Legends from Ages Past

Looking out into the glade now that the sun was rising and the morning birds had begun their ritualistic calls, nopony would have believed what they had witnessed the night before. The clouds of fluttering moths and the mystical moonlight were nowhere to be seen, and the only remaining trace of the Timberelves themselves was the small spring around which they had sang and the ancient standing stones that circled the glade. Around the base of the spring were eight small vials of its purest waters, presumably left as a farewell gift from the Elder Timberelf himself. The others had eagerly drank theirs, welcoming the refreshing taste it had brought and the newfound strength it brought them to continue. Nzuri had managed to sneakily take a little extra in the hope she could study it and decipher what made it so invigorating, all the while praying the ancient God Cernunnos wouldn’t mind too much.

Celestia and Luna, however, drank theirs in silence. As they all broke camp and meandered their way through the trees to the path Celestia could not bring herself to speak, instead keeping her thoughts to herself and trying to file them all away accordingly. Every so often she would look over at her little sister, so tiny and frail in comparison to herself, wondering if she too was having difficulty putting to rest the questions that had arisen the night before. The words of the Elder Timberelf still haunted Celestia’s thoughts in the warm morning light.

You must always remember that should your light burn too bright, it shall even banish all that you hold most dear to your heart.

Beware the shadows cast by your sun Celestia, for when you turn to face the sun, you turn your back on the shadows and the evil that lingers there.

I will not let that happen, Celestia thought to herself as she pushed on ahead of the others once they finally reached the path. No matter how bright the sun is, it shall never banish my family. It’s just not possible! I am the sun, and I shall never be pushed to such a limit!

But what haunted her even more, were the words spoken to her sister. While Celestia’s prophecy had said she would become an inspiration and symbol of hope for millions of ponies, Luna’s had said nothing of the sort. Instead the Elder Timberelf had spoken of an evil hidden in the night, an inner struggle, corruption and ultimately despair that would last a thousand years. Even the sorrowful look it had in its eye seemed to know something terrible was to befall her, and that terrified Celestia. She couldn’t let anything happen to her sister, she loved her with all her heart and would go beyond the horizon to keep her safe. But she had no way of knowing how to protect her.

How do I protect my family from something I know nothing about?

“Sweetie, are you alright?”

At the sound of her mother’s voice just behind her, Celestia slowed down to allow Rose to catch up and walk beside her, but she wasn’t sure how to respond. Deep down Celestia wanted to open up let all her worries and fears pour out, hoping that her mother would know what to say to ease the burdens that seemed to be piling on Celestia’s shoulders with each passing day. But how was that fair? Out of all of them who spoke to the Elder Timberelf, Rose had been with it the longest. When she returned she had sobbed for hours before exhaustion finally overwhelmed her. Even now her red, puffy eyes showed she had yet to stop crying.

“I’m just thinking is all, mother,” Celestia said at last. “A week ago we were excited at the prospect of Beardy coming to visit us again. Excited at the thought of what new stories and present he might bring us, but look where we are now. It’s almost as if we have been taken from our world and suddenly dropped into one of his stories.”

Admittedly, ‘where they were now’ was actually an exceptionally beautiful part of the forest. In the morning light it appeared almost golden and the air seemed to shimmer as they made their way to Nzuri and Freya’s home. Much like the areas around their cottage, this part of the forest was ancient. Untouched for thousands of years it seemed. Celestia wished for nothing more than to be able to stop and be enveloped by the beauty that surrounded her, hoping it would finally take away all the pain that she sensed was lingering on the horizon for them. Rose knew what Celestia had meant though, the pang of pain that shot across her face said as much.

“Believe me Celestia, if I could spend forever living with you and Luna in our little cottage, I would be overjoyed. But there comes a time in every pony’s life when they need to raise their head high and take their first steps towards growing up. Maturing is not so much about your age as it is about your mindset. To accept the world as the way it is and that forging your own destiny within it falls entirely on your own shoulders, that is one of the first aspects of becoming an adult many ponies struggle to realise.”

Celestia couldn't say anything to that. She was afraid opening her mouth to try and speak would just make her cry again. So instead she put on as brave a smile as she could muster for Rose before turning back to face the path ahead of them.

“We’re almost there little one,” Celestia heard Freya say from further back. Just as Rose had come to speak to Celestia, Freya had decided to check up on Luna who showed no signs of responding to her. She hadn’t said a word to any of them since returning to her tent the night before.

Following Luna’s example, they all continued on in silence. No one knew what to say. The sadness that had filled them all upon leaving the cottage had returned, and it was with a heavy heart that once again they each reflected on what lay ahead of them. After several hours of silence Nzuri finally spoke.

“If you turn from the path and follow me this way, we should be there just before midday.”

Celestia turned and saw Nzuri indicating for them to move off the path and into the forest. It seemed like such an odd route, to have traveled so close to the edge of the forest only to turn and move deeper into it again. Perhaps it was to avoid cutting through all the undergrowth with the wagon, but never the less it still made Celestia feel somepony needed a refresher course on navigation from Beardy. While most were content to follow Nzuri off the path, Angus grumbled as he was forced to drag the cart through small gaps between trees and over uneven ground. To try and ease the burden Celestia followed him and used her magic to lift the cart over holes and small obstacles they encountered as well as brush away any hanging branches that might catch it.

“Thanks lass, appreciate it.”

“It’s no problem Angus, anypony else who could would do the same.”

To say the look he gave her then was skeptical would be a severe understatement.

“Believe me Tia, if the rest of ponykind were even half as kind as you are the world wouldn’t be in the state it is today.”

Blunt and honest, what more could you ask for.

After several miles of dragging the cart through denser and denser forest, Celestia finally caught sight of something jutting out above the treetops. It suddenly dawned on her just how sheltered a life she had lived up till then. She had never seen a building made out of stone.

“Welcome to our humble home," Freya said to the others as one by one they left the trees behind and entered the enormous clearing. "While not as cosy as your cottages in the forest, this certainly keeps out any unwanted visitors and has everything we could possibly need as a group. It’s amazing what two unicorns can build in just a decade, especially when one has the magical skill of Starswirl.”

Celestia couldn’t believe anypony could consider this a home. The first thing she noticed was the wall, surrounding it on all four sides with a tower at two of the corners opposite each other. Beyond the open gate she could see several buildings inside, each of which Freya described as they made their way through the gatehouse and into the main courtyard.

“Over the past ten years the goal was to build a small fort in the event the Order found its way into the forest. It may have taken nearly that full ten years to accomplish, but it means that we all have enough space to easily accommodate all our belongings and group members.”

“First of all there is the gatehouse we all just came through, which doubles up as a barracks and has enough room for a small garrison of twenty knights. Inside is a working smithy and forge, as requested by Angus and Shield, with all the tools needed to create your own weapons and armour. We even managed to recover some old texts and scrolls the Equestrian Explorers had uncovered in a nearby excavation, so the two of you may wish to look at that if you're interested in Zephyrian enchantments.”

“This building on the left of the courtyard is the alchemy lab where Nzuri does all her experiments. Around the side of it is a small garden where she grows special herbs and plants necessary for more complex potions and elixirs. Rose I am sure you will find it fascinating and I can guarantee Nzuri will be happy to show you around.”

Nzuri nodded to Rose who seemed to have calmed down greatly as far as Celestia could see. The sight of various flowers and plants that hung across the wall of the small alchemy lab and dotted around the garden surrounding it seemed to bring her some peace.

I wonder if it reminds her of the garden back at the cottage, Celestia thought to herself.

“Across the courtyard from Nzuri's lab is a combined chapel and shrine. Nzuri felt she needed somewhere she could speak to her ancestors and gods, so we constructed this small building to meet that end. It's divided into two halves, one for the Zebra gods and one for the pony gods, should any of you feel like praying.”

She stopped by a small well in the centre of the courtyard to look up at the largest of the three buildings.

“This is our home. On the third floor you will find our private quarters as well as the spiral stairs that will take you to the top of the watch tower and my library and study. On the middle floor are all your rooms, one for each of you. On the ground floor is the meeting hall and kitchens where we will all eat together as well as communal areas for us all to relax in if we can. I will take all your belongings up to your rooms while Nzuri cooks something for us to eat. Each room will be easy to find, as it has your cutie marks on the doors.” Nzuri looked over at Celestia and Luna before saying, "For you girls we obviously couldn't use your cutie marks as they haven't appeared yet, but we did manage to put something unique for each of you on them that I'm sure you will appreciate."

“That sounds like a wonderful idea, dear,” Rose said as she turned to Nzuri. “If you wouldn’t mind Nzuri I would quite like to help with the cooking.”

“You will hear no complaint from me, happy to have the company I shall be.”

Angus and Iron Shield had been muttering to one another up till that point but finally spoke up.

“Me and Shield are going to return to our cottage to collect our wagon of things. We shouldn’t be gone for more than a few hours. Everything is already packed and ready, but it wouldn’t have been a good idea for us to take two carts at once, too dangerous if something came at us.”

Beardy nodded. “That is fine. Freya, I would ask that once you have brought Rose and the girls’ belongings up to their rooms that you stay out here to keep an eye on things until Angus and Shield return. Celestia, Luna and I will head up to the library for a bit to discuss our journey.”

As everypony moved off to begin their various tasks Luna finally spoke.

“Can we not have a minute to look about first Beardy? I have never seen a castle before never mind visit one.”

Beardy raised an eyebrow as he thought about it, but it was apparent he wasn’t going to say no. “Yes, I don’t see why not. I can imagine there are many things here that will have piqued your interest. Remember though this is just a tiny fort, castles are even grander and are constantly bustling with activity from sunrise to sundown. Once you are done come and find me in the library at the top of the tower.”

He turned and pushed open the double doors to the main building, leaving the two girls alone outside. As the door slowly shut behind Beardy, both Celestia and Luna turned their heads slowly to look at one another.

“We are in a castle!” They both shouted in unison. They couldn’t keep their excitement contained any longer. For the first time since they had left their cottage, both Celestia and Luna could say they were genuinely happy and excited. The little fillies in their hearts wanted nothing more than to run about the fort pretending it was their own palace and they were its princesses.

Though Celestia had complained about being taken from her perfect life and thrown into a story of some kind, it now dawned on her what that truly meant. Being on their own journey would lead them to places they never dreamed they would get to visit. Mighty citadels that once housed the knights of the United Equestrian Armies; grand palaces where kings and queens from ages past ruled over their subjects; ancient excavation sites of the Equestrian Explorers where Zephyrian artefacts and treasures lay hidden; battlefields that saw some of the bloodies fighting in pony history; and all manner of mysterious and magical landscapes and landmarks both great and small. They were on their own journey now. One that if they succeeded in, would lead to future generations of ponies telling the story of the two sisters who saved Equestria. And if there came a day when the world was safe from chaos and Discord was imprisoned once more, their little cottage in the woods would always be there for them to return to.

Luna was as joyous as her sister. The dark grip that seemed to had taken hold of her while they were travelling was now gone. Now her smile beamed out as she too realised just what lay in store for them beyond the horizon.

Just like Rose had said to her earlier. Growing up to become an adult was not so much about being the right age, but accepting that the world was the way it was simply because it was, and that it was up to each individual pony to make of it what they could.

“Celestia, up here,” Luna said as she leapt into the air and spread her wings. Celestia followed suit and the two of them flew together. After they both steadied themselves in the air they began racing one another between the buildings, diving left and right before rising high up into the air to look out over the tops of the walls of the fort. Once they had drank in the sight of the forest all around them and the sun shining down upon it all they turned to face the tower. Round and round they went, laughing and smiling at one another as they circled to the tower again and again. As the butterflies in their stomach began to calm they dived through one window of the library and out the other, banking up to finally come to rest high above the tower.

“It’s just like in Beardy’s stories!” Luna shouted to her sister before folding her wings and plummeting back to the ground. As she passed the top of the tower she spun round with a finesse and speed Celestia didn’t know Luna was capable of and landed gently on top of one of the two smaller towers at the wall. Celestia began her descent too, but as she past the library window she couldn't help but notice a rather scornful looking Beardy glaring back at her with scrolls and parchment scattered all over the floor around a table behind him in the centre of the library.

“Perhaps we should wait a little while longer before we head up to meet Beardy,” Celestia said as she touched down beside her sister. “Something tells me when we flew threw there we may have blown all of the papers he had collected over the floor…”

Though Luna was still excited and happy she did manage to cringe slightly at the thought of Beardy scolding them for acting like two little fillies once again. “Perhaps we can bring him some fresh, hot tea to appease him?”

The smell of Nzuri and Rose’s cooking was begin to rise up towards them from the open window of the kitchen, but before they could get a chance to fly over and peak inside a rather grumpy looking unicorn was beckoning for them to join him in the library. Though they weren’t too keen on the lecture that awaited them, both Celestia and Luna were still smiling at one another as they flew up and climbed in through the window, which just seemed to aggravate Beardy all the more.

“What is wrong with using the normal way to get up here? I swear there is a streak of pegasus somewhere in the both of you that exists solely to torment me. Now take a seat by the table there, Celestia can you please fill Luna in regarding the seed I was telling you about yesterday while I pick up all these pieces of parchment?”

“Your not keen of pegasi Beardy?”

“No! But that is a tale for another time!”

* * * * *

“So we need to find this seed?” Luna said after Celestia had finished telling her the story of Jian and Zhi.

“That’s exactly what I asked after hearing the story, but apparently we are to first head to Fort Pegathens to meet with several others who might be able to help us.”

“Well it is good to see that you were paying attention to me after all,” Beardy said as he finally finished tidying up the library and sat down at the table with the both of them. “We are looking for several pegasi who were once members of the Equestrian Explorers. One of whom is actually the granddaughter of Ivory Pen, the unicorn who designed The Solar Wind, a great airship that the Explorers used to easily transport massive amounts of equipment and personnel to various excavation sites across the land. What we need to find out from them is the whereabouts of one of these sites in particular.”

“The seed originated in the lands far to the east of here where the Kirin live. There are records that say at various points throughout history the Kirin and Zephyrian Zebra worked together and maintained close ties. Many inscriptions within Zephyrian ruins depict the Kirin as an enlightened species due to their naturally affinity to the element of air, which the Zephyrians as you both know view as the most powerful of the elements. Because of their reverence for the Kirin, many of the largest Zephyrian temples even as far away as here in Equestria contain Kirin artefacts as well as Zebra ones.”

“So what artefact are we looking for?” Celestia asked. Her sense of hopelessness was completely gone now. She knew what her purpose was, and she was not going to let self pity prevent her from fulfilling her destiny.

“There are three we need, ‘The Sceptre of Chen’, ‘Jian’s Broken Amulet’ and ‘The Heart of Stone’. These are the names given to them by the Equestrian Explorers and Griffon Guilds at least, both of whom were tasked with uncovering and cataloguing ancient artefacts. After some research it would appear the Amulet was uncovered within a ruin here in Equestria, but was lost as the war broke out and the Explorers were reassigned as a defence force to protect refugees. The Heart has for many decades been kept in a library in what was once the capital of Saddle Arabia, so the hard bit for us will be actually procuring it amongst the ruins of the city. The Sceptre was uncovered in the Griffon Kingdoms, but is held by the King of the Blacktalons as his symbol of office, and getting him to part with it will not be easy.”

“Ok Beardy, but why do we need them?” Celestia couldn’t really piece together these three strange sounding items to somehow reach the same total Beardy had apparently calculated.

It was Luna that answered. “Look, it says here in this book that each of the artefacts contains a 'V' shaped gem that when connected together with the others forms a six pointed star star.”

Beardy nodded. “The star is an ancient and iconic symbol amongst all civilisations. For ponykind, it represents a unicorns natural ability to perform magic. To the Zebra, it represents fear of what lies beyond our world. For the Kirin, it represents the passage of time. The stars and spiral that make up my own cutie mark appeared after a Kirin visited Canterlot and taught me all he knew of ancient astronomy. After spending time with him I realised what my special talent was, for it wasn’t simply magic as many ponies think. It was the ability to understand and manipulate the link between magic, the stars and time.”

Luna’s ears pricked up at those words. “So, you can control time itself?”

Beardy smiled at her but said nothing. Not a moment later Freya knocked on the door to the library and entered.

“The food is almost ready, are you all set to come down or shall we keep it hot for a while longer?”

“I think now is a perfect time to finish up.” Beardy said as he stood, still smiling at the two sisters who were sitting flabbergasted that Beardy could hint at such a feat to simply leave it hanging in the air. But the grumbling in their stomachs left nothing but the thought of their mother’s home cooking in their mind, and so the questions would have to wait till later as they too followed Freya down to the meeting hall.

“I’m sure we can coax an answer out of him later Luna,” Celestia whispered to her sister as they descended the spiral staircase. “After all he hasn’t actually explained what this star does, so we will easy have an excuse to get him back up to the library later so we can question him.”

“Sister, do you really think Beardy needs an excuse to go to a library?”

“No, probably not now that you mention it.”