It is finally peaceful yet again. With the defeat of the Changeling Queen, Equestria is safe and peaceful again. After this memorable event, life seemed to go back to normal in Canterlot over time. All the excitement seemed to die down. Those outer cities were never affected by any of these disasterous events, at least not enough to bring panic. The six friends went back to their home in Ponyville and they continued their daily lives, satisfied that the world was at peace again.
Rarity went back to her shop, ready to design more clothes based on the fashions she saw in Canterlot during the wedding. Pinkie Pie had gone to work again at Sugar Cube Corner, keeping true to her personality and bringing joy to everyone she meets. Fluttershy went back to her cottage and took care of her animals and her Angel. Applejack had gone back to Sweet Apple Acres and had to work double time in order to get back on schedule, what with leaving Big Macintosh to harvest alone. Rainbow Dash had got back to her job and was, as always, up to her usual training.
Twilight Sparkle had been affected the most by recent events. As expected, she went back to her library and got back to her studies. Only, Shining Armor and Cadence had come to Ponyville to visit Twilight for a few months. Shining Armor had taken some vacation to spend some long-overdue quality time with Twilight. They stayed in a vacant room in a house near the library.
They had spent a lot of time together during their visit. They got caught up on all that they had been up to and all that had happened. Twilight's friends had also spent time with Cadence and Shining Armor. They all had a good time. Things slowly, but eventually, went back to normal. Everypony just went along with their daily activities and their usual adventures. But, a few months later, things took a turn for the worst.
Twilight woke up one morning to see a beautiful morning. The sun was shining, the early morning weather patrol did a good job of clearing the sky of all clouds and bad weather. Some of the early risers were up and about with their usual business, whether it was some early shopping or just to have an early walk through the town. Rainbow Dash must have been one of those early risers, because she was flying over Ponyville at top speed. All in all, it was looking to be a pretty good day.
Twilight looked towards Canterlot to see, in the distance, a chariot coming towards Ponyville. It was being flown by the Canterlot Royal Guard, so it must be important. It stopped in front of the library and a stallion was standing tall inside the chariot. "Shining Armor? What are you doing here so soon?"
"Twilight? I'm here here on royal duty from the Princess. I'm sorry I don't have time to catch up. Could you do me a favor?
"Sure, anything."
"Could you help me gather everyone into the town square?"
Um, sure." Shining Armor walked off towards the center of town. "Well, that was strange."
"Hey, Rainbow Dash," Twilight shouted up at the blue pegasus flying above, "can you help me get everyone to the town square?"
"Sure thing, but why?"
"I'm not sure. Shining Armor wants everyone there."
"Shining Armor is back? Already?"
"Yeah, he said it's for royal business."
Rainbow flew off to gather everypony to the town square, and Twilight trotted off to do the same thing. After visiting quite a few ponies, she figured that she had found all of them. When she walked into the square, she saw all sorts of ponies. Some that were attentive and eagerly awaiting what a royal guard would have to say, others were upset that they were woken up so rudely this early in the morning, and even some that were trying to get back to sleep in the small amount of room that they had. Once everypony had gathered in the center of Ponyville, Shining Armor had started speaking. He cleared his
throat, and then addressed the crowd.
"Good morning, everypony. I have come with a message from our Princess Celestia." His horn started glowing, and an official-looking parchment floated in front of him. He unrolled it and read: "In light of recent events, I, Princess Celestia have declared to hereby ban all use of magic by everypony in Equestria." This statement had been enough to silence an entire crowd of Wonderbolts fans, even as crazy as they are. After a few long seconds, it was met with several outbursts of disagreement and murmurs of dissatisfied unicorns. "All magic studies, magic groups, and magic support groups are to be shut down immediately. Any pony caught performing any act of magic will be punished. These punishments include, but are not limited to: house-arrest, imprisonment, or painless horn removal." This was met with shouts of anger, threats, and even a few curses among the shouting. Some of the ponies started rushing to Shining Armor, but the other guards held them back. "All magical items or objects with magical properties will be confiscated. Houses will be searched for said items and anypony caught lying will be punished. These punishments include, but are not limited to: house-arrest, imprisonment, or fines. There will be guards posted throughout all inhabited areas of Equestria. They are assigned to keep everypony in check. This is to take effect immediately. Signed, Princess Celestia."
This news, needless to say, caused an uproar. All the ponies were rioting. All the ponies looked just behind Shining Armor when they saw a dark violet mist swirling around the guards. A few seconds later, Princess Luna stepped ominously out of the mist. The rioting instantly stopped. She walked in front of the guards, who were just as surprised as everypony else. She walked slowly with a stern look and her head high. The princess looked over the crowd and, using her Royal Voice,
addressed the crowd.
"My sister wasn't the only one who thought this was a good idea. I was the one who suggested it. If anypony has any complaints, say them now directly to me, or face the wrath of Nightmare Moon! I feel we are doing all we can to protect the citizens of Equestria. If anypony disagrees, they had better speak up. They will not get another chance."
The entire crowd was silent, save for one. "How can you ban magic? It is what makes the world work. Without it, we will become weak."
"Who speaks? Come and say this right to me."
Rainbow Dash flew up from the crowd and was enraged by these recent events. She flew up to Luna and put her face right next to Luna's. This did not make Luna flinch or intimidate her. "Why would you do that? Are you trying to take away our rights?"
Luna used her magic to pin Rainbow Dash's wings to her back, making her incapable of flight. Rainbow fell to the ground and tried to open her wings. Luna's magic was too strong. "Do you want to ban flying as well? We are perfectly capable of doing that."
Rainbow Dash just sat down, crossed her hooves across her chest, and sat there quietly. All was quiet for what seemed like forever. Eventually, Luna broke the silence. "It seems everypony understands these changes. I know this will be hard to accept, but you will all get used to it. Until our next meeting." The violet mist appeared again, and Luna disappeared into it. The guards started walking off towards their chariot.
All of the ponies, even after this horrific news, decided to get on with their day. The crowd quickly dispersed."Shining Armor! Why did the princess do this?" Twilight Sparkle had approached her brother who was about to follow the guards to the chariot.
"Twilight. I'm sorry about this. I have nothing to do with this. I just think the princess was afraid something like the Changeling Queen will come again and all of Equestria will be lost. This is only to keep the citizens safe. Please understand."
"What about you and the guards? Are they allowed to use magic?"
"All the guards have been given special permission to use magic. I have also been given permission."
"Well, what about my studies? How am I supposed to keep up?" Twilight had the beginnings of tears in her eyes. "I don't think I can do it. Why would she do it?"
"I know you can do it. You know why? You're my sister, that's why. I have to return to Canterlot now. I will be back before too long."
Twilight said her goodbyes and then started walking towards the library. Her mind was racing with thoughts and questions. 'Why would the princess do this? Am I not allowed to use magic anymore? How am I supposed to live without being who I am?' She was so concentrated on her thoughts that she didn't notice her friends nearby. "What to do? What to do?" Twilight was speaking to herself.
"Twilight?" Rainbow Dash spoke up. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'll be fine."
"You sure, sugarcube?" Appkejack asked.
"Yeah I think I'll be fine. What about Rarity?"
"She's not taking it too well." Rainbow Dash looked over at Rarity who was in front of her shop with tears streaming down her face. Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy were next to her trying to comfort her. "I think this hit everyone pretty hard. We're all shocked by this."
"Well, I think we should take her back to the boutique now. And let her cool down."
Everypony had to calm her down enough in order to get her to move at all. Eventually, they managed to convince her enough to get her back home. "Well, I think I'm going back to the library now."
"All right. Try not to think 'bout it too much." Applejack said.
"Okay. See you later, girls."
Twilight walked back to the library, all the while contemplating how she will survive without magic. She opened the door to see Spike and a Canterlot guard in the front room. The guard was a unicorn. "Twilight! Thanks goodness you're here. This guard has been asking about you."
"What does he want?" Twilight whispered in Spike's ear.
"I don't know," Spike whispered back, "but this came for you earlier." Spike was holding a scroll with Princess Celestia's seal on it.
Twilight opened the scroll and quickly read through it. "Dear Twilight, by this time, you should have heard the new law that is to take effect immediately. Please do not stress over this too much. I have assigned a guard to keep an eye on you. This is because I will allow you to use magic, but only under the supervision of the guard. This is a very stressful time for everypony, please don't take this personally. Signed, Princess Celestia."
"So, you are going to let me do magic as long as you are here?"
"That is correct." The guard said in a deep voice. "I am to keep an eye on you and you are to alert me when you are going to be doing anything."
"This sounds almost like house arrest."
"Not at all. You will never know I am here."
"Okay. Can you tell me about yourself?"
"There isn't much to tell."
"How about your name."
The guard looked at Twilight with a straight face. "Iron Storm."
"Well, Iron, do I have to tell you whenever I am going anywhere?"
"Not at all. I will just follow you."
"I am going to see how Rarity is doing."
"Lead on."
Twilight looked at the guard with a raised eyebrow. She looked at Spike as she went out the library and he just shrugged. "I guess this means more work for me. Great." Spike whispered as they walked out.
Most of the ponies must've been inside because the streets were usually empty. There was not so much as a single pony walking around or a single stall open for business. The rocky road seemed to resonate with the clacking of the two ponies hooves almost ominously. The town was so quiet. It almost seems like there was just an execution or something else horrific. If there was so much as an apple hitting the ground, you could hear it all the way to Canterlot. After a few minutes of walking in a dark silence, They reached the boutique.
"Rarity? Are you home?" Twilight asked as she walked into the front room of the store. As she walked up the stairs behind the front room, she could hear light crying, coming from two rooms. She walked up to one and knocked on the door. She heard the voice of a filly. "Yeah, who's there. Is it you Rarity?"
"No, it's just me, Twilight." The door opened and Sweetie Bell walked out. "Where's Rarity?"
"She is in the room down there." She managed to say in between the tears. She pointed her hoof down the hallway towards a door that was beautifully painted. Twilight and Sweetie Bell walked up to the door. Twilight knocked on the door.
"Who is it?"
"It's Twilight."
After a few seconds, the door opened and an un-brushed Rarity was standing in the doorway. She was wearing a purple robe with a golden "R" on the sides of it. It looked to be very expensive and delicate. "Oh Twilight, isn't it just horrible! What am I supposed to do without magic? How can I keep my shop?" She gasped. "I'll lose my business! I'll have to live on the streets! What am I to do?"
"Calm down, Rarity. It won't help if you stress out over it." Twilight walked Rarity over to her bed, which was wet in the middle from Rarity's tears. "You need to take a deep breath and calm down."
"You're right, Twilight. Who is this?" She asked to the guard.
"This is Iron Storm. He is a Canterlot Guard assigned to keep an eye on me. He says I can use magic as long as he is around."
"What? So you are allowed to use magic, but the rest of us can't?" Sweetie Bell asked.
"Well," Twilight looked at Iron. "I don't know."
"I have only been given orders to allow Twilight to perform magic. I'm sorry."
"But I have just started learning how to do magic! This isn't fair!" She said before she ran back to her room and slammed the door.
"Just let her cool down a little bit. She'll come around eventually." Rarity assured.
"Are you going to be okay?"
"I don't know. I just don't know how to handle this. I'm just so used to using magic. It sure is going to be different around here."
"Yeah, a lot different. I'm not used to some pony watching my every move." She glanced at Iron, who still had that same face he had before. "Are you sure you are going to be okay?" Twilight glanced into Rarity's deep, longing, blue eyes.
"I just don't know. I guess I'll find out. I'm pretty sure I can manage. This is your friend Rarity. I can do it."
"Well, I'm glad. If you ever need anything, just let me know. Have a good day, Rarity." Twilight walked out and back into the front room of the boutique. There were several beautiful outfits on ponyquines and on the walls of the store. "Oh Rarity, I hope you can keep making these amazing outfits." Twilight said to herself.
The walk back to the library was almost the same as the walk there. Only, a few things changed. First off, the pegasi sure did a good job matching the mood of the town. The entire sky was covered in grey, billowing clouds. There wasn't necessarily a scheduled shower today, but they all thought it would work today better than any other. The entire walk was made in rain. First, just a drizzle. By the time they got there, a downpour.
Twilight walked in and Spike was trying to sweep up all the dust after re-arranging some books on the top shelves. He noticed then coming in soaking wet, and ran off. A few seconds later, he came back with a few towels for the two ponies. They put them on, and then walked over the window.
"Spike, say hello to the future. Without magic, the world just seems to be missing something."
"Yeah, I'll say. Now it seems like the Princess has really gone overboard. I respect her, but what made her think this was a good idea?"
"It was both of them. Luna says she was the one to suggest it."
"Luna? But I thought she had already gotten used to life in Equestria now. Why would she do something like this?"
"I don't know, Spike, but I think we have a hard road ahead of us. Life might not get easier because of this."
The rain was pounding against the window and the hard wood of the tree, symbolizing the dreary world that Equestria was becoming. The two ponies and the dragon walked up the stairs and sat next to the beds. They just talked about the Princesses, the past, and what the world might have in store for them in the future.
"Twilight, can we go now?" Spike pleaded impatiently as he paced back and forth.
"Just one minute, Spike." Twilight said as she levitated the last few books into place. Iron was, of course, sitting out of the way, observing everything silently. "I have only one thing left to do."
"Well, hurry up, we're going to be late!"
"I will hurry." Twilight said as she used her magic to put the last few cleaning supplies away. She had spent all night cleaning up the library. Some pony had a very intriguing question that Twilight did not have the answer to. So, she spent all night looking for the answer, and created quite a mess in the process. Pinkie was throwing a party at Sugar Cube Corner. She said everypony was upset about the recent changes, and they needed to cheer up.
It has been a month since they had heard the news. It hit pretty hard in some places in Equestria. Ponyville was built by earth ponies, so they weren't hit too hard. The unicorns were not the same, but everything else went back to normal. Thankfully, no pony has been punished, or at least caught, for magic.
Life continued on in a pretty normal fashion for Twilight. She was busier than usual, as of late. For some reason, some pony would come in and ask for a particularly strange book almost every day. It was never the same pony, nor the same book. But, they were checking things out like, "Forbidden Magic Spells Throughout the Ages", "Magical Energies - A Power Source from just Magic", and "Ancient Magic Spells, History and Evolution of Magic." At first, it seemed just like a pony wanted to learn more about history. But, when it became more frequent, she started to get worried. The strangest thing was that it was never unicorns looking for the books. It was mostly earth ponies.
Twilight had asked Iron what he thought about this and he usually just looked at her thoughtfully. He isn't a pony of many words, but he is good company. He isn't very aggressive or rude, he just likes to be alone with his thoughts. This never keeps him from doing his duty, though. Twilight learned a little bit about him over the time they were together. He seems like he is worried about those books and what could be happening.
But, now wasn't the time to worry. Now is a time to enjoy friends, catch up on everything, and just have a good time. Twilight finished everything up and they got ready to go. They left the library, locked the door behind them, and headed to Sugar Cube Corner. More ponies were out lately. Things had almost gone back to normal. They were all busy going somewhere or doing something. The stalls were all open and a lot of ponies were busy doing some shopping.
The two ponies and the dragon walked through town towards the party. When they got there, all of their friends were already there. Pinkie Pie had, once again, thrown a great party. It looked like every pony was having a great time. Twilight spotted Rarity in a corner talking with a few other ponies. Twilight walked over to her with Iron Storm in tow, and Spike going to check out the sweets. Rarity looked like she was really tired. She had rings around her eyes, and her eyes had a glazed-over look to them. "Hey Rarity."
"Oh, hello Twilight."
"How are you doing?"
"It certainly is a lot more difficult to keep up with my shop without magic. My hooves are simply killing me! But, I still have to keep up the shop. I can't afford to lose time and business."
"All right, Rarity. Just don't overwork yourself, okay? We don't want something like that incident with the dresses to happen again." Twilight remembered when Rarity offered to make everypony a dress for the Gala. She worked day and night, just to please all of us. She was publicly humiliated and was distraught after what had happened. If that was to happen again, her friends might not be able to bring her back.
"Oh, don't you worry about me. I'm doing fine."
"All right Rarity. Take it easy. Don't overwork yourself." Twilight saw many of her other friends there, too. Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, and Pinkie Pie (of course). She had talked with all of them. Their lives haven't changed a whole lot, since they don't rely on magic. There were other ponies that were having trouble, but it was usually minor things.
Everypony had a good time at the party. They had played several games, did karaoke, talked a lot, and ate a lot of cake. But, once everything had settled down, everypony was getting back to their normal lives. You can't party all the time, and you can't always have a good time, so you had better enjoy the time you do get. Because once that is done, it's over, you can't make it last forever.
Once everypony had left, Twilight was helping Pinkie clean up Sugar Cube Corner. They were almost done. All of the cake had been cleaned up, all the balloons and streamers had been put in their appropriate areas. Iron Storm had had some cake, and played a game or two, but he never lost Twilight. He sure is good at his job. At this time, he was standing out of the way, watching Twilight and Pinkie Pie clean up. He did talk to a few ponies, mostly just unicorns, though.
"Did you enjoy the party?" Pinkie asked, still bursting with energy.
"Yeah. It was fun. You really helped everypony out today."
"I know, right. It was so fun! We should do it again sometime. I am just glad to see their smiles back!" She said with a beam.
"All right. See you later, Pinkie." Twilight had started to walk out the door when something had caught her eye. It was under one of the tables, whatever it is. It had a crimson color on it. As she got closer, she noticed it was an envelope. It was a royal red color. It looked like it was from a king.
Twilight picked it up. "Whose do you think this is?" Twilight asked Pinkie Pie. There was no return address or sending address. The front of it was completely blank.
"I have no idea." Pinkie said as she bounced over. "We should read it and find out!"
"But, that would be wrong. We should take it to the post office and see if anypony there recognizes it. It could be that one mail-mare with the yellow hair. I think I saw here today."
"Maybe. You should go find out!"
Twilight walked out and started walking towards the post office. It wasn't too far. It was relatively close to the center of town. When she got there, she walked right up to the attendant behind a desk at the far side of the room. "Um, excuse me. Do you recognize this envelope?" Twilight asked as she levitated the crimson envelope in front of her.
"No, sorry. I can ask the mail carriers." She went into a back room and brought out several mail ponies. Twilight asked all of them, but none of them recognized it. As she was about to walk out, another mail pony came in through the front door. She had a yellow mane and had a bag on. "Excuse me," Twilight said, "do you recognize this letter?"
"No, I don't. Sorry."
Twilight sighed. "That's okay." She walked out and headed for the library. Iron Storm was following behind her. He was right when he said she wouldn't even know he was there. For a second, she forgot he was still there. They walked silently back to the library, Twilight levitating the envelope trying to think of whose it could be.
When they got back, Spike was upstairs asleep in his bed. He left the party a lot earlier than Twilight and Iron Storm, he must have been tired. Twilight walked over to a desk she had in the front room and set the letter down. "What do you think?" She asked Iron.
He doesn't talk a lot, but for some reason, he talked now. "The only way to find out is to open it."
Twilight looked at him and saw the seriousness in his eyes. "I guess you're right." She said as she lifted up a small knife and began to open the envelope. As she was opening it, she saw a neatly-folded letter inside. She levitated it, opened it up, and read it to herself.
"Dear Twilight Sparkle,
You have been selected to enter the group know as M.A.G.E. (Magical Arbitrary Groups of Equestria.) We have been watching you, and have decided to accept you as an honorary member of M.A.G.E. Should you choose to accept it, meet at the old, twisted oak tree 269 yards into the Everfree Forest, right next to a fork in the road exactly 3 days from reading this letter.. Come alone. Should you choose to accept, send the enclosed gem in an envelope and give it to the post office attendant with the following numbers for a sending address: 00448112. The attendant will know who to give it to. In the forest, you will meet a pony that hides in the the clear of day, and will not be seen. Tell them this: "M.A.G.E. Has sent for me. Altmuri Depensdi." You will then join us. For your safety and ours, this letter has been written in special ink to allow only you to read it. But, we do not take risks, so as soon as you read this, burn it. If we find that we have been compromised or you betray us, we will find you.
Signed,
M.A.G.E."
"It's blank." Iron Storm said.
"Yeah..." Twilight said, still distracted by the letter. She looked in the envelope to see a small diamond shard. She took it out and looked at it. She lit a candle and held up the letter to it.
"What are you doing?" Iron asked.
"Well, we don't know what it is or if it can be dangerous, so I thought we should just dispose of it." Twilight lied. She didn't really like lying, especially to a pony that is only trying to protect her. She felt guilty and didn't want to do this, but she had to find out what this group was.
"What about that gem?"
"Well, if someone claims it, we can give it to them." Twilight explained.
"Okay." That's all he said.
Twilight put the letter in the flame and watched as it was consumed by the fire. The paper burned a bright blue. It didn't take long for it to be turned into ash. Once the letter had been consumed completely, and nothing but ashes were left, Twilight blew out the candle and swept up the ashes.
Twilight noticed that the sun was going down. "We should probably get some sleep." She said after a few seconds. Iron Storm just nodded in agreement. Twilight hid the gem so that Spike couldn't eat it and headed up the stairs. It was sure going to be a long 3 days. Twilight just couldn't get that letter out of her head...