Ponyville, Equestria. 7:37 am 22/06/1000 AN
Twilight Sparkle sat in silence, she had been worried about her mentor. Ever since she and her new friends banished Nightmare moon the princess hadn't replied to a single one of her letters, be it an apology or otherwise. It wouldn't have been as bad if it weren't for the fact that Celestia never missed a report, let alone the nearly two hundred she had sent last night. At first Twilight had presumed she was sleeping. Then she had presumed she was angry with her for something, but as the hours dragged on she began to worry about her safety.
Twilight had almost convinced herself that she was just being paranoid, that she was merely tired. Then that, thing, came tearing through the sky. It had created a sonic rainboom, something she had only seen once before, performed by Rainbow Dash herself. Not that Twilight knew at the time. She had been with the rainbow maned pegasus when it arrived. She had observed the way it burst through the clouds, leaving a blue trail of fire and a massive magical fluctuation behind it. The speeds were so phenomenal that even Rainbow was speechless, something that doesn't happen very often.
Then it flew off towards Canterlot. That's why she is currently sitting at Ponyville train station, waiting for the rest of her friends to arrive. She had a feeling the elements would be needed for this one.
"...Have a feeling that, whatever that big ugly monster was, I'm gonna kick it in the flank! Right Twi." Rainbow Dash had been talking while she was stuck in thought.
"I'm sorry Rainbow, I didn't quite catch that."
"I was just saying that I'll be able to kick that big beast right in the flank." Boasted Dash.
"While, I'm sure you could, I think we should take this one more tactically. We have no idea what our foe is capable of, which could be disastrous." She replied.
Rainbow just laughed.
"I'll leave it to you Twilight, I'm not really into that egghead stuff."
Twilight was about to make a point about health and safety when she was interrupted by a group of silhouettes wandering over the horizon. As they grew closer she recognised the somewhat bedraggled look on their faces, she had seen it on Spike many times before. It's not even that early...
"Hi girls!" Shouted Twilight.
Her friends grew closer until they were within speaking distance.
"Howdy."
"Hi!"
"Hello darling."
"Um... Hello."
Her friends, excluding Pinky, looked extremely displeased with the fact that they were awake at the current moment, not that it mattered, they had a job to do.
"Look Twi, I know we got a big responsibility, being the elements an all. I know we need to take care of anything that crops up, but why does it have to be today? It's the beginning of harvest season and Big Mac an I have a lot of work to to."
Twilight understood, Applejack worked harder than anypony she knew, and this harvest was the culmination of an entire years work. Who knew what could happen if it wasn't a success.
"I know Applejack, but the princess could be in danger. Then where would we be?"
Applejack sighed, kicking a loose stone on the platform with her hoof.
"Yer right Twi, I'm sure we'll be back by noon anyways."
"Yeah!" Interjected Pinky, who had just ingested most of the contents of the cakes baking cabinet. "Whatever nasty monster it is this time, I'm sure it'll be no match for us!"
Fluttershy whimpered.
"That sounds awful, I hope we don't have to fight..."
"Quite so darling." Said Rarity. "I can't imagine what fighting would do to ones mane."
Twilight smiled, those were her friends all right, she wouldn't trade them for the world. Her train of thought was interrupted by another, slightly more physical train pulling into Ponyville station. It's steam powered engine puffed out a great plume of smoke as it came to a stop. A cabin door opened and a young stallion in a blue conductors outfit strolled out, and was extremely surprised to see the six ponies standing in front of him.
"Oh hello, I wasn't expecting to see anyone up this early. Shouldn't you all be sleeping?"
Rarity rolled her eyes. "Yes."
"It's a matter of great importance actually, how quickly can you get us to Canterlot?" Said Twilight, in an authoritative tone.
The conducter thought for a second.
"There's no other passengers on board, and if I tell the driver to speed us up we could get there within an hour."
"Excellent, six tickets to Canterlot please."
The conductor began to unfurl his long roll of blank tickets, the coil hit the ground and rolled towards Twilight, who stopped it with a hoof. He began to print a ticket before stopping abruptly.
"You know what, its alright. We need to go to the station in Canterlot anyway. You girls can just ride along for free." Replied the conducter.
Twilight thanked him and boarded the train, her friends in tow.
"So Twilight, why d'ya call us up here. What's the danger this time." Asked Applejack.
They sat down in one of the green booths, the soft material threatening to put them to sleep. Everyone except Pinky, who was jumping up and down without rest.
"Oh! Oh! Is it a monster from the Everfree. No a dragon! No wai..."
Rainbow cut her off by shoving a hoof inside her mouth. Twilight nodded.
"Thank you Rainbow. As for your question Applejack, I'm not entirely sure what it was. It was large, and purple, and it was moving at speeds that shouldn't be possible. It broke both the sound barrier and the latent magic barrier like they were nothing."
Applejack blinked in confusion. "Latent what now?"
"Is that what that horrendous noise was, it woke me up an hour before my alarm! Whatever it is I'll be giving it a sharp talk about manners when we find it."
Rainbow dash just rolled her eyes, the only thing that creature was getting if it touched the princess was a sharp kick to the face. There was a whistle from outside and the train began to move.
"I keep running the calculations in my head, nothing that big should be able to go that fast." Said Twilight. "I'll need Spikes help to study it when we get back."
"Speaking of Spiky-wiky, where is he? He usually comes along on our escapades."
"He was up late last night helping me send a few letters, I may have worked him a little to hard."
That was a tremendous understatement and Twilight knew it, the poor guy could hardly walk after she was done with him.
"I think he was planning to spend the day with the fillies and colts anyway."
The train began to pick up pace as it weaved through the base tunnels of Canterlot mountain, the wind whistling through a gap in the window's seal. Rainbow settled into a cushion in the opposite booth and began to snore heavily. Twilight felt her own eyes droop, she had been up into the wee hours of the morning, maybe a small nap wouldn't hurt...
"Next stop, Canterlot castle!"
The crackling voice of the conducter over the intercom filled the cabin, Twilight jumped awake. The train was drifting through a very peculiar scene. There was a large amount of iron carriages being pulled around, presumably full of cargo. They coasted up to the platform and the train screeched as its brakes engaged. Rainbows eyes snapped open in surprise.
"Wha-zzum awake, what's appnin."
"I believe we just arrived, although this isn't the usual place." Replied Rarity.
As they were talking the conductor entered the cabin, all eyes turned to him.
"Sorry about the location, we had to make a delivery to the castle. You can get to the city through the gates at the end of the platform."
Rainbow gazed out of the window. There was a lot of solar guards standing about, weapons at the ready.
"What's with all the guards?" She said, still looking outside.
"I'm not entirely sure, someone said something about a disturbance up at the castle. Something to do with the big rainbow earlier. I think they might be here as a result."
Now that got Twilights attention.
"That doesn't sound good."
"I hear ya, we should probably get going."
With that the elements rose and exited the cabin through the door they had entered. The platform was in chaos. Loading crews rushed about, carrying boxes and equipment to various places. Battalions of guards stood at their posts, their faces locked in the trademark stoic expression. Twilight approached one who was standing next to the gate that lead to the castle gardens.
"What's going on here, why are there so many guards."
He shifted slightly in his golden plating, thinking about what to say next.
"We have been ordered by the princess to guard the object that arrived earlier today, the castle is on lockdown until further notice"
The object? Was he talking about the monster?
"Can we get inside please? It's urgent." She gave a sheepish smile.
The guard shook his head,
"The castle is on lockdown, nopony may enter unless authorised."
"But we are authorised, we're the elements of harmony!" Replied Twilight, getting impatient.
"I'm sorry, but I cannot allow you to enter unless I have authorisation from the princess herself."
Twilight groaned, at least it meant that the princess was safe. Though this object had peaked her curiosity, and she wasn't leaving until she had the opportunity to document it.
"M-maybe we should just go." Fluttershy whispered. "I-I don't think we're allowed in."
Twilight looked back at the guard, who stared straight ahead.
"Is there any way you can talk to the princess, to inform her that the elements of harmony are here."
The guard sighed. "Give me a moment."
He opened the gate and walked inside, past the two other guards who were on the other side of the fence. He strided through an arched passage and disappeared from view. Rainbow flexed her wings in boredom.
"Well at least we know the princess isn't in danger, can we go home yet Twilight, I've got a jar of zap apple jam with my name written all over it."
"No we can't go home yet, not until we find out what caused the rainboom this morning." Replied Twilight.
Faint voices could be heard coming from inside the tunnel, barely above the commotion on the platform. Applejack shook her head in their direction.
"Look Twi, ah know you curious an all, but ah've got work to do. I'm sure the guards have it under control."
"It's not about that, if they're keeping ponies out then they've got to be trying to keep something contained." Twilight pointed at the doorway. "They could need our help, and what if we're not there, what then. Better safe than sorry in my opinion."
There was a creek and the gate slid open. The guard from earlier strolled out and stood at the ready, though he seemed to keep a tighter grip on his spear than before.
"It appears I was mistaken, you may enter. Stay close to me at all times, and please, for the love of Celestia. Don't touch anything."
Twilight could almost feel the neurones in her head firing, ready to absorb absolutely any information she could get her hooves on.
"Alright, lead the way!" She chirped.
The guard turned and made his way back down the dimly lit tunnel, the elements close behind him. The passage twisted and turned, the only illumination coming from the torches fixed to the walls at regular intervals. Fluttershy huddled closer to the center of the group, afraid to get near the stony surface. Twilight caught up with their escort.
"So what's got everypony in such a state of panic, is there something dangerous up here."
He looked down at her with a straight face.
"Dangerous is most likely the wrong term, it's not dangerous in its current state... But it may have the potential to be devastating. We don't know, so we're locking down the castle as a precaution."
"What is it? Is it some kind of dragon?"
The guard just shook his head.
"That's what we all thought at first, but then it... It opened up, and out came, well... Whatever it was."
"What was it? Asked Twilight, hanging on his every word.
"It kind of looked like a minotar, but with less hair. I dunno, I didn't get a good view before I was bumped off with rest of the guards. Somepony else arrived with him... It was another alicorn, though not one I've seen before... Her cutie mark was a crescent moon."
Twilight felt herself pulled from her dream state at his words. There was only one mare she knew with a crescent moon as a cutie mark.
"OH NO! The princess!"
Twilight charged a teleportation spell and directed herself towards the throne room, she let her consciousness flow over the hall before selecting a location near the back entrance. The spell finished charging and the guard barely had enough time to yell before she disappeared in a flash of purple light.
What is teleportation? Teleportation is often described as simply vanishing and reappearing in another location, instantly. This is not the case. Teleportation is more like being pulled through a plug hole with the destination on the other side. While it may, from an outside perspective, look instant, there is lot more going on than that. The user experiences period of time where they are in a state of indeterminate existence, a moment of mind separated from matter. While their consciousness exists there is no physical mass for it to bind with, so the user often feels themselves being pulled towards the nearest host to their desired location. This can often result in the sharing of memories, or the passage of thought processes, from one mind to another.
As Twilight teleported to the throne room she connected, and was instantly bombarded with feelings of pain, loss and regret. She saw a mighty wall, hot metal being carved and bent along its surface. She saw an army of monstrosities, clawing at the door of a huge temple, their sharp talons leaving streaks of blue energy through the air. She saw a huge winged beast gargle and yell it exploded into a furious hurricane of light.
Then it all stopped.
Moments later, Twilight reappeared near the door of the throne room, glaring down the long stretch of hall for any sign of trouble. All she saw was a very stunned looking princess Celestia, a bipedal creature clutching its head and a blue alicorn with a crescent moon for a cutie mark. There wasn't a threat, the princess wasn't in any danger, but she didn't know that...
Fuelled by the fear and confusion of what she had just witnessed, Twilight wasn't in the right mindset to be thinking straight. All she saw was her mentor, and two beings attacking her. Clear of any rational thought, the first thing Twilight did after entering the room was charge a lethal offensive spell and aim it directly at the closest target. Who happened to be facing away from her.
The spell soared across the room towards the turned back of princess Luna, who would never see it coming. Celestia was in to much shock to react in time and couldn't put up a protective spell to shield her sister from the attack, but the creature reacted instantly.
A bow of pure magic formed between its claws and it let loose an arrow. The projectile flew towards the incoming spell before making contact and neutralising it instantly. The arrow then continued and impacted the floor to Twilights left, where it stopped. She suddenly felt her magic suppressed, unable to form even the most basic of constructs. The arrow had a tether of anti magic connected right to her horn, and was sucking her dry of the little energy she had left.
The last thing she saw before she blacked out was the shocked face of the princess, who had tears in her eyes.
What had she done...