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                    Friendship's Touch                     
                       -by Tomepony-                       
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                         Chapter 1                         
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Chapter 1
Chapter 1
It was a nice spring day in Ponyville. Winter Wrap Up had come and gone a week ago, leaving the town and surrounding landscape covered in green trees and blooming flowers. The apple blossoms on the trees at Sweet Apple Acres were in full bloom, and it would soon be time for Applebuck season.
Up on the balcony of the library, the unicorn Twilight Sparkle lay reading a book. She and Spike had just finished spring cleaning the day before and were taking some time off to enjoy the lovely day. Spike had gone off somewhere, no doubt to see if Rarity needed his assistance, leaving Twilight time alone to enjoy her book. She had just turned the page when she heard a crash come from somewhere behind her in the library.
“What in the world could that have been?” she thought as she closed her book, which became surrounded by a purple aura and levitated behind her as she entered her room.
Setting the book down on her desk, she poked her head out the door, hearing the sound of something being shuffled on the ground below. She made the trip down the short flight of steps that separated her private quarters from the public part of the library, thinking that maybe a customer had perhaps come in. Though if that were the case, she’d have heard the bell she had set up to ring in her room when the door was opened, and the balcony gave her a clear line of sight of the door as well.  Once at the bottom of the stairs she followed the sound into the room that held the reference section.
“Oh, Twilight, forgive me,” came the apologetic voice of Princess Luna as she used her magic to sweep up the broken remains of what looked to be a vase, while simultaneously using a mop to clean up the water that had been spilled from it; the flowers had already been placed in a replacement on the nearby table. “I was carrying a stack of books and bumped into the table. I apologize for breaking your vase,” she said, before depositing the broken pieces into the trash can.
How could Twilight have forgotten?  She should have remembered that the Princess would be there. Luna wasn’t one for the hustle and bustle of castle life after being solitary for a thousand years, though come to find out she wasn’t much of a pony person to begin with; being a night pony can do that. So she had approached Twilight one day and had asked if she could stay in one of her spare rooms on occasion.  Twilight was happy to oblige if Princess Celestia was ok with it, who coincidentally saw it as a great idea. It would give Luna a chance to become reacquainted with her subjects in small numbers after her long solitude, and it would also give them more of a local presence in the town, which would shorten the time and distance one would normally have had to take to get all the way to Canterlot for a royal audience. So gradually Luna had gone from spending one day, to two, to eventually all but taking up residence in the library, teleporting or flying to the castle to make an appearance or two, and to visit Celestia.  It did turn out quite well as Princess Celestia predicted.  Within a couple months, with Twilight and her friends' help of course, Luna had acclimatized herself to the modern pony's way of life.  She had even gone so far as to learn to speak like a normal pony and dropped most of the archaic phrases she had used upon their first meeting on Nightmare Night, thanks to Cheerilee's lessons, though she would let a few slip every so often.
Luna had eventually taken Twilight on as her own personal student, something that Twilight and Celestia had happily agreed with. The time together had given Luna and Twilight a chance to get closer, giving Twilight a new insight into the mysterious mare that she had only spent a little time with on the previous Nightmare Night and then again at her brother’s wedding.  They’d spent many a night gazing at the sky, Luna telling her the intimate details of every little star.  She would tell her stories of the constellations, and the historical figures they were supposedly connected to by legend. She even got to learn, with great excitement, a lot about the sisters’ pasts, what things were like in Equestria in the old days, and the great ponies Twilight could only read about while the sisters actually knew and talked to them.
The closer they got as student and teacher opened the door for them to become closer as friends as well.  There would be many a night when Luna would sleepover in Twilight’s room after the two had sat drinking tea and playing games. Twilight had learned that Luna was an master in chess and an old game she had never heard of before called Mahjong. This new arrangement gave Twilight an opportunity to spend more time with Princess Celestia again as well, since it gave the Princess an excuse to ditch some of her boring meetings and other engagements to ‘check on her sister’.
Of course Luna’s presence in Ponyville had given her a chance to become good friends with the other girls as well. She had found an unlikely pair of companions in Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie given the fact that they all loved to prank everypony, Rarity being their favorite target. The funniest thing everypony remembered them doing was when Luna had taught the two of them to hypnotize Fluttershy’s chickens, after which, they rounded them up and carefully set them about Rarity’s room while she was sleeping. The next morning, when she had woken up and set a hoof out of bed; she nudged a chicken they had set on her slippers and startled the thing, which then flew across the room and bumped into another chicken, which then flew into and startled another chicken and so on until the whole room was a chaotic mess of startled chickens flying about.
She had become good friends with Applejack as well, admiring the pony’s hardworking spirit and the love between her and Applebloom, reminding Luna of Celestia and herself. She had spent hours at the Apple Family farm bucking apples or assisting with the Zap Apple Jam making process before participating in the good old Apple Family fun that came after all the hard work.
The best thing that Luna had taught them however, was during a sleepover Twilight had with all the girls. She had told them about some of her responsibilities as the Mistress of the Night. There was the thing everypony knew about her raising and lowering the moon and organizing the occasional meteor shower and comet fly-by. But what she had shown them next that had amazed them all was her ability to move about the dreams of the ponies. It was one of her favorite things, she admitted. She demonstrated later that night, after everypony had fallen asleep, by appearing in their dreams.  They then had a delightful tea party in Pinkie Pie’s dream which somehow turned into a volleyball game involving a pie instead of a volleyball.
“Oh, that’s ok, It wasn’t any special vase,” she reassured Luna, snapping out of her reverie. “I’m surprised to see you up at this time of day Princess. I thought you slept during the day just as Princess Celestia does at night.”
“Tis true, Twilight, that Tia controls the sun, while I control the moon and stars. But we only require the smallest amount of our magic and concentration to raise them, put them in motion, and then set them. Other than that, we live the same day and night cycle as normal ponies,” she explained as she hung the mop, broom, and dustpan in the cleaning closet and shut the door.
“Oh, I never knew that. You’ll have to tell me more sometime about how you two work the sun and moon, and how you make that lovely night sky!” she exclaimed, feeling like when she was a filly eager to learn something new.
“Of course, it would be my pleasure,” Luna said, giving the purple mare a smile. “I was just preparing to go out into town for lunch. Would you care to join me?” she asked Twilight as she watched the unicorn who seemed to be bubbling with excitement.
“Sure, that’s like a great idea,” Twilight said in between thoughts of the questions she wanted to ask Luna.  Her ecstatic moment was interrupted by her rumbling stomach however, which caused her to blush lightly with a soft chuckle.
Twilight grabbed the closed sign and hung it on the doorknob as the two mares made their way out the door. She looked up and noticed that the sun was high in the sky now; she hadn’t realized how into her book she was until now. They walked through town a ways and had just started to pass by the florist shop owned by Daisy, Rose, and Lily when a voice came from above.
“Look out below!” shouted the voice as a grey streak crashed into Luna, sending the larger Alicorn staggering back a few steps though she ultimately managed to keep her hoofing. She looked down with concern as Derpy the mailmare lay at her hooves, disoriented and shaking her head a bit.
“Oh, dear Ditzy Doo. Are you alright?” Luna asked.
As Derpy collected herself, she closed her eyes and gently knocked on the side of her head a bit before opening them again, which were now aligned perfectly and focused on the pony she had collided with.
“Oh, Princess Luna, I’m sorry!” She immediately bowed before just as quickly finding herself being gently lifted back up to her hooves.
“Tis alright. I hope you are OK though,” she said, giving the confused mailmare a kind smile.
“You weren’t hurt, were you Ditzy? Did your eyes go out of focus again?” Twilight asked as she helped Derpy pick up some of the letters along with a small package of muffins that had fallen out of her pouch.
“Yeah, I was on my way to deliver your mail when it happened, in fact.” She reached into her pouch and pulled a large magazine from it, holding it out to Twilight in her mouth. “Here’s your book catalog,” she smiled as Twilight took the magazine from her with her magic, floating it over to browse through it quickly.
“Oh thank you.,” Twilight said, using her teleportation spell to send the magazine to the library.
“I’m afraid I don’t have any mail for you your majesty,” Derpy said with a bow.
“That’s perfectly fine, and please, call me Luna, young Ditzy,” Luna said with a wave of her hoof.
Derpy nodded with a wide grin before looking at her watch.
“Oh goodness! I have to finish my route then go get Dinky from school! It was nice to see you Twilight and P- Luna!” She shouted as she zipped up into the sky, making her way towards Canterlot.
“Such a nice pony,” Luna said as she watched Derpy become a gray speck.
“Yes, she can be prone to klutziness at times, but we love her all the same,” Twilight replied with a smile before she heard her stomach rumble. She blushed a bit and chuckled nervously as she looked up at Luna. “Guess I got too into my book.”
“It would seem that way. It is good to be learned Twilight. But not at the expense of your health,” Luna chided her.
“I’ll try to remember that,” Twilight smiled.
The two made their way down the street once more, Luna receiving the odd bow or two; though for the most part she had been accepted into the community as just another citizen, and she was appreciative that her words had been taken to heart. When she had first made the arrangement to stay she had addressed the town, letting them know that she wished to be treated as one of them. The townsfolk were happy to oblige, though it took some getting used to.  After some time though, they came to treat her as one of their own while still giving her their respect and admiration she deserved. Some still addressed her as Princess or Princess Luna, with her closest of friends really only calling her Luna as she preferred. But ultimately it made Luna happy, and more importantly; it made her feel like she belonged.
They opted to go to Sugarcube Corner for lunch guided by their sweet tooth as well as a desire to visit Pinkie Pie and see the Cakes' foals.  Luna had given them her blessing when she first moved to town, and the two foals seemed to take a liking to her, climbing on and playing with her much like they did Pinkie and the other girls.  Rainbow had taken a special liking to Pound Cake, flying around with him and teaching him to use his wings much to Scootaloo's despair, however.  The girls constantly tried to bring it to Rainbow's attention, but she could be a bit dense at times.  One day they'd have to sit her and Scootaloo down together and let the little pegasus tell her her feelings.  As they walked in with a tinkle from the bell above the door they caught sight of Rainbow Dash and Applejack standing at the counter with the Cake family while the strange sounds of crashing and and construction noises emanated from the kitchen.
"Hey AJ, RD, Mr. and Mrs. Cake!" Twilight smiled walking up beside them, Luna's towering frame standing behind them all. "Hey there you cuties!" She said to the twins, bending down to them and talking in a cute voice which sounded odd coming from her, which their odd looks happened to confirm.
"Hey Twilight," Applejack said before she caught sight of somepony out of her peripheral vision and looked up to see Luna. "Oh, hello Princess!" She added with a smile.
The announcement caused Rainbow to draw her attention to the Princess as well as the Cakes, who had begun to turn to address Twilight before they caught sight of Luna.
"Your majesty!" They said as they bowed. The twins however had immediately jumped onto Luna's back, who kept them safe and steady with her wings.
"Luna, please." She reminded them before turning to smile at the twins and give them a nuzzle on the top of their heads.
"Yes, of course deary," Mrs. Cake said shifting back into her motherly tone she addressed everypony with, her husband rising beside her with a nervous smile.
"What's going on?" Twilight asked, shifting everypony's attention away from the awkward situation.
"Pinkie wanted us to test her new concoction. Something she called a chimicherry," Rainbow Dash said as she licked her lips. The scent that came from the kitchen was quite tantalizing.
"Ah believe it was a Cherrychanga, er some such thing." Applejack corrected her.
"Well whatever it is I hope it's as delicious as it smells," Rainbow said with another excited sniff.
Suddenly Pinkie Pie thrust her head through the swinging doors with her usual excitement, a big grin on her face as always.
"Hey Twilight and Luna, you're just in time! Would you like to try a Cherrychanga?" she asked with an excited bounce.
"Sure," Twilight responded as she looked over at Luna, who simply nodded as she looked up at Pumpkin Cake, who had taken a seat on her head while Pound Cake played with her starry, flowing mane, clearly mesmerized by it.
"Okey Dokey Lokey!" She giggled before zipping back into the kitchen as more odd sounds came out. For some reason they heard a sheep and a power saw.
A few seconds later Pinkie came out with a tray full of the treats. It looked like a crepe instead of a tortilla stuffed with cherries and drizzled with a white glaze. Everypony looked on with excitement and a bit of drooling and lip licking in Rainbow's case as Pinkie set them down on the counter.
"Dig in everypony!" Pinkie Pie said as she took one for herself and scarfed it down with excitement.
Everypony took a plate for themselves, the Cakes giving their foals a bite from their own. Everypony gave a collective Mmm and smiled in delight, and then they all complimented Pinkie for her delicious invention once they had savored the first bite; the Cakes in particular took a special interest.
"I think we have something new to put out front if that's OK with you Pinkie Pie," Mr. Cake said looking like he was in heaven.
"Of course! I'm glad you all like them!" Pinkie smiled from ear to ear as she bounced in place.
"Pinkie, I think these would sell really well at the Lunar Festival," Twilight said with a contented smile.
Twilight's remark caused Luna to nearly choke on her own Cherrychanga. Applejack quickly patted Luna on the back who had descended into a coughing fit.
"Are you ok, Princess?" Twilight asked looking at her a bit worried.
"Yes, yes I'm fine now. I had nearly forgotten about the Festival! I need to start planning. It's my first one in nearly a thousand years and I want it to be special," she explained as she finally caught her breath.
"How hard could it be? You just raise the moon like Princess Celestia does with the sun at the Summer Sun Celebration," Rainbow Dash said getting a poke in the ribs and a glare from Applejack.
"It's more than that Rainbow Dash. The Lunar Festival is a celebration of the first full Moon of Spring. It's a night when Luna uses her magic to not only raise the moon, but fill the sky with all sorts of lovely constellations and other things, like comets and the Aurora," Twilight informed them, the excitement in her voice and gleam in her eye causing Luna to blush slightly.
"Yes, as Twilight says it is the night where I get to show my subjects my best work."  Luna said, composing herself "and if I want to make it special following my long absence I must get to work right away, I only have two days to get ready."  She said as she turned to make her way out the door.  "I shall see you back at the library Twilight," she said before bidding everypony goodbye and making her way out into the street, a look of dread and apprehension crossing her face.
*  *  *  *
Dusk had begun to settle as Twilight made her way up to the door of the library. Following the unveiling of Pinkie Pie's new creation Twilight had run some errands around town. She stopped to place an order for some ink and quills, then from there proceeded on over to pick up a book from Cheerilee and stopped to visit with Fluttershy before making her way home. As she used her magic to open the door she began to wonder if Luna had already begun to set the moon in motion for the night so it would be there once Princess Celestia set the sun. Maybe she would let her watch. Being the personal protégé of Celestia, Twilight had personally seen her raise the sun more times than she could count. But ever since Luna’s return, for all the time they’d spent together she hadn’t seen her raise the moon and stars once. As she entered the library she spotted Spike setting some books on the shelves, most likely returns.
“Hey Spike, how’d things go with Rarity?” She asked as she magically closed the door behind her.
“Eh, she used me as a mannequin,” He said with a shrug as he stepped down from the ladder.
Twilight giggled lightly before looking around. “Have you seen Princess Luna?”
“Yeah, she showed up in kind of a panic and shut herself in her room. I haven’t seen her since,” He replied, putting some more books on a low shelf.
Twilight’s eyes went wide as she rushed up to him, pressing her nose against his and effectively knocking the books he was holding onto the floor.
“What! And you didn’t try to figure out what was wrong?” She shouted, a look of panic crossing her face.
“I didn’t think it was my business.” He raised his hands up in a protective gesture. “Why don’t you go in and ask her?”
“Maybe you’re right,” she said, looking to the storage room door, where they had set up the Princess’ room.
Twilight made her way to the door and slowly opened it, poking her head in first. Her ears strained to listen for any sign of the Princess and after a few seconds of silence she slowly made her way up the short flight of stairs to stand in the entryway to the room proper. The room was very much Luna; dark blues and blacks adorned the room in the form of curtains and a carpet, both intricately woven with the moon and stars down to the smallest star in the smallest constellation. In the corner of the room, near the large window, sat the rather modest bed with dark blue and black bedding. Luna had insisted on the simplest of everything, the bed being the main thing; though she had to fight for that one. The local furniture maker had insisted on making her a bed fit for royalty, but she had finally reached a compromise with him, ending up with an extremely comfortable, but simple, round bed. The frame and headboard were made from the finest oak, along with the end table and desk that sat on either side of it, intricate carvings of the stars and other celestial bodies along the frame and edges of the bed as well as the edges of the table. As the last rays of sunlight filtered into the room, Twilight could make out Luna’s shape under the large blanket, her muzzle and horn poking out from under it. Twilight suppressed a giggle at the site and composed herself before taking a couple steps towards the bed.
“Luna?” she asked quietly.
“Leave me alone Twilight,” Luna replied, her muzzle withdrawing under the blanket until her horn was the only thing showing.
“Luna, what’s wrong? You can tell me,” Twilight reassured her, stepping up until she was right next to the bed. “Is it the Lunar Festival?”
“I can’t do it! Tia makes the Summer Sun Celebration look so easy. But raising the moon and positioning the stars just right is more difficult. I want everything to be perfect, it’s my first Lunar Festival in over a thousand years!” Luna shouted from under the blanket.
“I know you’re nervous Luna, but I know you can do it. Ever since you came back from the moon, the nights have been the most beautiful I’ve ever seen,” Twilight said, lifting the blanket to look into her eyes, a warm smile on her face.
“If only the other ponies thought as you do Twilight.” Luna sniffled, her head slowly coming out from under the blanket.
“I’m not the only one. There are plenty of groups dedicated to the appreciation of the night sky. In fact, the whole town turned out not too long ago to watch your first meteor shower.” She said, keeping her smile on Luna, soon receiving a small smile from the Princess.
Luna sighed a bit and slowly crawled out from under the blanket, her head a little higher.
“Then I guess I can’t disappoint them.” She said with confidence, her smile growing wider. “I’ll have to make this the best Lunar Festival ever!” she shouted, raising a hoof in the air.
“Good for you Princess!” Twilight said clapping her fore hooves together.
“Thank you Twilight, you’re the best friend a pony could have.” she said, pulling the unicorn into a tight hug. “Would you like to see me raise the moon and stars tonight?” she asked.
“Oh yes! Yes of course I would!” Twilight bounced excitedly.
“Come then,” Luna said as she walked out to the balcony into the now dark and pleasant night.
With a smile, Luna looked to the horizon and closed her eyes. As a blue aura surrounded her horn, the stars slowly winked into view in the sky; the Big Dipper, Draco, and Orion constellations were prominent in the corners of the sky.
“And I have a gift for you, Twilight.” Luna smiled.
Closing her eyes once more, her horn began to glow again. Soon, a large milky looking band of stars appeared in the sky, every star bunched so close together it seemed as if it was one long glowing band in the sky.
“The Milky Way!” Twilight said, her eyes wide and aglow like a filly on Hearth’s Warming Day.
“Do you like it?” Luna asked with a grin, already knowing the answer.
“Oh, I love it!” Twilight squealed, giving her an excited hug.
“That makes me happy to hear. For you are the greatest friend I’ve ever had. While others gave up on me you showed me true friendship, for that I thank you. You are dear to me like my own sister, Twilight,” Luna smiled, nuzzling the top of Twilight’s head.
“That makes me very honored and happy to hear Luna,” Twilight said as she turned her eyes back to the beautiful sky as the moon started to peek up from behind the hills in the east, the very top of the barn of Sweet Apple Acres visible from the library. Twilight stared on, lost in the show and slowly leaned into Luna.
“I am glad….Sister.” Luna replied, leaning back into Twilight and looking up at her work with a newfound appreciation.
*  *  *  *
Meanwhile, far to the southeast, past the Everfree Forest, past the steep mountains beyond that, even past the vast plains and forests nestled amongst the many valleys and hills beyond that, at the end of a vast marshland, on a cliff overlooking the ocean, stood a castle that rivaled Canterlot in sheer size but paled in comparison to its beauty. While Canterlot was warm and inviting, everything about this castle was sad and depressing. The castle appeared abandoned, as the surrounding forest showed signs of creeping inside the castle's walls. Trees and grass grew amongst the wide roads while vines and other clinging vegetation grew up the sides of the buildings and battlements. As one got closer to the actual castle, there would be revealed large pieces of stone missing from the wall, littering the ground below. Inside the castle, a path descended to the right into a dangerous looking labyrinth while in the center stood the keep, towering high above the walls with a tower in the middle that rose even higher. Deep inside the keep, in the spider web and dust covered throne room, a dark stone figure lay motionless on a marble throne that was adorned with a cushion beneath the figure and a sword hanging from the armrest to its right. A soft murmur of voice that seemed to come from everywhere was heard as the figure began to stir.  Suddenly, large cracks formed along the figure’s body before its eyes suddenly shot open with an intense red glow.

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                         Chapter 2                         
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Chapter 2
Chapter 2
The day of the Lunar festival had finally arrived, and Ponyville was bustling with activity as everypony took part in the activities and eagerly anticipated the evening’s events.  Twilight walked amongst the many ponies that were attending customers at their stalls; such as Bon Bon’s confectionery stand that she had gladly set up beside the Cakes’ baked goods stand and Applejack’s apple and cider stand; the girls had spent all the day before helping the Apples prepare the cider like they did when they were competing against the Flim Flam Brothers.  Granny Smith had even brought some Zap Apple Jam out of storage for the festival.  Doctor Whooves was selling some fine clocks next to Lyra, who had taken some instruments from her shop and put them for sale in the next stand over, in addition to offering her luthier services.  Her skills were on perfect display earlier as Pinkie Pie’s sister Octavia had brought her Cello to her for an emergency repair.
The music for the daytime was being provided by Vinyl Scratch, the thumping of her speakers heard clearly from her set up at town hall, while Octavia’s band would provide more relaxed and classical music as night fell and Luna put her Night Weaving skills on display.  There were rides set up in the field to the town’s northern side, along with a hayride, compliments of the Apples. Even now, Big Mac was pulling some foals around while Cheerilee took care of the tickets for him.
The happy couple had been one of the major things that had changed, aside from Ponyville’s newest resident in the short year since the royal wedding and changeling attack. The Apples had expanded the farm and added another field, as well as getting into the applesauce business, which the ponies in town couldn’t get enough of. The last time Twilight had visited with Applejack she and Big Macintosh had just finished putting in a new, larger cellar.  The job had taken a bit longer than was normal for the Apples since Big Mac and Cheerilee had become a serious couple after the incident last Hearts and Hooves Day. Consequently the event also taught Twilight to be very cautious when the Crusaders took an interest in a particular book from then on. But it all seemed to work out for the best after all, and when Big Mac wasn’t working on the farm he spent his time with Cheerilee, who herself had found a new favorite pastime bucking apples with the Apple Family. They did learn that she had more strength than she let on when she managed to clear a tree with only two kicks, which normally would have taken any of the other girls, aside from Rainbow Dash, a few more kicks than that when they assisted with the harvest.
She could see that Pinkie Pie and Rarity had clearly been busy, what with the decorations and other festive arrangements scattered around town. Even now Rarity could be seen tying a bow to a lamp post as Twilight walked up to her.
“Good afternoon Rarity, the decorations look lovely,” Twilight said, smiling to the white unicorn.
“Why thank you, Twilight.  I had to struggle to get Pinkie Pie to accept that this occasion is as formal as it is fun, and not to just throw her tacky party decorations around.  This is Princess Luna’s first Lunar Festival in over a thousand years! So the setting and mood have to be just right for such an occasion,” Rarity said as she finished tying the bow and turned to face Twilight.
“Well, keep up the good work.” Twilight politely smiled, unable to come up with anything to counter Rarity’s speech. In reality the festival wasn’t as formal as Rarity thought it was, but she thought that was an argument that was best left alone.
Twilight began to walk towards the Mayor before hearing Rarity scream behind her.
“Pinkie! What did you do to the Princess’ statue? Take that party hat and those ridiculous glasses off of there this instant!” Rarity shouted, eliciting an eye roll from Twilight as she continued on. She listened to the fussy unicorn until she finally was drowned out by the noise of the other festival goers somewhere around Vinyl’s music booth.
Ponies from far and wide had turned out to the festival.  Twilight could see some residents of Appleloosa as well as the more refined ponies from Canterlot and Manehatten.  She had to giggle a bit as the Canterlot and Manehatten ponies looked completely out of their element in Ponyville, some even looking panicked as if they expected the locals to start doing things like the stallions having a spitting and belching contest while the mares mud wrestled.  As Twilight arrived at the Mayor’s side she spotted the large dais with two large, comfy looking cushions that would accommodate the Princesses once the festival really got into gear.  The plan involved Princess Celestia finishing up her court business, and arriving just before sundown to discreetly lower the sun, which would then be Luna’s cue to start her Night Weaving.  Once all was finished, the two sisters would sit on the dais and enjoy the rest of the evening amongst their ponies, perhaps even taking part in some of the festivities.
“Good afternoon Mayor, how’s everything going?” Twilight asked with a friendly smile.
“Oh, quite well Twilight! We had to keep a few trouble making colts from putting whoopee cushions and other prank items under the Princess’ dais, but overall not too bad.” The Mayor replied with a shake of her head.  It seemed that she had taken to guarding the daisies to prevent that from happening anymore.
“Well the Ponyvillians and Appleloosans are having fun at least,” Twilight said, spotting Derpy eating cotton candy with her daughter Dinky.
“Yes, I’m afraid we’re just too wild for those city ponies” The Mayor snickered  “it’s a shame some ponies are incapable of having a little wild fun.”
Twilight giggled herself before spotting Zecora walking through the crowd, some saltwater taffy that she had purchased from Bon Bon in her hoof. Twilight smiled and began to make her way over.
“Well, have a good time Mayor, and good luck,” she said pointing to the dais as she spotted two colts sneaking up to it, bringing it to the Mayor’s attention.
“You too Twilight,” she said as she rushed off to shoo the colts away.
“Hello Zecora, enjoying the festival?” she asked as she caught up to the Zebra.
“Ah, good afternoon Twilight my friend. Indeed, this is the most fun I’ve ever spent!” she said with a pleased grin.
“Are you staying for Luna’s Night Weaving?” she asked as she took some taffy that Zecora offered.
“Indeed, it has been a long time since the last Lunar Festival occurred, I wouldn’t miss this event for the world,” she replied, her earrings jingling a bit as her head bounced with what looked to be excitement, though with her it was hard to tell.
“Well that’s good,” Twilight smiled back.  The bell on the clock tower began to chime six o’clock as Octavia’s band began to play. She looked with excitement back towards the dais. “I’ll see you later Zecora. Perhaps Friday for tea?” she asked as she turned to head back.
“That would be very good Twilight, I hope you enjoy your night!” Zecora called as Twilight bolted away from her excitedly.
As Twilight approached the cushion reserved for Princess Celestia a bright flash erupted and was soon replaced by Princess Celestia’s elegant form.  Beside her, two more flashes erupted as two unicorn guards appeared beside her; one adorned in the golden armor of Celestia’s personal guard, the other dressed in the light and dark blues of Luna’s own guard.  With Luna in Ponyville and insisting that she was well protected by the Elements of Harmony, the Moon Guard had reluctantly taken to guarding Celestia along with the Sun Guard.
“Princess Celestia!” Twilight exclaimed as she hopped excitedly up to her mentor, raising her head up to nuzzle her chest.
“Good evening Twilight, my most faithful student!” Celestia smiled happily as she lowered herself to nuzzle the side of Twilight’s neck, in turn making it easier for Twilight to do the same.
“I’m so glad you could make it,” Twilight said as she settled in at the Princess’ side.
“I wouldn’t miss it for the world. Would you and your friends like to join me for the Night Weaving? It’ll be like when we sat out on my balcony looking up at the stars when you were a filly,” she asked her as she took her seat upon the cushion.
“I would love that!” Twilight bounced with excitement, causing the Princess to smile with amusement.
“Why don’t you go gather them while I get some more seats for you all?” Celestia smiled.
“Ok!” Twilight beamed and hopped down from the dais, taking off in the direction of Applejack’s stand first.
The Princess watched her go with a delighted smile. She then asked the two guards if they could locate the mayor and have some more cushions brought over, assuring them she would be fine alone for a few minutes. While they reluctantly set off, the same two colts that the Mayor had chased away moments before; a unicorn and an earth pony, slowly snuck up behind her. The unicorn floated a small firecracker towards the dais while the other carried a match in his mouth. After the unicorn placed the firecracker behind the Princess, the earth pony struck the match against his own hoof.  He slowly moved the match to the fuse while suppressing some snickers, when they were suddenly both doused with water. They looked up in surprise to see a large bucket suspended over their heads with magic, and the Princess looking at them with a serious expression and a raised eyebrow.  They nervously smiled at her before she finally smiled back, leaning down to their level.
“I think that’s about enough of that.” She said before grabbing their bag of joke items with her magic from the earth pony and looking in it, a particular item catching her interest. She pulled out a can of ‘peanuts’ and smiled a bit mischievously.
“Why don’t you go offer the Mayor some peanuts?” She suggested with a wink to the two as she gave them their bag back.
They smiled happily and bowed to the Princess before zipping off in search of the mayor.  She chuckled a bit, telling herself that she’d have to mention it to the mayor that it was her idea when they next spoke.  The two had been friends for a long time, even before the mayor took office.  They were always teasing or joking with each other during their meetings, and she was sure that the mayor would have something good to get back at her the next time.
As Twilight made her way through the festival she kept a watchful eye for her friends. She initially thought of inviting just her friends the Elements, but then she thought about it more. Zecora was her friend as well, and she was sure the princess would like her company. So after finding Rarity, Pinkie Pie, and Applejack, she decided she would look for Zecora while trying to find Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy. Being old friends as the two were, she was sure to find them together, and knowing Rainbow, they would be doing something she liked.
The crowd suddenly looked to the sky as Octavia and her band played an adventurous classical number.  The Wonderbolts appeared from the direction of Sweet Apple Acres, using the property as a staging and take off area. The full team of 11 seemed to be out, five of them doing intricate stunts involving some complicated twists, turns, and rolls while the other six carried another pony on their backs.  Twilight remembered Rainbow mentioning these other ponies as the Royal Equestrian Golden Ponies, a team of six unicorns and six earth ponies that were members of the Sun and Moon Guards. They would be carried on the backs of some of the Wonderbolts, then parachute to the ground while doing stunts of their own along the way.  The thing that nopony else knew about the team was that they were an elite unit of the Royal Guards that answered directly to only two ponies, Princess Celestia and Twilight’s brother, Shining Armor. They used the demonstrations to practice their parachuting skills; which in the unlikely event that a war broke out, they would use to parachute behind enemy lines to carry out clandestine operations.
The crowd looked with awe as the Golden Ponies leapt from the backs of the Wonderbolts carrying them, plummeting to the ground while doing some twists and turns of their own.  After reaching a certain height they all gathered together, locking hooves and forming a ring while the Wonderbolts flew up through the ring and broke off either to the left or right. As the Wonderbolts flew through the ring, smoke of varying colors began to stream from the back ankles of the Golden Ponies as their ring fell to the ground. After a few minutes of falling they all broke the ring and deployed their parachutes, performing a series of other complicated twists and turns before finally setting down one at a time on a target that was set up in town square, the Wonderbolts landing behind them to the cheers of the crowd.
The band then began to play calmer music, signaling the end of the show as the crowd walked over to speak with the two teams, some seeking pictures while others went after autographs. Twilight caught site of Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy amongst the crowd and headed over to them.
“Hello Rainbow Dash, hi Fluttershy,” Twilight said, falling into step beside Fluttershy.
“Oh, hello Twilight,” Fluttershy said in her usual soft tone; even despite her new assertiveness, she was still the same old Fluttershy.
“Hey Twilight, did you see the show? So Awesome!” Rainbow shouted pumping a hoof in the air.
“It was very nice. They are some brave ponies, I would be scared of being in the sky if I was a unicorn or earth pony”  Fluttershy said as she looked ahead to the assembled teams, who were already mobbed by the crowd  “Oh my, I don’t think we’ll get to see them Rainbow Dash.” She said taking a shy step backward.
“Yeah you may be right,” Rainbow said as she tried to find a way through the crowd, trying but failing to shove some ponies aside. She looked up to see the sky clear but she was sure she would give the other pegasi the same idea if she tried to fly over the crowd.
“Well, I’m sure they’ll head over to the Princess when they’re done here, and she’s invited us to sit with her for the Night Weaving,” Twilight told them, giving Rainbow a nudge in the side to get her attention.
“Sounds great Twilight, but are you sure you don’t mind us all there? I know you and the Princess are close, I figure you’d like to spend time alone with her,” Rainbow Dash asked with a raise of her brow.
“Oh of course I’m ok with it. We spend a lot of time together when she comes to visit Luna and I,” Twilight assured her, waving a hoof dismissively in front of herself “Actually, have you guys seen Zecora? I wanted to invite her too,” she asked looking into the crowd for the Zebra, though she dismissed it since she was sure Zecora didn’t like crowds save for Ponyville when there wasn’t some kind of celebration going on.
“I think she was over by Bon Bon’s stand, buying some more taffy to take back home with her,” Fluttershy said.
“Thanks, I’ll go look there then. I’ll see you again at the dais?” she asked turning back to them.
“Sure,” The pegasi both said in unison, chuckling to each other after realizing what they did.
Twilight giggled and turned to head towards Bon Bon’s stand, as she passed by the other stands it looked as if everypony else had closed up for the night, so that they could find a spot for the show. She finally arrived at Bon Bon’s stand and saw Zecora placing a couple bags of taffy in her saddlebags.  As she turned around she smiled when she spotted Twilight.
“It is good to see you again Twilight. I did not expect to see you again tonight.” Zecora nodded to her.
“Princess Celestia offered for everypony to join her for the Night Weaving. Would you like to join us?” Twilight asked her.
“At this offer, I am elated. But I’m afraid the Princess and I are not acquainted.” Zecora told her with a shrug.
“That’s alright, I’m sure she’d love to meet you. You are my friend too after all, and she did invite my friends, after all.” Twilight said, placing a hoof on her shoulder.
“Then I would love to spend some time with you, for you are my dear friend too.” Zecora replied with a warm smile. The two shared a laugh as they set off for the dais.
The two arrived at the dais as the sun sank below the horizon, bathing the town in darkness. To cut down on light pollution tonight every city in Equestria had all lights off save for the most important which were dimmed. As Twilight looked up at the dais she saw Rainbow Dash sure enough talking to Spitfire and Soarin, the team leaders of the Wonderbolts. Fluttershy was next to her talking to an unknown earth pony who she had figured to be the team leader of the Golden Ponies.  Twilight had to chuckle a bit as it seemed Fluttershy had taken an interest in the male. All of her other friends were gathered around the Princess on their own cushions, the Cutie Mark Crusaders on the backs of their respective sisters; even Scootaloo got a seat on Rainbow’s back, which made Twilight smile for the filly. She urged Zecora forward with a motion of her head and walked up to the Princess.
“Twilight, I am glad you made it back. Is this Zecora?” Celestia asked as she brought her gaze to the zebra.
“Indeed I am, and I was glad to get Twilight’s request.  It is an honor to meet you Princess.” Zecora bowed to the Princess, her nose touching the dais beneath her.
“And it is good to make your acquaintance. I’ve heard many wonderful things about you.” The Princess smiled. “Perhaps on one of my trips to Ponyville I could stop by and say hello,” Celestia said as she fluffed her wings out a bit.
“I would love the pleasure of your company in my home, I will be sure to prepare some tea for your arrival is known,” Zecora nodded as she rose up to her hooves.
“Oh Zecora I don’t see a seat for you. Give me a moment and I’ll go get one for you,” Twilight said, turning to step off the dais.
“Why don’t you give her yours Twilight? You can join me on mine.” The Princess smiled, receiving a beaming smile from her student.
“Really?” Twilight bounced, getting a nod from the Princess.
As Twilight all but bounded up onto the dais Princess Celestia moved over to allow her on the cushion. After Twilight had nestled herself against her side and everypony else took their seats, they turned their attention to the sky.
Luna stood on a stage situated on the hill just outside the town, where everypony had been on the night of the meteor shower. She threw back the hood of her cloak, which Rarity had made extra special for the occasion. She slowly raised her hooves up to the sky, with a light blue glow surrounding her horn, the moon began rising over the eastern hills.
As the orchestra began to slowly play an old mysterious tune, the likes of which had not been heard in a long time. As the music started, a guest singer by the name of Gael took the stage. She was a teal unicorn, with a long, well kept emerald green mane and tail. She was known as a descendant of the unicorns, known as the Éires, who lived long ago in the area that was now Manehatten. As the full moon continued to rise she started to sing along with the music in the old language of her ancestors.
E môr henion i dhú
Luna next raised her horn to the sky, the light blue aura of her magic that had been surrounding it before suddenly began to creep over her whole graceful body.  As she focused every ounce of her magic into the Night Weaving, the moon slowly began to rise higher into the sky, and was soon joined by the Milky Way as it faded into a bright milky streak that stretched from horizon to horizon.
Ely siriar, êl síla
One by one, more stars began to wink into existence, until the sky was full of them. The constellations Leo, Draco, and Canis Major formed around the moon. As Luna moved her hooves the shapes seemed to dance around the moon as the other stars in the sky twinkled in a pattern.
Ai! Aníron, Undómiel
In the middle of the sky, just above the Milky Way, a comet appeared, its long tail stretching far behind it as meteors began to streak across the sky.
Tiro! Êl eria e môr
As Twilight watched this beautiful display, her eyes suddenly began to wander, almost as if drawn by her senses as they picked up a powerful magical essence, much like what Princess Celestia and Luna gave off. There, standing off by Big Mac, was a black and chocolate colored pegasus stallion, about as large as Luna with wings to match. His mane was well groomed, reaching down to his back with a chocolate and gray pattern that matched his long tail. He wore a dark brown explorer’s vest and his cutie mark was that of mountain peaks.  As he looked up at the sky, a small light green unicorn mare, about Twilight’s own size, stood looking at Big Mac as he watched the Night Weaving. She wore the same style vest as the stallion, but in a dark purple. She had a braided strawberry and red mane and tail, with the cutie mark of, a globe? Twilight had never seen such a cutie mark as far as she knew.
What really drew her attention though was the powerful magic coming from the unicorn as her horn gave off a soft gray glow.  Twilight tried to focus on the magic for a second. She was using a scanning spell?  Twilight wasn’t sure of the exact name since she hadn’t fully studied the spell yet. But it was the same type of spell unicorn doctors would use to check out a patient, or a scientist would use to learn an object’s composition. But this unicorn was using it for something else. Twilight couldn’t be certain, but it was almost as if the unicorn was studying the latent magic within Big Mac’s body, which all Earth Ponies had, that made them so good at growing things and handling animals.
I 'lir en ê luitha 'uren
A flash from a particularly bright meteor drew Twilight’s attention away for a brief second. But when she looked back to the strange ponies, they were gone.  She shook it off and drew her attention back to the sky, nestling closer to Princess Celestia and feeling a bit creeped out by the strangers she had just seen.  She was calmed however by a kiss on the forehead from the Princess who then turned her eyes to the sky to admire her sister’s work.
Ai! Aníron...
As the last words faded away, an Aurora formed in the sky as a band of alternating blues, greens, reds, and oranges.  The constellations had stopped dancing around the moon and remained still, following it as it slowly continued its trip across the sky.  Luna stood on all hooves on the stage with a wide smile, her chest rising and falling a bit heavily as she caught her breath.  It was exhausting, but it was worth it as the mesmerized crowd began to applaud.  Soon everypony, even the ponies that had been laying down, were on their hooves giving her a standing ovation, complete with whistles and cheers.  She made her way down to the smaller stage and held up a hoof towards the band and Gael, who took a bow.  Luna then bowed herself, before making her way through the crowd as the band began to play a more upbeat song, and a space was cleared for everypony to dance. The game booths then started up as ponies filtered over to play them, while other ponies were just content to stay in their places and look up at the sky. Couples like Cheerilee and Big Mac, who were themselves cuddling on a blanket beside the Apple booth, shared their own tender moments beneath the stars while the stargazing groups delighted in all the wonderful opportunities to study Luna had given them.
Luna stepped up to the dais and took her seat to the cheering and applauding of all her closest friends, a blush hidden beneath her dark fur.
“Well done sister. That was the best Night Weaving I’ve seen in a thousand years,” Celestia said with a smile her sister.
“That was really pretty Princess Luna.” Fluttershy smiled.
“You did amazing Luna.” Applejack complemented, patting her on the hoof lightly.
“That..was..Awesome!” Rainbow squealed raising a hoof into the air.
“I must say, that was quite the lovely display,” Rarity said with her eyes sparkling.
“That was amazing! Did you guys see the meteors flying around like 'whoosh' and the way that one just exploded with a big kaboom!” Pinkie sputtered, as she hopped and bounced up and down much to the ire of Scootaloo and Applebloom who covered their ears.
“Thank you sister, thank you all. It felt so great to do that after all these years,” Luna beamed in delight.
Cheerilee and Big Mac approached the dais with happy smiles before coming to a stop before it and looked up at the fillies.
“Applebloom, Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle, let’s go. It’s time to go home,” Big Mac said as the girls poked their heads up.
“Aw come on Big Mac, do ah hafta? AJ?” Applebloom looked to her sister for sympathy.
“Nope, sorry Applebloom but it’s time fer fillies ta be in bed,” Applejack said with a shake of her head.
“Yes, run along Sweetie Belle,” Rarity added receiving a groan of disappointment from her sister.
“You’ll let me stay, won’t you Rainbow Dash?” asked a hopeful Scootaloo, with her best pleading grin.
Rainbow Dash looked with some confusion as to why the little pegasus would be asking her permission to do anything. But considering the amount of time and attention Scootaloo paid her, it only seemed natural that she would become her guradian of sorts as well as her idol. Finally, Rainbow Dash smiled, causing Scootaloo to lean forward with excitement, before shaking her head.
“Sorry kiddo, you can’t very well grow up to be the best like me if you’re tired all the time. The best always need to get plenty of rest.” Rainbow Dash stuck her chest out proudly.
“Well then if that’s the case. With all the sleepin’ you do RD, you should be even better than ol’ Spitfire there.” AJ quipped, receiving a dirty look from Rainbow Dash and a chuckle from Spitfire.
The fillies hugged their sisters and their friends goodnight before hopping down from the dais and following after Big Mac and Cheerilee.  After checking in on Granny Smith at the booth they continued to Cheerilee’s house, where they would part with a kiss, before Big Mac and the fillies continued on to the farm.  After watching them all go, Princess Celestia turned to the others and smiled.
“So who would like to go partake in the festivities? Luna?” she asked with a smile.
“Sure.” Luna grinned after a moment of thought.
The girls all cheered in response, before hopping down from the dais and waiting for their friends; even Zecora was joining in, as were Spitfire, Soarin, and Freefall, the stallion that Fluttershy had been talking to. The other girls, and even the Princesses, noticed with amusement that Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy took great delight that the stallions were joining them.  With much laughing and playful nudging, the two royal sisters, and their friends, headed off into the crowd to participate in a little fun without a care in the world that night beneath the glow of Luna’s night sky.

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                         Chapter 3                         
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Chapter 3
Chapter 3
Twilight awoke to the smell of crisp spring air and the sounds of chirping birds coming through her open window. She slowly opened her eyes as they were met with sunlight blazing through the window. She wondered what time it was as she turned her head to look at the clock that hung by her bed. Ten o’clock?
“Wow, I really slept in.” She thought as she rolled out of bed, a few pops echoing through the room as she stretched out.
She made her way over to the mirror to brush out her mane a bit, before giving herself a nod of satisfaction. She made her way down the short staircase to the first floor of her room, then headed through the door to the main part of the library. When she looked out into the public area, she saw that Spike was up the ladder, re-shelving returned books.
“Hey Spike.” She smiled as she helped him put some of the books back with her magic.
“Hey Twilight, did the Festival go well?” he asked, climbing back down the ladder. “I tried to stay up for it, but I guess I just conked out before the Night Weaving.” He added as he grabbed another stack of books.
“Yes, it was the best festival I’ve ever been to. And the Night Weaving was the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.” She smiled as she clapped her hooves together.
“That is so nice of you to say,” Luna said from the reading room as she stepped into the doorway.
“I mean it Luna, everything was absolutely beautiful. And it was a nice touch having the band and Gael perform that lovely song.” She smiled to Luna as she took a seat by the table that stood in the middle of the room.
“Yes, I always loved hearing the Éires sing. You know that song was written for me?” Luna asked as she walked in and took a seat before Twilight at the table.
“Really?” Twilight asked, getting a nod from Luna.
“Indeed. They always loved my work.  They were some of the very few ponies that did.  But then they faded out of existence as some civilizations tend to do, and then I was alone.” Luna sighed as she hung her head.
“That’s when you started feeling alone and unappreciated; because nopony was around anymore to enjoy your lovely work, and the ones that remained could care less?” Spike asked from up on the ladder, getting a glare from Twilight.
“Yes, as you now know, one of the perks of being the Mistress of the Night is my ability to walk among other ponies in their dreams. I always used to love walking amongst the Éires in their dreams, but after their disappearance; the dream world started to get lonely, because no one else ever dreamed like them,” she said. “But it was very good to see that their ancestors are still around and in touch with their past.” She said as a smile came back to her face.
“I would love to hear more about them sometime. There’s only so much a book will tell you,” Twilight remarked, before catching sight of Spike wobbling on the ladder a bit as he balanced an armful of books. “Spike, be careful!” she shouted, but it was too late.  With a shout, Spike came tumbling down from the ladder; Twilight and Luna dodging a shower of books before Luna caught him on her back.
“Are you ok, Spike?” Luna asked him, getting a shaky nod from the dragon as he regained his bearings.
Twilight began to pick up the books, when she stopped at one that had fallen open.  She set the books down that she had already gathered, then picked up the one from the floor with her magic to bring it up to read.
“Spike, where did this book come from?” Twilight asked him as she looked at the title. “Legends and Tall Tales of Equestria.” She read aloud before turning the book over to look at the page she had noticed.
“Um, Lickety Split returned it this morning; he borrowed it a couple weeks ago from the mythology section.” He said as he recalled everything from his memory. He was like a little info bank when it came to the library and its books.
As Twilight read the pages carefully, Luna and Spike looked on with confusion, turning to shrug at each other before Luna took a step forward.
“Are you ok Twilight?” Luna asked, receiving no response. “Twilight? Twilight?” she persisted, before finally reaching out with a hoof to nudge the unicorn.
“Hm? Oh, sorry,” Twilight said as she snapped back to reality.
“Are you ok?” Luna asked again.
“Oh yes I’m fine.  It’s just the craziest thing,” Twilght said, turning the book around to show Luna. There, on the page, was a picture of six Alicorns, Celestia and Luna’s recognizable younger forms amongst them.  “These two, right here.  I almost thought I saw them at the festival last night.” she said, pointing to a black and chocolate stallion with a mountain peak cutie mark and a green mare with an earth cutie mark.
“You mean you saw more Alicorns?” Spike asked Twilight, as Luna began to stare at the two ponies, her eyes wavering a bit.
“Yes but that was it though, this couldn’t be the two I saw because this is just a book of legends and tall tales. And most importantly, those two were definitely not Alicorns. I’d say I was just mistaken, given that it was pretty dark out.” Twilight deduced as Luna grabbed the book from her, placing a hoof gently on the images of the two strangers. Twilight and Spike looked at her with concern.
“Luna?” Twilight said.
“You said you saw them here? In Ponyville?” Luna asked, her eyes pleading to the unicorn.
“Um, well, I saw a pegasus and unicorn that looked like them,” Twilight said looking a bit nervous.
Without another word, Luna took off out the front door. Twilight looked at Spike, receiving a shrug from the little dragon before she took off after Luna.
“Keep an eye on things Spike!” Twilight shouted, hearing a ‘will do’ called back to her.  She stopped after traveling a few feet out the door, not seeing Luna anywhere. She looked out through town, and then up in the sky, spotting Rainbow Dash floating by.
“Rainbow!” she called to the pegasus.  Rainbow Dash looked back at her and banked hard left to drift down and hover above her.
“What’s up Twilight?” Rainbow Dash asked, tilting her head a bit.
“Did you see Princess Luna come by?” Twilight asked.
“Nope, maybe she teleported to Canterlot to see the Princess?” Rainbow Dash suggested.
Twilight shook her head. “No, you still would have seen the flash. I showed her a picture in a book of some ponies I thought I saw last night, and she just took off.”
“Hm. Well I haven’t seen her but I can help you look.” She offered.
“That would be great.” Twilight said with a nod before making the book of legends materialize and open to the right page in front of Rainbow Dash. “Better yet, while you’re looking for her, keep an eye out for these two,” she said, pointing to the two alicorns she’d recognized. If we find them, we’re sure to find her.” She said as she tapped a determined hoof on the ground.
“Oh are you two playing hide and seek?” Pinkie Pie asked, suddenly appearing beside Twilight, causing Rainbow Dash to look around in confusion.
“How did…Oh never mind, No, we aren’t playing hide and seek. Something might be wrong with Princess Luna,and we need to find her,” Twilight said.
“Oh, well then I can help anyway!  I’m good at hide and seek, and I especially want to help the Princess!” Pinkie Pie bounced up and down excitedly.
“Ok then. If you bump into the other girls, see if they can help too,” Twilight said, before showing Pinkie Pie the book as well and giving them a more up to date description of the mystery ponies. “Alright, we’ll meet back here.” She said with a nod and then took off towards town square, Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash heading in opposite directions.
Twilight ran through town, checking every alley and side street.  She even poked her head inside a few shops just in case, but still found nothing.  She soon skidded to a halt when she saw Zecora and Rarity talking together by Doctor Whooves' clock shop.
“Rarity! Zecora! Have you seen Luna?” she asked as she ran up to them.
“I have not seen her since last night. What is it that fills you with such fright?” Zecora asked with a look of worry.
“I just left the boutique dear. Is something wrong with her?” Rarity asked with a hoof on her chest.
Twilight shook her head a bit. “I don’t know what’s wrong, I saw some ponies last night, but when I recognized them in a book just now, I showed them to her and she took off.” She explained.
“We’d be glad to help you look for her if you want,” Rarity said, looking over to Zecora, who returned a nod to her.
“I did see a strange pony in town admiring Daisy’s flowers. I could feel, just by observing her, some intense powers.” Zecora told her.
“Was it a green unicorn with a purple vest and an earth cutie mark?” she asked, getting a nod from the zebra. “Can you show me where?” she pleaded.
“I will show you where, and perhaps, she may yet still be there.” Zecora said as they turned and headed off quickly towards the direction of where she had last seen the unicorn. They soon skidded to a stop, however, at the sound of Rainbow Dash’s voice.
“Twilight!” came Rainbow Dash’s voice, as she and Fluttershy appeared overhead. “I saw that creepy unicorn over by the post office spying on Derpy!”
“Did you find Luna?” Twilight called back.
“We haven’t seen her, but we only searched the east and north part of town before we went to get Applejack to help, she’s searching the west half now,” Fluttershy said as she settled down to run alongside Twilight.
The group ran along the street before turning a corner.  Sure enough, there, behind a newspaper stand, stood the unicorn from the previous night. She seemed to be hiding as she peered around the stand, using the same magic that she had used the night before on Derpy as the pegasus collected the mail for her route. As she turned to leave, she caught site of the girls and waved.
“Hey girls!” she called, causing the unicorn to look in their direction with a start.
“Great,” Rainbow Dash said with a roll of her eyes.
Sure enough, upon seeing the girls approaching, the unicorn quickly started to run, only to end up colliding with Derpy. After untangling herself from the confused and disoriented mailmare, she ran off. Fluttershy stopped to help Derpy, while the others continued after the unicorn, who ducked into an alley and used her magic to tip over a stack of boxes into their path. Twilight used her magic to levitate the boxes so they could pass under them, before dropping them back to the ground, continuing on until they stopped at a dead end to find the unicorn gone. They began to look around in earnest before hearing hoof beats coming from above them. Rainbow Dash quickly shot up and shouted as she spotted the unicorn fleeing across a rooftop. The girls quickly made their way back onto the street, using Rainbow Dash as a reference so they could head the unicorn off. As they approached town square, they spotted Applejack with Luna, who was nervously looking around.
“Applejack! Luna!” Twilight called, happy to see Luna had been found.
“Twilight, what in the hay is goin’ on here?  Luna’s being very dodgy with her answers to my questions.” Applejack said, glaring at Luna, who hung her head a bit.
“No time, we’re chasing that unicorn I saw right now,” Twilight said causing Luna to look up with wide eyes.
“Where is she?” Luna asked Twilight desperately.
“Rainbow Dash is following her on the rooftops. We’re going to cut her off,” Twilight said, as they all took off following after the rapidly disappearing rainbow tail. “When we catch her, I want some answers,” Twilight said, shooting a glare at Luna, who turned her head away. “Luna!” she shouted, intensifying her glare.
“OK, Twilight, OK. But first we must find her,” Luna said. “And him,” she thought to herself.
The gang followed Rainbow Dash all the way to the edge of town to see the unicorn jump down from the last roof and gracefully land on the ground, before continuing towards Sweet Apple Acres. She turned and frowned as she saw Rainbow still hounding her steps despite her best efforts to lose her earlier. Suddenly, she stopped and turned to face Rainbow Dash, aiming her horn at the unsuspecting pegasus and hitting her with a spell which caused chains with weights hanging from the ends to wrap around her body, effectively binding her wings and sending her plummeting to the ground before landing on a ... mattress? Rainbow Dash looked up from her predicament to see the unicorn speeding away into the Red Delicious orchard, using her magic to grow thick thorny brambles between the trees, making a wall behind her.
“Rainbow!” Twilight shouted as the girls skidded to a halt in front of her. “Are you alright?” she asked as she used her magic to remove the chains.
“Yeah, that was a good move with the mattress by the way, thanks for that.” she said as she wiggled her wings to make sure they were alright.
“Um, that wasn’t me,” Twilight said as she looked at the mattress; the residual aura around it was definitely from the other unicorn.
“Well I didn’t do it either.  It had to be that other unicorn,” Rarity chimed in as she joined Twilight in her investigation of the mattress.
“Well why in the hay would she take the time to save the person who was chasin' after her?” Applejack asked scratching the top of her head a bit in thought.
“Because she is not a bad pony, at least when I last knew her,” Luna said as she looked towards the orchard.
“Luna, I think it’s time you told us what’s going on.  Who is that pony?” Twilight asked her as Fluttershy caught up to them, landing softly on the ground beside Applejack
Luna sighed, hanging her head for a few seconds as the others looked on expectantly.  She took a deep breath before looking back up at them.  “She is no ordinary pony. When I last knew her, before I went mad and was banished to the moon, she was an Alicorn just like me. Her name is Gaia, the Earth Mother.”
The girls gasped and looked to Luna with confusion.  Twilight took a step forward and looked up at her.
“That’s just a legend, Luna, that’s why I saw the picture in a book of legends and tall tales. This pony obviously is just a normal unicorn.” She said, trying to reason with her.
“I wouldn’t be so sure Twilight.  Every legend has some kind of truth.  Why I reckon I’ve heard dozens o’ stories involving Gaia. All us Earth ponies look up to her, she used to be responsible for growing crops; and this here unicorn did a mighty fine job growin' them brambles right quick.” Applejack chimed in as she stepped up beside Twilight.
“She's also known for tending to all the animals of the world,” Fluttershy quietly interjected with a smile.
Twilight rolled her eyes “But she’s just a regular unicorn! You guys saw her yourself!” she said to them. She then sat down and thought for a second, her hoof lightly tapping her chin, “Well, she could be using a spell perhaps to disguise her wings. Such a spell exists. An appearance of two Alicorns would rouse some suspicion. Being that Princess Celestia, Luna, and Cadence are the only three known Alicorns.”
“I suppose you could be right, she is quite powerful. But that still doesn’t explain what she’s doing here in Ponyville.  And what about the pegasus I saw with her last night?” She said, turning back to Luna.
“As to the question of why they are here I have no idea, but as for your second question,  the pegasus is an also an Alicorn by the name of Atlas.” She said, saying the name with great affection, causing Rainbow Dash and Applejack to look to each other with a grin.
“Oh come on! You can’t possibly mean Atlas, the Earth Shaper?” Twilight said with exasperation, receiving a nod of confirmation from Luna.
“Well I’ll be. He’s responsible for formin’ the earth and directing the channels for the rivers so that the Earth Ponies had a place to farm in the first place.” Applejack said as she remembered the legend that she’d once heard from Granny Smith.
“Ok, so assuming that on the off chance we do have two mythological ponies right here in our very town, why are they here in the first place? And why was ‘Gaia’ spying on Derpy and Big Mac?” Twilight said, making quotes in the air with her hooves when she said the unicorn’s name.
“Of her intentions I am not certain.  But I did see her in town observing me from behind a curtain.” Zecora added as she walked up to the group.
“So she’s a spy for sure.” Rainbow Dash said with suspicion. “Now we have to figure out exactly where she went.”
“Well, they had to have a camp set up somewhere. Applejack, would you know if they were camped out on your land?” Twilight asked her.
“Well, we haven’t really walked a lot o’ the land since Winter Wrap Up yet.  But I or Big Mac would definitely have found ‘em by now.” She said.
“Perhaps we can follow her hoof prints through the orchard.” Rarity suggested as she went over to the brambles, using her magic to clear the way, revealing more walls stretched out before her.
“This might be a bit more difficult than we thought,” Twilight said. “Wait a minute! I could detect her magic when she was using it last night. Maybe I can pick it up now!” she added as she lowered her horn and closed her eyes.
After a few seconds of concentration, her horn began to slowly pulse.  As she turned her head, the rhythm of the pulsing would increase or decrease depending on how close or far away she was to the unicorn’s direction.  Slowly, she turned her head until the pulsing became a steady glow, pointing to the direction of town.
“This way.” She said, bolting off towards town, the others following close behind.
Rainbow Dash flew up beside Luna, casually looking over to her. “So Luna, I take it you know this Atlas pretty well?” she asked, sharing a look with Applejack, who ran on Luna’s other side. It seemed the girls couldn’t pass up a good opportunity to dig into the Princess.
“Yes, he and I were close.” Luna said, guessing where this might be going.
“As in good friends?” Applejack pressed.
“You could say that,” Luna responded uncomfortably, quite aware now of where their questions were heading.
“There!” Twilight shouted, pointing a hoof at the unicorn, who had reappeared at the post office.
The unicorn spotted them and took off once again, heading east now.
“Not this time!” Rainbow shouted as she darted off after her.
“Rainbow Dash, wait!” Rarity shouted after her.
“Hey guys! Whatcha doing?” Pinkie Pie suddenly said, appearing beside everypony much to their surprise.
“Pinkie Pie? Where in tarnation have ya been?” Applejack frowned at her.
“I was spying on that pegasus like you told me to.” She said as she bounced along beside everypony.
“Wait, what?” Twilight asked, suddenly skidding to a halt, everypony else stopping short of slamming into her. “Pinkie we were looking for Luna first and foremost.”
Rainbow Dash returned and landed beside them. "That cheater teleported on me!" She shouted with a huff and crossed her arms.
“Yeah, and you guys found Luna, so I went with plan B.” Pinkie smiled back at Twilight.
“That’s…Good, actually,” Twilight said. She ignored Rainbow Dash for now, and focused more on keeping her brain from seizing up from all the Pinkie Pie logic flying around.
“Despite anything else that may be said about you Pinkie Pie, you do indeed have a keen eye,” Zecora said as she walked up to her.
“Yes, if we follow Pinkie to where she found Atlas, then Gaia’s got to eventually end up where he is.” Twilight said after some thought.
“Pinkie Pie, could you lead us to where you saw the pegasus?” Luna asked her with  hope in her eyes.
“Sure, let’s go!” Pinkie Pie said, hopping off without a worry in the world.
“Pinkie Pie, you are so random,” Rainbow Dash said with a shrug.
The girls followed Pinkie Pie to the edge of town, where the Everfree Forest dared to creep into the land ruled by the ponies, its very existence in defiance of the order and discipline that Celestia and Luna's kingdom stood for.  They continued along  the edge of the forest until they came to a camp, hidden in a small copse of trees only a few yards from Fluttershy’s home.  There were two sleeping bags and a couple of weathered saddle bags underneath a small lean-to made from a large blanket stretched over some sticks to make a roof and a back wall. The side walls were made with logs stacked on top of each other, with branches lying against them as a wind break. In the center of all this there was a fire pit dug into the ground, so that the flames would not be seen when they had it going.
“They were this close to my house?” Fluttershy squeaked with fear, her eyes narrowing as she looked past the copse to her front door.
“Don’t worry Fluttershy. I only saw him peek in your windows once while I was watching him,” Pinkie Pie said with a few bounces, while Flutershy’s jaw nearly dropped to the ground.
“Shh, there’s no telling where they might be. Let’s go about this slowly and quietly.” Twilight said as they crept forward and peeked through the bushes watching for any sign of activity.
Their wait was short as they saw the unicorn come into the camp from the direction of Fluttershy’s house.
“Atlas? Where are you?” she called, looking around for the pegasus.  Despite her seemingly harsh attitude, she did appear outwardly like a benevolent being, not unlike Luna or Celestia. Though now that Twilight could study her closely, she confirmed that this unicorn was just a plain old unicorn; there was no way she could be the immortal being of the Earth.
They watched her in silence for a few minutes as she moved around the edges of the camp looking for the pegasus, having to duck out of sight when she came in their direction.  After a few more minutes of looking, she shook her head and exited in the same direction she entered the camp with a sigh.
“Come on, maybe we can figure out what they’re up to.” Twilight said as she slowly crept out into the camp, looking around for danger.
“I feel bad about this. They are my friends Twilight; I shouldn’t be creeping around like this.  As soon as we found Gaia I should have approached her.” Luna said as she looked inside the lean-to.
They walked around the camp a bit, with Applejack and Rainbow Dash keeping watch.  Rarity walked up to the saddle bags and opened one with her magic, rooting around inside a bit with a hoof.
“Oh!” she squealed, causing the others to look at her holding up a cloak. “What a garish thing, this style is so one thousand years ago,” she said getting a collective eye roll from everypony.
“Oh give me a break,” Rainbow Dash mumbled, crossing her arms.
Suddenly, Rainbow Dash’s ears perked as she heard a twig snap, before being suddenly hurled to the ground much in the same manner as before, except that there wasn’t a mattress there to catch her fall this time. As Applejack saw what was happening, she quickly sprung into action to help Rainbow Dash, only to find vines wrapped tightly around all four of her own legs, and the more she struggled the tighter they got. She watched helplessly as Rainbow plummeted like a rock, only to be caught and imprisoned by more vines. The others gasped as they saw things quickly getting out of hand and leapt to help their friends. Fluttershy screamed and cowered in fear as she and Zecora were surrounded by a cage of vines, which Pinkie Pie barely managed to hop free of before turning back around and attempted to bite the vines to free her friends.
“Everypony, stop!” Luna pleaded as Twilight and Rarity stood side by side facing the forest.
“Come out now!” Twilight shouted as her horn began to glow, readying a bolt of magic.
“Everypony!” Luna repeated only to be ignored once more.
Suddenly, Gaia burst forth from the brush, her horn blazing green with magic. “What are you doing here?” she demanded.
“I should ask you the same thing, why are you spying on us? Let our friends go this instant!” Rarity shot back at her with a stomp of her hoof.
“And I, WILL ask YOU, the same thing. And no I will not let them go, pretty girl.” Gaia spat back as she sent a bolt of magic at the two unicorns, which Twilight deflected with a magic barrier towards a tree, the magic causing it to transform into a butterfly.
"Well at least I have enough sense of style to wash my mane and update my wardrobe on occasion." Rarity replied with a huff as she readied some of her own magic to send at her.
“I SAID ENOUGH!” Luna shouted in her traditional Canterlot voice as she stomped her hoof on the ground, which sent a split in the earth between the battling unicorns.
As everypony stared at her in awe, Luna’s glowing eyes returned to their normal look. She looked at everypony and prepared to speak, before there was the sound of rustling behind her
“Nice to see you haven’t lost your touch,” said a male voice from behind Luna, teasing the Princess.
Luna whirled around with shock on her face, her eyes widening as the pegasus stallion stepped out of the bushes.
“Atlas?” she asked, her voice wavering with a mixture of disbelief and hope.
The stallion looked back at her with a mischievous look before a more affectionate smile crossed his lips. “Hello, Luna.”

//-------------------------------------------------------//
                         Chapter 4                         
//-------------------------------------------------------//
Chapter 4
Chapter 4
“Wait, Luna?” said a dumbfounded Gaia, who looked happily over at the Princess, completely forgetting the others.  She quickly bounded over to Luna, shoving Twilight and Rarity aside in the process before leaping up and wrapping her forelegs around her. “Luna!” she cried as she buried her face in the Princess’ chest.
“It is good to see you again Gaia.” Luna said, returning Gaia’s hug with her own tight embrace, tears forming in her eyes.
She let the unicorn down to the ground, then turned to the stallion as the others looked on with confusion.
“Atlas,” Luna said, stepping up and throwing her forelegs around him tightly.
“My dear, sweet Luna,” he said, nuzzling the side of her neck. “It is good to see you again my love.”
“Love?” the girls with the exception of Zecora and Twilight all said with collective shock and confusion.
“In the age when the world was new, tales were told of the earth’s love for the moon.  It was in this time that the Shaper formed Luna’s Peak, so that the moon’s love, the earth could seek.” Twilight said with a smile, as she watched the two larger ponies.
Atlas released Luna and walked over to smile down at Twilight. “Well, well, I didn’t think anyone knew that old legend anymore.” He chuckled.
Twilight flushed with pride and smiled up at him. “Well, when I was a filly, Princess Celestia used to tell me that tale all the time, it was kind of my favorite.” she said, shyly scraping her hoof across the ground as she saw Luna looking at her with surprise, feeling like she and Celestia shared some secret that she was not meant to know.
Atlas nodded with an amused grin, then turned back to Luna. “You have surrounded yourself with wise friends Luna, and brave too,” he said, looking over his shoulder at the other girls. “I think you can release them now Gaia.”
Gaia nodded and focused her magic on the girls. Within seconds, the cage around Zecora and Fluttershy disappeared, as well as the vines and chains securing Rainbow Dash and Applejack.
“Thank you,” Fluttershy said shyly.
“Whatever,” Gaia huffed, before heading back over to her brother and Luna, causing Fluttershy to withdraw back behind her hair a bit.
“That wasn’t very nice,” Pinkie Pie said as she came up and put a hoof on Fluttershy’s shoulder, getting an indifferent shrug from Gaia.
Twilight stepped up with a smile and reached out with her hoof. “Well, it’s nice to meet you two. I’m...”
“Twilight Sparkle.” Gaia chimed in. “And the rest of you are Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash, the Elements of Harmony.” She said before looking to Zecora. “And you are Zecora, the Life Element of Wisdom.” She added, reciting everypony’s names and titles with indifference.
“Huh?” Everypony said, looking to Zecora, who looked quite confused herself.
“I do not know what you think you see, but there is nothing special about me,” Zecora said, waving a hoof in the air.
“Quite the opposite, Miss Zecora, though I suppose an explanation is in order. If you’d like, we can discuss everything over tea, after we gather the other Elements,” Atlas said holding up a hoof to head off any kind of interjection.
“The other Elements?” Rarity asked, taking a step forward.
Gaia cleared her throat a bit. “The Elements of Strength, Courage, Humility, and Love; two of these four are here in Ponyville.”
“Well I suppose the best thing to do would be to find these other two.  Shall we meet at the library?” Twilight suggested.
Atlas nodded his head. “That would be wise.  A more relaxing atmosphere would be good to tell the others about their gift, and the reason we have been searching them out.”
“Ok then, just who are we looking for?” Rainbow asked, sitting back and crossing her forelegs.
“I’m guessing Derpy and Big Mac.” Twilight said, receiving a nod from Atlas.
“Big Mac!” Applejack scoffed.  “Pardon me, Big Mac is strong but he isn’t much of the ‘mighty hero’ type.”
“Sometimes the greatest of heroes is found amongst the humblest of ponies,” Luna interjected.
“Do you have any idea what’s going on, Luna?” Twilight asked.
“No I can’t say that I do, but hopefully all will be made clear once we gather at the library,” She said with a shrug.
“I assure you, all will be revealed,” Atlas said with a nod. “And I think, perhaps, Celest should be present,” He added, looking to Luna.
“Tia? Why?” Luna asked him, raising a brow.
“This matter concerns the very fate of Equestria,” He replied.
Luna nodded her head slightly. “Very well, I shall retrieve her.  Twilight, I’ll leave them in your hooves,” she said, smiling at the purple unicorn.
“You can count on me.” Twilight smiled.
“Luna, can’t I come with you?” Gaia asked.
“No Gaia, we have to stay together, that way it’ll be easier to track the Elements if Twilight and her friends can’t find them,” Atlas interjected with a hoof on her shoulder.
Gaia splayed her ears and crossed her forelegs. “Fine, let’s go then.” She huffed before getting up and making her way towards the edge of the camp.
“Don’t worry dear; this will give all of us a chance to get to know each other.” Rarity smiled, placing a hoof on Gaia’s shoulder.
“Don’t bother.” Gaia sneered, shrugging off Rarity’s hoof, before making her way out of the camp to wait on them.
“Well I’ll be, what’s got her bridle in a bunch? You sure she’s your sister, Atlas?” Applejack asked him.
“Gaia isn’t really the easiest pony to befriend. In fact, I think Luna and Celestia are the only real friends she’s ever had. Well, aside from Pandora and Argos.” He frowned.
“Pandora and Argos?” Twilight asked.
Atlas smiled and shook his head. “I will explain everything in the library, that way everypony gets the information.”
Luna turned to Atlas and placed a kiss upon his cheek. “I’ll see you at the library.  Try to make sure Gaia and the others don’t kill each other.”
“Well I can’t really promise anything, but I’ll try.” He grinned, nuzzling her nose with his own.
With a final smile between the two, Luna took to the sky and headed in the direction of Canterlot, before disappearing in a dark flash of light. After watching her go, the group made their way out of the camp and headed into town. Big Mac was easy enough to find, since he was in town buying some supplies to repair the roof of the family home. With some reluctance, he agreed to meet them at the library after dropping off the supplies at home and checking on Granny Smith. Derpy was a bit harder to find at first, and they even thought of having Gaia use her magic to locate her, before Twilight remembered that she went to the school at this time of day to pick up Dinky.  After making their way across town, with the strangers now visible in broad daylight receiving a few interested looks from the townsponies, they reached the school just in time to see Dinky bound out of the schoolhouse and into Derpy’s waiting hooves.
“Hi mom!” Dinky squealed, nuzzling against Derpy’s chest.
“Hello Dinky, did you have a good day?” Derpy asked as she set her back down on the ground.
“I did, Miss Cheerilee is taking us on a field trip to the Canterlot Zoo on Friday. She needs the parents’ permission, though.” Dinky explained, falling into step beside her mother as they made their way towards home.
“Well of course you can go,” Derpy said before stopping, noticing that her eye had gone out of focus. Like before, she closed her eyes and gently tapped on the side of her head, before opening them with a bit of surprise to see Twilight and her friends smiling at her. “Oh, hi girls.” She smiled.
“Hello Ditzy, hello Dinky. How are you two doing?” Twilight asked her as she turned her smile to Dinky, who smiled back.
“Oh we’re doing fine. I finished my route and I’m picking Dinky here up from school.” Derpy said, drawing her daughter close to her side and running her hoof over the top of her head, eliciting a giggle from her.  “Is there something I can help you guys with?” she asked as she brought her attention back to the others.
“Mommy didn’t accidentally deliver the wrong mail to you again did she? It was just an accident!” Dinky blurted out as she hugged her mother protectively.
“No sweetie, no, we’re not mad at her.  We just needed to talk to her about something,”  Twilight assured her.
“Talk to me about what?” Derpy asked, cocking her head.
Twilight waved a hoof “We should discuss it at the library; Big Mac is waiting for us there for the same thing.”
Derpy looked down at her daughter, sharing a shrug and a look of confusion. “Um, ok.  Is it ok if Dinky comes along?”
The girls looked to Atlas and Gaia, who then looked to each other. Atlas cocked his head at Gaia with a questioning expression, who in turn shrugged her shoulders in indifference with a sour expression.  Atlas shook his head again, at Derpy this time, and stepped forward.
“It would probably be best if Dinky goes home. The story I have to tell is, perhaps, not fit for the ears of a filly.” He said.
With a nod, Derpy turned to face her daughter, crouching down face to face with her. “I’ll be along soon, Dinky.  Why don’t you go home and get started on your homework?” she said, smiling to the filly who stared at her with disappointed eyes.
“Aw, mom!” Dinky pleaded.
“No arguing. Go on.” Derpy said firmly, giving Dinky a loving nuzzle on the top of her head, before lightly shooing her along when Dinky turned for home, causing the filly to giggle as she bounded away. “Ok, ready.” Depry said as she looked back to the others.
“OK then, let’s go,” Twilight said, leading everypony to the library.
*   *   *   *
In the throne room of the decrepit castle, the dark figure sat upon his throne with the light of the sun shining upon him.  He was a dark blue alicorn, with a sea green mane and tail, as well as a long, identically colored beard and a hurricane for a cutie mark. He wore a long black cape upon his back, which was clasped around his neck with a jewel that contained a swirling tornado within it and a crown of black coral upon his head. His fierce red eyes stared off into the empty room, before they looked over at a figure shrouded in the shadows.
“What is it, Daru?” he rumbled, his deep, gravelly voice echoing through the room.
“Forgive me, my king, but the preparations are complete,” came the calm reply of the shrouded figure, his own voice as deep and menacing as his master.
“Very well, and what of the condition of my daughter?” he asked with curiosity.
Daru nodded his head, the sunlight glinting from the horn on his forehead. “She is coping quite well, despite the amount of energy we tapped from her. Though, we couldn’t manufacture much with what we got, and we didn’t want to attempt too much without knowing her limit. Following this initial attempt, we’ll have to switch to a smaller scale if we wish to remain constant.”
“That will do. All we need to do is send Celestia and Luna a message. And what of the army?” the king asked.
“The army is at fifty percent, those that are already complete are stationed and ready.” Daru smiled.
“Very well.  I will be in the tower; it is time we sent the dear Princesses their message.” The king said before taking off in a brisk sweep of wings, flying up to the large tower that stood above the castle.
Landing on the platform of the tower, the king turned his attention to the northwest, where the peaceful land of Equestria lay, its unsuspecting inhabitants going about their daily lives. The king stood on his back hooves, raising his fore hooves to the sky.
“Great winds of Amuk’thar, your master commands you; come forth and bring destruction to our enemies.” He shouted as a great wind whipped through his mane.
The wind began to increase, swirling about the tower until it wrapped around the king’s body and rose high above him, and began to blow in the direction of Equestria. It continued to magnify until it reached hurricane force strength, before a series of fireballs rose up from the castle and were caught by the wind to be sent hurtling towards the unsuspecting land of Equestria.
“Let’s see if you two have lost your touch.” He sneered with malice.
*   *   *   *
The gang had gathered at the library to hear Atlas’ tale, only to find that neither Big Mac, nor Luna had arrived yet.  The girls contemplated searching for him, before the bell at the door jingled as Big Mac arrived with his normally carefree expression.
“Big Mac, where’n the hay’ve you been?  We should’ve been meetin’ YOU here.” Applejack said with a cross look at her big brother.
“I’m sorry AJ,  I had some problems with Applebloom and her friends trying to parachute from the barn.” He explained as he walked up to his sister, unfazed by her expression.
Applejack quickly readied another question, before her expression switched to one of first, realization, and then anger, before finally shifting to exasperation.
“Parachute from the...Wait. Were those silly little fillies tryin’ out more of their hair brained cutie mark shenanigans?” she asked, recoiling in shock.
“Eeyep.” came her brother’s reply, causing Applejack to put a forehoof on her face with a sigh and a shake of her head.
“So where are they now?” she asked, looking at him around her hoof with one open eye.
“Cheerilee is keeping them busy,” He said, taking a seat beside her and looking to the strange ponies that had been watching the exchange with some interest, well, Atlas seemed interested, while Gaia seemed annoyed.
“Those fillies, I swear,” Applejack muttered, before turning her attention back to Atlas and Gaia. “I apologize.” Applejack said with a shaky grin
“No apology neccessary.” Atlas nodded, returning Applejack’s smile.
“Yes, no need to apologize for wasting everypony’s time.” Gaia murmered, looking off a bit to the side.
“I’m afraid we must wait for Luna and Celestia,” Atlas said, clearing his throat and glaring at his sister, who looked back at him with annoyance. “In the meantime, perhaps we can acquaint ourselves.”
“Yes, let’s waste some more time, Atlas.” Gaia huffed, ignoring her brother.
“Well ah’ll be sugarcube, what’s got the burr under your saddle? You’ve been meaner than a rattler ever since we met,.” Applejack said, furrowing her brows at the unicorn.
“It’s none of your business,” Gaia said curtly, turning to face her back to them.
“How rude. We’re only trying to be your friends.” Rarity huffed.
“Come on Gaia-waia.  Everypony needs a friend!” Pinkie said, bounding up in front of Gaia with the biggest grin she could fit onto her face.
When Twilight opened the package, Pinkie Pie’s smiling face looked back at her. She stuck her head out of the box and shook her head a bit to get her mane, which had compressed a bit, back to it’s poofy state.
“Not me.” She said, shutting Pinkie Pie in a box and floating her over to Twilight, who immediately opened it with some worry on her face.
“I always wondered what it was like from a present’s perspective.” Pinkie giggled wildly as the package disappeared, leaving her lying on her back.
“Maybe I should add a little thunder and lighting to that gloomy little cloud of yours.” Rainbow said as she rose into the air, her fur bristled a bit as she made a motion of rolling up her nonexistant sleeves.
Gaia looked back at her with an expression that made the cocky pegasus pause for a second, before returning her own intense glare at the unicorn.
“That’s enough, Rainbow Dash.” Twilight interjected, stopping Rainbow from doing something rash, like she’d done countless times; she knew how a repeat of the previous two times would end. Twilight swore sometimes that if she wasn’t there to stop the pegasus, she’d find herself in much worse trouble than she normally got into.
Atlas put a hoof on Gaia’s shoulder and looked warmly at his sister, receiving one in return that looked out of place on the cranky unicorn. Suddenly, an explosion was heard outside that rocked the library.
“What was that?” Twilight said as she ran to a window.
“It came from somewhere outside,” Rainbow Dash said as she zipped out the door with the others close behind.
At first they couldn’t see anything, but as they turned to look towards the smell of smoke, they soon saw it rising up from the center of town. Everypony stared in shock as they looked up at a looming shadow, to see multiple, large, fireballs streaking towards the direction of Canterlot, Manehatten, and Fillydelphia; though they paid more attention to the large number of fireballs that were heading straight for town.
“Everypony, take cover!” Atlas shouted as he took off away from the fireball that was about to land where they were standing, with his sister and the others close behind.
They dodged left and right as small fireballs broke off from the large one when it impacted, which in turn began to rain on the city, setting fire to many homes and businesses.  The group made their way past screaming ponies as they ran from the fireballs, chaos quickly taking hold of the town.  They saw the mayor frantically trying to calm some of the ponies that passed by her, a siren beginning to sound as the only two tankers for the fire department made their way to the most intense fires.
“Miss Mayor!” Twilight shouted as the group skidded to a halt in front of her.
“Twilight!  This is bad. It’s chaos out here! We’re getting reports of fires all over town, and the fire brigade can’t handle them all!” The Mayor exclaimed with despair.
The group looked around as a group of townsponies began to gather around them, a little voice suddenly erupting from the crowd.
“Mom!” shouted Dinky, who threw her forelegs around her mother and held her tightly.
“Are you ok, Dinky?” Derpy asked as she looked her daughter over for injuries.
“Uh-huh,” the filly replied, before looking at her mother with worry. “What’s going on?” she asked
“What’s the plan, Twilight?” Rainbow Dash asked the purple unicorn, who had been deep in thought. After a few seconds of silence, she finally raised a hoof in the air.
“I’ve got it! Don’t worry, we can get through this. Applejack, Big Mac; can the townsponies fit in your new cellar?” she asked, turning to the farmponies.
“It’ll be tight but ah’ think we can manage it,” Applejack said, getting a nod of agreement from her brother.
“Ok. Miss Mayor, get on the PA system and tell everypony to head for Sweet Apple Acres,” Twilight told her, before turning to the sound of a familiar voice.
“Twilight!” came the voice of Princess Celestia. Twilight looked up to see the sisters swooping down from the sky to land in front of her. Celestia immediately brought her attention to Atlas and Gaia. “I thought maybe Luna had gone delusional when she said you two were here, Atlas,” she began.
“Now’s probably not the best time Celest,” Atlas said, cutting her off with a hoof.
“Is there anything we can do about those?” Rarity said, as she and the others kept a constant eye on the rapidly falling fireballs.
“The same thing is happening all over Equestria. Luna is heading to Fillydelphia, and I’m going to Manehatten. All we can hope to do is cast a barrier over as much of the cities as we can until the fireballs stop,” Celestia said as the mayor began to address everypony over the PA system.
“What about Canterlot?” Twilight asked, worry for her parents and brother beginning to fill her mind.
“Your brother and the Mages’ College will take care of Canterlot; their combined power should be enough,” Celestia replied.
“And what about Ponyville?” Fluttershy asked nervously.
“I’ll do it,” Gaia said as she took off towards the center of town.
“Is she powerful enough to do that?” Celestia worriedly looked to Atlas.
“She is, but I don’t know how long she can sustain it through such a powerful attack,” He said with a shake of his head.
Rarity looked to Twilight with a nod. “Then we’ll help her,” she said, looking to the Princess.
“Are you sure you’re up for it Rarity? I only just started teaching the barrier spell to you a few weeks ago.” Twilight asked Rarity, cocking her head to the side.
“Well, granted I’m not as powerful as you, Twilight. But I shant stand idly by while my town is destroyed.” Rarity said with a determined stomp of her hoof.
“That’s very brave of you Rarity, I know it won’t be easy,” Celestia said, giving her a smile. “Good luck to you all. I shall see you again if this ends,” she said, before looking to Luna with a nod. The Princesses took off as a barrier of green began to form over the town, stretching to cover Sweet Apple Acres foremost and then continued out to it’s max, to just outside of Fluttershy’s home.
“My animals!” Fluttershy shouted as she quickly flew towards her home.
“Fluttershy, wait!” Rainbow Dash called, before taking off after her.
“Applejack, you, Pinkie Pie, and Big Mac take care of the evacuation.” Twilight said, receiving a nod from them before they took off for the farm. “Derpy, you and Zecora, see if you can help the medical ponies with any injuries.”
“What do I do?” Dinky suddenly asked from Derpy’s side.
“You need to be in the shelter,” Derpy immediately answered her.
“But I want to be with you, mommy!” she cried.
“No arguments, Dinky!” Derpy said sternly.
Atlas looked to the mailmare and nodded his head. “I’ll keep her safe until I get her to the shelter.”
“Thank you,” Derpy said, before hugging her daughter tightly. “I’ll see you at the shelter sweetie.”
“You be careful mommy.” Her daughter commanded, giving her a stern look.
“Of course.” Derpy smiled, before setting off in the direction of the hospital with Zecora.
“Let’s go Rarity,” Twilight said with a nod as the two unicorns ran off to join Gaia.
Atlas lowered himself to the ground so that Dinky could climb on. Once she was securely on his back, with her hooves holding onto his neck the best they could, he looked back with a smile. “Well, miss, shall I escort you to the Gala?” he chuckled, before flying off in the direction of Sweet Apple Acres, with a giggling Dinky on his back. The mood was shattered, however, as he suddenly felt something hit the back of his head and saw blackness.
Dinky clung to the stallion’s neck as he dropped from the sky, screaming fearfully as Town Hall rushed up to meet them.
*  *  *  *
Twilight and Rarity found Gaia standing on the balcony of the clock tower, channeling all of her magic into the barrier, which they had seen begin to waver and break up in spots, letting a few of the fireballs in.
“Looks like she needs some help,” Twilight said, before rushing up to Gaia’s side.
Gaia had been focusing every ounce of her magic into the barrier, but the constant assault of the fireballs was starting to wear on her. She readjusted her shaky hooves and put the last bit of her energy into focusing on the barrier before she felt the strength of her barrier increase, causing her to open her eyes and see the other two unicorns next to her.
Rarity struggled a bit, since her magic wasn’t normally used for things like this. She had originally asked Twilight to teach her the barrier spell because she thought it would be handy to keep important orders protected from stains and whatnot. She never thought in a million years that she would be using it to keep Ponyville from being destroyed.
“I don’t need your help.” Gaia glared at them.
“From the looks of it, you need all the help you can get missy.  Now’s not the time to be stubborn,” Rarity said.
Gaia had to admit that Rarity was right, and actually found herself thankful for the help.  She hoped, though, that that brief weakness in the barrier didn’t cause too much trouble as she and the girls sustained the barrier through the relentless onslaught.
“Sorry about that, we had to save Fluttershy’s animals.” Rainbow Dash said, shooting a glare to the yellow Pegasus.
“I’m sorry, but I just had to make sure they were safe in their shelter,” she said, getting a shake of Rainbow’s head in return.
“Can you girls…look for anyone that…didn’t make it to the shelter?” Twilight said, trying to speak while she held the barrier.
“Can do!” Rainbow Dash said with a salute, before grabbing a surprised Fluttershy by the hoof and taking off like a flash.
*  *  *  *
Dinky awoke with a groan, standing up slowly until she was fully on her hooves.  She opened her eyes and slowly looked around, attempting to get her bearings; she was in an office, from the looks of it.  She saw that she had ended up under a heavy desk, which had probably saved her from the pieces of collapsed roof she saw laying on top of it. As she studied the room she caught sight of sunlight shining on a pony’s back end laying underneath a few boards and pieces of plaster ceiling. She recognized the markings as the stallion, Atlas and rushed over with a gasp.
“Mister, Mister!” she shouted, moving the rubble off of of him that she could until she uncovered the rest of him. She sighed with relief as she saw that he was still breathing.
She shook him a bit more but still got no response; he was alive though, and that was the important part. Now, though, she had to figure out how to get out of this room. Quickly, she looked around for an escape, checking every corner of the room, but was met with disappointment. As she leaned against the wall with a frown, she heard it creak and give way a little. She turned and looked at the wall for a few seconds, pushing on it a little to confirm what she’d heard; the wall had been weakened by the fire.
“Maybe I can break through to the other side.” she thought, looking for something she could use to break it. She finally looked to her right to see a large bust of the mayor sitting atop a stone pedestal.
Quickly, she climbed up the bookcase that stood beside the statue until she was above it. With a gulp and a second to gather her nerves, she leapt from the bookcase to land on the head of the statue, using her momentum and her little bit of weight to tip the statue over, riding it down and bouncing off as it hit the wall, sending her rolling across the room until she stopped a few feet away. She slowly stood on unsteady hooves and shook her head a bit until she got her bearings, then looked to the wall to see that the statue had knocked a hole large enough for her to crawl through.
She looked to Atlas for a second, she had figured out a long time ago that she couldn’t drag him out, so she would have to be brave and crawl out to look for help. As she passed by the unconscious stallion, she thought about covering him to protect him from any embers that fell from the ceiling, and set to work finding something. She looked down at her feet to see a small, oval rug, large enough to cover most of him. With some effort she dragged the rug over him and then looked around again; she would have to wet the rug to make it effective. She scanned the room again until she noticed a water cooler that had tipped over in the corner. Most of the water had leaked out, but enough remained inside for her to adequately wet the rug. She ran over to the jug, avoiding falling pieces of ceiling in the process. Carefully, she rolled the jug over to Atlas, taking care not to spill any more water and thoroughly soaked the rug with the water, kicking the empty jug away so that it wouldn’t melt and hurt him.
Content that she had done the best for Atlas’ safety, she walked over to the hole in the wall and poked her head through. The next room appeared to be the lobby of city hall. Most of the room seemed destroyed and impassable, until she noticed that there was a place to crawl behind the receptionist’s desk and make her way outside through the wall that had a huge chunk torn out of it. With a deep, calming breath, she wriggled through the hole and popped out onto the floor. She made her way towards the desk, holding her tail close to keep it away from the flames as she passed by them. As she approached the desk, the floor creaked a bit beneath her before he left hind hoof fell through. With a gasp she quickly worked to free her hoof, stopping for a second as she heard a groaning and splintering sound that caused her to looked up at the bulging ceiling. She gasped again before trying with even more determination to free her hoof. After a bit more struggling, she managed to pop her hoof free and dive under the desk, covering her head and closing her eyes with a prayer to Celestia and Lunar as a large chunk of ceiling collapsed on top of the desk. When she was sure everything had settled, she opened her eyes, seeing that the way was still clear. She quickly got to a crouch, crawled the rest of the way to the hole,and quickly slipped through to the outside, taking a moment to fill her lungs with fresh air, before dropping to her rump and crying.
“Help! Somepony! Anypony!” she shouted, her little voice straining as she tried to shout over the sound of the destruction and chaos taking place around her.
*  *  *  *
Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy flew over the town, scanning for any sign of any remaining ponies, flying by windows and doors making sure that no one was inside any of the buildings. They turned right to head down the street, past the now partially leveled town hall, when they heard a voice.
“Help! Anypony!” came the frightened voice from below.
“Down there.” Rainbow pointed before rapidly descending.
“Ohmygoodness.” Fluttershy stammered as she quickly followed behind her.
They both gasped as they saw Dinky sitting in the street, covered in soot and grime and crying her eyes out. They quickly landed and Fluttershy scooped her up into her hooves, comforting her and wiping the tears away.
“It’s ok, Dinky. You’re safe now, we have you.” Fluttershy cooed to the girl like she always did with one of her animals.
“P...Please help! Atlas is still inside!" Dinky said, sniffling a bit and quickly regained her composure.
“Where is he?” Rainbow Dash asked, turning her head to the filly.
“He’s in an office, there on other side of that wall.” She replied, jumping from Fluttershy’s hooves to point to the hole she had made in the far wall.
“Ok, stand back!” Rainbow Dash said as she rose up into the air a few feet.
With a determined look, Rainbow Dash backed up a bit, before rushing through the flames. As she punched through the wall, making the hole Dinky had made bigger. She looked down to see Atlas laying under the rug, which now had a few singe marks where some embers had fallen on it. She took his forehooves in her own and began to drag him, with some effort, across the room to the opposite wall, which she hoped would lead outside. After placing the stallion near the wall, she backed up to where she had entered the room and took a deep breath.
“Here goes nothing.” she said, before putting all her strength into her wings and flew into the wall, knocking a hole in it and appearing outside in a back alley, to her relief. With a sigh of relief, she quickly went back into the hole and dragged Atlas out as Fluttershy entered the alley with Dinky in tow.
“Oh, goodness. Is he ok, Rainbow Dash?” Fluttershy asked as she set Dinky down on the ground and landed beside Atlas to check on him.
“He’s out cold, but he’s still alive.” Rainbow Dash said just as Atlas let out a small groan now that his lungs got a taste of fresh air, confirming her novice diagnosis.
“I’ll go get help!”Fluttershy said, quickly taking off towards the direction of the hospital to retrieve Zecora or a doctor, leaving Dinky in Rainbow Dash’s hooves.
As Rainbow Dash and Dinky waited for Fluttershy’s return, the barrage stopped, and an eerie silence filled the air. Rainbow Dash flew slowly out of the alley to see what had happened.  She looked in every direction, but saw nothing but blue sky behind the green and purple barrier.
“They, stopped?” Rainbow Dash said with some confusion.
“Rainbow!” came Twilight’s voice through the deafening silence.
“Twilight?” she called back, raising her ear a bit towards the sound of Twilight’s voice.
“You and the pegasi need to get a downpour going to put out these fires!” Twilight called back.
“Got it!” Rainbow replied, looking to the filly she held in her hooves. “Think you can look after Atlas until Fluttershy gets back?” she asked Dinky as she set her next to the stallion.
“Sure.” Dinky nodded with a mixture of fear and confidence on her grime covered face.
Rainbow Dash gave her a smile and took off to the shelter to gather any uninjured pegasus to bring in some rain clouds as the barrier dissipated. Back at the clock tower, the unicorns slid to the ground, exhausted and panting for breath.
Twilight leaned against a sleeping Rarity, before looking over at Gaia, who could barely lift her head off of the ground. “I think, you guys owe us that explanation now, right after a quick nap.”

//-------------------------------------------------------//
                         Chapter 5                         
//-------------------------------------------------------//
Chapter 5
Chapter 5
The sun had taken its place in the western half of the sky.  The bombardment had lasted for only an hour, but it thad taken a good four and a half hours for the weather Pegasi all over Equestria to bring in enough rainclouds on short notice to cover all of the country to assist the fire brigades with putting out the fires in their cities.
The damage estimates so far had shown that while Trottingham had come out relatively unscathed, Balitmare, Manehatten, Fillydelphia, Las Pegasus and even little Appleoosa had taken light to moderate damage, with Canterlot and Ponyville taking the most severe damage. In Ponyville, many of the buildings that hadn’t been outright burned or destroyed had to be taken down due to extensive damage.  Sweet Apple Acres had taken light damage for the most part but while the buildings remained untouched, many trees had either been destroyed from the larger fireballs’ impacts or burned by the smaller fireballs.  The casualties had been light thanks to the time of day, with many ponies away from their homes out and about doing errands and other business.  So far the most serious injuries reported were a few concussions, some serious cuts, and a pony who had suffered moderate burns when a fireball struck her house.
Rainbow Dash had returned and joined the girls who had begun assisting at the hospital, which had set up tents outside to handle the large flow of injuries; even Gaia had lent her assistance after waking up from her nap. Fluttershy had brought Atlas and Dinky to the hospital, who had escaped their ordeal with only a few cuts and bruises.  With his head bandaged, he now walked amongst the injured ponies with Dinky on his back, tending to their wounds and making sure that the right pony got sent to the right area for treatment.  Things continued this way far into the late afternoon when the sun began to sink into the sky and everyone had gathered in the library.
*  *  *  *
The girls, Zecora, Gaia, Big Mac, and Atlas were laying around the library trying to get some rest after their exhausting day when Derpy finally joined them, immediately going to Dinky.
“Dinky, are you ok?” she asked as she scooped her daughter up into a tight hug.
Atlas looked to the two of them and exchanged a smile with Derpy. “She is doing quite fine Miss Hooves; you have a very brave daughter.”
“I saved Atlas with a barrier mommy.  Though I wasn’t strong enough to keep it up for long, luckily Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash came along and helped us.” Dinky said, her initially prideful look degrading into a very sullen expression.
“It’s ok sweetie, you were very brave and it took a great deal of skill for you to have it up as long as you did.” Twilight assured her with a hoof on her shoulder, getting a smile from the little unicorn.  “How is Sparkler?” she asked looking back up to Derpy.
Derpy nodded a bit with a look of relief. “She’s doing fine.  She and her friends had taken refuge in a shelter when Canterlot started getting hit.”
“That’s good.” Rarity said as she walked up beside Twilight.
“Well, unless you girls would like to get some rest, I believe Gaia and I owe you an explanation for our appearance. And yes, today’s events are directly connected to it.” Atlas said as he settled down onto the cushion that Twilight had provided for him, Gaia settling at his side.
“I figure they have been very anxious to hear it, Atlas.” Celestia said as she and Luna entered the library.
Twilight rushed up to the two of them and nuzzled Celestia. “It’s good to see you two safe, they said you saved Fillydelphia and Manehatten.”
“Yes, but tis a shame to hear about Ponyville and Canterlot.  It seems they took the brunt of it, this was clearly a message Tia.” Luna said as she looked over to her sister, who nodded agreement.
“Indeed it was sister.” Celestia replied, before turning her affectionate gaze to Gaia and Atlas. “But despite it all, it is good to see you again my dear friends.  It is a shame that the last two times we have met were under bad circumstances.” She said as she walked up and nuzzled the siblings.
“Very true Celestia, though hopefully things can improve after we deal with this little matter.” Atlas replied before kissing Celestia’s forehead.
“Um, ah don’t mean ta be breaking up the happy reunion, but there’s the little matter of fireballs raining from the sky that we were about ta get to.” Applejack interjected clearing her throat a bit.
“Yes, well I suppose I should tell you the whole reason we were seeking you out, in addition to Mr. Apple, Ms. Zecora, and Ms. Hooves.” Atlas said as he settled back down onto the cushion, Luna taking up a spot against his right side, cuddling in close while Celestia moved into his left, Gaia showing a smile for the first time as she cuddled up with Celestia, getting a slightly jealous glare from Twilight who had taken her spot with her friends. “Now, this story begins a long time ago. Before even any of your great great grandparents were born.”
*   *   *   *
A younger, much smaller Atlas stood on a high grassy hill overlooking a valley; admiring the beauty of the land for as far as he could see.  He looked much different, his coat and mane looked much more vibrant and flowing with magic, his wings were as they always were, but he also had a horn, which now glowed with a gray aura as a river began to gently carve its way through the valley, moving towards the horizon where it would connect to a lake that existed near the future site of Fillydelphia.  The sound of hooves came from behind him as a young Luna and a filly Gaia, her own set of wings upon her back cantered up to his side.  They were met with nuzzles from the stallion; the one for Luna followed with a meeting of eyes, a look of love passed between them.
“It is good to see you two, what have you girls been up to today?” he asked as he put the finishing touches on the river, opening up the ends that would let the water flow from the distant mountains to the lake.
“You have to see what I made brother!” Gaia said with a proud grin on her face.
Atlas nodded and followed behind his eager sister, Luna close by his side.  They walked a short distance until they came to a bluff that overlooked a vast forest, quite beautiful and full of vigor.
“That is quite lovely Gaia.” He said as he cuddled up to Luna, admiring his sister’s work.
“I think I’ll call it ‘The Whispering Woods’.  I call it that because it’s like the trees seem like they’re talking to you, and I don’t mean regular conversations like I have with them. You know; a whole mystique to the place that other ponies will be amazed by.” She said with a smile.
Luna nodded beside Atlas. “Yes, and they seem to sing.  They were singing the most beautiful song earlier.”
“I think it would be a great place to have Celest’s birthday party, I created a small grove where the sun shines in on this little pool fed by a spring and a beautiful rock I swiped from you.” She giggled, her brother ruffling her mane with his hoof.
“You’re welcome.” He chuckled. “That reminds me, we should go meet Pandora; she said she would be arriving around noon with a special gift for Celestia.”
The three Alicorns made their way down the hillside.  They walked through The Whispering Woods, which indeed seemed to have a life of its own; though according to Gaia everything she had made did, because she had a special connection to it as their creator.  But the feeling that she explained other ponies would feel was there.  It felt like the trees were singing welcoming words to the guests that strolled amongst them as the forest and the creatures within it watched their mother and her guests walk by.
“It is a fine day; King Argos has been kind with the weather.” Luna commented as they made their way into the clearing and took a seat upon a blanket Gaia had laid out by the pool.
“I think he bumped his rainstorm up by a couple of days so that everything would be dried out for today.” Atlas replied as he took a seat at Luna’s side, flapping his wings a bit before folding them up at his sides.
“I wish he’d tone it down sometimes. That downpour he had last week nearly flooded out some of my woodchucks from their burrows when the river went up.” Gaia huffed as she looked skyward, looking for their friend Pandora’s arrival.
The three did not have to wait long before a brilliant burst of flame erupted in the sky. When the fire had subsided an Alicorn hovered high above her friends until she spotted them with a smile.  She was the very embodiment of fire; her coat, mane, and tail the color of flames, the latter two seeming to flow and dance about like flames much in the same way Luna and Celestia’s own manes and tails flowed with the magic of the solar wind and the night sky respectively.  Upon her flank was a flame cutie mark, above her left fore hoof she wore two bracelets of fine silver, and further up above the knee on each foreleg she wore a golden bracelet with a sapphire set in the front.
“Good afternoon, my dear friends.” She said as she slowly descended and gracefully touched down upon the grass before them, folding her wings and taking a seat upon the blanket. “Are we all ready?”
“Yes, all we are waiting on is Celestia.” Atlas nodded.
“I shall go fetch her.” Luna said taking off in a quick beat of her wings before disappearing in a dark blue flash.
The other three talked amongst themselves while they waited for Luna and Celestia, Gaia setting out a punch bowl and the cake which had been hidden in a nearby cave with the rest of the party materials.
“So Pandora, how is King Argos?” Atlas inquired as he levitated a glass of punch to his lips, taking a slow sip.
Pandora lifted her own cup trying some of the punch as she lay down comfortably on the blanket. “Father has been feeling unwell as of late.  He has been irritable and restless. I have found him some nights pacing the throne room.  He no longer accepts visitors or his advisors; only that snake, Daru.” She spat before setting her glass down and taking a cookie.
“Yes, such a horrid pony.” Gaia agreed as she sat back on her haunches.
The three looked up as a white and dark blue flash appeared above them, followed by the sight of Luna and Celestia in their wake. The sisters settled down side by side on an open spot on the blanket.
“Happy birthday!” Celestia’s friends shouted as her hooves touched the ground, causing the alicorn to beam from ear to ear.
“My dear friends, you did all this for me? I’m touched!” she said with a hoof on her chest, moved by her friends’ thoughtfulness.
“Of course we did, you are our dearest friend. And you only turn a thousand once.” Atlas chuckled as he held up the cake for her to blow out the candles, after which he set it back down and nodded to Pandora. “Now before we do anything, Pandora here has a special gift for you.”
Pandora nodded to her friend and rose to her hooves. With a whistle the likes of which no normal pony could make she focused her magic, her horn glowing a light orange.  After a few seconds an egg appeared on the ground before Celestia.
The Princess eyed the egg curiously then looked up to her friend. “What is it?” she asked.
Pandora opened her eyes and smiled at Celestia. As she focused her magic again, fire shot forth from her very body and engulfed the egg, much to everyone’s shock.  As the fire surrounded the egg a large crack snaked up the side and the egg began to shake.  After a few more shakes and cracks the egg exploded in a brilliant flash, a bird of flame rising into the air and spreading its wings as it reached the peak of its flight, framed by the sun.  The bird slowly descended and set down on Celestia’s foreleg, cawing lightly.
“Why Pandora, she’s beautiful.” Celestia said as she admired the magnificent bird, giggling when it began to preen her pink mane
“That is a Phoenix, I’m glad you like her. I plan on filling the world with them, but I wanted you to have the first.” She told her friend with a loving smile.
“Thank you my dear friend!” she said as the two mares hugged each other, the phoenix taking off and repositioning on the nearby rock to preen itself.
“What are you going to name her?” Gaia asked as she watched the phoenix with amazement.
“Hmm, I think I’ll call her…Philomena.” She said after a moment of thought.
“And watch this.” Pandora said before raising an oddly shaped instrument, which she called a Shō, to her lips. Blowing lightly, the air was filled with the sound one could only compare to an organ, only much prettier in their opinion.  At once, Philomena responded with a caw that sounded like the note from the Shō, looking upon her creator with her head cocked to the side. “Very good Philomena, I have just given your kind a voice.  From now one when one hears the sound of this instrument, they shall always remember the Phoenix.” She smiled.
Everyone looked on in awe before collectively smiling.  They nodded and voiced their agreement of how good a name it was to Celestia and how beautiful the call of the Phoenix was before they all began the small party.  The passed around the cake, gave Celestia more gifts, sang songs with Pandora providing the music from her Shō, and just enjoyed the presence of friends.
*   *   *   *
Twilight, who was listening to the story with great eagerness, broke her trance and looked over at the Princesses, who seemed to have tears in their eyes. “She was really close to you all.” she said getting a nod from the four older ponies.
“So let me get this straight in case I missed something, Princess Celestia controls the sun, Luna the moon and stars of course.  Now Gaia used to run the critters and plants of the earth, Atlas used to control the rest of the earth, and this King Argos used to control the water and wind.  Now this Pandora, from what you said, controlled fire and was the nicest, most caring pony in the world. So why in tarnation did she try to burn all of Equestria just now?” Applejack spoke up with a confused look.
“That attack was not her, at least not directly.  I suppose to fully understand Pandora, and by extension the real problem, her father Argos; would be to tell you their story.” Celestia said looking over to Atlas with a very vulnerable look that none of the girls had ever seen on their ruler.
Atlas nodded and looked back to the girls.  “In the beginning we were not the masters of the earth and sky as we eventually became. When Celestia was born her parents had created and controlled everything with the exception of the wind and water, which was controlled by Argos, who had been blessed with Pandora’s birth that same year.  The year that Luna and I were born they had passed on the responsibility of the sun to Celestia and then gave fire to Pandora as a gift.  Gaia was then born, and we were raised to immortal status and given our respective gifts around the time she reached the age when foals normally get their cutie marks by Celestia’s parents.  They offered to do the same for our parents but they declined.  Soon after that Luna was given the control of the night and their parents as well as our own ascended to the Great Plain; or the afterlife as you all know it, to be with their dear friends.” He stopped to look around at everyone, making sure his words were sinking in.  He stretched out a bit and then looked to Gaia. “I’m going to go get a drink, why don’t you continue sister?”
Before Gaia could protest, Atlas had already made his way in the direction of Twilight’s kitchen. With a sigh she cleared her throat and turned back towards the others.  “Now after Celestia and Luna’s parents left the earth and they had spent a few years getting used to their new responsibilities, we grew increasingly aware that something was wrong with Argos. So while Atlas and I kept an eye on him, they went far to what is now called the Great Arch to address the Sphinx that resides there, to task it to create something powerful that would keep Argos in check.” she explained, looking to Celestia and Luna who hung their heads in shame.
*   *   *   *
A much older Celestia and Luna set down on the edge of a small cliff and looked around. They stood before a large free standing stone arch with large stone lions on either side.  They looked around with confusion as they expected a clear path, but the only thing that was on the other side of the arch was the side of the mountain.  They looked at the entire face of the mountain carefully for a path that they were told would take them deep into the mountain to where the sphinx lay.
“I don’t see it Tia.” Luna said as she prodded at the rock face with a hoof, making a few rocks tumble down the slope.
“It’s got to be here, the tomes specifically said it was.” Celestia said as she studied the rock face from top to bottom.
The sisters sat back and looked up at the mountain.  There was no way into the mountain from the top, they had already discovered that when they flew over it.  They had asked Atlas beforehand if he could just open the mountain but he had explained that the mountain was so old that he was incapable of touching it with his magic, not even Gaia could touch the forest that supposedly grew inside the mountain where the sphinx was.  As they contemplated what to do next, the sun sank lower in the sky, its rays washing over them and casting their shadows over the mountain.  The rays that filtered around them bathed the mountain in yellows and oranges, but what drew their attention was a small hole that the sunlight seemed to shine into.  They moved closer and studied the hole carefully.
“I wonder.” Celestia said before she took a step back, lowered her head, and stuck her horn into the hole.
The moment she had her horn fully hilted into the hole, runes began to glow in an arch along what looked like the shape of a door. They began to pulse as she withdrew her horn and took a step back to Luna’s side.  The runes pulsed for a few seconds more before a seam opened in the rock, allowing the door to slide back and then to the right, opening a dark tunnel to them.  The two of them stepped forward, looking into the tunnel and trying to see down the path.
“Kind of scary.” Luna said looking up at her sister with fear and excitement.
Celestia looked back to her sister with a smile before focusing her magic, her horn glowing white as it began to glow brighter and illuminate the path. “Stick close.” She playfully nudged her sister.
They walked down the path with Celestia’s horn lighting the way.  They passed some cave drawings along the walls and found a few spots where braziers should have hung.  They walked on for a few more feet before they saw light entering the tunnel.  As they slowly stepped out into the light, what they saw amazed them.  Inside the mountain lay a vast forest, complete with a waterfall in the distance that seemed to be coming from the mountainside and fell somewhere deep in the forest. As the sisters admired the site their eyes fell upon a large golden statue, this had to have been what they were searching for.
“The sphinx.” Luna said as she and Celestia slowly walked up to the ancient statue.
They walked up to the statue and studied it.  It was around fifty feet high and made of solid gold, its body was a mix, with its rear half like a lion and its forward half like an alicorn mare.  As they looked up at the statue its eyes slowly opened to reveal a bright golden glow.   Its head slowly turned with a deep rumble that shook the ground the sisters stood on, causing some rocks to crumble off of the walls.
“Who seeks the counsel of the sphinx?” the statue asked, its loud voice echoing from the walls around them.
“It is we, Celstia the Sun and Luna the Moon.  We have come to make a request of you.” Celestia said as the two of them bowed their heads.
“What is it you seek of my power?” it asked, tilting its head to them.
“A great threat has risen and we are asking your assistance.” Luna explained.
“It is the Wind Wider Argos, of which you speak. Word of his increasing madness has spread to even the world of the beasts.” The statue said which drew the sisters’ attention to a flock of birds that rested on the outstretched wing of the statue.  “Before I can lend my aid, you must answer three riddles, or else be cast from my presence forever.”
“Tell us your riddles.” Celestia said with a bit of worry, she’d heard the stories of the sphinx’s riddles, some more gruesome than others.
“Riddle number one. Always wax, yet always wane: I melt, succumbed to the flame. Lighting darkness, with fate unblest, I soon devolve to shapeless mess.” The sphinx finished, its words fading into the surroundings with ancient mystery. “Riddle number two.  Here there is no north, west, nor east, and weather fit for not pony nor beast.  And finally, riddle number three.  I do not breathe, but I run and jump.
I do not eat, but I swim and stretch.  I do not drink, but I sleep and stand.  I do not think, but I grow and play.  I do not see, but you see me every day. When you have guessed the answers, come to me once more.” The sphinx concluded before falling silent, it’s golden glowing eyes now lifeless as the rest of the statue, the birds that watched with piercing eyes from the wings the only life in the chasm besides the alicorns.
“Oh, we’ll never figure these out Tia.  Let’s just go back and find a different way.” Luna pleaded.
“No, we can do this Luna.  It is for our little ponies.” Celestia said waving a hoof in the air. “I think I have the first one figured out already.” She said.
“Really?” Luna asked.
“Always wax, yet always wane, I melt succumbed to the flame. Lighting darkness, with fate unblest, I soon devolve to shapeless mess.” She said rubbing her chin with a hoof. “I got it. Always wax, lighting darkness, melt succumbed to the flame and soon devolve to shapeless mess. It’s a candle!” she said with excitement as she used her magic to write the answer into the dirt with a stick.
“Good job Tia!  That just leaves us the other two.” Luna said as she sat on her haunches in thought.  The two sat the same way for some time before Luna stomped her hoof on the ground. “I’ve got the answer to the second one.  The sphinx mentioned every direction but south, so that means you can only go south from there, and it has weather unfit for neither pony nor beast.  It’s the North Pole!” she said as she repeated Celestia’s action, noting the answer in the dirt.
“Good job sister. Now, that third one is the hardest. I for the life of me cannot figure it out.” Celestia said as she tried her hardest to come up with an answer.  “See me everyday.” She said to herself with a hum.  “I think we may be here for a while thinking of this one.” She told her sister as the two of them laid down facing each other, each deep in thought.
*   *   *   *
Meanwhile, Pandora walked through the halls of her father’s palace, which was in much better condition than the way it looked in the present.  However, it was now empty of the many ponies she had seen walking around only just a few months ago.  In fact, Pandora could tell where the palace was beginning to fall into disrepair as the caretakers and servants of the palace had fled that same month with the others.  The walls were showing cracks and missing pieces of stone while the high stained glass windows were broken in a few places, all hastily patched over by soldiers who showed their obvious lack of carpentry and masonry skill.  As she rounded the corner into the open doors of the throne room, she saw her father consulting with that despicable worm, Daru.  He was an alicorn like the rest, pitch black as the night. Though to compare him to the night would be an insult to Luna, he was more like a shadow that lurked in every corner, holding some kind of danger within it.
“So that is the latest report sire.  As you know most of the ponies of the kingdom have fled to the northeast and splintered by race into their own kingdoms.  But just recently they have been forced by an intense blizzard we believe caused by the windigos to seek out a new kingdom for themselves.  Our last reports have them going even further north into the undiscovered country where the blizzard has not spread yet.”  Daru told the king, noticing Pandora’s entry with a disgusting look on his face, she had always noticed the little creep watching her with less than polite eyes.
The king listened with an amused grin before he turned his eyes to his daughter, simply giving her a nod. “The little fools, while I wish I could take credit for the windigos, they are not my creation.  They are a creature as old as the world, and they feed off of discord and hatred.  As long as those ponies show distrust and hatred towards one another, the windigos will only get stronger and follow them wherever they roam until all of the north is one frozen wasteland.  This does present an opportunity for us however.  When they are all frozen solid we can sweep in unopposed and claim the land as ours, and if any of them are still alive, they will swear their fealty to me once more.  Of course they will have to be punished for treason for abandoning their kingdom.” He said before finally turning his full attention to his daughter. “And that is where you come in my dear daughter.  We will need your flames to drive out the windigos and to thaw out any of those ponies that still live.” He said to her, his eyes long ago had turned from their gentle sky blue to a burning, hateful red which glowed as he looked upon his daughter.
Pandora could only look at Argos in shock as she began taking a few steps back.  This monster was not her father; this was some beast in his body.  As she finally snapped back to reality, she furrowed her brows at him. “No.” She said stamping her hoof on the ground.
“What did you say?” her father asked rising from his throne, his fur and mane bristling with anger.
“I said no, I will not help you enslave the ponies of the north, if anything I would assist them to overcome their differences and start their own kingdom together, without you.” She told him as she spread her stance out into a defensive one, her horn lowered towards him and Daru.
“My dear daughter, you are far too compassionate.  Those ponies are traitors to the crown; they left the kingdom to sink to its current state.”  He told her with a malicious grin.
“No father, the fault is your own through your cruelty and malice, and I will have no part of it.” She said before disappearing in a flash of orange light.
Daru calmly walked to his king’s side, looking at the place where the princess once stood. “Do not fear your highness.  I believe I have a way that we can enlist her aid.”
*   *   *   *
Celestia and Luna lay beneath the ominous shadow of the sphinx, the birds that rested on its wing still watched them closely, which unsettled both of them both greatly.  After a few minutes, Luna finally showed some frustration and rose up on shaky legs.
“This is frustrating, Tia.  We’ll never figure this out and while we’re here trying, who knows what Argos is doing!” she growled as she shook her back and fore legs one at a time. “Argh. And my legs fell asleep a long time ago!” she added with a huff.
“What?” Celestia said looking up from her thoughts, staring at Luna with wide eyes.
“My legs are asleep.  I think I was laying on a rock or something.” She said nudging a rock away from where she had been previously laying.
“That’s the answer! I do not breathe, but I run and jump. I do not eat, but I swim and stretch.  I do not drink, but I sleep and stand.  I do not think, but I grow and play.  I do not see, but you see me every day.  Our legs grow, sleep and stretch; and we see them every day.  And without them we wouldn’t be able to do those other things.  That’s got to be it!” she said jumping up to her hooves.
They walked up to the sphinx and stared up at the imposing statue once more. “I hope you’re right Tia.” Luna said nervously.  “Great sphinx, we have thought on it and wish to answer your riddles.” Luna called up to the statue, not even sure if it heard her due to its momentary silence.
After a few moments of deafening silence the sphinx’s eyes began to glow once more.  It turned its head and looked upon the sisters again, the birds on its wings looking with great interest.  If Celestia didn’t know any better, she was sure some of the nastier tales of those who failed the sphinx’s riddles involved very gruesome things with those birds.
“Give me your answers, but be warned.  Only one incorrect answer shall spell dire consequences.” The sphinx said.
“Very well, the answer to the first riddle is a candle. Riddle number two is the North Pole.  And the answer to the final riddle is… a leg.” Celestia said, she and Luna wincing as they waited for the sphinx’s reply.
The sphinx sat as silent as the mountain that encased it.  After what seemed like an eternity it nodded its head once. “Those answers are all correct.”
The sisters let out a collective sigh of relief, both of them having lost count of how long they had been holding their breath.  Now that they had answered the sphinx’s riddles they had to get back to the task at hand.
“Have you thought on our request?” Celestia asked.
“Indeed I have.  While Argos the Wind Rider is completely mad, there is one thing that he cares for more than anything in the world.  It is here where you may be able to contain him.” The sphinx said as an orange box with intricate golden trim styled much like flames on the edges appeared before the sisters.  “Inside this box, is the very life essence of the Flame Dancer, the king’s daughter.  With this box, you hold the very will of the Wind Rider, as he would allow no harm to come to his daughter. But…” it started, causing the sisters to look up. “The box can only be wielded by the one whose destiny is tied to it.  It is the sacrifice for the Flame Dancer to make.”
The two alicorns stared dumbfounded at the box, eyes wide in something like terror and shock as they realized the implications of what the sphinx was offering them.
“Is there no other way?” Luna pleaded with the sphinx, its indifferent gaze staring down at her.
“There is no other way.  The destiny of the world is tied to the courage of the Flame Dancer.” The sphinx told her.
“Are you sure we should do this Tia?  It just doesn’t seem fair.” Luna asked her sister as she stood mouth agape at the sphinx’s words.
“If it is the only way, then we must Luna.  She would agree with us.” Celestia replied hanging her head sadly.  “So you’re saying that the box must be in Pandora’s possession, no one else can use it?” she asked.
“Indeed.  But be warned only the contents of the box are special, not the box itself.  If the Flame Dancer should lose possession of the box, then nothing will stand in the Wind Bender’s way.” The sphinx warned
Celestia sighed with defeat.  She hated the idea of what this meant for her dear friend, but as the sphinx said it was the only way.  “Very well, then we thank you for your help.  We shall be on our way.” She told the sphinx as she turned to go, lifting the box with her magic.
“There is one other thing.” The sphinx said, causing the sisters to turn back to it with interest.
“A great threat lies in the northeast, in the land of the ponies.  There will come a time when you must defeat it, but only with the help of the elements of the world can you do this.”  It said as a pair of boxes appeared; one blue with gold trim, the other green with gold and red trim. “Within these boxes are the means to defeat this evil and to set your destinies in motion.”
The boxes opened and the sisters peered inside.  Inside the first one lay two crowns, one gold and the other black with a light blue border.  The golden crown had a purple jewel set in the center in addition to three jewels set around it, one red, one a sky blue, and the other magenta. Set in the black crown were a dark purple jewel, a pink jewel, and an orange jewel.  Within the other box were five necklaces. Each had a golden band and were set with their own jewels.  As Celestia and Luna looked from left to right they saw a brown jewel and a gray jewel in the shape of a mountain, an ice blue jewel in the shape of a hurricane, a black jewel in the shape of the earth, and finally, outshining the others was a dark yellow jewel in the shape of a flame.   They stared in wonder at these necklaces and then looked up to the sphinx.
“What are we to do with these?” Celestia asked.
“Those on the left are the Elements of Harmony, and those on the right are the Elements of Life.  When only one group is together, they are powerful, but when all are together, they are an unstoppable force which can vanquish any evil.” The sphinx said before the Elements of Life began to glow and levitate into the air before flying off into the darkness of the night behind the alicorns.  “The Elements of Life are choosing their masters. All you need to do is take the Elements of Harmony, and when the time comes, all will be made clear.”
Celestia and Luna looked at each other for a second before turning their eyes back to the Elements.  As they stepped forward the two crowns rose up into the air, suspended only by the mysterious magic of the world, older than even that of the sphinx’s own magic.  The sisters took a tentative step back before calmly stepping forward again. They took a stance beside each other, their heads held high and chests out.  The crowns began to glow and disappeared in a brilliant flash before reappearing on the sisters’ heads.  In addition to the crowns there appeared on Celestia a golden chest piece with the same purple jewel as her crown set into it with intricate accents going from front to back and fine golden shoes upon her hooves that came up the front to her ankles. Upon Luna was a black chest piece bordered in light blue much like her own crown with a white crescent moon matching her cutie mark on the front and fine silver shoes upon her hooves.  They stared in awe at their finements and then looked up to the sphinx.
“We thank you great Sphinx for your gifts.” Celestia called up as she and Luna bowed their heads.
The sphinx stared indifferent down at them. “Be warned, abuse of the elements will yield dire consequences. For without Friendship, there is no Harmony, and without Love, there is no Friendship.”
“We will heed your warning.” Celestia responded as the two alicorns turned and made their way from the cave, once outside, the door sealed shut behind them and they made their way into the sky with a beat of their powerful wings.
*  *  *  *
Twilight looked up at the Princesses like a filly who’d just heard her favorite bedtime story.  Her eyes glowed with awe as she looked to Princess Celestia.
“So the sphinx does exist, I thought it was all just an old mare’s tale. Then what happened after it gave you the Elements?” she asked.
“Well it turned out that the Elements of Life had made some interesting choices. To Gaia, went the element of wisdom.  To Atlas, went the elements of Courage and Strength, and surprisingly to Argos went the element of Humility.” Luna said with a shrug of her shoulders in response to the dumbfounded looks of her friends.  That was the first reaction she and Celestia had themselves when they first heard of Argos’ element.
“Um, excuse me Luna.  You only mentioned five elements.  What happened to the sixth?” Fluttershy peeped from her spot beside Rainbow Dash.
Celestia smiled warmly, a small tear in the corner of her eyes. “Ah now that element had chosen very wisely.  For upon Pandora was bestowed the greatest element of them all, Love.”
“Without Love, there is no Friendship. Without Friendship, there is no Love.” Luna recited the phrase that she had heard from the sphinx long ago.
Rarity sat in thought about the beautiful jewels which had just been described when a thought occurred to her. “So what happened to the box that the sphinx gave you?”
Atlas had returned to Luna’s side during the story and now took the opportunity to speak once more.  “Luna, Celestia, and I agreed to keep it a secret amongst ourselves.  After they returned to our home in the former palace of their parents we held a council and thought on the sphinx’s words.  Celestia and Luna then decided that they would go north to face this threat that the sphinx mentioned, who turned out to be none other than Discord.  But they then discovered what the sphinx had said about the Elements of Harmony and Life combined.  The Discord you faced was significantly weaker than the one we faced.  The war waged for centuries, finally though through our combined efforts the Elements of Life took on Discord’s minions while Luna and Celestia were able to defeat him with the Elements of Harmony. The rest is history.”
“And what about Argos’ plans?” Rainbow Dash asked, surprisingly awake despite her penchant for sleeping through long stories.
Celestia looked up this time with a sigh. “He had remained quiet for nearly a decade, we thought perhaps in the process of fighting Discord he had been cured of whatever madness had a hold of him.  But unfortunately he soon began his quest to conquer the north.  He set his sights on Equestria and marched forth with an army of golems and other dark beasts, his kingdom now completely devoid of any other ponies save for Pandora and Daru. When we finally learned of what he was doing he had started to march through the Whispering Woods, where Gaia did her best to delay him.”
Gaia sniffled a bit and shook some tears from her eyes. “He destroyed my beautiful forest. What he didn’t burn outright he corrupted with his very presence!” she cried, burying her face in Celestia’s side, who did her best to comfort her friend.
The girls looked with sympathy for the crying unicorn; they seemed to be learning more about her as the story unfolded, and to hear of something she felt like a mother to be destroyed; well, Twilight could only think of the sadness her own mother must of felt when she had left to live in Canterlot as Celestia’s student, only worse.  But the girls just couldn’t grasp why, if she was so sad did she not accept friendship from anyone except the princesses. Any of the girls could say the best thing to cure one’s sadness was the comfort of your friends; well that and a party, if you asked Pinkie Pie.
“By the time he made it out of the forest.” Atlas continued. “We had assembled what soldiers we could and set up defenses just outside of Celestia and Luna’s new castle.”
“Where was Pandora?” Fluttershy asked.
Celestia, who had draped a wing over, Gaia looked up. “We did not know for the longest time. The war against discord took a lot out of her, so she had taken some time to rest.  It wasn’t until Argos was on our doorstep that Pandora suddenly appeared.
*  *  *  *
Celestia and Luna stood at the rear of their army, Gaia and Atlas on either side of them.  Their hearts sank as they looked out at the opposing army.  Argos had assembled a force that outnumbered theirs ten to one. At the front stood a massive force of stone golems, followed by a smaller number of minotaurs, and at the vanguard stood an assembly of unnatural and seemingly supernatural beings with Argos and Daru amongst them.  As the four friends looked out at their enemy the ranks began to part as Argos and Daru walked up to the front, their attention solely on the sisters.
“Celestia! Luna! You clearly can see resistance is futile.  If you would only surrender Equestria to me there would be no need for anyone to be hurt!” Argos called up to them with the most sinister smile on his face that matched the one on Daru’s features.
“We have nothing to say to you, traitor!” Gaia suddenly called as she shook with rage, fully feeling the pain and destruction of her forests and animals that had succumbed to the mad king. Atlas quickly stepped to her side and put a hoof to her lips.
Celestia and Luna calmly walked to the edge of the battlement and looked down at Argos, their eyes hiding the absolute disgust and hatred they felt for the two stallions before them.
“You have no claim to the north Argos. You should return to your own kingdom, which clearly needs your attention.” Celestia stated with a derisive snort.
“Ah but you see my dear Celestia, my subjects seem to have moved to your own lands over the years, and I intend to reclaim them, and perhaps acquire some new territory in the process, for I myself have grown quite tired of the south.” Argos chuckled.
“Then if conflict cannot be avoided I propose a challenge, Argos the Wind Rider.  Let you and I duel, the loser must leave the land of Equestria and never return.” She called back to him, stifling Luna’s protests with a raised hoof.
“You are too clever for your own good Celestia. For you know already how that battle will end.  What can the Wind hope to do against the very Sun?” Argos called back with a raised brow.
“There would be no additional advantages used. Just a battle between immortals with only the powers we were born with.” Celestia offered.
“And yet again I would be at a disadvantage. No Celestia, I think I will use the advantage in numbers I have.  You see, I know how deeply you care for your subjects, and to see them all dead before you would wound you far worse than anything I could do personally to you.  So I know you would make the choice that is best for them.” Argos retorted.
“Little snake is right.” Atlas mumbled behind the princesses.
Celestia moved to speak before the sky above was suddenly filled with flame.  When all had calmed a vibrant and refreshed Pandora hovered in the sky, her eyes glowing and her mane and tail flickering like a raging wildfire.
“Argos the Wind Rider!  I have come to order you to leave Equestria in peace and return to the south!  Your actions have already upset the balance of life and corrupted the land upon which you have walked! Return from whence you came or suffer the greatest punishment possible!” Pandora shouted in a Royal voice that made Luna’s seem like a whisper, causing even the rock Golems to clutch their ears.
“I’m afraid I cannot do that my dear. You will understand in the end.” Argos said to his daughter as calmly as he could despite being a bit taken aback himself by her appearance.
As everyone looked at Pandora with wonder she materialized the box that Celestia and Luna had received from the sphinx, causing the sisters to look up with shock.
“How did she get that?” Luna looked to her sister.
“Celestia, Luna. I knew about the box after I had visited the sphinx during my rest.  I understand and appreciate you trying to protect me, but I wish you would have given me the box sooner so that the world would not have had to suffer such a fate as befallen it everywhere Argos has tread.” She said with visible despair before her eyes returned to normal, a loving smile on her face. The reprise was brief, as her eyes began to burn with fury once more. “Argos the Wind Rider, if you will not yield to reason then you will suffer the consequences.” She said as her horn began to glow, surrounding the box with a flame like aura.
The defenders and attackers alike looked with shock and fear as the box began to shake, the trim glowing as the lock gave and the lid of the box slowly opened.  From the box poured thousands of spectral phoenixes flying as a wall of flame that picked up the attacking army and its king, carrying it far across the land back to the castle by the sea.
The golems were formed into a molten ball which was then cast into the ocean, the supernatural beings were thrown into Tartarus, and finally the mad king and his advisor were turned to stone and sealed away in his castle.
As the scene played itself out in the sky, projected by Pandora’s magic, the land began to shake as Argos’ castle itself began to shift and move, Atlas and Gaia quickly took to the air and struggled to shut the box, using their magic as well as their brute strength.  After finally forcing the box shut everyone watched with shock as Pandora suddenly lost consciousness and began to plummet from the sky.  Acting quickly before she could fall too far, Celestia and Luna used their magic to catch her and ease her down onto the ground while Gaia and Atlas set down beside her, looking down at their friend with worry.
“Is she?” Gaia looked up to the others with tears in her eyes.
“I don’t know.” Celestia said as she knelt down beside the motionless alicorn, her horn glowing and her ear pressed to her side. “It’s very faint but her heart still beats.” She looked up to them. “Come, let’s get her into the castle.” She said lifting Pandora up with her magic.
“I’ll deal with the soldiers then meet you there.” Luna said as she turned, waving a pegasus in golden armor over.
“I’ll take care of that for you Princess.” Came the voice of a stallion as he walked up beside Luna, the bells on his robes and hat jingling with each step.  He slowly stroked his long gray beard with a hoof as he looked down at the scene before him.
“Oh, thank you Starswirl.” Luna replied, receiving a nod from the stallion before she moved to her sister’s side.  She nodded to the others before they took to the air with Pandora in tow.
*  *  *  *
Night had fallen when Pandora finally opened her eyes.  She looked around the familiar settings, finally recognizing the room as her own in Celestia and Luna’s castle.  She tried to move but found it difficult to lift her head even an inch off the ground without her mind spinning.  She laid in thought for a few moments, trying to get her thoughts back together when saw a shadow creep across the ground and coming face to face with a smiling, teary eyed Gaia.
“What happened?” she asked with a hoarse groan.
“You passed out after Atlas and I shut your box.” Gaia said, floating a glass of water over to her.
Pandora’s eyes opened wide. “What! Why did you shut my box?  I needed to collapse the cliff and send the castle into the ocean!” she said starting up and knocking the glass to the floor, only to feel faint.
“Easy there.” Atlas said as he caught Pandora; lying down beside her to hold her up.
“You have already destroyed Argos’ army and encased him in stone; there is nothing more that needs to be done.” Celestia said appearing in the doorway with Luna at her side, relief on their faces.
“How are you feeling?” Luna asked.
“Very weak, I had nearly depleted my entire life source before you closed the box; I fear if I should use it again there will be no saving me.” She explained as she sat up on her own now that she had gotten her bearings. “I also feel something else. Almost like a disconnected feeling, loss.” She said, trying to grasp it.
“The Elements of life are gone.” Atlas told her. “Gaia and I have the same feeling.” He said with a nod from Gaia.
“I see.” Was all Gaia could say, her head hanging. “I’m afraid I must go away, to rest once more, though this time will have to be much longer since I have such little life force to try and sustain.  And I do not want to be a burden upon you and Luna, Celestia.”
“Nonsense my friend, we will make sure that nothing disturbs you hear.” Celestia assured her.
“Let me rephrase it then, I don’t want to be a danger.  You have seen how Philomena regenerates, Celestia.  I do it in the same way only with much more intensity; that is why I go far into the mountains to do it.” She told them, stretching her wings and legs before slowly standing to her feet.
“I’m sure we can find somewhere in the castle for you.” Luna said.
“No I must go somewhere where it is safe for everyone.” Pandora replied with a shake of her head.
Atlas stood in thought for a few minutes, his hoof on his chin.
“I think I may have a solution. How soon must you rest?” he asked.
“I can wait a day at the most.” She replied.
Atlas walked to the balcony, stretching his wings out. “I only need a few hours.”
With a quick flap of his wings he had set off out the window and soon disappeared on the horizon.
*  *  *  *
“So what happened next?” Rarity asked, fully enraptured by the story like the others.
“I created a place just for Pandora and named it Phoenix Rock, in her honor.” Atlas said, nuzzling a depressed Luna.
“Phoenix Rock, that’s the mountain just south of the Everfree Forest.” Twilight said. “I’d always tried to study it with my telescope when I was younger.”
“Indeed, Pandora had insisted we seal her inside it while she rested for the next two thousand years, but when Gaia and I had learned that Argos had broken free from his prison, we hurried to Phoenix Rock only to find it empty.  The attack just now confirms that he has her, which is why we have come for you all.  You see, after we learned of Pandora’s disappearance we sought the council of the sphinx, who then told us to seek out the new bearers of the Elements of Life.  It then taught us the spell which Gaia was able to use to find you.
“Great Atlas I must confess, of any powers I have not been blessed.” Zecora said with a shrug of her shoulders, her neck rings jingling lightly.
“I haven’t noticed anything different either. How about you Big Mac?” Derpy said, turning to the stallion.
“Nope.” Came the stallion’s short reply.
“Maybe the Elements of Life are like the Elements of Harmony, they all have to be together to appear.” Twilight interjected with her hoof on her chin as she thought through all the possibilities.
“Perhaps you are right Twilight, if that is the case then you must track down the other two elements.” Celestia said.
“That is indeed one of the reasons why we came, Celest.  In addition to tracking down the Elements of Life, we came to ask for the assistance of the Elements of Harmony.  Perhaps with the two combined we can rescue Pandora and defeat Argos without her having to use her box, you know she will.” He said with a glance to the princesses, who gave a nod.
Celestia looked to Atlas with a thought. “Yes, if it will protect her friends Pandora won’t hesitate to use it again, provided she even still has the box. My guess is Argos may have taken it from her.”
“Gaia and I guessed the same.” Atlas agreed.
“Don’t worry Princess, we’ll do everything we can to help.” Twilight spoke up with a determined stomp of her hoof. “Right girls?” she said looking to the others who gave an eager cheer.
“I’m glad to hear it.” Atlas said with a smile before drawing his attention to a nearby clock.  “But it is late, I think we shall sleep tonight and spend the morning preparing.  We have some time before Argos is fully prepared to make his move against Equestria. Shall we set out say, around lunch time?” he asked looking to the others.
Everyone agreed that they would head home to sleep.  Derpy had to make sure Sparkler and Dinky were looked after while she was gone, along with finding someone to take her mail route because no barrage of fireballs would stop the mail.  Applejack offered to have them stay at the farm with Applebloom, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle where Cheerilee would help Granny Smith and Sparkler look after the fillies.
The others would go home that night and then meet up at the entrance to the Everfree Forest around noon.  Now that everyone had agreed on a plan and started to filter out of the library, Twilight caught sight of Zecora as she headed for the door.
“Zecora, would you, like to sleep here tonight, it’s an awful long way to your hut.  Think of it like a sort of sleep over” Twilight offered, smiling at the Zebra.  A sleep over with Zecora seemed like it would be a lot of fun now that she thought of it, they’d have to try it for real sometime when this was over.
“Of your offer, I am quite in delight.  But I do not wish to be a burden to you tonight.” Zecora said with a smile, holding up a tentative hoof.
“Nonsense, I’d be happy to let you sleep here, I insist.”  She said holding out a hoof to her.
“Well if you must insist of me, then I shall not turn you down so thoughtlessly.” Zecora replied, sharing a lighthearted laugh with Twilight.
As Twilight laughed with her friend, she noticed that the Princesses and the others were standing just outside.  After pulling out the spare bed in her room for Zecora she let her get comfortable while she went back downstairs and outside, finding the alicorns still where they were.  Come to think of it Twilight was starting to wonder why Atlas and Gaia weren’t alicorns anymore.  It might be a touchy subject, but it couldn’t hurt to ask.  It might make for interesting conversation while they walked.
“Is everything ok, Princess?” she asked, tilting her head slightly as she nuzzled her mentor’s side a bit.
“Yes I am fine Twilight, you should get some rest.  You have a big adventure ahead of you.” Celestia replied, returning her student’s nuzzle.
Twilight smiled then looked to Gaia and Atlas. “Would you two like to stay here tonight too?” she asked.
Her request was met with a cold shoulder as Gaia turned and walked off to where the camp she and Atlas had set up was. Twilight looked helplessly to Atlas, who smiled at her and placed a hoof on her shoulder.
“Do not worry Twilight, Gaia is just not the type to easily make friends as of late.” He assured her.
“I feel bad for her, it must be lonely without friends.” She replied, watching as the last strands of the unicorn’s strawberry cream tail disappeared into the darkness.
Celestia chuckled and lifted Twilight’s chin with a hoof. “I seem to recall a certain unicorn that was the same way.”
“But I found wonderful friends that I love with all my heart.” Twilight replied with a smile.
“Maybe this adventure will allow Gaia to do the same. Perhaps you and the others are just the ponies to do it.” Luna said as she exchanged a smile, followed by a nuzzle, with Atlas.
“Well, I will set off myself.  I must see how things are faring with the recovery and rebuilding efforts in Canterlot. I will see you tomorrow Luna, I’m sure you and Atlas would like to spend some time to ‘catch up’.” She said winking to the two older ponies, causing Luna’s cheeks to redden a bit, but luckily the darkness hid it well enough under her fur. “Good night Twilight.” She said turning her attention back to her student.
“Goodnight Princess.” Twilight said, sharing a final nuzzle with the Princess before her teacher took off in a single flap of her powerful wings.
Twilight bid goodnight to the other two and went inside, the library soon turning dark as the last light was extinguished.  Luna and Atlas took the opportunity to walk through the town, watching the construction crews that had already begun repairing the buildings that could be repaired, while others cleared away the debris of those that had to be taken down or were destroyed in the attack.  As they made their way out of town they came up to the secluded hill where everyone had gathered to watch the meteor shower after Twilight first came to Ponyville.  After Luna laid down she was joined by Atlas who wrapped himself around her, her forelegs over his own.  They cuddled for a bit, their foreheads touching in the same manner that unicorn couples did where their horns would normally cross, something that the two of them did quite often back when Atlas still had a horn.
“I missed you so much Atlas.” Luna finally said, breaking the silence.
“I missed you as well.  There was many a night that I would look up at the moon, staring at the mare on the surface and thinking of you.” He replied, nuzzling her neck with his cheek.
“But I was a monster then!  I did not deserve any sympathy or even your love anymore.” She said looking into his eyes, getting a smile from him. “What?” she demanded.
“Luna, you were no monster.  You were hurt and vulnerable, we all were. But the nightmare must have seen you as the more valuable prize.” He assured her, kissing her softly on the forehead.
“Oh yes like I’m some great prize.” She said, rolling her eyes. “I couldn’t even help run a kingdom right without the jealousy taking hold of me and making it easier for the nightmare to take me. My sister could have done it all; in fact, she did after she had to banish me!”
“Celestia had more help than anyone knows.  Though after Argos, no one even wanted to think of seeing another pony like him, so I had to assist from the shadows while Gaia was more visible.  Even when Gaia and I had to leave to go on our expedition she still asked for help to fill the void left by your absence.” He said lifting her chin up to meet her eyes.  “But the titles did nothing to hide the pain she felt at losing her only sister along with the stress of that combined with running a whole kingdom, and controlling the day and the night.  She was definitely hurt more than I ever could be by the loss.”
“Why couldn’t you have fallen in love with my sister, you’re definitely too good for me.” she mumbled, a hoof soon lightly placed on her lips causing her to look back up into his eyes.
“You’re strong, brave, wise, and beautiful.  You have lived through a great deal that would break a lesser pony.  If anything, you’re too good for me.” He said giving her a wink as Luna’s eyes began to fill with tears.  “You give yourself too little credit my love.  You are a great pony.  I see it in the eyes of your people as you walk among them, I saw it on the night of the Lunar festival, and most importantly, I see it in your friends.”
“Twilight is a great friend, she's actually the reason two of those examples are even possible.  She reminds me so much of Pandora.” She said wiping the tears away.
“I’m sure they will like each other very much.” He chuckled as he assisted her in wiping away the tears, placing a kiss over each eye.
Luna nuzzled closer to the stallion, wiggling her body under him until she was partly under him with his foreleg around her, soft coos escaping her lips as she pressed her body against his.
“I love you Atlas; I never want to lose you again.” She whispered, kissing along his strong neck.
Atlas softly kissed along the back of her elegant neck and shoulders. “You never lost me.”
For the first time in a long, long time.  The pair shared a moment under the stars together, the distant form of Luna’s peak framed by the moon.