Truth or Forgiveness

The sun was shining bright this day, as it always does in Equestria. Several weeks had gone by so fast since Princess Luna had returned. Princess Celestia looked out upon her domain from the castle as she thought fondly on those past weeks. Luna was slowly adjusting to her new life, her vocabulary needing the most help, but Celestia didn’t care. She was just glad to have her little sister returned to her.

The Day Court had finished earlier than expected, so Celestia had some rare free time. She was unsure of what to do. Should she awaken Luna so they could spend some time with each other? Or should she find some way to amuse herself to pass the time? Those thoughts were interrupted as a sudden jolt shook her castle from above. Now, the Princess was worried. She rushed out of the room and headed towards a secret part of the castle. So secret that only those directly involved knew it existed. Not even Luna was aware of this room and what it contained.

As Princess Celestia opened the doors, she took in the sight that was before her. A bright light shone from the lone object in the room. It pulsed and hummed loudly as it shook the very walls that surrounded it. Celestia feared that this day would come. She spoke to the lone guard outside the door.

“Summon Twilight Sparkle and the Elements of Harmony. Tell them to come to Canterlot immediately.”

The guard saluted and walked off to relay the message. Celestia stayed in the entrance to the room, transfixed on the object. She feared what she was about to have her student and her friends do.

“Dear mother, give me strength,” she prayed.

***********

It was a normal day in Ponyville for Twilight Sparkle. She was slow to adjusting to her new home, but her friends made it much easier for her and Spike to fit in. Of course, there were problems here or there. Such as when her mentor, Princess Celestia, had sent her two tickets to the Grand Galloping Gala and all of her friends wanted to go. Twilight had been chased throughout the town when everypony found out. In the end, she returned the tickets, not wanting to leave any of her dearest friends out. Princess Celestia had sent seven tickets in return, one for each of her friends and Spike.

Then there was the small problem with Applejack a couple of weeks ago. Her older brother, Big Macintosh, had injured himself and she was left to harvest this year’s crop by herself. The farm mare nearly worked herself to death because she refused to accept anypony’s help. She wanted to prove to her brother that she could handle the entire harvest herself. It wrecked her life outside the farm because she was so exhausted. After a while, and thanks to Twilight’s badgering, she finally gave in and accepted her friend’s help. That was an Applebuck Season that nopony will ever forget, or want to have again.

Twilight was in her library, though, today. She was deep in research, magical research of course. The bookmare was always looking for new things to learn. Of course, living in a library didn’t hurt either. It has been only three months since she moved to Ponyville, and she was only half way through her new collection. She felt she could do better, but her friends still needed her from time to time. Her studies were interrupted, however, by the sound of a burping dragon.

Spike appeared in her doorway a moment later. “Twi!” he called. “I got a letter from the Princess for you!” He showed off a scroll in his claw to prove it. Twilight smiled, always enjoying whenever the Princess sent her a letter. She took the scroll from her assistant with her magic.

“Thank you my number one assistant!” She unfurled it and continued to speak as she read. “I wonder what Princess Celestia has to say?” When she finished reading, Twilight was confused. “Huh. She wants girls and I to come see her in Canterlot. I wonder what’s going on that she needs us to come see her.”

“Want me to go gather everypony?” asked Spike.

“Yes, Spike, that would be wonderful. Tell them to meet me at the train station as soon as they are packed. Who knows how long we will be gone.”

Spike walked off and out of their home, heading out to gather their friends.

Two hours later, six young mares and one dragon were waiting for the next train to Canterlot. Spike was staying behind to mind the library, but he wanted to see his friends off. “Just remember to do your chores, Spike,” Twilight said as she continued to list off his duties for however long they would be. The young dragon was trying to focus on what she was saying, but his eyes kept dragging towards Rarity, his crush.

The others were excited to be going to Canterlot, especially Rarity. “Oh, I here Canterlot is so lovely this time of year! The fashion, the culture, the magnificence of it all!”

“Yeah, yeah. We get it already!” huffed Rainbow Dash. The rainbow mare was getting really impatient while waiting for the train. “Ugh! What is taking so long? I could have flown to Canterlot by now!”

“Sure ya could, sugar cube,” retorted Applejack. “But then ya couldn’t enjoy Rarity’s talk about Canterlot.”

“Ugh!” was Rainbow’s only response.

“I can’t wait!” said Pinkie Pie. “We are gonna have so much fun!”

“I hope the train doesn’t take too much longer,” said Fluttershy meekly. “I don’t want to be away from my animal friends for too long.”

“That’s a good question there, Fluttershy,” said Applejack. “Not the train, but, Twi, how long will we be in Canterlot?”

“I don’t know Applejack,” she answered. “Princess Celestia only said for us to come as fast as we can, nothing else. It has me really confused and worried.”

“Hey! We’re the Elements of Harmony! Defeaters of Nightmare Moon! We can handle anything the Princess can throw at us!” retorted Rainbow Dash. The train arrived moments later and they bid farewell to Spike as the train took off. They made idle chit chat between each other, but nothing much else during the three hour train ride. They arrived in Canterlot around early evening. Twilight took in the sight of her old home with a sense of nostalgia. Her friends, though, were marveling in the city before them.

They all wanted to go around and see the sights, but Twilight reminded them that they needed to see the Princess. They could sight see later. When they approached the castle, they were met by the Royal Guards. The two of them recognized Twilight and escorted her and her friends to Princess Celestia in the throne room.

“Princess,” one of the guards said. “The Elements of Harmony have arrived.”

“Thank you, now please leave us,” she answered back.

“Yes, your majesty.” He and the other guards took their leave, leaving the six mares alone with Princess.

“Princess!” said Twilight who approached her mentor and nuzzled her leg. Celestia giggled a little and did the same to Twilight’s neck.

“It is good to see you as well, my faithful student.” Celestia brought her gaze to the others in the room and noticed that they were bowing to her. “Now, now, none of that. You do not need to bow to me when we are alone.” The rose and smiled at her.

“Princess?” Twilight asked. “Why did you need us to come see you? Is something wrong?”

Princess let out a deep sigh and looked directly at them all. “What I am about to tell you all is not to leave this room. Understood?”

Twilight and the others were surprised at their Princess’ words, but complied with her request. “Very well, follow me.” The seven ponies walked for some time before approaching a guarded door. “Has there been any activity?” she asked the guard.

“Vibrations have been continuing and growing with time. Thankfully, nowhere near what occurred earlier,” she responded.

“Thank you.” She turned to the Elements. “What you are about to see is very important and is a great threat to Equestria. Now, come.”

The others were now very worried of what they were about to be shown, but still followed their ruler. Once inside, they all beheld a single stone in the middle of the room, suspended above the floor by magic. The stone seemed to be pulsing with energy and it looked eerily familiar to Twilight. Then it clicked.

“Princess, is that another Element of Harmony?!” Twilight asked out of shock. The rest of her friends were at a loss for words as well.

Princess Celestia regarded her student with look of pride. “Yes, my faithful student. This is the seventh Element of Harmony. But, it is extremely dangerous.”

“Why?” asked Rainbow.

“What Element is it?” asked Twilight.

They had asked their questions at the same time and Celestia answered both. “This Element is completely unknown to me, Twilight. It suddenly appeared after you six became the new bearers. Why it is so dangerous, is because it is highly unstable. It seems to be incomplete and keeps sending out bursts of energy.”

As the solar princess spoke those words, the stone began to glow with ferocity and then let out a big burst of energy, sending several of the ponies to the ground and shaking the castle around them. It took a moment for Celestia to regain herself and spoke to the others as they too began to stand again.

“See? The problem being that the bursts keep getting stronger and more frequent. I fear that the Element may be beginning to collapse itself. If that should happen, there would be no way that I could stop the destruction that it would create. I believe that it could easily destroy Canterlot, as well as the surrounding areas.” The girls all paled at what Celestia was insinuating.

“That is where you all come in. Twilight, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, and Applejack. I need you all to dispose of this Element before it goes critical. You will be given a special container to hold this Element and be protected from the blasts. You will rid this the world of this time bomb in the one place where no pony will be harmed: The Grand Chasm!”