Author's Note

[WIP] I've run a few passes through to try to have this checked over, but things will probably still change and be improved as time goes on.

So yeah, part 1 of Roots of Turbulence. Still not sure if that title will stay but it's what's there for now. Please let me know what you think, I know this chapter is just some set up, things move more in the second one.

Unexpected Find

It was a bright and sunny day in Canterlot, as usual, as Princess Luna headed down the hall to see her sister. She had been particularly bent on catching up and returning to regular princess duties since her return, and while she had steadily been helping more and more lately, she felt it was time to take a more active approach and handle things beyond just the day to day royal duties and raising and lowering the moon. Something in particular had piqued her interest.

She found her sister in the back of the Castle Library, no doubt amusing herself going through the events of Twilight’s adventure with time travel.

“Sister, I had hoped to speak with you about an important matter, that is, if you have time.” She stated as she raised an eyebrow at Celestia, who was clearly trying hard not to laugh at whatever she was going through.

The Princess of the Light looked up, still smiling, “Of course I have time, is something wrong?” Her face falling at the ‘important’, which has more and more become synonymous with ‘emergency’ in the past few years.

Luna smiled slightly, “No, no, nothing like that. It’s important, but fortunately not an urgent matter.”

Celestia visibly relaxed at this, no doubt thankful to not have yet another emergency on her hooves.

“I was going through some of the information and follow up from Tirek’s rampage,” Luna continued, “and realized that, even after all this time, there’s quite a lot of unused territory within Equestria.”

Celestia smiled, “Of course, our little ponies haven’t needed to expand to the further parts of the land, what need do we have to force anyone to relocate?”

“That is not what I meant, simply that there’s much of our lands which have not been explored, and perhaps it would be prudent to check on the farther parts? Besides the potential to find future problems before they can actually be problems, there might be some useful or interesting artefacts or locations to be found.”

Celestia sat for a moment, considering her sisters suggestion, “You do have a good point, as usual. I shall arrange for a series of expeditions out to be funded. No Wonderbolts of course, considering how their track record has been lately.”

Before she could continue, Luna coughed lightly, causing Celestia to pause, “I was actually thinking, perhaps a more…royal…approach, could be taken perhaps?”

Celestia couldn’t help but smile slightly, “Dear Luna, you wouldn’t happen to be thinking of finding Twilight a place to rule of her own are you? Or are you thinking of finding your own place for a palace…” She mocked rejection, trying to give Luna puppy eyes in the process.

Luna pouted slightly, “You know that is not my intention. While true, I did hope to go myself, it is because I wish to do more for the kingdom. Too long I’ve either done nothing or kept to a few formal duties. And after these most recent events, and hearing of Twilight’s own feelings of misgivings, I can’t help but sympathize with her.”

Celestia resumed her normal stance, and walked over to her sister, “I know, and I certainly cannot deny you have done well adjusting to your return. I am happy that you are taking the initiative, and you’ve earned some adventures that don’t involve one emergency or another in the middle of them.”

“Thank you,” Luna smiled, “the chance to stretch my wings will be nice, much like the old days…” She trailed off, looking out the window with an almost depressed expression falling on her face.

Celestia stood next to her sister and put her wing around her, “I know, I miss it too. But even with everything, things are still far better than they used to be. Boredom is a small price to pay for the security we now enjoy, in spite of recent events. You do remember why we used to have such adventures?”

Luna nodded, “yes, I remember. Things were so terrible then, Discord wasn’t even the worst.” She lowered her head, shaking it slightly to try to chase away the memories. “You’re right, boredom is a small price to pay. Perhaps I should leave this to the surveyors.”

“Nonsense,” Celestia smiled, “you stretch your wings. The kingdom will be here when you return.”

Luna smiled. A few days off, perhaps with some new artefacts for the vault, maybe some old ruins to entertain the archeologists. Perhaps even some old texts, Twilight would go have one of her legendary hyper moments if some forgotten archives were found, that alone would make this worth it.

Luna happily finished packing the last few things she would need, and taken care of the last arrangements for her departure. Were she a few centuries younger, perhaps she would be bouncing around like a school-filly ready for a field trip, but she was content to just smile and enjoy the thought of the upcoming next few days.

Soaring over Canterlot, and then the nearby villages, Luna looked down on all the little ponies that inhabited the kingdom. She of course had to be careful, flying unusually high and keeping out of the way of the weather teams, else she risk improvised celebrations and gathering crowds. As she flew, she couldn’t help the resurgence of old memories, of the times immediately following the defeat of Discord. Many had forgotten he was only the last in a long string of monsters that had used the inhabitants of Equestria as their playthings, but for those that had lived through it so long ago, well, let’s just say neither Celestia nor she had actually asked for the Castle of the Two Sisters to be built.

Taking a moment to rest on a cloud, Luna looked down to get her bearings. She was well beyond the main inhabited parts of Equestria, with only the northern mountain range and the forests at its base ahead. Those areas had long been left alone, between this territories distance from the rest of Equestria, and the sheer difficulty in living there. However, because of that, that meant this was a perfect place to start searching for ruins or old treasures.

Taking flight again, she moved a little closer to the ground to get a better view of what was below, taking care to watch for any signs of ruins.

The first thing to catch her attention was what she at first thought was the remains of some old disused dirt road. Except…there was barely any grass overgrowing the path…

Luna dropped down to the ground to investigate. Sure enough, the path looked like it saw at least some regular use. Searching further along the road, it was becoming clear that not only did somepony, or multiple someponies, walk the path, but signs of carts and other cargo being moved could be seen as well.

Now this was confusing. No one from Equestria ventured this far north, even those simply seeking an adventure wouldn’t put in the resources to get up here, and clearly this path led down from the mountains, not up from the south. But there was nothing there. The Crystal Empire was in the wrong direction, all the other countries were in the wrong directions.

Moving off to the trees by side of the road, Luna considered possible explanations. After a few moments consideration, she decided to quickly send a short message that she thought she had found something back to her sister. Once done, she cast a quick spell to disguise herself.

When the spell was done, instead of the imposing Princess of the Night, in her place was a young unicorn mare, only slightly taller than the norm, with a midnight coat and dark violet mane. Her royal emblems and crown missing, and finally, her cutie mark, no longer a crescent moon, replaced with a smaller full moon and a star.

Moving back out to the side of the road, she continued north, wondering just what she would find.

After several hours of walking, and the road slowly, but steadily, showing signs of more and more use, she came to a slight crest of a hill. Looking down, she found something she never expected to see.

Resting in the shadow of the mountain, amongst the rocky outcroppings and sparse vegetation, was a small town. Looking closer she could see it was very old, with no modern buildings in sight. Most of what was there was rough stone and wood, held together with generations of repairs. Figures moved about the streets, no doubt the local inhabitants going about their business.

Taking a moment to collect herself from this surprise, she adjusted her bags, and started down to the edge of town.