Five elements. Five elements placed before her. They seemed so simple. Each so much more dull than the gems that studded her royal apparel. Could they not be them? No. There was no mistaking them. Their each defined color, the surge of emotions just looking at them, the gold crests they were placed within; they had to be them.
Many of the Canterlot citizens were left in confusion at the spectacle they had witnessed after princess Celestia had finished her duty of raising the sun. Some claimed that guards had rushed to her and alerted her of some incoming crisis; others say they witnessed a phoenix coming to her with a message between its talons. In a manner of speaking, they were all right as well as wrong. The princess had been informed of the findings of one of her confidants by the words of her guards minutes before her trusted Philomeena had come to her with said findings.
Haste was not wasted as she left her subjects and cloistered herself within her chamber in the castle tower. There, Princess Celestia, the herald of the sun and ruler of Equestria alongside her sister, had taken time to study these relics before her personal council had assembled. Though she had brought the sun up mere moments ago, her chamber was casted into darkness except for the warm flicker of dying fireplace and the soft embers off of Philomeena's preened feathers with the lights dancing across the lavender curtains that banished the suns light out from the chamber.
Her eyes crossed between each gem carefully, subconsciously hoping for some sort of reasoning to become clear to her. "…Philomeena?" the phoenix picked its head up from behind the thin bars around it and gave the princess a crooked look, "What would they have me do?" Philomeena cooed softly, "I haven't a clue of how these are assigned… Perhaps this was in ill preparations. They will be here soon, and I have nothing to tell them…" with a soft creek, Philomeena pushed her cage door open and hopped out onto the desk that Celestia had placed the elements on.
The princess looked at her bird curiously, watching it peck at one of the gems –the green one in particular- and pushing closer to Celestia. Giving a warm smile, Celestia offered one of her front legs to Philomeena to perch herself on, which she had quickly taken to. "Yes, perhaps you're right," she laughed softly, rubbing a cheek gently against her bird's small, warm face, "the texts say that only through true expression do the elements produce their full power. At the very least I can offer the elements to my friends and see what becomes of it…" Philomeena chirped before fluttering herself back into her cage, seemingly happy at the change in her master's mood, "It doesn't pay to mention as well that with Star Swirl's input, we will surely figure out the way to use them… We will be able to do so much good Philomeena."
Her nerves had all been lost for the time being, but she still felt there was work to be done. She trusted that with Star Swirl's help, they could find a way to obtain a use for these relics, but it would irresponsible to have called for a meeting and have nothing the show for it other then the source material; not to mention rather embarrassing. It was her choice to summon them out from whatever it was they were doing; even though she was sure Discord wasn't consumed in anything too important judging by the two screams she heard not two minutes ago from the hedge maze. But Star Swirl on the other hoof most definitely was in the middle of a lecture or conjuring up a new spell that would revolutionize the world of magic… again. And Luna, her dear, precious little sister had most likely been woken from her nocturnal rest to attend this summoning.
Celestia could see it now, Luna groggily stepping out into the morning light from her chamber tower and making the 'agonizing' venture between there and her sister's chambers. Along the way, she would most likely cross Star Swirl or Discord, assuming the latter had filled himself on the fun of terrorizing the ponyfolk that absently ventured into his domain. If it had been Star Swirl, the two would've been bickering for a ways over Star Swirl's 'prattling' on a subject that Luna 'didn't need to know'. With those three surely on the way, that left but one more to finish their assembly.
The princess was sure she would come in late, it suited her much better. A dramatic entrance was much more her style over being prompt. But, these were her finds, so a little slack would not be out of the question if she wanted to come in late to the meeting this time.
That left only one more matter left to her care; something to offer the lot of her assembly. Once more, Celestia's attention fell onto the phoenix held up in the golden cage. "Have any ideas, Philomeena?" she jokingly asked, "It would be in pretty bad taste if all I have to show is somebody else's findings…" Philomeena gave the princess another cocked look, as if asking a question, "…No, no, I know I don't need to provide them with anything more then this; but I would just feel rather empty hoofed if I showed up with work that isn't mine alone."
At this, Philomeena pushed her cage door open once more and hopped back onto the face of the desk. Celestia watched carefully, mildly interested in what her pet had to offer. For a short while, Philomeena seemed to search over the desk, stopping suddenly as her eyes set onto a piece of curled parchment. Philomeena plucked the piece up between her sharp, beak and brought it up to Celestia's eyes. The princess looked at the piece curiously; it had no writing on it at all.
Celestia gave Philomeena a confused look, but it was quickly replaced with excitement when she saw Philomeena pluck one of her feathers out from her lush plumage and placed it beside a small glass of ink lying on the table. "A wonderful idea, Philomeena," Celestia complimented, taking the discarded feather into the clutch of her golden magic and gave the parchment a light spread on the table with another glimmer of her magic, "I will construct a list… Marvelous idea." Philomeena gave her wings a light flutter before perching herself back within her cage, shutting her eyes and dimming the dim ember of her wings.
The last sound that graced Philomeena's small ears was the vigorous scribing of a diligent princess; just like any night before. Though the two could never speak directly to one another, Celestia and Philomeena shared an unspoken tongue with one another. That's how Philomeena knew her master would be fine over the next few hours.
She knew; Celestia had always been at one of her most calm states when compiling a list of plans…