Twilight let the swords vanish from her hooves and her knees finally gave way for her to fall and brace herself against the stone. She would have time to reflect on how she felt about killing another pony when the mare was safe. Twilight scrambled to her hooves and rushed over to the mare. Already she was starting to lose her color and Twilight could not have this, she did not come all this way to just have this mare die on her. While her knowledge on healing magic is limited she still knew few effective spells. Twilight let her horn glow and the magic swirl down and dance over the mare's form. Holding her in her hooves. The bleeding stopping and the wounds slowly sealing up, her horn aching at the press of her normal amount of magic she could use.

The air was cool and the sun now sat high on its perch, beading its golden rays down upon the earth of Equestria. To warm it with its love. Celestia had out done herself with the warmth and brightness of the sun, Twilight made quick glances at it while she fought Nightmare Moon. It had rose red, which had meant that something or sompony would die. Twilight swallowed hard as she realized that she was the one that killed somepony. Twilight clenched her eyes shut and shook slightly, back and forth once and then shooting them open.

Her mane was fiery orange and bright yellow, mixed in with a little bit of red reminding Twilight of Sunset Shimmer. Pale white coat and a horn. So she was a unicorn, but why would a normal mare want to be this far from Ponyville? Twilight had questions and looked up as she saw the mare slowly start to stir awake. Twilight sensed that she had given her enough strength so she let go of her and she seemed to land on her hooves just fine. With Twilight's ascension she has slowly begun to grow and noticed that she had a similar thin figure as an alicorn, taller and sleeker.

The mare coughed and opened her eyes and said standing up and facing Twilight with a warm smile, "Goddesses bless your noble and kind heart! I thought I was a goner until you showed up."

Twilight took in a large breath of air and asked, "What is your name?"

"Oh," She pulled off her hood and revealed a small oval face and fiery red eyes, "I am Elianna. And you are?"

"Twilight Sparkle." She answered without skipping a beat. Her eyes grew wide at the recognition, clearly she knew who Twilight was and knew what she did.

Elianna stomped her hooves in excitement, "OH!....I can't believe I get to meet you! I have read all of your books and research papers, you are such an inspiration for what I do!"

Twilight let a smile drift across her face as she said, "Thank you..."

Twilight nearly keeled over and pressed her hoof against her temple. Elianna caught Twilight in her hooves and said, "Woa woa. We'll have none of that, what's wrong?"

Twilight tried to congeal a smile as she responded, "Nothing...it's just..."

Her voice trailed off as she looked up at Elianna. Something pinged in the back of her mind telling her not to trust this mare, warning her not to let her trust fall on her. She did not know what it was but something told her that her trust would die with this mare. And for once in her life, she has decided not to trust her brain and trust her heart. Her heart told her that this mare could bring something new into her life, perhaps another friend to love and to care for.

She coughed and finished her sentence, "...I recently have went through another magical ordeal-"

"When you absorbed the powers of the Alicorns and defeated Tirek."

Twilight knit an eyebrow as she asked, "How did you-"

"News travels fast and like I said, I am your biggest fan."

Twilight nodded her head slightly and stood up, testing to see if she had enough strength to do so. She balanced and continued, "Well, I used more magic than I am used to so I am going through magical exhaustion."

Elianna's eyes grew wide and she said, "I have just the thing that can help with that, that is exactly what I came here looking for. I came to this place because I had relatives that worked inside the old castle. They left one of their heirlooms in there and left a letter after they passed about the information. I came here looking for it. Think of this as repayment for saving my life."

Twilight waved a hoof and shook her head, "No I couldn't-"

"I insist Princess Twilight. You saved my life, I want to give something in return. This can help you in recovering from your magical exhaustion."

The friendly face that Elianna bore was more than just inviting, it was downright embracing. She was so accepting and so thankful, Twilight never done something like this. Sure she saved Equestria on numerous occasions but she did not save them directly, with them watching and there to congratulate her on her victory. She seemed genuine, with her friendly smile and welcoming eyes. She felt guilty that she was having issues trusting her. Twilight lifted a hoof that pointed to one of the doors leading inside the castle and bade, "Then in that case, lead the way."

Elianna smiled and went off, Twilight following close behind and they walked through the halls in a stiff silence. Their breaths hanging in the cold stale air of the long dead castle. Twilight felt a slight shiver run up her hooves, a noticeable feeling and one that she has come to familiarize herself with every time she entered the old castle. Their hoofsteps echoing off the cold stone floors, resounding off the much moss ridden walls. Shadows clinging to the very corners of the halls, navigating through with seemingly no trouble at all. Twilight commented, "You seem to know where you're going."

Elianna glanced back and returned, "Yeah...my family has always been alongside with the princesses. One of Equestria's first noble families. My great great grandparents left very detailed papers after they passed away, I'm just glad that it would go to good use when I find it."

"You have ties to the royal family?"

"Oh heavens no," Elianna grimaced, "We have merely followed the princesses since the beginning of their rule. We became good friends over the years, forming strong bonds. But...alas...after Luna's banishment we have remained quiet in Canterlot. Really we were forgotten almost all together by Princess Celestia. Attending the galas and the meetings of nobility."

Her voice carrying as they rounded a corner. Twilight asked once more, "So your family are traditionalists? I only ask because of your name."

"Oh yes, we are heavy traditionalists. Which is probably why we were forgotten, we clung too closely to the old ways..."

She grumbled the last part to herself, nothing that she could make out but decided not to think anything of it. Her mind wandering to other things. How she loves Fluttershy. How she is willing to cope with living eternally without her friends, still always in the back of her mind nagging for it to come back to light. She wanted to forget altogether, to forget that awful feeling she felt whenever she thought about it. All it did was let her become nauseated and forget why she felt like that. Her friends were integral part of who she was, if that was taken away from her...Celestia only knows what she would become...

Elianna glanced back again, "So, what is it like being the personal student of Princess Celestia?"

Twilight rubbed the back of her head and responded, "Well...I don't really know how to describe it..."

Her thought process breaking and her train of thought derailing as she thought of how to begin. A cold shiver running up her spine as Elianna said, "How about secrets? Does Celestia have any secrets that she only tells you and nopony else?"

She ignored the uncomfortable shiver, "Well...no...at least not that I know of...I guess that's why they call it a secret."

Silence ensued for a while until Elianna continued, "What would be your reaction? If you figured out that Celestia had been holding secrets against you?"

Twilight swallowed back a lump as they navigated the halls of the old castle and answered nervously, "Well I-I don't really know what I would do. I have never witnessed something like that."

Elianna found what she was looking for and pressed a hoof against a stone and said, "I did not mean to impose, I merely wanted to know if you knew anything that Celestia did not want you to know."

Twilight intoned, "What would be so wrong as to keep something from me?"

She pushed the stone inward and a mechanism clicked into place. Stones rumbling inside the walls and half of the wall rumbled and moved to the side. Elianna looked back at Twilight and shrugged, "I don't know, perhaps that is something that you would have to ask Princess Celestia. Come on, it should be just down here."

Twilight looked down the secret hallway and saw only shadows awaiting her, Elianna cast a light spell on the tip of her horn and a red glow erupted out and gave them a wider field of vision. She looked and saw a stone staircase spiralling down into continued darkness. The way down seemed only thin enough to have one pony wide. Elianna walked forward and began descent into the darkness, Twilight reluctantly following. The joyous tone that Elianna once had was gone and was replaced with a neutral tone. That voice in the back of her head was growing more and more loud. Practically shouting at her to turn tail and leave all of this behind.

Elianna glanced back, "How is your knowledge on Old Equestrian History?"

Twilight thought for a moment, "Hmm...well that depends on the period, do you mean before the Discordian Era or after?"

"Before."

"Well in that case little to known. There are not many texts remaining from that period."

Elianna looked back and responded, "Have you ever stopped to wonder why?"

Twilight shrugged and Elianna turned back in front of her and explained, her voice echoing high off of the stone walls, "Well...back in that time Equestria was not like it was today. Large city states ruled by lords and ladies, peasants to farm the land and pay their taxes to their lords. The old feudal ways. And a time where knights and wizards ruled he land and safeguarded it from the forces of evil. Specifically I am referring to the Knights of Harmony. The jointed knights and mage alliance that protected Equestria from evil, both foreign and domestic. IT is from those noble ponies that I draw my ancestral line, from those noble ponies I was given flesh.

Twilight listened closely, shrinking under her powerful and dictatived voice. Her tone speaking as though she was straight from that era. Twilight listened with intrigue.

"Powerful mage knights that drove out evil in its most wicked form. But, times changed and the need for such knights diminished. The people seeing them as monsters, ordering them to hang up their armor and swords and live in peace with the rest of Equestria. Little did everypony know that evil would not rest in Equestria, no matter how peaceful it may be. War is in its blood...perhaps more so than Griffons. And the Knights of Harmony knew this, so they would wear rings that would mask their powerful magic and offer a direct line to weylines that were scattered across Equestria. Giving them more power than they could imagine, so if they were called to battle they would be ready. My family has one such a horn ring, one that can grant you this direct connection to weylines. Offering you the ability to rapidly rejuvenate your magic outlet."

They stepped hard unto soft stone and the room seemed to open up, Elianna looking to the right and shooting a floating orb to something in the darkness. In a flash the room expelled all darkness and torches along the walls, Twilight lifted a hoof to try and shield her eyes from the sudden increase in lighting. Twilight lowered her hoof and saw that the room was eighty feet high and thirty feet wide. Made of older stone and from what Twilight could tall stronger mortar. But her eyes moved to the sixty foot stone statue in the middle of the circular room. A stallion kneeling with his sword stabbed in front of him, dressed in heavy plate armor all over him. Chestplate, shoulders, legs, arms, nearly armored head to hoof. A hood pulled over his young and pristine face, head bowed as if praying to the heavens itself. It was magnificent and awe inspiring, Twilight had never seen something quite like that before.

She looked closer and saw, chained to his belt was a small glinting golden ring. It was about the width of Twilight's horn. Twilight eyed Elianna who motioned for her to go grab the ring. Twilight walked towards the kneeling statue and moved her head up, keeping her eyes on the magnificently carved granite statue. She stopped at the stallion's side and looked at the ring, the glistening metal almost tempting her to take it. Twilight decided to not let hesitation overtake her and activating her magic, unhooked the ring from the belt. The ring thrummed with power as she levitated it towards her horn. The vibrations getting stronger as she slid it on her horn. She felt magic pumping through her veins, her magical strength returning to her. Cool sensations washing over her, causing her to release a satisfied sigh. She stood up and looked over to Elianna and said, "Thank you...you did not have to do this...Do not worry, I will take good care of this ring."

Elianna beamed a smile and replied, "A perfect fit...you are quite welcome Princess Twilight and I am sure you will take excellent care of the ring."

She folded her hooves across her chest and tapped her chin with a hoof and continued, "You know what...now that I think about it...I remember there being a ritual to help you hone control of the ring and the weyline connected to it. It is an old ritual and it can be performed in another room just beyond this one. If you don't mind of course."

Twilight waved her hoof, "Oh no it's perfectly fine, lead the way."

She had never before put so much trust into one pony before. She never felt like giving somepony this much trust, it was an odd sensation. She followed Elianna into the adjacent chamber and they quickly found themselves in a small stone room. A stone table transfixed in the center and it raised on a deus. Twilight however felt a great pinging sensation in her head as she stepped in, Twilight reeled back at the sudden pain. This was no mere ring, it was a magic supression ring. The runes were cleverly hidden by magic and reacted to hidden runes scattered about the new room. Twilight hunched over and gave an angered look to Elianna as she said, "If we are to continue we should be honest with each other. I have not told you the full truth."

Twilight growled, "You..."

Twilight went to sprint her way out of the room but was stopped by some magical barrier. Slamming her hooves spasticly against the magical glass Elianna said, "It's no use Twilight. You cannot escape, your magic has been severely weakened-"

She stopped in the middle of her sentence and Twilight heard her dark and deepened voice right into her ear, she whispered, "-As you already know."

Twilight sneered angrily, "Who are you? And what do you want from me?"

Elianna chuckled and stepped back, Twilight turning to face Elianna. Her back braced against he magic barrier, hoof pressed tightly on her head to ease the pain. Twilight looked on and saw a mare much more sinister. Her eyes now glowed a bright orange red and the edges of her eyes had thins wisps of smoke coming out of them. She smiled cruelly and replied, "Typical Celestia to erase my name from the history books. I of course seemed to be the only one to bring out Celestia's anger...I am Ailana, the Shepherd of Fire. And I want my vengeance against the Princesses and against their subjects. Celestia imprisoned me in a star and I will make sure she will feel ten thousand years of fire and destruction...and you will help me."

Twilight spat, "I would sooner offer my head to the headsman than help you on your quest for-"

"But you have been wronged just as much as I from the whore you call a princess. You are apart of my legacy, you carry my magic in your veins. This is why you are what you are, you harbor my destructive force. You carry my blood...this is why you had such a violent reaction to the entrance exam. Celestia saw your magic and knew it was an extension of my own, so she imprisoned your powers inside of you. Hoping to keep the whole of Equestria to burning down once again."

Twilight shook her head and groaned, "No...no that's...no...that's not true. You're trying to manipulate me so you can overtake my mind."

Ailana gave a cruel smile and said, "No, I am not. I have expended most of my powers already to escape my prison and inhabit this body, I had ten thousand years to plan my revenge and you are the perfect cantidate."

Ailana stepped in close and moved a strand of Twilight's mane out of her face and Twilight moved her head out of reach from Ailana. Ailana smiled and said, "Come on Twilight...we are both reasonable ponies. Perhaps we can reach deal. One where I can make your friends immortal."

Twilight looked shockingly to Ailana and she continued, "Yes, my magic alone can grant immortality. The fires of the stars burn eternally."

Twilight hissed, "I am not easily manipulated...Ailana."

She smiled and said, "That's okay, I had patience to last ten thousand years and I have enough to last ten thousand more. You will break Twilight, before the day is over you will break."