It had been a month since the Battle of Canterlot, as it was already being called by the general public. So many events of importance had happened all on the same day that it might as well have been the start of a new era in Equestrian history. Discord was dead. The Changelings were defeated and now in hiding. All the Princesses were alive and well, returned to their respective positions in Canterlot’s court.
Yet all of this was just a single step forward.
Princesses Celestia, Luna, and Cadence stood at the edge of the proclamation balcony, ready to address the masses. None of them stood back to allow one to speak to the crowd over the others: they stood together as equals, sharing the burden of the message they were about to deliver.
“Citizens of Canterlot, Equestria, and the world at large,” Princess Celestia began, “It has taken us a long time to be able to approach you with the proper words to address the countless concerns of each of you, and to look for ways to address the civil uprisings that have been plaguing this country, and which are still happening now. The first of these concerns relates to my sister and I.” Here she looked to Princess Luna, then back down to the assembled citizens and dignitaries, “I was taken from you, but by the help of three extraordinary individuals and my sister, I have been returned to you. My absence was not the result of any of Canterlot’s court, as some have claimed. The individual responsible for my supposed death, the Changeling ruler Queen Chrysalis, was killed in the battle that took place here, and the radicals of her herd that supported her likewise met their end in the battle.”
Princess Luna then spoke when her sister had resumed her silence, “With the evidence that has been provided by Equestrian sympathizers among the Changeling Hive, we have on the highest authority confirmation that the many insurrections across our nation’s cities, towns, and villages, were all the work of the radical nationalists among the Changeling Hive, which their current Queen has denounced as racial supremacists and ultimately traitors. My sister and I never have and never will support the factions that claim to operate in our names or intentions. Trials will be held for those who have been confirmed to be either Solar Empiricists or Lunar Republicans, with those who continue to carry out actions in the name of either organization one fortnight after this speech’s recorded date to receive the severe legal punishment due for the crimes they commit.”
Bowing her head, she then allowed Princess Cadence her moment to speak. Taking a quick breath to expel her nervousness, she spoke up, “Punishments and law are not the ultimate focus of this proclamation: it is not to be a scourge, but the beginning of healing for the many wounds this nation has received. We have all been touched by the effects of this civil conflict. Some of us have lost family, close relatives, friends, and other loved ones.” Princess Cadence was momentarily overcome after this statement, but she recollected herself quickly with a sigh. “It is common after such tragedies as these to ask questions like ‘Why’ and ‘How could this happen’. We, the Royal family, will never claim that we have the answers to those questions, but we can and we will stand beside you. We will grieve with you. More importantly, we will help you rebuild. As of now, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna have passed the majority of sovereign responsibility to me, as an act to maintain a proper and unbiased government when serving you, our subjects. As I take care of the daily responsibilities related to our nation’s operations, they will begin a tour together of Equestria’s many cities, as an act to restore public trust in their character and actions. This ‘Tour towards Peace’ will go on for an unprecedented amount of time, as will my position as monarch of Equestria, until such time as both their Majesties believe that Equestria is well and truly whole once more.”
The Elements
On that very same day, Princess Celestia met with the Elements in a private meeting in her royal proclamation chamber. As she and her friends walked down the carpet that adorned the long distance between the chamber doors and her teacher’s throne, Twilight Sparkle noticed that a new stain glass window had been put into place. Discord was pictured as cast down, falling from the top of the window to the bottom. Two humans, one male and one female, stood above the falling draconequus, their arms closest to the center of the glass stretched down as if they had just cast him down. Above them sat a white alicorn stallion on an hourglass, his wings curved down towards its center. Perplexed by the art, she had to file it away as the Princess came into the room to sit down on her throne.
As she came to the end of the carpet before the throne, she and her friends bowed, which the Princess waved off.
“You six have done more for Equestria than perhaps anypony else in its history,” she proclaimed with a smile, “You never have to bow to me ever again.”
“Can we get that in writing,” Pinkie Pie blurted out with a smile, “Because a certificate for that would be great!” She then did her best to impersonate the Princess’ posture and style of speech, ‘I, Princess Celestia, hereby decree that Pinkamena Diane Pie need never bow to me again’!”
The Princess chuckled softly, “I’ll even make sure to use the golden ink and my personal seal when I do.”
Pinkie’s eyes grew wide in excitement, while all the rest good-naturedly rolled theirs.
Settling down into her chair, the Princess’ face became solemn, “You of course are wondering why I’ve summoned you here. The truth of the matter is, I believe Equestria needs each of you once again.”
“What’s the danger, Princess,” Applejack asked, “Whose backsides do we need ta kick?”
“This time, no one’s. From what reports I have seen, ponies have become very embittered by the civil war that almost broke out. Ponyville and a few other nearby villages were largely unscathed by the social impact, but larger cities like Manehattan, Trottingham, and Los Pegasus saw riots and violence.” She paused as her heart began to weigh on her, “In some cases, lives were lost.”
The six heroines bowed their heads slightly, with Applejack taking off her hat in respect.
The Princess looked up at them, and stood up to approach them, “I and my sister are going around the country to help begin the healing process, but we can’t be in every place at once. That is why I want to extend to you, Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy, an invitation to help on my mission to restore Equestria to harmony.”
The four ponies were stunned by the enormity of the task they had just been offered, and they began to talk amongst themselves about it.
Seeing the worry in some of their eyes, Princess Celestia called for their attention again, “I want to remind you that this is not a decree or a mandatory task. It is a choice: one for you to freely refuse or accept. You have done more than anypony could ask for already, and I won’t think any less of you should you choose to go back to your lives in Ponyville. If you change your mind, you can always accept the call later.”
“But what about us?” Rainbow Dash asked as she pointed to herself and Twilight, “why don’t we get this offer?”
“I have an equally weighty choice for you, Rainbow Dash,” the Princess replied as she turned to look at the cyan pegasus, “During the Battle of Canterlot you distinguished yourself with your skills and sense of duty. This caught the attention of the acting commander of the Wonderbolts, and you have been selected to be put on the fast track towards recruitment into the organization.”
The Princess smiled warmly as she offered her congratulations, but all Rainbow Dash could do was gawk stupidly at her. After what seemed a long while, Rainbow Dash shot up into air, and began to do laps around the vaulted ceiling of the proclamation chamber, “YES! YES! OHMIGOSH OHMIGOSH OHMIGOSH YES!”
Her five friends cheered and congratulated her for finally getting the chance to achieve her lifelong dream.
Rainbow Dash came in for a divebomb landing back in front of her sovereign, an enormous grin on her face, “I will totally do it! I won’t let you down, Princess!”
Princess Celestia chuckled, “Well, I certainly appreciate your enthusiasm!”
Finally, she turned to look at the last pony to receive a mission, “Twilight Sparkle. Do you remember how before I left Equestria I said I was proud to have been your teacher?”
Twilight nodded, “I do. You said I had been a good student.”
“A most excellent student,” the Princess corrected with a smile, “I stand by what I said that day. You were a most excellent student. Now there is nothing more I can teach you.”
The Princess took a step back and magically constructed her signature wavy patterned sword. She gestured for Twilight to sit back on her rump, which her student obliged. She slowly brought the flat edge of her blade down onto her left shoulder and then to her right.
“Twilight Sparkle, by the powers vested in me by Equestrian law, I elevate you to the position of Princess in the royal court for the completion of your training, and your magnanimous service to the land. Congratulations!”
The Princess smiled and nodded in Twilight’s direction, and her friends took the opportunity to give her an excited group hug. Happy shouting and cheers were had all around, and Twilight’s were most definitely among them. After a few more minutes of joyous celebration, the six friends settled down at the behest of Princess Celestia.
Twilight looked up to her former teacher, “I am honored that you’ve given me this title, but is it alright if I choose to just go by my name?”
The Princess nodded, “You certainly may. As my first task to you, I need to ask you to make a journey for me. Delegates from Saddle Arabia have come a very long way to ask for my help because of a problem in their homeland. Matters here, of course, also require my attention, so I have put you forward as a representative to go in my stead. Will you accept this task?”
Twilight looked back to her friends, a trace of worry quite evident in her face, and then turned back to the Princess, “I don’t mean to question you, Princess, but is it really a good idea to split us up? The Elements are still broken. What if there’s a danger that needs us all here to face it?”
The Princess smiled mysteriously as she looked up at the image of the unknown alicorn stallion in the nearby stain glass window, “I’ve been assured that there won’t be any trouble here that can’t be handled, but my sister also pointed something out to me: you six are the reason the Elements of Harmony worked at all. If anything does happen, I can always count on you to face the problem together, and to defeat it.”
Twilight thought about what the Princess had said, and slowly a smile appeared on her face, “Then I accept.”
“I’m ready to go when you are, Princess!” Pinkie Pie chirped.
“If Equestria really needs us, I’ll come,” Fluttershy declared with a nod, “I’ll just need to find someone who can take care of my animals first.”
Rarity sullenly glanced at the floor for a moment before she looked up to the Princess, “Well, it’s not exactly like I have anything left to lose! I’ll just need to see that my little sister gets moved back in with my parents.”
“Ah’m gonna need a few weeks,” Applejack interjected, “Mah family is livin’ in our barn right now, and while we have cousins and neighbors helpin’ out with the reconstruction of our home, it’s still gonna take some time to get it back up.”
“I understand,” Princess Celestia replied, and then she turned to address them as a whole, her eyes watering a little as she did, “Thank you so much for your promise of service. You are an incredible source of inspiration to me. I hope that our task of seeing a bright future brought to Equestria is fully realized.”
Serana Pryce
The bell above the door to Sugarcube Corner rang. Mrs. Cake, having been nearest to the storefront, came from out of the kitchen area, a jolly spring in her step.
“Welcome to Sugarcube Corner,” she said with a warm smile, “where we hope to satisfy your sweet cravings every time!”
It took her a moment to realize that the being who had entered her and her husband’s establishment was not a customer, but their newest lodger, “Oh hello, Serana! How are you doing?”
The blonde, straight haired human woman strode up to the counter smiled, “Hey, Mrs. Cake! I've been good. How about you?”
“Oh, I’m alright. The babies have been keeping me and Carrot up, though. Newborns: you know how they are.”
Serana dropped her small bag on the floor, a gift from the Apples filled with clothes made by Rarity, and sat down on the stool in front of her. She was still getting used to the fact that the height difference between this seat and the ones she was used to back home was just enough to throw her off.
“Can I get a water,” she asked “Water’s free, right?”
“My dear, so long as you live in this household, you can drink and eat whatever you want! Seriously, what you need will be a fraction of what we’re used to deducting from Pinkie’s pay. Speaking of-“ she yelled up towards the ceiling, “Pinkie, come down! Surprise is here!”
There was a thud and then the sound of scampering hooves. As the two watched the stairwell, Pinkie Pie flew into view as she cartwheeled down the stairs past the doorway. After she had left their view, there was a slamming sound as well as a shattering noise of something breaking as it hit the ground.
“I can fix that!” Pinkie yelled.
The pink party pony then appeared in the doorway again, her entire body shaking in ecstatic glee.
“Surprise,” she screamed in delight as she bounded over to her human friend and wrapped her up in a big bear hug, “It’s so good to see yoooou!”
“Hi Pinkie,” Serana croaked as her ribs crushed into her lungs, “how are you doing, girl?”
“I’m chillin’ like a villain, sister from another mister,” she replied with a giggle, “So, I’m guessing you’d like a full blown tour of the place before I have to leave for my mission work, right?”
“That will be great, but first I need to make sure you promise me something.”
“Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye,” she intoned as she did the accompanying actions, “A Pie’s word is her bond! What do you need?”
“If you ever see Tia again, tell her she either has to get in touch with me or visit sometime, and tell Luna that I’m keeping her to her promise. She’ll know what you’re talking about.”
Pinkie Pie nodded her understanding with an exaggerated serious face, “You got it.”
Big Mac, Cheerilee
September’s afternoon sun shone down on a gathering of over one hundred ponies. The weather had been made absolutely perfect by the Ponyville weather team, and so everypony was able to give their absolute attention to the outdoor ceremony taking place.
“Macintosh Apple,” the elderly priest declared as he looked up to the tuxedo wearing stallion, “Do you take this mare to be your lawfully wedded wife?”
“Ah do,” he said with nod and an understated smile.
“Then do you, Cheerilee Blossom, take this stallion to be your lawfully wedded husband?”
Tears of joy had been gathering in the earth pony mare’s eyes all day, and they finally found their release as she exclaimed, “Yes, I do!”
The priest looked back and forth between them, and then out to the crowd, “If there are no objections then, I now pronounce these two to be mare and colt!”
Before they had been given the chance to be told they could do so, the couple had already taken their first matrimonial kiss. Slightly surprised, but not astonished in the least, the priest chuckled to himself as many cheers and whistle calls came from the congregation before him for the now happily wedded couple. While the Apple family’s many relatives took up the vast majority of the allocated seats, there were about a dozen Blossom family members present.
As the reception began, Cheerilee’s sister, a magenta earth pony named Joy, rushed up to her to give her a big hug.
“You did it! Ohmigooooosh!” she squealed and giggled, “I am so happy for you!”
“I was just glad that you were able to make it at all,” Cheerilee replied as they let go of each other, and then lowered her voice, “It was rather touch and go with your injuries.”
“I would never miss my only sister’s wedding,” Joy exclaimed, before she whispered in return, “You better be sure to share some of this amazing love with us! Just feeling it all around is driving me nuts!”
Cheerilee leaned a little closer with a knowing smile on her face, “I’ll be sure to send some the Hive’s way before I begin my first talks with the Equestrian royal family, your Majesty.”
“You’d better be sure to, Madame Ambassador,” Joy said with a wink, then raised her voice again, “Now where have you put that husband of yours? This wedding isn't legally binding until I’ve met him!”
Cheerilee smirked, “The ‘legally binding’ part’s already happened!”
“You may be today’s Princess, but I’m the Queen, and nothing happens without my say-so!”
Sweetie Belle squealed to herself as she trotted up to Apple Bloom and Scootaloo, “Do you realize that you two are now related? This is so awesome! You’re like sisters now!”
Scootaloo cocked an eyebrow, “Well actually, I’m legally related to Cheerilee as a cousin, even though I’m really adopted. So I’m not really related to her by blood.”
“But I really am related to Big Mac,” Apple Bloom declared as she cut in, “so I’m actually Cheerilee’s sister-in-law.”
Sweetie Belle blinked at her two friends for a few seconds.
“They explained it to us,” Scootaloo said, ending the silence, “We’re not related: legally or actually.”
“Well, that’s not going to stop me from treating you like you are,” Sweetie Belle said with a huff, “We’ll just have to come up with some new sort of name for the two of you.” She tapped her hoof on her chin for a few seconds as she thought, and then the idea struck her, “I’ve got it! You two are Crusaders-in-law!”
Scootaloo looked at her unicorn friend incredulously, “ ‘Crusaders-in-law’? Cutie Mark Crusader-in-laws?”
Apple Bloom nodded her head in approval and glanced at her new ‘relative’ with an aloof smile, “Crusader-in-laws.”
Adam, Lyra
“Well, we've finally done it,” Adam declared as he strode through the front door of a modestly sized two story home, a very pregnant Lyra Heartstrings lying in his arms, “We are now proud home owners!”
“Alright, you walked me through the doorway like you wanted,” Lyra said in a mock agitated tone, “Now can you please put me down?”
Adam slowly set her down on her feet, and she took in a slow breath. Just to be playful, he passively commented, “It’s just as well: you were starting to get heavy.”
Lyra turned around and gawked at him, and she smacked him several times across the head, a smile on her lips all the while, “You little buttmunch!”
“Careful,” he exclaimed happily as he put up his hands to protect himself, “You could hurt the baby!”
“The only one who’s going to get hurt here is you if you keep it up with the weight jokes!” Lyra retorted, than gently grabbed her belly and stroked it softly. “He didn't mean it, Megan,” she said as she cooed to their daughter, “not if he plans to sleep in this house tonight!”
“Oh, I plan to do a lot more than just sleep tonight,” Adam declared as he shut the front door behind them. There was a smile and a glint in his eye as he turned to look at his lovely wife.
Lyra wagged her finger as she walked away towards the room that would become her inspiration space to write music, “Hoho, you better not! Aunt Bon Bon’s coming to visit and help with the Housewarming party tomorrow, so you better not do anything that would scar her for life. Besides, it’s not every day that a Representative of the House of Commonponies comes around to their hometown from Canterlot!” He had already taken in the breath to ask a question, but she had read his mind and headed him off, “Don’t bother asking for it right now. You know we both have a lot of work to do!”
Adam sighed, “Yes, dear.”
He was a little disappointed, but he knew she was right: she had a lot of music to compile together and submit to the local licensing company for approval, distribution, and hopefully profit. He, on the other hand, had a story that he needed to get back to writing.
After rummaging around through the various cases they had brought in but hadn't unpacked yet, he finally found his notes and manuscript. Grabbing his two pens, one black one for the true writing and a red one for editing, he walked into the quiet living room area. He sat himself down on the soft bottomed rocking chair that sat next to the fire place, and leaned back as far as he could.
Pen at the ready, he glanced at the title of his memoirs: A Journey Unthought Of: The story of a human’s life in Equestria. It was a bit pretentious sounding, and it needed work like he couldn't believe, but it had a certain epic ring to his ears. Adjusting his posture to get more comfortable, he flipped open the manuscript to the part where he had last left off: the morning sunrise that he and Lyra had shared in front of Bon Bon’s old cottage, and her life’s story.
Trixie
Trixie Lulamoon was the only civilian present at the reading of Bunsen Burner’s public last Will and Testament. All the various ponies who sat in the parlor around her were either members of the Equestrian government or military. As she had come into the sleepy town of Pferdshire for the occasion, she had seen a trail of four very large motorized wagons.
Bunsen Burner had once told her that in the event of a death of a researcher connected to the Royal Science Division, it was standard policy to have the lab and home of said researcher purged of all sensitive material. The findings, experiments, and academic life of the individual were then to be taken back to Canterlot, where they were assimilated into active research or archived away until their notes could be understood. Since he had worked most of his life in the Canterlot facility, the only thing the scientists on site had to worry about was stripping down the lab and purging the library.
Trixie tuned out most of the reading. She spent her time thinking about the old stallion. He was clever enough that if he had wanted to he could have found a way to have helped from outside the city boundaries. He could have stayed out of harm’s way, but it was just like Mr. Black had said: Bunsen Burner could never leave anything half done. He could never get his hooves out of anything he had stuck them into, the control freak.
As she sat there in fuming silence, Trixie came to realize that she despised the old stallion. She despised him because he had made her care about him, even with his prickly demeanor and the almost cavalier way in which he committed to monstrous decisions. Why had he chosen the dark and terminal path that he had taken? Why had he ignored her pleas to stay behind? Did he not care what she had to say at all? A deafening silence filled the world outside her thoughts, and Trixie looked up from her white and starry cape and hat, which she had been vacantly staring at.
The reading had ended. The larger will had been placed to the side, and a small envelope was brought out by the executor, “This codicil is addressed to Trixie Lulamoon.”
Setting it down, the Pegasus put his hoof on an ornate letter opener and slid it across the tabletop, neatly slicing through the top envelope’s top. He slowly brought up the legal document that fell out and read aloud the contents, “To Miss Lulamoon I leave the entirety of my Pferdshire estate, as well as the surrounding property on which said estate lies, to do with as she pleases, without any expectation on my part.”
Trixie felt like she had been struck by a wrecking ball. Bunsen Burner’s attitude toward her had never belied this offering to her. In all honesty, she was surprised to have even been invited to the reading in the first place.
“In addition,” the executor continued, “Having no heirs or justifiably close relations to bequeath my savings to, I have elected to leave my surplus of investments and government salary to you, excluding the seed money being used towards the finance of the Canterlot University Scholarship of Science and the Canterlot University Scholarship for Horticulture.”
Trixie’s heart stopped. She had never intensively discussed with the old stallion about his finances, but she had always assumed that he was pretty well off. The amount he had given her was bound to be of an almost astronomical value.
“With these articles now being legally parted from me, I have one last thing I wish to say: thank you. I know I was a stubborn old stallion, but you helped me and stayed with me in spite of that. If there ever was anypony in this world I wished I could have called my daughter, it was you. Thank you for teaching an old pony how to change.”
The young mare’s eyes were filling up as she heard those words. This didn't make any sense. How could this have been the same stallion she had known for the past year? Even after the reading had come to a full close, and the other ponies in the room began to file out of the parlor, she sat in a tumultuous state, unsure of whether to remain angry, joyful, or filled with a new layer of grief. Whatever she was supposed to be, she was completely and fully confused.
The executor’s briefcase snapped shut, and he slowly ascended above the desk, “Excuse me, Miss Lulamoon?”
Startled out of her emotional dilemma, the former entertainer looked up to the legal aid, “Yes?”
“There is still one last portion of the will to enact.”
She cocked her head in confusion, “But I thought that the reading of the will was completed.”
The Pegasus nodded as he flew closer and descended, “It is, but there is a private portion pertaining to you for your eyes only.”
The lawyer then produced a parcel from his back mounted saddlebag, as well as her portion of the will, and offered them to her. She lightly grasped the both of them with her magic, allowing the executor to gather his briefcase and offer her a good morning as he left.
She studied the message Bunsen Burner had left to her again. The words didn't change as she read over them again. She had money. She had land. She was for all intents and purposes a baroness now. Just a short time ago, shorter than she was willing to admit, she would have thought that her life was complete, and that she could now waste her days away on expensive wine, furniture, dresses, and comfort. Now, while the gesture was appreciated, it seemed hollow, knowing what this place was for the old stallion. He had given her his prison, and she was unsure if he had meant for her to either live in comfort or to take his place.
Glancing down to the bottom, she saw a seal that separated the last third of the letter from the rest. With a precision cut she sliced through the wax with her telekinesis, and bent the remainder of the will open. The hidden message was two simple sentences, obviously written in a hurry.
In all capital letters and orientated at an angle, Trixie read, OPEN PARCEL. READ AND USE ON WILL.
Her eyes widened. There was a reason! There always was with him.
She tossed the letter to the side and ripped the upward end of the parcel open. The thick paper fell out of her grip, leaving a medium sized book whose title was ‘Practicing Psychometry’.
Wasting no time at all, Trixie opened the book and began to read. Hours passed by like minutes as she studied and absorbed the concepts detailed in the tome she had been given. Finally, as she noticed the sun was setting in the west, she believed she was ready to try the spell she had just learned.
She grabbed the will in her magical grip once again, and hesitated as she brought it before her face once again. With a deep breath as if she were about to jump off a cliff face, she cast the spell on the legal artifact, and a door opened in her mind’s eye.
She could see the words freshly forming on the paper in front of her as Bunsen Burner wrote them with the quill in his mouth. He sealed the private portion of the letter and then closed the letter up in its envelope. Placing the envelope in his bureau-bound lockbox, he glanced over at the calendar near his desk. It was 12 August, 1002.
Trixie’s eyes grew even wider. The Battle of Canterlot had taken place on 7 August; the fact was seared into the deepest parts of her brain.
Before she did anything else, the magician cast a spell of temporary silence on her vocal chords. Now unable to give herself away, she screamed as hard as she wanted and jumped up and down. She began to laugh, and then the tears started again. Noiselessly, she screamed in tearful joy ‘Yes! Yes! Yes!’
Eventually she needed to stop and breathe. As she gasped for air, she trotted to the nearby window to watch the rosy red sun set behind the fields and mountains in the west, and she couldn't help but smile amid her tears as she wondered many possibilities.
Bunsen Burner, The Maiden
The Tumulus of the Kings, situated within the Everfree Forest, was a locale that never received visitors. If the forest wasn't deterrent enough, the legends that surrounded the place also made sure that no one approached it. A green ghost of sorts typically haunted the area according to legend, and consequently the place had colloquially become known as Spectre Howe. The true nature of the site, and the secrets that it held, was only known by a handful of beings. Beneath the grass, the trees, and the overgrown mounds of the surrounding area lay the discovery of the millennium: a gigantic installation spanning miles long and hundreds of feet deep, and made entirely of metal. Beneath a vast chunk of the Everfree Forest lay Vanguard, one of the last homes to the planet’s human race, the mysterious progenitors of all others.
As they finally reached their destination, the Maiden paused to allow Bunsen Burner a chance to take a quick respite from his long trek.
“Finally,” Bunsen Burner said as he removed his wide brimmed hat from his head, “We've made it.”
After he had sat his pack down, he looked over to the Maiden, who was now fully comfortable revealing her human form, and saw that she was lost in her thoughts. He decided to allow himself the chance to look over some of his own while he sat. It had been a long journey, over nearly seventy miles of terrain, from the nearest road at the northern edge of the Everfree to here. The few hostile animals that they had encountered along the way the Maiden had possessed and forced to flee.
Here he corrected himself. Lauren. Her name was Lauren.
Still, the journey was nothing compared to the starting point itself. It had all begun with seven seconds.
He slammed the eject lever at his side down. The bolts around the forward compartment exploded, but the canopy remained in place. A light signaling an ejection fault flashed.
He quickly glanced at the countdown.
Four.
Three.
Two.
He sat back in the pilot’s seat and closed his eyes. Gambling against all odds, he cranked the transmitter of his teleportation beacon and pressed on its ovoid shaped surface.
He whispered, “Lily,” and then he disappeared in a flash of blue light and the smell of fireworks.
When the light had faded, he realized that he was standing in the old and battered receiver sitting in his basement laboratory. Even after years of non-use and covered in dust, it had still done its job.
“Bunsen,” Lauren said a little louder to get the stallion’s attention.
He quickly glanced up to his guide, “What? Sorry. I was just thinking.”
“So was I,” she said as she glanced back towards the site, “It seems so strange to say it, but I really am happy to come back to this place.”
“A few months’ vacation and you already want to return to the place you spent nearly 1400 years?” Bunsen Burner asked as he re-shouldered his pack.
“The offering of company certainly helps,” she said with a smile. She then turned and glided away, waving her arm after her, “Come on! You have a lot of things to learn ahead of you, and we might as well get you set up with a camp inside the ship.”
Bunsen Burner trotted after her, a full-fledged smile on his face.
“I can’t wait,” he declared without a speck of sarcasm.
Cadence, Shining Armor, Celestia
The contractions had begun in the early evening. Neither of the royal couple had had any real idea what day the baby would be coming; they only knew it would be soon. It coincidentally began during their discussion of what they were planning on doing for their first anniversary. The Princess had begun to pace as she conversed with the Prince, growing more skittish as every minute ticked away. It was at the point when she felt the baby moving more than it ever had before that she knew it was time.
“I thinking maybe we could go somewhere out West. We could see if there’s anywhere on the Pacifican coast where we could stay at for a few days,” Shining Armor thought aloud from his position lounge on the bed, oblivious to what his wife was currently experiencing.
All the Princess did was snort in reply and glance toward her behind.
Taking this as a sign to continue, the Prince rolled onto his back and blithely kept talking, “We could walk the fine ground sand beaches there, maybe take a hike or two in the northern forests, then maybe take a chariot up to Seaddle and go to one of the opera houses there. There’s this dish they serve there that uses oysters, and I've been dying to try it. It’s not necessarily for the bragging rights, but I've heard from some of the Southern Griffons when we’re doing military exercises with them, and they say the taste is phenomenal. I-”
“Shining,” Cadence cut off her husband with just the mention of his name, “Get the midwife. The baby’s coming.”
The upturned Prince froze as he stared at his wife, eyes becoming as large as saucers.
“The-,” he stammered, “The baby’s coming?”
“Yes, the baby’s coming,” Cadence snapped, “I’m the one carrying it, so I’m pretty sure I know what I’m talking about! Get the midwife!”
“Right! Right! Rightrightrughtrightright!” the Prince hurriedly blurted as he rolled over, jumped off the bed like it was a springboard, slammed the doors to their suite open, and ran like a crazy horse to Canterlot Medical.
That had been about six hours ago.
Now Shining Armor sat in a conference room a few hundred feet away, neurotically rubbing his hooves through his mane. His parents had come within the first thirty minutes, but several other ponies had joined him in his vigil.
Princess Celestia and Princess Luna were present, as were Fancy Pants and Fleur De Lis.
Twilight Sparkle had also received the news, but even with the fastest sky chariot she was still hours away.
“Cadence is going to be fine, sweetheart,” Twilight Velvet said as she grasped Shining Armor by his right foreleg to keep him from rubbing himself bald, “Everything is going to be OK. It hasn't even been that long of a labor period yet. Most pregnancies finish up inside of seven to eight hours.”
“When we had you and Twilight, I think I was the one of us that was more terrified,” Night Light frankly declared as he took a sip from his lukewarm coffee, “You can relax a little son: the midwife is simply here as a precaution, not because there are complications.”
“Well I for one am feeling rather ‘psyched’,” Princess Luna said as she sat down onto one of the many sitting pillows in the room, “While not the court’s first child, this will be the first one where one of the parents was in the immediate royal succession, and of an alicorn parent no less! We are in the very action of living history itself! Who can guess what the child will be?”
“Well,” Fleur exclaimed as she brushed her hair with her magic, “Whatever the child is or chooses to be, we can all be assured that it will be given the gift of a pair of loving and supportive parents.”
“Well spoken, my dear,” Fancy Pants declared when he turned to look back toward his wife, his facial scar catching the light of the flickering candles on the table. He turned back toward Shining Armor and rapped his hoof on the table, “You and Cadence will make for an excellent father and mother!”
The Captain of the Guard looked to the gentlepony and nodded in appreciation for the compliment, but his face turned once again towards his lap, “I just hope I’m ready for this.”
Night Light chuckled as he looked to Twilight Velvet, who smiled back in return, “Trust us when we say you won’t be ready until you've raised one and they’re out of the house.”
“You’ll never be ready until you've already done it at least once, for better or for worse,” his mother clarified.
The doors to the conference room opened, which immediately grabbed everypony’s attention. Shining Armor turned his head so fast it almost looked like he was going to break his own neck. The midwife smiled as she fully opened the doors, “We’re ready for you.”
After many long hours of waiting, followed by a rush of pain and contracting muscles, the child was brought into the world.
“It’s the strangest thing,” the midwife commented as she ushered the herd of ponies in, “I've never before seen a foal that was born exactly at midnight. For posterity’s sake, though, the birth certificate will say he was born on 1 April 1003.”
As Shining Armor approached his wife, he noticed that she looked positively radiant despite her disheveled mane and her obvious sign of exertion. Resting on a thick linen covered bed in the center of the room, Cadence looked to her left side, where their child now lay. His coat was almost pure white, his tiny tail and mane were streaked blue, and he had both a horn and a pair of wings.
“An alicorn child,” Fancy Pants whispered in awe, “This is absolutely incredible!”
Taking a closer look at the fresh colt, Shining Armor was struck by a perplexing illusion: though obviously new to the waking world, the child looked as if he were older than his appearance seemed. Almost as if sensing his presence, the child opened his eyes to look at his father. They conveyed a strong sense of curiosity, but also seemed to have wisdom far beyond anything he could possibly have. Swirling like deep blue oceans, the lids around them closed as the little colt drifted off into sleep.
“It’s not fair,” Cadence weakly but happily whispered, causing Shining Armor to look at her in confusion, “I carry him for eleven months, and he barely looks anything like me!”
The Prince smirked a little and laughed softly, “He does have your wings, though. That counts!”
“And he has your entire body,” she replied.
She then turned to look at the colt, and her smile deepened.
“Isn't he beautiful?” she asked in maternal bliss as she ran a field of magic through his few strands of mane.
The newly made father slowly, almost with a tremble in his steps, walked to her side and lay down next to her, their child snuggled between them.
“Yes,” he said softly as he reached over and kissed her softly, “Yes he is.”
Princess Celestia, having remained unusually quiet for practically the entire affair, at last spoke up to ask a question, “What are you going to name him?”
The couple looked at each other for a moment, and then back to her.
“Well, Naming Day isn't for another five months,” Shining Armor said, “We've talked quite a lot, but we don’t have anything nailed down yet.”
The Princess nodded as she stared down at the newborn, and her eyes misted over as she pondered him. Having never told a soul what she had experienced, she wondered what it would be like, being in such a unique position as having met him first when he was a full grown stallion, and then watching him grow up before her eyes. When would he leave to carry out his plan to stop Discord, and thus cause the recursive events that were already in the past but still in flux? This and many other questions she would ponder in the days to come.
Janus
It was all wrong.
The plan was a success, but everything was spiraling out of control.
Janus, once again in his small plane of crystal and oblivion, watched as his parents settled down for the night beside the newborn that he was. Life in Equestria marched on, and everything was beginning to return to normal for those restricted to its domain, yet they could not see what was coming: to their credit, neither had Janus before he had made certain of Discord’s demise.
Only now, after he had made the draconequus’ fate an undeniable axiom did he realize the horrid truth: Discord was not the greatest threat to the universe. Even with his habit of toying with both mortals and immortals, and making reality his plaything, there was something much larger in both this universe and all others, something which Discord’s chaotic nature had been instrumental in keeping at bay. Now, it was awakening, and it was clawing at its prison, snarling and whispering its hunger across the cosmos.
Janus had not known what purpose the Void had served before, but now as he heard the ancient one’s murmurs in his foresight, he realized that it was not only the bedrock on which all of known reality was built, but also a prison. A prison outside of existence, one which no being was meant to cross and remain the same, but which he had done for others multiple times.
He had weakened the bars then, and now he had destroyed the lock.
Once it realized it was free, it would begin to infect all of the multiverse with its presence, at which point all causality would be sealed, meaning that from the inside looking out the end of days would happen in the blink of an eye, and that it would have always been that way, from into the misty past to the murky future. Then every universe would be bound together and swallowed up by it, leaving nothing but itself to live in a sea of cold darkness for all of eternity.
The future looked very dark indeed, for he had seen flashes of it upon Discord’s death.
A moving darkness, neither living nor dead, scoured the timestreams in an alien vessel, searching for something of importance, but what he couldn't say.
A crimson pony appeared before him, its appearance demonic in nature, with wings like a bat and a mane and tail like an inferno. Her eyes were sharp cyan with black sclera, and her forked tongue was hidden behind an almost carnivorous maw of teeth. As the alien vessel carrying the darkness descended like a storm cloud on Canterlot, the demonic pony was there, bursting into flame and rising up with a rage like he had never seen to defend the city from the ghastly presence, along with the help of Princess Celestia, Nightmare Moon, and his mother.
A zebra living deep within an all too familiar forest appeared before him. He saw that she was not alone, as a spirit of nature and the wilderness was beside her and within her, giving her the power and wisdom to be the custodian of the Everfree. Living things of all sorts came to her call, whether chipmunks or timber wolves, gnats or bears, and they stood guard around the little town of Ponyville, offering some small protection against the evil forces marching on it.
The perspective of the vision then tunneled deep below the earth, where at last Janus finally saw a face that he recognized. Bunsen Burner was hard at work welding a plate down to the floor of a large metal room, with what appeared to be a human ghost offering him company and instruction. As he watched, time blurred into the future, and now the old stallion was in some sort of control room with his guide. Slowly the room began to shake, and as light entered through the panels on the far wall, Janus realized that the thing the two beings were in was a large starship, and that for the first time in countless years it was taking off, destroying the Everfree above it as it rose.
Once again the perspective changed. He was greeted by the sight of an icy plain, across which the Elements were running for their dear lives. Applejack was carrying a pony on her back: who it was and to what extent they were injured he didn't know. Two humans, one being Adam, and the other a male he didn't recognize, brought up the tail end of the group, their steps hounded mercilessly by the darkness. A blue box of some sort was the destination to which they all ran.
The unknown male, young in appearance but ancient by the judge of his eyes, waved the others to retreat into the box while he stood his ground against the massive shadow. He carried a long case in the grip of his right hand, which fell open to reveal some sort of rifle-like weapon. From out of the shadow appeared two eyes, each with a red iris, green sclera, and a malevolent purple fog that poured out of them both. The mysterious young man brought up the weapon to point directly into the heart of the darkness, while he steadied his aim with his left hand.
“I’m begging you, for the love of God, don’t make me do this!” he yelled out over the howling winds. His eyes were a mix of fear, regret, and righteous anger, while the shadow’s eyes were filled with nothing but hatred and hunger, and it laughed at him.
Even as the renewed vision ended, a new fact echoed into his mind.
Four years. He had four Equestrian years to prepare for the coming cataclysm and to find those he had seen.
Though the fourth being he couldn't be sure of, he did understand what the other three represented: Hatred, Nature, and Science.
The last two were ends of a spectrum, much like he had once occupied with Discord.
Perhaps that was the key.
Princess Celestia was the Day and Princess Luna was the Night: another spectrum composed of opposites.
Princess Cadence, the third royal alicorn, was characterized by Love, which meant that the demon pony must be her equal and opposing opposite.
Six ponies: each with some sort of great power and each personifying a part of life itself. Perhaps if he found a way to help unite them all they could stand a chance at fighting the darkness that intended to consume everything.
He didn't care what he had to do to make it happen: in the face of this multiversal threat, anything that could help to forge this group of ponies, this Cosmic Paradigm, and which could help them win was preferable to the alternative.
Now set on his course of actions, the Conductor reached down into his basin, through which he could see all of Equestrian time and space, and began to tug on the strings that made the world go ‘round. So concerned was he in trying to set things right that he didn't notice that he was not alone in the darkness surrounding him.
It was already free, and it was watching.
It hungered, but knew it could never be satisfied.
The monstrous eyes which had appeared in Janus’ vision now bored into the back of his head, and it waited. As it watched, it couldn't help but whisper of its hunger for magic, or its desire for absolute dominance over all things, living or dead.
It murmured of its wish to eat time, to take the white alicorn and break him.
It wanted his domain and his life.
It wanted his bowl and his stage in the darkness.
It wanted his crystals.