//------------------------------//
// Chapter 2 
// Story: Bearers of the Elements 
// by fluttershywriter 
//------------------------------//

	"Tia! Tia, wake up!"

I reluctantly opened my eyes and ran a hoof through my tangled pink mane. I had woken up at four in the morning to raise the sun, but I'd been so tired that I'd barely cracked my eyes open, and I'd collapsed back into bed and fallen back asleep without a second thought. 

A tiny blue filly was pouncing on me, her squeaky voice loud and wild. Perfect—a morning that started out with a sister like this could only mean that I was going to have a difficult day. A glance across the room told me that her bouncing hadn't been for nothing, though—it was six o' clock, meaning that I had an hour to make myself look presentable and fly on the chariot across town. And since Luna wouldn't let anypony but me take care of her, that meant that I had to take her with me.

Wonderful.

"Luna, get off," I snapped. "You have an hour to get ready. You have to come to town hall with me, okay? Go ask Gustave to make you some eggs and toast, and bring something up for me, too. Make sure to brush your teeth well when you're done—you didn't brush hard enough last night." The taste inside of my mouth reminded me that I hadn't brushed at all last night, not to mention the fact that I hadn't bathed in several days. Ugh.

"Tia, listen to me!" said Luna, following me as I walked to the bathroom. Wiggling her legs, she jumped up on my back and tugged at my mane. "There's something weird going on outside and I'm scared."

"That's great," Luna," I said absently, levitating my toothbrush and scrubbing my teeth so hard that Luna nearly fell off my back.

"Augh! Tia! Listen to me!"

"Luna, I'm really busy right now," I groaned, running a hoof through my mane and closing my eyes. "We'll have plenty of time to talk on the chariot ride there about whatever weird thing it is that's going on outside. Just go downstairs and bother Gustave for a while, huh?" I tried to untangle my mane, desperately wishing that I'd thought to condition my hair last night. At least Luna had stopped tugging at it—she'd slid off of my back moments ago, and though I didn't look away from the mirror, I heard her hoofsteps leading away from me. 

I caught a glimpse of a blue filly in the corner of my mirror. Instead of going downstairs to the kitchen, as I'd thought, she was now standing next to the bathtub, trying to reach the window, which currently had its curtains drawn over it. Sighing, I stomped over to her, letting my hairbrush clatter to the tiled floor. "Luna, I don't know what's wrong with you, but if opening this window will make you stop, I'm willing to do this." The curtains radiated with a silvery glow as I harshly yanked them open and took a quick glance out the window.

On the streets, ponies ran rampant, trying to escape from what appeared to be giant rabbits and squirrels. Running appeared incredibly difficult, though, as the ground would often tremble violently at random intervals. More than that, though, it was shimmering with a slippery liquid that the ponies kept on falling on, badly scraping their knees or bloodying their noses. Strangest of all, though, pink clouds drifted above the city, following around certain ponies and pouring brown liquid onto them in sudden spurts every few seconds.

My jaw dropped open.

Luna looked at me with what could have been triumph if she wasn't so scared. "See, Tia?" she said, her voice quavering. "I dunno what's going on and it's scary."

"I . . . well, yeah. I guess you could say that." At a loss for words, I shook my head, trying to clear the image of Canterlot in utter chaos. Nope.

Abandoning the tiny window, I walked into my study room, where a window took up half the wall. While the view had changed, the amount of insane occurrences hadn't changed one bit.

"Tia?" said Luna timidly. I didn't answer. My legs felt as though they could fall out from beneath me at any second, so I decided that it was best not to use up any more oxygen than I had to.

"Tia?" asked Luna again, and I shook myself, feeling determination come over me. My country was scared, and even if there were far more competent ponies to rule a country, I had to stop them from feeling as though there was no hope. More than that, though, my little sister was terrified, and I wasn't about to stand still like I was some sort of coward.

"We're going to need to go to town hall now," I said, using a commanding tone. I rarely showed any sort of dramatic discipline, so when I spoke in a commanding voice, everypony complied. "Luna, you're going to fetch me my hairbrush. Then, you're going to follow me wherever I end up going. No talking, no whining, and no dawdling. Do you understand?"

My sister stood speechless in front of me for half a second before sprinting off in the direction of the bathroom. The second she whipped around the corner, I sank down onto the floor, pressing a hoof to my forehead. I needed to think. I didn't turn towards the window again, though my brain itched to see what other disasters would occur. But something in my gut told me that seeing the pink clouds and the brown rain—what was that, anyway, chocolate milk?—would send me into an insane screaming fit. Luna didn't need to see that.

As I thought of my sister, she scrambled into the room, my hairbrush in her mouth. She spat it out wordlessly, looking up at me with wide, scared eyes. I felt a pang of sorrow. No matter what panic I was feeling, it had to be ten times worse for a filly her age.

"Thanks, Luna," I said, leaning in and nuzzling her cheek. She nodded seriously, keeping her lips tightly sealed together. I hesitated, then sighed and shook my head. "Luna, you can talk if you want."

She bit her lip. "Okay," she said, her voice quivering. She didn't say anything after that, though—she merely put her hoof into her mouth and hopped onto my back, taking in shuddering breath after shuddering breath. I glanced back at her, but her face was hidden in my mane.

Right. Nothing to do but go to town hall and get it over with. I spread my wings and flew down the stairs, nearly knocking over a few precious statues in my haste to get to the bottom floor. I'd be able to think about this whole disaster on the chariot ride to town hall.







"You've got to be kidding me," I said disbelievingly, shaking my head. Normally, I was pretty tolerant and polite with the royal guards, but this was completely unacceptable. Not that it was their fault, but . . .

While I struggled with the reality of the whole situation, Luna clambered down off of my back and experimentally poked at the royal guards, who remained as stiff-faced as ever. A small smile appeared on her face, and she giggled for the first time all day. "Tia, how'd this happen?"

I facehooved. "Do you really think that I know, Luna?" I asked sharply, forgetting for a moment to be scared and just getting irritated with my sister. I turned to the royal guards. "How did this happen?" I asked grudgingly. I knew that I was being rude, but at the moment, I had better things to worry about than proper manners. Such as the fact that—well, such as the fact that my royal guards had been turned into frogs. Frogs. Frogs with spears and helmets, and frogs that could talk, but frogs nonetheless.

"We woke up like this, my lady," croaked the frog on the left. Even as a frog, he managed to sound stiff and formal. I felt a wave of homesickness wash over me. Although I was in my home, I wanted a normal home, a home where the guards were formal pegasi and I had a meeting in town hall about politics, not—well, not whatever was happening at the moment.

"Right. Well, that doesn't matter." I rubbed my forehead with my hoof, feeling as though an enormous headache was coming on. "I supposed this means that you can't fly us there, then?" I asked, sending a hopeless glance at Luna, who was currently rolling on the ground with silent laughter and pointing at the frogs. A head shake came from both the guards. "Great. Well, I don't think we'll be able to catch some other sort of carriage. Come on, Luna, we're walking." I scooped up my giggling sister and put her on my back, trying not to get too irritated with anypony.

Stepping outside made my irritation retreat and my fear come roaring back full force. The sight of ponies shrieking and glancing around in horror made my insides shrink and my heart pound, but I steeled myself and kept on walked in the direction of town hall. I heard Luna's giggles die instantly, and once again, I felt Luna snuggle into my mane as if it was a blanket of some sort.

I avoided eye contact with anypony who hadn't run into their homes yet, but it was hard. The moment I got within twenty feet of anypony, I would hear a hushed "Look!" or a hissed "It's the princesses!" Fortunately, hiding from the public became easier when a monster-sized cloud hung over my head, casting a shadow over Luna and I—although I took back my gratitude when sticky brown liquid began pouring out of it. I shrieked and covered my eyes, feeling a chocolaty aroma fill my nostrils. I glanced back at Luna, squinting through the rain, and saw that my sister was taking it well. She had her head tilted up to meet the cloud, and so much rain had filled her mouth that it was dribbling out of the sides. I yelped and clamped her mouth shut. She murmured in protest before swallowing some of the liquid. "What?" she complained through the brown rain.

"You don't know what this rain is!" I hissed, my eyes wide. Great, she was probably going to get some sort of disease from the mysterious rain now. One more thing to add to my list of worries.

She swallowed the rest of her mouthful. "Yes, I do," she said, staring at me as if I were a moron. "It's chocolate milk."

I spluttered, trying to come up with an answer to this, but I gave up and let her drink. She hadn't had breakfast, and I decided that it was best that she entered the town hall with a full stomach. She tended to get cranky when she didn't have hear meals.

By the time we finally approached the town hall, my unkempt mane was covered in chocolate, my typically white coat had been stained to a faint brown, and I was in the worst mood I'd ever been in in my life. Luna, on the other hand, was in a decent mood, to say the least. She seemed to have forgotten the chaotic state that Equestria was in—which, personally, I was fine with. I preferred chocolate-stuffed and happy Luna to crying and scared Luna. At least now, she might fall asleep during the council instead of clinging to me and whining.

I pushed open the door to the town hall, stomping in and shaking as much chocolate milk as I could out of my mane. The room, which was filled with dignified-looking unicorns, fell silent. They bowed deeply as I passed them, but there was a curiosity radiating about them that everypony could sense.

"Hello," I said, trying to sum up as much dignity as I could. I felt gawky and awkward in the room of fully-grown unicorns, but I found my place at the throne at the front of my room. Luna sat on my lap and tried to braid my chocolaty mane.

"I suppose . . . I suppose that . . ." I cleared my throat and tried to start again. "I mean, I suppose that you all are wondering what's going on out there."

Silence. A few heads bobbed up and down, and I let out a small, quiet sigh. This was going to be uncomfortable. "Well, the truth is that I don't know what's going on. At all. I just woke up, and when I was raising the sun, I didn't notice since I did it inside and I was so tired, and I haven't actually eaten breakfast yet and—" I stopped. Great, now I was rambling. Excellent way to inspire faith, Celestia. "What I mean is . . . well, I don't know. I haven't read any books on what's happening right now."

"That's because what's happening rarely happens, and when it does, we don't speak of it." A mare with spectacles sighed and shook her head, looking sorrowful as she levitated a stack of papers into the air. "It's hard to explain what's going on, but we can put it simply: there is a spirit of chaos somewhere. We don't know if it inhabits the body of a pony or if it's merely a spirit, but there are few ways to combat it."

"Few ways?" I asked, sitting up straighter. "You mean that there are some ways to beat it?"

"Well . . . yes. Perhaps." A stallion sitting several chairs down from me stood up, taking a few papers from the mare and looking down at them. "The best in Equestria have done some research on it, and supposedly there are some mythical objects that can save us from this chaotic state."

"Really?" I sat up even straighter, paying more attention than I ever had in a meeting like this. "Are there—I've never read about anything like—what I mean is, where are they? Are we certain that their power will work? What are they?"

The stallion looked at me gravely. "We don't know precisely where they are," he said simply. "Supposedly, they're in a forest not far from here, in ruins deep in the woods. And we can never be certain if the power will work, but they're the only hope that we have right now."

I blinked, processing this information. Even Luna, who typically fell asleep halfway through these meetings, was staring around the room with her mouth open. "So . . . so which forest are they in? How will they be found? Who's going to search for them, anyway? This really doesn't make any—"

"Ooh!" A squeaky voice rose from the seat of the chair. I glanced down just in time to notice Luna leap up in the air, her wings buzzing for a split second. "I know! Tia and I could look for them! 'Cause we're the princesses and all, and we might have better magic than other ponies!"

I froze. "What?" I hissed at Luna between my teeth, resisting the urge to pick her up and shake her in front of the entire counsel. Turning back to everypony, I smiled and let out an embarrassed laugh. "I apologize. But pardon me—I still don't know the name of the forest, or even what we're supposed to be searching for, really."

The stallion who had mentioned the mythical objects seemed to only be half-listening to what I was saying, though. "You two, find the Elements?" he said absently. "That's not a bad idea." A murmur of assent went up around the room, growing louder and more excited with every second that went by. I glanced down at Luna, who was grinning at me like she'd just discovered the cure for the pony pox.

"Excuse me?" I called over the noise. Slowly, it faded into nothing but a few mutters. "What are the Elements?"

"Oh! Yes, a thousand pardons, your majesty. The Elements of Harmony are what you'll be searching for in the forest." He held up one of the sheets of paper that he was holding so that it faced me. Five necklaces were depicted on it, along with a tiara at the top. "They represent six of the things that create perfect harmony: kindness, laughter, honesty, generosity, loyalty, and magic. Together, they can create a force powerful enough to save Equestria from anything, even a chaotic state such as this." He let the paper flutter to the ground, blinking at me as I absorbed this information. "The Elements of Harmony can be found in a forest not far from here, in an area so remote that it doesn't yet have a name. We can direct you to it, but the rest must be done on your own." He bowed to me, as if he was apologizing for suggesting that a teenager and a little filly go into an unnamed forest alone.

My head swam, and I felt my earlier headache coming back full force. "But I don't . . . this isn't . . . pardon me, sir, but I don't think I understand. You are suggesting that my sister and I enter an unknown forest to search for items that have an unknown location? This seems a bit . . . well, strange."

"I know that it may seem very strange to you," said the stallion, backpedaling quickly. "Naturally, if you don't want to do it, we can take other volunteers, certainly, there will be other ponies who would adore doing it. In fact, I'm not sure if it is the best idea for our two princesses to go. The delicacy of princesses such as you would be greatly damaged by going on a quest of this sort, and the last thing we need is for our perfect princesses to change their demeanor." Around the room, heads bobbed up and down vigorously in panicked agreement.

I glanced around, raising an eyebrow. They seemed so earnest that it almost seemed as if they were being sarcastic, but as I examined their expressions, I saw nothing but honesty—and fear, naturally. There was always the fear. And the sight of that fear, today, was too much for me. I had barely gotten any sleep, pink clouds were raining chocolate milk, I hadn't eaten breakfast, and now everypony was either suggesting that I go on a suicide mission or stay in Canterlot so that I wouldn't damage my "delicate demeanor." The combination of these thoughts was causing me to nearly go mad, and in that moment, I made a split-second decision.

"I'll go," I blurted out, immediately silencing the mutters of the ponies. All heads snapped in my direction—except for Luna, who had curled up in a little chocolate-bloated ball and fallen asleep on my throne. Great. The pony who had suggested this idiotic trip was now asleep, acting as if she hadn't played any part in this trip to a dangerous forest.

Another stallion spoke up, falling into a graceful bow before me. The rest of the ponies in the room followed suit. "Our princesses are not only graceful and dignified"—I shot a look at Luna, who was now sprawled out with her hoof in her mouth—"but selfless and courageous." He straightened up. "May I assume that you will begin your trek tomorrow evening?"

I froze. "Wait. But I—" I hesitated, letting my eyes fall on all the hopeful faces shining up at me. "Yes," I sighed, wishing that I had more willpower. So stupid, I thought, that everypony in this room is placing all their hope in a stupid teenager and a filly who has barely passed her seventh birthday.

"Excellent," said a mare briskly, standing up sharply and strolling out of the town hall. Other ponies began to follow suit, pushing benches and chairs back and heading towards the door (which had several pink clouds lurking outside, just waiting to pour chocolate on the heads of unsuspecting ponies). "We will be prepared to escort you to the forest at five P.M. tomorrow evening."

"Uh . . . yes," I said weakly, wondering why I had agreed to go on the quest at all. "Um—best wishes to you all."

I sat, completely still, for the next few minutes before scooping my snoring sister up and setting her on my back. "Loads of help you've done me," I muttered to her, wishing that blaming her would make everything easier. "You do know that you're sending us on a death trip, don't you?" She merely snuggled into my mane, sighing from her cheerful dreams.

I had reached the door during my one-sided discussion with Luna, but instead of exiting, I merely tilted up my face and closed my eyes, taking a in a deep breath. A few patches of sunlight hit my face, and I smiled, my heart rate slowing down a bit. No matter what, I would always have the sun. Although it was my job to raise the moon as well—at least, it would be until Luna got old enough—the sunlight on my face always made me feel calm and serene. It was nice knowing that no matter how many mistakes I made, or however many stupid quests in unknown forests I had to go into to find the "Elements," there would always be one steady thing that would never change.

The warmth disappeared from my face. I opened one eyes and discovered that several pink clouds were hovering over my head. There was a moment of brief calm before buckets of chocolate milk came pouring down onto my head, awakening my sister and causing her to fall off of my back. There was a thump, quickly followed by loud wails that mingled nicely with the pounding of chocolate milk rain.

Lovely.