//------------------------------//
// A first Vision 
// Story: The Book of Ages.    Volume 1.   Harmony and Immortality 
// by Rune Singer 
//------------------------------//

"Temporal i stand but ageless I sing.
An internal brand yet externally I cling.
What am I if I never was?
Found my mind and lost its cause."
Rune Singer 2016.



Twilight remembered when Princess Luna demonstrated the correct way to enter and cross the corridor of a portal, after her return from the first encounter with the mirror that lead to the human world. Luna instructed she was to fly through, to resist the forces that just tumbled her around the corridor walls. She recalled she had to keep her eyes closed so as not to get nauseated by the strobe like colour and light configurations as time and matter compressed and decompressed around her. When Voice took control of her mind, it almost felt like a physical crossing through a portal corridor with the dizzying distorted display dimmed somehow, that and back then she was able to keep her eyes closed.

This time Twilight had to endure not only her mind being taken on a ride to the past, but she was somehow unable to close her eyes, in fact she felt no physical sensation at all. She had only Voice’s promise  to rely on that she was safe and at that moment she did not feel secure at all. The last physical sensation she remembered was that of being lifted up over the book and then her essence breaking apart into little particles. Ink she had thought I am becoming ink in this book. After that she could only see, if seeing so completely, so fully could be compared to vision. She could not just look, she was a 360 degree vision, and what she saw where stars!

Everything was full of stars, burning brightly or twinkling as far as she could perceive. If she could have, she would have wept tears of all encompassing joy at being among the stars. A hypnotic sound came gently in waves, from the closest of the celestial bodies. When the flash from a meteor tail shone brightly, she made to follow its trajectory. Suddenly though she could no longer control the direction of her vision. It became frontal and that limitation felt for a moment alien, until she heard Voice speak again. How long had she been watching the stars? 

Voice, soothingly said “Don’t lose yourself now, do you recall who you are?”

It took Twilight a fraction of a moment to comprehend and then memory settled her back to who she was, an entity, an organism with a soul. For a moment there she mused I think I was not even a singular being.

“Yes indeed” Voice agreed “you are very unique in this, not all Alicorns that have been within the book could ever break lose from their anchor to me. Worry not though, you anchored yourself and this time it wont give way, unless both of us will it to.” 

Twilight’s vision now in the control of Voice again, was centred to a planet below her. She flew towards it, its shape enlarging and after breaking though the first layers of atmosphere, her route took an orbital path over a massive body of ocean. A few moments later a continent was visible with a high mountain range. Her flight decelerated to a near stop over the centre of that continent and she recognised it.

“That is the Quillinian continent, and to the west the Mareopean and to the south the Zebraan, meaning that to further west over the Celestial sea is…” her voice almost caught “…Equestria!”
“Yes dear one, but look closer…there” said Voice and guided their vision towards the body of water between the first three continents. Here is the Mareterranean Sea…”

“But it looks so different from our maps” Twilight interrupted.After a pause she asked “Voice…when is this? When are we?”
Voice did not answer immediately but took them just a bit closer.

“Ah, this was before ponies reached the land you now call Equestria, before their migration and dispersal throughout the world, even before the cataclysm. What events will unfold here before you, happened during the peak of the Marelantian civilisation.”

The mind view now plummeted abruptly and closed over a large island almost in the centre of the Mareterranean Sea, its geography true to the legends, horseshoe shaped as if a titanic pony hoof left an imprint of land before flying away. A grand harbour was filled with large Triremes, ships of the ancient ponies that were dwarfed but the one moored next to them. The fabled to have been the largest ever built, a enormous catamaran galley, the Tessarakonteres took on two thousand warriors to row it and one thousand Pegasi on the deck. No race and no country could boast such naval feats as the Marelanteans had. And thus they were respected and feared by all. 

Twilight’s vision caught a sudden magenta emanation of magical light from the three stones that guarded the entrance to the harbour. They were made entirely out of the the same light the core of the green stone held by the entities that possessed her friends.

“Look further up on the island” Voice said “There stand another three of these Lodestones, power and blessing to the ponies here. In all they are six, but truly they are still one, having been extracted from the same mother stone.”
Twilight wanted to take everything in, to be able to record all that was thought to have been mere legends in the future, in her time. But now even her mind was steered further down. Closer to the island, passing over the harbour and almost toughing the enormous masts, past a harbour city shining brightly white in the sun, towards lush green cultivated fields...





Marelantis 2000 B.E.(Before Equestria)




Morning prayers had finished and the earth priestesses clad in green tinted cloth descended the steps from the temple of the east lodestone. Unlike the other two on the island, theirs was at the topmost of the precious fields. Here the gathered waters of Lotus Lake were given new Life by the magical stone, ensuring that each and every crop was strong, nutritious and abundant. Thus the group had to walk a longer distance than their counterparts of the other Temples and had to step up if they did not want the early Mareterranean sun, burn their backs. The youngest always stayed at the back of the line trying to buy time in order to get a few glimpses into the main Earth Keep and perhaps see a shop or even a handsome stallion. One of the senior ones never being too far ahead, charged with keeping them in line would turn to shout them on. A mare with an orange hide, just two years into her mark gathered the few stragglers up and cantered them ahead of the group. The had to curb their speed to cross the small bridge over Mother river and thus passed under the arch of old-Taproot’s terrace garden. The group had to walk softly now so as not to disturb the teacher within, at his work. Through the carved stone shutters Taproot’s voice old but still deeply melodious, sang the story of the lodestones, to his students. 

As a filly’s whining voice broke the steady rhythm, it was joined by another’s, the tutor groaned in outrage. The group outside the enclosed garden made haste towards their destination, not wanting to hear the teacher tell off his charges.

The garden within boasted an ancient olive tree whose branches covered a radius of five meters. A small fountain trickled away in a corner and on a stone bench near it sat a wizened light ochre stallion, his back bent with age and in his hoof a teacher’s baton, that was now swished in the air threateningly. 

On a bench opposite his, sat two fillies of ten summers, a pegasus and a unicorn. No mark on their flanks yet, their identical light olive green coats identified them as twins. 

Taproot as bard, had taught countless fillies and colts, presided over hundreds of ceremonies and boasted a grand repertoire of his own epic poetry. He had retired from his position over five years now and accepted no students whoever. He did take it upon him though to instruct a last pair of ponies and really had no choice than to accept the royal request of to teach the twin princesses of Marelantis their history. 

Now though he was tempted to break his creed of never punishing a student with violence. Fillies these days seemed to have no patience nor any sense of wonder at the feats of their ancestors! He whacked the baton against the bench and shouted.

“If you make that noise one more time Aneris,I will make sure your father conjure a ban against the gardens! For the both of you!” he said in a booming voice that seemed unlikely to have come from such an old pony. He looked at the twins, Aneris her wings drooped and Concordia head hung low. Resigned they would now have to hear the whole thing again until their ears would fall off. They knew how to push the old one so far that he’d throw them out, but risk a ban from the gardens? That was the worst punishment for them and was the only thing that worked as a warning. Everypony who lived, taught or served the twin princesses knew it. Taproot knew better than to overuse this threat and was sure he was now free to finish his piece.

“Why don’t you pick your harp Concordia? and you Aneris your flute. We will make this a lot more pleasant for everyone!” as the fillies picked up their instruments, resigned to their fate and struck the beginning chords. Taproot waited for the right moment, took a deep breath and sang anew:

Fleetfoot Stormwaker’s son, 
found the stones,
after the quake they rose.
SeaPine Firstblind,
cut the stones,
to his will they parted.
Farseer his brother,
sent the stones,
with magic across the bay.

One piece stood sentinel
By the bay forever more
Us protects the lodestone
from lands beyond our shore.

Farseer’s magic grew,
Given by the Northern stone.
For his he planted high in his tower home.
Seapine blind still,
Grew fields as none before,
For wisdom gave him abundant the Eastern stone.
Fleetfoot with valour filled,
Bravely flew against all foe,
For strength blessed him with, the western stone.

One piece stood sentinel
By the bay forever more
Us protects the lodestone
from lands beyond our shore.

“That’s well enough for now. Well played my Princesses!” he said seizing his singing.

“But teacher Taproot” Concordia asked in bewilderment, “we have not even reached the third verse…”

“That being?” he asked, eyes closed and leaning against the white wall.

“Uhm look, it goes on telling how the Three built the Keeps and how they married and…” Concordia said.

“You now Aneris, what next?” asked Taproot interrupting her and addressing the pegasus.

“Uhm uhm…” she hesitated and looking over to her sister, saw she was making a rounding gesture along her belly, “yes they had children! After that came that problem of choosing a king, and the Guardian Lodestone chose, allowing King Ambrosius to walk over the bay waters. He actually walked on the water! ” she added in triumph.

“Excellent!” Taproot clapped his hooves, opening his eyes and shooing them off “now spit spot pack up your instruments and leave me in peace! I am too ancient to sing all day and my old bones need the sun.”

The young fillies needed no urging to hastily pack and gallop out of their old Teacher’s garden, giggling and already planning their next mischief.

Taproot heavily dependent on his gnarled walking stick, reached the little gate of his retreat that was far from all matters of nation and Crown. He watched the fillies, already little more than silhouettes make for the little bridge, but then turning right into the Gardens. The main woodland area of Marelantis, full of tall pines and Cypress trees was where in ancient times old temple gardens were kept, most ponies though called them plainly The Forest. Said temple, now only a ruin on the precipice of the northern cliffs was abandoned over half a century ago.  The princesses love to play there and explore the crumbling stone ways or find odd statues half buried in the soil.It was well known to all that If not found in the kitchens or knee deep in trouble, the twins would be in the Gardens.

Go little princesses, Taproot thought, sighing at the innocence of foals, enjoy the sun, the sea and this blessed land while you can before you get to witness the dark nature of the world…





“Did he see us?” Concordia huffed out of breath, as they had entered the forest. Aneris flying up in small leaps rather than lifting off, tried her best to spy through the branches.

“He wasn’t even there, old fart must have gone down on the food Mother makes us bring.” The Pegasus added while landing again needing a breath herself. Her wings were not strong enough to lift her off for longer periods of times and she was not allowed to fly as high as she wanted either way. A Pegasus guard was always around to carry her down in their Mother’s home and the Keep where the Royal family lived together was never constructed for flying. It being a unicorn palace that is, because King Cronus even if he loved his Queen’s skill in flying acrobatics, was still a Unicorn Mage.
Concordia took a deep invigorating breath of the pine forest air and started walking. 

“You thing we can do it this time Aneris?” she asked, biting on her tongue as she tried to conjure up spheres of light and juggle with them. They sizzled off over her forehead seconds after she set then spinning. “Horse-apples!” She swore.
Aneris was trying to hold laughter in and did a small loop in the air.

“See? I am in top form. I even trained flying with a sack full of stones!” 

“How many stones Aneris?”

“Ehh.. A few? But what about you, can you reappear where you want or will you AGAIN land in your crib.” The pegasus said jabbing at her sister’s embarrassment.

“It happened only once! Stop laughing! It was horrible, the baby room was all dark and dusty and father summoned the keep’s guards to look for me, when I disappeared from Magician’s hall.” 
Yet seeing her sister was rolling on the pine needles laughing loudly she retorted: “I’ll show you, you‘ll see!”  and concentrated, legs spread apart, vanishing with a pop.

Aneris panicked, darting around ”Concordia! Concordia? Sis?, I didn’t want to be mean. Please, I’ll never do it again! Please tell me you made it…”. She was just about going to shout even louder when faintly in the distance she heard laughter and a yelp of triumph. Blinking away half formed tears, she galloped full speed towards their secret place.

To get there one had to search for a small opening in the ancient wall of the ruins and slip into what must have been the inner temple gardens. A good fifty ponies could sit here and have a comfortable picnic, so large the area was and the vines and brambles forming a grand canopy over its entirety, gave the reason for it not having been discovered yet any outsiders. They found the place’s existence by chance when playing hide and seek and it was Concordia’s time to count. Before she even started counting, she had fallen through the wall. What lay within was a wonderfully preserved miracle.

At first it had seemed as any magically self irrigating grassy area, yet time after time things appeared or changed in ways the fillies could not explain. The wild flowers that grew in patches had moved to the opposite wall once and the little water fountain in the northern end sometimes spouted water and sometimes dry sand. Most mysterious of all things was that the hole in the wall they came through restored itself every time to built up but still crumbly to the touch state. 

The Twins had come to the easy conclusion the secret garden was enchanted and that was that. Besides no one seemed to know anything about it or they’d never be allowed to play in the wood. The Temple ruins were inaccessible from everywhere expect from air and for that Aneris did not have said strength yet. Nopony had any interest or gain from visiting the precariously placed ruins either way, so that secret place was overlooked. Exploring the ruins above the garden had not even crossed the twin princesses minds because what was their main goal for a month now was to reach something else entirely.

Concordia was standing  on the rump of a stone sea serpent statue, head held high waiting for the arrival of her sister. The serpent’s branched rack of horns carved out of a different material than the rest, glowed faintly.

“Did you see this? I teleported PERFECTLY! I am a genius!” she triumphed, hopping from coil to coil along the serpent’s back.

The pegasus reached her as the other jumped down on the grass from the glowing green tail of the statue.

“Did you see it yet?” Aneris asked panting but smiling from ear to ear.

“No haven’t tried..lets do this!” and run towards the centre of the area where they had placed an old bucket filled with stones, that sometimes turned to stone itself or a very soft durable material, to mark the spot underneath their goal. 

Aneris parted the handles of a rusty fireplace blower, previously filled with sand and pressed them hard to blow the dust into the air above the bucket. Expectantly they both looked, blinking against falling sand, that last time had turned into white flakes that melted into water. And there it was, briefly causing the sand particles to be caught in the perpetual movement of air around an invisible sphere. Or so they thought because only the air moving in a spherical shape could be seen until even it lost the sand in its grip and a became invisible again. The fillies had tried many things in the course of three weeks. Concordia found out that throwing things into it caused them to vanish. It swallowed everything, rocks, flowers, the rain, Aneris’s cuddle toy… you name it.

Aneris had discovered that after a few days, the thing spat their items out, albeit changed to various degrees. They would have left it at that if it wasn’t for Concordia’s magical lessons that advanced to the Introduction to Portal Theory. No, she was decades far from even trying to meddle in these but as she explained to her sister the same night she had that lesson, that portals are like doors to other places. 

Over the weeks they contemplated where the portal could be leading and they concluded it probably led to an attic or storage chamber that was rarely cleaned and when it was, the servant threw the things in a waste-basket so they returned here in their garden. Young as they were they did not know enough of portals to know that two of them where needed, if the trash-basket theory was to be correct. Needless to say being young and curious they would have tried even if they knew the dangers.

Their plan was to pile as many objects as they could on top of each other, have Concordia stand atop their makeshift tower and Aneris to grab her and fly them both into the portal. Aneris had tried to fly into it on previous occasions but was bounced back painfully. Her sister was of the opinion that it needed the touch of a unicorn horn to access it and thus their plan. As they could not find enough rope without raising suspicion, the sisters tied the various garden decorations, logs and branches together in a rickety construction. Their last attempt ended up in falling forward touching the portal before the unicorn had even gone half way on it. Needless to say it half broke off and was sucked into the beyond.

For days the fillies expected to hear whispers about a great lot of objects falling into an attic somewhere but nothing was spoken about. It took longer that time for the objects to be spat out and they had almost lost hope they’d ever would return. When they came out, the better half of a staircase made out of a squishy material filled with air was waiting for them, it was very bouncy! That one was put last atop the new puzzle of oddities. Aneris found their rope longer than usual and tasting of mint. This they tied on a convenient loop around the bouncy stairs on one end and the other with great strain on her part, on the very branches of the canopy. This was secure enough for them. Being a few meters away from the portal sphere it would not take much strength to fly over. Concordia could jump halfway and Aneris would propel them across, as they promised to do this together or not at all.

After inspecting their work they rested a few moments and agreed it was time.

Aneris looking flew up and hovered there. She looked down at the base of the construction where her sister waited for the signal. She would fly off as soon as Concordia was close to reaching the top and she’d catch her mid-leap.

“One, Two, THREE, NOW!” she shouted and readied herself. Concordia pranced and galloped up, the objects creaking and shifting under her. After landing heavily on the bouncy stair-thing she was catapulted passed her sister with alarming speed. The pegasus had just time to catch up to her, grab an arm and both flew in an arc across the distance to begin falling down. Aneris opened her wings and steered them approximately into position. Screaming loudly they plunged in as soon as Concordia’s horn came into contact. As expected they vanished leaving the compiled objects teeter tottering in the garden behind.




On the other side it was dark. Dark and missing a floor. The fillies screamed anew, clasping at each other, when they could not step onto the expected floor or any surface whatsoever. 

“Are we underwater?” Aneris whispered.

“How can we breathe then doofus!” the other tried to sound brave and superior but failed to do so.

“Can you do that light thing with your horn ‘Dia?” Aneris asked calling her sister like that only when she was afraid.
The other complied by forming a weak yellow light, shining onto nothingness. 

“Ane?”
“Yes sis?

“I don’t think this is an attic, the is no door and no trash-basket. What if we cannot go back?” she said, her lips quivering.
“But…but we will be thrown out like the objects! Sure we will, everything returned eventually…”

“Eventually? Mother will send all the guards to look for us and Father will get all Mages out of their houses…”

They started crying.

“I can take you back.” A small voice said sounding as if speaking was a rarely done thing.

Under the dim light of her horn the twins looked at each other utterly spooked, their cries sharply cut off. To them the voice sounded like a young colt as old as they or perhaps younger? 

“Did you understand me? I can take you back” he added with perhaps some urgency.

“You..you can?” they said simultaneously.

“Yes!” he added proudly, momentarily forgetting his shyness “I am strong! Did you see how I returned back all the things you threw at me? I can do that!”.

“Can you do it faster?” Aneris interrupted him.

“Can you return us without changing us at all?” Concordia added.
“I…I… I think I can” the voice answered.

“But please do not make us bouncy like the stairs” the unicorn pleaded.
“Or melty cold flakes.” The pegasus begged.

“You mean the snow?” doubted he, “Don’t you know what snow is? Cant you make your own?” he wondered.

“N..No..” Concordia replied being the designated magic user of the two.

“Then how did you come here? You have some magic, yes you do..., but you are not strong like Me” and if he were visible the Twins would have seen him preen and strut about.

“Why cant we see you?” Aneris wondered. 

“What is your name?” Concordia tried, winking at her sister.
No answer at any of their questions.

“Are you there?” Aneris asked waiting for what seemed a very long while.

“Y..yes” the voice stammered, “I can make myself visible but I don’t look like you.”

“So what?” Concordia chimed in, “Lots of folk don’t look like us. We are ponies, there are Zebras, Horses, Centaurs, Minotaurs, Dragons and sooo many creatures. Almost any folk who have ships come to our harbour. Grandfather is said to have talked to a Dragon once…” and while she chattered on, a silhouette became visible. A head and mane distinctly that of a horse became visible but that was where the similarities between then stopped. On His head a white dear antler and on the left a blue goat horn appeared.

“Wha..what are you?” the twins asked together.
He smiled, showing that one of his draconic fangs longer than the other. 

“I am Discord!” he said proudly and went about making a show of revealing how bizarre he looked, part by part. On a short serpentine body, small forearms, a right one of a lion and the left an eagle claw where wriggled into existence followed by the right leg of a lizard and a left leg of a goat.
“And I am a Draconequus!”

Very small wings, smaller than even Aneris’s, one a bat’s and the other a bird’s, jutted out. Fully formed after ending his revelation with a white tuft on the tip of his dragon’s tail, he flew in loops around the fillies.
They remained opened mouthed and silent, until one started giggling, the other not far away herself until even the creature started laughing as well.

“We are friends now right?” he asked stopping his looping flight.

The Laughter stopped and Concordia feeling awkward again said  “Well… we can become friends if we play together and like the same things”.

“Also fight as little as possible and make gifts on Birthdays!” Aneris added.

Discord seemed to think deeply about these words and counted them out on his fingers.

“We played a game when you dropped things at me and I changed them, I also ate of the things you brought and liked them and I have never fought with you.” He stopped his account and flew closer to them making them squeal a bit.
“Tell me what is a birthday?”

Aneris laughed “Its when you are born silly! Then the day is celebrated on the same day every year and you get gifts!”
“Hmm I don’t know about every year but I did get this when I was born…” and he spread his little arms wide.
The twins looked over his arms and around to see what he was indicating.

“This!” he exclaimed “This place, My realm!” and look at them expectantly.
The fillies not understanding the concept of owning a realm, looked unimpressed. 

Concordia mused aloud hoof under her chin. ”So if this was your birthday gift, then where is your mum and dad?”
“They left me here!” he said happily.
Wide eyed the fillies looked at each other.

“They LEFT you all alone? You are…you are small like us!We are ten years old, and nobody can leave a ten-year-old alone in the world” Aneris said exasperated.

Discord shrugged it off as nothing special.
“But… but don’t you miss them?” Concordia said, touching his arm with her hoof. 

He ran his talon over the spot she had touched and explained 
“I don’t miss them, why would I? And if we met, this place would explode and I don’t want that, its mine!…ah… and I am not ten years, I am big, I am …eeeh in years..I don’t know the word”. 

Seeing a blank expression on their faces he sighed and continued. “No place can keep more than two… things of chaos and not explode, so when I was born, my mother went with Dad to a new place.”

“Don’t you feel alone?” Aneris asked.

Discord’s cheek blushed slightly but he tried to hide it. “I am not alone, I can hop into all nearby worlds and look at creatures. Besides now I have two friends!” he added enthusiastically.

“We’re not your mfmf…” Aneris’s words where muffled as her sister’s hoof closed her mouth.

“What Ane’ wanted to say, Discord, is that we need to go back to be able to stay friends.” She added, glaring at her sister to understand her spiel.

Discord flew upside down and asked “Why is that?”
“Our parents would never allow us to be friends with you if we did not return in for dinnertime! He would be mad and punish us!” Concordia continued.

Aneris caught up and went on “OH yes and then no going to the garden, no treats and no playing games.”

“All right, I will toss you back through but tell me one thing,… in how many days is it time for dinner?”

“Oh oh…” said the twins.




With a loud yelp, the twin Princesses where dumped out of the portal and fell onto the bouncy surface that must have dropped down by the wind. Discord floated down after them and made them bounce even more. When their laughing had seized, they clambered off the slippery surface and stood to face their new friend.

“Until we explain where we’ve been please wait for us here. I am sure we can return tomorrow… Bye Discord!” Concordia said and started running towards their exit.

“Yeah, and I’ll bring more food and toys! You will like toys very much!” Aneris added and followed her sister shouting “Byeee!” and vanished through the hole in the wall.

After standing for more that a few minutes, watching where his first friends vanished, Discord sighed at the odd feeling in his chest, jumped into the air with a whoop and flew into his realm. He had discovered joy.

Outside Concordia and Aneris started galloping up the hill to exit the trees near the Unicorn Keep, the evening having progressed and shadows started to lengthen. The paved pathway lead from the forest to the eastern gate and on their way they passed a Unicorn raking up leaves. Seeing them dash by the stallion gasped and let the rake drop from the spell it was being moved with. He shouted and waved at them but they were too far away to have heard.

Concordia said, between short breaths “Look how happy he was to see us, we’re not late at all!”

Aneris who was now further ahead answered in dread “They don’t look so happy to me though…” and came to a halt.

By the gate, guards stood and shouted to all directions while up in the bell tower the alarm rung. Pegasi guards landed behind them now as well and not a second later both the King and Queen of Marelantis, appeared with a flash of blue and purple. 

Queen Rhea looking dishevelled with red rimmed eyes, ran to them and gathered her foals to herself with her wings. Although Queen now, she was raised a warrior of the pegasi race and kept her beige mane and tail braided at most times. She only wore a long shoal over her shoulders having been roused in a hurry and her mark could clearly be seen, a lance over a rising sun. 

“Oh my babies…” she cried and sobbed freely. The twins startled at the sudden onrush of ponies and the loud commands of their Father, hugged their mother tightly. After what seemed to them a while, the King teleported his entire family to the throne room. There, his council abandoned the grand map table to crowd the Queen and the princesses. Their questions seemed endless.

“Who took you?”
“Where did they keep you?”
“Did they ask for ransom?”
“How did you escape?”
“What were they, Earth ponies? Pegasi? Minotaurs?…”

“Silence!” came the command from King Cronus and all stood to attention apart from Queen Rhea. 
“Leave us until I call you. All of you!” he added, his concern now visible.

The king of Marelantis, Cronus Supreme stood tall his in deep purple -almost black- cloak marking him as High Magus. He did not wear his regalia or any other adornment at the moment, a testament to how much he had worried all the days his children were lost. Although he was clearly blind by any usual sense, everypony knew that any Magus attuned to a Lodestone although blind, could see perfectly with the Sight they gained by that sacrifice.  His mane and tail where cut short, in the traditional manner of the Marelantean Magi Unicorns and had the colour of greyed lilies. His mark, a silver planet with a ring system , stood out against the lilac of his coat.

As all ponies apart from the Royal family left, the Queen draped her shawl over her two foals, kneeling in front of them. Wiping her tears, she took a breath asking them calmly 
“Now tell us... where have you been?”

Tear-less sobs had the twins finishing each other’s sentences.
“We went to the old gardens…”
“…we played in the trees…”
“…we forgot all about the time…”
“…then it was late and we ran home.”

The Queen was silent and turned her head around looking into her husbands face, he standing further back at the base of his throne dais. Looking down he turned his head to the side as if to hide his relief. When he turned back and looked down to his foals he looked strained and tired.

“You mean to tell me, you spent the better of five days playing in the forest?”
The Twins looked at each other. “But we …”

“What spell are you under? Who put you up to this?” his tone rising and closing his eyes performed a series of searching spells.

“Cronus...please”, came the voice of his queen, causing him to open his eyes and see that the foals where now cowering in fright. Putting one hoof on each of their arms she asked them anew.

“Can’t you tell us anything? Did it perhaps only seem you were in the forest but something else happened before?”

“We…we ran into a portal…” said Concordia timidly. Causing her father, who was pacing up and down the room to halt on the spot.

“Portal? Whose portal! What colour was it, where did it lead? SPEAK child!” he urged her.

“It lead to no where it was dark and we went out. We did not know five days passed…” she stammered on trying to sound plausible.

“Nonsense! I would have sensed a portal and you don’t have the slightest clue of what you are talking about” he said irately.

She on the other hand stomped her hoof down saying “It WAS a portal, things fell into it.”

All the sleepless nights and the what possibilities and abduction of the princesses meant, took their tall at that moment. He lost his temper and yelled back.

“Things fall into water wells child and come out of one, but you can hardly have gone into a stranger’s portal and fashioned a spell to get out of it! The fact that you’ve received an hour’s worth of portal theory lessons makes this hardly a valid excuse for you to hide from the entire Island.”

The queen having turned around, shielded their daughters with her wings and confronted him.
“Enough!” repeating herself she added calmly “Enough Beloved, I am as worried as you are but this is not helping any of us. Lets have them sleep it off and we’ll see in the morning”.

He conceded, nodded and walked by the trio before him. After the door clicked shut softly behind her husband, Queen Rhea who had watched his exit, turned to the trembling twins and urged them gently to walk in the direction of their chambers. They were not taken to he kitchen for dinner not even for a bath but straight to bed. The queen herself would sleep with them not wanting to stay too far away. While tucking them into the bed they twins shared, Aneris asked
“Mom is father very angry?”.

Concordia having said nothing since leaving the throne room, looked at her sister having her thoughts echoed by her perfectly.

Their mother upbraiding her mane shook her head “No, he was hurting, hurting a lot.”

“But he wasn’t crying, only you cried.” The pegasus wondered.

“Sometimes ponies cannot show their tears, although they’ve been crying within themselves all this time. You Father loves you two so much. He hardly slept an hour each night, joining the search parties.”

This time Concordia broke her silence “yeah but he did not believe me when I said the tru…”

“Don’t be so hard on him my sweet” Queen Rhea admonished “he was willing to set sail to search for you, he was going to suggest accusing the other Races, the other PONIES! Of using you to cause…to cause... fights”

“Why then is he not here with us?” the little unicorn asked again.

“Now you are being petty Concordia! You know perfectly well that as King he must now set everything right. The whole island has been in motion, the guards, the soldiers all looking for you. The trade ships leaving had to be halted and searched. Oh…he’s going to be very busy for the next days.” Seeing her foals look morose and mortified she smiled warmly at them. “Sleep now, we all need a good rest! Who knows your father might join us in a bit.” And blew off the candle on the bed stand.

The King did not join them to sleep. The disappearance of the Princesses only tipped a cup that was for a very long time threatening to topple and spill grave matters. The fillies would come to learn of this only years later.