“Wait, a book did what?” Dash scrutinized the words with a twist of her head, as if trying to let the impossible thought slide out of her ears. “Look, I know I’m not any kind of expert on books, and definitely not one on magic, but I’m pretty sure doing… that is impossible.”

“And I’m telling you it is.” Aisling retorted, letting her hands fall back to her hips. She placed them there with a dry look in her eye, half-lidded green orbs vivid against the white backdrop of her skin and hair. “I have seen the book, and I know what it can do.” The nymph’s pale thumb roughly stabbed at her own chest, the rest of her fingers curled into a fist. It was small-- frail by sight of any pony in the room. Yet despite its size, they could feel the strength behind it.

Applejack was sure it was a sign of conviction from the small Fae. The sheer belief in her own words and memories made her actions stronger. She could understand that position well. She always did feel at her best when she was speaking her mind and being true to herself.

Twilight reasoned that there were magical properties channeling through the creature’s pale arm, no different than the magic running through the unicorn’s own horn. Magic was capable of many things in many creatures, so it would be the farthest thing from unheard of to say that this member of the Fae possessed strength through her magical ties.

Zecora, unlike the rest of the ponies, knew why the white haired nymph was strong. She knew why her words were hard to argue, despite their simplicity, and why her slim body had the endurance of eons behind it.

It was because the nymph had the strength of the forest in her body, flowing in her veins and growing in her bones. She was as strong as the woods she defended, her power as grand as the forest was old.

And every pony knew that the Everfree forest was very, very old.

“Relax Rainbow, this isn’t exactly a topic we have any great amount of prior knowledge to discuss with,” Twilight lightly spoke to her friend, trotting close enough to the mare to let her hoof rest on the pegasus’s shoulder. Dash gave it a glance before conceding, turning her head away with a huff.

“Now, Aisling,” Twilight turned her attention to the Fae. “What kind of photomanipulative spells did Brendan have access to? Were they of the Lavoisteer-Copenhaygen interpretation variety? How much passive energy did they require?”

The nymph turned her head to the side, squinting one eye curiously while opening the other widely. Instead of similar looks of confusion, the rest of her friends only offered the eager unicorn looks of dried up patience.

“Uh, Twi?” Applejack spoke up, waiting until the lavender irises of her friend were looking into her own green orbs before going on. “Ah don’t know what you’re expectin’, but Ah’m willin’ ta wager the farm Aisling didn’t grab any of that. None of us did at least.”

“You didn’t?” Twilight asked with honest perplexion. Her gaze swiveled from mare to mare, seeing similar expressions of dry confusion. None of the ponies were attempting to sift through the unicorn’s words for a meaning they could understand. When her gaze landed on Aisling, head still twisted and eyes screwed, the Fae spoke to the unicorn.

“You are an odd one.” The nymph spoke simply once more. “I told you before, I only sang to the forest. Is it hard for you to understand what it means to sing?” Twilight was unable to think of what to say in response. Thankfully, or unfortunately, Dash was there to speak up instead.

“Hey,” the pegasus said sharply to the nymph again. “Try and be a little less insulting, huh? So Twilight said some words that got away from us. It isn’t the first time. You’re the guest here, so how about acting like one?”

Dash had never spoken more foolish words.

“No, you are wrong.” Dash opened her mouth to speak, but found herself unable to do so.

She was frozen beneath the gaze of Aisling.

None of the ponies saw her move, didn’t even hear her feet pounce from the floor. But in some unnoticeably small span of time, the agile Fae had moved herself gracefully in front of the pegasus. She hunched, staring at the winged equine with a glare that could freeze fire. The long pale white hair that flowed from her head curtained her view from the other ponies, simultaneously making her large green eyes the only thing Dash could see. The pegasus felt herself swallow on nothing.

“You,” Aisling spoke with a small poke of her finger. “Are in my forest. I let you in because my friend asked me to. I could make you leave whenever I want, so do not test me, Rain-Bow Dash.”

Aisling stared down the pegasus with every syllable of her name, the green orbs growing sharper with each word she spat. Rainbow felt herself shrinking at every sharp stab.

The rest of the mares that surrounded the two were left stunned, unsure of what to say or do. It would have been clear to a dumb, blind, and deaf pony that Rainbow had insulted the nymph, and it was not an action that was quickly being forgiven. So they all watched, silent and stunned, as Aisling loomed over Rainbow Dash, ominous in spite of her pale color.

“Now look, let’s all just simmer down a bit, alright?” The tentative voice of Applejack spoke, guiding the silence away carefully. “We’re just a bustle of new apples being dropped in a fresh bin. Ah’m sure none of us said anything ta hurt the other on purpose. Twilight and Rainbow aren’t like that, and if ya helped out mah sis, ya can’t be much like that either.”

“I’m not being mean.” Aisling spoke the words so simply, Applejack thought she misheard her. That was quickly corrected. “I’m reminding your friend that this is my forest! She can’t remove me.”

“Aisling, I beg of you to hear us out, this is a misunderstanding, there’s no need to shout.” The nymph cocked her head at the zebra, her innocent demeanor returning faster than the mare expected. She rolled her tongue inside her mouth, thinking of something to say. That was when Apple Bloom took it away.

“Hey Aisling,” the filly spoke with far less tact than the mares before her. “Ah think Rainbow Dash was just bein’ a bit hot-headed. Mah sis says that she’s like that all time.” Rainbow Dash managed a quick glare at the elder farm pony before Apple Bloom continued on. “Ah know she didn’t mean anything by what she said. “

“Yeah,” the pegasus droned out carefully, making sure her tone was the farthest thing from disrespectful. Rarity would have been pleased. “Look, I’m sorry. I am, really. It’s my bad. I-I didn’t think before I said that.”

“Wouldn’t be the first time.” Applejack muttered off to the side. It would have earned a challenge or at least a growl from the pegasus in most other circumstances, but most of those scenarios didn’t involve her staring into the haunting eyes of a legendary being.

Aisling looked at the pegasus for a moment longer, her lower lips puffing over her top ones in thought. Dash was familiar with the action, as it was one she had seen Twilight do far more than once before. Usually whilst looking over a good book. If the nymph was anything like the unicorn-- though she wasn’t so far-- then next would come a small smile of understanding.

It was because the two were so different that Dash was surprised when just that happened.

“Alright. I understand,” Aisling spoke easily, leaning away from the pegasus as she spoke. She swiveled on her feet, moving with an incredible degree of balance.

“Wait, that’s it?” Dash was honestly too stunned to think. Thus, her words were unfiltered once more. “No punishment or curse or… whatever?”

“You made a mistake. Simple enough,” Aisling spoke again with a shrug, spinning as she did so. Her long white mane spun around her as she did so. No matter how brief a sight, ignoring it’s beauty was simply not possible. It would be similar to attempting to feign ignorance towards the sun’s existence or the moon’s glow. It would forever be an act, because the truth was plain as light.

“Making mistakes means you are alive. It means you can learn. I wouldn’t be mad at a pup that follows the wrong mother or a fish that swings the wrong way. Correcting them is enough. They are just mistakes.”

“That’s…” Twilight spoke, her voice drifting off as the word came from her lips. “That’s… really philosophical.” The sincerity behind her voice was more than clear. “It has empirical evidence to support the claim and a logical flow of sense to make the view plausible. It sounds like something Princess Celestia would say.”

“Who is Celestia?” Rainbow watched, in amusement, as Twilight’s lavender coat became a shade darker. The reason why was obvious, the pegasus was only left asking if it was out of embarrassment or anger.

“Who… who is…” The unicorn dumbly repeated the words, failing each time to have her lips move. The next breath she took expanded her chest to a visible degree. “Princess Celestia is the ruler of almost all pony kind. She’s a benevolent and immortal ruler that has done nothing but grace us with her wisdom and magic for centuries!”  Her eyes were wide with disbelief, but the flashes of contempt were not impossible to miss.

“Well,” Aisling began simply, walking towards Twilight with large swings in her legs. She leaned back with each kick she made, looking absolutely carefree. “I have never met her, and I have never left my forest before. So I don’t know her and she does not know me. She may have her kingdom, but I have my forest.”

“And they are boundaries we all can see.” Zecora spoke up, dousing the conversation she feared would grow fiery, from the unicorn’s side before the nymph’s. “Neither of you know the other, of that we can agree.”

“If you want, I can tell you ‘bout her.” Apple Bloom spoke up the Fae, trotting behind her to reach the slim nymph again. “But after you show some more of yer forest. I really wanna see what else is out there.”

“Good, because there is much you haven’t seen.” The two shared a giggle, either a joke or a saying that no pony aside from the pair understood. Twilight, however, saw her chance to ask her question.

“Actually, I have a question,” Twilight spoke up, her voice rising as she did so. Aisling either didn’t notice or didn’t care. The unicorn wasn’t sure which one was worse. “Would you, um…?” She searched her mind desperately for something, anything that she could ask this creature Equestria had never seen before. The first thought that popped into her head, she took. “Why don’t you show us around you’re forest? As in all of us?”

The nymph blinked at the unicorn’s words, as if rolling them over in her head. Twilight was nervous, when the answer was not immediate from the Fae, as all her prior answers had been. But when a small smile began to slip over her lips, the unicorn felt the relief of the world flowing off of her.

“Alright,” Aisling agreed, nodding her head with crossed arms. “I can do that, and no one knows the forest better than me.” Her arms unfolded for one of her thumbs to point at her chest, a fanged grin across her lips.

“It’s true,” Apple Bloom chirped upwards, a toothy grin over her young features. “When she saved me, she showed me this awesome field in the forest! It had a bunch of colorful flowers, trees taller than mountains, a-and even rocks she made flowers sprout straight outta.”

“That was just one part of the forest,” Aisling turned to face the filly as she spoke, her fanged smile unchanged as she talked to the young pony. “The forest is big, though, and full of much you haven’t seen. And it’s always changing, so there is always something new to see.” The words only made the smile over Apple Bloom’s face blossom.

“Such is the wonder and joy of things that have life, the mysteries they have will always be rife.” Zecora agreed as she nodded her head, golden eyes grinning with her lips.

“Rife?” Dash whispered to Twilight, who leaned in before she answered the obvious question.

“It means to be abundant, or a lot of.” A small oh and nod of understanding came from the pegasus. Twilight, however, had more to say, just not to the pegasus. “Aisling, is it okay if I… ask to see a certain place?”

“Of course,” the nymph replied, spinning as she stood from in front of Apple Bloom. Her mane washed over the filly like a thick wind, quick and pleasant to the touch. The foal giggled at the sensation. “But what are you looking for? If you want the bitter grapes, we’ll have to walk some distance. They only grow on the tree tops.”

“No, no, it’s nothing like that.” Twilight’s hoof waved as she spoke, dismissing the idea from the nymph. “Actually, I was hoping you’d show me another place where your friend was before. Specifically… where the home of Crom Cruach was.”

The mares around the unicorn were sure that such a request would only invite bad memories and ill contempt from the Fae, Twilight herself included. Instead, the white haired creature simply twisted her head as her shoulders lazed.

“Why would you want to see that place?” Aisling asked with a curious tone, hostility or curiosity barren in her voice. She seemed merely confused, much to the relief of the unicorn. A part of Twilight believed that the Fae would take offense to the request. She was glad to see that part of her was wrong.

“Well, in case you haven’t guessed yet, I’m a researcher of sorts. I find most of my joy in life while trying to understand the actions that made certain events or things in the world possible. It allows me to better develop new methods of magic and societal rules to progress the future in a more positive direction.” The unicorn beamed as she was finished, proud of her technical, but thorough explanation.

It was a surprise to no one what Aisling said next.

“You are an odd one.”

The unicorn’s face fell before she responded.

“Please, stop calling me odd.”  

“But you are an odd thing.” Clearly, tact was as much a mystery to Aisling as she was to the ponies she conversed with. “You speak in tongues that no one understands and try to change what should not be changed. That makes you odd.” While Twilight was preparing an counterpoint in her mind towards the Fae’s rude remark, she could not let go of what the faery said. Change what should not be changed.

“What am I changing that… shouldn’t be changed?” Twilight spoke the words simply, doing her utmost to not say any advanced vocabulary. She didn’t want to be called odd again.

Before answering, Aisling rotated her hand in the air, a single finger extended as she spoke. The motion of a whirl was obvious. Its purpose was not, not until the nymph began to speak again.

“Living things.” Aisling spoke as simply as ever. “Trying to make things change for the better is alright, but only if they want to change. You can’t make a tree grow in the shadows, much less make wolf forage for berries. Living things are meant to live their own lives. Their ties are their own, made by their choices and kept by their hands. It isn’t your place to change them.”

“O-Oh, oh!” To the remaining ponies in the room, Twilight sounded a bit too peppy. “You just misunderstood me is all. That’s alright, it happens a lot.” The soft mutters from Rainbow Dash were wisely ignored. “But you don’t have to worry. I don’t force any pony to do anything if they don’t want to. What I try and do is understand things, then simply tell others what I have found out. Just having the information is handy for ponies, as it allows them to form… I-I mean, it helps them to make their own decisions with more confidence.” Aisling lifted a finger to her lips, cupping a digit around her pursed mouth. The elbow of her arm rested in her opposite hand.

“So, you help guide ponies?” She asked. “Like an abbot?” Now it was Twilight’s turn to twist her head. She was not the only one.

“Uh, what’s an abbot?” Dash asked the white haired Fae, her eyes screwed like her ears.

“An abbot’s a teacher. That’s what Brendan told me. His uncle was one.” Aisling turned on her heel, swinging one of her thin pale arms into the air as she did so. It landed on the hard bark of Zecora’s hut, her hand running smoothly over the harsh wood. “I never met him, but he guided a village that was in my forest. Built a great wall to defend his people, but it was torn down. Wasn’t at fault, but felt guilty. I felt it for many seasons and countless moons.”

“An abbot…” Twilight repeated, testing how the word sounded against her tongue. It flowed easily, carrying a surprising amount of weight in spite of its short pronunciation. She liked it. But there was something else pushing on her mind now. “If he had a village, who atta… no, wait, I can’t get ahead of myself.” The unicorn pushed a hoof to her head, as if attempting to stop the train in her mind.

“Look, Ah gotta say Ah’m a right bit curious ‘bout this Crom guy myself now.” Applejack spoke up once more, setting new records in timing and phrasing words. There would have been bonus points if she spoke without her familiar accent. “If it’s alright with you, Ah wouldn’t mind seein’ where the varmint sat down and pouted like a foal.” The bonus points would have been given anyway because then she wouldn’t have had to have her words translated.

“What AJ is trying to say,” Dash spoke up, give a slight rise of her brow to the farmer before doing so. “Is that this Crom guy sounded like a real bad dude. But if he’s gone, then it would it pretty awesome to see what’s left of his place. Besides, it is in your forest now, right?”

The fanged smile Aisling gave the pegasus was all the sign the mare needed to know she had finally spoken the right words.

“That’s right. I’m happy you finally remembered.” Dash bit her lips to keep a witty retort from flying from her mouth. “And I can show you-- it’s not far from here. I just need the forest’s permission.”

“Wait, you need to ask the forest to look through it?” Twilight’s ears folded with one of her eyes. Half her mind thinking of what that meant, the other half straining to hear the nymph’s answer.

“Sure,” Aisling spoke again, as if she were explaining the simplest of manners to the unicorn. “The dark one is gone now, but that still means it once was darkness. Like all things in the woods, the ruins have returned to it. But it’s still a place that it wants to be forgotten.”

“Wanting to forget about its past…” Twilight mused the answer. “That does makes sense, but it implies a level of sentience to the forest that supersedes basic instincts, moving into areas more concerned with appearances and moral guidance.” A long sigh left the unicorn.

“Forget it Twi,” Rainbow instructed, trotting over to the mare as she did so. “At least for now. It’s like you tell me with my training; I gotta focus on one thing at a time. Right now, we wanna see where this Crom guy used to hang out, so just focus on that.” The proud and familiar smile on the pegasus’s face managed to pull one from Twilight’s own.

“You’re right, Dash,” Twilight conceded. “I can’t lose focus right now, not with this rare opportunity. So, Aisling,” the unicorn spoke the nymph’s name, earning her attention away from the filly she conversed with. “How are you going to… ask the forest for permission?”

“I’m going to sing.” The words came from Aisling’s lips with an unmistakable lure of invitation. “It’s fun to sing, and the forest enjoys my singing, but I never could get Brendan to sing with me. He always told me that he was not a good singer, said I wouldn’t like his voice.”

The Fae’s head swayed left and right quickly, whipping her long hair as she did so. Then, in a quick flash of white, she leaned down next to Apple Bloom. True to her precocious colours, she cupped her hand by the filly’s ear.

“I think he was lying.”

The foal gasped at the words. When her eyes met with the nymph’s, Aisling nodded her head, confirming the words that she had spoken.

“Ya really think he lied to ya?” Apple Bloom questioned, disbelieving the action of a life she had never met, and had only heard of moments before. Regardless, Aisling nodded further. “Why do ya think he did that?”

“I don’t know,” Aisling replied, lightly shrugging as she did so, her palms raised into the air. “I don’t see why. I’ve never heard a creature be ashamed of their voice before.” That was when Apple Bloom saw a glint in the large green eyes of the nymph. “Do you want to sing with me?”

Apple Bloom smiled broadly at the invitation.

“Of course Ah do!” The filly cheered in returned, nearly bouncing on her hooves as she beamed at the taller creature. “Ah sing with mah friends all the time! Applejack always did say Ah have a great set of pipes.”

“She ain’t kiddin’ about that,” said pony agreed from behind the conversing pair, watching with amusement and patience as the two chatted and talked.

“What do you think’s going to happen?” The question came from Twilight lightly, whispered over a hushed breath towards the trio of mares next to her. The question only earned another question.

“What do you mean?” Rainbow asked in return, earning a quick sigh from the unicorn.

“Well, think about it. The last time Aisling sang, she summoned a cat given meta-physical form, literally conjured by the mist. It followed her words and song, simultaneously guiding us through the woods that we could hardly see in whilst obeying the commands of the Fae.” The broad smile over Twilight’s lips was as unmistakable as the long mane of white behind the creature they spoke of. “That’s why I’m curious as to what’s going to happen now.”

“Twilight my dear, there is nothing to fear.” Zecora rhythmically spoke the lavender unicorn, a smile hanging beneath her golden eyes. “Though I must say your thoughts are wrong. The woods guided you, not Aisling and her song.”

“I know, I know,” the unicorn repeated twice to the zebra. “But it was her singing that made the woods do it, right? She used magic on a wavelength and across a medium that I have never heard of before.”

“Once more you do not see what I say. The woods answered a call from Aisling the Fae.” Zecora already knew her repeated words were not enough. “What you must know, and clearly do not, is that against the forest, the nymph is just a dot. It is hers to rule, and hers to command, but the forest must think before offering its hands. Her magic, young unicorn, cannot be studied-- not without leaving your own mind muddied.”

Silence was kept at bay only by the small clambering and whispering between Apple Bloom and the target of their conversation. Oddly enough, it was Applejack who broke the silence, not the inquisitive unicorn or hot-headed pegasus.

“Are you sayin’ she’s castin magic so great that we can’t even imagine?” The question was asked with a small jab of her hoof towards the nymph, spoken over a hushed breath. Zecora smiled kindly at the farm pony before answering.

“I know only tales of old, Applejack; only words written before time kept track.” The zebra’s golden eyes swiveled to see the nymph, currently crouching to Apple Bloom’s level. One of her thin pale hands was cupped around the filly’s ear. She was whispering words none of them could hear, but made the youngest of them all giggle with every passing moment. “Though from what I have seen so far today, she is surely a member of the ancient Fae.”

Twilight opened her mouth, determined to ask more on the subject. But before she could speak, another voice rose up, earning her silence.

“We’re ready to go.” Aisling spoke, her hands at her hips. Apple Bloom giggled beside her, standing to her tallest with her chest puffed out. She looked to be imitating a member of the royal guard, but the smile was a dead giveaway for her lack of experience, size, age, and education aside. “I taught Apple Bloom the lyics. You can sing with us if you want. The forest loves the sound.”

She didn’t leave room for question, as the next moment, she jumped clear across the room. Landing full pony lengths away in front of the wooden door, she rose with an uncanny fluidity. Apple Bloom galloped to her side, determined to follow her.

BEGIN

“Are you ready?” The Fae spoke on an airy breath, chilling the air. Apple Bloom shivered as she nodded, though it was impossible to tell if it was from the cold or excitement. “Good.”

Taking a deep breath of air, Aisling began to sing.

The pitch was utterly different from what the mares had heard before-- higher in tone, more mature in pitch. And yet, it was completely believable that it was her singing all the while.

With an almost elegant push, the door to Zecora’s hut opened, revealing the still fog covered forest beyond it. The rush of air chilled the coats of the ponies in the room, but they did not back away. Aisling ceremoniously strode through the doorway, swinging her arms as if she were preparing for a march. Apple Bloom caught on fast, and she began to mimic the action herself. The Fae and the filly walked out of the hut and into the forest, heads swaying and forelimbs dancing with their words.

From inside, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Twilight Sparkle, and Zecora watched them, too eager to blink and too stunned to follow. The shock, however, subsided as the need to follow the pair began to outweigh the surprise of their movement and song.

The shock only came back when they saw the mist moving in tune with the song.

“You have got to be kidding,” Dash harshly whispered, her pink eyes wide enough to be mistaken for plates. Yet despite her demand for the show to be an act, no actors or props presented themselves.

Instead, the four mares watched as the mist rose and fell like the waves of an ocean, pulling past the trees as if being led by a string. Paths opened beneath the trees, unwalked and unmarred patches of dirt that appeared in front of the singing pair.

Aisling swung around trees and jumped over branches as her tune continued to flow, moving with all the grace of a spirit, but acting with all the maturity of a child. Apple Bloom, who did her absolute best to keep pace with the singing, followed beneath the agile Fae all the while. It was amazing to watch; the Fae in her element, moving without fear and dancing with her voice. It was beautiful beyond words to any of the mares.

The four ponies behind the pair followed with trepidation, walking the path the nymph did. All the while they were a little afraid that the mist would swallow them whole. It never did anything more than billow under the air they pushed with their breathing and movement.

The gnarled trees they passed, however, began to change. From above the mist, the twisted and aged bark began to smooth. The features of every passing tree became less ominous and more ethereal, more… ancient. It was as if the flora they began to pass, the vegetation remaining strong around the billowing mist, was changing from the weathered and worn trees affected by time into something more… magical.

Twilight could attest to the magical properties as well. Her magical output always changed with respect to her location in the world. If she were in the heart of Canterlot, changing the age of dragons was a plausible feat. But out in the distance, perhaps in the Appleloosa Desert, it was a challenge for her to teleport. Here, walking deeper into the woods as she followed a mythical being, Twilight felt like she could move the sun.

It was beyond just imagination that Dash felt the air becoming fresher, something she wouldn’t have noticed without her adaptive pegasus body. The deeper they followed the peaceful yet haunting tune of the Fae and her filly friend into the forest, the cleaner the air became. It no longer chilled her coat, but warmed it, like it was in the presence of the sun’s rays high in the sky. Simply put, she just felt more… alive amongst it.

Alive was just the word Applejack would have used to describe the new trees she felt. Feeling the life in roots and being able to sense the earth was a trait she was proud to have and proud to use. Around the farm, she felt like she was talking to the trees. In the Everfree forest, she always felt like she was pushing her way through a crowd. Right now, in this section of the forest she had never seen before, Applejack felt like she was being watched by the floral giants. She envisioned being judged silently as she continued to maneuver down the open path in the mist.

Zecora, however, felt something else. She didn’t feel the air changing, she felt the spirits changing. The life around her was changing, that much she was sure of. No longer was she expecting the barking of Timberwolves or the growls of celestial creatures. Instead, she expected what she thought the Everfree woods would never deliver. She expected to hear the patter of deer as they ran away, or pecking of woodpeckers as they burrowed into the dark brown giants that began to surround the party.

Simply put, the mares knew they were walking into a part of the Everfree none of them had ever been to. Only Aisling ahead of them had been to this now mysterious place, and Apple Bloom was the only guest who felt no fear as she followed the Fae.

It was with every hoof fall they began to individually question their choice in coming here, the concern growing greater the longer the song continued to dance through the air.

But it was only too fortunate when the music died and the Fae spoke again.

END

“We’re here.”

Aisling didn’t cheer or yell the words, only spoke them in a pleasant and content tone. Twilight had heard it before. Not from the nymph that was so new to her, but from another life from another place.

Her teacher, Celestia, had spoken very similar words in a strikingly similar way. It was when they went to visit a schoolyard, newly constructed and just opening. The diarch had shown it to Twilight, telling her how important it was to take care of the young because one day they would be old. In turn, she had added, they would raise their own young.

The alicorn had smiled almost the entire day, a genuine smile with peaceful origins. She had looked at the new schoolyard and foals with nothing less than a brilliant glow about her. It was not until later that Twilight dared to ask why that school was so special. None of the ponies were specifically pegasi, unicorns, or earth ponies. It was only a young guard school. It was just another school in another part of Canterlot; she didn’t understand what it was so important.

That was when Celestia, the immortal and eternal diarch of Equestria, explained why a school with nothing special on it had such a special meaning for her.

Several decades before, the school was not a school, but a prison. It housed ponies that had committed crimes against others, and were sent away to learn their lessons. Twilight hated hearing about such a place, thinking about ponies being forced to do nothing for years on end. But Celestia was quick to explain why the school meant so much to her now.

Because it was a place of peace and learning, replacing a building that was once meant to be cold and dark, it mattered to the goddess.

Celestia loved that school, because it turned something that was dark, and made it light. Looking over the ruins in front of her, Twilight knew Aisling thought the same thing about this place. Said Fae turned to the four mares, who were all marveling at the carved stones and growing moss, with a smile on her lips and the air of success about her pale body.

“This is the place, once dark and haunted. Now it is home to light.” Next Chapter: Mysteries Coated In Magic Estimated time remaining: 4 Hours, 21 Minutes