The five mares and one stallion blinked in mild confusion (or in Octavia and Bon Bon’s case, outright shock) at their leader’s choice in vocabulary.
Celestia meanwhile continued to stare at them with a mixture of disbelief and unsettlement. Her rainbow-gradient mane once as calm as in an ethereal breeze seemed to have a few hairs sticking out.
“Uh, pardon?” the stallion quiered.
The alicorn blinked and seemed to regain some her regal composure as opposed to looking as if she had got hoofed across the face.
“You’re not Twilight,” she said bluntly.
The six ponies blinked collectively.
“Uh, who or what is she talking about?” the mint-colored unicorn whispered urgently to her beige-colored earth pony companion.
“Your majesty, may I inquire as to who this ‘Twilight’ is?” the stallion said having decided to temporarily elect himself the spokespony for the group.
The sun princess let out a sigh, “A unicorn. Lavender coat, purple mane with . . .”
A moment of recognition crossed the face of the pegasus only to be replaced with embarrassment, “Oh, I think I may know who you are talking about Princess . . .”
Celestia noticed the hesitation in the pegasus’ voice, fueling the unease steadily growing inside of her, “And your name is?”
The Pegasus bowed low enough that her snout touched the ground, “D – Ditzy Doo, your majesty.”
Looking down at the mare, Celestia viewed the tiara on her head. In all likelihood it was the Element of Magic, the element that brought the others together. Yet the strange thing was that the centerpiece was different from the wearer’s cutie mark. Whereas on the mare’s flank was a bunch of bubbles, the centerpiece appeared to be a muffin. Filing that away for another time, Celestia addressed the wall-eyed pegasus, “Ditzy Doo, could you explain where you were during tonight’s event and what you know of Twilight Sparkle?”
Ditzy regained some of her composure despite the intimidating figure of her princess, and recounted her tale: “Well, I was inside the Town Hall at Ponyville waiting for you to appear and raise the sun with everypony else. Of course, you know what happened . . .”
Celestia nodded grimly, her eyes darted over to the prone figure of her sister recently freed from her personal demons.
“Nightmare Moon . . .”
Pandemonium reigned after the appearance of the black alicorn and her declaration of eternal night. Ponies ran and flew in panic, many flying to their homes with their foals in hoof to cower under the nearest piece of furniture, others with their minds ablaze with fear just to add to the chaos.
Ditzy Doo flew frantically among the fracas in the Town Hall with her daughter cradled safetly in her two front hooves.
“Momma! Go right!”
Her daughter’s warning came just in time as she narrowly managed to avoid another fellow pegasus in the air coming to her blind spot. Her strabismus was often a detriment in flight, but as long as she had her backseat driver with her, she would not have a crash landing.
Grimacing at the sight of the main door crammed with ponies desperate to get outside and as far away from where the Nightmare Moon had appeared.
Her wall-eyed eyes caught the sight of an open window, and without a second thought dove right for it. She felt her daughter tense up between her forelegs at the seemingly narrow passage that she and her mother had to go through in order to escape the general fracas.
Narrowing her eyes, and praying to the currently absent sun princess, Ditzy tucked in her wings and shot on through with only the top of her mane managing to brush the top of the window sill.
The cool night air stung Ditzy’s face like taking a plunge in the waters of the Northern Seas, it was amazing on how warm it had been inside the Town Hall compared to the night air.
Unfortunately, the outside was no less hectic than the town hall.
“Momma! Watch out!” Dinky’s warning alerted her mother to some incoming pegasi who were heading to the commotion at the Town Hall as damage control.
Acting on her daughter’s cry, she swerved to the left . . . right into the way of the hanging sign of Quills and Sofas.
Within a second Ditzy swung herself around and hugged Dinky tight, bracing herself as the forward momentum carried her on the imminent collision.
Having built a resistance over time due to her numerous collisions, Ditzy hardly felt her back slam against the sturdy wooden sign, causing it to swing back and with a loud snap fell away from the worn out rope that had been holding it up, followed by a loud THUNK!
“Are you okay, Momma?” Dinky asked within the confines of her mother’s protective hooves.
Ditzy smiled down at her youngest daughter. Thankfully her motherly instincts took over and prevented her little muffin from getting hurt.
“Twilight!” a shrill voice broke Ditzy out of her relaxed state. She felt her pulse quicken and broke out into a small sweat.
Did she do it again?
Looking down at where the sign fell, Ditzy gasped when she saw a lavender-colored pony laying prone on the ground with the sign showing a clear indentation of where it hit. Even more curious was the small, waddling baby dragon at the pony’s side. Shaking her roughly, he kept imploring her to get up.
“Come on, Twilight! Please get up!” the little reptile was tearing up at this point.
Without a second thought, the grey pegasus swooped down to hover right next to the small dragon. He jumped back at first startled at Ditzy’s sudden entrance.
“Hey, it’s okay, little guy,” Ditzy cooed, “I’m here to help. Let’s get your friend somewhere safer. I’m Ditzy by the way.”
Warily eyeing the grey Pegasus and the filly she held in her front hooves, the little dragon relaxed a little, “Uh, okay. I’m Spike and that’s Twilight. We need to get to the library and fast, she has the answer to stop Nightmare Moon!”
Ditzy grimaced, of course the pony she had knocked out had to be important. Setting her daughter to her side, the full-time underpaid mailmare let out a sight, “Alright, let’s get her on my back and make a beeline towards the library. Dinky, Spike, stay close to me and hold on to each other’s . . . uh, claw and hoof.”
Ditzy scuffed her right hoof on the ground under the scrutinizing eye of the sun princess.
“It was my bad,” the mailmare mumbled lamely.
Celestia heaved a sigh, “So I assume that Twilight is . . .”
“Still unconscious at the library,” the brown earth stallion finished, “And being cared for by Spike and Amethyst and Dinky.”
“Amethyst?”
“Oh, that’s Ditzy’s older daughter,” the brown stallion explained, “She was in charge of the preparation of the Summer Sun Celebration in Ponyville and the opening ceremony of your arrival.”
Celestia sized up the only stallion of the group, “I’m sorry for being so blunt, but I never asked any of your names.”
The stallion perked up, “Oh! Why my name is Time Turner, I am a tinkerer and inventor at the Ponyville Science Emporium.”
The Sun Princess cocked an eyebrow, “Science Emporium?”
Time Turner puffed out his chest, “The only place where ponies can acquire the latest scientific achievements at a reasonable price!”
The enthusiastic stallion then cleared his throat, “Though I do suppose you are more interested in my role in tonight’s events, your highness?”
Celestia nodded cordially, finding the stallion’s manners genuine and refreshing unlike the stuck-up and self-serving way the nobles treated themselves back in Canterlot, “Please do, Mr. Turner.”
“Oh, sorry! Pardon me!” Time Turner was among the sea of panicking ponies after the Mare in the Moon showed up to ruin tonight’s festivities. His mane was unkempt and his tie absent after being shoved and jostled by the crowd.
“Amethyst!” the brown stallion of great intellect yelled at the top of his lungs, “Are you out there!? Say something!”
“Something!” a voice called out amongst the clamor. Whipping his head around to the origin of the voice, Time Turner spied a hoof waving frantically above the heads of other ponies and recognized the pale, light grayish magenta coloring of the hoof.
“Amethyst!” Time Turner’s frantic voice took a tinge of relief as he muscled his way through stallions and mares to reach his marefriend’s adopted daughter, “Thank goodness you’re alright!”
Amethyst pushed past another stallion with a scared look in her eyes, “I was separated from mom and Dinky during the ceremony! Was that really . . .?”
Time Turner nodded solemnly, “I’m afraid so. It appears that the myth surrounding the Mare in the Moon wasn’t balderdash after all.”
Noting the distress Amethyst was in, Time Turner drew her in for a quick hug, “I’ll help you look for Ditzy and Dinky, though I do say it will appear to be difficult due to the current situation . . .”
“Don’t worry, I actually caught a glimpse of mom and my sister heading towards Golden Oaks Library with another mare and was about to head over their myself.”
“Ah, splendid!” Time Turner exclaimed jovially, “Then we can meet her their then. That’s a bit of good news amidst this crisis!”
“And that is where we became acquainted with the good dragon Spike and learned about the Elements of Harmony!” Time Turner pronounced, and then looked abashed, “After these four joined us of course.”
Celestia turned her gaze to the four other ponies who wielded the Elements, “And you four are named?”
The Earth Pony with the bow tie bowed deeply, “I am Octavia Melody your highness, second chair, first cello of the Canterlot Esteemed Orchestra. I was with my roommate Vinyl here when Nightmare Moon showed up.”
The unicorn with the bright, vibrant blue mane butted in, “Me and Octy were just untangling ourselves from the crowd when we saw Time Turner and Ditzy carrying Purple Mare to the library. So we decided to see if they needed a hoof.”
“And we sort of followed them in,” the sea green unicorn chimed in, “Bon Bon and I were just curious.”
The last member of their group, the Earth Pony with the moderate dark blue mane with a pink stripe nudged her unicorn friend sharply, “You wanted to chase them Lyra, I was begging for you to follow me back to our condo.” Then as if she had committed a terrible sin, Bon Bon bowed toward Celestia, “I’m sorry, your highness.”
The six ponies stared attentively at the impassive face of their beloved monarch. Behind them, the mare formerly known as Nightmare Moon stirred. The Sun Princess’s demeanor changed and she galloped to where her sister lay, the Element Bearer’s temporarily forgotten.
Gently lowering herself to the floor with her frontal legs, Celestia could not help but catch her breath at the sight of her unconscious younger sister. Her ethereal mane was nonexistent and her coat was a lighter shade of blue than the usual dark blue.
Frowning, Celestia draped a wing over her sister’s sleeping form. Apparently the Elements did more than simply banish the Nightmare from her sisters body.
“I – is she going to be alright?” Ditzy inquired in concern.
“She is fine, just a little tired is all,” Celestia sighed, looking longingly at her younger sister whom she had yet to welcome back home with open hooves. Would she feel grateful at being forgiven despite her rebellion, or would she carry her sins with her forever?
Even more importantly, how will her little ponies receive her?
Filing these questions for herself away for a later time, Celestia cleared her throat, “And after you all gathered at the library, what happened next?”
Vinyl scratched the back of her head, “Well, the little dragon dude sort of spilled the beans . . .”
“So the only way we can beat the Nightmare Moon is if we had the six Elements of Harmony?” Vinyl inquired.
Spike turned to look at the eccentric unicorn, “Pretty much,” he returned to fanning his adoptive sister.
“Well, that’s great news right?” Lyra spoke, “That means Celestia can use the Elements of Harmony on the nasty alicorn. Problem solved!”
Time Turner looked up nervously after reading from the book Twilight had been carrying with her, “Um, that’s the problem . . .”
The rest of the group turned to the stallion, who looked as though he were about to tell someone that a relative had passed away.
"The Elements of Harmony happen to be locked up in the ruins of an old castle . . . deep in the Everfree forest."
“The Everfree forest?!” Bon Bon squawked, her body tensing up with her eyes nearly as wide as saucepans, “Our national treasures are deep within an overgrown forest where no pony has returned from?!”
“Uh actually, that isn’t entirely true,” Lyra looked down at her hooves sheepishly.
Bon Bon turned to her roommate with narrowed eyes, “Lyra, please tell me you haven’t been heading out into the Everfree Forest on your little ‘expeditions.’”
“But I’m close to uncovering our untold histories!”
“Lyyy-raaaa!” the candy mare wailed.
“No, it really isn’t as dangerous as everypony says it’s supposed to be! I even have had some help from Zecora, she knows the Everfree like the bottom of her hoof.”
Bon Bon’s mouth dropped open in shock, “And you have been talking to that witch?!”
“She is not a witch!” Lyra snapped back defensively, “She is just a zebra shaman who emigrated from Zebafrica! I don’t understand why everypony is so spooked about her!”
“Um, I hate to intrude on your minor altercation, but Lyra you have been through the Everfree correct?” Time Turner spoke hestitantly.
“A few times,”Lyra replied turning away from her small argument with her roommate, “Mostly for research purposes and wanderings.”
Lyra heard Bon Bon snort in disbelief but chose to ignore it, “Zecora was very helpful during my excursions and showed me a few landmarks in case I got lost and needed to find my way back.”
Time Turner turned back to the book, his eyes scanning over the pages. Stopping at one, speaking to himself and the ancient tome of many mysteries in front of him, “And by chance did you happen across the ruins of a castle in your wanderings?”
Lyra’s face scrunched up, “Now that you mentioned it, I think Zecora did mention something about an old castle deep in the woods, but I wasn’t feeling that adventurous . . . or brave.”
“Try foolhardy,” Bon Bon grounded out.
“So let me guess,” Vinyl spoke up, “The Elements of Harmony are in the ruins of an old castle deep in the Everfree Forest?”
Looking back down at the book, Time Turner grimaced, “That’s what’s written.”
Vinyl Scratch nodded, “Cool, then let’s head out.”
Celestia raised and eyebrow as Vinyl finished her part of the tale, “And so you all decided to venture off into the Everfree to reclaim the Elements of Harmony?”
Time Turner scratched the back of his head, “Well, the decision wasn’t entirely unanimous. A few of us had good reason to sitting this one out at the library.”
“I thought the whole idea was crazy,” Bon Bon scuffed her hoof on the ground, “Of course, we succeeded so maybe not entirely crazy.”
“The idea of just the six of us going after some alicorn was ludicrous,” Octavia spoke up, “I was opposed to the whole idea at first, as was Ditzy here.” The grey earth pony gestured toward the grey Pegasus who nodded.
“My daughters were my main concern, so I was unwilling to leave them for a second especially with ponies running willy-nilly outside,” Ditzy waved her hooves for emphasis.
Celestia nodded, “And how did you all eventually come to the agreement that Nightmare Moon must be stopped?”
Ditzy’s cheeks took on a light shade of pink, “Well, we didn’t really decided on what to do just among ourselves. My little muffin was there to cheer us on.”
“More like cheer you on,” Lyra corrected with a smile.
Time Turner chuckled, “It’s true, Dinky didn’t want to live in an Equestria ruled by an evil alicorn of the night, so she looked to Ditzy to solve the problem naturally.” The stallion grinned at the grey Pegasus who still had the faint blush, “And she in turn inspired us.”
Celestia looked at Ditzy, and then at the crown on her head, the crown that should have belonged to Twilight. . .
“Is there something wrong your highness?” Time Turner spoke tentatively. The ageless goddess of Equestria shook her head ruefully, annoyed at their concern.
“No, it’s okay. Everything is fine,” Celestia lied to the six ponies. She glanced at each of them in turn and collected herself, “So, I assume the journey to reach the Elements wasn’t too difficult for you, my little ponies?”
Time Turner chuckled nervously, “With all due respect, your highness, wouldn’t it be prudent if we hold off recounting our tale until we return safely to Ponyville? Just a suggestion,” he added the last line hastily, not wanting appear he was ordering around the Sun Goddess. Heavens forbid that from ever happening!
Feeling her young long-lost sister shift beneath her protective wing, Celestia weighed the stallions words carefully. It did make the most sense to bring her vulnerable sister to a location where she could recuperate from the Elements, though deep down she was bursting with one question: how did these ponies qualify for the Elements of Harmony?
Sighing and dipping her head, Celestia made her decision, “No, I would like to hear the continuation of your quest.”
Time Turner looked to Ditzy, who shrugged, and then to the other mares of the group who looked just as off put by Princess Celestia’s insistence that they finish their recounting of tonight’s adventure.
“Alright, very well your majesty,” the brown stallion spoke awkwardly, “You might as well make yourself comfortable, because this tale is quite a humdinger . . .”
It had all gone accordingly to her design, all the planning and necessary steps had been taken to ensure that everything would turn out the way Celestia wanted it to be.
The Sun Princess stared up at the moon, now absent of her sister’s visage that had once made all the ponies of Equestria stare up in a mixture of wonder, curiosity, and nervousness. She let out her breath, watching it evaporate into the cold, night air and smiled. Celestia had perched herself on top of a low-hanging cloud overlooking the Everfree: a vast, dark forest with an assortment of beasts other creatures only told of in campfire stories. Down below her, were the ruins of a castle where events a thousand years in the making were taking place.
Even now she could hear the commotion coming from the main foyer of the ruins, dominated by a loud, haughty voice followed by smaller yet determined ones. Celestia had the sudden urge to teleport herself to assist her little ponies in their fight to save Equestria.
“It could be that simple,” the Sun Princess told herself, “Just swoop in and save them.”
Taking a deep breath, Celestia steadied herself. No, this was her student’s destiny, not hers. It had to be this way in order to save her sister from the Nightmare. After all, vision upon vision had revealed to her the events that would take place tonight.
The 1175th Summer Sun Celebration would be the night when Celestia reunited with her long-lost sister, and all thanks to her faithful student, Twilight Sparkle.
It had been a chore finding herself the right student for this era, especially since her school she had created for the upper-class unicorn families tended to bring in a lot of talent, but she had known of Twilight for some time now. Growing up with her parents and elder sibling, Twilight’s family had been part of a rich unicorn bloodline that had started to fade into obscurity in the thousands of years since Canterlot had flourished into including the pegasi and Earth Ponies as opposed to the unicorn-only stance the great city once had.
But ever since she had witnessed her performance at her entrance exam to the academy, Celestia immediately knew that she was the one. The Bearer of the Element of Magic and soon to be future princess . . .
It had been an arduous task in finding and the right ponies that corresponded almost perfectly with each individual element and then subtly direct their lives, to ensure that they retained their virtues and did not give in to temptations or vices.
Aiding her in her search had been the visions she had been granted by peering into the future, where she was able to catch glimpses of what was to come. As a student of the late Starswirl the Bearded, she excelled in the field of the White Arts, especially in the area of precognition. With her specialty, she was able to perceive and determine the destiny of each of her little ponies. Especially her student and five special other mares . . .
It had even been her machinations that would have Twilight oversee the preparations for the Summer Sun Celebration taking place in Ponyville where Twilight would befriend the other bearers of the elements and through them, discover the magic of friendship.
Once they had the Elements in their possession, they would use them to cleanse the taint of Nightmare Moon from her dear sister, something that Celestia had been unable to accomplish herself.
Suddenly a bright light appeared from the previously silent castle and a wail was heard but instantly drowned out by the tremendous cacophony the light was creating, if light could truly speak then it was definitely saying something through the Elements of Harmony themselves.
Ruffling her feathers, Celestia felt a tremor go through her. They had done it. Rejuvenating warmth spread through her being, with a feeling of pure joy long kept dormant since her sister’s banishment sprung out from the Sun Princess.
They had done it!
Surrounding herself in a blinding light, Celestia descended from the heavens bringing the suns warming rays to touch the earth; it had been two hours of extra nighttime too long, and thanks to her alicorn heritage that gave her the natural magic of her Earth Ponies felt the gratitude of the animals, plants, and soil at the night relinquishing its hold on Equestria.
With her radiant mane billowing behind her, Celestia descended toward the one place she hadn’t set her hooves in for nearly a thousand years: the old castle where she and Luna had once ruled from.
In her current form, Celestia appeared as nothing more than a bright orb of light to the normal pony eye, so as she settled to the cold cobblestone, Celestia allowed the light around her to dim for mortal eyes.
Her eyes refocused, allowing Celestia to look at the six mares that had single-hoofedly saved Equestria from eternal night.
“Oh my, it appears the princess herself has decided to grace us with her presence!” the brown earth pony stallion said in his polished accent. He was wearing a necklace with an hourglass-shaped gem in the middle.
Celestia blinked. A stallion? What was some random stallion in company with Twilight and her new friends? And what was with the tacky necklace?
“So, should we bow or something right now? I mean it feels like it is something we should do even now,” a mint green unicorn mare turned to the right addressing a mare who was the only pegasus of their group.
Celestia’s eyes widened. More of them? And where was Twilight and her group?
“I . . . guess?” the blonde mare of the group said uncertainly as she shifted her wings, with the pupils of her eyes were staring off in different directions.
“Of course we should! She’s the princess!” a nagging earth pony mare with a beige coat and a pigment blue mane with a rose pink streak admonished the two other ponies.
Celestia finally noticed her sister on the side of where the weird group of ponies were, stripped of her nightmare form and huddled and shivering.
“Yes, it is required after all, we are still her subjects,” another earth pony spoke up, this one with a light gray coat and a dark gray mane. Another thing that Celestia noticed was that she wore a pink bow-tie with a white collar.
“A Canterlot Pony?”
“Chillax Octy, I’m sure the Princess will understand. After all, did we not just save Equestria from the eternal night?” a unicorn with a brash voice that seemed to complement her appearance; she had a vibrant electric blue mane which was in sharp contrast to the rest of her white body.
Celestia blinked a few times more as she had looked around in vain for Twilight and her friends, before the full realization fit her like the force of a sonic rainboom: the Elements of Harmony had picked the wrong ponies.
Only one word could accurately describe what Celestia thought about this.
“Buck.”
