“I know Spike, but I have to go to Canterlot, and Celestia said to come as swiftly as possible. I can’t even wait for a train; she sent a carriage to escort me directly to the castle.” Princess Twilight Sparkle paced back and forth, putting various objects from quills to calculators into her magically enhanced saddlebags, which were much bigger on the inside.
“But Twilight, don’t you think it’s a little odd?” The young dragon asked. Twilight continued scramble for as many things as she could fit into her bags. “I mean, it was only one letter she sent, and it was very…um” Spike struggled to find a word to describe the brief letter the eldest princess sent.
“Vague?” Twilight suggested.
“Yeah, vage.” Spike said, poorly mispronouncing the word.
“Well it sounded important so…off to Canterlot with me.”
“Why can’t anyone go with you, not even me?”
“You read the letter. The princess said nopony could come with me, and we don’t want another mirror incident, so I’m asking you as a friend, stay home.”
“But…Twilight…”
“Spike…please.” Twilight was looking at him intensively.
“Well okay, if you think it’s best. Do you have everything you need?” Spike said, trying to change the subject off of his mishap in the Crystal Empire.
“I only need to double check my list for my checklists…” She began scribbling what would appear to be incomprehensible lines to anyone but her. In reality, it was a spell that compressed information to save much more space. It was almost a second language to the mare.
“You haven’t changed all that much have you Twilight?” He said questioningly.
“Spike, if I haven’t changed then why would Princess Celestia need me to be there so urgently? I was just a little filly when she took me under her wing.”
“You’re a princess now, in case you haven’t noticed.”
“That doesn't mean I want to be treated like one; you know that.”
“I dunno…if I were you I’d want to be like royalty. Imagine having your own personal butler. We could call him Jeffery!”
“Spike…you can’t name butlers.”
“You can if you’re a princess” He placed a new tiara, made by Rarity to replace Twilight’s element, on her head. “You see, you belong as royalty.” She levitated the tiara off her head and into the trunk near her bed.
“I really don’t need all these crowns and tiaras. Oh shoot! I have to leave now if I’m going to make it there in time.”
“Why can’t you just teleport where you need to go? Or fly?” Twilight stopped her packing and pacing to explain her predicament to Spike.
“I still can’t fly very well. I wasn’t born a pegasus so my bones aren’t light enough to fly for long distances. And teleporting would use too much of my energy. If the Princess was too urgent for me to not go by train, she might be in danger! What if she’s been captured! What if it’s a trap! Without the Elements, what’s stopping any of our old threats? Cadence and Shining Armor are still working hard in the Crystal Empire.” The ‘what ifs’ went on in the same fashion for some time. Twilight’s wandering imagination got the best of her, and she stopped everything to let herself think of what she could do to prevent anything from going wrong.
Suddenly, her number two assistant, Owlowiscious, began flapping uncontrollably at the door. Twilight glanced over and saw through the window that a chariot drawn by two royal guard pegasi had arrived to escort her. She quickly snapped out of her thoughts. “Spike, I have to go now; my Princess needs me!” She ran directly at the door, stopped abruptly to regain her posture, and walked calmly out the door. One of the guards helped her into her carriage, and then closed the door behind her.
“Bye Twilight!” Spike yelled out after his best friend.
“Hoo!” Owlowiscious cried out.
“Oh no, not again, bird.” Spike said glaring at the owl.
Twilight could hear this small exchange and couldn't help but giggle at the two. She canceled her auditory spell, allowing her to listen to them for a short time. “So what’s the situation in Canterlot? And why is it so important I be there?” She asked the carriage driver, a charcoal colored male with a short mane.
“Your Majesty.” He said referring to Twilight. “Princess Celestia wished for me to give you this.” The driver handed her a scroll.
“A scroll? That’s what was so urgent? You could have sent this to me! Or Spike even!” Twilight’s voice rose to a shout.
“I apologize, princess, but I was instructed not to, under any circumstances, let this be seen by anyone but yourself. This carriage is even enc-“
“Yes, enchanted, I know. If you think I can’t tell when a simple cart has been altered magically, you must be horribly mistaken.” Her temper was rising, all due to her mentor being in possible danger.
“I mean you no disrespect, Your Highness, but I only wish to reassure you of our good intentions.”
“If you want to be respectful, leave me be.” Twilight said with finality. The colt tried to object but was immediately blocked off by a magic ward put between himself and the young princess.
“Leave me be.” Twilight mouthed to the driver. He sighed and went back to directing the pegasi keeping them aloft. Twilight turned her attention to the scroll. She unsealed and began reading the apparently crucial document.
“Dear Princess Twilight,
I wish I could explain more, but time is of the essence. Until recently, as you know, your friendship was powerful enough to help defend this land. When you returned the Elements of Harmony, you cleansed the world of Discord’s final attempt at control and chaos. I wish you to further yourself as my student, and I require your assistance in preventing a major threat. I will give you the task when I next see you, hopefully soon.
~Princess Celestia”
She couldn’t help but note the irony in how the princess was addressing herself in the same way she used to address Celestia when she was younger. That’s just what the words in the letter said, however. With her abilities, she could immediately tell that the scroll was charmed. After a complicated series of magical “locks” were picked, the letters that mattered showed and rearranged themselves. The letters read as:
“The old elements are in danger. Must be returned to their resting place. World in danger. Go to Clover Grotto.”
As if the weight of the sky suddenly crashed onto her mind, she recognized the danger herself, her friends, and her world was in. Instead of losing her thoughts, she remained collected. After burning the scroll, she conjured a decoy in place of herself, then silently teleported out of the carriage.
Her teacher needed her.
Author's Note
Hooray for chapter one! Updates will come soon, already working on chapter two. Proofreading process takes some time, however.
As Princess Twilight Sparkle glided gently down to an open clearing in a thickly wooded area, she realized how much she had just overreacted to the chariot driver. She looked up at the stars and saw the chariot fly across the night.
Twilight began thinking aloud “The decoy was made in haste and anger, a spellcaster’s worst conditions, so it would not be long before he notice- oh look at that.” Against the night sky, a sack of flour with a party hat could be seen falling out of the chariot door. Apparently the driver was furious enough to waste perfectly good flour on this…this…where am I? Twilight thought to herself. If we really were going to Canterlot, I would recognize this place. Judging by the flora it’s not the Everfree Forest. Could this be the Clover Grotto? Her head was too full of questions without answers to make any real progress, so she sat down to meditate the way Zecora had taught her. It couldn’t be the grotto, no caves or water anywhere. There was not a clear path, and any amount of clairvoyance was not helping. Only Pinkie Pie would know where to go. She thought.
As if it summoned by her thoughts, a nearby bush started to shake, out of the bush burst…a seal? How is that possible? Twilight thought. Seals can’t survive in such a warm climate, much less in a forest! This defies reason. How could there be a seal. How! It can’t be a real seal. It must be an illusion. I need to investigate. She took a step towards the animal.
Suddenly, the probably-not-seal flopped back into the bushes and into the woods.
“Wait!” Twilight called, but to no avail. She had to study it, so she had to catch it. Without thought, she blindly charged after the animal, but for a seafaring mammal, it sure could move fast. In no time, it was already fifty yards ahead of her, and still going fast. This can’t be natural; it must be a spirit or something. Normally, she would have reasoned that spirits are only habitant in areas the creatures they represent are native to, but during the chase, her mind was in preoccupied with chasing a seal through the heavy forest.
Almost instantly, the forest changed into a jungle, then a desert! The chase was taking her through whole biomes! The landscape kept shifting rapidly and sporadically. Twilight looked down to see the ground below her was moving at impossibly fast speeds, but the seal was still the same distance away, and she didn’t feel as if any speed had been gained. When her mind fully registered all of the irregularities, she understood what was happening. “A Sliptrail…” she said, awestruck. Although she could not hear herself speak as she had almost instantly passed by her own voice’s sound waves. She was just beginning to admire the amazing magic that was unfolding when she suddenly came to a halt.
“Hello Princess Twilight Sparkle.” A soothing voice said. Twilight was too dazed to see clearly but the voice was easily recognized.
“Princess Celestia! I’m so glad you’re okay!” She exclaimed. She tried to locate her mentor, but was still sprawled out on the ground with no sense of up or down.
“I’m glad to see that you have made it here.” Princess Celestia said.
“Where is here?” Twilight asked, regaining her footing.
“This is the Clover Grotto, otherwise known as the Life Spring.” Celestia motioned to an icy-blue fountain. “This water is the lifeblood of the known world. All living beings, good or evil, can be traced back to this one spot.” Twilight came out of her daze and took a look around for the first time.
“It’s breathtaking. How could you have managed to find this place?”
“With the help of a close friend.” She said pointing to the seal.
“A seal? Pardon me for not understanding how a seal could help you. Is it a spirit?”
“Not a spirit, but a guardian. He can take the shape of whatever creature it needs.” Celestia explained.
“Why would he have shown himself to me as a seal then?”
“Because I asked him to.” She said as if that explained everything.
“But…why a seal?” Twilight stammered.
“I knew if you saw such a strange animal, you would be bound to follow it.”
“I guess that makes sense, in a weird way. Wait, where is Princess Luna?”
“I do not know. I asked her to investigate the Gravity Caverns.”
“I’m sorry, the what caverns?”
“Allow me to explain. When you returned your elements, you brought the Tree of Harmony back to full power. Those six elements were keeping the world from falling into chaos. There are more elements to this world though; seven more to be exact. They all make up an aspect of our world, and if they are disturbed or taken from their respective area, they will become weak. If they are all under one pony’s control, they could tear this world apart.” Celestia explained.
“What are these elements then?”
“They are Force, Fire, Water, Lightning, Earth, Life, and Time.”
“But how can only seven things make up this whole world? There are obvious parts of the world not encompassed by just those seven, like ice, air, plants even.”
“All parts of this world are derived from those. Air is only Force and Life working together in harmony. Even if it is not obvious, they are all parts of these seven.”
“I understand now, so plants would be Earth and Life together?” Twilight asked.
“Exactly.”
“So what do I need to do?” She asked full of determination.
“We need to investigate each of the elements to make sure they are not altered, or even gone.”
“Where do we go first?”
“I’m sorry Twilight, but I cannot go with you.”
“Why not? We could be done in no time if you we would just go together.”
“This is the Life Spring, the most powerful of all the elements belongs here. All of the other elements have been assumedly compromised. I’m using my magic to keep a hold of all the other elements. If I leave, everything will fall. The seas will drain, the ground will crumble, life, will die out, the world will literally fall apart.”
“How am I supposed to prevent that?!” Twilight began to have a nervous breakdown. Celestia put her hoof to Twilight’s cheek, smiling down at her.
“I have faith in you, dear Twilight. Now go, and fast. I don’t know how long I can put strain on this one element.”
“Okay, where do I go first?”
“The first element you should investigate lies to the north, in the Unicorn Range. I need you to locate Terra Mountain and investigate the Earth Element. I fear somepony may be up to something sinister.”
“North you said? So are we in the White Tail Woods?” Twilight asked.
“Yes and no. If you were to look down at us from the view of a bird, you would see those woods. In all reality we’re in a completely different dimension.”
“But…how…could we be…?”
“I can’t explain now, we've already wasted far too much time. What you’re looking for is an ancient temple, most likely in ruins. It will be in the tallest mountain there. Now go.” Celestia opened a Slipstream tunnel in front of Twilight, which looked similar to a wormhole.
“I’ll do my best, princess!” Twilight declared.
“Be careful, my student.” Celestia told her as she walked through the tunnel. “Return to me safely.” She added, but Twilight was already miles away.
Author's Note
Hooray. Chapter 2 is done. As I thought, proofreading took most of my time. Any comments would be appreciated and if you have any ideas, message me, I'll see what I can do. Thanks for reading thus far!
