Pandora's Box

by Rocinante

Rating: teen
Tags: Adventure, Princess Celestia, Twilight Sparkle, Main 6, Princess Luna, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
Length: 11383

Before Equestria had its benevolent gods, six dark gods tormented ponykind. Now the magic that sealed them away is breaking and the Elements of Harmony must lay them down once and for all.

Before Equestria had its benevolent gods, six dark gods tormented ponykind. Now the magic that sealed them away is breaking and the Elements of Harmony must lay them down once and for all.

Story set as an alternative universe to S3.

Published 2014-05-03 04:30:03 UTC
Last updated 2014-05-03 04:30:03 UTC

01

Author's Note

This is my "big story" that I have been working on since season 2. However I no longer think I will be able to finish this story. I have other that I think are better deserving of my time. I need to focus on fewer stories, so that I can complete them. This habit of chocking in the second act is getting on my nerves. I have spent too much time to simply chunk this though, so I'm posting what I have, as it stands. I love feedback, but keep in mind that I simply did not give this a good editing. The whole thing is in a second draft.

01

Mother is the name of God on the lips of children, but what is Mother on the lips of Gods?

Green fire broke Twilight away from her studies. The scroll tumbled in the air a moment before being snatched up in Spike’s claws. “Letter for ya, Twilight,” he announced, walking across the room to hand it to her.

Snapping the wax, she unrolled the letter:

Twilight,

Today at noon there will be a solar eclipse. Everything is fine, do not worry and please comfort any panic that this may cause. I will fill you in on the details in the coming days. The large dispatch of pegasus guards is for alerting the other cities and towns.

I apologize for the short notice.

Your friend,

Princess Celestia

“A solar eclipse!?” Twilight balked. “Spike, there’s going to be an eclipse in...” looking to her mantel clock she checked the time; it was ten in the morning, “Two hours! There hasn’t been an eclipse in twelve hundred years!”

Twilight skittered around the library, certain she needed to be doing something, but not sure what. Concluding no matter what, the first step would be going outside, she made for the door. Throwing on a saddlebag as she went, she tossed in, what appeared to Spike to be, a unrelated pile of junk. With her sidetrack finished, she bolted out of the library with a bit more confidence.

Outside a gray streak caught her attention; it was a royal guard, and he was heading straight for town hall. She could see a dozen others in the sky, heading in all directions.

The air around town hall buzzed with manic energy. Twilight and the mayor stood atop the podium. “OK everypony!” Twilight yelled over the din. “It’s going to start soon. It will get dark slowly, until it’s like night, then it will fade at the same speed” She repeated for the eighth time in the past hour. They had to know what to expect. “Do not look directly at the sun while this is going on. It will do permanent damage to your eyes. Use either the smoked glass or the camera obscura I showed you how to make.”

There were no small number of ponies making the mentioned devices, with whatever they could their their hooves on. The lenses and boxes were being passed around to the various groups of friends and families, so they could witness the legendary event.

Twilight consulted the camera obscura she had made for herself earlier. The lesser orb was already well into the body of the sun. Soon it would hit the critical mark of ninety percent and the sky would begin to darken.

Gasps announced the arrival of that critical mark, though no alarm, other than the sudden dimming of the world was needed. The dimming continued till dusk fell upon them. Ponies stared through black glass in awe as the sun was slowly being consumed, its heat faded with its light.

Then the gloom winked out into utter darkness. Screams and gasps accompanied the violent transition. Twilight would have spoken up to calm everypony but the night of nights took her breath away; no stars, no moon, nothing, only a ring of fire writhing in the zenith of the heavens. The ring gave less light than a campfire and left the world a gray shadow outline. Twilight’s voice echoed through the void “Stay calm everypony. This will only last for five to ten minutes”

Raw magical power rippled out from the solar ring. Unseen, but felt by everypony there, unicorns wincing as if struck. All eyes turned towards Twilight for comfort and explanation. But, they found her lost in a thousand yard stare, her eyes luminescent orbs.

Twilight’s skin crawled at a wave of energy that overtook her. She had felt this once before. This was the power of the elder gods. Her vision went gray, and when it cleared she found herself disembodied, a floating consciousness in an old room that she guessed to be in Canterlot.

Two horns touch at their tips; one darker than a midnight shadow, the other white as virgin snow. Idle static jumps between the points as they lightly brush against each other. “Mother,” two voices call as one. The voice is tender like a child seeking approval and terribly powerful like it’s will could reshape mountains.

Viscous day and night explode into the room, the two meeting but never mixing. Luna’s eyes burn with searing light, Celestia’s become pits of shadow. The two figures hold like statues while the dark and light swirl and crash about the room. The liquid luminescence and shadow fight until all their energies are spent; leaving them pooled in equal measure.

Gods of sun and moon blink in perfect unison. Their rigid stance breaks when their eyes reopen. Gone was the room filled with ink and sunlight. They both let their posture slip into a casual pose. Looking around they find themselves in an endless sea of low rolling hills, covered in bright grass that tickles their barrels; the sky is a vibrant twilight. She knows this land, it is the eternal twilight of the everlasting summer equinox. The field of sweet grass stretch infinitely in all directions. No amount or running will ever bring you anywhere but to more of the same rolling prairie.

A speck on the horizon moved towards them. They watch with subtle smiles as its form becomes clear. A powerful mare galloping wildly through the grass, slightly larger than the elder sister, but with neither horn or wings. She exuded feral energy with every movement. The grass that she tramples grows taller in her wake.

“My children,” the world sings as the mustang stops before them.

The sisters press into the mare affectionately, all three rubbing heads and necks together. “Its been too long,” Luna says.

“I’m so glad you two have reconciled,” the wind whispers to them.

Celestia smiles, watching her little sister melt to the ground under the attention of her mothers grooming, “I’m afraid we have come for your help mother. We have questions and little time to ask them.”

The grass waves and speaks to the eldest sister, “Lay beside me dear and ask what you need.”

The elder sister lays down in the grass, tucking her legs beneath her. “A first-borne attacked us Mother, it was your brother. We do not know what brought him forth and we fear his children may be stirring as well.”

The mustang turns her powerful head toward the eldest child and their eyes meet. Her lips part and a sound rolls out that shakes the world. It is not loud, rather something like a babbling brook. Yet, the whole of Elysium stands on end to obey it. “Yes my eldest, they stir. The spell that shackled them with in Tartarus is waning. I can not say for how much longer they will be held there.”

Luna and Celestia eyes go large as they look to each other. Things unspoken are shared between them. “But why?” Luna’s voice cracked.

Their mother looks gently upon the dark coated alicorn. “The Elements of Harmony and the Elements of Chaos are both primordial powers that make up the very fabric of creation. You forced the Elements of Harmony to take scions, as the Chaos did long ago. Just as there was then, there are consequences.

An infinitely-loving embrace warms Twilight, despite her current lack of body. She watches Mother rubs necks with the two alicorns affectionately “Now, you three, your time here is over. Go and do all the good you can”

The two sisters trade a puzzled look just as the world winked out around Twilight.

Gone were the endless fields, in their place was a huge crowd of ponies staring up at her. The sky was again a dim twilight, the sun slowly escaping from behind the moon.

02

The vision left Twilight in a stupor. Dragged along to see something mortals were not intended to know. ‘That was their... mother?’ she asked herself. She knew it was, but simply couldn’t accept the idea, let alone the feeling that she had been acknowledged by her.

Wandering into the rare books section of her library, she made straight for its locked cabinet. The book Celestia had given her in the spring, it had mentioned many of the things that had been spoken of by the three gods.

First born, she knew that term. The book had spoken in great length about the creation of... Well, creation. Those first gods, that were not born, but simple manifested into existence had been called primordials, their children the first born. While the book had prattled in length about the primordials, details on the first-born were conspicuously missing. Only mentioned in reference a few times and never given names or descriptions.

Carefully she took out the book and opened its pages. A bookmark still in it, marking a chapter titled The Three Blessings. She found herself rereading the chapter reflexively, hoping to pick up something she missed.

///

And the earth was populated with all the manors of creatures that lived wild upon the land. The Sisters watched the movement spread across creation and decided, they too would fashion the most perfect creature they could. For they wished to have something of themselves walking upon the land. To make a game of it, they agreed each would make three of a kind. Then compare what they made.

Luna stirred the sea and splashed it on the shore, and out of the foam rose three mares.

Celestia bent the trees of the forest, and split open the greatest of the oaks. From the heartwood three stallions took form and stepped forth.

They brought them together to compare their work. But, found that neither was greater than the other. But, rather one completed the other just as does night and day. On first meeting, their creations fell in love, immediately making three couples.

Seeing that together they had created something wonderful, the Sisters decided to grant a wish to each pair.

The first pair looked to the sun and moon and said: “We feel the wind and envy it. We wish for freedom above all other things. Grant us the power to fly and let our hearts live in the clouds.”

The Sisters smiled from the heavens. “You shall have all these things and so shall your children.”

The light and the dark met, and between them came forth the first of the elements of wind. “You called for me goddesses of day and night?”

“Yes,” the sisters spoke. “Take a feather from your crown and split in two. Give one half to each of these two. Embrace them and call them your cousins, as each of their kind will be born as both your child and ours.”

The sisters then told them, ”Though all your children will have these gifts. Only one in a generation will hold the true spirit of wind. They will have a speed so great, that they can tear the very sky into ribbons of color and sound. All the virtues of the air shall be theirs to command.”

The second couple said: “We wish to create and change the world as you do”

Celestia kissed one upon the forehead and Luna kissed the other. Light and shadow erupted from the kiss and solidified into twisted horns. “We leave a bit of ourselves with you. Your children will bare our kiss. They will have the gift of the day or the night. One in a generation will have will have command of both and neither. They will be the penumbra; a place between. All magics will be known to them.

The third couple spoke up: “We wish for freedom and creation. The will to see anything through its end. The drive to overcome any obstacle.”

With a grim expression the Sisters said. “You wish for passion. But, we warn you it is a power that even we can not control”

The two nonetheless insisted. So, the sisters took them to a high temple where the spirits of passion lived. The Sisters told them, “Within this temple burns a great fire. It will destroy either of you alone. But, if you both press into the source of the flame, to snuff it out, you will conquer it and the fire will be within you. Your children will have the gift of passion. But, one in a generation will have the fire of passion sealed within them. Like the others it will pass to a new host upon the death of the former. Unlike the others this will be as much a curse as a blessing. Though it will give them an unsurpassed strength, left unchecked it will burn them to ash.

///

Twilight mumbled, “The penumbra” She had no doubt that Rainbow dash was the spirit of wind, and Celestia had told her Mcintosh was the incarnate of passion. ‘The penumbra,’ she laughed, “A pony’s name was a gift of Fate after all.” Still, she wasn’t sure how she like the idea of being a once-in-a-generation anomaly among unicorns.

“You forced the Elements of Harmony to take scions, as the Chaos did long ago. Just as there was then, there are consequences.” The words still haunted her.

Plucking out her bookmark Twilight hoofed open the index of the tomb. “Elements of Chaos...” she breathed scanning the list of topics. “Ha! page four hundred and seventy five.”

///

...And he was cast into a slumber where visions were granted unto him by the old god Luna. On this dream the Moon saw fit to pull away the curtain of time and show him things past—and not yet come to pass.

Barren land stretched below him in all directions, blank and raw. The sky rippled as six comets streaked across the horizon. They fell to the earth like feathers and vanished into the soil where they laid. “Those are the elements of Harmony,” the whisper told him. “They are not to be found by mortal hoof.”

Moments later six more tore through the sky. This time blasting great craters where they landed. “Those... are not,” he was told.

An aeon passed within the span of a thought. Dirt became wilderness. Wilderness replaced by a rough frontier. Unicorns lived on the mountains in glittering castles. Earth ponies tilled the grasslands. Pegai filled the air. The nations of griffins, dragons, and deer lived in the land too. He watched the six cultures grew and shrink, watched wars flair and fade. In the wake of war Ice clung to the land. The frost spread till it had claimed a great span of the land. All the creatures of the land flead the forever winter, the three tribes of ponies crossed a great portion of the world; three flags became one. The sun sat on a tired and hungry world, and a long night chilled his blood,

“Luna, please deliver me to morning. It is cold, and I fear for those creatures we watch,” he prayed.

The rosy fingers of dawn answered his prayer. His heart sang with the warmth of the sun, and below him he watched a golden age bloom in every nation. Then the craters from so long ago came back into his sight; they were being found. Each tribe and nation found an impact and each pulled a smoking orb from its bottom.

Time took a fast pace as fire danced across the land. War no longer faded, it only moved and grew. The fire grew till the entirety of its rage was focused in one spot. Six massive armies met on a great plane. At the head of each host, stood the strongest of their kind, and each held a smoking orb. Yet they did not hold it by hoof or mouth, the orbs were held within their very soul. Wielding the power of the primordial shard, they lead their tribe by power, coercion, and fear. “They are the Scions of chaos,” the voice whispered to him, “The Scion of: Eris, Moros, Apate, Oizys, Philotes, and Thanatos. The elements of chaos.”

The armies clashed, the stink of blood and fire filled his senses. The scions lead the melee; the thickest of the gore marked their wake. Then something went wrong. The scions found themselves all in one press. For the first time, all the elements of chaos were in one place. The elements, he saw, had a will of their own. They wished to be united, and no force that existed could stop them. Arcs of shadow connected the six, bound them, and in one horrible moment dashed them together. A shattered god had found his worldly flesh. Discord stood amidst the battlefield and laughed.

///

The elements of chaos had eventually resulted in the creation of Discord. Was that the consequence that she spoke of?

Twilight had already read twice over the story, of the Sisters taking up the Elements of Harmony and the defeat of Discord. Though it never explained where the two had come from. They were mentioned as gods in the oldest stories. But, it was not till the finding of the elements of harmony and the battle with Discord that they were attributed bodies.

What sort of danger were her and her friends in? She had to know. Were they to one day be turned into some horrible demigod? And what had been meant by forced... That haunted her more than anything.

Her ears perked at the sound Spike shuffling around in the main part of the library. “Spike,” she called, “Take a letter for me, please.”

03

Celestia stood on her chamber’s balcony, watching a little purple speck trot across the white marble courtyard. Twilight had made quick time getting here. She promised Twilight answers months ago, after the incident with the Apple family, and now it was time for her to deliver.

Still, she wasn’t looking forward to the conversation. Ponies always reacted badly to being told that they are part of a plan that was set in motion twenty generations ago. Striding back into her room, she went to her book case. ‘Books, Twilight is always comforted by written facts,’ she mused to herself as she plucked a few relevant tomes.

Her sister’s voice snapped her out of the thoughts, “How are you going to explain the eclipse to her. I do not think she will accept that you took a nap.”

“I will tell her the truth,” she sighed. Luna gave her a cocked eyebrow at the answer but remained silent. “How much truth, we will just have to wait and see.”

A hard double thump on her door, told her a scheduled visitor was here.

“Would you like me to leave?” Luna asked.

“No, please. You should be here for this conversation too.” Celestia replied. Reaching out with her telekinetic grip, she opened the great door to show two guards and Twilight standing on the other side of the threshold. “Twilight Sparkle,” she said, “please come in.”

Twilight crossed through the doorway with a nervous chuckle. It was a familiar room. But that was a bit more of a welcome than she was used to. The guards seemed equally surprised by the gesture.

The door closed itself as she entered the room. Now alone in Celestia’s chambers she paused for a moment, unsure of herself.

“We are alone Twilight. No formalities, we’re friends here,” Celestia said.

Twilight let out a breath she didn’t know she was holding, and unceremoniously dropped her saddlebag on the floor. Lifting out the book and a stack of notes, she laid them on a nearby desk. Hoofing through them and rereading some of the questions while she collected her thoughts.

The sisters stood quietly and watched Twilight shuffle through her notes. Celestia almost chuckled, she felt like a desk and a chalkboard should be in front of her. But no, she held her quiet. This was how Twilight calmed herself.

Twilight turned away from the desk, and faced the two sisters. She worked her mouth a few times, but words never formed. Luna lowered herself to the floor; a conscious attempt to be as approachable as possible. Celestia followed her example.

“How did you force the Elements of Harmony to take scions,” Twilight said with a sudden resolve.

‘There,’ Twilight thought. ‘One question that tells her what I know and what I want to know.’

The two alicorns sat in dumb silence for a moment. Celestia looked over to her sister, only to find her already looking back. “Twilight,” Celestia said, pausing a moment to gather her thoughts. It had been many years since a pony had spooked her. “How do you know that?”

“I was there,” Twilight twisted, like a foal admitting to something. “In the field. When you were talking with your... mother.”

“You three... She said ‘you three’ right before the spell collapsed,” Luna said. Her regal poise and lulled over into a half-laying posture as she stared at her sister’s student in amazement. “How did you-”

“I don’t know.” Twilight answered. “It was a vision. Right after the total eclips”

“Forced is a str-,” Celestia stopped herself. “No. Twilight, I will not lie to you. Forced is a perfectly accurate word; if not a bit simple.”

Luna and Twilight both focused their attention on her as she spoke, “Ponyville was the culmination of my plan to heal Luna,” she nodded with a smile at her sister. “For generations, I cultivated ponies, strong in mind and body. The Apple family was only one piece of the puzzle. Once I gave them land, I saw to it that my cultivated ponies found their way there. The village of harmony grew as I needed it to and the fruits of my efforts bloomed”

“Sister? If you gave them land. By the old laws, that makes them barons,” Luna said.

Celestia paused on that thought for a moment. “Again, I needed to breed harmony. Royal titles never help with that. But, strictly speaking, yes.”

“So for a thousand years, you ran a breeding program?” Twilight asked.

Celestia sighed, “Yes, and no. Please Twilight, think of me as a gardener; except one of ponies, not orchards. I encouraged strong and noble souls to do great things and live good lives. I watched bloodlines and placed them near others. Then when the time was right, I planted them in Ponyville.”

Twilight nodded in acceptance of the idea. “So you stacked the deck, hoping that five ponies out of the town would be what you needed. But, I wouldn’t calling that forcing.”

“Harmony is a living thing,” Luna said. “A primordial force, it has it’s own will. I... I threatened the harmony of creation. So, when Celestia chose to step out of creation, it fell to you six and the elements of harmony to set things right.”

“You six were strong enough to wake the elements and use their power. Though they would have prefered to remain asleep and unbound. I however, left them no choice.” Celestia said

Twilight glanced back at her stack of notes. “But with all the elements in one place like that, why didn’t they try and unite like they did with Discord?”

“It’s not in their nature,” Celestia shrugged. “As well, the necklaces and tiara keep them from fully bonding.” Twilight started to speak, but Celestia answered her question before she asked. “They are the manifestations of a protective spell I placed on them for just that reason.”

“So, if an element was destroyed...” Twilight asked.

“If the gem holding a portion of the element was destroyed. Then the bearer of the element would become the sole host of the elements power,” Celestia answered

“Which is a wholly unprecedented thing,” Luna added

Twilight sat and let this information wash over her. He friend, mentor, and surrogate mother had been manipulating ponies for a thousand years for a single goal. She had tricked her into becoming host to a primordial consciousness. Closing her eyes Twilight imagined the long string of lives that had been manipulated in order for this moment to come about. “If... If no pony had been there to become the Elements of Harmony, Nightmare Moon would have won,” Twilight said, hoping to be confirmed. She needed to hear that there was more at stake that one life. Even a god’s life did not carry enough weight to justify the manipulation that Celestia had masterminded.

Luna fidgeted at the specter of her alter ego. “Everfree forest was the result of our last fight. I dare not guess at the number of ponies that died that night. Twilight, if you had not... put down the Nightmare-” Luna’s voice caught and she remained silent. It spoke volumes to Twilight all the same.

Celestia pulled her sister under a wing. “Twilight. I will not ask for forgiveness. But, I will pay any debt I owe. Equestria is a stronger, better place, than it was the last time we ruled together and a very dangerous conflict was avoided. It can not be said that I did not do all the good that was in my power to do.”

‘All the good you can,’ Twilight remembered their mother using that phrase. “Go and do all the good you can,” Twilight repeated aloud. Both goddesses snapped to, looking her in the eye with a glassy expression. Twilight felt herself wilt under the gaze for a moment, before they both blinked and shook their heads.

“Sorry. Yes.” Celestia answered the non-question while Luna mumbled something.

‘What just happened,’ Twilight thought. Was that phrase so ingrained in them by their mother that it had the power to shake them? Or, was it something altogether different.

Slipping from under Celestia’s wing Luna stood. “Dusk will be here soon, and I would like to take a nap beforehand. Twilight, t’was good to see you again. Please, visit more.” Luna bowed to dismiss herself and slipped out the nearest window.

Celestia watched the place where her sister had been just a moment ago. “-your brother’s children,” Twilight’s voice snapped her out of a daze; she had been talking to her.

“Mmm, yes. The Corrupt Ones.” Celestia looked towards the stack of books she had gathered earlier, and levitated a thin blue tome. “Let us hope that we will not have to face them this century.”

04

Twilight and Celestia stood looking out from a balcony high atop a Canterlot spire. The sun had set over an hour ago, but the warm mid summer night had a only brought more life to the world below. Twilight had been watching the many small parties below spring to life, when it occurred to her Celestia had been rather still. Looking to her mentor she found her studying the moon with a melancholy air.

Celestia felt her friend’s worried gaze. “Sorry, Twilight, just old memories.”

Pressing into Celestia, she gave her a casual hug. “It’s ok. You have her back now anyway.”

Celestia looked back to the moon and placed a forearm around Twilight. “Yes... But still, on nights like these, I ask myself why it was her and not I that corrupted”

Twilight balked. “What? Ponies sleep by night, ignoring all her work, while they see every moment of the day. What could you envy of the night?”

“Lovers have never climbed a hill to get a better view of the sun. Feasts are not held in the heat of the day. Work under my sun is called toiling. Noon is thought to be, a time to best be indoors. It is only on the day when my sun’s grace is the shortest that feasts are held for it.”

“Oh,” Twilight said. “That’s rather poetic, I never thought of it like that... Everypony loves to watch the sunset though!”

“So you’re telling me everypony’s favorite part of the day is it’s leaving?” Celestia asked with a crooked smile. “But don’t look so dejected, Twilight. It has been over a thousand years since any of that has bothered me”

The melancholy mood seemed to rub off on Twilight as she leaned over the banister to look at the moon. “Yeah, I guess raising both the sun and moon after having to banish Nightmare Moon would make that all moot.”

“I didn’t banish her, Twilight. I killed her,” a dull lifeless voice stated.

Twilight jerked her eyes to Celestia. Something about the princess seemed melted and faded. She sat looking at the city below as a tear rolled down her cheek. “Wielding the elements, I tore her body apart... I killed her. There is no banishing somepony to the moon. It’s all a lie.”

“But the mare in the moon- I mean I was right there when she came back.” Twilight stammered. “We were just talking to her!?”

A smile crawled back on Celestia’s face at the memory. “Yes, yes you were, and I am forever in debt to you for that. But she did not return, so much as she manifested for a second time.”

Celestia thought she could actually hear Twilight’s brain spinning, trying to find answers between the random statements. Her friend and student was truly unique. One day she would be her Arch Mage, head of the college and a key advisor. Twilight also happened to be the unicorn to bare the blessing of the penumbra, the gift that she and her sister gave to the Unicorns in the late days of creation.

Though, truth be told most of the penumbra had become key figures of their time, and most, in the past two millennia, she had called either friend or colleague; lover once. What made Twilight unique was that she was that as well as the element of magic. Even she did not know what that meant. Unlike the Elements of Chaos, the Elements of Harmony had never taken a scion before.

Her bout of melancholy had loosened her lips this much, she might as well go on. “Twilight, my sister and I existed before what you call creation did, yet we did not walk in physical bodies until Discord came. We are not the gods of the Sun and Moon; We are the Sun and Moon.”

Twilight staggered as she processed what she had just been told. Thinking back through the conversation, Celestia’s words “she manifested for a second time.” rang out in her mind.

“Explain manifested.” Twilight said.

Celestia gave a pleased grin at her friends question, she had cut to the marrow of the topic with two words. “Before, in the early days we only projected ourselves into creation, not unlike a ghost. But, as creation became less fluid and more ordered, we had less and less power in our projected form. Until, at some point, we realized we could only watch passively.”

She paused expecting a question, but was only met with attentive eyes, so she continued with her story, “Then Discord happened, and we decided that something must be done. We knew of the Elements of Harmony and where they were hidden. But we were unable to affect this reality: creation; so we had to wait. We were lucky though. Not many years after we resolved to do something, the opportunity arose. A once in a millennium celestial event occurred that thinned the barrier between us and creation. On that year’s winter solstice I threw my consciousness into creation. There I made the form you see now of flesh and blood. Six months later, on the summer solstice, my sister joined me. It was this same thinning that Nightmare Moon tried to use to bring everliving night, and the same thinning that allowed her to once again make a physical body.”

Twilight had that calm unfocused look that told Celestia that she was absorbing every word and thinking on many levels at once. After a moment of silence her mouth cracked open “So, when you... destroyed her body, her consciousness no longer had a purchase in creation. She solely existed as the moon.”

Celestia nodded. “Correct. Now, I know I started this gloomy topic, but I see a party down there that looks interesting and I’m going to go crash it. Want to come with me?”

A giggle escaped Twilight. “I wouldn’t miss this for anything.”

05

Luna soared high above the spires of Canterlot. The colorful lanterns highlighted the streets below and she could hear revelries even at her altitude. A full moon blazed above her and ponies below were celebrating. It was a truly wonderful night.

She held in the air to ponder a light that was floating up towards her. There were several in the air, but one seemed to be making straight for her; albeit very slowly. As it came within reach she chuckled, “A lantern balloon.” The paper hot-air balloon was bright red and had a name written on it. Luna moved away with respect to the lantern, so as her flapping wings would not disturb the device. She smiled at the sentiment; lanterns for the dead. Somepony had written the name of a passed loved-one and sent the balloon into the sky. It was an ancient tradition a thousand years ago.

The balloon drifted above and past her on its way to wherever the fates had deemed it would go. On a playful whim, she decided to see just where that was. Up and up the little thing went, dragged along by the air currents going over the mountain. The fire within the lantern faded out just as it cleared the peak of the mountain, yet still, she followed its fall by moonlight. Softer than a leaf, it drifted. The wind and gravity eventually brought it to rest on the old stone temple that sat on the mountain’s highest point. There, the darkened lantern caught in the relief work of the stone monument.

Luna froze. Through spectral eyes, her and her sister had seen this temple built. They had not yet resolved to take physical forms then. It had been after the pony tribes had united, but before discord’s reign. A time of great joy and sadness, and this place embodied that time. This monument marked where the greatest ponies of their time gave their life to secure happiness for uncounted generations. It was where the mortal ponies had defeated the corrupt ones; the lesser gods, of torment and corruption.

Her mother’s words echoed through her mind, “Yes my eldest, they stir. The spell that shackled them within Tartarus is waning.” Luna shivered at the thought. She had counted herself lucky in having never had to deal with the malicious gods.

Landing near the lantern, Luna found her way into the temple. Its corridors brightly lit by magical torches; it had been a long time since she had walked these halls. The stone mural played out its story along the wall. Passing the scenes slowly she dipped into ancient memory.

Three tribes lived; removed from each other. Then windigos appeared and covered the land in ice. Those were dark days indeed, Celestia had almost lost faith in her ponies during those years.

The next scene showed the mass exodus from the old lands and the migration to Equestria. The defeated windigos laid to sleep in the ice mountains behind them. That had been a time of hope for her. Ponies were finally taking an active role in their own destiny. They had made a foothold for a golden age. But, the lesser gods still haunted the lands, and nine in particular fed on pony suffering. They had been born within creation and walked freely upon it.

The third panel showed the dark gods carved in relief above starved and suffering ponies. The dark gods could not kill the spirit of the ponies though, and the unified tribes were emboldened by their windigo victory. The courage ponies had earned led them to tackle their biggest problem. It started with the most powerful unicorns. They created a spell to shackle the plaguebringers. But, the spell had a price; magic and blood. More than the unicorns alone could supply. They needed the magic of the earth ponies and pegasus too.

Powerful ponies were found and tested; mind, body, and soul. In the end two from each tribe had stepped forward. They were the greatest of their time and willing to die for the cause, and they did.

Luna found the center of the temple, leaving the murals behind. Here was the stone floor that was the highest point in Equestria. At its center stood a small shrine holding a silver knife. That knife had taken the life of six ponies in a ritual suicide that unleashed enough power to banish nine gods for six millenniums. That same spell kept the blood stain on the floor fresh, a morbid reminder of that day long ago. Or, it had. The forever damp stone was dry and the brown stains were faded rings. Luna’s heart jumped, the spell was fading fast. There were not years to prepare, there were only days.

“They’re in the Grand Archive,” the guard told Twilight. She had been looking for Celestia for the better part of the morning. Wards flickered as Twilight passed through the antechamber of the sister’s private archive. Hesitating before touching the door, she had never crossed that threshold without asking for permission. She knocked lightly and pushed the door open. “Princess?” she called.

“Twilight,” Celestia answered. “Help us out in here.”

Closing the door behind her, Twilight followed the sound of rustling paper until she found Luna and Celestia at a table covered in books and scrolls. One large scroll flattened out in the center of the table. Celestia motioned at the huge sheet. “Twilight, read this spell.”

Celestia watched Twilight’s study the spell formula. This was far more that a simple incantation of a few words. This was unicorn magic pushed to it’s extreme; the result being that the two alicorns couldn’t make heads or tails of it. Unicorns always amazed the two of them. They used their magic so differently from gods, using cunning and innovation where power was lacking.

“Ugh!” Twilight moaned. Shuttering, she fell back from the table. Panic and sadness on her face, she looked you her mentor and asked, “Why?”

“Can you understand the spell?” Luna asked.

Twilight shook her head, but answered. “Yes.”

Celestia lowered herself to Twilight’s level. “This is the spell that was used to seal away the Corrupt Ones. Something about the elements of harmony is breaking the spell. We need you to help fix it.”

“You’re asking me to...” Twilight trailed off, looking into Celestia’s eyes.

“No!” Celestia blurted, laying a wing over her. “I’m asking you to find a way around having to shed blood again.”

Twilight gathered herself, and approached the scroll, reading it over again. By all rights this was dark magic; the whole thing was a string of forbidden techniques. Yet, it was familiar. “Who wrote this?” she asked.

“Gloom Walker,” Luna answered. “Arch mage to princess Platinum.”

“Was he a penumbra?” Twilight asked

“Yes,” Celestia said. “And one of those that gave their life.”

A shiver went down Twilight’s spine. Looking back at the spell, she let the parts of the formula click together in her head. She understood the gist of the spell, she could work through the specifics in time. Letting her eyes glaze over she looked at the whole formula, without focusing on any one part of it. Like a dream she visioned the spell forming and running its course, it should have held indefinitely. The weight of that blood would throw off the natural balance of creation. The pressure difference would push the targets out of creation.

“Well,” Celestia asked. “Do you think we can stabilize the spell before it collapses?”

Twilight seemed to ignore the question, still engrossed with the spell diagram. Her quill furiously making notes on a notepad floating above her. The two alicorns held in respectful silence until finally she spoke, “I don’t know.” Laying aside her notes, her slow speech betrayed she was thinking and talking at the same time, “It was never meant to be amended. It’s going to take me weeks to pull this apart, and I’m going to need help from the college.”

Celestia nodded, “I’ll let Archmage Charm Weaver know you have authority. It’s about time you two start working together anyway.”

“I will assist Twilight with her research,“ Luna said. “But, we must prepare for the worst as well.”

Celestia got to her hooves with her sister’s words. “You are correct,” she said. Taking a breath, Celestia turned from the others. “I will alert Shining Armor to the situation, and start preparations for the havoc the corrupt ones could bring. I will also look into how to kill them,” she said before walking away.

Twilight winced at her mentor’s words. It was the first time she had ever heard her mention killing.

06

Celestia left Twilight and her sister to study the spell. With practiced facade, she moved through the castle halls until she reached her private quarters. She give her door guards a casual smile and nod. “Tell Shining Armor I need to see him at his first convenience,” she said

Entering her room and closing the door behind her, she finally let her posture slip. “What have I done?” she moaned. Clearing her head, Celestia breathed in meditation. “They’re just gods, second born even. The ponies handled them before, when they were less advanced; less unified.” Walking over to a curio cabinet, she opened its glass and iron doors, and pulled a slender brass key from its hook. “I thought I had hung you up for the last time.”

Knock Knock

‘That was fast,’ she thought. Shining’s knock held a rhythm she could always recognise. “Enter,” she called.

Shining Armor opened the door and stepped through with precise military posture. “You summ-”

“At ease,” she told him the moment the door clicked shut, interrupting his salute.

Dropping his hoof, Shining relaxed, allowing his smile to replace the stern look. “You called Princess?” Celestia had a sad look to her. It was a rare mood, it both saddened and frightened him. “What’s going on?”

“-if we’re lucky, Twilight will be able to fix the old spell, if not we will be at war with the plaguebringers.”

Shining sat with his mouth slack. The hour-long history lesson, ending with a prophecy of war, was almost too much. His mind spun with lists of things that had to be done. “I’ll start preparing the troops immediately,” he said, turning to leave.

“Wait,” Celestia said floating the key over to him. “I brought you here for something else, something only you can do.”

Shining took the key with confusion. “You don’t want the guards readied?”

“Yes, but others can handle that. You, must be an instructor again. That is the key to the killing books. You are to study them, and see to it that every unicorn in the guard knows at least one killing spell.”

“Killing spells! That’s forbidden... It’s dark magic.”

“Yes, it is. And you are the only one I trust with them.”

"Somepony from the college, they should be the one for this," he protested, pushing the key back.

"No, Shining. Your gift for magic is second only to Twilight's. Even I can not cast your shield spell. Twilight could in time, but she has a gift that is once in a generation.”

Shining blinked at the praise. True magic came easy to him. "But still, why me? I've never taught magic in my life.”

“That's not true. Twilight used to tell me about you helping her with her homework. And besides, you are the best instructor we ever had. It's why you made captain. I need somepony the guards respect, and that I trust. That leaves only you.”

“Still, killing magic?" Shining asked. The thought sat like a stone in his gut. It was anathema to everything he had ever been taught. Sure, spears were weapons meant to kill, and he was an accomplished instructor in its art, but spears were wood and bronze, used by hoof. Magic is an extension of the soul. Using magic on another was intimate, stronger spells second only to love play. To mingle with an enemy's soul and then kill them rang wrong to Shining on every level.

Celestia rested a hoof on Shining's shoulder. "It's a tool we might have to use soon. The plaguebringers have old allies that will be glad to help them, changelings the least among them. We cannot be caught unprepared.”

"Before, you said six had to die to seal away the gods. If it comes to that again, that would mean my sister and the Elements," Shining said more than asked.

"The sacrifice must be of free will," Celestia said, not answering directly, but her omission told him what he needed to know. He knew them well enough; they would take up that knife to save Equestria, and he would do anything to keep them from having to make that choice.

“Very well." Shining nodded, taking the key and stowing it in a pocket. “I will start familiarizing myself with the spells tonight." Shining saluted and turned to leave, squaring his posture as the door opened.

When the door closed behind Shining, Celestia closed the curio. “And now for the conversation I really don’t want to have.” Taking up a small silver bell, Celestia rang it with a quick shake.

“You rang?” a guard asked through the barely opened door.

“Yes, send a message to Princess Cadence that I need to speak with her about something urgent.”

“Yes Princ-”

“And also, when she gets here. You two are dismissed for the evening.”

“But-”

“No buts. I’m doing you a favor. When that door closes behind her, you two get out of here.”

“Yes Princess.”

The key turned in the steel door with a thud that echoed through the academy's library. Heads turned in unvoiced questions as Shining opened the door and stepped through; lamps lighting as he entered. No pony had opened this alcove in generations, yet neither age or neglect showed in the little room. Books and scrolls covered the far wall, arcane instruments rested on another, and bare stone made for the other walls. A heavy table served as a desk in the center of the room.

Sloping his saddlebag on the table, he scanned the spines of the books before him.

"I don't even know where to start," he grumbled.

Slipping out a book titled, The Incantations of Thanatos, Shining flipped it open, '-oak tree battle scarred, chips of bone, chips of steel, seven generations blood soaked soil-'. Shining slammed the book shut with a shudder. "Theory... I need proper formulas, incantations are too dangerous. I have to teach this." Reshelving the book he spotted another tomb: Magic and combat, a history. "That's what I need."

“He should have been home hours ago,” Cadence fumed. The clock tower finishing it’s midnight toll, she paced the main room of their suit, anger at Celestia only kept in check by concern for her husband.

Cadence knew the dangers of dark magic, she had seen ponies corrupt and twist in its shadow. To know a spell or incantation was harmless enough; if learned for a good cause. But to study it, to try and understand it, that was a path few could walk unscarred. Now Celestia has sent her husband into that dark place and left her to patch up the wounds.

And then there were her siblings, those six alicorns that the fates had found amusing to call her brothers and sisters. Born with the task of cleaning up after them, she had spent time uncounted giving succour to the lives they had ruined. Now one of Celestia’s schemes threatened to free them from their prison. Free to live her own life for the past two millennium she was again faced with their burden.

Anger melted from her in a flash as the front door cracked open. As her husband slowly waded into the room, she reflexively checked his eyes. They were tired, but no signs of smoke. Before he could react, she ran to him and pressed necks in a hug. “Celestia told me everything. How’d it go?” she asked. Her horn lit as he smiled and leaned into her. With not a spell, but her innate divine gift. Cadence soothed her husband’s heart and warded it against corruption.

“Better now,” Shining said with a content sigh.

07

Twilight passed door after door as she trotted down the corridor. Breathing in the scent of old paper and poor hygiene, she smiled: the smell of academia, a strange perfume, but as soothing as her mother’s cooking. The college hall was a familiar setting, though this particular building she had seldom entered. The administration hall was one that the title of Celestia’s prodigy had exempted her from. She had never bothered with advisors or admissions, and the only classes held here were graduate labs; all things Celestia handled.

A simple door, with the numbers 101 printed on frosted glass, marked her destination this morning. Opening the door, Twilight found a tiny lobby. The receptionist looked up to greet her, but a voice from behind her interrupted him. “Come on back Twilight Sparkle,” came the voice.

“Charm is expecting you,” The receptionist said, ignoring the other voice, and kindly gesturing towards the door behind him.

While the lobby had been shockingly small, the room on the other side of the door startled Twilight with is size: office, lounge, library, and arcane lab all blended into one space.

“Back here,” the voice called again.

Twilight followed the sound, finding Charm Weaver in the back end of his lab, packing instruments she didn’t recognise into heavy-padded cases. He was an older stallion, but hardly grandfatherly. “So where are we setting up?” Twilight asked.

“Well. I think we should go you to the temple and examine the spell first hoof,” Charm Weaver answered, closing up the last case.

Twilight nodded. “Good start. Need me to carry something?”

“Yes please,” Weaver said, taking up half the cases, he headed towards a balcony door. “Just stack them out here. They will be taken up for us.”

Walking out onto the balcony Twilight stacked the cases with care. Looking up from the task Twilight found herself looking at the old hedge maze. Across the garden stood Celestia’s solarium. She’d seen the balcony for years, but never realized who’s it was. “Pretty view,” Twilight commented. “Though I don’t have the best memories about that maze.”

“Discord, right?” Weaver said.

Twilight started to nod in answer, but froze. Looking over to Charm Weaver she found the same spark of realization in his eyes. In a flash of lavender and orange the two unicorns vanished.

Echoing pops of magic found the two unicorns at the base of the re-petrified Discord. Both Unicorns slipped into that second sight only unicorns had. Walking around the stone god, they found the chromatic shackles of Harmony pulsing around a writhing form.

“He’s still awake in there.” Twilight said, with some horror in her voice. A little movement within the stone told her he had heard her.

“Yea,” Charm answered. Squinting closer to the statue he flailed his horn, manipulating a ragged thread of magic lingering among the robes of newer magic. “Feel this,” he said, stepping back, but holding fast to the old magic.

Stepping closer to Charm Weaver, Twilight followed the strings of his magic. He was holding the dying remains of an ancient spell. Brushing away Charm Weaver’s magic, she took the thread into her own will. She knew Celestia’s magic, and this spell sang of it; Luna’s presence was here too. Twilight shivered, she was holding a spell cast by the sisters; the spell they had defeated Discord with. Her mind crawled along the spell pattern, there were only shattered shards of it left now, and the edges were eroding even as she held them; a year or two and their would be nothing left at all. She took the spell in like fine wine, savoring every fassett, memorising every pattern. The elements of harmony were here too. But far differently than in the spell her friends and her had made. Here they were a subtle addition to the spell, a device for an effect. What she had made was harmony in carna, wrought like iron into a desired function.

“Do you think it’s the same thing?” Charm weaver asked. Then paused to watch Twilight study the spell in silence. How she could read the rotting gossamer was beyond him. In a lab he could have: but even then, not while so close to the torrent of power that was Discord and the spell that held him.

“I don’t know. I have no idea what this spell looked like originally, so I don’t know how much is missing,” Twilight said, running her magic deep within Discord’s shackles, finding more tatters of the old spell, but still not enough to piece together it’s full pattern.

“Can you memorize what’s left of it?” Charm Weaver asked.

“Already have. But why?”

“Oh, my little one, so many questions. Let me free and I’ll answer them,” a tenor voice said in the back of Twilight’s mind.

“I don’t think so,” Twilight answered with a thought. Unfurling her magic form the statue she turned to Charm Weaver, who was watching her with an amused air.

“If the Princesses can show us the original spell, and we can measure the rate of deterioration, we can figure out when it started failing.” Charm answered.

“Brilliant!” Twilight cheered. “Then we can do the same for the other spell and see if it started at the same time.”

Charm Weaver smiled. If only he was forty years younger. “You handle that, and I’ll head up to the temple and get thing set up,” he said. Twilight gave him one of her happy little nods before vanishing in a wink of purple.

Charm Weaver sighed and touched his magic to the stone Discord. “Talking to the pretty mare where we?”

“Aww, do we not feel special anymore? I never said we were dating exclusively.”

“And you said you’d still respect me in the morning,” Charm said in mock offence.

Silence held for a moment, before a long snicked cracked out in Charm weavers mind. “That’s why I like you toymaker. Than and you bring me toys. Too bad you’re not strong enough to let me out of here.”

“Not that I would,” Charm Weaver said.

“Ouch...”

“Yea, yea. Lets pretend that I believe you about not knowing why you were able to escape. Now tell me what you know about the temple at the top of the mountain.”

“Which mountain?”

“The one you’re collecting moss from; Mount Equineous”

“Ahh, I was afraid that was your question. Those pups are going to be back soon.”

“Pups?”

“Younger gods, pups. Those six don’t care too much for me, too much alike I suppose. Rather they didn’t find me like this. Not that they could hurt me, but I’m sure they could find a more uncomfortable prison.”

“You’re being somber. That scares me.”

“It should.”

Twilight knocked on the door to Celestia’s study, as throngs of ponies behind her washed up through the chambers and halls. The two guards flanking her were the only force providing her with any personal space.

“Come in Twilight,” Celestia’s voice called through the door.

Stepping inside she found a pony of each tribe kneeling before Celestia. They each wore gilded bands of white steel, laced with chain mesh. Beneath the steel a colorful caparison covered them brow to tail and hung down to their canons. Their helms were slick and simple, covering their crown and jaw, with only a bar of metal over their muzzle. More chain and plate hung from the helms, covering their neck two fold. “Arise and go,” Celestia said. The three obaid and filed out of the room with only the slinking sounds of armor. Their steps revealed more barding on their legs, hidden beneath the caparisons. Knee to hoof was encased in articulated steel. Heave sharp plate around the hoof told her they were as defensive and offensive.

“That is the armor of war,” Celestia answered before Twilight could ask. “What you are used to is merely ceremonial.”

“War,” Twilight said as if to taste the word.

“”I hope you can save us from it, but I will not waste the time we have.”

The weight of a nation slid onto Twilight’s withers at Celestia’s words. “I, need the spell you used on Discord,” Twilight said, lapsing back to the last whole thought she had. “We think the same force might have freed him last year.”

“It is a mimic of the cockatrice’s gaze,” Celestia answered stiffly, her mind rummaging the depth of her memory. “I am sorry, I do not know the formula for it. Luna and I just imitated its magic.”

“I never thought about trying that...” Twilight said. She had hoped for a nice spell pattern she could analyze, but wild magic could be made to give her an answer too. Though she would need Charm Weaver’s help. “I need to get up to the temple to see what we can do,” Twilight said, turning to leave.

“While you are here,” Celestia said, pausing Twilight at the door, “I think it would be best if you called your friends to Canterlot. More than likely, we will need the elements, no matter how things turn out. I would have called for them already, but they are your friends”

Twilight nodded, Celestia was right; weather fixing the spell, or preparing for plaguebringer’s return, they would need the elements. She had hoped to keep her friends out of this, but soon she’d need their help. “I’ll send them a letter,” Twilight answered.

Celestia nodded, “I will have the ambassador suite prepared for them.”

Luna stood at the arrival gate, awaiting the Ponyville train. Her two guards the only ponies near her, despite the bustle of the station. She had escaped the allnight study within the temple just as the moon nagged at her for his morning release. Stifling a yawn, Luna checked the clock again. But her eyes barely focused on it before the wail of the morning express echoed form down the line. Gathering herself, Luna pushed aside her blearness. Twilight’s friends would be here soon, and she intended to put her best hoof forward.

The hissing and clicking of the train finally came to a halt as it’s many doors flung open. Luna scanned the sea of ponies pouring onto the platform, finally spotting Spike waving at her from atop Applejack’s back.

“Princess Luna,” Rarity said and the seven made a polite bow. “I did not expect a royal reception.”

“Twilight had intended to receive you. But she, is on a roll, with her research. We felt it counterproductive to pull her from her work.”

“Ah, well, thank you very much for escorting us. I’m sure there more important things you could be doing,” Applejack said as the group began leaving the station for the waiting carriage.

Luna remained quiet as the took their seats in the carriage, only speaking again once they had begun moving. “Truth be told Applejack. Twilight and Charm Weaver don’t need my help, and Celestia is handling the matters of the state. Getting you all up to speed is the most important thing I can be doing.”

“So what is this big emergency anyway?” Dash asked.

08

Luna nursed her coffee, doing her best to ignore the dull roar of conversation around the massive table. Sleep had done her good, but she was going to enjoy this last bit of relative quiet while she could. Tow her right Twilight ran a hoof along the hem of her caparison; an absent minded fidget as she read from a loose stack of notes, discussing small points with Charm Weaver as she leafed through them. To her left, the newly vowed chiefs did there best to look calm, their armor betraying every nervous trich with a clank.

Fourteen ponies sat around the great disk of a table today; counting Celestia and herself. The private ceremony an hour ago had Celestia and her lay eight caparison on the backs of the ponies present: the other three having been barded yesterday. Twilight’s friends were a strange addition to the council, but the elements they wore gave them the right to be here, and they were useful in their own right beyond that.

Fourteen ponies, there would be more soon. She’d seen thirty gathered here, though twenty was a much more comfortable number. She’d rather the table and its rites be forgotten about. Looking down at the table she ran hoof across a deep set of scratches. May Hawk had been an animated speaker. ‘How long has he been dead now? At Least two hundred years before I-’ A sharp rap interrupted Luna’s thoughts.

“Ponies,” Celestia said, looking across the great ring of a table, all eyes now firmly on her. “It has been a long time since We have set cavaliers at this table.”

Several of the faces around the table jolted at her words. More than a few ran a hoof along the edge of the table before them, touching it with reverence for the lore attached to it.

Celestia allowed the moment to set into the gathered ponies before continuing. “Twilight Sparkle and Charm Weaver, would you two please brief us on what you have learned.”

“We have concluded that the same force that freed Discord, is also eroding the spell that banished the plaguebringers,” Charm said, pausing with a sideways glance towards Twilight.

“Both spells began degrading at the same time,” Twilight continued. “And to the best of our calculations, it was when the Elements of Harmony were first used. Total failure of the seal is expected in three months. We will have a more accurate time table very soon.”

A low murmur rolled around the room at the statement. As the disruption luled, Charm Weaver filled the silence. “We have found that the usage of the Elements has, what we are calling, a global effect. It is not merely the target of their usage that is affected, but all of creation. The result is the weakening of all things that disrupt the natural balance of creation.”

Twilight watched the three ponies she had seen earlier in Celestia’s study mumble amongst themselves in reaction to her report. Even here they still wore their armor. But given Celestia revelation about the table, that made far more sense that it had a moment ago. The pegasus eventually standing, and speaking for the armored three; her voice immediately betraying her to be non other than Spitfire.

“Then the elements of harmony cannot be used without speeding up the problem?” she asked.

“I’m afraid not,” Luna answered.

“My siblings will return soon enough.” Cadence said, pulling all eyes to her. “While I hope the spell can be amended, Let us talk of preparing for the worst.”

“We need to secure a food reserve,” Applejack said not allowing a lull between speakers.

“Very good,” Celestia said. “The national food reserve is a ghost of what it once was. I want two years rations put away by fall. Report to Thrifty Bit after the meeting, you two will submit a plan to Us by tomorrow.

Applejack gave a nervous nod to acknowledge the task. Her mind spinning around how that much food could be found in one harvest season. Ponies were going to be eating a lot of hay.

The armored earth pony shifted is weight, and spoke up with a rich tenor voice, “The guard requests that the train system be commandeered.” Twilight knew that voice too, Shining’s old commander; Sergeant Batton.

“I will not have civilian use interrupted yet. But I will see that extra cars are made to accommodate your numbers, and you have permission to commandeer the trains, once we are officially in a state of emergency,” Celestia said. Making a few notes she looked around the table, waiting for another pony to speak up.

Shining took the cue to rifle through his notes and speak up. “With the help of Moon Dancer,” Shining gave a polite nod to the armored unicorn, who returned the gesture, “I have chosen twenty-four ponies to become instructors. I will have each trained in a different killing thought by the end of the month. At that point they will begin training the common tropes, while I continue their training.”

Twilight and Cadence matched expressions at Shining’s mention of killing thoughts; Shining had dipped deep into the history of war magic.

Shuffling through his notes Shining returned his attention to the gathered ponies. “However it seems that dark magic relies heavily on material components. Particularly for the devices that lend themselve to organised conflict. To supply every guard with the required tools... I’m going to need a very large number of gems.”

“I think I can be of help there,” Rarity said with as much dignity as she could muster, despite feeling vastly out of place.

Celestia gave Rarity a nod before scribbling more notes. “Very well. Get with Shining Armor and see what will meet his needs. You have the Crowns backing to organise and implement whatever is needed. Moon Dancer, is there anything you would like to add?”

“No princess,” Moon Dancer said.

Rarity nodded with a dry gulp. Eyeing the water class in front of her, she resisted the desire to take a drink, for fear of betraying her trembling nerves. Instead she began the mental checklist of what the operation would require.

“Weather division is also requesting funds to ramp up production of thunder heads, and staff training,” Spitfire said, as Celestia’s gaze drifted to her.

“Give them what ever funds you deem appropriate,” Celestia said. “I want you to recruit heavily from their lightning handlers. Storm riders will be needed.“

The very idea of storm riders sent shivers down Dash’s spine. As a lightning handler, if things turned bad, she would likely be one of the ponies welding weaponized lightning. The old stories echoed in her mind, the manic malus of the storm riders for legend made her sick.

“Rainbow Dash,” Luna said, snapping dash from her melancholy. “I understand it that you are on good terms with the Griffon aerie.”

Dash blinked for a moment, a bit embarrassed. “Not as good as I once did, but yea,” Dash said.

“And Fluttershy, the deer have granted you hospice among their kind, have they not,” Luna said

Fluttershy nodded her head as a timid answer.

“Then I charge the two of you with alerting your respective allies about the upcoming danger. We may need our old friends very soon,” Luna said Looking around the table she found a rather dejected looking Pinkie Pie quietly taking notes at their seat. The poor thing having no idea just how useful she would soon be. “And Pinkie Pie, meet with Us after counsel. We have an old tradition that you would be most suited to revive.”

.

.