I'm back!
Oh my goodness I've had so many curve balls thrown my way in the past few months. -_- But bruised faces aside, I've finished this chapter, and a few others. ;) Though I did find that the chapter was almost 30 000 words again. I didn't get any input on the length of the other chapter but I feel that most wouldn't like that. So, I split up the chapter into two smaller ones, which I will post together and see how that's taken. Feedback is welcome! :D Otherwise, enjoy!
*/ I do not own My Little Pony: Friendship is magic nor any the characters contain therein. They belong to Hasbro and their respective companies./*
Twilight was staring at a small sand hourglass, watching the sand slowly empty from the top. It was her small, but effective, 15-minute timer. She'd use it for practicing spells, reading books, taking a leisure shower, and various other activities. 15 minutes was a very common timer for ponies to use. Though now she was using to delay her teleport to Princess Cadence. Merely 13 minutes and 40 seconds ago she had sent her sister-in-law an important letter.
The letter had been sent to tell the other alicorn of Fluttershy's fate. The letter also had instructions to send another letter to tell Twilight that she was okay. Though since Spike's fire mail was almost instantaneous, she must either be taking her sweet time, or was caught already.
14 minutes.
She felt herself swallow. Then she looked up at Celestia who gave her a reassuring smile. Though she herself was tense. Stiff muscles and slightly open wings seemed to be radiating anxious but battle-ready aura. Other than that, she and her sister were as still as stone.
Twilight felt her mind wandering again. Though this time in anger. If Noah had forced Fluttershy to hurt her sister-in-law, she was unsure of what she was going to do. She forced her anger into a frown but felt more anger than could fit on her face. Who gave Noah the right to control her friend!? Any pony for that matter? Just when it seemed her thoughts would make her scream, Spike belched out magical smoke that turned into a small piece of paper. Spike offered it forward to Twilight. She grasped it with her magic, feeling relief flood into her mind. Though it was short-lived. Just as a flower trying to bloom in a snowstorm.
The paper crinkled slightly as Twilight narrowly avoided crushing it in pure anger. It was a note saying for her to rush to the empire. No signature. No call sign or stamp.
From her beneath her anger, she felt the power rise into her being, just like the time she faced Noah at the portal. She held it back, remembering how the last time she had used it, Rainbow and Rarity had lost their magical abilities for a short time. She wasn't sure if it was truly her fault, but the facts seemed to line up too well. She wasn't going to risk it.
So, she teleported herself to where she fought Tirek so long ago. A small, deserted field covered with cracks that Nature was slowly reclaiming. She allowed the building energy to flood into her senses where it seemed to negate any bodily discomfort. She took a look at her leg, noticing that she was, in fact, glowing. She also noticed that a large amount of energy had been dispelled from her form. All directions had not been spared. Was that the cause for the momentary glitch with her friend's abilities?
Though the thought was shoved away, replaced with the mental image of where she had just been. She didn't have time to reflect on it at the moment. She winked herself there, feeling no pressure on her magic in the process. The group seemed slightly taken aback at her sudden reappearance though they recovered quickly. She placed a magical hoof on each of the ponies in the room and reached her mind over to the empire. Though she paused in the effect. She could feel Starlight's magic in a sort of combined teleporting spell. She would just have to connect her energy to hers and they would both handle the spell. Twilight considered it, though she could feel the near-infinite power flowing through her. No sense in tiring out Starlight when she could easily handle the spell. So, she located the source of the energy and let the spell fly. The spell took a second to take effect, leaving an even larger flash in its wake. When it disappeared, the group was under the Crystal Empire's castle.
Twilight spun around, letting her glowing eyes rest on Starlight, "Where is she?" She said, failing to clear all the anger from her voice.
Starlight had had her eyes closed, so the sudden words made the unicorn jump, "What!" She opened her eyes to see the glowing alicorn and took a hesitant step back, "Uh, Twilight? You, okay?"
Celestia nodded firmly, "Yes, she is alright. Though was it you that sent that request?"
Starlight nodded stiffly, unable to take her eyes off the purple alicorn, "Yes. Fluttershy and Noah are here. He took Cadence to the throne room, then Fluttershy just left. I assume to join them," She reported, still staring.
"You assume?" Rainbow asked hotly, "What do you mean?"
Starlight broke her gaze and gave the pegasus a hot look, "I couldn't follow her!" She turned her whole body to face the flying pegasus, "I had to choose between sending that letter and getting you all here or following her. I'd doubt Flutterbyte would just let me send out teleporting spells. Though had I known that Twilight could just teleport every pony here then I would have confirmed her whereabouts."
"You have one too." Applejack said gently, pointing towards Starlight's flank. Next to the star on her cutie mark was a small reflective patch.
Starlight returned the look, "Yeah. Though you have it on your chest, what happened?"
"I got stabbed in the heart. Apparently, Fluttershy took it out and fixed it. Then put it back in," Applejack's face matched Starlight's crazed expression, "You?"
"Just got stabbed by a crystal dagger," Starlight said meekly, "Nothing too special."
"Where did Noah go again? Do you know?" Twilight asked suddenly, breaking the flow. She took a step forward to pull the attention to herself.
Starlight responded with another step back before she responded with words, "Uh, he asked Cadence to take him to the throne room. Otherwise, he'd break the crystal heart. Though it seems fine now."
Twilight nodded, but paused when Glyph spoke, "Can I take a look? It may still be able to be remotely destroyed."
"How? Shining has already scrubbed the area for any magic other than its own magic," Starlight asked the new pony. Though if she showed any distrust, she hid it well.
"Crystals can be fabricated in ways to hold charges. Those charges can in turn hold small programs along tiny pathways of varying electrical resistance. Those pathways can become tiny computers. Those computers can handle the detonation of an explosive from a remote location. Those explosives could be crystals camouflaged like the gem." She paused, realizing what she was saying, "Noah could have placed crystal bombs on the heart. Which he can detonate from pretty much anywhere in the empire."
Starlight gave the pegasus a strange look, "And you can find these bombs and remove them? If they are present?"
Glyph nodded.
Twilight turned to the part mechanical pony, "You stay with Starlight, make sure the heart is okay. Every pony else will come with me to the throne room. If we need to, we can split up to cover more ground."
Before the group could respond, Twilight again reached for her teleportation spell. With a flash, she teleported the group to the throne. Her magic didn't drop like she normally felt it would, though she didn't care at the moment. Though she did care about the massive hole in the floor. She quickly grabbed her now-falling friends and hovered for a moment in the air. Her friends were talking to her, though she didn't hear them. She was remembering back when Celestia had given her the task of securing the crystal heart. This was the very same castle. The very same hole. Why would Noah be following Sombra's architecture?
She frowned, remembering the stairs. Then she snorted and glided down the hole, pulling her friends with her. The spiraling staircase trying to pull her attention away in a mesmerizing pattern. Though she ignored it. Her mind was too full of plans and actions she could take to take down Noah. For hurting her friend, for controlling her every move, and for destroying her life! She growled as darker plans formed into her mind. She was almost to the bottom of the stairs at that point, though her formulation of plans was brought to an abrupt halt when something smacked her in the face. A hoof to be precise.
The sudden impact made her lose her grip on her magic and was sent into the stairs next to her. She landed with a thud on the expertly crafted steps, though she had felt worse impacts before. She whirled around to face Applejack, who had smacked her in the first place.
"What the hay was that for!?" She barked, watching the pony recoil slightly.
"Cause you weren't listening!" Applejack replied, the concern on her face passing right through Twilight.
"Well, I am now!" Twilight said with a huff. She looked behind the earth pony to make sure everypony else was okay. It seemed they were, the ones with wings hoving in the air. The ones lacking wings were standing behind Applejack.
"We need to stop," Applejack said gently.
"Why!?" She said, bearing over her friend in the air.
"You have to stop that, power thingy. It's not—"
"AJ!" Twilight snapped, "This, power thingy, was the only thing that came close to saving our friend! Now you are telling me to stop using it! Why?!" Something in her mind seemed to click and tried to breach the surface of her mind. Though it drowned in her anger.
"Can 'ah get some help?" She said, aiming her words behind her.
Twilight felt her frown deepen, though allowed her friends to respond. They were her friends after all.
Rarity didn't respond, but rather faced the wall. Her horn glowed as she focused the magic into the crystal. It shimmered and glowed, then became a near-perfect mirror. She tried to pull on it, but the mirror remained in the wall. Pinkie stepped forward and gave the wall a good hit. It cracked, and Rarity was able to pull a small chunk of the mirror from the wall. It hovered over to Twilight and remained motionless in the air.
Twilight's world seemed to freeze in place. She was looking into the mirror, yet, she didn't see herself reflected back at her. At least, not her entirely. Her eyes were no longer obscured with a white glow but with visible iris and pupils. Though the pupil was unchanged, her iris was a dark shade of purple that seemed to be sharing the space with a red color. The whites of her eyes were now a very light blue that still carried a light glow. Around her eyes was a dark purple, almost black, that seemed to eat at the purple inhabiting her coat. It had spread almost across her entire face. The nebula mane and tail she was told about was now filled with a purple night sky, very few splotches of pink breaking the color here and there. She twitched in suppressed fear and quickly landed next to the mirror Rarity had created. Its larger frame giving her a bigger picture.
Twilight's mind was sent to her book that was linked to Canterlot High. To the passage where Sunset described the her in that universe. Where she had gotten a hold of equestrian magic and transformed into something that the group called Midnight Sparkle.
In the mirror, she could see a nearly perfect copy of the description coming to life in her face. Just pony-like and without the floating blue, "glasses."
She flinched at the mirror and felt herself fall into a sitting position so suddenly that she nearly fell off the stairs. Though a golden glow steadied her and kept her on the crystalline steps. She closed her eyes and felt the power in her body. This new power seemed to come from nowhere. Though she now knew that it came from darkness. How had it gotten into her? She didn't know. She just now needed it to go back to wherever it had come from.
She focused on it and pulled on it, trying to pull it back into herself. Surprisingly, it went without complaint. The first tug was all that was needed before the magic hastily retreated back into her body. Where it went, she wasn't sure. She just knew it was somewhere inside her. She shivered, feeling very worried.
Though the sudden cold from her emotions flittered when her friends embraced her in a hug.
"See?" Applejack said gently, "I saw that your face was changing and tried to get your attention."
"We all did," Pinkie said with a smile, "It was like you couldn't hear us."
"I hope I didn't hurt you too badly," the orange earth pony said with a sad smile.
Twilight felt her jaw and shook her head, "Honestly, I didn't even feel it. I just was really surprised. That's what made me lose grip on my magic," She said giving the pony another hug, "Thanks! I really didn't know what was happening."
"Indeed. Though I hope to clarify that soon," Luna said calmly.
"Though we need to get to our friend quickly," Celestia said, looking down at the bottom of the steps, "I'd recommend not using that magic unless you need to, Twilight Sparkle."
Twilight nodded, not wanting to turn into a nightmare. Fluttershy's predicament was enough. A crazed alicorn with near-infinite power? She did not what to burden her friends with that.
With that thought, she lifted her friends up and went gently to the room at the bottom of the stairs. She did feel her magic drain this time, though it was an insignificant amount. She let her mind ponder that in the background and focused her attention on the door sliding around the room. It seemed it couldn't decide on which pony to run away from but settled going in circles around the wall.
"Twilight," Celestia's voice pulled her attention to the base of the stairs, "Was this hole here the first time you were here?"
Twilight frowned and followed the alicorn's pointing hoof. At the base of the stairs, where the floor ought to be, was another hole that continued the stairs. It was only a single floor down, but it was definitely not there the first time she was here. Regardless, Rainbow dashed through and looked around.
"It's fine!" She called up, "Just another room that leads to a long hallway."
Twilight smiled at Rainbow's actions but gave her a frown when she saw her, "Rainbow! We are in a place that could be filled with dark traps. You can't just go rushing through!"
"Ha," Rainbow said, giving her chest a thump, "I'll outrun anything that's thrown at me."
"Not true," Luna said darkly, "This place reeks with dark magic. You would be caught before you even knew."
Rainbow's smile turned to a frown as she nodded.
"Though I think that they had been defused…" Celestia said with her eyes closed, "I can feel their spells etched into the walls, yet, they had no power. No triggers."
"I guess Noah has been down here then," Rarity said, looking down the long hallway, "Is it safe to continue?"
Celestia nodded and led the group forward, "Yes, but do not run. If we are quiet, we may get the jump on our target."
Twilight followed with a frown at the ominous pillars on each side of the hallway. It was forcing them to constrict their group, till they were two lines. The lines paused when they found a pile of purple sugar-like on the floor.
"Bah," Luna said with disgust, "I've always hated dolls."
"Dolls?" Rarity asked, looking at the pile with interest, "Why?"
The Princess answered as the group continued, "Not dolls as the young plaything. But rather like a magic golem, but made of crystal. It was a skill of the crystal empire that was widespread before Sombra took over. Though, I never felt comfortable around them." Luna's voice was low, but the group had a lot of experience when it came to quiet ponies, "That pile was the result of destroying a golem in the crystal magic way. Though I myself do not know it. Sombra took over before we could even ask for lessons."
Twilight listened to the story, remembering just how old the two alicorns actually were. Would she get to that age? Probably.
"What happened here?" Pinkie asked gently, looking at the two pillars ahead of them.
It was as if somepony decided to place toothpicks into the pillar. So dense to make a solid surface. A small blue crystal wall blocked the way forward, rather, the remains of one. Hundreds of little crystal toothpicks littered the ground. More purple sugar littered the area, mixing well with the little spines.
"Hang on," Rarity said, brushing an area clear of the debris. Her efforts cleared several light blue circles. They were about the size of a hoof.
"Oooh!" Pinkie whispered and stepped into one of the circles.
"Pinkie! That could be a trap!" Twilight hissed, but her mentor shook her head.
"No. These circles are purified. Whatever happened here, seemed to cleanse whatever dark magic was stored in these crystals." Celestia said, looking at the floor with interest.
"Hang on, there's more," Applejack said, brushing more debris away. More circles dotted the floor in the direction of the wall.
"Wait," Rarity said, "Pinkie, can you place your left hoof here? And your right here?" She asked, motioning to each circle. Pinkie nodded and placed her hoofs in the circles. She then was directed to the same with her back hooves.
"Now," Rarity spoke, "Step forward, but only step in the circles."
Pinkie frowned but did as she was asked. The circles were a bit far apart, forcing the earth pony to lunge forward.
"I do think that somepony was fighting here," Rarity said. Twilight could almost see a detective's hat on her head, "I think that the pony here lunged forward, then head-butted on of those, golems Luna mentioned."
Twilight nodded, "I agree. It's because the debris seems to originate at this point, right?" She pointed to the end of the circles.
Rarity nodded, "Yes my dear friend."
Twilight frowned, "Though we aren't sure who did it though?"
Rarity shook her head, "I'm pretty sure it was Cadence. See the distance between the circles? If these imprints were caused by hooves, then they are too far apart for a normal pony. Though, an alicorn stance is a much better candidate."
Twilight frowned. Why was Cadence fighting? Was she okay?
"Good deduction," Luna praised, giving the two appraising looks, "Though I think that we should continue. The further we delay getting to Fluttershy, the worse Noah could do is corrupt her more, right?"
Twilight frowned, "I don't think we should."
Luna gave her a confused look.
"Well, think about it," Twilight began, "Noah obviously knows this place better than we do. That is based on his ability to disarm the traps and know about the hidden doorways. We are at a large disadvantage. Not to mention that we were already at a disadvantage before. Now, we have very little room to dodge any attacks, and we'd have to worry about the dark magic being reactivated."
Celestia nodded, "Agreed, while having Fluttershy in a confined space may be better for us, it's much too big of a risk for us as well."
"What do you propose then?" Luna asked.
"Well, we could wait for him to come out?" Twilight offered.
"Darling, we don't know if the stairs are the only way out. The extra stairs were hidden; the door to the crystal heart was hidden, and we simply don't know if there are any more exits." Rarity said, waving her hoof in her elegant fashion.
Celestia nodded, "Agreed, though I may be able to help with that." She paused and lit her horn. Then, she closed her eyes and her face took on concentration.
Luna nodded, "The dark magic is naturally repelled by my sister's alicorn magic. Using that repelling action she can feel along the walls. Hopefully, she can use it to sense any hidden doors or compartments."
Twilight nodded, and the group waited for Celestia to finish.
The Alicorn let out a deep breath before opening her eyes, "This hallway magically seems to go on forever. Though I think that's a diversion as there is a smaller hallway on the right wall."
"Can you tell if they are down there?" Twilight asked hesitantly.
Celestia shook her head, "No, it seems to be a hole in the wall with camouflaging spells etched into it. It's safe to assume that they were down there. If they still are? I'm unsure."
"Did you see anything that could resemble an exit?" Rarity asked.
Another shake of the head, "No. This hallway is enchanted to look like it goes on forever, though it stops in a small room. I couldn't feel anything inside, but I could sense magic extending the hallway."
"Like those cartoons?" Pinkie asked eagerly.
Celestia nodded with a smile, "Yes."
"Oh, I want to try the magical hallway!"
"Maybe later," Applejack replied, "Let's get Fluttershy back first."
Pinkie's enthusiasm faded a touch, "Right! First our friend, then the hallway!"
Celestia looked at Rarity, "There doesn't seem to be any other exits that I can see," She looked back at Twilight, "What is your plan?"
Twilight smiled, "If we have everypony wait at the top of the stairs, we may be able to overwhelm Noah with numbers."
Celestia nodded, looking down the hallway.
"It is worth a try, let us move quickly," Luna said, taking to the air.
The ponies with wings nodded and Twilight lifted the rest of her friends into the air as well. The group quickly flew through the blackened crystal hallway, till they reached the stairs. Their movement didn't even pause as they merely threaded the needle.
"You go get the guards at the Heart, I shall go and get some patrols from the castle," Celestia said, hovering in the air.
Luna nodded, "I shall assist. I shall take left?" Celestia nodded as the two alicorns took separate directions.
Twilight nodded as well and warped the remaining group to the heart close by. There she saw Glyph hovering near the heart, trapped in a blue glow. Though the pegasus didn't look like she minded it. She had the green goggles on again and was gently prodding the crystal heart.
"Hey, Twilight! Did you find Fluttershy?" Starlight asked, her horn glowing.
Twilight shook her head, "No, but we found where she might be. We have a plan though,"
"What's the plan then?" Her brother suddenly asked, jolting her attention to him. She smiled, admiring the pony's armor.
"Can you get all the available guards to the throne room? We are going to ambush Noah." Twilight asked, moving her gaze to the pony's face.
Shining Armor nodded, "Right away." He then rushed off, calling orders and ponies over. Sound of hooves quickly filled the space beneath the castle.
A few guards remained to keep any curious spectators at bay. They were slowly gathering together. Though they did little with the guards offering what little explanations they could.
A shark crack suddenly hit Twilight's ears. She whipped her head to the crystal heart to see Glyph holding a large blue chunk of crystal.
"Glyph!" She shouted but was cut off by Starlight.
"Don't worry Twilight, she's just remov—" Starlight said but was cut off by Glyph's sudden shouting.
"Throw me!"
"What?" Starlight gave her an odd look.
"Throw me! There! Hard, NOW!" Glyph commanded, pointing her biological hoof away from the heart.
Starlight obliged and sent the pony flying in the direction she directed. Glyph pulled up from the launch and landed into a moving cartwheel. Halfway through the motion, she threw the chunk of crystal high into the air. Her momentum from Starlight allowing her to throw it into open-air rather than into the castle.
Twilight watched the chunk of mineral fly into the air, then it flashed for a second. A sudden and ear-shattering boom replaced the quiet as the crystal exploded with enough force to demolish a house. Glyph sunk to the floor with relief then got up and flew back to the heart.
"What, was that." Applejack asked, too surprised to add any form of questioning tone.
Glyph motion to a similar chunk of crystal on the floor next to the heart, "That was a crystal bomb. Pure energy, frozen into a crystal-like lattice. Break one part of this lattice and the whole thing breaks down, releasing all the energy at once."
"Kaboom!" Pinkie said, expressing the explosion in a full-body reenactment.
Starlight gave the dormant chunk a wary glance, "We found them pretty quickly. Glyph was able to remove that one without a hitch, though I'm really worried about it just laying on the floor."
"It'll be fine," Glyph reassured her, picking up the piece with her metal leg, "The other one was more affected by the heart and was a tad unstable. Taking it off weakened its structure, leading it to explode."
"Is it affected by magic?" Twilight asked, eyeing the blue chunk.
Glyph nodded, "Yes, it can be set off by magic. Honestly, you'd just have to blast it."
"Right, but can you hold it with magic?"
"Oh, gotcha. Yes, it won't blow up."
"May I?" Twilight asked, lighting her horn. Glyph nodded and held out the crystal chunk. It levitated into the air and floated towards the Alicorn, "We may be able to use this."
"In what way?" Glyph asked, but was interrupted by a guard rushing over.
"What happened?" The guard asked gruffly, "Is there an attack?"
Glyph shook her head, "No, at least not yet. Though I was able to separate the heart from any bombs, so it will be safe."
The guard looked uneasy, but Twilight spoke before the pony could talk.
"Don't worry. We'll explain everything the best we can after we've dealt with Noah."
The guard nodded, keeping the uneasy look on their face. Though he didn't ask any other questions and ran back to his position.
"Can I teleport with this thing?" Twilight asked, gesturing to the crystal.
Glyph nodded, "Yes. Just don't hit it with electricity or too hard of kinetic energy and it ought to be fine."
Twilight nodded and warped the group into the throne room. Shining was already there with the two alicorns and a large number of guards. Many of whom were looking at the dark pit that they've never seen before.
"What now Twilight?" Shining asked, stepping forward. He looked at the chunk of crystal floating in his sister's magical grip, "I take that you recused the crystal heart?"
Glyph nodded.
Twilight also looked at Glyph, "Can you make this thing explode from a distance? On command?"
Glyph nodded, "Yes, easily. Though it would still be able to detonate from its original source."
"Huh?"
"Uh," Glyph paused, "If Flutterbyte placed the bombs, then she'd still be able to detonate them. I can still rig them, but I can't change her ability to detonate them."
She gave the crystal bomb a new look, "So it could go off at any moment."
Glyph's face fell, "Yes. Technically yes."
Twilight spread her wings, "Okay, follow me. Let's rig this thing before it explodes. Shining?" She turned to her older brother, "Can you get every guard around that hole? Just out of sight from below. I'll explain what I'm planning after we plant this, thing." She said, giving the crystal a small bump.
Shining nodded, and directed his guard to and fro. Twilight Then flew to the hole and flew a few floors down.
"Okay," She said, motioning to the wall, "Let's put it here."
Glyph nodded, "Okay, give me the crystal. Then can you make a hole big enough for it with your magic?"
Twilight nodded and gently gave her the object. She then pushed her magic into the wall, and pulled it back out. On its return trip though, it ripped out a small chunk of crystal. Glyph nodded and flew over to the chunk. She gently placed the crystal bomb inside and Twilight watched her pull a metal square from her metal leg. Then, she gently placed the square on the blue crystal.
"Is it good?" Twilight asked, eager to get far away from the potential energy device.
"Yes, but hold on," Glyph replied, and deploy her knife from her leg. Then, with gentle movements, she cut a large piece off the crystal chunk Twilight was still holding. It remained in her magic though, but Twilight saw what the pegasus wanted.
Gently, she took the cut piece away and replaced the section of the wall. It wasn't perfectly hidden, but it was much more hidden than without that piece of the wall. Twilight maintained her grip on the remaining piece of the wall, not wanting to leave a part of the wall behind. Rather, she placed it in her pocket and flew with Glyph back to the top. Once there, she explained her plan quickly.
Cadence was walking back through the hallways. It was a brisk pace, not too fast not too slow. Though it wasn't her normal walk so she could feel her legs complaining. That and she was still recovering from the experience from the containment protocol. So, her walk was not as elegant as she wanted, much to her dismay.
Though the thought faded in her mind. Was that really needed right now? She was an obedient prisoner at the moment. She needed to get away! She frowned, giving the pegasus behind her a look. The pony returned it with a soulless stare. Noah had had the pony store the now completed gem in Fluttershy's chest. Somehow, she could change what was under that chest plate of hers. Instead of pipes and a glowing core, was several different sections decorated as such. Though, Cadence saw a very familiar six-pronged star. Despite her gaze, the center of the star had extended outward, exposing a long cylinder with several compartments. The gem had been placed in one, and then the cylinder had been retrieved. With another hiss, the chest became whole once more.
Cadence had seen the further most compartment contain the Alicorn Amulet. Though she didn't dare say anything, nor show any reaction to the powerful jewelry. She did not want Noah knowing that she knew about it through Fluttershy. If he did find out, what would he do to her? Fluttershy was at the complete mercy of Noah. Cadence frowned further and felt her wings twitch.
The ground tinkled as the spines parted along the ground for them. Though, she noticed that they had been moved. Exposing several blue circles on the ground. Where did those come from?
"Is there anyone else in these halls?" Noah said, stopping and looking at Fluttershy.
The pony blinked before responding, "No. The hallway ahead is empty."
"The stairs?"
The reply took a second, "Stairs are empty." Cadence's insides shuddered as she listened to the pony's monotone voice. It was empty, soulless. Not like the pony she knew, despite seeing a perfect copy of the Element of Kindness.
"We advance quietly," Noah said quietly, "It seems your people have decided to come against my will after all. I hope we do not see them in the throne room. For the sake of your kingdom."
Cadence's heart was a flutter. What was Shining doing!? He was going to put the entire kingdom at risk!
"But," She stammered, "What about those dolls? Maybe there are more? What makes you so sure it was my people?"
Noah gave her a cold stare, "There are no other magical traps, dolls, or anything of such left. Unless you are saying that the shards moved themselves." The unicorn continued forward, and the others followed.
What was she going to do? Cadence frowned, and looked upwards, what was her husband doing?! Her safety was not worth the safety of the entire kingdom! She half expected to climb up the stairs to see her kingdom buried in snow as thick as homes. She sighed, realizing that all she could do was hope. Hope that maybe Fluttershy moved them when she flew down here in the first place.
She was at the stairs at this point, and every cell in her body seemed to complain at the prospect walking back up the stairs. It was hard enough going down! Though she just filled her lungs and focused on putting one hoof in front of the other. Her vision was filled with stairs till the point where her mind seemed to fill. Her numb mind almost ran into Noah near the top of the stairs. They were merely three flights down. She looked up, feeling her lungs becoming infinitely empty again. She didn't see anypony, nor any creature. Which did fill her with some relief. Though she recounted when she heard Noah speak through her tired ears.
"Is there any pony up there?" Noah said, directing his words at Fluttershy
Much to Cadence's horror, she nodded, "Yes."
"How many?"
"29."
"It seems that your husband indeed defied what I said," Noah said, turning to the pink alicorn, "Strike three." He tapped on his amulet and held his hoof there. It glowed red for a second, then faded back to normal.
Though any thoughts she would have had, didn't happen as a large explosion filled the tube that they were in. They were protected from the shockwave from the staircase above them, but it cracked and began to fall. It bounced off a green shield and then fell into the abyss to the left of them. The shield vanished, but so did the view above them. A thick cloud of dust and unknown materials blocked the view with a grey, smoke-like cloud.
Cadence's nose twitched as a strong burnt smell struck her face. The earlier slap from the shockwave seemed to wake her up, though she still didn't know what to do.
Something brushed against her magic. It was familiar and was like an extended hoof. It was Twilight's magic in a sort of teleportation spell. She gave the two ponies next to her a glance, then grasped the magic with her own. Twilight would have a plan to save Fluttershy. It was her friend after all. She saw Fluttershy's hair flare up before a magical energy pulled her form into the space between spaces. Once she emerged, she was next to the hole. Only above the large smoke-like cloud. She glanced around, and saw a large among of guards crouching around the square hole in the ground. They all had their spears at the ready and seemed to be waiting.
Twilight was flying above the cloud, moving the cloud slightly, though not enough to make it clear. She was wearing a set of goggle-like glasses that were made of green material. Though, where the section of the glasses that would hold the glasses on the face, were merely flat pieces of plastic. Several blinking lights broke the color here and there. She was very curious about them but resolved to ask later. She was also tempted to ask how the pony had gotten here. Though she rather looked to the pony next to her, a pony with a metal wing and leg, but the pony shook her head and put a hoof to her lips. Cadence frowned and nodded, crouching down like the rest of the ponies were.
Twilight was carefully flapping her wings above the dust cloud trapped in the tube below her. It still moved around her but she was careful to keep it intact. The bomb had gone off sooner than planned, but its purpose was just to disrupt any pony up through the hole. Which it was doing so it was fine.
Well, except for her at the moment. She could still see thanks to Glyph. Glyph had given her green goggles after they had planted the bomb. She had originally planned to use magic to scout out where Noah and Fluttershy would be, but Glyph said her goggles would allow her to see through the cloud in a way.
The pegasus had been correct. In the black and grey vision she was currently seeing, she could see a bright white silhouette of two ponies making their way up the stairs. Once the two ponies had nearly reached the top, she fired a beam of magic at the silhouette with a horn.
It lashed out in a black beam in her vision, but as expected, splashed outwards as it was blocked by a magic shield.
"Noah!" She shouted, filling the room with her volume, "I wasn't done with you!" The beam of magic had disturbed the cloud a bit, but still not enough to clear it.
"I wasn't done with you either," A reply came back through the cloud, "Though I see that you have reinforcements this time, trying to make sure you don't lose?"
Anger jumped to her skin again, but she pushed it back. She didn't want her new form to emerge because she lost her grip on her anger, "Your point?" She replied letting the anger tinge her voice. She made sure her magic was still connected to Celestia, for the millionth time.
"Let's see how effective you are," Came the confident reply. The silhouettes were almost out of the tube, despite still being in the cloud of dust.
"Let's," she said simply, and sent Celestia the magical que she had prepared, "Just not with my friend…" She added darkly.
The stairs suddenly glowed beneath the cloud, being activated in a spell that would send the unicorn forward. The air also crackled as the hole in the ground refilled itself, becoming a solid floor once more. Well, mostly, if her idea worked.
Though she didn't check, she'd have to assume and rely on the others to pull her away if things got too sticky. A magical sword shimmered into existence next to her, and she landed next to Noah with a thud, clearing the air in a single movement.
She shouted, her vision turning to normal, and swung her sword. Which, as expected, was blocked by a summoned black sword. She locked the two blades and pushed forward, getting close to the unicorn. At that point she unlocked and attacked again, watching the floating black blade parry her attacks. She emptied her lungs and summoned a few more, which was countered by the unicorn summoning a few more of his own. Twilight felt her lips frown but continued her attacks, and made sure to stay close.
During her roll, she managed to get a look at Fluttershy and smiled at her success.
Fluttershy was stuck in the floor at the moment. Or, buried in the magically disappearing and reappearing floor anyway. She had Celestia stand by the trigger to return the floor to normal on her que to trap her corrupted friend.
She ducked under a blow and unleashed a volley of her own. The trick was to trap Fluttershy's legs and hopefully trap her. At which Rarity and Glyph would stop any hair movements or those magmatic extenders. Starlight would be on standby, just in case Twilight needed protection from Noah's magic or a shot from Flutterbyte.
She summoned another sword and sent it into motion, careful to stay in the unicorn's face. He looked annoyed at this and maintained his defense with the swords he had summoned. She had to stay close to discourage Flutterbyte from taking a shot at her. If she did, then it may hit Noah. Or, at least that was her logic.
She took a look at Noah's swords, and confirmed that he wasn't going to summon anymore. She let herself grin a little, then shouted, "Now!" It was a simple que, but effective nonetheless.
Her magic swelled as she entered her Harmony form with the rest of her friends. The guards around them all jumped forward, brandishing their crystal spears. Though, Twilight saw Fluttershy extend her wings in the corner of her eye, and saw a green shield blossom in front of her.
Well, not really.
As Twilight and Noah continued to slice and block hoof attacks, Twilight noticed the green shield was hovering around Noah like a protective little frisbee. It was whirling around him, protecting him from the guards and an occasional attack from her.
She watched Noah's horn ignite and she tightly rolled to avoid the shot. Midway through her roll, she saw Rainbow above her. Though she was barred from putting restraints on Noah by another shield.
Well, that was Plan A out the window. Though she could still do plan C. She took a breath after her roll and summoned her brother's sword from her pocket. It was a family artifact, passed down several generations. So, it wasn't new to her. She even got a chance to wield it here and there. Shining even gave her a few lessons on how to wield the sharp blade.
So she continued to attack with her magical blades but attempted to stab with the metal one when she got a chance. The metal blade she held on by her hooves since the grip was designed to allow hoof magic to grip it tighter. So she had fun bouncing the sword between her hooves as she attacked.
After a swipe with her front, she'd place it on the ground to spin around it and grab it with her back hoof. Then, with another tight spin, she'd buck at Noah with the sword secured on the side of her hoof. When it got blocked, she let fly, only to catch it with her front hoof and attack with a back flip, narrowly missing the evading unicorn. She was constantly fighting the unicorn's magic trying to abduct the blade from her, though Twilight's magic had the advantage since it was already flowing through the blade.
She allowed her magic to defend her from an attack from behind, then attacked with an overhead slice, letting her magic choose where to send the other magical blades. Each one was either dodged or evaded, but Twilight stopped her magic from defending her for a moment as she ducked, tightly avoiding a black sword. Though, she was smiling, despite losing a few hairs, because she was in a crouched position. She lifted her chest up with her back legs, aiming the sword she had on her front hoof, and quickly extended her back legs. The motion quickly propelled her forward, sending the sword flying towards Noah's shoulder.
It was narrowly parried, making it miss just barely. Though Twilight was expecting that.
She let the sword go, and let her momentum crash into Noah, knocking him upwards and off his front legs. Twilight then used her wings to continue the motion until Noah was flat on his back. Twilight grinned and summoned another, larger, magical blade and again aimed for the shoulder. It struck a magical shield. She frowned, and leaned into the blade, applying more pressure.
She felt Noah's back legs attempt to buck her underside but smiled as it collided with a magical shield of her own. Though the action caused her shield to flash around her, highlighting her coat in a bright pink wave.
"Yield!" She shouted, her face forming a half-grin.
Noah didn't reply, but a sharp movement caused her to glance at Fluttershy.
Her front right leg was still stuck in the floor, with a metal snowflake similar to the top of Glyph's removed leg. Yet, another, much more polygon leg was raised and pointed at her. It expanded into the DPM Glyph had made. It glowed blue and Twilight could see into the now pure white barrel.
Though she didn't worry as she saw a light blue shield conjured between her and the weapon. It fired anyway, but splashed harmlessly against the blue shield.
Twilight smiled, noting to thank Starlight later. She took another deep breath, feeling her magical swords still fighting Noah's magic swords. She grunted and tried to push the sword harder. She also summoned more swords to attack. However, despite the guards' attacks continuing, the little green disk seemed to move around fast enough to block everything. She was able to catch it growing and expanding to block more than one shot at times, but she allowed her magic to keep up the attack.
Her muscles complained as she felt the blade jump up and down. The sword had pierced the shield, just wasn't able to get through since the shield still held onto the sides of the sword.
A sudden crash and a multitude of cracking made her pause and look at the shield Starlight was protecting her with. Though the sight made her frown.
It was nearly shattered, reforming, but the sheer number of cracks had shown how close the blast had gotten through. Though her worry dissolved as she felt her brother's magic meld with Starlight's shield, making it a deep shade of purple. She smiled and returned to her sword's weave. Shining's shield was strong enough to protect all of Canterlot. She would have time.
So she made a tiny tweak in her sword's spell and made it shed its outer layer, like a fat caterpillar. The action separated her sword from the shield and allowed her to propel the sword into the unicorn's shoulder.
Noah grimaced in response, his face showing a great deal of pain. His magical swords fading as the pain forced only one to remain.
"You are hurt, and will now stand no chance against my magic, "Twilight said darkly, standing over him like an axe, "This is your final chance. Yield!"
The unicorn slowly shook his head.
Twilight frowned and supplemented more power to her swords, causing them to glow brighter. She aimed four at each joint, leaving one to defend, "So be it." She said and was about to send the swords towards their destinations. When she was hit with a pure shockwave that was similar to the Star pulse back in Noah's place in Canterlot. Though this was strong enough to send her into the wall and leave an imprint. Furthermore, it had shattered a combined shield spell. Twilight blinked, feeling her personal shield spell wavering as it absorbed the impact of her hitting the sharp walls of the decorative pillars.
She blinked, watching Noah lean over and send a bolt of dark magic, not at her like she was expecting, but at the groaning Starlight. The previous shockwave gave the unicorn no chance to react, so the bolt hit her directly on her side. Starlight's body tightened, and she put a hoof to her throat. A few gasping noises emanated from her till it stopped entirely. Her face showed shock and pure panic as the unicorn was unable to fill her lungs.
"Starlight!" She exclaimed and rushed over. A dark aura was floating around the unicorn's throat so she extended her magic and engulfed it. She knew that it was dark magic, and also knew how to fight it. But found it quite strong. Complex layers of magic coupled with interlocking spell threads made the spell near impervious to her touch. But Starlight caught Twilight's eyes and she the panic in the unicorn's eyes and doubled her efforts. She could hear Luna's magic as, assumingly, she attacked Noah. Though Twilight wasn't truly paying attention, instead her entire focus was on the hostile magic in her friend's body, attacking it with everything she had.
"Here, Twilight, allow me," Celestia's voice gently commanded, "Put pressure on Noah. With Fluttershy stuck, Glyph may be able to cleanse her."
Twilight retreated and allowed Celestia's magic to take over. She turned to Noah, only to find him in a green bubble. She scowled, watching Luna's fruitless attempts to break it.
Noah was on his hooves at this point though only three as he cradled the one she had stabbed. He did some sort of motioning signal with his head and the back of the bubble dissolved. The unicorn's horn glowed in a familiar dark and green conglomeration as the guards and her friends began to hover in the air, twitching in pain.
"How many can you save Twilight?" Noah taunted, his voice betraying only a little pain.
She didn't respond. Though a sudden crack brought her attention to her corrupted friend. The pegasus's extra leg had disappeared, and the shoulder was now properly attached to the leg in the floor. The sound was the leg slowly lifting up a section of the floor she was stuck in, freeing the leg in the process. She scowled, watching the pegasus's slow efforts to free herself. How? How did the pegasus have the strength to break crystal? With very little leverage? Where was the strength coming from?
She turned to Noah, feeling her anger rise again. He did that to her. Whatever changes the pegasus suffered from was his doing. Now, he was showing the ability to channel dark magic, something that she thought only Alicorns were capable of. How was he able to use it?
And now her other friends were suffering at his hoofs as well. The anger that came with that thought smashed all the premade barriers against it and a searing heat filled her mind and body. Her Harmony form vanished, and she felt panic rise as the other power began to fill her body. She tried to stop it, but it was far too late.
It lit up every cell in her body with power that washed away her tiredness once more. Her hair became weightless and she felt it hover in the air. She also became aware that she was glowing. Though she swept it away, desperately pulling the sudden power back into her. This time it complained as it hadn't spread throughout her body at that point, but it obliged after a moment. Unlike last time, she felt exhausted and almost collapsed on the ground. She felt her magic was unaffected, but her body seemed to scream at her. It felt that she had just eaten something that was just past the expiration date. Though the feeling wasn't restricted to her stomach, instead it seemed to travel through her blood vessels. Making waves of discomfort ride through her.
"What," Noah started, but had to pause, "Did you do? How?" His horn was no longer lit, and her friends were on the ground slowly getting their hooves beneath them. They were also out of their Harmony forms. Though it had looked like they had been bucked in the gut.
The room was suddenly filled with crackling as the floor above the massive tube cracked and fell, taking Fluttershy into darkness. Twilight attempted to jump forward, though her body protested and she fell flat on the floor. What happened? She had reeled in the energy before without all these side effects!
She remained in the position as the yellow pegasus flew out of the hole and landed next to the incapacitated alicorn. Her eyes were unnaturally wide, and her hair was beginning to move towards her.
"No," Noah's sudden voice made the pegasus's movement freeze. Twilight could feel Celestia's magic quickly pull her away even as Fluttershy turned to Noah.
"Return us to base." Noah finished, his voice showing tiredness and pain.
Fluttershy blinked and straightened her stance. Her wings extended and a ring around her barrel sunk inwards and into a hidden compartment. A new ring was visible with several boxes with unknown func—
"Twilight!" Cadence's nearly screeching voice snapped her thoughts, "She's about to teleport!"
Twilight's brain seemed to zap her body and she forgot her sluggishness for a second. Her horn lit up and was next to the pegasus with a flash. She wrapped her friend in a tight hug and looked the pony in the face.
"No you don't," Twilight said, "I'm going with you, and I will make sure to come back after I've found Noah's base!"
Fluttershy merely blinked in response, then shrunk out of her grasp and disappeared in a flash of light. The sudden lack of support made the alicorn fall to the ground with a thud of confusion.
How had the pegasus teleported on her own? Twilight had expanded her magical energy, so any teleportation would have pulled her along for the ride. She frowned and stubbornly pushed herself to a sitting position. She lit her horn and closed her eyes, searching for any teleportation residue she could use to reactivate the spell.
Yet, there was none.
Nothing at all! Nothing that indicated anypony had ever teleported beside her own recent teleportation.
This time she voiced her thoughts, "How?! She teleported and didn't leave a signature?! Wait," She paused as her mind caught up to what she was saying, "She can teleport!?"
Starlight nodded, "Apparently. Learned that the hard way." Her voice was soaked with annoyance.
"That's teleportation using electricity to manipulate quantum forces rather than magic. You'd need a special tool to detect the signature it creates," Glyph added, tiredness emanating from her voice.
"Do you—" Twilight started to ask but was cut off.
"No, I do not. It's not very easy to carry around."
Twilight let her head smack into the floor, "Oh come on…" She could feel her anger again rising to her thoughts. What could she have done?
Maybe had the other Alicorns help with taking Noah down?
No, Celestia had the floor trigger. That and they couldn't engage without invoking a stronger response from Flutterbyte. Once she had restrained Noah, they would have helped restrain Fluttershy, their strength combined with hers and Applejack's more than enough strength to restrain her.
She shouted, letting out her frustration into the floor through a swift hit of her front legs. She felt the cracks brush against her head as the floor couldn't handle the hit. She groaned, feeling regret as her leg started to throb.
She sighed and lit her horn again. She still felt sluggish, but she used her magic to repair the floor anyway.
The room she had grown quite familiar with suddenly appeared into view with a small pop in her ears. Her thoughts turn to sadness as she confirmed that she was in the room with the harness. The room's shelves with known and unknown materials. Fluttershy sighed expecting to be ordered into the harness again.
Action denied.
"Healing mode," Noah said and pointing to his injured shoulder.
Fluttershy felt herself blink, and the now-familiar feeling of her legs disappearing into her shoulders only for new ones to come out. This time, the medical legs came out and did their job on Noah's wound. She saw the would highlight in green and felt the prongs emerge from her hooves and hold the wound open. Her hair seemed to cauterize the broken vessels from her leg puling away hardened blood. The broken bone was filled with a hardening white substance and then the muscles and nerves were printed. Just how it had done on Starlight's wound.
She stared idly at the words, Printing muscles. It would change to nerves or other names she didn't recognize now and again. Though she wasn't really paying attention. She was thinking about what had happened mere minutes ago.
She was bitter that Twilight's plan had been foiled when it seemed tantalizingly close to fruition. She got reminded again that she wasn't allowed to move as she tried to sigh. Though the words weren't really bothering her anymore. She had heard it so much that it would merely bounce off her ears.
Printing new skin layers…
Fluttershy was glad Noah didn't have her contain Twilight, but why? Twilight looked pitifully weak at that point and probably wouldn't have stood much of a chance. She frowned, watching the last of Twilight's efforts disappear on Noah's shoulder.
Noah had her collect the Alicorn amulet, use Sombra's and Cadence's magic to repair a crystal only for her to rip her leg off to defeat Sombra. She shuddered at the thought.
Action denied.
Action denied.
Action denied.
That had hurt. A lot. Nothing in her life could compare to how much that had hurt. Though she was delighted to find that she could—
She was just about to say repair herself. She paused, wondering if that was the correct terminology.
"Teleport us to the rendezvous point," Noah then said abruptly and Fluttershy felt the feeling around her barrel disappear in a ring shape. She did feel something inside spin for the fourth time and her vision suddenly changed to where they had left the wagon. She saw the green square appear in her vision again as they were approached by the ponies they had left to defend the wagon. Her body was suddenly given back to her, and she almost fell over.
"Sorry!" She quickly said, "I'm still not used to teleportation quite yet." The other ponies gave her an odd look.
"But you've been teleported before right? With Twilight and others?"
Fluttershy was about to respond, but Noah stepped over her words, "Unicorn teleportation and Electro magical teleportation are two different things. Different but same in nature."
The ponies shrugged and took Noah's words. The group then boarded the wagon and it began to move with little sound besides the crunching of little stones under the wheels.
Fluttershy frowned and sighed, feeling confident her quiet voice wouldn't be able to reach the others.
She felt her mind wandering back to the depths of the crystal castle, to where she ripped her leg off to defeat Sombra.
Would it be proper to say that she healed herself? Or that she repaired herself?
She let her expression become flat as she let the blank landscape take her mind's eye.
Did it matter?
Cadence was feeling better as she sat in the now broken throne room. There were a few dents in the wall but the biggest issue was the massive hole in the floor just in front of the throne. Though she wasn't too worried about it. The throne was mainly a place for her to be easily reached. Not really for her to lavish and enjoy.
Though she was listening to Twilight recounting what she and her friends had learned about Fluttershy's new abilities and nature. She had been slightly informed about them but to hear what had happened in Canterlot first hoof was another thing entirely.
Fluttershy able to withstand three alicorns? Crazy.
Taking Spike? Creepy.
Having Noah then take her away through a magical portal? Annoying.
She did see that Twilight was holding back some information due to her experience with diplomacy. Though Twilight wouldn't have a reason to withhold it without a good reason. So, she decided not to push on it.
"So yeah," Twilight said with an awkward smile, "You're all caught up with the madness."
Cadence chuckled, "Madness indeed. Though I can confirm that Flutterbyte theory. Fluttershy is still in there and I was able to talk with her when I was in containment protocol."
"Would you mind sharing your experience?" Luna asked.
Cadence felt her head nod as she mentally compiled what had happened, "Sure! I'll start from the beginning," She turned to Starlight, "Starlight and I were working on the crystal magic stuff when we broke for lunch."
"Wait, one sec," Twilight interrupted, suddenly perked up, "How's that going!?"
Cadence smiled knowing Twilight's eagerness in magic. Though Celestia gave the other alicorn a gentle smile, "Later Twilight."
The alicorn took a deep breath and released it, and Cadence could see that Twilight was holding back anger. Deep analyzing eyes, little hairs in her mane going astray, and a tightly controlled voice that years of experience could identify. She smiled, realizing the reason why Twilight had asked.
"It's okay," She said meeting Celestia's eyes, the other nodded and Cadence returned her gaze to Twilight, "It's been going really well! Starlight says I'm a natural, but I still am far away from doing the advanced stuff in the books."
Starlight laughed, "Ha, your much closer than you think!" She paused, igniting her horn. The floor below her started to glow, and a small crystal dagger rose from the seemingly malleable floor. Starlight released the air in her lungs with a gasp and the dagger stayed upright, the hilt still attached to the floor.
"Ugh," Starlight groaned, taking a few breaths before motioning to the blade, "That's the best I've been able to do."
Twilight quickly walked over and crouched to admire the blade, "Fascinating! Its pure crystal, not magic, nor does it contain the magical residue such an operation would leave," She turned to Cadence, "Oh I'm so jealous! But what about you?" She turned to Starlight, "You said she was a natural right?"
Both Starlight and Cadence nodded. Cadence then lit her horn and took in a breath, "Though I may not be able to do too much since I'm still quite drained after being contained."
"That's fine," Came the eager reply.
Cadence nodded and focused on her magic, closing her eyes in the process as her magic started to complain. She frowned, slowly pushing the floor in front of her into the sword that she had summoned quite a few times. This time was different, as she could feel the anger around her like pancakes being smothered in a foal's servings of syrup. It was thick, hot to her mental touch. It didn't cause pain, however, so she continued to feed the crystal in the shape of a sword. The floor accepted the energy and grew how she wanted it. Though, she was so focused on the spell that the hilt separated from the floor before she got a grip on it. It clattered to the floor with a faint crystalline ping. She opened her eyes to admire her handiwork, then noticed that the blade was different.
It was a bright ruby red, with its glow nearly stopping light from passing through. It looked like the ice she took out of the freezer when she defrosted it a couple of weeks ago.
"Uh," Starlight asked, staring at the blade, "That's new…"
"Wait what?" Twilight asked, also looking at the blade on the floor.
"Yeah, normally it's a translucent blue," Cadence stated and touched the hilt to pick it up. Immediately she yanked it back, while choking back a scream with a coughing gasp, "Ahh! Celestia's celestial pancakes!"
"You okay?" Twilight's concerned voice reached her ears, but she was too busy trying to cool her hoof down to respond immediately.
When her frantic attempts to blow on her hoof finally worked, she looked at her sister-in-law, "Yeah, I'll live. But do not touch that!" She stated sharply, "It's as hot as a fire, no, hotter." She looked back at her hoof, seeing the contact had left a blackened mark. It was tender, but she was used to walking lightly on her hooves. So hopefully wouldn't be an issue.
"Huh?" Starlight asked, "Hot? What did you do?"
"Nothing different," Cadence replied looking at the blade. It was now smoking slightly, so she gently wrapped her magic around it. Thankfully it wasn't able to burn her, and she was able to lift it up. It left a black mark on the ground though and sizzled slightly when she rose it up. From there, she rotated it, only to find that it was identical to the blue ones she had previously created. Same sharp blade, plain crossguard, and a flattened handle that ended in the gem-like pommel. It was the same as the blue one. Only red and searing hot. So hot in fact that the air around it shimmered like the top of a campfire.
"You didn't mean to create that?" Starlight asked, walking over to the blade, "Did you do the normal fabrication method?"
Cadence nodded, "Yes! Feeding it energy along with the pathways for it to grow. I did everything normal, just, different I guess…" She replied, giving the unicorn a confused look.
Starlight returned the look and studied the sword.
"Can you make another?" Twilight asked, "That way we can see if it's the environment or something. Maybe the crystal composition?"
"Maybe…" Cadence replied, and again focused her energy into the ground. This time was harder, as her energy was waning, but she managed to create a sword. Though this one was the blue sword she had grown familiar with.
"That looks normal," Starlight said, giving the blue blade a touch, "And it's not hot."
"But I didn't do anything different!" Cadence complained, "I can't just make crystal objects that burn ponies to a crisp!" She complained, showing the group her injured hoof, then froze eyes wide, "I made Flurry a fork for lunch. What if it turns red and she puts it in her mouth?!" Her mind was not happy with the image that brought. She twitched in response.
"Are you sure you did nothing different?" Celestia asked, taking a closer look at the red blade, then at the blue.
Cadence nodded furiously.
"Hmmm," Celestia replied, lost in thought.
"Perhaps it's not something you did, rather something that you felt," Luna added, looking the alicorn in the eye, "What did you feel when you were making the blade?"
Cadence frowned, putting two and two together, "Well that might be it," She looked up, "I felt anger in the room as thick as syrup. I could feel that it was warm, but definitely not as hot as that blade!" She exclaimed, pointing to the red crystal.
"Did you feel angry?"
"Eh, not really. Upset for sure from what I learned about Fluttershy. Though it felt the anger was around me, not in me."
"Hmm," Celestia hummed gently, "Maybe the crystal magic is able to channel emotional energies and trap them in crystal. Making the growths gain special attributes."
"Yes," Luna replied, "Though I do not remember anything like that when we visited the crystal ponies. We saw them make red crystal into ornaments for us to wear, remember?"
Celestia nodded, looking at the blade, "Indeed. It was definitely not hot to the touch, quite the opposite actually." She looked towards Cadence, "You may have a special gift when it comes to this crystal manipulation."
Cadence chuckled, "You knew that, didn't you? That's why you pressed me to try it?"
Celestia smiled, "I did not think this," She motioned to the blade, "Would happen, but you can naturally draw strength from magically attuned crystals right? I thought it would be a good match for you. Though I underestimated how much."
Cadence put on her thinking face. It was true that she could get power from the crystal heart by merely looking at it. She had never questioned it since she was an alicorn. She was able to feel the magic all around her, expanding outwards from the heart as it protected the Empire. She also knew she could feel emotions pretty well and use that to gauge her actions and responses. Did the crystal manipulation combine the two abilities together? Or did she just stumble upon an undiscovered manipulation tactic?
"Though that mystery will have to be unraveled at another time, for now, note the power of the emotions around you before you make any crystal structures." Celestia requested, smiling as she did so.
Cadence nodded. Seeing the hint of praise in the alicorn's voice. It made her heart skip a beat. She wasn't very strong with magic, so seeing a sudden powerful gift sprout in her was amazing. Though, everything came with a risk. She looked at the blade. The theory was that it was made of crystal filled with anger. Pure and hot. To the point where the blade reflected that. She'd just have to be careful whenever she made silverware again. She didn't want to make something that would hurt her precious foal.
Celestia chuckled, now the anger was out of the room, "Celestia's celestial pancakes?" She asked, a large smile on her face.
Cadence smiled, looking away, "What? They're good."
Celestia chuckled again but looked towards her sister.
"Though I feel it is time we found out what happened to you," Luna said taking a seat with a smile as well, "I'm quite curious what Noah was doing in the hidden depths of the castle."
Cadence nodded, feeling the memories return to her, "Yeah, I feel you need to hear them as well." She paused looking at the red-hot blade. She frowned and placed it gingerly on the ground. It hissed for a second as the ground quickly heated up. Though it didn't spread enough for her to feel it when she sat down, so she continued.
"Okay, from the top. Starlight and I were working on the crystal manipulation when we decided to break for lunch. Starlight was delayed but I received your letter when she was coming back. With that information in hoof, I saw Starlight with Fluttershy and decided to sneak attack them to try and gain the upper hoof. It worked and the crystal manipulation worked on Fluttershy, despite her magical immunization."
"That's good to know," Twilight said, "I'll have to learn that later."
"It's a lot harder than it looks!" Starlight replied, giving the alicorn a smile.
"Agreed," Cadence said with a smile, "Though I had to fight with another user."
"Noah knows it?" Twilight exclaimed, "I've got to learn it fast."
"Eh, I was talking about another pony but yes. Though Noah seems to know it to a certain degree. Mostly, his experience seems to mostly be eliminating existing structures. But he can do it to a certain extent."
Twilight merely nodded.
"Though Fluttershy was still able to free herself and was going for the heart, Starlight tried to help keep it away from her by teleporting it away but that's when we found out she could teleport."
"Though, may I add, she was able to teleport right next to me. So, I think she could either see or sense my teleportation's path and use it to get to me." Starlight added.
"Wait," Applejack interjected, "Is this where you got stabbed?"
Starlight nodded, "I used the blade to make her flinch by throwing it directly in front of her eyes," She grimaced, "But I guess she caught it and threw it at me when I teleported. The pain stopped me from teleporting a bunch but I was able to teleport another time. Though this time she teleported next to me and ensnared me with her hair."
Cadence nodded, "I guess that's the point when Fluttershy reappeared next to the heart's pedestal, holding the thing on her back. It was," she paused, realizing how weird it sounded, "attached to her back by some sort of claw or hooks that were coming from her back. And when she touched the pedestal with her hair, she was able to have the heart continue its job."
"Really?" Twilight asked, turning to the pony with a metal wing.
"Hmmm," the pony responded, "I'm not too surprised, the EMDs are able to channel energies on varying levels. Electricity, heat, cutie mark magic, and with some being able to channel magic as well."
"Sorry," Cadence said awkwardly, "I'm afraid I don't know you."
The pony smiled and waved her metal leg in a greeting, "No problem, I'm Glyph. The pony who made the things that are in Fluttershy. Only to have them stolen and put into her."
Cadence cocked an eyebrow, looking at Twilight, who returned the gesture with a nod. Cadence nodded in return and looked at Glyph, "Well, if Twilight and her friends trust you, that's enough for me."
Glyph smiled, "Great! Feel free to ask me any questions."
Cadence nodded, "I shall. Though I will continue first," She paused regathering her thoughts, "After that, Noah threatened to destroy the heart, and since she had already been able to destroy the crystal I made, I decided to oblige. He then had me go to the throne room."
"That's when I got healed by Fluttershy," Starlight added quickly.
Cadence nodded, "I suppose, though he seemed capable of wielding that dark alicorn magic that Celestia warned me about."
Celestia nodded, "Troubling, though it's not the first time I've heard of a unicorn able to channel such energy."
Cadence frowned, "Troubling indeed. But Noah used that magic to get into the same staircase that leads to the crystal heart's original hiding place. Once below, he opened a hidden passageway that leads to a very long hallway."
Rarity nodded, "Yes, we saw that, though we saw signs of a battle?"
Cadence nodded, "Yes, we were attacked by some crystal dolls."
"Dolls?"
"Yes, though not in the foal's plaything. No, this is a crystal manipulation that creates a sort of magic golem made from pure crystal. You can then give it thoughts and essentially a mind of its own."
"Like a program?" Glyph asked, seemingly in thought. Though the blank stares made the pony snap out of it, "Well, it's a sort of script for the computer to follow. Say you want it to pick up a ball and place it on the table. Simplified, the script would be: Pick up ball, lift to table, set on table, release ball. Kinda like that."
Cadence nodded, "That's pretty much it as well, just with your thoughts. It's more of cloning your thoughts and placing them into the crystal. Though I'm not totally sure of the tactics since I haven't quite gotten that far in the transcripts we found. But from what I understand, yes."
Glyph nodded in satisfaction, "Cool."
Cadence returned the nod, "Though we didn't just run into dolls. There were many other traps. Saw blades, hidden pit traps, spikes, all the classic traps. Though Noah was able to deactivate most of them. That was until we ran into another massive doll that we had to retreat from. It was then that Noah called Fluttershy down and she took down the doll by herself! She stuck with us until we got to another little room with a gem in the center."
"Hold on," Starlight said, with an urgent look, "When Fluttershy healed me, I was able to talk with her. She told me, with great urgency that Noah had gotten something. She got cut off though. All she was able to saw was Alicorn, but there were some other words."
"Well, we know he's after alicorn magic. Maybe she meant Celestia's magic?" Pinkie offered.
Cadence shook her head, "No, she was going to say, Alicorn amulet."
Twilight and the others gave the alicorn startled looks.
Cadence merely nodded and held up her hoof, "Yes, I'll get to explaining how I know in a moment. But there is also another revelation that may shock you more."
The group now showed curious looks, but Cadence noticed, worry? In the faces of Luna and Celestia? Though she glossed over it, continuing her tale.
"Noah then started to draw magical circles around the gem. Though I should say that this gem was shattered into about a ba-jillion bits. It was only recognizable as a gem as it was hovering in the air. The circles Noah was drawing seemed to be some sort of funnel for magic. Though it would be later revealed to be a spell to repair the gem. Once he had finished, he drew another circle with a simple M in the center. He then drew a line through it and it summoned a single black crystal and a black cloud. That cloud turned into King Sombra."
"What?!" The group audibly voiced their surprise.
"Wait, didn't we blow him to bits when we fought him when the empire first appeared?" Rainbow asked.
Cadence nodded, "We did. Through Noah, I found he had bound himself to shadows to give him a sort of fake immortality. He could just be revived at any time."
"Wait," Applejack stated, "If he got revived shouldn't we be more worried?"
Cadence shook her head, calming the nerves of the group. She was curious to see what crystal would be made if she could feel nervousness, but she pocketed the thought for later.
"He was quickly contained by Fluttershy. I was then contained and brought to a cube-like room." Cadence said, spreading her hooves around, "It was massive. But in this room, I saw Fluttershy and King Sombra. At first, Sombra was very controlling and attempted to force Fluttershy to give back our magic. Though I don't feel that she took it in the first place."
Celestia nodded, "Agreed. When I was contained, I could feel my magic was nearby,"
"But couldn't use it right?" Cadence finished and got a nod in return, "Sombra I guess mistook that as her taking his magic. Though he continued and Fluttershy trapped us in chains."
"Chains?" Pinkie said, "Our Fluttershy?"
"I don't think it was on purpose," Cadence responded, "Nor do I mean physically. Sombra and I were arguing, and she shouted for us to stop. Then chains appeared from the ground and restrained us. Fluttershy was immediately sorry and seemed to recoil like a foal desperately sorry about something. And that caused the chains to disappear. I was able to comfort her but it was about that time Sombra and I got contained."
"With the cage of spikes and glowing golden orb?" Celestia asked, seeming to shiver at the thought.
Cadence nodded, "Yeah. Though Fluttershy was able to reach me and tried to pull me away. I think that it was because the orb went after Sombra first. Though her attempts were unsuccessful."
Celestia nodded, "She tried freeing me as well, though it was too quick for her to stop it."
Cadence nodded, "Well, after we both got our magic taken we were let go and our magic was then used to fix the gem that was in that room. We then got released, but not before Me and Sombra were able to make a plan to take down Noah. Fluttershy was also able to tell me that Noah had her steal the Alicorn Amulet."
Twilight frowned with anger, "Ugh, after all the time we put into hiding it?"
"I would double-check Twilight," Celestia suggested, "You said you put a fake?"
Twilight nodded, her face showing annoyance, "Yeah, but it was Fluttershy's idea and she was the one who put it into action."
Celestia frowned, "She wouldn't tell us he had gotten the amulet if she had known there was a fake, and he had the fake."
Twilight nodded.
Cadence sighed, "That's annoying, but at least we don't have to deal with Sombra. He got taken out by Fluttershy pretty easily. She was actually able to emulate his magic, even controlling the spells he tried to cast. Like his shadow form? She was able to pull him out of it!"
Twilight chuckled, "Wish I could have seen it." The group around her agreed.
"Eh, I don't know Twilight," Cadence replied, "She had to tear off her own leg since Sombra stabbed her with a spire of crystal. That didn't seem to affect her. She didn't even cry out!"
Glyph frowned, "No, I'm sure she felt it. Remember back when you first met me? When I tried to override her program? Well, it would cause feedback in one of the programs and it seemed to be hurting her, even though I was only messing with the programs in the computer. So, I'm sure she felt it."
Cadence frowned, feeling the anger around her grow thick again, "Well that puts a new spin on it." She swallowed her anger and continued, "She was able to repair herself though, after killing Sombra anyway."
Twilight blinked, and paused, then continued, "Did you happen to see the wound?"
Cadence frowned, "Yeah, but I wasn't expecting it. It was like Sombra was an empty shell. All I could see was a shadow in the pony's head, even though he got stabbed between the eyes."
Twilight blinked.
"Uh, Cadence darling?" Rarity asked, "I do think Twilight meant Fluttershy."
"Oh," Cadence smiled awkwardly, "Well I remember a lot of metal-looking parts. Honestly, it really surprised me. Her skin was yellow on one side and a metallic shine on the other." She paused for a second, "The wound seemed to reveal metal insides. I saw a little gold, perhaps a blue glow? Not a big one, just noticeable, I think? Though I didn't see any blood or any evidence of bleeding. Just pieces of metal and multicolored strings."
Twilight seemed to deflate with the rest of her friends, "So she's metal all the way through?"
"Wait, you said her leg was torn off right? We know that's made of metal already. Perhaps beneath it is, uh, pony?" Glyph offered.
Though Cadence shook her head, "Not just her leg came off. It was more of her shoulder, that was attached to her leg."
"Oh," Glyph's hope seemed to pop before her, "Never mind I guess."
"How!?" Pinkie suddenly blurted, "She's so squishy! I'm sure that her animal friends wouldn't want to lay on solid metal!"
Twilight took in a breath, "I don't know Pinkie, but Cadence saw it first hoof. It's hard to dispute that."
"Well, I think I can explain that," Glyph said, staring at the floor, "Cutie mark energy is able to thread through pretty much anything it's put into. Take my prosthetic for example," She said lifting the metal leg, "Because I've had it for so long, my cutie mark energy has had time to go through it and make tiny root-like pathways. This makes a sort of cushion or spring that gives the material more give without sacrificing much strength. Here, give my leg a squeeze."
The group then took turns giving the pony's leg a squeeze. When it was her turn, Cadence found the metal did in fact, give. Just barely though, just like an organic front leg would. Not nearly as much, but noticeably so.
"Fascinating," Twilight whispered.
Glyph nodded, "Indeed. The cutie mark magic will try to mimic the original limb the best it can. Now, there are factors such as complexity, moving parts, or the length of time the magic has been able to sink it. But since she's had it for so long, I'm sure that the magic has had plenty of time to make the metal mimic living flesh. Kind of anyway. Add that to the fact she didn't know it wasn't her real legs, so the magic would probably sink into the metal even faster."
"What do you mean?" Twilight asked, looking at Glyph's face.
"Well," She paused, "I've found that the magic is able to go through inorganic replacements faster if the pony wasn't able to see it, or remember that it was replaced in the first place." She paused again, "Say a pony were to get an artificial heart right?"
The purple alicorn nodded.
"Then the magic would seep into it and make it sort of malleable, while keeping the material's durability to cutting or scraps. But since the pony wasn't able to see it, it would happen a lot faster than say a front leg replacement," She finished with her leg raised.
Twilight nodded, "That makes sense. Though could it be the heart is towards the center of one's magic? More than a leg?"
Glyph's face turned to a thoughtful one, "Eh, maybe but I've also seen the same effect of back legs vs front legs. Say the front ones taking more time than the back in this situation. The only thing different is the amount of interaction they had with it. You are always are able to see your front legs, not always your back. That's what brought me to that conclusion. I've also got some scans to back up that as well."
Twilight nodded, but it was Cadence was the one to talk, "So Fluttershy didn't realize that she had metal legs because she thought they weren't metal?"
Glyph nodded, "Essentially yes. Then her magic would be able to go through it faster and make it more believable."
Cadence frowned, "Sure, but wouldn't she notice if she got a cut? Or a scrape?"
"Come to think of it," Rainbow said, "I can't remember a time that she had gotten a cut or scrape."
"Really?"
Rainbow shrugged, "I may be wrong, but she didn't like any activities that could injure her."
Cadence nodded. Fluttershy probably wouldn't be the type of pony to put herself in a situation to get hurt like that.
"Not even a bruise?" Cadence tried, refusing to believe that with all her animals she never got a bruise.
Rainbow shrugged, "Yeah, maybe. Though I don't remember anything different from them."
The other nodded, adding to pegasus's words.
"What about the time Fluttershy got sick with Swamp fever?" Celestia asked, "She said in her letter she had orange spots appear on her coat?"
Twilight nodded, "Yeah, that's right! She also was extremely tired, along with those orange spots."
Celestia turned to Glyph, "Can such an organism do that to a machine or computer?"
The pony shook her head, "No. Even if a microorganism could connect to a computer, it wouldn't be able to speak the computer's language. So, it wouldn't be able to infect it at all."
"Then how did she get sick? If she's fully machine she wouldn't be able to get those spots right?" Twilight asked in a hopeful voice.
Glyph frowned and stared off in thought, "Then there has to be something organic left in her for the Swamp fever to affect. Though I'm not totally sure about the spots. My only guess is that her mind is so connected to the computer that when she got sick, the computer tried to mimic what the organism was doing to her since she thought her body was organic. Though I'm not a hundred percent certain. That also means her coat and skin can change color."
"So we could change her back?" Rarity asked hopefully.
"I suppose, though there has to be enough left. She also has to have at least front legs as a prosthetic since we know those are full metal." She frowned, "Honestly though, if what Cadence saw what she said she saw, I am not sure we could. Well, we could potentially but Fluttershy is so attuned to her metal form that she can feel pain through it, so it might be detrimental." She smashed her metal leg on the ground, leaving a small dent, yet her face didn't change in emotion, "I can't even feel pain and I've had this leg for years now! I can only feel that it's dented through its touch sensors. And even then, vaguely. I have visually check to make sure."
"Yeah, she can feel pain and feel very well. She's gotten scared of a leaf landing on her back," Rainbow replied, looking off into the distance.
Glyph stared at her metal prosthetic in jealousy, "That would be nice. It's taken years for me to learn how to feel with my prosthetics. Even then, I can barely discern against the stones in a waterbed. Much smaller and I can't tell."
"Well, the fact that you can feel through a metal object is still amazing!" Cadence commented, "That's still quite good!"
Glyph nodded with a smile, "Most definitely, though I feel we've been sidetracked. What happened after Fluttershy defeated Sombra?"
"Hold on a sec," Applejack said, seeming to catch on the last phrase, "We are just going to gloss over the fact our timid friend was able to defeat King Sombra?!"
Twilight frowned and looked down, "After fighting the other Princesses and me, I'm not terribly surprised."
Applejack frowned and nodded, "Yeah…"
"She also was able to channel his magic, rendering most of his spells worthless," Cadence added, "It really wasn't a fair fight."
Applejack shrugged, "It's just not right. Timid Fluttershy being changed into some, fighting, machine? Under control by somepony else?"
The group nodded in silent agreement.
"I agree. Though she's still in that, machine," Cadence paused, seeing how odd it was to say a pony was made of metal, "I was able to talk to her."
Applejack smiled, "I'm glad she's in there. Though how do we get her out?"
Glyph shook her head, "No, I don't think that's the correct term. She's already in her body. We need to get the programs that are controlling her out, then she'd be back to normal."
"Normal as she could be knowing that she's some sort of mechanical creature that can't make up its mind between hurting and healing." Starlight said sadly.
The group remained silent for a few moments, as each contemplated their friend's situation. Cadence was frowning, wondering when she should continue her recounting. She swallowed and figured it would be best to wrap it up quickly.
"So," She paused, dragging out the word, "After Sombra was eliminated, Noah took the gem and we went back through the hallway. Fluttershy was somehow able to see everypony at the top of the stairs, even was able to count them. We got up the stairs and then I accepted Twilight's teleportation link and you know the rest."
Twilight nodded, her expression still holding some of the sadness, but was changing to determination as she watched, "Okay, so Fluttershy still has quite a few abilities that we don't know about. So, we are going to have to be careful about our plans."
Celestia nodded, "Agreed, though we know that Noah took a gem from Sombra's previous castle, has acquired the alicorn amulet, and has a portion of my magic, Cadence's magic, and King Sombra's magic. Does that combination ring anything with you Twilight?"
Twilight slowly shook her head, "No. The only thing I can think of is gathering alicorn magic and other sources of powerful magic to become magically stronger. Though I'm not sure about the amulet…"
"Could that be a medium of sorts?" Starlight offered, "Alicorn magic is super powerful, right? So maybe he wants to contain it into something else?"
"But the alicorn corrupts its user right?" Rarity asked, "Why would you want all your power resting on something that would eventually corrupt you?"
"Cause you're already corrupted?" Rainbow offered, getting a few ponies to smile.
Luna frowned, and turned to Cadence, "What was the nature of the gem you saw? Color, grade, type, anything helps. Sombra would not hold a gem under so much security if he didn't have other plans for it. Especially if I know what gem it was."
Celestia nodded, face quite serious, "Yes sister. If you are correct, we have a big problem on our hooves."
Twilight frowned but kept quiet, the others following suit.
Cadence then frowned and thought about the gem, "Well, the gem was red and seemed to be able to swallow light. It was shattered but I can confirm that it was restored and placed in, uh, somewhere in Fluttershy's chest cavity."
The group accepted her words with odd stares that mimicked her own feelings when she saw Fluttershy's chest open up.
"Yeah, but the weird thing was that the gem seemed, to frighten me. Not in the sense of like a haunted house, but more of the feeling of dread a mouse may feel when there is a predator nearby."
Celestia's frown darkened, "That sounds like the gem for sure. Though we have to be certain," She turned to her sister, "Would you help me?"
Luna nodded and the two walked over to Cadence, standing on either side of her. She might have been scared by having the two princesses on either side, but she knew them and felt the opposite.
"Alright, just think about the first time you saw the gem, we'll take care of the rest," Luna said, igniting her horn and touched Cadence's. Celestia did the same, and the Princesses' eyes seemed to glow. Cadence cleared her mind, then thought about the time she saw the gem. She also noticed Twilight ever curious look as she seemed to desperately want to ask about the spell.
"Focus Cadence," Celestia said with a smile.
Cadence chuckled, then closed her eyes. She delved into her memory and recalled the gem. How it looked, how it got repaired, and how uneasy the gem made her feel even when it was broken.
"That's a serious problem," Celestia stated, pulling away with her sister, then gave her sister a look.
"What's the problem?" Cadence asked, feeling anxious now.
Celestia didn't respond, but Luna spoke, "Sister they have the right to know. We can't make proper plans without telling the full situation."
Celestia earnestly nodded, "Yes, but we've been keeping this under wraps for over eleven hundred years! We can't just let the Populus know about it."
"Know about what?" Twilight asked hesitantly.
"The alicorn amulet's secrets," Luna said flatly.
"Well that's really not a secret," Rarity said with a frown, "It's a powerful magical artifact that gives the user power but corrupts them in the process."
Luna nodded, "Yes, but that is only a fraction of its secret. A small one at that."
"A fraction?"
Luna nodded, but didn't respond despite the barrage of looks she was getting. Rather she turned to her sister, "The secret may already have been revealed in some way since Noah was able to pinpoint the gem's location, even after a thousand years of time eroding the lines of history."
Celestia nodded, "I want to tell them, but not everypony we meet. This secret has been kept for far too long for us to just let it out to everypony."
"Agreed." Luna turned to the group with a serious expression, "What we are about to tell you all is a secret that has been kept for over eleven hundred years and is not to be repeated to any pony. Do you all understand?"
The group hesitantly nodded as the weight of her words sunk in. Cadence frowned, looking around the throne room, and was trying to think of a better place to discuss such important matters. Though Luna seemed to have a plan.
"Hold still please," Luna requested as she took a seat. Her eyes closed, then her starry hair swirled around her into a sphere, obscuring her from view. Then, the starry bubble expanded, slowly engulfing anything, and everypony it touched. Though the group trusted Luna but couldn't help twitch when the bubble engulfed them. When it reaches her, the hair seemed to feel like gelatin. Weird, starry gelatin. Though the feeling only lasted as the bubble went around her, and eventually engulfed her. She blinked as she found herself in a completely new space.
It was like she was standing on a nebula. The throne room was completely replaced with a blue background that was filled with different stars and swirling colors. She took in the new area with awe as the stars seemed to twinkle on their own accord.
"Where are we?" The words escaped her mouth as she continued to look around.
Luna chuckled as she was now visible, "I have a small pocket dimension in my hair. It's quite useful."
Cadence's expression of awe seemed to twitch as she took in the full hit of her words, "Well."
Luna smiled, but then dropped it as Celestia spoke, "Yes, this is a place where we are able to talk freely, and without fear of anypony eavesdropping in purpose or accident."
"One question though," Cadence said awkwardly, "What happens to the throne room?"
"Nothing," Luna replied with a knowing smile, "To everypony outside it's a magical bubble that has taken the appearance of a galaxy."
Cadence nodded in relief. It was already going to be a pain to fix the massive hole in the floor.
"But here we shall reveal the Amulets true origins," Luna said flatly, "To answer thy statement from earlier," She turned to Rarity, "The amulet does give power, but it doesn't corrupt the user. The curse that I placed on it does."
"You cursed it?" Twilight asked, mimicking the confusion and concern on every pony's face, "Why?"
"To answer that, we need to go a little farther back in history," Celestia said with a smile. Luna nodded as her sister continued, "Back when me and my sister were young, back when even Starswirl was young, back to war."
"War?"
Luna nodded, "War. Though not the war between differing races."
Twilight frowned and was about to speak when Celestia cut her off, "You will not find mentions of this war in any book or transcription of any kind. Sister and I made sure of that."
"You wiped a historical event off from time?" Twilight asked, aghast.
"Yes," Celestia nodded her face grim, "Though we are not without our reasons, and I trust that you will trust our reasoning and keep the secret, or this conversation is over."
Twilight blinked in Celestia's words but nodded. The others following suit. Cadence frowned, understanding the reasoning behind the princesses. Though she had kept little things from her subjects, she had never hidden such a big event from such a big populus.
"Now this war was not pleasant, straining everypony." Celestia said, her eyes in another memory, "Our enemy was a family of ponies who were addicted with the power of Dark magic. The practices of this dark magic were their traditions and were willing to sacrifice others to fulfill its gruesome requirements. They called themselves the Eye of Calamity and sought to become a storm that could destroy all in its path. Even to other dimensions, we later found out."
Cadence felt anger rise to her chest. She was glad she didn't have to deal with that.
"This was about the time where Celestia and I became Alicorns and were able to control the Moon and Sun," Luna continued, "We were still learning of the alicorns' new type of magic, something that Starswirl helped us out a lot."
"That must have been fun!" Twilight chirped.
Celestia nodded, "Yes, though it was prepared for battle."
"Oh," Twilight said in a small voice.
Celestia nodded, "Indeed. Our power would turn the tides on this family that was slowly becoming a nation. They wanted to be able to practice their dark ways without any restrictions from our leaders and sought to bring them down. That was a bitter war until me and my sister came."
"Indeed," Luna said, a small smile coming to her lips, "It was liberating to be the spear front of turning the war. Our power, while chaotic at first, was able to naturally fight against the dark magic the others were using."
"You may be curious why I sent you to the crystal empire when King Sombra returned, rather going myself," Celestia said, turning to Twilight.
Twilight nodded slowly, "It was a test, right?"
Celestia nodded, "But you wouldn't have been without backup. If things started to go poorly, I would have been ready to assist. The cold is easily bearable when I can show my true magic. Though since my magic has a natural opposition to Sombra's dark magic, it might have arisen questions as to why I know how to dispel them so easily. Such curious questions could be the start of the unraveling of a thousand years of holding the secret. Ponies are quite curious creatures. So, I laid in wait, watching."
Twilight gave her mentor a questioning look, "You mean you were watching from outside the Empire when Sombra originally attacked?"
Celestia merely smiled, "Though, with every opposition, creatures learn and adapt. The Calamity was no different. They foraged an amulet that was able to counteract my, and my sister's, power with ease."
"The Alicorn Amulet?" Pinkie asked.
Luna nodded, "Yes. It gets its name not because it was made with an alicorn's power, but it steals alicorn magic and gives it to its user. Stagnant energy is left by our presence, or from us directly. When it was brought into battle for the first time, we could feel our power begin to fade, and that turned the tides of battle alone."
Celestia nodded, "The Amulet itself nearly lost us the war, as Luna and I would just be giving the other side power to fight us with. Thereby negating us being in the battle in the first place."
"So the amulet could just absorb your attacks and send it back?" Twilight asked, but Celestia shook her head.
"No, not exactly. If we were to gather our alicorn energy around our us to strengthen our attack," She paused lifting her hoof. Then a hardened glow appeared around it, obscuring the hoof in a golden glow, "It could absorb the energy like that. But weaved into any sort of spell then no. Even a simple beam attack wasn't able to be absorbed. But the amulet was constantly able to absorb our power, even at a larger range."
"So any attack me and my sister could employ would be blocked using a shield made from our own energy," Luna said and closed her eyes. A few stars seemed to collect around Cadence's eyes, small winking lights in her vision. She also noticed everypony had the same stars around them as well.
"I am about to share to share with you a memory," Luna said, closing her eyes, "From this, you shall experience it that way I did. The day I cursed the amulet."
Cadence nodded, and the stars shone brighter around her face till all she could see was white. The bright white started to break as she saw the white shift into flurries of snow. She was seeing through Luna's eyes, her blue snout visible in her vision. Though she could also tell that she was wearing a battle helmet. Though she didn't just have to see the nose piece to see that it was there. She could also feel the armor as if she was wearing it. She shifted her body a bit and felt disorientation when the feeling didn't shift with her. She was currently sitting, though she felt she was walking with armor in a bitter snowstorm. She smiled, this was a very interesting spell, she could almost feel Twilight's questions—
"Do thou feel it?" Celestia's voice was strong but hardened with battle. Nothing like it was now.
"Aye," This was Luna's voice now. Though it felt weird to feel like she was talking in another's voice, "It must be close."
Luna turned to her right, and she was able to see Celestia in elaborate gold armor, a large halberd hooked to her side. The armor clinked as the alicorn nodded. Luna then looked forward in the snowstorm, only to see darkness in the storm's flakes. Though, as the storm lightened a bit, the shadows turned to ponies as hundreds came into view.
