The Meaning of Harmony

Chapters

The Forges of Harmony
The Adventure Begins
Into the Earth
The Next Step
Echoes of the Past
Ocean of Sand
Mesmerizing and Misunderstanding
A Sinking Feeling
Off to Meet the Blizzard
Forgotten Sins
Ends and Beginnings
Once More With Feeling

The Forges of Harmony

Author's Note

At long, long last I have finished a chapter of a fanfic again. For those who still remember: I’d love to hear some constructive criticism from you. How can I better myself as a writer, and what am I doing well? It’s well within you rights to flame, clearly, but even if you hate every word I’ve written try to let me know why you hated it so much. I can’t improve if people only say ‘You suck’, or conversely ‘Good job.’ With that said, enjoy the story!

The Forges of Harmony

It was dark, darker than it should be even for a moonless night. And yet, Sunset Shimmer knew she was outside.

The wind blew past her and she felt the cold slice through her mane. The magic in her body was restless and uneasy, and the warmth she could normally draw from it seemed to have been sucked out with all the light.

Sunset knew she was surrounded by trees, but their leaves made no sound, even when the wind swept through the branches. Something inside her told her that the wind was not natural and that whatever was causing this was the cause of this eerie darkness.

Trying to harness her restless magic, Sunset attempted to shine a light from her horn, but the effort only served to make her magic even more restless and she couldn’t manage to rein it in.

Shivering, Sunset began to walk in the direction from which the wind was blowing. She walked slowly, making sure not to bump into any trees. The forest floor, like everything else around her, felt unnaturally cold and hard.

Sunset pressed on through the trees, pushing through some bushes, which cracked as if made of brittle glass. Up ahead, a light shone through the trees. It had a magenta color, a color Sunset felt she’d seen before, even though she couldn’t seem to recall where.

Rather than reassuring her, the light frightened her more than the darkness had done. The tree trunks were eerie in the light, and they seemed to be made entirely from crystal, including the leaves which scattered and refracted the light.

Sunset’s magic strained inside of her, desperate to meet the source of the light and join with it. It was madness to press on, but Sunset knew she had no choice. Like her magic, she felt compelled to continue in spite of her fears.

She walked on, glancing over her shoulder every now and then even though she knew she was alone. As she neared the light the temperature got lower and lower. Just another small thing that added to the uncanniness that emanated from this strange place.

The trees ended. Sunset entered a clearing and at last she could see the source of the light and the cold wind. Her breath caught in her throat.

In the very center of the perfectly circular clearing, she saw five ponies surrounding the source of the lights. They were standing completely still and the light shone through their bodies. They were made of crystal, just like everything else.

Their faces were still locked in an expression of utter shock. Their wide eyes saw nothing, but it was clear the last thing they’d witnessed had caught them completely off guard. That sight alone was shocking, but even more so was the realization that Sunset knew these ponies.

And if they were who she thought they were, then the source of the light could only be…

“Twilight!”

Sunset broke into a full gallop as she pushed her legs to limit, trying to reach her friends…and then she felt the magic inside her finally react with the unnatural force around her.

She couldn’t move. Her magic exploded into every part of her being, into the core of her very soul, and she faintly felt her hooves beginning to turn into crystal…

With a gasp, Sunset Shimmer sat up in her bed. She looked around the room. Her alarm clock showed that it was 3 AM. Her pajamas were soaked with sweat. She groaned. This was the third night in a row she’d had that nightmare.

It didn’t make sense. She wasn’t even in Equestria, and even though this world now had some of its magic as well it was still a far cry from her home.

‘My old home,’ she corrected herself.

She’d lived here for so long now it was as much a home to her as Equestria had ever been. She even had friends now and played in a band. Much different than how it had been when she studied under Princess Celestia in Canterlot.

She’d been arrogant and vain, always certain she’d achieve greatness and leave everyone else in the dust. All that had ended when she had used the stolen crown of Twilight Sparkle, the trigger of the Elements of Harmony, to take control of all the students of Canterlot High.

Twilight and her friends had used the Elements on Sunset and shattered her demonic force. More than that, it opened her eyes to the person she’d been nearly all her life.

Ever since then she had tried to make amends by being a nicer person. It was only after she and her friends defeated the evil Sirens that the rest of the school began to accept her, however.

She changed into dry pajamas and got back into bed. With a bit of luck, she’d be able to sleep peacefully until morning.

“Hey, Earth to Sunset! Are you awake?!” Rainbow Dash asked with what she’d describe as ‘slight annoyance’ in her voice.

“Uh, yeah, sorry Rainbow…I just, um, spaced for a second,” Sunset said.

The Rainbooms were having a practice session and she’d missed just about every note it was possible to miss.
“A second? You’ve been out of it for days! What if you get like this when we’re on stage? You’d ruin my chances of becoming a superstar!” Rainbow went on.

“Whoa there, Rainbow, take it easy,” Applejack stepped in. “I’m sure Sunset has a good reason to be distracted. Besides, we’re just practicing. I hope I don’t need to remind you that you not only showed up an hour late last week, you also forgot to tune your new strings. Everyone has off days.”

Rainbow Dash grumbled something, but she kept quiet.

“You do look like something’s bothering you, darling,” Rarity said. “Did something happen?”

Sunset looked at all of them and sighed.

“I’ve been having bad dreams for a couple of days,” she admitted, “and I haven’t heard from Twilight for a long time. I…I guess I’m a bit worried about her.”

Her friends smiled at her and stood closer to her.

“Are your bad dreams about Twilight?” Applejack asked.

Sunset began to shake her head, but then she said, “I guess in a manner of speaking they are.”

She told them about the dream, how her magic went wild and everything was cold and lifeless and crystallized, and how Twilight was at the center of it all.

“I don’t know why I’m having this dream, but I can’t help but think something bad is happening in Equestria,” Sunset finished her story.

“But darling, why didn’t you say so sooner? You should go there and make sure everything is okay. It is your home world, after all,” Rarity said.

“Yeah, and Twilight has helped us when we needed her too. If she needs us, we’ll be there to help,” Rainbow Dash said.

Sunset smiled at her friends. Even though she was beginning to understand more and more about the magic of friendship, things like this still gave her a warm feeling inside.

“It wouldn’t be smart for you to go to Equestria. There are other versions of you there, and it wouldn’t be good if you meet your other selves.”

“But you and Twilight came here and nothing bad happened-” Applejack began.

“Except for that one time Sunset became a demon and tried to take over the entire world,” Pinkie piped up.

Her friends sent her an angry glare, but Pinkie ignored it.

“Anyway,” Applejack went on, “You didn’t cause the world to explode as soon as you came through the portal or something. And you and Twilight should have counterparts here too, right?”

Sunset bit her lip. “Yes, but while we were fortunate enough not to run into them, we still brought Equestrian magic to a world that isn’t supposed to have any. You saw what the Dazzlings could do; what if there are others who were once banished here and can now regain their powers? We can’t let the worlds become more connected than they already are. I think that’s the lesson Princess Celestia tried to teach me before I…”

Sunset fell silent and guiltily looked away from her friends.

“We understand, Sunset,” Fluttershy said softly. “If you need to go back to Equestria alone, that’s what you’ll have to do.”

Sunset shot her a brief smile, but then she got an anxious look again.

“What’s wrong?” Rainbow asked.

“It’s just that…I haven’t been in Equestria for so long. I don’t have that many good memories of the place and I certainly don’t have many friends there. What if…what if Princess Celestia sees me and banishes me again?”

Applejack put her hand on Sunset’s shoulder. “She won’t. Twilight will have told her about you, won’t she? I’m sure the Princess will know you’re a much better person now.”

Sunset smiled gratefully. Applejack was right. She didn’t have anything to worry about, and if it turned out that everything was okay she’d be able to come back quickly. Even so, the thought of returning to Equestria scared her almost as much as the eerie light in her dream.

The sun shone brightly over Canterlot High. Sunset and her friends were gathered around the statue that concealed the portal to Equestria. Sunset hugged each one of them in turn.

“You be careful there, you hear? We want to see you back in one piece,” Applejack said.

“Yeah, I don’t want the Rainbooms to be short a rhythm guitarist and backup singer,” Rainbow added.

“Do say hello to Twilight for me, darling,” Rarity said.

“If you meet any animals, just stay calm and friendly. They don’t want to hurt you,” Fluttershy advised her.

“And most importantly of all: don’t forget to PARTY!” Pinkie shouted, startling everyone.

Sunset looked fondly at them all. She had the backing of all her friends. With their support, there was no way she could fail.

“I…I don’t know how long I’ll be gone. I’ve left my book in my locker so I can stay in touch if it takes longer than expected,” Sunset said.

“Don’t worry. Take as long as you need to help Twilight,” Rainbow Dash said. “We’ll be waiting for you.”

With a final wave, Sunset turned around and stepped through the portal.

Pink and purple light filled Sunset’s vision momentarily and she felt a sense of vertigo washing over her as the portal transported her to Equestria. Then she felt ground under her hooves and she knew she was back in her own world.

Almost immediately she felt a warmth in her body that was familiar and yet somehow foreign. Her own magic finally coursed through her again and despite her discomfort in returning here it soothed her. At least it was as calm and warming as it had ever been, not restless like it was in her dreams.

Sunset looked around to see where she had emerged. Six ponies looked back at her from a circle of thrones in the center of the room. Although Sunset had only ever met one of them, the others were every bit as familiar as the purple alicorn now approaching her.

“Sunset Shimmer? What are you doing here?” Twilight asked with a surprised voice.

For a moment, Sunset was too overcome with joy and relief that her friend was okay that she couldn’t speak and just stared.
Then she recovered and said, “I hadn’t heard from you in such a long time and I’ve been having bad dreams so I was worried…”

Even as she said the words she felt childish. Of course Twilight was okay. She’d just worried her human friends for nothing and made a fool out of herself in front of Twilight’s pony friends. What Twilight said next, however, wiped away any joyful awkwardness.

“So have I…what have you been dreaming?” Twilight asked as she and Twilight walked into the circle of thrones.

Twilight took her place on her throne, next to which was a smaller throne for Spike. The other ponies hadn’t spoken yet. They seemed to be eager to hear Sunset’s story.

Sunset shot Spike a quick smile and then faced Twilight again. She told her about the dream, and how Twilight was the source of the eerie magic in it.

“…and it ends with me turning into crystal as well,” she concluded.

Twilight remained silent and looked around her group of friends.

“That sounds quite similar to yours, Twilight,” Applejack said.

“Kind of suspicious if you ask me,” Rainbow Dash said, giving Sunset a mistrustful look.

“I don’t think Sunset is to blame for this, Rainbow,” Twilight said.

She faced Sunset. “Like you, I’ve been dreaming about a forest, but in my dream it’s not crystallized yet. I’m in the clearing you described, but I’m alone. I hear a voice saying my name, but it’s more sinister and cold than I’ve ever heard. My magic…my magic rebels against me and I can’t control it. It lashes out at the sinister power and I feel my body turning into crystal.”

Twilight fell silent and smiled sheepishly.

“I apparently blasted my whole bedroom to bits in my sleep. You should be glad you were in the human world where there is less magic,” she went on.

“But that’s not all,” Rarity said. “Three weeks ago Princess Celestia came here to talk to us. Apparently there is a dark force at work in Equestria. She says that with Twilight’s new power, it might be possible to defeat this force and create a world of everlasting harmony.”

“The only problem is we don’t know what this force is called or how it operates. Not even Discord knew its true name. All he said was that it was a force older and more powerful than him. Sometimes it worked with him, sometimes it worked against him,” Twilight took over again.

“Discord told me the dark force worked with him whenever he was particularly destructive,” Fluttershy said softly.

Sunset frowned. “It’s not a force I’ve ever heard of either, even when I was searching all sorts of forbidden knowledge as a student of Princess Celestia’s,” she said.

She felt her cheeks burn as she admitted to some of her old betrayals, but the others thankfully didn’t mention it.

“If we only knew what it was, we could simply use the magic of our friendship to kick its flank,” Rainbow Dash said.

Sunset shook her head. “In my dream my magic rebelled against me. Twilight had the same problem. What if that magic goes out of control as well?” she asked.

“You worry too much. Our friendship has never failed,” Rainbow Dash said cockily.

“What about that time Discord hypnotized all of us to be all mean and nasty? Or when Tirek took all of our magic?” Pinkie Pie asked innocently.

“If you’ve noticed, we came out of both those things stronger than ever!” Rainbow Dash protested.

“Pinkie Pie is right, Rainbow. Our magic has been used against us before and we can’t rely on raw power without knowing what we’re facing. We could end up doing more harm than good,” Twilight said.

“Then what do you suggest we do?” Rainbow asked, throwing her hooves up in exasperation.

Twilight didn’t respond immediately, so it was Sunset who replied, “I…I think we should talk to Princess Celestia. Even though she knows about the situation she might have gained new insights since the last time you spoke. Also…well…I haven’t seen her in so long. I think it’s time for me to make amends for what I did.”

Sunset fidgeted a bit. If she’d still been human, she would have been playing with her hair. The thought of meeting Princess Celestia again after all she’d done scared her, but in a way she wanted nothing more than to see her old mentor again.

“I think that would be a smart idea. If you’ve been having these dreams even in the other world the forces at work here might threaten that world as well,” Twilight said.

“Then what are we waiting for? Let’s get to Canterlot!” Applejack said. She jumped up from her throne and looked at the others, who followed suit.

Only Twilight remained seated a moment longer, lost in thought about something.

“Um, Twi? Are you coming?” Applejack asked.

Twilight blinked a couple of times, looking like she’d just woken up.

“Yeah…I’m coming. Let’s go,” she said as she got up.

Twilight waited until her friends had left the throne room before turning to Sunset.

“I know how hard it is for you to face Princess Celestia. I think you’re doing a really brave thing,” she said.

Sunset felt her cheeks flush and she looked away. She didn’t feel like she deserved any praise for doing what she should have done long ago. Still, she felt somewhat reassured as she followed Twilight out of the throne room.

The royal palace in Canterlot still looked as majestic as Sunset remembered. Now, though, it also had something intimidating. Within those walls the pony she’d betrayed was waiting for her. Twilight had sent Princess Celestia a message even as they were on their way to Canterlot. She’d received a response mere minutes later.

“Dear Princess Twilight Sparkle,
It’s good to hear that Sunset Shimmer has returned, even though the circumstances are dire. Princess Luna, Princess Cadance and I will be waiting for you in the palace in Canterlot.
Princess Celestia”

The seven ponies and Spike entered the palace and were greeted by two Pegasus guards.

“Good afternoon, Your Highness,” one of the guards said to Twilight as she approached.

“Good afternoon. Princess Celestia is expecting us,” Twilight said.

The guard nodded. “I’m aware. Please, carry on,” he said.

Twilight thanked the guard and as they walked on, Sunset began to feel more and more nervous. Years ago she’d walked along these hallways confidently, arrogantly, even. Now she tried to make herself smaller as if the very walls of the palace might reject her otherwise.

At last they reached the throne room, where the three other Princesses were already waiting for them. After a short greeting, Princess Celestia looked at Sunset Shimmer, who was visibly trembling now and looking at the ground.

Suddenly Sunset felt something warm and soft touch her shoulders and she looked up to see Twilight smiling at her, one of her wings extended to touch Sunset.

Sunset smiled back weakly and took a deep breath. It was only then that she dared to look into Princess Celestia’s eyes.

“Sunset Shimmer,” the Princess began. “It’s been many years since I last talked to you. You’ve done many things I find it hard to forgive you for…”

Sunset shut her eyes firmly because the Princess didn’t sound angry, merely disappointed. Once that wouldn’t have hurt her at all, but now the words pierced her more than outright anger could and it was all she could do not to burst into tears.

When Princess Celestia spoke again, however, her voice was warm and gentle. “However, I have heard from Twilight Sparkle that you’ve seen the error of your ways and that you have witnessed the magic of friendship.”

Sunset looked up now, her eyes wide with surprise. Princess Celestia smiled warmly, and when Sunset looked at the other princesses, they too, smiled at her.

“Does this mean…you forgive me?” Sunset said with disbelief in her voice. “After all I did…you won’t punish me?”

Princess Celestia sighed. “I think you have suffered long enough in the other world. You have proven yourself to be a loyal friend, and that’s all I wanted for you to begin with. That you’d learn the true power of friendship. I do have one last request for you, however.”

Sunset stood up straighter and Twilight withdrew her wing. Sunset shot her a grateful look, before turning back to Princess Celestia.

“I will do anything you ask of me, Princess,” she said.

Princess Celestia inclined her head. “Thank you. I want you to aid Twilight Sparkle and her friends in the quest I’m about to send them on.”

Sunset was at a loss for words and looked at Twilight and her friends, who seemed equally stunned.

“The timing of your visit could not have been more perfect,” Princess Luna said, walking closer to the group. “We’ve been searching all over Equestria to find out more about the dark force that is taking hold.”

“We haven’t been able to find out much, but we have been able to determine one thing,” Princess Cadance took over the story. “It was almost destroyed on Equestria ages ago, when the Elements of Harmony were created.”

Twilight took a step forward with a slightly manic expression.

“Created? Who created them?” she asked.

Sunset smiled. Even in a crisis Twilight was still eager to learn. She’d be lying if she’d said it didn’t interest her too, however; she was just better at hiding it.

“We don’t know. Even Star Swirl the Bearded wasn’t around yet when they were made,” Princess Celestia said.

“We do know, however, that it was a large undertaking by many settlements. The forges they used exist to this day, although we only know the location of two of them,” Princess Cadance said.

“I’m sure you know one of those locations,” she went on, looking at Twilight.

Twilight thought for a moment, but before she could say anything, Sunset said, “The Everfree Forest.”

Twilight shot her a surprised look, one Sunset returned with a small smirk. Twilight wasn’t the only one who had studied under Princess Celestia, after all. Besides, this was easy.

The Everfree Forest was unique in all of Equestria because it wasn’t maintained by ponies. It had resisted all attempts at magically cultivating it and it didn’t seem to need anything tending to it. Sunset had often wondered why the forest hadn’t spread out beyond its borders.

“Correct,” Princess Celestia said. “The Tree of Harmony that keeps the forest in check isn’t the location of the Forge of Magic, however. The Forge itself lies deeper into the Earth, protected by magic more ancient than any other magic I know of.”

“Does that mean we can’t get to the Forge?” Applejack asked with a frown.

“Not directly,” Princess Luna replied.

She saw that Applejack wanted to interject, so she raised up a hoof.

“We think there is a way, however. If you can locate and activate the other five Forges, the magical resonance might activate the Forge of Magic as well, or at least open up the barrier surrounding it.”

“Maybe I’m missing something, but why would we want to activate the Forges?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“Can their power defeat the dark force?” Twilight asked.

Princess Celestia looked around the throne room at the stained glass windows before answering.

“We believe so. In the past, the Elements were used to all but eradicate the dark force from Equestria, but they were unable to clear up the final remnants, in the Everfree Forest. That is the reason it is unresponsive to our magic, and why the Elements had to be locked away in the tree. We think that the Rainbow Power you now possess is some transcended form of the Elements, perhaps the true form of the power.”

Twilight frowned, but Sunset said, “That makes sense, actually.”

For the second time, Twilight gave Sunset a look of surprise. This time Sunset didn’t smirk, however.

She looked at Twilight and said, “When I stole the crown from you, you were still able to activate its power and even channel the other Elements without them being physically present. If you think of the Elements as mere catalysts that channel the power that is already present inside of you, that reaction was not impossible. All it needed to be triggered was Equestrian magic, and the crown has always been one of the most powerful magical artifacts in existence.”

When Sunset finished speaking everypony except the four princesses was giving her slack-jawed stares and she blushed lightly. She’d done a lot of research on the crown before stealing it, by sneaking a few of her magic and history books with her when she first went through the portal.

She went on, “It’s possible the Rainbow Power is indeed the final level of power the Elements were supposed to grant. I also think that anyone who has drawn power from an Element, or embodies one, can use the Rainbow Power, since I transformed when we battled the Dazzlings in the other world. Maybe the presence of the ‘true’ elements can trigger a similar reaction in others if their hearts are in sync with each other.”

“Soooo…if we’re close enough as friends with other ponies they can be just as magical as we are?!” Pinkie asked, bouncing up and down from the exciting prospect of befriending everypony in Equestria.

Sunset shrugged, which she noticed was much more difficult now that she was no longer human. “I think they could, yes. But only if your hearts are in perfect sync with one another, or if they have drawn on the power of the Elements before. I think the process without the Elements might take much, much longer.”

Princess Celestia stepped forward and looked proudly at Sunset. “You really have learned much about the magic of friendship, Sunset Shimmer. I can’t express how happy I am to hear you talking like this.”

Sunset bowed her head modestly. “I’ve done some pretty terrible things…I want to make up for the mistakes I made back then,” she replied.

“Wait a minute,” Applejack said. Everypony turned to look at her. “If our Rainbow Power was supposed to be the final step in the transformation, why did we need to unlock it from the chest first?”

This time it was Twilight who answered. “The Rainbow Power is a manifestation of friendship and harmony. Only those who understand those things on a deep level can wield it. The objects that became our keys were tokens, signs that we were getting closer to understanding.”

Rainbow Dash shook her head. “How do you explain Sunset, then? She didn’t have a key but she did have Rainbow Power in that other world. Right?” she asked, looking questioningly at Sunset.

“Well, like I said, I think the Elements were only catalysts to obtain the real power, the Rainbow Power. Once that power has been reached, it can be passed on through strong bonds with one another. I had trace magic of my misuse of the crown left, so the magic within me resonated with the others. At least, that’s what I think. Magic is difficult enough in Equestria and that other world was never meant to have magic at all. There could be other reasons,” Sunset said.

“In any event, we believe that the Rainbow Power will enable us to eliminate the dark force’s power on Equestria forever and create a world of everlasting harmony,” Princess Celestia said.

She looked around the group of ponies. “What we want you to do is to locate and activate the six Forges of Harmony. That should cause a magical resonance, which should in turn grant your Rainbow Power the ability to touch the hearts of other ponies all over Equestria. Twilight Sparkle, you, as the Princess of Friendship, are the one who can pull this off and bring harmony to Equestria once and for all. Of course,” she added with a smile to the other ponies, “your friends will help you in this task. In fact, you could not do this without them.”

Sunset felt her heart thundering in her chest. This wasn’t a small task that would be completed within a day. This would be a quest worthy of the Old Times, when ponies had just begun exploring Equestria. They wouldn’t know from the start where their goal was, or if it was even possible.

And even now, there was the matter of her and Twilight’s dream. She realized that they hadn’t talked about that at all and frowned. Princess Celestia hadn’t even asked why Twilight had called such an urgent meeting.

“Princess Celestia?” Sunset said, still nervous to address her erstwhile teacher.

“Why didn’t you ask for our reason to be here? Why didn’t you ask why I returned here?”
Princess Celestia looked at Sunset with an expressionless face. She kept staring and Sunset feared she had offended the Princess somehow, but then Princess Celestia sighed and turned away.

“I was hoping I wouldn’t have to explain it,” she said softly, and a collective gasp went through the group.
Sunset noticed that the other princesses were looking at the ground as well. “Princess Celestia…what do you mean?” Twilight asked.

It was silent for a moment. Princess Celestia and the other princesses were still looking away. The silence went on. Twilight’s friends were looking at one another, and Twilight and Sunset were shooting each other uncertain looks.

“We have been having the same dreams,” Princess Luna said eventually. “It’s a dream shared by all the princesses…and those who were once destined to become princesses.”

As soon as Princess Luna had said those words, Sunset realized that what she had seen in the mirror all those years ago had been a glimpse of the future. The use of the past tense, however, clued her in on the fact that that particular destiny would not come to pass now.

The resentment that had led to her mutiny flared up inside her again as she realized that Celestia had withheld information from her even now. She tried to keep her voice neutral when she said, “Could you please explain what you mean by that?”

Sunset winced when she heard how icy her tone was. So much for keeping her voice neutral.

“Look at your cutie mark, Sunset Shimmer,” Princess Celestia said. “How did you get it?”

Sunset frowned, but thought back to the day she got her cutie mark.

The sky had been cloudy for days. The Pegasi in charge of the weather had a disagreement with some politician in Canterlot and they were refusing to grant the town a sunny day until that stupid stallion revoked his words.

Sunset was a filly who loved the sunshine. She adored its warmth and she’d often sat out in the sun doing small spells. The sunlight gave her enthusiasm and it seemed like everything she tried went much better when it was sunny outside.

Her parents sometimes jokingly called her a plant whenever she said the sun made her strong. The favorite moment of Sunset’s day was, as her name so plainly stated, the sunset. The sky would turn all red and above the horizon the heat would cause a beautiful shimmer.

Her parents had named her after that very thing because of her blazing mane and tail. It was like it was her destiny to enjoy that moment.

Now, however, she hadn’t been able to see the sunset shimmer for days. Each day the sun refused to make an appearance, she became angrier. She asked her parents why the Pegasi wouldn’t just talk about their problems instead of ruining everypony else’s day, but they hadn’t been able to answer her.

After a week of gloom, Sunset had run into the Pegasi and the politician late in the afternoon as she was walking home from the library. The politician in question had been trying to avoid them, but now they had him surrounded in the street.

Apparently he had said that Canterlot could do with a lot fewer Pegasi to handle the weather, and he’d done so in a way that insinuated that weather management was a trivial and rather useless job.

Sunset could hear the heated discussion as she came closer, and just when she could make out the words she heard the end of the argument.

“You’ve clearly learned nothing yet. I guess we’ll just have to make you understand,” the leader of the Pegasi said.

The five flew up through the deck of clouds and soon after the gloom intensified. Rain began to fall and the clouds flashed and rumbled. The politician looked scared and trotted away, but Sunset stayed where she was and looked up.

She felt the static in the air, and then, she felt her magic reacting. A bright flash illuminated the streets of Canterlot, but it wasn’t lightning.

It would have been, but Sunset’s magic responded the moment it happened. A ray of pure sunlight drilled through the clouds and hit Sunset, who lost herself in the raw power the sun gave her now that its light was so focused.

Without knowing how, she widened the beam, burning away the clouds wherever her light touched them. By all rights, the heat should burn down all of Canterlot, but it didn’t.

Somehow Sunset was harnessing the awesome power of the sun without burning anything or anypony. Only the clouds evaporated and Sunset finally saw it again, the shimmer in the air for which she’d been named.

Her heart jumped for joy when she saw it, and she felt the magic rush through her in response. She didn’t even have to look to know that her flank was now adorned with a shimmering sun.

Back in the palace, Sunset smiled. After her display of magic, the Pegasi and the politician had worked out their problems in private, without involving everypony else in it. It had also made Sunset realize that if she wanted something, she’d have to make it happen by herself.

“That day, you performed magic no other unicorn could have performed – no other unicorn, except for me,” Princess Celestia said.

“Princess Luna and I control solar and lunar magic, respectively, and we do so until the day our successor rises from the population of Equestria. Your magic is the magic of the sun itself, and it was your destiny to one day succeed me as the ruler of the Sun,” she went on.

Sunset cocked her head. She had a feeling she wouldn’t like what was going to come next.

“By showing you the mirror, I hoped you would see your destiny as a Princess and realize that you still had much to learn. I was wrong, and because I tampered with the laws of time itself your destiny was changed. You sought the power too quickly and ended up in another world, where the magic needed to fulfill your destiny was not available. The thread of fate that marked you as my successor faded away. When you stole the crown, a part of that magic returned. It was enough to let you experience that dream. Maybe, in time, you might realize your true destiny after all, but I dare not say if it will happen.”

Tears appeared in Princess Celestia’s eyes.

“I’m sorry, Sunset Shimmer. I did take away what was rightfully yours that day, although I only realized it later. Star Swirl had warned me, but I was foolish. I’ve made too many mistakes.”

Sunset felt torn seeing Princess Celestia like this. On the one hoof, she felt angry that her original destiny had been taken away from her, but on the other she understood why the Princess had done what she did.

In the end, that decision had made her a much better pony. Whether she became a princess or not was irrelevant. She had made friends and found a better reason to live than just for power.

“I’m not angry,” she said, and this time her voice was warm again. “You made the decision not for yourself but for me. You wanted me to learn what friendship was, and it has proven to be the right decision. If not for that moment, I might have become a tyrant. If I truly have the power of the sun in my hooves, I could have done a lot of damage. I was not ready to command such an awesome force and you protected everyone by doing what you did.”

Tears still streamed down Princess Celestia’s face, but she smiled nonetheless.

“You have no idea what it means to me to hear those words from you, Sunset Shimmer,” the Princess said softly.

“Princess, does this mean that there is another unicorn somewhere who possesses the power of the moon?” Twilight asked.

“That, I do not know,” Princess Luna answered. “I have searched for her, after learning of Sunset Shimmer, but to this day I have not found her. It’s possible that my banishment has extended my time here. If that is the case, it would take close to a thousand years for my successor to appear.”

“Um, I’m not trying to be rude, or anything, but shouldn’t we be out saving the world right now?!” Rainbow Dash interjected.

Princess Cadance nodded. “Yes. We can talk about destiny later. Aside from the Forge of Magic in the Everfree Forest, we only know the location of one other Forge.”

Princess Cadance motioned with her head and the others followed her to a large table in front of the throne. On it lay a map of Equestria.
“The Forge of Generosity is located in a mine far in the east. The miners accidentally stumbled upon it when they searched for gems,” Princess Cadance said, putting a small purple flag into the map in a mountainous area in the east of Equestria.

“Apparently there is magic surrounding it, but it seems to have faded over time. We believe you will be able to enter the Forge. We hope that inside, you will be able to discern the locations of the other Forges. Perhaps you can pick up traces of the old magic there that will point you in the right direction.”

Princess Cadance fell silent for a moment and looked at Princess Celestia and Princess Luna. She looked directly at Twilight when she continued.

“We don’t know what you fill find in the Forge, or even what the actual Forge looks like. This could be a dangerous undertaking.”

She walked over to Twilight and hugged her.

“Please be careful,” she said softly.

Twilight gave her an encouraging smile and looked at each of her friends in turn.

“You can count on us,” she promised.

It sounded so simple that Sunset almost believed it. But in the back of her mind, she still saw the crystal forest and the eerie light, spiraling from Twilight’s crystallized body.

The Adventure Begins

Author's Note

And so, after nearly three years, another chapter appears, together with a third. Originally, chapters two and three were supposed to be a single chapter, but it became far too long. If, after all this time, you’re still here to read this, thanks! I’m glad to be working on my stories again, so hopefully this time it won’t be nearly three years before I update again. Please Read and Review, and don’t be afraid to hurt my feelings if you don’t like it. Criticism is the one and only way I can improve, so if you liked or didn’t like elements of the story, be sure to tell me why. In any case, enjoy!

The Adventure Begins

Sunset was sitting around in Twilight’s castle. Twilight and her friends were busy preparing for the long journey that lay ahead of them, but Sunset hadn’t brought anything with her through the portal, so there wasn’t much for her to do. Instead, she wrote in the magical book to her friends, explaining what she would be doing and that she wouldn’t be back for a while. Spike entered the throne room just as Sunset finished her message and closed the book.

“Do you need help with anything?” she asked. She stretched and got up from Twilight’s throne. She was anxious to get on the road, but also strangely excited.

“No, we’re almost done. I convinced Twilight not to bring too many books with her. She seems to think we’ll be traveling in a mobile library,” Spike replied, shaking his head.

Sunset smiled. “Well, we’ll be doing something nopony has ever tried in thousands of years. Even the Princesses weren’t around back then. It’s only natural for Twilight to want to be prepared,” she said.

“Just…take a look what she wanted to bring,” Spike said, gesturing to the library with his head.

Sunset walked over to the library and felt her jaw drop in surprise. Mountains of books decorated the ground. They were neatly stacked, so neatly in fact that they seemed to form new walls for the library. She walked over to the closest stack and levitated the top book down to inspect it.

“Ye Olde Equestrian Historye…Twilight, you do realize this book was written by a fraud, right? I mean, really, ‘Historye’?” Sunset said disbelievingly.

“I know, I know,” Twilight replied from somewhere behind the book wall. “But it contains references to historical sites that actually are authentic and we might need them so I figured we should bring them.”

Sunset walked around the wall of books to join Twilight near one of the bookcases, where she was perusing a dusty tome of great age. Its pages were yellowed and Sunset noted the extremely delicate, almost reverent way Twilight turned the pages.

“I thought Spike said you wouldn’t take these with you,” Sunset said.

Twilight looked up from the old book. “I won’t. I’m committing what I can to memory with a bit of magic. It’s far from perfect, but it’s better than nothing. I’ll still take some of the more relevant works, though.”

Sunset cocked her head. She’d once thought of using memory spells to speed up her studies, but she had decided against it because they were a pain to learn. Such spells often gave their users exceptionally painful headaches and after one such experience she’d refrained from trying again. Twilight seemed to be rather comfortable, however.

“How often do you use that spell?” Sunset asked.

Now Twilight did grimace. “Not that often, honestly,” she said. “I’m pretty sure I’m going to suffer for this.”

Sunset gave her a sympathetic look and said, “You’re not thinking of bringing this book, are you? I don’t think it would survive the trip.”

“No, I won’t. There isn’t even that much useful info in it, to be honest. It mostly deals with geography, but the social aspect is completely overlooked so it doesn’t really contain relevant information,” Twilight said with a sigh.

Sunset frowned. “Are you sure about that? This geographical journal is very old. It might reveal some locations that were easily accessible in that era that are hard to reach now. If those locations were to coincide with for instance a river, it’s not unthinkable that settlements would have been built there. Assuming the Forges themselves are relatively evenly spaced around Equestria, these maps could be invaluable to determining their locations,” she said.

Twilight paused to consider that. “I hadn’t thought of that,” she admitted. Then she smiled. “I’m glad you’re here to help, Sunset. I have a feeling we couldn’t do this without you,” she said.

Sunset smiled back. Even now, she was still not very sure how to respond to praise, so she simply said, “Thanks.”

Twilight turned back to the old book. “Well…I guess I’d better try to commit these maps to memory too, then,” she said ruefully.

Sunset stepped forward. “Let me do it. I know the spell as well. Might as well make myself as useful as I can, right?”

Twilight gave her an intensely grateful look and took a step back to allow Sunset access to the book. “Do be careful with the pages, though. They’re very delicate,” Twilight warned as Sunset prepared to cast the memory enhancement spell.

“I know. I’ve read ancient books before,” she said with a hint of her old arrogance in her voice. Then she took a deep breath, turned to the first map in the book and focused her magic on the book, taking a mental picture of it and storing it in her brain.

It was strange to feel her magic at work again after all these years of inactivity. Her natural magic felt so much better to use than the stolen magic from the crown had done. Almost immediately after casting the spell she felt her head explode in a sharp pain and she gasped in surprise. She’d known the headache would come, but she’d forgotten just how severe it would be.

She turned the page of the book and cast the spell again to record the second map. The headache spiked again and Sunset began to tremble. Then, however, she felt a soothing, cool power coursing through her. The headache began to recede. Surprised, Sunset turned around to look at Twilight.

“You didn’t think I’d face those headaches without some pain relief, did you?” she asked with a wink. “I can’t take all the pain away, but I can make it a lot more bearable for you,” she went on.

“Thanks…again,” Sunset replied.

She felt a warm feeling in her chest. It felt as if her magic was welcoming and embracing Twilight’s. It made her feel a little giddy, too, for some reason. She cast the spell on the third map. Again she felt the pain rise, but Twilight’s magic reacted quickly and this time it was merely an annoyance.

Sunset memorized two more maps, and then Twilight said, “I think you should stop for now. This spell has its limits and if you keep going you’ll feel it for days. Believe me, I found that out the hard way.”

Sunset chuckled and replied, “All right, I’ll stop. I think I got the most important ones, anyway. What next?”

Twilight stretched her wings and said, “We’re meeting up with the others at the station. I think we’d best be going if we don’t want to be late.”

Twilight walked over to another bookcase, where she’d put a saddle bag filled with books. She put it on and she and Sunset walked out of the library back into the throne room, where Spike was lounging in his throne with a comic book.

“Are you ready, Spike?” Twilight asked him.

Spike immediately jumped to attention and saluted with the comic book still in his claws. “Yes ma’am!” he replied.

“Then let’s get going. It’s time to save Equestria!”

“Why is that pony always late?!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed angrily.

The group was at the station, complete except for Rarity.

“You know how she is; she wouldn’t go out to save the world if her mane wasn’t properly done,” Applejack replied.

“I just think it’s important to be classy when saving the world. Celestia forbid we end up in high society and I wouldn’t look my absolute best,” Rarity said.

She was approaching with only a saddlebag…but then Sweetie Belle appeared from around the side of the station, dragging a huge cart with a tower of suitcases and bags on it. She was sweating profusely, but didn’t complain. Sunset eyed Sweetie with concern.

“Rarity, we’re going to a mine, what the hay do you need all of this for? And are you really going to take Sweetie Belle along just to carry your stuff?” Applejack asked incredulously.

“No, no, of course not. Spike will carry my things while we’re away, won’t you Spike?” Rarity asked, giving Spike her best seductive look.

Before Spike could answer, however, Twilight stepped forward. “Rarity, we’re going on a dangerous mission. I appreciate you wanting to look your best, but we won’t be staying in big hotels or palaces this time. There is simply no room for all these things,” she said.

Rarity sighed and gave her tower of suitcases a pained look. “I suppose you’re right, Twilight. I got a little…carried away while packing.”

She levitated the top suitcase down from the tower, opened it and neatly moved its contents into her saddle bags. “There. Now I at least have some essentials. Sweetie, be a dear and take this back home, will you?”

“OH FOR PETE’S SAKE!” Sweetie yelled angrily.

Rarity gave her a sheepish grin and said, “I am sorry, Sweetie, darling.” Sweetie grumbled something, but she did begin hauling the huge cart back to the Boutique.

“Will she be okay?” Sunset asked uncertainly. Such a heavy cart for such a small pony couldn’t be healthy.

“She’ll be okay. It’s nothing she hasn’t done before. She’s such a sweet little sister,” Rarity said fondly.

At that moment, the train rolled into the station. It would take them to Stirrup’s End, a small town built near the foot of the mountains. From there, however, it would be a full two days walk to the mines. The mountain range itself was known as the Saddle Range, so named because the two highest peaks and the valley between them resembled a saddle. The mine was located about halfway up Mount Cantle, the lower of the two peaks and most northern of the two. The Saddle Range was known for its strong winds, but mercifully the temperatures were nice this time of year.

As the group made their way to a suitable place, Sunset noticed that the train was already fairly empty. There weren’t many stops on the way to Stirrup’s End and none of them were popular destinations, but even so Sunset had expected to see more ponies on the train. The emptiness made her shudder a bit, even though she didn’t really know why. She tried to put her worries aside for the time being, as she sat down and prepared for the long trip.

The journey to Stirrup’s End was rather uneventful. The group made some idle conversation, but nothing of importance was discussed, and so Sunset had plenty of time to observe the pony versions of the friends she knew so well in the other world. It was strange. They were all so similar to their counterparts, yet they were different persons, or rather, ponies, and they didn’t have the same bond with Sunset as her human friends had. Perhaps that was the reason Sunset was mostly looking at Twilight, the one pony here she actually knew.

Twilight noticed Sunset watching and asked, “Are you okay?”

Sunset nodded. “I’m fine, just…getting used to this world again,” she said. She felt the eyes of the others on her and sighed. “It’s so strange.” She looked at each of the ponies in turn. “I know all of you in the other world. I know your personality, the things you like…but I don’t know you. And you…you all don’t know me, except as the one who stole Twilight’s crown, the one who betrayed Princess Celestia.” She looked at Twilight. “Out of all of you, you alone know what it’s like to be with your friends, and have them not really know you.” She shook her head in frustration. “Honestly, I’m a bit at a loss. I have a feeling I should introduce myself, but at the same time it’s just so weird having to introduce myself to people…ponies…I already know.” Her voice had a slightly bitter edge to it when she went on, “But I’m not the only one who didn’t make an introduction. None of you did, either, and that just made me feel more uncomfortable in making the first move.”

She fell silent. She expected at least Rainbow Dash to make a rude comment about her, but that didn’t happen. Instead, Rarity was the first one to speak.

“I’m sorry you feel like that, darling. In all honesty, your sudden appearance and the rush afterwards didn’t leave us much time to get acquainted and I must admit I hadn’t thought about it until you brought it up just now.”

“She’s right. I’m mighty sorry we made you feel unwelcome, Sunset,” Applejack added.

“You’re not mad at us, are you?” Fluttershy asked softly.

“I’ll be sure to throw you a party as soon as we arrive in Stirrup’s End. I’ll even let you have all of the cake!” Pinkie promised cheerfully.

So far, Rainbow Dash was the only one who had remained silent. “I didn’t trust you when you first came through the mirror,” she said. “You’re entirely right; I did see you as the one who stole Twilight’s crown and betrayed the Princess. I don’t like ponies who betray their friends, not one bit.”

“Now, come on Rainbow…” Applejack began, but Rainbow Dash held out her hoof to silence her.

“However, Twilight has told us you changed. That you helped everyone in the other world when they needed you most. While you’ll never be as awesome as me, I think that makes you a pretty awesome pony.” She was smiling now, and Sunset smiled back, hugely relieved.

“So…friends?” Sunset asked uncertainly. Her answer was a spontaneous group hug.

It was getting dark when the train reached Stirrup’s End. Although the settlement was at the foot of the mountain proper, it was already at a higher elevation than Ponyville and the station offered a nice view of the lower land, which became flatter as it stretched westward. To the East, the Saddle Range loomed. The peaks were covered in snow, which gleamed brightly in the last light of the setting sun. On the western horizon, Sunset caught a glimpse of the sunset shimmer she was named after and felt the warm glow of her magic inside her in response.

The group walked towards the exit of the station, where they were greeted by an earth pony with a light brown coat, dark mane and a pickaxe cutie mark, who seemed to have a high function in the town. He wore a rather large hat that earned him an approving nod from Applejack.

“Welcome to Stirrup’s End, Your Highness,” he said when Twilight approached him. “My name is Rock Breaker. I’m the mayor of Stirrup’s End, and descendant of the village’s founder, Stone Splitter. Princess Celestia notified us of your arrival.”

“She told you why we’re here?” Twilight asked.

“She informed us you would be traveling up to the Cheyenne mines to inspect the ancient ruins found within,” Rock Breaker answered. “Since the mines are two full days walking away, however, I suggest you spend the night in the Hobble Strap Inn and set out early tomorrow morning. I will point you in the right direction, of course.”

“Do you know anything of the ruins the miners found?” Twilight asked.

Rock Breaker shook his head. “All I know is that they give off some magical vibe that makes the miners nervous. I’m sure Burning Heart could tell you more, however. He’s the innkeeper of the Hobble Strap Inn and since it doubles as the pub most miners who return from their shift spend their evenings there. Burning Heart will definitely have heard stories of the ruins from them, but I must admit that the miners are fond of making up tall tales, especially after a few pints of cider.”

“Did you say ‘cider’?” Rainbow Dash asked, her eyes suddenly alight.

Rock Breaker grinned at her. “Of course, miss. You didn’t think the miners would go without drink, now, do you? Stirrup’s End imports the best cider from all over Equestria. The miners keep the town going, so we take pride in providing them with anything they might want. The Hobble Strap Inn stocks nearly fifty kinds of cider.”

As Rock Breaker told this, Rainbow Dash had almost begun to drool. “I’m liking this town already,” she said with a huge grin.

“Just take it easy on the hard stuff. You know what happened at the barn party last month,” Applejack told her.

Rainbow Dash turned slightly green. “Don’t remind me,” she groaned.

“Oh come on, Dashie, it wasn’t that bad,” Pinkie said cheerfully.

“You didn’t have to clean up the mess,” Applejack said with a disgusted look.

“Well, she got some pretty nice distance when she…”

“Let’s not mention this ever again, okay?!” Rainbow Dash interrupted Pinkie Pie, her face nearly as red as the streak in her mane now.

Sunset had listened to the conversation with a bemused look and resolved to ask somepony what had happened at that barn party when their mission was over. Rock Breaker looked just as puzzled as Sunset, but he quickly recovered his more professional attitude when Rainbow Dash cut off the conversation, although he sounded a bit disappointed when he spoke up. Apparently he had been curious to hear more details as well.

“If you’d like to follow me, I’ll show you the way to the Inn.”

Twilight nodded and the group set off, heading into the town itself. The town featured two main roads along which the stores were built, while the actual residences were constructed along narrower side streets branching from the main roads. The inn was located on the north-eastern side of the crossroads, effectively on the main square of the town. It was by far the largest building in the town, three stories high and nearly as wide as it was high. Had it not been for the roof, it would have been a large cube.

Inside, many round tables, each with four seats, were spread evenly around left side of the building. A large fireplace decorated the far wall. On the right hand side of the entryway, there was a bar. A door behind the bar presumably led to the kitchen. Several tables had ponies gathered around them, but most were empty.

“It’s still early in the evening. Trust me, within two hours all these tables will be full,” Rock Breaker told them, and Sunset could hear the pride in his voice.

He led the group over to the counter. Behind the counter stood an earth pony with an orange coat, and a darker orange mane. His cutie mark was a bonfire, with the flames forming a heart.

“Burning Heart, please welcome Princess Twilight Sparkle and her friends,” Rock Breaker said, slightly louder than strictly necessary.

Other ponies looked up from their conversations and Sunset suspected that this was what Rock Breaker had hoped to achieve.

“Good evening, Your Highness,” Burning Heart said, inclining his head to Twilight. “Welcome to the Hobble Strap Inn. Rock Breaker has already informed me of your arrival; the entire upper floor has been reserved for you and your friends.”

“Thank you very much, we…” Twilight didn’t get a chance to say more because Rainbow Dash interrupted her.

“I heard you have fifty different kinds of cider,” she said eagerly.

Burning Heart chuckled as Twilight gave Rainbow Dash an annoyed stare.

“To be exact, we have forty-eight. But surely you don’t mean to start on the cider without eating first? We serve only the finest grasses and hays. We even import sea oats if that takes your fancy. Since you’re here on official business dinner’s on the house, as is the mineral water, although I’m afraid I’ll need to charge you for the stronger ciders. They have higher taxes and I can’t afford to make a loss on them. Now, what can I get for you all?”

The group placed their orders, after which Burning Heart pointed at a pair of tables in the back and told them to put them together while he worked on the food. Rock Breaker accompanied the group to their tables.

“As I said earlier, the Cheyenne mines are two days walking away from town. If you could meet me at the eastern edge of town tomorrow at dawn, I will point you in the right direction. For now, I shall take my leave. Please, enjoy your stay here and get plenty of rest. Good night to you all,” he said.

Twilight thanked him and Rock Breaker left. Not long afterward, Burning Heart and another pony arrived with the food. To Spike’s delight, the inn actually offered to make a gemstone mix for him and his eyes widened when he saw the huge bowl.

“This is still a gemstone mining town,” Burning Heart said with a laugh when he put down the bowl. “We have plenty more, so don’t hesitate to ask.”

“Oh, don’t worry. I’ll be just fine,” Spike said gleefully, examining a sapphire.

He wasn’t the only one impressed by the gems. Rarity was ogling Spike’s dinner with wide eyes.

“Your jaw’s almost hitting the floor, Rarity,” Applejack chuckled.

Rarity quickly regained her composure and said, “Well, these gems are just of such fine quality. I can’t help but admire them. It’s such a shame that they’re going to be eaten…”

Spike sighed and handed Rarity a handful of gems from his bowl, making sure to give her a nice variety. “You can have these, Rarity. I’m still eating the rest, though.”

Rarity beamed at him. “Oh, that’s so generous of you, Spikey-Wikey.” She kissed his cheek and Spike’s eyes lit up.

Twilight shook her head at him, but she was smiling. Spike could be so obvious in his attempts to get attention from Rarity.

“Well girls, here we are. Let’s relax tonight and get to bed early, because from tomorrow onwards we’re heading into the biggest adventure we’ve ever been on,” Twilight said.

Sunset felt the anticipation welling up inside her. Sure, she was a bit nervous about the sheer size of their mission, but sitting here in a warm inn with her friends around her she was happier than she’d ever been since returning to Equestria. When the group had finished dinner, the other mining ponies were starting to come in. Soon enough, the sound of conversation and loud laughter began to fill the air. Of course, wherever there is laughter, there is Pinkie Pie, and she began prancing around the room to make friends with the miners.

“Well, we might as well enjoy ourselves too, right?” Rainbow Dash asked. She turned to Applejack. “Want to go and taste some of their ciders?”

Applejack grinned at her. “Right behind you,” she said, and the two headed for the bar.

“I think I’ll retire upstairs, darlings,” Rarity said. “I need my beauty sleep if I’m going to be saving the world.”

“I’ll go with you. I don’t like it when it’s so noisy and crowded,” Fluttershy said.

“All right. Good night, girls,” Twilight said, and turned to Spike. “You should go with them, Spike. You need your sleep,” she said.

Spike sighed, but he got up and followed Rarity and Fluttershy to Burning Heart to ask for room keys. Now Twilight and Sunset were the only ponies left at the table. Twilight turned to Sunset.

“So, how are you feeling so far?” she asked.

“Right now? I’m feeling almost giddy, actually,” Sunset replied with a smile. “Being here with you and the others, it just feels so good.” Her smile got slightly melancholic as she went on, “If I had known how great friendship felt, I would have never turned away from it.”

“Don’t worry, Sunset. I used to think I didn’t need friends either,” Twilight said.

She looked at Pinkie Pie having an animated chat with some miners, and Rainbow Dash and Applejack chugging cider like there was no tomorrow at the bar, earning them amazed yet approving stares from the miners.

“But then I met the others, and now I can’t imagine not having friends. I even became the Princess of Friendship.” She smiled at Sunset. “It’s never too late to make friends, and I’m glad you realize that now.”

Sunset smiled back at her. “Thank you. For being my friend,” she said softly.

It was much later than it should have been when Twilight and Sunset headed upstairs, but Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash and Applejack clearly weren’t in the mood for sleep yet as they were still having too much fun. All the way upstairs, the noise from the impromptu party was only a slight buzz, much to Twilight’s relief. Burning Heart had told her that the entire floor belonged to them for the night, so they were free to pick any room.

Rarity, Fluttershy, and Spike had claimed the three rows on the left end of the long hallway furthest away from the staircase, so Sunset and Twilight decided to take the farthest rooms on the opposite side, Twilight taking the back one and Sunset the one next to it. When Sunset stepped into the room and closed the door behind her, she realized that this was the first time since she’d come to Equestria that she was alone again. She walked over to the double bed in the center of the room and shrugged off her saddlebags.

Now, in the silence of her room, the giddiness she’d felt earlier was being replaced with worry. This would be her first night here. What if the nightmares came back? What if they were much worse than before? With a sigh, she lay down on the bed. Now was not the time worry about such things. She blew out her candle, cleared her mind like she had done many times in preparation for complex magic, and allowed herself to drift off.

The forest again. Sunset’s magic stirred restlessly within her like an ocean in a storm. She shifted her body uncomfortably, as if her posture could help her keep her magic under control. Again, she walked through brittle trees, towards that eerie light. She reached the clearing, saw the crystallized forms of the others and made a dash for them. She opened her mouth to scream and her magic exploded.

A loud breaking sound and a shower of dust and splinters abruptly woke Sunset up from her nightmare. In a state of utter confusion, she looked around her room, or rather what was left of it. The beams supporting the roof had been partially blasted away, as had the walls. A broken beam lay not a meter away from Sunset’s head. Before Sunset could begin to think about what had happened, there was a frantic knocking on her door, which was miraculously intact.

“Sunset! Are you okay?!”

It was Applejack who shouted, but Sunset had a feeling the others were right there with her. Sunset got up off the bed, and after a last glance at the broken beam on her bed, called out, “I’m fine! I’ll open the door.”

She hurried over and undid the lock, opening the door to find her new friends looking at her with wide, worried eyes.

“Sunset, what in tarnation happened here?” Applejack asked as she walked into the destroyed room.

“Wow, it looks like you fought a monster in here,” Rainbow Dash remarked, tracing her hoof along one of the ragged holes in the wall.

Sunset began to reply, when an explosion occurred in the room next to hers. A blinding magenta light shone through the hole in the dividing wall and Sunset could clearly hear a wall being obliterated by incredible magic. With a horrible snapping sound, the roof began to cave in. Sunset reacted on instinct and summoned a shield to keep everything in its place. The weight of the roof pushed on the gleaming cyan bubble and Sunset struggled to keep it pushing outward. Shield spells weren’t the most difficult of spells theoretically, but they required exponentially more power to uphold as they got bigger, and Sunset was out of practice from living in the human world for so long.

“I can’t hold this for long,” Sunset told the others. “Rarity, I need your help. Try to push the shield outward,” she went on.

Rarity nodded and added her magic to Sunset’s. When Sunset felt Rarity’s magic mix with hers she didn’t feel the same easy connection as she had when Twilight had used the pain-killing spell in the library in Ponyville, but she had no time to dwell on it.

“Try pushing out equally in all directions,” Sunset said, “I know your instinct is to push harder where there is more pressure, but that will weaken the shield.”

Rarity took a deep breath and tried to do what Sunset had told her.

“Sunset, what in the hay is going on?” Applejack asked her.

Sunset shook her head. “I don’t know. I woke up because of some kind of explosion. And then it happened again…” Sunset’s voice trailed off as she realized it, “…in Twilight’s room. Applejack, kick down the wall, now.”

Applejack shot Sunset an incredulous look. “I beg your pardon?”

“Twilight is in that room. She might be in trouble and I can’t multitask my magic right now,” Sunset explained.

As she did, she felt the shield beginning to crack and she summoned more of her magic to try and keep it intact.

“I sure hope you know what you’re doing,” Applejack muttered.

She stood in front of the wall facing a support, turned her back and kicked like she would kick a particularly stubborn apple tree. The support beam snapped like a twig, having already been damaged by the magical explosion, and the wall crumbled.

Immediately Sunset felt the pressure on her shield increase, and Rarity too groaned as she felt the weight of the roof. Sunset looked into the other room. It was damaged far worse than her own room had been. Both outer walls were gone and the roof was nowhere to be seen. Twilight stood in the middle of the room next to the destroyed remains of her bed, looking dazed.

“Twilight!” Sunset yelled. “Can you hear me?!”

Twilight blinked a couple of times upon hearing her name and seemed to awaken from a trance.

“Wha…what happened?” she asked, looking around.

“We can talk later, for now I need your help to keep this shield up or else we’ll be buried beneath the rubble,” Sunset said.

Twilight looked up and saw the shield. She immediately focused her magic and added it to Sunset’s and Rarity’s. When Sunset felt Twilight’s magic she was immensely relieved. It felt so warm, so kind. The power seemed to reinvigorate her, and apparently it had the same effect on Rarity.

“You can let go,” Twilight said. “My brother’s an expert on shield spells and I’ve learned quite a bit from him.”

With a sigh, Sunset cut off her magic. For a moment she feared that Twilight might have gotten in over her head, but it immediately became clear she needn’t have worried. Twilight really did keep the shield in place with ease. Sunset felt jealousy stirring within her, but as soon as it did another part of her mind thought back on the warm and kind feeling of Twilight’s magic, and she realized that Twilight wasn’t showing off.

“Twilight, are you okay?” Spike asked shakily. He was staring at the destruction with wide eyes.

Twilight nodded and walked from her room into the remains of Sunset’s. “I’m fine, Spike. Don’t worry about me.”

Twilight looked at all of her friends, ending on Sunset. “Do you know what happened?” she asked.

Sunset thought for a moment, then slowly nodded. “I’m guessing this has to do with our nightmares?” she asked, cocking her head.

“Exactly. Our magic burst out while we were asleep. It happened to me at home as well, but I guess magical crystal walls are a bit sturdier than pine wood…” Twilight said, surveying the damage.

“Whoa, hold on. You’re saying that a nightmare caused you to do this?” Rainbow Dash asked with disbelief plain in her voice.

When Twilight merely looked away in response, Rainbow said, “I don’t believe this. You nearly blew up the building over a dream.”

“Easy Rainbow. You know it’s not their fault,” Applejack said, stepping in.

Rainbow Dash sighed. “I know, I know…”

“The important thing is that Twilight and Sunset are both alright, I think,” Fluttershy said softly.

“Exactly. We’re glad y’all are okay,” Applejack said.

“So, should we call housekeeping? I mean, this place is a mess,” Sunset said with a small smile. Just as she finished speaking, part of a beam fell off and joined the debris on the floor, and just like that everypony doubled over laughing.

Explaining to Burning Heart why the top floor of his inn looked like a war zone wasn’t easy. Upon hearing the commotion he’d gone to investigate, only to find himself blocked by Sunset’s shield spell. After Twilight had slowly lowered the remains of the roof to floor level and undone the spell, he’d raced upstairs. He was quite nearly foaming at the mouth because of the damage, and Twilight spent fifteen minutes apologizing profusely and assuring him that she’d pay for all the damages and that the inn would be restored to its former glory ASAP. To finally convince him, she’d sent a message to Princess Celestia on the spot, although Burning Heart had only calmed down after Twilight had received a reply from the Princess and shown it to him.

After an awkward breakfast during which the other patrons had constantly glared at the group, they had set off for the eastern edge of town. To further complicate matters, both Rainbow Dash and Applejack were slightly hungover from the party, so neither was in a particularly sunny mood.

“I wonder if they’ll let us stay there again on the way back,” Fluttershy said with a glance over her shoulder.

“Of course they will. We had a wonderful party, didn’t we?” Pinkie Pie said, happily skipping along. “I mean, we blew the roof off, and if that isn’t a sign of a good party I don’t know what is,” she went on.

“I’m glad one of us enjoys near death experiences,” Rainbow Dash said sourly.

“Says the pony who insists on doing stunts at supersonic speeds,” Applejack countered.

“Shut up, AJ, not in the mood for this,” Rainbow replied curtly.

“Oh, and you think I am?”

“Girls! Please, no arguing,” Twilight said sternly.

Rainbow Dash and Applejack shot each other a dirty look and turned their heads away.

Twilight sighed. “Don’t worry, darling, they’ll make up later,” Rarity said softly to Twilight.

“I know, I know. It’s just…this is my fault. I should have known my magic would go out of control,” Twilight said, sounding angry at herself.

“Don’t blame yourself, Twilight,” Sunset said. “I should have realized this might happen as well. It’s not your fault.”

“Indeed, darling, we all make mistakes,” Rarity added. She shot a look at Rainbow Dash and Applejack, who still looked angry but also tired and a bit green. “Like drinking forty-eight types of cider in one night,” she said.

The group reached the edge of town, where Rock Breaker was awaiting them.

“Good morning, Your Highness,” he greeted Twilight. “I trust you had a good night?”

Twilight smiled sheepishly and said, “Yes, certainly.”

Rainbow Dash was about to make a snide remark, but a glance from Twilight kept her quiet. Rock Breaker didn’t seem to notice the exchange, or if he did he didn’t show it.

“Good to hear. Now, to get to the Cheyenne mines all you need to do is follow this trail.” He gestured with his hoof to the dirt trail leading into the mountains. “At the halfway point, roughly one day’s walk from here, you will find the Fender outpost. It’s stocked with food, and although it lacks the comfort of the inn it will serve as a fine place to spend the night. If you then leave there around the same time as now, you will reach the mines well before dark,” he went on.

Twilight nodded and said, “Thank you for the help. We’ll return once we’ve completed our task in the mines.”

“I wish you good luck and a safe journey, then. Be aware that as you travel deeper into the mountains, rock slides may occur. They’re rare and usually we trigger them to keep the path safe, but it can’t hurt to be careful,” Rock Breaker said. Twilight thanked him for the warning, and the group set off into the mountains.

Into the Earth

Author's Note

Here we are, chapter three, which was originally going to be part of the previous chapter. Please Read and Review, I really do need your help to get better!

Into the Earth

The first part of the trail went through a pine forest. The scent of the trees had a revitalizing effect on Sunset, and apparently also on the hungover Rainbow Dash and Applejack. Within minutes, they were back to their usual selves. Rainbow Dash flew closer to Sunset.

“Hey, um, I’m sorry for the way I reacted this morning. I may have had a bit too much cider last night, and I’m never much of a morning pony, sooo….” She sheepishly looked the other way.

Sunset smiled at her. “No problem, Rainbow. I probably would have reacted the same way if I were hungover and woken up by an explosion. In fact…” she went on, “I actually was in a situation like that, although nowhere nearly as dangerous.”

“You were? What happened?” Applejack asked.

“It happened in the human world, the first year I was there for the Fall Formal,” Sunset began. “I’d won the title, actually pretty legitimately too. I could act the part of ‘nice new girl’ quite well, so I got a lot of votes. I had quickly learned that a title like this one gave you social power in school.”

The others were all listening, silently looking at her. Even Twilight seemed intrigued. She’d never heard this story either.

“Anyway, that night there was, of course, a really big party at CHS. Technically the students weren’t allowed alcohol, but you know how those things go,” Sunset said.

“That sounds very irresponsible,” Twilight interjected. “Developing minds should not…”

“Twilight.”

“Yes, Applejack?”

“Why don’t we let Sunset continue her story?”

Twilight smiled sheepishly and Sunset went on. “Twilight is sort of right. In Equestria, I never drank. I needed my mind sharp and not clouded by anything for my magic, but in that world, as far as I knew, magic did not exist. I had my plans made and truth be told I was actually quite happy at having won the Fall Formal title. So, surrounded by a bunch of cheering students, I agreed to go have some beer. Since I’d never done anything like it…I got pretty drunk, pretty fast. At that point, the teachers found out we’d brought beer and we had to leave.”

Sunset paused for a moment. “So, what happened afterwards?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“Well, at the time I didn’t actually have a home yet, so I snuck back into the school through a back door and went to my hiding place, which was in the attic, right above the gym. The next morning was Saturday, so I figured I’d be able to sleep in.” Sunset stopped and looked at Pinkie Pie. “Sadly for me, Pinkie Pie and some others decided to continue the party the next morning, but someone had messed with the volume of the speakers. I thought the school was being blown up, it was that loud. It startled me so much I fell off my makeshift bed. I don’t think I’ve ever been in a worse mood than I was that day. I also don’t think I touched another glass of booze after that day.”

The others laughed. Sunset looked at Rainbow Dash again. “So, again, no worries. I’ve been in the same situation. I’m actually amazed you got over it so quickly.”

Rainbow Dash gave her a smug look. “Yeah, well, I’m experienced with the drinking of cider,” she said.

“Except at the barn party, of course,” Pinkie Pie reminded her happily.

“We do not mention that party!” Rainbow said heatedly, once again causing everypony to laugh.

“You walked right into that one, Rainbow, serves you right for tooting your own horn,” Applejack said, still chuckling.

Sunset saw Twilight looking at her, and walked over to her. “Feeling a bit more at home again?” Twilight asked her.

“Definitely. I mean, it’s still strange, but everypony’s so similar to the friends I know at CHS. I guess you know that feeling, though,” Sunset said.

Twilight nodded. “I think it’s great what friendship can do. Even though you may not know the pony versions of your friends in the same way, your bond of friendship with them carries on between our two worlds. Whatever magic lies ahead, as friends we can make it through. That’s something I’ve definitely learned in my time in Ponyville. In fact, I think I learned more in my time there than I ever did in Canterlot.”

“I used to notice Canterlot was never that social anyway,” Sunset said.

“Not that social?!” Rarity interjected with a look of utter shock on her face. “Whatever gave you that idea, darling?”

“Well...everypony only seemed to care about themselves. It was all superficial and shallow.” She grimaced. “I guess that rubbed off on me.”

Rarity came closer to Sunset. “You’ve got it all wrong, dear. Canterlot is the absolute pinnacle of high society. All trends are made in Canterlot. Sure, Manehattan has its share of grandeur but nothing matches the magic and gorgeous style of the Canterlot elite,” she said passionately.

“Begging your pardon, Rarity, but I seem to recall one party where those stylish ponies thought we were a bunch of country yokels,” Applejack said. Before Rarity could protest, Applejack went on, “Although you did tell them we were your best friends and the most important ponies you knew. So at least some stylish ponies have their hearts in the right place.” She winked at Rarity.

“You’ve all been through a lot together,” Sunset said slightly ruefully. “No wonder you’re such good friends.”

“We weren’t always, really,” Applejack said.

“You weren’t?” Sunset asked in surprise.

Applejack shook her head. “Rarity and I never really got along at first.”

Rarity took over. “But over time, we grew to understand each other a lot better, and that brought us closer together.” She and Applejack gave each other a small smile.

“I used to think that friendship only existed to manipulate others,” Sunset said. “I never really believed anypony genuinely cared about anypony else.” She paused, looking off into the distance. “The only ponies I ever truly cared about were my parents. When I began studying under Princess Celestia, however, I lost contact with them. I was too absorbed in my study of magic, too concerned with becoming more powerful. I don’t even know how they’re doing right now.”

Twilight put her wing on Sunset’s shoulder. “Don’t worry, Sunset. Once we’ve found the Forges and defeated the dark force you can go and visit your parents. They’ll be so proud of you, I know it.”

Sunset blinked a few times to clear away the tears that had formed in her eyes, almost unnoticeably.

“Thank you, Twilight.” She looked at the others. “Thank you all…for being my friends.”

“Don’t get all sappy on us, now,” Rainbow Dash said with a wink. “We’ve got a long way ahead of us, you know.”

“I know. And I wouldn’t want anypony else with me on that long way,” Sunset replied.

As the group traveled further into the mountains, the trees began to thin out and the path got steeper. It was only very late in the afternoon when they reached the Fender outpost. It was a small wooden cabin built from whole tree trunks, facing a sheer cliff on the west side of the path. Despite being small, it still had two floors. The group headed inside and found the lower floor had a fireplace. There was an open staircase upstairs. The upper floor was only half as big as the ground floor, and apart from a very small guard rail completely open. The upper floor didn’t have beds, so the ponies simply shrugged off their saddlebags and decided to sleep in their sleeping bags. Twilight headed over the wall furthest away from the stairs and turned around to face Sunset.

“Sunset, why don’t you put your stuff next to mine? That way I can cast an inverse shield spell on us so we won’t blow up the outpost if we have a nightmare again tonight.” She looked at the others. “And it will keep things quiet for you as well.”

“Very kind of you,” Rainbow Dash said drily. “Now let’s go outside. Watching the sunset from the mountains can be quite breathtaking…although not as cool as seeing one from the sky,” she added smugly.

She flew downstairs, but before she could reach the door Sunset had already overtaken her. She galloped over to the edge of the cliff and gazed out over the countryside of Equestria, towards the setting sun. There, in the distance, she saw it. The heat haze in the air, glowing red in the rays of the setting sun. She felt energy rushing through her as she finally witnessed the sunset shimmer again. It had been so long…

“I’m guessing you like the view?” Rainbow Dash asked, flying slightly above Sunset.

Sunset simply nodded, truly taken in by the beauty of the land, bathing in the red glow.

“It’s beautiful,” Twilight said, walking up next to Sunset. “It really suits you,” she went on.

Sunset looked away from the beauty for a moment to give Twilight a confused look, but Twilight just kept looking ahead, so Sunset turned back to it as well. The others joined in too, and together they watched as the sun disappeared behind the western horizon.

That night, after eating their fill from the supplies at the outpost, the group got ready to get some sleep. Sunset sat staring into the fire in the fireplace, mesmerized by the flames and lost in thought. She was anxious to go to bed, yet also quite tired. The thought of having to face her nightmares again wasn’t a pleasant one, however.

“Sunset?” Twilight said softly behind her.

Sunset sighed and got up. She used a dousing spell to put out the fire and lit up the ground floor of the outpost with her horn. “I’m coming, Twilight,” she said.

“Don’t worry, Sunset. We’ll get through this together,” Twilight said encouragingly.

Sunset smiled at her. “I know we will,” she said, putting on a confident face for her friend.

In her heart, though, she shuddered as she climbed the stairs and unrolled her sleeping bag. Twilight cast the inverse shield spell, and after a quick ‘good night’ she went to sleep. Sunset, meanwhile, lay awake a bit longer, looking at Twilight. She was capable of maintaining a strong shield even in her sleep. Sunset wondered if Twilight even knew just how unique she was. While magic without conscious upkeep was widespread, it was seldom done on such intricate spells. Then again, Twilight wasn’t just a unicorn anymore. Yet even for an alicorn, creating and maintaining a shield designed to block uncontrolled violent outbursts of magic capable of leveling a building couldn’t be easy. And Twilight did it in her sleep.

“You are one amazing pony, Twilight…” Sunset muttered. Then she turned onto her other side and tried to get some rest.

It was nearly morning when Sunset once again had the nightmare. Just like before, she walked through the crystallized, cold forest, and reached the clearing where her friends were waiting for her, already turned into crystal. And, just like before, her magic exploded out of control before she could reach them. Yet this time, when her magic went rogue, she felt a slight trace of something else. Something warm, kind, and familiar. Before she could dwell on it, however, the explosion happened.

Magic still crackled in the air when Sunset opened her eyes. She immediately looked at Twilight, who was staring back at her.

“Are you okay?” Sunset asked.

Twilight nodded. “I think we woke up at the same time. Being so close together must have caused the nightmares to happen at exactly the same time,” she said.

“At least the shield held, though.” Sunset looked around, and indeed the magenta bubble was still looking just as strong as it had when Twilight had first cast it. She looked past the magenta walls at the others, who were still asleep.

“What time is it, anyway?” Sunset asked. Twilight glanced at a watch she brought along.

“About four,” she replied. She sighed. “I guess we can go back to sleep for a bit…even though we need to get up in two and a half hours.”

Sunset got up and stretched. “I think I’m going to take an early morning walk. I don’t think I’d be able to sleep again now, anyway,” she said.

“Alright. Make sure you get back in time,” Twilight said as she lay back down.

Sunset nodded and stepped out of the shield spell. Twilight had told her the spell sequence to allow her passage, so she’d be able to get out if Twilight was asleep. Quietly, Sunset made her way downstairs. She stepped outside and shivered in the cold early morning air. The sun hadn’t come up yet and the sky was still dotted with stars. Sunset decided to scout ahead on the path the group would be taking that day, and headed deeper into the mountains.

It seemed eerily quiet, something that reminded Sunset of her nightmare. As she walked she began thinking about the different elements of it. Every time, it began somewhere in a forest which was already crystallized. Every time, the air felt unnaturally cold. What could it all mean? Was the nightmare a vision of what would happen if the dark force they tried to stop managed to defeat them? If so, then why did only princesses get the dream? Was there something special about those ponies, something that others lacked? It couldn’t have anything to do with being an alicorn, at least, because Sunset wasn’t. She hadn’t even been a pony at all when the nightmares began.

That meant there was another reason for it, but what? Destiny? Sunset had never cared much for the notion of destiny if it didn’t involve her becoming powerful. If she was completely honest with herself, the idea that her actions were ultimately not hers had scared her back then, and it still did now. Even her cutie mark, proud of it though she was, sometimes made her feel like she had no choice in anything. Perhaps that was why she had decided to rebel against Princess Celestia. Sunset had always maintained, even to herself, she’d done it to claim what was rightfully hers, but hadn’t she just been afraid of the truth?

“Ugh!” Sunset angrily kicked a small rock off the path. She knew that getting angry about the things that had happened was useless, as was getting angry at things yet to come. She had her friends, Princess Celestia had forgiven her, and she was on a quest to save Equestria. The future hadn’t been written yet, it couldn’t be.

“I make my own choices…” Sunset muttered.

She sighed and looked up at the sky. It was already beginning to get lighter. If she didn’t get back to the outpost soon, she’d miss breakfast. She turned around and began to head back.

With each passing step, the terrain seemed to become rougher. The path was just a faint outline now, recognizable only because it was much dustier than the surrounding rocks. What sparse trees there had been before were now far behind the group. Sunset was glad she was in her true, equine form, because climbing a trail like this as a human would have been torture. As a pony, though, it wasn’t all that easy either. Nopony spoke much, not even Rainbow Dash, who was flying above the group, unbothered by the rough terrain.

Sunset didn’t know how long they had been walking for today, and she had no clue how far there was still to go. She couldn’t really focus on much more than just continuing to walk up what felt like a sheer cliff by now. Because of that, she didn’t immediately notice the faint stirring in her magic. It was subtle, almost like how thinking of a feeling can put a ghost of that feeling in one’s mind. When Sunset noticed it, she at first thought it was just some trace of the nightmare, but the feeling gradually became stronger, though never more than faint brush against the outer edges of her magic. Even so, the feeling worried her. She walked closer to Twilight.

“Do you feel that?” she asked softly.

Twilight nodded. “Yes. It’s that same kind of magical resonance.”

“What do you think it means?” Sunset asked.

“I wish I knew. I think this feeling means we’re getting closer to the Forge, though. I don’t know what else could be causing it,” Twilight replied.

Sunset nodded slowly and took a deep breath. There was no sense in getting too worked up over this, not yet. And yet, as she looked at each of her friends, she saw glimpses of them frozen in crystal in that dark forest… She was shaken from her musings by Rainbow Dash.

“Hey! I think I see the entrance to the mine, just a bit further!”

“Oh, thank Celestia!” Rarity exclaimed. “My delicate hooves aren’t made for this kind of terrain.”

“Doesn’t bother me,” Rainbow Dash said with a smirk.

“Rainbow, darling, I seem to recall you wanted me to fix your Wonderbolts uniform after your little training mishap. It would be such a shame if something happened to it, wouldn’t it?” Rarity asked sweetly.

Rainbow Dash chuckled nervously and mumbled, “Shutting up now…”

Applejack chuckled. “Nice once,” she complimented Rarity, who replied with a dignified, yet smug smirk.

The terrain began to level out as the group approached the entrance of the mine and Sunset could feel the strange feeling in her magic getting just a little bit stronger still. She glanced at Twilight, who looked a bit worried, but still kept walking towards the mine’s entrance. The mine was carved into the mountainside, with all that protected it from the outside being a pair of rickety old doors that had evidently seen better days.

A couple of ponies wearing helmets and blue coveralls walked around outside. One of them, an imposing looking stallion, came over when he noticed Twilight and the others.

“Good afternoon, Your Highness. My name is Gemdust, the foreman of the Cheyenne Mines. I presume you’re here to investigate the strange discovery we made here?” he asked.

Twilight nodded. “We are. Could you tell us more about it?”

The stallion inclined his head. “Of course. I’ve worked in these mines for many years, but this is the first time we ever came across something like this. One of the miners had discovered found an area with an unusual concentration of gemstones. We wanted to build another tunnel in that area to take advantage of his discoveries, but our engineer said that there was a cave system just beyond the point where we wanted to build our tunnel. We opened it up, and it was immediately obvious that this wasn’t just a cave filled with geodes. There were a lot of crystals there, but many of them had been very precisely cut, and there were markings on the floor.”

Twilight had taken out parchment and a quill and was noting down everything Gemdust told her. “Anything else that stood out?” she asked.

“Well, there is a very strange aura in that room. It feels like some kind of magic is in the air there, and it’s much colder in that cave than anywhere else in the mine. It’s making everypony rather uneasy, so we’re very happy to have you here to check it out.”

Twilight nodded slowly and then looked at her friends. “Do you reckon this is the place?” Applejack asked.

“I’d imagine so. I’ve never heard of any ancient construct that matches this description.”

“Well, then what are we waiting for?” Rainbow Dash asked. “Let’s go inside!”

Twilight looked at Sunset, who could now clearly feel the unease in her magic, and knew Twilight was feeling the same way. She gave Twilight a small nod of encouragement. “Right. Gemdust, could you show us to the cave?”

Gemdust nodded. “Of course, right this way.”

Gemdust led them into the mine, which consisted of a long hallway, with lockers and carts full of gemstones lining the walls. Both Spike and Rarity were looking at the gems with wide eyes and Sunset chuckled.

“I know Spike eats them, but I didn’t expect you to drool over these gems, Rarity,” she said.

“Darling, these gemstones are of exquisite quality. They haven’t been cut or polished yet, and yet they’re this lustrous. It’s remarkable,” Rarity replied, barely even bothering to look away from the glittering stones.

At the end of the corridor, there was an elevator that looked like it was nowhere nearly strong enough to haul up even a single pony, let alone carts full of gemstones, but it seemed to be the only way of getting deeper into the mine. Gemdust opened the doors of the elevator and turned around.

“I’d advise all of you to leave your bags up here and put on coveralls and a helmet. We haven’t had any collapsing shafts, but sometimes small rocks do fall from the ceilings. Aside from that, it’s pitch dark down below. You’ll need the light from the helmets to see anything, although many of our unicorn workers prefer the light from their horns.”

“So…pitch dark and cramped, huh?” Rainbow Dash said nervously.

“Scared?” Applejack said teasingly, giving Rainbow Dash a sideways glance.

“Of course not!” Rainbow Dash said a little too quickly. “I mean, I’ve been in plenty of caves before, haven’t I?”

“Most ponies, even those who regularly explore caves are bothered by the mine shafts because they’re so deep and cramped. I imagine it’s even worse for a Pegasus like yourself. But I assure you, it’s completely safe here. We have regular inspections on the structural integrity of all of our tunnels and we haven’t ever had any incidents,” Gemdust said.

“If you say so…” Rainbow Dash said, now not even trying to hide her nervousness.

A short while later, the group was clad in miner’s clothes. “The color of these coveralls clash horribly with my mane,” Rarity pouted. “I look absolutely ghastly.”

“If you’d rather get rock dust all over your coat…” Applejack said with a shrug.

Rarity shuddered. “I see your point,” she conceded.

“Are we all ready?” Twilight asked curtly.

Sunset knew that the weird resonance in her magic was making her uncomfortable, and she didn’t blame her one bit. The sooner they got to the Forge, the sooner they could go back out. One by one, everypony nodded.

“Good. Gemdust?”

Gemdust nodded and beckoned them into the elevator. He pressed a button, and with a loud rattle the doors slid shut. The elevator jerked and began to descend into the depths.

Deeper and deeper the elevator went. As it did, the temperature began to rise.

“Aren’t we there yet?” Fluttershy asked softly. She looked a bit paler than usual.

“The cave is at the lowest point of the mine,” Gemdust replied with an apologetic look on his face. “We should be there shortly, though, and the cave is a bit more spacious than the tunnels, so you shouldn’t have as much trouble with your claustrophobia, miss,” he added, with a look at Rainbow Dash, who was breathing very quickly and shallowly. Rainbow Dash gave a small nod, but no other reaction.

Meanwhile Sunset wasn’t feeling too great either, though her unease had nothing to do with claustrophobia. Her magic was agitated at the foreign presence and it was pushing at it, like the immune system fighting a disease. It was a far cry from the levels it took in the nightmares, but it was still clearly noticeable and Sunset knew Twilight was feeling it too, perhaps even stronger given that her magic was more powerful.

“Are you okay?” she asked softly.

“My magic is getting restless. I don’t know what to expect when we’re close to the Forge,” Twilight replied.

Sunset put her hoof on Twilight’s shoulder. “I don’t know either, but we’re all together here. We can do this,” she said.

Despite not feeling as confident as her words made her sound, Sunset could still feel a warmth in her magic now, a warmth she’d felt before, but she couldn’t quite place it. Regardless, her magic seemed to calm down a bit because of it. Twilight, too, seemed to notice it because she looked confused for a second, but then she smiled and said, “Yeah, you’re right. Thank you.”

With a short lurch, the elevator came to a stop and the doors rattled open. “Here we are. The cave lies at the far end of this tunnel, on the right. I’ll remain here at the elevator. Wouldn’t want to get in the way,” Gemdust said.

“Thank you, Gemdust. We’ll be back soon,” Twilight promised.

With a quick look at her friends, Twilight lit up her horn and stepped forward, followed closely by the others. Together, they headed into the darkness of the mineshaft.

The tunnel wasn’t extremely long, but because it was so dark it felt much longer, and with every step the strange magic became a bit stronger. Eventually, they reached the end. On their right side was another short tunnel, which opened up into a cave unlike any Sunset had ever seen. It was almost perfectly round. Even the roof was a perfect dome. The walls were lined with crystals, and around the cave, evenly spaced, there were six gems that glowed a cool blue, illuminating the cave, but strangely nothing outside of it seemed to be lit by it. The short tunnel heading into the cave was completely black. At various places throughout the cave, massive crystal arrangements had been placed. Some were highly reflective, some seemed more prismatic, but all had clearly been cut and carefully placed.

“This is amazing,” Twilight whispered. “These arrays must have been used for exceptional magic.” She turned towards her friends. “There’s no doubt about it. This is the Forge, it has to be.”

She began exploring the cave, and Sunset followed suit. The floor of the cave was just as lined with crystals as its walls were, but on the floor their distribution wasn’t as random as in the rest of the cave. Complex spiraling and fractal patterns were everywhere, the grooves lined with deep purple crystals. Sunset recognized some of the fractals and spirals. They were used to focus magical energy in powerful ritualistic magic, and these particular markings were far more complex than she’d ever seen before.

“I’ve never seen anything like this,” Applejack said, as she looked around in amazement.

“It’s all so sparkly!” Pinkie Pie said happily, admiring her distorted reflection in a group of crystals.

“It feels…wrong, though,” Fluttershy said softly.

“I feel it too,” Rainbow Dash said. Now that she wasn’t in a cramped tunnel anymore, she was a lot more like her usual self. “It doesn’t feel like any other magic I’ve felt. It’s…cold,” she went on.

“You’re feeling it too?” Twilight asked, surprised. She looked troubled for a moment. “This is the kind of magic Sunset and I keep feeling in our nightmares. It’s making our own magic restless and…almost angry,” she went on. “Rarity, what about you?”

Rarity, who was eyeing a group of particularly shiny gems in a section of the wall, turned around. “Well…I agree it feels rather…frigid…in here, but my magic is quiet. I mean,” she gestured at the walls, “There’s not much reason for me to use a locating spell, is there? This cave is absolutely amazing. I’ve never seen this many gemstones in one location. I wonder if Gemdust will let me keep a few…”

She trailed off and resumed her inspection of the gems. Twilight, meanwhile, looked troubled, but walked over to a series of crystalline discs of varying colors, some convex and some concave, arranged in a complicated construction which wouldn’t have looked out of place in an art show and which seemed to be aimed at the center of the cave.

“These crystals…magic sent through here would be diffused and refocused in various ways. Look at the runes on their edges, too, they’re used to amplify or mute the magical energy while it’s being focused or diffused, allowing for extremely precise manipulations of the magic,” she said in a tone of unmistakable reverence.

“Did…anyone get that?” Rainbow Dash asked with a confused glance at her friends.

“It basically means that these…let’s call them lenses…were used to take in a certain kind and then focus it, while applying very subtle changes to it. I know it sounds vague, but that’s the best I can explain it without getting technical,” Sunset said.

She walked over to a different crystal formation, this one mainly hard and angular, but no less captivating than the other structure. “These crystals are used to break up a beam of magic, just like a prism breaks up white light into colors. The resulting beams are then broken and redirected a specific number of times in order to filter one specific type of magic from the input.” She paused for a moment. “I’ve never seen an arrangement of this kind, though. This is absolutely stunning. You wouldn’t believe the amount of calculations and spells go into even a simple arrangement. This here must have taken a whole group of unicorns weeks or even month to get just right,” she continued.

“That’s all well and good, sugar cube, but um…how does it work? I mean, we’re here to activate the Forge, right?” Applejack asked.

Sunset shot a glance at Twilight, who looked around the room. “Judging by the…lenses and prisms,” she said with a look at her friends, “The endpoint of all the magical lines and formulae is right at the center of the room. Since this is the Forge of Generosity, I presume that every single rune and crystal is meant to extract and focus that aspect of friendship magic, while using the rest of the energy to power the process.” She shook her head in amazement. “It would have taken an extreme amount of magical power to create the Element, but I believe that we should be able to create a small magical resonance that will sustain itself for a while.”

“How do we do that?” Fluttershy asked.

Twilight walked over to one of the glowing gems on the wall and looked at the floor beneath it. A small smile appeared on her face. “I suspected as much. These six crystals aren’t here just for illumination. There would have been a unicorn beneath each of the crystals. Six wizards, six Elements. I’ve often seen the number six coming back as a powerful magical number in my studies, but I had never really linked it to the Elements,” she said.

“So…six of us stand underneath those crystals?” Rainbow Dash asked, already positioning herself under the nearest one.

“Spike and I will wait in the tunnel,” Sunset said, “You only need six ponies, after all, and the six of you are the rightful bearers of the Elements.”

To her own shame, Sunset heard the edge of resentment in her voice when she said that. She couldn’t believe that she would feel jealous of her friends even now, at this point, but thankfully the others didn’t seem to have caught it. Sunset and Spike stepped into the dark tunnel and watched how their friends positioned themselves around the room. Twilight stood at the far end of the room. She looked a bit nervous, so when she looked over at Sunset, Sunset gave her an encouraging smile. Faint jealousy or not, she knew Twilight could pull this off.

Twilight took a deep breath and closed her eyes. Her horn glowed, a glow which extended around her entire body. A moment later, the same glow appeared around the bodies of her friends, sans Sunset and Spike. The glow brightened, and thin beams of magic shot from Twilight and the others into the network of crystals, bathing the room in a magenta light that chilled Sunset to the core. It was the exact same light she saw every night and her breathing became ragged as she tried to prevent herself from rushing in and ruining the spell.

“Sunset, are you okay?” Spike asked with a worried look.

Sunset nodded tersely. “I’ll be fine.” With a small, strained smile, she added, “Thanks.”

The magenta glow intensified, and for a moment Sunset saw the spiral and fractal patterns on the floor of the cave beginning to glow, beginning at the outer edges of the cave and slowly moving inwards. Then, however, the magic faded and the patterns dimmed. Twilight was panting heavily and her friends were giving each other confused looks.

“What happened, Twilight?” Applejack asked in a concerned tone. “Are you all right?”

Twilight nodded and took a few more deep breaths. “I’ll be fine. It’s just…incredibly difficult, more than I had imagined. I can’t sustain the power for long enough and the magical resistance is too great.”

Sunset gave the room a thoughtful look. This Forge had been built to create an Element of Harmony. That meant that, like Twilight said, the energy that would eventually reach the focal point of the room would be predominantly that magic. She knew from her studies that magic, unlike magnets, attracted itself rather than its natural opposite. Her eyes lingered on Rarity, who noticed Sunset’s intense gaze and gave her a nervous smile.

“Everything okay, darling?” she asked.

Sunset’s eyes widened and she stepped into the cave. “I think I know a solution,” she said.

“Really? What?” Twilight asked.

“We lack the raw power to use the Forge, but it’s built to focus the magic of Generosity. Rarity embodies Generosity, so…”

Twilight broke into a wide grin and said, “Moonbeam the Elder’s Law means she would be attracting the magic! Sunset, you’re a genius!”

Sunset blushed lightly. Part of her reveled in the praise, but for the most part she remained focused. “Rarity, could you stand in the center of the room?” Sunset asked. “Don’t worry, since the magic that comes out of the crystals and the patterns on the floor is of the very Element you embody, it won’t hurt you,” she added after seeing Rarity’s apprehensive look.

Rarity nodded slowly and stood in the center of the room, while Sunset moved to fill the spot Rarity had left. “Is everypony ready for one more go?” Twilight asked. They all nodded, and once more Twilight closed her eyes and took a deep breath. The magenta glow appeared around her body, and soon around those of her friends as well, this time including Sunset. She felt a kind warmth, and only now did she realize that it was the same feeling she’d had in the elevator. Her magic and Twilight’s mixed together and she relaxed, allowing Twilight’s spell to draw her power out, into the Forge.

This time, the patterns on the floor remained lit up, and the energy snaked its way across to Rarity, who looked a bit scared to be at the center of so much magic, yet also determined to see it through. Eventually, all the magical paths converged on Rarity who became enveloped in a deep amethyst glow, which expanded and began to take over the magenta color of Twilight’s magic, until at last the whole room glowed with a deep purple light, even the crystals one the wall, which had been blue at first.

Sunset felt her magic stir and a stab of sheer cold went through her, as if someone had stabbed her with a blade made of ice. With a bright flash, the magic evaporated and Sunset felt to her knees. She felt drained, as if she’d been running while casting all the spells she knew for hours. The crystals on the wall remained purple, and the patterns on the floor gave off a faint but steady glow of their own. Rarity was still surrounded by a purple aura, but with the magic feeding it gone, it soon dissipated.

“Did…did we do it?” Rainbow Dash asked, sounding about as tired as Sunset felt.

“Yes,” Twilight said weakly. Then she smiled. “The Forge is active.”

The Next Step

Author's Note

New year (sort of), new chapter. It’s, as usual, been a while since I last updated. I do hope, however, that this year my update pace will be less atrocious than it has been thus far. Well, we’ll see. As usual, please Read and Review. I need all the feedback I can get!

The Next Step

Sunset looked around the cave, now bathed in a deep purple glow. Her magic felt exhausted, and the agitation within it was gone – but it had been replaced by something Sunset couldn’t really describe. It was there, but it felt heavy and cold and unmoving. She tried to pass it off as an aftereffect of the powerful magic she’d just been exposed to, but a small, nagging part of her mind knew that it was far more significant than that. She wouldn’t be able to discuss it with Twilight just yet, though, because Applejack spoke up.

“Does it seem like…there are more crystals all of a sudden?” she asked with a gesture at the domed roof.

The others looked around and Sunset saw that Applejack was right. The cave had already been quite filled with gemstones before, but now almost every bit of rock was covered with a glassy, gleaming crust which softly reflected the light from the Forge.

“It must be a magical by-product of the Forge’s activation,” Twilight theorized. She put her hoof to her chin. “I wonder if the abundance of gems in this mine was caused by the Forge’s presence. If that’s the case, we may be able to use that property to locate the other Forges.”

Rainbow Dash groaned. “You mean all of the Forges are going to be in mines?” she asked in a despairing tone.

“I hope so. This would pretty much be the biggest restaurant trip I’ve ever been on if that’s the case,” Spike said. He licked his lips expectantly.

“I don’t think they will be,” Twilight said. Spike looked rather disappointed.

Twilight gestured at the six crystals beneath which they had just stood. “The energy in the Forge was led from the outside in, from equidistant points on a perfect circle,” she said. “Princess Luna said that that in order to get to the Forge of Magic beneath the Tree of Harmony, all five other Forges had to be activated.” She looked around the group. “The Tree is located in the Everfree Forest, a pretty central point in Equestria. I think that the other Forges would be at equidistant points around the Forge of Magic, along a perfect circle. Thus, if we find the location of one more Forge, we can then calculate the rough positions of each of the other Forges,” she said proudly.

“That’s really cool and all, Twilight, but what if you’re wrong?” Rainbow Dash asked.

Twilight smirked. “I don’t think I am. See, I think I know the location of another Forge, it’s…”

“In the Crystal Empire!” Pinkie interjected.

Twilight jumped from the sudden volume, but then she nodded slowly. “How did you…?” she asked.

Pinkie made a dismissive gesture with her hoof. “Please, Twilight, remember when you taught me to use logic to find the pony who ate the MMMM? I just listened to what you said and it was easy! There has to be a lot of crystal, and it has to be on a circle you can draw on a map around the Everfree Forest, and the Crystal Empire fits right on that!”

Everypony in the group was stumped for a moment. “That’s…right,” Twilight eventually said, clearly still stunned by Pinkie’s sudden display of deductive insight. Pinkie Pie smiled brightly. “But I don’t think that Forge should be our next destination,” Twilight went on, serious again.

“Begging your pardon, Twi, but…why the hay not?” Applejack asked. Sunset was about to ask the same thing. It didn’t make any sense not to go to the one Forge they knew of.

Twilight sighed. “The Empire itself is protected by the Crystal Heart. If my ‘perfect circle’ theory holds, however, the Forge will not be within the effective range of the Heart, but further north. The frozen wastes are quite possibly the most dangerous place in all of Equestria, even more so since we don’t know the exact location of the Forge and we’ll have to look for it and deal with the blizzards and their inhabitants.”

“Inhabitants?” Rainbow Dash said incredulously. “What could possibly live in those snowstorms?”

“Windigos,” Sunset said softly, now understanding why Twilight didn’t want to go north just yet.

“Don’t be daft, dear, the windigos have been gone for centuries,” Rarity said dismissively.

Sunset shook her head. “They’re gone from most of Equestria, but they’re not extinct. Windigos feed on hatred, but as spirits they don’t require sustenance.”

“Even then, aren’t they vulnerable to the magic of friendship? The very magic we represent?” Applejack asked.

Twilight nodded. “That is true, yes. But windigos in real life aren’t as easy to deal with as they were in the Hearth’s Warming Eve play. Do you know why the windigos had such power over the ponies?”

She looked at her friends. Sunset waited for a moment, but when nopony spoke up, she stepped forward. “It’s the cold. The sheer cold of the frozen wastes is hard to describe, but I read a book about them once. The explorer who wrote it said that it’s so cold you can’t think straight. Small annoyances would build up, and even close friends will begin to hate each other, and then there’s the risk of frostbite to deal with.”

Everypony looked a bit paler after that. Twilight nodded grimly. “Exactly. The windigos in real life were far more dangerous than the play suggests because of their ability to use blizzards and cold to sow hatred. It also took the combined power of all three tribes to deal with them, not just six ponies, according to the historical records I went through when I was preparing for the trip. In any case, I hope that activating the other Forges first will allow me to use the magical resonance to locate the one in the frozen wastes easier, so we won’t have to be there any longer than necessary.”

“I…think that would be good,” Fluttershy said softly, and her friends quickly agreed.

“So, what do we do then? What’s next?” Rainbow Dash asked.

Twilight shrugged. “Well, since the Crystal Empire would be the next stop on the circle if we go north, I think we should follow it south. The Forge should be somewhere in the southern reaches of the Hayseed Swamps, I think.”

“A swamp? All that moisture is going to ruin my outfits,” Rarity said dejectedly.

“Not to mention, there are some nasty critters in the swamp too, aren’t there?” Applejack asked.

“Oh no, swamp animals are generally quite friendly,” Fluttershy said, then added, “Well, unless you count that hydra, I guess…”

“It’s likely not going to be pleasant,” Twilight admitted. “But the environment in the swamp is far less dangerous than the frozen wastes, and it would be the closest Forge to our current position aside from the one in the wastes.”

The group shared some uneasy glances, but they did admit that the swamp would be the less dangerous option. With their new destination decided, the group began to head back to the elevator.

Twilight was the first to step out of the magical glow back into the dark passage, and as soon as she did so she froze in place with a jolt, as if something had shocked her.

“Twilight?” Sunset asked uncertainly, stepping closer to her friend.

“Something’s…something’s wrong,” Twilight said.

She was taking short, ragged breaths and swayed on her hooves.

“What is it?” Sunset asked.

She kept her eyes on Twilight as a wave of apprehension washed over her. Twilight locked eyes with Sunset for a brief moment and slowly shook her head. Then, without warning, she collapsed.

“Twilight!” Sunset rushed over, followed closely by the others.

As soon as Sunset stepped out of the cave, she felt like someone hit her in the face with a sledgehammer. Her entire body seemed to suddenly weigh as much as the mountain above her. It felt like her magic did at that moment, only far worse. Judging by the gasps of the others as they, too, stepped into the passage, they were experiencing the same thing.

“What...what is this?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“It’s like my whole body is encased in concrete,” Rarity said through gritted teeth.

“Magical exhaustion, I think,” Sunset said with a strained voice.

She wasn’t sure if what they were feeling now really was magical exhaustion, however. She’d drained her magic countless times in her studies, and every single one of those times had been unpleasant, but nothing had ever come close to what she was feeling right now. Her magic wasn’t so much gone as it was heavy and inert. Even so, given the enormous effort of activating the Forge, exhaustion seemed to be the most logical answer. It would also explain why Twilight was affected more severely than Sunset and the others, since she had been the one performing the actual activation and guiding everypony’s energy.

“Can you help Twilight?” Applejack asked, looking intently at Sunset.

“I can try,” Sunset said hesitantly. She knew a spell which should give Twilight at least the energy to get out of the mine, but with the way she was feeling now she had no clue whether she’d be able to perform it. Still, she knew she had to try. She bowed her head and focused. Usually when she cast a spell, her magic would flow freely and lightly. Now, it was trying to move a viscous liquid. Sunset took a deep breath and tried again. She could vaguely feel the worried eyes of her friends on her, but she kept up her focus. She’d explain later. Slowly, she coaxed her magic into movement and its cyan aura began to surround Twilight.

The glow intensified and then slowly died out. Sunset gasped and opened her eyes. She looked anxiously at Twilight, waiting with bated breath to see if her uncooperative powers had had any effect. When Twilight began to stir, Sunset breathed a sigh of relief.

“You did it!” Pinkie said happily, though rather less energetically than usual.

“What…happened?” Twilight asked when she’d gotten, shakily, to her hooves. “And…this magic…Sunset?”

“It’s just to get you out of the mine,” Sunset said. “I wasn’t sure if it would work, and I can’t guarantee it will last long. My magic isn’t exactly working right at the moment.”

Twilight nodded and tried to take a step forward, but she immediately stumbled. She looked over her shoulder at the worried faces of her friends and grimaced. “This is going to take a while.”

Eventually, the group got back to the surface. Gemdust was eager to hear what they’d found, but Sunset told him that he’d have to wait until morning. Right now, all of them needed to get some rest. They decided to set up camp some distance from the mine entrance. For the first time, this meant they’d have to set up their tents. Normally, this would be incredibly simple with the use of some magic, but right now, that simply wasn’t an option.

“Okay,” Sunset said. “Twilight and I are going to set up our tent a bit away from yours. Since Twilight isn’t going to be able to cast a shield spell tonight, I’ll have to do it and mine are nowhere near as powerful.”

She and Twilight walked away from the group. They were setting up their camp on a bit of a slope just off the path, which became steeper as it went further down. It wasn’t going to be the most comfortable night, but to ensure everypony’s safety they simply couldn’t stay inside the miner’s barracks for fear of blowing them up and possibly collapsing the entire mine. Sunset and Twilight found another bit of slope that wasn’t too steep, and shrugged off their saddlebags. A short time later, the various parts of the tent were spread out on the sandy slope. Sunset stared at it for a moment, and then looked at Twilight.

“Have you ever put up a tent without magic?” Sunset asked.

Twilight shook her head. “I’ve never had to. Haven’t you ever gone camping in the human world?”

Sunset gave her a helpless look. “Yes, but the tents had either already been set up, or else I let someone else do it.” She sighed. “Well, I guess we’ll just…start, and see where it takes us?”

“What is keeping the two of you so long? We’ve been done for ages!” Rainbow Dash said with an unmistakably smug tone and an expression to match. She hovered above Sunset and Twilight, who had still not yet managed to pitch their tent correctly. A number of the ropes lay slack in the sand, their spikes fallen over. The tent poles were mostly assembled properly, but the construction still seemed shaky. As darkness was beginning to fall, both Sunset and Twilight had their horns lit up. It was a strain to even use that much magic, so neither was very happy when Rainbow came over to gloat.

“Well, you could have come over to help us, then,” Sunset said stonily.

“Where’s the fun in that?” Rainbow Dash replied, her grin widening.

“You know what’s also fun?” Twilight asked casually. “That barn party we had last month…”

Before she could say anything more, Rainbow Dash interjected, “But hey, what are friends for?! Let me give you a hoof!”

Twilight smirked at Sunset, who grinned back. It wasn’t like Twilight to use blackmail to get what she wanted, but Sunset agreed with her use of it now. A short while later, the tent was ready and the three of them walked back over to the other tents, where Rarity and Applejack had gotten a small campfire going, with a pot hanging over it.

“Got your tent pitched, then?” Applejack said in an amused tone.

“Yes, with some help from Rainbow Dash, which she kindly and voluntarily offered,” Sunset replied, with a smug look at Rainbow Dash, who grumbled something unintelligible.

“Well, we’ve got some soup going. We’ll need to regain our strength and Granny Smith always says that nothing gets you revived like a carrot and apple soup,” Applejack said.

During dinner, the group was mostly silent. Everypony felt the exertion of activating the Forge in every cell of their bodies, and with their next destination already clear, there was no need for much talk. There was, however, a question at the forefront of Sunset’s mind.

“What do you think our dreams will be like tonight?”

Twilight looked into the fire, lost in thought. “I don’t know,” she said eventually. “I wouldn’t even be moving right now if it weren’t for the boost you gave me, so I can’t really imagine being able to create an explosion of magic right now, but still…”

She fell silent and looked at her friends. Aside from some uncomfortable glances, they gave no reaction. Sunset couldn’t blame them. There wasn’t much to be said. As with everything else on this quest, the effects of their activation of the Forge were entirely unknown.

After an hour of near complete silence, Sunset got up. “I’m going to bed. Whatever may happen tonight…we’ll just have to deal with it.”

She hadn’t meant to sound so bitter, but exhaustion and uncertainty were fraying her nerves. She arrived at the tent she and Twilight shared and closed her eyes to cast the shield spell Twilight usually used. Her magic was a bit more fluid than it had been when she’d revitalized Twilight, but it was still nowhere nearly as responsive as it would usually be.

That was a problem, because the inverse shield spell was a complicated piece of magic all by itself. A cyan orb began to appear around the tent, but after only a few seconds, cracks began to appear in it, and it fell apart into specks of light. Sunset sighed. She’d expected something like this. She took a deep breath and began anew. Once again, the cyan orb appeared around the tent. It began to glow brighter as Sunset painstakingly added more layers of enchantment on it, but after a short while cracks again began to appear in the shield’s surface.

“No!”

Sunset groaned as her work began to evaporate in front of her eyes.

“Come on…” she pleaded as she tried to recover what she could of the spell, but it was to no avail.

The shield disintegrated and Sunset had no choice but to start again. She could feel Twilight’s eyes on her back and knew that her friend felt guilty about not being able to help, so she shot her a small smile, and then turned back for attempt number three. She began shaping the basic shield, fighting her own magic while doing so. Then, she felt a familiar warmth joining her magic. She turned around and saw that Twilight’s horn was glowing.

“Twilight, don’t overexert yourself,” Sunset said.

Twilight gave a strained smile in return. “I’m not going to make the shield. I’m just going to guide you through it. Just keep going, and I’ll help when I can.”

Sunset wasn’t sure if it was smart for Twilight to use magic, but she clearly needed all the help she could get, so she nodded and focused her attention on the shield again. It was a peculiar sensation for Sunset to cast a spell while being guided. Even when Sunset had only just begun her studies she’d never wanted any form of guidance outside of initial instructions. She’d always preferred to tackle spells in her own way.

Maybe it was because her magic and Twilight’s had already mixed before, but Twilight’s magic didn’t feel intrusive at all when it made small corrections in the enchantments Sunset was forming. It was subtle, friendly. It gave Sunset a warm feeling inside her chest, and it even seemed like her weary magic worked a bit better thanks to Twilight’s encouraging presence. With Twilight’s help, the shield was done a few minutes later. Sunset felt strangely cold when Twilight’s magic withdrew. She looked at Twilight, who looked tired but also proud.

“Thank you,” Sunset said softly.

“You did most of the work,” Twilight said with a smile. “I just gave you some pointers. This spell isn’t easy and you’ve never cast it before, but even with rebellious magic you got it nearly perfect the first time. I can see why you were Princess Celestia’s student.”

Sunset didn’t know what to say to that, but she felt her cheeks burning at the compliment. She hastily turned around and said, “Well, let’s just get some rest. We’ve got a long journey ahead.”

Twilight chuckled and followed Sunset into the tent. “Right behind you.”

A short time later they were in their sleeping bags and Sunset was staring up at the canvas above her. As she slowly drifted off to sleep, she thought about Twilight’s compliment. It almost felt the same as when their magic mixed...

Sunset was walking in the forest. The temperature was pleasant and a light breeze ruffled the leaves on the trees. Moonlight shone between the branches. Everything suggested it was just a normal evening, but Sunset didn’t feel calm or at peace. Her heart was racing and her mouth was dry. Her magic was warm, its usual self, and yet she felt an edge to it, thin yet razor sharp. She kept walking. She knew these trees, but she wasn’t sure from where. From a short distance away, she heard voices. The dread in her heart began to increase as she walked towards the voices. As she got closer, the voices got louder, but Sunset couldn’t make out the words. A blinding magenta light burst through the trees and the voices of Sunset’s friends cried out. At the same time, her magic exploded out, fiercer than it had ever done before. Sheer, staggering cold spiked into Sunset’s body and she screamed.

The scream continued in the real world as Sunset bolted awake from the nightmare. She could smell ozone, and she saw the cyan shield spell slowly falling apart after being hit by so much magic. Twilight sat upright, panting heavily. She looked at Sunset, completely horrified, and Sunset knew she didn’t look much better herself.

“It was different,” Sunset croaked. Her voice was hoarse from the screaming. Twilight just nodded, trembling all over her body.

“T-Twilight? Sunset? Are you okay?” Spike’s shaky voice asked.

“Your shield may have stopped the magic, it didn’t stop the sound,” Applejack said softly.

“It sounded like you were in terrible pain,” Rainbow Dash said. She sounded as shaken up as Sunset felt.

“It was awful…” Fluttershy muttered.

Twilight got up, closed her eyes, and took a couple of deep breaths. When she opened her eyes again, she said, “The nightmare changed. This time, everypony was with me except for Sunset. The voice that I heard before was louder now. I couldn’t hear anything except that voice, but I know I was saying something to you, explaining something.” She shook her head. “I don’t know what I was telling you, I just know that that awful, distorted voice, was talking to me, but it wasn’t using words. I don’t know what it was, but it felt evil. I can’t describe it any other way. Then, finally, it said my name, and…” she trailed off and her breathing became ragged.

Sunset walked over to her and put her hoof on Twilight’s shoulder. Twilight steadied herself and gave Sunset a shaky smile.

“It said my name, and then everything just ended. My magic turned cold, bitterly, painfully cold, and I couldn’t control it when it exploded, taking me with it.”

Before anypony could react to Twilight’s story, Sunset took over. “I heard the screams,” she said.

She spoke softly, but she knew she had everypony’s attention. “This time, the forest wasn’t crystallized yet when I was walking through it, but it still felt horribly wrong. I heard your voices but I couldn’t make out what you were saying, and when I got close, the magic exploded. It was so cold, and it hurt, so much, and my magic went right along with the cold and turned against me.”

She shivered, and this time it was Twilight who offered Sunset a hoof in support. Sunset felt a bit of her dread draining away when Twilight did so and she gave her a grateful look.

“So…what now?” Rainbow Dash asked. She still looked uncomfortable.

Before Twilight could reply, Spike belched out a scroll in a blast of green fire. Twilight levitated it closer to her and shot a worried look at her friends. She opened the scroll and read it out loud.

“Dear Twilight Sparkle,

As I write this, I struggle to maintain a shield powerful enough to contain Luna’s magic, as she did for me last night. I have received word from the Crystal Empire that Shining Armor, likewise, had to use a significantly more powerful shield to contain the outbursts of Princess Cadance’s magic. This increase in the severity of our dreams worries me greatly, and I write to you now in the hopes that you and your friends are safe. Please let me know as soon as possible if your mission at the Forge of Generosity was successful, and if you have managed to locate any other Forges.

Eagerly awaiting your reply,

Princess Celestia”

Twilight looked up from the scroll.

“That…didn’t sound too encouraging,” Sunset said hesitantly.

Twilight shook her head. “It isn’t. I was hoping that activating the Forge would make our nightmares less intense, but it seems that it’s just made everything worse,” she said, with a desperate edge to her voice.

“Don’t worry, sugar cube. We’ve only activated one Forge so far. Granny Smith always says that things get worse before they get better. I’m sure that the nightmares will get better when we activate more Forges,” Applejack said.

Twilight didn’t look convinced, and Sunset, too, had her doubts it would be that easy. She feared that the nightmares would only continue to get worse until they either defeated the dark force…or until they came true. No. That couldn’t happen. There was no way Sunset would let her friends suffer that kind of fate, no matter what kind of powers would stand in her way.

“I should probably write to the Princess,” Twilight said. She shook her head in frustration. “I should have notified her the moment we came out of the mine. I can’t believe I didn’t even think of it until now.”

“Don’t be too hard on yourself,” Rainbow Dash said, “We were all pretty beat after activating the Forge, you most of all. I’m sure the Princess will understand that.”

“Rainbow Dash is right, darling. You mustn’t beat yourself up over every mistake you make,” Rarity added.

Twilight nodded slowly. “I guess you’re right. Spike?” Spike smiled and pulled out parchment and a quill.

“Ready.”

The journey back down the mountain went without incident. Twilight had sent a letter to Princess Celestia explaining what they had found, and her theory as to where the other Forges might be located, but the Princess hadn’t sent them a reply yet.

Before they’d left the mine, they had given Gemdust a short account of what they had found, as well as a recommendation to seal off the shaft to prevent anypony from interfering with the Forge.

When they reached the outpost at the end of the day, Sunset’s magic was completely back to normal. Normally that would make her happy, but with the nightmare more intense than before she wasn’t sure if being back to her normal power was a good thing. Twilight evidently felt the same.

“Sunset, can you help me?”

Sunset gave her a questioning look.

“I’m not sure if my shield alone is going to keep our magic in. Since you know how to cast the spell, I was hoping you could help me cast it. As you know, the nature of shield spells means that adding another caster will more than double their power and so…”

“I’ll help you,” Sunset said with a chuckle.

Twilight smiled sheepishly and walked over to the sleeping bags. “Ready?” she asked.

Sunset nodded. “Ready.”

Sunset called her magic into action. Now that it responded properly again, and thanks to Twilight’s help the night before, casting the shield spell was much easier now. In her mind, their synchronized spellcasting was almost like a dance as they traced their enchantments into the shield. Every unicorn’s magical signature was different, even when performing the same spells, and never was that more obvious than when casting the same spell simultaneously. Sunset’s signature was powerful, but a bit rough around the edges, while Twilight’s was refined and exquisitely controlled, wasting no energy at all.

Sunset smiled at the contrast. It showcased Twilight’s focus on learning the theory behind each spell she cast, just like it showed Sunset’s tendency to just try spells out and work from there. Not much later, the shield was done. It was partially magenta, partially cyan. The colors swirled around each other and glowed faintly, the different magical energies empowering one another.

“Thank you, Sunset,” Twilight said.

“No problem.” She smirked. “That’s what friends are for.”

That night, the nightmares did not manage to break down the shield.

Stirrup’s End was basking in a bright orange glow when the group arrived, courtesy of the late afternoon sun. On the outskirts of the village, Twilight stopped walking. She seemed hesitant to go on, and Sunset couldn’t blame her. She doubted that Burning Heart would be very happy to see them after last time. Just when Twilight seemed to have made up her mind, a pony approached them from the village. While Sunset couldn’t make out his features in the bright light of the sun setting behind him, the silhouette of his massive hat left no question about who it was. Rock Breaker inclined his head when he got closer to the group.

“Good to see you’ve returned safely, Your Highness,” he said.

Twilight nodded awkwardly. “Thank you. We, uh, we’re just passing through,” she said.

Rock Breaker cocked his head. “The first train westward leaves tomorrow morning. Surely you’ll spend the night here?”

Twilight shot her friends a helpless look. Had Rock Breaker not heard or noticed what happened to the inn just a few days ago? Rock Breaker seemed to catch on to Twilight’s train of thought.

“Ah, you’re still worried about the inn,” he said.

Twilight hung her head. “Yes,” she admitted, “I still feel awful over destroying the inn and I’d rather not do it again.”

Rock Breaker nodded in understanding. “It’s true, I’ve never seen Burning Heart quite so angry before,” he said thoughtfully, and Twilight’s face fell, “But after the repair crew from Canterlot showed up and fixed everything in the space of an afternoon, he was back to his normal friendly self. I spoke to him and he said he’s fine with letting you stay again, as long as you agree to shoulder of the cost of any repairs that might be needed.”

Twilight looked immensely relieved and Sunset almost laughed. Twilight looked adorable like that.

Rock Breaker chuckled. “Shall I accompany you to the inn? I must admit I’m rather curious as to what happened in the mines…if you’re allowed to tell me, of course,” he added.

Twilight nodded gratefully. “Of course. But I think Burning Heart should know the full story as well. After all, it’s his inn we blew up last time…”

“…and thus the magical refraction would, seemingly paradoxically, aid in the focus of the…”

Twilight was completely absorbed in her lecture. She’d intended to only tell the story of their quest to Burning Heart and Rock Breaker, but the other patrons of the Hobble Strap Inn had been very interested to hear the tale as well, and Twilight saw no real reason to keep it from them, although along the way she had derailed into an in-depth lecture of the workings of the magic in the Forge. Aside from Sunset, nopony had any clue what she was on about. Sunset had been far too amused at seeing everypony’s vacant looks to try and stop Twilight, though.

She remembered that she used to go into a lot of technical detail back when she was still a student of Princess Celestia’s, just to feel superior when other ponies weren’t able to follow her. Twilight, however, wasn’t doing this because she wanted to feel superior, but because she was just so excited about discovering magic this advanced that she just had to tell everypony, to make them share in her amazement of it.

Sunset had a warm feeling in her chest while she was listening to Twilight’s story, the same feeling she’d felt the night before when Twilight helped her with the shield spell. The pure joy that radiated off her now that she was truly in her element was such a strong contrast to the sullen demeanor she’d had that morning that it was hard to believe she was the same pony.

When Twilight began to go on an even further tangent, though, in which she wanted to explain just which magical laws were at work in the Forge, Sunset decided to save the miners.

“Twilight? Perhaps you’re going just a tad too deep with all of this,” she said.

Twilight blinked a couple of times and looked at her audience as if she was only now seeing them for the first time. A blush appeared on her face.

“I’m sorry about that,” she said sheepishly, “I tend to get carried away when I talk about magic.”

The miners, Burning Heart, and Rock Breaker were still staring at her with empty expressions.

“I think you broke them,” Rainbow Dash said helpfully. She’d been exposed to Twilight’s lectures often enough to know that it was useless to try and follow her when she got going, and so she’d tuned out as soon as things got technical.

“In any case,” Twilight said, still with a faint blush, “We’re headed to the Hayseed Swamp next. The next Forge should be there.”

Rock Breaker nodded slowly. “I see,” he said slowly. “Well, I think I speak for all of us when I say that we wish you the best of luck in that quest. In any case, I must now take my leave. I’ll come to see you off at the station tomorrow. For now, a good night to you all!”

He left the inn, and the other miners all returned to their tables. Somehow Sunset didn’t think they’d be discussing all the magical theory they’d just heard.

“Did I make a complete fool out of myself?” Twilight asked.

Her friends quickly assured her that she hadn’t.

“It was a pretty clear explanation, actually,” Sunset said. An image of Princess Celestia explaining a complex spell shot through her mind. “It actually reminded me quite a bit of Princess Celestia’s lectures, at times. Especially the joy both of you have when you’re teaching,” she went on.

Twilight’s eyes widened. “I…remind you of the Princess?” she asked breathlessly.

Sunset nodded and gave a rueful smile. “She’s just as enthusiastic about magic as you are. That changed when I…in any case, I can see why the two of you get along so well,” Sunset said.

Twilight lowered her head. “Thank you,” she said softly, with a slightly trembling voice.

“That was about the biggest compliment you could have given her,” Spike whispered.

“I know,” Sunset whispered back, “But it’s one she’s more than earned.”

Twilight looked up again. Her eyes were glistening. She gave Sunset a watery smile, which Sunset returned. Sunset felt a bit conflicted seeing her friend like this. When she had been Princess Celestia’s student, all that had ever mattered to her was gaining power and prestige, as quickly as possible. She’d known that someday, she would surpass the Princess and leave her in the dust while she would go on to rule Equestria. But her greed had proven too much, and her destiny had fallen away.

Twilight had stepped in instead, so similar to Sunset yet so different. Despite her talent, she didn’t seek power. Despite her abilities, she never felt like she was somehow better than anypony else.

Sunset didn’t really know why she was thinking about Twilight so often lately. By this point, it had long gone past simply being amazed at her magical skill. After all, Sunset wasn’t exactly a slouch when it came to magic either. What was it, then, that kept drawing Sunset’s attention?

“Sunset?” Twilight said uncertainly.

Sunset realized she’d been staring at Twilight and blushed lightly. “Uh, sorry. I spaced out a little. I haven’t been getting much sleep lately,” she said, hoping Twilight would accept the lame excuse.

Twilight nodded slowly. “Well, we’d better ask Burning Heart if he has a two-bed room available. It’ll be easier for us to keep the shield small…and the damage to the inn to a minimum,” she finished with a wince.

Fortunately, Burning Heart had once again kept the top floor reserved for Twilight and the others, this time partially for the safety of the other patrons as well, so Twilight and Sunset had no trouble finding a room to shield.

“Hey, Twilight,” Sunset said hesitantly, after they were done setting up the shield. Twilight gave her a questioning look. “Do the nightmares frighten you? Because I…well, I’m sort of dreading going to bed every night,” Sunset said, looking at the floor. Part of her felt embarrassed to admit that, but for some reason she just had to know if Twilight felt the same fear Sunset was feeling.

“They do,” Twilight said. “But right now, there’s nothing I can do about them, so I have no choice but to face them however many times is necessary to stop this dark force.” She grimaced. “That doesn’t exactly make it more pleasant, though. I’m…well, glad is maybe not the right word, but it helps knowing I’m not alone in this,” she said with a faint smile at Sunset.

“Yeah,” Sunset said softly. “Yeah, it does.”

Echoes of the Past

It was just past noon when the train reached the station of the last settlement before the start of the Hayseed Swamps, a tiny hamlet called Artax’s Folly, which made Stirrup’s End look like Manehattan in comparison. It had a station, an inn, and a small store. The store and inn were almost adjoined, leaving the station a small distance away from the settlement proper. Even from this distance, it was clear that maintenance on these buildings was not a regular occurrence, as several blinds were missing from the windows of the inn and ivy grew up the side of both it and the store. There were no regular houses at all.

“I know their name isn’t very welcoming, but I would have at least expected somepony to live here,” Rainbow Dash said, looking around while the group exited the train.

Beyond the three buildings of Artax’s Folly lay the heavily forested start of the swamp. A single path could be seen snaking through the trees, where it quickly faded from sight in the gloom.

“This hamlet was named after one of the first ponies to explore this area of Equestria,” Twilight said. “After making his camp here, before the tree line, he set off into the swamp and has never been seen again. When his camp was found, a lot of maps of the area were discovered in it, and Artax’s Folly was raised to guide ponies who wish to enter the swamp. Since then, a larger area of the swamps has been mapped out, though there are still uncharted areas even to this day.”

“Out of curiosity, is there any book in your library that you didn’t memorize before we left?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“I just like to be prepared,” Twilight said indignantly.

“And your idea of preparation is to completely memorize every book ever written. Got it,” Rainbow Dash said with a wide grin.

Twilight shot an annoyed look at Rainbow Dash, whose grin got even wider upon seeing it. Twilight managed to hold her annoyed gaze for about five seconds before she cracked and grinned back at Rainbow Dash.

“Okay, okay, I get carried away with my books sometimes. Happy now?” she asked.

“Very,” Rainbow Dash replied.

The group walked over to the store. Inside, the walls were decorated with maps of the various parts of the swamp. Display cases were set up throughout the store seemingly at random places, containing samples of plants that could be found in the swamp. Against the right side wall, there was a large marble slab, on which lay a skull that was so massive a pony could quite comfortably stand inside of it.

“Is that a hydra skull?” Applejack asked with a look at Fluttershy.

Fluttershy nodded. “It looks like it. It seems bigger than the one from Froggy Bottom Bogg,” she said with a shiver.

“Hydras around here tend to grow a bit bigger than elsewhere in Equestria,” somepony said from behind them.

A light green earth pony with a red and yellow flower cutie mark and a dark green mane approached them. Her eyes were the same dark shade of green as her mane.

“Marsh Lily, swamp expert,” she introduced herself. “It’s not every day we get royal visitors in our little backwater. What can I do for you, Your Highness?” she asked with a small bow.

“We were hoping you could provide us with maps of the swamp,” Twilight said.

Marsh Lily raised an eyebrow and pointedly looked at the walls. “I think I’ve got that covered,” she said.

Sunset chuckled at Twilight’s sheepish look. “Is there any particular area you’re interested in visiting?”

“I’m not certain. We’re trying to find the site of a very old magical ritual. If there is a place in the swamp where there a lot of crystals, it will likely be near there,” Twilight replied.

Marsh Lily frowned. “Crystals?” she repeated.

She began walking past the maps on the far wall of the store and stopped at a display case. From where Sunset was standing, she could barely see that it contained a book of some kind. Marsh Lily beckoned the group to come closer.

“This book belonged to Artax,” she said when everypony was gathered around the display cage. “The map you see here is the last one that Artax drew before he vanished.”

Twilight breathed in sharply. Sunset knew she was excited over being this close to an important historical document and she smiled.

“According to the notes in the margins, Artax believed that a large number of gemstones and other crystals could be found deeper into the swamp. It’s widely believed that he disappeared while trying to find these crystals. Even today, that part of the swamp remains unexplored.”

“Why is that?” Applejack asked.

“The terrain is treacherous. It’s not quite liquid enough for a boat, in most places, but it’s often too soggy to safely walk. Farther in, the fog makes it difficult to see things from the air. The area is also rather popular with hydras and cragadiles, so nopony is very eager to go in and properly map it out.” Marsh Lily looked at Twilight. “If I were to guess, I’d say that’s the direction you want to go in. I can provide you with maps detailing the path to the edge, but from there you’d be on your own. I’d normally offer to accompany you there, but I’m currently the only employee here since it’s not really the season for swamp trips. Most folk who come here out of season are experienced in swamp trekking and don’t need guides, so we save costs by only having one pony here…but that does mean I can’t leave.”

Sunset had an uneasy feeling in her stomach. The mine had been one thing, but a swamp infested with violent monsters and treacherous ground was something else altogether, and now it appeared they would have to go in by themselves. It had been quite some time since she’d last fought anything at all as a pony, let alone a legged serpent the size of a building with four heads. Would she even be able to deal any damage at all to a monster that big? She couldn’t remember ever fighting something bigger than a timberwolf, at least, not by herself. And it wasn’t like timberwolves were hard to defeat for someone with a cutie mark in solar magic anyway. Well, perhaps they would get lucky. Perhaps they wouldn’t run into any hydras or cragadiles or whatever other kinds of monsters lived in the swamp. But in her heart, she knew that there was no way things would be that easy.

“Okay, if the map is correct we should be getting to a fork soon,” Twilight said.

They’d bought a number of maps from Marsh Lily, and after having a quick lunch they had set off into the swamp. They’d been underway for just over an hour and a half at this point, and nearing the end of the first, and smallest, of their six maps. Nopony had yet mentioned the obvious fact that, by the time they reached the end of the maps, it would be dark, and they’d have to camp out in the swamp, on the border of an area known to be crawling with monsters. The looks on their faces, however, showed that every single one of them was definitely thinking about that unwelcome prospect.

Sunset looked around. She was amazed that anypony had been able to map out anything here. The path wasn’t much different in color from the sloshy mud around them and the various trees had very few identifying properties. Anypony without a map could easily stray off the path and never be seen again, yet this was considered to be the easy and safe part of the swamp. She wasn’t looking forward to seeing the so-called treacherous areas of it.

“Ah, there’s the fork,” Twilight said.

Sunset looked ahead. There did seem to be a tree in the path, but to Sunset it simply seemed like the path just ended there, rather than splitting into two or more directions. Twilight didn’t seem bothered by the apparent end of the path, though, and turned left when she reached the tree.

After just a few minutes, she stopped walking and turned to face her friends. “We’ll have to walk single file here. According to the map, the path here is narrower than in most other places in the swamp.”

“So why don’t you just use the cloud-walking spell you used before? Wouldn’t that keep everypony on top of the sludge, too?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“Oh, I don’t think that would be a good idea,” Fluttershy said before Twilight could respond.

“Why not?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“The muddy ground is a great home for swamp ants. They’re herbivores, but they’re very aggressive if they feel threatened,” Fluttershy explained.

“And they’re not in the paths because…?”

“They prefer the consistency of the mulch. In other places in Equestria, they do live in harder ground sometimes, but in the swamps you’ll really only find them in places where ponies don’t usually come.”

Rainbow Dash shook her head. “I thought you said that swamp creatures were friendly,” she said. “But so far every creature that apparently lives here is violent. I mean, hydras, cragadiles, and now these swamp ants.”

“Yes, but there are many more animals in the swamp than just those,” Fluttershy said patiently. “There are many species of bird, and dragonflies, and lizards, and…”

Rainbow Dash held up a hoof. “Okay, okay, I got it. No cloud-walking spell then…not that I need it, anyway.”

Twilight chuckled. “I will be using that spell, though, once we get into unknown territory, but while we have the maps there’s really no reason to risk an attack by swamp ants. Did you know that when they bite, they spray a digestive acid into the wound, which in addition to being really painful, will also…”

“Yes, thank you, Twilight!” Spike interrupted. “I’m sure everypony was really waiting to hear the details of a swamp ant bite.”

Twilight gave an embarrassed cough. Her friends looked quite uncomfortable, save for Fluttershy, who had already known what swamp ants could do, and who was giving Twilight a rather annoyed look. Sunset didn’t think she’d ever seen that look on Fluttershy’s face before and chuckled. Twilight noticed and good-naturedly rolled her eyes at Sunset, whose grin just got wider. Twilight shook her head as if in resignation, but Sunset saw her smirk.

On and on the group walked through the winding swamp paths. The sun now hung low in the sky and the swamp was bathed in an orange light that filled Sunset with energy. She closed her eyes and used her magic to guide her hooves and keep her on the path. It wasn’t hard to feel the presence of her friends and stay on the path. Years ago, she’d begun training herself to get around using only her magic under the reasoning it might come in handy if there was ever a moment where she couldn’t rely on her eyes. In actuality, she’d only ever used it on moments such as these, when the sun was low and her magic felt strongest. With her eyes closed, she could feel every cell in her body taking in the sunlight and growing stronger, and it kept her mind off the nightmares that would surely plague her again at night. As she basked in the warmth of her magic she wondered why she hadn’t thought to do this before. This wasn’t the first sunny afternoon, after all. It probably was the first one where they were nowhere close to an overnight stop yet, though. She opened her eyes again and walked up to Twilight.

“How much further is it?” she asked.

Twilight glanced at the map levitating next to her head. “We’re about halfway through the final map we have. It’ll be dark well before we reach the end, but I think we shouldn’t stop before we get there.”

“Is that because walking and map-reading keeps your thoughts off the nightmares?” Sunset asked.

Twilight shot her a sideways glance, but said nothing. Sunset wasn’t sure what to say. Hadn’t they discussed these nightmares at length already, many times? Both of them knew what had to happen, and both of them knew that, come nighttime, they would be back in the forest to relive a disaster that had not yet, that could not come to pass. Sunset wondered why this dark force would even bother with nightmares in the first place. If its intention was to destroy Equestria, wouldn’t it make more sense to not warn the very ponies who might put a stop to it? Or was the activation of the Forges the very thing it was hoping to accomplish? But that couldn’t be it, could it? The Forges were said to destroy the dark force, and clearly, activating them in the past had nearly succeeded. Nothing about this whole situation made sense and the more Sunset tried to find any sort of logic in it, the more frustrated she got.

Apparently her frustration was visible, because Rarity said, “Don’t worry, darling. We can do this.”

Sunset appreciated the attempt at boosting her confidence, but she still felt that the words rang quite hollow. Nevertheless, she managed to give Rarity a weak smile.

“You don’t really believe it,” Rarity said. It wasn’t a question.

Sunset sighed. “No,” she admitted. “Everything I’ve faced, everything I’ve seen…it was all so different from this.” She looked at the sky, which was now a dark blue. A small number of stars was already visible within it. “It feels like we’re just holding on to this idea that the Forges will somehow stop this, because the alternative is too terrible to think about. But we’ve activated a Forge, and far from getting better, things have gotten worse. Is that because this dark force is just trying harder to stop us, or is it something else altogether? I want to believe that we can stop this. I won’t give up on our mission. But…I’m afraid of going to sleep tonight.”

She looked at Twilight, hearing the echoes of their conversation the night before, feeling the ghost of the optimism she’d felt then.

“It helps, having you all here. Really, it does,” Sunset went on. “And yet, no matter how often I’m reassured, by Twilight, or by you, or anypony else, the fear returns. And every time it does, it seems to get a little bit worse. Maybe it’s just fatigue. Waking up exhausted isn’t all that great for your mind, I guess. Just last night, I was pretty optimistic. For most of today, I’ve been fine. Just now, when the sun was setting and I could really take in the magic, I felt great, strong. But now…now that it’s getting dark I can only think about what will happen. Tonight, I’ll be in that forest again. I’ll be too late to save you. I’ll hear the voices, the screams…”

She gritted her teeth. It was only now that she noticed she was trembling all over her body, and it was only now that she felt the warmth of Twilight’s wing on her back. She gave Twilight a grateful look. Only Twilight knew exactly what Sunset was talking about. Her other friends, concerned and helpful though they were, just couldn’t really understand what the nightmares were like. If it had been anypony else, Sunset wouldn’t have gotten it either. After all, weren’t they just dreams? Her friends didn’t say anything, and Sunset wondered if her grim speech had dampened their optimism somewhat.

“Sunset, look at me,” Rarity said. Sunset looked up. “Do you think we like seeing you and Twilight suffer like that, night after night, knowing that we can’t do anything at all to help you, and that activating the Forges might make things worse for you? Worse, unlike you or Twilight, we don’t really grasp magical theory. I didn’t understand a word of Twilight’s lecture on the Forge of Generosity, and I was there. But there is one kind of magic we all do know about. The magic of friendship. And with that magic on our side, I simply cannot believe that we’ll fail in this mission, no matter how difficult it gets.”

She had a fierce look on her face.

“Wow, Rarity, what a speech!” Pinkie Pie said enthusiastically. “I almost got goosebumps from it. Although that could be because it’s getting a bit chilly out here.”

Sunset looked at all of her friends in turn. All of them were smiling at her and Twilight, and Sunset felt a wave of affection for them. Deep in her mind, though, that affection had a cold, fearful edge.

The flames crackled merrily within the ring of stones. Finding enough wood hadn’t been difficult, and with the help of some magic to dry it out, the campfire hadn’t taken very long to get going. Sunset sat next to it, enjoying the warmth. They had arrived at the edge of the final map just half an hour before. Twilight and Fluttershy had checked the mushy ground around the path for swamp ants, and after declaring it ant-free, Twilight had cast a spell on it to make it solid enough for the tents to be erected upon it.

“So, which way are we going tomorrow?” Applejack asked.

Twilight, who was studying a map of Equestria alongside a series of maps of the region, replied without looking up, “We’re headed south, but since we have no maps it will be hard to determine where, exactly the Forge will be. We’ll have to assume it won’t be too far from here, since Artax was able to write down his suspicion of the crystals and he was meticulous about his notes and maps. He’d surely have made a map if it were far beyond this location.”

“So what are you still looking at those maps for?” Rainbow Dash asked.

Twilight sighed. “I was hoping I could identify something on them that might help us; elevation, or maybe a pond, denser vegetation, anything that could be seen from the sky. But I guess that if the Forge were visible from the sky, somepony would have seen it by now.”

She looked at Sunset, and Sunset thought she saw an apologetic look on her face. A second later, she knew why.

“We should probably get some rest. We’ll need to get up early to look for the Forge. With any luck, we’ll be able to camp here again here tomorrow night, and we won’t have to spend the night in uncharted territory.”

Sunset nodded slowly. Much as she dreaded going to bed, she knew she’d need all the rest she could get, especially if finding another Forge would lead to another increase in the severity of the nightmares. With a last glance at the flames, she got up and walked to her and Twilight’s tent. Away from the fire’s protective warmth, she immediately felt a cold that nothing to do with actual temperature.

“Ready?” Twilight asked.

“As I’ll ever be.”

They got to work, and a few minutes later, with the tent once again protected, Sunset lay in her sleeping bag staring up at the canvas. She wasn’t asleep, but she could already see the forest. She could already hear the whispers of those voices. She already knew what was going to happen, and she knew it was useless to try and stay awake, that it would probably even be detrimental, but she refused to close her eyes. Not yet. She heard Twilight groaning in her sleep. Not yet. The canvas seemed just a little darker. Not yet. It was like the shadows began to move. Not…

As before, Sunset bolted upright, screaming. As before, she could feel the magic lingering in the air. She looked at the sleeping bag next to her and saw Twilight, panting and sweating. She knew she looked about the same. Sunset and Twilight looked at each other. They didn’t speak. They didn’t have to. There was nothing they could say that they hadn’t said before.

“Let’s pack up,” Twilight said wearily.

Sunset just nodded. For some reason, she felt worse than usual this morning. Usual. Sunset thought the word in such a bitter way she could almost taste it. The nightmares had begun less than a month ago, and already waking up screaming felt like enough of a norm that she could judge this particular awakening as worse. The early morning sun, which usually revived her a bit, now seemed to do nothing. Her magic would usually embrace it. Less so than the late afternoon sun, perhaps, but it would still invigorate her a little. Now, it was as inert and listless as Sunset herself was.

The others had apparently noticed her mood, because they seemed wary around her, as if she’d go off on them at the slightest provocation. Sunset paid them no mind as they walked into the foggy swamp ahead.

The going was slow, now that they no longer had a map to guide them. Twilight had a compass, and she and Fluttershy were at the front of the group to make sure they wouldn’t walk over swamp ant nests, or cragadiles, or whatever other creature there happened to be. Sunset felt a little better now than she did when they’d left camp that morning, but she still felt like her hooves were filled with lead.

Some portions of the swamp weren’t as foggy as the others. In those areas, the ‘path’ was clear while the fog hung close over the surface of the murky pools. Sunset relished those moments. Whenever a ray of sunlight fell directly on the path and she walked through it, she could feel the haze in her mind clear up just a little bit. It was a bit worrisome that her magic seemed so slow to recover today, but Sunset was far too happy that it was recovering it all to really dwell on it.

It was during one of the relatively fogless moments that Twilight and Fluttershy suddenly stopped moving. Sunset looked at the others, who seemed as confused about the sudden stop as she was. Sunset walked forwards and looked ahead of Twilight and Fluttershy, to see what had caught their attention.

Nothing really seemed to stand out at first, until she saw something that looked a bright blue light that hovered above the swamp, between a group of trees in the distance. Sunset squinted to get a better look at it.

The light pulsed slowly, rhythmically. It was beautiful to see. Sunset vaguely wondered what it could be, but she knew that she wanted to keep looking at it. The light pulsed a little brighter, and Sunset could almost feel the pulse hitting her. It was cool, soothing.

The pulses now became slightly faster. Sunset felt a blissful feeling wash over her. She could barely remember why she’d been so worked up over her nightmares before. What did they matter? This hauntingly beautiful light washed away more and more of her worries with ever pulse. She felt like everything was going to be alright if she just kept looking at it.

It dimly occurred to her that she didn’t really know who she was anymore. She didn’t care. The light was there, that was all that mattered. Then, the light began to move. Slowly, as if it tried to make it seem like it wasn’t moving at all, it floated backwards.

Fear crept up into her blissful mind. Why was the light leaving? It couldn’t leave! The light would make everything okay. She began to move towards it. As slowly as the light floated away, she followed it. It began to pulse quicker still, almost like a frantic heartbeat.

She began to walk faster. The light had to stay here. She couldn’t let it out of her sight. Something terrible would happen if it got away, she was sure of it. The soggy ground was tugging at her hooves. She forced herself free, kept walking.

She could clearly see the light between the trees. If she could only reach it, everything would be okay forever. She’d never have to worry again. She…

The sunlight on her face was suddenly stunningly bright. The warmth blew away the magical beguilement from the pulsing light. Reality flooded back in with the sunlight, and with it came her own identity.

Sunset shook her head frantically. She stood in swampy mud down to her fetlocks. She’d strayed far off the path and was now in between the trees where the light, which Sunset now realized must have been a Will-o’-Wisp, had hovered before.

She looked at her friends. All of them were still moving towards the Will-o’-Wisp that was still floating in the distance with blank expressions. Sunset glanced at it. Empowered by the ray of sunlight, its magic didn’t overcome her this time, but to prevent any risks of further entrancement Sunset closed her eyes and reached out with her magic.

She could detect the Will-o’-Wisp by its sinister magical aura and she cleared her mind as she began to cast a spell around it. She created a small sphere of magic, and coated it on the inside with a layer of magical reflection. She opened her eyes and saw that her spell had succeeded. Though there was still a blue glow, it was now the cyan of her magic.

She turned to her friends, whose faces now looked pained and frightened. She took another deep breath and gave each of them a small, magical shock, just enough to startle them. The effect was immediate. Life seemed to return to everypony’s eyes, and they looked around in bewilderment.

“What…what was that?!” Rainbow Dash asked.

“I couldn’t even remember my name,” Applejack said incredulously.

“Ignis Fatuus,” Twilight said shakily.

“What was that, darling?”

“Ignis Fatuus,” Sunset repeated, “Or Will-o’-Wisp. They’re ghostly balls of light that mesmerize ponies and draw them towards them, luring them off safe paths and into their dooms in the swamp. Normally they don’t ever release their victims from their spell, but I got lucky. The sunlight broke the enchantment and I was able to seal it in a shell of reflective magic.”

“That was a good reaction, Sunset. I’m glad you managed to snap out of it,” Twilight said gratefully. She shuddered. “I’d hate to think what would have happened if you hadn’t.”

In her mind, Sunset could see the entry on Will-o’-Wisps in her bestiary, describing how ponies would drown once the Will-o’-Wisp had drawn them deep into the swamp. It was even worse for Pegasi. Since they could fly, they would often be spared from drowning…but with their minds still enslaved, they would eventually simply starve to death. Neither way was a particularly nice way to die.

“Are there more of them?” Spike asked nervously.

Sunset nodded. “Most likely. But you can protect yourself from being ensnared by looking away and repeating your own name in your head as soon as you see one, or even just a blue gleam. As you’ll have noticed, their spell just clears everything away from your mind. If you keep reasserting yourself, you can hold on to your own personality and stay focused enough to safely continue your way. If I’d known they would be around here, I’d have warned you…and not fallen for its spell myself,” she said ruefully.

“There was nothing in Artax’s journals about Will-o’-Wisps either,” Twilight said. “There are no known records of them inhabiting this swamp. Even the disappearances could be explained well enough without them…I’d never have guessed, though it makes so much sense in retrospect.”

“Well, at least we made it out okay. Good thing we did, otherwise I’d miss my own ‘we saved Equestria again’ party and then who would eat all the cake?” Pinkie Pie said.

“Wait, you already planned a party for when we get back? We don’t even know when we’ll get back!” Rainbow Dash said in exasperated tone.

“Of course we do, silly. We’ll get back when we have all of the Forges activated,” Pinkie Pie said, as if this was the most obvious thing in the world.

“Yes, but…we…how…what?! You know what, never mind. If we get out of this adventure alive, I’m sure I’ll find out,” Rainbow Dash said with a resigned look.

“We should keep going,” Twilight said. “If we want to get back out of the uncharted part of the swamp by nightfall, we’ll need to find the Forge as soon as we can.”

As the group got walking again, Sunset began scanning their environment. She was determined not to let another Will-o’-Wisp get the better of her or her friends. The encounter had made her realize, perhaps for the first time, that this mission was not an easy one. Whatever else lay ahead, she would have to be ready for it.

Along the way, the group ran into two more Will-o’-Wisps. Now warned, nopony was affected by them in either encounter, and Sunset had used the same reflection spell she’d used on the first one to make them harmless. Aside from that, though, it didn’t seem like they were getting any closer to the Forge.

Sunset was getting more and more frustrated, and she could see that Twilight wasn’t much happier. She stared at her compass so furiously it was almost like she was blaming it for their lack of results. Just when Sunset walked over to talk to her, Rarity said, “Look, over there.”

Sunset looked up, expecting to see another Will-o’-Wisp she’d have to take care of, but what she saw made her eyes widen. From a tree trunk some distance away from them grew a cluster of crystals. Sunset looked at Twilight, who seemed elated.

“Okay, we should be in the right area. Rarity, can you locate any more crystals around here?”

Rarity nodded and her horn lit up. She sent out magical pulses, which seemed to cause a resonance in the gems on the tree trunk. A few moments later, she opened her eyes again.

“Just a bit further south. I can sense a large concentration of gems there.”

“Is it the Forge?” Applejack asked.

Rarity shrugged. “I don’t know, but there are a lot of crystals there. Maybe when we’re done I can…take some with me. I’m sure I could make some dazzling pieces with them…” She got a dreamy look on her face. Applejack held back a groan, but she did roll her eyes at Rarity’s remark.

Slowly, the group headed towards the area where Rarity had detected the crystals. The ground they walked on grew harder as they neared the area, and Sunset could swear she saw a glassy sheen on it at certain points. Then, they entered a clearing, which was just as perfectly round as the cave holding the Forge of Generosity had been.

The fog, rather than swirling across the ground, seemed to be drawn up as if it were some kind of veil. It flowed, velvet-like, in a dome shape over the clearing, protecting it from the prying eyes of any Pegasus flying overhead. From the ground protruded the same focusing arrays they had seen in the cave, and on the ground, similar but subtly different markings had been carved. Rather than being filled with purple crystals, this one was instead inlaid with orange. Instead of crystals being placed on the walls, here they were placed in carefully constructed holders which to Sunset looked like they’d been carved out of obsidian.

“Honesty,” Twilight said, looking around. “This is the Forge of Honesty. The crystals on the ground have the exact same color as the Element.”

For a moment, Sunset forgot all the misgivings she had about her mission. Seeing this Forge, which nopony had seen in centuries, filled her heart with wonder all over again. It was so similar to the Forge of Generosity, but there were differences in the runes, differences in the focusing crystal clusters, and the student of magic within her was almost painfully excited at all of it. She took in everything about it, began contrasting certain bits of it in her mind with their counterparts from the mine to try and figure out how they differed, what the implications of each change could be.

She glanced at Twilight, who seemed to be doing the exact same thing as Sunset was. Watching, learning, taking in everything she could about this place. Sunset walked from one side of the Forge to the other, examining everything she saw in great detail.

“Do you see how this refraction is different?” Twilight asked, with a gesture at one of the crystals in the array. “It’s more diffuse than in the cave. And because of that, the array behind it handles the refocusing process in an entirely different way. It’s simply amazing.”

“Twilight, Sunset!” Spike yelled. “You should come and take a look at this,” he said, with a claw pointing at something just outside the protective foggy barrier of the Forge, hidden between the roots of an ancient tree.

They walked over, and Sunset saw that Spike had discovered a small crystal chest, which must have been placed there by the very ponies who built the Forge. Its surface was smooth, a cool, light blue color. A golden band ran around the edges of the lid. The golden lock looked untouched by time, and the chest sat on a circular crystal plate. Upon closer inspection, Sunset saw that the roots of the tree had grown around the chest. In ancient times, it must have been clearly visible. She glanced at Twilight, whose eyes had a greedy and yet reverent look in them. She was clearly torn between opening the chest, and not disturbing this ancient, priceless relic.

“Wow, that chest is amazing,” Pinkie Pie said. The others had gathered around as well, and now the eight of them just stood there, staring at the chest as if it held all the answers in the universe for them.

“Why don’t you open it?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“I want to,” Twilight said, “But what if we damage something? I couldn’t bear it if I ruined such an important artifact.”

“Well, it’s been in this swamp for millennia, hasn’t it? It hasn’t broken in all those years, so I doubt you’ll do it now,” Applejack said.

Twilight still looked hesitant, so Sunset decided to take matters into her own hooves. She sent her magic into the lock and was met with a gentle jolt of magic as the lock assessed her power. It accepted her within seconds, and the golden lock clicked and opened.

“It was a power lock?” Twilight asked.

Sunset nodded. “I figured it would be given the prominent location of the chest,” she replied.

“Begging your pardon, but what exactly is a power lock?” Applejack asked, nonplussed. The others looked equally stumped.

“A power lock restricts access to ponies beneath a certain amount of magical power,” Twilight said. “They’re commonly used by wizards when they need to share information without anypony unaffiliated getting access to the contents. As you can imagine, this kind of lock isn’t used to protect highly classified information. Even so…this chest will most likely contain research information on the Forge…”

Twilight’s voice trailed off and she looked at the unlocked chest as if it had enchanted her like a Will-o’-Wisp. Sunset chuckled, but she’d be lying if she said that she wasn’t curious as well. Without further ado, she opened the crystal chest and looked in. Several scrolls and thick, leather-bound books lay in the chest.

With utmost respect, Twilight levitated the topmost book out of the chest. Sunset conjured up a wooden book stand for Twilight, and she placed the book on it like it was some kind of relic. She opened it, and the eight looked inside.

“I…have no idea what that says,” Rainbow Dash said.

The book was filled with ancient script, which bore almost no resemblance to the letters they were used to.

“This language predates even Old Ponish,” Twilight said. This fact seemed to both excite and annoy her.

“Can you translate it?” Spike asked.

Twilight grimaced. “I don’t know. I can more or less read the characters, but that doesn’t bring me closer to knowing what it means. Sunset?”

Twilight’s voice was filled with so much hope that Sunset almost felt guilty when she said, “I’m not sure. I’ve seen these characters before, long ago, in a book in the Star Swirl the Bearded wing in Canterlot. I believe it had something to do with an ancient ritual that Star Swirl wanted to replicate. I don’t know if that would help in translating it, though.”

Twilight’s face fell, but then immediately perked up again. “Wait, of course! You’re a genius, Sunset!”

Sunset blinked stupidly. “I’m…what? Did you hear me right? I can’t translate this script,” she said.

Twilight fervently shook her head. “No, I meant what you said about the Star Swirl the Bearded wing. We might not be able to go there now, but Princess Celestia can! We can ask her for the book. Spike? Take a letter, please.”

It was roughly twenty minutes later. They had taken out the books and scrolls and examined each in turn while waiting for Princess Celestia to reply to Twilight’s letter. All of the chest’s contents were written in the same script, something that frustrated Sunset just as much as it did Twilight, although Sunset was less obvious in showing it.

Twilight was pacing back and forth, shooting the books and scrolls a glance every now and then. Rarity was combing her mane. Fluttershy had found a tree lizard in the tree that held the chest and was now eagerly trying to befriend it. Rainbow Dash and Applejack were hoof-wrestling while Pinkie acted as referee. Spike, lastly, kept a worried eye on Twilight.

Sunset, meanwhile, tried to guess simply from the way the scrolls and scripts were written, what each might contain. It seemed like it was a futile effort, until she opened a book that was smaller than the others, bound in dark blue leather rather than the rugged brown of the other books.

Frowning, she opened it. The hornwriting in this book wasn’t as neat as it was in the other books. “I think this one is a journal,” she said.

Twilight walked over and looked at the book. Whatever she was going to say about it, though, was interrupted by Spike, who belched loudly, and a large book materialized in front of the group. Spike belched again and a scroll appeared as well. Twilight opened the scroll first.

“Dear Twilight Sparkle,

I do not think that the book you mentioned will hold the answers you seek. However, Star Swirl did have a book which detailed most of his research and a number of spells, including a spell he used to translate the ancient language. My royal duties prevent me from looking for the spell myself, so I have sent you the book itself. If memory serves, the spell is located somewhere in the second half of the book. I suggest you keep it with you for the duration of your journey, as it may contain other useful spells. Do try to take good care of it. It’s rather valuable.

I wish you and your friends the best of luck.

Princess Celestia”

Twilight’s eyelid twitched and she was nearly foaming at the mouth. She jerkily walked closer to the book and raised a hoof. She nudged the book with it as if she couldn’t believe it was real, and she gasped when she found out that it was.

“Oh dear,” Spike said. He turned to the others. “You may want to cover your ears for this.”

Twilight squealed in a weird, high pitched tone and then began a monologue about just why this book was so amazing to her, speaking so fast that none of her friends actually understood what she was saying. Sunset laughed at how adorable it made her look and let her go on for a moment, before coughing conspicuously. Twilight shot her a questioning look. Sunset made a motion to the book stand, which still held the journal, with her head.

“Oh, right. The spell. Yes. Well,” Twilight said sheepishly.

She began browsing the book, clearly repressing another monologue every time she turned a page. Eventually, she seemed to have found what she was looking for and she approached the book stand.

Keeping one eye on Star Swirl’s notes, Twilight took a deep breath and her horn began to glow, as did the journal in the stand. A moment later, the glow disappeared and Twilight eagerly stepped forward and looked at the first page of the book. Her eyes lit up and she grinned widely. “Yes! The spell worked! We can find out what’s in here now, let’s see…”

Sunset leaned over Twilight’s shoulder and began to read the first entry.

Work on the Forge is progressing well. It was tricky to place the runic focus properly, but I managed it in the end. Received word from Zerzura today; they have the mirage working to keep out prying eyes. I wish I’d been assigned there. All we get for protection is fog. It feels a bit underwhelming compared to all the others. Hippocampus has a water dome, for Harmony’s sake. Speaking of Harmony, Parallax Dream seems to have gotten to Stellar Pulse with his assertions that we’re making a mistake in ignoring Atonement. I’ve told Stellar so many times that she’s too gullible. I just hope it won’t slow down proceedings too much.

Author's Note

And there it is, another chapter. In this one, I tried to use a bit more description and less dialogue, since dialogue is usually my focus. Oh, I mention timberwolves in this chapter. I kept the spelling as it is on the wiki, despite real life timber wolves being two words. And that’s it. Honestly, the ending of this chapter feels a bit rushed to me, but all in all I think it’s…adequate. I’d appreciate your thoughts on it, too! See you next time! EDIT: I revised some things, hence why the chapter was down for a bit. This should be the final version, though.

Ocean of Sand

The orange glow of the morning sun shining through the tent’s canvas woke Sunset up. She groaned and turned around onto her other side. She’d never been much of a morning pony. She adjusted her position a bit and felt somepony stir next to her. It was only then that she fully realized where she was…and what had happened. She’d slept through the night. Her nightmare…her nightmare had ended well and faded out! Sunset opened her eyes and sat up. She didn’t feel tired anymore. Her magic wasn’t drained from exploding out.

She noticed that Twilight was staring at her with wide eyes. “Are you…okay?” she asked hesitantly.

“The nightmare…you showed up and saved me from my own magic. I could feel your magic as clearly as I do when we’re casting spells together. That feeling of a huge, roaring fire, that is somehow not painful but protective,” Twilight said disbelievingly.

Sunset blinked a couple of times. A roaring fire? That was how Twilight felt her magic?

Twilight cocked her head. “Is…something wrong?” she asked. Now it was her turn to sound hesitant.

Sunset shook her head. “No, it’s just…in my dream, I felt your magic too. It told me what to do, what spell to cast. But when I feel your magic, it isn’t like a fire. It’s…” Sunset trailed off as she tried to think of a description that would fit the feeling of Twilight’s magic. “It’s more like a blanket, I guess? It feels warm, and soothing, and somehow it has this sense of safety that is really hard to define beyond the fact you’re absolutely certain it’s there,” she eventually said.

Twilight considered that for a moment. “I guess that makes sense. Our approaches to magic are different, so it would make sense that our magic itself is different as well. Although I don’t think I’ve ever felt somepony’s magic as clearly as I tend to feel yours.”

A blush shot across her face as Twilight realized what that implied. “Anyway,” she said hastily, “I’m really glad that, somehow, we were able to help each other with our magic instead of blowing up another tent.”

Sunset nodded fervently, trying to get rid of the blush that she, too, had on her face. “So…do you think the others finished breakfast yet? I have a feeling we might be up later than usual,” she said in an attempt to change the subject.

Twilight got up and unzipped the tent. “Let’s find out,” she said, and stepped outside.

Sunset followed her and almost immediately ran into her friends. All of them were standing around her and Twilight’s tent, staring at it as if it had caught fire. Sunset found it kind of funny that the sight of an intact tent had her friends’ jaws nearly on the still-cool desert sand.

“What’s wrong?” Twilight asked Spike. “Well…I don’t really know what happened, but it was like a light show was going on in your tent. It wasn’t noisy or anything, just really bright. Did something happen? Was the nightmare different?” he asked.

Twilight and Sunset exchanged a glance, and then Twilight answered. “It was. Somehow, Sunset’s magic and mine mixed, and we seem to have canceled each other’s nightmare out. So…we’ve had a good night’s sleep for the first time in days.”

“Oh! And that made you so happy you set off magical silent fireworks so we could have a light show?!” Pinkie Pie asked, bouncing up and down with excitement.

“Uh...I don’t think that’s quite what happened, darling,” Rarity said.

“Honestly, we’re not really sure what happened,” Sunset said. “All we know is that we could feel each other’s magic in our dreams, and that changed their ending.”

“So what do you think that means?” Rainbow Dash asked.

Sunset shrugged. “I don’t know. I mean, I’m happy it worked the way it did, but I have no idea if it’s significant or if it will happen again,” she said.

At that moment, the conversation was interrupted by a blast of green fire from Spike. “You know, it’s kind of eerie how well the timing of these letters fits our conversations,” Pinkie Pie remarked to nopony in particular, earning her some odd looks from her friends.

“What does it say, Twilight?” Applejack asked with a last sideways glance at a smiling Pinkie. Twilight opened the scroll and began reading.

“Dear Twilight Sparkle,

I write this letter feeling better than I have in several days. This past night, the intensity of the nightmare was far less than it has been in previous nights. I do not know whether this is because of your efforts, or if some other force is at work, but I felt it would be good to inform you of these developments. I hope your mission is going well.

Princess Celestia”

“Well, it’s good to hear that whatever caused your magic to mix has also worked on Princess Celestia,” Fluttershy said when Twilight finished reading.

“It doesn’t seem to have taken the nightmare away completely, though,” Twilight said. “She said the intensity was lower, but not that it had vanished entirely.”

Sunset and Twilight looked at each other. Neither of them had expected that the other princesses would also be affected by their own success in stopping the nightmares.

“Well,” Sunset said hesitantly. “All of the princesses share the nightmares. Maybe that also means that whenever one of us, or in this case two, finds a way to mitigate the effects, it would also spread to all the others?” She shrugged helplessly. “Magic is involved here that is more ancient and powerful than I’ve ever encountered. I’m really just guessing here.”

Twilight frowned. “You could be right…but there’s something odd about it. Activating the Forges would most likely agitate the dark force we’re trying to stop, so the nightmares increase in intensity. I can understand that happening. But this…the good ending to our dreams was caused purely by our own magic getting mixed up. I just don’t get how it would affect the other princesses.” She sighed. “I guess it’s no use worrying about it now. Let’s eat something and get going.”

Normally, walking through a desert during the day wouldn’t be a very good idea. For Sunset and the others, though, it was much easier than traversing the swamp. There wasn’t any risk of sinking into pools of sludge here, and the predators were all crepuscular to avoid the heat of the sun.

With both Sunset and Twilight well rested, however, the heat wasn’t an issue for the group. Sunset was using her magic to redirect the sun’s heat around them, while Twilight cooled the sand they were walking on. Sunset was amazed at how much better she felt now that fatigue wasn’t clouding her mind anymore. Her magic, too, felt livelier than it had in days.

Twilight, too, was clearly feeling much better than she had been, and was having an animated conversation with Rainbow Dash about the latest Daring Do novel, which had apparently also involved crossing a desert.

“I never really understood why she was walking, though,” Rainbow Dash said. “I mean, she’s a Pegasus. She could easily have flown across. It wasn’t like there were any sandstorms, either.”

“Wasn’t that because Ahuizotl used the Eye of Tezcatlipoca when they met in the temple? Her wings wouldn’t have worked because the Eye temporarily blocks all the magic in its target, including Pegasus flight,” Twilight replied.

Rainbow Dash shook her head. “The Eye’s effect was contained to only the temple; that couldn’t have been it. But I doubt she’d make a mistake writing down her own adventures.”

Twilight shrugged. “Well, not every part of an adventure is glamorous. If we’d write our story down, do you think we’d write every train trip in great detail? Or would we just make up something that would look good in a book? Flying over a calm desert is easy. Walking through it isn’t…usually,” she added with a smile and a look at her friends.

As Rainbow Dash and Twilight found a new aspect of the Daring Do books to focus on, Sunset began to focus on her environment again. Not that there was a lot to see. There were mostly dunes of sand, with some rocks every now and then. There really wasn’t anything that caught her eye, and she was glad it was Twilight, and not her, who had the task of keeping them on course. Every direction looked exactly the same.

On a regular day, the featureless surroundings would quickly begin to bore Sunset, but today, with her magic finally feeling like its old self again after a night of restful sleep, nothing would be able to get her spirits down. So instead of giving in to boredom and just mindlessly walking, Sunset extended her magic and began playing with the dry desert sand, drawing intricate patterns in it as she walked along. She left trace amounts of her magic in the sand to prevent the patterns from falling apart immediately.

Soon, she moved on from making mere patterns and began building small sculptures, all kept upright by magic. She became so absorbed in her little art projects that she didn’t notice at first that her friends had stopped their conversations, and were all watching Sunset’s creations with amazed looks on their faces.

“I didn’t know you were so artistic, darling,” Rarity said admiringly when Sunset used her magic to melt the sand of one of her sculptures into glass, turning it into a statue of sorts.

Rarity’s remark shook Sunset from her thoughts and she turned her head towards her friends. “It’s something I used to do for practice,” she said. “One of my earliest tests as a pupil of Princess Celestia’s was to create a sand castle out of dry sand. It was mainly to help me get more fine-grained control over my magic, and before you ask: yes, Princess Celestia actually used that pun when she gave me the assignment.” She shrugged. “I got bored with it and started to make more complex creations, several at a time, and melting the sand into glass.”

Twilight looked impressed. “That’s really advanced magic at such a young age. Had you studied sculpting techniques when you got the assignment?”

Sunset shook her head. “No. Like I said, I just got bored and decided to test my skills a bit further. Building sand castles is fine on the beach and all, but it’s not exactly a challenge worthy of deep study even using the driest possible sand. You have to remember, I felt that I was destined for greatness. I wasn’t really one to get worked up over the details…which is also why I believed I could take over Equestria with an army no larger than your average high school.”

Rainbow Dash laughed. “Really? You thought one school’s worth of soldiers would take over the entire country?”

Sunset gave an embarrassed chuckle. “Honestly, I planned on using them as a diversion only. I figured my magic combined with the power of the Element of Magic would be enough to handle anything anypony could throw in my way.”

“What about the Princesses?” Applejack asked. “Surely you didn’t think you could defeat them like that?”

Sunset sighed and looked up at the sky. “I don’t think I ever really wanted to take over Equestria anyway. I wanted admiration and praise, and being a Princess is an almost guaranteed way of getting it. Now that I have friends…I don’t need those things anymore, not like I used to.” She looked at Twilight and smiled. “Now, I’m just glad I can come with you on this adventure and help save Equestria instead of trying to conquer it.”

Twilight smiled back at her. “And I’m glad that you’re here with us,” she said.

When the sky began to grow darker, the group decided to camp in a small rock shelter they came across in the side of a plateau. Twilight and Sunset used their magic to turn rocks into logs of wood, and soon they had a fire going. When the flames were merrily crackling away in the opening of the rock shelter, Twilight turned to her friends.

“I have…a bit of bad news,” she said.

“What is it, Twilight?” Applejack asked.

Twilight took a deep breath. “Well…I have no idea where Zerzura is,” she admitted.

When Rainbow Dash wanted to begin a lecture, Twilight held up her hoof and continued talking. “It’s not like I had no idea from the start,” she said, figuring correctly that this would have been Rainbow Dash’s first accusation. “The thing is, though, that Zerzura features in myths mainly for one reason, and that’s that nopony knows exactly where it is. It’s been found enough times that most ponies are quite sure it exists, but all reports of its location give a different spot for it and none of the documented locations have ever turned out to be correct.”

She sighed and gave her friends a helpless shrug. “Of course a lot of the sightings will have been fake, which only muddies the issue even further. All I know is that the area south of here is the site of by far the most sightings. It could still take us several days to locate Zerzura itself, however.”

She fell silent and looked around the group. Rainbow Dash shook her head. “That doesn’t make any sense! How can an oasis possibly change locations every time?”

“It can’t,” Twilight replied simply. “I think that the real Zerzura is and has always been at the same location. However, the magic used to cloak it creates mirages of it in different places. It’s been theorized that, if you’d put all the locations on a map, you’d be able to extrapolate a circle and find Zerzura at the center, but all attempts to do so have met with failure, so we’ll have to assume the spell is more sophisticated than that. And, since it holds one of the Forges, it’s not hard to imagine why the wizards would want to hide it very well.”

Rainbow Dash said nothing, nor did anypony else. Sunset frowned. They’d have to find a way to get past a spell which had been tricking entire generations of archeologists and wizards. It was a daunting task, and Sunset had no idea how they’d be able to do it, unless they could somehow figure out what the wizards who cast the spell had been thinking.

Sunset’s eyes widened when a thought shot through her head. “Maybe there’s a better way to find Zerzura than turning over every grain of sand in the desert,” she said.

Twilight cocked her head questioningly.

“The journal,” Sunset explained.

Twilight gave her a confused look. “It might have answers, but how would that help us? The journal is still in the swamp,” she said.

Sunset smirked and reached into her saddlebags, levitating the journal in front of her friends. “It isn’t. I took it with me because…” She blushed a little. “Because I wanted to see if there was more in it about Atonement. I just forgot about it until now because I was so happy at finally having gotten a good night’s sleep again.”

Twilight sternly looked at Sunset. “While I understand your interest in the possibility of another Element, I really don’t think you should’ve taken the journal with you,” she said. “Until we can get a team of archeological experts in we shouldn’t just go around taking things for ourselves, no matter our personal interest in them.”

Sunset sighed. She’d been afraid of this reaction. “I know, I know. And I knew you’d react like this, so I’d rather have kept it to myself, but don’t you think the journal is our best bet right now? Or would you rather spend all of next week walking around in the desert? There’s really only so many sculptures I know how to make, so if it’s all the same to you I’d rather read the book.”

Twilight groaned in frustration. “Just because it’s useful now doesn’t make it right,” she said, but then she sighed. “But since you have it here…”

Sunset grinned brightly at Twilight, whose attempt at a return smile looked like she’d suddenly developed a major toothache. Sunset opened the journal and scanned through it until she found a mention of Zerzura again.

We’ve finally got the third set of enchantments working. It really shouldn’t have taken anywhere near this long, but Parallax Dream and his fanatics are becoming much more of a nuisance lately. Just a few days ago they tried to sabotage us by making alterations to our equations. I don’t really know what their goal was, because everypony here knows the equations back to front AND we have numerous written copies all over camp to prevent exactly such an event. I really hope Zerzura doesn’t become his next target. While I doubt the Forge itself is in danger, the mirage spell might still be susceptible to tampering. At the very least he still hasn’t managed to brainwash Stellar Pulse completely yet. All of her objections to our project remain polite and she disagrees with his methods. Now if only the rest of his little cult of Atonement would get that smart, we’d all be a lot happier.

Sunset looked up from the text and shrugged at her friends. “That wasn’t much to go on. Maybe there’s something a bit more useful further in.”

She turned back to the book and began searching again. While she saw Zerzura being mentioned a couple of times, there was never much describing the location. She did see the names of Parallax Dream and Stellar Pulse quite a bit. Apparently the journal’s author was growing increasingly worried about his friend, and Sunset found it hard to disagree.

With every mention of Atonement came more scathing remarks about Parallax Dream’s ‘cult’, as the author called it, followed by the most recent acts of sabotage at several Forge sites. Sunset felt uneasy that the one pony who apparently believed in a seventh Element was every bit as much of an extremist as she had been before she knew the power of friendship, but her worries were pushed aside when she found a promising entry referencing Zerzura.

Today, we’ve finally received word from Zerzura. Their defenses are up and running, and they’ve been gracious enough to finally tell us how to actually get there in the event of an emergency, and of course they’ve made it needlessly complex. Nopony in their right mind wanders into a desert, for Harmony’s sake, let alone that far into a desert. In any case, the mirages happen in concentric circles from a central point, which itself shifts locations around Zerzura following a set of equations that gave me a headache just looking at them, allowing one to derive the location of the oasis…which is how an unaffiliated pony would do it. Blue Moon told me privately that the wizards themselves find it by traveling east from a landmark they call ‘the rock forest’. I’ve never seen anything distinctive enough to warrant that name in the desert, so I’m sure they’re exaggerating the name as usual. It’s probably just a bunch of boulders, but at least it’s easier than solving a thousand equations.

“The rock forest,” Twilight repeated with a frown. “It’s nothing I’ve ever heard of, but maybe the map will give some ideas.”

She levitated several maps from her saddle bags and spread them out in front of her. “Uh, how many maps did you think you’d need of this specific area?” Rainbow Dash asked, curiously looking from map to map.

Twilight didn’t look up from the maps as she replied. “They’re of different areas of the desert, with varying levels of detail, from various time periods. Even if this ‘rock forest’ was clearly visible thousands of years ago, I highly doubt the same can be said for today. I’m trying to cross-reference older maps of this region with more modern ones to see if any landmarks vanish after large periods of time, or if newer landmarks are missing from older ones.”

Sunset let her eyes wander over the maps as well, hoping she’d be able to help Twilight spot anything that might be of use, but to her frustration all the maps looked more or less the same. Twilight shot a glance at Sunset’s increasingly frustrated face and nudged her with her wing. “Why don’t you just relax for now? You got us the clue, remember? You don’t have to do everything yourself,” she said with a smile.

Sunset grimaced. “I know, I just…I don’t like doing nothing while the problem hasn’t been solved yet.” She smiled faintly as she recalled her time as a student of magic. “I’ve skipped entire nights of sleep to solve magic problems I had trouble with. I couldn’t accept that simple assignments had me beat. I guess I still can’t, even after all these years.”

Twilight gave her a sympathetic look and Spike said, “You should see Twilight sometimes. She’s relentless when she’s bitten down on research. I once had to remind her to eat after a full day of hearing nothing from her.”

Twilight blushed a little. “I wish I could say that it was really only once…” she muttered.

Sunset chuckled and stepped away from the maps. “You’ve convinced me. I’ll leave this one up to you. I’ll just go outside for a bit.”

Sunset walked past the fire still burning outside the entrance to the rock shelter and headed a short way into the desert. With every step away from the fire, the air became colder. Unlike before, though, when the cold would have brought with it the fear of the nightmares, this time it just made Sunset feel calm and peaceful. She sat down in the cold sand and looked up at the clear night sky. As her eyes got more used to the darkness, more and more stars seemed to appear. Everything was quiet while Sunset sat there, just looking up at the infinite sky above her. It was almost as if she was in some kind of meditative state. She had no idea how long she’d been there, just staring at the stars, when Twilight sat down next to her.

“It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” she said.

Sunset just nodded, unsure if Twilight could even see it in the darkness. Twilight, however, seemed to have seen or at least guessed Sunset’s response.

“I used to do this a lot, back in Ponyville,” Twilight said. “From the balcony of the library, I’d just sit and look at the stars. I didn’t use the telescope or anything. I’d listen to the sounds of the night, enjoy the smell of the trees, it was the best.”

She fell silent for a moment and Sunset wondered where she was going with this. “But then, the library was destroyed by Tirek.”

Again, she paused, unsure how to voice the thoughts in her head. “I can still sit outside on the castle’s balcony, gazing at the stars, but…it doesn’t feel the same anymore. The castle’s crystal, beautiful as it is, doesn’t have the warmth of the wooden boards. There’s no leaves rustling, no buzzing bees anywhere. After some time, I just stopped star-gazing to relax. I studied the sky for astronomical phenomena, but I never went back to doing it for fun.”

She sighed. “I don’t know why I’m telling you this. I just…I don’t know. I wanted somepony to know this, but at the same time I never really wanted to tell anypony. I’m sorry, I’m not making any sense,” she said. She sounded a bit embarrassed.

“That’s not true,” Sunset replied softly. “There’s nothing wrong with thinking back to the past.”

“Maybe…but if you look at it objectively, haven’t things only gotten better for me afterwards? I mean, I have a castle now. I got new copies of all the books I lost in the explosion and a lot more to boot. Should I really still be…wishing I hadn’t lost the library?”

Sunset didn’t respond immediately. She knew, more or less, how Twilight felt. When she’d come to the human world, a part of her, hidden deep beneath her arrogant façade, felt sad at the prospect of never returning to her old room at the castle in Canterlot. Even with her relationship with Princess Celestia now restored, she still wasn’t sure if she’d ever return to Equestria for good. But for Twilight, the situation was a bit different.

“I don’t think it matters whether or not things have gotten better for you,” Sunset replied eventually. “You still lost a place you’ve lived in for years. There was far more there than just your stuff. There’s nothing strange about missing that.”

“I guess…” Twilight said.

Sunset cocked her head. “Why is this bothering you so much now, of all times? I mean, I know you just said you weren’t sure, but still. Something must have provoked it,” she said.

Twilight was silent for a moment. Then she said, “I thought of it when I saw you sitting there, lost in thought. It just reminded me of what I used to do. It’s only been a few months, but it feels like a lifetime.”

She paused for a moment and chuckled. “I sound so old when I say it like that. For Princess Celestia, a few months might as well be a few minutes. I…I can’t really fathom what that’s like. To have lived for such a long time, to have seen and to have been through so much, and yet here I am worrying about a library.”

“While on a mission to save Equestria,” Sunset reminded her pointedly. “Do you think Princess Celestia never thinks of things like this? Do you really think that, just because she’s so much older, she’s that different from the rest of us? I don’t. You saw what she was like when she gave us this mission, right? She was afraid that she’d somehow changed my destiny the day she showed me the mirror, and she still felt guilty over it even though it turned out far better than either she or I could ever have imagined.

“Princess Celestia is just like us, Twilight. She has fears, doubts, and regrets much like we do. But she has a responsibility to Equestria. She can’t linger on her doubts and regrets. She has to move forward confidently, because everypony in Equestria looks up to her and expects her to.

“The library was your first home in Ponyville, wasn’t it? It marked the beginning of your new life. If someone blew up CHS right now, even if everyone there would be fine, it would still hurt. It would still leave me shaken up.”

Sunset paused for a moment and sighed. “It’s true that you haven’t been around for more than a thousand years. But don’t think even for a second that that makes your experiences less important. And don’t think that you need to keep your worries to yourself, either. All your friends are here for you. I’m here for you. We won’t laugh at you if you share your problems, certainly not something like this.”

For a moment, both Sunset and Twilight sat in silence. Then, Twilight abruptly got to her hooves, startling Sunset with the sudden motion.

“Well, we’d best be getting back to the others. We’ve got quite a bit of walking to do tomorrow. The rock forest is to the southwest of here.” Twilight tried to sound energetic, but Sunset could hear a bit of strain in her voice.

“Twilight, are you…?”

“I’m fine,” Twilight replied quickly. Then, slower, she went on, “I’m fine. Thank you, Sunset. Thank you for listening. Now, let’s head back.”

Sunset got up as well and smiled at Twilight in the darkness. Together, they began walking back. “So, how’d you figure out where the rock forest is located?” Sunset asked.

“Well, first I cross-referenced the maps…”

The next morning, Sunset woke up feeling well rested again. She and Twilight had pitched their tent just outside the rock shelter, as a precaution in case the nightmares would return that night. But, as they had the night before, they’d once again put their sleeping bags close together, and their dreams had been peaceful.

After a quick breakfast, the group set off into the desert, sheltered from the increasing heat by the combined magic of Sunset and Twilight. Along the way, Sunset passed the time by showing Rarity and Twilight how to create sand sculptures with their magic. It didn’t surprise her much to see that Rarity was a natural at it, although Twilight was better at the more technical parts of the magic.

The others judged the sculptures while they were being made, and soon enough a little competition had begun. Sunset herself joined in as well, and she was more than a little annoyed when Rarity actually ended up outdoing her despite Sunset’s better technique.

Even so, she congratulated Rarity on her win with all the grace she could muster. Being something of a sore loser, that wasn’t very, and Rainbow Dash wasted no time in mimicking her sour face.

“Okay, I get it,” Sunset said through gritted teeth after the fifth repetition of her attempt at congratulating Rarity like a good sport. “Now let’s change the subject. I think I’ve got something fun to talk about. I’ve heard good things about this barn party you had a while back…”

Rainbow Dash paled at that. “It keeps haunting me…” she muttered.

Sunset laughed. “I won’t bring it up again if you won’t bring this up again,” she said with a smirk. Rainbow Dash grinned, relieved at not having to talk about the infamous party.

“Deal,” she said.

“Just in time, too,” Twilight remarked, and she gestured at some boulders in front of them. “We’re here.”

Rainbow Dash gave the boulders an incredulous look. “This is the rock forest? Are you sure?”

Twilight nodded. “Like the author of the journal wrote, it really isn’t worth the grandiose title the wizards gave it. If we go east from here, it shouldn’t be a long journey to find Zerzura.” Her eyes began to shine with excitement. “I can’t wait to see what this Forge is going to look like or which Element it represents.”

She was almost bouncing up and down, and Sunset smiled. Twilight still looked adorable every time she talked about advanced magic.

The group set out again, and when the sun began to get a bit lower in the sky, Twilight suddenly spoke up. “Look,” she said, holding out a hoof.

In the distance, Sunset saw a thick row of palm trees, and her heart began beating faster.

“Do you think it’s Zerzura?” she asked.

Twilight nodded. “It has to be. This oasis isn’t on any maps that I know of, and it’s exactly where the journal says it should be.”

They picked up their pace, and soon they had reached the tree line. There seemed to be more trees here than there would usually be at an oasis, probably to make it harder for anypony to enter even if they did manage to find it, but it didn’t take long for the ponies and Spike to get through the trees and reach the waterline.

Sunset blinked a couple of times when she saw the shimmering pond. It was much larger than she had guessed from the outside. The pond was perfectly circular and the water in it was a bright blue. It almost seemed to glow.

“So…where’s the Forge?” Applejack asked hesitantly. “It can’t be hidden between the trees, can it?”

Twilight shook her head. “I don’t think so…but I had expected it to be on an island or something, in the middle of the pond.”

“What if it’s at the bottom?” Spike suggested. “They must have hidden it to keep unwanted visitors out, right? Especially with that Parallax Dream pony trying to sabotage them and all.”

Sunset and Twilight exchanged a glance. “That…makes sense,” Twilight said. “In that case, there should be a way to access it. Let’s spread out and search for any clues around the lake. There might be a cache of hidden documents like there was in the swamp, or anything else that sticks out.”

Sunset began walking around the pond. She looked along the water’s edge and between the trees for anything that didn’t seem to belong in a normal oasis. As she searched, she couldn’t help but feel a bit underwhelmed. Zerzura was a legendary oasis. Shouldn’t there be more to it than just some dense trees and a somewhat larger pond than a normal oasis might have? But then, most of its legend came from how difficult it was to locate it. After all, the other two Forges they’d visited so far had been in a mine and a swamp. Not exactly the most remarkable locations. This one had been given a lot of magical protection, but other than that it had probably begun its existence as just a normal oasis, which had a legend built around it later when it proved to be elusive.

She sighed. “I guess this is why A. K. Yearling makes up parts of her adventures…” she muttered.

Then, her eye was caught by a strange glint, just below the water. She walked over to it and saw that the glint was caused by a crystal in the sand. When she looked a bit better, she noticed that there were more crystals around, which formed a line deeper into the pond. She used her telepathy to call the others to her.

“I think I may have found something,” she said when the others had gathered around.

She pointed at the crystals and Twilight nodded. “I think you may be right,” she said. “But I don’t know what to do with these crystals.”

She tried casting a number of spells at the crystals, but her magic seemed to have no effect on them at all. The water didn’t even ripple. Sunset watched with a frown while Twilight kept trying spell after a spell, until she eventually held up her hoof and Twilight stopped.

“Let me try something,” she said.

Sunset wasn’t certain if what she was about to try would have any effect at all, but she figured it couldn’t hurt to try. She took a deep breath and stepped into the water, onto one of the crystals. The crystal glowed light blue, and in response the other crystals began to glow with the same color. The water in the middle of the pond began to churn as if it had suddenly come to a boil and with a deep rumble that they could feel through the ground, something began to rise up.

First, the crystals began to rise up from the water. They folded open and formed circular stepping stones, almost like water lily pads. One by one, the crystals rose up, further into the pond, until they stopped at the edge of the churning water.

A large, white plateau rose up. Intricate patterns were carved into it, and six obsidian crystal holders were spaced at equal distance around the edge. In each of the obsidian standards, there was a blue crystal. When the plateau had risen up completely, the rumble stopped.

Sunset looked at her friends and smiled faintly. “I think we found it.”

Author's Note

And so ends another chapter. It feels rushed, especially the end, but I really just want to get on with the story at this point, and I’ll try to make the next chapters flow better again. Also, since this fic takes place before Season 5, the whole ‘make this castle a home’ stuff hasn’t happened here, which makes the conversation Twilight and Sunset are having less strange. Anyway, please let me know what you think, and see you next time!

Mesmerizing and Misunderstanding

The glittering crystal path slowly pulsed with bright blue light in the setting desert sun. It was a shade of blue that seemed familiar to Sunset, but she couldn’t quite place it. She didn’t linger on it and focused on the plateau of the Forge itself instead.

Before she could really take it in, Twilight said, “That’s odd.”

“What, the fact that an ancient magical Forge just rose up from the water of a legendary oasis that has never been found even by the best explorers in history? What’s odd about that?” Rainbow Dash asked rhetorically.

Twilight shook her head. “That’s not what I mean. Look closer at the Forge. It’s missing the focus formations the other Forges had.”

Sunset looked properly now and saw that Twilight was right. It was definitely strange for this Forge to lack the crystal clusters the other Forges had possessed, but for some reason it didn’t bother her much. For a split second, she felt immense worry, as if part of her realized something, but the feeling disappeared as quickly as it had come.

“Let’s go over there and check it out,” she said. “Maybe we’ll find some clues there.”

She began to cross the crystal path. The feeling of the crystals beneath her hooves reminded her eerily of her nightmares. Even though she hadn’t been bothered by them for two days now, traces of the fear were still there.

She stepped onto the plateau of the Forge itself and a blue light, the same color as the path, flashed before her eyes for a single moment, and then it was gone. As with the missing crystal formations, Sunset was surprisingly unbothered by the occurrence. Part of her found her lack of concern concerning, but she didn’t dwell on it and instead began to inspect the patterns of the Forge itself. The swirling shapes were inlaid with blue crystals, a lighter shade of blue than the path or the entry crystals in their obsidian holders.

Twilight and the others had also traversed the crystal path, and had now joined Sunset in examining the Forge. “I think this is the Forge of Laughter,” Twilight said.

“Ooh! So that means I get to stand in the center this time, right?!” Pinkie Pie said, bouncing up and down with excitement.

Twilight chuckled. “Yes, Pinkie, this time you should be in the center.”

A worried look crossed her face for an instant, but then her expression became neutral again. “Let’s quickly look around the Forge to see if the crystal formations have been forcibly removed, or if they’re really supposed to be absent here,” she said. “If the formations were ever here, there will probably be damage to the underlying patterns and the plateau itself, so that’s what we should look for.”

They spread out across the plateau and began to look for signs of damage. Sunset decided to start at the center of the Forge, pick one of the many lines of magic, and follow it all the way to one of the crystals in its obsidian holder. She figured that if there was any damage she’d come across it that way. She began to trace one the lines. At first, it was easy, but after only a short while she was suddenly hit with a tremendous sense of vertigo. She blinked a couple of times and refocused on the inlaid crystals. The sudden dizziness didn’t bother her. She briefly wondered why not, then resumed her tracing of the line. Along the way to the outside of the Forge, Sunset felt the same vertigo as before twice more, and both times she simply carried on afterward.

Eventually, she reached the blue crystal in its obsidian holder. For completeness’ sake, she decided to inspect it a bit more thoroughly. The crystal pulsed softly, in the exact same way as the path had done. Again, Sunset wondered where she’d seen that shade of blue before.

Then, like a flash of lightning, she remembered. “Will-o’-Wisp…” she muttered.

It was like having a bucket of ice water on her face. The pulsing light, the surprising lack of concern for any of the things that should have been major causes for concern…they were being hypnotized by the Forge!

Sunset closed her eyes and called up her magic. I am Sunset Shimmer. I am here to activate the Forge of Harmony and save Equestria. I am Sunset Shimmer…

With each reiteration of her name and purpose, Sunset’s mind became clearer. With her eyes still closed, she turned around and said, “Everypony, close your eyes. Tell me, who are you, and why are we here?”

“Sunset? What are you talking about?” Twilight asked, confused.

“Yeah, did you hit your head or something?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“Do you trust me?” Sunset asked, instead of answering their questions.

“Of course,” Twilight said immediately.

“Then please, close your eyes, and say your name, and why you are here,” Sunset said.

She heard her friends state their name and purpose, one by one. “Good. Now do it again. Keep your eyes closed, and let the meaning of what you’re saying fill every fiber of your body.”

“Sunset, you’re acting as if we’re…” Twilight’s voice trailed off as she realized it. “…dealing with a Will-o’-Wisp. That blue flash of light, the vertigo…we’re being manipulated?!”

Sunset nodded gravely, forgetting for a moment that everypony had their eyes closed. “Yes. Specifically, we’re being manipulated into believing the focus formations aren’t there, and that that’s normal. I think that, if we try to activate the Forge while this spell is active, we’re going to set off some kind of defense mechanism.”

“That’s all fine and dandy, but how are you going to deactivate it?” Applejack asked.

“I can detect it like I did with the Will-o’-Wisps in the swamp. The unicorns who placed this spell here must have had a way to deactivate it and powerful wizards tend to be a bit arrogant. Case in point, me before I fled Equestria,” Sunset replied. “In any case, their arrogance will probably mean there is a pretty obvious way to deactivate it once you know it’s there.”

She took a few deep breaths and reached out with her magic. She felt the enormous power of the Forge around her, but there was something more. From each of the six entry crystals around the Forge, she could feel the waves of mesmerizing light rolling over the Forge. A thin trace of energy ran down the obsidian holders, and then directly to the center of the Forge. It was difficult to detect, mostly hidden by the enormous power of the Forge itself, but Sunset now knew what to look for. The thin threads all met in the center of the Forge and went down, through the plateau, all the way to the very bottom of the magical dome that lay around the Forge.

Pressed up against the barrier, there was what felt like a glowing ball of magic, bound together by a construct Sunset knew to be a spiral binding. She had to give the ancient unicorns credit; a spiral binding was not something you’d often come across. They were essentially ropes made of magical energy woven into a spiral pattern, which could be temporarily loosened by anypony with sufficient magical ability, but only truly undone by somepony who knew the exact spiral configuration, and Sunset suspected that nopony like that remained alive today. It didn’t matter, though. Sunset had played with spiral bindings before and she knew how to loosen them. She quickly cast the necessary spell and the glowing ball of magic dimmed considerably. Almost immediately, the waves of hypnotizing magic from the crystals in their holders fell away.

“You did it!” Twilight said excitedly.

Sunset smiled. Of course Twilight had been following Sunset’s actions closely. Sunset hadn’t felt the warm feeling of Twilight’s magic because she was focusing on deactivating the spell, but now she felt it briefly, just before she opened her eyes and pulled back her magic. She looked around the Forge and immediately saw the clusters of crystals spaced around the plateau. She glanced at the blue crystal behind her and to her satisfaction, it didn’t pulse anymore.

“Can we open our eyes yet?” Rainbow Dash asked impatiently.

“Yes. The spell worked. We should have about two hours before the hypnotizing effect comes back,” Sunset said.

Her friends opened their eyes and looked around. Pinkie in particular was excited. “Can we activate the Forge now?! Can we?!” she asked, bouncing up and down.

Twilight nodded. “Yes. I think it’s safe now. Everything looks normal now.”

Pinkie smiled brightly and immediately took her place in the center of the Forge. Spike was about to step outside when Sunset held out her hoof and stopped him.

“Close your eyes when you step outside,” she said. “The spell on the path is still active, since I can’t affect anything outside the dome from in here.”

“Right,” Spike said nervously. “Thanks for the warning. I’m not too eager to get mind-controlled again.”

He lined himself up with the path, closed his eyes, and stepped outside. Sunset and the others took their places underneath the blue crystals.

“Are you ready?” Twilight asked Pinkie.

Pinkie nodded eagerly. “Yes! Come on, activate it! I’ve wanted to find out what this feels like since the mine!”

Twilight took a deep breath and focused. Sunset felt the now familiar warmth again, stronger than it had been at the earlier Forges because Twilight was actually well-rested this time. The crystals in the plateau began to glow a light blue and began to converge on the beaming Pinkie Pie, whose body also began to emit a faint blue glow as the magic drew ever nearer to her.

“Ooh, tingly,” she remarked when the magic reached her and the blue glow from her body began to expand outwards and fill the dome of the Forge.

Sunset felt a stab of cold, but it felt much more muted compared to the earlier Forges, possibly because Sunset herself had been sleeping better as well, much like Twilight. The blue glow faded away, remaining only in the six crystals around the Forge. Sunset still felt exhausted, but again it was far less than it had been in the swamp or even the mine. Though the feeling would definitely get worse when she stepped out of the dome, as it had every time so far, she had a feeling she’d be able to deal with it much more easily now.

“So how was it?” Twilight asked Pinkie.

“It was amazing! I felt so glowy! I was even brighter than the Hearth’s Warming Tree in Ponyville at the end of the year!”

“Maybe we should try to move the Forge there and do it again for Hearth’s Warming Eve, then,” Rainbow Dash said jokingly.

Pinkie turned towards her with her biggest smile on her face. “That’s a great idea, Rainbow Dash! Twilight, do you think we can move it just for one night?!”

Twilight chuckled. “I don’t think so, Pinkie. But I’m sure we’ll find a different way to make Hearth’s Warming Eve spectacular when that time comes, so don’t worry.”

Pinkie sighed. “Oh well. I guess it does take up a bit too much room in the town square anyway…”

Since it was already quite dark, the group decided to camp at Zerzura’s outer edge. The outer edge, because Sunset and Twilight weren’t certain if the mesmerizing spell would compel them to do something strange when it reactivated and so they didn’t want to be close to it when it did. As usual after activating a Forge, everypony was pretty tired, and so after dinner they all retired to their tents. Also as usual, Sunset’s and Twilight’s tent was set up a short distance away from their friends, in case the nightmares returned and the shield spell wasn’t strong enough to contain the explosion of magic.

When Sunset lay down her sleeping bag close to Twilight’s it was already beginning to feel natural to her. Something about being so close to Twilight felt really good, safe, and when both of them were snugly in their sleeping bags, Sunset felt more comfortable than she had at any point during the trip thus far. She still dreamt about the clearing in the forest, but nothing bad happened anymore because Sunset’s magic was calmed down by Twilight’s and the dream ended with Sunset casting the spell, which she could never remember when she woke up, to calm down Twilight’s magic in turn and stop it from exploding.

It was another good night and when Sunset woke up the next morning she felt great. At breakfast, the conversation turned to Twilight and Sunset’s miraculous cure for the nightmares. “So what exactly did you change to stop the nightmares? You never did tell us, only that your magic somehow mixed because of it and that stopped the nightmares,” Applejack said.

Twilight blushed lightly when she replied, “Well, a few days ago I saw that Sunset was afraid of the nightmare, even more than I was. So I suggested she move her sleeping bag closer to mine to make her feel better, and…because we were so close it mixed our magic and stopped the nightmare. Discovering that was a happy coincidence, because now we have a way to get some proper rest while we’re on this journey.”

Sunset had stiffened while Twilight was talking. Each word seemed to drive deep into her heart for a reason she didn’t even know herself. Of course Twilight was only being pragmatic. Why wouldn’t she be? Sunset had no idea why she suddenly felt the way she did, but it hurt and it made her angry, and not knowing why she felt like that made her even angrier still. She abruptly got up.

“I think it’s time to get going. We should be able to reach the train today now that we know where we’re going,” she said stiffly.

Twilight exchanged a confused glance with her friends before saying, “Sunset, are you…?”

“I’m fine,” Sunset cut her off. “Let’s just go. We’ve got a long walk ahead.”

Sunset knew her friends were looking at her while they walked, but she didn’t care. She was casting the spell the keep the heat of the sun away from everypony, so as far as she was concerned she was doing her job and the others should just leave her alone. Fortunately, they seemed to get that. They might not know why she was acting the way she was, but she was clearly angry about something and so they let her be. Sunset noticed that Twilight tried to catch her eye a couple of times, but every time she noticed she deliberately looked the other way. The utter confusion and even traces of dejection on Twilight’s face made Sunset feel a grim satisfaction, but the aftertaste was bitter because at the same time she hated seeing her friend like that. Even so, she made no attempts to improve the situation as they kept walking.

Instead, she kept wondering just why it was she had reacted so strongly to what Twilight had said that morning. Every single thing she’d said had been true. Sunset had been more afraid of the nightmare than Twilight. Twilight had suggested moving her sleeping bag over, and the discovery of the nightmare-canceling effect had been a happy coincidence, so of course they’d continued putting their sleeping bags together the nights after. Then what was the problem? Her thoughts went in circles, and Sunset got more and more frustrated with her complete inability to come up with a reason for her behavior.

She’s more than a friend to you. You aren’t to her.

The thought suddenly bubbled up inside her, but Sunset immediately rejected it. That couldn’t be the problem. She and Twilight were friends, close friends, even, but surely it wasn’t anything more than that. If it were, Sunset would know. Wouldn’t she? But that would explain her current behavior, only it made no sense for her to get angry over feelings she didn’t even know she had, so it just couldn’t be that.

So what else was there? Sunset was shaken from her spiral of angry and confused thoughts by Rainbow Dash.

“You have to be kidding me! The train station is right there?! Zerzura was only a few hours’ walking from the station? How has nopony found it in all those years?!”

Twilight gave an embarrassed cough. “I forgot to mention that Zerzura is entirely invisible from the air. At least, it has never once been spotted by Pegasi flying over the desert to search for it. And since the recorded sightings of Zerzura have always been in different locations, but never in the real one, and nopony would just wander into a desert without a reason…nopony probably looked there.”

Rainbow Dash hung her head. “Unbelievable. We could’ve activated all of the other Forges in the time it took us to walk there.”

“Cheer up, Rainbow. At least we got to have some fun on our trip through the desert, right? I mean, the sculpture contest was impressive, wasn’t it?” Applejack asked, with a small smile at Sunset.

Sunset returned the smile with the absolute greatest effort it had ever cost her, and only managed to make one corner of her mouth barely curl into a grimace that could maybe considered to be a smile.

Applejack quickly changed the subject. “Besides, now we’ll be in a town tonight, we’ll have actual beds this time, no more hassle with tents and sleeping bags.”

When Applejack realized that this subject was even worse for Sunset’s mood, she quickly decided not to talk anymore, and in silence the group began to walk over to the train station.

Spike lagged behind a bit and walked next to Sunset. “You’ve been angry all day. What’s wrong?” he asked.

Sunset looked at him and saw the concern in his eyes. She sighed. “I don’t know. I’ve been trying to find out, but it’s not really working.”

Spike considered that for a moment. “Well, maybe you should try to distract yourself from it. When Twi…uhh, when I’m stuck on…something…I always just distract myself by doing something else for a while. Then when…I…get back to it, it usually goes better.”

Sunset appreciated Spike’s effort to avoid Twilight’s name; he’d apparently noticed that Twilight had caused Sunset’s anger.

“Maybe you’re right,” Sunset said. Suddenly she thought of something that might be able to distract her. “Could you send a note to Princess Celestia? Could you ask her if she can send me information on a unicorn called Parallax Dream?” she asked.

Spike nodded uncertainly. “Sure,” he said. “But, you know, whatever it was Twilight did…I’m sure she didn’t mean it that way.”

Sunset’s face hardened. “Who knows?” she said coldly. Her anger began to stir again.

Spike sighed and said, “I’ll send the note to the Princess.”

“Thank you,” Sunset replied in her normal voice.

A short time later, the group had boarded the train headed for the Hippocampus Bay area. At first, Sunset had considered to sit in another car from her friends entirely, but ultimately she had settled for just taking a seat as far away from them as possible. She was still brooding over the morning’s events and she had no interest whatsoever into talking to anypony about it.

It wasn’t long before she was, however temporarily, shaken from her dark mood. Spike approached her, carrying a number of old scrolls.

He placed them on the bench opposite Sunset and said, “Princess Celestia just sent these scrolls for you. She says that all of these came from her personal archives and that she’ll be expecting the scrolls back once you’re done with them. And…” He hesitated for a moment. “…and the others are worried about you. Especially Twilight.”

Sunset looked over the pile of scrolls. “Tell Princess Celestia I said thanks. She’ll have the scrolls back by tonight,” Sunset said.

She refused to acknowledge what Spike had said about her friends and he took the hint, heading back over to the others with a last glance over his shoulder.

Sunset knew she was being petty. She wasn’t even angry with any of them except Twilight. Her inner conflict just frustrated her more, and she quickly opened one of the scrolls Spike had brought her, hoping it could provide her with some much needed distraction.

The Seventh Aspect of Harmony
Parallax Dream, High Wizard in the Harmonic Council of Caballus

Caballus is a nation bound by Harmony. It is this mysterious and powerful magical force that allowed the three races to unite as one in the face of adversity and so keep many threats at bay. As such, Harmony has been one of the most studied forces by unicorns all over Caballus, and today it is well known that ‘Harmony’ consists of six Aspects: Honesty, Loyalty, Generosity, Kindness, Laughter, and most mysteriously Magic itself. These traits, when combined in sufficient amounts, enable ponies to achieve incredible feats. However, through many hours of research with a large number of subjects (see Appendix A for a full list) I have determined that the well-accepted notion of Harmony having six Aspects appears to be incorrect.

To understand my reasoning in reaching this conclusion, one must first understand what Harmony is. Harmony, in and of itself, is a force of balance. Ponies living in Harmony with one another form thriving communities. Ponies in Harmony with nature harvest bountiful crops. These things are possible because the balance is dynamic and ever changing. Disagreements between ponies can be solved amicably in a Harmonious society, and care must be taken not to overstrain the land on which crops are grown; it needs time and care to replenish itself.

The problem with our current notion of six Aspects of Harmony is that at least five of them are fully positive, with but a single neutral Aspect: Magic. (Studies have shown that Magic reacts more strongly to positive forces like the five other Aspects than it does to negative ones, which require exponentially more raw power to utilize. Appendix B lists a number of reproducible studies showing this effect. However, for the purposes of this document Magic is considered to be a neutral force.) It is evident that five positive Aspects and one neutral one do not make for much of a balance, despite the common knowledge that Harmony and balance are very closely related. How can this be? The answer is simple: There exists another Aspect of Harmony. An Aspect which has its roots in the negative, but which is meant to enhance the positive.

In certain cases, such as when confronting Windigos (frost spirits feeding off hatred), Harmony can be weaponized. It is interesting to note that this trait of Harmony seems to only be usable if there is conflict first. If this hadn’t been the case, Windigos and other creatures which thrive on inducing hatred would never present a problem at all: ponies would simply use Harmony’s power every time these creatures appear, and instantly defeat them. It is, however, a fact of life even today that occasionally settlements are besieged by these beings, sometimes for long periods of time, before it becomes possible to use the power of Harmony to defeat them. What, then, is the actual trigger needed to use Harmony in such a way?

To discover the answer to this, I sought out settlements which have in recent memory had encounters with any creature capable of inflicting or otherwise stimulating negative emotions. Invariably, there were local ponies who had proven instrumental in defeating the creatures, and curiously it always seemed that these ponies had also been the ones engaged in the fiercest conflicts during the events. Even the triggers for each instance of Harmony’s power being used were similar: one of the belligerent ponies would own up to their mistakes and apologize to the others. This act then fostered more goodwill, and allowed Harmony to take over. (Appendix C shows the list of incidents I have investigated, as well as the specific form the magic of Harmony took in resolving the situation.)

Harmony, then, is at its strongest when it is preceded by an act of atonement. This makes sense, because Harmony is a force of balance. Its many positive Aspects can thrive only if there is something negative for them to contrast with, but they can only manifest if the desire to repent is strongly present. I therefore believe that there is a seventh Aspect of Harmony: Atonement. The desire to fix one’s wrongdoings. It necessitates the existence of the bad in order to bring out the good, and without it, the other Aspects cannot show their real power. The balance within the Aspects remains very much skewed in the direction of the positive, which to me suggests that there could be up to four more Aspects of Harmony to be discovered, but thus far I have been unable to find traces of them. Further study will be necessary, both to establish whether or not Atonement really is an Aspect of Harmony, and whether or not there may be other Aspects rooted in negative events.

What follows are exact transcripts of my conversations with the subjects, as well as the notes I have taken throughout.

Sunset quickly looked over the rest of the document. None of the names of the settlements rang any bells, but of course these events had taken place before Equestria as she knew it had even been founded. For the first time, Sunset truly realized just how old the Elements of Harmony were. They predated even the Cold Age, during which all the tribes had devolved into war because of the Windigos.

She wondered how a nation apparently so familiar by Harmony had still allowed itself to be bested by the Windigos, although hundreds of years had probably passed between the writing of this document and the Cold Age. It wouldn’t be the first time knowledge had been lost to the ages.

What also surprised her about the scroll was that Parallax Dream, before becoming a saboteur, had occupied what seemed to be a high position. For a moment, she wanted to call Twilight over to discuss the document, but then she realized she still didn’t want to talk to her. She scowled and opened up the next scroll.

For the attention of the esteemed Elder Councilor Star Song, regarding High Wizard Parallax Dream:

As promised, I will hereby disclose the contents of the closed session of the Harmonic Council regarding the findings of High Wizard Parallax Dream concerning a possible seventh Aspect of Harmony.

Within the Council, High Wizard Parallax Dream’s assertions have found very little traction. It has been known for a long while that six is a number of great power in the magical arts. It stands to reason, therefore, that an exceedingly powerful force like Harmony would of course consist of six Aspects. While High Wizard Parallax Dream has been thorough in his inclusion of comprehensive lists of cases and subjects, the Council feels that his conclusion has little merit. Harmony, as a force of balance, is naturally stronger in places where there is very little of it. The finding that each of the events was preceded by an act of atonement, while interesting, certainly doesn’t imply that atonement should therefore be seen as an Aspect of Harmony. It is out perspective that High Wizard Parallax Dream confuses correlation with causation and merely sees what he wishes to see.

The findings of High Wizard Parallax Dream did, however, inspire an idea in the Council. It was discussed whether or not it would be at all possible to construct vessels in which to house the Aspects of Harmony, in order to enable ponies to respond more quickly when evil creatures threaten their settlements. Perhaps these vessels could even be used to completely rid Caballus of undesirable influences. With enough Harmonic power, we might even be able to tame nature itself. The Council has unanimously decided to pursue this possibility.

For the time being, it is recommended that High Wizard Parallax Dream is involved in these plans, despite the dissent he voiced in his document. It would be a waste to let a wizard of his caliber go, and the council is of the opinion he can be made to see the flaws in his judgements.

This concludes the content of the closed session of the Harmonic Council.

With the highest regards,

Ethereal Spark,
Councilor / Chairpony of the Harmonic Council of Caballus

Sunset closed the scroll with an uneasy feeling in her stomach. Ethereal Spark and the other Council members were very resolute in their dismissal of Parallax Dream’s claims and Sunset had to admit that Parallax Dream really didn’t have very strong evidence for his claims of a seventh Aspect. She sighed and decided to read another scroll. Maybe there would be stronger evidence for the existence of Atonement somewhere.

For the attention of the esteemed Councilor Ethereal Spark, regarding Rainbow Power and Atonement

Recent events in Eohippus have shown that the Rainbow Power manifests itself solely in those showing exceptional affinity for one single Aspect of Harmony and have been at the center of a Harmonic outburst before, and even then only when all Aspects are gathered together. In the confrontation with the centaurs, my group has been able to observe the Rainbow Power when it manifested, as opposed to hearing from its effects from witnesses later.

Other than during the ‘regular’ outbursts of Harmonic magic, the Rainbow Power drastically alters the appearance of those wielding it, including such things as longer manes, streaks of color appearing in the manes, and cutie marks appearing around the hooves. It also appears that the very nature of the magic these ponies possess is changed, to such a degree that they can no longer be affected by the magic drain of the centaurs. Also of note is the sharp increase in Harmonic magic around the site of the Rainbow Power. Whereas regular Harmonic outbursts are fully localized and have no effect other than on their targets, the Rainbow Power increases Harmonic readings in a radius around itself.

It should also be noted that, during the event, there were seven ponies in Rainbow Form present. One of these ponies was a subject of my earlier research into the possibility of Atonement as an Aspect, and I feel that the presence of this pony, wielding the Rainbow Power, lends credence to…

The rest of the sentence was unreadable. Somepony, possibly Ethereal Spark, had written a comment on the letter and its red text obscured the original words.

Nine in Rainbow Form seen in Lophio, surplus Kindness, Loyalty, Generosity.

Another rebuttal for the existence of Atonement, then. Sunset was starting to get frustrated by it. She decided to at least finish this scroll, but below the comment Ethereal Spark had hastily scribbled the letter did not contain any more information of interest.

Sunset leaned back in her seat. It intrigued her that in the past, ponies had apparently been able to wield Harmony much more frequently than her friends had done in modern times. She wondered why nopony in living memory other than Princess Celestia and Twilight and the others had been able to use the power. Then again, at some point the three races had lost their Harmony altogether, when the Cold Age began, so maybe after the Fire of Friendship and the founding of Equestria there hadn’t been a great enough need for the power to arise.

She didn’t get a chance to dwell on it much more, because Spike had come over to announce they had almost arrived at their destination, and that Princess Celestia would soon be expecting the scrolls back. Sunset was surprised that so much time had gone by while she was reading. It almost reminded her of her past as a student of magic, during the odd times she had actually found a book that piqued her interest.

She thanked Spike for his help and allowed him to send the scrolls back to Canterlot, then got up and stretched. The train rolled into the station, and as soon as it stopped Sunset made her way outside, taking care not to make eye contact with any of her friends. In truth, she wasn’t even that angry anymore outside some frustration over not finding what she had hoped to in the scrolls, but she decided to keep up the act at least for now as a matter of principle.

When they got to the hotel, Sunset’s mood had proven somewhat infectious and nopony spoke much during dinner. As soon as they were all finished eating and they retired to their rooms, which meant that for the first time today, Sunset wouldn’t be able to keep her distance from Twilight. She felt nervous as they walked up the stairs in a frosty silence. She was a bit embarrassed by her outburst and her petty avoidance of any contact all throughout the day, but at the same time she still felt hurt without really knowing why, and her anger wasn’t gone entirely. The two of them entered their room, and Sunset closed the door behind her while Twilight headed over to the beds and shook off her saddle bags. She opened the thin white curtains, and looked out the window. The sun was setting, and in the distance, over the water of Hippocampus Bay, Sunset could see her namesake shimmer in the air just above the horizon. She felt a warm feeling inside despite herself.

“Do you know what this village is called?” Twilight asked, not turning around from the view.

“No.”

“Siren’s Call. The legend says that Sirens used to lure ships to their doom on the rocks just outside the bay, to feed on their fear and horror as the ships sank.” She turned around and gave Sunset a fragile smile. “Not that we would have to fear Sirens, of course.”

Sunset just shrugged. She had no idea why she didn’t just tell Twilight what bothered her now that they were alone, but something inside her simply refused to.

Twilight’s face fell and she sighed. “Let’s…let’s just get some sleep,” she said dejectedly.

Her crestfallen look hurt Sunset almost as much as her words that morning had done, but still Sunset didn’t speak up.

“I think if we move the beds together we’ll be close enough to…”

“I’ll take my chances with the nightmares, thanks,” Sunset interrupted, her inner conflict fueling her temper. Her temper, which had gotten her into so much trouble before.

“Sunset Shimmer!” Sunset was startled by Twilight’s sudden angry tone. “You’ve been avoiding me like the plague all day long, you’ve been refusing to talk to any of the others except Spike, you’ve got everypony in a bad mood, and now you want to face the nightmares that could cause us to level this entire building?! What in the name of Celestia is going on with you?!”

Sunset knew that Twilight was really angry, otherwise she’d never have used Princess Celestia’s name like that. Still, Twilight’s outburst was exactly what Sunset needed to vent her own anger.

“Right now, you are my problem! Being that close together to stop the nightmares might be just pragmatic for you, Twilight, but it isn’t for me. I enjoyed being that close to you. It felt right to be so close to you. If it had been anypony else I wouldn’t have done it, but I trust you, and only you, enough to do something like that even when I’m sleep-deprived and frightened. During this trip, you’ve become more to me than just my best friend. But to you, I’m apparently nothing but a bucking dreamcatcher. So I’ll say it again: I’ll take my chances here. I have no intention to just be…”

Sunset trailed off as her mind finally caught up with what she’d just said, and she realized that despite her earlier assertions that this couldn’t be the case, everything she’d just said was true. Twilight was absolutely more than a friend to her. Normally a realization like that would have been joyous, but the current situation kind of put a damper on things.

Twilight, meanwhile, stood there as if she’d been bolted to the floor. She was blushing lightly, no longer red-faced with anger. “You…you see me as more than a friend?” she repeated stupidly.

Sunset now began to blush as well. “Yes. I did. Maybe.” She sighed. “Look, this is all new to me, okay? This morning…when you said that sleeping so close together helps to stave off the nightmares…the way you said it hurt. Way more than it should, because everything you said was true, but it still hurt. As if you want to do it only because it stops the nightmares, nothing more, nothing less. And I…I didn’t know why it made me so angry, and that just made me angrier, so I didn’t want to talk to anypony, especially you.

“But what I said just now…I do mean it, I think. You’re more than a friend to me. At first I thought it was mostly because I only really know you, out of the whole group, but it’s not just that. I like you, Twilight. Your enthusiasm for magic, your skill with it, your drive to help your friends and Equestria, I like all of that. And…look, I don’t expect you to feel the same way. Until just now, I didn’t even know I felt this way for you. And of course, keeping the nightmares at bay is…”

“I do feel the same way,” Twilight interrupted her. Sunset just blinked stupidly in response.

“I…I didn’t want to say it this morning, because I wanted to tell you first. I just…I have no experience with any of that. I had no idea how to broach the subject, and I had no idea if you’d appreciate it anyway. So…I just decided to stick to the facts.” She smiled wryly. “That turned out well.”

“When did you find out you…liked me?” Sunset asked.

Twilight shrugged. “I don’t really know. It wasn’t like it suddenly just happened out of the blue. I just found myself enjoying your company a lot, stealing a glance every now and then, enjoying the feeling of our magic mixing a bit more than I probably should…small things, really. But when I asked you to move your sleeping bag closer to me…I did guess, then. I wanted to know how it would feel, being that close to you, and I had the feeling it would make me feel better about going to sleep to face the nightmare. I never imagined that it would stop the nightmares altogether, but that did provide a great excuse to keep on doing it.”

She looked away. “I would have been fine not telling you any of this, you know? I enjoy the way things are. I’ve read too many books where confessions of this nature lead to estrangement. Maybe that’s another reason I never brought it up. But I guess everything’s going to be different now, anyway.”

Sunset shook her head. “It doesn’t have to be. Like I said, until just now I didn’t even know I had any feelings for you beyond friendship. I’m really, really not looking to rush into something, here. Just like you, I like the way things are now — minus today, anyway. Besides, we’re still on a mission. After, we can talk more about all of this. Right now…let’s just pretend neither of us know anything and carry on like we were.”

Twilight nodded, looking immensely relieved. Sunset knew she probably looked the same way. She really hadn’t expected that conversation to go the way it did, but she was definitely happy with the result. Sunset walked over closer to Twilight, who looked a bit apprehensive.

“Just a hug,” Sunset promised with a wink.

Twilight smiled at her. “Right. As friends.”

“Yep. Friends, nothing more…”

Author's Note

And so ends another chapter. Important things have happened for the plot, even some things Sunset hasn’t noticed yet. Funnily enough, before starting on this chapter I lowered my minimum word count from 6000 to 3000. Since this chapter turned out to have around 6700 words, I’m beginning to wonder why I needed that alteration. Let me know what you think, and hope to see you in the next one!

A Sinking Feeling

Author's Note

And here we have the ninth chapter. It’s long, very long. It might end up being the longest chapter of the fic, even. In other news, I have finally, after nearly two decades of using Windows, discovered the alt code for em dashes, so obviously I’m now furiously using them. In any case, please let me know what you think, and enjoy!

A Sinking Feeling

The next morning, breakfast was a bit awkward at first. With the exception of Twilight, everypony was a bit apprehensive around Sunset. Sunset, for her part, was feeling a bit guilty and waiting for a good moment to apologize. When, exactly, a moment would meet her criteria to do so, she had no idea. Eventually, Twilight made the choice for her by giving her a light push on the back with her wing. Sunset turned to give her an uncertain look, but Twilight smiled encouragingly, so Sunset knew she didn’t have much of a choice.

She stood and said, “Everypony, I have something to tell you.”

The others stopped talking and all focused on Sunset. For all Sunset’s history of loving to be the center of attention, right then she’d rather been underneath the table than standing at the head of it.

“I…Yesterday wasn’t really my best day. I was angry over something that turned out to just be a misunderstanding, and I shouldn’t have acted the way I did. It was wrong of me to ignore you all day, so…I’m sorry,” she said.

“No worries, sugar cube. We all have our off days. We won’t hold it against you,” Applejack said.

Sunset gave her a relieved smile.

“So…what was bothering you, anyway?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“Nothing big,” Twilight said.

She and Sunset had expected somepony to ask that, and they’d agreed that Twilight would handle any questions on the subject.

“It was just a misunderstanding, but we talked it out. Neither of us really want to discuss it further right now.”

Sunset could see that Twilight’s answer raised more questions than it answered, but to her friends’ credit they didn’t press the issue.

“So, now that we’re all friends again, where are we going next?” Pinkie Pie asked.

Clearly relieved at the change of subject, Twilight began to explain. “Well, the journal mentioned that Hippocampus had a water dome. That suggests that the next Forge will actually be in the bay itself. My plan is to go down to the harbor and see if we can hire a boat to explore the bay.”

“Do you have any idea how big the Hippocampus Bay is? I mean, it’s not as big as the desert but if we need to search every part of it we’ll be here for months,” Rainbow Dash said.

Twilight smiled broadly at her. “Fortunately, we won’t have to search every part of it. We’ve now activated three of the Forges. At this point, I should be able to use the magical resonance of the active Forges to help me locate this one. We’ll only have cross the bay in a properly structured way, and then I’m sure I’ll pick up the energy of the Forge. It’ll give us at least the general area in which to search.”

“Well then, what are we waiting for? Let’s go get us a boat,” Applejack said. The others all voiced their agreement, and not much later, they were underway.

Siren’s Call was one of many small villages around the Hippocampus Bay. It consisted mainly of narrow cobblestone alleyways and houses that were higher than they were wide. The hills around the village were dotted with orchards for various kinds of fruit, most of which were exported across the rest of Equestria by railway and ship.

When Sunset and the others emerged from the shadowy alleys into the bright sun of the harbor, she saw that the bay was filled with boats of various sizes, from large ships carrying fruit and vegetables, to smaller boats just for recreation. She figured that with this many boats out there it wouldn’t be difficult for them to find a spot to hire a boat of their own, but looking across the vastness of the bay Sunset wondered if, even with Twilight’s resonance spell, finding the Forge was going to be as easy as Twilight said it would be.

“Okay, the map says that if we continue along this road we should come across a rental service,” Twilight said.

Sunset didn’t know where Twilight had gotten a map for this village, but she assumed it had been purchased yesterday, during Sunset’s seclusion from the group.

She looked at the boats moored in the marina they were now passing. Some of the yachts clearly belonged to very wealthy ponies, using propulsion systems carefully designed by mages. Others were simple sailing boats, some of which looked like they’d seen better days. It was an interesting contrast to see these vessels side by side.

“Here it is,” Twilight said after a short walk.

Sunset looked up and saw a small wooden building, which looked like it had stood ever since the village had first been founded. The boats that lay docked behind it were similarly old, though at least they looked well-kept and they seemed to use magical propulsion rather than relying on sails.

When they entered the building, Sunset had to blink a couple of times to see anything in the gloom. The blinds had been mostly shut and only a few bright stripes of sunlight shone in. When her eyes adjusted, Sunset saw that the walls were decorated with pictures of boats, far more majestic ones than those moored outside.

After a short conversation with the stallion manning the sole desk in the building, an earth pony named Distant Horizon, they were outside walking along a jetty, while Distant Horizon rattled off the specifications of each boat they passed. Sunset was glad that Twilight, as the resident royalty, had to be the one feigning interest. Eventually, though, they negotiated a price, and soon after the Wave Slicer — “The name of my great-grandmother.” — sailed into the open waters of the Hippocampus Bay.

Sunset stood on the small walkway next to the cabin and enjoyed the breeze through her mane. She hadn’t been on boats all that often, but she had definitely liked the few times she had. She looked at the vastness of the bay spreading out in front of them, and once again wondered how Twilight intended to locate the Forge. She stepped inside the cramped cabin of the Wave Slicer and saw that Twilight was alternately looking at a compass and out of the windows.

“I didn’t know you knew how to drive one of these,” Sunset remarked as Twilight made a small course adjustment.

Twilight grimaced. “I don’t, really. I’m just going by what Distant Horizon told me. I’m trying to give every other boat out here a wide berth because I have absolutely no idea what the rules are regarding right of way and so on. I know left is portside and right is starboard; that’s about the extent of my nautical knowledge.”

“That’s…not exactly reassuring,” Sunset said.

“Well, at least I know roughly where to look for the Forge,” Twilight said defensively.

Sunset cocked her head. “You do? How?”

“Haven’t you listened to what Distant Horizon said? He said that near the southern mouth of the bay currents are extremely strong and unpredictable, and that many ships have been smashed on the jagged rocks. Those currents are the source of many of the tales of Sirens around here — although it’s quite possible that Sirens were actually active in this area at one point.”

Sunset absorbed that information and then said, “So, to recap: you don’t know how to properly drive a boat and we’re headed for an extremely dangerous part of the bay where many experienced sailors have gone down. I see no way this could come back to bite us in the flank.”

Twilight gave Sunset a dark look. “Aren’t you optimistic today,” she said sourly.

Sunset chuckled. “I’m just joking,” she said soothingly, then added, “Mostly.”

Twilight grumbled something unintelligible. Sunset just grinned at her. She was enjoying herself immensely, irritating Twilight like this. She figured that Twilight, even though she wasn’t an experienced captain, probably had some kind of magical solution to keep the boat safe in the dangerous area, at least for the most part.

Despite her enjoyment, she figured she should probably give Twilight some room to concentrate and she stepped back outside the cabin onto the aft deck, where her other friends were relaxing and enjoying the sights.

Even though she made up with them that morning, she still felt a bit too awkward to join them, so she stood a short distance away from them and looked out over the water. She wondered if she should tell her friends about the things she had read in the scrolls Princess Celestia had sent her, but she wasn’t really certain if any of them would find it interesting. After all, she’d mainly been looking for information on Atonement and she hadn’t exactly found anything encouraging. Quite the opposite, in fact, with how readily the High Council dismissed the claims.

“You’re not going to avoid us all day again, are you?” Rainbow Dash asked.

Sunset hadn’t even noticed she’d come over. She shook her head and smiled at her friend. “No, don’t worry. I was just feeling a bit pensive,” she said.

“What’s on your mind then? We’re all your friends, you know? If something’s bothering you maybe we can help,” Rainbow Dash said.

The others had also joined Rainbow Dash and Sunset now. “Rainbow Dash is right, darling. You can tell us anything,” Rarity said.

Sunset felt a wave of gratitude rolling over her when she saw the sympathetic looks her friends gave her. Even after blowing them off all day yesterday, they were still willing to help her now. They really were an awful lot like her CHS friends.

“Alright,” Sunset said after a moment. “Yesterday, I asked Spike to send a letter to Princess Celestia, because I wanted to find more about Parallax Dream.”

“To find out more about Atonement?” Fluttershy asked.

Sunset nodded. “Yes. I…it may sound stupid, but I really hoped that maybe he was right. That there is such a thing as a seventh Element.” She shook her head in frustration. “I don’t really know how to say it without sounding selfish, but…”

“You want to belong,” Fluttershy finished for her.

Sunset looked at the deck, feeling a bit guilty. “Yes,” she said.

“But darling, you do belong. If you hadn’t been here, we would never have been able to activate even a single Forge. If you hadn’t been there, the Will-o’-Wisp in the swamp would have been the end of us. If you hadn’t taken the journal, we wouldn’t have found Zerzura. And most importantly of all,” Rarity said pointedly, when she saw that Sunset wanted to interject, “The bond you and Twilight share stopped your nightmares. I’m not as well versed in magic as the two of you are, but it seems to me that a reaction like that is quite special.”

Sunset blushed a little. “You mean…you know…?”

Rarity smirked. “Come now, darling, your infatuation with each other is plain as day. We just didn’t want to interfere with it. And yes, we also gathered that what happened yesterday had to do with that.”

Sunset looked at all of her friends. They all smiled and nodded to confirm Rarity’s words. Sunset was a bit fearful for how Pinkie would react now that the secret was officially out, but to her surprise her pink friend remained quite calm, albeit with a huge grin on her face.

When Pinkie noticed Sunset’s look of slight confusion, she winked and said, “I’ll save the party for after we’ve saved Equestria. I think Twilight would prefer that too.”

Sunset smiled gratefully. “Thanks,” she said. “All of you.”

“That’s what friends are for, sugar cube,” Applejack said.

At that moment, Twilight exited the cabin. “Everypony, we’re almost there,” she said. Then she looked at her friends, who still formed a half circle around a still faintly flushed Sunset. “Did I…miss anything?” she asked, looking from pony to pony.

Sunset smiled at her. “Nope,” she said cheerfully.

She suddenly felt much lighter, and it was only now that she realized how much the events of the day before had still bothered her.

“Not a thing.”

Even from the surface, Sunset could see that the area of the bay they were approaching wasn’t as calm and peaceful as the rest had been. She could see the water flowing, currents colliding with one another, and a bit further into the churning water she waves breaking against rocky spires. The Wave Slicer slowed down as she approached the foaming deathtrap. Sunset and her friends stood on the foredeck of the boat.

“So…is it here?” Spike asked.

Twilight’s horn glowed as she cast the resonance spell, and part of Sunset hoped that Twilight would say that this wasn’t the spot after all. But she’d known just from seeing the area, and knowing how many ships had sunk here over the years, that this was the right place.

The magenta glow around Twilight’s horn disappeared and she said, “Yes. The spell indicates that there is a very strong resonance underwater, well within the dangerous area.”

“So…how are we going to get to it?” Applejack asked. “We can’t just sail the boat in here, can we? We’d go down faster than a badly stacked pile of hay bales.”

Twilight looked uncertain. “I’m not sure yet,” she admitted. “I have a couple of ideas, but I’ll have to do some tests to see if any of them are viable in the first place.” She sighed and spread her wings. “I’d better go take a closer look first.”

Twilight took off from the deck and flew low over the water. At various places, she hovered in place and cast a spell. Sunset, hating the feeling of being useless, closed her eyes and decided to use her magic detection spell like she’d done in Zerzura. She had no idea if it was going to be of any use, but it was definitely a better use of her time than standing still and doing nothing. She cleared her mind and felt around for the strands of magic.

She could feel the presence of powerful magic from beneath the waves, but it was muted by distance and it felt fuzzy and indistinct. Twilight’s magic, by contrast, was crisp and clear, and she could follow each tendril of arcane energy that her friend sent into the depths. Sunset tried to reach out further with her magic to get a better ‘view’ of the Forge, but to her frustration she wasn’t able to reach down far enough. It wasn’t surprising to her, considering the detection spell she used was a bit like a magical radar. It picked up magic in a radius, and it only allowed Sunset to focus on it if it was strong enough and close enough. In this case, the Forge was at the edge of the range of her spell, so getting a clear picture was almost impossible.

She saw Twilight sending another thing string of magic down into the depths, and that gave her an idea. She focused on Twilight and said, “Twilight, can you do that again? I want to hook onto your magic and see if I can get a better image of the Forge.”

Sunset knew that Twilight had heard her, because another tendril of magic went into the sea, aimed at the exact same spot as the one before. With a complex bit of spellwork, Sunset hooked her magic into Twilight’s, smiling faintly when she felt the now-familiar warmth of it. Piggybacking on Twilight’s searcher spell, the magical image of the Forge became a bit clearer in Sunset’s mind. Something was very odd about it. The Forge at Zerzura had been a meticulous field of magic. Its borders had been pristine and absolute, but here they somehow felt vague, even with Sunset’s increased range. Was the distance still too big to get a proper feeling for it? Or was something else going on with the Forge? Without seeing the Forge for real, Sunset knew she wasn’t going to get any answers, so she ignored the anomaly for now and joined Twilight in looking for an entrance.

When Twilight’s magic searcher faded, Sunset waited patiently for the next one. This time Twilight had flown a bit closer to the rocky spires near the face of the cliff to send out her probing spell, and when Sunset hooked into it she could ‘see’ the Forge from a different angle. Just like before, the boundaries of the magic weren’t smooth. Instead, they warped and pulsed, and the density wasn’t consistent. Sunset was beginning to get a very bad feeling about it, but once again set it aside to look for a possible entryway.

At first, it seemed like there was nothing there, but just when Twilight was letting her spell fade out, Sunset caught a glimpse of something, a faint glow that extended out and up from the presence of the Forge.

“Twilight, can you cast the spell again? Look at the south side. I think there’s something there,” she said.

Twilight obliged, and Sunset made a mental note that she should probably teach Twilight the telepathy spell so she’d be able to reply if something like this became necessary again. Now that Sunset knew what to look for, she found the ‘path’ quite quickly. It went up and south for a while, then abruptly turned north, as if it was a staircase of some kind. Soon, Sunset didn’t need Twilight’s signal boost anymore to be able to detect the path. It was faint, but now that she’d noticed it, it was quite clearly there. The path reached the surface, and Sunset held the location in her mind when she opened her eyes and deactivated her spell.

From the surface, she couldn’t see anything. The water was just as agitated at the place where the path of magic surfaced, between two rocky spikes, as it was everywhere else. Nothing hinted at the presence of anything unusual.

Twilight, who’d found the path as well after Sunset’s hint, curiously flew over and gently lowered herself down between the rocks. When she touched the water with her hooves, instead of sinking she simply landed on it as if the waves were solid. Still flapping her wings so as not to suddenly sink beneath the waves, Twilight gingerly walked over the invisible platform she seemed to be on.

After a short investigation, she took off again and flew back to the Wave Slicer. She landed next to her friends and said, “There is a tunnel. I think I can teleport all of us over there, and then we’ll go down together. The water is partially illusory, probably just to hide the path from Pegasi.”

“I hope ‘go down together’ doesn’t become prophetic,” Spike remarked.

Sunset chuckled at the dark joke. Twilight shot Spike a look and then said, “It is probably better for you to stay here. After all, you can’t be in the Forge when we activate it, and I don’t like the idea of leaving you in a tunnel made of water.”

“Whereas you’re fully okay with the rest of us being underneath several tons of water,” Sunset said. “Good to know you care so much.”

She grinned at Spike, who’d looked a bit dejected when Twilight told him he’d be staying on the boat. He managed a half-smirk back at Sunset.

Twilight rolled her eyes. “It doesn’t have my preference,” she said. “But the fate of Equestria is in the balance. We don’t really have a choice.”

Sunset nodded. “I know. So before we go: did you notice anything…odd…about the Forge? Something strange about the magic?” she asked.

Twilight nodded, a troubled look on her face. “Yes. It didn’t feel stable. That’s part of the reason I want Spike to stay up here. Honestly, if I could go in alone I would. Something feels wrong about this Forge and if anything happens while we’re underwater we’re in a lot of trouble.”

“Twilight, just so you know, you’re really bad at giving pep talks,” Rainbow Dash said with a shake of her head.

Twilight ignored her. Despite joking about it herself, Sunset really did understand Twilight’s worries, especially now that she knew she hadn’t just imagined the ‘off’ feeling the Forge gave her. She looked at the crashing waves and felt a chill going down her spine. This wasn’t going to end well.

The magenta light from Twilight’s horn gave everything a slightly eerie glow as the group slowly walked down the underwater ramp. Nopony was in the mood to say much. They were all nervously looking around, as if the invisible tube through which they walked might collapse at any moment.

Sunset tried to steady her breathing as they went ever deeper beneath the waves. Because of the strong currents, Sunset didn’t see any fish or other sea creatures outside the tunnel. Apparently the mages had not wanted to take any chances and had made sure the entire area was entire uninhabitable and impenetrable, except to those who knew where the tunnel was located.

They reached a turn in the ramp, one of many, indicated by a sudden resistance in front of them as they hit the tunnel’s wall. Sunset had stopped counting the turns. All she knew was that she was far deeper underwater than she wanted to be. Unlike the mine, the water tunnel scared her because she couldn’t see the supports; she couldn’t tell, even remotely, if it had been constructed well. She knew that her fears didn’t make sense. If the tunnel hadn’t been strong, it would not have been there for thousands of years, after all. But the odd energy signature this Forge gave off was still fresh in her mind, and her heart was frantically pounding against her ribs despite her deep breaths.

Eventually, Sunset began to notice a faint blue glow ahead of them, a glow she recognized as the blue entry crystals around the Forge. She felt something a lot like relief washing over her. Something about the blue glow had a calming effect, however little.

“Thank Celestia, we’re almost there,” Rarity said when she, too, noticed the glow.

“Good. The sooner we get this over with, the better,” Rainbow Dash said. Even in the magenta light of Twilight’s magic, she looked a bit pale.

Fluttershy, strangely, seemed remarkably calm, something that seemed to annoy Rainbow Dash a bit. “How come you’re not afraid? You’re usually the first one to get scared.”

“I am scared. I’m just…more used to it than you are,” Fluttershy said.

Applejack laughed. “That’s also a way of looking at it,” she said.

“We’re here,” Twilight said, drawing everypony back to the present. She took a deep breath and stepped into the dome of the Forge itself. Sunset and the others followed suit.

Sunset immediately noticed that something was wrong with the Forge. A large scorch mark bisected the Forge, and where it intersected the spiral patterns the crystals within them were missing. Most of the crystal formations were missing large chunks and had jagged edges. It looked like a warzone, almost.

“What in tarnation happened here?” Applejack asked as she looked around.

“I don’t know, but it isn’t good. The Forge is badly damaged,” Twilight said with a slightly panicked voice.

“Does that mean it doesn’t work anymore?” Pinkie Pie asked.

Twilight shook her head. “I don’t know. I…I have no idea what happened here.”

She had a wild look in her eyes, and somehow that made Sunset feel a lot calmer. “Breathe, Twilight,” she said. “I guess this damage is why the Forge felt wrong. I doubt it will work in the state it’s in now, so we need to think of a solution. We need you focused for that. Just…think of it as a magical challenge.”

Twilight nodded and took a couple of deep breaths. She smiled shakily at Sunset and said, “Thanks.” Sunset smiled back at her.

“So now what do we do?” Rainbow Dash asked. “Can we repair it? You’re not telling me we came all the way down here for nothing.”

“The Forges are the most complex magical constructs I’ve ever seen,” Twilight said, still with a desperate edge to her voice. “They were created by the most powerful magical minds of their day. Maybe somepony like Princess Celestia or Star Swirl could figure it out, but…”

“Don’t sell yourself short now, sugar cube,” Applejack said. “You’re one of the most powerful magical minds of your day, aren’t you? And for that matter, so is Sunset. Besides, you got your wings because you finished a spell Star Swirl couldn’t. You’re at least as good as he is.”

Both Sunset and Twilight blushed lightly at the praise. Sunset felt a rush of happiness at being complimented like this, considering these ponies, no matter how much they resembled her friends, had only known her for just under two weeks. Twilight, too, seemed reinvigorated by the trust her friends had in her, and she began examining some of the structures, casting what appeared to be structural analysis spells on them.

Sunset decided on a different approach, instead using her magic detection spell to see if she could find residual traces of the magic that caused the damage. If she could then find out in what way those spells did their work, she might be able to figure out the general appearance of the crystal formations. She figured that if nothing else, it would give Twilight a bit more to work with in addition to her structural analysis. When she was younger, she would have insisted on finding it all out on her own, but she knew that Twilight’s analysis would probably be a bit more thorough than her own, given Twilight’s love for magical theory. Almost as soon as Sunset cast her spell, however, she realized that there was a far better way of finding out what the Forge had once looked like — and finding out what had actually happened.

“There’s a lot of residual magic here,” Sunset said. “And a lot of it seems to be in a temporally-locked equilibrium.”

“A what from the what now?” Applejack asked.

“It’s something that happens when very powerful magic clashes in a space that is sealed off from the rest of the world by a strong magical barrier,” Twilight said in an excited tone. “As you can imagine, it’s a rather rare phenomenon.”

“And this matters to us…how?” Rainbow Dash wondered.

“We can quite literally watch the past happening,” Sunset said.

“Watch the past? How does that work?” Rarity asked.

Twilight began pacing around the Forge. Sunset grinned. She’d figured that just dropping the name of the phenomenon would be enough to prompt Twilight to explain it. All the better because it meant she didn’t have to do it.

“When magic becomes temporally-locked, it creates something that is pretty much a ‘ghost’ of the event that caused the equilibrium. With the correct spell, that equilibrium can be made visual, which will allow those present to witness the events that led up to the creation of the equilibrium. I don’t know what it will show us, but at the very least we will be able to see the Forge as it used to be. Hopefully, that will allow us to rebuild it and activate it,” Twilight said.

“Do you know the spell to make it work?” Fluttershy asked.

Rainbow Dash replied before Twilight could. “This is Twilight we’re talking about here. Ponyville’s resident egghead Princess. Of course she knows the spell.”

Twilight looked a bit annoyed at being addressed as an ‘egghead Princess’, but she said, “I do know the spell. Well, theoretically, of course. I’ve never actually encountered something like this before because the requirements for it to happen are so specific. Now, you should probably all stand close to me. That will most likely allow you to see the events as well.”

Everypony grouped up close together and Twilight began muttering to herself as she tried to recall how the spell worked. Sunset could hear her going through the steps of the spell one by one. She gave Twilight a light nudge.

“You’ve got this, Twilight. Come on, we’ll cast it together,” she said.

Twilight looked surprised. “You know the spell?”

Sunset shrugged. “Wanted to use it to examine places of great magical battles to see if I could learn anything from them,” she said.

Twilight nodded. “Okay, then. Let’s do this.”

Sunset and Twilight brought their horns close together and began casting the spell. Sunset let Twilight take the lead, and simply followed and assisted her when needed. She knew Twilight’s superior control would make for clearer images.

They found a cluster of magic, almost a magical scar in the air and began prying it open. Sunset used a bit more force to create a better ‘grip’ for their spell to hold onto, and then, without warning, the glowing crack of magic in the air expanded in a flash of white light.

“Are you happy now?! Have you seen the damage your twisted experiment has wrought upon Caballus?!”

A unicorn with a dark gray coat and a silver mane stood in the entrance to the Forge. His cutie mark was a large golden star with two clouds next to it. Above the star there was a smaller golden star, connected to the clouds with thin, golden lines. His dark gray eyes looked even darker because of his furious look.

Another unicorn, this one light blue, with a dark blue mane and a cutie mark that looked like a shooting star, gave the first pony an exasperated stare. “Damage?” he asked. “And what damage is that? We have brought harmony to Caballus, just as we intended to do. Each pony has their tasks now to maintain it, including you, Parallax Dream.”

Parallax Dream took a step forward, his horn sparking. “You have no idea what you have done. Bringing all of nature under pony control was an act of supreme arrogance, something that never should have happened. What will happen if the Pegasi refuse to manage the weather? What will happen if the earth ponies refuse to produce food? If the unicorns refuse to bring about day and night? Don’t you see that these things are meant to be left alone?”

Even though Parallax’s horn was still sparking, he sounded more desperate and pleading than angry now.

The other unicorn, however, merely scoffed. “Why should we listen to you? You were wrong about Atonement, and you are wrong about this. Look around, Parallax. Harmony exists all over the land, and it was all possible because of your discoveries. Why would the unicorns, Pegasi, and earth ponies suddenly decide to break that harmony? We made sure that each group has its share of responsibilities. If one falls, so will the others.”

Parallax Dream began pacing, keeping his eyes focused on the unicorn the entire time. “Surely you can’t believe that, Comet Trail. I have seen the construct you built around the Forge of Magic. You know that nature is resisting your ill-advised attempts to tame it. The forest retains its freedom, and even your vaunted Elements can barely hold it in check now.”

Comet Trail shrugged. “We have the Forges. We’ll make another set, harmonize the forest, and then we can begin spreading harmony to all the other races. We’ll bestow them with these gifts, grant them the ability to fight off any kind of darkness, and the world will be peaceful at last. No more conflicts. No more sadness.” An angry look appeared on his face. “The beasts who took my family from me will be erased at last.”

“Destroying creatures is not the answer, Comet Trail,” Parallax Dream insisted. “Windigos, Sirens, Ursa Minors and Majors…they all have their place in the world. Harmony, true Harmony, doesn’t kill them. It displaces them, but they will reconstitute. Your incomplete version will cause more damage in the long run than you could imagine. I…regret what I must do, Comet Trail, but you leave me with no other option. I cannot let you prepare the Forge for another activation. I cannot let this perversion of Harmony continue. Step aside.”

Comet Trail didn’t listen. Instead he stood up straighter. “So this is it, then? This is how we finally part ways, after our years of friendship? I’m not moving, Parallax. If you want the Forge…you’ll have to go through me.”

Comet Trail had only barely finished speaking when Parallax Dream cast a spell. A dozen balls of pure white magic burst from his horn. Six of them converged onto Comet Trail, while the others six split off and flew towards the crystal formations.

Comet Trail, despite his clear surprise at the sudden attack, reacted with blinding speed. A blue glow surrounded him, and for a brief moment there were seven of him. Six of them interrupted the magic heading for the focus clusters, while the last one formed a blue shield around him, which shimmered when it took the six remaining blasts.

Comet Trail’s doubles vanished and his shield dropped, and as soon as it did he launched a counter attack on Parallax Dream. He fired two bright blue spheres of energy from his horn, both curving towards Parallax Dream’s sides, who called up smaller, localized shields to intercept them.

Comet Trail seemed to have counted on that, because a whip-like tendril of blue energy with white specks in it rose up behind Parallax Dream and arced towards his back with blinding speed.

Parallax Dream noticed it at the last moment and teleported away, causing the two spheres of magic to slam into the tendril of energy. They exploded with a bright flash and a loud bang, but seemed to cause no damage to the Forge.

Parallax Dream reappeared to Comet Trail’s left and lowered his head while his horn sparked with power.

Comet Trail’s eyes widened and he quickly brought his horn to the floor, extending a shield out along the ground just in time for it to catch Parallax Dream’s horn beam and prevented it from ruining the Forge.

But Parallax Dream didn’t keep his head still, instead throwing it up and sending the blast at Comet Trail, who was stuck in place while casting his shield spell.

Comet Trail quickly raised his head and pulled back his magic, forming it into a concave shield in front of him which caught the beam, only instead of redirecting it he enveloped the blast in a sphere and diffused the power from within, once again preventing damage to the Forge.

In taking so much care, however, he gave Parallax Dream an opening for another attack. A thick mist began to emanate from his horn, billowing along the ground of the Forge.

Comet Trail surrounded himself with a blue glow and levitated above the swirling fog, while completing his dissipation of the last bits of Parallax Dream’s horn beam.

When he began to prepare a return spell, however, he saw that Parallax Dream had vanished. Immediately, he closed his eyes and sent out a magical pulse…but he was too slow.

A powerful spell slammed into his side and sent him skidding along the Forge floor, cutting a path through the thick mist and leaving a scorch mark on the Forge floor below. The pink crystals in the flowing patterns had shattered where Comet Trail had skidded through them.

Parallax Dream materialized from the fog and summoned it all into a massive ball. Comet Trail got up, wincing from the burn on his left side and the bruises and cuts on his right, where he had scraped along the ground. He surrounded his body with a blue glow and prepared a spell of his own. The Forge was filled with a blinding white light.

The field of magic collapsed, and everypony stood in silence for a moment. The things she’d just seen and heard whirled through Sunset’s head. The implications of everything Parallax Dream and Comet Trail had spoken about, thousands of years ago, filled her with dread. As far as she had known, ponies had always been in control of nature. But now, hearing this ancient argument reminded her of what the letter from the Harmonic Council had said.

‘With enough Harmonic power, we might even be able to tame nature itself.’

So that had been it. The ancient unicorns had created the Elements in order to bend nature itself to their will. They had given each of the tribes their responsibilities, which would eventually lead to the Cold Age, and ponies would forget the harmony they had once known. Caballus would fall apart. A few moments ago, all Sunset had been focused on was finding out how to fix the Forge, but now she wondered if repairing it, let alone activating it, would be a good idea.

Once again, she wondered if Parallax Dream’s assertions about Atonement had been correct after all. At the very least, he’d predicted the darkness that would fall over Caballus following the ponies’ takeover of nature. So maybe...maybe there was truth to his earlier writings as well. But in the end, what difference would it make? And he hadn’t been completely right, had he? The Elements had saved Equestria from darkness on several occasions. Their creation couldn’t have been entirely bad.

Sunset was shaken from her thoughts by Twilight. “Sunset? Are you okay?”

She looked at her friends, all of whom looked shaken up by their experience with the past. “I…think so,” she replied. “What do we do now, though?”

Twilight bit her lip. “I…I think we should still activate the Forge,” she said. She looked at Sunset with an almost pleading look. “Princess Celestia wouldn’t have sent us on this mission if she didn’t think it was the right thing to do. She and Princess Luna and Princess Cadance all think that activating the Forges will help in defeating the dark force that threatens Equestria. I’ve always had faith in her, and I think we should have faith in her now, despite these…troubling revelations.”

Sunset understood Twilight’s position. She knew her friend was still completely devoted to her old teacher, and that she’d never really had any reason to doubt her. But Sunset also remembered Celestia’s confession of meddling with her destiny, of not always knowing the right things to do. She looked away, not replying to Twilight right away.

Twilight seemed to get that Sunset was still conflicted, so she turned to her other friends first. “What do you all think?”

“I don’t know, Twilight,” Applejack said. “It didn’t seem to me that this Parallax Dream fellow was lying. He seemed real upset by what the other wizards had done. I reckon maybe he had a point.”

Sunset was relieved that at least she wasn’t alone in feeling conflicted. Twilight nodded and turned towards Rainbow Dash.

Rainbow Dash sighed. “I…don’t know either. I mean…I can’t imagine not being able to control clouds and the weather, you know? It seems hard to believe that Pegasi couldn’t do all of that before the Elements. But…” She shook her head. “I think you’re right, Twilight. Princess Celestia wouldn’t tell us to do this if she didn’t think it was the right call. I think we should do it.”

Twilight inclined her head, then turned to Rarity. “We should activate the Forge,” she said. “I agree with Rainbow Dash. The Princess wouldn’t ask this lightly.”

Sunset wanted to say that Celestia wasn’t infallible, but she held her tongue. Her friends had to make their own choices. It wasn’t her place to interfere.

Twilight, meanwhile, had turned to Fluttershy. “I…I don’t think we should do it,” she said softly. “Nature is very delicate and it needs to be in balance. I don’t like the idea of the Elements not being completely good…but…after seeing this…it just doesn’t feel right.”

Twilight silently turned to Pinkie Pie. “I…didn’t like Comet Trail,” she said. “Something about the way he talked…he didn’t seem interested in making friends at all. His voice was cold. Something was not right about that pony. I’m sorry, Twilight, but I don’t think we should do this.”

Sunset was surprised. She hadn’t often heard Pinkie get so serious, so she knew that this must be something that had really shaken her.

Twilight finally turned back to Sunset now. “Well…three of us are for it, three of us are against it.” She smiled weakly. “I guess your vote is the deciding one.”

Sunset groaned. “Great, as long as there’s no pressure,” she said stonily.

She took a deep breath. Every instinct she had wanted her to say no. The entire thing felt wrong. Why would an esteemed wizard like Parallax Dream drop down to terrorism, to fighting somepony he’d apparently considered a friend, to stop the Forges from being activated again? She glanced at the damaged Forge. By the looks of it, he had succeeded. She wasn’t sure if she wanted to know how the fight had ended for Parallax Dream and Comet Trail.

And of course, there was the matter of Princess Celestia. She wanted to believe in her old mentor, she really did. But hearing the confession that Celestia had possibly altered her destiny by showing her the mirror still didn’t sit right with her.

Her horn sparked in agitation. What could she do?! Did she really have to make the decision to save Equestria right then and there? If only she could talk to the Princess first…but why couldn’t she? There were two more Forges left after this one. The decision didn’t have to be made right away, right?

“What if…we activate this Forge, and then talk to Princess Celestia before we go after the last two?” she asked. “I think we should tell her about this, and then she can advise us on what to do next.” She turned to Twilight. “Do you think that, if we don’t activate the final two Forges, the resonance we created in these four will eventually fade away?”

Twilight considered that for a moment. Eventually she nodded. “I think so. Like you said, we’re creating a resonance. If we don’t strengthen that resonance by activating all the Forges, it will gradually get weaker and eventually stop completely.”

Sunset inclined her head and then said, “Okay. Then let’s try to repair this Forge and get it activated, and then when we get back to the surface we send word to the Princess. Is everypony okay with that?”

One by one, the others nodded. Sunset felt immense relief at not having to make the decision on her own, but a part of her felt troubled about it as well. Hadn’t she always wanted to be more important? Then why would she decline the opportunity now that she finally got it?

She pushed away her misgivings for the time being and began to discuss with Twilight, and Rarity to a lesser extent, on how to repair the Forge. During the vision of the past, Twilight had made mental snapshots of the crystal formations, and with crystal fragments from the surrounding seafloor, they managed to approximately recreate the Forge as it had been before the wizard duel had damaged it.

“The focus on the top crystal needs to be a bit sharper,” Twilight said as Sunset was positioning it.

Sunset nodded and used her magic to alter the crystals structure a bit, making sure that any magic coming through it would be focused just a tiny bit more. She hoped that their makeshift crystals would be enough to activate the Forge without causing something to go horribly wrong.

Rebuilding the Forge from memory snapshots alone was unbelievably difficult, far more difficult than anything Sunset had ever done before. Never before had she been so glad that Twilight and Rarity were obsessed with details. Normally, both of them would fuss over different details, but Rarity’s cutie mark was strongly tied to gemstones and her job required perfect accuracy, while Twilight had always been an avid researcher of all things magic. This job created enough overlap for both of them to work in tandem perfectly. Sunset almost felt like the odd one out during the build, as her own strength lay more in the application of a lot of power and variety to her magic than the fine details, but she had enough skill and magical know-how to do her part in rebuilding the Forge.

She had no idea how long it had taken them to get everything in perfect shape. She’d lost track of time while painstakingly positioning and focusing each crystal, but now it appeared the work was finally done. She looked at Twilight and Rarity and grinned, and her friends gladly did the same.

Twilight turned to the others, who had been awkwardly standing there watching the build progress.

“It’s done. Fluttershy? It’s your turn in the center.”

Fluttershy nodded nervously, but she took her place in the center without complaining. Sunset wondered if she could have been that confident, especially since this Forge had been repaired by ponies who didn’t strictly speaking know what they were doing. After everypony had taken their places beneath the obsidian crystal holders, Twilight looked around the group, before closing her eyes and beginning the spell. Sunset’s mouth was dry, but she still tried to relax when she felt Twilight’s magic reaching out.

The pink crystals in the floor began to glow and paths of light began to crawl towards Fluttershy, while the magenta glow of Twilight’s magic began to get brighter. The pink glow began to envelop Fluttershy, who closed her eyes in fright but stood her ground just the same.

Sunset saw that some of the crystal formations began to crack, but she tried to ignore it. The pink glow became brighter, pushing back Twilight’s aura more and more. More cracks began to run through the crystal formations. Sunset wanted to stop the spell, but she didn’t move. She allowed Twilight to continue the spell.

Then, just as the pink glow reached the blue entry crystals, the water dome collapsed. Millions of tons of water fell down on the ponies and Sunset instinctively braced herself and threw out a shield — but it wasn’t necessary.

Twilight had the entire group encased in a bubble of magenta energy. Her eyes were closed in concentration and everypony else was wide eyed with shock, and Sunset looked through the magical barrier to see that the shield was being swept away in the strong currents.

She closed her eyes and reached out with her magic, trying to ignore the thunderous noise of the water that was buffeting the shield ball from all sides. She wasn’t looking for any specific magic, but rather just the direction of the surface.

When she found it, she sent the field to Twilight telepathically, and shortly afterwards the shielded bubble began to rise. As they got closer to the surface, Sunset looked for the location of the Wave Slicer, which she eventually found because she recognized the small spark of Spike’s aura.

She sent this info to Twilight as well, and then she felt her body being displaced and landing hard on a wooden deck. The thunderous roar was gone. She opened her eyes. The first thing she saw was a clear, starry night. The second thing was a writhing mass of ponies, and one very worried dragon. She glanced at the stunned faces of all of her friends. Then, all at once, everypony burst out laughing.

Off to Meet the Blizzard

Author's Note

Finally, it’s here. It’s been far longer than I intended it to be, and for that I’m sorry. Anyway, this chapter’s title is shamelessly stolen from the PC Gamer blog ‘the Elder Strolls’, which was itself a reference to the Wizard of Oz. It just suited the chapter too well not to use it, though. In any case, please Read and Review!

Off to Meet the Blizzard

Sunset leaned back in her seat as the train sped towards the Crystal Empire in the orangey light of the climbing sun. Somehow, it felt a bit odd to be going back there. In a way, the entire adventure she was now on had begun there. It had been the Crystal Empire where she’d stolen the Element of Magic from Twilight in order to conquer Equestria, and now she was headed there on a mission to prevent Equestria from falling to darkness. Or, at least, that was what she assumed. The events in the Forge of Kindness had shaken her confidence in what they were doing.

After recovering from their narrow escape, Twilight had used her resonance spell to determine that the Forge had indeed been activated properly, but that it was probably beyond repair now. That meant that the choice Sunset had been unwilling to make, the choice of whether or not to continue their quest to activate the Forges, was now one with serious repercussions. Even in the Forge of Kindness, Sunset had assumed that, if they would choose not to continue their mission now, they would still be able to do it later if it turned out to be necessary after all. With the Forge of Kindness destroyed, that wasn’t an option. If the magical resonance ended, the Forges would be out of commission forever. That notion made the group’s upcoming meeting with Princess Celestia even more vital.

After establishing that the Forge was active, Twilight had sent word to the Princess explaining their findings in the Forge, and asking for advice. Princess Celestia had replied that she would meet them in the Crystal Empire to further discuss the matter, but from the tone of her letter Sunset had guessed that the Princess’s mind was already made up. Even so, she felt she had to make her old mentor understand that perhaps the ancient wizards had been wrong to do what they did in creating the Elements. But even if they were, what difference did it really make? Equestrian society was built around the roles each race had been accorded by the wizards when they brought nature under ponykind’s control. Going back to the way things were before that was unthinkable. She wasn’t even sure if they could, given the extensive changes to the nature of magic itself the wizards must have made to create their utopia. She sighed and wondered what Princess Celestia would have to say. Perhaps she could shed some new light on the situation.

“…so it would appear that the fundamental nature of magic was altered by…”

Twilight, as usual, had derailed from her explanation of the events in the Forge into a massive lecture on the repercussions and implications of what they had seen in their vision of the past.

Princess Celestia had thus far listened to it with a patient expression, one she had probably perfected over the more than one thousand years she had been Equestria’s monarch, but now she held up her hoof to silence her former star pupil.

“I understand what the wizards did, Twilight. I am quite well versed in magical theory, you know.”

Twilight blushed and fell silent, but Princess Celestia smiled at her to show that she wasn’t being rebuked.

With her eyes still on Twilight, Princess Celestia’s look grew thoughtful. “Star Swirl used to be just like you. He wasn’t very good with ponies, but he could talk for hours on end about magical theory. I wonder what he would think of everything you have just told me.”

Princess Celestia walked over to a window and looked outside, at the gleaming houses of the Crystal Empire. They were in one of the towers of the Crystal Castle while Princess Cadance held court in the main throne room downstairs.

Still looking out the window, Princess Celestia continued talking. “The event of which you speak, where nature was tamed by ponies, is one that predates even me by many centuries. I have, however, heard stories about it. Unlike most ponies, probably even Star Swirl, I did know there was a time where the world at large was much more like the Everfree Forest is today. It always intrigued me that ponies had been able to do it, but nopony knew just how it was done.

“That said, even in the stories I knew, the changes had always been seen as logical. Pegasi had always been able to manipulate clouds, just to a far lesser degree and not nearly enough to govern the weather like they do today. Earth ponies had always been better at growing crops and been physically stronger than any of the other tribes, just not as much as they are now.

“Yet the unicorns haven’t really changed in any way. That, I think, is even what persuaded Star Swirl to ask my sister and me to govern Equestria. The unicorns lacked the magical ability to properly govern the sun and the moon in the new world they had created. For generations, chosen unicorns accepted the calling to bring forth day and night, knowing that it would eventually cost them their magic forever. But Star Swirl had discovered that alicorn magic was different. We could perform the task without the associated risks.”

She fell silent and turned around to face the group once more.

“Forgive me, I digress. You wanted to know my opinion on the situation with the Forges, did you not?”

Twilight nodded silently, although Sunset could see that Princess Celestia’s little tangent had raised a lot of questions in her. She wasn’t surprised; Sunset herself had plenty of questions for Princess Celestia, but they would have to wait for now.

“I think that Parallax Dream’s intentions were noble, but that he was mistaken,” Princess Celestia said.

Sunset opened her mouth to speak, but one look from the Princess made her hold her tongue. “I know, Sunset Shimmer. You fear that Parallax Dream was right and that the Elements are incomplete. It is not an unreasonable fear, given what I presume you have read in the scrolls I sent you. Despite this, I remain convinced that the creation of the Elements has been for the better, and that they have always functioned exactly how they were meant to. Had the Elements not existed, we would never have been able to defeat Discord. I would not have been able to…restrain…my sister when the darkness inside of her overtook her. The Rainbow Power could never have been used to stop Tirek…and you would never have been brought back to us.”

Sunset looked at the floor. She wasn’t really sure how to respond to what Princess Celestia said. After all, it was all true. She remembered the moment where the power of the Elements had hit her in her demon form. It had felt like all the lust for power and glory she possessed were being held in front of her face, and she was being forced to see just how petty and insignificant it all was, and that it would ultimately be meaningless if she ruled her empire through fear alone, forever hated and shunned by everypony instead of loved like she wanted to be.

It had left her with a burning desire to renounce her old ways and begin anew, exactly as intended, and Sunset knew that the Elements probably could not have done such a thing if they were incomplete. She wanted to bring up her hopes that Atonement was real, but she feared that if she did, Princess Celestia might decide that she hadn’t learned from her past at all and so she remained quiet.

Twilight, however, didn’t. “So in your opinion, Atonement is not an aspect of Harmony?”

Sunset looked at her friend with wide eyes. Twilight noticed and gave Sunset a subtle smile.

Princess Celestia considered the question. “I believe atonement, as a concept, is very much a part of harmony. However, I do not think it fits in with the Elements themselves in the way Parallax Dream claims it does. The notion contradicts many magical theories about the importance of the number six in magical spells and rituals; theories which have been tried and tested for millennia, even as far back as Parallax Dream’s time. In the time from the creation of the Elements up until now, no discoveries have been made that indicate he may have been right, and several millennia is a very long time. In summary, no, I do not think that atonement is an aspect of Harmony. I still believe that activating the Forges will be crucial in defeating the darkness that threatens Equestria, and that the creation of the Elements has been to the betterment of the world.”

Sunset sighed and lowered her head. She had expected this answer, but it still disappointed her to hear it. No matter what her friends may have told her, or how little evidence there was to find of Parallax Dream’s claims, a part of her still felt like she was somehow less important than her friends because she lacked an Element. Even now, doubting if the Elements themselves were as wonderful as everypony believed them to be, Sunset had hoped against all hope she did in fact embody a true Aspect of Harmony like her friends did. It was probably irrational and selfish of her to feel that way, but she couldn’t deny that she did.

Sunset noticed that Princess Celestia was giving her an expressionless look, and she felt nerves rushing through her body. Had Celestia guessed what she was thinking? Was she disappointed? Angry? Or was Sunset just seeing things she feared to see? Princess Celestia looked away from Sunset and faced Twilight once more. Sunset noticed that the Princess’s expression relaxed a bit as she did so. A shiver went down her spine, and it had nothing to do with the temperature in the room.

“I’m sure you’re just imagining things,” Twilight said after Sunset had told her about Princess Celestia’s expression. “The Princess wouldn’t judge you for hoping a seventh Element exists.”

“This coming from the pony who magically caused a village-wide riot over the imagined crime of being late on a friendship report,” Spike said dryly.

Twilight gave an embarrassed cough and Sunset and the others laughed. The group had set out into the city proper to buy equipment for their expedition into the frozen wastelands, after which they would meet up with an instructor who had faced the magical blizzards and freezing temperatures before.

“Twilight’s right, sugar cube. Princess Celestia forgave you for everything that happened. If she looked upset to you, it’s probably because we’re doing something really dangerous and she’s worried about us,” Applejack said.

“I know,” Sunset said. Then, fearing she might have been a bit curt, she smiled and added, “But thanks for listening.”

For the next few hours, Sunset didn’t get much time to think about her worries as she and the others went from shop to shop obtain the best possible gear for their trip, something that wasn’t made easier by Twilight’s presence. Being royalty, many store owners sought to sell her far more equipment than she could possibly need, and if it hadn’t been for Rarity’s skillful interjections at the right moments Sunset was sure Twilight would’ve put Equestria deep into debt with how much stuff the crystal ponies assured her she’d need.

Late in the afternoon, however, they had finally all managed to get their hooves on proper coats, sunglasses, boots, and auxiliary gear like ropes. In good spirits they made their way to the outskirts of the city, where they were greeted by Shining Armor and a stern earth pony stallion whose physique was even more impressive than Shining’s, although that was probably in part due to the thick bright red coat he wore, which clashed magnificently with his own shade of orange. After exchanging a hug with Twilight, Shining Armor introduced the stern-looking pony.

“This is Gruff Veneer. He’s an expert at surviving in extreme conditions and he has led several expeditions into the frozen wastes even before the Crystal Empire reemerged. He’ll be teaching you everything you need to know. Just a warning, though: make sure you do what he says. He’s not one to tolerate any slacking.”

Everypony nodded. Shining Armor seemed satisfied by this, and turned to Gruff Veneer. “Well, Gruff, I’ll leave them to you.”

Gruff Veneer inclined his head ever so slightly and Shining Armor smiled awkwardly at his sister and her friends. “He’s not much for small talk. Well, have fun, and good luck.”

Shining Armor began to walk back to the city, while Gruff Veneer took a step forward. He hadn’t even spoken yet, and already Sunset could feel a change in the atmosphere. Had it gotten colder?

“Follow me,” Gruff said.

He turned around and began to walk. Sunset and the others silently followed him, and Sunset wondered why she suddenly had such an ominous feeling. She’d read books about expeditions to the north before, so she knew, more or less, what to expect. Surely this preparation would pass without any problems, right? As they walked further away from the town, the temperature began to drop, and soon enough the group was walking over a layer of snow. Sunset frowned. Shouldn’t the Crystal Heart keep out the frozen wastes? They were still within the Empire’s limits, after all.

Without warning, Gruff Veneer stopped walking, causing Twilight to almost bump into him. She smiled sheepishly at him, but her smile quickly vanished when she saw his expressionless face.

“Shining Armor has temporarily weakened the Empire’s shield spell to allow you a safe practice environment. I personally believe he is too soft on you, but since he is my superior officer I elected not to confront him over it.”

He stepped aside, and now Sunset could see that they had arrived at what appeared to be an unmade campsite. Two Pegasi, like Gruff Veneer dressed in cold weather gear but with their wings exposed, were standing between the masses of dull green canvas. Gruff Veneer continued talking.

“The first mistake you made was coming here unprepared. None of you are wearing the proper gear.”

“We have it with us, it’s…” Twilight began, before Gruff Veneer cut her off.

“It doesn’t matter where it is. You aren’t wearing it, so it’s not where it should be. You were aware you’d be receiving training, correct?”

Twilight was taken aback. “Well…I…”

“Yes or no?”

“Yes!”

Gruff Veneer gave a single nod. “Then why did you come here not wearing your cold weather gear?”

“Hey, lay off her. It’s not like we had any idea you were going to take us out into the snow right away,” Rainbow Dash said in Twilight’s defense.

Gruff Veneer regarded her coldly. “What exactly did you assume ‘cold weather training’ was going to be? Did you expect me to be a school teacher? Do you think that books of any sort can prepare you for the reality of blizzards and freezing temperatures caused by vengeful spirits?”

Rainbow Dash tried to find a reply for a moment, but when she came up with nothing she resigned herself to looking angry.

Gruff Veneer was not impressed. “You will put up these tents. When the blizzards become too powerful, it’s often better to set up camp and stay where you are until the storm subsides. Speed is of the essence, therefore you will have no more than ten minutes. Your time starts now,” he said.

He gestured at his assistants, who immediately flew up and began whipping up a fierce blizzard.

When Gruff Veneer noticed that nopony had begun to move yet, he shouted, “Well?! What are you waiting for, a written invitation?! Put on your gear and start working! Move!”

Sunset felt like she’d touched a live wire, and she quickly shrugged off her saddle bags to pull out her new equipment. Half of their time had already passed by the time everypony had their coats and boots on, and by then the tents themselves had long vanished beneath a thick blanket of snow. When their time was up, not one of the tents had been put up properly.

Gruff Veneer inspected each of the attempts, and with every tent his expression darkened, while Sunset and the others just looked a bit sheepish.

“Every single one of you would have died, had this been the real thing,” he said.

Unlike before, this time he didn’t raise his voice. Despite that, he still had everypony’s full attention.

“If you think this storm was bad, you don’t have a hope in Tartarus against the real thing. Do you have any idea just how dangerous it is to go beyond the borders of the Empire into the wasteland?”

When nopony spoke up, Sunset stepped forward and said, “We do. It’s exactly because we know how dangerous this place is that we came here last. We know that there are Windigos out there. We know what the cold can do to ponies. Please don’t think we’re not taking this seriously just because we failed this test.”

She looked at her friends, and then back to Gruff Veneer.

“Give us another shot at it, and we’ll show you what we can do once we know what’s expected of us.”

Another moment of silence passed, during which Sunset and Gruff Veneer maintained eye contact. Eventually, Gruff Veneer inclined his head the tiniest bit.

“Very well. You have one more chance. Your time starts now.”

By the time Gruff had pronounced the word ‘now’, the group had already leapt into action. The storm made it difficult to see, but Sunset, prepared this time, had an idea to deal with it. She called up her magic and began casting a less powerful and non-inverted version of the shield spell she and Twilight used to protect their environment from their nightmares. She expanded the shield around all of the tents, and almost immediately the whirling storm was reduced to only a few snowflakes. When Twilight realized what Sunset was doing, she immediately cast the shield spell as well, so that the group was completely protected from the storm. Keeping up the shield meant that they wouldn’t be able to use their magic to erect the tent, but because of the nights where they’d been magically exhausted after activating a Forge, they’d learned to pitch a tent rather quickly.

With the storm out of the picture, all the tents were now pitched when Gruff Veneer announced that the time was up. Sunset and Twilight dropped the shield, and the group exchanged wide grins. Sunset was still grinning when she looked at Gruff Veneer, but the stallion’s still dark expression quickly brought her back to being serious.

Gruff Veneer looked at each of them in turn, still with that inscrutable look, and Sunset felt herself getting nervous. Why wasn’t he saying anything? At long last, Gruff spoke up again.

“I’m impressed. You actually pulled it off on your second attempt. Usually it takes a lot longer for ponies to get good at this.”

Sunset relaxed a bit at the praise, but Gruff Veneer still had a grave look, and that bothered her.

“But while you may have succeeded now through the use of magic, the real thing is far stronger. Do not think that a simple shield spell, even a combined one like you just cast, can hold back the power of the Windigos. I’m sure you’re all familiar with the Hearth’s Warming Eve story?”

“We starred in the Canterlot play on it, actually,” Rainbow Dash said with an arrogant smirk.

Gruff Veneer glared at her for a moment, and then went on, “Then you also know that even the unicorns with their magic were no match for the snow. It’s hard to explain when you haven’t experienced it for yourself, but the cold from the Windigos goes much deeper than regular cold. It begins to freeze you to your core from the very moment you first feel it. It deadens your senses. It robs you of hope. It fosters hatred and anger.

“The blizzard itself will be endless. You won’t be able to see where you’re going, and even when the storm abates temporarily you will always just find yourself back where you started, because the only reason the storm disappears at all is that the Windigos want to make you despair. Every shred of negativity they can get from you, they’ll take. And once they have you at your lowest, if you haven’t succumbed to hypothermia or frostbitten limbs yet, they’ll encase you in magical ice, in which you will only feel hatred and pain, until eventually, after more than a week, you finally die.”

Sunset swallowed hard. She had known that Windigos were powerful, but this description of just what they could do hit home far harder than any description she’d seen of them in books.

“Even so, we have to go into the wastes,” Twilight said. “If we don’t all of Equestria could be in danger. If that means we’ll have to risk our lives...so be it.”

Gruff Veneer nodded. “I know. My warning wasn’t meant to keep you from your mission, merely to inform you of the dangers. I will teach you a number of techniques that will maximize your chances of getting out alive…and then it’s up to you. Now, when you’re walking through the blizzard…”

When the group set out into the snowy expanse beyond the Crystal Empire’s borders, the sky was a clear blue. The cold, while harsh, didn’t bother Sunset or the others much because they were properly equipped, and Twilight’s resonance spell had picked up a faint signal directly to the north. All of those things combined made that everypony was in good spirits when they began their journey to the final Forge before the one beneath the Tree of Harmony. But while every pony was quite happy, the same couldn’t be said for Spike. Twilight had decided that he should stay in the Crystal Empire, something that hadn’t sat well with her loyal assistant.

“What if you need to contact the Princess?” he’d asked in a bid to get Twilight to change her mind.

Twilight, however, remained steadfast. “I’ll figure something out. Spike, you heard what Gruff Veneer told us. The Windigos are easily the most dangerous obstacle we’ve faced thus far, and I don’t want to put you in any more danger than I have to.”

“This entire trip is dangerous,” Spike pointed out. “I hate the idea of everypony going out there to save Equestria while I just sit here waiting.”

“You’ll come along when we head for the Forge of Magic,” Twilight promised. “But you have to stay here now. If something happened to you because I couldn’t keep you safe I’d never forgive myself.”

Upon seeing the anguish in Twilight’s eyes, Spike had relented, and reluctantly promised he’d stay in the Crystal Empire under the condition that Twilight and the others would come back safely.

And, for the first few hours of the trip, it looked like Twilight would easily be able to keep her promise. The sky remained clear, and while the temperature was getting lower the further they got, there was nothing suggesting the activity of any Windigos, or, for that matter, any other signs of life.

Despite this, however, everypony began to feel and more and more uncomfortable as they walked on, guided by Twilight’s resonance spell. The emptiness around them felt paradoxically claustrophobic and pressing, as if it was nothing more than a thin layer of paint over something unspeakably horrible.

Sunset’s mouth was dry as she nervously looked around. She wasn’t exactly sure what she was looking for, but she felt as if something was watching her every move. She was scanning the ground around her so intently that she didn’t even notice the sky was slowly getting cloudier.

The clouds were nothing like the ones the Pegasi would place over the cities for rainstorms or even winter blizzards. These ones swirled ominously around a single point in the sky, as if caught in some invisible vortex. Their strange movement was subtle and slow at first, but as the ponies kept walking it became more and more apparent, as did the fact that the eye of the invisible vortex appeared to be hovering directly above them, almost like it was tied to them with a rope.

Rainbow Dash was the first one to notice it. “Uh, clouds aren’t supposed to move like that,” she said.

The others looked up as well now, and Sunset felt nervousness wash over her like a wave of pinpricks. Trying to sound calm, she asked, “Twilight, how much farther is the Forge?”

Twilight grimaced. “It’s still at least an hour off.” Everypony was silent for a moment, each of them contemplating what their next move ought to be.

“Do you think we’ll be able to make it if we keep walking?” Applejack asked, keeping one eye on the swirling clouds.

More clouds were joining the vortex, and a cold wind was beginning to blow.

“I don’t think we have a lot of other options,” Sunset replied.

Twilight agreed with her. “If we stay here, we’ll only end up trapped. If we can reach the Forge, hopefully its magical dome can keep out the power of the Windigos,” she said.

“I thought unicorn magic wasn’t powerful enough to keep out Windigo frost,” Rainbow Dash said dubiously.

Twilight shrugged helplessly. “If you have a better idea, I’d love to hear it,” she said.

Tentatively they began to move again. With each passing step, the temperature seemed to drop a bit, and Sunset began to realize what exactly Gruff Veneer had meant when he talked about the cold from Windigos freezing somepony to their core. Somehow the biting chill in the air seemed to grow inside of her, instead of creeping in through her skin. Her magic, noticing the foreign power taking hold, flared up and tried to contain the cold, much like the immune system fighting off a disease.

The sky darkened further and further, and the wind kept picking up. The snow on the ground began to whirl around the group now, and Twilight cast the shield spell, with Sunset quickly joining in like they had done in training.

For the time being, the shield stopped the whirling snow. In spite of this the unnatural cold kept spreading through Sunset’s body, still emanating from somewhere within her. Sunset could feel that the shield she and Twilight were casting was not as powerful as it would normally be, because their magic was still trying to protect them from the cold.

Then, the final ray of sunlight was blocked by a dark cloud. Almost immediately the wind picked up immensely and Sunset could feel the strain this put on the shield. The temperature plummeted, and now the regular effects of the cold began to creep through her thick winter gear, quickening the speed at which the magical cold was spreading through her body. It was now beginning to creep up her neck, slowly beginning to touch the base of her skull.

A strong gust of wind penetrated the shield and made everypony shiver in their coats. “Can’t you strengthen the shield some more?” Rainbow Dash asked irritably.

“I’m doing what I can,” Twilight snapped back.

Sunset growled in agreement. It wasn’t as if keeping a shield up in a storm like this was easy. The cold crept further through her head, and she felt it beginning to hurt.

Well, that’s just wonderful, she thought as she took some magic away from the shield to try and warm up her head. Snowflakes began to come through now.

“Darlings, do try to keep out the snow, at least. It’s terrible for my mane,” Rarity said haughtily.

“You’re welcome to join in anytime, you know,” Sunset said through gritted teeth.

“I’m afraid shield spells really aren’t my forte,” Rarity replied. The disdain in her voice did very little to improve Sunset’s mood and she glowered at Rarity without saying anything.

“Are we there yet?” Pinkie Pie asked.

“No,” Twilight replied curtly.

“Oh, okay. How about now?”

Twilight narrowed her eyes; she knew exactly where this was going.

“No.”

“And now?”

“No! And we won’t be for some time yet, so stop asking!” Twilight yelled.

Pinkie was unimpressed. “You don’t have to get all shouty about it,” she said with an offended look.

Twilight just grumbled something and then turned away from Pinkie.

“Maybe we shouldn’t fight,” Fluttershy said softly.

“We’re not,” Pinkie Pie said. “Twilight is just being a bit annoying, that’s all.”

“She’s annoying?!” Sunset exploded before Twilight herself could react with indignation. “You are literally acting like a foal by asking if we’re there yet repeatedly, but Twilight is being annoying?! How the hay did you come to that conclusion?”

“Twilight has the magical divining rod thingy, she’s the only one who would know if we’re there. It’s not like I can see anything with this snow all around us, which your shield is supposed to be keeping out!” Pinkie replied.

“Please stop fighting,” Fluttershy pleaded again before Sunset could say anything. “Don’t you see that’s what the Windigos want?”

Sunset’s eyes widened. Of course! Now her sudden feelings of anger and annoyance made sense. She hadn’t even realized she’d begun to feel like this until now. By the looks on everypony’s faces, they all had the same realization.

“You’re right, Fluttershy. Pinkie Pie, I’m sorry,” Sunset said.

Pinkie shook her head. “It’s okay. I’m sorry too.”

Sunset felt a pinprick of warmth in her body then, like a small ember. At the same time, though, an ominous screech rang out clearly through the wind howling around them. The storm began to intensify and Sunset felt the shield beginning to crack, and the small ember in her chest dimmed a little bit.

“Sorry I have to ask this, Twi, but just how much farther is it?” Applejack asked.

This time, Twilight didn’t get angry. “We should be getting close soon. I can still feel the Forge getting closer. Everypony, get closer together. We’ll make the shield smaller and hopefully a bit stronger,” she said.

They all complied, packing closely together, and Twilight shrank the shield around them. Sunset allowed her to take control of her magic as well, taking it back once Twilight had shrunk the shield to the appropriate size. Sunset’s side now touched Applejack’s, and she felt the presence of Pinkie Pie right behind her.

On and on the group went. Soon, Sunset began to feel irritation again, this time at the constant jostling that was inevitable when walking so close to one another. Knowing the Windigos were the prime cause of her annoyance did absolutely nothing to lessen it any, but she still held her tongue for now.

Just when she thought she would snap, Twilight suddenly said, “We’re here!”

Sunset leaned to her left, trying to see past Twilight. She saw a formation of icy crystals ahead, which seemed to form a tunnel down into the ground.

“The Forge is down there. Let’s get this over with,” Twilight said wearily.

They entered the tunnel and began walking down a gently sloped path. The sides of the walls were lit with luminous crystals, each the same shade of blue as the entry crystals of the Forges. To her dismay, Sunset noticed that getting closer to the Forge didn’t alleviate the cold or the effects of the Windigos much. Only the absence of the whirling snow was a welcome relief. Soon, the tunnel opened up into the now familiar dome-shaped room of the Forge. The cave was lit only by the six crystals spaced evenly around the Forge, mounted in the walls like they had been in the Forge of Generosity.

Unlike every previous time, Sunset had absolutely no interest in admiring the crystal focusing formations or the spiral patterns on the floor, here inlaid with bright red gems. Instead, she immediately stood under one of the entry crystals. She had no desire whatsoever to spend a single second longer here than she absolutely had to. The others seemed to be feeling the same way, as they all spread around the Forge, while Rainbow Dash assumed her place in the center.

“Okay, I’m ready. Fire this thing up so we can go back,” she said.

Twilight complied. She closed her eyes and began to cast the spell. Sunset tried to relax as well, but she opened her eyes with a start when she felt Twilight’s magic violently yank on hers.

“What the hay was that for?!” she said.

Twilight just made a frustrated noise. “Sorry,” she said in a tone so insincere it just made Sunset even angrier.

Even so, she still closed her eyes when Twilight began to cast the spell again. Again, her magic was far more forceful than it had been in the past. Sunset’s own magic, reacting to her absolute refusal to be anything less than an equal to Twilight, didn’t go along quietly and resisted being pulled forward.

Twilight’s magic withdrew and she angrily opened her eyes. “And you ask me what I’m doing? Why are you resisting the spell?” she demanded. “You do know this is of vital importance, right?”

Sunset rolled her eyes, “Well excuse me, Princess. I just don’t like it when ponies start thinking they can suddenly just command my magic to do something.”

Twilight groaned impatiently. “You have had no problems with this before,” she said.

“Because you’ve never tried to forcibly pull me along before,” Sunset countered.

“Look, you two lovebirds can fight all you want later, can we just get this done, please?” Rainbow Dash cut in from the center of the room.

Sunset and Twilight glared at each other for a moment, then looked away and at the same time said, “Fine.”

Sunset tried to calm her breathing and relax her magic, but when the inevitable pull came again she still resisted for a moment, before grudgingly giving up ground as Twilight drew out everypony’s magic to activate the Forge.

Now, for the first time, Sunset could really feel the undercurrent of raw power in Twilight’s usually exquisitely controlled and refined magic. In response, she flared up her own power a bit more. Nopony could intimidate her with raw power, not even Twilight.

A small strand of warmth flitted through her then, a tiny sliver that amounted to nearly nothing, but it somehow reached the ember in her chest, which had almost died out. As it flared up briefly, a single thought shot through her head.

Twilight means the world to you.

It was just a small moment, something that would under any normal circumstances be insignificant. And yet now, that one thought caused Sunset to fully relax her magic again, letting Twilight take control and finally make actual progress with the spell.

In response, Twilight’s magic seemed to lose its aggression and became much friendlier, almost apologetic, if that even made any sense at all.

Sunset opened her eyes and looked at Twilight. She was surprised to see that Twilight had her eyes open as well. She smiled faintly at Sunset, and Sunset returned the smile.

The magical glow moved closer and closer to Rainbow Dash, and when it reached her the red glow began to overtake the magenta and expand outward. When it filled the entire dome, Sunset felt a stab of shocking cold through her body, which had nothing to do with the Windigos. She gasped and heard her friends cry out. She opened her eyes and looked at the others, who all looked bewildered.

“What was that? It was never that bad before,” Applejack said shakily.

Twilight shook her head. “I have no idea, but I don’t like it. Let’s get back to the Crystal Empire as soon as we can,” she said.

A bit unwillingly the seven ponies bunched up close together again when they prepared to step into the tunnel, but their desire to be out of the frozen wastes trumped their feelings of annoyance with each other. Sunset and Twilight cast the shield spell around the group, and they began to head up the tunnel.

Almost as soon as they left the tunnel and small shelter of the ice crystals, the full force of the Windigos’ blizzard hit them. The shield shattered, and the tight formation the group had assumed was almost pressed into the ground. Sunset felt colder than she ever had in her life. Her hooves were getting numb already, and it had only been a few seconds since the shield broke. The small ember in her chest dimmed once more.

A sudden gust of wind pushed Applejack into her side. “Watch it,” Sunset snarled.

“You watch it. If you hadn’t been standing in my way I wouldn’t have hit you,” Applejack replied.

“Less talking, more walking,” Rainbow Dash said from behind Applejack.

“Don’t you start with me,” Applejack said warningly.

“Or else what?”

“Girls! Stop arguing! There’ll be plenty of time for that when we get back to the city,” Twilight said.

“Oh, give me a break. Do you even know where the city is? Your little tracking spell led you to the Forge, but there isn’t one of those in the city, now is there?” Rainbow Dash replied.

If it was possible for Sunset’s blood to run even colder, it would have. Much as she found Rainbow Dash insufferable at that moment, she had to admit her friend had a point.

Twilight, though, didn’t see much of a problem. “We’ll just head south. Once we’re out of the wastes I’ll get my bearings and then we’ll make our way to the city.”

“Except that won’t work,” Rainbow Dash said. “Ever tried navigating a blizzard? Good luck finding any directions at all when you can’t even see.”

Twilight sighed and said, “You know what? If you think you know the way so well, why don’t you lead us out of here?”

Rainbow Dash shrugged and switched places with Twilight, both giving each other dark looks as they did so.

Slowly, they began to walk. Sunset’s legs hurt from the cold, and somehow it still seemed to be getting colder. Normally she’d be happy to have her friends close by her side at a time like this, but right now she just wished they’d give her a little more space.

With every step, somepony would bump into her and it was driving her nuts. When Pinkie Pie stepped on her sore hind hooves one time too many, she turned around to give her the scolding of a lifetime, but right then a massive gust of wind scattered the ponies apart, sending them rolling through the snow in different places.

Sunset knew they couldn’t have landed far away from her, but she was in no hurry to get back to them. Sure, it was much, much colder now than it had been when they’d been close together, but at least she wouldn’t be getting jostled anymore with every step she took. This was much better.

She took a step. Had the cold in her chest been this biting before?

She took another step. The swirling snow was almost impossible to see through. She tried to call up her magic to burn away the clouds, wondering vaguely why she hadn’t tried that before. Her horn glowed, but nothing else happened.

She angrily shook her head and took one more step. Everything in her body hurt. Anger washed over her. There was no way the Windigos were going to take her down. Not after everything she’d faced before.

Another step. It was like hitting a wall made out of sheer cold. Her vision swam and she blinked a couple of times to clear it. No! She wouldn’t give up. Her friends might, but there was no way she would.

Step. The air seemed to solidify around her. It was getting hard to breathe. She felt irrationally angry that her friends weren’t there to help her. Why would they abandon her now?!

Step. Why wasn’t she moving forward? Step. Step! As much as she tried to will her body into moving, it just wouldn’t respond. It was like her body had frozen to the very ground she stood on. She looked down. Her eyesight was blurry, but she could swear she could see ice creeping up her legs. She focused her magic, forcing heat to her legs to melt the ice, but it kept climbing. She got even angrier and tried to gather every last shred of magic she had…but nothing happened.

“No…” she said softly, as the realization that she wasn’t going to get out of this one began to dawn on her.

Her anger was now joined by another emotion, a sudden longing to not be alone, to have one specific pony there with her at the end.

The ice crept upwards…and then, right ahead of her, a bright light pierced the clouds. It was a cone of brilliant, blazing golden light, which spread outward and melted every last speck of snow it touched. The wall of light hit Sunset, and all the ice and snow around her instantly vaporized.

In the brilliant light, Sunset could make out a tall shape, wings flared out wide and horn glowing gold. Her own solar magic told her that the temperature around her had skyrocketed, and that this temperature wasn’t something she should be surviving even for a moment, and yet she didn’t feel hot at all.

She could see that the rocky ground she was now standing on was actually beginning to glow faintly. She could see her friends, who were all close to her position, but who had been invisible in the raging storm.

Above her, there was a roar of fury, and she turned her eyes upward. She saw a great number of horse-like spirits galloping around, their eyes glowing a frosty blue. Their hateful gaze was locked on Sunset’s rescuer, who merely flicked her horn.

Sunset could feel the heat building. The ground glowed red, and a golden light, too bright to look at, engulfed the flying spirits.

Sunset closed her eyes, but she heard the sounds. Horrible shrieks of anguish, pain and hatred. They filled her mind, seemed to resonate in her very soul. Then, suddenly it all just stopped. The sounds. The heat. Sunset was swallowed up in a blanket of darkness.

Forgotten Sins

Sunset opened her eyes and stared up at a beautifully patterned crystal ceiling. She blinked a couple of times, unsure of where she was or what exactly had happened, but slowly flashes of memory returned. She’d been in a blizzard caused by the Windigos, gotten separated from the others…and then she’d almost been encased in ice.

“It’s good to see you awake.”

Sunset was shaken from her thoughts and looked away from the ceiling, into the room. Princess Celestia was there, smiling warmly at her. Sunset briefly wondered how long she’d been there, but then her thoughts snapped back to her friends.

“Twilight and the others…” she began.

“All recovering in their own rooms,” Princess Celestia said. “Everypony is all right, Sunset,” the Princess went on when she saw the worried look on Sunset’s face. “I arrived right on time.”

The memory of a bright golden light flashed through Sunset’s mind. “I never imagined your full power would be this overwhelming,” Sunset said softly, lowering her eyes to the floor.

Princess Celestia gave an amused chuckle. “Full power? That wasn’t my full power, Sunset Shimmer. I don’t think I’ve ever used my full power since I became Princess of Equestria. Or at least, not anywhere within the kingdom’s borders.”

Sunset blinked stupidly at her. “Never?”

The Princess had effortlessly destroyed a group of Windigos powerful enough to completely defeat Sunset and the others and negate their magic like it was nothing, despite having two magical prodigies there, one of whom was an alicorn, and that hadn’t even been her full power? A chill ran through her body when she began to realize, for what felt like the first time, just how strong the ruler she’d sought to overthrow actually was.

“Does it surprise you?” Princess Celestia asked.

Even though she was still smiling, her voice had become much more serious. Sunset nodded, still muted by her own racing thoughts, by the sudden terror Princess Celestia inspired in her despite her pleasant demeanor.

“Sunset, I wield more power than anypony in Equestria. Only Luna even comes close. But just because I have all that power, doesn’t mean that I can use it in whatever way I want. Trite as it may seem to you, power must be used responsibly by those who have it. It’s a lesson I tried to teach you, once, but you wouldn’t hear it.”

She fell silent for a moment and stared off into the distance, seemingly lost in thought. “I suppose it’s not surprising. When I was younger, I didn’t always agree with that lesson myself. When Star Swirl asked Luna and me to assume the leadership of Equestria, I wanted to use my power to help other ponies. While I never saw them as beneath me in any way, I grew up among natural alicorns for the first two centuries of my life.

“Some of the other alicorns are so powerful they could reshape the world with a thought, which is why we generally live away from other ponies. When Luna and I were chosen to be Equestria’s guardians, we knew, of course, that we represented each of the three tribes, and that our powers surpassed theirs, but what we didn’t realize was just how much more powerful we were. Because of that, and because of my drive to be a well-liked Princess, I wanted to help everypony solve their problems. I wanted to use my magic to make things easier for them.”

She finally looked at Sunset again. “But Star Swirl wouldn’t let me. He told me that facing adversity is part of everypony’s life. That it helps them to grow into stronger ponies, and that magically taking away those hardships would not be beneficial in the long run. I had to restrain my abilities, using only what power I needed and no more. It was a hard lesson to learn. More than once, I had to stand idly by while a problem I could solve in a heartbeat was growing and growing.

“I offered insights, guidance, to those involved, but I had to hold myself back from magically solving the problems. In very rare cases, things escalated to a point where I needed to intervene, but most of the times the ponies — or other creatures — involved did eventually sort out their issues, and I could see that their experiences left them stronger, more confident. Over the centuries, I have seen Star Swirl’s advice vindicated time and again.”

“But…what about the time you and Princess Luna battled Discord? Or when Princess Luna became Nightmare Moon?” Sunset asked. It seemed unlikely that Princess Celestia wouldn’t use her power even for threats of that magnitude.

Princess Celestia lowered her head. “Those were some of the hardest times in my life,” she replied. “Discord’s chaotic nature makes pinning him down with raw force exceptionally difficult. He is also incredibly adept at turning magic against its caster. Even though I have more raw power than he does, his ability to manipulate magic other than his own made using my full power against him impossible without doing far more harm than good. He is almost unbeatable in a direct fight. The Elements of Harmony, however, are immune to his tampering. He cannot affect the Harmonic magic itself. And Tirek was only able to steal his magic because Discord had let his guard down. Even with the power he wielded at that time, Tirek could not have fought Discord because pony magic is easily influenced by him.

“As for Luna…Luna is my sister. In my darkest dreams I wouldn’t dare to use all my power against her. And she, even when she had turned away from me, never intended to kill me. She wished to rule over an eternal night. She wasn’t out for destruction. She would have used her power to keep the plants and ponies alive in the darkness, but not for violence and death if she could help it.

“The one time my approach backfired was during the time of King Sombra. Luna and I banished him to shadows, trapped underneath the ice of the wastelands…but he was still able to curse the Empire and cause it to vanish. Had I used my full power…I might have been able to save it.”

She looked at Sunset again. “You must realize, Sunset Shimmer, that I am not omniscient. I know many things, but the future isn’t written in stone. I try my hardest to guide Equestria to peace and prosperity, but ultimately I’m just guessing, just like everypony else. And as you well know, my guesses can definitely be incorrect.”

Sunset nodded slowly, thinking back to Princess Celestia’s reveal that her destiny had been altered by being shown the mirror. A thought then came up in Sunset’s head. She began to say something, but then held her tongue. What if the Princess got angry?

“Don’t be afraid to ask questions, Sunset. I promise you, I will not get angry,” Princess Celestia said, as if she’d read Sunset’s mind.

Sunset nodded once, then again to calm her nerves. “Does that mean you’re not certain about the Forges being able to defeat the dark force, either?”

Princess Celestia remained silent for a long while. Her face was neutral, but her eyes never left Sunset’s, and Sunset wondered if this had been the one question the Princess would get angry about.

Then, after what felt like a lifetime, Princess Celestia finally answered Sunset’s question. “I’m not,” she said.

Sunset said nothing, waiting for Princess Celestia to continue. With a troubled look on her face, Princess Celestia went on, “The dark force threatening Equestria is something I don’t fully understand. I had never even heard of it, before the Forge of Generosity was discovered and the very fact that I don’t even know its name worries me greatly. Only one document from the time of Caballus references the existence of some mysterious force, and mentions that the creation of the Elements seems to have all but erased it, or at the very least significantly altered it. I must admit that when I first read that document shortly after the Forge was discovered, I didn’t pay any attention to it at all. No, my true goal was to find a way to activate the Forges of Harmony.”

She smiled ruefully. “I never thought that another Forge would be discovered during my lifetime. I thought they had all been lost to time, except for the Forge of Magic beneath the Tree. My hope was that the Rainbow Power Twilight and her friends possess, in combination with the Forges, could bring true Harmony to Equestria at long last. I wanted to finish what the wizards of Caballus had started.”

Her expression turned grim. “That was when the nightmares began. At first, I thought I was just stressed, too obsessed with the Forges, but then I realized that my sister, Princess Cadance, and Twilight all suffered nightmares as well. I looked through all the ancient records again to see if I could find anything, and eventually I remembered that one mention of a dark force. To my great frustration, I couldn’t find any other information regarding the dark force, and even Discord wasn’t able to provide me with anything useful.”

She stopped talking for a moment and took a deep breath, apparently steeling herself before launching into the next part of her story. Sunset wondered what could be more serious than what she’d already heard.

“I resorted to Destiny magic,” Princess Celestia said.

“You what?!” Sunset shouted out of sheer reflex. Destiny magic was so dangerous and volatile that even at her most power hungry, she had never even considered using it for fear of destroying not only Equestria, but the entirety of existence, aside from her own fear and dislike of the very notion that ‘destiny’ even existed.

Princess Celestia grimaced at Sunset’s outburst, but her expression showed that she had expected it. “I observed the threads of Fate. I saw that you were affected as well, which gave me hope that perhaps, your destiny might not have been changed altogether by my mistake with the mirror. I also saw that, should the Forges be activated, Equestria’s thread becomes more stable than it has ever been, even more so than it did after the moment the Elements were first created. Seeing this confirmed my suspicions that the nightmares were being caused by the dark force, seeking to stop the Forges from being activated. That is why I believe that your efforts to activate the Forges are necessary. True Harmony will be brought to Equestria at last.”

Princess Celestia’s face lit up when she said that last sentence, and Sunset wished she could share in her former mentor’s conviction. As it was, she was still too shaken by Princess Celestia’s revelation of using Destiny magic at all, even if it was a passive form of it. If she hadn’t feared being labeled a hypocrite, she would have admonished the Princess over it.

Princess Celestia seemed to feel Sunset’s dismay, but instead of growing serious again she just chuckled. “Your expression reminds me so much of Star Swirl’s,” she said. “When I brought up the topic of Destiny magic with him, he would instantly change the subject and implore me never to use it. But I knew that he had great interest in that forbidden magic, and I was crafty enough to gain access to his notes. I learned to observe the threads of Fate, to see them change in consequence to different choices. I followed Equestria’s thread through hundreds of possible futures…until Star Swirl finally figured out what I had been doing. He was furious. So furious that he left Equestria for well over a decade. I always told Luna he was just away on personal business, but I don’t think she ever fully believed me. Despite her gruff demeanor now and then, she really has always been the sensible one of us. When Star Swirl returned, his anger had still not gone. Using a time travel spell, he showed me, first hoof, some of the potential futures I’d only seen glimpses of.”

She looked at Sunset, serious now. “I saw things I never want to see again. Small changes can affect the future in ways we cannot even fathom, and merely viewing the threads of Fate can cause us to disturb them. I vowed not to use Destiny magic lightly, and I only used it twice between then and this time. I had seen that there was a possibility certain ponies could ascend into alicorns. This intrigued me, because I had never heard of artificial alicorns before. I couldn’t look back to see if such transformations had occurred before, and if so, why it had happened. I had promised Star Swirl I wouldn’t.

“So, instead, I used a different form of Destiny magic. I wove an interception into Equestria’s thread. Whenever unicorn magic would change into alicorn magic, my interception would bring me and the pony in question to a hallway outside of space and time. In that hallway, all the pivotal moments of that pony’s life would be on display, so that they and I could see the events that had transpired to cause their ascension. As an added benefit, I would be able to give these ponies advice on their new powers and responsibilities.”

She fell silent, and Sunset let the implications of everything she had just heard sink in.

“So…you don’t make ponies into alicorns yourself?” Sunset asked, feeling a faint shame rising in her for her callousness all those years ago in assuming the Princess could simply grant any unicorn the privilege of alicorn powers.

Princess Celestia shook her head. “No. I want to be aware of each alicorn that comes into being through this way, but I have no power to make anypony into an alicorn, or prevent anypony from becoming one. Their ascension comes from within themselves. It is not up to me to write their destiny, but I want to be there when they reach it just the same.”

She stared off into the distance, slightly troubled now. “It may seem selfish of me to do such a thing, but as I said earlier, true alicorns can wield incredible power. Some among my kind have powers that dwarf even me. If somepony with an evil heart were to be destined to become an alicorn…I would want to be able to stop them as soon as possible, and right when they ascend would be the best moment to do so. Fortunately, that has never happened yet. Princess Cadance and Twilight have been the only ones in all those centuries who have ascended, and both of them more than earned it.”

Sunset nodded slowly. She wasn’t entirely sure if she agreed with this use of Destiny magic, but she had to admit that the thought of an evil alicorn was a scary one, potentially scary enough to warrant the use of such dangerous magic. Then she remembered that Princess Celestia had said she’d used Destiny magic twice between her vow to use it only sparingly and her attempt to detect the dark force.

“So…what was the second time you used Destiny magic?” she asked.

Princess Celestia sighed, and Sunset felt apprehension rising within her. “When I…lost you…as a student, I spent several days locked in my chambers, berating myself for all the mistakes I had made,” the Princess began.

Sunset felt pinpricks all over her skin as her anxiety grew.

“I had thought that I was being clever. Your display of solar magic made me certain you were destined to be my successor, but you were too ambitious, too hungry for power, and too self-absorbed to ascend. As your skills grew, so did your arrogance. I began to worry more and more what would happen to Equestria if you were to ascend and take my place as her ruler. I wanted to temper your arrogance, humble you a bit before you would reach your destiny, because I felt that my time was running out. I showed you the mirror, hoping that it would teach you some patience, but as we both know, I was wrong.”

She fell silent for a moment, and Sunset wondered where this story was going. The feeling that, whatever it was, she wasn’t going to like it, was still getting stronger.

“When I saw Twilight’s display of raw power, my first thought was that she might be yet another potential Princess, but she wouldn’t be my successor. Her magic was too different for that. I wanted to take her in, like I had done with you, but this time, I was determined not to make the same mistakes.”

She clenched her jaw and her expression hardened, and Sunset’s eyes widened as the truth dawned on her.

“You didn’t…?” she began.

Princess Celestia nodded grimly. “I used Destiny magic to watch her possible futures,” she said.

Sunset shook her head in anger. “That’s…that’s…”

She struggled to find the appropriate words to voice her disgust. Viewing somepony’s future, even just the key moments, was an enormous invasion of privacy. The viewer would gain an incredible amount of control over the victim, because they would be able to exercise influence at every important decision and guide it into their own favor. In Sunset’s eyes, it was even viler than using outright mind control.

And to have such a thing done to Twilight,of all ponies, was even worse. She knew that scrying of this kind would only ever show a set of possibilities and vague outcomes, and not a bright, clear line with guaranteed outcomes, but the very idea of it being used like this sickened her.

“Twilight idolizes you,” Sunset said eventually, glaring hard at Celestia. She struggled to keep her voice level. “There’s nopony she respects and loves more than you, and this is what you’ve done to repay her?! Or did your machinations cause her to idolize you? Did you decide that I’d been too rebellious, so you would just make sure your next student was a bit more devoted to you?!”

Celestia bowed her head, but said nothing.

Sunset shook her head derisively. “I can’t believe this. The benign, just ruler of Equestria using Destiny magic to make sure her student remains loyal. And you think I would have been a tyrant?”

“I don’t blame you for your anger, Sunset Shimmer,” Celestia said gravely. “In fact, I deeply admire your devotion to your friend, to show such anger on her behalf.”

Sunset said nothing. She just kept glaring at Celestia. She wasn’t about to be swayed by some kind words.

“But you must believe me when I say that Twilight means just as much to me as she does to you.”

“I must do nothing,” Sunset said, turning her head away. “As you can imagine, I’m not exactly in a forgiving mood right now.”

Images of all the times Twilight had been as happy as a little filly whenever Celestia praised her or gave her something of great historical value shot through Sunset’s mind. She recalled that she’d said that Twilight reminded her of Celestia. Back then, she had meant it as a compliment. Right now, she felt like she’d inadvertently and retroactively insulted her. Twilight wouldn’t do something like this to any student of hers…would she?

“Sunset, Twilight became my student when she was very young. She was younger than you were when I took her in. Do you really believe that simply knowing her future would make me any less fond of her?” Celestia sounded almost desperate when she asked that. There was an edge of insecurity to her voice that sent a chill down Sunset’s spine.

She looked back to Celestia and saw that she was fidgeting, looking more like a foal being scolded than the nigh-omnipotent ruler of Equestria. Sunset blinked uncertainly. If Celestia was feigning all of this, she should have gotten a cutie mark for acting.

Celestia gave Sunset an imploring look. “Sunset, I know how this all sounds, but I promise you there is no way you can hate me more for this than I hate myself.”

“I don’t hate you.” Sunset said the words without thinking, and she knew that, despite her anger, she was telling the truth.

She could still remember the tears in the Princess’s eyes when she had revealed that she had inadvertently taken away her destiny. Whatever Princess Celestia had done, it wouldn’t have had malignant intentions…but that still didn’t justify it.

“Everything I did…I did for Twilight’s sake,” Princess Celestia said. “I had already stolen your destiny from you and chased you away to a different world. I’d sooner have joined my sister in exile on the moon than destroy Twilight’s destiny as well. Using Destiny magic was the only solution I could see. It would allow me to make the correct choices at the correct moments, all so Twilight could ascend and reach her destiny.”

She stopped fidgeting, but her eyes were still full of guilt. “Over the years, she became like a daughter to me. And because of that, I felt nervous every single time I had to step aside and let her deal with threats I could have easily dealt with myself. The only influence I had on any of those events was on my own actions. If Twilight had made different choices, things might still have gone differently. Of course, I always tried to guide her in the direction most likely to be successful, but there is always an element of chance. Any of the foes she encountered could have defeated her, and I wouldn’t have been able to do anything against it.”

She closed her eyes for a moment, seemingly trying to banish imagined timelines, in which Twilight had failed, from her mind. When she opened them again, however, her expression was full of pride. “But Twilight and her friends rose to every challenge they had to face. Their friendship allowed them to beat the odds, time after time. Their mastery over the Elements, far greater than Luna and I ever managed when we wielded them, has enabled them to save Equestria on numerous occasions, and I believe with all my heart that this time is no different.”

Sunset considered what Princess Celestia had said. Twilight definitely didn’t seem to be any worse off because of Princess Celestia’s scrying, but everything in her hated the thought that none of it had really been her choice. She’d just been sent on her path by the Princess and it happened to have turned out alright, often against the odds. Did that mean that Twilight and her friends really were destined to succeed in every challenge they faced as Element bearers, or was Sunset just reading too much into it? Again, that just seemed too much like they never really had a choice in anything, and that idea scared Sunset far more than any dark force ever could.

“Even if it was with the best of intentions, I still don’t agree with this,” she said eventually. She decided she wouldn’t bring up her aversion to the notion of an immutable destiny.

Princess Celestia solemnly lowered her head. “I understand that, Sunset. Though I will still have the audacity to ask you not to reveal this to Twilight, partly because it might hurt her resolve in completing your mission, but mostly because I couldn’t bear to have her hate me,” she said.

Sunset looked into the Princess’s eyes. She looked resigned, as if she wouldn’t even argue if Sunset would deny her request, but behind that resignation Sunset saw a trace of fear.

“I won’t tell her,” Sunset said.

Princess Celestia looked grateful, but Sunset raised her hoof and went on, “If you promise not to use any more Destiny magic to see her future, or anypony else’s.”

Princess Celestia’s expression became serious, and she gave a single nod. “I promise.”

“Then your secret is safe with me.”

Princess Celestia visibly breathed a sigh of relief, and her tone was much lighter when she spoke again. “Thank you for having enough faith in me to trust me,” she said. “I can’t even begin to tell you how much that means to me.”

Sunset nodded wordlessly. She wasn’t entirely sure if she completely trusted the Princess never to use Destiny magic again, but she was at least prepared to give her the benefit of the doubt.

“Now, then, shall we go find your friends?”

“I’m surprised you’re coming with me,” Twilight said as she and Sunset walked through the streets of the Crystal Empire. “I thought learning from books wasn’t really your thing.”

After being reunited with her friends, they had decided to stay in the Crystal Empire for the rest of the day to get some downtime in before heading back to Ponyville for the activation of the final Forge. Twilight, ever the eager student of magic, had decided she wanted to visit the library because it contained many rare tomes from historic times, including magical scrolls and theories, preserved there during the millennium the Crystal Empire had been lost to time, and that was where she and Sunset were headed now.

Sunset’s reason for wanting to go the library had very little to do with grimoires, however, and everything with Atonement. If this library contained knowledge from a thousand years ago, it wasn’t inconceivable it might have records, however few, dating from the time of Caballus. Sunset decided not to mention that to Twilight, though.

“Well, I was a student of Princess Celestia’s before you,” she said. “I’m still very interested in magic; it’s just that I’m generally more interested in casting the spells than analyzing them.”

She wasn’t really sure why she didn’t want to tell Twilight the real reason she was coming along. After all, Twilight had been very understanding and even supportive of her desire to embody an Element. But for some reason, Sunset felt that this was something she needed to do alone. Maybe a part of it was that she was still bothered by the conversation she’d had with Princess Celestia.

Despite the promise she’d made, the thought that the Princess had manipulated Twilight for so long really didn’t sit well with her. She also had a nagging feeling that Princess Celestia hadn’t told her everything about what she’d seen when she had used her scrying to try and find out what the nature of the dark force was.

Childish though it was, finding evidence of Atonement’s existence as an Aspect of Harmony would prove Princess Celestia wrong about her own assertion on the subject, and Sunset would like nothing better than to stroll into the palace and declare in front of everypony that she was right and Princess Celestia was wrong. She felt vaguely ashamed for thinking that way.

“At least I’m not the one invading ponies’ privacy…” she muttered. It didn’t make her feel better.

The library of the Crystal Empire was enormous. It contained books on every imaginable subject, both modern and ancient, and as soon as Sunset and Twilight had entered, Twilight had run off to the magic section, leaving Sunset to wonder where she should begin her research. Of course, the Elements themselves were clearly magical artifacts, but it was equally likely that any writing that survived from the time of Caballus would be stored in the history section, especially since she wasn’t really looking for any actual spells or rituals.

“I find that in case of doubt, ‘eenie, meenie, miney, moe’ usually works best,” a voice behind her said.

Sunset turned around, and found herself faced with the oddest creature she’d ever seen. Its body was vaguely serpentine and none of its limbs matched any of the others. The creature had an amused, somewhat mischievous expression on its face.

“’It’, really? You wound me, Sunset Shimmer. No,” the creature interrupted, holding up its right forepaw, which looked like a lion’s, “don’t bother justifying yourself. You have that look in your eyes.”

Sunset blinked stupidly, before it dawned on her who this strange creature could be. “You’re Discord, aren’t you?” she asked.

Discord grinned widely and gave a deep bow. “Reformed spirit of Chaos and Disharmony, at your service,” he said.

“So…what are you doing here?” Sunset asked. She was beginning to feel a bit nervous, meeting a being so powerful and unpredictable without Twilight or the others nearby, even though she knew that he wasn’t likely to hurt her.

“I just wanted to meet the new member of the gang,” Discord said, “The seventh ranger…or eighth, I guess, if you count Spike, but for some reason nopony ever does seem to count him. But it seems to me, my dear Sunset, that I know what I’m doing here far better than you know what you’re doing here.”

Sunset shifted uncomfortably. “I know what I’m doing here,” she said lamely, “I just don’t know where to begin.”

Discord pretended to think very hard about that, floating in the air with his lion paw under his chin. “I would suggest you try the beginning,” he said earnestly after a few seconds.

Sunset rolled her eyes. “Would you, now?” she said through gritted teeth.

Whatever Discord’s motivation had been to talk to her, she was losing valuable time to find out more about Atonement by standing here.

Discord sighed theatrically. “I thought you were supposed to be just as smart as our little Princess of Friendship,” he said. “I wasn’t talking in riddles, you know. If you want to find out if your theory is true, you should go back to the beginning. The oldest records this library has go back to a time before the Elements existed.”

Discord got a fond look on his face. “Everything was so beautiful back then. There was chaos which ordered itself in the most interesting ways. Ponies just had to deal with whatever came their way.”

He shrugged. “Of course, I was far less powerful back then, but that didn’t matter to me. I was happy. I could create lots of chaos and watch while the ponies ran around trying to fix it all. And then I would go to another village and do it all again. I would suggest you try it sometime, but sadly, the ponies made that impossible when they created the Elements.”

Sunset’s thoughts were racing. Had Discord really been around for that long? If he had lived during the time of Caballus, then wouldn’t he know if Atonement was real?

“Don’t get any ideas, now,” Discord said, guessing what Sunset was thinking, “I’m not in the business of helping ponies whose name isn’t Fluttershy. Besides, back then I wasn’t concerned about Harmony. It existed, and it was my job to undermine it. It could be made up of dozens of aspects, for all I care, as long as I can disrupt it.”

The hope that had been building up in Sunset’s chest seemed to deflate. Of course, it would have been a bit too easy if Discord could have just told her all about the Aspects of Harmony, and since when were things ever easy for her? But still, here was her chance to interrogate a being old enough he’d actually witnessed the event that put nature under pony control. Even if he couldn’t confirm Atonement’s existence, he should still know something useful, right?

“So…what was it like? When suddenly, nature wasn’t chaotic anymore, but controlled by ponies?”

Discord’s expression darkened. “It was an abomination, and not the kind of abomination I enjoy. Everything became stagnant and orderly and boring. When I realized what they planned to do, I tried to stop them, but I could only save the Everfree Forest. Not that I knew that, at the time. The blast sent me into another dimension, my dimension now. It responded to everything I wanted and I realized that I had become far stronger than I had ever been before.

“I only found out what they had done to Equestria centuries later, when I figured out how to open a portal at will. When I saw the travesty that was Equestria, I made it my solemn duty to wreck everything the wizards had wanted to build. They thought they had tamed chaos, so I showed them what true chaos looked like…until, of course, Celestia and Luna turned me into a garden ornament for the better part of a thousand years, using the very same Elements the wizards had created to tame nature.”

“Why would the Elements have made you more powerful?” Sunset wondered out loud. “It doesn’t make any sense.”

Discord shrugged. “More than you might think,” he said. “Haven’t you remembered anything from the scrolls Celestia sent you that wasn’t directly related to Atonement? The magic Twilight and her little friends embody was a lot more common before the Elements existed. It was everywhere, just like chaos was everywhere. It was only after the Elements were created that only one pony at a time could use magic of that nature. Why would chaotic magic be any different? Only instead of being focused in gaudy jewelry, it was focused in me. A much more beautiful vessel, if I do say so myself.”

He held up a mirror and admired himself in it. He winked at his reflection, which blushed and bashfully fluttered its eyes. He turned back to Sunset while his reflection blew him a kiss, which somehow left an exaggerated human-looking lipstick imprint on his cheek.

“Well, my dear Sunset, that’s all the time I have for now. Do say hello to Twilight, will you?”

Before Sunset could reply, Discord had already vanished. Sunset smiled. For someone who didn’t want to help, Discord had been very helpful.

Sunset walked along the rows of bookcases in the history section of the library. The oldest books and scrolls were all the way at the back, in specially darkened rows so that the light wouldn’t damage the centuries-old parchments.

The only reason Sunset had even been allowed to enter this part of the library was because she was on a mission from Princess Celestia. She could smell the age of the books she was walking between, a scent that reminded her of her years as an apprentice in Canterlot, when she would spend hours in the archives looking for powerful spells to try.

Eventually, she reached a bookcase marked ‘Caballus’, and she began carefully removing the books and scrolls from the shelves. Many of the documents were communications between leaders from different villages and cities, or detailed stocks of food and other commodities. Several featured reports of battles, long forgotten to history, or monster attacks which had been dealt with in other ways than through the use of Harmonic magic.

Then, however, she came across a cornuscript from a shaman who had lived centuries before even Parallax Dream had been born. It was so old even Star Swirl’s translating spell struggled to deal with it.

Protection against evil is always sevenfold. All Aspects of Harmony need to be honored in their own right. Where One fails, Seven will surely succeed. Evil is not meant to be confronted alone. Remain close, each to their own Aspect, and there is no enemy these Seven cannot overcome.

Vague and short though the note may have been, it still sent chills down Sunset’s spine when she read it. This was the first time she had ever seen any writing at all mentioning seven Aspects of Harmony.

Of course, she couldn’t be certain that the mysterious seventh Aspect was indeed Atonement, or that the shaman had been correct at all, but this small scrap of parchment gave her hope, and with renewed vigor she continued scanning the bookshelves.

For a long time, she found nothing of interest, but in the back of her mind something was gnawing at her, telling her that she was overlooking something and that, before she did anything else, she should recheck all the books she’d already glanced over before.

Without really knowing why, she decided to humor the voice in her head, and once more she began at the beginning of the bookcase. When she opened the second book, she realized that this was what she’d missed the first time, and that subconsciously a part of her must have noticed it. The book contained several letters sent by influential ponies. It was slightly newer than the note from the shaman, but still much older than the Elements.

Skygazer,

We’ll need reinforcements as soon as you can spare them. It’s absolutely ridiculous how fanatical these ponies are with their belief in six Aspects. Even here in Sesmet ponies are starting to convert to their lunacy. We’ve had to quell three riots today alone, and Dust Trail’s army is on the way here. We can’t afford a siege. Our stores are running low and our best soldiers are on riot control duty.

Stoneskin

Sunset read the short letter several times. She almost burst out laughing at the absurdity of it all. Ponies who believed in six Aspects were seen as fanatical? Only a few centuries later, the sole pony who still believed in seven was seen as crazy. But this letter implied that there had been a time when ponies had indeed strongly believed in seven Aspects of Harmony. Eagerly, she continued perusing the book. It wasn’t long before she found another letter, dated only a few weeks after the previous one.

Commander Treeleaf,

It is with great regret that I must inform you that the city of Sesmet has fallen to the heretics. The city is now firmly under their control. Those who still believe in the sanctity and truth of Atonement have been exiled. Dust Trail is against executing prisoners, apparently. As if his armies haven’t caused enough destruction over the past years. But he may yet open his eyes to the truth and Atone for what he is done, I suppose. I, for one, would relish the irony of such an event.

With the highest respect,

Deep Water

And there it was, at long last. Atonement had been considered an Aspect of Harmony long ago, alongside the other Aspects. Sunset wasn’t sure what had actually happened to make ponies change their minds about Atonement, but she assumed it had something to do with its ‘negative’ nature. It was easy to believe that somepony with extreme views and a lot of charisma could get others to follow their way of thinking.

It saddened her to think that, apparently, whoever had started the shift to believing in six, rather than seven, Aspects of Harmony had eventually won the conflict. Did that mean that they had been right…or merely that everypony believed them to be? She decided to keep looking through the book to try and find anything conclusive. Her eye fell on an entry with an annotation from the transcribing pony, stating that the transcribed text originally came from a pamphlet spread across several cities.

Atone, or face tragedy!

Ponies, you may believe that Atonement has no place in a Harmonic society, but you must be wary of its loss. Nature is a delicate balance. It is a dynamic equilibrium which grows, blooms, and decays in a cyclical nature. The new cannot come into existence without the disappearance of the old. There can be no light without darkness. There can be no good without evil. There can be no Harmony without Atonement. Atonement’s very nature makes it indispensable to a Harmonic society. What does Harmony mean if there is no Disharmony? How can we advance if we remain stagnant? Rejecting the very real Aspect of Atonement will lead ponykind to ruin. We will disrupt the cycle and bring ourselves down. Maybe not now, or tomorrow, or even in a hundred years, but we will lose everything we stand for. Need I remind everypony of the Crystal Cataclysm? The conversion to six Aspects began there, and now the city has been erased from existence. Stagnant forever, untouchable, pristine…and dead.

Atone, while you can!

“Crystal Cataclysm?” Sunset said out loud. She figured an event with such a momentous name would have been recorded in history, but she had never heard of it.

“Oh, you know about it?”

Sunset nearly jumped on top of the bookcase when she heard the voice. She’d been so absorbed in her reading that she hadn’t heard this newcomer approach.

The pony next to Sunset was a unicorn with a cream-colored coat and a dark blue mane, with a lighter blue streak in it. Her eyes were the same kind of blue as her mane, and her cutie mark was a rolled-up scroll with a magnifying glass next to it.

She smiled apologetically. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you. I’m not used to seeing other ponies in this section. My name is Scroll Seeker. I’m a historian, specialized in pre-Equestrian history.”

Sunset regained her composure and stood up straighter. “My name is Sunset Shimmer. I’m here on a mission from Princess Celestia,” she said.

“I know. You’re here with the Princess of Friendship, Twilight Sparkle, aren’t you? I didn’t think ancient history would be so important to your mission,” Scroll Seeker said.

Sunset looked at the stack of books in front of her and smiled sheepishly. “Honestly, this is more for myself than for the mission, although it is connected to it,” she said. Then, going back on topic, she went on, “So, you know what the Crystal Cataclysm is?”

Scroll Seeker nodded. “Not many ponies these days know about it. The early government of Caballus was adamant that it be removed from history after their ‘six-Aspect’ ideology had taken over the nation.”

Sunset cocked her head. “They wanted it removed from history?” she repeated.

“Yes. As far as we know, it’s the biggest event anypony has ever tried to cover up, but,” Scroll Seeker added with a smile, “we can’t be certain about that. After all, if they have succeeded with larger events we wouldn’t know they happened. Needless to say, though, with this particular event they failed. Too many ponies knew about it, and the pamphlets making references to it were ubiquitous. That helped to keep the memory alive.”

“So what exactly is the Crystal Cataclysm?” Sunset asked.

Scroll Seeker gave her a solemn look. “It was an event in which an entire city was turned into perfect crystal and sealed off from the rest of the world. It was the first attempt anypony ever made…to harness the powers of Harmony.”

Author's Note

Second month of the year, eleventh chapter of the story. This took me a long time to write, but I think I’ve just about said what I wanted to say with it. It’s a long one, but then, it’s the penultimate chapter, so thinks need to be set up for the grand finale.

Just a few notes before you go: I used ‘cornuscript’ instead of ‘manuscript’ because the ‘manu-‘ part of the word means ‘hand’, and unicorns write using their horns. Also, Sesmet is Middle-Egyptian for horse. Anyway, please let me know what you think, and I hope to see you for the final chapter!

Ends and Beginnings

Sunset stood rooted to the spot. The notion that the Elements themselves hadn’t been ponykind’s first attempt at harnessing the powers of Harmony had never occurred to her, even though it made sense. Power like that was bound to attract attention.

“You seem…a bit more shocked than I thought you would, given how long ago this happened,” Scroll Seeker said.

Sunset regained her composure as best she could and replied, “What went wrong in their attempt?”

“That is actually a matter of conjecture among historians,” Scroll Seeker said evasively.

“Okay, so what do you personally think happened?” Sunset asked.

Flashes of her nightmares, of a cold, crystal forest, filled her mind. Were they about to recreate the Crystal Cataclysm on a global scale? Had Princess Celestia been wrong after all? All Sunset’s desire to prove her old mentor wrong was swept away by the fear that their mission, far from saving Equestria, might really end up dooming it instead.

Scroll Seeker looked a bit troubled. “My…well…it’s…” she said hesitantly.

“Controversial?” Sunset guessed.

She couldn’t think of any other reason a historian might keep a theory to themselves, not when it concerned something most ponies had no idea even existed.

Scroll Seeker nodded. “Yes. The prevailing view at the moment is that the wizards made a mistake in their calculations, causing a stasis-like effect instead of the Harmony they were looking for. That explanation never really satisfied me, though, not in light of all the pamphlets and communications from the time period which reference the event in a warning manner, like the one you were reading just now.”

She fell silent for a moment and stared off into the distance, seemingly trying to formulate her thoughts. “How familiar are you with magical theory?” she asked.

“I used to be Princess Celestia’s personal student,” Sunset replied, a mixture of pride and a hint of her old arrogance in her voice.

“Very familiar, then. Good,” Scroll Seeker said.

“Why ‘good’”? Sunset asked.

“It will save me the explanation on why the number six is considered so significant. See, the very significance of the number six in many magical theories of pretty much all disciplines, both past and present, is thought to have been the reason ponies began to deviate from their belief in seven Aspects of Harmony. Given the mountains of documented and reproducible evidence that the number six is incredibly powerful, magically speaking, it’s only a small step to believe that something as powerful as Harmonic magic would work by the same principles.

“Indeed, if we look back far enough, evidence has been found of many early attempts to strip Atonement of its status as an Aspect. In those times, there wasn’t much communication between different settlements, so those attempts never really found any traction beyond their very localized scopes. However, as the population began to grow and more trade routes began to be established, ideas began to spread much further, much faster. Eventually, the new belief system overthrew the old one, and Atonement was all but forgotten, remembered only by a select few.

“Of course, the transitional period saw a lot of conflict between the different factions. To stop the conflict, the Six-Aspect wizards sought to prove the veracity of their viewpoint by creating a weapon utilizing the powers of Harmony. They failed, and somehow their entire city was transformed into perfect crystal, and the immense cold that emanated from the city could be felt many miles away. That event is what became known as the Crystal Cataclysm.

“Fearing that the Seven-Aspect ponies would use the Cataclysm as a point in their own favor, the Six-Aspect faction began systematically destroying all references to it, and all evidence that it had ever occurred. Of course, as you’ve seen, they failed. I’ve always liked the irony that what was intended to be their greatest victory ended up being their greatest failure.”

Sunset nodded slowly. So far, Scroll Seeker’s story made sense. She knew that ponies had fought over many different reasons in the past, and she knew how heated ideological debates could get. Still, something continued to bother her.

“If the Crystal Cataclysm was really such a huge thing, though, what happened to that city? Wouldn’t it be impossible to hide something like a crystal ghost town?”

Scroll Seeker smiled. “It’s a city of crystal in a frozen wasteland. Does that remind you of anything?” She pointedly looked around the library and Sunset’s eyes widened.

“Here?! This is the site of the Cataclysm?”

Scroll Seeker nodded. “Yes. At first, the crystal city was far too cold to enter. Years and years of magic went into making it accessible again, but even then the environment was barren and hostile. Some even say that Windigos came about as a result of the Cataclysm, but as of yet I’ve found no evidence to support that. In any event, ultimately the ponies managed to use Harmonic magic to create the Crystal Heart, returning life to the city and its immediate surroundings. The magic of the place never truly faded, however, which is why the Crystal Ponies look the way they do even today.

“The sheer age of this city is also part of the reason that there are so many old records here. The thousand years of absence have only helped to preserve what was already here. But with the city inhabited again, the Six-Aspect ponies were able to manipulate the official records, removing all mentions of the Crystal Cataclysm and instead claiming that the crystal used to build the city occurred here naturally. And that, finally, leads me back to your original question: I think the Crystal Cataclysm happened because the Seven-Aspect ponies were right. The wizards’ attempt at creating a Six-Aspect weapon failed because they ignored Atonement, and they were destroyed because of it.”

Sunset wanted to agree with Scroll Seeker, and felt elated that somepony who was as well-versed in history as Scroll Seeker was actually believed that Atonement was an actual Aspect of Harmony. Even so, she didn’t immediately jump for joy.

“So what about the Elements? The wizards of Caballus succeeded in the creation of their Six-Aspect weapon. They even changed the fundamental nature of magic while doing so,” Sunset said.

Scroll Seeker nodded. “That’s exactly the argument most other historians use,” she admitted. “And that’s where things get controversial. See, I don’t actually believe the wizards of Caballus succeeded in what they set out to do. Their intention was to tame nature and to create everlasting Harmony, but they didn’t truly succeed at either. The very fact the Cold Age happened proves that. Ponies had forgotten all about Harmony, and because of it the Windigos were able to freeze nearly all of Equestria. For all their supposed control over nature, the ponies couldn’t do anything against them until they rediscovered Harmonic magic. It’s believed that the Elements themselves were the catalyst for that rediscovery, although records are inconclusive. Whatever the case, I think the creation of the Elements was at least partially unsuccessful due to the neglect of Atonement.”

“Then…what do you think would happen if the Forges the wizards used were to be activated again?” Sunset asked. Her happiness at having found somepony who seemed to share her ideas about Atonement began to be replaced by a feeling of dread. “Would…would something like the Crystal Cataclysm happen again?” she went on.

Scroll Seeker considered the question, seeming a bit confused by the insistence in Sunset’s second question. “I don’t know. I suppose it’s possible, but the Forges are lost and nopony knows where they are, so it’s unlikely to ever…”

She trailed off when she saw Sunset’s pale face. “Are you…okay?”

Sunset didn’t reply. Here it was, at long last. The confirmation of her fears, and the very event her nightmares had been warning her about. Now it made sense that her nightmares got worse with every Forge they activated. She felt the cold chill, the ghost of her dreams, lancing through her magic. Something was trying to warn her, to warn all the princesses: don’t activate the Forges. But what? Or who? And if the nature of the nightmares was benign, so to speak, then what exactly was the dark force Princess Celestia had seen in the ancient records she possessed? Had the wizard documenting it been wrong? Had he been trying to cover something up? And if the nightmares were warnings, why did they stop when she and Twilight slept close together? What was the voice saying Twilight’s name, and why would it mention Twilight in particular? Here she finally had answers to questions she’d had ever since the first mention of Atonement, and all it had done was leave her with far more.

She looked up at Scroll Seeker, who was still looking at her with a concerned expression. “Thank you for telling me all of this.” She smiled ruefully. “I better go find Twilight. She’ll want to hear about this.”

“It does sound bad,” Twilight said when Sunset finished telling her the story.

Sunset cocked her head. “But…?” she asked.

Twilight sighed. “But…I still think we should risk it.”

She held up a hoof to silence Sunset, who was about to go into an incredulous rant. “I know, I know, Scroll Seeker thinks the wizards were wrong. But Scroll Seeker has never actually used the Elements herself. I have. And every time we’ve used them, they did exactly what they were supposed to do. They were able to petrify Discord, banish and eventually restore Princess Luna, unlock the Rainbow Power we used to defeat Tirek…they’ve even allowed us to make you see the error of your ways. And aside from that, Princess Celestia thinks that what we’re doing is the right thing. She wouldn’t have sent us if she didn’t think so.”

She gave Sunset an almost apologetic look. “I hate to sound like I’m just dismissing you out of hoof, but I really think that Scroll Seeker is wrong, at least about this particular thing. I have absolutely no issues believing that Atonement is an actual Aspect of Harmony that has been swept under the rug. History has had its fair share of conflicts, after all, and ideological conflicts always seem to be the most hotly contested.”

Sunset appreciated Twilight’s attempt to console her, but it didn’t really make her feel any better. Deep in her heart, she guessed she had known that Twilight would respond like this. If nothing else, the two things in life Twilight trusted and believed in most were magic and Princess Celestia. In this case, both of those contradicted what Sunset was saying. Of course Twilight, the diligent researcher, would go with what she had observed in the past rather than trusting in conjecture. If their places had been swapped, Sunset was fairly certain she would have done exactly the same thing.

If Sunset had still been her old self, this would have been the point where she would have revealed Princess Celestia’s use of Destiny magic in an effort to discredit her in Twilight’s eyes, in a ‘the ends justify the means’ kind of way, but as she was now, she’d never resort to that. Even if it might have worked, it would be an enormous breach of trust, and nopony would want to associate with her anymore if she did something like that.

She looked at Twilight, who looked a bit anxious because of Sunset’s silence. Maybe she was worried she’d insulted her somehow? Sunset forced herself to smile to reassure Twilight that she wasn’t angry. She was still afraid that activating the final Forge would be the wrong decision, but there was nothing she could say to convince Twilight of that, and Twilight did have some valid points about her experience with the Elements.

“I trust you, Twilight, more than anypony else,” she said. “If you truly believe that activating the Forges will save Equestria from the dark force…then I’ll be with you to the end.”

She felt a blush creeping up on her cheeks. She really hadn’t meant to sound so corny, but it was out before she knew it.

Twilight blushed as well, and replied, “Thank you. That means a lot to me.”

For a moment, both ponies exchanged a somewhat awkward look, before Twilight straightened herself and said, “Well then, let’s go find the others. We don’t want to miss our train.”

Still blushing faintly, and shooting each other some surreptitious glances, they headed for the exit of the library.

“It’s strange to think that this whole adventure is almost over,” Applejack mused as the train sped away from the Crystal Empire in the direction of Ponyville. “I mean, we haven’t been gone for that long, but we’ve seen and done so much it feels like we’ve been away much longer.”

Rainbow Dash nodded. “I know. I hope the weather ponies have been getting by without my awesome presence to guide them.”

Applejack shot her a sly look. “Don’t you usually sleep in late anyway? I doubt they even know what you look like anymore.”

“Pfff, as if anypony could forget me,” Rainbow Dash said cockily.

“I guess not,” Applejack conceded, and Rainbow Dash looked smug before Applejack went on, “It’s not like your training mishaps are easy to miss. Last time I thought there was another stampede going on.”

“Funny,” Rainbow Dash said through gritted teeth.

“I just hope Coco didn’t get overwhelmed while she was running the boutique. I know she has Sweetie Belle helping her, but still. It’s a busy season,” Rarity said.

“I’m sure she’ll be fine, Rarity. She’s from Manehattan; I don’t think a small town like Ponyville would give her a hard time,” Applejack replied. She turned to look at Sunset. “So what are your plans when the mission’s all wrapped up, Sunset? Are you going back to the human world or will you stay here now that you and Princess Celestia have patched things up?”

I hope Equestria still exists after we’re done, Sunset thought. But rather than saying something so gloomy, she said, “I’ll go back to the human world, I think. I’ve built up a pretty comfortable life there through the years, after all. But I’m not going back straight away. I’d like to stay and spend some time with…” She glanced at Twilight. “…all of you,” she finished, feeling her face heat up.

Her friends, even Fluttershy, gave her knowing glances, which Sunset responded to by pointedly looking out the window. She hadn’t been lying, technically. She did want to spend some time getting to know her pony friends better, but above all she wanted to spend time with Twilight. Knowing that they had feelings for each other that went beyond just friendship was something new for her, and she figured that spending a few days together would help find out if what she felt was just a crush, or if it could develop into something more over time. Whatever the case might be, she wanted to enjoy all of it. All of that, of course, was under the assumption that the entire world wouldn’t be a lifeless ball of crystal. She tried to dispel the dark thought and focus on the landscape rushing by. Everything would be fine. It just had to be.

Sunset shivered in the cold morning breeze as the group stood before the entrance of the Everfree Forest. Everypony had spent the night in the castle throne room, still in their sleeping bags, all in the unspoken desire to only really go home after their mission was complete. Sunset and Twilight had slept close together, with Sunset savoring every bit of warmth she felt from Twilight, still fearing that it might be the last time she’d get to feel it. Her dreams had been quiet. Whatever was causing her nightmares, be it the mysterious ‘dark force’, or some entity trying to warn her away from activating the final Forge, had been unable to get past the combined strength of Sunset and Twilight’s magic even now, so close to the end.

“Is everypony ready?” Twilight asked.

Wordlessly, they all nodded. Even Spike was with them again. Twilight had wanted him to stay in the castle, but he’d countered by pointing out that he had been in the Everfree Forest before, and that they’d visited far more dangerous locations on the trip. In the end, Twilight had agreed to let him come too.

“Alright then. Let’s go.”

Still in silence, they headed into the forest. The walk to the Tree of Harmony was uneventful, but despite the lack of anything happening, Sunset’s heart was beating in her throat at what felt like a million beats per minute. She forced herself to breathe deeply and calm her nerves, but as they got closer to the Tree it became more and more difficult. Eventually, they reached an unassuming-looking cave.

“This is it,” Twilight said to Sunset.

Sunset cocked her head. Despite her ever growing feeling of dread, she was a bit underwhelmed by the sight of the cave.

“You told me the cave was small, but I must admit I expected a little bit more from a location as significant as this,” she replied.

Twilight smiled at her. “Just wait until you see the Tree itself,” she said, and she began to walk into the cave, followed closely by the others.

When Sunset entered the cave, she immediately spotted the crystalline tree in the center, lit by a single ray of sunlight from a crack in the cave’s ceiling. It looked faintly like a weeping willow, only instead of leaves, small crystal spheres hung from its branches, each acting like a prism and glittering in all the colors of the rainbow. Five of the branches were thicker than the other, and Sunset’s eyes widened when she saw the gleaming Elements of Harmony embedded in them, arranged in the order their Forges had been placed around Equestria. The center of the Tree’s crown held the Element of Magic, which was connected to the others through thin lines of magic which continuously shifted colors. The sight was mesmerizing to behold.

But despite the Tree’s visual beauty, Sunset felt the cold that emanated from it, a cold that made her magic restless because of how much it resembled the feeling from her nightmares. She exchanged a worried glance with Twilight.

“Was it this cold last time we were here?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“I don’t think so,” Applejack replied.

“I’ve got a bad feeling about this,” Sunset said.

Twilight remained silent, but walked closer to the Tree to inspect it. Sunset got ready to cast a spell if it looked like Twilight would be adversely affected by the cold, but it seemed to have been unnecessary. Twilight inspected the trunk of the Tree, then walked around it. Just a moment later, she called her friends over.

“There’s a tunnel between the roots!”

Sunset and the others quickly joined Twilight behind the Tree. Between the roots, a sloping path was visible. Deep within the tunnel, Sunset saw a faint glow, probably from a magical crystal on the wall. She felt waves of cold rolling out from the Forge and shivered. She took a deep breath and stepped into the tunnel.

Down and down they went. With each passing step, the air became colder. Soon, it felt even colder than it had been in the frozen wastes north of the Crystal Empire, but this time it wasn’t infused with the hatred of the Windigos. That didn’t make it much easier to deal with, however. This cold felt…primal, almost. As if it was a cold older and deeper than anything that existed.

Twilight and Sunset used their magic to shield themselves and the others from the worst of it, but it felt like the very air they were walking through was frozen solid. Then, the light ahead of them began to grow brighter. The tunnel began to level out, and as they moved further towards the light, it also began to get wider.

Where the walls had consisted mostly of rock before, now they were all gleaming crystal, some parts glowing softly, others merely reflecting the ambient light. Sunset’s magic stirred within her and she felt pinpricks all over her body. In front of them was a whirling, convex barrier of energy. It swirled with all the colors of the prismatic crystals in the tree, ever changing like a kaleidoscope. Unlike the barriers around all of the other Forges, this one was entirely opaque.

“I guess we’re here,” Twilight said.

She sounded breathless, and Sunset knew that it wasn’t just her excitement of finally seeing the final Forge that left her so winded, but that Twilight was feeling the same unease in her magic.

Twilight looked at each of her friends in turn, ending with Sunset. They held each other’s gaze for a while, and Sunset wasn’t sure whether her expression would encourage or frighten Twilight. The desire to step in and get it over with wrestled with the idea of just turning around and never coming back to the Forge, and she had no idea which one of those desires was more clearly visible in her eyes at that moment.

Twilight finally broke eye contact with Sunset and turned around. After one last glance at the swirling magic, she stepped through it, quickly followed by the others.

The Forge of Magic was unlike any of the other Forges they had seen on their journey. The ground plate, inlaid with magenta crystals forming the most intricate patterns they’d seen yet, was much larger than those of the earlier Forges, and there was a far greater number of focus clusters spread around it, each feeding seemingly directly into the next. The six entry crystals spaced evenly around the Forge were likewise much larger than the others had been.

Sunset felt her mane beginning to stand on end from the sheer power of the magical energy in the air here.

Twilight looked around, taking everything in with wide eyes and her mouth hanging open. Sunset chuckled softly and stood next to her, gently jostling her to bring her back to the real world.

“I’m guessing you like what you see?” she asked.

“This is absolutely amazing,” Twilight replied. “The other Forges were advanced, but this is on an entirely different level. Every single spark of magical energy is amplified, focused, amplified again…the sheer magical theory, the hours of research that must have gone into constructing this…it’s just magnificent. I’ve never seen anything so beautiful, so well-engineered.”

“You can ask its autograph later; don’t we have a job to do?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“Give her some time, Rainbow,” Applejack admonished her. “It’s not every day you see something like this, now is it?”

Rainbow Dash sighed. “I guess you’re right…but I hate being underground, and the air here feels weird. I just want to get out of here.”

“I wholeheartedly agree,” Rarity said. “This static is completely ruining my mane.”

“Really? Mine is just fine,” Pinkie Pie said. Her mane looked even frizzier than normal, and Sunset could swear she saw small static shocks running through it.

Fluttershy, meanwhile, looked very uneasy but remained silent.

Sunset shot a glance at Spike, who was looking at Twilight with an expression that was equal parts amused and resigned. When he noticed that Sunset was looking at him, he said, “She’s going to lecture me on this place when we get back, I just know it. And she’ll probably expect me to have memorized every single detail about this place, too.”

Sunset grinned at him despite herself, then turned back to Twilight. “Well, I guess it’s your turn to stand in the middle now,” she said.

“Yes. That means it’s up to you to cast the spell to draw everypony’s magic this time, Sunset. Do you know how it’s done?” Twilight asked.

Sunset nodded. “I think so. I’ve seen and felt you cast it a couple of times now; I think I should be fine.”

Twilight looked satisfied with that, then turned to look at her friends. “Well, everypony, this is it. Once we activate this Forge…we’ll have beaten the dark force and saved Equestria.”

“Doesn’t it seem odd to you that we still don’t really know what the dark force is, though?” Spike asked. “I mean, aside from the nightmares it hasn’t really done much to stop us. That seems kind of weird considering the usual villains Princess Celestia sends you after are much more…involved?”

Twilight nodded slowly. “It’s strange, yes. But the Princess thinks that activating the Forges would stop it, and I trust her.” She smiled. “We’ve gotten a nice trip out of it, though, haven’t we?”

Spike shrugged and replied, “I guess. Well, I’ll step outside, then. Wouldn’t want to mess everything up right at the end, now.”

When Spike had stepped outside of the barrier, Twilight took up her position at the center of the Forge, while the others positioned themselves beneath the massive blue entry crystals. As soon as Sunset was in her place, she took a deep breath. She tried with all of her might to push away all of her misgivings and calm her unruly magic, and to focus instead on her trust of Twilight, her resolve to bring this quest to a good end. She looked at Twilight one more time, then closed her eyes and began to focus.

From all the times she’d been on the receiving end of Twilight’s magic, Sunset had gotten a good grasp of how the magic-focusing spell worked, and she gently reached out to her friends, touching the magic inside each of them and slowly leading it forward, into the patterns on the floor of the Forge. She felt the energy flowing through the spirals, into one focusing array and then out into the next one, all drawn towards the magical beacon that was Twilight.

The cold began to grow worse as the magic crept ever closer to the center, but Sunset tried to ignore it and focus on her spell. Flashes of her nightmares appeared before her eyes, and briefly her magical connection with her friends wavered, but then, as so many times before on this journey, she once again felt the calming, warming presence of Twilight’s magic mixing with her own, giving her the strength to re-establish the bond with her friends and resume the spell. She felt the energy crackling in the air, each of the six other ponies in the Forge with her like an extension of her own magic when the lines finally converged in the center, and she could see a magenta glow behind her eyelids as the bubble began to expand outwards, overtaking the cyan of Sunset’s spell. The temperature dropped further. More and more the magenta bubble of magic expanded, and then, finally, it touched the six entry crystals.

Sunset felt like she was being ripped apart. Her magic burst beyond her control, every cell lighting up as her rabid magic tore at them on its way out of her body. The cold in reality was far, far worse than anything she’d ever felt in her nightmares and she screamed, a sound drowned in the deafening roar of the magical storm that was now raging in the Forge around her.

Despite her agony, she forced herself to open her eyes, but all she saw was a swirling vortex of pure magic of every color, but predominantly magenta. Twilight. She had to reach Twilight. That thought was the one coherent thing that kept getting through the waves of intense cold and pain. She strained, trying to take a step forward, but her body seemed to be frozen.

In desperation, she looked down, and then she saw it. Her hooves were beginning to turn to crystal. The sheer shock of the sight of it gave her the strength to move, however slowly, but already her hooves felt numb as the crystal began to climb up her legs.

She fought her way forward, to the center of the maelstrom, where she knew, hoped, Twilight would still be. She didn’t know what she would do once she reached her, but it was all she had right now. She struggled onward, her mind and body a haze of pain, and only Twilight’s name was clear in Sunset’s mind. Just get to Twilight.

Her knees began to grow numb, and Sunset didn’t need to look down to know that the crystallization had reached them. Awkwardly, she shuffled on.

Then, she spotted a familiar shape in the spiraling magic. A purple coat, wings flared in anguish, Twilight stood rooted to the spot at the center of the Forge, her eyes closed as she tried vainly to gain control over the magical storm around her. Finally seeing Twilight gave Sunset enough resolve to keep going, but when she was almost there her legs simply stopped working as the ever climbing crystal had finally climbed high enough.

“Twilight!” she shouted.

Twilight, whose legs and lower body were encased in crystal much like Sunset’s, looked up at the sound of her friend’s voice.

Wrecked with pain and regret, Sunset looked into Twilight’s eyes. They had been wrong. After everything they’d been through, they’d ended up choosing wrong. Activating the Forges had been the wrong decision, and now all of Equestria was going to pay for it. And worse, all of it was her fault. She had been the one to cast the final spell. If only she hadn’t let herself be talked into it, this wouldn’t have happened. But it was too late for that now. There was really only one thing left she could do before the crystal would completely overtake her.

“I’m sorry,” she said.

Twilight gave her a sad look. “Me too,” she replied.

The crystal was climbing up Sunset’s chest now, and the same was happening to Twilight. Sunset held Twilight’s gaze. If she was going to die, best to do it looking into her more-than-best-friend’s eyes. She leaned forward as best she could. Twilight did the same. The crystal was climbing up Sunset’s neck, but she leaned in just a bit further. Her lips brushed Twilight’s. Everything went white.

“TWILIGHT SPARKLE.”

The voice came from everywhere and nowhere. It was as if it rose up from Sunset’s mind and body, but also as if it came from directly in front of her, and directly behind her, next to her, above her and below her. The sound wasn’t really sound, as much as it was an image, a thought, a concept. Was this the same mysterious voice she’d heard in her nightmares?

“SUNSET SHIMMER.”

Her own name now. No, not her name. It was her life’s story. From her birth all the way up to now, her death because of her own stupid mistake. Wait. Death? But if she was dead, how could she be thinking?

“NOT DEAD.”

Again, the words she heard weren’t words. This time she saw an empty void. Then light, then stars and galaxies and planets and every single lifeform on all of those planets, and every other dimension with all of their own lifeforms and stars and galaxies.

“HARMONY.”

Now she saw it all, the ponies of the past and how they lived in a dynamic balance with a nature that both provided them with nourishment, yet also wrecked them with disaster from time to time. She saw the wizards. She saw how ponies used the immense power of magic for their own purposes, how they bent the delicate balance to tip more and more in their favor. She saw the rise of all the magical creatures that spread hatred and fear, how they arose because of ponies’ desire for Harmony.

She felt a sharp, agonizing pain when the Elements were created, and she saw her world from afar, drifting in a ball of magic, now shut off from the rest of the galaxy and its natural balance save for a few cracks. She saw the sun and moon being moved around in ways they never had before.

“ENTROPY.”

Stars around the magical sphere of her own solar system burned out in an instant, impossible though it should be. She saw flashes of an old forest dying, returning to the soil, new trees growing from the remains of the old. She saw worlds so young they had only barely formed, and others old enough to be left barren and lifeless. But invariably, in the path of her own system, a path she could see as she was suspended outside of space and time, yet also within every location and time at once, she saw the trail of decay, of increased entropy because her own solar system had its own decreased so significantly.

And then she understood. The crystals and the cold that emanated from them were structures whose entropy had been reduced to zero. An unnatural state, created by the misuse of Harmonic magic. Misuse that stemmed, at least in part, from its ignoring of Atonement. A static balance, a stagnant, unyielding, unchanging system, of which the entropy would never rise, and which would in turn destroy whatever it passed, draining whatever magic and energy there was to be found, to continue its own magically enforced stasis.

“Did we really…destroy the universe?” Sunset asked softly, to everyone and no one all at once.

“DESTINY.”

Her mind was filled now with images of herself and Twilight. She saw the starts of both their lives, their progressions through them, so similar to what she’d seen when she had ‘heard’ her own name spoken several thousand years ago, yet very different, as this time she also saw all the roads she and Twilight did not take.

She saw every success and failure that never came to pass, saw their lives complete without ever having met each other, saw herself ascending to being an alicorn while Twilight remained a unicorn, saw herself conquering Equestria, saw Twilight conquering Equestria, but then she saw her own meeting with Twilight, their confrontation at the Fall Formal, her own redemption, their beginning friendship and their bonding over fearing everyone’s expectations when they were up against the Sirens.

And then she saw her own return to Equestria, how she began to develop feelings for Twilight, how Twilight began to develop feelings for her, the first time they slept together, afraid of the nightmares, their argument, their realization of what it was they were feeling, all culminating in that one kiss at the end of the world. She could see Twilight so clearly, almost as if she were in front of…

“Sunset?”

Her eyes widened. Since when did she have real eyes again, anyway? Where was she?

“Twilight?” she replied, still uncertain.

“Have you…Did you…The voice…?” Twilight asked.

Sunset nodded. “All of it,” she said.

“HARMONY.”

The word was the same, yet the images, the feelings, were far different. Sunset saw ponies using magic so much like the Elements, but without wielding the real Elements. She saw ponies using the Rainbow Power on dark creatures, but she didn’t know who they were. She saw the Tree of Harmony, shattered, its power gone, dissipated across Equestria again like it should be, and she knew that just like before, all ponies would be able to draw on Harmonic magic again now that it was no longer controlled by the Elements.

“Equestria…will be okay?” Twilight asked.

There was no answer, at least, none that was anywhere near verbal. Instead, Sunset just felt intense happiness, pride and relief.

“But…how? The Forge…” Sunset said.

“TRUTH.”

This time she heard it again, as much as she could feel and see it. Her regret at making her fatal mistake, Twilight’s regret at dismissing Sunset’s concerns, and their last words of apology for it had triggered a reaction of the Aspect of Atonement…but that was not all there was to this ‘truth’. It also meant their final willingness to embrace their feelings and express them. Their bond, their friendship, their love, combined with the reaction of all the seven Aspects of Harmony had shattered the Forges and the Elements that had come forth from them, dissipating the energy and reversing the harmful effects of the fake Harmonic magic.

“The others…” Twilight said softly when she saw the vision.

“ALL LIVE.”

Again, just like when Twilight had asked about the fate of Equestria, Sunset was overwhelmed by feelings of happiness and relief.

“Thank you,” she said softly. Then, gathering her courage, she asked, “Who are you?”

“DESTINY. ENTROPY.”

Her mind was filled with images of countless lives, with all the choices they could and did make along the way. She saw those destined for greatness, who took different paths and faded into obscurity. She saw those destined for early graves, who defied their fate time and time again and went on to make something of themselves. She saw those who were famous, and those who were not. She saw all of them, from the mightiest conqueror to the most insignificant peasant, all fade away eventually when their lives were complete.

“RETURN.”

The word filled her mind and body, which began to get heavier. Around her, shapes were distorting, shrinking, her all-seeing eyes dimmed, yet Twilight remained clear in her vision, and then, once more, everything turned white.

Sunset opened her eyes. She was lying on her side in what appeared to be the Forge of Magic…or at least, what was left of it. Twilight lay next to her, in a crater that had once been the focal point of the Forge. All around them, the delicate focus clusters had been blown to bits, and the magenta crystals that used to be embedded in the floor were scattered all over the place.

Sunset saw the rest of her friends beneath the cracked remains of their entry crystals, all looking shaken but unhurt. She turned to Twilight, who sat up with a groan.

“Are you okay?” Sunset asked.

Twilight nodded. “Yeah. Did all of that really happen just now?” she asked.

“I think it did. At least, I can still see and hear all of it in my head,” Sunset replied.

“Hey! Are you two okay?! What happened?!” Rainbow Dash asked. She’d been the first of the others to get back to her feet, and she’d instantly spotted the crater with Sunset and Twilight in it.

Before Twilight could reply, one of the entry crystals, the one where Sunset had been standing while she cast the spell, fell apart into several large chunks.

“On second thought, let’s get everypony out of here first. You can explain everything when we’re out of this cave.”

“How could I have been so wrong?”

Sunset, Twilight, their friends, and the three other Princesses were in Twilight’s throne room. After getting out of the ruins of the Forge, Twilight had sent a message to Princess Celestia, asking her to come to Ponyville as quickly as possible.

The three Princesses had already been waiting for them by the time the group returned from the Everfree Forest, and Sunset and Twilight had explained in great detail what exactly had happened in the Forge, and about their ‘meeting’ afterwards. With every word Sunset and Twilight had said, Princess Celestia had gotten a more horrified look on her face.

“To think that the ‘dark force’ the ponies of Caballus claimed to have almost erased was really entropy…if I had known that, I would never have sent you to activate the Forges. I am so, so sorry,” she said, bowing her head low.

“It’s not your fault, Princess,” Twilight reassured her. “You were trying to save Equestria. We know you didn’t intend for this to happen.”

“The road to Tartarus is paved with good intentions,” Princess Luna said gravely. “I know that better than anyone, I’m afraid.” She gave Princess Celestia a disapproving look. “Sister, I always said you should have paid more attention to Star Swirl. He wasn’t giving those warnings about Destiny magic for nothing, and now look what happened.”

Both Sunset and Princess Celestia blinked stupidly, while Twilight yelled, “What?!”

Everypony else just looked confused, having no clue what Destiny magic actually was or why using it was a big deal.

“How did you know I used Destiny magic?” Princess Celestia asked.

Princess Luna sighed. “Please, Celie. I’ve known you for centuries. Whenever you get this adamant about something, it’s because you’ve done something you shouldn’t have, and for you to be so certain about something that has so little available information even to us…of course,” she added with a sly grin, “it helps that you just admitted to using it.”

She grew serious again. “But really, sister, you have made a mess of things, as Star Swirl warned you about all those years ago. I do hope you’ll refrain from such foolishness in the future.”

“I’m sorry to interrupt, Princesses, but…did you really use Destiny magic?” Twilight asked softly.

Princess Celestia shot an angry glance at Princess Luna, who seemed wholly unimpressed by it. She sighed.

“Yes, Twilight. I realize how that must come across, but I had only Equestria’s best interests at heart.”

Twilight nodded slowly. “I understand, Princess,” she said.

Sunset saw how anxious Princess Celestia looked, so she decided to step in. “Don’t worry, Twilight. Princess Celestia won’t use Destiny magic anymore. She promised me she wouldn’t.”

Twilight cocked her head. “You knew?” she asked.

Sunset nodded. “She told me, after she saved us from the Windigos. I reacted with about as much shock as you just did, and she promised me not to use it again. Besides, she’s only used it for this one thing in the past centuries. She did take Star Swirl’s warning to heart most of the time,” she said.

She didn’t like lying to Twilight about Princess Celestia’s use of Destiny magic, but she was determined to keep her promise to the Princess about not revealing her scrying into Twilight’s destiny. Princess Celestia seemed to feel bad enough already now that Twilight had found out she’d used such magic.

The Princess gave Sunset a look filled with so much gratitude she quickly looked away to hide her blush.

Twilight, for her part, seemed reassured by Sunset’s words, and resumed telling her story. “The events at the Forge of Magic have destroyed the Elements for good. However, Harmonic magic has returned to the way it used to be before the Elements’ creation, and ponies all over Equestria can now wield it again, as well as being able to use the Rainbow Power if the need is dire enough. Not everything has been reverted to the pre-Element state, however, as ponies still control nature, and the transition between day and night, as we’re used to. I think that particular change to the nature of magic is not so easily undone, though there may be a point in the far future where things will have reverted back to the old ways entirely.”

Princess Celestia nodded. “I see. And all of this was revealed to you…by entropy and destiny?”

Sunset answered instead of Twilight. “In a way. That’s the words we ‘heard’ when we were everywhere and nowhere, but it seemed more like they simply used our concepts to define what they were. I don’t even think the forces are fully sapient, but that they were simply able to approximate it because of the enormous concentration of magic. Perhaps both of the forces aren’t even separate at all, but simply different facets of magic. Whatever the case may be, I’ve definitely learned they’re not to be trifled with.”

Princess Celestia nodded in agreement and looked at the group of ponies in front of her. “Well then, I think we should be taking our leave. You all look like you could use some rest. We can discuss everything in depth at a later date, when you’ve recovered somewhat.”

When the Princess said that, Sunset realized how right she was. She felt like she’d run around Equestria fifty times. A soft, warm bed did sound like a very relaxing prospect right then. By the looks of it, all of her friends agreed with that notion, and only half an hour later, Sunset and Twilight were the only ponies left in the throne room.

Twilight leaned back in her throne, while Sunset occupied Rainbow Dash’s for the time being. “It’s finally over,” Twilight said. “We’ll all be going back to our normal lives, and you…you’ll be back at CHS.”

Sunset glanced at her. “You sound sad about that.”

Twilight shrugged and blushed lightly. “Well, the castle’s big enough and has plenty of rooms. If you wanted to come back to Equestria…”

Sunset blushed too, but then she said, “Perhaps one day. But for now, the human world feels as much like my home as Equestria. Even though I’ll miss my magic again when I go back, I still wouldn’t want to miss my friends for the world. I’m sure you understand.”

Twilight nodded. “I do, but…”

Sunset held up a hoof to silence her. She got up out of the throne and walked closer to Twilight. “Don’t worry. I’ll visit more often now that we’re…you know.”

Twilight smiled at her. Sunset grinned back and said, “Besides, I’m not going anywhere yet. I’m staying for a few more days, remember? Getting to know everypony better, and so on? And I think I know who to start with…”

THE END.

Author's Note

This is it. The final chapter of the story, and the very first time I actually managed to finish a proper multi-chaptered fanfic. If you’ve read through the entire thing, thank you. You have no idea how much it means to me that someone was interested enough to get through 80.000 words of this.

If you’ve come this far, please let me know what you thought about it. Don’t be afraid to get critical, because it’s the only way I can improve myself for future stories. It’s odd that this is actually the last chapter of the story, although I already have plans for both a prequel and a sequel. And yeah, the ‘dark force’ was entropy. My understanding of thermodynamics is, obviously, shaky, but that’s the premise I had in mind when I began writing.

Also, astute readers might notice that the order of the Elements in the Tree is actually not the order of the Forges. Laughter and Kindness are inverted in the Tree, as opposed to my order. That’s because I never looked closely at any pictures of the Tree until this chapter, and I hadn’t realized the Elements were arranged so closely to my order. My order is actually based on the Cafeteria Song in Equestria Girls: Generous, Honesty, Laughter, Kindness, Loyalty. So when I saw the Tree I figured I’d just go with my order instead. Unlikely that anyone cares, but I just wanted to point it out. See you next time!

Once More With Feeling

Author's Note

It’s been a long time. Not as long as before, but still long. Lots of things have been going on, from games I wanted to play, to series I wanted to watch, to my rekindled interest in fencing, but I’m back with a new chapter. Not much to say about this one, so please let me know what you think, and enjoy!

Once More With Feeling

Sunset was staring at one of the Forge’s crystal formations. Behind her, her friends were discussing the journal entry. They were talking about the legendary oasis of Zerzura and the water dome of Hippocampus, but none of it mattered much to Sunset. The desert had already been next on Twilight’s planning anyway, and while an underwater Forge wasn’t something she would have thought of, Sunset figured that they would have found it eventually anyway by the simple expedient of asking around with the locals.

The one thing that mattered to her was the mention of Atonement. The way the author had described it, there had been a group of ponies who believed that Atonement was an aspect of Harmony. The Elements had never failed without it, so most likely they had been wrong…but for some reason Sunset had latched onto the possibility and she couldn’t get it out of her head.

But the truth was, she wasn’t really trying to get it out of her head. In either world, she was the only member of her group of friends who wasn’t an Element wielder. She had figured she had made her peace with that, but the possibility of another Element had reawakened her old envy a bit. She couldn’t help but fantasize that she was the bearer of the Element of Atonement. After all, hadn’t she spent a great deal of effort on making up for all the things she’d done wrong before? Or perhaps, this very line of thinking would disqualify her right off the bat. Was her atonement real if she’d only done it to get an Element of her own? Wasn’t that just more of the same greed which had led her down the dark path she’d been following until the very Elements whose power she sought brought her back to her senses?

But still…the thought of finally being a real part of the group was one she relished. She supposed that it was a bit selfish to think like that. Her friends were always there for her in either world. Saying that she didn’t really feel like a part of the group would be selling them short, but still the feeling was there.

“Sunset? Are you…are you okay?”

When she heard Twilight’s voice, Sunset realized her horn had been sparking. When she was younger that used to happen all the time whenever she felt annoyed by something, but it was a habit she’d long grown out of…or so she’d thought. She sighed and turned towards Twilight. She looked into her friend’s worried eyes and felt a wave of guilt at her misgivings washing over her.

“I guess,” she said. Her voice was flat, still reflecting her inner struggle.

Twilight took a step closer to her. “If something’s bothering you…you know you can always talk to me, right?” she asked.

Sunset smiled faintly at her, or at least tried to. “Thank you,” she said. “But we should probably get to work on the Forge. That’s why we’re here, after all.”

In reality, she wanted nothing more than to tell Twilight the whole Atonement thing was bothering her, but she knew that Twilight, much like the author of the journal, didn’t really think it was significant. Worthy of study, certainly, intriguing, most definitely, but not immediately relevant. Because of that, Sunset didn’t think it was worth discussing the matter now. There was no way she could explain why this was so important to her without coming off as being incredibly selfish.

“If you say so,” Twilight said hesitantly.

With a last, worried look at Sunset, she walked back over to the others to get them ready for the activation of the Forge. Sunset looked at her and wondered how Twilight was feeling right now. Like her, she hadn’t been sleeping much because of the nightmares, but unlike her, she was the one who would be doing the activation of the Forge. She wondered how Twilight managed to keep herself together so well through all of it. Was it solely because she was a princess?

Sunset realized that, despite being friends, she didn’t really know all that much about Twilight from before she was a princess. Usually when they corresponded through the enchanted journal, they were talking about Sunset’s experiences at CHS, and occasionally Twilight would describe some of her royal duties or adventures with her friends, but it never really went into her personal history.

But now wasn’t the time for such things. The Forge had to be activated. Twilight was just done instructing the others, and Spike reluctantly stepped out of the fog barrier so his presence wouldn’t interfere with the spell. Applejack looked apprehensive as she made her way to the center of the Forge. Since this was the Forge of Honesty, she’d act as a focal point this time. Sunset assumed her position beneath one of the blue crystals in its obsidian holder. Twilight looked at each of her friends in turn and then closed her eyes. Sunset took a deep breath and relaxed as much as she could, to make it easier for Twilight to draw on her magic. Soon, she felt the gentle warmth of Twilight’s magic, and she allowed her own to move with it, to energize the magical markings and formations around her.

As before, the magic snaked its way across the ground towards Applejack, whose body began to glow orange as the magic flows converged inside her. The orange glow began to overtake the magenta aura, and shortly afterwards it reached the edge of the dome. Sunset felt a spike of cold, much more intense than before, being driven into her chest and she gasped in pain. There was a flash of light and Sunset fell to her knees, gasping. Her magic felt deadened and heavy, as if it were the very thing keeping her down.

She stared at the softly glowing patterns on the ground, but she felt no elation that the Forge was active. The pain had been worse. The exhaustion felt worse. She knew that once she stepped out of the Forge’s protective dome of fog, she’d feel worse still. This was only the second Forge they’d activated. At this rate, her body would give out before they even got to the fifth Forge, let alone the last one. She struggled back to her hooves and looked at Twilight, who looked like she’d just faced a horde of angry ghosts.

“Are…are you okay, darlings?” Rarity asked, looking from Twilight to Sunset.

No, Sunset thought. “Yes, we’re fine,” she said. She did her best to ignore Twilight’s troubled look.

Sunset’s legs felt encased in lead as the group slowly walked away from the Forge. She’d cast the energizing spell on Twilight before leaving the Forge’s barrier, and doing so had almost brought her to her knees again, but she’d managed to stay upright. Now, in silence, they were making their way back to their campsite at the edge of the uncharted territory. Sunset was warily scanning the trees for signs of Will-o’-Wisps, but so far she hadn’t seen any. Every now and then, she shot a look at Twilight, both to see if she was still holding up, and out of a slight feeling of guilt.

Unbeknownst to her friends, Sunset had taken the journal with her. She was sure her friends, Twilight most of all, wouldn’t take kindly to taking something like this away from its rightful place, but Sunset felt it still held more answers; if not for their quest, then just for herself. After all, who knew what might still be written inside it about Atonement? Sunset knew, however, that she wouldn’t be able to read in the journal that night. For one thing, she was far too exhausted and afraid of the nightmare that was sure to come to really focus on it. Aside from that, there was no way she’d be able to take it out without one of her friends noticing, and she really didn’t feel like explaining herself to them.

On and on they walked. The eerie silence around them began to feel oppressive. Had it been this quiet on the way to the Forge? Sunset couldn’t remember. Was it just the exhaustion making her paranoid? Was it the lack of sleep of the past days? Her eyes went from tree to tree, but nothing sinister appeared. No alluring blue flames gleamed between the branches.

“We’re almost there,” Twilight said faintly, probably more to herself than to her friends.

“Yep, just a bit further,” Spike said encouragingly.

Sunset smiled faintly at the concern in his eyes. Twilight really was lucky with such a devoted assistant. She wondered if she’d gone down the same path if her test had been to hatch Spike’s egg. Maybe his optimism and devotion would have kept her on the right path. But then, if she hadn’t gone down that path, would she have ever met her friends? Would she have ever met Twilight?

She was still thinking about alternate histories when they finally arrived back at their campsite. With a sigh of relief, Sunset shrugged off her saddlebags at the spot where Twilight and Sunset would pitch their tent for the night. Just like the last time they’d activated a Forge, they’d chosen a spot a bit removed from the campsite to protect their friends. Unlike last time, though, this time they knew how to get the tent up without the use of their magic.

“We’re almost getting competent at this,” Twilight said as she surveyed their work.

“Heh, compe-tent,” Sunset said, then coughed and blushed when she realized just how bad that pun was. Twilight chuckled. “Just pretend you didn’t hear that,” Sunset said, still as red as the streaks in her mane.

“Don’t you mean ‘pre-tent’?” Twilight asked innocently.

Sunset groaned, but then she smiled. If she’d had hands, she would’ve playfully punched Twilight in the shoulder. She looked at Twilight’s mischievous smirk and felt a trace of the same warmth she usually felt when their magic mixed, as if it somehow radiated from her eyes despite the fatigue Sunset saw in them. Sunset quickly looked away.

“Come on, let’s go get something to eat,” she said.

But in her mind, for reasons she could only guess at but which she eventually put down to her own exhaustion, she still saw Twilight’s eyes, almost as mesmerizing as the glow of a Will-o’-Wisp.

Slowly, Sunset traced her magic into the air. Dinner had slightly revitalized her, just enough so she’d be able to set up the shield. Her heart was racing, but not because she was afraid she’d mess up the spell. No, this was a different fear. The fear of going to bed that she’d felt for several nights now. With every passing moment it seemed to grow stronger. The worst thing was that a part of Sunset was morbidly curious about what was going to happen this time. Would she be able to reach her friends this time? Would she be able to hear the voice Twilight described in her last nightmare? She feared what the answers to those questions would be, but she felt that she was going to find out soon enough. With a last burst of magic, she finished the shield.

“I hope it holds,” she said to Twilight, who stood behind her.

“We’re far enough away from our friends…I think,” Twilight replied. “Not…not that I don’t think you can do it, it’s just, the nightmares, the magic, it…”

“I get it,” Sunset said with a smile. “Don’t worry, I don’t think you doubt me.” You’re probably the last one who would, she silently added in her thoughts.

Twilight sheepishly returned the smile. “Well…” she said, her face growing apprehensive, “I guess…we should just try to get some sleep, then.”

She stepped into the shield and entered the tent, and Sunset followed her in. A few moments later, the tent was dark. Even now, Sunset heard no sounds from the swamp around them. It was odd, wasn’t it? Shouldn’t a swamp be alive with insects, frogs, and whatever else crawled around here? Why was it so quiet? Odd, so odd…

The moon was bright and the sky cloudless. Sunset stood in a large clearing in the forest, bathed in the pale glow. Her magic, for now, was calm, but her mind wasn’t. On the opposite end of the clearing she spotted a group of ponies who seemed to be in conversation. Slowly, she began to walk towards them. She wasn’t sure why she was moving so slowly, but she had a feeling that, if she would start to run now, something terrible would happen.

She felt pinpricks all over her body, as if the moonlight was somehow burning her. Her magic faintly stirred within her. She heard the voices of her friends, carried on the breeze. Somehow she heard the sounds clearly, but couldn’t make any sense of them. Closer and closer she got, and now her friends noticed her, beckoning her to come closer.

Now, suddenly, Sunset felt that she should run. She couldn’t explain it, she just knew that she had to. When she reached them, she heard it, at long last. A voice spoke, but the sound was silent, and yet painfully loud. It was everywhere and nowhere. It filled every cell of her body with revulsion and terror. It was as if the darkness became tangible and touched her very soul. It only said one thing, one name.

“Twilight Sparkle.”

Everything ended in an unbearably bright flash of magenta light.

The first thing Sunset became aware of was that she was no longer in a tent. The second thing was that she felt like the time she went to the beach with her CHS friends and got a horrible sunburn because in Equestria she’d never needed sunblock. The third thing was that the four massive trees she was looking at had very angry heads with green eyes.

She shot a quick glance next to her. Twilight was already on her hooves, wings flared and staring at the hydra with a mix of determination and fear. Sunset looked at the trees behind which the rest of her friends had their tents, and she saw them in the shadows, eyes wide at the peril of their friends.

Rainbow Dash wanted to fly over, but Sunset shook her head to warn her off. It wouldn’t make sense for her to endanger herself. To her unending relief, Rainbow Dash heeded her warning. Sunset turned back to the hydra, which was still regarding her and Twilight with the full attention of its four heads, each bigger than a pony.

“Ever dealt with a hydra before?” she asked.

Twilight didn’t take her eyes off the hydra when she replied. “Once, but it was smaller than this one, and I didn’t exactly ‘deal with it’ as much as ‘ran away’.”

Sunset nodded slowly, like Twilight keeping her eyes trained on the hydra while she did so. She was trying to come up with a plan to defeat the hydra, but before she could even begin to think of something, the hydra attacked.

Its leftmost head shot towards them, maw wide open. Mustering all the strength in her sore body, Sunset threw herself out of the head’s path.

She landed in a soggy patch of swamp and felt herself beginning to sink, so she quickly cast a cloud-walking spell to regain her mobility. She was not a moment too soon, as the head that had attacked her before came down once again.

Sunset leapt backwards and to the right, hoping that the hydra wouldn’t notice her friends, still hidden in the shadow of the tree branches only a short distance away from the fight. To her right, Twilight was dodging two of the other heads. Why wasn’t she flying? Did she forget about her wings?

Sunset had no time to worry about Twilight, as the last idle head of the hydra now began attacking her as well. The swamp made it hard to move freely, even with the cloud-walking spell, and she didn’t want to get too far from Twilight to prevent the hydra from going after her alone.

At the same time, she had to take care not to draw its attention to her hidden friends. She saw a magenta flash from the corner of her eye as Twilight fired a horn beam at the hydra, which the monster easily dodged and countered.

Once more the hydra attacked, and this time Sunset jumped forward, ending up beneath the hydra’s neck where she was temporarily shielded against an attack from the other head. She hear the discharge of another horn beam. What was Twilight doing?! Didn’t she know that horn beams weren’t going to work? Even if she’d manage to hit it, at her current level of magic it would just about singe its scales and make it even angrier.

The hydra raised its head, depriving Sunset of her momentary hiding place. She had to come up with something, and quick, or she’d be hydra food. Last time she’d fought a hydra, she’d used solar magic to blind it for a short time and then tricked it into attacking itself, after which it retreated.

This time, she couldn’t do something like that. The hydra wasn’t focused solely on her, so any attempt to blind it would only get two heads at best, and tired as she was she wouldn’t be able to pull it off twice in succession.

Again, she jumped aside when the hydra attacked. It was getting more and more accurate with its attacks, and she knew that the second head watching her was learning her jump timing. If this went on, they’d eventually coordinate to attack together and grab her.

Wait, coordinate! That was it! Sunset’s heart raced as she called up her magic and reached out to her friends.

“Everypony, listen to me,” she said, speaking into the minds of her friends now, “We need to work together to defeat it. Twilight, Rainbow Dash, go into the air and draw its attention. Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, see if you can use any of the vines around here to tie it up. Fluttershy...try to talk to it and calm it down.”

She saw her friends shooting each other confused glances for a moment, but then they sprang into action. Rainbow Dash flew up and began weaving between the four heads, giving Twilight a window of opportunity to take off as well and join her. Rarity used her magic to tear down several vines from the surrounding trees and tied them to some stones according to Applejack’s instructions, then divided them between Applejack, Pinkie, and herself. Fluttershy hesitantly flew closer to the hydra, while Sunset, now free from being attacked for a moment, looked at the sludge around the hydra’s legs and called on her magic to draw it further apart, causing the hydra to sink in deeper. Using her magic, she then increased the stickiness of it, preventing it from moving away.

At the same time, vines weighted with stones were slung around the four necks of the beast. It wouldn’t be at risk of choking since the necks were so massive, but it would definitely be hindered in its movements by the ropes. Rainbow Dash gave Twilight a signal, and both of them backed off from one of the heads to give Fluttershy some room to talk. Sunset couldn’t hear what she was saying, but she hoped it would work.

If Fluttershy couldn’t talk the hydra down, the last option Sunset had left was to try and create a self-sustaining mirror of the hydra, and that spell was difficult enough at the best of times. To pull it off, she’d have to call Twilight down to help, which would leave Rainbow Dash in the air alone distracting the heads.

“Come on, Fluttershy…” Sunset muttered as she tightened her sticky trap a bit more.

She’d also managed to ensnare the hydra’s tail by now, so it was quite stuck for the time being. Sunset knew, however, that no amount of sticky swamp was going to trap a hydra for very long. She looked up, and saw Fluttershy gesturing to Rainbow Dash and Twilight, who fell back. All four of the hydra’s heads now focused on Fluttershy. After a short conversation, Rainbow Dash flew over to Rarity, Applejack, and Pinkie Pie, while Twilight landed next to Sunset.

“You can let go of him,” she said. “Fluttershy has convinced it…sorry, him, that we’re not here to steal his territory. He’s going to head back into the swamp, under the condition we leave here immediately.”

Sunset breathed a sigh of relief. “You don’t need to tell me twice,” she replied, and undid her magic so the hydra could move. Rarity, meanwhile, used her magic to cut the ropes around the four massive necks.

A few moments later, the seven ponies plus Spike, who’d remained in the camp during the skirmish with the hydra, had their tents packed up and were watching the hydra retreat back into the swamp. To Sunset’s unending relief, her saddlebags, which contained the journal, had survived the explosion of magic. She and Twilight were definitely going to need new sleeping bags and a new tent, however.

“Hey Fluttershy, if you’re able to talk to hydras, how come you didn’t talk to the one that chased us in Froggy Bottom Bogg?” Spike asked once the group had started walking again.

“Um, I just panicked and ran with the rest of you,” Fluttershy said softly. “He wasn’t very nice about it when I came back, either. Or, well, three of his heads weren’t.”

“Besides, if you’d talked to him then, we never would have found what the actual doozy was, would we?” Pinkie Pie asked.

Sunset had no idea what they were talking about and shot Twilight a questioning look.

Twilight shook her head. “It…involves Pinkie Pie and her rather unique way of telling the future, and I have no idea how to explain this,” Twilight said.

Sunset, however, had understood. “Ah, Pinkie Sense. Yeah, I tried figuring that out for myself. Didn’t have much luck and after somehow being hit with several flower pots over the span of one week I gave up trying to figure it out and just went with it,” she said.

Twilight chuckled. “Glad I’m not the only who tried finding out how it worked, then.”

Sunset smiled, but then grew serious again. “There’s something else I want to talk to you about,” she said.

“Sure, what is it?” Twilight asked.

Sunset frowned. “When we were fighting the hydra, all you did was fire horn beams at him. Why? There are a lot of ways to fight hydras, but using horn beams really isn’t one of them,” she said.

Twilight sighed. “It’s really the only offensive magic I know. Ever since my brother’s wedding I tend to rely on it whenever I’m facing strong creatures. I used it when I fought Tirek, too, although I did have the powers of all the alicorn princesses at that time.” She looked up at the sky. “The Ursa Minor that attacked Ponyville was a baby, so I was able to put it to sleep and carry it back, but a full-grown hydra is something else. I was hoping raw power would work.”

“Except that right now, we don’t have raw power because of the nightmare and the activation of the Forge,” Sunset pointed out. “And even if you did have all of your power, you wouldn’t have used it. You still wouldn’t want to hurt the hydra. So, again, why the horn beams?”

Sunset looked intently into Twilight’s eyes to see her reaction. Twilight looked back at her unhappily, clearly debating with herself whether or not to reply. Eventually she relented.

“It’s because I froze up,” she said. “I’ve been in close calls many times, and usually I get some time to think about what to do, how to handle it. Now, a hydra was bearing down on us from the moment I woke up. All I could think to do was put out a lot of power and hope to chase it off that way. If it hadn’t been for your quick thinking we would have been done for. I’m not a fighter, Sunset. I study magic because I love learning about its workings. I love learning about the concepts that drive it, and which shape such a large part of the world around us. I love discovering new things about the various types of magic, the strengths each kind possesses. I like tinkering with spells to see if I can come up with new applications for them, if I can maybe mix them up in some way, but my interest in the destructive side of magic is purely academic. I don’t like to destroy things, certainly not through magic. If I’m put on the spot and I have to fight, I’ll resort to the one outing of raw power I know how to perform, and that is the horn beam.”

Sunset thought about what Twilight had said, gazing off at the tree line while she did so. She understood Twilight’s motivations and marveled at how different they were from what hers had once been. Every spell she learned, she had intended to use to become more and more powerful, to gain the admiration of everypony around her. She had seen magic as a useful tool, something which could be honed into a fearsome weapon if properly handled, but she had never given much thought to why it worked the way it did. She learned magical theories solely for their practical uses, not to better understand the forces that drove them.

She’d also extensively researched how best to weaponize various kinds of magic to be as effective as possible in combat, should it ever be necessary, to the point where she had sought out records of famous wizard duels to find out what kind of spells they had used.

“Do you know what the horn beam was originally intended for?” Sunset asked Twilight.

A plan was forming in her mind, but she wanted to introduce it properly, and for that she was going to need an example. Twilight shook her head.

“It was a siege weapon. It’s a simple spell with a simple, destructive effect. It was meant to break down fortifications by concentrating a large amount of power on a small area. It was never intended for pony-to-pony combat because it’s far too easy to nullify it. You can dodge it, but even that would be a waste of energy.”

Sunset looked at all of her friends now, who had been listening to the conversation with rapt attention.

“Rainbow Dash, could you check the skies around here? I need to be sure there is nothing living flying around.”

Rainbow Dash cocked her head curiously, but she flew up and did what Sunset asked.

Sunset, meanwhile, turned back to Twilight. “If the skies are clear, I’m going to stand a short distance away. Then, I want you to fire the strongest horn beam you can manage at me. I promise you, you’re not going to hurt me with it.”

A collective gasp went through her friends when she said that, and all of them began talking over one another to make it clear that they thought Sunset’s plan was madness.

Rainbow Dash landed next to the group and said, “The sky is completely clear as far as I can tell, but you’re entirely nuts if you think you can just take a full power horn beam from Twilight. She might be weakened, but still.”

Sunset shook her head. “I don’t plan on taking it. I’m going to deflect it. That’s why I wanted to know if the skies were clear. Trust me, I won’t get hurt. I just want to make it clear that the horn beam has one very specialized use, and fighting isn’t it.”

Sunset walked away from the group and turned around a short distance away, well within the range a normal wizard duel would be fought. She turned around and expectantly looked at Twilight.

“She’s lost her mind, Twi. It’s the sleep deprivation. I wouldn’t do it, if I were you,” Applejack said with a concerned look at Sunset.

“Applejack is right, darling. You mustn’t go along with this,” Rarity agreed.

Twilight didn’t reply immediately. She was looking at Sunset, conflicted, trying to figure whether or not she should go along with what appeared to be complete madness.

“Maybe you should do it,” Fluttershy said softly.

Everypony turned towards her in surprise. “Fluttershy, darling, whatever makes you say that?” Rarity asked.

Fluttershy stepped closer to Twilight. “Because…I think that Twilight thinks Sunset is right. And you’re afraid that if she is…you might let us all down if something happens again.”

Twilight’s eyes widened and she looked at Fluttershy.

“How can you possibly know that?” Rainbow Dash asked incredulously.

“I know what it feels like to be afraid,” Fluttershy said simply.

“You’re right,” Twilight said, so quietly that Sunset could barely hear it despite not being that far away from the group. “I am afraid. Sunset saved our lives today. It was her plan that allowed Fluttershy to get close enough to the hydra to talk to him. What if next time, we’re not so lucky? What if I do something wrong and our failure dooms Equestria?” She stood up straighter and raised her head. “I will not let that happen.”

She looked at Sunset, and Sunset smiled when she saw the fierce, determined look in Twilight’s eyes. Twilight stepped forward and looked at Sunset. Without warning, magic swirled around her horn and a massive blast of magic shot towards Sunset, who flicked the barest spark of magic against it, shaping it into a reflective ramp. The horn beam hit the ramp and shot over Sunset’s head into the empty sky above, where it soon became a tiny pinprick of light.

Sunset’s friends were staring at her, slack-jawed. “That was amazing!” Pinkie Pie shouted happily, and she began mimicking the actions. “It was like, WHOOSH, and then it just went, ZOOM, into the sky, and…”

“We get it, Pinkie,” Rainbow Dash said with a chuckle.

Sunset had walked over back towards her friends and said, “I just shaped a little bit of magic to deflect it. Most creatures with affinity for magic can do something like it. I know you can handle yourself extremely well when you have time to prepare, so…if you’d like, we can discuss combat magic while we travel. It’ll allow you to come up with solutions for a lot of scenarios and you’ll be able to improvise more easily in situations like this one, and it will help me develop my own skills as well.”

Twilight was still a bit pale after seeing her strongest attack negated like it was nothing, but she nodded firmly and said, “I’d like that. Let’s talk while we make our way back to Artax’s Folly.” She looked at her friends. “I think we should all get involved, though. After all, we did defeat the hydra together.”

Her friends wholeheartedly agreed with that, and as they began their journey back to Artax’s Folly, a discussion began about how best to defeat the various dangerous creatures they might yet encounter on their adventure.

Sunset was staring out of the window of the train as it raced westwards. In the distance, she could see the Macintosh Hills, but as beautiful as it was to see the shadows on the mountainsides beneath the clear blue sky, she couldn’t really appreciate it. All the way through the swamp, the conversation about battle tactics had continued and kept Sunset’s mind busy, but after describing the hydra encounter and the Forge in great detail to Marsh Lily, Sunset’s thoughts began to dwell on the nightmare she’d experienced that night.

As she’d feared, she’d finally seen her friends in it. She’d heard the evil voice that Twilight described. What was most unsettling to her, though, was the fact that this time the nightmare had ended far more abruptly than before. In the earlier nightmares, she’d always been able to feel the crystallization beginning, but this time the ending had been instantaneous. Worse, her body still felt lightly sunburnt, though nowhere near as much as it had in the morning. At the very least she and Twilight had been able to buy a new tent from Marsh Lily, so wherever they would camp tonight they’d have something over their heads…if it could withstand the magic.

Time after time Sunset’s thoughts went back to the voice and the blinding flash of light after it. From the corner of her eye, she saw that Twilight didn’t look much better than she did. Sunset felt tired, and ordinarily she might have tried to get some sleep, but she was terrified that she’d have the nightmare and destroy the train, so she forced herself to stay awake throughout the journey towards the desert. She knew that she’d be a bit more awake once they started walking again, but she didn’t think she’d be able to push the thoughts of her fears back as easily as before. The hydra attack had been pressing and scary enough to be a distraction, but unless they were headed straight into a fight in the desert that wouldn’t happen again.

The sound of the train on the rails was rhythmic and constant. It didn’t help Sunset’s tired mind at all, and several times she had to shake her head in order to stay awake. When the cart with food and drink came by, she got herself a cup of coffee, but even that was barely enough to keep her awake.

At long last, the train began to slow down late in the afternoon. The station where they would be getting off was on the very edge of the desert proper. On some windy days, it was even in the desert, as the sand would get blown far past the rails. Usually the Pegasi kept it within its borders, however.

The nearest village would be another stop further on, and so there was nothing in the vicinity of the station but sand. Long ago, it had been built to supply a gold mine, not far into the desert, but the mine had long since run dry and been abandoned. The station was left intact for ponies wishing to explore the desert, but not many did.

With screeching brakes, the train came to a halt in the small station. Sunset and the others were the only ones getting off the train. The orange rays of the late afternoon sun gave Sunset some much needed energy, but she still felt a bit light-headed from all the lack of sleep and that morning’s rude awakening.

“So what’s the plan?” Rainbow Dash asked once they’d exited the station and stood staring at the vast expanse of sand in front of them. “The desert is pretty huge, so I doubt we’ll find Zerzura today. Besides, I don’t know about you guys, but I’m beat. I say we get our tents set up here, get some dinner, and then get up early in the morning.”

“I second that,” Applejack said.

One by one, the others agreed as well. When Sunset’s turn to speak came, she hesitated for a moment.

“I…well…” She angrily shook her head. “Yeah, okay. We’ll make camp,” she said reluctantly.

Walking through the desert was going to be difficult enough by daylight, let alone in the pitch black darkness of the night. It wasn’t like Sunset wasn’t completely beat, either. All that mattered to her was not going to sleep.

Dinner came and went without much fanfare. The day’s rough start had taken its toll on everypony, and soon all of them had retreated to their tents. All of them, except Sunset. She sat next to the fire, staring into the flames as she often did since their quest began. The flickering light and the heat kept the fear at bay, but only barely.

Whatever she did, it was imperative that she kept staring into those flames, as if the fire would burn away the nightmares all by itself.

She had no idea what time it was when she heard Twilight say, “Sunset? I know you’re afraid. I am, too. But…you really need to get some sleep.”

Sunset wanted to ignore her. She wanted to keep staring into the flames. But somehow, it seemed like her magic responded to Twilight’s voice without her permission, and the flames shrank and extinguished.

Sunset tried to hold on to the traces of the heat, but they dissipated quickly in the cold desert night. Reluctantly, she got up and turned towards the new tent she shared with Twilight. Twilight stood in the opening, casting Sunset a concerned look, and stepped aside to let her through.

A few moments later, Sunset sat on her sleeping bag. She didn’t want to get inside it and get comfortable. If she did, she would fall asleep and the nightmare would return.

“You know…” Twilight said hesitantly. “If…if you think it would make you feel a bit better…why don’t you just…move your sleeping bag over here? Right next to me?”

Sunset thought for a moment. Would it help? She thought about the warmth she felt when their magic interacted, that faint sense of bliss. And if she was honest with herself, she knew fully well she wasn’t going to last through the night without falling asleep.

So, in response to Twilight’s question, she levitated her sleeping bag closer so that it touched Twilight’s. She settled into it a bit awkwardly despite her fatigue, but soon she’d found a comfortable position. The tent was completely dark, but she felt just how close Twilight was to her.

“Well…good night, I guess?” she whispered.

“Yeah. Good night,” Twilight whispered back from right next to her.

Sunset closed her eyes. The last thing she thought before falling asleep was how comfortable she felt.

Sunset stood in the clearing, looking at her friends. As before, she began walking over to them, slowly at first, then faster when her friends spotted her. She reached her friends, and the demonic voice said Twilight’s name…and then Sunset’s body was suddenly filled with warmth, and instead of exploding outward, her magic settled down, and Sunset knew what to do. She cast a spell, one she didn’t know the name of, nor what it did, but she knew it was the right one, and the spell reached Twilight, whose eyes opened in surprise and focused on Sunset. Twilight began to smile. “Thank you,” she said. And then it was like the clearing was engulfed in a white fog, which felt so soothing…