Chpt. 3 - Are You Serious?
Saturday, March 22
Ponyville was generally teeming with the quiet serenity of a rural area, and today that description rang especially true. The springtime flowers had just reached full bloom, and the birds, feeling invigorated from their migration, were singing cheerful music in the branches of the trees. The sky had been wiped clean of all nearby clouds, leaving a perfectly uniform blue canvas smiling down from above. Best of all, the wind and sunshine were working together in a glorious harmony that created the sort of temperature that made it impossible for anypony to stay indoors. Several ponies in town were taking the time to pursue more creative feats, spend some time enjoying a few recreational activities, and just lie on the grass and bask in their princess's sunshine. In fact, the day had reached such a perfect level of tranquility that many ponies found themselves aimlessly walking around town with no destination in mind.
Days like these made one realize just how nice it was to live in Ponyville, and nearly everypony in town was taking advantage of how true that statement was. In fact, thanks to the town’s peaceful atmosphere, the local marketplace was having one of its slowest days in the history. Most of the clerks either found other ways to pass the time or just closed up shop altogether. The various businesses and shops throughout the town didn’t seem to be accomplishing much either. Most decided it was simply too amazing of a day to waste it by waiting for customers who would never come. The mayor even gave special permission to all the town's workers, from the piano lifters to the hourglass turners, allowing them to take the day off and enjoy the day's magnificence. It seemed as if that Saturday had created a Ponyville where conflict was only a myth, and not even the ponies missing out on their profits could complain about it. Simply put, it was a beautiful day in Ponyville, one that came as close to perfection as one could imagine.
The situation looked as hopeless as one could imagine. The vile monster inched closer as it stared down its prey with a demonic glare. A viscous green liquid seeped from its mouth, and its glowing purple eyes shone in defiance of the sunrise behind it. After spending the entire night hunting its colorful enemies, the behemoth had lost all its patience with them. Though its opponents possessed enough power to overcome both its illusions and its influence, it was certain it could crush them with raw brute strength. It let out a ferocious roar in an effort to intimidate its opponents into a state of paralysis. Its efforts appeared to be successful, as its prey stood motionless, keeping their heads low to the ground. With a single swipe of its arm, the beast cleared away the final upright tree in the area as it maliciously stared down its opponents. It towered over them by at least seven heads, and its claws were large enough that just one of them could encompass all six of its enemies at once. Though the creature had lost control of its emotions long ago, it felt the faintest twinge of excitement reverberate throughout its being as it got within striking distance. The long hours of tedium were at last about to end with one powerful swipe.
Then, as it raised its massive claw and prepared to drop it onto the puny heads of its adversaries, the beast was suddenly blinded by a luminous flash of white light coming from the six equines. Before it could even resume its aggressive stance, it caught a glimpse of an enormous rainbow emerging from the source of the light. The blast of color was so powerful that the surrounding trees which had been ruthlessly knocked over in the skirmish were set back upright once more. The monster was helpless against such amazing power and could only watch in malicious silence as it felt its body began to cave in on itself. In a matter of seconds, the creature's entire physical presence had vanished into the dense air of the forest. The battle was over.
Exhausted from the relentless scuffle, five of the triumphant ponies proceeded to collapse while one began to bounce up and down in celebration.
The atmosphere was unbelievably bright as the six heroic mares made their return to the city of Canterlot. Though their appearances were far from glamorous, they retained a look of confidence as they walked through the streets, their victorious smiles showing that they had once again saved Equestria from falling into evil claws through the power of their friendship.
The six made their way to Canterlot Tower as several citizens voiced their gratitude and respect towards the six courageous handlers of the Elements of Harmony. They each responded to the praise in their own way, ranging from winking to posing to just plain hiding. After making it through the jubilant masses, they eventually arrived at the tower’s entrance.
The mares entered through the large double doors to find their princess awaiting them at the end of the long corridor as they were informed. She was reading a scroll in front of the open door that normally guarded the Elements of Harmony with two of her ever-diligent royal guards behind her. As soon as she heard the mares enter, the princess looked up from her scroll, gave it to one of her guards, and turned to greet them.
However, she had to delay her heartfelt greeting as she caught sight of her subjects. The six mares looked disheveled and exhausted, dirt and twigs scattered about their hair. Fortunately, they didn’t seem to be injured, though they did look a bit battered. A few scratches here, a couple bruises there, and Twilight in particular had a pretty nasty bump right beside her horn.
Yet, despite their downtrodden appearance, the six seemed to be glowing with energy. Pinkie’s bounce was only half as high as normal, but she wore a smile that could discharge rainstorms. Rainbow’s flight speed had decreased to that of a normal pegasus, but her eyes held a determination that made speed seem overrated. Rarity was obsessively grooming herself as if she was at her peak, Applejack was resisting Rarity’s grooming with the same amount of energy, and Fluttershy was remaining silent to the fullest extent of her abilities. One look at the uplifting display of resilience was all it took for Princess Celestia to know that their mission had been a complete success. The princess said nothing, merely offering a friendly smile as her subjects stopped in front of her to bow. As she raised her head, Twilight made her announcement, the twinkle in her eye drawing more attention than the bump on her head.
"Princess Celestia, I’m pleased to report that Malice’s influence has been wiped clean from Equestria, and all the ponies of Salt Lick City who were under its control have returned to normal."
Princess Celestia didn't waste any time getting to her congratulatory speech. "Well done, my little ponies. Thanks to your courage, dedication, and teamwork, you’ve once again saved Equestria from the evil that wishes to tear it apart. Because of your efforts, the ponies of Equestria shall no longer be threatened by the wicked powers of Malice’s hatred and anger. Equestria is in your debt once again."
The princess bowed her head to the six as a sign of her gratitude. "I shall begin preparations for a grand ceremony to celebrate your actions here today. Rest assured, everypony in Equestria will know of your heroism."
"Woohoo!" Pinkie shouted, excited at the notion of a ceremony, which she inherently translated to mean 'party'.
"That’s what I’m talking about!" Rainbow Dash blurted out as she soared back off the ground, quickly regaining her composure when she remembered who she was speaking to. "I mean, whatever you say, Princess Celestia." The pegasus landed and bowed again in an attempt to save face.
Before the princess could continue, Twilight interjected, "That won’t be necessary, Princess. We’re all pretty tired from this whole ordeal. I think we all just want to go home."
Rainbow Dash and Pinkie looked somewhat disappointed at Twilight’s choice, but they agreed with the "go home" part after an entire night of battling a vicious monster in the Everfree Forest.
The princess laughed softly and replied, "All right, my faithful student. You and your friends have done more than enough. I’ll make sure the next train back to Ponyville arrives straightaway." She motioned to one of her guards who saluted and flew outside to summon the train.
Rarity let out a sigh of relief as she plucked the last twig out of her tail. "Thank goodness this is all over. I can’t tell you how relieving it’ll be to get back to my boutique. I suggest that no one makes any plans to bother me. I’ll be taking a nice, relaxing, bubble bath for the next eight hours."
"Suit yourself, fashion queen," Applejack remarked with a hint of annoyance in her voice. "Some of us still got work to do. I gotta get home and make sure Big Macintosh hasn’t been slacking off."
Fluttershy’s eyes suddenly opened widely as she softly shouted, "Oh no! I just remembered! Angel’s been home alone all this time!" Fluttershy put her hooves onto Rainbow Dash’s shoulders in her panicked state. "What if something horrible happened while I was gone for so long? I just don’t know what I’d do!"
"Easy there, girl." Rainbow replied, placing her friend’s hooves back on the ground. "We’ll be back to Ponyville in no time, and I’m sure your rabbit’ll be just fine when we get there."
"Speaking of ‘just fine’," Pinkie let out, forcing her way into the conversation, "you know what’s gonna be seven hundred and twenty times better than ‘just fine’ when we get back to Ponyville? I’ll give you a hint; it rhymes with ‘smarty’!"
"Pinkie," Twilight said.
"Nope!" Pinkie shouted before Twilight got another word in. "Come on, Twilight, this is an easy one. I thought I was being pretty obvious!"
Twilight opened her mouth to object to Pinkie’s remark, but a sudden thought popped into her head that made her turn back towards the princess. "Oh, Princess, I’m sorry. I almost forgot you’ll want the Elements of Harmony back for safekeeping." She used her magic to pull the six magical artifacts off herself and her friends and levitate them right in front of her princess’s nose.
Princess Celestia’s warm smile slowly faded into a somber frown as she stared at the Elements hovering in front of her. She closed her eyes and turned away from the six, appearing to be in deep thought. "I’m afraid that isn’t possible right now, Twilight."
"Huh?" the six ponies all uttered in shocked unison. The princess’s curious remark caused Twilight to lose her focus and drop the precious artifacts she was holding onto the tiled floor.
Princess Celestia used her own magic to grab the scroll she had been reading from the other guard beside her. "Allow me to explain. While you six were off courageously facing the wicked powers of Malice, this letter was found in the castle garden. I could just describe it to you, but you should probably just read it yourself." She levitated the piece of paper in front of Twilight’s concerned face. Twilight eyes began to move back and forth as she read the note aloud for everypony in the room to hear.
Dear Princess Celestia,
Are you reading this? Good. I’d truly hate for the valuable information contained in this letter to go unread. I can’t do this sort of thing all the time, so I recommend that you soak up every brilliant word I’ve taken the time to write. Allow me to warn you that the contents of this letter may cause you some discomfort. I don’t want to send your royal mind into a state of shock, so I’ll give you time to ready yourself by padding this introduction out a little longer. Why don’t you get a snack while you wait? Food can help calm the nerves, you know. Anyway, when you’re ready, go ahead and continue reading.
"Interesting start," Twilight said.
"I’m ready! Go on!" Pinkie said as she snacked on some popcorn.
I trust that you’re enjoying the comfort of your stately castle while your precious Elements of Harmony handle all the heavy lifting. It’s my understanding that they are now off challenging the infamous Malice who just recently escaped his thousand-year confinement trapped inside his own mind. It was you who sealed him away originally, yes? I wanted to take the time to offer my sincerest congratulations on allowing somepony else to clean up your mess for you. Truly you are the noble and righteous ruler your reputation makes you out to be.
"Wow, this guy sure likes the princess, huh?" Pinkie said. The others gave her appropriately annoyed looks save for Fluttershy and the princess herself. Twilight continued reading.
Don’t misunderstand. I didn’t write this letter to insult you. I just thought it only fair to give you a glimpse of what is to come. You see, though you are the ruler of Equestria, known by all and adored by many, your influence has extended even further than you know. The name ‘Celestia’ has reached lands and beings that even you have not encountered. Needless to say, you have grown popular in ways that you couldn't even imagine. However, I think we both know of the price that comes with such popularity. I’ve already payed mine, Princess. Now it’s your turn. Prepare yourself, for in a fortnight’s time, your beloved Elements of Harmony will be gone. You have been warned.
Sincerely,
Your Friend
"Who sent this letter?" Twilight asked, the tiniest bit of anxiety in her voice.
"I haven’t the faintest idea," the princess said, shaking her head. "It was found by one of my guards and delivered to me personally while I was awaiting your return. Most of it makes as little sense to me as it does to you. However, I think it makes itself quite clear that someone or something is plotting to steal the Elements of Harmony."
Twilight and her friends gasped in unison.
"Now hold your horses, everypony. Let’s not start bucking before harvest season here. How do we know this thing’s for real?" Applejack asked after taking a gander at the letter herself.
"Yeah, how do we know this guy’s not some loony nutcase that's just trying to scare us?" Rainbow Dash said in a rather aggressive tone.
Twilight spoke up in response after reading the letter to herself for the third time. "That may very well be the case, Rainbow Dash, but even if it is, I don't think we can ignore it."
The princess spoke up at this point, "That’s correct, Twilight. Even if this threat is merely a hollow one, we cannot risk the safety of Equestria by shrugging it off as nothing. We simply have no choice but to respond as if the threat is real."
"Would you mind if I kept this letter?" Twilight asked. "Perhaps I can learn something about the author if I studied it a bit more."
Celestia kept her straight expression and calmly replied, "By all means, Twilight. Just please be careful that nopony else reads it. At least for now, we need to make sure that the knowledge of this potential crisis remains between the seven of us and the royal guard. I trust you all understand."
Pinkie spoke up, "I understand, Princess Celestia. I’m great at keeping secrets! Twilight still doesn’t know about the time I–" Pinkie stuffed her own hoof into her mouth, muffling the rest of the words that she continued to speak as Twilight glared at her secret-keeping friend. After apparently finishing her sentence, Pinkie removed the appendage from her mouth and stated, "See? Nopony’s getting anything out of me."
"What incident was Pinkie referring to?" Rarity covertly whispered to Rainbow Dash.
Rainbow Dash snickered and whispered back, "I’ll tell you later."
Twilight shook off Pinkie’s statement and turned her attention back to the princess. "We understand, Princess. I don’t want to even think about what would happen if this got out."
"What in tarnation is a fortnight?" Applejack asked, glancing over the letter in full.
Twilight was quick to respond to that one. "It’s an old archaic term that nopony uses nowadays. It was named after the amount of time it indicates, which is two weeks, or fourteen nights to be more specific."
"Two weeks?" Rainbow shouted, flying right in front of Twilight’s face. "Are you serious? What’s taking this guy so long? If he wants the Elements so badly, why doesn’t he just come and try to take ‘em from us?" She shadowboxed the air next to Fluttershy, who was quick to back away.
"This is simply dreadful," Rarity said as dramatically as she could manage. "We just sort out one crisis, and now we’re given another to deal with almost instantly. Will this madness never end?"
"Um, so what are we going to do about this, Princess?" Fluttershy meekly asked, making all of them turn back towards the white alicorn.
The princess shut her eyes again for a few seconds before reopening them to respond. "We cannot be certain what kind of forces, if any, are threatening to steal our Elements of Harmony. If this letter is to be believed, such forces could very well possess powers beyond anything we’ve ever seen before. Since the letter refers solely to myself by name, I cannot trust that the Elements will be safe in my possession or even behind the security of this tower."
"Princess," Twilight started before the princess stopped her with a raise of her hoof.
"Therefore, in case such a threat does arise to take them from us, I would rather they be kept with the ones capable of utilizing them." Using her magic, the princess lifted the Elements off the ground and made them float in front of the six startled ponies standing before her. "For the next two weeks, I am entrusting the Elements of Harmony to my most trusted subjects. Take them back to Ponyville with you and see that you take great care with them as always."
"I…I don’t know what to say…" Twilight stuttered as she grabbed the decorated crown in front of her with her own magic. She stared at it for the longest time. The sheer amount of trust and responsibility the princess had given her was almost overwhelming her. Her friends looked a bit concerned as they watched their friend stand speechless. Then, a little smile appeared across the purple mare’s face which quickly spread to her friends’ as well. With a newfound confidence in her voice, Twilight proudly declared, "We won’t let you down, Princess! The Elements of Harmony will not be tampered with!"
"Yeah! No way we’re letting some ‘fortnight guy’ just waltz in here and steal our stuff!" Rainbow Dash boasted.
"I hear ya, Rainbow! Whatever this thing is better think twice before trying to steal from us," Applejack zealously assured.
"The very idea," Rarity added, sticking up her nose.
"You can count on me too, Princess. I Pinkie Promise™ that I’ll take extra super specially duper super care of mine," Pinkie cheerfully said as she crossed her heart and hoped to fly, sticking a figurative cupcake in her eye.
"Um, I’ll do the best I can, Princess," Fluttershy mumbled.
"I’m pleased to hear that kind of enthusiasm, girls," Celestia responded as her own smile returned. She brought out the chest normally used to house the Elements and dropped it at their feet. Twilight took the liberty to place the six treasured objects inside and firmly grab hold of the box like it was a book on advanced spellcasting. Just then, a train whistle sounded.
"That sounds like your train," Celestia said, looking toward the door. "You should get going. I wish you all the best of luck."
"Don’t worry, Princess Celestia. We’ll be back in two weeks with the Elements in tow," Twilight said before she and her friends headed outside with the valuable case in their possession.
"Oh, and Twilight?" Celestia called out before her student exited the tower.
"What is it, Princess? Is there something else you needed to tell me?" Twilight asked as she turned back towards her mentor.
"Yes, make sure you all get some well-deserved rest. You all look exhausted," she said with another small chuckle.
"Of course, Princess," Twilight replied, providing a tiny giggle of her own. After that last remark, her student followed her friends out the door, and Princess Celestia was left alone in Canterlot Tower with her one remaining guard.
As soon as the door closed behind Twilight, the Princess firmly ordered her guard, "Return to the castle. I want every guard in Canterlot looking for signs of trouble all over Equestria."
The guard gave a quick salute and moved out to complete his assigned task just as the previous one had done. Without a moment of hesitation, Celestia followed the guard outside and flew into the sky above her fair city, causing several passersby to stop and admire their princess. The six on their way to the train station caught another glimpse of her as she flew by. Focused on the present crisis, however, the princess was unable to greet her subjects, and flew as quickly as she could toward the castle. She landed on the balcony to find her sister Luna waiting for her.
"Sister!" Luna shouted upon Celestia’s arrival, which would probably have surprised her were it not for her experience with matters of utmost importance.
"Is there a problem, Luna?" Celestia asked without a hint of panic in her voice.
"The guards have informed me of a letter that has recently arrived addressed to you." Luna's words struck a chord in Celestia, not that her face indicated it. She had instructed all guards to refrain from telling Luna about the new threat unless it was absolutely necessary. She didn’t want her sister to worry over something that could be a simple prank.
"I'll admit, sister, I did already read it, but I'm afraid I couldn't decipher its meaning."
Celestia felt confused for a moment until Luna grabbed a scroll from a nearby table. Celestia felt a wave of relief as Luna opened it up to show her.
"Oh, is that all?" Celestia asked, taking the letter and looking it over.
As the white alicorn read, her look of mild curiosity quickly turned into one of mild concern. After finishing the letter, she called out to the two guards that were guarding the balcony, "Contact Shooting Star. Make sure he’s prepared for the final stage of his spell on the off chance he needs to be."
Both of the guards’ mouths dropped open at the mention of that name. "Princess Celestia, are you certain that given the current circumstances we should–"
"I gave him my word," the princess calmly replied. "Besides, the way things are looking, this could be more helpful to us now than we realize."
"As you wish, Princess." The guards flew off, leaving Celestia and Luna alone on the balcony.
"Sister, what is going on? Is there something I should know?" Luna asked in a much more sympathetic tone than before.
"Don’t worry, my sister," Celestia replied in the most nurturing voice she could put together as she embraced the blue alicorn. "Everything’s fine."