After lugging Twilight back to ponyville I left her in the care of Spike. "What happened to her?"

"She's probably just exhausted from performing such a powerful spell under stress, I'm no expert but I think she just needs some rest." Spike sighed in relief, he brought Twilight inside and bid me farewell.

"You going to deliver that sceptre to the princess, or do you need to leave it with Twi?" I looked to the relic in my hand.

"I was supposed to leave it here, but I have to have a long talk with Celestia." He looked unsure.

"Did something happen at the temple?"

"What doesn't happen in spooky temples?" He shrugged and closed the door. After retreaving some bits from my home I made my way to the train station. The next train wasn't going to arrive for another hour, but that was ok. I had to ask Lyra something VERY important. The ponies in town seemed to notice that I was angry, so they kept to themselves, good choice. When I reached Lyras house I knocked the door hard.

"Give me a second!" She threw the door open, obviously annoyed that she had to stop whatever she was doing. "Oh, hey Symbol." She noticed my stern expression. "Is something wrong?" I leaned my hand on the door frame.

"Lyra, how do you know about humans?" She jumped at my dark tone of voice.

"W-w-why do y-you wanna know that?" She asked shakily. I showed her the sceptre and her eyes widened, she then stared back at me and her pupils shrank. She knew something.

"Because when I was sent to retrieve this in an underground temple there were paintings and carvings of ME and my necklace in the main Chamber." I leaned my head towards hers. "So tell me, HOW do YOU KNOW so much about HUMANS!?" She slammed the door in my face, I heard a few clicks and a sigh. "What are you hiding Lyra?" I ask in a softer voice, I had obviously scared her. "Please I need to know."

"I'm not the one that's supposed to tell you Symbol, go ask Celestia." She admitted with a saddened tone, I probably had found something that I wasn't supposed to. It was my plan to ask...no, FORCE Celestia to tell me what was going on. I know it was harsh, but whatever she was hiding from me wasn't going to remain hidden for much longer. The wait for the train was filled with dread, what I was going to do wasn't easy, and it will definitely change my view of things. As well as affect the relationship I have with Lyra. I sighed and boarded the train when it arrived. The ride was seven hours, counting the stops from here to Canterlot. When I found my seat I strapped the relic to my back and placed my hands behind my head. Sleep came quickly as I dived into a dream.

I normally had abnormal dreams, but this one was different. I was usually in control of my dreams, with some help from Luna, but I was powerless as to what was happening. I was floating above a ruined ponyville, watching in horror as creatures of all shapes and sizes tore the town apart. I noticed one of the creatures stood out, a glowing red aura surrounding its body, it looked...human? It was hovering slightly above a stack of bodies.

This is only the beginning for you Symbol Shattered.

I was woken up from my nightmare by a pony shoving me off my seat, when I got to my feet I saw that the pony in question was Applejack. "Y'all right there Symbol, you were tossin like an animal." I returned to my seat and placed a hand to my forehead.

"Yeah I'm fine, just a bad dream is all. Thanks for waking me up, that dream was...disturbing." She took the seat opposite mine. She was about to say something but I stopped her. "Sorry Applejack, I don't wanna talk about, I have too much on my head as it is." She nodded, respecting my privacy.

"I heard ya gave mah sister some advice the other day, thank ya fer that." She tilted her seston and I nodded.

"So AJ, you heading to Canterlot as well?"

"Yeah, got some business ta take care of. Why are you goin ta Canterlot?"

"I gotta deliver a relic to the princess." I showed her the sceptre.

"Well would ya look at that, it looks like somethin we were taught in school when we were young'uns. Somethin bout...oh what was it, ah can't remember." Great, yet another mystery to add to the bank of questions eating away at my brain. She tried hard to remember but couldn't put her hoof on it, I told her not to worry and that the princess was going to tell me about it. I left out the part where I was going to force her to tell me, no need to get AJ involved. The train arrived at the Canterlot station an hour later, I bid farewell to Applejack and stormed towards the castle, ignoring the disapproving stares of the Canterlot elite, oh how I hated those snobs.

The castle was a ten minute walk from the station, I didn't have to ask for directions because the castle stuck ou like a sore thumb. So it was hard to get lost, when I arrived at the entrance the guards stopped me, I showed them the relic and they let me through, unaware that I was going to possibly hold the princess captive until she gave me the information I needed. I shook those thoughts out of my head, was I going insane? I was probably just stressed out over the situation, I needed answers or I was going to lose my mind. It was like an itch I couldn't scratch, a foe I could not defeat by myself, you get the picture.

The doors to Celestia's chamber were right in front of me, I stood frozen in place. The guards knew that there was something going on so they vacated the area. I was still, I had to think of a way to approach this, I couldn't just storm in like a madman. First I would ask her to explain, and if she refused I would have to turn to more...hostile...measures. This was one of the only times that I have ever had second thoughts about something. I was one of those people that generally knows what they're doing, but there was to much on my mind at that moment. It was now or never. With a few soft knocks on the door she told me to enter, when I was in the room I closed the door.

"Oh Symbol, I wasn't expecting y..." She noticed the relic in my grasp. I threw the sceptre in front of her and it landed with a few clanks. She stared at the relic then back to me, she noticed the stern look in my eyes. I walked up to her slowly.

"You are going to tell me what was in that temple and what it has to do with me, got it?" Her horn started to glow with a teleportation spell, I smacked her horn to cancel out the spell. She winced in pain then looked back to me, fire now in my eyes. "I wanted to go about this nicely, but it appears that I have to resort to drastic measures." I grabbed her horn so she couldn't cast another spell, what a great day to have hands. "Don't bother calling the guards, they have all left the area." Once she realised that there was no way to escape she sighed in defeat. I released her horn from my grasp and kneeled down. "What are you hiding, and what does it have to do with me?"

After setting her on her bed she sat down to explain. "I was hoping that I would not have to tell you this until after the Gala, but it appears that fate has other plans." She pointed to a large painting on the wall. "Press your hand against the bottom of that painting." I followed her instructions and placed my hand on the picture, where my hand had touched a handprint glowed and the painting moved to the side. On the other side of the painting was a dusty book. I reached for the book but Celestia picked it up with her magic before I could grab it.

"Was that really necessary?"

"Was striking my horn necessary?"

"It was the only way to cancel your spell. I had no choice." She grunted and levitated the book to her hooves. She blew the dust off the cover to reveal the title. Cult of the Rings. Sounded like a movie I knew back on earth, what was it? Not important.

"A long time ago, 987 years ago to be exact. A group called the Order of Tranquility set out to find the cause of all of the threats to Equestria and what brought about the new age of peace. Thirteen years after the banishment of Nightmare Moon, they stumbled across a magical rift left behind by the Elements of Harmony, it let the ponies see into the future, not with a full picture, just visions. Each member of the Order had individual visions but they all had something in common, two rings appeared in their dreams, as well as an emblem of the sun." She placed a hoof on my necklace. "They also saw a figure unlike anything Equestria had ever seen. Dressed in blue and black. With more and more ponies having these dreams the Cult of the Rings was born. They crafted temples and spread the words 'he shall bring down the chaos, and restore the lost balance. Praise the keeper of light, symbol of purity' throughout Equestria. Nopony has been known to associate with this religion for over a hundred years, the only ones that know of this cult are the members descendants and I, the ruler of Equestria." She gave me the book. "I know that I gave you a dumbed down version of the story but you seemed to want a simple answer." This pony could read me like a manga. I opened up the book to look at its contents. I flicked through the pages until I came across a section that sparked my interest.

"The creation of the Order huh?" As I read I dropped the book in realisation. Here is what was written, it was a diary entry by one of the creators.

Day 26
The ponies in the surrounding villages have started to have the dreams, and while theirs are simple, ours have become more frequent and detailed. I do not know what that being in my vision was, but it was wearing the rings so it must be important. My clan has begun construction of the first temple, I have noticed that my colleagues have become infatuated with a certain symbol, that of the sun. The cult has grown exponentially. We now have an estimated five hundred followers, while the ponies are worshipping the figure that has appeared with the emblem and rings, the Heartstrings clan and I have been gathering information on the Elements of Harmony. The Heartstrings were the ones to organise the cult and the temples construction. Hopefully their efforts will help the process of the summoning move along faster. I have to cut this short as I am needed in the main chamber, the sceptre is almost complete. May Celestia guide the keeper of the rings to this book when he arrives.

Vector Lulamoon.

Heartstrings...Lyra Heartstrings...that's how she knows about me, she probably was told by her relatives about her ancestors and she set out to discover more about what her family was doing, she probably came across another magical rift that let her see the human world.

"Symbol, are you alright?" My arms drop to my sides, my head hangs low.

"Celestia, I'm a fourteen year old boy who was thrown into another world, punched a corrupted princess in the face, befriended said princess, retrieved an ancient relic from a long lost temple that held carvings of my necklace, just found out that there was a religion that predicted my arrival and my best friend is a descendant of the creators of said relgion. I'm pretty far from alright." My body started moving on its own, my legs began walking towards the door. "I need some air." My body was on autopilot, when I snapped back to reality I was standing on the edge of a cliff looking out to the stars.

I breathed in the brisk night air and let myself get distracted by the soothing sound of the wind. Hours passed and I was still looking out to the sky, the night was beautiful in Equestria, there was no light pollution to block out the stars. You would never get a night sky like it on earth.

"Symbol?" I turned to see my friend Luna looking at me with worried eyes. "What in Equestria are you doing out here this late?" I turned to face the moon, I folded my arms.

"I was admiring your beautiful night Luna, it helps calm my nerves." I couldn't see but she blushed at my comment.

"We're glad somepony enjoys our night. What is on your mind?" I find it cute when she refers to herself as "we", I've kept my mouth shut about it, she's been trying to adapt to modern life, baby steps.

"Apparently there was a religion that predicted my arrival nearly a thousand years ago, and my best friend is a descendant of said relgion." I held my necklace tightly. "There was a temple that had carvings of me in a chamber with a door that responded to my necklace and hand." She was hanging on every word. "Celestia knew all along and she didn't tell me, I had to force the information out of her."

"You attacked our sister?"

"No, I just prevented her from casting any teleportation spells by striking her horn and acting dominant. Nothing along the lines of assault or bondage, I just prevented her from leaving until she gave me answers." She breathed a sigh of relief, she then placed a hoof on my hand.

"We are here for you friend, you understand our night and we understand your troubles. We will tell you this, sister does not do things without reason. She cares for you very much Symbol, she would never hurt a friend." There was truth in her words, Celestia was a caring creature, always acting as if her subjects were her own children. She was probably just trying to protect me, I have to apologise for my actions. Now wasn't the time though, she was probably sleeping at that moment in time. "As for the religion, we have only heard of it now. The cult was formed during our banishment, correct? "I nodded my head. "We will ask our sister why she kept such information from you, for now you must rest." Exhaustion started to take effect.

"Luna, what time is it?"

"It is four in the morning." That explains it, I was about to take my leave when I remembered the dream I had on the train.

"Luna, could you take a look at my dreams, I had a...disturbing and strange dream earlier on. It wasn't like a normal nightmare, it was different, I had no power over what was happening, I couldn't even move." She placed a hoof to her chin in thought.

"We will see what we can do." I scratched behind her ear and walked back to the train station, when I was walking down the empty streets my eyes were drawn to a faint red glow in an alleyway, like anything good comes out of creepy backstreets. When I looked down the gab in the buildings I saw that human figure looking straight at me. The red aura still surrounding him.

"Who are you?"

Soon the answer will become clear, for now you must wait. Don't expect the princesses to know anything about me. I'm not mentioned in the Cult of the Rings.

"Then tell me this, what was with that dream?"

That was not a dream, you came across a rift in the magical leylines. What you had was a vision. the figure stepped closer and stared me in the eye. You must find your own answers from now, there is another temple just to the north of Sweet Apple Acres, but I suggest that you rest for a few days. The figure raised his hand and a purple ball of energy flew towards me, when I opened my eyes I was in ponyville. Tiredness was setting in, after lazily walking to my house I locked the door and threw myself on my bed.

I opened my eyes I was starting at the ceiling, but I was still dreaming. I looked around my room to see a faint light from my window. I rushed outside to investigate, I was then greeted by a floating ball of light.

Follow. A soft female voice projected from the light. It began to float away slowly and I followed, it led me to the outskirts of ponyville, beside a lake. When I looked up the river I noticed another human figure standing on a small bridge, a girl? When I was a few feet behind the strange girl she turned to face me. You need not worry my child, all will become clear. Travel to the north temple in five days. No sooner. the dream collapsed and fell into darkness.

I was woken up by by someone pushing me off my bed, it was Derpy. "Derpy, how'd you get in here?"

"Your back door was open." I keep forgetting about that thing. "Why were you sleeping at this hour, it's like two in the afternoon." I looked to the clock on my wall and she was right.

"Sorry, I was up late last night in Canterlot." I looked out my window to see a small ball of light facing the red figure off in the distance. "Strange things are happening Derpy, and they're only gonna get worse." She tilted her head in confusion as I walked out of my room. There was only one thing on my mind. "Lyra and I need to have a little talk."