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Knights of Equestria: Part 5

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A/N: I own nothing except for the character Yellow Jacket. I make no money from this writing.

My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
Knights of Equestria part 5: The Legend

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   Twilight Sparkle floated in the darkness. She felt its eddies and flows, its soft currents as it swirled within the Void. In the darkness her chest rose and fell steadily, her breathe coming as easily as if it were a warm spring day. In the darkness, she was welcome, expected. She was not alone.

   "You are the embodiment of Magic. A leader, a faithful guide to those you surround yourself with."

   Twilight Sparkle turned around, searching the darkness for the speaker. There was nothing but her and the darkness.

   "But you are not strong enough to stop us. Your light shines like a star, clear and powerful. But not powerful enough. All you will be able to do is watch as those that counted on you are swept away...and destroyed. And then your magic will mean nothing.

   "Despair, for you will be the instrument of Silence."

   Darkness like knives punctured Twilight's body. She screamed.

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   The nightmare filled Twilight's mind as she ran through the streets of Ponyville. Ponies yelled out greetings and thanks for stopping the fire, but she ignored them all. She had to find Rainbow Dash, or Pinkie Pie, or someone important.

   "Oh, no no no no no! Why can I never remember my dreams until they're relevant!?" The answer came to her almost before she was finished asking the question. "Because they're like Pinkie's twitches to me, nonsensical. Darn it!"

   Twilight dashed around a corner, intending for Sugarcube Corner, and found herself slamming face-first what at first seemed to her a moving brick wall. She collapsed with grunt onto her back, eyes rolling in their sockets as mini-Spikes ran circles around her head. "Ow..."

   "Oh, hello Twilight Sparkle. What a SURPRISE seeing you around here."

   "Whu?" Twilight looked up at where the voice had come from and saw two blurry blobs, a red one and a white one. She gave her head a shake and the blobs resolved into Big Mac and Rarity. "Oh, Big Mac, Rarity. Big Mac, Rarity!" Twilight jumped to her hooves and circled around past them. "I just heard from Trixie that Rainbow Dash attacked Pinkie Pie under a spell, come on!"

   Before Twilight had gone more than a few steps Rarity spoke up. "We know dear, we were both there. Everything was worked out just fine without you."

   Twilight stopped and turned back to look at them. She frowned for a moment at the way Rarity had said "you", but brushed it aside. It wasn't important. "They're both okay, you're sure? The spell fully dissipated, right?"

   Rarity nodded. "Whatever illusion Rainbow Dash had been under snapped when she cut Pinkie on the cheek, and I felt the last bit of magic in the area fade away after a few minutes."

   "Ee-yup. 'Sides a nasty cut and a bad scare, I'd reckon those two are okay enough." Big Mac nodded. "Though I reckon they'd appreciate a visit from a friend anyway, Miss Twilight. You too, I'd say."

   "I, what?" Though her worries about Pinkie and Dash had been calmed somewhat, Twilight's nightmare still echoed through her mind. Even so, she could tell something was bothering the pair of ponies in front of her, especially Rarity. The other Unicorn would anywhere except actually at her. It was unnerving. "Guys, is something wrong?"

   "...nnnnnnno, not at all..." Rarity frowned. "We just haven't seen you the last several days, and we were growing worried. What have you been doing with yourself?"

   "Oh! Hehe, well I-" Twilightg stopped a moment, wondering if Trixie had told them about Yellow Jacket yet, and then shrugged. Couldn't hurt to be on the safe side. "I've been helping Trixie with some research and stuff. Can't, uh, keep those books waiting too long, hehe."

Twilight smiled and waited for Rarity to say something. And waited. And waited. Twilight's smile weakened as Rarity just looked at her, blankly, as if expecting her to say something more. Finally, after nearly a minute of silent staring, Rarity just frowned and turned away, trotting off.

   "Rarity?"

   Standing between the confused Twilight and the departing Rarity, Big Mac sighed and looked to the purple Unicorn. "I reckon ya don't know, seein' as you've spent all your time in those books of yours, but Rarity's home burned down in tha big fire. She an' Sweetie Belle been living over at tha farm since."

   At this news Twilight gasped and looked back at the now-distant form of Rarity. A weight settled into her gut, while the nightmare flared with life. "Her whole life was in that boutique...her clothes...her designs...her supplies..."

   Twilight suddenly felt like she was going to be sick. She staggered, before a strong hoof from Big Mac steadied her. "Whoa there, calm down. You look 'bout as sick as when Applejack discovered her allergy ta lemons."

   Twilight ignored the red stallion's words. She shook her head and lowered it so that her hair was hiding her eyes. She couldn't stop thinking of Rarity's face as her fellow Unicorn waited, waited for any act of grief or condolence for her loss. The loss that Twilight herself felt responsible for.

   "I should have been able to help her, Big Mac." Twilight shook her head. Tears fell past the hair hiding her eyes. "I had all the power to stop the fire, but not enough to keep my friends from suffering. Rarity's home and shop destroyed, Rainbow unconscious in the hospital for five days...and it would have been worse there if it wasn't for Trixie. I couldn't even help that much."

   Before the words could even finish leaving her mouth, Twilight felt a heavy foreleg rest on her shoulders, and a heavy sigh just above her head. "Twilight, I ain't gonna say that Rarity doesn't feel some anger at ya for the loss of her way of life. I ain't gonna say that she's the only way either." The look on Twilight's face told him that he wasn't doing a good job cheering her up so far, so he continued. "What I am going to tell you is that you can't blame yourself for everything. Sometimes bad things happen, sometimes we fail, but we can't let the guilt of every little thing eat away at us. Ya gotta just accept it, and move on."

   As Big Mac finished speaking Twilight looked back down, away from him. Past her amazement at hearing the stoic stallion say so much at once, she thought over his words. Lay down her guilt, could she do that? Did she even have the right to? What if she messed up again, wasn't fast enough again, wasn't attentive enough again?

   "Please, help me, and together we can fix all this. Fix everything to how it should be, eh? Don't you want to help people? Or, would you rather wait until the next big fire?"

   Twilight looked back up at Big Mac as Yellow Jacket's words echoed through her thoughts. She smiled and gave him a brief hug, before pulling away. "You're a good shoulder to lean on, Big Mac, and a good listener."

   The stallion returned the smile and nodded, though he probably wouldn't have if he had known what made Twilight smile. "Much obliged, Miss Twilight. Now if you'll excuse me, I best be getting back to the farm. Wouldn't want Miss Rarity ta buck all the trees without me."

   "Right, of course. I think I'll just go visit my friends then. Goodbye."

   With that, Twilight turned and resumed her journey to Sugarcube Corner, though now at a slower pace. Inside her the weight was still there; all the guilt of failing her friends, of allowing a third of her home to be burned to the ground. It roiled within her chest like burrowing thing, threatening to burst forth at any moment and consume her. So Twilight Sparkle buried it. She buried the guilt and self-anger beneath the feelings of self-assurance and self-righteousness that came from knowing she was doing the right thing. She would help Yellow Jacket on his mission to share the power of magic with everyone. That would be how she'd make amends for her failures. As long as she focused on that, Twilight knew, she was safe.

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   Twilight found Sugarcube Corner much as Ditzy had found it earlier that day after her fight with Thunder Scream. Though everything had been cleared up with Rainbow and Pinkie and the knife and floor had been cleaned of the spilled blood, the Cakes had felt it would be better to keep it closed for the rest of the day. "Let everypony calm down" they said.

   Twilight began to walk around the building from the front entrance to the back entrance when she noticed someone coming up the road towards her. Her face broke into a genuine grin when the pair of figures got close enough to identify. "Fluttershy, Doctor Whoof, good afternoon!"

   Fluttershy gave a soft smile and nod. "Hello Twilight."

   Doctor Whoof grinned and pranced forward, stopping just short of colliding into Twilight and instead warmly hugged her. "Twilight Sparkle, I must say it's fantastic to actually talk to you somewhere not in a hospital or library! You really sparkle best in the sunlight!"

   At first surprised by the hug, after a moment Twilight returned it. "Uh, thanks, Whoof. The feeling's mutual." She then pulled away and looked between him and Fluttershy. "So what are you two doing out together?"

   "Oh um, some of the regular nurses themselves were hurt in the fire, so Doctor and I have been doing volunteer work there." Finished speaking, Fluttershy suddenly gained a grin that was surprisingly smirky for the yellow Pegasus. "But um, what was that about you two meeting in the library?"

   Twilight's blush was matched only by Doctor's blush. He quickly coughed and chuckled. "Oh well you see, I've just been helping our friend Twilight with a little research project of hers, hehe. Been very...interesting. And busy."

   "Yes," Twilight added, interested in looking anywhere except at the earth pony. "With Spike busy helping out the town metal smiths, Doctor has been very helpful. And just that."

   Fluttershy giggled and smiled. "I was just, um, having fun with you two. Anyway..." she looked away from them, to Sugarcube Corner. "We'd just started our break when we heard about Rainbow and Pinkie. Um, do you think we could get in through the back?"

   "Never seen Pinkie or the Cakes lock that door before." Twilight led the way around the building to the back door into the kitchen. There the trio found the door not just unlocked but open, with Rainbow Dash in the process of carrying out a bag of trash. When the sky-blue Pegasus saw them she eeped and dropped the bag, which in turn made Fluttershy eep, which made Doctor Whoof quirk an eyebrow and Twilight Sparkle sigh.

   "Oh! Uh, hi guys, what brings you...here?"

   "We came here to see you and Pinkie of course." Twilight walked over and picked up the dropped trash bag with her magic, levitating it over to the trash can. "We all heard about what happened and came to make sure that you were both okay."

   Fluttershy wandered over to Rainbow and gave her a gentle nuzzle. "You are okay, right Dash?"

   Rainbow Dash backed up from the nuzzle and laughed, though all there could tell it was strained. "Of course I'm fine, I'm Rainbow Dash, Equestria's fastest...fastest flyer!" her smile cracked some, but it was genuine. "But thanks girls, really..." She turned to look at Doctor Whoof. "Except you. I don't know you."

   He grinned and trotted forward, joining the make-shift huddle near the door. "I'm Doctor Whoof, the 11th."

   "11th?!"

   "My family's rather fond of the name," he replied, chuckling. "Though I'll have you know, I'm the first one to actually become a doctor."

   "...right...anyway!" Twilight turned back to Dash and gave the Pegasus her best smile. "I'm really glad to see you're really okay...even though you don't act it...so is Pinkie Pie inside? We'd like to talk to her too."

   At that moment Pinkie Pie stuck her head out from the open doorway. Twilight and Fluttershy both flinched as their eyes instantly snapped to the bandage covering half the pink pony's cheek. "Oh hi gang! Hey, what do you use to fix a broken tuba?"

   Twilight knew it would be better not to respond to that question. "I don't know, what?"

   Pinkie giggled. "A tuba glue!"

   Twilight knew it would have been better to not respond. "Ughhh..."

   "Brilliant!" shouted Doctor Whoof. He trotted over to Pinkie Pie bumped hooves with her. "Puns, lovely. They're why the Element of Laughter's my second-favorite."

   "Ooooh!" Pinkie's eyes shone. "Who's your absolute favorite?"

   The brown stallion grinned. "Oh now, that would be telling." He turned slightly and, in a way only Twilight could see, winked at her. "But any who, I'm feeling rather peckish, mind if we come in for some late lunch?"

   "Oh of course," Pinkie replied with a grin and hop out of the way. "Dashie and I were just about to enjoy ourselves a super-yummy lunch ourselves!"

   "Fish sticks and custard," Twilight heard Rainbow Dash mutter to Fluttershy as the group shuffled into the kitchen. "I'd been planning to sneak off for something actually good, until you guys showed up!" Turning her attention away from the quickly whispered "oh, I'm sorry" from Fluttershy, Twilight stopped and frowned at the sight of Doctor already at the kitchen counter, dipping steaming-fresh fish sticks into a bowl of custard and then eating them.

   "That looks...so appetizing." Twilight was glad then that she wasn't the Element of Honesty; if she had been, the beaming smile Pinkie gave her would have broken her right then.

   Before Twilight could say anything more though, Rainbow Dash tapped her on the shoulder. "Hey, Twilight? Could, could we talk? Ya know, in private?" Twilight frowned, concerned by the odd request, but nodded. Silently the two peeled off from the group and left the kitchen for the main area of the bakery, where ponies bought the products on display. Only Fluttershy noticed their departure, and she didn't say anything.

   Twilight looked around the main room as she and Rainbow Dash entered it. In their general rush to get the customers out of the store the Cakes had left it pretty much as it was, with several samples set out along the display shelf and one large cake with cutting knife and forks near the stairs. It felt weird to the purple pony to see the place so normal, yet eerily empty. She turned to Rainbow Dash as the Pegasus shut the door behind them. "I think I have a pretty good idea of what you want to talk about. Attacking Pinkie Pie?"

   Dash nodded, her wings fluttering nervously against her sides. "It was horrible, Twilight. I'd never felt so terrified in my life, not even at the Young Flyers Competition. And Pinkie Pie, she was so..."

   Twilight stopped her from continuing with an upraised hoof. "No please, I understand. I studied horror illusions for several weeks back in Canterlot; a, uh, juvenile hobby...anyway. The spell works by affecting the victim's heart and mind. It activates when specific words are said in a specific way, casting an illusion over the victim that twists whatever they see, hear, and feel into a darker mockery. It lasts until the victim takes an action that would logically alleviate their fear, at which point to illusion dissipates."

   "I...I attacked Pinkie with a kitchen knife..." Rainbow Dash sniffled and wiped at some tears that threatened to spill from her eyes. "I only got her cheek though."

   "Right," Twilight said. "If Pinkie was the source of your horror in the illusion, then attacking her would have been enough to make it stop. But more importantly, how did it start? Dash, what can you remember?"

   "I remember...us talking," Dash answered, furrowing her brow as she tried to remember all the details. As she talked she paced around to the stairs and cake. "We were eating some cupcakes, and I noticed...noticed that they were tasting really good. I mean REALLY good. So I asked if she had done anything different. So she told me she added...added..."

   Twilight stepped toward Rainbow so that they were both near the cake. "Added what?"

   Rainbow wracked her brain trying to remember. But it was all fuzzy. "Added...rainbow."

   "...rainbow, Dash? Rea-" Twilight's comment was interrupted as Rainbow Dash's eyes dilated, and the knife she had grabbed from the cake tray was buried to the hilt in Twilight's chest.

   Rainbow Dash's eyes returned to normal and she hastily pulled the blade back out, throwing it to the ground. "Oh my Luna, Twilight!"

   Twilight coughed, bright red fluid dribbling past her lips as she sank down to the floor. Her mouth opened but only a horrible, wet wheezing came from it. Her front hooves pressed against her blood-gushing chest in a panic.

   "No no no!" Rainbow Dash collapsed beside Twilight's weakly thrashing body. Tears streamed down her cheeks as she pulled the Unicorn into her forelegs. "I'm so sorry, I didn't kn-know what I was doing!" She looked into Twilight's eyes and saw the light leaving them. "No!"

   And all of a sudden, it stopped. Twilight's body convulsed, her back bending nearly to breaking as pure white light burst from her eyes, mouth, and chest wound. Rainbow dropped her in shock and backed away, watching in awe as Twilight's body levitated off the ground, a look of pain and exertion on the Unicorn's face. Before Rainbow's eyes the light shining from Twilight's chest wound slowly disappeared as the wound stitched itself up, until nothing was left to show that it had ever been there. The red stains in her coat faded back into her body, while even the blood on the knife and floor disappeared.

    With a final flash of light, Twilight lowered back down to her hooves. The white light faded from her eyes, leaving her looking at an utterly shocked Rainbow Dash.

   "What. The hay. Just happened?"

   Twilight felt at her chest and, upon finding no sign that she had even been stabbed, sat back on her haunches. "I really don't know. Nothing like that's ever happened to me before. But I'm not complaining." Twilight closed her eyes and breathed out a sigh, before quickly snapping them open and glaring at Dash. "Now get over here."

   Rainbow Dash gulped. "Twilight, I-"

   "Get over here!"

   The Pegasus flinched and stepped toward Twilight. Twilight matched her step as the Unicorn's horn light up with magic. She touched the glowing tip to Rainbow's forehead, and Rainbow felt something drawn from her into Twilight. No, not drawn, ripped; as if a sickly part of her had been ripped out, leaving an empty spot that was at once horrible and strangely relieving.

   The magic faded and Twilight pulled away. Rainbow Dash just barely caught sight of the last few wisps of dark light getting sucked into Twilight's horn, before her eyes rolled up and unconsciousness claimed the Pegasus.

   Twilight stared down at Rainbow and sighed. A few tears escaped her eyes and rolled down her cheeks as she thought about what she had just done. She had forcibly drawn out from the Pegasus the horror illusion magic that had lingered on her, however... "Her magic will build back up soon enough. It was...the only way to be sure."

   Without another thought regarding her friend on the floor or the friends in just the next room, Twilight teleported herself from Sugarcube Corner. She needed answers.

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   Applejack bucked another apple tree, sighing as the thuds of the falling apples into the baskets granted a few seconds of blessed relief from the veritable tirade that had been filling Sweet Apple Acres for the better part of an hour. If she was going to be honest with herself, and she was, it was beginning to get annoying.

   "Hey, sugarcube," spoke Applejack as she began walking to the next tree needing bucking. "No offense 'n all, but would ya kindly stop your whining? It's getting a might bit distracting for us ponies who are actually workin'."

   "Whining!?" Rarity huffed as she followed the cowfilly to the next tree, telekinetically setting the baskets in place. "I am not whining about Twilight Sparkle, I am complaining." She huffed again and kicked the tree, making several apples fall into the baskets. "Do you want to hear whining? Thiiissss is whiii-"

   Applejack plugged an apple in the Unicorn's mouth. "Don't do that."

   Rarity's cheeks flushed. She chewed the apple up and swallowed. "Well yeesh, no need to be rude about it."

   Applejack rolled her eyes and kicked the tree. As the apples fell to their baskets she turned to face Rarity fully. "Listen, sugarcube, I've gotta be honest, I just don't git what y'all whi-" Rarity glared "-complaining about Twilight for. What'd she do, anyhow?"

   "That's the point!" Rarity stomped her hooves against the ground. "She didn't do anything is what she did...did not, do, do did not do the, um..." Rarity shook her head and growled. "You know what I mean!"

   "I'll tell ya what I know." Applejack began walking back to the farmstead. Rarity followed. "Twilight's bein' Twilight. Stuck with a problem, that girl's got her head so stuck in books looking for answers, she's missing everything goin' on around her. That's everything, Rarity, not jus' that you'n'yer sis lost ya home."

   "And-"

   "Hold on," Applejack continued, cutting Rarity off. "You know Twilight's a good girl, even if she can be a bit, er, off. If she's missed details, like the Carousel Boutique, you should know it's only 'cause she's got her eye on the big picture."

   When nothing was said in response to this Applejack stopped walking and turned back. She saw Rarity standing back at the edge of the orchards, looking out at the fields where Big Mac could be seen plowing. Her brow was furrowed in thought.

   "Rarity? Y'all all right back there?"

   The Unicorn jumped and looked back at Applejack. "Oh! Yes, yes I'm fine. I was just thinking. This pony that is going after our Elements of Harmony, this...Thunder Scream. Do you think he will attack our loved ones to get at us?"

   Applejack frowned and trotted back over to Rarity. Rarity's eyes had gone to Big Mac, but hers went to Apple Bloom over by the farmhouse, doing something or other with Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle. "Well golly, I hadn't considered something like that."

   The cowfilly thought back to the events at Sugarcube Corner Rarity had told her about, and a shudder ran down her spine. Ponyville was normally a peaceful town; heck, it had won the "Most Peaceful Town in Equestria" award so many times in a row they had been banned from being counted just to give the other cities a chance. Applejack knew there hadn't been a violent crime since her Granny Smith's youth, a good 70 years ago. The fact that this attack had not just happened, but happened to her friends, tore her up inside.

   "I just don't like it," She half-whispered to herself. Rarity looked over at her, silently prompting Applejack to continue. "I mean, this town used ta be so peaceful. Worse thing I had ta worry 'bout was a bad harvest or a stam-pede. Then all this nonsense started. Started..."

   "When Twilight Sparkle moved here," Rarity finished for her. The two friends shared a guilty look, before quickly looking away. Neither knew what to say after an admission like that.

   "Ah monkey-feathers," cursed Applejack. She stomped the ground. "I just can't stand ta think about Twilight like that. She ain't never meant us any harm, she's a good girl. The best of us."

   Rarity sighed and started trotting back to the farmhouse. "Here's a little bit of advice I've learned from my fashion shows, darling. The best fall the hardest."

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   Trixie closed the book with a sigh. "Well, that was a load of help." Having gone through the whole story of the Elements of Harmony three times, it hadn't amounted to much. Much of the information Trixie had already learned from her studies under Princess Luna or gleaned from conversations with Princess Celestia. In other words: Yellow Jacket probably knew just as much.

   Picking the book up with her telekinesis, Trixie trotted back to the right section of the library and put the book back in its place. As she turned to go back to the table, her eyes slid almost of their own accord to where she had seen Twilight put the book she had been reading earlier. The book that she had been nervous about Trixie seeing. And Twilight wasn't there to stop her from seeing it.

   After a quick glance to the library door, Trixie levitated the mysterious book to the table. She sat down at the table and stared down at the book. It was an old thing, that much Trixie could tell, and in far worse condition than the book about the Elements of Harmony. Whatever lettering had been on its cover was long-since faded, leaving an ugly grey both front and back, and its spine was ever-so-slightly bent.

   "I'm amazed she doesn't pull a Rarity whenever she sees this thing," Trixie said with a chuckle. The chuckle died after she opened the book and realized what it was. "Why would she be looking up the Knights of Equestria? And why would she be nervous about me knowing? I should to report this to Princess Luna immediately."

   Trixie jumped from the chair and hurried across the room to the stairs, grabbing her cloak on the way. She headed up to the second floor and into Twilight's spare bedroom. Closing the door behind her she pulsed her magic through her horn; at once the lights went off and the curtains slid across the window, casting the whole of the room into a shadowed gloom.

   "This is going to take a maaaassive ton of concentration," Trixie mumbled to nobody but herself. This was an ancient bit of magic she was about to do. She had never done what she was about to do so far from Canterlot, and therefore from Princess Luna.

   "Just...breathe..." Trixie let out a low, slow breath, her eyes shutting as she reached deep into herself for the magic. A smile crossed her face as the familiar warmth washed over her, filling her with its essence. Every Unicorn's magic had its own unique feel to it that took a trained mind to tell; Trixie was such a trained pony, and through it she had grown to know her fellow Unicorns Rarity's magic had a feeling of elegance, soft silk sliding smoothly against fur; her own was energetic, light and whiz-bang like the fireworks she had once used in her show; and Twilight...Twilight's magic felt like nothing Trixie had ever experienced, apart from the Princesses themselves. All at once like a crashing wave, a roaring inferno, a rushing gale that flattened all in its way...it had taken a while for Trixie to understand why, with all that raw energy, the purple Unicorn had looked so strained when she handled the Ursa Minor. It had not occurred to Trixie until she had heard the reports of Twilight banishing the Ponyville fire that it dawned on her that her fellow Unicorn was straining to hold the power back.

   Trixie shook her head, banishing these thoughts. She could ponder the mystery of Twilight's power some other day, now she had a mission.

   After several minutes of simply basking in the feel of her energy, Trixie channeled it into the spell she wanted. At once all sounds coming in from beyond the room vanished, replaced by a low, watery sound; the lapping of waves against a beach. The light, too, had changed, from the artificial darkness of the closed room to natural moonlight. The scent of soft grass and freshly fallen pine needles filled Trixie's mind with each soft breath she took. When she opened her eyes, she found herself looking across the Lunar Pool to her mentor, and more, Princess Luna.

   "My beloved student, I am so happy to see you once more."

   "Thank you, my princess." Trixie bowed her head and smiled at the alicorn across the distance of the pool. "You look well, Luna. I think you've grown since I left."

   Luna nodded to this and smiled. "Yes. As the ponies of Equestria once more begin to trust and believe in me, I am restored by their faith. Although," she chuckled, "it will be a while longer before I once more match my sister." Luna's face grew grave then, and Trixie knew the time for pleasantries was over. "Reaching out to my spirit through the Lunar magic in the day, and at this distance, must be a heavy power drain. What has happened?"

   "Much has happened, my princess. I can feel the machinations of Yellow Jacket throughout Ponyville. Several of the Six are growing distant, and just a few hours ago one of them, the Element of Loyalty, was ensnared in a horror illusion and attacked the Element of Laughter. She snapped out of it before any serious harm could be done, however."

   "Oh dear," Luna said. "Horror illusions? I didn't know they even taught those in the university..."

   "They don't," Luna offered. "It seems your sister has been too trusting with who she allows in the royal archives."

   Luna sighed and nodded. "Perhaps, but that is neither here nor there. I sense that this is not the worst you have to tell me, my Trixie. What else has happened?"

   "Twilight," Trixie replied. "Earlier today, but after the incident with Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie, I found Twilight reading a book that she was nervous about me seeing. So naturally I retrieved it from the bookcases as soon as I could." The light-blue unicorn paused here. "It was...about the legend of the six Knights of Equestria."

   Luna's eyes widened. Slowly, she stood up from her sitting position and looked down at her reflection in the pool. Trixie could only guess at her thoughts. After an eternity in an instant, she spoke. "This is...very troubling. Very very troubling. Why must all the troubles of Equestria always come back to my failings...".

   "Luna, please, you are too hard on yourself." Trixie tried to smile across at her teacher. "In the months we've been together you have taught me so much; and not just magic. Of all the subjects we have covered however, you spent the least time on Tirek and the Six Knights."

   The glistening of a few tears could be seen sliding down the princess's cheeks. "They were my dearest friends, each of them. Whilst my sister and the army went off to war, they were sworn to protect me, no matter what happened. Then I took them with me to Midnight Castle, birthplace of the moon, and there weaved my most powerful magiks into them."

   "And the creation of the earth ponies? And Tirek's defeat? And what does this have to do with today?"

   Luna waited for Trixie's questions to fade before continuing. "Magic is the very foundation of our world. It flows through everything at some level, affecting it in some way. To so completely draw the magic from so many ponies as I did, I had to...overstep my boundaries." Trixie quirked an eyebrow. "For such a massive act...I changed a key part of the world itself. Like rewriting a part of a story to your suiting I altered how the world worked so that earth ponies were as like a natural thing, and then infused the energy that would have been in those thousands of ponies into my six knights."

   "That's...incredible." Trixie could say no more.

   "Yes, and very terrible. With that power the Six Knights went into battle and successfully sealed Tirek's evil away...and then had to be sealed away themselves."

   "What!? But, but why?"

   Luna shifted in her position. "Because they were lost, totally and completely, to the power. They were ordinary ponies, just like you, or Twilight Sparkle, or any of her friends. They lived, they loved, they had families descending down to today, they got hurt and made jokes and worried over this and that and all the trivial things that give life flavor to you mortal ponies. They were normal ponies exposed to the Source that powers the greatest star to the smallest leaf, drives the most significant events and the most insignificant...and in doing so they lost all sense of perspective. One thing became as unimportant as another."

   Luna went silent for a while, allowing her smaller companion to take in all that had been said. Minutes passed by like the leaves falling around them. One leaf, purple with black veins down the center, touched down at the center of the still pool and sent ripples sliding across its mirror surface. "As for what all this has to do with today; everything. Tirek and the Six Knights are still sealed away in Midnight Castle, their power waiting for any pony foolish or insane enough to seek it."

   "Like Yellow Jacket." Luna nodded. Trixie frowned and lowered her eyes to the Lunar Pool. The purple leaf was still there, only now the black veins had spread throughout its body. The edges were slowly withering away. Trixie looked back up from it to Luna. "Twilight?"

   Luna, too, looked at the leaf. "Twilight Sparkle...I don't know. Celly was always better at empathizing with the hearts of our subjects. All I can see is that she faces a great danger, just like her friends. Perhaps...perhaps her deeper connection to magic is leaving her vulnerable to-"

   "TWILIGHT!"

   Trixie cried out as Luna, the Lunar Pool, and the forest clearing all around her rumbled from the shock of the outside voice. Before Trixie could regain her concentration the spell broke, and she found herself once more sitting on the cloak at the center of her room. She groaned and collapsed to her side, the exertion of the spell catching up to her as she fought to stay conscious.

   "TWILIGHT, ARE YOU HERE?"

   Trixie slammed her front hooves against the floor and worked herself back up. There was no way she could manage that spell again so soon. For the moment she was on her own. Gathering her cloak back up she slid it around her shoulders and turned, exiting the room. Trotting down the stairs back to the ground floor, she found Spike there, looking around. "Oh, it was you calling?"

   Spike looked up at Trixie. His eyes narrowed and he huffed, folding his arms across his chest. "Yeah, what's it to ya?"

   "Oh nothing," Trixie replied, walking past the little dragon to the kitchen. "It is just that I, the Great and Powerful Trixie, do not like having my studies disturbed by annoying little baby dragons."

   Spike's eye twitched as he glared at the retreating pony. "You're doing that Great and Powerful thing just to annoy me, aren't you?"

   Trixie poked her head out of the kitchen. "My first night here, you tried flaming me back to Canterlot in my sleep."

   "And I would have gotten away with it too!" Spike shouted, shaking his fist. "If it wasn't for those meddling Cutie Mark Crusaders and that dumb owl!"

(The author would like to note here that the afore-mentioned events were incredibly silly and bear no further explanation.)

   "Yes, sure you would have." Trixie exited the kitchen with several water bottles levitating beside her. She trotted over to her saddlebags and slid them in, along with a few books. "But anyway, Twilight isn't here. She left after hearing about-"

   "The Sugarcube Corner thing?" Spike interrupted. "Yeah, I hear about that, it's why I'm here looking for Twilight instead of helping at the forge."

   "Well then..." Trixie levitated the saddlebags under her cloak onto her back, and then turned to the door. "Feel free to tag along with me. I'm going off to find Twilight myself."

   "Well...fine." Before Trixie could stop him Spike hopped up onto her back. He smirked victoriously down at her. "But uh, what's with the water bottles?"

   "Just...a precaution." With that, the unicorn and dragon left.
While Applejack and Rarity discuss the recent events in Ponyville, Twilight experiences something that will change the course of her life forever. Meanwhile, Trixie delves deeper into the Knights legend and discovers the threat may be closer than anyone could have predicted...


(Warning: some minor violence in this chapter)
© 2011 - 2024 Solaris90
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ShadowDancerBrony's avatar
Great chapter. I'm sad that we won't get any further explanation about the Cutie Mark Crusaders epic adventure. Someone really needs to do a story, comic or at least picture about this event.