The Music Box
Princess Luna shifted saddlebags on her back to be more comfortable while she flies. She was ready to leave, to go out and see this new world and find the truth about Terra. She was preparing in the courtyard of the castle in Canterlot. Many guards had volunteered to go along with her but she refused. Something Luna had noticed however that as she prepared to leave, her sister seemed to become ever more worried about her. Even when she held that supportive smile as she approached her.
“You seem eager to leave sister,” Celestia said as she approached Luna in the courtyard.
Luna looked at her sister, as stoic as she is to her citizens, she cannot fool her sister with a smile. Her worries were clear even if she kept them directly to herself. It didn’t matter, Luna would go about her plans, and what is interesting is that Celestia supports her in this. It is rather strange to think about it, she wants her to leave and settle her mind, but she also wants her to stay here to be safe. It’s a matter of what she says to Luna now before she leaves.
“I am, and the guard has been quite helpful in gathering supplies. They are well trained in preparation, though from what I’ve seen they do not hold well in battle as they had in our time,” Luna said.
“Time has changed the world, and I have rebuilt the kingdom into an age of peace,” Celestia said proudly.
“Sister, peace is not what I have seen in the time I have been back. Discord had returned, an ursa minor gone rampant in the valley, timberwolves growing wildly by the numbers, the war with changelings, the near loss of the Crystal Empire for the second time, and just recently the town of Ponyville was held hostage by a mare who somehow acquired an alicorn amulet! I am sorry sister but it doesn’t quite seem as though you have as much control as you thought you had,” Luna said boldly and straightforward.
“What do you suggest I do?” Celestia asked, curious to know what her sister believed.
“You and I cannot be everywhere at one time sister. We need help, we need something more powerful. We need to find The Legends of Equestria as we had in the past, and I am leaving to find at least one of them,” Luna said to her sister, then turned to leave.
“Something more powerful?” Celestia asked herself out loud as she watched her sister lunge into the air and fly away.
Perhaps she does need help to protect Equestria, the Elements of Harmony and her sister had done so much but it is now a matter of time before they discover something they cannot handle on their own. Searching for a solution grew ever more difficult and worrisome as Celestia entered the castle. She stopped near a window and wondered; how desperate are they? Celestia gazed out the window, fearing the idea growing in her mind as she looked out over the gardens and the statues within them.
Elsewhere in Equestria, Elder followed the green dragon into his lair; wary of an attack but his curiosity supersedes his caution. As he entered the main chamber, which was incredibly large and teaming with hills of treasure, it was large enough for the dragon to sit up as well. Elder took his time as he walked in, maintaining a fair distance from any of the treasure. He cares not for wealth and most definitely does not want a battle born from false accusations. Elder knows how dragons are with their hoard.
“Why do you put so much trust in me dragon?” Elder asked.
“I need a unicorn’s magic pony. That is why I brought you here. However I trust you just as much as you trust me, which I believe is very little,” the dragon said as he dug his way through piles of treasure searching for something.
“At least you’re straightforward, but what is it you need magic for?” Elder asked as he glared at the dragon’s wings, they’re incredibly damaged which would hinder his ability to fly, if at all.
“The last unicorn that I had encountered had fled, she was a young mare with a baby dragon upon her back. Apparently I was far too intimidating, but the youngling was consuming my gemstones,” the dragon said as he continued his digging.
“It isn’t hard for me to believe seeing ponies this far in the Everfree Forest is a rare occasion,” Elder said, still both excited and surprised to be conversing with a dragon.
“I have lived here for many centuries, and I would occasionally migrate with others when I felt my wings were strong enough. No matter, you had asked me of the white alicorn. I was there, a thousand years ago, young, foolish, and arrogant too. I had clutched that alicorn in my very claws digging into his hide. I thrust him into the ramparts of the castle and watched,” the dragon said in a dramatic tale, waving his arms about and flapping his wings as though he was living it again.
“Did he die?” Elder questioned cautiously.
“That alicorn was strong, I didn’t have the honor of killing him myself, nothing did! That alicorn fought back to back for some time against those hoards with another. Until the shadows came of course,” the dragon said.
“So he’s alive, what happened?” Elder asked.
“I watched from above unicorn, the shadows crept in on them. It drove back the swarms and surrounded the duo. The shadows corrupted the one that was already corrupt. However I am unsure of what that other had planned. He used magic, powerful magic! Locked the white alicorn in a box,” the dragon said.
“So Terra was trapped within a box with magic, where is this box?” Elder asked.
“I stole it from the shadows years ago, at a cost,” the dragon said as he shifted his wings.
“You have it?” Elder asked, hoping that the dragon wouldn’t request something to trade for it.
The dragon uncovered a rocky mound; the rock had been molten and solidified. He smashed the mound with his fist until it cracked to pieces. The dragon lifted a large iron chest with a piece of metal wrapped around it. The dragon pulled until the metal band loosened and slipped off, the dragon the placed the iron chest in front of Elder.
“I had to hide it well, the shadows came looking for it. You can have it, so long as you find a way to rid the land of these shadows. I grow weary of their presence, and they are getting worse,” the dragon bargained.
“I’ll do what I can,” Elder said.
“I’m sure you can make far greater use of it than I can,” the dragon said as he lifted the lid and sat away from the iron chest.
Elder walked up to the large iron chest, he looked inside to see a fancy wooden box. He lifted it out with magic and carried it over to where he could see it clearly. It was intricately decorated with stars carved into whatever rare wood it was made from. A metal crescent moon served as a latch for the lid of the box. Elder tried to slide the crescent moon out to unlock the box but it wouldn’t budge. He inspected it further, discovering a knob in the back to wind. This was a music box.
“Where did you find the music box?” Elder asked.
“The shadows had used me, promised me treasures and my own lands, but only harassed me, lied to me for centuries and angered me. I tore my way through the crumbling ruins and stole the music box,” the dragon said.
“It was from the castle,” Elder said, fascinated by the music box’s quality.
“Can you open it unicorn?” the dragon asked.
“I don’t believe that I can, but I am sure I know who this belonged to. I am sure she could open it,” Elder said.
“It’s been a thousand years since ponies lived in the forest, whoever possessed that is surely dead by now,” the dragon said.
“Oh you’d be surprised how often ponies spring back into the known world from that era. Trust me on this, the owner is still alive,” Elder said.
“I can escort you to the edge of the forest but I cannot go further,” the dragon offered.
“I’ll take you up on that offer, but what happened to the other, the one that was corrupted?” Elder asked.
“I cannot say for sure unicorn, I have been in many battles in these woods. It is hard to be sure what is seen anymore, but I can tell you he wasn’t killed then,” the dragon said as they left the cave.
“You think that he could still be alive as well?” Elder asked as the two made their way through the trees.
“What I can tell you unicorn, is that he is no longer a pony after what the shadows had done to him. It filled him with corruption, hate, fear, a puppet to the shadows, just an extension of pure evil. If you do happen to see that creature, do not believe that there is anything worth saving. I know how ponies are, just as foolish as I was arrogant in my youth,” the dragon warned.
“You have my word on that, and I have to agree with you. Even to me it seems my kind in this era is so much different, as though the world has been too merciful on them. Although it is terrible to think of our time as the unmerciful age,” Elder said regretfully.
“Our time?” the dragon questioned.
“It seems we have all lost something in that battle so long ago, things we practically can’t live without,” Elder said as he glanced at the pack strapped to his shoulder.
“The trees are far too thick here for me to continue. The valley is not far unicorn, only timberwolves would venture this close to the outer edges of the forest,” the dragon said as he stopped.
Elder simply nodded toward the dragon, he knew that it was hard enough for the dragon to let him into his domain let alone walk away with the music box. The green spiked dragon blew smoke out of his nostrils, then turned and made his way back into the Everfree Forest. Elder carried the music box through the trees and made his way into the valley without incident. He was curious that the shadows hadn’t followed or attacked him, but he was far more concerned that they wanted him to escape with the music box.
Whatever the situation would be, he would return the music box to Princess Luna. Hopefully she can open it and release Terra if the fool is still alive, and hopefully there is nothing more that the shadows had actually planned for him to escape with the box. It was troubling though, the thought brewing within the darker regions of his mind. He now held Terra, the one who failed, the only other he held responsible for the death of his family besides himself; trapped in a little wooden box.
“They believed in you, they believed you would protect them, but no. You failed them, you lost to Discord and left behind a deserted wasteland. You’re just as responsible for their deaths as the orator is!” Elder yelled as he used his magic to thrust the box over a grassy hill with rage.
Elder immediately had mixed feelings, he had lost his family and he now has nothing left but himself. He could decide to judge for himself and condemn one of the three he held responsible. He made his way over the hill and picked up the music box which had rolled to the bottom of the hill. He brushed off the dirt and the grass and inspected it. The box was undamaged; he then looked up from it and saw the Town of Ponyville in the distance.
“Have faith she said. I’ll do this for her, not for you or whatever terrible plan you concoct if you’re still alive in there,” Elder said as he walked to Ponyville.