PART 2
 
 
Weeks passed by, and things gradually turned more tense as usual.
 
One night, Twilight gave herself a little break to go to the castle’s gardens and breathe in fresh air. After being locked up on her study room for various weeks, her brain was utter chaos, just like her kingdom.
 
The night’s breeze helped her calm down while she thought of new ideas and methods to maintain the equine population safe and under control for their safety.
 
As the day went by, she experienced a strange sensation of peace that helped her recover her hopes and good mood. Even though her kingdom was not fully stable, nothing was lost.
 
In spite of her good mood, there were no new ideas to remedy the conflicts between the kingdoms; everything had been tested and the only thing she obtained were losses.
 
Suddenly, she felt a presence that came from the shadows near the trees. A bit fearful, she began to approach while her horn emitted a bright light dissipating the darkness, but this was not effective. The shadows on that place were so dense that they practically snuffed away the light… Something that could only be caused by an entity.
 
“Who are you? Show yourself or I will destroy you!” She demanded firmly. A small chuckle oscillated between derision and unpleasantness from that darkness, while said darkness began to densify and take shape into a very well-known semblance for the lavender mare.
 
“Since when are you so tough?” She said as she goddess of the night emerged from the shadows.
 
“Luna?” Twilight asked in surprise, feeling anger begin to take hold of her mind. “What are you doing here?”
 
Luna only looked at her for a few more instants without saying anything while she grabbed a small, leather saddlebag which she extended to the young empress. “Nothing. I just wanted to visit an old friend and give her a souvenir from my last trip while I was at it.”
 
Twilight begrudgingly accepted the gift from the deity while she observed that said deity was crawling back to the darkness once again. “Why do you do this… Are you perhaps making fun of me? ANSWER ME! …Why did you leave…?” She finished asking in a weak voice. Luna only smiled slightly while she disappeared completely, answering none of her demands.
 
Twilight was very much used to short visits and long disappearances. Luna was not a very talkative or social pony.
 
With a bitter sigh, she went back to the inside of the palace; after various days without proper rest, her body was demanding it. Carrying her legs through the halls tiredly, she arrived at her bedroom shared with her beloved and got under the sheets carefully as to not wake Celestia up. Almost automatically, she fell into a deep sleep while she carried the saddlebags with her to bed unconsciously.
 
That night, she had very varied and vivid dreams. She could see on the majority of them five spirits that fought the forces of chaos together. They called themselves the elements of harmony and their power was almost immeasurable… And then Twilight woke up in the middle of the night with heavy pants. Those dreams were very confusing, she thought, before she noticed that she still had the saddlebags with her, opening one up to reveal some precious stones that looked very familiar… They were the same crystals that she saw those spirits use.
 
Perhaps it was the solution she so desired…
 
The dreams all made sense now; she felt renewed, just like her hopes. She hopped out of bed and left her room while Celestia murmured in her dreams.
 
Her hoofsteps led her to the room of her old master. She knew that Star Swirl hated being woken up on the early hours of the night, but this situation demanded it. She knocked on the door with her hoof repeatedly, and was greeted by the old mage with a very sour expression.
 
“Twilight Sparkle, I swear if this isn’t important, I will personally send you to tartarus…” He threatened her with contained vehemence. She smiles as she grabbed his leg and carried him away from his room to her library.
 
“Master, I promise that I am not wasting your time.” She said happily while she grabbed the crystal elements from the saddle bag and showed him. He raised an eyebrow.
 
“That’s why you’re waking me up…?”
 
“They aren’t what they seem. These are the Elements of Harmony, our last hope to stop this war.”
 
The old pony sighed. Her soul seemed so full of hope after so long, and he didn’t want to discourage her. “Very well, show me.” He said simply.
 
Twilight tilted her head sheepishly; she didn’t even know how to activate them. Improvising something, she placed them on the ground in a circle and began to apply her magic on them. Each one of the crystals began to emit a singular light that scattered across the library, while an aura of pure harmony surrounded Twilight.
 
Star Swirl looked on at the scene very carefully. His student was not lying to him… These crystals did indeed contain pure harmony. What they needed now was…
 
“That’s enough.” He ordered, and Twilight ceased to use her magic on them. Star Swirl took one of the crystals and inspected it carefully. “I am not sure, but I believe I may have heard about them a very long time ago… If this is what I think it is, they legitimately belong somewhere else and are very powerful… Where did you get these?”
 
“With all due respect, that isn’t important right now master. This could be our last chance to establish global order. After all… What matters is that they’re here.”
 
The old pony stroked his beard thoughtfully. These crystals had been stolen from somewhere, and his morals did not allow him to keep them… But on the other hoof, after all this time, it would finally be possible to stop the massacres on the pony population… And that was the greater good right now. “Very well, but we’ll only use them once to bring forth peace, and then you’ll return them from whatever place you took them from… And you’ll not get me involved any longer.”
 
translated by thetinean
 
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