//------------------------------// // Chapter I // Story: The Spirits of Harmony // by TinCan //------------------------------// “Hey Twilight, watcha doin’?” The unicorn nearly jumped out of her skin, whirled around, and blocked the view of her special project with her body. “Gah! Nothing, nothing! ...Oh, hi Pinkie.” What she was doing, in the supposed isolation of her basement laboratory, was both delicate and probably not allowed, though she hadn’t been told not to do it. Officially. The pink earth pony leaned to one side and then another, trying to see what her friend was trying to hide. “Ooh, is it a surprise? You know I can keep a secret, right?” Pinkie said, hopping up and down with excitement. “N-no. It’s really dull,” Twilight said, smiling woodenly. “Just…just working down here. In my lab. On boring things.” “Aww, I can’t just stand by when my friends are bored!” Pinkie said, frowning sympathetically at Twilight. “I know, I’ll help you with it and then it’ll be super exciting!” The energetic pony began bouncing around the lab, setting the shelves of beakers, tools and delicate magico-electronic equipment wobbling and rattling. “Ooh, what do these do?” Twilight waved her forehooves frantically. “Wait, no! Stop! I’ll tell you!” Pinkie Pie skidded to a noisy halt in mid-air, then floated gently to the floor. “So, it is a surprise! Is it a surprise for me? Don’t tell me if it’s for me!” Twilight quickly weighed the consequences of lying to Pinkie about this, then remembered what happened when she and their other friends tried to cover for the pink pony’s surprise party. She decided that honesty was, indeed, the only sane policy. “It’s not for you, so you’ve got to swear this stays just between us, okay?” “Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye!” Pinkie recited, making the accompanying gestures of the Pinkie Swear with gusto. Twilight stepped aside to reveal a golden, gem-studded crown topped with a pink jewel cut into the shape of a six-rayed star. The headgear was wrapped at either end with copper wire and covered with electrodes and other sensory apparatus. “Hey, that’s your crowny-thing!” Pinkie exclaimed. “How come it’s not in the vault back up in Canterlot?” “Well, after that incident at the wedding, I was a bit worried about having the Elements of Harmony that only we can use locked up in a vault we can’t open ourselves miles and miles away from where we live. I mean, what if Shining Armor had been betrothed to some useless floozy instead of Cadance? I don’t want the fate of Equestria hanging on my older brother’s taste in mares!” “So the princess let you keep yours here? But what about the rest?” Twilight pawed the floor, looking somewhat embarrassed. “That’s…not exactly what happened.” Pinkie raised her eyebrows. “Oh?” “I wrote the princess about it, and she replied with a lot of patronizing statements about ‘national treasures’ and ‘not wanting to add to your many responsibilities’ and ‘falling into the wrong hooves’. She even implied I’d take the thing apart to figure out how it works! Can you imagine?” Pinkie glanced back at the equipment-encrusted crown and opened her mouth to speak. “That doesn’t count!” Twilight snapped, pre-empting her. “It’s still in one piece!” The unicorn took a moment to compose herself. “Anyway there’s nothing to be concerned about, right? I mean, it’s an Element of Harmony! How can you misuse harmony?” Pinkie looked puzzled. “But if the princess said no, then how do you have it? Did you sneak into the palace again and forget to invite me? Last time was so much fun!” Twilight waved a hoof dismissively. “No, of course not! I wouldn’t rob the palace!” “But that time you went in to get the time spell, you—” “That wasn’t robbery. I was allowed to be there, the guards said so!” “Then why did we wear those—” “I hadn’t slept for six days, alright? I was under a lot of stress!” “You shoulda let me help with the planning!” Pinkie chirped. “Hay bale, trench coat and nose glasses! Wa-a-ay better than those pinchy rubber suits.” Twilight briefly tried to imagine what she’d have assumed if her future self had suddenly appeared to her dressed like that. She’d probably deduce that Pinkie was involved somehow and write it off as more or less normal. “So-o-o?” Pinkie said, snapping Twilight from her reverie. “Howdja get it?” “I woke up this morning, and it was just sitting on my bedside table, next to this letter,” Twilight said, picking up a scroll with telekinesis and floating it over to Pinkie. On the scroll was written: Our Loyal Subject Twilight Sparkle, Thy scheme to keep the Elements of Harmony near to thyself and thy friends hath reached our royal ear, and we find it most pleasing in its boldness and plain sense. Though Our Royal Sister hath expressed her doubts about this endeavor, we are certain thou possesseth the might and wisdom to remain with thy element at all times. Verily, thou couldst do no worse than Our Royal Sister’s so-called impregnable magic vault, which presented no challenge to the machinations of Discord (cursed be he!) yet became a nigh-catastrophic inconvenience during the recent unpleasantness with the changelings. Furthermore, the Elements of Harmony, which Our Royal Sister hath permitted to languish first among the ruins of our ancient seat, and thereafter within the ineffectual embrace of aforesaid vault, remain just as arcane as they were a millennium past. In order to avert future catastrophes and allow the study of these mighty artifacts for the good of all creatures and the promotion of harmony everywhere, we, Luna, Princess of the Night and Co-Ruler of Equestria, hereby entrust to thee, Twilight Sparkle, the Element of Magic and all responsibilities of its preservation, protection and use. The text up until then had been in regular black ink written with a tight, precise script. The next part, however, was written in great looping strokes of midnight-blue ink that seemed to shimmer and shine even though it was dry. DOUBT NOT THE GRAVITY OF THE DUTY ASSIGNED TO THEE, TWILIGHT SPARKLE! THE FATE OF EQUESTRIA RIDETH UPON THY BACK. STRAY FROM THE PATH OF WISDOM AND ALL THAT THOU LOVEST SHALL SURELY PERISH IN CALAMITY! Pinkie giggled. “She even writes in that voice!” Normal script and black ink resumed. Mention not this gift. save to the other bearers under utmost confidence. Allow us to be the first to tell of this to Our Royal Sister. We shall, as modern ponies say, ‘break her to it gently’ and ‘smooth things around.’ Any ire she hath shall fall upon us and not thee. While we do this, we earnestly urge thee to unravel the mysteries of the Elements of Harmony. Having to depend upon such poorly-understood tools for Equestria’s survival sorely vexes both us and Our Royal Sister, loath as she is to burden any of her subjects, even thee, with her concerns. We trust thou wilt investigate thy element with appropriate care and delicacy. We wish thee best of luck. May the spirits of Harmony guide thy endeavors. Sincerely, HRM Luna The “Royal Canterlot Text” appeared again at the bottom corner of the page: P.S. BEWARE THE MACHINATIONS OF ALCHEMISTS!! “Are you sure this is real? I thought Princess Luna didn’t talk like that anymore.” Twilight held up a silvery disk stamped with the image of a crescent moon. “The seal on it was real enough. Besides, it’s normal to be more formal with letters than with everyday speech.” Pinkie gave the letter back to Twilight. “So, you’re going to send the crown back, right?” the pink pony asked. “What? No!” Twilight said. “I can’t. Do you realize how much trouble I’d be in?” “But you said Princess Celestia said—” “Yeah, and then Princess Luna said the opposite! Ever since we de-monstered her, they’re both the boss of me. If I tell Princess Celestia what’s going on, Luna will be mad at me for disobeying her, and Celestia’ll be mad at Luna for going over her head!” Twilight gulped. “And then Celestia would be mad at me too, because I caused all the trouble by not keeping my mouth shut, and I betrayed her sister’s trust! But…but if she finds out I’m doing this against her wishes…” her voice trailed off into a whimper and her left eye began to twitch with anxiety. Pinkie lunged forward and bear-hugged her neurotic friend. “Aww, there, there,” she cooed. “Don’t worry, Twilight! You told me your secret, and I believe you, so I’m gonna help us get through this together. You don’t have to go and start using magic mind control on the whole town line like last time, okay?” The unicorn grimaced at the reminder, but returned the embrace. “I…don’t think compelling everypony to riot is going to do me any good, Pinkie.” “That’s the spirit!” her friend said. “See? You’re already doing better than before!” The pink pony finally let Twilight go and turned back to the crown on the table. “So what are you doing with this now?” “I’m doing what Luna told me to; I’m studying it. The moment I hear otherwise from Celestia, I’m going to do what she tells me instead, and so on.” Twilight lowered her head and sighed. “Things were so much simpler when we only had one ruler.” She suddenly brightened. “Still, I think I’ve got a lead on something interesting!” “Ooh! What is it?” “You know that bit at the end of the letter?” Pinkie looked nervously over her shoulder at the staircase. “The warning about the alkie-whatsits? Are they after you, Twilight?” Twilight rolled her eyes. “No, there aren’t any alchemists any more, if there ever were. Everypony liked to blame things on evil alchemists hundreds of years ago, and then the whole system fell out of favor as the principles of transmutation became better-understood. I’m talking about the part where she mentions the ‘spirits of Harmony’.” “What’s so special about that? Isn’t that just some old-fashioned way of saying ‘bye’, like ‘may the Horse be with you’?” The unicorn tilted her head back and assumed her lecturing tone. “That’s the common explanation nowadays, but it wasn’t always like that. Way back when Equestria was ruled by Discord, there were all these old pony tales about forces that opposed him. If Discord is the embodiment of chaos and strife, the ponies back then were sure there were also spirits that represented harmony and order.” “And then Celestia and Luna found the Elements of Harmony!” Pinkie interrupted. Twilight nodded. “That’s right. Most ponies assumed that was the answer; the Elements of Harmony were the counterbalance to the spirit of chaos. Still, there were other theories. The princesses have been very closed-mouthed on exactly what led them to find the elements in the first place. Based on my research, I believe that there are also actual beings that embody harmony the way Discord does chaos, not just these magical artifacts that our friendship allows us to use.” “Woooow,” Pinkie breathed, “that would be really amazing! All Equestria has secret spirit friends! But…if you’re right, where were they when Discord got out again?” “That’s what I’m trying to discover,” Twilight said, tapping the crown. “The elements are connected to the spirits, all the sources agree on that, and nopony but us has used them for over a thousand years. I’m going to make the Element of Magic a beacon to them.” Pinkie hopped in place with giddy excitement. “And you said this would be boring! So, if it works, can we throw them a big ‘welcome back’ party?” She had a realization and suddenly deflated. “Oh, right. I promised it’d be a secret.” Twilight smiled hopefully at the crown. “We might get around to that eventually. If my theories are correct, a spirit of perfect harmony could help us get things straightened out with the princesses, and then there’ll be no need to keep it a secret.” She clapped her front hooves together. “It’s the perfect solution!” “Hooray! Let’s get this show on the road!”