“The best elements within us can spread light and virtue, and I know ponies who represent them all – strength, bravery, healing, beauty, hope, and sorcery. Myself and these Pillars of Equestria were gathered together by another to maintain and share the light of these powerful ideals. But we soon came to believe the pony who brought us together only wanted that power for himself. Cast out and alone, this power-mad pony turned to darkness to satisfy his thirst. Transformed into a Pony of Shadows, he returned for revenge – to extinguish the Pillars' light and rob the world of hope. To stop him, the Pillars and I must make a grave sacrifice. But we shall leave behind a seed in hopes that one day it will grow into a force to stand against the darkness for all time. We must now face the fiend with the only plan we have...”

"...I only hope it will be enough." Sunburst finished narrating, “That's the last entry, and maybe Starswirl's final words before he vanished.”

Everyone gasped, including Eric and his friends.

“I've always wondered what happened to Starswirl. This is quite a discovery, Sunburst,” Princess Celestia said.

“So it's genuine? You can verify that this journal really belonged to Starswirl the Bearded?!” Twilight exclaimed.

“Indeed. From the looks of it, the last thing he wrote before facing the Pony of Shadows,” Princess Luna replied.

“Uh... So, the Pony of Shadows was really real?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“It appears so,” Princess Celestia replied.

“We never met the other Pillars, and we were too young to understand the danger they faced,” Princess Luna said.

“We also have heard tales of their accomplishments before then, too,” Lord Emerald added.

“Hold on a second now. All those legendary ponies were real, too? And they went off with Starswirl to face the Pony of Shadows, and then none of them were ever heard from again?” Applejack asked.

“Uh, yeah. Weren't you listening?” Pinkie Pie asked in reply.

“I was wondering about that myself after learning about them,” Eric said.

“But what happened to them all?” Fluttershy asked.

“They must have defeated the villain, since Equestria is still full of light and hope,” Rarity replied.

“But how? And where did they go?” Starlight asked.

“My Olde Ponish is a bit rusty, but I wonder if the answers can be found somewhere within the pages of this book,” Princess Celestia said.

“Well, Storm and I just happen to be experts in Olde Ponish. I mean, we've practically memorized every ancient text about Starswirl there is!” Twilight replied.

“Seriously. All of them,” Spike added.

“We have fond memories of our old teacher,” Princess Luna said, giving the journal to Twilight, “If you could discover what happened to him, we would be most grateful.”

“Especially since he suggested that the three of us should be betrothed,” Lord Emerald added.

Twilight eagerly took the journal and Storm said, “We’ll get to the bottom of this soon enough, princesses and Lord Emerald.”

“Solving a thousands-year-old mystery could take forever!” Sunburst added, “Think of the research! The re-reading! The re-re-reading!”

“You might find you need help,” Princess Celestia said.

“Luckily, she's got a whole bushel o' helpers right here,” Applejack said.

“Totally!” Rainbow added, “Uh... how long will all this research take exactly?”

“Let's get this back to our library. I'm sure we'll figure out what happened in no time,” Twilight said.

After Storm placed Eric onto Twilight’s back, the rest of the Mane 7, including Starlight and Sunburst, as well as Eric’s friends walked out of the castle to head back to Ponyville with excited chatter.

Castle of Friendship

The candlelight suddenly fizzled as Spike replaced a used up candle with the new one. Spike yawned and looked up at Twilight, “Figure it out yet, Twilight and Storm?” he asked.

Twilight and Storm shook their heads, and then Spike threw the used up candle into the waste bin full of used up candles. Sunburst was sleeping and making a snoring noise, but suddenly woke up after hearing a soft thud.

Sunburst then yelped and woke up with a scroll on his head, “What did you figure out?” he asked.

Pinkie gasped after she and Rarity, who was wearing her red glasses woke up, “You figured something out?” Rarity asked, then unappreciatively watched Pinkie slurp the cupcake that was on her face.

Fluttershy woke up and asked, “What is it?”

“Nothing. I mean, Starswirl was a genius, obviously,” Twilight replied with a sigh.

“But forget Olde Ponish. There's parts where his hornwriting is like another language!” Storm added, then both groaned.

“Twilight, we've been studyin' and referencin' and cross-referencin' for half a day straight now,” Applejack said.

Eric nodded with a whimper as he rubbed his eyes.

“Ugh. I haven't spent this much time reading since the last Daring Do book came out,” Rainbow said.

“Perhaps it is time to take a break. This mystery is over a thousand years old, after all. Another hour or two won't make a difference,” Rarity added.

“Two hours?! We don't want to waste two seconds! We’re close to an answer. We can feel it,” Twilight replied.

Starlight then picked up the book. “"Hearg sylfum se Ponhenge." What's that?” she asked, reading from the book.

“The Temple of Ponhenge?! You can read that?!” Twilight asked.

“The hornwriting’s pretty sloppy, but it's nowhere near as bad as it looks,” Starlight replied, and then continued reading, “"Toward dol grimlic of Fola Firgenbeorg"?”

“"At the base of Foal Mountain"...” Sunburst said, and Starlight kept reading, “"User endemest scield".”

Twilight Sparkle gasped, “"Our last stand".”

Spike yawned, “Well, that sure sounds like a clue to me.” He then blew out the candle before falling asleep. Eric showed them a picture of Ponhenge in the book.

After some much needed relief from all the research, everyone arrived at Ponehenge.

This is it. Ponhenge. I can't believe it,” Twilight said.

Sunburst walked over to a rune where Rarity stood, and then brushed off some dirt to see some carved symbols on it.

“I've never seen magical runes like these before! Have you?” Sunburst asked.

“Uh-uh,” Twilight replied, walking around with the journal.

“I don't think anypony's seen any of this for a long time,” Rainbow said, straining to pull a vine off the rune, but fell into a bush.

“Whoa!” Applejack gently tugged on Rainbow’s tail and helped pull her out of the bush, “It'd take a whole team of ponies to clear away all this brush.”

As a rock clattered one rune, Fluttershy tried to place it back, but it fell off again. “Even then, I'm not sure we'd find out what happened here over a thousand years ago,” she said.

Twilight and Storm sighed with depression, “You're right. I suppose it was a long shot,” she replied.

“Cheer up, Twilight and Storm. Finding a whole set of ancient ruins is pretty impressive. Maybe you could write a paper on it,” Spike said.

“Is Midnight okay?” Eric asked.

“Your grandparents are watching him for now,” Storm replied.

“I guess I hoped we'd get here and the mystery would just magically be explained,” Twilight said, until a light blue magic glow was shimmering from the book.

“Uh... Twilight?” Spike asked, pointing at the book.

Twilight and Storm turned around and gasped in surprise, and the magic from the book started humming, and it flipped the pages until a magical holographic projection of Starswirl appeared. Twilight and Storm suddenly felt excited to meet their idol, “Starswirl!? We... We've wanted to meet you our whole lives! We can't believe you're here!” she said.

Sunburst walked over, and touched the hologram, but felt nothing. “I don't think he is here,” he said, until another sight struck his eyes. “I don't think any of them are.”

Twilight and the rest saw holograms of the other Pillars appear, consisting Flash Magnus with his shield, Mistmane with her flower, Somnambula with her blindfold, Mage Meadowbrook with her mask, and Rockhoof with his shovel.

Starswirl conjured a spell from his horn, and summoned the Pony of Shadows from the stone table. The Pony of Shadows appeared laughing evilly, “You summon me at your peril, Star Swirl! Once I defeat all of you, this realm will embrace the darkness as I did so long ago!”

The Pony of Shadows sprout out his wings and then surrounded the Pillars with symbiotic vines, and wrapped them with it, until he laughed evilly again, “Drawing me here will only make me stronger. You will never defeat me!” he said.

“We did not come here to defeat you,” Starswirl replied.

They all saw the Pillars lightning up their relics and formed a gem shaped circle around the Pony of Shadows.

“What are you doing?!” The Pony of Shadows asked.

“We came... to contain you,” Starswirl said, and then the Pony of Shadows screamed in horror as he and the Pillars vanished into limbo.

“Well, you did ask for a magical explanation,” Pinkie said to Twilight.

“Uh... what just happened?” Rainbow asked.

“It looked like Star Swirl cast a spell that banished the Pony of Shadows,” Starlight said.

“Of course! Powerful magic like that would leave an impression on this place. Bringing the book back here let us see what happened,” Sunburst added.

“Which was what?” Applejack asked.

“Starswirl and the rest of the Pillars sacrificed themselves to save Equestria,” Twilight said.

“Now we know how and why they disappeared, for the most part,” Storm added, “Let’s get back to Ponyville.”

Everyone was headed back to Ponyville, unaware that they were being watched by Glacio’s minions.

“We need to contact Glacio immediately,” Hot Shot said, as he took out his crystal ball.

“Yes, Commander Hot Shot,” Thundercracker replied.

“My lord, Princess Twilight, Prince Storm and their friends have found Starswirl’s old journal and followed some clues that led them here to Ponehenge,” Hot Shot said.

“Good, that means the Pony of Shadows will soon be unleashed. Now go to Zecora’s hut and bring me the Alicorn Amulet, then meet me at Ponehenge,” Glacio ordered.

“Yes, my lord,” Hot Shot replied.

The next day, Starlight, Sunburst, and Eric were walking down the hall.

“It's amazing to think one of the greatest mysteries of Equestria was solved with a musty old book from an antique shop,” Starlight said.

“But I wouldn't say the mystery's solved. Starswirl’s spell was one of the most powerful feats of magic in all of history. It'll take years of study before we fully understand it,” Sunburst replied.

“I sense the answer is closer than we think,” Eric said.

“I think I understand Starswirl's spell!” Twilight exclaimed.

Later on, the others came back. “I know I've finished one of Starswirl's spells before, but this one was on a whole different level! Was it an explosion of magical feedback? An evocation? A kind of incantation? It's Starswirl, so the possibilities are endless! And once Starlight set us on the right track with his crazy hornwriting,” Twilight said, laughing and snorting, “I mean, he was a genius, so I guess we can forgive a little messiness.”

“So we went through the journal again, and it's amazing!” Storm exclaimed.

“Twilight and Storm, darlings. We understand you're excited, but that's all we understand,” Rarity said.

“What exactly is so amazing?” Rainbow asked.

“Only how Starswirl and the other Pillars sent the Pony of Shadows to limbo,” Twilight said.

“They did what now?” Applejack asked.

“They used their magic to open a portal between worlds, to limbo, and pulled the Pony of Shadows inside,” Twilight explained, by lighting up her horn to form a orb, and then the diorama exploded.

“Darling, your diorama!” Rarity said.

“We made more!” Twilight exclaimed, showing her friends her other dioramas, “Starswirl thought the only way to trap the Pony of Shadows in limbo was for the Pillars to take him there.”

“So they got stuck, too!” Applejack said.

“The Pony of Shadows must have been really awful for them to do that,” Fluttershy replied.

“I suppose being trapped for all time with a super-duper bad guy in limbo might be okay if you were doing the limbo, but that's still pushing it,” Pinkie remarked, giggling.

“Not that kind of limbo, Pinkie,” Storm said.

“The thing is, I think we can get them out,” Twilight replied.

Sunburst and the others were shocked, “Twilight, are you serious? You can save the most legendary ponies of all time?” he asked.

“I-I don't know. Opening portals between worlds didn't work out well for me. Are you sure it's safe?” Starlight asked, nodding. Eric and his friends nodded in agreement.

“First of all, you opened portals through time,” Twilight said.

“Second of all, Starswirl wrote the spell you used to do it. If he'd been here, he could have stopped it.”Storm added.

“Equestria would be safer with him in it. We have to save him.” Twilight finished.

“But you'd be savin' all the Pillars, right? A-And they disappeared ages ago,” Applejack said.

“That's the thing about limbo. It isn't one place or another. It's in between, so time stands still. If we can pull them out, it'll be like they never left,” Twilight said.

“What can we do to help?” Spike asked.

“Is there something we can use to help?” Eric added.

“I don’t know, sweetie. But if I'm right, we need to find items that are connected to the Pillars in some way,” Twilight said.

“You mean, like, stuff that belonged to them?” Rainbow asked.

“How would we know what to look for? Or where?” Fluttershy asked.

“Luckily, Starswirl took a lot of notes,” Twilight said, as she read the notes from the book. ”"My compatriots are as varied as the realm itself and hail from every corner of our land, bringing with them artifacts and talismans of great power."”

A bright golden yellow magical glow began shimmering from above. “Um, Twilight? Storm? What are you doing?” Starlight asked.

“We’re not doing anything!” Twilight replied, as the glow revealed orbs consisting the Pillars’s artifacts.

“Rockhoof's shovel!” Applejack exclaimed.

“Flash Magnus' shield!” Rainbow exclaimed.

“Mistmane's flower!” Rarity said.

“Meadowbrook's mask!” Fluttershy added.

“And the blindfold Somnambula wore when she faced that nasty sphinx!” Pinkie said.

“I guess we don't need to figure out who should get what,” Twilight replied.

“Zuni, you go with Applejack. Marina, you’re with Rarity. Slapstick, you go with Pinkie. Holly, you’re with Fluttershy, and Nightshade, you’re with Rainbow and Spike,” Eric said.

Everfree Forest

Hot Shot, Skywarp, Thundercracker trekked through the forest until they reached Zecora’s hut.

“Let’s barge in!” Hot Shot shouted.

The three teenage colts charged at the door and kicked it open.

“We know you have the Alicorn Amulet, Zecora. Where did you put it?” Hot Shot asked.

“Get out of my house!” Zecora shouted.

“Looks like we’re doing this the hard way. Thundercracker, attack!” Hot Shot said.

Thundercracker lunged at Zecora, tackling her and beat her on the head until she was knocked out.

“Boys, tear this place apart until you find that amulet!” Hot Shot ordered.

“With pleasure, commander!” Skywarp and Thundercracker replied in unison.

They ransacked the hut, checking every space until they found the box containing the amulet.

“We found the amulet!” Skywarp said.

“Good. Now let’s get back to Ponehenge,” Hot Shot replied.

Once they took the amulet, the three colts left the hut and made their way towards Ponehenge so they could give it to Glacio.

Back at Ponehenge, Twilight, Storm, Eric, Sunburst, and Starlight were getting ready for the arrival of the Pillars.

“I can't believe we’re gonna meet Starswirl the Bearded! You know, outside of our dreams,” Twilight said.

“Ican't believe you're actually going through with it,” Starlight said, after pulling a vine from a rune, and magically disintegrating it.

“What do you mean?” Twilight asked.

“I'm all for pushing the envelope, obviously, but this is pretty out there for you, Twilight,” Starlight said.

“What's "out there" about saving the most legendary ponies of all time from a thousands-year-old prison?” Sunburst asked.

“Well... nothing when you say it like that. Unless "the most legendary ponies of all time" knew what they were doing, and we shouldn't mess with it,” Starlight said. “I mean, what if something else bad happened?”

“I'm sure Starswirl and the Pillars did the best they could back then, but magic has come a long way. Mostly because of the work they did,” Sunburst replied.

“That's true. And you did get your wings from finishing one of Star Swirl's spells,” Starlight said.

“Exactly,” Twilight said, unfolding one of her wings and recalling how she became an alicorn, “But then I messed with one and nearly destroyed the universe, so...” Starlight cut herself off.

“Starlight, Starswirl the Bearded is the greatest wizard who ever lived,” Twilight said, “The chance to have him back in Equestria is worth the risk.”

“I agree with my wife. If we’re successful, I’m sure he’ll be glad to know that you completed his formerly unfinished spell,” Storm added.

“That's good news,” Spike said.

“Otherwise, we'd have brought this shield for nothing,” Rainbow Dash added, with Nightshade nodding as she placed the shield on the rune.

“I hope you don't think you're the only one to find her artifact, because this here shovel says otherwise,” Applejack said, standing the shovel on the rune.

“You and your competitiveness, AJ and Rainbow,” Zuni remarked.

Rarity laughed, “Honestly, you two. Not everything is a competition. But Mistmane's flower is by far the most attractive of the artifacts.” She then neatly placed the flower on the rune.

“I fail to see why that’s important,” Marina said.

“You're just saying that because you two didn't have to scuba dive in a pit of green slime to get yours!” Pinkie exclaimed with the blindfold placed on the rune.

“Like we did,” Slapstick added.

“Or move a flash beehive,” Fluttershy said, wearing the mask. Holly gave Fluttershy a hoof bump.

“Good work, everyone,” Twilight replied, placing Starswirl’s journal on the rune.

“Everyone ready?” Storm asked, and then received nods from Starlight, Sunburst, and Eric.

“Let’s do this!” Twilight said.

Sunburst lit up his horn and blasted a beam of magic, and so did Starlight, Twilight, Storm, and even Eric shot one from his wand. When they stopped, Starswirl’s journal started glowing white, and then blasted a beam of magic on the other artifacts from the shield to the flower, blindfold, mask, and shovel, and then formed the same spell circle that sealed the Pony of Shadows in limbo long ago. The artifacts made a huge explosion of light, and suddenly, six ponies were brought back.

Rockhoof was a big, strong viking-like earth pony stallion with a pale light grayish cyan coat, a light cyanish gray muzzle, a braided and bearded moderate gamboge mane and tail with a light gold stripe, grayish blue eyes, and three ringed triangles for a cutie mark.

Mage Meadowbrook was a earth pony mare with a light cerulean coat, a braided pink and moderate scarlet mane and tail, brilliant turquoise eyes, and she was wearing a dark gold necklace on her chest and a bracelet on her left hoof, a tan bra on her chest and headband that had room for her ears, and a green skirt.

Mistmane was an elderly imperial unicorn mare with a light mulberryish gray coat with lighter gradient shades on her horn, ear tips, and hooves, her mane and tail were flowing like clouds and were colored with gradients of grayish arctic blue to turquoisish gray and grayish turquoise to malachite greenish gray. She also had pale light grayish cerulean eyes, a turquoisish gray cloud for an cutie mark and she wore pale turquoisish gray imperial clothing with a sash around her waist and a flower on her crest.

Somnambula was an ancient Egyptian-like pegasus mare with a light scarlet coat, a dark arctic blue Cleopatra braided mane and bead braided tail with moderate turquoise streaks, grayish blue violet eyes with dark arctic blue eyeshadow and Egyptian type mascara and eyeliner on her eyelashes. She also had a gold necklace with two white beads on top for a cutie mark, wore a white linen dress with a gold piece around her underside, and a white headpiece with a gold tiara.

Flash Magnus was a brilliant amber pegasus stallion, moderate amaranth mane and tail, brilliant turquoise eyes, three darker blue lightning bolts for a cutie mark, and he wore red and dark chrome Roman-like armor and helmet, along with a gauntlet on his hoof.

Starswirl was a light gray unicorn stallion with and darker light gray hooves, a white and light bluish gray wizardly beard, mane and tail, dark violetish gray eyes, and he was wearing a moderate sapphire blue wizard hat and cape with yellow moons and stars, and gold bells on both his hat and cape.

“What... What has happened?” Starswirl asked.

“It worked! We brought you back!” Twilight said excitedly as she and Storm walked over to him.

“To where?” Starswirl asked.

“You and the others have been trapped in limbo for over a thousand years, but I figured out how to get you home,” Twilight said.

Starswirl then realized where he and the other pillars were, “What?! No, no, no, no! You must undo what you've done!” Star Swirl shouted in a concerned tone.

“What? Why? I mean, I don't think we can,” Twilight said.

“We only just freed freed you!” Storm added.

“You cannot bring us back!” Star Swirl said.

“But we did. We brought all the Pillars back,” Twilight replied.

“You cannot bring only the Pillars back!“ Star Swirl said.

Suddenly, a flash of thunder and lightning was heard, causing Eric to yelp, and then he hid behind Twilight and Storm. All of a sudden, they saw a roaring black cloud coming, until it revealed itself as the Pony of Shadows, laughing evily.

Next Chapter: Chapter 12: Shadow Play - Part 2 Estimated time remaining: 21 Minutes