“- and so, at my direction, my beloved sister, Princess Luna, and my faithful subjects, the Elements of Harmony, will go forth and reclaim what was once ours!”
It wasn’t often that Princess Celestia gave a public address. It seemed as though the entire population of Canterlot, from the poorest chimneysweep to the Grand Duke and Duchess themselves, had gathered in the courtyard below the Gate of the Sun. Watching Her Serene Majesty, hearing her words, filled everypony present with a warm glow, a sense of being cherished and protected – the warmth of the Sun Herself, in splendor.
Everypony except two.
“Do you see, Twilight Sparkle?” grumbled Luna, standing behind her sister with the Bearers of the Elements. “This was my decision, my journey, my moment. She didn’t even want me to go! So, how, how, how did it end up being all about her? Again?”
“I understand how you feel, Princess,” consoled Twilight, “but you have to realize your abdication is going to have serious political consequences here in Canterlot. Ponies need to see that the diarchy – well, monarchy again now, I suppose – is still strong, and that this won’t cause any problems for them. Your sister is just thinking about them. True, it’s a little... disingenuous, but I doubt another way of handling things even occurred to her. She’s been a politician for so long, and plays the game so well, that sometimes she forgets to turn it off. I guarantee you she doesn’t realize how much it bothers you, though. You know she’d never do anything to hurt you intentionally.”
“For prosperity! For a brighter future! For you, my little ponies!”
“You see?! ‘My little ponies’ indeed! She could not be more possessive and condescending if she tried!”
“All right, Princess, that’s enough. Now you’re acting like a foal throwing a tantrum. It’s a term of endearment, and you know it.”
“Hmmph. I just can’t wait to be on our way. These have been the longest three days of my life, and I’ve been alive for a long, long time.”
“Hush. It’s almost time. Look, she’s pointing at you, you should wave.”
The Princess of the Night stuck a hoof in the air sullenly, muttering to herself under her breath as Celestia brought her speech to a close. It was difficult for Twilight to hear through the deafening cheers that greeted the Sun Princess’ closing statement, but she thought she caught the words ‘manipulative’, ‘selfish’, and ‘itch’. Princess Luna must be uncomfortable from standing around all morning... maybe that’s why she’s so cranky!
The Arch-Mage sighed. They really had been a long few days. With the resources of the castle at their disposal, it had only taken them a few hours to amass the few supplies they needed - they planned to live off the land, as a land that couldn’t support them would be useless in founding a new country, and so only needed a few tools and some emergency oats. The lack of information about the Old Kingdoms meant that there wasn’t much planning to do, either. No, their time had been filled by one of three things, depending on who you asked. For Celestia, the last three days had consisted of making reasonable, helpful suggestions, and Luna stubbornly and groundlessly rejecting them out of hand. For Luna, they had been spent in stalwart defense against Celestia’s incessant meddling and attempts to ruin the entire journey. And for Twilight and her friends, whether they would admit it or not, what had taken up the bulk of the time was watching the Guardians of the Sun and Moon yelling about ‘basic reasonable precautions’ and ‘ascetic spiritual quests’ from three feet apart. In the Royal Canterlot Voice, as often as not.
A long, long few days.
---
After an hour long speech from Celestia and a five minute word from Luna, a kiss from Celestia on each of Luna’s cheeks, a breezy wave ‘goodbye’ from Luna, and the photo op – Celestia smiling her motherly smile, Luna placed next to her by virtue of sisterly affection and Celestia’s powerful wing muscles, the Element Bearers grinning nervous, fake grins from either side – it was at last time to go. In accordance with custom, Celestia escorted them to the eastern gate, but turned away rather than watch them leave. The seven travelers left one at a time through a small wicket gate, some rushing ahead, some lingering behind. Only Twilight looked back to see the great white form of her mentor, shining in the noon-day sun, wings folded tightly against her sides, her great horned head bowed towards the ground. Suddenly, a sparkling mote of light dripped from her muzzle. It was followed by another, and another, until the tears descended in a shimmering stream to be swallowed instantly by the parched ground.
Twilight turned quickly and rushed through the gate. She shuddered. She couldn’t help thinking that Princess Celestia, Ruler of the Day, wise, ancient, larger than life, had no right to look so... small.
---
It was a beautiful day for a journey. The sun shone down upon the travelers, warming them gently, as a breeze played across their coats to carry away any excess heat. The air was clear and free of dust, despite the old dirt road they followed down Canterlot Mountain. Even Twilight found it hard to maintain her earlier melancholy, as the familiar excitement of a new adventure caught her up and blew away her misgivings. They trotted down the road for a time in a companionable silence, until Rainbow Dash spoke up.
“So, Luna... you wanna fill me in on the plan, here? How come we’re going down if we have to go over the mountains? You’re not planning on making us walk alllll the way around, are you?”
Twilight glared at her colorful friend. “Sorry, Princess... she does this. Dash, we all agreed on this plan three days ago. I’m not going to explain it again, so listen this time, will you?” She held her gaze on the pegasus until she received a sheepish nod. “Good. No, we’re not going around the Stormwall. I actually sort of wish we were – the shortest way through would be to pass through the dragonlands, and it would have been nice to see Spike – but Princess Luna says she has a better way that’ll cut weeks off our travel time. We’re going through one of the weather conduits.”
The former Arch-mage picked up speed as she warmed to her subject. “The Stormwall takes its name from the rain shadow it produces. As the prevailing winds push air west towards Equestria, the mountains force the air up and up and up. It cools as it rises, which makes the moisture in it condense, forming clouds, rain, and eventually snow. As a result, the mountains are always wrapped in terrible storms, becoming more violent as one nears the peaks. Also, since any air making it over the mountains has already been stripped of water, very little rain falls on the western side, namely, eastern Equestria.”
“The weather conduits were the first major construction project undertaken in harmony by the three pony tribes after the Great Migration. They’re artificial passes through the mountains. Since it’s easier for the winds to go through a low point in the range, large storm clouds are pushed through the conduits, where they expend much of their energy. What comes out the other side is a steady stream of calm, fluffy clouds, providing Equestria with a much-needed source of fresh water.”
“Big pass like that, shouldn’t there be, I dunno, guards or somethin’? How come it looks like nopony’s been this way in ‘bout a hundred years or so?” asked Applejack.
“Because of the violent nature of the storms, it’s widely accepted that anypony – or anything else, for that matter – trying to pass through would be vaporized by lightning strikes. Canterlot is the easternmost stronghold of pony-kind, at least until we finish our mission, so in theory it falls to the Grand Duke of Canterlot – my brother Shining – to defend the eastern border. In practice, the Captain of the Royal Guard – also Shining Armor – has better things to do than guard an impenetrable wall of mountains.”
“Yeah, like Princess Cadance,” whispered Applejack to Rarity, who tried her best to look offended while hiding a smile.
“There hasn’t been an outpost in the Stormwall in about five hundred years,” Twilight continued, blissfully unaware of their insinuations about her brother.
“Uh, Twilight? I’m no Arch-mage, but I know plenty about lightning, and getting zapped by it once is no fun. How’re we supposed to get past thousands of thunderbolts without being crispy fried to a crackly crunch?” brought up Rainbow Dash, looking somewhat concerned.
“I have no idea!” she replied cheerfully. Seeing the alarm on her friends’ faces deepen, Twilight rushed to explain. “I mean, the Princess just said it wouldn’t be a problem. I didn’t really ask – what if she thought I didn’t trust her? Maybe she wants you to take care of the storm for us? I mean, you were the Captain of the Wonderbolts until earlier this afternoon. You’re supposed to be nearly as good at pegasus magic as I am at unicorn magic. Couldn’t you just.... push the clouds out of the way?”
“Aw, really? I mean, sure, I could do that... but it’d be soooo boooring! A real powerful storm can take hours to break up with a full weather team, and I only have Fluttershy here,” she gestured to their yellow friend, a few feet to her left, “and she’s terrible at pushing clouds! Uh, no offense, Shy.”
“Oh, u-uh... none taken, R-rainbow,” replied Fluttershy, who clearly hadn’t been listening as she looked around at the hulking mountain peaks in something closely akin to panic.
“Well, maybe that isn’t what Princess Luna plans to do,” remarked Twilight, glancing ahead at where Luna appeared to be engaged in a spirited silly face contest with Pinkie Pie, whose seemingly unlimited energy made her uniquely suited to keeping up with the inexhaustible alicorn. “But hey, at least it’s a plan, right? It always helps to have a plan!”
---
“Uh... Twilight?”
“Yes, Rainbow?”
“... We’re gonna need a new plan.”
The group had arrived at the weather conduit. They stood on the saddle of the pass, looking east. According to Luna, the conduit descended steeply, losing nearly a thousand feet of elevation over the next mile through the use of an enormous number of switchbacks.
Her friends were going to have to take her word for it. When they first arrived at the top of the pass, passing clouds made it impossible to see much of anything. Being at the end of their journey, the clouds were fairly weak, making it a simple task for Rainbow to clear the view a bit. A few bucks to key clouds revealed such an enormous, black, roiling mass of clouds that for a moment it almost appeared the ponies could continue forward without losing any altitude at all. This terrifying sight continued out as far as their eyes could see, which, combined with the steadily decreasing elevation they knew had to be there, translated into more clouds than any of them, even Rainbow Dash, had seen in their entire lives, all packed to the gills with hailstones, freezing sleet, and enough lightning to reduce even the heartiest pegasus into nothing but sparkling motes of dust.
“.. Yeah. Yeah, we are.”
Princess Luna looked around, surprised to see her friends’ concern. “Whatever is the matter?”
The other six goggled at her in disbelief. In unison, they each raised a hoof to point at the appalling storm blocking their path.
“Well, obviously, Twilight and I will dispel the clouds! What is your concern?”
“Dispel the clouds?! Princess, you may have incredible alicorn magics at your command, but to get rid of all that energy I’d need to be backed by a mage tower the size of...” here Twilight muttered to herself and waved her hooves a bit, plainly doing the math, “.. almost exactly the size of Canterlot!”
“Yes, of course.” Twilight simply stared at the princess in slack-jawed incredulity. Luna looked back, just as confused. “I still don’t see...”
“Princess...” Rarity put in delicately, “we don’t... have any mage towers.”
Understanding washed across Luna’s face, followed quickly by frustration and a hint of anger. “Honestly, what has my sister been teaching you, Twilight?” She sighed, then gestured with her hoof towards the mountain peak to their left, some four hundred feet above them on an easy slope. “Come with me. Everypony else, wait here for just a moment.” She began to walk slowly towards the peak, picking her way carefully over the broken ground, leaving Twilight no choice but to follow.
---
It took them only twenty minutes or so to reach the peak. Luna crested the rise with her usual grace and dignity. Twilight, undone by the thin air and the extreme exertion of breaking a trail up a craggy mountaintop, simply flopped down on the frozen ground, her sides heaving as she tried to get a breath. Luna, turning expectantly to see Twilight’s reaction to the spectacular view, gasped when she noticed the panting unicorn.
“Oh, I’m so sorry, Twilight Sparkle! I forget you lack the magic of a pegasus to sustain you at such altitudes! Here, let me help!” Her horn glowed briefly and Twilight suddenly found the air around her to be usefully dense again. Poking experimentally at her head, she discovered a globe of magic which seemed to be sustaining her. She probed it with her own magic, mapping the fine structure of the spell, committing it to memory. Breathing deeply, she allowed herself another minute of rest to recover her strength, then turned to the Princess.
“Thank you for the spell, Princess – very useful, I’m sure I’ll be glad to have learned it – but... why exactly are we here?”
In answer, Luna took two steps back, centering herself over the very highest point of the mountain. “You said we needed a mage tower to dispel the clouds, yes? Twilight Sparkle... where do you think mage towers came from?”
The mountaintop began to glow. Twilight watched, agog, as tendrils of turquoise light began winding up the Night Princess’ legs. As they continued upwards to wrap around her torso, Luna’s face began to take on a familiar, faraway look. In her years as magic professor at Canterlot University, Twilight had seen that look during hundreds of final exams. It was the look of a sorceress linked to the magic of a mage tower.
Suddenly it all made sense. The whole mountain was a tower! It certainly offered the required view, and it obviously possessed plenty of precious metals and gemstones – what else did it need, really? It didn’t have the traditional fluted spiral shape, but this seemed fairly irrefutable evidence the shape was just that – tradition. In fact, there was only one thing she still didn’t understand.
“Princess!” she shouted over the growing hum of the awakening magics. “Who could possibly empower such a thing?”
Luna laughed a wild, breathy laugh. “Oh, Twilight Sparkle! Ever the scholar! Simply watch, and learn!” cried the Princess of the Night as the turquoise glow reached her head.
---
Rainbow Dash fidgeted. She was never very good at waiting. “What do you think they’re doing up there?” she asked Pinkie Pie, seated nearby.
“Probably some super cool magical thing!” replied the baker, as she placed the finishing ‘O’ to end yet another game of tic-tac-toe with Rarity.
“Yeah, well, they’d better hurry it up, is all I’m saying. We’ve got places to go, hehe, and things to – ahahahaha – things to – ahehehehahahaha – Pinkie! Stop, hahahaha, stop tickling me!” Dash fell over onto her back, rolling back and forth and laughing like a madpony.
“Uh... Dashie?” asked a puzzled Pinkie Pie, who hadn’t moved. “I’m all the way over here.”
“Look!” called Applejack, pointing out over the weather conduit. The clouds had begun to roil even more fiercely than before, lashing out with lightning as they were slowly pushed back, revealing the trail downward.
“It must be Twilight and the Princess!” squealed Pinkie. “They’re moving the big nasty clouds and pranking Dashie at the same time! Oh, how neat! I wish I had fancy magi-”
Pinkie Pie screamed.
This was no ‘it’s Nightmare Night and it’s fun to be scared!’ scream. This was a full-throated, agonized scream from the depths of her soul. She collapsed like a marionette whose strings had been cut, lying on the ground next to Rainbow Dash, twitching spasmodically in a horrible parody of the pegasus, who still could not stop giggling.
It took a second scream, every bit as tortured as the first, to shock Rarity, Applejack, and Fluttershy into action. “PINKIE!” They rushed towards their friend. Fluttershy got there first, repeating ‘oh my goodness!’ to herself over and over as she tried to get close enough to the flailing earth pony to check her for injuries. “Applejack! Hold her down, so I can see what’s wrong! Pinkie, what’s wrong? Tell me, please, I can help!”
The farmer leapt onto the flailing pony, who fought her as though she were Nightmare Moon, Discord, and Chrysalis all rolled into one. She stopped her cry only long enough to draw breath for a third scream, the loudest yet.
“Pinkie! Pinkie, it’s me, Applejack! Just calm down and let us help you!” It was no use. Her agony and fear gave Pinkie Pie the strength of ten ponies, and she hurled Applejack away from herself as she continued to kick out wildly with all four hooves.
As her third scream died away, all three standing ponies braced themselves for a fourth, but it didn’t come. Instead, Pinkie’s eyes fluttered closed and she flopped over onto her side, out cold.
Fluttershy wasted no time. In an instant she was by the pink pony’s side, one hoof checking for a pulse while she placed her head near Pinkie’s to feel for breath. Finding both, she began to examine the unconscious pony for obvious signs of damage.
“Well, ‘Shy? How... is she?” asked Applejack. “And will you cut that out?! Pinkie could be dying here!” she snapped to Rainbow Dash, who was still laughing at the top of her voice.
“I ca-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-n’t!” she gasped. “I-haha-it tickles so mu-aHAHAHAHAHAHA!”
“Actually, Applejack, um... I feel it too, a little. I guess maybe I’m just not as ticklish as she is?” put in Fluttershy.
“Never mind about that! How is Pinkie? Will she be okay?” demanded a concerned Rarity.
“I... don’t know. I can’t find anything that could be causing this. I think the best thing we can do is just leave her alone and hope she feels better when she wakes up.”
“Uh... Fluttershy? That... might be a bit of a problem.” Applejack pointed down the pass. The clouds had continued to retreat, revealing the floor of the weather conduit.
A floor which was covered by an indistinct mass of dull-colored, four-legged creatures.
A mass which was already more than three-quarters of the way up the trail towards them.
“All right, we gotta move! Fluttershy, Rarity, grab those two! I’ll be rear guard and try to hold ‘em off! C’mon, let’s get movin’, before -”
The ground opened up and swallowed them whole.
---
“- and you used the whole mountain! And, and the turquoise, and – and I couldn’t sense ANY of it! And the storm just... whoosh! Oh! Oh! And -”
Princess Luna smiled indulgently as Twilight continued to babble excitedly about what she’d seen on the mountaintop. This must have been how Celestia had felt every day of Twilight’s many years as a student, she mused. She could see the appeal – it did feel wonderful to watch Twilight get so excited over some new scrap of knowledge. Perhaps there were other things she could teach the unicorn? Celestia seemed to have neglected certain areas...
“- and you know, I really don’t think it’s fair that I couldn’t sense anything, why is tha- What happened here?!”
Both ponies froze in shock. Where they had left their friends, the ground was all torn up. Hundreds of prints covered the area, making it look as though an army had come through. Near the center of the path, an enormous, mostly circular area had dropped down by a depth of about eight feet. Twilight peered down into the new pit and discovered something that made her cry out in surprise and fear.
Applejack’s hat, partially buried under the rubble.
The purple pony made to leap into the hole, but was snagged out of the air by Luna’s telekinesis. She struggled, trying to break free and reach the earth pony’s hat, to find out what had happened to her and to the rest of her friends.
“Twilight Sparkle! Cease your struggling at once! Calm down!”
“But Princess, they could all be -” She broke off, unable to utter the word.
“Listen to me. Your friends are alive. Can’t you sense them?”
“I – oh. I didn’t even really think about it. Let me just...” Twilight closed her eyes and focused, her horn glowing faintly. After a moment, her struggles ceased. Her eyes opened, and filled with tears.
“Excellent!” proclaimed Luna. “Now, let us begin our search from -”
“I can’t.”
“... What?”
“I can’t feel them. They’re gone.” Tears dripped slowly from the unicorns eyes as she dangled in Luna’s telekinetic grip.
The princess’ eyes widened in shock, then narrowed in rage. “Damn you, Celestia!” she hissed, then moved her face in close to Twilight’s. “Twilight Sparkle. Do you trust me?”
“I... of course, Princess, but...”
“Your friends are alive. I swear to you by the ever-moving moon, they are alive.” Luna held Twilight’s eyes with hers, until the despair had left them and the familiar spark of determination had returned.
“... Okay. Put me down.” The Night Princess complied. “Now, where are they?”
“I don’t know. It’s a lot to explain, and we have need of haste, but the... ability that tells me they yet live is not much good for direction, only a rough estimate of distance. They are within about half a mile, but moving away fairly quickly.”
“All right. Let’s think for a moment. I can’t sense them with my unicorn magic. I assume you can’t either, or you’d know exactly where they were. Since they’re not dead, they must be blocked somehow. The only two things that I know of that can do that are a powerful spellcaster, or cold iron. Apparently there are some gaps in my education – do you have anything to add?” Luna shook her head, impressed by the clarity of Twilight’s reasoning so soon after the traumatic shock she’d suffered. “Good. Seeing as these mountains contain nearly all of Equestria’s iron mines, it’s pretty safe to assume they’re underground. That would also explain this pit – it’s the result of a partial collapse of some kind of tunnel system. It looks like it went pretty far – let’s start looking for another entrance.”
“And what will we two ponies do to this army of unknown creatures, when we find them?”
Twilight’s eyes were hard as amethyst as she levitated Applejack’s hat out of the pit. For the first time, Luna saw not Twilight Sparkle, friend and companion, but the Arch-Mage of Canterlot, whom dragons feared to cross.
“We find our friends. And we take them back. Whatever it takes.”
A shiver ran from the base of Luna’s tail all the way up her spine into her neck. Despite her immortality, despite all her power, she felt a tiny flicker of fear.
Twilight hadn’t answered the question.
---
Rarity dropped her illusion spell, though it hardly changed anything in the dark of the tunnel. She dared not light her horn, lest the attackers who had captured the others return and find her as well. She reached out with her hoof to start digging herself an exit. Immediately several rocks fell with a thunderous crash. She winced and looked all around, but it seemed that fortune had smiled upon her and the disruption had gone unheard. Still, she could not risk it again – the barrier would have to remain. There would be no help from that direction, no Twilight and Luna sweeping in to save the day in a burst of magic.
So be it. She didn’t need their help. She was not some helpless filly held captive and in need of rescue from the hero.
That would never be allowed to happen again. Not to her.
She was Rarity Filligree, a hero in her own right.
Rarity squared her shoulders and began to walk silently down the tunnel in the direction her friends had been taken.
---
Well, that was easy, thought Cliff hanger as he used his magic to secure his hoof to the side of the cliff. The first step’s the hardest, I’m on my way!
“Woo! Go Cliff!” came a voice from the road. Cliff Hanger froze, then turned his head to look. He saw a grey pegasus with curiously misaimed eyes, waving one hoof at him as she munched on a muffin with the other.
Okay, somepony stopped to watch. No big deal. No pressure. Just an interested observer. He blinked.
Now there was a green unicorn next to the pegasus.
What. Blink.
A beige earth pony.
The. Blink.
Two this time – a fuchsia earth pony holding a brown paper bag, and a blue unicorn with a striped mane.
Heck?!
Turning his back on the judgmental stares – or so he assumed – of his unexpected audience, Cliff Hanger focused his magic and raced up the cliff like a shot.
END CHAPTER TWO
EDIT: Holy crap, 103 notifications! Thanks a ton everypony! If you feel a need to read some rambles, the author's notes are here: http://www.fimfiction.net/blog/63695
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