Prologue: Remeninsences of the White Goddesses
Fluttershy was awoken by the birdsong of her avian friends and familiar staccato vibrations of Angel Bunny impatiently thumping his foot at the foot of her bed. The yellow mare was not surprised to see the familiar sight of her oldest animal friend's frowning face, his arms crossed as he waited for her to arise and begin preparing his daily breakfast, as was the norm.
"Oh," she said softly, daintily covering a small yawn with her hoof. "Good morning, Angel Bunny," she greeted, smiling sleepily at the rabbit as she blinked her eyes in an effect to cast off her lingering fatigue. "How are you this morning?" Angel rolled his eyes and simply pointed imperiously towards the door leading from her room; Fluttershy did not take offence to his behavior, having long since become accustomed to the small animal's mercurial mood swings, and simply smiled patiently at him. "Very well," she said, shifting to get out of her bed and the rabbit nodded approvingly, hopping off and down to kitchen, content in the knowledge that it would soon be fed.
The pink-maned pegasus paused as she came to the threshold o her room, and looked back to her bed. Hadn't she fallen asleep on the couch besides Discord last night? He must have tucked her--he could really be very sweet when he wanted to be--and she knew that he was trying his best to make up for his actions with Tirek, despite the fact that both she and the rest of her friends had forgiven him.
The chaotic spirit couldn't seem to understand why he had been forgiven so easily, but that was fine with Fluttershy; he was still learning more and more about friendship every day, after all, and she thinks he learned a very valuable--if tough--lesson on knowing who your true friends were. Still, she couldn't help but worry about her chaos-loving friend: last night he had been so withdrawn, and it was different from his the guilt-induced melancholy that had overtaken him in recent days.
If she didn't know better, she would have said that he was terrified of something. But that was ridiculous, she knew; for what could have been so awful that it reduced a being as powerful as the chaos spirit, who routinely laughed directly at Princess Celestia and Luna themselves, into such a state.
She wasn't certain she wanted to know the answer to such a question, as she felt a shiver of dread race down her spine and cause her wings to stiffen slightly. Shaking her head, she banished the gloomy thoughts from her head and went down to attend to her morning rituals and the care of her animal compatriots.
Unknowingly, she found herself softly singing the notes of a song in concert with the birds outside her window, though she couldn't recall she had ever heard before--just that it brought to mind the image of a baby bird happily singing its song for all the world to hear.
Far from the small woodland cottage--as far as any pony, dragon, griffin, or otherwise could travel, and a bit farther yet still--a young girl with long white hair stood browsing the wares of a popular curio shop. Not many individuals in Equestria would be able to identify what kind of creature she was, but the newest princess to the land would be able to confidently identify her as being a teenage human girl, having been one herself for a brief amount of time--and even then, the princess would have still been technically incorrect.
In one hand, she grasped a small bag of candies she had been gifted from a friend who resided and did business in the local area, while her other hand held a small stuffed doll of a bunny, heavily tempted to purchase the toy.
Yet, staring at the doll, she was reminded of the stuffed doll that sat her desk in her home city many miles above them; it was one of the few items she made with Grathmelding, despite having pioneered the technique herself, and no one else in the entire world would be able to identify it, save for perhaps her oldest of friends, but she was currently returning from a mission in one of the few remaining other habitable lands in their ravished world.
As she thought of the doll she had made: most people would assume it was of an extinct animal known as a horse, but have no idea why she had chosen to add a horn and wings to the toy. Indeed, in the past, even before her creation, humans of the first era had ancient myths of fictitious horses with either wings or horns (they were known as pegasi and unicorns, respectively) but never an equine with both features.
And so mind accessed the memories that called back to a much darker and blood-soaked time in the history of the land that she watched over. It was during a time of much sorrow and death, that she had received an unexpected visit from a monarch of a foreign land, whom was searching desperately for aid against a seemingly unstoppable foe that held her kingdom under his thrall.
The white-haired maiden passed through the colossal gate unhindered, her full-body, armor like suit giving her direct access to the tower and allowing her to easily open the gigantic barrier. Her face could not be seen behind the cold, unfeeling visor that covered it, save for her mouth, but she allowed no expression to alter it, resolutely keeping it neutral as she entered Em Pheyna, the village of the Teru Tribe.
Floating a several inches above the ground, the warlike visage of the of the white-haired woman was not remarked upon by the local inhabitants that called the village of organic stone their home. A small girl with white hair was happily playing with a crudely stitched figure of patchwork cloth, happily making the misshapen doll dance about in the air as she enacted a fantastical tale that the toy was the hero of; she paused her playtime, however, when she caught sight of the visitor to their village, and happily waved her hand at the woman, smiling widely as she toy flailed helplessly in her tiny fist. The woman did not wave back or even smile at the display, but she did nod in greeting at the small girl, and that seemed to be more than enough for the child, who beamed with a wide grin that displayed the fact that she was missing one of her front teeth.
"Lady Shurelia," a man inclined his head respectfully, and his long purple hair, which contrasted against the characteristic tanned skin of his people, was pulled back tightly into a ponytail, following the curve of the two dark horns that emerged from near his temples. His muscular frame and the sword hanging from his belt advertised the fact that he was a soldier--something more commonly seen now than in the past.
"I was told that Tastiella had urgent knows for me," Shurelia said neutrally, her voice, much like her concealed face, betrayed no emotion as she followed after her escort.
"That is correct," the man confirmed with a nod as he lead the armored woman to the entrance of the grand temple that was sacred to his people; the sacred building seemed as if it had grown from the very tower itself, a series of stone roots and vines that twisted and braided among themselves to form the walls and pathways. Spherical crystals of various bright hues floated above the stone pedestals, held aloft by a magic unknown to the white-haired woman.
Shurelia did not inquire further on the matter from her escort, and so nothing more was said as she was guided through the mazelike halls of the temple, the great crystalline trees that comprised its interior walls passing her by in seemingly endless rows. Eventually, they emerged into an open chamber, where an opening in the ceiling allowed a beam of what Shurelia knew to be artificial moonlight to bring to attention what seemed to be a rather ancient mirror of some kind.
Still, the woman could not help the pang of regret and sorrow she felt inside as she saw the other woman in the room, and for the briefest of instances, this displayed as her mouth descended a slight fraction into a frown before it was quickly returned to its neutrality. Shurelia's escort nodded his head at the other woman in the room, who nodded her head in kind and spoke something in their native language, before the purple-haired soldier turned and nodded to his guest, then excusing himself and giving the two females privacy.
"It is good to see you, Shurelia," the Tastiella said, smiling slightly from beneath the pale blue cloth of the shawl that covered her head; a small white creature that seemed to be a baby dragon curved its way around the back of her neck to peer curiously at new arrival, and Tastiella raised a hand and gently ran a finger down its snout, much to its pleasure.
"Nothing has changed since we last spoke, Tastiella," Shurelia answered her, gazing coolly at the woman cloaked in the voluminous folds of her blue robe; despite seeing and speaking with her, the Tower linkup in her armor was informing Shurelia that it was not a physical person standing before her, but rather a projection.
Tastiella clucked her tongue in reproach, shaking her head at the blunt reply. "Careful, my old friend, you seem to be acting your age," she chided softly, a smile upon her lips. The white dragon on her shoulder let out an amused sounding trill.
This time Shurelia did allow herself to frown. "Why did you call me, Tastiella?" she inquired, her voice letting known her irritation at the comment. "Has the song been crafted already?" she asked, referring to what she hoped would put an end to the bloody conflict that gripped her tower. When the hologram of the other young woman shook her head in denial, Shurelia scowled. "You know I have many responsibilities, and I am worried as to why the viruses have been inactive since yesterday."
"That is, in fact, why I have called for you," Tastiella answered, turning towards the mirror in the room, "for I believe I may have the answer," she said, one of her hands emerging from the sleeves of her robe to gesture towards the object.
Frowning, Shurelia moved closer towards the mirror and turned the systems of the tower towards the strange artifact. Beyond the obvious, she was detecting a strange ambient energy (not uncommon in things regarding the Teru) and bizarre fluctuations in her spatial readings regarding the mirror. "Other than being a mirror and, from what I can tell, magical, what is it?" she inquired.
"What do you know of the history of my race, Shurelia?" Tastiella asked in answer.
Accessing the archives of the systems memory, she sent an inquiry to bring up all information on the Teru Tribe. There wasn't much--they were a very reclusive people by nature, and much information had been lost along with their world's land and sky during the Grathnode Inferia.
"Not much," the administrator of the tower admitted. "Only that your people were first reported by the humans of the First Era as appearing from a forest in what was once known as the Justine region of Ar Ciel."
Tastiella nodded her head in confirmation of the fact. "Indeed that is correct. However, the truth is that our ancestors were great dragons from another world, who appeared in the hallowed Forest of Shelanoir after making their voyage. They met and eventually integrated amongst the local humans of Justine, interbreeding to give birth to the Teru Tribe as it is known today," she explained.
Shurelia whirled about. "Another world! But how?"
Tastiella shook her head, hiding her hands beneath the folds of her cloak. "I fear the reason for our draconian forefather's exodus from their home world has been lost to time," she answered. "Perhaps the mighty Slepnir may still recall, but he is of no mind to gift anything to the residents of this tower, save a swift end.
What I do know is that mirror served as the portal through which the dragons old entered this world, and that it has remained dormant--until yesterday, when something from our home realm attempted to pass over, but never emerged from it," she informed the armored woman.
Shurelia sent quires to the systems of the tower for any unauthorized intrusions upon the tower, only to come up with only the expected incursion by the viruses into the material realm. She was about to stop when noticed an intrusion flagged in the system, only it was inside of the systems themselves--specifically the Binary Field.
Gripped with panic, Shurelia sent a hundred commands to the tower in a manner of seconds, calling forth all the data on the report that she could. If the intruder had somehow freed the captive currently sealed in the Binary Field, than much more carnage would soon follow.
The tower seemed to have regarded the intruder as a mass of corrupted data, and there were several instances where the data had attempted to interface and rewrite portions of the Binary Field. Thankfully, this seems to have been ineffective and no harm to the cosmospheres housed within was sustained.
It seemed the reason she had not been alerted or the tower had turned what few remaining digital security measures that she controlled unto the data, was that the Mother Virus had taken offense to her solitude being interrupted and had cast out the data to whence it came, most zealously.
"The mirror seems to have worked," Shurelia informed Tastiella, to whom it seemed as if only the blink of an eye had passed. "Except who or whatever attempted to pass through ended up being diverted into the Binary Field." She frowned at this. "Such a mean of external access should be impossible, though," she considered.
"The old world of the dragon's was told to possess many magics that were far beyond the abilities of the Teru Tribe today, or even anything song magic has yet to be capable of," Tastiella informed the guardian of the tower. "What is more of concern is not that whoever used the portal was able to intrude upon the Field, but rather that they were able to continue existing without being eradicated or losing their sense of self in the process. This speaks of a certain measure of power and ability that only a scant handful still or have ever possessed in this world."
"The system regards the intruder as an anomalous mass of corrupted data that made several failed attempts to access and rewrite portions of the Binary Field for some unknown purpose. The attempts are sporadic and random in their nature; I believe whoever was inside the tower's systems was quite confused before Mir turned her wrath towards it," she considered. "And it seems that there was a point where Mir directly interfaced with the data, with the result being that the data started to defragment into the Field, and a portion was deleted when one of her viruses interfaced with it milliseconds before it escaped.
Regardless, Mir's prison seems to be in no danger of failing and this explains where her attention has been since yesterday," Shurelia explained.
"You are certain she cannot escape through the same breach the intruder came through, then?" Tastiella asked, the small white dragon shifting upon her shoulders.
"The breach vanished shortly after the corrupted data interfaced with it once more. I believe that it is gone, though undoubtedly Mir is still searching in hopes of escaping her prison." Shurelia shrugged. "No harm seems to have come from the event, and it is seems to be offering us a much needed respite from Mir's assaults," she said, a great deal of worry lifting from her mind now that the mystery was solved.
If they were fortunate, they could finish crafting the Chronicle Key before Mir refocused her attention on the tower, though Shurelia very much doubted this.
"Thank you for informing me of these events, Tastiella," Shurelia said, allowing herself to smile ever so slightly with a hint of warmth entering her otherwise emotionless tone. "And . . . it is good to see you once more," she said, and went to place her hand on the other woman's shoulder before remembering, leaving her to awkwardly have her outstretched hand hover indecisively in the air for a few seconds before falling quite limply at the armored girl's side. Tastiella did not seem to take offense, simply raising a hand to cover her mouth as she laughed at the spectacle.
"Sadly, I must return," Shurelia said. "I cannot let this gift that has been afforded to us to pass by unheeded," she informed the once-and-still high priestess of the Teru Tribe.
Tastiella nodded her understand. "I will continue to monitor this situation and inform you if anything else should come of it," the Teru woman promised, and the small dragon let out a small huff that might have either been an agreement, a farewell, or perhaps both.
Or it was simply making a noise for some reason only it knew.
Nodding to Tastiella, Shurelia turned to be escorted back through the halls, when a voice gave both women pause.
"Excuse me? Can either of you two tell me where I am?"
Celestia found herself in the Crystal Kingdom the following morning after Discord's rather alarming late night visit. She knew that she truly should still be in Canterlot to help her subjects transition back into a normal lifestyle after Tirek's assault, but the chaos spirit had unnerved her such that she found herself thinking of it the entire evening, leading to what she was certain must been rather dark bags under eyes, hidden by her white coat though they were.
After greeting her niece and one of rulers of the Crystal Kingdom, Celestia had inquired as to how the crystal ponies were recovering from having their magic stolen by Tirek, and thankfully, there seemed to be no complications and the citizens were well on their way to returning to their normal daily lives.
Celestia imagined Tirek's brief intrusion into their life had been nothing compared to the years of tyranny under the yoke of the late king Sombra.
The solar princess had also made certain to assure her former captain that his sister was fine and that she seemed to be settling into her new role as the princess of Friendship with unsurprising ease.
After all the necessary courtesies between rulers had been observed, including a rather lovely midmorning brunch with her niece and her husband, Celestia found herself staring at her reflection in the Crystal Mirror.
She had known Discord for longer than any other being living in Equestria, and the only time she had ever seen him show such fear was when he had returned from his trip through this mirror after he had discovered it amongst the abandoned dragon's nesting site centuries before. Not even when Tirek had held him imprisoned and stolen his powers over chaos, had Discord been as afraid of whatever he had seen on the other side of this mirror.
Which was strange to the white alicorn, as she had found nothing to fear when she had stepped through the looking glass and met the young girl who had given her the seeds of the salvation of all of Equestria.
"What does thou think he is doing, sister of mine?" Luna asked, as the two sisters had been in pursuit of the chaotic usurper for the better part of the morning.
Celestia frowned, watching Discord descend into the mouth of the only volcano that had been left unchanged by his chaotic abilities. "I'm not certain, Luna, but something seems to have caught his attention; that's the only volcano that he hasn't changed--though not for lack of trying, it would seem," she said, recalling how they both had witnessed the draconequus repeatedly try to invoke his magic on the said peak to no avail.
Besides her, Luna scowled and preened at her wings. Yes, she was all too aware that he had changed the volcanoes, having suddenly found herself surrounded by pink confectionary when a cloud of thick smoke she had been hiding in had been changed.
Truthfully, the candy was not all that bad, but it galled to admit such a thing about anything Discord had made, much less when she found herself unwillingly wearing it.
"It doth seem strange indeed that a dead volcano could resist that brute's powers when naught else in our lands can," Luna said, recalling all the times Discord had warped reality to his benefit and, often times, their misfortune.
"My thoughts exactly," Celestia answered her younger sister, flaring her wings as she glided to the edge of the mouth and peered in, with Luna alighting beside her several seconds later. Both alicorns beheld the chimera within the volcano, his attention on some kind of crystal object, futilely snapping his paw at it and finding himself unable to alter it.
Discord reached out and tapped the object, only to draw the limb back as if burnt, gazing at his finger for a moment before staring at the object seconds later. He then circled it, seeming to inspect it, before taking on a thoughtful posture and talking to himself, though neither sister could hear the spirit's words, they did witness him gesture flamboyantly, as was characteristic of him.
And then, their enemy walked into the object and vanished.
Blinking, Celestia stared in shock where Discord had been moments before, and then turned her attention to her younger sister who seemed equally surprised. They both watched, and when Discord did not return, Celestia cautiously began to glide down to inspect the object that Discord had vanished into.
"A mirror?" Luna questioned, for indeed it did seem to be a mirror, as Celestia stared at their reflections upon its surface.
"Perhaps not just a mirror," Celestia said thoughtfully, remembering tales of several mirrors enchanted with special abilities. She levitated a nearby stone and sent it flying into the mirror, her suspicions confirmed when it vanished into the crystal surface with a small ripple instead of bouncing off as it should have. "A portal," Celestia corrected.
"But what doth lie on the other side of this looking glass?" Luna wondered. "Might not some new innocents of a foreign realm be subjected to Discord's cruel mercies?" Luna posited.
"Maybe," Celestia considered the option, though she did not like the thought of any others suffering the presence of the spirit of chaos as her people had. "Or perhaps it might lead to nowhere or be a one-way passage," she mused.
"Huzzah!" Luna exclaimed, excitement filling her at the prospect. "Then should we not destroy this mirror here and now so that his heinous presence cannot ever again cast its foul shadow upon our fair lands!?" Luna demanded, her horn alighting with magic as she prepared to attempt to do just that.
"Patience, Luna," Celestia chided, flaring a wing out to block Luna's path and halt her premature attempt. "We don't even know what would happen should we try. If Discord, with all his powers could not affect this portal, what makes you believe that either of us stand a chance?"
Luna let the magic she was channeling fade, though she seemed reluctant to do so and admit her elder sister's point. Before she could answer, the surface rippled, and both rulers leapt to either side as Discord flew from the surface and collided with the ground.
Neither princess said a word, instead staring in shock at the still form of their foe. Something had happened to him, yet they could not see a single sign of injury upon his body. Before they could investigate, Discord awoke and righted himself with a start. Celestia and Luna both leapt back, flaring their wings aggressively and preparing both offensive and defensive spells should they prove necessary.
The spells were not necessary, as Discord seemed to ignore their presence completely, instead grabbing his own tail frantically and staring at it with widened eyes as he shook from some emotion. Then the two rulers watched as Discord acted in manner they had never before witnessed: he panicked.
Their fur stood on end as they felt his normal chaotic magics take on a much more sinister and malicious purpose as he hurled bolts and lances of pure chaos at the portal. They were forced to retreat behind him and to higher ground when they saw one of the blasts of chaos impact with volcano wall and instead of changing it, it was annihilated utterly from existence. And yet the mirror stood defiant, mocking Discord in its continued existence in the face of his onslaught.
Celestia looked at Luna; they both knew this could not continue.
"DISCORD!" Luna yelled out in her loudest Royal Canterlot Voice, immediately ducking down lest the chaos spirit aim one of the deadly chaos spells at her, though this proved unnecessary as he simply stopped his barrage at the interruption. Turning, he stared blankly up at them, still shaking, and he reached down and grabbed his tail, stroking it in an odd manner as he regarded them.
"What happened, Discord?" Celestia asked, shocked that seemed to be feeling compassion for the being that had tormented both herself, her sister, and their subjects for the last few years, but he seemed so scared that she could not find it in her heart to not feel such.
"Destroy it," he said quietly, staring at his tail.
Luna's muzzle twisted into a frown. "What?"
"Cast that thing--" he said the word with such venom that it shocked the older sister--"into the heart of the sun before it is too late!"
"What do you mean?" Celestia asked.
"JUST DO IT!" Discord shrieked, and both sisters reared back at the volume and tone of his voice. Never had he raised his voice in all the times they had done battle; always was smile on his face and joke upon his lips, never taking anything seriously.
And then he vanished.
Neither of them dared to move for several moments, instead staring at the spot where Discord was previously. After a time, they both found themselves standing before the mirror, now giving it a wide berth after Discord's display--if it could reduce their foe to a state such as that, they feared what might happen to either of them should it enact its magics on them.
"I think we should do as he bid," Luna said after several seconds of staring at her reflection, wondering if it would suddenly leap forth from the surface and drag her to the same place that Discord had been.
"What?" Celestia turned her attention from her own reflection and thoughts to stare in shock at her younger sister. She was shocked that the darker mare would even consider aiding Discord in any manner.
Luna never took her gaze from the crystal mirror. "I doth shudder to think what might happen should something emerge." She looked severely at her elder sister. "If Discord was thrashed so soundly, what hope have we or our subjects of weathering its wrath?"
Celestia had to concede that her sister had a point, but she wasn't certain that she would even be able to destroy it. Closing her eye in concentration, she felt the air in the volcano become impossibly hot as she called upon very energies of the sun itself to form a lance of pure fire and hurl it at the mirror.
Luna returned her gaze to the mirror, having been forced to look away from the sheer incandesce of her sister's power lest she blind, only to mind the mirror still standing, albeit only itself and land immediately surrounding it were left unharmed, as the surrounding store had been reduced to bubbling molten slag. "Impossible," she breathed out in a whisper.
"Apparently not," Celestia said with a frown, for the mirror should not have been able to withstand the total concentrated power of the sun itself and remain unharmed. It was clear that the mirror possessed a magic more potent than anything else upon their world.
"What do we do?" Luna asked her sister with worry.
"We cannot leave it be now that we know of it," Celestia said, and she had a strong suspicion as to what had happened to the dragons that had once nested in these lands. "We'll take it back with us to our castle in forest and ward its resting place with the strongest enchantments and wards we can."
Luna frowned, not liking the fact that the mirror would be so close. "Can we not simply have it put in the deepest pit of Tarturus?" she wondered.
Celestia considered the thought before rejecting it with a shake of her head. "I do not wish to risk any of the prisoners escaping or something coming through and destroying Tarturus itself," she said, her thoughts turning towards Tirek and thinking what he might be capable if he somehow absorbed the magic of this portal.
Discord would be the very least of their problems then, she knew.
"No," she said, "we must take it with us--for better or ill. This is far too great of a potential danger to our subjects to leave unguarded," she said with finality.
And so she and Luna had managed to transport the mirror back to their now derelict castle in in what would come to be known as Everfree, from whence they had been opposing Discord. The mirror could be levitated easily enough, and seemed impervious only to magics that attempted to force alteration upon it or destroy it.
Neither she nor Luna had dared to approach the mirror after ceiling it in a room so heavily warded that it would give even Discord trouble should he attempt to gain access, but such a thing never occurred. In fact, neither of the two had seen or heard from the spirit in over a month after the events in that dead volcano, and they did not think to question his disappearance since their subjects desperately needed the time to recover.
But return, Discord had--and with a vengeance. Where before the suffering he inflicted had simply been incidental to the chaos he enacted for his own amusement, now his tricks took on a malicious bent and he seemed to delight in the misery of their ponies.
The twin princesses were desperate after a few weeks of Discord's chaos: rivers and had ran dry with unnatural drought, entire fields of crop where changed to rubber, and entire villages were transformed into gingerbread, only to collapse under unnatural chocolate milk rain. Not even the pegasi high above were safe: they found their houses had been turned into cotton candy, soon enough.
Their ponies were suffering as they never had before and both Princesses were at a loss on how to stop the crazed spirit. It was then, unknown to Luna, that Celestia found herself standing before the Crystal Mirror one evening and stepping through it.
Celestia found herself standing in a strangely organic room, save for the fact that it was anything other than organic Behind here was a mirror, similar enough to the one she had stepped through in her castle for her to make the connection that there was a link between the two, but ultimately a different mirror entirely.
Her gaze took in the sight of two creatures she had never seen before. They seemed to be similar to the minotaur in that were bipedal in their stance and possessed fingers, but the y were not as thickly muscled and lacks any kind of fur with clothing herself in folds of cloth and the other a suit of unknown metals.
Celestia stared at two beings; the clothed one was facing away from the mirror to stare at the back of the armored one who seemed to be leaving the room. If these were the creatures that had attacked Discord, then she was fortunate indeed that their attention was away from the mirror upon her emergence from it.
Suddenly, she found herself discovered by what appeared to be a baby dragon she had not noticed until that point, perched on the shoulder of the clothed creature. It tilted its white head at her in an inquisitive manner, blinking its eyes at her. Celestia knew she had only two choices: retreat back through the mirror (if she even could) before the dragon alerted the creatures to her presence, or hope that Discord had done something to earn these creatures wrath, and thus remain unharmed so long as she did not make the same mistake.
Celestia looked over her shoulder at the mirror behind her in thought. No! She entered her mirror in the hopes of finding some way to free aid her people! She was their princess, and her life was secondary to the welfare of her citizens! If there was even a chance that these creatures could aid her against Discord, then her life was the very least she could put on the line!
""Excuse me? Can either of you two tell me where I am?" Celestia spoke up, to gain the attention of the two creatures.
Both creatures turn around, and Celestia saw that the clothed one had a very feminine face now that she had a good angle of it, but the other was clad near entirely in an intimidating metal suit of armor.
All three stared at each other in silence for several moments, broken by the small dragon making several noises of confusion and excitement in the interim as it regarded the stranger from the mirror. Finally, the armored one spoke in a cold and demanding tone that caused Celestia to take a step back towards the portal behind her in case she should need to make a swift retreat.
"Who are you?' the armored woman--for from the tone of her voice, she could not be anything but female--demanded of her, her tone carrying a threatening edge. "How and why have you trespassed onto my tower?" she continued, floating forward menacingly.
"I . . ." Celestia found herself at a loss for words before the metal-clad woman's sightless gaze.
"Was it you who intruded upon the tower's systems yesterday?" She continued to demand, steadily advancing upon the white alicorn. The blue robed woman simply gazed at the strange horse in a curious manner. What appeared to be a purple-maned male of the creatures rushed in, obviously summoned by the commotion, and in his hands he held a sword that looked to be quite sharp.
Before the situation could escalate into violence, the woman clothed in blue interjected.
"Calm down, Shurelia," she chided the armored woman. "Can't you see your scaring the poor dear," she said, gazing at the horse in curiosity and wonder--for there was no doubt this creature came from the other side of the mirror, her ancestral homeland. To think that such wondrous and intelligent creatures populated it! Stepping forward, she waved a hand toward the guard in dismissal--who seemed quite reluctant to sheathe his blade and leave, but did so--and smiled. "My name is Tastiella De Lu, of the Teru Tribe," she introduced, smiling gently at the frightened equine. "This is Shurelia--" she gestured to the armored woman--"the overseer of tower you have found yourself on. I apologize for her behavior; we are in a time of war, and it seems someone from your side of the mirror attempted to use this portal to trespass into the tower yesterday."
Celestia's eyes widened at this admission. Yesterday? But it had been over a month since the day she and Luna had found the mirror in that abandoned dragon's nest! Could time run differently in this world? How long has she been gone in Equestria if so? A day? A month? A year! Had she left Luna all alone? What if Discord had already taken over in her absence!
Swallowing the lump of dread that had appeared in her throat, Celestia found it in her to answer. "You said the last person to cross over was yesterday?" she asked, hoping to have misheard the woman.
Tastiella frowned in confusion but nonetheless answered the winged-and-horned horses question. "That is correct," she said, glancing towards Shurelia who simply nodded, observing the situation with her arms crossed over her chest.
"But Discord passed through that mirror a month ago!" Not seeing Tastiella's eyes widen at that fact, she turned around to return through the portal immediately. "I must return immediately before too much time has passed and Discord has taken over all the land!"
"If that is your concern, I believe your fears are unfounded," Shurelia interjected before the white horse could leave, drawing its attention. "Since you have entered, the temporal and spatial fluctuations have stabilized and the wormhole seems to be consisent and showing no sign of failing," she said, glancing over at Tastiella, who would know of the Teru magics than she would. The robed woman walked over and regarded the mirror for several moments, closing her eyes in concentration, before opening her eyes and nodding.
"Yes," she nodded, "it seems as if you are correct. I believe that the link between the two portals is serving to stabalize the temporal diffrence between this world and the one that our guest comes from," she said with a nod. Turning, she smiled at the rainbow-maned horse. "You have nothing to fear, my dear," she said reassuringly.
Celestia felt the icy panic that had gripped her heart leave her all at once, and nearly collapsed to the stone floor in relief. "I had feared all was lost . . ." she whispered more to herself than the two women in the room. "That I had doomed my sister and entire kingdom because of my folly."
"It seems as if things are not quite that severe," Tastiella said with a smile, gazing down at the white horse with compassion. "Please, get up," she requested. "I believe we have much to discuss, and you still have not told us the reason for your trip through the portal--or even your name."
"I would very much like to know who this Discord is and why he invaded my tower's systems," Shurelia interjected harshly, earning her a reproachful glare from Tastiella.
Celestia shook her head and gathered herself upon her feet. "Of course, my apologize . . ." she told them. "When I had thought that--anyway," she dismissed the thought with a shake of her head. "You are correct; I have been quite rude in not only trespassing but not introducing myself," she apologized. Bending her front legs, she dipped into a slight bow. "My name is Celestia, and I am the princess of my lands, come in hope of aid from a creature known as Discord," she entreated.
There was silence for several moments, before Shurelia observed in a neutral tone, "Well that explains the crown."
Shurelia gazed down at the "alicorn" doll she had created in remembrance of the princess from another world. From time to time, she wondered if they still suffered under the cruel reign of Discord, or if her gift had been any help to the princess or her people--or if they had even been able to harness the song magic within at all. Admittedly, she had not handled introductions with the princess in the best of manners, but she had come to respect and emphasize with the ruler's plight--so similar to her own--and that had been what had led her to craft the hymn crystal she had given the alicorn.
Around two weeks after the meeting, she had made the doll she held in her hands, in a fit of pique, to remember Celestia by.
And she might have modified Elma to have a horn and painted it white shortly thereafter-- but that had nothing to do with Celestia at all. . ..
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Hmm...
4665905 *Le gasp* Have I earned my first coveted Fim Fiction mustache! Huzzah!
4666424 Well, in light of getting me interested despite knowing absolutely nothing about Ar Tonelico -- to the point of never even hearing of it before -- I'd say it warrants it.
Also, I'll continue to watch.
If it keeps my interest, I might even look at that Let's Play you linked to.
4667546 This was my goal for this story. I believe that it is a criminally underrated RPG series, that gets a lot of flak for admittedly blatant fan service and innuendo that is sprinkled amongst the dialogue and gameplay of the trilogy. Plus the similar themes and number of parallels that exist between MlP:FiM and the Ar Tonelico series are far too numerous and spot-on to not write a cross over.
Plus, I'm pumping chapters out after being motivated by the news that the series prequel, Ar no Surge, is being released in the States on September 23rd.
Also, there exists one other Ar Tonelico story on this site: Harmony Consultant
I suggest you also give that a read.
Huh, I hadn't heard of the Ar Nosurge announcement for NA. I'm hoping it'll be a return to form after Qoga.
4669127 Same battle system as Ar Tonelico 2, only enhanced. All the sweet music we've come to love, and more.
Here's the offical American site. Ar No Surge
And here's a link to the sweet, sweet music in it: Ar no Surge OST
Enjoy my fellow,Ar Tonelico fan! Enjoy!
Also, any status on the next chapter of your wonderful story, friend?
That's good to hear. I've sent the next chapter off for prereading, I'm trying to get them done a little faster now so I've also started work on the chapter after that before I post it.