The column of Ouroboro, the dragons believe the rock formation is the center of the world, the place where their god first bit his tail. Whether or not that was true, she could find out later. What mattered now was the unique flow of magic around its flat peak.

Above her the stars murmured their endless chant of gibberish in the blackness of the new-moon night. She could always hear the droning of her stars, but on this site it was almost deafening. Rumor of this place had brought her to Dracona a hundred and twenty years ago. During that time, she had studied its secrets and learned the ways of dragon magic. All the theory, all her research had finally come down to this.

“Spike, are the stones in place?” Twilight’s voice was a low rolling growl. Draconic was an unfitting sound for the pony throat, but she had mastered the language decades ago.

“Yes,” Spike replied, the grumbling sounds of the dragon tongue sounding more natural and friendly coming from his mouth. “They are in place,” he added as he removed himself from the ritual circle.

Stepping into the focal point of the circle, Twilight checked its composition once more before looking up to the other dragon on the mountain with them.

“Lord Uktena, if I may have your blessing,” Twilight said, spreading her wings and taking a solid stance before lighting her horn.

“Of course, my Goddess,” he said with the slightest nod. The wyrm’s crystal horn burst into a spray of colors. The lines and stones surrounding Twilight absorbed the wyrm’s magic with a greedy appetite.

Closing her eyes, she stretched out her magic, mixing it with the ritual that surrounded her. Seconds later, her spell and the ritual's magic blended together in perfect harmony. Reaching out to the stars, Twilight took hold of them as only she could.

Twilight’s body fell away from her senses as she became only thought; her mind flung into the night sky. The roar of the stars became louder every second until it threatened to break her concentration. Focusing on the magic still surrounding her body far below, she pulled it forth and forced its energy onto her heavens.

The white noise shattered. No longer one murmur, thousands of voices separated into their own sound, she could pick out individual words for the first time. But, still too many at once to make sense of any conversation. “I need help finding my friends,” she asked her stars.

Spike watched Twilight go rigid as her eyes glossed over in a phosphor glow. Once terrifying, her trance state had become routine.

“She dabbles in the forbidden,” Lord Uktena grumbled.

“I know,” Spike replied, “but it is a death oath.”

Lord Uktena shifted his coils, bringing his head closer to Spike’s level. “And that is why I humor her.”

A grunt from Twilight brought both dragons' attention back to her. Foam fell from her clenched mouth as her wings and legs began to quiver.

“She’s in trouble!” Spike shouted.