Dear Princess Celestia,
I know I haven't written to you very much since I became a princess and I haven't seen you since the last gala so I thought I should let you know about what's been happening around here lately. It might become obvious to why this is important to tell you as I explain.
Now first, I have to ask you about a certain map. It appeared on the castle's grand table a few days after Tirek's defeat and it has been sending us to fix friendship problems using our cutie marks. The first time it sent us to a town where everypony had the same cutie mark. While there we met a unicorn named Starlight Glimmer. She tried to force us to join the town without our cutie marks but we managed to stop her and free the town. Starlight herself disappeared into the mountains.
The map then sent us on more journeys to fix friendship problems in groups of two. A little while after Fluttershy and I fixed our problem, the map sent Spike and I on a different kind of journey. Starlight came back with Star Swirl's time spell and used the map to teleport herself and us back to when Rainbow Dash created her first sonic rainboom and my friends and I got our cutie marks. She then proceeded to stop Rainbow from performing the events that led up to my friends and me getting our cutie marks.
Each time she did this, it would send Spike and I to a different future without harmony. Long story short we eventually convinced her to stop and realize what she was doing. We convinced her to give friendship another chance and she agreed to become my student. Her magical potential is outstanding and I can't wait till you get a chance to meet her.
There are other things I can tell you about but they would be better to discuss in person so I think that's the end of this letter. I hope you are having as good a time there, as we are in Ponyville. Talk to you very soon!
Your most faithful student,
Twilight Sparkle
After Twilight finished penning the letter, she went to find Spike so that it could be delivered as quickly as possible. She checked his usual spots he liked to be at the castle. She checked in the kitchen, the ballroom, the great room, the map room and even in a few of the spare rooms.
She wasn't sure where Spike could be at the moment. He rarely left the castle without letting her know ahead of time and, unless she was half asleep at the time, she couldn't recall any time when he had informed her of going anywhere. She was starting to wonder about what he planned on doing today and realized that she didn't really think she could remember a time when Spike told her about an event he planned on attending ahead of time.
She was about to go back to her list of things to do today and just skip past the letter when she heard a loud crash coming from down the hall from her bedroom. "What in Equestria was that?" she said to herself as she ran in the direction of the crashing noise and realized she was headed towards her library.
She picked up her pace as she thought of all the terrible things that could have happened. She flung the huge yellow doors open with her magic expecting the worst. What she actually found was her apprentice Starlight Glimmer levitating four separate bookshelves that were tilted either to the left or right.
Starlight looked toward the door seeing her mentor and it broke her concentration for one second and she almost lost control of the bookshelves. She clenched her teeth and stopped them from falling any further. Twilight was about to ask her what was going on when she saw a claw stick up from the piles of books that were covering the floor.
Starlight looked almost guilty as she stared at Twilight. Starlight glanced in that direction and suddenly the glow of her magic appeared around the claw and more of Spike's body appeared from the books. Spike looked around seeing Starlight who smiled apologetically towards her.
Twilight broke the silence, "What in Equestria happened Starlight?" she asked the unicorn. She immediately regretted this decision as it clearly stressed Starlight to think about one more thing. She set spike down and gave Twilight a look that said, I can explain everything. "Twilight I'm so-" Starlight gasped as her magic flickered on the bookshelves and Spike's mouth was suddenly zipped shut.
Starlight tensed up as the bookshelves were slowly levitated back into place. She quickly floated back down from the place in the sky she was in. "Twilight I know that Spike wanted to tell you about what happened but I felt it would sound better coming from me." she said quickly, clearly exhausted. Spike looked very frustrated. Starlight gasped "Oh sorry Spike, I just need to talk with Twilight alone first." Starlight cringed as she removed the zipper from Spike's mouth.
She was clearly drained from all the work. Spike finally spoke up. "No Starlight! You are not taking the blame for this! It's all my fault!" He argued falling on his face in front of Twilight. "I just wanted to reorganize the library so it was easier to access for you and I tried to convince Starlight to help me with her magic but she said that even though it sounded like a good idea she didn't know if she could control all the bookshelves at once and I asked her to try but she said she had other things to do so I tried to move them on my own and found it a lot easier to move them of I pushed from the middle." He stopped for a breath.
"Really Spike it wasn't your fault. I should have helped you from the beginning instead of ignoring your concerns. I should have helped you like a good friend."
"Starlight! Blindly agreeing to help with a bad idea isn't being a good friend! You did nothing wrong! You saved my life."
Twilight didn't know what to say so decided to let them continue. "I didn't save you! I saved myself from the falling bookshelves! I didn't even know where you were! I just assumed that stopping all of the shelves would likely stop you from getting hurt." She looked surprised at her own statement.
"See Starlight? You did save me!"
Starlight shook her head, "If I hadn't been able to control my magic we both could have died! And it would have been all my fault!"
Twilight finally interjected "Starlight, if you hadn't been able to control your magic it wouldn't have been your fault that you couldn't stop it so don't blame yourself." Starlight seemed to accept this. "The important thing is everypony is safe."
Starlight suddenly gasped in pain and doubled over. "Starlight! What's wrong?"
She moaned, "It's nothing Twilight it's just my horn. It burns."
Twilight gasped, "If it wasn't a big deal then why did you fall over?" She placed a hoof on her horn and grimaced.
"I don't think it's ever felt this way before." She clenched her teeth in pain. "It feels kind of like what I felt when I was trying to control all of the bookshelves and Spike and myself all at the same time but a bit duller."
Twilight thought hard about this, "Maybe you over exerted yourself Starlight. When you felt the pain were you trying to use magic?" Starlight nodded.
"I was trying to levitate some of the books back to the shelf to start cleaning up while we spoke but it didn't work."
Twilight rubbed her forehead thinking, "I'm sure I have a book in here about Unicorns overusing magic." She glanced at the mess before her and groaned. "But I don't know how we are going to find it in this mess." Starlight groaned.
Twilight glanced around the room, checking if everyone was there yet. She saw Fluttershy and Applejack picking up books and sorting them. Over by the east wall, Rainbow was flying books back up to the shelves as per Twilight's instructions. Rarity was speaking with Starlight who hadn't moved much since the incident.
The only one of her friends who wasn't here yet was Pinkie Pie. Twilight did one more fly by to the front of the castle to check for Pinkie but upon finding nothing, teleported back to the library. "Alright everypony, thank you for coming. I'm pretty sure you all have an idea of what happened by now. I need your help to find a book called 'The Ins and Outs of Unicorn Magic'. While you're searching, you can just put the books back on the shelves."
After hearing this speech, Rarity turned back to Starlight. "So you can't use any magic at all?" she asked while looking through books.
Starlight shook her head. "It's so frustrating to not be able to help." she said clearly disappointed.
"Well I can't say I've been in that particular type of predicament. However, you can rest assured that we will not rest until your magic is restored." Rarity answered with a determined expression.
Suddenly, the piles of books started shaking around as if something was moving about them. Everypony stopped working to look in the middle of the room where the books were shaking the most. Out of the center of the room popped a bright pink face and a darker mane that could only be known by one name.
"Pinkie!" Twilight called out, flying down to her. "I'm so glad you could make it!" she glanced at Pinkie quizzically. "How did you get in here anyway?" Pinkie crawled the rest of the way out from the books.
"Well Twilight, I only made it here now because I promised Mr. Cake I would make some deliveries for him this afternoon. But as soon as I saw your letter I zip zipped over here to help." she paused frowning," But I sorta lost my way in the castle and forgot where the library was. But when I heard voices coming from upstairs it scared me! So I gathered the nearest object in the guest room and when I pulled on a little lamp by the door, a little square opened up in the wall and dropped a book on my head clunk!" she giggled. "So I pushed the books aside and dug my way up to where I am now!"
Twilight stood dumbfounded. She didn't know there were secret passages in the castle! "Well Pinkie," she began, "Starlight can't use magic so we are looking for a book about unicorn magic." Pinkie gasped.
"You don't mean 'The Ins and Outs of Unicorn Magic' do you?" it was now Twilight's turn to gasp.
"How did you know that?" Pinkie was about to answer but stopped and dove back into the books. She returned moments later with the big purple book in her mouth.
"It's the book that bumped me on the head silly!" Twilight quickly opened it and her friends gathered around.
"Let's see. Basic Spells, Strengths at Different Ages, How to Bestow Magic on a Non Magical Being?" she flipped to that page and saw that it was missing. She shrugged and went back to the table of context. "Over Using Magical Talent! Here it is!" she yelled triumphantly. Starlight had walked over by now and was looking over Twilight's shoulder.
"What does it say?" she asked, excited. Twilight scanned the page and then flipped to the next.
"It says that when a Unicorn uses more magically talent then their body can handle, their magic will burn out and become useless to them." She scanned the page a bit further down, "It also says here that there are no recorded occurrences of a burned out Unicorn getting back their magic."
Starlight frowned, "But does that mean I'll never use magic again?"
Rainbow dash quickly interjected, "But Twilight! If all that's true then how didn't you burn out when you had the magic of four alicorn princesses?"
Twilight thought about this, "Maybe I have the ability to control more magic than I naturally have." She glanced towards Starlight, "But then that would mean that you have more magic potential then you can even safely wield!" She gasped.
"But Twilight! Isn't there something we can do for her? Couldn't you ask someone else who knows a lot about powerful magic if there's anything we can do?" Pinkie asked abruptly.
"Well, the only other being I now that could even relate to Starlight's magical potential is either me," She paused, "Trixie, since she had the alicorn amulet or," She paused not sure if she should voice her last thought.
"Or who Twilight?" Rainbow interrupted her thought.
"Or Discord." She said, her expression hesitant. "But I don't know if we should bother him right now. Maybe we could find Trixie?" She smiled trying to avoid that subject.
Fluttershy placed a hoof on Twilight's shoulder, "I'm sure Discord would love to help us Twilight. He wouldn't do anything wrong. besides, isn't it time Starlight met some of our other friends?"
Twilight thought about that. "I just don't want him making the situation any worse," she paused "but I guess we can give him a chance."
Fluttershy smiled "Thanks Twilight, I'm sure he'll help."
"Excuse me?" Starlight interjected. "Who is this Discord? You talk about him like he's some kind of monster!" She laughed. The rest of the group didn't.
After explaining to Starlight who Discord was and explaining how he might be able to help, the girls still had one problem. "So if we are going to ask Discord for help, how are we going to contact him?" Rainbow pointed out.
They all thought about this for a good while. "Well we could send him a letter." Fluttershy offered.
Twilight shook her head, "That would take too long, and we don't even know for sure that it will get there." she frowned remembering what happened to his letter for the gala.
"We could just summon him again like we did when the everfree forest attacked?" Rainbow suggested.
"And ya do remember what we used to summon him dontcha?" Applejack pointed out. "We don't have the elements no more, so we can't summon him."
Rainbow slumped to the ground. "Then how are we supposed to talk to him!" The seven of them wondered if there was any other way to talk to Discord. They were about to give up when they heard a crash behind them. They all turned to see their Draconequus friend groaning on the ground in a heap.
Starlight jumped back in shock then suddenly fell to the ground in pain having tried to instinctively charge a spell defensively. "What is that?" she groaned standing.
Twilight helped her up, "Discord." Twilight stated. Starlight stayed behind her while Discord got up.
"Discord, how did you know we needed to talk to you?" Fluttershy asked surprised.
"And how did you manage to fall out of the sky?" Rarity questioned. They looked towards the ceiling to see it was covered with ice. Discord rubbed his head.
"Well it's nice to see all of you as well." he muttered. "As for the first question I popped in when I felt a strange magical surge in this area." He popped up behind Twilight causing Starlight to jump back. "I assumed Twilight had gone over her limit but when I arrived, out of sight of course," his body started to fade into transparency. "What was I to find but you! Looking for me!" a heart appeared above his head.
"I knew I had to alert you that I was in the room so I had this brilliant idea!" a lightbulb appeared above his head. "If I turned the roof to ice, then the chandelier with its candles would melt the ice dripping all over you." he gestured to the bookshelves now covered with tarps. "I even protected your quaint little library." The ponies did not look amused and Starlight looked nervous to say the least. "However," he continued. "How was I to know that when I turned the roof to ice it would also cause me to slide off of it." he finished snapping his claw causing the ceiling to return to its original state.
"Well no matter how you got here it doesn't change the fact that I think we need your help." Twilight said stepping aside to reveal Starlight who sat on the floor not sure how to react.
"Discord." Fluttershy motioned to Starlight, "Meet Starlight Glimmer, Twilight's student in magic and friendship."
"So this is the pony who took her magic a bit too far." he deduced teleporting behind her spooking her.
"Discord! There was no reason to scare her like that!" Fluttershy scolded.
"Oh calm down I'm only getting to know her." he countered, slithering around Starlight
She had her eyes closed tightly and didn't dare speak.
"Well? Did she lose her ability to speak as well as her magic?"
Starlight took a step away from Discord and toward Twilight. She whispered to her. "Why did you want him to come here?"
Discord vanished, then appeared inside Twilight's ear. "Because I'm a magical being who understands far more than Twily will ever be able to teach you."
Starlight jumped back. Fluttershy stepped forward, clearly upset. "Discord, that is quite enough! How can you expect to help her if she's too nervous to go near you?" Fluttershy turned to Starlight. "I'm sorry for my friend's behavior. He can get out of hand sometimes, but he's just trying to get to know you."
Starlight nodded in understanding. "But how can you turn the ceiling to ice and pop into Twilight's ear? It makes no sense!"
Discord chuckled. "Now you're got the idea my dear. I'm the all-powerful spirit of chaos and disharmony!" he proudly stated, lightning flashing in the background.
Starlight was starting to get a bit more confident. "So if you are all that powerful, can you help me get back my magic?"
Discord stared at her for a moment, then burst out laughing. "Can I do that? Of course I can! At least give me a challenge!"
Most of the ponies rolled their eyes, but Starlight gasped. "What do I have to do?"
Discord chuckled. "Oh, nothing my dear, we can just say you owe me a favor at some point."
Starlight nodded. "Thank you," she said, still a bit hesitant to speak to him.
Discord smiled, snapping his fingers. Starlight's body began to shake and then glow with pale blue light. Her body floated upwards and her eyes glowed white. Starlight's friends watched in awe as Starlight's magic was restored. He body began to shake and sparks flew from her horn. Suddenly, there was a bright flash of light that blinded Starlight and her friends. Discord pulled out a pair of sunglasses and a box of popcorn. Then, it was all over. As the mane 6 regained their vision, they each realized the same fact.
"…Uh, everypony? Where'd Starlight go?"
All that was left where their unicorn friend once stood was a single, purplish lock of hair.
AN:
Did Discord's plan work? What happened to Starlight? Will Twilight even remember to send the letter to Celestia?
You won't find out next time in "The Quest for Magic".
I hope you liked the second chapter. As you could probably tell this chapter was set in Equestria while the other was in Equestria Girls. The chapters will alternate for a little longer like this.
Please leave a review to help us know what we're doing right and what we're doing wrong. Guests can review to. It helps the story. Thanks for reading!
:P
