The repetitive ticking felt as though it was continuously poking at his soul. It was as if no matter where he went, or where he tried to hide the sound only continued to grow louder, and louder, and ever closer.

The stallion's name was Grey Bar, a local blacksmith and resident of Trottingham. All he could do was run as fast as his hooves could carry him before tripping over his hooves.

*Splash*

"Blegh!!! Guh! C-can't stop now," he uttered to himself after spitting the foul water out..

It was then he noticed the distant tower, dark and dismal as it was. A long abandoned edifice languishing on the outskirts of town. From a distance it looked like a bleak and pitch-black shard stabbing towards the sky above it. With every step he took, the sounds of an old clock grew ever closer, which baffled him… until he realized he was moving towards the tower!

'Impossible!?!?' he thought to himself as he began to back away, his hooves trembling in fear.

Through the wrought-iron gates of the yard surrounding it, in the tower’s front doorway, there was a figure of abysmal blackness staring out at him with a pair of piercing pale blue eyes. It wore a white suit with a red tie.

Grey Bar could not run away as he continued to look on in horror as the creature before him started sprouting black tendrils from it’s back, dripping black tar. It wasn’t until they suddenly lashed towards him, Grey falling onto his back as the putrid limbs of muck squeezed his hind legs together and around his barrel, before they began to drag him towards the tower.

Grey panicked as he struggled in vain to free himself, trying to grab something - Anything - to hold onto but there was nothing. He looked up and saw hope as he reached out.

“SILVER!!!!! SILVER, HELP ME!!!! PLEASE DON’T LET IT TAKE ME!!!!!”

“UNCLE!!!!” A young stallion screamed as he bolted awake, sweat drenching his sheets and pillow as he rubbed his forehead. He began to look around, seeing an old nightstand beside his bed with a half-empty glass of water and a scroll he had received the previous day.

“C-Calm down Silver… It was… just a nightmare.” he said to himself, climbing out of his bed as he began to make his way out of his room and towards his bathroom to prepare for the day.

“Get a hold of yourself, Silver Smith. Uncle Grey is okay… He’s at the convention in Baltimare right now. He’s fine!” the stallion called Silver said to himself in confidence, splashing water on his face. “Gotta get ready, Uncle should be back in time to greet Watcher. Heh, hard to believe it’s been ten years since I last saw him… I wonder what he’s up to.”

After preparing for the day, and running a few errands for his Uncle’s shop, Silver Smith made his way to Trottingham Station to await his friend’s arrival. He could still recall his time at Canterlot University where he’d met Watcher. One of the most stubborn, hard headed yet brilliant unicorns he had ever met. Because of him, he had embraced becoming a blacksmith like his uncle and to hopefully start his own blacksmithing business in Fillydelphia.

However, reminiscing would have to wait as the next train finally arrived. Silver waited patiently until he saw his friend step out. A tall and strong charcoal black unicorn with a snow white mane with a single red streak going through it, wearing a brown trench coat while carrying a suitcase and sword on his back.

“Well, well, if it isn’t Ol’ Silver… I see you’re still wearing that ridiculous red tie and collar,” he said, smirking as Silver rolled his eyes.

“And I see you are still wearing that dusty old coat,” Silver rebutted with a raised brow and a smirk.

“It’s good to see you, old friend.”

“Likewise Watcher,” Silver smiled as both stallions locked hooves together and began patting each other on the back.
“So, where’s that special marefriend you were planning to bring?”

“Yeah… that ain’t happening anytime soon.” Watcher answered, his voice lowering in annoyance. “It’s better to leave it be for now. Where’s that old fart hiding anyways?”

“Well from what I remember, his train should be arriving tonight,” Silver replied while tapping his chin with his hoof as he added under his breath, “I hope…”

“I’m sure he’ll be just fine,” Watcher assured, having picked up on Silver’s worrying, “For the time being, let’s head over to the nearest pub! I could really go for some good ale right about now!”

Silver’s eyes widened, “Dude! It’s only 12:30 right now!!!”

Hours seemed to have flown by as the two stallions continued to chug down another mug of ale. Silver had drunk about three mugs while his friend had finished nine total. Yet Watcher still seemed to be sober if not a little buzzed.

“Watch, seriously how are you not drunk… I can barely keep up with yo- Urp!”

“Well, if you must know… It’s my super power!” he replied, chuckling as he began to finish his tenth mug.

“Ugh… no more - Hic! - for me...” Silver moaned while pushing his fourth mug away. “A-Anyways, how’s your mom?”

Watcher groaned in annoyance as he slammed his mug against the table. “She’s a pain in the ass still! You’d think that after leaving home, improving my magical abilities, and helping Equestria, she’d be proud? NO! All she’s talked about since I got back was about my cousin and how he appeared on the paper recently…”

“S-Sounds like you're jealousss!” he slurred, patting the larger unicorn on the back.

“Oh please… I stopped being jealous of that guy a long time ago… It’s just, I was expecting-” Before he could finish his sentence, a loud scream was heard by everypony in the bar.

“W-What was- Urp!”

“Everypony remain calm!” The bartender said as he tried to get everyone’s attention. “The local Guard will handle whatever's going on, they're on patrol right now.”

“H-Hey, what’s going on, Silver?” Watcher asked as the white stallion tried to remain focused.

“There’s been about twenty missing cases recently here in Trottingham, but I think we should just stay-”

“I’m heading out to have a look,” Watcher didn’t wait to hear the rest as he stood up, throwing a bag of bits toward the bartender and said, “Keep the change!” on his way out.

Silver shook his head rapidly before stumbling out of his seat to follow his friend out the bar, trying to keep up with the larger unicorn. He tried to see which way Watcher had gone with only the light of Luna’s moon to illuminate the dark streets of Trottingham. It wasn’t long until he managed to catch up with the black stallion who had suddenly stopped.

“W-Watcher… W-What’s with yo-” Silver suddenly stopped as his eyes widened at the very sight of what was before them.

A young colt laid lifeless on his back, his blue coat and mane paled until they were almost colorless, his eyes were glazed and milky white with tear trails staining his cheeks. The two noticed that the colt had several bite marks on his neck and limbs. Some of his mane and tail were missing chunks. Watcher couldn’t help but snarl as he approached the lifeless colt, checking to see if he had a pulse just to be sure, but he felt nothing.

It was as though something had sunk its teeth into this poor foal and sucked the life right out of him!

“Holy Mother of Faust... Why?!” Silver uttered in a soft and shuddery voice, gagging at the sight of the poor foal as he turned away, fighting the urge to vomit and trying to calm his pounding heart at the same time.

“Whoever did this… will fucking pay-” Watcher paused, noticing that colt was holding onto something in his hoof. “Hey, you said your Uncle was out of town, right?”

“Y-yes…” Silver finally slowed his heart down to where he was able to be comfortably cool though his nerves were still worked up, given the situation.
“He-he’s in Baltimare at a convention, but he’ll be back soon.”

“Then, why… does this colt have his lucky pen?” Watcher said, levitating a red fountain pen with his magic up to Silver Smith who held it in his hoof and examined it carefully, seeing his Uncle’s initials on it.

G.B.

“N-No…" He uttered.

"Is it possible that he could have dropped?" Watcher asked, closing the little colt’s eyes before turning to his friend.

"My uncle would never forget his lucky fountain pen!"

"What’s going on over there?" The two friends looked back to see a stallion coming their way and it was then Silver recognized the colt and realized who this stallion was.

He hurried over to bar him, saying, “Bronze, you- You shouldn’t-”

“What are you looking at over there?” The stallion called Bronze kept peering over Silver’s shoulder, who tried in vain to block his line of sight. “Is that- Is that a colt? Is that Nickel?!”

"Silver, keep him back!” Watcher sensed something else was wrong.

“Is that my son over there?! Let me see- Nickel! Buddy, it’s daddy! Nickel, answer me!!” Bronze was finally getting physical as he tried to push his way past Silver, who tearfully held him back.
“Is that my son?! Let me see, Silver!!”

"Silver, get these two out of here… Now!" Watcher ordered, Silver seeing his friend glaring at something down the road.

Several yards away, barely visible in the murky fog, there stood two figures, growling with a sinister softness before their eyes appeared, glowing a pale blue, piercing like icicles, and Watcher saw they were some kind of dogs. But no dogs could give off a feeling so dreaded as they did.

He focused his power, channeling it into his horn, remembering the spell, and then unleashed it, launching a scattershot blast of dart-like projectiles of mana! Following his will, Watcher’s mana darts zeroed in on the beasts, who both seemed to vanish into the fog just before the darts got close enough and he sensed they hit nothing, and he no longer senesed the malevolence those beasts had been giving off.

“THAT’S MY SON!!!” Watcher looked back to see Bronze had managed to get by Silver and was now kneeling beside the cold and little body of his foal.
“THAT’S MY BOY…!!!!”

Ponies nearby were taking notice and converging to see what was going on, and several among them gasped as they saw Bronze gingerly pick up and hold little Nickel’s lifeless body as he wailed in devastated grief. Silver began speaking to some of them whom he knew and trusted to let them know what was going on.

Watcher approached the grieving stallion with a look of deepest sympathy, placing a hoof on Bronze's shoulder.
"I'm sorry… we didn't make it in time."

"He-he…. He went missing a week ago!! What ha- what happened… to my boy?! Uhuhuhuh..." Bronze sobbed, utterly inconsolable as he held his colt like he’d never let go.

Watcher couldn’t help but sigh as he did his best to try and comfort the stallion when he noticed Silver coming over with a few ponies, one of them bringing a sheet. They nodded to Watcher, letting him know they’d take care of Bronze and Nickel, who backed up and then trotted over to where Silver stood.

"We better head back to your place."

"We're just leaving?!"

"I fear this is something bigger than either of us can resolve… I have to send a message to somepony and hope he can help," Watcher explained, as he trotted past his friend.

Hurrying to keep up, Silver asked, "Who?"

"...my cousin," Watcher answered, pulling out a lollipop from his saddle bag, unwrapping it and started crunching into it.

In the training field behind the Castle of Friendship, several unicorns, most of them wearing Dusk Division Harmony Guard armor, standard issue, stood in a row in front of a shooting range with hay bales that had targets set over them.

Midnight paced behind them, saying, “The Magic Arrow spell is the standard offensive spell for long-range targets. Any unicorn who is at least Gamma level can do it and even some Deltas are able to muster the power and will to cast the spell themselves to some limited degree.

“Each of you must master this spell, for those of you in my Division to better fulfill your duties, and the others…” Midnight glazed to the two unicorns at the end of the row.

One was his little brother, Twinken, looking excited and eager. The other, his apprentice, Sunburst, who was anything but. The sunny yellow-orange unicorn stallion looked self-conscious and doubtful as he gazed across the distance towards his target.

“Others among you, I want to be able to defend themselves,” Midnight nodded to them encouragingly. “Each of you must be able to cast a Magic Arrow at its basic level - A single projectile of mana with the force and speed of a real arrow yet is guided by your intention and your focus.

“More advanced mages can cast multiple Magic Arrows in quick succession or simultaneously, or Magic Arrows with elemental properties, like fire, ice or lightning, and so on. Some are easier to do, others more difficult, depending on the individual unicorn as some are naturally attuned to elemental magic while others lean more towards control and finesse, or some strive for more unusual or creative applications of a Magic Arrow. So let’s begin by focusing your energy.”

Everypony closed their eyes as they focused themselves towards a calm yet focused state of mind (at least, most of them). They began by ignoring all outside distractions and isolating their mana.

“Good, now, run the spell through your minds and let it shape your mana with your intention as you channel it towards the base of your horn.”

Doing as Midnight instructed, the unicorns went through the spell in their minds, remembering the incantation, the associated glyphs, all the while they concentrated their mana to the base of their horns and held it there.

“Let the mana accumulate so that it will yield a greater energy output. Imagine your horn is a cup and your mana the water filling it to the brim.”

Midnight smiled in satisfaction to see his guards’ horns steadily lighting up from the base towards the tips. He was especially proud of how well Twinken was doing, when he noticed Sunburst wasn’t faring well.

Sunburst’s horn was flashing like a faulty lightbulb and releasing sparks, each pop of energy causing some kind of discomfort as Sunburst tried to maintain control. Midnight wanted to stop the lesson there but it was past that point, and he knew regardless of what happened next Sunburst needed to experience it.

“Open your eyes, focus on your targets, and keep your mana under control,” Midnight instructed and aired for them all to open their eyes, noticing Sunburst grimacing, but then Midnight ordered, “You may fire when ready.”

A few seconds later, the unicorns released the energy and launched their Magic Arrows, which flew from the tips of their horns as bolts of magical energy matching the color of the unicorn’s aura each one came from.

Midnight was glad to see plenty of them hit their targets although less than half managed to score a bull’s eye while some hit the edges of their targets or missed completely. He was truly proud to see Twinken hit his target dead center first, scoring a clean hit in the front and out the back, piercing into a distant tree behind it.

But then he noticed Sunburst’s Magic Arrow popped and fizzled as it zoomed through the air slower than the rest and seemed to burn itself out halfway across the shooting range.

The unicorns all had proud or happy reactions of their shots while the ones who didn’t do as well were more considerate or even dismayed somewhat.

Twinken smiled happily but kept his cool while Sunburst hung his head in shame.

Sighing, Midnight said, “Why don’t we take a break? Everyone else is dismissed, but Sunburst and Twinken stay.”

The other unicorns cleared out, some chattering excitedly amongst themselves while Midnight waved Sunburst over, the unicorn sighing in frustration, “I don’t know what I’m doing wrong!

“I’ve gone over it so many times, I know the proper casting technique-”

“It’s not about your technique,” Midnight clarified.

“How is it not about my technique?” Sunburst debated, “I’ve read every book on magic I could get my hooves on, and no matter what I lose control or can’t maintain it!”

“Twinken?” Midnight gave his little brother an encouraging nod, and Twinken nodded back as he stepped away.

Sunburst looked on, confused… when Twinken’s red magical aura lit up around his horn and he conjured a magic circle, edged with glyphs yet the center bore his cutie-mark of three four-pointed twinkling stars surrounded in a starry nebula.

Mana Projection, an advanced spellcasting technique to project mana and shape it into various shapes and forms to be used for offense, defense, utilization, and so on, depending on what the situation demanded.

Twinken willed his Magic Circle to spin a full 360 degrees, keeping the glyphs in the circumference stationary while his cutie-mark in the center span, releasing sparks of mana that collected into a ring that began to rotate around the Magic Circle like cosmic rings on a planet.

Then, Twinken had the glyphs light up and then burst into threads of mana that shot around like shooting stars before they flew upwards, the Circle fading as the energy was taken by the stars into the air, where they all collided in a vivid burst of light that rained faint astral glimmers around them in a light show similar to the Northern Lights.

Sunburst was blown away while Midnight smirked and said, “Thanks, little brother, well done.”

“Heheh!” Twinken giggled before he galloped off.

“Well- His teacher is Princess Luna and you’ve been instructing him too,” Sunburst pointed out, sounding a tad petulant. “Not only that, I know he’s a Beta while I’m just-”

“A Gamma? The Ranking System of Magical Power is generic and broad, a basic yet flawed system of measuring one's magical power,” Midnight raised a brow.
“Far too often, unicorns think that their magical power is something that cannot be changed. Deltas the weakest and Alphas the strongest. What most don’t realize is, it is state of mind as well as strength of will that can strengthen or weaken one’s power, and occasionally outside forces can do the same to our potential, and affect our magical output.

“Sunburst,” Midnight spoke more kindly, “You are indeed studious and knowledgeable, but like I told you before: The only thing standing in your way to reaching your true potential is you. I know it’s difficult to be confident and believe in yourself, but it’s also detrimental to overthink things and let frustration get to you.”

“But I’ve read and studied so much and I still can’t-” Sunburst tried to say, only for Midnight to raise a hoof.

“You cannot beat a river into submission. You must surrender to its current and use its power as your own,” Midnight stated solemnly.

“Take control by surrendering control?! That- That doesn’t make sense,” Sunburst tilted his head in confusion.

“Not everything does! Not everything has to,” Midnight shrugged before pointing out, “Your intellect can only take you so far. Knowledge and booksmarts are but one aspect to mastering the mystic arts, which are like a multifaceted gem that can shine with a rainbow of colors under the right light.

"For years, you’ve set too much stock into literary studying while ignoring the subtler aspects to learning and mastering your magical abilities.”

“Well, what else is there?” Sunburst rolled his eyes.

“Confidence! Faith, trust, belief in yourself and acknowledging that the power you seek to master has a will of its own,” Midnight explained. “This will is not like the will of a sentient creature, like you and I. It is aware in a way we can’t truly comprehend and unhindered by ego or deliberate intent. It is serenity, inner peace, harmony…!”

Sunburst gawked at Midnight, his logical mind unable (or perhaps unwilling) to grasp this illogical concept Midnight was explaining.

Then, Midnight seemed to perk with an idea before saying, “Let me teach you an advanced Teleportation spell.”

“T-teleportation?! Midnight, I haven’t even mastered the Basic Teleportation spell and that’s still advanced stuff!” argued Sunburst.

“This kind of Teleportation is reliant on something that is not the average Unicorn’s own power,” Midnight explained as he projected a Semblance of a map of Equestria above their heads.

Then, lines seemed to web out in a haphazard fashion, random yet there seemed to be some kind of pattern despite the apparent randomness as the lines interconnected various points, some Sunburst knew while others seemed to connect to places in the middle of nowhere.

“A studious unicorn such as you has surely heard of… the Ley Lines?” asked Midnight, and he chuckled softly at the wide-eyed realization on his student’s face.
“Rivers of arcane power and knowledge that span the world over, connecting places and sources of old magic. For ages, Unicorns have studied and sought to wield the power of the Ley Lines, only to be swept away by the sheer power of their currents. Even Star Swirl the Bearded could never truly master the energies flowing along these unseen paths of power.”

“And you want me to tap into one?!” Sunburst gaped at Midnight as though he were a crazy pony.

“Not without this,” Midnight dispelled the Semblance, making the map disappear, while conjuring something.

It was a ring of resplendent metal, with a prismatic quartz-like crystal set within it.

“This Horn ring is enchanted with an intricate combination of spells,” explained Midnight. “Princess Celestia gave it to me a long time ago in order to more easily master my magic after I became an alicorn.

“Alicorn magic is not so different from the energies flowing along the Ley Lines. Powerful but dangerous if mishandled. This ring kept my power stable and easier to maintain control when I was learning to master my alicorn magic. Once she was certain that I was ready, Celestia had me remove the ring… and then tap into a Ley Line.”

“What happened…?” Sunburst was starting to become enthralled with what he was hearing, especially by this ring.

“The power…” Midnight spoke softly, closing his eyes as he remembered. “It was exhilarating! But terrifying… One wrong move, one misstep, and the Ley Line would have swept me away. As an alicorn I would survive but not unscathed.

“It was my first real taste of the great power that is also the alicorns’ great responsibility. Despite what I experienced however, it emboldened me to keep moving forward, to keep striving to reach my potential, and that’s why… I’m lending this ring to you.”

Midnight willed the Ring to float over and gently slide itself onto Sunburst’s horn. He was a little disconcerted at first, but quickly noticed a warm comfort spread over him, originating from his horn.

“You feel it, right? The Ring helps but you must wield the power,” said Midnight before he made his horn glow, “It will be more efficient if you let me do this…”

Midnight’s horn lit up with his turquoise mana, as did his eyes, the mana extending from his horn and enveloping Sunburst’s, causing him to gasp as he felt Midnight in his mind!

Mind to Mind, otherwise known as Communing. To communicate directly to and from one mind to another, to share thoughts, memories, feelings, knowledge.

This… there- there are no words! Amazing feels so inadequate to describe this!

Telepathy works in a similar way but Communing is quite different. Think of it like finding the right note, resonating the right frequency. As teacher and student, we are able to commune in this way, so now you know the Teleportation Spell I was talking about earlier.

I do? Wait… Incredible! I know it! Every detail, every glyph, every- Wait! Are you serious?!

The connection cut off, leaving Sunburst alarmed and briefly feeling alone and uncertain before he regained his full senses and saw that Midnight was still right in front of him.

“Wha- I don’t-” Sunburst tried to speak, only for Midnight to lay his wing comfortingly around Sunburst’s withers.

“Your emotions caused you to become out of tune in our Communing, so I cut the connection to prevent it from growing worse,” explained Midnight.
“Communing goes both ways, as your emotions could have affected me and hampered our progress here. I’m sorry for that.”

“No, no, it’s… just… gimme a minute,” Sunburst did the calming technique Midnight had shown him, taking a deep breath, holding it for a brief moment to gather his jumbled thoughts and feelings, and then breathing it all out.
“Okay… I’m okay.”

“Like I was saying, your knowledge has taken you as far as it can, Sunburst, but the rest is up to you. In order to do that however, you must rely on something other than knowledge. Quiet your mind, Sunburst, and your power will spark,” Midnight’s horn lit up as mana flowed out the corners of his eyes and he conjured a ring of glistening energy, like fractal flakes of power, before it became a portal and he said, “come with me.”

Sunburst reluctantly followed his master through the portal… and gasped in abject shock!

The air was bracing cold and hard to breathe. A blistering wind shrieked in his ears, and he quickly took notice of his surroundings. They were on a mountainside, frigid and snowy, clearly at a high elevation and the view was majestic!

He was glad he had his wizard cloak but it wasn’t enchanted to protect him from extreme temperatures.

Sunburst looked towards the mountaintop… and then looked stupefied as he uttered, “Wait… is this-”

“Everhoof!” Midnight nodded as he seemed to take it all in with a pleasant smile and deep breath, “Beautiful, isn’t it…?!”

“Y-y-yeah, b-beautiful…” Sunburst pulled his cloak tight though it did little to keep him warm as his teeth began to chatter. “Freezing, but- Beautiful!”

“In these conditions, the average pony may last an hour before succumbing to the extreme cold,” noted Midnight while subtly lighting his horn and the ring on Sunburst’s horn likewise lit before both went out.

“F-F-Fascinating…!” Sunburst commented, on the verge of turning around to go back through the porta-

“But you’ll probably go into shock around the first five minutes,” commented Midnight as he turned towards the portal.

“Wai- What?!” Sunburst looked back and gasped in abject horror as Midnight ventured through the portal.

“Surrender, Sunburst...!” said Midnight’s voice, sounding almost teasing, just as the portal was closing and ignored Sunburst’s wait-wait-waits and hold-ons as he jumped towards the portal, only for it to disperse into flurries of mana that quickly went out.

Grunting as he forced himself back up, Sunburst was still in horrified disbelief - Midnight Blaze, his friend, his teacher! - had left him here on top of Mount Everhoof with the spell he needed to get back being so advanced he didn’t think he could cast it!

Deciding to make the best of it, Sunburst concentrated to cast an firestarting cantrip he knew, only for it to barely produce sparks… and then he felt the Ring on his horn apply some kind of pressure. Not the physical kind, more like… it was as though his mana was dampened from the cantrip he’d been unable to cast.

Wait… did he… he set the Ring to dampen my magic! Sunburst realized and figured, So that I’d have to rely on the Teleportation Spell!

Sunburst ‘URGGHHHAAUUGHH’ed in frustration as he stamped his hooves, only for the bitter cold to remind him of his present situation.

Sunburst ran the spell Midnight had communed to him in his mind - It was indeed advanced, but he’d also gained additional knowledge, that this Ring Midnight had placed onto his horn stabilized his magic and gave him the necessary boost while also protecting him from adverse effects or any spells backfiring on him.

The Spell, while it was Teleportation in a sense, was actually more like hitching a ride.

On the ley lines.

By maintaining focus and a calm state of mind, he would ride the flow of the ley lines to his desired destination as long as he kept it in his mind’s eye. If he lost focus or panicked, he would instead be driven out of the current and wind up somewhere else, probably in the middle of nowhere. Perhaps near a town or community, if he was lucky.

Taking a deep breath and exhaling, he tried to relax as he kept his mind focused on a specific place. However, the thought of screwing up still plagued his mind. What if he couldn’t make it? Or Midnight had to step in to help or stop everything altogether.

No. No, don’t think about any of that, quiet your mind, Sunburst, he thought as he let the calm from the ring help abate his anxiety and just let it slide off of him, and he felt lighter.

Not quite where he had to be, but getting there.

He did his best to ignore the frigid cold that was seeping through his cloak and into his coat, ignore his shivering, and let the spell flow. It wasn’t easy, because logic and facts kept plunking in, creating ripples or splashes of disturbances.

“Surrender, Sunburst, surrender…!” he whispered, trying to focus his mana for the spell.

It was a struggle, trying to maintain his calmness and let it flow when these thoughts and feelings kept disrupting it all. Then, Sunburst thought about the things Midnight had said.

Overthinking, frustration...Confidence. Faith, trust, belief in yourself.

Simple concepts that somehow were difficult for his mind to accept, to let go of the habits that had held him back and embrace these virtues that were independent of logic, of thinking, and instead relied on what was essentially blind faith in this trial by fire.

Or trial by cold…heh, Sunburst thought with an amused chuckle, and almost at once he felt more of his doubts and worries fade away.

It was in that moment Sunburst began to comprehend what Midnight had been saying to him. This power he was striving to master, this spell he needed to cast in order to escape this frozen wasteland, it wasn’t a power that could be wielded with logic and factual thinking.

It was truly an energy that he had to let flow, through his heart, through his mind, and let it carry him!

Serenity… Sunburst’s energy sparked.

Inner peace… Sunburst’s energy began to burn.

Harmony…! Sunburst’s power began to rise!

And a light shined like a beacon across the mountain range.

Back at the archery range, Midnight sat in the middle of the area, waiting. He appeared calm and that all was well… except his long, leonine tail was swishing from side-to-side, betraying his anxiety.

Is it too soon? Am I expecting too much, even with the ring helping him? He thought, beginning to worry.

“Midnight?” He peered over his shoulder and saw Twilight coming his way. She came over, asking, “I thought you were out here with Sunburst. Did he go somewhere?”

“He’ll be along,” Midnight answered cryptically, before sounding just slightly uneasy, “Any second now…”

At first, Twilight didn’t understand, until she remembered that teleportation lesson she’d had with Starlight and Midnight had interjected to give his own spin on the lesson. Groaning, she looked around as she muttered, “Oh no, not again…!”

Sighing since there was nothing else to do but have faith, Twilight sat beside her husband and joined him in waiting for his apprentice.

A minute passed. Then another, and by the third, Twilight was on the verge of casting a spell to locate Sunburst, only for Midnight to reach her withers with his tail and gently say, “Give him a chance…”

“Are you sure?” she asked, concerned.

“Just… wait,” Midnight really was on the verge of worrying… when he sensed something.

Twilight did too, and just a few yards in front of them, sparks flew, spinning round in a circle as it turned into a ring large enough for a pony to walk through… and through it dropped Sunburst, the sparks quickly fading like embers and they both cried out, “Sunburst!”

The prince and princess hurried over, Twilight casting a healing spell to safely warm Sunburst up while Midnight gently moved Sunburst onto his back and listened to his heart, glad to see it was still beating strongly.

“Sunburst? Sunburst, can you hear me?” Midnight gently patted Sunburst’s cheek while levitating his glasses to the side. The lenses were frosted over and one had cracked from the sheer cold, but it could easily be repaired with a spell.

Sunburst’s breathes became deeper as he came to and realized where he was. A feeling bloomed inside, warm and bright, exhilarating in fact, as Sunburst realized he had succeeded in casting an incredibly advanced spell!

“I-I… I did it!” Sunburst whispered in a shudder breath.

“Yes. Yes you did,” Midnight smiled proudly as he helped Sunburst sit up, “and this is only the beginning.”

“But for now…” Twilight interjected, “I think a little bedrest and some warm tea or soup is in order.”

“That-that sounds… like a good idea,” Sunburst whispered and Midnight helped him to hooves when a scroll appeared before him in a burst of ember-like mana, with a purple seal on it, depicting a shield with twin blades behind it.

"Is that from Celestia?" Sunburst asked.

"No… it's… from somepony I haven't heard from in a long time," Midnight answered while removing the seal and opening the scroll.

My dearest cousin

Dear Littl

Midnight

It’s… It’s been a while since I've contacted you and your family. I know there are still… issues between us, but those don’t matter right now.

I need you to come to the city of Trottingham as soon as you possibly can.

Strange things have been happening here. Over twenty of the locals have gone missing and last night we found one. A colt, killed in cold blood, his body in such a strange condition...

Not only that, but I sense a dark presence here… something evil is haunting the outskirts and the ponies of Trottingham and I don’t think I can handle it on my own.

I wouldn't be reaching out to you for help, if-

Please… Just get here as soon as you can.

From,

Watcher

Midnight found himself utterly at a loss as old memories, fond and bitter, were stirred and he furrowed his brows.

His cousin needed him.

And that alone emphasized how serious this problem must be

This arc will be decisively darker than a lot I've done, and am doing with with Pen

His characters in this are Watcher, Silver Smith and Grey Bar, along with others (note that they are different versions who fit in this story). (To see some of Pen's work and learn more about the original Watcher, click right here)

We took inspiration from several sources, which will be ref'd if you know what to look for