Harmony Rising (*DO NOT READ YET*)

Chapter 3

Twilight’s mouth fell open in obvious wonder, her eyes transfixed by the words. “Moria? I remember hearing about that forest in legend…It’s supposed to have vanished into thin air more than three hundred years ago. I wonder what became of it…? Oh! There I am again, talking aloud while I read! I need to stop that. Anyway, I-“

“BUUUUUUUUUUUUUURP!”

A massive belch rocked the library. The book’s pages flittered slightly in a warm wind as a scroll plopped down in from of Twilight. She looked at it a bit strangely.

“Spike? Why did this land in front of me?”

Spike pattered up the steps, laughing sheepishly. “Sorry, Twilight. I’m practicing directional message-receiving. Apparently, it’s a little bit louder.” Twilight looked at him, waiting.

“Okay, a LOT louder.”

She chuckled and rubbed his spines, before reaching out with her magic and unrolling the scroll.

“My dearest student, Twilight Sparkle,

Oh dear. I’m sorry that you have to learn about such a horrific occurrence. But if you must know, I will first address the question of what my armor is made of. It is Cervidish in origin, forged by the deer. It is a metal known as adamantus, world-renowned for it’s incredible durability. It is also the only known metal that does not corrode or tarnish in any way. Unlike the other objects that you inquired about, however, my armor is kept in my personal sanctum in the top of the highest tower in Canterlot, locked with several nearly-unbreakable magical locks.

The weapons, however, were a different matter. Originally, I kept it with my armor, until I realized that it would perhaps not be a good idea to leave all of them in one place. Therefore, the axe, as well as the daggers, the wingblades, and one that you seem to have forgotten, the sword of Captain Mirror Shard, have been scattered to the corners of Equestria. I believe the wingblades were taken especially good care of, and hidden in the one place in Equestria that nobody would look. I wouldn’t recommend looking for them. If memory serves, each of the artifacts had a magical guardian put in place to protect them. It would be extremely dangerous. Also, because their intentions are noble and I created them, your usual trump card, the Elements, will have little or no effect.

Speaking of the Elements of Harmony, I recently got a new *statue pedestal** for where Discord was mounted. I’ve been thinking of putting a statue there, a statue of Discord just for old time’s sake. I just don’t exactly know how I would explain it to him, though. Any ideas?*

Your teacher and friend,

Princess Celestia.”

Spike groaned as he saw a familiar mischievous grin cross Twilight’s face and walked toward her. “Don’t…even…THINK…about…it. Twilight, you heard- er, read the princess! Doing what I KNOW you’re about to do would be dangerous! Even the Elements wouldn’t work!”

“Oh come on, Spike, where’s your sense of adventure? I’ll just get my friends and then it won’t be that dangerous. We can handle anything! Just come with me!”

She trotted quickly out of the library, her saddlebags simultaneously filling with various items, including the book of history. First, she walked to the Carousel Boutique, knocking as delicately as possible on the door; it had been painted just yesterday.

“Hey, Rarity! It’s Twilight!”

The door popped open, the fashionista stepping gracefully out with a sleep mask still half-on.

“Twiliiiiiight, darling, much as I appreciate you visiting me,” She took a short break to yawn deeply. ”Do you think you could’ve found a better time? It IS only six.”

Twilight frowned to herself, muttering. “Hmm, no, that can’t be right…I started reading at almost seven…Wow, I read all day and night?” Spike chimed in. “Yeah, you did. I had to pull your face off the book before you started drooling when you fell asleep.”

Twilight looked at the door again. It DID look a bit drier than it should for a new coat. She shrugged it off, turning back to the white mare in front of her.

“So sorry, Rarity! I lost track of time. But would you like to come to Canterlot with me? I’m investigating something, and even if I need your help with it, I need to do some research first, so you could have a day or two to spare!”

The mask seemed to fly off of its own volition, Rarity rearing and yelling in excitement. “WA HA HAAA! Canterlot? How could I refuse? I’m so flattered that you would think of me first! I’ll get packed right away!” She galloped inside at full tilt, instantly prompting a cacophony of loud bangs and crashes, culminating in a loud smash similar to glass shattering. Thus, it was a mystery to Twilight how Rarity’s mane and tail were completely untouched when she resurfaced, her saddlebags neatly packed with a large quantity of indiscernible objects, most of which were crafted of one kind of fabric or another. She made to step out of the door before suddenly remembering something important.

“OH! I nearly forgot my dear sister in the excitement! So sorry, Twilight, just a minute!”

She dove back in, closing the door, which again vibrated against a second orchestra of whacks and thuds, and a slight mingling of voices.

“Oh Sweetiiiie! I’m taking a short vacation with my friends. Hold down the boutique until I get back, that’s a good filly. Goodbye, dearest!” “Okay! Bye, Big Sister!”

She once again sauntered back to Twilight, this time a slight ruffle in her mane that she combed out so quickly that Twilight couldn’t tell if it had truly been there. She stepped out of the door and joined the lavender mare, following her as she walked towards Sugarcube Corner and the party pony that lived there.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“OhmygosharewegoingonasuperawesomeamazingadventuretobeatDiscord becausehebrokeoutofhisstoneprisonbutFluttershyactuallymakesfriendswithhimandwedon’tneedtoousetheelementsofharmonyand-“

Pinkie’s mouth was quickly plugged by Twilight as she bounced, quite literally, off of the walls at Sugarcube Corner, predictably hyperactive.

“All I heard was Discord and Elements of Harmony…And this only has to do with one of them. We’re just going to Canterlot, so come on. We all know you’re coming.” At Twilight’s words, Pinkie finally took to her hooves instead of the sky.

“Well of COURSE I’m coming, silly filly! Now let’s go!”

“Not quite yet, Darling. You don’t think we’re going to the crème de la crème of Equestrian cities without the others, do you? Oh, I can take Fluttershy to the royal gardens! It’s very beautiful, and best yet, it’s very…clean!”

Pinkie nodded at a speed that was not possible for normal ponies and zoomed inside, packing and grabbing her saddlebags in less than three seconds. For a moment, Twilight just stared, mouth open, then facehoofed and spoke.

“Ugh…Let’s just go get Rainbow. She’s usually still in her house this time of day.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“So, Leaf, you coming or not?”

Leaf jumped in surprise. Celestia was standing by her, flanked by Skystrafe, and Sumira, who had spoken. Leaf had been practicing her aim by repeatedly slamming arrows into the iron ball of the flail, set up on the other edge of the clearing. So far, it was four hundred thirty six out of four hundred thirty seven, and the one missed shot was driving the archer pony crazy. She looked at the three, at their hopeful faces, their anxious hooves.

“Uhmm…Well, if Celestia can protect the forest…I guess…What I’m trying to say is…YES! YESYESYES! I’d like it more than almost anything! It would be the greatest thing EVER! I’m ALWAYS in this forest! So maybe just once or twice, I’d like to see what the world looks like without…you know…TREES!”

Celestia nodded, and her long horn began to shimmer with magic. Even Leaf took a pace back. Being the Dryad Spirit, she knew what powerful magic was, and this was the very embodiment of it.

Then the ringing started. Her horn began to smoke and let out a sound like a chiming bell. Suddenly, a blindingly brilliant corona of pure white light surrounded them. The other three ponies’ eyes widened, their pupils shrinking to the size of pinpricks.. Then the corona expanded, until the entire forest was sheathed in pure, blinding light, which gradually faded to a translucent wall of yellow. Leaf cast her head around, swiveling her neck, gaping at the dome that congealed in the air above the trees. It finally peaked in the clouds, just above the very top of the Greatwood Yew.

There was suddenly utter silence through the entire forest.

Finally, the silence was broken by Leaf as she used her own magic to lift herself about two meters of the ground, her eyes closed in bliss as she started chanting over and over, “YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YE-“

As soon as she landed and opened her eyes, she noticed Sumira, Skystrafe and Celestia looking at her. Skystrafe quirked his eyebrow.

“Ehem,” muttered Leaf, clearing her throat in an effort to retain her dignity.

Suddenly, the three smaller ponies heard a sound that they had never heard, nor expected to hear, a rich, full laughter that could only have come from one pony. Celestia was nearly doubled over, her enormous battleaxe sliding from its harness. She was laughing, laughing harder than any of the ponies had ever seen anybody laugh before, tears streaming from her magenta eyes as she continued laughing. And, as everybody knows, laughter is infectious. Soon Leaf began to laugh, then Sumira, then finally Skystrafe burst into laughter. Soon they were all rolling own the ground, nearly drowning in their own mirth.

At length, the hysterics began to simmer down. As the last tear was shed, Celestia was the first to recover. Choking out a few last very un-regal giggles, she recovered her axe and replaced it where it was supposed to go. She coughed in a similar fashion to Leaf, and stood up. She then used her magic to pick up the other three and set them back on their feet and gently scraping the dust off with a magically conjured brush. After the three managed to squirm out of her grasp, their moment of mirth was swallowed again. The darkness was still permeating everything, the only light being cast by the faint glow of the wingblades and the unicorns horns until Sumira managed to strike up a torch. The crackling fire drove the shadows back ever further until they were standing in a pool of light.

Celestia took out a map, unrolling it with her magic and peering carefully at the lines upon it, quietly muttering.

“Hmm, we could…no, that wouldn’t work, we need to find Mornvale…But only Luna knows where it is, and, well…I know it’s in Amius…But that won’t work, that path is…That one’s a Nightmare Moon checkpoint…Ceminista was taken too. But…Aha! This could work.”

She turned to the other ponies turning the map so everyone could see it.

“We need to get to Amius forest, there’s something important there. Both of the normal paths, however, are blocked. One is blocked by a checkpoint, and the other goes through the walled city of Ceminista, which was one of the first cities taken by Nightmare Moon’s army. The only option is to cross the Sheerside mountain range. There’s a little-known mountain path here that takes you to a pass, but it’s dangerous. Because of this, it’s very seldom-used, and therefore exactly what we need. Do you all think you’re up for it?

“Of course we are. Why else would we be here?”

Skystrafe was behind her, his wings spread, his eyes narrowed.

“If I wasn’t, I wouldn’t have let you shield the forest, would I?

That was Leaf, standing in front of her, her horn glowing as she pulled a leaf of some unidentified plant from her saddlebags and began munching on it. She continued to do this for quite a while, prompting glances from the rest.

“And what about you, Captain Kyasa?”

Sumira jumped at the use of her last name. “Huh? Oh, well, of course I’m coming! Otherwise, I would’ve gone back to my family’s farm and done what I could to help them!”

"Whoa whoa whoa. You’re last name was Kyasa, and in all the years I’ve worked with you, you NEVER TOLD ME?”

Skystrafe facehoofed, then shook his head.

“Oh, nevermind. I know now, so whatever. Hang on, now that I mention working together, whatever happened to Mirror?

“I used my magic to teleport him from Seris to the castle. He should be recovering soon. And yes, I got him his sword.” Celestia replied. Then she continued speaking. “Well, since you’ve all agreed to come, shall we? We have a long day’s march before we’re even out of Moria.”

The small crew nodded, and began to follow Leaf on a hidden path to the eastern edge of the forest.

About three hours through the forest, Sumira was complaining.

“Ugh, I swear by the armies of Nightmare Moon that if one more branch whips me, I’m going to break something, probably a tree.”

Of course, it was at that time that Leaf’s magic released a branch which sprung back and slapped Sumira in the face.

Sumira’s eyes widened and her pupils shrunk to the size of an acorn and she ran up to the tree, spun around and bucked the tree as hard as she possibly could. The tree groaned and shook, and at her repeated kicks, the roots began to buckle. Before Leaf could stop her, she had uprooted the tree, sending it crumbling into another tree with a thunderous crash. The other tree creaked and moaned, but held, and finally both trees sat still.

Leaf ran up to the cerulean pony and glared daggers into her eyes, until she casually smacked Sumira in the face. Sumira dropped her face and staggered back, and when she raised her face, it was about four centimeters from Leaf’s. The green pony’s eyes were full of rage, and as she slowly drew closer, she began to yell.

“Listen to me, you idiot. We may be sort-of friends, but that doesn’t mean you can kill trees that I’ve spent years upon years trying to keep alive! I don’t care how many times you get smacked, you are NOT to do that again. DO YOU HEAR ME, you ARROGANT FOAL?!”

Sumira nodded quickly, not wanting to face Leaf’s rage, and more notably, her longbow. Leaf then picked up a branch of the fallen tree, hit the terrified pony in front of her several times and turned away with a hmph, keeping one twig. As she passed Skystrafe, she suddenly glared at him, and he shook his head quickly and succinctly. Leaf smiled slightly and went back to leading them through the forest, Celestia now carrying an unconscious pony on her back.

As they sat down for a lunch of packed oats and grass, Skystrafe whispered into the ear of the now-conscious Sumira, “Remind me never to cut a tree again in Leaf’s line of sight.”

Leaf’s ears perked up at hearing her name and she half turned, growling threateningly. Skystrafe suddenly noticed a small pile of ash in front of her.

“Hey, Leaf, what’s that pile of ash?”

              “It’s the burned ashes of that twig I kept. I’m holding a funeral for the tree.”

Unfortunately for him, Skystrafe couldn’t stop the single snort of laughter from escaping. Leaf rounded upon him all at once and leapt at him, bowling him over as they fought. Watching, Sumira began to munch on some leaves.

                As the fight finally settled, Skystrafe was left half curled on the ground groaning as Leaf trotted away.

“Oh sweet Celestia, why is she such a good fighter?”

Skystrafe managed to choke out. “Sumira, please, the medical kit?”

Sumira yawned, acting bored.

“Why’s that? I got beaten up too, and you didn’t help anything.”

“Oh, please don’t be that guy right now, NOT right now. I think my wing’s broken. How am I going to fight with a broken wing?”

“Ugh, fine. Since we need you to fight, then I’ll get the…

“No need, Sumira.”

Celestia stepped in, and holding her horn to his wing, the bone mended, returning the wing to its normal appearance. Skystrafe leapt up again, flexing the wing to make sure it was functioning correctly.

“Hear that, Sumi? I don’t need your stinking first aid kit!

A drop of sweat rolled from Sumira’s nose.

“Did you just…call me….Sumi?”

Skystrafe took the hint, then took off.

“Sorry, but I’ve been beaten up enough for today, Sumi!”

Sumira, for the second time that day, snapped.

“SKYSTRAFE ELEUTHEREN GALATHANDROS, GET YOUR UGLY WHITE FLANK DOWN HERE OR I SWEAR BY CELESTIA NOPONY WILL EVER FIND YOUR REMAINS!”

The voice that responded sounded very far away.

“How in Celestia’s name did you find out my middle name?”

Celestia sighed. Obviously, Skystrafe still had yet to find out that Celestia kept a complete and public record of the name of everypony in the army. Her horn glowed, and Skystrafe was pulled back down to earth.

“Both of you, calm down. Do we have any idea where Leaf went?”

Skystrafe shrugged. “I would imagine she needed to let off some steam. Also, could you put me down?”

Celestia rolled her eyes and let her magic go, dropping Skystrafe almost two meters to the ground onto his stomach, driving the breath from his body.

“Ugh, couldn’t you have just *cough cough* lowered me another meter?” Celestia’s response was instant and uncompromising. “No. Now let’s go find Leaf.”

That was when the screaming started.