//------------------------------//
// Chapter 7  
// Story: Legends of Harmony Season 1 
// by AlphaOmega 
//------------------------------//

Elements of Harmony Chapter 7 Season 1

By AlphaOmega

"Hey pass me the hayfries!"

The Mane 6 along with Celestia and Luna were eating a fantastic breakfast. They had everything brought in from the finest places. Food was stacked high all along the royal table. There was strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, all the berries! Apples and other delicious breakfast food for vegetarians were spread across the table. It truly was a splendid meal.

"Calm down Dashie. I'll ask the head waiter for more."

After moving from the safe area after the previous nights explosion, the ponies were hungry. Fortunately, Luna and Celestia combied there power to quickly rebuild as much of the castle dining area and kitchen so they could at least enjoy a meal.

While the Mane 6 were enjoying their meal, Celestia was distraught. The dream last night was truly shocking. She could barely think straight. She was afraid her magic wasn't focus enough and the roof would cave in. But fortunately, Luna has recovered her strength and helped rebuild. But Celestia knew something far worse than yesterday's disaster was coming.

Celestia stood up to speak. "My friends. I believe it is time we spoke of how we will acquire the Essences."

Rainbow and Applejack looked at the princess as they calmed down. Twilight and the other girls returned to their seats after looking around the room. Luna had just walked in a few minutes ago and was wiping the sleep from her eyes. 

They then began to eat as Celestia explained the situation.

"Darlem is returning from the demon world I sent him to. He will arrive within a month or so. Let's assume he will attack in about a month. By this time, we must gather the essences and recast the spell. If we fail, Equestria will be doomed." She explained.

"He is one of the most powerful magicians to ever live. Even you, Twilight, and my sister are outmatched compared to his abilities. He nearly matches mine! However, with the Essences, we will stand a chance against him. The Elements of Harmony are powerful tools, but they will only match you to his abilities. If it comes down to that, he will use years of training and magic to defeat us."

"We must aquire the Essences. I have used my magic to trace down where it could possibly be. I have marked them here on a map." Celestia brought over a map of the entire world. "You ponies may think we are the only kind of race. However, many other places exist. The Griffon kingdom. The Mermen of Talacost. The Nation of Zebricana. These are but a few of the many other species living on this planet."

"I sensed an Essences here." She pointed to a mountainous region. "This is the Lava Caves of Entity. It is still an active volcano. Here, I sense a Essences near the center of an active volcano. You will need a potent magic spell," She looked at Twilight "to safely navigate through this area."

Twilight thought it over. "I may know a few things. I could use a heat protection spell. However, we may need to cross lava and sometimes my magic isn't powerful enough against nature. I will do my best!"

Celestia nodded. "The next Essence is something I have given to a friend of mine many, many years ago. He lived in the cloud city of Aeropolis. They are well known for their use of cloud energy to use machines. Their current leader, Arrow Wing, cut off contact with me several years ago. I have not heard from him since. You will need to negotiate with him and somehow get the Essence."
Pinkie Pie interupted. "Maybe we can throw him a party!....No?" Everypony just stared at her before Futtershy laughed. "Sure Pinkie Pie. We can throw him a party once I negotiate peace. I have had much experience with peace. Many woodland creatures have nearly gone to war with each other over territory." The other ponies in the room just stared at Fluttershy's confidence. She truly had grown up from the shy girl she was. Also, they wondered how a bunch of squirrel would fight a squad of chipmunks for a tree.

Celestia continued. "This is all I have sensed as of now. You six must gather these 2 Essences. Once you have them, we can divulge the next locations for the other Essences. For now, let s finish breakfast and head down to the supply rooms."


As they finished their meal, the ponies gathered in the Princess' war room. "I have not used this since the Great Battle with Discord. It brings back some dark times..." Luna said. While it was not always in use, it did serve its purpose.
It was a magificent room. The ceiling stood high as they lit the candles. There was a vault at the other end of the room. Next to it was an armory room. Rarity spoke up. "Princess, you can't possibly expect us to wear or use weapons and armor right? I mean, just look at those hunks of metal!" She nearly fainted at the design of the armor. It really was crude and had no special artistry. However, it had served many ponies well in the past and the princess kept them just in case of an invasion.

"I admit they are not the most aesthetic feature of the room. However, they are very sturdy and made from a powerful metal. These ca withstand magic attacks and even a few sword blows." The princess showed them the weapons vault. 

"You will be attacked on this journey. I would give you a guard to go with you but I need to fortify our defenses and check on our allies. So please, pick your weapon."

None of them had ever used a weapon before. However, it was only for self defense. No one needed to get hurt who didn't mean to harm them. They walked around the room. There were many weapons all over the place. Muskets and long swords lined the wall of the vast vault.

Rainbow was the first to take a weapon. "Awwwww yeah! Look at this huge baby!" She said as she held up a massive sword. She could barely lift it. 

"Uh...nevermind. I need my speed if I want to be fast."

"May I make suggestions?" Princess Celestia asked. The group nodded their approval. "Rainbow Dash. I believe these are the weapons you will wield best." She handed her 2 daggers. "With speed, these can be powerful tool. However, you must be within range. But I am sure you are fast enough to get out of danger when you need to." Celestia smiled as Rainbow took the light weapons and gave them a few waves. Unfortunately, she was on the ground rather than usually flying and almost hit Rarity.

"Watch it Rainbow Dash! You could have hit me...or worse my mane!" She exclaimed.

Celestia continued to rummage through a dusty chest. "Ahh here they are." She pulled out a pair of gauntlets...or so they seemed. She turned to Applejack. "I know that you enjoy more physical methods. Judging from your strong and sturdy legs from years of work, these may just be perfect." Upon further inspection, The gloves were actually more like steel hooves. They had studs on one side of it while the other was for the hoof to be put in. "Your strength will be multiplied with these."

Naturally Rainbow had something to say on that. "Hey! I am pretty strong too! This one time-"

"And for you Pinkie-" she rummaged through the chest yet again. "I think these will suit you just fine." She pulled out what looked like two sticks held together by a chain. "These are Nunchuks. Something tells me your unpredicatablness will help you with these. They only go where their master wishes them to land." Pinkie too them and tried them out. Sure enough, though she was unpredictable, the control of the nunchuks only went were she want. She stowed it away in her mane.

Rarity stepped up. "Unlike my friends, Princess, I am not one for fighting. I could perhaps design clothes or armor to suit up in." Celestia smiled. Of course she had taken into account the fact that Rarity may not be the biggest on fighting. Same with Fluttershy and Twilight. "Do not worry. I have something for you that I feel you can handle with each and kept from too much fighting." She took a crossbow from the wall. "This kind of weapon has not be used in recent memory but it is good. Stand from a distance and aim. The better a persons eyes are trained, the better they can be at aiming and handling this weapon. " Realizing that the "eyes" part was aimed at her, she tried aiming. She was able to see from across the room and note a small bug was climbing on Celestia's shoulder.

"Princess! On your shoulder!" Celestia simply looked over at her shoulder and picked up the bug before putting it down. "My point exactly. Dear Fluttershy, I assume you dont really use weapons?" Fluttershy nodded. "Then take these instead." Celestia gave her a pouch and needle. "You can use the medicine inside the pouch to heal others. And if neccessary, you can make concotions to knock out enemies. I am sure you are proeffecient with herbs?"

Fluttershy nodded and took the items. "Back home, some animals get food poisoning and other illnesses. I know what can be deadly and some that can cure anything." Celestia nodded her approval. "And lastly, Twilight-"

"Don't worry princess! " Twilight interupted. "MY books and magic are all I need to defeat foes!" She waved her horn around showing off her finesse.

"Show off." Rainbow mumbled.

"Hush now Rainbow. Your not one to talk." Applejack chided.

"Cmon AJ. You know I am a modest athlete...sometimes." Rainbow responded.

"Look 'ere RD-" No sooner had the words left her mouth when she was gagged by a zipper. Rainbow Dash attempted to laugh but was quickly silenced.

Twilight turned their lips to prove her point. "Silence spell. Worked on the hydra last week and worked well here."

Celestia sighed and turned their mouths to normal. "Mastery over magic is as expected my FORMER student," she winked. "But as a Princess, you must channel it. Here, take this." Celestia gave Twilight a long wooden staff. It had weird signs and symbols known to only olden pony folk or people who knew how to change the letters to their native tongue. "This will help you control it better and direct your magic at enemies on a small or wide scope." She turned fully to address everyone.

"This will be your greatest battle yet. Nothing can prepare you for this that you have not already experienced. But this will truly test your limits, physically and spiritually. Remember this always: Stay together. Keep the mission. Honor your fellowship above all else." She turned away as she led them back to the main throne room.

She proclaimed from her thrown. She called over a messenger to prepare a message. "Let it be known to all our friends everywhere in every kingdom that these ponys are under the protection of Canterlot and its guard." She turned to Twilight. Six medals floated over to her and Twilight's friends. "These are your passports. Show this to any royalty and you will be greeted with happiness and a good rest. Do not lose these; they are almost as important as your elements if you wish to make friends to help you on the journey. However, know when you show it and when not to." She winked.

"Go forth valiant ones! The journey of a lifetime begins here!"

The mane six left the room. They were eager to pack and make sure all arrangements neccessary were made. The messenger took off as well. Celestia decided she had had enough to do for the day and had done enough as of right now. She quietly made her way to Luna's room to check on her.

Celestia made her way up the stairs. The collection of paintings caught her eyes. She had many made. Portraits of Starswirl the Bearded and the three original tribe leaders seemed to watch her as she moved through the room. The velvet floor was shaded blue with elegant diamond patterns. Three massive stain glass windows had daylight passing through them. Etched on them were 3 scenes.
The first was the triumph of Celestia and Luna together over Discord. Celestia stood proudly, her sword raised (which was silly because she didn't REALLy use one. Heck, she was actually afraid of the things!) and Luna waiving the Staff of Leadership, guiding the other nations to help in the fight. It was as if the battle was just yesterday...

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"HAHAHAHAHAHA you silly ponies think you can just tie up chaos? I am the exact opposite of restraint!"

Discord broke his bonds and used the ropes to tie the his captors up. He then melted into the wall.
Celestia issued a command. "At the ready Commander Hurricane! Should he attack, we must be swift in his recapture!" She undid the ropes of her soldiers. CHurricane just grunted a response. "Easier said than done Princess! He is qui-" He was cut off mid-sentence as his head turned into an apple. Celestia changed him back, but not before Discord shot a blast at Luna turning her into a goldfish. 

"Damnit!" She flicked another shot at Luna who, upon becoming a pony again, was sputtering nonsense. Celestia had never encountered a secondary trap spell. The first spell had a timer and would wear off, but if someone deactivated the spell before it was times up, a second trap, much more powerful and complicated, would activate.

"HAHAHAHA oh Luna your were always comedy "gold"!" Discord laughed insanely.

Celestia charged up a shot. "Princess Platinum! Fix luna!"

The unicorn huffed but did as she was told. Celestia, in the mean time, continually fired at shadows of Discord. She was very close once or twice but the elusive draconequus was nearly impossible to spot and had the element of surprise.

She suddenly caught a glimpse of his foot and fired an insane blast of magic.

"AHHHHHH!!!!"

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She moved the thoughts out of her mind. Discord was reformed now and everything was good. Fluttershy was a wise choice. Her gentle attitude and trust allowed Discord to become TOO close. His fear of losing something cherished finally cracked down his heart of stone.

She proceeded down admiring the other portraits. At the second one, she saw a famous painting of herself. She had multicolored main and tail. Her long and tall elegant body and slim physique granted the painting grace and beauty while making her out as somepony with distinguishable power. She looked the role more then than now. These days, she was ordering around the ceremonies more than ruling. Twilight was doing a fine job and Shining and Cadence were starting a family. Things were moving just fine.

She continued down the hallway. She stopped for a moment.

She could feel the air grow cold. Her entire spine shivered along with her nerves. Normally, she was prepared for any hostiles but right now she was unstable from thinking and planning her next moves. She cast a spell of invisibility. 

However, she knew better than to light her horn up. Instead, she reached to a vase with a bunch of flowers and ate it. These were one of the few "invisibility" flower sythesis spells that Twilight had created to help poines hide if the castle came under attack.

Celestia disappeared just as a robbed figure appeared. The pony was rather small compared to Celestia but nonetheless, she was worried the pony had powers she did not know about.

For this was not just any regular pony. His mane and fur were red and black. His eyes were filled and fueled by the fires of hatred. As they stared at Celestia for a moment, she could feel the pupils dig deep into her core, almost judging her.
The pony merely laughed. "Oh Celestia, you should know better." He gave no sign of knowing where Celestia was. He continued to walk over to the 3rd portrait. It was a simple scenic view of Canterlost. "Sorry Celly. I know all your secrets." The strange creature pulled the picture off the wall which revealed a safe.

'"A decent safe." The safe had approximately 24 locks and 2 curse enchantments. However, the creature merely aimed its horn and hovered over it. 

"Ah. There is it." With a flash of magic, all the locks and enchanments dispersed. Celestia gasped. The creature paid it no mind.

Inside the safe was an urn. It was beautiful and showed intense mastery on the behalf of its creator.

CRASHHH!

With one mighty heavy, the pony threw it down, shattering it to pieces. Celestia was shocked.

Then the pony turned to her. "See you soon."

Celestia woke up.