The Winds Of Change, Season 1: Friends and Enemys, New and Old.

The Castle Of The Royal Pony Sisters.

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"Hey, Y'all what's that up ahead?" Applejack called out as the group crossed a rickety old wooden bridge. As the rest of the group joined her on the other side they all gasped at the structure before them.

"Wow," Star said as he studied the intricate entryway that looked like it'd seen better days. The whole group was captivated by the remains of the huge old castle off in the distance. This archway that they all stared at looked like it connected to the rest of the castle via a long corridor to the north.

"What do you think?" Star asked looking to Twilight. She had her book out and was consulting the index. She shook her head.

"There's no mention of a castle." She said skimming through the book just to make sure. Star looked at the castle. Then he had an idea.

"Well, Twi if these elements of harmony are as powerful as that book claims it would make sense to hide them someplace no pony would ever find them." He looked around.

"I mean think about it not many ponies willingly go into the everfree forest. I can't really think of a better place to hide them." He said squinting at as a soft light made itself known in the castle away's off. His eye's lit up.

"Oh no!" He said grabbing every pony's attention.

"Um, what's wrong?" Fluttershy asked looking around for anything that could hurt them. Star sighed.

"It would seem that we have some company." He said pointing to the blue light emanating from one of the top floor windows. The whole group went still.

"N-n-nightmare moon," Fluttershy stuttered trying to hide underneath her mane. Rarity draped a hoof over her shoulder.

"There, there, dear it will be alright." She said trying to calm the pegasus down. "We got through that dreadful forest and all of the obstacles in our way just fine." She said flashing a comforting smile. That smile was short lived.Twilight finally through her book into her bag with a huff.

"Damn it! There's nothing in here about this castle or where the elements are!" She screamed. She fell to her stomach and began to sulk. Star gave the group a soft pout. "There really isn't much we can do here." He sighed. Rainbow saw the emotional cauldron begin to boil over. She did what she did best in these situations.

"Hey come on now!" She shouted getting everypony's attention. With their gazes firmly locked on her, she continued.

"We got this far didn't we?" They all looked at her with and tentatively nodded. Pinky almost shook her head off her shoulder's. Twilight, however, was not so easily swayed.

"But what about now?" She said looking to the castle. "We don't have much time left to stop Nightmare Moon and we don't even know where the elements are." She repeated her earlier statement. Rainbow just scoffed.

"So what! Are we really going to get this far just to be stopped by a spooky old castle?" She raised a hoof over to the still glowing window.

"That right there give's us all the incentive we need to go into these ruin's and find those artifact's your talking about. That glow is obviously Nightmare Moon. So that mean's we're on the right track for finding these elements of harmony. We gotta pony up, go in there and find them before she does. Hell, she might not even know where they are either." She said giving the group a big grin. It was infectious. Soon all of the group was in a brighter mood.

Twilight sighed giving the glowing light one last look. Her gaze then settled upon the ragtag group that had followed her into this mess. A small smile crept onto her muzzle. Nodding her head in agreement.

"Alright, girls let's do this." She said giving Star a sheepish grin noticing her mistake.

"And one stallion." She added. Star just chuckled. "Don't worry. I'm just here to make sure you all get home nice and safe." He said his face the very likeness of a jokester. They all got a laugh out of his goofy antic's. With their spirits lifted and the mood considerably lighter than it was a few moment's ago the group opened the door and made their way into the decrepit castle.

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After what felt like a full hour of scouring the bottom floor the group decided to make their way to the second floor. They were starting to feel the fatigue kick in. Their little search hadn't gone as smoothly as they'd hoped. They had been on the look out for any kind of trap's after Pinky inadvertently set one off. That set the whole group on edge and made their search even longer.

"I suppose we have no choice but to head all the way to the top," Twilight said leading the group up the stairs. They looked around on the second-floor landing and saw two big double doors flanked on either side by two smaller doors.

"Ok," Twilight said, "Let's split up and search this floor." Applejack, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash went over to the small door on the left opened it and looked about. Applejack hung back.

"Let's all meet back here in about 15 minute's. See what we've all found." She said. The group nodded. With them gone the last four pony's all looked at the two remaining doors. "I call the big door!" Pinky shouted before running off and opening the double doors at the foot of the stair case leading down to the first floor.

"Pinky wait up!" Twilight shouted running after the hyperactive ball of energy. Star chuckled despite the grim nature of their mission.

"How can she be so cheery and carefree at a time like this?" He asked thin air. With Twilight and Pinky going down the middle past that left Star and Fluttershy to search the west wing of the castle. Star looked over to Fluttershy and saw that she was smiling a little bit at Pinky's antics.

"Come on Flutters, let's not keep everypony waiting." He said as he trotted over to the western door way.

"Oh Ok." She said following after him. As the two made their way over to the door Star noticed his locket had begun to glow a soft shade of red. As he stared at it he saw it alternating between deep red, light blue, and then finally turning a shade of purple before beginning the pattern anew. As he stared at it he failed to notice he was spacing out.

"Star?" The soft voice broke him from his stupor. "Huh, what?" He said now on high alert, his head looking this way and that. Fluttershy was giving him a concerned glance one that dissipated a little as he looked at her. "Oh sorry about that." He said giving her a sheepish grin. "What was that?" She asked looking at the locket around Star's neck continue to fluctuate. He just shrugged.

"Honestly I don't know. It's never done that before." He said pondering why his locket suddenly freaked out. Not wanting to slow them down any further Star just shrugged.

"It's fine Flutter's I'll figure it out later. Right now let's go and see what's behind door number three." He said flashing her a smile. One that she returned with a nod of her head.

"Yeah, you're right." She said, the two continuing their trot to the third door. Star opened it with his magic and trotted in first, his horn alight casting the dark corridor in a bright green glow.

"Normally I would say lady's first but I'll make an exception this time." He smiled to Fluttershy. She gave a soft laugh and followed him into the hallway.

Group A.

Applejack lead the trio up the stairs flight by flight.

"How high is this tower?" Dash said clearly annoyed. "I could've flown up there and back by now," Rarity rolled her eye's.

"Rainbow dear just be patient. We'll be up there in no time at all." She said trying to reassure the cooped up pegasus. Rainbow huffed and continued to hover up the tower. A little while later the trio came across a door inlaid into the side of the tower wall. "Finally!" Rainbow shouted moving to open the door. Her hoof, however, was stopped by Applejack.

"Careful there now Rainbow. We don't know just what could be in there." She said giving Rainbow a serious look. Rainbow nodded and gently opened the door, just in case. With a loud, long, drawn out creaking noise, that told just how old this castle was, the door opened revealing the room to the group. As the trio stepped into the room a soft blue glow illuminated there surrounding's. AJ and Dash looked over to Rarity. She gave them a soft smile.

"Just a little light to guide the way." She said as they scanned the room for anything even remotely useful. The room was sparse at best. A small desk in the corner next to a queen sized bed. On the wall opposite that was a cabinet that looked like it once held clothing of some kind.

"Oh, dear this place looks like it's seen better days I would say." Rarity said as she blew a thick layer of dust off the abandoned desk.

"I'll say," AJ said looking around the bed for any clue's. Rainbow trotted around, she didn't want to flap her wings and end up sending everypony into a coughing fit and studied the rest of the room. It was pretty big. And that puzzled her.

"Who would have this big of a room in a tower and have so little in it?" She asked out loud. The other's looked up from their search. They scanned the room again.

"Let's see. The room is sparsely furnished." Rarity said as she scanned the room with a critical eye. "But said furnishings are immaculate. So that rule's out anypony working at the castle." She looked at the wall's which were decorated in a motif befitting the open night sky complete with a stylized moon in one corner.

"The only two conclusions left are royalty or delegate's from a foreign nation." She thought. She looked around for any other clues as to the room's owner. Her eye's scanned over the miscellaneous objects within the room. Her eye's settled upon an old picture sitting on the desk. She trotted over to it, lifting it up in her magic.

"Curious." She stated, looking the picture over. The frame was old and splintered, the old photo was worn and faded making those it was meant to immortalize lost to history.

"Such a shame." She flipped the frame over. "What's this." She said taking a closer look at the back. "What's what!?" Dash asked rushing over to glance at what Rarity had found. AJ To stopped what she was doing to get a closer look at what had Rarity's attention.

"Girl's we may have just found our first clue about where these elements could be." She said the smile on her face glowing with so much enthusiasm it would make Pinky Pie proud.

Group B.

Twilight and Pinky trotted down the corridor to their destination, the abandoned throne room. Pinky bounced about while Twilight just walked. They would glance around looking at the tattered remnants of the banner's adorning the walls but the silence was starting to grate on Twilight's nerves. Luckily it was broken by Pinky.

"Ahh Choo!" The sneeze she let out was strong enough to propel her back a few feet. This caused Twilight to stop.

"What was that?" she asked, looking genuinely perplexed at her pink companion. Pinky just chuckled.

"Oh, that was just somepony thinking about me." She stated as if it was the most logical thing in the world. Twilight gave her a look of confusion.

"Wha--wh--how---What?" She finally stuttered out as her brain finished rebooting after it had crashed due to an illogical overload. Pinky caught up with Twilight giggling the whole way.

"Oh don't worry about it silly filly. We have more important priorities right now." She said bouncing off down the hall. Twilight shook her head, mostly to clear her thoughts and focus on her current objective. Once again the two set off making it to the big double doors at the end of the grand hallway.

"There it is." Twilight thought as her horn lit up. The door's slid open with a deep rumble as stone slid against stone. With one final push of magic, the doors stood open for all to see the faded grandeur of the throne room.

"Why does this seem so familiar?" Twilight mused as she looked around. "It feel's like I've been here before." Her eye's settled upon the throne, then it all clicked.

"Of course!" She shouted. Pinky let out a scream of her own.

"What course?" She shouted. Twilight gave her a big smile.

"I couldn't put my hoof on it but this whole castle seemed so familiar, almost like I've been here before." She said. Pinky jumped for joy. She hung there for a sec.

"So how do you know this place?" She asked still hanging in the air. Twilight's eye's lit up.

"This castle is just like Celestia's in Canterlot." She looked around. "I'm sure of it. The layout is almost exactly the same." she looked around once more just to get her bearings. Their moment of revelry was shattered by a scream somewhere deep within the castle.

"Oh no! Fluttershy!" Pinky shouted as she crashed to the ground and ran out to the hallway as fast as her hooves could carry her.

"Pinky!" Twilight shouted running after her.