The Shadow of the First Star

by moguera

The Rangers

Chapter 3: The Rangers

Okay, so there's quite a bit more exposition in this chapter, which means a lot more infodumping. Hopefully this isn't too much for everyone and I can assure you that things start picking up in the next chapter. Once again, I would love to hear your opinions as well as any constructive criticism that you have to share.

Before Rainbow Dash could follow through on her threat, she felt herself wrapped in a magical aura and pulled forcefully away from the downed unicorn. Looking over, Rainbow saw Twilight glaring daggers at her as magic flared out from her horn, entrapping the Pegasus and keeping her from doing any more harm.

"Twilight! What are you doing?" Rainbow protested as she struggled futilely against the magic that held her captive.

"You'd better answer that question yourself," growled Twilight, "And explain just what you though you were doing by smashing through the window of my library and attacking my guest."

"Your guest!" shouted the blue Pegasus, "He's a greencloak! I was saving your ungrateful purple hide!"

"He is my guest and a personal messenger from Princess Luna herself, so I suggest that you apologize right now and behave yourself from now on."

"B-but..."

"NOW Rainbow!"

Rainbow let out a frustrated groan before turning around to look at the blue-maned Unicorn getting shakily to his feet. "Fine. I'm sorry about slamming into you like that."

Twilight wasn't satisfied. "And..."

"What else is there?"

"You know exactly what else," snapped Twilight, taking a tone that one might use to scold a disobedient child.

"Alright! Sheesh! I'm sorry I jumped to conclusions when I saw you and made a reckless move without fully considering the consequences. That good enough?"

Twilight's eyes narrowed. "That's better, but I still don't like your tone young lady."

"Who are you? My mom?"

The two were distracted by Oceanus's laughter. Looking over, they could see that he was almost on the verge of falling over again. Seeing his amusement, Twilight suddenly found herself blushing and dropped Rainbow like a hot rock. The Pegasus let out a yelp before she fell to the floor in an undignified heap.

Oceanus was wiping tears out of his eyes as he spoke. "I'd heard that the Bearers were an excitable and eccentric bunch, but hearing that and seeing it for myself were two different things."

"So, I take it you're just fine then," said Twilight flatly.

"Yes yes, all is forgiven."

Twilight groaned as she looked at the mess made by the broken window and the piles of now unshelled books. "And Spike and Pinkie put so much work in getting this place cleaned up."

Rainbow visibly wilted under the chastisement that she had just undone the work of two of her friends. "I'm sorry," she said in a much more sincere tone than before.

"Well, it shouldn't be too hard to reshelve these books. The window will have to wait, though. I can replace it easily enough, just not right away."

"You're certainly taking this in stride," remarked Oceanus.

"I'm used to it. It's not like this is the first time Rainbow Dash has crashed into my library." Rainbow was practically trying to sink into the floor at this point. "At least she went through the window this time, instead of the wall, which she does sometimes."

"Those were all accidents!" snapped Rainbow irritably.

"Now now," Oceanus's tone was consoling, "There's no need to get upset."

The Unicorn stallion picked up a piece of glass with one hoof. Sitting down, he reached over with his other foreleg and lightly cut it with the piece of broken glass, only just barely penetrating the skin, prompting shocked gasps from Twilight and Rainbow.

"What are you doing?" demanded Twilight.

"Yeah! Are you crazy?"

The stallion gave Rainbow Dash an amused glance. "I'm not sure you want me to answer that question."

Before they could say anything else, Oceanus smeared a small amount of his blood on the piece of glass. Before the shocked eyes of Twilight and Rainbow, as well as Spike, who was now watching from the kitchen door, the fragment of glass floated up towards where the window had been, every other shard and piece joining it. Before their eyes, the window reassembled itself, not even showing the slightest scratch or crack. There was no evidence of Rainbow's forced entry from a few moments before.

"Was that...was that..." Twilight tried desperately to overcome her shock, "Was that the Lung Dragon magic you were telling me about?"

Oceanus shook his head, "No. That was a spell that the Archmage taught me after I came back to Equestria."

"You keep mentioning this Archmage. Just who is this guy?"

Oceanus smiled cryptically. "I'll explain that along with everything else."

Twilight groaned and hung her head in frustration. Then she turned and looked over at the pile of books now cluttering the floor. She turned her gaze over to Rainbow Dash, who at least had the sense to avert her eyes sheepishly. Then she looked back over at Oceanus. "I think you should probably put that cloak back away before somepony else sees you and jumps to the wrong conclusions."

"You have a valid point there.". Oceanus used his magic to unstrap the cloak from his shoulders. While it hung there, it formed something of a barrier between him and the eyes of the two mares. While they couldn't see, he carefully lifted his cut foreleg up and let out a slight puff, his breath congealing into a silvery mist that wrapped around the limb. The cut he had made shrank and disappeared. That taken care of, he resumed folding his cloak and stowing it back away. Then he turned to help the girls work at returning the books to their proper places on the shelves.

---

Not long after the commotion caused by Rainbow Dash's arrival, Pinkie Pie returned with the decorations for the party. Twilight was surprised to see the restraint the pink pony showed as she carefully hung streamers from the rafters, their colors more muted and tasteful than usual.

Pinkie was only too happy to explain. "I remember what the decorations looked like at the Grand Galloping Gala, so I figured if we wanted a quiet sort of party, then the best thing to do would be to use colors like that."

Twilight nodded, bemused at the idea of Pinkie making so much sense.

A couple of hours later, Rarity and Fluttershy returned from their trip to the spa, Applejack trotting in a few minutes afterwards. The group of seven seated themselves at the table and found that Spike had outdone himself with that night's dinner. There was freshly baked bread for everypony, along with a wonderful salad. Twilight found herself wondering where Spike had gotten such high quality lettuce, as it seemed much better than what she could usually find at the market. After the salad came steaming bowls of celery soup lightly flavored with herbs. The main course was a dandelion and daisy quiche.

"Good heavens," gasped Rarity, "Spike dear, where in Equestria did you learn to cook like this? This is simply fantastic."

Spike blushed under the praise. "At the palace," he said by way of explanation.

"That don't tell us anythin'" said Applejack.

"Yeah, you've got to give us more than that," added Rainbow.

"Well," said Spike bashfully, "When Twilight was at her classes, there wasn't anything for me to do. So I'd wander around the palace and I eventually found my way into the palace kitchens. The cooks there taught me how to make stuff."

"Oh Spikey-wikey, this is simply fantastic. I really do wish that I could enjoy this kind of food more often. You really have a wonderful talent."

Spike was rapidly coloring under Rarity's stream of praise. He barely noticed Twilight's elbow poke his ribs. "Nice work there, Romeo."

He was poked from the other direction and saw that Applejack was also prodding him. "They say the best way to a mare's heart is through her stomach," the orange Earth Pony added, grinning slyly at him.

Steam was literally escaping Spike's ears before he stuttered off some excuses about getting dessert and rushed back into the kitchen. Oceanus watched this all with a look of amusement. When he saw that Rarity had turned her attention and was talking to Fluttershy, he leaned over and spoke to Twilight in a low tone.

"Is there something that I'm missing here?"

Twilight giggled. "Oh not really, Spike's had a crush on Rarity ever since we came to Ponyville. He always jumps at any chance to impress her."

Oceanus blinked. "Well, that's something that I wasn't expecting. And you're alright with this?"

Twilight giggled. "If Spike and Rarity can make each other happy, then I would be glad to see that happen. As it is, I don't think it will be an issue for a while yet." Her smile became a frown. "Is there some thing that you're concerned about?"

"A little," Oceanus admitted, "I would say that I'm glad that you would be willing to give your blessing to them. But things would be difficult for a pair like that."

"You talk like you know. Has this sort of thing happened before?"

"It has. While extremely rare, there have been dragon-pony relationships like that in the past. It does not always go well."

Twilight nodded. "I know that Spike will be around for a long time after the rest of us. It would be really hard for him to lose Rarity like that."

"There is that, but there is also another matter too consider."

"What's that?"

"Children."

Twilight blinked. "What...oh? You mean that's actually possible?"

Oceanus nodded. "The children of dragon-pony matings are distinct in their appearance so that the nature of their lineage is easily apparent from a cursory glance. They have other qualities that separate them from ponies and dragons. But the greatest issue is generally their lifespan."

"Is it like a dragon's?"

The Ranger shook his head. "Much shorter than a dragon's, but much longer than a pony's. That has its own issues. Since dragon-pony hybrids rarely live with their dragon parents, they generally spend their lives among ponies. But because they have a longer lifespan, they also mature much more slowly. A hybrid, growing from foalhood to become a colt or filly before finally becoming a stallion or mare is a process that takes decades where for ponies it might take a few years. It creates a sense of disconnection with others and that's before you factor in the lovely things like the issues some ponies might have with living in proximity to half-dragons. Their lives are difficult ones."

Twilight turned her head to look at Rarity, still chatting cheerfully away with Fluttershy, before swiveling to look over at Spike, who was gazing at Rarity with a wistful expression. She forced a soft smile onto her face. "But it's still to early to tell what the future holds. Spike's young and this is his first crush. It may turn out to be nothing."

"Even so, if things progress, you have an obligation as his guardian and caregiver to inform him of the potential consequences. And even if if they don't, he is still a dragon living among ponies. That means there is little chance of him finding someone among his own kind." Oceanus didn't want to press the issue, but felt he had to point that out.

Twilight sighed and nodded in agreement.

A few minutes later, Spike emerged from the kitchen with a beautiful cake. This was Pinkie's creation. and her primary contribution to the party, besides the decorations. As they were enjoying dessert, Oceanus surveyed the group. The girls were clearly enjoying themselves. While he hated to ruin that comfortable atmosphere, he still had a job to do. It was time to get down to business.

Apparently, Pinkie had already anticipated this and was actually calling attention to herself by saying, "So since this party is to welcome Ocean (prompting a chuckle from Twilight to here another pony using her nickname for Oceanus), let's let him introduce himself!" Her voice was practically giddy.

"Thank you," said Oceanus, tilting his head toward her in gratitude. He turned to look at the attentive expressions of the other mares at the table. Twilight looked downright ecstatic at the prospect of finally having her questions answered (and Oceanus couldn't really fault her, seeing as he had spent most of the day stringing her along). Applejack wore an expression of quiet attentiveness. Rainbow Dash glowered a little at him (her pride probably still a little bit sore after the events a few hours earlier). Fluttershy had appeared to have abruptly remembered that there was an unfamiliar face at the table and seemed to actually be cowering away from him slightly. Finally, Rarity was wearing an expression of polite confusion.

"Pardon me, but didn't you say that you were an old friend of Twilight?" she asked, raising an inquisitive eyebrow.

Oceanus coughed awkwardly. "That turned out to be a slight exaggeration on my part. We used to play together back when we were foals. But we weren't ever very close. But that was not the sole reason that I came here."

"Then what, pray tell is your actual reason for being here?" asked Rarity pointedly.

Oceanus was suddenly aware of an intense stare coming from the other side of Twilight. Applejack's eyes had narrowed as she watched Oceanus with renewed intensity. Oceanus quickly pegged her as a pony who did not like being misled, fitting for the one who was supposed to be the Bearer of the Element of Honesty. Figuring that there was no further reason to put off the inevitable, he decided to be blunt and frank with them.

"Perhaps it will be easier for you to understand if I don the vestments of my position." With a flick of his horn, Oceanus opened his saddlebag, which sat on a small table on one side of the library and withdrew his cloak. Floating it over, he wrapped it around his shoulders, prompting an astonished gasp from Rarity.

"You're a greencloak...oh my."

Fluttershy let out a squeak. Applejack was apparently taken aback by his appearance. Rainbow Dash, who had already seen Oceanus like this simply continued to glower at him. Pinkie Pie maintained a blandly cheerful expression, giving no indication as to what her true thoughts were.

"What in tarnation?" snapped Applejack, "Having one of ya creeps in these parts was bad enough, but now y'all are comin' out the darn woodwork!"

"Applejack!" Twilight admonished, "Ocean is a guest. Even if I have difficulty remembering because it was so long ago, he is still a friend of mine. More importantly, he was sent by Princess Luna herself to answer all those questions we had yesterday. I can't believe that I would need to tell you of all ponies to behave yourself."

Suitably chastised, Applejack shrank back from Twilight's reproachful glare. "Sorry Twilight, but even after yesterday, Ah still can't bring myself to trust them greencloaks just like that."

"In all honesty," commented Oceanus, "That's how we prefer it."

"Come again," said Applejack, her voice betraying confusion and uncertainty.

"I'll start at the beginning. Hopefully this will answer some of your questions as we go, so be patient with me." Oceanus took a deep breath and launched into his explanation.

"You may be familiar with the story of Equestria's founding that is reenacted on Hearth's Warming Eve. However, that is far from a complete tale of this country's creation. If you think about it, there are many problems with that story. This country is blessed with fertile soil pleasant climates (when there aren't windigos) and abundant riches. Isn't it strange then that this land remained unsettled for so long before the ponies from the three tribes arrived here? A land so wonderful as this would be attractive to any race, and yet it was completely unclaimed when our ancestors found it.

"As it turned out, Equestria was unclaimed, but not uninhabited. In fact, when our country was first founded, a great many fell creatures dwelled here. At first, their existence was unknown because of the relatively small size of the first settlements. But as the number of ponies swelled, conflict became inevitable.

"Foreseeing this, the Princesses went into action and fought back the beasts and creatures before they could encounter any ponies and become a threat to them. But as the number of settlements increased, the princesses realized that they could only drive back the monsters so far. The creatures would have to be purged for Equestria to be truly safe for ponykind. However, many of these creatures were old and powerful and even the Princesses were unable to destroy them. Those that couldn't be destroyed were sealed away, the locations of their prisons cordoned off into areas that remained wild within Equestria's borders as a sort of buffer to prevent ponies from accidentally stumbling upon them; areas just like the Everfree Forest.

"But even with their great power, the Princesses realized that the things that they sealed away would not remain sealed forever. They would have to renew the seals occasionally to ensure the creatures that they had sealed away did not escape to wreak havoc."

"So yer sayin' that the Princesses canned up them baddies and then created your bunch to help keep them that way," interrupted Applejack, anticipating where this was going, "Sorry, but that don't make no sense."

"Yeah!" added Rainbow Dash, "If the Princesses had the power to do all that themselves in the first place then what did they need you guys for?"

"And surely they would have been aware of when their seals were failing, which would have prevented them being taken by surprise,"said Rarity, "So they wouldn't need you for some early warning system either."

"Heh," snorted Oceanus, "The problem is that things rarely work out that neatly. As you pointed out, the Princesses could have easily done all the work themselves, but there were a number of factors that limited their ability to take action. The first was the continuing expansion of Equestria itself. The growing nation was badly in need of governance and naturally the ponies turned to the sisters to provide the wisdom and authority that they needed to prosper. With the creation of Canterlot and the establishment of the princesses' respective courts, the sisters were unable to act as freely as they had in the past. Furthermore, because they did not want to trouble their subjects with the fear of the monstrosities that were locked away, waiting for a chance to escape so that they might inflict unheard of carnage upon ponykind, the Princesses kept the existence of these creatures a secret. This, combined with the Princesses' prominence in Equestria's politics hindered their ability to take action when the seals failed.

"As for the seals themselves, while the Princesses would normally have been aware of how long they would have lasted, there was another problem in play. You six are unquestionably familiar with the entity known as Discord. Many of the beasts and abominations that the Princesses sealed away were the products of his reign, if not his outright creations. As such, many of them carried a fraction of his essence. This fragment of primal chaos affected their surroundings and made any magic worked around them unstable to a certain degree. This meant that even Celestia and Luna with all their power and wisdom could not always be completely sure how long the seals would last.

"And thus, to act as a safeguard against these things, Princess Luna created the Order of Rangers, who, as their name would suggest, ranged across Equestria to monitor the seals and serve as a first line of defense against the monsters that escaped until one of the Princesses could arrive to re-seal the creature in question. As Equestria developed the Rangers advanced their own capabilities and eventually developed the means to seal all but the most powerful monsters themselves.

"Furthermore, as Equestria grew, there was also the possibility of conflict with neighboring countries and peoples. Because the Princesses wanted their beloved little ponies to live in peace and harmony, they balked at the notion of creating something like a standing army as a buffer against potential conflicts. Even the Royal Guard's purpose remains largely ceremonial. To that end, Princess Luna added to our list of responsibilities, appointing us to serve as the primary deterrents to potential enemies, using whatever means were necessary."

Fluttershy gulped audibly and spoke up for the first time. "Oh, um, when you mean whatever was necessary, do you mean...?"

"Diplomacy was obvious as a first resort," replied Oceanus in a consoling tone, "But we were authorized to use whatever means necessary as the situation dictated. We Rangers were diplomats, but also spies and if necessary, assassins. Whatever was required to prevent potential conflicts, we did it. This, along with the previous reasons detailed was why our very existence was one of the most carefully guarded secrets in Equestria. You will never find us in the history books and no one, least of all the princesses would acknowledge our existence or our deeds if they were asked."

"You said your order was created by Princess Luna," observed Twilight, "Is that why Princess Celestia was so particular that I get her permission to learn about you?"

Oceanus nodded. "This might surprise you, but back when the sisters first settled into their roles, Princess Luna was especially proud of her purpose. It wasn't just the beauty of her nights that she took pride in, but also the role that they played in the world. Her time was the time of rest. It was the time granted to ponies so that they could regain their strength to face another day. She actually took a great deal of pride in the fact that her nights were so restful and relaxing to her little ponies. Naturally, she took a great deal of interest in doing whatever was needed to make sure that her subjects could sleep easy. Because of that, the creation of a secret organization to keep the horrors that lurked in the darkness at bay was an action that suited her nature. We Rangers understood that and we are proud of our role and also took it as a point of pride that no ponies would know the things that we did to keep them safe; dark deeds in the darkness."

"Ah suppose that's why Far Treader was so reluctant to have anythin' to do with us," remarked Applejack dryly.

"Somewhat," agreed Oceanus, "But that's mostly just his nature. As I was explaining to Twilight later, our cloaks serve a wonderful purpose in managing how we deal with ponies. Because we only arrive when the dangers sealed away in places like the Everfree Forest are about to break loose, we have become something akin to omens of disaster and are treated appropriately. Ponies flee from the sight of us, which keeps them from being caught up in the battles that we must fight. However, because our cloaks are the things that are most strongly associated with us, most ponies fail to take notice of our individual characteristics. So all I have to do is take off this cloak..." Oceanus unfastened his cloak and let it drop out of sight. "...and now I am simply Oceanus, just another ordinary Unicorn roaming through Equestria. I could walk through and do business in Ponyville with no one the wiser, even though the residents would vanish from the streets if they caught so much as a glimpse of my cloak. So as you can see, that antisocial nature isn't necessary for maintaining our secrecy."

"But you said that most ponies in the Rangers were like that," Twilight pointed out.

"That's because their personalities are useful for another reason. It is true that the majority of our members are quite introverted. That actually is useful for us as it makes them uniquely suited to the rigors of our work."

"Oh, how so?" asked Fluttershy softly. She was especially curious about this as she had difficulty dealing with other ponies frequently as well.

"The demands of our Order keeps us on the move. Furthermore, since our responsibilities take us into the depths of places like the Everfree Forest, where few if any ponies venture willingly, we can expect to go weeks, or even months at a time without coming into contact with another soul. We spend our time in the wilderness, living off the land and supporting ourselves. We have no place that we can truly call home. For most ponies, such extended periods of isolation would greatly strain their resolve and endurance. Because of that, ponies like Far and Silverbrook, who are not only perfectly fine with not interacting with other ponies, but actually prefer to spend their time in solitude can actually thrive under such circumstances."

"That seems kind of sad," said Pinkie in an uncharacteristically solemn manner.

"It may seem that way to you," replied Oceanus, "But some ponies are just like that. It's actually better to give them a place where they can be true to who they are rather than trying to force them to conform to the standards of what most Equestrians would call normal society."

"That does make a certain amount of sense," agreed, Rarity.

"But wait a second!" shouted Rainbow, "There's something that's been bugging me about this whole thing."

"Oh dear, what is that?" asked Fluttershy as she turned to regard her brash friend.

"Well, I was thinking that this whole thing about their order being formed by Princess Luna and I was wondering..."

"What about the last thousand years?" said Oceanus, anticipating her question. Rainbow's mouth snapped shut and she nodded tensely.

Oceanus light out a soft breath. "That is something of a difficult topic for us. Even we are not sure what brought about Princess Luna's transformation into Nightmare Moon and we were certain that we were the ones who knew our princess best. All I can say with any degree of certainty was that her transformation was not natural."

"What makes ya say that?" asked Applejack with a raised eyebrow.

"As I told you before, Princess Luna took a great deal of pride in the fact that her nights were a time of rest and repose. The very idea that she was offended by the fact that ponies slept through them is incomprehensible. Therefore, some catalyst must have triggered her change, although no pony has been able to figure out just what that catalyst is.

"In any case, when Princess Luna became Nightmare Moon, we found ourselves greatly conflicted about what to do. Eventually we settled upon simply continuing our duties. The problem was that Nightmare Moon was not simply content to have the night last forever. In her insanity, the idea of sleep itself became the enemy. She became a creature that wanted to make sure that no pony slept through her nights, even if night was eternal. So, true to her name she created living nightmares to terrorize ponies into remaining awake and watchful so that no pony would ever miss even a single moment of her night.

"Luckily, Princess Celestia sealed Nightmare Moon away soon after. We Rangers were certain that Princess Luna would have been horrified to see any of her ponies harmed by her creations, however little control of her actions she had at the time, so we Rangers added her nightmares to list of beasts that we kept in check. We then spent the last thousand years trying to dispose of them so that their existence would not haunt our princess when she eventually returned."

"How many are left?" asked Twilight.

Oceanus visibly relaxed. "None. The Loup-garou that you saw yesterday was the last of Nightmare Moon's twisted creations."

"So you stayed with her all this time." Everypony turned their eyes towards Rainbow Dash, who looked unusually thoughtful. "Even though she had turned into Nightmare Moon, you still believed in her and waited a thousand years for her."

"Yes," agreed Oceanus, "Our predecessors from a thousand years ago knew that something was very wrong with Princess Luna and believed that someday she would return to her rightful place by her sister's side. But they also realized the consequences of banishing her to the moon and even resented Princess Celestia to a degree because of it."

"Why?" asked Twilight, her voice tinged with shock. The very idea that anypony could bear resentment towards her beloved mentor was something of a foreign concept to her.

"It was because of those consequences that I mentioned. A thousand years is a long time for ponies. Entire generations would pass between Luna's sealing and her release. The peculiar details of Luna's transformation would ultimately fade away before the ennui of a millennia. Our predecessors in the Order realized that by the time a thousand years had passed, Luna would solely be remembered as Nightmare Moon. Worse still, they also realized that out of necessity, Princess Celestia would have to take over Luna's role and responsibilities in her absence. By the time Princess Luna returned, there would be no pony who remembered the work that she did because as far as all living ponies would be concerned, everything would be taken care of by Princess Celestia.

"In other words, even when she returned and took her rightful place by her sister's side, Princess Luna would have nothing. The ponies who normally would have served under her would be too used to working beneath Princess Celestia at best. At worst, they might actually resent her for her actions as Nightmare Moon."

"That's awful," said Pinkie Pie, looking forlornly at her plate.

"Indeed," agreed Rarity, "We have all had moments where we weren't rightly ourselves. Luckily our friends understand that and we can be forgiven for the a things we've done when we weren't in our right minds. But..."

"But Luna didn't have that opportunity," said Twilight, her voice barely a whisper, "By the time she returned, anypony that had known the real Luna had been dead for hundreds of years. All they had were the stories of her as Nightmare Moon."

Oceanus nodded, his expression solemn. "That is why the members of the Order took it upon themselves to carry the memory of their founder and pass it on to each new generation of Rangers. From our initiation, we are reminded of the vital role that Princess Luna played in the creation of Equestria and our Order. When we take our oaths, we swear loyalty to her and her alone. For a thousand years, no Ranger has ever acted upon an order from Princess Celestia that they would not have received from Princess Luna herself. When the six of you used the Elements of Harmony to cleanse Princess Luna of her corruption, we were the first to come before her and welcome her back."

"Ah guess Ah can understand y'all trying to stay loyal to Luna," said Applejack, "But did y'all have to be so darn stubborn about not doing anything that Princess Celestia asked ya to do. That seems right rude to me." Applejack suddenly became aware that the others were directing incredulous looks in her direction. "What?" she asked as she shrank back into her seat.

"You're one to talk about being stubborn AJ," Rainbow pointed out.

"Yes, I seem to remember somepony causing a great deal of trouble because she was too stubborn to ask for help with harvesting," added Rarity.

"Or that time you ran away to Dodge Junction and refused to talk about us because you were all embarrassed about not winning that rodeo," said Pinkie.

"Uh well," Applejack faltered slightly, "Ah should know a thing or to about being stubborn, so Ah have to call it how Ah see it."

Surprisingly, it was Oceanus who came to Applejack's defense. "Actually, she's right. At least at first, our predecessors in the Order were extremely resentful of Princess Celestia for her actions and stubbornly persisted in that resentment for several centuries. It was only a couple of generations ago that some Rangers realized that not only had Princess Celestia not been merely content to leave us to our own devices, but that she had also been encouraging our autonomy to her rule. We eventually came to realize that Princess Celestia resented herself as much, if not more than we did for her actions. She had locked away her beloved little sister for a thousand years and had been forced to rip away almost everything that belonged to Princess Luna and manage it herself to keep the country from falling apart in its entirety. We know now that she was happy that we retained our loyalty to Princess Luna even after a thousand years so that she could have somepony to genuinely welcome her home."

"Oh darling," Rarity sobbed dramatically, "That's so sad and wonderful. You must be absolutely overjoyed to finally have your princess back."

Oceanus smiled indulgently at her. "Indeed we are. In any case, that was pretty much everything that I planned on telling you and then some. I hope that your curiosity is satisfied."

"Wait," said Twilight, causing everypony in the room to look at her, "You mentioned somepony called the Archmage. Who is that?"

"That's right, Ah remember Silverbrook and Far talkin' about that fellow," added Applejack.

"Hmm, I'd forgotten about him," Oceanus admitted, "His role is...difficult to explain."

"What do ya mean?" asked Applejack.

"The Archmage is not a member of our Order; at least, not formally. In spite of that, he is the one who coordinates our actions and informs us of the tasks that need to be completed. Apparently he took up this role sometime after Nightmare Moon's banishment and no pony, even those of us within the Rangers can say exactly when."

"Wait a second, just how old is this pony?" asked Rainbow.

"No clue," said Oceanus, prompting exclamations of surprise, "The only thing we can say for certain is that he is without question the most magical Unicorn in all of Equestria, hence his title."

"No way! Twilight's the most powerful Unicorn in all of Equestria!" protested Spike vehemently as he came rushing out of the kitchen.

Oceanus tilted his head. "I somewhat doubt that. The Archmage was granted his title by Princess Celestia herself. Some say that his power could even be greater than that of both princesses combined."

"Oh my, what a ridiculous notion. I simply cannot believe that you of all ponies would believe such ludicrous assertions." Rarity glared disdainfully at the greenish-blue Unicorn, who merely shrugged indifferently.

"While I can't honestly claim that I am the most powerful Unicorn in Equestria," admitted Twilight a little bashfully, "I'm fairly certain that I would have heard of a Pony like this Archmage. But I've never heard anything like this before."

Again, Oceanus shrugged. "I'm not sure why you never heard of him either. Unlike us Rangers, his existence was never any great secret. The only secret about him is his association with our order. As far as I know, there has been no effort to keep the Archmage from being known. He even visits Canterlot from time to time. I'm told that the heads of Princess Celestia's magic schools trip over their hooves to present their best students to him for instruction, although I've heard that his methods are quite harsh."

Twilight blinked in surprise. "That makes no sense. If he's so important, why did I never meet him?"

Oceanus simply shook his head. "I can't answer that. I can only suggest that you ask Princess Celestia herself for the answer."

Twilight Sparkle frowned. She intended to.

---

By the time Oceanus had finished his explanation, it had gotten quite late and everypony decided to go their own ways and return home. Eventually, only Twilight, Pinkie, Spike and Oceanus were left inside the library. Both Twilight and Spike were a little surprised to see that Pinkie was hesitant to leave. Seeing that Pinkie wanted to talk to Oceanus for a moment, Twilight and Spike turned to start cleaning up after the party.

"Um, Ocean, I have a question," said Pinkie nervously.

Oceanus raised an eyebrow, prompting her to go on.

Pinkie fidgeted nervously under the Unicorn's gaze. It was unusual behavior for her to say the least. "Um, well, you know Far right?"

"You mean, Far Treader?" asked Oceanus.

Pinkie's head blurred up and down a she nodded. "Yeah, that's him. Anyway um...uh..." she ground a hoof into the floor of the library uncertainly, "Do you know what kind of things that he likes?"

Oceanus blinked in surprise. He hadn't been expecting this kind of question. "I do know a few I things about his preferences, but why are you asking?"

"Um, well...because...I know he doesn't want one of my parties, but I can't help but think how sad he must be to be stuck in that big hospital with lots of other ponies around. You were saying stuff about how he was happier being alone outside and stuff like that."

Oceanus found himself nodding in agreement. "Yes, that's true. In fact, I went to visit him earlier today and he was perfectly miserable. So you want to help him. May I ask why?"

"Well, I really like to make other ponies happy. Figuring that out is what got me my cutie mark," explained Pinkie, "Normally I just throw a party and that makes everypony happy. But then I met Far and he said that my parties would never make him happy. And then I talked to Twilight about it and she told me how different things make different ponies happy. And then I thought I should find out what things make Far happy so that I could try and make him happy in a way that works for him."

"I...see," said Oceanus, "As a matter of fact, I do know a few things that he enjoys. I think I might be able to help you." He and Pinkie went outside, deep in conversation.

Having listened to them before they left, Twilight couldn't help but smile as she turned back to helping Spike clean up after the party.

---

"Are you certain you can find them?" asked Oceanus as he watched Pinkie Pie bounce cheerfully away, "They're a ways in the forest."

"Yeah, I'll ask Zecora for help. I'm sure she knows where they are."

Oceanus smiled ruefully, remembering the Zebra, who was known to him and the other Rangers, being the only pony (or Zebra) willing to live in that place. "Best of luck to you then."

Turning back into the library, Oceanus moved to help Twilight and Spike clean up the remaining decorations. As he worked, he noticed that Twilight was smiling fondly at him.

"Thank you for that," she said softly, "What you just did really means a lot to Pinkie."

"She certainly is different," remarked Oceanus as he used his magic to stack dishes.

"Is that something the Archmage taught you?" asked Twilight, staring at him.

"What? Levitation? Every Unicorn can do that. Granted it took me a little longer than most of figure it out but..."

"No I mean they way you do it," clarified Twilight, "I can't see a hint of your magic around your horn or the things you move."

"Oh that. Yes, you could say that the Archmage taught me that. It's nothing that special. Essentially, the aura you see from a Unicorn's horn and the aura that appears around the object being manipulated are signs of energy going to waste. That magical energy, instead of going into the spell, is instead being burned away in the form of light and sometimes heat. What the Archmage taught me was how to reign my excess energies in to channel my magic more efficiently. Because I have less than most Unicorns, I can't afford to really waste any."

"I see," said Twilight, "Could you teach me how to do that?"

"I could," replied Oceanus hesitantly, "But I'm not much of a teacher, I'm afraid. Also, I expect I shall be leaving shortly, if not first thing tomorrow. As a Ranger, I can scarcely afford to stay in one place for so long. I'm sorry."

"No I'm sorry," said Twilight quickly, "You've already done so much for us: coming to talk to us at Luna's request, answering all of our questions, saying you would help Spike, not to mention what you did for Pinkie Pie. You probably have so much to do and I went and just asked you to do something so selfishly." Twilight blinked, realizing that her eyes were starting to tear up.

A soft smile graced the other Unicorn's face as he gently reached up and brushed away Twilight's tears with a gentle hoof. "You have nothing to apologize for. You're simply being true to yourself. I can understand you wanting to learn new things. That's what made you so appealing to Princess Celestia as her student. I even remember that you were like this when we were foals," a chuckle escaped him, "Always desperate to get to the bottom of whatever you didn't understand."

Twilight sniffed and managed to keep anymore tears from coming out. "So, where are you staying tonight?"

The stallion turned his eyes to the ceiling in thought before lowering them to look back at Twilight. He shrugged.

"So you don't have a place to stay," said Twilight simply, "Not even a room at the inn."

Again Oceanus shrugged. "We Rangers are used to sleeping outdoors. To be honest, I'm perfectly comfortable with it. In fact, some, like Far prefer sleeping outside."

"But not you?" asked Twilight.

"It doesn't make a whole lot of difference to me. So I've never had any particular preference."

"Well, you're welcome to stay here in the library for the night," said Twilight with an easy smile, "There's the couch over there that you can sleep on. Celestia knows I've fallen asleep on it enough times." She tilted her head to indicate the piece of furniture in question.

"No kidding," muttered Spike as she shuffled past, "Sometimes I think she likes that thing better than her own bed."

Oceanus's laughter was drowned out by Twilight's indignant protestations and the impromptu wrestling match that occurred between her and Spike as a result. "Alright," the stallion said, "I'll take you up on the offer."

"You will!" exclaimed Twilight!

"Of course," agreed Oceanus, "After all, I did promise to try and teach Spike Lung Dragon magic. We can start in the morning. I won't have to move on until I get my next orders, so depending on when that happens, I can stay however long I'm needed for."

"Alright!" exclaimed Spike, pumping his fist into the air. Then he grinned sheepishly as Twilight gave him a slightly reproachfully look.

"In any case, it's time that we went to bed," said Twilight gently as she used her horn to levitate Spike up onto her back. As though her words had suddenly reminded him of how late it was, the little dragon found himself yawning. With a smile, Twilight carried him up the stairs to their room. "Sleep well, Ocean."

Oceanus nodded and returned her smile. "And you as well."

Once the door closed behind her, Twilight deposited her charge into his basket. "Wait there Spike, but don't go to sleep just yet."

"Spike blinked sleepily at the lavender Unicorn. "Huh, what are you doing Twilight."

"I need to write a quick letter to the Princess. I just need you to stay awake long enough to send it off to her." Twilight spread a piece of parchment on a writing stand and got out a quill and some ink. A few moments later, she finished and roused Spike to get him to incinerate the scroll with his flame, sending it off to Princess Celestia.

---

"Are you going to bed, sister?" Luna asked as she watched her elder sibling trot down the throne room toward the doors.

"Yes," replied Celestia, "All our affairs are in order for the evening and your court is about to open."

"Even though no pony has come to see me yet," muttered Luna.

Celestia let out a sigh. It wasn't uncommon for Luna's depression with the state of affairs to show itself. Celestia didn't blame her. When she had been forced to banish Nightmare Moon, Celestia had taken over all of Luna's workload out of necessity. Now that Luna was back, they were slowly working to change things over so that Luna would once again fully hold the position she held in the past. Because of that, the princesses worked jointly with the ministries that had been Luna's responsibility before her exile to get them used to the idea of having Luna back in charge. The work was slow and tedious, but progress was being made.

However, Celestia understood the real cause of the unrest generated by her younger sister's return. Celestia had gone to great pains to ensure that everypony understood that Luna was not responsible for her actions as Nightmare Moon. The main problem was that they had yet to identify the affliction that had caused Luna's corruption in the first place. Thus, without any knowledge of what it had been that had changed her, the ponies around Luna acted as though they treaded on thin ice, with any mistake having the potential of breaking the foundation of her sanity and sending her spiraling back into madness. It was that fearsome delicacy, day in and day out, that put Luna on edge.

Celestia found herself suppressing a smile. There was at least one group of ponies that had welcomed Luna back without the slightest reservations or hesitation. She remembered it well. On the night of Luna's return, the Rangers had assembled in Canterlot for the first time since their formation and welcomed Luna with a simple ceremony that had nonetheless, warmed Celestia's heart. Things had gotten even better after Luna had worked up the courage to go down to Ponyville on Nightmare Night, where she came to terms with her portrayal as Nightmare Moon and had even begun to enjoy herself a bit. Even better, Luna had made some friends. Celestia was well aware that her younger sister engaged in correspondence with Twilight Sparkle. Apparently she also received letters frequently from a small foal named Pip that she had befriended down in Ponyville.

The older princess's thoughts were interrupted by the arrival of a letter Ina cloud of greenish flames. "Odd," she said, noticing that's Luna was moving to join her, "I wasn't expecting a letter from Twilight tonight."

"Perhaps it concerns the Ranger I sent down to brief her and her friends," Luna suggested as she moved to read over Celestia's shoulder.

Dear Princess Celestia,

Luna's messenger from the Rangers arrived in Ponyville today. As it turns out, we did play together as foals, though I'll admit that my memory of him is quite fuzzy. He is a very nice pony, exceedingly polite and wonderful to talk to. In spite of some initial difficulties, we managed to arrange it so that he could give his explanation to everypony among us Bearers. However, there is one thing in his explanation that confused me.

Oceanus mentioned a figure called the Archmage, a Unicorn of incredible power and knowledge in the ways of magic. While his association with the Rangers is obviously a secret, Oceanus mentioned that I should have been aware of the existence of this Archmage and that he has in fact visited Canterlot a number of times. I find myself somewhat curious as to how I have never heard of this pony before.

I don't wish to imply that you have been keeping secrets from me, Princess. And even if you were, I'm sure you had the best of reasons. I will understand if you don't want to answer my questions about the Archmage, but I still ask you to answer what you can.

Your Faithful Student;

Twilight Sparkle

"Oh my," whispered Celestia.

"Sister," said Luna from behind her, "I must admit that I am confused as well. Who is this Archmage?"

"I'm sorry, Luna," said Celestia quickly, "I thought you knew about him already, seeing as how he does work with your Rangers after all."

"I was not aware of this," replied Luna, "Strange that my Rangers never mentioned him."

"I never thought to bring it up to you," Celestia admitted.

"I will talk with the Rangers later," said Luna, "In the meantime, can you explain who this Archmage is?"

Celestia nodded. "I have not seen him for sometime now, come to think of it. He's long overdue for one of his usual visits to gather more students.

"In any case, the Archmage is a Unicorn who lives over in an unsettled area of Eastern Equestria. Not long after I had sent you to the moon, the Archmage approached me and introduced himself. I have no idea where he came from and have no knowledge of who his family was or how old he was at the time he appeared before me. He immediately struck me as a potentially dangerous individual."

"How so?" asked Luna, unaccustomed to her sister being so wary.

"His magic is exceedingly powerful. In fact, I will fully admit that if he wished, he could easily wield more power than either of us, maybe even both of us at once. But what truly disturbed me is that he did not learn his magic here."

"So he studied outside Equestria, like Oceanus."

Celestia shook her head. "No, he ventured farther than that...much farther. His magic comes from beyond the boundaries of our very world."

Luna's eyes widened. "How is that even possible?"

"I have no answer to that," admitted Celestia, "Whenever he comes to Canterlot, we prepare a batch of students for him from among our best and brightest. I never told Twilight about him and I did my best to keep her presence a secret from the Archmage. Fortunately, he never pressed the issue."

"Is he dangerous?"

Celestia shook her head. "I don't believe so. But his instruction, while comprehensive, is...hard. His students tend to be reduced to gibbering wrecks."

"I see," muttered the Princess of the Night.

"I shall have to compose a reply to Twilight about this matter," said Celestia in a worried tone, "I need to take care with what I tell her."

"Go to sleep, sister," said Luna, "You need your rest and it might help you figure out what to say."

"Yes," agreed Celestia, "Good night Luna."

As Celestia turned to go, she was stopped by Luna's voice. "One more thing. This Archmage, does he have a proper name?"

Celestia frowned. "He did give me a name when I first met him, but I doubt it's the one he was born with. He told me that the name is also one of the names used to refer to his magic."

"And that is...?"

"Kaleidoscope. That is his name, the Archmage Kaleidoscope."

---

The room was vast and cavernous. It was a magnificent hall carved from brilliantly white marble. Beautiful sculptures sat in alcoves on either wall, while a massive door marked the entrance to the hall. The room was tastefully lit by chandeliers that dangled from the ceiling at regular intervals, their light reflecting off the elegantly tiled floor. It was the kind of room that might have belonged in one of the finest estates of one of the highest ranked nobles in Canterlot. It was hard to believe that this room existed inside a small cottage that stood alone in the unsettled Eastern countryside. Even more shocking was that this was only a small portion of the dwelling.

On the far side of the room from the entrance was a dais set three steps above the rest of the floor. Set into the floor, just before the steps that led up to the platform was a near perfect model of Equestria. The only things that separated from a truly perfect model were the series of gems set into particular places on the model. These gems glowed with an internal light that flickered at various frequencies depending on the information that they communicated.

On the dais, reclining on a couch-like pillow that was quite plain, making it seem out of place in the ostentatious room, was a Unicorn stallion with a jet-black coat that contrasted sharply with his stark-white mane and tail. Right now, the Unicorn was not showing even the slightest interest in the model in front of him. Instead, his attention was on the other occupant of the room. In the center of the massive hall stood a blue unicorn with a silvery mane and tail, along with the magic wand cutie mark that decorated her flank. The mare's legs were bent as she gasped for breath, looking as though she had just finished with some tremendous exertion.

The black stallion at the front of the room nodded. "We are finished for the night. Return to your chambers and rest, Trixie."

Trixie, formerly known as The Great and Powerful Trixie, managed to raise her head to meet the black Unicorn's gaze. "Thank you, Master." Trixie slowly staggered out the doors while the Archmage looked on impassively.