The Founders of Harmony

The Founders of Harmony

Written By:

James Glass

Story By:

James Glass & Randy Lyster

Book 1: World of Chaos

Chapter 1: Who We Are

Light.

Bright as the sun

Surrounding

Blinding

Burning

Eyes shut tight

Covered with hands

The Effort

Futile

A touch of cold

A comforting whisper

Beckoning her forth

Offering Respite

The Light shines brighter

No Escape

Brighter

Brighter

“Luna?”

Brighter

“Luna?”

Brighter

“Luna?!”

!Brighter!

“!LUNA!”

Luna gasped as she awoke. Bolting upright in her bed, she looked around until her eyes fell on her sister’s concerned face.

“Luna, Are you alright?” she asked. Luna ran her hands through her mane and rubbed her eyes.

“Yes Celestia...Just a bad dream, no need to worry,”

Celestia stared at her knowingly, eyebrow raised.

“It was a normal bad dream,” Luna said reassuringly.

“If you say so,” she smiled at Luna coyly. “Mother and father went out and we’re to tend the garden before they return. I left some breakfast out for you but don’t take too long,” she spoke so quickly Luna hardly caught it all, and her sister was gone before she could ask a question. Luna sighed, and looked around her. Same dirt walls, floors and ceilings that she knew, her bed mat was still across the room from Celestia’s and the crystal in the center of the ceiling emitted the same warm light. She ran a hand over the floor then held it to her muzzle, the same smell of earth filling her nostrils. It was all just a dream, Luna thought to herself.

She got up, stretched her arms, legs, and wings. Hopefully she’d get to fly again soon, it had been about a week now since there had been enough cloud cover. She neatly folded her sleeping mat and left through the opening on the far side of the room.

She walked down the hall to the kitchen. A wooden table with four stools sat in the center of the circular room, over which was another crystal stuck into the ceiling and filling the room with light. There were four openings that led out, aligned perpendicularly. In Between the opening she stood in and the one to her left a tree root poked out of the wall, from which a small pocket watch hung on a chain. Mother said that her mentor had given it to her years ago, it apparently still told the correct time and date from back before the Age of Chaos.

Saturday.

June 2nd.

Year 32,583.

5:18 AM?

Why so early? Luna grumbled, rubbing her eyes again. The spaces between the other exits were occupied as well. In one was a small pantry where they’d dug into the wall to make shelves, in another, a large wooden barrel full of water, and the last was a stone fire pit. Luna went to the fire, a large iron stake jutted out from the wall over the fire, on which hung an iron pot. Luna’s horn glowed with sparkling blue light and the lid of the pot floated off to reveal the savory smell of mushroom stew.

Next a clay bowl and spoon floated over from the pantry and Luna filled the bowl with some stew. She set the lid back and looked up at another crystal in the ceiling above the fire. As the smoke rose it was absorbed by the crystal due to magical runes carved into it. Luna noted it was getting quite cloudy, it needed to be emptied soon. While Luna walked over to the table with her bowl suspended in the air, her horn continued to glow and a clay cup flew out of the pantry and dipped itself in the barrel of water before landing on the table next to Luna. She let out a little sigh of relief and ate her stew, enjoying the quiet along with occasional cracks from the fireplace.

She soon finished and washed her dishes with water. She tossed the dirtied water onto the inner edge of the fire pit where it quickly evaporated on the hot stone, then set the bowl just outside the pit to dry. She walked out between the firepit and the water barrel, going down a curving hallway, passing several rooms along the way until a bright white light shone from around the corner.

This light came from the room at the end of the hall, which was far larger than all the others, circular, 30 yards in diameter. In the room was a hill made up of dirt platforms each about a foot above the last. On the platforms were rows of plants that ringed the room and the hill, forming a circular pyramid of produce. At the top of the hill was a large well, and the thing that made the garden possible.

A tiny little ball of swirling fire. A sun. Below it stood Celestia, her pure white fur glistening in the sunlight. Her wings were outstretched, and her long, soft pink mane and tail floated and shifted slightly. Her horn glowed with a radiant golden light which shot a beam of the same color towards the little sun, causing it to grow ever so slightly. Luna squinted, and covering her eyes slightly with her hand watched her sister. She couldn’t be sure, but she swore that sometimes while Celestia was feeding her sun, other colors would flash across her mane and tail.

When the sun was about three inches in diameter, Celestia stopped, and shot one last burst of magic at a golden barrier that encased it. Luna chuckled. Back when Celestia first discovered this ability of hers, she gave her sun a little too much power and a jet of flame shot out of it, scorching some of their first plants, while also setting her mane on fire. She was fine, but Luna laughed at how dejected Celestia looked when mother had to cut her cinged and blackened mane till it barely reached the top of her neck. Luna was always puzzled by how Celestia obsessed over her appearance, so much so that one year their parents had brought back a metal comb from the hidden city of Augeas as her birthday gift.

*****

“Well you never know when a handsome stallion is going stumble through the woods in need of shelter. I must always look my best,” Celestia had once said matter of factly, when Luna had questioned her meticulous preservation of her mane. Luna burst into laughter upon hearing this.

“Tia, how would you even know if a stallion was handsome? Father’s the only one you’ve ever seen,” Luna had teased, struggling to keep her laughter under control. A fierce blush erupted across Celestia’s face.

“Well...it’s natural instincts, I’ll just know a handsome stallion when I see one,”

“And what if this stallion doesn’t like mare’s with long manes?” Luna chuckled.

“Then I’ll find some other one that does!” Celestia said obstinately, her blush growing ever fiercer. “You know it wouldn’t kill you to tend to your mane every now and then,” a wicked smile crossed Celestia’s face and her horn glowed as the comb floated threateningly towards her sister. Luna grinned back.

“I’ll die before I let my mane be tamed by the likes of you!” Luna proclaimed dramatically.

“We’ll see.” The resulting scuffle took Luna and her sister all through their home, ending with a broken kitchen table and a scolding from their mother, before they had to spend all night fixing the table together.

*****

Luna chuckled to herself, then walked carefully down the center path towards her sister.

“How is little Sol doing?” Luna asked cheerfully.

“She’s magnificent, I barely had to feed her and I’m worried she might start growing on her own so I’ve been strengthening the barrier all morning I actually want to see if I can make the barrier feed off Sol so she never gets too big but I’m worried the spell would be too advanced for me and take years to master either way,” Celestia fired off her explanation to Luna’s question.

“Yes, that sounds...good,” Luna said trying to process all the information Celestia had dumped on her, “Yyyes, you shouldn’t try anything too advanced, we wouldn’t want any of the plants to get burnt again,” Luna said wryly while walking past her sister and up the stairs cut into pyramid leading, to a well at the top. Celestia let out a nervous laugh, and ran a hand through her mane.

“Oh yes, the crops,” Celestia said, giving her sister a piercing look from behind. Luna reached the well, they had dug it specifically for the garden after Celestia had learned how to create her miniature suns. It was larger than their other well, wide enough for a pony to fit through, and with a bucket that had a curved tip pointing out towards the back wall.

“Did mother and father say how long they’d be gone?” Luna asked as she began to turn the crank and lower the bucket into the well.

“They only said were patrolling to check mother’s detection runes, shouldn’t be long,” Celestia said grabbing the crank on the other side of the well to help Luna, “But the thunderstorms finally let up this morning so I think they just left to spend some time alone,” she said chuckling.

“Any clouds?” Luna asked excitedly.

“Not enough for flying cover I’m afraid,” Celestia said sadly.

“Of course not.” The sisters let out a heavy sigh of disappointment in unison. The bucket reached the top of the well and together they tipped it so the water poured from the curved tip and spilled into the trenches of the irrigation system laced through the entire pyramid. They did this several more times until the soil was properly saturated, then headed out of the room.

“I do hope that mother and father let us join them on their trip to Augeas this year, don’t you?” Celestia asked as they walked down the hall.

“I suppose,” Celestia stopped in her tracks upon hearing this.

“You suppose?” She said indignantly wheeling on her sister.

“Yes...it would be all right I...uh...suppose,” Luna repeated nervously.

“You mean the prospect of getting to meet thousands of new ponies sounds...all right to you?”

“Well, the journey can be dangerous,” Luna said looking nervously at the ground

“Yes but don’t you want to get out of here, go somewhere else?,” Celestia said taking a few steps forward and staring longingly up at the dirt ceiling only a foot over her head. “Ponies weren’t meant to live underground Luna.”

“Well Augeas is probably underground as well,” Luna stated flatly.

“Yes but It’s got to be huge to accommodate so many ponies,” Celestia said turning and looking slyly at her sister, “Aaaand don’t forget mother says there’s a place where you can fly all day if you want to,” Luna perked up at this.

“That does sound quite nice,”

“Right? Not to mention they’re supposed to have books, and music and different kinds of food...and….and” Celestia searched for words.

“And you’d finally get to learn what a handsome stallion looks like,” Luna said sarcastically. Celestia raised a hand and opened her mouth to protest, but then stopped and nodded.

“Yes...yes I would. C’mon Luna, let’s talk to mother and father about it at supper tonight. Surely we can convince them, we’re more than old enough for the journey,”

“....ok, let’s ask them!” Luna said smiling. The sisters trotted into the kitchen, giggling.

“What are you two so giddy about?” asked a dry and tired, but amused voice.. Ebony Rose was a Unicorn of average size, with a coal black coat of fur, contrasting fiercely with her short cut scarlet mane and tail, both scratched with streaks of grey. Her weak smile pushing up the many lines beneath her eyes.

“Mother!” Celestia said cheerily, “When did you get back?”

“Just a moment ago. I hope your chores are coming along?”

“Yes mother, we just finished in the garden,” Luna said dutifully, “Where’s father?”

Celestia and Luna were swept off their feet and into the arms of a large pegasus. Wild Bolt was bulkier than most Pegasi, and his less than aerodynamic, bright yellow frame meant he didn’t care if his long chestnut mane slowed him down a little more.

“And how are my two beautiful girls this morning?” He bellowed cheerfully, his massive grin held in place by web a of scars netted across his face. The sisters laughed as they were lifted into the air.

“Father!” Celestia giggled,

“Let us down!” Luna squealed as their father hugged them tightly.

“HaHa! Very well,” he said, letting them go “Fetch your weapons girls, it’s time for sparring lessons,”

“Yes Sir!” they said saluting before galloping off laughing. Ebony sighed.

“They’re still too enthusiastic about training,” Ebony said looking down the hall where they had run.

“They may be of age, but they’re still children,” Wild Bolt said placing a reassuring hand on his wife’s shoulder, “And we’ve been lucky to have never run into trouble over the years. Not their fault it's a game to them.”

“It can’t be for much longer,”

“Then let’s make sure they’ll be ready enough to learn from mistakes. And doesn’t your master always say that games are the best way to learn?” Bolt asked. Ebony chuckled.

“Yes, that she does,”

“Well then, shall we play?” Bolt said holding out a hand.

*****

The training room was circular, with extra room all around for the many racks of wooden training weapons. Swords, shields, spears, axes, bows and more. All of which Celestia and Luna had trained with over the years. But first they prepared their favorite weapons, the ones they had made for themselves. Celestia held a double edged broadsword in her right hand, and in her left a small kite shield, worn so that it was aligned lengthwise on her arm. Luna’s shield was circular and far larger, accompanied by a long spear in her other hand. In addition they both wore leather breastplates, pauldrons, bracers, greaves, and helmets. They may have been wooden weapons, but they could still break bone.

“Take your positions,” Wild Bolt said. Celestia and Luna went to opposite sides of the room, and got into their battle stances, “Ready….begin!”

Celestia attacked immediately, using her wings to propel herself forward with blinding speed. She swung her sword in a downward motion at Luna who blocked it soundly with her shield. Luna was about to retaliate with her spear, but Celestia continued her assault with strike after heavy strike forcing Luna to raise her shield higher or risk a losing blow to the head, but now her vision was obscured and she barely noticed as her sister dashed swiftly around to strike at her exposed side. Luna narrowly parried Celestia’s sword with her spear and swung her shield, forcing Celestia to disengage rather than be bashed by the shield’s edge. Luna used this opportunity to keep her sister on the defensive, thrusting repeatedly to prevent her from regaining stable footing. Celestia flapped strongly with her wings, pushing her far away from Luna to get her bearings. She squared her shield in front of her and charged, Luna advanced in kind.

“STOP!” Wild Bolt yelled just as the sisters were about to collide. They did stop, and turned to their father with quizzical looks. Their father stood, arms folded shaking his head “That’s the the third day in a row now I’ve seen the exact same fight between you two. In a real battle, the moment you become predictable, you’re dead,”

“Well how else am I supposed to counter Tia when she always engages so aggressively?” Luna said

“If all you do is sit there then of course I’m going to attack,” Celestia said annoyed.

“No! I adopt a defensive stance because all you do it attack!” Luna said growing louder.

“Well if your shield wasn’t so big you’d be able to move around more and-”

“Enough, even your arguments are getting predictable” Bolt said calmly, then looked up and past the girls towards the doorway, “But your mother and I had an idea to help with this issue,” he said smirking. The sisters’ faces lit up as they turned to look.

“Apples!” They exclaimed in unison, as their mother entered the room with a bucket full of apples in her arms.

“But the apple trees in the western orchard won’t be ready to pick for another month. Where did you get these?” Luna asked.

“Who cares?” Celestia said reaching for one as her mother approached. But the entire bucket levitated out of her reach and floated back over Ebony’s head.

“We found them on our patrol this morning, there must have been a bit of magic in the storm from last night, they were all ready to pick,” Luna eyed the basket longingly, then spoke

“Well then, mother may we-?”

“Can we have some?” Celestia said looking at the basket with hungry eyes.

“Of course dear, you can have this one right here,” Ebony said placing an apple on her head behind her horn.

“But only if you can reach it,” their father said readying his own wooden shield and spear.

“Easy,” Celestia said charging forward. She had no hope of besting her father in a duel, but she only needed to get past him. A wooden sword flew through the air and struck Celestia in the chest knocking her back across the room to her sister’s feet. Luna giggled and Celestia gave her a sour look.

“As I was about to say,” Ebony said her horn aglow with verdant green light as several more of the practice weapons rose from the racks. “I will be assisting your father, and you two will have to work together if you’d like there to be enough time to make pie for dinner

“Pie?” Luna gasped, offering her sister a hand. “Celestia, there isn’t a moment to spare,”

“No, I guess not,” Celestia said rising with her sister’s help.

“Now, I was thinking,” Luna began before a wooden spear flew between them, inches from their faces.

“Hey we're not ready yet!” Celestia cried out, covering her face with her shield.

“In the wild your enemy will never wait for you to be ready,” Wild Bolt said smiling softly

“They’ll strike when you’re least prepared,” Ebony said preparing more weapons, “And they’ll kill you,” she said as she sent a dozen of the practice weapons flying at the girls.

“Tia my shield!” Luna said hunkering down and raising her shield. It was a tight fit, but both sisters managed to take cover behind it. “Tia!-AH!-What do-AH!-We do?” Luna said constantly interrupted by the heavy weapons striking her shield.

“Oh now you think my tactics would be useful?” Celestia spat.

“Only because my shield gives you a chance to come up with a plan,” a small silence followed between them. Celestia took a moment to examine Luna’s shield, and then the room around them

“...Fair point, now listen up,”

Wild Bolt watched as his daughters hunkered behind Luna’s shield, excited for whatever they might throw at him, they always get creative when he and Ebony push them.

“You know out there the enemy will be throwing a lot more than practice weapons at you! And-” As Wild Bolt was mid sentence Luna’s entire shield became aglow with her magic and flew directly at him. It was so large and came at him so fast his vision was totally obscured as he had to raise his own shield against it, so he had no idea where either Celestia or Luna were. The magic light around the shield faded, and he went to push the shield away with his own, but he met resistance, one of them was still behind the shield. They were trying to keep him guessing as to who was where. Not a problem.

Wild Bolt took one step back, then with a mighty flap from his wings pushed himself forward against the opposing shield. He met stiff resistance, had to be Celestia, Luna wouldn’t be strong enough to hold him back like that. He smiled and stopped pushing, redirecting her right into Luna, who was trying to flank her father from behind. But Celestia passed right through Luna, who evaporated in a puff of smoke. Bolt swerved to block the real Luna’s spear, her horn was still glowing with the magic from the illusion spell, that was the real reason they blocked his vision. Meanwhile Celestia had begun to fly towards her mother, using Luna’s larger shield to block all of her mother’s projectiles. But she was struck from the side, and knocked to the ground. Celestia spat dirt from her mouth, and looked over to see Luna, who was also on the ground, and disarmed.

“Impressive,” their mother said smiling warmly down at them, “Now, again.”

*****

“Why can’t the world be made of pie?” Celestia said staring at her pie dish, licked clean of the pie that used to be there.

“Where under Equestria do you put it all?” Luna asked incredulous, still working away at her single piece.

“I made room,” Celestia said licking her fingers before belching loudly. She blushed and covered her mouth with both hands in surprise. Ebony Rose laughed before asking

“I’m glad you liked it dear, did you want any more?” Celestia shook her head, red faced. “Luna dear, are you going to finish that tonight?”

“No thank you mother, I think I filled up on supper, it was delicious though,” Luna said watching in bemusement as a wet rag floated over to Celestia who cleaned her sticky hands and mouth with it.

“Good, because...we need to talk,” Ebony said

“Ehhhh what kind of talk?” Celestia asked.

“A serious talk,” Bolt said taking Celestia’s cloth before sitting down next to Ebony

“You see Girls, We’ve been unsure about it for awhile now, but we’ve decided that this year, you’ll be coming with us to Augeas,”

“REALLY!” The sister’s exclaimed together, nearly jumping from their seats.

“We’ll get to meet so many new ponies!” Celestia said turning to Luna.

“And we can fly every day!” Luna replied.

“And there’ll be all kinds of new foods, and the library, and….and,”

“And you’ll finally get to find out what a handsome stallion looks like!” Luna said without a shred of sarcasm. Celestia glared at her, frowning, while Luna smiled, lips tight, but a moment later they both burst out laughing.

“Girls please,” Their mother said raising her voice a bit, a pained look in her eyes. The sisters quieted down, but they could barely suppress the smiles on their faces. Ebony sighed deeply, opened her mouth to speak then stopped, looking down, eyes searching for words.

“You want me to-?” Bolt began to ask.

“No its alright,” She stopped him, taking a few moments, during which Celestia and Luna gave each other sideways looks. At last Ebony spoke “About Augeas...once we’re there, you’ll have to keep your wings hidden at all times,” The girls’ smiles did not drop, but confusion entered their eyes.

“Sorry mother, what?” Luna asked.

“Once we arrive at Augeas, you two will have to keep your wings hidden at all times, no matter what,” Ebony explained again. The girls were silent, but their smiles had faded.

“Why? If we did that we’d never be able to fly,” Luna asked looking even more confused now.

“Well, when we get there, you’ll be meeting ponies your own age for the first and…” Ebony said.

“And what?” Luna said bluntly, looking slightly annoyed. Celestia was silent.

“We wouldn’t want you to scare them because….because…” Ebony began.

“Because there is no one else like you girls,” Bolt finished. “To have a Unicorn horn and Pegasus wings is...unheard of,”

“But you said that we’re this way because our birth parents were a Unicorn and a Pegasus. Uncommon, but not unheard of, right?” Celestia asked, calmly.

“About that,” Bolt said.

“We don’t actually know who your parents were,” Ebony said, a frozen silence following before Luna exploded.

“WHAT?!” Luna said, eyes wide.

Celestia and Luna were very intelligent, and both had noticed at a young age that while they shared certain physical traits with each other, they in no way, shape, or form, resembled Ebony Rose or Wild Bolt. Their birth parents had died when they were still babies and Ebony and Bolt had adopted the orphans of their departed friends, at least...that’s what they had been told.

“THEN WHERE DID WE COME FROM?!” Luna said standing up.

“Gods...It was fifteen years ago now, when…” Ebony trailed off, her eyes gazing far away at nowhere.

“It had been a hard day, and there was an awful storm outside,” Bolt continued, “We were down here when the barrier spells went off, we rushed to the entrance expecting to fight for our lives, but instead, we found you two all wrapped up with...” Bolt hesitated, “Nothing but each other,” Luna sat back down, her eyes becoming watery.

“Why didn’t you tell us?” Luna asked, quieter but with a desperate tone.

“Luna, Celestia,” Ebony spoke again, “The things you can do, creating a sun from raw magic, entering another pony’s dream. Ponies who can do things like that, Alicorns, with wings and horns, the only place you’ll find them is in myths and legends. And we didn’t want you two to grow up thinking you had to live up to some idea, we just wanted you to be...whoever you wanted to be,” Ebony spoke slowly, each word awkwardly voiced like she’d had all the pieces to build a house but no blueprint.

“What idea? What about these stories is so crazy?” Luna said, raising her voice again?

“In the stories,” Bolt said, “The Alicorns, they’re like gods, who ruled the world with unbelievable power, the kind of power that could...could…”

“That could defeat Discord?” Celestia asked calmly, looking down and slowly picking bits of pie that was caught under her nails.

“Yes.” Bolt replied, “Your mother’s mentor gave us a chance to live in Sanctuary a year after we found you two. But, we were afraid that someone would try to take you from us, and use you, mold you into something you might not want to be,”

“That’s why when we get there, you two need to-” Ebony stopped when Luna ran out of the room and down the hall that led to exit outside.

“Luna!” Ebony and Bolt cried in unison. Bolt got up to follow, but Celestia raised a hand.

“Let her go,” Celestia said calmly, with watery eyes.

“But,”

“dad, she’ll be fine, I know where she’s going. She just needs time,”

“We’re so sorry,” Ebony said crying and reaching out and placing her hand on Celestia

“Its ok mom, I understand, I think...are there really ponies like that, that would’ve tried to take us from you?” She said in fearful disbelief.

“Pfft oh yeah. The Earth Ponies, Pegasi and Unicorns all work together to survive, and most of em are good ponies, but there’s a few that are always lookin to get one over on the rest,” Bolt snorted, “Though we were mostly worried about that damn King of yours,” Bolt said looking at Ebony, who’s grief stricken face quickly turned to anger as she spat on the ground.

“That oaf is no king of mine,” Ebony said spitefully. Celestia’s eyes were wide, she’d never seen her mother do or say anything thing like that.

“I know,” Bolt said with a wobbly smirk, “But you look awful when you cry, much sexier when you’re angry,” Ebony buried her head in hands, face red with embarrassment on top of the anger, sorrow, and stress, “Just don’t keep spittin on the floor like that, or we’ll have to start weeding the kitchen,” When Bolt said this fresh tears sprung from Ebony’s eyes along with a burst of laughter.

“You ass,” she said, weakly punching him on the shoulder, the laughter over taking the tears as she leaned her head on him. Bolt wrapped his arm around her comfortingly, and added to her laughs and tears.

“I’m gonna go talk to Luna,” Celestia said standing, feeling a tad awkward.

“Are you alright Celestia?” Ebony said getting up and going to Celestia, her face serious again.

“I uh...I think I will be,” she replied, she said before hugging her mother and going down the hall to the exit.

*****

The sky was crystal clear, an ocean of stars swirling overhead, with a full moon outshining them all. Luna stared at the moon, lost in thought. She sat high up in an alcove of a cliff face near their home, where she came whenever she wanted to be alone.

“Hey Lu,” Celestia said as she swooped in and sat next to Luna in the alcove.

“Tia,” They sat in silence for a moment.

“Beautiful moon, has it been night for long?”

“No, it was bright at first,”

“Hope it lasts awhile then,”

“How can you be so calm about all this?” Luna said, her voice rising, eyes watering. Celestia looked down at the forest below and shook her head lightly.

“I guess it almost makes sense...it feels right,”

“How does any of this make sense? How can we be something...unreal, out of some old stories?”

“Luna, you’ve been able to enter my dreams 3 times before, that’s incredible!”

“Those were accidents, I don’t think I’ll ever be able to do it on purpose,”

“Oh course you will!” Celestia said enthusiastically, “I’ve been able to make a tiny sun out of nothing but my own magic, who knows what else I can do? You’ll learn tocontrol your power too,”

“Yes, but that’s because it's our special talent,” She said looking down at the symbols on her hands, a white crescent moon over top a dark cloud. “And everypony has a special talent, that doesn’t make us special,” Celestia was stunned.

“Luna, Mother may still know more about magic than us, but even she can’t do anything like we can with our special abilities, not even close!”

“I don’t care! It doesn’t mean we can beat Discord, or save the world, or whatever!”

“So that’s what you’re worried about?”

“Of course! I just want to fly and live with you, and mother and father. Everything is fine the way it is now, why does it have to change?” Luna begged looking up at the moon. Celestia was silent, then took her sister’s hand in her own, and spoke.

“It’s like mother said, we don’t have to be anything we don’t want to be. That’s why they waited so long to tell us, so we could just be ourselves, not Legends or Savoirs just Celestia and Luna,” Celestia smiled warmly as she spoke. A few tears slipped down Luna’s face, she took a deep breath, then spoke.

“So what we are doesn’t change who we are?”

“Exactly,” Celestia said, and for several minutes the sisters watched the moon quietly, hand in hand, till to Tia’s surprise, Luna broke the silence.

“Tia, I don’t know about you, but I think I could go for another slice of pie,” Luna said blushing. Celestia laughed.

“I think I could make room for one more, let’s go,”

*****

Luna walked with Celestia and her parents through the woods, their wagon behind them, its four wheels propelling themselves forward thanks to her mother’s enchantment. For two weeks now they’d been traveling together, through forests and across rivers. Celestia had been awed by each new sight, occasionally stopping to gaze, and Luna had to make sure she didn’t get left behind, or wander too far. Not that Luna didn’t sympathize, when it was dark, it was usually Celestia who had to make sure Luna didn’t drift away on a cloud while gazing at the moon. She loved being able to fly almost every day.

“Hold up,” Ebony said to everyone behind as they approached a pond at the bottom of a small ridge. “Celestia, Luna take some time to rest here, then get in the wagon, we’re almost there,”

“Really? Woohoo!” Celestia said cheering

“Celestia don’t be so loud!” Luna chided. Bolt laughed.

“Its alright Luna,” Ebony said chuckling, “Celestia, put on your new tunic now,” Ebony reached into the wagon and pulled out a long soft leather tunic that was an off white color.

“Oh right, thanks mom!” Celestia said running over to take the tunic. “Be right back,” She said going off into the woods.

“And Luna could you please sit down on the bench here, I need to start working on your horn,”

“Yes mother, ” Luna went to the bench on the back of the wagon. Sitting down, back straight she pulled her mane back with her hands so her that none of her horn was obstructed. Ebony brought out a tiny paint brush and a vial of ink from the wagon, and with them began to paint numerous intricate runes on Luna’s horn.

“You’re going to love the aviary Luna,” Wild Bolt said leaning against the wagon. “You can fly there all day if you’d like, there are even Pegasi who can teach you some more advanced cloud crafting techniques.”

“Yes father, I’m rather excited,” Luna said giggling with an uncommon giddiness

“Stay still please,” Ebony said stone faced as she continued delicately painting.

“Oh! Sorry mother,”

“It’s alright dear, I’m almost done...there we go,” Luna’s horn was almost completely covered in swirling runes and lines. Luna’s eyes looked up nervously.

“You’re sure this will work mother?”

“Of course Luna, don’t worry,” Ebony smiled warmly before taking a step back, her horn beginning to glow. “Now, close your eyes, relax, and begin directing energy to your horn.” Luna took a deep breath then, closed her eyes and her horn began to glow faintly. Ebony stretched out her arm, and tendrils of glowing light flowed from her horn, through the air, and to the runes on Luna’s horn. There was a bright flash, and Luna’s horn vanished from her head.

“Oh my,” Luna said feeling her forehead. Her mane had fallen into place as though her horn wasn’t there. “That is...quite the peculiar sensation. I can’t feel my horn,” she said running her hand through her mane “But I can still feel it, like I feel my arms and legs and the rest of my body.”

“That’s good,” Ebony said sighing deeply. The spell makes your horn invisible and shifts its density, so no one will be able to see or feel it,”

“Thank you so much mother!’ Luna exclaimed leaping from the bench and embracing her mother, her wings stretched out excitedly.

“Of course dear. Now don’t forget. I cast the spell, but now it's your own energy that maintains it. But so long as you don’t go without sleep or food for too long you’ll be fine,”

“Oh wow!” Celestia marveled as she approached. “You really can’t see it at all huh?”

“And how’s the tunic fit Celestia?” Ebony asked. Celestia turned around and turned her head to show the back while examining it herself. The tunic’s back was solid with no openings for her wings to poke through.

“Feels great, It’ll take some getting used to but I’ll be fine,” Celestia smiled confidently.

“Alright then, everyone in the wagon,” Bolt said holding the back curtain of the wagon open for Celestia and Luna before he went through himself, and the three of them sat down. To ensure that they were never discovered, the founders of Augeas decided that only a very select few would know its exact location, any who they brought with them had to be in a deep sleep before entering.

“Everyone comfortable?” Ebony asked looking in on them.

“All set,” Bolt said winking.

“Yes thank you,” Luna nodded.

“Ready to go!” Celestia grinned.

“Ok, then everyone close your eyes and relax. Luna closed her eyes as her mother’s horn began to glow. As she sat in darkness, Luna’s mind buzzed with excitement and worry. She would soon be meeting more new ponies than she’d be able to count, and seeing new sights and sounds that she couldn’t even fathom. Luna felt herself drifting now. As the sleeping spell did its work, she let herself drift along as all her hopes and fears mingled together into the realm of dreams.