Night had fallen on Equestria. Stars shone overhead as the moon slowly scooted across the inky blackness, bringing its pale light to the few ponies that were still awake. Two such ponies could be found in the middle of a circle of stone pillars far from civilization, one pacing back and forth as she tried to reason with the other.
"Sister, you need not go alone. We can-" Luna was cut off as Celestia covered her mouth with a pure white hoof. The sun princess had left her regalia back in the castle; she would have no need of it tonight.
"This had been my project from the start." She smiled weakly and removed her hoof from her sister's mouth, placing the hoof instead on her sister's shoulder and looking her straight in the eyes. "I'm sure I can handle everything."
Luna frowned but slowly nodded. "Just promise us you won't let them get under your skin. You tend to talk back when you get annoyed." In any other situation that barb would have been the source of some good-natured, sisterly quarreling. Tonight though, they were both reminded of what was at stake and left no room for joy.
Celestia grimaced slightly, but didn't disagree with her sister's warning. "I'll do my best."
Luna nodded, unconvinced, and gave Celestia an impromptu hug, pulling her older sister into a tight embrace as unshed tears shimmered in her eyes. "Good luck."
Celestia was silent for a moment before she wrapped her own forelegs around her sister and held her tightly as well. "Thank you. Now you need to get back to Canterlot and make sure nothing goes wrong while I'm away. They shouldn't keep me too long but you can never be too sure," she said as she pulled away. At Luna's nod Celestia smiled and moved to the center of the stone pillars that surrounded them. Her horn glowed as she called on both her own natural magic and that residing in the stones themselves. Any unicorn scholar would have given their entire family to see even a portion of the complex spell that the princess of the sun began to weave, let alone the entire thing. Within seconds the spell was finished and Celestia vanished in a flash of golden light.
When she opened her eyes again she was in a pitch black room that seemed to stretch on forever. Couldn't bother with a little extra lighting could they? she thought to herself, careful not to actually voice the thought; there was no way of telling who or what was listening here.
As if to underscore her thought, a series of loud clicking noises echoed around the room. With each click, a light came to life, each one revealing more and more of a massive table in front of her. Just below each light a chair, specifically designed for the occupant. But even with a light shining directly above them Celestia couldn't make out any of the occupant's features. She had been told that it was to protect their identity in case the enemy managed to listen in, or spy on the meeting. Any allegations that it was also supposed to scare anyone that came before them were waved aside but never outright denied.
Celestia didn't bother looking around at the seats; for she already knew what she would find. They were The Directors, representatives of each major race in the alliance, all impossible to see properly. She knew there was a griffon, zebra, changeling, dragon, pony, draconequus, human, elf, dwarf, minotaur, naga, kobold, nightkin, harpy, and nearly a dozen others. It was both a testament to their desperation and their determination that they were all able to sit together in such a small space without trying to kill each other.
"Celestia Solaris, co-director of Project Harmony," one of the seated figures said in a quiet voice that somehow managed boom from all directions. As usual there was no way to tell whether the speaker was male or female, or even who had spoken in the first place.
"I am here to report on the progress of the Element Bearers," Celestia said with a bow. Her nose brushed the cold metal floor and she fought back a shiver. She tried to tell herself it was simply due to the coolness that permeated the room and that it had nothing to do with the scrutinizing eyes on her. She didn't believe herself for a second.
"There is no need for your report," another voice said, nearly indistinguishable from the first. "We already have received reports from the others."
Celestia flinched as several screens behind the table lit up to show the reports in question. She had hoped that she would be able to present her case before they brought up the other reports. "If you would let me explain," she began.
"Explain what?" a third voice asked, the mischief in its tone narrowing it down to kobold, draconequus, human, or griffon. "That your 'student' has failed twice now to complete the tests you have given her?"
"Both scenarios were resolved," Celestia stated firmly.
"I think not. I call Chrysalis to testify."
There was a burst of green flame, its light reaching far into the distance but not illuminating anything, and suddenly Chrysalis was standing in the room. When Celestia glared at her she had the grace to look apologetic before turning to face the Directors with a deep bow. "Is there anything you wish for me to explain?"
"I merely wish for you to summarize your report."
Celestia nearly ground her teeth at that. They were rubbing it in her face. Every one of the Directors would have read all the pertinent reports before the meeting. To have Chrysalis show up and reiterate what she had already reported was nothing short of an insult.
Chrysalis shot Celestia another apologetic glance before speaking. "In accordance with scenario a-753 I led a group of changelings to assault Canterlot of Project Harmony. Twilight Sparkle, bearer of the Element of Magic, saw through my ruse but was unable to convince others of the threat."
"So you banished her to where Cadence had been imprisoned. In direct defiance of the situation's guidelines."
"Director if you please, no situation ever goes by the book. All agents partaking in scenarios are told that they are allowed to improvise in whatever way they deem fit."
"And you saw fit to make the scenario easier?"
"In a real changeling assault anyone that discovered our identity would have been dealt with in such a way and replaced with a changeling for the time being," Chrysalis explained smoothly.
"But that does not change the fact that even when presented with the threat the bearers were unable to summon the elements to themselves, even under great duress. Can we conclude that they are not suitable because of this?"
Chrysalis bowed again. "I am not an expert on the Elements, such as anyone can be called an expert on any of the old magic. That honor goes to the esteemed Dr. Celestia, and as such I believe I should defer to her expertise in this."
Celestia felt a small smile touch her face at that. Even though she knew better, she had feared that Chrysalis would take that opportunity to gain some edge over her. "As the foremost authority on the Elements I can only say that we know almost nothing about them and what we do know comes only from my testing, Project Harmony, and whatever legends we can find that refer to them. The bearers being able to call upon them at need from any distance falls under the category of legends."
There was a muted muttering at this. Apparently she had managed to regain some favor with at least some of the Directors.
"Chrysalis may leave. I now call Sombra to testify."
Chrysalis winced and whispered a quick "good luck," to Celestia before vanishing.
In her place a pillar of dark smoke rose up and solidified into the form of Sombra. "What do you want?" he snarled.
If the Directors were displeased at his tone they didn't show it. "Summarize your report on Scenario zeta-9528."
"They did well enough until the end. Took too long trying to find the heart and the leader was captured. Idiot couldn't even break the teleport block in the crystal cage." He snorted and looked at Celestia disdainfully. "You would do well to teach your brat better."
"This is not the time for bickering. Continue with your report."
Sombra grunted but did as he was told. "The only reason they were able to resolve the situation was because of the brat's assistant. He broke her free of the fear curse and delivered the heart to the target. Without him they would have failed and Celestia's pet project would have been scrapped." He grinned at Celestia as he said this.
"Thank you for your report Sombra, although the personal commentary was unnecessary. You may go."
Before he left Sombra turned to Celestia. "Two failures in a row Celly? You're slipping. They might as well assign your budget to me and be done with it." Before she could retort he vanished in a puff of smoke.
"Have you anything to say to Sombra's testimony?"
"No I don't," Celestia hissed through clenched teeth. Everything he had said was true, even though he had put it in the worst way he could.
"Then we shall begin our deliberations."
The lights all turned off with a clunking noise and left Celestia in the darkness. She knew they wouldn't cancel Project Harmony, but it was doubtful that she would retain the same level of control that she had enjoyed at first. So far she had been able to choose the scenarios that had been presented to Twilight and her friends, but after this the Directors might start taking a more direct approach to things.
The lights came back on with a snap and once more Celestia was in front of the Directors.
"We have come to a... decision."
That was odd; they usually didn't hesitate in their decrees. She could only hope that it meant that whatever had happened wasn't being uniformly backed. She wanted to ask, no, demand, what decision they had come to, but Luna's warning kept her mouth shut. She would have to thank her sister for that when she returned.
"You will enact scenario d-982 and we will reserve the right to alter any scenario decisions you make."
"Provided it passes with a two-thirds majority," another voice added pointedly.
Celestia fought down an urge to smile at that. Whoever was making a play for control of her project didn't have enough power to completely force it away from her. She still had friends among the Directors. "Thank you. I will do my best ensure that the project is a success," she said with a bow.
"There is one other thing," the voice that had supported her said.
There was a noise behind Celestia and she turned to see that the wall behind her was actually another screen.
"Remember why Project Harmony needs to be a success. Remember why we gave you permission to do this." With that the light above the Directors turned off, leaving Celestia alone with the giant screen.
She didn't want to look at it, she already knew what she would see, but she had to, she had to be reminded of what was at stake.
The window showed what had once been a beautiful planet, but the greens and blues had been replaced with black and brown. In the night sky hung thousands of lights, too close to be stars. Occasionally flashes of light would cover the screen as a light would blow up. Occasionally pillars of flame would lance down from the other lights and scorch the ground that lay beneath them. The screen changed to show one of the scorched areas, there were thankfully few bodies but the area was already starting to be overrun by a strange glowing green growth, spread by giant waxy white spiders. The screen changed again to show a battle raging around a city, a battle that had been going on for decades non-stop. Massive black things leapt and bounded towards the city's walls, only to be struck down by its defenses or its defenders. It would likely be decades more before the city fell but with the constant flow of enemies they could do nothing but defend and the enemy had more than enough soldiers to be able to waste these on the continuous assault.
Celestia felt a tear run down her cheek as she was shown scene after scene of the war. There were scenes that showed victories, triumphs of the alliance against these... things, but they were few and far between. Most of the scenes showed the thousand variations of the enemy wearing down defenses or overwhelming them utterly. Such conflict was something unheard of in her little corner of the world they had let her run Project Harmony in. Someday she was going to have to send six innocent little ponies out into the world to fight a foe that had been wearing down an entire planet for centuries and had already nearly wiped out several species, an enemy that had shown near limitless numbers and enough tactical acumen to use them effectively.
The screen in front of her went dark and the voice of one of the Directors floated out of the dark. "We don't have forever Celestia. We need the Elements."
Celestia nodded and vanished in a burst of golden light.
