Chapter 10
Twilight Sparkle
"Quick! We need to go after her," Twilight said. She had rushed to the window and was watching Princess Celestia fly away.
"How are we going to follow her? None of us can fly, and those who can are injured and can't," Rarity said, as she gestured towards Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash, both of whom had wing injuries.
Luna stood slowly and whistled loudly.
Suddenly, a pegasus poked his head through the window, nearly bashing into Twilight's face. Twilight looked down to see Luna's large chariot hovering below the window, two pegasi harnessed in, their wings flapping. Luna walked over to the window.
"Troy, we're going to need more of you to pull the chariot. There are seven of us coming all together," Luna said, addressing the pegasi at the window.
"I'll go find more guards, your Highness," Troy said. He then took off, flying so fast, it almost seemed as though he disappeared in midair.
"What about the rest of us?" Inkie asked.
"I'm sorry," Luna said, her voice genuine, "But there is not enough room in my chariot for all of you. I would take you all, if I could. But only myself and the Elements of Harmony will be able to go."
Blinkie nodded in agreement, and then stomped out something.
"I want you to stay here and try to fend off the changelings. Guard over Princess Cadance," Luna said, gesturing towards the unconscious pink princess.
Blinkie nodded, and then turned to Inkie and began to stomp out something else.
"They're here," Twilight said. She gestured out the window, where four more royal guardian pegasi were being harnessed to the chariot. Five out of six of them were Luna's guards, but one of them was Celestia's. Twilight recognized CloudsArmour and Titan Wings.
"Quickly, everypony into the chariot," Luna said.
Applejack and Fluttershy helped lower Rainbow Dash into the chariot first. Then they got in themselves, then Twilight and Rarity. Pinkie Pie gave her sisters a quick hug and then jumped into the chariot. Luna was the last to enter.
"How will we find her?" Twilight asked, as the chariot took off.
"Now that I know what her presence as a possessed alicorn feels like , I can sense her properly again," Luna said.
"Where are we heading to, Princess?" Troy asked, who was sitting at the front of the chariot.
Luna didn't answer. Instead, she closed her eyes and her horn glowed. She murmured something that Twilight didn't understand, and then suddenly, in front of them was a sparkly, silver trail.
"Follow this path. This is the way my sister went," Luna said, "And fly as fast as you can."
The chariot was cramped, and the silvery trail seemed to go on endlessly.
"How are you holding up Rainbow Dash?" Applejack asked quietly.
Rainbow Dash winced, as the chariot jostled around.
"Princess Luna, is there anything you can do to ease her suffering?" Twilight asked, giving her rainbow friend a concerned look.
"Oh my—please forgive my manners. My thoughts are so preoccupied with my sister, I... I just feel foolish now," Luna said. Her horn glowed again, as did Rainbow Dash's wing. After a few seconds, it stopped.
"Celestia is better at healing, than I," Luna said, "I seemed to have lost that ability when the dark magic took over me. It seems as though I traded it for something else. Anyways, while your wing is not completely healed, it should no longer feel pain now. Though I do advise not to fly until it is properly healed."
"Thank you, princess," Rainbow Dash said, "It doesn't hurt at all anymore! That's amazing."
"What do you mean you traded your healing abilities for something else?" Twilight asked.
"That is more of a metaphor; it just seems that some of the magical attributes that Celestia and I used to share are no longer with me. Instead I have different powers, that she does not possess, but that Chrysalis does," Luna explained.
"Princess, why do you think the Element of Magic worked, even though I did not have the crown?" Twilight asked.
Princess Luna smiled.
"Dear Twilight; the Element of Magic lives in you. You are the bodily representation of it. You do not need those silly trinkets to really harness the Element's power. The power lives in you," Luna explained, still smiling, "Celestia and I never used trinkets when we used to use the Elements of Harmony. The reason we gave you those pieces, was so that you were not tempted to use the power in your everyday lives."
"Everyday lives? You mean we can access the power any time we want? We don't even need each other to do so?" Twilight asked, shocked. The faces of her friends expressed the same surprise.
"Yes, in a way. The power is limited and not as powerful when one Element is used on its own; they work better together, because together they make up Harmony. We did not want this power to be abused, and although we trusted all of you with the Elements of Harmony, and believe that you would not abuse this power, sometimes... sometimes the greed of power can sneak up on you, without you even knowing it," Luna said. Twilight guessed she was reflecting on her time as Nightmare Moon. "So Celestia created the trinkets so that you would think you needed them to use the power."
"But when Discord came back, and the 'Elements', the crown and necklaces, were missing, Celestia insisted that we find them again," Twilight said.
Luna sighed. "Since Discord helped create the seed of darkness within myself, Celestia wanted to make sure that you were strong enough to defeat him and work together. That is most likely why she told you to find the crown and necklaces, to ensure that you could work past Discord's tricks."
"That Princess Celestia, always testin' us," Applejack said with a chuckle. "I wonder how she was able to send us to all those different places and save us n' stuff, while bein' possessed."
"Save you? Send you places?" Luna asked.
"When we first escaped from the pods, we ran into the labyrinth and then we were separated, and each given a task. Mine was to find you," Twilight explained. "And then just a few hours ago, when we were trying to fight Chrysalis, she was coming towards us, seemingly going to destroy us, when we were all saved and sent away."
"Except some of us appeared where a weathervane was, and ended up worse," Rainbow Dash said.
"Anyways," Twilight said, "In the beginning, we all heard what sounded like Princess Celestia's voice. And then the warmth that enveloped us and sent us away seemed like her magic too."
"I did not think my sister was that strong," Luna murmured quietly.
"We're not one hundred percent sure, but it sounded like her," Twilight explained.
"I guess we'll know the truth after we save her," Fluttershy said.
"Just how long is this path? Where are we going?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"I have a speculation of where we're going. It may be a long ride. We'll just have to wait and see," Luna said.
It had been nearly two hours. Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy had fallen asleep. Rarity and Pinkie Pie were playing cards—Twilight wasn't surprised when the pink pony had randomly pulled out a deck—and the rest of them sat quietly, watching the scenery go by. The night was beginning to fade, and the first few peaks of morning were starting to show, as they traveled further and further east, towards where the rising sun would be.
"We're not in Equestria anymore, are we?" Twilight asked quietly. Luna shook her head.
"We left its borders a half hour ago," the princess murmured.
"Where are we then?" Applejack asked.
The landscape around them was barren and grey. Naked black trees twisted in a forest below, and tall, sharp mountains were everywhere. The silvery trail led between the mountains, traveling further and further into a thick cluster of them.
"We're in an unclaimed land, run by monsters," Luna said quietly.
"How can it be unclaimed?" Twilight asked.
"It has the same magical properties as the Everfree Forest," Luna said. That explained it well enough.
The trail led into a thick patch of fog. As they chariot entered it, Twilight could barely see in front of her face, let alone the trail any more.
"Land just over there," Luna said suddenly. How she, or the pegasi pulling the chariot, could see was beyond Twilight's knowledge.
The chariot began to descend, and landed softly on a platform. The fog began to thin. Twilight stepped off of the chariot, the others following, and she looked around. Dark black mountains surrounded them, and they were very high up on one of them. A dark cave was in front of them. Thunder rolled over head.
"W-W-W-What's that?" Fluttershy stuttered. She pointed her hoof at something up ahead.
Twilight followed the line of her hoof. Towering above them, on the next platform up, was a dark, steep castle. It looked run down and extremely old. Inside one of the broken windows, Twilight thought she saw something glowing green. Twilight could see the silvery trail leading inside the castle.
"Where are we?" Twilight whispered.
A crash of lightning illuminated the castle. Luna stepped to the front of the group and took a deep breath. She looked up at the castle.
"Chrysalis's castle."