//------------------------------// // Chapter One: Harmony Underground // Story: My Little Pony: Rise of the Elements // by Featherdust418 //------------------------------// 1,000 years later... A young, lavender coated Unicorn sat on a cave floor in a small room, with nothing in it but a small shelf packed with books. In fact there were so many books that they could not fit on the shelf, thus some of them were piled up around it in neat, organized stacks. The mare was reading a book that was quite large, in fact one might even be surprised that she was reading such a book... if there was anypony that didn't know her well enough. The ponies here though were closely knit, a sort of "everypony knows everypony" community. This sometimes bothered the young mare, as it was at times difficult to get away and have her own place to study. She did have one place that few knew of and spent most of her time away from everything else there. That is until somepony that knew about the spot came to collect her. "Hmm... according to this book after the terrible Spirit of Chaos, Discord, took over "the world above" he twisted it to match his own darkness. It also says that there are a few places untouched by his magic. I wonder what it is like? I only know from books, but Shiny knows from experience. Though every time I ask him he avoids the subject. There's got to be a way to pry more information from him, but how? I need to find a way..." "Twilight, c'mon! Its getting late and dinner has been waiting for you for some time. I can't keep heating it up forever! Please Twilight, you need to eat something!" Twilight Sparkle, the name of the afore-mentioned unicorn, sighed heavily. Hadn't she gone to her spot to read just moments ago? "Be right there!" She said with a bit of edge in her voice. She didn't mean to say it like that and hoped the baby dragon hadn't heard it. She shook her head, then got up and left her small hideout. She then covered the space using an illusion spell, and turned to faced the little dragon who was waiting for her just outside. "Hello Spike! Thanks for keeping my dinner warm, I really appreciate it," Twilight said cheerfully, just in case he did happen to hear the edge in her voice from before. "No problem, Twilight! Oh, umm... and after dinner, we're going to see Cadence and your brother", Spike replied, twiddling his claws nervously. Twilight began to grumble a bit about not being able to go back and read some more, but then she remembered that she wanted to speak with Shining about "the world above", and this time she wouldn't let him tip-hoof around the subject. "You know what Spike? That sounds great! I'll hurry up and eat, and you go wash up and get ready for our visit!" "Umm... ok, cool! Alright, can't wait to go!" Spike was always a bit worried about telling Twilight about those visits, as sometimes the result would be good... However, he also occasionally would have to listen to her grumble and complain until they got there about how she wouldn't be able to read or study at all. This usually happened when she had her muzzle deep in a book, which she did this time, so he was a bit surprised- and glad- that she had showed an eagerness to go. Soon, after they had finished doing what they needed to do, the two made their way to the castle- which was really just like a small mansion, at least it didn't look like a castle from what she had seen of them in images from the books she read. They walked down the dusty road, passing by the small homes of the community. The entire village was deep beneath the surface, in the Canterlot caves. Canterlot was going to be the planned future kingdom of the Princesses, after Discord had attacked and managed to force them away from their home in the Everfree forest. The Princesses had discovered the empty caverns and sealed them away from Discord's eyes, as well as his magic from ever finding the place. Unfortunately, that plan to rebuild the new kingdom never came to be. After Discord began his reign however, a small group of ponies managed to escape his evil and these ponies recorded in their logs about how "A guiding light revealed to us these caves, and here we have found safety and hope, away from the evil that the chaotic king spreads across the land." Once they came upon the "castle", Twilight went up the steps and knocked on the front door. The sound of a lock being partially unlatched could be heard, and soon after the door opened slightly, and a gruff voice cried out from behind it, "Halt! Who goes there?" Twilight rolled her eyes, while Spike hid behind her leg at the sound of the voice. "Its me, Twilight Sparkle! My brother is expecting me..." "Can you prove that?" Twilight wanted to explode... did her brother forget to inform the guards that they were coming? Just before she was about to recite an entire book to the guard, she heard another voice. "Stronghold, its okay! Can you please let my sister in? I'm expecting her tonight! Of course she's always welcome, no matter what." "Oh uh, yes of course, sir. *ah-hem!* Miss Sparkle, you may enter." Stronghold then unlatched the lock completely, and opened the door wide. Twilight trotted in, her nose sticking up slightly as she walked by the guard. She then saw her brother, and gave him a slightly irritated look. "You should tell the guards to let us in when we're coming... I'm your sister Shiny, I shouldn't have to go through that you know." "I know... and hey, I usually do- but you also usually take a lot longer to get here. I wasn't expecting it to be so quick." The two stared each other down, then Twilight relaxed and grinned at him. "Fair enough." Shining also smiled, and the two embraced. Shining then greeted Spike with a hoof bump, and then they all made their way down a hallway and further into the castle. "I'm glad you came Twily- Cadence will be happy to see you too, of course, then again we always are. We're really lucky to have somepony like her in our lives." "Cadence is really great, and I'm really happy that she's done all that she has. Especially considering that she's the current princess of the Harmony Underground... she really could've just done whatever she wanted." "Haha, but she isn't like that and you know that. In fact, doing what she did has made her more fitting to be the leader here." Shining replied. "That is true." With that, they walked into the room they had just arrived at, which appeared to be a sitting room. Twilight, seeing a pink Alicorn pony with her back turned to her, cried out, "Cadence!" The Alicorn then turned around, and her face broke into a big smile when she saw the purple Unicorn. "Twilight!" The two then ran up to meet, and started to do their little dancing game that they had come up with together when Twilight was much younger and Cadence foalsat her. "Sunshine, sunshine, ladybugs awake! Clap your hooves and do a little shake! Hahaha!" The two then hugged warmly, and everyone made themselves comfortable on the couch and two chairs in the room. There was also a large fireplace, a desk and a small chair, and a table in between the couch and larger chairs, in the center of the room. A chandelier with all sorts of crystals hung in the middle, reflecting a dazzling, yet comfortable light. So Twily, how have things been in your neck of the caves?" Shining asked his sister, while a servant brought some cider out for the group to enjoy. Certain supplies were indeed rare, and often the ingredients would have to be smuggled in from 'The World Above'. Cider was one of them, a rare treat indeed, for most. It sold for a high price when available, so not everyone could get it. The princess being the princess however, could indeed afford it. She would even share the cider (as well as other rare foods) as often as she could, whether it be for get-togethers (such as tonight), or with those who were less fortunate so that they could at least have an idea of what certain things would taste like. "Things have been good, doing a lot of reading, as usual. Nothing new, really... but I heard you just got back from a dangerous raid from 'the world above'! Please Shiny, you've just got to tell me what that was like!" "Well, it wasn't really a raid... just a scouting mission. Simply to check up on the magic reserves of the protection spell, and refill it where it needed. And while I did have a small squadron with me, the spell is strong enough to hide us from the Discord's magic even above ground. At least for a short time anyway." While the spell the princesses used was of far greater knowledge and magic than what normal unicorns had, it was still able to allow for them to use their magic to keep the spell alive, as it was necessary to do so to stay protected from Discord's evil. The princesses had left a book that they had written together, with all the info necessary on the upkeep of the spell as well as what to do and how to get things going in the caves, should their plan have failed. "Oh, I see." said Twilight, with slight disappointment in her voice. Shining glanced quickly to Cadence, who returned the look with one of concern. Shining then looked again at Twilight, and opened his mouth to speak, but before he could Twilight perked up and continued, "Well, you still went up there... what did you see? Anything interesting? Castles? Trees? More books?" Shining sighed gently and responded, "Twily, I know you want to go up there. But you also know that its too dangerous. As captain of the guard, I am able to go, but even I have to know my limits. I don't go roaming around looking for things, that would be foolish and put our whole community at risk. I simply stick to the plan, go up there, and get back down as quickly as possible. In-and-out, simple as that." "Yeesh, I only asked of what you had seen, not that I wanted to go up... why do you always jump to that conclusion?" Shining's jaw dropped slowly, as he tried to think of a response. When he couldn't come up with anything, he put his hooves to his temples and began to rub them. Finally, he exclaimed, "Because Twily, every time you mention "the world above" that's what you always ask! I just... I'm sorry. I guess it wasn't fair of me to assume, but really, I can't help but feel like that's what you were leading up to. I got a little ahead of myself, I guess I just wanted to stop it before it came. Promise me you won't ask though? You know what my answer is anyway, same as always." Twilight looked apologetically at Shining, and replied, "Sorry, BBBFF. I guess I do ask that a lot, and we tend to... argue over it often. I don't want a night like that tonight, so I won't ask, I promise. I can at least ask if you saw anything though, right? I mean, I know you don't see much, but... something, anything? You can't possibly tell me your scouting mission was that boring!" Shining chuckled at that, and said, "Alright, glad we've come to an agreement! And, on that note... I suppose I did see something, I could tell you about it." "Ooh ooh, please Shiny! I've just got to know!" "Alright, alright! Well, there was a little path a ways off, not too far..." And with that he began to tell her of an area he found, past a few trees. It was a small basin of water in an open area, with a waterfall cascading down into it. The sun had even reflected off the water, creating a rainbow that shone brilliantly. Twilight's grin grew larger, as she imagining the spot in her head. She had to see it. Suddenly, a plan formed in her head. "Shining, that sounds amazing... I wish I could g- er, ah ha! Nevermind, its not important. Thank you for telling me though. I won't say anything more, as promised. Umm, but I was wondering... we've run out of moonberry juice again. Might I ask when the next nightly raid might be?" Shining gave her a suspicious glance. She backed down from asking to go to the spot rather quickly, though she did make a promise. And it wasn't unlike her to ask about raids or scouting missions, though the night ones were a little less common of her. She did like moon berry juice though... finally, he gave in. "Well, you're in luck, Twily. There should be a nightly raid in about two days, so you can expect some juice soon. Moonberries are in season, too." "Ah, perfect! Thanks for the info, Shiny. I can't wait, I really miss the stuff!" And with that the four continued on, talking about this and that until finally Spike began to drift off, signaling that it was time to end the night's visit. Twilight gently levitated Spike onto her back, and after quiet goodbyes she was given an escort home. Once she was there she put Spike to bed, and began to work on her plan- to sneak out and go with the guard on the next nightly raid.