Chapter 8
“What? Why?” Lyra stammered. Concern tempered her voice.

Bon Bon had a similar look of concern. Their reactions made the tension of the day spring back into me.

“I don't know for what reason,” Twilight said. Twilight was trying very hard to keep her voice steady and calm, though it shown through a bit. She handed the letter to Lyra so that she could read it. “I am sorry, we may be staying the night. I will send a letter through Spike to tell you if we are. If we do just come in on the morning train.”

Twilight lifted me up with her magic and placed me in front of her. My whole body was shaking. I asked, “Does teleportation hurt?”

“No, though it might make your stomach upset,” Twilight said. She turned to Spike. “Spike I need you to go tell Captain Shinning Spear where I went. Then can you wait here till I send my letter?”

Spike nodded and headed out the door. Bon Bon had just finished the letter. She looked up at Twilight, and said, “Keep her safe, please.”

“I will,” Twilight stated. Her confidence shown through her voice, and it made me feel a slight bit better. A bright light spreading from Twilight's horn encased us. A sudden jerk made my head start to spin. The light faded and no longer were we at home. My dinner met the floor. Sorry floor, you are always such a good friend.

The room we had ended up in was an octagonal room made out of large stone bricks. There were a number of strange runes carved into each of the walls and a door in the center of each of them. The room was maybe twenty feet across. One of the doors opened and a unicorn guard, who looked just like those at Twilight's castle, entered the room.

“Princess Twilight Sparkle, please come with me. Princess Celestia and Princess Luna are waiting in the briefing room,” the guard stated. His voice did not belong to his body and was a bit to high pitched for how muscular he was.

“Yes of course,” Twilight replied. She engulfed me in her magic and sat me on her back She had to change the position of her wings to make me fit better. It was strange and felt somewhat unstable.

Worry fought with hungry in my stomach, each vying for control. Worry was wining. This visit must be punishment for the house. It was all my fault that the fire happened, doubt whispered gently into my ear. I even hurt Sweetie Belle and Cheerilee.

The guard led us up and through the castle. At least I thought it was a castle it was hard to tell till we went up two levels there was no windows. All of the walls were made of a uniform gray stone and each had a different decoration along them. Sometimes suits of pony armor with a litter placard beneath it. Other times large banners with sun and moon motifs. On the third floor up, which seemed to be the ground floor, many of the hallway's had large stain glass windows. Each depicting some scene. I didn't recognize any of the ponies depicted in them.

Finally after almost ten minutes we came to a large set of double doors. The guard opened them and said, “Announcing Princess Twilight Sparkle and her guest.”

Exploded or lit on fire? I leaned towards the fire seemed more poetic. I tried to brace myself for my upcoming doom, though to little effect. A part of me wanted to jump down from Twilight and run away, though my legs didn't seem to work.

The room was a large circular room with a large table in the center. Seated at the table was the large unicorn with wings who had visited me in the hospital. She was deep in concentration looking at a map of something that was spread out across the table. Also sat there was a pink unicorn who also had wings. She had tri-colored mane of pink yellow and purple. Her cutie mark was of a green heart like some of the blankets from the shop. Near an open door to a balcony Princess Luna paced to and fro.

The pink one hopped out of her seat and rushed over to Twilight giving her a hug. She said, “How have you been Twilight? Its been too long since we last got together.”

“I was doing fine,” Twilight responded her worry seemed to have deepened. She glanced at Luna and then back to the pink mare. “Cadence, is everything alright? Celestia's letter sounded a bit dire but I didn't think it was this dire.”

The white mare called from the table, “Twilight why don't you come in the room all the way so that the door may be closed.”

My dread reached an all time high, and a small and quiet squeak left me. Twilight blushed slightly and entered the room fully. The door gently closed behind her engulfed in the white mare's golden magic. All semblance of dignity left me and finally my limbs seemed to work.

The white mare stood up and I felt a magic engulf me. She set me down in front of her. She said, “Hello again Lilac Splash. I am sorry for having to call you away from your family. My name is Princess Celestia.”

I bowed as low as I could, though more out of fear than respect. Princess Celestia giggled softly. She said, “There are no need for formalities in this room. Sadly there is a troubling storm about and I must make sure you are not the cause of it. Please hold still for but a second.”

Princess Celestia's horn glowed brilliantly and the light washed over me. I expected this to hurt. It pierced me thoroughly and I could feel a warm probing through out my body. After a few seconds the light faded. Princess Luna had joined the group. My dread backed down slowly.

“Twilight do you know why necromancy is outlawed?” Princess Celestia asked. I couldn't get a read off her face.

“No,” Twilight said quietly. She looked at the floor hiding her shame.

“Necromancy causes a drain in the ambient magic, and corrupts the near by area if left unchecked,” Princess Celestia explained. She let her mask fade and I could tell the sadness in her eyes. “Technically, You performed necromancy when you saved Lilac. Discord has recently warned me of a distortion and drain of magic, though he couldn't be certain of its cause. I needed to be certain that Lilac wasn't the cause of this. Thankfully she was not the cause.”

“Do you think Grogar could be the cause of this storm?” Princess Luna asked. Her eyes were glazed over as if she wasn't watching the room but somewhere or some when else.

“I hope not, but first we have a more pertinent issue at hand. While the spell that bound Lilac's soul is not corrupting the area around her, I can tell that the spell is fading. If we don't more permanently reapply, it Lilac will die. I know of a spell that will fix this however it is dark magic and comes with its own negatives,” Princess Celestia explained. She looked down at me her sorrow shone through her eyes. “This spell is extremely painful, and potentially life threatening so. Also the spell corrupts and taints the magic present in the subject, which will have to be purged, for it to not cause permanent damage. Finally, we will have to contain the effects of the spell and its corruption inside a set of large crystals, which I have prepared.”

“Sister is there another way?” Princess Luna asked. “I do not want to watch you torture her.”

“Neither do I, Sister,” Princess Celestia stated. “Sadly there isn't an alternative I know of. Short of leting her soul fade away. Sadly time is of the essence, if Twilight's spell is wearing out we can not be certain how long it will stay effective.”

Princess Luna bowed her head slightly. A golden glow engulfed Princess Celestia's horn and she summoned four large crystals which she placed in a square formation around me. Strangly a calmness flooded over me. Princess Celestia telekineticly handed Twilight a piece of paper.

“I will need you to follow along with me, Twilight,” Princess Celestia explained. “I hope that is enough instruction for you.”

Twilight carefully read the piece of paper twice. She set the paper down and looked down at me. Twilight said solemnly, “It should be enough. Is this one of Sombra's spells?”

“Yes, Twilight, Sombra used this spell to extend his life. Luna, I need you to make sure the corruption is siphoned into the crystals, and Cadence I need you to be prepared with a healing spell as necessary,” Princess Celestia instructed. “Let us begin.”

Twilight's purple aura and Princess Celestia's Golden aura engulfed their horns and quickly turned a sickly green. Their eyes also glowed similarly. Their magic washed over me, burning me. The pain at first was manageable but grew till I could no longer hold it in. I screamed. My vision blacked over but I was still conscious of every single sharp stabbing as if something was sewing my body back together piece by piece. After an eternity the pain eased and faded to a dull throbbing. My vision returned and I laid on the floor panting.

My short reprieve was interrupted. Princess Celestia instructed, “Twilight take over the siphoning, Luna help me purge and purify.”

Both Princess Luna and Princess Celestia's magic washed over me. It gently infused my whole self and attempted to draw out my magic. The corrupted magic in me fought back holding tightly to me. As hard as their pull was its grip seemed stronger. It felt like they were tearing me up as the two forces fought for dominance. I could feel the colder more subdued though not less powerful magic of the two sisters instead of pull she purified. Where her magic touched changed and calmed. A wave washed over me converting the dark to light. With the last vestiges of darkness pulled from me, the diarch's magic withdrew. The pain did not.

“Good job, Luna,” Princess Celestia said. I could see the sweat on her brow. “I do not think we would have won that battle without your clever action.”

“Sometimes you can't fight the darkness head on,” Princess Luna said offhandedly. She too looked tired but no where near as Celestia did.

I felt a gentle and soothing breeze flow over me. The pain receded. A gentle magenta glow followed the breeze and the pain became a dull ache. I could move my head again. The crystals which one once a brilliant opaque white now were a dark almost black green. I could see an eye in it.

“Let me free,” the eye told me. No one else seemed to hear it. “Let me out and you will never hurt again. Let me free and Melody will live once more.”

I strained trying to regain my footing instead of the crumpled form I was on the floor. Trying to reach out and free Melody from the crystal. Her smiling face egging me on. Moving was too painful and I collapsed.

“You shouldn't be moving,” Cadence said. She seemed worried.

“I have to save her,” I cried. I stretched my foreleg towards the crystal. If I could only reach her, Melody would be safe.

“You imbecile,” Melody hissed at me. Her face distorted in anger and her eyes transformed into the dark green ones from early. “Just touch the stone and I will be free.”

“No, you're not Melody,” I screamed at the crystal. The last of my energy drained my foreleg fell to the floor. My heart ached and I sat there crying.

“Useless,” the eye said. It's voice rung with bitterness and anger. “Truly useless. Its no wonder she died.”

A golden aura engulfed the crystals and placed them into a large chest. As Princess Celestia's magic picked up the crystals, the eye started to wail. It pierced me and my heart pained me all the more. The eye's wail was silenced when the lid closed.

Twilight picked me up gently and cradled me. Twilight said, “Quiet now the nightmare is over. You are going to be alright now.”

I tried to calm myself but images of the eye taunting me kept popping into my head along sides of Melody and her funeral. My sobbing grew worse and Twilight hugged me.

“Lilac needs to sleep and we must discuss the true nature of Discord's discovery,” Princess Celestia stated. “Luna can you grant Lilac a dreamless sleep?”

“Yes, Sister,” Princess Luna said. Her magic engulfed me and pulled me closer to her. The glow of her horn intensified and sleep started to creep its way into me. “Sleep now, little one. No nightmare shall plague you this night.”

My eyelids became too heavy to keep open, no mater how hard I tried to stop their falling. Soon I did as Princess Luna commanded, rocked gently back and forth by Twilight's magic.

I awoke the next morning to find myself alone in a large room. I was in a comfortable large four post bed, it must have been “Princess” size. The bed did emphasize how small I was. I giggled. Easily ten of me could fit comfortably on this bed. A large dresser was off to one side of the square room with a decent amount of space between it and the bed. Windows that stretched from around two feet off the floor to inches away from the nine feet ceiling. I must have still been in the castle because the walls were made of the same gray stone. There was a large bookcase that was brimming with books. The room felt cold with no one else in it.

My limbs were sore and shaky when I tried to move. The bed was such a nice soft bed that it was nearly impossible to walk across so instead I scooted my self across it. The edge though proved much more passable and I managed to slide onto the floor with out tumbling. I slowly made my way over to the door. The doorknob was too high for me to try to get it with my hoof. I reached inwards for my magic and found my usual pond of it there to be a lake instead. Drawing from it was easy though I could barely limit the amount that came. In my mind I saw the handle of the door spin and gently opening the door. In reality the handle was spun rapidly and I could hear a crunch sound as the mechanics of the doorknob gave way. Thankfully the door did then gently open. I cringed, for there was a guard posted at my door.

“Sorry,” I said quietly. “I didn't mean too. Do you know where Twilight is?”

“Last I heard she was in the library,” The guard said in his best monotone. He didn't even look at me.

“How do I get there?” I asked. I stared at the floor again. I don't think I had properly apologized to the floor yet.

“It is that direction just ask a guard whence you reach the main hallway,” he instructed. He pointed down the hallway.

I nodded my head in acknowledgement and headed down the hallway in the indicated direction. The size of the castle had not hit me until I walked down the hallway. I was tired having just walked to the main hallway, which must have been a distance further than from home to Twilight's Castle. I stopped to rest for a second when came to the main hallway. There were a number of guards in this hallway which could have fit nearly ten ponies abreast and must have been a good thousand feet long. Each guard was posted every twenty feet down the side of the hall, the other side was of kilter from the first side but followed the same pattern. A great number of hallways branched off from the main one each had a tapestry over it with some symbol. One had a book over it which made me think it must be the way to the Library. At the near end of the main hallway a set of huge double doors were open leading into a large throne room. The room seemed empty.

I sat there fatigued from my previous walk. None of the guards seemed to notice my presence or at least they did not care that I was there. I looked back down the hallway I had come from and I noticed that the guard from the door sat there ten feet back. He wasn't watching me directly, but seemed to be guarding me. We sat there for a good ten minutes before I resumed my trek towards the Library. It was calming to know that my guard followed me. I decided that the book hallway must be the way towards the library. After coming down the hallway for what felt like half the distance of I had walked from the room to the main hall I came across a large window that looked into the library.

The library was absolutely massive. The main room was larger than the landing floor of Twilight's Castle but was filled with bookcases each nearly ten feet tall and filled to the brim with books. There was a desk off to one side from when we entered the library. An old unicorn mare with light blue coat and grey mane sat behind the desk.

I walked over to the desk. I couldn't tell if you could see me from behind the desk so I stood up on my hind legs and rested my forelegs against the desk for stability. I asked, “Is Twilight in the library?”

The ancient librarian squinted at me for a second. “Yes, Princess Twilight is in the Restricted section. I will have to go get her for you. For a second there I thought you were Twilight. She used to talk to me using that pose all the time, and you look awful similar to her save for your mane.”

The librarian got off her stool and moved with a spring in her step that I had not expected from such an old pony. She was faster than I was, and I had to half trot to keep up with her. The guard followed behind us at about ten feet still. We passed several subsections of the Library including one which had a depiction in the grate above it of a unicorn wearing a wizard hat that was brimmed with bells. The librarian led us to a large gate that was closed, though no lock was visible.

“Wait here,” the librarian instructed. She opened the gate with her magic and strolled off into the restricted section to find Twilight. It must have been a large section because almost ten minutes had passed when she returned with Twilight in tow. Twilight was reading a book, entitled Magic Imperium: The Collected Works of Sombra, King of the Crystal Empire.

“Here she is,” the librarian said. Though I couldn't tell if she was talking to me or Twilight. She walked off towards her desk.

Twilight closed her book and smiled at me. She said, “What are you doing up and about? I figured you would be too tired to do much today.”

“I didn't want to be alone,” I said quietly. I tilted my head downwards to look at the floor beneath Twilight, before looking back up at her only moving my eyes.

“Lyra and Bon Bon will be here in the morning,” Twilight said. She looked at the window in the hallway, at the shining sunlight garden beyond. “Soon. They may already be in Canterlot. Why don't we go wait for them near the entrance of the Castle?”

I smiled at that. Part of me knew that it had only been twelve hours at most sense I last saw them, but I missed them. I would have pranced around Twilight in excitement if my limbs didn't refuse to obey. I gave Twilight the most pathetic face I could muster and asked, “Can you carry me? My legs are very tired.”

Twilight giggled. She responded jokingly, “If I must.”

Twilight levitated me onto her back and we left the library behind. When we reached the main hallway my guard headed off in a different direction than us.

“Twilight, I broke the door to the room I was in this morning,” I admitted. I looked away from her head. “I didn't mean to, but I couldn't control my magic well enough. Why is my magic different now?”

“In what way? Each of last nights spells may have effected you in a different way,” Twilight asked. She either didn't hear about the door or didn't care.

“Well before when I visualized my magic reserves it was a pond, but now its a lake. I tried to pull a small amount out and way too much came out,” I explained.

“The first spell, Sombra's Soul Binding, is likely why. He created the spell to become more attuned with his magic while allowing him to live eternally,” Twilight explained. I could tell she was about to go into rant mode. “Nearing the end of his natural life span, Sombra made the spell to permantly attach his soul to his body, preventing his death by natural means. The spell was successful and he ended up living for many centuries after that, till Celestia and Luna defeated him and the Crystal Empire disappeared from the world. Part of his spell also was to let him access more of his formidable magic. I was reading his notes on the subject and I feel that he used his pool of magic as his life force to extend it past normal limits. Theoretically as long as he kept his reserves above a certain thresh hold he can't be killed. I don't know why this increased your reserve, maybe that the way I had bound your soul the first time was limiting the amount you could access and when we fixed this you now have access to the full amount.”

She paused to get a breathe. Curiosity pushed me forward. I asked, “How long do ponies normally live? I think I remember Cheerilee saying something about Princess Celestia being nearly three thousand years old.”

“She is. Normal ponies can live to be three hundred on average. Granny Smith, Applejack and Apple Bloom's grandmother is nearly three hundred twenty. She is the oldest non alicorn pony I have every met,” Twilight explained. “Alicorns are immortal, as far as I know. Princess Celestia and Princess Luna were the only Alicorns for thousands of years, till Cadence ascended, and then I did.”

“Wait, so Sombra lived for nearly six centuries?” I asked. That was a huge amount of time, to me. It was almost inconceivable.

“If you don't count the time he was banished, along with the Crystal empire, about that. If you do, it is nearly three thousand years,” Twilight explained.

We turned off from the main hallway into another shorter hallway, we had traversed to the end of the hallway while talking. This hallway had a guard every five feet and ended abruptly as we entered another throne room. This room had a large crowd of ponies in line. Princess Celestia sat on the throne and was administering court. We walked out of the room into another large waiting room many of the seats were taken though we found a set off in a corner to sit at. Twilight went back to her book as we waited, which she had brought with us.

Our wait was thankfully short. Lyra and Bon Bon came walking through the main entrance. Bon Bon glanced around and spotted us, though Lyra had rushed off to talk to the receptionist. Bon Bon rushed over and picked me up into a hug.

“Hello,” I said. I leaned my head up against hers.

“We were so worried,” Bon Bon said. She looked at Twilight who had closed her book again though she had sat it down so that the title could not be read. “Why did Princess Celestia need to see Lilac?”

“We should have this conversation else where,” Twilight said. She got up out of her chair and led us towards the court room. As we passed Lyra who was still trying to get the receptionist to give up some information. “Hello, Lyra. Why don't you come with too.”

Lyra spun around and rushed to follow us. She glanced back angrily at the receptionist. We walked back through the court room, past the main hallway, into a smaller hallway across from the entrance way, and into a small private meeting room nearby. Whence into the room Twilight cast some spell that coated the room in a light mist which faded in a few seconds.

“So, care to explain what's going on now?” Lyra asked exacerbated. She clearly was ticked off, and this was the most angry I had ever seen Lyra.

“Lyra, dear, please calm down,” Bon Bon said. Bon Bon rubbed up against Lyra and then sat down at the table, setting me down in the chair next to her.

Lyra took the other chair next to me and Twilight sat down opposite of me leaving two remaining open chairs. Lyra started intensely at Twilight.

“I am sorry that my letter was vague last night,” Twilight said. “I didn't want to unduly worry you with the truth. Not at least where I couldn't answer any of your questions. Something is afoot in the Everfree and Princess Celestia was worried that Lilac may have been the cause. When I saved Lilac, I cast a necromancy spell, which can cause wide spread corruption in the area around the casting. Thankfully Lilac was not the cause. Princess Celestia noticed, when she inspected Lilac, that the spell, binding Lilac's soul to her body, was fading. We had to cast another similar spell on her last night. She should be better now.”

“I...” Bon Bon stammered at a loss for words. She pulled me up into her forelegs and held me tight.

“What sort of spell can do that?” Lyra asked. She was staring at me, her eyes filled with a storm of worry.

“Dark ones,” Twilight said truthfully. “The particular spell we used was made by King Sombra of the Crystal Empire. The spell will hold. We already dealt with the side effects of the spell.”

“What side effects?” Bon Bon asked. Her grip had not slackened.

“Sombra used dark magic to maintain his rule and much of the spells he created were dark magic. This particular spell was as well. We had to remove any lingering dark magic in Lilac and purify her magic afterwards,” Twilight said. Her mask cracked, and her sorrow and worry shone through the cracks.

“Wouldn't that be extremely painful?” Lyra asked. Her angry had not dissipated.

“It was,” I said quietly. “But its over now.”

Lyra jerked her head in my direction. The rage in her eyes slowly melting away as she looked at me. Tears ran down her cheek as sorrow took the place of her rage. She moved over, to the chair next to Bon Bon, and hugged the both of us.

Twilight sat across from us, crying as well. I saw the loneliness in her eyes. I wiggled my way out of Bon Bon's grasp and walked awkwardly across the chairs to Twilight. I hugged her and said, “You tried your best. Don't feel bad because I had made a mistake that you tried to fix.”

Twilight hugged me back. She said, “I am sorry. It is just very confusing to me right now. I know that its not my fault, but it hurt more than I thought it would, to watch you in pain last night. I don't even know what to think of you as. A daughter or just another person I saved?”

“Maybe both. The three of you,” I said motioning with my head at everyone in the room. “You all are my moms. I can't say I understand what you are feeling, but I hope you know how important you are to me.”

Author's Notes:

Author's Note: Okay so sorry if this is too 'center of the world character'ish. I tried to play this down a bit and I had to rewrite this chapter once. I like the second version much better. Some of this chapter and the next one are meant as world building pieces, however hopefully they are fun to read anyway.

Edit 12/16/2015: I changed a single name in a line of dialog by Luna from Libra Mortis to Grogar. Untill recently I was not aware that their was a necromancer villian in previous gens and well Grogar is a fitting one to use, also it lets me reuse the awesome name of Libra Mortis for a different Character, in a book I am about to write so yeah.