"At first I was super excited to come. Then I saw the storm and I thought to myself, ooooh, that's not good. But then I thought, All my friends are here, so THEN I thought to myself, everything's going to be alright. Because we're the Elements of Harmony." Pinkie hid behind her tail when the thunder clapped outside the rumbling glass window.
"I'm so sorry to have all called you here, especially at such a late hour." Twilight trotted back and forth, her head hung low in deep thought. "But I couldn't keep any of Equestria waiting. Right now Princess Celestia and Princess Luna are trapped within the Grand Hall with all the Council Ponies from around Equestria. Who is with them? . ." Her cheeks puffed out before a loud sigh sliced the tension in the room. "None other than Princess Storm herself."
"Darling," Rarity spoke up, her voice but an octave higher than fluttershy's amidst the outside. "I know you told me earlier who this, Princess Storm, was, but I don't quite understand it one bit. She's an Alicorn, that I understand, but who exactly is she and where does she reign from?"
Rainbow dash crossed her arms. "Ya, I've never heard of this - Princess Storm," She huffed, circling her hoof. "Is she some kind of impostor? Because if she were a real Princess, I'm sure we all would have learned about her in school."
"No, you wouldn't have," Twilight sat, her ears drooping. "I only learned about her when I became an Alicorn. She's the forgotten Princess, decreed so to be by the Two Sisters orders." She stood up and made her way toward the window. Looking out at the storm her head shook. "They lost her in battle, the one we were to celebrate this night. It is only Celebrated every one-thousand years to commemorate that it was the first large battle ever won by the sisters, two-thousand years after Equestria itself had been created - and one a thousand years after the Three Sisters were chosen as the Princesses."
"And why have we never heard this story before?" Applejack questioned, her brow raising with strict question. "I mean, it seems pretty important to me."
"Because Celestia and Luna despise how their reign was started."
"Do I smell a story!" Pinkie Pie gasped, her eyes growing wide as she situated herself on the nearby seat pillow.
Twilight paid no mind to her or the others as she began. "Celestia called it the Night of Descent. . . When she should have seen it coming, the repercussions of the seeds she had so heavily and eagerly sewn as a new Princess and leader of a new and barely thriving world. Her and Storm had gotten into a fight about who was the real ruler of Equestria, which undoubtedly was Celestia, but Princess Storm was always one, behind the castle walls, to question her politics. Storm was angered that she had not been a part of a decision to send out an army to fight the growing darkness that threatened to take back the land of Equestria they had all fought so hard to keep. Storm had not agreed with the plan after it was done, and so she believed, from what her sister had done - and most especially when only twenty-seven of the hundred soldiers sent, returned - that she was more fit to be the leading ruler of their beloved land."
"Thou cannot overrule us!" Celestia demanded, her hoof shaking the timid walls that had only begun construction.
"Thou believe that thou can be a better leader than I!" Princess Storm screeched back, her anger unfurling. "Thy common ponies believe I to be a better leader for this nation! Shall thou stop I from following our Common Ponies demands!"
Celestia closed the door with her magic before her sister could exit. "Thou shall not leave without thy permission. Most Especially when thou is a menace to herself and society of Common Pony."
"Thou is the menace, Celestia!"
"Please, Sisters!" Luna's voice blasted over theirs. "Do not fight in thy turn of night! Sleep now and let us rest so that in the morning, as Celestia raises our Common Ponies beloved sun, we may speak clearly."
"No, we are finished only when I speak so!" Storm threw the doors open with a growing wind and flew out.
Luna turned to her sister and sighed. "We must find our Sister before she strikes terror into thy Common Ponies."
"Our Sister shall do no harm to our Common Ponies. Her heart may not be as equal as ours, but surely her heart is equal with the Common Ponies."
"Then we rest this night, and allow our sister to relieve herself of this anger." Luna turned from her sister and began to retreat back toward her quarters. "Rest now my Sister, we shall talk with our Sister Storm in the morning, for by then she well have calmed herself."
Celestia watched her sister until she disappeared around the second floor corridor. "Our Sisters, if we do not comply with each other, our kingdom shall surely fail." Her head hung low. "Storm, thou anger for our reign, but thou love for the Common Ponies shall surely be thou end. . . And Luna, thou soul within the shoulders, hiding from the light, let not thouself be consumed." She raised her head so that her eyes watched the sky, her sister Luna flying about, watching over the young ponies of Equestria. "Let me not, thyself, be consumed by power or be estranged from thy dearly beloved sisters. For our life has not been easy, and our chosen lives have not been expected, but we shall surely survive." -
"So what they got off to a rocky start," Rainbow Dash interrupted, her voice breaking away everyone's concentration. "What's that got to do with this big hissy fit 'Princess Storm' is having now?"
"Everything, Rainbow," Twilight watched the outside world, the rain having drowned out all the roads and low shops and houses - she could only imagine what Rarity's boutique looked like now. The thunder and lightning above lit up the city that wasn't already illuminated with what minimal light that had made it through. Everything was going terrible, and the sickness in her stomach grew.
Applejack stood and clomped her hooves together. "Then we just grab the Elements of Harmony and send Princess Storm right back where she came from. Easy Peasy."
"Oh, Darling. . . Twilight already explained it to me. Princess Storm is far too powerful for us now, with what time she's had to practice, far longer than Princess Luna when she was on the moon. And with that time, she could have built an army, dozens of armies, and practiced her abilities on them until she knew she outranked her Sisters. . . And even with all that power, she doesn't even want to try and make herself look halfway decent. From what Twilight explained to me, most of her body was burned along with her tail and main." She ran her hooves down her hair. "I couldn't imagine losing something so lustrous, so wavy and free. She must be devastated."
"I'm sure from what I've heard, she doesn't care about her looks," Applejack commented.
"This isn't about looks though," Twilight groaned. "It's about something so much more than that and if we don't figure it out, we're all destined to a life living among storms. This won't be like Nightmare Moons night, it'll be worse, because the sun will be with us, but it will be blocked by storm clouds. We'll live in eternal darkness, this time not for a lust for power or respect, but for revenge on those who didn't save her and those who never knew about her." She stepped away from the window when a bolt of lightning flashed before it. "Ponies like us, the Common Ponies, used to love her, her songs, her caring nature she carried only outside of the castle walls. They sang her name in anthems, wrote her name in history books and books of the present. . . Nights were celebrated with all three Princesses where she was the most beloved as she was like a mother to all filly's and colts. Now her name is but a whisper to the wind, a forgotten mantra that people question when asked about. She's a raise of an eye, a scoff and a laugh, and worst of all for her, a memory chosen to be forgotten."
"Is there any way to stop her?" Flutteryshy asked, her voice barely audible.
"I. . ." Twilight drooped her whole body. "I don't even know."
"Then we'll figure it out," Rarity comforted, hugging her friend.
They all huddled together into a tight hug. "Together?" Her voice quavered, a feeling of dread washing over her.
"Mmhm," Their voices fit in sync and the dread disappeared with a feeling of hope and knowledge that they would, one day soon, fight and win the battle that was yet to come.