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.