Twelve

"Are...are you sure its this way?"

"Positive. The energy came from this place."

Twilight gulped. They had looked everywhere under Leo's directions. Sugarcube corner, the library, the town hall, the bell tower, the library, Sweet Apple Acres, the library, the hospital. Did I mentioned the library? Right now though, Twilight and Leo were standing at the entrance of the Everfree forest, much to Twilight's increasing worry.

"Maybe we should go back and check the library again." Twilight suggested.

"We already checked the library. Twice." Leo huffed.

"But maybe they moved there!"

Leo suppressed a growl.

"What is wrong anyways. It is just a forest." Leo pointed a hoof at the dark woods. The menacing darkness from inside made Twilight shudder a bit.

"Its not just a forest. Its the everfree forest, filled with dangerous monster and treacherous paths. I don't think they girls would have been so careless as to bring the twins here." Twilight said. "The again...thay have pulled worse stunts before..."

"My siblings are in there. Dangerous or not, I will go get them. You can come with me or stay if you prefer." Leo trotted inside the forest. Twilight doubted hesitated before trotting after. She wasn't scared, but after the cockatrice episode, she had learned to enter the forest only when necessary.

"You'll get lost without help. I'll guide you." Twilight said as she reached her, making Leo smile.

Meanwhile, back in the ruins, Sweetie Belle slowly opened her eyes. It was dark and her body ached. Her head felt like a dragon roaring right besides her.

"Ouch..." she stood up. "What happened?"

No answer.

"Girls? Gem?"

Silence greeted her. She was in a dusty old corridor, barely illuminated by a few crack on the wall that let the dimming sun light in. A few webs covered the ceiling and the walls, some of them inhabited. But Sweetie's main concern wasn't the possibility of suddenly developing arachnophobia, nor getting a sudden reaction towards dust. Her main concern was the fact that she was completely and utterly alone. Not a sign of her friends could be seen. No sound. No trace. No nothing.

"T-this isn't funny!" she called out. A soft echo was the only response she got. If only she knew that a couple of floors below her, two fillies walked, just as confused as her.

"What happened back there?" Scootaloo asked. They had woken up a couple of minutes ago, and decided that a search for their friends was the best possible course of action at the moment.

"Something blocked our powers...and overdoing them caused this." Minnie answered glumly before tripping on a rock. Her face hit the ground, hard.

"Careful there...."Scootaloo said."You ok there?"

"Without my brother, our powers are gone. We can't sense incoming dangers or move through the planes." Minnie explained as she stood up. Her nose was a little dusty, but nothing a quick swipe from Scoot's tail couldn't fix.

"We're not used to working only with three..." Minnie murmured.

"What was that?" Scootaloo asked.

"Nothing. Just talking to our, eh, myself..." Minnie corrected herself. Speaking in singular felt weird now that her brother disappeared.

The sun was setting. It was just over the horizon. Its orange rays gave a beautiful picture. The inhabitants of Ponyville would always thank the sun princess for the show it provided. The warm day would slowly gave way to the calm night. Unless you were suicidal enough to enter the Everfree Forest, in which case the vanishing rays of the sun were a clock that would mark the time of your impending death at the claws of the blood lusting nocturnal hunters of the forest.

Isn't nature just wonderful like that?

"By the way you are pointing, the girls must have gone to the ancient castle of the elements." Twilight said gravely.

"Is that a bad thing?" Leo asked.

"Oh no, its just the place were almost died trying to purify the goddess of the night from evil." Twilight snarked. "Of course its bad!"

"Goddess? What kind of goddess? Explain this to me Twilight." Leo ordered. Twilight began her tale, all too happy to remember how she met the most important ponies in her life. Leo paid close attention,. "And the kids are in such a place? Then we must make our way there immediately!" Leo exclaimed as she quickened her trot. Twilight didn't move an inch.

"What are you doing Twilight?! We must hurry!" Leo said from the foliage. "The kids maybe in danGAAAAARg-" Blop. Twilight sighed, using her magic to pull Leo out of the mud pit.

"The castle is that way..." Twilight pointed a hoof towards some scary looking trees. With a small spell, all the mud had disappeared. Leo grumbled as the unicorn released her from the spell, trying as best to save what little pride she had left.

"Fine. Let's go that way..." Leo grumbled, walking through the woods. A few seconds later, a loud shrill came from the forest. Twilight sighed before heading to rescue Leo from whatever disaster she caught herself in.

Meanwhile, far up in the highest tower of the castle, two foals did their best to figure out a way to leave the tower. So far, their tries had followed the usual result of their crusades.

Which meant that they were trapped in the astronomy section.

Perfect.

"The stairs are out." Apple Bloom looked down at the dark abyss. "And there's no other exit."

"We are trapped in here?" Gem asked.

"It would seem so."

Silence came as the last rays of sun started fading. A few stars popped in the sky. Soon ti would be night time. A large hole on the wall allowed both kids a clear view of the sky.

"Your home is out there right?" Apple Bloom sat under the hole, followed by Gem. "Out in the stars?"

"Yes. You can't see it from here though." Gem answered. "Its actually two planets. Castor and Pollux. I come from the first one. Minnie comes from the latter."

"You mean...you're not siblings?" Apple Bloom was surprised by the answer. If they weren't brother and sister, why did they call themselves so? Did that include the rest of the zodiacs?

"Minnie and I were brought together as soon as our powers were discovered. It was long before we were placed with the rest of the zodiacs in Regulus. We've been raised with them since."

"So you're not really brothers." Apple Bloom said. "Wow. You guys must be really close then."

"We try to be. Most of the time it works too."

Silence came between the two of them, allowing Apple Bloom to worry about the situation of her friends. She had been rather freaked out when she woke up and saw that Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo were not with her. She calmed down after thinking for a few seconds, deciding that if she and gem were fine, the others should be too, if completely off the mark.

"Some kind of force is tampering with out powers." Gem explained." We can't move while were in this territory."

"Well, in that case, we're not going anywhere, 'couse there's no way...out of...wait a minute..."

Peering down, she could see a light. A barely visible light.

A purple light.

Right in front of the castle, Twilight and Leo teleported ready to search for the foals. Well, Twilight was. Leo was still reeling from the effects of the teleportation, nausea, dizziness, you know the stuff. Apple Bloom smiled. This was their chance. Looking around the for anything throwable, she saw a rather large vanity. It was old and visibly rotten. But it was perfect.

"Gem...I need your help a little bit." She walked behind the vanity.

"Of course. What for?" Gem asked. Apple Bloom smirked.

"We're gonna drop this vanity on top of Twilight."