. So he faced his fate, in the sickeningly low light and stood in obedience to his princess.
But that was a long time ago.
His eyes may be absolute black, for he had no soul to speak of, but it was only that way because he now had a mind. Before, back when he was a servant of Celestia, and the rest of the Equestrian rulers, his eyes had been white. Blank of everything that made a pony a pony. But then his mind came to be, thoughts swirled in his head: contemplation, mathematics, philosophies, theories, speculations, logic, debate and more had filled what used to be empty, and as such his eyes took on a different hue. The opposite side of the spectrum took the place of whiteness, just as the opposite had taken the place of emptiness. True, he did not have a soul, but this was of no consequence to him. He had lived long enough without one, and he had never felt any real need to try and claim one, or to even think about what he was missing. For what he lacked internally, his external form compensated. He was almost the same size as most male ponies, perhaps a bit smaller than the truly large ones, but tall and broad enough to not simply blend in with a crowd. His coat was a dusty grey, his mane was haggard and torn, and his hooves were cracked. He had a white horn, which gave off constant light, but was dim enough to only truly be seen at night, when Luna has decided to hide her prison. As for his cutie mark, he had tried relentlessly over the years to rid himself of it, those accursed golden scales that marked his hide. But even his magic could not undo them, or make them tilt to either side.
But now, through a long, dark, and painful road, he had found himself as far away from Equestria as he could go: the Mist. Only here, at the farthest edge of the Everfree Forest, did he feel like he had escaped his past life. True, he had attempted to settle in other areas of the forest, but either ponies were already present, or there was enough resistance to intrusion, too much for even him, that he was pushed out. Other sections he had regarded, but decided that the risk was too great. During his journey to the far side of the great forest he had found legends and myths to be real. The creatures and monsters designed to scare ponies were either real or based off of actual beasts. The stories told about the times before Equestria, back when ponies were divided and scattered across the face of the world, many had become real to him as well. He knew that he was not indestructible, but it was his prior arrogant attitude that he had nearly killed himself on several occasions when trying to settle where something already lived. He was powerful, yes, and exceptionally skilled when it came to magic, not to mention the fact that what he specialized in varied from time to time without his say in the matter, or that his power fluctuated throughout the day, which was both a disadvantage and a blessing in one.
But here, in the Mist, he had only encountered a few others besides himself. Strange, dark, small beings that clung to branches and trees, merely silhouettes save for the bright, staring eyes. He could not tell what they were, exactly, as they seemed to be a mixture of many different beings he had learned about. Many seemed to be able to fly, or to burrow. Several had long fingers and ears, and were very fast and would slip away in the blink of an eye if you managed to get too close. Others were larger and resembled something brought out of the Void, but they were far too benevolent, not to mention timid, to be related to the Void too much, in at all. During the time he had first encountered these, he had begun to worry about what else could be out here. If other creatures had escaped from their own prisons and come here in the haze for refuge. Shades from Equestria’s neighboring realm possibly, if they somehow found a way to break down the walls of reality and slip in to theirs. But the chances were slim; if the shades were truly around, he would have encountered one by now.
But the thing that he had happened upon was more troubling than anything currently. He felt that he had been brought to it somehow. Whether he had found it through fate, or merely a stroke of bad lucky, it scared him. From the moment he was within five meters of it he could feel it reaching down inside of him, pulling him forward in a sinister, yet friendly way. By the time he could see the Circle, he knew by what means it was created. How, he did not know, and by the chance that it had arrived here was even more troubling to him. The spell had been cast recently enough to track and discern the caster’s purpose. The stallion conjured his own magic, ivory white horn sparkling in the gloom, and brought forth a pair of magical tendrils to prod the Circle, to discover what he longed to know. As soon as his magic had started its way forward toward the target, the pony could feel the immense amount of resistance that was waiting for him. It was almost like a series of veils, each one had to be lifted and put aside before the next one could be seen. His instincts told him that each veil of resistance would be different than the last, and as such his approach would have to be withdrawn and tried again from a different angle. He halted his magic just before reaching the first obstacle and regarded whether this was, in fact, a good idea. If his investigation of the circle and the spell that conjured it was successful, he would be able to see who had enough power, knowledge, and the means to cast the spell in this particular place. On the other hand, if his new interest did hold enough power, his plan to discover could backfire and his location would be known. But this was not the greatest worry he had by far. If he was seen, then Equestria would know that the Mist was hospitable for ponies. After all, the chances that anypony who knew him was still alive, save for the Alicorns, were slim. Word may reach Celestia and her dark sister eventually, but would the word contain who was seen when the identification backfired?
The pony delved inside his mind, thinking over the various possibilities and aftermath. But for all of the reasoning against his actions, he could not move past the fact that there was only a hoof-full of ponies who even knew of his existence. Far less knew of his origin and magical abilities, being as unique as they were. The dusty-grey coat and ragged mane shifted upon him as an unwelcome breeze managed to find its way in off the ocean. The midnight-colored eyes fixed upon the circle, and once again the magic tendrils were summoned forth. The first veil lifted smoothly, quickly followed by the second and third. Upon the fourth the tendrils were repelled twice. The strange magical barrier protecting the circle pulsed a mystical energy, attempting to keep the intruding magic at bay for as long as possible. The tendrils pushed through their invisible adversary and glanced harmlessly upon the fourth and final veil of power. The black eyes narrowed upon this; his horn shimmered. He slunk around the circumference of the circle, testing it. The veil held firm. He stopped, thought, circled again, and reconsidered. There was always the option of destroying it. According to his internal clock he still had control of a great amount of power. So what would prevent him? It was not a question he needed to ask. He was attempting to carefully track the spell back to its caster. Due to the powerful nature of this spell, and the careful operation to tap into it, the slightest mistake would cause reflection on the other end. Time would eventually erase that, and the caster would no longer be connected enough to feel anything. Risks, risks. Was it worth it?
“Yes.” He rasped into the mist. His voice was dry and hollow, much like that of the sound of a breeze working its way through an abandoned, dusty pipe
The veil waited before him, and he before it. His horn flashed. Magic exploded from the Circle where the fourth veil had stood. All that remained was the Circle, and the core of a spell. He had known it from first sight. It was his spell, the greatest spell ever conceived, a magnificent tool locked away by idiotic princesses, 1010.
“Hello again.” He whispered to the Circle. “It seems that no matter how far I am, I must take care of you. Ensure that the balance remains.”
The Circle made no response of any kind.
“After all,” he continued, “we have no choice but to be together, right? Balance and Balancer. So, what have you become now?”
He summoned his magic and cast it upon a nearby tree. The tree withered.
“Sickness.” Balancer shook his head in disapproval. “This was an act of resetting the balance, I am aware by your nature. But to conjure such power for a mere plague? Will they never learn how to really use you?”
The Circle crept forward slightly, beyond the toadstools, which seemed immune to the disease.
“Foolish, aren’t they? To attempt to use you and to believe that they are still in control. Well, you have managed to find your way to me, coming back to the one who stood by your obelisk for all those years. A once soulless shell of a pony, and yet it is me who you come to. Not to the tombs of your creators, for they were also too restraint. But this is not like I have ever seen you before. What are you? What did you make your caster do?”
Balancer focused his energy upon the circle, similar magic powers met and he formed his spell. It was a simple process, to trace a spell back to the caster once you had mastered it. Any mental defenses the caster may have in place, with or without their knowledge, should be lessened/gone since he had destroyed the fourth veil instead of working his way through. Slowly, an image formed. It was a unicorn: small, purple, hard working and had the look of a powerful magician all about her.
“I see you.”
The withered grass collapsed into dust.
Twilight Sparkle had been sleeping, a deep and dreamless sleep spurred on by the use of the 1010 spell. At one point she had managed to awaken and drag herself to her bed. The night cast its own spell of slumber and rest upon the citizens of Equestria, having grown its midnight state. All seemed well. Yet, even for the state of dreamlessness, Twilight was not at ease. Her ever-working mind could feel something working its way in until only her magic and willpower held the intruder back. It was peaceful for a time, then a bright flash of light exploded behind her eyes, scattering her thoughts, filling her very being, causing her to wake in excruciating pain. Twilight screamed as the invading light ripped its way out of her, causing her muscles to endure violent spasm. Her back arched, stars exploded in her eyes, her legs thrashed, and a searing pain shot down her horn. She cringed, screamed again, curled up, and began to weep. It was a silent cascade of tears; the silvery droplets ran silently down her cheeks, her soft whimpering urging them on. But her screams had not gone unheard; Spike was there in a heartbeat.
“Twilight, what’s wrong? Are you alright?” He came up to her bedside, nervous but ready.
Twilight didn’t answer. She kept crying, the last of the pain was fading, but it was the initial shock that kept her devastated.
“Twilight?” It was clear that Spike was concerned and very unsure of what to do. He wrung his claws together and looked around anxiously. “I’ll go get some help.”
He started to turn, but the purple unicorn managed to find her voice.
“No,” she gasped weakly at him, “please stay.”
“Ok, I’ll stay. What do you need?”
“I…don’t know.” She shuddered. The tears had slowed, but refused to stop. She needed sleep, but any chance had been driven out for a while by the light. Where had it come from? It had caused her to feel immense pain all over her body, but it had started in her mind. Something had invaded the very recessed of her mind, striking at her very core. Hers was a brilliant mind, no denying, and yet it could not hold back whatever had invaded. Why would somepony want to attack her, much less her mind? She moved a hoof up and wiped away a few of her tears. Spike reached a hand forward, and then withdrew it; unsure of whether it was a good idea.
Silence, pure and exact, had adopted the room. Twilight’s eyes had finally dried, and she felt the first effects of tiredness. Spike was still wide-awake, attentive, and as nervous as to his job from the first moment he had arrived at her side.
“Anything I can get you?” he asked gently. Twilight shook her head. “Do you want to talk about it?”
Twilight sighed and glanced at him through two very hurt eyes. They were still red from the tears.
“There was…this thing, inside my head, while I was sleeping. I knew it was there, but I didn’t, and…oh!” She rolled back over. “I don’t know how to describe it, it just happened.”
“It’s all right, we can talk about it in the morning. Perhaps one of your friends can offer advice, or the princess.”
The princess? Would Celestia know anything about this? Surely she could find some book, or maybe her teacher knew about this and could give some advice. Right now, all she needed was some sleep.
“Maybe. Maybe I just need some sleep.”
“Ok. I’ll be close.” Spike extinguished the light, and there was darkness. Twilight slept the rest of the night relatively undisturbed, save for a strange dream. She was walking next to a pony she had never seen before. He was a dusty-grey and did not seem to notice her; or maybe he just didn’t care. Try as she may, Twilight could not see his face and before long he disappeared into a mist, and she returned to dreamless slumber.
The next morning Twilight rose at an early hour, but was convinced by Spike to sleep in. The night’s events were still very vivid, but were more bearable in the sunlight. Any traces of pain had left her, and her mind was quickly coming back together, resealing the barriers of her mind. Spike cooked her breakfast and brought it to her before she had the chance to get up, insisting that it was better for her to, as he put it, take it slow for a while. No sense in straining herself. But taking a day off was not on her agenda, not entirely anyway. She did want to visit her friends and do some studying. Maybe see if she could send another friendship letter to the princess. Not that it was needed, of course, but something told her it was a good idea to keep busy. Speaking of writing letters, she could talk to the princess about what had happened; some simple advice couldn’t hurt.
The day went rather smoothly, she did decide to take it slowly and try not to stress herself. A headache rose during the afternoon, but subsided quickly enough. It was a gloomy day, with great, grey clouds blotting out the sun. Perhaps it would rain; some rain would be nice. Twilight managed to talk with Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy, as she began to loose track of time during their conversations, and knew she had business to take care of back home at the library. Studying, reading, writing, the works…it was what she truly loved.
It was late by the time she returned to her library. Spike, having been wide-awake from recent events, was already sound asleep. She moved nearly soundlessly, and carefully in the dark. Several times she thanked her photographic memory, as she was able to move blindly through the library’s rooms with grace. Every detail was noted in her mind, down to the couple of pencils that had fallen off just before she had left. Twilight worked her way up to her private study, listened to ensure that Spike was still asleep, unlocked the door, and entered. Quite a few candles that circled the inner walls illuminated the room. Twilight blinked, she hadn’t remembered that she had lit those candles the previous night. Then again…can’t be expected to remember everything from that night. She sighed and moved over to one of the bookshelves on the right side of the room and began scanning it. Her magic scanned with her, removing books that she was interested in, and placing them in a stack behind her. She took a quick glance with her eyes to see how high her stack was getting, turned back, and then snapped back around. The 1010 scroll was rolled up at the top of her desk. She knew that she definitely hadn’t rolled it after its last use. Perhaps Spike had…but he never came in here without specific permission. So…how? She shook her head and closed her eyes. She must have rolled it up. She tried moved over to another bookshelf and continued her scanning, but the scroll kept just within her peripherals. Try as she may to ignore it, she found that she could not.
Hello.
Twilight’s blood turned to ice. She very fluidly turned herself around to find exactly what she expected: nothing. Very slowly she turned back around to the bookshelf, gazing at it, but looking as far as she could to the side, waiting. There was silence. Eventually, it was the pony who spoke.
“Who are you?” she whispered without turning.
Nothing.
“Please.” She pressed.
The sounds of silence smiled back at her.
“What do you want?” This time she did turn, just her head.
Hello.
“Where are you?” Twilight managed to turn and face the emptiness.
Hello.
“Hello?”
Hello. Hello. Hello. Hello. Hello. Hello.
The voice continued to greet her, coming from every different angle surrounding her. There was laughter behind the words, not friendly nor cruel. The voice grew louder and closer, she sunk and covered her head with her front hooves. Why was this happening to her? It grew louder, the voice, the laughter, the pressure.
“Stop it!” she yelled. The voice and laughter immediately ceased. She was alone. Her books stood as they had been, neatly stacked. No papers were disturbed, the door was closed and all was well. She gently opened the door and peeked out. Nothing. Looks like Spike was still asleep. She shook her head and pulled the door closed again. Twilight looked back at her desk. 1010 lay on top of it, rolled up. The unicorn moved over to it. It was fine. There was a mild charge in the air around it, but this was to be expected. She had had the same revelation many times before with other spells; nothing to be too concerned about. Unless…tapped the scroll with a hoof. Nothing.
“Has to be.” She mused aloud. “It was because I used you that I was hurt, wasn’t it?”
She nodded gravely, and turned away. If these were the after effects of using the spell, then it was no doubt that it was time to give it up and return it to the House of Four Doors. Getting past Celestia would be a bit of a trick, but the fact that she was completely trusted and every guard in the city knew here did help. Twilight just needed to be sure that nopony else discovered the spell in Ponyville and used it without knowing what it was. She turned to her pile of books, and began to skim the titles; trying to decide which one she would read first. As perused the various subjects, she slowly became aware of the fact that the fur on the back of her neck had begun to stand upright. After one or two attempts to pat it down, it was clear that it was did not want to lay flat. Twilight stood motionless for a second, testing the air around her. Sure enough, there was a charge all about her, most likely from that spell. The sooner she got rid of it, the better. The charge grew.
I see you.
The charge fell away immediately. Twilight did not bother to be careful or cautious. She turned as she would if regarding a friend, to find the exact scenario that fit her expectations: nothing. The only thing that bothered the unicorn was that the voice had never been accompanied by a charge before. The voice had come and gone at its leisure, with no warning such as this. But it was the same thought that continuously coursed through her mind: the spell could make anything happen, so what does it matter if something different. It was likely that the first voice was the effects of using the spell, or even being around it. So what did it matter if something slightly new happened? Then again... and idea struck her. The voice did have some degree of intellect, as it had almost bartered with her in the matter of the Circle. It really did want her to use it to make a Circle, whatever that was, and did respond to her at that moment. What would happen if she spoke first, instead of waiting for it to initiate another useless conversation? What would happen if she told it that it would go back to being imprisoned again?
“I’m sorry to inform you,” the unicorn said aloud, still focusing upon her books, “that you will be leaving shortly. I am tired of you, and you have hurt me. So I will be returning you to your obelisk.”
There was nothing, and then the voice reappeared.
We’ll see about that.
The response had been naught more than a whisper, right behind her ear. It was the first time the voice had a truly malicious tone to it. Twilight glanced over at the scroll and narrowed her eyes. We will see indeed.
Vareen had been recruited for the purpose, and behind his lead several other disreputable ponies had been drawn in. Ras was beginning to feel good. What made things all the sweeter was that everything was happening right under Celestia’s pretty, white nose. More than that was the unexpected pleasure of having everypony happy with the choice of Vareen as leader of the rebellion. Ras, while being taken aback by this sudden agreement, could not have asked for better. Vareen leads the troops, while he undermines the operation. Canterlot will fall, Vareen will be disposed off in some manner, probably Flailer’s doing, and then the throne of Equestria would be free for the taking. He did not have a wicked smile, but it was his grin that could send several consecutive chills down a pony’s spine. He usually hid his grin for ideal opportunities, such as the time where he would reveal to his loyal associates what had really been happening. That time was still far into the future, but it would come.
“Hey, Ras?” a voice came from behind him. He turned to see Flailer, sitting with a concerned look adorned.
“Yes?” he was irked by the intrusion, but solitude was not a luxury that he needed currently.
“I was just wondering, you know…” Flailer mumbled.
“Speak up.”
“What is our plan?” Flailer stated tactlessly.
“Flailer, why do you want to know?” Ras turned his back to his associate.
“I don’t understand what we are doing.” He stopped, then quickly continued to speak as if redeeming himself. “So I can be of more help.”
Ras onyx eyes shifted as he turned his head slightly, just enough to fix his gaze upon the earth pony. His horn shimmered but subsided.
“Flailer, I can’t have my plan leaking out to the others. Can I trust you?”
“Yeah.”
“I know I can. You know what will happen if you start talking, right?”
Flailer looked down at the ground and traced a lanky hoof around on the ground as if he was a young colt who had been caught doing something wrong.
“You’ll kill me.” he said sheepishly.
“In a really terrible way.” Ras confirmed. He turned to face his partner. The tall, skinny, earth pony looked up with sad eyes. “Believe me, my friend, you don’t want that to happen. So can I trust you not to tell Vareen and the others?”
“Yeah.” Flailer replied softly.
Ras smiled, he had considered telling Flailer out of his own accord, but he needed the latter to step up and think for himself if this was to work out. He needed at least one other to know at least some of his intentions, just so that those who must follow blindly would have another pony to look confirm when things didn’t make sense. Flailer was his insurance and the closest thing he had ever had to a friend.
“My plan is simple in theory, but in reality it will take careful planning and timing in order to pull it off. As you may remember me mentioning, I see no reason to make a revolution bloody. We want to overtake Equestria, and when all is said and done we want there to be ponies still living here. Without a population, the entire feat is pointless. So we must be quiet about what is happening so the eyes and ears of Canterlot won’t know what is happening until it is too late.” He paused to watch the other; he seemed to be keeping up. “We start by gathering followers here. When we have enough ponies, we strike silently. This will require knowing the identities of the ponies who report back to the princess, the royal guard, ect. We need to know who needs to be silenced first so no word gets out and everything seems to be going smoothly. We eventually force the ponies running this city to submit, and as long as they are quiet and follow orders, they will remain alive. Once we are in control of the city, we will begin plans to convert the population into our army. Many are still angry at the alicorns, but do not know of our crusade as of yet. Those who do not want to join will have a choice: join or be an example. It shouldn’t take more than a few brutally killed ponies to get the point across. As we amass a larger following for our cause, we will spread our members out to various cities, as far away from Canterlot as possible, and have them take over those cities in the same fashion. Then we sneak closer to Canterlot, silently snatching up every city, town, and province that is along the way. This is how we are going to take Equestria for ourselves and remove the royalty from their power.”
Flailer put a hoof to his chin and processed what he had just heard. Ras watched him, silently guessing what questions were about to follow.
“But…” Flailer stuttered, still gathering his thoughts “how will we get the throne when we do what you just said? Won’t Vareen get it because he’s in charge?”
“Good, you’re thinking. This is how we get to Canterlot, and how we overwhelm Celestia and her Dark Sister. At the point when Celestia has surrendered and everypony thinks that the rebellion is done, we will let things settle for a bit. Then, when Vareen is sitting upon the throne, ripe for attack, we will arrange for some sort of accident to occur. Whether a group of soldiers got loose and killed Vareen, or the Everfree decided to unleash something horrific, or just a lone assassin in the dark; something will cause Vareen to fall. I must gain his trust to the point where he puts me in charge just below his lofty position. Then nopony will object when I take the throne. If this doesn’t work out, however, I will just have to deal with anypony who disagrees with my ascension accordingly. I assume you would help me should this come to be?”
“You know I will.” The lanky pony nodded.
Ras walked past Flailer to study the city through the doorway through which Flailer had entered. It was a dirty, bleak city. Ras’ mane and coat reflected it accordingly.
“Ras?” Flailer came close to his master.
“Oh, nothing. I was just thinking.” Ras turned his back to the city and began to stroll back into the gloom filling the room.
“No, I had a question.”
“My apologies go ahead.”
“Whose Balancer? You seemed nervous when you asked about him.”
“I don’t know. But when I was not more than a young colt living in Canterlot I heard Celestia mention him once or twice, seemed to be somepony of importance. Then when I was…left Canterlot I heard of him again from ponies who would never have an audience with the Princess, much less her pupils or teachers. Chances are it’s not the same pony, but who knows. If the pony who is known to cause trouble in operations such as this one is dead, then that is all we need to care about.”
Flailer sat on his hind legs and thought. Ras reminisced of his former life.
“How did you know the Princess?” Flailer put to the onyx pony.
“I was a student at her academy. It was my home, and I couldn’t have been happier.” His eyes glazed over as the memories rushed back to him. “I used to live in one of the southern towers with several other students. We were all good friends. There was Coral Sea, a greenish-blue pegasus pony with a dark blue mane.. Now there was a pony who could fly. Oh, and there was Abstract, which was just a nickname, but he was destined to be a painter. I did tell you I grew up in Canterlot, right?”
“You did.” Flailer confirmed. “Did Celestia ever teach you?”
“Hardly ever. She had her own pupil, some unicorn prodigy or whatever. Didn’t matter to us though, we had the best teacher: Annequine. Every colt in the class loved her.”
Ras trailed off, as the glaze of happiness left him and his attention turned back to the cold darkness that surrounded him. Flailer took note of what was happening and quickly left, hoping to avoid the wrath that would come. Ras did not share his past with anypony, much less a pony as mentally incompetent as him.
Vareen had successfully secured the shady street where he lived. Every structure nearby had been converted to the purpose. The ponies under his employ were sweeping the streets, recruiting or disregarding. Rooms began to fill, numbers rose, and the turn of the tide could be felt. The hazy sky above Manehattan shrouded their actions from any watchful eyes above, and the hoofsteps of those desperately loyal to the failing princess were watched and retraced. Those who presented problems began to disappear, key members of the city’s security factor took unexplained vacations or quit, yet the general tone of the city never wavered. The city’s press and media outlets had been among the first to be overwhelmed. The editors, writers, and photographers were given other jobs or opportunities. The reaction was to be expected; they were the ones printing the miseries that Equestria was going through. So who would become suspicious if another couple of things went wrong? Far away, of course. Anyone who received news from the post would see the same thing they would be expecting.
This was not the first city Vareen had taken over, but it was the largest. Even Ras had to admit, the Pegasus knew his craft, and had no qualms about doing nearly whatever it took to complete whatever mission he was on. The brain-dead ponies who waited outside his personal quarters had been scattered for the most part all about the city. Apt at guarding, apt at sabotage, apt at fixing problems, and without a will, much less a mind, of their own was the perfect combination for a pony set on personal gain like Vareen. Other ponies of reputation had been recruited as leaders, yet none went against the white pony and his horde for his grand position.
“There you go, hope you are comfortable.” She whispered to the scroll as the ties of one of her saddlebags were secured. She closed her eyes and her horn began to glow. The bag became illuminated in a purple aura. The aura subsided and the bag shimmered. She smiled, it had taken a lot of work to make that spell. Just a few months ago Princess Celestia had helped her to craft a spell that would provide a barrier that could only be breached by those who had her absolute trust.
She levitated the bag and placed it upon her desk within the main room of the library.
“Spike! I’m going out for a bit!” she called up to the dragon who was busy organizing and reshelving her books. His hand appeared, waved, and disappeared again. “Rainbow is coming over in just a few minutes to pick up something I found for her, give it to her when she comes please!”
Then she was gone. Spike looked up in bewilderment, rolled his eyes, and assumed he would find whatever it was during his chore.
The library was an absolute mess. Twilight, for all of her organization, had never truly learned to put her books back on the shelves after she was done with them. It was the same with her personal belongings, often scattered about the library or their room. It drove Spike to the brink, but something told him that he sort of liked it. He was her number one assistant, and it felt good to be doing something. He worked his way down through the library, sorting as he went. As he passed by the walls of the main room, he managed to knock a saddlebag over.
“Dang.” He muttered as he picked up the fallen contents. There were a fair number of books and a note addressed to Rainbow Dash. “Hmm…Dear Rainbow, I found you some copies of the first of the Daring Doo series so you can start your own collection. Oh, that’s what she was talking about.”
He scooped up the fallen contents back into the bag and set it on Twilight’s desk. Not two minutes later the blue Pegasus herself came speeding in through the door.
“Hi Spike!” she greeted the dragon warmly.
“Hey Rainbow. I assume you’re hear for the gift?”
“I guess so. Twilight just said that she had something for me. Is she here?”
“You just missed her, but I happen to know that she gave you some books.”
“I can’t believe I used to believe that reading was for eggheads.” Rainbow laughed. “Where are they?”
“Oh, they are in the saddlebag there on the desk.”
“Thanks Spike, tell Twilight thanks for me next time you see her.”
“Will do.”
Spike turned to pick up a fallen book as Rainbow whisked over to the desk, but hesitated.
“Which bag?” Rainbow asked over her shoulder, looking from one bag to the other.
“Huh?” Spike called back.
“There’s two here.”
“I think they’re both for you. You know how Twilight is about books.”
“Heh, yeah. See ya.”
Rainbow left the library, Twilight’s saddlebags on either side of her as she took off in direction of her cloud home. In one bag an assortment of books Twilight knew her athletic friend enjoys, in the other a deadly error in judgment waited. The sun shone.
