Return of the Lord

Celestia slowly walked across the silent hall, her hoofsteps the only sound which had likely sounded inside this room for a long time. Large stained glass windows lined the impressively ornate chamber, but Celestia was too busy lost in her own thoughts to appreciate them at this current time, the loss of her student had come as a shock to her, and affected her far deeper than she had let her sister know.

She sat and looked at the dying sun through the window, and focused a little, giving it a small push to make way for her sister's night. As darkness slowly enveloped the stone hall, she was abandoned to her thoughts once more.

Twilight... Where are you, my faithful student?

Celestia lit up her horn softly, searching Equestria for any trace of her. It was impossible for her to have left its borders so quickly, but it was also impossible that she would find her student, just like she hadn't the fifty other times she had tried that day.

Celestia felt despair lurking at the door of her mind, but steeling her resolve, and thinking of her subjects, stove it off. She must be strong for the whole of Equestria, and couldn't let her own issues endanger the lives of those who trusted her, and looked up to her for guidance.

That didn't mean, however, that she would stop looking. She rose from her hooves to stand at her full height, and began to pace up and down the room, running through her mind every possible possibility of how she could locate her student.

Idea after idea passed through her mind, many were discarded, and a few experimented with, but alas she seemed to be getting nowhere. Celestia sighed, and distressed significantly, sat down on the cold stone floor to stare vacantly across the room...

...And her eyes rested on an ornately carved door, built to keep safe the six most powerful objects in Equestrian history. They were the Catalysts of Harmony, Keepers of Balance, and the Bane of Equestria's Foes. Celestia slowly rose as an idea began to form in her head. She blinked twice, then slowly smiled.

"Yes! YES!" Celestia jumped a little with joy as she underwent a little revelation.

The elements are all linked, this is why they require friendship. These links must still remain strong, not only between the elements themselves, but each to their respective bearers. The elements will surely have the power to locate my student! She would have to have somehow left existence for it not to work!

Celestia giggled a little at that last thought. It was good she was being a little sarcastic, it showed good signs for the future, that she could be happy once more knowing her student was safe. Slowly, she took steps up to the large door, admiring the craftsmanship again, just like she had many times before.

Lowering her head, she slowly inserted her horn into the hole in the door. It was especially made for her, and it would take a being of immense power to even attempt to remove them. A clicking sound was heard in the door as Celestia poured her magic into it, so she withdrew and stared once more in wonder as impenetrable doors slid aside to reveal their interior.

Celestia's wonder quickly vanished. She stood there a while, not sure what to do, and as the minutes, or maybe even hours passed by, before at last shedding a single, solitary tear. The time it took to reach the floor took only a few moments, but in Celestia's mind it took an eternity, for in front of her did not stand resplendent six ancient relics, but rather an empty vault, and just like the elements, her hope of ever finding Twilight disappeared.

Much to the surprise of everypony, the princesses arrived in Ponyville the next morning, but since neither of them had bothered to requisition themselves a cart, both had flown the whole distance.

"Everypony, please listen up, I need you to gather the element bearers at once, the fate of Equestria depends on it!" Celestia's voice rang out across Ponyville's town square, but unfortunately had a rather undesired effect, for at the mention of Equestria being in danger everypony started running to and fro and screaming, gathering their children and locking themselves in their houses, and soon enough the square was clear except for two ponies.

Celestia looked across the square and saw two ponies manning a market stall, one of which looked rather perplexed, and the other looked deadpan. She soon realised one of them was Applejack, but the other was a tall white pegasus whom she had not seen before.

Celestia approached with her sister, and Applejack bowed as they approached.

"Good mornin' Princesses, what can 'ah do for you?" Applejack said, a little worried about their sudden appearance.

"Applejack, I need you to gather up your friends, it is of utmost importance." Celestia's voice was tinged with worry, and not wanting to delay the princesses, Applejack set off at once.

She was rather worried about why the sisters had come so early and without warning, but felt pretty safe in reasoning it was to do with Twilight's disappearance, so eager to help her friend she continued running. She decided to visit Sugarcube Corner and the Carousel Boutique first, considering that they were the closest to the centre of town, and after quickly informing both Pinkie Pie and Rarity of what had happened and where to go, she then made out for the edge of Everfree to inform Fluttershy, and subsequently, Rainbow Dash.

At last, within just a few minutes, the five friends were gathered in Ponyville's town square, along with the princesses and Midnight Feather, who had not yet taken his leave. Sensing his presence was not really necessery, however, he started walking away.

"Girls, I have something of utmost importance to tell you," Celestia began, "The Elements of Harmony have been stolen."

The girls gasped with shock and horror, and Midnight Feather froze in his steps, before turning around and returning to watch the proceedings, although he had only departed a few steps.

"I think that they may be in Twilight Sparkle's possession, since she is the only other pony with enough magic to access them, except Luna of course." Luna smiled faintly as Celestia mentioned her, but she appeared equally as harrowed at Twilight's disappearance.

"I do, however, think that I have found a way that I can find her, and require that you all meet me in the library tonight." With that closing statement, the princesses flew off, presumably to prepare for the evening. The five friends also decided to return to their previous activities, although each one was very perplexed and a little scared, for they all had questions - Why had Twilight taken the Elements? Where was she?

After all the other ponies had left, Midnight Feather was left alone in the square, recounting over what he had just witnessed. He realised the ponies would be curious if he tried to go to the library with them that night - he reasoned he hadn't been asked to leave just now because, in everypony's mind, he was naught but a farmhand. He turned tail and started trotting back towards Sweet Apple Acres, he would ask Applejack for the details later this evening.

Applejack slowly pushed open the door to the library, and within she glimpsed six ponies. She stepped inside the building, and after closing the door behind her, turned to look at those gathered before her. As she expected, it was just her four friends and the princesses, so she approached them in the centre of the room and took a seat.

"Ah, Applejack, now we can begin." Applejack seemed a little unnerved by Celestia's tone, but was reassured by the presence of her friends.

"What are we goin' to do? May ah ask?" Applejack queried, a little curious.

"Well, I think I have found a way we can find Twilight Sparkle," Celestia began, "I first thought that we could use the Elements to locate her, but they were, unfortunately, stolen. I then realised something, however, which will help us greatly."

"You see," Luna began, taking over from her sister, "The Elements have a stronger bond to their bearers than most people realise. The Element's magic will have rubbed off on you slightly, and this, combined with the power of your friendship, should allow us to locate where Twilight has gone."

"We're going to see Twilight again? I should throw a party!" Pinkie jumped out of her seat, filled with joy.

"Oh calm down dear! We haven't found her yet!" Rarity scolded Pinkie, but it couldn't be denied that everypony in the room was feeling a little happier, and filled with hope.

"How do we start?" Rainbow Dash asked, eager to find Twilight.

"Well, it should just require a little application from my magic, so if you hold still..." As Celestia said these words, she began to focus her magic at the five friends, and cast a spell that she had once read in a tome now long lost.

At once, she was granted a vision of indescribable colours, and the powerful bond of friendship was once made known to her.

Applejack stared intently at Celestia, whose eyes were closed, and whose horn glowed brighter than even the largest fire.

At last she slumped down a little, and her sister rushed in to catch her, worried for her sister immensely.

"Well?" Rainbow Dash asked, curious as to whether it had worked.

"Rainbow! Be considerate, dear, and let the princess recover!" For the second time that night, Rarity scolded someone, but Rainbow didn't seem to take a huge deal of notice.

At last Celestia stood up a bit and spoke.

"She is in the mountains to the far south of here, but it does not seem right. Her location appears to be there, but the bond is very faint, like she is actually much further away." Celestia nudged her sister away before re-assuming her previous stance.

"Luna and I cannot go, we have duties to attend to in the castle. If you want to find out what happened to Twilight Sparkle, you will find your answers there, but be careful."

The five friends looked at each other, but not a word was needed to be said, for they had already made their decision.

Applejack raced home, her mind spinning. She had so many questions to ask Twilight, and they could not wait. Her friends had agreed to meet at Fluttershy's cottage later this night when they were all ready, but first they all had to go and pack equipment and supplies.

Applejack could see Sweet Apple Acres ahead of her now, so she urged herself to run faster. At last she reached the front door, but opened it softly, for she knew that the ponies inside were sleeping, and did not want to disturb them.

When she got inside, however, she saw that that wasn't the case, as Midnight Feather was waiting for her just inside the door.

"What happened at the meeting?" He asked, and Applejack was taken aback a little, slightly intimidated as to why Midnight Feather had stayed up just to ask her about the meeting.

"Nothing you need to worry about, but ah'm gonna be gone for a little while." She replied.

"Why's that?" He asked, relentless.

"The princesses reckon they've found Twilight in the mountains to the south, so we're going out to find her."

"I could come too, I can carry more supplies, and I don't too much either. It would be a sensible decision."

Applejack paused at Midnight Feather's last comment.

He speaks the truth... Even ah'm gonna have trouble carrying all this stuff, and some of my friends might not be able to carry half this...

"Ok, but it's not cause ah like you or anything, ah still think ya kinda creepy." Applejack answered honestly, hoping the pegasus wasn't getting any of the wrong ideas. With that sorted, however, they began to pack.

Midnight Feather turned over in his mind what Applejack had said earlier, as they made their way to Fluttershy's cottage. He was extremely worried as to why Celestia had managed to find a location for Twilight. He wasn't sure what it meant, but he knew he would have to go along with them in order to ensure his, and theirs, to a lesser extent, safety. Hence, that was what he was going to do.

At last Fluttershy's cottage came into view, even though it was quite dark. As they approached, they could see that the other were trying to convince Fluttershy that there was nothing to be afraid of, but her mood seemed to quickly change when Applejack and her companion approached.

"Um... what is he doing here?" Fluttershy asked, a little annoyed in tone.

"He can carry more than any of us - and we got us a long journey, so ah though it'd be good if he came along." Applejack's answer seemed sufficient for Fluttershy, although she still seemed unhappy at Midnight Feather's presence.

"Well, shall we get going?" Rainbow asked impatiently.

"Yes, I think we might as well." Rarity answered, a little nervous. Looking around, all the ponies seemed ready, and with that, they set off, to great unknowns, to Twilight.