Prologue

Twilight Sparkle stepped towards the audience chamber of Princess Celestia. Even with all the time she had spent in Ponyville the grand halls of the Canterlot Palace set her at ease, it was as much her home as the Ponyville library had become. This was all fine and well in Twilight’s mind, but paranoia still nagged at the back of her mind like Angel Bunny demanding attention from Fluttershy.

The circumstances of Twilight’s visit offered no clue as to the suddenness of Celestia’s summons. Even after the Smartypants incident, Twilight had managed to discover a new lesson on friendship roughly every week. She had sent her last report four days prior, so the Princess could hardly have felt that she had been slacking. The contents of the report was fairly mundane, inspired by a near falling out the Cutie Mark Crusaders experienced when the girls couldn’t decide how best to improve their clubhouse. The lesson was similar to what Twilight had learned from the fight with Discord, that friendship was not always easy, but it was still always worth it.

The contents of the invitation were ambiguous as well. It only went so far as to say that the Princess had a personal lesson on both magic and friendship that she felt Twilight was ready to begin. This prospect was what set Twilight’s mind at ease by the time she arrived at the audience chamber of Princess Celestia.

Strangely, there was no line of petitioners leading up to the dais upon which the royal throne sat. Twilight gazed up at her ruler, teacher, friend, and, dare she say it, surrogate mother with admiration on her face and in her heart.

“Princess Celestia, I came here as soon as I could.” Twilight stated, it was the truth, having received the invitation just that morning, Twilight had gotten all things arranged for a departure so swift, was in Canterlot by the afternoon.

"Please Twilight, there's no need for formal titles, I'm truly glad you could come so soon."

"You mentioned in the letter that you had an important lesson on both magic and friendship, my I ask what it is."

"Of course you can Twilight, but first," Celestia pondered for a moment before continuing. "What do you know about conjuration and summoning magic?"

Twilight was surprised by the question, summoning and conjuration were fringe schools of magic even amongst scholars. "Conjuration, or summoning as it is also referred as, is the act of bringing forth an object or subject across dimensional planes. It is different from phase-shifting magic, which involves transferring the caster to another dimension. It is also different from teleportation magic which involves movement only within the same dimension. It requires an immense amount of magical energy and a preparatory ritual as the caster must reach across dimensional boundaries, infuse the object to be conjured with magic, and then pull it through." Twilight rattled off the answer as though she had the text book right in front of her, eliciting a smile from Celestia.

"Very good Twilight, now, the magic lesson will involve a particular conjuration spell, only a few others have cast it over the millennia, even fewer without my aid." Celestia noted the fascinated expression on Twilight's face before continuing. "Due to the nature of the conjuration spell, the creature that will be summoned will be a being that has knowledge of friendship and strife, of good and evil, what you learn from this creature will be your lesson, though it is likely to be lessons, on friendship."

Twilight was dumbstruck, the Princess was offering her assistance in cast a spell that, if done without enough energy, would drain and the life and magic out of a unicorn. The fact that this act would also further her studies on friendship only made the decision more entrenched. "It would be an honour Princess."

"Then come Twilight, we have a ritual to prepare." Called Celestia as she rose from her throne, leading Twilight out of the audience chamber and towards the Royal Archives.

****

"Alright Bodicker, we have the building surrounded, you have nowhere to run." I could hear a police officer yelling through a megaphone from the fifth floor of my apartment building. Beside me were a mother and child who had were embracing eachother in fear. Standing in front of me beside the apartment's window was Frederick Bodicker, a serial killer who had managed to escape during a prison transfer. He had been all over the news a few months ago, ritualistically murdering his victims.

"Don't count on it! I got fucking hostages and I'll kill 'em all if you try and fuck with me!" Bodicker yelled, making sure not to expose himself out the window, likely covered by a sniper team by now.

"There is no need for that, what do you want Bodicker?" The officer responded.

"First, I want you to turn the fucking power back on!" Bodicker replied, the police had turned off the power in the building after clearing out all the people, it was a bargaining chip that they could use, clever plan I had to admit. "And then I want a helicopter, on the roof, with a pilot, and he's going to fly me to the airport, and then I'm gonna get a plane, and then I blow this joint and all its damned critics!" The news coverage had mentioned that Bodicker fancied himself an artist, obsessed with bringing about a new world view on human aesthetics, he mostly just hacked off random chunks of flesh from his victims with various implements.

"That's quite a bit Bodicker, but I tell you what, you release a hostage, then we turn on the power, then you release another hostage, then when the chopper get's here you release the last hostage." Clever boy, releasing to hostages for simply flipping a switch. With only one hostage, Bodicker couldn't blast them at the first sign of trickery, if the police made for a breaching manoeuver, then there was less chance of a hostage getting hit. Most people didn't respect cops, but I had to admit, they were covering all bases with the resources at hand.

"Alright! I'm sending out a hostage!" Bodicker walked up to the mother, still holding her child and dragged them apart. "Get down there, and tell them if the power isn't on in two minutes your girl's pretty little head gets to be a part of my next masterpiece!" He unlocked the door and shoved the woman as her daughter yelled for her.

"Shh, don't worry, it will be alright." I said, trying to keep her calm.

"When did I say you could talk!" Bodicker pointed his gun at me, an M1911, a powerful gun with big bullets, one round to the head and it was all over. Before anything else could happen, the lights flickered on.

"Bodicker, release the next hostage!" The officer sounded from the outside.

"Which one to keep?" Bodicker asked.

"Me" I replied, I knew this moment was going to come, and I needed to make sure mother and daughter saw eachother again.

"Hmm? And why should I do that?" Bodicker looked at me, sizing me up. I was a tall man, but I was far from muscular, mostly fat really.

"You release the next hostage, the police are going to give you breathing room, that's time for you to work your craft with your remaining hostage. The girl, she's not worth your talent, she'll pass out in an instant, me, you'll have someone to witness you in the process of art." It was a ploy, pandering to his need for recognition, it put me in great danger, but this was the best way to get the girl to safety. I have to admit, I wasn't even telling the truth about staying awake for the things he did to me, I had never even broken a bone in my 21 years of existence.

"Good point, leave cunt." Bodicker gestured to the girl, who got up and went to the door, as she slipped to safety she glanced at me with eyes full of fear, and thanks. That was all I needed to know this was the right thing to do.

"Now, let's get the studio set up." Bodicker said as he used a pair of handcuffs to chain me to a radiator, it was an old apartment, what can I say?

Bodicker stepped to a box and pulled out a corded drill and a reciprocating saw. I gulped. "Ready to be immortalized?" He asked me, leering.

"Its really that important to you isn't it?" I said, now was the time to distract him, and there was no better distraction for a devil than his own reflection.

"What is?" he questioned with genuine interest, no doubt none of his previous victims played to his personality in this way, that was my ticket to distracting him.

"Your art," I replied. "You're willing to die, to give up your life for your art."

"Of course, its my grand gift to the world."

"How do you know its art then?" I asked.

"Well, art's art isn't it?" he countered

"In some circles yes, but do you know what I think?"

"What?", he was fully enraptured now. People were only concerned with a few things in life, I was goading him with the promise of addressing a need.

"The purpose of an artist is to tell a truth."

"Yes, yes, that does make sense, but then, what truth am I telling?"

"You aren't." Now it was time to pull the promise away, make him beg for the truth.

"And why isn't it!?"

"You're murdering people, thinking living beings, with hopes, dreams, volitions and a will. You're turning them into twisted mockeries of what's important, and in that, you're showing your just the same." It was a gambit, he could get angry and kill me outright, or he could continue the questioning, trying to figure me out, but dead men cannot see.

"And what about you, do you tell truths?" Lucky me, he was more curious than angry, but I was running out of time.

"No, I act on them."

"How?"

"By helping others achieve their own hopes."

"HA! You think you're helping people by doing this? They're insects, useless vermin, you die, and they'll make the world a little worse than it was before, how is you're death going to improve the world?"

"Maybe my death won't make the world a better place, but I saved a mother and child today, maybe their lives will improve the world. Or maybe." I stalled, trying to buy more time as the drill was plugged into the wall.

"Or maybe what?" Bodicker asked.

"Nothing" I smirked.

"OR MAYBE WHAT?" He shrieked, pointing his gun at my head again.

"Alright, or maybe ... the world will be a better place from my death, because it will also mean your death."

At that moment the window shattered and a police officer in full tactical gear burst in. Bodicker flinched, firing a round that grazed my neck, and an artery, starting an impromptu crimson fountain as the police officer fired off an MP5 into Bodicker. The officer ran over to me as the door burst open with three more officers coming in. He placed a hand over my neck, trying to staunch the bleeding.

"You're gonna be fine! Get the medical team here now!" I heard him yell as my vision faded to black, not from closing my eyes, but from the pain.

At this point I repeated a silent mantra in my head there are things in this world worth dying for, not that I wanted to die, I would have preferred to have lived. But if my death was necessary, I was willing to make that choice. I then began to feel, what I can only call a cessation of existence of my body, more profound than simple numbness. My mind however, seemed intact. So this is what dying feels like. I thought, glad that I could still form coherent thoughts, glad to know that maybe the soul was real.

The comfort was short lived and replaced by terror when I felt my mind muddying.

****

Twilight and Princess Celestia had made all the preparations in the foyer of the Forbidden Archives. A ring of gem laden candles formed the shape of a square within a circle. Twilight was looking over the particulars of the spell, she would be performing it, with Celestia providing the raw power. The spell itself was very specific to what it summoned according to who the caster was. The spell would pull a being that would most benefit the knowledge that the caster already had, in such a way that there repertoire of knowledge would be enhanced should all that the conjured being knew be passed along. The spell also contained limiters that would only pull beings that were no longer of use to their own realm.

Shutting the tome, Twilight nodded to the Princess, who in turn nodded to two guards by the entryway. They were there to carry out whatever was summoned should it be necessary.

Wordlessly, Twilight began channelling the spell, and Celestia probed Twilight's mind to grant her access to her power, it was an immense trust that the princess had given Twilight, and the fact was not lost on the purple unicorn. Twilight revelled in the raw power, compared to her own, it was a candle, no, an image of a candle brought beside a red giant. As Twilight searched the Ley-lines with the spell, she touched upon a target, and Twilight cast the spell.

Within the square, a mass dropped from one foot in the air. Twilight gasped, a good deal of her energy spent in the process. When she opened her eyes she gasped again seeing the creature that lay before her. It had pale arms and face, with darker, loose hide attaching to the torso and back legs. Its front legs reminded Twilight of Spikes claws, but were blunted on the ends.

It was at this point that Twilight noticed the blood draining out of the creature's neck. Without hesitation Princess Celestia walked towards the creature and began healing it. Channelling Earth Pony healing with manual manipulation of nerves, blood vessels and muscle. Twilight could have sworn the princess had prior experience dealing with such a creature. When the deed was done, Celestia called over her guards who carried the creature to the infirmary, where preparations had already been made for whatever might come from the ritual.

Turning to Twilight, Celestia said. "Twilight, you did very well tonight." I will make sure our ... guest makes a full recovery, when he does, I will be sure to inform you. Go back to Ponyville, I am certain that the recovery will take quite some time."

"Yes Princess." Twilight said, so drained of power she found herself not even able to ask about the creature. She turned to the door and left, intent on sleeping in her old room at the Canterlot Palace before leaving for Ponyville the next morning.