Once upon a time, in the magical land of Equestria, there were two regal sisters who ruled together and created harmony for all the land. To do this, the eldest used her alicorn powers to raise the sun at dawn; the younger brought out the moon to begin the night. Thus, the two sisters maintained balance for their kingdom and their subjects, earth ponies, pegasi, and unicorns alike.
But as time went on, the elder sister became obsessed with power. The ponies relished and played in her day, but the night, as beautiful as it was, seemed to mean nothing to the ponies. This fueled the elder's ego, and in turn, her obsession with power grew. One fateful night, the elder alicorn refused to lower the sun to make way for the dusk, believing that the ponies would love her more for extending the day. The younger sister tried to reason with her, but power had corrupted the elder's heart and had transformed her into a wicked mare of fire: Daybreaker.
She vowed that she would illuminate the land in eternal light. Reluctantly, the younger sister harnessed the most powerful magic known to ponykind: the Elements of Harmony. Using the magic of the Elements of Harmony, she defeated her elder sister, and banished her permanently in the moon…
“The younger sister took on responsibility for both sun and moon, and harmony has been maintained in Equestria for generations since!” a boisterous blue showmare exclaimed, using her glamour magic to create visuals, “This year’s Winter Moon Gala will mark the one thousandth anniversary of Princess Luna’s victorious win over the Eternal Light! So it is certain to be a special event. And if anypony is lucky enough to go this year, you just may be lucky enough to see a special performance from the Great and Powerful Trixie!”
Cheers are heard around the classroom from the colts and fillies. They always love it when she comes to their school. She always finds a way to make learning fun. Her skill as a showmare, and her tendency to take creative liberties will always capture the attention of the class. And her tendency to include magic to create a performance will even grab the attention of the teachers.
My little pony, My little pony
Ahh ahh ahh ahhh…
(My little pony)
I thought I had all the friends I'd need
(My little pony)
But in Ponyville I found a new lead
Raving music
Flying through the air
A motherly love
Power to share
Teaching kindness
A great and powerful feat
And magic makes it all complete!
You have my little ponies
Will you all be my best friends?
A group of hooves found their way into the air. The teacher pointed to one filly in the front left, a blue pegasus filly, “Uh… Miss Trixie? What are the Elements of Harmony?” the filly asked.
“Great question… uh…” Trixie turns to the teacher in hopes of getting a name.
“Wind Catcher,” the teacher whispers over.
“Great question, Wind Catcher,” Trixie continued, “That knowledge has been lost to time. Some aren’t even sure if they even exist. But because of the nature of harmony, it can be assumed that the Elements of Harmony cannot be wielded to their full potential by a single pony. And they cannot be used by just anypony. The pony has to be chosen by the element. A pony who properly represents that element. Some even say that the ponies that are chosen by the elements are the physical embodiment of those elements. It’s hard to say for sure what’s true or not. But the stories are truly great!”
The teacher points to colt, “Stone Wheel.”
“If the Elements of Harmony can only be weld… wheel… used by multiple ponies, how was Princess Luna able to use them to defeat Daybreaker?” the gray colt asked.
“Another great question, Stone Wheel,” Trixie said, giving a thankful look towards the teacher, “Not even the princess herself knows for sure how she was able to do it. But as I said, one pony cannot use them to their full potential. But that doesn’t mean they cannot be used. And the princess being an alicorn means that she’s a representation of earth ponies, pegasi, and unicorns. So perhaps that is why she could use them as she did.”
Another filly, a thestral, was answered, “Night Wind.”
“Daybreaker was banissed forever, right?” the thestral filly asked, a slight lisp in her speech.
“Yes,” Trixie was confused about such a basic question, “Why do you ask?”
“And Princess Luna banissed her widt teh Elements, right?”
“Yes…”
“But how could see baniss Daybreaker to teh moon forever if see couldn’t use the Elements to their full potensial?”
Trixie was about to answer. But she found her words catch in her throat when she realized she didn’t have an answer, “That’s a good question,” Trixie said, less for show and more in honesty, “I… don’t know.”
“Does that mean Daybreaker wasn’t banished forever?” Another filly said.
“Is Daybreaker gonna come back with the Eternal Light?!”
“Is it true that she eats little ponies like us?!”
Trixie noticed the class beginning to panic. She knew that the likeliness any of them were in real danger was low. But she couldn’t be sure. But the class was panicking, and she needed to get their attention. She shot some sparks from her horn, creating a non-flammable fireworks show, a trick she learned when one of her school performances resulted in the firefighters getting involved.
The show did it’s job in getting their attention, “Don’t worry, everypony. Daybreaker will not be a problem. The likeliness of her return is low. And even if she does return, the likeliness that it will happen in any of your lifetimes is also low,” Trixie said, getting her point across before donning a cocky grin, “Besides, if she does come, and she does want to hurt any of you, she’ll have to get through me! The Great and Powerful Trixie!”
The class cheered once more, music to her ears. Not because of her showmare nature, but because the children were no longer afraid. After a few more questions were asked, Trixie had one final trick up her sleeve.
“As I said before, I will be at the thousandth Winter Moon Gala! And I will be performing a very special show! But I can’t guarantee that you all will be there to see it… Or can I?” Trixie drew a few tickets on the blackboard. They were crudely drawn, but drawn in such a way that made them unique. She then used her glamor magic to modify the image, changing it to an image of the tickets on fire. The image switched again to a crudely drawn image of a history textbook, “It seems the tickets I’ve drawn were transformed into history textbooks. Perhaps you will all find something if you open up yours up?”
Out of curiosity, one filly opened up her history textbook and found a something silver inside the cover. She looks at it and saw that it says “Trixie Ticket” on it. The other children did the same, revealing they all had Trixie Tickets.
“If you come to the Winter Moon Gala and present those tickets, you will be allowed in as my personal invitations.” Trixie explained. The class cheers once more.
The teacher quieted them down, “Now what do you say to the Great and Powerful Trixie?”
“Thanks, Miss Trixie!” the class said in unison.
“I cannot continue to allow you to keep providing children with Gala vouchers!” an irate lunar princess exclaimed.
“I’m sorry, Princess,” Trixie apologized as she followed the lunar princess down the halls of Canterlot Castle, “It’s just, you know me and children. I told them I would be doing a special show at the Winter Moon Gala. When I realized that not all of them could go… I just invited them.”
“Well, I cannot ask you to return the invitations. That would just break their hearts,” Luna said as she calmed down, “I understand that your heart is in the right place. But sometimes I think your heart is bigger than your head. But then I remember how big your ego is.”
“Hey!” Trixie replied before noticing the slight smirk on Luna’s face.
“Now to address another issue,” Luna continued, getting Trixie’s attention, “Who gave you permission to perform a special show at the Gala?”
“Oh… well… I…” Trixie stuttered.
“And I assume you already have this show planned out, right?” Luna asked, “Would you mind telling me what you will do in your show?”
“Well… I…” Trixie said, “A great and powerful magician never gives away her secrets!”
“In other words, you do not have anything planned,” Luna said.
‘How does she do that?’ Trixie thought.
“I’ll allow the show,” Luna said, receiving a sigh of relief from the blue mare next to her, “That is, if you show a performance that is spectacular and has never been seen before. In other words, I expect to see a new trick from you.”
Trixie tensed up at that, but couldn’t look a gift horse in the mouth, “I promise, you won’t be disappointed!” Trixie said, accepting the challenge. She then noticed that she was being taken to an unfamiliar part of the castle, “Uh… Princess, where are we going?”
They came up to a door. Trixie took notice that Luna didn’t answer her question. This put Trixie on edge. Luna activated her magic, opening the double doors into what appeared to be a vault of some kind.
“I know this may be a bad time to bring this up. But something came to my attention today,” Trixie said, “When I was at the school today, one of the children asked an interesting question. She brought up the idea that because you couldn’t use the elements to their fullest potential, that you couldn’t banish Daybreaker for eternity.”
“Observant,” Luna said simply. The fact that she didn’t elaborate, and the tone of her voice sent a chill down the showmare’s spine. They came to a case that held five stone orbs, “These are the Elements of Harmony. Even at our best, my sister and I were unable to use them to their fullest potential. Even when I banished my sister to the moon, I could feel my connection to the elements weakening.”
“Wait, so that filly was right?” Trixie exclaimed, “Huh… Smart filly. Wait, doesn’t that mean that… Is Darbreaker going to return?!”
“It was an inevitability,” Luna said, “And though I don’t know when exactly it will happen, I do know that it will be soon.”
“Forgive my bluntness, Princess,” Trixie said, “But I think because of your age, your idea of what ‘soon’ means is a lot different from most other ponies perceptions of ‘soon’.”
“I have not forgotten that fact,” Luna admitted, “That is why I trust that you have enough time to prepare.”
“Prepare?”
“I want you to use whatever time is left to find the Elements of Harmony,” Luna explained.
“But… They’re right here.”
“That is only half true,” Luna corrected, “The Elements of Harmony are not the objects used. These are merely the conduites. The elements are in fact the union between the Tree of Harmony and those which are chosen by the tree to wield its power.”
“And you want me to find the wielders?” Trixie asked, “Why me? How do I find the other wielders? Why can’t you wield them again? Where do I-”
“I have already told you why I can’t wield them again. Because my connection has been lost,” Luna answered, cutting Trixie off, “I may be able to access the power, but it would be too limited. Unfortunately, I cannot tell you more than that. I promise that I wish I could tell you. But if I did, you would no longer properly be able to be up to the task.”
“I don’t understand.”
“All I can tell you is that what you need to learn cannot be taught,” Luna continued, “What you need to learn has to be experienced. The difference between knowledge and wisdom is that where knowledge can be taught, wisdom has to be experienced. If I were to tell you what you needed to do, you would know what was required. However, your knowledge of what to do would potentially hinder your ability to properly experience it. Do you understand now?”
“I think so,” Trixie said, “It’s like how a child can be told that a hot stove will hurt, but will only understand what it feels like if they touch the stovetop and experience the heat for themselves. Is that about right?”
“Good deduction,” Luna praised, “If I’m not mistaken, you’ll find what you need in Ponyville. I’d recommend that you make some friends while you’re there. They will help you to find what you need.”
“But, if I don’t even know what I’m looking for, how could a group of ponies, who don’t even know about the elements, be able to help?”
“You’ll understand why once you find what you need.”
Trixie sighed. She wasn’t used the lunar princess being this vague. But she assumed it had to do with having to experience the answer for herself. But then something occurred to her, “There are six elements, right?” Trixie asked, “So why are there only five orbs?”
“In order to ensure that the elements can’t be wielded to their fullest by the wrong ponies, the Tree of Harmony will only reveal the sixth element when only the worthy are present,” Luna explained, “As you can see, I can’t wield the elements how they are intended because I’m not worthy on my own.”
“It seems like the Tree of Harmony has a mind of its own,” Trixie suggested.
“In a way, it does,” Luna said, “Though, to say it has its own mind is not quite accurate. It more likely assimilates the minds of those who connect to it. And it only takes in that what is pure. When my sister had become corrupt and became Daybreaker, the tree quickly disconnected the elements from her before it could assimilate that corruption.”
“What would happen to the Tree of Harmony if it became corrupted?”
“That is unknown. And I pray that we never find out,” Luna explained before turning to Trixie, “Now, shall we begin getting you ready for your trip to Ponyville?”
Trixie had gotten her belongings ready to be sent to Ponyville. She set things up so that only the essentials were in her saddlebags, while the rest will be sent for when she finds a place to stay in Ponyville. She was wearing her signature wizard’s hat and cape as she headed towards the train. Luna had explained to her what each element represented; kindness, generosity, loyalty, laughter, honesty, and magic.
Trixie was being followed, as a shadow from above went from cloud to cloud. The shadow thought it went unnoticed. But Trixie sensed her stalker.
“You may be a Lunarbolt, but you’re not as stealthy as you think you are,” Trixie said.
The Shadow flew to the ground, revealing a white pegasus with a blond, curly, windswept mane and tail, “Aw, man! I thought I was doing good that time.”
“Your flying was silent, but you’re loud when you land on clouds,” Trixie said with a cocky grin, “Which is strange, considering how quite cloudwalking naturally is for pegasi. Are you sure you don’t have some sort of magical glandular problem, Surprise?”
“Are you calling me fat?”
“No, of course not. But…” Trixie chose to go with it, “You aren’t exactly the thinnest of the Lunarbolts.”
Surprise just replied by sticking her tongue out and blowing a raspberry. After that, the topic changed, “So, what’re you doing?”
“Princess Luna sent me to Ponyville to…” Trixie paused, “You wouldn’t understand.”
“How do you know I wouldn’t understand unless you tell me?” Surprise asked.
“Fine. I’m sent to find the wielders of the Elements of Harmony,” Trixie said, “Luna told me… Can you promise to keep a secret?”
“Have you ever known me to reveal secrets?” Surprise said before thinking again, “Don’t answer that. Yes, you can trust me.”
Trixie sighed, knowing that the likeliness that Surprise would keep the secret was 50/50 at best, “Okay. Luna told me that she thinks Daybreaker will return soon, though she doesn’t know when,” Trixie explained, “So she’s sending me to Ponyville to find the new wielders of the Elements of Harmony, because her connection to the the Tree of Harmony has been lost.”
“So, a villain’s coming, so the old hero wants to find new heroes because the old hero can’t be the hero again?”
“You read too many comic books,” Trixie deadpanned, “But yes, that’s generally it.”
“Can I come too?” Surprise asked, “Maybe I can help you find these heroes.”
“You can come if you want,” Trixie said, “But I don’t know how you can help me find who I’m looking for if I don’t even know who I’m looking for.”
“That’s why I can help!” Surprise exclaimed, “Two heads are better than one, right? Having a second set of eyes will bring a second perspective. What one of us can’t find, the other could.”
Trixie thought about it for a minute, “I guess that makes sense,” Trixie replied, “Well, if you’re coming, then let’s go. The next train to Ponyville leaves in about fifteen minutes.”