Original Link:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/12Fje7YlI05ax0K1usMuSYzTpqkEwbooAOHSpLWxWUyg/edit?usp=sharing

Teleportation. An ability of unicorns that has been widely discussed to be one of the most useful they ever created. Being able to skip distances almost instantaneously with such ease would make anyone wonder why it was used so rarely. Non-unicorns wouldn’t understand how difficult it was to just leap short distances using magic. Foals can’t pull it off at all. Even most adults do not have the mental capabilities to use this spell. It requires a lot of skill and training in order to be able to teleport efficiently. Usually, one was required to be a magic student on an academy. But even then, traveling long distances seemed like an impossible thing to do.

Twilight was different, though. She had been practicing her mental and magical capabilities for years. Leaping across planes, from mountain to mountain and across wide rivers was actually possible for her. But even she found this continuous casting very exhausting, having to resort to her seemingly infinite pool of arcane magic in order to pull it off. But keeping this much power under control exhausted her even more. Technically, she could reach her destination in just a few days, should she spent a majority of her time teleporting herself. But she frequently had to take hour-long breaks. Traveling by herself and packed as lightly as she could, she did not bring anything that could help her keep track of time.Twilight didn’t know if a week had passed by now, or two, maybe more. But she could definitely feel that she was getting closer and closer to her target.

As she left the commonly known lands, the magic started to shift. The closer she came to the homeland of her ancestors, the more she could feel a void in the air, as if it had been entirely drained of all feelings and nothing but the cold of emptiness remained. This only became worse as she crossed the border. To this day, the ancestral homeland was frozen over. Long destroyed buildings were nearly completely covered in snow. No sign of life was anywhere to be found. Not even animals seemed to still roam this plane. All the once great cities of the three pony tribes were now barely even recognizable as ruins anymore. The cold wind and natural decay had turned them into fields of rubble. But there was one exception. One city that was so important to the ancient ponies, they refused to let anything ever destroy it completely.

Arcania had been exposed to the harshness of this eternal winter for almost two thousand years now and it was still clearly visible. The sight of this star-shaped construct of stone made Twilight sigh in relief as she stared down on it from a mountain top. She was finally there.

A few more, comparatively short teleportations followed and for the first time in days, she found herself at a place where there was no snow. Although the once grand castle had been reduced to a gaping open ruin, the underground was still almost completely intact. Twilight stood merely in the opening and already experienced protection from the cruel winds, something she hadn’t felt for what seemed like an eternity. Now that she was finally here, she couldn’t allow herself to let her guard drop. She hid herself, scanned the area to see if anything was nearby or had managed to follow her. Nothing. She was all alone, the first living thing that had been here in centuries.

It was time. Twilight got out of her cover again and started walking into the dark. Her horn lit up, exposing a series of corridors. It would be easy for her to get lost in this place, but even the carvings in the walls were still well preserved. Words written in the ancient pony language were chiseled into the stone at each crossing, indicating what would lie ahead. Twilight had been reading so many books by now, she could somewhat successfully translate the words. Finding the right way to go proved to be of no challenge to her.

Still, the underground area was expansive. The purple mare could only imagine what all those rooms and spaces were used for, as there was just not enough knowledge surviving from this age. As she wandered, so did her imagination. How must it have been like to live here, before the environment collapsed? Ancient documents report of a prosperous society in an age of until then unfamiliarly lengthy peace. Harmony between the three tribes had just been invented. It must have been so wonderful, Twilight figured. All she ever experienced was a false peace, the illusion of safety and harmony while the demons lurked in the shadows, just waiting to slaughter all of them. But this… This was real peace. Real harmony. Hundreds of years free of war, fear, threats and quarrels. How horrible it must have been to have all of this taken away so suddenly. The environment of this land collapsed suddenly. So suddenly that there aren’t even any documents of the event. It must have felt like the world was ending. To think that all of this was caused by evil spirits, Windigos, which the ancestors had drawn towards them in the past with the coldness in their hearts… It seemed like no sin was ever left unpunished in the most cruel ways imaginable for as long as ponies existed. Still, down in the very core of each pony, they all hold hope for a better future. Maybe exactly because their history was not very happy so far…

A sudden ray of light tore Twilight out of her thoughts. After wandering around in the dark for so long, it blinded her and forced her to cancel the light spell as well as cover her eyes for a moment. Where was this coming from? As she could focus again, Twilight’s face showed astonishment. She had arrived at Starswirl’s tomb. A large hall of similar proportions to the ball room in Canterlot Castle. Countless reliefs in the walls depicted the history of Arcania and Starswirl’s influence to it. Between the walls, a total of eight giant pillars embedded with figures of pony wizards were reaching up and coming together to a hole in the middle, through which sunlight was shining. The ray was going straight down to the center of the hall, right onto a, compared to the rest of the hall, surprisingly undecorated stone sarcophagus. This was it. This was the resting place of the great Starswirl The Bearded.

The purple mare slowly stepped forward, her eyes wandering all around the hall. Judging from the depictions in the walls, the ancient ponies praised Starswirl as a hero with uncomparable deeds. The whole aura of this place was different to the entire rest of the land. There still was magic floating in the air. Gentle and peaceful, yet filled with tremendous pride. It affected Twilight, giving her a deep feeling of awe for the sarcophagus and its content. The place was so silent, she could hear her own breath echo against the walls. Yet, for some reason, Twilight believed she could almost hear something like a choir of stallions singing.

It must have been so long since the last time any living creature had been standing here, she thought to herself. Such an impressive tomb for just a single unicorn. Twilight was speechless. She felt the need to just stop thinking and remain in silence for a moment, as to honor the one buried here. Her eyes kept on wandering around, taking in all those pictures and impressions. But as she remembered why she was here, she couldn’t help herself but feel sorry and guilty for what she was about to do.

Her steps continued forward to the stone sarcophagus. Twilight frowned at her own intentions, but she didn’t go this far to stop now. Her eyes closed and her horn lit up. Moments later, the lid of the sarcophagus carefully lifted into the air, moved over and gently landed down on the ground.

Twilight opened her eyes again. There he was. Starswirl The Bearded. The skeleton still had every single bone perfectly in position. Nothing ever shook or moved the sarcophagus until this very day. His clothes still were attached around him, even though they had long become brittle and lost their coloration. Still, even now that Twilight dared to desecrate his tomb, the magic in the hall remained unaltered. It almost seemed like something was trying to tell Twilight that this was okay, at least for her.

The purple mare placed her saddlebag on the ground, roaming through it shortly before pulling out a scroll. The Age Spell was written down on it. Like she intended, she had been practising this powerful spell and made some slight alterations before she left. Even throughout her journey, she kept on repeatedly testing the spell whenever her mental capabilities allowed it. The results were mixed, especially when she attempted to let her arcane magic flow into it.

Once more, Twilight closed her eyes, but only for a moment this time. They quickly opened up again, having turned entirely white. A strong purple aura rapidly grew around her body. Then she leaned her head down, aiming her horn inside the sarcophagus. The beam hit the bones, immediately causing them to start floating in the air along with the clothes. More and more magic gathered up and, for some reason, it seemed like it was shaping the result by itself without Twilight’s influence. The light coming from the magic around the bones became brighter and brighter. Everything turned white around her, forcing Twilight to close her eyes from the sheer intensity. As the light faded, she looked again.

The first thing she saw was a blue cape with stars and bells attached to it. A wizard hat in similar fashion was just above it. Then she noticed a grey hoof poking out beneath the cape. Keeping her composure, the purple mare took a few steps to the side. Grey fur, long white beard, white mane, closed eyes. She herself didn’t understand how, but she succeeded. Starswirl The Bearded was standing before her, taking his first deep breath in nearly two thousand years.

His eyes slowly opened, revealing his yellow pupils. He quickly noticed the mare and looked straight at her in complete calmness. Twilight couldn’t help herself but blink a few times in disbelief. Even though she planned for this to happen, she found it hard to believe that she managed to bring him back from the dead this easily. Having this legendary unicorn in front of her, in flesh… It just seemed so surreal to her. It was a meeting of two entirely different eras, a meeting across time and space.

“U-uhm… He-hello. My name is-” Twilight stuttered, having a hard time finding the right words in front of her greatest idol in the world of magic.

Though it seemed like Starswirl was not stunned at all. He even turned aside while Twilight was still speaking, using his yellow magic to conjure up an abacus.

“Give me just a moment,” he requested in his deep, elderly voice.

Interrupted in the middle of her sentence like that, Twilight just stood there with her mouth gaping open. Her eyes were glued to the wizard’s actions in curiosity and confusion. What was he doing? Why was he acting so casual? Did he not realize that he was dead just a moment ago?

“Hmmm… That is strange,” he suddenly commented, letting the beads continue to slide around in the abacus.

“Wha… What is?” Twilight wondered, still deeply confused.

“You are later than I expected. I would have imagined somepony would try to resurrect me much sooner,” he explained casually, still staring at his calculation tool.

Again, Twilight could only stay there in stun. He was aware of what had happened. He even predicted it. Just how deep was his wisdom and foresight? Had he been planning and waiting for this to happen all along, even so many years after his death?

“You knew I was coming?” she asked, wanting to make sure.

“Not you specifically, but somepony like you. It was bound to happen eventually. I am very sensitive to the flow of magic and events in the world. I made many predictions in my life and wrote many prophecies. I knew, one day, somepony in dire need for my help would commit an act of desperation and try to bring me back to life so I could aid them. I took preparations for this event. Before I died, I left markings of my soul here in this tomb so any attempt to bring me back would be much easier for the caster to pull off,” Starswirl stated.

Once again, Twilight couldn’t bring herself but do anything other than stare at this ancient wizard with wide open eyes and mouth. Starswirl noticed that she was obviously needing more time to cope with this situation than he did. So he just let the abacus vanish again and started looking around. Judging from his expression, not much had changed visibly. But after a moment, his face became more serious and troubled.

“Hmm… I can see why you brought me back. I do not even know what is happening at this very moment, but I can already feel that the entire world is almost critically out of balance. I can feel so much hostile magic,” he spoke, but then returned his focus to Twilight. “But as a matter of fact, it is rather difficult to feel that with the intensity of your aura overpowering my senses. I can already tell you are exceptional. So much power, so much potential. Yet, you are mortal.”

“Well… y-yes, you are right. How did you know all this?” Twilight eventually asked.

“I was alive during the reign of the first alicorns, Flora and Fauna. I do not like to brag about it, but I was playing a critical role in creating the race of alicorns in the first place. The twin sisters were perfect. A flawless fusion of body, soul, mind and magic. Just being near them made even non-magical creatures feel very at peace. But the sisters they adopted, Celestia and Luna. They were not created the same way. Their aura was different, always has been. A strong pride in the Princess of Light and strong emotions in the Princess of Darkness. They were getting along well during my time, but I felt a potential conflict arise between them. I particularly feared for the well-being of Princess Luna. Having an infinite lifespan also gives one infinite opportunities to let tears widen. Do not misunderstand me, I truly supported all members of the royal alicorn family. But I knew it was just a matter of time before something would happen. I just figured it would be much sooner,” Starswirl explained.

He was reaching out very far with this statement. At first, it seemed to Twilight like he was dodging the answer. But the more he spoke, the more she came to realize that he was trying his best to explain his complex thoughts. There was no easy way to explain Starswirl. His mind was just so all-encompassing, it was difficult for a regular pony to grasp his wisdom. But Twilight still would try her best, she kept telling herself. This was just too important.

“Sadly, you were right. Something did happen and it has to do with Celestia and Luna. Oh, where do I start… It is all so much to explain…” she worried.

“Take your time,” Starswirl replied calmly, just sitting down and listening.

“Well…” the purple mare started, as well sitting down and roaming through her thoughts. “Evil creatures emerged which we call demons. They have their roots in a terrible conflict between Celestia and Luna during-”

Suddenly, Twilight’s train of thought forcefully stopped. She couldn’t utter a single word anymore. At first confused, she quickly came to remember that she was still under the Curse of Secrets, preventing her from talking about Maledictum Insania. It frustrated her visibly, letting even Starswirl catch on that something was wrong.

“Ah. Now I can feel it. There is some kind of magic placed upon you, isn’t there? Something very vile, like I have never seen before,” he analyzed.

Twilight still couldn’t speak. No matter how she attempted to explain this, she couldn’t find the right words without even hinting about why she was cursed. But it still allowed her to nod in response. Apparently, that was all Starwirl needed. He closed his eyes and his horn began to glow. Twilight felt that the magic around her was shifting. A strange sensation was rushing through her, as if an invisible touch was analyzing her soul. The feeling inside of her shifted gradually, giving her a vast variety of sensations that could not be described with any words. But then, one suddenly dominated. In an instant, Twilight felt very light. It made her take a deep breath and a feeling spread through her body as if she had just been thoroughly cleansed.

“A very curious magic, indeed. Try speaking now,” Starswirl requested.

“Maledictum Insania,” Twilight babbled out without even thinking about it.

Her eyes instantly went wide open and she covered her mouth with both front legs, disbelieving that she just managed to say that. She figured the Curse of Secrets would just cut her off again. But how could she...

Was it possible? Did Starswirl just, completely casually, lift the Curse of Secrets from Twilight? It was specifically designed to be unliftable! How did he do it and so quickly on top of that?

Again and again, the purple mare found herself incredibly astonished by the seemingly infinite capabilities of this old wizard. Starswirl just kept sitting there, not looking confused over her words at all. He just patiently waited for her to continue explaining. So Twilight calmed down again, placed her front hooves back on the ground and resumed.

“Well, even though I can now openly speak about it, there are many words that would need quite some time to explain. What you just lifted from me was a curse. And as I said, we are fighting against creatures called demons. Then I also need to talk about reapers… As much as I would absolutely adore spending as much time with you as possible and learning everything you are willing to share, time is of essence right now,” the purple mare explained.

“I see. Of course, almost two thousand years of history cannot simply be summarized in one day and I realize knowing what you know is necessary for me to be able to help you. Would you allow me to access your memories directly?” Starswirl requested.

“Yes, that would be a big help,” Twilight agreed, just now remembering that he was actually capable of doing that.

Starswirl The Bearded took a few steps forward and closed his eyes. His horn began to glow with yellow magic again and he gradually moved his head towards Twilight’s. The purple mare just stood in place, observing as their horns made contact. A short bolt of magic rushed through Twilight, making her dizzy for a moment. But it seemed like that was all the contact needed. Starswirl instantly backed away, his eyes shooting open. For the first time, he actually looked shocked.

“You…” he started, seemingly so horrified that he couldn’t find the right words at first. “You definitely made the right choice by coming here. This is beyond anything I could have ever predicted. The sheer malevolence… I cannot find suitable words to describe it…”

Twilight opened her mouth again, aiming to ask another question. But before she could utter even a sound, Starswirl raised his hoof to interrupt.

“I know what you want to ask. I am afraid, no. I can’t lift Maledictum Insania. The complexity of this curse… Not only is it even far beyond me, but it also is tied to a much greater problem. The curse cannot be lifted so long as this world is so far out of balance. This war you are fighting is for the right cause, but you still don’t fully grasp just how deep down into the very essence of this world it is tied,” he explained.

“But there must be something you can do! Please! You saw my memories! If the rebellion fails, this will be the end!” Twilight argued.

“You are right about that. King Blueblood cannot be allowed to succeed. But putting the world back in balance will still be a delicate act of which even the tiniest of actions can have an enormous result. I will tell you what you need to know. But you have to promise me something first,” the ancient wizard requested.

“No worries. I won’t abuse the knowledge to do anything that lies beyond ending this war,” Twilight replied immediately.

“That is good to know, but not what I would ask of you. Once I am done sharing my knowledge with you, I have to ask you to undo the Age Spell you cast upon me and turn me back into bones and dust. While I prepared for this, it still is unnatural for me to be alive at this point. My resurrection already had a negative impact on the balance of the world. I can feel the magic itself shift. I hope you understand that because of this, I cannot actively support you in your cause,” Starswirl resumed.

“This is… sad to hear. But I already assumed you would ask for something like this. The last thing I want to do is make things even worse anyway,” the purple mare agreed.

“Thank you. So then,” the ancient wizard started again, his horn now glowing much brighter than before. “Straight away, I want to show you one of my most closely guarded secrets. Prepare yourself.”

Twilight could feel her body starting to float. A mighty aura of magic was gathering around them. This felt a lot like a teleportation spell. Just much, much stronger than anything she had ever cast. Before she could even wonder where they would end up, both disappeared into thin air.

---

Starswirl’s magic certainly was precise and powerful. No teleportation spell had ever made her so dizzy before. She needed a moment to even start focusing. But what she saw made no sense to her. A slight, purple, magical aura was flowing all around her. No matter where she looked, there was night sky in all directions. Until suddenly, she noticed an enormous sphere far, far below her. A sphere made of mostly blue and green. Twilight had never seen it like that before, so it didn’t immediately click to her what she was looking at. But then, her eyes shot wide open. Below her was her own world!

Her eyes hastily looked around again, scanning for Starswirl. It did not take her long to realize that he was nearby, just a few steps away from her, if you can even call it steps, floating in this realm where there is seemingly no up and down.

“Where are we?” Twilight wanted to know.

“As you probably realized by now, we are no longer on the world we call home. This is the Aether,” Starswirl explained.

“The… Aether? I have never even heard of this before,” the purple mare commented.

“Not surprising. In such a busy world, few ever look towards where you won’t see anything. The Aether is a realm of pure arcane magic that surrounds our world. You won’t find a more mysterious place anywhere. Next to nothing is known about the Aether. Usually, only alicorns are capable of even getting here. The two of us are the first and only mortal creatures that ever managed to leave the world without leaving our bodies behind,” the ancient wizard continued to explain.

“Incredible… I can’t even describe how I’m feeling right now… And it is so beautiful, too,” Twilight stated, looking around again in fascination.

“Indeed. But it wasn’t always like this,” Starswirl spoke, getting Twilight’s attention again. “You see, every creature is easily capable of seeing the Aether from the ground of our world. It is simply the sky at night. But at my time, the Aether and therefore the nightsky used to be much less spectacular. From the ground, it simply seemed like a black void. From up here, you were surrounded by nothing but purple fog. It wasn’t before Princess Luna that the Aether changed. She used her dark magic to enrich it with beauty, creating what we can see now today. Only due to that are we even capable of seeing our own world below us. From here, we can observe everything this tiny capsule we call existence has to offer. An ocean of magic with a single, beautiful pearl in the middle, orbited by a sphere of total light, the sun, and a sphere of total darkness, the moon,” Starswirl answered.

“Nopony will ever believe me when I tell them about this. Just being here… I get the feeling that my soul is expanding. It is almost like… Like everything is becoming so much clearer now. Is this why you brought me here?” Twilight wondered.

“Yes and no. It is true that having spent a significant amount of time trying to research the Aether contributed to my understanding of magic, but there is something else. Through research, I came to the conclusion that the Aether, all of this, is the source of all magic. As magical beings, being surrounded by so much raw magic unlocks enormous potential to us. Spells we cast now have either much stronger or very different effects. For example, a simple observation spell becomes amplified to such an extent that we can easily magnify a specific point in the world,” the ancient wizard explained.

Immediately, his horn began to light up again. This time, the act of casting a spell was visualized in a way Twilight never saw before. She could see small purple streams of the Aether approach the tip of his horn, seeping into it, flowing through his mind and returning again, having taken a yellow color. A circle appeared before them with a blurry yellow outline. Inside of it, Twilight could see a detailed picture from within the Everfree Forest. It was astonishing to her. The magnification was so strong and detailed, she actually could see more than she usually would be able to with her bare eyes. For a moment, she wondered to herself if that was how reapers perceived the world. But then her head turned to Starswirl, her expression full of questions.

He seemed to understand and gave her a patient smile. The yellow magic around his horn shifted slightly, letting the magnification wander. It went straight through the ground, digging down into the earth like a mole. Suddenly, it reached a cave. Twilight just couldn’t seem to find a moment where she wasn’t deeply impressed, as yet another marvelous picture revealed itself to her. This deep down underground, there was a single, large tree made entirely out of a magically glowing blue crystal. Small round crystal leaves were hanging from shiny vines. Five of its largest branches had larger growths with hexagonal holes in them, as if something had been removed from them. The trunk had imprints of the sun and the moon, which Twilight could identify as the exact same shape as the cutie marks of Celestia and Luna. The center showed a large star in a very similar shape to her own cutie mark. Even though they were looking at this tree from so far away, Twilight felt an unspeakably strong aura coming from it.

“This, Twilight Sparkle, is why we needed to go to the Aether. Only here is my magic strong enough to show you this marvelous flora I once discovered a long, long time ago by tracking sources of magic. This is the Tree of Harmony,” Starswirl began to explain.

“How can something so beautiful be so unknown? Did you give it that name?” the purple mare wanted to know.

“No. It gave itself that name and it is only known by a total of four individuals now. Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, you and myself. The artefacts you know as the Elements of Harmony originally grew on this tree like fruits before Celestia and Luna harvested them,” Starswirl spoke.

“Hold on. This is where the elements came from?! And it gave itself this name? Does that mean it is sentient?” Twilight wondered.

“More so than you can yet even begin to grasp. The Tree of Harmony is just as old as the world itself. It was created by a union of all three major forces: Light, Darkness and Magic. Just like alicorns, the tree has an infinite lifespan and I am very certain you can feel the aura coming from it. You see, alicorns are often referred to as demi-gods. But what you are looking at here, Twilight Sparkle, is a true god. A being whose power lies beyond the grasp of anything that has ever been alive, or will ever be,” the ancient wizard stated, his voice filled with utmost respect.

Twilight kept on staring at the tree, trying to understand what she was hearing, seeing and feeling. A god? This tree was a living god, hiding beneath Everfree Forest? As remarkable as this knowledge was, it only raised even more questions.

“Why is it here?” she wanted to know.

“It is the nature of gods to have a grasp of things that exceeds that of all other beings. For all I understand, the tree specifically chose this exact location to grow at when it was created. I am convinced it was predicting everything that has happened thus far long before even the first mortal creatures appeared. Much like the Aether, this tree is pure magic, in crystalised form. It needs nothing in order to grow and stay nurtured. Yet, its roots go deep down into the core of this world and from there spread around to every continent. I never managed to fully understand the meaning behind this. Maybe it is holding the world together this way. Maybe it acts as a magic relay between the Aether and the world. It also seems to prevent the hostile magic… this demonic energy that has befallen Everfree Forest from spreading. But since we are now talking about demons anyway, here is an even more fascinating fact that I want to bring to your attention,” Starswirl spoke.

He suddenly halted, making Twilight look at him beggingly. He once again gave her a warm, patient smile before resuming.

“You see, the tree has predicted the rise and fall of Nightmare Moon. It has predicted the birth and defeat of Malice. It seems like it chose this place because this is where Malice had fallen and defiled the ground with his evil energy. It is stopping the growth of Everfree Forest, yet no demon ever set foot anywhere near it. Judging from your own memories, demons and even Nightmare Moon herself would be very capable of reaching and destroying the tree. But they never even tried, even though they would be capable of feeling its presence. It would be highly unlikely for Nightmare Moon to not know about the Tree of Harmony. Why? Why aren’t they destroying it if their goal is to destroy everything? Why not kill this living god and allow Everfree Forest to continue to grow out of control?”

Twilight remained silent. She had no answer to this. Demons had no respect for any life and only sought out the total destruction of the world. But why wouldn’t they even attempt to destroy the tree? Why does Nightmare Moon not show any interest in it at all? It was unexplainable to her.

While still puzzling over this question, Starswirl let the image in his magical magnifying glass flash. After a moment of white, it showed an entirely different picture. Giant mushrooms and flowers were growing by a pond. Buildings and structures the size of doll houses were spread all around the pond. The air was full of tiny creatures with enormous see-through wings. They seemed to be gently floating around without any effort. Twilight focused on one standing still and due to the improved vision from the spell, she could make out that it actually looked a lot like a microscopic pony.

“What are they?” she asked.

“These creatures are called Breezies. Judging by your expression, you had no idea they existed. But there is no need to feel bad about this. As a matter of fact, you won’t usually find them in Equestria. Not even anywhere else in the world,” Starswirl replied.

“Huh? What do you mean by that? Where is this place?” the purple mare eagerly wanted to know.

“Look and feel very closely, Twilight Sparkle. What you are looking at is not our own world. The Breezies come from another, originating from a different aspect of the Aether close to ours. Our worlds will never meet, yet they are still so close to each other that, from time to time, a portal opens between them. The Breezies had discovered these portals many thousands of years ago and use them whenever they surface. They come to our world seeking for pollen, which they use as food and fertilizer of their own world. Only those very dedicated to nature may come across these beings on one of their interdimensional journeys,” the ancient wizard continued.

“Wow… I just can’t stop being impressed. I wonder if Fluttershy ever saw them,” Twilight spoke.

“Perhaps. But there is another specific reason why I am showing this to you. Right at this very moment, there is an open portal between our worlds. Let me show you,” Starswirl stated, letting the light on his horn flicker again.

The image shifted and this time, Twilight’s eyes widened not in astonishment, but in horror. The portal Starswirl just mentioned was in the middle of a demon stronghold. A swarm of Breezies was floating through the thick red darkness, countless glowing red eyes around them. They looked extremely nervous and Twilight herself was fearing for their lives.

“Starswirl, please! Stop this! Save them!” she begged, bordering on panic.

“There is no need for me to do anything. Watch and observe,” he replied calmly.

Twilight’s focus nervously jumped back to the magical window. Countless demons were staring straight at them. She knew they would attack any second now.

But the seconds passed. Not a single demon moved and a few even stopped observing after a while. Not much later, the Breezies simply flew out of the stronghold, unhindered.

Now, Twilight’s jaw seriously dropped. What she just saw was impossible to happen. The Breezies were such small and fragile creatures. They would stand absolutely no chance against the demons. Yet, they were left unharmed, even ignored.

“I can tell you did not expect them to behave like this. So just like with the tree, I will ask you again. Why didn’t they just kill the Breezies?” Starswirl questioned.

“I seriously don’t know! If I hadn’t just seen it with my own eyes, I would think that this is impossible!” the purple mare replied quickly, still extremely stunned.

“Think, Twilight Sparkle. Think very closely and try to find an answer by yourself. Understandably, your past experiences with demons made you develop a burning hate for them. But these emotions cloud your judgement. If you want to win this war, you will have to understand your enemy. Put your past experiences, feelings and prejudices aside. Think, from an as purely logical point of view as you can,” the ancient wizard encouraged.

Twilight nodded in response. Her focus returned to the image of the stronghold full of demons while she roamed her thoughts. It was surprisingly difficult for her to not get distracted by angry thoughts and horrible memories when she was watching these eyes burning with absolute hate. Minutes passed, during which Starswirl just kept patiently waiting. It seemed really important to him that she came up with a conclusion on her own. Slowly, Twilight’s expression relaxed.

“Could I be wrong?” she asked herself aloud suddenly. “Could what I think of the demons… what they do… why they do it… be wrong? It’s not their goal to just destroy everything at the first best chance given? Could there be a deeper motive?”

“And now you are beginning to walk the right path of perception,” Starswirl commented. “All the Tree of Harmony had ever done was maintaining balance. It stopped the growth of Everfree Forest in attempt to keep the forces more balanced, but never attempted to influence the course of this conflict. Nightmare Moon herself understood this and allowed it to happen. The Breezies are creatures that do not even come from our own world. They never had anything to do with the war. They never contributed to Nightmare Moon’s wrath. She has absolutely no reason to harm them.”

“I had always known that the will of the demons is directly linked with the will of Nightmare Moon. It seems her motivations are more complex than I had always been assuming. It isn’t her main objective to just randomly lash out. She is working towards something specific. All that has so far happened was part of a big plan: Revenge. She and all her demons have their own strict set of morals and their own sense of justice… I have always known this, but I never acknowledged it. Now I understand that this was a big mistake. I never viewed Nightmare Moon as an individual of morals. Maybe that is why we kept on failing against her. Maybe that is why Celestia failed. If they were just doom driven, they would have never even accepted cooperation with Blueblood,” Twilight figured.

“Your eyes are beginning to open now, but there is still a long way for you to go. I know, you are surprised about how much I already understand about this conflict, even though I just learned about it from you. You may call it the age difference. But I can feel a shift in your magic happening right now. Soon, you will surpass me. I can sense it and I am proud to know this. You do not need me to win this war. You already are the Starswirl of your era,” the ancient wizard spoke in a warm tone.

“Oh my gosh,” the purple mare responded, looking away as her cheeks gained a strong red tint. “Stop it, you. I’m already getting way too much praise lately, but this is just too much.”

Starswirl just smiled again in response, seemingly pleased to see that, despite the fact she had so much power, she remained so modest. Twilight herself soon calmed down again and returned her focus to the world below her. Somewhere down there was Equestria. Somewhere down there was the Crystal Empire, where all her friends were. Twilight felt the magic freely flow through her, her mind feeling lighter and clearer than it had ever been. Everything suddenly seemed so much more plausible. All Starswirl did was show her a few things, but this seemed to have expanded her horizon to a similar scale as the time she discovered the significance of friendship. Even though she was so far away, the purple mare never felt more connected to her own world. She could feel everything. The lifeforce of billions and billions of creatures. The flow of magic as it washed over the world. Her own magic flowing harmonically through her body.

No. It was more than just flowing through her. It felt like she was now deeply fused with the Aether. Almost as if they had become one. There was no explanation as to how… but something changed in Twilight. She just suddenly… knew. She understood. As a result, she precisely knew that she no longer needed fear over her own powers. The barrier had fallen. The force Twilight had been so afraid of unleashing now wouldn’t move anymore unless she moved and wanted it to move.

As Twilight kept on watching the world, she felt nothing but absolute peace and calmness. Having seen, felt, learned and experienced all that Starswirl showed to her made her mind ascent. There was no telling what she would be capable of now. The possibilities seemed infinite.

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Such a feeling… breathing not air, but pure magic. She just now started becoming aware of that fact. Her thoughts were not random anymore, but had a calm order and pattern. She wasn’t even feeling stunned anymore. Everything just made sense now and she felt like, deep down, she had always known these answers. Twilight’s eyes opened again.

“Magic is life. Magic is friendship. It is love, it is existence. There is no difference. This feeling… it is what fills every being, magical or not. This is what you wanted to show me, am I right?” she asked.

“Precisely. Your aura is shifting. I can feel you becoming more in harmony with magic by the second. Even I have to admit, you are beyond anything I could have ever anticipated. I may have the knowledge, but not the capabilities to utilize it. But you… It seems like you were born for this exact purpose. Magic truly is your destiny. You will be able to reach where I never could. But more importantly, you will be able to end this war,” Starswirl commented.

Twilight now had a similarly calm smile on her face as he did. She just looked at him, not as a superior being anymore, but as an equal.

“I wished I could have been your student, back in your time,” she stated.

“You are flattering me,” the ancient wizard responded, almost laughing.

“Well… I think we can go home now,” the purple mare suggested.

Starswirl nodded and closed his eyes. His horn began to glow again and with a flash, they disappeared again.

---

The sun and moon had both moved a significant amount while these two magicians were gone. Now back in their world, Twilight could feel everything around her. Without having to touch anything, she could feel the stone walls, the energy in the ground, the spirits in the air. She just stood there for a moment with closed eyes, savoring this feeling. As she looked again, she could see Starswirl climbing back inside of his sarcophagus.

“It was a pleasure to meet you, Twilight Sparkle,” he spoke before laying down.

The purple mare smiled in response, closing her eyes again and starting to undo her spell. A purple aura formed around the stone coffin and slowly, the lid rose into the air, ready to be put back in place.

“Oh, by the way. If you one day get a chance to meet my dear, old friend Scorpan, send him my best regards. I am very proud of what he has accomplished,” the wizard requested quickly.

“I will keep that in mind, Starswirl,” Twilight promised.

The air became filled with arcane magic again. As quickly as his resurrection happened, it ended again. With a white flash, Starswirl had returned to being dust and bones, resting peacefully in his stony grave.

Twilight covered the sarcophagus again. Then she turned around and started walking back outside. She did not remember the exact way how to get out, but she didn’t need to. She could feel the structure of the entire city laid out before her like a map. Within minutes, she was back out in the cold.

The air was still vacant of any life, but Twilight wasn’t completely right before about there not being any magic around. There still was some left, allowing her to feel, to see. It would be easy for her now to skip entire continents using teleportation and she immediately proved it to herself by teleporting straight out of the ancestral homeland in just one spell.