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Where We May Lead

by Shadowmane PX-41

Chapter 13: The Five Unicorns: What Was Once Home

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Twilight, Starlight, Sunburst, Starswirl, and Stygian were all working together in the library of the cave house, re-organising all of the books and putting them right back in an alphabetised order. While Starswirl and Stygian were focused on the work, Twilight, Starlight, and Sunburst were deeply reading the books instead, only putting them back once they had finished, before quickly plucking more off the shelves.

"Y'know, a part of me wishes that I'd lived in Old Equestria." Twilight pulled her head from yet another hypnotic read, the smile on her face growing larger and larger by the second. "Did you know that they called Yakyakistan Icefloe Mountain before it was discovered that yaks inhabited it?"

"Because of how cold it is up there, right? I always thought that there was treasure at the top of those mountains until yaks lived there," said Starlight, as she pulled her head from her own book. "You think there still is and they just haven't found it yet?"

"I would imagine there would be. After all, one never really knows everything about the world." Stygian stepped forward, putting his hoof around Starlight's back. "Even after spending all our time as the Pillars and the Pony of Shadows, I would imagine that there's many things we've yet to discover."

"Especially now that you're in the new millennium of Equestria." Sunburst readjusted his glasses, pushing them closer to his eyes. "After being held in Limbo for a thousand years, I can see you and the Pillars finding so much in this new world. It'll definitely keep you busy."

"Indeed. Those places we saw were nothing like we remember from our time." Starswirl lowered his head. "I would imagine that many of the maps and books I have are out of date now. Maybe I should make my way to the nearest library once we finish getting our bearings."

"You know, I can hand you some of my books, Starswirl." Twilight fluttered her eyelids as her dopey smile grew even wider. Stars even began to appear in her eyes as she clasped her hooves together. "In fact, I would do anything for you..."

"That... sounds like something devious." Stygian lifted a brow at Twilight and cantered over to her. "Something that someone with a hidden motive would say to try and worm their way into the hearts of others."

"What? Me? Devious? Nah!" Twilight just blew a raspberry with her mouth and snorted. "I'd never be devious and under-hoofed to the greatest of Equestria's legends! He's Starswirl the Bearded!"

"Twilight. No need to address me by a full title, you know." He just took his hat off and set it down on a nearby table. "I might be revered by ponies in your time, but I still am not worthy of such titles and adoration. If anything, me and the pillars should be worshipping you, not you and the rest of Equestria doing so for us." He gave Twilight a smile and tousled her mane, causing her to let out a massive squeal as she grew a cartoonishly-large smile.

"Easy, Twilight." Starlight came over and gave Twilight a few strokes on the back, her hooves getting whacked by Twilight's swishing tail, which could have doubled as a polishing wipe with how much it was brushing against her.

"You will have to excuse her. She's become a fanatic of your works, Starswirl." Sunburst trotted to Twilight's side and watched as her grin started to grow smaller and smaller again. "An over-fanatic, if you can call her that."

"Well, fanaticism isn't exactly a bad thing now. It just shows how much one is devoted to the cause at hand. Even if the same rule can be applied to monsters, villains, and whatever dark forces they wreak." He stared towards the All-Seeing-Eye of Canterlot, wondering when it would alert him next, if at all. "Just remember to curb yourself, Twilight Sparkle. Complacency can be a deadly thing when it overwhelms you."

"Oh, I know. It's just a once-in-a-lifetime chance that I get to meet the pony that not only chronicled the most powerful magic in the whole of Equestria, but left such a fantastic lineage that every pony across the planet was wondering where in the heck he went!" Twilight threw her hooves out. "So many people have been trying to put two and two together, and we're finally the ones to have cracked the seal. This is as rare as seeing the Breezies migrate on Friday the 13th with the planets aligned and with a blue moon on a leap year!"

"That... sounds very specific, don't you think, Twilight?" Starlight tilted her head at the analogy.

"Well, do you have anything rarer than that, Starlight?" Twilight shot her a glance.

"Not really, no." She shook her head and slunked back slightly.

"Well, all this praise and acknowledgement aside, I think I should see exactly what this new world has to offer." Shifting his gaze back to the Eye, he watched as it burst into light and spread out across the room, creating a kaleidoscope of colours and stars, that danced around like they were being emanated from a disco ball. As it did so, different towns and villages appeared on the map, though none of them linked up with anything Twilight had ever seen before. "After all, I can't imagine that, after a thousand years, such places like Trottenheim or Gjallopdor are around these days."

"Gjallopdor? I haven't heard of that name in ages..." Sunburst squinted and rubbed his eyes briefly, before reaching out for the mark on the map. "That was a powerful place for budding young unicorns to learn some of the most powerful spells. That was until it was ravaged by the Occult Ones back in 465 AC."

"AC?" Starswirl was the one to have his bushy eyebrows elevated this time.

"After Celestia. Anything before that was BC; Before Celestia. Basically, the students that you trained and raised into princesses. Anything before their ascension to royalty was BC, and everything after was AC." Sunburst pointed out, idly raising his hoof proudly. "But I'm being sidetracked. It seems like Gjallopdor never really recovered after the Occult Ones laid waste to it." He took a moment to clutch his chest and trace the floor with his hoof. "Such a shame, really. All those spells, gone. Along with the hearts and minds of the ponies who casted them..."

"If I were here, the All-Seeing Eye would have told me of their plot straight away. But, sadly, the Pony of Shadows had me and my compatriots in quite a bind," Starswirl said with a hint of regret in his voice.

"I never really knew about that before..." Twilight spread her wings and flew up to the mark on the map, giving it a gentle tap. All that she really touched was stardust, as the place vanished from sight and contorted back once she landed again. "And now, all that stands in its' place is the Crystal Empire; right underneath Yakyakistan..."

"Y'think your brother and sister-in-law know about this, Twilight?" Starlight asked, her hooves slightly beginning to shiver, both from the cold and from the idea that there were more powerful spells than the ones that she had always grown up with.

"No, I don't think so. In fact, I've never even heard of Gjallopdor before today. I didn't realise that it was such a powerful nation!" Twilight shook her head. "To think, one of the grandest empires in Equestria used to be a powder keg, full of ponies learning spells that could've completely rewritten all the rules!"

"I wouldn't exactly call it a powder keg, Twilight. Gjallopdor was a powerful place in its' own right, but even it had its' own laws and rules to adhere to." Starswirl was just enraptured by the map itself. "The Occult Ones attacked it because of the rules it set, and were ultimately destroyed when they tried to create a ritual but lacked the magical strength needed to pull it off themselves."

"Well, when you consider that ponies were taught for many years at Gjallopdor before they were even allowed to practise their spells, it should come across as an unspoken rule not to meddle with their magical powers." Stygian tipped a hoof. "But I do agree that they weren't prepared for what they tried to tamper with. And now, I highly doubt they exist on this world either..."

"That is to be expected, is it not?" Starswirl lit his horn and cast a bolt at the center of the map, causing everything to retract and form a singular globe of golden water. "Anyways, we shouldn't really dawdle on the matter now, seeing as how a thousand years have passed. Twilight? Do you have a map of this new Equestria? I wish to insert its' contents into the All-Seeing Eye of Canterlot as soon as possible."

"Oh! Of course! I'll be right back." She lit up her horn and teleported out, only to return a few moments later, carrying a copy of the map in her aura. She promptly tumbled to the ground, map still held delicately by her horn's magic.

"Twilight!" Sunburst caught her before her head smacked against the earthen ground. "Are you okay? What happened?"

"Hoo..." Twilight breathed heavily, letting out another cough. "I haven't teleported that far in a LONG TIME. And even then, I had at least three other levels of magic inside me..." Twilight got back up to her feet, but hobbled towards Starlight with jagged and shaky legs. She collapsed again, but with all of her strength, she managed to bring the map over to Starswirl. "There you go. The finest Equestria in the whole of map. I mean the finest... ah, forget it."

"Thank you, Twilight." Starswirl watched as the other ponies laid her down on a large armchair, then turned back to watch him pull off yet another of his incredibly long and ever-growing list of feats.

Starswirl closed his eyes, illuminated his horn, and placed the very tip of it on the center of the map. Casting a bolt at the Eye, golden energy flowed down from the stream, down through his body, and onto the map itself. Within seconds, characters and images from the map began to fly off of the paper and dance in the air, swirling around and enveloping the entire room in another spectacle of blinding lights and colours.

When the map itself had been left empty, everything that he had pulled from it stopped before all being sucked into the globe of light, one by one until it created a single star before them. One that then detonated, shining light into every corner of Starswirl's house. When the light dissipated and disappeared and everyone opened their eyes, the dots had all been given new colours, new titles and even included pictures of each individual location as well.

"Whoa..." They all chorused in harmony with each other, watching as the new map spun before them, showcasing all of its' new contents. They barely even noticed Starswirl, as he pulled a golden stream out of the air and put it down on the empty parchment, filling it with the old map of Equestria.

"I know, I know. But before you ask what kind of magic this is, it is only my own." He said, crossing through the web-like infrastructure of his new map to the resting Twilight. "I seek not grandeur or acknowledgement. All that I seek is order, and that everything in this world is set right. And, I always firmly agree that fanaticism should be rewarded, in any real case of the word. So long as they are fanatics for a good cause, that is." He rolled the map up and gave it to Twilight. "There you are, my dear. So that you never forget the world of old."

"Thank you... Starswirl." Twilight cuddled the map tightly, making sure not to rip the edges or crease it as she rubbed it against herself.

"Not a problem at all, Twilight." He said, putting his hat back on. "Now. If the eye ever finds a monster or brute in this modern time, it will give me its' exact location and where it is headed next, so that we may intercept it before it can enact its' heinous plan. It has been a long time since Equestria has had such a defence like this, so I feel that we should remain on the utmost of guards. For they say that the strongest of defence is also the most opposed."

"Even the most protected cities are not ignored by powerful foes and fiends. In fact, I feel that we should keep this eye a secret, everypony." Stygian addressed the other unicorns, while they were still playfully batting about with the parts of the map. They immediately snapped out of their games and trances before turning their attentions to him. "Now, what me and Starswirl have shown you is not for the mortal world. Are you any good at keeping secrets?"

"Absolutely." Starlight gave them all a nod. "I've been keeping some secrets ever since I was a kid, and still to this day, not even Sunburst knows. And we practically know everything about each other now."

"Oh, I'm sure that I know more secrets than you, Starlight." Sunburst chuckle to himself, bringing a hoof to his mouth. Plus, I've actually been working on a spell that allows you to store and retrieve someone's subconscious memories, but I still can't figure out how to get the magical wavelengths just right on it. It's a very complicated coalescence of arcane energy..." He rolled his eyes and rubbed his horn. "Either way, I'm certain that I can keep the All-Seeing Eye of Canterlot under wraps from the public, Starswirl. You have my word."

"Twilight? Have you recovered yet?" Stygian watched as Twilight tossed and turned, feeling her reach out and try to grab onto something. She toppled over and landed back on her feet, the Olde Equestria map tumbling to her side as she fell from the chair.

"Y-yeah. I'm starting to." Twilight stood back up slowly, creaking the bones in her legs as she looked back at her gift. She curled it up and hid it in her mane. "But anyways, I'm sure that I can keep hiding the All-Seeing Eye too. I mean, me and my friends are great at keeping secrets, right?" Her eyes shifted across all of the unicorns, only for her to get nothing but silence out of it. "Guess it's just me then. And yes, Starswirl, I will keep your secrets."

"Very good." Starswirl watched the map fade back into a single globe above their heads. "Now, I feel like we should sit down for a bit and have some lunch. "All this time stuck in Limbo holding the Pony of Shadows really works up an appetite, wouldn't you agree?" And as if on cue, his stomach rumbled to show his point.

"Sure. I can run down to the city to get some food. Be right back." Starlight teleported out, but unlike Twilight, didn't immediately return with goods in hand. Thus, the other four were left to their own devices.

"Maybe I could help you with trying to cook, Starswirl. I don't mean to brag, but I did take up a culinary school for a few years after I flunked out of my wizarding classes." Sunburst lead the way towards the kitchen in Starswirl's house. "Oh, and trust me, there's bound to be some delicacies in this newer world that'll make your taste buds tingle with delight."

"What about you, Twilight?" Stygian asked, as the both of them stood alone in a large rotunda-like room. "What are you going to do?"

"Well, I'm quite curious to see what this old Equestria was like. And, I've got a great source of information right here." Twilight took a plethora of books off of the shelf and took them and her map back to the chair. "I hope you don't mind, Stygian, but I might be a while. I'm pretty sure that Olde Equestria's got a TON of tales to tell!" She quickly jumped back into the seat, causing it to lurch with her landing as she cracked open the first book and started scrolling through the pages.

"Oh, not at all, Twilight. Actually, do you mind if I assist you?" He started to trot over to her side. "After all, who better to learn OIde Equestria from than a pony who is actually from Olde Equestria?"

"I'd like that very much, Stygian." She flashed him a gentle smile as he stood by her side. Together, the two of them began their journey into the wonderful world of their world's past...

Author's Notes:

So. Now that Season 8 finally decided to bring our lord and saviour Gandalf, and the rest of his little crew back, I suppose that this fanfic's going to have even less credibility now, huh? Given that now the Pillars are still out and about, roaming freely across the lands, that should be reason enough for me to pack in and call it a day, right?

WRONG!

See, while I do enjoy the fact that they're sticking to the shreds of continuity here and there, I'm still devoted to this story and to all six of the Pillars together. It's not very often that I continue a story even after the canon has debunked the fact that it could never exist, but here's the one time I'll make an exception, as I love writing about the Pillars so much and I love everything about them, and I ain't stopping for NOTHING.

Explanation over. Now, please have some Twilight, Starlight, and Sunburst having a magical fangirl/boy chapter with Starswirl and Stygian.

Next Chapter: The Five Unicorns: The Other Side Estimated time remaining: 1 Hour, 2 Minutes
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