Ancient Magic.

Twilight stared at the wall across from her. The king and queen had given her and her friends rooms in the royal wing. Directly across the hall was their son, Noctis. He hadn’t told them when to leave, or when to meet him, but she hadn’t attempted to teleport out yet. In her mind, she wondered if he was waiting for her. Whether he still hadn’t left the tower yet. Whether he was really even going to help them. Sitting on the bed in the room she’d been given, she stared at the wall. Rarity had gotten her own room, though she’d complained about having to share it with Applejack, until one of the guards had apparently had enough and switched Applejack and Fluttershy.

With Fluttershy in with Rarity, Applejack was bunked with Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie. Twilight was the only one of them who had gotten her own room. At first, she’d been concerned about that. At least until Noctis had explained that Royalty got “special treatment” from his people. Not that she really complained. Her room had a small library attached. Reading as many books as she could, she’d gathered as much information on his people as she could. Including something about the royal family that had her scratching her head. Noctis’ father was descended directly from the wolf from Luna’s dream, Shadow. Noctis, however, was not.

Despite being the son, by blood, of the King, Noctis, somehow, had no relation to Shadow. And yet Shadow had named Noctis as his reincarnation. Things weren’t adding up. Not really. Twilight had heard of reincarnation magic before, and there was almost always a blood relation between two souls for reincarnation to happen. Noctis apparently either hadn’t cared that his family tree was in one of the books. But his name wasn’t connected to Shadow’s name on the tree. Noctis’ name was connected to a completely different family, with no relation to Shadow save for the queen marrying the king.

Another thing that rebelled against Shadow’s story was Noctis himself. In the dream realm, Shadow had appeared to be a jet black wolf with red eyes. Noctis was a dark grey wolf with goldish yellow eyes. Another discrepancy that Twilight couldn’t overlook because it was a physical, magical and medical marvel, Noctis had wings. She’d never seen other creatures besides dragons, birds, and griffins with wings, yet here was Noctis. A wolf, a creature that physical law stated could not fly, with wings.

Twilight flipped through one of the books, looking for any mention of a winged wolf in his people’s lore. As she got closer to the end, she found one. “The Winged Wolf Shadow Heart. Lord of the Wolves, Guardian of the Moon.” She blinked as she looked at the title. Princess Luna was the keeper of the moon. As far as Twilight and the rest of Equestria knew, Luna didn’t have non-Pegasus guardians. Scanning the page, she saw two post scripts under Shadow Heart’s name. “Prince of the Shadow Clan. Consort of the Princess of the Moon.”

“But… Luna wasn’t married. And, from what Celestia said, untouched. I thought being a consort meant… sharing a bed…” she thought to herself.

“Not always.” A voice said behind her and she fell off of the bed, landing awkwardly at the paws of the prince. “A consort doesn’t always mean sharing ones bed, princess Twilight.” He said as he offered her his paw. She gratefully accepted, blushing as he helped her to her hooves. “Often times, a consort is nothing more than one who offers companionship to another. For example, should you have no other companions or friends, I could offer my services as your consort. That would mean I’d spend time with you, go on picnics, things that friends do.”

“So… Prince Shadow Heart was Luna’s friend and companion?” she asked and he nodded.

“Though, if he were alive, he’d likely say otherwise. There is a letter that I can’t give you. Written by Shadow to Luna. Proclaiming his love for her would last for eternity, unto and after death.” He said and Twilight blinked.

“That would explain why he was in her dream room…” she muttered to herself and he tilted his head. “I’m the new princess of dreams, I guess. The day we met you, I was coming out of the dream realm. A door with Luna’s cutie mark. The moon was scratched in half, and I met him there. Something about the room seemed… pure. Protected.”

“His magic. He was using his magic to keep the last shred of Luna pure and alive. Until we’re ready, he’ll probably remain in that room. Keeping her memory alive. As long as her memory is alive, her magic still exists.” He said and she nodded

“That makes sense. It wasn’t familiar to me.” She said and he stood up and padded over to one of the bookshelves. Looking through the shelves, he stood up on his hind legs, gripped a book in his teeth and carried it over to her, setting it on a table near her.

“Page one hundred is where it starts. The official account is on page one oh seven to one nineteen. An account of all of Shadow Heart’s encounters with Luna, as well as their first encounter with Nox.” He said and Twilight looked up at him.

“They met Nox?” He nodded and gestured for her to read as he padded over to a chest and nudged the lid open. Inside was what looked like swatches of cloth, but from this angle she couldn’t be sure. Turning her attention to the book, she read from the beginning of their encounter with Nox.

Journal of Shadow Heart the Wise

Warrior of the Shadow Clan

Consort of Princess Luna of Equestria

Entry 201.

Luna surprised me today. A phoenix egg. Not a regular phoenix egg, a blue one. She told me it was a Lunar Phoenix. That one hadn’t been born to Equestria in five thousand years. I swear Starswirl still doesn’t trust me, because he chewed Luna out for giving it to me, but she didn’t care. “It was a gift for my beloved.” She told him. The look on the old unicorns face was priceless. Naturally, I told her I was going to name it Luna. Then I’d have two Luna’s. The Luna I loved and the Luna she gave me. That got a laugh out of her.

Entry 202

Celestia is not happy with me. Her mentor, Starswirl, is gone. Lost. Trapped in another dimension. Whatever you want to call it. I could have prevented it, but I didn’t. Fate dictated I keep out of the encounter. Not fate as in “I read the cards and was told to stay out of it by the interpretation.” Fate as in the friend of Queen Umbra and King Solaris who weaves the tapestry of destiny as it events transpire. Not that Celestia cares. I could have prevented Starswirl from sealing himself away but I didn’t. All because Fate ordered me not to, for the sake of some mare who won’t be born for another thousand years or so.

I don’t know her name, I don’t know how special she is or isn’t. All I know is, she better be worth it. Starswirl was my friend. Celestia and Luna’s mentor. But I couldn’t keep him from sealing himself away alongside Stygian, who became the Pony of Shadows. Jealousy is a nasty thing. I guess that’s why Starswirl and I agreed on one thing. Envy, along with its six siblings, had to be sealed away. For good. With luck, nothing will ever be able to break that spell. And considering what Starswirl had to do to seal Stygian away to protect Equestria, the spell he cast to keep the darkness sealed should hold long enough for Celestia to find something to lock the Sins away forever.

If it doesn’t, I hope Starswirl can return before they return. If Envy returns before Starswirl does, Equestria is doomed.

Entry 203

Something attacked Canterlot. It wasn’t one of the sins, we know that much, but it was powerful. It couldn’t get through the barrier Celestia and Luna erected, but it did some damage. Its claws tore through it. I’ve never seen anything like it before. It looked a lot like one of my people, but covered in molten rock with horns instead of ears and a spade on the end of its tail. Celestia called it a demon, and that’s the best word I can think of to describe it. With its attack on the barrier around Canterlot, we learned two things.

One: They can be hurt. When it hit the barrier, it recoiled, hissed, and retreated underground. We aren’t taking any chances though, which means the barrier stays up.

Two: If they can be hurt, they can be killed. Talking to Celestia about killing something is like bashing your head against a rock, though. She’s determined that nothing, no matter how evil, be harmed. She wants to resort to the Elements of Harmony. Try and reform them.

I’ve gone back and forth with the most stubborn mare I’ve ever met. If she wasn’t so stubborn, I’d attempt talking her into__”

Entry 204

That dragon was interesting, to say the least. The dark energy coming off of it was mildly terrifying, but I’ve seen worse. A spell book I found in the Tower proved to me that I can use magic far darker than anything this dragon is capable of. At a cost. It will cost me a bit of myself. Luna found the book yesterday, but doesn’t entirely understand it. I do. I know exactly what it is. Angelus Mortis. The Angel of Death. Not an Angel of Death. THE Angel of Death. But he’s been corrupted somehow. Turned evil.

I suppose to some, he is evil. But Death isn’t evil. It’s inevitable. When Death becomes evil, then it needs to be stopped. Somehow. I just don’t know how. Maybe the Elements of Harmony can reverse whatever corrupted him, maybe they can’t. But I can’t ask Luna or Celestia to risk themselves, so I need to find something else. And I think I have.

And therein lies my problem, dearest Luna. The item I found… it’s powerful. Ancient. Even more ancient than even your parents. There’s two things, really. One is an item, one is… something else. Something powerful. The item is lost. Sealed somewhere, I’m not sure where. The second, I ask for your forgiveness, my Luna. I must go to Sombra, in the Crystal Empire. I need to take in his darkness. Enough that I’m strong enough to restore Death to himself.

But, I will have taken in enough that Sombra can be defeated with the Elements of Harmony. And when you stop me, I will take the remains of his magic with me and disperse it among my people. Over time, it will purify and become good magic.

Entry 205

Nox has been defeated. Sombra gave me what he promised. The magic to protect my loved ones. I can feel it corrupting me, but Nox has been sent back to the pit he came from. Hopefully sealed for years. Centuries, if we’re lucky. I just wish Celestia and Luna hadn’t been there. They’d seen the dark magic I had to employ. Luna had been heart broken. She and Celestia knew what dark magic did. At least, I think Luna had been heart broken. The spell I cast was probably seen from the moon, not that any pony was up there.

Tomorrow is the day Sombra invited Celestia and Luna. As per our agreement, I would be there to assist him in the fight. And I would do my best to kill them. But I already know we’ll lose. In the letter I sent Luna before this dark magic took hold, I told them to bring the Elements. Attack with those first. I would step in the way, of course, but Sombra is not strong enough to defeat Luna without me. I know he’s not.

The Elements will purify me. I’ll still fight Luna, of course, but I need to know if she can handle Sombra. I need to know my training did not go to waste.”

Twilight blinked as she read the last bit, wiping the back of her hoof against her eyes. The last section of that last entry, he was talking to himself. He was reassuring himself that what happened was what had to be done. He had to let Luna kill him. To prove she would be strong enough to fight Sombra. “This wasn’t a record. It was his journal.” Noctis nodded as he padded over, a dagger clenched in his teeth. Sitting on the bed next to her, he hopped up and sat beside her.

“That was Luna’s. A gift for Shadow. I think they both would want you to have it. I don’t have the magical oomph to use it.” He said and she levitated it up and drew it. As soon as it was out of the sheath, the blade magically expanded, forming into a double edged sword. At the base of the grip was a circle of steel with a white gem set into the center of it. “It’s enchanted. It can harm Nox. Even kill him, if you’re willing to drive it through his heart.”

“How do you know?” She asked and he smiled.

“Luna used it the last time Nox appeared in Equestria. She cut his arm and he retreated deep into space to heal. You mean he’s come back?” Twilight nodded.

“Celestia and Luna are dead. Nox has Canterlot. King Solaris and Queen Umbra sent us to get your help and the help of the Fox tribes.” He blinked and nodded as he padded over to the closet next to his dresser.

“I understand, but I don’t think the Fox Tribes will be much help. Don’t be me wrong, I have nothing against the Vulpines to the East. But if there’s anything that’s true about the Fox Tribes, it’s that they’re tricksters. They play pranks. Harmless little tricks, at first. But eventually they get worse and worse until someone gets hurt.” She sighed and hung her head. “But… I may know how to get them to help us.” She looked up at him and blinked.

The next morning found Twilight and her friends camped out beside a lake at the eastern most edge of Noctis and his people’s compound. They hadn’t set up their tents because he said he’d meet them when he could. There was no telling just how long he’d take. Pinkie Pie was splashing in the lake. Rainbow Dash was sitting next to Fluttershy and Applejack, peeling some apples AJ had packed for them. They were going to be stored in jars Twilight had brought so they could be baked into pies when they reached the Fox Clans.

Rarity was attempting to use what little fabric was left from one of the dresses she’d been attempting to make to make some kind of outdoor wear. Fluttershy and Applejack were preparing their camping pot to cook the pies in. Just as Pinkie Pie reared back to splash the water again, the stream erupted upwards, knocking Pinkie onto her rear. Twilight and her friends all flowed to their feet, ready for anything, only for Noctis to be the one standing in the epicenter of the aquatic explosion.“Sorry about that. I had to find some way to get away that wouldn’t have me followed. Took a bit for me to find the right spell for Aquatic Teleportation, as well as finding a pond within the boundaries of the compound to teleport without getting in trouble.”

Twilight stared at him. He was completely dry, save for his paws which were in the water. “I’ve never heard of Aquatic Teleportation.” She said and he shrugged as he climbed out of the river.

“I’ll teach you sometime.” Padding over next to the fire, he sat down and pulled out a crystal from the bag she hadn’t noticed on his back. Twilight stared at the crystal as he sat four others around it. In a particular pattern. Looking at it, she realized it was almost an “Elemental Compass”. The center crystal would be the anchor point, the other crystals would glow depending on the direction of what they were looking for. One problem with that though.

“What exactly are we looking for?” Rainbow Dash asked, landing next to them.

“You said Nox showed up in Canterlot. I fought off a troop of Hell Hounds that had been following you since the borders. Top that off with your freakish knowledge of Shadow Heart, a hero of my people who sacrificed himself to keep all of us hidden from the rest of Equestria. We need four items from four different corners of Equestria. Elemental items, really. Once we have those four, we’ll need a fifth. Which will be really hard to come across.” He said and Twilight blinked.

“Only five? But artifacts with the power you’re talking about come in even numbers. The Princesses, the Elements…”

“The Sins. Discord. Tirek.” He interrupted and she blinked. “Seven sins. Only one Discord, unless you count the nearly endless multiverse Discords. Only one Tirek.” She stared and he clamped his mouth closed.

“There are some exceptions. But nearly all of the powerful items or groups are in even numbers.” She said and he nodded. “So… what are these five items?”

“Artifacts. Like I said. No idea what they look like now because the power within them can be transferred between different items, but they’re usually similar in appearance. A spear, a shield, a sword, a bow, and a wand. Each item has the power of a different element in them. Fire, Water, Earth, Air, and Spirit. I’m sure you can guess which is which. Some legends state there was a sixth Element. Those are all just stories passed down by those who follow the ‘powerful items in even numbers’ ideal.

“Those five elements make up Life. All things, at least the way Wolf Lore goes, are made up of those five elements. It’s hard to explain how really, but if we were still in the Tower, I could give you some books. They explain the elements much better than I could.” He said and she nodded. “Other than that…” He cut off, stopping as he froze, staring at the compass. Twilight followed his gaze and nearly swore, for the first time in her life. Something she’d picked up from Luna’s memories, no doubt.

The Sword of Fire was in Tartaros. In the middle of a castle in the depth of Tartaros. The only way to get to it was either to die and go to Tartaros or travel to the end of Equestria, go through the portal, and traverse Tartaros, alive. A suicide mission, because Cerberus, though he looked almost cuddly outside of Tartaros, was the Guardian of Tartaros. He dealt with the most dangerous, deadliest of Equestria’s enemies. And he looked like he did too. Each head was adorned with horns, much like that bull dragon creature that had chased them to the borders of Noctis’ land.

The Staff of Water was back in Queen Novo’s kingdom under the waves. Which, if the ball of water floating above the ground was a current projection, was housing not just a few hundred monster shark things, but one very, very, very big dragon. Resting above the dragon, curled up around an orb holding the staff, was yet another dragon. Slightly smaller, but all together far more dangerous in appearance. They would have to enlist the help of Princess Skystar, Captain Celano, and the rest to get to the staff.

The Shield of Earth was in the Griffin Kingdom, above the throne of the current Regent. A grumpy old griffin by the name of Gobber. He wasn’t the king. The griffins hadn’t had a king since Grover. Gobber was the closest thing they had to an authority figure, but the griffins rarely listened to him. When they did, he was either ignored or his orders were twisted. He was one of the most agreeable griffins there. But the shield had a griffin emblazoned on the face of it, which likely meant they saw it as an heirloom of their people.

The fourth object would be hard to get to, considering where it was. The Bow of Air. In Canterlot. Were Nox was making his home. The map showed the bow. It appeared to be either griffin or Pegasus Wings, minus the griffin or Pegasus in between. It didn’t have a bow-string, but it didn’t seem to need it. The arrows fluctuated as being there and not being there, connected to a string that fluctuated right along with them. But it wasn’t those items that Noctis was focused on. In the middle of the Everfree forest, in the Castle of the Two Sisters. Apparently there was a hidden room that contained the final item.

A sword. It looked like a sword, at least. Twilight could see a blade, but it was ethereal, even within the magic. The handle looked solid, the blade looked as if it didn’t really exist. But it was straight. There was nothing special about the blade. No hooks to pull flesh, no serrations to tear. Just a straight blade, when she could see it. Double edged, with five slots running down the middle. One slot contained a gem. A purple gem. She couldn’t tell if it was amethyst or not, but even as the blade fluctuated and warped, the gem remained a constant. Even if it was ethereal at times.

Five items, each one in different regions that were focused heavily on the element in question. The sword was the exclusion, of course. What made her panic slightly was the reason she could see the blade. It was drawn, piercing the chest of an Alicorn. The bones were dry and looked brittle, but the sword had pinned it to the wall. Twilight blinked as she looked. From the structure of the bones, the Alicorn had been male. But until Cadance and herself, there had been two Alicorns, both female. Not counting Queen Umbra and King Solas, of course. Staring at the sword, up until Noctis ended the spell, Twilight wondered just who that Alicorn was.

She’d met Queen Umbra and King Solas, so she couldn’t be entirely sure who it really was. Swallowing as she looked at the items, she had an idea that would be relatively stupid if it didn’t have to be done. Sucking in a breath while her friends discussed the plans to get the items, she looked up at them. “We need to split up.” She said and all conversation stopped as her friends turned to look at her. “We can cover more ground quickly if we split up… and we’ll be harder to track.”

“But Twilight, what if we need the Elements of Harmony?” Rarity asked and Twilight swallowed and stared at the map.

“I don’t think the Elements can help us this time…” She said before looking up. “It pains me to say this, but the Elements of Harmony are useless against those things. We need weapons… and we need to get them quickly in order to bring the Princesses back and prevent Nox from ruling for eternity. And we need to split up to get them quickly. I don’t want the king and queen to be forced to hold him off alone for too long.”

“Then I think we have our plan. We split up, cover more ground. There’s seven of us, and five items. But we’ll need to be quick. Those demons won’t stop hunting you six. So before we split... we need to do something I swore I would never do again.” He said as he stood up, waving a paw through the image in the air. It wavered and vanished, but the five weapons remained, if only for a moment.

Twilight watched as each of them became glowing orbs floating in the air before they shot off towards the items. She didn’t know what for, but each orb was a different color. “What did you vow you wouldn’t do?” Twilight asked him and he looked over at her.

“We need to enter the Vulpine Empire. The Foxes can help us. Their magic rivals that of the Princesses, if we can get one of their more powerful mages to help us. Whoever we get should be able to port us to the first of the items, at the very least.” Noctis said and Twilight blinked at him as he stood and walked over to the river. The last time someone had taken command like this, her Brother had been named Captain of the Canterlot Royal Guard. Watching Noctis, she could almost see Shining Armor. Seeing this, she felt almost relieved. Even if he wasn’t here, having someone like her brother around put her mind at ease. If he needed to, he’d step in and take command.

“We should get a move on.” Rainbow Dash said as she returned from scouting. “I stayed in the air while I scouted around, the southern and northern routes are clogged with those monsters. The eastern route has a few of them but the west is clear. I say we go west.” She said and Noctis shook his head.

“We need to go east. If we want to reach the Foxes, we have to pass through Dead Mare’s Pass.” He said and Twilight swallowed. She’d heard stories about Dead Mare’s Pass from her mother. No one survived traveling through Dead Mare’s Pass. Rockslides were just one thing to deal with. There were also Quarry Eels that had swallowed whole caravan’s whole. Not to mention giant Venus fly traps and Dragon Snaps, gigantic plants that exuded a digestive enzyme if they caught something. Everything in Dead Mare’s Pass was deadly. And now with demons wandering Equestria, it was only likely to be worse.

“Is there a way to get there without going through Dead Mare’s Pass?” Fluttershy asked and Noctis shook his head.

“No. I’m sorry. I wouldn’t use that pass if I had any other choice…” he said and Fluttershy whimpered. “We should get a move on if we want to make the pass before dark. We won’t cross it in the dark, that would be suicide. But we want to get there so we don’t have to camp out half way through it.” He said as he tucked the gems he’d used to show them the elemental items back into bag. As soon as they were gone, the map and items vanished. However, like when she’d seen them before, the item in Canterlot lingered for just a moment to Twilight. Shaking her head, she helped pack up camp and then watched as Noctis stored all of their supplies, minus the weapons they’d picked, away in a small chest that shrank to be more portable.

As soon as everything was put away, he went around to all of them. Rainbow’s bow was magically shrunk and strapped around her forehoof. From the spell Noctis had used, all Rainbow would have to do is raise the forehoof and the bow would grow, allowing her to draw the string and manifest an arrow. Applejack’s leg bands fit snuggly around her forelegs. Pinkie’s daggers were strapped to her sides, same as Rarity’s dagger. Fluttershy and Twilight had their staves strapped across their backs, which needed some adjusting so they could still flap their wings. The handle that Twilight got, for a sword with no blade, was strapped to her side.

As their weapons got situated, magically because of a spell Noctis had cast, Twilight looked over at him and had to bite her cheek to keep from shouting. His shoulders were covered with black leather and he had twin swords tucked under his wings. She’d seen the guards in Canterlot wear armor similar to this, but his was minor. Just the shoulder guards and twin swords. After his weapons were situated, he picked up the small chest and packed it into his bag.

“Alright. Let’s move.” He said and Twilight followed right behind him.