Darkest Depths

The world was ending. At least, for Equestria it was. The Elements of Harmony had failed to stop Discord, and as reality warped to cater to the whims of the embodiment of chaos himself, it was painfully clear that there would be no storybook ending. The ponies of Equestria had realized that no hero would emerge to save them. The most powerful heroes that Equestria could muster, including Princess Celestia herself, had fallen. It was over.

Twilight woke with a start. The Discord incident was over, but the memories were still fresh. The what-ifs and the maybes of that day still served as a reminder of what could happen when harmony was disturbed in Equestria. After the celebrations, after everypony had gone home, after everypony had put the near-disaster behind them, Twilight remained concerned. A simple argument between three fillies was all Discord had needed to break free of the most powerful magic in the known universe. And the only reason Discord had been trapped once again had been his weakness for taunting his defeated foes with unobtainable victory. Twilight shuddered. She had to make sure that never happened again. But she needed more information before she could even begin to tackle the issue.

Rubbing the sleep out of her eyes, Twilight slowly crawled out of bed and walked over to where Spike was sleeping peacefully. She sighed, knowing that Spike would wake up when Spike wanted to wake up. "Spike! Rise and shine! Busy day today!", Twilight urged, gently nudging the small bed with her forehoof. Nothing. Rolling her eyes, Twilight cantered down the stairs to the kitchen. She quickly prepared a bowl of gems and placed it on the counter, then waited. Sure enough, Spike was downstairs almost immediately. "Ugh... What time is it?", Spike groaned. Twilight smiled.

"It's 6:38, and we need to be on the train to Canterlot by 7:27 if we want to be at the library when it opens at 8 o'clock," Twilight replied.

"What's wrong, are you trying to be the first in line? I'm sure there are ponies lined up just to get in," Spike asked sarcastically. He had inched his way over to the counter and was getting ready to take the bowl when Twilight swatted his claw away with her hoof.

"If you must know, I have urgent research to do. Besides, being punctual never hurt anypony!" she said. "And leave those alone, they're for dessert!"

Most of the train ride to Canterlot was made in silence, mostly because Spike had refused to go, favoring his beauty sleep instead. Alone, Twilight finally had some time to think. Her goal was simple; she needed to prevent a repeat of Discord's escape, or at the very least, prevent him from tampering with the Elements.

Discord had been imprisoned by the Elements, so that must mean that the Elements of Harmony were even more powerful than Discord. So all she had to do was reverse-engineer them, possibly even duplicate the complex patterns of interweaving magic without harming the Elements themselves. That could work, she reasoned to herself. She simply needed to cross-reference the records of how the Elements had worked in the past, and from that, she could derive the source spell and invert it-

"That just might work."

Twilight gave a small yelp as she looked for the pony who had spoken. She had been so deep in thought, she hadn't even noticed him sit down across from her. This surprised her, considering she was in a 4-passenger compartment... Then again, when she was deep in thought, she shut out everything else-

"Hello? Back to thinking, are we?", said the stranger, an amused look in his eyes.

"I-uh-that is, um... Did.... Did I say that all out loud?", Twilight stammered.

"Enough to give me an idea of what you're planning," he replied. Now that she had recovered from her surprise, she finally got a good look at the stallion across from her. He was an older pony, with a scholarly look about him. He had a white mane and tail, and was of average build. His coat was the color of midnight, though, a color she had never seen on a pony before. But what really struck Twilight as odd was the absence of any markings on his flank.

"Now, I've been a professor at the Canterlot Royal College for many years, and-"

"THE Royal College? As in, the one and only?" Twilight interrupted.

"I haven't been there in YEARS! I- uh... Oh, sorry, go ahead..." The stallion grimaced. It was going to be a long ride.

The stallion introduced himself as Dr.Spellshot . He told her a bit about his studies, including research on the Elements of Harmony. He tried explaining his findings on the nature of cutie marks as well, but it soon became clear that Twilight wasn't listening. "So we started to think outside of the box, away from magic and closer to the theory of bioluminescence- Ahem!" Spellshot coughed loudly. "Oh, sorry!" Twilight apologized. "You were talking about cutie marks, and I was just wondering-" "-About my lack of a cutie mark," he finished for her. "Well, yes. I've never seen a grown stallion without a cutie mark before," explained Twilight, flushing a bit. Sighing, Spellshot answered her question in a tone that clearly implied that he'd said those exact words many times before. "I actually DO have a cutie mark. My special talent is anything involving space. Thus, my cutie mark is a black splotch. However, in a laboratory incident that caused my coat to turn black- and no, I will not say what happened," he added, noticing Twilight's inquisitive stare. "Well, with my coat permanently dyed black, it is all but impossible to see the cutie mark now," Spellshot finished, glancing wistfully at his flank. There was an awkward silence. Finally, Spellshot spoke. "If you're doing research on magic as ancient as the Elements, you should probably visit the college. There are much older books there than at the Royal Library. Just a suggestion though." Twilight was about to reply, but she was cut short by the train whistle that announced their arrival in Canterlot.
After thanking Spellshot, Twilight headed to the Royal Library as she had planned. After a thorough search of the Royal Library, however, it became clear that Professor Spellshot was right after all. The oldest books in the library were those dedicated to Starswirl the Bearded, and that was centuries after the Elements were first found. Finishing her fruitless search, Twilight left the Library and headed of towards the college. Everything seemed exactly the same as the day she had left for Ponyville. The cobblestone streets, the smells of the bakeries and restaurants, now in full swing for the lunch rush. Even the people seemed the same. The throngs of ponies busily trotted down the main street, which was already packed full of carriages, merchants, and wheelbarrow-toting farmer ponies who had come up to Canterlot to sell their crop. The ponies who weren't busy were chatting idly, either walking together or eating at restaurant patios, enjoying the weather that the pegasi had provided that day. It was enough to make Twilight feel a bit homesick, seeing everything just as it had been when she had left. Shaking off the nostalgic feeling, she realized that she was already near the Royal College.
Trotting up to the front of the college, Twilight once again felt the same sense of awe that she had felt when she had first visited the school. The marble columns that supported the roof of the college were at least 25 hooves high, and about 10 hooves around. The inside was even more impressive. The ornate gold door, inlaid with precious gems, opened into a large reception hall, rivaling even the Canterlot Castle Ballroom. The gilded ceiling designs and door carvings emphasized the beauty of the school, as much as the high, arcing ceiling supports contributed to the sense of respect that the college assuredly commanded. The floor, made of white marble tiles, was free of dirt, scuffs, or any other blemishes. As Twilight took all this in as if for the first time, her observations were interrupted by an impatient-looking mare, who sat at a simple wooden reception counter directly to the right of the entrance. "May I help you?" the mare asked in a bored tone. "Hello! My name is Twilight Sparkle... I was a student here a while back," she paused, looking to the mare for any signs of recognition. If the mare recognized Twilight, she made no indication of it." Well, I was hoping I might be allowed to use the college library. It's really important," finished Twilight. "Whatever," the mare behind the counter replied, returning to her paperwork. Twilight hesitated a moment before trotting off to the library, a path she knew quite well. The arched-ceiling design was consistent throughout the college, and soared high above Twilight's head. Walking through the library doors, she instantly felt at home. Quickly selecting a section of books, Twilight started her search anew. This time, however, it wasn't long before she found what she was looking for. "Old Equestria: Non-fiction, history," Twilight muttered, reading the section description out loud. The information she needed just HAD to be here!
It had been over three hours, and Twilight had yet to find anything on the subject of pre-equestrian magic. She was down to the last couple of shelves, her frustration building with each false clue. "Vamponies Throughout History: the Truth Is Revealed," Twilight said, reading the black binding of the book. Replacing the book on the bookshelf, she considered what she would do if she couldn't find any books on the subject. "Trial-and-error might work," she reasoned, her horn glowing as she tidied up the shelf she had just searched. To Twilight's annoyance, however, a group of four or five books stuck out further than the rest. Pushing them in harder, she realized that the reason for them not lining up with the rest was probably due to something stuck behind the books. Sure enough, when Twilight removed the group of books, there was another one in the very back, against the back of the bookshelves. Removing it, she placed the other books, which now fit perfectly. She shifted her attention to the book. It was obvious from the dust that the book hadn't been read in a very long time. The cover was blank, aside from the title, which was written in bold near the top of the book. Blowing off some dust, Twilight read the title aloud. "The City of Ash, 877-898 Almanac. What an odd book," she mused. The book's spine crackled as Twilight's magic slowly opened it. "Winter, 877 A.S.," she began, noting the small writing in the margin; somepony had written 'equivalent to 651 years before Equestria' between the lines. Twilight gasped. "651 years? That's... Unbelievable...". She continued reading. "The crop this year almost ran out; our next harvest must be larger. No deaths this winter". After this was a list detailing population growth, weather, and other relevant information. But what really caught Twilight's eye was what was written at the bottom of the page. "The Storm is coming again. It is getting closer, and we won't survive this time."