Chapter 12-Dreamweaver:Take 1

Dreamweaver: Take 1:

The sun rises on a cold morning in ponyville, though summer has come and past and autumn has just arrived, the cold nip of the morning mist gives sign that the winter months are fast approaching. Two and a half months from now the ground will be completely encased in a deep snow, and two months after that it will be time for Winter Round up. However these thoughts are the furthest things from the minds of the ponies who have gathered this morning in the open space of the park, each one carrying a heavy load on their backs.

The six mares, each of them friends in every sense of the word each make their own last minute preparations for the journey ahead of them. though they are surrounded by a small crowd of their families and well-wishers, none talk causing a deep and permeable silence to fall over them all as they secure saddle bags and packs in the wide open grassy field. Their silence is not borne from resentment of each other or personal grievances, but from awareness of the seriousness of the situation and the importance of the task at hoof.

Pinkie stands as silently as the her demeanor would allow, humming a quaint tune as she fastens pots, lanterns and various miscellaneous supplies onto her stand Surprise, bouncing silently around the manifested construct.

Rarity pats her little sister Sweetie Belle on the head giving her some last minute instructions for her to behave herself at their parents’ house. The little filly nods and walks back to her family, a look of concern on her face as The ivory mare secures the first aid packages and water purifying equipment in her hoof stitched sewing bags.

The orange filly Scootaloo was not used to waking up this early on a Saturday, However to see her hero Rainbow Dash off, no time was too early. The orange filly and her two loving parents watch as the lightly packed Pegasus warms up with her signature wing drills and stretches preparing for the march ahead.

Fluttershy, having finished her preparations long ago flinches from the sound of her stepping on a twig before calming herself with deep long breaths, reassuring herself that everything will be fine as long as she stays with her friends.

Twilight looking perhaps the most prepared and focused looks over her list triple checking every magical instrument in her repertoire. The Lavender mare knows that her task is the most important in the mission, and without her their entire operation is doomed to failure. So she pours herself into her preparations with manic pace, making sure they all have the supplies that they need for the journey ahead.

Then, there stands the Quartermaster, Applejack, fifty percent of the entire group’s water and rations placed firmly on her back, yet she seems undaunted in the slightest by the weight. However the look of worry in her eyes does not go unnoticed by the group leader, Twilight who turns from her busy task to trot quietly up to the orange farmer.

“Something on your mind?” Applejack turns around to see the face of her Friend smiling back at her, the orange mare’s mood suddenly stabilizing itself. Twilight places her hoof on the orange mare’s shoulders “Are you okay there Applejack? You look worried, is it about Applebloom again?”

Applejack regains her composure as she chuckles at Twilight’s inquiry “Don’t ya worry none Twi, ah went through great lengths ta make sure that Applebloom’s not gona follow us this time.”

Applejack smiles as she turns to face her family, her elder brother Big Macintosh, her grandmother Granny smith, and…… Applebloom. All three of the elder apples can’t help giggling at Applebloom’s new appearance. The yellow filly stands blushing furiously in embarrassment as she lies on the ground tied up like a thanksgiving turkey, bound head to hoof in the tightest knots the orange apple farmer knows.

“Oh come on Sis!” The futilely struggles against her bonds “I was only kiddin when I said I was following ya no matter what! Can ya at least slacken these here ropes?”

“Not a chance sis!” Applejack chuckles “Now Big Mac will untie ya when ya are gone, and if in ya behave yerselves ya can have that sleepover with yer friends like I told ya.”

Applebloom pouts cutely as she silences herself, she had been waiting weeks for the go ahead for their sleepover, however she never wanted to earn it like this. Applejack chuckles at Applebloom’s childlike innocence as she turns back to the focus of her worries. “I just never thought I’d be back here again……”

Twilight nods understandingly as Applejack perks up her head to look at the entrance to their destination, the everfree forest. Applejack’s first experience in the dreaded forest seems to have been so long ago now, it was the first time she had ventured into the dreaded woods and it had nearly killed her. Now not three months later she was headed in there again, this time Applejack was relieved not to be alone. But even so, this was the Everfree and predictable is one thing it is not.

Twilight looks at the orange mare “I understand Applejack, the last time you were here…….”

“But ah aint that worried bout goin in this time.” Applejack interrupts her

“We’ve got some real friends goin in with us this time.” Applejack looks at their makeshift group as Rarity meets the orange farmers’ gaze waving back warmly.

Twilight smiles at this compliment knowing that Applejack is telling the truth there isn’t a single pony in their group that wouldn’t be willing to jump headlong into danger at the slightest sign of trouble. “Ah aint worried none Twi!” Applejack confirms. “An I mean you yerself have been planin fer this ever since ya told us that…….”

……………………….

“………The Strange stones are alive.” Twilight finishes her line. The rest of the group gathered at the table can only gape at Twilight, her accusation cutting through the tension in the room and leaving them all completely speechless.

Everypony sits at the table in the middle of Golden oaks library their mouths hanging agape as they listen to the main point of Twilights’ meeting. “And before any of you ask, yes I am sure it’s’ alive despite its cells being in a form of stasis it produces its own magic and reacts to stimulus in a way that an inorganic object can’t mimic. No it’s not overtly hazardous as far as I can tell, and no it’s growing so none of you have to worry about it eating you or something.”

Rainbow Dash is the first to pull her jaw off the floor, and with the eloquence and diction that a twenty something mare is capable of she summarizes the entire group’s feelings in a single sentence. “…… what….. the Buck.”

Rarity ever the pony for drama is the next to freak out “They’re alive!?  I was carrying one in my mouth of all places, what if it carries hazardous germs?”

“Well Rarity….” Twilight rolls her eyes sarcastically “that’s probably why I started off this meeting with the whole ‘don’t worry they're not dangerous thing. If you were listening you might have heard it.”

“So……. It’s alive?”

“Yes Pinkie.”

“Oh Oh! Did you name it?”

“What?” Twilight asks

“You know, did you give it a cool name, every pet needs a name, what about black snooty?”

“URGH! No pinkie I’m not going to name it! It’s not a pet. It’s a rare magical artifact not a toy.”

“Oh………” Pinkie looks downfallen, but only for half a second. “Are you really sure? Cause I have a ton of ideas about…….”

“I’m not having this discussion!”

“Well um… why not?” Fluttershy raises her hoof

“What?” Twilight throes her hooves in the air. “Fluttershy not you too!”

“Well I just think that living things should have a name. puppies and goldfish have names so if it’s alive it should have a name too.”

Twilight massages her horn trying to avoid a migraine headache. “I can’t’ believe we’re having this discussion.”

A familiar ivory hoof slams her hoof into the table with a loud thump “Twilight is right!”

Twilight immediately perks up “Thank you Rarity! At least some pony has some common sense here.”

“Twilight how could you have not named it already? You should have named it the moment that you found out it’s alive!” Rarity pouts “Now we have to waste our time discussing it.”

WHAM

Twilight head hits the table at Mach-one creating a deep dent in the wood where her horn is.

“Um Twilight darling are you okay?”

“Twi’s fine.” Applejack waved her hoof dismissively “More important, Rarity why did ya think that it was a good idea fer her ta name it? Yawls remember ‘stardust crusaders’?”

Rarity taps her chin “Good point, let’s put it to a vote, all in favor of baring Twilight from the naming process raise your……”

“ENOUGH!” a bossy voice erupts over the others as a magical aura fills the air. The din of the group is quickly cut off by a loud explosion of fireworks, the amazing display of lights and color causing all the ponies at the table to stop their prattling. The magic from Trixie’s spell dies down as she looks over the group. “Trixie said enough, so all of you quiet down and listen to Trixie. Twilight may be crazy one day out of the week…..”

Twilight lifts her head from the table “I am not crazy!”

“…..But Trixie trusts Twilight’s scientific insights. Trixie knows that you won’t find a better researcher in the RSD than her.” Trixie looks at twilight with a look of conviction on her face “Trixie herself went over Twilight’s findings so you can be sure that she is indeed correct. The stone’s magical natures and sentient responses allude to the fact that they are indeed a living organism of some kind.”

Trixie turns to Twilight “Now continue on with your presentation Sparkle, Trixie had grown bored of all these silly questions ages ago.”

“…………..Thank you Trixie…… just thank you……” Twilight quickly reaches into her saddlebags placing a large map on the surface of the table “All right telling you that the stones were alive in the magical sense of the word is one major reason that I brought you here. However there is a more pressing matter that I have discovered in my research that requires our immediate attention.”

Twilight points to the map as everypony leans in “For the past few months I have thought it strange that so many of the Red stones and Strange stones seemed to congregate in the area of ponyville.”

Twilight reaches beneath the desk pulling out a large pie graph suspending it in the air with her magic. “According to Canterlot reports we’re bringing in five times the number of Red Stones alone, and we’re the most understaffed of all the guard units numbering at only seven strong.”

Throwing away the flimsy pie graph Twilight picks up a pointer from the top of the desk pointing it to several points on the map. “Then I started tracking the patterns and locations that we have discovered the red stones as well as how many were discovered at each locations. After I got back the results from our own reports and the interviews of those we have gotten stones from, Cheerilee, Derpy, and Lyra to name a few, I came to a shocking conclusion.”

Twilight taps her hooves on the table as she looks at the marked points. “We have found more and more stones in centers of urban activities and in large caches with groups of red stones being found closer together, in places like in homes or under patios. And that might be normal if they were coming out of the ground but the stones fell from the sky, finding them in such places is unlikely to say the least.

“And strangely enough we have discovered red stones in areas that were once thought clean, or in places we have already looked.” Twilight looks at her friends around her “As if the stones were moving on their own.”

Rarity raises her hoof “So the Stones can move? You said that they weren’t alive. You said that they were no threat to us Twilight.”

Twilight groans as she turns to the fashionista. “That’s because the stones aren’t growing legs and walking around Rarity. The stones are moving but it’s not due to ponies moving them or the stone’s being alive, it’s due to something else.”

Twilight reaches under the table pulling out a single strange stone fragment. “When I discovered this pattern I started experimenting more by flowing more magic into the strange stones and testing their reactions on each other.” Twilight then reaches out with her magic and in a flash an entire safe appears landing gracefully on the table. “This safe is filled with fragments of the strange stones and a large supply of the strange stones that have yet to be sent to canterlot.”

With surgical precision Twilight places the single shard of the strange stone on the table drawing a starting line just before the stone “Now watch and see what happens.”

Every eye on the table is glued to the table as they begin the exciting prospect of watching a rock. All eyes look on at the black stone each pony wondering what could possibly happen, and for minutes they watch in silence, in awe of such an exciting display of science. Suddenly the group watches in nervous agitation as the stone moves a slight distance forward the tiny movements of the stone carrying it across the line twilight drew previously. Everypony gasps as they watch the rock move of its own accord as it slides slowly across the table coming to a rest against the thick walls of the safe.

Applejack reaches over to the table tensely touching the stone “it-it moved!” She exclaims.

 “Yes that’s why there are so many stands gathering together,” Twilight explains “they’re being attracted to each other by an invisible force. As far as I can tell it’s some form of magnetism, But it works more like gravity, drawing the red stones and strange stones into cashes and individual places.”

Twilight takes in a deep breath to calm her nerves “However from what I can tell the force between the strange stones in exponentially stronger. It’s a mysterious force that is steadily pulling the stones towards each other and towards a single point in space.” Twilight muses with her hoof on her chin. “Perhaps a bend in space time?”

Placing her musing in the ‘later’ file in her mind Twilight takes up her pointer “Anyways to the bad news……”

“That wasn’t the bad news?!” Fluttershy asks

“No Fluttershy, it isn’t. Though I wish it were.” Twilight takes the pointer drawing strong arrows on the map pointing in a certain direction. “After I discovered this attraction I quickly set about trying to study it, and that’s when I discovered something big. There’s already a powerful force in play that is pulling all the stones away from ponyville. From what I can tell all the stones in a yet unknown radius are all being drawn towards a certain area.”

Twilight smacks her pointer on the table the point landing on a large dark blotch on the map. “And that location is The Everfree Forest.”

 Every pony grows silent at the mention of the name of the dreaded woods, everypony knowing that the everfree is no laughing matter. “And from the readings I’m getting…..” Twilight pulls out a large stack of scientific papers. “….I hypothesizes it might be an attempt by a third party to gather more of the stones together for their own benefit. However it could also be an insanely large collection of these Red stones or a magical effect of the everfree that’s’ drawing these strange stones together.”

Twilight slams her hoof on the table “But whatever it is it’s drawing every stone that we haven’t found into the everfree, at a larger and larger rate. That means the force that’s drawing all the stones together is getting stronger. And that means in a few weeks’ time there won’t be a strange stone or red stone left in all of ponyville, and a few months after that, all of Equestria.”

Twilight takes a deep breath her tension returning as she prepares to deliver the point that she has been building up to all night. “And that’s why I’m leaving tomorrow morning to investigate this phenomenon, ALONE.”

Every pony in the group practically explodes, each one raising their voices in protest at the same time as Twilight is forced to use her magic to silence their protests. With a dome of silence descending around everypony save her the lavender mare continues. “Now I know that you all want to come with me, but you all have families and your own lives to handle so as the Princess Representative the task to investigate falls to me alone.”

Dispelling her barrier with a thought the, Twilight raises her hoof cutting off everypony else’s arguments as she continues her well thought out point. “Now I know what you are going to say; but my mind is made up, I’m leaving tomorrow morning and I’m leaving alone and there’s not a thing you can do to change my mind.”

………………..

A cold shiver passes Twilight’ body and it’s not from the cold morning air. “I still can’t believe that you all threatened to read every book in the library that I haven’t read already and spoil every ending if I went into the everfree alone….”

Rainbow Dash takes a break from her routine slugging the librarian in the shoulder “that’s just how much we care about you egghead!”

Twilight groans heavily at Dash’s antics as she pulls a fragment of the strange stone that she is carrying out of her bag, watching as it spins on her hoof like a needle on a compass. As the stone comes to a rest pointing in the direction of the dark and dangerous everfree the weight and danger of this task suddenly falls on her “I just wish that I didn’t have to drag you all into the Everfree like this. You know none of you have to come with me if you don’t want to.”

Applejack cuts off the lavender mare with a powerful arm on her shoulder “Stow that sinkin thinking Twi. We’re yer friends, come Tartarus er high water.”

“Applejack is right Darling.” Rarity wraps her hoof around Twilight “If you feel that you have to go into that dark muddy forest than by goodness we’re with you!”

“Ditto here!” Dash lands by Twilight placing her hoof on her shoulder “I wouldn’t be a very loyal friend if I just backed out and let somepony else have all the action.”

Pinkie leaps into the dogpile “Uh-Huh! It’ll be like one big super adventure with all our friends together! It’s like a big party!”

“Oh I’m fine too.” Fluttershy nods as she wraps her hoof around the lavender mare. “I live near the Everfree so as long as we don’t run into anything too dangerous like a d-d-dragon….” The yellow mare gulps. “…then I’ll be fine too.”

Twilight looks at the friends around her their faces brimming with hope and optimism, so genuine that there is no way that such a promise could be in-sincere. A naysayer might look at their ramshackle group of a farmer, a stunt mare, a Fashionista, a veterinarian and….. Pinkie and say that one couldn’t possibly pick a more contradictory team. However weeks of time spent with these very ponies has taught her that they could be counted on, that they were, as crazy as it sounded her friends “Thanks you guys! I wouldn’t choose any pony else to go into a life threatening situation with, even if you are all pretty weird…….”

All five of the mares go silent as they look at twilight their faces completely unreadable. Twilight gulps heavily hoping that she didn’t go too far with that ‘weird’ joke as she begins to sweat nervously. All of a sudden the entire group breaks out into good natured laughter, each one of them chuckling at the humor of their situation. All six mares join in as their laughter begins to die down each one of them filled with the faintly burning embers of merriment.

Fluttershy sags a bit after the laughter, her face containing a minor amount of disappointment. “I just wish that Trixie was coming with us then we’d be all together. It seemed like she was getting along so well with us, and we had so much fun at our tea party…..”

The most of group shies slightly away from the yellow mare in surprise, Dash’s eyes widening “You had tea with that loudmouth?”

“Trixie heard that!” Trixie walks out from behind the crowd her face glowering “For your information Fluttershy and the Purple mare are perhaps the only two civil ponies in your entire group, and the yellow one makes a very good crumpet. And as Trixie told you all yesterday”

Trixie straightens her hat as she recites government protocol “One government official must be in town at all times in case of an emergency. So since Twilight is so insistent on leaving. Trixie must stay and keep the peace in the town while all of you are off on your little vacation.”

“But Trixie.” Twilight points out citing more official government protocol “Technically nopony else knows about this mission so technically it’s not a government operation and thus is not subject to its rules. Are you sure that you don’t want to come with us?”

Twilight trots up to the blue mare in one last attempt to convince Trixie to tag along “it’s a short trip since we plan to be back by the day after tomorrow and we could really use the help of some pony used to survival situations.”

The blue mare looks out from the crowd, previously ignored up till this point the showmare begins to once again bask in the limelight. “So you’ve realized that you suddenly need the Great and powerful Trixie’s skills now do you? Well as tempting as a camping trip in the deep dark Everfree is, Trixie must decline.”

With no small amount of hamming it up, the blue mare looks sorrowfully upon the group. “Despite the fact that Trixie was sent to keep an eye on you, some pony must keep watch over the town. And Trixie feels that no single one of you hayseeds are responsible enough to watch the entire town so the duty of protecting this burg falls to Trixie herself. ”

Muttering under her breath Trixie continues “Goddess knows that this town would have been destroyed long ago without somepony to keep it from burning to cinders. I mean it seems that some kind of disaster happens every other week, Celestia only knows how it’s still standing……..”

Twilight ears perk up “I’m sorry what was that Trixie?”

“Nothing!” the blue mare rises to her back hooves in a dramatic gesture “Now be on your way! Trixie will be fine here! Just make sure to come back safe and not die.” The showmare professes with embarrassment. “It’s not because Trixie cares about any of you (except Fluttershy and perhaps Twilight) but because it would be a ton of paperwork if you just up and died!” Not willing to let any pony see her slight blush and her concern for her friends the blue mare turns tail and walks away from the group, with a burdened heart.

“You know Trixie may still be a jerk……” Rainbow Dash says as the group watches the show mare trot off “…..But she’s gotten less jerky about being a jerk. You know what I’m saying?”

“I just hope that the darling can handle the entire town while we’re gone.” Rarity looks off at the rapidly fading blue mare “It took all of us together to keep Ponyville from falling apart; it seems that some kind of disaster happens every other week. Celestia only knows how it’s still standing.”

“Trixie can handle the town” Twilight slings her pack of magical tools on her back “What’s important is that we get to the source of this anomaly as soon as possible. And that means setting out now.”

Reaching to her flank Twilight pulls out a thermos and opens it, promptly pouring herself a large cup of coffee. Downing it with a single shot the mare wipes her lips with her arm and strikes a confident pose. “So let’s get to it Stardust Crusaders!”

The entire group is silent, each one watching the lavender mare. Rainbow Dash sighs “Twilight, no matter how many times you’re going to say it, it won’t make the title sound cooler.”

“Whatever!” Twilight yells as she starts down the path for the everfree. “Let’s just get going!”

The rest of the group looks at each other, measuring the others reactions as each of them begin to trot down the path placed ahead of them after Twilight Sparkle. Each one of the group waves hardily to the ponies behind them as one after the other they disappear into the darkness of the Everfree forest.

……………………

The first part of the epic journey of the mares, though slow and tiresome was undoubtedly dangerous. The path through the Everfree, not used in an age was winding and twisted, the magic that was holding the dirt roads together having degraded long before any of the mares were born. For the most part the mares tried as much as possible to stay on the paths, however following the whims of a magic stone, their paths often lead through stone gators, quicksand, nests of angry creatures, and the Everfree’s most numerous inhabitants, Timberwolves. However these were no normal mares, their resourcefulness, their power and their resolve more than a match for the traps and dangers the forest threw at them. Yet as the day passed quickly on the mares became more and more ragged, worn down by the insects, the shifting temperatures, and most of all the long burdensome road ahead of them. However most infuriating was probably the fact that though the direction the stone lead them in was constant the winding nature of the Everfree and  the multitude of obstacles often forced them to redirect their course more than once forcing them to travel three times the distance to get where they were trying to get to.

Morning passed into late day as the mares growing even more exhausted as the hours ticked by. Their journey shifted from moments of ere silence, to traps and creatures fraught with danger, their adrenaline coursing through their veins at intervals as they fought every inch of the way to make progress in their quest. Still they tried to keep the mood up, Pinkie breaking into full fledged song at least three times, Rarity and Applejack talking about the finer points of their business and Twilight trying to explain to Dash how you couldn’t just use magic to make yourself the fastest pony in Equestria. Still by the time the sun was coming just about to rest on the horizon, the mares began to despair at even reaching their destination……..

“UGH!” Rarity groans “Another hill! Twilight please are you TRYING to kill us?”

Twilight grunts as her hooves lose traction slide a small distance back down the hill her fore hoof still clutching a fragment of the strange stone in hoof. “I’m waking the same path as you Rarity! If you want to blame something blame the dumb rock that lead us here!”

Twilight extends her hoof to Rarity showing her the rock as Pinkie looks inquisitively at the strange stone “Um? OKAY!” Pinkie slaps the stone with her hoof “Bad Rock! Now take us on an easier path without any hills!”

The other ponies in the group groan at Pinkie's antics, far too tired to tell her to shut up already. “Um…. Pinkie….” Well except for one yellow mare “I think that Twilight was joking….”

“Well I knew that Fluttershy! I was just curious if she could tell that she was joking too!”

“Great, now not even Pinkies’ jokes make sense anymore.” Rainbow Dash, her wings tired from constant flying decided to give them a rest, only to deeply regret not trying to fly up the hill they were on. “Hills…… why’d it have to be hills……”

Applejack grunts in heavy labor as she nears the very crest of the hill “Ugh Don’t’ yawl go quitin on me now!” The farm pony adjusts her hat “we’re almost to the top! Ya can’t stop now!”

Applejack reaches her hoof up to the very ridge of the hill pulling herself up “See not so hard! An look ah can see fer miles and mil……… wooooow……..”

The entire party is left staring at Applejack’s plot as the farm mare looks away from them completely stunned at something that only she can see. Twilight looks at the farm mare and calls out “Applejack! What are you standing around like that for? Give us a hoof.”

Applejack appears to be moving her mouth as if saying something to herself. Doubtless if the others could see her face her expression might be one of dumbfound nature. Twilight face hooves “Great. Applejacks’ finally lost it!” the purple mare turns to face the rainbow maned pegasus behind her. “Rainbow Fly up and tell Applejack to throw down the rope so we can all climb up.”

“Aw! Do I have too?”

“………….”

“Gurah! All right I’ll go!” Dash grudgingly flies to the top of the hill her shoulders slouched from the exertion. “Hey Applejack quit slacking and…… Whoa……..” Rainbow Dash takes a look over the crest of the hill stunned by the sight before her.

“Great now Dash’s loopy too!” Twilight throws up her hooves in exasperation “Rainbow Dash! Applejack snap out of it we could really use some help here.”

Twilight’s words finally seem to reach the orange farmer, snapping her out of her daydream. “Oh, Twi. Were you sayin somthin?”

“Throw down the rope! We need to climb up there!”

Applejack looks to her pack sheepishly seeing a long coil of rope “Oh mah mistake Twi.” The orange farmer throws the rope down the steep hill “Ah was just a bit distracted, yawl really need ta see this.”

All the mares look at each other in confusion from Applejack’s comment, wondering what the farmer could mean. Reaching for the rope they pull themselves up the slope by their teeth climbing up the hill with newfound energy, each one wondering what could be beyond the crest of the next hill. Twilight arrives first at the crest of the hill spitting the dirt from the rope off of her tongue. “Petw! Bleh! Last time I grab a rope covered in quicksand with my mouth. The lavender mare freezes at the view before her “…..Wow……”

Rainbow Dash nods at the sight before them as the rest of the mane six come over the hill. “Yeah, I know…… pretty awesome hunh?”

The sight greeting the mares could only be described as majestic. The hill’s perspective giving them all a view that stretches for miles the dark greens of the Everfree meshing together like a dark carpet. From their vantage the town of ponyville can just be seen on the horizon, and if one were to squint they might be able to make out the vague shadow of the great City of Canterlot.

However the sight that dominates the view before them and enraptured their senses is something far older and more ancient than a simple city. Crouching on the edge of a large gorge, as if standing in defiance of the crevice’s attempts to swallow it, sits a large majestic castle encased in dark grey stone. The castle stands as if beyond time. Lost to the ages yet undaunted by age and weathering, it remains in pristine condition despite a few shattered windows and broken stones. And considering the force of the Everfree, the fact that a single structure could survive such a ravaging makes it seem even more mythical. Between the mares and the castle stands a wide open plain, the empty grassy expanse between them and the gorge only serving to accentuate the size and detail of the building in front of them. Smaller ruins of civilization dot the landscape around the mares, the stones and rubble the only testament to the fact that a civilization even existed here.

“It’s…… it’s amazing……” Fluttershy gasps

“Indeed,” Rarity nods “I do believe that this is a sight we shall not soon forget.”

“What did I tell you guys!” Pinkie pulls all of the mares all into a group hug “Best Camping trip ever! Oh wait a second, great idea!” Manifesting her stand Suprise, Pinkie pulls a large camera off of its skin placing it gently on the ground. The group looks at each other as they realized that they have once again been dragged into a Pinkie Pie antic.

“Now everypony smile!” Pinkie shouts “Three Two One, Ham and cheese!”

The camera goes off in a blinding flash causing the large majority of the party to begin writhing on the ground in agony blind as bats. All save the pink party mare herself who quickly inspects the group photo “Oh this is a good one! Definitely one for the scrapbook.” Pinkie stuffs the picture in her mane as she turns back to the rest of the group “Hey? Are you guys okay? That wasn’t too sudden, was it?”

“Pinkie.” Twilight pulls herself off the ground as the rest of the group steadily recovers “Please don’t do that again.”

Pinkie lowers her head “Sorry Twilight, it was just such a good picture, look!” Pinkie presents the photo to the group as they all take in not only the majestic background but the fact that Pinkie managed to catch them just as they were all smiling for the picture.

“Pinkie, that’s some cool photography.”

“Thanks Twilight I have a lot of practice! I take pictures of almost everything in ponyville, birds, brides, rocks, rolls, Peanut butter, jelly, you know, everything! That’s why I’m so good, why just the other day I was taking a picture for one of my parties because I love my parties and I want to remember that ponies should remember them so……”

“Yeah that’s great Pinkie.” Twilight blows the pink mare off, turning to address her finds to her friends. “But what’s really surprising are these ruins.”

Twilight looks towards the view as she reaches into her saddle bag with her magic pulling out their map “This palace looks ancient, but it doesn’t appear on any map of the everfree, and castles don’t just appear in the middle of a forest. Even though the Everfree is not widely explored, something like this couldn’t possibly be missed, especially since it seems to have had some kind of history.”

“Well where is the strange stone pointing?” Fluttershy asks

Twilight pulls out the strange stone watching as it’s needle spins on her hoof coming to a stop so that its tip is pointing in the direction of the palace. “It’s pointing right at it, and the abnormality is much stronger this time. We must be close to it. Perhaps it’s near the ruins somewhere?”

“Well what are we waiting around here for?” Rainbow dash leaps into the air her spirit and wings revitalized by the sight before them “Come on, let’s check it out!”

Rainbow Dash is fully prepared to soar straight to the ruins only for her momentum to be stopped by the strong yank of a certain orange pony’s jaws. Rainbow turns around just in time to be pulled back to earth by Applejack. “Now just hold on a second yawl.” Applejack adjusts her hat giving the castle a wary look. “Ah may be a stick in the mud fer sayin this, but is exploring a decrepit castle in the middle of a haunted woods such a good….”

KABOOM!

Every pony in the group flinches at the deafening explosion, the hair on their flanks standing on end from both surprise and the powerful current of magical energy coursing through the air. Thunder cracks off in the distance as the mares turn their heads to the sound behind them. All gasp as they see the large dark cloud contrasting against the sunset sky, its obsidian bowls crackling with wild lightning and thunder. The mares watch for the space of several seconds, awed by the power of wild nature as the cloud begins to clear the horizon as if it was rushing towards them.

“Wild Storm!” Dash yells. Dash being a senior leader of the Weather patrol, realizes the danger they are now in as she raises her hoof to the broken keep in the distance. “Alright everypony! Let’s double time it to the castle! We definitely don’t want to be caught in that storm! Let’s move move!”

No one dares question the blue mare as the entire group breaks out into a gallop towards the small wooden bridge leading to the palace. Each and every mare pumps their legs as their hearts pump more and more oxygen rich blood into their hooves, putting all their remaining power from a long day’s hiking into one last rush. Twilight looks in terror behind her as she sees the storm smash the taller branches of the tree like kindling with the force of wind alone, the lightning setting copious fires that are instantly extinguished by the torrential rains.

“Don’t look behind! Run Faster!”

Twilight had of course heard of wild weather. When chaos magic combined with regular atmospheric magic or regular storms became overcharged with magic, regular rains would become waterfalls, wind would tear trees out of their foundations, and lightning would strike anything and everything in its radius. It was partially why the weather patrol existed, to control naturally occurring storms and superclusters and insure that naturally forming weather was safe. However in land saturated in as much Chaos magic as the Everfree, such storms could never be controlled and even her strongest barrier would never survive the constant bombardment which left only one course of action.

“Run! That’s it! You’re almost to the bridge!” Twilight shouts encouragement to the rest of the group “Keep it up!”

Seconds later the four non flying members of their party come safely to a stop at the edge of the canyon and the rickety rope bridge spanning the gap. The four ponies pant heavily as they look at the decrepit bridge before them, thinking about how solid and sturdy it looked before they came face to face with it.

“Hurry up you slowpokes!” Dash yells “That’s storm’s not going to wait on us!”

Applejack looks between the storm and all its fury and the bridge over a thousand foot drop. “Are ya sure that there aint no other way across?”

“We don’t have time to argue this! Just cross it!”

“Cross that?” Rarity points her hoof to the falling apart bridge “Rainbow, just Fly us across!”

“With all your baggage you’re all too heavy!”

“Oh and I suppose that we’re just the right weight for crossing a bridge that looks ready to collapse any second!” Rarity snaps.

Twilight watches at the storm behind them grows even closer, the sound of the lightning and flashing thunder almost simultaneous. “Rainbow’s right we don’t have time for this!” Twilight yells “Rarity use your stand to reinforce the bridge’s ropes! I’ll strengthen it more with my magic!”

Rarity looks at the lavender mare like she has lost her mind “Me? But….. Mind link and…..”

KABOOM

“Rarity there’s no time! Just do it!”

Looking between Twilight and the bridge Rarity takes a deep calming breath as she extends her stand like a rope, the silver chord mixing in with the rope of the bridge. The silver starts to extend across the gap, its wielder beginning to falter as she struggles to project her stand across the entire chasm. However just when she thinks her stand is about to collapse a gentle horn taps her own as she feels a familiar but gentle magic coursing through her stand. Rarity opens her eyes to see Twilight’s’ stand FRIENDS touching her stand, the silver from Rarity’s’ stand mixing into its arms. Suddenly Rarity’s power increases three fold as the silver expands forming an entire platform for them to cross. Rarity shudders a little as she feels Twilight’s presence in her mind gentle but firm, and a bit panicked by the situation around them. However for the most part Twilight only fuses partially with the ivory mare pouring her magical power into Rarity rather than combining their stands properly together.

“Twilight….” Rarity looks at the unicorn before her “You….”

“Bridge’s up!” Dash yells “Go! Go! Go!”

Both mares, Twilight and Rarity, look at each other as they realize there is no time to waste. All four mares dash across the new silver bridge at full speed trusting completely in the strength of their friends as the storm behind them grows ever closer. In less than seven seconds the mares reach the other side Rarity retrieving her stand as they make a mad dash for the palace ahead of them. The wind picks up behind the mares that only put more and more of their energy into outrunning the storm. The party runs with reckless haste to the castle as Dash races ahead to the door of the keep. Putting her entire back into it the rainbow pegasi puts all her weight into pulling open the giant rusted over door. The door barely budges at first however inch by inch the Pegasus pulls the large brass handle, the door slowly creaking open as the storm grows ever closer. The earth bound ponies put more power into their hooves as the smallest of raindrops begin to assault their flanks the wind and rain howling like the wendigo's of old, as if the weather itself was hunting them. Fluttershy lands next to the rainbow Pegasus as she begins to tug on the handle with her mouth, the door slowly creaking open. Finally the large twenty hoof high door slides open allowing just enough space for the party to squeeze into the foyer. Dash breaths a deep breath of relief as she turns to spur the others on for the last sprint.

“Come on guys! The door’s open! Hurry up!”

Every mare’s lungs are burning from every breath, their panting growing even more labored, from the run. Yet the sound of the collapsing ruins and screaming thunder behind them spurs them on even more than the voice from a friend possibly could. Finally after what seems like an eternity of sprinting the mares reach the door streaming through the small crack with the urgency of survivors looking for cover. First Applejack squeezes her many packs through the door frame, then Pinkie bounces over through the doorway, her normal enthusiasm returning now that she is out of danger. Then Rarity and Fluttershy gallop through the door unwilling to spend another second out in a storm of this magnitude. This leaves Rainbow Dash holding the door as Twilight Sparkle takes one last look at the storm behind her. Twilight watches the fury of the storm as thousands of gallons of water fall in seconds, the force of the wind turning rain into projectiles as it beats against the ruins. The thunder claps and the entire sky is lit up as all that can be seen of the once majestic sunset is immersed in black.

“Twilight! Stops staring at the storm an git in here!”

Snapped out of her idle daydreams Twilight turns on a hoof running through the doorframe just as the full force of the wind impacts the door slamming it shut with the force of a thunderclap. Suddenly darkness overtakes the party the sound of the rain outside and loud panting of the ponies all that can be heard in the dark. Carefully and cautiously Twilight ignites her horn illuminating the room in a bright purple light. Applejack quickly follows suit pulling various lanterns out of her pack and lighting them, filling the entire room with a bright glow as the ponies get a first glance of the room that they have dashed into.

The entire entry way seems to be in relatively good condition despite the age of the building around them, the roof is lined with various calligraphic examples of stone work. Simple grey pillars with blocky wave patterns surround the room scraggly vines crawling up every third pillar. The windows though made of solid glass appear enchanted and clear and despite a few fractures the majority of the windows appear to be in amazing condition with only a small broken window sitting in the corner.

“Wow they said that storms in the everfree were fierce…..” Rainbow Dash looks out the partially shattered window watching as jagged raindrops bombard the windows with the intensity of gunfire. “…..but not this fierce! How’s this castle even standing? I think any building would have been kaput after a storm like this.”

“Yes Twilight.” Rarity looks at walls suspiciously “are these ruins safe? This whole place isn’t going to come down on us any time soon now is it?”

“This castle is old Rarity, and its magic is even older.” Twilight looks around at the moth eaten tapestries and rugged practical stonework marveling that the roof and walls are still in one piece. “Given the late gothic architecture and the old magic runes woven into the floor I’d say that this palace has been around since the founding of modern Equestria, at least one hundred fifty to two hundred years before the nightmare wars!”

Applejack feels the stones beneath her hoof with a new appreciation “So if it’s so old how is it still standin?”

If I had to guess…..” Twilight touches the dark stone with her hoof rubbing it almost sentimentally. Suddenly she lets loose a powerful bolt of magic at the stone before her the bolt dispersing into aether before it even lands, leaving not even a scotch mark. Twilight then nods “yep, it’s null stone. It’s a rare stone that disperses magical energy with ninety seven percent uniformity. It blocks almost any form of magic so that it doesn’t pass through, we should be perfectly safe from the storm.”

As if having a lingering thought Twilight reaches into her bag grabbing a small fragment of the strange stone from a pouch. Holding the stone in her hoof Twilight and the rest of the group watch as the stone remains completely motionless. “I thought so, because of all the null stone I’m not getting a good reading on the abnormality, so much for all our progress.”

“Well were safe here right?” Pinkie asks “That and we were looking for a place to spend the night. So…….. Can we have our slumber party in a castle? Please please pretty please!?”

“Well I certainly don’t see the problem with it.” Rarity looks at the room around them “we’re safe from the storm, and though the castle may be a bit, rustic, I think it’s a fine place to, rough it as it were.”

Fluttershy shuffles on her hooves “I don’t mind either. That is as long as none of you mind.”

“Yeah we’re all exhausted her Twi!” Dash throw out her sleeping bag without even giving Twilight a chance to speak “Let’s just crash here for the night.”

Twilight thinks back to what she learned from ‘The legacy of camping’ and all the dangers of just laying down someplace you haven’t thoroughly checked. “Well normally old ruins are populated by wild animals and the like and I don’t like just leaving the trail to grow cold.”

Twilight takes a second look around the room. Though the castle is dark and murky, there is a certain charm to it, and they probably aren’t going anywhere in this storm. Yet there was something in Twilight that made her want to stay, the mystery of the palace that intrigued her beyond words and logic. “But we’re not going to be able to leave in this storm, and we have had a rough day, so why not! Everypony set up camp. We’re making this our base of operations.”

Everypony sighs an immense sigh of relief as each and everyone throws their heavy saddle bags to the floor with a din that would frighten a dragon. Twilight sets about making a small magical fire in the center of the room by inscribing a magical circle, content that the room’s large ceiling is big enough to disperse any smoke. Applejack breaks out the night’s rations handing out a small satchel of dried fruits and bread to every pony. Rarity quickly moves the rain catcher to a nearby broken window filtering water from the storm to pour into each and every pony’s canteens

Each and every pony eats their meals quickly with a minimal amount of conversation, even Pinkie cuts back a bit on her normal rambling in return for shoveling more food into her mouth. The ponies speed their meal time talking baseless small talk and finish uneventfully, none willing to cut into their own sleep time. All begin to yawn as they each break out their own respective bags for the night.

Applejack opens her baggage searching for something as the rest of the group begins to set out their supplies for the night. “Give me a Break……” Applejack groans.

Rarity turns away from her task of setting up the dew catcher for the night to look at the orange mare “yes Applejack? What seems to be the problem?”

Applejack looks through her supplies once again confirming that something is missing “Mah sleeping bag, it’s gone! Urgh, I knew that I lost somtin in that forest, ah was just too stubborn to go around an look for it.”

Rarity looks over Applejack’s supplies again food, water, rope, magical locator, journal but no sleeping bag to be found.  “Goodness you’re right, it looks as though you have neglected to pack a sleeping bag.” Rarity’s face suddenly brightens as a brilliant idea enters her mind “it is most fortunate that I had the amazingly fabulous foresight to pack a sleeping bag with enough room for two. You shall bunk with me tonight. “

Applejack shakes her head “Nah, No thanks Rarity. I’m used to the cold, a little brush and a solid floor is enough for me to have a good night’s rest”

“…But…. But….” The fashionista stutters, unwilling to let this go “But it’s so cold! Why not bunk with me where our body heat… I mean my sleeping bag is heated. Surely you would prefer a warm cozy bed to snuggle in?”

“Well that’s a mighty fine offer there Rari….” The orange mare says “An ah admit sharin a heated…. Wait what was that last part there?”

“…..Uhhhhhh My sleeping bag is magically heated?”

“No the part after that.”

“Ummmm It’s going to be cold?”

“No not…. “

“You can bunk with me Applejack!” Twilight interrupts

“…..What?” Applejack asks

“What?!” Rarity screams

“Well yes!” Twilight paws her hoof “that is if you really needed a sleeping bag I could use my magic to enlarge mine so we could both fit in it. It’ll be so much more practical than trying to squeeze in two ponies into one bag.” Twilight sags her head “I mean I can’t just have you sleep on the cold floor completely alone, what kind of friend would I be then?”

“What? I….. now look Twi……” Applejack clears her mind as she tries to tackle the craziness surrounding her with solid logic. “Now I know that ya mean well an everythin but the sleepin bag’s more of a formality an all. Ah really don’t need much an… well…..”

Applejack blushes slightly “……It’s just sharin a sleeping bag, with you, well ah’d think it’s get a little awkward, doncha think?”

At Applejack’s blushing Rarity’s face becomes completely downfallen as though her hopes and dreams were shattered in the space of a single instant. Rarity lowers her head in defeat, all her years of friendship and work seeming to vanish down a black hole “Oh….. I see how it is….. I just didn’t know that you and Twilight were…..oh I just can’t believe that you were…..”

Applejack turns to face her ivory friend instantly catching her depressed mood. “Rarity? What’s wrong with ya filly?”

“Oh I can’t believe I didn’t see it before!” Rarity raises her hoof to her face “The Royal and the Brave Knight! The bookworm and the farmer! Two ponies so different and yet so alike!” Rarity swoons to the ground in genuine sorrow “Oh why didn’t I act sooner now it is forever beyond my reach! Oh what a fool I am!”

“Uh Rarity? What are you talking about?” Twilight asks with no small amount of confusion.

“Oh spare not my shattered heart!” Rarity cries “For it is gone to the grave in sorrow!”

“Uragh!” Applejack raises her hooves to the heavens in a dramatic cry “What’s up with everypony an sleepin bags?! Is it one of those fads er somthin!?! Cause I don’t get it!!”

Applejacks’ scream causes every pony in the group to stare at the orange mare like she has finally lost her mind, even Twilight and Rarity put aside their own grievances wonder what Applejack is going on about. Thankfully the soap opera drama is interrupted by a mare whose very talent is being surprising, Pinkie Pie. “Hey guys! Check it out I found a sleeping bag! That’s plus ten to resting without being disturbed! Pretty good find hunh!?”

Twilight looks over to see that Pinkie has indeed found a spare sleeping bag “Oh! Thank you Pinkie!” Picking up the bag in her telekinesis Twilight brings it over to Applejack “well problem solved! Thanks to Pinkie you have your own sleeping bag! Now you won’t have to share one with me! Pretty convenient hunh!” Twilight smiles optimistically, glad that the problem is resolved.

Applejack looks back between the purple librarian and her sleeping bag “….I…. Twi….. I….. Thanks an all that…..”

“That’s great!” Twilight places her hoof on her orange friend’s shoulder “now you two get some rest, I’m going to take a quick look around before I hit the hay. This castle hasn’t’ been disturbed in hundreds of years! Who knows what secrets it holds?” The lavender mare walks off deeper into the abandoned castle, a look of adventurous spirit on her face, leaving two very flustered and confused mares in her wake.

Rarity mulls over the recent events in her mind as she looks at Applejack ‘humh…. For a moment there I thought that Applejack already had…… but it’s obvious that, like always, that Twilight is completely oblivious to social matters…. But I never thought that Twilight of all ponies would try and get between Applejack and myself. Never the less I shall not lose to a new upstart, much less Twilight, in either love or war…..’

Rarity turns to Applejack “Well that’s one problem solved deer Applejack! Now let’s tarry off to bed we can talk for a bit until we fall asleep, just the two of us….”

“…..what….” The orange mare is still staring at her sleeping bag with a mixture of regret, relief and confusion. Rarity nudges the orange farm mare slightly snapping her out of her daze “OH Right! Thanks Rarity! An ah’m real glad ta have mah own sleeping bag like this. Ta tell ya the truth…… I know that you and Twi are real good friends of mine. But sharing a sleeping bag would have made me real uncomfortable like.”

Applejack blushes furiously as a long forgotten dream enters the forefront of her mind. “It was almost like the two of you wanted ta…… I mean sharing a sleeping bag seemed like it was really…….”

Rarity turns her head back towards the far mare “Humh? What was that darling?”

“……..Nothin, nothing at all and ah’d love ta spend some time with yawl Rarity, just the two of us.” The orange mare stutters as the dark crimson blush consuming her face returns with a vengeance. “TALKIN! Ah’d love ta spend some time TALKIN tagether A-A-As  friends!”

Laughing at the orange mare’s slip up, Rarity comforts Applejack with her with her denature chuckling as they both laugh at the comic scene of romance that just occurred. Their embarrassment all but forgotten, the two mares and best friends walk off towards the main hall where they plan to bunk down for the night talking and reminiscing about times gone by. All the while the purple mare walks further and further into the darkness of the castle before her oblivious to the dangers the darkness contains.

…………….

The darkness pervades the castle around her as Twilight sparkle drifts further and further from her friends. Yet in all honesty the mare feels more peaceful than she should in an ancient abandoned castle. Twilight walks the dark halls with only her horn for illumination observing with curiosity the various degraded fixtures of the palace around her, Rusted suits of armor, tapestries of the sun and moon, and slim dark grey pillars. Soon the dark grey stone of the outer walls gives way to the dark tan of the interior hallways as Twilight ventures deeper into the castle. As a librarian and bibliophile the quiet darkness of the castle as well as its proper insulation and warm rooms appealed greatly to the lavender mare who began skipping down the hallways the light of her horn illuminating the rooms she was peeking into with great clarity.

“You know this place isn’t so bad after all. Sure it’s in the middle of the Everfree, but for a thousand year old castle it’s……… peaceful.” Twilight looks down another hallway the doors ways lined with various levels of protruding ridges and rusted metal hinges. Though the doors themselves have long given themselves over to the ravages of age the stone remain in flawless condition devoid of mold or rot. “You know teleporting is difficult with the Everfree’s ambient chaotic magics, but with a level five teleportation circle I might be able to bypass the static. Then I could come here whenever! Make this a little get away from home, or a summer house, that kind of thing.”

“It’s really top notch stonework” Twilight rubs the castle walls. “Those ponies of the past certainly knew what they were doing. Really the only thing that could make this better would be…..” Twilight’s neck cranes around the hallway absentmindedly her eyes suddenly bugging out of her eye sockets at the sight before her.

In front of her very eyes, directly in front of her vision something the lavender mare never truly expected to find in the middle of a dark and dangerous forest, or a ruined castle to say the least. In front of her eyes lies a perfectly organized and well lit library stocked to the brim with tomes from a forgotten age. “…….would be a fully stocked library.”

Twilight stands in awe of the magnificent sight before her, the candles on the pillars illuminating walls upon walls of perfectly organized (According to the LCC of course) bookshelves each one filled to the breaking point of valuable nay priceless books. The genuine looks of surprise and unbridled joy on Twilight’s face might be the kind of face a pony would have if they opened a box of cereal and a genuine diamond ring fell out of the packaging. Needless to say Twilight didn’t stay surprised for long and within a few seconds the lavender mare was bouncing through the halls of the library with reckless abandon.

“EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!” The filly squeals in excitement. “Oh my gosh I’ve never seen this many books! Well except in the library of canterlot but still, this is the greatest collection of books outside of canterlot and it’s all mine! MINE! MINE to read! No more return dates or ‘oh Twilight I really need this book for a school project’ a whole library all to myself! Wait did I light these candles? Never mind BOOKS!!”

Twilight hops on her tip hooves like a little filly in a candy store all the while taking all the amazing piles of magically preserved literature. “BOOKS! BOOKS! Books everywhere! Books as far as the eye can…… Oof!” in her enthusiasm Twilight neglected to notice the ledge of a table and in a monumental thump the lavender mare lands flat on her face.

Falling on her face the lavender mare quickly snaps out of her foolish behavior as she quickly gets back up on her hooves. “Ahem. Well it looks like this building has a fully stocked library…….. Scratch what I said before, I am totally making this place into a summer home. Just as soon as I’m done with paging through all these books.”

Reaching to a nearby shelf the mare begins to run her hooves down the spines of the books inspecting their titles and dates of publishing adding the name of each book into a mental vault of names and titles of books. Indeed there are so many books it would take an eternity to catalog them all.

“Wait a minute, what am I thinking? A library of this size has got to have a library catalog already. I don’t have to page through every book, at least not yet. Now where could that catalog be?” Twilight looks at the tables in the library looking for a long list of books when her eye falls on a certain black book lying open on the table in front of her.

The librarian instantly thinks it strange that a book would just be left open in the middle of a well-lit table while nopony else was here to read it. “Come to think of it…… these candles didn’t light themselves did they?” Twilight watches the flame in front of her as she flows a small amount of magic into it watching as the red flame turns bright blue then back to its normal red shade.

“Ha I knew it. These candles are magically enchanted to light up when a pony enters the library. He and I thought that somepony else was here. All right let’s get this book….. Hunh?” Twilight is in the process of attempting to pick up the larger book in front of her when she takes a closer look at the hoof written words in front of her. The light blue ink and beautiful scrawling calligraphy a sign that this book was personally written. “This is no library book…..”

Her curiosity piqued the librarian places her rump on the cushion behind her and starts to read to herself. “Year ten AD Day two hundred and forty five, Dear journal……”

‘The pony known as Firecracker, our chef pyro-technician has finally managed to control the strange power of Stand. She calls her ghostly companion ‘Burning down the House’ an apt name for a stand if a bit catchy. This confirms what I have been telling Celly the entire time, the Red Stone of Aja forcibly draws out powers from living creatures by strengthening their spirits. This spirit then gains the ability to take physical form it is not a spirit summoned by the stones like Celly and I first believed, or a curse to be feared as many ponies have thought but a psychological manifestation of our very essence.

Somehow should a pony of sound mind, body and soul overcome the sickness that comes when the stone is introduced into the blood, they gain not death but power. The stone is not limited to simply bending reality and amplifying magic as we have thought. Before our knowledge of the stone was limited by what the great surviving saint Spike the First, told us that the stone tapped into the mysterious power of harmony. Spike the First explained when we passed the seven great trials of the saint: Honesty, Generosity, Laughter, Kindness, Loyalty, Forgiveness and Love, that we could use it to counter Discord’s brand of magic which turned this force of harmony upon itself corrupting reality and making the impossible possible.

Yet these stands, what are they? I Hypothesize is that the stone’s ability to manipulate reality gives its wielder the ability to manipulate reality similar to Discord but to an infinitesimally lesser degree. The stone may increase a pony’s power but the abilities the stands manifest, require far more testing to understand. Ever since me and my sister have found the small fragment of the red stone in Discord’s floating palace and gained our own powers I knew the stone was capable of great things. It is why we pursued the legend of the Sacred stone of the saint, the Red Stone so single mindedly, to stop Discord. And indeed with a single use of its power we sundered Discord, a foe we could never have beaten with all of our great magics combined.

Celly is cautious as always but she has agreed that the prospects of the stone are too tempting to ignore and she has agreed that we will both research the stone and its effects together.  I do not throw caution to the wind in this; I know all magic has a price, I have seen what the stone is capable of when we employed it against Discord………… but the girl, Appendix…… what happened to her cannot be denied, it was a miracle. She was crippled from birth dying from an incurable illness and upon a single touch from the stone’s power, she was made well instantly! If such magic could be harnessed, then there is truly no limit to what can be done! Proper experiments will begin tomorrow after we have moved the stone to a safer location beneath Canterlot castle. Then Celly and I alone will perform the first rounds of intensive research into the stones’ inner workings starting by finding out what the stone itself is made of. Perhaps drilling a small hole to sample a fragment from the core?

As a final thought, I can’t help the feeling that Celly is hiding something from me as if something is troubling her weighing on her mind……… nay sister would never hide the truth from me unless she thought it irrelevant.  She is probably just too engrossed in her new popularity and diplomatic success in securing our kingdom of Equestria’s sovereignty.

I must admit I am….. Jealous….. of Celestia’s newfound popularity. She is adored by all yet I am ignored and pushed to the sidelines. Simply because Celestia was the one to harness the stone’s full power while I supported her from the sidelines they hail her as the Empresses of the Cosmos as if the sun AND the moon revolve around her. How can they not see that it is I who move the workings of the magical world around the scenes that if not for me and my understanding of the corpse Celly would have never succeeded in bringing Discord to heel? How can they not see that without me there would be no Equestria?

But Listen to me complaining like a spoiled fowl. This is Celestia, my sister I am talking about not some usurper. These dark thoughts circling through my mind are the results of sitting hunched over a book for so long. For once Celly is right, I really have to find some new hobbies, perhaps I will join her in court for a time, or better yet have my own court, then ponies might actually see me and what I do in a better light. Until my next entry………’

“……Princess Luna?!” Twilight finishes with a gasp. “This….. This is Princess Luna’s private diary! Before she even became Nightmare moon! But why would something so personal and secret be lying around here?”

“……..you should not have done that.” The hairs on Twilight’s keck stand on end as all the lights are extinguished, the comforting glow of candlelight erased to make room for soul chilling darkness.

The sound of another voice and the instant extinguishing of all light, instantly turns the librarian into all out panic mode as Twilight ignites her horn in a beam of light scanning the library “What?! Who’s there? Show yourself.”

Twilight jumps from her chair as she searches around her the silence of the room unnerving her even more as she begins to break out into a cold sweat. “I-I’ll have you know that I’m Princess Celestia’s Private student! S-so whoever you are you had better show yourself.” The lavender mare falls to her rump “this can’t be good….”

“Celestia’s student? Has she found me already……” Twilight turns to try and locate the voice but the acoustics of the library make it seem like the sound is coming from everywhere. “No if Celestia were here she would announce her presence, she would come with her guards and best stand users, not such a small party. Perhaps you are scouts searching for me.”

“Celestia doesn’t know we’re here!” Twilight blurts out just before covering her mouth “I should not have said that.”

The voice stops abruptly at this, “Then you are either very foolish or very ignorant to come to this place. Now tell me why are you here.”

Twilight listens to the voice noticing the sudden change of demeanor and speech, from demanding and suspicious to inquisitive. “Well, I’ve come this far…..” Twilight raises her voice “I’m here following the abnormality from the strange stones, it lead me to somewhere in the Everfree, that’s why I’m here.”

“Strange stones? That’s a foolish name, what’s a strange stone?”

Ignoring the slight, Twilight reaches into her pack pulling out one of the stones with her telekinesis the stone growing brightly from the magic Twilight is pouring into it. “It’s these, they seem to have strange….” The lavender mare groans at having to admit it “….Wish granting properties and they’re different from the red stones Celestia has had me gathering. We, my friends and I, hoped that by following the abnormality we might find out what they are.”

“You’re gathering those things?!” The voice booms causing Twilight to shrink lower to the floor “Then you are my enemy! You’re gathering them for Celestia!”

“I’m not your enemy!” Twilight yells as she rises to her hooves “At least I don’t think that I’m your enemy, now my turn.” Twilight demands “Who are you? Where are you hiding? What do you want with Princess Celestia? If you mean to hurt her…..”

The voice scoffs as she shadows seem to dance at the displeasure of the mysterious voice “Am I not royal enough for her, does she not know who I am? Does my crown no longer count now that I have been imprisoned for a thousand years?”

Twilight’s ears perk up as the sound of soft hoof steps clop on the floor in the exact way they do right before the main character dies in a horror movie. Twilight freezes her every rational though telling her not to look behind her however eventually the curiosity wins out as twilight turns her head to look behind her, the figure’s name catching in her throat. With dark precision the figure manifests her stand. Twilight’s eyes widen at the stand before her, it’s coat covered in all the blues and dark purples of the night sky, its’ gleaming scale armor giving it the impression of the aurora borealis, the northern lights. The stand’s outspread wings covered in shooting stars and its braided mane the silvery white of the milky way. Its armored helm covers the eyes of the stand as if it is blind to all and it's black horn filed to a razor point.

Twilight raises her voice to scream “Nightmare…..”

The blow falls, as Twilight sparkle’s senses falter, her mind falling into a dark sleep as the figure over her stares into her very soul. The mare tries to resist to struggle against the coming darkness, however eventually her strength gives out completely and the mare knows no more.