<<<2011 Harmonic Era, 10 hours earlier, Celestia POV>>>

“Twilight wait!” the remaining Element bearers shouted as my student ran out of the hall quickly, and rather suddenly.

“What was that about?! She just got wide eyed and sprinted straight out!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed as the doors slammed in front of her.

“I don't know darling but it seemed quite sudden, even for her.” Rarity said, looking back at me in questioning silence.

“I don't know why, this is the first time out of something other than excitement that Twilight has moved so fast, but she must have figured out something, otherwise she would still be pondering.” I explain, looking at the doors that my student just ran through.

“But what did she see that made her run out like that?” Fluttershy asks getting us to think about that question, until I noticed a certain color was on the floor, contrasting against the white marble.

When I looked up, I saw the most recent window, the defeat of Nightmare Moon, the rescue of my younger sister Luna, and the newest Element bearers. That's when it clicked the Luna and Nightmare Moon were both darkness and light, and when she was Nightmare Moon, Luna was the light within the darkness, just like in the riddle, that got me to chuckle, gaining the attention of others.

“I believe I found the answer to that question.” I said pointing up to the window, their eyes went wide when they saw the window.

“Of course! Luna is the light within Nightmare Moon, and because of that, we’ve already walked the path that leads to the old castle, which is also part of the riddle! Meaning that she went to the Everfree Forest!” Pinkie exclaimed bouncing up and down in excitement, which made me look at her in confusion.

“How can this mare be so hyper for an Earth pony?” I thought watching her continue to bounce up and down.

“Because I can princess! Plus how many sweets I eat!” I heard in my head in her voice, getting me to yelp in surprise.

“Pinkie darling, can you not scare the princess with your strange abilities.” Rarity comments to her pink friend, who stopped bouncing for a second before she smiles apologetically.

“Sorry princess Celestia… I can't control it sometimes, it just happens.” she apologizes, making me have a small smile on my face.

“It's okay Pinkie Pie, it just startled me for a moment is all.” I reply with my motherly tone, getting her to smile widely before continuing her jumping.

“Okay princess, and i'll try not to do it again, though some ponies like it when I do things like that.” she said while bouncing, she was always going to confuse me.

“So as to what Ms.Pie said, young Sparkle has most likely gone back to our old castle to find her element.” Luna said, getting the girls to smile.

“Then that's where we need to go too!” Rainbow Dash said, the others agreed immediately, even me.

“Then I'll teleport all of us to the entrance, we may find her just entering if we do.” I say as they gather around, ready to teleport.

“Ready princess.” Applejack says before i activate my magic and teleport all of us to the edge of Ponyville, right by the entrance to the Everfree Forest.

“Well, what are we waitin’ for everypony? Let's get goin’!” Applejack said before marching straight towards the forest only to be blocked by Discord.

“Well hello little Applejack, and of course hello to the rest of you.” he says while popping into existence.

“Discord… move out of our way!” Luna calls out, almost reaching the RC voice, which wouldn't be good.

“Sorry Lulu, but i have a little part of what's going on right now, and sadly I can't allow all of you to enter the forest, therefore, only six of you may enter, while the two that stay behind have to play a game with me.” he says, grinning evilly at all of us, i looked immediately looked to Luna, seeing she was looking at me, she nodded.

“We will play your game Discord.” I say stepping up with Luna, he got a very excited expression before floating up to us.

“Well i always wanted to play a little game with you KK, and with Lulu too, oh this is going to be fun!” he says teleporting the three of us to a random location. “Welcome to the arena of Chaos, where our little game will be played, your objective, each of you have to hit me with three beams of magic, my goal, don't get hit.” he explained, we readied our magic.

“Sounds easy enough.” Luna says, but just before we can start, Discord disappears in a blinding flash, making us close our eyes, when our vision returned, we saw that there were at least twenty Discords that were our size or slightly smaller surrounding us.

“That's the twist princesses, you have to find the real me.” all of the Discords say all at the same time.

“Oh… well that complicates things.” Luna replied, making me roll my eyes in annoyance.
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<<>>

“So… where do you think Twilight is?” Fluttershy asked everypony as we entered the forest, it was now getting late, and we were halfway to the castle.

“I don't know darling, but i do hope she's safe.” Rarity says, I could hear the worry in her voice.

“Now don't worry y’all, Twilight is stronger than she looks, not tah mention she got magic, she'll have an easier time traversin' the forest that we will.” I say as we slowly get closer to the castle, the change in the surroundings getting easier to tell that we were going in the right direction.

It started to get dark when we made it to the bridge, we saw a cloaked figure sitting on one of the large rocks near the doors, which were closed at the moment, the entire castle looked like it was repaired recently, the figure was whistling a slightly upbeat tune while working on something.

“Hey, who’re you!?” RD calls out as she flies up to the figure, who stopped whistling as she landed, we quickly walked up to both of them.

“Ah, you lot must be the Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy that i was told about.” the figure said with a female voice as she stood up.

“That's right darling, but how do you know us?” Rares confirmed for the female, i could see a small smile on her face.

“Good, then i guess you girls are all here to see Ms.Sparkle?” she asked getting our attention, she had seen Twi.

“Yeah, we are, so are ya goin’ to let us through?” I asked stepping up to her, she just giggled.

“Sorry, but Ms.Sparkle can't be disturbed, or even gain help from others while in there.” the figure said nodding to the door.

“And why’s that?” I asked getting up in her face, I was ready to throw a swing at her.

“Because she's currently going through the second trial, which means that nothing comes in or out, unless she's defeated, then she'll be tossed out of the doors, where she'll have to face me and the first trial again.” she replied before sitting back down on the rock, looking at the door, as if expecting something.

“Well what if we went through this trial too, could we help her then?” Fluttershy spoke up, getting all of us to look at the cloaked figure for an answer.

“Nope, this is the Trial of Magic, only the bearer of the Element of Magic can compete in the trials, but don't worry, you'll all have your own trials, but none of you have been given the riddle to find it.” she says leaning back, relaxing on the rock, this got me angry, and apparently so was Dash, because she launched herself at the figure, pulling a fist out to punch her.

What happened next was something i don't think i'll ever unsee, the figure was about to get punched by Rainbow, when all of a sudden she flipped off the rock and jumped over Dash, hitting her right between the wings, which made then lock up and made Dash fall face first into the ground in a yelp of pain.

“Rainbow Dash!” Flutters called out before rushing over to her.

“Don't worry about your friend, she's fine, I just locked her wings for the time being.” the figure said before sitting at the base of the door, we looked over to Fluttershy, she was looking over RD’s body quickly but expertly.

“She's right, the only thing that's happened is locked wings, by the location of the PoI, the wings will unlock themselves in a few hours.” she said almost mechanically.

“Well would you look at that, the shy one has military experience.” the figure chuckled out, getting our attention.

“Learned it from my mother, she was apart of the E.P.D. before meeting my dad, she had to deal with the injured all the time, taught me everything I know, it's how I can take care of animals so easily.” Shy replies as she sits Dash up against the rock that the figure was just on.

“Cool, I was trained by guards myself, mostly to help my brother, it's how I knew where to hit without seriously injuring her.” she says before leaning her head back. “Speaking of injures, i should probably heal up, Sparkle can definitely put up one heck of a fight when she's determined on something.” she said before lighting up her hands in magic.

“What happened for you to need healing?” Pinkie asked looking at her curiously.

“Twilight Sparkle kicked my flank after a three hour long, hard fight, what else.” she replied making intricate green circles in her hands before placing them upon themselves.

“Ha, served you right!” Dash called out from her place against the rock.

“If you think she got out of it unscathed, then you're wrong Dashie, she has about the same amount of damage done to her, if not more since i got five good punches on her before the true fight began, and there is no doubt in my mind that she's currently getting her flank kicked right behind those doors.” she said just before the doors buckled suddenly, getting all of us to jump in surprise, she just cracked the door open.

“I wonder who's on the other side of the door…” I thought before she spoke up to whoever was on the other side.

“You good there?” she asked whoever was on the other side of the crack, I could barely hear a groan in response before she spoke again. “Getting your flank kicked?” she asked, getting another groan, longer and louder this time. “Figured as much, well, don't just lie there purple smarts, get back in there and try to kick his flank.” she said before closing the door and resting against it.

“That was Twilight, wasn't it.” I said as she relaxed across the two doors.

“Yep, she's getting her flank kicked hard, if the groans of pain and misery were anything to go by, so it'll either be her being tossed out of the roof, and therefore set back to the first trial, or she… actually beats the guy in there, moving onto the third trial, i'm fifty-fifty on deciding at this point.” she replies with a yawn halfway through her explanation.

“Wait, why fifty-fifty on deciding?” Flutters asked looking up from Dash.

“Because i'm the strongest in terms of physical strength out of everypony here to test her, while her current opponent best strength lies in stealth, meaning he can hit her multiple times while in the lowest amount of shadows possible, and while he's nowhere as strong as me, he can do major damage over time, so unless she adapts and hits him, she might as well quit.” she explains, turning her head to look at the doors. “You lot might as well rest up, cause once she's done, you'll go in with me.” she says relaxing even more.

It took until six in the morning the next day for something to happen, that thing was two purple lights shooting out of the castle.

“Well would you look at that, she actually did it.” the mare said before looking through the doors. “We good here?” I hear her ask somepony.

I could hear another voice, though very muffled before she popped her head back out to look at us.

“We good, come on in girls.” she said opening the door slightly wider before going in.

We entered the castle and were surprised by how well built it looked now, there was another cloaked figure sitting on princess Celestia’s old throne, waiting for us, the mare hops up to them before sitting in their lap, leaning into them.

“Hey Nova~” she says nuzzling his cheek for a moment.

“Hey Arty, now, I believe introductions are in order for these five lovely mares.” the male said as he glanced at the mare before i felt his eyes bore into my soul.

“Of course dear, now, the white unicorn is Rarity, the Element of Generosity, next to her is Pinkie Pie, the Element of Laughter, then there’s the two pegasi, Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash, the Elements Kindness and Loyalty respectively, and finally we have Applejack, the Element of Honesty.” she says pointing to each one of us in turn.

“It's nice to meet all of you, i am Novuas Steelstream, but you may Nova for short.” the male said bowing his head in greeting.

“It's nice to meet you too Mr.Nova, but we need to get to Twilight fast, so can you pretty please show us where she went?” Pinkie asked, hoping that being nice to them would change their minds.

“Even if I did, you would all get hurt.” he replied, getting us to look at him in confusion, he seemed to notice. “The first two trials were physical combat and instinct, seeing how she fought and reacted in certain ways and opponents, the next two are all about magic and mental fortitude.” he explained, that got us to understand that the next tests are all about magic.

“Oh… okay then, but when will we know when she's done?” Flutters asks, getting him to look over at the door leading to princess Luna’s side of the castle.

“We’ll know, but until then, enjoy yourselves, it will be a couple of hours before she passes the next trial.” he says before a small stone table comes out of the ground, then filling with lots of different foods and drinks.

“Sweet! Let's dig in!” Dash exclaimed before jumping at the table, her wings now fully functional again.
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<<>>

“Okay, three questions before the third trial starts.” I say, to which my newest opponent nodded in response. “Okay, first question, what are the next two trials going to be about?” I ask, my opponent smiled widely.

“This trial is all about your mental fortitude, we will be having a fight within our minds, while the trial after, is all about magic, and I mean everything about magic.” the figure, who I now know is a female responded before nodding her head. “Two left.” she commented before going completely silent.

“Okay… why is Arcana doing all of this?” I ask, thinking about the answers i got from the last two ponies.

“He wants to test you, and your Element agrees with him, therefore, this Trial of Magic, you have proved yourself better than we could ever have hoped when it came to physical fighting and reacting upon instinct alone, but now we must test you mentally and magically.” she responded, making me smile a bit, I did better than expected, that was good.

“Okay, last question, why did Arcana help Discord even though he's evil?” I ask, getting the female to chuckle, making me confused.

“Discord isn’t evil, he's Chaotic Neutral, meaning he isn't good, but he isn't evil either, as for Arcana helping him, he promised Discord that he could help him once, a debt for freeing him from his own stone prison.” she replied before i felt something enter my body, making me sleepy.

I fell to the ground, but notice that she also fell to the ground. When I opened my eyes again, I saw that my body had a small transparency to it, making me think of ghosts, before the blackness parted to show me a hallway, with a light at the end, I slowly made my way towards it, when I saw what was in front of me, I nearly fainted, i was in the biggest library I could ever imagine, at one table there sat a unicorn that I never saw before, who looked like she was playing chess with a robot and winning, she also seemed bored about it. She beat the robot after a few more minutes afterwards, the contraption and board vanished into thin air, she stood up and straightened her dress before looking at me.

“Ah, you're here, finally, now the trial can begin.” she replied before standing up and showing six crystals, each a different color.

“What are those?” I ask before remembering that i couldn't ask questions.

“These are six of your emotions, Love,” she says holding out the pink one before switching it with a green one. “Willpower,” she then swapped to a yellow one. “Fear,” she then swapped it with a purple one. “Compassion,” she then held out a blue one. “Hope, and finally, Magic.” she says holding out a pure lavender crystal. “These are the six strongest attributes about you, therefore, you must find them, if you can do it before that hourglass empties in a full rotation, then you pass the trial, if not, then you must go back to the second trial.” she explains while pointing towards a very large hourglass.

Said hourglass looked like it was ready to turn over, it only needed a nudge for the sand to start pouring into the empty side.

“Ready?” she asks holding out the six crystals, three in each hand.

I nodded my head, she simply tossed them into the air before they shot out in different directions, the hourglass started to fill.

“I hope you have the fortitude to finish this.” she said before disappearing from sight, into the many shelves above.

"Okay, I can do this." I thought to myself as I ran down one of the isles, looking from shelf to shelf for anything that could show me where one of the crystals were.

It took another fifteen minutes and a quick backtrack in order for me to find a blue book on a table, it had a soft glow that made me become attracted to it, so I opened the book, to which a flash of light enveloped my sight, making me cover my eyes. When I regained my vision, I saw a black stone hall with a light blue line going across the floor, down the hall.

"Twilight~" I heard from down the hall, it sounded just like me, only more… angelic, I guess, like princess Celestia almost.

“Who’s there?” I ask, walking down the hall, slowly following the blue line.

“Find me Twilight~” the voice replied, not even answering my question, the line then started fading away from me.

I began to sprint after the quickly fading line, the voice continuing to bait me and call for me to find it, i was growing frustrated, which made me run faster after the line of light, I could start to hear giggles coming from all around me, making me confused as I glance to my sides in case I miss something. This continued until I found a blue version of me sitting on a table, giggling at my panting form.

“Hi Twily~” the blue version of me said as i caught my breath.

“So… you're my hope?” I ask as I finally catch my breath, i'm still breathing heavily, but now i'm fully standing up.

“Yeperooni! Call me Hope, just so we don't get confused~” she says standing up and walking towards on side of the room, which was a dark yellow, letting us both stand out.

“So… how do we do this?” I ask as i was about to step forward, only to see her light up her horn, with some blast matrix’ appear on her hands.

“How do think Twily, you're here to fight, so we fight.” she comments before firing four blasts of magic at me.

“Whoa!” I yelled while jumping out of the way of the blasts, luckily, there were some pillars holding the roof up that i could duck behind.

“THIS IS COMPLETELY INSANE!!” my logical side yelled in my head as my practical side was busy looking through my spell repertoire so i could fight my hope.

“I know! Now shut up and focus! We need to win!” my practical side yelled back before going back to my spells. “Okay, I've got the order… launch spell combo Delta-Alpha-Shadow in three… two… one…” my practical side said with cold calculation.

Once i heard ‘one’ in my head I was already moving, my horn alight and two different spell matrix’ on my hands, one for third level magic bolts in my right, while I had second level homing needles in my left. I started by firing three homing needles towards her as I ducked behind another pillar, then moving up to the next set of pillars.

“Trying to hide Twily?~” she asked as a blast hit the edge of the pillar i just went behind.

“You wish Hope.” I call back before jumping toward the pillar in front of me.

My plan was simple, move between the pillars until I could get close enough, the second set of pillars away from her would be good, then switch from homing needles to a shot shield, letting me fire my bolts of magic while protecting myself from any magic blasts or any projectile coming from her, and for the most part, it seemed to be working, I was slowly moving up the pillars, as I had to dodge a few blasts from Hope when she wasn't busy dodging my needles.

“Not bad Twily~, not bad at all~” she compliment while blocking two needles, she was quite the gymnast, she seemed to know what the needles did, as one of her hands was now locked up for a bit.

Now the ‘Homing Needle’ spell wasn't used for lethal damage, as it was more of a nerve spell, meaning that it would either lock up said targeted limb, or make it go to sleep, both ways work, in fact, the royal guards use this spell often.

“Okay… let's finish this.” I think as I reached the closest pillar, i took a deep breath before changing my left needle spell matrix into a shot shield matrix.

I rushed out just in time to see her block the last of my needles, just as I had hoped, i had jumped just as she turned towards me letting me go over her and land close enough for a bash, which I accomplished, I then went over to her and leveled my bolt matrix towards her.

“Yield.” I simply said, my magic a little drained, keeping the spells going for that long, she chuckled.

I yield Twilight, you have completed the Sub-trial of Hope.” she says before she exploded into blue energy.

Said energy started to wrap around me in a comforting glow, until it faded and I was blinking around at the shelves of the library again, the book in front of me no longer glowing, letting me know that I needed to move on, but I noticed that part of my magic felt more powerful, specifically, my magic blasts and bolts.

“Interesting, i'll have to test that out later, most likely the next test.” I thought as I traversed the grand library quickly, looking for the next glow, the next pull.

Author's Note

Alright! Number 13! Now for those wondering what 'PoI' & 'EPD' mean in this story, they are the following:
PoI - Point of Impact
EPD - Emergency Pegasi Division

Now until the next chapter, and no spoilers. Sorry~ until next time my lovely little terrors, and remember, stay terrifying!