Chapter 3
Rarity rubbed her forehead as she felt the cold ground beneath her feet and her back. The landing hadn't been enjoyable as Luna felt her magic weaken within the barrier.
“So where are we?” asked Twilight.
The purple vested girl looked around to see that they were in a portion of some old and dilapidated fortress. They had landed in a section of fallen rubble that used to be part of the fortress’s walls.
“I remember this fortress. A few rather bloody battles were fought here,” muttered Luna as she eyed the alien masonry.
“Battles? We’re standing on ancient battlegrounds?” muttered Twilight.
“Yes. Many died here fighting for what they believed in. We should make camp here for tonight,” said Luna.
Rarity and Twilight both nodded before putting down their backbags and setting up camp.
Back in Ponyville, the orange earth pony from yesterday stared at the black shoe thing as it sat on her personal desk in her room.
“What kind of creature wears such a thing?” Applejack asked herself.
It obviously didn't fit a griffon and centaurs had hooves. Dragons didn’t even wear shoes thanks to their near impenetrable scales which quickly lead the orange pony to a dead end. The cowpony sighed as she poked the shoe. “It reminds me of somethin’ Rarity would make but why would she make such a thing? I gotta find out or my name ain't Applejack,” muttered the orange pony. Applejack quickly got up and grabbed the shoe thing in her mouth before placing it in a saddlebag and heading off to Carousel Boutique.
As Applejack arrived at the building, the small note on the door piqued her curiosity as she got closer to the front doors.
“I am currently on extended vacation and will be unable to assist in any modifications or commissions while I am gone. Thank you for your understanding. - Rarity,” said the note as it hung from the clear front door.
“Weird... Why didn't Rarity say she was going on vacation?” muttered Applejack as she stared at the note.
“Whatcha reading?” asked a voice as it startled Applejack.
“Gah! Don’t surprise me!” exclaimed Applejack as she turned around to see Sweetie Belle standing there.
“Oh Sweetie Belle. It’s nice to see ya. Do ya know where Rarity went?” asked Applejack.
Sweetie Belle shook her head, “I don’t have a clue. I saw the note earlier. Why didn’t she tell Mom or Dad?”
“That’s a little bit strange. Maybe Fluttershy might know. They always spend time at the spa each week,” said Applejack.
Sweetie Belle nodded and followed the cowpony as they walked to the edge of town towards a small cottage surrounded by numerous bird houses. The cowpony quickly knocked on the front door to be greeted by Fluttershy.
“Oh, hello Applejack,” said Fluttershy.
“Hey Fluttershy! We came by to ask you about Rarity. She seems to be on vacation but she never told anypony where,” said Applejack.
Fluttershy smiled weakly, “Well. She didn’t tell me but I think she has good reasons.”
“Aw. But I was hoping to visit Rarity today,” muttered Sweetie Belle.
“Well, if it helps. I found this yesterday morning after Winona cashed some weird creatures out of my orchard,” said Applejack as she produced the gem studded black shoe.
“Oh. What kind of creatures were they?” asked Fluttershy as she eyed the shoe.
“I don’t really know. They were slender and tall and they wore clothes for some reason,” said Applejack.
“I saw this monster in Rarity’s shower yesterday,” interjected Sweetie Belle.
“What?! Why didn’t ya tell me?!” exclaimed Applejack.
Sweetie Belle frowned as she kicked the ground, “I didn’t think it was important until now.”
Fluttershy quickly found herself sweating profusely as she saw the two getting closer to the facts.
“Maybe... um... maybe it was just somepony who needed a bath really badly. You know how Rarity is when it comes to dirt,” said Fluttershy.
“Could be but what about those two creatures you saw yesterday, Applejack?” asked Fluttershy.
“I guess that’s still debatable. We should ask Twi. She knows everything about the creatures of Equestria,” said Applejack.
Fluttershy had quickly jumped at the mention of Twilight’s name, “No! I mean... Twilight is not home either.... I saw a note on the library door earlier!”
At this point Applejack had started questioning Fluttershy’s behavior. She was hiding something but Applejack couldn’t put her hoof on it.
“I’m a goin’ back home then. You and I can talk about this tomorrow,” said Applejack, “Sweetie Belle. Go back home for now. Fluttershy and I will look into Rarity and Twi’s supposed vacations.”
With that the two quickly left Fluttershy’s doorstep, much to the yellow pegasus’ relief.
Luna sighed as she looked at the deep night sky. The moon was waning as clouds covered it from time to time.
“It’s been awhile since I’ve seen humans,” muttered Luna.
Twilight sighed as she finished her bowl of fruits. Spike had already fallen asleep as the three sat around the small campfire.
“Excuse me Princess Luna but may I ask you something?” asked Rarity.
“Sure, shoot away.”
“What are these two big bulbous pieces of flesh hanging off my chest anyways?” asked Rarity as she grabbed them.
Luna stared at Rarity blushing as she inadvertently began fondling with herself.
“They’re breasts and I don’t think you should be doing that... You might... excite... some men,” muttered Luna.
Rarity quickly stopped and felt embarrassed at her actions. Just then, a large sound of many boots clashing against the dirt caught the three’s attention outside the walls. Luna and Twilight quickly peaked out to the open area before the woods to see a large battalion of men and women in deep burgundy red uniforms. Most of them carried large and powerful swords at their sides while others carried menacing bows adorned with blades to be used as close combat weapons if the needs arise. A few men were using armored manticores as mounts as they lead the battalion and there were a few men and women wearing brown jackets with unusual emblems pinned on their lapels.
“Who are they?” asked Twilight as the battalion marched along.
“I don’t know,” muttered Luna as she noticed an alien emblem adorning the flags of the battalion. The emblem was shaped as a large gear with spikes protruding from its sides, top, and bottom to form a cross. The words “Mortem Empire” were written around the gear in gold as the flags waved in the weak wind.
“I thought Aetas was the ruler of humans,” muttered Twilight.
Luna frowned, “I thought so too... We’ll have to infiltrate a village and find out more.”
The two quickly ran back to their fire and snuffed it out to Rarity’s dismay.
“Hey! I was trying to stay warm!” exclaimed Rarity before having her mouth forcefully covered my Luna as she tried to hide the group from the battalions.
“Hey! Did you hear that?” muttered a soldier.
“You there! Fall back to rank!” exclaimed a captain.
After a good few antagonizing minutes, the sounds of the iron clad footsteps became silent and signaled the group that the battalion was gone.
“What happened?!” exclaimed Rarity.
“I don’t think we’re going to have an easy time getting to Aetas. Seems either someone else is in control or she must have been controlled like what happened to you Luna,” said Twilight.
“I don’t think so. I was controlled because I became jealous. Aetas doesn’t have anything that could fuel a creature like what made me Nightmare Moon,” said Luna.
“What do we do?” asked Rarity.
“We’ll move out tomorrow morning before sunrise. As long as we stay away from patrols and occupied barracks, we should be fine. We just need to find a local village or a library. They’ll have the information we need,” said Luna.
Rarity and Twilight nodded in agreement before the three bunkered down for the night.
The next day rolled in rather quickly as Luna felt the sun slowly rising in the distance. The blue haired woman quickly woke up Twilight and Rarity, much to their annoyance.
“Wake up. It’s time we leave,” said Luna as a bed-haired Twilight stared at her in puzzlement.
“But I don’t wanna go home Momma!” muttered Twilight in her sleep.
“Just get up!”
After a good half an hour of getting Twilight awake and Rarity and Spike up, the three quickly packed up while Luna kept guard.
“So, which way do we go?” asked Twilight.
“We should go down the road until we find a road sign. Humans always made travel markers that pointed out distances,” said Luna.
Twilight nodded in agreement and the group began their journey.
In Ponyville, Fluttershy sat in the park as she waited for Applejack. The wind whipped around the fallen leaves as she looked around. Out of the corner of her eyes was Applejack with her saddle on her back and her Stetson hat placed firmly on her head.
“Oh, it’s good to see you Applejack,” said Fluttershy.
Applejack smiled, “Now back to business. Let’s investigate Twilight’s home.”
“Oh my... but she isn’t home.... we can’t go barging in,” muttered Fluttershy.
“Just trust me on this one Fluttershy,” said Applejack.
The cowpony quickly escorted Fluttershy to Twilight’s library. As they got there, a note stating Twilight was on temporary leave was placed on the door. Fluttershy smiled weakly as she saw the note.
“Well.... I guess we can go home,” muttered the timid pegasus.
“E’nope. We’re goin’ to do this my way!” exclaimed Applejack.
Fluttershy watched as Applejack backed up to the wooden door and raised her hind legs. In a single strike, Applejack’s back hooves connected to the door, sending the thing flat down onto the ground in a loud crash.
“Oh my.... What if Twilight finds her door like this?” said Fluttershy.
Applejack sighed, “I’ll pay for the damages. Let’s just find some evidence.”
Fluttershy watched in fear as Applejack explored the place. There were a few books strewn across the floor but nothing out of the ordinary. After a few minutes, Applejack noticed a few books laying on Twilight’s desk.
“Now what do we have here?” muttered Applejack as she looked at the book titles.
The books were mostly on the numerous wild apes. Applejack quickly skimmed through it to see that none of the few pictures the book held matched what she saw in her orchard. Out of the corner of her eyes, Applejack quickly noticed a small notebook laying under the different books.
“Come here Fluttershy. I think I found somethin’,” said Applejack.
Fluttershy watched as Applejack read out loud Twilight’s notes.
“Day 1 - This new form is rather alien but unique. Instead of hooves the body has two arms ending in hands. Each hand appears to have five fingers or four if you consider the one opposable digit not a finger.
The new body seems to take in less amounts of food yet it lasts longer. I’ve been eating less since the incident happened yet I can stay awake for longer.
The body seems to be rather weak to the elements as no fur or coat or anything protects it from attack, temperature, or other outside forces. It seems that whatever creatures Rarity and I have become use clothes as a means of defense against the elements.
The arms of this body seem to be highly evolved in throwing things. I’ve been enamored by a small game I invented in which I try to aim wads of rolled up paper into a bin using my arm. It was easy using magic but now with this body and no magic, I missed the first few times but eventually I was able to get the paper in the bin from across the library!
I want to see how much movement this body can do but it would be too dangerous to do it within the confines the of the library. My head alone barely touches the ceiling and my hair now easily gets stuck in my face. Further research needs to be done,” said Twilight’s notes.
“What in the hay is this all about? Hands? Clothes? Did Twilight go insane or somethin’?” asked Applejack.
The cowpony quickly noticed Fluttershy standing there sweating bullets
“Fluttershy? Are you hiding something?” asked Applejack.
Fluttershy could feel giant rocks in her lungs as the weight of everything fell upon her.
“A.....A... IT’S TWILIGHT AND RARITY!” exclaimed Fluttershy in an outburst.
“What?”
“I mean... well... Twilight and Rarity... well they have a problem,” said Fluttershy.
“You got some explaining to do,” said Applejack sternly as she patted the ground with her hoof waiting for Fluttershy’s answer.
Fluttershy cringed a little at Applejack’s monotone. “I know what happened to Rarity and Twilight.... You see, Rarity did this spell and... and she accidently turned her and Twilight into these hairless... apes... hairless apes, and they went to Canterlot to meet with Luna to find a way to return to normal.”
“What?”
“You know those two creatures in your orchard?”
Applejack nodded.
“Those were..... Twilight and Rarity,” muttered Fluttershy.
“So you’re saying is that Rarity and Twilight are now in a weird mess in which they’re stuck as these hairless monkeys and are now tryin’ to find a way to return to normal,” asked Applejack.
Flutter slowly nodded.
“Fluttershy?”
“Um... yes?”
“You’re comin’ with me to Canterlot...”
Rarity sighed as the two walked through the entrance into town. The town was named Littlecove and sat in a bay that lead to the ocean before hitting the barrier that kept the humans from ever leaving the lands. Twilight watched as different humans moved about loading and unloading ships. Most of the humans seemed fine doing their normal daily routines with a few humans wearing ragged clothes here and there. Many of them had hair colors ranging from blonde to jet black and skin colors ranging from a deep dark brown to tan to pale white. Just out of the corner of her eyes, Twilight quickly noticed Luna’s hair changing from its ethereal look to a more “physical” look with her hair being it's still signature deep blue but with threads of sparkling veil tied in her hair.
“Littlecove hasn’t changed much since I last saw it,” muttered Luna.
Luna quickly noticed a few guards in the town but they seemed to appear tired and disorderly as if they didn’t want to even be there.
“I guess we should find some place to get some information,” muttered Luna.
“I’ll check the stores. Maybe someone might have information concerning Aetas’ whereabouts,” said Rarity.
“Is there a library?” asked Twilight.
“If my memory serves me right, the local library is down the main road, towards that tall clock tower. Though it’s quite small, Twilight,” said Luna.
Twilight nodded and the three agreed to meet back in an hour before splitting up.
Luna quickly tailed one of the guards and listened in on their conversation.
“I hate being stationed in Littlecove. It’s boring and the women here, geesh. They’re nothing compared to Bigwell City!” said an off-duty guard.
“Hey, come on. There’s far worse things to do. Just make sure nobody is breaking the peace and report any magic users to command as per normal instructions,” said another guard.
Luna wondered why magic users were being reported.
Rarity sighed as she saw the rather boring clothes in the store windows. Most were specifically tailored towards working rather than appeal and what everyone was wearing seemed to make Rarity stick out like a sore thumb. Some women looked at Rarity in surprise and a few times she heard them talking about saying she looked like someone from Bigwell City. She also noticed a few men looking at her for her looks. It seems she was apparently quite attractive in human standards. The white clothed girl quickly noticed a small tailor shop and went inside to see the owner mending some pants for someone.
“Um excuse me?” asked Rarity.
The owner quickly turned to Rarity and smiled weakly. She was a middle-aged woman who was rather large but it didn’t seem to hinder her at all as she skillfully moved around the confined shop.
“Oh, hello. You look like you came from Bigwell City. What brings you all the way to Littlecove?” asked the lady.
“Oh thanks. Well, I’m just here visiting my special some.. someone and he was stationed here recently,” Rarity lied.
“Oh that’s so nice of you! Is there a dress you need mending?” asked the lady.
“Oh no. I’m quite skilled in tailoring myself. I’m just here looking at your nice designs.”
“There’s not much to show off. I mostly fix and make clothes for the men. They go through their clothes like wildfire but it gives me good business.”
“I’m not really informed much but I heard of someone named Aetas. Do you happen to know who she is?”
“Oh she must mean that child’s story. I remember telling my little ones about it,” said the seamstress.
“I can’t really remember it, could you tell me what it was about?” asked Rarity.
“I understand. Not many people remember such an old tale. Well, they say there was a beautiful woman named Aetas who once ruled these lands and time itself. She helped many in their time of need and those who worked hard and helped others were rewarded with new life when their time came near. They say that when the Plague of Mora appeared, she simply vanished, ashamed that she couldn’t do anything to stop it. Since then we’ve have King Mortem ruling these lands. As long as I was a little girl, I’ve always seen him declaring heavy taxes and taking out dissidents all the time. It tends to become a normality here in the outlying towns.”
“Oh that sounds a little sad,” said Rarity.
“It is but they say that one day she will return with her companion from the moon and bring us to a new age. I remember that a few years ago, the image of her companion that adorned the moon mysteriously disappeared. Some of those that remember the little myth think it’s a sign of her return but others say that it means Aetas as forsaken us all though I believe the latter are blabbering apocalyptic nonsense,” said the seamstress in a small laugh.
“That sounds quite nice. Anyways, I’m curious. How much does a simple dress of yours cost?” asked Rarity.
“Normally about 130 pinions,” said the seamstress.
“Oh that’s a little expensive for me.. Anyways I have to go. Thanks for everything!”
“No problem! Just tell your friends back in Bigwell City about our little town!” exclaimed the lady as Rarity left the shop.
Twilight noticed an old wrinkled man behind the counter as she walked into the small library. The library was rather small, only being as big as her library back in Ponyville. The main difference was the lack of light. Most of the library was dark with only a few torches encased in glass and the windows allowing the little amount of light that was available into the library.
“Excuse me?” asked Twilight.
The old man looked up and frowned, “Let me guess. You’re from Bigwell City on a trip to visit the outlying towns or one of the King’s Seekers looking for anyone who has magical abilities?” asked the old man.
Twilight smiled weakly, “No, I’m just from some distant town. My friend and I are here to just read a few books.”
The old man quickly leaned over to see Spike smiling back weakly at him.
“I see you own a rare Green Scaled dragon. I guess you’re from a town either close to the dragon mountains or close to Bigwell City. I heard rare breeds are the craze as pets for anyone insane enough to keep a dragon in their home,” said the old man, “Just keep him on a tight leash and I hope both of you don’t bother with anyone else in my library if there was anyone else besides me. If you want to rent a book please show an ID file.”
Twilight nodded, “Thank you but I’m just looking. No renting.”
“Then move along and stop pestering me,” said the old man.
The two quickly began searching through some books concerning the local government, stories, and anything pertaining to Aetas. After finding five books on the subjects, Twilight quickly began reading them voraciously.
“Says here Aetas vanished centuries ago and that the current ruler, King Mortem, is in power. The current government is an absolute monarchy with King Mortem hiring advisors for smaller things,” said Twilight.
“What’s Bigwell City?” asked Spike.
“Well it says here it’s the capital of Sapios, the name of the country and this map shows that it is a large island with mountains in the north separated by the dragon sea. Looks like giant whirlpools keep anyone from leaving the island, meaning ships are used for fishing and shipping cargo. I’m going to assume the dragon lands are north of the island but considering that no human has left the island, their map is slightly inaccurate,” said Twilight.
“It’s weird how they have manticores as trained animals,” said Spike.
“Yeah, I know. Luna is going to have to hear about Aetas’ disappearance.
“I wonder how our friends are doing back in Ponyville,” asked Spike.
“I know. I wonder too,” muttered Twilight.
Spike quickly held up a book titled “Research on the Plague of Mora.
“Let me take a look,” muttered Twilight before taking the book and placing it on the desk.
Applejack and Fluttershy found themselves in the royal chambers in Canterlot as they waited for Princess Celestia. She had just finished talking with some ambassadors from the Gryphon Kingdom. After a few moments, the two noticed Celestia walking wearing her normal royal ornaments. The guards quickly snapped into attention as the two bowed reverently to Princess Celestia.
“At ease,” ordered Princess Celestia.
On command, the guards loosened themselves.
“I heard you wanted to speak to me. Is there something wrong Applejack and Fluttershy?” asked the Princess in her soothing and calm voice.
Applejack nodded, “It concerns Twilight and Rarity and I think Princess Luna is involved.”
“Well then, please follow me,” said Celestia.
The two mares followed the Sun ruler into a side hallway away from the guards.
“Is there something wrong? I can hear that whatever it is, it’s troubling you Applejack,” said Celestia.
“Well Fluttershy told me that Rarity and Twilight are... stuck as these weird hairless apes and that they went to Luna for help,” said Applejack.
Celestia looked at Applejack in confusion, “Did you say hairless apes?”
Applejack nodded.
“I was wondering where Luna was this morning. I guess it’s been awhile since we both seen them,” muttered Celestia.
“Excuse me but what are you talkin’ about?” asked Applejack.
“If you guess is correct, then Rarity must have accidently turned her and Twilight into humans, an ancient sentient race that helped ponykind during its early days,” said Celestia.
“That sounds quite farfetched but if you’re saying it, it must be true.”
“Luna must have physically brought Twilight and Rarity to Aetas to help them. She’s the only one who can revert them back to their normal forms.”
“Um... excuse me... but who is Aetas?” asked Fluttershy.
“Aetas is like Luna and I, a Goddess, specifically time. She is the guardian of humans and their ruler. You see, magic is rare among human. They were known to instead be great inventors and could make armor that could resist many things. They could forge swords that could slice through even a dragon's scale and hammers that were more powerful than an earth pony’s buck. They could even create special objects that could harness magic. Sadly, a dangerous plague killed most of them off, forcing the few magical humans to lock their dwindling population away to a small island and losing most of the knowledge what they created.” said Celestia.
“Why couldn’t Luna or you just turn Twilight and Rarity both back to normal?” asked Applejack.
“Because the spell is not made by ponykind. Human magic is different and cannot be simply undone by our magic. Even we are unable to alter it. I can still feel Luna’s hold over her Moon, though its weakened meaning she must be within the barrier of Sapios.” said Celestia.
“What should we do? We can’t just leave em hangin’,” said Applejack.
“I wish I could bring you to them but with the barrier up, I and you both would be stuck as well and due to what some humans believed, we ponykind are not in the fairest of light in their eyes. I’ll see if I can contact Spike. Maybe then we can see if they’re ok,” said Celestia.
Applejack nodded and followed the Princess to her private chambers where she quickly took a piece of parchment and a quill and began writing.
Spike sighed as he sat on top of Twilight’s backbag. They had finished most of the books and were heading back to the main entrance of the town where they planned to meet up with Luna and Rarity. Before long, the two quickly noticed Rarity and Luna waiting for them.
“I’m sorry for being late. I got caught up in the books. Anyways it seems Aetas is missing,” said Twilight.
“I know. Rarity told me. There’s a small story stating that the humans believed that she went into hiding under anguish that she couldn’t stop the Plague of Mora. Though it was true that she was greatly distraught with what was happening, I can’t seem to see Aetas losing hope. It was a major part of her and humans revered her as the sign of hope when anything went wrong,” said Luna.
“Hmm, we’ll have to travel to Bigwell City for more information. It’s funny though. The librarian thought I was from the city or somewhere close by,” said Twilight.
“Apparently dragons are rare and I’m a rare species of dragon!” interjected Spike with glee.
“Only in Sapios, Spike. Only in Sapios,” said Luna.
The two quickly noticed Spike coughing up one of the infamous letters from Celestia. Rarity fake coughed as to throw off anyone who was looking as Spike ducked into Twilight’s backbag.
“Does Celestia know where we are?” asked Twilight.
“She shouldn’t. I left a message stating that I was investigating some old ruins away from Canterlot,” said Luna as she opened the scroll.
“Dear Twilight,
Applejack and Fluttershy have told me of what has transpired. Though I am a little saddened by not telling me thus, I do understand why you kept this away from me. I just want you to tell us if you, Rarity, and sister Luna are ok. Be careful. As humans, you are both prone to the plague with Luna being immune. Please tell me when you have the proper chance to report on how your journey is going.
Your faithful teacher,
Princess Celestia,” said the scroll.
“I guess Fluttershy blew our cover,” muttered Twilight.
“I guess we can’t hold it against her. She IS Fluttershy after all,” said Rarity.
“Do you have writing utensils Twilight?” asked Luna.
Twilight nodded and quickly made a short and terse reply before allowing Spike to send it off.
“Now back to work. What did the lady tell you Rarity?” asked Luna.
“Well for one their myth coincides with Nightmare Moon’s appearance but is quite different. They believe the image was of Aetas’ loyal companion and some say that the image’s disappearance either means Aetas will return or that she is gone forever,” said Rarity.
The two quickly noticed Luna blushing at the comment, “Well I guess my little incident back then became legend.... I accidently appeared in public in my true form as an alicorn. People must have thought I was her trusty “steed’ or companion,” said Luna.
“What do you mean steed?” asked Twilight.
“Before ponykind gained sentience and intelligence, our ancestors were used as mounts by humans, though this predated even me and my sister’s existence. They thought that man’s greatest gift from the gods was ponykind before Aetas and eventually us and today’s ponykind appeared,” said Luna.
“Well that’s one for the history books!” exclaimed Twilight.
“Twilight, what about these Seekers I overheard?” asked Rarity.
“Apparently by royal decrees, anyone who has magical abilities are to be reported. looked up the laws of Sapios and having magic is a capital offense. I also found out that any time there’s a home or a town with suspected or confirmed plague victims, they quarantine the whole town and quickly dispatch anyone infected,” said Twilight.
“The plague must still be alive in small outbreaks. Humans used to trade with the nation of Zebrica back before it was unified for their legendary potions and cures. It’s sad to hear that people are innocently killed because of misfortune falling upon them,” muttered Luna.
“I guess we’re going to have to visit the Bigwell City. Their royal library should have at least some information concerning Aetas’ whereabouts,” said Rarity.
“That’s true and King Mortem seems to have been ruling Sapios for centuries since after the wars after Aetas’ disappearance,” said Twilight.
“I still don’t understand why Aetas would simply vanish. It isn’t like her,” said Luna.
“Let’s go and get some sleep for now and we’ll head out tomorrow.”
Applejack sighed in relief as Celestia finished the reply letter, “It’s a good thing Twi and Rarity are ok. Though I feel sad for Rarity. She must be all crazy not being normal and away from her beauty products.”
“They’re in good hooves or hands in their cases with Luna. I was never really good at dealing with human affairs and Aetas and Luna were close friends. It was sad when I first heard about the first cases of the Plague of Mora and when the humans decided to seal themselves away.
“Um... could you tell us what happened?” asked Fluttershy.
“Sure my little ponies. Centuries ago, we ponykind first meet the humans. At first we were cautious but we soon became close friends. We shared knowledge and technology with them and helped each other. Then, a dark plague appeared, killing thousands of them in its wake. The plague was hideous like a ravenous monster with an endless hunger. In time the victims of the plague would find themselves unable to move their bodies. It was like their own body was a cage of slow torture... After the mass outbreak, only a small group was left and the last magical humans voted. They had decided to seal themselves once a rumor spread saying that someone had magically changed the virus to also attack ponies,” said Celestia.
“Were there any ponies that were killed by the plague?” asked Applejack.
“No thank goodness. Luna and Aetas watched as the humans sealed themselves away with the few survivors and the few that were luckily immune or partially immune. After that Aetas said her final goodbyes and joined the humans to lead them in their own cage,” muttered Celestia.
“That’s horrible!” muttered Fluttershy.
“I know Fluttershy but at least the last humans are still alive. Luna and I haven’t seen any humans since they erected the barrier,” said Celestia.
“It must have been since you have seen Aetas,” muttered Fluttershy.
Celestia smiled, “I bet Aetas is doing well right now. I only met her a few times but she was wise and being older than Luna and I, were both intrigued by the knowledge she had. Why don’t you stay for dinner? I’ll get Twilight and Rarity to report their journey each night or as much as possible until they come back.”
Applejack and Fluttershy smiled. “We would be both delighted to join you!” said Fluttershy.
“Good because setting the sun for Luna to do her job ALWAYS leaves me on an empty stomach!” exclaimed Celestia.
The three began laughing in a fit at Celestia’s humor.
After the rather long dinner, the three retired to Celestia’s chambers to finish their discussion and to see Twilight’s report on Sapios.
Applejack watched as a scroll materialized in front of Celestia before being levitated by the Princess’ magic.
“Dear Princess Celestia,
It seems that Aetas is missing and currently a man named Mortem rules Sapios. We haven’t seen any magic users since we’ve been here but it seems that humans learning magic is frowned upon. Rarity asked why and someone told her that magical humans only bring bad luck and misfortune to whomever they meet. There are small cases of plague outbreaks but we are luckily away from it all. Sapios doesn’t seem to be much of a place to live in. The King keeps a strict tab on any magic user that’s discovered and anyone who contracted the plague is sadly killed. It must mean the plague is extremely virulent and spreads rapidly. I hope we can find Aetas soon. We’ll be heading to Bigwell City the capital of Sapios tomorrow.
Your faithful student,
Twilight Sparkle,” said the scroll.
“Oh dear. Aetas is missing?” muttered Celestia as she closed the scroll.
“That doesn’t sound good. I hope they can return to normal soon,” muttered Applejack.
Fluttershy frowned, “I hope so too...”
“It’s ok. They’ll make it through. I believe they will,” said Celestia, “Now let me give you a chariot back home. It must have been a long trip walking all the way to Canterlot.”
The Princess of the Moon frowned as she looked out of the hotel window. Memories of her and her friend Aetas followed her mind as she tried to think of why Aetas would disappear.
“Princess Luna? Why are you up so late?” asked a sleepy-eyed Rarity as she noticed Luna standing in the window.
Luna sighed, “Just call me Luna for the time being. I’m worried about the state of Sapios. There’s a stigma against magical humans and people die left and right from an ancient disease. It makes me worried about what would happen if something similar befell upon Equestria.”
“It’s ok. We’ll find out why,” muttered Rarity.
“I hope so,” muttered Luna as she closed her eyes.
Rarity watched as the princess slowly lowered the moon, making sure nobody saw as she did.
“At least I can still do my divine duties away from home,” muttered Luna as she stared at her moon.