A New Age

Applejack looked up and quickly lifted her hoof and wiped the sweat from her forehead. Ahead of her an obstacle course was set up with a few barrels, slats of wood and bales of hay.

“READY!” Applejack spared a glance at her family watching on the sidelines. Applebloom, wearing Applejack’s hat that was clearly too big for her, holding a microphone to play the part of an announcer. Big Mac, Standing stoically next to Granny, who for once was wide awake in her rocking chair.

“SET!”

Eyes straight ahead again, focused on the course.

“GO!”

And she was off, hooves thumping on the hardened dirt track as her sister made a play by play of her every move. Applejack came up to the line of barrels and wound past each one in a tight circle before moving on to the next. Then the wooden beams loomed ahead of her, hurdles, each one subsequently taller than the previous. After clearing the final hurdle, one taller than herself, Applejack sprinted to the bales of hay, collecting each one and sprinting back to a wagon on the side and stacking them neatly on it.

“TIME!” Yelled Applebloom, looking at the watch held in her brother's hand. “Two minutes and twelve seconds!” Applejack walked over and took her hat back from her sister.

“Shoot, thought I did good that time.”

“That was better than good, That was amazin’!” Piped up Applebloom, “You were perfect! You didn’t knock down a single barrel, and you easily cleared all the jumps.”

“Eeyup.” Agreed Big Mac.

“I’ll do another round tomorrow, I bet I could beat two minutes.” Applejack pauses for a second to catch her breath, “Ok Apples, We’ve been sittin’ around long enough. time to get back to work, the fields ain’t gonna work themselves.” Applejack began to walk toward the half plowed field with Big Mac as Applebloom led Granny Smith back to the house where they would begin inspecting apples Big Mac had brought in earlier.

“Cider season is just right around the corner and we had better have everything else taken care of by then so we can focus all our attention on pressing apples so we can have a large supply by the time we officially open.” She paused for a second to help strap the plow onto her brother. “We should probably replace the fence out front, seein’ as the paint has started to turn yellow and flake a bit. Wouldn't want customers seeing something like that. Applebloom has said that she and her crusader friends will make a new sign to put in front. One that will ‘show the world how super awesome the cider is once and for all’."

Macintosh gave the slightest shudder at the thought of what kind of mess his youngest sister could get into with that kind of project.

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As they brought the plow into town for sharpening, they passed by Zecora who was surrounded by the Cutie Mark Crusaders. They were bounding about her legs and chattering about their next attempt at getting their marks. When Zecora saw Applejack, she walked over, being careful to not trip over the little ones following her. She greeted them with her natural rhythmic speech.

“Here is a pony I want to see, I have something I think you will need.” She reached into her bag and pulled out a little book which she held out to Applejack. “Our princess wants answers about Harmony? I think this may help, let her see. These are some notes of my own, of legends from where I roam.” Applejack was going to reply but the crusaders, done with their fun for the night, disbanded and Applebloom pushed herself between her siblings.

“Zecora let us use her Cauldron to mix potions in order to get our potion making marks. It’ didn’t work but we almost painted Zecora’s house. I think that almost got us all Cutie Marks! We will definitely get it when we paint the sign for cider season!"

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That evening, Princess Twilight Sparkle watched from her window as Princesses Celestia and Luna replaced the sun with the moon as they did every evening. She thought, as she watched Luna disappear into the night sky, of her own job as princess. The first time she witnessed the Summer Sun Celebration as royalty she was able to add her own flair to the changing of the heavenly orbs. A Sonic rainboom in the shape of her cutie mark. She still couldn't decide if that was what was meant to happen. At the time she just felt like it was something she was meant to do, Celestia had mentioned fulfilling her destiny the night before, she probably knew it would happen from the very first day. Just like she had known that Nightmare Moon, now Princess Luna, was going to return and that Twilight would use the Elements of Harmony to help her see the magic of friendship again. The Elements, what is going to happen to them? What will happen to Equestria? Without their most powerful protection magic what would happen if the changelings come back? Or King Sombra? What if Discord realizes that we have no power over him and spreads chaos again? Spike’s snoring snapped her from her worrying. She turned and caught him drooling, asleep, on the list she had him in the middle of writing.

She should probably hit the hay herself she thought as she tucked him into his little bed. Yawning, Twilight decided to look over the list one last time before going to bed. It was a list of all the places she could look for leads on the magics of harmony. Most of the helpful books would probably be in the Canterlot Royal Library, But she planned to send a messenger to the Crystal Empire. Their library, being hidden for a thousand years, would be the next best place to look for history.

She would have relished the chance to go retrieve them herself and see Shining Armor and Cadence. But she had duties as a princess as well as lessons from Celestia, and at times Luna, how best to go about her new royal duties. So instead she would give the list to a messenger headed that way and have him get them. It still felt weird being able to order people to do her work and she hated doing it. But she needed these books. Anything, anything at all that could help shed light on what was happening with the elements would be a great help. And the box, she couldn’t seem to get that case and its six locks out of her mind. Sleep didn’t even help there, even her dreams all seemed to revolve around it. Another yawn. Sleep, yep, definitely need some of that.

Twilight found herself standing at the entrance of the cave where they found the Tree of Harmony. She stepped in, following the glow she knew emanated from the crystalline tree. It was how they last left it. Each branch holding Elements of Harmony still in the shape of her friend’s cutie marks, Laughter, Kindness, Generosity, Loyalty, and Honesty. Each branch had a vein tracing to the trunk where her own Element, Magic, was held. They connected there and continued down where Celestia’s and Luna’s marks were. It passed through them to the crystal chest sprouting from the roots. Six key holes kept it locked and kept whatever is inside a secret.

But then, a change… The creeping vines of the Everfree Forest returned, before Twilight’s very eyes they covered the tree and began to pick at the Elements, attempting to pry them off. The Elements protected themselves as much as they could, flashes of light could be seen and the vines would retreat for a second, only to move back again. Knowing she had to stop this, Twilight ran to the endangered tree. When she came in reach of the vines, they turned on her. Wrapping around her, crushing and cutting her again. The last thing she saw was Princess Luna appearing from the darkness, dispelling the vines around her.

Twilight awoke to find the sun shining into her room from slits between the curtains. She got up and began to make her way to the throne room to tell Celestia about her dream when Luna caught her in the halls.

“I heard that you were awake. What happened last night?”

“I really don’t know, The… Discord’s plunderseeds are growing again and are attacking the tree.” Twilight began to prance in place with panic, “We’ve got to do something about it! What can we do? Without the Elements of Harmony how can we save the Elements of harmony?”

“Twilight Sparkle.” Luna’s use of the Equestrian voice made Twilight stop fluttering. Luna cleared her throat and lowered her voice “That was a nightmare. There is no trouble, the tree is safe. Celestia and I looked into it this morning and it is unharmed. What worries me is that you had a nightmare in the first place, I have enchantments that are supposed to ensure that we, as royalty, have restful sleep. How then have you had a nightmare?”

“I don’t… Maybe the enchantments are not made to include me. Maybe I am not full royalty. Maybe I wasn’t meant to be a princess.” Twilight hung her head.

Luna stepped in front the younger princess and looked pityingly upon her downcast face.

“You are a true princess. Is there anything missing that would prove otherwise? A pair of wings, a horn perhaps? You have the strong heart of the earth ponies, so that’s not missing. Look at me Twilight. You are just as much a princess as myself, Celestia, or Cadence.” As Twilight finally looked her in the eyes she continued, “Just as we have important parts to play in ruling Equestria, it seems you have yours. You just have to look for it.”

“How did you know what you were supposed to do?”

“Celestia and I found our meaning after the defeat of Discord. Even though he was gone, the chaos he spread was not. The world was in ruins, and the sun and moon travelled as they pleased and it was not rare to see them in the sky together. It was when we created day and night and began to rule Equestria in Discord’s absence, to reverse the effects of chaos, when we created order, did we find our purpose. Yet the world still was not completely repaired, and nor could it be without help. Celestia and I could control the forces of the world, but we could not change the ponies inhabiting it. That we found, was the part of Cadence, everywhere she went, she spread love and peace, healing the broken hearts, and helping them start anew. Together, the three of us were able to fully bring peace to the world. But our true power was in the Elements of Harmony we wielded. Anytime a force of darkness approached-” Luna paused, remembering her own time as Nightmare Moon on the receiving end of the elements. “-We were able to match its power using the elements.”

“But we don’t have the Elements of Harmony anymore.”

“We have you.”