There is an unmistakable irony in how one can miss the things that annoyed them to no end. Sure, in the moment those irritating things would cause the recipient to wish them to go away. But that was just something one said during a moment of irritation. They didn’t really mean it.

Right?

Twilight Sparkle had her share of thoughts on the subject. There were many times, during long hours behind a desk, that she had wished for the report in front of her to just vanish out of existence. That it would just be swept away in a green flame transported to Tarterus or whatever empty void awaited the momentary irritation.

She even wished this on ponies.

It was scarce that she wished something so single minded and cruel on another living creature - let alone another pony, but after nearly half an hour of being chastised by a cyan pegasus for being cautious about examining the strange item and pedestal it sat on.

For the past half hour, Twilight had been constantly interrupted in her studies of the site as she “wasn’t going fast enough” or was “taking the egghead approach.” Twilight considered herself a pretty resilient mare. She was able to put up with many rude and impatient ponies in both Canterlot and Ponyville alike, so one of her closest friend’s impatience was no big deal.

Right?

The brash pegasus had started to grow on her nerves at about the ten minute mark. Then she started to get irritated at the fifteen minute mark. At the twenty fifth mark, she was mentally cursing her friend and praying to Celestia she would shut up. Even if it was just for a second.

Even for a second.

She got her moment of peace. She got her moment of silence. She got a whole lot more than that.

She got her irritation to end.

Now she wanted her back. More than anything.

The past six - wait, or was it seven hours - had been a blur to Twilight. Her friends thought it was a joke at first. Admittingly, she shared the same conclusion in the beginning. They had thought the blinding light show that emanated from the pedestal had been the perfect moment that their friend had been waiting for to make her disappearance.
But then a minute went by. Then five. Then ten. Then…

Twilight thought back to earlier in the day and how her friends reacted.

“Rainbow!” Applejack called as she frantically whipped her head around the faintly lit chamber. “Enough of the games! Now y'all better come out!”

Silence.

“W-where is she?!” Asked Fluttershy, who broke the silence.

“She’s gone.” Twilight had said, her voice barely above a whisper.

“No, she can’t be!” Applejack protested to herself more than anyone else. “She’s jus messin with us! She’ll come out any minute now!”

Nothing changed. No steady build up turned into cackling laughter after another genius prank. No cyan pegasus showing off her “new toy” to her friends. Nothing.

Nothing changed.

Rainbow Dash was missing.

Her thoughts were interrupted when a green flash appeared on the desk in front of her. The owner of the flash, a purple and green baby dragon burped audibly as a letter appeared in front of them both.

The paper was made of the smoothest material as not a speck of smeared ink or tear resided on it. The neatly tied red ribbon that kept the letter compact together was sealed with a golden stamp, in the middle of which was a symbol resembling the sun that had long since set over the town.

The lavender unicorn frantically untied the ribbon and unfolded the letter with her magic. Her vision was a little hazy after the day she had been having, but after a moment of forcing her eyes to focus, Twilight was able to make out the elegant writing.

Dear Twilight Sparkle - My most faithful student,

Our search for the element of loyalty - or any traces of thou for that matter - has ended fruitlessly. I have had search parties looking both directly around the strange site you and the other element bears have uncovered as well as in every corner of the country. The site with the strange object has been quarantined and placed under strict watch until we can determine more about its origins or purpose. Nopony has seen any trace of our multi-maned friend or has ever heard of the place where she disappeared. I regret to inform you that I must pull my search parties and spotters in for the night. My sister will be organizing her own efforts as of now to continue the night search. It is with a heavy heart that I must retire for the night but I assure you that Rainbow Dash will be found in time.

- Princess Celestia

She was barely able to read the signature with the tears now obstructing her vision. Luckily, she had been holding the letter with her magic as her shaking hooves would have made the already straining task much worse.

With a frustrated growl, Twilight slammed the letter down onto her desk before putting both hooves to her head and rubbing her eyes.

Spike hung his head as he glanced to the corner of the room where a mountain of scrolls and letters covered the entire corner of the room - all of which had been crumpled up in a fury of rage and sadness.

Glancing back at the lavender unicorn, he thought about his words.

“Twilight…” He began, unsure of what to say, but knowing that something had to be said. “We can try again tomorrow…”

No response.

“A-and the next day, and the next if we have to, because that's what-” He added before quickly being silenced by her.

“It’s my fault…”

He had barely heard her voice, but those few short words were enough to interrupt his consoling.

“Twilight-” He started again only to silence himself at her next whisper.

“I shouldn’t have let her get so close. I should have stopped her…”

The whispers turned into light sobs. Spike didn’t know what to do other than continue to gently stroke her back and sit in silence.

“Now she's gone, Spike.” The floodgates opened at that line. “It’s all my fault.”

“She’s not gone, just-”

“FOR CELESTIA’S SAKE!” Twilight suddenly snapped. “OPEN YOUR EYES, SPIKE!”

Spike visibly flinched at her outburst and was expecting more but was surprised to find that instead of continuing to take it out on him, she buried her hooves in her face and vented her frustration in muffled sobs.

After a few moments that felt more like hours to them, Twilight spoke up once more.

“Ninety six letters and not one trace of her. We’ve checked everywhere. What on Earth was that chamber?! Why did it take our fucking friend? For all we know she’s-” Twilight couldn’t finish that sentence as she went back to pouring out her sorrow.

As she wept into her hooves, Spike refused to move his claw as he looked out the window at the night sky. A streaking blur swiftly passed by in the distance.

A shooting star.

He wished for this to end. He wished for his friends to be happy as they had been not even twenty-four hours ago. He wished she was back and things were normal.

He wished.

The rest of the night was a blur to both of them. Sometime later, Twilight had exhausted herself mentally and dragged herself to bed. She hadn’t expected sleep to come easily - or even at all - but somehow it did.

To this day she wished it hadn’t.

In her dreams she saw them.

Her vision was in a haze. Her mind was clouded. She couldn’t think. Only watch. Her vision swam as her senses returned and her surroundings came into focus revealing the circular soft blue glow, the random pitter-patter of water droplets, the cold chilled air that wrapped around her like a python would a mouse.

She was back.

Twilight Sparkle was back in the chamber.

Only she wasn’t… Not entirely.

The familiar ring of blue torches, damp feeling in the air, and central pedestal were still there. Even the strange weapon continued to hover gently over the stone-engraved pedestal. But the weapon wasn’t what caught the lavender unicorn’s attention. It was the engravings below the weapon.

They were glowing.

Not the blue glow from the torches or the aura holding the weapon in place, but a deep red. It was almost crimson. Twilight studied the first engraving that she was already facing. While her mind had been clouded and panicked with the sudden disappearance of her friend, she could now think clearly.

Even more so. Maybe it was the red glow, or maybe her countless hours studying them finally paid off and that rusty machine in her head began to click as the gears turned and it whirred to life.

The first stone tablet - or at least first one facing her - displayed the six distinct symbols of kindness, loyalty, magic, generosity, laughter, and honesty. Each symbol was scrawled on its own respective element with only one similarity between the six.

They were all broken.

Every single element had cracks, splits, and even chunks missing. Red glowing lines protruded from each destroyed gem and reached skywards but were severed from their destination by the end of the stone tablet.

The second tablet was set in some sort of cave as inferred by the darkened background, rough edges, and an opening in the center of the illustration. Tiny white splotches surrounded that opening and lead to the bottom of the tablets-

Wait… Those weren’t splotches mistakenly put on by the artist or scratched on with the harsh claws of time.

Those were creatures.

A sea of small, multi-appendage creatures flooded out from the opening as they advanced towards some unknown destination off of the tablet. Twilight could also make out different, larger creatures that were being covered by the smaller ones. The larger creatures looked like they were in distress - even pain as they were frozen in time on the stone.

The third tablet was still missing in entirety. Rough cuts dug into the pedestal where it should have been set in stone. It looked like someone - or something had scooped it up roughly like how a spoon would slice through a gallon of ice cream as the owner of said spoon only cared for the promise of a delicious treat rather than the preservation of the treat’s appearance.

The fourth and final tablet was confusing. While Twilight had been able to put the first two together as something horrible being unleashed should the elements be destroyed, without the third tablet, she had no idea where this final one fit in.

The fourth tablet displayed a combination of the small and large creatures, but they all appeared to be together now as they no longer struggled with one another. Instead the horde of creatures surrounding a lone equine-like figure. Or at least that was what she thought it was. The figure standing on a single rock above the sea of creatures looked like a pony in appearance as it clearly had an equine body, four hooves, and shaped ears, but there was one major difference.

Every figure on the engravings - big or small - had no facial features whatsoever. They were just silhouettes, but this figure was different for it had eyes. Or at least that is what Twilight took them as. These “eyes” were different. They weren’t rounded or oval shaped at all.

They were slanted. Angry almost. But that wasn’t the weirdest thing.

There were five of them…

Five slants…

Before she could ponder on the strange features any longer, a coat of multi-colored light covered the fourth tablet entirely. It reflected the torch glow and seemed to amplify the strength of the glow, causing Twilight to squint to attempt and shield her eyes.

The light was gone as quickly as it arrived. When the prismatic glare was removed from her vision, Twilight was able to reexamine the fourth tablet. What she saw made her jaw drop.

Standing next to the multi-slant eyed figure was a smaller built figure, but this one had one major difference besides size.

It had a cutie mark.

Four puffy lumps. Three streaks protruding downward from those lumps.

Twilight continued to stare at the recently changed tablet as her eyes refused to leave the crude illustration of one of her best friends. The world became hazy again as her senses started to betray her.

Then she was back.

Twilight Sparkle shot up and began lightly panting. The warm beads of sweat trickled from her mane and done onto her face as she frantically examined her surroundings. Bed? Check. Library? Check. Sanity? Check.

Looking over to her right she found Spike peacefully asleep in his own bed. The young dragon was snoring audible, something that would usually have annoyed her but now she found a strange comfort in it. The repetitive sound broke the unnerving silence as the mare mentally collected herself.

What had she just witnessed? Some prophecy? Some lucid dream created from stress? She couldn’t sleep. She couldn’t think. All Twilight could do was stare at the wall as the images of the engravings flowed through her mind. They all flashed in repetition.

The elements. The creatures. The figure. Rainbow...

What did they mean?

The elements. The creatures. The figure. Rainbow...

“Come on, think!” She mentally scolded herself while repeating each thing slower this time in her head.

The elements.

They were broken and exerting some kind of energy. Where was that energy going?

The creatures.

What were they? Did the elements have something to do with them?

The figure.

Was it friendly? It didn’t appear to be hurting Rainbow and was almost as if it was standing with her.

Rainbow...

The only mare reckless enough to get involved in something like this but the only one she knew would make it out.

Right?

The images of the literal sea of creatures stayed in her mind at that thought. No amount of speed could take on an army.

Twilight continued to weigh every possible variable she could think of but none of it made sense. She needed more data. More info.

More time…

“That's it!” She thought before jumping out of her bed and falling over onto the ground as the vice-like grip of the sheets attempted to restrain her.

Glancing over to see that she thankfully hadn’t disturbed Spike, Twilight got onto her hooves and headed to her desk. A faint purple glow filled the room as she gripped a pen in her magic and began to write on a new piece of paper.

Dear Princess Celestia,

I request immediate access to that quarantined tomb we found earlier today…

Twilight had been sitting at the kitchen table for hours. Her spread of books, letters, scrolls, and empty coffee cup backed up her rugged appearance. The mare’s mane was messy and disheveled, her eyes had the faintest traces of bags underneath them but they also held a glint of something else.

Hope.

It was the first time she had felt any shred of hope ever since her friend was swallowed up by a bright light in that tomb. It was the first time in the past two days that Twilight Sparkle felt like she was in control. That she finally had a plan.

Using her magic, she grasped the nearly empty coffee pitcher and began to pour the dark contents into her cup when it happened.

*POOF*

A golden glow momentary filled the room as a neatly rolled up scroll appeared in the center of it. This one also donned an elegant looking red ribbon to keep it tied together and was made of the finest materials.

Twilight nearly dropped the coffee pot upon seeing it, but caught it just in time before it shattered against the floor. Exhauling in relief, she placed it back on the maker before unraveling the scroll as a foal would tear open a Hearth's Warming Present.

The second she got it opened, another smaller scroll fell to her hooves. Picking it up and discarding it on the table, she began to read the main scroll.

She scanned over the text quickly as her eyes struggled to focus at first, requiring her to reread the first part a few times. Once she finally got through the whole body of text, her purple eyes lit up brightly.

Finishing her coffee in one gulp, Twilight set the scroll down and picked the smaller, still tied one up. This scroll was nowhere near as elegant or preserved as the first. It had rougher edges with small pieces missing or crumbled, signaling its age to her trained eyes. There was no bright red ribbon holding it together - this scroll had a thin, dull brown piece of twine keeping its contents sheltered.

Unraveling the twine revealed exactly what she had been expecting but that didn’t make her reaction any more tame. She squealed in delight and hugged the piece of paper before realizing how careful she needed to be with it. After all, it was many, many years old. Glancing to the bottom corner, she noticed a neatly scrawled signature that read “SS”

Star Swirl.

The stallion, the myth, the legend. Twilight had pulled a lot of strings for the past few hours just to get her hooves on this piece of paper. But this was no ordinary piece of paper.

It contained instructions on how to cast an individual displacement spell that would take whatever the caster decided at any point in time, whether that be in the past or future. Put simply, it was a time travel spell created and perfected by the bearded unicorn.

Now that she was armed for success, Twilight levitated both scrolls into her saddlebag and grabbed a few more supplies before placing it around her back.

Grabbing a piece of paper and pen, she hastily scrawled a letter to Spike telling him where she would be in case the dragon woke up before she returned. And with saddlebag secured, letter on desk, and plan in mind, Twilight trotted out the door eager to see her friend again.

I can’t wait to see the looks on their faces when they see her again! She thought to herself with a smile.

She thought about the other four waiting patiently at the library for another day of searching only to have their jaws dropped when she enters with Rainbow Dash as if nothing had happened. This whole thing will have felt like some messed up fever dream that came and went as-

Her thoughts were interrupted when she slammed into something. No, someone. Twilight had run face first into a crimson colored unicorn mare that had been carrying a stack of boxes in her magic before the lavender unicorn slammed into her doing her daydreaming. The boxes exploded from her grasp and hit the ground.

Thankfully, no sound of shattering glass or screaming critters were heard. The only sound that was heard being the crimson mare’s frustrated huff as she eyed Twilight. Twilight didn’t like the look she was giving her. It was like she was trying to decide between tearing her apart like a ravenous beast as her teal blue eyes pierced her or cussing her out like a fed up parent.

Finally, the mare settled on a “hmph!” that was matched up with a certain white and purple unicorn she knew. Speaking of which, their mane colors were a similar shade of purple now that she noticed it.

“Excuse me, but I would watch where you’re going. That was very precious cargo.” The mare said in a tone that was nothing like she had expected from her appearance.

Her voice was more light almost like the soft tone of Fluttershy’s mixed with a hint of flare from Rarity.

Twilight finally snapped out of her observations and quickly put together some sort of overdue apology.

“I’m so sorry! Here I’ll help y-” She had started while reaching for one of the boxes only to be swatted away by the mare’s hoof.

“No!” She screamed before catching herself, but it was too late.

Multiple sets of eyes lay fixed on the two, making Twilight feel frozen to the spot. The mare was blushing a barely noticeable shade of red underneath her coat. Luckily for Twilight she was close enough to notice it.

“I mean no thank you.” The mare quickly corrected herself as she began to pick up the boxes with her magic and place them behind her and out of Twilight’s sight. “I’d rather you not cause any more problems with your clumsiness.”

Twilight only got a brief glance at the boxes and noticed that they weren’t sealed with tape but rather a spell. A strong spell at that. She also noticed that there were no tags or addresses on them so their contents would remain a mystery.

That didn’t matter. She had a friend to save. Before she could reply, the mare flicked her medium length mane and strode away from her with another Rarity “hmph!” and was out of sight in a flash.

That was weird… Twilight thought as she continued on with her quest but not before taking a glance at the departing mare.

Ghastly Gorge had never been this populated - not even during Rainbow’s pet race or any other event that Twilight could recall.

On the ledges of the gorge’s top were multiple guards either scanning the surroundings with binoculars or scopes - given off by the glinted reflection from the steadily rising sun above.

In the multiple cuts along the sides of the gorge, where the once titanic eels had resided, were now makeshift stands with industrial lights illuminating the interior of the cavern-like cuts.

Twilight couldn’t see much of the cavern entrances from her vantage point at the bottom of the gorge, but she did find herself smack dab in the middle of a camp - or more like a makeshift base of operations where armored stallions were busy examining papers and illustrations the contents of which see couldn’t make out. Some were crowded around tables while others were seated in rows while a highly decorated mare in uniform pointed to various parts of the diagram. Twilight could see the pony’s lips moving but the mare’s voice was drowned out by the rest of the commotion.

After surveying her surroundings, the unicorn mare found her target. It was the only perfectly circular cut in the gorge - a fact that always made it strange to her. This hole wasn’t created by weathering and erosion from centuries gone by, but then who made it? No creature - or machine for that matter could make a cut so flawless into the Earth.

Two guards were stationed outside of the cut on either side, but these guards were different. While every other stallion and mare on the site wore either traditional golden plated armor, officers garbs, or off-duty sweats, these two guards wore something different.

They were dressed in metallic suits that covered everything with the sole exception of the wearer’s ears. Concealing their heads were plated helmets with a steel base and golden armor plating lining the sides and protecting the skull. The guard’s eyes were masked by the blue-green glow of two slanted visors and their breathing was labored and clearly audible through some sort of filter on their muzzles. Their bodies had the same treatment as the helmets with the repeating golden and steel grey color palettes and bulky armor.

The guard on the right was a unicorn as displayed by their armored horn jutting out of the helmet. The horn was glowing and in its grasp was a deadly looking rifle that Twilight had only read about in some Canterlot magazines about the “new guard.” The lavender unicorn felt unease as she could feel the guard eyeing her through the glowing slits. The grip on the weapon looked tense and that didn’t ease the growing knot in her stomach.

The other guard, to the left, had no horn or even wings - signaling they were an earth pony - which made it all the more mysterious of how they were also holding a matching rifle in a magical grip. She moved her eyes up to the guard’s head and spotted a small device with a yellow dot in the center. This device was glowing the same color as the grip on the rifle, almost as if it was a makeshift horn. Twilight wanted to ask about it but at the same time didn’t want to seem like she was prying.

As she opened her saddlebag with her magic, Twilight saw the two visibly tense so she slowed the process down and pulled out a piece of paper. Levitating it to one of the two, the guard formed a second golden appenage with their magic and scanned over the contents. Twilight couldn’t see the guard’s expression which made it all the more reliving when they handed it back to her and stepped aside, allowing her entry.

What are those things? I need to ask Celestia about those when I get back. Twilight thought as she made her way through the tunnel to the torch-lit chamber.

Once inside the eerie but all too familiar chamber, Twilight looked around to see nothing had changed. The torches were the same. The weapon was still hovering gently in the magical glow. There were also no guards inside. While it was strange, she was happy to not have any observers. Despite not doing anything illegal, she still was on edge about others watching her. Especially those wearing “war-mechs” and branding weapons of death.

Ok. First thing’s first. Twilight thought as she trotted over to the fourth engraving on the pedestal. Let’s see if…

Her thoughts were cut off as she was stopped in her tracks. The fourth engraving that showcased a slit-eyed figure battling the horde of creatures from the previous tablets now had a new addition. An addition that she had seen before in her dreams but this was impossible.

Next to the figure was another one. A smaller figure with a clouded and lightning bolt marking on its flank…

Rainbow Dash was engraved on the tablet...

The curious and scientific part of her wanted to abandon this whole plan and wait to see the outcome as her missing friend was now carved onto a stone that hadn’t appeared to have been changed for years. On the other hoof, the friend in her wanted Rainbow back more than ever. She had no idea what the cyan pegasus was going through right now. Was she alive? Was she hurt? Suffering-

No! Twilight mentally scolded herself. There’s no time for those thoughts. I’ve got to make this right!

Using her magic, Twilight levitated Star Swirl’s scroll from the depths of her saddlebag to have it hover in front of her. She studied the instructions long and hard, making sure she had memorized everything and was surprised a guard didn’t come to check on her with how long she was taking.

How many minutes had passed? Five? Ten? Twenty? Whatever the case, she felt ready. She felt prepared. Planting her hooves on the stone, and focusing both her heart, mind, and magic into this one spell, Twilight began to cast it.

Her horn started glowing bright violet with spiraling rings of gold around it as it snaked up to the point. Twilight’s head was in agony. It felt like she was pushing her own life force through her body but she continued nevertheless.

Twilight felt like squeezing her eyes shut as the light was beginning to blind but before she could, the crossbow-like weapon started to glow bright red in contrast to its usual color. Twilight only just noticed this when the red aura shot out a red beam towards her horn and made a sizzling sound.

The pain increased tenfold and became so unbearable that Twilight was forced to cut off her own spell as she collapsed to her stomach. Lifting her head, she looked towards the weapon to see its normal suspended animation and glow had returned as if nothing had happened.

Twilight looked down at the scroll containing the spells instructions. Why hadn’t it worked?! She had done everything right? Hadn’t she?

Activating her horn once more, she tried again.

Nothing.

Again.

Nothing.

Again!

Nothing…

The beginnings of tears began to form in the corner of her eyes as Twilight realized the painful truth…

The spell hadn’t worked.

Her plan hadn’t worked.

She had failed.

She had failed Rainbow Dash.

Now she was lost forever…

Author's Notes:

This chapter is probably the most effort I've put into a chapter so far in the story as I have rewritten it three times before the one you have just finished. I took a look at the story so far and decided that the pacing was too slow and the metaphors and thoughts outweighed the actual events happening to the characters, so I made an effort to balance those out more and I think it paid off in the end.
This chapter serves as a "template" of sorts for the story from here on out. I'm shooting for 4000 words per chapter minimum, more actual events and less background storytelling, and (hopefully) natural character dialogue.
Anyway, let me know in the comments what you think of the story so far, if you have any inferences about future events, or any questions.