The sun was starting to set, casting its last rays of light over the world, painting the sky in a beautiful orange. The mountains that had stood there for eons were a dark grey, creating an astonishing contrast.
Inside one of them, a massive cave system riddled the interior like a giant ant farm. So massive in fact, the mountain was almost hollow. Tunnels connected caves of all shapes and sizes, creating a maze of natural stone. But if one were to look closer, he would notice that those hallways weren’t natural at all. All the walls and floors were smooth, looking as if someone sandpapered them to perfection, not a single jagged rock to be found.
But this wasn’t the only unnatural occurrence in there. Every bit of surface was covered in glowing runes. Some of them stayed where they were, others slowly moving in circles, or travelling along set paths every imaginable direction. To the uninformed spectator it looked like pure chaos, but every rune was placed perfectly.
In one of the smaller caves near the top of the mountain, Atlas was peacefully slumbering on a makeshift bed, which was the only piece of furniture present in the small space. The runes around him gave off a steady hum, which he had long gotten used to.
A small tremor shook the cavern and Atlas awoke from his comatose state, almost immediately dismissing the shaking as one of the smaller earthquakes, which were in no way unusual when one was living in a mountain. After all, a lot of mountains were directly atop of a fault line.
However he was jolted completely awake as a multihued blur literally tore a hole straight through the mountain, and more importantly, the cave he was sleeping in. Atlas was thrown across the enirety of his cave together with his bed, only to crash violently into the adjacent wall. All around him rubble fell to the ground, almost burying him alive. He coughed and stood back up from his prone position on the floor, shoving the bed, which had landed right on top of him, to the side with a burst of magical energy.
For a moment all was quiet with Atlas just sitting there, attentively watching the runes on the wall next to him. It started off as a slight flicker but eventually he had to watch them slowly sputtering out of existence. The giant hole in both cave walls must have disrupted the flow of magic he oh so carefully set up over the last millenium. With a huge sigh, he watched as his work slowly unraveled into nothingness, unable to do anything.
“What the actual fuck just happened?” He asked no one in particular, once the familiar purple glow all around him had vanished, rage evident in his voice.
He started to get up, intent on finding out just what decided to ruin everything. Finding whatever had the nerve to destroy his work, and adequately punishing it had now become his top priority. The possibility of one of the local tatzlwurms being the culprit was ruled out almost immediately, because some of the runes were there to keep them well away from his work.
Dusting himself off, he went to where whoever was responsible exited his mountain. The gaping hole in the wall was jagged on all sides, providing a strak contrast to the smoothness he got used to, and revealed the sun going down over the horizon, far off in the distance. Atlas furrowed his brow and, after hopping up and inside the hole, started walking towards the edge of the mountain.
As soon as he emerged, he had to shield his eyes. Even though the sun was pretty weak right now, he did spend quite a few years inside the mountain.
While his eyes adjusted, he could already hear the sound of a not-so-distant battle. As soon as he could see clearly again, he looked towards where the sounds were coming from, and almost couldn’t believe what he saw.
A giant red and black centaur was doing battle with a purple alicorn, the two of them flinging beams of pure mana at each other, which proved to Atlas that neither of them were trained in the art of magical combat
“A purple alicorn? That one’s new…” Atlas mumbled to himself.
The sight of the battle seemed familiar, and he almost remembered something, but for the life of him, he couldn’t place the memory. He watched them, shooting their inefficient laser-beams at each other for a while. Pondering if he should help the alicorn out or not.
“Nah, let her deal with it, not my problem,” Atlas said after a while. After all, they just ruined his lifes work, so he didn’t care if one of them lost their lifes while battling each other. Damage assessement was more important right now.
“Let’s just hope my fail-safes held up…”
Celestia was in Twilight's newly formed castle. The white alicorn with a tricolored mane was taking in every detail of the room she was currently in. She was so proud of her students newest achievement, defeating Tirek, an old foe from times past. Of course, she didn’t do this on her own, her friends being just as instrumental to their victory as Twilight herself.
Using the Elements of Harmony they once again imprisoned Tirek in Tartarus, and returned all the magic he had stolen to its rightful owners. Surprisingly it was all thanks to Discord, the draconequus having provided the last key needed to open the box of harmony. He truly seemed reformed now, having finally accepted true friendship into his heart. He even presented Celestia with some beautiful flowers, in an oddly genuine attempt to apologize.
Half the citizens of Ponyville were currently roaming the castle's halls, wondering about the newest addition to their small town, which made moving around a tad more difficult for Celestia. Usually, ponies tended to give her a lot of space wherever she went. It had become some sort of an unspoken rule, which a few of the Poniville residents happily ignored, much to her joy. She talked to Mayor Mare, her good old friend The Doctor, and even to the kinda ditzy local mailmare.
It took her quite some time, but eventually she reached her destination, which was the supposed throne room of the castle. Twilight and her friends stood in front of six crystalline mini thrones arranged in a circle around a table, each of them displaying the cutie mark of one of the elements.
Three pink butterflies, belonging to the element of kindness, Fluttershy. The pegasus’ coat was a vibrant yellow and her mane pink, building a stark contrast. True to her name, the mare stood slightly behind her friends, looking like she was a bit overwhelmed with all that was going on around her.
A tricolored Lightning bolt coming out of a cloud, belonging to the element of loyalty, Rainbow Dash. The mare, also a pegasus, hovered slightly above the ground. She was quite the athlete and prefered her gift of flight over walking. Her coat was a deep blue, and her mane multicolored, like a rainbow.
Three blue gems, belonging to the element of generosity, Rarity. She was a unicorn with a pristine white coat, and a royal purple mane which was styled to perfection, even after a hard-fought battle. The mare was actually quite a renowned fashion pony, excelling in creating garments for all kinds of ponies.
Three delicious looking red apples, belonging to the element of honesty, Applejack. An earth pony apple farmer. Having an orange coat and sporting a brown stetson on her blonde mane, she stood right next to Rarity, nodding along as the fashionista talked about how beautiful the castle was.
Three Balloons, two blue, one yellow, belonging to the element of laughter, Pinkie Pie. The earth pony was the pinkest thing Celestia had ever seen in all her hundreds of years of existence. Her coat was a bright lively pink, her mane also pink, albeit a bit darker. The mare seemed to, once again, break physics wherever she went. Darting from one place to the other, sometimes appearing from seemingly impossible places, and even going so far as to be leaving afterimages in her wake.
And finally a purple star, surrounded by five smaller, white stars, the element of magic, Twilight Sparkle. The unicorn turned alicorn was Celestia’s most prized student. She had a lavender coat and a purple mane, two pink highlights running along the middle.
Celestia took Twilight under her tutelage when she was a little filly. On the day Twilight took the exam to enter Princess Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns, she had a magical surge, turning the present examiners, as well as her parents into potted plants. It was so powerful that Celestia herself had to step in and stop the little filly. While Celestia stepped in before any real damage could be done, the lingering magical power was enough to hatch the dragon egg present in the room, giving birth to Spike. The little purple and green dragon had become her assistant since then, always helping her as well as he could.
Celestia had educated and guided Twilight in her studies. Almost caring for her as if she were her daughter. She watched as Twilight went to Ponyville to learn about friendship, still guiding her from behind the scenes, without her noticing, of course. She watched as Twilight and her friends overcame many obstacles and grew as friends, all leading up to today's events.
It was about half an hour ago, she had the privilege to officially pronounce Twilight the Princess of Friendship. But now it was time for her to return to Canterlot, her sister Luna having already done so. Tirek did quite a number on Equestria, and now they had to deal with the aftermath.
As Celestia walked up to the six mares and the lone dragon, Twilight noticed her approach and turned towards her.
“Did you need something Princess?” Twilight ask with a beaming smile on her face.
Celestia had to suppress a chuckle, since, even though Twilight now stood on equal footing with herself, she still treated her like a mentor and princess. She even did a little curtsey.
“Yes, Princess Twilight,” Celestia replied in her usual calm manner.
She was happy to finally be able to address Twilight as her equal, and made sure to call her out as such. She saw Twilight cringe a bit at the title, still not being used to it.
“I will have to return to Canterlot now,” Celestia explained. “There is a literal mountain of paperwork with my name on it waiting for me. Your new post will have to be made official, and there is still the aftermath of Tireks attack that has to be dealt with.”
“Is there anything we can do to help Princess?” Twilight asked with a concerned voice, her friends voicing their consent to the offer.
“You have done more than enough as is, please take some time to recover and settle into your new home,” Celestia said, stopping their enthusiasm in the bud. They had gone through quite an ordeal and as such, had earned their rest.
After all, the Golden Oaks library, in which Twilight resided, was destroyed in her battle with Tirek, so she had to move into the castle whether she wanted to or not.
“I’m sure it will take quite some time to properly make this castle into a place that feels like home,” Celestia said. “But I’m sure you’re all eager to explore all the nooks and crannies it has to offer.”
Twilight nodded sadly, she was quite fond of the library, and losing it was like seeing an old friend die. Her friends immediately closed in on her, promising to help her however they could. Celestia once again smiled, knowing her student… no, her friend, was in good hooves.
“Then I will take my leave here, have a wonderful day, everypony,” Celestia said.
Celestia was just preparing her teleport spell back to the castle, when a bright white flame appearing right in front of her disrupted her concentration. Everybody in the room gasped, as the flame was quite bright. Celestia looked stunned at the object now floating in front of her. A pure white scroll. Where usually the wax was used to hold the scroll rolled up, there was a purple glowing runic circle, that slowly rotated in place.
Every single eye in the room was on the floating scroll, since nobody had ever seen something quite like this. While Spike was able to send Celestia scrolls in a similar fashion by using his magic fire, this seemed different. It also didn’t help that the scroll was practically glowing with energy.
Twilight spotted the runic circle and Celestia could see a spark of hunger light up in her eyes, since Twilight was a sucker for everything even remotely related to magic. Runes being a dead magical art, only told about in tales and very, very old history books was sure to garner a reaction out of her.
“Is… Is that… Are those runes?” Twilight zipped next to Celestia, eager to learn something new. “Can I take a look at it?”
Twilight looked up at Celestia, puppy eyes armed and dangerous. Unfortunately for her, Celestia had grown immune a long time ago.
“I’m afraid not,” Twilight’s ears fell. “This is a letter from an old friend of mine, and when he sends me one, they are typically quite urgent, so it would be wise to respond right away.” Celestia glanced down at her disappointed friend. “That said, you’ll probably meet him soon, and there is no better pony to ask about runes than the one who invented them, right?”
Celestia watched with a smirk as her student’s jaw dropped, an incredulous look on her face. Ignoring her for now, Celestia tapped her horn on the runes. The circle started to expand, reacting to her presence. Shortly after, it dissappeared with a flash, the scroll unfurling before her. Inside were more runes, preventing anyone but the intended recipient to read what was written in green ink.
Celestia,
we need to talk.
I will come to you tomorrow morning.
Make sure the purple alicorn is with you.
Also, send the scroll back with a suitable meeting place, as I have no idea where you currently live.
Signed,
Atlas
Celestia smiled at the written words, Atlas apparently didn’t change at all, since she last saw him. Straight to the point, like always. She once again touched the parchment with her horn, a few runes lighting up.
“Canterlot Castle, Throne Room”
As she spoke those words, they were magically written down. She drew her horn back, causing the scroll to roll back up and incinerate itself with the same white flame in which it arrived. She turned once again to Twilight and her friends, intending to follow Atlas’ instructions, even if she had no idea what for, or how he knew Twilight.
“I would like to invite all of you to Canterlot Castle, as my old friend would like to meet with Twilight, and I’m sure he would like to see the rest of the elements as well.”
Twilight was just about to respond in the affirmative, as a faint boom was heard in the distance. A magical shock wave washed over all of them, surprising everypony and causing them to look around trying to locate its source.
Celestia recognized it for what it was: Atlas’ signature spell.
She smiled, eagerly anticipating seeing Atlas again. After all, it was over a thousand years ago that he disappeared without a trace. And now, he was finally back.