Imperium of Ponykind: The Beginings

A few hours went by and ponies from every walk of life trodded down to the princesses castle which was shockingly untouched by the waves of destruction. Mabie this was the last remnants that remained of friendship and of fun times that seemed to be long gone. However, just by being there made the ponies almost happy, like there was hope and faith that the ponies ever stood a chance against whatever was to come. As each one answered the call of need, the castle grew other colors and hues that represented the Elements of Harmony.

Alas, the ponies gathered in the corridor that the Elements table and map resided in. The map was easily visible to all with ranges of cutie marks from Applejack's to Colgate's to Lyra's and everything in between. The map challenged all to join the conquest to show what true friendship could do. It seemed that everypony's cutie mark was mapped across the land of Equestria. Even the Elements knew that the lands needed to be united as was true of everypony.

The room was in chaos. Chattering causing the room to be boisterous with words lost in the crowd, some devising plans, and others with random nonsense to alleviate the tension of the current state of events. There was also those who came from the insane asylums that every pony knows to be crazy enough to join such a radical cause. Everything seemed happy in the room. No pony felt scared, possibly due to the fact that the crystal blue castle as still in one peace or maybe the fact that this was the room that was created in friendship and the last of the energies had created a peace inside of it, although some felt this to be a false sense of security, but a sense of security never the less. Most enjoyed it while it lasted.

Once again the now familiar voice echoed inside of the hall.

"It's time!" commanded Ether's voice.

The room grew silent. Tension grew as did anticipation of what was to come. At the far side of the room was a blue crystalline podium in which Ether stood behind. Above Ether was a banner that stated A New Empire Shall Stand in the Old Empire's Shadow. Behind Ether was an off-white screen that was used for a projected image although at this moment in time was not being used. In the center of the room sat the table, above the table was the roots and images of Twilight and her friends and images of the past played in the sequential order given you were standing in the right spot and the right lighting that hit the memory crystal shards.

"We are stronger together. Think of all the accomplishments that the mane six have risen up to the challenge. We would do well to be reminded that friendship is the bonding peace in every relationship that has occurred. Our own bond leaves us with the power to stand up in even the grimmest times. It's time that we hold to the tide that our friends set forth and the power that each and every one of us knows. It's time for us to ensure we avenge those who have fallen in our midst. It's time to pursue our friends, our family, our loved ones and ourselves. It's time we stand for a cause and live in out the dreams of ourselves and others. It's time to restore peace to our great lands. It's time we capture our freedom from those who seek devastation for reasons not yet revealed. We shall stand and set forth on a mission that may be difficult, but not impossible. Don't lose hope yet. Don't abandon faith too soon. Use your body, minds, and spirits to constitute new beginnings, new foundations, new lives. Don't let the darkness muck your minds. Chaos has been at our fingertips more than once. Every time we have risen up to the challenge. And we will this time as well. Each bowl has been set behind me with the symbols of the Elements of Harmony. Each of the ponies behind me you will recognize as the bearers of the Elements. Pinkamena Diane Pie is the representative of Laughter, Rainbow Dash as the Element of Loyalty, Rarity as the Element of Generosity, Apple Jack as the Element of Honesty, Fluttershy as the Element of Kindness, and myself as the new bearer of the Element of Magic. Each will choose which Element of Harmony you so think you are more closely associated with as I call you up one by one. You will cut your hoof and drop blood into the bowl. This will be a blood bond not only to the Element but to the cause that you will swear to uphold." His lecture was long but inspiring.

The Choosing as some were calling it seemingly took hours mayhaps because of the droning silence or mayhaps the numerous amount of ponies that stood in the room. Ether called each name one after the other somehow without mispronunciation, slip up or stutter. He also managed with relatively no prep time was able to speak the names in perfect alphabetical order, starting with Amethyst Star and ending with Zecora. Now divided into groups he began his speech once more.

"Now each and every one of you beginning now is in a directorate and will be given a vocation by the Directorate leaders depending on your cutie mark. Some will make food and some will make technologies to further us in preparation for the altercation to come. We shall learn together as one, train together as one, and fight together as one. I will personally teach each and every individual how to fight using what they are good at whether it be flying or flower sorting. Now go and plant the seed of the uprising so it may bloom a new beginning and LET US TAKE BACK OUR NATION!!!"

The crowd began cheering HOORAH once more. This time with conviction and dignity. They spoke with confidence not seen since the beginning of the storms and even possibly ever. Every group led the roughly same amount of recruits with the exception of the Directorate of Magic which visibly held the least amount to join. This was to one simple fact: Ponies to specialize in magic were rare to come by.

Each train to depart set off for a different location that morning. So did each group. This would ensure that the most ground could be covered in the least amount of time. Each Directorate was given a list of locations to visit. The Directorate of Magic was sent to Canterlot first. Loyalty was sent to Cloudsdale. Of course, only Pegasi were able to go there. Loyalty, led by Rainbow Dash was sent to the Crystal Empire. Honesty to Manehatten. Generosity to Western Equestria. And Kindness was sent to Rockville. After which they made their rounds all across of Equestria from Califoalnia to Fillydelphia.

Some lives were lost in the expedition due to the storms. However, more was recruited then that was lost. After a month of recruiting the new recruits were to meet up in the castle once more for the Choosing. Again bowls were set and the process continued with the same order and the same speech. Hours upon hours went by and at last the ceremony was complete.

Each Directorate was given a task.They were to practice that task until they perfected it. The tasks ranged quite a bit. Some practiced basket weaving whilst others practiced a range of fighting skill that they would often see on T.V. in martial arts channels such as cage fighting. The tasks proved to be sometimes difficult, however, there were the occasional few that showed to do each task with relative ease. Ether would walk around to ensure that each task was done according to a set of strict standards.

After the day's end, the proctor stood and announced "Tomorrow there will be a standardized test that will explain your strengths and weaknesses. Each and every pony will take this test. The Board of Directorates will meet me in the conference room so we may discuss the extent of this test. Part of the test will be written and the other part will be hands-on so as to check skills. The written test will be in the mess hall. As for the hands-on portion, we will pick who finishes the test first and see to who gets placed in what job that lies for them. I will not lie, there will be dangerous tasks so it is imperative that you so not falsify anything on this test. Falsification or even cheating can cause you to suffer worse fates then even death. Not from us but to the warp energies that may spawn. Everypony is good at something that will be beneficial to the cause. It's our job to exploit that talent to better assist us."

Some grew tired of the monotonous and rather long speeches, but somehow each and every pony was touched in some way.

The day drew to an end and every pony was kept there for the safe haven from the storms. A good portion of them unable to sleep due to their nightmares that were no longer being saved from Princess Luna. The night other wise was quite and almost peaceful.