“Psst, if we get busted for this, remember that this was your idea.”
Ignore him. The doors to the dinner hall slid open. Brilliant, she thought.
“Twilight, are you even listening?” She wasn’t. Her construct became silent, as if brooding. Twilight concentrated the task at hand. This was it. Her last opportunity. She needed a clear head for this.
The pair moved silently through the well preserved hall, taking care to keep to one side and well out of the reaches of the furniture that might alert the servants and the caretakers to their presence. The two great tables that ran the lengths of the hall were already prepared as silken table cloths and fined cutlery from the entire nation were laid across the tables precisely and delicately. Portraits of past headmasters and famous scholars hung high up along the walls, just out of the range of the sunlight that was permitted through the stained windows and the like just on the other side of the tables. Soft velvet cushions were placed alongside the tables, each of a different variety of colours and patterns intended for the taste of their intended guests.
Looking back to the entrance she came from and the multiple doorways for the seventh time, she ploughed into one of the spare cushions lined with not silver, but gold. She squealed in glee and started examining a set of silverware. Twilight lifted a hoof and started rapping on one of the punch bowls to the rhythm of a familiar melody. She couldn’t help it. Clear headed or not, she was going to be foalish.
“Stop doing that, you’re going to get us caught,” whispered her construct in a slightly metallic but boyish voice. “Are you going to stay here all day?”
Her construct’s name was Spikialaimon, or Spike, namely for the line of spike like features that lined his spine. Currently he was a peculiar mechanical bat, clinging onto the belly of the table. Small gusts of steam could be heard if one strained but what was the most obvious was the fact that miniature gears, pipes and the metal covering the entire body. A blue light seemed to radiate from the multiple vaults that lined his body, a reminder of the magical workings within. Two cyan eyes peered back at Twilight’s gaze as its restless ‘skin’ shifted constantly.
“Relax Spike. No one is supposed to come in here just yet. In fact, the guests should be frolicking in the statue garden and the cooks haven’t even started preparing the first course yet,” Twilight whispered back. “Stop fussing.”
Twilight stepped back from the table and hid herself behind a slightly ajar display cabinet. Lighting up her horn, she weaved a complicated spell for breaking through the defensive locks that were placed on the door of the retiring room at the end of the hall. Then, she remembered a spell she came across that obscured a unicorn’s presence and cast it upon herself. One she was done, Spikialaimon fluttered ahead and through the now slightly open door to the retiring room. A moment later, he appeared again.
“It’s all clear,” he whispered to Twilight, “If we are quick, there should be no problems.”
From her hiding place, Twilight darted through the rest of the way and into the retiring room. She smiled as she looked around in the retiring room. Book shelves full of rare resources lined the entire room and the only source of light came from the fireplace, where a bright blaze sat atop a magical rune that created it. As a young filly, she had lived most of her live in the university but the retiring room was forbidden to all but the senior scholars and their guests. Any other time, usually the butler was skulking around somewhere.
Today, the Butler was unusually busy and there was talk of a very important meeting taking place with a special secret guest. It was a chance that Twilight couldn’t miss out on. Like so many other occasions she’s failed to infiltrate the inner complex of the university.
Spike fluttered over and with a burst of blue flash, turned into a metallic moth and settled onto her back.
“We’re here. Now we can go back,” he said. I just have to delay him until the others start to arrive, thought Twilight. It was a big room, with an oval shaped table of polished magewood dominating the centre of the room. Several luxurious armchairs were dotted around the room, often accompanied by an elegant silver stand with a basket of delicious delicacies. A cabinet and a wardrobe stood adjacent to the fireplace, each made out of the best of rosewoods. Scanning around the room, Twilight zoned in on the rows of books around the room.
“Don’t be silly! Look at the books that they’ve got here! All of these new knowledge.” She then made a big show of trotting past several shelves and pausing occasionally to look at random titles. While she was doing this, she restored the defensive spells on the door while covering it up by lifting a book off of a shelf and then deposited it on another one.
“Come on Twilight, you’ve got the entirety of the university library at your disposal, well away from here.” Spike peered up at the portrait of a particularly gruff scholar, staring him down with all the harshness of the world. Twilight thought she saw him shiver, but wrote it off as a figment of her imagination.
“Really Twilight, we’ve been here long–” Spike didn’t finish his sentence as they both heard voices outside. Twilight was already dashing towards the large wooden wardrobe and clambered in, followed closely behind by Spike. A world of warm, synthetic fur greeted them as Twilight closed the door to all but a crack. She must have looked too gleeful for a second because Spike shot her a withering glare as she mustered her most innocent smile.
The Butler walked into the room, carrying a lamp. Following him was another two ponies, Twilight could tell from the sound of hooves clopping. The butler was decked out in his best, shiny dark suit with the green trousers. His construct, a little monkey clung to his back while carrying a vintage, no doubt intended for the special guest. A lot could be told from a glance at the complimentary beverage and the expansive taste of this one was speaking in lengths.
Then a stern voice said, “Has the esteemed guest arrived yet?”
The voice of the headmaster had frozen Twilight. Of course he would be here for the meeting, he is the host after all, Twilight told herself. His grey coat and lush black mane made him stand out against the backdrop of a busy scholars and it usually works in her favour, usually. The headmaster was an Earth pony of reputable fame and mysterious powers that were said to rival even the powers of an Alicorn’s. Of course, she had never seen it. Of all of the times she had seen the headmaster, he was understanding although his anger was not to be toyed with. If she was found here, she would be lucky not to be sent to the dungeons just from the headmaster’s wrath.
“They should be arriving soon, Headmaster,” said the butler. “The guards have already arrived on the grounds.”
“We’ll not be a good host if our guest goes hungry. Have the cooks start to prepare the appetizers. This meeting shouldn’t take long at all.”
“Very good, Headmaster.”
“I see you have brought the vintage. Leave it on the table and attend to your other duties.” The servant levitated the beverage out of his construct’s grasp onto the cabinet sideboard. Twilight held her breaths as the floating aura passed by but remained undetected.
“Shall I leave the lamp, Headmaster?”
“Yes, I do believe we will have use of it during the presentation. Do come in after the meeting to douse it, will you?”
The butler bowed slightly and turned to leave through the door, his construct still motionlessly on his back. When he was gone, Twilight let go of her breaths and proceeded to watch the Headmaster from her hiding place as he sat down on a comfortable looking chair to face the only other occupant in the room now. Producing a pipe, he started to work on it and motioned for the other pony to sit down.
Now, Twilight could see most of the details of the Earth pony and was surprised at his appearance. What she saw was a weathered face that was unlikely to be produced by years of studying and had likely seen more action than any of the scholars in the university. His position made it impossible for her to catch a glimpse of his eyes but she was sure it was something fierce. Strangely, the Earth pony was dressed in a servant’s attire. His bronze coloured snake construct coiled loosely around his hooves and remained motionless like a statue. She was startled out of her thoughts by the Headmaster’s voice.
“I take it the exploration convoy was a success, considering you’re here, Vigil.” Twilight frowned in confusion at the mention of a convoy. Certainly there was no need for exploration inside the barrier, she thought.
“Aye, we lost few and managed to make it back with discreet,” the pony named Vigil replied. “You were right. We found … something.”
“I thought so. The witch’s prophecy was true. Do we have our friends’ cooperation in the capitol?”
“That we do, my ponies are staying with the allies as of now. The preparations are starting already.”
“Good, good. Remember, Vigil, this would be known to as little as possible. I will be pulling some strings for the duration of your mission. Our guest should be here soon, you should leave. We shall talk soon”
Vigil bowed stoically and left through the door, his snake construct uncoiled slithered after him obediently. Spike fidgeted from his spot in the wardrobe as she proceeded to watch the Headmaster from her hiding place as he proceeded to adjust the furniture. A frown passed over his features when glanced over the many titles on the shelf and no actions were taken. She remembered on her first day here, Spike had taken quite an interest in the Headmaster’s construct, Heraldophine, a slender dragon like serpent. It was almost unheard of to have a dragon not to mention impossible, the princess notwithstanding. It was when she realised the Headmaster’s construct was missing, or rather, never appeared. She felt a flicker under her hooves.
“I thought I had taught you better, but nonetheless, it would be wise at this point of time to come out, Ms Sparkle,” the Headmaster said. A moment later, her legs gave out and she tumbled forward involuntarily onto the carpeted ground. The headmaster looked at her disapprovingly.
Pain went through her mind as the Headmaster’s construct her ear harshly with its powerful tail. The Headmaster went on, his features slightly enraged.
“This is no place for a foal to be, especially today of all days. If it is not for the prophecy’s sake I would give you a good spanking. No, maybe a public humiliation is better. Stupid, blabbering witch. By Luna’s moon, I’m getting too old for this,” the Headmaster started rabbling on until Twilight interrupted.
“Who’s Luna?” The old stallion froze, his eyes widening slightly before he regained his composure. “No one important. Tell me, filly, have you read your appointed homework?”
“Yes, Headmaster. Are you going to send me to the dungeons?”
“Goodness gracious no. It smells like a drunken fool down there. You’ll stay in the closet for the duration of the meeting. Do you remember what I’ve taught you?”
“Yes, Headmaster. Always follow your intuition and bear the consequences that follow with it.”
“Good, good. This is your intuition alone so now bear your consequences. Now, get in!” The Headmaster ushered Twilight in with a tangle of hooves. Beneath his angry gesture, uncertainty flashed across his face for the briefest of moments. Twilight just chalked it up to him considering her staying. Finally, Twilight crouched there, closing the door to a just crack.
Multiple faint voices can now be heard outside, accompanied by the clip clop of hooves on marble. The voices became louder until finally, the door burst open and four guards strode into the room. They were stallions in golden armour, each bearing the sigma of the solar princess. Realisation dawned upon Twilight and she barely restraint a gasp. No wonder the senior scholars were panicking their flanks off. The special guest was the princess herself!
In a practised motion, the guards bowed over and lit up their horn, trying to detect anything out of the ordinary. Twilight froze when one of the golden stallions glanced over the wardrobe but relaxed immediately when it turned out to be just a routine sweep. After the procedure was over, the princess herself strode into the retiring room.
The paintings and descriptions of the princess were far off, thought Twilight. How could you describe this warm feeling when you share the room with a goddess? Spike also seemed to glow brighter and exclude a purple bluish aura towards Twilight. The experience was unreal.
“Celestia, it’s good to see you again. Been busy I presume?”
“Deductive as always, Headmaster Sombra. You have an interesting university, I must say. It has seen a lot of change since I founded it all those years ago.” With a mischievous grin she said, “Although I must detest the hall of the horrors. Even your scholars shiver in fright at those who are already long dead.”
“Ah, you know me Tia. I must ask, though, where are the other scholars? I was so sure they were sent specifically to receive you, lest my memory fails me.”
“Worry not. There was a little magical experimentation in the statues garden. I’m afraid that you are now one short of a Minotaur statue. It was such a shame that one of the scholars tried to dispose of it. Such a refreshing posture, too.”
The two ponies made jokes and idle chats while Twilight fidgeted in her increasingly uncomfortable position. A slight movement next to her reminded her that Spike was still with her.
“Still glad we came here, Twi?” She didn’t bother to dignify that with a reply.
The guards stood as dutiful as ever, each taking a corner of the room and prepared to take any course of action if necessary. None were close
to Twilight and she was glad for it. A servant retrieved fumes lamp and tossed a few special smoke leaves that were especially good for one’s body and made for rich conversation.
After what had seemed like an eternity, a rushed tsunami of sounds reached their years as sweaty scholars rushed through the door, begging their pardons for being late and greeting the princess herself. What they received was a nod and smile from the princess and a vague gesture of a hoof from the Headmaster. Trailing slightly behind, were some of the scholars from the Capitol, who greeted fellow scholars and talked about exciting new researches, news and politics. When all was seated properly and quietened down, the Master stood up.
The discussion was mainly on politics, as well as the most of the rest. Under the constant noise and the pleasant smells, Twilight delicately removed a robe of its hanger laid it on the bottom of the wardrobe.
“You’re getting too comfortable, Twilight,” said Spike.
“We’re going to be here for a while so might as well.”
She sat down and listened to the conversation. No matter how she much she tried to focus, it was dull and boring talk. The marriages of nobles did not interest her, nor did a misunderstanding between the Duke and a simple merchant. If she didn’t know better, she would’ve thought that the Capitol was as dull a place as it could be. The smells of the frying leaves tempted Twilight to nod off more than once. Spike found it annoy the number of times he had to ram with all his moth-like strength into Twilight to wake her up. Of course, it was not like he could transform without revealing their position.
Eventually, she heard someone rapped on the table. The other voices fell silent. It was the Headmaster.
“Mares and Gentlecolts,” he started, “I welcome you all to the University of Celestine and for those of you that stay, welcome you to your home for the next few years. Today, however, we have a special guest, who, I’m assuming you all know. Politically tensions are high as of now and it was a miracle that the princess could come to this humble gathering. Tomorrow morning, the princess will take an airship to a peace summit in the Cloud Delta of Hoofingdale. The princess’s time is valuable and we must use it wisely.” The Headmaster sat down after he spoke.
“Thank you, Headmaster,” said Princess Celestia, shifting the attention back onto her. “My little ponies, as you are all aware, beyond this city, lay the Heavenly Barrier. It is the only thing standing between our Great Nation and the machinations of the chaos spirit, Discord.
“However, as of late, it had caused a great unrest in our society by those who believed we should abolish the barrier.” A ripple of murmur broke out across the room but Princess Celestia continued on. “In this last week, I had attended more peace summits than in the last decade. The situation is unfortunate but you all know why I cannot remove the barrier. But that is not why I’m here.
“I am here because there had been a sighting at Fort Everfree. It is to be believed that a pony had been spotted outside the barrier.” There was silence for a moment before a roar of conversation exploded around the room. Speculations were tossed around the room and there were already talks of the possibilities of setting up long term observational stations. Twilight sat there, dumb folded.
It was part of her basic education to be taught about the Heavenly Barrier, just like any other foal. Centuries ago, a powerful entity appeared in their world; a being of chaos and Madness and the war that followed was dubbed as the War of Insanity. Armies of hundreds of thousands of ponies took a stand to fight against this abomination in the single largest alliance in all of history. His name was Discord. What should have been a certain victory was instead a slaughter. Discord turned ponies against each other, corrupted generals to lead their soldiers to their deaths and created all manners of dark creatures able to flatten a battalion of ponies in seconds. The first battle lasted just shy of two days and the casualties crushed the rest of the armies. The wave of chaos, led by Discord, tore through settlements, towns and cities, and often left the survivors wishing they were dead. Finally, the princess and her elites took a final stand against Discord. The battle that followed almost rendered ponykind extinct and sealed Discord in a tomb and created a barrier for the survivors to shelter from the chaos and madness
outside.
There were no ponies left outside the barrier.
“Ponies? Outside the barrier? I know nonsense when I hear it!”
“Fort Everfree is the only place able to observe the outside of the barrier. If a pony was spotted there, who knows how many more there are!”
“If the rebels get their hooves on this information, it won’t just be a trivial unrest anymore.”
“Be calm, My Little Ponies,” the princess said, loud enough for it to echo throughout the room as everypony fell silent. Her emphasize on ‘Little’ wasn’t lost on anypony. “We yet have any prove on the existence of a non-Celestine pony. It might as well been have a deformation of one of the new chaos spawns.” The rest of the conversation was indulged in a slightly more subdued manner and the allocation of the remaining budget was sorted out with the financial scholars.
“Say, Twilight, do you really think there are ponies outside?” said Spike, fluttering onto her shoulder.
“I don’t know Spike, but I don’t think so. Without the princess or the guard to protect them, it would be next to impossible to survive out there. Remember the Excursion we went on to Fort Everfree?”
“Yeah, it was pretty bad out there. Not a single construct snack bar.” Twilight rolled her eyes. Whether it was a coincidence or something else, she would never know, but out of the corner of her eyes, she saw one of the guards closest to the princess move, lighting up his horn very subtly. She flicked her eyes to the other guards, who stood as motionless as ever. Something was not right. They were too still.
“Twilight, what’s wrong?” Twilight ignored Spike. She was about to reach out to the nearest guard with her magic when she saw a small stain on another guard’s side. It wasn’t a stain, she realised. It was blood. Eyes widening in fear and shock, she turned around to face the other two guards and found the same small and almost unnoticeable blood patch. The only guard that was alive was slowly but definitely advancing towards the princess. A few odd scholars watched in mild confusion and but did not react.
She panicked, not knowing what to do. If she was mistaken, then she couldn’t possibly live with herself. She couldn’t do this, she thought, this wasn’t her responsibility.
Suddenly, the unicorn’s horn lit up in a bright flash and a moment before he struck, the doors of the wardrobe flew open. Twilight didn’t even realise what she had done before she cast a spell that she didn’t even realise she had prepared. She only had time to glimpse a look at all the surprised expressions before her eyes turned pure bright.
“Twilight, are you alright?” said a distant voice. Twilight felt like she was in a cross between numb pain and paradise, failing to describe the sensation she was feeling. Slowly, as the sound became louder, the world started to fade away and she felt drained and tired. Slowly she opened her eyes.
It turned out she blanked out for only a few seconds but from the looks of the retiring room – or what is left of it – a lot can happen in a few seconds. There was a shallow crater on the wooden floor not far away and a black trail leading toward her. The wardrobe looked like it had exploded and purple membranes now covered the room, protruding from newly made anchors on the dented walls.
“Damn you, bloody tyrant!” She snapped her head around so fast it felt like it could break off from her neck. The imposing guard had been bounded by what seems like golden chains, nailing him on to the floor. The Headmaster stood next to him, content with just scowling at him. The group of elderly scholars still huddled together, not exactly sure how to react given the situation. No equations or magical theory could solve this one.
“My little pony, are you alright?” Twilight realized Princess Celestia was speaking to her. The princess of Equestria was speaking to her! Twilight panicked. She was a filly. A nobody. This is her one chance to make an impression of the goddess of Celestine.
“Is it true your chamber is a self-functioning library?” And, there goes her chance. Well, this question did bug her for a long time, she thought. She expected a scornful gaze or maybe has the princess of Equestria ask her what sort of question that was. What she heard next wasn’t what she expected at all. The Princess of Equestria laughed and gestured around to the confused scholars.
“Oh, what have you done, Sombra? The filly had just had the most powerful magical surge I had ever seen and had just saved my life and the first thing she said was to ask me about my personal library.”
“So it’s true?” Twilight felt as giddy as a foal on her birthday, and barely managed to restrain herself from jumping up and down.
“Oh yes,” said the Princess with a mischievous smile, “We can go there together, just the two of us, with you as my personal protégé. What do you say?” Jaws dropped across the room and one even tried to speak but was interrupted by an ear-splitting squeal.
It consisted of just one word.
“Yes!”
Chapter 1 - Setting the Stage
Chapter 1 - Discovery
7 years later -
Twilight trotted among the snowy streets, humming a cheery little tune that she remembered from one of the caretakers. It was still weeks away from Winter Wrap-up and already, the snow was piling up along the many streets that crisscrossed the city. The last vestiges of sunlight faded across the peaks of Mount Celestine, casting a fiery orange glow across the Capitol.
The Capitol was the central hub of all of Celestine, consisting of the fortress like palace at its central and the Capitol’s own Celestine University surrounding the palace like a row of ancient walls. Its most significant feature was a tilting tower that observed the heavens above, its plans based on that of the La Caelum. Each odd cluster was dated from the very founding of Celestine. Even though the complex was upgraded every generation, the remains of the old still occasionally overlapped each other, and producing a unique spectacle not seen in any other branches. With parts of the universities sagging, a titanic debate went out to argue whether the facilities should be restricted temporarily to accommodate maintenance. The scholars won. Of course, that was until one of the walls collapsed inwards.
Beyond the old sentinels was the business central. High rises of shops, trading centres, banks and hotels were jam packed together, as lively during the night as the day. Colours and enchantments of every kind dotted the busy streets where you could always find the next upcoming musician performing in the central square. The security wasn’t lacking, either. Numerous guards’ posts were woven into the grandeur of the city, and had proved reliant and trustworthy over the many years. On the outskirts of the business centre were the expansion sites, scaffolds and half finished building had covered any spare space. Huge magically powered carriages could often be seen, while entire building frames were dragged across empty lots by massive Spiral Steel Constructs – enormous pony shaped machines made of magically enhanced steel with the capabilities to process primitive intelligence.
Floating just above the construction sites was rings of pegasi suburbs. A single thin wall protruded from the middle – a tower – and expanded outwards to greet the rings. The closer a house was to the capitol, the more expansive the property. The cloud suburbs also provide most of the pegasi weather in the Capitol as well as almost all of the air travels and deliveries to and from the Capitol. A layer of sensitive cloud-walking spell also prevents non-pegasi ponies from falling through the thick clouds.
Finally, a small hill next to the Capitol held the properties of nobles, aristocracies and ponies of any importance. Servants and workspony were hired to keep the households and dainty streets clean and tidy all year round to a ridiculous degree. The nobles owned lands all over Celestine. Twilight had only visited on a few occasions, and that was mainly due to its significant historic heritage. The renowned temple of Celestia that resided just outside, however, was a gold mine of knowledge. Supposedly built by the same mad pony that it became tomb to, Helius, it contained some of the most significant works that revolutionised construct and geomancy technology. Perhaps the most famous piece was the Almagia that suggested the earliest multi-layered enchantments.
It also turned out to be an excellent study, containing hundreds upon hundreds of nigh-inextinguishable candles and ancient tomes. That is, if she could actually find the time to go there, thought Twilight as she spied Spike gliding towards her with an invitation scroll.
*** ***
“Hello Princess, what is our lesson today about?” asked Twilight, panting heavily from her gallop when she heard about the hastily booked in lesson. The only information she received was that it was very important and special. She took about one step into the room before collapsing onto the ground. Princess Celestia had laid herself on an armada of cushions and was enjoying a hefty tome when Twilight had barged in.
“Oh, I’m sorry Twilight! I didn’t mean to rush you. It’s just that an anti-magic stadium is so very hard to reserve, even if you are the single most highest authority in all of Celestine,” said Princess Celestia as a grin started on her muzzle. Twilight’s head shot up before she had realized.
“The anti-magic chamber?” asked Twilight. Admittedly, she had only seen the anti-magic chamber once, due to her privilege as the princess’s protégé and had never been allowed to step in.
“Oh yes. I’m afraid today’s lesson would require its need. Seeing as how uncontrollable your powers would be for the next few hours.” The Princess had stood up to her full glory has she lightly trotted out of her study, followed by Twilight and a vanguard of her most trusted. Their gold amplified the fine glow that radiated off of Princess Celestia.
The small group veered off towards another direction of the study, one that led deep into the underground. As they delved deeper, guard posts became more frequent and numerous secured entrances lined the walls every few pony lengths. Apparently, portals were very useful inside the palace but where they lead to, Twilight could only guess. The air became cooler as they approached the lower basements.
Finally, their hooves clopped onto clear steel plating and their environments became brighter lit as translucent lights replaced the doors. A single massive vault door covered with symbols and enchantments lay ahead of them, guarded by a surprisingly sparse number of guards. The small vanguard valiantly stood to the sides of the vault, stoic as bronze statues.
“Oh dear, we seem to be a little late,” the Princess commented as the guards quickly signalled their hidden counterparts to open up. A vault glided open smoothly and only a tiny creaking sound could be heard. A wisp of an incomplete sentence could be heard from inside.
“… get the vault up and running.” It was accompanied by what sounded like a grimace. Princess Celestia frowned and strode inside the room, receiving a few hasty bows and salutes.
“Princess Celestia! I am ever so graced by your presence, your Highness,” said the pony from before.
“Is there a problem with the anti-magic chamber, Headmaster?” The poor stallion shrank back from the casual gaze and barely stammered out a response.
“O-of course n-not, your highness! There was just a slight problem with the maintenance device. We are sorting that out right now and it will be no problem for your session.” The princess smiled elegantly and the stallion visibly relaxed, followed by the rest of the assembled.
The princess leaned down towards Twilight and whispered, “And you would think they thought I would banish them into the chaos lands.” Twilight blushed fiercely, remembering her own illogical thoughts from the past. She then raised her head to gesture to the others.
“My protégé and I will proceed with this session. Signal us if anything goes drastically wrong,” said the regal Alicorn. With a nod, they advanced further into the facility and into a large sealed, transparent dome. High above them, Archive technologies floated just outside the barrier, displaying dozens of readings controlled by Earth pony operators. The door behind them slowly closed up and they were, at that point, alone.
“So, Princess, what are you going to teach me today,” said Twilight while shuffling nervously. Please don’t be an extreme practical test, she thought fiercely. The alabaster goddess seemed to be reading her, but didn’t comment.
“Twilight, remember when you had saved me all those years ago and found you special talent?” Twilight blushed profusely and started drawing circles on the ground with her hoof.
“Yes, Princess Celestia,” she answered. The Princess smiled.
“Curiously, someone had misplaced a magical talents detector not far from where we were,” the Princess started. “I didn’t discover it until later that day. When I did though, I found the device half-destroyed.” Twilight frowned as understanding slowly seeped into her. She took a step back and glanced towards her cutie mark, an eight-pointed star.
“B-but, you said I was a powerful stellar mage!” said Twilight.
“I did. I wasn’t completely wrong either. All it is was that I hid something from you and continued to do so until you are ready. And I believe you are now.”
“B-” The Princess shushed her with a hoof.
“Twilight, you are a magia.” Twilight’s face morphed into that of a surprised expression. She already knew the answer but to hear it was a different experience altogether, and from the Princess herself no less. A magia was what the Princess called her. Only one other magia had ever existed; Starswirl the Bearded. A magia bear close to unlimited magical reserves and the Magia was said to bend lay lines and manipulate their flows at will.
“My faithful student, we still have a lesson to get through, no matter how monotonous it is,” said the Princess. Twilight was about to faint on the word ‘monotonous’ when she noticed her mentor’s playful grin. With a determined expression, she nodded and settled down for a lesson of another age.
The next hour or so was spent in advanced spell casting and practical applications of theory. The level of difficulty had risen to a whole new level and Twilight was already sweating bullets from at the end of the first dozen exercises. Even so, she devoured every syllable the Princess threw at her.
“How are you doing, my faithful student? Are you still okay to go on,” asked the Princess, a concerned expression spreading across her face. She had a right to be, too. Twilight was absolutely drenched in sweating and panting heavily, looking like she just had a workout if there weren’t tens of dozens of disintegrating craters around her.
“Yes, Princess, I’m perfectly fine,” said Twilight unconvincingly. Princess Celestia obviously thought so too.
“If you say so, my faithful student. I will teach you one more spell before we are done today.”
“What is it, Princess?”
“I believe it would be better if I showed you this one first.” Before a reply came, the alabaster Alicorn drew her hooves across the air, rippling as though passing through unseen objects. She winked visibly at the Headmaster, totally ignored by Twilight, who was transfixed onto her mentor’s glowing body. The operators were sent into frenzy, madly throwing dials and controls. Sirens blasted from hidden speakers as the domed room flashed into a dim light red colour.
The Princess’s eyes flashed brightly, leaving a barely perceivable purple wisp behind. A strong dark vein pulsed from her heart, concentrating on her hooves before lifting her to the centre of the massive stadium. Glowing white and dark spheres materialized for a fraction of a second before exploding in an awe-inspiring spiral of purple, black and yellow, showering the purple mage below with electric sparks that bounced off her coat.
When her vision cleared, the sirens had faded into nothingness and the colouration was back to normal. Above, in the air, the Princess hovered above her, a globe of glowing aura enveloping her right hoof. Her horn wasn’t glowing.
“This, Twilight, is the first forbidden art of Magic. It was lost to all but Starswirl and I. One of the most powerful spells you can perform at the level of an Alicorn. Right now, my horn isn’t the only part of me that can perform magic.” Twilight felt her jaw drop. It was then she realised that steel plates had covered the entire dome, each plate giving off its own shine.
“Relax Twilight,” she heard Princess Celestia coo. Still in a daze, she nodded slowly and giving the Princess an unsure smile that felt more like a grimace.
“Forbidden arts, Princess?” she felt herself ask in a tiny voice. The Princess’s smile faded and her eyes took a solemn hint. With a sigh and a shake of head, she started.
“It is a long story, Twilight, but the short of it was that when a greedy unicorn tried to learn this spell, it almost destroyed him. No pony that isn’t a magia can perform this spell. Ever since then, I had safe guarded this spell with Lu- my most trusted subjects.
“A civil war that broke out centuries ago fuelled the spread of this magic, until it was used by almost every guard on both sides. It took me decades to purge the magic from the minds of my subjects. It took even longer for me to destroy all documents of its existence.” The Princess gave Twilight a sad smile. After a moment, Twilight broke the silence.
“I think I’m ready, Princess.” Princess Celestia nodded as she started preparing and casting the majority of fail-safe spells at her approval. Twilight let out a deep breathe. The ground ruptured violently at the exact same moment. A violent shock wave tore through the surrounding area, shattering most of the steel plating. Without the fail-safe spells, Twilight would have been mortally injured.
The sound of shattering glass reached their ears and the steel plates had started to fall. Shouts of panic were the most popular subject of conversation when the pair had teleported to safety. A siren, this time louder, was shrieking and one by one, the Archive machines were shutting down. She latched onto the nearest operator.
“Where is the Headmaster?” The operator was too far away for Twilight to hear but from the expression on the Princess’s face, things were not looking good. Big explosions, underground facility and panicked ponies were not a good match. The princess galloped over to Twilight just in time to bat away incoming debris that had fallen from the ceiling.
“My faithful student, there had been some sort of an attack on the university. That shock wave was merely its after blast. The east wing had collapsed onto itself but the west wing is still functional. At the mouth of the entrance should be the Headmaster. He will lead you out. Do no try to teleport outside. It would be too reckless and dangerous. I have to organize a rescue effort on the east wing. I’ll see you on the other side,” said the princess with a grim smile. It was their little code, ‘I’ll see you on the other side’. Let’s hope it would actually be true, thought Twilight.
She weeded across upended machines to stumble into an abandoned hallway. Mapping out the facility in her head, she failed to see a sagging part of the steel floor. With a shriek, she fell through, just able to catch a glimpse of further wreckage piling onto the entrance of her demise. Reaching out with her magic, she tried to slow her descent to destination unknown as she tried to call out to the Princess. Only the sound of distant explosions replied back to her.
Like waking from a dream, she ploughed into freezing water. A tinge at the back of her head told her she was going to have a headache about this later. She thrashed about in the water for a few minutes before somehow finding dry ground. Spattering all the while, she managed to illuminate her surroundings to reveal what appeared to be a heavily flooded court. Rows of benches surrounded her, their colours rotting from their past glories. The ground was cracked and broken, or in some cases, ceased to exist.
Tartarus must have had a ball here, she mused darkly. That was when she lost it. She broke down with waves upon waves of miserable sobbing. Today was going to be perfect, she thought. She even found out she was a magia! A dark thought burrowed its way into her hazy mind; what if the Princess and the Headmaster never finds her? What would she do then? Stay here until she starved to death, all alone? She rolled into ball, her emotions exploded about uncontrollably as her old memories played out in her mind’s eye while her mane and tail splayed out in all directions, quivering along with her owners. The minuscule light coming off her horn seemed to fizz in and out for a moment.
As a last resort, she started the breathing exercise Celestia had taught her. Breathe in and out, thought Twilight. Just focus on the little things. After an undetermined time, her sobbing quietened down to a soft whimper though she was still clutching herself tightly.
Get a hold of yourself, she thought angrily, this was no time to be feeling sorry for yourself. Unsure of where this sudden strength had come from, Twilight made full use of it. She uncurled herself enough to stand up and, for the first time, took time to really observe her surroundings for clues that may help to guide her out. Two archways presented itself in the court room. One seemed to lead to the petition hall but seemed to be dangerously in disrepair. The other had the insignia of the Sun and the Moon, a symbol of harmony throughout Celestine. She cast one more look at the slightly collapsed archway before taking the one that bear the symbol of harmony.
As she explored further and further into the abandoned complex, she realised it more or less matched the features of the Celestine palace. Why would anyone build a palace on top of another one, she pondered.
The underground palace seemed to expand forever and each turn took her to a counterpart of the palace above, with only a few slight differences. An uncomfortable eeriness slowly crept into her, like she had broken some unsaid rule when she came here. The sound of running water was just vague enough to transform into something else was driving her paranoid. Twilight paused frequently as she thought that she heard something else; the shuffle of broken cement or the creaking of supposedly long rotted doors.
Or even worse, the clip-clop of hooves coming from behind her.
Whenever Twilight stopped, though, the sounds stopped with her, as if taunting her mind. But still, she kept checking. Each of the rooms that she had passed had only added to her paranoia. They all silently screamed out that something was wrong and her base instincts screamed out that she should ran, far, far away from here. Like that of a prey entering its predator’s den. Shadows from paintings and flags that had been rotted away into undecipherable messes and jagged ruptures played just on the corner of her eyes, whisking away into nothingness the moment she focused on them. It was just her imagination, she thought for the umpteenth time. She remained a relative calm until she finally reached the end of the hallway.
In front of her, lay a pair of metal door lined with solid gold. Or rather, was a pair of door. Something had literally crashed into the centre of it, warping the rest of the metal around it. Beyond the gaping hole, there was a darkness of the likes even the light radiating off of her horn couldn’t penetrate. Twilight suddenly remembered a very, very old saying.
When you stare long enough at the abyss … the abyss stares back.
Her horn went out at the same moment as she heard a deep growl next to her.
