The Greatest of All Magic

by Nate5700

Rating: teen
Tags: Discord, Violence, Death, Twilight Sparkle, Sad, Drama, Gore, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Dark, King Sombra
Length: 13636

Two hundred years in the future, Twilight Sparkle must face King Sombra without her friends.

Twilight Sparkle has retired from her role as ruler of Equestria after a two hundred year reign. Expecting to enter a peaceful retirement, she is instead confronted by the return of King Sombra, who once again seeks to enslave the ponies of Equestria and bring darkness to the land. Her friends having grown old and passed away long ago, Twilight must face Sombra alone.

Art by Adreamera, http://derpibooru.org/images/2600332

Published 2021-04-26 01:20:01 UTC
Last updated 2021-04-26 01:20:01 UTC

The Greatest of All Magic

PDF Version: https://drive.google.com/file/d/14G2TJU0NE0RjnZ4vC-JYJngwesyvAL8n/view?usp=sharing

The Greatest of All Magic

A My Little Pony Story

By Nate5700

Foreword

Agrodaemon’s powerful video “Remembrance” (https://youtu.be/HZDhMKk4tfg) was the major inspiration for this story. I highly suggest you watch it before reading. If you don’t cry you win a cookie. Any resemblance in this story to the video is entirely intentional. Hopefully I did it justice.

I realize what I did here isn’t the most original thing ever. In fact there was a YouTube commenter on the video that said he was also writing a fanfic exploring this subject. The idea that Twilight, as an alicorn princess, will outlive her friends is both fascinating and strongly implied in canon. I wanted to explore what her emotions would be as she watched her friends grow old and pass away, while dealing with a great peril to Equestria at the same time. I hope you like it.

I also would like to thank my brother Nick for being my test subject. This story wouldn’t be what it is without his feedback.

Princess Twilight Sparkle’s horn glowed purple as she called up her will. Reaching out with her magic, she opened the door to the master bedroom of Canterlot Castle. She had exhausted herself preparing for the coronation ceremony and gala, and had barely made it through the events without falling asleep standing up. Still, the coronation of her successor, Princess Flurry Heart, had gone much more smoothly than her own coronation ceremony, over two hundred years prior. After a reign lasting two centuries, she had more than earned her rest.

Twilight eased onto the bed and sighed. She would be packing her bags in the morning. This room belonged to Flurry now, and Twilight’s only remaining duty was to contemplate how to spend an eternity in retirement. She wasn’t even sure where she would go, except that Princess Cadance had offered to let her stay in the Crystal Empire for a time. The train would leave at noon the next day.

A knock came on the door. Twilight looked up, somewhat startled. She had not been expecting any visitors. “Please enter,” she called.

The door came open, and a figure stood in the doorway. A mare, very similar in appearance to Twilight, save for the white coat in contrast to Twilight’s pastel purple, and a mane of pastel green, blue, and pink which flowed as if blown by the wind, though she was indoors. The mare was an alicorn like Twilight, having both wings and horn. Twilight immediately recognized her teacher and mentor.

“Princess Celestia!” Twilight called in excitement, rushing to embrace her. “I never thought I’d see you here again.”

“I had to wish you a happy retirement, didn’t I?” Celestia replied. The two exchanged pleasantries and conversed for a time.

After about an hour of light conversation, Celestia’s face took on a more serious expression. “Have you thought about how you’re going to spend your retirement?” She asked Twilight.

Twilight sighed again. “Cadance has invited me to stay with her in the Crystal Empire. But I’m going to have to think for a while before I start anything new.”

Celestia nodded. Twilight imagined that it must have been a considerable adjustment for Celestia when she had retired. Celestia had reigned for over one thousand years. How she had managed the transition to a new life must have been even more daunting than what Twilight faced now.

“I have an important question to ask,” Celestia began, maintaining the serious look on her face. “If you knew that a particular day was the last day of your life, how would you spend it?”

Twilight cocked her head at Celestia. It was a strange question, especially considering the situation both of them faced. As alicorn princesses, their lifespans would be indefinite, lasting perhaps as long as the world itself. “I’m not sure what you mean,” Twilight replied.

“Please, Twilight, think carefully about this, and answer,” Celestia continued.

Twilight took a deep breath as her eyes fell to the floor. She thought for a moment, then looked back up at Celestia. “I would tell each of my friends how much I loved them. That is…” Twilight’s voice trailed off as she looked back to the floor.

Twilight Sparkle, the Princess of Friendship. That is what they had called her. It seemed so odd to her now. She hadn’t had a real friend in over 125 years. She had acquaintances, but kept her distance. The idea of making new friends, only to watch them grow old and perish, was too painful. Generations of ponies would come and go, but Twilight would remain, ageless.

Celestia put a wing over the shoulder of her prized student, andTwilight looked back up into the eyes of her teacher. Celestia was one of a very few ponies who could understand what Twilight was feeling in this moment. Perhaps Twilight still had a friend after all. She raised a hoof to her face to wipe away a tear.

“Come, Twilight. I have something to show you,” Celestia said gently.

Rainbow Dash strode down the path through the trees. It was a beautiful, clear day in the early fall at Sweet Apple Acres. The sun shone, causing ripe, bright red apples to gleam in the trees. Prime bucking season. And soon, cider season.

Rainbow Dash could almost be excused for cracking a smile on this day, save for the somberness of the occasion. She continued down the path, slowly. Doing things slowly had never been in her nature. She even recalled a time where she wouldn’t even be walking, it wasn’t her style. She had been born to fly. But, the ravages of time had caught up to her, as they did for everypony. Her old wings could no longer support her weight in the air.

She eventually reached a pond in a clearing, the water beautiful and blue. A group of ponies had gathered there. As she began toward the small crowd, Rainbow Dash was approached by another elderly mare. This mare had a coat of bright pink, with a puffy mane and tail that had once been pink as well, but were now ash gray. She bore a cutie mark of bright blue and yellow balloons, and her face was lined with wrinkles. As they reached each other, they embraced tightly, tears beginning to form in the eyes of both ponies.

“So good to see you, Pinkie,” said Rainbow Dash in a hushed tone, barely above a whisper. Pinkie Pie let out a quiet sob as they broke the embrace, unable to say anything.

They turned to join the crowd, which had gathered around a small stone marker set on the ground. The marker bore the image of three apples, arranged in a triangular formation, and was adorned in flowers. A hole, about a foot square and three feet deep, had been dug in front of it. Behind the marker, an urn sat on a small table, also adorned with flowers.

A stallion with a pastel blue coat and dark blue mane, dressed in a white shirt with a black coat and black tie, emerged from the crowd and stood to face it, to the left of the marker and urn. He began to speak somberly. “We gather here today to remember Applejack. Sister, wife, mother, grandmother, and friend…”

The service seemed to pass by in a blur for Rainbow Dash as she was bathed in memories. She and Applejack had once been fiercely competitive, but the bond they had built through the trials they had faced with their friends was unshakable. But that was over now. The Six had become five.

Once the service was over, Rainbow Dash sought out a mare with a pale yellow coat, and mane and tail of red, now with streaks of gray. Bags had formed under Apple Bloom’s eyes, and wrinkles had begun to show on her face, down which tears flowed freely. Rainbow Dash embraced her.

“I’m so sorry for your loss,” Rainbow Dash said quietly.

“Our loss,” Apple Bloom replied softly. “You all were her family too.” Rainbow Dash nodded as she wiped away a tear of her own. They broke the embrace, and Rainbow Dash nodded toward a pony standing next to Apple Bloom, of orange coat with a mane and tail of a deep reddish-purple, also flecked with gray.

“Are you doing okay, squirt?” Rainbow Dash asked.

Scootaloo nodded. “It’s good to see you, Rainbow Dash. I wish the circumstances were different.”

“Me too, Scoot,” Rainbow Dash replied. They embraced briefly, then Rainbow Dash turned and began toward the edge of the pond, where Pinkie Pie, Rarity, and Fluttershy had gathered.

“Is it just me, or is Twilight taking this really hard?”

An elderly mare, a unicorn, with a white coat and a carefully groomed mane of gray cocked her head at Rainbow Dash. “And you’re not?” Rarity asked.

Rainbow Dash bristled, almost angry at the suggestion. “I am, but just look at her,” she retorted.

The four of them looked toward the crowd. Twilight stood apart from the crowd at a short distance. She was hard to miss now. As the rest of them had aged, Twilight had changed as well, but in a different way. She had nearly doubled in size, now almost as tall as Celestia had been. Her blue mane with purple and pink streaks had begun to flow in the air in an ethereal fashion, just as her mentor’s had. She had not aged a day in the years since her coronation. Today, she only stared at the ground, saying nothing to anypony.

“Should we go talk to her?” Fluttershy asked in her usual soft tone.

Rainbow Dash thought for a moment. Should they go to comfort their friend, or leave her to deal with her grief in her own way? Rainbow Dash wasn’t sure of the answer.

“I don’t know if I understand,” Rainbow Dash said. “It hurts me that Applejack is gone. It really does. But Twilight looks completely devastated.”

“I don’t think it’s hard to understand, darling,” Rarity said. “Our pain is only temporary, but Twilight will have to bury us all. And live another thousand years besides.”

Rainbow Dash shivered at the thought. They had lost Applejack, and the four of them would also die. But now Twilight’s fate seemed so much worse than that.

Twilight finally started to break free from the fog of her emotions, and took note of the grass that she had been staring at for what seemed like hours. She raised her head and looked toward the crowd. Ponies came and went, many stopping to offer their condolences to Apple Bloom and the rest of the Apple clan that had gathered. She began to scan to the left of the crowd and spotted her friends gathered near the pond. They were conversing among themselves, but every now and then one of them would awkwardly glance toward her. She took a step toward them, but then she spotted a strange-looking figure among the crowd and stopped.

The figure was composed of parts from a menagerie of different animals, arranged into a slender body like a snake, though he had legs and arms. He had the head of a pony, but with a horn coming out one side and an antler on the other. He wore a gray suit jacket with a black tie.

Rather than joining her friends, Twilight decided to approach Discord instead. As she got closer, Discord turned toward her, seemingly startled.

“I’m surprised to see you here, Discord,” Twilight said to him.

“What kind of friend would I be if I didn’t come to pay my respects to our dear departed Applejack?” Discord said back to her. Twilight did not sense much grief in his reply, but rather than getting angry, she looked down and closed her eyes, sighing. She looked back up at Discord.

“I’m actually glad you’re here,” Twilight said. “You might be the only one here who can understand.”

“Understand what?” Discord asked.

“You...and me. Everypony else here will die, you know?” Twilight replied. “How do you deal with that?”

A look of deep thought appeared on Discord’s face for a moment. “I guess I never really thought about it before,” he said. “I am the spirit of chaos, it never has been my fate to die.”

Twilight cocked her head toward her four friends gathered at the pond. “But you know it’s their fate.” she said. “It’s her fate.”

Discord appeared thoughtful again as his eyes moved toward the ponies gathered at the pond. Twilight could see his gaze fix on an elderly pegasus of yellow coat, her mane and tail having turned gray, bearing a cutie mark of three pink butterflies. His eyes widened at the sight of Fluttershy, and he raised an arm, that of a lion, placing the paw to his chin. He seemed to continue to think for a moment.

“Ah,” Discord said. He moved his paw from his chin, holding it in the air next to his head. He snapped his fingers.

As soon as he did, Fluttershy became surrounded by a bright yellow aura. Many in the crowd turned their heads, taking in the sight. As the ponies looked on, Fluttershy’s mane and tail turned from gray to pale pink. The wrinkles melted from her face, and her knees, which had been slightly bent as the joints had aged, pulled her up straight. The aura faded, and the crowd gasped. A confused look appeared on Fluttershy’s face as the crowd stared. She was as young as she was the day the Six had first encountered Discord.

Undoubtedly seeing the stares, Fluttershy raced to the edge of the pond and looked down, and her jaw dropped as she saw her reflection. She looked back up toward Discord, her mouth still gaping. A satisfied smirk appeared on Discord’s face.

Twilight’s eyes widened as she looked on, just as surprised as any other pony there. There was no doubt that Discord had power, but not even Starswirl the Bearded had been able to master age spells.

It was over just as suddenly. As the crowd watched, Fluttershy’s mane faded back to gray, the wrinkles reappeared on her face, and she once again began to stoop at her knees. The smirk disappeared from Discord’s face and his eyes widened. He turned to face Twilight, who gave him a knowing nod.

“Oh…I see.” Discord stammered, his eyes lowering to the ground.

Twilight finally was able to put her own grief aside momentarily. For perhaps the first time since they had met, she actually felt sorry for Discord. He was annoying and had a strange sense of morality, but she knew he cared deeply for Fluttershy. At last there was someone present who would know the pain that Twilight felt.

Twilight followed closely as Celestia led her down the great hallway of Canterlot Castle. As they walked, Twilight found herself looking at each of the large stained glass windows lining the hallway. The windows told the complete story of the history of Equestria, from the nation’s founding when the three tribes united, all the way to the present day. As she took in each window, she considered the strange question Celestia had asked her. What could she possibly have meant? And what was it she had to show Twilight?

They reached one window in particular, and Twilight stopped. Celestia slowed down and turned her head.

At the top of the window was a depiction of a pony in blue. An alicorn, wearing a helmet and chest plate. Any good student of Equestrian history would recognize the figure as Nightmare Moon. Below, six ponies were depicted, two unicorns, two pegasi, and two earth ponies. Their heads were surrounded by magical auras which projected beams of light onto Nightmare Moon. It was a depiction of a great battle, in which Nightmare Moon had been defeated by the ponies who wielded the Elements of Harmony. The great Heroes of Equestria. The Six.

Twilight felt her throat tighten at the sight. It was the first battle, the first trial she had faced with her friends. It was when their inseparable bond had first been established. She closed her eyes and turned away, unsuccessfully trying to fight back tears.

Twilight opened her eyes and looked back up toward Celestia. Celestia gave Twilight a sad, knowing smile, and cocked her head, beckoning Twilight to continue following. Twilight took a deep breath and pressed forward.

As they continued to walk, Twilight noticed a mist beginning to form at the floor. She stopped and looked down. Celestia continued forward, apparently not noticing. “Princess Celestia…” Twilight began. The mist had begun to thicken and take on a dark color, like smoke, but odorless. Celesta turned toward Twilight, and suddenly the mist coalesced around Celestia, forming a black shroud around her body. Celestia struggled as the darkness lifted her into the air.

Behind Celestia, more mist began to coalesce, forming into the head of a pony. It had a coat and mane of dark gray, with a red horn, and eyes that were green where the white should have been, with red irises. The lips pulled back, revealing an evil, fanged smile. Twilight instantly recognized the figure. King Sombra had returned.

Twilight stared in shock. She and the rest of the Six had defeated Sombra at the Crystal Empire, and again when Discord had used his magic to bring Sombra back. How could this happen? Could Discord be behind this again?

The large head cackled, and began to speak. “Greetings, Twilight Sparkle. What a pleasure to see you again.”

Twilight squinted and bared her teeth. “Sombra. Why are you here? How are you here?”

“Dear Twilight, I think you already know the answer to why. I’ve come to take what is mine, the throne! This time I will do it with the power of the princesses at my command.” Sombra let out a low-pitched laugh. “And you’re going to help me,” he said.

“Help you? Unlikely,” Twilight shot back.

“You will if you want to see your mentor and teacher, the only friend you have left, ever again,” said Sombra.

“What makes you think you won’t just be foiled again? I’ve defeated you twice already,” Twilight replied.

“No, you and your friends defeated me twice. This is how I have returned. I was defeated by the power of the Elements, bound to the six of you. Well I have some news for you,” Sombra said, and continued, relishing each word. “Your. Friends. Are. Dead.”

Twilight gritted her teeth as she stared down Sombra, tears welling up in her eyes in both anger and sadness as Sombra ripped open her emotional wounds. But he was right. He had destroyed the Tree of Harmony and the physical Elements in their last encounter, and without their power, bound to her friends, she did not know how he could be defeated.

“What do you want?” Twilight asked.

“Luna, Cadance, and Flurry Heart. You will bring them to me,” Sombra replied. “The Castle of the Two Sisters. Don’t keep me waiting.”

“Twilight! The vault! The Elements! You must hurry!” Celestia shouted as the mist continued to cover her, finally completely shielding her from view. The mist then faded, and she had disappeared with Sombra.

Twilight stood in the empty hallway, stunned. Her two hundred year reign as ruler of Equestria had passed relatively smoothly, but now, in the moment she had expected to enter a peaceful retirement, evil had returned to the land.

Twilight struggled to clear her mind. So much had happened in the last half-hour, and she had not had the time to process it all. She took a deep breath. Sombra was back. He had Celestia. Twilight had to do something.

Celestia had shouted for Twilight to get to the vault, where the Elements of Harmony had once been kept. What good would that do? The Elements were destroyed, and the ponies who could wield them had departed long ago.

Twilight felt surprised as she found herself considering Sombra’s demand. Should she deliver the magic of the princesses to him, to exchange for Celestia? She dismissed the thought. With that power, Sombra would enslave the ponies of Equestria and cover the land in darkness. She could not allow that to happen, even if it meant that Celestia would forever remain Sombra’s prisoner. Celestia would not want Twilight to make that trade.

Still, Twilight considered that the princesses’ magic might be the only weapon left against Sombra. But bringing them into battle with her was too big of a risk, she decided. He had taken Celestia with ease, if he captured the others then all would be lost.

Twilight’s head began to clear as she fought down her emotions. She needed a plan. What if there was something in the vault? Even if there was, she doubted that she could defeat Sombra alone.

And there was only one creature left who could help her.

Twilight closed her eyes, and her horn began to glow as she focused her will. She dug deep into her memory, remembering the summoning spell Celestia had given her all those years ago. She released the energy she had gathered, and opened her eyes.

“Twilight! I apologize that I hadn’t stopped by yet. I assume you’ve summoned me here so I can wish you a happy retirement,” Discord said, having appeared in the castle hallway.

“We don’t have time, Discord. We have a problem,” Twilight replied, cocking her head at Discord in an almost accusing fashion. “King Sombra has returned.”

Discord raised an eyebrow. “King Sombra?”

Twilight maintained her stare at Discord, who appeared flabbergasted.

“He’s back? I...surely you don’t mean to imply that I’m responsible,” Discord stammered.

“Well, are you?” Twilight asked.

Discord seemed to regain his composure. “Twilight, I’m hurt. Certainly you don’t think I wouldn’t have learned my lesson the last time,” he replied. “I’m as surprised as you are.”

Twilight sighed. Discord was difficult to read, but her only option was to trust him. “He’s taken Celestia to the Castle of the Two Sisters,” she told him.

Discord folded his arms, one of a lion and one appearing to be the leg of some kind of bird, and turned away, tilting his nose in the air. “Celestia imprisoned me in stone for a thousand years. You’ll have to forgive me if I’m not in a rush to save her.”

Twilight tried to fight down her frustration. “This is bigger than that, Discord! He wants to rule over Equestria, he’s after the power of the princesses!”

Discord turned back toward Twilight and shrugged. “I’m not sure that’s really my problem.”

“Ugh!” Twilight growled, starting to get angry. “We were friends, Discord! In all these years have you learned nothing about friendship?”

“The key word there being ‘were’, Twilight. You haven’t even written in decades and now you’re asking me a favor?” Discord replied.

Twilight sighed again, and thought for a moment before continuing. “I’m sorry, you’re right. I haven’t been a good friend. But we’re in the same boat. We’ve both lost friends and you’re all I’ve got left. And I’m all you’ve got left.”

Discord appeared thoughtful for a moment, then sighed. “Fine. I’ll help you satisfy your hero complex and we’ll save the world one more time. But I’ll expect you to call every once in a while.”

Twilight rolled her eyes. “Follow me,” she said. She turned down a side hallway and began sprinting toward the end. Discord sighed and snapped his fingers, and with a loud “Pop!” both of them disappeared and reappeared at the end of the side hallway. Twilight looked at Discord and shook her head, before turning to the elaborate door that stood in front of them. The vault.

The door was outlined in gold panels, with three colorful gems set on each side, red at the top, green in the middle, and purple at the bottom. This looked familiar to Twilight. But the door itself had changed. The last time she had seen it, the door was colored in six sections of purple and pink, with the image of the sun in the center, matching Celestia’s cutie mark.

But now, the door was colored in five sections, each section bearing a cutie mark. Orange, with three apples in a triangular formation. Blue, with a storm cloud and a lightning bolt of red, yellow, and blue. White, with three blue diamonds. Pink, with balloons of blue and yellow. Yellow, with three pink butterflies. The symbols surrounded a pink, six-pointed star in the center, matching Twilight’s own cutie mark.

Twilight gasped at the sight. These were the cutie marks of herself and her friends, the Six. Thinking through a wave of emotion, she began to make sense of it. The Elements had become bound to her and to her friends, it only made sense that the vault that once contained them would bear these images.

Celestia had implored Twilight to get to the vault, so there must have been something inside that could help them. Twilight took a deep breath and summoned up her will, her horn beginning to glow. She gently touched her horn to the door, and light began to shine from the symbols. The door parted in the middle and slid open.

What she saw inside was far from what she expected.

When Celestia had opened the vault, many years before, to equip the Six with the Elements of Harmony, it had been a room about three feet square, containing a single chest which held the artifacts.

But now, Twilight entered a very large chamber. It was circular, perhaps sixty feet in diameter. The walls were made of stone. She took note of the tile floor, which was inset with a purple circle, perhaps twenty-five feet wide, containing the pink six-pointed star of her cutie mark. She gasped.

She continued to move her gaze upward. At the back of the chamber were six great stone pillars. Five of the pillars were inset with colorful gems, each gem in a shape to match the cutie mark of one of her friends. They appeared exactly as the artifacts that represented the Elements had.

But it was what sat atop the pillars that rendered Twilight truly speechless.

Five large statues. Of her friends.

They were arranged in the order that each of them had passed away. Applejack, bucking an invisible apple tree. Rainbow Dash, wings spread. Rarity, a front hoof puffing up her beautiful mane. Pinkie Pie, bouncing joyfully. And finally Fluttershy, kneeling, surrounded by small woodland creatures.

Behind each of the statues was a large stained glass window depicting the same pony. Moonlight shone through the windows, giving each image a surreal, ghostly appearance.

It was a powerful, beautiful tribute to their lives.

Unable to control her emotions, Twilight fell to her knees and elbows. She buried her face in her forelegs and wept audibly.

After what seemed like hours, Twilight felt a light tap on the shoulder. She looked up, wiping tears from her eyes with a foreleg. Discord stood above her. He helped Twilight onto her hooves, then walked slowly to Fluttershy’s statue. He kissed the fingers of his paw and placed them softly to the statue’s cheek. He moved the paw to his chin for a moment, then snapped his fingers. A wreath of flowers with a lit candle appeared at the base of each of the five pillars.

Discord then turned to face Twilight. “There’s one more,” he said softly, gesturing to the sixth pillar. It stood empty with no statue upon it. Behind it was a window, white frosted glass, bearing no image. Front and center on the pillar was a slot in the shape of a six-pointed star, but it contained no gem. “I think it’s yours,” he said.

Twilight, eyes still burning, slowly approached the sixth pillar. She examined it for a moment, then looked up to the blank window. Her mind flooded with questions: What was this place? Who had created it? How had she never known about it?

Twilight swallowed, then finally found her voice. “Do you feel that?” she asked. Discord nodded.

“This place...it’s absolutely filled with magic. Who could have done this?” Twilight said. Discord simply shrugged. It occurred to Twilight how unusual it was for Discord not to have anything to say, but she wasn’t surprised given the power that filled the room. It would be difficult for any creature to find the right words to say here.

Twilight approached Fluttershy’s pillar. She raised a foreleg and tapped the pillar gently with her hoof. Though it supported a monument to one of her dearest friends, the pillar seemed to be ordinary stone. She slid her hoof across the stone toward the gem, pink, in the shape of a butterfly. The gem each pillar contained perfectly matched the Element that that particular pony had once wielded. Her hoof got closer to the gem, and suddenly she pulled back, startled.

Twilight had felt a faint, but very familiar, magical energy emanating from the gem. She turned toward Discord, her mouth agape. Discord cocked his head questioningly.

“The gems, the Elements!” she said quietly but excitedly. “It’s them! They’re real!”

Discord approached and placed his paw to the gem, then looked at Twilight, eyes wide.

Twilight was filled with a feeling that she hadn’t felt in many years. Hope. The Elements had returned. She looked up to the statues. Her friends had given her one last gift, and she now had the means to defeat King Sombra.

She called forth her will as her horn began to glow, and using her magic she tugged gently at the butterfly-shaped gem. It would not budge.

“My dear Twilight, why would you want to desecrate this place?” came a voice from the center of the chamber.

Twilight turned, startled. Mist had formed into a cloud above the etching of Twilight’s cutie mark in the floor. Twilight readied a defensive spell, but as she continued to observe, she noticed that this mist was white in color, and she could sense that it was not a manifestation of Sombra’s dark magic. The mist continued to coalesce, and finally a figure emerged.

The figure was a stallion, a unicorn, of gray coat. He wore a blue robe embroidered with gold stars and moons, round bells hanging from it. A matching hat rested on his head, and from underneath it parts of a white mane emerged. A white beard covered his face.

“Starswirl,” Twilight said, barely above a whisper. The gray pony nodded. Twilight stared for a moment, then regained her bearings. “So you did this, then.”

Starswirl shook his head. “No Twilight. You did,” he said. Twilight stared in confusion.

Starswirl continued. “Your love for your friends has created this place. You have felt the power here. It comes from love, the greatest of all magic.”

As Twilight struggled to understand, the urgency of the situation began to creep back into her mind. “But, the Elements...King Sombra, we have to…” she stammered. Starswirl shook his head again.

“The Elements are made manifest by your friends, not the other way around. Honesty, Loyalty, Generosity, Laughter, and Kindness. The very qualities that your friends exemplified. This is the place you have chosen to remember them. You cannot remove the Elements from here,” Starswirl explained.

Twilight was baffled. She stared at Starswirl for a moment, starting to get frustrated. “Then come with me!” she urged. “With your power we might…”

“No, Twilight,” Starswirl interrupted. He gestured to the statues. “I am as much a memory as they are. Even I don’t live forever. Believe in yourself, Twilight. You will find a way.”

Starswirl turned and walked back into the mist, which shrouded him from view. The mist faded, and he was gone.

Twilight blinked, staring into the emptiness where Starswirl had stood moments before, struggling to take in everything that she had seen. She turned toward Discord. “Did you…”

“Fear not, Twilight, you aren’t going crazy. Well, at least not any crazier than usual,” Discord said. “I saw the whole thing.”

Twilight took a seat on her haunches and sighed. “It wouldn’t have worked anyway,” she began. “We only have five of the Elements.” She stood and approached the empty pillar once again. Her heart ached as she considered its meaning. In this place her friends stood together, and she wasn’t with them, where she belonged.

“For such an astute student you forget things so easily,” Discord said. He held out his arms, and a book appeared in his hands. Twilight recognized it as Predictions and Prophecies, where she had first read about the Elements of Harmony. Twilight looked up. Discord now wore a pair of thick glasses, and Twilight’s blue mane with pink and purple streaks, as it had appeared before her coronation, grew from his head. He flipped through the book, and stopped at a certain page. Reading from the book, he spoke in his best imitation of Twilight’s voice. “Where the other five are gathered…”

“The sixth shall be revealed.” Twilight finished quietly. She thought for a moment. “So now what do we do?”

In a flash of light, Discord’s head returned to its usual appearance. “It’s really quite simple, Twilight. If we can’t bring the Elements to Sombra we’ll just have to bring Sombra to the Elements,” he said.

Twilight shuddered at the thought. The idea of bringing Sombra and his dark magic into this sacred place upset her deeply. She took a deep breath. There was no other option. The shrine housed great power, power that they would need to defeat him.

“But how?” Twilight asked. “He’ll be waiting at the Castle of the Two Sisters. Why would he even come back here?”

In another flash, a top hat appeared on Discord’s head, and a long mustache now grew from his face. “Twilight, you have to be able to think like a villain,” he said. “Showing his dominance by ruling from Equestria’s center of power will be too much for him to resist. He will return to Canterlot once he’s taken the magic of the princesses.”

Twilight’s eyes widened for a moment, but then narrowed as she considered what Discord was suggesting. “Absolutely not!” she said, trying hard not to shout. “We can’t allow him to have that power!”

“Oh, no?” Discord said. He grinned as he twisted at the mustache with a finger.

Twilight wiped at her brow with a foreleg as she nailed down the last stake. The sun was beginning to set, but the humidity in the air retained a lot of the heat from the day. She reached out with her magic and took hold of the rods that would prop up her tent, and stood them up straight.

It had been too long since they had had a camping trip with just the six of them. Twilight looked around the forest clearing. A beautiful, crystal clear stream ran through the clearing into the pond around which they had pitched their tents. The pond reflected the orange of the setting sun.

She observed the other small tents as she looked around, four of them. It would have been five, but Rarity wasn’t finished putting hers up yet. Her tent would be a veritable fortress, and it was just going to take a little extra time.

She noticed Applejack and Rainbow Dash sitting, holding rods over the pond with their forelegs, fishing lines cast. In the pond near them, Pinkie Pie swam, splashing joyfully. Fluttershy stood near the edge of the pond, a small paper bag sitting next to her. She scooped bread crumbs from the bag with her hoof and spread them over the surface of the pond, and a flock of ducks quickly gobbled them up. Rarity, of course, was still working on her tent.

Twilight walked down to the pond and gently dipped a hoof into the water. As she did, Pinkie Pie emerged from below the surface, grabbed Twilight, and pulled Twilight into the pond. Twilight surfaced and gasped for breath, then turned and dunked Pinkie Pie’s head in the water. Pinkie Pie surfaced and they began splashing water at each other, laughing like lunatics.

As the sun disappeared over the horizon, Twilight and Pinkie Pie climbed back onto the bank. Twilight shook herself off, and yawned. It would be time for bed soon, but not before they roasted marshmallows and told stories around the fire.

As Twilight walked back toward her tent, the sky suddenly grew very dark, darker than it should have been just after sunset. She looked up. No stars shone in the sky. Twilight squinted as she looked around the clearing, but could not see her friends. She quickened her pace back to the tent. Suddenly, in the firelight, she could see a mist beginning to form in front of her.

Something was wrong. She began to ready a defensive spell as the mist gathered, but suddenly she was seized by a shroud of darkness. She struggled against it but could not move. The mist began to take form, and a familiar face came into focus. King Sombra’s great green and red eyes stared at her, and his mouth turned up into a smile.

Twilight released a bolt of magic from her horn, but it passed through Sombra’s head harmlessly. As she continued to struggle against the shroud that held her, Sombra’s mouth opened wide, the shroud bringing her closer. She screamed for help.

The shroud continued to pull her closer to Sombra’s open mouth, saliva beginning to drip from his lips. Twilight shouted for help one last time, but there was no response. She closed her eyes and turned her head away, shaking in fear.

Twilight found herself sitting up in her tent, breathing heavily.

The door flap of the tent flew open, and she saw five ponies standing in the dying firelight, Applejack at the front. “Twilight, are you okay?” Applejack asked, deep concern in her voice.

Twilight started to regain her bearings. It had been a terrible dream, and she was still shaken. She wiped tears from her eyes with a foreleg.

“You screamed for help. What’s going on?” Applejack asked.

“A dream. King Sombra...I think he was going to...eat me,” Twilight said. “I called for help, but none of you came.”

“Well you’re okay now, Twilight. We’re here. We’ll always be here,” Applejack said.

Twilight sighed. She turned her head, taking note of the wings growing from her sides. Her eyes began to well up again.

“But...what about...when you’re not?” Twilight asked, her voice cracking.

Applejack looked down for a moment, seemingly in deep thought. She then looked up, meeting Twilight squarely in the eyes.

“Listen to me now, Twilight, because what I am about to tell you is the truth. No matter how much space, or time, separates us, we will come running when you call for us,” Applejack said, her tone as serious as Twilight had ever heard it.

Twilight looked behind Applejack to the other four of her friends, each of whom nodded in assent.

Twilight raised a foreleg to wipe away her tears once again, and as she did, Applejack knelt and pulled Twilight into an embrace. Applejack held the embrace for a moment, then allowed Twilight to get to her hooves. Twilight exited the tent, and her friends pulled her into a group hug.

Four ponies, all alicorns, trudged down the path through the Everfree Forest and emerged into a very large clearing. The moon continued to shine in the darkness, though it should have been morning by now. As they emerged, the moonlight revealed the ruin of the Castle of the Two Sisters in the center of the clearing. They climbed the front steps of the ruin and entered the great hall at the front of the castle.

In the center of the great hall, a house made of crystal, in the shape of a tree, sprouted forth from the roots of what had once been the Tree of Harmony. A group of Twilight’s students at the School of Friendship many years before had started to build it after Sombra destroyed the Tree, and enough of the Tree’s magic had remained to turn their work into what the princesses now stood before.

Now, the house had been transformed by Sombra’s dark magic. The crystal had turn to black, and the branches were covered by menacing points, like great thorns. King Sombra stood at the front of the house, facing the empty doorway of the castle as the princesses entered.

The princesses took position standing in a row facing Sombra. Twilight stood on the group’s left. Next to her was an alicorn of dark blue coat and flowing blue mane, the mane covered in small points of white invoking the stars of the night sky. Princess Luna. To Luna’s right stood an alicorn of pink coat, with a mane of yellow, pink, and purple. Princess Cadance. To her right, in turn, was an alicorn with a coat of very pale purple, almost white, with a mane of purple with blue streaks. Princess Flurry Heart, the new ruler of Equestria.

Sombra grinned widely. “Honestly Princess Twilight, I expected that you would put up more of a fight,” he called.

Twilight faced up to Sombra, but her eyes were lowered in a defeated expression. “I’ve held up my end of the bargain,” she said. “Release Celestia.”

Sombra continued to grin. “Why should I do that? I have everything I need right here in front of me,” he cackled.

Light began to glow from Twilight’s horn. She looked up with her eyes, eyelids narrowing. “Release her!” she shouted.

Sombra apparently decided it wasn’t worth a fight. He moved to the side and the door of the tree house opened. Celestia, shrouded in black mist, floated out through the doorway and across the hall of the castle, a dazed look on her face. When she reached the other four princesses, the mist dissipated, dropping her from a short height onto the ground next to Flurry Heart. She looked up, apparently trying to regain her bearings.

Sombra laughed again. “Our transaction is complete, Twilight Sparkle,” he shouted as his body disintegrated into black mist. As the black mist rose into the air, the five princesses began to glow with light. White mist flowed out from the princesses and rose, joining Sombra’s black mist. Loud laughter echoed through the forest, with no apparent source. The five princesses collapsed to the ground as the light of their magic faded, and the black mist floated quickly away toward Ponyville, undoubtedly on its way to Canterlot.

Celestia was the first to get to her feet, a scared and yet angry expression on her face. She turned to the other four princesses. “Twilight, how could you do this?” she shouted, her eyes beginning to well up. She went to Luna first, starting to help Luna to her hooves.

Celestia jumped backward as Luna’s head popped off of her body. The head was attached to the body by a large spring, and the head wobbled in the air. A look of shock and confusion crossed Celestia’s face. Then, at the sound of a voice giggling, she turned behind her to the tree house.

Discord emerged from behind the tree house, followed by Twilight. Discord slapped at his knee in laughter, and Twilight rushed to the side of her mentor.

Twilight saw the look of confusion on Celestia’s face, and gestured with a hoof. Celestia turned back to the other four alicorns collapsed upon the ground, their heads wobbling in the air atop springs. Discord snapped his fingers, and the constructs disappeared.

Twilight smiled. “Looks like we fooled him,” she said as she looked at Discord, then turned back to Celestia. The confusion faded from Celestia’s face and understanding began to dawn there. Celestia looked at Discord, who continued to laugh.

“You really should have seen the look on your face, Celestia,” Discord said.

Celestia narrowed her eyes, but smiled. “Thank you, both of you,” she said. “But Sombra has still taken my magic. He must be defeated, and quickly.”

“We have to get back to Canterlot, right away,” Twilight said. “Discord, teleport Celestia to somewhere safe. You and I need to get to the castle.”

“Allow me,” Discord said, snapping his fingers, and the trio disappeared.

King Sombra leaned back on the throne at Canterlot Castle, thinking to himself. He had taken control of the castle with ease, and the Royal Guard was now at his command. Every now and then, members of the guard would appear, wearing the black masks that marked their enslavement to him, and he gave them direction as they would fan out from the castle and begin building his army, with which he would soon rule Equestria.

The ponies of Equestria needed a leader like him, he thought. Sure, there were the pleasures of being the king, and he would enjoy them. But he knew that what he was really doing was freeing ponies of the things that held them back. Love, joy, hope. These were all useless frivolities. True accomplishment would come from building an empire, one that would last for thousands of years. Only by submitting themselves to the greatness he would build could these ponies truly achieve immortality.

He leaned forward as a member of the Guard entered the room and saluted. “Sire, lunch is ready,” the guard said.

Sombra cocked his head. He hadn’t asked for lunch, and how could he possibly think about food in this, his moment of triumph? He stood up from the throne and onto his hooves as another pony in a black mask entered. This pony had a coat of light green, and wore an apron. A chef’s hat sat atop the mask on the pony’s head, and a plate with a metal cover hovered in front of him.

Sombra’s eyes narrowed at the strange sight. Of course the black mask would mark this pony’s enslavement, but a chef’s hat? It did not signify the order of things that Sombra demanded. It was almost...humorous. Humor was another frivolity that did not have a place in his world.

As he considered what he saw, the chef-pony disappeared in a flash of light, the plate of food dropped to the ground, and a very different figure appeared before Sombra. Sombra sat back onto the throne and grinned.

“Discord,” Sombra greeted. “To what do I owe the pleasure?”

“I have simply come to offer you tribute, my lord,” Discord replied with a deep bow, a smile on his face.

“Tribute?” Sombra asked, cocking his head.

“Why yes,” Discord continued. “Surely you don’t think I can’t recognize great power when I see it,” he said. “I’m certainly in no position to rival you, my place is here, at your command.”

Sombra stood up from the throne as he felt a flash of anger come over him. “And you expect me to trust you?” Sombra asked. “The last time I saw you, you stood against me at the side of Twilight Sparkle and her friends.”

Discord rose from his bow, and the smile disappeared from his face. “You’re right, you shouldn’t trust me,” he said, and with a snap of his fingers, the metal cover flew off the plate that sat on the floor, revealing a pizza. The pizza sprouted legs and arms, stood up, and grew to a size twice the height of Celestia. A great mouth in the center of the pizza opened, letting out a roar. It began to charge toward Sombra.

Sombra shouted in alarm, and members of the Royal Guard rushed into the room and began to do battle with the pizza. With the guards distracted, Discord approached the throne and raised his paw, pointing a finger at Sombra.

Sombra shouted in anger as he began to charge his magic, a black shroud forming around his horn. “You can’t win this, Discord!” he growled. “The power of the princesses is now mine!”

Discord stopped, the smile returning to his face. He placed his hands on his hips. “Well then by all means, Sombra, take your best shot,” he said.

Sombra released the energy he had been charging and hurled it at Discord. A mass of blackness flew toward Discord, and then changed, taking the form of…a pie. The pie hit Discord in the face with a loud splat and slid off of his face, falling to the floor.

Discord continued to smile and began to lick pie filling from his lips. “Mmm, blueberry!” he said mockingly.

Sombra could not contain his anger. What could Discord have done that had affected his magic? He rose from the throne and growled, then charged at Discord. Discord turned and ran back toward the door, passing by the members of the Royal Guard that still did battle with the pizza-monster. Sombra continued to charge, following Discord into the hallway. He saw Discord rush to the end of the hallway and turn a corner.

And then Sombra sensed it. A source of great power, coming from within the castle. It was a trap, and Discord was undoubtedly trying to lead him to it. Two could play that game, he thought. Instead of following Discord, Sombra turned down a side hallway. He spied an open door at the end, leading to a dark room. It was perfect. Sombra would lay in wait for Discord there and catch him by surprise. Sombra called out. “Your trap has failed, Discord! You cannot stop me!” Sombra then sprinted down the side hallway toward the open door.

Sombra reached the door and grinned widely, ducking inside the darkened room.

The door slammed shut behind him.

Sombra stared into the room in confusion. Light began to enter through windows at the back of the chamber, and suddenly, the sun broke through. The sun?

Sombra looked up to the windows as the light shined through. The windows were stained glass, and the light cast the images they bore onto the floor of the chamber. In the images, Sombra saw his enemies.

Five ponies. An earth pony of orange coat and a blonde mane, bearing a cutie mark of three apples. A pegasus of blue coat with a mane of all the colors of the rainbow, bearing a storm cloud with a bolt of red, yellow, and blue. A unicorn of white, a carefully coiffed purple mane, bearing three blue diamonds. An earth pony of pink coat and mane, bearing balloons of blue and yellow. And a pegasus of pale yellow, with a pale pink mane, bearing three pink butterflies.

A figure stood in the center of the room, surrounded by these images. Sombra stared down the figure, and instantly recognized her. Twilight Sparkle, eyes narrowed, a look of focused determination on her face. Her horn glowed menacingly.

Twilight continued to stare down Sombra, maintaining her focus. She fought to control her emotions in this moment. The anxiety of the coming battle, combined with the mix of emotions from seeing her friends projected onto the floor from the stained glass, made it difficult to keep her composure. She could not allow Sombra to see her flinch from the fight.

“So, Princess Twilight, this is supposed to intimidate me? Stone statues and colorful windows won’t help you win this,” Sombra said, beginning to show a smile. “You are alone.”

Twilight continued her stare as Sombra charged a bolt of energy, a shroud of blackness covering his horn. Sombra released the blast, and the black bolt raced toward Twilight. As it reached her, the bolt broke apart and flowed around Twilight, a dome of light forming a shield having surrounded her.

“You’ve failed, Sombra,” Twilight said. “The magic of the princesses doesn’t belong to you.”

The smirk faded from Sombra’s face. “No matter. I’ve taken Celestia’s magic, and I have my own as well. My power still exceeds yours,” he said.

Twilight called upon her will, charging her own bolt of energy at her horn, and released it toward Sombra. Just as Sombra’s had, her own bolt broke apart as Sombra raised a black shield.

The duel then began in earnest. The two ponies danced about the room, hurling bolts of energy at each other, each shielding or dodging the other’s blasts.

Twilight could feel her endurance beginning to falter as the battle continued. Sombra’s power had not seemed to weaken as the fight went on, and Twilight did not know how long she could keep up the struggle. She needed to harness the power of the Elements, and she needed to do it soon.

They continued to circle each other, and as they did Sombra charged another bolt of energy. Twilight needed time. If she dropped her guard to try to activate the Elements, Sombra could end the fight quickly. Hoping to catch Sombra off guard, she charged a bolt of her own and released it toward him.

Sombra released his bolt simultaneously, and the two blasts collided in the air, releasing a great burst of energy outward from the point of the collision. Both Twilight and Sombra tumbled backward as the pressure wave reached them, with Twilight falling between the pillars of Rainbow Dash and Rarity. She struggled to her hooves and started toward Sombra again. She reached up with her foreleg and wiped a trickle of blood from her mouth.

She circled back toward the front of the shrine as Sombra began to struggle to his own hooves. This was the opening she needed. She called forth her will and reached out to the gems within the pillars.

Nothing happened.

Twilight put more energy into the spell, but could not find a way to bring forth the gems’ power. She had never tried to activate the Elements on her own before.

As Twilight struggled with her spell, a blast from Sombra caught her on the side of her chest, and she tumbled to the floor. Fighting through pain, she looked up and saw that Sombra was now standing once again. A black mist began to form in the center of the room as she once again began to climb to her hooves, but before she could raise her defenses, the mist overtook her, forming a shroud around her. She struggled against the dark magic that held her, but the shroud began to squeeze against her body. She cried out in pain as the shroud lifted her into the air.

Looking down, Twilight could see Sombra, his back to the pillars, his horn shrouded in black as the mist continued to squeeze against her. Sombra let out a low-pitched laugh as the mist began to pull Twilight closer to him.

Sombra continued to charge the dark magic at his horn. “You are defeated, Twilight Sparkle. I would kill you, but death would be too merciful a fate for you,” he cackled. Twilight, exhausted, could no longer struggle against the mist as she got ever closer to Sombra.

As the fear began to grow in Twilight’s gut, she felt a sense of familiarity, like she had been in this position before. She recalled a nightmare from many years before, and it filled her mind. Sombra, a great fanged mouth gaping wide, as she screamed for help.

To her surprise, Twilight’s fear began to subside as she recalled the nightmare. She remembered that the nightmare itself wasn’t the end of the story, and the words Applejack had spoken to her that night echoed in her mind.

“No matter how much space, or time, separates us, we will come running when you call for us.”

There had been many times in Twilight’s life where she needed her friends, but perhaps none more so than this moment.

Twilight took as deep a breath as she could as the mist continued to squeeze her, and she closed her eyes. She pictured each of her friends in her mind: Applejack. Rainbow Dash. Rarity. Pinkie Pie. Fluttershy. She called forth her will, infusing her magic with her words, and spoke.

“Friends, please, help me.”

Twilight opened her eyes, and saw Sombra’s face, now within inches of hers. Sombra laughed loudly.

“Where are your friends, Twilight Sparkle?” he cackled. “You are alone, there is no one left to save you!”

Twilight looked up to the statues one last time as a tears fell from her eyes. It had been foolish of her to think her call might be answered. Death had taken her friends long ago, and now, whatever Sombra had in mind, she would soon wish for her own.

Twilight looked into the lifeless eyes of Applejack’s statue. And then those eyes came to life.

Twilight struggled to gasp, and as she did, colorful light began to glow, one by one, from the eyes of each statue. Green for Applejack. Dark pink for Rainbow Dash. Deep, royal blue for Rarity. Baby blue for Pinkie Pie. And aqua for Fluttershy.

The light from the eyes of the statues projected onto the front wall of the shrine, distracting Sombra momentarily. Twilight called forth her will once more, breaking free of the mist, which quickly dissipated. She tumbled to the floor.

A sudden burst of energy filled Twilight, and she jumped to her hooves. Sombra looked behind him to the statues, an expression of both confusion and rage appearing on his face. He turned toward Twilight, quickly charging a bolt of energy, and hurled it toward her. Twilight deftly deflected it with a shield.

A sudden sense of peace and comfort overtook Twilight. She wouldn’t have been able to explain it to anypony if she was asked, but she sensed it. A presence. They were there, with her.

Twilight had called for her friends. And they had come.

Twilight circled Sombra back toward the statues, charging as strong a bolt as she could muster. Sombra quickly charged a bolt of his own, and fired it just as Twilight released her own energy.

Energy from the two combatants once again collided, and Twilight continued to force power into the spell, pushing against the energy that Sombra released. Twilight’s bolt slowly began to overpower Sombra’s, pushing ever closer toward him, and finally released a pressure wave that knocked Sombra to the floor.

Twilight circled, taking position in front of the statues, light continuing to glow from their eyes. As she did, she noticed that the gems within the pillars had also begun to glow brightly. She turned back toward Sombra, who got to his hooves at the front of the room. Sombra raised a foreleg to wipe blood from his face, then looked up toward Twilight, and his emotional armor cracked, fear showing on his face.

Sombra forced himself back to a neutral expression, then laughed. “You think you can defeat me with shiny gems, Princess?” he asked. “The true Elements are destroyed.”

“The true Elements aren’t found in any gems, Sombra,” Twilight replied. Repeating Starswirl’s words, she continued. “The Elements are made manifest by my friends, not the other way around.”

At that moment, a crown appeared on Twilight’s head, bearing a purple gem in the shape of a six-pointed star.

Twilight rose into the air as her eyes began to glow with white light, and power flowed from the six gems, converging at a point above her. Light of all the colors of the rainbow emerged from that point and bore down upon Sombra, the energy knocking him through the door with a loud crack of splintering wood.

The light of the gems faded, and Twilight descended, landing on her hooves. She walked to the doorway and stood over Sombra as smoke emerged from his body.

“You haven’t won, Twilight Sparkle,” Sombra said as he lay on the floor on his side. “The memory of your friends will fade. The power of the Elements shall weaken and die. And I shall be waiting.”

“You’re wrong, Sombra,” Twilight replied. “Honesty. Loyalty. Generosity. Laughter. Kindness. These are the true Elements. And where the other five are gathered, the sixth shall be revealed. Magic. And love is the greatest of all magic. Wherever there is love between friends, the Elements will already be there.”

Sombra let out a groan as Twilight stood over him. He then rolled onto his stomach, and lifted his head, a shroud of darkness covering his horn as he charged one last bolt.

Twilight stomped a hoof, with all the strength that she had left. On Sombra’s head.

A sickening thud and the crack of breaking bone filled the hallway as Sombra’s head struck the tile. Blood splattered on the floor, and Sombra’s body fell back onto its side before Twilight, dead.

In the center of the shrine, upon the etching of her cutie mark in the floor, Twilight rested. She lay part-way on her side, her rear hooves tucked under her, but with her elbows straight out, her head up straight.

It was around noon on this day, and the sun would be high up in the sky. Sunlight poured into the room through the stained glass windows, filling it with color. Fresh flowers had been laid at the bases of the five pillars of Twilight’s friends, with new candles lit.

There had been some clean-up work done on the shrine. The walls had been damaged during the battle, and a few holes dug into the stone were visible. Black marks had been cleaned off the walls and floor, but the shrine had proven quite resilient against Sombra’s dark magic. To Twilight’s relief, the statues and windows had not been harmed.

Twilight thought deeply, considering what the next steps in her life should be. During the battle, she had felt, among the multiplicity of different emotions that had come, her sense of purpose return. It gave her satisfaction knowing that she could play a part in protecting Equestria again, standing beside her friends, even if they had not been physically present.

But what would come next? She had felt that sense of purpose as she faced Sombra, but struggled to find it again in this moment. With her reign as ruler of Equestria at an end, she longed for a place to belong.

Twilight turned her head back behind her as the newly repaired doors of the shrine slid open, and a figure entered.

“I thought I might find you here,” Celestia said to her, her voice in the sort of hushed tone one uses when they try to comfort someone.

Twilight turned her head back toward the statues. “I had to do some thinking,” she said to Celestia. “This was it, wasn’t it? This place. This is what you were going to show me.”

“Yes,” Celestia replied. “It must have been a deeply emotional moment for you, when you saw it for the first time. I wanted to be here for you, to be that shoulder to cry on. I’m sorry.”

“Why should you be sorry?” Twilight asked, turning her head back to Celestia. “You didn’t ask to be captured.”

“I should have showed it to you long before then,” Celestia replied. “I feared that the first time you entered this place would be at a time of great need, when the power of the Elements was needed in Equestria once again. I wasn’t sure if you could deal with the feelings and a great danger at the same time. But you came through.”

Twilight turned her head back to the statues. “I had help,” she said softly. She closed her eyes, and a small smile crossed her lips. “I called to them. And they answered. I felt them, here, in this place,” she continued. “I still do.”

Twilight turned her head back toward Celestia. A pained look appeared on Celestia’s face, and Twilight cocked her head in confusion.

“I hate this for you, Twilight. I’m so happy that the spirits of your friends can dwell in this place. But friends are meant to be together. In more than just an ethereal feeling,” Celestia said.

“I miss them,” Twilight said, nodding. She sighed and looked back up to the statues, but turned again as she heard Celestia sniffle, and she saw Celestia wipe a tear from her eye.

Celestia sniffled again, and tears began to flow more freely. “Twilight, there’s one more thing I need to tell you, and please understand that this is very painful for me, but I would be doing you a grave disservice if I didn’t,” she said. She gestured toward the sixth pillar, empty, save for the crown that contained the sixth element sitting on it. Twilight’s eyes widened.

“Remember when I asked you what you would do if it was the last day of your life?” Celestia asked.

“Yes,” Twilight replied softly.

“That wasn’t just a hypothetical question,” Celestia said. “You have a choice to make.”

Twilight felt a lump in her throat as she considered Celestia’s words. “What do you mean?” Twilight asked.

“Now that your reign is over, you are seeking a place to belong,” Celestia said. “I know, because I felt it when you took my place. And I see it in your eyes now.” Celestia paused, then continued. “I believe there is a place for you. With your friends. And not just in this room.”

It suddenly dawned on Twilight what Celestia was suggesting. The Hereafter.

Twilight had never given the Hereafter much consideration. Her intellectual nature made it difficult for her to believe in what she couldn’t see. And if it did exist, as an alicorn princess it was not her fate to make that journey.

But now, after what Twilight had experienced in this room, she could no longer dismiss the possibility. And even beyond that, as she looked into Celestia’s eyes, and felt the presence of her friends, she knew, in that moment, that it was true.

A wave of emotion came over Twilight, more intense than any she had ever experienced before. She buried her face in her forelegs, and her body actually began to shake. Her deepest desire was to be reunited with her friends, and it had seemed impossible. Until this moment.

A few minutes passed, and, though it took a mighty effort, Twilight regained control of her emotions. She looked back up, and wiped tears from her eyes with a foreleg. She saw Celestia wiping tears from her own eyes. Twilight climbed to her hooves.

“What must I do?” Twilight asked hoarsely.

“Here is your choice,” Celestia said. Twilight could hear Celestia struggle to keep her voice from cracking. “You may remain here, in this world,” Celestia said.

“Or…?” Twilight said, turning the word into a question.

“You may surrender your alicorn magic,” Celestia finished, unable to keep her voice from cracking any longer.

Twilight’s eyes widened once again. “But that would mean…” Twilight started.

“You would die,” Celestia confirmed.

Twilight closed her eyes, and tears again streamed down her face. The recent events with King Sombra had showed her that she still did have friends in the living world, and she would hate to leave them behind. But she knew in her heart where she belonged.

Twilight opened her eyes and looked at Celestia. “When you asked the question, what I would do, do you remember what my answer was?” Twilight asked. Celestia nodded, and tears once again streamed down her own face. Twilight took Celestia into an embrace.

“Thank you, for everything,” Twilight said to her. “I love you, so much.”

“And I love you,” Celestia said back, beginning to sob. “So you’re going to do it, then.” It was more of a statement than a question. Twilight nodded.

“There’s one more,” Twilight said. She closed her eyes and called upon her will as her horn began to glow, remembering the summoning spell once again. Discord appeared at the front of the room.

“Twilight! I’m so glad you summoned me, you see I just heard the funniest joke. What do you get when...” Discord started. The smile disappeared from his face as he looked at Twilight and Celestia. “Oh?” he started. His gaze moved from the two princesses to the sixth pillar next to which they stood. “Oh, it’s like that.”

Twilight nodded, then embraced Discord. “I thank you, for being my friend,” she said. “And I love you.”

Discord’s eyes widened in surprise, but then he wrapped a lion-arm around Twilight, returning the embrace. The two separated, and Discord wiped away a tear of his own. He looked at Twilight in the eyes.

“Give her my love,” Discord said. Twilight nodded.

Twilight took a deep breath. It all had seemed to happen so fast. Celestia had offered her a choice, and she had made her decision. But she did it without hesitation.

Twilight called forth her will, and with her magic she took up the crown that sat on the pillar. She carefully removed the gem and placed it in the empty slot at the front of the pillar, then set the crown on the floor at the base.The gem began to glow, and as Twilight looked up she saw that the gems in the other five pillars had begun to glow as well, as did the etching of the six-pointed star on the tile floor.

Twilight slowly strode over, and stood upon the star. She looked back to Celestia and Discord once more, then to the statues of her friends. She closed her eyes. Summoning her will one last time, she reached deep inside herself, calling forth the magic within her. She knelt onto her knees and elbows, and willed her magical energy into the star, surrendering it to the shrine.

Twilight opened her eyes, and getting to her hooves, she took stock of her surroundings. She was no longer in the shrine, but could not recognize where she was.

There was nothing here. Twilight was simply surrounded by...white. There were no walls or ceiling here. She felt her hooves on the floor, but saw only white as she looked down. Her body didn’t even cast a shadow.

Twilight started to notice her body. She could feel that she had shrank to the size of a typical pony, perhaps on the small side. She stretched out a wing.

That is, she would have. Twilight turned to her head to the right, then the left. Her wings had vanished.

Twilight looked forward again and squinted. A silhouette slowly appeared, at a distance. It began to grow as if approaching her. As it got closer, it began to take on color and shape. It was a pony, and as he got closer, she recognized him.

“Starswirl?” Twilight called out to the figure, who continued to approach. He soon stood before Twilight.

“Well done, Twilight,” Starswirl said.

“Well done? For what?” Twilight asked.

“For a life well lived,” Starswirl replied.

Twilight racked her brain. What had just happened? She had been in the shrine, Celestia and Discord had been there. She was saying goodbye to them…

Twilight’s memory returned. She had made a choice, she had surrendered her alicorn magic. Could it be?

“What is this place?” Twilight asked.

“The Passage,” Starswirl replied. Twilight struggled to understand for a moment, realization soon dawning on her. She had surrendered her magic. That was why her wings were gone. This was it then. She had departed on a journey, to a new world.

“Come,” Starswirl said. He began to walk away from Twilight, in some direction. Twilight still only saw white as she looked around. How anyone could tell where they were going here was beyond her understanding. Twilight dashed to catch up with Starswirl, then continued to follow him.

They continued walking for several minutes, silently. Twilight had many questions to ask, but she felt that it was not the time to ask them. As they walked, another silhouette appeared in the distance. They approached it, and as it took on shape and color, Twilight saw a large door.

The door was framed in gold, and was made of beautiful maple wood that had been finished to a shine. Gold handles hung on either side of a part in the middle. They got closer, and Twilight stopped, staring in awe.

Twilight wouldn’t have been able to describe the feelings she had in this moment. Awe, anticipation, anxiety, even fear mixed together. Her body shook.

Starswirl raised a hoof and knocked hard on the door, three times. He stepped back as the two panels of the door swung outward. Twilight continued to stare, now looking through the door to the other side.

A beautiful green field stretched out before Twilight. She could see trees in the distance, and a crystal clear stream ran through the field to her left. On her right, a dirt path wound into distant hills. Starswirl motioned for Twilight to cross the threshold.

Twilight raised a hoof, and hesitated momentarily. She took a deep breath and steadied her emotions, then stepped through the door, which closed behind her. She turned back, and no longer saw the door, she saw only the field continuing to stretch behind her. Starswirl had vanished as well.

Twilight stared in confusion for a moment. What was she supposed to do now? She turned forward once again, and looked at the path leading into the distance. She took another deep breath and began to follow the path into the hills.

She walked for several minutes, then came to a place where she saw the path curve around a distant hill. As she got closer, she saw some figures, ponies, coming around the curve. Five of them.

Three of them trotted along the path, and one of them...well, bounced. The fifth hovered overhead, flapping her wings. Twilight felt a rush of emotion, and tears fell freely from her face. She sprinted down the path toward the five ponies. Apparently seeing her, the pace of the five quickened as well.

The bouncing pony was the first to meet Twilight. She was pink of coat, mane, and tail, and her flank bore the familiar cutie mark of three balloons in blue and yellow. She appeared as young as she was the day Twilight had first met her. As they reached each other, Pinkie Pie jumped into the air toward Twilight and tackled her.

The other four soon caught up and piled on, pulling Twilight into a group hug.

No words were said in this moment. Nothing needed to be said.

Midnight Twinkle sat at her desk in a classroom at the School of Magic in Canterlot. Having arrived early, she flipped through the pages of her textbook. She thought she might as well get some extra studying in before class started.

Midnight understood that they were to have a guest lecturer for their class today. Princess Celestia had not only once been the head of this school, but she had ruled all of Equestria for over a thousand years. Her experience and knowledge would be beyond whatever Midnight could imagine. Midnight was very excited to hear what she had to share.

Students trickled in and began to sit at their desks. Midnight could hear the low rumble of their conversations as she continued to read from her textbook.

Soon after, Midnight heard the rumble of conversation die down, and looked up from her book. A very tall pony, white, with a flowing mane of pink, blue, and green, bearing a cutie mark of the sun, had entered the room. This would be Princess Celestia, Midnight realized, and she could feel her anticipation growing. Celestia took position at the blackboard in the front of the room.

“Good morning, class!” Celestia called, and the room fell silent. Using her magic, Celestia took up a piece of chalk and began to write on the board:

TWILIGHT SPARKLE,
THE SIX, AND THE
ELEMENTS OF HARMONY

Midnight’s curiosity grew. It was a story she had heard before, but she was excited to learn how it could be applied to the study of magic.

Celestia began to speak. “I’m sure you’ve all learned in Equestrian History that Twilight Sparkle ruled over Equestria for over two hundred years,” Celestia began. “What you might not know is that before that, she was a student of mine at this very school.”

Celestia spoke for about an hour. At the conclusion of the lecture, students began to file out of the classroom, but Midnight remained in her seat. Once the other students had left, Midnight stood and approached Celestia.

“Good morning, Princess,” Midnight greeted, somewhat nervously.

“Good morning, you must be Midnight Twinkle,” Celesta replied. “Flurry Heart just raves about your intelligence, and the potential you have.”

Midnight was somewhat startled that Celestia knew who she was. She took a breath. “It’s a beautiful story,” she started, and Celestia nodded. “But, I fail to see the practical application here. A dusty legend about a group of friends using the power of their love for each other to defeat evil? It really is heartwarming, but I can’t see how it applies to magic,” Midnight finished.

“Oh, no?” Celestia asked. “I have some time here at lunch. If you aren’t busy, there’s something I’d like to show you. Since you’re Flurry’s prized student.”

Midnight considered for a moment. She had some last-minute studying to get in before her next class, but it wasn’t every day that a pony got a personalized lesson from a former ruler of Equestria. “Okay,” she replied, somewhat sheepishly.

“Meet me at the front gate of the castle, in one hour,” Celestia said.

Midnight hurried to get to the castle. She had been lost in one of her textbooks and hadn’t kept track of time well. She thought she still had some time, but she wanted to be absolutely sure she wouldn’t be late. To her horror, Celestia was already waiting at the gate when she arrived.

“I’m so sorry I’m late, Princess,” Midnight started.

“Actually, you’re right on time,” Celestia replied. “Come with me.”

The two entered the castle. Midnight had never visited the castle before, even though it was so close to the school. Celestia led her down the main hallway, and she looked around in awe. Beautiful stained glass windows lining the hallway depicted the history of Equestria. She had seen some of the windows in her textbooks, but seeing them in person was a completely different experience.

They reached a particular window and stopped. “Do you recognize this?” Celestia asked. The window depicted six ponies that projected beams of light onto an alicorn wearing a helmet and chest plate at the top of the window.

“I’ve never seen it in person,” Midnight replied. “I think I saw it in a book, but I can’t place it.”

“You should be able to, it’s from that ‘dusty legend’ we were discussing in class,” Celestia replied with a laugh.

Midnight examined the window, and recognized it as the battle of the Six with Nightmare Moon, from the story. She looked back to Celestia questioningly. These windows were supposed to depict history, not fiction.

“Come, there’s something else,” Celestia said.

Midnight continued to follow Celestia, and they reached a turn leading to a side hallway. They proceeded to the end of the side hallway, and reached a large door. The door bore six cutie marks, five of them surrounding one in the center, a six-pointed star.

Midnight definitely recognized the star from her studies, it had belonged to Princess Twilight Sparkle, the former ruler of Equestria. The other five she didn’t recognize.

Celestia’s horn began to glow, and she touched it gently to the door, which slid open. Midnight gasped as she looked inside.

It was a large, circular room. Six pillars stood at the back wall, supporting six statues. Each pillar was inset with a beautiful, colored gem in a shape corresponding to one of the cutie marks she had seen on the door. A stained glass window sat in the wall behind each statue, depicting the same pony as the statue it stood behind.

Midnight was awestruck by the beauty of it all. She looked at Celestia, who nodded, and she hesitantly took a step inside, then walked to the center of the room.

Celestia joined her inside, motioning toward one of the statues, the one on the end to their right, the sixth. “Do you recognize her?” Celestia asked.

Midnight examined the statue, and the stained glass behind it. The stained glass depicted a pony of purple coat with a blue mane that had pink and purple streaks. An alicorn, but not tall and glamorous in the way alicorn princesses were usually depicted. She looked like just a regular pony. The statue was the same pony, seated on her haunches, with her forelegs spread as if to give the whole world a hug.

Midnight thought for a second. “She has the same colors as Princess Twilight. From my textbooks,” she said. Celestia nodded.

Celestia pointed to the other statues, in order from left to right. “Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy,” Celestia said, as if introducing a pony to some of her friends.

Realization dawned on Midnight. “So they were real,” she said. Celestia nodded.

“And do you feel that?” Celestia asked.

“Yes,” Midnight said. “Magic. This place is full of it.”

“It’s love, Midnight,” Celestia said. “The love these friends had...have...for each other. It dwells in this place.”
Midnight continued to look about the room, awestruck. “That’s it then, that’s what you meant by the lecture today,” Midnight said. “Love, it is magic.”

“Yes,” Celestia said. “The greatest of all magic.”