Destiny's Awakening

by Strange Harmony

Hello Canterlot!

Hello Canterlot!

The train ride to Canterlot was supposed to take the entire day, so, to keep themselves entertained Alpha, Omega, and Virtuoso explored the train. When they decided to find out what sort of entertainment the train could offer them Lightning had been reading the newspaper he bought back in Phillydelphia and insisted in them going without him. The trio went to the food cart and had a delicious lunch, Alpha saved some for Lightning, while at the hospital the doctors told them it was important to eat plenty of food in their recuperating condition. After lunch, they went to a luxurious train cart were they hoped to find some entertainment. It was sort of like a mini casino, there was a small bar and a couple of tables to play card games on; moreover, it was perhaps the busiest cart in the train.

Omega spotted a poker table with 6 ponies and started walking over when Alpha put her hoof in front of him and stopped him.

"Brother, Let's not do this today, We have plenty of bits and I just want a relaxing train ride without any conflicts."

Omega was about to protest when he thought better of it and simply replied, "Fine, I was just looking for a little bit of fun. Anyways, lets go get something to drink, I'm thirsty."

The siblings started walking over to the bar and Virtuoso was left standing there. He thought about what he had just seen and wondered if Omega had some sort of past in gambling. He decided not to think about it any further and joined the siblings at the small bar.

"Excuse me, bartender, can I get some orange juice?" called out Alpha.

"Sure thing miss, what can I get you two boys?" Answered the bartender, he was a yellow stallion with a red mane. He was dressed in fancy clothing and Alpha thought he belonged in a classy tavern rather than a small bar in a train.

"Actually, orange juice doesn't sound half bad right now, I'll take some too," said omega taking a seat next to his sister.

Virtuoso sat left of Alpha, "I'll have a dry double double Espresso Ristretto on a Demitasse. Actually make that extra dry, with half skim, and caramel syrup. If you could use soft flavored beans that would be great..." after a moment of silence Virtuoso noticed that Alpha and Omega, along with the bartender, were starring at him. He blushed, "you know what, warm milk sounds pretty good right now."

"So, Virtuoso, have you ever been to Canterlot before?" asked Alpha after they had received their drinks.

"Actually, I have," responded Virtuoso after taking a sip of his milk, " I like to travel there and see all the wonderful musicians. I think I mentioned this before, but I have a friend from Ponyville that travels there often to play for the Canterlot Orchestra, I go and see her sometimes. I also like to roam the streets and see what sort of entertainment I can find. What about you two? have you ever been to Canterlot?"

"Actually, Omega and I are from Canterlot. We have a house there so we don't have to worry about where we'll be staying for the night."

"Is that so? Maybe you two can give Lightning and me a proper tour of Canterlot?"

"Don't forget you two," whispered Omega, "We aren't going to Canterlot to have fun. Princess Luna made it clear we need to see her and Celestia as soon as possible."

"Brother, this isn't like you," said Alpha and gave him a soft nudge, "Cheer up."

"You're right...I just have...an uneasy feeling about all of this."

"You're not going to start crying again are you?"

"Ha!" Omega chugged the remaining juice he had, "real funny, come on, let's go back and see if Lightning read anything interesting." Omega got down from the stool and started walking towards the cart door.

Virtuoso and Alpha finished their drinks and were about to follow Omega when they heard a pony yell. "That's it! You have to be cheating! There is no way you could win that many times in a row!"

Everypony in the cart turned to the sounds of the commotion. Over at the table Omega had eyed earlier a orange stallion had pinned a white stallion against a wall and was screaming in his face.

"You snake, you think its okay to cheat and steal bits from ponies who earned them through honest work!?"

"What are your talking about?! I was playing clean, you're just mad I kept winning." the white stallion was trying to break free of his aggressors grip.

The bartender let out a long sigh and walked over to the quarreling stallions, "Alright you two, break it up, you're making a scene."

The orange stallion looked at the bartender and then at the stallion he had pinned against the wall. He appeared to think for a moment and decided whatever he was about to do probably wasn't worth it. He dropped the stallion and started walking away and had only taken about three steps when the white stallion whispered something. Neither the siblings nor Virtuoso heard what it was but whatever it was must of been pretty bad, the orange stallion looked enraged. Without a second thought he turned around and flung himself at the white stallion; all the ponies in the cart gasped and gave the two combatants some space. The two fell on the floor and the orange stallion hit his adversary in the face. The white stallion quickly recovered and sent the orange stallion flailing into the poker table with a kick. The bartender, knowing better than to get directly involved, ran to look for train security.

The orange stallion was in the process of picking himself up when the blue stallion mounted him and started hitting him in the mouth. The train cart had descended into turmoil as the two fought. With a hard right hook to the gut, the orange stallion managed to break free; however, blood now dripped from the side of his mouth. The two stallions stood still, wondering who would make the next move.

It was during this pause that the bartender returned with security ponies. Everypony that hadn't left the cart already made a passageway for the security. The two stallions hadn't noticed the security come in and were about to go at it again when the four security guards surrounded them. Both stallions were subdued by two of the security ponies and escorted out of the cart, Omega could still hear both of them shouting all sorts of insults at each other and couldn't help but grin.

Alpha signaled to both Virtuoso and Omega, "Come on guys, I think that's enough excitement for one train ride."
As they made their way back to their own cart Alpha said aloud. "See, if you had played poker with them you might have been part of that little scuffle."

"Oh come on sis, you know I'm smart enough to not get involved in something like that," said Omega, he felt a little offended inside.

"Still, thanks for not playing..."

"...No problem..."

Virtuoso's curiosity was again aroused but he dared not ask anything for fear of bringing up an unwanted topic. They reached their cart and found Lightning still inside, looking at the outside world through an open window.

"So, did you guys find anything interesting to do?" the question sounded more like forced politeness rather than actual interest.

"Actually yeah, we were getting ready to come back here when a fight broke out in the trains mini bar" responded Omega.

"Really?!" this sounded more sincere, but Lightning didn't give any of them a chance to respond. "I finished reading the newspaper and, well, just like I expected there was nothing in there I was glad to read about."

"What did you read about? Has Destiny attacked other cities across Equestria?" asked Virtuoso with genuine concern.

"Not directly, but just like the front line indicates several monsters have been spotted across Equestria, some small, others..." rather than saying anything else, Lightning opened the newspaper to a page with a heading that read: "Small northern village nearly destroyed by single monster, hundreds dead and even more wounded."

"Sweet Celestia," said Alpha and sat down on her bed.

"Apparently hundreds of royal guards are being deployed all over Equestria in order to minimize casualties from attacks like these, but...what if Destiny decides to attack again? I don't think some royal guards would provide much of a threat to her."

The four friends sat in silence until Alpha remembered she had saved some food for Lightning, "Here you go lightning," she said handing him an apple and a dandelion sandwich she had saved from her lunch. "remember what the doctor said, in our condition we need to eat as much as we can."

"Thanks Alpha, I was so sucked into the newspaper I hadn't even realized how hungry I actually am."

"Before you start eating, Lightning, have you ever been to Canterlot?"

"Actually, I have, a couple of times. The last time I was there was for the coronation of Princess Twilight."

"I was there too," started Virtuoso, "then again, so was most of Equestria. It was such a happy occasion, how long has it been? A month? Two months, hard to believe."

The four sat in silence remembering how happy the festivities of that day had been, Alpha broke the silence of melancholy by reminding Lightning of his food, "Lightning you should hurry up and eat that."

"Oh right!" Lightning devoured the food rapidly while Alpha, Omega, and Virtuoso decided to take a nap for the rest of the train ride. After he finished he tried to get some sleep too; however, none of them could fall sleep because of all the thoughts floating in their heads.

They were finally drifting off to sleep when a loud whistle startled them. Lightning looked out side and saw Canterlot fast approaching. "Guys, we're here!"

They had all been to Canterlot before, Alpha and Omega even lived there, but the breath taking sight of the splendorous city never ceased to amaze. The giant city with its many splendid buildings was the pride of Equestria, its beauty only rivaled by the Crystal Empire. The sparkling waterfalls emanating from deep inside the mountains that surrounded Canterlot created rainbows as they plummeted to the valley below. The many different colored and shaped buildings stood up like pedestals reminding everypony that saw them of how far Equestria had come from the days of poverty, hate, and discord.

The train stopped and the four friends gathered their belongings. The sun was quickly setting and they all suddenly felt very tired. "Is there anywhere you guys want to go before heading to our home?" asked Omega.

"I'm fine," answered Lightning, "I just want to hit the hay,"

"What about you virtuoso?"

Virtuoso opened his mouth and was about to say something when he changed his mind, "No, I'm good. I agree with Lightning, what we need after that long train ride is some proper sleep, I think it would be best if we were in optimum conditions when meeting with the princesses."

"Alright then," said Alpha and started walking alongside Omega. After 30 minutes of walking they reached a big house. "Here we are, home sweet home."

Omega took out a pair of keys and held the door open for his sister.

"Why thank you kind sir."

Lightning and Virtuoso stepped in next and finally Omega who locked the door. The inside of the house was well decorated and there were all kinds of trophies in shelves. Both Virtuoso and Lightning so these but were so tired they decided to ask about them the next morning.

"So," started Virtuoso, "I see two couches, Lightning, which one do you want?"

"Oh heavens no, I won't allow our new friend sleep in our couches. Omega and I will take the couches, you two, follow me." said Alpha. The last sentenced sounded like a command so Virtuoso and Lightning followed.

"Take these two rooms," Alpha had led them to two rooms upstairs, obviously hers and Omegas. "Now I'll see you two in the morning."

"Umm...Alpha," started Lightning.

"Bathroom is two doors down the hall." she said with a laugh.

"Right..." said Lightning and started walking down the hall.

Alpha and Virtuoso shared a small laugh, and then he said, "Thanks for everything, I'll find a way to repay this to you and your brother."

"Nonsense, after you let us stay in your grandparents house what kind of ponies would we be to make you guys have to find an inn. Anyways, I'll see you two in the morning." With these final words she made her way downstairs.

Virtuoso entered the room and didn't even attempt to find out which of the two siblings it belonged to. He got under the covers and almost instantly fell sleep. After using the bathroom Lightning entered the opposing room and did the same.

The next morning approached and...a heartbeat, or at least what felt like a heartbeat.

Virtuoso immediately rose up in pain from his bed at the same time Lightning did and put a hoof to his chest. Virtuoso and Lighting managed to crawl out of the rooms and lay on the floor outside, on the hallway.

Virtuoso turned to Lightning, "You feel it as well?" He asked, barely able to get the words out.

Lightning, not able to bear the pain just nods. Virtuoso tried to stand up but didn't get very far in his efforts and tumbled down to the floor again.

"Alpha, Omega, are you two ponies…feeling this pain as well?" Virtuoso asked still in pain himself.

He heard Omega's strained voice, "Oh yeah, we're totally feeling it! Care to come down and join us?"

Almost immediately hears a hoof make contact with something hard and then Alpha's voice, "Shut up… stupid! This isn't the time for jokes!" Her voice cracks from the pain. "Virtuoso, is Lightning ok?"

Lightning whispers, "Celestia… help us…"

Another heartbeat like pounding.

The four screamed in pain and then silence followed. The only sound that can be heard is the sound of all the ponies trying to catch their breath. Virtuoso walks to Lightning and helps him stand up. When virtuoso manages to get Lightning on his hooves, they both head downstairs to see if the other two are ok. They find Alpha and Omega sprawled on the couches and help them recuperate from what had just happened.

"Thanks guys." Alpha says still rubbing her chest. She went to the kitchen and got some water for every pony while the boys helped Omega.

"Well, that was a great morning don't you think?" Omega says after they got him to a sitting position. "She can at least let us get a good night sleep." he says gritting his teeth.

Alpha returned with a tray holding four glasses of water. She hands everypony a glass with a straw and sets the tray on a table in the middle of the two couches. "This is the first time something like that has happened to us, do any of you have an idea of, well, why that happened?." Everypony can hear the worry in her voice.

Alpha found a seat next to Omega on the couch and the other two ponies sat on the couch adjacent to them.

Virtuoso took a sip from his drink, "I don't know, but I suppose these chest pains are going to come frequently, which is no good for any of us."

"I was scared for my life up there but I was more focused on your guys' safety rather than mine, so I tried getting up but the pain was unbearable…I felt weak." He lowered his head and took a drink of his water.

"Nopony is weak here Lightning," Omega says trying to cheer him up. "That Alicorn has us all where she wants us to be, what can we do?"

Lightning lifts his head back up, "We're gonna do what we came here to do."

Virtuoso nods his head and finishes his water, "I agree, we need to go see the princesses immediately and report what has happened this morning."

The rest of the ponies agree and finished their drinks before gathering a few things in their bags and heading out to Canterlot's majestic castle. The road there was a beautiful one. Spring was showing it's true colors this time around and the cool breeze kept the day from getting any hotter. Every pony, including fillies, seemed to be admiring all the newly bloomed flowers and all the return fauna. Mares were walking with their stallions along the road obviously enjoying the day. Everypony seemed to be enjoying themselves and everything looked lively.

Upon approaching the castles gates, they were stopped by a royal guard in his armor, "Ah, I believe the princess has been expecting the four of you." He said in deep assertive voice.

Virtuoso steps forward and bows, "Yes sir, would you mind leading us to her chamber?" He asks.

"Right this way." The royal guard says as he pushes through the gates and leads them into the castle.

The four followed the guard to the front of the castle where two more guards stood. He waved his hoof at them and they opened the grand doors of the castle. The five ponies walked through the doors only to be struck in awe by the countless wonders of the castle. There were statues and busts galore of famous ponies and icons across Equestria. The tile was polished enough to see their reflection in and the halls were quiet enough to hear each hoof step throughout the entire castle. Upon walking through numerous halls, the five ponies finally reached another set of grand doors guarded by multiple guards.

The royal guard stopped, "The princesses await beyond this door," he opened the doors for them, revealing both princess Celestia and Luna, "good luck ponies." He says as the ponies walked in and he closed the doors behind them.

The four of them walked to the princesses and bowed in respect, Alpha was thinking of what to say when Omega blurted out, "So what exactly is happening Celestia."

"Omega!" Alpha slapped her brother on the shoulder and could not believe his lack of courtesy.

"It is quite alright my little ponies," said princess Celestia, "I understand this is urgent so I will not waste any time with pointless babble. Luna has informed me of everything she could learn, both from the four of you and several other witnesses. I believe the power which Destiny spoke of is a power which has been forgotten because no pony could ever learn to harness its power. Luna and I are no different, we have only been able to harness the power of the elements of harmony, although that is lost to us now as well. I regret to say neither my sister or myself know much about this power. Destiny tried to harness its power once before but failed. I'm not sure how she tried to do it or what exactly this power even is, from what I have heard it is harnessed through objects like the necklaces I am sure the four of you are familiar with."

"The ones Princess Twilight and her friends use to harness the full might of the magic of friendship?" asked Lightning.

"Yes, we must look for these orbs which serve as the keys to this power, but first...we must find these other four ponies. I have arranged a train to take you to Ponyville, you must speak to princess Twilight there, she will help you start your search."

"Princess. This is all useful information but I still don't understand why Destiny would tell us a way to defeat her." said Alpha, it made no sense to her that Destiny could have easily killed them; however, she let them live and even told them how to defeat her. Was she just toying with them and already knew she could not be stopped?

"I'm afraid only Destiny herself can answer that...now, you must hurry up and leave. I am sorry this audience was so rushed but you must understand I cannot allow to Equestria to remain in this state. Destiny must be stopped, and the sooner, the better."

"We understand princess. We will leave as soon as possible." responded Lightning. They bowed and started heading towards the exit.

"We would like nothing more than to help you but we must stay here and protect Canterlot."

"We know princess, you can trust us."

...Two ponies hiking the mountains close to Canterlot stopped to take a break. One of them was a green stallion with a light red mane, the other, a purple mare with a yellow mane.

"You ok honey?" asked the stallion.

"Yeah, didn't I tell you hiking these mountains was going to be a fabulous experience. This road is beautiful and the air feels amazing."

The couple laughed and joked as they rested and everything seemed alright. A horrible roar echoed through the woods and both ponies were startled.

"What was that? It sounded...it sounded like a lion..." said the mare in a frantic voice.

"A lion...in the mountains of Canterlot...that's impossible." the stallion didn't sound too sure of his own words.

Then they heard what sounded like hissing, and then what sounded like a goat. This bizarre set of noises was quickly scaring the couple and they stood up, ready to run away in case anything dangerous approached them.

"Those noises have no business here," said the stallion, "maybe we should start heading back to Canter-" Without warning, a beast leaped from the top of some trees and landed close to the couple. The beast was huge, perhaps almost the size of a two story house. It had the body of a lion, on its back was a goat's head which sluggishly flailed side to side , and instead of a tail, it had a snake with horrible glaring eyes that almost paralyzed them in fear. It was a Chimera, a mythical creature that shouldn't even be found in the depths of the Everfree forest. Such a beast should only be found in Tartarus, but the three headed guard dog was guarding its entrance...right?

"RUN!!!" screamed the stallion and the two took off in a full blown gallop. They didn't get very far for another Chimera leaped in the road and roared. They stopped dead in their tracks and started backing off. However, they were stuck, the two Chimeras had surrounded them and were slowly closing in. The couple embraced one last time before the chimeras pounced...and nopony was there to hear their screams of agony.

After the chimeras had dispatched of the innocent couple they continued rapidly making their way to Canterlot.

Author's Note:

Kind of late, but here it is. Anyways, we are still looking for a prereader so I apologize for any small mistakes. As always, feedback is appreciated.

Comments

[Armanico Vita]

Virtuoso sat left of Alpha, "I'll have a dry double double Espresso Ristretto on a Demitasse. Actually make that extra dry, with half skim, and caramel syrup. If you could use soft flavored beans that would be great..." after a moment of silence Virtuoso noticed that Alpha and Omega, along with the bartender, were starring at him. He blushed, "you know what, warm milk sounds pretty good right now."

This, I like this.

[Strange Harmony]

2796240
Thanks, I had a lot of fun writing that part.