Chapter 9

When Celestia awoke, she was lying in a strange bed. The bed was large and comfy, situated against a wall in a small room. Beside her, a window was open, letting in the morning sunlight and a cool breeze. Celestia closed her eyes and tried to think. What had happened? She had been a prisoner of Discord, who had brought her and Luna to his lair in the desert-

Luna!

Celestia sat up, instantly wide awake. She had to find her sister. She turned to bolt out of bed, and stopped with a sigh of relief. Luna was lying asleep beside her. She looked so peaceful that Celestia didn't have the heart to wake her. Quietly, she slid out of bed and looked around. The room she was in was well lit and pleasant-looking. She walked over to the window and looked outside. It was a beautiful day with hardly a cloud in the sky. Celestia realized by looking down that she and Luna were in the tower of a large castle built into the side of a mountain. Below her, a small city bustling with ponies stretched along the side of the mountain range. Wherever they were, Celestia felt they were safe.

The princess walked to the door and slowly creaked it open. There was a short hallway leading to a winding staircase. Right beside the door stood a tall tan unicorn stallion dressed in armor. Celestia was nervous at first, but the stallion turned to her and smiled.

"Finally awake, eh?" he said. "Good. I've been ordered to take you to see Starswirl as soon as you are ready."

Something stirred in Celestia's memory. "Starswirl?" she asked. "Starswirl the Bearded? He's here?"

"Yes, and he's very anxious to meet you. So whenever your ready, I'll take you to him."

"I'm ready," said Celestia. She threw a backwards glance into her room, where Luna was still sleeping. "Let's go now."

"Sure," the stallion answered, "and don't worry about your sister. Another guard will be along shortly." He turned and walked down the staircase with Celestia right behind him. They were about halfway down when they went through a doorway that led to a bridge connecting their tower to another, larger tower beside it. They crossed the bridge, and entered the second tower. Inside was a vast library filled with all sorts of books. In the center of the room stood a unicorn in a long blue cloak and pointed hat. Celestia assumed, judging from the unicorn's copious facial hair, that he was Starswirl the Bearded. Beside him stood a grey coated and yellow maned pegasus. The pegasus watched them come in, and then turned and whispered to Starswirl. Starswirl turned around, and smiled warmly as Celestia walked up.

"Welcome," he said. "You've been asleep for quite a while. I was worried that you weren't going to wake up."

"My sister's still sleeping upstairs," said Celestia anxiously. "Is she going to be alright?"

"Oh yes," said Starswirl. "She woke up a few hours after we brought you here, and she has hardly left your side once for the two days you've been recovering."

"Two days? That's how long I've been asleep?"

"That's right, but it's not surprising. A filly your age, moving the sun the way you did.." Starswirl whistled. "You have quite the reserves of magic inside you." Celestia knew she should feel flattered at Starswirl's praise, but she was too full of questions.

"Starswirl," she said. "I've been looking for you because-" Starswirl raised his hoof.

"I know," he said solemnly. "Four days ago your homeland was destroyed by a horde of gargoyles. Since that time you and your sister are the only ones to have escaped here, to Equestria. You've been looking for me in the hopes that I would have information on the fate of your family and the Alicorn Empire in general."

"How do you know all that?" asked Celestia.

"How else? Shortly after your run-in with Discord, when we had brought you here to rest, I received a letter from a unicorn enclave in Ghastly Gorge regarding two frantic ponies who had arrived saying that Discord had foalnapped two young fillies. The ponies' names were Blueberry and Chestnut. I had my friend Thunderbolt here-" the pegasus off to the side nodded- "fly over and transport them to my city so they could see you were safe."

"Blueberry and Chestnut are here?" asked Celestia, looking relieved. "So they're all right?"

"Aside from being worried sick about you, they're fine," answered Starswirl. His smile slowly disappeared, and he looked grim. "Now, about your family..." Starswirl ascended a set of steps behind him, and Celestia followed. He walked over to a table, upon which sat a crystal ball.

"I've known about the Alicorn Empire for a long time," said Starswirl. As he spoke he raised his hoof and began rubbing the crystal ball. "They are among the most powerful creatures on earth. While I know little about their history, I have been keeping tabs on them for many years with this sphere, which enables me to see them at all times. Ever since the gargoyle attack however-" He stopped rubbing the crystal ball, and for a moment it glowed with blue light. Then the light vanished and was replaced with what looked like dark grey mist, swirling around inside the ball. Starswirl stared at it sadly, then looked up at Celestia.

"A great fog has fallen over your homeland," he explained. "I have no idea what it means, but I suspect some form of magic is blocking me from seeing the Alicorns. I have no way of knowing what happened."

"Is there nothing you can do?" cried Celestia desperately. Starswirl had been her only hope.

"I can keep you and your sister safe here," said Starswirl. "If the worst has happened, and you two are all that remain of the Alicorns, then it is imperative that you remain with me. I alone can protect you from those who would wish you harm. Also, there is always the possibility that the gargoyles will come here looking for you. I can hide you here, and train you."

"Train us?"

"Of course. You have a great destiny ahead of you. What you did that day in Discord's hideout, well, that's a level of magical potential never before seen in Equestria. We need you."

Celestia was confused. "What do you need me for?"

"This city you are currently in is a sanctuary from the chaos and tyranny that grips Equestria. You have already seen the climate of fear that Discord keeps his subjects in. Things are no better in the Crystal Empire to the north, or the Changeling Kingdom to the south. Only among us, the unicorns and the pegasi, is any kind of freedom and order maintained. But with you, we can change all that."

Celestia was beginning to see where this was all going, and she didn't like it one bit. "Now wait a minute," she said. "You aren't seriously telling me that I have to free all these ponies, do you? I'm just a filly!"

"But you're so much more than that!" interjected Starswirl. "With your latent magical abillty, I can train you to be more powerful than anypony in Equestria. You can bring peace and happiness back to this land!"

"All I want is to get my little sister home again! We were never meant to come here, and we just want to go home. I was hoping you would aid us, but if the price for your help is to conquer this land, then I'll find my own way!" Celestia then turned on her heel and walked back out the door, heading for her room.

"Tact was never one of your strong traits," Thunderbolt said, shaking his head at Starswirl once Celestia had left.

"Don't worry," Starswirl answered. "Give her some time to think, and she will change her mind." Thunderbolt walked out the door and wondered, not for the first time, whether Starswirl's age was beginning to affect his judgement. Starswirl watched Thunderbolt leave, and then sighed, returning to his books.

Author's Note

So, the season 4 premiere pretty much killed my head canon on the elements of harmony, but don't worry! I won't let this affect my story.