//------------------------------// // The Game Begins // Story: Rocinante and the Return of Chivalry // by Charliemane //------------------------------// Princess Luna stared intently at the jungle in front of her and sighed. She was fairly certain that Sir Rocinante had described Appleloosa as a barren and dry environment. Taking another look at her map, Luna kicked the ground in frustration. Perhaps she should have asked Sir Rocinante to come with her after all. Though just the thought of all the taunting she would have received from her sister about traveling with a “colt friend” would have been more than she could bear. Still, the road had been lonelier than she had expected. After all of the time she had spent alone in exile, Princess Luna thought that simply wandering down the roads would be easy. Of course she had met a few ponies here and there along the road, though she hadn't made any friends to speak of. Now, as she traveled from place to place, town to town, she felt her heart getting a bit heavy with loneliness. She wouldn't admit it to anypony, but she was getting eager just for somepony to talk to. Luna sighed as she stared at the map by herself. She had to admit that being lost might also be added to her list of problems. Putting away the map, Luna spread her wings and began to rise in the air, hoping of spotting any signs of civilization. Soaring over the treetops of the jungle, the nagging thought rolled back into her mind. Perhaps she should swing by Ponyville to ask the knight-errant and his squire to join her. True, her sister would probably make a joke or two at her expense, but they almost certainly knew the kingdom better than her at this point and surely she could take some refuge behind that excuse. Luna again weighed turning around in the back of her mind as she searched for smoke or clearings that would be the mark of a town or village. Banking left, she suddenly realized that she hadn't actually met Sassaflash before. It was a thought that made Princess Luna smile. Sir Rocinante was certainly an interesting character, she could only imagine what his squire was like. Off in the distance Luna spotted what appeared to be a clearing near a river. While it almost certainly wasn't the Appleloosa she had been searching for, the ponies there would at least be able to get her back onto the map. As she leveled her wings and began coasting towards the clearing a few shadows passed over her. Luna frowned. It had been good flying weather all day and now it looked as though that was about to change. Checking the weather above her, Luna looked up just as a pink cloud floated by and she froze instantly. It had been ages since she had seen that kind of cloud, but she hadn't ever forgotten what caused them. Angling her large wings in sync with her tail, Luna glided up to the cloud and carefully examined it. It was made of cotton candy and while that may have confused most ponies, she knew exactly what that meant. It meant that she had to get back to Canterlot immediately. “Sister!” Princess Celestia almost jumped in surprise. She swiftly turned to look over from the window towards the familiar voice. Luna's eyes were clearly concerned as she briefly dismissed the guard that had shown her the way and walked in from the hall. “Luna?” “What is happening? Thy kingdom is covered in a blanket of chaos and the foul weather is reminiscent of the ancient villain we sealed away ages ago.” Princess Celestia closed her eyes and nodded as she motioned out the window towards the garden maze. Luna walked up to the window where Celestia had previously been observing the labyrinth. The maze was larger and darker than Luna remembered it and it gave off a strange aura that made her more than uncomfortable. Seeing that Luna had already noticed the aura emanating from the garden, Celestia walked up next to her and explained the situation. “Our seal on Discord has faded and broken.” Luna immediately turned from the window to her sister. Her eyes were wide with surprise. “Broken? How? Sister, wherefore didst thou not send for me?” “I did not send for you because we cannot wield the Elements of Harmony anymore. That was why the seal failed. When we...” Celestia paused for a moment and bit her lip. The memory was over a thousand years behind them, yet it was still painful. Luna wore a pitying smile as she placed a hoof on her sister's shoulder. She had long since learned that she wasn't the only one to suffer from the past. The two stood in silence for a minute, their eyes locked in a wordless conversation. Finally Celestia smiled before closing her eyes, taking a more serious expression, and the two turned back to the garden below them. “We cannot be the ones to stop Discord now.” “Then who?” “Twilight Sparkle and her friends are the ponies we must place our hopes in now. Unfortunately Discord has hidden the Elements. Twilight is looking for them in the gardens now.” Luna's eyes darted from the gardens to her sister. “Is there truly nothing that we can do?” Celestia shook her head in frustration before looking back to Luna. “We can provide some support, but directly we would only get in the way. No, this is Twilight's test and she can do this.” Luna nodded and the two again looked back towards the garden. While she may have had some doubts about Twilight's ability to handle Discord, it was the waiting that Luna found made her the most uncomfortable. Each second ticked by with agonizing slowness. Soon Luna began pacing back and forth to the window while her sister remained steadfast. Celestia wanted to say something that would get her sister to stop pacing, but she knew there was nothing save for Twilight's victory that could calm her now. Suddenly the garden maze vanished and Luna raced back to the window. “Have they recovered the Elements?” Celestia said nothing as she glared at the grounds outside, watching Discord appear over her little ponies. Clearly things were not going well. Rainbow Dash was missing and everypony else, except for Twilight, was a faded color. Luna gritted her teeth and spread her wings, eager to launch into battle, but Celestia stopped her. “Wait Luna, There is still hope, Twilight's color remains. He has not gotten to her yet.” “We cannot sit by so idly sister! Thy pupil is on the cusp of defeat.” “Twilight can do this. She can restore the others with her Element as long as she does not lose hope. Once they have the Elements of Harmony, Discord will fall.” “And should they fail?” Celestia remained silent while the wave of pink clouds flew over the gardens, dropping their unusual precipitation. Finally she turned from the window and began walking down the hall. “There isn't anything we can do directly now. If we go into battle we will escalate the conflict from one of Discord's games to one of our fights. We needed the Elements of Harmony to defeat Discord last time, without them we cannot win.” Luna puffed up as she folded her wings and looked down on where the gardens used to be. “So we must send thy subjects forward like pawns into Discord's unruly game?” Celestia could only remain silent as she looked to Ponyville from the window. As terrible of an analogy as it was, Discord had won the first match and the game was only beginning.