The Mane Six lay on the ground. The impact of the Puff Princess' beams had sent them tumbling down the mountain until they reached the bottom. They weren’t fatally injured, but they felt pain from the hits they had taken, and had a hard time getting back up.
“Ouch… anypony got th’ number o’ that wagon?” asked Applejack.
“I knew you were gonna say that,” said Rainbow. “Why couldn't the Elements of Harmony do anything to that creep?"
“I don’t know,” Twilight said. “I’ve never known of any being immune to the Elements.”
“Speaking of which… where are they now?” Rarity inquired casually. “Due to my innate perfectionism I cannot help but notice that we’re no longer wearing them.” Even battered and hurting, Rarity’s voice overflew with total finesse and elegance.
“She’s right!” said Fluttershy. “Maybe... they fell off of us?"
“What I find strange is the way we found them - stumbling upon them on our way to the Palace,” said Rarity. “Twilight, dear, do you know if the Princesses normally keep them someplace safe?”
“No. I have never asked them, to be honest. But if we don’t have them with us now…”
“Could they still be in the Palace?” Fluttershy said. “What could happen if… that Puff Princess had them? What could happen to us if she did something bad to them?”
“We oughtta go get them back!” Rainbow exclaimed.
“Oh, yes, no doubt, so that maniac can crash us through the wall again," said Rarity. "Sweetheart, are you sure you thought this through?”
“Let her try! Let her try all she wants! We’ve got to show her we’re not afraid... five of us aren’t afraid of going head to her with her!” Fluttershy whimpered at the verbal jab.
“Goshdang it all, Rainbow Dash!” said Applejack, exasperated. “Can't ya see Rarity’s right? We barely survived that fall! We can’t risk a fall like that'un again, sugar, or else we won't be goin’ head t’ head with her whatsoever! Ya'll better believe me when ah tell ya we’d all better stay in one piece while we still can.”
“And what good would that do?”
Twilight interrupted them to ask, “Pinkie, why haven’t you spoken?”
“Who, me? Oh, no, nothing, just listening to you girls is entertainy! Go on, go on!”
All of them noticed Pinkie was suddenly eating chips from a bag and drinking soda as if she was at the movies. “How does she do it…?” they wondered.
“On the other hoof, though, switching to a bit of a more serious note,” Pinkie said, “we’re already about eighteen paragraphs into this chapter and nopony has come up with an idea of what we're gonna do about those Puffs yet, so, what are we gonna do about those Puffs? We can’t let them have the Palace for too long, can we?”
As usual, everypony understood what Pinkie wanted to express, just not how she expressed it.
“Listen, girls,” said Twilight, “if the Elements of Harmony had no effect on the Puff Princess, then she is unlike any adversary we’ve ever faced so far. Most likely, there is a special characteristic to her being which makes her immune even to the most powerful magic available to us.”
None of them understood a word Twilight had just said.
“Could you please repeat that? In a language other than Librarian-ese?” said Rainbow. Twilight was visibly annoyed by this.
“…The Puff Princess has some inner trait protecting her from the Elements. Remember, the Puffs aren’t from Equestria. Their physique might react differently to certain kinds of magic. However, it is possible that there could be a magical power she is not naturally..." She quickly corrected herself before somepony complained about her vocabulary again. "...A magical power she is not invincible to."
“But… there’s no magic more powerful than the Elements, is there?” said Fluttershy.
“Wrong, Fluttershy. There's no magic more powerful known to us. This means we’ll have to ask some other being who has transcended the boundaries of... who has traveled outside Equestria.”
“You mean…?”
“Precisely. We’ll have to ask Zecora.”
The Everfree Forest was a perpetually dark and still largely unexplored place. The very mention of the name was enough to run chills down the back of the bravest pony. Petrified trees seemed about to grab and eat ponies, and strange creatures which did not took well to those who dared approach their nests were known to inhabit the place. What terrified the ponies the most, however, was the forest working without magic; trees grew themselves, fruit fell from said trees itself, and clouds moved themselves. Twilight had said many times that there was no reason to be afraid of any of that, but nopony paid attention to her. Nevertheless, for those who knew their way through the swampy terrain, Everfree was an open book, and not too different from one's own backyard. Here, indeed, lived one for whom Everfree was their backyard.
Here lived Zecora, the mysterious guru zebra who spoke in impromptu rhymes. She was in her hut, quietly meditating, when the door knocked. She did not like being interrupted while she meditated, but was glad the interruption hadn’t been as abrupt as other times.
“Come in,” she said. Twilight and the rest did so, and Zecora couldn’t help but smile at recognizing them.
“Ah, Twilight Sparkle, a friend I deeply esteem, what would bring to my home you and your friendly team?”
“Zecora, we need your help. Are you cognizant that Equestria is under attack by the Puffs?”
“Oh, the Puffs, have you said? May Stars watch over me, if it’s true they’ve returned, this I could not foresee. I know well who they are, and what their intentions be. Am I right to assume a conquest they'd wish to see?”
“If ya mean they’ve come ta conquer Equestria, well yeah,” said Applejack.
“You see, Zecora... do you know the Elements of Harmony?” asked Twilight.
“I know them, know them I do, for before me they stand,” said Zecora. “Yes, Twilight,” she added at Twilight’s disbelieving face, “you represent them, I do understand.”
“Then you know we also obtain their power thanks to the ancient Stones still existing, and that we can merge with them to be bestowed with their magic.”
“For today it’s not wise to live as we do, and not know that this is unquestioned and true.”
“Twilight, ‘scuse me, but ah don’t get ‘er at all,” said Applejack.
“She means she knows we represent the Elements of Harmony, and that it’s true we can use them.”
“Ah.”
“So tell me now, Twilight, what brings your group woe? I am still impatient and waiting to know.”
“Well… we meant to use the power of the Elements to defeat the Puff Princess. But…”
“We couldn’t,” followed Rarity. “When we tried to, she just brushed the magic off. Oh, it was terrible!”
“The Stones have disappeared. We think they're back at Canterlot Palace, but we can't go back for them defenseless, or we'll be killed," said Fluttershy, " know I’m the only one... but I’m afraid of dying…”
“Fluttershy dearest, it’s okay to fear,” Zecora said, comforting her. “I’ve feared more than once, and yet I’m still here. To fear makes you cautious; it is defensive. To suggest you shouldn’t would be offensive.” Fluttershy felt better, though Rainbow Dash made a disapproving face.
“The point is we cannot use the Elements anymore, at least for now,” Fluttershy continued. “Twilight thought maybe there could be a magic more powerful than the Elements... And since you’ve traveled all over the world, we came to ask if you wouldn’t know such magic by any chance. It’s okay if you don’t know… we can look for it ourselves.”
Zecora smiled even wider. It seemed as though she had waited a long time for someone to ask her that question.
Pinkie took a chance to ask, “Do the natives happen to be friendly?" The others looked at her funny. "Just in case! Don’t you think we should know if the world’s salvation is surrounded by mean bullies?”
“I know a power, but it is legend-bound," said Zecora. "I wouldn’t hope you, Twi, to gulp such things down.”
“After all the things that have happened in my life so far, I’m willing to believe anything.”
“You shouldn’t,” Zecora noted. “Anyway, legend tells us that there used to be a power greater than Harmony, in magical force as well as in mass; yet, in luck for all of us, not in class. Like the Eye of Osiris craved and famed, ‘The Rainbow of Light' it had once been named!"
“Wait just’a minute there!” Applejack exclaimed, as if Zecora’s words had awakened her from a long sleep. “Ah know that legend!”
“What, the eye one?” said Rainbow.
“No, ya bonehead! The Rainbow of Light one! And let me tell ya somethin’, ah know this sounds weirder than a chicken with her knees pointin’ forward, but ah tell ya with all the honesty ah can muster inside’a me, that’s no legend. It really happened!”
Twilight began to argue for the opposing viewpoint. “Applejack, surely you don’t really believe that legend is true.”
“Ah dun believe it is, Twilight. Ah know. Happened to mah family. It has been runnin' millions o' generations 'f Apples, dads to sons, moms to daughters, b'tween other relatives.”
“Millions of generations? What are you talking about?”
Applejack sighed. “Twilight, mah family dates to the time o’ Dream Valley. Back when Equestria was called…”
“Ponyland?” Twilight was flabbergasted. “But… that was…!”
“'Round thirty million years ago. Believe it’r not. In fact, mah earliest ancestor was also named Applejack, and ah’m named Applejack after her.”
No one else present, except for Zecora, could believe what Applejack was saying. It was known that the Apple family was one of the oldest in Equestria, but they would have never imagined it dated back to the very beginning of time.
"Ya see," Applejack explained, her accent dropping, her words now so formal that it didn't seem like it was her who was saying them, "there was a monster named Tirac, who wanted to do the same thing as Nightmare Moon two months ago. He wanted to turn four ponies into slave dragons to pull his Chariot of Midnight, and then he'd use the Rainbow of Darkness to cover up the sun forever, Back then, the sun moved by itself and so did the moon. The only thing that could stop it was the Rainbow of Light, but nopony knew where it was. So a pegasus pony named Firefly had the idea of going somewhere she'd never been before, and went to look for a human girl."
Nearly all of them exclaimed in surprise. They'd only heard of creatures called 'humans' in ancient legends and bedtime stories. Was it true? Had a human girl really save the lives the entire pony species millions of years ago?
"Turns out only a human girl could open the Rainbow Locket where the Rainbow of Light was, and she used it to destroy Tirac and save the ponies. And she became the bearer of the Locket ever since.”
Applejack took a breath. Her accent and 'country talk' were back. "But now, ah can't tell anypony about it, ‘cause ponies today treat history and their ancestors very wrong, and say everythin’ that ever happen’d in older times ain't worth anythin’ 'Jus' nostalgia', they say. 'Ya'll only think it was good 'cause ya grew up wit', it' they say. Can't stand 'em... but ah have no option other than keep quiet, so they won't insult mah family tree."
Twilight instantly felt compassion for Applejack, and had the impressions that she had just helped contribute to her friend's emotional suffering a moment ago.
“Applejack,” asked Fluttershy, “how has your family known that story for so long?”
“Cause one o’ th’ ponies Tirac grabbed was mah own ancestor,” answered Applejack. “Ya don’t forget that sorta thing, Fluttershy. Ya thought ah’d speak lightly of somethin’ like that?”
“Excuse me… I wasn’t trying to be so… rude.”
“Nah, ya weren’t. Ah’m a bit upset ‘bout the whole thing too.”
Fluttershy smiled. Both were at peace now.
“There you have it,” Zecora spoke at last. “The Rainbow of Light you must find, so that no more problems will weigh inside your mind.”
“Wow! Humans! I’ve never seen a human! I wanna go to to human-land and find that Rainbow of Light! I’m sure we’ll have lots and lots of fun!” exclaimed Pinkie.
“For the first time in a long time, I agree with you, Pinkie,” said Rainbow. “You know adventures on parts unknown are my thing!”
“I have to acknowledge,” said Rarity, “even I wish to go to the Human Realm! I wonder how will it be… Perhaps it will be a place most dazzling, and perhaps there will be fine and glamorous humans with which to be seen in public! On the condition, of course, that they’re not among those arrogant nouveau-riche that there will doubtless be around.”
“You know? I want to go too!” said Fluttershy loudly. She gasped at her own overblown excitement and lowered her voice again. “I’m a little bit scared… but maybe it won’t be so bad! There could be animals and cute little creatures to take good care of!"
“The curious thing is, that is how humans roll,” Zecora confirmed. “They’re not different from us; we might share a soul.”
“It’s settled, then,” said a resolute Twilight. “I trust your word, Applejack, and I agree to travel to the Human Realm. Tell me: what was the girl’s name?"
“Ah’ll never forget that name: Megan Wiilliams! She lived in a farm named Bargin’ Barn.”
“What a funny name!” Pinkie said. She had never heard a human name in her life.
“Wait a moment," said Rarity. "There is a most considerable problem. This 'Megan Williams' lived thirty million years ago. She can’t still be alive. Not even the Royal Sisters have lived that long!”
“She might have left descendants,” said Twilight, “meaning she had children, and her children had children, and so on and so on. If Applejack’s family has had descendants for so long, then it could be that so has Megan’s. One of her latest relatives must know what happened to that Rainbow of Light.”
“Twilight, what if they don’t?”
“We’ll have to take that risk… at least we’ll have lived enough to find out.” She turned towards the zebra. “Thank you, Zecora. We are in your debt.”
“Twilight, my dear, it’s a pleasure too. Good travels, ponies, and may fate be with you.”
“And you, Zecora. Let’s go, girls!”
“Applejack, if it wouldn’t bother you so,” Zecora started before they left, “would you tell your sister that I said hello?”
“Sure thing, Zecora. Thanks again.”
The Royal Sisters had been gagged, and their legs and wings had been bound so they couldn't try to escape. The Puff Princess' mares had thrown them into an empty room with a solitary window, through which all of Equestria, primarily Ponyville, could be seen perfectly; after which they had removed the gags, but not the binds, and locked the door.
No sooner than they were left alone, the Sisters stared at each other. Celestia’s multi-colored mane did not stop moving by itself, contrasting against her gleaming white coat, as did Luna’s dark blue did against her electric blue mane. Luna was still very young, and a long time would pass before she reached a more mature age; for now, she was still a thousand years younger.
“Now’s our time to free ourselves and reclaim our land, isn't it?” asked Luna.
“You read my mind, my sister,” Celestia said. “You always had a certain talent for that.”
She giggled, and so did Luna. Even in their current situation, they still had time to talk to each other as they hadn’t been able to for many years… as sisters.
“Alright, count of three. One… two… three!”
On that moment, the two used their magical powers to untie each other… but they had no effect. The ropes wouldn’t move. The Sisters tried using their powers on other things laying around –shards of rock, dirt, etc.- laying around, and nothing they tried had the slightest effect. They had to bite off each others’ ropes, with the most care, to free themselves.
“Why does our magic not work?” Luna wondered.
“The Puffs seem to have taken measures to stop us from escaping, as they were ordered. Can you try moving the moon? I will try to move the sun.”
It tured out so that all they could magically manipulate at this time was, indeed, the sun and the moon. Anything else they tried their magic on remained untouched.
“It’s evident that the Puff Princess intends us never to leave this room again, and to be unable to escape, or use our magic again for any other activity than the passage of time; also, considering the view from this window, she wants us to witness as she conquers Ponyville, and suffer for being helpless to stop it.”
“And we cannot stop it?”
“No, Luna, I’m afraid not.” Her words were like if an unmovable weight had fallen on them. “We can only hope for Twilight, her friends, or somepony else, to find a way.”
“Celestia… surely you knew this was going to happen. Why didn’t you do anything?”
“I assumed Twilight would,” Celestia admitted. “You of all ponies should know even I am not flawless, Luna.”
Both looked into each other's eyes. Celestia could see the twinkle of sadness in the eyes of her sister, and both sat down next to each other. Celestia took Luna between her wings, like in past times, when her sister felt sad and needed comfort. Luna snuggled on her sister’s chest, feeling more refreshed.
“You’ll never change, Luna. You will always be my little sister. I love you so much…”
Luna sobbed in relief.
“Don’t worry," said Celestia. "I am here. I am with you. I will never leave you again. I am sure that, if not Twilight, somepony out there is thinking of a way.”
“They had better hurry up…!”