Forgotten Legacy

"It shouldn’t take too long to find the letter in question,” I said as we winged our way to Ponyville. I looked over at Sunset and smiled. “After all, how many mantically charged pieces of paper could I have laying around?”

She gave me a flat look. “You have a library larger than the homes of some ponies,” she said. “And you have a magical prodigy studying friendship under you. I expect there to be a few.”

I puffed my cheeks in annoyance, which got a distant smile from her. I puzzled about that when I remembered that Sunshine, my counterpart that she had been romantically involved with reacted much the same way as I did to such glib remarks. Her thoughts were on her.

I smiled internally. I wish I had somepony to think of me like that.

We came in to land on the balcony of my castle only to find the doors locked. I tested it with my magic and couldn’t find a way through.

“That's odd, I never lock this door,” I said, giving it another nudge.

“Maybe some over-eager guard, not realizing you come and go more from here than the front gate?” Sunset offered.

“Possibly,” I said, lifting off and lighting at the main gate, the amber-coated pony next to me. “I’ll just alert each of them at the next…”

Spike came bursting through the doors at that moment, running as fast as he could. He ran into me and tumbled over and I looked at him as he realized what had happened.

“Twilight, Sunset!” he said. “Come quick, its Starlight! Something’s got her!”

Starlight, I thought and burst forward in a full gallop, still not trusting my flight skills in the corridors of my castle, Sunset taking a moment to grab Spike before following.

The doors to the secondary library, where Starlight tended to study and we did our minor research on things like the communication books was just up ahead.

And a flickering blue and red light kept blazing forth from the cracked doors.

I bucked the doors open and stopped in horror as I saw Starlight suspended in the air, writhing as arcs of blue and red energy leaping to and from her, fed by a glowing set of mystic symbols within a ring on the floor.

I heard Sunset approach behind me and I threw a wing out to stop her from blundering into the room.

“Goddess,” she breathed as she took in the sight. “That’s a thaumaturgic transmutation circle.”

I nodded. Thaumaturgy focused on transferring power from one medium to another, generally used for ensorcelling items such as barding or scrolls. I flapped my wings, rising to observe the glyphs in the glowing ring. “It’s been mixed with Haycarte’s Equation for Mana conservation, too,” I said, returning to the ground.

Sunset copied my movement, landing and shaking her head. “That shouldn’t be possible,” she said. “You can’t combine a thaumaturgical spell and a Æther manipulation spell, the matrices don't mesh."

Starlight shuddered and screamed suddenly, the light of the mystic circle flaring red and she was lowered to the ground. The energy flowing from the circle centered on her horn, giving it a red sheen as her eyes shifted to red glowing holes. She started moving forward, jerkily, reminding me of puppets controlled by amateur show ponies.

“So this is my welcoming entourage,” she said, and I immediately felt anger flare through me. The voice coming from her was not Starlight, it was the Mare from the dream I had. “I suppose it shall do since it is two Alicorns, though not the two I hoped for.” She regarded Sunset for a moment. “Though you are unfamiliar to me. What do you call yourself?”

Please don’t be glib, I thought to myself.

“I usually call myself me, but my friends call me Sunset,” she said. “You’re neither.”

Like that, I thought wryly.

“Sunset, Sunset,” the pony controlling my friend tilted Starlight's head in thought, and the red glow dimmed for a second and the mare’s face contorted in pain. “Ah, there it is. Sunset Shimmer, late of Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns,” the voice seemed to be reading from a list. “Though according to this vessel’s memories, you’ve only recently become an Alicorn, so your power is negligible comparatively.”

I glanced at Sunset and saw her grin smugly. I knew the source of that grin, it was one she wore when she knew a secret. I stepped forward to take the focus off my fellow princess.

“What have you done to Starlight?” I demanded. “Release her!”

“Oh, is that this one’s name?” the mockery that was my friend said. “I assure you, once the spell reaches duration she’ll be released with little more than mana exhaustion.”

The red glow bore into my eyes. “Truth be told, Princess, this was meant to be tripped by your magic level,” she said, inspecting a hoof as the control over Starlight’s body got more fine-tuned. “For this one to have triggered the communication spell, she must be truly powerful.”

“For me?” I said, confused.

“It’s a communion spell, Twilight,” Sunset said. “That’s why it mixed the two spells, to make sure the mana of those caught in it fueled the spell. If you had triggered it, this would all be taking place inside your head right now.”

I recognized the theory, and when I probed the spell, I felt the magic inside me throb. It felt like the spell tried momentarily to latch onto my mana as well. Our intruder, on the other hand, continued on as though nothing had happened.

“Oh, you must have been top of your class,” she purred before returning her focus to me. “So, Princess Twilight, I have precious little time. This method takes so much mana, much more than the communion would have.”

She waved a leg, and the circle behind her flared again, bringing into being a precipice covered in snow that I also recognized from my dream.

“This is Goraumn’s Overlook,” she said, the image wavering slightly. The circle was waning. “You will be there in one moon’s time. You and the Princess of Love both.”

“And if they don’t?” Sunset asked, her wings partially extended.

“Then I shall come for them,” the mare said. “And I won’t be alone. And I won’t be gentle.”

“Why do you want us there?” I asked is the image faded away and the thaumaturgic circle began to fade away.

“To discuss the surrender of the Crystal Empire, of course,” she said simply. The red glow flickered.

“One moon, Princess,” the voice said, fading slightly. “Don’t be late.”

The mystic circle burst apart, and Sunset dashed forward and caught Starlight as her eyes rolled back in her head and she passed out. She shot me a look as she laid the pink Unicorn on one of the couches.

“You realize that’s a trap, right?” she asked rhetorically.

“But we also can’t ignore it,” I said. “The risk is too great.”

Sunset looked around the room, making me do so as well. Scorch marks covered the floor where the spell had flared to life, and the arcing energy that had snared Starlight had ripped books from shelves and singed them and furniture alike.

“We have to tell Celestia,” Sunset said. “This is beyond us.”

I looked at Starlight. Her face was covered in sweat and the tip of her horn was blackened.

“Twilight,” I heard my friend say, making me look up. “We have to let her know."

“Spike,” I said, my mouth very dry. “Take a letter. Top Priority delivery.”

A few moments later, with a burst of blue flame, the note was on it’s way to both Celestia and Cadence.

Sunset walked over to me. “We’ll get through this,” she said.

I nodded, but as I thought on the images and events from my dream, I felt a cold chill run up my spine.