The Journey Against Tyranny

The royal alicorns were outside the main deck of Canterlot Castle. Celestia was just raising her sun after her sister raised down her moon.They both smiled as they expected yet another bright day in the kingdom of Equestria. Just after Celestia finished raising the sun, she and Luna returned to the castle. Two guards saluted them at the door as the two sisters entered the room with the stained glass windows. Each side of the room featured different types of windows, which basically outline Equestria's long, troubled history.

“Tia?” Luna humbly asked.

“Yes, little sister?”

“I'm worried about what's going on. There has been reports of calamities all across the kingdom,” Luna said in a concerned tone. It was earlier that night when they felt the castle shaking and heard the shattering of their bedroom windows. They had no idea what was going on.

Celestia frowned. She didn't want to see her little sister worried. "I'm not familiar with this phenomenon," Celestia told her, "In fact, I don't think this ever happened before."

"The fault lines have been stable for thousands of years," Luna added, "They can't be acting up right now. It's too soon!" The moon princess became distraught as tears began to fall down her eyes.

Celestia became concerned. She knew that while she was too familiar with quakes striking Canterlot, she never thought that a stronger one would strike the capital of Equestria. This type of quake was unusually stronger than a normal, small quake most ponies expected.

The sun princess placed a wing on Luna's back. The tearful moon princess turned around and looked at her big sister. "Why are you crying all of a sudden, little sister?" Celestia asked.

"I'm scared, Tia," Luna replied, "These events could be linked. I'm afraid that something awful is about to happen." She cried as her fears began to heighten.

"Of course note, Luna," Celestia assured Luna, trying to comfort her shivering sister, "I'm sure these events will stop soon. Nothing bad will happen to this kingdom. If our subjects need help, we can go down there and investigate." Luna gave a small smile to her big sister her sister after hearing her words of confidence.

Their train of thoughts were then cut off when there was a knock on the doors. The princesses' ears perked up and the two alicorns faced the doors. “Come in,” Celestia asked.

The large doors opened, and a few moments later, a dark Pegasus in Royal Guard attire came into the room. It was Isaiah, Princess Luna’s highest-ranking lieutenant. He gave a bow to the two alicorns for a few seconds, then refocused on his task.

“Your highnesses,” he said, “The delegates of Trotlanta have arrived. There is a deadly plague going on down there.”

Celestia and Luna exchanged worried looks, then the latter spoke up, “We will be down there immediately.”

Isaiah nodded appreciatively and left the room. Celestia and Luna soon trotted their way down the castle's chambers. As they left the room, Luna asked her sister something that had been on her mind for a while, "I wonder how your faithful student is doing?"

Celestia's somber expression fell further as she thought about her student. The poor unicorn hadn't gotten much sleep in the last few days thanks to the quakes. She spoke in a worried tone, "I'm not sure she knows what is going on, either."

With their magic, the two alicorns closed the doors behind them.

The Golden Oaks Library in Ponyville was noisy and filled with ponies.

The quakes that were felt in Canterlot were even stronger in Ponyville. The ponies were unable to sleep last night thanks to the powerful quake. Though there wasn't much damage from the quakes, nopony there had been able to understand what was happening. So later that morning, much of the city's populace stormed into the library demanding answers from Twilight Sparkle, the city's librarian and Celestia's protégée.

The crowd's uproar only got louder, and there seemed no way to calm them down. Panic was gripping the city harder than someone holding on a tree branch to keep him or herself from falling.

"Everypony settle down, please!" Twilight asked loudly, with her number-one assistant Spike cringing on her back. The crowd, however, was too loud to listen to her shouts. Eventually, she bolted.

"EVERYPONY QUIET!"

The crowd settled down, finally lending their ears to Twilight. Their moods went from angry and worried to cooperative and calm. The young unicorn took a deep breath as she tried to keep the crowd calm and patient.

"Look, everypony," Twilight told the crowd. "I haven't been able to get much sleep with these quakes as well. I'm not sure what is causing this phenomenon, but I assure you I will get to the bottom of this and tell you all what is going on." She carried a confident look, trying to assure the crowd,

Apple Bloom, the youngest of the Apple family, came forward and began to speak in her western accent, "Twilight, we are all sufferin' for no reason. Ah don't want these quakes to mean something terrible is about to happen." Fear began to build up in the crowd, agreeing with the teared filly.

Twilight put a hoof on the filly's back, trying to comfort her. "Of course not, Apple Bloom." Twilight said comfortingly, "I promise I'll find out what is going on and think of a way to stop it." Apple Bloom smiled, holding faith in her friend.

"I don't understan' though," Applejack, one Twilight's friends, spoke, also in her western accent. "There hasn' been much activity goin' on in those fault lines. Why are they actin' up all of a sudden?"

"I'm not sure," Twilight replied. "In fact, I don't think these quakes are originating from there at all." The crowd began to turn clamorous again.

"Impossible!" The young filly Scootaloo shouted out, next to her idol Rainbow Dash. "The fault lines have got to cause all these quakes! They're always the place quakes originate." Dash backed her statement further.

"Listen, everypony! Until we get to the bottom of this issue, we must live with these quakes. Rainbow Dash, I want you and Scoots to check the Equestria fault line and see if anything is going on there. Everypony else must leave me so I can research this event." Rainbow Dash nodded as Scootaloo climbed on her back and the two flew out of a window. The crowd left the library and returned to their homes, disgruntled that these quakes will continue to happen. However, the remnants of Twilight's friends remained with her, all exchanging worried looks. They approached the unicorn.

"Twilight," the shy pegasus Fluttershy spoke meekly, "My animals and I haven't been able to get any sleep. The quakes are causing all of my birds to fly away in panic!"

Pinkie Pie, the expert baker and party organizer of Ponyville, spoke her story in tears about the quakes, "One night, I cried my heart out because...my beautiful cakes...all fell from the shelf." She sniffled.

The white unicorn Rarity stepped forward and spoke, "I was busy sewing a dress, minding my own business, then suddenly, the room was shaking and I messed up. My work was ruined!" She then summoned a couch with her magic and fainted on it, to her friends' surprise.

Twilight sighed in exasperation. "Look, girls, we cannot spend the whole day complaining about these quakes. I need more information. Spike and I need some time alone, or else we'll never find out what is going on." Her friends nodded in agreement and left the library, leaving Twilight and Spike alone once again.

Twilight and Spike went down stairs to the basement, taking several books about earthquakes with them. As they reached the basement, Spike began to grow worried.

"Twilight?" Spike asked. Twilight turned her gaze to Spike, and can see he was scared.

"Are you sure nothing awful will happen?"

She looked down on the floor, worried and skeptical. "I don't know, Spike...I don't know."

Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo flew above the skies of Equestria, trying to find the Equestrian fault line. Both were flying higher in order to see the surface below them well enough. The two had been flying for thirty minutes, trying to find the highly visible fault.

The Equestrian fault line was known for its incredibly long path, ranging from the woods of Ponyville all the way up to the arctic forest. The last time a major earthquake was caused by this line was believed to be a million years ago, which formed the tall mountains that housed Canterlot.

Rainbow Dash began to grow tired. "Can you find it?" she asked Scootaloo, who was looking really hard to find the line. It wasn't until a second later when Scootaloo noticed a long, continental surface in a rugged landscape.

"I found it!"

Rainbow then landed on a nearby cloud, placing Scootaloo right next her. "Do you see anything?" she asked Scootaloo, who was an expert in examining fault lines. The young filly was looking as hard as she could to see any displacement in the fault, but she could find no movement. "Nothing," she said in distaste.

Both pegasi became dismayed, thinking that they would never find out what is causing the disasters. But Scootaloo then came to a realization, "Dash," she said, "I think these quakes aren't the only problem right now."

Rainbow raised her right brow, puzzled. "What do you mean?"

Scootaloo approached her, explaining what she meant, "There might be other unusual events going on in Equestria. We need to find out about them as well."

The blue pegasus was lost for a moment, then she questioned her again, "Are you saying that these events might be...linked?" Scootaloo shrugged, unsure about giving her an answer.

Agreeing with Scootaloo, Rainbow prepped up her wings, "Let's go!" she exclaimed. Scootaloo climbed up Rainbow's back and the two jumped off the cloud and fled the fault to investigate the events.

Miles away, all the way up to the arctic north, was Equestria's beautiful Crystal Empire. It had been only several months that Royal Guard Captain Shining Armor and his beautiful wife, Princess Mi Amore Cadenza (Cadence), had assumed the throne from the evil King Sombra after a thousand years imprisonment. Now, Ponyville was not the only place unusual events have happened: the Crystal Empire had been suffering from terrible and uncontrollable blizzards all across the north for weeks. The Crystal Ponies locked themselves in their snowed-in homes, not wanting to be tossed around by the winds and snow. Dark clouds shrouded the empire, no sunlight visible from anywhere.

Inside the Crystal Castle, the grand chambers housed the two rulers of the empire, Shining Armor and Cadence. The mood in the chambers had been bleak for a few days. Shining Armor was looking at the strong blizzard outside the large glass windows, worried about his subjects. Cadence sat in her royal throne, carrying a perplexed look. Shining looked at his wife after she gave a loud sigh.

"These blizzards are showing no sign of stopping," Cadence said in a somber tone. "I don't think these events are natural."

Shining Armor tried to cheer her up, as he had been doing for the last few weeks. "I'm sure they will stop soon," Shining assured her. "These blizzard can't go on for years."

"But what if they do?" Cadence asked him. "I've never seen a powerful storm like this ever before, even up here in the north."

Shining Armor felt worried. His wife had grown sadder and sadder every week or so. They had always always viewed the Crystal Empire as a beautiful, thriving empire that they had saved from an evil demon, but now the nonstop blizzards were making the two wonder if the Empire and themselves would be buried in by snow and forgotten again, as it had been forgotten for a thousand years.

Shining Armor put his hooves on his wife's back, trying to again comfort her. "As long as our people stay in their homes and don't come out, everything is going to be okay." Cadence smiled, believing her husband's words will b.

Just then, a green flash appeared, which transformed into a scroll, most likely a letter. The two rulers, knowing that the flash came from Spike's flames, knew exactly who it was from.

"Twilight?" Cadence said, perplexed. It had been a while since the three Canterlot siblings had got into touch with each other.

Shining Armor also grew perplexed; he hadn't expected a scroll from Twilight for a while. "Something must also be happening in Ponyville. I hope Twily is doing okay." Cadence nodded with agreement.

Using his magic, Shining Armor unraveled the scroll and began reading it out loud, his wife listening and watching:

Dear Shining Armor and Cadence,

I hope you are all okay at the Crystal Empire. I've heard about the blizzards there, and I hope that they will stop soon, but I am writing this letter to tell that something similar is happening here in Ponyville and Canterlot. For the last few days, there have been reports of unstable seismic activity, and while we have no reports of casualties, the quakes are making ponies' lives harder, and for some strange reason, they are getting stronger and stronger each day.

I told Rainbow Dash during a town meeting at the library to check on the Ponyville fault lines and see if there was anything wrong, but when she came back she told me that there was nothing wrong with the faults and that she found no seismic activity there whatsoever. I couldn't believe it! An earthquake would only happen if the fault lines were unstable! I knew something wasn't right at all.

In addition to that, Rainbow also told me that she and Scootaloo had traveled to other places in Equestria and found similar problems as well. In Appleloosa, there is a large heat wave going on and many crops there are dying, leaving the citizens and buffalo there without food. In Manehattan, the power unexpectedly went out all over the city two days ago and still the technicians are baffled and can't put it back up. In Saddle Arabia, pets began dying there for no reason and the monarchs are extremely perplexed. In Trotlanta, a deadly flu outbreak is taking place there and is becoming difficult to tame. Princess Celestia and Princess Luna went there recently with their masks on to investigate, and they too are baffled. My teacher has been barraged with confusion in her mind over what is happening.

All in all, I believe these catastrophes and events are linked, but I cannot understand what they are linked to. My books can't tell me anything, either. My poor Spike can't sleep and I'm having trouble sleeping as well thanks to all the quakes. I just hope someday I will find out what is going on and get to the bottom of this. I hope the Princesses are alright; nothing catastrophic has happened in Canterlot. I fear, though, that something devastating will happen all across the land. I won't let that happen. I must continue researching these events.

Again, I hope you are both okay, and I feel the same way about your subjects and servants. My prayers will be to everyone in Equestria to hope these events will stop.

Sincerely,

Twilight Sparkle

Shining Armor put down the letter after reading it. He looked at his wife, both exchanging worried looks.

"You're right," Shining uttered to his wife. "This isn't natural at all. Something is happening."

Cadence fell to Shining Armor's arms, tears falling in her eyes. "Oh, my husband!" she cried, "What are we going to do?"

Shining patted her with his hooves. "Don't cry, honey. We'll think of something."

Unfortunately for everypony, it may have been too late.