Princess Celestia slowly dragged herself out of bed and shook her solar-windswept mane out of her eyes. She had been getting up before sunrise for longer than most ponies could even comprehend, as long as she'd been aware of her own existence. She had to be up before the sun in order to bring the sun up on time, after all. Getting up so many hours before dawn, however, was relatively unusual. Her sister's moon held sway over the center of the sky, surrounded by stars. Celestia shook her head again, and began to focus her immensely powerful mind on the source of her unrest; a steady pulse of magical power that seemed to be resonating throughout Equestria. The wards shrouding her private chambers should have prevented any magic from reaching her, yet some arcane force had overwhelmed those protections. What bothered Celestia most was that she couldn't locate the source of the power. Deeply concerned, she left her room in search of Luna.
Luna stood on the castle's highest balcony, staring at the moon. She sensed Celestia's presence and immediately spoke.
"You sense it as well, sister." Luna said, still looking skyward. It was not a question.
"Yes, Luna," Celestia replied, "but I cannot determine its source."
"Nor can I," Luna admitted. She turned her gaze to Celestia and added, "It worries me."
"You're not the only one," Celestia said, "there's only so many things that can call upon this kind of power. I don't know what sort of spell is being cast or who's casting it. I can't even tell where to begin finding out."
"That's not entirely true," Luna said, shaking her head, "As you said, there's not many who can do... whatever is being done. Of the few who could be behind this power, we should first determine who isn't. I've already checked on Discord. He's still bound in stone, no magic will come from him."
Celestia started tapping her hoof on the floor, "well, it's not either of us."
"Well," Luna said slowly, knowing she was raising an uncomfortable subject, "I can name one other pony who might have the kind of raw power needed for a spell of this magnitude."
Celestia closed her eyes, unwilling to believe her personal student, her protege, would be sending pulses of arcane might echoing throughout the whole of Equestria. She could think of only so many spells that would draw on that level of power, and none of them were pleasant. Still, It was vital to eliminate all the variables.
"All right," Celestia said, "I'm going to Ponyville."
Twilight Sparkle paced back and forth, a worried expression on her face. The arcane resonance constantly pulsing in the back of her mind made concentration difficult, but she did her best. She'd gathered together the other bearers of the Elements of Harmony, just on the off chance that the Elements would be needed. She had gone through every book of spells she had, most of them twice, and was, at the moment, trying to compose a letter to Princess Celestia.
Of the others gathered in the library, Rarity showed the most concern. As a fellow unicorn, Rarity was also able to feel the unexplained magic running through Equestria. Pinkie Pie was hopping around the room apparently at random. Spike, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash showed varied combinations of confusion and annoyance, while Fluttershy, sensing imminent crisis, was trying desperately to keep Twilight Sparkle from doing anything drastic.
"Twilight please, you need to calm down," Fluttershy said, hovering in front of her friend.
"Calm down? Calm DOWN?!" Twilight demanded, gnashing her teeth, "There's a SPELL going on affecting aaaaaaall of Equestria and I can't EVEN figure out what it DOES! I can't CALM down NOW!"
"Oh, Twilight, I know it's hard, but please try. If you don't calm down you'll do something foolish again," Fluttershy said, getting more worried by the minute. Twilight had already progressed beyond minor ear-twitching and gone straight into shouting sporadically and rolling vowels at random.
"I am PERfectly in conTROL, Fluttershy!" Twilight insisted, "Besides, WHEN was the last TIME I did anything FOOLish?!"
"Well, there was that time you caused a riot with an enchanted doll" Rainbow Dash cut in, irritated.
"And dear, don't forget that time you didn't sleep for a week because you were trying to avoid a disaster that was never going to happen," Rarity added.
"An' that time ya tried to sneak past th' Gates a' Tartarus in a giant wooden rabbit," Applejack contributed.
"That never happened, Applejack!" Twilight hissed through clenched teeth.
"Sure, jus' like Tom never happened," Applejack shot back.
"Applejack, please," Rarity groaned, "how many times do I have to tell you? Never speak of that again!"
"Not talkin' about it don't mean it didn't happen," Applejack pointed out.
Rarity opened her mouth to retort, but the room was suddenly filled with a bright light, momentarily blinding everypony. The six ponies all turned towards the source of the light and bowed, knowing from experience that such a brilliant glow, indoors and at night, could only mean that they were suddenly in the presence of of the most powerful pony in all the world.
"Twilight Sparkle, my faithful student," Celestia announced herself in her usual fashion.
"Princess Celestia!" Twilight was both thrilled and relieved to see the winged unicorn, "I was just writing a letter to you! Do you know what's causing this... magic pulse?"
"I'm afraid I don't," Celestia admitted, shaking her head, "I don't know who or what is causing this power to run through Equestria, nor do I know what purpose it serves. I was halfway hoping it was you, Twilight, experimenting with some massive ritual you discovered in your studies."
Twilight sighed, "no, Princess, I'm afraid I don't know of any spells or rituals that would require this kind of power, or that would spread throughout the whole of Equestria. I've been trying to find the cause for hours now, and I'm getting really worried."
"Well, just don't go rushing off to the Gates of Tartarus again," Celestia advised with a wry smile, causing Twilight to blush. "In any case," Celestia continued, "we don't know where this power is coming from, and I now have to say that I don't know who's summoning it," Celestia looked around the room, "I want each of you to have the Elements of Harmony with you at all times from now on. Since we don't know what's going to happen, we must be ready for any-"
Celestia was interrupted by a noise unlike anything anypony had heard before. It sounded a little like a clock tower's bell ringing, a bit like the rumble of an earthquake, somewhat like a book's page turning, and a lot like the loudest explosion since the world was made.
Professor Victor Pendrake had been traversing the Thornwood forest for days, along with a team of rangers from the Cygnaran Reconnaissance Service. Rumors of mysterious and potentially dangerous activities near the ruins of Deepwood Tower had reached the highest levels of Cygnar's leadership, and Scout General Bolden Rebald, leader of the CRS, had ordered a unit of rangers into the Thornwood to investigate. Pendrake, himself an accomplished explorer, had been urged to join the expedition by no less a man than King Leto Raelthorne himself. Officially, King Leto wanted Pendrake to participate in the expedition due to his experience in navigating the dangerous Thornwood. Unofficially, Pendrake knew that the leadership of the Church of Morrow had gotten wind of the operation, and had urged King Leto to include an expert in the field of zoology. King Leto was in the habit of calling upon the best and the brightest for any task that needed doing, and Victor Pendrake was widely regarded as the greatest extraordinary zoologist in all of western Immoren.
Pendrake had traveled the Thornwood extensively, had made friends among the displaced trollkin tribes in the area, come to agreements with the enigmatic druids of the Circle Orboros, and even had an understanding with the reclusive, insular gatormen of Blindwater Lake. Despite these allies, the Thornwood remained a hazardous place, full of man-eating predators, cannibalistic Tharn tribes, and malevolent undead infiltrators from the distant islands held by Cryx, the Nightmare Empire. The rangers with whom Pendrake traveled knew the Thornwood well in their own way. They could not describe the biological natures or cultural behaviors of the forest's many people and threats, but they knew which were most likely to try to kill them, and how to avoid actually being killed. The rangers were also masters at observing hostile people and creatures unnoticed, which was their primary duty on and off the battlefield.
Suddenly, a full two days before they should have, Pendrake and the ranger unit found themselves at a break in the forest. To Pendrake's confusion, the ruins of Deepwood Tower were nowhere to be seen. Pendrake furrowed his brow, concentrating. One didn't become as accomplished an adventurer-scholar as he without being an excellent navigator, and the rangers were navigational experts one and all. However, finding one's way in the Thornwood was a constant struggle, and everyone present knew that even the slightest mistake could've put them miles off course. However, none of them had ever seen a place like this in the Thornwood. There was a house there. Not the primitive huts used by the Tharn tribes, nor the tents of constantly-moving trollkin. This house was a large cottage, and was surrounded by a variety of animal enclosures. An unpaved road led from the cottage to what was clearly a town not for away. Pendrake looked up above the cottage, and saw what could only be a low-floating cloud. It was the strangest cloud he'd ever seen, however. This cloud was shaped like a house, and Pendrake could swear that this was intentional -he could even see a door on it. The house-cloud featured many windows, the largest of which produced a rainbow-colored waterfall that gathered in a pool on the front deck... cloud. The rainbow liquid flowed from this pool in two rivulets that fell from the edge of the cloud and seemed to vanish into the air.
Pendrake's powerful mind started working as fast as it could. He was familiar with the various forms of arcane and spiritualistic powers used by the people and monsters of the Thornwood, and he could think of no spell that would make water take the colors of a rainbow or form a house out of clouds. Nor could Pendrake see the purpose. The rainbow waterfall certainly looked pleasant, and Pendrake theorized that it was a decorative choice by the house's residents. What he could not determine was what person or persons could or would live in a house made out of a cloud. Trollkin were not bothered by heights -many of them living on mountains by habit- but they could not fly. Some of the blackclad druids of the Circle Orboros were able to fly using wind-controlling magic, but he could think of no blackclad who would expend much effort into creating a residence, as they traveled constantly. Pendrake mused that a house made of clouds would likely be easy to move, at least to someone who could control wind, but blackclads often preferred to keep a low profile, and this house could only be called eye-catching. Some Cryxians could fly as well, including one of their most influential iron liches, but the idea of any Cryxian living in a dwelling so pleasant-looking as a house of clouds was ridiculous. Pendrake concluded that this cloud-house, and likely the cottage beneath it, belonged to beings unknown to him, likely intelligent people rather than base creatures. Pendrake adjusted his glasses and nodded to Swift Sergeant Aaron Wallace, the leader of the ranger unit. With any luck, the residents would be friendly, or at least willing to not kill them on sight.
Before the group could approach the strange airborne residence and its less-unusual land-bound cousin, the sound of wings flapping came from above. The rangers ducked down and readied their rifles, while Pendrake knelt on one knee and took out a heavy chain bola. All of them looked to the skies, and soon spotted the source of the noise. Standing at the door of the house of clouds, flexing and stretching its wings, the creature had apparently woken from a deep sleep.
The creature was unlike anything Victor Pendrake had ever seen before. Its general physical structure was much like a horse, though the head was proportionally larger. Overall the thing was smaller than a horse -Pendrake estimated that it stood no more than four feet tall at the shoulder. It seemed to be more flexible than a horse, as it stretched its back and legs in an almost feline way. The equine creature's body was covered in what appeared to be a coat of sky-blue hair. Its short-cropped mane and tail were striped in no less than six different colors. The colors of a rainbow, in fact. The creature also had a set of wings, much like those of a bird, which were quite clearly the source of the flapping sound. The wings seemed too small to carry the animal, but Pendrake realized they must, as the creature had managed to get itself up to the house of clouds. Then Pendrake realized that it should be quite impossible for anything to actually stand on clouds. Even as he mentally chided himself for not considering that fact sooner, he realized that standing on clouds was exactly what the winged blue mini-horse was doing.
"Hey, Prof," Wallace whispered in Pendrake's ear, "what in Morrow's name is that thing?"
"I must honestly say that I've never seen such a creature before," Pendrake admitted, "it looks like a horse, but the proportions are all wrong, and I've never heard of a horse with wings in any case."
Pendrake watched the creature intently as it scanned the skies and treetops. It appeared that the thing's vision was quite good. It showed every sign of looking for potential threats, and seemed to make little use of either its ears or nose for the task. Apparently satisfied with its surroundings, the creature opened its wings and lifted itself into the air. Pendrake and the rangers watched as the creature performed a number of aerial maneuvers that should, Pendrake realized, have been quite impossible for a creature of such size.
After flying for several minutes with no apparent purpose, the winged equine landed at the door of the cottage, knocked twice by thumping a forehoof on the door, and entered. Sergeant Wallace silently nodded to two of his rangers and motioned towards the house. The rangers, short, hard-faced men in brown cloaks that obscured their forms, rushed silently to the cottage and began scouting it out, glancing into windows, checking around the nearby trees, and gathering as much information as they could without being noticed. One of them found an open window and took up a vigil under it, listening to the occupants. The other eventually settled near the door, ready to signal his partner and make a retreat if the door opened or other creatures were seen on the road.
After remaining motionless for several minutes, the two left their positions as one and returned to the group at the forest's edge. There, they described what they had learned to Sergeant Wallace.
"Three occupants," one of the scouts began, "blue one, we saw. Another, same type of thing, similar size, also has wings. Yellow coat, pink mane and tail."
"Third is similar, but no wings," the other scout cut in, "black and white stripes. All three have markings on flanks, unable to determine the purpose of those marks, may be decorative, symbols of some rank or group affiliation, or something else. All three speak, we were able to understand them."
"Winged ones spoke normally, striped one spoke in rhyme, not clear why. Stripes and blue flyer not residents, yellow one is. Stripes apparently an alchemist or physician, talked of brewing medicines."
"Residents are apparently citizens of a sovereign nation, all three are worried. A power or powers unknown to them seems to have removed the whole country from its original location and put it here. This happened yesterday, why we didn't notice anything before is not clear. That's going to make a mess of things in any case."
"Blue one talks big, very interested in protecting nation from threats, doesn't seem to know what those threats are yet. Yellow one is mostly just scared."
"If planning to initiate contact, recommend approaching yellow one. Blue flyer may become violent, striped one unpredictable, and seems to be societal outsider. Yellow one unlikely to do anything more dangerous than crouch in a corner and look pitiful."
Pendrake considered this rush of information for a moment, then stood up.
"Well, oddly-proportioned flying horses that speak are not the strangest things I've seen," Pendrake stated, "although they're probably in the top-ten list. I say we go see what they think of Cygnarans."
Sergeant Wallace nodded to his unit, and the group followed Pendrake towards the cottage.