Walking through the Canterlot library is a familiar purple unicorn, Twilight Sparkle, who is picking out a few books to read for the several days she is staying in Canterlot. Her horn glows, allowing her to tag along some books with the same glow around them. She looks in the bookshelves, and notices a book that doesn’t belong there. What’s more, she has never seen the book before, even though she can recognize any book in the library. Out of curiosity, she takes it along to a nearby study table and opens it, flipping through the pages.
“This seems to be a story book, but it also describes some magic in the appendix. I’ve never seen magic like this before though,” Twilight examines the strange symbols describing the magic closely, but doesn’t understand it, “Well, the magic is in the appendix, maybe I need to read the book before I understand it.”
She closes the book and looks at the title, which reads Gathering of the Elements. Twilight thinks for a moment before smiling, “I guess I have all day to read it, the princess doesn’t need me until later.”
Twilight takes the book along with some others to her own room in the Canterlot Castle, where her personal library is located. Entering her room, she puts the books she took with her on a table while taking the unfamiliar one to her reading desk, where she puts it down and opens it to the first page.
It was one fateful morning, as the young pegasus Lance Ironhoof made his way through the corridors of the castle, making his way to princess Celestia’s throne room. He greets the guards as he passes by the first doors, easily recognized by the royal guard. After passing the door, he hears another pony had reached the guards behind him. Looking behind him, Lance could see a pony wearing an easily recognizable witch’s hat.
“Is that a witch?” he thinks to himself, “No wait, the hat has a white ribbon, she’s friendly.”
“What’s a witch? I’m sure I’ve heard the term before…,” Twilight turns towards the shelf of books on the wall of her room, looking closely at it before taking one book out with her magic, “Terms and definitions of olden pony times.” Twilight starts flipping the pages of the book until she gets to the W, “Witch … witch … ah here it is. ‘A term commonly used to describe unicorns who intended to use their magic to harm other ponies. Easily recognized by a black, pointy hat with a wide brim, witches were often treated as outcasts to society. There were unicorns though who didn’t want to harm other ponies, but still wanted to be recognized as a witch by heritage. These unicorns tied a white ribbon above the brim of the hat to show they had no bad intentions towards other ponies.’ Aah, that makes sense,” Twilight closes the book and puts it down on the desk, besides the one she was reading, “I might need this if any more terms show up.”
The witch is allowed inside, Lance waiting to greet her politely, not having to rush, “Good morning, can I help you?”
The witch walks up, looking up from under the brim of her hat, “Hiya, I’m familiar around the castle, thank you.”
“Oh, might I ask what your destination is?” Lance asks.
“I was summoned by princess Celestia, so that’s where I am heading.”
“What a coincidence, I was summoned there myself. Allow me to introduce myself,” Lance held his left front hoof up, making a polite bow, “My name is Lance Ironhoof, royal knight of princess Celestia.”
“Ooh, fancy,” the witch responds, “Well, manners are manners.” She dons her head and bows her head down as well, “I am Dusk Star, charming magician and faithful student of princess Celestia.”
“Student of princess Celestia? Heh, that sounds more fancy than a royal knight,” Lance chuckles as Dusk puts the hat back on her head.
“It all depends on how you see it,” Dusk starts walking again, “Come, we can’t let the princess waiting.”
“Of course,” Lance starts walking as well, moving next to Dusk as they trotted along the halls of the castle, making their way to the throne room. They approach the room and are quickly greeted by one of the guards in front of it.
“Sir Lance, miss Dusk, good to see you, the princess has been expecting you,” the guard sounds very cheerful, knowing both of the ponies well.
Dusk pouts, “The guards outside didn’t even recognize me!”
The guard chuckles, “They must be new guards, we recently had a party advance to royal guards.”
Dusk smiles and winks, saying in a playful tone, “Well, make sure they know me next time.”
“Of course, miss Dusk,” the guard opens the door to the princess’ throne room, allowing the two access.
Lance compliments the two guards as he passes by, “You’re both doing a good job, keep it up.”
The guards respond by giving Lance a salute before he enters the room.
Dusk Star and Lance move towards the throne, where Celestia is waiting for them, “Dusk Star, Lance, it’s good to see both of you.”
“Good morning princess!” Dusk responds in a cheerful voice.
“Greetings, your Highness,” Lance answers in a polite tone, making a polite bow like before again.
“I’m going to be blunt, why did you ask Lance here over as well?” Dusk points a hoof at Lance, “No offense.”
“None taken,” Lance says, while also being curious why he wasn’t summoned alone.
Celestia chuckles softly, “Yes yes, let me get to that. I have summoned you both for a special mission.”
Twilight flips the page over, “Oh, hey, there’s a drawing here. I guess that’s Dusk Star, and that must be Lance. Hmm, now that I think about it, I never heard about a student under Celestia called Dusk Star. I’ve never heard of any other students at all. I guess I can ask her later.”
“Special mission?” Dusk Star repeats, “Like … graduation special~?”
“Yes, indeed it is,” Celestia responds, making Dusk’s face beam up, “Please, let me explain something first. Many years ago, up until about seven-hundred-and-fifty-years, I didn’t rule Equestria alone. I ruled it with my sister, princess Luna. She, however, was turned evil, and I had to seal her inside the moon.”
“The mare in the moon?” Dusk asks, knowing who Celestia is talking about.
“Correct. I have predicted that she will one day break free, and try to bring an eternal night over Equestria again. That is why I want you, my faithful student, to gather the Elements of Harmony, which I spread across Equestria many years ago, as I had lost the ability to use them without my sister.”
“The Elements of Harmony? Is she coming back already?” Dusk asks curiously, wanting to know more.
“No, I don’t think she will break free of the moon yet, but I feel the Elements are not safe spread across Equestria, they can’t be used in an emergency if they are far apart.”
“So you want me to gather them huh?” Dusk Star grins, having already caught on.
“Yes, exactly, sharp as always I see. I have marked the locations on a map for you,” Celestia floats a rolled up scroll from besides her to Dusk Star, who opens the map and looks at it.
“Hmm … the Frozen North … White Tail woods … San Palamino desert … Haysead swamps … the eastern ocean … and Canterlot?”
“That is correct, I hid one Element deeply below Canterlot, the most important one in fact. But I want you to focus on the other five first,” Celestia turns to Lance, “And Lance, I want you to escort Dusk Star on her mission, since the mission is of utmost importance.”
Lance nods and salutes Celestia, “Of course, your Highness, I will do as you request.”
Dusk giggles, “You sound funny talking like that!”
Lance looks at Dusk with a surprised look as Celestia can’t help but giggle at the comment as well, “I suggest you go to Haysead swamp first, considering the flow of the seasons.”
“That’s true, I will make sure to visit the Frozen North during summer, and the desert during winter, or it would be dangerous,” Dusk makes some notes on the map, before lifting up her hat with her magic glow, showing her unicorn horn clearly, and putting the map in the hat.
“You can plan your journey at Dodge Junction, it’s adjacent to Haysead Swamp. Please contact me when you get there,” Celestia gets up and walks up to the two, spreading her wings, “I wish you both good luck on your journey, I’m counting on you.”
Lance bows politely, somewhat confused at how they would have to contact Celestia from such a place. Dusk Star nods, confirming she knows what to do, before turning around and moving towards the exit of the throne room, leaving Lance to catch up. “Fare thee well, your Highness,” Lance says before turning around and catching up to Dusk Star.
“Fare thee well, my faithful student, and my loyal knight,” Celestia watches the two as they move out of the throne room, waiting for the doors to close before turning around, walking back to her throne.
“Is her Highness sure that she wants to leave it in the hooves of those two?” a unicorn in armor comes out from behind the throne.
“I trust my student to know what she’s doing, this will be a good test for her too,” Celestia responds.
“But what about the pegasus?” the unicorn questions.
“He may not be the highest ranking knight, and only the first pegasus knight, but I trust he will do better than any knight could. I have faith in him.”
“If her Highness is sure….”
“Are you questioning my decision?”
“Oh, no, of course not, your Highness,” the unicorn bows apologetically.
Celestia giggles, before resuming, “They will do fine, I have faith in them.”
“I trust your decision, your Highness.”
“Seven-hundred-and-fifty years, hmm. If princess Luna was sealed in the moon for a thousand years, that means the book takes place about two-hundred-and-fifty years ago,” Twilight talks to herself, “That’s quite some time ago.” She giggles to herself, “I forgot that the princess has lived for much longer than that already. Well, the prologue seems to end there, I guess I will get something to drink before I read the rest of it.”
“Aah, that was refreshing, now where was I,” Twilight enters her room again, having gone out to get something to drink, “Ah yes, I finished the prologue of course. Now, let’s see.” She flips the page and reads out loud, “Chapter one: The First Element.”
The two trot down the hallways of the castle. Lance can’t help but wonder about Dusk’s plans, “Excuse me, but isn’t the exit to the castle the other way?”
“Of course not, silly, this is where we want to go,” Dusk answers.
“But…,” Lance is quickly interrupted by Dusk, “First rule if you want to travel with me: don’t ask too many questions.”
“Ehh, wha?” Lance questions, not sure what just happened.
“That’s exactly what I mean,” Dusk responds, “You can’t have fun if you ask too many questions, and this journey will be a drag if it isn’t fun!”
“Alright,” he chuckles, “I got it, miss Dusk.”
She reacts with a sigh, “But I will work on your manners later, one thing at a time.”
“Eh? What’s wrong with my manners?”
“You have too much of them,” Dusk giggles, but is quickly interrupted by a lone pony running through the corridor, obviously not at home in the castle. The mare trips, and Dusk moves over to see if she is alright, putting a hoof the shoulder, “Hey, are you alright?”
The mare’s eyes widen as Dusk touches her, as she pushes the hoof away and backs off with a gasp, “Hey, don’t touch me!”
Two guards come running up, one of which quickly pounces the mare and holds her down, “We got you, you little brat!”
“Guards, what’s going on?” Lance asks, stepping up to the three.
“Oh, Sir Lance, please apologize us, this trouble maker had snuck into the castle once again, trying to get into the library,” one of the guards explains.
“Again?” Lance repeats, taking notice to that word in particular.
“Yes, she’s snuck in more often, and we’ve captured her each time, but somehow she keeps escaping the containment room at night,” the guard helps the other to keep the intruding unicorn contained while he talks to Lance.
“Escaping the containment room? Why didn’t you notify the royal knights?”
“Well, she doesn’t do any harm, nor any damage, it seemed trivial to inform the knights of this,” the guards struggle to keep the mare contained, since she is struggling violently.
“Indeed, the knights do not need to be informed of a trouble maker, good thinking,” Lance responds in a tone befitting of a royal knight, “Carry on.”
The guards nod as they take the mare off, Dusk looking after them for a moment, “She had … strange eyes … didn’t she?”
“They were peculiar, but she didn’t seem a threat,” Lance responds.
“Well, we’re almost there, come on,” Dusk says, returning to their path, leaving Lance to catch up once again.
The two walk up to a pair of pegasus guards talking to each other on a special balcony, the royal carriage nearby. Dusk walks up to them, “Wedge, Biggs.”
The two look up, “Oh, hey Dusk, and greetings Sir Lance.”
“Eh, greetings,” Lance doesn’t really know why Dusk is talking to the royal carriage carriers.
“Oh boys, we need a ride to Dodge Junction, think you could give us a ride?” Dusk asks the two, in a very friendly tone.
“Of course we can,” Wedge responds, with Biggs nodding in agreement.
“Isn’t this the royal carriage, that only her highness can use?” Lance says in a condescending tone.
“Of course, Sir Lance,” Biggs answers.
“Then, should you be giving rides to anypony other than her highness?”
“Ehh, well, we make an exception for Dusk,” Wedge says nervously, feeling the two are in trouble now.
“You know, you two will never make knights if you aren’t disciplined.”
“We know that, but it’s not like we want to be knights,” Biggs explains to Lance.
“You … don’t?” Lance asks curiously, “Shouldn’t a pony always aim for the top?”
“Aiming for the top isn’t a bad thing, but not everypony wants to be at the top. We’re happy with the position we have,” Wedge says with a smile.
“Don’t get us wrong though, Sir Lance, you are still an inspiration to many pegasus, being the first pegasus in the royal knights,” Biggs continues.
“So, you’re saying there’s more than just aiming for the top…,” Lance says, thinking to himself a bit.
“Let’s just get going, we can still make it to Dodge Junction before nightfall,” Dusk interrupts, to which the two pegasus nod and go to get the carriage for the two. They come back with the carriage, and stop to let the two in. Dusk jumps in right away, and calls for Lance, “Come, hop in, let’s get going!”
Lance hesitates for a moment, not sure if he’s allowed in the royal carriage before Dusk pulls him in, and calls for Wedge and Biggs to get going, to which they comply, flying off the balcony and going towards the south.
“Ahh, look, there’s the Everfree forest!” Dusk calls, hanging her head over the side of the carriage, holding a hoof on her hat.
“Indeed, such a sinister place, even royal knights don’t go there unless her highness orders us,” Lance responds, giving it a glance.
“I go there all the time, it’s really relaxing,” Dusk leans back inside the carriage.
“R-really?!” Lance sounds very surprised at that.
“No, I’m just kidding, but you fell for it!”
“E- … ehh…,” Lance utters, not sure how to respond.
“Oh you are just so easy,” Dusk giggles.
Lance just stays quiet for the rest of the ride, feeling uncomfortable using the princess’ personal carriage, while Dusk converses with the two pegasus leading the carriage forward.
The sun starts to set as the carriage lands on the outskirts of Dodge Junction, allowing Dusk and Lance to hop off.
“Thank you gentlemen, that will do,” Dusk says with a smile.
“Good luck on your journey Dusk, Sir Lance, farewell!” the two guards respond in unison before flying off, going back to Canterlot.
Dusk waves the two off before turning to the desert town, “Now, we should find a place to stay for the night, I need to contact Celestia again.”
“How will you contact her?” Lance asks, as the two start walking into the town.
“You will see,” Dusk turns to look at the buildings of the town, before stopping at one, “This is the place!”
Dusk darts into the building, Lance looking confused for a moment before following calmly. The building was a small tavern, a regular place for visitors to the town. Dusk moves to the bar, waiting for somepony to come by.
“Dusk Star!” a lady behind the bar says to her, “Oh it’s always so great to see you.”
“Hiya ma’am, it’s always great to see you too,” Dusk responds in a friendly tone, “You got a room for us? We just need to stay the night.”
“Oh of course dearie, you know we always have a room for you,” the lady goes back behind the bar, before her head pops out and hands Dusk a key, “Room five dearie.”
Dusk takes the key with her magic, “Thank you ma’am!” before moving to go up the stairs, Lance only just catching up and following her. Dusk opens the door with the key and goes inside, locking the door behind Lance as he enters as well.
“You … know the ponies here?” Lance asks curiously.
“Of course, I stay here from time to time, I’ve helped them a few times too,” Dusk responds, putting her head down on one of the two separate beds.
“Helped them?”
“You’re asking too many questions again,” Dusk giggles as she takes a piece of scroll on the small desk and a quill and starts writing on it.
Lance sighs and looks over to see what Dusk is doing, not wanting to ask.
“There! I finished the letter to Celestia,” Dusk rolls the scroll up.
“I know I shouldn’t ask, but wouldn’t it take a few days just to get the letter there?” Lance looks at the scroll curiously, wondering if Dusk has some trick up her sleeve.
“That’s actually a good question, allow me to demonstrate,” Dusk floats her hat over, flipping it upside down and dropping the letter in. She then shows the inside of the hat, showing it is empty, “And that’s how we send a letter to the princess.”
Lance tilts his head, having never seen a hat be used to deliver mail, “Huh?”
Dusk giggles, “Let me explain. I’ve been working with Celestia to make a system where letters can be sent by magic.”
“Is something like that really possible?”
“Well, it has some flaws, but it works surprisingly well for a new spell. The major drawback is that a normal unicorn won’t have the focus to send a letter,” Dusk puts the hat back on her head, “I use my hat but, that wouldn’t work for other unicorn, and especially not for pegasus and earth ponies.”
“So you’re saying that any other unicorn can’t use the system unless they have another way to send letters?”
“Exactly, and before you ask, yes there are ways we’ve found. Magic creatures seem to receive the letters when they are properly connected to Celestia,” Dusk seems to make a gesture with her hooves, “Her pet phoenix works really well.”
“Ah yes, Philomena right?” Lance puts a hoof on the other bed, testing to see its sturdiness, “Are there any other creatures that would work?”
“Well, we are trying to get ahold of some dragon eggs, since dragons have been said to understand pony speech and would be more an assistant than a pet.”
“There are plenty of nests in Equestria, why not take the eggs from one?”
“We can’t just steal the eggs away from a mother, that would be cruel to her. Celestia is waiting for an abandoned nest, where the babies would be born alone,” Dusk sounds a little bit upset explaining it, but seems to be quickly interrupted by something, as her head makes a nod, “Oh, we’ve got a response.” Lance tilts his head as Dusk lifts her hat, to show a scroll standing perfectly straight up on her head, before she floats it down and opens it. She proceeds to read the letter before talking again, “Alright, I know where we have to go tomorrow.”
“The Haysead Swamps, right?” Lance confirms.
“The northern parts of the swamp, to be precise, the ruins with the element in it is there,” Dusk jumps onto her bed, laying on it on her back and putting the hat over her face, “But for now, we sleep.”
“Right…,” Lance climbs onto his bed, and slowly drifts to sleep.
“Wait, so Philomena is hundreds of years old already? Then again, a phoenix does renew itself occasionally, maybe that’s why it can get so old,” Twilight looked towards her bookcase is she would have a book related to phoenixes, but turns out empty-hoofed, “I guess I can check phoenixes out later.”
Dusk was trotting along the parts of the swamp where the water didn’t flood over the land, finding her way through the swamp, closely followed by Lance, who follows her every step.
“Why don’t you just fly?” Dusk asks, glancing back over her shoulder.
“It would be rude for me to fly when you can’t,” Lance replies.
“Well, you can make yourself useful if you fly,” Dusk stops at a fork in the path, “Like make sure one of these paths isn’t a dead end.”
“But you said you knew the way through the swamp, didn’t you?”
“That may have been an exaggeration, I only know the general direction,” Dusk looks to one side, and then to the next.
“But so far we haven’t met any dead ends yet,” Lance sounds a little surprised.
“Call it luck,” she sounds in a cheerful voice.
Lance nearly stumbles into the water at the statement, “You’re basing all of this on luck?!”
“Hey, we met a day ago, you should know me by now,” Dusk starts walking towards the right part of the fork, Lance following with a sigh, “I don’t think that’s how quickly anypony can get to know you.”
“I will take that as a compliment,” Dusk trots forth, skipping to a few dry spots not directly connected to the path, “And you know my intuition never fails,”
Lance flies after her, not risking a plunge into the grimy swamp water, “You just said it was luck.”
“Is there a difference?” Dusk giggles, “Anyway, I can already see our destination.”
Lance looks ahead, “Are those the remains of a castle?”
“Yeah, it was build when this area was still a forest, but floods have made it unreachable.”
Lance spreads his wings and flies towards the ruined castle, flying around it to get an idea of its condition, and seeing whether it would be save to enter it. By the time he finishes analyzing the castle, Dusk had reached the former front door, being nothing more than a pair of hinges, the wood rotted away by the humid swamp air over the years. Lance joins her, landing to her side as they enter the ruins, light shining through the roof, which has mostly collapsed.
“There doesn’t seem to be much left of the castle,” Lance looks from side to side, looking at the remaining walls of the castle.
“Well, the Element is still safe, that’s what I gathered from Celestia’s letter,” Dusk and Lance reach an open room, with a pedestal in the center. Dusk walks over to it and examines it, “I think … we need to wait for nighttime.”
“Nighttime? Why do we need to wait?”
“Look here,” Dusk holds her hoof over the pedestal, showing a crescent moon in the center of it, “When the moon shines on the pedestal, the way will open, we just have to be patient.”
…
“Grass.”
“Snow.”
“Water.”
“Room.”
“Moon.”
“Nuts.”
“No, I mean the moon is out,” Dusk states, “And you lose, we already used that word.”
Lance looks up, before getting up again, “So, what will happen next?
Dusk moves over to the pedestal, readjusting her hat before putting a hoof on the pedestal, over the lunar mark. When she removes her hoof, the mark is glowing, signaling it’s activated. A flash of light comes from the mark, blinding Dusk and Lance for a moment. When they reopen their eyes, a green gem has appeared, floating above the pedestal.
“Is this … the Element?” Lance asks, his eyes wide at the magnificent sight of the Element.
“Yes, it is,” Dusk responds, moving towards it until they are interrupted by a voice.
“So, you really were looking for the Elements … I must thank you for leading me to it,” a darkness enters the room from the broken ceiling, gliding along the rays of the moon and enveloping the Element, taking it away from the pedestal. The darkness lands besides it, taking the shape of a pony before it turns into just that.
“You’re … the pony from the castle,” Lance says, taking an offensive stance between the mysterious pony and Dusk, “That tried to get into the libraries?!”
“Correct,” she replies.
“So…,” Dusk nudges Lance aside and walks up to her, “What’s your name?”
“My name? why would you want to know that?” the pony flinches back, being surprised at Dusk’s calmness.
Dusk dons her hat, in her usual fashion, “Dusk Star, charming magician, I want to at least know the name of my rival.”
The pony lifts her front leg, showing she is startled before she replies, “My name … is Harvest Dawn, mare of the night.”
Dusk puts her hat back on, “Then I shall call you Dawn!”
“Ehh … sure…,” she responds, before Lance interrupts rather aggressively, “Now, give us back the Element, in the name of Celestia!”
Dawn chuckles at this sudden but meaningless threat, turning back into a dark mist as Lance pounces her, making Lance miss completely.
“She’s an interesting one, isn’t she,” Dusk says as she puts her hat on straight.
“She made off with the Element, how can you be so calm?!” Lance replies, sounding very distressed.
“We will meet her again, we can get the Element back then,” Dusk turns to Lance, “You should try to calm down, being anxious won’t make this journey any easier.”
Lance pants, still feeling upset, but takes a few deep breaths to calm down.
“We will just be more careful from now on, we will get the Elements, don’t worry,” Dusk smiles, moving back to the wall she was previously sitting against.
Lance moves over to the wall as well, taking his original spot, “I guess you’re right … roof.”
Dusk responds, “Floor.”
“Raven.”
…
“Mare of the night?” Twilight asks herself, “I didn’t know there was another mare of the night besides princess Luna.”
Twilight flips the page, seeing an image of Harvest Dawn, “She looks pretty peculiar. Oh, I see the chapter is over.”
