Harmony's Rule

Harmony's Rule

Part I: Dawn and Dusk

Prologue

“A thousand years is suddenly not enough time.”

    The thought echoed inside her head as she drifted, almost invisibly, through the darkened streets of Ponyville. The pony's path was lit only by the familiar glow of the moon, stars and occasional streetlight that glinted off the crown she wore.

Long ago, such a notion would have been laughable, but that was another time, another life. Lost in her thoughts, the traveler had almost passed by her destination as the familiar shape of the town's library rose up before her.

The Golden Oaks Library, though in the moonlight the leaves that topped it gleamed a pale silver. It was just as she remembered it, with its orderly and neat flowerbeds, trimmed and tended boughs and the well maintained balconies. Truly a far cry from the overgrown and dusty place she currently knew.

A soft smile crossed the mare's face as she saw that even at this late hour, the windows were lit by the candlelight of a pony who made some of the greatest scholars appear lazy by comparison. Silent as a breath, she beat her wings and rose to the cluttered balcony and peered inside.

Surrounded by a sea of books, with a look of intense concentration on her face, lay a lavender unicorn. Flipping pages back and forth across several volumes, her expression changed to one of frustration. “Where did I go wrong?” the unicorn lamented and for a moment, her unseen visitor felt her heart leap into her throat, hearing the phrase that echoed ones she had often spoken.

The stranger's fears eased however, as she listened to the unicorn mutter and mumble about formulas and magic. She shook her head and scolded herself as she took flight, bidding Twilight Sparkle a silent farewell.

“I cannot live forever in the past,” the pony reminded herself as she climbed higher into starlight sky. “Nor can I continue to risk so much indulging myself like this.”

The regal pony took one last look towards the sleeping village and for a moment, she hesitated as a familiar ache found its way inside her. “I cannot linger here any longer... it's time to go home,” she sighed and willed the magic from her horn to carry her back.

***

    Night was nearly over when the mist began to billow and swirl in the well-appointed study. Six young ponies, each on the edge of adulthood, lounged on pillows and mats as they waited.

Amongst them, a pair of bright yellow eyes widened as the mist began to take shape and she shook and nudged her long-time friends in her excitement. “Wake up! Wake up! She's coming! she's back!” The young unicorn tried to keep calm, but was unable to contain herself as she nearly shouted at the others.

“Huh... what? Oh... that's a relief.” Came the sleepy, yawn filled, voice of the only other unicorn in the room as he brushed away the hair that covered his eyes.

“Although she has been doing this since we were foals you know,” he said, repeating the same routine he and his friend had performed each time the princess had vanished before. Though he did have to admit, she was gone far longer this time then normal.

The others murmured and shook the wooliness from their heads and minds, just in time for the mist to fully coalesce into a regal and elegant form. “My little ponies,” the princess said with a mix of amusement and warmth. “I did not expect you to wait up for me all night.”

“M... er Princess! We... we just, I just...” The yellow-eyed unicorn stumbled over her words and then lowered her head. “I'm sorry, I made them stay up. I shouldn't have been so worried for you. I...” The mare's apology was ended by a royal wing being draped over her, pulling her into a gentle hug.

“I know and I should apologize to you all. You have always been dutiful students of mine and I have, of late, been neglecting you without giving any reason for it. You especially, my little one,” she said, releasing the unicorn from the embrace reluctantly. She walked past the group, before raising her hoof to silence the inevitable protests.

“Princess I may be, but that gives me no right to keep you, of all ponies, waiting in the dark. Come. In this twilight hour I have much to tell you.” Her words sank into the minds of the group and they followed her without hesitation.

“A lesson, your highness?” asked one of the two earth ponies, stifling a yawn as he followed her through the white-stone walls of the palace, illuminated only by the light of the moon outside.

“A story,” she corrected. “One befitting this hour that bridges night and day. If there are lessons to be learned by the tale that I will weave, you must be the ones to see and learn from them.” The princess's eyes matched her voice, filled with mystery and uncertainty.

This was nothing new to the young ponies, since foalhood they had heard many stories from her and each had been with purpose, carefully chosen.

“But you always tell stories with lessons, or were you telling lessons with stories?” the other earth pony asked, her green hair bobbing up and down as she trotted behind the larger mare's elegant strides.

“Oooh, is it gonna be a story about pirates!?” An excitable pegasus flew up in front of the monarch's face, his brief interruption ended by a sudden tug on his tail by the second pegasus in the group. An annoyed glare came from her amber eyes, silencing the over-excitable colt.

“No, the story contains no pirates, though you may find adventure enough in it,” the princess explained with a chuckle. “You will also understand soon enough the reason I can pin no specific lesson on this tale,” she said, pausing in front of a familiar archway and let her magic flow through it.

“Though before I begin, I have something I wish to show you,” she said with a faint smile. With a single step, she slipped through the portal and exited within the heart of a grand library. A smile graced the princess's face as she listened to the audible gasps that came from her students as one by one, they followed her through.

“This... this is amazing! You finished it, you finished the library!” Both of the unicorns seemed spellbound, shocked by what they saw. It had been years since any of them had stood in this room and back then it had been little more than empty shelves and scattered scrolls.

Wings fluttered and the pair of pegasi, one as bright as day and the other dark as night, darted and flitted past the high shelves. Eyes wide, they took in the titles of each work, while all but one of their earthbound friends wandered amidst the lower stacks.

“How... how is this possible?”asked the dusky red unicorn, her eyes tearing up before the princess put her wing across her body, the young mare overcome from the sight. She looked up into the Alicorn's eyes with a mix of joy and confusion. “I thought it was all destroyed when... when...”

The princess smiled and calmed the trembling pony. “Forgive me for my secrets, but this place was never truly attached to our old home. Simply a portal that connected it to the basement door.” She turned her head and watched the others excitedly darting from one document to the next.

“It is far from complete,” she said, sighing contentedly. “From this point forward, other scholars will finish the work I have started.” As her ancient eyes followed the ponies as they wandered amongst the shelves, she was unable to keep from wincing each time a feathered or leathery wing got too close to toppling one of the shelves. “Still, this labor itself was not the reason I brought you here.”

The young ponies paused in their exploration, gathering around the princess as she spoke. Once they were all seated, the other unicorn raised his voice. “The story without a lesson?” he asked, echoing the question that was in each of their minds.

The princess smiled, folding her wings before her expression darkened. “This story is not one with a specific moral, at least not one I have planned,” she began, meeting each of her student's eyes in turn.

“I have not told you much of the earliest days of my reign, or the years leading up to it. I have never truly told you of Equestria as it was before the coming of Discord.” The princess lowered her head, as if ashamed.

“I will endeavor to tell you everything now, as best as I am able. I will tell you the story of how Celestia and Luna ceased to reign and how I became princess Harmony. I will tell you of my life in full, my successes and my innumerable failures.”

There was no sound, just looks of confusion and concern from the ponies around her. “Mo... Princess Harmony,” the female unicorn said, correcting herself, though she desperately wished she didn't have to be so formal.

Before she could continue, the princess silenced her with a raised hoof. “Please, do not try to ease my self judgments, once you have heard this tale in full, only then try to justify my failures as anything other then what they are.”

She cleared her throat and began to weave her story, the magic in her voice filling the minds of the young ponies with images and memory.

“Once upon a time, in the mystical land of Equestria, there were two noble princesses. Of them, Celestia guided the Sun and her sister, Luna, commanded the moon as I do so now. My true power, the power of Harmony, was contained within six relics known as the Elements. Long lost to time, they were awakened in Equestria's darkest hour by a group of ponies who would become the living embodiment of friendship.”

“Time and again, darkness and danger would threaten the land and each time these bearers of harmony would stand against it. Even Discord, the spirit of disharmony and chaos was overcome by the friendship of these ponies. Though they were not always victorious, they never gave up and ponies around them, drawing from their love and friendship, would standagainst any threat.”

A shadow seemed to fall across the face of the princess, but none of the ponies dared to speak, though they shared concerned glances with each other.

Finally, after a moment, the regal pony continued her tale with a voice laden with sorrow. “However, this was not to last. For a threat came to Equestria that neither love, nor friendship could overcome without great loss. It was a dark, violent and fiery threat that proved too much for even the magic of Harmony was powerless against. It began so simply too, just a normal, beautiful day that became the worst and final day of the bearer of magic...”