Chapters Zaros surveyed the scene from the walls of his palace. Somehow, they had got within the gates of Senntisten, and that itself was alarming.
They had managed to get inside…
They had managed to strike deep within the huge city, which spanned several kingdoms, and were now on their way to confront him, Zaros, the almighty. To say the least, Zaros was displeased by this. He spread his mind into the ether, and tried to identify the assailants of his fine city, but found a large shadow had fallen over the surrounding areas. There was only one object that possessed that power, and the thought of it slowly filled Zaros with an unfamiliar feeling. Dread.
Unable to identify how such a large army had got so close, and who had led them here, Zaros decided to think about it a little more intellectually.
They were inside, so either they were here already, or I was betrayed…
Zaros cast out his power once again, and once more, was met by a defiant shadow. However, its power was limited, and Zaros pushed through its shroud to identify the armies fighting below, and was filled with annoyance.
Mahjarrat!
If Zaros had been thinking out loud, he would have surely snarled.
Do the fools not realise that there is no one more powerful than myself?
This was not strictly true, as in the corners of his mind, he could feel an entity within Gielinor hidden deep away, inside the very fabric of the realm. It was powerful, but luckily for Zaros, it was also dormant. Focusing his mind back to his contemplations, he resumed his analysis once more.
So, they managed to get a whole army inside, and obviously had followers within the city, so there is no doubt I was betrayed.
Zaros searched the ether once more, and identified Saradomin elsewhere, attending to pathetic mortal behaviours. Suddenly, a thought came over him. He decided to search Gielinor for his favoured general, but found no trace, then casually probed and the shadow, cloaking magical interference with abyssal energies.
Zaros smiled.
Zamorak, friend. The Mahjarrat would only follow the strongest, and only your lust for violence is so great, that such a warlike race would be easily persuaded to believe you could be more potent than I.
As if answering his previous master’s summons, the doors to the tower from which he observed were flung open, and Zamorak marched in flanked by two fearsome Mahjarrat. In his hands, was the staff of Armadyl.
“Zaros,” Zamorak proclaimed in a confident voice, “feeling lucky?”
Zamorak grinned. No one could challenge him whilst he held the staff! Stories had reached even Freneskae of all powerful gods being vanquished by the staff’s awesome power.
Doubts were soon cast across Zamorak’s mind, however, as his two guards were engulfed by choking shadows, which smothered the surrounding area, forcing Zamorak to his knees. Zamorak had very little connection to either the ether or the abyss, and had very little natural magic talent, unlike other Mahjarrat. He instead relied on his crushing strength and unparalleled charisma. Even despite his lack of magical ability, however, he could feel power emanating out from Zaros, and he could sense space-time starting to bend and crack within the palace confines.
Zaros smiled. Zamorak was no real threat. No, the real enemy was the staff in his hands. Zaros had often pondered whether Armadyl could be classed as a god, for he had very little natural power. Instead, he was completely immortal, and invincible, as no form of damage could harm him – even Jas could not remove Armadyl if he tried.
Armadyl, however, had little power extended beyond that, although within his mind was contained a soul capable of exacting the truest judgement, regardless of situation, within split seconds. This, Zaros almost respected.
The final interesting thing about Armadyl was his unbreakable connection to the staff. The staff only went where Armadyl wanted it to, so he was obviously rather pissed at that aviansie patrol that Zaros’s forces had taken out earlier in the year.
Back to his original ponderings however, lay the heart of this battle – The staff itself was a sentient being, and would carve through any armour as if it was air, and dispel any enchantment, even god-granted, as if it was just mumbo jumbo make believe. This wasn’t the limit of the staff’s power, however. It had cast a shadow throughout the surrounding realms, one that prevented any magical use. Of course, Zaros was a god, and now that he was inside the shadow, it did little to hinder his near omnipotence, but it had certainly cloaked its approach.
It wasn’t these things that worried Zaros, however. The spear itself acts as a conduit, able of transferring power and life-force. Since Zaros was just an entity in space-time, he technically had no physical form, but as he could tell, the staff had a presence which had somehow bound him to his physical form, preventing any escape from his body. He tested at it, trying to dissolve his physical from and translocate to another realm, but he felt massive resistance, and he could swear the staff almost grinned at him. A malicious, predatory grin.
Zamorak groaned as he once more rose to his feet. To his surprise, Zaros had been simply observing him.
Now’s my time to strike!
Suddenly, however, Zamorak shivered as he felt a foreign entity invading his mind, which he knew not to be Zaros.
Fool…
Zamorak recoiled in fear. What? Suddenly, he felt him losing control of his arms, and he impaled himself with the staff. Zaros grimaced, he had been expecting this, and his sharp mind cut through the shadow, more like a hammer than a knife, and started to charge up a coalescence of smoke and ice within his hands.
Zamorak spluttered blood onto the floor, and panicked uncontrollably as he lost control of the rest of his body and was forced to stand up.
What is happening?!
Zaros watched with a faint sense of pity as his once favoured general was manipulated cruelly by the staff’s foul powers.
He readied his spell, but a missile from a siege engine, presumably stolen from the siege-works, slammed into the tower and caused the floor to crumble. Zaros dissipated his spells and panicked as he fell off the now vertical floor and into the room below. He tried to separate himself from his body, and escape, but once again the chains of reality imposed by the staff forced him to stay physical.
The staff!
His realisation was too late and looked below him to see a stricken Zamorak, and too late, as he fell atop him and was also impaled.
As soon as he impacted, he felt another bind being cast, preventing him from removing the spear.
Even gods must die…
Zaros was angered by the staff's certainty about his fate, but in the back of his mind he know it was probably right.
I’d like to see you try!
The staff reacted to the challenge almost immediately, as he felt an arcane force split apart his mind and begin to drain his power at an alarming rate.
As you wish…
Zaros tried to hold on to his power as the spear transferred it into Zamorak, causing Zamorak to scream and twist. Zaros’s attempts were about as foolish, however, as a new-born child trying to prevent its mother being torn apart by an enraged grizzly bear on steroids.
The staff, at the moment, was working on a simple method of diffusion. In terms of power and knowledge, Zaros’s mind was about as full as a neutron star, stuffed to its metaphysical brim with unfathomable amounts of knowledge, and endless power. Zamorak’s, on the other hand, was so empty, that if you moved his mind into space, it would implode, as the vacuum of the void contained more magical prowess than he did.
Suddenly, Zaros had an idea. The staff was draining his power, but it was not powerful enough to stop him using it.
Zamorak writhed in agony as his mind was seared into an incoherent mess. The staff was filling him with Zaros’s power, yet his body was only a physical construct, and was not designed to hold such power. He could feel his body, his whole existence, expanding and threatening to explode.
As he tried to focus, Zamorak was finally struck by the grim reality of the situation.
The staff will kill us both!
Suddenly, due to the power flowing through him, he could feel a disturbance in space-time. The sensation was new, but he felt as if he had always known how to use it. He suddenly saw the reason for the disturbance. To his eyes, it looked like Zaros was being enveloped by pure blackness, but as he reached into the ether, he could feel that the whole palace was enveloped in… nothing.
Zaros smiled gently as the staff redoubled its efforts.
What have you done? I will see you wither and die, scoured from existence!
The staff’s ramblings fell on deaf ears as Zaros increased the size of the puncture he’d created in the space-time equilibrium. The staff’s magical was so powerful it held his body in place, despite the fact the palace and city surrounding them was being hungrily devoured by the fractured rift. Luckily, the staff is bound to Armadyl, who was far away, prevented it from leaving Gielinor, and it could not follow Zaros into the rift.
The sheer suction of its existence removed the shadow, and Zaros used what little of his power was left to curse those who had led the staff into Zamorak’s possession.
Even in your final moments, you would spite those who brought you to this fate, even if it means abandoning all hope of escape? Truly, Zaros, you are a fool!
Zaros smiled gently, aware the staff had not yet realised the implications of his previous spell.
My ethereal existence is already beyond the event horizon, your boasts are meaningless.
True enough, Zaros felt his mind being torn from his body, and the staff was desperately attempting to prevent him from being enveloped by the temporal fracture. The staff failed in it's attempts, however, and Zaros felt his physical body dissolve and seperate from his being. Taking a final look at Zamorak, he let go of reality, as the rift tore him from Gielinor, and into an unknown realm. He had been maintaining the rift, however, so as soon as he left the realm, the spatial anomaly ceased to exist, and closed, leaving Senntisten in ruins.
As soon as his link with Zaros was broken, the staff removed itself from them, and Zamorak fell to his knees and screamed.
The staff hastily teleported away, but not before it granted him with a vision of him experiencing a similar fate, and at the hands of another Mahjarrat, also wielding the staff.
Zaros trusted you. Justice will be served…
He could feel Zaros’s power leaking from him uncontrollably, and only now did he realise his old master’s true power.
He glanced skywards and smiled, as he felt a small residue of Zaros’s power remain within him.
Burn!
Mumbling… could he hear mumbling?
No, a ritual!
“Azzanadra… Have I found my Faithful?”
“My Lord Zaros! The link is finally restored!”
Zaros would have smiled, but he soon realised he was drifting in an unknown realm, in ethereal form, with no physical body.
“I did not… doubt your… dedication. What of… your brothers?”
Zaros was hesitant. He could still feel the scars of the staff as if it was yesterday. Well, according to his internal timeline, it was yesterday, but he could sense from the power coming through the communion portal that a great deal of time had passed in Gielinor.
How long was I in statis?
Azzanadra continued to talk to him for a while, telling him of his scattered brothers, and Zamorak’s tyrannical rule.
Sure enough, however, the portal closed, and Zaros was left floating in metaphysical space. Reaching out with his mind, he became almost omnipresent throughout the realm, searching for a place to assume physical from, and spend a couple of thousand years regaining power, before he could re-enter Gielinor and assume his rightful position of rule.
Suddenly he felt like his mind was smashed into by a freight train. As he was searching, almost every star was dead and forgotten, but suddenly his mind had swept across a world pulsating energy.
Intrigued, he swept closer and drew his mind back into him. The world almost seemed to emit magic, and not only that, but a stranger force to. Zaros examined this new force that he could feel coming from the world.
Friendship?
Zaros was slightly confused, but descended into the world’s aura. He could sense two deities close by, but they were even weaker than gods such as Saradomin or Bandos. No, these gods would be no trouble, and if it came to war, his victory was inevitable.
Briefly, Zaros was reminded of the day he claimed the mahjarrat from Itchlarin, one of the weak gods of the Menaphite pantheon.
Returning to the matter currently at hand, Zaros quickly found a suitable place to coalesce – it was a thick forest, and it almost seemed to be made of magic.
The death place of a bygone deity, perhaps?
Regardless, a place so full of power would undoubtedly hasten his revival.
Zaros quickly scanned life forms in a nearby town, and chose a suitable form to base himself off of. He thoroughly investigated the physical features of every entity, before making an informed decision. Quickly, he delved onto a couple of their minds, and gathered some basic knowledge to help him along. He then used the inherent magic in the forest’s aura to easily build himself a new body, and filled it with his mind, tucking it snugly into the equine body’s skull.
Healing is always more effective in a concentrated physical form.
Zaros now stood as a tall, slender Pegasus pony with a white coat and purple mane and tail. His eyes were harsh, and anypony who looked into them would tell you they seemed inherently empty. On his flank was emblazoned a religious Zarosian symbol, a circle with a cross inside, and the edges of the cross on the exterior at 45 degrees.
Might as well stay in character, it always makes this more fun.
Curbing his godly powers, Zaros walked towards the nearest settlement, for the thick tree cover prevented use of his wings. He then began to think of an appropriate name a pony would adopt, calling on the knowledge he'd gathered earlier. Suddenly, he drew to a halt, and smiled.
Midnight Feather.
Zamorak stared into nothing.
Banished, then banished again?
Sure, he had got all the other gods banished to, but his incarceration was starting to annoy him. Testing, he pushed at the boundaries of the realm, but they stayed firm.
For the first time in a thousand years, he thought of Zaros. Gielinor was now in the fifth age, and Zamorak was trapped.
He started to wonder what would have happened if he had stayed with Zaros. If he had conquered the rest of Gielinor with him, and had anything he desired, for earthly pleasure were foreign to Zaros. His own thoughts were all he needed.
The Empty Lord
Zamorak had caused the death of millions, but perhaps with Zaros, they would have united millions, and maybe even managed to overthrow Guthix.
What have I done?
As the sun began to set beneath the foreign realm's horizon, Zaros felt weary.
Even gods must die...
The staff's words haunted him.
How close was I to death?
He continued his journey through the forest, lost in his thoughts.
His preoccupation with his mind proved hazardous, however, as he walked down a path into the clutches of a waiting cockatrice.
Zaros was roused from his contemplations as he felt a surge of magic course through him, and he realised his hindlegs were turning to stone.
He smiled.
How feeble.
The creature appeared to be similar to the cockatrices which Zaros knew lurked underneath Rellekka back in Gielinor.
Why am I always caught without my mirror shield?
Zaros casually exerted a meagre amount of his drained, but still potent, mind. At once, his hindlegs began to return to flesh, and the creature's magic was nullified.
Confused, bewildered, and infinitely scared, the cockatrice fled, scampering back into the undergrowth of the Everfree Forest.
Zaros gently chuckled to himself, and once more trudged on towards the nearby town.
Once more, his thoughts returned.
It seems death is always around a metaphorical corner, even for a god.
The wounds the staff had inflicted, aside from the draining of Zaros's power, had been purely physical, although the pain still remained fresh in Zaros's mind.
And so did the stench of betrayal.
Zaros was not normally known for being vindictive, but in this instance, he felt it was necessary.
He would return to Gielinor, and Zamorak would feel his wrath.
Not even mahjarrat are above punishment.
His thoughts were briefly interrupted once again, as he heard a strange pack of wolves howling nearby.
He cast his gaze skyward, and saw that night had fallen, and at this hour, had the heavens locked within its firm grip.
Zaros began to walk forwards once more, only to find himself nearing the outskirts of town.
Freed from the suppressive restraints of the forest's dreadful canopy, Zaros unfurled his great wings, and took off into the night, his new, slender, equine form soaring above the town.
He cast his thoughts down into the houses below, and requisitioned some knowledge from some of the inhabitant's minds.
I am sure they will be impartial, regarding my intrusions.
Soon, however, he was once more reminded of the gods he had sensed from space, and so he landed and quietly withdrew his mind's influences.
Better safe than sorry...
One thing intrigued Zaros, however. Naturally, he had quickly scanned the nearby inhabitants, but what interested him was a nearby entity within the town.
Compared to the others, this one is far more powerful...
After picking up a lock on its position, Zaros began to walk through the streets to its abode.
Twilight Sparkle was in the middle of a midnight library cleanup.
Spurred on by a horrible experience she had had earlier in the day, where she had found a book out of place, she had resolved that after a hard evening of studying, she would reorganize the library.
Or at least, Spike would.
Twilight sat in the corner, pondering as to why the book had been so out of place.
What if someone had sabotaged her perfect book placement?
What if it was a sign from a higher power?
What if some evil unicorn enchanted my books so that they randomly change position all the time?!
Twilight was beginning to twitch, and her pupils were starting to shrink, but she was snapped out of her insane ramblings by Spike pausing his book sorting in order to tell her something.
"Twilight? I think someone is at the door!"
Twilight panicked.
It was the dead of night! Why would anyone come to see her at this hour?
Twilight was about to attempt an escape, but Spike had already opened the door, revealing a tall, slender pegasus pony with a white coat, and purple mane and tail. What really struck Twilight, however, was his weird, symbolic cutie mark, and his intent, hollow eyes.
Twilight walked up to stand behind Spike at the door, just as the strange arrival spoke.
"Good evening, I am afraid that I have been walking for quite a while, only just made it into town, and was hoping that you could point me in a direction of a place to sleep?"
Twilight shuddered. The stranger's voice had seemed to sound old, so old, but so firm and young at the same time.
"Where have you come here from?" Twilight asked a little cautiously.
"From the south, I had to travel through the Everfree Forest to arrive here before nightfall," the stranger replied, and also staring quite solidly, as if trying to gauge Twilight's reaction.
His story seemed very weird and unusual, It was the middle of the night.
"What is your name, may I ask?" Twilight asked forcefully, trying to sound strong enough to ensure the stranger wouldn't attempt to rob her library or something.
The stranger seemed unfazed.
"Midnight Feather" He replied effortlessly.
Twilight considered telling him to leave, then realised how cruel that would be.
This pony could have travelled for miles, only to arrive in the dead of night. If you turned away such a soul in need, how could you still claim to be more moral than your enemies such as Discord or Nightmare Moon? Besides, he could become your friend.
Twilight shuddered at the last thought, and somehow couldn't shake the feeling that those thoughts weren't her own.
Regardless, she'd made up her mind.
"There is a spare bed downstairs, if you wouldn't mind staying the night here?"
The stranger seemed genuinely taken aback by the offer, as did Spike, who almost seemed petrified by the pegasus's presence.
"Thank you, kind maiden. I am eternally grateful for your kind hospitality." The stranger replied.
Twilight almost giggled at his unusual manner of speech, but lead him downstairs all the same, to where there lay a ready made bed, in case of emergency sleepovers, as her plethora of guides on the subject had informed her that a spare, isolated bed was sometimes a necessary backup tool.
The stranger once more made his appreciation known, before clambering inside the bedcovers and swiftly falling asleep.
Twilight trotted back up to the ground floor, and after instructing Spike to continue sorting out the books, made her way upstairs, in order to finally get some rest.
Rest, however, is one thing Twilight did not get that night.
Midnight Feather
The name was weird, but if that's his name, that's his name.
She still couldn't quite believe his tale about his arrival in Ponyville, however. He had travelled through the Everfree Forest for Celestia's sake!No one travels through the Everfree Forest, not even strange pegasi with weird cutie marks.
His cutie mark.
It had been very strange, to say the very least.
Twilight sighed.
Who have I let into my house?
Reality stayed firm.
This is impossible!
But Zamorak knew it wasn't, for he'd seen it done before.
I must keep trying!
Sunlight crept in through Twilight's parted curtains, and softly caressed the mare's face, rousing her from sleep. Twilight grumbled, and rolled over onto the other side of the bed: it was far too early for the unicorn to be awake.
Others, however, were already out and about, as Rainbow Dash could be heard outside, swiftly flying around on her weather patrol duties.
As time passed, however, Twilight eventually decided to sit up in bed, groggy, but awake. She reached over to her bedside table, and lifted a book off of it and started to read, for Spike was still asleep in his bed nearby, and Twilight did not wish to awaken him.
Although Twilight would have appeared to be awake to an observer, her mind was still much at rest, and it would take a few minutes before she actually began to activly process what she was reading. With the residue of sleep still filling her eyes, she glanced down quickly at what she was meant to be reading:
V. I. Pegasus's Guide to Strange and Unnatural Cutie Marks from all over Equestria.
Twilight blinked heavily for a second. Why was she reading a book on cutie marks?
As soon as she thought about the subject, however, she was immediatly reminded of her strange encounter the previous night.
Who was that strange pony?
Twilight removed herself from her bed, and taking care to be as quiet as possible, she gradually opened her bedroom door and crept down the stairs to the main library on the ground floor.
She was expecting her unusual visitor to still be asleep, but as she looked around the darkened living room, rubbing her eyes, she could have sworn she saw a figure seated at her studying desk.
A little afraid, she quickly cast a simple telekinesis spell, exerting herself ever so slightly. The spell exacted it's intended purpose, however, and the curtains inside the hollowed tree, that served as the basis of the library's structure, flung open, spilling bountiful amounts of sunlight into the room, illuminating a certain pegasus, who appeared rather alarmed at the sudden explosion of light.
Now that the library was suitably illuminated, Twilight could recognize the slender form of Midnight Feather sitting at the study desk, and she calmed a little.
Much to her surprise, he seemed to be surrounded in books.
If he likes reading so much, maybe we could be friends after all?
"I see you've acquainted yourself with my library," Twilight announced to the pegasus, chuckling under her breath slightly as she saw the rather impressive stack of tomes adjacent to the desk.
"Just some light reading," Midnight Feather replied, only briefly glancing up from his book.
"I'm just going go into town to meet some of my friends, Ok? Spike should be able to answer any questions you have." Twilight responded.
She waited for a reply, but the pegasus merely grunted, deep in thought.
It was early, and Twilight hadn't yet had breakfast yet, but what she had told Midnight Feather wasn't entirely untrue - there was a particular pink maned pony who she particularly wished to talk to about Ponyville's most recent visitor, and she had had a lunch date set for today for quite a while.
Zaros was engaged in the current activity of rather deep thought, as he was reading through an especially interesting tome.
Creatures... that feed on love?
For around the hundredth time that morning, Zaros stumbled across yet another highly interesting packet of information.
He was paying particular notice to anything that could speed up the regeneration of his power, or anything he could possibly manipulate to do so either.
Zaros could have easily used his ability to almost instantly scan and process all the information in the library within a very short space of time, but he was going to be stuck in Equestria for a long time anyway, so he thought he might as well do it the fun way. That wasn't the only reason, however.
That mare isnt weak, and from my observations, pegasi aren't meant to be able to cast magic. I better limit the extent of my power I use, lest I wish to be discovered.
Zaros abandoned his thoughts about Twilight for the time being, however. Zaros had only got a few hours sleep, because although it was useful, he simply didn't need it. He had spent the rest of the morning reading through the books in the library.
He had expanded his knowledge greatly, and he now fully understood each of the different species in Equestrian society, and had also learnt about the function of cutie marks.
In addition to this, Zaros had even read through several editions of Equestrian history books. Zaros was, essentially, prepared for most eventualities that could present themselves as of the current moment.
The baby dragon, Spike, had been avoiding him, and very obviously too, when he had woken up a few minutes prior, but Zaros didnt mind. Truthfully, he was slightly worried that Twilight would evict him from the library, so he continued through his stack of tomes, as after all, knowledge was power.
"Wait?! A new pony in town?!" Pinkie shot out of her seat with boundless energy. "Why did nopony tell me sooner? I have invites to deliver! Come on Gummy!"
An unfortunate Twilight had been, for the short duration conversation was being participated in at that table, trying to explain to Pinkie that the pony had only just arrived the night previous, and until that point, Pinkie Pie, Twilight and Applejack had all been having lunch together in Sugarcube Corner.
"Dun worry 'bout it Twi, ah'm sure he's a real nice pony!" Applejack said, comforting Twilight.
"Yes, Applejack, I'm sure he is, but I don't, want him living in my library!"
Applejack looked slightly confused as to why Twilight, her friend, was so scared of this new pony.
"Applejack, are you sure you don't need any help on the farm? Any at all?" Twilight queried.
Applejack started to grow a little annoyed.
"No, Twi, only us Apples can buck them trees proper! I won't have no lazy pegasus on mah farm!" Applejack retorted, briefly thinking of all the times Rainbow Dash has slept in her orchard.
Yeah, but I was never paying Dash, was I?
Twilight looked down at the floor, dejected, and her ears lay flat back against her head.
"Are you sure, Applejack?" Twilight moaned, and Applejack decided to at least give the pegasus a chance.
It could be worse, Applejack thought, She was essentially getting a free worker!
"Ok, but he can sleep in the barn!" Applejack responded, rather aggravated.
Applejack left, and feeling rather weary, Twilight started to trot back to the library, anxious about Midnight Feather's reaction to her decision.
Ah well, at least I won't be sharing the library with a stranger anymore, even if he did like reading.
The scratching of a fountain pen filled the Varrock library with sound as Reldo continued to write notes and annotations on a particularly old book, one of his favourites.
He briefly paused from his task to think about traveling between realms.
Of course, many adventurers transfer between realms everyday, but these transfers were along ancient bridges of sorts, built to allow safe inter realm travel.
What if it was possible to travel between realms without these pre-existing bridges? And what kind of creatures or gods would lie within?
Reldo returned to his writing, and the sound of pen on paper once more filled the library.
Twilight entered the library to find Midnight Feather still reading. She knew she spent a lot of time reading, but this was ridiculous.
"Midnight Feather?" Twilight inquired.
He glanced upwards, so Twilight continued,
"I have been talking to some of my friends, and I am afraid that you cannot stay at the library anymore..." Twilight shifted uneasily on her feet, before continuing,
Midnight Feather put down his book and rose from the desk. He then thanked Twilight for her hospitality the night prior, before leaving without another word.
Twilight stood there for a while, a little in shock, before starting to put away the books her visitor had been reading.
She felt horrible about asking that pony to leave, but then again, he'd probably leave in a few days anyway.
At the back of her head, however, Twilight just couldn't shake the feeling that there was something odd about that pony.
Zaros sighed.
Applejack had shown him where the barn was, and his new accommodation, and although it wasn't that great, even with the work schedule Applejack had imposed on him, who'd had Twilight's help to actually make the schedule, Zaros still had plenty of time to try and regain entrance into Gielinor, although it would be hard without a world gate.
Zaros was constantly growing in power, and he had formulated several plans to help him recover quicker.
Zaros was sure that the ponies' faith in the goddesses who ruled Equestria, whom Zaros had read about, was not something he would be able to compete with, meaning that traditional power gain through worship would be hard pushed.
Instead, Zaros planned to travel to Gielinor as soon as possible, in order to build favour with his few remaining followers.
How to get back to Gielinor in the first place, however, would be problematic. Zaros had, however, read of a large, magic library in a nearby city.
If this library contained any divine items, similar to the Stone of Jas or the Staff of Armadyl, then Zaros should be able to amplify his power enough in order to return to Gielinor, provided he could get these items first.
Zaros turned his mind back to the near future again. The pony known as Pinkie Pie had invited many of the town's inhabitants to a party celebrating his arrival.
Zaros saw such an event as rather a waste of resources - better a shining temple, or a glorious conquest, but Zaros guessed that here in Equestria, that didn't really apply.
Maybe this would be an ideal time to try and harness the "friendship" Zaros and sensed, in order to quicken his regeneration?
The sun was at its peak, blazing with celestial fire, and shining hot heat onto anypony who dared to venture outside under the midday sky.
Unfortunately for Zaros, Applejack had been mighty suspicious of him when he arrived at the barn last night, expelled from the library, and had therefore decided to get to know him a little better.
This had involved waking him at no later than six in the morning, and interrogating him over breakfast.
To Applejack's great surprise, Zaros had already awoken by six, and he had stayed stoically silent for the duration of breakfast.
With that all in the past, Zaros now stood in an apple orchard under the aforementioned sun.
"So ya see, Midnight, you jus' take yer hindlegs up, standin' on yer, um, other legs, an' push 'em into that tree there, um, real fast." Applejack was struggling to explain how to buck a tree to Zaros, and he could see that Applejack had obviously never had to describe it before.
For her, knowing how to buck a tree must be as natural as knowing how to breathe.
"So, um, ah guess you can give it a try now, right sugarcube?"
Zaros was interrupted from his thoughts by Applejack's request, and, having been caught off guard, stared blankly at her for a few moments.
"Oh, why yes, I guess I better had," Zaros mumbled, before turning to face the tree.
His slender, pegasus form had no way near enough physical strength to accomplish the task of successfully bucking the apple tree and causing the apples to fall from it's branches and into the eager, empty buckets below which Applejack had positioned carefully.
He could feel the confidence emanating from Applejack, and knew that she knew he couldn't do it.
Well then, I better give myself a little assistance.
Turning his back towards the tree, Zaros prepared to harvest the apples. He performed a quick check to see if any powerful unicorns were nearby, and satisfied with the result, began to divert a little of his power into his rear hooves.
When he felt enough energy was present, Zaros learned forwards and kicked backwards. As soon as he felt his hooves making contact with the tree, he released the spell, causing a minor shockwave to be transferred directly into the bark.
The effect was immediate. Not only did all the apples neatly fall off the tree and come to rest peacefully inside the baskets, but the force of the magic induced kick was so great that all the leaves from the tree were torn from the branches and cast into the sky.
Zaros turned around, and grimaced, for there was a large split in the trunk where his hooves had made impact.
A little too much power, if there is such a thing. I should probably tone it down a little next time, if I wish to leave the orchard standing.
His attention was soon drawn to Applejack, however, as he heard a large thud. He soon realised this was the sound of Applejack's jaw hitting the ground in amazement.
The mare stood motionless for a moment, with a shocked expression on her face, and a gaping maw, probably open large enough to swallow one of the apple trees.
Finally, Applejack managed to reel in her lower jaw, for it was still disobeying her. Gradually, she turned to look at Zaros, still in amazement.
"Wha' the hay was that? Ah never seen a pony buck so hard mah whole life!" Applejack exclaimed, a little annoyed that she was beaten at bucking by a pegasus.
Zaros was a little wary when Applejack first started talking, or rather shouting, but could quickly tell she was pretty impressed by his attempt.
"Well, maybe ah can use ya t' help me after all," the mare continued, looking out over the orchard, "but we gotta lotta trees t' buck!"
With that, the ponies set out harvesting apples for a good portion of the day. Zaros was able to use his wings to take the baskets of apples back to the barn quite quickly, and whilst Applejack was in other areas of the orchard, Zaros would cheat a little and use his powers to instantly harvest huge swathes of trees. Overall, the day had been very productive for Sweet Apple Acres.
It was now drawing on toward evening, and Zaros was trotting back to the barn at a gentle pace, when suddenly a pink mare burst out of a bush in front of him, clearly breaking physics, stamping it into the ground, then mauling it to death.
Zaros expected the pony to invite him to a not-so-surprise-party-anymore, as both Applejack and Twilight had warned him of this inevitable encounter, and the party that she would undoubtedly organize for him. This foresight had been useful, however, and he now had a few things he could investigate whilst at the party.
"Surprise!" The pink mare shouted in his face, before blasting him with a confetti cannon.
Zaros was impressed at Pinkie's rapid rate of talking, and although he understood every word of it, he shook his head dumbly, intrigued as to how the mare would react.
"It means we're friends, silly!" Pinkie explained, whilst bouncing up and down in front of him.
"Oh, and can you come to a party at Sugarcube corner tonight? Please! I invited everypony in Ponyville, just to welcome you here!"
Zaros agreed, and Pinkie Pie disappeared back into the bush after a quick thank you, leaving Zaros alone in the centre of the path.
Zaros looked skyward, and saw time was getting on, so he took off and flew back to the barn, in order to prepare for the party.
Zaros stood in the corner of the room, surveying the party. It was a most odd ritual indeed. Zaros, of course, hadn't been expecting the formal, ceremonial festivals or events back home he had occasionally attended at Senntisten, but then again, he had never really been there for that long. Most events, his presence was only necessary to give the attending subjects something to worship or madly adore, whilst he gave an improvised speech of some sort - his mind was too complex for planning.
This, "party", as Pinkie had called it, however, was an entirely different kind of event entirely. Ponies tossed themselves around on a floor in the middle, and the traditional orchestra had been replaced by a single musician in the opposite corner to Zaros, whom had been introduced by Pinkie Pie as Vinyl Scratch, and she was using computer assistance to play some most odd music indeed. Now, Zaros wasn't a particularly big fan of music, and never did have an ear for it, but compared to the travelling fools or ceremonial orchestras back in Gielinor, Zaros felt this electronic replacement was rather lacking.
As he continued to examine the party room, he caught sight of a table on a nearby side of the room, stocked full of drinks and cakes. Deciding that, if he felt hunger, he would be hungry, Zaros battled through the crowd of ponies. Not in a literal sense, of course, but the throng of equines was so thick he had trouble struggling through the seething mass of bodies.
Eventually, after much strenuous effort, he reached his destination at the drinks table. Carefully taking a glass in his mouth, he filled it with punch. He tilted his head back to try and sip a bit, but ended up getting the drink all over his coat. He felt slightly frustrated, and he was now soaking wet, but as he was about to try and pour himself another glass, he felt a hoof on his shoulder.
Turning around, he saw Twilight Sparkle in front of him, who then proceeded to lead him outside where the music was not quite so loud. Standing around him and Twilight, he recognised Applejack, but there were two other ponies there that Zaros had not yet been introduced to. The one closest to him was a unicorn, who had a pure, white coat, and a purple mane and tail formed into perfect curls, the second was a yellow pegasus with pink hair.
"Oh, Twilight! You've returned! Did you see Dash inside by any chance?" The white unicorn queried.
Twilight shook her head, "No, but I brought back Midnight Feather with me, that pony I was talking about?"
A look of worry quickly flashed over the unicorn's face, but she then quickly responded that she remembered her talking about him, although Zaros could clearly see she had not been listening at whatever point Twilight had decided to talk about him.
"And what, may I ask, might your name be?" Zaros politely asked, taking care not to insult anypony, but also being cautious as to not appear awkward.
"Oh! How terribly rude of me! I am Rarity, and this here is my friend Fluttershy," the white unicorn explained, gesturing to the yellow pegasus beside her, who murmured something under her breath and shied away from the attention.
"So I hear you're staying with Applejack?" Rarity continued, obviously managing to remember part of what Twilight must have been saying earlier.
Applejack glared at him, and he took the hint not to mention that he had not only bucked harder than her, but in the end, had managed to collect more apples than her as well.
"Yes, she's kind enough to let me sleep in her barn," Zaros said, and he saw Rarity recoil slightly.
"Oh my! But surely it must be terrible to sleep in such a dirty place?" Zaros chuckled a little at such a vain and petty remark, and was about to respond when Fluttershy finally spoke up.
"But surely it must be lovely inside with all the animals?" The mare queried.
"Well, I guess they do keep me up a little, but I don't mind them. I sleep up in the rafters anyway, so no worries." Zaros replied. The animals hadn't just been keeping him up a little, however, he hadn't gone to sleep at all , but that was completely unrelated.
"So I hear you have some magical friendship powers?" Zaros ventured, hoping it wasn't a too blunt approach.
The group looked a little taken aback, but Twilight stuck out her chest a little and proudly explained.
"Well, me and my friends are all part of what's called the elements of harmony, which are essentially six different values of friendship, and the power to use these elements is bestowed unto a being, or beings, who emulate those six qualities. We've had to use them a few times in the past, once to stop Nightmare Moon taking over Equestria, and another time to stop Discord. Out of interest, however, may I ask how you knew?" Twilight had been confidently telling the story up until her last question, although now she seemed rather worried, almost.
"Your brave and daring adventures are famous far and wide," Zaros remarked, respectfully bowing his head. In reality, he'd learnt of the elements' existence whilst staying at the library, but Twilight did not need to know that.
At his comment, Twilight appeared happy again, and the group broke out into conversation once more, all anxiety removed.
Zaros, however, was busy thinking about the elements.
A collection of objects that somehow uses friendship as a power source?
Zaros had read of the entities Twilight had mentioned they had defeated, and although they would have been no match for Zaros himself, he was intrigued by these object's potential, and the power that must lurk within them.
If I manage to secure the elements, they might be able to help me regenerate my power quicker, and return to Gielinor.
One small problem that remained was the fact the objects appeared to be attached to certain individuals, and had a kind of reactant magic that responded to friendship and it's qualities. Regardless, obtaining them would be more useful than not.
Zaros remained with the group until the party ended deep into the night, at which point the ponies said their goodbyes and all departed their separate ways.
The walls of the abyss seethed and pulsated as if they were alive, but the dark mage in the centre of the room could not be less disturbed by this. Rather, he was locked in deep concentration keeping open a portal to Gielinor, so that runecrafters could pass through and take advantage of the abyss.
Although just an initiate, the mage had significant power, and although he had to keep the portal open indefintely, which was mainly possible to a slower time flow in the abyss, there were distinct busy and, not so busy, times that people would use the portal at.
During these not so busy times, the dark mage had sufficient power unused that he would often think about rather complex things, and perhaps try and explore his magical abilities. He still had to be careful, however, for there was an incident just the other day when he had been thinking about something, then an unusual force had struck the portal, and he had almost lost the universe, which his master would not have been happy about.
At the moment, the mage was locked in deep thought about realms, most likely prompted by the fact that at that current moment, he was holding open a portal to another realm.
Inter-realm travel was quite common in Gielinor, but what was interesting was how all this travel took place across pre-determined paths, kind of like bridges between realms, so without an existing teleport, portal, or world gate, it was essentially impossible to travel out of your realm.
At least, that's what you've been told.
The dark mage was rather sceptical of this belief, primarily because, if you could only travel across predetermined routes and bridges, who built those paths in the first place?
Cautiously, he cast out his mind, diverting a little of his power. Concentrating hard, he managed to make contact with a weakening of ethereal fabric, implying he had managed to find a weakness in the realms substance, which he could use to create a portal. He pushed with his mind, but nothing happened.
Just a little harder!
He tried again and again for a while, although to an observer he would have just looked like he was hovering cross-legged, staring at nothing in particular.
After several more fruitless attempts, the mage gave up, and instead chose to continue focusing on the portal, as he had done for the past long time.
Rarity and Fluttershy were both walking home from Pinkie's party. They were both going in a similar direction, so their paths had merged.
They were walking in silence for a while, until at last, Rarity struck up some conversation.
"So, what did you think of that Midnight Feather character?" Rarity asked, looking over to Fluttershy.
"Um, he was kinda scary, although nice, um, I guess," Fluttershy stammered, trying to say something she hoped Rarity wouldn't mind, but also hoping not to say anything that might be heard and eventually reach the slender pegasus, for he had been quite intimidating, and had had very cold eyes.
"Well, I thought he was quite the gentlecolt!" Rarity exclaimed, who had obviously grown to be rather fond of the pegasus's seemingly polite nature.
They continued on in silence for a while, before at last, they reached the Carousel Boutique.
"Well, goodnight Fluttershy, have a nice sleep!" Rarity waved goodbye, before Fluttershy continued her walk home.
Zamorak was once more examining the boundaries of his current realm, and if Guthix had his way, the only one he would reside in for the rest of eternity.
Suddenly, he felt a foul presence approach him, and began to wish once more that Guthix and banished them to separate realms.
"There is energy growing below. Glorious war is coming! Not coward's war!"
Zamorak sighed, metaphorically, as Bandos's rough presence carved into his mind. Pausing his ruminations, he decided to respond.
"Most likely your useless goblin tribes squabbling again." Zamorak causally remarked, and he felt Bandos's presence grow angry, ever the short tempered.
"Goblins are mighty warriors! Far stronger than cowardly majarrawhatsies-"
"Mahjarrat." Zamorak interrupted.
"Mahjarrat, fine. All are cowardly warriors before Bandos's mighty!" Bandos retaliated, clearly enraged at this point.
"If I can remember a certain observation correctly, one I made a few months ago, wasn't your mightiest bested by a mere human adventurer?"
Bandos erupted with anger, and began to march off, metaphorically, of course, before throwing Zamorak a final comment.
"At least goblins don't have to steal their power! Goblins are strong! No, it is one of your coward followers I can feel below!" With that, Bandos left Zamorak's immediate presence.
Intrigued by his last words, however, Zamorak carefully scanned Gielinor for what Bandos may have been referring too, but he instead found the energy from within the abyss. Investigating, he found a dark mage, trying to pierce through the barriers between realms, just as Zamorak himself had been doing earlier.
It seems my followers and I think alike.
Zamorak metaphysically smiled, before continuing his ponderings.
Rarity hurriedly rushed into her supply room, before exiting only a short moment later, carrying with her several large sheets of silk and other fabrics.
Using her magic, she carefully set them out and once more looked at her sketch.
Oh, so much to do! How will I ever be able to cope?
Fancypants had sent her a letter a week previous requesting a large amount of bespoke suits and dresses for a fashion show in Canterlot, which was now in a few days. Without delay, Rarity had set to work, but she had quickly fallen behind schedule. Much to Rarity's delight however, she had been promised that if the order was completed she would be able to attend the show, and spend a week in Canterlot with some of Equestria's finest ponies, which would be absolutely wonderful, and she knew the princess would probably provide accommodation for her anyway.
Putting her thoughts aside, she began to stitch together the pieces of fabric that she had cut, guiding the sewing machine and the dress materials with her magic.
She had received the measurements for each pony from Fancypants through the mail, and initially Rarity had been very worried in case Derpy had dropped any of the precious letters, but she soon found all the required information to be present within the envelopes she had been sent, and so she had begun her work immediately.
With utmost caution, she removed the dress from the sewing machine and began to decorate it with sparkling gemstones and laces of gold and silver. Satisfied that the garment looked suitably regal, she adorned a close-by mannequin with its presence. The model had been modified to the precise dimensions of the pony for which this dress was intended, and as soon as it was dressed in the newly fashioned raiment, Rarity was pleased to see that it fitted perfectly.
It's exquisite! Simply divine, a work of art!
Carefully laying the apparel down in a box, filled with more clothes, she slipped the measurements and a label inside a pocket on the dress, so the ponies at the receiving end would be able to distinguish for whom each dress was intended. Whether for better or for worse, Rarity had hired a pony delivery service to transport the clothes over to Canterlot, as she couldn't be expected to carry all those heavy boxes with her on the train, now could she?
She turned around and ticked off another item from the huge list she had been sent, and sighed depressively as she saw how many more she needed to produce.
Oh dear, it seems I shall not be getting any sleep tonight.
Twilight glanced up at the clock and saw it was well past midnight. She tried to ignore the fact she was tired, and she should really be getting to sleep, but she persevered and attempted to carry on reading. Her efforts, however, were in vain as she found herself losing her focus and concentration more and more frequently, and occasionally dozing off for a few seconds. Frustrated, Twilight closed the book and started to put all the books back in their homes on the library's bookshelves.
It had been a couple days since the party, and Twilight hadn't slept since. Instead, she'd been up every single night reading through stacks of books, and it was all because of Midnight Feather.
Twilight couldn't quite place it, but there was something very odd about that pony, from how tall he was, to his weird cutie mark. Twilight had read so many books on the study of cutie marks recently, that she now considered herself quite an expert, and although she was yet to experiment and test this in the field, she was pretty sure she could now successfully identify a pony's special talent nine times out of ten simply by observing their cutie mark, or at least, she was able to work out the examples in the book.
The books she had read had contained countless of these examples, and countless formulas and countless theories also, and Twilight had been surprised how complex the topic was. Twilight had also made an effort to remember and sort through every cutie mark she could remember seeing on ponies, and attempting to identify them, and it had worked for every single mark she could recall, except one. Midnight Feather's.
That wasn't all Twilight had read, however, for she had also read books on Equestrian geography and history, as Midnight Feather had told her he had come from the south through the Everfree forest. Twilight had searched through countless maps and old accounts for even the slightest hint at a pegasus tribe or civilisation in southern Equestria, but found none, infuriating her further.
She had found no trace of where Midnight feather could have come from, and she was no closer to identifying what his special talent was either.
There was something else about Midnight Feather, however, which was that he had a kind of inherent strangeness about him, as such, for lack of a better description. Twilight couldn't quite place her hooves on what it was, but she had a bad feeling about it all the same.
Maybe I should go to Canterlot for a while and see if there are any helpful books there? I'm sure there will be something in the Star Swirl the Bearded wing, and there is nothing more on the subject in this library that I have not read.
Now was the time for sleep, however, so Twilight started trekking upstairs towards her bedroom, but was so tired, she didn't manage to make it before falling asleep on the library floor.
Sunlight streamed through the door of the barn, awakening Zaros from his slumber.
He had helped Applejack on the farm for the last couple of days since the party, but now it was no longer applebuck season, she and Big Mac could handle all the work on the farm.
Zaros had found that working had provided him with time to think, and he was now certain that the acquisition of enchanted or holy objects would be the best way to bolster his power and hasten its regeneration.
Since he had more or less nothing else to do, he decided he might as well visit the library, and see if he could get any more information about the elements out of Twilight.
Zaros opened the barn door, which had already been slightly ajar, the remainder of the way, peering outside into the glare of the mid-morning sun. Satisfied it was an orderly time for a pony to be awake, he set off towards his destination at a leisurely pace.
Twilight had slept through the greater part of the morning, and much to her distress, this meant she had awoken near to noon without her schedule for the day written.
She would have started it after breakfast, (although she took the meal at lunch time), had it not been for the rather unusual arrival of Midnight Feather in the early afternoon.
He had asked a few questions, but Twilight simply pointed him to a particular area of the library, as she had suddenly decided she had important things to do outside the library.
She exited the building, which was more of a tree than an organised structure, and started walking towards the town hall.
After a few paces, however, she stopped, and realised she actually had nothing to do outside the library, and started to head back, but she then realised it would be exceptionally awkward if she suddenly came back into the library a couple of minutes after she left telling Midnight Feather she had things to do.
Sighing, she decided to simply walk around Ponyville, and observe various ponies as they went about their business. Eventually she arrived outside the Carousel Boutique, and saw the most unusual sight of a clearly tired and irritable Rarity barking out concerns as a few pegasi loaded a couple of crates, which Twilight presumed had come from the Boutique, and were most likely dresses, on to a cart.
Intrigued, Twilight wondered up to the odd scene and stood beside Rarity.
"May I inquire," began Twilight, "what exactly is happening here?"
Rarity panicked for a second, seemingly unable to identify Twilight's voice, and when Rarity turned around, Twilight could clearly see that she was very tired - she had bags under her eyes, and her eyelids were almost closed, even though Rarity was valiantly attempting to hold them open.
"Oh, hi Twilight!" Rarity slurred sleepily, seemingly recovered now she recognised Twilight. "These kind ponies are just preparing to deliver an especially large order over to Canterlot, but I'm just a little worried, for you see Twilight, those clothes took me almost all my time since the party, and if they're ruined, I wouldn't possibly be able to make them again before Fancypants needs them in Canterlot!"
Twilight could see Rarity was even more tired than she had first thought, so replied softly, "Well at least you can have a rest now, right?"
"Rest? Oh, Yes! Of course! Fancypants invited me to come along to an event in Canterlot in a few days, I simply must on top form!" Rarity exclaimed, half excited, half nervous. Twilight realised that if Rarity was going to Canterlot, it would look less suspicious if she went with her also, than if Twilight suddenly just left all of a sudden.
"Canterlot? I've been meaning to visit for a while, we could both go up on the train together, and I'm sure Princess Celestia will provide tower rooms in the castle for us!"
Rarity seemed thankful at Twilight's offer to go with her, and after a brief goodbye, Rarity slowly walked back inside the boutique, where Twilight presumed she would promptly be going to bed for a well-earned rest.
Twilight, however, had to pack her things, so she reluctantly started the walk back to the library.
Twilight lay her head against the cold glass of the window she was sitting next to, and stared out unto the world as it flashed by before her. From below, she could hear the heavy sounds of the train thundering over the rails, but slightly bored, she abandoned her observations, and rose from her seat. Stepping out into the another compartment of the carriage, she could see that Rarity was fast asleep on her bed, and further on down the room, Midnight Feather sat and stared out the window.
Why did I let him come along? Hay, why did I even tell him I was going? Well, he is a grown pegasus, I can't exactly tell him not to go.
Twilight walked over to a nearby window and glanced outside, catching sight of a nearby mountain. The light was fading, but she could make out the silhouettes of several towers on the far side of the mountain. It would be a while before they reached Canterlot.
"Twilight." The cold voice came from behind, and made her jump slightly, but turning round she saw it was just Midnight Feather.
"Yes?" Twilight replied rather quickly, but soon regretted it slightly as she thought she might have come across a little hostile.
"I was just wondering," Midnight Feather continued, seeming not to notice mind or even notice if Twilight had indeed appeared hostile, "what exactly you and Rarity will be doing once we get to Canterlot? And also, whereabouts will we be staying?"
Twilight panicked a little, suddenly realising she had nothing believable to tell Midnight Feather. She couldn't really tell him that the whole reason she was travelling to Canterlot was because she was highly suspicious of him and hoped that something about him was locked away in a secretive wing of a forbidden, or maybe not so forbidden, library, so she quickly had to think of a cover.
"Um, Rarity is attending a special event, and I'm accompanying her!" Twilight grinned wider than wideness itself, but it looked rather forced. "Oh, and there are rooms we can stay in in the Princesses' castle."
The last part wasn't exactly a lie, as she had written to the princess requesting if she and her friends could stay in some of the rooms that they stayed in during the wedding, but she had left before the Princess had even had time to reply. Twilight hesitated grinning for a second.
Why was Midnight Feather coming anyway? What did he want in Canterlot?
Twilight almost laughed.
Don't be so silly, Midnight Feather was probably going to Canterlot to see some of the sights, right? I mean, it is quite nice this time of year.
"Oh, ok, it's always nice to know I'm going to have somewhere to stay before I arrive." Midnight Feather explained, and Twilight relaxed, and began to walk away. "Oh, and Twilight, do you know if there are any libraries in Canterlot?"
Twilight froze through half a pace, thankful her back was to Midnight Feather, so he couldn't see her half shocked, half terrified, expression.
"Um.... Well... I'm sure...." Twilight paused, and started glancing around frantically.
He's on to me! Oh no, oh no! Think Twilight, think! You're intelligent, aren't you? If Celestia saw you like this she would send you back to magic kindergarten!
Twilight visibly shuddered, and Midnight Feather raised his eyebrow slightly.
"Um, well I'm not going to be with Rarity the whole time I guess, so, um, I guess you could visit the royal library with me in my spare time?" Twilight almost kicked herself.
Taking a visitor into the depths of the most revered library in the whole of Equestria? Was she mad? Who knows what dark secrets he could find and use against her? Or the princesses?
Twilight's paranoia was cut abruptly short as Midnight Feather offered a short thanks, and then walked back to his personal bed cabin as the sun finally lowered itself below the horizon, plunging the outside world into darkness.
Ah well, nothing more I can do now, I guess. He's just another pony anyway, right?
Tired, and only a little worried, Twilight retreated to her carriage, and with a final glance out of the window at the night sky, got into bed and fell asleep.
Rarity shrieked a little as she was jolted awake, primarily because she was now firmly on the floor, whereas a few seconds before, she had been resting peacefully on her bed. Scrambling to her hooves, she noticed the train was no longer moving, and looking out a nearby window, she could see the train had arrived at Canterlot.
Rarity could hardly contain her excitement at the prospect of all the events and parties she would be attending over the next week, and unlike last time, she would hopefully be able to do so without being forced to choose between friends or fame. Exiting her bed cabin, she trotted gracefully down the empty halls of the carriage, before slowly, and carefully, stepping off the side of the train onto the awaiting platform below.
When she looked back up, her four hooves planted firmly on the ground. She saw Twilight and Midnight Feather both looking back at her. Twilight seemed a little annoyed at how long she had taken disembarking the train, Midnight Feather looked... expressionless, as usual.
Why had Twilight taken him along?
Rarity didn't mind Midnight Feather, but felt it was kind of odd how he was accompanying them to Canterlot, having only been in Ponyville a few days. Regardless, Rarity thought he was rather well spoken, and most likely quite the gentlecolt, despite his rather frosty demeanour.
With all of them off of the train, it whistled loudly, before slowly pulling away from the station. The trio then started a rather brisk walk, much to Rarity's discontent, she would have preferred a slow, leisurely stroll, through the streets of the nation's city. At last they began to draw close to the castle.
If Rarity had been focusing on Midnight Feather, instead of the surrounding architecture, ponies, and their attire, she would have noticed he had become slightly uncomfortable, but as she was not, she did not notice in the slightest, and Twilight, absorbed in her own thoughts, did not either.
Zaros carefully scanned the area, but his fears were confirmed. Whether or not it would become a problem was debateable, but Zaros would have to try and limit the amount of power he used, and try to conceal the rest, for the two powerful beings he had located from orbit appeared to be located in the very castle Twilight was leading them to.
If they can't tell anything strange about me, then hopefully I should have less reason to worry in the future, and be able to use a little more of my ability without fear of detection.
If the two beings did indeed detect him, and felt somehow offended by a pegasus who could also cast magic, then Zaros was sure he would easily be able to defeat them, but he did not desire the extra effort, and had calculated it would be, overall, detrimental to his overall regeneration.
Before long, however, they were at the castle gates, and Twilight, who had got through the security effortlessly, and obviously seemed to be favoured by these minor deities in some way, seemed determined that they introduce themselves immediately, and make their presence known to the princesses, as Twilight had called them.
Ah well, here goes.
Princess Celestia sat on her throne, a little relieved, as the government representatives and officials from Stalliongrad slowly filed out of the audience chamber. She glanced over to Luna, and they shared an understanding glance.
So I didn't imagine it, it really was that boring!
Now that she and Luna were alone, Celestia finally let out a little giggle.
How truly dull those politicians were!
Celestia turned to Luna to ask her opinion on the meeting, when all of a sudden a guard burst into the room and started trotting up to the Princesses.
Celestia frowned a little.
"You care not to knock or introduce oneself? What is the meaning of these actions, has something important transpired?" Celestia said in a loud and commanding voice.
The guard paused a little, catching his breath, obviously rather nervous, before lowering himself and replying, "Your highness, your student Twilight Sparkle is outside, and wishes for an audience immediately."
Celestia's mood brightened immediately.
"Well why are we waiting then? Send her in!" Celestia replied, in a much better mood than she had been before the previous meeting.
The guard scurried back across the hall back to the door from which he had arrived, and returned a short while later flanked by Twilight, Rarity, and another, strange pegasus pony whom Celestia did not recognise.
Celestia had known they would be staying in Canterlot, however, as Twilight had mentioned that she needed three rooms in her letter, which she had sent yesterday, and if the pegasus was a friend of Twilight's then she certainly didn't mind.
"My Faithful Student, did you wish to see me?" Celestia said to the three ponies.
"Princess! I was just hoping you had got my letter?" Twilight replied, slightly concerned.
"Yes, don't worry, they are all ready for you. I'm sure a guard will show you to them when you're ready." With that, she nodded to a guard at the back of the hall, who snapped upright and walked forwards a few paces, waiting for Twilight to finish.
"Oh, um, Ok Princess, thanks once more!" Twilight replied, although Celestia could tell Twilight seemed to be a little disappointed. Regardless, the ponies said their thanks and departed, and the guard led them off into another area of the palace.
"Sister, If one may offer her opinion?" Luna suddenly spoke up next to her.
Celestia nodded.
"Well, I do not fear Twilight's judgement, but the pegasus whom was accompanying her seemed to be most strange. Thou would agree?"
"Yes, he was most odd." Celestia said wistfully, and thought deeply for a moment. However, she was exhausted after the day's events, and so she left the hall and retreated to her quarters, and Luna did so also.
"Senventior disthine molenko!"
Sedridor said the chant in a powerful voice, whilst calling on his inner magical power, and then, without delay, the awaiting miner who stood before him was teleported away into the rune essence mine.
That gets more fun each time!
Sedridor smiled to himself, amazed, as he always was, at how far mankind had progressed in the study of magic in the last few hundred years. He returned to his desk, and at once, returned to a theoretical work he was currently developing.
In short, Sedridor was writing a book on theories about the possible existence of realms outside those linked by current methods of transportation and teleportation, and he then went on to explain the interesting magical physics involving existing teleport spells, which are able to teleport people across realms, and then back to the starting realm, in the complex processes involved in teleporting adventurers to different places in Gielinor, and in the case of the spell he had cast mere moments ago, to the rune essence mine.
Sedridor then discussed how it was possible for these spells to have been developed in the first place, and how this knowledge could possibly be harnessed to travel to new, undiscovered planes of reality.
Sedridor was proud of it, and felt comfortable it would lead a good existence rotting on a shelf in the library above, where no one would read it for centuries and centuries and centuries.
Ah, what a wonderful thing, to be a wizard!
After finishing his ponderings, Sedridor left a note on his table and packed away some essential items, for he needed to make haste to Varrock, as he was to be staying at the wizard Aubury's house for a few days, whilst they conducted some magical experiments of great importance.
Twilight carefully crept through the library, being careful to not be noticed, as she made her way to the Star Swirl the Bearded wing of the Canterlot library. She was technically allowed in there, but Twilight always felt more comfortable being stealthy as she approached and entered the library, even if it was unnecessary, for she felt there was something special about the wing which meant that it should be guarded, lest the knowledge inside be forsaken.
Of course, the wing is inside the palace, and that is guarding enough. The library contains rooms full of parchments and texts, filled with ancient spells and magic that is very old, all of which is very powerful, and it would be very dangerous if anypony was allowed to come and take a look. Thankfully, they are not permitted to do so, but there's no harm in being sure.
Eventually, Twilight found herself in the familiar hallway, and making sure nopony saw her, even though it wouldn't really matter if they did, she snuck into the secluded area of the palace. Once inside, her eyes were met with shelves and shelves of books and ancient scrolls.
The answer to who Midnight Feather really must be in here somewhere, I can feel it!
And with that thought, she began to read.
Rarity sat at the table, deliberating over which muffin she should choose. Much to her delight, the ponies around her hung on her every movement, every breath she made, every look, everything.
She started to consider one muffin, and some of the ponies almost picked that muffin up right then, but as soon as she swapped her attentions over to the other plate, much to her delight, the surrounding ponies' attention vanished from the previous muffins and was now centred on whatever Rarity appeared to want to eat.
Now, this is something I could get used to!
Rarity finally made her decision, and after taking one, within seconds all of that particular type of muffin was taken from the table.
Rarity simply smiled, if anything Rarity does could be described as such.
Rarity had already visited several parties and venues in Canterlot since her arrival, and most ponies had treated her with the respect a proper lady deserved, which pleased Rarity to no end. She knew she was going to enjoy the following days, or possibly even weeks, in Canterlot, especially that she didn't have a birthday to worry about this time.
The rabbit twisted a little in pain, but taking great care of it, and with soothing words, Fluttershy managed to get it to stay still for long enough, whilst she applied a bandage to the wound.
"There, that's better now, right? I'm afraid you will have to stay in bed for a while though, to give you time to heal." Fluttershy cooed in a soft voice.
The rabbit stared nonchalantly at her, despite its injury, and almost at once, it fell into a deep sleep. Smiling, Fluttershy gently flew to the other side of the cottage, where she had a small, rabbit-sized bed ready, and placed the frail animal inside of it.
She had found the rabbit over near the edge of the Everfree forest a couple of hours ago, whilst she had been walking around trying to think about important matters, but at the sounds of the animal's pain, those thoughts had quickly disappeared and Fluttershy had brought it back to her cottage to care for it, as it had tripped and injured it's leg on a stone.
However, now the rabbit was all taken care of, those unwelcome concerns returned.
Fluttershy was not normally one to judge ponies, but Twilight and Rarity had both gone off to Canterlot a few days prior, bringing along with them a strange pegasus that had arrived in Ponyville in the middle of the night, and a pegasus who no one even knew or knew anything about.
Fluttershy had met him before at the party Pinkie had held for his arrival in Ponyville, and although she had made attempts at conversation, at one point being almost concerned for him, she had quickly realised just how strange he really was, even if none of the others noticed it.
First of all, Fluttershy couldn't help but notice that he behaved very unusually for a pegasus: he let his wings brush against anything or anypony, which was almost unthinkable for a pegasus - wings were very private, and an item of pride, not to be used to clean a table or another pony's fur. She had hoped Rainbow Dash would notice these things, but Dash isn't the most perceptive of ponies, as she had quickly realised.
Secondly, and the thing that worried Fluttershy most about the strange pony, was his presence, as such. Fluttershy was renowned, almost feared, by her friends and animals for her ability to stare down even some of the toughest creatures in Equestria, but compared to Midnight Feather, as Fluttershy seemed to recall was his name, that was nothing. Fluttershy hadn't seen him intimidate anypony, as such, but he almost seemed to give off a strange aura of dominance and power, which scared Fluttershy a great deal. The thing about the strange pony that Fluttershy feared the most, however, was his eyes. They were cold, they were harsh, they were empty.
What have I done?
Fluttershy despaired. Here was a pony with so much so cruel about him, and Fluttershy had let her friends go somewhere all alone with him. No, she had happily sat by and watched two of her most valued friends simply run away with him.
What have I done?
Checking nopony was nearby, Zaros snuck into a long hall, it's length decorated with towering stained glass windows detailing famous Equestrian events and victories, and more recently, the element's defeat of Chrysalis, Discord and Nightmare moon. At the end of the hall lay a tall, arcane door, surrounded by a solid gold doorway encrusted with six gems, and intricate carvings. The door itself was violet, pink and purple, and had six white circles painted on it.
What intrigued Zaros most was a yellow star in the middle of the door. At the centre of the star decoration was deep hole, presumably meant for a key of some kind. Zaros smiled, a little contemptuously, as he observed the door.
He could sense the princesses' presence elsewhere in the palace, but one seemed to be in a deep slumber, despite it being day, and the other was on a distant side of the complex, attending to something that seemed to require a great portion of her focus and concentration.
Confident he was safe, Zaros turned his attention back to the door. Or rather, what was behind the door. Reaching out, he could sense six items of jewellery positioned in an enclosed room behind the door. Drawing on his power, he enveloped the portion of the space-time matrix containing the six items, and condensed it, much like runecrafting pouches are able to, although they had not been around when Zaros was still on Gielinor. With the elements successfully stored in a pinprick of light and pure energy, Zaros teleported the condensed items to the other side of the door, where he was awaiting.
Now that the elements were within his possession, he summoned a saddlebag from his quarters, once more using teleportation, and enchanted it so it could hold five times as much matter, whilst remaining the same size and density. He then expanded the elements back to their original size, and placed them inside the saddlebag. With the vault empty, and the six elements in his saddlebag, Zaros quickly teleported himself, and mere moments later, he was back in his tower suite in the palace. He carefully set down the saddlebags, and cast an illusion spell on them, so that they would appear to be non-existent, or invisible, to anypony who may attempt to observe them.
Zaros checked the two princesses once more, but they did not seem to have noticed. Examining the elements himself would have to come later, however, so he started to make his way to the palace library, following some directions a guard had given him.
It was getting late, and Twilight had been studying and researching all day, yet to her immense frustration, her efforts had yielded nothing at all.
The palace library was mostly composed of spell books rather than factual scripture, but Twilight had read through everything she had found and thought relevant, yet she seemed no closer to solving or figuring anything out about Midnight Feather.
She had read through encyclopaedia's full of thousands, no, millions, of examples of cutie marks, and not a single one matched Midnight Feathers. Throughout all accounts of famous or strange ponies in the library, regardless of whether they were a pegasus or not, Twilight could find no evidence of anypony in the whole of history having such a cold presence as Midnight Feather.
Twilight wondered briefly if she had gone slightly paranoid, and as she looked at herself in the mirror she could see her mane was rather messy, and her smile was unnaturally wide and crooked.
Wait, why am I smiling?
Twilight frowned. Shaking her head, she continued to read the book she had open, but she was still thinking about whether she was simply imagining these things about Midnight Feather, and maybe he was just intimidating because he was rather big, and that it wasn't possible to categorise every cutie mark, leaving plenty of room for one such as Midnight Feather's to exist undetected.
As she was thinking, however, Midnight Feather himself trotted into the library, and Twilight was filled with the same sense of intimidation she had tried to ignore that first night when he had asked her to stay in the library. He picked up a book on significant magical advancements in Equestrian history, and settled down in the corner to read.
Why is he reading a book on magic? He can't even use it...
But she had decided her studies in this area would be useful to her on other occasions too, so temporarily convincing herself that Midnight Feather was a perfectly normal pegasus, who wasn't actually very big, and didn't have empty, cold eyes, and didn't emit a constant magical presence that Twilight could neither fully detect or fully ignore; Twilight continued reading.
As the sun rose, Zaros sat in his suite once more examining the elements. They indeed held a great deal of innate power, but would only grant its use when six qualities of friendship were present, a most unusual enchantment. Zaros had also learnt from reading that the element's effects, however, tended to be a little unpredictable.
Zaros did not wish to use the elements, as such, however. They still contained a source of power, which could be harnessed to help with extreme spellcasting, or assist godly powers. It was this innate power Zaros planned to use to travel back to Gielinor, as by definition, realm travel was impossible using one's own power alone.
Simply put, every object has mass, and their spirit also has mass, and their power and magical ability also contributes to this total mass. To transport a being across realms, enough energy is required to first tear open an inter-realm portal, and also an amount of energy equivalent to the total mass of the being transported. Since Zaros' power is included within this mass, even he does not have the power to transport himself across realms. This is why objects of power are needed.
Zaros cast his memories back to when he first travelled across a realm by himself, the only time he had- when Zamorak betrayed him. To him, it seemed as mere weeks had passed, but from his conversation with Azzanadra, he suspected millennia had gone by.
Zaros had only managed to do it then because the staff essentially stored his power in Zamorak, like Zamorak himself was an object of power. Harnessing this power directly from Zamorak, as the staff was too powerful to attempt to harness, and was currently rather aggressive, Zaros managed to single out his concious being, and that alone, greatly reducing his mass, and used his stored power in Zamorak to perform the teleportation.
It was a miracle it had worked, but Zaros had most likely been flung between realms before ending up in a random location, which turned out to be Equestria. However, Zaros had been to Gielinor before and could use this as a beacon, as such, to allow him to direct the teleportation spell.
The elements, however, do not contain enough power to allow Zaros to get back through to Gielinor, he was going to have to send through a pony first, and then hope that Azzanadra would regard it as suspicious and would contact him about the incident.
It would have to be a pony powerful enough for Azzanadra to notice, yet not so important that their absence would create chaos back here in Equestria.
Zaros knew just the pony.
The moon hung in the sky, forlorn, as if it knew something the world below did not. Its luminous glow caressed the ground with its soft, gentle light, and Ponyville lay wreathed in the lunar shine, tranquil under a starlit symphony of silence. Animals had ceased their bickering hours before, and not a sound permeated the palpable veil of night that lay upon the landscape.
Amongst the moonlight buildings was a barn, although it was a fair while from the town itself. It was surrounded by rows and rows of apple trees, which composed the livelihood of Sweet Apple Acres. At the front of this barn, leaning against the door, and observing the night sky, was a pegasus.
Zaros shifted his weight more onto the barn. He had found himself out of activities, as such, to pursue, and now chose to simply appreciate the sky he could now see before him. It was filled with many stars, each one glimmering like the tears of imprisoned gods, and the moon itself reclined in the black velvet of darkness, it's brilliant white shine cast down unto the sleeping land.
Zaros continued simply stand and look; the whole night could pass like this. Although eager to return, he was under no true time restraints, and Zaros had no issues with waiting for things. So, deciding his actions for the immediate few hours, he continued to gaze at the moon. Twilight had told him that Luna, one of the sisters whom resided in Canterlot, moved the moon across the night sky, and her sister moved the sun.
Zaros could feel their power then, and now, in Ponyville, their presence was still known to him. Moving celestial bodies was not an easy feat, and although it would be quite easy for a being with power like that of Zaros, the power expended shone like a beacon, which was easily detected by Zaros' godly powers, and revealed the princesses' every move to him.
Deciding to contemplate over recent events, Zaros shifted a little against the door, focusing now more on his thoughts, rather than the sky. The remainder of the week in Canterlot had gone well, with no incident's occurring, and the ponies' faith in the security of the palace meant that nopony had yet discovered the missing elements, which Zaros was now keeping in an enchanted saddlebag in the barn which Applejack was currently letting him reside in.
When the time to depart had arrived, Rarity had stayed on, saying she would be back in a week or so, for she longed to attend even more events, and to spend yet more time amongst the Canterlot elite. Twilight and Zaros had therefore made the journey back alone. Zaros hadn't seen much of Twilight on the way back, although he had stayed confined to his personal cabin for the most part. He assumed the unicorn had done likewise.
Fluttershy had been waiting for them at the station, and Zaros could feel the suspicion and distrust on her as soon as he got off the train, and this worried him a little. A night or two had passed since their return, but Zaros had plans in order to help him get back to Gielinor. Fluttershy's suspicions could make things a lot more complicated and harder than Zaros hoped.
Zaros thought back to his plan he had formulated during the stay in Canterlot. It was risky, but not as annoying as it would be to find himself in a different plane to the one he wanted. He needed to make sure he could locate and transport objects to Gielinor, and using the help of the elements he was confident his power was enough to transport something that would yet yield results, in time.
He knew what to do, and it would require waiting, it would require time.
And so Zaros would wait, but as always to avoid an unnecessary conflict, stealth and silence were to be his arsenal.
Twilight sat in her kitchen eating a breakfast Spike had made for her, whilst the said dragon was busy in the main library, cleaning and re-shelving the books.
"Twilight!" The dragon shouted, and Twilight reluctantly put down her daisy sandwich and walked into the library.
"Yes, Spike?" Twilight said, answering the dragon's call, a little annoyed to be disturbed from eating.
"I was putting back the books you asked me to get on with re-shelving, and just came across this one here," Spike held up the book in question, "I opened it just to check on it, and it seems somepony damaged it, all the words are missing!"
Spike looked a little distraught, probably a little afraid of Twilight's reaction, considering the last time he had hid damaged books from her.
Twilight frowned at him.
"Spike, that's a picture book. It's meant for little fillies and colts to enjoy."
Twilight's voice was laden with annoyance; Spike thought it best to continue working, and so, smiling innocently, and walking backwards slightly, he continued to swipe the dust off of the tomes and restarted placing them around the library in their correct locations.
Twilight, convinced the little dragon was going to be able to finish the task without any more interruptions to her breakfast, turned around and walked back into the kitchen, sitting down at the table, and continuing her daisy sandwich.
Once she had left the room, Spike sighed a sigh of relief, and sat down against the bookcase he was just re-shelving. He liked being, no, he loved being Twilight's assistant, but he knew more than anypony that when Twilight gets mad, she gets really, really mad.
Gently placing his clawed hands on the floor, he applied pressure and gradually lifted himself back up. He glanced over the library, and he felt his heart sink as he saw the piles and piles of books clustered around the surrounding floor.
This was going to be a long day.
Big Mac stared in astonishment at the sight before him. His sister had told him some strange things about the new pony they had hired on the farm, but the sight he currently saw astounded him beyond measure. The lithe pegasus, Mac forgets his name, had simply strolled into a grove of trees, and with a deadpan expression, slammed his hoof straight down into the earth.
At first, Big Mac had tried to suppress a giggle, but it quickly vanished when the ground beneath the pony's hoof had cracked, and the apples in the trees surrounding had dangled dangerously on their stalks. Impressive, thought Mac, and if he was any other pony he would have most likely poked some fun at the pegasus' attempt.
It was lucky that he was Big Mac however, and that he had kept his mouth shut, for a second stomp from the white pegasus brought every last fruit in the surrounding foliage tumbling earthwards, and into neatly arranged baskets.
Big Mac replayed the event countless times over, but his mind still refused to believe what had just occurred.
"Big Mac...?" Applejack said from beside him, laughing slightly over his reaction.
Her words, however, snapped him out of his trance, he must have been staring at those baskets for a good ten minutes.
"Eeyup?" He replied stoically.
"I take it one wishes to let me remain?" The pegasus, who had performed the inequine feat, finally spoke up.
"Eeyup." Big mac replied, continuing to stare into space, still a little unsure of what he had just witnessed.
The white pegasus smiled softly, a gesture which Big Mac assumed to be a thankful one, but he couldn't help but feel the pony was mocking him. He then turned around, and with determined paces, walked back to the barn.
Big Mac heard Applejack start to walk back to the farmhouse, but she stopped after a few paces.
"Ya comin'?" She said, an ounce of worry creeping into her voice.
"Eeyup."
Satisfied, she continued to walk on, but Big Mac just sat and stared at the buckets a while more, before at long last, lifting himself off his haunches and trotting back to the farmhouse to join the rest of his family.
Well, maybe we'll be able ta afford a new hip for Granny after all.
As the sun set on Ponyville, a white pegasus slithered through the shadows cast by the dying light. The shadow he cast appeared to have large sacks attached to either side of his body, but anyone who caught a fleeting glance of the stallion saw none.
As the ponies left outside began to shrink, to his destination the pegasus reached, unseen by mortal eye. He approached a structure familiar to many ponies of the town - for it was distinctly shaped like a tree, and in the realm from which the white pony came, it might have been known as a sorcerer's abode.
The door opened on its own accord, making itself low to the visitor, as if bowing before it's lord. Once inside, the door swung shut once more, hastening to obey it's master, but making not a sound. From the hooves of the pony, purple smog emerged, and within seconds, the inside of the building was enveloped in a purple haze.
The pony slowly, but with utmost purpose, ascended the stairs to the master bedroom. Inside, a baby dragon and a purple unicorn fully slept, buried in a cloud of deepest sleep. As if caressed by ethereal force, the dragon was pushed outside the room and onto the top stair, and the door swung closed.
Along the white pony's flank, a pair of saddlebags appeared, enchanted with powerful magic. They opened, and one by one the elements of harmony exited the vessel, and also a stick of chalk. The unicorn began to float, and was moved to a large space of empty floor.
Upon this floor, the chalk twisted and writhed, as if possessed by a serpentine demon, and it drew a six pointed star within a circle, the purple pony at its centre. The elements were lowered onto each point, and together they encircled the unicorn mare.
The white pony observed his work.
Crude, but effective
The perishing sun at last dropped below the horizon, and no more light entered the forlorn windows, and as if in response, the curtains drew themselves across the panes, sealing the room in from the world outside.
The white pony suddenly began to dissolve into the air, and within moments nothing remained, but if one was present in that room at that moment, they would have felt the ancient power as if it was as thick as tar.
The elements began to glow harmoniously, illuminating the room with a soft polychromatic glow, but at the centre where the mare lay, a menacing un-light had begun to form. To describe it would be impossible, it was everything, yet nothing, sound, yet silence.
The elements began to shine now, emitting so much light as to rival the sun itself, but the more they tried to glow the more the black presence grew, until it had completely ensnared the slumbering mare. At once, the elements trembled, shaking and vibrating, but their illuminations began to wane, and the writhing void began to thunder and fold in upon itself.
Zaros continued to feed it power, and began to think of Gielinor, how it felt from across the portal when Azzanadra had contacted him, and soon enough he found it. In a mad flurry of will and mind, he lunged, and grasped onto the realm, pushing with all his godly might.
Then, in a sudden moment, the elements were flung away from the circle, and their brilliant light vanished in an instant. The void shrunk back and disappeared, leaving no trace of the pony or the chalk circle. However, the effects of the portal's closure transcended the physical realm - a fearsome magical blast resonated throughout the very essence of this realm, and unicorns across Equestria woke up in cold sweats, screaming as their heads threatened to explode. Two certain sisters were also afflicted, but more than that, they were confused.
This was unlike anything that had ever happened in Equestria's whole history, but the one thing they did know was that this was very, very bad.
Around first light a white pegasus returned to a barn on Sweet Apple Acres. Although invisible to the eye of an observer, he was carrying saddlebags laden with six of the most powerful relics in Equestrian history. He deposited the saddlebag in the barn and prepared for a day's work on the farm.
All he had to do now was wait. For a long time.
And Zaros was good at waiting.
Questions
Twilight stood in the doorway, shivering. After the creature's discovery, a battalion of armed creatures had opened the trapdoor and had led her through twisting sewers and corridors until she had finally emerged into the streets of a bustling city.
The sewers had possibly been the worst thing Twilight had ever experienced - not only did the foul smell of excrement seem to permeate everything in the subterranean tunnels, but Twilight could have sworn she saw ghosts and other undead creatures, which she had long thought myths, stalk the darker regions of the sewer. There were oversized insects dwelling inside too, with which the guards appeared to be locked with in perpetual combat.
The stench of death had lingered in those dark corridors, and to Twilight's nose it was an unwelcome scent she had rarely smelled before, if ever, and she had trouble not throwing up again, for a second time.
Now, however, after having been washed with cold water and dried with a towel, Twilight stood, shivering slightly, for it was cold within the grey stone walls of the palace, and was about to enter what she had been told was the library.
She lifted her hoof up to slowly push open the door and investigate inside, when the door suddenly opened inwards to reveal the librarian.
"Ah, hello again. If you would be kind enough to come in and take a seat?" the creature said, gesturing to a nearby stool.
The guards who had been accompanying her since she was extricated from the sewers, clearly intrigued and slightly suspicious of Twilight, nodded to her and she walked inside. Much to her surprise, they remained outside and closed the door, leaving her inside with the librarian, whom Twilight noticed to be the creature who had been studying her outside.
Twilight approached the aforementioned stool, but as she drew closer she saw there was really no comfortable position in which she could sit on such an object. Seeing no sofas or couch-like objects around, she opted to stand instead.
The library itself was filled with with a few bookcases, and although it was undoubtedly smaller than Twilight's library, each bookcase was packed with scrolls, parchment and books themselves, so Twilight had no doubts it must have contained just as many books as her library, despite being smaller. Twilight also noticed, that upon closer inspection, the books were all extremely old, even the youngest seemed oldest than the books she held within her home.
At the back of the library was a huge book, mounted on a large lectern, and although Twilight could hardly see it, she thought it seemed to contain lots of names. In front of the book was a table, at which she saw the creature was seated, so she moved to stand nearby.
There was a small silence whilst each of the two persons present seemed to examine each other for a while, but before it grew awkward, the strange creature piped up and at last spoke.
"Okay, I am sure you must have many questions, and I do also, but before we start any of that I suggest we simply introduce ourselves. Now, I am a man, and I carry the name of Reldo, and I am the palace librarian here in Varrock. What about yourself?"
Reldo's introduction had left Twilight many questions, such as what or where was Varrock, and more importantly, what was a man, but she answered him anyway.
"Well, my name is Twilight Sparkle, and I live, or well, used to live, in Ponyville in our country of Equestria, where I was the town librarian. Where I am now, however? I have no idea."
Reldo looked deep in thought, staring into the air.
"That's interesting," He started, "I have never heard of any of those places, and also, if I may ask, what kind of creature are you?"
Twilight felt disheartened at Reldo's answer.
How am I going to get home if he doesn't know where my home is?
Twilight started feeling a little depressed, and several hairs in her mane started coming lose as she started to realise that she may never see her friends again.
Wait, what if I know where I am? I have read so much about the geography of Equestria and lands for miles around, wherever I am, I will surely know!
Looking back up at Reldo, who was starting to look a little worried, she replied.
"Well, I am a unicorn, and I can cast magic and stuff. I used to be the princess's personal student however, so I'm sure I will know where we are, if you wouldn't mind telling me?"
Reldo blinked at how suddenly the unicorn had become happy again, and also at how many new questions had been presented.
"Well, this is our fair city of Varrock, in the kingdom of Misthalin. The lands around here stretch for a long way, with the island of Karamja to the south, the eastern lands to the, well, east, elven lands to the far west, as well as the homes of the gnomish peoples, and then, to the immediate north, are the scorched and blackened lands of the wilderness. Now, I am afraid that's basically as far as we men have explored Gielinor, although I am constantly hearing of tales of huge frozen wastelands to the extreme far north, further than most humans would dare to sail." Answered Reldo, trying to paraphrase, but also constantly aware that there was simply too much to try and explain.
"Wait, what's Gielinor?" Twilight asked, her confusion deepened.
"Well, it's the realm that you are currently in." Reldo answered like realm physics was more natural than breathing itself.
Twilight stared at Reldo in abject horror.
By Celestia's great beard, what is a realm?!
"Okay, so what's a realm?" Twilight asked, very panicky now, strands of her mane coming lose as she hoped her assumptions were wrong.
"Well, realm physics are kind of hard to explain, but in short, the multiverse is constructed of many different pockets of existence, called realms. Normally, these cannot interact with each other in any way, but with powerful magic, one can traverse these realms. Many realms are interconnected with Gielinor, such as Zanaris, or the rune-crafting altars, and of course the most famous example of inter-realm travel was when Guthix first opened the world gate and populated Gielinor." Reldo finished his, relatively, concise answer, and looked to the purple mare.
Twilight sat down, feeling faint. The man, as he said he was called, had just made her more confused, and she now had even more questions. She had never heard of Varrock, or Misthalin, or Gielinor, or any of the places he had mentioned, and had lost all sense of hope for returning home.
Stay calm Twilight, you can get through this... ...maybe.
She lay her head down on the table, her head hurting, and for the first time in her life, except maybe that time about Pinkie's Pinkie sense, she genuinely understood none of what she was being told.
"Are you ok?" Reldo asked, actual concern lining his voice, although he made no other move to comfort the unicorn.
"I think you best ask me some questions now, you clearly have some." Twilight made her answer in a tired voice, she was clearly exhausted and extremely confused. She finally opted to attempt to sit on the strange stool, and actually found it relatively comfortable.
"Okay, well I have a few questions," Reldo began, "First of all, the starter of many, could you tell me about Equestria?"
Twilight saw that Reldo and a quill and book ready, so she began.
"Well, Equestria was founded a couple of thousand years ago by an alliance of friendship between the pegasus, unicorn and earth pony races, and now has several large cities. We are ruled over by the princesses, and well, generally just get on with our lives. There are a few dangerous places, however, like the Everfree forest, but nothing really bad ever happens." Twilight spoke fondly, as if remembering a particularly nice memory.
"But nothing really bad happens?" Reldo broke her reminiscence with the comment, which was flowing with sarcasm and open scepticism.
"No, it doesn't. What would you expect?" Twilight asked, genuinely confused as to why anything bad would ever happen to a good pony, and why Reldo and seemed so sceptical.
"Okay, tell me more about these princesses." Reldo asked next, completely ignoring her question, but Twilight was happy to continue talking about Equestria,
"Well, there's Princess Celestia, my teacher, who is over a thousand years old and governs the country. She has the powers of all three races of pony, and raises the sun each morning. Then there's Princess Luna, her sister, who raises the moon." Twilight's look darkened. "Unfortunately, she was corrupted by jealously, and betrayed Celestia, and was banished to the moon for a thousand years. Recently, however, she returned, threatening to plunge Equestria into eternal night, but me and my friends managed to thwart her plans using the magic of friendship, returning her to her true self." Twilight smiled once more as she finished her story. She glanced over to Reldo, but saw he had stopped writing.
"She raises the sun every morning? You do realise that the sun and moon do that naturally, right? She could just be bluffing." Reldo's scepticism and disbelief was so palpable it was more solid than his actual physical being.
Twilight stared at him in a mixture of horror and incandescent rage.
"HOW DARE YOU INSULT THE PRINCESSES! CELESTIA IS MORE POWERFUL THAN ANY BEING IN YOUR PATHETIC REALMS! PAH! WE DON'T EVEN NEED YOUR REALMS! DO NOT UNDERESTIMATE MY FRIENDSHIP!"
She had shouted at the librarian at the top of her lungs, and now sat deflated on the floor.
Reldo seemed in deep thought. If nothing bad ever happened to these ponies, then no wonder a lethargic princess who claims to raise stars would seem almighty to them, he thought to himself. Reldo then made a decision, although he knew it could shatter this frail creature's naivety about the lack of violence in the world, and the apparent power of friendship.
"Follow me" Reldo said sternly, no emotion breaking through the thick hold of his voice.
Twilight was crying softly. She was still angry, but the confusion and strangeness of the day had finally caught up with her. Complying, she got up.
Reldo pushed open the library door, and Twilight followed him as they walked down grey stone corridors, lined with suits of armour and paved with thick, red carpets. They reached what Twilight presumed was the corner of the huge building, just down the hall from the library, and Reldo pushed open another door, leading inside. Once inside, Twilight could see weapon racks hanging from the walls, and a wooden spiral staircase in the centre of the room.
"Climb." Once again, Reldo's voice was cold.
Twilight put her hoof on the bottom step, testing it. It seemed firm, so she climbed up the stairs until at last she emerged into the open air. Looking around, she saw she was in top of one of the tall towers she had seen from her cage. Looking around, she could she a menagerie of dull stone buildings stretching out in front of her. It was nothing compared to Canterlot, but she still found it rather impressive.
Turning to the right a little, she saw a huge covered forum, and although it was currently the depths of night, it was crammed full of traders, the noise of their deals and sales easily reaching her ears.
"Look this way." Reldo said, his voice still cold.
Twilight turned around... and froze.
She blinked. No, it was still there.
Walking slowly to the edge, she gazed out upon the scene in front of her, her brain trying to tell her what she was seeing was impossible.
Once more, she began to cry, although only softly.
As far as she could see, the earth had been bent into blackened, gnarled terrain, and horrible fissures scarred the landscape.
Corpses littered the wasteland, too many for Twilight to count, some looked like those of what could be men, the others were of horrific abominations of nature. Although it was far away; the blackened wastes spread all the way to the horizon, and presumably far over; she could see horrific hordes of foul creatures scurry across the landscape, and lumbering beasts engage in the slaughter of smaller creatures, but those smaller creatures did not run, they retaliated with full force, relishing in the violence and bloodshed.
Twilight was mortified, shocked, her perception of reality destroyed. This was twisted, far worse than what any pony could ever imagine, not even in the most fantastical of tales.
"W-w-what happened?" Twilight asked, trembling, filled with fear, repulsion, and also a sense of guilt she had been so ungrateful previously about a land free of violence, filled only with friendship.
"The god wars. For centuries blood was spilled across these fields, and millions died in the duty of their masters. The land was scorched by ethereal fires, and the flames of war, and has never recovered. What remains are beasts whose natures reflect the brutality of the massacres that occurred here, and due to the dark magic that plagues the tainted land, the souls and bodies of the dead still roam free to kill in their uncontrollable rage, trapped forever in this mortal coil unable to rest, forced to either slay the living, or watch them be slain by the fearsome dragons and demons that lurk within the land's fiery depths."
Reldo had answered with a straight face, but Twilight had not kept hers. As he descended the stairs back down to his library, leaving Twilight alone on the roof, she had started crying, and could not stop, lamenting for the lives lost and the families shattered, weeping for a country forsaken, and of wounds never to heal.
Such a pain had never been known to Equestria, Nightmare Moon's betrayal seemed like a small squabble to Twilight now.
If she ever made it home, she would not be the same mare anymore, and she would never take for granted her friends, her home, and above all, peace.
"Twilight, I'm back! ...Twilight...?"
Spike's voice echoed around the empty library, but no reply came. He looked around the ground floor, the kitchen, the main drawing room, yet he could find no sign of Twilight anywhere. Worried, he climbed the stairs as fast as he could, but this was rather difficult considering his short legs. He clambered over the top step, and took a moment to regain his breath.
"Twilight? Twilight are you there?"
Spike called out again but once more nopony replied to him. Hurriedly, he ran up to the door to his and Twilight's bedroom, but the room was empty. Spike began to grow scared, for Twilight had said she wasn't going anywhere today, so she of course should have been in when he returned from his day helping Rarity, but looking around the truth was proved to be otherwise.
Maybe Twilight's friends know where she is?
With no better ideas occurring to him on how to best find his friend, Spike rushed to the door of the library and opened it, preparing to venture out, but once he reached the door he could she it was already getting very dark out.
"Twilight's a capable pony... I'm sure she can look after herself! ...Can't she?"
Spike was still worried, unconvinced by his words, but he knew searching for Twilight in this darkness was pointless. Besides, he was exhausted . Despite his anxiety, Spike closed the door and turned around, slowly walking back across the room and climbing the stairs to the bedroom. Although nervous fear gnawed at the edge of his senses, he climbed into his basket, and within moments, sleep had grasped him.
"But she might be in danger! And if we rescue her I could throw a "Happy being rescued" party!"
Pinkie's voice rang out across the Library's floor, for it was far louder than the voices of the four other ponies and the baby dragon which now stood around her.
"Calm down sugarcube, Ah was jus' sayin' we don't know where in tarnation Twilight has got to! We can't all search together, we would never cover enough ground!"
At Applejack's words, Pinkie appeared to enter deep thought, holding her chin, smoking her pipe and gently stroking a beard. However confused, the others just simply sat in silence, a little shocked and incredibly worried about their friend's sudden disappearance.
"But why would she leave? She promised to have a tea party with me and my critters today..."
Fluttershy was staring at her hooves, slowly staring her tea as she tried to explain her friend's abandoning of her tiny tea party.
"Don't worry sugarcube, Ah'm sure she had a good reason to leave, she wouldn't jus' leave you like that."
Whist Applejack was comforting Fluttershy, Spike finally decided to speak up, and for the first time since he had told them of Twilight's disappearance in the morning, after getting up early and gathering up all of Twilight's friends.
"I think the search party is a great idea, I mean she can't have gone far, right?"
Everypony nodded in slow agreement, for if one thought was shared it was the idea of action, they could not just leave their friend.
"Oh! Oh! I know!" Everyone turned to Pinkie, confused at her sudden outburst, and with everyone's attention she continued, "Why don't we all split up and search? I mean if we each do something different to help, Twilight will be found in no time!"
A wave of approval swept the room, and everypony rose to their feet in order to help their friend.
"I'll fly over Ponyville a couple times and the surrounding area, see if I can see anything," with those words, Rainbow Dash took off through a window into the sky.
"And I'll go up search ma' orchards and the area 'round Sweet Apple Acres," said Applejack, picking up her hat and moving towards the door.
"I'll go check the Everfree Forest,"
"And I'll get Sweetiebelle to help me make some posters to put up around town!"
Fluttershy and Rarity finished their tea and followed Applejack out the door, leaving Spike and Pinkie Pie. Pinkie got up and made to leave too, but Spike quickly called out to her.
"Pinkie, do you think we will find Twilight?"
"Of course we will silly! She'll be back in no time!" Pinkie's reply, however cheerful, only managed to cheer up Spike slightly, and as the pink mare left Spike felt himself feeling hollow and unconvinced.
"Oh Pinkie, I hope she does, I hope she does."
Fluttershy stared down the path leading into the Everfree forest, and instantly she felt indescribable terror, and the urge to flee back to her cottage. She had been in the forest a few times before to help her animal friends, but now that she was having to go in there alone, and possibly far into its unwelcoming branches, suddenly made her realise just how frightening the forest was.
The darkness seemed almost like a seething mass of fear itself, radiating out of the trees and emitting a palpable sense of unease. The trees themselves even looked terrifying, their branches stretching out over the path like the crooked claws of some unnamed monstrosity, preying on whatever unfortunate animal may dare to cross under it's canopy, a canopy of rotten foliage that was so thick not even Celestia's sun could pierce it's malevolent depths.
Yes, Fluttershy thought, it was very scary indeed.
At that moment, however, she remembered why she was having to venture into the forest, and that reason was that a good friend of hers could be lost and all alone in that same darkness she was afraid to enter now. Twilight needed her help, and Fluttershy knew she could not just leave her to her fate.
"Okay Twilight, I'm going to come rescue you... I mean, if that's okay with you... Eep!" Fluttershy recoiled in terror as she thought she saw a Timberwolf leap out of the bushes towards her, but she soon realised it was only a rabbit.
"Okay, second time lucky!" And with that, Fluttershy shut her eyes and charged into the forest. She could feel the harsh gravel of the path beneath her, so she continued galloping through the forest, her head towards the ground, until she had made in a sufficient distance that she would not bolt straight back out again from fear.
At last she made it into a clearing, and looking around, saw a multitude of paths throughout the trees. She had no idea which one Twilight could be down, and she now had no idea of the one she had just came out of, for she had had her eyes shut.
"Oh Twilight, where are you?" Although she only said this quietly, it was loud enough, and suddenly a fearsome roar sounded from behind her. Not wanting to waste any more time, and blind with fear, she chose a random path and bolted down it at full gallop.
Fluttershy kept running and refused to stop, even though her hooves were beginning to become sore. Suddenly she saw a few rays of sunlight peeking through some of the foliage ahead, so she galloped toward it...
...and emerged outside the forest where she had entered just a few minutes before.
Fluttershy sighed, but she was too scared to re-enter the forest, so she trotted over to her house and called for her critters.
One by one, several different kinds of animals appeared, from squirrels to rabbits to birds and indeed even mice, a vast multitude whom had burrows from across the forest, both near, and far.
"Now, um, hello critters, I was just wondering whether any of you had seen Twilight Sparkle anywhere recently?" Fluttershy asked this in a kind voice, but the animals just looked at each other, and then sadly shook their heads.
"Oh, well, um, ok... Well could you please look out for her?" Fluttershy asked hopefully, and to her enjoyment and delight, the animals all nodded and agreed with her request. Soon after, they scampered into the forest leaving Fluttershy alone once more.
Fluttershy was about to turn and enter her cottage, when a thought occurred to her regarding some earlier suspicions.
I wonder where Midnight Feather is? He sure did seem suspicious. I'll go ask Applejack.
And so Fluttershy decided to make her way to Sweet Apple Acres, although she had also decided that she would go via Ponyville first to see if the others had made any progress with the search.
Applejack emerged from the thick grove of apple trees, a worried look plastered upon her face. Her eyes were fixed upon the floor, and she stamped a hoof in frustration. Looking up, and casting her gaze down the path towards Ponyville, she caught sight of a yellow pegasus with pink hair gently trotting down the dirt path towards her orchard.
I wonder if Fluttershy has managed to have any luck searching for Twilight yet?
With that thought, Applejack's spirits were raised slightly, so she cantered up the path to meet her.
"Oh, hi Applejack," Fluttershy spoke as she saw Applejack approaching, although she seemed a little startled as if she had been deep in thought, "Have you had any luck finding Twilight?"
"Um, no, ah guess you haven't either then?" Asked Applejack, already becoming a little depressed at the oncoming news.
"No, I haven't, although I went into Ponyville just now and it looks like Pinkie has talked to Mayor Mare and organised search parties and coordinated the whole town, so hopefully she should be found soon." Fluttershy offered a reassuring smile, but it did little to cheer up Applejack. They started walking back towards the orchard.
"Have you seen Midnight Feather around anywhere?" Applejack was a little taken aback by Fluttershy's question, not really expecting it at all.
"Um, no don't think ah have, ah'll tell you if ah do see him though."
"I would say I have, but it is not often one is found to be caught up in self admiration."
The new voice came seemingly from nowhere, and both Applejack and Fluttershy leaped off the ground in shock. When they had landed back on the path again, they were holding on to each other with their forehooves, shaking slightly.
Looking around, however, they saw a large white pegasus standing to the left of the path by the treeline, eyebrow raised in slight confusion.
"O-o-oh, Midnight F-Feather, we d-didn't hear you there," Fluttershy stammered, a little frightened by the Pegasus's seemingly instant appearance out of nowhere, for he had indeed not made a sound.
"Um, say, you haven't seen Twilight anywhere today, have you?" Applejack asked the pegasus as she detached herself from her yellow companion.
"I can't say I have. Why, did you wish to speak with her?" Midnight Feather queried, keeping a deadpan expression and a flat tone.
"Um, no she's gone missing. Could you maybe keep an eye out for her?"
"Most Certainly." With that, he turned and slowly made his way to Sweet Apple Acres, leaving the two friends behind.
Fluttershy seemed to be a little troubled, but shrugging it off she turned to Applejack, "I've got an idea," she began to ask, "why don't head on into town and see if Pinkie needs any help?"
Confident that Twilight was nowhere to be found on her farm, Applejack simply nodded, and so they began their journey back to the library.
The sun was low in the sky by the time Applejack and Fluttershy made it back to the library, and was already beginning to slowly drop below the horizon. Waiting inside the library, however, was a rather unexpected surprise.
Applejack slowly moved up to the door and pushed it open with her hoof, but as she walked inside she saw nothing other than both Princess Luna and Princess Celestia, standing in the crowded library and talking to the remainder of the friends, Rarity, Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie.
Applejack and Fluttershy made their way inside the library, although Fluttershy looked a little intimidated, especially by Luna.
"Applejack, Fluttershy, please come in and sit with us," said Princess Celestia calmly, and Applejack and Fluttershy dipped their heads in respect, Applejack taking off her hat.
"WE ARE MOST PLEASED BY YOUR PRESENCE" Luna's voice shook the very foundations of the library, and Fluttershy collapsed in fright. Celestia gave her sister a sharp glance, and Luna smiled apologetically.
"WE MEAN... UM, I mean that I am very glad that you are now all here." Luna said this, and it was a fair few thousand decibels quieter this time.
The orange earth pony and the yellow pegasus then joined their other friends at the table, and the meeting began.
"So Pinkie Pie, tell me why you requested that we come meet you this night," Celestia asked, puzzled as to the urgent letter that she had received earlier in the day, "and where is Twilight Sparkle?"
Pinkie shuffled uncomfortably on her hooves, but spoke up anyway, "Well you see princess, Twilight is kinda," she hesitated for a slight moment, "gone."
"WHAT?" Luna bolted upright, her voice shattering the few windows in the library and blasting the five ponies back against the furthest wall, "EXPLAIN THYSELF!"
Celestia merely sat in potent silence, and once the ponies had managed to recover a small fraction of their former, now seemingly glorious, hearing, she spoke up softly, "What do you mean, "Gone?""
Pinkie adjusted her ears with her hooves, before continuing. "Well you see," she began, "Spike came back to the library last night and she had just gone missing. She had left, and nopony has seen her since!"
Celestia Seemed to wipe her eyes a little, before straightening her face and standing back upright. Luna's original anger seemed to have dissipated, and now she turned to her sister, eager for her next words.
"I see," the white alicorn began, the emotion easily discernible in her voice, "I trust you have already began searching for her here, and will continue to do so with the upmost of your ability. Me and Luna shall travel back to Canterlot, for there are important matters for us to attend to, but do not fear, I will work through both the night and the day until I find of a way with which we can find Twilight."
The five ponies each said their farewells, and the two sisters exited the library before taking wing back to the palace. The friends looked at each other and sighed, and collectively they must have all been thinking the very same thought.
Where are you Twilight?
Twilight re-joined Reldo in the library, a little shaken after what she had just seen. She sat back down on the stool, not really in the mood for questions, and thankfully it seemed Reldo was not in the mood either, for when she glanced across the table at him he was quietly sitting down with his nose stuck in a particularly old book, by the looks of it. Another time, Twilight might have been interested, but at the moment she was far too tired, and so she laid her head on the table and closed her eyes, intending to take a small nap.
Twilight shuffled a little as the sunlight filtered through the small window and rested on her face. Opening her eyes, she could see it was dawn already, but looking across she saw Reldo was still reading the same book.
"How long was I asleep?" Twilight asked, refreshed after what was probably more than just a nap.
"Not long" Replied Reldo, closing the book and placing on the table. "I was wondering if you wanted me to give you a tour of the city?"
Twilight was pleasantly surprised, and she didn't have anything else to do. Besides, if she was stuck here, she might as well study it.
"Um, ok" Twilight responded, relatively eager to get exploring, but also a little worried at what she might find, especially after the previous night's revelation.
Reldo slowly rose from his chair, straightening his back, before walking over to the door to the library and gently pushing it open. He then beckoned for Twilight to walk through. It seems she had been asleep longer than she thought, however, as she was a bit stiff after sleeping on the stool. Once she was through, however, Reldo closed the door and they began to stroll through the palace.
From the inside the palace wasn't too bad - it had several decadent rooms and a large courtyard in the centre with an impressive tree. It was nothing compared to the princesses' palace in Canterlot, but then again this building looked to have more purposes than just looking impressive. At last they exited the front door, and were nearly blinded by the sudden exposure to the early morning sun.
Once Twilight's eyes had recovered, she looked around the courtyard and saw many men dressed in metal clothes trying to hit each other, and some were just standing still. She found it most odd. Reldo had begun walking, however, so she caught up a little and decided to pose a few questions.
"You said the sun naturally rises and falls in the sky? How is that possible?" Twilight asked.
"To be honest, I don't know how it does it, but I am certain the gods have no part. If anyone is controlling that thing, I would in fact quite like a word with them, for it is not unusual here for the sun to decide to keep us in daylight for months at a time!" Reldo chuckled a little as he answered, whilst Twilight looked a little perplexed, and prayed she would not have to sleep many nights like that, or rather, days, in her stay here.
"Have you ever seen anything like me before?" Twilight ventured - she reasoned that if anyone had in fact seen a similar pony like her here, maybe they found a way back that she could use.
"Well, I don't think anything quite matching your description has ever been seen here, or anywhere I know of for that matter. There are, however, species of unicorn native to Gielinor, but they are dumb as cattle, quite frankly, and are little more than wild beasts. Their horns make good potions though!" Twilight flinched as Reldo's answer finished.
"You make potions out of their horns?" Twilight asked, stopped still in her tracks, a little shocked, and quite horrified.
"Oh yes, they have wonderful properties. You also said you cast magic, I remember? I find that most interesting, for they certainly can't, but I did not find any rune stones on you. Don't worry, we can visit the magic shop later." Reldo answered casually as they emerged into central Varrock.
Twilight, meanwhile, was deeply confused by the answer Reldo gave her, but made a note to ask him about it later, since he appeared to be starting his tour proper now.
"This is the centre of Varrock, over there in the middle is out glorious fountain, and around the edge are several fascinating stalls - Zaff's staffs, The General Store, and of course Gypsy Aris's tent." Reldo spoke out proudly, whilst gesturing to a myriad of attractions around the plaza.
Twilight was quite impressed - there were indeed several buildings that looked to be shops, and the clearing was a clearing no longer - it was smothered in a mass of people. Apart from the bright tent in the corner, however, Twilight couldn't help but notice everything looked a little dull.
"Shall we move on?" Reldo ventured, to which Twilight nodded in response, and so he began to lead her off a road sprouting from the square.
"Varrock is also home to a few renowned smiths, as well as the famous Grand Exchange. It has three fantastic pubs, and a lot of history, although most of its residential areas are in a pretty poor state at the moment." Reldo seemed a little saddened by his last remark, but went on to continue talking.
"There is also a Digsite nearby which is constantly making discoveries, which I'm sure you will be eager to visit one day, and there is also an interesting stone circle to the south, although it's rather dangerous." Twilight took in the knowledge eagerly, fascinated by this alien city.
"And here we are, Varrock's main church." Reldo stopped short of a large building, which had a large spire atop a tall tower. Twilight looked confused.
"Um... what exactly is a church?" Twilight asked, for she had never seen nor heard of such a thing before.
"It is where we can worship the Great and Powerful Saradomin - a benevolent god of good and light. I am surprised you have never heard of him, his followers among mortals are almost unmatched." Reldo answered, but he did not enter the church, and instead started walking back along the road they had come from.
Twilight meanwhile was still a little confused - what even was a god? Reldo had probably assumed she already knew, but the fact that these men had built such a large building just to show praise to him filled her with a little sense of awe. She was walking along lost in her thoughts, when she crashed into Reldo, who had clearly stopped walking. Of course, what was a hard knock for her was more of a light bump for him, so he didn't really notice and just continued talking.
"And this here is my favourite building in the entire city - The museum!" Reldo's voice seemed to be full of anticipation, and Twilight also looked up in wonder at the large building, wondering what may lie within. Following Reldo, she started to ascend the steps up to its impressive pillared facade.
The day had aged quite drastically by the time Reldo and Twilight exited the stone building, and in fact the sun even seemed to be speeding up in its descent, as if racing towards the horizon to catch some unknown prize.
The museum had also been quite something. Twilight had been constantly in awe at what she had seen. Downstairs she had been shown the natural history department, and she was utterly terrified by most of the displays - creatures that looked like they could not have even come from a pony's worst nightmare. They all looked so aggressive and bestial, which caused more discomfort to Twilight than she liked to admit - back home even the bears could be friendly, sometimes, but here even the smallest creatures seemed to be filled with the desire to kill. Of course, that was as much as Twilight could gleam from the displays.
She had observed a fierce insect display also, which seemed almost impossibly huge, and a dragon too. In fact, she was most fascinated by the dragon - It seemed bound to four legs, and also much smaller than Equestria's dragons, but as before, it looked just as if not more fierce. She was also surprised to learn that, unlike Spike, they seemed to have no capabilities with language or education, which made her a little upset.
The upstairs floors also had a wealth of history and knowledge in them, and she was perpetually fascinated. She had learnt of remarkable pottery, of gnome gliders, of the exploits of Robert the Strong, and had also looked at an interesting cabinet that sorted finds from deserts far to the south. She though she saw a familiar symbol on one of the fragments, but she couldn't place where she'd seen it before....
But at last Twilight recovered from her thoughts, although she did feel there was something she had forgotten, and turned to Reldo.
"So, where were you planning on going next?" she asked, intrigued and desperate to learn more about this fascinating, although frighteningly violent, new world.
"Ah, yes, I was thinking we might visit my good friend Audbury in his magic shop to the south of here." He replied, and at the same time reminded Twilight Sparkle of her question she had planned to ask.
"Oh yes, what are runes?"
Reldo stared at her a little blankly, as if he didn't understand something.
"I though you said you can cast magic?" He replied, a look of worry on his face, most likely because, in his reasoning, hearing and imagining things that were never said is not the staple of a healthy mind.
"Yes, but I can just cast it normally... I don't need any tools or anything, I just use my horn, see?" With her response, Twilight levitated a nearby rock, the soft purple glow of her magic aura gently caressing the hard stone surface of the small pebble, and raising it just a few feet into the air, holding it there, and then lowering it back down.
Reldo was utterly astonished, a look of amazement on his face. Twilight was about to respond, when he clapped his hands and turned around. Looking around, Twilight saw they were in front of a small roundish building, with some weird triangle shaped charms dangling from by the door. Inside she could hear two voices, which seemed to pique Reldo's interest too.
"Well, it seems Sedridor is visiting Audbury by the sounds of it, and it looks like this is going to be very fascinating, very fascinating indeed." Reldo said before taking a step towards the door.
Twilight couldn't work out what he had found so remarkable about her magic, but she had to agree - whatever answers she was about to get, they would be very interesting.
The crackle of arcane magical energies filled the clearing, and commands and chanting nearby rose above the silent treetops and into the still night. Assembled where upwards of around fifty mages of Zamorak, all convened here for one purpose, and in the centre of the clearing there now hovered a small ball of pure magical energy.
The mages had been pooling in their power for the past few hours, and the time was slowly drawing nearer. Over the past few days, something had been noticed in the realm fabric of Gielinor - something had entered where nothing had before, and the followers of Zamorak had noticed it.
This abrupt entry had stretched the ethereal fabric from through it had entered, and weakened the barrier between Gielinor and wherever it had come from. Here tonight, mages from across all the known interconnected realms had gathered for the one purpose of exploiting that weakness, and opening a portal to a new realm, something that had not been done by humans for vast amounts of time.
Some believed they might find their lord Zamorak on the other side, others a new land to exploit and conquer, but regardless of what they would find, it would benefit their dark lord's wishes immensely. The call had gone out, and loyal troops and began to gather in the surrounding forests - at the edge of the clearing a group of black knights could be seen, standing motionless beneath their armour. Although their helmets concealed their faces, it was sure they would be watching the unfolding events with interest, through cold, emotionless eyes.
Many other people had gathered in the surrounding camp, some simple civilians, and some priests and warriors. A priest from Varrock had even said he had heard odd rumours going around the city lately, but nothing seemed too suspicious, as far as what could be gleamed from hearsay.
Suddenly a bright light emerged from the confluence of the mage's magic, and the very air around it seemed to twist itself inside out with pain - as if trying to escape from horrible fate. A word was said from within the trees, and some beaten villagers were pushed into the centre of the circle of mages, wearing tattered clothes. They had expressions of pure terror on their face - they had probably been taken in the night from a local settlement. At once arrows flew over the heads of the mages, and the villagers screams filled the night.
Suddenly, the magical entity began to morph and expand, using the mages' dark magic to feed off of the bloodshed, and at last it exploded with a blinding flash and an ethereal shockwave - crippling the mages' minds and sending them crashing to the floor. When the surrounding figures had regained their vision, a rift in the very fabric of reality lay before them.
Suddenly orders were shouted, and men started moving around quickly, rousing the others from slumber. Whatever new world lay beyond the portal was unknown, but as the legions of Zamorak prepared to pour through, one thing was certain.
The reign of darkness would soon begin.
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The Longest Journies Begin With But a Few Steps.
Celestia slowly walked across the silent hall, her hoofsteps the only sound which had likely sounded inside this room for a long time. Large stained glass windows lined the impressively ornate chamber, but Celestia was too busy lost in her own thoughts to appreciate them at this current time, the loss of her student had come as a shock to her, and affected her far deeper than she had let her sister know.
She sat and looked at the dying sun through the window, and focused a little, giving it a small push to make way for her sister's night. As darkness slowly enveloped the stone hall, she was abandoned to her thoughts once more.
Twilight... Where are you, my faithful student?
Celestia lit up her horn softly, searching Equestria for any trace of her. It was impossible for her to have left its borders so quickly, but it was also impossible that she would find her student, just like she hadn't the fifty other times she had tried that day.
Celestia felt despair lurking at the door of her mind, but steeling her resolve, and thinking of her subjects, stove it off. She must be strong for the whole of Equestria, and couldn't let her own issues endanger the lives of those who trusted her, and looked up to her for guidance.
That didn't mean, however, that she would stop looking. She rose from her hooves to stand at her full height, and began to pace up and down the room, running through her mind every possible possibility of how she could locate her student.
Idea after idea passed through her mind, many were discarded, and a few experimented with, but alas she seemed to be getting nowhere. Celestia sighed, and distressed significantly, sat down on the cold stone floor to stare vacantly across the room...
...And her eyes rested on an ornately carved door, built to keep safe the six most powerful objects in Equestrian history. They were the Catalysts of Harmony, Keepers of Balance, and the Bane of Equestria's Foes. Celestia slowly rose as an idea began to form in her head. She blinked twice, then slowly smiled.
"Yes! YES!" Celestia jumped a little with joy as she underwent a little revelation.
The elements are all linked, this is why they require friendship. These links must still remain strong, not only between the elements themselves, but each to their respective bearers. The elements will surely have the power to locate my student! She would have to have somehow left existence for it not to work!
Celestia giggled a little at that last thought. It was good she was being a little sarcastic, it showed good signs for the future, that she could be happy once more knowing her student was safe. Slowly, she took steps up to the large door, admiring the craftsmanship again, just like she had many times before.
Lowering her head, she slowly inserted her horn into the hole in the door. It was especially made for her, and it would take a being of immense power to even attempt to remove them. A clicking sound was heard in the door as Celestia poured her magic into it, so she withdrew and stared once more in wonder as impenetrable doors slid aside to reveal their interior.
Celestia's wonder quickly vanished. She stood there a while, not sure what to do, and as the minutes, or maybe even hours passed by, before at last shedding a single, solitary tear. The time it took to reach the floor took only a few moments, but in Celestia's mind it took an eternity, for in front of her did not stand resplendent six ancient relics, but rather an empty vault, and just like the elements, her hope of ever finding Twilight disappeared.
Much to the surprise of everypony, the princesses arrived in Ponyville the next morning, but since neither of them had bothered to requisition themselves a cart, both had flown the whole distance.
"Everypony, please listen up, I need you to gather the element bearers at once, the fate of Equestria depends on it!" Celestia's voice rang out across Ponyville's town square, but unfortunately had a rather undesired effect, for at the mention of Equestria being in danger everypony started running to and fro and screaming, gathering their children and locking themselves in their houses, and soon enough the square was clear except for two ponies.
Celestia looked across the square and saw two ponies manning a market stall, one of which looked rather perplexed, and the other looked deadpan. She soon realised one of them was Applejack, but the other was a tall white pegasus whom she had not seen before.
Celestia approached with her sister, and Applejack bowed as they approached.
"Good mornin' Princesses, what can 'ah do for you?" Applejack said, a little worried about their sudden appearance.
"Applejack, I need you to gather up your friends, it is of utmost importance." Celestia's voice was tinged with worry, and not wanting to delay the princesses, Applejack set off at once.
She was rather worried about why the sisters had come so early and without warning, but felt pretty safe in reasoning it was to do with Twilight's disappearance, so eager to help her friend she continued running. She decided to visit Sugarcube Corner and the Carousel Boutique first, considering that they were the closest to the centre of town, and after quickly informing both Pinkie Pie and Rarity of what had happened and where to go, she then made out for the edge of Everfree to inform Fluttershy, and subsequently, Rainbow Dash.
At last, within just a few minutes, the five friends were gathered in Ponyville's town square, along with the princesses and Midnight Feather, who had not yet taken his leave. Sensing his presence was not really necessery, however, he started walking away.
"Girls, I have something of utmost importance to tell you," Celestia began, "The Elements of Harmony have been stolen."
The girls gasped with shock and horror, and Midnight Feather froze in his steps, before turning around and returning to watch the proceedings, although he had only departed a few steps.
"I think that they may be in Twilight Sparkle's possession, since she is the only other pony with enough magic to access them, except Luna of course." Luna smiled faintly as Celestia mentioned her, but she appeared equally as harrowed at Twilight's disappearance.
"I do, however, think that I have found a way that I can find her, and require that you all meet me in the library tonight." With that closing statement, the princesses flew off, presumably to prepare for the evening. The five friends also decided to return to their previous activities, although each one was very perplexed and a little scared, for they all had questions - Why had Twilight taken the Elements? Where was she?
After all the other ponies had left, Midnight Feather was left alone in the square, recounting over what he had just witnessed. He realised the ponies would be curious if he tried to go to the library with them that night - he reasoned he hadn't been asked to leave just now because, in everypony's mind, he was naught but a farmhand. He turned tail and started trotting back towards Sweet Apple Acres, he would ask Applejack for the details later this evening.
Applejack slowly pushed open the door to the library, and within she glimpsed six ponies. She stepped inside the building, and after closing the door behind her, turned to look at those gathered before her. As she expected, it was just her four friends and the princesses, so she approached them in the centre of the room and took a seat.
"Ah, Applejack, now we can begin." Applejack seemed a little unnerved by Celestia's tone, but was reassured by the presence of her friends.
"What are we goin' to do? May ah ask?" Applejack queried, a little curious.
"Well, I think I have found a way we can find Twilight Sparkle," Celestia began, "I first thought that we could use the Elements to locate her, but they were, unfortunately, stolen. I then realised something, however, which will help us greatly."
"You see," Luna began, taking over from her sister, "The Elements have a stronger bond to their bearers than most people realise. The Element's magic will have rubbed off on you slightly, and this, combined with the power of your friendship, should allow us to locate where Twilight has gone."
"We're going to see Twilight again? I should throw a party!" Pinkie jumped out of her seat, filled with joy.
"Oh calm down dear! We haven't found her yet!" Rarity scolded Pinkie, but it couldn't be denied that everypony in the room was feeling a little happier, and filled with hope.
"How do we start?" Rainbow Dash asked, eager to find Twilight.
"Well, it should just require a little application from my magic, so if you hold still..." As Celestia said these words, she began to focus her magic at the five friends, and cast a spell that she had once read in a tome now long lost.
At once, she was granted a vision of indescribable colours, and the powerful bond of friendship was once made known to her.
Applejack stared intently at Celestia, whose eyes were closed, and whose horn glowed brighter than even the largest fire.
At last she slumped down a little, and her sister rushed in to catch her, worried for her sister immensely.
"Well?" Rainbow Dash asked, curious as to whether it had worked.
"Rainbow! Be considerate, dear, and let the princess recover!" For the second time that night, Rarity scolded someone, but Rainbow didn't seem to take a huge deal of notice.
At last Celestia stood up a bit and spoke.
"She is in the mountains to the far south of here, but it does not seem right. Her location appears to be there, but the bond is very faint, like she is actually much further away." Celestia nudged her sister away before re-assuming her previous stance.
"Luna and I cannot go, we have duties to attend to in the castle. If you want to find out what happened to Twilight Sparkle, you will find your answers there, but be careful."
The five friends looked at each other, but not a word was needed to be said, for they had already made their decision.
Applejack raced home, her mind spinning. She had so many questions to ask Twilight, and they could not wait. Her friends had agreed to meet at Fluttershy's cottage later this night when they were all ready, but first they all had to go and pack equipment and supplies.
Applejack could see Sweet Apple Acres ahead of her now, so she urged herself to run faster. At last she reached the front door, but opened it softly, for she knew that the ponies inside were sleeping, and did not want to disturb them.
When she got inside, however, she saw that that wasn't the case, as Midnight Feather was waiting for her just inside the door.
"What happened at the meeting?" He asked, and Applejack was taken aback a little, slightly intimidated as to why Midnight Feather had stayed up just to ask her about the meeting.
"Nothing you need to worry about, but ah'm gonna be gone for a little while." She replied.
"Why's that?" He asked, relentless.
"The princesses reckon they've found Twilight in the mountains to the south, so we're going out to find her."
"I could come too, I can carry more supplies, and I don't too much either. It would be a sensible decision."
Applejack paused at Midnight Feather's last comment.
He speaks the truth... Even ah'm gonna have trouble carrying all this stuff, and some of my friends might not be able to carry half this...
"Ok, but it's not cause ah like you or anything, ah still think ya kinda creepy." Applejack answered honestly, hoping the pegasus wasn't getting any of the wrong ideas. With that sorted, however, they began to pack.
Midnight Feather turned over in his mind what Applejack had said earlier, as they made their way to Fluttershy's cottage. He was extremely worried as to why Celestia had managed to find a location for Twilight. He wasn't sure what it meant, but he knew he would have to go along with them in order to ensure his, and theirs, to a lesser extent, safety. Hence, that was what he was going to do.
At last Fluttershy's cottage came into view, even though it was quite dark. As they approached, they could see that the other were trying to convince Fluttershy that there was nothing to be afraid of, but her mood seemed to quickly change when Applejack and her companion approached.
"Um... what is he doing here?" Fluttershy asked, a little annoyed in tone.
"He can carry more than any of us - and we got us a long journey, so ah though it'd be good if he came along." Applejack's answer seemed sufficient for Fluttershy, although she still seemed unhappy at Midnight Feather's presence.
"Well, shall we get going?" Rainbow asked impatiently.
"Yes, I think we might as well." Rarity answered, a little nervous. Looking around, all the ponies seemed ready, and with that, they set off, to great unknowns, to Twilight.
Twilight watched as Reldo knocked on the door in front of them. It was late evening by now, and the air had begun to cool. Twilight was apprehensive about the coming encounter, for she was eager to learn about the magic in this place, as she should be, for magic is her special talent.
A voice answered from within the round building, "Hello, may I help you?"
As this was said, the door was opened a small amount, and a face peered out from behind the gap. Once, it had recognised the visitor outside as Reldo, the face broke into a large smile.
"Ah! Reldo! It is always good to meet a friend, please come in!"
"Thank you Audbury, but I also have a guest with me," Reldo replied, gesturing to the purple unicorn beside him, "I believe we have much to discuss."
Audbury removed some glasses from a pocket in his robe, before fixing them onto his face and rubbing his eyes. He then opened the door fully, and leant forwards slightly with his hands on his hips, squinting and examining the aforementioned unicorn. Twilight suddenly wished she was very small, as it felt like the whole world seemed to be judging her at that point, and she began to shuffle nervously.
"Interesting, where did you acquire such a specimen?" Audbury asked, clearly not yet aware that the unicorn was sentient.
Reldo laughed a bit, before replying, "Well, she was found at the digsite unconscious, but once I took her back to the library we had a discussion about-"
"It can speak?" Audbury's eyes were wide with curiosity, he had never before heard of a speaking unicorn.
"Um, yes, my name is... um..." This speech was followed by an incoherent mumble, as Twilight had seemingly changed her mind about speaking up halfway through her sentence, but she soon realised she had just made things more awkward. Reldo was looking at her, expectantly, whilst Audbury seemed rather intrigued. Twilight also noticed another figure had crept up and was standing just inside the building.
Twilight pulled herself together quickly though, and standing up straight introduced herself.
"I mean, my name is Twilight Sparkle, and I come from Equestria." Twilight looked expectantly at the men's faces, trying to judge their reaction, but was slightly dismayed when she realised that these creatures seemed to be much less expressive of their emotions than ponies.
"Interesting, well, I'm not an expert on geography, or animals, but you certainly are quite special." Audbury seemed satisfied, before he opened the door, gesturing for them to come in. Sedridor has also retreated into the house and was now sitting down on a chair, sipping some tea he had bought from a stall by the eastern gate.
Reldo and Twilight followed in, with Reldo closing the door behind them. He then turned and spoke to them again.
"You see, that's not all. Equestria is an entirely different realm, one I haven't heard about anywhere - it isn't mentioned in any books or scrolls in the library, not even once!" This caught the attention of both the magi, especially Sedridor, who was known to have an interest in realm physics.
"You mean that, somehow, this being has arrived from another realm to which we have no direct pathway? She has, seemingly, managed to make her own portal here without the aid of any elder artefacts?" Sedridor was leaning forwards, an elbow leant on the table was supporting his head, and he was most curious.
"It would appear that way," Reldo replied, eager to hear Sedridor's reply, and Twilight too was also listening eagerly.
Sedridor appeared to be engaged in deep thought for a long time, but then at last he answered,
"I know of no magic that could do this." He seemed to be frowning slightly, and indeed both Reldo and Twilight seemed to physically be disheartened, Twilight especially, now with the knowledge that these two could offer to her no help on her homewards journey.
"There is another thing that I think you should see," Reldo said to the two wizards, who turned back to Reldo with intrigue.
"Um, yes, I heard you two are masters of magic?" Twilight asked the two, cutting Reldo off, and catching both Reldo and the magi by surprise. Both Audbury and Sedridor found it a little amusing too, but at last Sedridor answered her.
"Now, I wouldn't say we are masters by a long way, but both of us are skilled in the arts of magic. In fact, Audbury sells magic equipment and supplies in this very shop! But why did you ask?" Sedridor Inquired.
"Twilight can perform magic without the use of runes." Reldo suddenly said, cutting in. The two wizards looked at him for a second, before bursting into laughter.
After a few seconds, they had pulled themselves back together and Audbury responded to Reldo and a very angry looking Twilight,
"Oh Reldo, that was a pretty good joke I must say, but I'm afraid that it was too obvious - such things are impossible. Sure, creatures like Greater Demons can use magic, but this is magic that is central to their being and their connection to abyssal energies. Even if Twilight could perform innate magic, it would be very limited."
Audbury suddenly let out a surprised yelp as he fell off his chair. He got up and dusted himself off, before turning around with an angry glare. This was soon wiped off his face however, and replaced with astonishment, for his chair was levitating, encased in a purple glow. Looking behind, he also saw that Twilight's horn was glowing with the same soft purple light.
"How remarkable!" Sedridor exclaimed, "Please Twilight, sit down and let us discuss this magic further."
Twilight put down Audbury's chair, and she and Reldo took a place at the table.
"Is levitation the only magic you can perform? And what kind of energy source do you use to power your magic?" Sedridor began questioning her, and he got out a notebook to start writing down answers. Audbury, meanwhile, although interested, was still quite annoyed at being removed from his chair.
"Well, where I come from all unicorns can use magic. Most unicorns can only use limited amounts of magic depending on their special talent, like a musician can use it to play her instrument finely, and they have more precise telekinesis than other ponies. My special talent, however, is magic, and this allows me to perform vast amounts of spells. I am also quite good at telekinesis and teleportation. As far as we know, the power for this magic comes from our horns, and does not seem to wear out, although it can exhaust the user. The other species of pony, Pegasi and Earth Ponies, also have some innate magic, but this cannot be harnessed and used consciously." Twilight stopped speaking, and looked around, expecting to see bored faces as she might have seen if she were back in Equestria, but found that everyone was still thoroughly interested.
"That is strange, what are these special talents you speak of? And what kind of spells can you cast?" Sedridor asked, and Twilight, overjoyed to be able to discuss magic, began to talk once more.
"Well, all ponies have a special talent, which is one thing they are good at. This is normally discovered by them by the time they are adolescents, and when they do discover it a mark on their flanks, a cutie mark, appears. These are magical also, and I know of several ponies who have conducted much research into them. As I said previously, the extent of a unicorn's magic is limited by this special talent, but I can learn several different spells, such as being able to grow moustaches on other ponies, and I once even travelled in time, but that was a rather frightful experience."
"These marks seem very interesting, but is that all your magic can do?" Sedridor was asking out of curiosity, but unfortunately it seemed Twilight found it a little insulting.
"What do you mean 'All it can do'?" Twilight pressed, quite annoyed that the magi seemed to think of her magic as rather trivial.
"No battle magic? Utility spells for smithing or farming?" Sedridor queried, as in his opinion Twilight's magic, although intriguing, seemed to be rather useless and trivial to him at the moment.
Twilight however, was dumbstruck. "Wha..What do you mean by Battle Magic?" she asked, quite horrified and hoping she had misheard. Magic had been her hobby, her love, since she was a young filly. In her eyes it was a useful tool, but also a companion, something that made her her. The thought of someone using magic for violence repulsed her, and although she knew she should have been prepared for it after the horrific sight she saw earlier, it had still hit her hard.
"Wait, your realm has no magic to use in combat?" Sedridor seemed to be on the edge of disbelief. Without applications in combat, in seemed to him as if the unicorn's magic was more of a novelty.
"Well, in times of dire need there are several artefacts known as the Elements of Harmony which are able to banish evil or imprison it in stone, but as far as I know there are no personal spells for use in combat. In fact, I had never even though of using magic to attack thins, but why would you need to?" Twilight asked.
"Well, for fighting! Magic is common practice in adventurers who wish to harness the power of the elements to annihilate their foes or to fight each other. It takes a lot of training to master magic, but it is very powerful" Sedridor responded.
"You use magic to kill? " Twilight had risen from her chair and seemed to be hyperventilating. Reldo and the wizards took action, trying to calm her down, worried she had gone into panic.
No! No! Why would anything want to kill another being? And they use magic? How can magic even be used to kill? I don't understand, Celestia help me...
Twilight was scared. She knew predators killed, and she found it shocking, but now she learnt that these creatures seem to kill each other, and she was terrified. How could something as beautiful as magic be corrupted into something so vile it could be used to kill?
"What are the elements you mentioned?" Twilight shouted this almost, backing away from the three animals. She had heard him mention them and was terrified. The elements could only be used for harmonious purposes to her knowledge, and she was horrified that they had been used to harm others.
"Yes, the four elements of Air, Water, Earth and Fire. We channel their energy using the clarity of mind, the strength of body, the power of chaos, and through the blessing of death." Audbury had answered her, and Twilight had only gotten more panicked.
Chaos? Are they in league with Discord? I have to escape from here...
...but I don't know how.
Twilight seemed to stop panicking, much to the relief of the three men. She was partly relieved that the elements mentioned were not the elements of harmony, but that still didn't remove the fact that they used magic to hurt people.
"Twilight, we're not going to harm you. I know that travelling to a new realm must be hard for you, but you're going to have to trust us!" Reldo said to Twilight. He was the first human Twilight had spoken to on arrival to Gielinor, and being a librarian, she trusted him more than the others.
I'm going to need their help if I ever want to return back home to Equestria, if I ever want to see my friends again, but how could I bring myself to trust a creature that can kill?
At last, Twilight, after looking to the three men, seemed to completely calm down.
"I'm, um, sorry, I'm just a little shaken, that's all. You see, where I come from, violence just dosen't really... ...happen." Twilight spoke to them, her head lowered a little.
"That does sound most odd. I must say, I probably couldn't imagine a world without violence." Sedridor replied. He was crouching, trying to get down to Twilight's level, although she wasn't that small.
At last the four returned to the table, and Twilight suddenly realised something. She had the opportunity now to learn about exotic alien magic. And she had questions .
Sunlight streamed through the bars of the cage and gently stroked Twilight's eyelids. She could feel the warmth of the morning sun massaging her face, bringing her into consciousness.
Funny, the sun is normally never this warm inside my bedroom.
Trying to avoid the persistent rays, she rolled over to face the other way. And rolled onto solid concrete.
Now Twilight's eyes shot open, and she reared up in confusion. She was outside. In a cage. With a hard, concrete floor.
Twilight began to worry as a few strands of her hair began to come loose.
Where am I? Have I been ponynapped? Banished? And what about Spike?
She turned away from the drab wall of the cage and looking the other way, outside the bars, she saw a sight that both terrified her, and filled her with wonder.
Just outside her bars was a small expanse of green grass, and then, towering out of the ground, was a vast block of ugly grey stone, ornate windows carved into it's unfathomable bulk. Atop it's many towers, Weird figures patrolled carrying odd instruments, guarding over the fortress. To her left, a trellis arch lead into a beautiful garden, one that put even Fluttershy's gardens to shame.
It was magnificent . Ivy and creepers climbed the walls and trellises, whilst roses and several other proud flowers sprouted from organised flower beds. At the centre of the breath-taking garden lay the most spectacular sight of all - A wondrous white tree bearing white fruit, and nearby an expertly carved statue of some strange creature.
Twilight looked to her right and recoiled in fear. Along the back of the wall of the huge stone building, Vines of choking ivy clambered up the masonry, crawling towards the sky, determined to smother the imposing grey block. At the bass of these vines lay the real horrors though - Groups of bipedal creatures, rather thin but much taller than a pony, were mindlessly hacking at the thick plants. They wore extravagant clothing, each one trying to seem more prestigious and powerful than the next.
They were hacking the poor vines into shreds, and the violence horrified Twilight, Why not offer it friendship?
That wasn't the worst thing, however, for these strange creatures seemed completely unaware as to the pain they must be causing the vines - They hacked away, mercilessly, yet spared not a thought for the plant, instead engaging in casual conversation.
How could they take life so disrespectfully?
Behind these well-dressed plant murderers stood a group of what seemed to be peasants, as such, for they wore nothing but ragged clothes and stared at tree trunks with mechanical, dull expressions. Suddenly, to Twilight's utter amazement, the tree stump was overcome with magic, and a fully grown yew tree sprung out of the earth, fresh and anew.
Twilight was amazed, but amazement soon turned to horror as the pack of peasants set upon the tree like pouncing wolves, hacking and slashing at it's vulnerable trunk with their blunt hatchets. Within minutes of it's life's beginning, the mighty yew fell, and the pack rushed to stand next to another dormant stump, waiting for it to spring back to life, only to once more cut it down.
Twilight edged into her cage.
What was this horrible place? What are they going to do to her?
Twilight was suddenly made aware of another of the bipedal creatures, this one just outside her cage. He was sitting on a rock, basking in the early noon sun, and was scribbling onto some parchment with a quill, around him lay several books, discarded on the ground.
Twilight realised he must have been staring at her for a long time, most likely whilst she was asleep.
She started to approach the edge of the cage when a pungent smell hit her nostrils. She recoiled for not the first time that day, and frantically swung her head around to identify the source of the horrible smell. Finally, her eyes rested on a maimed corpse of a bear, lying not ten feet away from her enclosure.
Twilight retched, and struggled against the urge to be sick. The bear had horrific stab wounds, and looked like it had been removed in several chunks. As Twilight tried to back away into the corner of her cage, her hoof made a hollow sound as it stepped on the floor.
Clearing away some hay on the ground, she found a trapdoor. She tugged at it, but it was firmly locked. Suddenly she realised this must have been the small passage through which the bear had been taken from the cage. She couldn't hold back her disgust any longer, and she threw up all over the concrete floor.
The bipedal creature behind her murmured something before scribbling something more onto his scroll.
Humiliated, scared, and horrified and disgusted by her surroundings, Twilight shrank into the corner of the enclosure and softly began to cry.
She lay there for quite a while, simply crying, which the bipedal creature seemed to find most intriguing, for his note-taking rate increased. Suddenly she thought she heard hoofsteps and the clink of heavy armour approaching across the lawn. Her ears perked up.
Shining Armour?!?
Twilight instantly rushed to the side of the cage, only to have her hopes crushed once again, as she should have expected. Instead of her brother, three of the bipedal creatures had approached, each in mail armour, equipped with a short sword and a square shield.
Twilight prepared to retreat back to her corner, but what she heard next shocked her to her core.
"Reldo! His glorious majesty the King Roald requests your presence within the throne room. He demands an update on the status of the strange being!"
The guard finished his declaration, then the three of them strolled inside the palace. The other creature, who appeared to be called Reldo, collected up his books and made his way inside as well, following the guards.
Twilight, however, was just left staring slack-jawed into the air.
These strange creatures speak Equestrian?!?
Time passed, and the foreign sun followed it's path across the brilliant blue sky. Twilight sat in the cage, with her head resting on her hooves, softly crying whilst the hours passed. The creatures nearby, whom had still not ceased their torment of the trees and other foliage, paid her not even the slightest of glances.
Eventually, after much time had passed, a creature exited from a door in the side of the castle and began strolling towards the rock near the cage, his arms were full of books. Twilight recognised him as the creature who was studying her earlier. He sat down, laid the books on the floor, and withdrew a quill. Choosing a presumably empty tome, he picked it up, opened the pages, and began writing, and occasionally glanced up at Twilight.
Twilight simply sat and stared at a suitably grey section of wall. She simply wanted to go back home, back to the princess, back to her studies, back to spike, back to her friends. She looked at the strange creature once more.
"What if I had imagined it? What if they speak some weird language, and I never return home again?
Twilight wondered whether she should try and talk to the creature, but was filled with worry, and was too nervous to try it. They had done nothing horrible to her yet, except of course, keeping her in a cage, but she didn't want to take the risk.
"But if they think I am but cattle, what fate awaits then?"
The creature may know where she is; the creature may know how to get her home.
Although her usual streak for being excited at new creatures, or the prospect of new knowledge, was gone, Twilight bravely stood up and approached the cage. Swallowing a lump in her throat that seemed larger than her whole body, she took a glance at the creature, who was, at the current moment, seated, and focusing on his notes, not noticing Twilight in the slightest.
"Hello?" Twilight said with trepidation, her voice hardly above a whisper.
The creature stopped writing and raised his head, looking around in confusion. Seeing nobody, he shrugged and returned to his notes.
"Hello" Twilight said somewhat more forcefully, almost at Fluttershy volume as of now.
This time, the creature looked a little worried. He once more surveyed his surroundings, and after identifying nothing that appeared to have spoken, scratched his head thoroughly, and with a look of slight concern, continued his musings on the parchment.
Twilight, despite the situation, was starting to get the slightest amount annoyed. She stomped her hoof, earning an interested glance from the creature, then drawing herself up, spoke out at the top of her lungs.
"I said hello!" Her voice wasn't, in fact, too loud, but it's effect was dramatic.
The creature was seemingly frozen in a look of shock, surprise spreading across his features with his mouth hanging slightly open; The creature dropped his pen and book.
Twilight started to shrink back a little, worried she had made the wrong decision.
"Oh no, he dosen't look too friendly... What if he hits me? Or kills me? Or worse, harms my friends? How will i ev-"
"GREAT SARADOMIN'S BEARD!"
The creature exclaimed this at the top of his lungs, in the standing position, and at a volume so loud that all of the garden could have heard. Much to Twilight's surprise, nobody really seemed to notice, and if they did, did not care.
The creature stared through the bars intently at her, with renewed vigour, seeming to re-examine every inch of her like his last calculations were completely off.
"You speak the common tongue?" The creature pressed, excitement dripping from his voice.
"Well..I..um, yeah, I guess?" Twilight replied, a little confused, and a little intimidated, by the creature's excitement and new found intrigue.
"This changes everything! Oh, what I could learn from such a creature. Tell me dear, do you by any chance remember how you arrived here? And what, may I ask, is that mark on your flank?" The creature asked, and seemed to be wanting to ask even more questions, but refrained in order to let the purple unicorn respond.
"Well I can tell you about my cutie mark, but I was kinda wondering whether you knew how I got here? I just want to get home, really." Twilight had originally sounded a little sceptical that the creature had never heard of a cutie mark, but this soon turned to sadness as she was reminded of her home back in Ponyville.
"Hmm, well it seems we both have much to discuss, and both much to learn from one another. First, however, let us remove you from that cage, it is certainly no place for you to reside in, and I could sense your discomfort. I will alert the guards, and we can talk later in my library."
The creature spoke quickly, not allowing Twilight to get a word, or even a letter, in edgeways. Her ears had perked up at the mention of a library, however, and she looked forwards to discovering how she could return home.
Princess Celestia was sat in the throne room, staring idly at a section of wall. She was still pondering the strange event that had happened a few days prior, for it had shaken her to her hooves, it's magical power far outclassing either her or her sister. At first she was worried Discord had returned, but a quick check of the garden proved otherwise.
The shockwave's power was immense, it's magnitude preventing either her or her sister from even attempting to try and identify from where or what it had originated.
Her thoughts were suddenly interrupted as the doors to the throne room were swung open, and a white unicorn guard dressed in ceremonial gold plate galloped down the hall, his hooves making soft clunks against the thick, red, carpeted floor.
He stopped short of Celestia, panting heavily.
"What is it?" Celestia asked, curious as to why she had had her thoughts intruded upon.
"It's news from Ponyville your majesty - Twilight Sparkle has disappeared" The guard replied.
Celestia's eye flew wide, her face frozen in a mix of shock and concern.
"What.!?"
