//------------------------------// // Faith // Story: Day & Night // by Reminisce //------------------------------// The sun was bright, the Alicorn sitting on top of her grand balcony could attest to that. But for how long would it remain in such a glorious state was beyond the grand figure, and that was the true troubling aspect of the coming age. Her strength was only a fraction of what it used to be, yet her ponies rely heavily on her guidance, she couldn’t fail them, not now. Getting up on all fours, the Alicorn looked down on the bustling city of Canterlot with a skeptical eye. “Have I truly done right by them?” “Princess, talking to yourself is a nasty habit.” A measured and refined voice replied. The princess returned her response with a light chuckle as she nearly forgot why she was up on the balcony in the first place. Taking a single breath, the Alicorn turned to face the new voice to see exactly who’d she been expecting, for in front of her elegantly stood the element of generosity. Her name was Rarity Belle and she’s the youngest of the three elements the princess had fostered. Mostly due to her element's mysterious acclimation to her before any deeds were done by the young Unicorn, which was an oddity the princess could never fully explain. But for the nine years she’s been in Canterlot, one thing could be said, the young mare's mind was sharp. Where she wasn’t in the same realm of Twilight as far as studies or magic went, Rarity held much more social grace, being able to navigate nobles and her guards alike to do as she pleased. That subtle aloofness oftentimes puts her at odds with her peers, and critics alike. Which was why the Princess had to give many more necessary lessons to the young Unicorn, however, that’s not why the mare is before her today. “Your timing is always precarious, my little pony.” A small smile graced the princess’s scared face as she looked down to make eye contact with Generosity, who in turn gave a fake look of hurt. “I simply came as requested… Maybe a little late, I just couldn’t get my mane to work with me today!” Rarity sighed. “Humpf, what's done is done I suppose. Now I’m quite curious as to why you called me to your personal quarters, I didn’t think I had a lesson today?” “There is no lesson, I just require company for the evening. Fluttershy has been aiding the animal migrations for the Moonlit month to come, and Twilight isn’t expected back till tomorrow. I guess I’d just hate to entertain these nobles today by myself.” There was the barest hint of deviousness in the princess's voice as she spoke of ‘entertaining nobles’,  and it looked as though Rarity understood as well as she broke a small grin at the prospect. But it instantly dissipated as soon as Twilight crossed the young mare's mind. “Princess Celestia, do you think Twilight will be successful?” Rarity hesitantly asked, dropping much of the confidence she trotted in with. Celestia walked in through the doors past Rarity before setting down at a small cushion. Patting the second cushion next to her was the only signal Rarity needed to join her, and as soon as the young Unicorn sat down Celestia responded. “Only if they want to be seen, I know a lot of ponies doubt their existence now. I however know they are still within the forest, and I only know this because the elements still react to one another even without a physical connection as they once had. You wouldn’t be able to wield yours effectively if there weren't three other bearers out in the world. That is the nature of them now since they’ve been separated, they all can act independently in a way, but still they are all connected to one source of power and none can reach its fullest potential if a single element is dormant.” “Wield mine…” Rarity’s mind went off to a faraway place for a moment. But managed to bring herself back to the conversation at hoof. “So what you’ve taught us about harmony still applies even if the other three are corrupted?”  “Harmony is always in balance when the elements react, there is little more to it. I don’t think even the Everfree is enough of a corrupting agent to taint the elements of harmony, and I have faith in that.” Celestia reassured the Unicorn as she levitated a large mane brush from her vanity stand across the room. As soon as it got close, the golden aura that surrounded it swapped to that of a light blue as Rarity’s horn lit up. Now with Rarity in possession of the brush, she began parting the princess’s eternal locks of hair by color with her magic. A lot of ponies would give a limb to be granted such an honor, heck they’d do the same just to know what the princess’s hair truly was. They’d all be a bit disappointed though, because Rarity knew, and it was just as average as everypony else's mane or tail. It’s nothing more than the princess’s active magic flowing through her body, the effect could easily be stopped if the princess would seize control of her magic. But the sun requires constant magical attention, thus explaining the princess’s constantly flowing mane. At night, it’d be draped across her back and face like a spectacular cascade of color. The Moonlit month is the only time some ponies could catch her without a flowing mane, and Rarity has the privilege of doing her mane for that month each year anyway. So either way, in the young Unicorn's mind, there isn’t a time when her princess’s mane is in a state of disarray.  Slowly stroking the brush through Celestia’s mane gave the young unicorn time to think about what her mentor said. All in all, she still wasn’t entirely grasping what she was trying to convey. Surely Twilight or even Fluttershy would instantly catch the princess’s delicacies with the elements. Twilight is always studying them, and Fluttershy is just so in tune with hers, it’s a wonder that the princess even needs to teach her anything. Still the Unicorn could barely understand her own, or why she’s even in the place she’s in now. Falling behind in studies, failing to call on her element at will like the others, she even earns a lot of gossip about being a false bearer. But the princess believes in her, and if anything, that’s all that matters. “So saying that Twilight is met with success, how is it supposed to help us?” Rarity rings off with another question as she finishes up straightening out the princess’s pink trail. Luckily the young Unicorn couldn’t see it, but Celestia’s eye shot up at that question, clearly the young one was using her edge. “Help us, you say?” “I-I’m sorry Princess, but I’ve been hearing lots of talk amongst the guards. They’re saying recruitment is at an all time high due to unsightly magic making appearances. Shining Armor has increased midland patrols around Ponyville and Trottingham. I may not be a military expert, but I do know heightened security around that area is a bit odd. I grew up there and it’s nothing more than a quiet region where a lot of ponies go to retire. For a long time nothing has trotted out of that forest, and from what I understand nothing has changed. So whatever is happening obviously has the guard riled up, and they only get riled up when you do.” Rarity boldly stated, while continuing her measured strokes. “Your attention to detail is astounding my little pony, clearly you're holding back a lot more information you’ve learned. Don’t worry, I won’t get offended or angry, truly I should have far more trust in you three when it comes to these things. You’ve all matured so much since I first had the honor of training you all. So do continue, I wish to know the talk of the castle as well.” Celesia responds with an amused tone. Flinching a bit at the matured part, Rarity takes a second to recollect herself before continuing. “Well I know Fancy Pants Opera house proposal wasn’t the only one you’ve been ignoring. From what I’m hearing countless Equestrians have been calling for the Moonlit month to end, Earth Ponies are tired of compensating their harvest each year to account for an entire month without the sun, and that’s not even mentioning the nobles here. A lot of ponies are restless, especially with the Mintours reneging on our trade deal without any consequences, and the magic attacking around forests… I-I think you're trying to end it all with one grand show, a reveal more or less.” Rarity concluded. “I feel as though the separation of the elements is the root cause of the dissonance we face today. Despite each element's reaction as they should, they still aren’t as strong while they are effectively split down the middle.” Celestia finished, turning slightly to glance curiously back at the young Rarity who was just beginning to absorb what was said. It didn’t take long though, because the Unicorn's eyes grew to the size of dinner plates when she realized what the princess was implying. Rarity almost even dropped the brush she had been using, the young mare honestly had no idea the princess was planning something so outlandish. “Y-you seek to unite the elements!” Rarity didn’t mean for her voice to crack, but if her history studies served her well, the Children of the Night were far from friendly when it came to the rest of Equestria. That’s all just speculation though, because there hasn’t been a single sighting of them for over eight hundred years. “Does Twilight know of this?” The princess looked down at Rarity with a mild frown. “I’m afraid I couldn’t disclose the entirety of the expedition to her. Sadly she’s one of the biggest advocates that the rest of the elements are corrupted… But she’s done the most research on them, and I wish for her to grow out of her restrictions of textual knowledge.”  “I’m sorry Princess, but in such a dangerous manner? Are you not afraid of the consequences that forest might have to offer?” The Princess turned away, her gaze floating listlessly towards the balcony as she spoke. “No harm will befall Twilight.” “I-I If you say so Princess” Rarity went back to finishing up the princess’s mane, she was working on the last color trail as the conversation was weighing heavy in the room. It didn’t take much longer, but after five minutes of silence, Rarity had finished brushing the princess’s mane and had gotten all the kinks out of it. Levitating the brush back to the vanity stand, Celestia rose up and trotted towards the mirror that towered above it. Rarity also got up and made her way towards the mirror. Celestia's form was tall and graceful as her mane floated elegantly behind her, truly giving her the air of a princess. Yet despite her almost perfect figure, there was her face, which was marred by her battle one thousand years ago. An eye patch covered what was once her left eye, as a large vertical scar branched from the base of her brow all the way down and across to the edge of her muzzle. It was a deep and painful wound that would always remind her of her failures as a sister. But she didn’t have time to scowl at her own face for long as another pony entered the mirror's reflective surface. Rarity could be mistaken for a princess herself, she carried the same grace as she stood behind the princess, fluffing her indigo curls. The young Unicorn's blue eyes however were focused on that of Celestia, as she finished checking her mane. “I do believe we both are at our best, now shall we go entertain some nobles?” Rarity chuckled. “Yes, but five more minutes wouldn’t hurt, would it, I do believe my coat could use some sheen don’t you think.” Rarity eye’d each of their ivory coats through the mirror skeptically, and smirked at the idea.  “Whatever you say princess, I’m already practiced at being fashionably late.” An Hour Later Outside of the castle on Canterlot's main road, Twilight sparkle was galloping as if her mane was on fire. She had departed with her guards at the outer gates as soon as she could, what she saw, what she documented had to go straight to the princess herself. Although she wished she would have been able to get some foliage samples and more data on the interior of the forest, her meeting with a Lunar element would be more than enough to make up for not entering the cursed place. Even if her mind kept circling back to the letter she was forced to read, Twilight didn’t have time to feel suspicious, she had to get to the castle. Dodging stalls, ponies, and carriages alike. Twilight darted past two castle gate guards before they could even blink, and when she was sure she was close enough, the small Unicorn lit up her horn and disappeared with a pop. “Wha?” One of the confused guards said, not exactly sure what had just happened. With the same loud pop, Twilight appeared in her personal study. Using her magic, she shedded her saddlebags and took her journal out to show to the princess. Leafing through the latest pages to make sure nothing was smudged or out of place, Twilight sighed with relief that her frantic writing hadn’t done any damage. Satisfied, she kept the journal floating close as she bursted through her door and down the hallway to the throne room, where the Princess would surely be sitting. Not a single pony dared to step in the small Unicorn's way as she slid right down the hallway past the large double doors to the throne room because she was going far too fast to stop. Recovering, she rushed back and heaved the heavy doors open before any guard could lift a hoof to help. But her ecstatic disposition was replaced with that of confusion as soon as she realized there was nopony within the room. “Where is the Princess!” Twilight yelled to nopony in particular. Luckily a hesitant guard replied. “She has a meeting at four… But I think she doesn’t wan-” Before the guard could even finish, Twilight had already bolted in the opposite direction, ignoring the rest of what the guard had to say. Her resolve, absolute, Twilight hoped past a few more unsuspecting ponies before finding her way to the only conference room that the princess ever bothered to use. This time though, she wasn’t fast enough to sprint past the door guard at her tired pace, because the mare standing before her quickly extended a hoof to stop Twilight. “I’m sorry Ms. Sparkle, but you're not allowed in without the Princess’s permission.” The mare stated sternly, making it very clear she wasn’t budging on her orders.  Twilight looked up with defiance at the Earth Pony standing before her, but decided to not push it. She knew orders were orders, and Twilight had no intentions of getting anypony in more trouble than they needed to be in. So with her mind made up, Twilight plopped down right beside the guard and waited. The pony guarding the door didn’t give the small Unicorn a second glance as she stood stoically. Twilight thought about asking when they’d be out, but she knew the mare beside her probably had no more information than she did. Using her magic, she brought her journal to her hoofs for another inspection. It was almost about time to start transcribing her notes into another copy, as the bindings in her current one were already starting to wear from constant field use. Flipping through the first few pages, Twilight couldn’t believe that she used to print out all her words instead of using cursive. Cursive writing was just so much more efficient and generally looked more aesthetically pleasing to read. Although she had had the journal given as a gift, she hadn’t had much use for it until her lessons about friendship and harmony truly started to pick up. Now it’s more or less a scholar's journal than a personal one, all she’s been filling the pages with is new findings about historical events, or magical spells she’s been studying. Now however, her journal may be more valuable than all the bits in Canterlot, at least in her opinion that is. It’s extremely hard to get official records on things in their age, unless a Unicorn was using a specialized spell, everything was conveyed through text or word of mouth. Before any more thought could be brought up about it, the door swung open beside the two ponies. “The gall of that child…” “Does the princess truly favor such naivety over the ponies that have served her for generations.” “Tch.” Three high standing nobles filed out of the room, led by none other than Prince Blueblood. He was the Princess’s nephew by some abstract law some nobles like to throw around, and had quite the reputation for pony handling politics in the large city of Canterlot. The only times when he comes out sour like that, was when Rarity was involved, which means she’s obviously in there as well. Twilight could never understand why Rarity always wished to take part in much of the Princess’s happenings, many including Twilight think it’s nothing more than her wishing to meddle. Still Twilight can’t deny some of Generosity's results, she did help with the Griffin deal simply by offering to tailor the diplomats suits for free. There were seven of them… But as soon as the three nobles were out of sight, the Princess walked out with a small smirk on her face, and Rarity was in tow. “Princess!” Twilight hopped up, pushing her journal towards her. Celestia looked absolutely spooked by Twilight’s sudden appearance, and the book being shoved in her direction. Twilight hadn’t been expected back in another day, but if her bright look was anything to go by, she had found something worth coming back for. “Twilight, I hadn’t been expecting you back so soon.” Celestia replied while taking the book in her magic. “We discovered something hu-” Twilight caught herself and looked left to right before continuing. “Let's go somewhere a bit more private…”  “Well there is an empty room right here behind us darling.” Rarity pointed out with a hoof. “Yes, let us return there and you can freely discuss your findings with us.” Celestia said, turning back towards the room she was so desperate to escape earlier. “Yellow Gate, please make sure we’re not disturbed.” “Yes Princess…” Even though the guard didn’t sound too enthused to stand even longer there, she did as she was told and straightened up once more. Being satisfied they wouldn't be disturbed, Celestia trotted back through the threshold of the doorway with Twilight and Rarity close behind. Within the room was nothing more than a large rectangular table, with six decorated cushions placed evenly around it. On the walls were elegant paintings of several diplomatic treaties that had taken place within the room, all which Twilight could name right off the top of her head, but that didn’t matter at the moment. With Celestia setting herself at the single cushion on the right end of the table, Twilight and Rarity took the two on both sides of her. “So my student, what is it you found on your trip to the Everfree?” Celestia questioned “I don’t know where to start, so I guess I’ll just tell you to turn to page ninety two… That’s where my encounter began.” Twilight responded. Rarity looked towards the princess who did as Twilight had instructed, using her magic to flip through several pages before reaching the desired one to start reading. The ivory Unicorn then exchanged looks with Twilight, who was beaming with pride. Their exchange however was short lived as the princess’s magic sputtered out and let the book drop to the table, both ponies beside her were shocked by her reaction. “So one of the elements stopped you from entering the forest…” Celestia sounded as if she couldn’t even believe herself. “Elements, you mean one of the Lunar elements… That must have been positively frightening!” Rarity shared the princess’s look of disbelief. “It’s true, she claimed to be Laughter, and even had tattoos that were reminiscent of the Lunar elements of eight hundred years ago.” Twilight reaffirms, giving the princess an honest look. “Her name was Pinkie Pie, or at least that’s what she told me… The guards recognized the name as that of the dream walker.” Rarity put her hoof over her mouth in shock. “Oh dear, I’ve heard stories, ponies say it feeds off the dreams of foals. Absolutely horrifying if I say so myself.” Celestia did nothing more than raise an eyebrow to the claim, she would have to know more before she could make any assumptions. After all she hadn’t heard anything of the sort till now, leading her to wonder how disconnected she has become with her ponies. “Well, when the guards did point that out, I could see a visible shift in her demeanor… I doubt she liked the accusation, so I did my best to divert that conversation.” Twilight weighed back in. “You did very well in handling the situation, especially considering you complied with her request to read the scroll.” Celestia said “I-umm, yes thank you Princess.” “Scroll?” Rarity gave a look of clear confusion as she said that. “Yes, I had sent Twilight with a missive that was intended for the Children of the Night, an invitation of sorts.” Celestia clarified, while giving Rarity her undivided attention. Rarity visibly tensed at the idea, the young mare knew both Celestia and Twilight noticed. She made no effort to hide her disagreement. All of the princess’s bold actions of late has out right pissed off a lot of the Canterlotian elite, and if that invitation is exactly what it implies, they might be facing a full blown political upheaval. Magical anomalies, broken trade deals, and a thin line of trust was slowly eroding Equestria’s stability. If anything had to be said, it had to be said now. “That’s political suicide.” Rarity bluntly stated, with a dark scowl plastered on her face. One she would commonly associate with being unladylike. “Rarity!” Twilight shouted “No Twilight, let her speak freely.” Celestia cut in, showing no signs of offense. “If everything you have done in the past year was leading up to this point… Well, it was poorly executed to say the least. Our dearest Fluttershy has taken the weight of many angry voices alone, and her kindness is not even enough to placate the masses. They wanted your voice, and you’ve constantly sent Fluttershy in your steed, and I’m surprised she hasn’t died from sheer fear on a stage yet. Then every Canterlotian proposal has been venomously rejected in the past few months, it has a lot of nobles spreading rumors of you descending into madness. Then you sent Twilight, pretty much alone to seek out a tea party with the Children of the Night, it truly does seem like Lunacy!” Rarity finished with an exclamation, and almost immediately after a small blush was highlighting her cheeks as she just realized who she was shouting at. On the other end of the table, Twilight was completely flabbergasted at Rarity’s outburst. In the small Unicorn's mind that was uncalled for and absolutely disrespectful. Again Twilight was getting ready to berate Rarity, but Celestia had begun to speak first. Celestia sighed deeply before looking at the both of them and stating in a matter of fact tone. “I haven’t made many worthwhile decisions have I.”  “Princess I didn-'' Rarity didn’t get to finish. “This is why I need you three now more than ever, you all are past the point of training. There is little more I can teach you from the confines of my jurisdiction. Equestria, the world is a much different place, a place that needs heroes to save it. For a thousand years nopony has stood up for Equestria besides myself, and I am far past my prime you might say. It’s time for my ponies to place their faith in something new, something that can truly bring balance to this world.” Celestia spoke, looking vaguely past her two students. Twilight looked softly at Princess Celestia and only whispered one word. “Faith…” “This is my last chance at redemption, I will not squander it. For if I do, Equestria and the world is doomed.” Celestia finished.   Standing up, the princess trotted towards the door without another word or glance. She looked almost as if she had fallen into a deep contemplation before using her magic to manipulate the door to open it. Twilight and Rarity were still sitting in shock as Celestia exited the room, closing it behind her as she knew her students still had much to discuss. Both ponies left in the room, just looked bewildered, that was until Twilight spoke. “We have a lot of research to do.” Rarity rolled her eyes. “Darling, I’m sure we do.”  Twilight then levitated her journal over to Rarity and began going over the finer details of her encounter. Rarity instantly leaned into her hoof, preparing herself for the long lecture she was guaranteed to receive.