“So Mr. Dust, what exactly do I agree to when I sign this treaty?” Princess Celestia asked as she stood from her throne and approached the unicorn before her.
“Well, in the event that you sign this treaty, Equestria will become allied with Saddle Arabia, giving you partial access to our military forces. It will also give you the Northern-most region of the empire. In return, you will give Saddle Arabia complete control of Manehattan and will we be protected by your military forces in the case of a foreign attack. Do you understand these terms?”
“Yes. I understand these terms completely. There is one thing I do need to ask though Mr. Dust, in the case of a natural disaster of some sorts, what kind of aid will your empire be able to send to my pe-“
A Royal Guard came bursting through the throne room doors. “Princess Celestia! Princess Celestia! News from Thunder Splash’s surveillance team!” The Guard said, panting heavily as he approached Celestia.
The Princess put on a look of sheer seriousness. “Can you not see that I am in the middle of an important meeting right now? If this is not a life or death situation, then I am afraid that I will have to ask you to leave!”
The Guard took a heavy sigh and removed his helmet. “It’s about him, your Highness.”
The Princess narrowed her eyes and thought to herself for a moment. Suddenly her eyes widened. “Um, Mr. Dust. I apologize for the inconvenience, but I have extremely pressing matters to attend to.” She approached the Guard. “Send for Princess Luna and Princess Cadence. Tell them to meet me in the Situation Room. And also send this letter to Twilight Sparkle, post-haste!” She gave him a letter and ran out of the room.
“Right away you highness. I’ll have my messenger pony take it as soon as I see her.” They turned and saw Mr. Dust standing there by himself. “Um. Mr. Dust, is it? If you’d come with me, I’d be happy to show you around Canterlot. There’s a great pottery shop not too far from here.”
Mr. Dust smiled and went off with the guard.
. . .
“Ms. Sparkle. The Princesses request that you keep the location of this room and all things said in this meeting completely confidential. Do you agree to these terms?” A Guard barked at Twilight Sparkle.
“Yes. I agree. What is all of this about again?” Twilight asked.
The Guard didn’t answer her question. Instead he opened the main doors to Canterlot castle. “Follow me.” The Guard moved over to a far wall just left of the staircase that led to the second floor of the castle. He pulled down a torch attached to the wall and a loud ‘Click!’ rang out. He pushed on the wall, which swung open slowly and revealed a narrow staircase. The Guard then took the torch from the wall. “Stay close and watch your step.”
Twilight Sparkle followed the Guard into the passage with some hesitance. The staircase wasn’t what most ponies would call “welcoming”. The walls were made with old, gray stone bricks. The bricks themselves were chipped and cracked from years of abuse and lack of maintenance. Twilight could also see that a few feet deeper into the passageway that there was even moss growing on the bricks, which was also confirmed by the awful stench that accompanied it. There was even one place where the walls seemed to be splattered with blood. When Twilight reached the end of the staircase with the Guard, she was standing face to face with a large iron door. The door looked like it had also seen a good number of years. It was covered in rust and was starting to turn brown entirely.
“Ms. Sparkle, welcome to the Situation Room. The Princesses have been expecting you.” The Guard unlocked the door with an old fashioned key and threw it open.
The Situation Room made a stunning transition. Unlike the corridor that led to it, the room was quite clean and modern. The walls, roof, and floor were pure white, and were so clean that they even seemed to be fluorescent. The large table in the middle of the rectangular room was made of a thick layer of clear glass that looked like it had been cleaned very recently. The room itself was somewhat small, but it seemed like it could fit about seven or eight ponies inside of it. Princess Celestia was seated at the head of the table and Princess Luna sat in the seat adjacent to her.
“Twilight Sparkle. Please. Take a seat.” Princess Celestia invited Twilight with a stern tone as she raised her hoof towards the other end of the table.
Twilight Sparkle took her seat. “Princess Celestia. Princess Luna. What’s all this about? Why is everything so secretive? We weren’t even this careful when Discord was taking over Ponyville and Sombra was attacking the Crystal Empire.”
“We will explain ourselves in time Twilight Sparkle.” Princess Luna answered. “We are still awaiting the arrival of Pri-“
The iron door swung open once more and caused Princess Luna to lose her concentration. In the doorway was a rather tired looking Princess Cadence. Her mane was out of place and she had several lacerations throughout her body. Tied around her right front leg was a burlap sack.
“Sorry I’m late everypony. I ran into a bit of trouble while I was flying here.” Cadence said as she moved with an obvious limp towards her seat on the other side of Princess Celestia.
“Are you alright Cadence? If you ran into the kind of trouble that I’m thinking you did, well then I’m surprised you’re here.” Princess Celestia whispered to Cadence, but made it loud enough for Twilight to hear.
“You’re surprised to see Cadence here? What kind of trouble could she have run into that it’s surprising she’s alive?” Twilight stood up quickly and threw her hoofs on the table. “Princess Celestia. What exactly is going on here? Tell me now!” The room grew deathly quiet. Twilight Sparkle hadn’t realized it at first, but she had been screaming her last few sentences at the Princesses and she was breathing quite heavily too. “I’m um… I apologize Princess Celestia. I don’t know what came over me.” Twilight slowly took her seat and lowered her head.
“It’s quite alright Twilight. From what I’ve seen the Princess’s haven’t informed you of our situation yet.” Princess Cadence said. She moved her right leg onto the table. “Let me be the first to enlighten you.” She removed the burlap sack to reveal her leg. It was completely black except for the very middle, which had a very bright and fiery red color to it.
Twilight wasn’t sure what to say. She had never heard of such a thing happening to anypony in any of her books, and even if she had, it was still a shocking thing to see.
“You remember our friend King Sombra from about a year ago, don’t you Twilight? You should also remember that he was banished from the Equestria and the Crystal Empire by the powers of the Crystal Heart. It is now apparent to us that this is simply not the case.” Princess Cadence motioned to Celestia who levitated a folder onto the table. “The Crystal Heart was, for some time, in King Sombra’s possession.” She continued. “It seems that while he had it stowed away in his castle, he placed a nasty curse inside of it that would cause it to cease its functions of protecting the Empire on command.”
Princess Celestia levitated a picture to Twilight Sparkle. The picture was of the Crystal Heart, but instead of its normal blue shine, it was a deep black.
“Without the Heart performing its normal functions, King Sombra is able to venture anywhere in Equestria in which he desires. When he was banished the second time, he was supposed to also be teleported into another dimension so that he would never be able to make his way back.”
Princess Celestia removed a map from the folder and levitated it to Twilight Sparkle as well along with a picture. The map was that of Equestria’s boundaries, and in the upper-right hand corner was a large black circle. The picture was of a grass field, which was colored just as the Crystal Heart was in the previous picture.
“But we believe that part of him escaped the banishment somehow, and still remains in Equestria.” Princess Celestia took over for Cadence. “The circle on the map I gave you defines the area we believe King Sombra has control over. All of the land is black and cursed. The curse is so strong that even flying over this land will cause you to become paralyzed and be consumed in darkness.” She levitated her another picture of a very frightened looking Pegasus engulfed by the curse. “You can see the curse first hand by looking at Cadence’s leg. Normally she would have been just like the Pegasus in that picture, but since that incident we’ve learned a way to at least stop the spread of the curse. We haven’t figured out a cure yet though.” Princess Celestia nodded to Cadence who took over the conversation.
“The ‘attack’ on the Crystal Empire Sombra made a while back was most likely just a ruse so that he could operate without opposition. We had been expecting a second attack from him for some time, and his false charge caused us to lower our guard. He has been working undetected for over a year. Every minute we spend talking, he is slowly making his way towards Equestria, and he’s cursing the land while he’s at it.”
“So what do you need me to do?” Twilight asked.
“We need you to stop King Sombra once again. This time he is not endangering just the Empire, but the Equestria too, and we think you are the best pony to crush Sombra’s plans.” Princess Luna responded.
“I would be glad to help save Equestria again.” Saving Equestria was something Twilight and her friends had done several times before. It was no longer as big a request as most ponies would have viewed it. “Me and my friends will just need time to prepare for the journey. Wait, where exactly do you think Sombra is? How far is that from here? Do you think we’ll need a few weeks of supplies?” Twilight continued to ask herself more questions as she started to get more nervous. Saving Equestria wasn’t as scary for Twilight, but it was still a daunting task.
“Twilight Sparkle! That is enough of your incessant babbling! If you could keep your muzzle shut for more than six seconds then we would be able to explain to you that you are to go alone on this journey!” Princess Luna boomed at Twilight,
“Sister! Please try and control yourself or I will have you ejected for the remainder of this meeting.” Princess Celestia retaliated, causing Luna to only become more irritated. “I apologize for Luna Twilight Sparkle. She is carrying a heavy weight on her shoulders. But what she said is true. You will be making this journey on your own.” She put a hoof under her chin and looked towards the ceiling. “Correction. You and Spike will be making this journey alone.”
“What? Why do I have to go alone? Wouldn’t it be easier to defeat Sombra if we had all of the elements with us?” Twilight asked.
“Well, there are two reasons that you will be going alone Twilight Sparkle. The first is that Sombra is located somewhere in the Equestrian Range, which is located in the middle of the territory he’s taken. We’ve only been able to enchant enough armor for you and Spike to safely move across the cursed lands. Second, we need as many elements here in Ponyville as possible incase we are attacked. We feel that Sombra is not working alone in his operations. I must also say before you agree to going, this is going to be a more dangerous task than you have ever faced Twilight We are almost certain that the path to Sombra is littered with many obstacles to halt you on your quest. Do you understand?”
Twilight took a moment to think. ‘More dangerous than you have ever faced’. ‘Littered with obstacles to halt you on your quest’. These phrases made Twilight even more uneasy than she already was. There was a good chance that Spike and she could get hurt, or even be killed while making their way to Sombra. She took a few more moments to think to herself before she made her decision. “I’ll do it.” She said in a very confident voice.
“Good. We appreciate you helping us in Equestria’s time of need once again Twilight Sparkle. You will have two hours to prepare before your weapons and armor are sent to your house. After that, we will have expected you to start making your way to the Range. Time is of the essence.” Celestia told her as she stood from her seat.
Twilight Sparkle also rose and opened the iron door so that she may leave. She had a lot to do in only two hours and she hadn’t a moment to spare.
“Oh! And Twilight.” Princess Celestia got Twilight’s attention once more. “Good luck.”
Twilight smiled. “Thank you Princess. I won’t let you down.” She let out a heavy sigh to herself, and walked out the door.
. . .
“So we’re really going to have to go by ourselves huh? Man. It’s really going to be different without everyone else, especially Rarity.” Spike mumbled the last part of his sentence to himself.
“What was that Spike? You have a crush on Rarity?” Twilight responded in a joking fashion.
“What? N-No! I was just saying that, um... I was worried about the Carrot Bees.”
“Really Spike? Carrot Bees?”
“Yeah. They, uh… Oh! Is that the mail pony I hear outside?” Spike asked trying to change the subject. He ran to the door and opened it, and was surprised that it actually was the mail pony at the door. He took the large package from the pony and brought it inside. The package was a large chest with metal plating on the edges and corners. There wasn’t a lock on it, but it looked like there had been one a while ago, but it was removed. Spike lifted the lid and inside was assorted pieces of armor and weapons. “Whoa! This is some cool stuff Princess Celestia sent us!” He said excitedly as he withdrew a sword from the chest.
“Be careful Spike. Those weapons are dangerous.” Twilight reached into the chest herself and found a helmet. The helmet was colored gold and looked the same as any other Royal Guard’s helmet, but Twilight could feel that there was magic deep inside of it. There was also a hole cut out on the top for her horn to fit through. She placed the helmet on and her head fell forward. It was a lot heavier than she had expected.
“Hey cool! There’s a whole other set in here!” Spike reached in and pulled out a miniature set of boots and gauntlets. He slipped them on and they fit perfectly. “And they’re my size too!”
“Well don’t marvel at the armor and weapons for too long Spike. We only have ten minutes before Princess Celestia expects us to have started walking. It’s not a deadline I’d like to miss.”
. . .
“Goodbye fer now Twilight. I think that we’ll be able to handle you bein’ gone fer the time bein’, but it won’t be the same without yah.” Applejack told Twilight as she gave her a big hug.
The rest of Twilight’s friends were crowded around the front entrance of the library, already having said their goodbyes.
“I’m gonna miss you girls too. I really wish you could all come with me, but Celestia needs you to stay in Ponyville.”
Applejack released Twilight from her hug. “We know. We wish we could go with yah too, but you can beat Sombra without us. You’ve done it once, and you can do it again.” Applejack gave Twilight a big smile.
Twilight let out another big sigh. “Alright girls. Me and Spike have to get going or we’ll be late.” Her friends all told her their last goodbyes as she started to walk towards the Range.
“Hey Twilight!” Applejack yelled at her. Twilight turned back to see what she needed. She smiled sweetly and said, “Hurry home.”
. . .
The pack on Spike’s back grew heavy and his legs grew weak. The baby dragon was in a struggle with his mortal enemy: physical activity, and he was losing. He began to grow tired overall. It became a struggle for him to walk at the same pace as Twilight Sparkle and he slowly began to lag behind her.
Twilight Sparkle was still as full of energy as ever and was even walking with a bit of a spring in her step. She knew that the journey would be much easier and much shorter if she kept a positive attitude. She turned back to check on her companion Spike and realized that he did not have the same outlook as she did. She allowed him to trail off behind her for the time being, but when the loud breathing of the dragon became so quiet that it was nearly impossible to hear, Twilight turned around and saw her friend lying face-first on the ground. “Spike, are you alright?” she asked as she stood over him.
“Twilight. I’m too tired to go on. I’ve already missed my morning nap, my mid-morning nap, my evening nap, my after evening nap, nap, my mid-evening nap, and my late evening nap. I think that it’s time we took a break already.” He said with large gasps in between his sentences.
Twilight looked at the poor dragon, and then at the sky. It was getting awfully dark. Stopping for a rest now wasn’t going to hurt their travels. After all, they had covered a lot more ground than expected today. “I think you’re right Spike. We’ll stay here for the night, but we’re getting up as soon as the sun rises so we can stay on schedule.”
“Woo.” The dragon responded weakly as he thrust his fist into the air and then let it fall back down onto the ground with the rest of his body.
“Oh, and Spike.” Twilight said from afar as she had begun surveying the area. “Don’t forget to pitch the tent for us.”
Spike screamed internally at this command as he was too weak to do it on the outside. He stood up and took the tent from his pack. He hastily pitched it and fell asleep inside.
Twilight Sparkle moved into the moonlight. The moon was very bright this night and also seemed to be larger than it usually was. The scenery around her looked beautiful in the faint glow and made her feel very comforted. When she finished ensuring that it was safe to sleep in the area they were in, she retreated to the tent and lied down next to Spike who was already fast asleep and snoring. “Get your rest Spike. We’ve still got a long ways to go before we’re through.” She whispered to him. Twilight then closed her eyes, and went to sleep.
. . .
“Charge!” Princess Celestia yelled as she sprinted with her sword drawn towards a large mob of black figures, an army followed close behind her. She was clad in black armor with a yellow trim from head to hoof. Her steel clashed against that of her foes as she tried to overpower her adversary. She staggered the blackish figure and sliced through them with her sword, cutting them into two. She then moved onto the next figure, and then next, surrounded by hundreds of others fighting the same dark figures. Celestia stabbed her sword through a foe on their hind legs. She closed her eyes as the blood from her victim spurted in her direction and covered her with its hot red essence. As the stream stopped and Celestia opened her eyes once more, she saw that there was no longer anyone around her. Not her enemies. Not her allies. She was alone in the middle of Canterlot. “Hello?” She called aloud trying to yield a response. “Hello? Can anypony hear me?” but her cries were in vain as no one came to her. Confused, Celestia started searching the city herself. The town itself looked normal, which was odd since a war had been waging in it for almost three days now. The white buildings were not smeared with red as they were moments ago, and most of the structures were still in perfect condition with an exception of a few old, historical buildings that had been standing for quite some time. As she peered down one of the long, flat streets that went through the town, she saw a dark blue alicron run from one side of the street to another and behind some buildings. “Luna.” She said to herself as she ran towards the location of her sister. As she approached the alleyway in which her sister had entered, she saw nobody. The alley was completely empty. “Luna? Luna. Where are you?” She was making her way to the other side of the alley when a large thump coming from behind her caught her attention. “L-Luna?” Celestia asked quietly as she began to turn. When she looked behind her, she saw her sister, lying still on the floor. A pool of blood began forming around her. “L-Luna?” Celestia exclaimed with shock. She ran over to her sister and turned her body towards her. Luna's throat was deeply cut from left to right. Her facial expression was one of complete shock, her eyes open and mouth gaping. Celestia held her sister in her hooves and began to weep heavily. “Oh Luna. Why'd it have to be you? Why couldn’t it have been me?”
“Don’t worry. You’re next.” A voice rang out from above Celestia, and when she raised her head to see who was speaking to her, she only saw the tip of an iron sword falling towards her.
. . .
Twilight Sparkle sat up quickly and screamed.
"WAH!" Spike yelled as he jumped up from the floor. "What is it? Spiders? Monsters? Carrot Bees?" He was holding in his hand, not his sword that he had meant to grab, but instead, an excess stake from when he was putting up the tent.
Twilight Sparkle looked at Spike and then faced forward once more. She was breathing heavily and was covered in sweat. Her heart was beating so fast it seemed like it would jump out of her chest if it wasn't for her armor plates. "I-It was just a bad dream. A very vivid dream, but just a dream." She thought to herself. "Um, s-sorry Spike. I just had a... a bad dream is all." She now said aloud to the purple dragon.
Spike adapted a disappointed look on his face. “So I woke up for nothing?” he sighed, threw down his stake, and lied back down. “I’m going back to sleep. Wake me up if you have another bad dream. Or better yet, don’t.”
“I’ll try not to wake you next time Spike. Sorry.” Twilight Sparkle laid her head on her pillow, but she didn’t close her eyes. Her nightmare was still troubling her, and she didn’t think she was going to get over it anytime soon. “I know it was just a dream, but it felt so real.” Twilight thought. “I just hope the Princesses are alright. Who knows what Equestria would do without them?"
. . .
