The next day, Knuckles and Twilight set out for Canterlot from Baltimare so they could get some more information on this discovery. They decided to keep their child at home with Reginald, because Knuckles trusted him enough to take care of his little girl and his butler was always a fan of little kids, so it was a win-win situation. Both of them traveled to the train station to buy the tickets and they waited for it to arrive. Once it did, they got on and went to their seats.

Knuckles pulled out the newspaper and looked to see what the latest news was. He held a very neutral face and went through everything. Twilight was sitting on his shoulder behind him and looked to see what Knuckles was reading. He wasn't bothered by it and he let Twilight do so. Twilight tried to engage in some small talk and said "I wonder what could possibly be in Starswirl's journal. There is so much undiscovered in that book that it would take years to fully understand it."

Knuckles huffed in disgust and said "Frankly, I do not care whatever is inside in that book. That pony is dead to me and after what he did to my tribe, I do not want to find out."

Twilight wasn't too thrilled with that insult and said "I get that you're not the biggest fan of Starswirl, but could you at least show a little bit of respect towards him?"

Knuckles laughed at that statement like it was the stupidest thing he ever heard and said "Respect? Starswirl? Yeah, I do not think so. That foolish pony and his entire group of "friends" disrespected me and my tribe by stealing the greatest artifact of all time all in the name of "trying to protect it from evil." That was the biggest lie I have ever heard. In case you forgot, respect is a two way street. If he is not going to respect me, then I am not going to respect him. That is just how life works. The day I start respecting him is the day where villains stop trying to take over Equestria every few months."

It was basically a translation of him saying that he will never respect Starswirl again because as long as sin remains in the world, evil will always try to conquer Equestria no matter what. Twilight shook her head and said "I don't know what it is that Starswirl did to you that made you hate him so much, but whatever it is, I hope you can eventually resolve it and put it behind you." She obviously knew that the Pillars stole the Master Diamond from his grandparents, but she could see that it ran much deeper than just that. She could see it in his eyes.

Knuckles sighed and said "I am not sure about that, but maybe it could happen one day. I am not betting on that though. There is a reason why Celestia told you that he was never able to truly understand friendship the same way you do." Twilight did tell him how she became an alicorn and after telling him what Celestia told her about Starswirl, it didn't surprise him a bit because he had personal experience with that.

Twilight said "Yeah, I guess that's fair, but I'm going to remain optimistic for now."

Knuckles rolled his eyes and said "Be my guest. But I am not going to be on the same bandwagon with this one. Not this time. It's not because I hate you for it, I hate him. All of the disgusting things he did to my tribe and that somehow gets covered up and ponies celebrate him as if he is God or something. It is pathetic."

Twilight gave him a slight glare and said "Starswirl achieved many accomplishments! He was the Father of the antimorphic spell and he created over 200 that are still used to this day!"

Knuckles shook his head and said "I am not hating on his success here in Equestria. I am always a big supporter of success because that's how I got to where I am right now. But where the problem lies is that the full picture has not been shown. Ponies only know him for his accomplishments and not his failures. It is about time both sides get exposed and let the citizens decide for themselves on whether or not they should support this dude. Not on some skewed view that got buried in history somewhere."

Twilight said "I understand what you are trying to say and I see where you are going on this, but Starswirl's failures shouldn't be exposed just for the sake of proving your point that he is a bad individual. Some might look past that and still see him as a good pony. That's how I saw you. All of my friends hated you for months on end and most of Equestria didn't even know of your existence, but I'm sure they would have despised you had they seen everything that had happened. But I saw past all of that and was willing to show you love because I saw a broken individual who had a stone heart and you shut everypony out. I gave you a chance when the rest of Equestria didn't. Don't you think you should give that same chance to Starswirl?"

Knuckles thought about it a little bit and he knew Twilight was right. Most of Equestria didn't even know of his existence and the ones who did know him absolutely hated him with a burning passion. But Twilight didn't care about any of that and still cared for him anyways because she was able to see the bigger picture of what had happened in his life. He so desperately wanted to listen to Twilight on this one, but he simply couldn't do it because of the pain it had caused for him in his life. He said "Sorry, Twilight. I cannot give him that chance. Not after what him and his friends did to me and my tribe."

He looked back at the newspaper and continued to read it as if nothing happened in the first place. Twilight sighed at his stubbornness, but she didn't pursue further because she knew it was going to be a lost cause and there was no point in wasting her breath trying to convince him that Starswirl wasn't an awful pony. It wasn't worth it anymore. The train stopped in Ponyville because there was ponies who were also trying to get to Canterlot and that was the only way there, so they came on and that included the rest of the Mane Six.

Twilight was happy to see them again and they all hugged, but Knuckles stayed in his seat and continued to read the newspaper as if nothing was going on. Rainbow asked "Why does Knuckles look so grumpy?"

Before Twilight could answer that question, Knuckles put down the newspaper and said "If you must know Rainbow Dash, it is because I am not the most thrilled about going on some ridiculous trip to Canterlot to talk about one of the most despised ponies in my tribe as if he were a hero or something. It is absolutely DISGUSTING and it needs to stop." Knuckles picked up the newspaper again and continued to read it.

Rarity said "Well he sure sounds very unhappy with this."

Twilight sighed and said "Unfortunately, he is not the most thrilled about this like the rest of us and I don't exactly blame him. The ponies that we have considered icons for decades were the same ones that stole a powerful artifact from his grandparents and became the most hated enemy of his tribe. So, it doesn't surprise me why he hates Starswirl and the others so much."

Applejack said "Well, that's just plain rude. He seems to completely disregard their accomplishments. He even seems more stubborn than Discord."

Twilight said "As much as I don't like the slander Knuckles gives to Starswirl, we must be considerate of his feelings. It would make us bad friends and me a bad wife if we didn't do so. As for right now, just let him be and try to make as minimal talk about the Pillars as you can because we have all seen how angry Knuckles can get when provoked." They nodded in agreement and they stayed quiet on the matter.

After a few more hours, the train arrived to Canterlot and everyone got off. As the group was walking through the streets, many ponies recognized Knuckles and were cheering very loudly their support for him. That put a smile on Knuckles' face and he waved to the crowds as he was passing through. Even in the snobbish city of Canterlot, he was still considered beloved by many ponies who lived there. The super rich folk didn't care too much for him and actually hated him for being so successful and popular, but he didn't give a crap about those ponies. They ultimately didn't matter in life and they were just trying to build themselves up while tearing everyone else down.

They all eventually made it inside the castle and the group met up with Starlight and Sunburst to discuss this amazing discovery with Celestia and Luna. They walked through the castle hallways and they all eventually made it into the throne room. Celestia smiled and said "Greetings, my little ponies. It is nice to see you all once again. What brings you to Canterlot?"

Sunburst stepped forward "Well, Your Majesty, I was down in Ponyville very recently to visit my friend Starlight for a few days and I stumbled upon an antique shop there since Ponyville is known for having a lot of antiques in Equestria. After exploring it for a little while, I came out of the store with a blind buy barrel because I thought there was going to be a lot of goodies in there. But when I left to go back home to the Crystal Empire a few days later, I happened to discover Starswirl the Bearded's journal in there and I was so excited that I wrote everypony I knew a letter telling them to come here and present this news to you."

Both Celestia and Luna were surprised by this news and some of the Mane Six were as well. Even Knuckles was surprised by this story. They were all here because that journal somehow ended up in a barrel with a bunch of other stuff as some sort of liquidation sale to get inventory out of the store. That didn't settle well with Knuckles.

Celestia said "I see. Well, since you were able to find this journal, could you possibly read what is inside of there so we could see what may have happened?"

Sunburst said "Of course. I can do that." He began to read the journal and all of them listened as he read it. The journal read:

"The best elements within us can spread light and virtue and I know ponies who represent them all. Strength, bravery, healing, beauty, hope, and sorcery. Myself and these Pillars of Equestria were gathered together by another to maintain and share the light of these powerful ideals. But we soon came to believe that the pony who brought us together only wanted that power for himself. Cast out and alone, this power mad pony turned to darkness to satisfy his thirst.

Knuckles could only shake his head and thought internally "Another error in a long list of "mistakes" that Starswirl the Bearded made over his lifetime here in Equestria and back on Earth." Because this happened, it only solidified his belief that Starswirl was a terrible pony and to still hate him with a burning passion.

"Transformed into a Pony of Shadows, he returned for revenge; to extinguish the Pillars' light and rob the world of hope. To stop him, the Pillars and I must make a brave sacrifice, but we shall leave behind a seed in hopes that one day, it will grow into a force to stand against the darkness of all time. We must now face the fiend with the only plan we have. I will only hope it will be enough."

Sunburst closed the book and said to Celestia "That's the last entry and maybe Starswirl's final words before he vanished!"

Celestia levitated the book over to her and said "I've always wondered what happened to Starswirl. This is quite a discovery, Sunburst!"

Knuckles rolled his eyes and Twilight said with excitement "So, it's genuine? You can verify that this journal REALLY belonged to Starswirl the Bearded?"

Luna said "Indeed. From the looks of it, the last thing he wrote before facing the Pony of Shadows." Luna scrolled through the pages and found some more text at the very end of the book. She said "Wait a minute. There's more text here on the last two pages of the book."

That seemed to capture everyone's attention and Twilight asked "What does it say?"

Luna looked at it and began to read it. The pages read:

"Dear Journal,

Life can throw many challenges at us, yet they teach us so much on how to live it. I would have never anticipated that something so simple could be something very complex. Each of us have a role to play in this world and it's up to us to figure out what that means. As I write this down, I fear that Equestria is in grave danger. The Pillars and I have taken down many foes before, but this is far bigger than that. A pony that I once knew has turned to the darkness and has vowed for revenge on his enemies. He is inching closer and time is running short for me.

But we shall leave behind a seed that will grow into something one day that will stand against the darkness. I also sense that a great warrior shall come out of this as well. He will be filled with strength and courage, yet suffer tragedy and heartbreak at the same time. He will find solace, but it will be tested many times. He will also find a partner in life and they shall settle down together after issues are resolved. However, a great threat will emerge that will threaten to end all he has ever known. He will be tested and beaten down, but he will never break. I know that he will become something great one day and will serve to protect Equestria along with this seed. The hour is growing near and my time may come.

But anyone who comes along this journal must know that this was for the best. I wish I had a choice in the matter, but my foe has other ideas. Myself and the Pillars must make a grave sacrifice, but it will be for the greater good of this land. It is young and needs nurturing to become a nation that will be great. It will need protectors for this land to thrive and prosper. Which is why I leave with this seed planted and the great warrior I speak of. I do not know when he will appear, but he will show up when the time comes.

This could very well be my last entry in this journal and if anyone reads this, just know that Equestria is a much safer place now than it was before at the time I'm writing this. As for now, I must venture off to another location with the Pillars and contain this foe once and for all. I only hope that it will be enough.

Farewell,

Starswirl the Bearded"

Everyone's mind was blown and Luna said "That seems strange. Why would Starswirl repeat himself more than once and what is this "great warrior" he speaks of?"

Knuckles didn't like where this was going and said "Give me that." He took the book away from Luna and read it for himself. After thinking about it for a few moments, it hit him like a load of bricks. In fact, it scared him. So much so that his pupils shrunk down to pinpricks and his face turned ghost white. That gave the rest of them a sense of anxiety and they asked him what's wrong. He tossed the book away and said "That book is cursed! There is absolutely no way Starswirl could actually figure out some sort of prophecy that was stated so long ago and assume that it was me. That is just him trying to be cute and his attempt at covering up what he did to my tribe. How terrible."

He walked over to the window and jumped right out of it because he felt like he set a curse somewhere and he had to get out of there before it took effect. None of them said a word for a few seconds and then Luna picked up the book again and said "Well besides that, it seemed like they eventually had to face the Pony of Shadows."

Rainbow didn't like the sound of that and asked with fear "So, the Pony of Shadows was really real?"

Celestia nodded and said "It appears so."

Luna said "We never met the other Pillars and we were too young to understand the danger they faced."

Knuckles scoffed at that and said quietly to himself "It is a good thing you were graced to not see the rest of them and I think you are forgetting how my tribe felt after the Diamond was stolen."

Applejack was skeptical of that and said "Hold on now. All those legendary ponies were real too and they went off with Starswirl to face the Pony of Shadows and then, none of them were ever heard from again?"

Sunburst nodded and Pinkie said in a very "smart" voice "Yeah, weren't you listening?" She just smiled and Applejack gave a deadpan stare on her face.

Fluttershy asked "But what happened to them all?"

Rarity said "They must have defeated the villain since Equestria is still full of light and hope."

"For the most part." Knuckles thought in his head.

Starlight was confused and asked "But how? And where did they go?"

Celestia said "My Old Ponish is a bit rusty, but I wonder if the answers can be found somewhere within the pages of this book."

Twilight smiled at that and said "Well, I just happen to be an expert in Old Ponish. I mean, I've practically memorized every ancient text about Starswirl there is!"

Spike smacked his claw against his face and said "Seriously. All of them."

Luna said "We have fond memories of our old teacher. If you could discover what happened to him, we would be most grateful."

Twilight grabbed the book from Luna and Sunburst said "Solving a thousands year old mystery could take forever! Think of the research. The rereading. The re-rereading!" He attempted to give Knuckles a hoof bump at that and Knuckles reluctantly did so while rolling his eyes at the same time.

Celestia found it funny and said "You might find you need help."

Applejack said "Luckily, she's got a whole bushel of helpers right here."

Rainbow agreed and said "Totally. Um, how long will all this research take exactly?"

Twilight said "Let's get this back to my library. I'm sure we'll figure out what happened in no time." Knuckles rolled his eyes at that and already started walking out of the room. The rest of them did so and they headed back to Baltimare. You see, when Twilight moved in with Knuckles after they got married, he basically dedicated his whole library to her and gave her ownership of it, so now, it belonged to her.

Three Days Later...

It had been three days since all of them started this research and to say they didn't get very far would be a massive understatement. While the group was doing all of that reading, Knuckles had spent all that time doing his normal routine such as working out in the gym, completing work on the computer, responding to fan mail, eating three times a day, going to the bathroom at a normal rate, and even getting sleep every night by going to bed at a reasonable time. But he was most focused on taking care of his child. He did most of the feeding, burping, and changing out diapers, but he had to come into the library occasionally to have Twilight do breastfeeding for the child since he couldn't do that himself.

Female ponies don't exactly have breasts to do breastfeeding, but they do have mounds that serve the same purpose, so that's how it needed to get done. I know that sounds gross and highly inappropriate, but it's a mature rated story for a reason, so deal with it. Anyways, back to the story. So, because three days had past, it had come to the point where Spike kept constantly changing out candles because one would burn out and a new one had to replace it.

So, he yawned a little bit and then replaced the old candle with the new one. He looked at Twilight and asked "Figure it out yet, Twilight?" Twilight just shook her head no and Spike tossed the old candle to the trash can which it was already overflowing with the pile stacking up. Sunburst suddenly awoke from the noise and did the old man thing when they wake up from a nap and asked the most random question of all time. You know what I'm talking about. We've seen it before at least once in our lives.

Anyway, because he did that, the others started waking up and had a false assumption that Twilight figured something out which was not the case whatsoever. Fluttershy asked what it was and Twilight said with a sigh "Nothing. I mean, Starswirl was a genius, obviously. But forget Old Ponish. There's parts where his hornwriting's a whole other language." Twilight was frustrated with that and she rubbed her eyes in exhaustion.

Applejack moved the stack of books aside and said "Twilight, we've been studyin' and referencin' and cross-referencin' for three days straight now." She was so tired that even her eyes weren't that straight for a moment. That's how bad it had gotten.

Rainbow did some stretching and said "I haven't spent this much time reading since the last Daring Do book came out."

Rarity came up with a suggestion and said "Maybe it's best that we take a break. This mystery's over a thousand years old after all. Another day or two won't make a difference."

Knuckles came in through the door and said "I do not even know why you ponies even bothered reading books for three straight days. It is quite unhealthy and even the biggest Starswirl fans would not have that much of an obsession to the point where they are compromising their health because they want to figure out what happened to that dude. It is honestly quite ridiculous."

Twilight didn't appreciate that and said "Caleb! That's not very nice to say! It's true that maybe it wasn't the best thing for our physical health, but this is the biggest mystery in Equestrian history and I'm determined to find out what happened."

Knuckles rolled his eyes and said "Maybe for you it is. But for me, I would prefer to leave it untouched because all of them honestly deserved whatever fate it was that they got served after stealing the greatest artifact of all time from my tribe. Besides, while you all were wasting your life away reading a bunch of ancient books, I was actually being productive with getting stuff done and I had do most of the load for my child with the exception of breastfeeding since I am not a woman."

Twilight didn't care and said "Alright, we get it. You were being more productive than we were. Now let's move on! I am close to an answer. I can feel it."

Knuckles rolled his eyes and picked up the journal. He said "Hearg sylfum se Ponhenge. Yeah, I know exactly what that is."

Twilight was shell shocked at that and said with shock "The Temple of Ponhenge?! You can read that?!"

Knuckles rolled his eyes again and said "Of course I can. I was a historian, you know. I read the entire Constitution and Declaration of Independence in its original text and this is a piece of cake compared to that." You see, Knuckles had the special ability to read ancient texts with ease as if he was fluent in the language or something and if anyone needed help reading it, he was the guy assigned to read it. No one else in any of his classes in high school or college could even read the first paragraph of either document.

Anyways, Knuckles continued and said "Toward dol grimlic of fola firgenbeorg, User endemest shield." Everyone's mind was blown at this point and they now knew that they could get him to read any ancient text they wanted him to at any time.

Rainbow asked "Uh, so what does that mean?"

Twilight said "From what he read, it translates into *gasps* "At the base of Foal Mountain, our Last Stand."

Spike yawned and said "Well, that sure sounds like a clue to me." He flattened the pillow and went to sleep since he was busy for the last three days changing out candles so the group could read their books with ease.

The rest of the group ignored that and Sunburst pulled out a book that showed where Ponhenge was located at. They ventured there and it honestly looked abandoned. I'm not talking like shopping center abandoned, I'm talking Atlantis abandoned. Most of the group were either excited or nervous about this place and Twilight said "This is it. Ponhenge."

Knuckles took a look around and it reminded him a lot of Stonehenge in England. He had visited that place at one point as part of a romantic vacation with Maddi, but it never really made sense to him why it was considered the Seven Wonders of the World since it was just a bunch of rock formations in a small circle. It confused him, but it didn't bother him enough to try to pursuit it.

Sunburst took a look at one of the stones and said "I've never seen magical runes like these before. Have you?" Twilight shook her head no and continued to walk down the pathway.

Rainbow said "I don't think anypony's seen any of this for a loonnngg time." Rainbow tried to pull the vines off the stones, but the grip was too strong for her and she fell into the bushes.

Applejack had to pull her out and said "It would take a whole team of ponies to clear away all this brush."

Fluttershy said "Even then, I'm not sure we'd find out what happened here over a thousand years ago."

Twilight sighed and said "You're right. I suppose it was a long shot." For Knuckles, that meant he no longer had to hear about the issue at the moment, which definitely gave him relief.

Spike said "Cheer up, Twilight. Finding a whole set of ancient ruins is pretty impressive. Or maybe you could write a paper on it."

Twilight turned around and said "I guess I hoped we'd get here and the mystery would magically be explained." She dropped the book and as if it had been listening, the book started to light up and Spike got nervous.

He backed up and said "Uh, Twilight?" Even the others had taken notice as well and expressed worry.

Twilight turned around and backed up as well. The book opened and flipped to a random page. After a few seconds, an illumination of Starswirl was standing right there. Twilight was in complete awe while Knuckles was burning with anger at seeing his greatest enemy's face once again. A thing that he wished he would never have to experience ever again.

Anyway, Twilight said "Starswirl? I've wanted to meet you my whole life. I can't believe you're here!"

Sunburst put his hoof through the illumination to see if it was the real one and it went right through, which meant it was not Starswirl in flesh and blood. Just an illusion of him. Sunburst said "I don't think he is here. I don't think any of them are." Suddenly, the rest of them magically showed up and the group were shocked to see them. Well, except Knuckles. His anger level only continued to rise as he saw the rest of them appear one by one. He knew that it was just an illusion, but it was still painful for him to deal with and there could be something that might get told here that he may not have known.

Starswirl blasted the well in the center and out came the Pony of Shadows. He gave some evil laughter and most of the group backed away in fear. The Pony of Shadows gave an evil grin at Starswirl and said "You summon me at your peril, Starswirl! Once I defeat all of you, this realm will embrace the darkness as I did so long ago." He made a very loud noise and trapped the Pillars in black webs as a way to restrain them. He continued to laugh in their faces and continued to draw power from them.

He looked at the struggling Starswirl and said "Drawing me here will only make me stronger. You will never defeat me!"

Starswirl looked at the Pony of Shadows in the eyes and said "We did not come here to defeat you." Suddenly, all of the Pillars used their artifacts to create a hexagon shape around the Pony of Shadows and the foe was confused. But then, something else appeared: The Master Diamond. Knuckles gasped very loudly with horror and his anger levels rose to new heights. His eyebrows and hair were literally on fire at this point because of how angry he was.

The Pony of Shadows asked in confusion "What are you doing?!"

Starswirl glared at him and said "We've came to contain you." All of them rose up into the air and they suddenly disappeared. The artifacts dropped to the ground and disappeared from existence before the book eventually closed. Everyone was completely shell shocked at the rapid turn of events and Pinkie said to Twilight "Well, you did ask for a magical explanation!"

Twilight examined the book again and Rainbow asked "Uh, what just happened?"

Starlight said "It looked like Starswirl cast a spell to banish the Pony of Shadows."

That statement hit Sunburst like a load of bricks and he said "Of course! Powerful magic like that would leave an impression on this place. Bringing the book back here let us see what happened."

Applejack was confused and asked "Which was what?"

Twilight looked at the book and said with a heavy heart "Starswirl and the rest of the Pillars sacrificed themselves to save Equestria."

Rainbow said "Uh, I don't think that's the only thing." She pointed over to Knuckles and they all saw him still burning with anger with his eyebrows and hair still being on fire while just standing there with the same angry expression on his face.

Twilight sighed and said "Somepony get me a water bucket." Rainbow got one for her super quickly and Twilight dropped the bucket of cold water on Knuckles' head which snapped him out of his angry daze. He shivered a little bit because of how cold it was and he was now annoyed.

He asked "Who the f[BLEEP] decided to dump cold water on my f[BLEEP]ing head?!"

Twilight shook her head and said "Caleb, get ahold of yourself. You were practically scaring us all over there with you having your hair on fire and having the same angry expression on your face for five minutes straight. You looked like a serial killer."

Knuckles sighed and said "I am sorry about that. It is just I am even more angry about the situation now than I was before."

Rainbow raised an eyebrow and said "Why? Because you witnessed the event for yourself?"

Knuckles shook his head and said "No. It is because that artifact that was stolen from my grandparents and the one we have all taken a vow to protect was used to defeat another villain! I know it sound ridiculous, but how would you feel if you had an artifact stolen from you in the name of protecting it from evil and then turn around and watch that thief use that item to defeat another villain in another dimension?!"

All of them were speechless on what to say and it made Knuckles more frustrated. He said "That ungrateful son of a b[BLEEP] had to go steal MY artifact from MY tribe and then used it as a weapon to defeat a villain for his own selfish gain and make himself look good! He is lucky he is not here at the moment because if he was, I would tear that b[BLEEP] limb for limb after everything he did to ME and my tribe! Absolutely DISGUSTING!" He began to walk away and headed back to his mansion. The rest of them stayed silent and didn't know how to respond to that. It hurt Twilight to see her husband so upset over something like this, but this was really stretching it for all of them at this point. He's made his point clear and they understand, but he continues to go on about it as if it were contagious or something.

They all eventually returned to his mansion and both Starlight and Sunburst were having a conversation in the hallway about the recent events that had occurred within the last day or so. Starlight said "It's amazing to think one of the greatest mysteries of Equestria was solved from a musty old book from an antique shop."

That angered Knuckles even more, who was passing by at the moment and he said "That same "musty old book" is what led to the downfall of my tribe and caused everything to turn into shambles! It is his fault that my life turned into the mess it did and he deserves every bad outcome that is delivered to him!" Before anyone could say anything, he walked down the other hallway and slammed the door shut, which definitely set the mood for them.

Sunburst said after a few seconds "Well, that was strange."

Starlight sighed and said "Yeah, he's been acting like that for the last few days and honestly, who can blame him? Everything that he went through in his life and even when he came here before I did definitely did not help him at all. I know he said that the Pillars stole that artifact from his family, but I can tell there's more to it than just that. I just hope that we can solve this mystery so that we can put this issue to rest for good."

Sunburst began thinking and said "But I wouldn't say the mystery's solved. Starswirl's spell was one of the most powerful feats of magic in all of history! It'll take years of study before we fully understand it."

They both opened the door to the library and Twilight suddenly said "I think I understand Starswirl's spell!" That statement drew a blank between Sunburst and Starlight and the two of them looked at each other in confusion because it didn't really make any sense and to them, it sounded like a very hot take.

The group met up in the conference room and Twilight opened it up by saying "I know I've finished one of Starswirl's spells before, but this one was on a whole different level. Was it an explosion of magical feedback? An evocation? A kind of incantation? It's Starswirl, so the possibilities are endless! And once Caleb set me on the right track with his crazy hornwriting- I mean, he was a genius, so I guess we can forgive a little messiness- I went through the journal again and it's amazing!"

No one shared the same enthusiasm as Twilight did and Rarity said "Twilight darling. We know you're excited, but that's all we understand."

Rainbow reaffirmed that and said "What exactly is so amazing?"

Twilight treated that like it was heresy and said "Only that Starswirl and the other Pillars sent the Pony of Shadows to Limbo!"

Applejack was confused and asked "They did what now?"

Knuckles thought about it and said "Yes, that actually does make sense. Trap your enemy into another dimension so that you can pull them away from the one they were causing terror in. Unfortunately, that fool had to use my artifact to do so, but that is what you get with idiots like him."

Twilight was annoyed at this point and said "Caleb! Knock it off! We get it! You hate Starswirl and the other Pillars! There's no reason to keep repeating that!"

Knuckles did not appreciate that at all and said "Do not disrespect me, young lady! I AM the head of this household and I AM the chairman of this committee right here. So, whatever I say goes and anything I shut down is FINAL! No ifs, ands, or buts. I do not play games. Do not do that again. Continue."

Twilight shook her head and said "They used their magic to open a portal between worlds, to Limbo, and pulled the Pony of shadows inside." She used a diorama to demonstrate and as a result, it disappeared into thin air after a few seconds.

Rarity expressed horror and said "Darling, your diorama!"

Twilight wasn't bothered by it and said "I made more!" She pointed to the table in the corner and it was just collapsing on itself at this point. She picked up the book and said "Starswirl thought that the only way to trap the Pony of Shadows in Limbo was for the Pillars to take him there."

Applejack connected the dots and said "So they got stuck there too!"

Knuckles thought that was the perfect punishment for Starswirl and the Pillars after everything they did to him and his tribe and it would serve as a good way to never see them again, even though it seems like Twilight was threatening to get them out.

Fluttershy shivered in fear and said "The Pony of Shadows must have been really awful for them to do that." No one could disagree with this statement.

Pinkie said "I suppose being trapped for all time with a super-duper bad guy in limbo might be OK if you were doing the limbo, but that's still pushing it."

Twilight said with confidence "The thing is, I think I can get them out." Almost as if time stopped itself, the sound of a pin drop echoed through the room and left everyone stunned.

Sunburst asked "Twilight, are you serious? You can save the most legendary ponies of all time?"

Starlight was more skeptical and said "I don't know. Opening portals between worlds didn't work out well for me. Are you sure it's safe?"

Knuckles scoffed and said "No, it is not safe to be honest. I cannot even believe this. You honestly want to get the most hated ponies of all time in my tribe set free after everything they did to us just so that you can solve a thousands year old mystery?! Did you forget what they did to me?! My tribe?! I have heard a lot of absurd ideas before, but this just crosses the line! I never wanted to see those fools again and I thought my wishes were getting respected. I guess I was wrong. You clearly have no respect for me whatsoever! I officially adjourn this meeting!"

He got up out of his chair and slammed the door very loudly, which showed everyone how frustrated he clearly was about all of this. Twilight sighed and said "He is so stubborn sometimes. But that doesn't matter at the moment. We must press forward with this."

Starlight raised a brow and said "Are you sure that's a good idea? It didn't work out so well for me and it's clear there is opposition to it already."

Twilight said "First of all, you opened portals through time. Second of all, he wrote the spell you used to do it. If he'd had been here, he could have stopped it. And third of all, don't even get involved with the opposition. That is my private business that I need to settle with my husband. The point is, Equestria would be safer with Starswirl in it. We have to save him!"

Applejack asked "But you'd be savin' all of the Pillars, right? And they disappeared ages ago!"

Twilight flew back down in her chair and said "That's the thing about Limbo. It isn't one place or another. It's in between, so time stands still. If we pull them out, it will be like they never left. I actually built another model to demonstrate..." Rainbow had enough at this point and banged her head on the table in frustration.

Before things could get anymore out of hand, Spike asked "What can we do to help?"

Twilight smiled and said "If I'm right, we need to find items that are connected to the Pillars in some way."

That grabbed Rainbow's attention and she asked "You mean, like stuff that belonged to them?"

Fluttershy seemed confused on that as well and she asked "How would we know what to look for? Or where?"

Twilight said "Luckily, Starswirl took a lot of notes. "My compatriots are as varied as the realm itself and hail from every corner of our land, bringing with them artifacts and talismans of great power." As if something was activated on cue, there was a bright light in the room and that drew everyone's attention.

Starlight was worried and asked with concern "Um, Twilight? What are you doing?"

Twilight looked up and she was shocked to see images of these artifacts just magically appear as if what she read was a command that was used to activate the location of them. She said "I'm not doing anything!" The items then appeared on the live map of Equestria that was hanging up on the wall and stopped at the precise locations of where they were currently at. All of them were amazed at that and Twilight said "I guess we don't need to figure out who should get what."

Meanwhile, down in the Knucklecave, Knuckles was busy throwing tin cans at the wall in anger and screaming out insults at Starswirl and the other Pillars with rage in his voice. He was clearly angry and he was upset at Twilight for not respecting his wishes. It was already bad enough her just talking about it and now she wanted to get them out of there?! Did she not know of the pain those ponies had caused to him and his tribe?! Did she forget their terrible actions against his tribe?!

They stole the Master Diamond from his grandparents and then used it to banish another villain in another dimension as a way to cover it up. And now, because of the supposed legacy they left behind, it was corrupting ponies into believing some false story of who they were and chanting them as some sort of saviour to their world. It was corrupting his friends and it was corrupting his wife and he was not going to let it happen any longer. It is time for him and his friends to pay the consequences of their actions against the Echidna tribe and if Twilight was going to set them free, he was going to make them suffer day and night for the rest of their miserable lives as reparations for what they did to him and his tribe.

Twilight had come down and saw him very angry. It really had pained her to see him so angry like this, but this was for the greater good in her mind. Knuckles saw her and said with bitterness in his voice "What do you want? You already do not respect my opinion and now you are probably coming down here to attempt to kick me out of my own house."

Instead of responding, Twilight flew up to him and hugged him. This surprised Knuckles entirely and his anger started to vanish rapidly. But he wanted an explanation. As soon as he opened his mouth to ask what the meaning of all this was, Twilight gave him a passionate kiss before he could say anything. He wanted to recoil back, but after a few seconds, he simply couldn't resist anymore. They ended up doing that for the next few minutes, and Twilight said "It's going to be alright, Caleb. I understand you are very upset right now, and you have every right to be, but I promise you that things will turn out alright."

Knuckles sighed and said "You honestly sound like Maddi when you talk like that. But that aside, I have nothing against you at all. I am upset that you are pursuing this, but it is more about the pony stuck in Limbo than it is you. I know you are trying to do the right thing and I know all too well that's not the easiest thing to do, but I feel like my wishes are getting ignored. I feel like I am being neglected and that my concerns about this are not considered important to you. I feel disrespected and I already went through enough of it in my life."

Twilight said "I do care about your concerns Caleb and it tears me up inside to see you so angry and upset. I do remember all that tragedy you went through in your life where you were neglected, abandoned, and abused and I don't want to make you feel that way again. I know you're skeptical about it and it may reopen old wounds, but I'm doing this for the greater good of Equestria. You can still oppose it, but try not to be so angry about it. If not for yourself, do it for me. Can you do that for me?"

Knuckles sighed again and said "I will try, but there are no guarantees. There is a lot of bad blood between me and Starswirl and I feel like releasing him would open the door to a potential firestorm that will be hard to contain. However, I will try only because I love you and I know better than go against your wishes."

Twilight smiled and said "Great. Now let's head over to Ponhenge so we can meet up with the others and get this thing started!"

Knuckles watched Twilight leave and he sighed. He said to himself "I hope you know what you are doing, Twilight. There is a lot of bad stuff in this war and you may soon regret peaking in the door. I only hope that it does not turn into a disaster." He went for the elevator and left his house for Ponhenge.

He made there with his wife, Starlight, and Sunburst and the ponies were discussing how they were going to do this while Knuckles sat on one of the stones to think about his interactions he's had with Starswirl over the years. Twilight said with excitement "I can't believe I'm actually going to meet Starswirl the Bearded. You know, outside of my dreams."

Starlight didn't feel the same way and said "I can't believe you're actually going through with it."

Twilight was confused and asked "What do you mean?"

Starlight said "I'm all for pushing the envelope, obviously, but this is pretty out there for you, Twilight."

Sunburst thought that was ridiculous and asked "What's "out there" about saving the most legendary ponies of all time from a thousands year old prison?!"

Knuckles rolled his eyes and said "The title legendary is highly debatable, but whatever."

Everypony ignored that and Starlight said "Well, nothing when you say it like that. Unless the most legendary ponies of all time knew what they were doing and we shouldn't mess with it."

Knuckles agreed with Starlight on this one and he wished that those ponies would stay in Limbo forever so that he would never have to deal with that pain again, but he was clearly outvoted in this case, so there was really nothing he could do except sit and watch.

Sunburst said "I'm sure Starswirl and the Pillars did the best they could back then, but magic has come a long way, mostly because of the work they did."

Starlight said "That's true, and you did get your wings from finishing one of Starswirl's spells."

Twilight extended them for a second and said "Exactly."

Starlight said "But then, I messed with one and nearly destroyed the universe, so..."

Twilight wasn't having it anymore and said "Starlight, Starswirl the Bearded was the greatest wizard that ever lived, the chance of having him back in Equestria is worth the risk."

Spike said from the bushes "That's good news."

Rainbow then said "Otherwise, we would have brought this shield for nothing."

Applejack interjected and said "Ah hope ya don't think yer not the only one to find her artifact, 'cause this here shovel says otherwise."

Rarity laughed at that and said "Honestly, you two. Not everything is a competition. But, Mistmane's flower is by far the most attractive of the artifacts."

Pinkie randomly appeared and said "You're just saying that because you didn't have to scoop it out of a pit of green slime to get yours."

Fluttershy showed up as well and said "Or move a Flash Bee hive."

Twilight smiled and said "Good work, everyone. Let's do this."

Before anyone could do anything though, Knuckles interjected and asked "Are you sure this is a good idea? This might bear a lot of bad consequences if you do so."

Twilight rolled her eyes and said "Yes, Caleb. I'm sure. There's nothing to worry about."

Fluttershy asked Knuckles "Is there a reason why you're so resistant to it?"

Knuckles sighed and said "You all want the story? I will give you the story. Thousands of years ago, a fearsome group of warriors in the battleground skies, forged the six Harmony Diamonds into the most unstoppable weapon ever created: The Master Diamond. With it, a single warrior could defeat entire armies. My tribe was chosen by the creators to protect the Diamond at all costs and fight anyone to the death who tried to steal it. We were the greatest tribe on the Earth and we thrived off of protecting it. It was considered the Golden Age for us and we never looked back on it."

It was a great time if you were around then and they had a lot of success during that time period where the Master Diamond was in their possession.

Knuckles continued and said "However, an order of heroes who you all know as the Pillars, believing that no one should hold such power, stole the Diamond from us and swore to protect it from evil. After my grandparents lost the Diamond, who were the current guardians of it at the time, our tribe went into freefall mode. We were fortunately never compromised by anyone and no one ever did find out our secrets, but we were never the same after that. All of us felt like we failed at our life mission and as a result, some of us ended their lives because of how ashamed we were. Protecting the Diamond was our sole responsibility. We NEVER wanted to use it for evil and the ones that did got cast out for it. But after they stole it from us, we had no idea where to go. That is the story of how the Pillars stole the Master Diamond."

All of them were speechless for a few seconds and then Twilight said "Well, I think now is as a good of a time as ever to ask Starswirl and the Pillars for their side of the story."

Knuckles scoffed at that and said "Yeah, and you know what they will tell you? "Oh, we were simply trying to protect the Diamond from being used for evil." It was never THEIR Diamond! It was OURS! And they chose to steal it from us anyways just so they could defeat their own villain here in Equestria to cover up what they did to my tribe! They were not given the responsibility to protect the Diamond. That was our job! You know how it felt when Sunset Shimmer stole your crown and Element of Harmony. It put Equestria at serious risk and you were angry at her for doing that. That's how my tribe felt when the Diamond was stolen from us. It is something beyond anything anyone could imagine and if it fell into the wrong hands, our entire universe would cease to exist! You must understand that I am telling the truth here and I am not making excuses. It is part of the reason why I am the man I am today. So, please reconsider before you go through with this."

Twilight thought about it for a bit and weighed her options. She couldn't believe that the Pillars did that to his tribe, but Starswirl definitely was not perfect. It was a long time ago and maybe he realized that was a terrible mistake to make. Sure, there was definitely quite a bit of risk to this, but she believed that the reward would greatly outweigh it. So, there was nothing to really worry about. Twilight said "I'm sorry, Caleb, but it must be done. Equestria would be better with Starswirl and the rest of the Pillars here, so we must set them free. It's the only way."

She gave the nod of approval for starting the spell and Sunburst blasted the book with his magic. Starlight groaned and did the same thing. Twilight added her magic as well and the book lit up. It made the same hexagon shape when it connected to the other artifacts and it spun around in a few circles before completely disappearing. The Pillars all suddenly fell to the ground and the Mane Six had to move them out of the way so they wouldn't get crushed by the rocks that fell from the sky.

Starswirl opened his eyes and said "What? What has happened?"

Twilight was excited and said "It worked! We brought you back!"

Starswirl rubbed his eyes and said "To where?"

Twilight said "You and the others have been trapped in Limbo for over a thousand years, but I figured out how to get you ho-"

Starswirl was in panic mode and said "WHAT?! NO, NO, NO, YOU MUST UNDO WHAT YOU'VE DONE!

Twilight was confused by that and asked "What? Why? I mean, I don't think I can."

Starswirl walked towards her and said "You cannot bring us back."

Twilight was getting nervous at his face and said "But I did. I brought all of the Pillars back."

Starswirl said with fear in his voice "You cannot ONLY bring the Pillars back!"

Suddenly, a bunch of lightning and thunder went off and dark storm clouds began to appear onto the scene. Everyone gasped and they backed up in fear when they saw who it was. The Pony of Shadows returned to his solid pony state and he gave out evil laughter. Twilight was quite scared and said "Oh no." She had really screwed up this time and for Knuckles, this only got more interesting as not only was his worst enemies back, the villain who was defeated with his own artifact had now returned as well. This was definitely going to be a challenge.

Author's Note

AN: Well men, we've reached the end of the second chapter! I know I left you all on a cliffhanger, but I'm dealing with the Season Seven finale here. It's where the stopping point occurred in the show, but the next chapter will be coming out soon. I'll be working on it throughout the week and I'll hopefully get it out to you all next Sunday, but we'll see. Things have definitely heated up and they will only continue to do so from here. Hope you enjoyed the chapter!

Next Chapter: The Confrontation! After Twilight brings back the Pillars and also the Pony of Shadows on complete accident, Knuckles now has to face his worst enemy once again. It does not go well as you would expect, but they now have to deal with a dangerous villain running out on the loose and if that wasn't enough, some other characters show up onto the scene because a different villain escaped to Equestria and is planning to take it over. Will Knuckles be able to come to a temporary solution, or will his past prevent him from interacting with Starswirl?

Until then, my fellow readers