Swirling Legends
"Aww c'mon Applebloom! Just a peek!" "Ah said no Scootaloo, no peekin'! Twilight will get mad at us and I'll get scolded again for bothering her while she's teaching."
Yet another school day had ended in Ponyville leaving all the young colts and fillies to run about the town wreaking havoc in any way they saw fit, all but two particular fillies who were sitting outside of the library. One of them, a bright orange filly had both her front hooves out stretched up near a window as she tried craning her neck to see what was inside while the other, her friend had a grip on her tail was forcing her back down.
"I wanna see what a magic lesson is like though! Sweetie won't even tell us anything about what she learns." Scootaloo looked back at her tail which was firmly clamped in Appleblooms teeth and grimaced, "leggo of me!"
Applebloom dug her hooves into the ground and yanked with all of her strength, the sudden tug caused Scootaloo to slip and lose her grip, smacking her head on the window pane as she collapse in the dirt with a huge poof of dust that cause them both to cough loudly.
"Aww ponyfeathers! That really hurt!" Scootaloo's wings flapped in annoyance as she gingerly tapped her forehead with a hoof, checking for any cuts and Applebloom spit out a nice chunk of Scootaloo's purple tail before rubbing her mouth and scowling at her friend.
"You wouldn't get hurt if you'd stop trying to be sneaky! No one likes a sneaky pony."
"Pft who told you that?" Scootaloo dusted herself off then smirked slyly, "you been listening to granny smith again?"
"She has a lot of good advice, sneaky ponies aren't nice."
"I'm not sneaking! I'm... quietly observing."
She gazed back up at the window then sighed, "it wouldn't hurt anyone, not like I can go about using whatever magic I might see."
"It's still betraying someones trust, which is bad."
"Bleh..." Scootaloo sat down with a thump and kicked a rock grumpily, "you're right I guess... but I hate waiting!"
"Well you don't have to wait any longer since the lesson is done for the day." Both fillies were startled by an older voice as the libraries front door swung open and a purple mare, Twilight Sparkle stepped out into the sunlight, a white filly followed her closely, her eyes crisscrossed and lost looking, an after effect of an inexperienced unicorn using magic.
Sweetie Belle ran up to her friends and gave Applebloom a friendly nuzzle then hoof bumped Scootaloo who perked up considerably now that she didn't have to sit around waiting any longer.
"Judging from that red mark on your forehead I'm gonna go ahead an assume it was you who was trying to eavesdrop on us." Twilight put a hoof on Scootaloo's forehead and laughed when she winced and backed away quickly.
"I don't know why you want to listen in so badly, we're just reading over old books and practicing beginning spells."
"Yeah but magic sounds fun, you get to light things on fire and make explosions!"
"It takes a lot of reading to be able to do that."
Scootaloo winced again, but for different reasons this time, "h-how much reading?"
"A lot, more than you've probably done in your whole life." Twilight winked at Scootaloo's friends as the orange filly blanched and looked sick to her stomach.
"Oh man... I'd die after like four pages! My head would explode instead of whatever I was using magic on."
"Then I don't suggest trying to peek in on a lesson, there's usually tons of books open at any given time in there. It's crazy."
The purple mare turned to her student and patted Sweetie Belle on the head with a warm smile.
"You're doing very well for such a young unicorn Sweetie, I can't believe you've already mastered the lantern spell, that's a tough one for younger fillies and it only took you a few days."
Sweetie Belle beamed with pleasure at the compliment and shrugged her little shoulders, "I had a lot of uh... practice, I'm always having to keep Scootaloo out of trouble in caves and forests and stuff. Hard work you know."
The two other fillies both nodded their heads in unison and Scootaloo blushed every so slightly, "it's not that often..."
Twilight and the girls said their goodbyes for the day and the three of them ran off as the teacher retreated back into her study.
What Twilight didn't know is that Sweetie really had been practicing, in real caves too. Just not safe ones like had been suggested. Only a couple weeks ago the three girls had been sent on a mission of grave importance by none other than the princess of the night, Luna.
They had traversed the creepy Everfree forest and explored an old castle in search of Luna's long lost Crown which had at one point housed an old Element of Harmony. The lantern spell had come in handy when there was no other light for them to use, by now Sweetie Belle was an old pro at it.
"Well now that you're done reading and junk we gotta go get the others!" Scootaloo hopped on her scooter and started revving up her wings, ready to propel them forwards.
Applebloom and Sweetie Belle climbed up into the wagon part of the scooter before Sweetie belle pointed a bit off to the side
from where they were, "Diamond Tiara and Silver said Pip was meeting them at the park near Appleblooms farm."
"Why my farm and ot at their houses?" Applebloom tilted her head curiously.
"Something about not wanting to be seen in public with us "dorks." Sweetie shrugged, not phased in the least by Diamonds teasing any more. The three of them had grown a bit closer to the spoiled pink pony and her cohort Silver Spoon in their adventure and knew that's just how Diamond was. Mean but not harsh. Before they could delay any longer she whirled around and smacked Scootaloo from behind. "Hop to it Scoots! Go go go."
"You wanna see me go?" The pegasus's locked her helmet onto her head as her wings kicked it into high gear, blowing Applebloom and Sweeties manes back in a flurry of wind. "Then lets go!"
The scooter took off so fast down the road that if Applebloom hadn't been behind her Sweetie Belle would've been thrown out of the wagon.
They tore through the street at breakneck speed, dodging stalls and ponies alike as Scootaloo expertly maneuvered them in between obstacles, usually avoiding head on collision at the last possible moment.
It only took a few heart pounding minutes for them to leave the market place of Ponyville and enter the large park that lay just beyond but it was long enough for the two fillies to regret egging Scootaloo on.
By the time they arrived at a large tree somewhat off to the side from the path leading through the entire park they had both been unable to catch their breathes in quite a while and their manes were slicked back from the wind generated by Scootaloo's wings.
"Here we are!" Scootaloo screeched to a halt in the grass and leapt off the scooter in one graceful move then removed her helmet and tossed it aside calmly.
"T-thank goodness, that was quite the uh... ride." Sweetie Belle clambered out of the wagon unsteadily then helped Applebloom out before they both collapsed with a groan.
"Imagine how fast I could've gone without you two weighing me down! My wings maybe small, but they aren't weak!" Scootaloo flapped her tiny wings and smoothed out some feathers carefully, proud of her wings despite their size.
Before she could go on about how awesome of a scooter driver she was there was a familiar shout from behind them, drawing all of their attentions immediately.
"Would you stop that incessant leaping?!" A haughty voice scolded followed by a loud laugh and an excited "never!" as an enthusiastic response.
Behind the tree that the crusaders had stopped at they could see Diamond Tiara sitting in the grass near her close friend Silver Spoon who was rubbing her glasses free of smudges. Bouncing around them was a young colt named Pip who had his favorite wooden sword clamped tightly in his mouth. Easily excited Pip always had a reason to be leaping around, this time though it seemed to be purely just to annoy Diamond who was giving him one of her famous scowls.
"How can you guys not been freaking out?! Luna wants to visit us again tonight, i bet she has something cool for us!"
"That's exactly why I'm not excited," Diamond groaned then noticed the three other fillies walking up to them.
"It means I'm probably gonna get wrapped up in whatever weird scheme she has going, and I'll be stuck with you dorks."
Silver nodded then put her glasses back on before repeating, "stuck with the dorks. How dreadful."
"Aw come on, you had fun" Applebloom nudged the pink filly who inched away from them slowly. "Don't even try to pretend it wasn't exciting."
"Exciting and deadly are two completely different things!"
"Pft, as if Luna would let us get hurt." Scootaloo scoffed and boxed Pip on the ear when he bounded up to her swinging his sword around. "Settle down champ, save it for the adventuring!"
"OH MAN ADVENTURES!" Pip went into overdrive as his eyes lit up and he zoomed off shouting.
"We've been stuck here for an hour you know, with.. him" Silver pointed to Pip who'd already been distracted by some other ponies who were playing with bouncing balls some distance from them.
"I told you I had magic lessons today, you didn't have to show up so early." Sweetie Belle pursed her lips at Diamond who yawned sleepily before rolling onto her side in the warm grass.
"It wasn't so bad until the munchkin showed up, nice and relaxing."
The five of them (six when Pip actually remembered they were there) spent the next while talking about what Luna could possibly want from them and didn't stop until the sun started to go down in the distance over the Everfree Forest.
"Time to head to the clubhouse I guess then." Applebloom shaded her eyes from the bright sun as it dipped lower and lower before turning to the two other fillies. "You guys told your folks you'd be out tonight?"
Diamond gave a curt nod before saying, "the oldest trick in the book, I told daddy I'd be at Silvers and Silver told her parents she'd be over at my place."
Silver Spoon nodded her confirmation quietly then climbed into the back of the scooter with her friends. Pip ran up to them and hopped into the wagon with a thud and saluted eagerly. "I just told ma that I was spending the night at your clubhouse, she didn't really have anything to say about it, she might've actually been asleep, I dunno."
"Our folks already know we're having a crusading night at the clubhouse so we're good to go!" Sweetie Belle lifted a hoof to smack Scootaloo then thought about it and just tapped her friend on the shoulder.
"Time to go Scoots! Off to the club house."
The little pegasus revved her wings quickly and they were off, albeit at a slower pace thanks to the extra weight.
Once they had parked the scooter and climbed the walkway into the crusading clubhouse the six of them pulled their saddlebags out and dumped all their school things onto the floor so there'd be more room for extra supplies that they might need. Namely food and water.
Applebloom made sure one of the windows was open and the curtains drawn so that Luna could get in, even though last time she had just appeared from one of her portals.
"Too bad none of you see the greatness that is swords or swordplay." Pip commented as he swung his sword to and fro, narrowly missing most of them with his prancing.
"I don't need a sword to fight! I got these babies," Scootaloo bucked her high legs into the air aggressively like she'd seen Appleblooms older sister Applejack do against trees.
"I doubt Luna would even make us fight anything." Sweetie Belle frowned at their eagerness to battle monsters before diving back into the magic book she'd been reading.
"Well last time there was those weird shadow things remember? Luna said they were just old spirit guards that couldn't really hurt us but we didn't know that! What if something like that happened again? We need to be prepared!"
Scootaloo bucked again, barely missing Applebloom who was trying to inch around her safely.
"I'll leave it up to you to do the fighting then, I don't want to get gross and dirty like last time." Diamond shuddered at the very thought of doing something so physical but Pip didn't believe that entirely.
"I dunno Diamond, you were pretty cool last time, especially when you had put Luna's crown on, that was awesome!"
Diamond blushed a deep crimson almost immediately and looked away. "D-don't be stupid, you were asleep for that, you couldn't even know if it was cool or not. Luna just told you about it."
"How could transforming into an adult and zapping things NOT be cool?!"
"It... wasn't like that, I just panicked and the crown did the rest."
"Still sounds good to me."
A loud knock on the door interrupted their argument and all heads turned in unison as it swung open with a creak and a familiar face peek into the clubhouse.
Silver Spoon was the first to recover from the shock of someone joining in on their conversation and managed to blurt out "T-twilight? What in Equestria are you doing here?"
"The purple pony strode into the tree house and closed the door behind her gently before turning back around looking at Diamond Tiara who was still blushing slightly.
"What was that about a crown Diamond?" She looked curious, a recognizable tone was in her voice, the tone of someone who thought there was more to learn.
"Some pony you are, telling me to not eavesdrop while you go and do the same thing." Scootaloo scolded, not realizing the severity of their situation, Twilight now knew something she shouldn't, something they were supposed to keep secret.
"It was hardly eavesdropping if I was walking up the slope and I hear Diamond shouting about things."
Twilight walked around them then looked out of the open window, up at the huge white moon.
"Luna not here yet I guess? She's always a tardy pony, princess or not."
The room was silent for a moment before Scootaloo blinked blankly and uttered. "...What."
Twilight looked back at them and smiled teasingly.
"Oh don't worry girls, I've spoken to Luna at greats lengths over the past couple weeks since she sent you on your little quest. Celestia forced her to explain it to me, I guess they figured I would take it better than anyone related to you and of course I did. It's simply fascinating what's out there isn't it? Lost ruins and old crowns an-"
"Hey now," Sweetie Belle spoke up, interrupting Twilight before she could start a boring speech on ancient things and even more ancient books.
"So you know what we did, and what we're probably gonna be going again?"
"Yes. That's why i'm here. To see you off."
"...Why?"
Twilight sighed and sat down next to them all, "why else? I wanted to speak to luna again!"
"Why... else?" Applebloom sat next to Sweetie Belle and both of them gave Twilight suspicious looks, which caused her to fidget nervously before exclaiming, "also because Luna's task might have something to do with Starswirl the bearded, and the anticipation is KILLING ME, I HAVE TO KNOW."
The purple mare threw up her hooves and fell on her back.
"You have no idea how much I look up to that old legend! I need to know what she does. I NEED TO!"
Then, as if on cue a warm breeze picked up from outside, blowing through the open window and ruffling the curtains.
In the corner of the club house a recognizable hole opened in midair, lined with a dark blueish purple hue the gate opened wider until a dark blue hoof stepped out of it, followed by the body of Princess Luna, ruler of the night.
The Tower of Enlightenment
The Tower of Enlightenment
"Ah Twilight, as on time as ever, good that makes things easier." Luna dismissed her portal with a shining flick of her horn and gave the group a very curt nod as Twilight beamed with pride and bowed slightly, "I'm never late princess, that would make me tardy"
"Oh no, tardy!" Scootaloo feigned horror and squeezed her cheeks in between her hooves causing Twilight to shoot her a dirty look.
Luna ignored their exchange and turned her attention to Applebloom who was sitting upright, attentive and alert.
"Has Twilight told you anything about what I have to say?"
"Not yet, she mentioned something about Starswirl the bearded though right before you arrived."
"Good, that makes things easier for us, er... me to explain."
"Explain what exactly?"
"Please do tell us princess, I'm dying to hear about Starswirl." Twilight scooted forwards on her rump to sit next to the children.
Having been quiet for the past several minutes was taking it's toll on Pip as he started fidgeting around behind the group and once Luna glanced at him with a concerned look he could hold it in no longer.
"Are we going on an adventure?! Please tell me that we are, I need to go on another one!" With a mighty leap he flew over Diamond and landed head over hoof with a thump at the hoof of the princess.
Luna looked down at her excitable subject with a smile then nudged him up to his hooves.
"Yes young Pipsqueak, I have another task for you fillies, and now more than ever time is of the essence."
With a cry of glee Pip leapt back over Diamond and snatched his sword up into his mouth before swinging it wildly, barely missing her Tiara.
With another flick of her horn Luna plucked a pillow from the corner of the cabin and sat on it comfortably then turned her magic into shining a beam at the ground.
The magic pooled into a circle on the wood then began to vibrate and take shape, forming and rising before eventually coalescing into a cylindrical shape.
"A...tower?" Sweetie Belle squeaked softly as she tilted her head and peered at the shining magical shape.
"Not just any tower Sweetie, this is the Tower of Enlightenment."
Luna paused to see their reactions to this news but the six foals just stared at her blankly, it was only Twilight who suddenly sat up rigidly and let her mouth drop open.
"S-starswirls tower?" She whispered, voice lost in her amazement.
"The one and only."
"B-but..." Twilight sputtered, struggling to find her voice now, "that's imposs-"
"Impossible? Why? Because it's been lost somewhere in the folds of time?" Luna spoke up quickly, interrupting Twilights stuttering with a slim smile.
"Well... yes."
The princess let her magic drop and the tower crumbled slowly in front of them then seeped into the slats of wood, "you are not incorrect by saying that, but things are a bit different from what you've been taught."
Her horn lit up again, this time creating a mountain with a crater shaped hole at the top.
"This is mount Featherfall, named thusly because not even the strongest of pegasi could fly to it's summit, and at that very summit is where the tower lies."
"I bet Rainbow Dash could! Or the Wonderbolts!" Scootaloo leapt to her feet and flapped her minuscule wings mightily.
"This mountain is even beyond their great flying ability, the air is too thin at the top for a pegasus to continue breathing normally enough maintain flight."
"Yeah well, Rainbow still could." Scootaloo remained adamant despite the other fillies rolling their eyes at her, Pip just kept prancing behind them.
"How would be able to breath up there then? And where is Featherfall? I don't recall ever reading about it before." Twilight put a hoof to her mouth and looked distraught that she had no knowledge of this place.
"There is of course, a spell in place at the top that allows you to breath, it'd be pointless to have anything up there otherwise. I don't imagine it's name would be in any book though. This was a long time ago and the mountain has since faded from existence, I'm sure it's just another nameless mountain out there to anyone else."
Diamond Tiara gulped audibly and paled as she caught onto what Luna was suggesting, "you want us to...climb this insufferably tall mountain?"
Her comment caused Luna to let out a rare peal of laughter before shaking her head and letting the mountain fade away.
"Not at all, I will be gating you to the summit, Right outside of the tower."
"Outside? Why not inside?" Silver Spoon spoke up curiously.
Luna narrowed her eyes grumpily and sighed at this, "that old fool put a protective spell on the walls of the tower, no one can teleport inside."
"Starswirl!" Twilight shouted, immediately excited again.
"No really?!" Scootaloo feigned extreme excitement then fell back onto her rear laughing when Twilight quickly sputtered and glared at her.
"If even you can't get us inside then how exactly do you think we'll be able to enter? We're hardly the most potent of magic users." Sweetie Belle looked between them all and pursed her lips tightly with uncertainty in her voice.
"I think you'll find it quite easy to enter once you're there. You can simply just walk through the door."
"Then why don't you just go?" Scootaloo narrowed her eyes curiously, completely oblivious to how rude she was being to the princess who only smiled back at her. Usually only Scootaloo got away with all her arguing, simply because Luna enjoyed the fillies spunk and drive.
"If I could I think I would have done so already. While you young ones can enter freely I'm afraid someone like myself or Twilight would be barred from entry. The spell in place is very picky about who can enter and who cannot, but you'll see that when you get there."
Tired of waiting Pip finally pushed passed Diamond who protested loudly and began hopping around the princess. "C'mon then! Lets get a move on, pop open one of your portals!"
Luna looked around the room at the children then to Twilight who was pulling a saddlebag shut. "Are you prepared Twilight?"
"About as prepared as I'm gonna be, go ahead princess."
With a smooth flick of her mane Luna's horn flickered then sparked brightly with her magic and fired a beam towards the corner of the clubhouse. It wavered for a moment then began to draw lines down to the ground and connected at the bottom, forming a long oval shape with no exact center.
"This is where we part ways little ones, I'd be of little help to you up there and I have business that needs to be attended to. I wish you the very best of luck and you can go knowing that you are the only ones who can accomplish this."
Sweetie Belle and Applebloom gazed at the shimmering portal nervously then looked back at Twilight who smiled reassuringly. "I'm right behind you, don't worry."
"I don't see why we have to go," Diamond whined at the three crusaders and Pip vanished into the gate leaving her and Silver alone with Twilight and Luna.
The dark mare lowered her head and gazed into Diamonds eyes calmly. "Diamond Tiara, I assure you. There is a reason for you to join them on this venture. The same goes for you Silver Spoon. There are things that only you two can do. Without you the others would be quite lost. They need you and I need you."
Diamond stared back at her princess for a moment and looked like she was about to complain again but instead shut her mouth and nodded silently.
"We'll do our best princess." Silver promised before nudging her friend affectionately and following her through the gate.
"Watch over them Twilight, your role is smaller than theirs but no less important. If this is to succeed then they're going to need your wisdom and guidance. I'm trusting this to you."
Twilights chest swelled with pride and she bowed down low for a moment. "It's an honor Luna. I'll be seeing you again soon."
And like that, she vanished into the gate as well.
As per usual the trip took less than a moment. It was the same as walking through a doorway into the next room over. One step and you're there. There happened to be on top of a mountain this time though. A cold windy one.
The area they all stepped into was flat for the most part, tall crags rose up from the ground about a hundred feet out, walling them in at the summit.
Smack dab in the center of the summit was the Tower of Enlightenment. Perfectly cylindrical it stretched up into the blue sky casting a shadow over them all. It was hewn from completely white stone and as such stood out from the dark greys and browns of the mountain. The sun glinted off of it making it shimmer mysteriously as they approached.
"I can't believe I'm here right now, this is amazing" Twilight gushed, eyes wide as she craned her neck in an attempt to see the top.
"Oh boy oh boy oh boy!" Pip bounced up behind them and put a hoof on the wall of the tower as if expecting something magical to happen.
"There's no door." Sweetie Belle cocked her head slightly then trotted a little further out and looked around the side, "not over this way either."
"Then how the hay do you get inside?" Applebloom knocked a hoof on the stone as well but nothing happened.
"It's a magical tower. I think we can assume that something magical has to happen for it to open." Diamond flicked her mane back and trotted the opposite way before letting out a small "aha" and gesturing to an area around where they were.
"Starswirl..." Twilight murmured as she approached where Diamond was pointing. There was a small door-like entrance on the other side that went in a few feet then came to an abrupt walled stop. On the stones in front of them was a symbol of three swirls all curling around each other. "This was his crest, or at least that's how it is in the books."
"So this would be the best bet at an entrance!" Scootaloo rapped a hoof against the symbol but nothing happened.
"Or maybe not...kinda dark in here"
"Let me give us some light!" Sweetie Belle grinned and furrowed her brow in concentration before her horn lit up with a warm glow. As light filled the tiny tunnel two strange devices could be seen on either side of the symbols which immediately caught their attention.
"wuzzat?" Pip stared at the two shapes curiously then looked over at Twlight who was studying them as well.
"If research is correct those are magic lamps, Unicorns could put their basic light spells in those little orbs you see hanging from the candle like things. Sweetie Belle, try flicking your light onto one of them."
Sweetie Belle nodded and stuck her tongue out in concentration as her tiny light hovered above her horn and wobbled to and fro.
"Just ease it away from you, like you were breathing on a piece of paper to make it float away" Twilight coached as the young unicorns light wavered a bit.
With a bit of struggle the light floated further from Sweetie's head and zoomed lazily over to the magic candle. The device sucked in the orb of light quickly then flashed brilliantly and lit the tunnel up far more than her tiny light had previously.
"There you go, good job!" Twilight patted her pupils head then conjured her own light and maneuvered it over to the opposite candle with ease.
Now that they could see the tunnel a lot better it quickly became apparent that there was a lot more at work there than just some symbols etched into the stone.
Before they on either side of the swirls and below the lights were four holes, two for each side. Each hole was small and placed adjacent to the other. Around the holes they could see deep lines that curved at the top making a door like shaped around them.
"What do you reckon goes in these then?" Applebloom walked up to the holes and tried looking inside but couldn't see anything at all.
"They're roughly hoof shaped I suppose" Silver Spoon adjusted her glasses then cautiously inserted both of her hooves inside.
"Looks like you have to put both your front hooves inside... and push?" Silver Spoon tried it out and was met with a quiet clicking noise. Twilight tried doing the same on the other side but her hoof was too large to fit.
"And only foals can do it?" Her voice was curious now as she narrowed her eyes in thought. "That doesn't make sense really, I doubt anyone your age would've had any reason to come here..."
"Well we'll have time to wonder why that is after we've gotten inside then!" Without warning Scootaloo pushed passed Twilight, abandoned caution and jammed her hooves into the other side.
"Scootaloo no! We don't know what's gonna happen!" Twilight threw out a hoof but it was too late, Scootaloo pushed in and there was the same clicking noise followed by a rumbling and shaking of the wall.
"w-whoa!" Scootaloo tried pulling her hooves out but the deep indent around the holes twisted and the ground under them shifted in a circular motion forcing Scootaloo and Silver to be dragged around as the wall shifted and slammed back into position, with both fillies caught on the other side.
"C'mon Sweetie, do the same thing!" Applebloom tried fitting her hooves into the holes but there were none on this side. They were locked out and the others were locked in.
