“It is the deep breath before the plunge”
-Gandalf, The Return of the King
"Stop moving so much," Twilight snapped in annoyance, her hoof glowing a soft white as she gently ran it along her brother’s brow. The magic seeped from her foreleg like syrup, flowing along the white stallion's face and filling his veins with vitality. "Shining, I swear you are acting like a foal! No, worse than a foal… a foal might actually listen to me.”
“Thanks Twilight,” Shining said.
“No need to be sarcastic.”
“I wasn’t being sarcastic… thanks Twilight.”
Even after she had used her magic to heal him Twilight had found her brother dangerously underweight. She'd been ready to teleport them someplace safe when Shining had knocked her horn with his hoof, shaking his head furiously as she and Spike stared at him.
"I'll explain when we are hidden...” he’d told them, “but you can't risk teleporting, not unless it is getting us farther away and even then I wouldn't risk it."
He'd refused to go on in further detail and Twilight had huffed before lifting him onto her back and galloping towards an inn she had spotted a few miles back.
Now they were safely secured in a room, Shining taking the bed while Spike kept watch out the window. While the starry alicorn knew that the guards that had beaten her brother were gone she wasn’t foolish enough to believe that there wouldn’t be more coming. Twilight had set herself up as a nurse and was trying to get her brother healed, despite his warnings about magic.
"Twilight... Twilight you need to forget about me. Now that you are here the mission is all that matters."
"Shining, I don't know what this so-called mission is but it is not more important than you. Not to me, anyway.”
“I thought you hated me,” Shining said softly.
Twilight shook her head. “I’ve grown up a lot, Shining. Discovered new things and… well, it doesn’t matter at the moment but I’m not angry anymore. I will be if you keep shifting though, so be good and just lie there, ok?"
The stallion closed his eyes, his body tense as Twilight worked her magic. "This isn't the right course."
"It is the one I have chosen, big brother, and I am the one with the strength and endurance here." She smirked slightly, pressing him down against the bed. "Even without the whole alicorn thing I don't think you have the strength to make me do anything I don't want."
"You do remember your siblings, right?" Spike said, gagging slightly at the sight of Twilight practically straddling her brother.
Twilight and Shining rolled their eyes. "Hush up, Spike," the two both said.
"Yeah yeah..." Spike grumped, turning back to the window.
"Shining, what the hay happened?" Twilight asked as she began working on restoring some of his muscle mass. "Did Discord escape or something?"
"No... I wish it were Discord. We stood a chance again him." Shining settled again the bed, letting his little sister work her magic. “I wonder what would happen if he was here… some of us even discussed letting him out, to fight fire with fire… but I was worried that he’d be amplified like the rest and then we’d be in trouble.”
"Shining…. what happened?"
"You aren't going to like it."
"I do not like it right now, so you might as well make it worse," Twilight stated with a huff.
"Alright." Shining yawned; the stress of the day was getting to him. "It all started... maybe a week after you left? It's hard to remember... feels longer than that and yet shorter... you know what I mean?" He took several deep breaths and Twilight could see her brother's heart beating rapidly in his chest. "It wasn't like a bang or anything... I think that's why we weren't prepared. If it had happened suddenly, without warning, we could have managed. But it was more insidious. It was like the changeling attack; it was subtle and silent and the master stroke didn't fall until it was too late. None of us had time to react and we all paid the price."
"Shining... what happened?" Twilight urged.
"Your friends... they were going about their lives like normal. After you left, I mean. We all kinda took it hard but they were the best of the group. They just kept reminding us that you needed to leave to get your head on straight and that you’d come back and they looked forward to it. It was hard to doubt them when all five of them were looking at us with their wide eyes and cheerful smiles.
“ The princesses and I got letters from them and nothing seemed out of the ordinary. They would talk about what they learned about friendship and what they were doing… occasionally they would talk about missing you.” Shining, despite himself, smiled. “They also talked about other friends that they had suffered falling outs with and how they wanted to make it right. I think you had more of an affect on them then you realized with your whole vacation, Twiley.
“One day Fluttershy wrote and asked if they could come and look at the Elements of Harmony. She was real sweet about it, saying if we were busy they could wait but... but your friends had decided to look into the Elements, after what happened with Doubt. Celestia agreed, of course; I think she was trying to make things right after the way you two parted and she was hoping for some brownie points." Shining chuckled when he saw his sister's scowl. "Yeah, sounds funny to me too but that was my impression."
Shining reached over, grasping a glass of water between his hooves and taking a long drought. Droplets ran down his chin and onto his chest but he showed no sign of noticing or caring. Now that he had begun his tale it was like a runaway wagon and there was no way to stop it till it came crashing down.
"I first realized something was wrong when they appeared in court. They looked... different. It's hard to describe... there was a maturity about them. I know they are fully grown mares but still... it was like they had truly become adults. An innocence was gone from them, liked they’d lived a lifetime. They were still polite and kind but something was off. I wish I had pressed them more but... but I guess there isn't much I can do about that now, right?
"Princess Celestia greeted them warmly enough and I was barely paying attention. The whole court was there and we all assumed it would be a quick meeting and then Celestia would begin with the normal activities of the day. Except Applejack cleared her throat and told the princess that the five of them had been thinking about things. Bad things. Mistakes and wrongs and things that had been done that hurt Equestria. She spoke about Nightmare Moon and Discord and the changelings and Doubt and some things that I don't even get but it seemed to leave Celestia shaken...
~49 Days Ago...~
Celestia stared at the farmer, trying to maintain the veneer of nobility and grace. "My little ponies... why do you bring up such things?"
Applejack’s face was as hard as a plow’s blade and her gaze could have cut through stone. When she spoke it was with all the brutality of a war club smashing into a face. "Because we realize that all of them can be laid at your hooves, Princess, and the hooves of your sister. The two of you have caused so much pain and suffering these last 1000 years and the five of us believe that such faults must be corrected, swiftly and with precision."
Celestia shook her head. "Applejack, all ponies have faults, even you. I am not different than any of you... and I have paid the price for them."
"You are wrong, Princess," Rainbow Dash said, moving to stand beside Applejack. The others joined the two, the same look of resolve on their faces. "You are nothing like us..."
There was a great crash as if a bolt of thunder had cracked through the air above their heads. The light was blinding and ponies cried out in shock, shielding their eyes against the brilliant glow that invaded their line of sight. None were immune to its effects, not even the princesses. Celestia and Luna, controls of the sun and moon, fell back against the intensity of the light.
And as swiftly as it had come it ended... and in the fading illumination it became clear that the five friends had been affected as well... but not as any would have suspected.
Where once had stood five average size mares there were now grand alicorns, each radiating with power and dignity. All that saw them found they could only stare for a moment, for the beauty of the five was so awe-inspiring that they could not bear it. And as they looked away they looked upon themselves and were ashamed of their ugliness and fell to their bellies and wept.
"Please... there is no need for tears," Fluttershy said softly, her long pink hair billowing out like great curtains caught in a breeze. "This is not the time for sadness or despair. So... please stop."
Pinkie Pie bounced foward, her grin so large it was hard to image how she managed to maintain it. "That's right, you sobby sobs! Today is a wonderful day! Don't worry... we'll have you laughing and cheering soon enough!"
Luna, who had remained silent for all this time, slowly inched her head up so she could stare at the five mares. "What... what have you done?"
"Hey, we've done nothing that wasn't needed to be done!" Rainbow Dash declared proudly, puffing out her chest. "We figured that Twilight had the right idea... even if she did it for the wrong reasons!"
"Twilight allowed herself to be corrupted by Doubt and now thinks only of herself," Rarity stated nobly. "But we forgive her... it is not her fault. We all played a part in her fall and when she returns we will save her and make her like us.” The fashionista leveled a cool gaze upon the sisters. “Still... though the ends are tainted the means by which she went about them held merit."
Applejack nodded and her newly formed horn flared. The crowd gasped as the five elements appeared around their necks, flashing in sequence before they transformed into royal jewelry. Each of the new alicorns now wore a gold crown, necklace and shoes; all of these bore their cutie mark upon them.
"For far too long all of you in Equestria have suffered! Suffered because you have not had the right guiding hoof lead you into the light. But that time is now over!" Applejack rose in the air, as did her four friends, addressing the crowd. "We, the remaining Elements of Harmony, declare that we shall take our rightful places as rulers of Equestria!"
Celestia and Luna step forward, their eyes dark and heads held high. The solar princess stared up the five alicorns and spoke. “Girls… your ideas are noble but your methods are foolish. If you want to enact change then do so in your towns and neighborhood. But to come here and make such a declaration… it speaks of just how little you truly know.”
“Change must come and it must be swift… and that change must start with you.” Applejack took a challenging step forward. “Stand down or we will make you stand down.”
“Don’t make us hurt you, please,” Fluttershy pleaded.
“You will try,” Luna said, charging her magic.
~MC~MC~MC~
“I’ve never seen a battle like that, Twiley. Never.” Shining swallowed, his tongue working along his chapped lips. His gaze was elsewhere as he remembered that terrible day, the memory of those sounds of battle echoing through his ears. “You… you can not image what it was like to witness it. Nightmare Moon was nothing compared to that… Discord was terrible beyond measure and yet with him it was not as frightening. And the changelings… I’ve always thought that would be the worst day of my life, the day I lost you and nearly lost Cadence. And yet… and yet that day, Twiley… that day was the worst.”
“What happened?” Spike asked.
“War,” the captain said. “War happened.”