//------------------------------// // Chapter 5 // Story: Legend of Celestia // by Crafter //------------------------------// It was another calm, sunny day in Ponyville; ponies were walking around, completing their daily chores as they always did. A small unicorn filly and an earth pony colt were walking along the road, each enjoying a delicious homemade blueberry muffin. “It sure is a nice day isn't it Pip?” the grey filly asked. “It sure is, and these muffins your mum made are positively smashing!” Dinky took another bite of her muffin, savoring the taste. Ever since her mom got married, her cooking has improved tenfold. She swallowed what she had bitten off, “Just wait until you try my dad’s pizza; it’s the best!” “Oh yeah, I forgot that your mum got married. What’s your dad like?” Pip asked, genuinely interested in Dinky’s life. Before Dinky could give her reply, there was a pop and a flash from behind them. When Dinky and Pip turned to see what had caused it, they saw six figures land in a heap. The two young ponies had their eyes fixed on the blue dragon as it righted itself, absolutely terrified. Ci’oa looked around; upon seeing he was in an Equestrian village, he transformed himself into a pony so he would not bring too much attention to himself. The form he took was a dark grey unicorn stallion with a short, well kept, green mane. “We shouldn’t linger, don’t want any unwanted attention.” “I don’t know if you’ve noticed,” Lissfokulaan stated “but we have a dragon and a buffalo in our group, attention is all we’ll get.” “He has a point.” Guiding Light said after dusting herself off “Also we’ve been noticed already.” She tilted her head to the two frightened foals staring at the blue dragon. “I’ll take care of it.” Guiding Light slowly trotted over to the paralyzed children, “Hello there” she said sweetly, crouching down to their level once she reached them “what are your names?” “D-d-dinky…” “P-pipsqueak.” “My name is Guiding Light; I am Princess Celestia’s adviser.” She kept her voice calm and gentle; she let out a chuckle as the children gazed at her in wonder. “My friends and I are on a mission into the Everfree Forest, could you point us in the right direction? I promise the dragon won’t harm you.” Pipsqueak and Ditzy pointed to their right, wordlessly complying with her request. “Thank you ever so much.” Guiding Light thanked them and watched as they scampered off. “Alright, let’s get going.” “We were lucky they were children.” Iron Curtain commented. “Right, so let’s stop wasting time and get a move on.” Valor said, still uncharacteristically serious. “Lead the way Bro.” Not wasting any time, the group made its way to the Everfree Forest. The town of Ponyville was eerily quiet, most likely from the sight of an adolescent dragon casually walking through town scaring everypony away. As they reached the end of town, an exotic voice from behind bid them stop. “And here I thought it was me that caused this fright, but what I see is quite the sight.” A zebra mare stood in the middle of the road looking at them calmly. “What brings a group so different, to a town so insignificant?” “We are going to the ruins of the old castle,” Guiding Light, the self-appointed diplomat, replied. “Princess Celestia has sent us on a very important mission.” “Normally I would oppose entry into the Everfree, but I cannot oppose a royal decree. I wish you luck on your quest, I'm sure you will do your best.” Guiding Light thanked the zebra for her concern and well wishes. For the rest of the walk through Ponyville, the group continued to the forest without another interruption. *** Meanwhile at Canterlot, Celestia was in her chambers preparing for her speech to address the nation about the results of the negotiations. She always dreaded big speeches, but that’s what came with being a monarch. There was a knock on her door, “Come in.” “Your majesty? It’s time to begin the speech.” One of the guards informed. Celestia sighed; there was no point in further delays. “Thank you, I’ll be out shortly.” The guard bowed and left the room, leaving Celestia alone once more. It was ironic really; world peace (albeit temporary) was about to be declared, only to be followed up with a declaration of war. She sighed again. Let’s get this over with. Celestia left her room and began the long walk to the balcony that overlooked the city. About half way there, Luna joined her in her walk. “I still can’t believe that you were able to manage world peace Tia,” she said enthusiastically “but what is the ‘bad news’ anyway? Do we have to give the changelings all our cake or something?” Luna asked jokingly. Normally Celestia would have encouraged Luna’s shenanigans, but the weight of what she was about to tell the nation was too much. “You remember how I’d tell you about our father?” Luna instantly dropped her playful smile and became tense. “Y-yes, but is now the best time?” Celestia slowly nodded, keeping her pace. “The timing is perfect; the bad news is we’re going to war.” “Wait, what about the treaties?” Luna asked dumbfounded. “We’re going to war, against our father. Two thousand years ago, he ruled the race of ponies with an iron hoof. He went mad with power and resorted to dark magic to summon an army of evil to conquer the other nations. They united and forged a sword to defeat him, but I ended up dealing the killing blow to our father.” Luna stared back at her sister, eyes wide. “You must understand, dear sister; that I had to. He was worse than Nightmare Moon, worse than Discord! He’s returned to finish what he started and he won’t hesitate to kill. He’s already kidnapped the Twilight and the others, the fact that he hasn’t killed them yet indicates he needs them for something, but I do not know what.” Being sisters for two thousand years granted them the ability of foolproof lie detection, Luna digested what she heard and analyzed it for any traces of deceit. Celestia’s words passed even the strictest part of the Night Princess’s lie detection. “From anypony else I would dismiss such a story right away. What do we need to do and how do we rescue the Elements?” “Right now I need to inform the nation about what has happened. After that, you and I are going to discuss the next course of action.” Luna nodded and walked off to wait for her sister in the council chamber. As Celestia walked out onto the balcony, the crowd that gathered erupted with applause. With a raise of her hoof, the applause died; the ponies eager to hear the news. Celestia cleared her throat, “Citizens of Equestria, I have returned from my mission of peace successfully.” It wasn’t often she used her Royal Canterlot voice, so she had to clear her throat again to be able to continue. She signaled for the applause to stop, and continued speaking. “But such success comes with bitter news. An ancient foe of mine is returning with an army, we are about to go to war.” There was an audible gasp as everypony down below reacted as predicted. “Do not fret,” Celestia hastily added after coughing and before the crowd got out of control, “there is hope, but we must remain calm. I have sent a group out to retrieve a special item that will defeat him and his army.” As the crowd calmed down, the Princess of the Sun continued. “Over the course of the next few days, you will see increased guard activity all across Equestria. I know many towns still have guards stationed in them, but their orders are now to keep the occupants safe from harm.” She observed the reactions of the ponies below, judging what to say next. “Do not think that I am forgetting about what has happened to Luna, more important things have arisen and I simply don’t have time to deal with petty political disagreements." The crowd’s response was neutral; it was the best Celestia could have asked for given what they’ve been through.“ That is all I had to say. The coming days are going to be rough, but we WILL get through it. I thank you for your time.” She gave the gathering a bow and left the balcony. Once Celestia was off, she rubbed her throat; Royal Canterlot always gave her a sore throat. “Is it true?” Shining Armor asked as Celestia approached the council chamber. “About what happened to my sister?” “I take it Luna told you what happened?” Shining Armor nodded. “Yes, it is true. I miss Twilight just as much as you, we will get her back.” Recent events had erased all traces of warmth from her voice. As they entered the council chamber, the several military officers and key personnel from the Imperial Management Division in the room rose in acknowledgement. Celestia bid them sit and took her place next to her sister at the head of the table. “I will not lie to you; we are up against a mighty foe, which is why we need a plan of action for when his dark army awakens.” General Stratagem, a dark brown unicorn clad in royal armor, rose. “With all due respect your highness, we don’t know what to expect from his army. If you could enlighten us as to what they are capable of, perhaps we could formulate an effective resistance.” “He used dark magic to summon a force of brutal, ruthless, miniature alicorns. They are no more powerful in magic than an average unicorn, and no faster in flight than the average pegasus, but they have the advantage of numbers and do not know fear.” The general nodded and sat back down. “I would recommend a modification to ‘Plan Omega’.” Another officer spoke up. “But that involves total martial law! We can’t just expect the entire nation to comply peacefully and so suddenly.” One of the IMD leaders stood. “I agree; we need a plan that won’t involve shutting down our entire economy!” “That is why we are going to revise it.” General Stratagem calmly replied. “Plan Omega was designed with complete anarchy in mind, it has battle plans that account for both pegasus and unicorn involvement.” Celestia and Luna sat in silence as the military officers and IMD personnel bickered over a course of action; it was times like this, however rare, that Celestia wished Guiding Light were here to come up with the best logical conclusion. “We should fully implement Plan Omega only around the borders and the cities close to them, that way we can maximize defense without compromising our infrastructure.” Luna said suddenly, just loud enough to be heard over the shouting. Everyone stopped arguing and looked at Luna. “That… that just might work.” General Stratagem said slowly, in case one of the IMD had an objection. Celestia nodded. “Then make it happen, I’ll make sure the affected areas are notified. You all know what to do.” Everypony stood, ready to begin preparations. “Operation ‘Last Stand’ is a go ponies, let’s do our country proud.” General Stratagem said, the military officers and IMD leaders saluted and galloped off to begin preparations. After they had all left, Celestia sighed. “Military ponies and their code names. I’ll never understand them.” Luna smiled slightly. “It gives deeper meaning to the goals they wish to accomplish; it inspires them to go above and beyond to see that goal through to the end.” For the first time since Majora’s return, Celestia smiled.