Chapter 3
~Earlier That Morning~
Princess Twilight Sparkle couldn’t believe how perfect her life was today of all days. She rarely got the opportunity to sleep in since taking residence in the Moon Tower but when she could she relished in it. True she’d been awake since dawn, but that was only because the Solar Court needed to dip into her magical reserves to get the sun up. Just like they did every day.
She hummed dreamily as she stretched in bed. A warm bed with freshly laundered sheets, her favorite time-worn comforter, and the warm splash of sunlight across her back, well… it just didn’t get much better than that. Today, life in Equestria shimmered. It was her 505th birthday and she had an agenda of items long overdue. Nothing was going to—
There was a knock on the double doors that lead into her bedchamber. Her eyes shot open, and all the joy and comfort of the last few moments drained out of her through the sinking feeling in her chest. Did she imagine it? Maybe she imagined it.
There it was again, that knock. Okay, she wasn’t imagining it. She went through a mental list of who it could be. There was Quick Name, the captain of her Arcane Guard. He was usually stationed in the foyer outside of her royal bedchamber, but knocking wasn’t a thing the surly pony was known to do.
If he wanted her to know something, he’d walk right in like he owned the place and tell her. Really, it vexed Twilight most of the time. On a number of those occasions, she had been in the shower. But he was a good soul, a stalwart protector, and friend for over 20 years. She’d miss him when he retires next month. No, it probably wasn’t him knocking.
The knock came a third time. Twilight studied the sound. About a minute had passed since she heard the first knock. On average, there was twenty seconds between each knock event. So far, the median number of knocks per knock event was two and a half. This lead her to believe that it wasn’t Cadence, as her knock events were usually separated by ten second intervals with a median of two knocks per event. Close, but no Heartbutt. Plus she left yesterday afternoon with the girls.
She waited twenty seconds from the last knock and nothing happened. Seventeen seconds later, there was a fourth knock event. This one had seven knocks to it. She let out a pained gasp.
What kind of monster would do such a thing? Her previous data points were now skewed by this new outlier. No matter, statistics could handle it. She’d just—
Not four seconds later the door rattled with a flurry of knocks. She counted twenty-five. Thirty-seven. Forty-two. She lost count when she realized that some of the knocks were overlapping each other. It was madness! It was chaos! Wait, chaos?
Oh, horseapples.
“Go away!” She shouted, but the knocks continued all the same.
No. No no no no no. Not today. Today was her day. She had so many plans! The list! Oh, Sweet Celestia, what about her poor checklist? She needed an escape route. Desperately, she looked around her chamber and spotted the closed doors of her balcony. Oh yes. Those would do nicely.
“Uh…” She cleared her throat and continued, her voice dropped a few octaves. “Princess Twilight isn’t here. So… I guess you’ll just have to go away and never come back.”
She rolled her eyes at her own foalishness, but she didn’t stop moving. She crept ever closer to the freedom promised by her balcony. She was so close.
The doors opened, revealing the God of Chaos in all his ridiculous glory waiting on her balcony. He held out a bouquet of roses that she recognized as some of her favorites that grew in the courtyard far below. He was wearing a red and white pinstriped bellhop’s outfit.
“Flowers for a... uh…” he looked down and turned over the little card tied to the bouquet. “Tubelight Spackle!” He smiled at her in that rueful way that only he could manage. Twilight looked longingly at the morning sky beyond him. She sighed.
The double doors glowed purple and slammed shut. Twilight went about casting lock after magical lock onto them. Celestia herself couldn’t get through—
There was a flush from the washroom, and Twilight instinctively faced the sound. Discord sauntered out, wiping his hands on his pinstriped pants.
Her wings flared to their full extension. Her horn glowed and her royal war armor began to materialize around her. The Chestguard of Theurgic Might. The Bracers of the Four Foundations. The Sparkly Tiara of Supreme Clarity.
“First and last warning, Discord. Get out.”
The draconequus put on a show of looking hurt by her display of power. “Hey now, that’s no way to treat a guest. I’m just here to wish my favorite purple pony a happy birthday.” The bouquet of flowers popped back into existence, floating in front of her face. The card read:
Happy 505th Birthday
Princess Tubelight Spackle
She recognized the hoofwriting and she knew it wasn’t Discord’s. She’d file that little note away for later. Discord opened his mouth to speak, but she’d had enough of his dodging.
“I haven’t seen you since the lich incident in Sibearia, over twelve years ago. You only bother to show up when you break something and I need to fix it. Well not today, pal. I’ve got a checklist full of things to do today, and not one of them says ‘Clean up after Discord’.”
Discord pouted at the accusation. “Why Princess Spackle, I’m shocked. Your accusa—“
The air around him fizzled and popped electrically. He looked confusedly at the Goddess of Magic as she glowed with mystical power.
“Whoa Nelly, what are you doing?!” For his answer he was teleported away from the comfy confines of the tower.
When his head stopped spinning, he found himself floating in the sweltering air over a ruined hellscape. It reeked of sulfur and the black sky above him was lined with jagged rocks. Below him was an endless red sea of gibbering teeth, horns, and spikey bits. The demons of Tartarus were ready for war.
He blinked in amazement and let out a whistle. “She actually sent me to Tartarus.” He sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose. “Whatever happened to ‘don’t kill the messenger’?”
Discord shrugged and flew off towards the skull shaped plateau at the center of the boiling mass of lumpy evil. If he’s here, he might as well check in on his poker buddy before heading back to inform Ms. Ungrateful McSmartpurple of the coming catastrophe.
A few minutes later, he landed on the flat outcrop high above the endlessly shrieking hordes below. It was barren, save for the countless skulls that comprised it. As he walked across the powdery floor to the two figures hunched over the table in the center, he giggled at the feeling of ancient bones crumbling beneath his feet. It tickled.
Before him were two figures, locked in ageless combat for the fate of both Tartarus and the world above. There was Grymgore the merciless ruler of Tartarus, who was hell-bent on drowning the sun in a sea of blood. His opponent was none other than Shining Armor, former Captain of the Guard at Canterlot Castle, former co-ruler of the Crystal Empire, husband of the Goddess of Love, and poker buddy of Discord.
Grymgore moved a bony hoof through the shallow sandbox on the table between them. “Draw.” He said in a gurgling voice that sounded like a swamp venting gas.
Discord looked down at the box and watched as Shining Armor picked it up in his magic and shook it lightly from side to side to clear the board. He put it back down and drew two parallel lines in the center of the sand with a hoof. Then he repeated the process with a new set of parallel lines perpendicular to and intersecting with the first two.
He put an ‘X’ in the center square. “Your move.”
Discord chimed in. “Still playing for the fate of Equestria, I see.”
Grymgore turned his boney head up to look at the unexpected voice as he drew his ‘O’.
Shining Armor glanced over his shoulder and smiled at the Draconequus. “Oh, hey Discord!” He cocked his head to the side in thought “It’s not Wednesday already, is it?”
Discord sighed. “No, it’s Saturday. I was banished here by your sister, that’s all.”
Shining nodded in understanding and turned back to the tic-tac-toe game. He furrowed his brow and rubbed a forehoof under his chin before nodded to himself with great purpose. Then he placed his second ‘X’.
Shining Armor turned around to face his Wednesday Night poker buddy and laughed “What did you do to her?”
“What is it with you ponies and your accusations, hm? No, I didn’t do anything to Princess Twilight. All I did was show up on her birthday and give her flowers. Then she banished me to Tartarus.”
Upon hearing the name of his old enemy, Grymgore was once again distracted by the garish entity chatting away with Shining Armor. He put his second ‘O’ somewhere on the grid.
Shining Armor didn’t apologize; instead, he turned around and studied the board. He groaned. That old goat put an ‘O’ right where he was going to put his ‘X’. He was clever. Too clever. They’d been playing ever since Shining Armor offered the game as a means to end the Siege on the Gate over 400 years ago.
They agreed to the terms. The game: Tic-tac-toe. The stakes: Victory for Grymgore meant that his army would spill over Equestria, with Shining Armor as his trusted lieutenant. If he lost, the old devil was oathbound to never again march to war against the world above. Every game has been a draw, and they’ve been playing nonstop. Well, ok, they don’t play on Wednesdays, but otherwise it’s nonstop.
He placed his ‘X’ in a corner, and motioned for Grymgore to take his turn.
As the he plotted his next action, the undisputed ruler of Tartarus listened in as Discord interrupted the delightful screams below with more of his incessant banter.
“I mean, I didn’t even get to tell her about the… you know what, never mind. I can see you’re busy. I’ve got to get going. Places to see, ponies to be, you know how it is. I’ll see you Wednesday. Oh, and do bring some bits this time; I’m not taking any more I.O.Us.”
Grymgore placed his ‘O’. “Your move.”
Shining Armor waved goodbye as Discord disappeared in a burst of light before returning to their game. “Huh.” He scratched an ‘X’ into the sand and smirked. “I win.”
Princess Twilight was sitting at her writing desk, going over her checklist for the day. As she did so, she idly traced a hoof through a wide circular indentation roughly in the center of the desk.
Item 1: Review the checklist. Check.
Item 2: Order breakfast in bed.
She took the list with her in her magical grip and turned to walk over the bed. She stared incredulously at a newly arrived draconequus lounging on said bed. He smelled vaguely of rotten eggs and damnation.
“Shining Armor says hi.”
Twilight snorted. “Why are you here? So help me Discord, I will turn back you into sto—“
He cut her off with a wave of his lion’s paw. “Your little Smarty Pants and her two friends are in danger.”
Twilight took the words like a punch to the gut. She wasn’t expecting that. She stood there with her mouth open, struggling to find words. How did Discord know Smarty Pants? What did he do?
“What did you do?!”
“They went to Celestia’s old tower in the Everfree Forest.”
Twilight had heard enough, she turned and started galloping for the open balcony. Her wings unfurled and they began to beat the air furiously.
He snapped his talons and the balcony doors slammed shut. Twilight spun in place to stare daggers at him. Discord sat up on her bed and threw his legs over the side. His mood shifted along with him, and he gave the Princess an intense look.
“They found something up at the top of the Sun Tower. Something called the Beacon of Order.”
Twilight looked to the bookshelves lining the room. She’d not heard of that before. What was it?
“It’s a weapon from a different time. A time when chaos ruled the world.” He explained with a sad smile to himself. “Good times.”
Twilight cleared her throat.
“I, uh, I mean not that I’m not enjoying myself now, it’s jus—“
“Tell me what happened!”
“Right. Sorry. Where was I? Oh yes, well. The Beacon isn’t a pony. It’s not a draconequus either. It’s some kind of living enchantment dreamed up by those pesky pony princesses of yours. Why they never used it against me, I’ll never know. The thing’s got quite the kick to it. Did you know that it took three days for me to recover my full strength?”
“Days?” asked Princess Twilight with a puzzled look on her face. “When did the girls find this beacon?”
Discord scoffed. “You ponies think so three dimensionally.” He snapped his fingers again and the balcony doors opened once more. “Wait for it…”
Right on cue, the mid-morning sky darkened and a pillar of light, bright as the sun, shot into the sky from the South. Twilight threw a hoof in front of her face to shield her eyes from the intense glare. She watched as a shockwave raced across the ground from the epicenter deep in the Everfree Forest. When it reached the castle, she wished that the broken glass that accompanied the blast was the worst of it. No, the worst part was the voices she heard in her head.
She blinked away tears and shook her head. It had been brief, but the sensation was unnerving. The voices had called out to her for help. They asked her in harmonious unison to lend her magic to their great cause. To aid the Beacon of Order.
Discord sat there on the bed holding the sides of his face as his eyes rolled around in his head. “Oof. I never get used to that. But, on the plus side, you got to experience why they named it the ‘Beacon’ of Order. Not a very creative name, if you ask me. Does right what it says on the tin. I would have named it Debbie.” He fell back onto the bed. “You know, just to keep an air of mystery about the whole thing.”
Twilight ignored him and stumbled over to look over the railing of her balcony. Far below she could see a unicorn member of the castle staff unconscious on the ground. Briefly, she extended her magic into the city below and felt other ponies in the same sorry state. They were all unicorns. She let out a heavy breath.
“I’m not getting through my checklist today, am I?”
“No, I’m afraid not.”
“You’re from the future, aren’t you?”
“Maybe.”
“Will we make it?”
Discord gave her a broad smile “Don’t we always?”
Resigned to her fate, Princess Twilight summoned her checklist from the floor. It floated merrily in front of her and then it burst into flames. Its ashes drifted away on the breeze along with Twilight’s birthday plans. Suddenly a new entity materialized in the room, just behind her near the balcony.
“Twinkletoes, we’ve got a problem. A big problem!”
The Goddess of Magic groaned and stomped her hoof, but she didn’t bother to face him. “I know, Discord.”
Discord stared daggers into the back of her head. “You know?! How could you possibly know?”
Twilight stepped aside and turned to face the draconequus. “I know because you just told me.”
Discord looked beyond her to see that there was, in fact, another Discord. He floated lazily on his back while he picked his teeth with a claw. He gave his hole ridden counterpart a casual wave.
“Hi me, how am I today?”
The newly arrived Discord opened his mouth to say something, when Smarty Pants leapt out of his arms.
“Princess!”
The Princess extended her wings and eagerly scooped the filly into a hug. She smelled like burnt leather wrapped in old sweatpants, but it didn’t matter. Smarty Pants was okay. She thanked her own starry flank she was okay. A little red unicorn clear her throat.
“Yeah, hugs are great and all, Pants, but Sandy’s hurt.”
Smarty Pants jumped down and ran back over to her friend, who was now draped over the unicorn’s back.
Twilight’s ears flattened against her head and she turned to look around the room. “Discord, wha… You’re gone. You’re both gone. Great.”
Twilight gently wrapped the green pegasus in a purple aura and carried her over to the bed. She set Sandy down and removed her smoldering saddlebags. One was fine, but the other had a perfectly symmetrical hole burned into it.
Sandy stirred and tried to look around, but her light green mane was matted to her face. “Where am I?” She winced at the pain in her side. She brushed the hair out of her eyes and looked over at the nasty saddlebag shaped bruise. “Ow.”
Princess Twilight smiled softly to herself and shook her head. Girls would be girls and these three were starting to get into all kinds of trouble. At least she and her five friends had the decency to finish school before they started saving the world. She tapped her horn to Sandy’s side and the bruise vanished in ripple of purple light across her body.
The confused filly sat up. She realized that she didn’t hurt anymore and she fluttered her wings excitedly. “I feel... Okay!” She smiled. Then she noticed the Princess for the first time. Her wings clamped to her sides and she curled up into a little ball on the bed. “O-oh my! Princess Twilight. How nice to see you. What brings you here? Where is here?”
“Yeah, hey, where are we Cuz?”
Before Smarty Pants could answer her cousin, the Princess responded. “You’re in my royal bedchamber at the top of the Moon Tower in Canterlot. And you’re safe.”
The pegasus shot into the air at this, flittering just over the bed. “Canterlot? We’re back in Canterlot?”
The Princess nodded with a small smile on her face.
Sandy looked at the Princess and then out the open balcony. Her mommy was down there in the royal kitchen. She could go see her. She wanted to see her. She needed to tell her how brave she’d been. She needed to tell her all about their scary adventure and how she didn’t even cry all that much.
“Oh, um. Can I, um…”
Twilight’s small smile broke into a broad grin and a soft chuckle. Sandy’s saddlebags were lifted off the bed in a magical aura and put back on the excitedly flapping filly.
“Go on Sandy. Tell Powder Puff that Honeycrisp, Smarty Pants, and I will be joining you two for breakfast in just a bit, okay?”
Over near the writing desk, Smarty Pants let out a happy gasp and spun in a tight circle. She loved Powder Puff’s baked goods, they were the best in Equestria. They were super nice. Her cousin raised an eyebrow at the bizarre little earthpony.
Sandy flew over and hugged the Princess instinctively. When she realized what she was doing she released the startled looking monarch and laughed sheepishly, her cheeks a bright crimson. Then she zoomed out the balcony and dipped towards the ground below.
Honeycrisp turned away from the scene with her eyebrow still raised and asked Smarty Pants a question. “I thought you said she didn’t like to fly?”
Smarty Pants shrugged and started to walk towards the two doors that led to the foyer outside of the Princess’ bed chamber. “I can’t be right all the time Honeycrisp. Where’s the fun in that?”
Honeycrisp followed her, but just as they reached the doors the Princess stopped them.
“Uh, Girls.”
They both turned to look at the Goddess of Magic as she wrinkled her nose at them. “Ah. Hmm. How to put this delicately. You both stink.” She nodded in the direction of her washroom. “Go hit the showers and then we’ll get breakfast, ok?”
The two fillies sniffed the air around themselves and gagged. Honeycrisp tried to get the smell out of her nose with a snort as she followed the Princess. “There is no way I’m gonna turn down a hot shower after the night I just had.” She looked over her shoulder at Smarty Pants, who just stood there with a torn look on her face.
“And in Princess Twilight’s personal bathroom! Wait until mom hears about this, she’s gonna… gonna… Smarty Pants, are you coming or what?”
Smarty Pants stood there and frowned at the Princess, clearly conflicted. “That Beacon of Order is bad news, Your Majesty. We need to get out there and stop it!” She stomped a forehoof to punctuate her statement. “We...” she hid her face behind her red wavy mane. “We don’t have time for showers.”
Twilight looked incredulously at her protégé. “Oh, you don’t have time for showers, but you have time for breakfast.”
Smarty Pants puffed out her cheeks and blushed, but still hid her face as best as she could.
“That’s different! There’s always time for baked goods!”
Twilight laughed a good natured laugh and lifted the silly little mare into the air with her magic and deposited her on the washroom floor.
With a wink, she concluded her argument. “Bathe. Eat. Save the world. The order’s important, Smarty Pants. Remember that. You two stay in my chambers until I get back. I’ll just be a moment.”
Twilight walked out of the washroom as the hiss of warm water from the shower head filled the room. She marched with purpose towards the entrance to her bedchambers. As she walked, a blank sheet of parchment and quill materialized beside her and a new checklist was written at the speed of thought. Today was going to be a long day.
The doors opened with a magical whim, revealing the foyer beyond. On the ground lay two unicorns guards, one unconscious, the other rubbing his horn and muttering to himself. She watched as the captain of her Arcane Guard, Quick Name, help him to his hooves.
“Princess.” He offered the gruff salute with a quick bow of the head.
“Quick Name.” She addressed the dark gray unicorn as she walked over to assess the unconscious guardsmare. “There’s been an event.”
He grunted in acknowledgement.
She tapped the unconscious mare with the tip of her glowing horn, and she woke with a start “ORDER! BEACON OF ORDER. MUST… huh?” She looked around, blinking. “Oh, my aching horn. What happened, Quick?”
He ignored Ruby Star and finished helping the stallion Spellbound back to his hooves. Then he bellowed.
“Arcane Guard, Atten-tion!”
The three highest ranking members of her personal guard stood at attention in a straight line. They stared forward into some far off horizon. Princess Twilight tapped her forehead with a hoof and let out a sigh.
“Quick Name, you know you don’t have to do that every time I leave the room.”
Nopony moved.
“Okay, okay I’ll play along. At ease, gentleponies.”
Ruby Star and Spellbound slumped to the ground. Quick Name still stood there with his thousand yard stare. Twilight had long ago stopped trying to figure him out.
“Quick Name, I want you to head to the telegraph office and send a message to Ponyville. Tell them to evacuate everypony to Canterlot. Then I want you to have the folks in the telegraph office relay the message to every town within fifty miles of the Everfree Forest. Report back to me when you’re done.”
She frowned, and added “I’m afraid that I’m going to need your combat skills today.”
Quick Name’s two top lieutenants shared an uneasy look, but he simply nodded and turned to walk down the stairs.
Ruby Star looked up at the pony she swore her life to protect. “H-hey, what about us, Princess?”
Princess Twilight offered her a smile “Ruby, Spellbound, I need you two to help organize.”
Ruby frowned at this. She hated organizing. She didn’t join the guard to organize. She joined the guard to kick flank with mystical powers. She sulked as she brushed an orange hoof through her disheveled white mane.
The light blue stallion smiled. He didn’t have any particular interest in organization, but heck, if the Goddess of Magic needed somepony to swallow hot coals, he’d be the first with a fork. This was his chance to really show her what he could do. It was going to be perfect.
He stood up as straight as he could and saluted. “Yes Ma’am, right away Ma’am!” He made an about-face and started walking for the stairs. He was stopped by a tug on the tail.
Ruby spat out a mouth full of blonde tail and she put on that sickly-sweet voice that annoyed him so much. “Spellbound, sweetie.” She walked up to him and gave him those half lidded eyes that made him nervous. She bopped him on the head with a forehoof. “She hasn’t even told us what to organize yet.”
“Oh, right.”
Princess Twilight closed her eyes and shook her head before finishing. “Thank you Ruby. Spellbound, head down to the House of Commons and find the Senate Undersecretary. Tell her that we need to summon the available members of the Emergency Council. I’ll be there after breakfast.”
Ruby cocked her head at that. “Twilight, toda—Ouch, hay!” She glared at the blue pony who just elbowed her in the ribs. She groaned, but continued.
“PRINCESS Twilight, Your Grace, today’s Saturday. Won’t the Senate be empty?”
“Very likely,” Princess Twilight replied, “that’s why I need Spellbound to talk to the Undersecretary. She’ll know of any available Emergency Council members that haven’t left Canterlot this weekend. You’re dismissed, Spellbound.”
Once more, he straightened up. “Yes Ma’am, right away Ma’am!” and he hurried off down the stairs with a goofy grin. The two mares sat in silence as his hooffalls got farther and farther away.
Twilight stood and flapped her wings once before refolding them to her sides. “You shouldn’t push his buttons like that, Ruby.”
Ruby chuckled nervously and her ears flattened. “Heh heh. Yeah. So! Um, what did you need me to do? Should I go get a bunch of guards and go beat the stuffing outta—”
Princess Twiilight took a step back and spread her wings to their full length to add the necessary gravity to the task she was about to give the fiery mare. “Ruby Star, I need you to oversee the evacuation of Canterlot and our incoming refugees.”
Ruby’s green eyes sparkled. “Whoa.”
Princess Twilight smiled down at her. “Can I trust that you’re the right pony for the job?”
“Am I?!” She reared up on her hindlegs and kicked her forelegs in gleeful abandon. “Oh yeah, I am!”
“Excellent. First, we need the evacuation shelters in the crystal caverns beneath the castle cleaned out and stocked up. We may end up with thousands of ponies down there before the day is over. Got it?”
Ruby swallowed hard at the news, but she nodded.
“Next I need you to inform the Solar and Lunar Courts to set up defenses along the battlements. Hopefully we won’t need them, but if the castle comes under siege they’ll maintain a protective magical barrier.”
“What about the guard? Wouldn’t they be better suited for castle defense?”
Twilight nodded. “Normally yes, but we need the rest of the guard to assist with evacuation efforts. We’re going to empty every town within 50 miles of the Everfree Forest. That’s going to require unicorn teleportation teams, along with both pegasi and earthpony charioteers. The Solar and Lunar Court ponies aren’t built for that sort of work.”
Ruby snorted fiercely. “Alright, leave it to me and the guard, your highness!” She threw a quick salute and turned to gallop down the stairs.
“Oh and do be careful, Ruby. Spellbound would be lost without you.”
The orange mare laughed fretfully but still managed to trip on her own hooves as she passed the top-most step. Twilight winced at each thump as Ruby fell down the curved stairs until she hit the first set of sealed doors two floors below. There was silence.
“I’M OK!”
Twilight let out a sigh of relief and teleported to her next destination.
When Twilight reappeared, she noted how much Sweet Apple Acres had changed over the years. Where once there was just a home for a single family and hooffull of outbuildings, there was now a whole farming community. Applejack would have been proud to see everypony working together to deliver apples and other produce all over Equestria. She gave a nod to the bronze statue of her old friend.
A nearby gasp pulled her back into the present.
“It’s Princess Twilight!” a crowd of nervous muttering ponies started to gather around her at the fountain. A little white filly fluttered up to her on tiny wings and started peppering her with questions.
“Printeth, Printheth, did you thee that bright light thith morning? What wath that thing? Ith it bad? Pappa thayth that ith bad.” The young girl’s father pulled his daughter back to earth and smiled bashfully at the Goddess of Magic. She smiled back before beginning.
“Good morning My Little Ponies. Tell me, has anypony seen Merry Hearth?”
The Apples and extended family looked around anxiously amongst themselves and a chubby yellow earthpony was the first to speak up. Twilight groaned internally. Every generation had an apple that took on the role of Head of the Family. Jolly Green was no exception. He was just an insufferable jackass.
“She and Appleseed went inta town lookin’ fer the girls.” He turned his head and spat a grass stalk out of his mouth. “But don’t you worry none, Princess,” he said with a dour chuckle “I’m sure dem girls is just fine.”
Twilight ignored the past-his-prime patriarch and closed her eyes. She reached out with her magic to search for her friends Merry and Appleseed. She tuned out the questions and stares from the ponies around her and focused.
Soon even the sounds of the windmill and Applejack’s fountain faded from her awareness. There was only an ethereal echo. She felt her consciousness floating and she drifted through the flowing tides of magic that bound the world together.
Each pony has a magical signature that’s uniquely their own. They’re all born with it. It’s almost like a hoofprint, but it’s more akin to a voice. Drifting across the ley lines of Equestria, she could see many magical signatures at once. There was Cadence in Cloudsdale, a bright pink. There went Quick Name, with his steely gray aura trotting through the streets of Canterlot on his way to the telegraph office.
Her unseen consciousness flowed around pony after pony looking for two specific magical signatures. It’s a surefire way to inconspicuously pick somepony out of a crowd. Especially if that crowd is spread out over a few hundred miles.
It also helped that, since they couldn’t sense or see her, there was no bowing or scraping. She could just watch and study her little ponies all day from the comfort of her royal bedchamber and nopony would ever be the wiser. It was the ideal research environment for objectively studying the Equine Condition.
There they were. She could feel the signature warmth of Merry Hearth and the love she had for Appleseed, Honeycrisp, and her unborn child. She could also feel the carefully masked nervous energy of her pegasus husband. They were in the Golden Oaks Library in Ponyville.
“I found you.”
Her eyes went wide. She didn’t say that. Her voice didn’t sound like hundreds of ponies harmonizing.
She willed herself to take in the bigger picture and noticed that she was being watched from deep within the Everfree Forest. A white tendril of pure light reached across the ley lines of Equestria and somehow brushed her consciousness. It was brief just like before, but it was terrifying. Just like before.
The powerful will had somehow pierced the magical vale and learned to spot others. To her knowledge she was the only pony who knew how to do that. Suddenly another prismatic tendril from the Beacon of Order lashed against her.
With each caress, its siren song to order became all the more tantalizing. She realized now that without the right knowledge or tools, confronting the Beacon would spell disaster for all of Equestria. She had to research this thing from a safe distance and figure out how to beat it. She had to leave. Now.
Twilight closed her sixth sense and the sights, smells, and sensations of the physical world came rushing back. She squinted against the brightness of the mid-morning sky. She addressed the crowd with readily apparent urgency.
“Okay Apples, listen up. Something nasty is on its way here from deep within the Everfree Forest. You’ve got an hour to gather some essentials and head for the Ponyville train station. You’re being evacuated to the shelters beneath Canterlot Castle.”
The murmurs turned to shouts of confusion and panic. Two ponies took to the skies and started flying right for Canterlot. Others grabbed their children and hustled into houses or worked themselves into the harnesses of their carts. Not all of them moved though. A certain pudgy yellow stallion knit his brow and let out a snort.
“Princess Twilight, we right appreciate the warnin’ and all, but your suggestion tha—“
She gave the stallion her most imperial stare, and the rest of his words died in his throat. Other ponies around them stopped what they were doing and watched the exchange.
“Jolly Green? Three things.” Twilight said as she took a step forward.
“Thing the first: I have known each and every one of you standing here today since you were foals. I’ve watched you grow and I’ve cared for you all just like I promised Applejack I would.”
She took another step and his eyes widened. “Secondly, you know that there’s nothing I wouldn’t do if I could keep you all from having leaving Sweet Apple Acres. The only thing I can offer now is my protection in the city.”
She took a final step. “And thirdly, Jolly Green.” She leaned in until she was almost nose to nose with the quivering pony. “It was not a suggestion.”
There was a bright purple flash and she was gone. The ensuing silence was broken by a cough somewhere down the ring of houses.
“Okay, ya’ll heard the Princess!” shouted Jolly Green, “Let’s git this show on the road! Ah want all hoofs moving folks.” He turned to address a trio of lollygagging’ teenagers “You three, go round up the elders.”
He looked at the statue of his distant aunt high above the fountain and spit. “They sure did make ‘em stubborn back then.”
Merry Hearth glared back at her equally frustrated husband as they exited the Golden Oaks Library. “Okay Appleseed, where do YOU think the girls are?”
“Jeez, I don’t know, Bendy. Maybe they’re wit- PRINCESS TWILIGHT!” Merry followed her husband’s wide eyed stare and then bowed as deeply as she could. Considering how pregnant she was, it wasn’t actually all that deep.
Twilight smiled warmly at her two friends. “Hi Merry, hi Appleseed. So good to see you. Listen, about the girls.”
It was at this point that Appleseed absolutely lost his composure. “OH PRINCESS TWILIGHT, WE LOST THEM! WE LOST THE GIRLS!” He collapsed to the ground in a sobbing pile of pony.
Merry cradled his head and softly nickered at her overly dramatic lover. She shook her head apologetically at the Princess.
Twilight chuckled nervously. “Uh, no. It’s ok. They’re with me. At the castle. The girls. The girls are with me at the castle.” She offered the couple an embarrassed grin.
Appleseed pulled his head out of his wife’s tender grasp. He wasn’t crying anymore but his lower lip still quivered. Merry sat up and started involuntarily rubbing her belly. “Wait, how did the girls get to Canterlot?”
Twilight walked over to Appleseed to help him get him on his hoofs. “It’s a long story. Hopefully with a good ending. I’ll tell you all about it as we walk over to the train station, come on.”
The married couple exchanged a confused look.
“The train station?” asked Appleseed. Merry shrugged at him and they made to follow the Princess through the old town, hoping for more answers.
A few minutes later Princess Twilight teleported back into the empty upper foyer of the Moon Tower. Her explanation to Merry Hearth and Appleseed went about as well as she expected. Almost.
She didn’t expect Appleseed to faint when she mentioned the bruise on Sandy. Who knew the usually overconfident pony would be so squeamish? Speaking of the unexpected, she also hadn’t expected the Beacon of Order to be able to peer beyond the physical world. She definitely hadn’t counted on his ability to find her floating through the ley lines. The disparity between what she knew and what she didn’t know about this new threat was worrisome.
She knew the Beacon was looking for unicorns and wanted their magic, but for what purpose? Discord said it was a weapon created by Princess Celestia and Princess Luna to use against him in the Age of Discord. Was that true? Why would they make a weapon like that when they had the Elements of Harmony?
She had a sudden unnerving thought. As the Goddess of Magic, did that mean that she was a priority target for the Beacon of Order? After all, if you believe those crazy ponies from the Cult of Mysteries, Twilight was the physical manifestation of magic. Judging by what she just experienced, that was highly probable that the Beacon wanted to get its hooves on her.
She frowned. They were at a serious disadvantage here. The Beacon knew some of her tricks, but how? And how many? She knew next to nothing about it. This required research and research required time. Would they have enough time?
Twilight suddenly discovered that her heart was racing and she was panting nervously. She was starting to panic. She needed to reel it in.
She straightened her posture and brought a hoof up to her chest while taking a deep breath. She let it out and pushed her hoof forward, as if to clear a path for her own thoughts. She smiled.
Future Discord said that they made it through this, right? The fact that he was able to travel back in time from a couple of days in the future to warn her put her at ease. She needed to remain calm. Panic was one of her oldest greatest enemies, and she couldn’t let it win today. She had to be calm. Serene. She had to be the perfect Princess to help Equestria get through this new crisis.
They would make it. She opened the double doors to her royal bedchambers. What she saw made her smile and forget all her troubles.
A scrubbed clean Honeycrisp was fast asleep on her bed. Her red coat sparkled and her two blond pigtails shimmered. The little filly clearly got into her makeup cabinet and helped herself to some eye shadow. Funny, the curt unicorn hadn’t struck her as a stickler for appearances. Well, you learn something new every day.
A recently dried Smarty Pants sat at her writing desk. She was reading the latest addition to Princess Twilight’s personal collection; a book on the civil uprising that led to the creation of the Senate. It was titled The Battle in Seaddle.
There was an unnecessary romantic subplot thrown in to sell a few more copies, and it wasn’t an accurate retelling of events by any stretch of the imagination. She would know, she was there. Even so it was a good read, despite opening old wounds.
Smarty Pants turned to look up at whoever opened the door and smiled warmly at her mentor. She waved but said nothing. She hoped to avoid waking her cousin. She shivered and remembered Honeycrisp’s threat to burn down the Sun Tower a few hours ago in the ancient castle of the royal pony sisters. She wanted to avoid that fate at all costs. Princess Twilight on the other hand seemed content to poke the bear.
Honeycrisp became conscious and aware of the repetitive jabs to her midsection at the same time. She opened one eye and was about to growl something she couldn’t take back when her brain, keenly bent on survival, desperately reminded her that insulting a Princess was a bad idea.
“Good morning, Honeycrisp. Are you hungry?”
Before she could answer, the red filly’s stomach answered for her. She offered a sheepish smile to the Princess and nodded.
Princess Twilight turned to head back through the double doors, both girls in tow. “Very well then. Let’s go check in on Sandy and Powder Puff and see if we can’t fix that.”
She turned and gave Smarty Pants a wink “I’m thinking waffles.”
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So if Shining is in Tarturus battling Grymgore, is he dead and the fight carried over into after death, or did they just call the whole battle off and go to Tarturus so Shining could stall and or possibly beat him?
Also since Shining apparently won is he free to go now?
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Great questions! I can't answer them here, but you'll get answers eventually, count on it!
Thanks for commenting!
I enjoyed this chapter. I still like that the elements of humor are present, but that we are also getting a little bit more serious as well.
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Thanks! If it's any good, you get a big hunk of the credit. Measuring action and humor is a balancing act for sure, one that I have just started to develop. Mastery is a long ways off I'm afraid.
I note that Twilight has fallen victim to a Logical Fallacy. Just because Discord came back in time from three days hence, does not mean that they will be victorious in three days. Nasty slip up on her part, that.
And speaking of Twilight, Build-a-Bear Workshop has her in stock now. I now have half the Elements of Harmony, plus Spike. And the folks at the store said to keep an eye out for another release in October. I may have scooped EqD on that tidbit.
But back on topic. Didn't the book last chapter say that the Beacon was constructed after Luna's Fall, not prior to Discord's defeat? Great, now I need to do some rereading.
And finally, we are given yet another example that Harmony does NOT equal Order. Booyah! Harmonic Chaos (aka "Positive Change") FTW!
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It was definitely before The events of Nigghtmare Moon. Let me know if I said otherwise, and I will correct it.
Thanks for the comment! Also? Super jealous of the build a bears. Gotsta get me a doll, Eeyup.
Loved the SpongeBob reference by Discord.
And will Alicorn Princess Rarity be introduced soon?
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It took me a third rereading of the relevant chapter to realize that Smarty Pants was reading the book back to front. IE: Newest entries to oldest, the reverse of how it was written, as well as the reverse of how one naturally reads books in general. Aside from mentioning that she was checking the most recent entry first, and then moving backwards through the book, I'm not sure how best to clarify it.
Also, a tip from the Minnesota Brony Mall of America Meetup yesterday: The best way to style Pinkie's mane is to shake her up and down, and let static electricity do the rest. Obvious in hind sight, but then, most things are.
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The author has dodged the issue of Rarity being an Alicorn, and hinted that her extended lifespan may in fact be caused by something else. Just something to keep in mind.
'Quick name', his parents must have hated him xD
Yay exciting update!
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"Oops, I had a baby."
"Ma'am, we need a name."
"Honey! Quick, name! Wait, nurse don't write that down, that's not his... Oh well"
3034563 xD
Love the "Battle for Seattle" cameo. Plus it's where I live so that brought a smile when I read that. Good work!
I'm not sure what Celestia and Luna were doing when they left that thing lying around. I've got this feeling that it's one of Celestia's interminable 'tests' for Twilight Sparkle. Possibly even an attempt to force her to gather a new group of Element Bearers.
I loved your characterisation of Twilight's senior guards and advisers. You didn't have to give a bunch of background ponies such depth but you did and I appreciate that.
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"Oh well, his name is Quick Name now, but who cares, maybe I'll have another baby."
"I had another foal!"
"Hmm..I'll name her-"
Suddenly, Quick Name's mother's husband faints.
"Honey, are you alright?!?!"
"No, nurse, please! Give me another chance to name her!"
Heh. Did I just spot a Star Trek reference there? (The thing with the flowers for someone whose name Q/Discord mispronounces like mad.)
I have to say, this series is now one of my two favorite series. (In case you were wondering, the other is the Twilight's Hive series.)
I'd like to see Twilight throw logic out the window and open a can of purple whoop ass on the Beacon!
Happy birthday, Princess Spackle.
Wow, 500+ year old Twilight doesn't pull any punches.
Wow x2, I can't say I expected Shining to make an appearance.
Yikes.
Wild guess, Sandy was saved by the book that Smarty stuck into her saddlebags.
So... Is Appleseed also a descendant of Rarity by any chance?
Dang, this Beacon of Order is really bad news.
Enjoying this quite a bit so far! I'm curious to see if the Shining in Tartarus thing was just for a quick gag or if it was a gag plus contrivance to allow Shiny to still be alive 500 years from canon so he could take part in the ensuing shenanigans.
Oh!
...
Ooooooh.
either "it was" or "that was why it was"