Amulet

By the time Celestia rose the sun, Twilight had discovered two things about the Alicorn Amulet; one; It was a tangled web of complicated and mystifying enchantments seemingly designed to drive her insane, and two, It was working.

On the surface, the thing seemed simple enough. The enchantment to prevent removal by anypony but the wearer was a common spell, used on everything from wedding rings to Twilight's crown. Under that, however, was the single most incomprehensible piece of magic Twilight had ever seen. Or maybe it was the multiple most incomprehensible pieces of magic she had ever seen. She couldn't tell. It — or they — had elements from just about every spell Twilight had ever heard of, ranging from healing to transmutation to actual, literal necromancy.

I can show you what it means.

Twilight shook her head. Her lack of sleep was getting to her. This hadn't been the first night she'd been woken up by dreams like this. The first few had been chaotic and jumbled, waking her up disoriented and panicked. After that, they steadily grew more intelligible until...

They are not dreams.

She should talk to Luna. She'd be able to help. After that was dealt with she could actually focus on studying the stupid necklace.

Sighing, Twilight set the Amulet back in its drawer. It was morning, she was hungry, and she could worry about ancient evil artifacts and bad dreams after she got breakfast.

The sun was being set by the time Moody finally stopped breathing. Cries from the animals in the surrounding forest grew louder as darkness encroached. Soft crimson light had started steaming from Moody's corpse, sending shadows dancing around the cramped room. Blue Sky hadn't moved an inch and was softly crying to herself. Her thoughts were still panicked, but they came more slowly now that she was not in imminent physical danger.

Harmony, he's dead! What am I going to do? Will the Guard think I did it? Did I do it? The necklace said it did it, but necklaces can't talk, right? Am I crazy?

Patience. They could be patient. The mare would touch the amulet again soon enough. They just had to wait.

I hit my head somewhere, and this whole thing is a hallucination. I'll wake up soon, and Dad'll be fine, I'll be back home and everything'll be okay.

They had waited in that box for an age already, they could stand to wait some more.

Everything'll be fine, everything'll go back to normal, everything'll be fine, everything'll be okay-

Perhaps a prompting was in order.

Blue started, jerking to look back at the Amulet as a pulse of magic thrummed through the room, powerful enough to make her mane stand on end. The light seeping from Moody's body flared into a scarlet inferno for a half-second before dying out completely. The shadows on the walls flickered wildly before becoming completely still, held in place by the bright red light coming from the now glowing Amulet.

A whisper tickled the edges of Blue's hearing, clearly audible yet not interpretable. Tentatively, she lowered her head closer to the shining jewelry, seeking a source to the unnerving sound. Gradually, as she grew closer, soft words began to make themselves clear.

-have done naught but claim our rightful place! Our domain-

This close to the Amulet, Blue could see faint movement in the bright glow of the central gem. A bright sea of red, ebbing and flowing to an unheard rhythm.

-unmade by thy hubris, and by her death, thy sins have been made clear-

Dozens of voices overlapped each other, fading in and out. The crimson sea began to stir, waves crashing against each other as the unknown beat quickened.

-empire is ours by right! We will tolerate no interference from-

Blue was nearly touching the Amulet now. She had forgotten her father for the moment, transfixed by the dancing of scarlet waves and harmony of whispers.

-danger he represents was underestimated by our forebears-

Blue could see images flashing across her mind, in time with the whispers and raging sea.

-search everywhere. Whoever has taken it must be found before-

A swirling mass of dark red fog. An imperious face, lit by a horn blazing silver. A pair of alicorns in flight, framed by the sun. Rows and rows of Royal Guard standing at attention.

-have a keen eye. The Alicorn Amulet is one of the most mysterious-

Blue's snout touched the Amulet.

Hello, Blue Sky. Would you like to become a god?

Twilight jerked awake, finding herself curled up on an unfamiliar bed. Her mind raced to find an explanation, panicking until she remembered where she was.

Luna sat to her side, head bowed and horn encircled by glowing white threads. She had taken Starlight's advice and gone to Luna to help with her dreams. Once she had arrived and explained the situation, Luna had her lay on her bed and cast a sleep spell on her so she could observe her dreams.

After a moment, the threads retreated and Luna looked up at Twilight, confusion splayed across her face.

"You were not dreaming."

"What?" Twilight responded, mirroring Luna's confusion. She had been asleep, right? What else could she be doing?

"It is quite perplexing. You were certainly asleep, but you never entered the realm of dreams. I attempted to draw you in, but your mind was nowhere to be found." Luna looked troubled. "Did you see anything while you rested?"

"Yes?" Twilight was very concerned that Luna couldn't find her mind. "Um, It was about that mare, Blue Sky, again."

"Hmm. Perhaps you should search for this mare? My sister and I have had prophetic dreams in the past." Luna considered.

"I don't think I can." Twilight said regretfully, "Between my friends, princess duties, and studying the Amulet, I'm fresh out of spare time."

"The Night Court has been rather quiet lately, and I am quite interested in what could be causing this." Luna rose, signaling Twilight to join her after she got out of the traitorously comfortable bed, "I think I should like to investigate if you have no objections."

"Oh! Of course, Luna." The pair walked through the open door separating Luna's room from the balcony. "Tell me if you find anything interesting. Or If you figure out where my mind is."

"Certainly," Luna chuckled, "good luck with your research, Twilight."

Twilight flapped her wings a few times to shake the stiffness from them before she took off.

"Thanks for the help!" She called back with a wave.

Celestia did not often find herself wandering. Until recently, her schedule was so packed with appointments, meetings, and paperwork that she never had time to wander. It was a nice side effect of three more princesses arriving in the past few years that she suddenly had quite a bit more free time to spend however she'd like.

And so, she wandered. The palace was huge, with more rooms than Celestia was certain there were ponies in Canterlot. She knew all of them by heart. She found it entertaining to walk the halls no less.

The halls in question were abnormally short of ponies, with Twilight having finally been convinced to accept a contingent of Guard as her own and Luna's palace starting construction. It made the palace feel almost as empty as it had been shortly after it was finished.

It reminded her of days she'd rather forget.

Celestia huffed, drawing her attention to the door now standing in front of her. Heavy and ornate, the door to the Canterlot Vault was practically an artifact all on its own. It had enough enchantments to survive a localized fireball and could only be opened by four ponies.

Celestia's horn lit as she cast the well-practiced spell required to open it, and the door swung open without a much as a whisper. Behind, rows of pedestals held the most powerful and dangerous artifacts Equestria had ever seen. Celestia walked into the room, horn glowing to provide light as the massive door cut off the light behind her. She strode down the rows slowly, taking in each object. A set of stone-bound books covered in spikes, one of their number missing. A rusted horseshoe, sitting still in its glass case. A fiddle kept in a soundproof box with a small window. A softly-glowing sword.

Celestia came to a stop at the back of the room. There was a single pedestal there, simple and sturdy. This was the reason the Vault had been built in the first place. To store the most destructive thing Celestia had ever fought.

And it had been empty for almost a thousand years.

They never found the thief. They were almost certainly dead now. Using the Amulet for immortality would have been incredibly reckless, and the aftereffects would have been noticed immediately.

Logically, she knew she couldn't have done anything. The theft had been perfect, not a shred of evidence left behind after the Amulet was stolen. She had been recovering from one of the most intensive battles she had ever fought, and the guard was still in chaos. There had been no reason to suspect a theft was even possible.

She still felt responsible.

Celestia shook herself. There was no use in staring at an empty box and feeling sorry for herself. If the Amulet still existed, it was either resting in some forgotten part of the world or held by somepony who could keep it more secure than she could.

Light flooded back into the room as the door opened again. Celestia turned, surprised. A flash of purple light and the sudden appearance of a miniature sun near the center of the ceiling made the culprit clear.

"Twilight! I didn't know you were visiting," Celestia called as she walked towards the entrance, startling her former student out of the whirlwind of notes and paper that was circling her, "You should have told me!"

"Oh! I'm sorry!" Twilight hastily apologized, notes zipping into her saddlebags, "I was just visiting Luna and-"

"Don't apologize Twilight, I'm just teasing." Celestia chuckled. "What brings you to the Vault?"

"Well, I was in the area and I realized that there might be something here that could help with my latest research project," Twilight answered.

"And what project would that be?" Celestia questioned, curious.

"I recently recovered an old relic I encountered a few years ago. It's obviously cursed, but it has the ability to enhance magically prowess rather significantly." Twilight rambled, pulling a few notes from her bags and running through them quickly.

That was... disturbingly familiar. It was probably nothing, but better safe than sorry.

"Does the relic have a name? I've encountered a few with that description before." Celestia asked.

"The Alicorn Amulet. It's fascinating, really, I could only find a single book that mentioned it..." Twilight continued, but Celestia had stopped listening.

Twilight had the Amulet. Celestia ran through her options, starting with finding where it was and dropping the sun on it. It would probably destroy the Amulet, maybe, but the damage would be catastrophic. That would stay as a last resort, then. Throwing it in Tartarus wasn't an option; if anything there got ahold of it the consequences would be equally catastrophic. Keeping it in the Vault had already failed once, and Celestia didn't want to risk losing track of it again.
This was all ignoring what the Amulet might have already done to Twilight. The last pony to have held it for more than a few days had gone mad when it was taken from him. Could she risk the consequences of taking it?

"Celestia?" Twilight had stopped talking and was concernedly examining her face.

"Twilight?" Celestia spoke carefully. "Do you have the Amulet with you?"

"Yes. Celestia, is something wrong?"

"Could I see it, please?"

Twilight nodded apprehensively, floating the Amulet out of her bags. It was unmistakable, black steel and ruby gems glittering in the light of Twilight's artificial sun. A slight tug from Celestia's telekinesis was all it took for Twilight to relinquish her grasp.

Celestia looked at the Amulet, waiting for it to try something.

You rejected my gifts.

A sense of vertigo overwhelmed her, and Celestia was suddenly standing on the surface of a tranquil sea of blood.

"I will not offer them again."

Celestia snapped back to reality, seeing the Amulet back in Twilight's magical grip.

"I'm sorry, I just realized I've forgotten something important," Celestia hastily passed her student, headed to the doorway. "Good luck with your research."

"Celestia?" Twilight sounded panicked.

There was nothing she could do here. She could only trust that Twilight wouldn't make the same mistakes her predecessors had.

Celestia paused as she passed the threshold to the Vault, looking back at the Amulet, still held in Twilight's lavender magic. Twilight had turned, hoof raised as if deciding whether to follow her or not. The gem in the Amulets eye glinted, and Twilight lowered her hoof.

"Twilight?" Celestia could warn her. Tell her what the Amulet was capable of. Stop her from walking down the path she had nearly tread.

"Yes?" There was a look on Twilight's face Celestia could not identify.

"Please be careful."