The best elements within us
can spread light and virtue,
and I know ponies who represent them all.
Strength, bravery,
healing, beauty,
hope, and sorcery.
Myself and these Pillars of Equestria
were gathered together by another
to maintain and share the light of these powerful ideals.
But we soon came to believe the pony who brought us together
only wanted that power for himself.
Cast out and alone,
this power-mad pony turned to darkness
to satisfy his thirst.
Transformed into a Pony of Shadows,
he returned for revenge,
to extinguish the Pillars' light
and rob the world of hope.
To stop him,
the Pillars and I must make a grave sacrifice.
But we shall leave behind a seed
in hopes that one day
it will grow into a force
to stand against the darkness for all time.
We must now face the fiend
with the only plan we have
I only hope it will be enough."
That's the last entry.
And maybe Star Swirl's final words before he vanished.
I've always wondered what happened to Star Swirl.
This is quite a discovery, Sunburst.
So it's genuine?
You can verify that this journal
really belonged to Star Swirl the Bearded?!
Indeed. From the looks of it,
the last thing he wrote before facing the Pony of Shadows.
Uh... So...
The Pony of Shadows was really real?
It appears so.
We never met the other Pillars,
and we were too young to understand the danger they faced.
Hold on a second now.
All those legendary ponies were real, too?
And they went off with Star Swirl to face the Pony of Shadows,
and then none of them were ever heard from again?
Uh, yeah.
Weren't you listening?
But what happened to them all?
They must have defeated the villain,
since Equestria is still full of light and hope.
But how?
And where did they go?
My Olde Ponish is a bit rusty,
but I wonder if the answers can be found
somewhere within the pages of this book.
Well, I just happened to be an expert in Olde Ponish.
I mean, I've practically memorized
every ancient text about Star Swirl there is!
Seriously. All of them.
We have fond memories of our old teacher.
If you could discover what happened to him,
we would be most grateful.
Solving a thousands-year-old mystery could take forever!
Think of the research!
The re-reading!
The re-re-reading!
You might find you need help.
Luckily, she's got a whole bushel o' helpers right here.
Totally!
Uh... how long will all this research take, exactly?
Let's get this back to my library.
I'm sure we'll figure out what happened in no time.
Figure it out yet, Twilight?
What did you figure out?
You figured something out?
What is it?
Nothing.
I mean, Star Swirl was a genius, obviously.
But forget Olde Ponish.
There's parts where his hornwriting
is like another language!
Twilight, we've been studyin'
and referencin' and cross-referencin'
for three days straight now.
I haven't spent this much time reading
since the last Daring Do book came out.
Perhaps it is time to take a break.
This mystery is over a thousand years old, after all.
Another day or two won't make a difference.
Two days?!
I don't want to waste two seconds!
I'm close to an answer. I can feel it.
"Hearg sylfum se Ponehenge."
What's that?
The Temple of Ponehenge?!
You can read that?!
The hornwriting's pretty sloppy,
but it's nowhere near as bad as mine.
"Toward dol grimlic of Fola Firgenbeorg"?
At the base of Foal Mountain...
"User endemest scield."
Our last stand.
Well, that sure sounds like a clue to me.
This is it.
Ponehenge.
I can't believe it.
I've never seen magical runes like these before!
Have you?
I don't think anypony's seen
any of this for a long time.
It'd take a whole team of ponies
to clear away all this brush.
Even then,
I'm not sure we'd find out what happened here
over a thousand years ago.
You're right.
I suppose it was a long shot.
Cheer up, Twilight.
Finding a whole set of ancient ruins is pretty impressive.
Maybe you could write a paper on it.
I guess I hoped we'd get here
and the mystery would just magically be explained.
Uh... Twilight?
Star Swirl!?
I... I've wanted to meet you my whole life!
I can't believe you're here!
I don't think he is here.
I don't think any of them are.
You summon me at your peril, Star Swirl!
Once I defeat all of you,
this realm will embrace the darkness
as I did so long ago!
Drawing me here will only make me stronger.
You will never defeat me!
We did not come here to defeat you.
What are you doing?!
We came...
to contain you.
Well, you did ask for a magical explanation.
What just happened?
It looked like Star Swirl cast a spell
that banished the Pony of Shadows.
Of course!
Powerful magic like that
would leave an impression on this place.
Bringing the book back here
let us see what happened.
Which was what?
Star Swirl and the rest of the Pillars
sacrificed themselves to save Equestria.
It's amazing to think
one of the greatest mysteries of Equestria was solved
with a musty old book from an antique shop.
But I wouldn't say the mystery's solved.
Star Swirl's spell was one
of the most powerful feats of magic in all of history.
It'll take years of study before we fully understand it.
I think I understand Star Swirl's spell!
I know I've finished one of Star Swirl's spells before,
but this one was on a whole different level!
Was it an explosion of magical feedback?
An evocation? A kind of incantation?
It's Star Swirl, so the possibilities are endless!
And once Starlight set me on the right track
with his crazy hornwriting –
I mean, he was a genius,
so I guess we can forgive a little messiness –
I went through the journal again,
and it's amazing!
Twilight, darling.
We understand you're excited,
but that's all we understand.
What exactly is so amazing?
Only how Star Swirl and the other Pillars
sent the Pony of Shadows to limbo!
They did what now?
They used their magic to open a portal between worlds –
to limbo –
and pulled the Pony of Shadows inside.
Darling, your diorama!
I made more!
Star Swirl thought the only way
to trap the Pony of Shadows in limbo
was for the Pillars to take him there.
So they got stuck, too!
The Pony of Shadows must have been
really awful for them to do that.
I suppose being trapped for all time
with a super-duper bad guy in limbo
might be okay if you were doing the limbo,
but that's still pushing it.
The thing is,
I think I can get them out.
Twilight, are you serious?
You can save the most legendary ponies of all time?
I-I don't know.
Opening portals between worlds
didn't work out well for me.
Are you sure it's safe?
First of all,
you opened portals through time.
And second of all,
Star Swirl wrote the spell you used to do it.
If he'd been here,
he could have stopped it.
Equestria would be safer with him in it.
We have to save him.
But you'd be savin' all the Pillars, right?
A-And they disappeared ages ago.
That's the thing about limbo.
It isn't one place or another.
It's in between,
so time stands still.
If we can pull them out,
it'll be like they never left.
I actually built another model to demonstrate—
What can we do to help?
If I'm right, we need to find items
that are connected to the Pillars in some way.
You mean, like, stuff that belonged to them?
How would we know what to look for?
Or where?
Luckily, Star Swirl took a lot of notes.
"My compatriots are as varied as the realm itself
and hail from every corner of our land,
bringing with them artifacts
and talismans of great power."
Um, Twilight?
What are you doing?
I'm not doing anything!
Rockhoof's shovel!
Flash Magnus' shield!
Mistmane's flower!
Meadowbrook's mask!
And the blindfold Somnambula wore
when she faced that nasty sphinx!
I guess we don't need to figure out who should get what.
Professor!
It's a Mighty Helm headpiece!
Maybe it belonged to Rockhoof himself!
Legends don't wear helmets.
This belonged to a real pony.
Oh, I can guarantee
Rockhoof was as real as you and me.
And I suppose that ravine was dug with his trusty shovel
to save the village from an erupting volcano.
Probably.
I love old legends as much as anypony.
But a pony strong enough to save a village
from rushing lava with a shovel is...
preposterous.
I can't believe you just did that.
Y-You saved us!
I bet if you told somepony else the story,
it might sound...
preposterous.
I suppose some stories
might be true...
And Rockhoof's appears to be one of them.
You keep those hooves to yourself, dearie!
This place has been in my family for generations,
and I'm not about to let some whippersnapper
take the last good piece of it!
Time was, ponies came from far and wide
to see these gardens.
But that flower's the only worthwhile thing left!
Perhaps it just seemed like your gardens were worthless.
But a little pruning can work wonders.
Of course you will have to look after more
than just one flower now.
You've given me back my family's legacy.
The flower you wanted seems like a fair trade for that.
I can't believe Flash Magnus' shield
ended up in the Dragon Lands.
Good thing you brought
the official Equestrian friendship ambassador to the dragons
to help you navigate our customs.
Like our favorite sport:
gorge surfing!
Okay.
That was awesome.
Dragon Lord Ember commanded us to make peace with ponies,
but it doesn't mean you can surf in our spot.
Whoa, fellas.
As the official Equestrian friendship ambassador to the dragons,
I have to say that's not very friendly.
Well, what do you know?
The puny pony-dragon's sticking up for his pony pal.
Hey! That's an ancient pony artifact!
Hooves off my gorge board!
I found it in the desert,
and finders keepers.
It isn't yours.
Huh. It sure looks like mine.
But I might consider
racing you for it.
No problem.
Um... No.
I mean
you.
On your marks...
Get set...
Surf!
I won?
I won!
Give up the shield, Garble!
Lord Ember only commanded us to be nice to ponies.
She never said anything
about pony-loving dragons.
Uh, since Dragon Lord Ember commanded you
to make peace with ponies,
you can't very well attack one of their friends,
can you?
I guess we'll find out!
Why is he always hiding behind ponies?
I wasn't hiding when I beat you down the ridge.
You fell.
Wow.
You must be slow
if all Spike had to do to win was fall down.
I'm faster than you.
- Doubt it. - Fine!
I'll race you back to the top.
If you win, you can have your pony junk.
But if I win, you'll leave
and I get to give it to him!
Fine.
I'm pretty sure I could beat you anyway.
But with that heavy hunk of metal on your back,
it'll be a snap.
Oh, yeah.
Thanks for the tip.
See ya at the top, loser!
Hey! That's mine!
Finders keepers, remember?
See, because that's what you said to them
when they first showed up—
Just remember not to turn away from them, Cattail.
Flash bees can get pretty aggressive.
I guess that's why
none of the other bayou animals can get to the water.
Wouldn't it make more sense for you
to wear the mask that calms the bees?
It would...
if I didn't have to fly up here to move their hive.
There!
Now the other bayou creatures can get to the water
without the bees feeling threatened.
You know, you didn't have to help with this.
I would've lent you the mask anyway.
I know.
But I couldn't leave without helping.
I don't think anypony can find anything in there.
I wouldn't give up hope just yet.
This old blindfold was stuck in the drain.
Weren't you looking for a blindfold?
Oh, yeah!
I can't believe I'm gonna meet Star Swirl the Bearded!
You know, outside of my dreams.
I can't believe you're actually going through with it.
What do you mean?
I'm all for pushing the envelope, obviously,
but this is pretty out there for you, Twilight.
What's "out there" about saving
the most legendary ponies of all time
from a thousands-year-old prison?
Well...
Nothing when you say it like that.
Unless "the most legendary ponies of all time"
knew what they were doing,
and we shouldn't mess with it.
I'm sure Star Swirl and the Pillars
did the best they could back then,
but magic has come a long way.
Mostly because of the work they did.
That's true.
And you did get your wings
from finishing one of Star Swirl's spells.
Exactly.
But then I messed with one
and nearly destroyed the universe, so...
Starlight,
Star Swirl the Bearded is the greatest wizard
who ever lived.
The chance to have him back in Equestria
is worth the risk.
That's good news.
Otherwise, we'd have brought this shield for nothing.
I hope you don't think
you're the only one to find her artifact,
because this here shovel says otherwise.
Honestly, you two.
Not everything is a competition.
But Mistmane's flower is by far
the most attractive of the artifacts.
You're just saying that because
you didn't have to scuba dive in a pit of green slime
to get yours!
Or move a flash bee hive.
Good work, everyone.
Let's do this!
What...
What has happened?
It worked!
We brought you back!
To where?
You and the others have been trapped in limbo
for over a thousand years,
but I figured out how to get you ho—
What?!
No, no, no, no!
You must undo what you've done!
What? Why?
I mean, I don't think I can.
You cannot bring us back!
But I did.
I brought all the Pillars back.
You cannot bring only the Pillars back!
Oh, no!
Subtitles: MLPSubtitles
http://mlpsubtitles.org/
Transcript: OmegaBowser
Sync: Retropony