Lifeblooms

Bloom woke to a type of comfort usually reserved for a warm bed on a snowy day, or heavy medication. The Element of Honesty thrummed softly at her throat, its gentle pulsing magic a welcome reminder of its presence. While Luna’s dark wing blocked out the demon rays of the morning sun. Not that it mattered much to Bloom, still it was the thought that counts. Surprisingly the small earth pony also found herself under an impossibly soft blanket, its consistency too light too be cloth, and too flexible to be a wing. Thinking back Bloom vaguely remembered grasping for a blanket sometime during the night. Must be Luna’s starry tail, she mused. It seems the night princesses tail was actually much longer and softer than most gave it credit for, making it a marvelous impromptu blanket. It would be a few minutes yet before Blooms sleep addled mind would come to fully realize just where she was, and what she was doing. Until then however, the warmth of her borrowed blanket and the scent of fresh pancakes with fruit would continue to fight for her attention. One promised unmatched comfort, the other a delightful breakfast.

“I know you are awake Bloom, care to join me in the waking world for some breakfast?” Luna’s voice never seemed to shatter a silence like most do. Instead it flowed in and out, making one second guess if she had spoken at all, or if they simply imagined the whole thing.

“I don’t know, my schedules booked solid through this afternoon. I’m absolutely swamped you see, even if you are a princess I’m going to be hard pressed to fit you in.”

“I see” Luna’s voice was all business as a smile spread over her lips. “And what, might I ask is it that has you so strapped for time?”

“Tail inspection” Bloom said around a yawn.  “Got some rather disturbing reports that your tail loses its softness during the day. Needless to say I must confirm whether or not this is true, and if it is how best to solve such a problem.” Letting out another yawn the small pony curled back up in Luna’s tail.

With a wolfish grin Luna slowly started to pull her tail away from Bloom, who absentmindedly grabbed at it. Her hoof however, and the small amount of telekinesis all ponies have in there hooves, slipped right through the star filled tail made blanket. Trying again was met with the same result. Again and again she tried, even attempting to bite the evil tail, but nothing worked. “Noooooooo!” she cried as she chased after her impossibly soft blanket. “Give it back you cheater, that’s not fair. I stole it from you it’s mine, you can’t steal it back!”

Luna found it hard to listen however as she was laughing so hard she couldn’t breathe. Only stopping when she was tackled by a small earth pony, snuggling against her mane. “If I let you use my mane will you join me for breakfast?”

“Only if I can keep it all the way to Ponyville.”

“How is that fair?”

“You cheated.”

“In a game without rules?”

“Still cheated.” Blooms grip on Luna made it clear she wasn’t backing down.

“Fine.” With a smile at the little pony’s victorious grin, Luna wrapped Bloom inside her starry mane and placed her back on the seat. “Now let us eat.”

Turning her bracelets back on, Bloom noticed just how much food was sitting before her. Pancakes stacked and steaming, surrounded by artfully crafted fruits shaped like woodland creatures. Looking through Bastions eyes revealed that no expense had been spared on presentation. “Is this what it’s like being a princess? Everypony going out of their way to make sure even your food is dressed to the nines.”

“This is mostly Celestia’s fault, she is well known for her love of high quality food. Most simply assume a have my sisters tastes.” Shrugging Luna started on her breakfast.

“So you aren’t into all this unnecessary fluff?” The pancakes were delicious, light, and fluffy with rich syrup, the fruit tasted too fresh you would have thought they’d been plucked right from the fields.

Finishing off her first pancake Luna wiped some syrup from her muzzle before answering. It wasn’t the dainty little taps Bloom had come to expect from anyone in Canterlot, but the princess lost none of her grace to the motion. “I am from a simpler time I suppose. We had less flash in our meals then. Even still my chef always made my food to be eaten, not shown in an art gallery.”

“I see.”

The two enjoyed the rest of their meal in a comfortable silence. Once they finished one of the trains staff came to take there dishes away, leaving a pot of tea in its place. The poor mare looked scared half to death when Bastion turned to look at her. To her credit though she didn’t bolt, and the plates only shook a little when she took them.

With the food gone, and the morning sun streaming through the window Luna got a good look a Bloom for the first time. She hadn’t noticed before in the dying sunlight when she plucked the filly from jail, but her coat seemed less vibrant than it once was. “Has your coat always been that color?” Bloom turned her head towards Luna very slowly. With her free hoof she gently pushed the red bow off to reveal the scarred remains where her eyes use to be. “Oh, right sorry.” Still the filly’s washed out color worried Luna.

The awkward silence as Bloom replaced her bow weighed down in the train car like a wet blanket. Snuggling deeper into Luna’s mane, Bloom worked up the courage to ask something she had wondered sense she was a crusader. “Luna, can I ask you a question that has nothing to do with magic?”

“You can always ask, the question is if I will answer.”

“How did you get your cutie mark?” She and the other crusaders had asked Twilight years ago, and much to the scholars chagrin she had to admit she didn’t know. Even after Twilight had sent a letter to the princess, the response she got was: ‘It’s an old story that is difficult to tell. One simply had to be there to understand.’

“That,” Luna said distractedly “has more to do with magic than you know.”  Her forehead knitted up in concentration, as if the words she wanted were just out of reach. After a minute of her opening and closing her mouth as she struggled to find the right words, Luna gave up. Shaking her head in dismay “I am sorry Bloom, I cannot tell you such a thing.”

“Oh,” Bloom said, struggling to keep the disappointment out of her voice. “That’s ok Luna you don’t have to talk about it. I’m sorry I brought it up.”

For what felt like the millionth time Luna caught her off guard with a sudden bout of laughter. “You misunderstand me little one, I cannot simply tell you because words are an insufficient medium for such things. There are some things you simply must be there for you to fully understand.”

Blooms ears perked at this. After all what could her cutie marks story be if words weren’t good enough to tell it? “Before I was just curious, but now I have to know how you got your cutie mark.”

“Well…”

“Yes?”

“I suppose if you truly want to know,” Luna said slowly. She was clearly enjoying dragging this out as long as possible. “I could be convinced to show you my memories of that time. I am the princess of dreams after all.”

Blooms deadpan look just hadn’t been the same sense she lost her eyes. Still she gave Luna her best look. “What do you want Luna?” She asked in a flat voice.

To her surprise Luna’s eyes softened until they were almost motherly. “Please do not go looking for Fluttershy or Twilight Sparkle.” Bloom was about to deny everything, but Luna quickly rushed on before she could. “Save your breath little one, I have seen your dreams and I know how you feel about those two. I also know that as much as you dislike, them you do not want them dead. What happens if those two set you off like fire?”

Bloom opened her mouth to protest, and then closed it when no argument came. She knew the princess was right. “They got them all killed,” she whispered weakly, but even she didn’t believe that anymore. The years away had cooled her anger, and given her time to think clearly about it all. Most days it was hard to even find that old rage. Only embers of dislike still burned, and even those were fading. “I don’t know what to do Luna,” she admitted soberly. “This,” she motioned at Bastion and herself making her bracelets rattle. “All this that I’ve been through and done, was it all for nothing?” Bloom was glad for her broken voice now, as it masked the subtle cracking of her words.

“What would your sister say?”

A small smile tugged at the corners of her lips, as her hoof touched the necklace she still wore. “She would say ‘the Apple family is above such petty grudges.’” Bloom let her old southern drawl slip back in as she spoke. So long away from home had changed her accent to something more akin to Zecora’s than her own families. “She’d say it was an accident and I should forgive them for their mistake.”

“Can you?”

“No.” the certainty in Blooms voice left no room for argument. “With work I may be able to be in the same room as them without violence. Maybe even in time we could have a conversation, but I’m not as strong as my sister. I’m not a big enough pony to ever truly forgive them.”

“That is more than I thought I would get,” Luna said with a smile. “I cannot rightly ask for more now can I?” As Luna lit up her horn, all the shadows in the train car seemed to grow a little darker. “To understand how Celestia and I got the sun and moon respectively you will need a little backstory.  So I will be showing you that entire day.” At this point the lights of the car looked more like the pinpricks of stars. The shadows seemed deep and full of unseen things, like the depths of a well. Soon Bastions vision was as dark as Blooms own. Luna’s voice seemed to come from a long ways away, or was it a long time away? It was becoming hard to tell. “Enjoy the ride little one.”

“Luna!”

I know that damned voice, with its tones like silver bells, and pitch perfect at all times. It drags a groan from my tired lips. She’s going to come bursting in here and- Bang! The sound of my heavy wooden door hitting the stone wall is cringe worthy. I know it’s coming, there can’t be more than seconds left. In a last ditch attempt to avoid my fate I pull my pillow over my head and don’t breath. If I can’t see her she doesn’t exist.

Like all bad plans this one fell apart as soon as it was needed. There is one bone chilling second of silence, just long enough for me to think ‘well maybe’. Then my blankets and pillow are violently ripped from their home atop me. I find myself glaring at a snow white face framed by a light blue and purple mane. Her aurora mane is done up to the nines, not a hair out of place.  It’s beautiful yes, but too much work for my tastes. “Sister,” I hiss through clenched teeth, “can I help you?”

“You can help me by getting up and making yourself presentable. Snow is waiting for us at the meeting, we are supposed to watch.” Her fake grin looks more natural than mine. I can see myself in the mirror behind Celestia, and my smile is pushing manic. I should probably stop smiling now, I’m even starting to creep myself out. Still I don’t stop until Celly turns around, preparing to teleport away. I know it eats at her. “I’ll see you there then” she says, firing up her horn. I could get up, comb my mane and tail, and then go after her. But teleports are a lot of work, and I’m sure I look fine as is.

With that in mind I light up my own horn, reaching out with my magic to touch Cellys. Subtly I tweak her spell just a bit so it takes me as well. Somepony better would have noticed my tampering with their spell. But Celly, for all her power, has never been good with the softer side of magic. As her spell pulls us both into the void of a teleport, I can’t help but wonder what face she will show me upon arrival. She has never been a fan of my interventions in her spells, no matter how small. Oh well, what’s done is done.

As it turns out, Cellys face becomes a cross between rage and accepting exasperation when her spell has a hitchhiker. Poor Celestia kept opening her mouth as if to scold me for my actions, only to close it a second later. Finally she settled on a simple, “really Luna?”

“Love you too Celly,” I say as I make my way past her and up the path. We are standing in a densely wooded area, but the massive flow of power gives a pretty clear indication of where to go. A short walk through the underbrush opens up to a rocky outcrop overlooking a canyon. The pure white form of Auntie Snow was already there, looking over the ledge into the canyon.

“About time you two got here, the alicorns taking part arrived a while ago. The rest should be here soon.”  Snows voice doesn’t ever shatter a silence like most do. Instead it flows in and out, making one second guess if she even spoke at all, or if they simply imagined the whole thing. It’s one of the things I admire about her so much. That and the graceful way she walks, and how her laugh is infectious, and how she never talks down to others and the subtle beauty in her magic, and… and now I’m staring. How long have I been doing that? Did she ask me something? Did I not answer? The sound of Celly complaining about my morning antics brings the rising panic down to a more manageable level. My sudden daydream about the qualities of Snow I wish I had seems to have gone unnoticed.

“-just can’t believe she had the nerve to hijack my teleport like that.” The annoyed edge in her voice is followed with a short glare in my direction.

“Please, I was less of a hijacker and more of a stowaway.” The glare doesn’t soften, but I can see the corners of her mouth twitch upwards ever so slightly. I offer an innocent grin of my own, which won’t help the situation any but is still fun to do.

“Luna! You should know better than to manipulate others spells, it’s extremely rude.” Her scolding loses its impact with the proud smile she’s currently fighting down. Celestia for her part just rolls her eyes, clearly knowing this will go nowhere.

Acting as natural as possible I take my seat to Snows left and look down into the canyon, a decision I immediately regret.  I have to bite my lip to keep from yelping at the sight of nightmares flowing into the meeting area below. Their bodies move like blood wrapped in shadows, while graceful and fluid, there’s nothing solid in their step. Their dozen eyes moving freely around their shadowy forms, taking in every detail of where they stand. My cyan eyes lock with a single pail white one for only a second, but that’s more than enough time to make my blood chill. Quickly I avert my gaze, but even though I’m no longer staring into emotionless eyes, I can feel them still watching me.

“Best to avoid their eyes when possible, it’s a rather unsettling experience.” Snows voice comes softly from beside me. A gentle reminder that I’m not actually down there with those creatures, I’m up here and I’m safe. Safer. “By the way Luna, did you even look in a mirror today?”

I know she’s talking about my deep blue mane, and I know it must be a sight to behold about now. I keep my mane shorter than my sisters to cut down on the amount of work I have to do every morning. Sadly it’s also thicker than hers, and its slight curls love to find their way into a beautiful mess every night. “There aren’t any lights in my room for a reason, I look better in the dark.”

This earned me a sympathetic chuckle from my aunt. “Would you like me to fix your mane dear?” Unlike Celestia, Snows mane also liked to explore new and interesting knots every night. So with my defeated nod, she began idly loosening the knots with her magic as we waited for everyone to arrive.

“Who is that?” Cellys question catches the both of us off guard after the long minutes of silence. Fallowing her gaze farther down the canyons winding path reveals a small figure walking up the long dried riverbed. It takes a bit of magic to sharpen his image into that of a tall gray wolf. It walked upon only two legs. Its forepaws reminiscent of a dragons, ending in a clawed hand. The wolf wore a spotless white suit, and held a cane of bleached white bone. Even from this distance I can tell it’s an Atharie, what those gem hunting dogs use to be before they went half mad and all but feral. A proud race, but not all that magical if memory serves. The thing that stands out about this Atharie though is its shadow. It stands straighter with broader shoulders than the wolf it seems to belong to. It also seems to walk with more ridged steps somehow. The Atharie on the other hoof has a lazy swagger about him, as if he simply can’t be bothered to give any real effort in his stride.

“Odd,” I murmur to myself.

“That he is,” Snow agrees. “Dangerous to, so I would advise running if you are ever unfortunate enough to meet him again.”

“Don’t Atharie have only a bit of magic though? What makes him special?” no matter how hard I look, if you take away the odd shadow he is just another wolf.

Snows voice drops to just above a whisper as she glares at the wolf. “That monster is Vemndack Sletckusk, a necromancer. Despite how he may look that thing isn’t an Atharie, at least not anymore. He’s been twisting and replacing his insides for years to acquire more magic. He may look fine on the outside, but his skin just hides the abomination on the inside.” At this Vemndack stopped walking and turned to look Snow dead in the eyes. He wore a huge grin, and gave her a deep bow before continuing on his way to the meeting.

“You know him?” Celly asks with a bit of shock in her voice.

“I’ve tried to kill him a half dozen times.”

I let out a low whistle, if Snow couldn’t kill him he must be quite something. It’s pretty much universally agreed that Snow’s a genius, the only reason she isn’t currently taking part is due to her age. “He’s really that good is he?”

“Let me put it this way, he’s been a necromancer for over a millennium and no one’s killed him yet. Or if they have he hasn’t stayed dead long.” The disgust in her voice only seems to grow the longer she talks about Vemndack. No, not disgust, annoyance.

Looking back at the wolf he doesn’t seem so small anymore. Lounging on a rock as he talks to a couple of Nightmares he looks completely in his element. He must have sensed my eyes on him because he looks up to meet my gaze. The look in his eyes says he’s been aware of my staring this whole time. With a smile and a nod he returns to his conversation. “Is he evil?” my voice sounds small, even shaken. Is that fear in my voice, I hadn’t even noticed how scared I am. Those eyes though…

Snows frown reveals just how conflicted she is on this. “I don’t know if I’m honest. He is a necromancer and not a friend of our nation to be sure.  But still I don’t believe him to be evil. After all every time we have met I have undoubtedly lost, still he hasn’t killed me yet.” Her frown deepens farther. “The simple fact that he’s a necromancer is why he is hated by most. Other than that though he isn’t even part of this war, never has been. It’s a bit surprising he’s here at all to be honest.”

“Wait, back up a second.” By now Cellys face is a mirror of Snows scowl as she tries to understand. “If he’s not evil, nor a part of this war, why exactly have you been fighting with him?”

I want to hear the answer to this as well. I can’t see much point in angering a clearly powerful necromancer for no reason.

“I can’t just let a known necromancer waltz through our lands; I’m supposed to be protecting this place after all.”

“Still you said you met him more than once,” Celly pressed.

“He would often walk through our lands to visit K’shyia the spider queen. I would try to kill him whenever I could spare the time. Though I feel it was more a game to him than a true fight.” The disgust in her words had long sense changed to bitter annoyance with the old necromancer.

What’s more surprising though is that Vemndack seems to be on friendly terms with K’shyia the spider queen. Living to the east of her we’ve always had the same relationship with K’shyia that the rest of the world has. Don’t start problems for her, and she’ll leave your nation in one peace. In all honesty I don’t truly know what makes the spider queen so frightening, nopony ever talks about it. From what I have heard most have never seen her actually fight, the few who have only said don’t anger her. It must be quite something though if there isn’t a nation in the world openly hostile towards her.

A whispered ‘whoa’ from Celestia pulls my eyes away from the frightening wolf. Her eyes aren’t down on the canyon though; they’re up to the sky. It doesn’t take me nearly as long to find what’s caught her eye this time. The dragon currently flying our way couldn’t be described as anything other than massive.  The green of his scales glitter like dark forest emeralds in the rising sun. As he (clearly male) comes closer, the massive leathery wings block out the sun with every flap. Thankfully he had the forethought to land a ways up the dry riverbed, still even with his wings folded to his sides the dragon hardly fit inside the canyon walls. The rumbling of his steps nearly drowns out my voice as I ask what Celestia and I are both thinking. “Who is that?”

“Iaitethoniss Rynserrayraka Vesrisengsam Enburrisrak.”

The choked approximation of language Snow produced must have been the dragon’s name. “Care to run that one by me again?” I’m half convinced she choked right at the start of speaking and just went with it.

“That’s his name, or at least an attempt at it. Dragons have interesting vocal cords, so their language has many sounds other creatures can’t imitate. That was the closest I can get to his name, and still it’s a butchery of his language. I tend to simply call him Elder Ryn, because a dragon’s second name is the most important. Also because that’s about as far as I can get into it before the butchery begins.  Anyways all you have to know about him is he’s the current Great Elder of the dragons.”

As Elder Ryn came closer it became clear he wasn’t alone. It had been hard to notice them because none of the other two dozen or so dragons was any bigger than your average alicorn. “Can dragons shape shift,” Celly asks eyeing the smaller dragons.

“Only Envy and Pride dragons can naturally shape shift. Most dragons of about a century or more can shape shift though, would be a bit of a pain to move around if they couldn’t.”

“Why is Elder Ryn that large then? Isn’t he the oldest living dragon?”

“First of all he isn’t exactly the oldest” Snow said with a smile. “One doesn’t become the Great Elder by simply being the oldest. In fact, the oldest dragon is actually standing beside Ryn. She’s the pale yellow dragon with white spikes. She doesn’t lead because her vice is Wrath, which is generally bad for a leader. As for why he doesn’t change is size, well he’s a Sloth dragon. He quite simply can’t be bothered to do it.”

“So what’s the Wrath dragon’s name?” I’ll admit I mostly want to see Snow butcher another dragon’s name.

“I don’t know,” Snow says softly. “She is so old I would wager there are only a half dozen beings in the world who know her name. She goes by Sunny currently; it’s a bit of a joke considering her vice. She never uses her real name though, and if she’s chosen to stop using it I’m sure there’s a good reason.”

“Who are the two in the back that everyone seems to be concerned about,” Celly asks.

Snow takes a second to scan the crowd of dragons, but once she finds the ones Celestias mentioned her face goes from curious to horrified. “Gods above, they brought those two?” her voice is shaking a bit, and she moves herself ever so slightly to stand farther between the dragons and us. “Those two are Gluttony dragons, ancient ones.”

“Well of course their ancient,” Celly says, “their part of the meeting after all.”

“You don’t understand. Those two are Gluttony dragons. Those two are the closest things to true monsters you’ll ever have the misfortune to see.”

I’m having trouble seeing Snows fear of the two dragons. They both stand proudly next to their brothers and sisters. One with brilliant white scales like diamonds, and sapphire eyes. The other has ruby red scales and eyes to match that seem to burn from the inside. Both carrying themselves with the confidence of lords. “You’re going to have to explain that one a bit more,” I say drily. “I don’t understand what’s do bad about a dragon who eats a bit more than most.”

Snow shoots me a quick glare before returning her attention to the two dragons. “Gluttony is the hardest of the seven vices to control,” she begins after a moment. “Young Gluttony dragons are essentially feral and eat anything they come across, even other dragons. But every dragon gets something from there vice you see. Greed dragons can grow to massive sizes extremely quickly, Pride dragons are master shape shifters, and Sloth dragons’ regeneration rivals that of even hydras. Gluttony dragons on the other hoof are true monsters.” Snow let out a small shutter. “Those things steal attributes of the creatures they eat and assimilate it into their own form. The fact that those two look like normal dragons now is likely because they’ve eaten something that shape shifts. Like a Changeling or a Pride dragon, and not just one. They’ve likely eaten a good number of them to be able to shape shift that well.”

“But wouldn’t they only have to change a little bit of themselves to blend in,” Celestia asks. “After all they are still dragons.”

Snow shook her head. “Gluttony dragons take something from every living thing they eat and make it a part of themselves. Those two are over a thousand years old, with a thousand years of changes made to their bodies. Under all that magic are abominations that look nothing like the dragons they once were.”

Looking back down at the two dragons they don’t look so harmless anymore. They still held that regal air about them, but the way their eyes track the movement of every other creature in the canyon’s reminiscent of a predator. As if the two dragons are looking over a selection of cakes at a bakery. “What are their names?” I ask in a soft voice.

“I don’t know,” Snow admitted. “If they have names at all no one’s talking about it. There aren’t a lot of Gluttony dragons alive, and only those two are that old, so we’ve always referred to them as the elder monsters.”

We all got quiet after that, nopony really wanting to talk about the two insane dragons that would be joining the spell. Even when strange creatures arrive in long blood red cloaks there isn’t the old interest. Half of me is still thinking about the monstrous dragons sitting no more than two hundred yards away. Snow explains that the newcomers are Trolls, violent creatures with a love for war and the glory of the hunt. Honorable, yet they have little patience for the weak.  It sounds like Snows explaining this more to have something to do than for our benefit. I don’t stop her though, in truth her talking is helping to keep my nerves under control. I’ve been getting more and more nervous as more creatures arrive, and at this point it’s all I can do to not start shaking.

By the time the siren queen arrived, following a few more Named Snow knew nothing about; I was shaking like a leaf. According to Snow it’s all the ambient magic in the air, my own magic wasn’t enough to hold it at bay. The result being uncontrollable shaking as if I was petrified by fear. Even with Snow trying to hold it back with her own magic, there was little she could do once the siren queen Ves'que arrived. She doesn’t leave the covered litter she arrived in, according to Snow if she were to step out it would only cause problems. After all sirens are known for their irresistible nature, no one lives by the seas because all but the strongest willed creatures would drown themselves chasing a siren. The queen is an order of magnitude worse than a normal siren, so leaving that litter would cause nothing but problems here.

Normally I would be extremely interested in queen Ves'que and her sirens, but sadly at the moment its taking all I have to not curl up in a ball and cry. The overwhelming pressure coming from the canyon is suffocating, so much so that I have to focus just to inhale and exhale. Just as I’m beginning to seriously consider teleporting somewhere far away from here it all disappears. The pressure is gone completely as if it never existed in the first place. My first thought is Snow, but she looks as relieved as I do. Scanning the assembled crowd it isn’t hard to find out just who’s responsible, after all everyone in attendance is giving the three respectful nods as they pass.

The spider queen K'shyia is easy enough to pick out but the two changelings with her confuse me. One has a long straight white mane and tail, looking like she would rather be anywhere else right now. The other was a pink mane and tail full of poufy curls that looked like it would eat a comb. The shocking thing was that she sat atop the large spider queen chatting animatedly.

“Who is the pink one sitting on the spider queen?” Celestia sounded as shocked as I felt. At first I was sure that the queen K'shyia had been the one to block all the magic coming from the canyon. Now though seeing a pink changeling stretch out on the spider queen like a bed I’m not so sure.

“That one goes by many names, most of which she makes up when asked. Not much is known about that pink one, what I do know is that she doesn’t have a hive like her sisters. Whether she once did is unknown, if she did though it’s been gone for thousands of years by now.” Snow spoke with respect when talking about the pink changeling. She even gave a slight bow as the three passed below us, though weather it was meant for K’shyia I couldn’t tell. “As for her reputation,” Snow continued after the group passed. “She is without a doubt one of the oldest beings here. Possibly older than even queen K'shyia, though both are so old there aren’t records of a time before them.”

“How come I’ve never heard anything about her,” I ask. Surely something so old and powerful should be better documented throughout history, but I have never seen any mention of this pink changeling.

Snow shrugged, “probably because she doesn’t do much herself. She has her hooves in quite a bit around the world, but nothing directly linked to her. Things just seem to always work out the way she says they will, but she never actually does anything, at least not publicly.” Snow shook her head, “that one’s impossible it link to anything, she doesn’t even own a home as far as I know. Still her influence is undeniable.”

Snow looked like she was about to say more, but was cut short as the pink changelings voice boomed through the canyon. “Looks like everyone is here, so let’s begin.” With that she lit up her horn giving the entire canyon a pink glow. Surprisingly no one said anything about being ordered around buy this little changeling, they just followed her into the consciousness melding spell.

For long minutes nothing happened, the entire assembly of ancients, as well as all of the watchers like us just sat in silence. It was eerie how quiet it remained for nearly an hour, hope slowly fading with ever agonizing minute. Looking to my left Celly looked like she was about to cry. Snow to my right was a mask of indifference, though it was beginning to crack showing signs of defeat. Everyone here knew this is our last shot, and it’s starting to look like we missed.

Then it happened, the sky shifted in an instant from its bright blue to a dark purple filled with six moons. I can’t do anything but sit open mouthed as the left half of the horizon fades into a crimson sky with a blindingly bright blue sun. Movement below me drags my sight back down to the canyon floor and the five elementals standing in a circle. The small logical part of my mind reminds me that our own world still has one living elemental lord, nature. That was probably the dear made of vines and leaves, long twisting horns made of wood wrapped in flowing flowers. Our nature stood dwarfed by the other elemental lords, a serpent made of clouds, I giant of molten rock and fire, an octopus of water and ice, and what looked like a goat made of stone with diamonds for eyes. Still the four gave silent nods of respect to nature before leaving as suddenly as they had come. Nature stood a while longer before leaving as well.

So many questions I wish to ask, where did those lords come from, where did they go? Were they resurrected or did they come from somewhere else, if so where? And what happened to the sky? Sadly now is not the time for questions, even if it was, the only ones with answers are currently busy doing gods only knows what. Looking back up to the sky I notice it’s changed again. The blue sun no longer burns with its previous painful intensity, the six moons seem to have stolen the lost light though as they shine more brightly. Looking behind me I can’t help but notice our own red sun has become an odd yellow thing, brighter to be sure but lacking its old beauty. There is little time to marvel at the sight however as the four moons of our home are moving together at an unnerving speed. It’s almost as if, no way…

The splitting pain in my head forces me to the ground in shock. I can’t move, can’t think, and can hardly draw ragged breaths through my pained throat. I think someone’s screaming but I can’t be sure. Wait, I know who’s screaming, it’s me. I couldn’t say how long I simply lay there, clutching my head and screaming in agony. When the pain finally does recede leaving me shaking on the ground in a puddle of my own tears, Snow and Celestia are looking at me with worried expressions. The sky’s back to normal so I guess everything must be over. “So, how’d it go? I was a bit indisposed for the end of it.” My voice comes out jagged and just above a whisper, probably did some damage to my throat with all the screaming. Even still I try to give my best carefree grin. The effect however is a bit dampened by Cellys tearful hug as she blubbers incomprehensibly about worry and losses. I look to Snow for some help, only to find the tall alicorn whipping away her own tears. What catches my eye however is not her but the changeling standing beside her. The pink one Snow says changes her name a lot.

“Sorry about that little miss.” Her voice is chipper and upbeat, with an apologetic undertone to it. How does she make it do that? “We had a lot to hold onto at once and screwed up the timing a bit. You weren’t supposed to get the moon until after we crashed the four together.” The changeling looked small standing this close, probably smaller than even me. She chuckled a bit nervously, shuffling from hoof to hoof. “That must have hurt quite a bit, sorry again. I did some painkilling magic as soon as we finished but… well I’m sorry.”

“Wait, what do you mean I got the moon?” I can’t understand this strange changeling.

“Oh, ya you were probably pretty out of sorts when we sent out the announcement at the end. Well you see a lot of things changed in order to get the world to function again. One of those things is that the sun and moon no longer work on their own, so the moons yours now and the suns your sisters. We would have asked first but we were kind of desperate at the time so… the moons kind of bound to your soul now. You don’t technically have to move it, but the oceans don’t work all that well without it so, umm, you should probably move it.” The pink changeling shuffled awkwardly a bit more. “I’ll make it worth your time to move them, just give me some time to set everything up. Sorry again for our mistake and forcing this onto you two. Bye!” with that the pink changeling disappeared. No flash or sound, just there one moment and gone the next.

Getting to my hooves is a bit of a chore with stiff mussels but the odd cloth falling in front of my eyes startles me back to the ground. Trying to remove it is even more confusing as it goes nowhere. Looking back over myself is an interesting experience to say the least. The strange cloth turns out to be my mane, which like my tail is a sea of stars flowing in a nonexistent breeze. My wings are larger as well, and looking farther down my newly toned body shows an interesting mark upon my flanks. A crescent moon in a black sky.

Bloom woke up slowly, her own mind still spinning from the pain of Luna’s memory. “Welcome back to the waking world,” an unfamiliar voice spoke calmly. Immediately Bloom willed her bracelets on and focused on seeing through Bastions eyes. The wolf glared down on the gray pegasie letting out a low growl. The newcomer for his part didn’t even give the wolf he sat next to a glance. Instead he took a calm sip of his tea before giving an annoyed look to, Luna? “Do you know how long it took me to track you down princess?” he asked with a bit too much venom to be addressing royalty.

Luna yawned before looking outside at the slowly setting moon. “A good bit longer than it should have if you just got here,” Luna said returning her attention to the gray pegasie. “I’d think the captain of my honor guard would be better than this, it seems I was wrong.” She spoke harshly but her growing smile betrayed her true feelings.

The captain just rolled his eyes. “Maybe if you told anypony before teleporting to the opposite side of another country I could have found you sooner.”

“How did you find me anyway,” Luna asked, “even tracking down the train I was on is impressive, let alone actually getting here on such short notice.” Bloom looked at the middle aged pegasie with new found respect. How fast would he have had to work to find the princess who left no leads and then be sitting in their train car in just over a day?

“I have my ways” the captain said with a smirk. “I may not do much work, but I didn’t get to where I am without picking up a trick or two along the way.”

“So will you be joining us all the way to Ponyville?”

“Somepony has to keep an eye on you, lest you disappear again.”

“Well then, if you’re here anyway want to play a game?” Luna asked pulling a stack of bored games from her mane. To Blooms surprise the stoic looking guards face broke into a grin. Sighing Bloom resigned herself to the string of losses she knew was coming all the way to Ponyville.