Rise and Fall

Chantalot was almost like the center of Harmonia. The grandeur was rivaled by very few others, as was it's class. Here, the regal sisters, Princesses Celestia, the Sun Raiser, and Luna, the Night Watcher, ruled over Harmonia. Kindness was fairly common amongst the people here, but so was the snobbishness.

At the center of it was the Eclipse Castle, a mighty  fortress and the second most impenetrable building in the land. Joined to the magnificent marble and granite building was the Chantalot Academy for Gifted Mages. Here, Espers gathered to learn about magic and other things they would need in life, or as some of them put it, "Stuff teachers say we'll need in life, but most of which we won't wind up using anyway." Those were the words of a girl in a bright red shirt, grey shorts, and red sneakers. Her name was Moondancer, one of the Academy's top students, and today wasn't the first time. The red-head had many habits, especially skipping classes, although she still studied and did better than most of her class. "Seriously, I'm studying to be a medic. Why do I need to know about the Great Shadow War?" she asked her friend sitting next to her. She was wearing a white shirt under a pink sweater, dark purple capris, and pink sneakers. "Twilight?" She nudged her friend. With no response, she sighed and slipped the book the girl was reading from her hands.

"Hey!" she cried. "I was reading that!"

"And I was talking," Moondancer said. "Seriously, do you have serious interactions with anything other than books?"

"Yes," the girl replied. "I go on missions and I meet quite a few people on them."

"If you say so," she said, handing her back her book. If there was one thing that got Twilight Sparkle excited, it was books. She practically lived in a library! What made her really happy was the fact that being one of Celestia's personal student gave her nearly unrestricted access to the Chantalot Archives, the larges collection of books, scrolls, and knowledge in general in Etheria. "Hey, why don't you come to the party this weekend?" suggested Moondancer.

"I have a test on Monday."

"The party only lasts one night."

"One night I could be using to study." As Twilight defended her case, another girl passed by. She had fiery yellow and crimson hair and was wearing a yellow shirt, red skirt, and black jacket and boots. "Sunset, back me up," said Twilight.

Sunset Shimmer wasn't exactly the most sociable student in the school, to most. Others, though, like Twilight and Moondancer saw her a bit differently. "About what?" she asked.

"What's the best thing to do on a Saturday night: party or study for the test on Monday that counts for ten percent of your final grade?"

Sunset looked between the two of them and shrugged. "Depends."

"On what?"

"How easily you can grasp and recall. If it's easy, then relax. If not, don't even remember there's a party." She continued on her way. "Anything else you losers need?"

"Nope," said Moondancer. "Thanks, Sunny! She's not as bad as she used to be," said Moondancer.

"It's amazing what a little closure will do," Twilight said in response. "So, can I go back to studying in peace?"

During school, Twilight, Sunset, and Moondancer were the three geniuses of the Academy, ranking 1st, 2nd, and 4th, respectively. Their competition was out on a week-long mission and was coming back in time for the test. Their usual hangout was Joe's Donuts, the best bakery in the city. "Hey, Joe," Moondancer greeted as the trio walked into the café.

"Sunset, Moondancer, and Twilight! Good to see you guys are still loyal t' this place," came the reply from a man with messy blonde hair and bright green eyes wearing a white shirt, brown trousers and loafers, and a white apron standing behind the counter. "What can I getcha?"

"Half a dozen: two plain, two chocolate double glaze, and two apple fritters," answered Twilight.

"And three cups of coffee: two mocha, one cappuccino," added Sunset.

"Coming right up," said Joe, disappearing into the kitchen.

"So, what to discuss..." pondered Moondancer as they sat down. "Neither of us are going to the party."

"Are you?" asked Twilight.

"It wouldn't be the same without my besties," she said, wrapping an arm around each of them. "Besides, my conscience wouldn't let me go to an awesome party without at least one of you guys... or both!"

"Speaking of guys," Sunset said, twisting Moondancer's arm away from her, "Has anyone heard from him?"

The two shook their heads. "I'm pretty sure he's fine," said Moondancer, "But he's never been out for this long. And no, I'm not in love, nor do I want to screw him. I'm just worried."

Twilight blushed. "Okay, one, good to know; two, I didn't need to know that; and three, why are we talking about him?" Twilight saw him as competition... dangerous competition. Outside the trio, he was the only one who was as close to the Princess as they were.

"Still jealous?" teased Sunset, as the donuts and coffee arrived.

"I am not jealous," she replied, biting into a plain donut. "Just... cautious. He's among the top five students in school-"

"3rd, to be exact," said Moondancer as she licked off her chocolate mustache.

"-And the Princess may actually give him access to the restricted area of the archives!"

"Okay," Sunset said, "Now we've gone from jealous, skipped paranoid, and went straight to crazy. Princess Celestia would never give anyone access to that area. I heard only two people in her royal court have ever been in there."

"Yeah well... anything can happen."

"Not that."

"You don't know that!"

"Twilight, chill."

Twilight relaxed. "You're right. What am I worried about? He's coming back late from his little mission. He'll either be late for the test, or he'll be unprepared due to all the work! Ha! In your face!" She happily ate her donut as her friends watched her. Moondancer circled her finger around the side of her head while making quiet "Cuckoo" noises.

Summersville was the symbol of unity in Harmonia and got it's name due to it being the town that most often hosted the Summer Sun Celebration. It was a symbol of how each race, Gaians, Skyborn, and Espers, could coexist. It was also home to the best party planner in the country, possibly the continent. She was bubbly, excitable, friendly, and always wore pink. Her name was...

"Pinkie Pie! Where's the order?!" The Carrot Cake, and his wife Cup Cake, were a couple that ran Sugarcube Corner, the local bakery of the town. They took turns running the store when they weren't both in town for any reason.

"Right here," said a girl as she burst through the kitchen. She had hair like cotton candy and wore a light pink shirt under a small, darker pink sleeveless jacket, white shorts, and pink flip-flops. "Two orders of triple layer chocolate cake. Milk on the outside, dark on the inside, caramel in the middle... mmmmmm..." She licked her lips and stared at the marvel in the box. A man walked up to the counter, dropped some coins, and took the boxes. "And have a superific, fantabulous day!"

"Oh, Pinkie? Didn't you say you wanted to close early for something?" said Mr. Cake.

"Oh, yeah," she said as she headed for the door. "Thanks Mr. C!" Pinkie down through the town, saying his to everyone she passed. She soon came up to a farm. A sign hung over the entrance to the vast apple field and read, WELCOME TO SWEET APPLE ACRES". Pinkie bounced over to a barn at the center of the field and saw a young man wearing a white t-shirt under an open red plaid shirt, blue jeans tucked into his brown boots, and working gloves, carrying a bundle of hay over to a stack. "Hey Big Mac!" Pinkie called, waving to the muscular man.

He turned and waved back. "Hi Pinkie," he said in a deep voice. "You here to help out Applejack?"

"You betcha!"

Big Mac dropped the bundle next to the pile. "Well, the apples have all been picked up. The baskets just need to be taken to storage and the apples sorted."

"I'm on it," Pinkie said, saluting before she skipped off to the field to pick up the basket.

Applejack Apple was known as "the Most Dependable Person in Town", and she lived up to her reputation. She never missed an event she said she would be at, competed in any event or tournament as a representative of the town, and even helped around town from time to time. But behind all the dependability was another motive. She took paying jobs in guilds and worked as a bouncer in a pub called The Leaking Keg, run by a man called Keg O'Rum. The truth was that although her family was comfortable, they also had a rather large debt looming over their heads and Applejack saw it as her responsibility. Her Granny Smith was too old, her little sister, Applebloom, was too young, and her older brother, Big Macintosh, was too busy. Today she was at the Leaking Keg. Keg was wearing a messy white shirt, brown work pants, black shoes, and a white apron. "Applejack!" he called over the noise of the rowdy pub, "Cleanup on table five!"

From at the door stood Applejack. Standing 6 feet, she was practically a giant amongst many, especially for a Gaian girl of 18. She wore a green plaid shirt tied up in front, brown fitted shorts, a brown leather vest, and brown fur-cuffed boots. Her dark brown belt had a trinity of red apples on the buckle, to which was attached a holstered revolver on the side and a sheathed blade on the other. She wore a brown Stetson hat over her back-length blond hair was tied up at the end in a ponytail and her green eyes shone like emeralds in sunlight. "Am comin'," she said, walking over to a table and picking up a man that drank himself to sleep. "Sheesh. You oughta be stoppin' these guys before they get this smashed." She took him outside and whistled. Two guardsmen took him from her. "Make sure he gets back home, but you oughta know where that is by now, seein' as he comes here everyday with the same result."

At the end of the day, she picked up her travel sack, bag of bits, and headed home. Eversville used to be a nice place, long ago, until all the dark magic filled up the vacuum left when the Princesses left their castle there. The surrounding forest went wild and was soon called the Everfree Forest. Many who knew anything about that forest looked for every possible way to get to the town without having to go through the forest. Both the plant and animal life became more violent and dangerous and thugs made ambush spots and hideouts all over the forest. But seasoned travelers like Applejack had learned to defend themselves. But today was a bit odd. She had been walking for ten minutes and no one had attacked her; a new record. Then, she heard a growl. She sharply reached behind her back and drew the large hunting knife, with a 12-by-3 inch blade, it was probably one of the largest people had ever seen. She crept forward and crouched behind some bushes. She pulled them apart and saw a large cragodile... but something was wrong. Cragodiles are known for their tough, rock hard skin. Those who are able to even get a tenth of the 5 inch thick skin on its back could make the most peelproof, fireproof, and waterproof leather materials on the planet. This one looked like chunks of flesh had been ripped out of it. It lay there in a growing puddle of blood, heaving for breath. Applejack approached the creature slowly, watching her surroundings for the attacker. She placed her hand on its head. "Poor thing. Y' must be in so much pain." She gripped the blade and raised it over her head. She gazed into the monster's pleading, miserable eyes, then looked away as she buried half the blade in its skull. She pulled it out and whipped it on it's back, making an "X". She kept going and saw a trail of blood that led to an abandoned campsite, with the tent still up and embers still glowing where the fire was. She scanned the area and found no sign of life, and so she moved on.

"Hey Applejack!" Applebloom, called out as her sister approached. She was wearing a yellow shirt, blue overalls, and brown boots. Her red hair was tied in a similar fashion as Applejack, but with a ribbon instead of a hat. "You came in late today."

"It's a Friday night. The party ended late," Applejack said. Bloom was fully aware of Applejack's many jobs and worried for her, but Applejack always said she was fine. "Did, Pinkie come over?"

Applebloom nodded. "She organized all the apples and brought in all the buckets. She also stayed to help Big Mac move the hay."

"That's nice." Applejack looked around. "Where is Mac?" she asked.

"Right here." Applejack turned to see her brother, standing two inches above her, standing at the entrance to the house. "Applebloom, time for bed." The young girl groaned, but hugged her brother and sister goodnight before going in. "What's up?"

"Is Granny asleep?" Mac nodded. "Ah saw a dead cragodile today," she answered as they went in.

"That ain't new," said big Mac. "With all the poachers in the forest and the town, I doubt there wouldn't be dead animals."

"No, no. This was different. It was like something attacked it and left it t' suffer. Had t' put it out of its misery myself. There were chunks o' flesh missing from every part of it's body, as if it was being shredded. Ah don't know what coulda done that to a cragodile."

"Dragons, hydras, another cragodile..."

"Nah. Something was odd. There was a trail of blood that led to a campsite. Ah think... ah think a person did it."

"Impossible," Mac said immediately. "Unless it was a Gaian with a completed mark or the Blood of Titan, nothing coulda ripped a cragodile the way you described it. Tell ya what, tomorrow, we'll go check it out together. For now, get some sleep, okay?" Applejack nodded, and headed up the stairs.

The next day, Applejack and Mac went to the same place in the woods Applejack had seen the dying crag. "Ah swear it was right here!" There was nothing left but a black patch in the ground. "Am certain!"

Big Mac examined the area. "Well, something was here, alright," he said. He ran his fingers across the ground, black smearing his gloves. "It must've... decomposed or something."

"Come on!" She took Mac to the campsite. Everything was as she saw it.

"Looks more like the crag attacked the person and the person defended his or herself," deduced Big Mac. "He must've decided that the crag was more useful if he took it than if he let it rot."

"What makes you say that?" asked Applejack as she walked over to what Big Mac was looking at.

"Well for one thing, there's a bunch of shed scales, limbs, and some entrails, most likesly belonging to the crag." Applejack plugged her nose, as did Big Mac, when the stench of rot hit. She stared at the massive pot filled with the innards of the cragodile, next to the shed skin and disembodied legs.

"Damn," she said. "Either this guy was big, well trained, or not human. You'd have to break a dozen black steel blades just to cut through its neck. But the level of brutality as it stands is inhuman."

"Could've been a werewolf," suggested Big Mac, "... or a werebear, in this case."

"Whoever or whatever it was, it killed the crag and took everything except the innards and hind legs. The pelt could be cashed in for quite a price... once you can get through the scales, which could make some pretty decent armor, and the bones can be used to make some pretty good weapons." Applejack sighed. "Y'know what? Maybe ah am getting worked up. Maybe you're right and it was another animal. The camper must've been a spectator and scavenger."

Big Mac nodded. "Eeyup. Now let's head back. Got a lotta work t' do."

Back in Canterlot, Moondancer had still not given up on getting Twilight and Sunset to go for the party. The sat together in their dorm room and Moondancer said, "C'mon you guys. It'll be great! Besides, you two need to relax."

"I'm relaxed," the two said in unison.

Moondancer looked between the pair. "Sunset I believe you. Twilight, you are anything but relaxed. You're more tense than a stretched vine. You need this more than anything."

"What I need is to study so I can pass the test next week so I don't have to repeat magic kindergarten and so I can move on with my studies."

"There's more to life than books. You retaught me that."

"Yeah, well then, there wasn't a test counting for 20% of my final score coming up two days later."

"You're planning to use all of tomorrow to study anyways. Can't you take one night off?"

"No."

"For me?"

"No!"

There was a ping and Moondancer pulled out her phone. "Huh."

"What is it?" asked Sunset.

"Well... apparently, Princess Celestia wants to see us."

Ten minutes later, they were all standing in Princess Celestia's office. The arch-mage wore a brilliant white shirt, brown trousers, and brown shoes. "Ah. Thank you  for coming on such short notice," she said.

"What is it, Princess?" asked Twilight.

"Do you remember that test that counts for 20% of your grade?" Twilight nodded and shot a smug look at Moondancer. "I'm calling it off." The smirk disappeared. "It wouldn't be fair if not all of you were present for the test, as even I am unsure of when your... competitor will be returning. Besides, I have a much more interesting idea... a job."

"Really?" asked Moondancer, excited.

"Yes, really," Celestia replied, pulling out a file. "There's a small... incident in Eversville I would like you three to investigate."

"Incident?" asked a curious Twilight.

"Yes. Townspeople have reported several abnormal events occurring in the town ever since excavators discovered the gem mines in the fields just beyond."

"What do you mean by strange?" asked Sunset. "That word has a lot of different meanings in my experience."

Celestia looked at a list from the file. "Kidnappings, odd sightings, murders-"

"MURDERS?!" Everyone turned to Twilight. "S-Sorry. But there have been any murders since the Changeling attack. Even Eversville, with all the thugs and psychos, murder? What of the guards you posted?"

"None of them have reported anything. None of them have seen anything. The worst part is... some of them are missing." The three girls froze. "No trace of them have been found in the past week we've searched."

"And you're sending three students?"

"I believe you are capable. You are my personal students. Besides, you're all legal adults."

"Barely," muttered Twilight.

"Besides, this is your test. So you can say no and buh-bye to 20% of your final score. But 80% is still an A, right?"

Twilight broke. "We'll do it."

"We will?" said the other two in unison.

"Sure. Besides, jobs count as extra credit, right? It's win-win!"

Sunset face-palmed. "Oh, Faust protect us."

"So, I guess we can go for that party now, huh?" Moondancer said, leaning on Twilight.

She sighed. "Why the heck not."

"YAY!"

Meanwhile, Twilight's "competition" was relaxing after a hard weeks work. Evening Spark donned an orange sweatshirt, a black sleeveless hoodie, brown khakis, and black boots with fingerless gloves and a pair of goggles around his neck. His 2-foot-4-inches-tall, scaly companion was orange with pink scales and bright pink eyes and was wearing a blue hoodie. They were sitting by a campfire. It dimmed, and his companion spat a fireball into it, causing it to burn to life once more. "Ugh, this this boring," she said. "That wasn't a Class 7 job, that was a Class 3! Seriously, we've taken tougher guys in less time," she added, looking back to the sea of unconscious bodies behind her.

"Yeah, I know," he said. "You don't have to rub it in, Ember. If I'd known it would've been this simple, I'd have checked the Class 8 board."

"You were lazy."

"I was tired."

"Same difference."

The boy laughed. "Y'know, sometime I wonder what would've happened if I hadn't hatched you."

"One, don't say that, it sounds super weird. Two, you'd be bored, miserable, and half dead."

"Yeah, you keep telling yourself that."

At that moment, she started to sniff. "Ugh, I hate this! A... a... a... Oh, never... ACHOO!" As she sneezed, she shot out a burst of bright pink fire. It curled and faded, leaving behind a scroll, which the boy picked up. "There has... to be... another... alternative," she said, sniffing.

The boy read the scroll and smiled. He folded it and placed it in the shoulder bag next to him and slung it over his shoulder. "New plan," he said, getting up. "We leave now. Princess Celestia just hit us with another job."

"So why are we going back to Canterlot?" asked the little dragon, blowing he nose on a large leaf.

"I want to cash in my mission success officially. The money could come in handy for the next one."

The dragon shrugged. "Whatever you say." As they walked away, Eve's hand lit up and the flame was trapped in a bubble and dimmed as its oxygen burned out.