The War of Ferus Island

Chapter 2

Somber Feast

Luna looked out over the countless ponies enjoying a variety of meals in the Grand Hall. The hall seemed somehow bigger when filled. She listened to the buzz of conversations that filled the hall. They were all there to celebrate her. Realizing that she was wearing a toothy grin, she quickly adjusted her smile to one more fit of Canterlot Royalty.

"So it can't be related in the slightest way to the Plague of Cloudsdale in 768 either!" Twilight was telling Celestia all that she had discovered about the sickness through study. So far she had divulged no useful information whatsoever. Twilight shook her head is admission.

"Where is Pinkie Pie?" Celestia asked. "She never misses a feast."

Twilight sobered further. "Her sister came down with the plague. She just got word today and went to see her."

Luna grimaced. There were already too many reported cases to count, with more coming in every day. Perhaps waiting it out would indeed be futile. Not that we have much choice...

"Have you tried any magical remedies yet, Princess?" Twilight asked.

Celestia nodded. "The plague is too complex for even my power to heal. It would take an incredible amount of magic to defeat this enemy."

Twilight looked down at her plate and poked at her food with a fork. "There must be a way to stop it!"

The doors to the palace burst open, and a dark blue unicorn galloped in, heading straight for the Royal Table. He looked tired, and was breathing heavily. A buzz of whispers fell over the hall. As he approached Celestia and Luna, even the whispers vanished. As he grew closer, Luna felt a pressure growing in her mind; a sense of terror that began to fill her every thought.

The unicorn bowed deeply before saying, "Your Highnesses, I come bearing an incredible discovery." reaching into his bag with his hoof--which Luna found odd, considering he was a unicorn--the pony brought out a sizable stone. Upon seeing it, Luna's stomach turned. She couldn't fathom why, yet she could feel the stones presence like grime covering her body. "I discovered this on Ferus Island, Your Majesties. It has the incredible ability to store magical energy, and release it in mass on demand." The crowd filling the hall gasped as one.

Celestia looked at the thing. "What is your name?" she asked the Unicorn.

The unicorn bowed. "Blue Stars, Your Highness."

"Come with us, Blue Stars." Celestia turned to face the hall. "Everypony, continue enjoying the feast. I shall return shortly." Celestia glanced at Luna before turning and heading through the doors behind them, which led deeper into the palace. Luna shied away from the stone as Blue Stars passed her, but followed. Celestia led to a private Study and turned back to Blue Stars. "Now, Blue Stars, if you will, demonstrate this storage ability you spoke of."

Blue took the stone out of his bag with his hoof and set it on the floor. He licked his lips and sent a flow of magic toward it. The flow seemed to vanish as it reached the plain-looking rock. He kept up the flow of magic, and the thing began to glow with a feint light. Stopping the flow, he looked up at the sisters. "It is now storing all the magic I sent into it," he said. "To use it, I merely use magic as normal while touching it, but I can force the magic through far more quickly than without it. The result is that I can use more magic in less time, and thus cast far more powerful spells."

Celestia furrowed her brow. "Show me." She walked to a window which opened onto an inner courtyard and opened it with her horn, handing an empty inkwell to the unicorn. Blue Stars nodded and grasped the inkwell with his magic. Looking down toward the ground in the courtyard, he focused for a moment and the inkwell vanished. A patch of dirt in the courtyard exploded in a cloud of dust, and when it cleared a hole nearly three feet deep stood with the inkwell lying shattered in the bottom.

Luna's eyes went wide. "Nopony can release that much magic that quickly!" she exclaimed, looking at the pony. He was not panting from exhaustion, not tired from using so much magic. He merely stood looking at the sisters. The stone in his hoof had lost its glow.

"The stone was holding little more than a tenth it's capacity," he said. "If I had charged it for longer, I would have been able to use far more power in the same amount of time."

"How many of these stones did you find?" Celestia asked.

"Just the one, Your Highness, although I may have seen more of them without realizing it during my exploration."

Celestia nodded. "I'll send a scouting party at once. Blue Stars, you may have just helped save everypony in Equestria. I thank you for that. I would also like to request that you be included in a scouting detail, as you know the landscape than anypony close at hand." Blue Stars stood stunned for a moment before graciously accepting. "Then I shall see you tomorrow. The Pegasi party will go out today, but we won't be able to get a unicorn and Earth detail there for several days."

"Your Majesty, I was on Ferus Island last night. I arrived here so quickly by grace of the stone."

Celestia eyed him. "Teleportation?"

"Yes. Teleportation is vastly benefitted by the stone's abilities. I jumped from the summit of Ferus Island to the shore instantly with a full charge." He shrugged. "I had been planning on taking the train, but when I saw how far I could see up the river valley, I decided to put the stone to use."

Celestia took a step back. "I shall require this stone for research, Blue Stars, so the land scouts will have to travel by train and hoof for now." Blue Stars nodded, handing the stone to Celestia.

"It's impossible to grip with magic. It just sucks in all the flows until it's full. Then it pushes them away."

Celestia nodded, reaching out to take the thing. Luna backed away, fearing the stone's presence. Why do I fear this simple rock?

Celestia rung a bell sitting on her desk. Shadow Light appeared immediately. "Shadow Light," Celestia said, "Show this gentlecolt to a room. Then tell my fastest scouts to meet me here." Shadow Light nodded and motioned for the stallion to follow her. They left, closing the door behind them.

"Sister,--" Luna started before being cut off.

"This is the answer, Sister!" Celestia said excitedly. "With enough of these stones, we could cure the entire land!"

"No, Sister!" Luna nearly shouted. Taking a deep breath and a step back, she said, "I don't like it. It feels... wrong... painful somehow."

Celestia furrowed her brow. "The stone? I feel nothing of the sort, Sister."

"I feel sick just thinking about using one of these cursed things," Luna said, trying to focus on settling her stomach. "I cannot be near it."

Celestia thought for a while. "Then you won't have to be. I can do everything related to the stones myself. You can remain here, or in your lunar palace until the epidemic is ended."

"Sister, I beg of thee, do not use these on the ponies of Equestria. I fear what such a wretched thing could do."

Celestia raised an eyebrow. "Why do you fear the thing so?"

A tear came to Luna's eye. "I don't know, Sister. But I can remain here no longer. I must get away from the thing. Far away! I cannot stand to be in the same city with it!"

Celestia sighed. "Okay, Sister. I shall explain to everypony why you are unable to remain at the feast. I shall write to you while we are apart. But I cannot sit idly by while my ponies suffer from this plague. I shall collect these stones and heal the land."

More tears came to Luna's eyes. She thought of making a final plea to avoid the use at all costs, but she could remain no longer. "I'll tell them myself, Sister." She cantered through the door and back out toward the Grand Hall, wiping the tears from her face on the way.

* * * * * * *

Twilight managed to eat some of her meal, trying to take her mind off of the plague for long enough to enjoy it. The Princesses had been gone for quite a while now. What was keeping them?

"Hey, Twilight," Applejack said beside her. "Do ya' think that stone could really store magical energy?"

Twilight shook her head. "I don't know. I've never heard of it before, but with magic anything is possible."

"Well it sounds absolutely ridiculous, if you ask me," Rarity put in. "The thought of a plain old rock holding the power only a unicorn's horn should possess is absolutely absurd!"

Rainbow Dash laughed. "I'm surprised to hear you say that, Rarity! I remember a time when you were quite fond of a "plain old rock!"

Rarity rounded on Rainbow. "Oh yeah? Well if you hadn't been so busy trying to abandon your friends maybe that wouldn't have happened!"

"Stop this arguing!" Twilight yelled. The two ponies looked at her. "Let's just try to enjoy the feast."

Luna came back out and stood by her seat at the head of the Royal Table. Everypony fell silent and looked to her. "I have an announcement to make," she said, soberly. "I shall be retreating to the moon for some time. I seem to be having a negative reaction to the stone brought to my sister and I, and shan’t be able to return until the issue is addressed. I hereby publicly ask her not to use the stones, as I fear they may cause... pain to everypony.

"I apologize most profusely for running off at my own feast, but I simply can't stay. I thank all of you for attending, and hope to see you next year. Now, continue the feast, and I shall keep you all in my heart. Celestia should be returning to the feast in short order."

As Luna turned to go, Twilight frowned. Why should Luna have a negative reaction when nopony else seemed to? The crowd began murmuring as Luna took flight and headed for the moon. Why would Luna have to make a public plea? Has Celestia declined a private one?

"Twilight," Applejack said.

"Yeah?"

"She's tellin' the truth."

Looking up at the shrinking alicorn, Twilight felt a lump growing in her throat.

A dark colored unicorn appeared in the doorway. "Twilight Sparkle?" she asked.

"Yes?"

"Celestia requests your presence."

Twilight nodded. "I'm sure I'll be back soon," she told her four friends. "Enjoy the feast." Twilight followed the unicorn back into the palace and up some stairs to one of Celestia's private studies. The unicorn showed her in, and Twilight thanked her.

Celestia was talking to a group of seven Pegasi. "I need you there as quickly as possible. You are to scour the ground, looking for anything like this." She held up the stone. Is it really glowing, or is it just the lighting in here? Twilight thought to herself.

"We can't leave without a Squadron Leader," one of the Pegasi said. "Nose Dive broke his wing and won't be in flying shape for a couple months at the least."

Celestia thought for a moment. "I'll get a new Squadron Leader. You'll head out tomorrow." The Pegasi nodded and turned to leave. Once they were out of the room, Celestia addressed Twilight. "This is the most amazing thing I have ever seen, Twilight Sparkle." She held up the stone.

"What does it do, exactly?" Twilight asked.

"All I know so far is that is stores Magic and can release it far more quickly than any unicorn has ever dreamed of." Celestia smiled. "I trust you've read A Principle Explanation of Magic, Physics, and Unicorn Horns?"

Twilight smiled. "I have three copies!"

"Well, this stone seems to have no upper limit on Mags over time!"

Twilight gasped. "That would mean that you could do nearly anything! These could be incredibly destructive, if somepony wasn't careful with them..."

"Yes, Twilight. I'm putting you at the head of the research of the stones. But you must promise to be extremely careful in your study."

A large smile took hold on Twilight's face. "I promise, Princess."