The Powers That Be

Since it is so likely that children will meet cruel enemies and oppression, let them at least have heard of brave beings and heroic courage. Otherwise you are making their world not brighter but darker.

Weeds and Flowers Grow Alongside - Turned Phrase, 115 C.E.

The sisters had no idea what to expect inside the tent, but neither had predicted the simple furnishings that it contained.  The interior was lit only by the sparse glow of a pair of candles on a low table.  The dim light was cast across a meager living space, containing little but a small storage chest and a bedroll.  Seated on a cushion beside the table was a wizened unicorn, her head bowed under a pale mane thinned with seasons and her once-vibrant green pelt shot through with silver.  Despite these conspicuous signs of age, she looked up to meet the alicorns’ gazes with eyes that shone with life.

Her mouth curled into a wry grin.  “Not quite what you expected?” she said in a lilting accent.

Celestia blushed as Luna responded cautiously, “Not… really.  When Bright Spark said you had been expecting us for a long time, I just thought of something more… mystical, I guess.”

The unicorn gave a raspy laugh.  “Well, we’re a bit understocked on crystal balls at the moment.  It’s part of living on the run, you see.”  Luna flushed to match her sister, but the elderly pony simply chuckled again.  “Come, sit with me.”

As they were bidden, the sisters seated themselves on the other side of the square table as the unicorn eyed them carefully, her gaze seeming to pierce through their very souls.  The alicorns began to shuffle uncomfortably before the elder nodded, satisfied at whatever she had apparently discovered.

“Yes,” she said, “I have been waiting for you.  My name is Foresight, and I have seen your arrival long before today.”

Luna and Celestia looked at each other, eyes wide, before looking back to their host.  “Are—are you a seer?” Celestia asked.

“Well—” Foresight began, raising a hoof just as she was cut off.

“What am I thinking right now?” Luna challenged, leaning forward across the table.

Both ponies gave her a reproachful look.  Luna shrank back and grinned ruefully.

Foresight shook her head, chuckling.  “I might know, if I were a mind-reader instead of an oracle.”  She looked sagely at the alicorns.  “My name is not totally accurate, I suppose, because I can’t see everything in the future.  I have a very deep connection to Harmony.  It gives me insight, allowing me to see things that I might not otherwise see.  I know the past, and through my gift, I am able to see the things that must come to pass.”

“And we are one of those things?” Celestia asked.

The unicorn nodded.  “Indeed you are.  The marks of Harmony’s touch are obvious to me.”  She resettled herself on the cushion.  “For too long now I have watched the passing of seasons and listened to Equestria cry for help.”

Luna nodded hesitantly.  “I’m sure a lot of ponies want Discord gone.”

Foresight looked at her, her eyes sparkling.  “Not ponies, my dear ones; Equestria itself.”  The sisters looked back at her, confused.  Foresight leaned on the table slightly and asked in a more measured voice, “Tell me, what do you know of Harmony?”

Luna and Celestia shared another glance with each other.  “Well,” Celestia began, “not that much, I suppose.”

“I shall explain, then,” Foresight said with a nod.  “Harmony is not just a faith of ponykind, and it’s not just a superstition.  Harmony is Equestria, and Equestria is Harmony.  Without one, the other will perish.  Where Harmony is fostered, the land will flourish and the ponies will thrive, but where strife, pain, and fear are found, Equestria itself will suffer alongside its inhabitants.”

“You mean that the land is alive?” Luna asked, trying to keep up with the discussion.

“In a manner, yes.  Many hundreds of years ago, just after the founding of Equestria, there was a great war.  It was a war against the griffon lands far to the east.  The losses were astounding.  There was so much death, destruction, and pain that Equestria itself began to weaken.  The war halted as both sides realized that the sun had frozen in the sky, causing an issue much more severe than the war itself.”

Celestia held up a hoof to forestall the story.  “Wait, wait.  Are you telling us that the sun and moon used to rise and set by themselves?”

“Indeed.  It was the natural cycle of the land since before the time of ponies.  Many of the old tales of dragonkind tell of it.  Because of the war, however, the cycle was broken, and Equestria was almost scorched under an eternal sun.  The unicorns banded together in a final effort to try to save the world, and they learned how to move the sun and the moon.  Ever since then, it has taken a large group of unicorns with specialized talents to keep the sun coming up every day.”

Foresight’s face seemed to darken in the candle’s flickering light.  “But the reason it happened at all was because Harmony was broken to such a degree.  For the last ten years now, Discord has ruled over Equestria, and nothing comes from his reign but suffering and cruelty.  Equestria is crying out for somepony to save it just as loudly as its inhabitants are.”

Celestia tried to speak but couldn’t bring herself to state the obvious conclusion.

Foresight nodded gravely, her gaze meeting the alicorns’ with frightening intensity.  “That’s right, my alicorns.  If Discord is not defeated, Equestria will die.”

The sisters sat, dumbstruck.  The ramifications were astounding, to say the least.

Luna suddenly frowned.  “Wait, what does it all have to do with us?  You seem to imply that we’re meant to do something about it.”

“I do not imply.  I mean it to be true.  Harmony has chosen you.”

Celestia suddenly found herself unable to look at either of the two ponies with her, but Luna was too busy protesting to notice.  “That can’t be!” Luna scoffed.  “Look at us—we’re just alicorns.”

“It does seem that Harmony is not completely without a sense of irony,” the elder chuckled.

“Irony, my hoof,” Luna snorted.  “If you are right, then Harmony is just cruel.  Why would we have been chosen without even a warning or something?”

Foresight turned to look pointedly at Celestia.  “I suspect one of you knows more than you’re letting on.”

Luna could feel unease growing in the pit of her stomach.  “Tia, what does she mean?”

“I’m sorry, Lu,” Celestia whispered.  “She’s right.  I’ve always been able to remember my dream, but I was just so afraid of what it meant.  Harmony called to me.  I was supposed to leave home—supposed to become something else, something important—but I couldn’t bring myself to do it.”

“And why could you not tell me this?” Luna demanded, pulling away from her sister in shock.

“Because you would have told me to follow the dream,” the older sister said, her voice growing even softer.  “I couldn’t leave you, Lu, I just couldn’t do it.  It wasn’t until the day you decided to go yourself that I saw how it was all supposed to work out, and I knew I had to stay with you, no matter what.”

Foresight nodded.  “And when you made that choice, your destiny became shared with your sister.  You are both heir to the promise—and the pain.”

“Wait, what pain?” Luna asked, still reeling from her sister’s revelation.

“Your path ahead will not be easy.  You will experience many things, and few will be pleasant—I hardly need a gift to know that much.  However, Harmony will always be with you, and you will have each other.  You will not endure your quest alone.”

“So, what is it we’re meant to do?” Celestia asked.  “How are we meant to defeat Discord?  Isn’t he omnipotent?”

“Far from it,” Foresight assured them.  “Discord is an avatar of Chaos, but he does not wield unlimited power.  There are many things he cannot do.  For instance, he cannot raise the sun, so he must let the unicorns carry out their work every day and night.  What magic accomplishes he can undo, so he delights in playing havoc with their work and making everypony think him immortal and unstoppable—however, he is anything but.  He is a trickster and a fiend who revels in the misery he causes.”

Luna spoke up, her face hard-set as she processed the information.  “So, we need a spell, then.  Something that embodies Harmony, right?”

Foresight nodded.  “Yes.  The power of Harmony will always be greater than the power of Chaos, but you must learn how to wield it.”

Celestia and Luna stared hopelessly at each other as the enormity of their task began to sink in.

The alicorn twins walked back outside into the sunlight that filtered through the leafy canopy.  The campsite looked the same, but now the two were acutely aware of the undertone of quiet despair.  All around them, Celestia and Luna could see the hard edges on eyes and the firm set of jaws that attested to the refugees’ determination to continue living despite the hopelessness.

“Bright Spark said that everypony here had lost friends and family to Discord, didn’t he?” Luna recalled somberly.

“He did.”  Celestia sighed, trying to make sense out of the quest they had just been given.  There was so much uncertainty, so much to accomplish, and so little guidance.  “Luna, can we really do this?”  Luna didn’t respond.  “Can we really help all of Equestria?”  Luna remained silent.  Celestia frowned and turned to chide her sister for ignoring her, but then she caught sight of the look on Luna’s face.  “Luna?  Are you all right?”

Luna stared vacantly into the air, her ears swiveling back and forth as though desperately searching for something.  “Something’s missing,” she muttered.  “The camp doesn’t feel quite... right.”

Celestia tried to listen closely, trying to compare the sounds around her to her memories of home.  She could hear the odd clatter of cooking utensils, the occasional snippet of quiet conversation, soft hoofsteps against the ground, and the whimpering cries of a young foal.  Nothing seemed to explain the lifeless feeling around them.  “What’s missing?” she asked, unable to put her hoof on the absent element.

Luna didn’t answer right away, because a yellow-furred earth pony colt had walked up to her and was staring up curiously at her face.  She looked back at him.  “Can I help you?” she asked.

“You got wings, right?” he asked, seemingly ignoring her query.

“Yes, I do.”

“And you gotta horn, too, right?”

“Yes…”

“So what are you?  Are you a unicorn or a pegasus?” he asked, his head canted off to one side.

Luna smiled at him as Celestia looked on.  “We’re called alicorns,” Luna said as she knelt down to the colt’s eye level.  “I’m Luna, and this is my sister, Celestia.”

Celestia caught sight of a few other foals scattered about the clearing, staying well away for the moment but seemingly drawn towards the newcomers.

“I’m Lemon Drop.  Why do you have wings and a horn?”

Luna glanced back at her sister and grinned.  “Because,” she told the foal, “it makes me harder to catch.”

“Huh?” he said, confused, as Luna stood up and reached out a hoof.

She tapped her hoof to the end of his nose.  “You’re it,” she said, turning to walk slowly into the clearing.

Lemon Drop stared blankly for a few seconds before a smile spread across his muzzle.  His tail began to swish back and forth as he crouched slightly, getting ready to run.

Luna stopped, looked back over her shoulder at the colt, and stuck out her tongue.

Lemon Drop burst into a gallop.

Celestia sat down and watched her sister race around the glade, chased by a steadily growing number of foals.  As Luna took to the air to escape the pack, a young pegasus filly flew up and tapped her on the back, turning the whole shrieking and laughing crowd against her.  The raucous chase began to take over the clearing, with ponies coming out of their tents to see what all the noise was about.  Celestia watched them and saw their expressions gradually change as they watched the foals play.  What had begun as confusion or curiosity gave way to joy, delight, peace of mind—everything the camp had been missing before.

She closed her eyes and listened again.  Now it sounded right.  It was the sound of laughter that had been missing.