"Think, Blueblood, think! What is magic?" Light asked as she walked around the scorched room with a thoughtful expression.

"Magic is energy. Despite it being energy, it doesn't follow the law of energy. Magic can't be destroyed, but it can be created or manifested. Thus, making it an infinite resource, which is how beings like Aunty Celestia can exist and hold a ridiculous amount of magic in their bodies, but not upset the natural balance and create a magic shortage in Equestria just by existing." Blueblood explained lazily for the fiftieth time.

"You think I don't know that?!" Light asked in an uneasy voice.

Blueblood didn't answer as he held a pack of ice to his forehead and sizzling horn. After the last few experiments, they were both left exhausted as Blueblood ended up pushing himself a bit too hard. Not exactly knowing how to answer, he just gave an exhausted stare at Light.

"Oh, what do we do? What do we do? We don't have anything to show for when Princess Celestia gets here." Light was murmuring to herself.

"Light, calm down. We tried our best, and we didn't find it. It's not like she's going to punish us for this." He spoke tiredly.

"How are you so calm about this?!" She asked and stepped in front of him.

"Because it's ridiculous?" He suggested. "Everypony involved in this already knew from the start that this was practically an impossible riddle in the first place. She's not gonna get all mad because we didn't manage to crack the impossible barrier." He explained whilst trying to calm his friend down.

Light was silent as she stared at Blueblood. "I, guess." She finally said and sat down next to her friend. "Ugh, seriously. If we could just figure out the barrier's elements, it'll be so easy to dismantle it. And it's not like we could get more info about what it is." She complained and leaned into Blueblood.

"Hmm, actually. Why don't we take another visit. Just in case." He suggested and threw away the now melted ice pack.

"I suppose. I mean, it's not like something bad would come out from it." Light agreed and visibly cheered up.

"Yes, I also need to have a talk with Mr. Natural Remedy." Blueblood said with a slightly thoughtful expression before getting up.

"Woah!" Light fell without her support. "You jerk!"

"Yeah, what about it?" Blueblood replied with a smirk before walking away. "Come on short stack, we should freshen up before meeting Aunty."

"I'm like, quarter of a hoof shorter than you!" Light said with a pout before following.

"Still shorter." That earned him a smack on the back of his head.

"Alright, just like that. Concentrate deep inside of you, and then tug it." Moon instructed as she held her hooves on the back of Remedy, who sat in a lotus position. "Remember, Nocturnal magic is extremely hostile. So just, give it a light tug, like a suggestion. As long as you don't piss it off, it'll do as you say."

Remedy let out a deep breath as he silenced himself. Not a single action produced sound, not even his breathing as he completely erased himself from the world. Even Moon, who was still attached to him, couldn't completely tell if he was there or not.

As minutes slowly pass in complete silence, Moon opened her eyes with a confused expression as she stared at her hooves. They were coated in her shadows as she gave them a few flexes. Realizing something, she slowly got up and stood in front of Remedy.

"What the?" She muttered and stared as the lines that traveled up to Remedy's eyes slowly melted away.

The pitch black hole in his chest somehow seemed even darker. His shadow that was cast on the ground enlarged. His simple pony shaped shadow kept traveling more and more until it finally reached the trees.

*Gulp*

Moon stood a bit nervous as chills went down her spine. She's experienced this plenty of times before, especially when they first met.

"Just what did he do to have it be this strong?" She mumbled to herself as she steeled herself.

The camp seemed to darken, starting to feel much more hostile. Moon felt like something was staring at her from the shadows. There was an inexplicable feeling of being hunted that stayed at the back of her mind. Right as she started to become slightly more comfortable, a sudden shift occurred in the camp.

"What the fuck?" She muttered and looked around.

A light green color glowed brightly from the ground as parts of the camp started to brighten up.

"Wow." Moon was left stunned as a breathtaking scenery took place.

Before she could snap out of it, the feeling of being watched returned once again. This time, much stronger. If the first time felt like a hunter was vaguely aware of your presence, this time it felt like that same hunter was staring you down, straight in the eyes as it held up a blade to your neck.

Moon just rubbed the back of her neck as she stared at Remedy.

"Seriously, this guy. You've got something other than just Nocturnal magic." She muttered and stood there.

Her surroundings felt darker. Sunlight seemed to have disappeared as little spots of pony shaped lights traveled around the pitch black world. Moon was all but familiar with this world, though, what was less familiar was the pure bloodlust she sensed from those pony shaped lights.

"Yeah, scary as always." Moon just mumbled to herself.

The world instantly turned back to normal as the sense of death disappeared from Moon.

"Sorry, I lost control for a bit." Remedy apologized.

"Yeah, I figured." Moon replied casually as she moved to sit closer to Remedy. "I suddenly got cut off when you started to really get into it."

"I see." Remedy replied. "This is an annoying feeling I didn't know before." He said with a small frown as he repeatedly flexed his hooves.

"What?"

"Not knowing what's in my body. I think you also realized it right?"

Moon took a second to answer. "Yeah, the dark colored magic is definitely Nocturnal, but that light green one, not a clue." She said and glanced at Remedy.

"Hmm." He pondered as he inspected his hoof. "I wonder if Celestia has a clue about this." He said as his hoof started to glow a light green.

"So. How does that one feel?" Moon asked as she leaned over to take a closer look.

"Well, it's definitely different than, I'll tell you that. It feels, orderly? It's a lot more docile than yours."

"Nocturnal. I don't own the shadows."

"Right. This is a lot easier to control than Nocturnal magic." He explained as he focused on his hoof and the light shot out. "Though, I don't actually understand how to use it." He said as the light landed on the ground and fizzled out.

"Doesn't it like, make you stronger, or something? Because I'm pretty sure you're not supposed to be smashing rocks with just brute strength." Moon asked and laid backwards, earning a few pops from her back.

Remedy stayed silent as he pondered for a few moments. "Yeah, I suppose you're right." He finally answered and got up with a groan. "Welp, time for lunch."

"I want soup!"

"Yeah, sure."

"You have got to be kidding me." Twilight was dissatisfied with what she had just been informed of.

"Is something the matter, Twilight?" Celestia asked her student in a curious tone.

"Oh, no, Princess, don't worry. It's nothing." She instantly replied with a sheepish smile.

"Well, that's good. I'll be leaving you three to it then. If possible, I'd much appreciate it if you three could get results as fast as possible." She masked her nervousness as she said in a calm voice. "This matter has become, quite urgent due to circumstances." She explained and looked at all three ponies. "Funding will be provided from the Crown, so, you may use all you need to find success." She finished with a hopeful smile and turned to leave.

"Of course, Princess. I won't let you down." Twilight replied with a cheerful tone.

"We'll try our best, Aunty." Blueblood added on.

"I know." Celestia flashed them another smile before leaving to return to her duties.

As a few seconds pass, Joyful Light practically collapses from the pressure as Twilight lets out an annoyed groan.

"Can I expect you behave decently during our experiments?" Blueblood asked Twilight as a few memories of a much younger, and much more experimental Twilight going just a tiny bit too far with her spells.

"What do you know about behaving? I heard what you did at the Gala." She refuted angrily at the stallion.

Blueblood stared for a few seconds as his unfocused eyes tried to remember the events of that night. "What?"

"Maybe a certain, unicorn mare that you treated horribly?" She asked as she got in closer with a strained smile.

Light began to wake from her stupor as she listened to their conversation.

"Oh yeah." Blueblood seemed to realize. "I still don't know who you're talking about."

"Rarity! I'm talking about Rarity! You were such a jerk to her!"

"Oh her!" Blueblood had a bright smile. "I still don't have a clue who you're talking about." He finally said as he started to lose patience.

"Oh why you-"

"Um, why don't we calm down a bit?" Light tried to interject.

Blueblood took a moment as he took a glance at Light.

*Sigh*

He sighed wearily before turning to Twilight.

"Look, Booksmart, I'm sorry, but I really can't remember every single gold digger that happened to be my consort at any social event."

"Blue!" Light spoke up. "I'm pretty sure that's her friend you're talking about!"

"What did you call her, you snob?"

"A gold digger. If your friend was really that different, I would've remembered."

They stood there, glaring at each other whilst Light didn't exactly know what she should do.

"L-look, guys." She hoped to cool the situation down as she stood between them. "Why don't we just, calm down a bit? We can just talk this over some coffee. I got a bag of roasted powder from Neighpan, and there's a bit coffee machine in the break room."

Although she was replied in silence, between the exhausted Blueblood and the studious pony who had developed a taste after countless all nighters, the brown drink sounded perfect at the moment.

"Hmph." Blueblood let out a dissatisfied sound and left the room.

Twilight's gaze followed him until he walked out of sight. Only then did she let out a breath and turned to Light.

"Um, I apologize for that. We have, some history between us." She explained with a sheepish smile.

"Uh huh." Light nodded in acknowledgement.

"I'm Twilight by the way. Twilight Sparkle."

"Joyful Light."

After introductions were over, the air turned awkward as the two mares stood there in thick silence. As the two were beginning to break down from the situation, Light spoke up first.

"So, how about that coffee, huh?" She said with a forced smile.

"Oh, uh, you can go ahead. I already drink too much anyway." Twilight replied as her expression turned to annoyed.

"I. Um, alright. You can just, familiarize yourself with the lab for now, I guess?" Light said nervously before turning to walk out the door.

Watching her leave, Twilight groaned audibly as she was left alone.

"Amazing first impression, Twilight. Truly unforgettable." She complained to herself as she took a look around.

A long white room with enough anti-magic runes decorating the walls to shut down Princess Celestia herself. A long warning line that seemed to have been replaced and moved further from one end of the room multiple times. A room behind an enchanted window that had a few hundred, likely empty scrolls piled in the back. The actual experiment field was charred black and a single damaged scroll sat snugly all the way at the back. The walls were damaged and some of the tiles looked like they were about to fall off. Scrapped pieces of the walls scattered about everywhere.

"That's weird. Those tiles all look like they've been exploded. Princess Celestia wouldn't be one to research such destructive spells." She muttered to herself as she slowly examined the room.

*Bang*

"Hey, Twilight. What'd I miss?" A new voice opened the door quite strongly.

"Oh Spike! There you are." She turned to the door in a more cheery mood. "Why do you have a basket of gems?"

"Princess Celestia gave them to me. I ran into her after putting our stuff in our old room." Spike replied casually before throwing an emerald into his mouth. "So, what happened? Princess Celestia said you were going to meet the research team."

"Oh, right. I already met them."

Spike swallowed before looking at Twilight with a questioning gaze. "Are you alright? You seem like you're in a bad mood."

"It's, fine. It's just, Blueblood is part of the team."

"Blueblood?! I didn't know he was good with magic." He commented as he remembered his few interactions with the stallion. "What's so bad about him again?"

"Spike. Don't you remember the Gala? The way he treated Rarity?"

"Oh, right. But, doesn't he do that with every mare though? I'm pretty sure he was still like that even back then." He said as he sat on a random piece of debris.

"Exactly! And that's horrible. He can't go around treating ponies like that."

"Hmm, true." Spike pondered the morality situation for a slight second. "Well, Twilight. Try to get along with him. You'll be working together for the next few weeks right?"

Twilight tried to come up with a reply, but as seconds pass she couldn't think of one. She finally sighed as she fully thought about it.

"You're right Spike, I'll try to not let my personal feelings get to me. But that doesn't mean I have to like it." She ended the discussion and turned to leave. "Come on Spike, we should meet the rest of the team." She said and levitated Spike onto her back before leaving.

"Good morning, Celly!" Luna greeted happily as she swung the door open.

The door, thankfully, didn't slam into the wall. Courtesy of the enchantment Celestia had put there, knowing such an event would happen

"Aren't you in a good mood today, Lulu." Celestia spoke softly as she put away a stack of papers to her side, much to the annoyance of Raven, who was working alongside her. "You're up quite early even."

"Yes, sister. I have given that 'therapy' thing thou had told me of, a chance." Luna said with a smile as she approached Celestia.

"I see. I've noticed you may have been dissatisfied with something, but I'm glad you're taking care of it." She spoke with a soft grin.

"So am I. It has been quite an enjoyable experience to speak with somepony without them fearing for their life." Luna was rather happy.

"That's good, it means you're making progress." Celestia was quite pleased with the outcome as well.

*Thud, thud*

"Your highness, Sir Fancy Pants has requested your presence." A guard peeked in through the door.

"I see, let him in."

"Well, I suppose we shall meet again at lunch." Luna said her piece and left through the door. "Good morning, Sir Fancy Pants." She said on the way.

"Good morning, your highness." Fancy gave a curt bow.

"Hello, Fancy Pants." Celestia greeted calmly. "To what do I owe the pleasure."

"Hello to you as well, your highness." Fancy gave the same bow before speaking. "As for the reason of my visit. May I ask a question?"

"Of course, what's the matter?"

"Do you happen to know of a pony named 'Bright Idea'?"

Celestia was stunned as she froze for a split second. "Raven, could you please leave us alone?"

"Yes, ma'am." Raven understood the signal and took her leave.

Celestia watched for a few seconds before making sure she has left, then promptly casted a spell on the door.

"How did you come across that name?" She asked, wasting no time.

"I happened to come across a document on your floor the last time we met." Fancy was slightly intimidated, fearing he had made a mistake.

"I see." She said with a sigh. "I ask you to keep everything a secret. It's quite a personal issue of my friend."

"I understand, I'll take it to my grave." He was relieved.

"No, you don't have to go that far." She almost shouted. "If somepony manages to find out and threaten your life for that information, I ask that you prioritise your own life over this. The protection of my citizens are my highest priority." She explained calmly.

"Uh, I, yes. I'll keep that in mind." He replied rather awkwardly.

Before the air could turn thick, Celestia cleared her throat to break the ice.

"So, may I ask how this name is important to you?" She started.

"Oh, yes. It is actually a family secret, that I may have to share." He was rather nervous.

"Are you comfortable with that though? As high as my position is, I believe that those secrets bring no harm to Equestria."

"I'm not, but it is still a scam that has gone on for a millennia."

"A millennia? What scam?"

"Well, as you know, my family has made quite a few accomplishments during the last thousand years."

"Yes? And I'm quite grateful for that. The inventions that came from your family has changed the course of history multiple times."

"And I'm proud of that." Fancy said as he struggled to get the next words out.

"But?" Celestia asked.

"But, it's also a scam that has been going on for that thousand years." He let out.

A few seconds passed in silence as Celestia processed those words.

"What?" She just asked.

"I'm not exactly proud of it, but, our family isn't as ingenious as we had led others to believe."

"What? Wait, please don't tell me your family has been stealing the merit of others." She asked a bit angered.

"No! No, the ideas all came from the family. It's just, it all came from one pony." He was frightened slightly.

Celestia stared in complete silence as he questioning gaze inspected every last corner of Fancy Pants to tell if he was lying.

"Elaborate." She said.

"Yes. Although the name 'Bright Idea' might not be so important in history. The name, Brilliant Epiphany should ring a bell."

"Ah." Celestia had a realization as she dug through her memories of the important families. "The first patriarch of your family."

"Yes! Him. Every invention and every new discovery, they all came from him and his experiments."

"What? How? He can't possibly live that long, and immortality is quite a long shot."

"Of course. Even with his brilliant mind, it's quite impossible for him to achieve immortality so easily." Fancy agreed with the idea. "You're aware that our family hasn't really tried to tie ourselves in with politics too much."

"Yes, I'm well aware."

"Well, the reason for that is the secret of our family. There is a tomb, more like a dungeon, but still a tomb. It's location and its contents are only shared between family members, but I can tell you that the rewards for entering such a place is the reason for our family's reputation." He explained calmly.

"The inventions are the rewards." Celestia muttered to herself. "Seems rather egoistic. Then again, Brilliant was quite egoistic himself."

"Something I can agree on." Fancy commented.

"So, why tell me this now? Even if I had found the name 'Bright Idea', this isn't something you just reveal like that."

"The reason is quite simple. I have almost reached the end." He spoke confidently. "Of everything that it could be, a maze, a trap room, even just finding the right combination for a chemical brew, the last answer is a name." He gave a single sigh. "When, if, I find that name, there will be no more left to take from the tomb."

"And you fear your family name will fall?"

"That is of no concern to me. I just wish to be the one to finally unlock the secret of the tomb. Just why he built it, and why all the quizzes and hints were all extremely personal to his life."

Celestia slowly thought through his words as a small picture formed in her mind. She gave a single nod as she came to a conclusion.

"Well, you have set your sights on this, I will not stop you. However, I say you should get some answers from the stallion who knew Brill-Bright Idea best." She said with a smile as she pulled out a paper.

"What?"

"Your ancestor. Well, your ancestors' brother." She explained and gave him a map with a marked location. "Remember to bring a gift." She said that with a bright smile.

"I. I, see." Fancy was left confused with a few questions in mind.

Though, he feared he may not get the answers to those.

Author's Note

Alright, finally.

Sorry this one took so long to come out. I had a lot to this last few, uhh, something days. I ended up interning for a job and that already takes half the day.

Then I had to fill out a health sheet, which took a whole week just for them to end up telling to get my blood type tested before fully going with all the tests.

Which is both things I have to do while sacrificing my free time to look after younger cousins.

Add all that on having to take my driver's license test. Then, you can guess how fun it's been for me. (Not fun at all, I was arguably more stressed than when I was taking my finals.)

Anyway, as always, thanks for reading.