//------------------------------//
// Follow Polaris 
// Story: The Creation of Harmony 
// by Time Ponies are cool 
//------------------------------//

Chapter XXI: Follow Polaris
Twilight Sparkle stood in the hall outside of Starswirl's library and admired the stained-glass windows containing ancient texts. The Doctor and Starswirl allowed the ponies to go out and explore the castle while they spent the past few hours examining the scroll that Starswirl showed them earlier. Twilight was awed by the beautiful glass calligraphy and even more so by the beauty of the words. She had been studying ancient Equinese back in 21st century Ponyville and was semi-fluent, but thanks to the TARDIS translation matrix, she could read the text effortlessly. She stood in front of a speech that she had been working on making her own translation of. It was the elegy given by Queen Bella at the funeral of her husband King Dux I, who died in battle two years after the beginning of the Five-Hundred Year War. 
The Pony King led an army of pegasi and earth ponies that cut a destructive swath through the kingdom of Drakonia and reached the Salt Flats of Pedwar Draig. The pegasi brought with them rain clouds to counter the dragons' fires. But the Dragon King, Cyfiawnder, was a step ahead and set up an ambush. As the pony army trudged across the salt flats, they reached a point where there were seasonal periods of powerful Easterly winds. The winds blew away the clouds brought by the pegasi and then a small army of white dragons led by Cyfiawnder and cleverly camouflaged into the flats, attacked the army. King Dux I quickly erected a magic wall to protect his army from the dragons. In response, King Cyfiawnder, concentrated all his energy into creating a powerful beam of white fire. He let loose the beam, which penetrated the wall and burned through King Dux's chest. At the last moment, just before his death, Dux took some of the power from the white fire and redirected it into his horn, giving himself a moment of unparalleled magical power. He used the power to teleport himself and what remained of his army to safety, through the greatest distance any teleportation spell had ever reached in all of recorded history.
Twilight found that the TARDIS translation was very different from her translation.
"On the ground in silence sit,
The old ponies of daughter Dienocte.
They strew dust on their manes,
And gird themselves with broken saddles.
Worn out from weeping are our eyes,
Within us all is in despair.
Our sorrow is poured out on the ground,
Because of the downfall of the leader of our people.
Cry out to the Queen.
Moan, oh daughter Dienocte.
Let your tears flow like a torrent day and night.
How tarnished is the gold,
How changed the noble metal.
How the sacred stones lie strewn,
At every street corner!
The joy of our hearts has ceased,
Our dance has turned into mourning.
The garlands have fallen from our heads.
Woe to us, for we have been smote!
Over this our hearts are sick,
At this our eyes grow dim.
That Dienocte should be desolate,
With timberwolves roaming there!"
Twilight was intrigued by the poem. Everypony who knew about the abduction of King Concordius surely felt the same way as those ponies in the funeral of Dux I.
From behind her, Twilight heard Applejack's voice. "Hey, Twi. Come in here. I think Starswirl and the Doctor got something." Applejack then went off to fetch Rarity, who was conversing with one of the guards, Fluttershy, who was out in the Royal Gardens, and Pinkie, who was in the courtyard hard at work slowly pouring copious amounts of honey into a cup of tea.
Twilight recited the incantation and entered Starswirl's library. Starswirl the Bearded and the Doctor, who was wearing his glasses, were by a North-facing window looking over the scroll. Derpy was napping on a cloud just outside the window on the far side of the library. The Sun was now upon the Eastern horizon and slightly higher up. The gibbous Moon remained rotating at the center of the Sky.
"So there's a text somewhere around here that tells us how to create a magic powerful enough to defeat an alicorn."
"Aye. It sayeth hither, 'No sum of horn, wing or hoof may stand against it. It shall be the bane of the most nefarious of villains. Demons shall tremble in fear of it. But, lo, to the righteous, it gives the power of a hundred kings and queens.' I hath found no other magic that seem to be comparable to it, save for the power of the almighty gods."
Twilight approached them and said, "Um, hi. Do you two need me?"
"Ah, yes! Come here, Twilight." The Doctor said, gesturing for Twilight to come to his side and look at the scroll. "This scroll here says that there's a text somewhere in the upper castle - the part of the castle we've been in, you haven't seen the lower castle yet, that's where the nobles live - but anyway, and that text will tell us how to create the Elements of Harmony, or something like it, or maybe something completely different. I don't know. But it is very powerful and was meant for the worst situations. So it's a matter of finding that text. And we have to find it soon. I don't know what the Master's planning, but whatever it is, it has something to do with the chaos in the sky."
"The location of the text hath eluded me for many decades." Starswirl said, "The queen, Magia, blest be she, wrote this prophecy. Noble and powerful though she was, the gods seemed to hath cursed her with dreadful and horrid visions in her sleep. After one such sleep-vision, she wrote this, and 'twas stored within this library for seven centuries."
"'Sleep-vision'?" Twilight asked.
The Doctor whispered a reply in her ear. "They don't have the word nightmare yet. In fact, the word comes from Nightmare Moon, who won't be around for another thousand years, approximately."
"Know you not what a sleep-vision is, madam?"
"Oh, sorry, never mind," Twilight said, "Forget I said anything. My mind was just going blank. Hehe..."
They heard the door open behind them and Applejack, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie and Rarity entered. The sound of the door woke Derpy and soon she sleepily flew in through the window, just barely missing bumping into a statuette of the first monarchs, Lux and Nox. 
"Dang it!" Applejack said as she walked in first, "That incantation's harder to say than Granny Smith's dern tongue-twistin' nursery rhymes."
"Dearest mares, come hither," Starswirl said as he brought the scroll to a table near the door. He laid it out on the table and lit a candle. Everypony gathered around the table. "Mayhaps thou canst decipher the meaning of the text."
"Oh my, what gorgeous writing! Makes me wish I could do calligraphy. So what needs deciphering?" Rarity said.
Starswirl pointed at a paragraph near the bottom of the scroll and said, "Here: 'The recipe of this saving magic be'eth upon one beneath all hooves. None among the great see its worth and it is forever rejected. To the low it has use and it is forever accepted. It shan't be found within places high nor within places central nor within places well lit nor within places kept tidy. Far it has travelled, from desert wastes, through scorching white plains, through winding rivers, through the purple lake, and through vast hills, 'til it reached the House of the Sun and the Moon, where it stays hidden yet unconcealed. There is only one who may find it, for 'tis meaningless to all but him and his uncontrolled reflection.' What make you of it?"
Applejack was the first to answer. "Gosh, I don't know. It's all clear as mud. I can't see how anypony can know what it means."
"Well, at least it tells us where it isn't." Fluttershy said.
"But it might not be that literal. The whole thing might just be one big metaphor." Twilight replied.
Pinkie, bounced up and down behind Applejack and Fluttershy to get a better look at the scroll. "Did you say recipe? Is it a recipe for magic cupcakes?!"
"Pinkie, calm down. There aren't any cupcakes here." Rarity said before turning to the scroll again. "Well, let's see, first things first: who wrote this?"
"Queen Magia. The eighth Queen of the Night." The Doctor answered. "She wrote it about, ehhhh, approximately seven-hundred years ago."
"Alright." Rarity continued, "Then when she talks about 'the low,' she's clearly talking about the servants in this castle. If I know anything about upper crust unicorns, they love to look down on working ponies. But it has to be one of the servants: cleaning-ponies, bus-colts, garbage collectors, and all the like. With chefs, butlers, barbers, maitre'ds and others, though, not so much. And it can't be one of the common ponies because, as you said, Doctor, whatever we're looking for is in the castle."
"There we go then! Rarity, you are brilliant!"
Everypony agreed with the Doctor and gave Rarity their praises.
"Oh really, it's nothing. I simply like to keep track of Canterlot social trends."
Everypony returned to the text again and tried to analyze it further.
"So now it's narrowed down a lot." Twilight said, "Whatever it is we're looking for the servants accept it and use it."
"But then what in the hay does it mean when it says 'accept' and 'use'?" Applejack asked.
Everypony quietly gave the words thought for a moment until Fluttershy said, "When I accept anything or newly arrived animals at Ponyville, I bring them to my house."
The Doctor came to a realization, gave a loud "OOOHHHHH!" and stepped back from the table. "It's 'accepted.' 'Accepted.' Brilliant Fluttershy! This thing, it travelled far. And what do you do when you accept a weary traveler? You welcome him into your home! A servant accepted it into his home."
"Ergo, 'tis within the servant quarters!" Starswirl excitedly said. He and the Doctor began to go towards the door, but Applejack stopped them.
"Wait, hold on now! We don't even know what we're looking for. It says 'There is only one who may find it.' How on earth do we know who this pony is?"
The two stopped and, realizing that Applejack was right, quickly returned to the table to continue deciphering the meaning of the prophecy. 
"Aww, I'm tired of waiting around here!" Pinkie said, "Whoever it is, if we're meant to find it, then one of us is the one! Come on! Let's go!"
"It can't hurt to at least take a look." Twilight joined.
"Well, I reckon you're right." Applejack said.
Everypony agreed to move on and search through the servant quarters. Starswirl brought the scroll along as they walked through the halls. They passed through the central intersection of hallways, where many servants were busily walking to and fro from one room to another, and four noble unicorns were vehemently discussing an issue the nine ponies paid no attention to. As they briefly stopped to wait for a set of enormous doors to open, Applejack asked Starswirl, "So if this here scroll's been around for seven-hundred years, how come nopony's ever gone lookin' for that, um... thing?"
"None hath thought the time to be proper to begin searching. And none hath devised a suitable interpretation of the text before now. That much of the prophecy hath now been deciphered must be a sign that the time for its fulfillment is nigh."
The great spruce wood doors before them finished opening and the eight continued walking.
"While we're going, we should try to figure out the rest of the prophecy." Twilight said, "What about the part that says that it's in 'one beneath all hooves'? I think that would tell us what it is we're looking for."
Rarity and Twilight slowed down as they gave the words some thought. The others stopped when they reached a distance from the two. Rarity, realizing that she was falling behind swiftly trotted forward to the rest of the group, though Twilight remained deep in thought. When Twilight finally caught up, Fluttershy tapped her shoulder and said,
"Well, um, I was thinking, does 'beneath all hooves' mean that it's always being stepped on by everypony?"
Twilight quickly snapped out of her contemplation and looked at Fluttershy with pleasant surprise. "Fluttershy, you're a genius! It's something everypony steps on. Quick, think of things that you step on!"
Everypony began listing off their thought all at once.
"Stairs!"
"Wooden boards!"
"Insects!"
"Crunchy leaves!"
"Puddles!"
"Dirt!"
"Dresses that are much too long for me!"
"Grass!"
"Wait! Everypony quiet!" The Doctor silenced them all and said, "One at a time please. Let's try to stay orderly. Now, who would like to go first?"
Applejack raised her hand. The Doctor gestured for her to speak and she said, "How 'bout a rug?"
"A rug? A rug. OOOHHH! Yes! A rug!"
"'Tis perfect! A means of recording a text, forever stepped upon, and in the possession of a lowly servant!" Starswirl joined.
"Great!" Twilight said, "Now we know what we're looking for!"
The nine quickly continued down the hall and reached a pair of average-sized wooden doors.  The Doctor pushed the doors open and revealed a very plain dimly lit narrow hallway with walls of brick and floors of cobblestone, starkly contrasting with the bright and beautiful main hallway. The hallway was lined on both sides with many doors, each leading to a room shared by five servants. At the end of the hallway was the door to the servant baths and two branches of the hall, the left of which led to the courtyard, and the right of which led to a storage room. In the interest of time, the nine ponies all split up and visited each and every room.
The doors were all numbered with ancient Equinese numerals and the whole place was more or less empty as the servants were all busy with other things. Twilight, Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie took the five closest rooms. Starswirl entered the a room farther down the hall and Derpy went to the room at the opposite side of the hall. The Doctor decided to go to the baths, as he was curious about what they would look like in compared to the royal bath, which Princess Venusta, youngest daughter of King Solus III and Queen Nox III, invited him to see before she unsuccessfully tried to seduce him. 
The Doctor opened the door to the baths, which was labeled with the number ten. Inside was a delightful surprise. The baths were tidy, organized and complex. It was lit by many candles, but the room was still relatively dim as it lacked sunlight. The residents of Castle Equites seemed to highly value the hygiene of the servants. The Doctor explored the various rooms containing the baths themselves, admiring the durable tiling, the sturdy piping and well made bathing pools. He also noticed interesting rugs at the doors to the individual bathing rooms. They were cheap and worn, and few appeared to have been made in Ponytopia. Many had exotic designs. 
Then the Doctor came upon one rug which contained a design that made his hearts skip a beat. He stared at it for a long time with wide eyes and a dropped jaw. It was a sight he had not seen for centuries. He backed away from the rug and muttered, "Impossible..."
Now he understood what Queen Magia meant by the text being meaningless to all but one and his uncontrolled reflection. She wrote of the last two Time Stallions: the Doctor and the Master. The rug before him contained a text written in the only language in all of space and time that the TARDIS cannot translate. The intricate circles and rings that composed the design on the rug were a message written in Gallopfreyan.
It read, "The recipe to create the Elements of Harmony are as follows: one reproductive unit of Earth's only species of bioluminescent tree, a reptilian tooth composed of crystallized carbon, the life force of an alicorn contained in the form of a pollination mechanism, a one-kilogram piece of a white dwarf star, thirty grams of purified melanite, thirty grams of purified howlite and any amount of the ultimate essence of all matter and energy in the Universe. Doctor, you and your companions will find these things by going in the direction of the star MW-11231963SN, known on Earth as 'Polaris.' Good luck."
Without hesitation, the Doctor snatched up the rug and carried on his mouth as he galloped to find the others. He went to each room calling for each of them. He led them all back to the main hall where there was enough light and space. He laid the rug out on the floor for everypony to see.
"This is it! This is the recipe." he said.
"Looks like a bunch of circles to me." Applejack said.
"It's a message written in Gallopfreyan, the language of the Time Stallions."
"But what's it doing here on Earth?" Rarity asked, "You said you're people were destroyed."
"Maybe the Master made it?" Derpy joined.
"I don't know how it got here," the Doctor replied, "but it can't have been from the Master. This rug's been here for decades." He licked the rug to taste for the age and said, "Hmmm, I'd say sixty years, give or take. But anyway that doesn't matter. What matters is that now we know how to create the Elements of Harmony."
Everypony gasped delightfully at the good news. "That's wonderful!" Twilight said, "Then we might have a chance!"
"But the thing is," the Doctor continued, "What we need aren't readily at hoof. One of the things that the text lists can't even be found on Earth. And with one of them, I don't even know what it is. The only clue it gives us is this one instruction: to follow Polaris. So we don't have much time. Looks like we'll have to go on a long journey. Pack quickly and lightly."
"Doctor, we don't have anything to pack." Rarity said, "All of our things are back in Ponyville."
"Well then, let's not pack anything more than food and some blankets. I'm sure Starswirl can secure the supplies for us."
"As Head Sorcerer, I shan't be denied such a request."
Just as everypony was about to go and prepare for the long trek ahead of them, Fluttershy said, "Wait. What about Rainbow Dash?"
Everypony stopped. "Oh, Rainbow Dash..." Twilight said, "Should we wait for her to come back?"
"Yeah, we need Rainbow Dash if we're gonna do this." Applejack said.
"I don't think we have time to wait." The Doctor replied.
Starswirl joined him, saying, "If I know Rainbow Sword, he shall not halt his mission until 'tis complete. I doubteth that there be a time near when he and Rainbow Dash shall return, unless they hath found Tympanus. And should they find Tympanus, then we hath the villain in our grasp and we may use thine Elements to vanquish him once and for all."
"As much I hate the thought of us going on without her," Rarity said, "I think we'll just have to trust that Rainbow will do her part and we can do ours."
The other ponies slowly gave their consent and agreed to begin the journey without Rainbow Dash. If Rainbow Dash did decide to return, she could easily and quickly catch up with them. And yet, Twilight, Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie were reluctant to leave behind their friend.
"Well then," the Doctor began, "Allons-y!"
~~~~~
"Starswirl, I really don't find it necessary to bring an army with us."
"'Tis for our own safety, Doctor. I hath heard reports several days ago of a mighty Hoofrican army approaching our border. And yesterday, or rather, the day before the abduction of His Majesty, there cameth a report of that army marching Southeast through the Emerald Plains. And should we follow Polaris beyond the Northern border, we entereth unto Drakonian lands. Think you not that we must defend ourselves?"
"We don't need an army to defend ourselves. I don't want any more lives put at risk!"
"As Head Sorcerer, Doctor, I decreeth it! Thou art too late nevertheless. A legion of earth ponies already hath gathered outside the city, ready to escort us."
The Doctor sighed and conceded. On military matters, Starswirl was always unreasonably stubborn. The two walked into the courtyard where the other six were waiting with supplies they packed over the past hour: bags of hay and granola, flasks full of water and bundles of quilts.
They all faced North. Before them were the silver gates of the upper castle walls. Beyond was the lower castle, and the beyond that was the city of Equites, and beyond that was the world. The gates opened. The eight passed through and descended the marble staircase to the lower castle, where the three-hundred nobles of the Council and their families resided when they were away from their country-side villas. They walked down the central street, decorated with birch trees and flowers of every color. As they approached the walls of the lower castle, the division between Castle Equites and the city of Equites, they began to hear the sound of a large crowd shouting and protesting.
When they arrived at the iron gates of the lower castle, they saw what was awaiting them in the city. The sight made Fluttershy let out a quiet "Oh... my..."
The main central road through the city was clear and lined on both sides by unicorn guards holding up magic walls on either side of the cobblestone road. Behind the walls were the masses of Equites. Countless earth ponies stood against the wall, banging on it with their fore hooves and shouting at the eight ponies. Above them, pegasi were kicking at the wall and yelling out their protests. Others still called out from the windows of their wood and stone thatch-roofed homes. All were there demanding answers as to the state of the Sky.
"What happened to the sky?!"
"What have you done with the King?!"
"Why are the Sun and Moon like this?! Put them back where they belong!"
"Where is the King?!"
"Why has he abandoned us?!"
The iron gates opened and one of the guards indicated for the eight ponies to proceed, saying, "Thy Excellency, the army hath been prepared. Prithee, hurry through the city before the commoners art further incensed."
The Doctor looked at all the ponies around him, saw their concerned and despairing faces. He listened to each and every voice, voices of mothers, fathers, sons, daughters, sisters and brothers. He wanted to stay and assure all of them that by his life they would be safe. It pained him to simply leave them all as he went off on an expedition to faraway places. Suddenly somepony tugged at his mane. He turned and saw Derpy, who said, "Come on, Doctor. We have to go. Allons-y, right?"
The two had fallen behind as the others trotted down the street. They quickly galloped to catch up. The eight ponies passed through the central market, where there was a sea of ponies waiting for them all shouting protests and demanding answers. Some stood on the rooftops and the tops of store stands, holding up signs saying, "The End of Days!" "The End Is Nigh! Faust Protect Us!" "Down With Concordius! Long Live The Ponies!" "It Is Time For A New Order!" "Our Allegiance Is To The Goddess Alone!" and many others of the like. Panic and distrust had gripped the common ponies and brought them to the brink of revolution.
After enduring the haunting sight of an angry populace, the eight finally reached the walls of the city and passed through the gates to the outside world. Waiting for them was a legion of spearponies. All of the soldiers wore bronze armor and carried curved rectangular shields and long iron-tipped spears on their backs. They stood on the road leading north, the Via Borea, and then, all in unison, split at the center, allowing the eight to walk through to the leader of the legion, Legate Daisy Dancer. She saluted Starswirl and said, "Legate Daisy Dancer of the thirteenth legion, Your Excellency. It is an honor to serve you."
"'Tis thine honor indeed. Thou knowest thy instructions. Thou art to protect this company as we traveleth North. Should thou fulfill thy duty, thou shalt receive thy promotion to August Legate."
"I will not fail you, Your Excellency."
"I doubt thee not. Now, we go."