Chapter Three

Twilight trotted towards the town hall. Everypony was out milling about the town or tending to their daily chores. They seemed entirely unaware of the princess’s presence.

Lyra sat on a bench near the entrance of the market, calmly playing her instrument as several eager onlookers surrounded her.

This isn’t right, Twilight thought. Why hasn’t everypony noticed Celestia? Why wouldn’t she want other ponies to know about this? Something is definitely wrong...

Upon making a left turn, Twilight saw the towering town hall building come into view. Slowing her pace, she took in the scene in front of the structure. The tall building was completely bare; no ponies trotted around it like they usually did, making it look deserted.

As Twilight cautiously approached the entrance, the door swung open. Twilight to jumped back in fear.

“Twilight, you’re here. Come in quickly.” a quiet voice said.

Twilight removed a hoof from her face and saw a tan earth pony standing in the entrance, beckoning her inside. Her grey mane was in tangles and her glasses were askew.

“Mayor,” Twilight asked, “Is something wrong? Why is it so...?”

“...Empty?” the earth pony finished. “Celestia doesn’t want anypony to know about this in case you still want to... you know... actually go through with this.”

“Why wouldn’t Celestia want anypony to know about what’s going to happen?” Twilight asked, tilting her head and putting on a confused expression.

“It would be best if Celestia explained.”

The mayor held open the door for Twilight as she trotted inside, oblivious to the magical aura that seemed to encompass the building. As soon as she was inside, the door slammed shut behind her. The noise made Twilight jump, quickly turning around to see a sheepish looking Mayor.

“Uh... sorry about that,” the earth pony apologized, forcing a smile.

Twilight shook her head. Looking straight ahead, the unicorn saw Celestia. The alicorn appeared to be in a deep sleep.

“Princess?”

Celestia opened her eyes and turned her head towards Twilight.

“Welcome, my faithful student. You may have noticed that it’s empty nearby, do you find it odd?”

Twilight pondered the question. “Well, it is strange. Normally, when you arrive here, there are droves of ponies that come to meet you... is something wrong?”

Celestia chuckled. “Nothing is wrong, Twilight Sparkle. I just told the mayor to make the area near the town hall off-limits for the next few hours, in case you did arrive. I assume, since you are here, that you want to go through with this.”

Twilight nodded.

Celestia sighed, a pained look on her face as she spoke.

“Do you know what forbidden magic is?” the alicorn asked.

Twilight raised her hoof up to her muzzle. “Forbidden magic is magic that you’ve locked away and refused to let anypony use. It’s usually dangerous magic that is extremely harmful or that has severe side effects that can cause innocent ponies to be affected.”

“Very good, Twilight. The spell I’m going to use is considered forbidden magic. It was created by Star Swirl the Bearded near the time of his death. Nopony knows all of the effects of the spell, but we’ve discovered a few of them. The spell works by tapping into your memory and turning it into reality. If you have noticed, there has been a magical aura that has surrounded this building. I have been saying the incantation towards starting the spell.”

Twilight looked around the room, as she finally noticed the multi-colored spectra that seemed to sporadically jolt through the air. Pure unfiltered magic crept out of the walls, weaving through other strands and intertwining with others.

Celestia continued. “This will fully begin once my horn touches yours. It will start a process that extracts the memories of your friends into my own mind. It will be tough to withstand, it will give off an immeasurable force. Memory transfer is a very difficult spell that is theorized to this day, an extremely select few know of the spell and how to do it. How you perceive your friends is how they will be brought back. They will be your friends the way you remember them. Are you okay with this?”

Twilight was staring, dumbfounded, at Celestia. “How do you know of the spell?”

Celestia turned away from her student. “One does not live for a long time without knowing things that one’s not supposed to. Star Swirl was a good friend of mine. He told me spells that he had made himself, and I was the one to determine whether they were safe.”

Twilight looked down at the wooden boards beneath her hooves. “If he made it, it can’t be that dangerous. Right, princess?”

“My student, just because a spell was made by somepony like him, doesn’t mean it’s safe. Star Swirl often made forbidden magic. It is true he was wise beyond his years, but he didn’t use his knowledge properly all of the time.”

“Alright, Princess. This offer’s been nagging at the back of my mind, and haunting my dreams. I need to know now: just what are the risks involved in this?” Twilight asked, wanting the matter settled finally.

Celestia sighed. “Not all of the risks are known. You see, Twilight, memories are not meant to hold a physical form.”

Twilight grimaced at the thought.

“Memories are beyond any pony. They reside in the mind. They are not meant to be brought out. This spell is dangerous because the time that your friends can hold a physical form is limited. Judging by how closely you hold the memory of your friends, I can only guess that you will have between twenty to thirty hours. After that, they will cease to exist here in this world. Knowing this, are you still sure that you wish to continue?”

Twilight maintained a stoic expression. “One final day with my friends... Are you sure they’ll remember me?”

Celestia seemed taken back by the question. “Twilight... they are your memories. They will remember you. Why do you think they wouldn’t?”

“Well... I had this dream last night. You brought all of my friends back, and they all acted so normally... but when I tried to hug them, they didn’t remember me. They thought I was lying about our friendship and they ran me out of Ponyville. I don’t want the same thing to happen with this,” Twilight stated.

“My student... I assure you, nothing like that will ever happen.” Celestia responded, her motherly voice swaying Twilight to calm down. “Now, please answer me: Are you okay with going through on this?”

“I am, princess. Even one day with my friends will be better than no more days at all. I understand the risks, and I will happily accept them if it means I can see my friends again,” Twilight answered coolly.  

“Alright then...” Celestia trailed, as she walked over to Twilight. “This first part may feel a little bit funny... I’m going to tap into your memories. This will allow me to materialize them into a physical form.”

Twilight nodded.

Celestia lowered her head, touching her horn gently against Twilight’s. A multi-colored aura covered both of the horns, as the magic slowly began to force it’s way into Twilight’s mind.

Twilight struggled to remain standing. The force of the magical exertion pushed against the unicorn in an attempt to knock her away. Twilight fought against the energy given off by the spell, pushing her horn against Celestia’s. The alicorn’s eyes started to glow bright white as the memories entered her mind.

With a sudden head turn, Celestia faced the center of the room. “Stand back, Twilight!” the princess commanded.

Twilight trudged towards the wall of the building. Her breathing was labored as she slowly moved forward, sweat gracing her brow as she struggled not to lose her mind in the energy of the spell, When she reached her goal, she braced herself tightly against the wall, ready to hold on for dear life against some power that Celestia had yet to reveal.

Celestia unleashed a giant white ball of raw magic that slowly drifted towards the middle of the building. As soon as it neared the center, the ball exploded into a fury of blinding light.

Twilight was forced to close her eyes as the light drilled into her pupils. She covered her face with her hooves, in an attempt to fight back against the impeding light source. Just as the light began to break through the barrier she had provided, the light dissipated. Twilight opened her eyes and lowered her hooves to see the room in the same light as before; nearly fully darkened, save for the few beams of light that shown through the windows. In front of her was a small cloud of smoke, the outline of five ponies being slightly obscured. The sound of multiple bones snapping into place echoed around the room, followed by the sound of multiple groans.

One of the shadows flew out of the smoke cover, and landed gracefully in front of Twilight. Her rainbow colored mane glinting in the beam of light that entered the building. A smile spread across her face as she looked at the stunned unicorn in front of her, who’s mouth was threatening to drop to the wooden flooring beneath her. A chuckle escaped her lips.

“Hey, Twilight! How’s it going?”

                                           End Chapter Three

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