Yes, everything is going to be just fine!
Twilight awoke with a start. Her eyes darted back and forth, only to find the emptiness of her own bedroom greeting her. She breathed heavily, and felt sweat run down her forehead.
What just happened? She thought.
She lied in her bed wide-awake for several minutes, unable to fall back asleep. Nothing made sense to her. One moment, she was awake and trying to fix a spell that changed her friends, the next she was laying in her bed drenched in sweat, as if it were all a dream.
Yet, somehow, it all felt very real to her.
She then felt an itch on her backside, and sat up so she could reach it. She sighed comfortably as her hoof ran up and down her back.
As Twilight finished scratching, she suddenly felt something...off; almost as if she was missing something. She turned her head as far as she could, and caught a glimpse of her backside, noticing that it was lacking two appendages-her wings.
She blinked.
She opened her mouth and tried to say something, but nothing came out.
So it was all just a dream.
Twilight sat up for several minutes before lying back down on her bed, careful not to lay down too fast and hit her head on the back-end of her bed frame. Her eyes then slowly grew heavier until they closed completely, and she fell back asleep.
The next morning, Twilight woke up feeling exhausted; she had only been awake for 5 minutes last night, but to her it felt like 5 hours.
Spike was in the kitchen when he heard Twilight coming downstairs. He turned around and saw the unicorn standing in the doorway: her mane and tail were in a fritz, and heavy bags hung from under her eyes, which were red and bloodshot.
“Hey, Twilight.” Spike said, smiling. “You look like you had a rough night.”
Twilight yawned. “Yeah...you could say that.”
“Well, you and the others were up in the Crystal Empire yesterday helping with the preparations for the Equestria Games, so it probably took a lot of energy out of you.”
“Well, it was quite a hassle, Spike.” Replied Twilight, yawning once more.
She walked over to the kitchen table and sat down, then watched as Spike walked towards her carrying a small mug. He was holding it with both hands as if not to spill the contents that were inside it. When he placed the mug on the table in front of Twilight, she looked into it and noticed that it was full.
Spike, who was putting dishes in the kitchen sink, looked over his shoulder and smiled at Twilight.
“Don't worry, it's not cold; I made you that coffee an hour ago, before you woke up.”
Twilight nodded at the dragon and levitated the mug towards her mouth. She took a sip, and instantly felt the warmth of the drink travel down her throat. She then took another sip, and started to feel less drowsy.
I know Spike is an orderly assistant. She thought, taking another sip. But I never knew he could make such delicious coffee!
When Twilight finished her coffee, she got up and went to the main room of the library to see if any books needed to be rearranged. As she walked towards the “A” shelves, she noticed a peculiar-looking package sitting on the large circular table in the center of the room.
Curious, she walked to the table and inspected the object: it was small and rectangular, just like a book, only it was pretty thick from the look of it. She looked around to make sure nopony else was watching, and proceeded to unwrap the package.
Huh. So it IS a book.
The book was black, and the cover was devoid of any title. It also looked worn but still in a moderate condition. Twilight wondered who would send her such a package, when she noticed a letter on the table. She set the book aside, and levitated the paper to her eye level. It read:
Dear Twilight,
Your studies are nearly complete, but you have one more test to deal with-one that will ultimately shape the path to your destiny.
I am sending you this ancient spellbook which previously belonged to Starswirl the Bearded. It contains almost every single spell that he has created and mastered over the years...except for one, which is on the last page.
Your assignment is to finish the incomplete spell, and you will accomplish something that Starswirl never could. I know you can do it, my faithful student, so finish the spell and return the book to me as soon as you can.
~Princess Celestia
Twilight's eyes widened as she finished the letter. Then, an image suddenly came to her mind: she had been tasked that same assignment in her dream, and something went wrong the first time.
Her vision then turned to a display case in the corner of the room: it was made of wood with gold trims all around it. On top was a glass lid with a purple mattress inside tilted at an angle. Sitting on the mattress were 5 golden necklaces and a golden tiara, and each one had a gemstone of a different shape and color embedded in them.
The Elements of Harmony.
Twilight then remembered that in her dream, when she first casted the unfinished spell, it swapped the colors of the elements (Minus her own.) and changed the cutie marks of her friends. When she did fix everything and recast the spell with her friends and the elements around, they transformed her into...something else.
Realizing that her dream might become real, she had to do something quick to prevent it.
“Spike!” She called. “Take a letter!”
A few hours later, Twilight and Spike were tidying up the library. They were almost finished dusting the shelves when there was a knock at the door.
“Coming!”
Twilight trotted towards the door, while Spike continued to dust off the bottom shelves.
When Twilight arrived at the front door, she opened it up and was greeted by two male pegasi: one white, and the other gray. Both wore elegant gold armor and calm expressions. She instantly recognized both of them as royal guards, and smiled to herself.
“Are you Twilight Sparkle?” One of them asked.
The unicorn nodded.
“Princess Celestia received your letter this morning, so she sent us here to retrieve the Elements of Harmony. They are here, correct?”
“Yes, they are.” Answered Twilight. “Follow me.”
She led the two guards into the library, and showed them the display case where the elements were being kept.
“You see, earlier today, the Princess gave me an important assignment I'm supposed to complete, but I can't do it while the elements are present otherwise there be an...accident.”
“I understand.” Said one of the guards. “You want to play it safe, so you want the elements out of your way during your assignment. Don't worry, we'll take care of it.”
The white pegasus nodded to the gray one, and flew out the door. He came back moments later carrying a large, purple chest with gold trimming. Spike-who was at the far end of the room still cleaning-noticed the chest and stared at it in awe.
The chest was opened, and the gray guard instructed Twilight to remove the glass cover on the display case, which she did with her magic. One by one, the elements were placed inside the chest and the lid was closed.
Twilight thanked the two guards for helping her out, and led them out the door with the chest. She waved goodbye as they loaded the chest onto a chariot and took off towards Canterlot.
“Phew!” She said, closing the door behind her. “At least I won't have to worry about them anymore.”
She turned to Spike, who had finished dusting the last shelf.
“Good job, Spike. Why don't you go down to Sugarcube Corner and treat yourself to that sapphire ice cream you love so much?”
Spike started wagging his tail with delight. “Really? Thanks, Twilight!”
She smiled and handed the dragon some bits. “I'll meet you there in a little bit; I've got one last thing I need to do.”
Nodding, Spike hurried out the door towards Sugarcube Corner. Twilight watched until he was gone, and used her magic to close the door; now that she was alone, she could finish that incomplete spell with no trouble.
She found the spellbook and a quill sitting at the center table and got to work. As she flipped though the pages, she was amazed at all the ancient knowledge that laid inside. There were some spells that she already knew, like the time-travel spell and the shield spell, and there were some that she never knew about, like a transformation spell and a mind-control spell.
At last Twilight arrived at the final page. Near the bottom was a sentence that appeared to have been unfinished: it was the unfinished spell. An image immediately came to her mind as she skimmed it, which was where she was completing the spell in her dream. Taking a deep breath and closing her eyes, Twilight began to remember what exactly she wrote in her dream, and then proceeded to write it down.
When she was done, she looked at the newly-completed spell and read it out loud:
“From one to another, another to one,
a mark of one's destiny singled out fulfilled.
From all of us together, together we are friends,
with the marks of our destinies made one, there is magic without end.”
As soon as she finished reading the spell, the book suddenly began to levitate off the table. Twilight watched in surprise as it began to glow brightly, and a beam of light suddenly shot directly into her chest. Time seemed to slow down as Twilight was frozen by the light, but it soon regained its normal speed as the light died down and the book fell back onto the table.
Twilight recovered from her strange trance; she didn't remember that happening in her dream. Come to think of it, she didn't feel any different herself. She looked at her back, and found that there were no wings growing from it.
What happened? Did I write the spell incorrectly?
She looked at the book, which had closed when it landed, and decided to investigate. Opening it with her magic, the first thing she noticed was that the first page was blank. As she continued she noticed that all of the other pages were blank as well. She began to worry; all the spells were gone.
Then she came to the final page.
Like all the others, it was also blank...except for the very bottom, which still had the now-completed spell.
Suddenly, Twilight felt a sharp pain in her head, as if somepony had dropped a cannonball on her. The unicorn felt throbs in her brain, and she gritted her teeth. Then she felt something else: new thoughts began to form within her brain, filling it with knowledge of magic she never thought possible. After what seemed like ages, the pain stopped.
Twilight was rather surprised at what she just experienced; she now felt smarter than she had ever hoped to be. She possessed the knowledge of spells both old and new. She felt like a wizard.
Well, at least it's better than growing a pair of wings.
Feeling much better than she had in months, Twilight remembered that she still had to turn in her assignment. She picked up the book with her magic, concentrated on it, and it disappeared in a flash of purple light.
Smiling, Twilight trotted out of the library to meet up with Spike at Sugarcube Corner.
“Yes,” She said to herself. “Everything is going to be just fine.”
