The Nameless Legend

"Is something wrong?", Primrose asked, clearly concerned about the weird behaviour her daughter just displayed. "You seem stressed."

"It's... nothing.", Snowdrop said and let go of the medallion once more and her vision faded again. "So that's how it is. My sight is liked to the necklace... somehow."

Her mother let out a sigh. "You know you can always come to me with your problems. Is really everything alright Snowdrop?"

"Should I tell her? No... not now. Not until I know more about it. I will just... .", Snowdrop agonized over telling her mother about the true nature of the necklace.

"I was thinking about... him.", she tried to find an excuse for her previous reaction and shook her head, making a few strands of her mane fall on her face. "I expected something different, this whole outcome feels weird... and incomplete."

Primrose tenderly stroked her daughters face, wiping back the hairstrands and planted a small kiss on her forehead. "Everything's fine dear, I doubt there is any need to worry. Why don't you ask the Princesses the next time they visit?"

Feeling the touch of her mother Snowdrop mumbled with a smile:" Thanks mom. Can you put the necklace around me again?"

"Of course."

Her mother pulled the enchanted jewelry back over her daughters head and unknowingly reactivated the spell. An electrifying sensation filled Snowdrops body. With a shiver, she shook her head to drive away that feeling.

"You electrified me.", the white mare complained jokingly with a grin on her face.

Snowdrops stomach grumbled. "I know I was forgetting something else."

"You havn't eaten yet? I told you skipping meals isn't good for your health.", Primrose scolded.

"To be fair I was asleep most of the day. What's for lunch?"

"I think you should see for yourself when it's ready. I'll call for you, okay?"

"Ok. Mom."

"What in the name of the princesses did he do?", Snowdrop still racked her brain over the previous matter, after her mother left the room. Her eyes fell on the letter on her nightstand. "Weird. I am sure I placed the last one I got to the others."

She took the letter and went to her desk, as she opened her drawer full of letters she noticed the one she was holding was closed.

"Oh!", she said surprised and broke the seal.

"Dear Snowdrop, ..."

With a sneeze Seeker entered the dusty cave and discarded his bag near the entrance. He could sense already sense the faint presence of the entity he was looking for from the inside, welcoming him his arrival.

He knew the cave itself wasn't very long. The magical energy around him increasing quickly as he was nearing the end of the cave.

Or rather the thing blocking the path to the end.

Seeker was standing before the Tree of Harmony. It's crystalline branches shimmered like diamonds and filled the surrounding air with a strong, almost divine gleam.

It's presence touched his own and Seeker immediately lowered his mental barriers to open his mind, granting admission for a spiritual connection with the old tree.

"What a sad sight.", it 'greeted' him with a soft voice. He instantly recoznized it immediately and cringed.

"Celestia again? I hate it when it uses her voice." Seeker prevented this thoughts from escaping his mind. The last thing he wanted right now was provoking his interlocutor, after quickly setting up a smile he decided to reply with a calm, almost mockingly: "Maybe?"

"Well, Luna wouldn't have been much better either..."

"You... are early. Did something happen?"

The question amused him. Yes it was true, his return was moved forward, because of his latest actions.

"I just overestimated the toll on my last spell a bit. My magical reserves are almost drained."

A ghostly tentacle emerged from the magical tree and stopped inches before Seeker's head. "So weak... your life is dwindling."

Seeker took a deep breath. "Not fast enough. I don't know how much longer I will remain in control of my 'talent', so please help me out.", Seeker said.

"I... see."

More tentacles appeared and began to surround him, forming a cage of pure light. The powerful magic of the tree began entering Seeker's body and warmth filled his chest.

He began relaxing, slipping willingly into pure white nothingness.

The serene atmosphere didn't hold very long. Blurred facets appeared inside Seeker's mindscape, taking the loose form of bodiless shades.

The shadows he saw shifted, gaining more and more sharpness. He could almost spot the silhouettes he was expecting to see.

The first shadow managed to take form.

Standing right before Seeker was a unicorn stallion with a coat as grey as ashes. His long pitch black mane fell adorned his head. Dark blue eyes met Seeker's.

It was as if Seeker was looking in an old mirror. He faced an echo of the past - HIS past, with the only difference between them being Seeker's current lack of a horn and the fact, that his past self wan't wearing a coat.

With noiseless step the echo began walking straight towards Seeker, who simply waited to let is pass right through him as they made contact. He knew he couldn't interact with anything that would happen in this memory. He turned around to follow his old self.

The rest of the shadows were slowly taking form. One after another gaining shapes of various ponies, each single one of them having wings and a horn.

Alicorns, coming into existence from the shadows one by one, eying Seeker's echo which stopped right in the middle of them. Seeker already knew what would happen next... dreading it... hating seeing one of his greatest sins yet again exposed, but he didn't had the right to look away from them. He had sworn to take responsibility, so he forced himself to look at his version of the past, which had ignited his horn in a white aura to catch the attention of everypony.

"I have known most of you for several decades,- ", the echo spoke loudly and paused for a moment "- Seen you grow and watched you living in this beautiful world. But you see, there is a problem...."

"Magic... no, rather life itself is disappearing from this land."

A confused murmur went through the crowd. They obviously didn't understood what was going on.

"Well, I guess disappearing is the wrong word.", the grey stallion corrected himself and looked at the alicorns with tired eyes.

None said anything. The echo shook his head.

"So you still have not noticed? Never seen what is going on while you mindlessly honed your magic? If you did you'd know what I mean. Your existence is disrupting the natural flow of magic, draining the earth, stopping the wind, even the sun and the moon in it's track." He paused again and exhaled as if to ready himself for something. "-, but now you have left me with not other choice....." After pausing one final time he continued callous: "... than to bring an end to your existence. For the sake of this world, I will kill you all."

His words had a sudden effect on the ponies surrounding him. Each Alicorn stood still for a moment, fear clearly written in their faces. Then all hell broke loose.

Several attempted to teleport, others tried to fly away, while some decided to run away from the echo. None tried to attack.

But it was too late. Their fate was sealed the moment he made that decicion.

Seeker watched his other self stomping on the ground so hard, that cracks appeared in the earth. Thin colorless threads crawled out from under his hoof and chased after the fleeing ponies, disrupting the teleportation spells upon touch and kept them tethered to the ground.

He remembered this magic all too well. It was a spell designed solely for preventing an escape by locking the very existence into one place for as long as he desired. However, it didn't seal all magic.

Realizing their situation the alicorns fired beams of magic from their horns. The echo took the hits without batting an eyelash. Convinced in his superior strength Seeker's past self smiled and closed his eyes. The white aura of his horn disappeared. The echo took a few breaths and opened his eyes again.

Darkness erupted from his horn and engulfed everything around him. Blinded by the darkness Seeker could hear the cries of the Alicorns. Dying cries, full of pain and misery.

Seeker couldn't take the guilt he felt it any longer. Tears began to run down his cheeks as he relived again the day he slaughtered an entire civilization with his own hoofs.

Every stallion. Every Mare. Not even sparing the lives of the colts and every fillies. Every single one of them.

At that time he believed what he did was for the right cause, but he realized too late how much of a hypocrite he really was.

"Funny isn't it?", Seeker murmured and dried his wet eyes in the fur of his left arm.

He stained his hoofes by convincing himself into playing the 'selfless hero'

Yet, the blood he spilled was all for naught. They wern't the cause for the regression of magic.

He was.