Celestia Gambit

Chapters

The Friendship Arch
The great and powerful duality
The Parasprite Problem
The Spring Resolution
The Rainboom Riddle
The Philomena farce
The Gala Gambit
*Discord*
Bonus 1. The Amulet Aftermath
Bonus 2. The academy record
The Twilight Paradox

The Friendship Arch

Celestia, Princess of the sun and newly co-ruler of Equestria, settled herself on to the cushions and took a sip of the drink. It was very good, and she levitated the glass back on to the table. She looked up at one of the other occupants of the room. A gray coated earth pony sat on another cushion, her current official job was as the Mayor of the town of Ponyville, but she was also one of the major links of Celestia's network of agents. Sitting next to her was a pegasus pony still wearing the armour of the royal guard; his name was Winged Sword and officially he was the head of her personal bodyguard - un-officially he was another of her agents and long standing pupil. Now she came to think about it these agents of hers where the closest the immortal goddess came to having friends. Excluding of course her sister Luna. She spared a glance towards the adjacent room where her sister was sleeping. The Mayor, always observant, caught Celestia's momentary distraction.

“Is your Highness alright?” she asked.

“My Highness is fine thank you.” The Mayor seemed to have developed a certain dependence on formal speech recently. “I was just thinking about my sister.”

“Is the Princess Luna going to be okay?” Winged Sword asked. “We were all worried when she collapsed after the party.”

In fact Celestia had been more than a little worried. Luna had complained about being tired and Celestia had suggested that they withdraw. Soon after leaving the hub of the party Luna had complained of feeling very dizzy and had collapsed. Fortunately only Celestia's guard had been there and they where quickly able to get the unconscious Princess to her rooms. “She is going to be okay,” she replied. “Red Star looked at her as soon as we got here. He says that she is just extremely worn out; apparently her ordeal has left her magic significantly drained she will probably have to spend a few months resting in bed but she should make a full recovery.”

At least a few months, Celestia thought, Red Star had explained that the creature called Nightmare Moon had effectively been a shell formed form parts of Luna as well as an external force. This had been held together with Luna's magic, trapping the essence of Luna inside it. When the Elements of Harmony had shattered the shell it had freed her essence but had left the newly reborn Luna very weak. Most of her magic had been in the shell and it would take her some time to regain it

“That is very welcome news Celestia.” Winged Sword said. He seemed to have no trouble with switching out of formal speech when they were alone. “We were all very relieved when the sun rose and you sent us the message to pick up you, your sister and the rest of the party. Some ponies in Ponyville were starting to get very anxious about what had happened; what with your disappearance and then the manifestation of Nightmare Moon they were all for running off and starting an Equestrian wide search for you, starting with the Everfree Forest.”

“You to managed to contain them sufficiently?”

“Indeed we did your Highness,” the Mayor filled in. “I organised most of the town into a search of the local area while Winged Sword sent the rest of your royal guard off on errands to warn other ponies who, as part of the network, where quite aware and able to conduct their own containment. Leaving Miss Sparkle and her new friends a clear run at the Everfree Forest and the castle.”

“Did everything go the way we planned?” Celestia asked. “I am sure Twilight will send me a full report of the night's events form her point of view, but how about from your end?”

The Mayor nodded. “After Pinkie Pie had given her the book that contained the initial clue she required, Miss Sparkle was the model of efficiency and very quickly figured out the location of the Elements of Harmony. And as we had hoped, the rest of our new little ponies had had sufficient time to form a close enough bond of friendship as a group that they were opposed to letting her go alone. Meanwhile we were also able to keep the rest of the town from following and ruining the full formation of the bond.” Celestia nodded, she had [in fact] felt more than a moment of panic about the plan when again confronting the fiend that had once been her sister.

===

The dark smoke twisted around where she sat. Celestia let it encircle her body, fighting the part of her that wanted to lash out against the evil. The smoke twisted, coalescing into the all too familiar shape.

“Hello Celestia,” the creature that called itself Nightmare Moon said. “It has been a long time.”

“Hello Luna,” Celestia replied, the words getting caught in her throat. It had been a thousand years since the last time she had said that name.

“That is not my name anymore dear sister,” the creature replied, its voice a silk twist.

No it is not, Celestia reminded herself. The creature she was looking at was not her sister, it was the thing that had taken her sister from her. “Nightmare Moon” she spat out.

“That is better dear sister,” the midnight back alicorn purred. “So since you remember who I am, you must know why I am here... and yet you sit there unprepared to fight.”

“I never wanted to fight you. Not then and not now.”

“But you did,” the phantom snarled. “For uncountable time we fought, the sun and the moon doing titanic battle as the ground beneath us burnt and froze. What a wonderful time it was.”

“I had no choice,” Celestia snapped. “The world could not stand you; it twisted and warped under your presence, your corruption. You were worse than Discord. For the sake of all our ponies I had to face you.”

“...and yet now I have returned you sit here defenceless, unprepared.” Nightmare Moon replied winding her still smoke-like body around where Celestia sat. “What has changed?”

With a cold chill Celestia realised she might have said too much. The black alicorn reared back and laughed, reading the look of panic on the sun goddess' face. “I know all about your plan. Your Twilight Sparkle.” She spat the name. “You think one little unicorn pony can defeat me! Ha! She is barely more than a filly.”

“Maybe not alone,” Celestia said, allowing the hope into her voice. “But with the magic of friendship and the Elements of Harmony she might be able to bring Luna back to me.”

“Enough!” the dark goddess snapped, staring into Celestia's eyes. “She is gone! That foal Luna is no more! There is just me! Always just me!” For a moment the two alicorns just stared at each other then Nightmare Moon shook herself. “Well if you are not going to fight me than I will not complain.” She spread her wings, the tendrils of black smoke reaching out and wrapping themselves round Celestia. “Good bye sister. Forever.”

As the world started to fade Celestia's last thoughts were of Twilight. Good luck my faithful student. The darkness closed in from all sides. Bring her back to me. As the light vanished the memory of the purple unicorns face changed to that of her sister. Luna, was Celestia's last coherent thought.

===

Celestia shuddered at the memory and took another long drink to steady herself. Yes she had felt more than a little relieved when she had been revived to discover the six ponies together with the Elements of Harmony in the tower. “And since she requested of her own volition to stay here to be with her friends I think we can safely say that the necessary bonds have formed,” the Mayor finished.

“The plan seems to have been a complete success,” Winged Sword added.

Celestia nodded. “But we must be wary, my little ponies, this is the beginning of the plan not the end of it.” Celestia patted a small chest that sat on the floor next to her. “The Elements of Harmony have now been wielded by a new set of bearers and we must now keep a very close eye on these ponies. While they were able to defeat Nightmare Moon and restore my sister, there are other dangers that Equestria faces and we must be sure that they are prepared for them. They need to maintain this strong friendship.” She looked at the Mayor. “As you said it is fortuitous that Twilight asked to remain here without any prompting. You will keep a close eye on them and arrange matters such that they are able to stay close.”

“Of course your Highness,” the Mayor replied. “But if I may ask - what was the point of getting Twilight to send you reports on the magic of friendship? Surely you know all about it. You have had the finest unicorns in the land studying it for years.”

Celestia smiled. “You may ask me anything you want my little pony, you know that. But the reports will serve a vital function. While I may know all about the magic of friendship we need to make sure that Twilight does. As the new bearer of the element of magic it is on her shoulders more than anyponies to make sure that the magic of the Elements of Harmony are ready for use. This is the best way for me to keep track of her progress.”

Winged Sword looked confused. “But surely Celestia, would it not be easier to invite all the new bearers of the elements to Canterlot and give them proper training? They are young but they are not fillies. Some of your best agents were no older then them when you first recruited them.” Celestia smiled inwardly at that. Yes, Winged Sword had been quite a young pony when she had first met him, his gleaming armour not properly fitting his still growing body.

She shook her head. “No. The magic of friendship is more delicate than that. The bonds that they have formed need time to strengthen. If we dragged them away from their homes now and told them that we had planned this all from the start then that seeming betrayal will shatter them.” She looked first at Winged Sword and then at the Mayor. “No, what we must do is arrange matters so that our new ponies are tested and tempered into the strong reliable friends we need them to be. Then and only then will we think of telling them what we know.”

The two other ponies nodded solemnly. There was a moment of silence which was broken by a familiar voice from the town square outside saying loudly “And then my sister Inky went and got this huuuuge bowl of oatmeal, so I said...” before being hushed by five other voices.

Celestia smiled and the Mayor winced. “Do you think Pinkie Pie will try to keep the party going all night?” Celestia asked the Mayor with a smile.

“No.” The Mayor replied with a sigh. “What will be hard is preventing her having an after party party tomorrow and then an after after party party party the night after.”

Winged Sword chuckled. “She is certainly an interesting one that Pinkie Pie. Are we sure we can trust her with the extra knowledge she has?”

The Mayor nodded. “She will not tell anyone, it is one of her “things”. And even if she does let some of it slip nopony will take any notice of it.”

Yes, it was one of the major features of those ponies that they tended to have odd personality quirks, Celestia thought. Astonish certainly had, she remembered that she had pushed him on it one time.

===

Book Dancer and herself had been walking around the grounds, past where the palace joined the newly founded School for Gifted Unicorns. They had been discussing the magic of the Elements of Harmony; Celestia was telling Book Dancer about how the elements had felt when she and her sister had used them to defeat Discord and build the balance of the world. They were of course not alone, Book Dancer even then had attracted a following of younger unicorn who tailed her everywhere, usually carrying stacks of books and other things with them. They seemed to be something of a cross between students, assistants and a travelling library.

They had been walking past an oak tree deep in a technical discussion about the aspects of the Elements of Harmony when Astonish had leaped out from behind the tree. He was decked out in a fearsome dragon mask complete with horns and smoke coming out of his mouth and roaring loudly. There was a chorus of shrieks and thumps form behind her, Celestia spun round in time to see the dust of half a dozen unicorns galloping away as fast as they could. She turned back to where Book Dancer was standing nose to fake snout with the newcomer.

“ASTONISH!!” she screamed, her whole body shaking with a combination of anger and shock. “Why did you do that!?”

“Buffle yffml if nuuy,” the dragon-pony replied.

“And spit that out!” Book Dancer shouted.

Astonish raised one of his forehooves, pushed the mask up off his face and spat a short tube out onto the ground where it sat belching smoke. “Because it was funny,” he said, the grin on his face nearly as large as the snarl on the fake one.

“Because it was funny! Because it was funny!!” Book Dancer screamed.

If Celestia did not know better she would almost believe the smoke was coming from her.

“We where in the middle of an important discussion on the formation of complex tri-relational-semi-stable bonds and you... you...”

“I helped?” Astonish finished for her. “You know maybe you should try studying the magic of friendship more...personally?”

Celestia let the argument wash over her. She had seen variations on this argument play out plenty of times before. For the moment she was more interested in something else. She casually looked behind the tree Astonish had leaped out from. Yes, she had thought as much. She walked slowly all the way round it, checking carefully before coming back to where the one-sided shouting match was going on. She waited patiently till it ended in the usual way with Book Dancer throwing her head back, screaming 'I give up' and going off to find her runaway friends.

“Astonish?” Celestia asked quizzically. “How did you get here?"

Astonish looked at her and smiled. “Celestia I do not know if you had a mother - but surely that is a fact of life she should have taught you by your age.”

Maybe it was the way he said it but Celestia found herself starting to blush slightly. “No,” she said. “I meant here." She pointed to the ground.

“If I remember correctly you came to my village and asked me if I wanted to come to Canterlot and teach,” Astonish said, bending down and nudging the still smoking cylinder “You where there, I am sure that you should remember. Maybe you are getting forgetful in your old age?”

Celestia buried her head in her forehooves. “No,” she said exasperatedly. “I meant behind that tree.” The tree was not large and while Astonish was not a big pony there was defiantly not space for him to have been behind it the whole time. Anyway, all of them had walked past it - they would have definitely spotted him even without the smoke.

“If suffle m flrked yufr,” Celestia heard him say. She lowered her hooves to see that Astonish had once again put the smoking cylinder in his mouth and was repositioning the dragon mask over his face. He spread his hooves and roared, his impression of a dragon only slightly ruined by the muffling of his voice. Celestia reared up and using her magic made herself shine. Astonish did a reasonable impression of a dragon whimpering and trotted off in the direction the fleeing unicorns had left. Celestia lowered herself back to the ground. At some point, she thought to herself, she would get an intelligible answer out of the strange pony, but she never had.

===

Celestia smiled. “Yes we can trust Pinkie Pie, she will be very useful in arranging matters.” She took another sip of her drink. “Speaking of which, I have arranged for several others of our friends to pay a visit to the town of Ponyville in the near future.” She looked at the Mayor. “I will try to keep you informed, but just in case keep your eyes open. I am sure that you have everything in Ponyville well taken care of.”

There was a knock on the connecting door to Luna's room and a white coated unicorn pony came in, his cutie mark a single five pointed red star. He nodded at the Princess before taking another seat.

“She is okay but she is very weak,” he told Celestia. “She will need a few months of total peace from her magic to re-grow. It was almost all destroyed with that creature.”
“Thank you Red Star,” Celestia said standing up. “Now if you do not mind I will go and see my sister. We have a lot to catch up on.”

Celestia left the three other ponies discussing matters in the main room and passed through the door into her sister's room.

Luna was lying on a large bed in the middle of the room, all but her head covered by a thick blanket. Celestia looked at her. She did not look well; her coat was washed out and her mane was dull and lifeless. As Celestia closed the door Luna tried to lift herself up on her front legs but they were trembling so much that they could not support her weight and she collapsed back onto the bed. Celestia quickly came over and nuzzled her sister.

“Sorry to be such a burden to you,” the younger princess said, her voice very soft.

Celestia smiled at her sister. “Luna, you are never a burden.” She nuzzled at her sister some more. “Did I tell you how happy I am to have you back?”

“Only about a dozen times Tia.” Luna responded with a weak smile. “But I see Equestria has not fallen into chaos without me.”

“No dear, but I nearly did.” Celestia sat down next to her sister. “I was heartbroken when you left me and for the longest time I hid from the world. Without our protection a lot of bad things happened to our little ponies. But we shall not dwell on that now you are back and that is all that matters.” Celestia folded her wing over her little sister. “Now little sis, did I tell you of the clever plan I had devised to get you back to me?”

Luna looked at her. “No Tia, not yet. Is it good?”

“Oh I think that you will be quite impressed with how clever I was. You see it all began with a small purple unicorn filly called Twilight Sparkle...”

The great and powerful duality

Celestia, immortal goddess and co-ruler of the Kingdom of Equestria was keeping a low profile. You would think that this would not be easy to do as she was a six foot tall alicorn with a brilliant white coat and pastel rainbow hair that streamed out behind her regardless of what the wind was doing. But that, as one of her friends was fond of saying, was exactly the nature of disguise. The more flamboyant you normally were the easier it was to go unnoticed.

For this occasion all she had had to do was to remove her royal jewels, braid her mane and tail, wear a dress that covered her wings and flank (a gift from Twilight, made by her friend Rarity) and walk with a less regal posture and everypony just assumed that she was unicorn, if maybe a particularly stunning one. anypony that might suggest to their friends that the tall, white-coated unicorn was in fact the Sun Princess they would be silenced with the answer: 'No, Celestia has big wings, a big flowing mane and goes around everywhere flanked by guards you foal'.

Life was so much easier where you understood how ponies thought.

She trotted through Canterlot Park until she found what she was looking for: a colourful travelling wagon parked under some trees. There was a stage setup next to it but this was empty. Even if she had not been warned in advance of her friend's visit, the fireworks last night would have been a clue. She climbed the steps and knocked on the door of the wagon.

“Who disturbs the Great and Powerful Trixie while she is resting?” a voice called from inside.

Celestia smiled; it was always good to hear the voice of a friend you had not seen in a long time. She used her magic and dropped her voice to a low rumble. “I am a fearsome usra major come to get you,” she growled back through the door.

There was the sound of movement from inside and the top half of the door opened to reveal an enormous blue pointed hat covered in stars and other symbols. Under the hat was the head of a light blue unicorn pony mare. When the unicorn saw who it was she broke into a smile.

“Pifft, the Great and Powerful Trixie has vanquished far more powerful foes than you.”

Her horn glowed and the bottom of the door opened to reveal the rest of the unicorn under a cloak of the same pattern as the hat. The cloak had been arranged in such a way as to not hide the mare's cutie mark, a wand against a pattern of stars.

“The Great and Powerful Trixie gives you leave to enter.”

Celestia smiled and entered the wagon. Inside was surprisingly spacious with plenty of seating spaces and a cosy bed tucked away in one corner. The walls where covered in posters for 'The Great and Powerful Trixie's magic shows'. Celestia took a seat and watched the blue unicorn close the doors.

“It has been a long time my little pony,” she said when the door was again locked. “How are you?”

The unicorn threw her head back “The Great and Powerful Trixie is Perfect as always.”

“I am sure she is. But how is my friend Trix?”

The unicorn lowered her head and relaxed, her whole body seeming to change subtly as she did so. “I am well too Celestia,” she said with a smile. “Sorry, sometimes it is hard to get out of character.” There was a glow from her horn and the hat and coat levitated themselves onto a stand by the door. “Can I get you some tea?” she said while walking over to the small kitchen. “Do you think we will be waiting long?”

Celestia nodded “Yes please Trix, two sugars. The Mayor should be along soon, she is usually very punctual.”

“Yes, she always was.” Trix replied from where she had her head in a cupboard. “I half expected to see Winged Sword with you. Is he not joining us?”

Celestia shook her head. “No, even in disguise he is a bit too conspicuous. He is standing guard outside an empty room in the palace.”

Trix chuckled “you where always good at the art of misdirection Tia”

Celestia was just relaxing on one of a set of cushions spread around a small central table when there was another knock on the door. Trixie's head shot up. “Who disturbs the Great and Powerful Trixie while she is resting?” she called out.

There was an audible sigh from outside. “I am a cute and cuddly ursa minor and if you do not open this door this instant I will tell everypony within earshot how you fled from Ponyville after Twilight showed you up.” A glow surrounded the doors and they opened to reveal a brown coated earth pony wearing a pair of saddle bags. Celestia smiled - although these two ponies where old friends Trix's showy nature had always upset the more staid earth pony. The Mayor of Ponyville walked in, closing the door behind her. “Your Highness,” she said, bowing to Celestia.

“Your Mayorness.” Celestia said back, bowing her head in a slightly mocking imitation of the Mayors. “You are well, your journey from Ponyville was not too tiring?”

The Mayor took a seat on one of the cushions. “No your Highness, the roads are much clearer now that the smoke from the dragon has dissipated.”

“Yes I saw that.” Trix said from where she was using her magic to heat tea. “I assume that we have our new friends to thank for that? Tea your Mayorness?”

The Mayor sighed at the repeated mockery. “Yes please Trix.”

“How did you guess that I had sent Twilight to deal with the dragon?” Celestia asked as three cups of tea levitated themselves onto the table.

“Because it is the sort of thing that you would do Tia.” Trix replied coming round and joining the other two ponies on the cushions. “You would send Twilight and her friends up the mountain to deal with the dragon in order to assess how well they could cope...while at the same time having a backup plan in case they failed.”

Celestia smiled inwardly. She liked Trix although she did not get to see her much as she would like as Trix's 'work' took her all over Equestria. Trix was a strange pony; she was nearly as good at magic as Twilight, but she was not nearly as studious, preferring instead to experience things. She was a pony of the world and that gave her an interesting view on things.

”Could we have not just dealt with the dragon through more formal diplomatic channels?” the Mayor asked. “Instead of risking our new friends. I know they are supposed to be learning from these sorts of things but it was a big task for what are still quite immature ponies.”

Celestia shook her head. “Our treaty with the dragon clans is not that detailed. Anyway it is vital that the bearers of the Elements of Harmony learn to work together under these sorts of circumstances. It all worked out well; I received Twilights report on her and her friend's adventures with the dragon yesterday. According to her report Fluttershy managed to persuade the dragon to roost elsewhere.”

Celistia put emphisis on the phrase and gave the Mayor of Ponyville a look. From what she remembered of Fluttershy she was a naturally timid pony, very good with animals of all kinds but she could not really believe what she had read in Twilight's report about her bullying the dragon into leaving.

The Mayor smiled into her tea. “Yes, although Fluttershy may sometimes be afraid of her own shadow she can be surprisingly resolute if she is pushed or her friends are threatened. Some ponies whisper about her stare which, if you believe the town gossip, has the power to turn you to stone and freeze your blood.” She smiled again. “Not that anypony does. But I can well believe that Fluttershy persuaded the dragon to roost elsewhere. You would never get her to admit it though.” She looked at Trix. “Presumably you will be telling everypony in your next shows that it was you that vanquished the terrible dragon.”

Trix raised her nose in the air and resumed her previous manner “Please. The Great and Powerful Trixie was enthralling the ponies of Canterlot last night with the tale of how she single hoofedly defeated the dragon and sent it fleeing with its tail between its wings.” She lowered her noise and her manner softened. “The Great and Powerful Trixie has a reputation to maintain after all”

That was Trix's talent, Celestia thought, she was a show pony. She could put on a show and make ponies believe - for a little while at least - that the Great and Powerful Trixie had performed all those feats and that was what she was good at. But the persona of Trixie hid a cunning mind that, while she was performing, would take in everything around her; the strengths and weaknesses of everypony in the audience and far more besides.

“I am sure the ponies of Ponyville would have liked that as much as they liked your story about the ursa major,” the Mayor said. “I am sorry I did not get a chance to see you as you passed through but you did have to leave in a hurry.”

Trix chucked at the recollection “I thought I saw you in the back of the crowd but I was busy performing.” She took a sip of her tea. “Where did those two foals find an ursa minor anyway? I was slightly worried for a little bit there till Twilight showed up.” She looked at the Mayor. “If those things regularly rampage through Ponyville I have new respect for you and your town.”

“Surely you could have handled it?” Celestia asked.

“Of course,” Trix said dismissively. “But that would have revealed that Trixie is more than an empty show pony...and I like it when ponies do not suspect me. Anyway it all worked out for the best, with Twilight demonstrating her power and learning quite nicely.”

Celestia had received a full report from Twilight on the visit of 'The Great and Powerful Trixie' to Ponyville; apparently it had been very eventful. Celestia turned to look at Trix. “So Trix, what do you make of our new little ponies?”

Trix levitated her cup of tea to her mouth and took another a sip before placing it carefully back on the table. “She has a lot of power that Twilight of yours,” she said “and she knows how to use it. If she had decided to she could have given me a run for my money.”

“I already knew that Trix,” Celestia sighed. “I have the entire facility of the School for Gifted Unicorns to tell me how powerful she is - some of whom she suspended from the ceiling during her entrance exam. I want to know more. You see more.”

Trix thought for a while. “Well she is modest and shy - maybe a bit too shy. I made foals of some her friends one at a time but she did not step up and challenge me - even with Spike pushing her to.”

Celestia looked worried. “She did not care for them? We need them to be as close friends as possible. They really need to care for each other.”

Trix shook her head. “No. In fact I think she cares a great deal for their opinions, too much maybe. When it was needed she stepped up and saved the town from a rampaging menace; she just did not want to look like a braggart. She was more worried about their opinions of her than she was of her own humiliation.” She thought some more. “Something some of the rest of the group have no problem with.”

Celestia was very relived at this. That was one of the potential problems with magical unicorns - unicorns whose special talent was magic rather than those who just used a little magic in their other talents. They tended to let the magic go to their heads and went a special kind of insane where they believed that they could do anything - and sometimes tried. This was probably part of what had happened to Sun Dancer.

She tried to stop her train of thought but the memories came flooding back. Sun Dancer had been a powerful unicorn. Maybe more powerful than Twilight and she was tough. All ponies had to be in those times; Equestria was still recovering from the banishment of Nightmare Moon and all ponies had to be self reliant. But Sun Dancer had believed that Celestia should be more forceful in her attempts to restore control. Celestia and her had argued a lot; Sun Dancer asserting that as Celestia and Luna had originally used their magic and the Elements of Harmony to build the balance of the world after defeating Discord, the best way to restore it would be for Celestia to use the Elements again and either restore her sister or, in concert with some of the more powerful unicorns, rebuild the world.

Celestia had argued against it. She did not believe that she could use the magic of the Elements again to restore the world without her sisters' help and she had tried before to use them to rescue Luna and failed. Sun Dancer had made some good points however - especially about the need to find the then lost Elements of Harmony. Celestia had sent her and a group of ponies to try to find and recover them.

Deep in her heart Celestia had hoped that with the Elements back in her possession she and her new pony friends could work out a way to restore her sister. But a few months later Celestia had felt a pressure, a tug, on the magical connection she had with the moon and the sun. Celestia tried to stop her thoughts there, but as they always did when she thought of Sun Dancer they were drawn to that last horrific memory. Seeing her shattered, broken body laying on the steps of the old palace, her unnatural wings twisted and shattered. The petrified, useless Elements of Harmony lying round her.

“Your Highness?”

The worst part of that memory was Sun Dancer's foal, a little filly called Sunset, standing between the broken bodies of her mother and father, newly appeared cutie mark still glowing.

“Celestia?”

Equestria had not always been the peaceful and harmonious place it now was, and it was with the help of good ponies like Trix she kept it that way.

“TIA!”

Celestia realised that she was being shouted at. She jerked her head up, dragging her mind back to the present and the two ponies sitting at the table with her.

“Daydreaming Celestia?” Trix asked with a slightly worried grin.

Celestia took a sip of her tea to steady herself and to banish the memories. “Let's just say I was lost in the past. What where you saying?”

The Mayor cleared her throat. “I was saying that Twilight and her friends seem to be getting along well your Highness, everything seems to be going according to plan. But I am worried about the next steps.”

“She must be tested Mayor,” Celestia said forcefully. “We need to know how she reacts under pressure.”

“Surely we already know that from the battle with Nightmare Moon?”

Celestia shook her head. “That was different. She barely knew herself then. Now she has experienced what she can do.”

Trix nodded in agreement. “We need to see how she reacts with a real problem; how she will respond and just as importantly, how her friends will react to her response.”

“But surely we have seen that from her actions in the face of the ursa or the dragon?”

“No, that was something she was even unknowingly prepared for. Ursa may be uncommon but they are not unknown and she had planned for the dragon. We need her reaction to an unexpected threat. We need to be sure she - that they - will not crack under pressure.”

Trix smiled over her tea cup. “You are just worried about the effect on your town Mayor.”

“They are ravenous beasts.” The mayor actually sounded a little panicky. “This could be very serious if it gets out of hand!”

Celestia smiled at her old friend. “Do not worry, we will have a backup plan in case things get out of hand.”

“I am sure that after all the skill and power she showed handling that ursa Twilight will be more than a match for a simple swarm of bugs,” Trix suggested. The Mayor just gave an uncertain shrug.

Celestia looked at the ornate clock hanging on the wall. “I must get going before I am missed.” She stood up followed by the other two ponies. “It was very good to see you again Trix, even if it was just briefly. Will you be in Canterlot long?”

Trix raised her head and took on her other persona. “The Great and Powerful Trixie will be enthralling the ponies of Canterlot with the tales of her magnificence for the next week.” She lowered her head and became Trix again. “Will you be able to come to any of them?”

Celestia imitated Trixie's manner. “The Royal Princess can not attend as she has important affairs of state to see to.” She returned her voice to normal. “But Tia and Wing might find time too take in a show or two.” She gave her friend a little kiss on each cheek. “Goodbye my little pony, I shall see you when next you roll round to these parts.”

“Goodbye Tia,” Trix said in response. “I will look forward to it.”

Celestia turned to her other friend. “And Mayor, I will see you in Ponyville soon. I trust you will have everything prepared?”

The Mayor nodded. “I have left the planning for your 'official visit' to Miss Sparkle. Zecora and everypony else is ready.”

Celestia nodded. “Well then, let's see what happens.”

The Parasprite Problem

Celestia, Princess of Equestria and goddess of the sun stood in a clearing in the wild forest known to the ponies of Equestria as the Everfree Forest, her royal guards - lead by her long-time friend Winged Sword - pacing round nervously. The Everfree Forest was home to some of the most fierce creatures in Equestria but Celestia was not worried; she was in the best company - if any of those creatures did choose this moment to show up they would regret it. The grey maned earth pony by her side did look nervous but that might not have been totally to do with the possibility of being devoured by an ursa major or savaged by a manticore.

“They totally wrecked the town!” she said again. “First they ate all the food and then they started to eat everything else! It is going to take weeks to get everything put back.”

Celestia turned to look at her old friend who was currently doing the job of a very distressed Mayor of Ponyville. “Surely it cannot be that bad?” she said. Celestia had not actually gone into the town, having met with Twilight and her friends on the outskirts, but the view from the air had not been terribly encouraging.

The Mayor stared at her in disbelief. “They ATE the TOWN,” she said again more vehemently.

Celestia looked back at the lines of little creatures dancing round in a tight spiral. “But you have to admit that they are adorable.” The little creatures looked like little balls of fur with wings and, at least at the moment, they seemed to be in a state of bliss.

“Not when they are eating the wall of your office they are not.” The Mayor glowered at the line of little creatures as they went passed - one of which stuck its tongue out at her.

“At least the contingency plan worked,” Celestia said calmingly. “It is a good thing that parasprites respond so powerfully to music.”

The Mayor did not respond but she still did not look happy. Celestia watched as the parasprites danced and spiralled into the clearing with surprising precision. Their swaying and bouncing to the song was hypnotic and Celestia almost felt herself bobbing along. The song was coming from the middle of the clearing where a pony-like figure was balanced on its head, legs folded and chanting with an eerie rhythm. The last of the parasprites wound their way into the clearing and the chanting changed, becoming less rhythmic and more melodious. Eventually the parasprites stopped their swaying and started to fall to the ground; the song gradually shifted into a lullaby and soon all the little balls of fluff lay still. The song faded and the clearing was filled with the sound of tiny snores; the singer twisted herself upright, picked up her knurled staff from where it lay on the ground and made her way carefully to where Celestia and the Mayor where waiting.

“Well done,” Celestia greeted the singer. “It is good to see you again my little pony.”

The new comer looked quizzically at Celestia. “Friend of yours I may be, but pony that is not me.”

Celestia smiled at the zebra. “It is an expression Zecora. It means something like 'my young friend.'”

Zecora seemed to think about this for a bit.

“A long time it has been, since youth I have seen.
But from an immortal's point of view, everypony must seem young to you.”

Winged Sword landed next to the group “They look very peaceful,” he said waving a wing at the sleeping parasprites. “But surely if they just lie there something fierce is going to come and eat them?”

Zecora laughed at this. “Eating a parasprite I would say, it is a way to have a very bad day.”

Winged sword looked quizzically at Celestia; sometimes understanding a zebra's rhyming speech was not the easiest of things. “Parasprites are toxic,” she explained. “Things have learnt that if you eat one you get a very nasty belly ache.”

Winged Sword looked a bit confused. “So what happens to them now?”

“Full and tired these little pests now are, but in a few months this clearing will be full of stars.”

Winged Sword gave Celestia another confused look “Parasprites are like caterpillars,” she explained. “They are just a larval stage. Every year they run around for a couple of days ravenously consuming everything they can.” The Mayor, listening in on the conversation, gave a small grunt at this. “While the food lasts they keep dividing, then they spin themselves a cocoon and go to sleep. In a couple of months they will hatch out as star flies.”

“But then why are we not over run by star flies?”

Celestia gave her friend a look. “Wing, if you really want to learn all about the fauna of the Everfree Forest I can recommend good book you can read when we get back to Canterlot, but I think we should leave this clearing now.”

“Indeed we may,” Zecora said. “My abode is this way.”

Celestia nodded and Zecora lead them off through the dark forest, Winged Sword and the rest of the guard staying close around them and looking nervously out at the woods. Celestia looked at her zebra friend as she picked her way down the path. Zecora was right, she was not really one of Celestia's “little ponies” and not only because she was a zebra. Zecora properly worked for the king of Zebracan and Celestia was sure she had other duties she was not aware of, but ponies and zebras had enjoyed good relations for a while, especially in the years after she had officially declared her return. Besides, Zecora was a very useful zebra to have around. She walked on for a while, lost in her memories.

===

She glided silently through the night using her wings only to make minor adjustments to her flight path, not wanting to risk even the quietist wing flap. Sheet Lighting glided at her side; it seemed almost natural now they had been together for so many years. He was no longer the young colt he had been when she had rescued him, he had matured into a strong and powerful stallion. Around them gilded a formation of pegasus ponies; they had been selected for this mission because they could be trusted to move silently and keep their heads.

Celestia knew most of them personally; they had been on missions like this before and some of them had even been with her when she had stormed the dungeons of smoky mountain. They were good ponies. Behind them were a couple of sleds pulled by more pegasi; on them were riding half a dozen unicorn and earth ponies. Celestia was less certain about these. The unicorn and earth ponies tended to be very vehement about these sorts of things - with good reason - but calmness was needed today. She did need their talents though. The speed and acrobatics of pegasi could only get you so far; sometimes you needed the intricate magic of unicorns or the brute strength of earth ponies.

The night was dark as they flew. Celestia had deliberately dulled the moon and stars for tonight. But through the dark she could see a lone figure standing on the grassland below her. She gestured with her forehooves and the silent flight of ponies circled round to land in front of the shadow. Celestia looked at the figure standing in front of her as the rest of her ponies landed; it looked like a pony but was slightly bigger and was wearing a brown hooded cloak. It pushed the hood off its head revealing the stripes that clearly showed it was a zebra.

The zebra bowed its head to Celestia. “Welcome Princess to our ground, now quickly this way - don't make a sound.”

Celestia gestured to the ponies pulling the sleds to stay where they were while the rest followed the zebra. Their guide led them silently over the grassland to where a small rocky hill provided concealment. Looking over the hill Celestia could see what they had come here for. There was a gasp from Sheet Lighting when he saw their destination.

A little way over the hill they where hiding behind was a circle of wagons. Some of the wagons were made of stout iron bars and looked more like cages, while in the middle of the circle was a camp fire, around which some figures sat. Arguing voices could be clearly heard from where the ponies were hiding. Some of the shadows round the fire looked equine and Celestia assumed they were more zebra, the others walked upright with long gangly arms and legs. “Diamond dogs,” she thought to herself, but it was not this that had caused her companion to gasp. Clearly visible in the wagons and tied up around them were the shapes of ponies.

“Slavers,” a unicorn on her right whispered harshly, her hooves pawing at the ground.

Celestia put her wing out to block the young pony's view. “Hold Sunrise,” Celestia told the pony. “Do not go rushing in before all is ready.”

Sunrise, along with the rest of the unicorn and earth ponies, was obviously disturbed by the scene in front of her - and with good reason. Most of them had been held as slaves by the dragons of the smoky mountain until Celestia and her pegasus allies had stormed the place. Looking into the camp Celestia could see a zebra drag a young pony towards where the shapes where sitting round the fire. The voices became more intense; there was obviously an argument going on about the price.

“I thought your King had outlawed the trade?” Sheet Lighting asked their zebra guide.

He rocked his head back and forth in the zebra equivalent of a shrug. “My King he says “this you shall not do”, but he is not always well listened too.”

There was a sound of a crack and a pony's scream from the wagons. Celestia bit her lip, fighting to suppress her rage.

“Princess, what are we going to do?” an earth pony to her left asked.

“We wait,” she said through clenched teeth. There was another crack and the sound of laughter.

“But Princess...”

“We wait!”

They waited for maybe thirty minutes, watching as the slavers paraded the ponies they had captured and haggled with their buyers. Eventually a singing, warbling song rouse from the camp. Their zebra guide lifted his head and added a few bars of his own, his notes joining seamlessly with the song.

“That was the sign for us to go, time for you to start the show.”

Celestia looked around at her ponies. No need to ask if they were ready; she could read the determined anger on their faces. She crouched back on her haunches and then with an explosive burst of energy leapt for the sky. Her wings bit deep into the air dragging her upward and with her magic she pulled the sun up with her. The scene before them was flooded with light as the sun rose, shadows crawling with unnatural speed. Under her she could hear the thunder of hooves and the flapping of wings as the ponies leapt the rocks and charged the camp.

From the direction of the slaver's wagons she could hear shouts of alarm and cries of astonishment. They had caught them by surprise as had been the plan. She swooped in low just as the flight of pegasi dived down on the camp. Behind them the other ponies galloped across the grass; unicorns throwing spells at the slavers while the earth ponies thundering forward, heads down and faces determined. A barrage of stones and other missiles were flung at the charging ponies, most of them landing harmlessly or being deflected by unicorn magic, but she saw a pegasus pony's wing clipped by an arrow. Screaming he tumbled from the sky.

Celestia flew low over the roofs of the wagons, her coat and mane blazing with the radiant magic of the sun. She heard a cry go up from the slave ponies.

“The Goddess!”

”Princess Celestia!”

“The Goddess has returned!”

As she circled she saw a big red earth pony stallion turn and deliver a huge buck to the door of the cage he was in. The door flew off its hinges, flattening the guard in front of it. The slaves poured out of his cage, they started attacking the doors of the other cages and biting and bucking at the guards, the camp erupted in chaos at the same time the charge of ponies hit the outside of the camp.

The fight was short and brutal, caught between the charge of Celestia's ponies and the revolt of their former captives, the slavers had stood no chance. Her ponies were now seeing to the release of the slaves that had not managed to free themselves and tending to the wounded. There had been very few causalities on the attackers side; as she walked through the remains of the camp she saw the arrow struck pegasus lying on the ground, an earth pony carefully bandaging and splinting his wing. Next to him an earth pony lay on her back with feet in the air, she had been hit by some sort of thrown Zebrcain potion and was now lying there twitching occasionally as a unicorn gently probed her with magic.

Most of the injuries were to the rescued slaves, some of whom had been badly treated by the slavers. As she walked past where they were being treated most of the now freed slaves tried to bow despite their injuries. She could hear whisperings of “the Goddess” again. Soon, she thought she would need to try and get a grip on that but for now it served a purpose. Then she saw Sunrise and an earth pony leading a group of foals out of a wagon and her mind boiled.

She strode over to where Sheet Lighting and a group of pegasi were guarding the slaver captives. In the middle of the group of zebra and diamond dogs Celestia saw what she had expected and had hoped not to see. She waved a hoof.

“You. Come forward,” she commanded. Hesitantly the pony stallion made his way out of the crowd. He was about average height and had a dark brown coat with a single horseshoe as a cutie mark. “You would be Dark Earth?” she demanded. The stallion nodded slowly. “Why?” Celestia asked coldly, waving her hoof over the remains of the slavers wagons and the freed slaves. “Why did you do this?”

He looked her in the eyes. “Why not,” he replied. “Because I could, because they paid me, because it was easy.” Celestia imagined his voice changed subtlety “Because they.” He indicated the captured diamond dogs and zebra, “are strong and ponies are weak. It is a ponies lot to be hunted and captured. Why should I not be on the side of the strong if I can?”

Celestia stared at him. “But they are your herd your friends and you betrayed them! How could you?”

“How could I not,” he replied. “Ponies deserve it. Because of us the gods fought and abandoned us. We are alone.” This last was practically shouted up into her face, the rage and shame twisting his features. Celestia was stunned. This was not the first time she had heard this version of history but this was the first time she had heard it put this way. She heard the whinnying of the rescued foals as they were reunited with their parents.

“Not. Any. More!” she turned her back on Dark Earth. “Not any more.” She felt tears come to her eyes and she squeezed them shut as she moved slowly away from the group.

She made her way through the recovering slaves to where a new group of zebra where standing. Shortly after the fight was over their guide had arrived together with a group of tough looking zebra. In the light of day Celestia recognised their guide as part of the Herd of the Zebrcain King. He walked up to where she was standing.

“A good nights work we have here, I think we made the message clear.
The law that my King had made, your ponies are not to be enslaved.”

Celestia nodded at the zebra. “Thank you,” she replied. “Let us hope that they get the message.”

The zebra waved a hoof towards the group of despondent looking ex slavers.

“What do you want to do with these, vengeance would be within your right to seize.”

Celestia looked at the miserable little group and clamped down on her anger. “We are on your land,” she told him. “The treaty says they are yours to deal with.”

The zebra nodded to her and his guards moved in to surround the group. Celestia turned sharply and walked away, Sheet Lightning and his flight of pegasi winging over to her. “Are we all ready?” she asked him.

“I think so Celestia,” he replied. “As soon as we saw how many rescuees we had I sent a flyer back to Canterlot; there should be enough sleds waiting.”

Celestia looked over the ponies. Most of them seemed able to walk including, to her relief, the wounded pegasus she had seen earlier, his wing now strapped tightly to his side. The rest, including the young foals, had been loaded into a couple of carts which were being pulled by a pair of strong earth ponies.

“Right then my little ponies,” she said loudly. “Let's go home.”

===

Yes, the zebra were strong allies even back then, Celestia thought, dragging her mind back to the path she was walking. She could trust Zecora even if she had additional orders. Eventually they reached the zebra's strange hut, a creepy looking affair that seemed to be built out of an old tree. Celestia and the Mayor followed Zecora in while Winged Sword and his colleagues took up guard positions at the door. The Mayor looked at the guard ponies out of the window.

“Are they going to be okay out there?” she asked Zecora.

The zebra gave her strange little laugh again. “Not stupid are the creatures of the Everfree. Learnt to avoid this place, and me.”

Celestia took a seat and looked around. Zecoria's hut was decorated with strange masks and other artefacts from her home land; Celestia recognized some of them from her travels into Zebraican.

“So,” she said when she had gotten herself comfortable. “What happened with the parasprites?”

“Well at first everything seemed to be going okay,” the Mayor started. “Zecora released the initial parasprite near where Fluttershy was gathering flowers for your visit.”

Celestia nodded again; the visit had in fact just been an excuse to put Twilight under some pressure when faced with the parasprites. It seemed to be a very hard thing to do to her favourite pupil and she had argued with some of her friends about it but, she admitted that it was necessary. They needed to push Twilight in a fairly controlled environment otherwise there was no telling what might happen in an uncontrolled situation. It was harsh but necessary.

“As we thought, Fluttershy was taken in by the horrid little creatures' charm and 'rescued' it, taking it back to show her friends.”

“So far so good.”

“Yes, well...enough of the rest of our little ponies where taken in by their charm that they managed to insinuate themselves into their affections.”

“Which ponies?” Celestia asked.

“Rarity, Rainbow Dash and Twilight herself,” the mayor supplied. “I believe that Applejack was busy on her farm and did not get involved till later and as was our plan Pinkie Pie immediately started gathering the instruments she would need for the contingency as well as dropping hints to the other ponies about the true menace.”

Celestia did not ask her friend how she knew exactly what had happened. She had been Mayor of the town for long enough to have her own friends and agents in place. Celestia would be surprised if any piece of information escaped her.

“The trouble started the next morning. As we expected the parasprites had multiplied overnight and were starting to be a threat. Our new friends seemed to have things well in hand and had very nearly managed to return them to the Everfree forest.”

She stopped. “So what went wrong?” Celestia asked.

“Well, it seemed that Fluttershy had kept a few of the creatures and while our friends had been dealing with the swarm they had multiplied and our friends where back at square one. It was at this point that their cooperation broke down, each member of the team trying something different or abandoning their friends to guard what they felt was most important.”

“Not good,” Celestia said.

“No, indeed not. By the time Miss Dash had tried to capture them in a vortex - succeeding only in spreading them out all over the town - and Miss Sparkle had tried to magic them away - only to make them even more dangerous - the situation was almost out of control.” The Mayor took a breath to calm herself. “It got so bad that I was worried what Twilight would do next. I was close to calling you in to prevent her doing more damage. Fortunately at that point Pinkie Pie managed to get the wretched things out of my town.” The Mayor took more breaths; even just retelling the events was proving stressful.

Celestia turned to Zecora. “Could you not help them?”

Zecora looked worried. “By the time Twilight came to me, there was little I could do you see.
The nature of the beasts her spell did change, so all my potions would have been in vain.
Perhaps if they trusted me more, then earlier they come to my door,
but mistrusted in Ponyville am still I, so this whole plan has gone awry.”

Celestia shook her head. “No Zecora, you were only to have a supporting roll in this. They had plenty of ways to deal with this swarm, but it required that they pool their efforts and work as a team. We set this up so that none of them could solve it alone.”

“Except Pinkie Pie.” The Mayor added.

“Yes, but we told Pinkie Pie not to solve it unless it became absolutely necessary,” Celestia countered. “I am very worried - if their cooperation can so easily break up with even a minor setback - can we be sure that the will hang together when we need it?”

“Let's not panic yet your Highness,” the Mayor filled in. “They are still young mares and some of them are particularly quick tempered. It is not totally surprising that they flew apart when things failed.”

Celestia looked at her friend. “You seemed more worried when I arrived?”

The Mayor looked a little sheepish. “Well, when you are standing in the half eaten remains of your house you tend to have a different perspective on things.” Celestia smiled at this. “Anyway your Highness, we have plans to teach them the value of teamwork already in progress. We can afford to let those play out and see what happens.”

“You think that that will help?” Celestia asked her old friend.

“I think your Highness that if we can establish Twilight as a coordinator figure then it will go a long way to preventing this sort of thing in future.”

“You know them best Mayor,” Celestia said, standing up. “We will let it play out your way.” Celestia bowed her head to Zecora. “You will keep an eye on Twilight for me as well?”

Zecora nodded. “Two eyes I will keep on your young protégé, hopefully I can keep things from going astray.”

Celestia and the Mayor left the weird house and, with Winged Sword and the rest of the escort flying a nervous guard, made their way back to where her chariot was waiting.

“Do you want me to send any additional help to rebuild Ponyville?” Celestia asked her friend while looking back to where there was still smoke coming from the town.

The Mayor shook her head. “Do not worry your Highness,” she replied. “The ponies of Ponyville are hard workers and I am sure that we will have the town looking like it was never damaged before you know it.”

Celestia gave her friend a brief hug as Winged Sword and the rest of the pegasi. Got her chariot ready “Well I hope the rest of our plans go off a little better than this,” she said stepping up onto the seat.

“So do I your Highness,” the Mayor said with feeling. “So do I.”

The Spring Resolution

Celestia, co-ruler of Equestria and Princess of the sun walked slowly through the caves lost in her memories. Since her sister had returned she had been thinking a lot about the past and she wanted to spend a bit of time with her recollections. These caves had particularly strong memories for her, more so because they had remained undisturbed for nearly eight hundred years. Not many ponies felt like visiting this gloomy place.

“Tia,” a voice called, echoing through the caves.

Celestia's sister Luna came trotting round the corner, her glowing horn creating a circle of light in the gloom. Her sister was looking a lot better, Celestia thought. It had been only a few months since her return but already her coat was a lot darker and her mane was starting to shine like it should. She was still very weak - spending most of her time either in her room or in the library reading - but she was recovering.

“There you are Tia. Wing said you were down here.” Luna stopped and looked around, taking in the gloomy caves and the iron bars and doors. “Tia,” she asked quizzically. “Why do we have a dungeon below Canterlot? I cannot believe that we ever needed to build this to imprison ponies?”

“We did not dear sister,” Celestia responded. “There are a remnant from what was here before.” Luna looked curious. “These are from when the place where Canterlot is was called the 'smoky mountain' and was ruled by a dragon clan,” Celestia told her still puzzled sister.

“I remember reading some of that in the history,” Luna said, looking thoughtful. “But I have not got far. What are you doing down here, it is a bit dark and gloomy?”

Celestia walked over to her sister. “Remembering,” she said. “To most ponies this is just history. The assault on the mountain was over eight hundred years ago; unless they have studied it most ponies do not even really know about it. They just know that it was a great victory, even to those who do study it is just so much dusty history.” The two royal sisters walked slowly back through the maze of tunnels. “To them it is just statements and plans of the assault; at most it is stories of heroism and triumph. But it is part of me,” Celestia continued. “I was here. I remember the smells, sounds and the sights of this place and even after all these years it brings back the memories.”

She gestured a hoof at the centre of a large cavern that they passed through. “It was there that I first teleported in.” She waved at where an ancient door lay on the floor of one of the cells, scarcely more than a pile of rust after all the years. “That was the door that Stormcloud kicked off its hinges. He was so young. Still a blankflanked colt but he was strong even then. And it was there...“ She waved a hoof at a piece of passage seemingly no different than the rest. “...that I first saw Sunrise. She and a bunch of foals were throwing rocks and gems at the guards that were rushing to stop us. The guards had put magic dampening collars on the mature unicorns but they had not on the foals. Sunrise made them regret that.” Celestia paused, lost in thought. “So many memories,” she finished.

Luna looked up at her elder sister. “I am sorry Tia.”

Celestia looked down at her. “Whatever for?”

Luna waved her hoof all round her. “All of this. The damage I did to the land and our ponies with my jealously.”

Celestia looked at her sister and impulsively nuzzled her. “Oh Luna, this was not your fault. I am as much to blame for this as you are. After you left me...” Celestia could never bring herself to think of the creature Nightmare Moon as her sister and preferred in her memories to think of Luna as lost from the transformation onwards. “Well, I could not go on without you and I left our little ponies all alone. When I was finally reminded of the duty I owed them I returned to find the land in the state it was.” Celestia saw Luna was shivering and her eyes where watering. “Let's not dwell on it Luna,” she finished. “You are back now and all this...” She waved her wing around the tunnels. “...is all just history.” She nuzzled her sister some more. “Now why did you come down here looking for me?”

Luna pulled her head away from her sister. “Oh yes, I almost forgot. The Mayor of Ponyville is waiting for you.”

Celestia remembered that the Mayor had been scheduled to travel from Ponyville sometime this week. “Well, I'd better not keep her waiting too much longer,” Celestia said cheerfully, making her way towards where the stairs led up to the royal palace proper, guiding her younger sister with her wing. “Are you going to join us?” she asked.

Luna shook her head. “I am feeling a bit weak Tia. I think I will retreat to the library and do some more reading."

“Ok Lun” Celestia said. “But you cannot use the library to hide from the world forever.”

“I know Tia, but maybe a little longer.”

Celestia smiled. “Just get yourself well sister. I missed you when you where gone.”

The royal sisters walked slowly up the winding stairs to the palace and Luna disappeared through the door into the library. Celestia continued along the corridor to where two of the white coated royal guards stood outside the doors to her rooms. As always when they were on official guard duty they stood stiffly upright and stared straight ahead. Luna had said that she found the behaviour a little creepy but Celestia did not mind it. Wing had explained that it was to do with discipline or something like that. She walked past them, resisting the urge to tickle them with her feathers and through the doors into her rooms. Winged Sword was standing in the middle of the room and snapped her a salute with his forehoof.

"Since I am still officially resting Wing,” Celestia said. “You need not salute me as I am of course not here.”

Winged Sword grinned. “In that case I will return to guarding your door. The Mayor of Ponyville is in the Sunrise Room - you will probably want to see her before you wake up.”

Celestia waved a wing at him. “Off with you.”

He saluted again. “I will endeavour to make sure that your royal sleep is undisturbed,” he said before trotting out of the room.

Celestia smiled - Winged Sword was a good friend and as loyal as they came but he had a silly sense of humour at times. The Sunrise Room was one of several rooms that Celestia used to see ponies less formally than the throne room or the great hall. It allowed her to have informal meetings with friends and other ponies without having all the formal bother and sometimes, like now, without formal records. When she entered the room she saw a gray maned earth pony staring curiously at what looked like a pile of orange feathers sitting under a perch. When the earth pony heard the door open she spun round and bowed her head.

“Highness,” she said. Celestia gave her a stern look. “You know I do not really feel comfortable referring to the ruler of the land by her first name.” The pony whose official title was Mayor of Ponyville said with a slightly embarrassed tone to her voice.

“...and I do not really feel comfortable when my oldest friend refers to me by my formal title. How long have you known me?”

The Mayor looked even more embarrassed. “Since before I got my cutie mark Celestia,” she said.

“There you go I knew you would remember my name eventually,” Celestia said, walking over to her visitor. “I see you and Philomena were just getting reacquainted. The pile of feathers lifted its head and cooed at the sound of its name.

“She does look a bit tired Celestia,” the Mayor said, looking back as the phoenix picked itself up and climbed slowly back onto its perch.

“She is nearly ready to renew herself,” Celestia said, levitating a pile of bird seed into the food tray by the perch. “She will be better when she has done that. Won't you Phily.” The phoenix cooed again and started to peck at the food. Celestia waved a forehoof at the seats and the Mayor sat down. “I see that spring has arrived on time this year,” Celestia said, taking one of the other seats. “I assume that this means that our Twilight managed successfully?”

The Mayor looked relieved. “Indeed Celestia. After a few false starts Twilight jumped into the coordinator role very quickly and managed to unwind the various knots that I had been building in the winter wrap up team for the past few years.”

Celestia smiled. “That must have come as a relief.”

“Indeed. You do not know how hard it has been to sit and watch as everypony made a mess of simple things or to recommend ponies for team leaders specifically so that they will work too slowly or too quickly and then to let them keep doing it till everypony got so badly on each other's nerves that the whole thing ended up in a shouting match. It was quite depressing. Last year and we ended up with nearly an extra week of winter...and two fights."

Celestia nodded. Even though they just used a spell to change the seasons in Canterlot it was still a lot of work. They needed several teams of some of the best magical and weather skilled unicorns to concentrate their efforts; it was a matter of pride to Ponyvillians that they changed the seasons by hoof. Right from its founding Ponyville had been a home for all types of ponies, but the earth ponies who ran its farms saw the town as a symbol of their ability to return to the land that was theirs, as such they had always done as much of the work by hoof as possible.

“Were there any additional problems?” Celestia asked. “I received Twilight's letter but she often leaves out the details.”

The Mayor shook her hoof. “There were some interesting points,” she said. “I was a bit worried that Miss Sparkle would notice that she had been left out of the teams when they had been assigned, but she seemed to over look this. Unfortunately she tried to use her magic to solve the problems despite the taboo against it during winter wrap-up.”

Celestia nodded. Some ponies tended to stick quite heavily to their talent even in situations where it was not appropriate. Especially if it was something as general as magic. This was not usually an issue, but with some of the more magical unicorns it could lead to some interesting problems - the incident with that apprentice and the singing mops had been a notable example.

“Fortunately,” the Mayor continued, “Applejack was there and she reminded Miss Sparkle that it was Not The Done Thing. You can always rely on Applejack to tell you what you need to know.”

“So you think that our new little ponies are progressing well?”

“I believe so Celestia, they are starting to look to Twilight for - if not actual leadership - then at the very least organisation.”

“You think that we are getting them back on target?” Celestia asked the Mayor.

The other mare thought for a bit. “I think that the more they get used to working together as a team the better they will get. The more they learn to trust each other and work together rather than rely on their individual talents then the better they will be. That after all is the nature of the Elements of Harmony.”

Celestia nodded agreement. Even with just herself and Luna wielding them, it was apparent that the Elements of Harmony worked better when there was a consensus of minds rather than one will.

“With that in mind Celestia, I have something else that you might like to consider.”

Celestia nodded at the Mayor to continue. The Mayor reached into her saddle bags and brought out a small sheaf of papers.

“Some of my agents in the town have had their eyes on these for a while, obviously, but recently it looks like there might be interesting developments.”

Celestia used her magic and spread the papers out so she could see them. “The cutie mark crusaders?” she asked quizzically. “Who or what are the 'cutie mark crusaders'?”

The Mayor chuckled. “Trouble mostly,” she replied. "They are a group of young fillies that have yet to earn there cutie marks.” Celestia gestured at the Mayor to proceed. “Well, we have of course kept a close eye on the younger siblings of the bearers, so we were watching Miss Applebloom and Miss Sweetie Belle closely. While they were of a similar age they did not socialise, but recently Sweetie Belle introduced Applebloom to her friend, Miss Scooterloo.”

Celestia looked through the pile of paper in front of her and found pictures of the three fillies in question. “And what is so special about them?” she asked, looking at a picture of the three sharing a cupcake.

“Well we think that they could be the beginning of a equilateral trio.”

“A different type of friendship match?” Celestia asked quizzically. She vaguely remembered listening to a lecture that Book Dancer had given on the subject - but she suspected she had fallen asleep half way through and her memory of it was muddled...and it was over 400 years ago.

“Yes it is a special type of friendship match,” the Mayor explained. “It is from the same group as the 'natural arch' but it has different requirements. It requires three ponies of a very similar age and most importantly there must be one pony of each type. Unlike the natural arch it cannot be formed immediately but requires years to grow together. It can be a particularly strong bond and, as two of the young ponies are related to the current bearers of the Elements of Harmony, I thought it might be worth watching very carefully. They might be useful in future.”

While the Mayor had been explaining this Celestia had looked through the rest of the information on the three 'cutie mark crusaders.' “They all seem to be late developers,” she commented. “Not only do they not have their cutie marks yet but I see that Scooterloo hasn't even managed a solo flight and Sweetie Belle isn't in possession of her magic.” Most ponies Celestia had known were very capable even before they earned their cutie marks - and in the darker times ponies younger than these three had been fully effective members of the herd.

Now she thought about it, the six little ponies that had clung to her back as she teleported into the dungeons of the smoky mountain could not have been much older than this trio. Volunteers all; Stormcloud, Bright Spark, Hopeful, First Light, Dark Sky and Twisted, names etched in her memory. Sunrise had been even younger.

“Yes Celestia, that is in fact one of the things that has peaked our interest in the three. Three underdeveloped ponies who are determined to find their cutie marks together could grow in to a very close friendship.” Celestia nodded. “Anyway I have suggested to Ms. Cheerilee, the school teacher, that she reshuffles the classes so those three are together. As Sweetie Belle and Applebloom are the sisters of Applejack and Rarity they will spend a lot of time with their sisters and therefore with each other. Scooterloo idolises Rainbow Dash and seems to be as capable of causing chaos as her.”

Celestia looked at a picture of the orange coated pegasus filly on a scooter jumping over a shocked crowd of ponies. “You think they might be useful to us?” Celestia asked, restacking the papers.

“It is definite a possibility,” the Mayor replied, replacing the papers in her saddle bags. “Their close relationship with the current bearers of the Elements of Harmony is certainly interesting and opens up opportunities.”

“You think that they might be able to wield the Elements themselves?”

The Mayor's mouth fell open and she sat there shocked for a while.

“Are you okay?” Celestia eventually asked.

The Mayor shook her head. “I am very sorry. The thought of cutie mark crusaders 'Defenders of Harmony' conjures some vivid images to say the least. But no. Not themselves at least. Even if they could manage to represent two elements each there are some notable gaps. For example it is unlikely that Sweetie Belle's talent is magic - not unless she develops some substantive power very quickly and without the focusing sixth element there is no effect. It is possible in an emergency that they might be able to substitute for one or more of the current bearers but as their friendship has only a tenuous connection to the current bearers of the Elements the effect would be severely diminished. No, my current thoughts where more along the lines of keeping an eye on them and seeing about recruiting them when they became more mature.” She seemed to think about this. “A lot more mature in some cases. Still they are worth watching closely - if they do manage to form a equilateral trio then it is very likely they will prove to be of significance.”

Celestia nodded. “I will trust to your judgment on this.” She did trust her judgment - after all it was her special talent. The Mayor could sense in a very limited fashion the, well, call it the possible future paths of a pony's destiny, and was able to subtlety change it. She could see which ponies might become villains in the future and gave them the friends they needed to turn them away from their darkness. In the same way she could see who might become a hero and give them a teacher who could inspire them, so when their time came they would remember, and act.

That was what her cutie mark meant, that scroll represented the unwritten stories of the future and she was the caretaker of Equestria's future history. It was possible that outside of Celestia and her circle of friends nopony would know how much the Mayor had done for the kingdom. Because of her there where many less Sun Dancers or Dark Stars or even Nightmare Moons and many more Twilight Sparkles and for that Celestia was very thankful to her friend. “We shall just have to see what our little trio becomes. Are there any more problems?”

The Mayor shrugged. “As is usual the arrival of spring has stirred up the creatures of the Everfree Forest and the surrounding lands. There have been scattered reports of hydras near Foggy Bottom bog but this is to be expected. More worryingly I have received reports from some of my eyes and ears that the diamond dog tribes may be getting more...” She stopped, searching for a word. “...brave.”

This last did worry Celestia. The diamond dogs were not a problem in the current age. They were fractious, tended to bickering and internal strife if their numbers got too great. Celestia was ever mindful however of the fact that in the past they had been a serious threat to the ponies of Equestria. “Are they likely to be a problem?” she asked.

The Mayor shrugged again. “It is too early to tell your Highness. I have instructed appropriate ponies in Ponyville to keep an eye on them and I will of course inform you if more drastic action is required.”

Celestia nodded. She hopped it would not come to that but diamond dogs had a violent streak and several times in the recent past it had come to direct action. She glanced at the clock on the wall. “I think soon the royal princess will have to awake from her rest and attend to official affairs.” She stood up and the Mayor followed suite. “Will you make it to the best young flyers competition?” she asked - even thought she was an earth pony the Mayor often called upon a friendly unicorn to get her to Cloudsdale - a lot of the entrants in the competition were from Ponyville and she liked to show her support.

The Mayor shook her head. “I cannot this year. But I will make sure one of our friends is there to keep an eye on Miss Dash and the rest of our little ponies.

Celestia nodded as she opened the door and ushered her friend out. “I am sure one of the guards will escort you out,” she said, gesturing to the main doors. “I have to go and wake myself up. Goodbye my little pony.” She bent her head down.

“Good by Celestia.” The Mayor responded familiarly, rubbing her head against Celestia's “I hope you slept well.”

The Rainboom Riddle

Celestia, Princess of Equestria and guardian of the sun paced up and down the cloud floor of the room. “How did that spell get into the library of Ponyville?” she all but shouted. “Why was it there and why did we not know it was there?”

The sea green unicorn mare sat in a weird position on a cloud seat. Her back was to the fold of the seat and her rear legs dangling over the front. Her head was up high and she was rubbing her forehoves together nervously. “We are not sure your Highness,” the young unicorn said, trembling.

“Why are we not sure?” Celestia snapped. “We should be sure. Do you know what sort of damage that spell could do?”

“Calm down Tia,” a rather more relaxed voice said.

Celestia rounded on the other occupant of the room. “Calm down?”

The other pony took a sip from the chilled drink sitting on a cloud bobbing to her right and brushed back her fiery orange mane. “Yes, calm down. It is not Miss Heartstrings' fault and I am sure that the Mayor has it all in hoof.”

Celestia paced up to where the orange pegasus was lounging. “Has it all in hoof!? Spitfire, were you not paying attention at the cloudasium? Did you not see those wings!?”

Spitfire shrugged casually. “They were certainly pretty enough but they looked far too fragile for my tastes. All surface and no bracing; they looked as if they would barely take any force at all - probably rip right off first time you tried to pull up out of any sort of dive.”

Celestia suppressed her anger at her friend's casual attitude; she was a flyer pony not a unicorn and she could not be expected to understand. “The wings are a manifestation of the spell.”

Oh by the nightmare that spell, she thought, then turned and snapped at the unicorn. “Lyra, how in all Equestria did this happen.” She noticed that the young mare was trembling but did nothing to reign in her temper.

“Y...Your Hi...Highness,” she stuttered. “The message was relayed to Pinkie Pie that it was essential that all the current bearers of the Elements of Harmony were at the cloudasium for the competition. Pinkie Pie apparently found this spell and Miss Sparkle cast it on Miss Rarity.”

“Why was Pinkie Pie not told specifically what spell to use?” Celestia almost screamed.

“It was not thought necessary. P...P...Pinkie Pie works better with some latitude,” the young mare stuttered.

“Was not necessary! Do you know what that spell can do? How terrible its effects are?”

“No Celestia, as a matter of fact we don't,” Spitfire added calmly. “All it seems to do is give an earth pony or unicorn wings - pretty flimsily wings at that as they seemed to be burnt by merely some strong sunlight. What is so bad about that?”

Celestia took another deep breath. “The sun did not burn up those wings Spitfire. I did - or more to the point I destroyed the spell and made it look like the wings had burnt and even that was not easy. No, that spell does not just give a pony wings it...it...” She waved her forehooves round her head. “It messes with a pony's mind. The wings are just a visible effect of it. The spell takes one of a pony's strong qualities and enlarges it till it starts to occupy their entire world. Did you not see her? Did you not hear her 'look upon me Equestria for I am Rarity?' Could you not see the madness infecting her mind? If we had left her it would not have been long until she was insisting that the world worship her for her beauty. And that was just Rarity - imagine if it had been Twilight.”

Celestia started to pace again. “If Twilight had cast that spell on herself the same things would have happened to her but then...” she slammed the breaks on that train of thought and turned to Lyra again. “Where did that book come from?!” she shouted.

“Celestia, who used that spell before?”

Ponies often underestimated Spitfire Celestia thought, they saw just the classic acrobatic, adrenalin fuelled flyer pony. They forgot that Spitfire was not just a member of the Wonderbolts; she was the team leader. You needed to be able to read ponies in a job like that. You needed to be able to tell if any member of your team was worried or if any had had a falling out. Because if you did not...little mistakes in a flight became big problems in the hospital afterwards. Or worse. Spitfire's comment was a dam in her stream of fear. She lowered her head. “Sun Dancer,” she said softly. “Sun Dancer used it when she went after the Elements of Harmony.”

===

Celestia forced herself through the sky. The air itself was resisting her and her wings did not seem to be working properly. Another tremor shook through her bond with the sun and she screamed again, wings spasming. She felt herself starting to fall when a strong body propped her up. She regained control, righted herself and saw that it had been Night Sky that had steadied her; he was flying on her right with another pegasus on her left.

“Are you sure you are okay to fly Princess?” the worried pegasus asked her.

She shook her head, trying to get a grip on the bond with the sun. “It is getting worse,” she told Night Sky. “But I can manage to fly. Anyway, we cannot afford the time to stop.” Night Sky looked worriedly at her but he did not say anything else. Spread out around them were the rest of the pegasi that were accompanying them. They had been all that Night Sky had been able to gather up when Celestia had called out to him. There was not as many of them as she would have liked, but they had been pressed for time. It had been midday when Celestia had first felt the sharp tug on the magic bond between her and the sun and it had been getting swiftly worse. If they did not get to the source of it soon she did not know if she would be able to set the sun properly without losing control of it. Behind them flew a couple of chariots and a cargo sled, filled with some of the Canterlot guard unicorn ponies and a hurriedly assembled set of supplies. Everypony looked very worried. The goddess of the sun was unwell. This was a crisis.

“Are you sure it is this way?” Night Sky asked.

Celestia nodded - it was impossible to explain how she knew where the disruption was coming from, but she did. “I wish Sun Dancer was here,” he continued. Celestia agreed with him on that one but for different reasons. Oh Sun Dancer, she thought, what has happened? There was a sudden scream of distress from their right. They spun their heads in time to see a young pegasus kicking out at one head of a hydra. The flight had been flying low and the creature had been hiding under the mud of a swamp; now it was using its heads to snap at the pegasi. Suddenly there were hydra heads everywhere as what seemed to be half a dozen more of the beasts reared up out of the waters of the swamp and struck at the ponies.

“Ambush!” Celestia heard Night Sky scream and then she felt a thud as something hit her left flank, knocking her sideways. A hydra head snapped through the sky where she had been, tearing into one of her pegasus guards. Celestia realised that he had seen the hydra and had knocked her out of the way.

“Land the chariots,” somepony ordered, ”they are not agile enough. Flyers form up and stay sharp.”

This was not right, Celestia thought as she kicked out at a hydra head. Hydras were not this intelligent and they were solitary creatures; there was no way that they would work together like this - let alone lay an ambush for a flight of ponies. Celestia dug her wings into the air and sought the open sky - from up here she could see what was going on. There were only four hydra but there were at least a dozen heads snapping and flailing at the ponies. The pegasi had split up into two flights, the first was darting in and out of one of the hydra's necks trying to confuse it while the second was making swift slashing runs at a another. The chariots had landed and the unicorn ponies were making a dash for the trees where the hydra would be unable to easily get at them, some stopping to fling magic at the remaining monsters.

Celestia gritted her teeth and focused her magic. Her horn started to glow and she concentrated on the hydra that was chasing down the unicorns. Usually this sort of thing would have been well within her abilities but the struggle for the sun was taxing her and she struggled to do even this. A matching yellow glow surrounded the hydra and it slowly rose out of the swamp, a confused expression coming over half of its heads. The unicorns, having now reached the tree line, turned and stood, their horns starting to glow, a line of multicoloured lights in the shadow of the trees. The hydra was surrounded by the rainbow nimbus of a multi-unicorn telekinesis spell and was very quickly picked out of the swamp. Its heads snapped at the trees as the combined efforts of her and the Canterlot guard flung it as far away as possible. Celestia let go of it and refocused her magic, she was just starting to lift the next hydra when another tremor hit her. She spasmed, her wings going rigid and useless. Tumbling from the sky she blacked out .

Darkness. A voice filtered through the darkness to her. “You failed Celestia.” The voice was familiar. “You failed and ponies died.” That voice had a gloating quality to it that Celestia thought she recognised.

“Nightmare Moon?” she asked quizzically, a cold chill running through her.

The voice laughed. “No Celestia, I am far more powerful than that foal of a sister of yours. Your time is over Princess. The sun is mine now.”

“Princess?”

Celestia woke with a start and grabbed at her bond with the sun. The pain shot though her but she held on and managed to regain some control over the celestial orb. She opened her eyes. She was sitting on the over-grown floor of the Everfree Forest, dappled sunlight filtering through the trees. Out of the corner of her eye she could see her pegasus and unicorn ponies - there were less of them and most of them where carrying some injury.

Night Sky's face was right next to hers. He broke into a relaxed expression. “Princess you had us worried there for a few minutes.” Celestia climbed slowly to her hooves; she had been worried herself. Her legs wobbled and she could still feel the other presence on the connection with the sun. She was getting weaker; they needed to get to the source soon.

Just then a pegasus darted up to them, flying low and fast he stopped in front of Night Sky. “Two more moving in from the west,” he reported.

Night Sky swore under his breath. “We managed to get away from the hydras by retreating into the forest,” he explained to Celestia. “But now we are being hunted by lupus minors.”

Celestia was shocked. “Star creatures! What are star creatures doing out in the daytime?” Star creatures were one of the more exotic inhabitants of Equestria, they were usually fierce but with their misty bodies and bones made of compressed starlight they where vulnerable to the bright light of the sun

“Hunting us,” Night Sky replied. “Together with manticores and the odd cerberus. Celestia, these are organised, there is some sort of controlling intelligence. We have to get going. Which way Princess?”

Celestia felt at the pain carefully. “That way,” she pointed.

They set off as swiftly as they could manage through the forest, keeping to the ground, not wanting to risk trying to fly through the trees. Celestia was worried she would not have the strength to get airborne and considered riding in one of the chariots, but she decided that she needed to be running. Several times as they galloped she heard the howling of lupus' and the crash of other creatures moving through the forest, but the main party managed to avoid any further fighting. Eventually they arrived at the edge of a ravine; there was a bridge spanning the chasm and on the other side...

“The Castle of the Pony Sisters,” Night Sky said with awe. Celestia nodded it seemed obvious now. Their old castle. The place where three hundred and fifty years ago she had finally confronted the beast that had been her sister. How could they have been going anywhere else?

“Come on,” she told her group. “We do not have long.” Just as she finished speaking another tremor struck her and she fought for control. She heard screaming and as her vision started to dim she saw a large star wolf bound across her vision. Another ambush, she thought, fighting for control must... help... Her vision failed completely as with a scream she lost consciousness.

Darkness and the voice again. “You could have done something Celestia.” She tried to get a focus on the voice - it was frighteningly familiar. “So many ponies died and you could have saved them.”

“When?” she weakly asked the voice.

It gave a harsh grunt “When? When? All the time Celestia. You were weak, you were always weak. When your sister turned you refused to recognise the danger until it was too late and even then you refused to act until it was far too late.”

“She was my sister,” Celestia screamed into the darkness. “I had to try to save her!”

“But you failed and because you failed ponies died and worse. Well no more Celestia. From now on there will be a strong ruler of Equestria.” Celestia felt the voice fade, push her away, down into the darkness. Desperately she tried to fight it but she could not get a grip; her mind was weak and there was no power. Suddenly there was a light. A flame in the darkness. The point of light drifted towards the disembodied essence of Celestia and wrapped itself around her. She felt the fire warm her, burn into her, giving her strength. With one burst she threw off the darkness and the voice.

Darkness. No, she realised, not true darkness this time. It was the non darkness of the inside of your eyes in a bright light. She opened her eyes. The scene in front of her was brilliantly lit. By the bright light she could see the carnage left from the ambush - there were ponies lying all over. Some injured, some definitely beyond help, but there were still a lot of ponies standing. She could see the bodies of star creatures smouldering and evaporating in the harsh light. She raised a hoof to shield her eyes and looked up to see what was causing the light.

“Philomina!” she said in a gasp. There, hovering above the scene of carnage, was her pet phoenix. Philomina seemed to be burning, her every feather a radiant flame. At the sound of her name the phoenix looked down and gave a cry, then glided down and came to rest on Celestia's back. As soon as the bird landed Celestia felt its magic rushing through her body, filling her with renewed strength.

“Thank you very much my pet,” she said, Philomina cooing back at her. Celestia looked round, searching for Night Sky and found him. He had claw marks all down his flank and a nasty cut above his eye.

“Get everypony ready who can still fight,” she told him. He looked at her and started to protest. “Get them ready Night,” she said over his objections. “This is not over yet.”

Two strong pegasi kicked at the gates to the courtyard. They parted from their hinges and thudded to the ground. Celestia and her ponies moved through into the courtyard, Philomina flying over head providing a contrast to the dull light of the nearly set sun. The Castle of the Pony Sisters was ancient; it had been old even before it had been abandoned and now it was overgrown. For the past three hundred and fifty years the forest had been trying to reclaim it. The courtyard was covered in vines; grass was growing out of the cracks in the paving and the dried up fountains. The long brittle stems brushed at Celestia's hooves as she strode forward.

“Nice to see you again Princess.” That voice echoed off the stone of the courtyard.

Celestia froze. It was the voice form the darkness but now she actually heard it she recognised it. Celestia looked up at the end of the courtyard where the owner of the voice was standing at the top of the stone steps.

“Sun Dancer,” she breathed.

“I am so glad you remember me” the owner of the voice said.

The only thing that tied the creature now standing proud on the steps with the pony Celestia knew as her friend was its colouring and the voice. The thing standing on the steps was at least twice the height of Sun Dancer - closer in height to Celestia herself - its pupils were narrow vertical slits, more like the eyes of a dragon than a pony. Sun Dancers normally yellow coat was now radiant and her mane and tail billowed out round her. But the most striking feature was its wings.

Its wings did not resemble normal pony wings. They did not even look like Celestia's. They where shiny like they were made of splinters of glass but they bent and flexed as the creature stood there. They seemed to shine and glow as though they were somehow made of light itself.

“Sun Dancer what happened to you,” Celestia said as she came to the bottom of the stairs. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Night Sky flanking her on her right and a unicorn on her left.

“Oh these,” Sun Dancer replied, flexing the unnatural wings. “Pretty are they not?”

“Sun Dancer,” Night Sky said from Celestia's right. “What is going on?”

“Ah Night Sky my sweet,” Sun Dancer cooed. “I am going to make things better. I see it all now. I can do it, I can remake the world, it will be better.”

“Sun Dancer,” Celestia cried. “You are ill, let us help you.”

The creature on the steps laughed “YOU help ME?! No Celestia, it is I that is going to help. Help make things better for everypony.”

“Sun Dancer you can't.”

“Yes I can Celestia. I have power, I have always been powerful and now the world will know how powerful I am. I will reshape the world and everypony will worship me.”

“You can't Sun Dancer. Please you must know that however powerful you are you cannot out match me,” Celestia almost begged. The voice, the struggle for the sun and the creatures in the forest that had been Sun Dancer. She could, HAD been challenging Celestia.

Sun Dancer looked at the Princess. “Oh I can Celestia. I found them.”

Cold fire ran through Celestia's vanes “No,” she whispered.

“Oh yes,” the creature crowed. From behind her six coloured orbs floated into view. “I found them Celestia. It cost a lot but I found them.”

The Elements of Harmony. The greatest magic known to ponykind. The force Celestia and Luna had used to banish Discord and restore the balance of the world. Celestia understood now. With that power Sun Dancer could challenge her, but there was one thing she still did not understand.

“How?” she asked. “The Elements only respond to me or Luna. They require our harmony of purpose.”

The creature on the steps laughed again. “It is not easy Celestia, they fight, they resist.” The orbs floated round her like obedient fireflies. “But I keep them in line just like I will keep the world in line.”

“Princess...”

Celestia heard the pony to her right whisper. “I know,” she whispered back. She could feel them. Star creatures and worse were creeping into the courtyard, surrounding the small force of ponies and chariots. She turned back to the pony on the top of the stairs.

“Sun Dancer please I am begging you one last time. Stop this madness.”

Night Sky stepped forward. “Sun Dancer love, please listen to her.”

Sun Dancer looked at her mate. “Don't worry pet, I will still want you when she is gone. When I rule the world.”

Night Sky lowered his head and stared at the ground, his body seeming to sag for a moment. “No,” he replied with sadness in his voice. Then his head came up, wings flaring out and hoof pawing at the ground. “NO! I will not join you and I WILL NOT let you do this.”

The creature on the top of the steps sighed. “Oh well. So be it.” Then it struck.

The spell was so quick that Celestia barely had time to register it and start a defence before it hit. The blast threw Night Sky back down the steps and buffeted Celestia. On the edge of her awareness she heard the sound of the star creatures attacking but she had no time to spare for them. All her memories came flooding back, the fights with Nightmare Moon. The twisting of power that could shatter mountains. She struck back, throwing all the power she could in her weakened state. She felt it slide off the creature defences.

“Is that all you have left Princess?” the creature sneered at her. “So pathetic, so weak. How you managed to defeat the Nightmare is beyond me.”

Celestia saw the Elements flare and the creature struck again. This time she was ready, she had warning and she had her defences up but still the force of the blow staggered her. Through the red mist of pain she saw Sun Dancer walk slowly down the steps, the Elements of Harmony still floating around her. Celestia saw something move out of the corner of her eye. Night Sky was on his feet, wings spread. She saw him leap and she played the only card she had.

She drew all the power she could. The remaining power of the sun and all the power that Philomina could lend her. With a small part of her mind she saw the poor phoenix tumble from the sky, its feathers going dull and lifeless. And then she drew on the power of the moon. She felt the presence of the other, twisted and jealous, the nightmare made incarnate, but it was trapped, a voice shouting ineffectually at the door. She drank all the power and struck. She felt the smooth glassiness of Sun Dancer's defences and she stuck, trying to force open a weakness, a crack.

Nothing. Her power slid off the smooth shield as water off a stone. Time seemed to freeze and she saw Sun Dancer look at her and then strike, a power blow radiating out, blowing Night Sky back and down the steps. He landed badly and Celestia knew he was dead. Then the blow hit her and she sank to her knees, the red mist closing in on her.

“So Celestia," she heard the voice say. “So this is how it ends. One sister imprisoned in the moon, the other dispersed, gone forever. Your time is over Princess.”

“Mummy.” The quiet voice cut through the noise of the battle like a lance. “Mummy what are you doing?”

“Sunset?” Sun Dancer exclaimed.

Sunset? Celestia thought, Sun Dancer's foal - how was she here?

“Mummy, what is going on? What are you doing?”

“Sunset my foal,” the creature on the top of the steps purred, shifting her attention from where Celestia lay. “My little filly what are you doing here?”

Sunset looked at where Celestia was crouched. “Mummy what are you doing?”

“Sunset dear - mummy is making things better.”

Sunset walked in front of Celestia. “But you are hurting aunty Tia - and have you hurt Dad?”

Sun Dancer looked over at where Night Sky lay. “Yes it is a pity, but sometimes you have to show ponies who is in charge.” She looked back at Sunset. “Now you be a good little filly and move out of the way. Mummy has to finish this.”

“But why mummy. Isn't aunty Tia your friend?”

“Sunset do what your mother tells you. I have to finish this then I can make the world better.”

“How can it be better without Dad and Aunty Tia?”

“SUNSET MOVE,” the creature roared.

Sunset planted her legs four square on the ground between Celestia and Sun Dancer. “NO,” she screamed, tears in her eyes. “You are not my mummy my mummy is nice my mummy would not hurt ponies you are evil and I will not let you hurt aunty-TIA!” Celestia saw a flash from Sunset's flank just before the filly's horn started to glow. She could feel a very weak form of the defence spell she had used build itself around her and the little filly.

The creature gasped; she could obviously sense the spell as well. “You dare defy your mother?”

“YOU ARE NOT MY MUMMY!” Sunset screamed.

Sun Dancer's eyes flickered. For a moment they where the eyes of a normal pony again but then they returned, hardened. “So be it then,” Sun Dancer said. “Everypony's hoof is against me.”

Celestia felt Sun Dancer starting a spell powerful enough to sweep Sunset’s little shield away without noticing and in desperation she struck out again. The creature's defences where still there, still as solid and smooth as before. In desperation she scrabbled at the smooth surface with all the magic she had left looking for a way in. Then suddenly nothing.

Light. The world was filled with light.

“Celestia.”

A voice came to her. She recognised the voice, Sun Dancer, but her normal voice, not the voice the unnatural thing had used.

“Celestia, I am sorry, so very sorry.”

Celestia did not understand what the voice was talking about.

“Let me put this right.”

Understanding dawned on Celestia. “No Sun Dancer, no don't - we can find another way. I can help,” she called out into the light.

“We both know that this only ends one way,” the voice said sadly. “There is little time. I cannot hold onto this part of myself much longer. Tell Sunset...tell her...her mother loves her, her mother always loved her and tell her I am sorry”.

“NO. Sun Dancer, no don't,” Celestia screamed urgently.

“Good bye Celestia,” the voice said and the light intensified and then vanished.

Celestia awoke with a start and instinctively reached out for the sun. The connection was pure again, no challenge, no pain...but she could hear the crying of a foal. She opened her eyes and found she was lying in the broken remains of the fountain. All around the courtyard she could see the scattered bodies of ponies. Some were moving, stirring...others. Well, others were not moving and would not move again. Of the star creatures and other monsters there was no sign. She turned her head to where she could hear the sound of crying. It was coming from the steps. She picked herself up and walked in that direction.

At the bottom of the steps she passed the body of Night Sky, his dark coat stained red and lying in a way that told Celestia all she needed to know. Slowly, deliberately, she walked up the steps towards the noise. At the top of the steps she found Sunset. The little filly was nuzzling at the still form at the top and crying. As Celestia walked towards them she felt her hoof knock against something. Glancing down she saw it was a stone orb, levitating it up to eye level she examined it. She closed her eyes and let the orb fall back to the floor; on one side it had born the symbol of “kindness”, one of the Elements of Harmony, but it had been dead, inert. She let the orb roll on the ground and moved over to the little filly.

Sunset was nuzzling at the body on the top of the steps. Sun Dancer's body was twisted and broken, the glass-like wings now shattered. Oh Sun Dancer, she thought, why did it have to come to this. She looked at Sunset, the little filly was nuzzling at the still body of her mother. She did not seem to be hurt but she was crying, her tears running down onto Sun Dancer's yellow fur. Celestia examined her and saw what she thought she had seen earlier - Sunset's flank was no longer bare. Emblazoned on it - still glowing slightly - was a image of a setting sun within a shield. She folded her wing over the little filly.

“Come on Sunset,” she said softly. “It is time to go back to Canterlot.”

Sunset looked up at the tall white mare. “Mummy's gone isn't she?”

Celestia took one last look at the deformed body of her friend. “Yes dear,” she said, softly but firmly turning the foal round. “She went away a little while ago. Let's go home.”

===

Celestia took a sip of the drink that Lyra had placed on the cloud next to her. “We sorted most of the details out later of course. Sunset had apparently been hiding in the cargo sled - how she had gotten there and remained unnoticed nopony could tell. I decided that it was best to leave the Elements of Harmony where they were in the castle, after all they were inert. When Sun Dancer had forced them to turn their power against those she loved they had rebelled and the backlash of power when Sun Dancer destroyed herself was just too much for them”

Celestia stopped, forcing back the memories. “Well you know how much effort it took to reawaken them. We never found out where Sun Dancer found them or why she used that spell - we assumed she needed to fly to get them - or what had happened to the rest of the ponies that went with her. Nor did I ever get an answer to how Philomina arrived in the forest - I had left her in Canterlot. It took her years to fully recover, poor thing, I drained her almost completely in the battle.” There was a knock at the cloud door and Spitfire got up and answered it.

“So now you know. That is what that spell can do, that is why it is so dangerous.” Celestia took another sip of her drink and tried to regain her composure.

Spitfire closed the door and sat back down on her cloud. “That was a message for our friend the Mayor of Ponyville. She says that she had managed to remove the book from the library and has co-opted Winged Sword to ensure it is taken to Red Star for safe storage.” Celestia nodded, Red Star could be trusted with it, he knew the risks of managing dangerous magic. “She also says that she has managed to arrange matters in the library to divert Miss Sparkle's curiosity when they returned from Ponyville.”

“Have they all returned now?” Celestia asked.

Spitfire shook her head. “Twilight, Applejack and of course Rarity returned immediately. Fluttershy stayed on for a bit with Pinkie Pie.”

“And Miss Dash?”

Spitfire chuckled. “Last time I saw Rainbow Dash she was racing Soarin' and Tornado through a thunderstorm. Having the time of her life that pony is. In terms of what we initially wanted this did not turn out so badly. When Rarity fell and Rainbow saw that it looked like we were not going to be able to save her she got over all her inadequacies and managed to pull off the sonic rainboom again.”

Celestia took another sip of her drink. “I am not really sure that Miss Dash needed more self confidence.”

“Don't get her wrong Tia,” Spitfire said. “Rainbow may come over all brash and boastful but she has a lot of self doubt underneath, she needs to get over that a bit. Plus we rather wanted her to win the best flyer competition.”

“Um...excuse me.”

Both ponies looked at the green unicorn. She was again sitting in her odd position on the cloud seat her fore hooves fiddling nervously. It is a harp, Celestia suddenly realised. Or maybe a lyre like her cutie mark - her forehooves are playing a lyre, that is why she sits like that.

“Yes Lyra,” Celestia said softly.

“I am sorry to interrupt, but there is something I do not understand.” Celestia made a gentle gesture for her to go on. “But was it not very dangerous to let Miss Rarity fall like that? I mean if Miss Dash had not recovered then not only would Miss Rarity have hit the ground but so would Miss Spitfire and her friends who were knocked out.”

Celestia and Spitfire looked at each other and burst out laughing. “See, I said you were convincing Spitfire.”

“Lyra, if ANY of my ponies were stupid enough to get themselves knocked silly like that they would find themselves back laying morning dew on buttercups before their wings could touch cloud.”

Celestia took pity on the confused unicorn. “It is called a 'Dead Fall' Lyra,” she said. "It is a trick that the Wonderbolts perform some times. I have seen them practice it. It looks like they are falling and then, at the last second just before they hit the ground suddenly they are not. You can rest easy, at no time was Miss Rarity in any danger.” She stopped to replay the events of the day back in her head. “Not from the fall at least.” She stood up. “Anyway ponies, I must return to Canterlot and make sure that we have properly dealt with that book. Lyra if you would be so good as to tell the Mayor I will see her in Ponyville soon, Spitfire I will see you at the gala.”

Spitfire rolled her eyes. “That boring event?”

Celestia smiled “I think this year will be livelier that you might expect.”

The Philomena farce

Celestia, Royal Princess of Equestria, walked through the door to the office of the Mayor of Ponyville. The Mayor got up from behind her desk and bowed deeply.

“Your Highness, thank you for making time to see me today.”

“Not at all Mayor,” Celestia replied. “I am always ready to meet with the officials of the towns of Equestria and sort out any problems they may have.” She turned to the members of her royal guard. “You may wait outside.” The two pegasi nodded and backed out, closing the door behind them.

“Celestia,” the Mayor said when the door had closed.

”Silver Scroll,” Celestia replied.

“I really am sorry for dragging you away from the party,” the tan-coated earth pony said as she gestured to one of the seats. “The Cakes are very generous guests and of course Pinkie Pie is always excited about parties. Can I get you some tea?”

Celestia winced a little. “I think not at the moment.” She walked over to the large window in the office and looked out over the main town square of Ponyville. “You have a lovely view from your office.” Down in the town below she saw a small pony shape furtively duck out of the door to the local bakery and cake shop and dart round the corner. She smiled to herself and turned back to the room. “It always pays never to underestimate a pony, does it not.”

The Mayor looked out of her window as well. “Yes, we have found it wise never to underestimate our Fluttershy.” Celestia took the offered seat. “Did you hear about her and the cockatrice?”

Celestia nodded. “Twilight is very dutiful is keeping me up-to-date with her friendship reports and I heard the basics. Our new friends the cutie mark crusaders where involved?” Celestia ended the sentence with a slight questioning tone.

Silver Scroll smiled. “Yes 'cutie mark crusader creature hunters' or was it 'cutie mark crusader chicken rescuers'? I forget. A lot of ponies in this town wish they would try 'cutie mark crusader pillow testers' or even 'cutie mark crusader sit down and do not touch anything'.”

“You still think they are going to be important?” Celestia asked. Her friend was convinced that the cutie mark crusaders would eventually mature into a force for shaping the future of Equestria. From what she had read in some of Twilight's letters, Celestia was half convinced that this would be by blowing up a large part of it.

“Even more so than before. I saw their show at the talent contest. Other ponies may have missed it - Trix would not have - it is faint but it is there. They are bonding; you can see the subtle reinforcement of their talents from their friends. Incidents like the cockatrice will just forge them quicker.”

“I thought they did not know what their special talents were?”

Silver Scroll laughed. “They may not, but I think everypony else in Ponyville does. But they are young and all foals are allowed to be a bit blind to the obvious.”

“They seem a little impetuous. Fearless maybe - they could do with being a bit more careful.”

“Caution is something you learn as you get older,” the Mayor said. “I overheard Miss Scootaloo inquiring where she could find two hundred meters of rope and some harnesses earlier on today. I am sure whatever that is about will prove to be... educational.”

There was a knock on the door.

“Enter,” the Mayor called out. The door opened and Winged Sword stepped inside, nudging it closed behind him.

“Ah Wing,” Celestia said. “I think it is about time that you and your colleagues went and 'discovered' that my beloved pet Philomena is missing.”

Wing bowed low in mock obeisance. “And where would your Highness suggest that we start looking for the foul miscreant that has kidnapped your beautiful pet?”

“I would suggest that you start looking in the library. She is not there of course, but it would be silly to start the search where you know she is now wouldn't it?”

“Of course your Highness, I will start the search immediately.” Wing bowed again and left the room.

“I am sure that between them Wing and Philomena will manage to keep most of our little ponies occupied for the rest of the afternoon.”

“They have a similar sense of humour, Wing and Philomena, don't they?”

Celesta thought about this for a bit. “You mean mischievous?”

“Yes,” Silver Scroll said flatly.

Celesta gave her friend an enquiring look. “You do not approve? Only a few minutes ago you were tacitly encouraging the antics of three young foals that nearly got one of the most important ponies in Equestria turned to stone. Not to mention themselves.”

“That is different Tia,” she responded defensively. “They are just foals.”

Celesta smiled. “While he may be a fully mature stallion Winged Sword has never really grown up. Maybe that is why I like him so much.” A thought crossed Celestia's mind. “Maybe that is why Phili and I have such a mischievous sense of humour. To us everypony seems a foal and eventually you start to become one again yourself. When you have an eternity you realise that you must either laugh or cry.” Memories floated through her mind. “Did I ever tell you how I got Philomena?”
Sliver Scroll shook her head.

“Ah, well that is a story.”

Sheet Lighting was dead.

Celestia tried to pull her mind back from the painful thought and concentrate on the business at hand. She was sitting in the throne room of the new Canterlot palace, one of the few buildings that had been completely finished. She had not been totally happy about that - she had argued that perhaps they should concentrate on the more useful buildings like a hospital or housing - but the elders of the pegasus tribes had been insistent that if she was going to meet with leaders she needed a room to show off the strength of the new pony nation. She had disagreed but Sheet Lighting had finally changed her mind

Sheet Lighting was dead.

No, she had to stop dwelling on that. She had to be strong, she had to be the Princess today.

The throne room was full of the ponies that made up the new court and nobles of Equestria. A lot of them wore the black cloth of personal mourning across their hind quarters. It lay over their backs, draped across their flanks and covered their cutie marks. Celestia was not. Today she had to be the Princess of Equestria and forget she had just lost a friend.

Sheet Lighting was dead.

The memories came flooding back to her. She had not been with Sheet Lighting when he had been killed. It was not a raid or a fight, it was just bad weather. She had been in Canterlot when they had returned, carrying his body on a litter between them, his dark coat charred down the left side by the lighting.

NO, she must not cry, she must be strong. Regal.

She clamped down on the pain and looked out at the sea of pony faces. She saw a lot of her friends there. Her six brave little foals as she called them, standing in a group - although by now they were far from foals and most of them had foals of their own. They were always easy to pick out; Twisted's odd stance always made him stand out in a crowd. Today his useless forelegs were strapped up under his chest and as usual he was using his wings to keep himself hovering just above the ground. Just past them was Sunrise with her two foals, the elder standing by her side and her latest curled up on her back. Nether of Sunrise's foals had acknowledged sires and this had caused a few murmurs round the court - especially as the one resting on her back sported a pair of pegasus wings and a dark stripe in its yellow mane. Celesta knew that Sunrise preferred it this way - she was like that, fiercely self determined and strong minded.

The court seemed to be assembled so Celestia gestured for the pair of guards at the doors. They used their magic and the doors opened, the sound silencing the court chatter.

Right Time the court steward walked forward. “Your Highness,” he started, using his magic to amplify his voice so it could be easily heard, “nobles of Equestria. Galrex, speaker for the chief of the griffin clans, wishes an audience with the Princess of the Sun.”

So much formality for such a new nation Celesta thought as she gave her formal assent for the griffin diplomat to approach. Sheet had always sniggered at the formalities and protocols but Celestia knew they had their place and uses.

Sheet Lighting was dead.

She pushed the chilly thought away and concentrated on the business of the day.

A group of griffins entered through the double doorway. There was a stirring and rustling from the ponies of the court as the group made their way towards the throne. She could see a lot of the older pegasi flare their wings and paw at the ground in anger and worry. This was one of the uses of formality. It enabled centuries long enemies to be in the same room without going for each others' throats. The pegasi had every right to be distraught. They had been hunted by griffins for most of those long years before Celestia had returned; seeing their ancient foe walk in front of them was putting them on edge.

“Speaker,” Celestia announced formally when the elderly griffin and his retinue had reached the bottom of the steps to the throne.

The speaker for the chief bowed low. “Your Highness I bring greetings from Taxon, chief of the griffin clans, to Celestia goddess of the sun and moon and Princess of Equestria.”

Yes, formalities had their uses Celestia thought, as the acknowledgement of her title and the very fact of the existence of Equestria calmed a lot of the more excitable ponies. “I am also instructed to bring our sympathies on your recent loss.”

Sheet Lighting was dead.

Celestia again took refuge in the formalities while she suppressed her grief. “Now I assume that you had important affairs to discus,” she said after she had finished mouthing the formalities and was in control again.

“Yes your Highness, but first if we may we have a more personal matter to attend to.”

Celestia gestured for him to go on.

“As you know it is part of griffin culture to repay all debts and obligations that we think we owe. Whether these are formal or informal.”

Celestia nodded, griffins had a strong code of honour.

“You may also know that when we believe we owe a debt that is imposable for us to repay it is customary to give a gift as a symbol or acknowledgment of this debt.”

Celestia nodded again, although she could not actually remember ever being told this.

There was a movement behind the speaker and a young griffin stepped out from amongst the retinue. There was an intake of breath from the assembled ponies. The new griffin was young, Celestia thought, it could not be more than a nestling and it was severely injured. All the feathers on its left side and been burnt off and its wings were strapped to its sides. It walked forward awkwardly, balanced upright on its rear legs, carrying a bright yellow egg in its front claws.

“This is Rafdor,” the speaker continued, “she is a nestling from the Redclaw clan. A few days ago the nesting site of the Redclaws was battered by a severe thunderstorm. Many nests where lost.“

The nestling had reached the bottom of the ramp to the throne and started too slowly and with obvious pain to climb up.

“The damage would have been much worse but fortunately a flight of pegasus ponies were in the area and setting aside all thought of personal safety they set about calming the storm.”

Celestia's breath caught. No, she thought, it cannot be.

“Rafdor's nest was in the centre of the storm and at the storm's height was threatened by many lighting strikes,” the speaker said. “The nest would have surely been lost but for one brave pegasus stallion, he risked his life to divert the worst of the lighting strikes while the griffin matrons got the nestlings to safety. All of Rafdor's nest siblings escaped, but in saving
them the valiant pegasus lost his life.”

Sheet Lighting was dead.

It took all of Celestia's control to hold back the tears and maintain her regal composure. “In these situations the debt belongs to the family and as we were told that you are the closest family the valiant pegasus had, Rafdor insisted that she make the journey to Canterlot as she is the only one of her nest that is fit enough to travel." The nestling had reached the throne and laid the egg at Celestia's hooves.

“My nest,” the young griffin started to say, its voice weak and cracking. “Offers this gift in recognition of the debt that cannot ever be repaid.”

Sheet.... Lighting....

Celestia could not stop the tears now even if she had wanted to. She let them flow down her cheeks as she looked at the egg. “It is the egg of a phoenix,” the old speaker continued, “very rare. The phoenix does not age and die like other creatures, instead it must occasionally renew its self by burning to ash and then being reborn from the ashes.” Through her tears Celestia could see Rafdor back down the ramp and return to the group of griffins. “It is a fitting gift for an immortal and symbolic of your work.”

Through her tears Celestia looked at the egg sitting in front of her, but her thoughts were filled with Sheet Lighting. A young colt sitting by the fire in her cliff-side cave home. Riding on her back as she travelled the sky gathering the scattered tribes of the pegasi. Leading a wing against a dragon in the assault. By her side as they flew over the lands. Dancing with her far into the night. Lying dead at the entrance to the palace. She took each memory examined it fondly and put it away. He was gone and she must go on - she had begun this work with him but she always knew that some day she would have to carry on alone. She used her magic and picked up the egg. Maybe not alone.

She tucked the egg under her wing. “Thank you,” she began, her voice cracking. She took a grip on her feelings. “Thank you,” she finished. Noting that the young griffin had again disappeared back into the group, she shook herself and again took refuge in formalities. “Now you said that you had important affairs of state to discuss?”

Galrex cleared his throat. “Indeed your Highness. Taxon, chief of the griffin clans believes that the time has come to put aside old enmities and to forge closer ties with the ponies of Equestria. Too many have died needlessly on either side, he believes that now is the time for the senseless violence to cease and for us to work together to build a better future.” There was a collective intake of breath from the assembled court.

Celestia looked at the assembled ponies and griffins. She could feel the phoenix egg, strangely warm against her flank.

“Yes,” she said after a while. “Yes, it is time to put the past behind us and to start a new stage in our history.” Under her wing the egg rocked.

“We have been together ever since,” Celestia finished. “More than eight hundred years. Ponies have come and gone but that little phoenix had always been there.”

Celestia and the Mayor sat in silence for a while.

“Well that aside we did not arrange this meeting to mull over the distant past. There are more pressing matters.” She looked at the Mayor of Ponyville “Diamond dogs.”

“Yes, diamond dogs,” the Mayor repeated. “When I was last in Canterlot I warned you that they had been getting more aggressive and now we have this latest incident.” She broke off.

“Fill me in on the details,” Celestia prompted. “Twilight's letter concentrated only on her part in it, I need the full story.”

“Well,” the Mayor started. “Miss Rarity needed some more gems for a commission and she had gone hunting for them. The local tribe of diamond dogs saw her and decided that she would make shall we say 'a useful addition to their workforce'.”

Celestia knew a lot of ponies where understandably horrified with even the remotest idea that anybody would think of keeping them as slaves and beasts of burdens, mainly because this had been quite common in the far past and even the recent past in lands where Celestia's influence was less felt. But one of the things Celestia was very firm on was stamping it out. It had been one of the things that had shocked her back to her senses nearly a thousand years ago, to realise how much in her despair she had abandoned her ponies. Over the centuries she had taken some quite determined actions to try to stamp slavery out, but to her dismay it kept remerging. Unfortunately in these days political niceties meant sometimes she had more limited options.

“Fortunately,” Silver Scroll continued, “she had taken Spike along to assist her with the more messy jobs involved in acquiring gems.” The Mayor smiled at this - Rarity's repulsion from dirty things was almost as big as her attraction to shiny ones. “When the diamond dogs tried to seize her, Spike was able to put up quite a spirited defence and apparently they thought he was too much trouble to be worth taking as well so they left him. Equally fortunately Spike has quite a sensible head on him and instead of running off to try a one dragon rescue of his beloved he returned to Ponyville to raise the alarm. Fortunately - or maybe not - he encountered Twilight and the rest of her friends in the main square and they quickly rushed off to affect a rescue of their friend.”

Celestia nodded again. While the bonds of friendship did make you stronger they sometimes made you more impulsive as well. The correct decision was not always the right decision, and this was the perfect example. The correct decision here was to have alerted the town authorities and then for there to have been a proper expedition mounted in force. But that would have taken hours and all that time your friend would have been in danger. How could a good friend have sat round and done nothing all that time? No, a good friend would have done exactly what they did which was run off and rescue their friend immediately despite the danger it put you in. But how many ponies would have made the correct decision as opposed to the right one? Celestia thought she would have. Hundreds of years of statecraft had drilled that lesson into her. Sliver Scroll would have as well, she could be as cool as Celestia. But Sunrise would not have. Would Winged Sword? Would Trix?

“It was at that point the situation came to my attention,” the Mayor continued, “when I realised what had happened I sent out an alert to the militia and sent word to you as well. Fortunately the situation resolved itself and we did not have to take further immediate measures.”

“But that leaves us with a problem,” Celestia finished. They both knew the problem but Celestia let her friend put it into words.

“There needs to be action taken. We cannot let this act go unpunished. We need to send an unequivocal message that this sort of behaviour towards ponies is unacceptable. But...”

Celestia finished the thought for her. “But this is now not an immediate reaction. If they still held Rarity or if they had made good on their action to take the rest of our friends as “workforce” then there would be no question. We would have taken the militia and the Canterlot guard and dug them out of their hive regardless of who or what got in the way. But now any action of that kind we take looks vengeful, almost spiteful - and puts ponies in harm's way for no solid reason. It is one thing to attack an enemies' castle when there is a damsel in distress quite another to do it just because he has angered your princess.”

“But if we do nothing we look weak. It is an almost open invitation for other creatures to see ponies as a source of “workforce”. We could have roving packs of diamond dogs running amuck all over Equestria.”

“I think you may be exaggerating there a bit.”

The Mayor shook her head and then smiled. “Maybe a bit. But Ponyville is not as safe as ponies like to think. Remember as you said you did nearly lose your prize pupil to a cockatrice.”

“I think Twilight would have recovered eventually, cockatrice paralysis is rarely permanent. But I get your point.”
They both sat quietly for a few minutes.

“It is your town Silver Scroll,” Celestia said eventually. “What does the Mayor of Ponyville suggest?”

There was more thoughtful silence from Silver Scroll. “Well let's look at the usual options for dealing with an incident. One,
diplomatic. Send a strongly worded protest or summon someone and shout at them.”

Celestia shook her head. “There is no central diamond dog government or any sort of formal leadership, each hive is its own state and even that is being generous. In short there is nobody to shout at.” Celestia actually preferred it that way the few times in history the diamond dogs had united behind a strong leader there had been outright war with the ponies and it had not been easy.

“Okay then. Two, economic. We stop selling what we sell to them and buying what we buy of them.”

Again Celestia shook her head. “We do not do either. If we did than they might not feel the need to take ponies to help them mine gems.”

“Maybe we should? It might make them more amenable and make this sort of thing less likely in the future?”

“Been tried before.” Celestia shook her head. “They have even less of a relationship with the concept of barter and trade than they do with the concept of dental hygiene. Anyway, it hardly sets the precedent we are looking for does it? 'As a punishment for kidnapping one of our ponies how about we sell you some gems'.”

“Maybe not,” the Mayor admitted. “So three, military. And we are back to where we were before - we either do nothing and look weak or we act and look spiteful and what would we actually tell our ponies to do? So ponies, this group of diamond dogs tried to take one of your fellow ponies as a slave.” Silver Scroll shuddered as she said that. “but don't worry, they do not actually have her or anypony else held captive now - and as far as we know they do not plan on doing anything as stupid in the near future. But we need to appear strong, so what we want you brave ponies to do now is charge in there. Risk your life. Wreck the place and kill a few of them or at least severely injure them and maybe that will teach them a lesson.” The Mayor finished her sarcastic monologue and looked the Princess in the eye. “Celestia, that is the sort of order I do not think I can give.”

There was another knock on the Mayor's door, she gave permission to enter and Winged Sword's head popped through the opening.

“I believe it is nearly time for you to make an appearance your Highness,” he announced and then left with a salute.
Celestia got up from her seat and walked over to the large window looking out over Ponyville. In the town below her she could see a purple unicorn and a yellow pegasus running frantically round town while a very tatty and dishevelled phoenix perched on top of the fountain making faces at their backs.

“Well, it looks like our time for discussion is finished,” she said, turning back into the room. “I think that this decision will have to be deferred to a more complete meeting of our friends. In the mean time I am going to detach some of the Canterlot guard to Ponyville incognito. If you could arrange for them to have a reason to be always near the area where this hive is then maybe we can deter them some more or if not, then at least there will be some trained, reliable ponies close at hand.”

Silver Scroll nodded. “They could start a rock farm there or something, it is good rock farming land. That will keep them close enough to the hive to keep an eye on it. I will await a more full discussion over the diamond dog troubles and see if we can find a proper solution. Maybe something will have happened in the meantime to make such a decision irrelevant.”

Celestia shook her head. “I do not think it will my friend,” she said. “Life is never that nice. Anyway,” she said, walking over to the door. “I have an evil miscreant to punish. Do you think I should throw her in a dungeon or should I banish her from Equestria?”

The Mayor of Ponyville put on a mock serious expression. “Perhaps you should banish her from Equestria and then throw her in a dungeon in the place that you banish her to,” she said. “It is after all what she deserves.”

“Maybe I will my little pony,” Celestia said with a smile, “maybe I will.”

The Gala Gambit

Celestia, Ruler of Equestria and slightly tipsy princess of the sun, glided silently through the dark night over the city of Canterlot. From up here the lights of the city seemed to be the twin of the star laden sky above her. She stretched her wings and enjoyed the feeling of cool night air. This had been one of the better Grand Galloping Galas, she thought to herself, although she did not think she would manage to pull off the trick a second time. She had not actually planned for Twilight and her friends to make such a mess of it; she had more wanted them to see if they could liven up the rather stuffy ponies that the event tended to attract. But the night had ended well enough; Spike had given his friends most of his insider's tour of Canterlot city and Celestia had managed to tag along without too much trouble. She suspected that Wing Sword would give her a bit of telling off for having slipped her guards without having told him. That thought again amused her. She was a Princess of Equestria and goddess of the sun - why should she not slip out for doughnuts whenever she wanted to? And unless she was very much mistaken Winged Sword worked for her not the other way round? But all of her royal body guards tended to be like that, all through the centuries right the way back to Sheet Lighting.

She sighed, she was getting nostalgic again but the Gala did that to her. The Grand Galloping Gala was an old tradition dating back to the founding of the new city of Canterlot. Tradition stated that the Gala was originally held on the very evening after the battle for the Smoky Mountain was won and was a party danced by the newly freed slaves in celebration of their new freedom and of their liberation.

It always brought a smile to Celestia's face when she heard this version of the story. It was one of those wonderful things that, while not false, managed to be not true at the same time. The Gala had not been first danced on the very evening of the battle because firstly the battle had gone on well into the night and secondly because the only people who feel like dancing in the aftermath of a battle are those who have never been there. The aftermath of a battle is a hellish place, especially one as hard fought as the one for Smoky Mountain; the destruction makes it a difficult place to dance and the presence of the dead and wounded sap even the most joyous ponies' dancing mood. No, the Gala had in fact been celebrated about a week after the end of the fighting, after the worst of the wreckage had been cleared and most of the wounded had been tended to. Most of the delay had been down to the freed slaves. They had fought hoof and nail for their freedom and had suffered for it. Celestia and her allies had been able to help them, but they had fought with whatever they could get their hooves on and sometimes without anything at all. They had taken a terrible toil, but they had won.

The memories of the first Gala made her smile as she glided onwards towards the palace, it had been a much more lively event than the stuffy formal affair it had evolved into. Much more the sort of thing that Pinkie Pie would have approved of, ponies dancing to the rather improvised band and sometimes joining in song. Even the young would have been there; she had a fond memory of Sheet Lighting, his wing still wrapped in a bandage, bending down low so he could dance with the very young Sunrise.

She landed lightly on the balcony that circled the top of the tower, her hooves ringing softly off the marble. She took another last look round at the still night before she quietly opened the door and slipped inside. This was one of the upper stories of the library, the spaces between the bookshelves deep in shadow. As Celestia walked slowly round she saw what she had been seeking; a faint light from one of the reading areas up ahead. She lowered her head and tried to walk more softly. She snuck up and peered round the bookshelf at the end, watching. Her sister Luna was sitting in the middle of the reading area, the circle of light coming from a candle holder in the middle of the table. There were several piles of books sitting around her and on the table in front of her there was a chess board. Celestia looked more closely; unless she was mistaken her sister's opponent seemed to be an abacus. Unless she was even more mistaken her sister seemed to be losing. Celestia grinned mischievously and snuck round the maze of bookshelves until she was behind her still unaware sister. A sudden movement made her freeze. Luna's horn glowed as she picked up one of the pieces and held it in the air. Then a book also floated up in front of her after a few seconds both the book and the chess piece floated down again. Celestia let out a breath she did not know she had been holding and crept forward. When she was less than a meter away Luna picked up the chess piece again and slid it forward.

“Checkmate,” Celestia whispered in her sister's ear.

Luna screamed and jumped a full body length in the air, scattering the chess board and pieces all over the room. She landed on all four hooves and twisted round to face Celestia.

“Tia!” she screamed, the pillow she had been sitting on rising into the air and flinging itself at Celestia. “What art thou doing?!”

More of the pillows that littered the reading area joined in the barrage. Celestia was almost paralysed with laughter at her sister's reaction and could only make a feeble attempt to fend them off. To make her laughter worse her sister's shock had made her drop back into the formal Canterlot accent.

“We could have done oneself an injury!”

Celestia raised a fore hoof. “Yield,” she spluttered out from between the pillow onslaught and her bouts of laughter. “I yield.”

Luna let the pillows drop and stood their breathing heavily. Celestia also stood there, trying to get her laughter under control. After a few seconds her sister's face broke into a smile then into a full blown laughter. The two royal sisters stood there for a few minutes letting the laughter roll over them.

“So the Gala is finished?” Luna asked when her laughter eventually subsided.

“Yes Luna, the Gala is finished. You should have come, you might have liked it.”

Luna looked down at her hooves “I think not Tia, I do not really think I am ready for the crowds of ponies.”

Celestia walked over to her sister and put a fore hoof over her shoulder. “Come on Luna, you cannot stay hidden up here forever playing chess with yourself.”

“I was just studying all the new gambits that have been documented recently.”

“Still you have to get out more. Go out and meet ponies - dear sister I did not go to all the trouble of rescuing you from the moon and banishing the Nightmare just to have you hide in the library for the rest of eternity.”

“I know Tia it is just...” Luna's face screwed up.

Celestia bent her head down to her sister's. “Just what Lun?”

“I just cannot face them...” she let out with an explosive sob. “All those ponies... they don't want me, they don't need me. For a thousand years they got on without me, they forgot all about me. And the only thing they remember of me,” she gulped, “the only thing they remember of me is this.” A different book floated up off the pile and opened itself in front of Celestia.
“This twisted joke of a holiday.”

Celestia looked at the title of the chapter. 'Nightmare Night and the tale of Nightmare Moon,' it read.

Celestia looked at her sobbing sister. Oh that, she thought to herself.

“They hate me,” Luna sobbed, “they fear me. Not content with just ignoring my night now they mock me with this holiday this, corrupted parody of my night celebration, and they run from my likeness.” Luna collapsed back onto one of the pillows sobbing.

Celestia sat down next to her sister and folded a wing over her. “Oh Lun, they don't hate you, they certainly don't fear you.”

“They do!” her sister sobbed. “You can see the pictures, you know the holiday.” She put on a singsong voice. “Cos Nightmare Moon wants just one thing, to gobble up ponies in just one quick swing.” She let her head fall back to the pillow. “They hate me and they think I will eat them up if I see them. This is worse than before. Then I was ignored now I am feared.”

“They don't hate you Luna.” Celestia picked up the book and ruffled through the pages. “They hate this.” She held up the picture of a fearsome midnight black alicorn. “They hate Nightmare Moon. Even I hate Nightmare Moon, but you are not Nightmare Moon.” She looked at the picture in the book. It was a copy of a statue which itself was an image from a story that had been told around many a campfire hundreds of years ago, but even it was too accurate for Celestia's tastes. She let the book snap closed.

“I was.” Luna sniffed. “I was her. I remember being her. I remember the hatred and the anger and the urge to dominate and control. To stretch out my power over the land and seize it for my own, to take the admiration that ponies felt for you and to make them love me.”

“it was not you.” Celestia comforted her sister. “You where taken. The Nightmare had you, those where not your thoughts, those where the thoughts of it in your head.”

“Not all of them. I remember at the beginning being jealous of you. Of your power and your strength and wishing that I could have your followers. And then afterwards I remember facing you down that first time, watching the shock as you tried to trap me and feeling the exaltation as you failed, as your carefully layered weaves of magic where blown apart by my new power. And I remember liking it.”

“It was not you.” Celestia comforted her sister again. She wandered how much of that statement was true. True the Nightmare was not Luna, nopony who knew her could have mistaken the creature that called itself Nightmare Moon for her sister, but apart from the change in its name the thing had always referred to itself as if it had been Luna. It had Luna's memories, it had Luna's abilities and then some. When you came down to it where had her sister ended and Nightmare Moon began? She looked at her sister and asked the painful question that had been on her mind for more than a millennium “Luna,” she asked softly, “what happened back then?”

===

Luna stood upon the high mountain and concentrated. In the heavens above her a pinpoint of light moved an infinitesimal amount. She stopped concentrating and relaxed. She gazed up at the new constellation. Perfect, she thought to herself, a night to be proud of. She raised her wings and leapt into the sky. Yes, she thought as she flew over the Castle and down over the enchanted forest that surrounded it, it was a night to be proud of. The full moon hung large in the sky shedding strong if pale moonlight over the world. The stars hung in their constellations, their patterns elegant against the black of the night sky and she had added a single comet just to give it that special something. She was proud of this night.

That last thought made her wince. Yes, she enjoyed her nights but she thought she was the only one. The land she flew over was always silent. The streets of the earth pony villages were deserted, the sky empty of pegasi. Even the small hunting creatures always seemed to be elsewhere. Sometimes Luna thought she was the only being to see her beautiful night. She knew that ponies had to rest but she was disappointed. She made such beautiful nights and they always went to waste. Well there was a reason that she had taken such special care over this one; this one would be seen by ponies.
Tonight was a special night. Tonight was the longest night of the year and the date of the Winter Moon celebration A celebration of her night and the rest and beauty it brought to ponies. All over the land ponies should be staying up late into the night. Customarily it was held as a party with games for the younger foals and dancing and most likely drinking for the elder ponies; the biggest party of all would be held right here and she would be the special guest. Hundreds of ponies would be there to celebrate her beautiful night with her

Luna set her wings into a glide and flew low over the forest. Up ahead she could see the clearing where she had ordered her staff to prepare the party. It was well lit with torches and she could see the tables laden with food and the tubs for apple bobbing as well as other games. She circled once and with a flourish of wings landed on the raised platform at one end of the large clearing.

“BEHOLD,” she bellowed out in the official Royal Canterlot voice “YOUR PRINCESS OF THE NIGHT IS HERE.”

Her proclamation was met with only a few desultory cheers.

Luna opened her eyes and looked round the clearing.

The clearing had been setup for the party; down the centre and in front there were trestle tables and benches ready for the food and drink, while at the rear there was a large dance platform and off to the sides there were tubs and poles for the various games, the whole place lit with torches at various intervals. It was just as Luna had ordered it, but the only ponies there were her servants and other court hangers on; there was no crowd of ordinary ponies, no groups of playful foals. Just her attendants with their fixed, fake smiles.

She let out a deep sigh and stepped off the raised platform. She knew that ponies had been avoiding her night but she had made such a big effort and she had wanted this night to be perfect. Now she was going to spend it alone with her servants. And they did not want to be here either; they had just come because she had ordered them to. Just like last year and the year before.

NO.

She stamped her hoof on the ground and spread her wings. She would find somepony to celebrate her night with. With a fierce downstroke she leapt into the sky and set off to find ponies.

===

Luna landed back in the clearing and scuffed at the ground with a fore hoof. She had searched the whole night but everywhere she had stopped ponies had been asleep or had been too tired or in some cases had even hidden from her. She not found any other party's celebrating her night or any evidence that they had even been planned. It was a truth she had not wanted to accept; no pony remembered her night or still celebrated the festival. They had forgotten about it and forgotten about her. She had not even had the courage to approach the ponies who had been awake and ask them to come to her meticulously prepared party. When she had returned even her attendants and flunkies had left; it seemed as if no pony wanted to party with her.

She looked up at the moon. The night would be ending soon, she thought sadly to herself, she would have to lower the moon and make way for her sister to raise the sun.

“You don't have to,” a silky voice whispered.

Luna spun around. She could not see anypony in the clearing and she had been certain that there had been no pony there before. “Who art thou,” she called out. “Have thou come to celebrate my night?”

“In a sense,” the voice came again. “I have been watching you Princess Luna.”

Luna was confused. If the owner of the voice had been watching her why had it not spoken up when she had been here before? She twisted again, trying to see to whom the voice belonged.

“Well I am very grateful that anypony showed up, but it is nearly time for night to be over. I will be setting the moon soon and then my sister will raise the sun.”

“You don't have to,” the mysterious voice said again.

Again Luna turned to try to find the voice's owner. This time she thought she caught a glimpse of a wispy shadow flitting between the trees. “You have said that before. What do you mean?'

“You do not have to lower the moon,” the voice purred. Luna twisted again but which ever way she turned it seemed to be coming from behind her. “You could keep the moon in the sky, keep the night going - then ponies would come to your party.

“No,” Luna said.

Yes, a small part of her mind rejoiced in a whisper

“Yes,” the voice purred, “you could. Your sister could not stop you, it would hurt too much for her to try.”

“No,” Luna said more forcefully.

Yes, the part of her mind insisted Celestia could not lower the moon, that bond is yours. She would not raise the sun at the same time the disruption of the balance would cause to much pain to both of you.

“Yes,” the silk voice rejoined, “you could keep the moon in the sky, keep the night going, then all ponies would see your beautiful night.”

“No. Ponies need their day, the balance must be kept. Day must follow night.”

Yes, the small part of her mind insisted, what balance? Ponies worship your sister and her day, they shun you and your night.

“Yessss,” the voice hissed, “you could. Then ponies would come to your party, they would enjoy your night and they would love you just as they love your sister.”

Luna shook her head. “No they love us both equally. I am as beloved as my sister.”

No, her own thoughts chilled in her mind, the Summer Sun celebration is a packed event with thousands of ponies and you are standing here alone with a voice you cannot even see.

“No,” the voice echoed her thoughts, “your sister is loved. You are forgotten.”

“NO.” Luna stamped her hoof. “It is not so.”

Yes it is, her thoughts insisted.

“Yes it is,” the voice said, “but it does not have to be. You could have it as well, you could keep the night going and take
over.”

“NO,” Luna screamed.

Yes, her thoughts echoed in her head.

“Yes,” the voice insisted, “do not lower the moon.”

“NO.”

Yes.

“Yes. Keep the night going”

“NO.”

Yes.

“Yes. Deny your sister her day.”

“NO.”

YES, her own thoughts shouted.

“YES,” the voice echoed even louder. “Make this beautiful night of yours last forever.”

“NO.”

“Yes!” the voice screamed triumphantly over her own thoughts

By the time Luna had realised she needed to fight it was too late for her to start. The ice cold thoughts of the voice rushed into her mind, overwhelming her own and blanking them out. The goddess of the moon screamed and fell to the floor.

“Yes, keep the moon up. Make the night last forever, make everypony love you and only you.” She could not tell which were her own treasonous thoughts or which were those of the nightmarish voice. “Yes, defy your sister, defy the day. Keep the night going, make ponies worship you.” The black ice rushed through her, obliterating parts of her. She barely had time to scream again before all thought vanished.

The midnight black alicorn opened her eyes and looked out round the empty glade, then flexed her hooves gently and carefully got up. Around her a cloud of smoke and stars flexed and billowed; she spread her wings and beat them experimentally. A smile totally devoid of humour spread across her face. That is better, the alicorn thought as she looked up at the night sky. Yes, it was a very beautiful night and there was no reason why it ever had to end. She reached out her will and with barely a thought stopped the moon in its tracks. She looked round. Strange that such a momentous action would have no witnesses. No pony knew that their world had changed, well they would soon, yes soon they would know. They would wake up and see the moon still in the sky. They would walk out of their houses and into their fields and look up at her beautiful night and they would wonder what had happened, then she would tell them and they would love her. She stretched out her wings again and tensed her legs.

She would have to go and tell them, show them that this beautiful night of hers would last forever. With a leap Nightmare Moon, Queen of the night, took to the sky.

=======

Luna lay on the cushion, tears running down her face, as she recalled the painful history. “I remember it all sis,” she gulped, “even after all this time I remember everything. It is a bit like it was a story told to somepony. remember thinking things I would never think, but it is me doing the thinking and then doing all those things I would never do but it is still me doing them.”

Celestia let her sister continue, the memories where just as painful to her.

“I hurt ponies Tia. I remember doing it - I hurt ponies just to get your attention.”

Celestia grimaced. Yes, Nightmare Moon had been an evil creature, no doubt about it. Some of what she had done during the fighting had pushed Celestia to her limits.

“In my memory it is me doing it. ME, not her.” Luna said pointing to the book. “In my memory it is me enjoying, it is me taking satisfaction from the look of pain on your face. Me reveling in the fear and terrified worship from ponies. ME. I DID IT ALL!”

Luna collapsed into tears.

Celestia folded her wing over her sister. “No Lun, it was not,” she said softly. “No matter what you think or how you remember it you where just as much a victim of her as the ponies she hurt. She stole you. Made you into a twisted vessel for her and then used you to try to take the world from me. But she is gone now.”

Luna waved a hoof at where the book had fallen. “Not to them she is not,” she sobbed. “To them it will always be Nightmare Moon who stalked the night looking to gobble up ponies.”

“Then change it sister,” Celestia said. “Take back your night from your nightmare.”

Luna sniffled and looked up at her sister.

“What do you mean?”

“It is your night sister. Go out there next Nightmare Night and take the holiday back. Go out there and show them that Nightmare Moon is gone and that Luna is back, show them that they need no longer be afraid of the night.”

A spark of happiness passed across Luna's face but it was quickly replaced by sorrow “I can't,” she muttered. “They still think of me as that nightmare.”

“Go to Ponyville,” Celestia insisted. “There are ponies there that know who you are, I am sure that you will get a good welcome from them.”

Luna brightened. “You think so?”

“I am sure of it dear sister.” Celestia rubbed her sisters back. “Next Nightmare Night go to Ponyville and show them who you are and enjoy yourself.”

Luna sat still for a while before rising to her hooves. “Yes,” she said excitedly. “I shall do it, I shall go to Ponyville and show them that their Princess has returned.”

Celestia stood as well. “Excellent Luna,” she said, then she looked around in exaggerated concern. “Now have you seen Winged Sword recently?”

Luna looked confused for a few seconds then nodded. “Yes actually, I have. He was here a few hours ago shouting something about royal princess or not he was going to give somepony such a telling off when he found her.”

Celestia put on a worried expression. “Oh well, in that case I suppose I better go and find him and tell him to stop worrying.” She picked up the chessboard and placed it back on the table. “After I show you how chess is supposed to be played.”

Discord

Luna, Princess of Equestria and goddess of the moon, walked down the corridor that separated the more public spaces of the palace of Canterlot from her suite of rooms. As she did so her thoughts idly wandered about her sisters talent for long term planning; there had not been a Canterlot royal palace a thousand years ago - there had not in fact been a city of Canterlot as it currently stood - and yet when the palace had been built there had been a complete suite of rooms for her built with it. Did her sister have them built out of sentiment? Or did she always expect Luna to return? From what Luna had read and heard from ponies like Sliver Scroll that had not always been a foregone conclusion by any means.

Luna let out a huge yawn as she walked. It was the middle of the morning and she was the Princess of the Moon; for her it was getting late. She had been attending a late breakfast/dinner with Celestia and some of the royal court. It had been a semi formal affair with most of the ponies who were there wanting something. A favour from the royal princess. A word about the future likelihood of this or that. A favourable decision about this matter or the other. Or sometimes just to be seen with important ponies. What had surprised Luna was how many of the ponies wanted to be seen with her. Apparently there had been quite a bit of surprise that she had not been present at the gala and this had started gossip about the reclusive princess of the moon. And so her company had acquired a sort of novelty value. She had been quite amused at this and had engaged some of the ponies in conversation, but when she had realized that they only cared about the latest fashions or the doings of “society ponies” she had quickly gotten bored of them.

She approached the door to her rooms. The two guard ponies saluted her as she approached and she waved them a salute in return as she reached for the door. How did Celestia cope, she wondered, most of the ponies she had met either seemed so self interested in their own wealth and power or were so vapid that they where virtually a cut-out of a pony. Oh there had been a few that weren't. That white unicorn stallion, Luna thought Celestia had introduced him as 'Fancy Pants', had seemed quite pleasant.

A shudder ran through the palace and through Luna. She stopped dead in her tracks, her fore hoof outstretched for the door. It came again, stronger, and her knees buckled.

“Your Highness?” She heard one of the guards ask in a concerned tone, but her mind was too busy to pay him any heed. She recognized that feeling. The taste was on the tip of her mind but she could not place it. The shaking came for a third time and this time as it shook through her she felt a rasp of pain like an all body tooth-ache.

“Your Highness, what’s wrong?” the guard asked, worry clear in his voice now. Luna looked up at him; he was standing over her with a concerned look on his face, his colleague standing behind him with wings out stretched, head turning this way and that looking for the threat that had struck their Princess. As she looked at the guards she was struck by a realization. They had not felt it. They were worried by what had happened to her but only that. They had not felt the shudder.

Her musing was interrupted by a sharp echoing crack that filled the corridor. Both the guard ponies’ heads snapped to face the direction it came from but Luna barely noticed it. The crack had come accompanied by another pain-filled shudder and then her blood went cold as she realized what the pain was.

No, she thought, no it could not be him. He was trapped, sealed away forever she knew that. She had been there. She had helped imprison him. But she knew she was not wrong; she recognized the pain and the sick feeling that went with it. Pushing through the pain she leapt to her hooves.

“Guards, with me,” she ordered sharply as she set off at a gallop down the passage that led to her sister's rooms.
There were no guards on the outside of the doors to Celestia’s rooms and the doors themselves where wide open as Luna thundered in.

“Sister I...” Luna started and then stopped as she saw her sisters face. Celestia was standing at the windows looking out over the palace gardens and the city of Canterlot. Half a dozen of her guards were standing round the room looking as agitated as Luna’s. As Luna came in Celestia turned to face her and Luna could clearly read the shock and horror on the white mare's face. “No,” she gasped.

Celestia merely nodded her head. “Yes,” she breathed, “Discord.”

Luna rushed over to the window. Looking out she could see into the statue garden; ponies were fleeing in terror. Near the centre of it she could see where the statue had stood. The ground was littered with fragments of stone and standing in the centre, arms raised in triumph, was the spirit of chaos and disharmony, Discord himself. Even from this distance she could hear his terrible laughter. As she watched dark ominous clouds boiled overhead and a peal of thunder echoed through the palace

She twisted round to face her sister who had walked back into the centre of the room. “Celestia we must stop him,” she said, trying to keep the panic out of her voice. “We must take up the Elements of Harmony and re-imprison him.”

Celestia merely shook her head. “We cannot sister. The Elements have new bearers now; they are no longer bound to us.”
With shock Luna realized that this was true. After all that had happened at the end of what pony historians called 'the war of the goddesses' and in the time since, the Elements of Harmony had been ‘disheartened’. In order to use them against the Nightmare, Celestia had been forced to find a special group of friends who’s love and commitment for each other could reawaken them - but that had meant that they were now bound to that group of friends, not to her and Celestia.

“Then the new Bearers must be summoned to Canterlot so that they can take up the Elements and again banish Discord.” Luna’s mind raced, running through all the things that needed to be done, trying to match them against what actually could be done. She came to a conclusion. “Celestia. You stay here and summon the Bearers of the Elements; I will go and confront the monster and attempt to limit the damage he can do before the Elements of Harmony can reseal him.” Luna had always been more forceful than her sister; as goddess of the sun Celestia might wield the greater power but Luna was the more determined, and perhaps, Luna thought with a wince, she had learnt something from the Nightmare as well as the other way round.

Celestia nodded her agreement and Luna turned back to the window, wings spread ready to take fight.

“Wait!” Celestia called out to her, causing Luna to turn back into the room. Her sister turned to face one of the pegasus guard ponies that stood in the doorway “Winged Sword, take your ponies and go with the Princess Luna.”

The pegasus looked worried. “Your Highness?” he started to question.

Celestia cut him off. “I will be safe enough in the palace, Shining Armour and the rest of the guard will keep it and me safe.”

“But Celestia...” he started again.

“GO Wing,” she said forcefully. “Keep my sister safe.”

Winged sword saluted and signalled to the other pegasi. They came swiftly over and formed up around Luna. Winged sword saluted her. “Princess Luna,” he said formally. “We are yours to command.”

Luna looked at the stern faced ponies and then back at her sister. “Then we go,” she said and took to the sky.

The strange cloud exploded as Spitfire bucked at it, flinging her away head over hooves in a cola scented blast. With the experience born of years of stunt flying she steadied herself.

“So,” she muttered, “the pink ones are sticky and the green ones explode, good to know.”

She looked around. The strange clouds had been sighted on the edges of Cloudsdale a little while ago; at first the pegasi of the city had thought they were an oddity to be investigated and played with. But after the first few pegasi had gotten themselves stuck to the pink ones they had started to be more cautious. Then Spitfire had gotten the message from Celestia and the full scale of the problem had become apparent.

“Get that cola out of the streets!” she shouted to one of the groups of weather ponies. “Buck holes in the clouds if you have, but to we have to get that corrosive stuff out of the city.” Cola was not good for cloudstruction, neither was chocolate milk for that matter but that was less immediate problem.

When they had realized that the new clouds were going to be a serious problem, she and the rest of the Wonderbolts had gathered as many of the weather ponies as they could and were fighting a battle to keep the streets of Cloudsdale free of confectionery.

Something hit her hard in the back of the head. She looked round and saw something else hit the cloud bank in front of her. There were several other impacts into the cloud, each one throwing up a puff of water vapour.

Curious, she flew closer and scooped up one of the things that had landed there.

“Oh great,” she muttered, “now it is hailing gumdrops.”

She was just considering what to do about this latest tribulation when she heard her name called. She looked round and spotted a young colt in the uniform of a junior speedster, one of the groups that they had pressed into service as messengers. He swooped over to her and landed on the cloud.

“Ms Spitfire!” he gasped out, “Ms Spitfire. Soarin says you need to get your f...” he stopped and Spitfire could see him mentally rephrasing Soarin’s message. “Soarin says that you are needed over at the weather factory as soon as you can get there.”

Spitfire looked across the city to where the weather factory was and then back at the groups of pegasi trying to clear out the clouds over this part of the city. Soarin would not have called for her if this was not a big problem. She turned trotted over to the edge of the cloud and stepped off into flight

Spitfire sped past a group of pegasi that were using their wings to try to blow away some of the smaller pink clouds and alighted on the edge of one of the cloud towers where Soarin was standing.
“Got the message Soar. What’s up?”

Soarin just pointed with a hoof off towards the edge of the city. Spitfire followed the direction of his hoof and her blood went cold as she saw the problem.

“Are you sure they are coming this way?” she asked unnecessarily; these where not natural wild clouds that formed and then drifted randomly till a weather pegasus rounded them up. They were being directed against Cloudsdale.

“Sure as apple pie, Spit,” Soarin said. “I have had ponies trying to break them up but they are staying collected."

Spitfire nodded. What they were looking at was an entire storm front of the green cola clouds. She watched one of the groups Soarin had sent out attempted to separate one of the smaller straggling clouds from the main bunch, but as the ponies got closer the clouds moved as if directed by one mind driving the ponies back.

An idea came to her and she turned to Soarin. “Soarin, you know that trick we where practicing last week?”

Soarin looked back at her, shock in his eyes. “Spitfire, I nearly broke a wing trying that.”

Spitfire grinned. “Well get it right this time then.”

She spotted two more members of the Wonderbolts and waved them over.

“Fleetfoot, Misty.”

The two pegasi broke off from the groups of weather ponies they were leading and landed next to Spitfire and Soarin. Spitfire explained to them what she had planned. Both pegasi looked almost as nervous as Soarin did.

“Come on, we have done this manoeuvre lots of times in practice,” Spitfire said encouragingly.

“Yer and every time we have crashed,” Misty replied.

“Well then we have a good working knowledge of what not to do. Come on, we need to do this otherwise that cloud is going to dump a tonne of cola over the weather factory and not even Soran can drink that amount. Okay?” The other Wonderbolts nodded. “Good, then Fleetfoot with Soran and Misty with me. Misty and I will start, Soarin and Fleetfoot will spot the pattern and fill in.” There were more nods. “Right let’s do it.”

Spitfire stepped off the tower and opened her wings, letting the momentum of her fall pull her around; she felt as much as saw Misty pull into formation beside her and the two pegasi carefully spaced themselves apart.

“Okay Misty, let me take the lead. You concentrate on keeping our separation right and let Soarin and Fleet do the rest.”
The massive bank of green clouds loomed closer as Spitfire and Misty piled on speed.

“Closer, closer,” Spitfire muttered, “and now!”

She pulled up, twisting their path into a curve that sent them into a circular path around the clouds, Misty keeping the spacing between them constant all through the manoeuvre.

“Okay, now the real speed.” Misty and Spitfire piled on more speed as they orbited the cloud. Spitfire felt the strain as the tight circles got faster and faster but Misty was still managing to keep their formation nice and tight. They were not flying perfect circles; each one was slightly skewed so as they flew there circles precessed around the cloud.

As she sped past she saw Soarin and Fleetfoot standing on the edge of the cloud stack; on the next pass they were in the air and following a curving dive to take them towards the cloud.

“Get ready,” she called out to Misty over the slipstream, “they are coming.”

Soarin and Fleetfoot dived towards the clouds just as Spitfire and Misty had and pulled into tight loops but in the opposite direction. Spitfire had only a few brief seconds to judge whether they had got their formation spacing correct and then she snapped her wings closed as the two pairs of pegasus ponies passed between each other. Spitfire could swear that she felt the edges of Soarin's mane brush past hers as he passed between her and Misty at a speed frightening to even a trained aerobatic flyer. And then they where past and she snapped her wings open before she lost too much height, but it was only for a few beats as they passed again another half rotation later.

The interval between their passes got shorter and shorter as the pegasi continued to pick up speed and the strain started to tell on Spitfire. This was close formation work; with every pass they were mere hoof widths from disaster but amazingly they kept going.

Spitfire could see it was starting to have the desired effect; even without the smoke that they usually trailed she could see the eddies starting to form as their twin slipstreams tore at each other every time they passed. The two paired moving streams of air pulled in opposite directions, starting to tug at each other. As they got faster and faster the effect got more pronounced, even now she could see - and feel - mini tornados forming at the interfaces of the slipstreams.

It was working, she thought, as she saw the micro tornados stretching into the cloud mass and pulling it apart. She heard the first few popping explosions and realized what was happening. She saw Soarin and Fleetfoot approaching, the clouds tearing themselves apart behind them and she realized the same thing must be happening behind Misty and herself.

“Break!” she screamed out at her team mates as they passed and she pulled herself up just as the leading edges of the explosions reached her.

The exploding clouds buffeted the air round her as she fought to pull herself out of the loops. Cola scented shock waves threatened to tumble them both back into the detonating cloud mass, then all of a sudden Misty and herself pulled to the right and up and out of the turbulent air.

She let the tips of her wings drag in the air, slowing herself down and pulled round in a long spiral bleeding off the speed. As she came round she caught sight of the end of what happened to the cloud bank.

The mass of cloud had not really been just one cloud but a collection of little ones. As the tornados that their flight had formed swirled up the clouds, some of them had popped like the one she had bucked before. Once enough of them had started to explode it had sent a chain reaction through the mass. She watched as cloud after cloud popped, it was a bit like watching popcorn going off, she thought as she flew a lazy circle. A rippling wave of explosions all along the line of their flight spread out through the clouds tearing the mass apart. It was, in its way, kind of beautiful.

Soarin, Fleetfoot and Misty glided over to her.

“Well that was more interesting than I expected,” Soarin said.

“Yer,” Misty added, “and you did not screw up this time.”

“Hay, I never screwed up in the past.”

“Yer sure Soar, it was never your fault.”

“Anyway,” Fleetfoot interrupted, “you think we will be able to do that trick at next year’s gala?”

Spitfire saw another young pegasus in the uniform of the junior speedsters dashing over to where they were hovering.
“Let’s just get to the gala first before we start planning the routine,” she advised as she turned to find out what the next potential disaster was.

Trix slammed the door to her trailer behind her and panted heavily. What the horse apples was going on out there?

The Great and Powerful Trixie’s traveling magic show had brought her far south to the settlement of Cloptown; Trix always thought it was a rather unfortunate name. In the local tongue it just meant “town a good day's trot from anywhere else.” It was just rather unfortunate what it sounded like in standard pony. The Great and Powerful Trixie had set up her wagon and stage in one of the large parks in the town and started her standard show; the fireworks, the boasts on how powerful she was, the ursa major, the dragon and then finally the boast that she could do anything that they could do only better. All carefully designed to draw out any magic user with any sort of an ego and get them out in the open where they would, of course, show off their most powerful magic. The Great and Powerful Trixie could then challenge them and push them to their limits. And Trix would see how they handled the challenge and gauge their personality.

This had all been going according to the script and The Great and Powerful Trixie had already had a couple of challengers when there was a commotion at the back of the crowd of ponies, zebra and impala that had gathered to watch. Looking up they had noticed several strange pink clouds moving in. The Great and Powerful Trixie had blustered onwards. Several times in the past pegasi had tried to claim that their feeble abilities to control clouds and other weather was a match for her great power. True she had never seen pink clouds before and she could not see any pegasus pushing these but she was certain that she could deal with them the same way she had dealt with ponies before.

Trix was less certain. Something strange was going on here. But The Great and Powerful Trixie's ego carried her onwards, mocking the pony who thought that mere pink clouds would defeat The Great and Powerful Trixie! Her horn lit up as she reached out her magic to turn the fluffy clouds into shapes of elephants... but her magic would not connect with the clouds, it slipped off them as though they were slippery in some way. She tried again but again the same thing happened. Trixie blustered and ranted about the silly ponies that thought they could best her while Trix scanned the crowd looking for the pony responsible for this. This was something she had not seen before and she needed to know what it was.

Trixie was just about to try a different sort of attack on the tormenting clouds when another commotion broke out at the back of the crowd. The edge of the park was ringed with the strange local trees - long and thin with wide branches at the top and a hard shelled fruit. As they watched the trees started to move, not the back and forth swaying of trees in the wind but an up and down motion. Then with astonishment Trix realized that they were getting closer. They had uprooted themselves and were walking forwards on their stumpy roots. The nearest group flexed back then shot forward, showering the watching crowd with their hard shelled fruit. Where the fruit hit it exploded, white fluff showering out and tangling up several ponies and impalas. The crowd panicked and scattered. At that point The Great and Powerful Trixie’s nerve broke and she bolted for her trailer.

Trix looked out of the window of her trailer. The town outside was in chaos, the walking trees were chasing groups of people everywhere throwing the explosive fruit at them. As she watched a group of pegasi flew past and attempted to buck one of the pink clouds to pieces but as they struck they seemed to become stuck to the cloud and they fell dangling by their rear hooves from them.

Trix turned back and paced her wagon. “Think filly, think,” she muttered to herself. “What could this be, it is not pony magic.
No pony you know of could achieve this effect - even Twilight - and it is somehow resistant to pony magic. Dragon sorcery? No there are no dragons for miles of here and anyway this is not their style. Zebra enchantment? No, stop being silly and think.”

Her self discussion was interrupted by a high pitched whistling sound and she twisted round. In the corner of the wagon there was a puff of green fire that coalesced into a scroll that dropped into the basket setup for it. Trix grabbed it up with her magic and unfurled it in front of her face, noting briefly as she did so that it was marked with Princess Celestia’s seal. Her blood froze as she read the message.

“Discord,” she breathed as she let the scroll drop. She had heard the story of the spirit of chaos and disharmony when she was a filly but she had also heard that he had been permanently dealt with by Celestia and Luna. Obviously the recent changes had meant he had broken free. She quickly scanned the rest of the message. Celestia said she would try to deal with him directly but she wanted all her friends try to help keep a lid on the manifestations of chaos where ever they were. Trix let the scroll fall to the floor and looked out of the window again. Yes, the towns folk of Cloptown needed help, but what could she do?

She strode over to the rack where she kept her outfits and started to shuffle through them. The Great and Powerful Trixie could not help. Trixie had power but under her ego she was a coward - look how she had bolted for her wagon at the first sign of trouble. Neither could Trix herself help, she was a watcher, an analyst not a doer. The outfits on the hanger flicked past. She needed somepony else, somepony who cared for ponies. Somepony who would risk their hide for complete strangers. The clothes on the rack moved faster and faster. No that would not do. No. No. Definitely no. She still even had that one? A flash of sparkles caught her eye and she stopped. Her? She looked out of the window and then back at the outfit on the hanger. Yes, her.

The group of Cloptown citizens fled down the streets, chased by a glade of the walking trees. Hard shelled fruit thudded into the walls of the buildings on either side, showering them with bricks and pieces of fluffy fruit. One of the galloping ponies spared a glance to the roof.

“What is that up on the roof?” he cried out. “Is it a griffin?”

“Is it a pegasus?” one of his companions echoed.

“No it’s...” His words where cut off by a fresh barrage of fruit. “RUN,” he screamed and the small group skidded round the corner of the street and into an alley.

Or more to the point a dead end. The small group skidded to a halt amidst the rubbish at the end and twisted round but the way back was blocked as two of the walking trees blocked out the light.

Ponies, zebras and impalas tried to hide in the junk, but the trees bent backwards and sent a barrage of explosive fruit towards them anyway.

Two boards floated out of the piles of rubbish surrounded by the blue glow of unicorn telekinesis. The boards swiftly floated in front of the group and with a thwack struck the fruit, sending them back over the trees.

“Look up there!” an impala shouted. All eyes turned to look at the roof line.

Standing on the edge of the roof, her horn still glowing, there was the unmistakable shape of a unicorn pony mare. Apart from her light blue coat and light blue mane the group could not make much of her out. She was standing in a cloud of sparkly smoke and was wearing a sparkly costume that covered both her face and her cutie mark.

Suddenly there was a pop and she disappeared only to reappear in an identical explosion of glittery smoke in front of the group. At the end of the alleyway the trees shook and launched another barrage at the new pony, but her horn glowed again and walls of magic swept the fruit away. The pony stamped her fore-hooves on the ground and two ropes flashed into existence on either side of her. She pawed her hoof on the ground, the ropes flexing and waving at her side, then she charged the trees.

The trees hurled more of their explosive fruit at her but her magic flicked out and almost contemptuously sent it flying. When she got close enough she leapt at them. They swiped at her with their branches and just as they were about to swat her out of the air she again disappeared in a cloud of sparkles only to reappear in the air above them.

For the next few seconds the crowd of Cloptown citizens watched stunned as the mare flickered in and out of a cloud of glittery smoke, dancing around the trees, her ropes following and trailing after her. Eventually she reappeared in front of them. Looking past her they saw that the trees were wrapped up in the rope and totally immobilized.

One of the group approached the pony.

“You saved our lives,” he said. “How can we ever thank you?”

Her dark violet eyes looked straight into his. “Your thanks are unnecessary,” she said. “To help those in need is its own reward.”

“Well, at least tell us your name!”

“My name is unimportant, but you can call me...” The mare paused for a few moments. “You may call me Lulamoon

There was another flash of glittery smoke and the mare vanished.

“Who was that mysterious mare?” one of the zebra’s asked. “Who saved us from our trouble there?”

Everybody in the group looked at each other but nobody knew the answer.

Lulamoon galloped across the flat roofs of Cloptown; in the distance she could hear the screaming of ponies, she galloped faster and jumped over a street wide gap. She would save them, she thought. The manifestations of chaos where dangerous but Lulamoon would save the ponies. It was her gift. Behind her eyes Trix watched, worried and hoped that Celestia would be able to deal with Discord before this got any worse.

Celestia screamed in agony as pain and chaos tore at her bond with the sun. Her legs gave way and she fell to the floor of her chambers. There was another surge of pain and the bond with the sun shattered and tore, ripping away from her.

“How does it feel?” The voice reached her through the red mists of agony. “Does it hurt when all that you are is torn away?”
With a titanic effort of will Celestia opened her eyes and focused on her tormenter.

“Discord,” she spat through gritted teeth.

The spirit of chaos and disharmony clapped his paws together. “Well done Celestia. Now what colour is the sky?”

Celestia summoned all her remaining strength and pushed herself to her hooves. White hot streaks of pain shot through her body as she did so but she persevered and stood erect. “You will never get away with this,” she gasped out.

“Oh Celestia you are sooo boring,” the draconequus said as he floated over to the window, “and the correct answer is ‘whatever colour I want it to be,' you see I have won. Chaos rules.”

“Never!” Celestia spat but she could feel it for herself; her bond with the sun was in tatters and she could feel the taint of chaos on it. “Luna,” she gasped.

“Oh she was fun.” Discord laughed. “Much less stuffy than you are. But even she was not really a match for me; she was so earnest, so forthright but in the end it was just too easy. Without those little baubles it was not really much of a challenge. I am ashamed that it took me so long to break out of that stone prison of yours."

Celestia had managed by supreme effort to pull herself over to the windows, these had a view out over the place gardens and out into the city of Canterlot proper.

The scene was a mess; the buildings of the city were floating randomly in the air, while in the foreground the gardens were a checker of different patterns of grass. The trees were walking round terrorizing the ponies Celestia could see or were growing upside down. The animals of the gardens where running amok, most of them looking strangely malformed. But it was the sculpture garden that shocked her the most. It looked mostly untouched apart from its new centre statue. Standing proudly in the centre was the statue of an alicorn; she was wearing full battle armour and was posed with her hooves upraised poised to strike down a helpless pony that stood in front of her. Even at this range Celestia could read the inscription on its base.

“Nightmare Moon.”

Anger rushed through her driving the pain back before it. She spun on her hooves and confronted the spirit of chaos and disharmony.

“YOU FIEND,” she screamed at him. She picked up a vase form the table next to her with her magic and flung it at Discord; before it hit him it disappeared in a puff of smoke, replaced with a teapot and teacup of a frilly design with matching wings which flew out of the window.

“Temper now,” Discord chided and he held up his lions paw and closed it into a fist.

Fresh agony shot through Celestia and she again fell to the floor.

“You fiend,” she repeated in a hoarse whisper when the pain had subsided. “You said you did not turn ponies to stone.”

“Oh Celestia,” Discord said in a singsong voice as he lounged in the air above her. “I am the spirit of chaos and disharmony.” He leaned down. “I lie,” he whispered in her ear.

Again Celestia tried to push herself to her hooves. “They will stop you, you know,” she gasped out. “Twilight and her friends, they will find the Elements of Harmony and they will stop you.”

Discord clapped his paws together and spun around. “Oh Celestia,” he said with glee. “I take it all back, you do have a sense of humour. That was the funniest thing you could have said.” He leaned close to her. “You see I have already defeated them.”

“No!” Celestia gasped.

“But yes.” Discord replied pulling back to the centre of the room. “The honest Applejack, the kind Fluttershy, the loyal Rainbow Dash, the generous Rarity, even the laughing Pinkie Pie. I felt a bit bad about that last one to tell you the truth but you cannot make an omelette without breaking eggs.”

As he said this a dozen eggs and a frying pan appeared by him; the eggs lined up and one at a time flung themselves into the frying pan, smashing themselves on the side before reappearing whole again at the far edge and rejoining the back of the line.

“And without her friends,” Discord continued, ignoring his flying circus. “Twilight... Well let me show you.

A column of gray smoke billowed up out of the centre of the room, then expanded out until it was about half a pony in diameter and stretched from floor to ceiling then just hung there. Gradually it shifted and Celestia suddenly realized she could make out shapes in it. The shape refined until she was looking at a clear image of some ponies standing in front of a tree. She realized that she was looking at. Ponyville, although it was hard to recognize it. The tree in the background was Twilight's library, that was clear, but the rest of the town in the background seemed to be jumbled up - it might have been the smoky effects but she could have sworn that some of the building where floating. Her attention shifted to the ponies in the foreground, five of them she thought, looking like Twilight and her friends, but with the lack of colour and the size of the figures she could not make out who was who. She picked herself up and walked closer, trying to work out which of the Bearers of the Elements was missing

“Hay! Down in front.”

She spun round to see Discord lounging in a high backed chair wearing a silly pair of glasses and holding a bucket of popcorn in his paws.

“Some of us are trying to watch the movie.”

She twisted back to the column of smoke. The ponies had formed themselves into a semicircle. They started to glow and float into the air, then the glow stuttered and the ponies fell back to the ground

“Such a great story,” Discord said from behind Celestia. “The different personalities. The passion. The conflict. The hope and then, just as it all looks as if it is going to be ok... Slam, it all falls apart.”

The ponies in the smoke had all gathered round and looked to be arguing with each other.

“This is my favourite part.” Discord's sneering voice said.

Suddenly the ponies broke away, all but one of them running off in a different direction. The view point from the smoke moved closer revealing that Twilight had been left standing all alone. She stood defiantly for a bit as her lips moved and then her head dropped. Celestia gasped. Twilights face was so expressive and she could almost see the hope fade from her student’s eyes. Then her face scrunched up and a single tear fell off her cheek; as it hit the ground the splash momentarily formed the shape of a broken heart.

“And there it is!” Discord screamed as he danced into Celestia’s view. “That is it, that is the shot. Alone, broken, abandoned by her friends the last hope for Equestria gives up, a master piece of manipulation and I did it all without ever touching her. A master piece even if I did say so myself, but let’s see what the critics think.”

There was a flash of light and Discord vanished. In his place appeared two smaller versions of him, sitting in high back chairs with strange swivels instead of legs, on either side of a low table.

“Sensational, just sensational," one of them exclaimed. "A masterpiece if ever I saw it, the way he worked on the fears and anxieties of each pony to break them one at a time and then to work all that to the end where he breaks their friendship without ever letting on that is what he is doing. Just fantastic - and that tear at the end... this guy is a genius.”

“Well let’s not go over the top,” the second Discord interrupted. “Yes he is good and you cannot dispute the quality of his work with pinkie pie and applejack but come on. That bit with the rainbow maned pegasus, that was just far to over dramatic. ...and that bit with Fluttershy. It is as if he just gave up, phoned the whole scene in and don’t get me started on that tear at the end! I mean can you say overly dramatic.”

“Well I think we are going to have to agree to disagree on that one, but what do you think - does he deserve the award?”

“Well as I said he is good, but award worthy? I think not.”

The miniature Discords vanished to be replaced with the full size version dressed in a black suit with a silly bow tie and clutching a gold stature of himself.

“Critics,” he said throwing the statue over his shoulder; when it hit the wall it splashed. “What do they know about anything.”
Celestia looked up at him. “Fine, you have won. Go ahead turn me into a statue as well.”

“Oh Tia, I have a much more elegant fate for you.” The draconequus floated up next to the doorway. “Celestia, Princess of Equestria I am going to do... nothing.”

“What?” Celestia exclaimed.

“Nothing.” Discord repeated with a casual shrug. “I do not need to do anything. You have no armies, no Elements, no power, no hope.” He turned to the door. “Goodbye Celestia. I hate to run but I have got chaos to spread. Hope you enjoy the rest of the show.” And with a backwards wave he disappeared through the door.

“Discord!” Celestia screamed after him, grabbing a chest of a shelf and throwing it at him. It flew through the smoke column and thudded into the wall by the door.

The sun dropped and the moon flew into the sky. Pain shot through Celestia as the magic of the sun scraped against the ragged edges of the bond.

“Come back here!” Celestia pushed herself to her hooves and chased through the door after the spirit of disharmony.

...and out of the wardrobe.

She looked round in confusion. Yes, this was her room. She turned around and examined the wardrobe back. It was solid. She turned to the window, spread her wings and leapt out.

And back through her mirror.

For the next few minutes she tried everything she could think of, but no matter what she tried she kept ending up back in the same room with the column of smoke in the middle still showing the image of a disheartened Twilight.

Curse you Discord, she thought as the sun and the moon again switched places and pain shot through her. Curse you for what you did to her. Celestia walked round the column of smoke looking at her prize pupil. She still seemed to be trudging disheartened through a distorted Ponyville. Celesta’s hooves brushed against something and she looked down curiously. The chest she had flung earlier had burst open and spilled scrolls all over the floor.

She picked one of them up and unfurled it. She read it and remembered what she had been keeping in that chest; these were all of Twilight's letters from Ponyville, her reports on the Magic of Friendship. She let the scroll fall to the floor and looked at the gray image of Twilight.

“Oh Twilight my prize student, if only you had remembered your own lessons.”

A sudden idea struck Celestia and she quickly re-rolled the scroll. Her friends may have abandoned Twilight but surely Spike would not. Spike was not just Twilight's friend, he was her assistant and he thought of the pony as an older sister. He would have stuck by her no matter what.

She held the scroll in front of her face, took a deep breath and pulled magic through the remains of her bond with the sun. Pain rasped at her as her magic scraped the edges of the chaos that had torn the bond off her and the resultant trickle of power was minuscule compared to what she had wielded before but maybe it would be enough. Quickly she teased out the magic into a thin line and wrapped it round the scroll. Would it be enough?

She gritted her teeth and ‘squeezed’ the message spell. The scroll rocked and twisted as Celestia twisted the magic harder. Sparks of green fire flared along the path of the magic as it tried to force the scroll out of existence; for one moment Celestia thought it was going to work as fire blossomed but then the spell snapped and the lines of magic fell apart.

Celestia collapsed to the floor. Curse you Discord, she thought again, curse you for not even leaving me enough power to send a message. Pain wracked her again as the sun abruptly set and the moon rose.

The moon.

She looked out of the window in sudden realization. With Luna not present the bond with the moon would again be lose like it was at a millennium ago. She reached out and grabbed the moon. For a thousand years she had been goddess of both the sun and the moon; she could be so again for a few hours. More pain reached her as she felt the jagged chaos on the moon's link but it the moon itself was blessedly clean. Last time she had held this bond there had been the taint of the
Nightmare on everything but not now.

Again she drew power, this time from both heavenly bodies, wrapping the twin lines of magic round the scroll. She squeezed the spell and the magic flared along the length of the spells. The scroll rocked and twisted and Celestia feared the even now she would not have the power but suddenly the spell caught and green fire engulfed the scroll. Celestia let out a sigh of relief as for an instant she caught a glimpse of the scroll’s essence as the magic whisked it away to its recipient.

She reached out a hoof and picked up a second scroll. This was not time for subtlety; Twilight needed to remember, needed to understand the Magic of Friendship. Again Celestia teased out the magic and sent the message.

She did not know how long she lay there. Pickup a scroll, tease out the magic of the message spell, scream as the magic tore at the jagged edges of the bond. Send the message. Repeat.

Eventually there were no more scrolls left to send and Celestia relaxed.

Well Twilight my best pupil, she thought, looking into the image in the smoke. I know how much you hate to fail a test, pass this one for me, show me how well you have been studying.

The white light faded. Silver Scroll opened her eyes and cautiously looked round her office. Everything seemed to be back to normal. She put down the letter opener she had been using to defend herself from the aggressive piles of paper work, yes even the carpet was back where it belonged on the floor.

She breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed that Miss Sparkle and her friends must have succeeded. She walked over to the big French windows and pushed them open.

The air outside smelled fresh and clear and looking around it seemed that the rest of the town was returned to normality as well. The buildings where all the right way round and returned to the ground, the ground itself was the correct colour and the sky was mercifully empty of cotton candy clouds full of chocolate rain. She walked carefully to the balcony and looked around.

In the streets, streets mercifully empty of tutued dancing buffalo or bunnies with three meter legs she noted, ponies were standing round with dazed expressions on their faces. Yes, the town had indeed seemed to be returned to normal. She was scanning the view when she heard a shouting drifting in form the other side

“Ah, yeah, take that. And this. Take my wings would you! I will show you who is the awesome one round here. Ha!”

With trepidation infringing on her curiosity Sliver Scroll made her way around the balcony to the south side of the building. Looking out over to the edge of the town she saw the little group assembled in the meadow.

Twilight was at the centre of a group of four of her friends, standing at one edge of the meadow. In the middle the last of her friends, Rainbow Dash, was making dive bombing attacks at what seemed to be a fallen over statue. It was the pale blue pegasus mare who'd been doing the shouting that Silver Scroll had heard.

She sighed heavily and bustled back into her office. It may be over for everypony else but it seemed she still had work to do.

“Cortnay,” she shouted as she came back inside. The door opened and her assistant's ginger maned head popped through.

“Oh Mayor,” she exclaimed “I am so glad to see you are okay.” The Mayor waved her silent.

“Yes Cortnay, I am glad to see you made it through in one piece as well. Can we put a hold on the congratulatory hug
please there are a few things that I need you to do urgently."

Cortnay nodded and her head disappeared.

Her assistant was a good pony, Silver Scroll thought, and in a few years when she had gotten a lot more experience and maturity Silver Scroll knew that she would make as good an administrator as that cutie mark of hers told the world she would.

Cortnay returned in a few seconds with a pad and a pencil.

“Right, first find Dark Lantern and get him and some other members of the watch over to the south meadow and put a guard on the statue they will find there. I want everypony kept a good distance from it - at last as far as the edge of the field. Especially the “cutie mark crusaders.” If we could keep them on the other side of town for my preference but the edge of the field will do. While he is at it tell him to see if he can subtly keep Miss Sparkle and her friends form wandering off. I would like them to be on hoof if necessary; she should be smart enough to work this out for herself but sometimes she can be a bit unpredictable.”

Cortnay nodded.

“Second, find me a fast message pegasus - preferably one who is known to the guards at the palace. I have an urgent message for Princess Celestia.”

Cortnay nodded again.

“Third, find Miss Minuette and Miss Heartstrings and tell them to get here. They should be on their way here anyway if they have any sense, but if not I need to see them. You got all that?”

Cortnay nodded for a final time and disappeared back out of the mayor’s office.

Silver Scroll sat down behind her desk and hunted out a piece of parchment, picked up her pen in her mouth and started to write her message to Celestia. Presumably she already knew that Twilight and her friends had succeed in stuffing Discord back in his statue, but it never hurt to be safe and even if she did know she might not know where to find the statue and she needed to come and get it.

Just as she finished writing there was a knock on her door and a gray coated pegasus with straw colored mane and the saddle bags of a message pony came in. Silver Scroll hid a wince. Well yes, she was a message pegasus and yes she was known to the guards at the palace but she wished her assistant had found a different pegasus. Still this one did always seem to have a habit of being everywhere in town; she was probably just hanging around in front outside the town hall. She carefully rolled up her message, sealed it and give it to the message pony.

“Now Derpy listen carefully. You are to take this to Canterlot and give it to Princess Celestia or to Winged Sword only. You understand?”

The straw maned pegasus repeated her instructions back to her.

“Good. Get going then.”

Derpy walked over to the large French windows, opened them and leapt into the sky. Silver Scroll followed her out on to the balcony. Well, she had at least started off in the right direction, there was hope for her message yet. She again looked down into the town square. A fairly large group of curious ponies was already gathering near the south meadow and she felt a stab of worry when she saw three small shapes pushing their way excitedly through the crowd; but then she saw with relief that Dark Lantern and the watch had already setup a guard and were keeping the ponies back from the statue.
She was probably worrying over nothing. The spell that held the spirit of chaos and disharmony encased in stone could not be that weak; he had been on display in the royal statue garden for pony knew how long after all and even if he did by some horrible coincidence get lose then presumably Miss Sparkle and the rest could just stuff him straight back in again. But better safe than sorry. She spotted two ponies making their way casually but definitely towards the town hall. Anyway, she thought as she went back inside, that statue was covered in sharp points; it was almost certainly a health and safety hazard.

A few minutes later there was a knock on her door and her assistant showed in the two ponies, who took seats in front of the Mayor's desk.

“Lyra, Colgate,” Silver scroll started, “everything okay?” Both the mint green Lyra Heartstrings and the light blue Colgate Minuette were agents of hers and kept a close eye on the goings on round the town for her when they were not busy doing their other jobs.

“We had a little look round as we were heading over here,” Colgate answered. “Everything seems to be back the way it was, we could not see anything out of place.”

“Apart from the new art installation in the south meadow,” Lyra chipped in.

“Well yes, apart from that we seem to be back to normal.”

“Yes, that is what I thought from what I could see up here. How where the townsfolk?”

Colgate rocked her head from side to side. “They seemed to be managing quite well considering what happened. Most of them are putting it down to some sort of mass dream or hallucination. And completely ignoring the little physical evidence to the contrary.”

Silver scroll gave this some thought. “Okay,” she said eventually. “This is what I want you two to do. First Colgate, head out to the edge of town - you know those new rock farmers?” Colgate nodded “They are in fact not rock farmers but members of the royal guard sent here incognito by Celestia to keep an eye on the local diamond dogs.”

Colgate smiled. “I did wonder why they were no good at rock farming.”

The Mayor smiled. “Yes, next time I am going to suggest to Celestia that perhaps she includes some real rock farmers in any group she sends out. Anyway, find the one calling himself Rock Pick and tell them to do a brief scout round the edge of the town and make sure all our 'neighbours' are undisturbed. After that head over to the Everfree Forest and get Zecora to do the same there.”

She turned to the other pony. “Lyra, hang around the crowd and just make sure that nopony is going to do anything stupid. I do not want to hear about 'cutie mark crusaders statue removers' or similar anytime soon.”
Lyra nodded as well.

“Right, get going and report back in a couple of hours.”

Silvers scroll slumped on her seat as her two friends left the office. Everything seemed to be going okay... now what had she forgotten?

Celestia could hear the voices drift through the door as she made her way up to the entrance to the Sunrise room. Hesitating at the door she listened carefully. It was not eavesdropping, she told herself, she was merely being very slow in actually opening the door. To put the lie to her words she then bent low and pressed her ear to the door to make the speech clearer.

“The mysterious Lulamoon ? Really Trix, could you not have been more subtle about it?” That was the voice of Spitfire, leader of the Wonderbolts and also Celestia’s first response team for a crisis.

“Lulamoon IS subtle.” That voice was Trix, pony of a thousand disguises and Celestia's number one source of information on the goings on around the larger world. “She is much more subtle than The Great and Powerful Trixie.” There was a few seconds of sniggering at Trix’s exaggerated pronouncement of her main alter ego’s name.

“Yes but Lulamoon? Why not just be the Mysterious MareDoWell and blow all the subtly.”

“Well largely because I do not have her outfit. I am surprised I still have Lulamoon's and I am just glad that that comic never made it to that part of the world. Anyway Spit, you miss the point entirely. Lulamoon was just the pony that was needed in that crises, nopony else would have done. Those trees where a nightmare to deal with - and those cotton candy clouds gave the local pegasi a fright - not to mention nearly scaring the Great and Powerful Trixie half to death. Did you have them in Cloudsdale?”

“Them and more. We nearly lost the weather factory to a cola flood and the thunderhead district was half buried in icing sugar. How about you Mayor?”

“Bunnies with three meter long legs, ballet dancing buffaloes in tutus.” That voice was Silver Scroll, Mayor of Ponyville and Celestia's guide to the paths of the future. “And I was attacked in my office by aggressive piles of paper work.” There was a general sound of laughter at this revelation. “...a bureaucrats worst nightmare I am telling you. I still see them even now looming over me chanting ‘sign me, sign me’ in a crackling voice.”

“Tia what are you doing?”

Celestia jumped at the unexpected voice.

“I was not eavesdropping!” she blurted out before she recognized where the voice came from and turned round. “Lun, what are you doing up?”

Luna was standing in the corridor behind her. She looked almost as bad as she had when Celestia had first rescued her from the grip of the Nightmare. Celesta looked at Winged Sword who stood a little sheepishly behind and to one side of her sister.

“She insisted,” he said defensively in response to Celestia’s inquisitive glare. “She insisted quite forcefully as a matter of fact.”

“Yes I did,” Luna replied, showing quite a bit of the forcefulness in her tone. “Come on Tia, you where the one that said that I needed to get out and get involved in things and so I am, I am getting involved with the running of this kingdom starting with these secret meetings of yours.”

Celestia gave Winged Sword another glare.

“Don’t look at me,” he said backing away. “I did not tell her.”

“He did not have to,” Luna said. “Come on Tia, I have met most of these ponies in the past year and I know how you work. You like to work with ponies you know and like to keep a personal eye on things. It did not take me long to work out. Now I want to be involved, so no more arguments.”

Celestia looked at her sister. Her mane was again washed out and her colour was faded. “Lun, I am not sure that you are really well enough to be out of bed,” she said with feeling.

“Nonsense,” Luna replied forcefully. “I am fine.”

Celesta put all her force of personality into her disbelieving stare.

“Okay, I feel lousily,” her sister admitted. “But I want to be involved. Come on Tia.”

Celestia held up her hooves in surrender “Okay Luna, fine. If you insist. Shall we go in and I can officially introduce you to everypony?”

Luna nodded. “If, that is, you have finished eavesdropping,” she added with a mischievous grin.

Celestia smiled in return and swung the double doors open.

The room beyond contained about a dozen ponies, most of them clustered in casual groups. As she entered some of them bowed formally but not all of them. Celesta did not mind. These ponies where her personal friends and most trusted of agents.

“Relax my little ponies,” she said casually. “As always these meetings are informal and mostly never happened.”
The ponies in the room sat down on the chairs and couches as Winged Sword closed the door behind the princesses and took position in front of it.

Celestia sat down on a couch and Luna took the one beside her. Cups of tea levitated in front of her and Luna. “Thank you Trix,” she said without even looking up. She took a sip, as always Trix over sweetened it, and put it down on the table beside her. “Now before we begin,” she announced, “I think most of you have already met the Princess Luna but even those of you who have not been personally introduced will know who she is.” There was a general mutter of greeting. “Luna, I will introduce you to the ponies you have not met before afterwards.” Celestia took another sip of her tea. “Right, well I guess the first topic of discussion really needs no further introduction. Discord.”

Celestia looked at her sister lying asleep on the couch, gently snoring.

“She looks so cute when she is asleep, does she not?” she said to Winged Sword who stood beside her. =

“All ponies look cute when they are asleep,” he replied, “even you Tia.”

Celesta put on a shocked expression. “I will have you know that as a Royal Princess I always look regal even when I am asleep.”

“Of course your Highness,” Winged Sword said with mock seriousness, “and the collection of royal stuffed toys only enhances the majesty of the royal bedchamber.”

“Well of course. Most of those toys are older than a lot of towns and cities and by now they have learnt how to behave with dignity.” Celesta looked back at Luna and used her magic to pull a blanket over her sister.

“I think it is best if we let her sleep. Could you inform Bluebell where she is and have her here so she is not alone when she wakes up?” This last was to one of the other guards. She turned back to Winged Sword. “We have to go and get ready for the official dedication ceremony.”

“Should we not wake Luna? She should be there, I am sure that there will be a lot of ponies who will be upset that she is absent.”

Celesta shook her head. “I do not think so. Red Star was right, she is worn out and she needs her rest. I am sure the ponies will not be too upset without her. This is after all supposed to be about Twilight and her friends not me or Luna.”

“Of course your Highness.”

Celestia gave her sleeping sister one final look. “Come on then Wing,” she said turning to the door. “We have a formal occasion to attend.”

Celestia stood in all her finery on the raised platform at the end of the hall. In the distance, at the end past the immense crowd of ponies, she saw Winged Sword in heated debate with a couple of other guard ponies. Finally they hurried off and as he looked up she caught his eye. He shook his head and disappeared of to one side and she lost him behind the crowd. Obviously there was still some delay.

The crowd of ponies was gathered here in this special chamber for a celebration and dedication. This hall was the place where all the memories of the history of Equestria where celebrated and they were gathered here to dedicate a new one. One in celebration of the victory of Twilight Sparkle and her friends over Discord.

She looked over at the wall where a hanging curtain covered the latest monument. A stained glass window that Celestia had had made in record time. And then back along all the others. They represented her greatest triumphs and sometimes bitterest failures she thought; as was her habit when she was standing here her mind ran over them.

At the far end right by the door was a triptych painting showing two winged ponies in battle; one brilliant white the other midnight black - this was her fight with Nightmare Moon. The final panel of the three showed her imprisoning her sister in the moon. This painting was always painful, but much less so now that her sister was back with her.

Next up was a rather over-done marquetry panel inlayed with gold and precious gems showing her emerging from a cloud with the sun's golden rays behind her. It was supposed to represent her return to Equestria from her self-imposed exile. On the clouds in front of her pegasus ponies were bowing down to her. If only it had been that easy.

The next was a statue showing a pony standing on its rear legs, front legs up and wide apart, the chains that had held it snapped and falling lose. This was a more generic monument to one of her efforts to rid Equestria of the vile slave trade. It was more optimistic than she had been at the time.

The next was one of the biggest; a massive painting in canvases and oils done in the overly realistic classical style. It was nearly the length of three ponies and showed a full spread of the battle for the smoky mountain. It was a very famous work and was incredibly detailed having taken its creator years to paint according to one of the studies she had read over four hundred individual ponies could be made out by either their colouring or cutie marks but she had never gotten past the ones important to her. Sheet Lighting in the sky leading a wing against a dragon. Her six brave foals by Celestia’s side and in the far corner and Sunrise leading a charge of very young ponies indeed.

Celestia moved on and as it always did her heart stopped at the next painting; a much more stylized work. It showed the city of Canterlot being rebuilt in the background, while in the foreground a group of ponies were dragging a litter towards her. On the litter was the body of dark coated pony with a white stripe in his mane; the way he was painted you could not make out his cutie mark but there was no mistaking who it was. Sheet Lighting. In the clouds above the scene ponies and griffins stood side by side heads bowed, supposedly representing how his death had been pivotal in bringing ponies and griffins back together. She moved swiftly on but the next painting was almost more painful than the one of Sheet Lighting.

It showed her lying on the ground in the remains of a courtyard, a large, brilliant yellow pony poised over her with hooves and strange wings up and ready to strike. Between the two a small filly stood; Sun Dancer and Sunset.

She moved on before her mood became too dark. The next was another statue. Three ponies; one of each type dressed for battle. The earth pony lead the way dressed in heavy plate armour with head down and charging. Behind him came the unicorn; lighter quilted amour and a spell enhancing jewelled crown clearly visible. His head was up as if he was casting a spell. Above them a pegasus dived down, scale amour and sharpened wing blades gleaming. The trio always looked to her as if they were about to charge right of the pedestal. She could never remember if this had been made to commemorate the first or second diamond dog war and it kept moving round the room as she changed her mind.

Next was a formal group painting with ponies sitting stiffly in two rows. She sat in the middle front row, ponies dressed in their finery on either side. On her left sat a rather finely dressed and prim looking mare and on her right a scruffier orange stallion. This was the first group of students from the school for gifted unicorns, with Book Dancer and Astonish. She always checked this picture carefully as Astonish had a habit of pulling faces if she did not stay on top of him.

She was distracted from her trip down memory lane by a flutter of activity from the back of the room, but it seemed like they were still not ready. She looked round at the crowd of ponies but it seemed they were not getting to restless yet. The crowd was mainly made up of ponies from Ponyville. In the front was Silver Scroll, chatting to a light blue mare on her left. On the Mayor's right Celestia recognized Lyra talking to a cream earth pony. Celesta thought it important that the ponies of Ponyville were here for this event; it was their friends that were going to be honoured and it would mean a lot to them.
Winged Sword stood in front of the large double doors at the end of the hall and waved a hoof to Celestia before disappearing back to his official place; at last it seemed they were ready to begin.

The big double doors at the end of the room opened to reveal the heroes of the hour, Twilight Sparkle, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie. The band struck up and they started to walk down the middle of the crowd of ponies. Celestia felt the pride of the assembled ponies as their friends walked forward to receive their reward. They deserved it she thought, they had defeated Discord and kept Equestria safe. Celesta felt a spark of pride at the thought.
She looked at around the room at the paintings and statues, It had been with the help of those ponies that she had rebuilt Equestria after the devastation caused by the fight with Nightmare Moon. It was with the help of those ponies that she had protected Equestria in the long years since her return and kept her ponies safe. She looked down at the assembled ponies and the heroes of the hour as they made their way towards her; it would be with the help of these ponies and ponies like them that she and her sister would keep Equestria safe from whatever would come to assail it, just as they had stopped Discord.

Well done my little ponies, she thought as they stopped in front of her. Very well done indeed.

END

Authors notes

And so I've finished my first pony story and in fact the first piece of fantasy writing I have actually completed. Please leave comments; I really would appreciate everypony's thoughts on what I have written.

First of my deep thanks to Luna-tic Scientist who did amazing work translating the gibberish I pretend is English into readable text; you can find his work here:

http://www.fimfiction.net/index.php?view=category&user=8115

I am sure you will like it.

I decided to write this story after reading a few captioned images I found on the internet basically accusing Celestia of being lazy or tyrannical and so I put together a story showing some of the behind the scenes work that might have gone on. Showing what people who only see Twilight's side of the plan might not see and that they might not notice the complexities of what is happening, particularly in episodes like Dragonshy, Sonic Rainboom and Bird in the Hoof.

I decided to finish it here because I always planned to fit it in round the series without infringing on it. It is a behind the scenes story and I do not want to continue it over season 2 so I am using the defeat of Discord as a nice ending point. I might do some follow up short stories to this series so watch this space.

BTW the title comes from the fact that I found the plot from the pilot episode on the “batman gambit” section of tvtropes.

Bonus 1. The Amulet Aftermath

Zecora, sprit talker, and agent of the king of Zebrica, looked at the small blue pony sitting huddled on the seat in her tree hut in the Everfree forest. The mare looked even smaller than usual, her big pointed hat sagged over her face while her star covered purple cloak was wrapped tight round her

“Trix you do not look well, it’s true,” Zecora said, walking over to the fire and grabbing the kettle, “here, let me pour you some more of my brew.”

“Thank you, Zecora,” Trix stammered, holding out the cup in her fore hooves.

Zecora refilled the pony’s cup and retreated back across her hut, keeping a careful eye on the huddled pony. She was getting better, and at least now she was responding to her proper name. When Zecora had first found her, roaming wildly around the edge of the Everfree forest, she had been insisting that a collection of rocks and bushes call her ‘The Great and Powerful Trixie,’ and ranting about how it was all the fault of the wheels, and how she would have her revenge. She had become quite violent when Zecora had approached her, and had tried to use her magic to turn Zecora into what Zecora thought had probably been a penguin, but between Zecora’s training as a sprit talker, and the fact that The Great and Powerful Trixie seemed to be unable to concentrate, the spell had fallen apart well before Zecora had started growing feathers.

Zecora had managed to persuade Trixie to come back to her hut and, with the aid of some of Zecora’s potions, she seemed to be recovering nicely.

There was the sound of wings flapping and then suddenly the sound of hooves and wheels on the muddy floor of the forest.

“Ah, what is that I hear?” Zecora muttered, walking over to the window. “Could it be that the princess is near?” Looking out the window, she saw the familiar shape of the royal chariot and the brightly armoured royal guards. As usual, the guard ponies looked very nervous about landing in the forest. They’re heads twisted this way and that at the various sounds. Zecora smiled inwardly; while they were, of coarse, very brave ponies, in the princess’ personal guard they were mostly city ponies with an inherent distrust of nature.

There was a knock on the door.

“Do not linger outside, guest.
Come in, and take your rest”

The door opened, and Celestia and Winged Sword entered. The princess of the sun wore a concerned expression. She saw the huddled form of Trixie sitting in the corner and turned to Zecora, her face twisted in dismay.

“How is she?” she asked, skipping over all the formalities. “I got the message that you had managed to remove....it... without any further damage.” Her gaze shot to the small wooden box sitting on a shelf by the door. “But we both know that nature of that magic. Is she... herself?”

“SHE is sitting right over here, you know.” Trix said from underneath the hat.

“I really hope she is,” Celestia said, turning to gaze at the blue little pony.

“I am fine, Tia. I am back in control and I am myself again.”

Celestia looked back at the zebra. “Is she? Has she been showing any renewed effects? Trying to use her magic to change things or control you?”

Zecora rocked her head side to side in the Zebra equivalent of a shrug.

“Not since I got her back here,
Although she has not been very clear,
but that is not surprising, you see,
as I put Fork Root in her tea.”

“You drugged me!” Trix exclaimed, looking at the cup in her hooves.

“It is for your own good,” Celestia told her sharply. “That thing--” She again pointed at the innocent looking wooden box. “--feeds off the magical power of the unicorn wielding it; the more powerful you are, the faster it twists you -- even with it off, you where still under its effects. We had to temporally drain your magic in order to try to cure you.”

“I wondered why I could not stand up.” She looked at her hooves. “And why these are a funny colour.”

Zecora felt a pang of sympathy for Trix. Fork Root did funny things to unicorns; first it drained their magic, and because of that the made them terribly weak. Magic was not just some sort of additional thing to a unicorn; it was part of their very being, it ran through their body and kept them alive. She knew some tales of unicorns who had eaten Fork Root raw and had died from it, their hearts failing when the magic was withdrawn. Quite apart from that, it was mildly hallucinogenic.

Celestia looked at the unicorn and walked over to the table. Taking a seat on the opposite side, Zecora noted that Winged Sword placed himself next to his princess, but closer to the potently dangerous unicorn. He also did not sit completely; instead he maintained an alert crouch. It was clear that he, at least, did not completely trust her.

“So,” Celestia said, looking deep into the unicorn’s eyes, “who am I talking to?”

The unicorn across the table leaned over to her and tried to return the stare, but her eyebrows were twitching and her eyes could not focus properly. That could be the Fork Root.

“It is me, Tia. Trix”

“Are you sure?”

“Well, of course I could be a butterfly dreaming I am a pony. But I think that metaphysical question was dealt with years ago.”

“Really, that thing over there does make you believe you are not who you are.”

“No really, Tia, I am fine. Well, I am full of Fork Root, so I am smelling colours and seeing sounds, but I am me again. I know the dangers of the Alicorn Amulet and I am free from it now.”

“So what in Discord’s name were you doing wearing it in the first palace.” Celestia almost shouted.

“I’m not really sure.”

“Not really sure? Trix, you know how dangerous that thing is -- did you not take precautions, were you not ready for it?”

“Of course I did , Tia. I am not a foal, I have been doing this for long enough to know how to handle dangerous magics, but that thing--” She stopped. “--it calls to you. I can feel it even now.”

Celestia nodded. She could as well, even from inside the protective box Zecora had made. It was a gentle pull at the back of her mind, sort of like a hunger that you know would be sated if you took just one bite of that cake.

“And that stupid earth pony had, of course, not taken any precautions, and... Trixie has a bit of an ego, so she believed that she could manage it, and, well, it is all a little blurry.” Trix waved her hoof in the air; it caught her eye and she stared at it while waving it experimentally back and forth .

“Okay Trix, let’s start at the beginning. Where did you find it in the first place?”

Trix smiled. “In a small shop in the back streets of Canterlot, if you believe that. I had been travelling near Manehatten, and one of the silly little unicorns who thought they could defeat The Great And Powerful Trixie--” She stopped, realising she had declaimed that last sentence. “--well, one of them said that she knew of a powerful necklace that would have given her power to best me. And we all know what that means. Well, it turned out they did not know where it was -- they had heard about it from a friend who had heard about it from a friend who had heard about it from a pegasus in a bar somewhere.

Took me a month or two to finally track it down to that small shop. I almost fainted when I saw what that silly earth pony had behind his counter. He even knew its name – Tia, he actually called it the ‘Alicorn Amulet,’ claimed it had great power. I do not think he knew what he really had his hooves on, otherwise he would not have parted with it for all the bits in Las Pegasus. Even so, he would not sell it until I dumped a bag load of bits on the counter.” She stopped and looked thoughtful for a second. “By the way, Tia, you owe me two hundred and seventy five bits. I have the receipt somewhere.”

Celestia waved a hoof dismissively. “Submit it to the treasury; I am sure they will get around to it before the end of the year. Keep going.”

“Well, I remember getting it back to my wagon and unwrapping it, and I stared at it for a little and then....” she trailed off, “well, then it gets a bit fuzzy. You know what that thing does to a pony’s mind? Well, I remember becoming Trixie -- more than usual, I mean I really believed that I was her -- I totally forgot who I was, I really believed that I had been humiliated by Twilight. It created this whole past for her, this whole history that never happened. I remember telling ponies that I had been forced to work on a rock farm to make money. Can you believe that -- a rock farm! Then I remember challenging Twilight to a duel, and something about a bubble over Ponyville. There is something in there about apples and wheels for some reason.” She put her head in her fore hooves. “I really cannot remember much else. Did I do anything serious? Did I hurt anypony?”

Celestia shook her head. “Nothing that won’t heal; although I think that you should not be expecting a Heart’s Warming card from Silver Scroll anytime soon.”

“So all that business with the banners and the statues was not a dream?”

“I think it was when you put her in a cage outside her own townhall that most upset her.”

“Oh,” Trix said.

Zecora could clearly see her imagining the rather proper mayor of Ponyville’s reaction.

“Well, I am glad you managed to get me out from under its effects before I actually hurt anypony -- even if I am going to have to spend the next few months apologising.”

Zecora nodded.

“I too am glad of Miss Sparkle’s scheme’s success.
For you see, I must confess,
That had we had to use the next best plan,
while we would have done the best we can,
the end result of this to-do,
might not have been as pleasant for you.”

Celestia nodded. The arrival of The Great and Powerful Trixie wielding the Alicorn Amulet had come as a surprise, and by the time Silver Scroll or any of her agents in the town had realised the danger, Trixie had defeated Twilight, put up her glass dome over Ponville, and established a one unicorn reign of terror. With Spike trapped inside the dome, Twilight had no way to communicate directly with the princess. Fortunately, she had gone to Zecora, and Zecora had managed to communicate with Red Star in Canterlot. But they’d had very little information to go on.

Twilight had not been able to tell them very much, other than the fact that Trixie had returned and she had seemed to be able to wield much more power. Both Zecora and Red Star where very confused as to why Trix would be acting like this. Celestia had been away on her diplomatic mission to Saddle Arabia,## and Luna was up in the crystal empire with Cadence and Shining Armour, so there had been a day of near panic with messenger birds and pegasus ponies flitting back and forth.

Then Fluttershy had come with the news that they had identified the strange new necklace as the ‘Alicorn Amulet.’ Based on Zecora’s first report Red Star had already provided a list of the possible reasons why Trix had started to behave like that -- and some of the nasty implications of them -- the Amulet was near the top of it. Zecora had suggested to Twilight that she might try to trick Trixe to take it off, more as a way of getting her to lower the shield than with any hope of success.

The backup plan had consisted of some dozen or so of the strongest unicorns in the Canterlot Guard, who had snuck into Ponyville when Trixe had removed the shield, some of Silver Scrolls agents, and a spell that Red Star and Zecora thought might be able to neutralize the amulet, but as Red Star had put it: ‘Because of the way the magic of the amulet and its wearer integrates, there is a good chance that both might be neutralised, and a better than even chance that they might damage the surrounding area when it happens.’ Everything else considered, Zecora was very glad that they had managed to use Trixie’s ego against her.

Trix tried to give the small box a meaningful look, but her eyes still would not focus properly. “Well, I hope Red Star appreciates the effort I went to retrieve that for him.”

Celestia nodded. “I am sure some of us will sleep more soundly knowing that one more dangerous magical artefact is properly locked away. There is much tension at the moment with the return of the Crystal Empire.”

“How were the Saddle Arabians?”

“Nervous as usual, but I think I managed to reassure them. The reappearance of the Crystal Empire has everyone on edge. The crystal ponies have a lot of innate magic and, of course, they traditionally have strong ties with Equestria; even more so now. And we could not exactly keep it hidden, could we?”

Trix nodded. She had seen the light show from Manehatten

“They have a delegation coming to Ponyville, and Twilight is putting on a show for them. I flew ahead as soon as I got the message form Zecora and Red Star.”

“Why?”

“Why what, my little pony?”

“You know what I mean, Tia. Why take them to Ponyville? Why not Canterlot or Manehatten?”

Celestia smiled. “Because Ponyville is a place of peace and harmony where all races live together cooperatively and peace reigns undisturbed.”

Trix sat silently for a while. Then a grin spread slowly over her muzzle. “You want them to meet Twilight.”

“I can see you are recovering well, Trix.”

“You want them to meet Twilight and show them that the Elements of Harmony are well guarded, and ready to be used if it should become necessary. In case of something like Discord. Or the Changelings, or Sombra or, well, me for that matter.”

“Nice to see you have completely recovered your usually good grasp of diplomatic realities, Trix,” Celestia said as she stood.

“Tia, I often wondered why you called it the ‘peaceful, harmonious kingdom of Equestria.’ ”

“Optimism, my little pony. I thought if I put it in the name, maybe someday somepony would take the hint.”

She turned to where her silent Guard pony had sat for the entire meeting. “Wing, would you gather up some of your ponies and take that--” She pointed at the innocent looking box containing the Alicorn amulet . “--back to Canterlot and give it personally to Red Star.”

The white pegasus looked like he was about to protest, but Celestia held up a hoof. “I will be fine, Wing, there is a whole unit of guard ponies with the group from Saddle Arabia, not to mention all the Saddleian guards.”

Winged Sword still did not look to happy.

“Look, how about I promise not to run off and fight any manticores until you get back, okay? I need somepony I can rely on to get that thing back to Canterlot. Now, I do not want it anywhere near any unicorn ponies. I can feel its pull myself, I need it taken back to safety, and I need it done quickly and by sompony I can trust.”

Wing pursed his lips, but he nodded and grabbed the box off the shelf by the door and left. There was the sound of shouted orders and the flapping of wings retreating into the night.

Celestia turned to Zecora. “I better get back to the delegation before I am missed. It was nice to see you, Zecora. We must find a time to meet when the kingdom is not threatened with imminent disaster.”

“It was nice to see you to Tia,
perhaps we can meet before next year.”

“What about you, Trix?” She turned to where the blue unicorn seemed to be intently studying Zecora’s table.

The blue unicorn snapped her attention back to the princess of the sun. “Well, first I think I am going to sleep off this accursed drug she fed me, and then I think The Great And Powerful Trixie might make an appearance in Ponyville, see if I can do some fence mending. After that, I think my first priority has to be to find my wagon. You do not know where I left it, do you?”

Celestia laughed, waved goodbye and left the little hut in the tree in the forest.

Bonus 2. The academy record

Celestia, co-ruler of Equestria and Princess of the Sun, carefully parted the waterfall curtain and peered out into the bar of the Thunderhead. As always the bar was gloomily; the black clouds made the place dim and it was only really properly lit by the occasional flash of lightning across the ceiling.

The Thunderhead was what the pegasi of Las Pegasus called a ‘crater’, i. e. what you got below a dive. It was a squat cloud building at the one end of the strip, built out of a permanently gloomily thunderstorm that seemed to match the predominate mood of its patrons.

One such patron sat slumped over the end of the bar. A fairly young opal coated mare, she sat in her own personal cloud of gloom, a row on empty glasses in front of her, and her amber mane lying messily around her head.

Celestia let the waterfall flow back and turned to the ponies in the back room. "That’s her?” She waved a hoof at the bar.

“Yep, that’s her,” an orange coated pegasus said from where she was lounging on a cloud with a drink. “The famous Lightning Dust”

“How long has she been here?”

Stormcloud, the owner and barpony for the Thunderhead, looked at the clock. “What day is it?”

“Wednesday”

“What month then.”

All the ponies in the room gave him painful glances; apparently a bad sense of humour was mandatory for running the Thunderhead.

“I think she came straight here when you threw her out of the academy, Spit,” the bar pony said. “She glided, in slumped down, ordered a rainbow ‘the hard way, hold the dust’, and she has not moved since. What did you say to her?”

Spitfire shrugged. “I did not think I was that harsh on her.”

“You did just chuck her out of her dream. Anypony is going to crash-land hard after that,” the bar pony added. The Thunderhead had seen a lot of ponies who were on the downside of their personal dream.

“She had just wrecked a balloon and nearly caused five ponies to fall to their deaths.” Spitfire stopped and looked thoughtful for a few moments. “Well, four ponies. I am sure that Fluttershy would have remembered she had wings eventually.”

Celestia turned to the fourth pegasus in the room, a very nondescript gray stallion. “Are you sure about her?” she asked him.

The pony nodded. “Absolutely,” he said, “ever since Spitfire told me about her we thought she would fit in nicely.”

Celestia knew the fourth pony only as ‘Snowflake,’ and she knew it was not the name his mother had called him. But Celestia had known him for many years now, and since he had proven his loyalty in many and varied ways, Celestia had not pressed him on the deception. The circumstances of their meeting had been -- to say the least -- odd, but since then he had come to be one of the ponies she relied on the most. His efforts had saved the kingdom of Equestria, and indeed the world, from more horrors than imaginable, but there would never be a statue or stained glass window of him or his friends anywhere. The very idea would horrify him.

“Snowflake, my little pony. She is brash. Impulsive. Reckless. And not good at team work.”

“Or to put it another way, Tia. She is resolute. Inventive, assertive, and independent. And while I agree she does not work well with a group of ponies -- but that is because team work involves going at the speed of the slowest pony, and she does not want to have to slow herself down to their level. She would never make a good soldier in the Guard or a cloud pusher, or probably not even a Wonderbolt. But give her a partner that can keep up with her, or is even better than her, and an impossible task and she is in her element. That is probably why Spitfire had her paired off with Rainbow Dash.”

Spitfire nodded. “That, and there was no way I was going to have either of those two lose thunderclouds with anypony else; the results would have been catastrophic. At least by putting them together they might be able to keep up -- and I would not have too many ponies crashing.”

“I still do not get why you made Rainbow the wingpony.”

“It was to help her learn about leadership.”

“Spit, how do you learn about leadership by being the wingpony?”

Celestia examined Snowflake. It was true that he did not know much about motivating ponies or team work -- his own particular skills did not lie in that area, and all the ponies that he worked with were, to say the least, self motivated. She did not think that he could be that stupid; maybe he was just testing Spitfire, that would be much more like him.

“By learning what it is like to be the one on the receiving end, of course. It is much easier to inspire ponies if you truly know what they are going through. I know I have explained this to you before, Snow, are you deliberately being dumb or have you taken one too many blows to the head?”

“So you think that you can work with Miss Dust?” Celestia dragged the conversation back around to the topic at hand before her two friends started on the insults for real.

“Oh yes.” The pony known as Snowflake waved a wing. “I think I have just the couple of ponies that can work with Miss Dust out there.”

“Are you sure that they will be able to keep up with her?”

“Tia, the question will not be whether they can keep up with her, but whether Miss Dust can keep up with Sunbeam and Lightning Bolt. They were part of the team responsible for that business on the Zebrcan border last year.”

“That was you lot?” Spitfire exclaimed. “Equestria Daily said it was caused by a rogue dragon.”

“And the Equestrian Inquirer said that Discord had escaped again. I think ‘The Sun and Moon’ said that it was caused by a creature from the stars that landed in a strange metal box -- they even had a picture of it on their cover. But no, that was teams thirteen and fifteen.”

“What where they trying to do?”

“Best you don’t know, Spit,” Celestia broke in, “let’s just say that they managed it and leave it at that.”

“Well, those are some inventive ponies you have over there at SISTER.”

“We try our best, Spit, we try.”

Celestia gently parted the waterfall and again looked out at the forlorn little pony.

Secret Intelligence Service Taskforce for Extraordinary Reconnaissance, S.I.S.T.E.R, was the name for the Princess’ special teams. An organisation that only showed up on the treasury reports as ‘operations team 34’, and who reported directly to the Princesses, SISTER used groups of ponies -- usually one of each type -- to get things done. Quickly, efficiently and usually without anypony knowing what, or more importantly who, had done it.

It still nagged at her that she needed an organisation like SISTER, but if there was one thing she had learnt over the many hundreds of years that she had been Princess of the kingdom of Equestria, it was that sometimes a subtle, and above all secret, hoof in the right place early on could prevent the need to employ all four legs later. Snowflake and his SISTER teams were expert at putting that hoof in just the right place.

She looked at ponies in the back room “Spit?” she asked.

“If he wants her, he is free to have her. Just don’t blame me if she ends up tearing up a cloud city or something worse.”

“Spit, my ponies never destroy entire cities. Unless I tell them to, of course,” Snowflake responded. “But I am sure SISTER 13 will be able to keep her in line, and I need a new pegasus. Firestorm got herself a little bit singed on that last run, and she will be out of it for a few weeks. That should give them enough time to show Miss Dust the works and get her properly trained.”

The way he had said trained made Celestia shudder. SISTER teams were not only the toughest, most aggressive ponies about, but they had one of the most rigorous training courses that ponies could devise -- and their final ‘test’ was enough to make any normal pony cry just thinking about it.

“You know your ponies best, Snow,” she said, “if you want her, go ahead and recruit her.”

Snowflake grinned, then stood up, stuck his head out of the back door and gave a shrill whistle. He waved a hoof towards the bar. “This should be interesting.”

The slender, light green coated stallion walked into the bar of the Thunderhead and took a seat next to where Lightning Dust was slumped. He opened his mouth, but before he could say anything an opal hoof shot out, stopping just before his lips.

“If the next words out of your mouth are ‘what’s a nice little filly like you doing in a dump like this’, then I will kick you so hard you will spend the next thousand year looking down on Equestria from the moon. Understand?” Lightning Dust said without raising her head.

The stallion reached up a hoof and gently pushed the offending limb away from his mouth. “I understand, hay, that is some attitude you have there.”

The mare leapt off her stool and spun around, wings out and waving a hoof under the nose of the stallion. “You are damn right it is,” she growled at him. “It is a damn ‘can do, push yourself to the limits’ attitude. A ‘the best is the best and the rest can eat my dust’ attitude. It’s the attitude of a winner and a record setter and what did she say--” Lightning Dust seemed to collapse in on herself at this point. “--it’s not about being the best.” She flared up again. “Of course it is about being the best, it’s always about being the best. You need to be the best and then some. That’s how you win.”

“I hear you, mare.” The stallion waved. “That’s what it is all about. It’s about being the best.”

“That’s right.” Lightning Dust’s wings settled back to her side. “That’s what it is all about; you need to be the best. You know how many academy records I broke?” The stallion shook his head. “Well neither do I, but it was a lot -- and do you know what she did? She threw me out. Me! Just because of some silly balloon.” The mare slumped back over the bar. “She threw me out,” she repeated quietly. “She threw me out of the Academy and out of the Wonderbolts, it... I...” she trailed off.

The stallion waved to the barpony, who wordlessly placed a new drink on the bar. A small glass full of a sticky red liquid. The air above the glass seemed to be hazy. This sort of behaviour was not unusual for the Thunderhead, and the barpony knew what to do.

“It was all I ever wanted,” Lightning Dust almost cried, “to be a Wonderbolt. To fly, to be part of the best flyers there are. And she threw me out.” She lifted her head, grabbed the glass in her mouth and tilted her head back, downing its contents in one go. “She threw me out of the one thing that mattered,” she continued, seemingly oblivious the effect of the rainbow chaser.

Despite himself the stallion was impressed. Whatever else this mare could do, it seemed that she could handle her drink. He waved a hoof to the bar keeper who wordlessly replaced the glass with a similar one, but orange. “But what does she know,” he sympathised as Lightning Dust reached out for the new drink.

“Yer, what does she know?”

“The Wonderbolts are not so great.”

“Yer, they suck. Them and their suckey suckness.” Lightning Dust downed the new drink.

“Yes, the Wonderbolts are not pony enough to handle a mare like Lightning Dust.”

“Yer, they can eat my dust... wait.” An opal head twisted sharply and two orange eyes gazed slightly unsteadily at him. “How do you know my name?”

The stallion was even more impressed; nearly halfway through her second rainbow and she could even pick up on that little anomaly.

“I know a lot about you, Lightning Dust,” he said pushing the next drink, green, that the barpony had poured, across the bar towards her. “I know that you won every race that you entered when you where in school. That you spent most of your final year at the speed track, and yet still scored an impressive ninety five percent on your final exams. That you hold the current record for clearing clouds in the west stratus range -- and you also hold the record for the most demerits at junior speedster’s camp. I also know that you were just kicked out of the Wonderbolts academy for causing a tornado that destroyed a balloon and nearly killing five ponies.”

“I would have caught them myself if that show off had not got to them first!” Lightning Dust interrupted.

“I have no doubt that you would have. You like to be the best and you like to win -- and most importantly you like to push your limits.”

“Yer, so what?” Lightning Dust prodded at him with a fore hoof, only missing by half a hoof width. “What do you want? I already told you I may be drunk,” She reached over and downed the next drink before continuing, “but I do not lift my tail for just any barfly pony.” A blue drink appeared in place of the empty glass.

“No, nothing of the sort. In fact I want to offer you a job.”

“A job!” Lightning Dust exclaimed. “Lishten whoever you are. Who are yous anyway?”

“Star Cloud.”

“Lishten Star Cloud. I do not need a job. What I need to do is get drunk and forget that I just got kicked out of the one thing that ever mattered to me.” She reached down grabbed the drink and swallowed it in one go.

“The Wonderbolts.” Star Cloud waved his hoof dismissively. “I thought you wanted to be the best.”

“The Wonderbolts are the best.” Lightning Dust rounded on him savagely. “They are the top flyers in Equestria, they are the most awesome ponies in all of...” she trailed off, her rainbowed brain trying to find a way to end that sentence.

“Bunch of butterflies.” Star Cloud waved a dismissive hoof again. “Prancing around stadiums doing tricks; they are nothing but a bunch of show ponies. I thought you wanted to push your limits to see what you could really do if you try.”

“What are you talking about?” Lightning Dust said, her eyes trying to look into his.

“I am talking about the chance to be part of something impressive. To work with ponies who do not know the meaning of the word ‘failed’. Ponies for who that little trick with the tornado is something you would do before breakfast, and who do sonic rainbooms while walking down the street.” He turned his head and fished a small card out of a pouch strapped round his neck. He placed the card on the bar and the barpony placed a purple drink on top of it.

“Finish your drinks. Get that soppiness about the Wonderbolts out of your system. Sober up and then follow those instructions. And see what life as a SISTER is like.” He stood up. “That is, if you think that you are going to be able to keep up.”

Lightning Dust watched the strange pony walk out of the Thunderhead bar, then turned back to look at the last drink on the counter.

That was a very odd pony, she thought as she tried to order her eyes to focus enough to pick up the last drink. What had he been on about? The Wonderbolts where the best, every pony knew that. There were only two ways to be a Wonderbolt; to go through the rigorous Wonderbolts academy and then through five years of flight training, or to be selected from amongst the ranks of the army. Only the best and bravest flyer ponies made it. They where the best of the best of the best -- it was what she had dreamed off.

...and what I will not have, she thought glumly as she grabbed the drink and downed it in one. The harsh taste to the end of a rainbow burnt her throat.

She dropped the glass back on the bar and a nagging thought crossed her mind. That strange pony had not paid for his drinks. The Thunderhead was not the sort of place where you ran up a bar tab. A sign hoof tacked to a particularly back cloud hovering above the bar read: ‘do not ask for credit as lightning bolts ALWAYS hurt’.

“Barpony,” she called out a little unsteadily. The barpony wandered over to her. “What do I owe you for the drinks?” she waved a hoof at the line of empty glasses.

The barpony flicked his wings dismissively. “On the cloud,” he said, “Star Cloud is a friend of Snowflake’s, and I still owe Snow my skin. The least I can do is sub him a few rainbows.” He walked over to the other end of the bar and left Lightning Dust pondering that. She looked down at the small square of white card sitting on the brown of the bar top. She bent her head low and tried to read what it said.

‘113 High Cloud Way, Las Pegasus,’ was printed at the top. Underneath in rough mouth scrawl was: ‘knock three times and say that Snowflake wants to see you.’ She picked it up in her hooves and turned it over; there was more mouth scrawl on the other side. ‘Trust me, you will not regret it. And you have a nice flank.” There was a scrawled picture of a star peeking over a cloud next to that. Lightning Dust picked up the card, hopped off the bar stool, and made her way as steadily as she could towards the door.

Like the pegasus had said, it sounded like fun -- and Lightning Dust had never been one to resist a challenge. She reached the exit, walked though the waterfall that served as a door, then spread her wings and leapt into the sky.

Anyway, she thought as she set off to find High Cloud Way, that stallion had a nice flank too.

The Twilight Paradox

There was a knock on her door. Princess Celestia, immortal ruler of Equestria and controller of the sun and moon, put down the cup of tea she was drinking and called out, "Enter."

The door to her apartments opened and one of her royal guards entered. "Your highness the mayor of Ponyville is here to see you."

"Yes I have been expecting her. Please show her in." The guard bowed his head and left the room, returning a few minutes later followed by a middle aged earth pony. Celestia looked at the mayor of Ponyville; she had always had a coarse gray mane, but in her middle age it gave her a distinguished air. The mayor bowed.

"Your highness," she said in a formal tone.

Princess Celesta gestured her in. "How goes the preparations for the Summer Sun celebration?" she asked.

"They go well, your highness, the Summer Sun festival should be as spectacular an affair as always." There was a faint click of the door closing. The mayor relaxed visibly. "Your Highness…" she said.

"Mayor," the princess said a slightly mocking tone in her voice.

The mayor looked a bit abashed. "Celestia," she said.

"That is better." The princess smiled. "I did not think that it was that long since you were my pupil that you had forgotten my name - or has the formality of your office driven it from your mind?"

"It has been a while Celestia," she responded. "And Ponyville is not the easiest of towns to administer."

"But I am sure you are managing your very best. You did always have a talent for it." The princess said, glancing at the cutie mark on the older pony's flank; a parchment scroll wrapped up in a blue ribbon. The mayor told everypony that it showed her love of holding political office, but Celestia knew the real meaning of that mark - and it was one of the reasons why the pony was part of her special group. "And is the plan ready?" she asked.

The mayor looked more worried again. "I believe I have everything in place," she said slowly. "But princess I must ask you, no beg you to reconsider." This last came out in a rush. "This is a very dangerous plan you are proposing and if anything was to happen to you..." she trailed off. They both knew the dangers of the plan.

"I am resolute on this," Celestia answered.

"But Celestia…" the mayor begged.

"No!" Celestia said sharply. "It has been too long." She looked out of the window to where sun was just starting to set, a silence falling over the room. "I failed her before you know." Celestia said quietly breaking the silence. "A thousand years ago. I failed her and I failed Equestria. I will not fail my sister again."

"Very well your Highness." The princess gave her a slightly amused look. "Celestia," she corrected herself. "As I said before I believe that we have everything in place."

The gray pony reached her head round and retrieved a leather folder from her saddle bags, then placed it on the table in front of the princess. "If I may take some time to review the plan for your highness." Celestia did not correct her this time. "As your majesty knows, the study of the magic known as the elements of harmony has consumed a great deal of the time of some of the most learned unicorns in the realm." Celestia did, it had been her who had asked them to study it and they all had been, just like the mayor, pupils of hers and part of her personal network. "The conclusions reached by Book Dancer were that the Elements of Harmony are not able to be properly utilised by a single pony no matter how powerful they are."

The princess remembered Book Dancer, an energetic orange coated unicorn pony with a passion for magic and study. She was very like her current favourite pupil except for the latter's disinterest in anything else but her books. Book Dancer had in fact been quite the social pony - if you accepted her always dragging the topic of conversation round to her studies of magic. She missed Book Dancer just as she missed all the rest of her long gone friends.

"Her conclusion was that it takes a group of friends operating in concert to utilise them. More specifically they have to be the right sort of friends - she called them a natural arch. She believed this was why you could not rid your sister of her…affliction."

The princess nodded, a small tear coming to her eye as she remembered those chaotic times a thousand years ago when she had finally realised that she was losing her sister. In her desperation she had turned to the Elements of Harmony, only to find the magic would not respond as she wished. She had been unable to restore her and had been forced instead to exile her sister to the moon.

"It does take a particularly powerful unicorn to wield the sixth element." The mayor said.

"Twilight Sparkle," Celestia interrupted. As the thousandth anniversary had approached she had started making plans. She had initially hoped to wield the elements herself and make amends for her failure. But she had quickly realised that, as an immortal, she could not form the necessary bonds of friendship. Twilight's sudden arrival had come as a relief to her.

"Quite so," the mayor continued. "It was only necessary to find the right ponies for her friends."

"And you think you have found them?"

"I believe we have."

"…and you think that they can form a natural arch?"

"It is only a matter of getting them to meet under the right circumstances; your majesty's idea of holding the Summer Sun festival in Ponyville gave us the perfect excuse." The mayor nodded at the file.

This had been the problem that she had had the mayor and the rest of her friends working on for a good part of the past ten years. The sixth element of Harmony "magic" required a magical unicorn to wield it, a unicorn who's special talent was magic itself as opposed to a unicorn who just used magic for her other talents. While Twilight had such talent in quantity she was too obsessed with her studies and had stubbornly refused - despite some nudging and hints - to make the sort of friendship connections required for the magic of friendship to be effective.

Using her magic the princess opened the leather folder and retrieved a sheaf of papers.
The mayor continued. "It is important that the friendship be allowed to form naturally and not to seem forced by any of the components, otherwise the necessary bond will not form."

Celestia nodded. It had been one of Book Dancer's successors that had found that out…what had been that pony's name? She looked over at the book where she kept the pictures of her old pupils. So many ponies, she thought, so many faces all fleeting. The loss of every one of them still seemed like an icicle in her heart. Celestia looked at the top sheet, dragging herself back to the matter in hand. One of the main requirements of the magic of friendship was that it had to be true friendship; it could not be forced. It would not work for Celestia to go to Twilight and tell her that the future of Equestria required her to be friends with these particular ponies as that in itself would ruin the bonds of friendship. They needed Twilight to realise that herself. Therefore this elaborate and risky plan had been formed.

"Applejack?" she questioned the mayor looking at a photo of an earth pony with orange coat, straw coloured mane and a trio of red apples on her flank. "I vaguely recognise the name."

"The Apple family is one of the largest extended farming families in Equestria," the mayor supplied. "They have branches as far as Manehatten and Appleloosa." She stopped and looked a bit embarrassed at the inadvertent pun. "Applejack manages the family orchards in Ponyville, Sweet Apple Acres. She is a solid, honest, dependable pony, if a bit earthy sometimes - but she is the perfect pony to keep your hooves on the ground. We have awarded Sweet Apple Acres the job of providing the food for the festival - and as part of her job is to check on the preparations, Miss Sparkle will undoubtedly meet Applejack."

Celestia nodded, put down the first sheet and looked at the next. "Rarity," she said to the photo of a white coated unicorn with a purple mane, wearing a quite exquisite dress of red and blue. "I definitely recognise that name."

"Indeed. Miss Rarity runs a successful dress boutique and has sold dresses to a lot of the upper-class in Canterlot. They have probably been singing her praises."

Celestia nodded. Now she thought about it she did remember some talk at last year's Grand Galloping Gala.

"As with Applejack we have put miss Rarity in charge of the decorations for the festival; she may come over to some as a bit full or herself but she is generous to a fault and she has a tendency to want to "fix" ponies. She will see Miss Sparkle as someone in need of her talents and this should be enough to form the necessary bond of friendship."

The next sheet had a picture of a pegasus pony with a sandy coloured coat, but Celestia could not see the face as the pony was hiding it behind her pink mane. "This pony seems to be a bit camera shy," she said to the mayor.

"Ah yes," the mayor chuckled. "Fluttershy, she is not the bravest of ponies but she can be surprisingly firm if people she cares for are threatened. She has the biggest heart in Ponyville and I am sure that her love for her friends will prevail against any fear she might encounter. It was a bit of a challenge to try to get her out of her shell enough to ensure that she meets Miss Sparkle, but we have managed to arrange matters such that she, or more precisely some of her charges, are providing the music for the celebration and I feel certain that once she meets Spike her curiosity will take over from her shyness."

Celestia nodded. Spike was Twilight's assistant, a baby dragon that Twilight had hatched during her entrance exam. Celestia had given Spike the job of being Twilight's research assistant in the hope that some of the young dragon's relaxed personality would rub off on her pupil…and not incidentally prevent her library becoming an uncontrolled pile of books. She nodded at moved on to the next sheet. A picture of a light blue coated pegasus pony with a vivid rainbow mane greeted her.

"Rainbow Dash," she read out loud.

"Yes, Miss Dash," the mayor said. "We have had our eye on Miss Dash for quite a while." Celestia looked through the rest of the sheet. "When she was a young filly she managed to create a sonic rainboom, a very rare and dangerous phenomenon." Celestia remembered another of her friends, Spitfire, explaining it to her.

"Recently we have managed to trace that event and link it to pivotal events in the rest of the ponies' lives, even Twilight Sparkle's."

Celestia thought back. "The light in the sky the day of Twilight's exam? That was the sonic rainboom?"

"Indeed your majesty," the mayor nodded. "Knowing how pivotal the occasion of getting their cutie mark is to a pony, when we discovered the sonic rainboom and its role in Miss Sparkles cutie mark we looked back from there and found Miss Dash and ultimately the rest of these ponies. When she dropped out of flight school we gave Miss Dash the job of weathermare for Ponyville." The mayor looked a bit unhappy.

"Is that a problem?" Celestia asked.

"Well while Miss Dash is a very capable pony and when she can be bothered she does her job very well. She is just not very dedicated, preferring to slack off and perform flying acrobatics. And quite often these acrobatics end with her crashing into something or someone. This has lead to a few problems."

Celestial smiled at the obvious understatement in her friend's voice and the resulting image of the chaos that the rainbow-maned mare could cause.

"But as the official weather mare she will be in charge of making sure the skies are clear and that should bring her and Miss Sparkle together. If that is not enough Rainbow Dash and Applejack are friends and Rainbow's sense of adventure and loyalty will ensure that she goes with them.

Celestia nodded. While Twilight would be the keystone of the friendship arch it was not necessary that everypony's relationship with her was strong at the beginning - just as long as the entire group of ponies had a strong link. She turned to the last sheet, a picture of a pink earth pony almost jumped off the page at her. The pony's huge smile and bubbly expression seeming to make the princess laugh even from a picture of her.

"Pinkamina Diane Pie?" she asked the mayor.

The mayor smiled. "Ah yes, our Pinkie Pie," she said with a chuckle as if even the mention of the pony's name was enough to get a laugh.

"Well Pinkie Pie is everypony's friend and we have told her to be ready for Miss Sparkle's visit and to be ready to help her with the rest of her friends."

This brought Celestia up short. "You told her about the plan? I thought that would ruin the bond?"

The mayor smiled again "Pinkie Pie is a…special case." She said. "It is quite safe to tell her what is going on."

Celestia looked down the sheet again. Had the expression on the pony's face changed? Yes it had; the energetic pink pony was now winking at her. Understanding dawned on her. "Oh she is one of THOSE ponies." Celestia had known quite a few of THOSE ponies in her life. Astonish had been one nearly six hundred years ago now. He had a habit of jumping out from behind pillars and from under tables - even when you could have sworn that he was rooms away. He had particularly liked doing it to Book Dancer and her colleagues whom he considered to spend far too much time with their noises in books. The halls of the newly founded school for gifted unicorns had used to ring to the regular pattern of "BOO" followed by a chorus of screams and the thud of piles of books hitting the floor. Come to think of it she was pretty sure that Book Dancer and he had eventually had a foal together so it could not have been that annoying.

"Indeed she is your highness. Well everypony else in Ponyville seems to accept it as just part of her bubbly nature, but if you know what to look for it shines out like a lighthouse."

She knew you got ponies like that every so often but they were very rare. "You think Twilight will notice?" Celestia said nervously. "She is a very clever pony."

The mayor shook her head. "The rest of the party should prevent that. Everypony in Ponyville shrugs it off with a 'she is just being Pinkie Pie.' It is amazing what they seem to be able to overlook. But Pinkie Pie will be very useful; she will be able to subtly guide the rest of the group and make sure that they stay on the right path to the elements."

Celestia magically stacked the papers back together and laid them on the table. "It seems that everything is in readiness," she said.

Just then there was a flash of green fire and a scroll appeared in the air in front of her, she caught it with her magic and unrolled it, noting it was closed with Twilight's seal. "And not a moment too soon," she said as she laid it down. "It seems that as usual our Twilight is ahead in her studies." Celestia had put the first part of the plan in motion a few days ago when she had assigned Twilight the task of reading some of the more old and obscure parts of the history of the creature that ponies called Nightmare Moon; she was pretty sure that her favourite pupil would be able to piece together what it meant without much problem. But Twilight had to believe that she was the only one to make such connections. Almost as importantly she was to be prevented from making the final discovery as to the current whereabouts and nature of the Elements of Harmony until after it was too late to stop Nightmare Moon's return. Celestia levitated a new piece of parchment onto the table and started to write a reply while the mayor picked up the sheaf of parchment and leather folder, restoring them to her saddle bags.

"Then, with your permission of course, I will return to Ponyville and make doubly sure everything is ready."

Celestia finished writing and with a flick of her magic the scroll vanished in a puff of green fire. She turned to the mayor and said "yes of course. Good bye my little pony. I shall see you at the celebration."

They mayor looked back worry in her eyes. "I hope we have not over looked anything Celestia," and with that she made a small bow and left.

Celesta returned to looking out the window "So do I." She muttered to herself remembering the last line of the message she had just sent, setting the plan in motion. "…most importantly of all, make some friends." She looked at where the moon would be rising. Through the bond she had taken with the moon she could feel The Presence. That Presence that was so tantalisingly familiar but at the same time twisted and vengeful.
"Soon Luna my sister," she thought. "I will see you soon."