A New TownView OnlineArrivalA New Town"Ponyville. A small town, perfect to start trying to live like a normal pony again," I said to myself, standing near the edge of the town. Looking around, I notice a calm lake. "Perfect, need to make sure I don't look like I've lived in the wilds for years," I say as I walk towards it. Approaching the lake, I adjust my bag of bits, so it wouldn't fall and spill open in the middle of town. "Can't have that happening," I muttered, "I'm going to need every spare bit until I can somehow get a job. Ten thousand will only go so far." Brushing back my mane with a hoof, I look into the lake and find a familiar azure unicorn looking back. "Heh, I didn't become old and gray since I last checked. Good," I say to myself, "Now to see if I can manage to find a place to live." Upon entering Ponyville, I started scanning for a house that had any kind of sign. Finally, after a good half an hour, I find one that simply says "For Sale." "Perfect," I think to myself, knocking on the front door. "Just a moment," I hear a mare say from the other side. "Forgot I would actually have to speak to ponies," I mutter, adjusting my coat and bits to be more comfortable. As I look back up, I see a pale green earth pony at the door. "How may I help you?" she asks. "I'm here to buy the house," I reply. As I say that, she visibly relaxes. "Right this way, please. Just need you to sign a couple papers, and pay the bits, then it will be yours." I follow her into the house. Not too big, but not all that small either. She leads me to a table, one of the few pieces of furniture that isn't a box laying around. "I've been trying to sell this place for a while, so I can move to Baltimare with my family. Now, if you'll just sign here, and pay the 4,500 bits, I'll be out of your way," she says. "4,500? Not bad for a house this size," I think to myself as I sign the deed and hand over the bits. "Thank you," she says as she leaves to get the movers, "Do you need any help moving in?" "Nope, don't have much," I tell her truthfully. "All I have now is my coat and what bits I have left." She shrugs and says "Alright then. Thanks again," as the movers carry the last of the boxes out of my new house. I slump into one of the chairs around the table, finally able to relax. "This might be harder than I thought. Oh well, I'll get used to it eventually." I wake with a start, not remembering where I am for a second. "What? Whe- Oh, right," I say as I realize slept at the table in the house I bought yesterday. Looking around, I notice that this would be the living room, but doubles as a dining room, thanks to the small kitchen attached to it. I also notice some stairs that I had forgotten about. "Well, let's see what those lead too," I say as I get up. Reaching the top of the stairs, I notice a door leading to a small balcony. "Hm, that will be quite useful, once I buy a new telescope," I say. Looking around the rest of the second floor, I recognize it to be some sort of a study area. "How convenient, a balcony and a study area on the same floor," I chuckle to myself. As I turn to go back downstairs, I notice a second flight of stairs leading into what must be the attic. Reaching the top, I notice the attic has been re-done into a bedroom. "That would have been nice to find last night," I think. Heading back to the bottom floor, I pick up my bag of bits, doing a quick counting spell to make sure they were all there. Satisfied that they were, I went to go do some necessary shopping for furniture and food. After spending the day buying and transporting necessary furniture, and some basic food and drink, I notice that it was time for Celestia to lower the sun. "Jeez, that took longer than I thought it would," I say to myself, "But at least it got done." As I head upstairs to sleep in my new bed, I hear a knock at my door. "Who could it be at this time of the evening?" I wonder as I head back downstairs. Opening the door, I'm greeted by a pink earth pony mare, who for some reason seemed far too happy than is logically possible. "Hi there! I saw you working, so I brought you a cupcake, because everypony needs a cupcake after a day of work!" She says, nearly bouncing up and down, offering me a cupcake. "Uh, thanks," I say, taking the cupcake in my magic and setting it on the table, still unsure of exactly what is happening. "And, who are you?" "Oh, silly me, I almost forgot you're new here! My name is Pinkie Pie," she says, smiling. "Pinkie Pie, eh? Interesting name," I say, immediately mentally filing her under "DO NOT STUDY FOR RISK OF SANITY." "Well, it's been nice meeting you, but I really must be getting to sleep," I say as I grab the door with my magic to close it. "Okey doki!" She says, bouncing away as I close the door. "I hope I don't have to see too much of her," I mutter, rubbing my forehead with a hoof, "She just seems... wrong. Like there's something magical about her, but she's an earth pony." Headed back upstairs to get some much needed rest, I accidentally knock a book off of a shelf. Grabbing it in my magic before it could hit the floor, I look at the title. "Myths and Legends from across Equestria," I read. Turning it around, I notice it opened to the legend of the Elements of Harmony. "But those are just a myth, an old foals tale, right?" I say, putting the book back on the shelf. "Maybe the local librarian will have something more on the subject. But, that is a task for the day. For now, I require sleep," I say, flopping into bed.
New FacesView OnlineArrivalNew FacesI wake up to sunlight streaming in through my bedside window, onto my face."I need to remember to close the curtains next time," I groan. Not entirely awake, I stumble to the ground floor to make some coffee with the pot and beans I bought yesterday. As I grind the beans with my magic, I noticed that I left the cupcake pinkie gave me on the table. "Well, finding breakfast was easy," I say as I put the ground coffee into the pot of now boiling water to brew. Picking up the cupcake in my magic and carefully peeling off the paper, I realize the frosting is the same shade of pink as she was. "Interesting," I say, incinerating the paper and lifting the cupcake to my mouth, "A nice touch." Having eaten the cupcake, which was quite good, I grab a mug out of the cupboard as the coffee finishes brewing. Pouring myself a cup, I hear a loud crash come from outside. "Huh, wonder what happened," I think to myself, as I drink the coffee. Setting the mug down, I say "Well, I planned on going to the library today anyway, might as well check out what happened on the way" Putting on my coat, and making sure my door was locked behind me, I head off towards the direction of the library. Once I arrived, I noticed a decently large hole in the side. "Huh, so that's where that crash came from. Mystery solved," I say, walking up to the library door. As I raise my hoof to knock, I hear a mare say "Just a minute!" from inside. "Huh, must be a unicorn," I thought. "Spike can you get that, please? I'm kinda busy, since Dash crashed through the wall again," I hear the same voice from before say. "Spike? interesting na-" I was cut short by the door opening in front of me, and ushered inside by a dragon hatchling that I assumed was Spike. "A dragon? Interesting," I say, as Spike closed the door behind me. "Yeah, Twilight hatched me from an egg," he explained. 'And Twilight would be..?" "The unicorn." "Ok, so the pegasus she looks ready to kill must be Dash?" I asked. "Yep. This isn't the first time it's happened either." "Why am I not surprised..." I say, as I watch Dash attempt to calm Twilight for what seemed like the millionth time. I look around, waiting for them to finish whatever they were doing. It was a decently sized library, relatively small compared to the ones back in Canterlot, but still might have what I'm looking for. "Excuse me," I say, as it seemed that this was going nowhere fast, "I was wondering, do you have anything on the Elements of Harmony?" At the mention of the Elements, they both froze. "What? Was it something I said?" I ask. "If you don't, it's ok, I'll just be leaving then." Still no response, as they both looked at me in shock. "Okayyyy, I'll just be leaving then," I chuckle nervously. As I turn to leave, I hear Twilight call out, "Wait!" "Yes?" I say, turning back around. "How do you know about the Elements?" "From a book of mine, but everypony knows they're just a myth, right?" I ask nervously. Twilight and Dash exchange a quick look, and Twilight says, "Yes, a myth. Just a myth. Nothing else. Totally not real and most definitely not bound to the souls of certain ponies," visibly going insane. "Um, I'm going to leave now," I say, opening the door, "It was nice meeting you, I guess." Closing the door behind me, I look up to notice that it's High noon. Lunchtime. "I think a bite to eat will help me clear my head," I say, going to a random restaurant. Having eaten, and feeling a bit better for it, I decide to explore Ponyville for a bit. After a good 20 minutes wandering the town, and getting a few strange looks from the locals, I find a quite fancy looking building, which looked out of place next to the standard housing style around here. As I approached the building, I hear a familiar voice say, "Hi there! Glad to see you're not cooped up in your boring old home. Well, I guess it would be a boring new home for you." Turning around, I see the mare that introduced herself as Pinkie last night. "Oh, hi Pinkie. I was just going for a bit of a walk." "Walks can be fun, although why walk when you can bounce around like me?" She says, bouncing. Still no idea how she does that. "Fair enough, I guess. Hey, since you live here, and probably know every building in town, what is this place?" I ask, gesturing to the fancy building. "Oh, that? That's Carousel Boutique. My friend Rarity lives there, she likes to make clothes for ponies." "Clothes, eh? Well, I might have to go get my bits and pay her a visit, then," I say, turning to go get said bits. "Okey doki! Well, see you around.... what was your name, again?" "Lunaris. Lunaris Sericos, but I prefer just Lunaris." "Lunaris Sericos... What an interesting name! See you later, Lunaris!" She says, bouncing away. Turning to head home to finally grab my bits, I check the time by looking at the sun. "Hmm, about 1:00. I have time," I say, trotting towards my house. After arriving home and grabbing what I came for, I head back towards the Boutique. As I walk to the door, I think, "Hmm, lets see, what I really need is a nice cloak. Yes, a black leather cloak will do nicely." Having arrived, I carefully push open the door. As I do, I hear the chime of a bell, I hear a mare say from the floor above, "Welcome to Carousel Boutique, where everything is chic, unique, and magnifique! I'll be with you in just a moment." Noting the use of Prench, which likely meant she was from Canterlot like me, I waited for her to finish whatever she was doing. Turns out I didn't have to wait long as she came down the stairs soon after, saying, "How may I help you, dearie? Oh, and I must say, that is quite a nice coat you have there. Wherever did you get it?" "Oh, this? I got it about 10 years ago, from somepony that was very close to me. It's all I have to remember him by." "Him? Say no more dearie, I understand completely," she said. "Now, what can I do for you?" "Nothing like that," I chuckled, "He was my mentor, and was like a second father to me. Anyways, I heard you make clothes?" 'That's a bit of a relief to hear," she says smiling, "I'm not used to dealing with.. those kind of stallions. Yes, I do. What would you like made?" "A hooded cloak, made out of black leather, if you have it." "Black leather? Why yes, I do have some. I'll have to get my leather-working tools, I don't often get requests for anything besides the usual cotton or silk." "Alright," I say, pleased, "And what time should I return to pick it up?" "Let's see," she says looking at the clock, which read 1:15, "it should be done by 3:00. Does that sound alright?" "That sounds just fine," I say, nodding and turning to leave, "I don't really have many plans, so I'll most likely just go home and study till then." "Study?" she laughs, "You sound like my friend Twilight." At the mention of the name Twilight, I turn and say, "Twilight? As in, the librarian?" "You've already met her?" She says, looking a bit surprised. "Well, I shouldn't be surprised, it seems logical that one of the first places you went would be the library." "Yeah, met would be one way to say it," I chuckle nervously, "More like I asked her something and she went insane." "Insane? Whatever could you have asked that would have caused that?" "I simply asked if she had anything on the Elements of Harmony in the library." At the mention of the Elements, Rarity freezes, saying, " The Elements? Well, I could see why that would have an effect on her. Anyways, I simply must get working on your cloak. Ta ta for now!" Exiting the Boutique, I wonder, "What is with everypony and the Elements? Maybe that book will help me figure this out." Arriving home, I place my coat on it's hook, with the bits tucked safely inside. "Now," I say, "To see if that book can help me figure out just what exactly it is abut the Elements that makes everypony act so weird."
The ElementsView OnlineArrivalThe Elements"There's nothing here about strange behavior, in fact, there's not much here abut the Elements at all!" I say, returning Legends from across Equestria back to the shelf. "And I can't go to the library, because Twilight will probably just go insane again, and that will accomplish nothing." As I look through the bookshelf again, making sure I hadn't missed something that might help, I hear a knock on my door. "Just a moment!" I call down the stairs. Checking the clock on my way to the door, I wonder, "Who could it be? It's only 2:30, so it's not Rarity about the cloak.." Opening the door, I see Pinkie for the 2nd time that day. "Hiya Lunaris! I'm supposed to give this to you," she says, handing me a scroll with Celestia's seal on the wax. "I don't know what it says, but it's from Princess Celestia, so it must be super duper important!" "From Celestia?" I say, accepting the scroll, "I wonder how she knew I lived here." "I dunno. You should probably read it, though. Well, I have to get going, the Cakes need me back at Sugarcube Corner. See ya!" She says, as I close the door behind her. Walking over to my table and opening the letter, I read, "Lunaris Sericos, you have hereby been invited to dinner at Canterlot Castle. It will be at 6:00 tonight. Hope to see you there. ~Princess Celestia" Not believing my eyes, I re-read the letter to make sure I hadn't missed something. My efforts were in vain, as nothing pointed to it being a fake. "Canterlot... I haven't been there for... what is it, 10 years now?. Well, it is a summons from the Princess, so I can't exactly say no," I think to myself. Looking at the clock, I realize my shock lasted longer than I had thought. "3:30? Oh no, I need to go pick up my cloak from Rarity!" I exclaim, grabbing my coat and bits as I rush out the door to the Boutique. Arriving at the Boutique, I stop to catch my breath before entering. As soon as I open a door, I hear Rarity say, "Oh, that must be that stallion here for his cloak! Took him long enough." "Sorry, got a letter from the Princess inviting me to Canterlot, I haven't been back there for quite a long time." "Back there? You mean you used to live in Canterlot?" She asks, handing me the cloak. "That will be 200 bits." "Yeah, back when I was just a colt," I say, accepting the cloak and handing her the bits, "And thanks again for the cloak, I've been needing a new one." Arriving home, noting I still have 2 hours before I have to be at the Castle, I decide to take a quick shower. "After all, wouldn't hurt to make a good first impression," I think, putting my coat on it's hook, my cloak on the one next to it, and my bits in a drawer by my bed. Exiting the shower, I put my coat back on and head down to the train station to catch a train to Canterlot. Getting there barely on time, I rush towards the castle to ensure I don't keep the Princess waiting. Arriving at the castle gate, the guards crossed their spears, saying, "Halt! Who goes there?" Expecting this, I simply say, "Lunaris Sericos, invited by Princess Celestia." Uncrossing their spears, one says, "You may enter. The Princess is waiting for you in the dining hall. You will be escorted there to ensure you do not enter any restricted areas," opening the gate and calling over one of the other guards as the escort. I simply nod, following the appointed guard to the dining hall. Arriving at the entrance, he stops and says "The Princess is waiting for you inside," while opening the door. Entering, the first thing I notice is the sheer size of it. It could easily seat all of the ponies in Ponyville, if needed. As it was, the second thing I noticed was that the Princess was not alone. Both Pinkie and the Librarian, which I remembered was named Twilight were there as well, along with Rarity, the cyan pegasus that crashed through the library wall, and 2 other ponies I had not met yet, one a shy-looking yellow pegasus, the other an orange earth pony that looked as if she lived on a farm. Taking the only empty seat, which was next to the yellow pegasus, which I found out was indeed shy by the way she hid her face from me behind her mane, and across from Pinkie. "I'm glad you were able to make it, Lunaris. Twilight has told me about you"- Oh, so that's how she knew I lived in Ponyville -"And there is something that I have decided we must all discuss. But, you are probably hungry, so let us eat before we worry about such things," Celestia says, as waiters and waitresses bring the food to the table. After we had all finished eating, and servants took the dishes away, Celestia says, "Now that our desires for food and drink are satisfied, there are things we must discuss. First of all, after you had left Canterlot, Lunaris, your father, Ashen Light, left me something to give to you. A scroll, with a saying I could not find the meaning of. I am sure you know though, otherwise he would not have given it to me to give to you," levitating a small scroll, yellowed with age to me. Accepting the scroll, I open it and silently read, " For the blood of the Family runs in my veins, this will ensure that my enemies will not remain." Shocked, I say, "Yes, I know what this is. It's a spell, passed down through my family for generations. It is normally given to the firstborn unicorn on their 18th birthday." Intrigued, Celestia asks, "Would you mind telling it us what it does, and why I was not able to detect anything?" Sighing, I say, " I cannot say what it does, for it's finer details are a family secret. However, I can show you, if you wish. I will need to use the spell sometime soon anyway. The spell itself is not dangerous, though it can only be used by one member of my family at a time. My father passing this down to me means I am now the one who represents my family. As for why you detected nothing, it is because it's a blood-bound spell, only unicorns of my family can use it." Looking up, I see everypony staring at me, including Princess Celestia. "Interesting. I would indeed like to see this spell," she says. "As it is, these 6," she gestures to the others at the table, "have already sworn an oath to keep what happens here a secret. I ask you to do the same, for the main reason I asked you to come is a matter of very great importance." Nodding, I say, "Understandable. I shall swear my secrecy, then I shall show you a very closely guarded secret." Rising from my seat, I bow to Princess Celestia, and say, "By the blood of my family, from myself to the ancient unicorn tribe of before Equestria, I, Lunaris Sericos, swear that, from this point forward, all that is said here will be kept secret from all others, even at the cost of my own life." Celestia replies, nodding, "As it is said, so it shall be. You may rise, Lunaris Sericos." "Thank you Princess," I say as I rise, "Now I must do as my father did before me, and his before him, and his mother before him, stretching back to the spell's creation nearly 2,000 years ago." Walking to an open area, I recite, "For the blood of the Family runs in my veins, this will ensure that my enemies will not remain," extending my right hoof during the second part. Not long after, a shimmer appears in the air above my leg, just behind my hoof, solidifying into an obsidian short sword hilt with a shimmering diamond in the crossguard. Once it finishes solidifying, an arcane purple blade shoots out, seemingly piercing my leg. As it does, the diamond glows the same color as the blade, and I hear the others gasp, most out of horror, but 2 seemed to be out of surprise. Then Celestia says, "It can't be.... is that the sword I think it is?" As I grab the handle with my magic, the blade vanishes, and the diamond stops glowing. "Yes.. probably. This is the blood-bound blade, MoonDancer," I say, turning to face the others, tucking the hilt safely into my coat. All but Twilight and Celestia had a look of pure shock on their faces, while Twilight's was a mixture of shock and awe, Celestia's was one of amusement. "MoonDancer.. created by Starswirl the Bearded, shortly after the Fall of Discord, it was used to keep monsters away as the Old World was being founded," Twilight says, "There hasn't been any records of it being seen for nearly 300 years, it was presumed lost. How did your father find it?" "He didn't," I chuckle, "It was never truly lost. Just never used, and kept secret, passed down from generation to generation. Now that I have preformed my duty as Bearer," I say, walking back over to the table and sitting back down, "What is it you called me here for, Princess? Celestia's look quickly became serious. "Yes, the reason this meeting was organized. You came to Twilight yesterday inquiring about the Elements of Harmony, correct?" "Yes, I had knocked a book off of one of my shelves, and it fell open to the legend of the Elements, so I went to the library to see if it had anything else about them. But aren't they just a myth, a story told to foals to help them sleep?" "Would you be here if they were? The Elements of Harmony are more than just a mere myth, Lunaris. In fact," she says, gesturing to the others at the table, "they sit before you now. These 6 ponies are the bearers of the 6 Elements of Harmony, Equestria's final hope against the forces of evil and disharmony. I chose you to reveal this to because, oddly enough, no pony else has expressed an interest of them besides the old legends." After sitting in silence for a while, letting Celestia's words sink in, I nod and say, "Interesting. This will take some getting used to. It is getting late," I say, noticing Twilight's poorly veiled attempt at hiding a yawn, "And we are all probably quite tired. I must take my leave now, if I am to get home tonight." Getting up, I bow to Princess Celestia and say, "Thank you for the meal, Princess. It has been nice being back in Canterlot, after all these years." Nodding, she says, "Goodnight Lunaris. I must now go lower the sun to make way for the moon. Take care." Exiting the dining hall, and following the new escort back to the gate, I make my way back to the train station to head home. Arriving back in Ponyville, I notice that the Element bearers had stayed in Canterlot. "Must be visiting for the time being," I reason. Entering my house, I put my coat on it's hook, and MoonDancer in a drawer by my bed. Barely able to contain a yawn myself, I get into bed and soon fall asleep.