//------------------------------// // Your Majesty // Story: The Ponyteers // by RainbowWarrior //------------------------------// On their way to Canterlot, Twilight figured it was her turn to inform their guests about the workings of Equestria and its royalty. "So how is it that you know the Princesses?" asked Gi. "You must be a very important pony." "Gi, you don't know the half of it. Prepare for a snooze-fest." quickly replied Rainbow Dash before Twilight could start one of her expected sleep-inducing lectures. "Don't worry, Rainbow. I'll keep this concise as possible." Twilight assured the impatient pegasus. "Anyway, when I was a filly at 8 years old, I got my cutie mark in magic." "Vhat kind?" asked Linka. "All kinds. I'm skilled in magic in general. I'm not limited to a certain division or branch of magic, like transfiguration or divinity or hydrokinesis like you, Gi. Anyway, the day I got it, Princess Celestia not only secured my spot in her School for Gifted Unicorns, but became her personal student. And to this day I've become one of the nation's best scholars and spell casters." "Well If you're so powerful and important, then how come you live in Ponyville and not in your big, capital city?" asked Wheeler. "It's true that I was born and raised in Canterlot, but there was a special assignment that I'm still carrying out since two years ago. I've come to learn about the magic of friendship." She saw the American's mouth start to move, and figuring he would start mocking her about how lame it seemed, Twilight cut him off. "-And Friendship is a genuine and legitimate form of magic, and is the most powerful known to pony kind, so don't cast it as "useless"". She rolled her eyes towards Wheeler as he closed his mouth. "That's where the six of us came in. The most powerful magic we know is harnessed within the Elements of Harmony. They are meant to, and can purify or banish any corruption, hatred, evil, or chaos that causes any harm to the land, ponies, or between ponies. They consist of Honesty," Twilight pointed to Applejack sitting next to her by the window. "Kindness," as Twilight pointed to Fluttershy, sitting next to Rarity in the seat in front of her. "Laughter", she said as she pointed to Pinkie Pie from the seat across from her, waving at them. "Generosity." ,she pointed to Rarity. "Loyalty" she reached her hoof over to Rainbow Dash, next to Pinkie pie. "And I myself am the Element of Magic. Just like you ponies, we are the living embodiments and bearers of our respective elements." Ma-Ti was curious about his power and theirs. "Can you use your powers to make ponies more generous or kind to one another?" "I'm afraid not. Alone, the magic within the elements doesn't work like that. You can't use them to influence the thoughts and emotions of other ponies; individually that is. Only when they're combined together do they wield immense power. When I first arrived in Ponyville, there was a big festival called the Summer Sun Celebration that I was to oversee. And I was a student who read books all day and didn't have, or see a need for any friends. Princess Celestia was supposed to raise the sun, kicking off summer. But in her place, she was kidnapped by Nightmare Moon. She once was our Princess Luna, a good pony turned by an evil after she thought no pony cared for her nights she maintained. She once tried to make Nighttime last forever, but Princess Celestia used the Elements of Harmony to banish her to the moon for a millennium. After the banishment spell wore off, she returned and vowed to make Eternal night again. But I made friends with these ponies here, and we were able to find, activate, and wield the Elements of Harmony. We freed the Princess and purified Nightmare Moon so she would become Princess Luna." "So you're a national hero that saved Equestria? You deserve more recognition!" exclaimed Wheeler. "Twice, actually. A year later, an ancient evil creature named Discord broke free from his prison. His magic was that of chaos, or disharmony. He managed to turn the six of us into the opposites of ourselves: liars, traitors, brutes, grumps, and greedy ponies. We caused each other to fight and break up so the Elements wouldn't work when we tried to use them. But we manged to defeat him. Because we learned that Friendship isn't always easy, but it's definitely worth fighting for!" Twilight said proudly. Then, the Train started to slow down, towards it arrival. The Planeteers looked out the window and saw a massive alabaster city and castle on top of a mountain. As they got closer, they saw the tall spires and buttresses and domes that made up the city's architecture. Moments later, the train came to a stop at the main station. The ponies all got off and started walking towards the castle. The Planeteers just smiled and looked around at the cafes and high-society ponies hanging around the streets. "Nice place ya got here, but it's no New York." said Wheeler. "Thank you. And I'm guessing this New York you keep yammering on about place is a city on Earth?" asked Twilight. "My home city, and it's only the greatest city in the world!" Before he could start his boasting streak about his birthplace and country, Kwame interrupted. "Twilight. Does your Princess even know that you are coming here?" "Of course. I sent a letter to her." The Bearer of Earth was confused. "A mail system is something I didn't grow up with and only learned about a just a few years ago, but a letter would take days to be processed. And we only met each other last night." "How right you are, Kwame. But remember Spike?" "Yeah, where is the little guy?" asked Wheeler. "He's watching the library for the day. Spike can breathe fire, and a special magical green fire. When I need to send a letter to the Princesses, Spike burns it up, but it instantly teleports the letter to Princess Celestia's current location." "Interesting. And did you tell her about our connection to the natural elements." "That's exactly what you're going to demonstrate for her. I arranged for us to meet her in the courtyard and gardens so you would use your powers better outdoors. Ah! We're here." The eleven ponies suddenly realized that they were standing in front of a wooden drawbridge to an immense castle precariously perched over a steep cliff side. The castle must have been twenty stories high, and decorated with purple and yellow turrets and minarets. It was painted white with a tint of lavender as it glistened in the afternoon sun, much like the rest of Canterlot. An earth pony guard wearing a golden Roman helmet and armor stood at the gate and he straightened up and stood aside for Twilight Sparkle and friends as they stepped inside. Twilight led them behind the grand staircase and through several corridors covered with paintings and suits of armor. Eventually, they wound up outside in a lush and green garden adjacent to a large ballroom. "Princess? Princess Celestia?" Twilight called out. To her dismay, her mentor wasn't anywhere in the gardens. "Did you arrange a specific meetin' time? Or she said sumthin' about a different about a meetin' place?" Applejack asked her. "No, I said to meet her here in the gardens at 2 PM. She's always punctual about these. Wait, am I an hour early or late? Did I forget to set my clocks back for daylight savings? Or is this A TEST?" Twilight started hyperventilating and losing her cool. Linka whispered to Pinkie Pie "Does she always overreact to zese things?" "Are you loco in the coco? One time she thought the world was ending because she saw a grim-looking Twilight claiming she was from the future, warning about what will happen in a matter of days, so she ran herself ragged trying to prevent it. And then she and me and Spike snuck into the Canterlot Archives to steal a time traveling spell, and Twilight temporarily back to the past to warn her not to overreact, but it turned out that her overreacting about what happened made her look so grim in her travel back in time." she said in one breath. Confused from the rambling pink pony's tale. Linka blurted out: "I-I'm sorry. What?" Suddenly, a bright yellow and white light exploded in front of the ponies, causing them to cover their eyes. When they uncovered them, Twilight's friends and The Planeteers saw a majestic snow-white alicorn that was twice Twilight's size. She had large, angel-like wings resting on her sides. Her horn was fairly thin and nearly a foot long. Her mane and tail was made of a pastel green, pink, and blue; and seemed to sway in the wind despite there was to wind to blow it around. Twilight and her friends got on their knees and bowed their heads before her. "I apologize for my tardiness." she spoke. Her voice was powerful, and yet very gentle so a child could approach her. "I had a last-minute run in with a griffin envoy. Their fishing grounds off the Manehattan coast suddenly went completely bare and needed to negotiate a temporary trade agreement. I told them to meet with me in my throne room in an hour." She then noticed the five ponies she didn't recognize. "Twilight, are these the ponies you told me about from your accident?" "Yes they are, Princess. I'd like you to meet Wheeler, Linka, Ma-Ti, Kwame, and Gi. They each represent one of the natural elements, and I accidentally brought them here upon summoning the natural elemental manifestations like you told me to." "Hmmmmmmm........." the Princess quirked an eye. "So you teleported five ponies from their homes instead of the expected crystal or gemstone the elemental powers could be harnessed in?" "Ya not that far off." Wheeler spoke up. "See this?" he rhetorically asked Celestia. Gi and Kwame held their hooves to their held, shaking them, muttering "Please don't. Please don't......" Spying a gate nearby behind the Princess, he saw that it was secured by a single iron padlock. He pointed his ringed hoof to the lock as he yelled "FIRE!". Out shot a scarlet beam of light from his hoof as it was concentrated on the thick, U-shaped shackle. The beam instantly melted through the shackle, like a hot knife through butter as the lock clattered to the ground. Princess Celestia went wide-eyed in amazement. "How did you?" "My ring." He pointed to the ruby embedded in his silver bracelet ."That gemstone was what we're guessing Twilight tried to make. She summoned me and my friends instead, and I have no idea why." While he talked, Celestia picked up the lock with her magic. He fed the broken shackle through the loop and fused the break in it back to normal, undoing the firebug's process. "I see. And are you the leader of your little faction?" "I wish. That's Kwame's job." Wheeler and the Princess had walked back to the other ponies, where he could see his leader looking down and kneeling before some withering daisies in a dry patch of land. To his right was an empty planter. "Kwame, what are ya doin'? We're here to tell royalty about our magical powers, not gardening tips!" Kwame just laughed. "Either is perhaps better than simply melting iron locks." Wheeler rolled his eyes. "EARTH!" Kwame shouted as a green beam from his hoof shone upon the flowers. He expected to just lift the soil with the flower roots intact and put them into the planter, but something else happened: As he started to lift, the wilted flowers started erecting as their stems turned a richer green, and the daisies themselves sprung new white petals in the place where they were blackened, dried-out, or missing. In awe of this new feat, he decided to leave the flowers where they were and let his apparently new super-soil enrichment do its work. When he cast his powers off, it was as if the daisies never succumbed to their sickly state. He turned to face Celestia with an explanation. "Princess, I did not mean for that to happen. I just tried to move your flowers with the soil into that box over there, but somehow I made the ground extremely fertile instead. My powers were of manipulating earth, but not like this." "Hmmm....." Celestia muttered. She inhaled while Kwame looked worried. He just wanted to be back on Earth. Did the all-powerful monarch of a kingdom think this was dark magic? He feared that she would keep them in custody for weeks of interrogation and magic and scientific tests. "Could I see the other powers?" Kwame sighed in relief. "With pleasure." said Linka. She held up her gold and diamond-ringed hoof towards Twilight, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, and Rarity. "WIND!" she exclaimed. The moment she said her power, a vortex of wind sucked up the four. The mini-tornado acted as a centrifuge that spun the ponies high up into the air. "AAAAAUUUUUUGGGGHHHHHH!" screamed Rarity, Twilight, and Applejack "WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!" screamed Pinkie Pie, who in contrast was enjoying her flight. Down below, Linka looked at Gi and nodded at her. She nodded back. Gi put her ring up and yelled "WATER!". She didn't know where the water she needed to manipulate came from, but there had to be some system of keeping this garden hydrated. As her ring glowed blue, a nearby spigot suddenly gushed water without being turned on. The deluge was stopped in mid air as Gi brought it up the forming bubble towards Linka's vortex. She elongated and shaped the water into a long, thick bubble that enveloped the four ponies, save for their heads. Linka stopped the wind as Gi slowly and safely brought down Twilight and her friends. As they touched the ground, Gi brought the bubble back up over them, and thoroughly dispersed her element all over the garden in a fine mist. "Gi, darling." said Rarity. "Could you perhaps next time ASK US if you want to demonstrate your abilities?!" she yelled. "And what abilities you have!" Princess Celestia said. "I am impressed. All of you possess powerful magic. Elemental magic like yours is a rather new branch that there is much to learn from. And I'm glad you have come here to donate your time for a demonstration." "Thanks for the offer, P.C., but we're not here for to do magical research." Wheeler said. "We need to get home. We're not from Equestria." Celestia frowned at this. "Please address me as Princess, Princess Celestia, Your Majesty, or Your Highness. I don't deal with such informalities amongst ponies who are not my subjects, never mind ponies I do not know. Otherwise, where is your home?" "Our home is called Earth." Kwame spoke up, making sure Wheeler wouldn't interrupt with another insult. "We call our alliance the Planeteers, and the Spirit of the Earth, Gaia, is our leader." Suddenly, the Princess' eyes went wide and suddenly inhaled a gasp. Twilight noticed this. "Is there a problem, Princess?" asked Twilight. After pausing for several moments, she said "I want all of you to stay here for the night. I have dozens of rooms here in the castle you can all sleep in. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to talk to those griffins I met with earlier. All of you are free to roam around the castle. Dinner is at 6:30. Good-bye!" She teleported out of sight in a brilliant lit-up fashion, the same way she came into sight. "What was that all about?" asked Ma-Ti. "I don't know, Ma-Ti. But I think that either alarmed the Princess, or she struck up on an idea." said Twilight. Remembering her rushed exit, she added "I really hope it's the second one." ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- That night, the Planeteers and the Elements of Harmony were fed a gourmet dinner and found their rooms. The Planeteers took 5 adjacent bedrooms on the fourth floor, each with a four-poster bed with their windows facing Canterlot. Twilight's friends took the rooms on the opposite side of the hall. Twilight went to her old room in the Library tower. In the meantime, Twilight wrote to Spike to tell him he'll be alone for the night, and to tell Applebloom and Sweetie Belle that their sisters are in Canterlot until tomorrow. Afterwards, every pony was bushed from the traveling and performances. They all eventually went to sleep; all save for Princess Celestia. After handing over her throne to Princess Luna so she could conduct the Night Court, Celestia crept down into a hidden cellar towards the back of the castle. Inside the cellar were several notes and scrolls, scrawled in runic symbols and diagrams. But the most noticeable feature was the large mirror in the back of the room. She touched her horn to the mirror, and the runes engraved in the gilded mirror frame lit up in a brilliant white. She let her horn off and channeled her magic into the mirror. She focused on one thing in her mind. Gaia. After moments of channeling and focusing, the mirror lost its reflectivity and revealed a foreign blue ocean. Celestia kept focusing, and that ocean zoomed in to reveal an island. The island had a tall, purple mountain, and rich and fertile jungle surrounding its base. The zooming continued to reveal figure that had a strange form to Celestia. The figure was a woman meditating cross-legged on a stone dias inside the mountain. She had no fur, except on the top her head. This "fur" was very long, wavy, and black as it went past her shoulders. Her skin was tinted bronze. She wore lavender-dyed silken robes. Celestia had seen enough. "Gaia." she whispered.