Guardians of Magic

by Shire Folk

Getting the Elements

(We see a pony flying in a circle in the middle of a brightly lit park. On the ground before her is a stack of several sheets of parchment. The pegasus’ coat is mostly a rust brown colour, though she has many bands of bright yellow accentuating the coat on her legs and face. Across her shoulders rests a golden-yellow vest. Her mane and braided tail are a mixture of tomato and plum, and she wears elegant golden-rimmed glasses over her blue eyes. The pegasus has a giddy smile on her face as she twitters in the air.)

(Another pony walks up to her, this one a sky-blue earth pony wearing golden bracelets gemmed with emeralds on his forelegs and a green cape on his back. His light blue eyes are rimmed with simple dark yellow glasses that rest beneath pointed ears. His mane and tail consist of nicely styled cyan with dark blue streaks running through them.)

Shire Folk: (Looking up at the flying pegasus) “So, I take it you approve of this chapter, Goldpen?”

(Goldpen smiles and lands on the ground next to the stack of parchment)

Goldpen: “Oh, I do. Not too many errors that I spotted, but I am surprised at you, Mr. Imperial.”

(Shire Folk frowns) Shire: “Shut up you Republican.”

Goldpen: “All Hail The New Lunar Republic!”

Shire Folk: “All Glory to the Solar Empire!”

Goldpen: (giggling) “Well, I wouldn’t know about that after reading this chapter.”

Shire Folk: “Can we just get a disclaimer done?”

Pinkie Pie: “KUMQUAT!”

        “You’re sure that this is the right way?”

        “Of course I’m sure,” Pinkie Pie answered, the pink pony bouncing up and down. She had been leading them ever since they’d all left the ballroom, with the only change to the group being the departure of Coltinster. Apparently he had more important business to take care of. “Canterlot Tower should be right about, here!” She stopped her bouncing directly in front of a pair of double doors, and Kairi looked up. They were standing right in front of a tall white tower.

        “Well, this sure looks like the place,” Applejack said. She looked over at Sora with an anxious expression. “Are yah sure we should be tryin’ to get the Elements without the princess?”

        “Yeah,” Rainbow Dash added, “Princess Celestia did say that the Elements were locked up with a spell only she could break.”

        Kairi snorted and rolled her eyes, humoured. She pushed against the double doors and entered the room. A long hallway stood in front of her, and Kairi had to pause for a few moments to stare ahead in wonder. A plush red carpet rolled the entire length of the hall over the checkered marble floor. Tall windows let the light of the sun in opposite others of stained glass, beautifully depicting murals that Kairi was unsure of the meaning of. Bouquets of flowers decorated every pillar, and at the far end underneath banners and flanked by strong granite statues of unicorns in powerful poses was what Kairi took to be a door. “Come on,” Kairi said, slowly entering the tower, “let’s get these Elements of yours.”

        Their hoofsteps were muffled as the seven ponies and baby dragon slowly filed down the length of the tower. Kairi couldn’t keep herself from looking at the different stained glass murals as she passed them, and noticed that Sora kept his eyes forward on that doorway at the very end of the tower, kept within its elaborate golden frame. There was a shining sun right in its centre and six white circles arrayed vertically on either side.

        “I haven’t been in here since we defeated Discord,” Fluttershy murmured.

        “Who was Discord?” Kairi asked.

        “A real mean and crazy spirit of chaos and disharmony,” Rainbow Dash snorted. “He made the weather go completely crazy!”

        “He made the weather absolutely terrifically wonderful you mean!” Pinkie Pie countered. Her mouth started to salivate. “He made chocolate milk rain! Eternal chaos meant chocolate rain, Dashie. Chocolate. Rain.”

        “But what about all of the animals?” Fluttershy asked. “Don’t you remember what he did to Angel bunny and his friends? They grew legs like deer.”

        “And don’t forget that all the corn we had at the farm popped into popcorn just outta the blue,” Applejack added.

        Rainbow Dash frowned. “Why are we idly chatting about this anyway? I thought we were in a hurry to get the Elements.”

        Rarity stopped and gave Rainbow a patient look. “We were, Rainbow Dash, but now that these two darling pegasi and their handsome friend have arrived to assist us, I do believe we can take some time to discuss what we’ve done with the Elements of Harmony in the past, don’t you agree?” She pointed a hoof at one of the windows before Rainbow Dash could say anything else. “That was him, the dreadful brute,” she said, her hoof directed at a picture of a dragon-like creature holding marionette controllers above a pegasus, earth pony, and unicorn. “He stole the Elements, and manipulated each of us against everypony else. He single-hoofedly tore our friendship apart. If it wasn’t for Twilight, well, I’m sure that Equestria would still be in a state of disarray.”

        “And you’d still be thinking that that big ol’ rock was a bonafide diamond,” Applejack mentioned.

        Rarity frowned as the farmer passed her. “I thought we agreed to never speak of that again.”

        “You’re the only pony who didn’t want to talk about it Rarity,” Pinkie giggled. “It was funny. And I turned grey!” She chortled. “And Twilight had Spike take Rainbow Dash’s place.”

        The cyan pegasus stopped in her tracks and turned towards the baby dragon. “You did what?”

Spike gulped. “I knew that this wouldn’t end well if she found out,” he said.

        Well, Naminé said light-heartedly to Kairi, it looks like they’ve all got a healthy friendship.

        Kairi continued walking forward to catch up to Sora, and loudly asked, “What was that about ‘if it wasn’t for Twilight’ that you mentioned?”

        Rainbow Dash turned away from Spike, said, “Oh,” and quickly flew to catch up to the two walking pegasi at the front. Spike wiped his forehead in relief, as he did not want to deal with an angry Rainbow Dash. “What Rarity meant was that if it wasn’t for Twilight, we never would have gotten back together.”

        “Twi’s the one who really brought all six of us together in the first place,” Applejack said. She pointed at another one of the windows, showing the six ponies caging a black alicorn in a bubble of light. “Back when Nightmare Moon escaped from the moon and brought everlastin’ night, Twilight was the only pony who knew what was goin’ on and how to fix things. We’d all met her earlier in the day, since she’d just shown up in Ponyville, and were more than happy to help her out.”

        “We’d all known each other before,” Fluttershy added, “but it was that first adventure together that really brought us together as a group, and…and I’ve never been happier.”

        “Fluttershy is correct,” Rarity said. “Although we do have our disagreements from time to time, it has been a simply marvelous time together.” Kairi nodded her head and nudged Sora’s slightly. He nudged back.

        “Here we are!” Pinkie exclaimed. The procession stopped right in front of the door.

        “Eeyup,” Applejack said. “Here we are. The Elements are kept right behind that door. However, Princess Celestia made it clear that she was the only one who could open it.”

        “Yeah, yeah, only one who could open the lock, I get it,” Kairi said. She flexed her forehooves together, wishing that she had fingers to crack. She spotted a hole in the sun at the centre of the door. Here we go. “Alright everybody, stand back.”

        “Why?” Spike asked.

        “Because I’m about to blow your freaking minds,” Kairi answered. She raised her right foreleg and summoned the Oathkeeper right into her hoof. She gripped it tightly, still surprised that she was able to at all, and pointed the Keyblade right for the hole in the sun. A beam of light exited the Oathkeeper and filled the lock. Suddenly the lines edging the sun filled with light, continued on to fill the lines segmenting the door into six parts, and the circles then lit up in sequence. The entire door flared with a burst of light and opened. Inside was a pedestal holding a beautiful blue and gold chest with jewels glittering all over it.

        “You opened it,” Fluttershy whispered.

        “Yes I did,” Kairi answered proudly, dismissing her Keyblade. The box became enveloped by a blue glow, and it floated over to them in a cloud of Rarity’s magic. The unicorn peered longingly at the chest for more than a moment before she opened it. Inside were the five necklaces and golden tiara that were the Elements of Harmony. Rarity levitated each Element out of the box and placed them upon their bearers: the red lightning bolt Element of Loyalty on Rainbow Dash, the jewelled butterfly Element of Kindness upon Fluttershy, the citrine apple Element of Honesty to Applejack, the sapphire balloon Element of Laughter against Pinkie Pie’s chest, and finally the diamond Element of Generosity nestled gently over her own neck.

        “Kairi, would you be a dear and carry this one in your saddlebags until we can find Twilight?” she asked the pegasus, levitating Twilight’s tiara Element of Magic into the saddlebags before Kairi could even answer.

        “Uh, sure,” she answered anyway.

        “All right everypony,” Rainbow Dash announced while proudly puffing her chest forward, “we’ve got the Elements, now let’s go find Twilight.” They turned around and started to leave, but stopped when they saw a lone figure standing in the doorway.

        “Come on!” Twilight said, galloping through the streets with Riku and Shining Armour behind her, “Canterlot Tower is this way. Inside are the Elements of Harmony. We’ll get them and then head back to the party to give them to the others.”

        “Twilight, the Elements are locked up with a spell only Princess Celestia can undo,” Shining Armour reminded her. “The entire Royal Guard knows that. What makes you think that we’ll even be able to get them?”

        “The Princess isn’t the only one who can undo the spell,” Twilight answered, glancing back at her older brother. “She took me aside after we arrived and taught me the counterspell. Princess Celestia said that events may transpire after we’d questioned Riku and the others that would delay us in procuring the Elements from the tower, so she left me with the decision on when we should get them, confident that we would be able to reach them.”

        “So you think that since more Heartless have shown up, now is the perfect time,” Riku said. Twilight could tell that it wasn’t a question, but she nodded anyway.

        “Right.”

        Canterlot Tower reached for the sky just ahead of them, its white walls shining in the sunlight. Twilight skidded to a stop, eyes staring forward unblinkingly in shock. Her friends were all leaving the tower with the Elements of Harmony already around their necks, and standing next to them was—

        Shining Armor whinnied happily and trotted past his stunned sister. “Cadance! What a surprise seeing you here.”

        “Shining Armor!” the youthful pink alicorn said brightly, Peewee flying off of her shoulder where the phoenix hatchling had previously perched on the very topmost of Spike’s spines. “What are you doing here? Oh wait, never mind, Royal Guard business, right?”

        “Something like that,” he replied, moving to stand right in front of her. “Actually, my friend Riku here, my sister, and I were just coming to pick up what it looks like you’ve already nabbed.”

        “Your sister?” Princess Cadance asked excitedly. She looked past Shining Armor and saw the younger unicorn. Her wide smile left Riku stunned at how bright it was, and she took one great leap past Twilight’s older brother, utilizing her wings to their fullest, to come close to Twilight Sparkle. “Twilight!”

        Hearing her old foalsitter call her name, Twilight snapped out of her stupor. A broad grin to match Cadance’s overcame her face. “Cadance!”

        The pink alicorn landed, and suddenly the two of them had bent their legs to come close to the ground, eyes unblinkingly staring into each other’s with rampant excitement. “Sunshine, sunshine, lady bugs awake, clap your hooves and do a little shake!”

        “What was that about?” Sora asked Riku, he and Kairi leaving the tower with Twilight’s other friends and staring at the spectacle of the two ponies laughing and embracing.

        Riku smirked. “Cadance was Twilight’s old babysitter,” he answered.

        “Really?” Rarity asked. She turned her head to the lavender unicorn. Her voice became almost a whine. “Twilight, how come you never told us that a princess foalsat you when you were little?”

        “I never thought that it was that important Rarity,” Twilight answered, removing herself from her old foalsitter’s embrace. “But Cadance isn’t just my old foalsitter anymore; she’s going to be my new big sister!”

        There was a moment of stunned silence, from most of the group. Pinkie Pie was the only one who made any sort of noise, and that was a very exuberant, “Woo-hoo! Yay Twilight! You the pony! Congratulations! Wait, how is she going to be your new big sister?” Twilight laughed slightly to herself, and sighed.

        “Everypony, this is my BBBFF, Big-Brother-Best-Friend-Forever,” she clarified when nobody but Shining Armor and Cadance gave her looks of comprehension, “Shining Armor. Shining Armor, these are my friends Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Sora, Kairi, and,” she giggled, “Peewee.” The phoenix hatchling chirped.

        “It’s nice to meet all of you,” Shining Armor said with a bow, “and even though you’ve apparently already met her, this is my lovely fiancée, Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, better known to her friends as Cadance.”

        “Ohhhh,” Pinkie said, “so that’s how Cadance is going to be your sister, Twilight.”

        “Well congrats then,” Sora spoke up. Kairi nodded her head next to him.

        “Oh yes, congratulations Twilight, Shining Armor, Princess,” Fluttershy said, nodding her head. “I hope you’ll both be very happy together.”

        “Thank you,” Cadance answered, smiling.

        “Yeah, grats Twi,” Rainbow Dash added.

        “Yes, congratulations Twilight,” Rarity agreed. “I do hope that we will all receive invitations to the wedding. Oh, a royal wedding, what I wouldn’t give to be able to attend.” Riku nudged Shining Armour’s flank with the side of his head. He pointed at Cadance.

        “Way to pick ‘em, tiger.”

        Shining Armor seemed very perturbed by Riku’s choice of nickname. Sora and Kairi both snorted into their hooves at the look on his face.

        “So is that what was in the letter we got earlier this morning?” Spike asked. “Shining Armor here telling you that he was getting married?”

        “Yes,” Twilight answered, “though since I was kept from reading the letter, I didn’t find out until I met with him and my parents just a while ago.”

        “That’s nice,” Applejack said. She looked over at the couple, both of them smiling happily at all the congratulations Twilight’s friends were giving them. “So, when’s the wedding goin’ down?”

        Shining Armor rubbed the back of his head. “We actually haven’t set a date yet, but we’re thinking about having it in early Spring.”

        Rarity gasped. “Spring! I heartily agree; such a lovely season to get married in. But… but that’s so far away,” she added. “Why, next Spring won’t be for another six months. The air back in home was already starting to get a little cooler.”

        Cadance chuckled slightly. “Well this is going to be a wedding between royalty and the Captain of the Palace Guard after all. There’s a lot of preparation that’ll need to be done. It’s not as though we can get all of that done within a week or two. Besides, we need to leave time for our guests to clear their own schedules and plan around attending. They’ll have their own hurdles to overcome too.”

        Shining Armor nodded. “Also, even though Cadance said yes only two days ago, considering what’s been going on recently, with the Heartless showing up and everything, I just know that Princess Celestia’s going to be having me doing double duty making sure that the castle and Canterlot are protected. That job’s going to keep me busy, what with the higher-ups pulling my stallions away from their posts to go all over Equestria with the Pegasus Guards. We’ll practically be left with just a token defence here.”

        “Well, I hope it’s not too little,” Kairi said. “The last thing we’d want is for a place as beautiful as this to be brought to ruin.”

        Shining Armor laughed and gave the pink pegasus a confident smirk. “Don’t worry about that Kairi. After what I’ve seen, we’ll be able to handle them no problem.”

        Rarity looked up suddenly. “Oh, yes, I just remembered.” She cleared her throat as her horn began to glow with blue light. “Twilight, we got this out of Canterlot Tower for you.” The tiara of the Element of Magic levitated out of Kairi’s saddlebags and into the air. Twilight grasped it from Rarity in her own magic’s glow, and set it down on her head.

        “Thanks Rarity,” she said. “We were just coming to get these since Princess Celestia taught me the counterspell earlier. How did you guys get your hooves on them?”

        Pinkie laughed. “With the Keyblade of course!” she said. “Kairi just made it appear into her hoof in this big flash of light, sheen, and then it fired a laser beam right into the sun on the vault door, pweem, and the doors all lit up and opened for us, whoosh!”

        Riku watched with amusement as Twilight looked at Kairi in stunned wonder. He could only imagine the thoughts going through her head at the thought that the Keyblade could break through an impenetrable spell that her esteemed mentor had cast. “Consider this,” Sora told her, “I once used the Keyblade to unlock a Coliseum in the Underworld that Zeus himself had locked away. Granted I didn’t know that that’s what I did when I saved Meg, but…”

        “Who’s Zeus?” Fluttershy asked.

        Riku frowned slightly. They didn’t know who Almighty Zeus was? “The Almighty Lord of the Heavens, King of the Gods. Lord of Thunder and Storms. His wife is Hera, Goddess of Women and Marriage, and his older brothers are Hades, the Lord of the Dead, and Poseidon.”

        “God of Horses and Master of the Seas and Oceans,” Kairi stated. “Triton and Thetis are his vassals, along with Calypso, Circe, and the other sea-gods and nymphs.”

        The Equestrian ponies and dragon were looking at the trio as though they’d all grown extra heads. “I’ve never even heard of any of these ponies you’re talking about,” Twilight said.

        Sora stomped his hooves. “They’re not ponies; they’re gods.” He glanced upwards. “And right now, I think our patron Poseidon’s supposed to be watching over us.”

        “You and you native Islanders can worship Poseidon all you want,” Kairi said simply, poking Sora in the ribs playfully with the tip of her hoof, “I worship Athena.”

        “You know that’s a bad idea,” Riku told her. “Those two have been eternal rivals ever since Athens. Besides, Poseidon has a stronger connection to us now that we’re ponies.”

        Kairi tisked in a motherly manner and she began to rummage through her saddlebags. “Well, your Lord Poseidon sure didn’t look after you earlier,” she said. Her voice became muffled somewhat as her snout emerged from her white saddlebag with a green jar clenched in her teeth. “Yuv been scratched uh pretty had der.”

        “What? You mean these things?” Riku asked, glancing back at the scratches the Soldier he’d impaled with his horn had left on his body. “I’ve had worse.”

        Kairi placed the bottle on the ground and produced a different one, this one white, from her saddlebag, and put it down next to the other. “I know,” she remarked disdainfully, “but we’re not letting those go untreated anyway. Come here.”

        “Ooh, what are these?” Pinkie Pie asked, picking up the white bottle.

        “That green one’s a healing potion and the white one there’s ethanol,” Riku answered, taking a step back. “Nu-uh, Kairi. These will heal fine on their own. You don’t need to worry about them.”

        “Too late. Applejack, could you please hold him down?”

        “Now why would Ah want tah do that?” Applejack asked.

        Riku sucked in his breath from sudden pain, instantly regretting turning his head to look at the cowpony. Kairi was already at his withers, wiping at the scratches through his coat with a cloth swab so wet with the alcohol it was almost dripping. “Dammit Kairi!” he hissed. “Stop it with your ninja heals!” Kairi popped the potion bottle over his mouth, and a slightly viscous green liquid poured onto his tongue. Riku tried to spit it out, but Kairi clamped his mouth shut with her hooves.

        “Don’t be such a whiny baby Riku,” she scolded him whilst firmly keeping his mouth shut so he could not eject the potion. “Now drink it and get it over with.” Riku glowered mournfully at her, but swallowed anyway. Almost immediately he could feel the potion start to take effect, signified by the sudden itchy feeling he was getting around the stinging scratches he’d taken. A couple of seconds later the sensation was gone, and his body was feeling as well as it ever had before.

        “What was that about?” Twilight asked as Kairi stepped back from the unicorn.

        Sora chuckled, and Riku sent him a death glare that he ignored. “Potions taste like garbage,” Sora answered. Several of the ponies laughed at his explanation and the faces Riku was pulling.

        “Well,” Applejack said after they’d calmed down, “we’ve got the Elements now. Ah reckon that we should head on back tah Princess Celestia and figure out our next move.”

        “Me too,” Fluttershy agreed. Rarity and Pinkie Pie nodded their heads.

        “Then it’s settled,” declared Twilight. She turned away from the tower. “Come on everypony.”

        “You all go ahead,” Cadance said. “Your brother and I have some things we need to discuss.”

        “Well, alright then,” Twilight replied. She started off and threw her head back over her shoulder. “See you later.”

        Luna yawned as she sat in the tree she had been sleeping in, watching as her older sister paced back and forth beneath the leafy green boughs. She was only partially frustrated with Celestia for waking her from her sleep, though she had at least gotten a good four hours of it. If she had been in her room instead of this wonderful tree even less time would have passed for her to have enjoyed napping.

        “Hm,” Luna hummed to herself, snuggling deeper into the thick blankets and pillows she had expertly laid down upon the tree branch, “I never would have thought that this would happen.”

        “It had to have happened eventually,” Celestia said to the ground, still pacing beneath Luna’s tree in the gardens. “It has been thousands of years, my sister. Eventually a unicorn had to have been chosen ever since we gave it up.”

        “That is not what I am saying, Tia,” Luna told her sister. “What I meant was—”

        Celestia sighed loudly. “I know what you meant, Luna. For it to happen to Twilight Sparkle of all ponies… I had never thought to consider this as the reason for her immense magical power and talent. Though, in hindsight it does bring everything into focus. How else could a foal have enough magical power within to hatch a dragon egg and immediately cause the hatchling to grow as tall as a tower?” She stopped her pacing and slammed her head against the trunk of a tree next to Luna’s. Celestia didn’t even seem to feel her head striking it, but Luna figured that the tree sure had with the way its trunk appeared to be close to snapping as it bent back.

        “I should have realized it sooner!” Celestia berated herself in a frustrated growl. “A Keeper of the Art! A Keeper of the Art, Luna!”

        The midnight diarch nodded her head in a more subdued way than the last five times she had done so. Celestia was getting far too worked up over this. “Yes, a Keeper of the Art, as we once were.”

        Celestia winced. “I should have seen it from the start,” she said bitterly. “I should have been grooming her for what will come this entire time.”

        Luna frowned and spread her wings. “Celestia!” The younger alicorn dropped down from her perch in the tree and stared up into her older sister’s grieved face. “This is not something you could have foreseen. Your prized pupil being revealed as a Keeper of the Art is not something that happens every millennium. Nopony could have predicted it. I believe you even thought that Cadance, Rhymestone, Quiet Treble, Ruby Scales and others from my blood were Keepers at one point.”

        Celestia shook her head slowly as it hung down. “I will admit that at first I did. You know that it is not often that we alicorns are born, dear sister, and so I suspected it at first, but discovered eventually that it was not the case for any of your blood, and so I let the notion of Equestria bearing Keepers of the Art again slip. But we were Keepers once ourselves, Luna,” Celestia countered, finally raising her head to gaze down upon her younger sister. “It is something that I should have seen in her. I remember what it was like, to have such raw ability and power...before the Elements.”

        Luna sighed. Celestia truly had gotten old, if she was looking back fondly of those days in ages past when the two of them had been guardians upholding the flow of magic in the universe. “Tia,” Luna tried once more, “you must stop this. Berating yourself is useless. Now that we know, we must take action to guide her and Trixie upon the path they must tread.”

        “Their path has already been decided,” Celestia admitted. “They must go with Sora and his friends. If they are gathering the Keepers, then it means that something dreadful is going on amongst the worlds as a whole. Equestria has always seen relative peace amidst the turbulent forces of Light and Darkness across the Realm of Light, Luna. We know that.”

        “What we did not know, however,” Luna said, “was that we had the ability to use a Keyblade while we were them. That must be something new.”

        “Or just something that we were not required to know or use,” Celestia answered. “Our magic had always been our weapon; we had no need of magic swords.”

        Luna conceded that point with a sharp nod of her head. “But Celestia, now that Twilight Sparkle knows that she is one of them, she must be told or the changes will come as a very real shock to her and to Trixie.”

        “Twilight will be fine, Luna,” Celestia said, though from her tone of voice Luna could tell that her sister was still trying to convince herself of that. “They should not begin to occur for another few months at least. Sora’s business should have run its course by then, and Twilight will be back here where we can instruct her and Trixie better.”

        Luna wasn’t entirely sure what to think of her sister’s plan with keeping Twilight Sparkle in the dark about what will become of her. Then again, she had already been bombarded with quite a bit of information that day, so withholding a little more might help the unicorn hold onto her sanity a while longer. “As you say, and we shall hope that you are right. Have you any other plans for them?”

        Celestia nodded her head, finally appearing somewhat calm. “Yes, I have. I’ve already seen Canterlot’s best jeweler, but…” she smiled somewhat, “I was hoping that I could get the help of our finest smith as well.”

        Luna couldn’t keep the look of pride away from her face. “You seek the aid of my talents, do you? They may be a little rusty, Celestia, after having been away from the forge for a thousand years.”

        Celestia laughed. “Come now Luna, I am not asking you to re-forge the Elements of Harmony, but Twilight Sparkle and Trixie Lulamoon will be going into battle. It would be comforting for them, and for me, if they were protected.”

        “Are the items thou art requesting to be part of their regalia as well?” Luna asked. Celestia’s nod was all that Luna needed to confirm her suspicions as to Celestia’s intentions. Luna could feel her excitement welling up. A smithing duty! She hadn’t touched her forge in eons! The very thought was making her switch back to the Old Equish style of speech. “Very well then. Do we still have access to our forge, or shall we be forced to seize a mere commoner’s place of work and tools?”

        “I reopened the Hearth of the Mountain earlier today,” Celestia told her. “It has been undisturbed since the Nightmare took you from us.” Luna nodded gratefully and smiled. This was going to wreck havoc upon her sleep cycle, but it would be well worth it.

        “Thou shalt be responsible for raising and lowering the moon and for keeping its light full. Thou must also allow us to utilize all sun and moonlight that we require. We are also to have no cloud cover while we are working.”

        “Agreed,” Celestia said with a nod of her head.

        “Then thy order shall be ready in three days and nights if we begin now,” Luna reported. She spread her wings and took into the air. She laughed as the wind flowed through her mane and against her face. The pounding ring of hammer blows, the heat of her forge in the very heart of Mount Ponylon, the precious metals that would bend to her will… Luna got pleasant shudders from her withers to the very tips of her primaries at the thought.

That’s all for now folks! Stay tuned for more!

Shire Folk