The sun had hardly begun to rise the next morning when Esalar and the other 6 ponies were woken up by a loud knocking on the front door. Wanting to hurry back to bed, Esalar walked downstairs and opened the door. The silhouette that stood before him appeared to be an alicorn of sorts, too dark to be Celestia and the stance was too powerful to be Cadence.
“Princess Luna!” Esalar quickly dropped to a bow as he realised who was at his door.
The Princess walked past him and into the house as the other ponies were walking downstairs. “Please stand, Esalar.” She stood tall with her head high, making her presence known to all.
Esalar rose to his hooves as Twilight greeted the princess of the night. “Good morning Princess. What can we help you with?”
“I cannot stay long Twilight Sparkle, I am merely here on business.” The Princess turned her head to look at Esalar as he walked past and joined the others. “I am here to bring you information about the whereabouts of a new Moon Shard.”
“That’s fantastic news Princess! Where can we find it?” Esalar stepped forward in sudden excitement.
“I hope you’re ready to travel. Because you’re going to Fillydelphia.” The Princess smiled slightly and hovered a small note over to Esalar before turning around and leaving the building, closing the door behind her.
Esalar opened the note and began to read. “I didn’t think it would begin this quickly. We better prepare to leave.”
“None of us have the need to pack anything, so it’s all on you, Esalar.” Twilight stated.
Esalar nodded in understanding and walked over to the tall cupboard at the far side of the room; he opened the doors and pulled out a camera, placing it on the near-by table. “I don’t want to forget this. I can only imagine the sights we’ll see.” He placed a special camera holder around his neck and hooked the camera into place on to it.
“That’s a mighty fine piece of equipment partner. How rich are you exactly?” Applejack asked curiously.
Esalar smiled weakly and walked to the near wall. He lifted his hoof up and pressed against a protruding brick, it pushed in like a button and a circular shape in the wall began to turn and move backwards before rolling off to the right that revealed shelves upon shelves full of bits. Everypony in the room stood in shock, eyes wide and mouths open so much you could have fit a whole apple in each of them comfortably.
“I have way too much. Feel free to take a bit, or two.” He pointed his hoof into the safe invitingly.
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The 7 ponies had pre-paid first class tickets to Fillydelphia, paid for by Princess Celestia herself. They made their way onto the train and took their seats, it wasn’t too different from the trip to Canterlot, but this time Twilight sat with Rarity and Esalar to make sure the white unicorn wouldn’t scare Esalar too much.
Their cabin was the most state of the art the 7 ponies had ever seen, coloured white all around, the seats were topped with extra comfortable cushions and the windows were tinted a dark grey.
“I’ve been on a few nice trains in my time, but this is so surreally nice.” Esalar stared around the cabin.
“Indeed. I didn’t think a train could look so fabulous.” Rarity smiled in agreement.
For the rest of the journey the 7 of them took part in a large game of ‘I Spy’, most of the guesses were related to the scenery in and outside of the train.
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The train arrived at the station at about 4pm. Everypony has fallen asleep during the journey and were all suddenly woken by the sound of the trains horn.
“Yay! We’re here!” Shouted Pinkie Pie who had immediately gained her energy back.
They all got off of their chairs and walked down the isle to the now open door, leaving in an orderly line.
“Okay, so we have rooms booked at the Hoof Hall Hotel in the middle of town.” Esalar noted out loud.
“The Hoof Hall Hotel? I can show you where that is.” An unfamiliar voice spoke from their left. The 7 ponies turned to see a grey Pegasus stallion with a two-toned black and purple mane standing there smiling at them with his teeth showing.
“Thank you, sir.” Twilight thanked the new face.
“Please, call me Arcade.” He gave a small bow to them.
“Well, thank you Arcade. It would be very kind of you to show us to the hotel.” Esalar spoke up.
“It would be my pleasure, follow me.” Arcade began to walk out of the station as the other ponies followed him.
Fillydelphia was one of the highest populated cities in Equestria coming second only to Manehatten. Tall skyscrapers lined the skies and ponies were constantly walking in all directions, the group of friends had to stick close to each other to make sure they didn’t get lost within the crowds.
After a few minutes of dodging rushing ponies, the group had found themselves at the hotel. “Here we are Fillies and Gentlecolts!” Arcade stated.
The 7 ponies thanked the grey stallion and walked inside. The walls inside were painted gold with white decorative pillars that led to an elegantly decorated roof. Esalar walked over to the front desk to collect the rooms keys.
A light blue mare stood behind the desk wearing a vest that was coloured a slightly darker blue. She looked up to Esalar from the paper work she was doing. “Good evening. Can I help you?” She asked with a cheery smile.
“Hello. Yes, we have some rooms booked under the name Esalar Starbeam.”
The mare checked some sheets of paper on the desk before speaking again. “Ah yes. Mr Starbeam, we’ve been expecting you and your friends. Seven adjoining rooms on the top floor.” The blue mare handed over the keys to the waiting stallion. “There’s a separate staircase near your rooms that leads to the roof, should you feel the need to go there.” Esalar nodded to the receptionist and levitated the keys over to his new friends and each of them took one.
Not knowing how to use the strange called the elevator, the seven ponies decided to take the stairs up to the top floor. When they reached the top, all except Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy were out of breath and collapsed to the floor.
Rainbow Dash giggled. “Come on guys, it wasn’t that bad!” Everypony looked at Rainbow Dash with an annoyed expression before slowly climbing to their hooves.
None of them wasted time in getting to their rooms to rest; they said their goodnights to each other and closed their respective doors.
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Rarity had tried to get an early night sleep, but something was stopping her from doing so, a thought of something, somepony. Deciding that sleep wasn’t going to happen quite yet, she climbed out of bed and left her room and began to walk to the stairs that led to the roof so that she could get some fresh air.
Her hooves made a clonking on the metal stairway that rang uncomfortably through her ears. The door creaked slightly as she opened it with her magic. Rarity smiled at the welcome sight on the other side.
Sitting there on a bench, looking out to the sunset in a silhouette form was Esalar.
“I knew I could find you up here.” Rarity spoke softly but still managed to make Esalar jump slightly.
Esalar turned to see the purple maned, white unicorn standing there. “Oh, hi Rarity, what are you doing here?” He asked as he looked back to the sunset coming down over the city.
“I couldn’t sleep, would you mind if I joined you?”
Esalar shuffled over to the left to allow room for Rarity. The unicorn stepped forwards and sat on the bench next to him.
“Do you like the city, Rarity?” Esalar looked over to her.
She bowed her head nervously from his look. “Not really. The reason we moved from Manehatten was to get away from the old hustle and bustle.” She looked out to the city scape. Esalar noticed her light blue eyes glisten in the light of the sunset which made him give an involuntary smile. Rarity met his gaze with her own and shied away back to the sight of the city.
They just sat there for a few minutes, admiring the orange tinted view before them. As the sun made its final journey behind the horizon, Esalar turned to Rarity to speak. “Thank you Rarity, for spending this time with me. I’ve known a pony to be as well-mannered and beautiful as you.” He put on a confident expression as he looked backed to the city-line.
Rarity was shocked, her eyes shot open wide suddenly at the compliment. “Um, thank you Esalar, I don’t know what to say.” Rarity looked over to Esalar.
Esalar looked back and stared deep and meaningfully into her eyes. “You don’t need to say anything.” The two ponies closed in slowly to each other, they wanted to enjoy the anticipation as much as possible.
“Um, guys?” As their faces were mere inches away an unexpected voice broke them apart leaving them with nervous coughs.
The two unicorns turned around quickly to see Rainbow Dash stood with one eyebrow raised and her head tilted.
“Rainbow Dash?! What are you doing here?!” The two of them shouted simultaneously, which made them look over to each other and smile slightly.
“I was hoping to catch a little roof nap so I can stay up later into the night. So, could you two, like, get a room?” Rainbow asked comically.
Esalar smiled. “We were here first. So, you go get a roof.”
Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes and without saying a word, took off into the air, leaving the two unicorns to themselves.
Rarity yawned. “I’m sorry Esalar, this has been just lovely. But I’m feeling rather tired now, and it is getting late.”
Esalar smiled widely in agreement. “Okay Rarity, I’ll see you in the morning.”
Rarity climbed from her seat and walked back to the door leading to the staircase. She whispered to herself before opening the door. “Goodnight, my love.”
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The next morning was met with a bright sun and warm weather which met with Twilights face. “Spike, stop with the fire. I’m trying to sleep.” She brought the duvet that covered her closer to her face for more comfort. This didn’t last for long as the alarm clock she had set the night before rang out, waking her almost instantly.
She lifted her hoof and slumped it down onto the top of the clock, turning it off. She followed this up by throwing her duvet from her and climbing out of bed to her hooves. Opening her curtain, the full light of the day struck her eyes, forcing her to squint. “Wow Princess, you put a lot of power into the sun today.” Twilight walked over to the desk in her room that had a mirror mounted onto the top of it. She levitated her brush and began moving it through her mane, straightening the knots that had formed during her comfortable sleep. She knew that the other six ponies would still be asleep, so Twilight decided to go to each of their doors and knock on them to wake each pony up.
Applejack had just woken up too, having to work on a farm meant that her natural body clock woke her up very early every day. She knew that the knock on her door would be from Twilight, making sure that she was awake. “Good mornin’, Twilight!” Applejack shouted through the door as she heard hoof steps outside moving to the next room.
Pinkie Pie was the next to be woken up, followed by Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Rarity and finally, Esalar.
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Once everypony had woken up and got ready, they all made their way downstairs to get some breakfast in the hotel restaurant. Finally finding a table to fit all of them, the seven ponies scanned through the menu to decide what they were going to have. They decided to make it easy and all have a Daisy, Lettuce and Tomato sandwich.
Once finished, Esalar walked to reception so he could ask for directions. “Good morning Miss.” He greeted the receptionist.
“Good morning sir, is there something I can help you with?” Esalar found her cheery smile welcoming.
“I was hoping you could give me some directions.” Esalar levitated a small map from his saddle bags and laid it on the desk, it was coloured blue and showed a rough drawing of outlined streets and buildings but with no street names or further details. “I need to get to here.” Esalar pointed his hoof at a small red dot in the left corner of the map.
The receptionist turned the map slightly to get a better look. “Well, that’s the industrial area. It holds the electrical power supply for the city.” The mare looked up at Esalar with a curious expression. “It’s unlikely that you’d be able to get past the guards.”
“It’s a business matter, I’m sure they’ll let us in.” Esalar smiled to the receptionist as she wrote down some directions on a piece of paper and handed it to him.
Esalar thanked the mare behind the desk and continued to meet up with the seven other ponies that were waiting outside for him.
The streets seemed to be reasonably quiet in the mornings, so the group quickly approached their destination. Two tall chimneys stood in the middle of the industrial park with smaller square buildings surrounding them. The group of friends stood outside the gates and stared at the structure in awe. Esalar took the initiative and walked over to the guard at the main gate.
“Good morning sir, my name’s Esalar Starbeam. I’m here by instruction of Princess Celestia and would like to be allowed access to the facility.” Esalar announced politely, but with authority.
“Sorry sir, I don’t care if you’re working for the Princess’s or Griffons, I can’t allow you to enter. Authorised personnel only.” The guard stood defensively at his post.
Esalar sighed loudly before turning back to walk to the waiting ponies. On his way back, he spotted a familiar looking pony, images flashed through his mind until he remembered who it was he could see.
“Crimson?! Crimson Bolt?!” Esalar shouted as he ran over to a crimson coloured stallion who was now looking for the pony who shouted his name. “Over here!” just Esalar shouted that, Crimson spotted the dark blue pony running towards him. Recognising him instantly, the crimson coloured pony dropped what he was carrying and stood on his hind legs spreading his fore legs wide, signalling for a hug.
Esalar grasped Crimson tightly making him wince a little. “Esalar! Long time no see. What brings you to Fillydelphia?”
“Work, surprisingly. Speaking of, is this where you work?” Esalar asked as he released his grip to land back on to all four hooves.
“It is indeed. You’re looking at the most qualified electrician in this whole facility!” Crimson stood proudly at this statement.
“Nice one Crim. I don’t suppose there’s any way you could get me and my friends inside?”
“Sure, I don’t see why not. Can I ask why?”
“I can tell you later, over a drink? It’ll be nice to catch up.”
Crimson nodded in agreement and the two of them walked over to the gate, followed closely by Twilight and her friends, the guard gladly stepped aside allowing the eight of them to enter the facility.
As they approached the centre area, Crimson said his goodbyes and headed off to continue his work. The seven ponies just stood there for a moment, taking in the sights around them before Esalar spoke up in authority.
“Okay, we should try to find the shard as quick as possible. Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, you two should take to the skies, an aerial view should give us an edge. Twilight, Applejack, you two head to the east side and make your way around the border. Rarity, I’ll have you with me, and Pinkie Pie…” The pink mare smiled a wide ecstatic smile. “You can search all over.” Esalar turned to Rarity, shaking his head as the bouncy, pink pony hopped off to the west and the other ponies headed in their respective directions. “How do you put up with her?”
Rarity giggled. “I do wonder the same thing sometimes, but she does grow on you.” The two unicorns began walking to make their way between the inner buildings of the facility.
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From a distance, a strange, floating machine watched the seven ponies as they separated from each other. It pulled away and began hovering back in the opposite direction of the Fillydelphia industrial area.
Finally, it reached a large tent and flew inside. The machine was greeted by the sight of its owner, a mysterious black mare with a dark red mane.
She turned to face the machine and began levitating it with her magic. “You’ve returned then. Let’s see what information you have.” The mare continued to plug the machine into a computer forcing the monitor to begin playing recorded scenes kept on tapes in the machines body.
The meeting between Princess Celestia and the seven ponies was one of the scenes that was played, the tape ended with the same ponies splitting up to search for something in an electrical plant.
“So, it seems the Moon Shards are not just myth, but they are real and these ponies are trying to collect them.” The black cackled a little. “Not for long.”
The unicorn turned quickly to a large robot laid on a metal bed in the back of her tent. She altered some controls on the desk that stood next to it, finishing by hitting the big red button at the bottom right of the desk.
Sounds of electrical surges could be heard and sparks began to fly in all directions as the robot came to life. Bit by bit the machine moved its body parts before coming to a full stand on the edge to the bed.
The mare quickly levitated a small disc containing an image of the seven ponies and inserted it into a slot in the back of the robot. Its eyes suddenly lit up and it began moving slowly to the exit of the tent. It stood for a second allowing time for the dark mare to join it outside and speak.
“Now go, do what you must do. Stop those ponies from finding the rest of the Moon Shards!”
And with that, the robot flattened it’s hands palms, facing them to the floor, firing pulse of heat and small flames with allowed it to steadily climb into the air before it levelled out horizontally and was gone in a flash, towards Fillydelphia.
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Using her enhanced pegasus sense of sight, Rainbow Dash scanned the ground from the skies at remarkable speeds whilst Fluttershy nervously stayed at lower altitudes slowly and carefully staring at the floor. As she passed through an alleyway something caught her eye by a large dumpster, it glinted from the sunlight as her eyes scanned that area. Feeling suddenly excited, Fluttershy quickened her pace and was next to the dumpster in no time, her eyes frantically looked back and forth in the immediate area, looking for the shiny object.
It was only when she landed, kicking up a small amount of dust, that she spotted it again. The dust caused a refraction of the sunlight, causing the object to glint again. She spotted it immediately, recognising the small object as a white shard, embossed with a half-moon shape on the front.
With a volume she didn’t think that she was capable of since the grand galloping gala, Fluttershy shouted as loud as she could to the others. “I’ve found it!”
Without hesitation, Rainbow Dash joined her fellow Pegasus to see the white gem. They were quickly joined by Twilight, Applejack, Rarity and Esalar, with Pinkie Pie bouncing along behind them all.
Esalar moved to the front of the group and lifted the shard with his magic. “This is definitely a Moon Shard. Well done Fluttershy.” The now quiet, yellow Pegasus shied away her head, blushing from the praise.
Esalar carefully placed the new Moon Shard into his saddlebag and turned to begin leading himself and the others back towards the hotel. As they reached the centre area again, they were stopped in their tracks. A loud crash and a large plume of dust formed in front of them as ponies around the facility gasped and screamed loudly. As the dust cleared, it revealed a large metallic structure that resembled some kind of humanoid creature, the alarms around the facility began to sound as the eyes of the creature began to glow.
Esalar took a large audible gulp as the metallic creation took a step forward towards them. “This isn’t going to end well.”
The seven ponies were split into two groups as the creature lifted its arm and swung it down with harmful force. Several minutes went by as the unknown entity continued to ruthlessly attack Esalar and his friends.
A narrow miss to Esalar’s head caused him to shout out. “What is this thing?!”
An unknown, male voice spoke out from above as a red coated, blonde maned Pegasus quickly descended to their level. “It’s a robot! Try and stay out of its way.”
Esalar nodded to this strange new pony and dodged another attack from the machine.
The new addition to the group took off towards to the robot, flipped around and kicked its head. The robot stumbled back slightly but quickly regained it posture, swinging its fist at the red stallion. The Pegasus couldn’t move quick enough and was hit directly on his right side, causing him to fall to the ground.
After wincing in pain for a second the red stallion slowly stood up. “I’m okay!”
Twilight took her place beside him for protection as she asked him his name.
“The names Ajuna” There wasn’t much time to talk as the robot smashed down with its arm again cutting the two ponies off from each other.
The battle continued for a while as the ponies kept dodging the machines attacks.
“Take this you ruffian!” Rarity screamed at the top of her lungs as she pounced towards the robot, but her timing was a little off as the machine turned, hitting her off to the side with quite some force.
“Rarity! No!” A shot of adrenaline ran through Esalar’s body as he sprinted to Rarity’s side. She seemed to be okay, just unconscious. It was when he turned around that Esalar felt something strange, a sense of anger and shock raced from his chest, down to his hooves and up to his horn. Ajuna had just been hit. The machines arm came down upon Ajuna and lifted up again with him in the robots grasp. The mechanical arm lifted slowly as the ponies watched in shock, they weren’t prepared to see what came next.
The arm flung forward and the hand released its grip, sending Ajuna flying through the air, looking horribly beaten and bruised as he was sent out of the facility walls, landing against the walls of an opposite building.
The feeling Esalar had been gaining was now maxed at this sight. His face changed expressions, from worry to pure anger. Opening his mouth, Esalar let out a roar that stopped everyone, including the robot, in their tracks. The tip of the blue stallion’s horn began to glow, brighter and brighter. Esalar began to lower his head, pointing his horn in the direction of the machine. A ball of light began to form at his horn, looking as though it was solid. As soon as Esalar felt he was ready, without hesitation, he released his built up energy.
A beam of pure light energy that was as bright as the sun shot from Esalar’s horn, narrowly missing Rainbow Dash as she flew down to see what was going on. It seemed to travel for a few more seconds than it should have before striking the robots body. The energy scraped against the metallic body for a few seconds before it pierced it, a loud explosion and flame ball followed that made all the ponies in the vicinity duck down to avoid flying shrapnel that they may not have seen through the gathering dust cloud.