To Save our Legacy

“Wooohohow. That’s soooo cool!” Zipp’s jaw almost touched the floor as she drank in the sights in front of her. And the same could be said for the other pony present, Sunny, whose sparkling eyes marveled with the innocence of a filly on a visit to Canterlot Castle.

For that was exactly where we were.

The rest of the week passed without turbulence. I made good use of the free time to recover from the soul drain spell and, in the meantime, try to crack another edge in my research, seeking to go through all the available material once more to tie a few loose ends before returning to play scavenger for whatever relics slash pieces of knowledge I could sniff out amongst the decayed ruins of a once proud Canterlot.

Argyle’s diaries, while insightful and elaborate in many aspects, failed in granting me anything I didn’t already know or could easily deduce regarding past events, at least as far as I had skimmed through them. Funnily enough, I got a few laughs out of several of his reconstructions of historical events he had tried to piece back together, some of them surprisingly accurate for the amount of years in between. Others… well, not so much. Changeling had definitely NOT arrived on Equus from space! That was my card!

… Right?

Still, it was a valiant effort on his part, considering the amount of available material and, you know, lacking any kind of support form his fellow townsponies, who spent every hour of every day calling him crazy.

All except Sunny’s mom, of course. But that’s a story for another day.

Nonetheless, I felt like I was slowly, but surely approaching the end of his diary entries. Meaning that, since he had catalogued them by date of event, whatever info he’d managed to collect from the last years before the fall would be scarce, which didn’t exactly play in my favour.

His notes were one of my most promising leads, aside from Alastor’s efforts in revisiting old unicorn lore and whatnot. Aside from those two sources, I knew of nopony else who might be able to aid me in reconstructing what happened in those few years I was sleeping while Equestria crumbled under our very feet. You can easily tell that ponies were more preoccupied with things like being at each other's throats rather than preserving their own history during the past few centuries.

A true shame, since there are so many lessons within the story of Equestria and the ponies who rose to protect it that ponies would do very well to remember.

My personal investigation of the Unity Crystals only provided more and more questions to the pile regarding their true nature and purpose. Not only could they apparently grant alicorn powers at their whim, or rebuild an entire lighthouse into a crystalline version of itself out of a simple Reparo spell.

Now, earth ponies had been granted a completely new form of magic, a variation of their previous one, turning it into an active process instead of a passive one. The closest thing I could remember to that kind of flora manipulation could only be achieved through means of alchemy and… less than orthodox tricks to bolster an earth pony’s affinity with the earth.

How do you create new magic like that? It’s far from Twilight's finishing of that old fart’s spell about one’s fate. How is that even possible? Whatever preconceptions I held about them were quickly shattering under this new light, giving way to an endless stream of questions stirring my brain until making a mash of my grey matter.

A small reprieve was that Zipp was very invested in my investigation, her detective jitters pulling her into sharing my research sessions like a UV light draws in mosquitos. I appreciated the help, even if she sometimes acted a bit too nosey in her thirst, but she had even fewer clues than me to what was going on with the crystals.

Overall, things around Maretime Bay remained peaceful and quiet for the most part, with your bi-weekly dose of pony nonsense to shake the inhabitants a bit. The three tribes were friends again, the echoes of the ruined festival all but forgotten by now, mostly thanks to the tireless work of my pony friends, who made sure to insistently remind the ponies about the ways of sharing and coexistence, as they had done before during their first journey together.

The only noticeable event I can think of would be the funny misunderstanding we had with Izzy and her wanting to celebrate T.U.E.S. Day, some kind of traditional unicorn festivity nonsense that none of us had ever heard of before in times present and past. Izzy was thoroughly delighted to explain it to us with her usual pep. T.U.E.S. Day was one of the several holiday occasions in the year where unicorns could forget their ‘gloom and doom,’ and have a good time. Seems it was the only kind of excuse they could come up to park their lingering depression aside and live a little.

That and communal orgies, according to Izzy. I was pretty sure she was just messing with us…

I hope.

The misunderstanding brought about the creation of ‘Señor Butterscotch’, a mock-up puppet of a unicorn made mostly of unicycled garbage and Izzy’s own touch, conceived as a surrogative unicorn buddy to celebrate the special day with her, because she couldn’t just simply use her common sense and clarify for us before throwing all that crap.

Ponies…

Of course, after airing out the misunderstanding, we were all more than willing to share with her on her special day. When asked about it, she sadly claimed that imaginary friends made up most part of her fillyhood, since a lot of foals were creeped out by her cheery attitude and energy when every unicorn around them were lost in a constant sense of doom and gloom.

As it happened, hers and Sunny’s upbringings had a fair number of similarities since she also was regarded as ‘a bit too much’ by ponies and foals alike of her earth pony kin, no doubt an unfortunate product of her dad’s enthusiasm for wishing to see the three tribes back together rubbing off on his only filly. Now, with that dream becoming true, they couldn’t be prouder of having been branded the ‘wierdoes.’

And that left us here, almost a week after I had woken up, refreshed and ready to tackle the task ahead of me, which would take place in the abandoned ruins of the capital of Equestria, where I hoped to find some more relevant information that would help me in my research. I would take anything I stumble with, even if only Donut Joe’s recipe for his marshmallow-madness donuts.

Now that we weren't chasing after a wacky draconequus and pulling ponies out of magical black holes, I could take the time I needed to comb every nook and cranny of the old, albeit considerably well-preserved royal palace.

Castle or Palace. I swear up to that day I kept mixing both terms. It was infuriating.

To my nonexistent surprise, the moment my trap opened to announce my plans, my two most overcurious pony pals couldn’t resist the temptation to tag along.

I had invited the whole gang to accompany me if they wished to. However, when asked, Pipp claimed to have her hoofs full with Mane Melody and some kind of fashion magazine that wanted to make an entree of her business for the pegasi of the Heights. In her own words, bring Zephyr Heights’ trends to the little coastal town and back. I didn't need to borrow Zipp’s detective beany to guess that Pipp, in truth, wasn't looking forward to returning to the dusty and musty and dirty and ugly ruins of Canterlot.

I would be offended if her description wasn't right on the nail.

One time was enough for the petite pegasus. Izzy was also busy with a huge commission from the Maretime Bay Town Hall to spruce up the main square with whatever materials she could unicycle in readiness for yet another holiday. She was ecstatic to finally reach the major leagues and be able to put her crafting skills to good use, since most of her work up until now had consisted of small things for us and some minor repair work.

Hitch, for his part, had received a small reprimand from the town council, since our little adventures had pulled him away too from his work as the town’s sheriff. That, summed up with his new responsibilities as dragon caretaker, had made him unable to accompany us until a more permanent schedule that could bridge both his obligations could be assembled. Those old, creeping ruins were no place for a baby dragon either.

That left me in the company of the older pegasus princess and an overexcited earth pony mare, who jumped at the chance to return to Canterlot with me.

… I’m still unsure how she didn't pop a vessel from the sheer strength of the puppy eyes she assaulted me with, which was stupid since I was thinking of inviting them either way.

“Alex, what is this place?” Sunny asked, lost for words after completing a small, exploratory lap around the chamber I had taken them to in our first stop, taking in her surroundings with unrestrained wonder. The way her eyes sparkled with curiosity tugged at my hearting in a very familiar way.

The trip was going to be divided into several stops. There was a lot of ground to cover and there were many places I wished to revisit. This time, without the fear of a rampaging draconequus tip-toeing in the shadows and getting the jump on us. The first stop had a dual purpose in principle, and brought us down into the same cave system below the castle, near to where Discord had trapped us a month ago to toy with us.

As the ponies marbled and ooo’ed as they drank in the complex array of runes and machinery, I stood proudly at the edge of the intricate mechanism, not bothering to mask a hint of pride in my voice.

“This, Sunny, is the Ephemeris. This is the machine we put in charge of keeping both celestial bodies in a stable orbit after Celestia and Luna stepped down. Without the alicorns taking care of it we had to, um… get a bit creative.”

Only a half truth, Twilight had been bestowed with the responsibility of taking care of the sun and moon, with me in a more supporting role on the matter, another reason for my visit back to the ruins. Let’s just say that, for all her magical prowess and boundless knowledge of spells, moving the celestial bodies wasn't exactly Twilight’s forte. There was another reason for the conception of the Ephemeris besides that.

“Whoa whoa whoa, what do you mean ‘keeping the celestial bodies in a stable orbit’?” The alabaster pegasus did a double take on my words.

“You see, Zipp,” My friend Sunny piggybacked on my introduction. “In ancient Equestria, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna were tasked with moving both the sun and the moon in the sky, since neither celestial body could do so themselves. They weren't called the Princesses of the Dawn and Dusk for no reason.” She recited with a bit of pride in her rich knowledge of the past, winning a small smirk from me and a congratulatory smirk, lighting a small blush on her cheeks.

Zipp was having a hard time swallowing that pill. “You mean to tell me that that thing is rising and lowering the sun and the moon each day?”

“It's the truth,” I interjected blankly, not wanting to downplay her disbelief, but it had become a second nature to me by then. “After the crown was passed to Twilight, it became her responsibility to keep them steady in their course. However, both of us believed that it was very unfair for the rest of the creatures of the world that such a task relied exclusively on ponykind to supervise. It's everycreatures’s sun and moon, after all. And on more than one occasion have they been the victim of some kind of fault when it came to ponies keeping them in place. So, we thought of an alternative that would make everycreature happy. Said alternative stands before you.” I pointed a hand towards the complex mechanism encompassing the entire chamber, whose eternal ‘clink clank’ bounced against the it’s walls with the steadiness and firmness of the passing centuries.

“But, how does it work exactly?” My history-nerd friend pried, her pearls two dark pools of wonder gazing at me with a thirst for answers.

Best if I kept things simple, else we’d be down there for the rest of the week. “Well, for all intents and purposes it's… uh, a giant clock. A clock attuned to both the sun and moon. It draws power from them to keep working, without needing any magic coming from the Aëther. Or, more precisely, it’s attuned to their own brand of magic, which differs from the magic which runs through the planet.” An oversimplification, but it would work for them. “And therefore, it’s not subject to the crystal’s control or any kind of big magical fluctuation. It was designed with that in mind, measuring the path of time with utmost precision and drawing a clear path for the celestial bodies to follow around Equus. You can see it in the runes all over the ceiling.”

My friends peered up into the miasma of carved ruins in intricate patterns and designs straight out of a fantasy novel, which depicted the ground base for the extremely complex gathering of spells that, alongside the physical mechanism taking the centerpiece of the room, comprised the Ephemeris in its entirety. A wonder born from the conjunction of magic and technology, working together as if one sole being.

Their scrunched-up muzzles screamed how they couldn't make heads or tails of the nature of the spell keeping everything in place. And if I'm being honest, I also had a hard time doing so. As happened with the Unity Crystals, the spell work relied on Twilight’s genius and the unicorn eggheads from Canterlot University. My input was more related to the mechanism part, and even then I played a secondary role.

“Uh, if you say so...” Zipp droned in disbelief.

“Your doubt offends me most, principesa.” I said in my most offended tone. Sunny chuckled at our antics from her side of the cavern. “Jokes aside, that's its main purpose. That, and permanently stabilizing their respective trajectories. The moon now orbits the planet, as, you know, moons are supposed to do, while the sun was stabilized so that this planet now orbits it, rather than the other way around. It’ll take many many many MANY centuries to fully complete the process, but we believed it was possible to do it eventually if we just applied the science hard enough.”

Sunny, her sparkling eyes running all over the ceiling’s markings, asked the most important question of all. “But, what if it breaks?”

“Ah, you don't have to worry about that, Sunny. We made sure to build it so that it would never, ever break. I mean, there are around… I don't know… twenty or so safety mechanisms to ensure that that never happens.” I reassured the orange-furred mare with confidence. “However, to answer your question... well, I guess if it does break, we're well and truly fucked.”

Both mare’s eyes doubled in size with worry. Not my most tactful moment. “Buuuut, as I just said, that's never going to happen. Nonetheless, I think it’s a good idea to keep this place a secret from anypony. I'm sure you can guess why.” I hiked an eyebrow to drive my point.

They feverishly nodded in unison at my request. It was better to leave this place unbothered, because I wasn't lying when I said I didn't have a clue what to do in the event it stopped working. That kind of magic was well outside of my current capabilities.

Now that I’d had the chance to get a closer look at the enclosed mechanism in the middle of the chamber without darting at each corner in search for a pair of yellowish eyes, I was relieved to find no visible damage on it, neither did I find any damage along the chamber’s walls and ceiling that could upset the inscriptions. The power runes glowed with mystic light as they guided the midday sun along its westward path. It seemed that neither the sinking of Canterhorn Peak, nor the passage of the centuries, had put a dent into its surface.

Great news for me, one fewer thing to worry about.

“Come on, girls, everything seems in order here. Let's move on to the next site.” I ushered the mares, heading for the exit.

With a final look of wonder, the girls followed me out of the chamber and back into the cave system which connected locations such as theVault for Dangerous Artifacts, as well as the Armory, throughout the underground entrail of the palace.

After a short while, I found the entrance to the former buried under tons of rock. A satisfying sight. I hoped, no, prayed that Twilight had been smart enough to destroy all the artifacts, and then bury the room, while keeping the guardian seals intact. Not the best contingency plan, but it would keep any creature who might stumble upon it from accidentally unleashing the end of times upon a magic-less Equestria.

When asked by my friends, I had decided to not reveal its true identity, claiming it to be an old storage room for the crown’s wine reserves or whatever I pulled out of my ass on the spot. Although not fully buying it, they chose to not delve further into it in favor of continuing our exploration, which I gave my silent thanks to Faust for. Better to just be forgotten by everycreature like the Ephemeris, it would save us a lot of trouble in the future.

The Armory was our next stop, where I hoped to find both my weapon of choice after my… well, after a unique turn of event pertaining to my status in the crown of Equestria, and a replacement for my broken LIMstone.

Both were kept safe inside a special compartment within the Armory. You see, we couldn't just leave all those terrible weapons out in the open for anypony to take. The most powerful ones were safely stored away from any prying eyes. Only members of Royalty and the highest-ranking officers from the armed forces were permitted access to them. I had decided to also store my most advanced prototypes with my weapon, the ones I had created for my own personal use, inside that very same chamber, since it was likely the most secure place within Canterlot Castle at the time.

Placing both the Vault and the Armory close together within these tunnels allowed us to keep a closer eye on them at the same time, well away from the public. I wanted to keep my most advanced prototypes tightly secured in it since their raw potential could be easily used for nefarious purposes, as it had been the case for some of my earlier designs, a not-so-bright chapter of ISIT. Add that to the conflicts above ground escalating more and more with each passing week. I feared what somepony might have wanted to try if they had managed to get a hold of just one of them.

The short trek was spent in contemplative silence, the echoes of our steps resounding through the cave’s walls, bathing it in an unnerving aura only bolstered by the twilight surrounding us. The old illumination spells had long since gone dry, so my remaining functional gauntlet was the only source of light in the foreboding darkness, forcing both mares to keep close at my sides as we made our way up through the dark tunnels as the tried not to jump too much at the shadows painted by the rough edges of the rocks lining the passage.

I felt Sunny audibly shiver, driving my free hand to pet the silky fur of her back. “Just a bit longer, Sunny. One last stop and we can return to the surface.”

She rubbed herself against my hip, her tail coming to coil around my leg, making walking a tad more cumbersome. “I'm… fine. It just... brings back bad memories, that's all.”

I knew exactly what she was referring to. “Yeah, not our proudest moment, huh?”

“It was, heh, pretty humiliating, not gonna lie,” Zipp cosigned from my other side with no short amount of embarrassment.

“Come on, Zipp, there are very few who can say that they can stand face to face with the Lord of Chaos. And I doubt any of those are still alive today. Don't feel bad about it.”

“Nnng, if you say so...” She grumbled, unhappy with my reasoning, rather wishing we would have given him the beating of his life. As did I, not gonna lie. It would’ve solved things sooner and with less fuss. They had made a valiant effort in my opinion, and very few were the ones who would have the courage to stand against Discord.

As much as I despised him, we were extremely lucky to have him by our side once more. Or at least, we had. I had no clue as to his location after the issue with the Pegasus Crystal was solved. As far as I knew, he was having a blast instigating chaos in some alternate dimension or another. Perhaps he was traversing the multiverse collecting hoofball cards, or running for president back in the United States. You never knew with a guy like that.

Actually, that would explain a lot of stuff from Earth…

I guided my companions towards our destination. “Here we are, ladies. The Royal Armory, where Equestria’s finest weapons were forged and stored. Also, it’s where I’ve stored some more of my stuff. Let's see if it's still here, I could really, really use it right now.”

We had arrived in front of two massive doors carved from the very same piece of stone, engraved within the very rock of the Canterhorn. Their design somewhat reminded me of the dwarves from ‘The Lord of the Rings’. The guardian seals in them were not as strong nor as long-lasting as the ones protecting the Vault, and a quick scan with my magic revealed them to have lost all of their power to the ages, leaving the entrance unobstructed for anycreature who might have stumbled upon it.

Lucky for us who are now attempting to do just so, but I dreaded that some other creature might have had the same idea before we had gotten here. Discord had assured us that no creature had walked Canterlot Castle’s halls during the time he’d made it his home after the fall. However, I would be a fool to trust in his word, especially if he had no magic and had to rely on his critter friends to find out.

I wanted to play it safe.

“Hohooow, now that I want to see!” Zipp was eager to check the place out, the promise of dusty old weapons and artifacts boosting her curiosity, making her wings rustle excitedly at her sides. Sunny too was eager, her trusty notebook at the ready with her tail wagging energetically behind her.

Fueled by their contagious energy, I took it on myself to open the doors for them. The cold, wet stone was a familiar sensation on my hands. With a grunt of effort, I managed to pry the twin doors open with a resounding screech that flattened both my companions’ ears.

Gritting my teeth, I clenched my jaw to clear my throbbing ear canals “Sorry about that, girls. I guess it's been a while. Let's see what we have here. Lumos maxima!”

An orb of light emerged from my gauntlet and climbed high into the ceiling, bathing the room in a cold light as I commanded it to remain fixed.

Rows upon rows of weapon racks containing spears, swords, shields, polearms, war hammers, and all the other fun toys of war, welcomed us as they coated the walls and well into the back of the enormous room, where several old high-officer uniforms still hung from their racks, their golden visage having lost its luster a long time ago.

To the right, another set of doors led to the main forge, deep within the mountain. To the left stood the open entrance to another, bigger chamber where even more weapons and equipment were stored for the in-castle brigades. In days of old, dozens upon dozens of guard ponies would come here to gear up in preparation for the day’s patrols. Most of the equipment here belonged to the castle’s own guard division, as well as the commanding officers and the princesses.

And mine too, of course. The rest of the equipment for trainees and staff officers, as well as the airborne division, was held within the barracks, ready to gear up at a moment’s notice.

My goal, however, was located behind the doors at the very back of the room, where the gear belonging to Equestrian royalty was stored, in an intentionally-separate location from the rest. As the two mares gazed with open muzzles all around the room, daring the occasional poke at some piece of rusty equipment, I slowly made my way towards them, taking care to not trip over some pieces of fallen equipment scattered carelessly all over the place, the poor treatment making them the most decayed of the collection, virtually unsalvageable.

“Check this out! We could conquer all of Equestria with what’s in here!” Zipp enthusiastically pointed over the remnants of the diverse guard gear, which in its prime once stood proud as the best of the best that Equestria’s military had to offer.

“Thinking about expanding the borders of the Pegasi Kingdom?” Sunny asked with a coy smile.

Zipp cringed a bit at the question. “Yeah, right. I’ve got enough to deal with as it is now.” She backtracked. The mares shared a short laugh.

I let them to their merriment while focused on the target. “Veeery well. Show me what you’re hiding, baby.” Once in reach of the twin doors, I pushed them open in a similar fashion to with the main doors, gaining my friends’ attention and ushering them to quickly trot the distance to catch up with me.

I conjured a smaller light orb to illuminate the smaller room, allowing us to discern the sight in front of us, a sight that got my heart to skip a beat.

Something was not right.

‘What the…?’

The twin armors of the alicorn sisters were missing, as were their weapons. Celestia’s Sunspear and Luna’s Meteorite Hammer were nowhere to be seen.

“Uh… is it me, does this place look a bit empty?” Zipp also took notice of the lack of war equipment in the room.

I felt a crippling cold overcome me. “… There should be a set of twin armors on those ponykins. Celestia’s and Luna’s. And their weapons, too.”

A knot in my stomach formed, shoving the thought that somecreature might have stolen them. However, I hadn’t discerned any prints on the dusty floor, nor any sign that the doors had been opened in recent times, since there weren’t any marks on the floor over the path they took when opening outwards, nor any wind to erase the tracks on the ground. I found it hard that somecreature could have sneaked their way in and out carrying two huge sets of armor plus their weapons without magic nor leaving a single mark behind.

No, they must have been taken by their owners, sometime back in my era. Discord would have known otherwise if the alicorn sisters had returned, the same with any other creature coming down here trying to slip under his radar.

“Why would they need their armor for...” I whispered to myself, a storm of possibilities raging in my mind without a clear answer coming through.

“Did you say something?”

Sunny’s voice brought me out of my musings. “N-No, no just… thinking about something.”

“You say that’s where the princesses' battle armors were kept? I don’t see a thing.” Zipp was kind enough to point.

“I don’t know what to tell you, Zipp. They must have taken them at some point after I had entered stasis.” I hoped. I prayed for that to be the case, for those pieces of armors were designed to fit an alicorn princess and no creature else, both in shape, size, and the power they carried behind them. I don’t think I need to explain how much knowledge and wisdom went into their forging. Those armors were, in terms of quality and resistance to damage, the very best the realm had to offer.

With a shake of my head, I dispelled the world-ending thoughts and refocused on the task at hand, turning a concerned gaze towards the left side of the room, where a tall cabinet stood carved on the stone wall. Twilight and I had never sported any armor. Well, for the most part in my case, that’s another story for another time. That meant that I only required said cabinet to store my things, while Twilight's might with magic, and the Element of Magic itself backing her, many any need for a physical weapon pointless. She disliked the use of violence as much as I did.

As I placed my hand over the keyhole, no voice asking for a password sounded this time. I guessed the spell array ended up fading as well, clearly having befallen the same fate as the one protecting the doors.

‘And I don’t have the key either… Welp, guess it’s the hard way, then.’

“Alohomora.” A flash of white shone inside the keyhole, followed by a small click as I twisted my fingers in resemblance of a key. The absence of protection runes meant no defense against that kind of spell. Lucky me.

The door of the cabinet opened halfway after being freed of the lock, allowing the mares waiting at my sides a small peek of what waited inside.

“Dude, is that…?”

“That’s for later, Zipp. First…” First things first, I opened the door the rest of the way and tackled first on the drawers below the rack. From memory, I opened the second one, and I was profoundly relieved at what I found inside.

“Faust, thank you oh so very much!” I could help but sigh in relief.

A box occupied most of the space inside the drawer. The remaining space was taken by two of my Atlas gauntlets, shaped with my hands in mind, devoid of any gemstones. But that wouldn’t be a problem, since inside the box were my three most advanced LIMstone prototypes, patiently waiting for my return.

Accompanying them were ten smaller stabilizing gems, which would allow me to exercise much more precise control over my spellcasting taking a secondary role in the stabilizing and directing of magic, as well as the ability to store some magic for continued use, instead of purely relying on drawing from the ambient mana, which in my opinion was always more cumbersome, at least for my special way of casting magic and… Well, it kinda hurt doing so for extended periods regardless of the intensity of the spells cast.

“Yehehehes, come to Papa!”

I removed my only gauntlet and lost it in my jacket’s pocket, replacing it for the two I had found alongside the box. The twins Mk 1.8 and 2.0 were the best of the best to come from Canterlot’s laboratories, and represented as far as my research had gone on the field after my journey to the future. These were conceived with me, and only me in mind, meaning that they weren’t meant to be adapted for public or military use.

I placed a LIMstone in each of the gauntlet’s sockets, and then added to each gauntlet five stabilizing gems, each of a different color, which reinforced my opinion that they looked like a cheap cosplay of the Infinity Gauntlets from Comicon, only fingerless beyond the first flanage and dark grey colored with golden highlights in the shape of magic-conducting metal channels birding all gems together… and much comfier to boot.

Without the need for a logic breaker, my will was soon reflected in the twin gems, both of which began to hum with power, music to my poor ears. Even after all those years, they seemed to be working like a charm. That’s what you get when you codify a spell matrix making use of the micro-crystalline composition of a gem in semblance of a chip’s composition of transistors, and not directly enchanting it like ponies were accustomed to do.

You’re very welcome, by the way.

I rejoiced in the familiar feeling of the gauntlets over my hands, stretching my fingers in glee as they material settled around the contours of my hands. “Okay, that’s one thing.” Storing the remaining gems in my backpack in case I needed to use them in the future, I closed the drawers and raised my gaze to the weapon’s rack located just above it, and the weapon neatly tucked in it. “And now, for the best part.”

I took a step back and raised my hand. “Accio!” At my command, the weapon stored on the rack crossed the distance between us with decision, its middle grip searching for my outstretched arm with practiced ease.

Soon, the familiar, magically-lessened weight of its perfectly balanced center pushed said arm down, a rush of memories flooding me with it.

“A-Alex, what kind of sword is that?” Sunny asked, running her eyes and up down the weapon. Zipp also stood to attention, wings half-flared in cautious curiosity as she sniffed the air a bit, searching for something.

I was more than happy to amuse her curiosity. “This, Sunny, is a twinblade. My twinblade.”

It was as I said, a double-sword, shaped in the typical fashion of a guard’s straight sword but broader and longer, double-edged and with a pointed… uh, point. Both blades had a fuller to match. On one side the groove was milkiest white you can imagine, with the edges of the fuller finished in a band of shimmering gold. The fuller on the second blade was of the darkest of blacks, with the edges surrounded by the deep blue hues and sparkling pearls of the night sky. On the respective crossguards were emblazoned a golden sun, and a crescent moon respectively. The grip was a muted shade of lavender with two golden metal rings in the middle that served as connecting points for both swords. If I desired it, they could be disconnected and wielded separately.

I don’t think I need to explain where those colors came from.

A sense of thrill overcame me, their power making me feel utterly invincible. This weapon had been tailored exclusively for me, by none other than Celestia and Luna. No other weapon of its kind existed in this green, wide world.

This weapon and my training sword feel like a toothpick.

Feeling like putting on a little show, I took a few more steps back into the center of the room and channeled magic into the twinblades, its edges shining with magical power in turn with numerous runes engraved on both blades, meant to help me focus and channel my power. A very special brand of power.

With the mares smelling my intentions and retreating into the back of the small room after seeing me getting into position, I drew form well-practised memory and began slipping through several training routines, slashing and twisting with circular motions its twin edges, and my whole body contouring and twisting alongside them since this kind of weapon called for it, taking advantage in humanity’s superior dexterity and flexibility to wield and an unmatched brand of power.

I relished in my recovered state that allowed me to wild them swiftly and without faltering, my body finally settling back down during the past week, leaving me fresh and ready for the music this weapon could bring with it.

The edges drew lines of power in their path as I wielded them, creating beautiful patterns that lit up the room in addition to the humming of magical power cutting the very air. My magic allowed me to twist and manipulate it in ways that a human wrist couldn’t dream of, grating me the edge of reach, defense, and overwhelming speed.

After finishing the routine with a full horizontal body and blade tornado-twirl, an earth-bound adaptation from an old pegasi-exclusive movement, I finished in the frontal defense position three, left arm raised behind a summoned frontal shield, right arm grasping the twinblade near my side with the frontal edge resting over the raised arm, ready to lunge and pierce.

Trust me, I hated violence with all my heart and soul, but man it felt good to be able to do that. It took me more sessions, fails, and bumps than I’m willing to admit in front of the entire Royal Academy, but I eventually managed to become one of the deadliest creatures in the land, as long as this sword was perched on my back and my gauntlets ready in my hands.

With labored breaths and rejoicing in the burn of my muscles, I released the pose and switched to a neutral one, twirling on my toes to check over my small audience, who gazed at me with eyes as big as saucers, jaws almost touching the floor as they drank in the impromptu sow. I gave a small bow and left the slack-jawed mares to return back to the small cabinet and retrieve the holster for the weapon. Since its shape is different from a standard sword, the holster consisted of a harness with a metallic piece on its center that attuned to the metal ring in the middle of the grip, allowing it to remain fixed at my back without an issue.

A unique weapon meant for an Equestrian prince.

A weapon worthy of an Empyrean…

‘EMPYREAN?!!! A SLAVE IS WHAT SHE’S TURNED HIM INTO!!!!’

Twilight’s voice echoed through my mind, bringing forth a punch filled with anguished memories from one of my most complicated moments, making me sag for a moment before burying it with the rest. It was too late now to reflect on those moments. It had been sealed, and would forever remain as such until She deemed it otherwise.

As I strapped it in, I heard the two mares sharing a brief commentary. “Woah, he’s good.” Zipp praised after breaking out of her stupor.

“I know, right?!” Sunny, sounding livelier, cheered with an excited prance.

“Come on, Zipp. You’re a princess. Don’t you have one of these?” I jested while fixing the straps over my chest, the blade fixing itself on my back with a magnetic *THUD!!* I moved my bag to carry it over my left shoulder so as to not upset the weapon.

“I, um. I have a sword for knighting ceremonies, but….”

“Does it have a name? I don’t remember seeing any on my father’s notes!” Sunny butted in while trotting an exploratory lap around me to get a better view of the full package. I did notice how his eyes lingered on my butt for a second longer.

“Binary.” I answered in short.

Whatever excitement permitted in the room promptly evaporated at my choice of name, replaced with a touch of dry disapproval. “What? You thought it was going to be something like Oath Keeper or Dawn Bringer?”

The two mares nodded in unison.

“In that case, you two can get your own swords and name them whatever you want, hmph.” I raised my nose in mock offense, eliciting an eye roll from my companions.

With a tiny chuckle, I ushered the mares out of the Armory, nothing else of worth awaiting us in that place. Now came the fun part of the expedition. “Mosey on, girls. Time to go back to the surface. We gotta hit the library before the sun sets.”

With a celebratory ‘yes!’ from my history-geek friend, I resumed my place at the lead for the journey back to the ground floor of the castle, my two companions walking very close behind me so that they could stay inside the illumination field generated by my new gauntlets.

Celestia’s ample flank they purred like a kitten and smooth-casted like hot butter over bread. I was simply drunk.

“Hey, Sunny,” Zipp broke the silence and whispered to the earth pony mare, although inside these caves, I could hear their words perfectly from where I lead.

“Hmm?”

“What do you make of it? The sword, I mean.”

Sunny remained in pensive silence for a few moments. “Well… I don’t like that he has to wield a weapon at all, especially one as dangerous as that… But, I can’t deny that it’s kinda impressive. I’m confident he’ll make responsible use of it. Although…”

“Although what?” Zipp pried with a quizzical dip of her head.

Sunny sounded bothered by something. “Well, now I can’t give him a hug without risking getting cut.”

Of all things that could be troubling her…

‘Oh, Sunny, bless your heart.’ I couldn’t help the smile thatgrew on my lips.

“Um, I guess you’ll have to wait ‘till we return home, and he takes it off.” Zipp offered, somewhat dubious of Sunny's hesitation.

Sunny’s answer was a sad whine which only made me smile further.

“Oooor, you can just ask him.” Zipp laid down an alternative.

“But that’d be weird.”

“Uh? Why?”

“I don’t know. It sounds like it’d be weird to ask out of the blue.”

I couldn’t keep shut any longer, feeling a bout of laughter winning over the battle. “You can give me a hug anytime you want, Sunny. I gotta live up to the title of ‘best hugger of all of Westria’, am I right?” I peered back over my shoulder and gave her a playful wink, which lit up an adorable blush on her cheeks and made her advert her eyes in embarrassment.

“And the same goes for you, Zipp.” I looked over my other shoulder towards the pegasus mare.

“Nah, I’m good.” She answered nonchalantly, ruffling her feathers.

“Oh, of course, Wouldn’t want Hitch to get jealous now. I gotcha.” I sent a hand over my shoulder in confirmation, pointedly missing her surprised reaction.

“W-W-What?! W-What’s that supposed to...!”

“Oh look, we have arrived!”

I couldn’t have timed it better. The midday sun’s rays momentarily blinded us as we exited the caves through a side entrance of the castle’s staff into one of the humongous corridors over the west side of the castle, the nearest one to the slope of the mountain upon which the city stood, or did stand for that matter

“Vaaale. A ver, we’ve gotta retrace our steps and take a left from the intersection just in front of the throne room. Chop chop.”

I made sure to maintain a safe distance from the now-fuming princess. I couldn't trust my newly acquired weapon to protect me from her ire.

Sunny, for her part, was mesmerized by the numerous works of art that still decorated the entire length of the several corridors we traversed. Paintings, statutes, adornments and curtains, without mentioning the overall architecture, somewhat in the middle of romanticism and classicism. She was making a pretty convincing Pipp impression by taking photos of anything and everything around her. I could only wonder how long the device’s memory would last. I neend’t take any pictures, for I knew this humongous corridors by heart, since this place had been my home for a ice chink of my time in Equestria.

“Uh, Sunny. I think Pipp already took enough photos to fill the Canternet.” Zipp pointed after witnessing my friend’s enthusiastic mannerisms.

“Yeah, but she’s in all of them. You can barely see anything behind her flirty poses and kissy faces.” Sunny deadpanned without missing a beat in her search for photographic material. I let her do as she pleased while also reminiscing about my days as one the castle’s occupants, bittersweet memories overcoming my vision with ghosts of maids, guards, diplomats, and one very special alicorn mare at my side, scurrying along the corridors as my feet automatically guided me on our path to our destination.

Just as I was about to fly across the doors leading to the throne room and into the east wing, the sound of straining, rusty hinges halted my steps and brought me to backtrack to where I had lost the mares.

I managed to catch the end of a purple tail disappearing behind the slightly opened door, leaving a white pegasus standing awkwardly in the middle of the foyer, giving me an apologetic look and a small shrug.

With a tired shake of my head, I followed the overexcited earth pony into the throne room, catching her jumping from window to window, tapping in the zoom on the screen and taking photos of each of the stained-glass representations of our greatest achievements.

“Sunny, we’re on a schedule here!” I boomed, but was systematically ignored.

“Just another minute!” My efforts to hurry my friend along fell on deaf ears. Zipp took the chance to get another look at the old throne room, following the speedy earth pony as best as she could as she hovered for a better angle. I decided to remain near the entrance, not feeling like stepping into that room again.

The last time I did so before the stasis had ended went very, very poorly for me. Painful words were exchanged, words that would ultimately seal my destiny. I preferred to avoid the painful memories that would for sure assault me the moment I stepped foot in front of the throne if I could help it.

Sadly, I wasn’t going to get my wish that day. “Alex! Can you come here for a moment?!”

With a sigh of resignation, I soldiered on and entered the massive room, making a conscious effort to avoid the picture of Twilight’s throne commandeering the room from its raised platform. I found my friends standing before one of the stained-glass windows. I realized at that moment that I had missed this one the last time I was here, since I believed all of them were still intact.

That wasn’t the case for the one whose broken fragments were scattered messily in front of us, although judging by its place on the wall, I knew exactly which moment of Equestrian history had been depicted on this one. One of the most recent ones in the collection, at least at the time it happened.

“Hey, what’s this one supposed to represent?” Zipp inquired after returning her magnifying glass to her saddlebag, having failed in constructing the image from the broken fragments.

I hesitated for a moment, a sense of shame filling me, albeit whose origin I could not pinpoint. Why should I feel ashamed of what this glass portrayed? It had been a tremendous moment for all of us, a moment changed this world forever.

Instead of answering, I powered my right gauntlet and pointed my hand toward the mess of broken glass. “Reparo.”

As the spell took its place, the fragments slowly raised from the floor and reassembled back into the opening in the wall, joining together to reform the image conjured in my memories. Once all the pieces were back in their rightful places, we all gazed up, squinting as the stained sun’s rays filtered through allowing us to get a clear image of the event depicted on its surface.

“Is that… you?”

Sunny was correct in her assumption. The window depicted a myriad of creatures of all known kinds, standing in a half-circle around me, their limbs stretched forward and joining me in the middle, with my hand placed above them all.

You could recognize some familiar faces, like the alicorn princesses of Equestria and the Crystal Empire, as well as the leaders of some of the nations that stretched all over the twin continents and beyond. It depicted a day that would change the history of this world forever. Griffons, reformed changelings dragons, hippogriffs, abyssinians…

“That, Sunny, is the Convocation of the Creatures, which took place over the Hall of Unity, at the foot of Mount Metazoa, up in the northern reaches of Essia.”

My friend’s eyes returned to their saucer state as they sat on their haunches, attentively waiting for me to begin the inevitable storytelling they could smell coming. “After the Storm King’s invasion, an emergency summit was convened to discuss the current state of the world, a world that had suffered under the King’s tyranny, amongst other recent calamities. I was invited to assist as the ‘ambassador’ of my people that I am, as well as the newest Equestrian royal-to-be. It was there that my position as Prince of Knowledge was finally rafie red. Where the true work to change the world began.”

I lowered my gaze from the stunning display and fixed it on the empty wall in front of me, a mirror for my emotions as I bathed in the memory of that day. “No treaties or paperwork or anything like that. I stood in front of all the world’s races and asked them to join me. I gave them one chance to do so. Only one. With my work, and the knowledge I had brought from my home world, I promised to elevate this one into a new age of peace and prosperity. The Globalization Effort, where borders between countries, languages and costumes, science and culture, all of it became one for everycreature. As humanity had tried and failed for decades to achieve.”

My friends remained deadly quiet during my speech, sparks of wonder twinkling in their eyes, making their bodies shudder in expectation under their fur. I continued uninterrupted. “Seven nations joined me, swearing their allegiance to me and my plan, thus becoming the United Heptarchy. And I, crowned as Alexander Kintobor Sparkle, first of my name. Equestrian Prince of Knowledge.”

Titles and titles, all tasted like ash in my tongue.

If Sunny’s eyes grew any wider, they would surely have popped out of their sockets. She rapidly switched her attention from the window to my haunched form and back again, sporting a silly grin on her muzzle. She tried to contain herself but couldn’t help but release an excited squeal and a funny trot. Zipp on her part, slowly digested my words.

“… Now that’s a story alright.” She mumbled while still deep in thought, a kindred spirit in her own riyal status trying and failing to convey the gravity of the moment.

Sunny for her part sprung on her rear legs and practically flew into me, placing both forehooves on my shoulders and shoving her silly, almost manic grin on my face.

“Woahow, slow down there miss. You want an autograph or something?” I playfully asked, her close presence shoving the memories back into the dark corner they came from.

I was expecting a sassy rebuttal of her own. But instead, I found myself at the receiving end of a nuzzle attack, throwing me into a giggling fit as I squirmed under the tickling hairs of her muzzle. “Ohokay, okay, S-Suhunny. S-Stohop it. It ticklehehes!”

From where this gush of energy had come from, I couldn't begin to guess. Once she got it all out of her system, she lowered herself back on all fours and moved towards our pegasus companion with a merry trot. “I can’t believe it’s him! I know it’s been a month already and all, but I still can’t believe it’s heeeehehehehim!!”

With the pegasus me another apologetic look, we both patiently waited for the overexcited Sunny to stop prancing around the place and regain her composure.

She did so after several minutes, parking her hooves firmly on the carpeted floor and taking a deep breath.

“You got it all out?” I asked with my arms crossed over my chest and a quirked brow, to which she answered with a vigorous nod, her impossibly-wide smile staying right where it appeared. “Great, let’s get a move on then, shall we?”

Without protest, I ushered the mares out, but not before placing a few playful scratches under Sunny’s chin while passing by her. “You’re very cute when you do that, you know?” Once again, I saw the ghost of Twilight in her, making my stomach uncomfortably twist.

Another blush lit up her cheeks, but this time she didn’t shy away from my compliment. The castle’s archives were only a short walk away.

Upon arriving, I found the massive doors slightly ajar. After a moment of wondering, I realized it must have been Discord’s doing, since he would have made use of the knowledge stored amongst its books in search of a way to destroy the Pegasus Crystal.

Had I just bore witness to the living proof of Discord actually opening a door to get somewhere? As in, the physical process of using those mismatched digits of his to open a door and step through?!

Jokes aside, the knowledge of it actually bothered me, since I couldn’t fathom how he could NOT have found something in the private section of the archives to aid him in his search, only accessible to royalty and high executives of the crown. Anycreature else needed special permissions and constant supervision if they wanted to access its restricted knowledge.

Once again, something was not right.

I soon found out why he hadn’t. After traversing the long mid-corridor dividing the endless rows of shelves containing an infinite number of books and scrolls, some better preserved than others, my heart stopped when we were within reach of the private section located at the far end of the library.

Not even the centuries and the elements had been enough to erase the scorch marks and burnt edges that had spread through the crippled doors and into the chamber proper.

“No… No no no, Faust dammit, NO!!!! FUCK!!!”

The private section, where Twilight and I had spent countless hours deep in research out of sight and mind of bothersome politicians and snooping nobles, where Eqeustia’s most jealously guarded knowledge was stored for the eyes of very few privileged, had been burned to a crisp.

I would not find help there.

“Oh my gosh...” Sunny’s hoof flew to her muzzle at the gruesome sight, as if a physical wound had been inflicted on her under the image of so many books and scroll destroyed, all the knowledge stored in them lost to the whims of time. Zipp also made her displeasure known with a dejected shake of her head, her wings sagging at her sides.

“Why would anypony do this…?” She could only wonder. Dozens of possibilities ran through my head, but only one stood out that made any lick of sense.

It had to be Twilight, or somecreature under her command. The idea of the nerdy alicorn destroying knowledge in such a senseless fashion seemed completely and utterly alien to me, but since Discord claimed that nocreature had walked this castle since the fall, it was the only logical conclusion. A thief sneaking down to the Armory was already unlikely to have been missed by the old draconequus, a piece of the archives burning down under his muzzle was just impossible to miss.

Also, a random fire caused by lighting, or some other natural phenomena would’ve burned down the entirety of the archives, perhaps even the whole castle with it. No, this had been controlled, deliberate, precise. She wanted to destroy the knowledge inside that chamber, but doing so in such a fashion…

‘Why, Twilight? You could’ve hidden it or taken it with you wherever you went. Why burn it all down? Was it so… that I couldn’t use it?’

“What was inside, Alex?” Sunny pinned me with a sad voice, giving me a reassuring nuzzle after seeing my distraught visage.

I could barely bring myself to answer her. “That was the private section of the Royal Archives, only accessible for royalty and authorized members of the High Chamber. Dangerous magic, forbidden knowledge, historical records, spell books… anything and everything worth recording but deemed too dangerous for public consumption. Many of Twilight’s and my own research projects were kept here since they were considered state secrets.” I searched down at my orange-furred friend, finding my disappointment reflected in her sorry eyes. “Your alicorn magic is one of them. Or at least it was until I personally destroyed all the evidence.”

Not only that, but the diagrams of the spell arrays as well as the composition of the Unity Crystals, magic channels, micro-crystalline metal-structure, energy inputs and outputs, metamagical grade interactivity between spells… everything regarding their creation was kept here, in secret.

“Woah woah, rewind. Did you just say her alicorn magic was one of your things? And you destroyed it?!”

That was not the time for said tribulations. “Not exactly Zipp, I’ll explain it later, I just…” I wanted to argue that something might have survived for us to scavenge, but I didn’t need to enter the chamber to know everything was gone. Twilight was thought like that. The wide gap the burned-down doors had left allowed me to see enough of the interior to abandon all hope. If she had wanted them gone, then they surely were gone forever. “… Half of my life’s work was in there.”

I didn’t think I could curse my luck any further at that point. All those years of progress, just… gone. It seemed she truly had gone to great lengths to prevent me from messing with our work, taking more than one casualty on her way.

‘But why?!! Why was it so important for them to remain active? Didn’t you see it was pointless when Equestria inevitably fell, even after our direct intervention?!!’

A long, tired sigh escaped my lips. I had no room to dwell on it for long. More urgent things beckoned me now that this edge was burned, both literally and metaphorically. “Well, there goes Plan A. Faust dammit, I just ain’t gonna catch a fucking break, am I?! Much better to leave us blindly beating around the bush until something inevitably devastating happens! Huh?! Sounds much better!”

“Perhaps some of the books…” Sunny tried, pointing towards the endless volumes resting in the public section. A feeble attempt.

“No, Sunny. There’s a huge amount of knowledge stored here, but nothing that can help me. The science behind the Unity Crystals required the use of several restricted techniques as well as dangerous magic, nothing you could find outside that room will document it. I guess Twilight just didn’t want me to mess with our creation.”

I couldn’t stand it anymore. I had to get out of there before I blew the entire place up on a fit. With one last dejected glance towards the burned-down shelves and furniture, I turned on my heels and made a beeline for the exit from the library before I had the chance to lose it in front of my companions. I felt no need to clarify how pissed and disappointed I felt after finding out that another promising lead had been taken away from me.

I was running out of edges. I was starting to grow desperate.

Sunny and Zipp caught up with me with a quick gallop as I crossed through the worn-out doors back into the foyer with an icy scowl.

“Sooo, what now? Anything else worth checking out?” Zipp whistled with hesitation, noticing my sour mood.

My plans for that little excursion to Canterlot only covered those three places in principle. Canterlot’s public library wouldn’t have any information either, nor Castle Friendship in Ponyville’s remains, as I had already checked that place over. Just as I was about to propose our return to the outskirts of the city for our pickup, a sudden place crossed my mind. “... Upsilon Tower.”

“Uh?” Sunny’s head tilted in confusion. “What’s that?”

A tiny smile grew on my lips. “I think you’re going to enjoy this one, Sunny.” I cryptically answered as I started the march towards our new destination.

“Hm? But I’ve been enjoying all of the visit so far! Well, except that last part…” Her ears dropped a bit.

I had just the thing to cheer her back up. “We’re going to Twilight’s old quarters, from her times as Celestia’s personal student before moving to Ponyville.”

As if a switch had been flicked, her mood skyrocketed back to ‘absolute geeking’, to the point that she overtook me and began dragging me by biting on the sleeve of my refurbished jacket, impatiently prompting us both to hurry.

“Do you even know the way?” I chuckled as I focused on not tripping over the mare’s back legs as she led me across the corridors.

“Moff affreafdy!” Was her muffled answer.

Amused at her enthusiasm, I complied and led us towards the southeastern part of the castle and up the stairs that led into Twilight’s old quarters, which stood at the very top of one of the castle’s minor towers across the front gardens, detached from the main structure.

A quick unlocking charm quickly got the doors opened. Inside, the familiar sight of Twilight’s old living arrangements brought back warm memories. I had had the pleasure of visiting it a couple of times before Twilight’s ascension to the throne. She reclaimed it afterward and repurposed it as her personal accommodations instead of taking Celestia’s or Luna’s room. Her personal royal guard detachment royally protested it, since she would virtually leave herself dangerously exposed out here, which wasn’t the case with the rooms located further inside the castle, but they couldn’t change her mind.

Of course, being a couple and all that, it ended up being my room too, in a sense, even though I had one reserved for me inside the castle proper, the one we had visited on our first visit with the rest of the gang.

I heard a clopping sound coming from behind me. Checking it out I saw Sunny thoroughly pawing the floor in front of her with her hoof. “Uuuh…”

“I’m in her old quarters! I’m stepping in the exact, same, place Princess Twilight did!!”

“Ugh, again with this, Sunny.” Zipp tiredly rolled her eyes, but barely-hidden smirk betrayed her own thrill.

“Well, are you going to stand there testing the floor for cracks?”

Sunny didn’t need any more convincing as she sped inside like a bullet to get in as much of the sights as she could, going over the living room, library, bedroom…

Zipp and I chuckled when we heard a metallic *Clonk* followed by an ‘ow!’ when she went to check the bathroom with a little too much enthusiasm.

With the sound of her camera taking pictures filling the place, Zipp and I engaged on a more relaxed approach, with me relishing in the familiar sights and scents that even after all those years could still be discerned.

‘All the things we did here… And the things we did too, hehe.’

I seriously needed to get laid.

“Hmm, what do we have here…” Zipp's loud musings reached me from within the small library that housed Twilight’s very first collection of books. It seemed a book resting over the lectern had gained her attention. “Ugh, I ain’t gonna make a sense of that.” She complained, referring to the worn-out cover whose contents had been lost to the passage of the years. She carefully flicked the book open with a feather and landed on the first page as I made my way to join her. “Uff, it’s sure been a long time, uhh…” She struggled to read the words, squinting her eyes. “C-cause and… c-consequence… the gggggame we all… must… p-play?”

“The fate of those untold. The will of those who came.” I finished for her. The cover of the book was indeed unreadable, but I knew those words by heart, allowing me to instantly recognize the book she was holding: Seven Theories on Bending Time.

“Uh?”

“Nothing you should concern yourself with. There’s a better-preserved copy back at the brighthouse if you’re interested.”

I decided to play it safe and save myself the trouble, but Zipp wasn’t going to relent. “But what’s it about?”

“Time magic. Extremely dangerous. Best to leave it alone.” I shortly answered, trying to make a statement of how that kind of magic shouldn’t be trifled with.

“But, how is it that it wasn’t destroyed with the rest?” Sunny, who sometime during our conversation had returned from her little exploration trip, inquired.

A good question for which I only had guesses. “Most of it is just theoretical conjectures and half-finished spells. More academic than practical. It was Star Swirl the Bearded’s attempts to uncover the mysteries behind time travel magic, collected and expanded by Mooncurve the Cunning. It ended up as nothing. For the most part…”

‘I’m positive Twilight was trying to come up with something. Safe time travel, both to the past and future, was nigh impossible outside of what I accomplished with the stasis chamber. Starlight was a testament on how dangerous time magic can be if unchecked. Perhaps she was attempting to join me in the future? Faust, I hope not. I want to see her again, more than anything! But… I traveled here to escape her interference in the first place! It would just become pointless for me to continue if otherwise… Gosh, I miss her so much...’

I wanted to see my Twilight again. To hold her, smell her lavender scent, to kiss her, brush every square centimeter of her fur with my fingers, feel her heartbeat against my own, make love to her and whisper how much I loved that silly mare for making me the man I am today.

The choice was made, and I had to live with it. Perhaps in the next life, I’d find my reckoning at her hooves.

Always forward.

Feeling deeply nostalgic, borderline on the break of shedding tears, I left the two mares to mull over the old tome and made my way upstairs towards the bedroom, the one we had shared on numerous occasions back in the day.

It was just as I remembered, the two-tone dark blue with lavender highlights could still be discerned on its walls. It was in a similar state as my own room back in the castle, but through my eyes, the vision of its immaculate state at the time Twilight inhabited it overcame its current one. The supersized (by pony standards) king bed to fit both of us still held precariously. Even more bookshelves occupied both of the room’s side walls. A small love seat near the window, with an enormous puff nearby where she would rest at my side as we spent the afternoons reading together, when she wasn’t invading my lap, of course.

A reflection of light brought struck my corneas, bringing my attention towards the night desk, where the afternoon sun’s rays shimmered over the glass covering of an old photo, one that depicted the both of us, with me stealing a big kiss on her cheek at the moment of taking the picture, eliciting a deeply surprised and embarrassed look at the time the flash hit us, which got me laughing for several minutes after taking it, and suffering the subsequent revenge of course.

A closer look revealed that what had glittered was not the glass covering, which was soiled with too much dust to glow in the sunlight. No, what had caught my attention was a small pendant in the shape of Twilight’s own cutie mark, hanging from the small frame on a snapped, half-eaten chain. A pendant I recognized at once, for it had been one of my most prized possessions.

“She actually kept it... Oh, baby…”

I couldn’t help the tears that escaped my eyes. It had been a day I would regret for the rest of my life, a day I had run out of options, and I let my fear and regret take over the actions that lead me here.

‘… Is that an order, your Majesty?’

“I’m so sorry, baby. I’m s-so, so sorry…”

“Everything okay up there, Alex?”

Suny’s worried call snapped me back to the present. I quickly dried my tears and cleaned my nose. “Y-Yeah, everything's fine, Sunny. Nothing useful here, either.”

I decided to take both the pendant and the photo with me. I couldn’t bear to wear it regardless of its unique properties. The pain was too much. I had a different idea.

‘Seems I found Sunny’s birthday present. She’ll make better use of it than me.’

My unstable gait caused my leg to bump against the night desk kissing the side of the bed, its rotten legs unable to hold it any longer. Falling on its front, I quickly took hold of it before it could cause a ruckus and alert the ponies. However, its new tilted positions caused the drawers to open on rusty rails.

My eyes widened and the breath hitched at my throat when they landed at the sight of what rested inside the uppermost one. Twisting the old piece of furniture so it could rest against the old bed, I carefully, almost dreaduly, grabbed the silver circlet from its wooden insides.

Shaped to fit my head, carved from the purest of silver and meteorite, and adorned with gentle undulating patterns in resemblance of waves that met at its front in the shape of a raven’s beak.

My crown. My shame.

‘… I thought I’d never see it again…’

Painful twists gnarled at my tummy, painful memories drowning me in a sea of hopelessness. I was unsure what to do. Part of me wanted to keep it, while another wished to destroy it there and then. One side ended up winning.

Exiting the old bedroom, I rejoined the two mares in the library before they had the chance to start worrying, still grasping the crown in my hands.

The girls soon noticed it, meeting me halfway with inquiring looks.

“What’s that supposed to be?”

So engrossed I was in my thoughts that I barely registered Zipp’s question, answering as pale as a ghost “… My crown.”

An enormous gasp escaped Sunny, not wasting a second to invade my personal space and practically run her muzzle all over it, excitingly running through all her limited knowledge about the Equestrian crowns and their wielders. So engrossed she was on my new discovery that she didn’t hear my gauntlets powering up.

“… and not a single drawing was left behind! But according to my dad, it’s said they were…”

*SNAP!!*

The words turned to ash on her muzzle. With heightened strength, I managed to snap the silver circlet in two, glaring at it like it was my worst enemy.

I was unworthy.

The tension that permeated the room could be cut with a knife, yet no mare dared to utter a word as my ragged breathing took over my senses. After a few tense moments, a single word escaped her muzzle. “… Why?”

Why? I could bring up a hundred reasons why. And yet, I offered the simplest of them. “It’s better this way.” I muttered as I carelessly dropped the broken pieces to the dusty floor, leaving them behind to be forgotten like the rest of this place. I needed to move on. I needed to move forward.

Sunny was not of the same mind. “W-What?! Why would it be bett-”

Zipp’s hoof flew to Sunny’s snout before he could go down, cutting her question with a knowing look and a stiff shake of her head. I silently appreciated her gesture. If there was anypony amongst our group of friends who could understand what I was going through at the moment, it was her.

Not happy in the slightest, Sunny could still recognize the intent behind Zipp’s action, and thankfully decided to desist, casting a saddened glance at the broken crown before falling in line.

With Sunny having taken all the pictures she desired, we decided it was time to head back to Maretime Bay, before it got any darker and the pegasi detachment had a harder time finding us and taking us back via chariot.

The mares excitedly talked about the day’s findings and experiences, both having enjoyed the visit to Equestria’s past, an angry spirit of chaos not invited this time.

I couldn’t find myself sharing their enthusiasm. The burned-down section of the archives as well as my findings in Twilight’s old quarters had left me in shambles, now once again forced to reconsider my approach to the Unity Crystals’ problem. For whatever reason, Twilight had made sure to leave me without any options to reverse or neutralize their influence over magic. Even after seeing them fail with her own two eyes, she was adamant to keep them as they were.

Why? Didn’t she realize they ended up being useless after the fall, if not making things even worse? What difference would it make to have magic or not if the result was going to be the same? Why protect them? Is she protecting them from me… or from something else? Was she counting on me failing and giving up to protect them too? I couldn’t begin to guess what turbulent thoughts had plagued the alicorn's mind, and with each passing day, I found myself caring less and less.

I was unsure of how to continue. The pony’s technology wouldn’t be of help for a long time until they could catch up to my requirements, since magic hadn’t been considered for their design during the past centuries technology had slowly advanced to fill the gap left by magic. It would take time to build something that could help me, if there was anything that could in the first place.

No, something else was going on. Twilight was many things, but stupid isn’t one of them. She must have had a very good reason to prevent my advances even after seeing what a poor job they did to keep ponykind united. She doesn’t want me to destroy them, she wants me to leave them be and well-protected. I suspected it had something to do with Harmony’s prophesied incoming darkness, but I couldn’t know for sure.

Since my advances in the study of the crystals had been interrupted, I decided to switch my priorities and focus on the things I could accomplish without her interference. One: continue with Sunny’s training, making sure she could get her powers under control sooner rather than later, just in case. Two: find out the fate of the other races of Equus. I didn’t believe for a second the whole world came down with Equestria. There surely had to be somecreature out there. Perhaps there was somecreature around that could help me. Perhaps they knew something I didn’t.

I had to try, I owed it to them. I had made a promise.

And lastly: prepare myself for the incoming darkness. I had to step up my game. No more Elements of Harmony to bear the brunt, and only one rookie alicorn at my disposal. If we became the target of one of Equestria’s remaining enemies that might or might not still be out there, we wouldn’t stand a chance in the state we currently were in. It disgusted me to have to turn her into a weapon, but her powers were granted to her for a reason, and I doubt it was to become the new leader of the ponies or anything similar.

If Twilight was so adamant about leaving the Unity Crystals alone, I would comply with her wishes, for now. But it better be for a good reason. I couldn’t stand the idea that the sacrifice I was forced to make would end up being for nothing!

I know it sounds cruel. I had met wonderful ponies here. Heck, I was even falling in love with one! I felt happy being able to help them, to live with them… And yet, it made me feel like a traitor somehow. Discord’s accusations of me jumping the boat rung through my mind again.

‘NO! It had to be done! IT HAD TO BE DONE, DAMMIT!!’

I found myself believing in those words less and less. I knew deep inside why I had chosen to jump the boat. I couldn't keep on lying to myself for much longer.

“Um, Alex, can I ask you something?”

Sunny’s voice pierced through my mental rambling. “Ask away, Tangerine.”

She giggled at my choice of nickname, although it was short-lived since her features soon turned serious. “What was that about my alicorn magic being one of your works, and you destroying it?”

Faust knows I would have preferred to keep that can of worms sealed, but she deserved to know. “It was one of my earliest approaches during the beginning of the ISIT program. I knew there were already spells that would allow some temporary changes to a pony’s features, like a pair of wings, or the ability to walk on clouds. Some even allowed you to switch tribes completely and beyond! But they were more cosmetic than actually functional. No, I wanted to truly breach the species barrier. To give an earth pony a pair of wings that would work just as would on a pegasus, magic and all included. Or plant a horn in their foreheads which they could use to levitate stuff, or make earth pony magic run through a unicorn's hooves to raise their own crops. You know the drill. So, I looked into Twilight’s ascension to an alicorn, when she gained control over all three types of pony magic.”

We had finished walking down the stairs and into the small castles’ gardens on our way back to the rendezvous point. “However, I didn’t want them to become permanent, like Twilight’s transformation. No, they’d have to be magical constructs that a pony could summon at-will. And, of course, without the same amount of power that an alicorn had. But…”

“But…?” Zipp prompted.

“Sigh. I soon realized how terrible of an idea it was. To grant wings and horns and magical hooves to anypony, to summon them at will, with all the benefits they grant… It wouldn’t just breach the species barrier. It would destroy the status quo completely, and with it the careful dynamic between the three tribes that held Equestria together. It would mess up a lot of things that were better left unchanged. Heck, it might have even upset the balance of this world entirely! It could have been easily abused. Celestia and Luna themselves urged me to seek a different approach, and I was not one to go against their advice, so I burned it all down and forgot about it.”

“And… you think that’s what I have in me?” Sunny chipped in with a small nudge of her snout.

“… I don’t know, Sunny. Perhaps Twilight managed to recreate it from memory. Perhaps it’s another thing entirely. One thing I know for sure is that the Unity Crystals weren’t meant to grant that kind of power.”

I playfully ruffled her mane in an attempt to cheer her up. “Which means you’re a very special mare. Whatever the reason is for you possessing those powers, I can’t think of a better pony to wield them.”

Sunny beamed at my praise and tried to tackle-hug me. However, I had to stop her since we could hurt ourselves with the twinblade I was carrying on my back. Her adorable pout drove me to agree to a double session of cuddles when we returned home.

You wouldn’t find me complaining.