The Alicorn Generalby tosetyChaptersThe Age of the BipedsThe End of LaughterVoid PonyEtherflower TeaContinuumA Proper SendoffThe Age of the BipedsChapter 1 The Age of the Bipeds Twilight and company entered the council room to find Princess Celestia sitting on one of eight cushions set in a circle. Her pose spoke of relaxation, but there was a tension in her face that spoke of nervousness, sadness, and possibly even regret. “Come in my little ponies, I have a quest I will be sending you on, but you have much you need to know before you begin.” As they sat down, they saw the box containing the Elements of Harmony sitting in front of Celestia. “Are we taking the Elements on this quest?” Twilight asked Celestia looked down at the box and her face hardened in resolve then softened as she looked at the ponies she entrusted with the fate of her land. “Yes, my faithful student, but the story I am about to tell you will also tell you of a danger that I should have told you about sooner.” “Danger?” Rarity said with a shudder “Yes, but we will get to that soon. First, we need to go to the founding of Equestria and the age of the Bipeds” “The age of what?” “Bipeds, Applejack. They were creatures that walked on two legs.” “Like a bear?” “Yes, Fluttershy, but unlike bears, not only did they only walk on two legs, but they couldn’t comfortably walk on four.” “Why haven’t I heard of Bipeds in my studies of Equestrian history?” Twilight asked Celestia took a deep breath “It was a dark time that everypony who experienced it wants to forget. They had metal golems with wheels for legs and metal bird with wings that didn’t flap. The world was filled with metal, stone, and fire, but worst of all, the quadrupeds like us, the donkeys, and cows were their slaves, though we couldn’t talk, and it’s hard to tell whether we were aware at that time” Fluttershy nervously bit her hooves, Rarity’s mouth dropped open, even Pinkie Pie sat quietly as they processed this revelation while Celestia continued. “They would have continued ruling over us if it were not for their greed. They were a race preoccupied with gaining power and leisure. They constantly sought out new sources of power and new ways to avoid doing work. One of their magicians opened a gateway to another world in an attempt to gather even greater power, but the portal flooded their land with magics unlike anything they had and drastically changed the world. It is said that the sun and moon rose on their own and the whole land was like the Everfree forest where weather was unpredictable and uncontrollable, and few animals needed any care at all. In fact, the only animals they cared for were ones they could use. It was when this portal opened that the quadrupeds woke up. When we understood, we tried to speak with the bipeds, but they refused to listen and we had to fight for our freedom. Sadly, they were too strong and we were too new.” “Oh Noes!!!! What didja do!!!1?” “Really, Pinkie?” “Yeah, really, Twi, that was horrifically horrible! What happened next” Pinkie looked to Celestia with an overly serious face Despite the horrors she was remembering, Pinkie’s over-the-top concern brought a smile of remembrance to Celestia’s face. “Well, we don’t know where he came from. Some think he was born from the mixing of magics, others say he came from the other world, and he refused to tell us anything that would let us figure it out. But whatever his origin, Harmony gave us the help we needed. He changed some of us into unicorns and pegasi so that we could fight better, and the five bravest and wisest he made into alicorns and gave the elements of harmony.” A pure white Draconequis with talons, wings, and tail tipped with gold stood with a regal crown upon his head and stood before five ponies. Approaching a plum colored pony, he pronounced “Starswirl, because you have the greatest understanding of truth, I bestow upon you the element of Honesty.” Twilight’s ears perked up “Starswirl the Bearded was an element of harmony?” “Yes, but she really hates that name. The beard was a parting gift from Discord” Approaching the next pony, a pink one sporting an electric blue mane, he placed another necklace around her neck “Philhemina, you above all ponies understand the value of humor, and I bestow upon you the element of Laughter.” “Hey! My greatgreatgrandmare was named Philhemina!” Celestia shook her head with a smile “Yes, she was, and you are her spitting image, right down to the element you share.” Pinkie sat down stunned at this revelation and proud of her grandmare Next, Harmony approached a dark blue mare “Luna, you more than anypony understand the needs of your fellows, so I appoint you as the element of Kindness.” After placing her necklace on her neck, He approached a pure white mare with a multicolored pastel mane. “Celestia, you above all value the wellbeing of your comrades, therefore, you shall be the element of Loyalty” Lastly, He approached a silver maned pony. You, my dear pony, understand how powerful a gift can be, so yours shall be the element of Generosity, my beautiful Chrysalis.” “CHRYSALIS!” all six ponies gasped as all their jaws hit the floor. “yes, she used to be the most beautiful of us all.” Celestia said wistfully The five ponies stood before Harmony with their necklaces as he intoned “As the most noble and brave of all creatures in this land, I appoint you as my generals in defense of this newly formed world. As he spoke, their forms blurred and reformed taller with majestic pointed horns and large graceful wings. All but Chrysalis had feathered wings the same color as their coats, but hers were gossamer wings reflecting all the colors of a rainbow. Celestia suddenly grew sad “With our newfound power, we transformed, banished, or killed every last Biped” Celestia and Luna stood before a group of twenty bipeds holding a barrier around their group as Starswirl and Harmony brought a shower of boulders down on them. Philhemina and Chrysalis were picking up a group of pegasi with wounds from the bits of metal shot out of the magic tubes they used as weapons. Suddenly a metal bird swooped down, spraying them with its own magic tubes. The shield cracked under the onslaught and everypony dove for cover. They saw it circle for another pass and gathered to activate the Elements. “Don’t wait for it to face us, hit it now” Harmony shouted Their necklaces glowed and Harmony’s eyes lit up. A rainbow shot from them and hit the metal bird, causing it to turn into cloud. The biped that was in it went hurtling through the air and hit the ground with a sickening thud “you killed all the bipeds?” Fluttershy whimpered “No, not all, we only killed those who attacked us, for they were the ones killing our comrades, but the ones who wanted to live with us were transformed to be the same as us, and those who rejected that were allowed to pass through the rift into a different world.” Rarity put a hoof up to her mouth, going green in the face “I don’t know how much more of this killin’ and banishin’ I can take” Applejack said with a shudder Even Rainbow dash was looking uncomfortable. “That is why so few know about it. As I said, it was such a horrible time that even I wish to forget and only talk to you now because you need to know.” Celestia closed her eyes and shook her head, trying to clear the visions from her head The End of LaughterThe End of Laughter “So, what is this danger you were talking about?” Rarity asked, recovering her ability to speak after the previous revelation. “The danger comes from how the Elements feed on and enhance that trait and eventually merge with you.” “That don’t sound too bad” Applejack muttered to Twilight “Let me explain what happened to Philhemina and you’ll understand a little better” Pinkie Pie’s head snapped back to Celestia with an audible pop as her grandmare’s name was mentioned. Celestia settled herself as she got ready to continue “We were using the elements daily, battling bipeds, sending monsters away from populated areas, and settling disputes between ponies. An Ursa Minor was snuffling through a village, tipping over houses and stepping on carts in its search for food as Chrysalis swooped down and lifted it up, carrying it with her magic to an unoccupied field. As they set it down, an Ursa Major crashed out of the nearby forest. This time, Harmony set up the defensive shieild while Starswirl got its attention with a magic blast from her horn. The blast, though powerful enough to cripple a pony, was a mere tap to the Ursa and didn’t even get it angrier than it was. Starswirl led it over to its cub then the six levitated the two back into their cave in the forest. Twilight sat with her jaw on the floor remembering how much it took to levitate an Ursa Minor and how much larger and fiercer an Ursa Major could be “Every day brought new challenges, and with the amazing power the Elements gave us, we were able to easily set things right and move on. What we weren't noticing was how our elements were deepening as we were gaining power. Despite the newness of Harmony’s reign and the youth of our species, we were having an easy time civilizing ourselves. It was actually through the Elements that the jealousies of wings and horns was dealt with” “Howd’ja do that?” Celestia glanced at Applejack with a sad smile. With a heavy sigh, she continued. “The Unicorns were trying to give themselves wings, the Pegasi were demanding magic, and the Earth Ponies were jealous of both. Every day, there was a messenger from one of the tribes demanding that they get at least one of the traits of the other tribes. Harmony first tried to explain that it wasn’t something that could just be given out on a whim, but after they kept at it, he lost his patience and started giving a flat 'You don’t deserve it, now shut up and go back home.' It was getting so bad that the Unicorns were threatening to stop raising the sun, the pegasi were threatening to flood the Unicorn cities, and the Earth Ponies were threatening to stop growing food.” “HEARTHSWARMING EVE!!!!! HEARTHSWARMING EVE!!!!” Pinkie bounced “Yes and no.” Celestia said regaining her smile “That wasn’t exactly how it happened. That story was made up shortly afterwards, but the pain of what would follow was too great for me to tell the true story, so I just let them embellish the roles of Private Pansy, Clover the Clever, and Smart Cookie and kept the true story to myself, telling it only when I felt it needed to be known. The real solution was Philhemina’s idea.” Pinkie sat in rapt attention, her eyes wider and pupils larger than Twilight had ever seen them before “Philly Pie saw how the Unicorns were decorating their coats with pictures of their favorite things, and decided we needed to have a visible reminder of what each of us did the best” “Your don’t mean....” Twilight whispered Celestia nodded “It was Celestia’s idea to make them wait and discover their special talent first.” Luna said as she sat down on the unoccupied cushion. Everypony’s head snapped first towards the newly arrived Luna, then to Celestia again. “That was so they would value their special gift” Celestia said slightly defensively. “Whatever you say, dear sister. I find you love making lessons more memorable” Luna replied with a chuckle, glancing over to where Philhemina the Phoenix sat on her perch Twilight shifted uncomfortably and gave a half hearted laugh. “So Philly, in true Pie style, jumps right in, casting the spell on her own and our cutie marks start appearing. I at first thought She’d ignored my contribution, but we later realized that they appeared only on those who had already come to understand what they loved.” Celestia continued “Ah, why did you choose our...uhm...posterior?” Rarity asked with a blush “You’ll have to ask Philly that, since it was supposed to be on our chests” Celestia said with a chuckle, but then sobered up “But I think it was because of how the Elements were affecting her. You see, she’d been getting both stronger and goofier every day and her pranks were starting to get out of hand.” Celestia’s voice changes to a conspiratorial whisper. “In fact, she once enchanted the moon...” Celestia was overcome with a fit of giggles “The moon....” Celestia doubled over, clutching her stomach, unable to continue “She made the moon into a perfect copy of my rump.” Luna finished with a sniff and a suppressed smile. Rainbow Dash let out a loud guffaw. “Ahem, well, we were about to confront her on these pranks” Celestia suppressed another chuckle “when her element took matters into it’s own hoof,” Celestia took a second to sober up “and glued itself to her" “It WHAT?” the six of them respond at once. "I didn’t see it myself, but she told me it wouldn’t come off, and the more she pulled, the firmer it stayed. She even said it was sinking into her chest.” Every Pony stood in stunned silence at those words. “Needless to say, she flipped out and only stopped when she was so exhausted she fell asleep. The next morning, with hair deflated, She sought out Harmony to get his help removing it.” A tear rolled down the cheek of an uncharacteristically quiet Pinkie as Fluttershy nuzzled her in sympathy. “So how did they get it off?” Twilight asked “Why did you ever give me this horrid thing?” Philhemina said with tears rolling down her cheeks Harmony sat and looked at the necklace for a while, making calculations and casting various information spells. Philhemina quickly got aggravated and impatient and started pulling at the necklace. After watching her struggle for a while, he stood up “Stop struggling for a bit.” Philly stopped and Harmony reached out and touched the center of the gem. Suddenly a greyness spread first through the crystal, then through the necklace, and finally through Philhemina herself while the necklace unclasped itself and fell into Harmony’s surprised talons Celestia sat for a minute to let this sink in before dropping what she thought would be the bombshell. “This was followed by Philly’s newly gained cutie mark changing from party streamers to a rock.” “THE ROCK FARM!” ‘Yes, Pinkie, that was when she decided her special talent must be ripening rocks” “Why the hay would you ripen rocks?” Applejack asked “Duh! To get all those superfabulous geodes!” Pinkie retorted “Really, Applejack, do you know nothing about where gems come from?” Rarity questioned Celestia ignored the conversation and continued “Sadly, Harmony decided to take laughter for himself despite already being the element of magic." Celestia looked down at her hooves "And that was the beginning of Discord. Void PonyVoid Pony “The beginning of Discord?” Twilight asked in a whisper “Yes, in addition to Harmony’s element of magic, he now had all of Philhemina’s laughter. This was a bad combination. He started goofing around with his body and giving himself all kinds of different creatures’ parts. Instead of elegantly curved horns, he replaced them with an antler and a spiral horn. Instead of his golden talons, he gave himself all different legs. he even replaced his tail and wings...” A look of disgust filled her face. “And don’t get me started on that tooth” Celestia said with a shudder Suddenly Celestia’s eyes filled with tears. "But the truly horrible part came when he decided he wanted the other elements.” Luna put a hoof on Celestia’s foreleg “Would you like me to continue, sister?” Celestia took a deep breath “Thank you, but no, I can do it.” Celestia bit back her tears and continued. “Harmony was acting even worse than Philly and causing all sorts of mischief with his subjects. He even created some of the other races at this time such as Griffins and the Diamond Dogs. "Wait, the griffins and diamond dogs were created by Harmony?" Rarity interrupted "Yes, he was experimenting with what he called 'new and interesting creatures'. He was completely unwilling to listen to our requests and the pleas of his subjects. Starswirl, Luna, and I were trying to figure out what to do when we heard Chrysalis scream in pain. We rushed over to see what had happened. Harmony had Chrysalis by the throat and was pulling at the element of generosity. Chrysalis' multi hued aura was clutching at her necklace and her hooves were kicking blindly at Harmony “Harmony! What are you doing?” Starswirl demanded “I’m taking back what is rightfully mine.” he said with a sneer With a final tug, he ripped the necklace off Chrysalis' neck and dropped her Finally freed, she dropped like a sack of potatoes clutching her neck where the element of generosity had hung “Look what you’ve done to Chrysalis!” Harmony looked down at Chrysalis as she let out a pitiful moan. She was twitching on the ground and her wings were losing their rainbow colors. “I’ve decided it’s too boring to only have a couple of the Elements, so I’ll be taking them all back” “But you’ve hurt her so badly” As they were speaking, Chrysalis’ body was going from white to gray and her wings were turning a sickly shade of green “Oh, I’ll fix her up after I gain control of your elements. What do you think? Give her six legs? Maybe polkadots?” “No, return her to normal! Give her back the element of generosity!” Celestia shouted, her rage burned beyond anything she had ever experienced “But she's such a lady, and those wings she...uhm... had, were like a bug, I think she'd make a great Ladybug! Besides, I’ve told you, the elements belong to me and me alone. I made you what you are and I can change you into whatever I wish. Oh, and from now on, call me...” He raised his forelegs into the air for dramatic effect “DISCORD, Lord of Chaos!” “Suddenly, we felt our elements being pulled toward him. We scrambled to hold onto them with both our hooves and our magic, but we could feel a painful tearing as they slipped further and further away from us.” “Why didn’t ya fly up and buck him in the face?” Rainbow Dash demanded. “We were too terrified of what was happening to think clearly.” Celestia answered Fluttershy looked down at her hooves “I feel so bad for Chrysalis. I wish we could have helped her during the wedding” Everypony else looked at her in surprise, then nodded agreement. “Yes, when I sent you for the elements, I was hoping for them to heal her the same way that you saved Luna.” “Princess Celestia, is that why you were defeated by her?” Twilight asked “Yes, I couldn’t get the image of her whimpering on the ground out of my head and I believe that kept me from being able to use my full power. I’m so sorry” Celestia whispered. “Hey, you’re the element of Loyalty, of course you couldn't hurt your friend like that” Rainbow Dash flew up to stare Celestia in the eye. Everypony else murmured their agreement, and with a grateful smile, she continued “Luckily, the pull suddenly stopped.” Discord glanced at Chrysalis and sat back in a nonexistent chair “This is boring, I think I’ll come back later when you’ll put up more of a fight.” Discord did did a twirl and disappeared in a shower of sparks while Chrysalis picked herself up off the ground, wincing in pain. “I’m so empty” Celestia and Luna helped her stand while Starswirl examined her, trying to figure out what they could do. Suddenly, she caught sight of her reflection She was completely black and holes had formed all over her legs, wings, and even her horn “I’m hideous” she screamed “how will anypony ever love this?” Before anypony could say anything, she flew off at top speed in the direction of the wastelands Celestia's body was racked by suppressed sobs "We tried to follow her,” Luna put a hoof on her sister's neck and interrupted "But she had speed borne of pain and desperation and after several hours of chase, we lost her trail and had to admit defeat. We mourned her loss and promised each other that we would find a way to restore her." Everypony gathered around and nuzzled her in sympathy Celestia regained her composure. "Thank you for allowing me this bit of weakness. Nopony else apart from Starswirl knows this story and it is good to finally tell it." Etherflower TeaEtherflower Tea “As we were resting from our failed chase, Starswirl noticed that the stars were reshaping themselves into silly faces and we saw the moon bouncing along the horizon like a rubber ball.” Celestia watched everypony shift uncomfortably as they remembered their experiences with Discord. “When we finally made our way back to the now-upside-down capitol city, a cloud with a giant mouth on it came down and greeted us with a giant, wet raspberry” “Oooh, I love raspberries!!! Oh, wait, you mean that kind of raspberry.” Pinkie stopped mid-clap “Eeew!” Rarity wrinkled her nose in disgust “Upon entering, or rather, walking underneath Marington, we saw ponies being tormented everywhere. Mercifully, none of them were getting injured, but we saw ponies being turned into balls and hit back and forth by giant ping pong paddles, scissors trying to cut off ponies’ manes, and giant flowers burying ponies up to their necks in gardens and watering them.” “Hay there Tee Tee, come on down” Suddenly the three alicorns found themselves falling upward in a gravity reversal spell. Luna quickly slowed their fall and landed them gracefully on their hooves. “Do you like my beautiful Discordia?” “No we don’t, and the name of this city is Marington!” Luna yelled “You’re causing misery to everypony in this city.” “Now, now, now, Loony. I was the one who gave you all the power to take this land, so I get to choose what it’s going to be like.” Discord stood up and the moon suddenly shrank, zoomed down, and poked Luna in the chest with each word “And I say this place is too boring and predictable” Suddenly their Elements were being pulled away again as the battle began in earnest. This time, they were prepared and grabbed at Discord’s Elements while holding onto their own. Even so, they were losing their grip and felt the familiar ripping pain as their elements tore away. “NO!!” Starswirl screamed and blasted Discord in the face with a beam of pure magic. Celestia shook her head, trying to banish the vivid images in her mind “Starswirl said it was supposed to be a paralysis spell, but when the dust settled and we picked ourselves off the ground, we found him turned to stone.” “I’ve always wondered why his statue was in a pose of victory when you turned him to stone, but ours caught him trying to shield himself.” Twilight commented “I guess things happened too quickly for him to react.” “I think you’re right, but we weren’t out of the woods yet. the three of us were exhausted from the battle and barely able to stand when we felt the gravity reversal spell crumbling. The air was filled with the telltale shimmer of a spell failing. The three ponies felt themselves going weightless but none were in much condition to even save themselves. Celestia was trying to pick herself off the cobblestone plaza she had collapsed onto when Discord was turned to stone, but with her exhaustion and the crazy gravity, she was floundering and panic was creeping into her mind. Starswirl was unconscious, with the element of honesty lying two feet in front of her and the now infamous beard resting on her forelegs. Luna started to flounder like Celestia, but quickly realized the desperate situation everypony was in and gave up on her own safety and grabbed the entire city with her magic, righted it, and did her best to cushion the impact with the ground. Half a second after Luna grabbed the City, Celestia realized what she was doing, and caught the three of them just before hitting the ground. A trickle of blood flowed out of Luna's nostril as she collapsed in a daze of pain and exhaustion “You caught an entire city? that was awesome!” Rainbow Dash cried “It was more of a controlled drop, and every building suffered major damage, but yes, I think I will accept your praise.” Luna replied with a sad smile. Upon landing safely, Celestia stumbled over first to Starswirl, and then to the now unconscious Luna. After assuring herself that they were in no imminent danger, she gathered up the Elements of Friendship, Laughter, Generosity and Honesty and set off to find a healer. “Starswirl was found to be unharmed, except every time we tried to get rid of the beard, it grew longer. Eventually, She refused to let anyone try anything else. Also, the Element of Honesty would no longer respond to her. My sister, on the other hand, injured herself most dreadfully.” “She ruptured her magus line didn’t she?” whispered Twilight “Yes I did. Even the smallest use of magic would cause searing pain to shoot up and down my horn. Even everyday telekinesis would make me almost black out. It was so easy to absentmindedly pick up a brush or open a door that I had to lie in bed blindfolded to keep from hurting myself. Finally, a zebra shaman came with etherflowers. She strictly warned me to only take one cup of tea each evening at sundown, to make it from a single petal, and to stop after two weeks.” The other ponies sat paying polite attention to something that was over their heads, but Twilight was in her element. “Zeccora told me about those. They give you a serious boost to your magic, but they’re highly addictive and they’ve got some serious side effects.” “Yes, and it is a pity I did not listen to Marea. I quickly regained the ability to use my horn again, but the tea was too good. I was still feeling pain when doing basic spells, so I would secretly take an extra cup, and of course I refused to stop after two weeks. I did a great job of hiding it, but it slowly got the better of me and within a year I believed I couldn’t go a day without at least two cups. On the plus side, I was more powerful than Celestia and could teleport myself across the entirety of Equestria. By the second year, It started catching up to me. My mane started falling out..” Everypony was distracted by Rarity fainting. Since she actually hit her head on the floor, they realized she wasn’t faking and rushed over to help. After she was woken up, Luna continued. “This was when I started wearing that skullcap and making an illusion of my mane. To drown my sorrows I made the worst mistake of my life.” Celestia touched her horn to her sister’s in a gesture of both support and apology and Luna continued telling of her darkest hour “I tried eating a petal raw, and the magic coursed through my entire body. I suddenly felt like I had unlimited power... but with it came a paranoia and jealousy that rivaled that power.” “Power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely.” Twilight whispered “Yes, that is one of the greatest truths ever uttered, and that one taste sealed my doom. I was already feeling jealous of the attention Celestia got during her sunrises, especially the Summer Sun Celebration. Looking back, I see that ponies cared just as much about my moonrises and constellations, but as I stopped promoting it, ponies didn’t gather near me to watch. Even though I still don't play up my moonrises, I do notice all the ponies that gather on nearby hills to watch. Oh how I wish I had noticed that before. The result of my inability to see this was that my jealousy boiled over and I decided to upstage my sister at her Summer Sun Celebration.” Luna turned her head so the others wouldn’t see the tear rolling down her cheek. After a deep breath, she continued. “I waited until Celestia was about ready to raise the sun, when I teleported in front of her” “No more!” Luna shouted “There shall be no more Summer Sun Celebration! Nay, there shall be no more sun! It is time for darkness to rule!” “Sister, what are you saying?” “For too long I have quietly kept to the shadows as you have curried favor with these pitiful foals!” “Luna, please, tell me what is wrong” “Call me not by that name, you two faced deceiver! I shall henceforth be called Nightmare Moon!” Knowing herself to be no match for her insane sister, Celestia teleported away. "I had not intended to go as far as I did, but my insane rage got the better of me." Celestia picked up the story “I sought out Starswirl and told her of Luna’s madness. After long and careful study, with constant messengers asking for help in raising the sun and concerns over the crops that would soon be dying, Starswirl and I saw the answer. I took the elements of harmony and went to our castle to give my sister one last chance.” “Sister, you must allow the sun to be raised. The plants are dying and there will be no food. Please, sister, I beg of you. “Nay, you deceiver, you merely want to take the spotlight yet again and banish me to the shadows.” Celestia’s face turned from sadness to resolve “Please do not make me do this, dear sister” “What can you do to stop me? I am more powerful than even Harmony!” Celestia closed her eyes and activated the Elements “As I came to rest on the ground, I felt the emptiness of knowing that I would not see my dear sister for a thousand years. My only solace was that the moon would be leeching the poison of the etherflowers from her body while I awaited our successors who would heal both her body and mind.” “Uhm, I understand the banishing and stuff, but isn’t a thousand years a mite long?” “Yes, it was, Applejack, and I couldn’t have done it if it were not for Starswirl showing me that there was no other way but to wait for you. He checked and doublechecked, but nopony but you would be able to heal her” “Really? Starswirl saw us?” Twilight gushed “not exactly, but I’ll let her explain the details when you meet her.” “ohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh” “Is that really what I sounded like after the best young fliers competition?” Rainbow Dash asked, looking nervously at Twilight Twilight didn’t even seem to notice as she pranced in front of Celestia “Am I really going to meet Starswirl th...uhm, I mean am I really going to meet Starswirl?” Author's Note I've combined the previous chapter with this one, sorry if it's still too short ContinuumContinuum An ominously familiar voice filled the room “Tia, Tia, Tia. Are you really going to send her in that condition?” Everypony, including Celestia jumped up and began searching for the source of the voice. “Show yourself, Discord!” Celestia challenged “Whoa, calm down.” Discord soothed, appearing in the middle of the room. “I come in peace, with absolutely no chaos. Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye” His Pinkie Promise was slightly less believable due to the big red X on his chest, enlarged wings, and actual cupcake he literally stuck into his eye socket. “Explain why you have come.” Celestia challenged, lowering her horn threateningly. “Okay, I deserve that. I’ll drop the fun for now, but please give Twilight The Book.” Celestia stopped for a second, then called in a guard and whispered to him. “Yes, princess, right away.” he stated, eyeing Discord with obvious concern Discord sat down slowly in front of everypony. “So you all know most of my story, but I’d like to clarify a few points as I plan on visiting occasionally and would like you to know that you have no need to fear me anymore. Not that I ever expect your forgiveness or friendship.” Discord looked away as he said this. In Pinkie Pie style, his mood suddenly lightened. “Well, on with the story.” he said rubbing his claws together. “You were completely right about the effect of Philly’s Element. I went completely nutso (though I don’t regret this new look). I knew how dangerous it was for anyone-” “Any ONE?” Pinkie asked “Sorry, that’s how they talk where I’ve been staying for the past thousand years. As I was saying, I knew how dangerous it was for any pony to control more than one element, but once I tasted all the laughter Philly had imbued it with, I was obsessed with getting the others. I sought out Chrysalis and demanded she return to me the Element of Generosity. Of course she refused, but I convinced myself that it was mine by right and that she’d be less damaged than Philly Pie because she would hold onto her own generosity. Even after her coat started turning grey, I assured myself that she’d return to her former beauty when the shock of it faded. I was never truly serious about changing her form. Greed had corrupted my Laughter.” Discord looked away from Celestia and Luna before continuing. “When I saw the holes forming, I realized the true extent of the damage I had done, and how much of a monster I had become. That was when I let go and teleported away. Thinking long and hard, I realized what must be done. I dried my eyes and set about planning my exile.” “Why exile?” Fluttershy asked in her usual whisper. “Because, you see, Celestia and Luna were so loyal and kind that I knew they’d forgive me and couldn’t bear to leave me unrestored. I knew I had to be defeated and prepared a statue to swap with when I teleported away. After calling you with the sky, and enraging you with my treatment of Marington, I launched my fake offensive. I’m not sure whether to say thankfully or regrettably, Starswirl was too clever. Her blast combined with my teleport spell, knocked me into a different realm.” Twilight’s eyes widened “A different realm? What was it like?” “Well, it was almost pure magic. Compared to the creatures there, I had as much magic as an earthpony foal.” “No, what was the world like?” “We don’t have the words to describe it, but the closest I can come is to say it taught me that chaos and harmony aren’t opposites. They can actually coexist if the harmony is strong enough...” Glancing around the room, he came back to Twilight and asked her “Do you want me to show you?” After glancing at Applejack, who nodded, Twilight stepped forward. Discord touched her horn and her eyes shrank to pinpricks. For several seconds she stood transfixed, then, shaking herself awake, murmured “Wow...just....wow.” After shaking herself a second time, a thought occurred to her. “Why did you come back and try to take over Equestria?” “Well, after they healed me, I was kinda like their pet. It was a real nice experience, and they even had me impersonate one of them to guide and torment a few key beings in a different reality (much less magic that even here, but some interesting beings... I think they might even have been related to the bipeds that we deposed). That left me missing my friends and I popped back here for a spell and decided you were taking too long gaining the mastery of the Elements needed to heal the harm I had caused. I figured a nice evil mastermind would give you the kick in the pants... uhm flank, that you needed.” Discord gave an evil laugh and added “Well, I have a couch back home to get scolded for lying on, so ta ta for now, Tia.” With that, he disappeared with a pop. “Wait!” Celestia and Luna called half a second too late. As they sat there processing this new information, the guard Celestia had talked to returned with a book set with six gems in the cover. Celestia took the book and passed it to Twilight who opened it reverentially and started reading. After a few seconds, she looked up. “Thank you, this is a great treasure.” Twilight was overwhelmed with the knowledge in front of her. In her hooves, she held the true story of Equestria along with countless high level spells. There was nothing, absolutely nothing in all of Equestria that would rival one page of this book.... except... Tearing her eyes away and closing the book, she looked at her friends and mentor. “You need us to do something, and if I understand things correctly, you will be sending us to heal one of your oldest friends.” “Yes, My most faithful student, I am sending you to the Sage’s Tower so that you can talk to and, hopefully, heal Starswirl, but before you go, I think what Discord wanted was for you to use one of the spells in this book.” “I agree, and I even think I know the one, but the only way to find it is to start reading, and I know I will be stuck reading and rereading the first page for days.” Twilight caressed the cover with her hoof. “There may yet be another way,” Celestia said, admiring her student’s self-awareness, “Nopony but you can open that book or even read those pages. They are blank even to my eyes. I believe that the book itself will know what you need to read.” With a glint of understanding, Twilight touched her horn to the center gem on the cover and all six gems started pulsing with magic. Immediately, the book opened and the pages fluttered to a spot near the beginning. On the modification of the Equine Form I am deeply impressed by the newly awakened creatures that call themselves Ponies. They are a race that consistently value the six traits required for harmonious society. These being: Honesty- valuing truth and the willingness to convince rather than force obedience. Kindness- valuing compassion and the willingness to place others’ feelings before one’s own. Laughter- recognizing the power of humor and knowing that a smile is one of the greatest sources of healing there is. Generosity- recognizing the power of self sacrifice. Loyalty- holding friends and allies close to your heart, knowing they are your greatest weapons and strongest defenses. Friendship- holding all five qualities in balance and knowing that a single action does not a personality make. I have decided to give these little ponies the abilities they need to take this world from its previous masters, as that race has grown cruel not only towards the lesser creatures, but even to each other. I will be giving the wisest among them a horn with the power to consciously channel the magics that have flooded this world. To the bravest, I will be giving the power of flight and a speed to rival the previous masters of the skies. The rest will gain a strength of body and mind to make them fully equal with their brothers and sisters. These gifts of mind and body are inherent in their nature and will only need the proper stimulus to express. I have also found five who are able to gain the full power of all three tribes. The spell I used to bring these physical forms forth is....” Twilight tore her eyes from the page and stared at Celestia as Rarity tackled her. “You’re going to be an alicorn! I Am So Jealous!” With that, she squeed with a maniacally happy smile. “”I’m going to need help. This is an extremely complicated and power intensive spell.” “We will all help, my dearest student.” Celestia responded As they gathered around Twilight, her horn began to glow, followed by the elements which lifted themselves out of the box and alighted in their proper places on each pony. Celestia and Luna touched their horns to Twilight’s and Celestia intoned “I stand here among the protectors of Equestria to proclaim that just as Harmony appointed me as his general, I Princess Celestia appoint you, Twilight Sparkle to become my Alicorn General.” A blinding light filled the room as the purple glow that was Twilight grew, reshaped itself, and coalesced into her new form. A Proper SendoffA proper sendoff Twilight came to rest on her hooves while everypony gaped at her, including herself. She stared in wonder at her wings as she stretched them out slowly. She was now just shorter than Luna, and her mane and tail rippled with the newfound energies coursing through her body and mind. Rarity was the first to find her tongue. “You look marvelous, amazing, dazzling, fantastic, spectacular, I said the Crystal Empire was beyond words, but this, this.... this is....” Rarity’s mouth kept moving, but no more sound came out. Pinkie nudged her out of the way and bowed low. “My liege.” Pinkie said with uncharacteristic formality. “Hay, why isn’t anypony else bowing to our new princess?” Pinkie said with a scowl at the others. “Come on, Twi’s a princess now. We’re her friends, so we should be the first to honor her.” After watching to make sure everypony else gave ‘proper homage’, Pinkie turned back to Twilight. “OK, now that that’s been taken care of, let’s party!” Jumping up on top of Twilight’s horn, she bent her head down and asked “So what kinda party do ya want? A slow, formal, stuffy party like nobility deserves?” She asked, hopping down and standing on her hind legs while miming ballroom dancing. The overly formal, even dour face Pinkie made caused all three alicorns to crack a smile. “Or should it be a happy, cheering filled, dancing filled, super duper awesome shindig?” Pinkie all but shouted, igniting her party cannon for emphasis. “Or, would we have lots and lots of games?” Pinkie asked, dragging Applejack over. With a loud pop, Twilight suddenly returned to normal. “OH NO OH NO OH NO!!!!!!!! I’msosorryyoulookedsolovelyandnowyou’rejustaunicornagainandIhopeitwasn’tmyfault!!!!!” “Calm down, Pinkie.” Twilight said as she got herself out of her sobbing pink friend’s bear hug. “It’s okay, it’s just not time yet, okay?” She continued, carefully covering up her own shock and disappointment. After calming down, Pinkie asked with a sniffle “Can we still have the party?” Twilight used the time Pinkie was talking to remove the look of disappointment from her face. “Well, I don’t know, we’re going to heal Starswirl, and I don’t think we should really get sidetracked from that. She’s suffered way too long as it is.” Twilight turned to her teacher and asked “What do you think, Princess?” Celestia smiled enigmatically and replied “I do want you to leave as soon as possible, and that doesn't give us time to have a full party.... but this sort of mission should be started in the morning, not the late afternoon," With as wink at Pinkie, she continued "so I do think that we can throw together a feast for tonight as a sendoff party.” Pinkie replied by running over and giving the ruler of Equestria a giant bear hug. “That will be perfect” she whispered to her princess. Everypony, unsure of what to say after this emotion filled turn of events, stood up and started to exit the chamber. Pinkie, of course, dashed off to the kitchens to start preparations for the feast. Twilight, on the other hoof, glanced meaningfully at Celestia, and they stayed in the room a few moments after everypony else left. “What went wrong?” “I don’t think anything went wrong, my faithful student. I think your answer to Pinkie was the full and honest truth” With that, Celestia reached a hoof up to gently touch Twilight’s cheek, turned and left to follow the others. *** The party was true Pinkie Pie style. Even though it was a banquet, she made sure there was music and a dance floor, but what made it really special was everypony that was invited. Despite all the good friends, she still couldn’t help peeking at the Book of Harmony to see if she could find an answer for her reversion. “Hay, Twilight, even if you find an answer in there, it’s still not gonna help you. I think right now, you need some friendship more than you need knowledge.” “You’re right, AJ.” Twilight said, closing the book and handing it to Applejack. “Could you please keep this safe for me?” As Applejack trotted off to put the book with the supplies being gathered for their trip, Twilight scanned the room, finding Celestia whispering something to Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash and Luna watching everypony with a wistful smile on her face. After the party, she climbed into bed and thought. So, what exactly happened? Was I not ready? Did we not have enough power to make the spell stick? Most importantly, why doesn’t it bother me that much? I’m constantly thinking about it, but it’s a mystery that I have a compulsion to solve, not a horrible disappointment I have to come to terms with. Cadence... and Shining, it’s sad that they’re living too far away to have been able to make it today... wait, Cadence... why doesn’t she have the aura that Princesses Celestia and Luna have? Is there more to being an alicorn than wings and a horn? Even now, I feel magics within me I didn’t have before.. Did I choose not to have wings? As she drifted off to sleep she heard a voice say “Nice, job, Sparkles, now you’re truly ready”
The Age of the BipedsChapter 1 The Age of the Bipeds Twilight and company entered the council room to find Princess Celestia sitting on one of eight cushions set in a circle. Her pose spoke of relaxation, but there was a tension in her face that spoke of nervousness, sadness, and possibly even regret. “Come in my little ponies, I have a quest I will be sending you on, but you have much you need to know before you begin.” As they sat down, they saw the box containing the Elements of Harmony sitting in front of Celestia. “Are we taking the Elements on this quest?” Twilight asked Celestia looked down at the box and her face hardened in resolve then softened as she looked at the ponies she entrusted with the fate of her land. “Yes, my faithful student, but the story I am about to tell you will also tell you of a danger that I should have told you about sooner.” “Danger?” Rarity said with a shudder “Yes, but we will get to that soon. First, we need to go to the founding of Equestria and the age of the Bipeds” “The age of what?” “Bipeds, Applejack. They were creatures that walked on two legs.” “Like a bear?” “Yes, Fluttershy, but unlike bears, not only did they only walk on two legs, but they couldn’t comfortably walk on four.” “Why haven’t I heard of Bipeds in my studies of Equestrian history?” Twilight asked Celestia took a deep breath “It was a dark time that everypony who experienced it wants to forget. They had metal golems with wheels for legs and metal bird with wings that didn’t flap. The world was filled with metal, stone, and fire, but worst of all, the quadrupeds like us, the donkeys, and cows were their slaves, though we couldn’t talk, and it’s hard to tell whether we were aware at that time” Fluttershy nervously bit her hooves, Rarity’s mouth dropped open, even Pinkie Pie sat quietly as they processed this revelation while Celestia continued. “They would have continued ruling over us if it were not for their greed. They were a race preoccupied with gaining power and leisure. They constantly sought out new sources of power and new ways to avoid doing work. One of their magicians opened a gateway to another world in an attempt to gather even greater power, but the portal flooded their land with magics unlike anything they had and drastically changed the world. It is said that the sun and moon rose on their own and the whole land was like the Everfree forest where weather was unpredictable and uncontrollable, and few animals needed any care at all. In fact, the only animals they cared for were ones they could use. It was when this portal opened that the quadrupeds woke up. When we understood, we tried to speak with the bipeds, but they refused to listen and we had to fight for our freedom. Sadly, they were too strong and we were too new.” “Oh Noes!!!! What didja do!!!1?” “Really, Pinkie?” “Yeah, really, Twi, that was horrifically horrible! What happened next” Pinkie looked to Celestia with an overly serious face Despite the horrors she was remembering, Pinkie’s over-the-top concern brought a smile of remembrance to Celestia’s face. “Well, we don’t know where he came from. Some think he was born from the mixing of magics, others say he came from the other world, and he refused to tell us anything that would let us figure it out. But whatever his origin, Harmony gave us the help we needed. He changed some of us into unicorns and pegasi so that we could fight better, and the five bravest and wisest he made into alicorns and gave the elements of harmony.” A pure white Draconequis with talons, wings, and tail tipped with gold stood with a regal crown upon his head and stood before five ponies. Approaching a plum colored pony, he pronounced “Starswirl, because you have the greatest understanding of truth, I bestow upon you the element of Honesty.” Twilight’s ears perked up “Starswirl the Bearded was an element of harmony?” “Yes, but she really hates that name. The beard was a parting gift from Discord” Approaching the next pony, a pink one sporting an electric blue mane, he placed another necklace around her neck “Philhemina, you above all ponies understand the value of humor, and I bestow upon you the element of Laughter.” “Hey! My greatgreatgrandmare was named Philhemina!” Celestia shook her head with a smile “Yes, she was, and you are her spitting image, right down to the element you share.” Pinkie sat down stunned at this revelation and proud of her grandmare Next, Harmony approached a dark blue mare “Luna, you more than anypony understand the needs of your fellows, so I appoint you as the element of Kindness.” After placing her necklace on her neck, He approached a pure white mare with a multicolored pastel mane. “Celestia, you above all value the wellbeing of your comrades, therefore, you shall be the element of Loyalty” Lastly, He approached a silver maned pony. You, my dear pony, understand how powerful a gift can be, so yours shall be the element of Generosity, my beautiful Chrysalis.” “CHRYSALIS!” all six ponies gasped as all their jaws hit the floor. “yes, she used to be the most beautiful of us all.” Celestia said wistfully The five ponies stood before Harmony with their necklaces as he intoned “As the most noble and brave of all creatures in this land, I appoint you as my generals in defense of this newly formed world. As he spoke, their forms blurred and reformed taller with majestic pointed horns and large graceful wings. All but Chrysalis had feathered wings the same color as their coats, but hers were gossamer wings reflecting all the colors of a rainbow. Celestia suddenly grew sad “With our newfound power, we transformed, banished, or killed every last Biped” Celestia and Luna stood before a group of twenty bipeds holding a barrier around their group as Starswirl and Harmony brought a shower of boulders down on them. Philhemina and Chrysalis were picking up a group of pegasi with wounds from the bits of metal shot out of the magic tubes they used as weapons. Suddenly a metal bird swooped down, spraying them with its own magic tubes. The shield cracked under the onslaught and everypony dove for cover. They saw it circle for another pass and gathered to activate the Elements. “Don’t wait for it to face us, hit it now” Harmony shouted Their necklaces glowed and Harmony’s eyes lit up. A rainbow shot from them and hit the metal bird, causing it to turn into cloud. The biped that was in it went hurtling through the air and hit the ground with a sickening thud “you killed all the bipeds?” Fluttershy whimpered “No, not all, we only killed those who attacked us, for they were the ones killing our comrades, but the ones who wanted to live with us were transformed to be the same as us, and those who rejected that were allowed to pass through the rift into a different world.” Rarity put a hoof up to her mouth, going green in the face “I don’t know how much more of this killin’ and banishin’ I can take” Applejack said with a shudder Even Rainbow dash was looking uncomfortable. “That is why so few know about it. As I said, it was such a horrible time that even I wish to forget and only talk to you now because you need to know.” Celestia closed her eyes and shook her head, trying to clear the visions from her head
The End of LaughterThe End of Laughter “So, what is this danger you were talking about?” Rarity asked, recovering her ability to speak after the previous revelation. “The danger comes from how the Elements feed on and enhance that trait and eventually merge with you.” “That don’t sound too bad” Applejack muttered to Twilight “Let me explain what happened to Philhemina and you’ll understand a little better” Pinkie Pie’s head snapped back to Celestia with an audible pop as her grandmare’s name was mentioned. Celestia settled herself as she got ready to continue “We were using the elements daily, battling bipeds, sending monsters away from populated areas, and settling disputes between ponies. An Ursa Minor was snuffling through a village, tipping over houses and stepping on carts in its search for food as Chrysalis swooped down and lifted it up, carrying it with her magic to an unoccupied field. As they set it down, an Ursa Major crashed out of the nearby forest. This time, Harmony set up the defensive shieild while Starswirl got its attention with a magic blast from her horn. The blast, though powerful enough to cripple a pony, was a mere tap to the Ursa and didn’t even get it angrier than it was. Starswirl led it over to its cub then the six levitated the two back into their cave in the forest. Twilight sat with her jaw on the floor remembering how much it took to levitate an Ursa Minor and how much larger and fiercer an Ursa Major could be “Every day brought new challenges, and with the amazing power the Elements gave us, we were able to easily set things right and move on. What we weren't noticing was how our elements were deepening as we were gaining power. Despite the newness of Harmony’s reign and the youth of our species, we were having an easy time civilizing ourselves. It was actually through the Elements that the jealousies of wings and horns was dealt with” “Howd’ja do that?” Celestia glanced at Applejack with a sad smile. With a heavy sigh, she continued. “The Unicorns were trying to give themselves wings, the Pegasi were demanding magic, and the Earth Ponies were jealous of both. Every day, there was a messenger from one of the tribes demanding that they get at least one of the traits of the other tribes. Harmony first tried to explain that it wasn’t something that could just be given out on a whim, but after they kept at it, he lost his patience and started giving a flat 'You don’t deserve it, now shut up and go back home.' It was getting so bad that the Unicorns were threatening to stop raising the sun, the pegasi were threatening to flood the Unicorn cities, and the Earth Ponies were threatening to stop growing food.” “HEARTHSWARMING EVE!!!!! HEARTHSWARMING EVE!!!!” Pinkie bounced “Yes and no.” Celestia said regaining her smile “That wasn’t exactly how it happened. That story was made up shortly afterwards, but the pain of what would follow was too great for me to tell the true story, so I just let them embellish the roles of Private Pansy, Clover the Clever, and Smart Cookie and kept the true story to myself, telling it only when I felt it needed to be known. The real solution was Philhemina’s idea.” Pinkie sat in rapt attention, her eyes wider and pupils larger than Twilight had ever seen them before “Philly Pie saw how the Unicorns were decorating their coats with pictures of their favorite things, and decided we needed to have a visible reminder of what each of us did the best” “Your don’t mean....” Twilight whispered Celestia nodded “It was Celestia’s idea to make them wait and discover their special talent first.” Luna said as she sat down on the unoccupied cushion. Everypony’s head snapped first towards the newly arrived Luna, then to Celestia again. “That was so they would value their special gift” Celestia said slightly defensively. “Whatever you say, dear sister. I find you love making lessons more memorable” Luna replied with a chuckle, glancing over to where Philhemina the Phoenix sat on her perch Twilight shifted uncomfortably and gave a half hearted laugh. “So Philly, in true Pie style, jumps right in, casting the spell on her own and our cutie marks start appearing. I at first thought She’d ignored my contribution, but we later realized that they appeared only on those who had already come to understand what they loved.” Celestia continued “Ah, why did you choose our...uhm...posterior?” Rarity asked with a blush “You’ll have to ask Philly that, since it was supposed to be on our chests” Celestia said with a chuckle, but then sobered up “But I think it was because of how the Elements were affecting her. You see, she’d been getting both stronger and goofier every day and her pranks were starting to get out of hand.” Celestia’s voice changes to a conspiratorial whisper. “In fact, she once enchanted the moon...” Celestia was overcome with a fit of giggles “The moon....” Celestia doubled over, clutching her stomach, unable to continue “She made the moon into a perfect copy of my rump.” Luna finished with a sniff and a suppressed smile. Rainbow Dash let out a loud guffaw. “Ahem, well, we were about to confront her on these pranks” Celestia suppressed another chuckle “when her element took matters into it’s own hoof,” Celestia took a second to sober up “and glued itself to her" “It WHAT?” the six of them respond at once. "I didn’t see it myself, but she told me it wouldn’t come off, and the more she pulled, the firmer it stayed. She even said it was sinking into her chest.” Every Pony stood in stunned silence at those words. “Needless to say, she flipped out and only stopped when she was so exhausted she fell asleep. The next morning, with hair deflated, She sought out Harmony to get his help removing it.” A tear rolled down the cheek of an uncharacteristically quiet Pinkie as Fluttershy nuzzled her in sympathy. “So how did they get it off?” Twilight asked “Why did you ever give me this horrid thing?” Philhemina said with tears rolling down her cheeks Harmony sat and looked at the necklace for a while, making calculations and casting various information spells. Philhemina quickly got aggravated and impatient and started pulling at the necklace. After watching her struggle for a while, he stood up “Stop struggling for a bit.” Philly stopped and Harmony reached out and touched the center of the gem. Suddenly a greyness spread first through the crystal, then through the necklace, and finally through Philhemina herself while the necklace unclasped itself and fell into Harmony’s surprised talons Celestia sat for a minute to let this sink in before dropping what she thought would be the bombshell. “This was followed by Philly’s newly gained cutie mark changing from party streamers to a rock.” “THE ROCK FARM!” ‘Yes, Pinkie, that was when she decided her special talent must be ripening rocks” “Why the hay would you ripen rocks?” Applejack asked “Duh! To get all those superfabulous geodes!” Pinkie retorted “Really, Applejack, do you know nothing about where gems come from?” Rarity questioned Celestia ignored the conversation and continued “Sadly, Harmony decided to take laughter for himself despite already being the element of magic." Celestia looked down at her hooves "And that was the beginning of Discord.
Void PonyVoid Pony “The beginning of Discord?” Twilight asked in a whisper “Yes, in addition to Harmony’s element of magic, he now had all of Philhemina’s laughter. This was a bad combination. He started goofing around with his body and giving himself all kinds of different creatures’ parts. Instead of elegantly curved horns, he replaced them with an antler and a spiral horn. Instead of his golden talons, he gave himself all different legs. he even replaced his tail and wings...” A look of disgust filled her face. “And don’t get me started on that tooth” Celestia said with a shudder Suddenly Celestia’s eyes filled with tears. "But the truly horrible part came when he decided he wanted the other elements.” Luna put a hoof on Celestia’s foreleg “Would you like me to continue, sister?” Celestia took a deep breath “Thank you, but no, I can do it.” Celestia bit back her tears and continued. “Harmony was acting even worse than Philly and causing all sorts of mischief with his subjects. He even created some of the other races at this time such as Griffins and the Diamond Dogs. "Wait, the griffins and diamond dogs were created by Harmony?" Rarity interrupted "Yes, he was experimenting with what he called 'new and interesting creatures'. He was completely unwilling to listen to our requests and the pleas of his subjects. Starswirl, Luna, and I were trying to figure out what to do when we heard Chrysalis scream in pain. We rushed over to see what had happened. Harmony had Chrysalis by the throat and was pulling at the element of generosity. Chrysalis' multi hued aura was clutching at her necklace and her hooves were kicking blindly at Harmony “Harmony! What are you doing?” Starswirl demanded “I’m taking back what is rightfully mine.” he said with a sneer With a final tug, he ripped the necklace off Chrysalis' neck and dropped her Finally freed, she dropped like a sack of potatoes clutching her neck where the element of generosity had hung “Look what you’ve done to Chrysalis!” Harmony looked down at Chrysalis as she let out a pitiful moan. She was twitching on the ground and her wings were losing their rainbow colors. “I’ve decided it’s too boring to only have a couple of the Elements, so I’ll be taking them all back” “But you’ve hurt her so badly” As they were speaking, Chrysalis’ body was going from white to gray and her wings were turning a sickly shade of green “Oh, I’ll fix her up after I gain control of your elements. What do you think? Give her six legs? Maybe polkadots?” “No, return her to normal! Give her back the element of generosity!” Celestia shouted, her rage burned beyond anything she had ever experienced “But she's such a lady, and those wings she...uhm... had, were like a bug, I think she'd make a great Ladybug! Besides, I’ve told you, the elements belong to me and me alone. I made you what you are and I can change you into whatever I wish. Oh, and from now on, call me...” He raised his forelegs into the air for dramatic effect “DISCORD, Lord of Chaos!” “Suddenly, we felt our elements being pulled toward him. We scrambled to hold onto them with both our hooves and our magic, but we could feel a painful tearing as they slipped further and further away from us.” “Why didn’t ya fly up and buck him in the face?” Rainbow Dash demanded. “We were too terrified of what was happening to think clearly.” Celestia answered Fluttershy looked down at her hooves “I feel so bad for Chrysalis. I wish we could have helped her during the wedding” Everypony else looked at her in surprise, then nodded agreement. “Yes, when I sent you for the elements, I was hoping for them to heal her the same way that you saved Luna.” “Princess Celestia, is that why you were defeated by her?” Twilight asked “Yes, I couldn’t get the image of her whimpering on the ground out of my head and I believe that kept me from being able to use my full power. I’m so sorry” Celestia whispered. “Hey, you’re the element of Loyalty, of course you couldn't hurt your friend like that” Rainbow Dash flew up to stare Celestia in the eye. Everypony else murmured their agreement, and with a grateful smile, she continued “Luckily, the pull suddenly stopped.” Discord glanced at Chrysalis and sat back in a nonexistent chair “This is boring, I think I’ll come back later when you’ll put up more of a fight.” Discord did did a twirl and disappeared in a shower of sparks while Chrysalis picked herself up off the ground, wincing in pain. “I’m so empty” Celestia and Luna helped her stand while Starswirl examined her, trying to figure out what they could do. Suddenly, she caught sight of her reflection She was completely black and holes had formed all over her legs, wings, and even her horn “I’m hideous” she screamed “how will anypony ever love this?” Before anypony could say anything, she flew off at top speed in the direction of the wastelands Celestia's body was racked by suppressed sobs "We tried to follow her,” Luna put a hoof on her sister's neck and interrupted "But she had speed borne of pain and desperation and after several hours of chase, we lost her trail and had to admit defeat. We mourned her loss and promised each other that we would find a way to restore her." Everypony gathered around and nuzzled her in sympathy Celestia regained her composure. "Thank you for allowing me this bit of weakness. Nopony else apart from Starswirl knows this story and it is good to finally tell it."
Etherflower TeaEtherflower Tea “As we were resting from our failed chase, Starswirl noticed that the stars were reshaping themselves into silly faces and we saw the moon bouncing along the horizon like a rubber ball.” Celestia watched everypony shift uncomfortably as they remembered their experiences with Discord. “When we finally made our way back to the now-upside-down capitol city, a cloud with a giant mouth on it came down and greeted us with a giant, wet raspberry” “Oooh, I love raspberries!!! Oh, wait, you mean that kind of raspberry.” Pinkie stopped mid-clap “Eeew!” Rarity wrinkled her nose in disgust “Upon entering, or rather, walking underneath Marington, we saw ponies being tormented everywhere. Mercifully, none of them were getting injured, but we saw ponies being turned into balls and hit back and forth by giant ping pong paddles, scissors trying to cut off ponies’ manes, and giant flowers burying ponies up to their necks in gardens and watering them.” “Hay there Tee Tee, come on down” Suddenly the three alicorns found themselves falling upward in a gravity reversal spell. Luna quickly slowed their fall and landed them gracefully on their hooves. “Do you like my beautiful Discordia?” “No we don’t, and the name of this city is Marington!” Luna yelled “You’re causing misery to everypony in this city.” “Now, now, now, Loony. I was the one who gave you all the power to take this land, so I get to choose what it’s going to be like.” Discord stood up and the moon suddenly shrank, zoomed down, and poked Luna in the chest with each word “And I say this place is too boring and predictable” Suddenly their Elements were being pulled away again as the battle began in earnest. This time, they were prepared and grabbed at Discord’s Elements while holding onto their own. Even so, they were losing their grip and felt the familiar ripping pain as their elements tore away. “NO!!” Starswirl screamed and blasted Discord in the face with a beam of pure magic. Celestia shook her head, trying to banish the vivid images in her mind “Starswirl said it was supposed to be a paralysis spell, but when the dust settled and we picked ourselves off the ground, we found him turned to stone.” “I’ve always wondered why his statue was in a pose of victory when you turned him to stone, but ours caught him trying to shield himself.” Twilight commented “I guess things happened too quickly for him to react.” “I think you’re right, but we weren’t out of the woods yet. the three of us were exhausted from the battle and barely able to stand when we felt the gravity reversal spell crumbling. The air was filled with the telltale shimmer of a spell failing. The three ponies felt themselves going weightless but none were in much condition to even save themselves. Celestia was trying to pick herself off the cobblestone plaza she had collapsed onto when Discord was turned to stone, but with her exhaustion and the crazy gravity, she was floundering and panic was creeping into her mind. Starswirl was unconscious, with the element of honesty lying two feet in front of her and the now infamous beard resting on her forelegs. Luna started to flounder like Celestia, but quickly realized the desperate situation everypony was in and gave up on her own safety and grabbed the entire city with her magic, righted it, and did her best to cushion the impact with the ground. Half a second after Luna grabbed the City, Celestia realized what she was doing, and caught the three of them just before hitting the ground. A trickle of blood flowed out of Luna's nostril as she collapsed in a daze of pain and exhaustion “You caught an entire city? that was awesome!” Rainbow Dash cried “It was more of a controlled drop, and every building suffered major damage, but yes, I think I will accept your praise.” Luna replied with a sad smile. Upon landing safely, Celestia stumbled over first to Starswirl, and then to the now unconscious Luna. After assuring herself that they were in no imminent danger, she gathered up the Elements of Friendship, Laughter, Generosity and Honesty and set off to find a healer. “Starswirl was found to be unharmed, except every time we tried to get rid of the beard, it grew longer. Eventually, She refused to let anyone try anything else. Also, the Element of Honesty would no longer respond to her. My sister, on the other hand, injured herself most dreadfully.” “She ruptured her magus line didn’t she?” whispered Twilight “Yes I did. Even the smallest use of magic would cause searing pain to shoot up and down my horn. Even everyday telekinesis would make me almost black out. It was so easy to absentmindedly pick up a brush or open a door that I had to lie in bed blindfolded to keep from hurting myself. Finally, a zebra shaman came with etherflowers. She strictly warned me to only take one cup of tea each evening at sundown, to make it from a single petal, and to stop after two weeks.” The other ponies sat paying polite attention to something that was over their heads, but Twilight was in her element. “Zeccora told me about those. They give you a serious boost to your magic, but they’re highly addictive and they’ve got some serious side effects.” “Yes, and it is a pity I did not listen to Marea. I quickly regained the ability to use my horn again, but the tea was too good. I was still feeling pain when doing basic spells, so I would secretly take an extra cup, and of course I refused to stop after two weeks. I did a great job of hiding it, but it slowly got the better of me and within a year I believed I couldn’t go a day without at least two cups. On the plus side, I was more powerful than Celestia and could teleport myself across the entirety of Equestria. By the second year, It started catching up to me. My mane started falling out..” Everypony was distracted by Rarity fainting. Since she actually hit her head on the floor, they realized she wasn’t faking and rushed over to help. After she was woken up, Luna continued. “This was when I started wearing that skullcap and making an illusion of my mane. To drown my sorrows I made the worst mistake of my life.” Celestia touched her horn to her sister’s in a gesture of both support and apology and Luna continued telling of her darkest hour “I tried eating a petal raw, and the magic coursed through my entire body. I suddenly felt like I had unlimited power... but with it came a paranoia and jealousy that rivaled that power.” “Power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely.” Twilight whispered “Yes, that is one of the greatest truths ever uttered, and that one taste sealed my doom. I was already feeling jealous of the attention Celestia got during her sunrises, especially the Summer Sun Celebration. Looking back, I see that ponies cared just as much about my moonrises and constellations, but as I stopped promoting it, ponies didn’t gather near me to watch. Even though I still don't play up my moonrises, I do notice all the ponies that gather on nearby hills to watch. Oh how I wish I had noticed that before. The result of my inability to see this was that my jealousy boiled over and I decided to upstage my sister at her Summer Sun Celebration.” Luna turned her head so the others wouldn’t see the tear rolling down her cheek. After a deep breath, she continued. “I waited until Celestia was about ready to raise the sun, when I teleported in front of her” “No more!” Luna shouted “There shall be no more Summer Sun Celebration! Nay, there shall be no more sun! It is time for darkness to rule!” “Sister, what are you saying?” “For too long I have quietly kept to the shadows as you have curried favor with these pitiful foals!” “Luna, please, tell me what is wrong” “Call me not by that name, you two faced deceiver! I shall henceforth be called Nightmare Moon!” Knowing herself to be no match for her insane sister, Celestia teleported away. "I had not intended to go as far as I did, but my insane rage got the better of me." Celestia picked up the story “I sought out Starswirl and told her of Luna’s madness. After long and careful study, with constant messengers asking for help in raising the sun and concerns over the crops that would soon be dying, Starswirl and I saw the answer. I took the elements of harmony and went to our castle to give my sister one last chance.” “Sister, you must allow the sun to be raised. The plants are dying and there will be no food. Please, sister, I beg of you. “Nay, you deceiver, you merely want to take the spotlight yet again and banish me to the shadows.” Celestia’s face turned from sadness to resolve “Please do not make me do this, dear sister” “What can you do to stop me? I am more powerful than even Harmony!” Celestia closed her eyes and activated the Elements “As I came to rest on the ground, I felt the emptiness of knowing that I would not see my dear sister for a thousand years. My only solace was that the moon would be leeching the poison of the etherflowers from her body while I awaited our successors who would heal both her body and mind.” “Uhm, I understand the banishing and stuff, but isn’t a thousand years a mite long?” “Yes, it was, Applejack, and I couldn’t have done it if it were not for Starswirl showing me that there was no other way but to wait for you. He checked and doublechecked, but nopony but you would be able to heal her” “Really? Starswirl saw us?” Twilight gushed “not exactly, but I’ll let her explain the details when you meet her.” “ohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh” “Is that really what I sounded like after the best young fliers competition?” Rainbow Dash asked, looking nervously at Twilight Twilight didn’t even seem to notice as she pranced in front of Celestia “Am I really going to meet Starswirl th...uhm, I mean am I really going to meet Starswirl?” Author's Note I've combined the previous chapter with this one, sorry if it's still too short
ContinuumContinuum An ominously familiar voice filled the room “Tia, Tia, Tia. Are you really going to send her in that condition?” Everypony, including Celestia jumped up and began searching for the source of the voice. “Show yourself, Discord!” Celestia challenged “Whoa, calm down.” Discord soothed, appearing in the middle of the room. “I come in peace, with absolutely no chaos. Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye” His Pinkie Promise was slightly less believable due to the big red X on his chest, enlarged wings, and actual cupcake he literally stuck into his eye socket. “Explain why you have come.” Celestia challenged, lowering her horn threateningly. “Okay, I deserve that. I’ll drop the fun for now, but please give Twilight The Book.” Celestia stopped for a second, then called in a guard and whispered to him. “Yes, princess, right away.” he stated, eyeing Discord with obvious concern Discord sat down slowly in front of everypony. “So you all know most of my story, but I’d like to clarify a few points as I plan on visiting occasionally and would like you to know that you have no need to fear me anymore. Not that I ever expect your forgiveness or friendship.” Discord looked away as he said this. In Pinkie Pie style, his mood suddenly lightened. “Well, on with the story.” he said rubbing his claws together. “You were completely right about the effect of Philly’s Element. I went completely nutso (though I don’t regret this new look). I knew how dangerous it was for anyone-” “Any ONE?” Pinkie asked “Sorry, that’s how they talk where I’ve been staying for the past thousand years. As I was saying, I knew how dangerous it was for any pony to control more than one element, but once I tasted all the laughter Philly had imbued it with, I was obsessed with getting the others. I sought out Chrysalis and demanded she return to me the Element of Generosity. Of course she refused, but I convinced myself that it was mine by right and that she’d be less damaged than Philly Pie because she would hold onto her own generosity. Even after her coat started turning grey, I assured myself that she’d return to her former beauty when the shock of it faded. I was never truly serious about changing her form. Greed had corrupted my Laughter.” Discord looked away from Celestia and Luna before continuing. “When I saw the holes forming, I realized the true extent of the damage I had done, and how much of a monster I had become. That was when I let go and teleported away. Thinking long and hard, I realized what must be done. I dried my eyes and set about planning my exile.” “Why exile?” Fluttershy asked in her usual whisper. “Because, you see, Celestia and Luna were so loyal and kind that I knew they’d forgive me and couldn’t bear to leave me unrestored. I knew I had to be defeated and prepared a statue to swap with when I teleported away. After calling you with the sky, and enraging you with my treatment of Marington, I launched my fake offensive. I’m not sure whether to say thankfully or regrettably, Starswirl was too clever. Her blast combined with my teleport spell, knocked me into a different realm.” Twilight’s eyes widened “A different realm? What was it like?” “Well, it was almost pure magic. Compared to the creatures there, I had as much magic as an earthpony foal.” “No, what was the world like?” “We don’t have the words to describe it, but the closest I can come is to say it taught me that chaos and harmony aren’t opposites. They can actually coexist if the harmony is strong enough...” Glancing around the room, he came back to Twilight and asked her “Do you want me to show you?” After glancing at Applejack, who nodded, Twilight stepped forward. Discord touched her horn and her eyes shrank to pinpricks. For several seconds she stood transfixed, then, shaking herself awake, murmured “Wow...just....wow.” After shaking herself a second time, a thought occurred to her. “Why did you come back and try to take over Equestria?” “Well, after they healed me, I was kinda like their pet. It was a real nice experience, and they even had me impersonate one of them to guide and torment a few key beings in a different reality (much less magic that even here, but some interesting beings... I think they might even have been related to the bipeds that we deposed). That left me missing my friends and I popped back here for a spell and decided you were taking too long gaining the mastery of the Elements needed to heal the harm I had caused. I figured a nice evil mastermind would give you the kick in the pants... uhm flank, that you needed.” Discord gave an evil laugh and added “Well, I have a couch back home to get scolded for lying on, so ta ta for now, Tia.” With that, he disappeared with a pop. “Wait!” Celestia and Luna called half a second too late. As they sat there processing this new information, the guard Celestia had talked to returned with a book set with six gems in the cover. Celestia took the book and passed it to Twilight who opened it reverentially and started reading. After a few seconds, she looked up. “Thank you, this is a great treasure.” Twilight was overwhelmed with the knowledge in front of her. In her hooves, she held the true story of Equestria along with countless high level spells. There was nothing, absolutely nothing in all of Equestria that would rival one page of this book.... except... Tearing her eyes away and closing the book, she looked at her friends and mentor. “You need us to do something, and if I understand things correctly, you will be sending us to heal one of your oldest friends.” “Yes, My most faithful student, I am sending you to the Sage’s Tower so that you can talk to and, hopefully, heal Starswirl, but before you go, I think what Discord wanted was for you to use one of the spells in this book.” “I agree, and I even think I know the one, but the only way to find it is to start reading, and I know I will be stuck reading and rereading the first page for days.” Twilight caressed the cover with her hoof. “There may yet be another way,” Celestia said, admiring her student’s self-awareness, “Nopony but you can open that book or even read those pages. They are blank even to my eyes. I believe that the book itself will know what you need to read.” With a glint of understanding, Twilight touched her horn to the center gem on the cover and all six gems started pulsing with magic. Immediately, the book opened and the pages fluttered to a spot near the beginning. On the modification of the Equine Form I am deeply impressed by the newly awakened creatures that call themselves Ponies. They are a race that consistently value the six traits required for harmonious society. These being: Honesty- valuing truth and the willingness to convince rather than force obedience. Kindness- valuing compassion and the willingness to place others’ feelings before one’s own. Laughter- recognizing the power of humor and knowing that a smile is one of the greatest sources of healing there is. Generosity- recognizing the power of self sacrifice. Loyalty- holding friends and allies close to your heart, knowing they are your greatest weapons and strongest defenses. Friendship- holding all five qualities in balance and knowing that a single action does not a personality make. I have decided to give these little ponies the abilities they need to take this world from its previous masters, as that race has grown cruel not only towards the lesser creatures, but even to each other. I will be giving the wisest among them a horn with the power to consciously channel the magics that have flooded this world. To the bravest, I will be giving the power of flight and a speed to rival the previous masters of the skies. The rest will gain a strength of body and mind to make them fully equal with their brothers and sisters. These gifts of mind and body are inherent in their nature and will only need the proper stimulus to express. I have also found five who are able to gain the full power of all three tribes. The spell I used to bring these physical forms forth is....” Twilight tore her eyes from the page and stared at Celestia as Rarity tackled her. “You’re going to be an alicorn! I Am So Jealous!” With that, she squeed with a maniacally happy smile. “”I’m going to need help. This is an extremely complicated and power intensive spell.” “We will all help, my dearest student.” Celestia responded As they gathered around Twilight, her horn began to glow, followed by the elements which lifted themselves out of the box and alighted in their proper places on each pony. Celestia and Luna touched their horns to Twilight’s and Celestia intoned “I stand here among the protectors of Equestria to proclaim that just as Harmony appointed me as his general, I Princess Celestia appoint you, Twilight Sparkle to become my Alicorn General.” A blinding light filled the room as the purple glow that was Twilight grew, reshaped itself, and coalesced into her new form.
A Proper SendoffA proper sendoff Twilight came to rest on her hooves while everypony gaped at her, including herself. She stared in wonder at her wings as she stretched them out slowly. She was now just shorter than Luna, and her mane and tail rippled with the newfound energies coursing through her body and mind. Rarity was the first to find her tongue. “You look marvelous, amazing, dazzling, fantastic, spectacular, I said the Crystal Empire was beyond words, but this, this.... this is....” Rarity’s mouth kept moving, but no more sound came out. Pinkie nudged her out of the way and bowed low. “My liege.” Pinkie said with uncharacteristic formality. “Hay, why isn’t anypony else bowing to our new princess?” Pinkie said with a scowl at the others. “Come on, Twi’s a princess now. We’re her friends, so we should be the first to honor her.” After watching to make sure everypony else gave ‘proper homage’, Pinkie turned back to Twilight. “OK, now that that’s been taken care of, let’s party!” Jumping up on top of Twilight’s horn, she bent her head down and asked “So what kinda party do ya want? A slow, formal, stuffy party like nobility deserves?” She asked, hopping down and standing on her hind legs while miming ballroom dancing. The overly formal, even dour face Pinkie made caused all three alicorns to crack a smile. “Or should it be a happy, cheering filled, dancing filled, super duper awesome shindig?” Pinkie all but shouted, igniting her party cannon for emphasis. “Or, would we have lots and lots of games?” Pinkie asked, dragging Applejack over. With a loud pop, Twilight suddenly returned to normal. “OH NO OH NO OH NO!!!!!!!! I’msosorryyoulookedsolovelyandnowyou’rejustaunicornagainandIhopeitwasn’tmyfault!!!!!” “Calm down, Pinkie.” Twilight said as she got herself out of her sobbing pink friend’s bear hug. “It’s okay, it’s just not time yet, okay?” She continued, carefully covering up her own shock and disappointment. After calming down, Pinkie asked with a sniffle “Can we still have the party?” Twilight used the time Pinkie was talking to remove the look of disappointment from her face. “Well, I don’t know, we’re going to heal Starswirl, and I don’t think we should really get sidetracked from that. She’s suffered way too long as it is.” Twilight turned to her teacher and asked “What do you think, Princess?” Celestia smiled enigmatically and replied “I do want you to leave as soon as possible, and that doesn't give us time to have a full party.... but this sort of mission should be started in the morning, not the late afternoon," With as wink at Pinkie, she continued "so I do think that we can throw together a feast for tonight as a sendoff party.” Pinkie replied by running over and giving the ruler of Equestria a giant bear hug. “That will be perfect” she whispered to her princess. Everypony, unsure of what to say after this emotion filled turn of events, stood up and started to exit the chamber. Pinkie, of course, dashed off to the kitchens to start preparations for the feast. Twilight, on the other hoof, glanced meaningfully at Celestia, and they stayed in the room a few moments after everypony else left. “What went wrong?” “I don’t think anything went wrong, my faithful student. I think your answer to Pinkie was the full and honest truth” With that, Celestia reached a hoof up to gently touch Twilight’s cheek, turned and left to follow the others. *** The party was true Pinkie Pie style. Even though it was a banquet, she made sure there was music and a dance floor, but what made it really special was everypony that was invited. Despite all the good friends, she still couldn’t help peeking at the Book of Harmony to see if she could find an answer for her reversion. “Hay, Twilight, even if you find an answer in there, it’s still not gonna help you. I think right now, you need some friendship more than you need knowledge.” “You’re right, AJ.” Twilight said, closing the book and handing it to Applejack. “Could you please keep this safe for me?” As Applejack trotted off to put the book with the supplies being gathered for their trip, Twilight scanned the room, finding Celestia whispering something to Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash and Luna watching everypony with a wistful smile on her face. After the party, she climbed into bed and thought. So, what exactly happened? Was I not ready? Did we not have enough power to make the spell stick? Most importantly, why doesn’t it bother me that much? I’m constantly thinking about it, but it’s a mystery that I have a compulsion to solve, not a horrible disappointment I have to come to terms with. Cadence... and Shining, it’s sad that they’re living too far away to have been able to make it today... wait, Cadence... why doesn’t she have the aura that Princesses Celestia and Luna have? Is there more to being an alicorn than wings and a horn? Even now, I feel magics within me I didn’t have before.. Did I choose not to have wings? As she drifted off to sleep she heard a voice say “Nice, job, Sparkles, now you’re truly ready”
