//------------------------------// // Chapter One // Story: The Royal Apples: The Princess and the Tree // by Radical Gopher //------------------------------// Most mornings in Canterlot were the kind that a pony could not ignore, despite the prevailing weather conditions. Misty, cloud-strewn rainy days were just as welcome as crisp, bright sunlit mornings. Now, it has to be admitted, not every pony appreciated the weather for what it was, but they never ignored it. This particular morning there was a light dusting of snow across the city with a few icicles dribbling along the buildings eves like chrystal fringes. The sun was just peeping out from behind the last cloud bank of the previous night’s storm, warming the rooftops and causing more than a few early risers to dodge a secondary barrage of shimmering stalactites. A teal-colored pegasus with a blond mane and tail could be seen gliding slowly above the rooftops of the city. She banked left, made a quick pop-up maneuver to avoid a spire just before she flared her wings. Slowing, she came in for a gentle landing on a large third-floor balcony leading into Canterlot Castle. Trotting up to the unicorn guard she paused and smiled. He quickly scanned her with his horn, then nodded his approval as he let her into the palace. The pegasus stopped briefly at her locker to don a gold waistcoat and a white serving jacket before checking in with the sous chef. Seeing her, the chef pointed to a nearby serving cart loaded with plates, cups, saucers, pastries, coffee, tea, juice and an assortment of other accoutrements. “Royal Conference room, south wing, level five... As quick as you can.” Nodding the servant braced her forelegs against the cart and began pushing it towards an extra-large dumbwaiter, one that could accommodate several ponies at once. Closing the doors behind her she faced a nearby speaking tube. “Five, please.” The dumbwaiter rose into the upper levels of the castle as the earth pony working a large running wheel trotted forward. He stopped when he heard five loud chimes coming from the shaft above. Pushing the cart into the hallway, the pegasus turned left at the first cross corridor then stopped in front of a pair of very alert guards. The one on the right quickly gave her a glancing once over, then nodded to himself, turned and knocked three times on the door. There was a pause, then a voce commanded the door be opened. The guard stood back and allowed the servant to pass. From the look of things, the pegasus realized this must have been one of those zero-dark thirty types of meetings. The one’s that often involved “national security” issues. Every pony present looked tired. Aside from the nine members of the Privy Council, there were the Elements of Harmony, Princesses Celestia and Luna, Prince Macintosh, Luna’s consort, and the First Lords of both the Royal Army and Navy. Wheeling in the tray, the servant quickly refilled a number of cups, placed a few scattered pastries, and then at a nod from Princess Luna, left the cart near the door, taking with her one that had been nearly emptied. As the door closed Princess Celestia looked across the conference table from one pony to another. The expressions she saw ran the gambit from concern to stoic determination with more than a little uncertainty and stubbornness thrown in. “Having reviewed with you the report submitted by Prince Macintosh I find myself in complete agreement with his conclusions. For the sake of the Tree of Harmony, and of Equestria, I have decided we must return the Elements of Harmony to their rightful place.” “I’m sorry Aunt Celestia, but I must once again disagree with you. Returning the Elements of Harmony presents a clear danger to the nation’s safety. Considering the number of times we’ve had to resort to them in the last few years it would be folly to strip ourselves of our most powerful defense. Princess Luna looked over at her nephew. All outward signs of his battle with Prince Macintosh several months earlier had faded, save for his horn. It too was growing back, but slowly. At the moment, it was about the length of a very young colt’s. In additional to the physical trauma, the experience of his possession by King Sombra had matured him considerably, while at the same time making him a somewhat sad and lonely figure. “From your comments, one has to wonder how the nation defended itself before the return of the elements. We’ve had no shortage of crisis to deal with over the last thousand years, but we managed to do it without the power they represent. I therefore have no concern as to their unavailability. “If the diarchy has already made their decision, then why involve the Privy Council? Why spend these last five hours soliciting and discussing our opinions” asked Shadow Starlight. The gray-furred unicorn and Equestrian Knight waved her ebon tail slightly and shook her head, causing her mane to flow like a shadow. “Because it is the Council’s responsibility to plan for the defense of Equestria,” Celestia answered. “As we will no longer be able to rely on the Elements of Harmony, you must understand the necessity of our decision as well as the need to modify our defense plans accordingly.” Shadow Starlight nodded. “Understood, princess. We will review and evaluate our current options and have a preliminary report by the end of the week.” She rose and looked at Celestia, tipping her horn toward her. “With your leave, your highness?” “Granted.” The nine members of the Privy Council, including Blueblood, rose, bowed, took one step back then turned and left the room together. They were quickly followed by the Lords of the Army and Admiralty. Luna smiled at her sister, whispering softly. “I am glad thou saw fit to appoint Shadow Starlight head of the council. She has a definite flare for demonstrating proper formal protocol.” “Well, it was either that, or make her Captain of the Royal Guard,” Celestia smiled “Eeeyup...” agreed Big Macintosh. “She’s more a pony o’ words and plans and protocol, not action. A Captain o’ the guard, she ain’t.” “Isn’t, darling. The word is isn’t. There isn’t any ain’t,” Luna gently whispered, nuzzling her mate. “There isn’t.... Well, ain’t that something,” the red-furred alicorn replied with a grin. Luna responded by sticking out her tongue and blowing a raspberry, causing every pony in the room to chuckle. “You two should take that routine on the vaudeville circuit. You’d be a smash hit,” declared Rainbow Dash. “What, and leave my sister to rule the nation alone, again? I think not,” Luna replied humorously. Celestia smiled, trying to relax after the tense early morning meeting. “I believe our next order of business should be discussed. How soon should the Elements be returned?” “When is now a good time?” asked Pinkie Pie. “Eeeyup. Ah think we should put ‘em back as soon as we can. Arual told me the black vines that threatened her also threaten other worlds, including Equis. She’ll need ‘em ta destroy the plunder seeds and vines here.” Twilight looked at Celestia. “If you’d like, the girls and I can leave for the Everfree by noon.” To the Princess of Friendship’s surprise, Celestia shook her head. “I appreciate your willingness to embark on such a journey, but I believe this task is best left to my sister and her husband to be.” “Me?” queried Luna. “Us?” asked Big Mac. “Them?” Twilight and Rainbow Dash both responded in unison. “Pardon me yer highness, but ma brother ain’t never been ta the tree o’ harmony, and Luna hasn’t been there fer over a thousand years.” “You forget, Applejack, Prince Macintosh not only visited, but conversed with the tree on the parallel world he recently returned from. If I understood his story, the trees of all eleven worlds are located in the same place, so finding it isn’t really an issue,” Celestia asserted. “He should go because we need to know if he can speak to Arual on this world...” “And help us apologize for our failure to return the elements in a timely fashion as well as communicate my apologies for forcing Tia to misuse them in the first place,” Luna finished. “Now Luna... we’ve talked about this. I was the one who chose to use the Elements against the Nightmare. You were only an unwilling passenger...” “Who was foolish enough to listen to the Nightmare’s whispers and let her in,” Luna added, her head lowered “I know you’ve forgiven me and don’t blame me for what happened, but I can’t help but feel that I need to do this.” Luna abruptly felt a large, warm wing drape itself across her and pull her into a firm hug. She looked up to see Prince Macintosh smiling softly down at her. She immediately leaned into his shoulder. He held her for a moment then chuckled softly. “What’s so humorous?” Luna asked. “Ah remembered y’all were looking fer an excuse ta go on a picnic just the other day.” “An outing... to the Castle of the Two Sisters? That sounds like an excellent idea,” Celestia smiled. ********** It wasn’t long before both Luna and Big Mac were soaring high above the Equestrian landscape. Prince Macintosh had a set of wicker saddlebags, once side containing food and the other all the necessities for a picnic lunch. Hidden at the bottom was a small ornate box containing the Elements of Harmony. The stallion also wore a heavy yoke around his neck, on the back of which was imbedded his own Element of Courage. “Y’all didn’t get any sleep yesterday, and ya spent most o’ last night in that dang meeting. How is it ya ain’t tired?” “You’ve had about as much rest as I have the last two days... are you tired?” “Not sure why, but nope, Ah ain’t tired in the least.” “It’s all part of being an alicorn, darling. While both I and Tia like living a normal 24 hour daily cycle, we can easily go a week before feeling any serious fatigue. Of course, that depends how much magic we use. The same now applies to you.” “Well, at least we’ve got ourselves a nice day fer flying.” “Yes, we do. I do not often get out like this during the day,” Luna observed, “but if I had to choose, I couldn’t have picked a better one. The flying conditions are simply glorious.” She tipped her muzzle up and breathed in the warm, balmy breeze. Passing over a small cloud, the Princess tucked in her wings and then bounced across its surface, laughing with carefree abandon. Big Mac smiled as he watched her bounding around in much the same way as Pinkie Pie did. Feeling in a wickedly playful mood, the alicorn stallion abruptly folded his wings and dropped down towards the cloud, all four of his hooves together so his legs formed a sort of arrowhead. Instead of lightly touching down on its surface, he plunged through it, causing the cloud to vaporize with a little “pop.” Luna, suddenly finding herself with nothing to support her next bounce, plummeted earthward, her legs and wings flailing a bit before she recovered and pulled out of her dive. She looked up towards Big Mac who was now standing on another nearby cloud, laughing. Grinning wickedly, the Princess soared upward, bumping yet another small cloud with a flick of her tail. It drifted over the Prince and she gave it a little jolt of telekinesis. The small lightning bolt that erupted from within struck the stallion on his flank, causing him to jump about fifty feet straight up. Big Mac looked towards Luna. “Okay, if that’s what ya want, it’s so on.” He dove toward her like a hawk on a mouse. Laughing, the Princess of Dreams side-slipped to the left, then barrel-rolled into a nearby cloud, the red-furred stallion hot in pursuit. Anyone watching from the ground would have thought the two alicorns looked remarkably like a pair of squirrels tail-chasing each other through the trees. Just when it looked as if Prince Macintosh was about to catch Luna, she ducked into a cloud bank and hid. The stallion shot past her hiding place, then went into a climbing spiral, searching for where the princess had gone. He circled for several minutes before landing atop the very cloud bank in which she was hidden. He gently trotted back and forth across the cloud looking for any sign of his fiancé, gently whistling through his teeth and calling her name in an odd mimic of a songbird. Watching from below, Luna waited until Big Mac was in just the right position, then she magically tripped him up. The stallion face planted in the cloud and when he looked up he saw the princess, or rather her head, sticking up out of the cloud in front of him. She leaned forward and kissed him on the lips. What was supposed to be just a quick peck on the lips however turned into something much deeper as their tongues inter-twined. When they finally parted, both were feeling a little dizzy from a lack of air. “Ah think we should bookmark this page and pick things up a bit later, once we’ve finished dealing with the Elements,” Big Mac suggested. Luna pouted briefly. “If thou insists, but don’t think for a moment I prefer duty to pleasure.” “The idea never crossed ma mind.” The two alicorns left the cloud bank behind them and turned once more towards the Everfree. It wasn’t more than twenty minutes later they reached the ruins of the Castle of the Two Sisters. Spiraling downward, they landed in the grassy meadow that once had marked the front lawn of the castle. “Which way?” asked the stallion. “Just on the remote chance some pony is watching us, we should go through the secret passage within the castle.” Big Mac nodded in agreement and the two alicorns entered the castle side by side. They trotted past several doors before coming across the throne room. Once within the prince noted that some pony had been making minor cosmetic changes here and there. A pair of hangings repaired, the cushions on the two thrones cleaned and restuffed, the floor swept clear of all the broken masonry, all signs the castle had been visited recently. “Who do you suppose has been cleaning things up out here?” muttered Luna. “Ah’d guess it were Applejack and the other Elements. Ma sister mentioned they’d recently taken on a restoration project. This might be it.” “This place holds a lot of memories for myself and Tia. I can understand why she abandoned it after our battle.” “Ah imagine the memory o’ banishing yer closest kin ta the moon weren’t a good one. Princess Celestia must o’ spent a lot o’ sleepless nights before making the move ta Canterlot.” Big Mac took a few minutes to look around. Though similar in basic form and construction, this castle had a number of differences from the one where he’d fought Discord and Eris. Looking down at the throne room floor he immediately noticed the design was different. “Shouldn’t there be a compass rose in the floor here?” the stallion asked, glancing at Luna. “A what?” “A compass rose. T’was under the floor here where y’all kept the Elements?” “Indeed. The center of the floor recesses and the Ori of the Elements rises up right here, but there was no compass rose. To the best of my knowledge it has always been the Seal of Equestria,” Luna replied. “Another case o’ different details tween the two worlds. Spend enough time and ya cain’t possibly mistake one fer the other.” Luna looked up at Big Mac. “What was she like?” she asked quietly. “Who?” “Me. The other Princess Luna.” The stallion remained quiet for a moment then turned to his love. “Cain’t rightly say. Most o’ my time with her was spent throwing mud at her flank.” “Mud? You threw mud at me?” “It weren’t you, really. Ah was fighting Nightmare Moon. Then, even when she turned back into you, she weren’t really you. She was kinda young, just barely passed being a filly, and scrawny, like she hadn’t eaten fer a couple o’ months. She did have yer eyes though, and when Ah saw them Ah got right powerful homesick.” “And that’s why you raced home to me?” Luna asked “Eeeyup!” “Without even thinking of the other Luna?” “Eeeyup!” “Too bad I’m not Apple enough to know if you’re telling me the truth,” she chuckled warmly. Big Mac nickered. “Give it time, princess. Ma mom weren’t born an Apple, but once she’d joined the family it got so ya couldn’t pull anything on her.” “So you’re saying becoming an Apple is like catching a disease.” “Eeeyup... jest like falling in love. It’s something ya never get cured o’.” “Who would want to?” Luna asked with a laugh. She trotted up the dais and went behind the two thrones, pushing on a recessed stone in the floor. A hidden door opened and she led Big Mac through it. Walking side by side down the secret passage they passed a number of taloned hands lining each side of the hallway. “This seems a bit familiar,” the stallion observed. “Let me guess, it leads down into a sub-basement where we’ll find an organ that doubles as a way to spring traps throughout the castle?” “A harpsicord, not an organ,” the dark-blue alicorn corrected, “with a resonance dome above so it could be heard throughout the castle when we wanted.” “Sounds like something a couple o’ immortal alicorns would do ta pass the time.” When they reached the “music room” Luna immediately went over to the harpsicord and tapped out a melody consisting of five notes. Bee flat, C, A flat, octave drop, A flat and E flat. The simple chord echoed across the chamber. She then pressed all three hoof pedals simultaneously. There was a grinding sound and the far wall opened into a very dark, musty passage. “Nice ta know the thing still works after a thousand years,” observed Big Mac. “The entire castle is interlaced with as many preservation spells as possible, with reinforcement spells placed on those to keep them running as long as possible.” “Spells on spells,” chuckled the stallion. “Y’all are serious on keeping up appearances.” “You can judge the results for yourself,” Luna replied. She rose from the keyboard and led her fiancé into the passageway beyond. The wall slid shut behind them leaving both alicorns in total darkness. “Ah’ve got this.” There was a momentary pause, then the sound of a match being struck against a wall was heard. Big Mac’s horn flared up and cast a circle of light about them which stretched more than fifty feet into the darkness. “Why did you make that sound effect?” “Helps me ta focus and makes it easier ta cast the spell.” “Do you do this with all of your magic?” nickered Luna. “Nnnope. Just spells that are irksome difficult or ones Ah don’t want ta spend several minutes casting.” “You do know sound illusions spells are difficult in and of themselves.” “Who said anything about spells? When Ah was a colt Ah was the champion mimic in all of Ponyville. Sorta used it as a replacement fer words when Ah didn’t feel like talking much.” “Somehow, I’m not surprised that you are so versatile.” Luna took a step forward then jumped back, bumping flanks with Big Mac when she heard the screech of a rat whose tail she thought she must have stepped on. She looked up at her fiancé and caught the slightest hint of a smile on his face. “Oh, you are so paying for that later,” she muttered. The alicorns carefully made their way down the passage. At one point, the walls changed from smooth stone blocks to roughhewn rock. “We’ve passed the castle’s foundation and are now descending into the cave system where the Tree of Harmony lives,” Luna explained. “How far do these caves go?” Big Mac asked. “Tia and I spent a full week exploring them more than a thousand years ago. We never did find an end, or for that matter a clear direction in which they headed. The deeper we went, the more like a maze the passages became. We called off our search when we came across the remains of a great dragon.” “How would a great dragon get all the way down here?” Luna shook her head. “I don’t know. The passages leading into the cavern where we found it were too small for the creature, so it must have crawled down here while small, then grew up very fast.” “Greed induced growth?” “More than likely. We found its skeleton lying next to a large vein of gold. Trouble is, once down here, it couldn’t leave and probably starved to death.” “Hope it didn’t suffer much,” Big Mac observed. “I wouldn’t know, but from what I remember of Starswirl’s lessons on dragon lore, it probably burned up most of its magical energy reserves growing too quickly. I’d guess it probably slipped into a coma before dying. The stallion quietly considered this, remembering the great “Spike” rampage a few years ago. In retrospect, the little guy was pretty lucky. They came to a cross passage and Luna nodded her horn to the left. Fifteen minutes, and about a dozen turns later they finally entered the chamber containing the Tree of Harmony. Big Mac looked around, but couldn’t see any of the black vines that had infested the chamber on the other world. He breathed a simple sigh of relief. “This might be a lot easier than Ah originally thought.” A soft, wicked laugh echoed through the chamber, rising in volume and strength as both he and Luna sought its source. “Or not....” “That sounds familiar,” muttered Luna. Her eyes suddenly went wide in recognition and her horn lit up with a shimmering, silver magic. With moments Luna was covered with a magical, silver inlayed black armor, summoned to her by her magics. “No... Not you. Not again.” “No... Not Me. At least not the me that you think I am,” the voice replied; “though I imagine I know you better than anypony else might. After all, we were together for a thousand years.” “You cannot be here,” the Princess of the Night declared, both anger and fear brought a tremor to her voice. “The Elements sent you back to the realm of shadows. You need a host to exist in the real world.” “Yes, and in the same instant that I was forced from your mind I found another living host. One much more pliable and easier to dominate. One that took me time to mold, to prepare, and one filled with enough chaos magic to last a thousand lifetimes.” “SHOW THYSELF, MONSTER!” “As you wish...” A figure stepped slowly from the shadows. It was an alicorn, three times the size of Big Mac, with wide, bat shaped wings and a pair of fangs long enough to be daggers. Its body undulated as black vines twisted back and forth, lacing themselves through the form so as to make it look solid. “Hello princess,” the figure smiled wickedly. “You may call me Nightmare Plunder.” TO BE CONTINUED...