The Sand Fillies

Celestia paced back in forth in the throne room. It had been a full twenty minutes upon reading the last letter she would ever hope to read. She was awaiting for Twilight to arrive, frightened of what could happen when all the evils trapped within Tartarus roamed free in Equistria. The doors slammed open with Twilight bursting through them.

"I got your letter and I came as soon as I could, but I don't understand. What is wrong?" Twilight asks, panting slightly.

"The very evils that were trapped within the walls of Tartarus have escaped. All the guards there are dead. Equistria is safe no more.", Celestia said, shuddering.

"But how are we supposed to stop them? How are going to win this potential war? With none of the elements of harmony active and able to use, we might as well be on the edge of disaster!!!" Twilight gasps, realizing that there is no easy way to stop this, that there will be a war, "There is no guarantee that there will be barely any blood shed...we could lose so many lives...THERE IS NO POSSIBLE WAY OUT OF THIS IS THERE?"

Celestia winced when Twilight shrieked the last part. Lives would be lost, but there was a way out of this, however hard it was to get to it, Celestia knew an easier way of winning this.

"Twilight Sparkle, there is indeed a way to do this a tad bit easier, but it is a long journey with little promise of success" Celestia says with a sad tone, looking at her hooves.

"Princess, if there is indeed a way to make us win this war easier, even by a little, I'm willing to do whatever it takes!" Twilight says with confidence, holding her head high.

"Then follow me to my chambers where we will discuss your journey"

Twilight sat down on a pillow laid out on the ground, looking attentively at Celestia as she dug through an old crate. Celestia had pulled out a map, a book, a compass, an impressive sword with a golden hilt with rubies encrusted on it, and a lion's helmet. Finally finding what she needed, Celestia took the stuff and set it in front of Twilight with her magic.

"What is this stuff?" Twilight asks.

"This 'stuff' is what you will need on your journey, but please keep the rest of your questions at bay for what I need to tell you, even if you want to add on" Celestia replies, taking a deep breath.

"Umm, ok"

"Long ago, 50 years before Nightmare moon's banishment, was a group of alicorns who kept our land protected from all of the evils within it. They created Tartarus to conceal it all, keeping what was considered evil trapped within it's walls. This group consisted of six different important traits, Peace, Caring, Creative, Fun, Fight, and Kind/Dark. These ponies were famous for their deeds, others looked up to them. Until the day of Shadows. This day was beyond the worst, when King Sombra's brother, Thunderstrike, an alicorn with a kind heart, went black. Ponies say that after he was banished, the group of alicorns were at a lost. There leader, Gold, um, Goldenhoof, was lost, not to be found. They searched and searched, but lost hope when Katmizi, Purple Peace, Heartstone, and Goldenhoof's own powerful pet, Stinker turned against the other two, Prang and Heather Star. That is as much as I know." As Celestia concluded her little story, a tear ran down her check.

Twilight no longer had any questions, taking the saddle bag with the map, compass, and picture, along with a canister of dust that would keep her hunger at bay for six hours until she needed more. Celestia strapped the sword to Twilight's saddlebag and slipped the helmet onto her head.

"Follow the map Twilight, it will lead you to your destination. Good luck"

Twilight nodded, hugging Celestia with all her strength.

"I will get these ponies and bring them back. Don't you worry" Twlight mutters, releasing her grip on Celestia.

"I must warn you though Twilight, there are unspeakable things that are in the desert that you must cross through."

"Tell me what to look out for and what not to look out for, and where to begin my journey"

"You must begin your journey at the edge of the Crystal Empire, from there you go past the mountains and follow the path through the forest to a town called Homie, don't ask about the name Twilight, Upon reaching the town, the map will be able to guide you to the desert and through it. Use the picture Twilight, it is just about the one thing that ponies can use to identify the alicorns. The sword has an enchantment where as it will vibrate a certain amount when near it's owner, Goldenhoof," another tear flowed down Celestia's cheek, "The compass is to be used as a compass, although it can sense when something evil is near. The helmet is for protection, of course. The things you will find in the forest are timberwolves, ghosts, ursas, dragons, pretty much it is a replica of the Everfree forest. But the desert, it holds it's own evil. Within the desert are The Sand Fillies. It is wise to not interfere with them, so steer clear of any sand that is moving without the assistance of the wind. I wish you the best of luck Twilight Sparkle" Celestia concludes, waving her hoof towards the now leaving Twilight.

Twilight walked through the doorway, in the hallways, out the entrance of the castle, through canterlot, into the train station, boarding the train that was headed for the Crystal Empire.

Twilight walked off the train that had just now arrived at the Crystal Empire. Ponies turned their gaze towards the princess as she walked down the streets towards the castle in the center of the city. The helmet she wore brought many odd looks her way, along with her sword, but she didn't mind.

"Umm, Princess Twilight, why do you have that rusty old helmet on your head? Seems very odd for a 'princess' to be wearing", says a crystal pony with a note pad and quill.

"You could say that that is classified, it's none of your business what I do" replies Twilight, fastening her pace as she nears the castle.

"Please wait! I have a few questions I must ask yo-" The crystal pony stopped as Twilight slammed the door in her face and proceeded towards the throne room.

"Twilight! It's so nice to see you again! You really should have told me you were coming!" says Cadence happily, walking down from her throne to hug her sister in law. Twilight rejects the hug, holding up her hoof, further silencing Cadence.

"Originally, I was just passing through to go beyond the frozen north, but I figured it would be best to ask for some information about someone" says Twilight, sitting down on the cold hard floor.

"Oh, umm, ok then, what do need to ask me?" replies Cadence, a little sadly.

Twilight took a deep breath, and begun, "Have you ever known of an alicorn named Goldenhoof?"

"Oh...her", Cadence looked at the ground, shuffling her hooves, "She was a friend, a good, good friend. In fact, she is Princess Luna's closest friend. She was lost to us after the day of shadows."

Twilight gasped at this new information, realizing that Luna would also be depending on her. It added a whole new level of difficulty to this adventure, because not only did she have Celestia depending on her, she also had Cadence as well, along with Luna.

"That's good to know Cadence, it will most certainly help me find her and her friends"

"Wait, WHAT?! Why in Equistria would you search for her? She's been gone for at least a thousand years!"

Twilight sighed, realizing it was a bad idea to say what she had said. Yes, she did need to find them, but she didn't feel Cadence was really needing to know about her adventure, except for the war part of it.

"Cadence, I know it seems stupid, but Princess Celestia told me to find them, so that is what I'm going to do"

"Well, I guess that you will need a companion"

"I need to do this on my own Cadence, but I wouldn't mind if you escorted me to the forest beyond the mountains"

"Well then it is settled, I will order the captain of the guard to be in charge until I return, is that alright?"

"Yeah, that sounds good" Twilight replies, collecting her stuff and heading for the exit with Cadence tagging along behind.

Cadence and Twilight walked in silence through a valley, trying not to cause an avalanche. As they walked past the mountains without anyone speaking, not wanting to cause anything bad to happen, a forest comes to view, but not just any old forest. It was a boundary, the one that kept the sand fillies at bay and concealed within the desert.

"Well, here is where I leave you Twilight, Good Luck!" says Cadence turning around and leaving. Twilight waved as Cadence left. Twilight herself walked into the forest, leaving Equistria behind her. Walking further into the forest, she smelled a foul stench, smelling like rotten flesh, coming from a bush over yonder. Twilight went to see what was, although she was mistaken. What was behind that bush was the one thing Twilight did not want to encounter...Timberwolves.