Princess Celestia smiled as the next petitioner entered the throne room of the currently mixed court. As Luna had modified her sleep schedule from what it used to be over a thousand years ago, the two had started holding half of each of their respective court times during each others to show their unity to Equestria. The petitioner happened to be Fancy Pants, one of the few nobles that were actually enjoyable to be around, took the smile as permission to speak.
“Good evening, your highnesses. As you know I have an upcoming... My what IS that sound?” Fancy Pants paused and looked towards the throne room door as a wailing sound steadily grew louder from somewhere in the palace. Both the princesses frowned on hearing it, though Celestia was more from a faint feeling of familiarity than the confusion of her sister. As the sound reached its peak the doors to the throne room opened to reveal a weeping maid who was carrying a flashing red gem.
“Your hi-hi-highness! Please don't banish me! I didn't mean to break it!” The mare started admitting to everything that she had done wrong while she was supposed to be working but Princess Celestia's attention wasn't on her. Instead her gaze was locked on the gem that the mare was holding out in her hoof with a look of shock.
“Shattered Alicorn.” The entire room went silents as the solar princess spoke those words. With wide eyes a nearby guard managed to clear his throat moments later.
“Excuse me your highness, but could you please repeat that? Did you just say...?” The guard was blown back by a wall of wind when Celestia's wings snapped open as she rose to her hooves.
“I repeat, this is a Shattered Alicorn situation! Call up all active Wonderbolts for immediate deployment! Lock down the palace until further notice! Move it ponies!” The entire room burst into action as the princess went from her usual peaceful demeanor into command mode. While many worked to clear the throne room, some were unprepared for the chaos as the two princesses watched one stallion dive out the window in panic as klaxons began to sound throughout the palace.
“Sister, just what is going on? We have no troops or commanders out anywhere dangerous to require a call for all available reinforcements so who activated this beacon?” Princess Celestia lifted the gem in her magic before she started to make her way towards the exit of the throne room. Her sister watched her for a moment before following her out as well. As soon as the doors closed behind them the throne room finished emptying leaving the stunned mare alone before she promptly fainted.
“This beacon is not from one of our current operatives around Equestria, but one that has been missing for a long time. So very long. It is about time that they finally can come home.” Luna was surprised at how anxious her sister was about this, but more from the fact that her sister's emotions were plainly visible on her face. She wasn't the only one to notice this as the gem disappeared from Celestia's magical grip and a jovial voice rang out above them.
“Now what is it about this little thing that makes even the mighty Celestia, Princess of Boringness so worked up. So much chaos from such a little thing that even I am a tad jealous of.” Discord floated above the two princesses as he flipped the gem like a coin into the air. Celestia glared at the draconequus humorlessly before she stomped her hoof and posed aggressively at him.
“Discord! I do not have time to deal with you right now so give that back. I need to get it to the map room so we can begin doing a trace on where the signal is originating from.” Discord just waved off the alicorn as he brought the gem up to his eye before putting it in one ear and pulling it out the other.
“Oh, don't get your panties in a bunch, Celly. In fact I'm here to help and...” Discord pauses as he looks more closely at the gem and plucks a claw at an invisible tether leading out from it. “Why hello, what's this? I wondered where that place had run off to. Good thing I was here or else you never would have found it.” Celestia blinks a couple times in confusion before she reaches up to grab Discord in her hooves.
“You know where they are!? Where, tell me!” The princess began to shake the chaotic being in an effort to force the information out of him. After a few seconds of this he disappeared for a moment before reappearing out of her reach.
“How rude. And just when I was about to tell you.” The two princesses just give him a deadpan look as he pouts at them. “You're lucky that I want to see just who it is that can get you worked up. You would never find that island otherwise since I made it created it so that it would always change locations and couldn't be tracked, well except for that compass that finds whatever you desire most.” One of the guards escorting the princesses let out a gasp of realization of what the draconequus was describing.
“You don't mean the Gallopingghost Island!? But that is just an old foal's tale!” Discord rolls his eyes at the guard before flicking the gem back towards Celestia who hastily catches it in her magic.
“Ugh, I never really liked that name. She always called it Paradise Island. Ahh, those were the good old days.” As Discord's eyes glazed over, the two princesses looked at each other wondering what he was talking about.
“She? She who?” At Luna's question the creature of chaos shook his head and his eyes returned to normal.
“What are you talking about? Weren't you in a hurry to rescue whoever is on the other end of that gem? If you take too long even I may lose track of the island again.” As Discord heads towards the map room the two princesses look at each other once more, wondering just what that was all about.
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“...and there. I'm still not sure how I feel about it, but I think it was worth writing down, right?” Fluttershy looks to her closest friends, minus Rainbow Dash, as she closes the journal. The six mares along with Spike were gather around a table at the town's local diner waiting on their lunches.
“Well it sure sounds like something worth recording. Though I didn't even realize that this group journal was going to be a thing.” The others look at Aegis Flare in confusion for a moment before realizing the issue which Twilight quickly corrected.
“Right, you were away that day. When you were looking for Agent X we all ended up at the Castle of the Two Sisters. The rest of them were busy scaring each other for some reason, but I managed to find a journal that Princesses Celestia and Luna wrote in when they were younger. After reading some of the entries it just felt like a good idea for us to have one as well so that future generations could read about our adventures from our point of view.” Aegis Flare looked thoughtful for a moment before she shuddered.
“That would have been a better trip than what happened the one time I WAS there. I've had to keep an eye on Scootaloo so that she doesn't manage to pick up another one of those enchanted comic books.” They all shook their heads as they thought back to that day.
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“...and Flare! You're Wildfire!” The bat-winged mare groaned as she finally recognized the costume that she was wearing before hitting her head into a nearby wall. Spike wasn't finished as he turned to the three fillies that had also joined him and the adults in the comic.
“I don't know why you three are here dressed like that though. Those are the costumes of the Filly Force Five, the youth superhero group the was setup by the Power Ponies.” Scootaloo let out a gasp as she recognized the outfit she was wearing.
“Awesome! That means I must be Dread-hawk! Master of gadgets and acrobats!” She ran a hoof through her black cape, revealing a belt full of pockets. Looking at her friends she pointed the same hoof towards Applebloom.
“And you must be Cyberfilly! Half filly, half machine, and all kick flank! And Sweetie Belle is the Banshee! She terrorizes her enemies with her sonic screech! All we're missing now are the Manehatten Mauler with her regeneration and her collection of blades, and Nox the black coated alien alicorn who is the daughter of a Nightmare!” Aegis Flare just groaned once more and continued hitting her head into the wall, even as an alarm rang out from a building across the street.
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The darker orange mare of the bunch rubber at her temples as she felt a headache coming on from that memory before turning back to the journal. “I'll have to remember this if I ever do come across something worth writing in it.” Twilight blushed as she started tapping her hooves together nervously.
“Um, I may have actually wrote something in tit already for you. When we met Daring Do, your story was just so interesting that I just had to write it down.” Aegis Frowned for a moment before she shook her head.
“Well I guess that would fit well, though it would have been nice to know about it earlier. Though one of these days I really need to take the time to explore that place more thoroughly. I still can't believe that Celestia just left so much stuff in there, like that library.” Twilight nodded as a waiter came out with the lunches they had ordered earlier. Pinkie Pie started vibrating in place after the food was set down in front of her.
“Now what's wrong Pinkie?” The pink mare shook her head at Twilight as she tried to stop her hoof from shaking so she could dig into her meal.
“I'm not sure, Twilight. My Pinkie Sense has being acting up all day now and I can't figure out why. Whatever it is it's going to be one hay of a doozy.” At the word doozy, the other mares flinched away while the other ponies in hearing range fled the area, not wanting to have to deal with the results of a doozy. Looking around, Applejack frowned at the retreating ponies before focusing on the empty seat at the table.
“Where is that Rainbow Dash at now anyways? Ah thought that all of use were meeting up here ta eat.” Fluttershy looked around before she took a sip of her tea.
“Oh, well she had to go to the schoolhouse today. It turns out that she forgot that Cheerilee had asked her to help out with some of the pegasii students with some flight excercises while she helps the earth ponies and Amethyst Star assists the unicorns. Cheerilee asked me to remind her about it after we talked about us and Big Mac having a girl's night out later this week.” The others looked confused by her statement, until Applejack brought a hoof up to her muzzle in exasperation.
“Darn it Big Mac, I thought ah told ya ta get rid of that dress. Why does he even wear that thing?” Fluttershy blushed for a moment before answering her friend.
“Um, well he says that he has fewer mares bothering him when he is dressed up like that. I find it kind of sweet how he gets in touch with his mare side like that.” The others just shake their heads at this before they are interrupted by a loud belch from Spike. Looking over the group saw that a message had arrived from Celestia which Twilight quickly unrolled.
“Huh? This is odd. Princess Celestia has never sent me anything like this before.” When her friends just looked at her in confusion she turned it around so they could see it.
“'The Ebony Heart has been recovered'? What is that supposed to- Flare, are you alright, darling?” On seeing the message, Aegis Flare's pupils shrank while her breathing rate increased. Pinkie Pie reached a hoof out to poke at her, but when she came into contact the bat-winged mare vanished from sight leaving a fiery contrail as she took off flying towards the school. Applejack looked after her in confusion for a moment before her eyes widened and she turned towards Rarity who mirrored her action.
“Rarity, ya don't think...?” The alabaster unicorn nodded before the two looked in the direction their friend just took off to. “We had better go after her everypony. If this means what ah think it does...” Applejack took off running after their friend with the others following right behind her, Twilight only after dropping a bag of bits onto the table. The path their friend took was easy to follow as it was the fastest route to the schoolhouse and their was a trail of windblown ponies along it.
Before they arrived an explosion rang out through the skies over Ponyville, and a ring of flames spread out over it originating from the direction of Canterlot. Arriving at the schoolhouse, they found Rainbow Dash looking in the direction of the explosion with her jaw halfway to the ground. When she noticed that the rest of her friends arrived she shook herself and half shouted.
“Just what the buck is going on here!? Since when could Flare do a Corona Burst!? That is supposed to be Spitfire's special move! And why did she grab Scoots like that? Somepony has been holding out on me during our training.” While the last part was to herself, the others still clearly heard her and wondered much the same. Twilight unrolled the letter they had received and showed it to the cyan alicorn.
“We aren't sure. She just flipped out as soon as she read this which the princess just sent to me. It's strange though since she didn't even bother to sign it, but it is her horn writing.” Rainbow Dash looked over the short message before she frowned.
“Huh, it's a code phrase. It looks like they found something important but I haven't heard of Ebony being used before. Platinum is for Celestia and Sapphire is for Luna for example.” Her friends looked at Rainbow Dash curiously before she rolled her eyes. “What? Spitfire has been teaching me stuff like this. It's kind of important to know if I'm going to be leading the Wonderbolts some day.” There were a few chuckles at her reaction, but Rarity and Applejack's eyes met once more before they nodded in agreement.
“Girls, ah think ah know what it means. But if that's so then we have ta get ta Canterlot as fast as possible.” The others were confused by her words, but they nodded before they all turned towards Canterlot. Before they could take off though they were interrupted by a shout from the school.
“Wait! Take us with you, too. Flare took Scootaloo with her and we want to go and make sure she is okay!” Applebloom and Sweetie Belle ran up to their respective sisters and looked pleadingly up at them. While the two would rather leave their younger siblings in class, they knew that if what they suspected was true then Scootaloo would need their help. With a nod the two knelt down so that their sisters could climb onto their backs, while Twilight let Spike climb on as well before the alicorns took flight and headed for Canterlot.
While the didn't go as fast as Aegis Flare was, they still made respectable time from Ponyville to there. When they arrived they found nothing out of the ordinary at first, but when they reached the castle they found the guards fully mobilized. After a moment to be identified they were led to the throne room where they were met with an unexpected sight.
“Ah can't believe it. Is that really...”
vvvvvvvvvv
A short time earlier
“Sis! Slow down! I can barely hang on!” Aegis Flare's speed didn't lessen at her sister's words, but her horn did light up causing a ring to wrap around the two, securing the younger pony to her back. With the risk of falling off no longer a concern, the young pegasus was able to take in the feeling of the wind through her mane as they traveled at speeds that she had only seen Rainbow Dash reach. Her sights soon settled on the approaching palace causing a question to go through her mind.
“Sis!? Just where are we going!? What's going on!?” Her question received no answer as the alicorn dove towards the castle entrance and blazed by the guards before they could react, leaving them slightly scorched from the fiery trail that she left behind. The young filly braced herself as the closed door of the throne room approached which was slammed open as her sister hit it, the latches broken from the impact. The alicorn stood frozen in the doorway and when nothing happened Scootaloo opened her eyes. What she saw caused her to freeze up in shock like her sister as tears came to her eyes.
“Mommy?” As if her words were a trigger, the alicorn under her took off towards the mare laying before the thrones where they met in a tearful reunion.
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“...Ms. Bella Donna?” The heads of her friends snapped around to look at her an Rarity as a hint of wetness came to their eyes. Turning back to the pile of ponies on the floor they looked at the seated mare, both Scootaloo and Aegis Flair curled up in front of her asleep. The description they were given of her before was spot on, with a bit of graying after the years she had been gone, but what caught their eyes most were her legs. Or the lack of them to be exact. Both of her rear legs had been replaced by wooden constructs that were obviously cobbled together, the left starting just below her hip and the right at the knee.
“Oh my, she looks like she has been through a lot since she disappeared. What happened over the last ten years to her?” The others nodded at Fluttershy's question, wondering the same thing as well. Pinkie Pie looked over to her fellow alicorn next to the mare, before she let out a gasp.
“She's smiling.” Her quiet words were confusing to the others until they followed her gaze to Aegis Flare's face to see the smile on her tear-filled face.
“So? I would expect her to be happy about something like this. It's not like we haven't seen he smile before.” Shaking her head at Rainbow Dash the pink pony clarified herself.
“No, it's a real smile from her. She always seemed so sad even when she smiled before even when she was asleep. Yet now the sadness is gone. I had almost given up on seeing a real smile from her.” The pink alicorn shuddered as her Pinkie Sense went off one last time before settling down. The others had to admit that what they were met with could be classified as a doozy as none of them ever expected something like this to happen.
With their surprise slowly wearing off, they all advanced into the throne room, catching the attention of the mare before Celestia and Luna. “Even more alicorns? Just what have you been doing since I was last here? I had barely gotten here when my daughters busted in here and you still haven't said anything.” Bella Donna leveled a glare at Princess Celestia who flinched away, much to everyone else's surprise.
“Um, well, you see.” Celestia started tapping her hooves together in embarrassment, which threw off all the other mares in the room except for the Black Guard Captain. Pinkie Pie was the first one to recover, much to the displeasure of the eldest princess.
“Did you forget Celly? I mean I can sure understand that since you did forget about Flarie after her parents disappeared and...” From there the pink alicorn proceeded to recite the bat-winged alicorn's life story from the moment that she had to fend for herself and her sister until the present time. As the story progressed, Bella's face grew grimmer and grimmer while Celestia managed to get even paler. By the time Pinkie had finished the orange unicorn was glaring at the solar princess who looked as if she wanted to be anywhere else at this time.
“So let me get this straight. We trust you to look after our daughters if some happens to us, and you go and FORGET ABOUT THEM! Not only that you let the entire Black Guard collapse and fall into the hooves of the one stallion that managed to evade our efforts all this time!” Princess Celestia could only meekly nod which causes the unicorn to growl lightly while the others watched the tableau in shock.
“What kind of hair-brained, cake-scarfing...” The unicorn started to roll out a large number of insults towards the princess, so many that Applejack and Rarity had to cover their sister's ears to prevent them from hearing. By the time she finished, Celestia was looking like a whipped filly while Luna looked impressed and the others were staring wide-eyed with reddened ears.
“It has been a long time since I have seen my sister like this. Teach me, please?” The unicorn's eyes turned to the lunar princess as she panted before her eyes widened in recognition.
“The Night Mother!? You truly were real. He always talked about you so much but when you finally return he...” The unicorn looks sad for a moment before she shakes her head and focuses once again.
“My apologies. I would be honored to teach you but fixing certain mistakes your sister made take priority. And here I was hoping I could retire and spend time with my daughters.” She was prevented from going any further as laughter reverberated through the room and a familiar serpentine form faded into view with a bucket of popcorn.
“Wonderful! Wonderful show. Oh, I knew it was a good idea to help rescue this mare from my old island. Not even her parents could make old Celly cower like that.” As the draconequus laughed to himself at the situation, the unicorn eyed him warily as he had not shown himself during her rescue though she recognized him.
“Even Discord is freely roaming around? That pink alicorn mentioned it but I wasn't sure if it was true. Of course now I know why those water parks were on that island if he made it. We are seriously going to have a long talk later.” Celestia whimpered as the mare addressed her once again, but before she could continue another angry voice spoke up.
“Discord!” All eyes snapped to Aegis Flare who was angrily climbing to her hooves with her full attention focused on the draconequus who was slowly backing away out of fear.
“Now now. Let's not do anything rash shall we? I mean I did help out, didn't I?” This didn't stop the mare from advancing on him at all though.
“First you make me think my sister is dead, then you go and brainwash me and my friends, then after we give you a second chance you constantly torment me with your pranks and nonsense.” As she neared the chaotic being she reared up onto her back hooves, causing Discord to close his eyes in fear. When he felt his body being enclosed by a warm feeling he was confused as he was expecting more pain.
“But you brought back my mom. Thank you, Discord, thank you!” Discord looked down at the mare as she started crying into his chest as she had him wrapped up in a hug. He had no idea how to deal with this so he looked over towards Pinkie and Fluttershy, who only smiled and nodded at him in approval for what he had done. Completely flustered from the unexpected situation he fled from the room, leaving the crying alicorn in her mother's hooves once again, though he couldn't help wondering why the feelings he felt were so familiar.
With the disappearance of Discord, Bella Donna quietly got to know her daughter's friends as she worked to calm her down again. Once the crying had ended she sighed as she knew that it would probably start again at what she had to say even as her other daughter drifted awake during that time. “Flare? Scootaloo? About your father...
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Rain poured over Canterlot as the princesses and nobles gather at the entrance to the royal tombs. The weather was often kept clear during the day in the mountain city, but one of the few exceptions were during days of mourning for those honored by the princesses. That day they all gather to lay one Vanator, father of Princess Aegis Flare and Scootaloo, husband of Ex-Captain Bella Donna to rest. The nobles were not told of this though as the former captain wanted her identity to be a surprise right up until the end. Once they summoned ponies had gathered, Princess Celestia stepped forward to the podium.
“My Little Ponies. We are gathered her today to honor a pony that has done much for this great country. It has been a long time coming, but only now have we finally had a chance to praise this unsung hero. Before I continue, the wife of Black Guard Captain Vanator would like to say a few things to those gathered here today.” There were a few looks of confusion as she mentioned the name, but many nobles soon had looks of terror as the cloaked mare hobbled forward and slowly dropped her hood.
“My husband has done a lot for this kingdom and if not for him I would not be alive to finally reunite with my daughters once again.” She gestured to the orange alicorn and filly that were standing nearby before continuing. “But even though he is gone he would still want me to push on and protect Equestria. And from what I can tell there is a lot of work needed to clean things up once again.”
As her glare passed over the crowd many nobles began to quake in fear, not only in learning that the two most feared beings in recent history had children of which one was now a princess, but the the Poison-Tongued Queen had returned, and was coming for them.