Harmony Rising (*DO NOT READ YET*)

Twilight held her breath at the descriptions of the war in the book, especially thrilled by the descriptions of her mentor’s magic. Her eyes suddenly flicked upwards as she voiced a thought aloud.

“Why didn’t the Princess teach me healing magic? I didn’t even know it still existed! Unless...No way. She was MORE powerful?! But...but...That would mean Nightmare Moon would be too! Oh, I HAVE to see how this ends!

She once again dove nearly headfirst into the book, hastily re-immersing herself in the ancient world.

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Sumira woke up alone.

She groaned and flexed for a moment before realizing that she should’ve been screaming in pain, and yet wasn’t. Looking down at her body, she realized that she was simply healed. Although she had no idea how, her wounds were gone and all that remained was a few thin lines of scar tissue. Flexing a few more times, she finally accepted that she was indeed healed, and even that her belt of twelve razor-sharp daggers was by her side, newly honed and ready for battle.

A wicked grin began to spread over her angular face, and she picked up the shoulderbelt in her hooves, draping it diagonally over her body and cinching the buckle tight. She flipped a dagger in her hoof experimentally, then flicked it at the dead torch on the wall. It slammed in, punching through and burying itself halfway to the hilt in the hard maple wood.

The grin grew larger and she retrieved the dagger, slipping it back into the sheath and walking towards the door. She quietly trotted out, her hooves making barely a sound on the stones. Struck with a sudden thought, she took a sharp left, walking into a dark room full of large cases and ponyquins. She walked to the third case from the left and opened it, revealing a suit of light leather armor tailored to the size of an adult earth pony mare. In fact, it was tailor-made to her. She carefully removed the belt and set it on a nearby table.

She donned the armor, closing the buckles and tying the laces, then once more strapped on her belt and exited the room. As it always was in the war, the land and sky were both black as ink, showing the dominion of Nightmare Moon. She trotted back into the ruined throne room and picked up her saddlebags and a torch, then scuffling through her saddlebags until she found what she was looking for, a flat lump of flint about the size of her hoof. She drew out a dagger once more and scraped it against the flint, causing sparks to shower onto the torch. After several tries, the resin-soaked wood caught, flaring into life with a surging sound.

As it crackled its merry song, the inky darkness fell back, the torch lighting up the rough stones. The mare began to pick her way carefully through the rubble, using the torch as a guide as to where her hooves should be place. Twice, she nearly fell off of the battlements due to tripping on a loose pile of stone. Finally, she reached the final door to the outside and opened it, then bracing herself for passing through the Ward, the magical barrier that kept the castle safe. But when she cantered out of the door, she was horrified to see a huge rift in the glowing white bubble, a glaring crack through which darkness was even now beginning to seep through. Sumira uttered a foul oath, knowing full well how important the Ward was. She stopped in front of the crack, gauging it’s magnitude, which was no less than thirteen meters across and twice that in height. She briefly contemplated asking a unicorn to mend it, but quickly discarded the idea. Only Celestia had the massive, raw power to generate and maintain a magical shield of such size and strength as to protect the great, ancestral fortress.

"Sivin! Rimi'e! Where are you?"

At her familiar voice, two unicorns, one a mare and one a stallion, crept out of a dimly lit tower, their heads low as they slunk towards the Captain. She signed in exasperation. Sivin and Rimi'e were former slaves, freed from Nightmare Moon before...well, nopony really knew WHAT happened to the ponies that she captured, save that they were never seen again. Sumira had a small suspicion, but never voiced it to anypony save herself. The two used to be Luna's retainers, full of life and energy, but ever since they had returned, they could not speak, and went everywhere with their heads low and their eyes sad, seldom showing any other emotion. Celestia had told Sumira in private that parts of their souls had been taken by Nightmare Moon, and they would always be as such.

As they drew close enough for Sumira to speak to them, she pointed a hoof at the gash in the Ward, clearly highlighting it.

"You see this, you two? From now until this gap is gone, I want at least one of you to be here, awake and alert at all times. Don't let anypony you don't know in unless I'm with them or the Princess is. Got it?"

They nodded slowly, and she did the same in return before galloping off into the darkness, the torch in her mouth a font of glowing light.

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“Unnghhhh…”

The silhouette of a stallion uttered a bestial groan as pain once again surged through his body. His normally impeccably spiked mane was torn and disheveled, and his brilliant white coat was matted and filthy. He was hanging from his forelegs, shackled in chains, and his hind legs were also chained down, stretching him just far enough to cause intense, excruciating pain whenever the chains were tugged, but not far enough as to put him into a blissful state of unconsciousness. Nearby, an older stallion was caught in a similar scenario, both of them enshrouded in a dense cloud of darkness just dense enough to cloak their identities.

A clanking sound emanated through the room and the stallion groaned once more, the great iron chains stretching his forelegs until they threatened to pop out of their sockets. His hind legs were in the same predicament as he strained against the pain. After what seemed an interminable amount of time, the pressure finally began to ease and he slumped back down as far as he could. His light blue eyes, though not empty and dull, were tired, worn and haunted from suffering.. His mouth dropped suddenly as the door to the torture chamber crashed open, and in stepped a magisterial black alicorn. She was clad in light blue armor and trailing clouds of stars hung in her ethereal mane. In any other situations, she would be beautiful, but her cold, slitted eyes betrayed her inner evil. She smiled maliciously at the first stallion. He was a unicorn, his cutie mark a silver sword, his mane and coat both a dull gray. His normally perpetually busy violet eyes were glazed over, and he hung without struggling, like a marionette with its strings cut through.

As her gaze shifting to the second, younger stallion, her mouth twisted into a contemptuous smirk as she saw his eyes, which though not sharp as before, were still focused, staring at her attentively. As she spoke to him, her words were like oil sliding upon ice, smooth, yet tainted with cruelty

“Hmm. Still resisting, are you, Commander? I didn’t realize your will was so strong. It will be harder than I had imagined to break you. But don’t worry. Soon enough, you’ll join your friend over there. Then we can begin with the real fun!” She pointed to Captain Mirror Shard, smiling once more as he made no move whatsoever. Skystrafe looked at him with horror as the Queen of the Night rolled back the veil of shadows, revealing the hollow shell of his dearest companion. His normally shimmering coat and mane were darker and had lost much of their inner lustre, and his eyes looked like that of a dead pony. Chancing a quick glance around, he saw a third set of chains, and his breath caught, before realizing that the chains were empty. He allowed himself an inner sigh of relief. Sumira had escaped.

"So, Commander, does it hurt? Does it sting to know that you're about to have everything taken away from you? Now you will know MY pain! Now you will suffer for what I suffered, and for what you and everypony gave my darling sister!" She spat the last few words out as if they could kill Celestia then and there.

The alicorn fixed Skystrafe's gaze, her icy, catlike eyes boring into his own. His eyes dropped as his lips began to move, forming words. His voice was haunted, creaking with strain as he spoke a single syllable.

“Why?"

Nightmare Moon stepped back a pace as if struck, the word appearing to pain her almost physically. Then her eyes narrowed and she stepped forward once more, drawing her face close to his.

“You know full well why, you pitiful thing. You lavished everything upon Celestia. She raises the sun, after all.” She let out a mirthless laugh. "And what do I get? Nothing. I'm just the little sister, the one that makes the moon and stars, those little unnecessary objects that nopony cares anything for. I will be downtrodden no longer!" The white pony shook his head sadly. "I'm sorry. I truly am. You feel so alone, and you can't seem to understand how much your sisters cares about you. It must be a sad life, to be so ignorant of the truth." Enraged, Nightmare Moon pivoted and lashed out, catching him in the stomach with her back hooves. He let out a weak gasp and went limp, his mind fading to darkness filled with twisted, dark dreams.

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Celestia’s wings pumped, driving her forward with great speed as she streaked towards the East Outpost, which loomed on the horizon, cloaked in darkness. Her horn shone with her fury turned to magic, lighting up the sky like a comet as she cut through the darkness. Thoughts were blazing through her head, but one burned brighter than the rest.

How dare she? HOW DARE SHE!?

A single pony on the ground noticed her golden trail. Sumira began to sprint, breaking from her forced-march pace into a full gallop as she raced after Celestia. Her legs were like liquid springs, flowing, shifting as she shot over the grass, her hooves barely skimming the ground. Only then did she notice the Outpost in the distance and saw the convergence point between it and Celestia. She muttered something under her breath and changed her course, this time racing towards Seris as fast as her legs could take her, the torch still clenched in her mouth beginning to sputter, almost of its own volition. As she drew closer, so too did the torch grow dimmer. Finally, as she touched the first stones of the remains of the cobble road, it flickered and died altogether, leaving her in the thick, sinister darkness.

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Commander Galathandros bolted up from an uneasy sleep on the chains to a loud crash. A bright, almost blinding glow shone through his eyelids, and as he opened them, his mouth fell open. Princess Celestia stood in the doorway, her eyes and horn blazing as she clashed with the Queen of the Night. They each vied for dominance as their swords flickered and darted like silver snaketongues, each surrounded by the respective magical auras of Nightmare Moon and Celestia. But slowly and surely, Celestia was gaining the advantage. Even with the sun blocked, her magical reserves were still vast and her magic could guard better against each strike and move the sword faster. The dark alicorn knew then that she had met her match. When Celestia was enraged, she truly became a goddess. Her pupils were gone, her eyes pure glowing white with raw magical power, and Nightmare Moon knew she couldn’t stand much longer in a fair fight. So instead, she put up a magical barrier and used the brief reprieve as Celestia beat at the shield to swing her sword to the side, placing the edge at Skystrafe’s throat.

“Back down, Celestia, and go, or I’ll slit this pathetic creature’s throat and leave him to rot.”

Celestia’s sword stopped midslice, and hovered quivering in the air, poised to break the shield. Slowly, she let the blade drop until it touched softly to the ground. She turned to go, and before she could react, Nightmare Moon raised her sword and chopped at her neck. The embodiment of the sun knew that she couldn’t turn fast enough, and braced herself for the end.

It never came.

The sword was torn from the dark creature’s magic and as the evil mare started in surprise, it clattered to the ground alongside a silver dagger, sounding a ringing clang. The high window was shaded as the form of a pony wearing armor appeared in it, and Sumira leapt into the room with a startling warcry. Celestia snatched up her sword once more and aimed it for the black alicorn’s throat, just missing as the regent of shadows swiftly morphed into mist and darted away, accompanied by chilling laughter. The sword, however, continued on it’s track, instead severing the chains that bound Skystrafe’s forelegs and hind legs. He dropped to his hooves, grinning a halfhearted smile as his legs, weakened from hanging for days, gave way beneath him. There was a soft clang beside him, and he looked to the side to see his wingblades sitting there, shining invitingly in Celestia’s glow. She approached him, smiling tenderly.

“I found them in the armory on the way in. I thought you’d like them back, Commander.”

Digging deep inside of himself, Galathandros found a hidden reserve of strength and slowly lifted himself from the ground, grabbing the blades in his hooves and fitting them in their proper places before closing all of the buckles that held them in place. Feeling the familiar weights upon his wings, his spirits were lifted and he stood to attention and saluted.

“Commander Skystrafe Galathandros reporting back to active duty, Ma’am!”

He turned next to Sumira, but she was already next to Celestia.

"You have to get back to Meneus! The Ward is broken!"

The other two ponies sucked in a startled breath, their eyes widening in horror. Celestia shook her head sadly.

“If this is the case, there is no time to lose. I fear my sister may have orchestrated this rescue from the start. Hurry, we must be off."

She quickly freed Mirror Shard, placing the unconscious pony gently upon her back with magic, then breathed deeply and began to channel power to her horn once again.

The sunlike orb of teleportation began to envelop them, growing all the time, until it flashed and vanished just as before. They appeared in the tower, and looked on in horror just in time to see the crack in the Ward widen beneath the assault of a group of Yrch. Fortunatly, Nightmare Moon was nowhere to be seen. Celestia set down Mirror Shard and began to tend to his wounds as Sumira and Skystrafe galloped out of the tower to the creatures below. The rage of the commander was palpable as he took flight and looked down upon the group of hideous creatures, only a raiding party of perhaps three dozen. Wielding his wing-blades, he swooped down from his arc of flight and used gravity and his considerable agility to tear apart almost seven of the creatures in only a few seconds. On the ground, Sumira was wielding a dagger in each hoof as she stabbed and sliced with lightning speed, every so often flicking one of the weapons at a distant target with incredible accuracy.

In only minutes, the group of creatures was down to a single snakelike being, a rare blue yrk, an aberration among the strange race. He was encircled by the two grim attackers, which at unseen consent rushed in and simply slashed him cleanly in half. From his rent belt pouch, a lightning-shaped stoppered crystal bottle three-quarters full of faintly glowing scarlet liquid slipped out and tumbled to the ground, skittering on the stones. Celestia soared down from the tower, looking in awe at the vial before whispering to herself,

“Of course. It all makes sense.” Her voice became louder as she turned to the two ponies, holding the vial firmly with her magic. “I know how we’re going to defeat Nightmare Moon. We must find the Six Lost Virtues of Harmony; Honesty, Loyalty, Kindness, Generosity, Laughter and Magic. With them, we can dispel the chaos that has overcome Luna and win this war. This vial contains the pure essence of Loyalty. Each of these Virtues is aligned to a pony. Only when all six are present can their true potential be unleashed.”

Skystrafe stepped forward to touch the bottle, but when his hoof came in contact with the crystal, it let out a chiming sound and the glow’s brightness increased dramatically. He stepped backwards in surprise, and the stopper popped from the mouth of the bottle, the liquid flowing out and towards the commander. It coalesced upon his wingblades and finally, the glow faded, replaced by two scarlet gems, only retaining a tiny pinch of their glow. The wingblades hadn’t remained unchanged either. Instead of being simply starsteel now, there was gold filigree and inlaid rubies surrounding the great glowing gems. Sumira and the Princess looked on in awe. Breaking the silence, the Princess spoke first.

“You always were the most loyal, Skystrafe. Now we know why. You are the physical embodiment of the Spirit of Loyalty. Now, we have a long journey ahead of us. We must find the rest of the Lost Virtues, the Elements of Harmony used to defeat the Discord so long ago. Will you two join me?”

The two other ponies nodded without hesitation.

“With pleasure, Princess.” That was Sumira.

“It is my honor as the Embodiment of Loyalty.” This time, it was Skystrafe. Celestia smiled sadly.

“It dismays me to have to use these artifacts of magic on my own sister, but as far as I can tell, it’s the only possible way to resolve this war. Thank you. I am proud to call you my friends. Now come, we have much to prepare for.”

She led them through the winding halls of the castle to a large, ornately carved wooden door. Opening it, she walked forward. The other two walked in behind her and saw a completely blank room, containing nothing but a single huge, golden chest with a small, perfectly round hole where the keyhole should be. Celestia slid her horn into the hole, pulsing rays of magic down it until there was a click and the chest cracked open. The magic pulsed once again, and she withdrew a great golden-hafted battleaxe with a massive crystal blade covered in gossamer engravings of gold and platinum depicting a stylized sun. The pole was capped with a gigantic brilliant-cut golden topaz. Sumira and Skystrafe gasped at the sheer beauty of the workmanship. She also pulled out a large suit of pale green metal armor, strangely stylized with emerald and more topaz swirls sculpted with powerful magic. She donned the armor and slung the axe through the attached harness where she could pull it out easily with her magic. As she finished, the white stallion shifted to the armory, where he put on his own suit of golden armor.

With Celestia in her strange, alien armor, Sumira in her sculpted leather armor and Skystrafe in his Commander’s golden armor, they stepped out of the castle, where Celestia renewed the Ward once more before the three stepped out upon their great journey towards the unknown, searching for the Elements of Harmony.