Ten;
Now:
"How much farther is it to the Royal Paradise, Glory?" Medley asked. "My wings are starting to get tired."
"We still have to cross the Crystal Sea, Medley." Glory replied. "It's going to be another hour or so."
"Try walking for a while, give your wings a rest." Twilight advised her. "Getting through the dominions of the Ice Orges is going to be hard enough, and we're going to need both of our flyers in the air."
The six mares had crossed dream valley, and passed through the neighboring kingdoms on their way to the center of Ponyland. They had successfully avoided any confrontation with any monsters on their way, and were nearing the edge of the Crystal Sea. As boredom overtook the six ladies, they had began to chat amongst themselves.
"I didn't know Pegasus could get tired from flying." Bow Tie remarked. "My mom used to tell me that Pegasus once lived in a city in the sky."
"Cloudsdale." Medley sighed. "Every generation of Pegasus ponies remembers the legends of our paradise above the clouds."
"Yeah, it was the home of the best fliers in Ponyland." Firefly agreed. "Those Pegasus were so powerful, they could control the weather!"
"Why did the Pegasus abandon it?" Twilight asked. "Your type of Ponies would have been safer up there in the clouds, than they are living here on the ground."
"Cloudsdale was destroyed during the last days of Equestria, when Pegasus could no longer shape the clouds, or control the weather.." Applejack replied bluntly. "The Pegasus survivors fled to the surface, and took shelter with the earth ponies and unicorns."
"And just what did you do, as Equestria fell down around your earth pony ears?" Twilight asked sarcastically. "Hunker down under a bushel of apples?"
"I became a wanderer after my family died, long before Equestria fell." Applejack replied bluntly. "Kinda hard to explain why all the ponies around you are aging, and you aren't."
"So you just wandered from place to place, for over a thousand years?" Glory asked, amazed.
"Yep." Applejack replied. "Didn't settle down until Queen Majesty invited to let me stay at the castle."
"Yes, you just decided to plop yourself down and leech off of us, didn't you?" Twilight snapped.
"Twilight, that's enough!" Glory snorted. "Now is not the time for this!"
"Hey guys, look!" Firefly yelled. "We're here!"
They had been so busy arguing, that the ponies had failed to notice they crossed the jewel covered surface of the Crystal Sea, and arrived at their destination. There, in the middle of a barren ice-like sheet of diamond that stretched out in every direction for miles, was the royal paradise. A large, multi-turreted castle that was home to the six princess ponies- the six rulers of Ponyland. It was they who the six mares had come to see.
And it was they the six mares were quickly rushed in before by the royal servant ponies. Twilight realized the princesses must rarely have visits from their subjects... seeing as how most ponies problems were heard and taken care of by their local rulers. So it was no surprise the six of them were eager to see any visitors to their Palace. The Dream Valley ponies bowed, as they came before the regal rulers on their circle of thrones.
There were six of them... three descended from princess Celestia, and three from Princess Luna... born of the bloodline of the original two princess ponies. Unlike their ancestors, four of them were earth ponies, with one Pegasus and one Unicorn. It was they, who were the keepers of the elements of Harmony-which were stored in the heart of Ponyland gemstone, deep beneath the royal palace, and channeled through their six wands.
"Greetings, Twilight of Dream Valley." Princess Tiffany, the white Pegasus who was thier leader, greeted them. "We are most pleased to receive you and your friends here before us."
"Thank you, your majesties." Twilight Shine replied. "We are most honored to be in your royal presence. We have come-"
"You have come to seek our help with the coming crisis." Princess Starburst, the yellow earth pony, replied. "It is Tirek threatening our present, just as it is Grogar the cruel that threatening our past."
"Grogar?" Firefly whinnied in shock. "But... Megan and the Paradise estate ponies defeated him!"
"In the present, yes. But not in the past." Princess Amethyst, the lavender-colored unicorn, replied. "It was Grogar who destroyed Equestria so long ago, and casued the civilization of our ancestors to fall."
"So that's how our Kingdom collapsed!" Applejack snorted in Anger. "We always thought it was Tirek who caused the fall!"
"The dark lord played his part in the end of Equestria, but it was Gyrogar who was the primary cause." Princess Royal Blue replied sadly. "During the Tambleon Tragedy, he did bring an end to Celestia and Luna's kingdom."
"But your majesties!" Twilight exclaimed, dumbfounded. "How do you know all of this?"
"Our records of that age are slightly more complete, here at the Royal Paradise." The blue Princess Primrose told them proudly. "When Queen Majesty contacted us via magic looking glass and told us what was happening, we immediately researched the situation."
"S-so what c-causing this situation?"Medley asked. "W-why the apparitions, a-and the letter?"
"What happened at Tambleon is casing a chronal disturbance." Princess Serena replied. "The visions being seen in the past and future are a result of the magical experiments that took place in the laboratory there."
"So what will you do?" Bow Tie asked. "We may need the elements of Harmony to defeat Tirek and Grogar!"
"We will be ready, if you have need of the elements." The six princesses replied in unison. "But now, you and your friends are needed back in Dream Valley. The dark lord could attack at any time."
"Thank you, your highnesses." Twilight replied, bowing again.
"Chronal disturbances... that means time manipulation." Glory groaned. "Great, I'm gonna get a headache from the time paradoxes again."
"Don't be ridiculous, Glory." Twilight Sparkle replied. "You know there is no such thing as time travel, magical or otherwise."
"No, not since the Tambelon incident sealed the timestream forever. Before then, even limited time travel was difficult, at best ." Glory replied. "But influencing past and future is possible. I remember that from my magic lessons."
As the six mares left the palace, Applejack stared ahead in wonder, thinking to herself. "Time manipulation... this could be an opportunity... to prevent the fall of Equestria... to stop everything bad from ever happening..."
As they made their way back home, the Orange earth pony was already forming a plan to slip away and pay a visit on dream valley's resident wizard, the moochick. She had a plan, but she would need help.
...
At Dream Castle, Wind Whistler was just reporting back to Queen Majesty, after having warned all of the other kingdoms of Tirek's return.
"So all the neighboring kingdoms will be ready." Majesty replied. "That is good, will will need all the help we can get... when the attack from our greatest foe comes."
"They will aid our endeavor, to the best of their tactical and material capability, my queen." Wind Whistler replied. "Logic dictates that they will strive to assist in our survival in any way possible."
Hearing the Pegasus's nuanced report, Queen Majesty just shook her head. Clearly, they was no pony in this age or any other who was as intelligent... or as analytical... as Wind Whistler. Her only weakness was her reliance on logic over her emotions. Still, she was a valuable asset in matters of strategy, statistics, and tactics.
As the two mares were discussing the situation, a small purple reptile made his way into the throne room, unnoticed. It was a shock to both ponies when the tiny dragon came before the throne, and bowed.
"I heard there were some problems here, your majesty, involving an ancient letter from Twilight Sparkle." The bowing form said to the queen. "So I came from Paradise Estate as soon as I could."
"AH!" Wind Whistler yelled in surprise. "Spike! You startled us! We are pleased to see you have transported yourself to this location at such an auspicious and convient time."
"Glad to be here, Wind Whistler." Spike replied with a smile. "Now what can I do to help?"