The Constellations of Harmony

An alarm blared from everywhere at once, it's piercing shriek responsible for many covered ears. The room lit up red from emergency lights along the walls. Somepony deactivated the emergency system, and the room thankfully returned to normal just as a maroon unicorn stallion with a short and singed silvery mane stumbled in.

"Is everypony alright?" the new pony called, looking around anxiously before spotting the princess. "Ah, Princess! To what do I owe this unexpected visit?"

"We've found Laughter, Medeis. Now would you mind telling me what just happened?"

"Hmm? Oh, yes. Well, I was testing the new liquid fuel engine, and there was a sudden surge of Botryon particles in the vicinity, which disrupted the oxidizer balance, causing the explosion just now. The surge could have been the result of powerful magic, like core manipulation, or..." He paused and sniffed the air. "Teleportation. Princess, I do believe I warned you about unannounced teleportation in the premises?"

"You might have... I, er, must have forgotten. I do apologize, I hope nothing expensive was damaged."

"Oh, don't worry, I can replace twenty kilolitres of liquid oxygen easily," he deadpanned. "not like it's expensive or anything."

"Glad to hear it. Now, would you care to meet Laughter?"

Medeis placed a hoof on his forehead. "I'd love to."

Greyscale stepped forward. "Your reputation for blowing shit up precedes you."

"It's called progress, you can't break an omelette without making a few eggs."

"That's not– Nevermind. So, supposedly I'm 'Laughter'. Not that I care. Who are you supposed to be?"

"I will raise the Constellation of Magic, once we find the last two."

"So you must be pretty important, huh? Not just anypony gets a royally funded R&D center all to themselves."

"I'd like to think I matter, yes. Son if Ignis Botrus, perhaps you've heard of him? He invented the first liquid fuel engine. Well, he thought it up, anyways. I built the first one, and it looks like I'll have to re-invent it now, considering the original is in several large, and many not-so-large, pieces." He subtly glared at the Princess, who took no notice.

"So what's the big deal about these stupid stars anyway?"

"They're not stupid, they hold the future of ponykind. But I assume you mean the constellations. I doubt somepony of your mental caliber would understand if I went into detail, but in laypony's terms, they boost the power of the Elements of Harmony. Now that the elements have been reawakened, new Raisers must be found. If you're up to scratch, we've only got two left to find."

"So we're supposed to raise these 'Constellations'? Isn't that Luna's job?"

"She, for lack of a better term, 'raises' the stars, yes. But the Constellations of Harmony are a little different, and require even more power than a princess can harness. Once all the Raisers are found, we'll test our skill and see if we can do it. The five of you will learn to feed your innate magical energy into me, but it will be up to each of you to guide the stars into their correct positions in the sky. Keep in mind that the Constellations aren't normal stars, they just look like them. In fact, they stay in a lunar orbit that keeps them hidden until they are moved."

"I lost ya' at 'innate magical energy', but I think I get the gist of it."

"I suppose I'll have to take what I can get. What's your name, by the way?"

"Greyscale, not that it's any of your business."

Medeis eyed the stallions silver coat and grey mane. "I can see why. So, would you care to meet the others?"

He chuckled. "Do I have a choice?"

"I'm afraid not. If you and the princess will follow me, we'll be on our way." The trio made their way through the complex, finally reaching an ornate door. "This is the dormitory. Some of the staff prefer to live close to their work, plus the rent is cheap. With any luck, the others are still in here." He pushed open the door, and they trotted inside. "Looks like Sunbeam is the only one here, so I suppose you'll be meeting her first."

"Which one is she?"

"She raises Kindness. Sunbeam, could you come here for a moment?"

A pale pink pegasus trotted over to the group. "What can I do for you?"

"I'd like you to meet the new Laughter. The princess is convinced he's the one, hopefully she's right. Greyscale, Sunbeam. Sunbeam, Greyscale."

"So, a clipboard for a cutie mark? What's your talent?"

"I'm a psychologist. And a pretty good one, if patient success rate is anything to go by. There's hardly anything I can't diagnose. I see you have yet to obtain your mark, what exactly do you do?"

He pursed his lips. "I'm... between jobs at the moment."

"I see. Well, if you're going to join us, you'll have to find something. The Elements don't get paid for simply being the Elements, and we don't get paid for raising the Constellations. If you'd like, I could provide a character reference."

"Like I need a character reference! I'll find something on my own, you'll see."

"If you're sure. Have you met Chenille yet?"

Medeis stepped in. "He has not. Do you happen to know where she is?"

"She said he was going to Pony Joe's to get some donuts, I'm sure she'll be back before too long. you should probably wait for her here, we're scheduled for a light drizzle today. Of course, if you'd like to go anyways, I could lend an umbrella."

The light patter of rain drew Greyscale's gaze to the window. "You know, I think I'd prefer to stay inside."