Part Three: The Spring of Magic

There aren’t many joys quite like a beautiful spring day in Ponyville, and this particular day was a testament to that fact.  The park was crowded with ponies enjoying the sunny weather, the only objects in the sky kites and pegasi—not a cloud blotched the faultless air.  Celestia’s sun shone as bright and clear as ever; had this been a normal day, even the studious Twilight Sparkle wouldn’t be able to resist its beckoning.

Twilight wished desperately that this was a normal day.

The guard left wordlessly as she and her five friends entered the throne room.  Twilight realized she had never been in this room without Celestia—and how empty it felt without her.  Worry swept over her like a fever.

Next to the throne stood Luna, her face a battle between grief and distress.  “Twilight!”  She ran to meet the group of friends in the center of the room, who immediately broke into a worried chatter.

“Luna, tell us everything,” demanded Twilight.  “What happened?  When did you notice she was gone?  Do you have any ideas where she went?  Was she—”

“Ah’ll do whatever Ah can to help, Luna, and Ah’m sure my friends here—”

“I’ve never been sooooo saaaad before!  Even that time when I thought my friends didn’t like my parties anymore and didn’t want to hang out with me and—”

Pinkie and her companions broke off when Luna began speaking, her voice worried yet soft and firm.  “Twilight, do you know where magic comes from?”

Twilight was not expecting this question.  “Um... well... magic is a force that unicorn ponies can summon to perform work.  When a spell is used, the magic flows through the unicorn, with the horn acting as the focal point.  Luna, please tell us—”

“Twilight, that is all true.  But do you know where it comes from?”

Twilight was confused—what did this have to do with Celestia’s disappearance?  How could Luna pursue such trivial topics when there was so much on the line?  Even in a time of distress, however, she couldn’t stand to ignore a challenge of her intelligence.  She shut eyes tightly and attempted to recall her earliest lessons with Celestia about the very basics of magic.  “Well... I always thought... I just thought it was created inside the unicorn when he or she needed it.  Luna, please tell us everything you know about where Celestia—”

“Twilight, what is the Third Law of magic?”

“Luna!  We really don’t—” The determined look upon Luna’s face spoke for her.  “Magic cannot be created or destroyed, only utilized,” Twilight recited.

Applejack, frustrated with the idle talk, interjected.  “Luna, Ah’m sure your little trivia game can wait.  There must be somethin’ we can do for Celestia.  If Ah—”

“Twilight,” Luna began, ignoring Applejack’s outburst, “you said you thought magic was created inside the unicorn, yet the Third Law states that all the magic in the universe already exists, correct?”  The darker portion of Luna’s mind was disappointed with Twilight’s lack of understanding; was this really the best pupil Celestia had ever taught? Her pure, reformed side, however, was too sick with worry to pay heed to her repressed cynical nature.

Twilight suddenly understood.  “Luna... So, if the Third Law is true, and magic can’t be created, then that means... all the magic in the universe already exists?  But if that’s true, then... then where does it all come from?”  In the wake of this enormous realization, even Celestia’s disappearance became secondary.  How had she never thought about this before?  She had studied magic all her life, had honed her own skills with an incredible amount of talent; she never bragged, but even she knew that she was likely one of the greatest spellcasters to ever live.  Twilight was overwhelmed... her life’s work, the subject of all her dedication, and she didn’t even know where it came from.

While Twilight stared vacantly at the corner of the room, deep in thought, Luna explained to the others.  “Do you see?  Magic isn’t conjured from thin air.  There is a source.  When a unicorn uses his or her magic, it is drawn from the source.”

Rarity stared at Luna in shock.  “Is this true?  Somewhere out there is a whole pile of magic that just sits there while we use it?”

“In a sense, yes.”

Applejack spoke up impatiently once more.  “Princess, this has been a great lesson, but we’ve got a HUGE problem right now.  Just think what’ll happen when the sun doesn’t come up tomorrow!  All of Equestria will be like a cattle ranch with a rattler runnin’ loose.  Everypony’ll panic.  Not to mention that Celestia herself is in danger (though Ah can’t even think of anypony who’d want to mess with her).  So if you’ll excuse my friends and I, we gotta go find the Princess.  C’mon, Twilight, Rarity, Dash, Fluttershy, Pinkie.”  She turned to leave, looking back to ensure her friends were following, and then reluctantly returned when she realized they weren’t.

Such an impatient, thoughtless moron, a small part of Luna spoke out.  Who does she think rose the sun today?  If it wasn’t for me, there would be mass panic.  This dark part of her was merely a reflex now, however, and was quickly quelled by her kinder, renewed temperament.  She’s only anxious because the Princess is missing, and she’s probably still shaken from the outburst of the Guardian Rose.  Be patient with her.

“Applejack,” Luna explained softly (a trick she had learned from Celestia), “I assure you that I am as worried for Celestia as you are.  Perhaps more so, because I understand the gravity of the situation.  I promise that if you take a chance to listen, everything will become clear.”

Applejack nodded reluctantly but respectfully, returning to her line of friends.

Twilight, who had been deep in thought during this exchange, finally came out of her contemplative isolation.  “Luna... there’s a source of magic somewhere, correct?  If magic cannot be created or destroyed, then... where’d it all come from?  How was the source of magic created?”  Her mind couldn’t break free of the paradox.  Magic cannot be created.  Yet magic exists.  Therefore, magic must have been created.  But magic cannot be created.  But it exists, so it must have been created... but it can’t be created...

“Twilight, magic wasn’t created.  The Third Law holds true.  Magic always was and always has been.  Magic existed before Time, and will probably outlast the lifespan of the universe.”

Pinkie Pie spoke out for the first time.  “So Princess Luna, if there’s just some big old pile of magic layin’ around out there, then what if somepony uses it all up?  Like, what if Rarity has to make a reeeeaaaaaallly big dress, and it uses up all the magic?  Just like when Spike took that super long bubble bath, and Ponyville didn’t have hot water for days?”

Luna couldn’t help but smile at Pinkie’s curious logic.  She grew serious once more, however, as she was near to making the point she had planned on making the entire time.  If she didn’t allow Twilight and her friends to come to the conclusion themselves, however, they’d never fully understand.  “Pinkie, what you must first realize is that there is an enormous amount of magic in this universe.  Yes, it is a finite amount, but it’s so great that thousands of civilizations will come and go before it even shows signs of shrinking.  Even an extremely powerful spell, such as group teleportation, amounts to less than a drop within a drop in an ocean the size of the sun.”

“She’s there, isn’t she?” realized Twilight, amazed and terrified.  “Wherever the source of magic is, that’s where she is.  That’s how this all fits.  Am I right, Luna?”

Luna nodded.

“But... but she didn’t get there on her own, did she?”  Twilight continued.  “Somepony took her there.  Somepony abducted her.”

Luna nodded once more.  “He lay in wait in her personal room, and made his move when she retired for the night.”

“But how is that even possible!” Rainbow Dash shouted furiously.  “What could anypony have against Celestia?  She’s the reason we have everything we have!  And even if somepony did want to harm her, how in the world could they get past her defenses?  Doesn’t she have guards around her all the time?”  Dash had worked herself into such an outrage that she was fluttering about the room with her wild gestures.

“He doesn’t want to harm Celestia,” Luna explained.  “If anything, he needs her alive and well.  And besides her guards, she doesn’t believe in high security.  She has such faith in her subjects (and also her own abilities) that she’s never feared this kind of thing.”

“Luna, who in the hay is this ‘he’ you’re referrin’ to?”  Applejack demanded.  “If ya know who done it, why aren’t we doin’ something about it right now?”

“Because there’s more you need to know.”

Dash pulled at her face in frustration.  “Well then just come out and tell us!”

“One of you six is in possession of a very important artifact,” Luna said.

Fluttershy, who had been silent the entire time, gasped.  “My... my rose?”

Luna nodded.  “It is said that, long ago, a love-struck unicorn happened upon the location of the Spring of Magic—the source of all magic.  The power-hungry fool desired to become the greatest unicorn in Equestria.  She hoped to control the entire Spring, utilizing all its magic at once—a stunt that could have harmed not only herself, but also the balance of all magic and life in Equestria.  When she realized that such power could be hers, she decided to use it the only way a love-blinded mare knows how: to impress the colt of her affection.  She invited him to the secret location and attempted the impossible: to maintain and control the entire store of magic in the Spring.  Unfortunately, she underestimated the colossal amount the Spring contains, despite its size.   Of course, the sheer amount of energy was far too great for her to control, and most of it ended up escaping, seeking out the only living being nearby: her beloved colt.  The power was too much for him; as a pegasus, his body wasn’t even accustomed to the tiniest fraction of magic.  He died, while the unicorn barely survived, heavily injured.  She knew, however, that her time was very short.  Using the last of the enormous power that had so tragically coursed through her, she chose the first object that crossed her vision to become the Guardian of the Spring—a safeguard intended to protect the Spring from foolish, dangerous ponies like herself.  That object happened to be a lone rose growing in the shadow of the Spring.  What became of the Guardian Rose after that, nopony can say.  It is rumored that the weakening unicorn used her last ounce of strength to teleport away with the body of her perished love; she was so weak, however, that she couldn’t designate a destination, and ended up near a cottage in a field furlongs away from any city.  The pegasus of the cottage took her in, where, for the first and only time, she told her story.  She handed him the rose, and despite his attempts to help her... she was too weak.  She passed away.”

Rainbow Dash’s face filled with awe.  “It’s the same Rose?  That cottage pegasus must have been some ancestor of Fluttershy, or something!  It must have been passed down... over ages...”

“Ah, that’s what Ah’m talkin’ about!” exclaimed Applejack, happy that they were finally making progress.  “It all makes sense now.  Fluttershy, we just take your Rose to the Spring thingy, it does its magic, fixes the Spring, and then we take Celestia home.  Ah don’t see why we should hesitate for one more apple pickin’ minute!”

Fluttershy burst into tears.  “But it’s broken and now we won’t be able to save Princess Celestia and it’s all my fault because somehow it broke and I should have been more careful but I wasn’t and—”

Luna’s calm demeanor crumpled apart.  “It’s broken?  But... but that shouldn’t even be possible... an artifact of such enormous magical magnitude... it can’t simply break...”

“Here,” Fluttershy sniffed, “look.”  She drew out a tiny box from between her primary and secondary wing.  Luna anxiously lifted the lid, but before she had time to exclaim over the Roses’s broken nature, brilliant light burst through the opening, as if it was a window to the sun.

The seven ponies in the room covered their eyes and gasped collectively in surprise.  When the light faded several seconds later, they gasped once more.

“Ya know, somehow Ah knew this kinda thing was gonna happen,” smiled Applejack.

At the hooves of each of the six friends sat one of the six pieces of the Rose, pulsating gently with light, coloring the room a mixture of lucid red and green.

“Incredible,” exclaimed Luna.

“Nah,” said Applejack nonchalantly, still smiling. “We’ve seen this kinda thing before.”

“‘Your friends won’t let you down,’” breathed Fluttershy.  When she saw everypony was staring at her, waiting, she explained.  “That’s what my father said when he spoke to me through the Rose.”  She recited his entire message for them; it had been embedded into her every thought, and she knew each word by heart and could still hear in her memory exactly how he had said them.  “‘Always remember how much I love you,’” she ended, the tears surfacing once more.

While Pinkie Pie embraced Fluttershy in a hug, Luna considered the implications of the Rose fragments.  “I... I think you’re all supposed to go together.”

“Seems like it,” Applejack said.

Luna laughed grimly.

“Hold on.”  Twilight was once more staring at the ground in thought.  “Luna, I think there’s something you haven’t yet explained to us.”

Ah, so we’re finally here, she thought.

“Luna,” continued Twilight, “What is this colt trying to accomplish?  What does he want with Princess Celestia?  To control all the magic in the universe?  To do what that unicorn attempted so long ago?”

“Twilight,” Luna began, “I have told you that the store of magic is so incredibly vast that even the most powerful spells have negligible effect, even over the course of millions of years.”

Twilight nodded, then realized Luna was hesitating.  “Please continue, Luna.  We want to know everything.”

“There is one spell, however, that requires an enormous amount of magic.  Such a massive amount is required that nopony is even sure there exists enough in the universe.”

        A soft wind rolled through the vast room’s rows of open windows, curiously lifting the tasseled corners of the embroidered carpet and brushing gently against the bodies of the seven ponies—six listening in dread and one speaking in sorrow.

“Our misguided colt is attempting to undo death,” Luna said.  “He’s trying to return somepony to this world.” Next Chapter: Part Four: "Only Lost Ponies Ever Find The Spring" Estimated time remaining: 3 Hours, 21 Minutes