Friendship, Love, and Magic

Chapters

Prologue
Magic and Unity - Part 1
Magic and Unity - Part 2
Magic and Unity - Part 3

Prologue

Author's Note

Reading the Prologue is NOT required for understanding the story.

It is simply here for extra context if it is wanted.

Prologue

I think back to that night at the castle almost every night. The crackling of thunder in the distance, the pelting sounds of the rain falling on the castle roof, and the sounds of his laughter as he took the throne. It was the same as my sister’s, only much more sinister and filled with evil intent. Once again, I was faced with a choice. The choice to allow Equestria to fall…or save it by sacrificing somepony I love. Just like when my sister turned into Nightmare Moon. Only this time, it was my significant other.

I recount that night often. I play it in my head over and over. With my sister, I was able to get over it. I knew that someday my sister would return. However, when it comes to him, I knew that he was too far gone to allow him to return. I wonder if it could have gone differently. Maybe if I treated him differently, or had done something else, perhaps I would not have to do what I did. But alas, as many times as I play through it, I come to the same conclusion. There was no other choice.

I remember standing in front of the gates of Canterlot. Back then, it was a heavily fortified city. Smaller than it is today, however much more secure. Behind me was my army, only two hundred pegasus guards strong, facing off against one thousand of Prince Terrenus’ finest soldiers. I knew that the chance of my army’s victory was slim, but still, I had to free my people. Prince Terrenus could not be allowed to take siege of the new castle. It had only been three months since the banishment of my sister, but Canterlot had already grown to be the most powerful city in all of Equestria. If Prince Terrenus were to seize it, then Equestria would be lost.

Led by my greatest Commander, Steelhoof, my army charged into the city, busting down the golden gates. Many of my soldiers took to the sky but were struck down by Prince Terrenus’ incredible powers. Hiding within the castle walls, he used dark magic to take down waves of my army with ease. My army began dropping like flies. I tried to help, doing my part as a leader. But even with my power, the army of Prince Terrenus was enchanted with Dark Magic. Even to me, they were a force to be reckoned with. Steelhoof galloped up to me in a state of panic, “Princess,” he said in haste, “His army is too powerful. Perhaps we should retreat.”

I turned to Steelhoof with a stern look, “No, we mustn't allow Terrenus to take control of Canterlot. He’s already taken over Unicorn Range and Foal Mountain. If Canterlot falls, nothing will stop him from taking over the Crystal Mountains and Frozen North,” I turned towards the Canterlot Castle, carefully weighing my options before acting, “We must strike here and now. This conflict must end tonight.”

“But, Your Highness, I don’t think we have the numbers or power to defeat the evil Prince,” Steelhoof said, taking his helmet off and holding it to his chest, “What are we going to do?”

I looked to my wings and used my magic to pull out my last resort, “I have a little something that will turn the tide of this war,” I revealed to Steelhoof the three Unity Gems.

Steelhoof’s eyes widened as they fell on the Unity Gems, “The Unity Gems…”

“Unfortunately, Prince Terrenus has taken the Elements of Harmony, which means our last resort is the Unity Gems,” I said as I placed the Unity Gems back under my wing, “I know I can count on you to lead this army to greatness.”

“Of course, Princess. But…what are you going to do?” Steelhoof asked, putting his helmet back onto his head.

I looked at the throne room of the castle, “I’ll confront Prince Terrenus on my own. I’ll put an end to his tyranny once and for all. And Equestria can finally be at peace.”

Sleelhoof places a hoof on his brow, saluting to me, “Good luck, Princess.”

I spread my wings as far apart as I could. The length of Alicorn's wings is incredible, so my presence was very apparent. The size is not just for show, as soon as I flapped my wings, I was sent flying towards the throne room at an incredible speed, the likes of which would put a professional pegasus flier to shame. Many of Prince Terrenus’ soldiers tried to stop me, but with my alicorn magic, I swiftly took care of them.

It was not long before I crashed through one of the windows of the hall where the throne is. I closed my eyes to protect them from the shattered glass as I landed on the red carpet on the floor. I stood up tall and opened my eyes to see…Prince Terrenus, sitting on the throne. “Well well well, I didn’t think you’d leave your army behind and come charging horn first into my throne. Incredibly brave of you, Princess Celestia,” Prince Terrenus sniggered.

“Prince Terrenus, please, stop this madness,” I said, stepping forward.

“Why are you so opposed to my rule, Celestia?” Prince Terrenus asked with a scowl, getting up from his sitting position, “I am merely trying to liberate Equestria from the foolish ways that you have adopted.”

“The ponies of Equestria are happy under the rule that I have subjected them to. What you seek to create is a world that guarantees everypony will be unhappy. Please, Terrenus,” I pleaded, showing a more vulnerable side to myself. My face and voice softened, trying to appeal to whatever good in Terrenus that was left, “Give up this foolish conquest of domination. Don’t end up like my sister, please.”

“THAT’S PRINCE TERRENUS TO YOU, Celestia!” Terrenus snapped, leaning toward me with an aggressive stare. He began walking down the carpet and towards me, “I aim to grant us a utopia. A world where alicorns are praised. A world where we are worshiped like gods! As alicorns, it is our birthright.”

“That is not the kind of Kingdom I want to rule over. It’s not right,” I said, stomping my hoof down, “Now I am asking you one last time, please. Stand down.”

“NEVER!!!” Prince Terrenus roared as he blasted a magic beam at me. I was barely able to dodge it by sidestepping.

I had to act quickly as Terrenus proceeded to fire a barrage of beams toward me. I spread my wings and flew across the room, dodging the beams of magic. As I landed back on the ground, I took out the Unity Gems and held them in front of myself. Terrenus’ face shifted from a scowling smirk to one of fear as he backed up. “Wh-Where did you get those?!” Terrenus asked in fear.

“You may have taken the Elements of Harmony, but you failed to remember about the Unity Gems. I’m sorry, Terrenus,” I said as I began getting choked up, “You left me with no other choice than to use these.”

Terrenus scowled, “You can’t keep this up, Celestia. No matter what you do to me, I will come back!”

I kept silent as I activated the Unity Gems. Magic bursted from my horn and shot into the Unity Gems. From the three Unity Gems, three beams of magic shot out and toward Terrenus. His face twisted in fear as a Blue, Yellow, and Red light twisted around him, encompassing his body. Tears streamed down my cheeks as I watched. Before his face was covered, Terrenus looked at me one final time before smirking, “It’s a wonder how you always lose everypony you care about.”

My eyes widened as he said this. My heart shattered. The magic overtook his body, making it disappear as the magic shot out of the window I broke through, trapping him within the stars in the sky. I collapsed to the ground, breaking down into tears. The words he said hurt more than any magical attack could. “I’m sorry, Terrenus,” I cried. Just like my sister, I had to banish the pony I loved away to protect the citizens of Equestria. The very next morning, there was a large celebration of my victory. ‘The Prince is gone, long live Princess Celestia’ they chanted in the streets. However, for me, there was no cause for celebration. Once again, I had lost a pony I loved dearly. Was it me? Did I cause this? Had I only treated Luna better, had I only treated Terrenus better.

Of course, there was no way to change what happened. I had to live with that. I had to move on. But I don’t think I ever will. Almost one thousand years have passed since that day. Fall is coming to Equestria and the return of Terrenus draws near. I fear that this time, I will not have the strength to stop him. But maybe somepony will…

Magic and Unity - Part 1

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Magic and Unity - Part 2

As time passed by, Aurora focused on reading her book. It had been nearly an hour since she arrived at the Golden Oak Library. Aurora leaned her head against her hoof, which held her up on the table. Her book was leaning against the pony head statue in the middle of the table. Periodically, she would flip the page with her magic. Twilight Sparkle walked into the room, looking around with a confused expression on her face. She turned to Aurora with a raised eyebrow, “They haven’t arrived yet?”

Aurora sighed, “No.” She turned to Twilight, “As ponies sent by Princess Celestia, I expected them to be more punctual.”

Twilight gave a small smile, “Give them some time. I’m sure they’ll be here any minute now.”

“I hope so,” Aurora said, darting her eyes away.

As if on queue, the front door suddenly opened and two ponies swiftly walked into the room. Aurora turned her head to face the ponies. One was a pegasus pony and the other was an Earth Pony. The pegasus had a Lemon Yellow Coat and a sky blue upward spiked mane with pale sky blue stripes throughout. Her eyes were narrow and almost gave the expression that she was perpetually in a state of suspicion. The second pony, the Earth Pony, looked very plain. She had a very generic english violet mane and tail. Her coat had much more presence than her mane, being a more saturated dark violet. Her demeanor was in a constant resting scowl, even though she wasn’t upset in any way.

The pegasus pony stopped and looked around the room with a hint of awe and confusion. “Wow,” she said in wonder. “Look at this place! It’s made out of a tree! That’s so cool!”

The earth pony rolled her eyes with a sigh of disappointment, “Yeah, sure. Such a wonder.” An obvious hint of sarcasm was present in the earth pony’s voice.

The pegasus turned to Twilight with an enthusiastic smile, “Heya! Are you Aurora Borealis? You look a lot more plain than I imagined you’d be.”

Twilight gave a nervous chuckle. She was unsure if that was meant to be an insult or not. She quickly shook her head, “No, I’m not. My name is Twilight Sparkle.” She pointed her hoof to Aurora, “That’s Aurora.”

“Huh,” The pegasus turned to Aurora. She quickly trotted up to the Aurora, leaving the earth pony behind. “Hey! So, you’re Aurora Borealis, huh?” The pegasus said in excitement.

“Um, yes? May I help you?” Aurora responded, unsure how this pegasus would know her.

“The name’s Zephyr Spark. I was sent by Princess Celestia to study magic with you,” the pegasus said, pointing to herself in pride.

Aurora raised an eyebrow in confusion. She looked at the pegasus’ body and focused on her wings, noting the fact that she was a pegasus. Aurora gave a small chuckle as she looked back up at the pegasus, “I’m sorry, there must be some mistake. I’m expecting two unicorn ponies who are gifted in magic. Not some…pegasus.”

Zephyr is taken aback by this comment, taking a small step back in offense. Her smile faded. Zephyr scratched her front right leg with her left as she tried to think of what to say. Stuttering at first, she finally managed to speak, “U-Um…did the Princess…say a unicorn pony?”

“No, but it goes without saying. Only unicorns can use magic,” Aurora said as she closed her book and put her full attention on Zephyr.

The earth pony approached Aurora after hearing this comment. “Hey,” she with a slight hint of anger. “Earth ponies and Pegasi have magic too, y’know?”

Aurora closed her eyes and waved her hoof, disregarding what the earth pony said, “Yes yes, I know. Every creature has a bit of dormant magic within them. Pegasi use it to give their wings enough power to lift their bodies and earth ponies use it to be in tune with nature. I know about that. But Unicorns are the only ponies, other than alicorns, that can conjure magic in any meaningful way.”

“Well ain’t that a close-minded way of thinking about things,” the earth pony said, staring daggers into Aurora.

“It’s not close-minded, it’s simply truth,” Aurora said as she stood up from the chair and completely turned her body towards the earth pony.

“And you believe an earth pony cannot conjure magic in any way similar to how a unicorn can?” the earth pony asked.

“Indeed,” Aurora responded, nodding.

“So tell me then, do you know everything about magic?” the earth pony asked, tilting her head.

Aurora smirked, “Well, I don’t mean to brag, but yes. I have spent my entire life researching, trying to learn everything there is to know about magic.”

“Alright then, let me ask you. Can an earth pony do this?” the earth pony said as she raised her front right hoof.

The earth pony’s hoof began to glow a bright blue color. Twilight, Zephyr, and Aurora looked on in confusion as the earth pony swiftly stomped her hood down on the floor. A ripple of magic spread across the floor as suddenly, a stick sprouted from the wooden surface. The stick turned into a small plant, in which a yellowish-white flower bloomed. The earth pony smirked and crossed her front legs, “You were saying?”

“H-How did you…” Aurora stuttered, her eyes widened after witnessing this occurrence.

“Incredible!” Twilight said with sparkling eyes. “Earth pony magic!”

Zephyr approached closely to the flower, “Wow! It’s a flower!” Zephyr slowly opened her mouth, bit the flower, and started to chew on it. Her eyes widened, “It tastes like…vanilla? So that’s what magic tastes like!”

“It tastes like vanilla because it’s a vanilla flower, you imbecile,” the earth pony said as she rolled her eyes. She then directed her attention to Aurora, “So, what were you saying about earth ponies being unable to conjure magic in any meaningful way?”

“I-I…how did…” Aurora stuttered, unable to speak after what she just saw. “How did you do that?”

“Ain’t it obvious? I used magic,” the earth pony responded with a smirk.

“B-B-B-B-B-But…earth ponies can’t use magic,” Aurora insisted as she stuttered greatly.

“And yet, I just did,” the earth pony said.

Twilight approached the earth pony in excitement, “I didn’t know earth ponies could use magic like that!”

The earth pony turned to Twilight, “Normally they can’t. I’m just different, for some reason.”

“That’s amazing! What’s your name?” Twilight asked.

The earth pony turned her body and proceeded to announce her name proudly, “My name is Blossom Night.”

Aurora could not believe it. The earth pony used magic before her very eyes. Aurora was frozen, her previous beliefs about magic in ponies had been shattered. “Is this what Princess Celestia was talking about? About two ponies who were gifted in magic?” she thought as she looked at Blossom Night, who was talking to Twilight. Aurora expected that the magically gifted ponies would be unicorns, considering her preconceived notion that only unicorns could conjure magic in any physical way. Though Aurora was confused, she had to admit, it excited her. For years, nothing surprised her. She thought she had learned all she could about magic, but here was a new element staring her right in the face. Aurora turned to Zephyr and looked at her in curiosity, “Does that mean…she has magic too?”

Aurora slowly approached Blossom before stopping in front of her. Blossom and Twilight stopped talking as they look at Aurora in confusion. “An earth pony…with magic. I’ve never seen or heard of anything like that! It’s fascinating!”

“You believe now, huh? Just a moment ago, you were talking about how earth ponies can’t use magic,” Blossom said with a smile.

Aurora looked down in guilt, “I know, I was very rude about it. I’m sorry.”

“Hey, it’s alright,” Blossom said. “If I didn’t know, I would have thought it was impossible too.”

Aurora lifted her head to Blossom’s level, “How did you come to discover you have magic?”

“Pft, dunno,” Blossom responded with a shrug. “I was just out one day and then boom, I just had magic. ‘Bout the same time I got my cutie mark,” Blossom said as she turned her body to show off her cutie mark.

Aurora quickly looked down at the cutie mark in curiosity. Blossom’s cutie mark was of a mulberry bush with five blossoming mulberries. To the upper right of the bush is a moon with craters forming the shape of two pony heads. “I see,” Aurora commented. She looked back up at Blossom, “So how did you get your cutie mark?”

“That’s a story for another day,” Blossom said as she positioned her body back to normal. She looked past Aurora and at Zephyr, “What about you, featherbrain? Do you have magic too or what?”

Zephyr smiles in excitement at being called on, “Oh, uh…yeah, I do!”

“You do?” Twilight asked.

“Yuh-huh!” Zephyr responded as she nodded her head rapidly.

Aurora smiled in interest, “What can you do?”

“I can do cool things with my wings,” Zephyr said, spreading her wings for the ponies to see.

“Like what?” Blossom asked, tilting her head.

Zephyr's eyes glinted with determination, “I’ll show you!”

The trio of ponies followed Zephyr outside, where they stood side by side and watched as she took a signature pegasus stance of preparing to take off. Zephyr breathed in and out slowly before she fiercely flapped her wings as hard as she could, launching her off the ground with an audible whoosh. Twilight, Aurora, and Blossom’s heads quickly darted up. The three ponies watched in amazement at the pegasus’ speed. Immediately, Zephyr began to show off incredibly advanced flight moves. “Astounding! Look at her moves!” Aurora commented, looking up in awe.

Twilight was quick to follow up on Aurora’s comment, “She’s even faster than Rainbow Dash!”

“It is something to be appreciated,” Blossom stated.

Zephyr flew upwards before she backflipped into a dive toward the ground. As she fell, she spread her wings as far apart as she could. As she neared the ground, she pulled her wings back before she flicked them as hard and fast as she could forward. From out of both Zephyr’s wings, yellow beams of light flew out and towards the ground. Before the trio of observing ponies could process, the beams struck down on the ground, creating two small explosions.

Aurora, Blossom, and Twilight quickly covered their faces as the explosion launched chunks of dirt and debris everywhere. Once everything was calm again, the three ponies uncovered their faces and looked on, completely flabbergasted. Zephyr landed carefully on the ground and looked at craters in the ground. She placed her hoof on her mouth, keeping a chuckle from escaping, “Oopsie! I guess I overdid it.”

“What was that?!” Twilight asked, astounded.

“That was my magic,” Zephyr said as she trotted towards the ponies. “Why? Is it lame or something?”

“Holy smokes, that was cool. Way better than anything I’ve seen Rainbow Dash do,” Blossom said, smiling in amazement.

“You mean that you did that with magic?!” Aurora asked, stepping forward with widened eyes.

“Yeah,” Zephyr said, sticking her tongue out playfully.

“That was even more amazing than what Blossom did,” Aurora said. Aurora blushed in embarrassment as she turned to Blossom, “Um…no offense. What you did was also nice.”

“No no, I have to agree with you. That was far more than what most unicorns can do. To call you gifted would be an understatement,” Blossom said, putting on an admiring expression.

Zephyr blushed and put on a cute smile, “Thanks.”

Twilight turned to Aurora, “You should take notes. I know I’m going to.”

Aurora nodded and turned to Zephyr and Blossom, “Zephyr Spark, Blossom Night, both your magic is unlike anything I have ever encountered or even heard of. Will you two work with me to learn more about the magic you possess?”

Blossom and Zephyr were silent at first and stared at Aurora with blank expressions. Soon, however, their expressions changed to smiles. “Yeah, I’d like to learn more about our magic. I mean…isn’t that kind of why we’re here? Of course, I’m in.”

“Me too!” Zephyr said as she jumped in excitement.

Aurora smiled, excited that the ponies she previously ridiculed agreed, “That’s great. Then…if you all don’t mind. Can we start right away?”

“Why not? Day’s still young,” Blossom responded with a grin.

Twilight smiled at the trio of ponies, “We should get things set up in the library if that’s the case. Come on, everypony.” Twilight proceeded to reenter the library.

Aurora, Blossom, and Zephyr were quick to follow Twilight into the library. The four ponies proceeded to study the magic of Blossom NIght and Zephyr Spark as the day went on. Eventually, night approached and the magical research came to an end. Blossom Night proceeded out the door and towards her home. She waved one last goodbye to the ponies, “Don’t start without me tomorrow, okay?”

“Of course,” Aurora responded, waving back. She closed the door and walked into the library. She noticed Twilight putting away the quills and ink they were using. She proceeded to walk up to Twilight and speak to her, “So where are Zephyr and I going to sleep?”

Twilight turned to Aurora and smiled, “I have beds set up in my room. I’m probably going to be cleaning for some time, so you’re free to hit the hay if you’d like. I mean…Zephyr already has.”

Aurora smiled and thanked Twilight before making her way to the bedroom. Upon entering the room, she found that it was quite dark. Using her horn to light the way, she made it up the stairs and to the elevated area where the beds are located. As she walked towards the bed, she noticed Zephyr completely asleep in the small bed. “Guess I should get some shut-eye too,” Aurora thought as she climbed into her own bed. She looked down at her saddlebag, which was laying next to the bed. Aurora smiled and pulled out her notebook using her magic and guided it in front of her, “I suppose a letter to Princess Celestia won’t hurt.” Aurora took out her quill and ink. She dipped the tip of the quill in the ink and brought it to the book to begin writing.

Dear Princess Celestia,

I am very grateful that you assigned this task to me. I have learned amazing things as a result of meeting these two ponies. You were right, both are tremendously gifted with magic. I must say, it was a bit of a shock at first to learn that the two ponies were not unicorns, but were in fact an earth pony and a pegasus.

And I’ve met your old student, Twilight Sparkle. She is really smart when it comes to magic. I believe I can learn a lot from her. It’s only been the first day, but I believe there is much more to learn from here on out.

Your Faithful Student, Aurora Borealis

Aurora smiled as she reread her entry. She was glad to have met these three ponies and looked forward to learning more from them. Aurora placed her book back in her saddlebag and proceeded to slip under the covers. Aurora shifted to her side and closed her eyes, prepared to fall asleep. However, suddenly, she could sense a bright light from her closed eyelids. The light bothered Aurora and she opened her eyes to see what it was. From the window of the room, lights flashed rapidly. “What in Equestria is going on?” Aurora mumbled as she got out of bed and walked towards the window. She placed her hooves on the window sill and looked out at the sky.

Aurora’s eyes widened as she caught sight of the source of the flashing lights. Stars in the sky above, were not still as they should have been. In fact, the stars were rotating. “What the…?!” Aurora uttered as she watched the scene unfold before her. With every passing second, the stars spun faster and fast until it was impossible to differentiate the individual stars. The stars seemed to blend together with the speed, forming rings around the sky. The stars glowed brightly as a beam of light formed from all of them. Aurora watched in horror as the beam of light shot down and toward Canterlot. Aurora gasped in horror as she knew exactly what it was, “Oh no…Prince Terrenus!”

To Be Continued…

Magic and Unity - Part 3

Aurora’s eyes widened as she caught sight of the source of the flashing lights. Stars in the sky above, were not still as they should have been. In fact, the stars were rotating. “What the…?!” Aurora uttered as she watched the scene unfold before her. With every passing second, the stars spun faster and fast until it was impossible to differentiate the individual stars. The stars seemed to blend with the speed, forming rings around the sky. The stars glowed brightly as a beam of light formed from all of them. Aurora watched in horror as the beam of light shot down and toward Canterlot. Aurora gasped in horror as she knew exactly what it was, “Oh no…Prince Terrenus!”

Aurora was unable to process what she was watching. Prince Terrenus had indeed returned. She did not doubt that fact. As she tried to compose herself, she backed up and tripped over a potted plant leaning against the wall. As she fell to the ground with a grunt of pain, the pot fell over, making a loud thud against the wooden ground. Zephyr sprung up from her laying position and looked around in a daze. “Huh? What’s going on?” she exclaimed.

Aurora looked up at Zephyr’s dark figure for a moment before she got back on track and stood up. She quickly ran toward the door. She jumped down to the lower floor and burst through the door in desperation. Twilight jumped in surprise and turned to the door to her bedroom. The book she was putting away dropped to the ground as she stopped holding it up with her magic. Aurora breathed quickly in fear as she looked around in worry. Twilight placed a hoof on her chest and smiled nervously, “You scared me, Aurora. Is…everything okay?”

Aurora turned to the front door and quickly dashed toward it. Twilight watched in confusion as Aurora darted out the door. “Aurora?” Twilight said with a tilted head. By this time, Twilight had already seen her fair share of Friendship problems and had quite a good grasp on being able to tell when somepony is upset or distressed. Because of this, Twilight could tell that something was wrong as soon as Aurora galloped out the door. Zephyr entered the room, looking almost just as puzzled as Twilight. Twilight turned to Zephyr with a serious expression. “Is Aurora alright?” Twilight asked, hoping that Zephyr might have an answer.

Zephyr looked at Twilight, her puzzled expression confirmed immediately that she did not. Zephyr responded with a small chuckle, “I don’t know. She just kinda fell from the window and ran out of the room.”

“From the window?” Twilight questioned as she placed her hoof on her chin. “She must have seen something that made her react that way. But…what?”

As soon as Twilight finished speaking, Spike burst through the front door in haste. He looked at Twilight in worry as he spoke, “Twilight! Come quick! Something crazy is happening outside!”

Twilight and Zephyr turned and looked at each other with unsure expressions.

As she walked to the edge of Ponyville, Aurora came to a crowd of ponies, who were all looking forward in a state of confusion. Aurora’s eyes widened as she saw what the other ponies were looking at. In the valley that led up to Canterlot, a large structure, looking like it’s made up of black, spiked rocks slowly slid across the ground. As the structure slid toward Ponyville, it made a low, yet very loud, rumbling that echoed across the valley. “What the heck is that?” A pony wondered, turning to another.

“Haven’t got a clue,” A pony with a country accent responded.

Twilight Sparkle and Zephyr Spark approached behind Aurora as they finally caught up with her. Initially, they focused on Aurora, but soon their attention became transfixed on the large structure moving toward the town. Twilight’s eyes widened in worry, “What is THAT?!”

“Woah! Looks like a giant storm cloud!” Zephyr commented.

Aurora backed away as the words struggled to escape her mouth, “I-It’s…Prince…Terrenus!” Thoughts ran through Aurora’s head. She couldn’t make sense of it. Celestia told her that everything would be alright, so what happened? Aurora tried to calm herself and think of a plan.

“Prince…Terrenus? Who’s that?” Twilight questioned as she tilted her head in confusion. Though Twilight was very well educated in history, information on Prince Terrenus was scarce and she herself had never come across a source that spoke of the ancient ruler.

“I…he…” Aurora stuttered.

“Aurora, do you know what’s going on?” Twilight asked with a serious expression.

The moving structure came to an abrupt halt just fifty meters away from the front of the crowd. As the audience watched with a mix of fear and curiosity, two spires broke off of the side of the structure and fell to the ground, kicking dust up into the air. The spires attached to the base of the structure and locked it onto the ground. With a flash of gray smoke, a figure appeared on top of the spire. Ponies looked up in mixed emotions as a roar of deep laughter came from the figure. A pair of pegasus wings spread from the figure. With a couple of flaps, the figure used their wings to carry themself down and in front of the crowd of ponies, where they could get a good look at the figure.

It was a Pony. They were a tall stallion, with an iron-gray coat that with the dark of the night, looked as black as a void. On his head was spiky, dark green mane that flowed with dark sparkles of black. His eyes pierced through the ponies with daggers, giving great presence to their midnight blue color. Worn all over the stallion, is dark silver royal regalia with green gems. The group of ponies seemed to back up in sync as the presence was revealed. Everypony’s eyes widened as they noticed a defining feature of the pony. The pony smiled as he knew exactly why the ponies were staring in awe.

The stallion pushed his chest forward, giving presence to his well-built body, almost akin to that of a work pony. He spread his wings apart, showing off their tremendous size. And lastly, he raised his neck and head, drawing attention to the great and long horn on his head. “Your eyes do not deceive you,” he spoke in a low and terrifying voice. “Your gaze is indeed falling upon a true Alicorn!”

The crowd of ponies gasped as these words were spoken by the large stallion. Twilight was struck with confusion. “An Alicorn? That’s impossible! Princess Celestia and Luna should be the only Alicorns in all of Equestria!” Twilight said in disbelief.

The dark stallion laughed, “Unfortunately, you are mistaken. There is another Alicorn of Equestria. I…am Prince Terrenus!” The stallion looked around at the awe-struck ponies. The self-proclaimed prince smiled as he spoke his next words, “It comes with great satisfaction that I must inform you that Princess Celestia and Princess Luna are no longer your rulers.”

“What?!” Many of the ponies exclaimed.

“That’s right,” Terrenus chuckled. “I have rid Equestria of the two sisters’ pitiful rule. From this moment forth, I am your ruler now!” Terrenus roared with laughter as he announced this to the ponies.

The ponies watched the laughing stallion, stricken with fear at his might. Ponies whispered and mumbled to each other, debating what the large figure means and if what he said is true. “That’s impossible!” exclaimed Rainbow Dash. With a swift flap of her wings, she launched herself forward in the air and flew up to Terrenus. Terrenus’ laughter stopped as he looked at her with a confident smirk. Rainbow Dash, on the other hand, stared into Terrenus’ eyes with anger. “You’re no ruler of ours! What did you do to the Princesses, huh? Tell me now or I’ll pummel it out of you!” Rainbow Dash shouted with a deadly serious tone.

“Oh, I haven’t harmed them…yet. I wouldn’t worry your pretty little hair about it…Rainbow Dash,” Terrenus responded as he continued to smirk at the rainbow-maned pony.

Rainbow Dash’s eyes widened as she was shocked at the fact that the alicorn knew her name. “What?!” Rainbow Dash trembled, and her confident demeanor faded for a moment. “How do you know my name?”

“I know all the names of the ponies who defeated Nightmare Moon,” Terrenus responded. “Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Rarity, and last but not least…Twilight Sparkle. I was watching, waiting, and observing from the stars. It is incredibly disappointing that the great Nightmare Moon was defeated by a group of mares wearing a few necklaces. But fortunately for me, it allowed me to hatch the perfect plan to make sure that what happened to her doesn’t happen to me!” With a devious smile, Terrenus stomped his front hoof onto the ground. With a light rumble, a spire made of rock sprouted from the ground and like a tether, quickly wrapped around Rainbow Dash’s body, capturing her.

Rainbow Dash was not quick to react, by the time she realized what was going on, she was already captured. “H-Hey!” Rainbow Dash growled as she wiggled her body in an attempt to escape. “Let go of me!”

Terrenus flapped his wings and flew up to Rainbow Dash’s level. His mouth curved to an even bigger smile than before as he placed his hoof upon Rainbow Dash’s chin. “I have taken your precious Elements of Harmony. Without them, you little ponies have no way of stopping me,” Terrenus said. He took his hoof off of Rainbow Dash’s chin, smacking it in the process. He turned to the rest of the ponies. “Now, nothing will stand in the way of my complete and total takeover of Equestria. Except for Sombra, but I’ll deal with him later. Now…KNEEL BEFORE ME!!! YOUR NEW RULER!!!”

Twilight scowled and stepped forward. She moved through the crowd and made her way to the front of it. It was one thing to do something to her mentor and princess. But it was a whole other thing to hurt her friends. “I don’t think so,” Twilight yelled toward Terrenus. Terrenus turned his attention to Twilight. He smirked as he realized just who it was that was speaking to him. “We won’t be bowing to you. Our rightful ruler is Princess Celestia.” As Twilight stood to confront the Prince, her friends joined her. Applejack, Fluttershy, Rarity, and Pinkie Pie came out of the crowd.

“Twilight Sparkle! Celestia’s prized student! So nice to finally meet you,” Terrenus stated humbly. “You’re quite the pony. Your intelligence is certainly a force to be reckoned with. I’m particularly impressed with how you pieced together what the spark for the Elements of Harmony was. Very well done.”

“Put Rainbow Dash down right now! Whatever you did to the Princesses, release them immediately!” Twilight demanded, ignoring Terrenus’ words. Twilight’s face softened into one of uneasiness as she realized that she had no way to make Terrenus listen. “Or-”

“-you’ll do what?” Terrenus laughed. “You don’t have the Elements of Harmony. You wouldn’t be able to find where I’ve hidden them even if you had a hundred moons! Sorry, but whether you like it or not, I am the new ruler of Equestria.” Terrenus stood tall and drew attention to his wings and horn once again to solidify his dominance among the weaker ponies in front of him. “Now, my little ponies,” Terrenus announced. “Kneel before your Prince!”

Twilight and her friends backed up in fear. They were unsure how to handle the situation. The group of friends turned their heads to look at Twilight for guidance, as she was the one who typically had the answer as to what to do in this situation. “What do we do, Twilight?” Applejack asked her friend in worry.

Twilight looked at Terrenus in stress. She hated not being able to come up with a plan. With the Elements of Harmony out of reach, she knew that there was no way that she, a unicorn pony (or anyone else for that matter), could stand up to Terrenus. Whether one wants to admit it or not, there is no denying that an alicorn is objectively perfect. An alicorn has far more magical potential and strength than any other common pony.

“Twilight? questioned Rarity. “You do have a plan, right?”

“I-I’m sorry. But…there’s nothing we can do. Without the Elements of Harmony, we have no way of standing up against an alicorn,” Twilight faltered. She backed up as she continued to look up at Terrenus with fear.

“So you understand that there’s no hope for my defeat? Even so, you’re too much of a danger to not deal with. Don’t take this personally, Twilight. But I can’t have you finding out something!” Terrenus said as he raised his neck upward. The tip of the alicorn’s horn began to glow with white light. With a smirk, Terrenus whipped his neck forward, shooting a beam of magic at Twilight.

Twilight’s eyes widened as she was unable to react. However, she was pushed out of the way just before the beam hit her. Twilight fell to the ground and quickly turned to see who shoved her. “Applejack!” Twilight exclaims.

Almost immediately after she was hit, Applejack’s body began to turn to stone quickly from the hooves up. Applejack turned to the friend she just saved with a worried expression. “Get outta here, Twilight! Hurry!” Applejack yelled just before her body was completely turned to stone.

Twilight quickly stood up. She looked at her now petrified friend. Twilight was unable to move, having just seen this happen to her friend. “A-Applejack,” Twilight uttered as tears began to form in her eyes.

Terrenus looked at the ponies with an unfocused gaze. “Huh, well that happened,” Terrenus spoke with a casual voice. Terrenus smiled as he prepared another beam of magic. “Oh well, won’t again!” Terrenus once again whipped his neck forward, blasting another beam at the unicorn mare.

“TWILIGHT!!!” screamed Rarity, Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy.

Twilight clenched her eyes shut and tilted her head away in preparation to be hit by the beam. “I’m sorry, Applejack!” Twilight thought to herself. Twilight expected that the next thing she would feel is the impact of the magical beam on her face. Instead, it was the feeling of somepony’s front legs wrapping around her. She opened her eyes and turned to see who it was as they tackled her down. It was Aurora Borealis. Aurora’s face was pale with fear and worry. Her horn glowed a cyan color, the typical color of her magic aura, as she cast a spell. Just before the two mares hit the ground, their bodies vanished. The beam crashed into the ground, turning a patch of it into stone.

Terrenus’ eyebrows raised as he saw the two vanish. “What the-?!” Terrenus blurted in confusion.

As Aurora fell onto Twilight, they were in a new location. Twilight gently opened her eyes to see Aurora’s face, contorted in pain, as she was slowly getting off of Twilight. Though Aurora was not the one who took the brunt of the fall, she looked as if she did. Twilight looked at Aurora in a moment of confusion. Her mind went blank for a moment as she uttered, “Aurora…?”

Aurora stood up and panted in exhaustion. She clenched her eyes shut and placed a hoof on her head. Twilight finally snapped out of it and her eyes started to dart back and forth at her surroundings. The last thing she knew, she was about to be hit by Prince Terrenus’ beam of magic. But now, she was safe and somehow away from danger. “Wh-What happened?” Twilight stuttered, almost at a loss for words.

Aurora responded, with a hampered voice, “I wanted to act sooner. But…I didn’t want to do anything too rash. I’m sorry, if I did something earlier, your friend wouldn’t have been…” Aurora’s voice faded as she stopped speaking. She was still trying to catch her breath.

Twilight stood up and turned to Aurora with a shocked face. “You saved me with a teleportation spell?” Twilight asked. Her voice hinted at a bit of admiration but was otherwise drowned out by the very apparent shock in it.

Aurora’s breathing slowed and became more stable as she prepared to speak. “Yeah, learned it a couple of years ago. I didn’t study it much though, thought it was moot at the time,” Aurora responded.

Twilight looked around. Her eyes landed on her library. She walked a bit forward as she looked at the structure. “The library,” Twilight spoke to no one in particular.

Aurora quickly sprinted toward the library. “Quick! we have to get in,” she said in haste.

“Right,” Twilight agreed as she followed behind Aurora.

One inside the library, the pair of mares were quick to close and lock the door. They sighed contently as they were now, at least relatively, safe. As they turned toward the inner part of the room, they gasped in synchronization. Standing in the center of the main room was Blossom Night. She stared at the two mares with a serious glare. “Blossom Night!” Twilight spoke up. “What are you doing here?”

“I saw what was happening outside,” Blossom Night responded. “I was out of the loop when Nightmare Moon attacked. I wanted to make sure that doesn’t happen again.” Blossom analyzes the two mares and their state of panic. “By the look of things, you two know what’s going on. Judging by your expressions, it must be something bad.”

Aurora opened her mouth to speak up. But before she could, she was interrupted by something slamming into the window with a loud thud. The three ponies in the tree house turned to the window in fear. “Oh no!” Aurora said. “He found us!” Before the ponies could discuss what to do, they heard a sound from outside.

“OW OW OW OW OW OW OW OW OW!!!” something, or some pony, howled from outside. The three ponies’ ears perked up quickly as they recognized that voice.

“Hold on a moment…is that?” Twilight questioned as she tilted her head. Blossom was quick to act as she walked to the door and opened it.

“Blossom! No!” Aurora shrieked.

“It’s okay,” Blossom said as she reached her hoof forward. She quickly pulled somepony into the view of the other ponies. It was Zephyr Spark. “It’s just this featherbrain.

Blossom quickly pulled the pony into the library and shut the door. The three ponies quickly circled Zephyr as she seemed unwell. Zephyr’s eyes twirled around as she was incredibly dazed. Zephyr chuckled, “Eheheh, sorry everypony. Back at Cloudsdale, the windows are all just openings in the house. So I’m used to just flying right through them.”

“You nearly scared us to death, Zephyr. How’d you know we were here?” Blossom said.

Zephyr shook her head to get her out of her dazed state. She looked at Blossom and smiled. “I didn’t know where you were. I just came back here for a nap because I didn’t know what else to do,” Zephyr explained as she walked out of the small circle of ponies. She turned to Twilight with excitement. “So who was that Terrenus guy? Does he come around often?”

“Weren’t you listening to a single thing he was saying?” Aurora grumbled.

Zephyr turned to Aurora with a continued smile. “Nuh-uh.”

Twilight turned her attention to Aurora and gave a serious look. “Actually, I’m sure we would all like to know what was going on there. You seemed to know,” Twilight said.

“What?!” Aurora said as she backed up.

“You ran out of the library. You knew about Terrenus, didn’t you?” Twilight said as she approached Aurora.

Blossom approached Aurora with an annoyed expression. “Yeah? Mind filling us in?” she asked.

Aurora looked wide-eyed at the three ponies, who had turned their complete attention toward her. Aurora looked down as she tried to come up with the precise words to explain the situation. With a deep sigh, Aurora proceeded to explain everything. “Before I here from Canterlot, I read a book about the history of Equestria. It was a book I had never seen before. It recounted a different history than other books. It said that one thousand years ago, there were in fact, actually three alicorn rulers. Celestia, the Princess of the Sun; Luna, the Princess of the Moon; and the final, Terrenus, the Prince of the Earth.” Aurora turned away from the other ponies before she continued. “Prince Terrenus had planned to take over Equestria. But…he was stopped by Princess Celestia. She used some things called the Unity Gems to banish him into the stars.”

“Unity Gems?” Twilight said as she rubbed her chin. “I’ve never heard of those. What are they?”

“I second that,” Blossom said.

Aurora responded, “I’m not sure. I couldn’t find any more information on them.”

Twilight looked down and tried to think of what they could do. “Without the Elements of Harmony, we have no way of combating Terrenus,” she said as she looked up at Aurora and gave a smile of cautious optimism. “But if we can find these ‘Unity Gems’, maybe we’ll have a chance.”

“Yeah, but who knows where we could find them?” Blossom commented.

“Why don’t we just look for a book?” Zephyr suggested with a cute smile.

“We aren’t gonna find a book like that just lying around,” Aurora asserted as she waved her hoof to disregard the pegasus pony’s suggestion. “Information on the Unity Gems is scarce enough as it is.”

Twilight’s face perked up as she remembered something. “Perhaps there IS a book just lying around,” she said.

Aurora is surprised by this. She leaned forward and asked, “What makes you think that?”

Twilight walked toward one of the many rows of shelves that hold the hundreds of books contained in the library. She stopped at the row labeled with the letter ‘U’ and began looking through the books. “When Nightmare Moon appeared, my friends and I easily found a book that gave us information on the Elements of Harmony and where to find them. So maybe we can also find a book on the Unity Gems just as easily,” Twilight said. As she scanned through the books, she finally pulled one out with her magic. “Aha! Here we go!” she announced as she looked at the title of the book. “The Unity Gems: The Great Treasure of Equestria!”

“You…actually found a book?!” Aurora queried with speculative eyes.

With a smile, Twilight responded, “Apparently so.”

Twilight opened the book and used her magic to pass it on to Aurora. Aurora’s horn glowed cyan as she held the book with her magic. As she flipped through the pages, her expression became more and more shocked. “This…this is it!” she said with a half smile. The other three ponies proceeded to surround her, waiting for her to read it.

“Well? What does it say?” Blossom asked with a tilted head.

Aurora flipped to a page and proceeded to read it out for them. “The Unity Gems. Known as the Great Treasure of Equestria. This trio of gems existed within Equestria long before the arrival of ponies. With the exception of the Elements of Harmony, these three Gems are the most powerful ancient artifacts known to ponykind. Each one possesses the magic of the three pony races. The three gems are The Earth Sapphire, The Pegasus Topaz, and the Unicorn Ruby. The power of each gem can only be used when it's charged by the source of it's magic. After usage, the three gems will separate and spread across the entirety of Equestria. The last known usage of them was by Princess Celestia when she used them to defeat the evil Prince of the Earth, Terrenus.”

Blossom rolled her eyes as she was growing impatient. “Okay, that’s all well and good. But where can we FIND them?”

Aurora looked up at Blossom and then back at the book. She flipped to the next page and found exactly where it told of their location. She proceeded to read out, “After the usage of the Unity Gems, to pay respects to the banished Prince, she left the gems in Prince Terrenus’ castle, which is located in…” Aurora paused and looked up. “...the Badlands.”

Twilight’s eyes widened. “The badlands?” she questioned to make sure she wasn’t hearing things. “You mean we have to venture all the way over there to get them?”

Aurora closed the book. Her eyes narrowed as she looked down in thought. “There’s no guarantee that they’ll actually be there after all this time. But we have to check anyway,” she said. She turned to Twilight. Twilight’s expression turned to one of determination as she nodded to Aurora.

“Then we better get going,” Blossom said as she started walking toward the door.

Aurora shook her head at Blossom. “I think it would be best if Twilight and I went alone.”

“Oh heck no!” Blossom said. She had turned back to Aurora with incredible speed. “I’m not gonna just stand by and do nothing. I’m going with you guys. You could use an extra hoof.” Blossom slammed her hoof into the ground and smirked. “Especially a hoof such as mine.”

“No, Blossom-” Aurora started before she was cut off.

Zephyr jumped in front of Blossom with a resolute smile. “I’m coming too!” she announced.

“You too, Zephyr?” Twilight questioned.

Zephyr nodded rapidly. “I wanna be helpful! And it could be fun,” she cheered as she closed her eyes and smiled. Blossom knocked her hoof into Zephyr’s head. “Ouchie!” Zephyr yelped. She looked up at Blossom with a raised eyebrow. “Hey! What was that for?”

“It ain’t about fun, featherbrain. We’re trying to save Ponyville here. Or in fact, we’re trying to save all of Equestria,” Blossom snapped.

Twilight nodded. “It’s settled then! We’ll all go!”

Normally, Aurora would completely object to bringing along a pegasus and earth pony. They would normally get in the way, considering that magic was required in this endeavor. However, she thought of the fact that these two ponies could use magic. They could prove to be useful. Aurora looked up at the other ponies with a determined, yet nervous expression and said, “We need to leave soon before Terrenus finds out where we are.” The other three ponies nodded as they prepared to set off.

To Be Continued…