Dusk Constructed

I sighed and looked over the massive city of Canterlot. It was so different from how I remembered it. The wall that once surrounded the city was little more than a tourist attraction now, the library had been torn down and rebuilt with much more glass, and the architecture... it reminded me of Manehatten. Old Manehatten. What was it now, Neigh York?

An old memory stirred. Massive skyscrapers reaching into oblivion, people rushing about from place to place, eating ice cream by the Brooklyn Bridge. I sighed and looked even further, past Canterlot. Ponyville was different, even. Like how the human world's city of Canterlot was, before... So much had changed in only 1000 years. Was this how Artemis felt?

I heard a clip clack clop clack behind me and smiled. I turned around and saw a very familiar draconequus with a messy pink and white mane. Paradox shook his head. "The calendar said you'd come back today, but I hardly believed it. Do you have any idea how annoying Ebullient can get when she can't bother you? Uhg. Also, in case you ever visit the Everfree Forest soon, watchout for the jaydogs."

I laughed with tears in my eyes. "What are jaydogs?"

Paradox leaned against the window next to me. "Ebullie decided that puppies and chicks would be even cuter together, so she made them even cuter by putting them together." He looked over at me and gave a sage nod. "They are very cute."

I chuckled and embraced him. "I'll believe it when I see it. How have things been? Other than 'chaotic', I mean. We haven't had much time to catch up since..." I shrugged.

Paradox smiled sadly, but quickly hid it with a wide grin. "Disorderly. The Crystal Empire founded a couple new cities and recently renamed its capital to Crystopolis, so that's a thing. Authentic is freaking out, trying to get everything sorted. I think he forgot your 'vacation' was scheduled to end this year. The brothers are still gone, so... no new news there. Ebullie is still freaking out over being a princess. I don't get it, she's decades older than me, yet she is still afraid of being important."

I snorted. "Takes after her father, I guess." We both stared at the horizon. "Do you think I should talk to the Bearers? I mean, Artemis hardly talked to us, back in the day. Should I talk to them, would that be strange? 'Oh, hi there, remember when I tried to erase reality, and you stopped me?' I feel like it would be too awkward."

Paradox stood on his hooves and wrapped a claw around me. "Dad, if I have learned anything from mom, it's that awkward is in your blood. That means I only got blood from mom, since I am a grade-A smooth-talker." He looked over at me and grinned, showing a long fang.

I gave him a half-lidded stare. Dox coughed. "Okay, maybe I got a little awkward from you. Yeah, I think you should talk to them. At least Magic. Tell her about when you had that big crown thingy that mom always joked about."

"Yeah, alright. Do you know where I can find her?" I began creating a spell to search for the Element of Magic's energy.

Dox stood upright, cracked his claws outwards, then held up two fingers. I just barely told him not to dare as he snapped them, a clear and sharp sound ringing out. In a flash of purple light, a very surprised pegasus appeared next to me.

She had a charcoal grey coat, snow white mane, and iridescent tail. Her cutie mark was a starburst-shaped prism with six different colored beams of light exiting it. Her eyes were an electric blue. She looked at Paradox and began to let out a long breath, like the squeal of a deflating balloon. Then she looked up at me, leaned back, and let out even more air.

Dox rolled his eyes, but was disappointed when snakes crawled out of them. He put them back in his head and grabbed the Element of Magic by the shoulder. "Perfect Prism, meet Dusk Shine. Prince of Sky, former Element of Magic. Dusk, meet Perfect Prism. She's working on a type of record that uses crystals to record data, instead of grooves or magic. She calls it a crystal disk, CD for short."

Prism slowly sat down, covered her eyes with her wings, and quietly squeaked.

Paradox laughed. "Classic Prism. Well, I've got princely things to do right now, like helping Ebullie make more chimeras, so see-yah!" He snapped two finger guns at me, then disappeared. A moment later, he popped back in. "Actually, dad, meet me at Crystopolis tonight for dinner and catch-up. I won't tell Authentic or Ebullie about you until then, so it will be a surprise." He clicked his tongue, shrugged, then flashed away.

I turned to Prism, who was still cowering away from me. I sat down next to her and laid my wing on her back. "Forgive him, Paradox has a tendency to act before he thinks. But, I will admit, you being here might be partially my fault. You see, I wanted to talk to you, so I asked Dox where you were. He brought you to me, instead of bringing me to you." I looked down at her and was pleased to see her a little less tense.

She was still afraid, however.

I sighed and took my wing off her back. "I know that the last time we met each other was... less than pleasant, but I was not myself at that time. I am here now, able and wanting to meet you. Would you care to walk with me? I want you to see something."

Prism slowly nodded and stood. She didn't talk much, did she? I began leading her down the hall. "As you might have heard Paradox say, I was once the Element of Magic, like you. We even have similar cutie marks to prove that." I lifted my wing to show her my starburst. Her eyes widened.

"A wise man once said that if one forgets to record past events, they are doomed to repeat. I don't think that's entirely true. I believe that, regardless of if it's recorded or not, history will always repeat. I was not the first Element of Magic, you are not the last. There are countless others, past and future, that will bear this starburst."

Prism stared at my mark, then hers, and then at my face. When she caught me looking back, she bowed her head. We turned a corner. "I knew a friend, once, who prefered to let her actions speak for her. All you could ever get from her was an 'eyup', or 'enope'. But, whenever she did decide to speak... Everyone listened because they knew she had something to say." I smirked. "Words are, in my not-so-humble-opinion, our most inexhaustible source of magic. Capable of both inflicting injury, and remedying it."

Prism paused for a moment, pondered, then rushed back beside me. We eventually came to a plain wall, void of ornament. I touched it with my horn, and it shimmered and disappeared to reveal two massive double doors. Five old, beloved emblems surrounded a gold circular lock with an amethyst cut as a starburst upon it. Prism gasped at the grand sight of the shrine's entrance.

"In here is where I used to spend my loneliest hours. I'm not sure why, but I felt that you needed to see it." I lit my horn, and charged the amethyst with magic. The lock spun, popped out, and the doors swung forwards. Inside was a magnificent, and sacred, shrine to the five greatest ponies I had ever met.

Statues perfectly matching their likeness stood atop pedestals that bore colored gems. Behind them were stained glass windows illustrating them. Pillars rose to the ceiling, obscuring colored glass of various shapes and symbols. To the right was an altar with lit candles, and old photos. There was no dust, cracks, or any wear thanks to enchantments placed long ago.

I watched as Prism stepped forwards, turned about, and took the room in. She spoke in a quiet, reverent voice. "What is this place?"

I laid onto a large tile mosaic of the Element of Magic on the floor, and motioned for her to do the same. "Remembrance. I built this place to remember the five ponies who made me who I am. I was a very different pony back then."

We looked at the statues for a time. Prism looked over at me. "Is immortality lonely?"

I flinched and looked at her with wide eyes. Prism, fearing she had said something wrong, shrunk back. "I'm sorry, that was--"

I held up a hoof to quiet her. I smiled with a few tears in my eyes. "It's alright, the question was just unexpected. Yes, it is lonely. Even with my family beside me in eternity, it is a pain I would never wish on another."

Prism looked to the floor, then back to my Bearers. "Can you tell me about them? Maybe tell me... tell me about when you became an alicorn. Prince Paradox said you were a unicorn when you were young, but you had to get your wings."

I nodded. "I will happily share that story with you. I first ascended in the year 2 P.R. I had just received a spell by the old mage, Starswirl the Bearded. Now, that may sound like a stallion's name, but Starswirl was actually a mare. She believed that if she disguised herself as a stallion, ponies would take her research more seriously. That, and she was a little silly in the head."

Prism chuckled. "That night I received the spell, I accidentally cast it. You see, incantation spells had gone out of style centuries, millennia even, before I was born. When I read the spell out loud, it cycled the Elements of Harmony around. What was once Loyalty became Kindness, Laughter became Honesty, Generosity became Loyalty. This, in turn, switched the entire lives and destinies of the Bearers. My Kindness, Butterscotch, never became a caretaker of animals, and became a not-so-successful comedian instead."

Perfect Prism looked at the appropriate statues as I said their Elements. She looked at me. "That would be scary. If Gracie suddenly became a Squad Leader in the CMC program... well, Gracie wouldn't last a day in the 'wild' as she'd call it."

I looked down to her. "Gracie? Is she one of your Elements?"

Prism nodded. "Gracie is the Element of Kindness. She's a counselor in Ponyville, possibly the best in Equestria. She just kinda... gets ponies, you know? You walk into her office and she immediately knows how to help you. Ponies sometimes just walk in, cry their hearts out for an hour, then walk out free of their troubles."

I smiled. "I think I understand. I know it isn't my business, but... you sound like you've been in her office."

Prism gave a grim smirk. "Once. After spending years trying to allow the telegraph to send more than just simple signals, I created a device that could send audio over a wire. But, a week before I perfected the design, some unicorn released a version of it that used magic. Simpler, clearer, and long-distance." She threw a hoof in the air. "My life's work became obsolete overnight. A few friends of mine had mentioned Gracie before, so I decided to visit her, and rant about Graham Bell and his magiphone."

We were quiet for a moment.

"Sorry, I got us side tracked there." Prism stated simply. "Please continue your story."

I cleared my throat. "Anyways, my Bearers were all scrambled. After wallowing in despair, blaming myself for their issues, I realized that I could... restart their destinies by getting them to be who they once were. One heartsong later, my Bearers were reunited with their Elements, and life was back to normal. But I still needed to finish the spell. I reflected upon my experience, applied it to Starswirls spell, and cast it. As soon as I placed the last period on the spell, the Elements fired beams of light of me, and I found myself in a most peculiar place."

I took hold of Perfect Prism in my wing and cast a spell. The world dissolved around us, giving way to a vast field of lavender clouds and stars. "Any being, once it obtains enough magic, can access a spirit realm of sorts. I was in Prince Solaris' spirit realm. It's very similar to this one, but blue and much brighter. Solaris showed me a series of episodes from my life that shaped me into the pony I am. Once we had recounted those years of my life, he told me that I was ready to 'fulfil my destiny', and sent me back to Equestria with these wings." I rustled the wings on my back, which Prism stared at.

I smiled and returned to the normal realm. "But, wings and royal title beside, I was more different a pony when I returned to Equestria than when I talked to Solaris. Because, a long way away, in an entirely different world, something awful had just happened." I looked over at Prism, who was watching with rapt anticipation, and smirked. "I had just died."