Author's Note:
Wait… wait! I just want to clarify that what you're about to read… 'obviously' forms part of the core idea behind why I wrote this fanfic. I know it may differ from the official canon, but that's intentional. This is going to heavily influence how I develop certain things later on.
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Chapter (Special) 26 | "They"
Willstone's and Alegría's hooves echoed softly against the polished cobblestones of the Royal encampment as they advanced under the watchful gaze of the guards. Canterlot Castle rose imposingly before them, its golden towers reflecting the afternoon light. Though the sun shone brightly outside, within the grounds the air felt heavy, charged with an invisible tension.
"This way, Mr. Willstone, Mrs. Alegría," said a guard with a brief bow, guiding them toward a side entrance. The two exchanged a silent glance before following him.
The camp, usually bustling with soldiers and recruits, showed unusual activity today. Groups of uniformed ponies moved hurriedly, exchanging documents and messages, some casting curious glances at the couple. It wasn't every day that civilians ventured so deep into the fortress—much less escorted by a royal guard.
They were led to a reinforced oak door, guarded by two sentinels in impeccable armor. One of them knocked twice before opening it, allowing the newcomers inside.
The special chamber was spacious yet austere. A large crystal table occupied the center, surrounded by seats filled with ponies of various ages and appearances. Celestia stood at the far end, majestic even without her crown, observing everything with serene yet firm composure. Around her, a dozen—perhaps fourteen—ponies exchanged papers, whispered strategies, and discussed quietly. Most wore the insignias of the WARDS agency; a few others bore the emblems of SMILE.
At their entrance, the murmurs subsided, leaving an uncomfortable silence. All eyes turned to Willstone and Alegría.
"Welcome," Celestia said softly, yet with an authority that filled the room. "Please, take a seat. We must begin."
As they settled in, Willstone noticed the tense expressions among the SMILE agents. Their furrowed brows and critical glances toward the WARDS members did not go unnoticed. There was distrust—perhaps even resentment. Information, it seemed, wasn't flowing freely between the agencies, and that had only heightened suspicions.
A unicorn from SMILE, his coat a pale gray, leaned toward his partner and muttered something under his breath. Celestia, however, caught it, silencing him with a subtle glance. Her role as mediator was clear: to maintain peace in a room where everyone seemed to hold their own version of the truth.
Outside, the royal guards could barely hide their curiosity. They didn't fully understand the purpose of this meeting, nor the secrecy surrounding these non-military ponies. They only knew something important was being decided within those walls—something not meant for common ears.
Willstone took a deep breath. He knew this meeting would change many things.
It wasn't the first time they had gathered under these walls, protected by ancient magic… but it was the first time the silence weighed heavier than the words.
The meeting room was wrapped in near-absolute isolation. Silence spells, anti-espionage wards, and the most advanced arcane protections layered invisibly, ensuring that nothing discussed here would escape without permission. Beyond those walls, the world remained unchanged; inside, the air was denser than ever.
A slight creak broke the tension as a WARDEN stood up. His dark gray coat and pristine uniform contrasted with the deep circles under his eyes. He picked up a scroll from the table, unrolled it, and spoke with a firm yet grave voice.
"With your permission. I've been tasked with presenting the preliminary report on the recent incident in the northern sector of the Frozen Mountains."
All eyes turned to him. Even the most irritated SMILE agents fell silent.
"The exploration team was dispatched to investigate an active Void Space exhibiting unusual fluctuations. During the field inspection… something happened."
He glanced briefly at Celestia before continuing.
"A manifestation… a translucent figure… emerged from the Void Space. According to witnesses, it wasn't light, nor shadow. It was an absence. Something… watching from another plane."
Murmurs rippled across the table, but the WARDEN halted them with a gesture.
"One of our companions was touched by this entity. There was no physical attack, but as it brushed his horn, it left an impossible mark. Since that moment, magic ceased to flow within him. His horn and part of his coat display an unknown substance that nullifies any attempt at magical channeling."
The WARDEN paused, taking a deep breath.
"The victim is currently isolated, in the rear medical chamber, under strict supervision. The healing mages have been unable to reverse the condition. The substance is neither corrosive nor causing visible physical harm, but it continues to annul his magic. Due to its stability and inert properties, it has been decided not to remove it for now—until we understand its nature."
A heavy silence filled the room. The SMILE agents exchanged alarmed glances. One of them, a unicorn with a golden mane, leaned forward, frowning.
"Why keep him like that? What if it spreads? Why not destroy it?"
Celestia raised a hoof, restoring order.
"Because the unknown does not always yield to force," she answered with solemn calm. "We must first understand what it is… and what it means."
The role of the two unexpected guests was soon explained: Willstone had been summoned for his expertise with Void Spaces, and Alegría for her specialization in medicine.
Willstone felt his chest tighten. He knew the research on Void Spaces well. But he had never imagined that something… someone… could extend its presence beyond the boundary.
And yet, here they were: facing tangible evidence. Facing a veiled warning.
"I need all records of previous manifestations," Willstone instructed as he traced new points of light. "Even the ones dismissed for lack of evidence. I want patterns, frequencies—any clue that might tell us if this is an expansion… or an organized invasion."
The WARDEN agents sprang into action, opening folders, activating enchanted scrolls, and reviewing files. One returned with several rolls and unrolled them beside Willstone.
"This is everything we've gathered over the last quarter," he said gravely.
Willstone nodded, and with a glow of his horn, he lifted the coordinates, overlaying them on his map. Lines began to form. Nodes. Crossings. Invisible routes.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the room, Alegría had been authorized to enter the rear chamber where the victim remained in isolation. The affected unicorn was breathing calmly, though his horn was still covered by that opaque substance that nullified all magic.
Alegría activated a set of diagnostic runes that floated around the horn and coat. She observed every reaction—every non-reaction. Beside her, two assistants took notes, adjusted magical matrices, prepared samples.
"It doesn't respond to magical purification… nor to alchemical dissolution," she murmured as a soft light ran along the substance without altering it. "It's not a toxin… not an infection… not corrosive. But it's still here, stable, as if it doesn't need anything else to persist."
A nurse glanced at her, worried.
"Should we try extracting it physically?"
Alegría gently shook her head, staying focused.
"Not yet. If we try to tear it off without understanding it… we might break something deeper. Keep the barriers stable. For now, just observe its interaction."
Hours passed. In the main hall, Willstone was analyzing magical projections with the WARDEN agents, drawing new hypotheses with each piece of data. The lines on the map were no longer mere routes: they were branches, tendrils… invisible arteries connecting increasingly closer points.
In the medical chamber, Alegría and her team continued monitoring, measuring, recording. The substance didn't grow… but it didn't recede either. It remained, immutable. As if waiting.
Celestia watched from her seat, still, patient. She knew science and magic needed time. She knew answers didn't come at the edge of a sword… but after many hours of silence and effort.
Willstone paused, gazing at his map with growing gravity.
Alegría looked up, her runes still glowing around the afflicted unicorn.
Both, without saying it aloud, understood that the pieces of the puzzle were beginning to fit… but were not yet ready to be revealed.
Night fell over Canterlot.
Willstone made a final adjustment to his projection before turning toward the table. Alegría returned from the medical chamber, her face showing as much exhaustion as determination. She carried a set of documents, distributing them among those present.
Celestia watched her attentively.
"We're ready to hear you," she said.
Alegría activated a small projection of the substance in the air.
"After the analysis conducted by my department," she began, her tone technical, "we've determined that part of the components in the substance are commonly found in the salivary glands of magical creatures."
A murmur ran through the room. Alegría continued:
"This supports the victim's account: he was attacked by a creature, and the substance was deposited, not spontaneously generated in his body."
She handed out the documents. Some agents began reading rapidly.
Then, from the far end of the table, the WARDEN specialist in magical creatures stood up. He held one of the reports, his brow furrowed as he scanned the lines.
"With your permission," he said, his voice deep. "If the substance comes from a salivary gland… then it's not poison. It's not an infection."
He raised his gaze, his dark eyes sweeping the room.
"It's a tool. A biological mechanism of that entity… but for what purpose?"
Silence fell. Willstone slowly lifted his head, an understanding beginning to flicker in his eyes.
"It neutralizes magic," he said, his voice low, heavy with certainty. "Because for Them, magic isn't just energy. It's matter. It's food. They consume it. They need it cleansed, extinguished… so they can ingest it."
He pointed to the map, connecting invisible lines.
"That's why our world attracts them."
The WARDEN spoke again, his voice more hurried now, as if he too had reached a connection.
"I think I know when we attracted them," he said. "These creatures… they didn't come on their own. They were drawn by the last magical phenomenon… when all harmonic magic was concentrated into the environment."
All eyes turned to him, expectant.
"The balance was disrupted," he continued. "That concentration… that burst… was like a beacon. And if these creatures are adapted to consuming magic… they couldn't ignore it. They were drawn here."
Willstone looked at him silently, his expression darkening.
"If they arrived… it means they saw the barrier," he added, his tone dropping. "And now… they're corroding it. Slowly. Looking for a crack. A weakness. They're not rushing. They're… preparing."
An invisible chill swept through the room.
Celestia gazed at both ponies, her expression grave, her golden eyes deep.
"Then we're not just facing their presence…" she said, her voice as soft as a blade's edge.
"…we're facing their patience."
The silence following Willstone's and the WARDEN's words was so dense it felt tangible. No one dared to speak… until, finally, a SMILE agent gently tapped the table with his hoof, breaking the stillness.
"We need to capture one of these creatures," he said, his tone laced with urgency. "Or at least keep the substance alive. If we destroy all evidence now, we'll lose the only chance to understand what we're facing."
Some SMILE agents nodded, murmuring among themselves. Their stance was clear: information was the only real defense.
Across the table, one of the WARDEN agents stood, his expression cold, hardened by years of dealing with the unknown.
"Capture it…" he repeated with disdain. "After what we've seen? That's playing with fire. We don't need to understand it. We need to shut it down. Erase every trace. If we let that substance remain… if we let anything cross… it's only a matter of time before they open another Void Space."
The tension rose like a rope pulled taut.
"How can we defend ourselves against something we don't understand?" insisted the SMILE agent, raising his voice. "If we just seal the cracks without knowing what's causing them, we're just buying time… not preventing the next one."
The WARDEN slammed the table with force.
"Understanding it won't stop it from crossing. Only sealing it will."
The voices began to rise. More agents joined in, their stances clashing like waves against rocks. Some demanded experimentation, others immediate exorcism. Words overlapped, and the room seemed on the verge of breaking under the pressure of two opposing visions.
Until Celestia raised her wing.
A deep silence fell instantly, magical and absolute.
"This is no time for division," she said, her voice soft yet firm, like the echo of a bell no one could ignore. "Each will fulfill their role."
Her gaze swept across the table, pausing briefly on the SMILE representatives.
"SMILE will have a limited window to study the substance," she decreed. Then, her attention turned to the WARDEN agents. "If nothing useful is found…"
Her golden eyes gleamed with a gravity none dared question.
"…we will proceed with total purification."
No one spoke. No one objected.
The decision had been made.
Willstone lowered his gaze to his map, where the lines still burned like glowing roots. Alegría took a deep breath, her thoughts already projecting toward the next steps.
As the voices faded and the final orders were recorded, the atmosphere in the room began to relax… just a little. Scrolls were rolled up, maps deactivated, runes slowly extinguished. Some agents were already rising from their seats, ready to leave, when the door opened again.
A messenger, cloaked in the gray garb of the court, entered silently. He held a small sealed cylinder, a single rune glowing softly on the wax.
He approached Celestia directly, bowing deeply as he handed her the message. The princess took it without a word.
The rune flickered under the touch of her magic, revealing the text only to her eyes. Celestia read it silently, line by line. Her already solemn expression became even more contemplative.
It was a formal recruitment request.
A promising colt. With dense, stable magic. Recently identified in a nearby farming region.
But not only that.
The document emphasized something else: his potential for pure combat. The preliminary evaluation spoke of innate magical strength, resilience, and a natural affinity for direct physical magic—a rare trait in ponies his age.
At the end of the scroll, a clear petition: an official letter of acceptance. Only with it could the special recruitment protocol be activated and his formal training begin.
No names were written, only a veiled reference: a great apple.
Celestia slowly closed the scroll, making the rune vanish. She tucked it beneath her wing, as one safeguarding a key piece in an invisible chess game.
She turned toward the window. From there, the lights of Canterlot stretched like stars over the dark land. Beyond, in the distance, the fields of Ponyville slept under the night.
Her gaze drifted toward the horizon, and for a brief moment, her expression was a subtle mix of resignation… and hope.
The decision she faced was not a light one.
And as the last agents departed from the room and the runes faded one by one, Celestia remained standing, watching the fields… knowing that every piece, every colt, every decision… was a move in something far greater.
The meeting had ended.
But the game had only just begun.
Wizbell's parents returned home in silence, the tension still weighing on their shoulders like an invisible cloak. Neither spoke along the way; words seemed useless after what they had heard in the meeting. They walked wrapped in the night, accompanied only by the faint light of their home in the distance.
But as they neared the door, a sound broke the silence.
Laughter.
First one. Then another. And a third, softer, more melodic.
A flash of colored light escaped through the windows, casting golden, pink, and lilac patches on the outer walls.
When they opened the door, a wave of warmth and color enveloped them.
Inside, Wizbell and Twilight were running around the room, shooting beams of color that bounced between floating mirrors and small prisms suspended in the air. Each tried to color themselves with their chosen hue, dodging the attacks with laughter and clever maneuvers.
Twilight, already marked with shades of purple and blue, fired a bright beam that unexpectedly ricocheted off a mirror. Wizbell, his coat splattered with yellow and pink, rolled across the floor, barely dodging the shot, his horn glowing gold as he prepared his next move.
Hidden behind the dining table, Cadance watched the scene with a conspiratorial smile. Every so often, she would shoot small beams from her hiding spot, subtly altering the spells' trajectories without the foals noticing, secretly adding her own playful twist to the fun.
Wizbell's parents stood at the threshold, motionless.
For a moment, they simply watched.
The house, illuminated by those laughs and dancing lights, seemed like a world apart. A warm, radiant refuge, untouched by the cracks creeping beyond those walls.
Alegría was the first to move. Her smile widened, and without warning, she dove into the game, rolling to grab one of the floating mirrors and skillfully redirecting a pink beam toward Twilight.
"I'm with my little one!" she shouted gleefully, shielding Wizbell behind her as if she were his personal protector.
Twilight let out a surprised cry, half amusement, half mock indignation.
"That's not fair! He's got reinforcements!"
Wizbell burst into laughter, his horn already lit for another spell.
"Mom's the best!"
Willstone shook his head, amused, as he stepped toward the table.
"So you've formed alliances?" he commented with a half-smile. "I suppose I'll have to balance things out."
With a subtle flick of magic, he levitated two more mirrors, positioning them strategically to shield Twilight. The filly quickly ducked behind the improvised cover.
"Thanks, Mr. Willstone! Now we're even!"
Alegría laughed heartily.
"Traitor! You've switched sides!"
Willstone merely smiled, as one of the mirrors deflected a green beam that zipped past.
"It's not betrayal… it's strategy. He needs to learn to win—even when everything's against him."