Iconoclasm

Chapters

Before the Trumpets
Reap the Whirlwind
Bear False Witness
The Mouth of Babes

Before the Trumpets

Iconoclasm Chapter 1
Before the Trumpets

Princess Celestia stifled a yawn as she looked across the dark and placid valley below. Unbeknownst to anypony she had turned quite the night owl in the past 1000 years of working overtime and had come to appreciate the serenity the night brought. However, waking up early to perform her dawnly duties were not the only reasons behind the barrage of yawns that followed as she readied herself for the morning. She was bored again, and she knew it.

“Oh no everypony, alert the palace guard” she grumbled sarcastically under her breath “However shall we cope with such a disaster?”Judging from the number of times she had been through these dull spells Equestria would cope quite fine actually. The only thing in danger as of late had been the castle’s supply of baked goods. “I’ll need to watch the cake intake though” she quickly reminded herself, “wouldn’t want to have another rotund era now would we?”she chuckled to herself. Only recently had she been able to remove that last sculpture in the gardens from that rather hefty time in her life many centuries ago. If there was a consolation prize to the whole affair it was that the entire Canterlot upper class had taken to copying her voluminous shape. The memory of portly ponies trotting up and down the regal streets brought a smile to her face.

But really she couldn’t complain too much about the current state of affairs. What was that ancient Guoxia curse; may you live in interesting times? The past 2 years had certainly contained interesting events. Rectifying her relationship with her sister, encountering her old foe Discord, reading countless stories from her favorite group of ponies down in Ponyville, all of these were perhaps the most exciting things to happen in millennia. Then again it was probably the fact that she was coming off the high of those events that boredom was getting to her now. It had been months since she had seen her young friends when they had attended the royal wedding and that whole event had been so chaotic it could hardly merit being called a get together.

Even the friendship letters had begun to slow down, although gradually they had less and less to do with friendship. Celestia gave a mental shrug. That certainly didn’t mean they were any less entertaining. But she had not received the letter in over three weeks and even though she had told her beloved Twilight she mustn’t obsess over them she was beginning to hope for at least some mishap in the little pony borough. The last one had been a somewhat passive aggressive letter from Twilight about coping with other ponies with differing opinions and respecting their point of view. From the tone she had dictated to Spike she still was adamant that Rarity was wrong but at least Twilight acknowledged she had gotten a little out of hand “What? Twilight Sparkle take things too seriously, heaven forbid.” she muttered to herself.

Luckily she had the liberty to be so sarcastic, as she had yet to raise the sun and bring about morning and all its inhabitants. The only one she felt comfortable acting sarcastic around was Luna and even she often missed nuances in modern speech ruining much of the fun. “Better make sure not to mention the whole boredom problem around Luna also” she thought aloud “might be a tad bit awkward after the moon fiasco.”

Honestly Luna remembered very little about her moon millennium, it was all a jumbled blur of hate and darkness. Nonetheless Celestia had gotten her hooves on chain letters threatening that if somepony didn’t forward it to five friends the great Princess Celestia would send you straight to the moon. That just seemed unfair to her, as if she would do that to anypony for such a trivial reason. “I mean if I wouldn’t even do it to Discord then why would I do it to John Doe Pony?” That was partially true, although another part of her imagined Discord crashing a grimacing moon into Equestria. That was an equally good reason not to.

To her surprise she found she was already at the Tower of Light “A wandering mind kills times” she chimed upon reaching the final steps. Looking across the blank horizon she focused on an exact spot ingrained in her memory. With a swing of her mane the mighty horn sprang to life illuminating the entirety of the tower, its glow visible for countless miles. But this was a quick treat for the early birds of the realm as it was quickly outshone by streaks of light creeping its way from the horizon as the great orb of light itself greeted a new day.

“Simple yet it gets the job done” Celestia said to herself in the solitude of the tower. “But then again why make something more complicated than it has to be”. “Sure making a self regulating system would give me plenty of free time but what’s the fun in that?” The very idea would likely shock all but the most learned pony. The simple fact that the land beyond the Everfree Forest ran on its own confounded most but this was all academic even to the Princess. Even with her great power the size and scope of such a celestial system were beyond her.

“This world is fine” she said. “No, more than fine, this world is good” she corrected herself. She took a moment to soak in the beauty of the city coming to life and lovingly looked out upon the valley that contained Ponyville and caught the glimmer of Cloudsdale off in the distance, now with specks of pegasi fluttering into morning formation. By now the sun had wondered high enough into the sky to no longer need her intervention so she prepared to head back down to the throne room when something unusual caught her attention.

Off in the distance almost exactly where she had originally raised the sun, a flash of light appeared briefly and then vanished. Any onlooker would have assumed it was just the princess but she knew better, she had been doing this too many years not to notice something out of the ordinary. She stared in the direction for several minutes, hoping to see the cause of such an anomaly, and was about to call it off and blame it on staring at the sun when she finally saw it. There in front of the sun came a mass of silhouettes, while also possessing great feathered wings, they were obviously not a Pegasus formation. For just a moment Celestia stared slack jawed, quite unlike her normal self. But then the look of horror that followed was just as foreign on such a regal face.

“No!” she whispered, it can’t be. “How could the messengers find me….find this place” her eyes narrowed as she remembered that this new threat affected everything she held dear. I must warn Luna!” she yelled, and regaining her sense of purpose her horn glowed deep and she vanished in a flash of light. ---

---Princess Luna lounged lazily across her bed as she closed the book she had been staring into for the past hour. “How to win friends and influence ponies indeed” she huffed “As If I hadn’t thought of such pedestrian methods myself” Honestly the younger princess knew she should try and implement some of the techniques listed in the book, but the idea of someone of her status relying on a self help book chaffed her sensibilities. “What task will my sister have me do next, take a course on etiquette from a Minotaur?” The last statement was followed by a sly smile even if at the moment she felt like doing anything but smiling. In fact the only part of her strenuous re-entry program into pony society that she found any real joy from was reading the letters on friendship from the group of ponies currently in possession of the elements of harmony.

Luna had originally not known how to feel about them, of course they had saved her from the darkness that had engulfed her soul, but at the same time she felt jealous that these ponies would get to be the keepers of the elements. Such had been the exclusive role of Luna and her sister until the dark times. But during the following months as she studied with Celestia she found herself curious of the many misadventures of this Twilight Sparkle whom her sister seemed so fond of. Anytime a new letter would arrive she would feign indifference in the court but as soon as she found herself alone would scour over each and every word in hopes of finding the same sense of connection that little pony seemed to have learned.

“I guess they aren’t so bad” Luna mused thinking back to her own little adventure outside the city walls. She had just finished hearing about Twilight Sparkle’s misfortune of freaking out over a late letter when she decided she would visit Ponyville for her 1st Nightmare Moon Night back in Equestria. Her sister had argued against it, feeling it would be awkward for everypony but it was no matter for Luna, her mind was set. Her sister couldn’t monitor every waking minute so that night she took her personal guard and descended on the poor unsuspecting town. While at first garnishing mixed results she left that night gayer than a lark.

“I still don’t know why sister laughs when I say that, she didn’t all those years ago” her head perched on one hoof. After that night she too had begun receiving letters. At first hopeful to be from her new friends she soon realized that every one of her letters were from children asking her to come and bring lots of candy next year.

“I suppose it is a start” she bemoaned. “At least young Pip still writes from time to time.” Out of the corner of her eye she noticed the first beams of sunlight sneaking through the curtains. She’d had no idea what time it was, Luna mostly survived on a sprinkling of naps throughout the day and night so seeing her elder sister’s handy work woke her out of her introspection. She stretched for several minutes and had nearly built up the fortitude to get out of her linen sheets when the decision was removed from her hooves.

Suddenly Princess Celestia appeared violently and without warning on top of the bed causing the sheets to burst into flames and Luna to squeal in fright as she fell backwards onto the floor. After correcting her cross eyed expression and rubbing her conked head she fell back into a rage filled royal Canterlot voice. “Sister! We have had enough of your endless antics and shenanigans!” she boomed “When will you again treat me with the respect and dignity I so rightly deserve?” Luna was about to go off on an incident involving a laxative laced cake when she was cut short by an even deeper and more threatening Royal Canterlot voice, this one from Celestia herself. “Silence young one and listen, we are in grave distress” bellowed the multicolored monarch “I do not know if your memory reaches far enough back to know the threat that looms, but it makes little difference, you must go into hiding for they might not know of you or at the very least of your redemption” Luna could only stare in fright at this startling and confusing turn of events. She gathered her courage enough to respond

“Sister” Luna whispered, “What threat do you speak of, surely Discord does not warrant such a drastic….” But she was once again cut off by the larger mare “Enough there is no more time for discussion!” Celestia yelled. Her eyes glowed dark with ancient power and her horn began to shoot forth lightning. She stared at the floor and mumbled some lost bit knowledge. Luna was so frightened she remained glued in her awkward position on the floor, unable to even blink as she stared up in awe at the display before her. Then suddenly and without warning Celestia ceased her chanting and looked upon Luna. Light flowed from her eyes and her horn in a beam toward the younger and Luna could only exclaim a frightened “Sister?” before it overtook her. Luna could feel a sharp pain on her sides and across her legs but this quickly vanished as everything around her blacked out…..---

--- Celestia stood alone in her sister’s chambers, breathing heavily, and unable to clear the ringing from her ears. The spot where her sister had sat was now empty and slightly singed but besides that no trace of her could be seen. “I pray that it worked, it simply must have worked” she exclaimed “But the job is not finished and I only have seconds to work”. With that she backed from the room and sent a steady stream of sparks across the floor setting fire to all evidence that Luna had lived there just moments before. Letters from Luna’s little friends turned to ash as quickly as her pile of self help books and crescent moon decorations were quickly unrecognizable. Deeming it a success the Princess flashed her horn once more causing everything to be put out and ran from the room as quickly as she could towards the throne room. As she ran there she noted nothing out of place, no alarm was sound, and guards were not rushing through the halls. In fact it still seemed like a sleepy morning. “What if I was mistaken, perhaps I imagined it” the princess pondered aloud. “Luna will be most displeased with me, I don’t know how I shall make it up to her if…..” but she cut herself short as she rounded into the throne chambers. There standing around her were figures she had not seen in what seemed a lifetime, an alicorn lifetime at that. All of them were sheathed in layers of great wings but one.

“We were beginning to wonder where you would show yourself” a deep rich voice said “What good is having your own sanctum if you can’t be found to dwell in it?” the voice now dripping with ire questioned. Celestia looked up to see him sitting upon her throne, with an expression no being from this world could comprehend. However Celestia was not of the world and she could read it clearly and a sense of dread spread through her. “Please” she begged “I meant no harm, don’t take it out upon them, I swear upon…” she tried to plead but it fell upon deaf ears.

“Silence, You and your heresy will be dealt with in good time but now we have greater issues of concern, prime among them the Tinok Shenishba”.---

Reap the Whirlwind

Iconoclasm Chapter 2
Reap the whirlwind

It was going to be a beautiful day that was for sure, at least if the morning was any indication. Rays of light flooded the cozy little cabin situated right outside of town revealing a small sleepy eyed yellow pony quietly tucking in a mass of woodland creatures. "Sweet dreams" she whispered as she tip hooved out of the room making sure to avoid stepping on any of the snoozing critters. "I do hope ever so much that those possums can get a good night ...ah I mean a good day's sleep. It's too bad not everypony can appreciate their gentle nature."

In fact Daisy had done less then appreciate them, she nearly scared the fat fuzzy family half to death when she discovered them living in her attic the day before. Luckily Fluttershy had been in town shopping with Rarity and heard the commotion. She resolved the crisis before any pony or possum was injured and after packing the little fluffy family up had even received five bits for each possum packed away. Not that this had been Fluttershy's doing, she was just glad to help, but Rarity would not stand idly by. "Honestly darling there is nothing wrong with using your special talent to make a living" she had scolded as she helped carry the crate back to the cottage. "I sell my wares to make everypony look fabulous and so I can put hay on the table, or buy this simply darling sunhat, don't you think it makes me look antebellum?

Fluttershy imagined it made her look like nothing else but a wilting flower but she wasn't about to tell her that. She would let Applejack handle the honesty department, this little pony wasn't going to repay her friend's generous offer to help with an unkind word. "I guess you are right Rarity" Fluttershy artfully redirected, "I did spend most of last months savings on that petting Zoo incident and I still haven't repaired all the bird houses that fell in the stampede."

"Incident is too kind of word, more like disaster if you ask me" Rarity responded. " I hope you can forgive my sister and her group of miscreants, I still can't see how they could honestly believe bringing all those skunks would get them a cutie mark." Fluttershy winced as she remembered that horribly smelly week. She had asked the Cutie Mark Crusaders to round up any stray animals so they could enjoy the petting zoo and possible find a home with a pony. How that was interpreted to herding a surfeit of skunks right into the crowd behind her cottage she would never know, but the ensuing chaos that followed would have made Discord proud. Perhaps the only pony to come out ahead that week had been Rarity, who saw a drastic increase in perfume and soap sales at her boutique.

After dropping off the pack of possums Rarity went on her way home, most likely to to admire her new article of sun protection. Fluttershy however had then spent most of the afternoon coaxing the furry family out of hiding and had finally done so just in time for night to fall, which of course meant the possums were suddenly filled with new energy and had to explore every last inch of the little yellow pony's humble abode. Fluttershy had eventually resorted to using a very sleepy eyed stare to get them back in their makeshift beds and now with the coming of morning she retreated to the kitchen knowing that a caretaker's work was never done.

"Good morning my friends!" she yawned rubbing her eyes and making a mental note to visit the Sugercube Corner for a nice cup of coffee . However when she opened her eyes to her surprise not a singe critter lay waiting for her, not even a familiar pair of bunny ears. "Um...hello?" she peeped "I'm sorry if I am late for breakfast my little friends, please forgive me and come on out, I've got lots of yummy fresh snacks from the market."

But after taking a second look around and craning her neck to listen for any birds singing outside she had to admit she was alone but for the snoring of the possums in the other room. "This is oh so strange" she said to herself. "My babies never miss a meal like this". With her mind suddenly snapped into fully awake mode she hurried out the door to find any clues. But outside was only the same eerie silence as before. "Not a lark or squirrel in sight" she said "This is simply terrible! Where could they have all gone?"

But her question was quickly cut short by a crash from inside the cottage. The family of possums had apparently awoken from their forced slumber and were thrashing anything in between them and freedom. Fluttershy rushed quickly to the nearest window but let let loose a scream as glass was sent flying above her head and several fat gray blurs hopped over her faster then they had any right to do. When she raised her head out from under her hooves she saw the troop dashing into the Everfree forest, the smallest taking time to snarl right before it disappeared into the old overgrowth.

Fluttershy didn't know how long she had been standing there staring toward the forest, her mouth agape, but was forced from her stunned state by the familiar zoom of Rainbow Dash overhead. "Come back here you bunch of puffed up vapor!" she yelled. Apparently this was directed at the mass of mighty clouds fleeing the skies over Ponyville towards the growing dark skies above the forest. Rainbow Dash was trying her best to stop the giant formation but at each fly by would simply pass through the clouds with a shocked look on her face.

Fluttershy took to the sky and tried to catch up with her busy friend. "Rainbow, whats going on? Why are the clouds acting like this?" she yelled to get her attention. "Beats me" Rainbow replied "But I won't let a bunch of over sized puff balls make a fool out of me!" With that she burst into a circular motion around one cloud and tried to keep it trapped in a mini tornado. Fluttershy followed the multicolored blur as it spun round and round, quickly losing her focus and causing her eyes to spin around in her head. Apparently however dizzy this was making Fluttershy by watching it was tenfold for Rainbow Dash, as she flipped from her formation and crashed into Fluttershy causing both of them to smash into the ground.

Both pegasus lay there in a ball of feathers and twisted limbs for a few moments before Rainbow came to. "What the heck is going on" she exclaimed jumping off Fluttershy and rubbing her sore shoulder. One minute I'm stretching on a cloud getting ready for the shower we were supposed to have tonight and the next thing I know it takes off underneath me!" Fluttershy for her part was still laying on her back, her limbs comically outstretched in every direction. However, as she stared up into the air she saw amongst the rushing clouds several flocks of birds diving into airspace over the Everfree Forest and disappearing into the darkening sky.

"I don't know Rainbow but all the poor animals seem to be doing the same as your clouds" she answered. "I haven't been able to find any of them and the few glimpses of others I see all seem to be heading into the forest". Fluttershy remembered back to the last time something this strange had happened. But none of the possums seemed to have grown freakishly large legs or tap danced away, nor had any of the clouds drizzled them with chocolate or even strawberry rain. "You don't think...I mean it couldn't possibly be Discord again could it?" she stammered at Rainbow Dash

" I have no clue but I bet if anypony has an idea of whats going on then that would be some egghead. And the biggest and egg headiest pony around lives just a dash down the street!" Rainbow exclaimed "So lets go get a clue!"

With that she flapped her wings and took off in the direction of Ponyville proper. Fluttershy stared after her, biting her lip in worry and confusion. "And just when things were starting to finally seem nice and calm again" she moaned to herself. But then she too lifted off and raced, albeit not nearly as fast, after Rainbow. "Don't worry Angel, she whispered "I'm gonna find where you and all your friends ran off to. ---

--- Twilight Sparkle lay wrapped in her blankets, one leg hanging off the side and occasionally twitching and kicking the air. She mumbled to herself incoherently as the light from outside grew bright enough to make it through her shut curtains and land on her face. All strewn about were books and a mess like a stampede of buffalo would cause. If one were to replace the half read books with half empty cider cups then quite a large party would have occurred last night. But for Twilight the late night study fest she had entered into last night was almost better then any party, even one Of Pinkie Pie's. Without opening her eyes she could tell what time it was. The sound of Spike's snores told her she hadn't overslept drastically. Even if she did stay up till all hours of the night it would be scandalous if her little assistant beat her from out of the bed.

"He would never let me forget it" she smiled to herself. "All the more reason to get up and stay on schedule" she said now eyes finally open. With a purple glow the sheets flew off her and she rolled out of bed. She would need to wake Spike to help her clean up the mess she had made in her frenzy last night, but that could come later. "Besides I want to document my dreams in my dream journal before I forget.". She trotted down to her stash of personal books that were not kept on the shelf and found the one labeled psychology project.

Usually she preferred to have Spike take her notes for her as she dictated, allowing for her to have a free flow of ideas. But with personal matters she made due by her self. Still habits were hard to break and even though she wrote she continued to dictate to herself. "I remember being lost and not knowing where I was heading. All around me was utter darkness, and a feeling of complete emptiness. I couldn't even sense my own hooves. Then before me I heard a deep voice and a flash of light" she continued. "Suddenly it was like a wave of emotions and colors flooded over me. I felt happy yet knew I could cry at any moment. All I could remember was wishing that I could turn it off, to feel nothing and go back to the darkness when all that light culminated into an single orb like the sun or the moon. It then spoke to me, it said...."

"Bah, what did it say?" Twilight questioned as she bopped her head with her own hoof. "I knew I should have kept my dream journal closer to the bed, maybe then I'd actually be able to remember" She rubbed her temple and closed her eyes in an attempt at deep thought when this meditation was driven away by the sudden smash of Rainbow Dash through her window.

"Rainbow, do you ever knock!" she yelled in shock, quickly tossing her dream journal under a nearby table. Before the heavy breathing Rainbow could respond another blur this one yellow came rushing through the window frame, not making quite the same quick stop and crashing to a halt on the far side of the room. A startled yelp from Spike showed that Fluttershy had found something to soften the landing. "What is going on everypony?" Twilight whined. Her mane was nearly as messy as her house, she was in no condition to entertain guests and worst off she had completely lost the dream that had been floating around the edges of her mind.

"Sorry Twilight but something crazy is happening with nature out there" Dash quickly explained. "The clouds are acting like there is a race towards the Everfree Forest and according to Fluttershy the animals are rushing in there even faster."

There was a squeak in the corner as Fluttershy lifted herself off the ground and told the story of her morning to the two ponies in front of her. Poor Spike was caught up in her mane and looked to be wearing a terrible pink toupee. "And that is when we headed over here to find out what was going on" she concluded. "Has the princess sent you any letters this morning about what has been happening?"

"No nothing that I know about" Twilight responded. "In fact Spike just now woke up so I am sure of it." With this Fluttershy blushed and apologized to Spike, who had finally worked his way free of her flowing mane. "Rainbow Dash, have the clouds ever done anything like this before?" she asked "I mean outside of the time they were cotton candy and dripping with chocolate." she amended.

"Nope, clouds aren't supposed to move like that, or else I'd be out of a job." Dash quickly replied "You don't think maybe the Everfree Forest is making all our weather like it's messed up clouds do you?" Twilight couldn't be sure, she had studied the forest from time to time during her stay here in Ponyville but altogether her knowledge of it's inner workings remained woefully inadequate. No pony really seemed that interested in investigating such a strange and dangerous place. "I haven't a clue" she admitted but added "we should send a letter to the princess and tell her what is going on in case she doesn't already know."

With that Spike jumped to attention and began to faithfully dictate the morning's events. "We hope that this turns out to be nothing more then a strange anomaly and ..." Twilight dictated but was interrupted by Spike "An anemone?" he questioned "isn't that one of those weirdo things in the ocean?" Rainbow looked startled "The ocean?" she exclaimed "you think it has something to do with this?" the sound of fear in her voice showed what she thought about going for a deep sea dive.

"What? NO! Spike just put strange event and send it out signed your loyal subjects etc." Twilight corrected. "I doubt its Discord again, It took him thousands of years to escape last time and I don't think he could get out in just one. Besides the princess moved his statue to a much more secure area, I doubt a bunch of squabbling fillies can get near him now. Her mind raced as she tried to find an explanation for herself.

"Maybe this is something the Forest does every couple of centuries and we just don't know about it" she said trying to calm down those around her. "I mean we don't even understand how the Zap apples really work and Ponyville is based around them. "OK Spike send the letter and we will have this fixed in no time at all". With that Spike sent out a small stream of flames and the letter disappeared in a flash.

After a few minutes of waiting and standing around in silence Twilight volunteered her guests to help clean up the library. They sorted and cleaned and Fluttershy even dusted, leaving the room nearly sparkling. After a minute or so of admiring their handy work Rainbow Dash exclaimed "Where the heck is that letter? I only helped clean cause I thought any second we would get a response and now it's been over an hour! What gives Twilight, did Spike maybe just burn that one instead of sending it?"

Spike looked offended, he had never destroyed a letter meant for the Princess, maybe a book or two, but never a letter. "Maybe the princess didn't respond" he growled "because there is nothing wrong and you just stink at doing your job Rainbow Dash!"

With that Dash rushed over and she and Spike were quickly literally butting heads and staring each other down. This was only interrupted by the soft sound of Fluttershy "Oh but Spike I know something is wrong, why else would all the little animals act that way, you do believe me don't you?" The sight of Fluttershy's big sad eyes diffused the situation and caused both Spike and Dash to apologize.

However an hour later they were still waiting and Rainbow dash had begun banging her head against the wall in an attempt to hold off boredom. Finally after a particularly hard hit against the wooden interior she exclaimed "That's it! I could have flown to Canterlot by now If I tried. And that's what I'm gonna do if the Princess is gonna be so flipping slow about responding". She bent her back legs in preparation for taking off when Spike let loose a large belch containing a small pamphlet. Everypony gathered around to see what it said as Twilight used her magic to unfold it and hold it in the light.

Dear Citizens, please do not be alarmed, as the situation previously mentioned is being investigated and will be handled in due course. Please refrain from further letters for the time being as we are currently backlogged with important matters. Signed Princess Celestia

Everypony, and Spike, stared at the letter, unsure if their eyes were telling them the truth. "But what about all the little critters?" Fluttershy whimpered, her voice holding back tears. "How could the Princess seem so indifferent?" Rainbow Dash on the other hand looked angry and her voice was filled with rage as she yelled "How could she, after how many times we saved Equestria for her? You would think her highness would show a little more respect and concern to the holders of the Elements of Harmony".

Twilight still stared at the letter, her blank expression hiding whatever was processing inside that brain of hers but inside it was like a hurricane of neurons."This just doesn't make sense" she thought to herself. "I know and love the princess and she would never and has never sent a letter like this".

Spike stared up at her and began to say something when her face focused into a grimace and she blurted out. "No both of you are wrong, the princess would never act like that!" She said glaring at both of the befuddled ponies. Dash doubled down and responded "Well miss scrambled eggs, there is the proof in her own words right in front of us, what do you have to say about that?"

"It's simple" Twilight Sparkle responded "Princess Celestia didn't write this letter".

Everyone else in the room gasped and Spike fainted with a thump on top of Fluttershy.

Bear False Witness

Iconoclasm Chapter 3
Bear False Witness

Applejack stared up into the clear morning sky, her signature hat shielding her eyes from the bright rising sun. Usually on a work day this diligent blonde would be up before sunrise, ready to buck some apples or repair the latest faulty farm tool. However she now found herself in the awkward position of having slept in on a perfectly fine and clear day, a fact that caused her to kick the dirt behind her in frustration.

"Well if that don't beat all" she said with a sigh. "Me and Rainbow are gonna have to have a little talk later today, not everypony can be a lazy bones like her." True it wasn't like her friend Dash to miss out on something as important as a summer shower but right now Applejack was peeved. Besides she already had an image of Rainbow loafing around on some cloud somewhere snoozing late into the morning. Also true was there not a cloud in the sky for said Rainbow to be lollygagging on but that too wouldn't stop Applejack from heaping more blame on her.

"Sure is some big commotion going on over that there Everfree Forest" she said as she squinted towards the dark skies over that forlorn forest. "Can't Imagine Rainbow would move all our clouds into a place like that". True the forest had been on the edge of her farm her whole life and that she had ventured into on several occasions but that didn't mean Applejack had any more use for it. As far as she was concerned it was just a big mess of unnaturalness. "To think, a place where it rains whenever it willy nilly feels like it" she said to herself. "Why, how in tarnation would a farmer get any work done not knowing when the sky might just fall on ya" she huffed.

The only good thing to come out of that place were the Zap apples and that was just a lucky find on her dear grannie's part. As a pony who lived life trying to keep things managed and up kept, the idea that a place like the Everfree Forest even existed was an affront to her. One thing that her and Twilight could always agree on, even with all her fancy learning, was that order and good management were keys to healthy living.

Of course just then Applejack looked back towards Ponyville and saw the embodiment of the opposite mindset in the form of a bouncing pink mess of a pony coming her way. "I swear that pony has some type of extra senses for picking up other ponies who haven't been smiling" A.J. sighed. Sure enough as soon as Pinkie Pie was within range she let out "Hey Applejack, I was totally planning to sit inside all day drinking hot coco cause of the rain we were gonna have, but then I looked outside this morning when I woke up and what do you know but not a cloud in the sky. So then I got to thinking what other pony would have their day's plan all messed up and the first one who came to mind was you, cause normally I know you would like to be left alone on rainy days cause you get all moody and I know Rarity said we are not supposed to bug you on those days but now that there isn't gonna be any rain I guess I can bug you all day long and you wont even mind!" By the end of that Pinkie was now standing right in front of Applejack, her face beaming with happiness and excitement.

"Uh, well thanks a lot Pinkie but I was just coming outside to try and figure what work I can get a head start on account of the rain not looking like its coming today" A.J. stuttered. Instead of Pinkie getting discouraged however her excitement only seemed to grow. "Oh oh, what kind of work?" she asked "Do you need to paint another barn cause I really really like painting barns, in fact if I didn't work at the Sugercube Corner I think I'd get a job going around Equestria painting barns, or sheds, or maybe even cardboard boxes!"

Perhaps Pinkie Pie senses included a barn painting sense, Applejack thought, because as she said, Pinkie always seemed to be there when Applejack was repainting the outside of one of the Apple family barns. A good half of all their barns now had at least one side painted in signature Pinkie fashion, usually with her face in big bright colors. One even had a very stylized Gummy dressed in a top hat. And while Applejack had to admit they were very nice the increasing number of onlookers staring at her farm was beginning to be an annoyance. Lucky for her she wouldn't have to lie, a skill she dismally failed at, to Pinkie as she was having trouble coming up with any actual chores to do. This was mostly due to the extra labor the farm had this month from the Cutie Mark Crusaders, who were grounded for ruining Fluttershy's petting zoo.

"Well I don't reckon there are any barns that need a painting, nor are we behind on apple bucking, and there don't rightly seem to be anything broken right now that I could fix with my own hooves...." Applejack droned on. With each failure to come up with an excuse Pinkies eyes grew larger and brighter until she couldn't contain it anymore. "Whoopee!" she yelled "that means we are gonna get to go and have the best day on the town ever! Just a couple of earth ponies trotting around looking for trouble" she said with a squee.

Applejack sighed and held her hoof to her head but quickly smiled and agreed to go with Pinkie. Besides, she thought, maybe she would run into Rainbow Dash and could give her a piece of her mind. "OK Pinkie Pie, you win. Now where is it you wanna go so badly to?" ---

--- "Oh boy oh boy oh boy" Pinkie Pie exclaimed as she and her orange pal exited the the back door of the Skewbald Inn. In her saddle bag she had quite the load of bits, recently won from a game of Charreada Conquian in the unofficial bubble filled back rooms of the Inn. "Well slap my side and call me turnip, how in the world were you able to take all those other ponies for a loop like that Pinkie?" Applejack asked with bemusement. "It's easy turnip" Pinkie replied "I come here all the time, how else do you think I can afford to throw all those parties, on a bakers budget?" Applejack whistled in admiration. Honestly though Pinkie would have to remember not to let A.J. play any more pony poker, her bluffing skills were terrible. "Old tough guy Tony the Pony has been trying to catch me cheating for ages now, but he hasn't found a reason to ban me, except that one time I had too much of their home brewed cider and I put on these big high heeled boots and started dancing all over the tables and breaking glasses!".

With that Pinkie Pie strutted around the grass humming "do-do-do-do-do-do do! Tequila!"
"So now what ya wanna do, eh turnip old buddy?" Pinkie asked her confused friend. "We could go down to the bowling alley or maybe go cheer up the old folks at the retirement center, or better yet you could help me finish testing some of Spike's punch I was gonna make for him!".

"Well, how bout we head on over to Rarity's place and spend some of these here earning on some necessities Ive been needing to pick up, I don't want to feel like a complete lazy bones all day" Applejack responded. That sounded like work to Pinkie Pie but at least they would get to go and say hit to Rarity in the process. "Okie Dokie Lokie" she dutifully replied and off they trotted/bounced.

However they barely were halfway across town when Pinkie blurted out "Uh A.J. I don't think today is gonna be a shopping day, let alone the best day on the town ever". The cause of this sudden outburst of pessimism from the normally up beat pony was impossible to miss, the sky was darkened quite literally, by countless number of royal pegasus guards all descending in different parts of Ponyville and the edges of the Everfree forest.

"What in the name of Celestia is going on?" Applejack screamed as these solemn soldiers landed around them. Pinkie had met a few guards before and even remembered some of them had been nice, like the guards at the library who let her and Twilight into the Starswirl the bearded section. She didn't see any of those guards among them, and even if she had the mood this legion carried was one of grim determination, not leniency. If at any other time Ponyville were to see so many frowns, Pinkie might very well have exploded from need to cheer everyone up but had to contain herself for the time being.

"I don't think these guys came to attend a party" she said more to herself then anyone around her, but still got a nod from Applejack. More and more pony citizens begun to run into the town hall pavilion area, no doubt hoping for some explanation on why their little town was being occupied. Across the way Pinkie saw Twilight, Fluttershy, and Rarity all standing together but couldn't even begin to walk over to them due to the crowd. Above them the only local flyer was Rainbow Dash, every other pegasus too intimidated by the glaring guards to remain afloat.

Dash was apparently causing some trouble, per her usual attitude. A couple of guards bumped into her at which she responded with a very loud "I'm flying here!" She bumped the others back even harder and was soon surrounded by dozens of angry troops. Pinkie covered her eyes with her hooves, she hated feeling helpless and didn't want to see her friend get hurt. This surely would have been the outcome, no matter the amount of spunk Rainbow possessed, if not for the familiar crackling and booming sound overhead.

Pinkie uncovered her eyes and saw the distinctive cloud trails of the Wonder Bolts in tight formation, apparently escorting somepony. They landed squarely in front of the town hall and broke away to allow a large grayed pegasus commander to step forward. Seeing her idols, even Rainbow Dash had submitted and was firmly on the ground next to Bonbon and Lyra. All eyes then turned to the recent arrival who was now standing at the pedestal, the mayor nervously drafted to stand beside him. He did not keep the crowd waiting for long. Soon his deep voice was heard across the pavilion square

"My name is Commander Markab, of her majesties personal guard. Do not fear fellow citizens of Equestria, we all love and serve Celestia and thus I know all of you will cooperate to the fullest. I have two important decrees that must be followed out. The first is to announce that the former princess known as Luna is now once again and forever an enemy of the state and has returned to her true form, that of Nightmare Moon."

With that a audible gasp was heard across the crowd, mixed with some some shouts of "No!" Pinkie thought she heard the sound of Pip crying somewhere far in the back.

Commander Markab did not let this outburst interrupt him for long. "We know that many of you here have had previous dealings with this evil traitor. Many of you even helped to defeat her the last time she appeared.Thus none of you should be worried, we will not assume any of you would help such a villain. However if anypony knows anything about her whereabouts then do not keep said information to yourself. She may have seemed to change and appeared to you as this Luna character but believe us this was a facade, another attempt to gain power from our beloved supreme leader Celestia. Anyone who is found helping her will be assumed to be corrupted by her dark powers and dealt with accordingly."

"Dealt with accordingly?" Pinkie whispered to Applejack "what do you think that means?". Pinkie knew many of her friends thought her naive but she could imagine some pretty terrible punishments. The very idea mixed with the atmosphere was already causing some of her curls to straighten. She then saw Applejack try to respond in whisper form but was drowned out by Markab starting up again.

"Finally, some of you may have noticed strange activities coming from the Everfree Forest. Until this Nightmare is dealt with, the forest is assumed to be lost to her wickedness and shall be off limits to all pony kind. Some of you may think you can help defeat this monster, but her return to power shows that rainbows and friendship are not the proper tools to deal with her, leave it to us."

With that Applejack let loose an angry snort. It was obvious to Pinkie what she thought about it, but just in case not she heard her mutter "bunch of hooey" under her breath.

With that however Markab decided to finish up this spectacle and so told everypony "Return to your homes, we do not want to inconvenience your town but for the time being we will be patrolling to deal with this menace. This is all for your own good, that is all". With that he was surrounded again by the Wonder Bolts as they all took flight and disappeared into a flock of pegasus.

Pinkie looked over though the quickly thinning crowd and saw Twilight Sparkle motion her head towards the direction of the library. Without anything more then a look from Applejack they both galloped towards the book depository to meet up with their friends. When they reached it they were quickly ushered in by a pale looking Spike and saw the rest of their friends already waiting, either having flown or teleported here. Applejack beat pinkie and the rest to the punch however. " I hope none of y'all believe that bunch of hooey we just heard out there!" she said still breathing heavily.

"Of course not" Twilight responded "And you need to see what we received earlier today, we found Rarity and showed her but we couldn't find you until they all showed up. Spike hobbled over carrying a official looking decree and held it up for the two earth ponies to read. Apparently Applejack was a slightly slower reader then her because Pinkie was first to exclaimed "Secrets and lies, that's all this is! This stinks more than Cranky Doodle's breath! In fact if there was a way to measure how much this whole thing stinks I'd say this is stinknormous!

From the look that her friends gave each other Pinkie realized she had gone over board yet again but they quickly got back to the matter at hoof. "Well what are we gonna do about it huh?" Rainbow chimed in "We aren't just gonna sit here like a bunch of dodos are we? I say I fly straight to Canterlot and find out for myself what is going on from the princess."

"Or maybe we should try writing another letter, I mean I was just thinking we shouldn't do anything too drastic, I mean if that's what all of you were thinking too" Fluttershy squeaked in the corner. Pinkie Could tell she was overcome by fear and worry, and barely maintaining any type of composure.

"No, we can't do either of those things!" Twilight intervened. "We don't even know if Celestia is in Canterlot, and we already know she isn't the one receiving the letters. We need to stick together Rainbow, if we do go to Canterlot, it needs to be together!"

"Well I hate to be the one to have to say this my dear, but what if Luna really has turned back into Nightmare Moon? What if this has made Celestia act out of character? What if all of this isn't incorrect?" Rarity said reluctantly.

Twilight responded ferociously " Luna is our friend, we know she wasn't just faking it that whole time, and since when would Princess Celestia write off the Elements of Harmony, she has always stressed to us how friendship is the most important thing!"

"Well then what should we do?" Rarity responded " Do you want us to go charging back into the Everfree Forest, now with the added obstacle of a couple hundred angry guards in our path. I'm sorry to say I doubt me giving them bits of my mane are going to get them out of the way like our last foray into the woods."

"I don't know ....I just need to think" Twilight facehooved in frustration. "We need to come up with a plan of action, we are obviously dealing with something big here, we can't just act on emotions."

Pinkie hadn't this slightest idea what their plan should be, her thoughts were still trying to process how her best day ever with Applejack could have gone wrong so fast. She gazed outside watching the retreating sunlight disappear from behind Twilight's shades. That's when Pinkies round noggin clicked and she blurted out "Well why didn't the Sun go down earlier if Nightmare Moon is really back? And what if the sun rises tomorrow morning, won't that be proof that Celestia is still around, I mean what other pony could raise the sun, I know I certainly couldn't!"

"Pinkie you are a genius!" Twilight exclaimed "I should have noted that myself." For the first time in several hours Pinkie let loose a smile and joked "Well I may be a genius but I don't know if I can grant you your three wishes!" This was enough to release the tension in the room and allow all six ponies and even Spike to let loose some giggles. Pinkie felt better already, as long as her friends were her things would turn out OK, she just knew it.

But this friendly atmosphere was quickly dampened by the presence of shadows through the windows and a sudden sharp knock on the front door. Everypony(and Spike) turned towards the door unsure what to do. Finally after another bang on the wooden frame, Rainbow Dash darted to the entrance and kicked open the door. Her sudden gasp of Joy showed that it was none other than the Spitfire, leader of the Wonder Bolts, but she did not return the friendly expression. Spitfire merely gave a sad nod to her biggest fan, and stepped sideways to reveal the scarred facade of Commander Markab. Rainbow Dash emptied her lungs at this point, and Fluttershy gave a barely audible cry behind her friends. Pinkie Pie moved to comfort her frightened friend, even though she too was taken aback by the harshness of this unfamiliar pony.

"I trust none of you are plotting anything that would be contrary to my explicate orders" he interrogated. "That would be most unfortunate." Rarity, hoping to ask politely before Rainbow blew her cool, spoke up. "No of course not good sir, we are simply shocked at this influx of terrible news and were hoping to comfort each other." Rarity continued, "What brings you to our library, how can we help you?"

"Yeah, you wanna check out a book or something, I don't peg you for an egg head, but I bet we can find something for you in the Filly and Foal section" Rainbow Dash blurted out."

Rarity glared at her brash friend, Pinkie and several other covered their face with a hoof, but the grim Commander seemed unfazed by Dash's insult. He did however seem to relish in releasing the following news. "I'm afraid to report that right before sundown three little fillies were spotted running into the Everfree Forest, before our sentries had been positioned naturally. I do believe two of you present are relations."

Beside her, Applejack seemed to almost lose her balance as her knees nearly gave out in shock. Behind her Rarity muttered several completely unladylike words directed at her foolhardy little sister. And Pinkie thought she noticed Rainbow Dash look particularly distraught, although she tried to hide any affection for the little flightless filly, Pinkie knew she felt like a little sister to Dash.

Seeing the sense of panic across the faces of the tree's inhabitants, Commander Markab struck while the iron was hot. "None of you shall attempt to retrieve them, this is a direct order to you six. I was already expecting trouble from you lot, but now with this complication I can almost count on it." he turned from the door frame and began to walk away, once again flanked by his honor guard of Wonder Bolts. He turned one last time before departing to say "All of you might have thought yourself hot stuff before but I assure you, I will crack down on you with the full extent of my authority. No one gets special treatment, especially not a bunch of self righteous mares." With that the door was slammed shut by Rainbow Dash, who seemed to be about to burst with anger.

Applejack and Rarity were hugging each other, both trying to fight back tears. Fluttershy was silently weeping in a ball on the floor. Pinkie didn't know how she could make her feel better, there seemed to be a stone at the center of her own stomach, but she stroked the sad little yellow pony's mane, trying to help calm her. When Pinkie looked up she saw both Twilight and Dash staring at each other with a fury that almost sent chills down her spine.

Finally Twilight nodded to Rainbow Dash and spoke up. "Buck the rules and buck planning, we are going after them, and we are doing it tonight!"

The Mouth of Babes

Iconoclasm Chapter 4
Out of the Mouth of Babes

"But why do we need the darkness sister? Every time you try and make the light in the sky go away it makes me ever so scared" the little dark filly peeped to her elder. "I don't understand why you are doing all this anyway, why can't we just stay in the garden, I have so much fun when we just play together".

The larger more colorful mare smiled at these words and nuzzled her gently before responding "I know you do, but there is more to life than just games and gardens, and I want you to get to see it. I want this place to be perfect just for you".

Before the little filly could protest or respond at all she was sent running to hide behind her sister by the entrance of another, with a deeper voice. "Celestia my dear, still stuck on that colorful horse facade I see". I would have thought you would have grown bored of that, I know I would" he said with a laugh.

The larger sister examined the lion like figure before her, remembering that just a few days before he had been goat like, and before that a majestic eagle. "Just because you can't seem to decide what your appearance shall be doesn't mean that my sister and I should do the same. I told you we had decided this is what we wanted to look like, Luna was most pleased by it." At the mention of her name the little filly peaked her head out from behind her sister long enough to stick out her tongue at the criticizer. However all this caused was a chuckle on his part.

"Feisty girl, I like that, perhaps you could learn a bit on how to have fun Celestia from your little sister " he finished with a sarcastic tone. Celestia merely glared at him, as if commanding him to say no more.For once in their conversation he seemed taken aback so he quickly switched to the reason for his visit.

"I assume you know it's that time again, time to make that little dream of ours a reality!" he piped in a singsong voice. Luna tugged at her sisters tail, trying to get her to listen to her plea. "I hate this part, do you really need me for this, I always feel so tired afterwards" she peeped

"I'm sorry little one but yes, soon you will need to do this no longer but for now you must" she responded with a tinge of sadness in her voice.

"Don't worry, we won't let any thing happen to you little princess" the lion said with a legitimate warm smile on his face. While she was usually afraid of him Luna did like it when he called her that so she lied down on the grass and slowly blacked out as she felt her energy sapped by the two figures beside her.---

A crack of lightning startled Luna up from her slumbering state and brought her back from her distant dream she had been in the midst of. She jumped on all fours in alarm and tried to figure out what was happening. She tried to remember the dream she had been having but it was gone, scared away by the suddenness of her awakening. No matter, for now she needed to know where her physical self was located. All around her were old growth trees, and above her the wind howled and caused the limbs to moan. Even in her slightly stupefied state she knew that she could only be in on place, the Everfree Forest.

"But how did I come to be in such a place" she pondered. The last time she had been here was in the form of Nightmare Moon. With that thought her body shivered, but not just from the cold wind. Had she again given in to her darkest thoughts and desires? Could she have done all this and not even remember the evils she committed? Almost matching her emotions the sky began to release droplets of rain, beginning to mix with the tears in her eyes. She let them hit for a few moments and then prepared to block them with her wings, only she quickly realized nothing was happening.

"My wings!" she gasped "where are my wings?" she raised a hoof to her side to feel for her missing appendage. She even used her head to feel around hoping to simply have been so disoriented as to miss them. However while rubbing her head against her side she knew something else was also missing. "My horn, how could that be gone as well!".

Overwhelmed by confusion and despair she fell on her side and began to cry. The storm raged above her, but needn't cover up her whales , as she lay there silently shedding tears and covering her face with her hooves. Was this some type of punishment. Had she committed such crimes as Nightmare Moon that she was sent here, stripped of flight and magic, to serve out a sentence of banishment? She tried to think back to what had happened but all she could vaguely remember was sitting in her bed, then seeing her sister, and finally flames.

She lay there, trying to deduce the significance of these events to her current status, when she heard the distant high pitched screams of fillies. A lesser pony, adsorbed in self pity and surrounded by a thunderstorm would have ignored the faint sound, but alicorn or not, Princess Luna would not sit by idly while others were in danger. She once again rose to all fours and charged in the direction of the sound of distress.

It did not take long before she heard more screams and this time the roar of a creature too . She jumped into the nearest clearing and there she saw three little fillies, all too young to have their flanks covered, cowering inside a nearby hollow tree stump. Between her and the frightened group roared a Wyvern, it's long neck outstretched, attempting to snap at the little ones. It's attention was focused completely on the cowering trunk dwellers, and paid no attention to the newly arrived pony.

"You dare ignore a princess of Equestria" Luna boomed. She might not have the rest of her trappings of a princess but she still had her voice. Time to see if that would count for anything against such a monster, she thought to herself as she charged towards the beast screaming.

The Wyvern for it's part didn't seem to notice the lack of horn on this creature charging towards it, only the volume of its battle cry. It apparently deemed the lightning filled sky less a threat for it jumped into the air and disappeared into the night sky with a shriek. Luna stared up at the retreating creature and yelled "Remember this day foul beast, for this day you were defeated by the voice of Equestria!".

Voice of Equestria or not the continued screaming only cause the scared little fillies to pile deeper in the stump, the bare flank of a little purple maned pegasus the only thing visible of the tightly packed trio. Luna grabbed the little bare flank and pulled it's owner out of the stump, its tiny wings fluttering like crazy but not propelling her into the sky.Upon realizing she was being held in the air, she screamed to her comrades "Run away, its got me, save yourselves!". However quite the contrary, the other two fillies jumped out of the tree after hearing these words and tackled Luna to the ground, causing the little pegasus to fall on top of all of them.

What had been makeshift wrestling moves quickly turned to hugs as the little ones discovered they were on a pony not a monster. "Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh" the little white unicorn peeped, her little voice cracking under stress. "We didn't know you were there, we thought you were the monster!".

All three began quickly apologizing, helping Luna to her feet and chattering away. It was only a very loud and very close bolt of lightning that silenced them and caused them to take shelter under her. "We may have defeated that foul beast little ones, but we must escape this storm, stay close to me I know of shelter nearby" she commanded.

They obeyed without a peep and followed Luna as she galloped away from the clearing towards a nearby gorge. She had to be careful, with the night and the rain it would be easy to miss it and fall right into the gap. Keeping the eager younglings back with a hoof, she investigated a particularly foggy patch. After staring deep into the night for several minutes and just when the little filly with a bow was about to interrupt her concentration with a question from her opened mouth, Luna saw it, an old rickety bridge from another era. She was thankful it was still up after nearly two years.

Carefully she led her little fillies across the creaking crossing, hoping it would hold out a bit more for them. If only I had my wings I could fly us all across with little effort, she thought to herself. In fact if she wasn't stripped of her powers they would have been out of the forest and dry and safe back in civilization by now, but she tried not to dwell on it, there would be time to try and figure that all out.

Right as they were all but across the bridge Luna heard and a loud crack, and looked behind her to see the little pegasus's hoof stuck in the dilapidated wood. Placing her own hoof to her face Luna turned around to help the spastic filly while ordering her friends to finish crossing. "Do not worry little one, I will free you promptly, just try not to move" she said as she gently tried to pull her hind leg from the wood. Just when she gave it a mighty tug and the leg flew free there was a sudden explosion in the sky.

Somewhere not too far away a bright flash containing every color of the rainbow exploded across the sky. At first Luna could only stare up at the spectacle but not far behind the light came the loud boom and the shock wave which knocked herself and the filly off their hooves. Around them they heard the snapping of the old rope as the bridge gave way, quickly falling apart beneath them. Thinking fast Luna grabbed the helpless one and flung her to the safety of the other side, however Luna began to fall mere inches from making it to the other side. This could be the end for her, she thought as she her momentum gave out and she began to fall.

However just then the two other fillies reached out and each grabbed one of Luna's hooves. They could barely keep hold however and would soon have fallen too if not for the quick action of the third. She took hold of Luna's mane with a bite and fluttered with all her might. Soon they were no longer falling but being lifted towards safety. The little pegasus strained, tears swelling up in her eyes. With one last pull the whole group was launch over the side and landed on solid ground. The little white filly however exclaimed about something different though. "Oh my gosh oh my gosh, you are flying Scootaloo, you are really doing it!".

Upon opening her eyes and making this revelation the fluttering filly fell to the earth with a thud. However this didn't damper their spirits as they all began hopping in a circle forming a makeshift victory dance, all the while shouting "Scoot! Scoot! Scootaloo!".

Shaking her head and laughing at the spectacle, Luna saw behind the trio their goal, the shelter they needed from the storm. There before her was the ancient castle of herself and her sister. They all ran inside as fast as they could hoping to avoid any more disasters, Once they had found cover and started to dry off Luna had to know more about these little troublemakers she had found herself guarding.

"What are your names young ones?" she asked, trying to remember to keep her voice down. "Why are you in such a place as this, you should know this is no place for little fillies?"

"I'm Sweetie Bell, I'm Applebloom, and I'm the amazing stupendous flying wonder Scootaloo!" they each answered with increasing excitement. Apparently this was the Scootaloo's first time taking flight.

"Well I am certainly proud of you, but please you must tell me, why are you here in this forsaken woods?" Luna coaxed, trying find out more before they started another circle dance of joy.

"Well gosh we nearly forgot" said little Applebloom, her face suddenly filled with worry. "Our group is called the Cutie Mark Crusaders, we were looking for the princess Luna, she was supposed to be in these woods and we hoped we get get our cutie marks in search and rescue. We don't believe what them there guards were saying about her.You wouldn't happen to have seen her would ya?"

Luna blinked in surprise at this, was she apparently thought missing, but it also shocked her that these little fillies couldn't even recognize their own princess. Dramatically she stood up and swished her mane while proclaiming "Well then you have found success for I am indeed Princess Luna!"

The three crusaders stared at her, befuddled for a second, then looked at one another and burst out laughing. "I don't mean to be rude miss, we may be fillies but we weren't born yesterday" Applebloom giggled. "I mean you showed some pretty sweet moves out there but everypony knows that the princess would have wings" chided the little pegasus. "And don't forget her horn!" added Sweetie Bell.

"I also reckon the princess to be bigger then a pony, why you're hardly bigger then my big sis" Applebloom said .And to top it all off you, if you were Luna wouldn't you have, like you know, a Luna cutie mark."

With that final accusation, Luna flipped her head back to see her flank. "What image is this!" she exclaimed upon actually taking a good look at her own back side. Instead of her familiar crescent moon what she saw in it's place was what looked like the number eight turned on it's side. What had happened to her? Why had this happened to her? As she lay there brushing the non luminous hair out of her face (another change, but she had had this one before) she began to piece together her memory from the previous day. Suddenly the image of her sisters frightened face appeared in her mind. Then she remembered her frantic words and finally the unknown spell that must have sent her here and cause all of this strife.

"BUT WHY WOULD SHE DO THAT?" Luna sobbed in her traditional voice. The sound cause the crusaders to fall back in shock and huddle up together as they stared at this strange pony that lay before them. But before long they gathered their courage and approached her again, this time with and eager look in their eyes.

"Wow lady, that funny looking cutie mark must have something to do with your voice right?" Scootaloo asked. "Could you teach us to talk like that, maybe then we would get our cutie mark in it too," Squeaked Sweetie Bell. The very idea that her soft sweet voice could ever boom did wake Luna from her self imposed exile inside her own worries. "Little ones, don't worry, I'm sure you will find your special talents, but charging into the Everfree Forest is not the way to accomplish your goals. Once the storm stops and the sun rises we must find our way safely out of here, and I'll have no heroics or stunts on your part in your quest for marks."

"Yes ma'am" they sadly chorused back to her. Good, she thought, at least with everything else spinning out of hoof I still can control a rowdy group of girls. "Now gather around me away from those horrid statues and let us all try and get a little sleep for the coming journey." The little fillies obliged and snuggled up around Luna. her heart melted at the sight of them as they quickly dozed off into dreams of cutie marks, and she desperately missed her wings as she felt the urge to cover them up. Making due with a series of nuzzles she curled up her head and joined them in slumber.---

Soon she was having a similar dream again. She felt small once more, but older then the fillies she had rescued today in reality. She felt just as powerless however as she found herself curled up pretending to be asleep beside her sister, in the middle of an argument.

"No Andras, I will not continue to use her for any more of the process. We have gotten enough from her and I do not want to tax her any further. With what we have we can make a beautiful world, why can't you accept that?" Celestia questioned.

Andras, no longer in the form of a lion ,appeared more like a snake with limbs although vague in shape. Gone was his usual flippant attitude in place of one more serious. " I will not settle for mediocrity when we have come so far, and are so close!" he said with a hint of desperation. "You promised me something real, you promised me a fresh start of our own making! Instead I see before me a world of fairy tales and make believe, straight from that girl's primitive mind." He pointed a claw at the lump next to Celestia. "I knew this would happen, and I warned you about it, but did you listen to me? No, of course not, why would you take anything I say into account!"

The sudden increase in his voice made it difficult for Luna to continue pretending to be asleep. What followed made it futile. "If you are going to continue to be impossible to deal with Celestia then perhaps our partnership has come to a close." She glared at him but said " For once in a very long time, I agree with you, we can no longer see eye to eye. Where will you go then?" she asked.

"Me go somewhere, why Celestia, I do believe you have it all wrong. I'm not going anywhere, this is my creation, my hard work." he said as he stood nearer and began to circle them. "In fact I do believe everyone is staying put, Luna will be staying right here, the only change of scenery will be you!" he said with a sudden leap towards the pair.

Luna screamed, no longer able to keep up the charade, and saw his angry face and a claw reaching out for her......

Luna's scream was all too real, not just a dream, causing a chain reaction amongst the little fillies surrounding her, all screaming in various squeaky pitches. She opened her eyes trying to shake the vision from her mind but suddenly realized what the statue she had commanded the girls to stay away from had truly been.

There were the same eyes she had seen staring at her in the dream, only now they were set in stone and instead of anger they held fear. She gathered the little ones behind her and stared straight at this new discovery. Trying to comfort herself just as much as the little fillies. She opened her mouth to say more but her eyes locked with the blank eyes of the statue, all she could manage was to whisper the name "Discord".