Chaos and Anarchy

by -Mazer

The Missing Princess

Twilight Sparkle,

Your presence is immediately required in the royal castle of Canterlot. You are to come alone, without your friends, or your dragon companion. This is a matter of the utmost importance. Tardiness will not be tolerated.

-Princess Luna

It was the fifth time that Twilight Sparkle read the letter. She had never received a letter from Princess Luna before and to be completely honest, she didn't know what to make of it. Twilight was surprised that Luna had contacted her, even more so that she insisted that Twilight come alone. Twilight wondered what exactly the former Mare in the Moon wanted from her.

To this day she didn’t know what to make of Luna. The Princess was a rather difficult mare to read and it didn’t help matters that Luna had the tendency to slip back to the old ways of speaking – causing her voice to boom so loud that the earth trembled beneath her hooves. To make matters a bit more complicated, Luna’s personality was completely different than any other pony Twilight had ever met. She was a very terse, sharp-spoken mare who preferred to demand instead of request. Twilight thought back to her mentor and smirked. To be completely honest, Twilight would have never suspected that Luna and Celestia were sisters. Whereas Celestia tended to be more soft-spoken and patient, her younger sister had a more serious, quick-tempered personality. They truly were opposites; as different as night and day. She just prayed that Luna was in a good mood. She really didn’t want to put earplugs in her ears just to talk to the Princess.

She set the scroll aside and peaked out of the carriage window. The entire city of

Canterlot was a'bustling with activity. If this had been any other day, she’d reminisce of all the time spent in the library; flipping through books and scrolls, sending letters to her parents and the Princess, trying to master a new spell before school let out. Those memories would have to wait, however, as today her mind was focused on Luna’s urgent words. Whenever Princess Celestia summoned Twilight to the palace, it meant that there was an evil force that needed vanquishing. This did not bother Twilight for she knew that as long as she had the Elements of Harmony, that she and her friends could vanquish any foe.

Still...

Why was it Luna who had sent the letter and not her older sister? That was the million-bit question. Twilight had very little experience with Princess Luna, outside of vanquishing her as Nightmare Moon and the evening spent during Nightmare Night, Luna was a mare who kept to herself. In fact, Twilight couldn’t remember a time in which she had seen Luna inside of the palace. Twilight had always suspected that it was because Luna was the guardian of the night, thus she would only be out after the sun had set. If those suspicions were correct, the fact that Luna wished to meet with Twilight during the afternoon meant that whatever it was the Princess wanted was of the utmost importance.

"Almost there," the carriage driver called out. Twilight sighed in relief. Now she would get the answers to all her questions. The carriage pulled up before the palace entrance where two white stallions stood in full battle armor. Twilight hopped out of the carriage and moved to gather her travel bag but a guard stepped in her way. “Your things will be delivered to your room,” he said in a stern voice. “Follow me.” He and another guard led Twilight into the palace. She was tempted to ask them what was going on, but the stern, solemn expressions on their faces changed her mind.

They took her through a wing of the palace that she had never seen before. Whereas the rooms she normally frequented were bright and colorful, these rooms were rather dark and eerie; painted with deep blues and purples. She could see the constellations of the stars were painted upon the sea of darkness, and upon the ceiling were the phases of the moon, with a New Moon resting just above a throne of ebony and obsidian. Lounging upon the throne on her stomach was none other than Princess Luna herself.

Twilight fought to keep control of her fear. Luna was a friend now. She wanted nothing more than her subjects to treat her as they did Celestia, with kindness and love. Still, it was pretty hard not to be intimidated when standing before a mare of such cold beauty. Her sapphire eyes seemed to pierce through Twilight's core as she regarded Celestia's pupil.

"Twilight Sparkle," Luna's voice boomed throughout the room causing Twilight to jump. Luna frowned at Twilight's reaction and tried to adjust her voice accordingly. "Twilight Sparkle," she repeated, in a more tolerable tone. "We," She frowned. "That is, I am glad that you are here."

Twilight bent her front knees forward in a bow. "The honor is all mine Princess. What can I do for you?"

Luna rose from her throne. "Guards, leave us." When they had left Luna's throne room, She spoke. "Twilight Sparkle. I have summoned you here for your wisdom and advice."

Twilight's heart leaped into her throat. "Of course!" She exclaimed, barely able to contain the excitement in her voice. "Anything." She puffed out her chest and tapped her right hoof against it. "That's what I am here for, you know. My friends are always asking for my advice. I mean, just the other day, AJ wanted to know..." She quieted down after seeing the cold look upon Luna's face. "I am guessing this is a matter that is more important than AJ's tool shed...isn't it?"

"Indeed it is." Luna growled. "It would seem that my dear sister has vanished. I have had the guards search the entire palace. I have even used my own magic to try to sense where exactly she has gone but alas, to no avail. This is why I summoned you, Twilight Sparkle, her most loyal of pupils. I seek your knowledge of places my sister may have gone."

Twilight blinked. "Pardon me, Your Highness, but I was never privy that information. The Princess and I would only discuss my training, or talk about the magic of friendship. She rarely told me about her duties around Equestria."

Luna frowned, sighed, and then slumped back upon her throne. "I had hoped that you of all ponies would have an idea of where she went." Luna's sapphire eyes fell to the floor as her voice took a rather chilly edge. "She shares more with you than she does with I."

Twilight winced. She couldn’t ignore the pain in Luna’s voice. Could Luna be jealous of the time Twilight spent with Celestia? "That cannot be true. I am just her student. You are her sister. Family should always come first, wouldn't you think?"

"Yes. I would think, but she has gone off without as much as a letter informing me of her destination or duty." Her frown deepened. "It is only natural that I be kept in the dark."

Twilight felt a twinge of pity for Princess Luna. Although a full year had passed since her return, she still felt as if Celestia was still judging her. Twilight wanted to say something to comfort the Princess but didn't know what she could say. How could she ever comfort somepony who has been through so much? Instead, she bit her lower lip and thought of all the places that Celestia could be hiding. "Let's start from the beginning," Twilight suggested. "From her chambers and work our way down."

"We have already examined her chambers. There is no reason for us to explore it again."

Twilight nodded. "With all due respect, Princess, I believe we should organize our efforts to maximize our chances of finding Princess Celestia. If this means we must start all over, then we must. I want to make sure that every nook and cranny is explored, just in case something was missed.”

Luna's dark eyes narrowed into thin slits. "Are you implying that we have looked over something during our search?" Twilight took a step back. It seemed that Princess Luna was not in the best of moods – understandably considering the situation at hoof, but that didn’t keep the memories of Nightmare Night from flashing through her head.

Twilight recalled just how quickly the Princess could lose her temper when she was put on the spot. "Of course not Your Highness! I am just suggesting that it never hurts to look a second time. Sometimes even, uhm, the most venerable eyes can miss something. It happens to the best of us!" She tapped her chest. “For example; there was this one time where I was looking for this particular book in my library, and I swear that I had checked every shelf over a hundred times. Just as I was about to give up, my friend Spike noticed that my book had been wedged between the pages of a much larger book. You see, I was just looking at the spines of the books whereas he was pulling the books off the shelf one-by-one. It’s not that I had messed up in my search, just that a second set of eyes can sometimes see things that others may miss out on.”

Luna regarded Twilight for several seconds then nodded. "I can see the wisdom in your words and while I still believe that not a clue had been overlooked, I will not deny you your request, Twilight Sparkle. My sister has put a lot of faith in your wisdom and advice and I shall learn to do the same.” She rose up off her throne and descended the stairs towards Twilight. “Come. We shall start in the northern tower. It is there where my sister lays her head at night.”

Twilight felt her muscles relax and followed the Princess. As they traveled through the palace, Twilight fought to keep attention on the situation on hoof. She wanted so much to poke her nose around the palace. Her exploration of the palace was rather limited -outside of the throne room, the Chamber of Harmony (where the stained glass windows depicted the triumphs of the Elements of Harmony), the observatory, and the ball room, Twilight has not been given a tour of the palace. Now she was going to be allowed in the Princess's bedroom. She imagined that the room would be covered in magical scrolls, paintings of all the different lands that Celestia had traveled, beautifully woven rugs and blankets, and jewelry of such beauty that it would make Rarity jealous.

To Twilight's surprise, however, the bedroom was sparsely decorated. There was a plush, hoof-carved bed with a canopy, a long, red couch for lounging set in front of a fireplace, several bookshelves full of both books and scrolls, and a rug in the middle of the room. Other than those few things, there was nothing else to personalize the room. Twilight frowned a bit after seeing this. She had expected the room to be a bit more lively, or at the least, warmer and more inviting, but Celestia's room looked less lived in and more like that of a hotel room. Twilight took it all in.

"So go ahead," Luna nodded towards the center of the room. "Impress us. Find what we have missed, Twilight Sparkle." It was obvious that Luna was putting Twilight to the test. She wanted to see just how good Twilight’s eyes could be in a situation such as this. There was something else; however, something that Luna was trying to hide. She was desperate; desperate and concerned. Twilight knew exactly how Luna was feeling for she was going through the same ocean of emotions. Her heart was pounding, her hooves were trembling, and her mind was racing with thousands of different “ifs” and “maybes”.

Twilight shot a nervous smile towards the Princess. "I will do my best."

"We are sure you will." She said in an almost dismissive manner – again trying to hide her worry with her typical chilly manner of speaking. She was trying so hard to maintain an air of calm but she was just as worried as Twilight. Not to mention that she was putting a lot of faith in Twilight’s abilities.

No pressure Twilight, she thought to herself, none at all.

Twilight began her search by examining the Princess's bed. She tilted her head to the side while using her magic to lift the pillows and the sheets so that she could peak beneath them. She frowned. "How weird..." she muttered to herself.

"Hm?" Luna said.

"Oh," Twilight jumped. "Nothing, nothing really."

"Speak your mind, Twilight Sparkle."

She swallowed. "It just...well, it just seems that the bed hasn't been used all that much."

"Celestia is known for her late nights," Luna commented nonchalantly. "Sleep is something that is beneath my sister."

Twilight blinked in surprise. She never knew that about the Princess. "Really?"

"Are we here to discuss my sister’s sleeping habits, or look for her?" Luna responded sharply.

Twilight winced. "My apologies Princess." After searching the bed, Twilight turned her attention towards the bookshelf. It was here where she found several dozen books regarding the history of Equestria along with books of magic and incantation, Encyclopedias of several species of pony and other creatures. The book that caught her eye, however, was one bound in old leather.

Twilight took a closer look. There wasn't much dust on the shelf, but there was enough for Twilight to notice that this book had been removed recently. She began to pull it out but Luna stopped her.

"Not that one," She said in a commanding tone.

"But..." Twilight started. She looked from the book to Luna, back to the book. She had a feeling about this book. Had Celestia been flipping through it just before her disappearance? If so then maybe there would be a clue within its pages.

"Not that one." She repeated in a deeper voice.

Twilight winced again but yanked the book out anyways. Luna took a quick step forward, her dark eyes flashing in irritation. "You dare disobey us?" she snarled, her voice booming loud enough to shake the walls.

"Princess, please! Someone has taken this book off the shelf recently! I think it may be a clue." She used her magic to open the book to a random page and what she saw startled her. There was a hoof-painted portrait of three fillies and three colts. They were standing next to one another with smiles upon their faces and strange glowing necklaces upon their throats. "Are these..."

Luna sighed. "The Elements of Harmony." She stepped up to Twilight. "This is Celestia's most treasured possession...portraits and photos of those who have come before you, Twilight. The Elements of Harmony are not exclusive to you and your friends. They have touched the hearts of several hundreds like you throughout all of Celestia's life. These are those ponies who have served the Elements before you." She exhaled through her nostrils. “You were not supposed to know of this book’s existence.”

Twilight flipped through the pages. It went from portraits to black-and-white photographs that have yellowed with age, to photos taken in the last fifty years. "I-I had no idea."

"Did you truly think that you and your friends were unique? Trouble has arisen before your time and Celestia had to find others to assist in the good fight." Luna caught the twinge of emotion that flashed through Twilight's eyes and was quick to add, "But that does not make you any less special. My sister has discussed on many occasions how proud she is of you, Twilight Sparkle."

Twilight felt her spirits lift a bit after hearing that. "I'm honored." she commented. "Uhm, is there anything in here about us?"

"The last page."

Twilight turned to the final page in the book. She gasped. She remembered the day that the photo had been taken. It was the day after Celestia granted Twilight permission to stay in Ponyville. She had gathered all her friends to pose for this picture before asking Spike to deliver it to the Princess. However, someone had destroyed the photo in a manner most foul. The eyes of her and her friends have been scratched out and a large X crisscrossed over their hearts. Lodged in the upper right hand corner of the page, stuck between the photo and the paper, was a single scale. “Who…” Twilight gasped while dropping the book. “Who would do such a terrible thing?”

Luna summoned the scale closer than her expression grew dark. The look upon her face reminded Twilight much of how she had looked as Nightmare Moon. She had never seen the princess so angry.

"P-Princess?" Twilight stammered. "What is it?"

"This scale...there is only one creature in all of Equestria who has scales such as this."

She dropped it to the ground then stared into Twilight's eyes. The look in Luna's eyes was enough to make Twilight tremble in her horseshoes. Twilight suddenly found herself wishing to be somewhere, anywhere, just as long as she was as far away from Luna as possible.

"What c-c-c-creature is that, Princess?"

"Discord..." she hissed through clenched teeth.

Comments

[TwiCat]

It's an intriguing story so far. Plus I can see it all unfolding before my eyes

[KazFox]

If I say so myself, which of course I do, I believe that there might be a big problem somewhere within the plot of this story at some point. Trust me when I say that some of the most promising authors ended up failing at something that looked good. Just don't let whatever it is that is inspiring this story go wrong. The last thing that needs to happen is you conjuring up some chapter that makes no sense or has no relativity to the plot what-so-ever. I have faith in your skills, please don't disappoint me. Considering I am a Pro-Discord fan, I will be watching and hoping for a good story.

Good luck.

[RandomPerson]

This is AWESOME! perfect writing and descriptions, tracking and here have some stars

[Doc_Durr]

interesting story so far... definitely tracking this