Truth Behind Harmony

Twilight and the others walked along the path to the meeting hall, absorbed in her conversation with Shadow Spark, who had heard that they were going to meet Eris, who was Shadows cousin. The young pony was amazingly smart for his age, having been taught by some of the greatest minds in all of The Shadowed Lands, and was deeply interested in what Twilight had to say about his aunt Celestia.

Behind them the other mares were speaking with the six ponies who had accompanied Anastasia, and Lyra was accompanying them as well, having sent Bon-Bon to the guest room Mercury was staying in.

“You know I’m surprised you know so much for being so young Shadow, your mother must be proud.”

“Yeah she is,” said Shadow with a smile, “but it’s not really that hard to be so learned, I am actually older then I appear due to alicorn offspring aging much slower than normal ponies do.”

“Really, well that’s interesting, how old are you if you don’t mind me asking?”

“No I don’t mind, and I’m fifty three years old this month,” said Shadow without batting an eyelash.

Twilight had to focus to keep from tripping over her own hooves at that last statement; fifty three years old, the colt looked like he could be Apple Bloom or Sweetie bells age. The fact that he said it so calmly shocked her the most, she couldn’t even begin to imagine what life would be like knowing you were going to live so long, and possibly live beyond your friends and relatives.

“But sugar cube, yah don’t look no older then mah sister. Didn’t…didn’t yah find it odd when other ponies started to grow up faster than yah,” asked Applejack, looking at the colt.

“Well it was hard at first, and yeah there was confusion on both sides, but it didn’t stop me from making friends and sticking with them through the years. Heck one of our greatest scholars Moon Sung used to play with me when she was just a little filly, and we still hang out.”

“Well…that must be interesting to experience to say the least,” said Rarity, looking at the colt with an amused glance.

They soon reached to room in question, the door opening before any of them could make a move to do so, and an oddly familiar voice beckoned them to enter. They slowly moved in and the seven other ponies, including Lyra, ran from the side of the other six to greet the pony who stood at the far side of the room. Twilight and her friends however were caught off guard by the pony’s strange appearance, for she looked oddly familiar to them.

She stood straight on her mismatched hind legs, one arm which looked like an eagle’s talon hanging at her side while another, this one looking like a panthers paw, held a staff, and her face was hidden by the cowl of a cloak that she wore. The pony laughed as the others joined her, especially when Shadow Spark wrapped his fore hooves around her thin waist, smiling brightly.

Twilight watched as they spoke, and then walked up to introduce herself, clearing her throat to get her attention.

“Hello Miss Eris, my name is…”

“…Twilight Sparkle,” said the mare, her eyes flashing green and red under the cowl as she spoke. “Yes I know your name; I have known it for many years, long before you were all born in fact.”

Twilight and her friends were caught completely off guard by this, which was in stark contrast to the ponies around Eris, who looked like they were used to this sort of behavior.

“Cousin,” scolded Lyra, “you know you’re supposed to warn ponies before you start that, you know it scares most of them.”

That seemed to snap Twilight out of her shock. She looked at the mare, composing herself before speaking again. “You know of us, but how is that possible?”

“That will be a little hard to explain, but first I think some illumination is in order for those present.”

She let go of her staff, which remained fixed where it was, and lifted her hands to her hood, pulling back to reveal her face. Twilight and the others gasped, for the face that greeted them bared a shocking resemblance to another face they knew, the face of Discord. She grabbed her staff again, looking back at them with a warm smile as her eyes watched them, their red irises piercing them each in turn.

“I expect you see the resemblance between me and my twin brother Discord, we’ve always made a matching set him and I.”

“Wait,” said Twilight, “your Discords brother, but that would make him…”

“Ixen’s son, very astute Miss Sparkle, as I knew you would be.”

Eris turned her gaze toward her, smiling as she spoke to her. “It is no wonder my aunt Celestia took you as her prized pupil, but as too you're earlier question, I know of you because they told me of you.”

She gestured toward them, and at once the Elements of Harmony began to glow, and whispers could be heard coming from them, but none of them could make it out.

“Wait hold on a second,” said Rainbow Dash, “are you telling us these things can actually talk?”

“All sentient things have a way to communicate Rainbow Dash, even if some are not able to understand.” said Eris; walking away from her cousins to sit at the table. “But for now let us sit down before more questions arise, we have much to discuss.”

They all moved and began sitting at the table, Eris and her cousins sitting at the far side while Twilight and her friends sat at the other side.

“Before we start this,” said Eris, “I had some questions I wanted to ask you.”

“Well shoot away sugar cube,” said Applejack.

“Well actually,” said Eris, “the first question I have is for you Miss Pinkamena. If you could…Tell me, how is my brother doing?”

The others looked toward Pinkie at after she said this, who looked embarrassingly at them before speaking to her, “He…he’s doing good.”

“Hold on a second, Pinkie how the hay can you know that, we haven’t seen Discord since we turned him back to stone.” said Rainbow

“That…that isn’t entirely true,” said Pinkie, giggling nervously.

“Why dear whatever are you talking about,” asked Rarity.

“…Well,” she said nervously, “ok it started when I went to the Canterlot gardens when I was young, I found Discords statue and then I blacked out and next thing I knew I’m talking with him. He told me everything about him, what had happened to him and why he had been imprisoned. After that I kept visiting him, and when I got older the visits evolved into something more and we started seeing each other romantically. Then a week before he broke free he told me if he escaped to not acknowledge that we knew each other and that if things got out of hoof I would have to imprison him again. I kept visiting him after that and in fact that was the reason I left the guest room last night, I was visiting with him because I hadn’t seen him since the wedding.”

Everypony stared at Pinkie with looks of shock on their faces, but they all jumped when Eris burst into laughter, clutching her chest in an urge to calm herself.

“It is good to see my brother still has a good taste in mares, and I am glade he has found you Pinkie Pie; it is good for him to be around such a chaotic personality as yours.”

Pinkie nodded, blushing as she looked sheepishly at her friend’s expressions. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you girls, he said you wouldn’t understand.”

“Your dam right we don’t understand,” shouted Rainbow, “how the hay could you not tell us that you were shagging it up with Discord!”

“Because he told me not to Dashie…”

“Don’t you Dashie me Pinkamena Diane Pie, we're your friends and that was important information that could have compromised all of us. Did you ever once think what would have happened if you weren’t able to go through with it, and did you once think what he would have done to Equestria?”

“I know that Dash and I know what might have happened but he told me not to. He said it would have resulted in you guys not trusting me and then we wouldn’t have been able to turn him back to stone, he…”

“Oh he told you that huh, and why would an insane chaos god tell you…?”

“He isn’t insane! He…”

“GIRLS,” Twilight yelled, causing both of them to jump.

They both looked to see that the others were looking at them with surprise; Rarity looked like she was on the verge of fainting again, and Applejack looked extremely confused. Fluttershy and Twilight on the other hoof looked at least sympathetic.

“Dash,” said Twilight, “while I agree with you that she should have told us, it does not give you the right to shout at her, and plus if you remember right we are with company at the moment, so could you save your interrogation for later please?”

Dash looked at her with a little resentment, then nodded and sat back down at her chair.

“Thank you Twilight,” said Eris, “now I have just one more question, this one for you. How far along was Celestia into the truth before my mother and aunts showed up.”

“She had just gotten done with telling us about her sisters last night, I assume you’re going to pick up from where she left off?”

“Yes, but I have to warn you, my method of sharing stories is a lot more…intense than that of my aunt. Before we do this I must have your full permission that you are willing to go through with this, because once this begins there will be no going back.”

“Now hold on there, you’re making this sound pretty dangerous sugar cube, what’s so problematic about just showing us a bunch of memories?”

“Because I won’t just be showing you these memories young Applejack, you will be experiencing them along with me, as I did when they were gifted to me many years ago. This sharing will be very intense experience, and can be very traumatizing if you are not willing, which is why I have to be sure you want to experience this before I go through with it.”

The others looked at each other, concern etching their faces as they thought it over. They talked amongst themselves for a time, nodding occasionally before lifting their heads, Twilight speaking up.

“We know it might be dangerous, but we have faced worst over the years, we are ready for whatever this might entail.”

“Very well,” said Eris, “let us begin.”

She closed her eyes, and then stretched out her talon, which began glowing with green light. The light began to reach out, moving toward them as it began to pulse brighter, and the last thing they saw before it reached them was her eyes opening and shining bright before the world went black.

They slowly woke up as the feeling of leather and feathers around their bodies filled their senses, Twilight looking to see that they were being held within Eris’s wings, which were larger then she had suspected, for she had not been able to see them with her cowl and cape on. She smiled at them as she drifted down through the darkness, landing down upon a patch of solid blackness and let them down. As the others looked around at the strange place, Twilight focused her gaze on Eris, noting that she was almost a perfect match for her brother.

“You know this probably is a bit late in all this, but do you mind if I ask what happened to you and your brother, I mean you both used to be Kirin right?”

“That is correct Twilight, and it is no trouble. What happened to my brother and I was caused when we did the most forbidden act known amongst almost all the kingdoms of our world, for we touched The Life Blood of Equis.”

“Life Blood of Equis,” asked Twilight.

“Yes, The Life Blood, the very energy which leaked from my grandmother’s belly when she created this world, which now flows throughout the world bringing life to all of Equis. We were curios creatures back then, my brother and I, and we had always wondered what the life blood of our world felt like. But…But when we touched it, it changed us, making us into perversions of our race as a punishment for touching it.”

“I…I see,” said Twilight, looking downcast.

Eris patted her back, giving the young mare a reassuring smile before looking to the others, “Alright everypony gather round, it’s time we get things started.

They all gathered closer to her, then she spread her wings wide, the area around them shimmering as images began to form.

“As you all heard from Celestia, each sister that left went and formed their own kingdoms, but some kingdom’s formed outside their rule, little nations that forming between the areas that held the lands ruled by the Divine sisters. These kingdoms grew and prospered, and peace rained throughout the world, even with the great differences as the nations of the other races began rising, such as the zebra’s, griffins and minotaur’s.”

Images swirled around them, showing ponies and other races trading with each other, and some minor squabbles here and there, but most of these were quickly solved by the rulers of the other kingdoms.

“But this peace was not meant to last, for there was one being that had survived throughout the ages, living off her hate for the world which her sister had created.”

The images shifted, and soon they found themselves on the surface of the moon, standing behind a grey coated pony. Her mane and tail shone sky blue as it waved and swirled in an invisible breeze and she stared at the planet with red glowing eyes, her gaze full of hatred for what she gazed upon.

“Why,” the being spoke, “why did you have to exist, why in the name of Tartarus did you have to take my sister away from me?”

She stood, her body glowing bright as her eyes flashed yellow; her anger growing as her voice shook the stone. “WHAT MADE YOU WORTH MORE THEN HER,” she screamed, “WHY DID YOU DESERVE TO LIVE MORE THEN SHE DID, WHY DID YOU HAVE TO PLAGUE HER DREAMS AND DRIVE HER TO THROW HER LIFE AWAY FOR YOU!”

She lashed out at the surface of the moon with her magic, scaring the surface with the rippling waves of power, which were felt by the group as it washed over them. Then the being looked back to the world that had drawn her ire, tears coming fresh to her eyes as she began to speak again.

“Why couldn’t you wait sister, why couldn’t you just wait for me to figure it out,” she sobbed, but soon wiped her tears, squaring her shoulders and looking at the world with determination in her eyes. “But I will fix this sister, I will right the wrongs that have taken you from me and we shall see each other again. It has taken me two thousand years to formulate this plan, but now I know what I must do to bring you back, and I will see you again, this I promise you.”

She then spread her great wings and took off from the surface of the moon, flying down to the surface of the planet below.

“What was that girl talking about,” asked Applejack.

“Discordia and her sister Harmonia originally dreamed of the world we all live in,” said Eris, “and Discordia, in her anger over her sister’s disappearance blames us for her sister’s giving her life to create us. Discordia seeks one thing above all; to reverse what her sister did and return what she considers was stolen from her sister to her.”

“But, but that would mean…” said Twilight, not wanting to finish the sentence.

“Yes, it would mean that we would be returned to what we once were, life energy flowing inside our benevolent creator,”

Eris lifted up her paw then, making the world shift and change, speaking up as it reformed anew.

“She knew that she would need to create objects that could counteract the forces which protect this world, ones which would be able to tap in and begin to manipulate what was her sister’s alone to control. So she found a place far from the site of her sister’s children, so that she might call to those who could help her begin the process of creating her elements…and those who she herself could help.”

They watched as Discordia flew down in front of a large cave entrance, using her magic to enchant it and then she turned, sitting down in front of the entrance and as the moon reached its peak, and then she began to sing.

Her voice echoed over the land, stretching out to the cities of the kingdom in the distance. As she continued the sing, they could see young colts and fillies begin to crest the horizon, some walking while others were flying, some alone while others carried little foals with them as they followed the sound of her voice.

“Wha…what are they all doing,” asked Fluttershy, looking scared.

“They are coming to her call, as she hoped they would,” said Eris, looking out across the field as the children drew closer to the source of the singing.

“But wouldn’t anypony take notice of children that were just disappearing?” asked Twilight, looking concerned as one of the children reached Discordia, nuzzling up close to her as she smiled down at the child.

“They would, if these were children they actually cared about. The children she focused on were the ones that had been lost, the ones society had abandoned and tossed away into the dregs. These children were already overlooked by society, thus when they left they were not missed.”

“That’s…that’s just sick…” said Rainbow, looking disgusted.

“It was the reality of the world at the time Rainbow, society wasn’t as bright as it is now, especially for the young.”

They watched as the last of the children arrived, and then Discordia rose to her hooves, guiding them all into the cave behind her and vanishing, the children not far behind as the world around them went dark once again.

“Discordia took the children to a place where they could be hidden, and where she could take care of them and nurture them with her power. She told them about the past, telling them of the dreams that had plagued her sister and caused her to give up her life, though she spun it in a way that painted it like it was a waste. Once they were convinced that what she spoke was the truth, she told them how they could help her to bring her sister back, and so they began to help her create the elements of Discord.”

They watched as Discordia and the children, now altered by her “nurturing” magic, gathered into six circles. Discordia stood in the center of the circles, and began to activate her magic as the children began to focus.

The first circle focused on their hatred, letting it build as they raged and screamed at the injustice done to them.

The second circle concentrated on their greed, telling of the things they would take and keep for themselves, and of the things they had already taken from others.

The third Circle focused on their treachery, focusing on the ponies they had stabbed in the back to survive, and the ponies who had betrayed them in turn.

The fourth circle focused on their lies, speaking of the falsehoods they had committed against others to get what they needed to live, or the ones they had tricked with simple words and falsehoods.

The fifth circle focused on their cruelty, speaking of the pain they had caused to others and the enjoyment they had taken from causing such pain.

But it was the final circle that caused many of the friends to gasp, for in the final circle a group of unicorns were being consumed by dark magic, their eyes glowing green and red with purple energy leaking from the side of their eyes.

And in the middle of it all Discordia stood, her magic flowing into each of the circles and forming crystals above them.

As the crystals took shape, marks starting to form on them, but before they could get a good glimpse they floated to Discordia. She smiled at them, and smiled at the children as they gathered around her. “We are ready my loves,” said Discordia, looking down at the children as they nuzzled up close to her, “it is time we set the next part of our plan in motion.”

The world blurred, and Eris began speaking again, her voice shaking a bit.

“As you can see, she used the children to form her elements, forming a deeper connection between them and her through that process. With the elements completed she could accelerate he plans, and began sowing the seeds of fear and hatred between the five main kingdoms, using the children of each kingdom to fuel the fires that eventual lead to only one conclusion."

New surroundings formed, showing Discordia invading the dreams of five of the sisters, showing their ponies getting stolen away in the middle of the night, stolen by ponies from the other kingdoms. When the rulers awoke, it was to the reports that ponies had been kidnapped, and they saw the rulers immediately jump to conclusions as the world blurred, reforming on the scene of the sisters sitting around a great table, arguing amongst themselves over the recent occurrence.

“I will not hear any more of your lies Anastasia,” yelled Fantasia, her hoof slamming down on the table as she looked over at her fellow alicorn. “We saw your people making away with some of our young ones, and if you do not admit it and return those you stole from us along with the perpetrators who took them we will be forced to take action.”

“Forced to action will you,” yelled Anastasia, “you and your lies, it is you who are abducting children, as well as you!”

She turned on Ixen, her eyes flashing with anger; “We have caught many a glimpse of your reptilian counterparts flying away with our children.”

“You dare accuse me of such crimes,” roared Ixen, “I shall not admit to such depraved acts as those, it was you…!”

“SISTERS PLEASE,” shouted Marmora, using her royal voice to grab their attention. “This senseless arguing is getting us nowhere; none of you has actually caught anypony in the act, so we don’t know who is truly behind this.”

“I’m sorry sister dearest but I would have to disagree,” said Mercury, “we have enough eye witness reports to fuel our claims, the only problem here is none of you will admit to your crimes…”

“Says one who committed such crimes and then denies any affiliation with them,” yelled Dreamstride, her rainbow coat turned fiery red as she glared at her sister. “I am sorry, but I will not sit here and listen to your lies, for I can see now that you will not see what you have done as wrong, but that will not stay my hoof, tomorrow my ponies march for war!”

Silenced rained in the room, none of the sisters speaking, till finally it was Celestia who broke the silence, staring at Dreamstride in disbelief.

“Sister…you can’t mean that?”

“She most certainly does,” said Fantasia with a growl, “and I will not stand by while you make such threats, we to shall prepare for war!”

Celestia, Luna and Marmora could only watch as the meeting dissolved, the five leaders leaving one by one with promises of war on their tongs. When the last sister left, Luna broke down in tears, Celestia clutching her tightly to try and reassure her.

“We don’t understand Tia, what just happened?”

“I don’t know Luna,” said Celestia

Eris waved her talon, the world fading away as the six turned to her, Twilight noting the tears in her eyes.

“Celestia, Luna and Marmora tried to stem the tides of war, but nothing would convince the five rulers from averting their course. By the time the month was done, war had erupted between the five powerful kingdoms. Siren Gale, who ruled over the oceans and was the only sister not to attend the council, stayed out of the war…she could only watch helplessly as her sister’s kingdoms began tearing each other apart.”

The world changed again, and everypony gasped at the scenes that were presented to them. Ponies were fighting against each other, magic and arrows flying as freely as the pegasi soaring through the burring skies. The Kirin were doing the most damage out of all the ponies, their natural claws, breath weapons and their natural armor protecting them from most of the weapons sent against them.

But they weren’t the only ponies to have an edge, Mercury’s people brought with them technologies of war, great catapults and trebuchets that hurled fire and brimstone into the landscape, and siege cannons that blackened the skies with their smoke as they bombarded the battlefield.

“It was during this war, a war that would be forever known as the War of The Lost Ones, that the five rulers and your own rulers found their special talents. Fantasia was the first, discovering her connection to the dark realm of Tartarus.”

The world shifted to Fantasia standing before the gates, the guard dog Cerberus growling at her as it she approached. But when she stepped right up to him, the beast lowered its heads; nuzzling her gently as she rubbed it behind each of its ears.

“Good boy,” she cooed, rubbing its belly as it rolled over and looking over the beast towards the gates, smiling to herself as her horn glowed bright. “It’s time for you all to come out and play,” she said, and then she opened the gates, her mane beginning to flow on an invisible breeze as her cutie mark appeared on her flank, looking exactly like the symbol that adorned the gates to Tartarus.

“The second to discover her talent was Anastasia, binding herself to the elements that kept their world together, and turned them into weapons against her enemies.

They watched as Anastasia stood atop a great hill, her horn glowing as the earth began to quake and the waters near the area began to rage. Lighting began to rain from the skies as she continued, and great gouts of flame began to erupt form the earth, burning all those that were caught within. She smiled sadly as she looked back at her flank, watching as the symbols of her cutie mark formed their, a testament to the new power that she wielded.

“The third was my mother Ixen Vrak, who bound herself to the most coveted art of Dragon magic, their voice. This power was sacred to the dragons, and is all but lost to them in this age. But when she bound herself to it, she became its absolute master.”

The images shifted again, showing Ixen flying over a heard of charging Earth ponies form another kingdom, her eyes glowing with hatred as she opened her mouth to speak.

“OPOSS DI IXEN!”

As the words left her mouth a magical shockwave emanated from her, and the ponies below looked up in horror as fire began to fall from the skies. Ixen landed amongst the scattering horde, shouting another indescribable phrase that caused the ground to crack under hoof, many ponies being skewered by rocky spikes as they shot up from the ground.

“Dreamstride was the next to discover her talent, nature responding to her call to aid her ponies as her enemies began to burn down her forest home.”

They watched as Dreamstride walked through the woods, the trees beginning to rise up from the forest floor to walk beside her as creatures from the woods joined her as well.

“The next one after her to discover her talent was Mercury, and out of all the sisters, no pony racked a higher body count due to her most lethal power.”

They watched as Mercury landed amongst a group of ponies, a black aura surrounding her body and stretching out, ripping into the pony’s bodies and killing them instantly. But it was what happened after that caused most of them to turn white from horror. The bodies of the ponies began to rise, their eyes filled with the same black light that had covered them earlier, and they turned on those that still lived with an animal like hunger that frightened those that new them. They attacked them as Mercury walked past, her gaze showing her disgust at what she was doing.

“Mercury was gifted with the power over death and unlife, a power she hates with a passion. But as the war raged on, the unicorns that had been in charge of raising the sun and the moon had begun neglecting their duty, forcing Celestia and Luna to pick up the slack and take up their sacred charges.”

The next images showed Celestia and Luna taking command over their respective orbs, their manes begging to flow with the great power flooding them as their respective celestial bodies rose into the sky.

“Even during the war though, more children would disappear, more fire to fuel the motivation behind the war started by Discordia.”

“But why start a war in the first place,” asked Twilight, “I mean I know that Discordia wants to get her sister back, but how does this help her achieve that?”

“Because Twilight, it spreads strife and disharmony between all the sentient creatures of our world, which fuels her elements and make them stronger. This war was all so that she could get them to the point where they could surpass the Elements of Harmony, and she almost succeeded.”

“What do yah mean she almost succeeded?”

“She made a grave error when she was getting more followers to her cause, for Luna, who was the youngest of the sisters, was still young enough to hear her enchanted voice and followed it to its source. When she discovered who was actually stealing away the children, she told the rest of her sisters, who stopped the war and united to go face off against Discordia herself. But unfortunately the damage had already been done.

The images shifted to show seven of the sisters, excluding Marmora and Siren Gale, as they landed near Discordia, surrounding her and staring at her with loathing.

“Where are the children,” asked Celestia, her mane flowing as the sun rose behind her, the others glaring at Discordia with equal ire.

“They are safe,” said Discordia flatly “far safer than they ever where with you. Now let us cut with the pleasantries my dear nieces, for I shall not keep my dear sister waiting any longer!”

The seven alicorns charged her, there magic leaping from them as they tried to catch her off guard. Discordia just smiled, her eyes flashing as she launched a spike at Fantasia, hitting her and then using her blacklegs to kick Ixen into a nearby boulder which cracked under the force of her impact. She then leaped at Luna, grabbing her by the throat and using her momentum to slam her into the ground like a rag doll, the ground cracking under the blow.

Celestia and Anastasia combined their magic, sending a great ball of flame at the stronger alicorn, only to have it deflected into Dreamstride who buckled under the attack. Mercury suffered one of the worst wounds, Discordia grabbing her horn in her mouth and breaking it, causing her to scream in agony. Anastasia fell soon after, leaving only Celestia, exhausted and bleeding on the ground as Discordia walked up to her.

Twilight was crying, holding on to Fluttershy as she looked at the broken battered form of her mentor and lover, disbelief etched on her face.

“I’m not going to kill you dear niece,” said Discordia as she brushed a hoof lovingly though Celestia’s mane. “It would be too easy, and your mother would never forgive me if I deprived her of the chance of seeing you again before you fade. No, instead I am going to let you live, so you can watch as I tear down everything you and your sisters built. Goodbye, my dear Celestia.”

She then bent down and kissed her lightly on the cheek, causing her to shiver in disgust, and then she turned and walked away, leaving the battered forms of her nieces behind.

“She thought she had won…but her gravest mistake was in her ignorance of something she had been ignoring since her sister had vanished, something that she was…and still is blind too to this day.”

The world stayed as it was, and everypony save for Eris gasped as a new alicorn appeared in the field. She looked as if she was not completely there, her entire being appearing see through as she walked past some of the prone forms, walking right up to Luna and kneeling down.

The alicorn in question had a pearl white coat, and her mane and tail were a deep royal red, flowing on an invisible breeze like the alicorns around her. Her eyes, sky blue and shining in the sunlight, looked down upon the youngest of the sisters with concern in them.

She soon bent down, brushing Luna’s mane out of her face and nuzzling her gently to try and wake her, smiling as Luna shifted under the loving nuzzle.

“Luna, daughter, you need to wake up now.” Said Harmonia softly, using her wing to gently rub against Luna’s side.

Luna slowly rose, looking up and gasping as she saw who it was sitting next to her. “Mo…mother?” she asked, looking both frightened and confused.

“It’s ok my daughter, it is me,” she said, wrapping Luna in her feathery embrace. “I have missed you so much.”

“I missed you to,” said Luna, nuzzling into her chest with affection. “But where were you, we all thought you were dead?”

“I didn’t die Luna…but I lost my ties to this plain, I can no longer manifest psychically here like I used to, or like my sister does now.”

“But then…then why can I see you, and why does your sister think your dead?”

“Luna, you are the night’s keeper, and therefore you can see into the world that exists beyond this one, the world me and my sister come from. As to why she thinks me dead…my sister blinded herself to the old world long ago, and therefore cannot see me as I am now.”

Tears began to fall from Harmonia’s eyes as she said this, her sense of betrayal clouding the thoughts she needed to convey. “But that we must wait for another time to discuss, right now there are things I must tell you, things that can help you to stop my sister.”

She pulled back from the embrace, using her magic to form a copy of the planet they were on, before looking to Luna and speaking again.

“I need you to promise me this Luna, you need to remember everything I tell you, can you that for me my little Luna?”

Luna nodded her head, the other unseen observers noting the fear in her eyes as she watched her mother.

“I need you to tell all you're sisters but Celestia that they need to search for places in their respective territories that harbor old magic, places that have not been touch by pony nor beast. You and Celestia however must go here,” said Harmonia, pointing to a particular spot that Twilight and her friends recognized as the land that would someday be Equestria. “You must go there and go deep beneath the earth; there you will find what you need to defeat my sister.”

“But what are we looking for,” asked Luna, looking extremely confused.

“You will understand when you find them; just know that they are the key that will save us all, now I must leave. I leave you this gift, a bit of my magic to help heal your sisters. Just stay safe, and I will see you again soon.”

She smiled then, fading as a green magical aura entered Luna’s body, causing her eyes to glow bright with the temporary gift of magic.

“Luna healed her sisters, and told them what they needed to do, but she didn’t tell them how she knew of these places. But the sisters trusted each other, and rallied to the cause, heading deep into the hearts of their respective territories while Luna and Celestia went deep into the land that would become your very home. But before we continue, I wonder if you girls can guess as to what they were looking for?”

Eris looked expectantly at them, not letting her gaze drift and possibly give them any hints. But she didn't have to wait long, and Fluttershy leapt to the conclusion almost before Twilight did.

“Their looking for the elements,” they both said at the same time.

Eris smiled at them, nodding her head in confirmation as her eyes tinkled in delight. “Yes it is indeed the Elements of Harmony they were seeking, for Harmonia knew her sister would never understand her sacrifice, and had created the elements as a sort of counter measure against her inevitable attempts to seize back that which Harmonia had willingly given up. The sisters found the locations that were described by Luna, and went down deep into the earth, finding the elements and proving to the souls inside that they were worthy to carry them from their resting places.”

“And how exactly did they do that,” asked Rarity, looking worried.

Eris looked at her and grinned, her eyes beginning to glow as magic flooded her hands. “Why through the only way beings of that type could prove themselves, through conflict.”

She lifted her hands, and multiple worlds surrounded them, showing the sisters each entering great chambers that stretched beyond sight. As they entered forms began to take shape, mystical energy flowing from the elements themselves, forming into the shapes of alicorns as they rose from the ground, looking at the intruders with glowing eyes. The effigies all spoke then, their voices sounding oddly familiar to the six watching the images, and the emotions in their voices traveling into their cores.

“WHO IS IT THAT CALLETH UPON US, ARE THEE THE ONES WE SEEK?”

The sisters introduced themselves in the most polite way possible, telling the spirits why they were there and what they needed their power for.

“…THEN THOU SHOULT BE AWAKENED TO THE CREATURES HELD WITHIN YOU, AND IF THOU CAN TAMEST YOUR INNER DEVIL, OUR POWER WILL BE YOURS TO DIRECT AS YOU WILL.”

Their horns glowed, and then they watched as the sisters bodies began to pulse, their bodies beginning to shift and change form as their cutie marks glowed brightly.

Celestia and Luna were the first to change, and while they knew what to expect with Celestia’s transformation, they were utterly shocked with the display given off by Luna. Her coat turned night black and filled with stars, her mane, tail and wings becoming a field of stars and galaxies that swirled together. And when her eyes snapped open, they were pure white, and glowed with the divine energy of the moon.

The next to change was Ixen, her form transforming into that of a massive dragon, her wings spreading out to great heights as she stretched her neck, breathing fire into the empty air above her.

Dreamstride was next after her, her form becoming green as roots began to grow out around her hooves and her antenna turned into antler like tree branches. Her mane, wings and tail changed as well, becoming billowing cherry blossoms that danced around her, forming a beautiful pink field of petals over her as she walked.

Anastasia and Fantasia were next, Anastasia’s entire body changing to flow with all the elements that formed their world; that of light darkness fire earth air and water, the elements rolling along her body and changing as her eyes glowed with a deep blue light.

Fantasia changed into what could be described best as an arch demon, her body growing to twice its size as her forelegs transformed into arms and her wings mane and tale turned to red black smoke as two great horns grew alongside her face, lining up with her jaw as her eyes became great red pools of death.

Mercury’s change was last, all the flesh melting from her body till nothing but her bones remained along with two inky black fields of energy that represented her mane and tail, and two glowing blue embers that resembled her eyes.

The alicorns who had awakened this power rose, and then charged the newly transformed sisters, their magic clashing in a violent display of power that shook the caverns they were trapped in. But no matter how much power the sisters sent against the beings before them, the attacks seemed to just absorb into the beings bodies.

“…that’s…I know that spell, or at least a variation of it,” said Fluttershy, looking at the battle with wonder.

“Wait what?” asked Twilight as the others turned to look at her, “you’ve seen this kind of spell Fluttershy?”

“Well just a variation of it, Luna taught it to me a while back when I was practicing tattoo magic with her; it’s called the Shield of Consumption. It takes in the magic thrown against it and converts it to power for the pony to use against its enemy. The more powerful the user of the shield in question, the more power they can take in and use against their opponent. Usually the shield appears around the casters body when the energy hits it, for it takes a real powerful practitioner for the shield to not show itself.”

The others just stared at her in silence as the battles between the alicorns continued, but then something happened that brought their attention back to the battle at hand. Celestia had stopped attacking the being in front of her, and was instead stalking slowly around it, soon to be followed by her sister. No longer did Celestia’s eyes contain that wild look that had appeared in them when she had first been attacked by the entity, there was intelligence behind it, a cunning that showed she was now thinking with more than her instincts.

Soon the others followed suit, and as they did the entities smiled, lifting their wings and causing a bright flash of light. When the light dissipated, they all appeared in the same chamber, the entities staring at them and smiling at their accomplishment.

“THOU HAST PROVEN THINE POWER AND CONTROL, AND WE SHALL ALLOW THEE TO WIELD US. BUT KNOW THIS, IF THOU OVERSTEP THINE BOUNDS AND ABUSE WHAT WE HATH GIVEN TO YOU, THEN WE SHALL CUT OUR TIES WITH THEE, AND RETURN TO WAITING AGAIN FOR THE ONES WE SEEK.”

The entities transformed back into energy, forming into familiar objects which attached to the princesses as they returned to their original forms, all save for the element of magic. The element of magic formed into two crowns instead of one, landing on both Celestia and Luna’s heads.

“I’m puzzled about something,” said Rarity, watching as the world around them faded and returned to its original state.

“What is it that puzzles you Lady Rarity,” asked Eris.

“The elements spoke that they were seeking somepony, but whom were they seeking?”

“I thought that would have been obvious, the elements were looking for you, all of you.”

They all looked stunned, but as one of them opened their mouth to speak, Eris held up her paw to silence them.

“I know you want to know why, but that is not something I can tell you, you will have to wait till they are ready to tell you themselves. Now…” she said, letting the blank landscape fill once again with new details. “With the elements of Harmony in hoof, they flew to challenge Discordia again, and succeeded in robbing her of her physical ties to this plane.”

They watched as the princesses landed around Discordia, who laughed until she spotted the items they bore, a note of fear coming into her eyes and then anger.

“So that’s how you want to play this is it, fine, I guess it’s time to see if my elements are ready for the challenge!”

With that she summoned her elements, the crystals forming into jewelry and attaching to her body, forming into a crude set of armor. The jewels glowed, responding the close proximity to their sister elements, and they leaped at each other to engage in battle. But it proved a futile fight in the end and as the smoke cleared from the skies, it revealed the sisters standing around the six Elements of Chaos, Discordia's from vanishing on the wind as the light of the sun breached the clouds above.

“Discordia was defeated, but the sisters were left with new problems to deal with. One was they could not find where the children had been hidden, Discordia’s magic still held far more power than theirs alone, and therefore continued to hide the children she had taken from their sight. The other problem was the elements that had been left by Discordia after she had vanished, for no matter how hard they tried to destroy them, they could not break them.

They also had to mop up some of the lingering effects that had been left by the war, such as the arrant rampage of beasts that roamed many of the countryside’s and the occasional battle still breaking out between the smaller kingdoms that had existed outside the five kingdoms, including the three tribes you all know well from the tail of Hearths Warming Eve. I would prepare yourselves girls, for these scenes are going to be far different from what you have portrayed in the plays depicting these events.”

A new scene formed, depicting an eerily familiar scene that they had all acted out, but the characters looked nothing like what they had envisioned. The three leaders looked frightfully battle scared, including Princess Platinum, though her armor still shined as though fresh from the smithy.

Commander Hurricane was missing one eye, her one good eye shining crimson as she glared at the other leader in the room, Chancellor Puddinghead.

She was nothing like she had ever been portrayed, for instead of the comical costume that they had always seen Pinkie wear when she portrayed her, she instead wore a ragged looking set of plate mail and propped up against her shoulder was a notched and bloody battle axe.

“We are here again to discuss the recent crisis that has befallen our land,” said Puddinghead, her gravelly voice revealing the utter hatred she held for the two who sat on either side of her. “The winter has not let up, and we are beginning to run out of food…”

“I don’t see how that can be,” interrupted Hurricane, her one eye glaring at Puddinghead in contempt. “You're earth pony magic is supposed to be able to work in any sort of weather, including this, so I don’t see why you can’t meet the quota that we have set for you.”

“We for once agree with you commander,” said Platinum, turning to Puddinghead with a look of disbelief on her face, “your magic is strong; there is no reason you should be suffering a food shortage.”

“Oh really, and have either of you been down from you fucking thrones to see what has happened to my land,” asked Puddinghead, “the ground has become impossible to grow on, and the soil has frozen solid and has become impossible to till and plant seeds in. So if you pegasi don’t get you shit together and do something about the weather we are going to die from starvation!”

“And as I have said in the countless meetings before this we are not in control over this storm, it is being magically manipulated by other means which can only mean…”

“Us unicorns right,” said Platinum with a laugh, “we have been over this before, we are not doing anything to manipulate the weather. We even lost control over the sun and the moon when that blasted war between the Divines was in full swing, now they have control over it. Who’s to say it isn’t them behind this whole affair?”

“Because we are more concerned with our own lands,” said a new voice, and Twilight and the girls gasped as Celestia walked into the room, followed closely by Luna and Marmora.

The other leaders stood, Puddinghead and Hurricane going for their weapons, but Platinum looking at her with mild surprise. “Celestia, I did not expect you here of all places, to what do we owe this most unexpected…”

“Save your pleasantries Platinum,” said Luna, “we came because Clover told us you had been spreading some frightful rumors about my sisters and I.”

“Oh ho, I should have known my loose tongue would get me into trouble around the consort of a goddess, I shall have to discipline her later for going behind my back to you.”

Luna growled at this but Celestia restrained her, glaring at Platinum before speaking, “Trying to provoke us won’t solve anything your majesty; we came here to offer your people help if you want it.”

“And what kind of help would that be huh,” said Hurricane, “the only one who actually looked out for us during you’re fucking war was Discord, and even he can’t help us with this fucking crises. So why don’t you just leave and let us handle this ourselves, if we want help from the gods, well call on the one we trust.”

Celestia just nodded, and when they left the meeting dissolved into more bickering, at one point it looked like Puddinghead was about to attack Hurricane till Platinum adjourned the meeting.

“This is nothing like the pageant,” said Rainbow, looking disgusted as the images faded.

“Yeah,” said Pinkie Pie, “that Puddinghead is nothing but a big mean meanie head!”

“And the idea of Discord helping…it just seems so…out of character…” said Rarity.

“I forget that you are used to the image of Discord as a crazed spirit bent on causing chaos everywhere he can,” said Eris. “In the old days, he was a wise and noble soul, always looking out for the betterment of mortal kind. While most of us “gods” were engaged in the War of The Lost Ones, he had focused on helping the smaller kingdoms survive during that strenuous time, using the power he had gained when we had been changed to help them, but the magic that was fueling this storm could not be altered even by his magic. So the leaders went back to their respective areas, to talk with their seconds to try and figure out what to do.”

Again familiar scenes formed around them, showing the interior of Platinum’s castle as she burst through the door of Clovers chambers, using her magic to throw aside the table as she advances on her.

“You,” she yelled, trying to grab Clover in her magic but having it deflected by the skilled unicorn. “You had to tell your harlot of a lover about the rumors didn’t you, and about the meeting! You tried to bring the alicorns into interfering with our way of life, what kind of cockamamie plan could your brilliant little mind have come up with to come to that conclusion?”

“Because we cannot govern ourselves anymore,” yelled Clover, standing at her full height and towering over Platinum. The size difference between them was staggering, for Clover was almost as tall as Luna, which made her imposing as her magic swirled to protect her form Platinum.

“What the…how come she’s bigger then Platinum,” asked Applejack.

“Because she and Luna were lovers back in that time,” said Eris, “she was her first life mate, and that came with certain special magic’s that transformed said lover, making them more compatible with their perspective mate.”

“Magic?” asked Twilight, “Like the magic Celestia told be about when I…?”

She fell silent, but Eris nodded in understanding, “yes, it is that same magic Twilight. But for now we must press on, we still have much to cover before this ends.”

The scene began to move again, showing Platinum backing away from Clover with hatred in her eyes, “I cannot believe you; you would side with her rather than me, your ruler?”

“I am only trying to do what’s best for our ponies, for if we continue this fighting then we will all die, no matter who wins!”

“Well then it is a good thing we won’t have to be dealing with these ruffians anymore,” said Platinum with venom in her voice, “for we are leaving this place to find a new home, pack what supplies you can dear, we shall be leaving on the morrow.”

The scene faded and reformed, showing the dungeons of the pegasi castle, dark and foreboding and with the stench of ages past. The others gasped as Hurricane opened a cell door and threw a sword inside, which was caught by an armored pegasus who they knew to be Private Pansy.

“You’ll be happy to know that you’re being released early, I need you to help me get us organized.”

“What for,” asked Pansy, her eyes flashing bright due to the black tattoo’s surrounding her eyes.

“We’re leaving this place, the talks failed and neither of those pathetic tribes are willing to compromise. Now get you’re flank moving, I need you to get the more skittish recruits in line. Oh and you also might want this back as well,” she said, tossing a bladed whip to Pansy, who cradled it lovingly as she stood up and left the cell.

The scene faded a second time, reforming onto the scene of Puddinghead walking slowly into Smart Cookies house, a grim look on her face.

“Get the villagers to start packing up the provisions we have stowed away and get them ready to move, we’re leaving this place.”

“Where are we going,” said the battered earth pony, walking over as Puddinghead spread out a map on her table.

“Were going here,” said Puddinghead, pointing to a spot on the large map. “From what the traders said before all trade stopped, that was where the Divines found the Element of Magic. From everything they said that land was the most fertile and untouched land that anypony had ever found, so if we go there we can not only survive, we can thrive, and we will never have to deal with the pegasi or the unicorns ever again.”

“Of course the chancellor was wrong,” said Eris as the scene faded once more. “They all were heading to the same place after all, drawn by the same things that Puddinghead described. My brother followed close behind, hoping that the new land would cool off their hatred for each other, but of course as we know, things did not work out that way.”

The scene reformed, showing the tribes showing up in the same spot and turning on each other, and up above in the heavens, the windigos circled and fed of their hate. The land began to freeze, the leaders and their seconds being forced into a cave nearby. The leaders argued more, becoming frozen as their seconds gathered around each other, staring up at the creatures descending around them.

“Long time no see eh Clover, you’ve gotten bigger since we last met,” said Pansy, her whip slashing at one of the windigos, missing only by a hair. “I see Luna has finally given you that gift they keep talking about.”

“Not that I am not happy to catch up but as you can see we have some pretty hostile company at the moment,” said Clover, using the sword she had formed to keep another one of the windigos back.

“Don’t you know any spells against these beasts Clover,” said Cookie, “that Starswirl had to have taught you something that can work against these things.”

“He mentioned a spell,” said Clover, her blade carving into the hoof of one of the monsters. “But he said he could never get the spell to work, said it needed something he never had.”

“And what was that exactly did he didn’t have?”

“He said he needed friends to make the spell wor…”

“Clover you dumflank,” yelled Pansy, “what do you think we have been this entire time. If ponies that stay together while their leaders tear at each other’s throats aren’t friends then I don’t know what is, now cast the spell damit before we all freeze!”

Clover cast the spell, and pink flames flew from her horn and formed into a heart. The windigos began crying in fear at the sight of the flame, and Pansy grinned evilly at that. She slashed her whip through the flame, the fire attaching to the bladed weapon as she lashed it around one of the windigos, causing it to scream in pain from the contact of the fire. The others followed suit, and soon the windigos that could escape were driven off by the growing flame and their fire infused weapons.

“After they drove off the windigos they managed to free their leaders, but not before they called for the aid of the Divines. They told them that they needed new leadership if their people were ever going to survive, for even though the leaders knew that their continued bickering would bring the windigos back, they still could not get over their bitter hatred of each other.”

The scene changed, forming on a great meeting chamber that held all the divine alicorns, and many of their already growing families. Clover and her friends were there as well, standing in front of the great table in their new garb that indicated their appointment as the temporary leaders of the three tribes.

“We come before you to ask that one of you great ones take help us to lead our growing nation of Equestria,” said Clover, looking toward the two lead sisters, Celestia and Luna. “We know we ask much of you great ones, but we have seen what your wisdom has accomplished even in your darkest moments, and we ask that you lend that wisdom to us and help us to make our new nation prosper.”

Silence dominated the room for a while, and then Marmora spoke up, looking at Clover and her friends. “We will need time to discuss it my dear Clover, if you would please wait with your friends in the other room?”

Clover nodded and walked out with her friends, and after they left, Marmora rubbed a hoof over her face, weariness setting in as she looked at the others around her. “It seems you were right Celestia, but what should we do now.”

“We lend them our support and leadership,” said a much younger Eris, sitting next to Ixen along with Discord, who was blowing pink smoke rings our of a clay pipe. “They need new leadership, the fact that they had to take power away from their original leaders says as much.”

“Well…if it’s not too bold,” said Celestia, the hesitance palpable in her voice, “I was thinking that Luna and I could help lead this new nation.”

“……as noble as that is Celestia, I am afraid I will have to say no to that suggestion,” said Marmora. “We still need you as the neutral party among us, as I will no longer be able to take a neutral stance.”

“What do you mean sister,” asked Luna, looking confused.

Marmora sighed, “I guess there is no point hiding it anymore,” she said; her horn glowing and her form changing. Her entire body began to glow like that of the crystal ponies, her main flowing gracefully on an invisible breeze as her siblings gasped in wonderment.

“I found a place out in the ocean a while back when I was looking for a way to contain the Elements of Chaos, and I found a continent with structures completely made out of crystal, crystal that responded to both the Elements of Harmony and Elements of Chaos. I also found a group of ponies there, ponies whose coats shined like mine dose now, and I asked them how this had happened. They told me it was a tree that made them this way, so I started experimenting with it. As you all know my talent is love in all its forms, well I started to mix that magic with that of the tree it responded to it, and changed me along with my cutie mark.”

She showed them her flank, which originally had held a bright red heart on it that was now turquoise and looked like it was entirely made out of crystal. “With this magic I was able to drive out the beasts in their land through the creation of items I call Crystal Hearts, and they made me empress of them, calling me the Crystal Empress. I was going to tell you sooner, but you all were so busy with other matters that I held it off till now. So as you can see I can no longer remain a neutral party alongside you, you must stand alone on that front from now on.”

“But then who can help lead them,” asked Dreamstride, “if Luna and Celestia are to remain neutral then who is left, none of us can do it.”

“And I cannot,” said Siren Gale, her back fins flaring as she inspected a scaly hoof with her fishlike eyes. “My domain is the oceans that surround all lands; I cannot and will not rule over land dwellers.”

“Then if I may make a suggestion,” said Ixen, “I think the best pony for this task would be my son, Discord.”

Discord began coughing as he took too big a drag on his pipe, thumping his chest with his lion paw as he tried to get his breathing back under control. “Mother…you can’t be serious; I am in no way capable of being a leader.”

“Says the same pony who risked his life to help those in need," said Ixen. "The one who ignored his mother and her sisters to protect those you helped, even as a war raging around him."

Ixen smiled after saying this, patting her child on the shoulder before speaking once again. “You led them to safety and even made them set aside their differences for a time, till that whole mess with the windigos happened. You can lead Discord, and it would be foalish to deny yourself this opportunity to test your worth, and to live outside my influence for once in your life.”

“And,” interjected Eris; placing a reassuring hand on her brother’s shoulder. “I will be there to help you get into the swing of things, for ruling isn’t all that hard brother, if mother can do it so can you.”

Discord laughed at this, but nodded his head in agreement. Twilight and the others however turned at the sound of crying, seeing the real Eris behind them wiping tears from her eyes. “I’m sorry,” she said, “these memories affect me more then most…this moment always makes me blame myself for what happened to him in his later life. Any way…” she said, waving her hand to keep them from asking questions “…after he agreed he and I left for the new land of Equestria along with Clover and her friends, meanwhile Celestia and Luna went to help Marmora spread the Crystal empire over the other kingdoms.

They deduced that the Crystals Hearts could be used to channel the power of the Elements of Harmony and contain the Elements of Chaos, so six cities were built, one in each of the kingdoms near where the Elements of Harmony had been found. These cities were all connected to each other through the Crystal Hearts, which sent the magic of the Elements of Harmony to the central hub in the center of the Crystal Empire, the Tree of Harmony. The Tree of Harmony united the elements magic when they were not being wielded by the sisters, and so could form the prisons that could contain their dark counterparts.

The scenes reformed to show a familiar looking sight, the original spot they had thought to be the Crystal Empire. It showed Celestia walking alongside Marmora through the crystal palace, Marmora talking happily about her work.

“The Element of Magic has already been installed at the top of the tower, once we reach the lower levels, we will be able to complete the prison that will be able to contain the Elements of Chaos.”

They moved down a flight of stairs, walking along the till they reached the bottom level where a dais similar to the one that held the Crystal Heart in the town square above stood.

“Once we place the Element of Dark Magic in there, it will unite both the energies of the Elements of Harmony and Chaos to create their prison; just place it in the dais when you’re ready.”

Celestia walked forward, floating the Element of Dark Magic onto the dais. When it floated into place, the Element began to glow, and energy began to flow around it. The energy formed into bands, and the minute the bands began to get close to the element energy began to rise from it, writhing as it took on the shape of an alicorn as it roared for release. Celestia recoiled, looking at the monstrosity with fear as it writhed and squirmed inside the energy bands, its screams of pain sounding hauntingly like those of the windigos that had plagued the three tribes.

“Just wait a little longer,” said Marmora, her excitement barley contained as she watched the entity struggle. Slowly the bands began to retract around the entity, pushing it back into its crystal as the creature’s cries became quieter and quieter, till they died completely as the bands bound tightly around the element.

“There, it’s done,” said Marmora, looking happy that it had worked.

“You sure this will keep them contained,” asked Celestia, looking at the prison with a little worry.

“Yes, as long as the Elements of Chaos continue to feed energy into the Elements of Harmony, they will continue to provide the chains to their own prison.”

The scene faded abruptly then, Eris coughing suddenly as she kneeled down on the ground.

“Eris what’s wrong,” asked Twilight, walking over to the coughing mare as she pulled out a handkerchief from thin air, green blood leaking from her mouth.

“I’m sorry,” said Eris, “It has been…several thousand years since I did something like this…it tears at my body in every conceivable way…but I…I have to do this, I just need some rest.”

She waved her hand, a cave forming around them with several beds and throw pillows scattered on the floor. “I suggest you rest as well while I recover, and you don’t have to worry, no time has passed while we are here; so you don’t have to worry about us staying here too long.”

She crawled into the largest of the beds, her form going slack as she fell asleep. The others sat around on the pillows, looking at each other as the mares body rose and fell as she slumbered, one of her arms dangling from the bedside.

“This…” started Rainbow Dash, her voice shaking as the shock of it all crashed around her. “…How could she hide all this from us, how could they all hide this from us?”

“Ah’m not sure sugar cube, but from everything ah have seen…some of this just is too much tah take in…ah mean they got tricked into fighting a war over foals…a horrible war, and they found their talents during that war…that’s just bucked up.”

“Applejack…” said Twilight; putting a hoof on her friends shoulder. “They had their reasons for covering this up, I’m not sure why, but they did.”

“But that’s the thing, why would they do that, ah mean were not even finished with everything and something tells me the next bit ah history is going tah be worse than what we have seen so far.”

“Well whatever do you mean dear?”

“Yah all saw that fight between Celestia and Anastasia, Celestia was begging for her sister tah kill her, yah can’t tell me that don't mean anything.”

“Celestia was feeling guilty for abandoning her…”

“No there was more tah it then that, Celestia said she stole something from them, but she never said what. Now what could she have stolen that would cause her tah feel that much guilt, it had tah be something that protected them all, like the Elements of Harmony…”

“NO!”

Everypony jumped at Twilight’s outburst save for Eris, who slept soundly through it. Twilight meanwhile was staring at Applejack in disbelief, “How could you even say that, Celestia would never do something like that.”

“Yeah and ah also remember you saying the same thing about her lying tah us, and we all know how that ended. She lied tah all of us, especially you about our entire history, how do we know she didn’t do something that could have compromised the safety of her own sisters. You saw what Mercury looked like; she looked like she had walked through Tartarus and back, that kind ah stuff don’t just happen without a reason behind it.”

Twilight just stared at her, the weight of what she had said slowly pulling her down. But then Pinkie slapped her hoof down, an unusual look of seriousness stretched across her normally cheery face.

“That’s not fair Applejack, like Twilight said they had their reasons, and until Eris shows us we have no way of knowing what Celestia possibly stole, or the reasons why she did it even if she did steal the Elements. Now lets just get some sleep, we’ll need it tomorrow, especially seeing as how I know what’s coming next.”

With that she got up and went to one of the beds, turning her back on everypony as her hair deflated from her anger. The others started at her for a moment, then got up and went to the beds, each falling into a fitful sleep due to the thoughts racing through their minds.