Unlikely Places

by flutterstare

Rating: everyone
Tags: My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Dark, Princess Luna, Original Character, Adventure, Princess Celestia
Length: 54294

Seven hundred years after the disappearance of the legendary Princess Twilight Sparkle, one young mare and her best friend are destined to uncover the secrets of the past and unlock the mysteries hidden away below the Library in Canterlot.

Autumn Breeze was sure that she would never experience any real excitement in her life. She thought a boring existence in the city of Manehattan was all the world had in store for her. But when her father is kidnapped by a secret society, Autumn is forced to run away from home. She soon finds herself embarking on an epic journey to discover Ancient Secrets surrounding the Great Schism and the legendary Princess Twilight Sparkle who hasn't been seen in centuries. With the help of her best friend Indigo, Autumn will have to uncover the story of the mysterious Princess clue by clue, place by place, until she has learned the truth that Celestia has tried so desperately to hide.
Destiny makes interesting choices, and it is often those you expect least who are chosen to do amazing things.

Published 2013-10-08 04:40:03 UTC
Last updated 2014-02-11 04:50:56 UTC

What Little We Know (Exposition)

What Little We Know

Anypony who finds his or herself perusing the Royal Library in Canterlot could easily become lost among the tens of thousands of texts kept on its ancient shelves. There are books on mathematics, psychology, art history, and herbal remedies. There are ancients tomes full of magic spells that date back thousands of years. There is an entire wing dedicated to astronomy, and an enormous room containing only cookbooks and recipes. There are research papers on topics such as parasprite migration patterns and the caloric density of various types of cupcakes. Novels, textbooks, reference guides, maps, just about anything you could possibly imagine and every subject known to ponykind can be found in the labyrinth of hallways and staircases within the vast library.

But there is one room that almost nopony is permitted to enter. Of all the information open to the public at the Royal Library, you will find nothing in reference to the Schism. That is because these records are kept in the Elements of Harmony room. The Elements of Harmony room – or “The Tomb” as it is colloquially referred to – is guarded twenty-four hours a day by two high profile royal guards; although, they are hardly necessary considering the door they flank is virtually impenetrable. It is made of solid two-foot thick marble with no hinges and no visible means of opening. The surface is bare, save for a few odd indentations and the words: Int Nefftini Lærmuu: Ancient Equestrian for “The Chosen Few.”

Every piece of reliable information on the Schism and those who were involved in it is kept locked away behind that stone door. The list of those with permission to enter the room is only a few names long, and consists entirely of members of the Royal cabinet. The reason for this over-emphasized security is not well understood in the general community. As such, speculation is common.

What the average pony does know about the Schism is that it all happened nearly seven hundred years ago, not even a century after the millennial Summer Sun Celebration. It is also understood that the Schism culminated in the severance of the Royal Alliance when Princess Luna seceded from her throne as Guardian of the Night and abandoned Equestria, taking a small group of followers with her. Finally and most mysteriously, it is known that the Schism had a great deal to do with the legendary Princess Twilight Sparkle.

Twilight Sparkle is something of a folk hero in modern Equestrian society. According to legend she became the first (and only) non-bloodline princess the kingdom has ever seen. For many, she represents the potential that all ordinary ponies have within themselves. Also according to legend, she contributed more to the field of magical theory than anypony since Starswirl the Bearded. This seems plausible, considering Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns was renamed Twilight Sparkle Academy for the Magically Advanced. There is a national holiday held every year in her honor and a few stained-glass windows depicting her likeness at the palace, but other than that not much is known about the Princess.

Of course, her current whereabouts are also a complete mystery, hence the speculation.

Some conspiracy theorists say her magic became so powerful that Celestia felt threatened and banished her to the moon. Others say that she turned out to be a fraud and was quickly swept under the rug. Many aren’t sure if she ever really existed. A few ponies claim that she must have died, although this seems highly unlikely to anyone familiar with the way royalty works in Equestria. Princesses are immortal, after all. But the most widespread theory about the illusive miss Sparkle – at least according to the stories that parents always told their foals – is that she is hiding in a cave high up in the mountains somewhere; biding her time and waiting for the right moment to reveal herself. Truthfully, none of these answers are very likely seeing as this all happened hundreds of years ago, long before the times of any living ponies. Any ponies except the Princess of course, who for whatever reason is unwilling to explain.

Any attempt to infiltrate the the Elements of Harmony room or spread top-secret information is punishable by banishment; fortunately this measure has never needed to be taken – nopony has ever tried.

There is a small minority who complain, a few who have demanded the release of records on Princess Twilight or the Schism. Their movements are always small, and usually die out without notice from the public at large. They are no more than shouts in the dark, destined to fade like a distant echo. There really is no sense in challenging the system.

So for the most part, life goes on in Equestria. Merchants sell their wares on the streets and astronomers conduct their research in the observatories. Fillies and Colts receive a well-rounded education and most grow up to lead relatively satisfying lives. Seasons come and pass, and harvests yield more than enough to feed the populace. Equestria exists in a state of perpetual peace and tranquility thanks to Princess Celestia, who raises the sun every day and the moon every night and watches over her beloved citizens. The common pony is more than content busying him or herself with the vast collection of knowledge free to access at the Royal Library and turning a blind eye to the vault-like room and its forbidden contents.

But this story does not begin with a common pony. It begins with one of those shouts in the dark, an the ancient secrets she was destined to uncover.

What She Wished For

1

What She Wished For

This is Autumn.

Autumn’s coat is a hazel brown that might remind you of a perfectly toasted marshmallow. Her dark orange mane hangs in messy locks around her ears – ears that she would tell you are too big. She has piercing blue eyes that often seem like they’re looking right through you. She’s a little short for her age but smart as a whip, and she is never one to back away from a challenge. She doesn’t have wings or a horn, she doesn’t have many bits to her name, and almost nothing exciting has ever happened to her. Her life is simple, straightforward, and uneventful. Autumn is not a happy pony.

On this particular day Autumn was especially unhappy because of the large red D scrawled across the top of her essay on Equestrian royalty. She couldn’t help glancing at it as she grumpily walked home from school, but that only made her more upset. Autumn had never really liked her teacher, but now he may as well have been some abominable reincarnation of King Sombra.

To be fair, it was supposed to be a research paper, not an opinion piece criticizing the current state of political affairs in the nation. Autumn couldn’t help herself. She had always been fascinated by the lives of those who inhabited the great palaces and ruled the lands for millennia. For somepony as ambitious as she was, the idea of holding so much influence in the hooves of so few was unbearably enticing. It was by far her favorite subject.

Ever since the Schism though, a majority of the public records on the lives and responsibilities of the royal family had either been confiscated or destroyed. These days almost all you can find is the usual propaganda. “Celestia is great and wonderful”, “Princesses are what’s best for Equestria”, and “Don’t question the system” is the short version of any literature available to somepony who didn’t have top security clearance in the Canterlot archives. This bothered Autumn to no end.

Not that she didn’t agree with the messages; it was clear to anypony living under Celestia that she was the best thing that had ever happened to Equestria. The kingdom over which she ruled had been one of peace and stability for thousands of years. No, it wasn’t the princess’s leadership that Autumn found irritating, but simply her refusal to share information about it.

The other students in her class may have been perfectly willing to conform to society’s standards, but Autumn was rebellious. While they all wrote their cookie-cutter essays on how amazing Celestia is and how perfect she makes everything she touches, Autumn dedicated her creative energy to critiquing the literary stranglehold the crown held on any and all documents about the Schism. It was actually a stunningly in-depth piece of schoolwork, worthy of somepony much older than she was. Autumn had high hopes when she turned it in; she thought it to be an example of her finest work.

Mr. Harshwhinny did not share her enthusiasm. An old fashioned stallion who was a stickler for the rules, the long-time teacher at East Side Secondary School had an affinity for crushing Autumn’s dreams. Ever since moving up to secondary school, Autumn had been getting into disputes with Harshwhinny over everything from her opinion of chemistry to the way she wore her mane.

It was difficult to understand why he was so sour around Autumn. He claimed to be descended from a long line of royal advisors and inspectors, positions having to do with the Equestria Games. Autumn had always assumed it was a bunch of baloney. Whatever the case, he apparently felt cheated out of the high standard of living he thought he deserved, and something about seeing Autumn’s youthful outgoing personality made him regret his life even more. As such, he decided that Autumn’s radically opinionated essay deserved no more than a D.

So Autumn was forced to walk all the way home through the streets of Manehattan carrying with her the depressing knowledge of her low score. She was angry, sad and frustrated all at the same time, three feelings which never mix well. She contemplated throwing her disgraced essay into one of the many garbage bins she passed on the sidewalk, but she had put so much work into it that doing so really would have been a waste.

As usual, the streets were crowded with ponies either coming home from work or heading out for the evening. Autumn had to dodge around the fast paced Manehattanites who payed little attention to the young mare. She didn’t mind though. When she was just a filly she used to pretend she was captain of the Wonderbolts, weaving in and out of obstacles and stunning the crowd. Now that she had grown more mature the idea seemed silly to her. Secretly she still enjoyed it however, and the little game helped take her mind off the disappointment in her saddlebag.

Eventually she reached the apartment building she had been forced to call home her entire life. Up seven flights of stairs she walked to the familiar door labelled 8C, spent a minute rooting through her bag for the key, and then trudged inside.

Upon entering, Autumn was surprised to find her father sitting on the sofa with a newspaper in his hooves. Autumn’s father usually worked late and she wasn’t used to seeing him right when she got home.

“Oh... Hi dad,” she said.

“Hello Breeze,” he replied without looking up from his paper. He had always preferred to call Autumn by her second name.

“You got off work early today?”

“Yep.”

There was an awkward pause.

“Anything interesting in the news?”

“Nope.”

Another pause. Autumn moved towards her bedroom but stopped short with one last attempt to initiate a conversation with her father.

“I almost failed an important essay at school today.”

“That’s nice dear.”

She sighed and walked into her room, shutting the door behind her. Her father had to work hard to provide for both Autumn and himself, and the work was beginning to take a toll on him. As the years passed he became more and more detached from his own daughter. It was the sad reality of being a single parent.

Autumn remembered being young and playing with her father in the park. She remembered how he used to be so supportive of Autumn’s aspirations. He had introduced her to the Wonderbolts when he took her to see them live at the Manehattan Arena. She had been so amazed by the show that he even bought her a poster which still hung on her wall. For the next three Nightmare Nights Autumn would only dress up as a member of the elite flying team. Her costume came complete with a suit, goggles, and styrofoam wings. Even though she wasn’t a pegasus, her father always used to tell her that if she believed hard enough all of her dreams could come true. Then they would run down to Central Park and play tag or catch until the sun went down and it was time for supper.

Those were the days when she was happy; when her teacher wasn’t out to make her miserable; when her father was interested enough in her life to have a normal conversation with her. Those were the days Autumn was sure she would never see again.

She threw herself on her bed and contemplated how she might get back at Harshwhinny. Maybe she could put ink in his coffee or shred one of his rather dull ties. These weren’t very good ideas. She stared at the ceiling and wished that her father had gotten mad and punished her for nearly failing an assignment. At least then she would have something to do.

She reached over and pulled the essay out of her bag. The large red D made it difficult to read the title: The Information Exception, How the Autocratic Equestrian Government has Cheated its Citizens Out of Their Right to Knowledge. Autumn decided it was well worth display, regardless of what Harshwhinny thought. She pinned it to the wall right next to her old Wonderbolts poster.

It wasn’t easy to find space for it though. The walls of Autumn’s room were plastered with a collage of decorative hangings. Posters, banners, flags, postcards, newspaper articles, just about anything that had ever interested her. Much of the paraphernalia was dedicated to the Wonderbolts, but there were also images of far away places and famous landmarks. Autumn surrounded herself with distant wonders of the world; mountains, cities, castles, forests, all truly remarkable places. Of course, she had never actually been to any of them.

With the exception of the Wonderbolts merchandise, everything she kept in her room acted as a reminder of her goals. She hoped that it might one day inspire her to go out and see the world. Manehattan was a fine place to live, but Autumn wanted to live life to the fullest. She had always promised herself that someday she’d break the bonds of lower-middle class pony life and go do everything she ever wanted to. There is a lot to see out there, and all of it was on her bucket list.

Autumn lay back down on her bed. She was wondering how she might spend the rest of her afternoon when a sharp tapping sound at her window stole her attention. She glanced over expecting to see a stray pigeon, but instead found herself looking into the smiling face of a royal blue pegasus.

Autumn chuckled and pulled herself up to let her best friend in. The pegasus proceeded to fly upside-down into the room with hooves crossed and a rather smug expression on her face.

“Pretty sweet, huh?” the newcomer gloated, “I just learned how to keep balance like this.”

“Indy, you never cease to amaze,” said Autumn playfully. She took her seat back on the bed.

Indigo was only three days older than Autumn, a fact which had brought them together back in primary school. She was outgoing, daring and never cared much for rules. Autumn had always admired these qualities in her friend. It was part of what kept them so close, even after Autumn went on to secondary school and Indigo started working in her father’s bookstore. They had both gotten their cutie marks in the same week, they both had only one parent, and neither was a fan of conformity. Without a doubt, these two were born to be friends.

“You could’ve just used the door, you know.”

“Yeah, that wouldn’t have been lame or anything.” Indigo flipped herself upright and landed gracefully on the end of the bed. “Besides, I wanted to show off my new moves. Maybe one day I’ll be good enough to join those Wonderbolts you love so much.” She gestured to the old poster. “Hey, this is new...”

Noticing the essay tacked to the wall, Indigo moved in to get a closer look.

“Ouch. See this is why I’m glad I’m not in school anymore. Is this Whatshisface’s doing?”

“Was it the unfair grade or my complete misery that gave it away?” Autumn rolled over onto her stomach and let out a groan. “Maybe you’re right. Maybe I should just give up on school and go do something with my life.”

“Exactly!” Indy exclaimed “Who needs an education these days? Do you think any of the Wonderbolts ever went to secondary school? Of course not! They just followed their dreams, baby! That’s the way to do it, like I did.”

Autumn smirked. “I didn’t realize your dream was to become a bookstore clerk.”

“Yeah, well, it’s a work in progress,” Indy retorted. “C’mon, Autumn. Aren’t you always talking about how you wanna get out of this town and go do something meaningful?”

“Yes, but education is important if–”

“There’s no time like the present! You have to grab life by the reigns and take it where you want to go, or else it’ll pass you by!” Indigo’s movements suddenly became broad and elaborate as she launched into a dramatic inspirational speech. “Think of all these places,” she motioned at the posters on Autumn’s wall, “all these things you want to go and see. Is school going to help you get there?”

Autumn sighed. “Then what do you suggest I do? Just get up and leave? Just walk away from my life and go on an adventure?”

“Sure! That’s what I’d do. Hayseed, I might even come with you.”

Autumn smiled. As crazy as the idea was, she couldn’t say it didn’t sound inviting. “I’ll tell you what,” she said, “if the opportunity ever arises then I’ll take your advice and we’ll head out together on an adventure.”

An empty promise, but it satisfied Indigo.

“Great! I’ll hold you to it.” She playfully punched Autumn on the shoulder, and then noticed the clock on the bedside table. “Oops. I can’t stay: I was just dropping by on the way back to the store.” She flew briskly out the window, but not before stopping to turn and reiterate her point. “Sooner rather than later. It’ll be worth it, trust me.”

Autumn didn’t really take Indigo’s offer seriously; at least she thought she didn’t. Deep down inside though, she wished it could be true. She felt trapped in her little life, with virtually no hope of escape. Autumn would fall asleep that night dreaming up scenarios where she got to run away with Indigo. Unaware of how close to a real one she actually was.

* * *

The next morning was like any other for Autumn. Her alarm clock woke her up with its usual annoying BUZZ. She made a quick breakfast of cinnamon oatmeal, said goodbye to her father, and headed out the door.

The walk to school wasn’t very far, but Autumn hated waking up early. She only ever gave herself just enough time to book it down the street before she was late. Her success usually depended on how busy the streets were, and what the weather was like. Fortunately for Autumn, both were on her side today, and she found herself in the strange position of being at school before the doors opened.

There was a small queue of other students waiting outside. Autumn wasn’t really friends with any of them though, so she kept her distance. She took a seat on the lowest of the steps up to the front door, not quite sure what to do with herself.

Suddenly, Something caught her eye from across the street. Just across the road from East Side Secondary School is a small athletic park, seldom used since Physical Education was dropped from the curriculum. Standing at the edge of the usually deserted greenspace was a pony; or at least Autumn though it was a pony. Whoever it was, the figure was wearing a dark purple robe that draped down to the hoofs and covered the head with a hood. A symbol was embroidered into the front of the hood in gold thread, but Autumn couldn’t tell what it was at that distance. What was most disconcerting about the mysterious stranger though, was that he or she was looking directly at her.

Autumn stared back at the hooded figure, not sure if she should be scared. She was so puzzled that she didn’t even notice when the bell rang and students began shuffling into the school.

“Hey, move it weirdo!” called one of her less mannerly peers as he pushed by her to get up the steps.

Her concentration broken, Autumn turned to see the doors had opened and school was about to begin. She stood up and looked back across the road, but the robe and whoever was wearing it had vanished. Autumn gave the perplexing experience a few more seconds thought, and then trotted up the stairs. Perhaps it was just her imagination.

* * *

Between suffering through Harshwhinny’s droning lectures and refusing to touch the amorphous blob served in the cafeteria for lunch, school was about as fun as ever. Autumn only had one thing to look forward to in her class schedule, and that was history class. Partially because it was her favorite subject, but mostly because Thursday was movie day, and she got to spend a whole period watching archival footage instead of doing any work. She leaned back in her seat and let out a comfortable sigh when sixth period finally came, ready for an hour of relaxation.

“Alright, settle down,” said Mr. Harshwhinny with a detectable tinge of contempt in his voice, “Quiet down and let me draw the blinds so we can watch today’s film about the Equestro-Draconic Treaty.”

He walked around the room to pull down the window blinds one by one. Autumn followed him with her eyes, waiting patiently for the film to begin. When he finally came to the last window, Autumn glanced through it just before he pulled the blind down. What she saw made her gasp out loud. Standing just outside the window, staring right back through the glass was the purple hooded pony.

Autumn leapt out of her seat and across two desks to where Harshwhinny was standing.

“Wait!” she yelled and pulled the blind back open as quickly as she could, but found only an empty schoolyard looking back at her.

She couldn’t believe her eyes. She was sure somepony had been standing there mere seconds ago. The same somepony she had seen that morning.

“Ahem,” Mr. Harshwhinny interrupted Autumn’s stunned silence, “If you are quite finished miss Breeze, this class is for serious education not foolishness!” He yanked the blind back over the window and marched grumpily to his desk.

Autumn straightened up and moved quickly back to her seat, trying to hide her blush from her snickering classmates. Now she was embarrassed and confused.

She didn’t pay much attention to the video at the front of the class that day. Her thoughts were consumed with the mysterious pony. The rational part of her brain wanted to say that her eyes were playing tricks on her, but that just didn’t feel right. The pony had seemed very real both times, and Autumn had never had hallucinations before. The idea that she might have a stalker wasn’t much more appealing though, so she eventually decided to put it out of her mind. Maybe it was just some bizarre coincidence.

Nevertheless, Autumn was especially cautious for the rest of the day and made sure to check her corners before proceeding down the hallway. When the last bell finally rang and it was time to go home, Autumn made her way briskly out of the building and headed down the well-worn path back home. She shiftily looked around as she walked, keeping an eye out for any reappearance of the stranger. The street was crowded as usual, and the hordes of people made for many good hiding spots.

She eventually made it to her apartment door stranger-free, and upon entering 8C let out a sigh of relief. Although she would have liked to know what the mysterious pony was up to, there was something frightening about him or her that made any further encounters somewhat undesirable.

She looked around the apartment, wondering if her father was home early again. Maybe she could tell him about it. Alas, it was apparently only a one-time luxury as he was nowhere to be seen. As if Autumn had really expected differently.

She headed to her room, deciding that the best she could do at the moment was hope Indigo dropped by. That way she’d have somepony to tell the story to. She threw her bag on the floor and flopped on her bed, falling into her routine of afternoon boredom. It was Thursday, which meant she had just over a week to go before the Wonderbolts were back in Manehattan for a big show. She had gotten her father to promise to take her, though they would undoubtedly be getting the cheapest seats available. It didn’t matter to Autumn: as long as she got to see them in action she would be happy. Watching the Wonderbolts was one of the few things that reminded Autumn of her childhood happiness, before her mother left and everything went downhill.

She looked at her Wonderbolts poster and tried to put herself in the hooves of that little laughing filly who sat on her daddy’s shoulders and watched the blue and yellow-clad pegasi speed across the sky, leaving behind their characteristic jet streams in amazing patterns. She could stare at that poster all day, just letting the happy memories flood back into her mind.

“Hey, wait a minute,” she said, suddenly noticing the barren patch of wall next to the poster. “Where did my essay go?”

She looked on the floor around her bed and then leapt down and checked underneath. “What the hay?” she exclaimed. She checked under the carpet and in all of her drawers. “Where on earth could it have gone?” Autumn was growing frustrated. She definitely didn’t remember moving it, and she would have found it by now if it had simply fallen off the wall. Just when Autumn was beginning to think that she really was having hallucinations, she noticed something else different about her room.

Somepony had left an envelope for her. It wasn’t anything fancy, but it had clearly been placed specifically for Autumn to notice it. It lay face-down right in the center of her nightstand with the words Autumn Breeze written in cursive across the back.

Autumn stared blankly, wondering how such a thing could have gotten into her room.

“I guess dad left this for me...” she thought out loud, although some part of her knew that this wasn’t true.

She flipped the envelope over. It was sealed shut with a wax stamp of an apple inside a triangle. Something about that symbol rang familiar with Autumn, but she ignored it and tore the seal open.

There was a parchment inside with a short note written on it. The message read:

We have been watching. We will come for you tonight.
Do not resist. Do not contact anyone. We have your father. He is safe.
All will be explained. Lærmuu Nefdiså oumn

Autumn read the note over and over again, desperately wishing each time that she had misread something. An avalanche of thoughts poured through her head. She felt like she was in a dream, there was no way this could be real.

Finally after reading the parchment for a fifth time she threw it to the ground and started breathing heavily. She was scared and confused and had no idea what to do. What’s more, if what the note said was true then whoever wrote it had taken her father and wouldn't let her contact authorities. She was trapped, there was no way out except to wait for whoever left the envelope to come and take her away.

Then she encountered another horrifying thought: somepony had been in her room. She looked around nervously and backed away from her closed closet door. Somepony had broken into her room that very day, and for all Autumn knew might still be there.

She wanted to run out of the apartment, but she was too afraid to set hoof outside. Her heart rushed and the room started to spin around her. Fear was engulfing her mind, but she knew she had to get away. She planned out emergency escape routes in her head, and when she had backed all the way up to the opposite wall she prepared to make a run for it.

A loud tapping on the window made her leap into the air, screaming . They’re here for me! She thought. I’m done for!

She whirled around expecting to see her kidnapper, but instead saw the amused face of Indigo, hovering outside her window. Autumn yanked the window open, pulled her friend in, and slammed it shut again. She was so relieved that Indigo had shown up that she could barely speak.

“Somepony’s on edge today,” Said the pegasus with a smirk “Where’s the fire?”

“Indigo this is serious!” Autumn interrupted and kicked the parchment across the floor to where her friend was standing. “I think someone kidnapped my dad and soon they’ll be back for me and I have no idea what to do! I need your help!”

Indigo gave Autumn a confused look, and then read the message at her hooves. “Whoa, this is serious...” she agreed, “and you’re sure this isn’t some practical joke or something?”

“I don’t know, but I’ve been having a very strange day. Between this and the hooded guy I’m not sure if...” Something clicked in Autumn’s mind. “The hooded guy... I bet he’s behind this!”

“Hooded guy?” Indy asked.

“I keep seeing this pony in a purple robe who I think has been following me. It can’t be a coincidence. Whoever that creep is, I bet he's the one who left this letter!”

“OK, so a stalker and a kidnapping. Autumn this definitely sounds to me like something that should be reported to the guards,” said Indigo.

“I can’t!” Autumn exclaimed, “Whoever wrote this has my dad, and who knows what they’ll do to him if I don’t comply.” Autumn sat down heavily on her bed and went silent. She felt like crying, but had long ago learned how to control herself.

Indigo was quiet too, apparently just as shocked as her best friend. It was she who finally broke the silence though, with an idea that was more than characteristic of the blue pegasus. “You could run away,” she suggested.

Autumn looked up at her friend. “Run away?” she repeated, “How on earth would that help me?”

“Well,” Indy explained, “you can’t stay here and wait for some robed creep to come and find you, and you can’t go running to anypony else for help. The way I see it your best option is to take off. Run far away from Manehattan or anywhere anyone can find you. I’ll stay here and find some way to get authorities involved. In the mean time you need to stay out of sight.”

Autumn stared at Indigo. This plan was absolutely ridiculous; but at the same time, what choice did she have? “But... where would I go?” she asked hesitantly.

“Somewhere far away from here,” Said Indigo “You have a long list of places you’ve always wanted to see right? Well why not choose one of those?”

Autumn considered this and then asked the obvious questions. “But where will I stay? And what will I eat? I don’t have any bits, you know that.”

“True, but who needs money when you’re living off the land?” Indy said decidedly, “You remember fillyscouts don’t you? Well it’ll be just like an extra-long campout. You can take your tent and sleeping bag, pack enough food to last until you find some more and then you’re all set!” Indigo picked up Autumn’s saddlebag and dumped all the school supplies out onto the bed. “This bag will do fine. Just fill it with everything you need, grab a map or two, and you’ll be off!”

Autumn looked skeptically at her school bag and then at her enthusiastic friend. She was getting way ahead of herself. There was no way she could just leave on such short notice with no planning.

“Look, I know this sounds crazy,” admitted Indigo, “but look around you Autumn. Look at all these places that you still haven’t been. Look at all these goals that you have yet to achieve and think about how long it will be until you get another opportunity to go and do something about it. This is a scary situation, but you have to make the most of it and trust that ol’ Indy Cavallino knows what she’s talking about.” She moved in close to Autumn and looked right into her eyes. “Can you do that Autumn? Can you trust me on this?”

Autumn looked back at her best friend and knew that she would never suggest anything she didn't genuinely think was a good idea. She had always been there for her, and this was no exception.

“I trust you Indigo,” said Autumn, “and I’ll take your advice.”

“Great!” exclaimed Indigo, “I’ll go get the tent and sleeping bag, you start packing that saddlebag with food.” She then zoomed out of the room towards 8C’s storage closet.

Autumn stood up from the bed, but didn't move towards the door as Indigo had. She stood in place wondering what lay ahead for her on the open road. She looked around her room at the posters and banners that had accumulated over the years. Wondering to herself where she might travel to first.

A tear appeared on Autumn’s cheek, followed by another, and then another until eventually she found herself weeping like a small child. She felt scared and uncertain of her future. She wanted to curl up in a little ball and sink through the floor, but she couldn’t. Autumn had to be strong. She had to stand up for herself and not let bad feelings get in her way. She wiped her face and took a deep breath.

“Well I guess you’re about to get the adventure you wished for,” she said to herself. Then Autumn Breeze picked up her bag and walked out of her room for the last time.

* * *

By the time everything she needed had been gathered together, the sky was beginning to darken outside. This made Autumn very anxious to get away from the apartment. They hurried down the stairs, up the street, and across the bridge towards the edge of the city where the rolling foothills of the Hollow Shades Forest began.

Autumn attempted to keep a low profile, avoiding the gazes of the other ponies she passed on the street. Indigo chattered away about various survival tactics and kinds of plants that were safe to eat and other things she remembered from her fillyscout days. Autumn was too nervous to listen very closely.

When they finally reached the end of the long road, the buildings had become low and were spaced farther apart and the street was mostly deserted. Ahead of them was a dead end, and beyond that was only forest. The pair stopped and looked into the darkness of the wooded lands. In both of their entire lives, neither pony had travelled more than a few miles outside of Manehattan. This was uncharted territory for them. From this point on everything would have to be improvised.

“Well, I’m afraid this is where I have to leave you,” said Indigo, “Do you have any idea of where you’re going?”

“Yeah,” replied Autumn, “The Crystal Empire. It’s far away and mysterious and I’ve always wanted to meet real crystal ponies.” She though for a moment. “So, I guess I’m going north.”

Silence.

“You’ll be fine,” assured Indy, “You’re a tough cookie, I know that better than anypony. Just use your wicked sharp intuition and don’t talk to strangers. I’m the only one who knows where you are, so you’ll be safe.”

“I hope you’re right,” said Autumn. She was still staring into the darkness in front of her.

“OK, so I’m gonna go find a guard or somepony to talk to. You go on and find a place to set up camp for the night.” Indigo turned and began to walk back down the road, but Autumn called back to her before she could get too far.

“Hey, Indy!” she said, and Indigo turned back around to face her best friend. “Thank you, for everything.”

Indy smiled. “What are friends for?” she said, and with a wink and a grin disappeared around the next corner.

Autumn took a few minutes to mentally prepare herself. A chill ran down her spine as she closed her eyes for just a moment. “This is it,” she insisted, “No point in turning back now.”

When she had worked up the necessary courage, she trotted confidently forwards into the trees. The forest opened up like a deep dark hole, eager to swallow Autumn into its leafy oblivion. She had never been one to believe in ghost stories, but if they could be true anywhere then surely it was here. Luckily, backing down wasn't Autumn's style, so onward she pressed.

As the darkness began to engulf her, she looked back to get one last glimpse of her hometown before it went out of sight–

Autumn stopped short. She was frozen in place by what she saw. Standing in the dimly lit street behind her was the mysterious pony in the purple robes. The pony was close enough this time that Autumn could easily make out the symbol embroidered on the hood. It was a golden apple inside a triangle – the same symbol that had been used to seal the envelope on her nightstand.

She should have been afraid, but Autumn sensed something different about the stranger this time. As menacing as his or her presence was, it didn’t seem like the hooded pony had any intention of hurting her. There was an peculiar air of innocence about the encounter.

Autumn looked back at the figure for a long time; at least what seemed to her like a long time. Finally, she regained control of her legs and made the most reasonable decision she could think of. She ran.

She ran away from Manehattan, away from everything and everyone she had ever known, away from her home and her school, and away from the strange pony in purple robes. She turned away and ran into the dark unknown, leaving her future entirely in the unpredictable grasp of fate.

* * *

Long after Autumn had disappeared beyond the cover of trees, Sister Ambrosia remained standing in the street far behind her. The evening air was unseasonably cold, and the icy wind whipped at her flowing robes. She knew she could not leave to seek shelter, though. She would stay firmly in place for as long as it took the others to arrive.

The faint sound of hooves plodding upon grass nearby prompted her to tilt her head in interest.

"Is that you, Brother Ramsdell?" she asked the darkness.

"How could you tell?" inquired the second pony wearing purple robes as he stepped out from behind a tree.

Brother Ramsdell was an enormous example of a stallion, nearly twice the size of his female companion. His robe stretched tightly to fit over his hulking figure, which made him look a bit like a massive purple balloon. He lumbered over and stood beside Sister Ambrosia, staring into the woodlands just as she did.

"I'm afraid your size betrays you, Brother," explained Ambrosia, "but fear not. Stealth is not the only skill we seek to employ in our mission."

"I assume the young one has fled into the wilderness in hope of escaping us." Ramsdell pulled his hood back to reveal his muscular features and crew-cut yellow mane. "Which means we will have to put our plans on hold while we track her across Equestria."

"Don't be so certain that this wasn't part of the original plan," suggested Ambrosia, "We were expecting some resistance, and having her isolated in the forest might make it easier to to lure the girl where we want her to go."

"Be that as it may, I still feel it would have been easier to take her when we had the chance."

The pair stood in silence for a long while. It would have been an odd sight, to see two ponies of vastly different sizes wearing long purple robes and standing on the edge of town in the middle of the night. Not many ponies were out that late though, and the few passersby who did catch a glance were much more concerned with getting out of the frigid air.

Ramsdell was the first to speak again. "So what is next for us?"

"As in the two of us? or society as a whole?"

"You know what I mean. How are we going to–"

"Fools!" cried a raspy voice from behind them. A third pony wearing purple robes appeared and walked right around the front of the first two. "You know we are forbidden to discuss plans outside the sanctuary. And Brother Ramsdell, put your hood back on before someone sees you!"

"Yes, Elder Fallawater," Ramsdell complied, pulling the hood back over is head.

"Listen closely you two," instructed the hardened old Elder Fallawater as he paced in front of them, "The first thing that needs to happen is that we need to find out exactly where the target is going. Each of you need to form a search party and–"

"That won't be necessary, Elder," Ambrosia interrupted, "The girl is attempting to make her way to the Crystal Empire. She headed north from here not three hours ago, and will soon need to set up camp for the night. Finding her should be no trouble."

"Well then Sister," said Fallawater contemptuously, "if you are so sure of that, then why don't I put you in charge of her recovery?" A particularly strong gust of wind blew his hood up, briefly revealing the heavily scarred face beneath. "The Grandmaster is expecting our operation to initiate within the week. Don't disappoint us."

Fallawater turned and briskly walked back from whence he came. "Come Brother, we have preparations to make," he said.

Ramsdell put a hoof on Ambrosia's shoulder as if to say "good luck" and then followed Fallawater into the shadows, leaving her completely alone once again. She took a few more minutes to gaze into the darkness where Autumn had disappeared; a gaze she had not broken in almost three hours.

Finally, when she was sure that she was not being watched, she put her head down and followed destiny's path into the trees.

Family Ties

2
Family Ties

BUZZZZ BUZZZZ BUZZZZ

Autumn groaned and rolled over on her pillow.

BUZZZZ BUZZZZ BUZZZZ

Why does school have to be so early? she thought.

BUZZZZ BUZZZZ BUZZZZ

“Alright, alright, I’m up.” Autumn reached over and slammed her hoof down on top of the alarm clock. It was a bit furrier than she remembered.

Autumn groggily cracked open her eyes. Instead of seeing her room, she was met with the dense greenery that encompassed her makeshift campsite. She took a few seconds to let the amnesia wear off.

“Oh, right...” she murmured.

There is something undeniably depressing about waking up in a strange place, all alone. Autumn was starting to get the feeling that Indigo had been wrong. Maybe she wasn’t cut out to survive on her own. Maybe her sheltered upbringing on the urban streets of Manehattan had denied her the know-how necessary for a life on the trail. Not a lot of happy thoughts for the first few seconds of the day.

Autumn didn’t have much time to ponder the issue however, because her lonely silence was interrupted by a pitiful sound from below her outstretched hoof.

BuZzZbUzzZ...bzz..

She carefully retracted her limb to discover a small purple fuzzball of an insect with big red eyes.

“Hey there, little guy. Where did you come from?” She recognized the adorable creature from somewhere, but she couldn’t put her hoof on it.

It awkwardly fluttered into the air and made its way dizzily over to Autumn’s saddle bag, disappearing beneath the left-side flap. “Hey, what are you doing? I keep my food in there!”

Autumn pulled herself to her hooves and walked to the bag, which she had left leaning against a pine tree. Upon opening the pocket she was met with not one, but a dozen pairs of hungry red eyes.

A brief moment of stunned stillness, and then– WHOOOSH! A wave of colored fuzz gushed from the opened bag and blew right past Autumn’s bewildered expression, disappearing into the surrounding forest. Autumn stared blankly into the space where the insects had just been. Her wide blue eyes couldn’t believe what they were seeing, or rather, what they weren’t seeing.

Those deceptively cute insects had eaten everything. All the food she had so meticulously collected and packed as tightly as possible into her bag had been devoured. They left behind nothing except for a few crumbs and a candy bar wrapper.

It was so sudden and unexpected; Autumn felt like screaming. It was simply too tragic to happen on the first day; the first morning, no less. She wasn’t prepared for a blow like that.

Autumn was a pony accustomed to frustration however, and with a few deep breathes she managed to compose herself. It’s OK, she thought, It’s only food, I can find more.

She leaned down to pick up the half-emptied bag, only to find it was stuck on something. She gave it a few good tugs, but it refused to budge. Her patience was beginning to wear thin, so she yanked a bit too hard and tore open the entire right side of the bag which held all of her supplies. Apparently, it had been stuck to some very determined pine sap.

This time, Autumn made no attempt to hold in her rage. She threw her head back and let out the loudest and most aggravated scream she could manage.

“Don’t test me you stupid wilderness!” she shouted to the trees, “I’ve got enough on my plate right now!”

“By the looks of your saddlebag, you won’t have anything on you’re plate,” a voice from behind her observed.

Autumn yelped and whirled around, but she couldn’t find the source of the voice. “Show yourself!” she demanded, “I’m not afraid of you!”

“Well that’s probably a good thing considering I’m the one who’s trying to help you.”

Autumn suddenly realized where the voice was coming from; and more importantly who it was coming from. “Indigo?” she said.

Sure enough, her best friend sat cooly on a branch about half-way up the pine tree. Her goofy grin suggested that she found Autumn’s frustrated confusion mildly humorous.

“How... What are you doing here?”

“Helping out a scared, clueless, and now food-less friend, obviously.” Indigo swooped down and landed gracefully next to Autumn, nudging her side as she did. “C’mon. You didn’t expect me to leave you hangin’ out here, did you?”

“Aren’t you supposed to be reporting the hooded pony?” Autumn asked.

“All taken care of.” Indigo said proudly.

“Does your father know you’re out here?”

“Already checked with him, he’s totally cool with me making my own decisions and has no issue with me living on my own.”

“But how did you manage to find me?”

“Well, I knew where you started from; and to be honest, you’re not very far from the edge of the city. If I fly up above the trees I can actually see it.”

“Huh,” said Autumn, “and so you just decided to come find me out in the woods and follow me all the way to wherever it is I end up?”

“That’s about the size of it.” Indigo smiled broadly, satisfied with herself. She saw that Autumn was still skeptical though, and tried once more to reassure her. “Hey, I know it’s a big decision, but I’ve been waiting for an opportunity like this – just like you have. I care about you, and I want to help you get through this. Besides, you promised me if you ever went on an adventure that I’d get to come along.”

Autumn couldn’t help but smile back at her friend. It was true that she had promised, although it had seemed inconsequential at the time. What did she have to lose? She couldn’t honestly say that she didn’t want Indigo to come with her.

“Well, alright,” she decided, “if you’re sure. I guess I could use the company.”

“That’s what I wanted to hear!” said Indigo, “Indy and Autumn, adventurers out on the open trail!” She stretched out a hoof as if she were presenting a movie title.

“Only until someone comes to rescue us,” Autumn reminded her, “you did tell the guards didn’t you?”

“Sure did,” Indigo confirmed, “It was in a stroke of good luck too. You see, as soon as I dropped you off I figured I’d better head back to the shop and write a letter to the proper authorities. Right as I got there, I found a guard just standing outside the shop. It was almost like he had been waiting for me! I told him the whole story of you and the hooded pony and the letter. He said not to worry about anything, the guards would take care of everything and soon it would be safe to come back. In the mean time though, you should stay out here and keep moving. I paid him a few bits to be quick about finding the hooded creep, and then he left. I’d feel safe if I were you, this was a pretty big fellow.”

“That was lucky...” Autumn agreed, “and he said to stay out here in the woods?”

“Just until he or one of the other guards comes to find us. Although by the looks of it, surviving even that long might be a struggle” Indigo gestured towards the torn bag and supplies strewn across the ground.

“Yeah, some stupid bug things got into my stuff last night.”

“They’re called parasprites. Don’t you remember? There was a big orange one on the cover of the Fillyscouts Survival Guide.”

“I knew I’d seen them somewhere before,” Autumn said, “Well regardless, we now have no food and no way to carry anything else. So what do we do?”

“Live off the land, of course!” said Indigo, “Forage for food, navigate with the stars, sleep on the ground – that kinda stuff.”

“Well I dunno about you, but I am not sleeping on the ground,” said Autumn. She leaned down to roll up her sleeping bag and grab the map. “Nor am I navigating with anything but a reliable map.”

“Awww, you’re no fun,” said Indigo.

“Maybe not, but I am practical,” Autumn retorted, “Here, you carry the bed roll and I’ll read the map.”

“I’m looking forward to a few days in the backcountry,” said Indigo. She grabbed the bed roll and slung it over her back. “I think it’ll be a character-building experience. Aren’t you excited?”

“I think ‘anxious’ is a better word,” said Autumn. With that, the pair continued on deeper into the forest.

* * *

The next few days were rough, at least for Autumn. Even though she had a bed roll, the nights were colder than she had expected. She often found herself unable to sleep; simply shivering and listening to the strange sounds of the forest around her. The second night was especially bad: it rained until just an hour before sunrise, forcing the two to seek shelter inside a cramped hollow log.

Indigo didn’t mind the weather quite as much. Even without a bed roll of her own, she always seemed to enjoy sleeping under the stars and braving the chilly air. The night it rained, she spent the whole time singing show tunes and telling stories from their childhood. That was just like Indy: not willing to let something as trivial as weather get in the way of a good time.

Food was a whole different issue, and one that neither pony was thrilled about. Indigo had retained some knowledge about how and where to find food in the forest, but it was mostly limited to edible fungus and small berries. A couple times they had tried to start a fire to cook their food in an effort to make it taste better; but dry wood was hard to find, and starting a flame without matches or magic was even harder. As nutritious as Indigo insisted brown-spotted mushrooms were, they did not make a particularly filling meal. As such, they found themselves in a perpetual state of hunger.

Parasprites were less of a problem (mostly because they were never carrying much food), but the Hollow Shades Forest was home to a wide array of other concerning creatures. Timberwolves were always a threat; and although they never came across any, Autumn could occasionally hear them baying in the distance as she lay awake at night. The pair also had to learn how to differentiate between the weeds and flowers it was safe to walk through, and those that would give them a nasty rash.

The actual traveling was the only positive part of their experience. The terrain was mild, and the spaces between trees were wide enough to allow for easy maneuverability. They talked and laughed as they walked (and flew) along Autumn’s carefully worked out path. Although she had seen woods like this before before, there was an invigorating satisfaction that came with exploring untamed lands with her best friend. Everything was new and exiting, something she didn’t get much of back home. Maybe this was the grand adventure she had been waiting for.

On the third day after Indigo had rejoined Autumn, they came across a glen where the trees opened up to reveal a grassy meadow. It sat between two hills, which made a small valley. At the very center of the clearing, a few large boulders were clustered together in an unusual formation.

“Hey, check this out,” said Indigo. She flew over to the boulders and landed on top of one. “I think this is where we should camp tonight. It’s a pretty cool place if you ask me.”

“It’s a nice spot,” Autumn admitted. She walked over to the boulder on which Indigo had perched. There was something strange about it.

“Hey, wait a minute,” she said, pointing to what appeared to be inscriptions on the side, “These are ruins!”

“Ruins?” Indigo said. She hopped down next to Autumn to see for herself. “You mean there used to be something built here?”

“It looks like it. See these two were columns, and this one was probably part of a wall.” Autumn opened her map and scanned the area she had been sure they were in. “This doesn’t make any sense,” she said, “I can’t find these ruins on the map anywhere.”

“Maybe we’re the first to discover them,” Indigo suggested excitedly, “That would be quite an achievement for adventurers such as ourselves.”

“It’s possible...” said Autumn as she folded the map up, “but what did they used to be? A monument? A castle? A watchtower?”

“A sanctuary, actually.” To Autumn’s horror, a third pony stepped out from behind one of the boulders. She wore a long purple robe and hood, embroidered with an apple inside a triangle. Apparently, she had been just out of sight the entire time.

Autumn leapt back and cried out. Indigo sped over and took a defensive stance beside her friend. “Indy! That’s the pony! That’s the one who left the note!”

“We must have been followed,” Indigo growled. She kept herself low to the ground, like a lion ready to pounce.

“You stay away from us!” Autumn yelled. She put on the most aggressive face she could manage and made sure not to break eye contact. Indigo stood beside her and brandished a stick in her mouth as if she intended to use it as a weapon. The duo backed slowly away from the hooded pony, towards the tree line where they could escape.

“I do not wish to harm you. If apprehension by force was our intention we would have done it days ago.” It was a mare’s voice, calm and smooth as if she were talking about the weather.

“So what exactly is your intention then?” Autumn’s voice, by contrast, was shaky and uncertain.

When she had seen the stranger at the edge of Manehattan, there was something oddly non-threatening about the encounter; a feeling she found herself experiencing once again. Regardless, this was the pony she had been running from. The revelation that she had been followed the entire time made her uneasy and fearful.

“All will be explained, but first you must come with me,” insisted the mysterious pony, “This is a matter of great importance.”

“Yeah right! You expect us to trust you?” Indigo laughed, “Some unnamed mare wearing a creepy hood who we know nothing about except that she has been stalking us. Boy, I can’t even think–”

“My name is Sister Ambrosia.”

“–of a more trustworthy... What did you say?”

“Sister Ambrosia. That is my name,” she explained, “Before I became a member of the Order, my name was Silver Sunrise and I lived just outside Fillydelphia. Now, I live at the sanctuary with the other members of the Order of Everlasting Truth.” She then pulled off her hood revealing her soft features and letting her long white mane drape over her shoulders. “Now you know who I am.”

Autumn and Indigo were momentarily taken aback by this sudden disclosure of information.

“How do we know you’re telling the truth?” Indigo asked, a little less accusingly than before.

Sister Ambrosia laughed in a friendly way. “Let’s just say that lying is something I don’t have the capacity for.” She took a confident step in their direction. The two younger ponies were understandably confused, but they held their ground.

The unexplainable feeling that this mysterious pony could be trusted was growing in the back of Autumn’s mind. “Aren’t you the one who left that letter for me? The one who was watching me when I was at school?”

“No, but I know the ponies who did and can assure you that they are no threat either.” She took another few steps so that she was within stick-swinging range. “We are secretive, but we are not dangerous. It is true we intended to take you against your will from your home in Manehattan, but that is no longer necessary.

“When you fled the city, I was tasked with seeking you out and bringing you to the sanctuary. As it turned out, the direction you decided to travel was the direction of the sanctuary. I decided that as long as you were heading the right way on your own free will, there was no reason to reveal myself; and now here you are, right at the epicenter of our operation.” She gestured around the sunny glen, towards the stone ruins. “It seems fate has guided you towards your ultimate destiny.”

Ambrosia smiled at Autumn. Everything she said sounded sincere, and the incredibly perceptive Autumn couldn’t find a trace of dishonesty in her expression. There was still one thing that bothered her though: these were the ponies who took her father. As nice as Ambrosia seemed, kidnapping was not a forgivable crime.

“Where is my father?” she demanded.

“He is safe. If you would like to see for yourself, simply follow me and I’ll take you to to him.” Ambrosia stretched out a hoof in a gesture of friendship, still smiling warmly.

Deciding that she had little choice, Autumn hesitantly raised a hoof to meet the one patiently waiting for her.

“I’m not so sure about this,” warned Indigo, “Remember that this is the pony you’ve been running from.”

“I know,” said Autumn. Her hoof met Ambrosia’s and they shared a moment of mutual understanding. “but something tells me that we can trust her.”

“Wonderful,” Ambrosia said, somehow making her smile even friendlier, “Now I’ll take you to the sanctuary where you can see your father and we will brief you on the situation”

“I thought you said we were already there.” Indigo said.

Ambrosia laughed again. “You are in the right place, yes. But you do not expect us to conduct our business out in the open, do you? We are a secret order, after all.”

Ambrosia began walking towards the ruins at the low point of the glen, Autumn following close behind. Indigo, who was significantly more skeptical than her friend, waited where she was for a few moments before reluctantly following.

Upon reaching the largest stone, Ambrosia took a moment to analyze the carvings on its face. Once she had found what she was looking for, she placed a hoof on a triangular symbol and pressed down. To Autumn’s surprise, it gave way like a large stone button, sinking a few inches into the ruin. Then the ground began to shake. A large crack appeared where Ambrosia had placed her hoof, spreading across the length of the stone and pulling the monolith in half. Within thirty seconds, an ancient-looking doorway had created itself where there had been nothing before.

“One more thing,” said Ambrosia. She turned turned to Indigo, who had only just caught up with them. “I’m afraid only Autumn has been cleared to enter. Your friend will have to wait here.”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” Indigo said, feeling scandalized, “I’m not letting you take her anywhere without me. I don’t trust you or your creepy robed buddies.”

“We have to be strict about this,” Ambrosia insisted, “Our affairs concern only miss Breeze, and outsiders are never allowed in the sanctuary without the Grandmaster’s prior knowledge.”

“Where I go, she goes.” Autumn staunchly replied, “If you want me to follow you in there, then Indy’s coming with us.”

Ambrosia considered this and let the smile return to her face. “I suppose I have no choice then. Very well, we’ll do it your way.” She turned and walked through the entrance and down the steps just inside. “This way, please”

The stairway was dark, lit only by an occasional torch; and the steps were worn and crumbly, forcing Autumn to proceed very carefully. It wound down in spirals, making it impossible to judge how far they had to go. Indigo preferred to stay above the steps, hovering along behind the other two and interrogating Ambrosia.

“What kind of secret society is this anyway? And what do you want with Autumn? Why didn’t you just come to her openly?” she demanded.

“I suppose I should enlighten you on the Order’s mission, as I’m sure this is all very confusing for you.” Ambrosia spoke as she led the young ponies far beneath the surface. “Many centuries ago, in a small town at the edge of the Everfree Forest, lived an earth pony who made her living growing and selling apples. She was called Applejack, and was known far and wide as a shining example of honesty and integrity.

“After the great Schism, when the Princess attempted to eradicate a great deal of public information, Applejack was the first to openly denounce Celestia’s actions. She led a campaign to promote transparency about the incident, and became a figurehead for public displeasure with the Crown’s efforts to restrict freedom of knowledge.

“Unfortunately, this made her a symbolic target. She was imprisoned at Canterlot, where she eventually passed away. A devoted group of supporters pledged to carry on Applejack’s mission, working to declassify all the information the Princess had confiscated. They called themselves The Order of Everlasting Truth, and built an organizational headquarters in the valley we are now beneath.”

“You mean those ruins?” asked Autumn.

“Indeed,” Ambrosia replied solemnly, “It seems the Princess felt threatened by the Order and had it destroyed; burnt to the ground.”

“Princess Celestia did that?” Indigo asked astoundedly, “That seems hard to believe.”

“Believe what you wish, but the fact is the building was destroyed and the Order disbanded. For decades it seemed as if Celestia would be successful in her efforts to terminate common knowledge of the Schism. However, three very old ponies – the only surviving members of the original order – came together and decided that the mission must be carried on. They founded a new Order of Everlasting Truth on the ashes of their former alliance, and secretly constructed a sanctuary far below the ground. To this very day, we have followed the example of Applejack’s determination and spirit by seeking to uncover the secrets kept locked away in Canterlot. We each take an oath to never pervert the truth, and devote our lives to the causes of honesty and morality.

“Of course, we cannot make ourselves known to the Princess, lest we meet the same fate as our predecessors. So we conduct our business in secret, attracting the attention only of those who are vital to our plans.” Ambrosia finished her explanation, and allowed her two followers to ponder it in silence.

Eventually, they reached the bottom of the steps which emptied into a barren antechamber; at the other end of which was a huge oak door. Carved into the center of the door was the same symbol that Ambrosia wore on her hood, and that Autumn had found stamped on her envelope.

“So... what does all this have to do with me?” she asked, as they crossed the stone floor.

“In time, you will understand. First, however, we need to inform Elder Fallawater that you have arrived." Ambrosia knocked on the huge door with her hoof three times. The sound reverberated in the chamber for a full twenty seconds. For another twenty seconds after that, there was only silence. Finally, with a loud creaking sound the door began to open. It opened just wide enough for a purple hood to stick itself through and size up the visitors.

“Sister Ambrosia,” said the hood, “We’ve been waiting for you. Does this mean that you have–”

“Yes, she is here.” Ambrosia confirmed, “There is another too. A friend.”

The hood turned to get a look at the blue pegasus. “Well, she can’t be allowed inside. She shouldn’t even have been allowed to come this far.”

“She is of good heart, Brother Melrose,” Ambrosia insisted, “The girl refuses to enter without her, besides.”

“Hmmmm, this goes against regulation... but I suppose we can make an exception just this once.” Melrose disappeared back inside and pushed the door the rest of the way open.

Autumn was met with one of the most amazing sights she had ever seen. A massive chamber opened up in front of her, big enough to have housed a small town. It was as wide as five city streets, and stretched so far that the other end was barely visible in the distance. The room was lit by a series of magical fire pits along its length, each of which marked where a side corridor extended off of the main one. Dozens of ponies wearing purple robes moved about the chamber. Some looked as though they had important business to attend to and hurried by, many milled about in small groups. Most of them stopped what they were doing and turned to watch Autumn as she walked by. They whispered to each other and pointed hooves, making her feel very self conscious.

“You must forgive my Brothers and Sisters for their curiosity,” said Ambrosia as she led Autumn and Indigo down the long corridor, “We seldom have outsiders come into the sanctuary; especially ones as esteemed as yourself.”

Autumn didn’t get a chance to ask what Ambrosia meant by ‘esteemed', because right at that moment a huge robed stallion appeared out of one of the side corridors and called out to them.

“Sister Ambrosia! Thank goodness you’ve arrived. You must take the girl to the Grandmaster at once, Elder Fallawater has been growing impatient.”

“In time, Brother Ramsdell,” said Ambrosia, “First, I promised I would take young Autumn to see her father.”

“Very well,” said Ramsdell, eyeing Autumn nervously, “Please be quick about it Sister. I shall go inform the Elders that you have arrived.” With that, the enormous stallion took off briskly down the corridor in the opposite direction.

“Errr, so you’re all brothers and sisters then?” asked Indigo as she watched Ramsdell trot hastily away.

“Metaphorically, yes,” Ambrosia said, “We are all united in a common cause, and we work together as a family to better achieve our goals. Family ties were of great importance to Applejack. Speaking of family, we’re almost to your father’s chamber; he’s just down here.”

They turned down a side corridor and then around another corner into a significantly smaller room with wooden floors and several doors lining the walls. Behind a desk just inside sat a unicorn who was pouring over a stack of scrolls. Besides being the only unicorn that Autumn had seen since entering the sanctuary, the pony also stuck out because she was not wearing the same purple robes as the others. Instead, she wore a white lab coat and a pair of horn-rimmed spectacles.

“Can I help you?” she asked without looking up from her work.

“Yes. Autumn Breeze here would like to see her father. A mister Dusty Brown, I believe.”

The unicorn stopped what she was doing and squinted towards the newcomers. Autumn noticed that her horn had a faint glowing aura around it, as if she were engaged in some form of continuous magic.

“I see...” She adjusted her glasses and pushed the scrolls she had been studying aside. “Has she been cleared by the Elders to do so? I’ve got too much paperwork right now to be breaking regulation.”

“You let me deal with the Elders,” said Ambrosia, “I think this girl has the right to see her own father before she is assigned her task.”

The unicorn shrugged and said “Very well.” She walked over to one of the doors and with a burst of magical energy sent it swinging open. “He’s in here,” she said.

Autumn looked at Ambrosia who nodded kindly. She then looked at Indigo who gave her a cautious grimace.

Well, she thought, I’ve come this far. She walked past Ambrosia and past the unicorn into the low-ceilinged room, expecting to find her father in something reminiscent of a jail cell. That was not at all what she found.

Her father was indeed there, right in front of her; but he was in no state to greet his daughter. He was suspended in mid-air by a magical aura the same color as the one around the unicorn’s horn. He was apparently unconscious and unable to move, floating in gentle rotation like a pony-shaped celestial body.

“Wha... How... What have you done to him?” Autumn cried, “I thought you said he was safe!”

Ambrosia stepped into the room and attempted to comfort her. “Autumn please, you must remain calm. I assure you that your father is perfectly–”

“Sister Ambrosia!” Another robed pony with a raspy voice charged into the room, accompanied by the massive Ramsdell. “How dare you bring her here without consulting me! I can’t even count how many violations you’ve just committed. We’ve been waiting here for days, and the first thing you do when you get here is take the girl to a restricted area!”

“Elder Fallawater, I take full responsibility for my actions, but I see no issue with allowing the girl to see her father who she cares about deeply.” Ambrosia pleaded.

“And who in Equestria is this?” Fallawater pointed a hoof at Indigo, who had just run in to see what all the fuss was about. “We cannot tolerate protocol violations of this magnitude! The fate of our entire operation rests on the assurance that every last–!”

“Calm yourself, Fallawater. There is no harm done.” Yet another pony stepped into the now very crowded room.

She was older; clearly more experienced than most, but still young enough to have a commanding presence. Her mane was golden yellow with streaks of orange, and her coat was a pleasant hay-color. She wore the usual robes, but had no hood. Instead, a golden tassel draped around her neck, held down with a pin in the shape of the Order’s insignia. At the end of the tassel hung a golden orb. She looked around the room, analyzing the situation with a pair of strikingly familiar piercing blue eyes.

“I want everypony out of this room except Autumn and her friend. Am I clear?” she said.

“Yes, Grandmaster,” came the almost unison response. The three other ponies bowed their heads and poured out of the room as if nothing had happened, leaving Autumn and Indigo alone with Autumn’s father and the Grandmaster.

For a long while, nopony said anything. Autumn and the Grandmaster stared intensely into each others eyes. Indigo stood awkwardly to the side.

“So, I guess you’re the leader here, huh?” Indy said, when she couldn’t take the silence any longer.

There was no response. Indigo was getting the feeling that the other two knew something that she didn’t.

“Autumn, are you OK? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

“Pretty much,” Autumn replied in a daze. Without breaking eye contact, she explained to Indigo what it was that had her so shocked.

“Indy, I’d like you to meet my mother.”

* * *

Autumn took a deep breath and prepared to do it one more time. She reared back and leapt forth from the edge of her bed with all the strength she could muster. She swung her legs out in front of her, mimicking the style of professional long-jumpers, and came to a perfect landing a good four inches beyond her previous record.

“Wow!” the young filly exclaimed when she saw her new record, “I was practically flying that time!” She fetched a new piece of tape and stuck it to the carpet where she had landed, marking her success. She took a proud bow towards the Wonderbolts poster on her wall. She imagined the real ones were there watching her.

Autumn wondered to herself if they might be so impressed that they would start an Earth-Pony division for amazing feats of jumping. She would be sure to qualify for such a thing. She made a mental note to pitch the idea to that new blue pegasus filly at school. Surely as a pegasus, she would have some sort of connection to the Wonderbolts.

Autumn would have liked to run and tell her parents about her accomplishment, but she wasn’t aloud out of her room yet. Her parents were having one of their “Grown-Up Talks”, and they never let their daughter participate. Even when she would promise to be super-duper-quiet-and-just-listen-not-say-anything-at-all, they would tell her to go to her room and wait until one of them came for her.

It used to be a rare occurrence, but her parents had been having more and more grown-up talks recently – this was the second one today. Autumn didn’t understand why she couldn’t at least go outside. Even better, why couldn’t her parents go outside and leave Autumn by herself in the apartment. There were all kinds of grown-up ponies outside to have talks with, after-all.

Autumn looked out her dirty window to the streets below. She watched the ponies pass by, some pulling carts or carriages, others wearing suits with brief cases. Why is everypony always in such a hurry? she wondered. Don’t they know it’s the weekend?

Just when the boredom had started to creep its way back into her rambunctious young mind, the door opened and her father stepped inside the room. Autumn joyfully whirled around and ran to give his legs a big hug.

“Daddy! Guess what!” she said exitedly, “I jumped really far just now! Farther than I think anypony has ever jumped...” Autumn looked up and noticed something wasn’t right. Her father was usually bubbly and cheerful, but now his face was wet with tears. He looked sadly at his daughter, as if he knew something terrible was about to happen to her.

“What’s wrong daddy?” asked a legitimately concerned Autumn. She could only think of one time in her life when she had seen her father like this. “Did aunt Éclair die again?”

He solemnly shook his head and let a few more tears escape down his cheek. He walked over and sat on Autumn’s bed, gesturing for her to come sit beside him. She obliged, and rested her head on his side in an effort to comfort him.

“Do you remember when we had that talk about how sometimes ponies do things that are hard to understand?” he asked.

Autumn nodded vigorously.

“Well I’m afraid that this is one of those times,” he explained, “It’s your mother. She... she...” but he couldn’t finish his sentence and broke down in a fit of tears.

“It’s OK, Daddy. Don’t cry.” Autumn wrapped her hooves around her father and nuzzled him as sweetly as she could. “Big brave Autumn Breeze is here to protect you from all the bad things.”

Dusty hugged his daughter back and looked out the window, where he was sure his wife had already disappeared forever into the crowd.

“I know she is,” he said, “and I’m gonna need her.”

* * *

Misty Morning understood the confusion and anger she saw boiling behind her daughters eyes. She knew it couldn’t have been any different, though. The most noble causes in life require sacrifice. In the end, working towards the greater good is what’s most important.

“Autumn,” she said as gently as possible, “before you say anything, I’d just like you to know that–”

Then Autumn did something she had never done to anypony in her entire life. She slapped her own mother, right across the face.

“How dare you!” Autumn yelled, “How dare you just walk out on us, on him, as if you hadn’t a care in the world. How dare you treat us like dirt, like ponies not worth your precious time and then come charging back into our lives ten years later to screw everything up!” She took another wild swing but her mother was ready this time, ducking to avoid her hoof.

“Autumn, please!” Misty begged, “Allow me to explain myself! I never meant–”

“I don’t want to hear your excuses!” Autumn felt tears burning in the corners of her eyes, but she hadn’t the strength to hold them back. “I don’t care that you have your reasons. I don’t care that you’re involved in some crazy cult. I don’t care that you’re back now and you want my forgiveness. I! Hate! You!”

“I think I’m gonna step outside,” said Indigo, who had been attempting to shrink quietly into a corner. She moved quickly towards the door, but was stopped by Autumn’s outstretched hoof.

“You’re not going anywhere!” she said, “I want you to know. I want the whole world to know what kind of terrible parent my mother is!”

“I don’t expect you to forgive me,” Misty said calmly, somehow managing to keep away her own tears, “What I did was unfair to you and to Dusty and I am sorry, but I never thought that you’d forgive me. What I need though, is for you to listen to me. There is something bigger than our own lives at stake here. I’m not asking you to agree with me or even to like me, but I do need you to listen.”

Autumn narrowed her eyes and lowered the hoof she used to restrain Indigo. “Oh, I’ll listen,” she said, “I’ll listen because for some reason you’ve found it necessary to kidnap my father – my good parent – and trap him in some freaky magical prison cell. I’ll do whatever you want me to; because unlike some ponies, I care about my family and would never abandon him.”

“Very well,” her mother replied, “A hostile compliance is better than none at all.” She walked past Autumn and Indigo and stood facing her former husband. “I’m sure Sister Ambrosia has explained to you the mission of our order. Information is what we seek above all else, so that we may reveal it to the citizens of Equestria; as is their right. Recently, we have uncovered some important facts about the nature of the Great Schism. This has brought us tantalizingly close to unraveling the mystery as a whole; but before we were able to celebrate our imminent success, tragedy struck. A rat in our organization tipped off the Canterlot guard. They were given names, plans and possibly even the location of this very sanctuary. Every member of the order is now in jeopardy, and sending them out into the open could prove to be dangerous. Time is something we cannot afford to squander however, and this new intelligence about the Schism must be acted upon now.”

She turned around to face her daughter. “At the lowest level of the Royal Canterlot Library, far below where most ponies ever venture there is a room that is restricted from public access. It is called–”

“The Elements of Harmony room,” Autumn interjected, “I know, I’ve read about it. Apparently I’m not quite as worthless as you seem to think.”

Misty smiled and nodded. “Clever girl. Then I’m sure you know that it contains all the reliable information pertaining to the Schism, and reportedly the Princess Twilight Sparkle. As I’m sure you can imagine, getting into this room and extracting the information would be of enormous value to our cause. Thanks to the aforementioned breakthroughs, we think we may be close to finding the key to unlocking the room’s secrets. Unfortunately, it would be far too risky to send an agent right into the clutches of the Princess.

“That is where you come in. We have long waited for you to be ready to join our cause, and now it would seem the time has arrived. You are young, which means you’ll be able to avoid detection. You also lack any government record, so we know they won’t be looking for you. I am also happy to note that your heart is in the right place: you seem to desire this knowledge as much as we do. All in all, I couldn’t have wished for a more perfect candidate.”

“OK, back up,” Autumn said, “Let me get this straight. You want me, a minor, a minor who hates your guts no less, to break into the most secure room in the entire kingdom and steal some ancient information for you at the risk of being caught and banished. Just because you are my mother does not give you the right to send me on some dangerous journey that will ultimately end in failure.”

Misty sighed and tilted her head in a knowing way. “Actually, the fact that I am your mother gives me every right to send you on this particular quest.” She paced around behind Autumn, back to where she had been earlier. “Do you remember my sister? She passed away due to illness a while ago, but we used to visit her sometimes for supper.”

“Aunt Orange?” asked Autumn, “Yeah, what about her?”

“That's an old family name: Orange. We’ve been living in Manehattan for a very long time; hundreds of years, actually.” Autumn’s mother put a hoof on her daughter’s shoulder. “The Oranges were close relatives of the long forgotten Apple family, and my sister and I were it’s final descendants. You Autumn, are the youngest living blood relative of Applejack; and when I pass away, you will be the only one.”

Autumn tried to keep her angry face on. She wanted to say ‘So? I don’t care about Applejack or your mission.’ She wanted to defy her mother’s wishes, no matter how noble they might be.

Somewhere deep inside her though – the same place where she had somehow known she could trust Ambrosia – she felt a compulsion to accept the great task requested of her. She did want to know more about the Schism, and she had always wanted to travel to the great mountaintop capital of Equestria. It was this strange urge that kept her from spitting in her mother’s face and walking out.

“It was fate that brought you to this point, my daughter,” Misty insisted, “The success of everything that I and this whole organization have worked for hinges on you fulfilling your destiny.”

“Tsch," Autumn rolled her eyes, "I don’t believe in destiny. And may I remind you that you have still failed to tell me what you’ve done to my father.”

“Let’s just say, we’re using him as insurance,” her mother explained, “We can’t afford to risk your non-compliance.”

This made Autumn genuinely angry. “So you’re holding him hostage?” she growled.

“Not at all. He is perfectly safe; actually safer than either of us. He is under a spell called Ignarosia. It keeps him perfectly preserved; suspended in space and time for as long as the spell is in effect. If necessary, he could be kept like this for hundreds of years without aging a day – as long as there’s a unicorn nearby to maintain the magical energy. When the spell is broken he will wake up feeling like only a fraction of a second has passed since we put him under.”

“So I assume you’re not going to let him go until I get you what you want?” Autumn morosely deduced.

“I assure you I have no intention of hurting him,” Misty said.

“You’ve already hurt him,” Autumn said darkly. She pushed past her mother towards the closed wooden door. When she reached it, she turned around and made the most important decision of her life. “I’m going to accept your request. I’ll get into the Element’s of Harmony room and bring you the information you want.”

“My dear,” said her mother as a broad smile stretched across her face, “I’m so happy that–”

“But let me get one thing straight. I’m not doing this because of destiny and I’m certainly not doing it for you. I’m doing this for me, and for my dad.”

Her mother sighed and said, “You are entitled to your own opinions, although time may change your judgment of destiny.”

“Yeah, whatever. Let’s go Indy”

“Before you leave, there is one more thing you need to know.” Misty urged. She removed the tassel from her neck and placed it around her daughter’s. Autumn noticed one small tear in the corner of her eye as she was doing this. “Inside the locket at the end of this tassel is an old family heirloom. According to our recent discoveries, you may need it to complete your quest. There are others like it, but we are unsure of their whereabouts. You will need to find them too, before proceeding on to Canterlot.”

“Whoa, you didn’t say this was going to be a two part adventure!” Autumn protested, “How many of these things do we need?”

“I do not believe there are more than three, but I’ve been wrong before,” her mother confessed, “We shall assist you in preparation for your journey, but our guidance will be minimal once you depart. We’ve taken an enormous risk brining you here as it is.” Once again, she put a hoof on her daughter’s shoulder. “I have faith in you, Autumn. I am sure you are destined for greatness, whether or not you have come to realize it yet.”

Autumn pushed her mother’s hoof away and turned to leave. “Like you said: you’ve been wrong before.”

* * *

“But... but Misty, I don’t understand. Why is this happening so suddenly?”

“Dusty, you knew there was a risk. I told you when you asked me to marry you that I was involved with some very shadowy ponies. I have no choice.” Misty continued to pack her bag, refusing to look into her husbands teary eyes.

“Is this because of me?” he asked, “Did I do something wrong? I can change, I swear.”

“Please don’t make this any harder than it has to be.” She closed and locked her travel case, throwing it over her back and walking towards the door where Dusty stood uneasily. “I love you and I always will, but there are things more important than you and I.” She kissed him on the cheek, and continued hastily towards the exit.

“What about Autumn?” Dusty asked.

Misty stopped in her tracks.

“What about your daughter? How do you expect her to deal with this? She’s not going to understand why you’ve decided to abandon her; I barely understand it.”

Misty looked towards the door to her daughter’s room, where she knew the young filly was waiting to be let back out. She didn’t say anything, but the thought of leaving her own child without so much as a “good-bye” clearly troubled her.

“She’s never going to trust you again,” said Dusty, whose face was now wet with tears, “No matter how sympathetic or apologetic you are; if you leave now, you will forever lose the respect and may even lose the love of your own daughter. The least you could do is go in there and tell her exactly what’s going on and why you may never see her again.”

Misty stood for a few moments in painful contemplation before replying.

“I can’t do that, Dusty,” she said, “I can’t do that, because if I go in there and see her face one more time I would never be able to leave. Destiny has called me away, but I’m certain it will bring Autumn back to me one day. Goodbye, Dusty; and good luck.”

Misty headed out the door, down the stairs, and out onto the street outside. As 8C disappeared in the jungle of ponies and buildings behind her, she restrained her emotions as best she could. The motherly part of her mind screamed at her to turn around, but she knew it couldn’t be so. Sometimes you have to make hard choices, and in the end the greater good is what matters most. Misty had an important task ahead of her, and she couldn’t afford to let petty emotions cloud her decisions. She had to keep telling herself that this wasn’t something she would regret.

Ten years later, after seeing her daughter again for the first time, Misty Morning sat alone in a dark room and cried.

* * *

Indigo quietly watched as Autumn rooted through the supply chest, haphazardly throwing various objects to the side. It had been over an hour, but she was clearly still very angry. For as long as she had known Autumn, Indigo had never seen her friend as upset as she was now.

Not that her emotions weren’t understandable. A psychological blow like that would have made anypony flip out. Indigo was worried though, because Autumn had always been able to keep her temper in check in the past, which is what allowed her to be so clever and capable. She was afraid that being so upset might cause her to make bad decisions; for instance, agreeing to commit treason.

As much as Indigo would have liked to argue this point out loud, she was also afraid of what Autumn might do to her. She figured it was best to let her friend cool down before trying to change her mind.

Autumn on the other hoof, could only think about one thing: how much she hated her mother right now. The Order of Everlasting Truth as a whole she could understand and had even come to appreciate, but Misty Morning was a different story.

The day she left, Autumn’s mother sucked all the happiness out of life at 8C. What’s worse is that she seemed to have done it for no reason, and with no warning. Now here she was, about to embark on a dangerous journey all thanks to the mare she had grown to despise. Her sweet words and noble causes didn’t fool Autumn, Misty Morning was a demon who breaks hearts and holds loved ones hostage.

She pulled out a silver saddle bag and threw it in the “keep” pile. Along with it there were a couple of canteens, a box of fire starters, a cooking set with silverware, a second bed roll, a hiking tent, a traveling cloak, a telescope, an assortment of trail food, and a sheathed dagger. The dagger Autumn had picked out mostly because she was still thinking about what she wanted to do to her mother, but it had its practical uses as well.

“This stuff isn’t very helpful,” said Autumn grumpily.

Ambrosia, who had just returned to the supply room, shrugged and said, “Material possessions are unimportant to us. We seek knowledge, not things. This is all I have to offer you, so I’m afraid it will have to do.” Her face lit up when she saw the small pile Autumn had made. “I see you’ve chosen the Chalybus Pouch; a wise decision.”

“Why? It just looks like a regular saddlebag to me,” said Autumn.

Ambrosia chuckled. “That bag is far from regular. It is made of refined Chalybus, one of the strongest substances known to ponykind. It is nearly invincible, incredibly light, and has certain magic-resistant qualities. It should be very useful to you on the long journey ahead. Ah, that reminds me...” She pulled a folded parchment out from beneath her robe and laid it flat on the floor so the others could see it.

“Another map?” Indigo asked, looking quizzically at the tattered paper.

Ambrosia nodded. “I understand you will be searching for several ancient items in addition to your primary quest.”

“Yeah...” Autumn grumbled. She pulled the tassel from her neck and threw it to the pile with the other things.

“Well in my opinion, the best place to start your search would be where the one you already have came from. This map is from my personal collection. It is over five-hundred years old, so please be gentle with it.” She pointed to a small black dot nestled between Canterlot Mountain and the Everfree forest. “This is where Applejack called home, and where you should begin your quest for the items you seek.”

Indigo squinted to read the faded label. “Ponyville? Why have I never heard of that place before?”

“For whatever reason, the town spiraled into obscurity after Applejack was taken away. There may still be a small settlement there, but nothing significant enough to make it onto any modern maps.” Ambrosia folded the map back up and placed it carefully next to the Chalybus bag. She then began packing everything Autumn had chosen neatly inside.

“I see that you are upset,” she said, “and although I may not know exactly why that is, I implore that you put emotions aside in order see the larger meaning behind all this. You have been chosen by fate to liberate Equestria from the bonds of intellectual oppression. That is an honor greater than most other ponies – including myself – could ever hope to achieve.”

“You all speak so often of ‘fate’ and ‘destiny.’ Isn’t that kind of irrational?” Autumn asked, “I mean, I would have thought that a society of truth and knowledge would stick to cold hard facts.”

“I think you will find that there is much in our world that does not conform to what is ‘rational’.” Ambrosia finished packing Autumn’s bag and lifted it onto the young pony’s back for her. “You are strong, Autumn Breeze; and the blood of strong-willed ponies run deep in your veins. Whether or not you believe in destiny, I am certain you have what it takes to put an end to our suffering.”

Sister Ambrosia looked into Autumn’s eyes with a maternal warmth that the young mare had lived without for so long. Autumn had the sudden urge to embrace her, but was prevented from doing so by the appearance Brother Ramsdell.

“Excuse me Sister, but Elder Fallawater is displeased with the amount of time the outsiders have spent within the sanctuary, particularly that one.” He nodded at Indigo. She scoffed and crossed her hooves, although she was admittedly feeling a bit out of place.

“You could fill many books with things Elder Fallawater is displeased with,” Ambrosia said, “but I’m afraid he’s right. As far as we know, our location may be compromised; so you’ll be safer once you’ve left.”

“I’ve also been instructed by the Grandmaster to return these you you.” Ramsdell pulled out a small pouch full of bits and a short stack of papers from beneath his robe and dropped them in front of Autumn.

Autumn lowered her head to get a better look at the items she had just been presented with. “My essay?” she said, “You... read my essay?”

“Of course,” Ramsdell confirmed, “Almost all of us have. It is what let us know that you were mentally qualified to handle the burden of this quest. I must say, it really is an inspirational piece; you should be proud of yourself. When Brother Harshwhinny told us of your fixation with the truth behind the Schism, we knew that you were ready.”

“Did... did you say Brother Harshwhinny? He’s one of you!?”

“Our Manehattan contact, yes. A rather stuffy fellow; refused to change his name when he joined. Very proud, but principled, and that’s what counts around here.”

“Well... I don’t want it,” Autumn said, “I’m not sure I could fit it in my bag anyway.” This was truthful, as her silver saddlebag was already overfull with supplies.

“If you don’t mind, I’ll take it,” Ambrosia said, “I can probably think of a good use for it.”

“The money is actually for the blue one,” Ramsdell explained, “In return for the faux payment I took from her back in Manehattan.”

Indigo looked surprised to suddenly be involved in the conversation. “Payment? What kind of–? Oh!” She slapped a hoof to her head. “I knew you looked familiar! You were the guard outside the shop who I made the report to. Horseapples, you guys are good...”

“Come,” said Ramsdell, “it is time for you to depart.”

The four ponies walked back through the entrance hall; past the hooded ponies who pointed and whispered; past the fires which burned bright enough to light the massive sanctuary; past Brother Melrose who kept watch at the huge wooden entrance doors; up and up the hundreds of stairs; until finally they found themselves standing in the gentle afternoon sun. A soft breeze drifted through the glen, and the clear blue sky was like something out of a landscape painting. It was the perfect day for a picnic or a walk in the park; not so much for embarking on a life-changing journey.

Autumn looked west, towards the distant Foal Mountains that stood between her and her ultimate destination. Along the way there were forests, gorges, rivers, and dangerous beasts that most ponies had only ever heard of.

“I can’t believe I’m about to do this,” said Autumn “I must be insane.”

Ambrosia smiled reassuringly and said, “Remember you are not alone, young Autumn. You have myself and the entire Order behind you, not to mention the support of your devoted friend. We believe in you, and you should believe in yourself.”

Autumn tried to give Ambrosia the thank you that she deserved. She had done so much for Autumn, and had been nicer and more patient with her than any other pony she had met that day.

“Ambrosia, I... you’ve been so...” but the words wouldn’t come out.

Sister Ambrosia held up a hoof and shook her head. “There is no need,” she said, “I have only done what was necessary. Soon we will all be in your debt.”

“Ahem.” Ramsdell tilted his head towards the sun, which was getting low in the sky. “Time is of the essence, Sister.”

“Off you go then,” Ambrosia said, “you don’t want to get caught in the dark without having set up camp.”

Autumn and Indigo walked westward, towards the setting sun and the shadowy tree line. They were silent, both in deep contemplation of the challenges they would soon come to face. The weight of their task finally began to sink in on their conscience.

Autumn turned around to see if Ambrosia and Ramsdell were still watching them, but the hooded ponies had vanished. The ancient ruins looked as though nopony had stood among them in centuries. She supposed that was how it was intended to be.

The duo trudged into the trees and out of sight of the glen, searching for a hidden flat space to set up for the approaching nighttime. Indigo was the first to say something, roughly summing up her feelings about the days events. “Well that was weird,” she said, “Are you sure you can trust those ponies, Autumn?”

Autumn had been wondering the same thing herself. “No... but what choice do I have? They have my father. Besides, Ambrosia seems alright,” she said, as she carefully stepped over a fallen tree.

Indigo simply hovered above the ground, avoiding the rough terrain. “Yeah, but they are a secret society, which means they’re good at hiding things. Personally, there are still a few questions I’d like to know the answer to,” she said, “Like how have they kept this huge operation secret for so long? And since when does Celestia imprison ponies for life and burn down sanctuaries?”

“And what does ‘Lærmuu Nefdiså oumn’ mean?” Autumn added.

“What now?”

“It was written at the bottom of the note left in my room. I didn’t think to ask anypony in at the sanctuary, but it seems odd to me. I’m almost certain that it’s Ancient Equestrian.”

“What’s so strange about that?” Indigo asked, “It’s an ancient order, isn’t it?”

“Yes, but not that ancient.” Autumn explained, “That language has been dead since before Celestia arrived. I’m pretty sure ‘Lærmuu’ means ‘chosen’, but that’s as much as I can decipher.”

“Huh,” said Indigo, “Well, maybe we’ll figure out along the way.”

Autumn stopped and lowered her head. Indigo noticed her friends sudden change in disposition and landed next to her to see what was wrong.

“What’s up?” she asked.

“Look, Indigo,” Autumn began, “This is all happening really fast and this journey I’m about to go on is probably going to be very dangerous and could very well end in failure. I just want you to know that you have no obligation to take that risk, and you can go home right now if you want to. The last thing I want to do is endanger a friend.”

Indigo chuckled and punched Autumn on the shoulder in the way she was so accustomed to. “What kinda friend would that make me?” she said with a toothy smile, “I said I’d help you through this mess; and so far as I can tell, you're not through it yet.”

It was moments like this that reminded Autumn why Indy was her best friend. Through thin and thick, she’d always be there to support her. “I couldn’t ask for a better friend than you,” she said.

“You’re darn right, you couldn’t.” Indigo stood straight like a regal pony might, and gave a deep bow. “Indigo Cavallino is a pony of her word, and she will help you rescue your father no matter how many rooms we have to sneak into or mysterious ancient items we have to track down.”

“Oh right,” Autumn realized, “I forgot about finding those things.”

“What are they again?” Indy asked, straitening herself up, “little golden orbs?”

“I think it’s what’s inside the orb that we’re supposed to be looking for.” Autumn pulled off her saddle bag and set it on the ground. She began rooting around inside for the tassel her mother had given her. “I was so upset when she gave it to me that I guess I forgot to see what it actually was.” she said.

Finally, she pulled the small golden locket out of the bag and held it up to get a closer look. It had a latch and a hinge, indicating it could be opened. Her mother had said it was a family heirloom. Autumn wondered what kind of family heirloom could help her get into the Elements of Harmony room.

“Well, lets find out.” She undid the latch and let the locket fall open, dropping it’s contents onto her hoof. The two ponies stared in silence at the item, perplexed by its alleged importance.

It was a small orange gem in the shape of an apple.

* * *

Far to the southwest, beyond the Foal Mountain Range and at a considerably higher altitude, Princess Celestia prepared to lower the sun for the night. She adjusted her crown and ran one last check of the daily to-do list, making sure everything was in order.

She took a deep breath, and just as her horn was beginning to glow with the alicorn’s powerful aura of magic– POP! A scroll materialized in front of her and fell to the ground.

Celestia sighed and put her evening duty on hold. She levitated the scroll to where she could read it and undid the string that kept it rolled tight.

The Order has changed tactics. The Grandmaster has sent her daughter, Autumn Breeze, and one of her companions to retrieve the Elements and infiltrate the archives. They are in possession of one of the six already; the one the Grandmaster has been hiding. They are headed in the direction of Everfree Forest, most likely via the southern route around the Foal Mountains. They should be easily apprehended upon your command, but the daughter is clever so precautions will have to be taken.

I await your orders with eagerness my liege, as always ready to serve.

–S

When she had finished reading, Celestia incinerated the scroll in a burst of magical flame. She closed her eyes and tilted her head back, using her magic adjust her crown once again.

“Leave it up to the Apple family to be too stubborn for their own good,” she said to herself.

Celestia walked over to her palace window. Canterlot was perched on the western face of the mountain, so she could not see east to where Autumn and Indigo were at that moment setting up camp for the night; but she could see south to the Everfree Forest, where she knew they were going.

“Misty, someday you are going to have to learn that there are some secrets which cannot be revealed by anyone.” Celestia looked towards a distant clearing at the edge of the forest, the same clearing where the town of Ponyville once stood. “Not even myself.”

A World Without Laughter

3

A World Without Laughter

It had been almost an hour, and there was still no response. I paced the room nervously. My long list of daily responsibilities would have to wait. I knew I would not be able to concentrate without conformation that she had received my letter.

I walked over to the window for the hundredth time and picked out the little town of Ponyville in the distance. It sat peacefully nestled at the edge of Everfree, as serene as ever. The hours I had spent staring out that window watching over the small town through the years would have driven anypony else mad. My constant visits were more than simply out of necessity. I had grown an inexplicable affection towards Ponyville and its humble inhabitants; by this point I was constantly worrying over their safety. I couldn’t let anypony know that though – a Princess must avoid showing favoritism among her subjects.

Finally, I heard the delightfully familiar noise I had been waiting for. I turned around just in time to see a magical stream of energy materialize into a scroll bound with a red ribbon. I eagerly opened the letter, overjoyed to have received her reply to such an important matter. It read:

Dear Princess Celestia,

In response to your previous inquiry concerning my attendance at a royal summit held in Canterlot on the tenth day of Spring this year, I assure you my answer is: of course I’ll be there! I would not be fulfilling my newly appointed duties as a Princess if I chose not to participate in important royal events such as this. I fully understand that due to the confidential nature of the summit, you are unable to discuss it in detail before I arrive. I am very excited to take part in such a significant occasion, and will try my best to do my part along with you and the other Princesses.

I await our next meeting with much enthusiasm. As always, your guidance is greatly appreciated.

Your Faithful Student,

Twilight Sparkle

I breathed a heavy sigh of relief, and put the scroll down on my desk. It wasn’t that I had thought she would refuse; I was merely anxious whenever matters involving the great prophecy were at stake. I had every bit of faith in her. Twilight had never failed to exceed my expectations, both as a student and a Princess. At least not yet.

I had been waiting millennia for this, and now it seemed I was on the brink of success! There was no time to celebrate though. I had duties to attend to.

I took my list and made for the door, only to find it blocked by none other than my sister.

“Luna!” I said, “What are you doing here?”

“I should ask you the same,” she replied, “The Prime Minister is becoming worried. Why have you not yet come down?”

“Wonderful news, Luna! Twilight has confirmed her presence at the ascension summit. She will finally be able to fulfill her destiny!” I was genuinely excited. Luna may have passed the prophecy off from time to time, but I felt it was my duty to ensure it’s fulfillment.

“In a few weeks time, all our troubles will be over!” I said happily, “Say, shouldn’t you be in bed? It’s nearly the middle of the day.”

Luna walked to the window and cast her eyes towards Ponyville in the same manner as I had done earlier. To my surprise, her expression seemed contemplative rather than relieved.

“I find myself awake through many a day, recently,” she said, “Sister, I have... doubts about your intentions for Twilight.”

“What do you mean?” I asked, possibly a bit too accusingly.

“I’ve told you before that all this feels rushed. How can we be sure she is the one?”

“Luna, I am surprised at you,” I was beginning to get annoyed, “I have been watching Twilight Sparkle since she was a filly. I have carefully considered her every aspect, ensuring she was on the correct path. I made the decision to crown her Princess only when I was absolutely certain that she was capable.” I condescendingly turned my head and reminded her, “You of all ponies should know that her abilities and strength of heart are not to be opposed.”

Luna never took allusions to her dark past well, but she managed to brush this one off with little more than a grimace. “Even so, this is an enormous decision that I fear you are overconfident young miss Sparkle will agree to.”

“Nonsense!” I declared, “Sister, you must learn to have faith. Haven’t I been right about her so far?”

“Perhaps...” Luna walked right up to me and looked deeply into my eyes. “I do not feel good about this, Celestia. I have an overwhelming sense that there is danger ahead. Please, at least give us more time to assess the situation.”

I scoffed. “Well, I have no such feeling, and I’m afraid my intuition overrules yours.” I turned and promptly swept out the door, leaving Luna behind.

As I performed my usual tasks that day, I wondered whether I had been too harsh on my sister. She was only concerned for the Kingdom, after all. I decided to apologize to her that evening, and attempt to ease her fears in a more sensitive manner.

I would not, however, change my position on the necessity of the ascension summit. I was as sure that Twilight Sparkle was the destined bearer of the Elements of Harmony as I had ever been of anything. The longer she remained in her present state, the more risk I took.

All that remained now was for her to make the choice. Luna was correct when she said it was an important choice, but for Twilight it should also be an easy one. I knew she would not let me down.

* * *

Autumn Breeze’s brow furrowed in concentration. She scoured the old map, looking closely for the best route through the looming Foal Mountains.

Ever since leaving the sanctuary, the question of how to get through the sizable obstacle had been ebbing in the back of her mind; especially during the last two days of travel, as the terrain had became steep and rocky. Now she found herself at the base of an enormous un-scaleable mountain with absolutely no idea of how to get past.

Indigo, who was leaning cooly against a nearby tree, tapped her hoof impatiently. It was the bane of every pegasus’ existence having to spend time figuring out how to get non-flyers over tall obstacles. Indigo was particularly unsettled because this was the first real problem the duo had run into in days. The food and supplies they had taken from the Order of Eternal Truth had been holding up marvelously. The forest was still relatively thin, and they hadn’t seen any parasprites or timberwolves. Even the weather had been kind to them, enough so that Indigo chose to sleep outside the tent almost every night. She was having a good time with her best friend, dire circumstances or not.

For a moment, Autumn’s face lit up and her mouth opened as if she had found what she was looking for. It turned out to be nothing though, and she fell back into her contemplative trance.

Autumn cursed herself for not having planned this earlier. There had been so much time in the days since their quest had begun. Instead, they had talked and laughed and discussed the strange gem her mother had given her. She had discarded the tassel and locket, and designated a small inner pocket of her bag to hold the apple-shaped jewel. She wasn’t sure how such a thing could be helpful, or how they were expected to find more of them given all of Equestria to search; but for the time being, Autumn figured her best move was to play along.

“Indigo, would you do me a favor and fly up to see if there’s an open space or a stream or anyplace nearby where I can orient myself a little easier?” she asked, not looking up from the tattered old parchment.

Indigo sighed and silently obliged. She flew up slowly past the leafy branches and through the canopy. Upon reaching the surface, she was washed over with bright rays of sunlight and momentarily had to shield her eyes. It was beautiful above the trees. The sky was blue and the leaves on the treetops were in the throws of Spring: thick and green with the occasional flower blooming in the sunshine. She took a moment to enjoy the scenery, wishing Autumn could be up there with her. She would never say it out loud, but sometimes Indigo really wished her friend had wings.

The truth was, Autumn secretly wished that too, though she had long ago dismissed it as a childish fantasy. These days, she rarely thought about it. That particular day, however, she was feeling a bit guilty about holding her friend back. This made her all the more determined to find a quick route through the mountains. She scanned the region on her map, but could only find seasonal passes which were all still closed.

Meanwhile, Indigo had failed to find a clearing, but she did see something else in the distance that took her interest. Smoke appeared to be rising above the trees a few miles to the South. She flew higher to get a better look.

“Hey Autumn!” called Indigo, “I think I see a town over there.”

“What?” Autumn confusedly looked around the map for a town she might have missed. “How could there be a town? There’s no town on this map,” she said.

“Yeah, that’s probably because it was built sometime in the last five centuries,” Indigo remarked. She swooped back down through the leaves and landed next to Autumn. “That map is too old. You could at least have held on to our first map.”

“It wouldn’t fit in the bag!” Autumn protested.

“Right, well I say we head in that direction; maybe get some advice or something,” said Indigo.

“Oh, no. You heard what Ambrosia said. We have to lay low, not draw any attention to ourselves. Walking right into the middle of a strange town is definitely a bad idea.”

“So, we’re stuck here then."

“Well, there is one way...” Autumn had been avoiding bringing this up because it was a rather lengthy extension of an already long trip. “If we turn south and go through the lowland part of the range it should be easy traveling, but that would mean going dozens of miles out of our way...”

Indigo thought about it for a moment. “And that's the only way to get to the Everfree Forest on the other side?” she asked.

“I’m afraid so,” confirmed Autumn, “at least until Summer.”

“Alright, let's do it.” Indigo agreed much quicker than Autumn had expected. She turned south and began to walk casually towards the distant foothills of the Foal Mountains, unfazed by the addition of a solid week to their travel time.

Autumn folded up her map and ran to catch up with her. “Are you sure you’re OK with this?” she asked, “I mean, I know if it was up to you you’d just... you know, fly.”

Indigo grinned and nudged her friend as they walked side by side. “I’m having a great time with you out here. Another week or so just means more quality time spent with my best friend.” She stopped and put a hoof around the orange-maned earth pony. “We’re in this together, Autumn; and nothing or no one will ever come between us.”

Autumn smiled and put a hoof of her own around Indigo. She felt lucky to have such a wonderful friend. “Nothing or no one will ever come between us,” she repeated.

Right at that moment, the something or someone that would eventually come between them came crashing through the undergrowth. It slammed into Autumn and sent her tumbling across the grass. She rolled for a good six meters before she was able to stop herself.

Autumn shook her head and blinked a few times trying to restore her blurry vision. There was something warm and heavy sprawled across her back. She turned to get a look at it, and was only further confused by what she saw.

It was a pony. A young unicorn stallion with a mint green coat and sky-blue mane. He couldn’t have been much older than her. His expression and demeanor made it clear that he was frightened. He jumped up and looked around frantically before grabbing Autumn and shouting “Hide Me!” into her face.

“Wha–?”

“No time to explain! You have to hide me now!”

“Who in Equestria are you?” demanded Indigo, prying the stranger away from her friend.

Suddenly, there came a terrifying roar from just outside the thicket. Something very angry was headed right towards them.

“I’m someone who is going to be in a lot of trouble if you don’t help me out!”

Another roar, closer this time. It sounded like it may have been actual language, but impossible to understand.

Autumn and Indigo looked at each other. Where were they supposed to hide this guy? Thinking quickly, Autumn threw her bag down on the ground and pulled out the traveling cloak she had taken from the sanctuary.

“Huddle down next to my bag, and Don’t Move,” she instructed the newcomer. He obeyed without asking questions, and curled up as small as he could make himself beside the silver saddlebag. Autumn threw the cloak over the bag and the pony, creating a lumpy pile that might be able to pass as supplies.

Just in time, too. As soon as the cloak had settled, the bushes ripped open and a great snarling minotaur barreled into the clearing. Whatever this pony had done, it had made the massive beast dangerously angry. His face was red with rage and steam was visibly pouring from his nostrils.

“Aha!” he boomed upon seeing Autumn, “I’ve got you– oh... you are not the green demon.” He looked around at Autumn and Indigo, and then at the lumpy cloak, and then back at Autumn. “Have either of you seen a scheming conniving green unicorn of your species come through here?”

“Unicorns? Nope, no unicorns here. Just us two. Sorry.” Indigo wasn’t very good at lying.

The minotaur eyed her suspiciously and then turned his attention back to the lump lying at Autumn’s hooves. His eyes narrowed.

“What’s under there?” he asked, slowly reaching to lift up the cloak.

Autumn was quick on her hooves. “Oh, you know, girl stuff.”

The minotaur quickly retracted his hand as if had been told the cloak concealed a nest of scorpions. “Right. Of Course,” he said, a little flustered, “Well, if you do see him please skin him alive for me, and then get my 20 bits back.”

With that, the minotaur stormed out of sight in the direction opposite he had came. Autumn and Indigo waited for his heavy hoofsteps to completely fade away before breathing a mutual sigh of relief.

“He’s gone. You can come out now,” said Autumn.

“Oh thank goodness,” gasped the unicorn, collapsing out from under the cloak, “and thank you.” He stood up to give Autumn a respectful bow. “I am sure I would not have been able to escape the wrath of that sore loser on my own.”

“Hold on,” Indigo stepped in between the two, “What did he want with you anyway?”

“Well,” the unicorn began, “let’s just say I won some money from him in a game of chance, and he took it a little too hard.”

“He went on a rampage with the intention of skinning you alive because he lost a game?” Autumn asked.

“There may have been a tiny bit of deception on my part...”

“So you gambled with him–”

“That’s correct.”

“–and you cheated.”

“I prefer the term ‘fixed the odds.’” He casually brushed some dirt from his coat. “I just used a little magic to ensure things went the way I wanted. He wouldn’t even have noticed if I hadn’t gotten excited and lit the dice on fire.”

“You used magic to cheat?” Indigo scoffed, “Typical unicorn.”

“And who are you to judge me?” he retorted.

“Alright, alright, everypony just settle down.” Autumn needed to defuse the situation, knowing Indigo was prone to rash decisions when her temper rose. “Let’s just start over. My name is Autumn Breeze, and this is my friend Indigo Cavallino.”

Indigo humphed and gave the unicorn an “I don’t trust you” look.

“Why don’t you tell us your name?”

“My name,” said the unicorn, standing a little straighter, “is Viridian Skyshimmer Seaheart the Third.”

Indigo snickered. The unicorn gave her a dismissive look and then continued. “Most ponies just call me Sky.”

“Fair enough,” said Autumn. “So Sky, now that we’ve helped you with something, perhaps you could help us. Do you live around here?”

“Well, yeah,” said Sky, “just in town...”

“Perfect.” Autumn gestured to the mountains on her right. “So could you tell us if there’s a way through these mountains? A faster route than going around them?”

“Sure,” he said, “you just need to take the Cattle Road Pass.”

“Cattle Road Pass...” Autumn flipped open her map. “Why can’t I find that anywhere?”

“Once again, may I point out that map is five-hundred years out of date!” Indigo exclaimed, “It is not a reliable source of information.”

“Whoa, five-hundred years?” said Sky, “Where did you get that thing? It must be worth a fortune.” He then noticed the overstuffed bag of supplies and food he had been huddled against. “Say, what’re you guys doing out here anyway? And why do you need to get through the mountains?”

“That’s none of your beeswax, horn-boy!” Indigo declared.

“Watch it, feather-brain.”

“Both of you, pleases stop! Look, Sky, our reasons are our own and we would greatly appreciate it if you would respect our privacy.” Autumn stuffed the map back into her bag and closed it up. “However, we really need to get to this Cattle Road Pass. If you show us the way, then we can call ourselves even.”

After a moment of thought, Sky shrugged and said “Works for me.” He turned to the South and began to stroll through the trees. “The road runs right through town, it’s only about a twenty-minute walk from here.”

Autumn grabbed her bag and hurried after him, overjoyed to have found a way through the mountains.

A dumbstruck Indigo stayed where she was and called out “Don’t I get a say in this?” but Autumn had already caught up to Sky. She began chatting with him, probably jeopardizing their delicate situation. Indigo didn't get it: not five minutes ago, Autumn had refused to go into town on the grounds that it might be dangerous. Now she was trusting a complete stranger, an admitted swindler no less, with such information as their names and their direction of travel. Begrudgingly, Indigo trudged after them. She would be sure to keep a close eye on this pony.

Up ahead, Autumn was taking advantage of the opportunity to get as much advice from Sky as she could without giving away their ultimate objective.

“So this pass,” she began, “is it new to the area? How well traveled is it?”

“If three centuries old is your idea of ‘new’. After the population boom, Hidden Springs needed more resources or workers or something like that. Anyway, the road began as a trade route between Hidden Springs and Dodge City; a road that ranchers from the south could drive their cattle along – hence the name. Nowadays it’s mostly used by wealthy Baltimarians who own summer houses in town.” Sky kicked a small rock out of his way. “I’m sorry to say that I fit that demographic.”

“So where are these hidden springs?” Autumn asked.

Sky gave her a look. “That’s the name of the town: Hidden Springs. You’re not from around here are you?”

“Well, I didn’t used to get out much.”

“Say... you guys aren’t up to anything illegal are you? I mean like really illegal?”

Autumn shifted uncomfortably. “No...” she said, “but like you, it would be best if we weren’t found by those who are looking for us.”

Sky’s expression suddenly perked up. “Does that mean you’re runaways?”

“Not exactly, no.”

Sky slumped back down as if this information had saddened him.

“What about you?” Autumn asked, “What are you doing out here in the woods gambling with minotaurs?”

Now it was Sky’s turn to be uncomfortable. “We had to come up early this year so my mom could do her work at the Magical Development and Research Center, and so I got pulled out of secondary school. I don’t know a lot of ponies in town my age, and those that I do know are either in school themselves or not here yet. So I guess I find interesting ways to pass the time.”

“Your mother is a scientist?”

“Yeah, she’s working on some big project with Ignorosia. I don't really understand it, but apparently this is the best place to–”

“What did you just say?!” Autumn froze in her tracks. “What is your mother researching?”

“Ignorosia,” repeated Sky, “You probably haven’t heard of it. It’s an obscure spell that–”

“Indigo!” Autumn cried out with excitement and bounded back to her friend who was still skulking a good distance behind them. “You won’t believe how lucky we are!”

* * *

“OK, here we are. I still don’t understand exactly what you’re planning to do here.” Sky pressed the call button outside the door to Research Block E. “I thought you needed to get through the mountains.”

Luckily, Autumn had an excuse ready. “I’ve always been fascinated with magical theory, and when I heard your mother worked here I just had to get an insider’s tour.”

“Alright, but prepare to be underwhelmed; it’s just a boring lab and some science stuff.” He hit the call button again, holding it down for longer this time. “C’mon. They’re always so slow with the doors.”

It had been surprisingly easy getting three underage ponies into the facility. The receptionist had barely bothered to lower his newspaper when the trio entered; and upon a few words from Sky, he had simply pointed them in the right direction and gone back to his tabloids. Besides that, Autumn hadn’t seen a single security guard the entire visit. Apparently, there wasn’t much worth stealing in the Hidden Springs Magical Development and Research Center.

The building itself resembled a hospital, but a little cleaner. To get to Research Block E, they had walked down several long white corridors lined with doors and side hallways. It reminded Autumn of the Order of Everlasting Truth's Sanctuary, but much smaller and less dramatic. Most of the doors led to conference rooms and offices, but every once in a while they’d pass a large yellow and black sign that read “Research Block A: Magical Herbs and Remedies” or “Research Block C: Transmogrification and Amniomorphic Spells”. Occasionally a pony would hurry past wearing a lab coat or business attire, but for the most part the place felt deserted.

After about five minutes they had come to another sign that read “Research Block E: Ignorosia,” and it was here that Sky frustratedly jabbed the call button while Indigo whispered a question into Autumn’s ear.

“What are we doing here? You don’t expect them to actually help us, do you?”

“They don’t have to,” Autumn explained, “I just need to know if there’s a way to free my father from the spell. If so, we may not have to risk our lives after all.”

The door suddenly made a lurching noise and flung open.

“Finally!” Sky exclaimed, “She’s in here. Try not to touch anything, they yell at you if you do that.”

Autumn stepped inside and looked around. It was a surprisingly simple setup. A few long metal tables littered with research equipment and scrolls stretched the length of the room, cabinets containing test tubes and beakers lined the walls, an emergency eye wash station below a blocky graphic of a pony cleaning a chemical burn sat in the corner, and a large vault-like metal door dominated one wall. There were three ponies inside, all of whom were wearing lab coats and doing something that looked important. Only one of the three was a mare, which meant she must be Sky’s mother.

Mrs. Seaheart was a steel-grey unicorn with a nearly black mane that had hints of blue in it. Her cutie mark was a boiling beaker; easily visible because she wore her lab coat just a little shorter than the others, as if to show off how appropriate her special talent was. She sat hunched over a few scrolls, carefully working out an equation on scrap parchment. Autumn noticed the same faint aura of magic around her horn as the unicorn from the Sanctuary.

“Hey mom,” called Sky, “I have some friends who want to meet you.”

Sky’s mother looked up from what she was doing. “Viridian!” she said, surprised to see her son at her place of work, “I thought you were doing something out in the forest. I didn’t expect to see you today.”

“Yeah, me neither,” Sky replied.

“These are your friends?” she asked, eying Autumn and Indigo, “I didn’t realize you were spending time with young mares, Viridian. You haven’t been off doing anything I wouldn’t want to hear about, have you?”

“No, mom!” Sky’s cheeks tinged with red. “They just wanna talk about your work or something.”

“Ignorosia, specifically.” Autumn chimed in.

“Ah,” Sky’s mother smiled. “So you’ve heard of it have you? Not many ponies can claim to be well-educated in ancient magic such as that.”

“I’m not so much well-educated as I am acquainted by proxy,” Autumn explained as vaguely as possible. “I would definitely like to learn more though.”

“Hmmm, I am very busy...” Sky’s mother ran a hoof through her mane. “Could you possibly wait until this evening? I’d be happy to have you over for supper.”

“That’s not really an option, I’m afraid,” Autumn said “Today is our only opportunity.”

She sighed and looked at the papers scattered on the table in front of her. “Well, alright. I suppose I can spare a few minutes. Anything for friends of my little Viridian.”

Sky had already stopped listening though, having turned his attention to a bubbling glass test tube. “Huh? Oh yeah, friends, sure.”

“Well then. What is it you want to know?” she asked, “I’m currently working on ways to sustain the spell without the presence of a unicorn. I’ve found limited success with certain herbal mixtures given the proper magical influence, but the effects wear off within hours and it never work as well on ponies as it does on smaller creatures.”

“I was thinking more along the lines of termination,” Autumn suggested as casually as she could, “Like how to break the spell without removing the unicorn sustaining it from the immediate vicinity.”

“Oh, that’s easy,” she replied.

Autumn perked up–

“It’s impossible.”

–and slouched back down again.

“Ignorosia has the remarkable quality of drawing infinitely from a nearby magical source without the need for concentration or even conscious application. It is unlike any other known magical phenomenon.” Sky’s mother tapped her horn with a hoof. “See, usually I have to be willingly engaged in spell-casting in order to use magic. With this spell however, I can forget that I’m sustaining it, fall asleep, and even cast other spells. The only way for me to break the connection is to consciously do so, or else pass the spell to another unicorn. There is also a spell radius of about 50 meters that is necessary for successful retention, but that’s rarely an issue since you begin to feel a mental tug at around 35.”

“So there’s no way to break the spell without it being the caster’s intention?” Autumn was getting the feeling this was a huge waste of time.

“Not that we know of,” Sky’s mother said happily. She levitated a dusty textbook off a nearby shelf and presented it to Autumn. “If you’re really interested in the subject, I’ve always found this Guide to Contemporary Elucidations of Cognitive Magical Conjecture to be an entertaining read. You can borrow it if you like.”

Nothing about the massive book looked remotely entertaining, even to Autumn who usually loved reading. She figured there was not much else to learn here. Now they were only cutting into their precious time.

“That’s alright, thank you. We were only curious.”

Sky’s mother shrugged and put the book back on the shelf. “Suit yourself. You’ll be hard pressed to find much information about Ignorosia. Our research is largely speculation, and most of what we know still comes from the original works of Twilight Sparkle.”

Autumn, who had been just about to give up, was caught off-guard by this remark. She blinked, wondering if she had misheard the steel-grey unicorn.

“I’m sorry, did you say Twilight Sparkle? As in Princess Twilight Sparkle?”

“Indeed,” she confirmed, “Not many ponies know this, but Ignorosia was first developed and described by Princess Twilight over six hundred and fifty years ago. Next to her completion of Starswirl the Bearded’s destiny spell, it remains one of her most significant contributions to magical theory.”

This was too much of a coincidence for Autumn to ignore. Her whole life she had been fascinated by the mysterious history of the Equestrian crown, doubly so for Princess Twilight and the events of the Schism. Unfortunately, only extremely limited information had ever been available to her. Like everypony else, most of her knowledge came from legend. Now there was a member of the intellectual community not only confirming the existence of Twilight Sparkle, but suggesting that some evidence of her work may actually still exist. She couldn’t resist delving further.

“So, you research magic developed by Twilight Sparkle herself in this lab?” she asked eagerly.

“Indeed,” Sky’s mother replied, “That’s why this center was founded. A private donor funded the construction of this foundation for the betterment of magical understanding way back when Princess Twilight was still around. After the Schism, we were allowed to keep much of the Princess’s research on the condition that we used it for the betterment of the community.” She gestured to the massive steel door on the opposite wall. “Most of the important records and artifacts are kept in there, as a matter of fact.”

Autumn knew she had to get into that room. No matter what it took, she couldn’t miss a golden opportunity like this. She prepared herself to beg, bargain, or even lie in order to get inside. It wasn’t going to be easy, but she took a deep breathe and–

“Would you like to see inside?” Sky’s mother asked.

“Oh... errr, yes please.” Too easy.

“Autumn, what are you doing?” Indigo whispered as they followed the older mare across the room, “She said we can’t break the spell, so why are we still here?”

“Just hold on!” Autumn snapped, “I have to see if they really have artifacts from Princess Twilight’s life in there. I’ve wanted to see something like this my whole life.”

“Wha... this is about some stupid personal thing!? Autumn, we’re wasting time here!”

“Look, Twilight Sparkle was a key player in the Schism. The fact that whatever is in there isn’t locked up at Canterlot is highly unusual. It might be helpful.”

“Autumn I swear, if we–”

Indigo, who had been too busy venting to pay attention to where she was going, didn’t notice that the other two had stopped, and bumped right into Autumn’s backside. This ended their whispered argument, and initiated a round of frustrated glares.

Sky’s mother was too happy to notice. She clearly found being a tour guide much more exciting than her regular job, and on top of that she got to spend some time with her increasingly detached son. She called to Sky, who hadn’t made any effort to move in the direction of the others. “Viridian, why don’t you help me show your friends the Pinkamena room?”

“Ehh, no thanks,” he shiftlessly replied, “That place creeps me out.”

Sky’s mother turned back to the door and picked out one of two black levers at its center. The faint aura around her horn grew brighter, and a stream of magic gently flowed from its tip and enveloped the mechanism.

“Dr. Chamomile,” she called, “A little help, if you don’t mind.”

One of the other scientists in the lab looked up from his microscope, with which he had been observing a substance reminiscent of grape jelly. “Oh, yes. Of course,” he said.

The new unicorn positioned himself so that he could activate the second lever in the two-pony system, and repeated exactly what Sky’s mother had done. With an audible CLICK, both levers snapped upwards and the door began to grind open.

The Pinkamena room was small, far less grand than what Autumn had been expecting. In fact, it looked a lot more like a large storage closet than anything else. The walls were lined with dusty bookshelves filled with boring looking books. A few cardboard boxes were scattered around the floor, and what appeared to be a very old and decrepit cannon sat in one corner. The most prominent feature was a large metal capsule at the room's center. It was hooked up to an assortment of cables and hoses, some of which made an occasional humming noise. It looked eerily like a metallic coffin.

“Well, here it is,” Sky’s mother said proudly, “Centuries of research on Ignorosia, from A to Z.”

“But... How much of it was written by Twilight Sparkle?” Autumn asked.

“Well, most of it actually.”

“But these books all look newish,” Indigo commented.

“That’s because they are new,” Sky’s mother explained, “Her work has been copied and recopied dozens of times. The originals are long gone. You don’t think they could have survived this long do you?”

Autumn lowered her head and sighed. “No, of course not,” she said. “You did say something about artifacts though, didn’t you?”

“Ah, I see. You’re a young historian, eh?” Sky’s mother smiled and gestured towards the wall across from them metal capsule. “The really old stuff is over there.”

Autumn followed her hoof and saw a small glass display case that she had not noticed when she came in. She excitedly hurried over and pressed her muzzle against the glass. There were only a few items inside, but it was clear they were much older than anything else in the room. There was an old framed photograph, a music box, a faded letter, a gold necklace, and a horseshoebox labelled “Balloons”. Autumn was understandably confused.

“So, wait. This stuff belonged to Twilight Sparkle?” she asked.

“Twilight Sparkle?” Sky’s mother walked around the capsule to stand next to Autumn. “Why would...? Oh! Goodness, no.” She chuckled to herself. “These artifacts belonged to the donor, the pony who funded the creation of this facility. That’s why we named the room after her. Pinkamena Diane Pie.”

Somehow, it was still possible for Autumn’s shoulders to slump lower.

“Miss Pie provided the funds necessary for our research to begin, and insisted that it be used primarily for the betterment of Equestria. Her only stipulation was that we maintain her stasis in this chamber here.” She tapped the metal capsule with her hoof. “We keep all her most precious possessions in this room with her, and although it is not our primary prerogative–”

“Hold on a sec,” Indigo piped up, “Did you just say that there’s a... pony in there?” She pointed to the metal device.

Sky’s mother nodded vigorously. “Pinkamena asked that we put her under the Ignorosia spell. Her request letter is actually in that case, I believe.”

Autumn looked back into the case at the ancient parchment. She could only barely make out the letters.

“Dear Board Members,” Autumn read aloud, “I am so very pleased to hear that construction of the Magical Development and Research Center is almost complete. It has been...

* * *

Dear Board Members,

That was how you were supposed to begin letters, wasn’t it? She had trouble remembering these things.

“Focus Pinkie!” she said to herself, “I need to do this right. Keep it formal and straightforward so they know you’re serious.” Pinkie Pie brought her pen back down on the parchment and continued.

I am so very pleased to hear that construction of the Magical Development and Research Center is almost complete. It has been nearly eight years since we drew up the plans, and the news that our dream has almost come to fruition is more than spectacular.

However, there is a more serious matter to discuss. As the primary shareholder, I reserve the right to make a request of the the others. Recent events have shaken me, and I cannot deny that excessive suppression of emotions has had an adverse affect on my health. I refuse to run from the truth any longer.

All the happiness has gone from the world, and I no longer recognize the community I once loved. I thrive on the merriment of others, yet have been unable to find any for some time now. I have decided that there is no place for me here.

Therefore, I humbly adjure that as a first subject, I myself am placed under my dear friend Twilight Sparkle’s spell Ignorosia; to be kept in a state of permanent stasis until the laughter has returned.

I am sure there will be hesitation among you to fulfill this request, but I insist that this be the one thing that is done in return for my donations. I shall be with you shortly when I am ready to be put under.

Yours honorably,

Pinkamena Diane Pie

“That should do it,” said Pinkie as she dotted the last “i” in her name. She folded up the parchment and tucked it into her saddlebag, along with a few other important papers.

“I’ll be back in a few hours, Gummy. Help yourself to anything in the fridge. Oh, and keep an eye on Pound Cake for me. I think he’s been sneaking off to hang around some fillyfriend when he should be working.”

The saggy old toothless alligator let out an unreadable gurgling response. Pinkie shook her head. The poor little guy just didn’t have any energy left in him these days.

Pinkie walked down the stairs and out into the crowded main room of Sugarcube Corner. She made her way through the forest of customers, wishing ponies a wonderful day and ensuring that their cupcakes were as good as they had hoped. Finally, she made it to the front door. She pushed it open, and was met immediately with a familiar butter-yellow face.

“Oh, hello Pinkie,” said Fluttershy, “I was just coming over to see you.”

“Hi Fluttershy. Is there something I can do for you?”

Fluttershy stared at her for a second, as if she were expecting Pinkie to respond to her own question.

“Um, no. Nothing specific...”

“Do you want a cupcake?” Pinkie asked. She began rooting around in her saddlebag. “I’m sure I’ve got one around here somewhere...”

“...Oh no. That’s OK...” Fluttershy looked longingly into Pinkie’s blue eyes. She was getting the feeling Fluttershy was expecting something from her.

“Well, I have to go to the post office and run a few errands so...”

“Of course. Sorry to keep you.” Fluttershy’s voice was noticeably quieter now.

“No worries.” Pinkie set off down the road. “By the way, tell Applejack that the three of us should get together for another spa day. The last one was fun. See ya’round Shy!”

As she walked briskly down the sunny Ponyville road, Pinkie thought to herself that Fluttershy had been acting strangely. She had so much on her mind though, that she couldn't give it much thought. She went over the list of shops she still had to visit and turned the corner towards the Ponyville Post Office.

Back out front of Sugarcube Corner, Fluttershy quietly stared at the ground. Her tight-shut eyes let just a few tears escape and fall to the dirt. After a long while, she turned and headed slowly back down the path towards her cottage.

* * *

“...I shall be with you shortly when I am ready to be put under. Yours honorably, Pinkamena Diane Pie.” Autumn finished reading the letter and turned a fascinated eye towards the metal capsule at the center of the room.

“‘Until the laughter has returned’. What in Equestria does that mean?” Indigo asked.

“I have no idea,” Sky’s mother admitted, “and apparently neither has anyone before me, because she’s still here.”

“Weird,” Indigo said, moving cautiously closer to Pinkamena, “What do you think that means Autumn?”

Autumn, however, was more interested in another part of the letter. “‘My dear friend Twilight Sparkle’. ‘My dear friend’. Pinkamena actually knew Princess Twilight?”

“Apparently so.” Mrs. Seaheart put a hoof on the metal chamber. “She was a very wealthy tycoon of the sweets and baked goods industry, after all. If you look again, you’ll see that the Princess wasn’t the only famous pony miss Pie was well acquainted with.”

Autumn turned back once again, this time focusing on the yellowing old photograph. At first, there seemed to be nothing special about it. Just a couple of ponies sitting at a wooden table, laughing and enjoying mugs of what must have been cider. The one on the left had a light pink coat with a frizzy dark pink mane. Autumn assumed this was Pinkamena. The pony on the right was–

“Wait a minute!” Autumn suddenly recognized the other pony in the picture. “Is that... Rainbow Dash?”

“Rainbow Dash!?” Indigo repeated, “The Wonderbolt? I gotta see this!” She zoomed over next to Autumn so that the two of them looked like foals gawking through a toy store window.

Sky’s mother chuckled. “Yeah, that one is everypony’s favorite. I remember one old stallion even tried to buy it off us once. Pinkamena obviously had connections.

“Anyway, her financial support was too important to refuse, so the board obliged and she became the the facility’s first subject to go under the spell,” She tapped the capsule, making a hollow clanging sound, “and she’s still here after nearly seven centuries.”

“So she could be woken up.” Autumn whirled around, her face lit up with a marvelous idea. “You could break the spell right now and she’d step out of there like it was the day she went under! She could tell us everything about Twilight Sparkle and life before the Schism!”

“Well, not exactly, no...” Sky's mother put a hoof on the back of her neck. “Quite a while ago, when they were transferring miss Pie from her old containment vessel to the one she’s in now, there was... a bit of an accident. She is likely to have sustained serious brain damage. On top of that, she’s the longest continuing Ignorosia patient Equestria has ever seen, and we have no idea what the effects of being under for that long are.” She placed her hoof back on the capsule. “It is likely that if we broke the spell, it would be fatal to Pinkamena.”

“Yeesh,” said Indigo, “That’s depressing.”

“Indeed,” Mrs. Seaheart agreed. The three of them shared a moment of silence, all staring solemnly at Pinkie Pie’s resting place.

“Well, I have work to do; so unless you have any final questions, I’m afraid we have to be going.” Sky’s mother walked back towards the door, followed by Indigo who was more than ready to get back on the road; but there was one more thing that had caught Autumn’s attention.

“Mrs. Seaheart,” she asked, looking once again through the glass of the display case, “you said all of these items were of great importance to Pinkamena?”

“That’s right,” she replied, “She only chose to keep a select few things, so they must have been meaningful. Just what you can see in that case there, as well as the cannon in the corner. Not sure what she used that for...”

Autumn wasn’t talking about the cannon, though. She had just noticed that the golden necklace inside the case was embedded with a magnificent blue gem in the shape of a balloon. While the necklace itself, along with everything else in the case, had clearly aged and worn down over time, the gem was as bright and pristine as if it had been cut just that morning.

“You guys go ahead, I’m gonna stay here and... look at this photo for a while.”

“OK, then,” Sky's mother said cheerily. She and Indigo walked out, leaving Autumn alone behind them.

“Your friend is a fan of the Wonderbolts then?”

“That’s an understatement,” Indigo laughed, “I remember when we were little we used to go down to Central Park to play ‘Wonderbolts World Racing Championship’. Of course Autumn would always get to be Shooting Star...”

“Central Park? As in Manehattan?” Sky's mother stopped and gave Indigo a confused look. “So, you two aren’t from Hidden Springs?”

“Um, well, no... I mean we’re just here for, umm... I mean we just moved here from the city.” Indigo once again was proving her inability to tell a good lie.

Sky’s mother raised an eyebrow at her. “So you do live here. Are you two related?”

“Um, no we just uhh... Autumn! Haha, there you are!” Indigo tried to change the subject as Autumn returned from the gloomy storage room, fidgeting with her saddlebag.

“Well miss Seaheart, thank you so much for the tour, but we really have to get going.” Autumn said hastily.

“I couldn’t agree more.” Indigo grabbed Autumn by the strap of her bag and started pulling her towards the door. “Thanks again miss, we really appreciate it!”

“OK, you kids have a good day!” She then turned back to her son, who was relieved to finally end his boredom. “I’m going to be late getting home tonight Viridian, could you tell your father for me?”

“Yeah, whatever.”

“It was nice meeting your friends!”

Sky was already almost out the door. “OK, mom.”

When her son disappeared, Brooke Seaheart let out a long sigh. She pulled a tall stack of papers over, and went back to her work.

* * *

“Well that was a waste of time.” Indigo kicked a pebble as the pair walked side-by-side along a dirt road that wound its way through the forest, and eventually into the Foal Mountains. “We probably could’ve found this pass without anypony’s help; we were going south anyway.”

“I’ll admit that the information we got from the facility was unhelpful,” Autumn said, “but we didn’t walk away completely empty-hoofed.”

“Really?” Indigo turned skeptically to her friend. “Because my hoofs are pretty empty.”

“And that is why you are lucky to have me.” Autumn smiled smugly and threw her bag over her shoulder onto the ground. She then opened one of the flaps and reached inside.

“Autumn, what’re you doing?”

“Check this out.” Autumn held up the old golden necklace she had taken from the display case for Indigo to see.

“Whoa!” Indigo was taken aback. “Is– Is that from the facility? Did you steal that?”

“I swiped it when you were out of the room. At first I just wanted to get a closer look at it. Think about it: two precious stones owned by earth ponies in the same town at the same time.”

“You’re saying this has something to do with the apple thingy?” Indigo asked.

“That’s right,” Autumn smiled, “and when I took it out to compare them, look what happened.” She pulled the orange gem out from its special pocket and held it next to the blue one. Very faintly both gems began to glow with a fluorescent flicker. It was as if tiny rainbows danced across their surfaces.

“OK, so they glow a little bit,” Indigo said, “Did that justify stealing it?”

“Indy, I think this might be one of the things we’re supposed to be looking for,” Autumn explained, “One of the ancient items that will help us get into the Elements of Harmony room.”

“Wait, I thought we were just looking for more apple gems,” Indigo exclaimed, “If the category is as broad as ‘old jewelry’ then we’ll never find them all!”

I think these two have more in common than the fact that they’re gems,” Autumn said, “There are some ancient secrets that I think we are getting very close to uncovering. These two artifacts hold, or at least used to hold great significance, otherwise they wouldn’t have survived this long.” Autumn held up the necklace to the sun, inspecting it from every angle. “I think each one we uncover will get us closer to the truth.”

“Well, hopefully that’s just one more gem away. Your mother said she thought there were only three, right?”

Autumn did not get to answer this question, because they were interrupted by a mint green unicorn. Sky appeared to have ran all the way from town to catch up to Autumn and Indigo. For whatever reason, he had a bag on his back, and a bandana tied around his neck.

“Hey guys!” he said upon reaching them, “I was wondering if a couple of traveling ponies like yourselves might... Hey, what's that?”

Autumn was still holding up the necklace. She quickly threw it back in her bag, and rushed to come up with an excuse. “Oh, nothing. It was just an, umm–”

“Was that from the Pinkamena room?” Sky asked.

“No! It’s not what it looks like!”

“You stole that didn’t you!” Sky pointed an accusing hoof at Autumn’s saddlebag where the gem was stashed.

Autumn began to panic. The last thing she needed right now was to be reported to the guards.

“This is brilliant!” Sky exclaimed.

Autumn and Indigo shared a confused glance.

“I thought I was going to have to beg you, but now I can just blackmail you into letting me come!” Sky chortled happily to himself.

“Come?” Indigo repeated, “You mean come with us?”

“Yep!” Sky confirmed, “I’ve always wanted to get away from my boring old life and go have a real adventure. I was going to ask if I could tag along with you two – seeing as you’re professionals and all – but now I don’t have to worry about you rejecting me!” Sky gestured to the bag again. “Because if you do, I’ll be forced to go back to town and rat you out.”

“Wha–? You little snake!” Indigo suddenly became very angry. “That’s a rotten thing to do!”

“As rotten as stealing a priceless artifact?” Sky asked condescendingly.

“Look, Sky, you don’t understand,” Autumn pleaded, “We need this gem for something very important, it’s the whole reason we’re out here in the first place. We can’t have anypony else along though, this is between us.”

Sky scoffed. “Oh come on! I’m not even asking to stick with you forever. Just until we get through the mountains; you can help me get my bearings.”

“No way!” Indigo fiercely held her ground. “We are not going to be your babysitter!”

“Fine,” Sky said, turing back down the road, “I hope you can move faster than royal guards.”

“Wait!” Autumn called. Sky stopped and cooly looked back at her. “Let us talk about this for a second,” she said.

Autumn and Indigo put their heads together. Sky waited casually a few meters away, trying not to look desperate.

“We can’t seriously consider bringing him with us,” Indigo said, “He could slow us down or expose us!”

“What other choice do we have?” Autumn asked, “We can’t let him go back and put the guard on our tail. Besides, he said he’d only stick with us through the mountains. It’ll just be a couple days of being careful what we say, and then he’ll be gone and it’ll be like this never happened.”

Indigo groaned. “Yeah, but we don’t know anything about this pony. Actually, we do: we know that he’s a con artist. He could be a spy for all we know!”

“A spy?” Autumn asked skeptically, “A spy our age, who goes to secondary school and plays dice with minotaurs?”

“OK, so maybe it’s unlikely,” she admitted, “but it’s still not worth the risk!”

“Indy, you’re going to have to trust me on this one,” Autumn said, “I promise we won’t let him in on any secrets.”

“Humph.” Indigo crossed her front legs. “How is it that I’m always the one who has to trust you?”

Autumn and Indigo turned back to face the unicorn, who had been discreetly leaning forward in an attempt to hear what they were saying. Indigo scowled and looked away, refusing to offer any notion that she agreed with their decision. Autumn put her saddlebag back on and made sure to seem as mature as possible.

“Alright, you can come,” she said, “but let’s clear some things up.”

Sky smiled slyly. “If you’re wondering how I covered for myself back in town, don’t worry about it. I left a note saying I’d be staying at my great aunt Sandy’s house for the week. Poor old aunt Sandy has been a bit off these past few years, and she never writes anyway. By the time my parents figure out I’m not with her, I’ll be half way to–”

“I don’t care,” Autumn said, “All I want you to tell me is that you will follow all our rules, help out with setting up camp, and leave us alone as soon as we reach the other side of the mountains.”

“Fine,” Sky agreed, casually inspecting one of his hoofs, “I’ll follow your rules. I hope you have a tent though, because I refuse to sleep outside!”

Indigo scoffed. “Psh, Unicorns.”

Sky frowned, but then put a hoof on the back of his neck and changed his tone.

“Look,” he said, “I really don’t mean to get off on the wrong hoof here. I respect both of you, and I hope we can get along.”

Autumn thought for a second. “Can you start a fire with your magic?”

“Of course,” Sky replied.

“Then I think we’ll get along just fine.” She smiled and stretched out a hoof to shake. Sky responded with a laugh and a hoof of his own. For a brief moment, the two looked into each others eyes, and Autumn could somehow tell that she had made the right decision.

“OK, c’mon Super-Pals. The sun is going down and we need a place to set up camp,” Indigo said impatiently.

“Right,” Autumn agreed, “We’d better get going. Sky, you know the area so you take the lead. Indigo, fly up top and search for a good place to camp.”

“Aye-aye, captain.” Sky gave a mock salute and set off merrily down the road.

“I hope you know what you’re doing,” warned Indigo one last time. She flew up into the air and started circling their heads above the trees, looking for a flat spot.

Autumn stood motionless, pondering something she couldn’t quite explain. She reached into her bag and pulled out the two gems, holding them side by side. Their faint sparkles danced across her eyes, and she found herself momentarily entranced by the vivid colors. There was something magnetic about them, as if they were tied together by an invisible bond.

Autumn shook her head and placed the precious stones back in her bag. She set off after Sky who was now a good distance ahead of her. For now, she had to focus on getting through the mountains; but she hoped the journey ahead would reveal more answers about what these gems were, and what they had to do with Twilight Sparkle.

Autumn Breeze was in for much more than she expected.

* * *

“Your highness?”

Princess Celestia did not respond. She was scribbling away at an important-looking piece of legislation. Firestorm shifted uncomfortably. He was one of the most experienced ponies in the Royal Guard; only the best got to be personal guards for the Princess herself. He had been in the service for years, received awards for valor and citizenship, and even seen some action during the Diamond Dog Rebellion, but nothing he had ever done compared to standing in the presence of Princess Celestia. Not that she was a scary figure, just an imposing one. The experience was genuinely nerve-wracking.

He decided she must not have heard him. “Princess?” he said a little louder, “There is somepony here to see you. A hooded pony who says you’ve been expecting–.”

“Please shut the door after my guest enters.” She did not look up from her work.

Firestorm bowed low and exited the room. Within seconds, he was replaced by another pony who was draped in purple robes. The door slammed shut, leaving the Princess and her spy alone in the royal chamber. The robed pony stood quietly in the corner, waiting for Celestia to speak first.

“I’ve been expecting you,” she said, “Tell me, why did it take you two days longer than usual to reach me?”

“Leaving the Sanctuary is not as easy as it used to be. The Grandmaster has resolved to let only a few of us out at a time in an effort to minimize the risk of betrayal. Luckily, I am one of her closest followers.”

“I see. When are you due to report back?” Celestia asked.

“I have no ultimatum for return. Several of us were released the other day as permanent scouts.” The hooded pony stepped forward. “I am entirely at your disposal, my liege.”

“Wonderful.” The Princess put down what she was working on and walked to her chamber window. “In that case, I have a mission for you. I need you to locate and follow Misty Morning’s daughter on her quest to recover the elements. Report back to me on her progress, and do not – under any circumstances – make her aware of your existence.”

“It will be done, my Princess.” The hooded pony took a bow. “But may I ask you just one question?”

“Of course,” said Celestia, turning back to her work.

“Why not simply apprehend the young ones now? It would not be difficult.”

Celestia let out a long sigh and looked back towards her window. “I would not expect you to understand,” she said, “I am certain that young Autumn Breeze herself does not even comprehend the significance of the items she searches for. Having them here in Canterlot under my protection would be enormously beneficial, both to myself and to the kingdom as a whole. All we need to do is let her find them, and then take them from her when the time is right.”

“But if they are so important,” the hooded pony began, “then why haven’t you collected them for yourself by now? Surely, it would not be a problem for a Princess such as yourself to locate a few ancient artifacts.”

“My loyal subject, you forget yourself,” Celestia warned, “It is not your place to ask such questions.”

“Of course, my liege. Forgive me.” The hooded pony took another bow. “I shall take my leave at once and seek out the young mare and her companion.”

The pony backed out through the door and quickly swept down the hallway, leaving the Princess to her royal business. Celestia raised her reading glasses and ran over the document she had been revising one more time. Deciding it was as good as she could make it, the alicorn rolled the parchment into a scroll and tied it with a blue ribbon.

“Firestorm,” she summoned her personal guard from the hallway where he was stationed, “I have a job for you.”

Firestorm hurried into the chamber and offered his Princess a picturesque salute. She waved it off and offered him the bound scroll.

“Please deliver this to your Captain, and tell him that we will be needing an increase in security around the city effective immediately.” Princess Celestia walked once more to her chamber window; but instead of looking down over her Kingdom as usual, she looked up towards the top of the mountain on which Canterlot was perched.

“Increase in security?” Firestorm asked, “Is there a threat, my Princess?”

Celestia’s eyes were fixed on something she couldn’t see, but she knew was there. A cave, far up near the peak of the mountain. A cave that held the secrets of Equestria’s ancient past.

“My dear Firestorm,” she said without breaking her gaze, “there is always a threat.”

Into the Dark

4

Into the Dark

“Really now, I thought we were over this whole ‘summoning’ business.” Discord casually inspected his nails as he floated in midair in the Princess’s chamber. “It can be quite tedious you know, especially on a weekday when I have so much work to do.”

Ignoring his sarcasm, Celestia paced wide circles around the room, nervously adjusting her crown as she did. “I have an urgent matter to discuss. Certain… events have put the stability of my kingdom in jeopardy. I am not sure if you are yet aware–”

“Yes, yes. I heard about that little crisis with Princess Luna the other day,” Discord said, “Where did she run off to? The Crystal Empire? Sunny Saddle Arabia maybe?”

Celestia gave him an angry look, but managed to keep her composure. “She did not deem it necessary to tell me, but I assure you she is far beyond my diplomatic reach. There is unrest among my citizens. They are lost without leadership; you know that. As the only other being of immense power in whom I have any trust, I need you to help me get them safely through this.”

Discord threw his head back and laughed. “You need my help? Oh, this is grand!” he chortled, “What is it you want me to do, Princess? Take Luna’s place? Is that it? Is Celestia going to replace her second banana sister with the prince of chaos?”

“Well, I–”

“Luna did not leave on a whim, Celestia. She left because you two had a falling out. She left because she refused to work with you anymore, and what makes you think I’d be any different?”

“I don’t think that–”

“You may be able to keep all these simple-minded ponies in the dark, but I know better. Don’t think I haven’t figured it out. Honestly, we all should have seen this coming. Your relationship with your sister has been deteriorating for years now. What with the recent news out of Ponyville, I can’t imagine that–“

“DON’T YOU DARE!” Celestia's voice boomed and reverberated throughout the chamber. I was so intense and uncharacteristic that even Discord flinched in surprise. The window panes rattled, the sunlight drained from the room, and the Princess appeared to grow taller. “Do not bring Twilight Sparkle into this, Discord. She is none of your concern.”

“Still emotional, are we?” Discord scoffed, “I figured after a week or so you would have gotten over it.”

That was the final straw. Celestia felt more rage well up inside her than she had ever felt before. “You will leave!” she boomed, “I command that you depart my kingdom and never come back!”

Discord raised an eyebrow. “Surely you can’t be serious?”

“Unlike you, beast, I am always serious.”

Discord narrowed his eyes and spent a calculated amount of time staring down the furious Celestia. He could have objected; could have refused to bend to her outlandish demand. It would not have been wise, though. He knew from personal experience that an emotionally unstable Princess was no easy adversary. Equestria had always been his home, but things had changed. He did not feel welcome any more.

“Now!” Celestia shouted. Her horn began to glow with a menacing red hue.

“Very well.” Discord shrugged. “I have been looking for a change in scenery anyway.” He walked casually to Celestia’s window, arms held behind his back. “You know, Princess, these ponies may think you’re perfect now, but don’t expect that to last. Eventually they will figure you out. One day, somepony is going to discover that even the great Celsetia has skeletons in her closet; and when that day comes,” He turned and looked her right in the eye, “I hope I’m there to see you fall.”

Within the blink of an eye, the draconequus had vanished. Celestia breathed in deeply and managed to calm herself down. She knew what this meant. She was now completely alone. Not just in the sense that she was the only one left in the room, but she also had no allies left who knew the secrets she knew. She was now Equestria’s sole protector. Everything was up to her.

She straightened her crown and took a few moments to compose herself. “He’s wrong,” she assure herself, “I know what’s best for my kingdom.”

She rang the service bell that sat on her desk, calling in one of her aides. When the pony arrived, she put on her best smile so as not to appear distressed.

“How may I assist you, Princess?” the young stallion asked, smiling right back.

“I need you to set up a meeting for me with the Royal Library director,” she said, “I am commissioning the construction of a very important addition to the archives.”

* * *

Seven Centuries Later

Autumn Breeze desperately gasped for air as thick vines tightened around her neck. She struggled to break free from the creeping green plants, but it was no use. The vines had ensnared and constricted her limbs like a hundred leafy snakes. She could feel the life being squeezed out of her.

“Indy! Sky! Do something!” She screamed.

Her two companions were no better off. Sky was dangling upside-down above a giant venus fly trap, and Indigo was thrashing violently against the ever-growing tide of carnivorous flora. There was no hope left. They were in the middle of nowhere with nopony to help them. Their quest would come to an brutally unceremonious end at the edge of the merciless Everfree Forest.

In what she was sure would be her final moments, Autumn couldn’t help but wonder how they had gotten to this point. Not three days ago, the worst of her troubles had been figuring out how to divide their daily rations three ways instead of two.

The day the three young ponies left Hidden Springs to embark on their journey across the mountains seemed much longer ago than it actually was. That was probably because the social dynamic between them had changed so much.

Having an extra pony along didn’t change anything about their traveling routine. They covered about the same distance every day, and still camped at the flattest spots they could find every night. Indigo slept outside as usual; Autumn and Sky shared the tent. There weren’t many trees in the rocky mountainous terrain, so they never got lost, and – after they had crested the mountains – they could see the expansive Everfree Forest growing larger in front of them. Something truly remarkable happened in those few days, something none of the three had expected: Autumn and Sky became friends.

When she first met Viridian Skyshimmer Seaheart the Third, or “Sky” as he preferred, Autumn would have sworn they had zero chance of working well together. He came off as overconfident, incompetent in delicate situations, and frankly a lot like the ponies who Autumn used to avoid back in school. The fact that he blackmailed his way into their traveling party didn’t do much to boost his image either. Autumn’s initial intention had been to make her way through the mountains as quickly as possible so she and Indigo could return to their dynamic duet.

For the umpteenth time on this particular adventure however, Autumn found herself utterly surprised. As it turned out, Autumn and Sky had a lot in common. Besides being about the same age, they had similar senses of humor, and shared an inner loathing for self-declared authority. Amazingly, both of them had always dreamed of becoming adventurers.

Sky also proved himself to be an extremely useful companion along the way. Despite Indigo’s grumblings, having a unicorn along made everything much easier. For the first time since they left Manehattan, they were able to regularly have fires at night. What’s more, Sky had remarkable cooking skills, and he was able to turn what used to be boring rations and the occasional forest mushroom into interesting and unique dishes every night. He was a little showy with it sometimes, but it was hard to blame him.

They talked constantly, sometimes about serious matters and sometimes just goofing around. Autumn found herself fascinated with Sky and his distinctive personality; and as far as she she could tell, Sky found Autumn interesting as well. They enjoyed picking each others brains for this and that, comparing opinions and experiences. Autumn even found herself dangerously close to bringing up the subject of the Schism and the Elements of Harmony room, just to see what his thoughts were. She decided to avoid the topic in the interest of keeping their quest a secret. It wouldn’t have been a matter worth discussing anyway – Sky didn’t like history.

Autumn couldn’t help but liking him. He reminded her of Indigo back when they first met in primary school. He was so new and interesting that she found herself wanting to get to know him better. She actually began to regret his imminent departure from their group. If only there was some way to safely include him on their dangerous quest. She couldn’t dwell on such things, though. The idea was out of the question; and even if it weren’t, Indigo shared none of Autumn’s sympathies.

As far as the winged member of their trio was concerned, Sky only brought trouble with him. From day one, Indigo barely talked to him and had spite in her voice whenever she did. Sky’s ability to start fires using magic only made her regret that she hadn’t been able to accomplish that herself. She found his flashy cooking to be no more than a waste of time. On top of all that, Indigo’s best friend and traveling companion was talking with Sky all the time; more than she was with Indigo. It was almost as if she had been replaced. She felt like a third wheel which was not at all fair; Sky was supposed to be the third wheel.

So as Autumn and Sky grew closer, Indigo’s resentment of the young stallion grew more fervent. This cycle continued until they finally reached the western side of the Foal mountains and stood at the edge of the Everfree Forest.

At first, no one was sure exactly what to do. Sky hadn’t planned at all for where he would go after this, and Autumn and Indigo had been expecting to find a path through the forest. They spent a couple hours discussing their options, and ultimately decided (to Indigo’s discontent) that it was best sorted out in the morning. They set up a three-pony camp for what they thought would be the last time, and drifted off to sleep just like any other night.

The Everfree Forest is not just any other forest though, and all three ponies were awoken the next morning with the most unpleasant of surprises. By the time Autumn realized what was happening, it was already too late. The vines had entangled her back legs and pulled her halfway out of the tent. She yelled to Sky for help, but he was already ensnared himself and being dragged away to make plant food. Indigo had been caught too, dashing their last hope for escape.

As consciousness faded, Autumn wondered how long it would take the Order of Everlasting Truth to discover that she had failed her mission. She wondered if her father would ever be released to learn of his daughter’s gruesome demise. She wondered if anypony might ever find the remains of their campsite at the edge of the forest; if the ancient artifacts hidden in her bag might one day be recovered and used to finish the quest.

She felt the cold grip of death approaching as lights danced in front of her eyes. This was the end. She only wished that Indigo and Sky could have been spared the untimely demise they didn’t deserve. Just before she blacked out–

THWACK

An enormous vibration rippled through the vines as if they had been hit with a train. Autumn looked down to see a purple figure on the ground below her. Whoever it was, the pony had just delivered a powerful buck to the base of the plant, causing its grip on her to weaken. With a flourish of robes, the pony threw a splash of white powder over the vines. They instantly began to writhe and contract in agony. The purple figure then pulled out what appeared to be a lasso, and with one swift movement snared the giant venus fly trap and brought it crashing to the ground. A second splash of white powder, and more retracting vines. Finally, the pony ran to the vines which had ensnared Indigo, and with another tremendous buck nearly brought everything to the ground. After a third bout of magic powder the plant had clearly had enough. It dropped the three young ponies and slithered hastily back into the dark forest, leaving behind nothing but bruises and a few stray leaves.

Autumn hit the ground hard. She struggled to get back on her hoofs. Failing, she toppled over and landed with a painful thud. As she slipped into unconsciousness, the figure that had saved them slowly approached. Somepony wearing a purple robe with a long silver mane. Autumn tried to say something, but her throat was far too sore.

Then everything went black.

* * *

He wound his way happily through the trees, taking note of everything that had changed since he had been there last. It had been so long since he had been in the Everfree Forest; he was determined to have some fun, just like the good old days. He laughed and gleefully began making a mental list of things he wanted do. There was so much chaos to be wreaked, yet so little time.

Suddenly, he sensed something that drew his attention. Somepony was crying for help on the other side of the forest. What was the cause of all this distress? He placed an eagle-like talon on a nearby tree and assessed the situation.

“Ah,” he said to himself in a soothing baritone, “It seems a few young ponies have had a run in with Everfree’s carnivorous creeping redweed. Now this I simply cannot miss.”

Within the blink of an eye, he disappeared from where he had been and reappeared on the other side of the forest a mere thirty meters from where Autumn, Indigo, and Sky struggled for their lives. He kept himself out of sight, keen to see what they would do.

“Indy! Sky! Do something!”

“Awww, poor little ponies; so weak and defenseless.” He smiled in wicked pleasure. “I’ll bet they didn’t even know what hit them.”

He watched for a precious few more moments as the plants entangled themselves even tighter around the thrashing ponies. If he hadn’t witnessed the same thing happen a thousand times before, the sight might have been horrifying. Not to him though: he reveled in the disorderly.

“Well, I’ve had my fun. I suppose I should do something to save the poor things.” He reached out to rescue the ponies just before it was too late, but found himself upstaged by yet another pony. This one wore a long flowing robe of purple, and moved swiftly and efficiently.

He watched as she delivered a series of surprisingly strong blows to the vines, and warded them off with splashes of white powder from under her robe.

“It appears this pony knows of the redweed’s aversion to salt,” he observed as the vines snaked painfully past him back into the deep dark forest.

The events that followed were of less interest to him. He cared little for the affairs of most ponies; and as capable as this robed mare seemed to be, he did not feel she deserved much consideration. He watched and listened lazily as two of the formerly ensnared ponies talked frantically with the robed one. The other lay motionless on the ground, presumably unconscious.

He played with the idea of using these ponies to test his powers. He thought of several ways he could make their lives more chaotic: bringing the redweed back, for example, or starting some sort of freak snowstorm. Ultimately, he decided that they were not worth his time. He was about to take his leave when something truly remarkable and unbelievably coincidental happened. One of the ponies, a blue pegasus, ruffled through a nearby saddlebag and pulled out two very small items to show them to the robed pony.

He recognized them at once. He gasped out loud and moved in as close as he dared to get a better view. Could they really be? After all this time?

There they were right in front of him, being handled as if they were common trinkets. He couldn’t believe his eyes, which was incredibly uncommon for him. He honestly did not know what he should do. He had to keep watching them. He needed to learn who these ponies were and what they were doing with such powerful items. Powerful items that he was very well acquainted with.

Soon, he would make his move.

* * *

Darkness. She stares into the swirling abyss in front of her. It beckons to her. It calls her name; begs her to become one with the emptiness beyond; implores her to fill the void that has been empty for too long.

She feels the urge. Her mind says no, but her soul says yes. She belongs in the darkness where no one can see her, where no one can hear her. She takes a step forward–

But no. She steps back. Something is missing. It’s not ready yet. She can’t go until all the pieces are in place.

Somepony else is there. She turns around. Who is it? She can’t tell. She squints through the darkness and the fog. She can almost make out the face now–

SPLASH

A wave of icy water crashed over Autumn’s head, thrusting her back into consciousness. Her eyes were still shut, but she could hear voices around her.

“Moisten! I said moisten her forehead!”

“I’m sorry! I was never very good at levitation.”

“That’s like the most basic spell!”

“I know! You don't have to rub it in.”

Autumn stirred. She cracked open her eyes and attempted to push herself up from the ground. Her head still hurt. She had been having the strangest dream.

“Autumn! You’re awake!” cried a fuzzy blue blob. It raced over and helped her to her hoofs. “Thank the stars. You had us really scared for a while.”

Autumn’s vision finally cleared, and she could see that she had been unconscious for longer than a few minutes. First of all, she was no longer anywhere near the spot she had blacked out in; she appeared to be even deeper in the dense forest. Indigo and Sky were there, but both of them were wearing bandages that clearly had taken quite a while to wrap. Moreover, the sky was getting darker. The sun had only just risen when the vines woke Autumn up, but now it seemed to be closer to dusk.

“What happened?” Autumn asked in a daze, “Where are we?”

“After you passed out, we carried you and all our stuff further into the forest to find a good spot to recuperate.” Noticing Autumn’s concerned expression at the mention of moving deeper into the forest, Indigo held up a knowing hoof. “Don’t worry, we’re completely safe.”

“Your mysterious friend made sure of that,” chimed in Sky.

Then Autumn noticed the camp fire blazing just behind him. Her eyes locked on the mare who sat beside it, face buried in the old map that had originally belonged to her.

“Always make sure you’re not camping near creeping redweed,” said Sister Ambrosia, looking up from her map, “You are very lucky I came along when I did.”

“Wha... Ambrosia!?” Autumn cried, “What are you doing here?”

She chuckled and folded her map back up. “I would tell you the entire story, but I’m afraid your friends have already heard it and it’s not very interesting. So I shall give you the short version: about a week ago, several members of the order, including myself, were released from the sanctuary to serve as scouts. Our objective is to monitor key locations around Equestria. It just so happened that I was passing by on the way to my destination near Los Pegasus, when I saw a great deal of commotion coming from the forest edge; and guess who I found struggling with a carnivorous plant?” She smiled and pulled her hood down. “You were unconscious for hours. I knew you’d come around eventually, but I’ll admit I was worried for a while there.”

Autumn felt as if she were going to faint again. Of all the ponies she had met since leaving Manehattan, Ambrosia had been the nicest; not to mention the one she would have liked most to run into again. For her to have come along at the perfect moment and saved them was beyond comprehension. Autumn still didn’t believe in fate, but it was starting to make a strong case for itself.

Autumn Breeze had always been a pony who restrained her emotions. She experienced them just as strongly as any other pony, but she usually found it more productive to separate herself from her more sentimental impulses and analyze situations rationally. Ever since her encounter with her mother at the sanctuary, however, she had been much more open to emotional expression. On this particular occasion, she found herself expressing joy in an uncharacteristically bubbly way.

She bounded happily over to Ambrosia and gave her a big welcoming hug, which was generously returned. The other two young ponies were slightly taken aback by this, but Indigo at least understood where the affection came from. The two embraced one another for a full twenty seconds before Ambrosia pulled away to get a look at a bandaged wound on Autumn’s leg.

“We’ll have to redress this later,” she said, “I’ll give you some bandages to take on the road with you as well.”

“I’m so glad you ran into us!” Autumn exclaimed, ignoring her injury, “We have so much to tell you about where we’ve been and who we’ve met and–oh! I almost forgot! We think we found a second–” She stopped herself, remembering that Sky was right behind her. “…Err. What I mean to say is… We’ve got a lot of catching up to do.”

Sky eyed them suspiciously. He wasn’t ignorant; he knew that all three of them were trying to keep something from him.

“We shall discuss everything in time. Right now, we should eat.” Ambrosia opened up her own saddlebag revealing a veritable stockpile of canned and packaged foodstuffs. Autumn suddenly realized how hungry she was. She hadn’t eaten since yesterday after all, and their own food supply had been whittled down to the more tasteless items. Later, she decided, once Sky was distracted or asleep she could talk candidly with Ambrosia.

The three younger ponies ate the best meal they had had in days. Ambrosia insisted that she was not hungry, and chose to collect firewood and set up camp while the others gorged on dandelions and fresh strawberries. Autumn and Indigo tried to keep the conversation steered away from Ambrosia, but Sky was understandably interested. He wanted to know exactly who she was and how they knew her. Autumn made her answers as vague as possible, trying her best to make it seem like they were no more than old friends.

Indigo’s tactics were a bit more blunt. She answered to most of Sky’s questions with responses such as “None of your business” or “That’s nothing you need to know.”

He may not have gotten any clear answers, but it was obvious to Sky that there was some connection between Ambrosia’s presence and Autumn and Indigo’s secretive quest. He eventually accepted that they weren’t going to tell him, but that wasn’t the end of it. He quietly plotted how he might get the information he desired before leaving them the next morning.

The sun had set by the time they finished eating, and Ambrosia had superbly erected a campsite for four. All that was left for them to do was sit and talk, which meant they had to come up with non-secret topics to discuss.

Most of the next few hours Ambrosia spent sharing some important skills for wilderness survival, especially in the treacherous Everfree Forest. She explained how to identify the six species of carnivorous plants, and how sodium was a good deterrent for all but two of them. “That’s how I saved you three,” she explained, waving a half empty bag of salt in front of them. She demonstrated the proper way to tie a bear bag, and made sure to emphasize the importance of hanging it up at least thirty meters away from the campsite. She also had tips for foraging, tent placement, and avoiding timberwolves.

It must have been close to midnight but the time Sky stretched his hooves and stood up from the dying campfire. “Well,” he said, “Thanks for all the advice miss Ambrosia, but I think I’m about ready to hit the sack.” He yawned and headed off towards the tent. “Goodnight everypony.”

“I think I actually agree with him for once,” Indigo said drowsily, “I’m going to bed as well.” She trotted over to her bed roll at flopped down heavily. “But he still has to go as soon as we wake up tomorrow.” She rolled over and fell silent.

Autumn and Ambrosia sat next to each other, watching the fire burn down, not saying a word. They both knew that they needed to talk, but they chose to wait until they could be absolutely sure that Sky had fallen asleep. Indigo began to snore, interrupting the silence but not eliciting any response from the two earth ponies. What seemed like hours passed, but still neither of them said a word. Autumn was eager to talk, eager to get advice, but was unsure how to begin. So the long silence continued.

The camp fire had burned down to no more than glowing coals when she finally decided to speak.

“I’m scared, Ambrosia,” she said, “I’m scared and I’m confused and I’m conflicted about whether I’m doing the right thing or not.”

“We’re all scared, Autumn.” Ambrosia kept her eyes fixed on the simmering coals. The orange light reflected in her eyes like fiery glass orbs. “This is a scary time for anyone who’s smart enough to understand it. If there was nothing to be scared of then Equestria wouldn’t so desperately need you to face this challenge. As for the question of morality, I can assure you this is a quest of utmost righteousness. We’re all behind you every step of the way.” She put a hoof around Autumn.

There was another brief silence. Indigo had ceased her snoring, and the tranquil sounds of the wilderness filled their ears. “I must warn you though,” Ambrosia eventually continued, “it is very possible that you are being followed.”

Autumn looked at her. “We haven’t told anypony.”

“I’m sure you haven’t, but that’s not the problem,” she explained solemnly. “It has come to my attention that there may be a traitor among those brothers and sisters released to serve as scouts. We have no way of knowing if any of them are double agents for Celestia.”

“I thought only the most trusted ponies were allowed outside the sanctuary.” Autumn inquired.

“Even a pony as keen as your mother can be double-crossed,” Ambrosia replied. “Their were five of us, I believe. Brother Melrose, Sister Cortland, Mother Suncrisp, Father Fallawater, and of course myself. I strongly suspect one of them to be a spy, but I am not sure exactly who.”

“Fallawater…” Autumn mumbled.

“What’s that?”

“If I had to guess, I’d put my money on that Fallawater guy,” Autumn explained, “He was such a jerk to us when we visited the sanctuary. He just seems kind of slimy, you know? Like a snake.”

Ambrosia let out a warm laugh. “I’ll be the first to admit that Father Fallawater is not the most pleasant character, but I wouldn’t be so quick to accuse him of spying. He is one of the Grandmaster’s oldest and most trustworthy followers.”

“Oh, come on. He looks the part, doesn’t he?” Autumn asked, half jokingly. “What with all those scars he has?”

Ambrosia, stopped laughing and became very solemn once again. “Father Fallawater was once captured by the Royal Guard while on a mission in Canterlot. He spent nearly three months in prison under interrogation. In all that time, he never once said a word about the Order or anyone involved with it. He got those scars making a daring and dangerous escape that was miraculously successful.”

Autumn immediately felt bad about her accusation. She thought about trying to apologize, but decided it was best to simply stop talking.

“Regardless,” Ambrosia continued, “I’d advise you to move quickly and keep an eye out for trouble. You never know when you’re being watched.” The two of them scanned the tree line around the campsite, as if there was somepony watching them at that very moment. There was, in fact, someone watching them; but there was no way for them to know that.

“Oh!” Autumn suddenly remembered. “I think we found another one of those artifacts we need. It’s not an apple, but it seems very similar.” Autumn stood up to fetch her saddlebag. “Here, I’ll get it for you.”

“No, no.” Ambrosia beckoned for her to sit back down. “That won’t be necessary. I fully trust your judgement.”

“But… you could help me decide if it really is genuine. I don’t even know what to do with these things.”

“My dear,” Ambrosia smiled, “I only know as much about the items you carry as you do, probably less. I know that they are very old and that you need them to get into the Elements of Harmony room. That is the extent of my knowledge.”

“Oh…” Autumn was fairly disappointed, “I just thought that–”

A sudden rustling noise in the brush behind them made both ponies leap to their hooves and whirl around. Ambrosia rushed into the bushes and tackled the eavesdropper who had been lurking in the darkness. Was this the spy Celestia had sent to follow Autumn? No, it was a mint-green unicorn with a baby-blue mane.

“Sky!” Autumn cried. “What the hay are you doing!?”

“Oh, you know. Just going for an evening stroll.” He smiled sheepishly, struggling against Ambrosia who had him pinned to the ground.

“How much did you hear?” she demanded, “And don’t lie!”

“Nothing, really!” he cried, “I mean, there was a good bit about a secret order devoted to opposing Celestia and using ancient artifacts to break into the Elements of Harmony room, but that’s pretty much it!”

“Great! Just great!” Autumn exclaimed, putting a hoof to her forehead, “We were doing so well for so long and then we blew it on the last night before he leaves. What are we supposed to do now?”

“Actually,” Ambrosia let Sky up and narrowed her eyes in thought. “This might be a good thing after all.”

* * *

“No. No way. Absolutely not. I refuse. Not happening. End of story.” Indigo crossed her hooves and turned away defiantly.

“Indy,” Autumn pleaded, “Ambrosia and I talked about it, and we both think it’s for the best.”

“I don’t care how much he knows. There is no way in Equestria that unicorn is coming with us!”

It was the next morning, and while Ambrosia and Sky packed up the campsite, Autumn had been explaining the deliberations of the past night to her best friend. Sky had overheard pretty much everything important, and he couldn’t be allowed to wander off on his own. Besides, both Ambrosia and Autumn agreed that he could be extremely helpful to their quest. Autumn certainly trusted him, and Ambrosia trusted Autumn’s judgement. They proceeded to fill him in on all the details and introduce him to the problem they endeavored to solve.

Sky was completely entranced by the prospect of a grand adventure. He was a little doubtful of the notion that Celestia had any flaws, but he clearly was more than enticed enough to accept the offer of partnership. They explained that it would be dangerous, but he didn’t seem to care. Sky had lived a cushy boring life before he met Autumn; a little danger was exactly what he was looking for.

They already knew that he worked well with them, and he had proven his usefulness on the trail. All that remained was to convince his most skeptical acquaintance.

“I agreed to tolerate him for our entire trip through the mountains. The deal was: we get to the forest, and he leaves. Why can’t we stick with that initiative?” Indigo asked.

Autumn frowned. “Don’t pretend you haven’t noticed how helpful he is. We’ve made great progress since he joined us. We’re friends now.”

“Speak for yourself!” Indigo scoffed, “I refuse to make friends with anypony who who eavesdrops on my private conversations.”

“Indigo, Viridian is coming with us whether you like it or not,” Autumn replied staunchly, “You know we can’t let him go, and he has already accepted my offer. Now I suggest you help him pack up our stuff and be nice, because you’re gonna be around him for quite some time.”

“Unbelievable,” Indigo grumbled. Nonetheless, she followed Autumn over to the other two ponies who had already finished breaking camp.

Ambrosia and Sky were sitting on either side of a very strange brass device. It was tall and thin with a small opening on top, a bit like a candlestick except it had a small knob protruding from one side.

“What’re you guys up to?” Autumn asked cheerily, trying to contrast Indigo’s indignation.

“Ambrosia is helping me send a letter to my parents,” Sky explained, “I decided they should at least know that I am safe but that they won’t be seeing me for quite some time.” He gestured towards a bound scroll lying on the ground. “She’s got some fancy device that lets her send letters without magic.”

“It does use magic, actually,” Ambrosia explained as she fiddled with the brass knob, “just not unicorn magic.” She held up a small brown satchel filled with bright red flowers; the petals of which glowed faintly like the embers of small fire. “Dragon’s Breathe. It’s a flower that mimics the magical abilities found among certain breeds of dragon.”

“Where did you get that?” Autumn asked in awe.

“We were given them as a means to send our reports back to the sanctuary. They are quick and efficient.” Ambrosia carefully placed a few petals in the basin of the device and then turned the knob once more. “Are you sure this letter has everything you wanted to say in it?” She asked.

“I think so…” Sky looked over his letter one last time. “It’s weird,” he said, “exciting, but very strange. I’m leaving my old life behind so quickly.”

“Welcome to the club,” said Autumn.

“Hold the letter over the device, and I’ll send it right to your parents’ doorstep.”

Sky carefully levitated the letter over the top of the brass device as instructed. Ambrosia pushed the knob down like a button, causing magical red flames to spew out of a tiny hole on top. The flames engulfed the letter and disintegrated it into a stream of magical energy which quickly flew up through the trees and back east towards Hidden Springs.

Sky watched his letter disappear and let out a long sigh. “If you had told me three days ago that before the week was over I would be in the Everfree Forest on a secret mission to break into the most secure room in the country, I would have laughed in your face.”

“The most important decisions in life are often made more quickly than most ponies are prepared for,” Ambrosia said. She put a hoof on Sky’s shoulder, just as she had done to Autumn at the sanctuary. “Young miss Breeze here has already discovered that for herself.” She turned and gave the young mare a knowing smile. “You two are very much alike; it is interesting that you are fated to help her fulfill her destiny.”

“I still don’t believe in destiny,” Autumn commented, “but for your sake, Ambrosia, I’m willing to make an exception.”

“I am glad to hear it.” Ambrosia reached into her robes and pulled out a silver necklace. It was strung through a glistening pearl-like gem; an expensive looking piece, the kind of thing Autumn would expect to see at a classy dinner party. “I have one more thing before you depart.” She presented the necklace to Autumn. “This is a tracking stone. If you are ever in danger or in need of assistance, simply rub this talisman between your hooves until it glows bright white. I will be able to tell where you are and come to your aide as quickly as I can.”

“How’s that?” Sky asked, squinting at the token held in Autumn’s hooves.

Ambrosia chuckled. “I have my ways, Viridian. Don’t you worry about that.”

“Ambrosia,” Autumn began, placing the generous gift around her neck, “this is the second time you have done so much for us without asking anything in return. You have no idea how much this means to me; to us. If there’s anything we can ever do for you–”

“You are already doing more than enough.” Ambrosia’s smiles never failed to fill Autumn’s heart with warmth. Even after knowing her for such a short period of time, Autumn had more trust in the silver-maned mare than almost anypony else she knew.

“Now, you three must be on your way. It is in your best interest to reach Canterlot before the Summer Sun Celebration.” She helped them strap on their saddlebags and pointed them in the right direction. “The trail starts about fifty meters out and continues directly west through the forest,” she said, “I cannot stress enough the importance of not straying from the path. This forest is vast and dangerous; you could very easily become lost.”

“Thanks for everything, miss,” Sky said as he headed toward the trail.

“Yeah, thanks again Ambrosia,” Indigo agreed.

Autumn was the last to leave, taking a few seconds to exchange friendly glances with Ambrosia. They said nothing, but each understood the feeling of friendship between them. With one final nod, Autumn turned and took off after her companions on the long road to the town of Ponyville.

Ambrosia watched them disappear into the forest. She was reminded of a time not long ago when she had watched Autumn run off into the woods on the outskirts of Manehattan. At the time, Autumn had been running from Ambrosia. She knew that the young mare trusted her now, but she also could not deny the similarities.

Ambrosia tried not to frown very often, at least not when she was around other ponies. While alone though, a contemplative grimace often found itself upon her muzzle. Her golden eyes remained fixed upon the shadowy forest long after they had left her sight. She listened to sounds of the wilderness, felt the gentle breeze in her mane, and thought hard about the trio of young ponies who’s troubles – she knew – had only just begun.

A twig snapped in the bushes behind her, breaking her concentration. She cautiously scanned the tree line. Her perception had always been very keen, it was not easy to elude her. She was almost entirely sure that they were not being watched. Almost.

“I suppose I have work to do,” She said to herself. She swung her own saddlebag over her back, and pulled up her purple hood. One last sweep of the site, and the purple robe had vanished into the forest, along with all traces of the pony who wore it.

The place looked as if nopony had ever even been there.

* * *

“OK, I've got one for you. Your name is Viridian, but your coat is like a minty blue-green–”

“Aquamarine.”

“Gesundheit.”

“No, that’s the name of the color: aquamarine.”

“Oh, right. So what’s up with that?”

Sky laughed. “Yeah, I get that a lot. It’s actually a family name – hence Viridian Skyshimmer Seaheart the Third – my grandfather is actually viridian colored.”

Autumn and Sky had been passing the time they spent wandering through Everfree by asking each other questions. Most of what Autumn asked Sky was trivial, but Sky was using the opportunity to learn as much as he could about the Order of Everlasting Truth and all the other things he had missed before joining up. For someone who claimed to dislike history, he took a fervent fascination with their quest.

“My turn,” Sky said, “How did you know that the gem in the Pinkamena room was one of the items you were looking for?”

Autumn opened her mouth to respond–

“Besides the fact that they glow. I mean, couldn’t they just be two magic stones from around the same time?”

Autumn pondered this for a moment. The truth was, she wasn’t really sure how she knew either. Even before she had observed them acting strange when near each other, there was something compelling about the balloon-shaped gem that she couldn’t ignore. It was the same compelling feeling she got from the first gem, but only after she had found the second one. It was as if bringing them together had reignited some ancient unknown magic that Autumn was unusually adept at picking up on.

“Gut feeling, I suppose.” Autumn chose not to explain this all to Sky, at least not until she understood it better herself.

Sky shrugged the vague answer off and moved on to his next question. “So I get why you’re involved in this business, being a descendant of Applemap or whoever, but what does she have to do with all this?” On the word “she” Sky flapped his front legs in a crude effort to mime a pair of wings.

Autumn stifled a laugh. “You mean Indy? Oh she’s–”

“Autumn’s best friend.” Indigo swooped down from above and landed defensively next to Autumn. She had been circling high in the sky, searching in the distance for the illusive town of Ponyville. “I am here because Autumn trusts me and because I watch her back and have always been there for her. Unlike you, Autumn chose to have me along.”

“Touchy,” smirked Sky, brushing by her, “Still jealous you could never start that fire?”

Indigo did not respond, she simply stood in placed and made growling noises. Sky snickered to himself as he walked through the trees ahead of the other two. He was generally a nice pony, but he took a bit too much pleasure in teasing Indigo.

“That unicorn is getting on my last nerve,” Indy grumbled.

“You really should try to get along with him,” Autumn suggested, “He’s not that bad when you get to know him.” She began walking after Sky.

“Get to know him?” Indigo walked alongside Autumn, pushing her way through the dense flora. “I know plenty about him, thank you. I know that he he’s a con artist and that he blackmailed us into bringing him along. Isn’t that enough to warrant caution?”

“He only started fixing dice games so he could make money to pay for arts school. He says he wants to be an actor.” Autumn explained.

“Yeah, he says.”

“And although I admit the blackmailing was a shallow move, it’s not like he hasn’t been helpful. Besides, he apologized for that.” Autumn took a moment to step over a rather large boulder. “I think he’ll end up doing a lot more good for us than you think. Like I said, he’s a good guy.”

“Autumn, it’s just–” Indigo ducked under a low-hanging branch. “I don’t want you getting… distracted or anything. Honestly, we just met him.”

“Distracted?” Autumn stopped in her tracks. “What is that supposed to mean?”

Indigo started to answer, but was interrupted by Sky, who had walked back to meet his lagging companions. “Say,” he said, “Have you two noticed anything funny about the trail lately?”

Autumn and Indigo looked down at their hooves and at the terrain around them.

“Like how we don’t seem to be on it anymore?”

“Oh no…” Autumn frantically swiveled around, desperately trying to find the narrow dirt path. “Oh no, this is bad. How could we lose the trail?” She turned to Indigo. “You were flying up above us, did you not see it stray off somewhere?”

“First of all, I can barley see anything through the canopy; you’re lucky I managed to follow you at all from way up there. Second,” she pointed a hoof at Sky, “Captain smart-mouth over here was walking out front, so why aren’t you blaming him?”

“Did you at least see the town?” Sky asked in an effort to change the subject, “Which direction is it? How far?”

“No, I did not see the town,” Indigo retorted grumpily, “All I could see for miles in every direction was forest. This place is like an infinite sea of thick green loneliness.”

“Great! Wonderful! Perfect!” Autumn stomped off into the trees, kicking everything out of her way. “The one thing Ambrosia warned us not to do, and we manage to screw it up on the first day. Great Job, Autumn!” She sat down heavily in the grass, feeling despondent and a little frightened.

For a few minutes, nopony said anything. Sky and Indigo stood awkwardly next to each other, both feeling as though they were somehow at fault for their current circumstances – not to mention Autumn’s despair. Sky wanted to say something comforting, but he struggled to find the right words. In the end, in was Indigo who was first to offer reassurance.

“If it makes you feel any better, I still think you’re the best pony to make the plan.”

“Right,” Autumn said, “A plan… I can’t really think right now. How about we just set up camp early, and get a fresh start in the morning?”

“Sounds good, chief!” said Indigo, “I’ll get the tent out.”

“And I’ll collect some wood,” Sky chimed in.

The other two scurried off to perform their duties, leaving Autumn alone to consider their predicament. She felt the tracking stone hanging around her neck. How embarrassing would that be, having to use it after only one day?

Autumn put it out of her mind and went to help Indigo set up the tent.

* * *

“Interesting…” he stroked his beard as he followed the three young ponies through the Everfree Forest. “It would seem that they know almost nothing of the significance of the Elements, yet they endeavor to collect them.”

How such average ponies ever came across the gems was beyond his comprehension. There was nothing particularly special about any of them; they barely even seemed old enough to be on their own. If he had not seen them for himself, he would never have believed that two of the Elements of Harmony were tucked away inside that lumpy saddlebag.

There was something intriguing about the Earth Pony, though.

He hadn’t noticed it at first, but there was something strangely familiar about her. It was almost as if he had met her before. Of course, that was impossible: he hadn’t been in Equestria for many centuries. Still, there was a perplexing nature about the girl; he just couldn’t seem to put a finger on it.

He knew he needed to figure out what was going on, but he couldn’t decide how to go about it.

“Hmmmm…” He smiled goofily. “Perhaps I should do what I do best: introduce a little mischief to the situation.”

He cracked his knuckles, and with a snap of his claw twisted the dirt path the ponies were following off to the side. They continued into the uncharted wilderness, completely unaware of their loss of direction.

He chuckled to himself. “It seems I’ve still got it. Now let’s watch and see what happens.”

* * *

Autumn quietly stepped out of the tent, closing the flap behind her. She then tip-hoofed around a snoring Indigo, who was sprawled out only half on her bed roll. Autumn hadn’t been able to sleep at all. She had stared blankly at the tent ceiling for hours before finally opting to take a short walk for fresh air.

She still couldn’t decide how they were going to make it to Ponyville, or anywhere for that matter. They were lost in the vast and dangerous Everfree Forest with no idea where they were on the map and no way to know what direction they should be going. She just didn’t understand how they could have lost the trail like that.

About ten meters outside the campsite, Autumn came across a rocky stream. She decided to walk along the shallow creek for a ways, but not too far; it was unwise to stray very far from camp.

Autumn reconsidered the possibility of using the amulet to contact Ambrosia. She didn’t like the idea of calling her back after such a short time, but there was little else she could think to do. The only other option was to choose a direction and walk until they came across something. In the expansive Everfree Forest though, it was more likely they’d come across something life-threatening than helpful.

Autumn stared at the ground as she walked, deep in concentration. So deep, in fact, that she banged her head right into a very large solid object sitting in the path of the stream. She groaned and rubbed her throbbing head, looking up to see what it was she had hit. At first, she couldn’t make sense of what she was seeing. It was at least three meters tall, oddly shaped, and multi-colored. She took a step back to get a better look, and her jaw dropped. Two massive gemstones – an orange one in the shape of an apple and a blue one in the shape of a balloon – stood embedded in the soil on either side of the creek.

“Wha…?” Autumn struggled with words. “How did we not notice these?”

“Well, they didn’t exist until a few moments ago.”

Autumn let out a startled gasp at the unexpected response to her question. It was a relaxed – almost joking – male’s voice; and it belonged to the strangest creature she had ever seen.

Rocking casually back and forth in a hammock strung between the two monoliths, was a beast that looked as though he had been stitched together from a number of animals. As if this weren’t strange enough, he wore a pair of sunglasses and held a tropical drink with a silly straw.

Autumn blinked a few times. Certainly, she must be dreaming.

“Autumn Breeze,” he began, taking a sip from his drink, “An interesting name; very poetic in that way ponies are so fond of.” Suddenly, the hammock, drink, and sunglasses had vanished, and the creature was floating in midair between the two stones. “What is it that makes her so special?”

The two massive gemstones instantly dissolved into a twisting writhing mass of vines which began slithering rapidly towards Autumn. She yelped and tried to back away, but the plant moved too quickly and had grabbed her legs before she could react. They flipped her upside-down and lifted her several meters in the air, putting her at eye-level with the creature.

“I give up,” he said shrugging, “I’ve been trying to figure you out for an entire day now, but I just can’t seem to make heads or tails of what it is that sets you apart from any other pony.”

“Who are you?” Autumn shouted. She struggled with the vines, not unlike she had done at the edge of the forest the other day. “What do you want with me?”

The strange creature ignored her, pacing back and forth on an invisible floor. “I’ve ruled out royalty, and seeing as you’re still wing-less and have remained the same shape for more than a day I can safely assume you’re not a changeling. The only other option I can even think of is some sort of treasure hunter; but you’re so young, you and your even-less-interesting companions.”

“You leave my friends alone!” Autumn struggled harder against the vines. She was becoming frightened of how long it was taking her to wake up from this nightmare.

“Yes, your ‘friends’. Let’s talk about them for a moment.” He reached up and pulled a projector screen down from thin air. Images began to flash across it; scenes featuring the trio from the past couple of days. “A blue pegasus with a red and purple mane, a short temper, and a knack for wilderness survival. I surmise that she can be quite the trouble-maker; although, you must be good friends, because you’ve put up with her this long. Her cutie mark is typical of many pegasi: a horseshoe with a pair of wings. Perhaps it refers to her passion for flight, perhaps it has some deeper meaning; I don’t really care. She is average, uninteresting.”

The Images transitioned from focusing on Indigo to shots of Sky. They played like a film, but couldn’t have been taken with any camera; as if they were being projected directly from his mind onto the screen.

“The green unicorn you seem to have a fondness for, which is surprising because I assumed you would not have much in common. The other one clearly doesn’t like him very much, but I am unable to tell if he is bothered by this. His cutie mark is unique, as there is a different image on either flank. One side is a comedic mask, and the other a tragic mask; either he is very interested in theatre or deception is his game, maybe both. He is also average and just as uninteresting. But you…”

The vines that held Autumn disappeared, and she fell into a large pile of pillows that had not been there a few seconds before.

“You are different. There is something immensely not-average about you, and I would very much like to know what it is.” He moved in very close to Autumn and looked her directly in the eye. His one fang hung out the side of his twisted grin. There was absolutely nothing cohesive or straightforward about this character.

“I know I’m dreaming,” Autumn began, “but this is getting really weird. I need to wake up.” She began shaking her head vigorously and stomping her hooves on the ground, making her look quite silly.

“I’m afraid that won’t do you much good,” he chuckled, “If this is a dream then it certainly isn't yours, because I’ve been in it since before you were born.”

“If I’m not dreaming…” Autumn narrowed her eyes in confusion, “Then who in Equestria are you?”

“Hmmm…” The creature put a pipe to his mouth that puffed a steady stream of bubbles. “Difficult to answer; I go by many names. Who am I, though? Who really am I? I am everything that ponykind and the citizens of Equestria are afraid to embrace. I am the embodiment of disarray, confusion, and disharmony. I am the harbinger of mayhem, the herald of bedlam, the patron saint of all things chaotic!” He extended a mismatched eagle claw in a mock gesture of companionship. “You can call me Discord.”

“Right…” Autumn chose not to accept the shake. “And what is it you want from me again?”

“Enlightenment,” Discord said, his voice taking a refreshingly serious turn, “You have in your possession ancient items of unspeakable power; items that I happen to have a very personal history with. No average pony could bear the responsibility of the Elements, and so I want to know how you – a seemingly average pony – have come to possess two of them.”

“Unspeakable power?” Autumn repeated, “I think you’re mistaken. We are just average ponies. I mean, we have a few old relics with us but–”

“Nonsense.” Discord was determined to get an answer to his question. “You carry the Elements of Honesty and Laughter, no? You have them in your bag. I saw them.”

“What do you mean Elements? I have no idea what–” Autumn suddenly made the connection. “…The gems? The apple and the balloon? Those are the ancient items you are talking about?”

“Remarkable!” Discord began pacing circles around Autumn, stroking his beard thoughtfully as he did. “You seem to have no grasp of the significance of the items you carry. I suppose that makes sense, what with big bad Celestia so unwilling to acknowledge her past. I still don't understand how it is that you have them, though. Tell me, where did you get the Elements?”

Remembering what Ambrosia had said about dangerous ponies lurking in the forest, Autumn began to back away suspiciously. “I don’t think that’s any of your business…”

“Oh, don’t be so unforthcoming.” Autumn backed right into something. She whirled around to find that Discord had changed places instantaneously. “I think you’ll find me to be more than trustworthy.” He put on a devilish grin and then tapped Autumn strongly on the top of her head.

Autumn’s head began to spin, and she was overcome with a strange sensation somewhere between nausea and drowsiness. The world around her grew grey and blurry, and she found it difficult to stand up straight. She also had the strongest urge to tell this creature everything she knew. “Of course you’re trustworthy,” she found herself saying, “What do you want to know?”

“Wonderful!” Discord smirked, “Where did you get the Elements?”

“We got the blue one from a magical research facility in Hidden Springs. It was in a storage room where they kept old records and a rusty cannon. I stole it from a display case. The orange one was given to me by my mother back at the sanctuary before we started on our quest.”

“Oh dear, this is much more interesting than I thought.” Discord conjured up a comfy chair and a tub of popcorn and took a seat. “I’m going to need you to elaborate, my dear.”

So Autumn told the draconequus her whole story, about how she had run away from home after getting a mysterious note from a hooded pony. About how she and Indigo had stumbled across the sanctuary of the Order of Everlasting Truth, and learned of the quest to unlock the secrets kept far beneath the Library of Canterlot. She explained how they had persuaded Sky to let them into the facility, and how his mother had brought them right to the second gem without them even knowing it. She told him where they had been and where they were headed; who had helped them and who was after them; all the while Discord simply sat and listened, munching on the occasional piece of popcorn.

When Autumn had finished, Discord took a few minutes to organize his thoughts, as well as let her regain her former consciousness. He tapped his fingers and considered his options. Somewhere at the back of his mind, the soft voice of an old friend reminded him that he needed to consider the moral consequences of his actions as well.

Autumn stumbled around and shook her head, slowly sliding back into reality. Discord watched her and thought to himself how pitiful the scene was. Did she really think she was going to be the savior of Equestria? No, he supposed, she didn’t think that. She did not understand the magnitude of the quest she had undertaken.

“I have made my decision!” Discord declared, rising from his seat, “I came here to enjoy myself, and relive some of my fondest memories. This seems like exactly the kind of thing that could ruin a good time if I were to get tangled up in it, so I won’t!” Discord leapt into the air, and the popcorn and chair disappeared beneath him. “I will, however, offer you some free advice: Do not be so quick to trust those who got to you first. There are forces at work here that you cannot possibly comprehend, and every story has more that one side. I am no more a fan of the Princess than you are, but she has very clear reasons for doing what she did; and she will not be too pleased when she discovers you attempting to undo centuries of her work (if she has not already discovered you, that is).”

Discord turned and began to slither his way back into the dark of the forest. Autumn, who had only just managed to shake off the effects of his spell, called out to him right before he completely vanished.

“Wait!” she called, “Now it’s your turn.”

“I’m afraid I don’t follow.” Discord replied.

“I answered your questions, so now it’s your turn to answer mine. That’s how the game works.” Autumn had no idea what she was doing, but she wanted answers out of this strange being and she saw no other way to get to him.

Discord stared at her for a moment and then burst into roaring laughter. It was amusing and frightening at the same time. “You’re clever, I’ll give you that,” he said, wiping a tear from his eye, “Very well, what would you like to know?”

“How do you know about these… Elements?” Autumn asked, “It’s supposed to be an ancient secret.”

“Simple,” Discord chuckled, “I’m almost as ‘ancient’ as the Elements themselves. Of course, I haven’t been within a thousand miles of them for quite some time now. What is it, six-hundred years since I was in Equestria last? Maybe more.”

“Six-hundred years?” Autumn repeated, astounded, “But… but that doesn’t make any sense.”

“Oh, what fun is there in making sense?” Discord put a scaly arm around Autumn. “The world makes far too much sense as it is, don’t you think? Here in Equestria, things aren’t allowed to not make sense anymore; that’s why I left.” He pivoted himself so that his muzzle was pressed up against Autumn’s. “And it’s all thanks to those colorful little rocks you’re carrying around in your bag.”

“Do you know what they do? Or where they came from?” Autumn asked eagerly, “Oh! Or where we can find the others? Can you tell me?”

“No, no, no, I’ve already answered your question.” He pulled a comically large pocket watch out from behind his back and flipped it open. “It seems that I’ve run out of time and really must be going. Good evening to you.”

“Wait!” she begged, “I would really appreciate it if–“

“I do not need your appreciation, miss Breeze, nor anypony’s other than my own. I’ve already said that I refuse to involve myself in this dreadful business and wish to put as much distance – both mental and physical – between myself and those gems as possible!”

“But you have to help us!” Autumn shouted, the desperation in her voice now clear.

“I have to?” Discord stopped once more and turned to address the pony. “Did you just suggest that I have to do something? I do not think you understand. I bow to nopony!” His voice took a dark and frightening turn. “I thrive off of the unpredictable and disorderly, I have NO obligation nor responsibility to do anything. But go on, amuse me. Why do I ‘have’ to help you?”

“Because… because you need us to succeed,” Autumn said.

Discord raised a bushy eyebrow, but allowed her to continue.

“If these ‘elements’ are as powerful as you say they are, then we can use them to change the way things are in Equestria. You said it yourself, they where the reason you left in the first place; so we can make them the reason to bring you back.” Autumn took a moment to choose her next words carefully. “I can’t make you help us, but that doesn’t mean you can’t choose to.”

Discord smiled and shook his head. “Once again, I applaud your exceptional cleverness. I suppose you are right, miss Breeze; there are ancient magics in this world than even I can’t control. Magical forces that existed long before ponykind, before me, and before your Princess.” He shifted his gaze upwards through the trees, to the shimmering stars above, “Even Celestia and I must submit ourselves to the ultimate will of destiny.”

“So you’ll help us then?” Autumn asked excitedly.

Discord looked back down at the young pony and smiled broadly, showing off his one long fang once again. “Don’t you worry about that my dear,” he chuckled, “Like you said before, this is all just a dream.”

Darkness.

* * *

Autumn’s eyes shot open, and she sat bolt upright. For a moment, she did not understand what she was looking at; it was pale green and leathery. She quickly came to her senses, and realized that she was seeing the inside of her tent. She shook her head and looked around.

She didn’t understand. Just a moment ago she had been talking to a strange and powerful creature in the woods. She was so close to getting his help; what happened? How did she get here?

Looking down she saw her sleeping bag twisted around her, as if she had been tossing and turning all night. Sky was still asleep on the other side of the tent. His face was buried in his pillow, snoring away without a care in the world.

The thought that it had all just been a dream crept through her mind. A very strange and creepy dream, but a dream no less. The more she thought about it, the more it seemed the most plausible solution. Disappointment and frustration washed over her. This meant they were still lost in the woods with absolutely no way out. The same sense of failure she had experienced the night before was once again upon her.

She did not have much time to dwell before a shout from outside the tent drew her attention. “Autumn!” called the unmistakable voice of Indigo, “You need to get out here!”

Autumn clambered out of the tent, expecting to see more redweed or something equally as dangerous. Instead, she found Indigo frantically looking around the peaceful campsite.

“What is it? What did you see?” Autumn asked.

“Look around,” said Indigo. Autumn obliged, looking left and right around the site. “Notice anything strange?”

“All I see is trees,” Autumn admitted.

“We moved!” Indigo exclaimed, a hint of fear in her voice, “We’re in a different location than we were when we set up camp yesterday!”

“That’s impossible,” Autumn replied. The more she looked around though, the more she began to see what Indigo meant. The forest was different than she remembered: it was much thinner and let in far more sunshine. On top of that, she could here songbirds that would never venture very far into Everfree, and there was no sign of the small brook nearby or their fire pit.

“Oh my gosh, I think you’re right.” Autumn’s mouth hung open in awe. “But how in Equestria…?”

“What’s all this commotion?” Sky asked groggily, popping his head out from the tent.

Something caught Autumn’s eye through the trees. She trotted over to get a better look at what revealed itself to be a sign post stuck in the ground alongside a wide dirt path. Autumn gasped.

“The trail!” she shouted.

“The trail? You found it?” Sky asked, digging around in his saddlebag, “How did we miss it when– Hey! Who replaced all my food with popcorn!?”

Autumn suddenly realized that it hadn't been a dream at all. She knew exactly how their campsite had moved in the middle of the night without them noticing. Why here? she thought, Why did he bring us here?

She refocused on the wooden signpost. It was very old, and the letters had nearly worn away. She could only barely make out the words printed upon it: Ponyville, Dead Ahead.

* * *

“Goats, goats, always with the goats.” Discord leaned back against a large boulder and watched yet another goat meander by.

He sighed and twirled his tail in the air, and the goat’s horns grew several times their normal size. The extra weight caused the creature to topple forward, legs flailing in the air. It bleated helplessly, completely unable to move. Pitiful.

Discord was consistently bored these days. He knew that adjusting to a new home would be difficult, but this was worse than torture.

The first place he had gone after being banished by Celestia was the faraway land of zebras. He knew that they were similar to ponies, and had hoped they would be just as entertaining to mess with. Unfortunately, he had overlooked the fact that most zebras are skilled practitioners of magic and enchantments. After the first few unpleasant experiences, he decided to find a less resourceful population to live among.

He tried the griffon kingdom, the fire swamps, the frozen north, and a few places where there was no intelligent life at all. He even spent some time in dragon territory. None of it felt right though, and so he always ended up moving on to a different place.

Eventually, he found himself in the mountainous nation of the minotaurs. They were not intelligent creatures, and they had very short tempers. Their tendency to overreact and explode into fits of rage was entertaining at first, though it quickly became tiresome. After a hundred years or so of watching them roar angrily and smash things, his interest had waned. He considered taking over and reshaping the landscape to fit his chaotic preferences; something similar to what he had done twice before in the land of Equestria. It wasn’t worth it though, he decided. That urge had been significantly diminished many years ago by a pegasus – the closest thing he had ever had to a friend. Besides, it just wouldn’t be the same without the familiarity of that distant land he once called home.

Instead, the draconequus slinked into the mountains, and had been biding his time with the region’s surprisingly dense goat population. Life was mundane. He didn’t know what to do with himself. There are only so many ways to entertain oneself with goats and rocks.

Discord flicked his tail again, returning the creature’s horns to normal size. It was shaping up to be yet another dull uninteresting day. Luckily for him, something surprising suddenly happened.

A pegasus pony, an actual pony, swooped down and landed directly in front of him. She looked rugged, clearly having travelled for days to get there, and she wore a long black traveling cloak with a brown burlap satchel.

“You are the spirit called Discord?” she asked rather bluntly.

Discord blinked once to make sure he wasn’t hallucinating. “That depends on whether you’re talking to me or to Charlie here.” He pulled a nearby goat closer and put an arm around it. It felt good to act like his old self again.

The pegasus was unamused. She reached into her satchel and pulled out a folded piece of parchment which she threw on the ground in front of him. “She said you’d know what it means.” With that, the newcomer took flight once more and was headed back the way she came.

“Wait! Leaving so soon?” Discord called after her, “I could make us some goat’s milk tea!” No use, the pegasus vanished as quickly as she had appeared. “Drat…” Discord was disappointed. He could have had some fun.

He turned his attention to the parchment the pegasus had left behind, which still lay folded on the ground. He picked it up and opened it curiously, wondering who would be trying to contact him. It read:

A great change is coming. I am certain you can feel it too. It is the same feeling I had before the Ascension Summit, meaning Equestria may be in grave danger. I know you still care for your homeland, and I know you long to return. I advise that you do so promptly. I will most likely have already arrived on it’s shores by the time you receive this letter. Celestia may be stubborn, but she can be reasoned with; I know this better than anyone.

We can no longer avoid the inevitable. The time for action is upon us. Destiny awaits.

The loopy lettering had clearly been written using magic, meaning the sender was a unicorn. Discord recognized the style at once, he knew exactly who had sent the letter.

Discord crossed his arms behind his back and strolled casually around his boulder. “Well Charlie, it seems we finally have an interesting situation. Perhaps this won’t be such a bad day after all.” He began stroking his beard. “I certainly have no intention of confronting Celestia or getting myself involved in any of this tedious political business, but I have been waiting for an opportunity to go back… Yes… Yes, I think a short trip to Equestria might be just the refreshing experience I need. I’ll lay low, of course, stay out of sight; but won’t it be fun to see my old stomping grounds again!

Besides,” he said, grinning at Charlie who was busy munching on the parchment paper, “how could I miss the touching reunion of Equestria's royal sisters?”

Hiding in Plain Sight

5
Hiding in Plain Sight

She looked breathtakingly beautiful in her royal gown.

I have had more than my share of prideful moments, but never in my life have I been more proud of anypony than I was of Twilight Sparkle on the day of her coronation. Not just anyone can become a Princess, you know. It is true that I have the power to bestow the title upon my subjects, but only the purest of heart are strong enough to receive it. I have never attempted to crown an individual who was not worthy, and I do not wish to know what would happen if I did.

Twilight was by far my greatest accomplishment. Since the day I first laid eyes on her, uncontrollably discharging powerful magic far beyond her years, I knew she was the one. It had been millennia since my Sister and I revealed the prophecy. I finally felt that it was coming true.

The years she spent as my student were a test of Twilight’s abilities and resourcefulness. She faced some of the most difficult challenges I had ever seen. The defeat of Nightmare Moon was a momentous occasion in itself; but her triumph over Discord, Chrysalis, and even the forgotten King Sombra were feats I may not have been able to accomplish myself. The entire time, she remained faithful to me and to the meaning of the Elements of Harmony.

Her final test – Starswirl the Bearded’s unfinished destiny spell – was a mere formality. I was far from surprised when she completed it. All she needed then was for me to give my blessing, and Equestria had its newest Princess.

From that point onward, she was easily the most popular pony in the kingdom. There wasn’t an earth pony, pegasus, or unicorn alive who didn’t know of the great Twilight Sparkle who had risen from the working class ranks of Ponyville to become an alicorn Princess. In a way, I suppose that is still the case today.

Truthfully, she was not quite the underdog success story everypony thought she was. I had brought her up specifically for this purpose; guided her down the necessary path since she was a filly. Popularity was a good sign, though. If she was going to become the savior of Equestria, it was imperative that she had the admiration of its citizens.

After her crowning had been made official, all that was left was for her to take the final step. Naturally, I had absolute faith in her. She had never let me down in the past, so why should I have expected any different?

On the day of the Ascension Summit the other Princesses and myself awaited Twilight’s arrival with great anticipation (or in Luna’s case, anxiousness). I had set aside the Grand Hall just for the purpose of our meeting. Once the Summit began, the doors would close. Only crowned royalty would be allowed inside, and the doors would not reopen until the assembly had come to a conclusion.

Cadence and I shared elated excitement. I remember reminiscing merrily with her about all the wonderful experiences we had with Twilight. I hadn't gotten to see much of Cadence after the return of the Crystal Empire, so it was good to catch up with her and bond over our appreciation for Twilight – which was ultimately what we had most in common.

My sister remained quiet. She had ceased her protesting after it became clear that there was nothing she could do to delay the Summit. Although I had tried repeatedly to ease her anxiety, she remained convinced that I had made my decision too hastily. She spoke of a sense of foreboding about the events to come. At the time I didn’t understand (or perhaps I chose not to understand), but Luna was genuinely worried about what we were doing. She was consumed with the idea that I was putting Equestria in grave danger.

Oh, how I wish I had listened to her.

All I can say is that I was blinded by ambition and overconfidence. Likewise, I chose to ignore Luna and her cautious disposition. I let out a cry of joy at the sound of the trumpets outside. My eyes were swimming with anticipation. Princess Twilight Sparkle had arrived.

* * *

It was a seasonably warm morning in the Everfree Forest; warmer than the woodland creatures had seen for many months. As Spring drew to a close, the forest began to change in the same subtle ways it had every year for as long as the oldest trees had stood. The songbirds’ eggs had all hatched, and the branches were full of the sound of chirping fledgelings. The flowers were beginning to disappear, but they were replaced by healthy green bulbs which would eventually grow into fruits and vegetables. Even the weather was changing. The heavy rain and thunderstorms that plagued the forest were scarce these days; and the sun could often be seen peeking through the dense canopy, bathing the underbrush in it’s warm glow.

Despite its sinister reputation, Everfree was a picturesque image of the harmonious balance of nature. The tranquility of the forest was something to behold. It seldom had visitors, but those who dared venture into the untamed wilderness were often entranced by its feral beauty.

At the extreme western edge of the vast forest, several ponies made their way quickly through the trees. These visitors had no time to be inspired by Everfree’s allure. In fact, all three of them were far too preoccupied with what lay outside the forest to stop for even a minute and admire their surroundings. They made quite a commotion, offsetting the natural equilibrium, but they wouldn’t be in Everfree for much longer. Their sights were set beyond the forest’s reaches.

At the front of the group, Autumn Breeze trotted swiftly along the old dirt road. Her bag had been packed hastily, and every few steps she had to nudge something back inside. She was attempting to explain very surreal circumstances to her traveling companions and navigate at the same time. The ponies had awoken that morning in a completely different location than they had bedded the night before, but Indigo and Sky were having trouble believing Autumn’s story about the immortal spirit of chaos who moved them there.

“You’re absolutely sure it wasn’t a dream?” Sky asked. He was nearly galloping in effort to keep up with her.

“That’s what I thought, at first,” Autumn explained, not bothering to turn around, “but how else could we have moved in our sleep like that? Plus all that stuff he said about the gems and the ancient secrets; it all makes sense!”

“I think you and I have very different ideas about what makes sense.” Indigo had resorted to flying just above the ground to keep speed.

“Look, it doesn’t matter,” Autumn replied. “The point is, we’re almost there and we have no time to lose. Ambrosia said we should get to Canterlot before the Summer Sun Celebration. That’s only two weeks from now.”

Indigo laughed. “Two weeks to find one gem? I think we can manage that.”

“How do you know there’s only one more?” Sky asked.

“That’s what your mother said, isn’t it?” Indigo inquired, “That there shouldn’t be more than three?”

“Yes, she seems to think so,” Autumn conceded, hints of scorn detectable in her voice, “but we can’t afford to take any chances. As soon as we get to Ponyville, I’m going straight to the mayor or town council or whoever's in charge and asking them directly where we can find artifacts from the time of Applejack.”

“Is that really safe?” asked Sky, “What if there are guards around?”

“Trust me,” Autumn laughed, “Ponyville isn’t even prominent enough to make it onto any modern maps. It would be the last place in the whole kingdom that needs guards.” A pressing thought suddenly occurred to Autumn, and she furrowed her brow in concentration. “Still… It’s strange that I haven’t heard of it before. Back in Manehattan, I spent all my time learning about faraway places. Plus I don’t think the trains run through here anymore, which means the ponies who live there are completely cut off. Indy, go up above the trees and see how close we are.”

Indigo obliged, lifting herself up and out of sight of the earthbound ponies.

“If they’re cut off from the rest of the country, couldn’t that mean they aren’t too friendly towards visitors?” Sky asked nervously.

“Good point,” Autumn conceded, “I suppose we’ll have to scope it out before we enter the town. We don’t want to run into any hostile locals.”

“I don’t think that will be a problem,” Indigo said. She had just swooped back down between the other two.

“What do you mean by that?” Autumn asked, “Did you see Ponyville?”

“Yes I did,” Indigo replied, “and it looked completely–”

“Docile?” Sky suggested, “Was it a normal small town like Hidden Springs? Or a farming commune?”

“No,” Indigo said, “the town looked–”

“Oh! Was it a non-pony town?” asked Autumn, “Like a minotaur community or a zebra village?”

“No,” Indigo repeated, “It looked–”

“STOP!” Autumn came to a sliding halt at the tree line.

They had reached the edge of the Everfree Forest. Before them lay the town of Ponyville, although it could hardly be called a town anymore. Vines and weeds had overtaken almost every building, many of which had been worn down to no more than bare foundations. The cracked cobblestone streets were in a dismal state, and the once iconic Ponyville Clock Tower lay rotting on its side. Nopony had lived here for hundreds of years.

“Deserted,” Indigo finished her sentence, “I was going to say the town looked completely deserted.”

The three of them stared into the ruins, not quite sure what their next step was. Even Sky, who had only learned of Ponyville’s existence the day before, was expecting some kind of permanent population.

“I guess we know why it wasn’t on my first map…” Autumn remarked. She slowly began to walk forward, followed closely by her companions.

Sky clearly found Ponyville very unnerving, judging by how tightly he kept himself behind Autumn. “Why do you think it was abandoned?” he asked.

Neither Autumn nor Indigo had an answer for his question, so they remained silent. The trio walked slowly and quietly between the decaying buildings, looking left and right for any sign of life.

It was like a ghost town, but somehow creepier. After the residents of Ponyville moved out, the Everfree Forest had begun slithering its way in. Anything that wasn’t overtaken by vines was on the verge of collapsing due to termite damage and weathering. Only a few of the buildings were still recognizable. They passed a cracked storefront window displaying the rotting wooden frames of what used to be sofas, although there were also a number of quills scattered on the decaying floor. A large stone dome-shaped building was mostly intact, but it was so heavily covered in ivy that it was impossible to discern what it might have been. They even saw the concrete foundations of what must have served as a bowling alley, now covered in thistle brush.

They wound their way through the ancient streets, occasionally popping their heads inside a deserted store or house, looking for something or someone that might help them. Their search was ultimately unsuccessful, and the three of them had to accept that they were the only ponies in Ponyville. They eventually found themselves at the center of town sitting in a circle around their supplies. Not that any of them were aware, but they happened to be using the old wall supports of Ponyville Town Hall as stools.

“Ok, let’s just go over what we know,” Autumn suggested, “We know Applejack lived here, and we know that we’re probably looking for more gems like the ones in here.” She tapped the saddlebag which contained the apple and balloon. “We know Pinkamena also had one of them, and that she had some connection to Twilight Sparkle. We’re not sure if Applejack had any connection with Pinkamena or Princess Twilight–”

“So we have no reason to believe that any of the other gems would be here,” Indigo pointed out. “The fact that we found one in Hidden Springs proves that these things could have been scattered all over Equestria.”

“Even so, this is still the best lead we’ve got,” Autumn insisted. “I think it’s worth spending a day or two looking around the place.”

“Those gems are pretty small, Autumn,” Sky observed, gesturing towards her bag. “Given that we have a whole town to search, it’ll be like finding a needle in a haystack.”

Autumn opened her bag and carefully lifted the artifacts out into her hooves. They glowed faintly with their mysterious magical energy. She had to admit that finding such a small item was unlikely, but she had done it once before. She placed them on a flat stone where the three of them could see, hoping they would help spark better ideas.

“We’re looking for clues more than anything,” she said. “Finding another one of these would be an extra bonus.”

Sky shrugged and leaned back against a fallen column. “I guess I wouldn’t mind spending a couple days here. The weather is certainly nice; not a cloud in the sky. Well, except for that big one over there, but it doesn’t look like it’s moving towards us.”

Autumn turned her attention to the part of the horizon Sky was referring to. A large solitary white cloud hovered to the northwest, just to the left of the massive mountain on which Canterlot was perched. It was more than just a cloud, though. There were blocky lumps atop it, and ribbons of rainbow could be faintly seen flowing over its edge like great prismatic waterfalls.

“Oh my gosh!” Autumn exclaimed, reaching inside her bag for the old map. “I think that’s Cloudsdale!”

“Oh?” said Sky, squinting into the distance. “Where they make the movies?”

“No, that’s Applewood in Los Pegasus. Clousdale is where the Equestrian Rainbow Factory is,” Indigo corrected him.

“Ah ha!” exclaimed Autumn. She jabbed at a black dot on the map in the same location as the distant cloud. “I was right! That’s one of the oldest cities in Equestria; it’s been here since the first ponies came to this land from the frozen north. Very cool.” Autumn was feeling satisfied with herself: seeing Cloudsdale was one of the first things on her bucket list.

“It might be cool, but it doesn’t really help us,” Indigo reminded her. “All they’ve got up there is a rainbow factory and the Wonderbolts Museum. Nothing that has to do with Twilight Sparkle or Applejack.”

Gears once again began to grind in Autumn’s head. A tiny lightbulb flickered in the back of her mind. Wonderbolts… Wonderbolts… why does that seem important? She concentrated on the last few days; what they had heard, where they had found the last gem–

“Rainbow Dash!” cried Autumn suddenly, causing Indigo and Sky to jump slightly. “In that display case in Hidden Springs, next to this,” she held up the blue balloon, “there was a photograph of Pinkamena with Rainbow Dash! If they knew each other, then maybe we can learn more about how Pinkamena got her gem by working backwards from Rainbow Dash!”

“You really think that’s gonna help?” asked Indigo, “Rainbow Dash was one of the most famous Wonderbolts of all time, she probably had lots of friends.”

“Pinkamena chose to keep that photograph out of all the things she owned. That means that they must have had some kind of very special close relationship.” Autumn eagerly began to pace back and forth. “I’ll bet there are still plenty of records and accounts of Rainbow’s life, and some of those are bound to have information about Pinkamena. We can then use that information to get closer to finding out more about Twilight Sparkle!”

“I… guess that make sense,” Sky said hesitantly, “How do we go about doing all this?”

“Easy,” said Autumn with a smile, turning to her best friend, “you are going up there to visit the Wonderbolts Museum.”

“Whoa, what?” Indigo asked, “You want me to go to Cloudsdale? Why me?”

Autumn merely stared at her.

“Oh, right…” said Indigo, remembering her wings. “So what, are you guys just gonna sit on your hooves and wait for me to do all the hard work?”

“Of course not,” Autumn assured her, “Sky and I will spend our time searching the ruins of Ponyville for any other clues we can find. That way we’ll cover the most ground (and cloud) in a short amount of time.”

Indigo groaned and frowned. She had always wanted to visit Cloudsdale, and Autumn knew how to exploit her desire. There were a few concerns, though. For one, she still did not fully trust Sky, and did not like the idea of leaving the two of them alone together for an extended amount of time. Besides that, Autumn’s idea that finding out more about Twilight Sparkle by visiting a tourist attraction in a pegasus city seemed far fetched.

Autumn apparently recognized the doubt in Indigo’s eyes, because she offered more words of encouragement. “I know it’s a long shot, but it’s the best we’ve got. Will you do this for me Indy? As a friend?”

Indigo sighed and let a small smile onto her face. “As a friend, I’d do anything for you,” she said.

“You’re amazing,” Autumn declared. She pulled one of their saddle bags over and began putting various supplies inside. “You needn’t spend more than a day – unless you want to, of course – just long enough for you to gather up any information you can on Rainbow Dash’s connection to Pinkamena or Princess Twilight or anything. We’ll be here for you when you get back.”

“Isn’t it dangerous sending her out on her own?” Sky asked.

“I can handle myself just fine, thank you,” Indigo retorted.

“He’s right Indy,” Autumn pulled the tracking stone Ambrosia had given her from around her neck and placed it around Indigo’s. “You should take this and use it if there’s any trouble. It’s much more likely you’ll need it up there than we will down here.”

“If you say so.” Indigo squinted at the minuscule pearl-like talisman. She pulled her repacked saddlebag over her shoulders. “I’ll try to be back before tomorrow morning,” she said, “so just be careful until then.”

“Don’t worry about us,” Sky insisted. “We make a pretty good team.”

Indigo scoffed as she lifted herself off the ground, and muttered “You wish” under her breathe. She circled in the air a few times to gain altitude, and then was off at high speed towards the distant city of clouds.

“I hope she finds what we need,” Autumn said, more to herself than to Sky who was already busy rummaging for food.

“Hey, who’s to say we won’t find what we need right here in Ponyville,” he said, gesturing around the abandoned town, “but for right now, it’s lunch time. We missed breakfast, so I say double rations.”

“You go ahead and eat,” Autumn said. “I’m going to start looking around these buildings.”

“Slow down there, Sparky,” Sky insisted. “You need energy before you go treasure hunting. Besides, we don’t have a plan yet.” Sky offered her an oatmeal bar, which she reluctantly took and sat back down.

“I guess we could divide the town in half, and each take one side.” Autumn munched on her snack while she though out loud.

“Or we could do it by radius. Like one of us starts at the center of town and the other starts outside and we work our way towards each other,” Sky suggested as he slathered grape jelly on a slice of bread.

“Yeah,” Autumn agreed. “You could look around the town center here, and I would go out to the edge near the forest. That’s not a bad idea.” Autumn took another bite of oatmeal. “This square is recognizable enough. We could meet up here at dusk and compare anything we’ve found.”

“You know, this is kinda fun,” said Sky, biting into his sandwich. “It’s like one of those scavenger hunts you have when you’re little, just a lot more serious.”

“I’ve never been on a scavenger hunt,” Autumn admitted. “Manehattan isn’t exactly a prime location for that sort of thing. Plus there weren’t many ponies who were willing to associate with Indy and I.”

“I get that,” Sky said, finishing his sandwich. “We were always moving around, so I never had many friends. At least not ones my age.”

“Oh please, that can’t be true,” Autumn laughed, “a charming, cute guy like you?”

This remark was followed by the most awkward silence either pony had ever experienced. She wasn’t sure how that had slipped out, but Autumn sincerely wished that she hadn’t said it. After a few painful minutes of trying not to make eye contact, Autumn spoke up again.

“Errr… Right, well, I’m just gonna go now.”

“Yeah,” Sky agreed hastily, “I’ll be over there looking for… you know, stuff.”

The two of them hurried quickly in opposite directions, opting to put their minds back to more pressing matters.

Autumn made her way back to the Everfree Forest, where the tree line was buffered by a winding dirt lane. She walked along the road to the south for a ways, hoping to come across an enticing ruin. There was an old well with cracking stone walls – she decided it wasn’t worth exploring. What appeared to be an athletic track sat nestled in the corner of a beautiful field of flowers, although it was so overgrown that it couldn’t be any help. She did find one building that was in-tact enough to explore, but upon entering Autumn discovered only a few scattered pieces of lumber. It had been gutted before being abandoned.

Just when she was beginning to wonder if the search was pointless, she spotted something at the end of the road. The narrow dirt lane ended at a small pond, complete with lily pads and a family of ducks. On the other side of the pond was a quaint little cottage with a grass sod roof. The surrounding vegetation had grown up and over the domicile, but left the structure itself mostly undamaged.

What had caught Autumn’s eye though, was the tremendous number of bird houses that surrounded it. There had to be hundreds of them, all shapes and sizes. Every branch of the nearby trees had at least four or five little houses hung on it. What was even more amazing was that they seemed to be still in use. Wrens, sparrows, hummingbirds, finches, and dozens of other species that Autumn didn’t even recognize flitted through the air, chirping away happily with each other. Even the massive nest of an eagle was perched atop the thickest tree.

Autumn’s interest had been piqued, so she trotted closer to the pond’s edge to get a better look. She noticed that there was a broken walkway protruding slightly over the pond’s edge – what used to be a bridge. Now that she was closer, she could see that the house was not just in good shape for one that had been abandoned for so long, but it was in excellent shape. Besides the damaged bridge and a few overgrown bushes, it looked as if it had been recently lived in.

Deciding that this warranted further investigation, Autumn made her way carefully around the small pond. The ducks quacked angrily at the intruder, but failed to stop her from reaching the front step. Finding it to be unlocked, she pushed open the wooden stable doors, half expecting to see somepony still living there.

The cottage was definitely inhabited, but Autumn was the first pony to set foot inside for a very long time. Mice scurried around her hooves as she walked, and a badger scampered beneath the floorboards at the sound of a stranger. There was an old stone fireplace, which had been used as a den for some small furry creature, perhaps a fox. A few bats hissed and flapped around on the ceiling, disturbed by the light she had let in. Most noticeably, however, was that the small cottage was overrun with butterflies. The air was thick with the soft flapping of tiny wings as the beautiful insects flew in and out through windows and cracks in the wall. They congregated around a dusty bookshelf, like a butterfly city complete with room for cocoons.

Autumn made her way around a corner and into a kitchen, where she noticed there were bird houses inside the cottage as well. Whoever lived here had a passion for wildlife.

It was remarkable how well-preserved the building was. The natural forces which had been so destructive to the rest of the town seemed to have left this place alone; the vegetation had grown around the house and made it stronger; animals had made the house into their home instead of tearing it apart. For one reason or another, nature had chosen to be kind to this humble abode.

Autumn came back into the main room and walked carefully up a flight of creaky stairs. She found herself in the lone bedroom – the only room on the second floor. It wasn’t much: a night stand, a musty carpet, a twin bed, and a wooden chest.

Autumn figured she may as well look around, just for the sake of trying. She first looked inside the nightstand, accidentally upsetting the mouse's nest within. She then checked under the bed, finding the space barren except for a few more scurrying creatures.

Finally, she looked inside the large wooden chest. At first, it appeared to contain nothing more than blankets. It was a standard place to keep extra sheets, and had Autumn not felt around inside she would not have expected to find anything else. However, something flat and rectangular was nestled beneath the bedclothes. Autumn prodded it with her hoof, trying to determine what it was. Giving up, she pulled out soft pink blankets until she saw it lying on the wooden floor of the chest; presumably the same place it had been since its owner put it there centuries ago. It was a book.

Autumn carefully lifted the little blue book out of its hiding place and turned it over in her hooves. It didn’t have any labels or insignias; just a plane blue hardcover. The pages were yellowing, but seemed sturdy enough to handle. The spine was also in great condition, even though it showed signs of having been opened many times before. Whoever owned this book took very good care of it.

Autumn shrugged, deciding that there was only one way to figure out what it was. She cracked the tome open to one of its earlier pages, and read the fading cursive writing inside.

Dear Diary,

I offered to foal-sit Sweetie Belle and her friends last night. Rarity has been under a lot of stress recently with her work, and I figured she could use a helping hoof with her rambunctious little sister. Sweetie, Apple Bloom, and a filly named Scootaloo have made an adorable little club dedicated to discovering their Cutie Marks. I was absolutely certain the darlings would be no trouble at all. Goodness, was I wrong!

The poor things went and got lost in the forest in the middle of the night, with no supervision whatsoever. They almost got themselves turned to stone by a cockatrice, and so did I! Luckily, we were saved at the last minute, although I’m not necessarily proud of how I did that… I never like using my stare, but I had no other choice! I swear!

I’ve decided to leave my care taking abilities to animals. Being responsible for little fillies is just too much work, at least for me alone. I’m not sure how Cheerilee does it!

Love,

–F

“A diary,” Autumn thought out loud.

She flipped through a few of the pages, not expecting to find anything interesting. Mostly it was short little anecdotes about what the author had done that day or thoughts about some experience. It didn’t seem helpful at first, until one of the entries suddenly caught her eye.

Dear Diary,

Applejack almost left us the yesterday to work on a cherry farm down south,

“This pony knew Applejack!” Autumn gleefully read on, eager to find out how close this “F” was to her mysterious ancestor. She was overjoyed that she had actually managed to find something relevant to her search.

and it was all because she didn’t win any blue ribbons at the Equestria Rodeo Championship! She felt so ashamed that she took a job at Dodge Junction, hoping to earn all the money that she didn’t win at the competition.

We all went down to get her back, which turned out to be more of a challenge than expected. When we finally figured out what was bothering her, I made sure to remind her that no matter what happened we would still love her. Applejack is an important friend to me, and I couldn’t stand to see her upset with herself. Luckily, we were able to convince her to come back to Ponyville, and everything seems just fine now.

Like Twilight always says, true friendship can overcome any barrier!

Love,

–F

Autumn blinked a few times and read the last line once more. “Like Twilight always says.” Could it really be? she wondered. She thought back to the research facility in Hidden Springs, when she had learned that the legendary Princess was well aquatinted with common ponies. If Pinkamena knew her, maybe whoever wrote this diary did too.

She flipped to the inside cover of the book, desperate to find some confirmation of her theory. Sure enough, scrawled in tiny lettering across the top of the first page were the words: This diary is dedicated to my dearest friends, Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, and Twilight Sparkle. To them I owe the world and my life, which would have no meaning without them.

She couldn’t believe it. Autumn had struck gold. She had found a first-person account of the life not only of Applejack, but of Princess Twilight Sparkle. This could prove to be massively helpful in her search for the meaning behind the ancient gems and the secrets of the Schism. She held in her hooves more information about Princess Sparkle than almost anypony in Equestria knew existed.

Autumn read the names in the dedication again, and she couldn’t help laughing out loud. She had to assume that “Pinkie Pie” was in fact the Pinkamena from Hidden Springs. Therefore it was no surprise that Rainbow Dash was also on the list, since she already knew that they were friends. What came as a complete shock – although a very pleasant one – was that Applejack was a close friend as well. This actually made her actions after the Schism much more understandable, and drew a clear connection between Applejack’s gem and Pinkamena’s.

“It all makes sense!” Autumn shouted to the mice in the corner, “Everything is beginning to fit into place! I’ve been spending all this time looking for some connection, struggling to find the link between Applejack, these gems, and Twilight Sparkle, and this is it!” She plopped herself down on the hardwood floor, leaning up against the creaky old bed frame. There were still so many unanswered questions, so many things she craved to know.

She found the very first entry in the diary and began to read, eager to unlock its ancient secrets.

* * *

On the other side of town, Viridian Skyshimmer Seaheart the Third sifted through a pile of shredded documents he had found in a filing cabinet. The paper was annoyingly fragile, and disintegrated like dry leaves whenever he attempted to pick one out. He gave up and slammed the drawer shut, causing the entire cabinet to tip over. It was pointless anyway, nothing inside had been readable.

He left the the rundown building and walked back across town square, hoping to find something more substantial. There were quite a few more buildings than Sky had expected. He surmised that in its heyday, Ponyville was probably even larger than Hidden Springs. Even so, his task was becoming increasingly frustrating. There was simply too much to explore and so little to yield from it.

He had been in a few houses, but found them to be too structurally unstable for comfort. Most of the other buildings were either boarded up or had collapsed, and those he could get into never contained more than a few sparse furnishings.

At one point he came across a mostly-intact building which resembled a giant dilapidated gingerbread house. He became very exited when he noticed the wooden sign hanging above the door, which he thought depicted an apple. Upon closer inspection, it revealed itself to be a pink cupcake. He realized it must have been some kind of bakery. Going inside the building didn’t provide any answers though, as the interior was barren right down to the shattered glass display counter.

Retracing his steps back to the center of town, Sky tried to make a mental map of Ponyville so he didn’t end up searching the same place twice. Everything looked the same – long dirt roads lined with crumbling buildings overgrown with weeds. Ironically, he ended up getting lost while pondering his map. Looking around for something familiar, he noticed to a large oak tree that he had definitely seen before.

“Wait a minute…” he mumbled now that he was concentrating on the tree. “There’s a door.” Indeed, the oak turned out to be more than just a tree, but also a building with a wooden door and windows on two levels. Sky decided that this was as good an opportunity to investigate as any other.

Due to the nature of of this particular structure being a living tree, it was easily the most stable dwelling he had seen since arriving in Ponyville. It had clearly grown since it was last inhabited – the walls, doors, and windows were cracked with the weight of the expanding hardwood – but the interior was open enough that Sky could make his way around. The first thing he noticed was that walls were lined floor to ceiling with shelves. Most were empty, and a few had collapsed into wooden heaps on the floor. The next things he noticed were the piles of rotting books scattered across the main room. It didn’t take him long to realize what this building must have been

“A library,” he correctly deduced.

He looked closely at one of the nearby piles. Centuries of moisture and improper storage had ruined these books; there was little use in trying to read any of them. Something else was on Sky’s mind, though. He found it very peculiar that all of the books in the room had been taken off of the shelves and apparently organized into very neat stacks. Someone had definitely been searching this library for something, and he had a sneaking suspicion that it happened long after the town was abandoned.

On the far side of the room, there was a creaky staircase which led to a small second-floor chamber. Fearing it might collapse, Sky decided not to take the risk. Another flight of stairs led down to what must had been a basement, but it was impassable; The massive roots of the oak had grown through the wall and right across the entrance. Sky was therefore restricted to to the ground floor, which contained no more than the large main room and a small kitchen area.

As he moved around the ancient space, he began to realize that it wasn’t only a library: it was a dwelling as well. There was no other reason for the kitchen on the ground floor, and he would have been willing to bet that the stairs led to a bedroom. It wasn’t uncommon for a librarian to live in her place of work, or even for a research student to take up residence. He knew for a fact that the Royal Library of Canterlot was linked to an enormous dormitory just for that purpose. However, Ponyville was a relatively small town, and Sky couldn’t help but wonder who would choose to live here.

He soon found an answer to his question.

Lying on a dusty old desk shoved in a corner, a squarish black object caught Sky's eye. He wasn’t quite sure what this devise was called, but he had definitely seen one in his math class in primary school. It had a square wooden frame with several wooden rods running parallel across the interior. The rods held a number of colored beads which would slide from one side to the other to make calculations.

He flipped it over causing a plume of dust to rise into the air, and revealing a short message inscribed on the other side. Carved into the wooden frame with small neat lettering were the words: Property of Twilight Sparkle.

* * *

“‘Property of Twilight Sparkle’. Is that really necessary?” Rainbow Dash held the peculiar device into the light to get a better look at it. “I can’t imagine anypony wanting to steal a wooden counting thingy.”

“It’s called an abacus, and I’ve had that one since I was a filly. You know how you have to put your name on everything when you’re young.” Twilight sorted through a few more framed photographs, levitating several in the air and inspecting each. She chose one and placed it neatly on a nearby table, the rest went into a cardboard box.

“So, does that mean you want to keep it or what?”

“For sentimental reasons, I think I’ll hold on to it. You can just put it in storage.” Twilight moved the box over to Rainbow so that she could put the abacus inside. “Thank you again so much for helping me with my Spring cleaning, Dash. I know this isn’t really your thing.”

“Sure thing Twilight,” Rainbow replied, “I’m always happy to lend a hoof to a friend. Speaking of friends, where is everypony else?”

Twilight paused her sorting for a moment to remind herself where her closest friends were. “Rarity is at that fashion show in Fillydelphia, Fluttershy is there with her helping get everything ready, Applejack it busy at the farm planting this year’s crop, and Pinkie Pie… well, she’s not exactly an expert at keeping things organized.”

Rainbow Dash laughed. “Yeah, that’s Pinkie Pie. Always doing something unexpected.”

“I’m actually surprised you were able to come today,” Twilight admitted, “what with your big performance coming up next week. I thought for sure you’d want to be out practicing.”

“Yeah, that.” Rainbow’s voice suddenly became quieter, making her sound very nervous. “They’ve already seen what I can do at the Academy, but these tryouts are the real deal. The Wonderbolts only have one space available, and there are bound to be dozens of pegasi trying to get it; maybe hundreds.”

Twilight put down her work and moved over to Rainbow Dash, giving her a big friendly hug. “We’ll all be there to support you, Dash. If anypony can do it, you can. You know you’ve got what it takes, and so do I, and so do the Wonderbolts.”

“Thanks Twi.” Rainbow allowed the embrace to continue for another few seconds before pulling away coolly. “Hey, I’m not the only one who has a big day coming up. Cloudkicker was telling me that this Ascension Summit thing is like a once in a millennium deal.” She stuffed the Abacus into the corner of the cardboard box. “What exactly are you going to be doing?”

Twilight sighed and began looking through a collection of bound books. “Honestly, I’m not sure. Whatever it is, only the four princesses will be allowed inside until it comes to a resolution.” She placed the books on an empty shelf and turned to another collection. “I don’t think it’s anything too serious though; Princess Celestia seems very excited about it.”

“Well, even if we can’t come inside, we’ll all be there to support you too,” Rainbow promised. She picked an especially old looking book off the floor and held it up for Twilight to see. “Ok, what about this one?”

“Oh! My Ancient Equestrian Translation Guide. I’ve been looking for that.” She levitated the book out of Rainbow’s hoof and placed it at the center of her desk near the parchment and ink wells. “Now I can finish translating those texts.”

“Ancient Equestrian?” asked Rainbow. “I thought nopony spoke that anymore.”

“It is a dead language, yes,” Twilight replied, “but it’s still widely used today for things like the scientific names of species and family mottos. As you might know, the Cloudsdale city oath is in Ancient Equestrian.”

“Oh yeah, that goofy thing they used to make us say every morning back in primary school.” Rainbow Dash held herself high and put her hoof to her head in a mock salute. “‘Måft døk krîll, derwingåm, tylde, sdimî cåhnn.’ I never understood what that meant.”

“Twilight though for a moment, then flipped to a page near the center of her book. “I believe it translates to: ‘Through courage, honor, and integrity we are strong.’”

* * *

Through Courage, Honor, and Integrity We Are Strong

The words were inscribed at the base of a magnificent marble statue at the very center of the city. Four figures sat atop the pedestal, carved from an enchanted slab of stone which would not fall through the cloud on which it stood. Three of them were pegasi holding themselves proudly in a defensive and respectful manner around the fourth, which took the unmistakable form of Princess Celestia.

Indigo found herself momentarily humbled by the smiling effigy of her leader. For most of the journey after leaving the sanctuary, Indigo had refrained from thinking too much about the Order of Everlasting Truth's allegations against the Princess. Like everyone else, she had been raised in a society where ponies only ever talked about Celestia in a positive light, emphasizing all the wonderful things she has done for Equestria. To suddenly be confronted with the prospect of the Princess having acted immorally was a shock. If Indigo were being honest with herself, she wasn’t sure she believed what the members of the Order had told her.

Autumn was confident though, and Indigo trusted her opinion more than anypony; she would follow her best friend to the ends of the earth. So Indy chose to put these troubling thoughts out of her mind and concentrate on finding what she needed.

She left the statue and trotted towards the elaborate arched entrance to the Wonderbolts Headquarters and Museum.

It had been quite a hassle to find. Getting from Ponyville to Cloudsdale hadn’t been an issue, the skies were clear and the wind was with her. The problem was that once she reached the city in the sky, she found it to be unexpectedly large. Moreover, Cloudsdale was one of the oldest cities in Equestria, and consequently had an vast number of museums and historic buildings which all looked very similar – that is, they were all made of clouds.

It was strange seeing so many other pegasi. There were winged ponies in Manehattan, but earth ponies were the strong majority. More often than not, Indigo was the only flyer around. She had always heard that earth ponies stuck to the east coast and the south, unicorns lived on the west coast or in Canterlot, and pegasi preferred the cloud cities. Truthfully, these were only stereotypes, and anypony who had been to both Vanhoover and Fillydelphia would tell you than the population distribution was essentially the same. Still, only pegasi could walk upon clouds without special magic. For the first time in her life, Indigo found herself surrounded entirely by ponies just like her.

After an hour or so of gawking at the sites, Indigo finally asked a nearby street vender if he could point her in the right direction.

“Sure thing!” he responded cheerily. “It’s next to the stadium across town.” He gestured up the street. She followed his hoof, and in the distance Indigo could see the towering Cloudsdale Aerial Arena.

She nearly kicked herself. “Of course!” she grumbled. “The home of the Wonderbolts, how did I not figure that out?”

Everything else aside, Indigo was fairly excited to be at the museum. She wasn’t as big a fan of the Wonderbolts as Autumn, but she always enjoyed watching them do their tricks; and of course she had her favorites, both current and all-time. Both of them agreed that Shooting Star – the current Captain – was by far the coolest active member of the team. When it came to all-time favorites, there was a bit of a discrepancy. Autumn preferred Fast Track, a fairly recent Wonderbolt who her great uncle had actually seen fly when he was a colt. Indigo was partial to a lesser-known and much older flyer named Spitfire. This quite a coincidence, as Spitfire’s retirement was what allowed a young Rainbow Dash to join the squad.

The point is, if Indigo had ever made a list of places she wanted to visit, the Wonderbolts Museum would be at the top.

Admission was free – which was lucky since she didn’t have any money with her. Once inside, Indy was greeted by a colorful spectrum of displays, signs, and kiosks, as well as a plethora of happy ponies of all ages. To the right was a glass wall which separated the museum from the administrative headquarters. Beyond the barrier, Indigo could see a long wooden reception table and a variety of offices and cubicles bustling with busy ponies. She decided there was no sense in trying to get in.

The museum stretched down several hallways in different directions on two floors. She approached one of the maps on the wall, and searched for where she might find information on Rainbow Dash. It wasn’t hard to find. An entire wing on the second floor was labelled “The Golden Era: from Rainbow Dash to Night Flight.”

Indigo made her way up the stairs an down the hallway that would take her there. She passed hordes of ponies crowded around exhibits, and a few museum guides who asked her if she had any questions. She would have liked to see everything, but she knew she had to complete her primary task first.

Finally, she reached the double doors that provided access to the “Golden Era” wing of the museum. There were fewer ponies here – presumably because of its distance from the main entrance – but she still had to weave her way through a crowd of visiting school-age fillies and colts.

Rainbow Dash was one of the most famous Wonderbolts of all time. She had been the youngest captain ever, a title earned only a few years after joining the team. On top of that she held numerous records for speed and agility, and to that day was the only pony in recorded history to have performed a Sonic Rainboom. Her iconic rainbow lightning cutie mark was still a popular decal for buttons, hats, posters and other Wonderbolts merchandise. Therefore, it was no surprise that so much space in the museum was dedicated to her.

At the very center of the circular room were several large glass displays housing old uniforms. The most prominent of those on display was the actual uniform Rainbow Dash had worn for most of her career, signed with her initials on the left foreleg. Indigo marveled at the piece of athletic history. She was intrigued to notice that the Wonderbolt uniforms hadn’t changed a stitch in hundreds of years.

Lining the outer wall were various displays containing goggles and horseshoes and other knick-knacks. A few foals played around a cutout standee where they could stick their head through a hole to make them look as if they were a Wonderbolt. Their parents stood nearby, reading the information plaques beneath portraits of flyers from the Golden Age.

Indigo walked along the wall, moving from portrait to portrait until she found the one she was looking for. Rainbow Dash stood tall and proud, dressed in full uniform, smiling majestically into the distance. She looked older than the pegasus from the photograph in Hidden Springs, but her unmistakable messy prismatic mane was exactly the same. Her golden captain’s badge gleamed on her chest, and she wore an Equestrian Medal of Exceptional Citizenship around her neck – an honor given only to those who provide a unique and immense service to their country.

Beneath the portrait was a plaque with information about Rainbow Dash’s career and accomplishments, as well as a glass display case which held her five Equestrian Aerial Ace National Champion trophies. She skimmed over the texts, but there was no mention of Pinkamena or anypony other than Dash herself. It merely restated what Indigo already knew about her incredible feats as a Wonderbolt.

She sighed and moved on. This was exactly what she had been expecting. Even if the two of them had been friends, why would there be any mention of a baked goods salespony at the Wonderbolts museum? And if there were some mention, what are the chances it would help them learn anything about Twilight Sparkle?

Indigo walked glumly past a much larger display case which contained a number of articles of clothing belonging to various Wonderbolts. Shadowsprint’s black hood was perched on the upper shelf next to a vintage relay horseshoe. Stormchaser’s pair of neon yellow goggles were below that, and further down Indigo picked out the blue and white flag the Wonderbolts used to make their big entrance at the last Hearth’s Warming Eve celebration. On the very bottom shelf was yet another space dedicated entirely to Rainbow Dash.

It was a row of necklaces and pendants hanging on felt displays. A panel below read: Throughout her career, Rainbow Dash wore one of these decorations around her neck during every show. Each of the pieces had their own short description as well.

The first in the row was the Citizenship Medal she was wearing in her portrait. This was followed by a few gold medals from the Equestria games, and then a special silver pendant which bore the insignia of the Crystal Empire. The second to last item was an elegant copper chain which held a large pearl neatly engraved with the letters RD. Its description was just one sentence: Given to her by a close friend. Finally, at the very end of the line was an familiar looking golden necklace embedded with a pristine red gem in the shape of a lightning bolt.

Indigo blinked, and then rubbed her eyes. She looked through the glass again, and the gem was still there. It hadn’t been a hallucination. Her mind was blank for a moment. No way, she thought, this is impossible. The more she stared at the necklace, the more closely it resembled the others.

She read the description below the item. It merely said: Unknown origin. Worn only for the most important events.

She thought it over once more. It was a gem in remarkable condition, held in a very old golden necklace, owned by somepony from around the same time as Twilight Sparkle. All things in common with the one from Hidden Springs. Moreover, it belonged to somepony who knew the pony that owned the gem from Hidden Springs!

She still couldn’t believe it. She needed to know for sure, and so she needed more information. Indigo rushed back to the plaque and searched desperately for anything that could be helpful. She skipped all the way to the end, where she found the only details that didn’t pertain entirely to Rainbow Dash’s accomplishments.

After years of leading the team and flying better than anypony the Wonderbolts had yet seen, Rainbow Dash announced her unexpected retirement to the world. This revelation was a shock to her thousands of loyal fans, as well as to the other Wonderbolts who had no prior knowledge of her decision. The severance came as a result of the untimely death of a close personal friend to Rainbow Dash. It was during her eulogy of this late friend that the iconic team captain announced her sudden decision to retire permanently from professional flying.

* * *

“And so, I hereby announce my permanent retirement from professional flying.”

The crowd gasped, and several ponies nearly fell over in their seats. Sweetie Belle, who had been levitating a vase of flowers onto a nearby table, whirled her head around, causing the vase to shatter on the floor. The pony playing the organ slammed on the keys, and then froze.

Rainbow Dash remained unfazed. She stared at the ground, refusing to make eye contact with anypony. Her whole body slumped, as if it wanted to melt into the earth and disappear. It was as miserable as anypony had ever seen her. It was not clear to those present whether she had just made the decision out of emotional stress, or if the illustrious Wonderbolt was actually giving up at the height of her career.

Whatever the case, it was obvious that Rainbow had taken a huge emotional blow. She hadn’t spoken to anyone since receiving the tragic news, and then she showed up in the middle of the service and took the podium to make her speech. She went on for almost an hour about how she hadn’t been loyal enough to Ponyville, and how if she had done less shows and spent more time with her best friends this wouldn’t have happened. She berated herself for choosing fame over friendship and losing sight of what was really important, insisting on claiming responsibility for the circumstances. She described the last time she had seen the deceased, how she had said only a few words before speeding away to an after-show party. She cried and proclaimed that she would give anything to have that moment back. Finally, she announced that she did not want to waste any more of her life and would be leaving the Wonderbolts effective immediately.

After a few moments of sad silent reflection, she turned and walked slowly towards the portrait table. She stared at the framed photograph, directly into the sparkling blue eyes of one of her best friends.

“I’m so sorry, Rarity,” she whispered.

Then she took off down the aisle and out the doors, leaving the mourning crowd in utter shock. It took a few seconds for the ponies to feel comfortable speaking, and even then it was only murmurs.

Eventually the organist picked up again and the crowd continued the process which Rainbow Dash had interrupted; making eulogies and walking by Rarity’s portrait in a slow procession.

Fluttershy remained quietly in her seat, gazing towards the doors through which Rainbow Dash had just disappeared. “Maybe I should go after her,” she said, stirring herself to stand.

“Don’t.”

Fluttershy turned to her right, where Twilight Sparkle sat staring blankly forwards. Her royal dress had been tinted black for the occasion.

“I think she needs to be alone for a while.”

“Oh… but all those things she said,” Fluttershy continued, “about not being here and being selfish. I think she blames herself for what happened to Rarity.”

“I’m sure she does.” Twilight turned sadly to Fluttershy, so that she could see the tears welling up in the Princess’s eyes. “It’s clear that Rainbow Dash feels she could have saved Rarity had she been here in Ponyville when it happened.”

“But… But that’s not being fair to herself!” Fluttershy found herself crying uncontrollably. “That runaway cart wasn’t her fault! Rarity was just in the wrong place at the wrong time! There was nothing anypony could have done to save her!”

“Which is something that Rainbow is going to have to accept for herself,” Twilight insisted. “Give her time and she will be able to move on. We all will.”

Fluttershy couldn’t think of a response, so she merely closed her eyes and put her head down, wishing for the millionth time that the previous week had all been a bad dream.

“What have you got in your satchel?” asked Twilight, pulling Fluttershy out of her meditative state. Fluttershy's satchel was indeed full of something soft and fragrant.

“Oh, um, they’re begonias. I was going to place them next to Rarity’s portrait.” Fluttershy opened the bag and gently lifted out a few of the wild-picked scarlet flowers. “Rarity always loved begonias.”

* * *

Rarity always loved begonias. I think she would have liked having them there. Of course it was hard to find a place for them on the table after everyone else had gone. She had a lot of admirers; so many ponies had been touched by her resounding generosity.

I’m really not sure how to feel. I know Rarity would have wanted us to continue living life and being happy, but that seems so difficult now. I haven’t seen Rainbow Dash since the service, and I’m actually thinking of going up to make sure she’s alright.

I’m worried about her. Applejack couldn’t stop working for long, and Twilight and Pinkie both seem have fallen back into their regular routines (although Pinkie is noticeably less bubbly); but Rainbow Dash has no work to take her mind off Rarity, and no one around to help her through this. I have a terrible feeling that she won’t be able to recover. She has to be absolutely devastated.

I wish things could go back to the way they used to be. Before Twilight became a Princess, before Rainbow joined the Wonderbolts, when we were all young and our friendship was fresh and exciting. Time is moving too quickly.

Love,

– F

Autumn finished reading the entry and sighed deeply. That one had been heavy. It was also the longest entry so far at nearly two and a half pages.

She looked out a nearby window and noticed that the sky was already beginning to darken. She must have been there for hours. Autumn stood up stiffly from the wooden floor, stretching her legs. She was determined to finish reading, so she’d have to do it by firelight. She made her way towards the staircase that led down stairs, but found her way blocked.

A squirrel stood stubbornly in the doorway, squeaking in an agitated manner. Autumn raised an eyebrow and waved a hoof at the furry creature. “Shoo!” she said through clenched teeth. The squirrel didn’t budge though; it was instead joined by two other squirrels who started squeaking as well.

Before Autumn could react, the squirrels were joined by an owl perched in the rafters hooting angrily at her. This was followed by tweeting birds and a growling badger. It seemed like all the animals in the house were refusing to let her leave. She didn’t understand; they had all been more or less passive towards her presence up until now. What had she done wrong?

Suddenly, she thought of something. She slowly backed up to the open chest and placed the journal carefully inside. The animals quieted down, eyeballed her for a moment, and then dispersed. Apparently, they tolerated her presence, but refused to let her take anything from the place they all called home.

“Remarkable,” said Autumn looking back at the cottage growing smaller as she walked away. She would have no choice but to return the next day.

Her pace quickened to an excited jog. She hoped Indigo had made it back so that she could give her the great news.

The entries in the diary were sporadic, jumping across inconsistent lengths of time – clearly the author hadn’t intended for anypony else to read it. It was a way for her to express feelings when she needed an outlet, not a documentation of events.

Nonetheless, it had already proved to be exceedingly enlightening. For instance, F constantly referred to items she called “The Elements of Harmony.” Of course these had to be the gems that Autumn was looking for. It finally made sense why they were needed to get into the Elements of Harmony room: because they were the actual Elements of Harmony! F never stated exactly what they were, where they came from, or how many there were. However, it was revealed that they could be (and were) used to defeat evil forces that threatened Equestria. To Autumn’s surprise, these ponies had also encountered Discord – the powerful spirit she had met in the Everfree Forest – and had used the Elements to overpower him.

There was also an account of how Twilight Sparkle became a Princess in the first place. As it turns out, the folklorists got it right when they suggested Twilight was a common pony crowned by virtue of her great deeds. Many great deeds, in fact. There was a remarkable amount of turmoil surrounding the lives of these ponies, and they apparently saved Equestria on more than one occasion.

For a common pony who lived in a cramped cottage, F had a surprisingly close relationship with the Princess. The group of six ponies mentioned on the inside cover were all very close with one another, and had been that way since before Twilight Sparkle was crowned. It was an interesting coincidence that aside from F herself (who’s full name had remained unstated) and a pony named Rarity, Autumn had separately heard of each member of the group before reading the diary.

Autumn rounded a corner down a street that led to the center of town. It had grown significantly darker, but she still squinted intently at the buildings she passed in the hopes of recognizing one or two from the diary. Twilight Sparkle had resided in a library, she had learned; and Rarity spent most of her time in a boutique.

She was still wrapping her mind around the concept that Twilight Sparkle could have lived a normal life after becoming a Princess. What with the responsibilities and the immortality, it didn’t seem like she would be able to keep her Ponyville connections. Celestia was so busy with her duties that she rarely left Canterlot, except on diplomatic business.

The only prominent mention of Princess Sparkle’s royal obligations that Autumn had found was a couple of short entries concerning something called “The Ascension Summit.” F didn’t have much to say, just that it was a big deal for Twilight and only Princesses were allowed to participate. Autumn found it odd that F had mentioned “the four princesses at the Summit” when there were only three, but figured it had to be a typo.

The Ascension Summit was mentioned once more in a brief entry where F voiced concern for Twilight. Apparently, upon returning to Ponyville the Princess asked her friends to never inquire about the Summit. According to F, Twilight was “sullen for several days” afterwards, and refused to speak about what had happened. After that, the fact that she was an alicorn Princess was never brought up again.

Autumn shook her head and brought her concentration back to the road. She needed to find Sky and set up camp, but all the buildings looked the same here. She was having trouble remembering where she had been. The only recognizable landmark around was a large oak tree between two thatch-roofed houses.

To her surprise, a mint-green unicorn suddenly burst through the front door of the tree and came rushing out to meet her.

“Autumn!” Sky cried, “You won’t believe what I’ve found!”

Autumn laughed and put a hoof on his shoulder. “Sky, I was about to say the same thing to you.”

* * *

Three hours. For three hours Indigo stood in the same place, staring intently through the glass of the display case. She had thought it through so many times her head hurt. She had considered every possible angle, but always came to the same conclusion: this gem had to be one of the ones they were looking for. She couldn’t believe it, but Autumn had been right about the venture to Cloudsdale being worthwhile.

The next thing to do was figure out how to get it. Asking for it probably wasn’t a great idea, and purchasing it was out of the question. The most obvious solution that Indy could fathom was simply to steal it. After all, Autumn had stolen the last gem; out of a display case, no less.

Still, it wouldn’t be easy. Unlike Hidden Springs, there were quite a lot of ponies at the museum – not to mention security guards. This was a high-value item she was looking at; she wouldn’t be able to just walk out with it. She contemplated ways that she might avoid a confrontation. Maybe if there was a way to make a decoy, or move the other necklaces around to fill the empty space. Perhaps she could find a hiding place and carry out her operation after the museum closed. All ideas that would be very difficult to pull off.

A scratchy voice over the intercom announced that the museum wold be closing in fifteen minutes. The remaining ponies began to shuffle out of the room, taking last looks at various items on display as they went. The sun outside was beginning to set, and Cloudsdale was settling down for the evening.

Indigo stared for a few more moments at the gem held in an ancient golden necklace. She was tired, confused, and really wanted to get back to Ponyville.

“Buck it,” she said finally; and that’s exactly what she did.

Indigo spun around and delivered a shattering kick to the glass. In retrospect, that wasn’t such a great idea. She was lucky that none of the broken glass cut her as it fell to the floor. The bottoms of her hooves weren’t so lucky when they came back to the ground. Indigo shouted in pain and leapt back from the case, but the damage had already been done. She could no longer keep her rear hooves on the ground.

Several nearby ponies screamed and ran away; a few merely gawked at the young rogue, wondering what she was thinking. A mother grabbed her children and pulled them away from the glass, shouting frantically for security.

With little time to spare, Indigo snatched the necklace off of its display and took flight. She whizzed by the scared and confused spectators and down the hallway, searching desperately for an exit. Most of the doorways led to exhibits, and the rest revealed dead-end hallways. She stuffed the gem frantically into her saddlebag, hoping she still had a chance to avoid capture.

“Hey!” a booming voice called from down the hallway ahead of her. It belonged to a beefy security guard who was leading a small band of pegasi in uniforms. “Stop right there!” he yelled.

“This is bad!” Indigo admitted as she zipped frantically down a side hallway. She dodged ponies and displays left and right, zigzagging through obstacles like a Wonderbolt at an agility show. Had she not been flying for her life, the irony might have struck her.

The hallway came to an end ahead of her. Indigo was sure she was out of options, she would have to surrender and plead her case. Then she saw it: on the left side just before the dead-end was an emergency exit! She flew heavily into the door, hoping it was open. Thankfully, it gave way to reveal the roof of the Wonderbolts museum, overlooking the courtyard.

There was no time to admire the view though, as the security ponies were right on her tail. Indigo dove over the edge of the roof and flew down onto the cloud streets just as the pegasi chasing her came to the open doorway. She turned randomly down several avenues, trying to put as much distance between herself and the museum as possible.

She needed to find an opening in the clouds where she could return to the ground. She slowed her pace when she was sure the guards weren’t following her, but didn’t stop looking for a way out of the city. Eventually she found one between a bakery and a few houses. There was a gap that was abnormally wide, and the earth could clearly be seen below.

Indigo took hold of her opportunity and flew over the edge, gliding gracefully away from the city of Cloudsdale and back towards the ruined town of Ponyville. She couldn’t see the town too well since it had started to get dark, but she knew what direction it was in.

A sigh of relief escaped Indy’s lips as she floated down to earth. She had made it with surprisingly few complications. Lady Luck had shown her beautiful face once again, and now they were one step closer to completing their quest.

Indigo reached to check on the gem, but something was wrong. She looked back, and the blood drained from her horrified face. In the midst of her frantic escape, Indigo had failed to properly latch her bag. The wind from her flight had caused the flap to come undone, and it was now flailing open behind her. The hastily stuffed necklace was nowhere to be seen.

Indigo stopped in midair, wondering where she could have lost it. Something caught her eye. Far below her, a glint of gold was plummeting to the earth. Indigo instantly realized what it was and leapt into a dive to save the necklace.

It was falling towards the forest below, and Indigo knew she would never find it if she lost it in those trees. She increased her speed, making her body as streamline as possible. The gem was growing closer, but so was the ground. Indigo had never gone this fast before; it was invigorating and frightening at the same time. She was now hurtling towards the precious stone at breakneck speed, struggling to see through the tears that clouded her vision. She almost had it. it was just beyond the stretch of her hooves, and then – CRASH!

The force of her collision with the canopy caused Indigo to roll over in midair. She tumbled painfully through the branches, bouncing between limbs like a pinball. Every part of her was hit hard with something, and she only narrowly avoided suffering a concussion. After an excruciating few seconds of crashing, Indy fell heavily into a mossy forest grove.

She lay still on her back, processing the immense pain that riveted her body. She rolled over and tried to stand, but cried out in agony and fell back down. Her rear hooves were still badly cut from the broken glass. The fall had crippled her wings as well. They hung crooked and limp at her side.

She hurt all over, feeling as if she had been hit by a train. Anything that wasn’t covered in cuts or bruises felt like it was sprained or even broken. The first tears Indy had experienced in a long time burned at the corners of her eyes as she struggled to roll onto her side. She groaned hoarsely, trying to get herself under control.

Finally making it onto her less-injured side, Indigo flopped down in minor relief. She needed to come up with a plan, though It was difficult to think while she was so uncomfortable. Besides the injuries, she was lying on something jagged and hard. She reached under herself to pull out what she thought was a rock, but turned out to be a golden necklace holding a red lighting gem.

“Well, horseapples,” she groaned. “I guess that’s one problem solved.

Of course the other problem was that she couldn’t walk or fly, and had no idea where she was. She called for help as loud as she could manage, although she knew it was a pointless gesture. There was nothing in these woods for miles, only trees and animals – many of which were potentially dangerous. She knew she must be near the edge, but the fall had discombobulated her so she had no sense of direction.

Indigo began to panic. The last thing she wanted was to spend the night alone in a dangerous forest with broken wings and injured hooves. She could be attacked by timberwolves or a cockatrice. Even worse, that horrible creeping redweed might find her.

“Oh, wait!” Indigo felt the chain around her neck and was relieved to discover that the tracking stone Autumn had given her was still there. She made a mental note to thank Autumn for making such a remarkably good judgment call.

She pulled the pearly stone off her neck and inspected it closely. It was about as fancy a piece of jewelry as Indigo had ever seen. It must have been very expensive. She found it surprising that a pony as simple as Ambrosia would possess such a thing.

Indigo rubbed the stone furiously between her hooves, not quite sure how she was supposed to know if it was working. For a few seconds, nothing happened and Indy slowed her pace. She wondered if she was doing something wrong.

All of a sudden, a brilliant white light exploded from the pearl. It illuminated the entire grove so brightly that Indigo had to shield her eyes. The magic within the stone was immensely powerful, capable of operating at extremely long distances. After a few second the light died down to a modest glow, and the stone began to emit a low frequency pulse. Every five or six seconds it pulsated, like a tiny bass drum combined with a flashlight.

Indigo supposed it was working. She set the stone down on the ground next to Rainbow Dash’s Element of Harmony, and leaned back against a treetrunk. She was still in pain, but the thought of Ambrosia coming to the rescue was a comfort.

“And now, we wait,” Indigo said to herself, putting a hoof behind her head.

So Indigo waited.

And waited.

And waited.

As the pitch-dark night fell across the forest, broken only by the fading light of the tracking beacon, Indigo Cavallino waited anxiously for a pony who would never come.

* * *

Not far to the north of Cloudsdale and at about the same altitude, Princess Celestia found herself once again setting her magnificent life-giving sun over the western horizon – an act that had been second nature to her for as long as she could remember. Even if she were to forget everything she had learned during her time in Equestria, even if she were reduce herself to the intellectual and physical restrictions of a newborn foal, Celestia would still be able to raise and lower the glorious sun to which she was so closely linked.

It always made her sad to see it leave in the evening, but she knew it would shine its golden rays once more the next day; she only had to be patient.

Once the sun had been lowered, Celestia checked the chart on her balcony to see what her second most important duty called for.

“Ah, no moon tonight,” she said, a little relieved. Raising and lowering the moon was not quite as natural to Celestia. She had managed it for the last seven hundred years or so, just as she had done for a millennium after bashing her sister, but she honestly preferred the nights when she didn't have to do so.

It had been a tiring day, and more than anything, the Princess needed rest. She strolled back into the chamber and removed her crown, placing it gently on its marble stand. She sat down heavily on a cushion, and used her magic to conjure up a pot of tea. What she really needed was a vacation. A laughable idea, but a tempting one.

Celestia’s evening meditation was interrupted by a knock at her chamber door. She sighed and put the tea aside. “You may enter, Firestorm.”

The seasoned guard cracked the door open and poked his head inside. “Very sorry to disturb you Princess,” he said, “but that hooded pony from before is back.”

Celestia closed her eyes and rolled her head back. How could she have forgotten? Did she really want to deal with this now? She supposed she had to. It was, after all, and urgent issue. “Yes, send my guest in please.”

“Of course, my liege.” Firestorm bowed and backed out of the doorway, closing it as he left.

Celestia straightened herself and reevaluated what she was going to say. She needed to be stern, so she hoped her tiredness wouldn’t detract from the severity of her words. She considered putting her crown back on, but decide against it.

The door opened once more, and a shady pony wearing a purple hood entered quietly.

“I came as quickly as I could, Princess,” said the pony, “although I am not sure why you would pull me away from my mission so soon after sending me out.”

Celestia raised and eyebrow. “Well S, I am not sure why a faithful pony such as yourself would violate a direct order.”

The hooded pony took a step back. “Violate…? I’m afraid I know not of what you speak. I assure you I only live to serve your eminence.”

“Is that so?” Celestia’s horn flared with magic, and a small papery object flew off her desk and landed at the pony’s feet. After a moment of hesitation, the hooded pony unfolded the parchment and began to read its contents.

“Dear Mom and Dad, I would first like to say that I am very sorry for leaving you so suddenly. I promise that I am safe though, and am traveling with a couple of real adventurers who–” The pony let the paper fall to the floor when she recognized what she was reading. “Oh no…”

“Oh, yes.” Celestia levitated the paper into the air and hung it in front of her spy’s face. “I explicitly told you not to make contact with those ponies, and here it appears to be one of the first things you did!”

The pony stepped forward and pulled back her hood, letting her silver mane to fall out over her shoulders. “Please Princess, I can explain,” Ambrosia begged.

Princess Celestia would here none of it, though. “Do you think I gave you that device so you cold send personal letters whenever you please? Every time you use it, I am alerted! My guards intercepted this letter on its way to Hidden Springs. What in Equestria did you think you were doing!?”

“I only wanted to help them!” Ambrosia explained, “They were being attacked by redweed, I couldn’t just–”

“You broke protocol and acted outside the bounds of your authority! All it takes is for one of those young ones to mention to anypony, anypony that you are following them around and your entire cover would be blown! I need you to remain an insider for the Order of Everlasting Truth, you can’t be taking these kind of risks!” Celestia’s tone was agitated, but also concerned. She spoke as if Ambrosia were her child being disciplined. "From now on, I need you to assure me that there will be no more more slip-ups of this nature. You're very lucky that your disobedience has not led to a more disastrous outcome."

“Princess Celestia, if I may speak candidly, I do not think you–” Ambrosia was suddenly interrupted by a blinding flash of red light. It was bright enough that even Princess Celestia had to squint and step back. The light lasted for a few seconds and then faded to an ominous glow, accompanied by periodic pulsating bumps.

“What was that?” Celestia asked in concern.

Ambrosia did not answer, as she was staring horrified at something underneath her robe.

“Was that a locator beacon? Did you steal a locator beacon form the treasury?” Celestia took a menacing step forward.

Ambrosia knew there was nothing she could do now but submit. She slowly pulled the red pulsing stone from under her robe and held it up for Celestia. “I was concerned for the safety of Autumn Breeze and her companions. I had to make sure they didn’t come to any harm.”

“So you stole from me!?” Celestia appeared to grow taller, and her voice boomed throughout the chamber. Ambrosia had never even imagined the Princess could be this angry. “You lied to me, stole my possessions, and deliberately disobeyed my direct orders!! Silver Sunrise, I have given you nothing but trust, and I am ashamed of how you chose to repay me!”

“Princess, I–”

“Don’t say anything!” Celestia was fuming now. “In all my years I have never felt more betrayed by one of my subjects! What right do you think you have to step outside my carefully devised instructions and make your own way like some vagabond!? You are almost as bad as the Order members you impersonate! Do you realize that you have put in jeopardy the safety of myself, my subjects, and my entire kingdom for no other reason than – WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING AT?!?”

There are few things more frightening to a pony than the wrath of a Princess. However, during Celestia’s tirade, Ambrosia’s focus had shifted from the raging monarch to something she could see through the open window that made her blood freeze. She merely pointed over the Princess’s shoulder, too bewildered to even speak.

Celestia whirled around to see what in the world could have stolen Ambrosia’s attention. At first, she couldn’t see what Ambrosia was so shocked about. It was just a normal night. The city of Canterlot settled in for the evening beneath the starry sky–

Princess Celestia gasped and raised a hoof to her mouth. She had to be hallucinating, or perhaps dreaming. What she saw was absolutely impossible.

Hanging high in the sky above Equestria, as full and bright as it had ever been, was the moon.

“But… How…?” Ambrosia stuttered. She couldn’t comprehend what had happened. “Princess how… You didn't raise it…”

Celestia walked slowly towards the window, eyes fixed on the silver orb floating over her kingdom. A feeling crept into her body like ice water in her veins. She felt scared and confused as the realization slowly dawned on her. There was no other explanation.

Celestia raised her crown off its pedestal and placed it precisely center upon her head, refusing to break eye contact with the moon.

“She’s back.”