Thirty Minute Pony Stories

Again and again Logos’ hind legs impacted the stone door. Inch by inch she felt it push inward. Every kick got her closer to her goal.

“Are you sure this is the only way in?” Willow Wisp asked. He flinched every time he heard the boom of hooves on stone, and every time the light on the end of his horn flickered.

“Perhaps you’d like to blast through the door with magic?” Starshade asked. She scratched her hooves on the stone floor. “This way the door is more likely to be preserved. It’s an important artifact.”

“Still seems wrong…” Willow muttered.

Logos stepped away from the door and leapt at it, using her wings to provide extra thrust before knocking into ito one last time. The door creaked as it tipped over, then fell into the next chamber with a boom that shook the entire complex.

As the three stepped over it Willow Wisp looked down at the door. There were six ponies carved on the surface. Two unicorns, two pegasi, and two earth ponies. He knew who they were. Everypony knew who they were.

“We’re here,” Logos said. She fluttered over to the center of the chamber. There was a pedestal there with a book sitting on it. “This is it.”

The book had six crystals of different colors inset on the cover. They were connected with innumerable intricate lines of gold. Logos recognized it as a magical circuit, but it was more complex than any she had seen before. She couldn’t devise its function by appearance alone.

“This place has a strange feeling to it,” Starshade said. She closed her eyes. “It’s a feeling of… history. Of all the lines of past and future intersecting here. This place… it’s the ruins of a failed dream.”

“Well that’s certainly meaningful,” Logos rolled her eyes. She knew there was a reason Starshade was there. Even as an earth pony she could see things and know things that Logos and Willow couldn’t. But she didn’t have to like it.

“Hey, maybe you’d like to tell us something useful then,” Willow said.

Logos looked back at the book. “This is it. This is why we’re here.”

“That’s the weapon?” Willow asked. Logos nodded.

Willow and Starshade approached the pedestal and for a moment all three examined the book in silence.

“I’ve never seen a magical artifact this complex,” Willow spoke in an awed, hushed tone.

“I should think not,” Starshade agreed. She shivered on her hooves. “The inscription,” she said, pointing to the pedestal. “I believe you should read it.”

Logos hadn’t noticed the inscription. A set of runes circled the pedestal around the book. She found the starting point and squinted. “These letters are old. These were old even when this place was built.”

“But… they don’t make any sense,” she said.

“No.” Starshade shook her head. “Read them. Aloud.”

Logos looked over at Willow who nodded at her. She sighed. “Fine, if you say so.”

She cleared her throat and read the words. “Through the darkness of future’s past, the magician longs to see. One chants out between two worlds… Fire… walk with me.”

As she finished the words the room was filled with light. Every line on the wall, floor, and ceiling gave off a purple glow. And in the center of the room, just above the book, a ball of light grew and took the shape of a pony. She was a purple unicorn with straight hair.

The apparition sighed and shook her head. “It took you ponies long enough to get here.”

The three exchanged looks. “Who… who are you?” Logos asked.

“Twilight Sparkle,” Starshade answered.

Willow’s mouth hung open in shock. “S-seriously?”

Logos scoffed. “Don’t be ridicu-“

“Correct,” the light spoke. “Or, I think I’m Twilight Sparkle. More likely I’m a spell cast on this book by the real Twilight before she died.”

The book opened and Logos leaned in to read.

“But… this isn’t… what is this?!” She shouted and glared up at Twilight’s image.

Twilight smirked and held a hoof to her mouth. “Oh. Were you expecting something different? I’m very sorry.”

“This is no weapon!” Logos stomped on the floor and grit her teeth. “It’s just… just a bunch of advice about friendship!”

Willow snorted. “So why’re we here then? What’s so special about this book?”

“It is a weapon,” Starshade said. “There’s a power in this book.”

“Perhaps you can tell me a little about that power,” Logos rolled her eyes.

“The six jewels on the cover,” Starshade replied. “Those are the key.”

“And just what are a bunch of jewels going to do?!” Logos shouted. “We’re fighting a war, if you’ve forgotten!”

“This isn’t a weapon of war. It’s a tool of peace.” Twilight chuckled, waving a hoof. “I can’t imagine how you made that mistake.”

“You!” Logos yelled. “You tricked us!”

Twilight’s face suddenly twisted into a grimace. “You let yourself be tricked!”

The image of Twilight grew further until it towered above them. Her eyes began to glow as she glared down at the three.

“Your world has forgotten these lessons. I can see everything I need to know in your poorly-shielded information networks. You pay lip-service to the words Harmony and Friendship and Love but you have no idea what they mean. You don’t understand what it takes to live those words.”

The door they’d kicked down to enter the room suddenly lifted and slotted back into place. It glowed just the same as the rest of the room and there was no visible seam separating it from the wall.

“So you’re going to learn. Then we can talk about those jewels.”

The book turned to page one. Twilight’s shrunk back down to her normal size and she stared at Logos.

“Start reading.”

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Prompter’s Comments

An original take. So many unanswered questions that make me beg for more! Spell!Twilight Sparkle is well done, and has a point. These three ponies seem aggressive and augmentative. they don’t get along at all. And her words seem to indicate the rest of Equestria is also like that now. The whole submission feels like a very well done beginning to an adventurous tale. Great job!