Looming skyward, more imposing and beautiful than the very mountain upon which it was founded, stood Canterlot. The sky was clearer than even the great desert wasteland, but the sun refused to be so unforgiving. A small trickle of travelers, visitors, and trading caravans moved along the road beside the great railway. While the railway was certainly faster one particular traveler, being who he was simply couldn't stand the noisy things. Thus on the great road he had hid himself away, tucked amongst the multitudes of ponies.
The being's cloak and hood covering his entire body and masking all his features as it hovered mere millimeters above the ground. As cloaks went it was nothing overly special, at least not to the untrained eye. The were small swirls of green adorning the tattered brown, but they were so faint as to be almost indistinguishable or simply mistaken for stains.
Steadily they all moved forward, now following the slowly sloping road upwards towards the gates. The guards paid none of them any heed. Equestria had been at peace for so long that even the changeling invasion hadn't completely shaken their passivity and trust. At least not the solar guard's that was. If he had come at night the lunar guard would most certainly have stopped him, they were always far more protective.
Things being the one way and not the other, he simply passed through while the sun shown brightly through the noon-time air. The shadowed eyes and mouth twisted harshly at the lack of security in the capital, while it suited his purposes perfectly it was simply sloppy work.
His hooves carried him along the winding pathways and between the many merchant's shops and villas. The smallish brown case bouncing slightly against his side when he finally stopped. The instrument inside made no sounds, as it was padded and the case had been hoof-made specially for that singular instrument.
A tranquil path led forward to the doors of the palace, and a small line led inward, where the sun princess was holding the day-court. She would listen to the troubles of every pony who came, no matter how petty they might seem and pass judgement. Just as her sister presided over the night-court. Occasionally they would postpone one and oversee the day or night court together, as was the case today.
The cloaked figure waited patiently for those before him to have their say. Then at last his turn had come. He felt more so than saw the disapproving gaze of both princesses upon him.
"My little pony if you do not remove your cloak our guards will not allow you to approach further." To emphasize Celestia's point the guards moved into a slightly more defensible position. They managed to maintain looks of peaceful calm.
"My reasons for the cloak are my own, and it is unnecessary for me to be closer to speak with your majesties." The figure's voice rang out from his shadowed features.
"While it is slightly unusual, as you say your reasons are your own. We shan't take that away from you unless we art threatened." Luna spoke up, some of the old language still occasionally slipping out. "What is it you bring before the court?"
The figure let the hood fall back far enough to expose his grin as he began his tale.
"Long ago, after the fall of discord, Equestria was ruled by your majesties much as it was today. The solar princess in all her glory was the protector of magic and the shining day, a beacon to which all Unicorns could look. The lunar princess with her humble grandeur cared for the honest night and twinkling stars, a serene sky through which pegasi took wing.
"Yet it was not the same, for Equestria was not ruled by merely two sisters." Celestia and Luna sat shocked on their thrones as the pony before them recited tales they had thought buried and knowledge recorded only in the deepest sections of the archives. "It was at first a Triarchy. The gaian princess was the most unique and powerful of the three, for she ruled over the earth from which all life had sprung. She was the guardian of the generous valleys, laughing oceans, kind forests, and loyal deserts. Together their rule brought about harmony to all the lands of the world.
"But a great evil rose up from the void between the stars, and only she was strong enough to face it. So she took to the sky and the stars beyond and waged a great battle with the creature. And while she must have defeated it, for it never did return, she was lost to the eternity of the beyond. In her grief the lunar princess let herself fall into the hooves of another evil, and was banished to the moon.
"Both Sisters had thought their beloved eldest was gone for good, but a spark had been left behind."
The two princesses froze in their thrones and listened with rapt attention as he continued to speak. The guards shifted uneasily and one made to move forward to send the strange crazy pony on his way. He was stopped when a large deep blue wing blocked his path of travel.
"My mother knew she would not return, and left me to take over for her when I was finally ready. After so long it is good to finally meet you dear aunts." His cloak billowed off as his wings extended to their full length, and his horn glowed as he flung it aside. "I am the only son of your sister Terra. My name is Jord." His vine-like mane and tail billowed behind him, as he released the shrinking spell and rose to a height equal of the princesses. His Cutie Mark was a green and blue orb - recognizable as equestria to only the three of them. "I have come to claim my place amongst the Triarchy, and rule as my mother would have wished. Alongside the only remains of my family." He smiled warmly.
A silence spread slowly over the whole of Canterlot, as word spread. Only one phrase passed through everyone's head. 'Change was coming.'