//------------------------------// // Book Two: Chapter Four // Story: Unity: A Tale of Arcadia // by Kieva Lynn //------------------------------// Book Two: Wizard Quests Chapter Four Canterlot Castle, Eqqus. "Are you certain of this sister?" Celestia asked as she walked side by side with Luna along one of the castle's many high balconies, this one rimming the tallest tower, twelve hundred feet above the base of the castle itself and over a mile straight up from the valley floor below. Far off and to the south, the former site of Ponyville could be seen. Even after a year and a half, the site was still plainly visible, a huge circular scar marring the otherwise pristine landscape, though at the outer fringes of the circle the beginnings of encroachment by vegetation reclaiming the land was becoming visible. "As certain as I can be, Tia." Luna replied, as she stopped and looked out over the scenery. "You know that my memories of my time as Nightmare Moon are vague at best. And also of course over a thousand years out of date... But I distinctly remember a battle with Starswirl, not long before our final confrontation." "Even you were fortunate to survive such a battle Luna." Celestia said, but Luna shook her head. "Not so Tia. You remember what Starswirl told us long ago? The Maker forbade him the full and overt use of all his powers. Starswirl was powerful even with that, but the end result was not in doubt, which is why he withdrew once the... ...Once the innocents were out of harm's way. But as we dueled, he spoke of many things I did not comprehend at the time but make far more sense now. And... He said he would meet me again, "Where the astral winds blow cold as Tartarus." "The windigo lands in the far north." Celestia said, and shivered slightly. "Know thou of another place where even magic freezes out?" Luna shook her head. "No, do not misunderstand me Tia, I like it as little as you. But it is there those seeking after Starswirl must go. And it is there I must go with them as well." "Sister no!" "Yes, Tia. Note Starswirl's exact words: He would meet me again there." Celestia sighed. "I know you are right. It doesn't mean I have to like it. Especially since the most direct path would take you through Chrysalis' valley." "Chrysalis' valley which we already know is probably empty by now." Luna corrected. "Somepony will have to investigate that sooner or later anyway. Why not a group containing a wizard and an Alicorn?" Luna held up a hoof to forestall her sister's obvious comeback, "And yes, I know: 'The Changeling Vale, Where magics fail.' It would leave even myself and Gandalf powerless. Unless, as I suspect, the source of the magic drain has been relocated along with the hive." Celestia looked her sister in the eyes. "There is a flaw in your logic Luna. It assumes that we are correct about Chrysalis and her hive being gone. If they are still there, if they are laying in wait, you would indeed be in a precarious circumstance once magic was denied to you." "Strewth." Luna granted. "But is there really a choice?" "No." Celestia answered, after too long a pause. She was staring down towards the valley floor. Luna followed the direction of her sister's gaze, down to where Ponyville had been. She stepped forward, at Celestia's side, nuzzling in close and wrapping a wing over her back. "Strange..." She whispered after a few moments. Celestia rolled an eye to look at Luna. "Hmm? What is?" "A thousand years I was gone... A thousand years of constant change in the world. Changes in climate, in topography, in settlements and culture and government and knowledge. I returned to a world in which nothing was the same as I remembered, not even you, strictly speaking... And yet all of it affects my heart less than the absence of this one small town." "The plants are growing back in." Celestia said. "Three years, four tops, and we won't even be able to tell anything unusual about the spot from here. Perhaps, when this coming war is ended, we should use the site to build a park." "Yes!" Luna smiled. "A park. A monument to the courage of Ponyville's citizens, building a new home on a far world. And a memorial, to those we will no doubt lose in the struggles to come." Celestia managed to smile as well. "Come then, sister. Let us make some plans for the future." XXXXX "Well, at least I'm in the air again, even if it is a little sluggish." Rainbow Dash was managing, if only just, to stay airborne as she accompanied Twilight and the rest of their friends to the Spoony Bard Diner for lunch. Twilight and Sheriff Tucker had spent the morning filling the rest of the group in on what they had learned from Celestia and Whitmore the previous night. Gandalf was growing more restless and concerned to be off on their quest, but all was held up by the still in-progress Tardis repairs. "I'm glad Dash, I expect we'll need it." Twilight said. "Seems 't me like this might be our riskiest adventure yet." Applejack said. "Splittin' up on two different planets, with only one way back. "And lots of enemies everywhere." Fluttershy whispered, and shuddered. "Which just makes it that much more awesome!" Rainbow cheered, pumping both forehooves in the air. Everypony else just rolled their eyes. Rainbow Dash wasn't, as many thought, stupid. Nor was she deluded regarding the very real possibility of death. But, somehow, the mare had never quite really internalized the reality, at least in regards to herself or her friends. She had never really dealt with loss. And that, Twilight feared, might someday come back to bite Dash in a nasty way. But for now they had reached the diner. It was a busy place, especially at lunch time, with counter seats, tables, and booths filled with patrons of all species. Luckily they had the good timing to arrive just as a family was vacating one of the larger booths. "Gimme a minute to clean things off and it's all yours." Florence said. A few minutes later, piled into the booth, meals ordered, Rarity said "May I make a suggestion darlings? No, what's the term, 'shop talk,' during our meal. It's been far too long since all six of us were together to just enjoy each others company." "Hear hear!" Pinkie cheered. "So then, how are things with you and Spike?" Applejack asked Rarity. "Oh, well you know how things go. We've barely had so much as a quick meal date in over a month. Hopefully things will calm down sooner or later." "I'm sure they will." Fluttershy said. "Silver Spoon tells me the Crusaders didn't get grounded for last night." "It was a legitimate accident. And one they merely contributed to but didn't start, and wouldn't have caused on their own." Rarity answered. "Yeah, it wouldn't have been fair. Especially since they got a good scare out of it all." Applejack said. "Speakin' of which though, how's Silver's back doing?" Fluttershy answered "Oh much better! You know how kids recover faster than adults. They'll probably take the stitches out by this time next week." "I'm so glad that wasn't any worse than it was." Twilight said. "You saw how badly Trixie got roughed up. And she was lucky compared to a lot of other people." "Girls, are we drifting into shop talk?" Rainbow asked. "I guess so." Applejack admitted. "Kinda hard 't steer clear of it at times like this though ain't it?" "I'll say... And hay, Rares, Flutters, who's gonna watch Sweetie Belle and Silver Spoon while we're gone?" Pinkie asked. "They'll be staying with Granny Smith and Macintosh." Rarity explained. "At least that way they're with somepony who knows how to handle them." "Handle the Crusaders, you mean." Rainbow said with a snort. "You know I never, in like a million years, thought it would get worse after the original three got their cutie marks." Everypony laughed. "That's for sure. Then again, who expected cutie marks in helping with cutie marks?" Twilight chuckled. "It's enough to make me understand that Human expression about the universe having a sense of humor." "Yeah, a mean one." Rainbow agreed. Twilight quoted "The universe is an unrelenting comedy. Unfortunately, the audience the jokes are written for is the gods so the punchlines tend to go over our heads." "Okay, I'm remembering that to use someday." Florence said as she arrived with their orders. "Seems like a serious discussion going on over here." "We're trying not to." Rainbow said. "Eeyup, but it ain't goin' so well." Applejack agreed. "Well maybe the food will help. Enjoy!" Surprisingly, it did help. The next half hour was filled with laughter, fellowship, and the peace that comes from good friends and good food. As they were starting to talk about leaving, the front door opened, admitting a tall blonde girl who asked after the group at the counter, then came to their booth. "Aja!" Twilight said when she recognized her. "The Doctor asked if I could find you." Aja said. "Krel has good news! The components he feared he would need to replace were repairable. The Tardis should be ready to leave by tomorrow morning." "That's wonderful!" Twilight said. "The sooner we do this the better. Does anyone else know?" "I will be returning to Arcadia to notify Jim Lake and his friends." Aja replied. "And there was an elf who needed to be informed as well?" "Tess lives upstairs here now. I can fill her in." "Lively! Then you will be ready. I'll go and find the Trollhunters then." Aja excused herself and departed. "We should probably all be there and ready first thing in the morning. LIke, at the crack of dawn. Dash." Applejack said. Everypony chuckled at the added 'Dash' except for Rainbow who grumbled under her breath. "Which means gathering whatever we need this evening." Rarity agreed. "Ladies, I think our lunch date is over." The friends said their goodbyes for the day and headed out to prepare... XXXXX After exiting the front door of the diner, Twilight circled around behind the building and trotted up a flight of exterior stairs to the second level. At the top of the stairs was an outdoor walkway that ran the length of the building, and two apartment doors. The Unicorn passed the first door, which she knew had been the home of an elderly human since before the towns had been taken, and knocked on the second door. It took only a few seconds for Tess to answer, but a few seconds more for Twilight's brain to process what she was seeing. The young Elf still wore the always present goggles over her forehead, but she had exchanged her usual robes for denim blue jeans and an oversized hoodie. "That's... Not your usual style." "Well, I'm unlikely to find the styles I'm used to here, unless your friend Rarity can manage to reproduce them." Tess said. "So, I figured, why not go ahead and wear what I can actually find. Save my old clothes for special occasions." "Makes sense. Listen, the reason I'm here is because we just heard. The Tardis should be ready to go by tomorrow morning." "And Gandalf won't wait a second longer than needed." Tess nodded. "Okay, I'll be ready... Um, in regards to supplies, how upset would your people be at me showing up with a crossbow and ammo?" Twilight thought that over for a moment, before she answered "Normally, very. But you will be with us, and under the circumstances, I don't think anypony will say anything. And I'm planning to speak with the Princesses through the window later this evening, I'll clear it with them then." The mare looked at the girl for a moment, getting a vibe of unease. "Are you okay?" Tess sighed. "I think so. But, I've never done anything like this before. Big adventures, I mean. It's... Unnerving." "I understand. Though, given how long Elves live, I'm surprised nothing at all has come up for you before." The Elf gave Twilight a flat stare. "I'm Twenty-seven." "Ooh... Oops. Sorry." Twilight chuckled awkwardly. "Oh it's okay. Every Human and Pony has assumed... You know, I actually had someone ask if I had known Frodo. I mean, can you imagine!? Twenty-seven going on ten thousand!" Tess laughed. "Wow. But I'm still apologizing." Twilight shook her head. "And, as for being nervous? Totally on board with you on that. Let me tell you about my first adventure. It started when I found a prophecy about the 'Mare in the Moon...'