“Twilight!”

The ears of the mare in question twitched slightly, but she refused to answer to her name with any action. Lying on her back, head supported by a soft pillow she brought with her, she cherished her peace in the middle of the meadow just outside Ponyville too much to be bother by some shouting.

“Twilight, where are you?”

This time she recognised Spike’s voice. To her disappointment, he was drawing closer. If only this grass would be taller. He would have to get Rainbow to find me first, ensuring me some more rest.

Ever since her friends and she returned from Crystal Empire and beared witness to Spike’s stain-glassening, she was spending most of her time trying to recuperate her strenght. At first, it was easy to convince her friends that she just needed time to recover from stress, but now, a week after the events, she had to come up with a blatant lie about a suppressed sickness she caught from the frosty weather up north.

“There you are, Twilight!” Spike exclaimed happily and broke into gallop to reach her as soon as possible.

They just won’t leave me alone. Can’t Equestria function few days without my help? Twilight mused as she sat up to meet her assistant in a more appropriate position.

“I have been looking for you everywhere. You got a letter from Princess Celestia!” Spike said, panting and bending forward. From his looks Twilight could say he wasn’t exaggerating in the slightest.

I guess that answers my question. “Thank you Spike, You can go and do what you want for the rest of the day.” There was an equal amount of goodheartedness and wish to be alone in her statement and she didn’t bother to hide it from herself.

“Thanks, Twilight!” Spike exclaimed and despite his previous fatigue started galloping away. Twilight smiled after his retreating figure and unrolled the scroll that cost her more sunbathing.

Dearest Twilight.

I would like to apologize for contacting you in this matter on such short notice, not to mention so soon after your return from Crystal Empire. However, the second fact can be seen as the reason for the first one. With all the commotion around Crystal Empire’s return I managed to omit addressing this sooner.

But let us get to the matter at hoof. As you certainly recall, the changeling attack was deflected with magic of love unleashed by Cadance and Shining Armor. For such a powerful asset to Equestrian defense, we know pathetically little about it. That’s why I decided to organize a symposium of premier mages and scientists of Equestria. Its task will be to determine the nature of magic of love as well as document its possible uses and history.

As my most faithful student and the Element of Magic, it goes without saying that the symposium can’t very well take place without you. That’s why I ask you to come to Canterlot and participate in the debates as they unfurl. The opening ceremony is planned for tomorrow at 4 in the afternoon.

Best wishes.
Princess Celestia

The letter dropped from her magic and her eyes went wide. A symposium about a whole new kind of magic and I am crucial for its proceedings?

“SPIIIIIKE!” she shouted, jumping on all four and galloping in the same direction the dragon chose a minute ago. Having longer legs, she soon caught sight of the fleeting purple figure in front of her. He was crouching in his run, trying to hide from her searching gaze, letting her know he heard her call all too well.

She erased the remaining distance between them and snatched him in her magic. “Change of plans, Spike. You will get your day off tomorrow, but today I need your help. We have research to do. I hope you have the checklist materials ready!”

Spike sighed in resignation. He found himself suspended midair and dragged through the town more often recently than he found acceptable. Strangely enough, it happened every time a letter from the Princess arrived. I wonder what would happen if I simply forgot to tell her about one. It is worth a try, I think.

Downstairs on the ground floor in the library, books were scattered unorganized across the floor. No matter how hard she tried, Twilight just could not find anything related to the magic of love. Having spent much of previous day and night searching for the information she needed, it was now early in the morning and she was no closer to her goal. It didn’t help that she was now extremely tired.

Figures Spike fell asleep. I can’t really blame him though. We’ve practically turned this library upside-down and there’s nothing in these books. I can hardly keep my eyes open, but I need to look through this last bo- Before she could even open the book, she passed out.

“Twilight? Twilight Sparkle, open your eyes.”

“Wha?” The young mare mumbled drowsily. “Scintillant?”

“We meet again, Twilight Sparkle. Pray tell, why do you seem so upset?”

“Ugh, I spent the whole previous day and night searching for information on the magic of love and found nothing,” Twilight said rubbing her eyes.

“Perhaps you have not been going through the right books. Any library should have a folktale section.”

“Folktales? How would those help me? They aren’t even real!”

“Oh? Just as Nightmare Moon wasn’t real? Haven’t you been through something like this before? I seem to recall a similar situation with a poison joke remedy.”

“When I didn’t look inside the Supernatural Remedies book I had to find one. Zecora taught me to never judge a book by its cover.”

“And that lesson can apply here as well. There are many out there who do not believe in the existence of Ein So- excuse me, angels and yet here I stand before you. And were the Elysium only a folktale, you would currently find yourself in the void.”

“I guess you have a point there. Wait, Elysium?”

“Why yes Twilight Sparkle. Behold your surroundings!”

It was now that Twilight realized she was standing on a grassy field with a pond and a fountain nearby. The fountain itself was that of a pegasus pony standing on her hind legs and blowing into a flute, from which the water sprung. All this was on a small floating island in an isolated part of the sky, with clouds and sunlight being the only things seen for miles. Not within the mare’s vision was a serpentine creature flying in the distance.

“This is but one morsel of territory within Elysium. We are not even within the boundaries of the third sphere. Rather, we are within the outskirts. A peaceful place, is it not?”

“It looks nice. But why am I here?”

“I wish to expand and elaborate on our offer. You see, we have dedicated our existence to upholding virtue and punishing sin. I wish to take a more proactive approach to this task. Your mentor has taught you many things over your time as her student, correct? Did she teach you anything recently, regarding your involvement in the Crystal Empire?”

“The meaning of self-sacrifice and looking out for the interests of others over my own. But if what you say about her is true, what use is that lesson?”

“Ah, but this is one time where she is right. You did not want to risk the lives of the crystal ponies just because of your ‘test’. You instead chose to allow someone else to get the Crystal Heart where it belongs. You stopped caring for yourself and chose to care about them, you let your friend take credit for the success. In this sense, you have realized the concept of our most important virtue: Humility.”

“Humility?”

“This virtue is not about thinking less of yourself; rather it’s about thinking of yourself less. There is another detail your Celestia is right about. You do need to make friends. They will help you in more ways than one and the ones you will need to look for must learn the qualities of our other virtues.”

Scintillant’s halo sparked and rotated, causing six pillars to rise around them from the ground, each with a different symbol and material.

“Prudence, also known as Wisdom, the ability to judge between actions with regard appropriate at that time…” The sapphire pillar froze solid like ice.

“Justice, the perpetual and constant will of rendering each one their right…” The emerald pillar became encased in vines and rock.

“Temperance, also known as Restraint, the ability of self-control and moderation…”The topaz pillar was surrounded by small gales.

“Diligence, the ability of perseverance and willingness to work for something…” The onyx pillar became shrouded in mist, pitch black as the moonless sky.

“And Fortitude, also known as Courage, the ability of forbearance and durance, to be able to confront fear and uncertainty…” The ruby pillar became engulfed in searing flames.

“These in combination with Humility, are the six virtues we hold dear and operate on. These are our Elements.” The diamond pillar irradiated with light as bright as the sun. “Your next task is to find the holders of these Elements. See to it that they learn their respective virtue and bring them within the same realm of enlightenment as you. Some of them may have already learned their virtue, in which case that saves you time. All you would need to do then is enlighten them further. A good way to do that is to befriend them.”

Twilight had to take a few minutes for everything to sink in. She wasn’t sure what to make of it, but she understood what the angel was asking her to do.

“Speaking of friends, this meeting is sadly coming to an end, courtesy of one of yours. You’ve learned exaggerating small problems leads to terrible consequences. Now you will see what happens when the pony wields power to follow their mad scheme through.”

Before Twilight had a chance to respond, she was jolted awake by a loud voice, coming from a certain pink pony storming into the library.

“Hey Twilight!-”

“AH!”

“Are you sleeping? That’s no fun. You miss so much when you’re asleep.”

Twilight’s eyes shot open and the spike of headache blinded her along with the sunlight streaming in the room. Is returning from Elysium always this painful? she thought when she managed to push her way through the fog of pain.

“Pinkie, what are you-”

“Checking what my friends are doing, silly! And you were all sleeping and snoozing and that”s not how you enjoy a sunny day at all!” Pinkie was jumping all around the room, looking at everything and nothing, taking in the amount of books surrounding Twilight’s impromptu sleeping place. “Were you reading all night?”

Twilight groaned, both from the throbbing head and at the redundancy of Pinkie’s question. “Yes Pinkie, I was. And I was trying to get some rest before I-”

“You should sleep at night, not read! You miss on fun during the day! Don’t read, go out! Like I do. See you!” And with that, Pinkie was gone again. Twilight let her head drop back onto the book, not caring that the pages were getting creased. All that mattered was to survive the pain. She managed to drift into a half-sleep when her rest got interrupted once more.

“Hey Twilight!-”

“Celestia damn it, can’t I get a bit of sleep? What do you want?!”

“Uh, sorry Twi. I just wanted to remind you of the symposium. We should pack if we are to make it in time. The opening ceremony is scheduled in- have you been reading after I went to sleep?” Spike shook his head in disbelieve.

“Yes,” Twilight growled, “does anypony else want to ask me that?” She got up and made her way towards the kitchen. “I need to get some coffee and aspirin first, then we can pack.”

Noticing in how troubled state Twilight apparently was, Spike ignored his hurt feelings for the moment and caught up with her. “Nap for a while, I will make you a breakfast and pack alone. I know what you want to take with you anyway.” At the incredulous expression that overtook Twilight’s face he just smiled smugly. “What, I’m your number one assistant after all. I’ll wake you up after I finish and you can take a magical warm-up then.”

“Thank you, Spike. I’ll do that.” Twilight strained herself a bit and teleported into her bedroom. Splaying over her bed she gave a content sigh. He really is a great friend. What would I do without him? I have to make this up to him later.

I hate to be late! It’s almost as bad as cheating on a test. Twilight stomped through the halls of Canterlot castle to her recently assigned living quarters. A pink glow surrounding her luggage and Spike, to his growing annoyance, illuminated the darkened corridors. Especially for such an important event. Why did Pinkie have to choose today to multiply herself? And why didn’t anypony block the pool ages ago?

She spotted the door she sought and reached another strand of her magic towards the doorknob as if such multitasking was the most natural activity in the world. The door slammed open and as soon as she entered she hurled the luggage and Spike on the alicorn-sized bed.

“At least I will make an appearance at the reception.” She rummaged in her suitcases and mumbled to herself the whole time. After a while she looked up. “Spike! We forgot to pack my dre-” Her eyes fell on a dress hanging on the closet door. It was plain in design, but elegant in its simplicity. The pearls around the collar and hems complimented the prevalent light blue color and silver hue of the short cloak.

There was a note attached to the dress. She levitated both items to her and lifted the paper.

My faithful student.

We missed you at the opening ceremony, but I understand the reasons behind your absence. We will talk about the Mirror Pool later. Please try to attend the reception, if you aren’t too tired that is. I took the liberty of preparing a dress for you. I know you too well and realized you would forget to pack one.

You know me well, Princess, but not well enough. Twilight smirked for herself. Still, not even Rarity would be capable of creating such fitting dress. I should thank her. She stood up and used her magic to clad herself in the provided dress, combing her hair absentmindedly.

“Please unpack the luggage, Spike. I will return late, so order some dinner for yourself and go to sleep then,” she called over her shoulder as she was leaving.

Spike was still lying on the bed, fighting the nausea from the journey. “Sure thing, Twilight. It’s not like I wanted to go to that reception too, or something,” he grumbled and went to fulfill his new task.

Once again Twilight was running through the castle, not paying any attention to the reprimanding from the guards. Stopping to answer them would probably result in practicing of orange transformation spell in her current mood. And she would get it right this time, she was sure. Thankfully the celebration hall wasn’t too far from Twilight’s rooms, so she didn’t have to face the temptation of fruitisation for too long.

Upon entering, her senses were assaulted by a cacophony of chatting, clattering of utensils, and tones of music. Countless ponies mingles in the glorious hall lit by several crystal chandeliers. From the amount of attendants Twilight deduced that Celestia invited not only the mages and scientists, but also most of Canterlot nobility to this gathering.

Exactly what I needed on this evening, dealing with snobbish, corrupted egoistic elitists. Maybe I should have stayed in my room. It’s too late for that I guess. She carefully made her way deeper into the hall, avoiding running into somepony with all her concentration. She finally found herself at the catering table and instantly realized how little she ate during the day. Choosing some of her favourite dishes, she served herself a nice full plate and happily trotted to a calmer part of the hall to enjoy her dinner.

Alas, the luck wasn’t siding with Twilight that day. She barely made few steps when her journey was cut short by an impact from the side, breaking her concentration and causing her food to fall to the ground. To make things even worse, she felt something spill over her back and when she looked she noticed a big red wine-stain on her new dress. She clenched her eyes and did her level best to calm her rapidly quickening breathing.

“Oh my, I am so sorry, Trixie. I didn’t see you there. Didn’t you say you would stay in the library to study for the night though?” a voice close to the right from her said. That was the final straw. The anger built up during the day overflew and her eyes snapped open, trying to kill the assailant with the power of their stare.

“What?! First you bump into me and destroy my dinner, then you ruin my dress with your disgusting drink and now you have the guts to even get my name wrong?! I don’t know what you are doing here, but if you are a noble, you should give up your title with such attitude. And if you are a mage, then Celestia help us!” Twilight was crouching low and panting with anger at the clumsy unicorn who stared at her in horror, strangely enough mixed with recognition.

“T-Twilight? Is that you? Oh my, such an awkward situation! It’s me, Midnight Spell!” the unicorn exclaimed and drug his hoof across the tiles from nervousness.

“That doesn’t pardon you!” Twilight yelled before the words settled in her mind. She took a better look at the stallion and light of recognition appeared in her eyes as well, anger leaving her in an instant. “Professor? Oh I’m so sorry I blew up like that! It’s just that this day was less than ideal for me and I bottled it up and then I couldn’t-”

Midnight put a hoof over her mouth, cutting her rant short, and smiled at her. “Twilight, how many times am I to tell you that we are past calling each other ‘Professor’ and ‘Student’? Do you call your friends with their profession? And you were completely in the right, I should have paid more attention. Let me take care of that stain for you.” He lit his horn and the wine separated itself from the fabric, floating back to the glass.

“Sorry, I tend to forget myself. And I should control myself better. Would you mind making me company for the evening? These gatherings still aren’t my forte.”

“Of course,” he said and helped her stand up properly. “Let’s acquire you some more food and we can find a quieter place to talk a bit. Does that sound good?”

“Very. Shall we?” The pair of friends returned to the table and chose their meal for the second time, then protecting their plates with joined powers of their magic they left the main hall for a terrasse.

“Phew, much better,” Twilight said, placing her plate on a small table. “Well, how have you been since the last time we saw each other? I am sorry I didn’t stay in touch, there was just so much going on.” Then she paused and put a hoof under her chin in thought. “Also, why did you call me Trixie back there?”

Midnight mimicked Twilight’s actions and sat down next to her, gazing on the nighttime Canterlot. “Strangely enough, those two questions are closely connected. You see, few months ago I was feeling a bit underloaded, so I sent an advertisement to the newspaper, looking for a personal pupil. And the day after it was printed, a mare showed up. I was ready to turn her down, what with her addressing herself in third person and other mannerism, but I’m glad I didn’t. Trixie is really hard-working, although she refuses to tell me her motivation.”

“Strange, that’s not how I remember her,” Twilight said between morsels, “Well, apart from that speech pattern, that is.” They shared a laugh and continued their meal.

After a while Midnight broke the silence again. “Her working morals are really amazing. I even offered her to join me for the reception, but she refused, saying that she needs to prepare for the symposium more thoroughly.”

“She will be joining you there? Great, I will get a chance to talk to her then. This change of heart is intriguing indeed,”

“Well, enough about myself. Tell me how was life treating you in Ponyville. I heard some amazing stories,” Midnight said and presented a genuine smile to his companion.

In the castle library there was a single candle lit on a table. Since the librarians belonged to the more skilled mages in Canterlot, they also attended the reception. That left single unicorn present in the dark expanse of the library, occasional blow of wind carrying the sound of festivities to their ears. They folded each time, but perked up soon after at the command of their owner.

Trixie would like to attend the reception so much. With so many important ponies in one place, it could have been a bright restart of Trixie’s career. But this is more important, she mused. Twilight Sparkle will be surely present tomorrow and Trixie has to impress her. If she fails, this whole work will be for naught.

Putting her current book on the pile mentally designated as ‘Not useful,’ she reached for another one with her magic. Trixie will be well-prepared and will show Twilight Sparkle that she is a worthy mage. And that she can work hard. If only Trixie could do so and be there today as well.

She sighed and continued her study session. Time was of the essence and she wanted to peruse as many books as possible before she would have to retreat to her chambers for a needed, if short, sleep.

For those that do not know or in case I haven't said it yet, this project updates once a week every Saturday.