War of the Horns

by TiberiusBronycus

Chapter 2 - Revelations Surface

Oddly, despite the increased security in Canterlot proper, Twilight Sparkle found the palace to be less staffed than usual. Whatever threat Princess Celestia thought there was must have been an external one, and one she must have hoped to stop from reaching the castle. Or more likely by Twilight's reasoning, the Sun Princess was simply more concerned with the well being of her subjects than of her own welfare. No point in stewing over it, she kept reminding herself, as the doors to the throne room were opened by single member of the Royal Guard. So barren was the castle of actual sentries that the same guard hurried ahead of the girls, down the crimson carpet that flowed down the center of the hall, and took up the sole post of guarding the throne.

At the least some things hadn't changed, Twilight Sparkle noted with no small measure of relief. Princess Celestia sat upon the throne as the newest Alicorn of the royal court remembered her, though as Twilight and her friends drew closer, it was easy to note the worried look on her mentor's face. Princess Luna, who stood beside her older sister, wore the same expression. To their credit though, by the time the girls finally arrived at the throne, the Alicorn sisters had wiped away any sign of alarm as they stepped down from the raised dais together. They set their regal gazes upon the six close friends who knelt before them. Twilight Sparkle may not have needed to also kneel, but old habits were hard to break.

"Princess Twilight. Applejack. Rarity. Fluttershy. Rainbow Dash. Pinkie Pie." Princess Celestia stepped forward and inclined her head, the silent nod that the girls should rise up from their knees. "It is so wonderful to see all of you again. I am so sorry that I had to call all of you here on such short notice, but I fear a situation has come to our attention this very morning. One we had hoped to never encounter."

"Of course. We're here to help with whatever it is you might need Your Highness." Twilight said as she rose up from her kneeling position. Princess Celestia had told her that she no longer had to be so formal around her, but that was also something that the new Alicorn had not come to grips with. Nor did she actually want to. Becoming an Alicorn - becoming royalty - was not something Twilight had actually aimed for. It was incredible, but it also demanded so many changes from her that she was not entirely ready to accept. One of those was dropping the honorific title from either Princess before her.

"Yes, you six have always been my most trustworthy subjects. I have come to think of all of you so fondly." Celestia allowed a ghost of a smile to cross her face before shaking her head. The Princess of the Day motioned to the lone guard, dismissing him from his duty with a single wave of a hoof.

Only when the stallion had left and the doors to the throne room were closed did the elder Alicorn continue. "Which is why you must understand my absolute reluctance to share this.. yet I fear not doing so would cause even greater harm."

"No worries Princess!" Rainbow Dash was hardly one for decorum and the Pegasus hopped up into the air, punching her hooves together. "We're up for anything you can throw at us!"

Luna's somber tone was a sharp contrast to Rainbow's enthusiastic one. "I pray that thine confidence does not lead thee to fall to hubris. The threat we speak of is not solely limited to Equestria, but to all things.."

Rainbow Dash blinked a few times before settling down on the floor. The severity of the Princess of the Night's words had taken some of the wind from her sails, but she still bore a look of confidence. In fact, as Twilight Sparkle looked at her friends, they all shared the same look of determination to rise up to whatever challenge was presented to them. Well, except Fluttershy. The yellow Pegasus had taken to hiding behind Rarity, the Unicorn lightly stroking Fluttershy's head to ease her shaking.

Princess Celestia took a deep breath, as if steeling herself for the task ahead, before motioning for the girls to follow her and Luna. "Come with us girls. What we have to show you, to tell you, is something we can not risk being known by others just yet."

The Alicorn sisters walked carefully around the dais, each standing to either side of it before lowering their heads so that their horns pointed to the raised platform. An aura of magic covered their horns briefly before the girls heard what sounded like a clicking noise come from the throne. The platform began to slide backwards, revealing a set of stairs that seemed to go down as far as any of the girls could see.

"These stairs have not felt hooves upon them in millennia. Walk carefully girls." Princess Celestia took the first step upon the stairs, with her younger sister Luna following behind her. Twilight Sparkle took one look back to her friends before nodding, the six friends heading down the winding staircase behind the Alicorns. They had no fear of misstepping for the passage had torches held by sconces that came to light with magical fire the moment Celestia approached them. There was no magic coming from the Sun Princess' horn, so Twilight Sparkle figured that the magic came not from the Princess but from the light fixtures themselves.

As they walked down the staircase, Princess Celestia glanced back at the girls. She still looked as if she was deciding whether they were up to whatever the task was, but before Twilight Sparkle could open her mouth to speak, the Princess of the Day shook her head and looked back ahead. Her horn flared to life and in the space over the railing, threads of light begin to knit together to form what looked like a large map of Equestria. "Far to the south, beyond the Macintosh Hills and deep into the Badlands, lie a few small volcanoes. They are popular stops in the Great Dragon Migration.."

Twilight looked back at Rarity and Rainbow Dash, for coincidentally, they had followed Spike once to those very lands. It had been when the young dragon had been confused about his own identity and Twilight, along with her two friends, had followed him to keep an eye on him. The Unicorn and Pegasus nodded at the youngest Alicorn before Twilight turned back to look at Princess Celestia. "Yeah we.. kind of came across a few teenage dragons there before.."

"Hmm.. yes, I do recall Spike mentioning that in one of his letters." Celestia's horn once more glowed with magic, the area inside the map reforming until it was mainly zoomed in on the region known as the Badlands. "Well, deeper into the Badlands, there lies a volcano that stands out above them all."

"We have taken to calling it the Burning Prince," Luna spoke, her eyes finally coming away from the steps ahead of them to look at the map as well, "Thankfully it has been dormant for ages. Even before our rule."

Celestia once more willed the map to refocus, settling on what the girls assumed was the Burning Prince, for it was surely the largest volcano any of them had ever laid their eyes upon. "At its base is the southernmost settlement in all of Equestria, the Steam Steppes. It rests at the very borders of our land and it is there that a few brave frontier ponies mine the Burning Prince for precious metals and gems.."

Applejack looked around at the others before raising up a brow. "Yeesh, ain't that kinda far for somethin' like that?

Pinkie Pie shook her head, pointing at the volcano with one pink hoof. "Not really! A sleepy volcano is the perfect place for a rock farm to set up! My sister Maud would love to study a place like that. I'm sure you'd find all kinds of nifty things!"

"We already have." Celestia looked back to the girls, dismissing the map from existence as the group reached the bottom of the staircase. A long, barren stone hallway greeted them. The air felt musty and despite the Princesses being among them, Twilight couldn't help but feel a sense of foreboding when they looked down it

"The ponies of the Steam Steppes have found a wondrous metal amidst the mines of the Burning Prince. It.." The Sun Princess' voice grew soft and she actually ended her sentence in an unintelligible mumble, looking down to the floor.

Luna frowned as she looked to her sister before turning her gaze back to the girls. "The metal is called ponychalcum. It's scarcity is beyond measure. So much so that we have not seen its kind in over a millenia."

"Yes." Celestia found her voice once more and motioned for the girls to resume following them as the Alicorn sisters began to make their way down the hall. Much like the stairs behind them, the walls also had torches that lit upon their approach. "The metal has many curious properties, such as a resistance to magic, and is also harder than steel. It was a fantastic discovery.. but a problem has arisen in the Steppes."

"As ye could imagine, communications with a town that distant are often sparse." The Night Princess took over for her older sister once more. "So when we did not receive word from the Steam Steppes in weeks, it wasn't particularly alarming. Twas the norm. However, months begun to pass and we grew worried. We attempted to send a letter to the town to ask if they had encountered any problems."

"We never received a response.." Celestia whispered.

Luna nodded as they all came to a halt before a large door. It was made of a curious metal that seemed to drink in the light of the torches in the hall. "Our fears became all too real yesterday when a Pegasus called Swifty Blazefeathers came to Canterlot. She hailed from the Steaming Steppes and claimed that they had an emergency on hoof. Apparently, the ponies of the town have not only been afflicted with some madness, but all of their Cutie Marks have also been stolen away, changed into something else entirely.."

Rarity had stepped closer to the door than any of the other girls, eyes filled with wonder at the mysterious metal. Although she worked primarily in fabrics, she could appreciate the beauty of the metal, the way it didn't reflect back any of the light in the hall. When Princess Luna spoke of an emergency, the white Unicorn turned her head back and spoke. "What could have happened..? Could it be dragons? Those creatures were quite crass when we went to the Badlands. I wouldn't be shocked if they swooped in and made a mess of things with their vulgar manners."

"Or maybe its those Changelings again." Rainbow Dash looked around, still feeling uncomfortable. She hated being underground, or in cramped places, and this place definitely made her feel claustrophobic. She felt as if the walls were going to close in on them. The Pegasus really wished the Princesses' had picked a different spot to tell them all this.

The Alicorn sisters shared a look, only briefly, but it was a look that Twilight Sparkle had never seen before so clearly etched on their faces; shame. Twilight had seen Princess Celestia saddened before, especially when she had spoken of her former apprentice Sunset Shimmer or of having to banish a transformed Princess Luna to the moon, but Twilight could tell this ran deeper. This was a guilt that both the Princesses shared and for the life of her, the studious Alicorn could not begin to imagine what that could be.

The two elder Alicorns turned back to the wondrous door and lowered their heads, sliding their horns into two distinct holes set into the door. Twilight Sparkle craned her head to try and remember where she had seen something similar before the memory came back to her. Back in the palace, Princess Celestia had hidden the Elements of Harmony in a vault with a similar lock, but back then it had only required Celestia's horn. For it to require both of the sisters meant two things; that whatever was hidden behind the door was of tremendous importance and that it predated Luna's transformation into Nightmare Moon.

"Before we can answer that," Celestia spoke as she and Luna withdrew their horns, unlocking the door but not opening it yet, "I must know.. exactly what do you girls know of the founding of Equestria?"

"Do you mean the story we told during Hearth's Warming Eve?" Fluttershy asked.

"About how 'em three tribes of ponies tousled but then saddled up to work together, right?" Applejack had really enjoyed that play, though her costume had been itchy.

"That is correct," Luna responded, "However, there are pieces of our history that still remain a mystery to most ponies."

"By nature, ponies are blessed with all sorts of magic." Celestia motioned to each of them before continuing. "For some, like Earth ponies, it is more subtle. Others, like Unicorns, can use it more actively. Yet there is a magic that is found in all ponies, to some degree."

"Harmony." Luna uttered the single word with a mild tone of veneration.

"All ponies have the power of Harmony within them to an extent, though through the power of your friendship, you six have now come to embody the core tenets of that magic." Celestia allowed a faint smile of pride to come to her face as she looked over the girls before continuing. "Yet millennia ago, when the three tribes united for the first time, the power was great enough to create the Fire of Friendship. This did not spell the end to their troubles though as more problems arose.."

"Even with the Fire ignited," Celestia continued, "And the windigos banished, the three tribes still faced incredible hurdles. The issue of joint leadership still had to be sorted out, the land was filled with dangerous creatures, and worse of all, the unity of the three pony tribes drew the attention of the personification of chaos..."

Twilight Sparkle frowned and stomped a hoof unto the floor. "Discord."

"Exactly." Celestia turned an apologetic smile towards Fluttershy, understanding that of all the six mares, it had actually been Fluttershy's sincere gesture of friendship that had rehabilitated the former villain. The Sun Princess understood that hearing this part of Equestria's past might have been uncomfortable for the timid Pegasus but it was a necessity. "The draconequus took the establishment of order, of Harmony, as a personal slight, a challenge that he would happily rise to meet. His reign of chaos tested the spirits of all ponies and their lives were horrid."

"Yet the Fire had not been extinguished." Luna took a deep breath, closing her eyes. She looked as if she was steeling herself for what was to come. "From that declaration of unity, from that bond of friendship that had been forged by the three tribes, arose a being born from the magic of all types of ponies.. the first of the Alicorns.."

Rainbow Dash unfurled her wings as best she could and gave a small hop. "Awesome! So you came out ready to kick some rump, right Princess Celestia?!"

"No, Rainbow Dash." Celestia shook her head and turned towards the door, which even then was beginning to shake. The girls realized that it was slowly lifting up into the ceiling to reveal what was behind it to them all. "I was not the first Alicorn to emerge from the Fire. The one who stepped out.. was him."

The door receded into the ceiling entirely, allowing the group to slowly step past it into a large chamber, the torches within the room flaring to life at the presence of the ponies. The air felt very different from the previous hall. It was charged with long lost magic and the girls gasped as they stepped inside for the room looked as if it had sprung out of the pages of a history book. Ancient tapestries that had been spared the passing of time flanked four massive stained glass windows, similar to those within the throne room far above them. Neatly stacked beside one of the windows were several books and scrolls, while under another sat a trunk large enough that any of the two young mares could have fit inside.

The main attraction though stood in the center of the room, a sculpture that the Alicorn sisters moved to stand beside. Princess Celestia had always been the tallest pony that Twilight Sparkle and her friends had ever known, for the monarch was two heads taller than them, but the marble pony was at least a head higher than even the Sun Princess. The male Alicorn, for it was easy to note the wings and horn the statue had, was so lifelike, appeared so real, that it almost felt as if he were going to spring forward.

The marble Alicorn's mane and tail looked like small rivers of flame, his face was graceful and regal, but it was those eyes that Twilight Sparkle couldn't break her gaze from. They stared down at them, at all of them, with such frightening strength, such intensity, that it was hard not to kneel before the statue. The younger Alicorn nearly felt her legs buckle before shaking her head to look back at the Princess sisters.

"Behold." Luna gestured to the statue and there was no hiding the pain that lanced through her and Celestia's faces, momentarily stealing the Night Princess' resolve. Luna had to continue though and summoned the strength she needed to finish her sentence as she looked away from the statue to stare at the six young mares.

"The first of the Alicorns, the Spell King, Lord of Equestria.. and our older brother, King Arcanius."

* * *

So deep was the quiet that fell over all those within the hidden room that if a pin had dropped, it would have sounded like a clap of thunder.

Twilight Sparkle and all her friends stood flabbergasted at the revelation, stunned into silence. How? How could these two sisters, who were by all accounts the oldest ponies in all of existence, be predated by another? They were the sun and moon of Equestria, literally. Twilight Sparkle felt as if the floor was crumbling beneath her, as if everything she had ever known about history was being burned before her eyes and rewritten with that single proclamation.

Thankfully, Applejack had been able to pick her jaw off the floor and broke the silence. "Wait, wait, hold on a hay pickin' minute.. ya'll have a brother?! A big brother?"

Celestia actually scowled, doing her best to tear her gaze away from the statue that sat in the center of the room. "Had."

Luna stole a glance at her elder sister before shaking her head faintly. "Our brother saw the plight of all ponies in Equestria and it tore at his soul. He vowed to stop Discord and thus, set out to create one of the most powerful forces in all of Equestria.."

A gasp from Twilight had all eyes come to her as she shook her head in denial to what Luna was implying. "You couldn't possibly mean.. the Elements of Harmony?!"

"Yes." Celestia nodded and now it was the other girls turn to gasp. "Before Luna and myself were created by the Fire of Friendship, Arcanius took some of the embers of that flame that had been made by the harmonious spirit of ponydom and imbued the Seeds of Unity to.."

Rarity raised an eyebrow. "I'm sorry Princess, but the Seeds of what now?"

"The Seeds of Unity. Our brother sought out the summit where the three tribes of ponies had banished the windigos with their friendship. There, he sought the first trees that had ever been planted by the united ponies within this new land and took from them their seeds."

Applejack nodded slowly, apparently grasping what the others were still having trouble with. "Ohhh I gotcha now."

"I wish I did." Rainbow Dash lamented.

The orange Earth pony glanced at Rainbow before looking at her friends. "Think on back to what we acted out in the play. Remember how back then it was just the Earth ponies feedin' everypony, right? So if everypony started gettin' along, and everypony was pitchin' in.."

Rarity nodded as she came to follow Applejack's line of thought, finishing her idea for her. "Then those first few trees they planted must have had great symbolic importance."

"Exactly." Despite the severity of the situation, Celestia found a small smile at the cleverness of her favorite subjects. "Once the enchanted seeds were created, he planted them deep into the Everfree Forest, where the magic of the forest would help nurture them and allow the seeds to grow into the Tree of Harmony. By the time it had finished growing, Luna and I had emerged as well..."

Luna moved away from the sculpture towards one of the stained glass windows. The work of art depicted an Alicorn descending from the heavens to two smaller Alicorns. Upon closer inspection, it was easy to tell that it was the first of the Alicorns and his younger sisters. "Arcanius found us and tasked us with a quest; to travel Equestria and witness the misery of our kind, so that our resolve and power would be enough to find the Tree of Harmony and recover the Elements."

Fluttershy looked to Celestia, but only briefly. The shy Pegasus was scared of most things but the sculpture that the Sun Princess stood by terrified her to her core. It was far easier to look at Princess Luna, who still intimidated her, but nowhere near at the level of the statue. "B-but why didn't Arcanius stop Discord himself?"

"Our brother possessed great power," Luna responded, "Certainly enough to topple Discord on his own, but so did his enemy. Arcanius feared that an open battle between the two of them would cause great harm to the very ponies he sought to free. With a prolonged fight out of the question, the victory over the draconequus had to be a swift and decisive one."

Celestia moved to join her sister as she also found it easier to be away from the statue. "As well, the Elements of Harmony are meant to be wielded as such, by the combined harmonious spirits of ponies. It is true that a single pony could wield the Elements, such as I have done before, but they will not be able to tap into its true power."

The Night Princess gestured to Celestia and herself. "With our brother weakened from the considerable effort he put into the creation of the Tree of Harmony, it fell upon us to defeat Discord. With the Elements aiding us, we were able to stop Discord and finally brought peace to all ponies. Arcanius rose up and became the first King of Equestria, while we became the Princesses that you now see."

Celestia made her way to a different stained glass window, this one depicting what must have been an ancient city. It didn't look like Canterlot at all though. In fact, when Twilight looked closer, she could recognize the crystalline structures of the Crystal Empire. "Our brother took to the Frozen North, where the natural cold was not wrought by any windigos. From deep within the earth, he reached out and brought forth great crystals that would serve as the foundations of Equestria's capital at the time, the Crystal Empire."

Luna closed her eyes, the Alicorn throwing herself back into memories of an age long past. "We Alicorns each represent some facet of existence. I, the Princess of the Night. My sister, the Princess of the Day. Our brother, with his great might, characterized the power of creation. He built a city that he thought would stand as a testament to the glory of ponydom."

The Sun Princess did much the same as her younger sister, her eyes closing as well. "You girls have seen the Crystal Empire now. It is still beautiful, and yet it is a pale shadow to the glory it once was. Under our brother's rule, Equestria prospered and flourished. Our borders expanded, cities rose, and many discoveries were made."

Luna moved to a different stained glass window, this one showing a single Unicorn, wearing what looked to be wedding dress. "Our brother even married a fair Unicorn, Glorious Radiance. She was a gifted magician, much like ye Twilight Sparkle, and the royal court was blessed with a beautiful filly. Our hearts were full and we were at peace. It was a golden age for Equestria."

"But it would not last." Celestia frowned as she looked back to the statue in the center of the room. No longer did sadness linger in her eyes. "Our brother began to look past the borders of Equestria, to the griffon nations, to the lands of the zebra tribes, and his heart began to grow fearful. He viewed the outside world as a growing threat to his subjects, to his dear family. That worry, that frantic paranoia, would eventually give way to anger."

"It was that same anger that led him to begin banishing any being from Equestria who was not a pony. That same anger that started to poison his view of his own subjects, to begin feeling that ponies were wasting their lives, that they were like foals who needed to be led in a new direction. A most fearsome direction."

Luna nodded as she too looked to the statue of the male Alicorn. "Of course, we noticed the brooding that was taking root in him. Celestia and I did what we could to counsel him, to relieve him of his worries. We reminded him that our combined power should surely stand to any threat that would come to Equestria."

"Yet our brother did not listen. He thought we were falling prey to the same weakness he felt was infecting the rest of our kind." Celestia looked away from the statue and back to the girls, who stood as a group silently, listening to every word. Even Pinkie Pie kept her bouncing to a bare minimum.

"His fury.. only grew darker at the passing of Glorious Radiance." Luna came to her sister's side, for the more they spoke of their brother, it seemed to the girls, the more weary their expressions became. "She had always been frail of health, but one day she fell to an illness that no treatment or magic could heal. Even our brother's powerful magic could do nothing to stop it."

"Radiance was powerful, but she was also delicate and sensitive to the emotions of others. As the darkness grew in our brother's heart we.. well, we have always feared that it might have been he himself who unknowingly poisoned her.."

"He never recovered from her death.." Celestia said as her withers sagged. To the girls, the Sun Princess who had kept as young and beautiful despite her incredibly long life, had never looked so old before. "With Radiance's light extinguished from his heart, that rage took hold of his soul and festered into hatred. He no longer cared about being the King of Equestria. Instead, he sought to cow the world, to scour it clean of any possible threats that may await his subjects, and a maddening need for vengeance broke what remained of our brother.."

"Whoa, whoa," Pinkie Pie held her hooves in the air, looking from one to the other, "So what you're saying is that fear led to anger, and anger led to hate, and.. whoa.. that's serious stuff!"

"Quite serious," Celestia agreed solemnly, " For nothing could quench his wrath. Not the adoration of his subjects, not the devotion of his own sisters.. not even the love of his own daughter, Cadance, could break the ice that had formed over his heart.."

"Wait!" Twilight Sparkle shouted, and beside her, her own friends gasped. "He's Cadance's father?!"

"Yes, Twilight Sparkle," Luna answered, "Though we imagine it must have been as hard for her as it was to still view him as such.. particularly after his horrid transformation.."

Fluttershy looked around nervously, shifting to hide behind Rainbow Dash as she peeped out. "T-t-transformation?"

"As we said," Celestia spoke, her wings unfurling before folding back unto her body, "You six personify the Elements themselves, yet all ponies have the power of Harmony within them. With Alicorns, it is even further magnified. We were made from the Fire of Friendship and that flame resides in us."

"None more so than our brother," Luna slowly approached the statue of Arcanius, daring to rest a hoof upon it gently, "But as his spirit began to warp, so too did his form. The fire within him was not meant to harbor such thoughts. They twisted the gentle flame into a cacophonous blaze. A conflagration that burned at his form from within."

Rainbow Dash gaped as she looked to the statue as well. "You mean.. it burned him from the inside out?

"It was.. a nightmare for us to witness." Luna grit her teeth, turning her face away from the statue, the pain clear upon her face. "It was not like my own fall. My jealousy and bitterness swallowed me whole, but my anger was but a drop in the ocean compared to his. I was transformed into Nightmare Moon.. but Arcanius? His malice made him suffer an agony I could never imagine.."

"Gone was his soft bay coat." Celestia joined her sister by the statue, lifting a hoof as well to settle on the statue. She was finding it hard to talk and her words came out in a strained whisper that was only heard because of how silent the room was. "It burned and blistered until it resembled charred flesh. His hooves grew cracked, splitting.. and his eyes.. his eyes once shone like the stars but now burned with so much hatred.."

"Even his mane, his tail.." Luna sounded no better and a tear spilled down the Night Princess' right cheek. "They had once flared so beautifully. Yet when we looked upon what he was becoming.. it looked.."

"Princesses.." Twilight Sparkle took a step forward, unsure of what to say.

Celestia halted her by lifting the hoof off the statue, drawing in a deep breath before looking back to the six friends. Despite her attempt at strength, tears still brimmed in her eyes. "Sorry girls. It's.. it's difficult, even after millennia, to talk of him. You must know that we loved - still love - our brother more than anything. Before his madness, he was our light.. but the corruption of his body had become so much that he had begun to wear barding to conceal it, to keep the flames inside his being from tearing him apart."

"And the toughest day of our lives came when we sisters realized what duty commanded us to do. That for his own good, for the good of all Equestria, we had to dethrone our brother." Luna shook her head, openly wiping at her face before turning back to the girls. "His derangement, it was too much. Ye six must understand that. We did not wish to do this, but he would have led all of Equestria to war. With itself and then with the entirety of the world. The woe that he would have sowed would have torn all asunder.."

"Our combined strength was not enough. Arcanius dwarfed our power, yet Luna and I could not let him grow stronger. So we gathered the very Elements that he had created and for the second time since their creation, we used those artifacts, this time against their very creator."

A shudder ran through Luna as her mind raced back to that horrid day. "It.. was not enough.."

"Our brother's might was a terror to behold," Celestia reached a leg out and embraced her younger sister to her before looking back to the girls, "Even with the fact that the flame inside of him was rebelling against him. We marshalled all of our power, fought him with the Elements on our side, and even still could not topple him.. but fortune did favor us.."

"During the battle, the inferno burst from his horn, splitting it in half. The pain must have been excruciating, but more than that, it momentarily robbed him of most of his power. We pressed the advantage and forced him to retreat into exile." Luna looked to her hooves, the shame from before finally returning clearly to her face.

Twilight Sparkle shook her head, still astonished, but the young Alicorn had so many questions that it had taken all her control to not just interrupt the Princesses every few seconds. "But how come I've never read or heard any mention of King Arcanius? Or the fight between the three of you? He would have been a prominent, if not the most central figure, in all of Equestrian history!"

"That was thanks to Luna and I," Celestia said, "We didn't want Equestria to remember him as the monster he had become. We loved our brother far too much, so we thought it would be fairer to have everyone forget him. As if.. he had never existed. We told the ponies of the royal court that our brother's duties were taking him to distant lands and gathered all we could find of his into this single tower before tearing it from its foundation and burying it underground."

Luna nodded. "We kept our subjects as busy as we could during that time, while rarely mentioning him. Celestia immediately ensured that his name was stricken from any account we could find while I touched the dreams of ponies and began to slowly erase him from such. Both waking and sleeping hours had to be accounted for."

Celestia's breath escaped her in a soft sigh. "Then.. as the centuries passed, time did the rest of the work for us, though it did little to mend our own hearts."

"Remember Twilight Sparkle," Luna advised the younger Alicorn princess, "Ponies do not often remember the myths and legends of the past. When I was still under the grip of Nightmare Moon, only ye remembered the old stories. Unfortunately, we have a tendency to forget the darker parts of our history.."

"And rest assured, no greater darkness has existed in our past than that of our wayward sibling.."

"But what about Cadance?" Rarity asked. "I mean, how could she forget her own father? And wouldn't that make her several thousands of years old? She seemed only a few years older than us."

Twilight Sparkle's brows furrowed. "Not to mention she told me that she grew up in a village of Earth ponies."

Celestia glanced at Luna before looking back to the girls. "Unfortunately.. the death of her mother, as well as the exile of her father, wounded Cadance far more than we had feared. Even more so than Glorious Radiance, Cadance had an affinity for emotions, particularly love. She was also young, too young to be able to shield her heart from the searing hatred her father had fostered for the world outside of Equestria."

Luna's gaze fell to the floor. "For her own good, we had to put Cadance into a deep slumber while working to mend her heart."

"In the process, I.. I made the decision that it would be best to have her forget Arcanius as well.." The Sun Princess' eyes closed, unable to look at her subjects at that moment, though there was no blocking out the gasps from the girls.

Never in her entire life had Twilight Sparkle looked at Princess Celestia with such surprise - and disapproval - as she did at that moment. She found it hard to piece together what she wanted to say and the youngest Princess could only whisper out a single word. "Princess Celestia, how --"

"It is not a decision I am proud of Twilight Sparkle." Celestia's tone was harsh as she opened her eyes to look at her former student, yet the rebuke in her gaze could not hold. "It has haunted me all my life. No decision I have ever made has done so. I can never be sure if we were right to rob her of her previous life.. but what I do know is that she would not have survived the ordeal if we had not given her some manner of rest. Physically and mentally."

Luna put a hoof to Celestia's side before looking back to the six friends. "And now you understand the depth of our concerns. We are worried that after all these years, our brother has returned. Returned not only to claim his vengeance but to bring forth his terrible war.."

Twilight Sparkle nodded. "But what makes you think that it's him? Did the Pegasus from the Steam Steppes say she saw him?"

The Night Princess shook her head. "When our brother began to change, the first part of him that rejected his new demeanor was his Cutie Mark. It became the same chained hoof that Swifty claims the residents of the Steam Steppes now wear."

"Also," Celestia said, "The armor that our brother wore that helped to contain the inferno inside of him? It was primarily created out of ponychalcum. I doubt his original barding could weather millennia of keeping Fire of Friendship contained. He would definitely require more of the metal."

Luna frowned, whatever regret having been in her heart before having been locked away, her face as stern as ever. "And for Arcanius to act in so open a manner.. it means whatever scheme he has concocted must be close to fruition."

Twilight Sparkle sat back on her haunches, trying to absorb everything that had just been thrown at them. It was all just so overwhelming! She wouldn't have believed half of it if it had not come from the very lips of Princess Celestia and Princess Luna. It only took her a few moments to realize that not only were the Alicorn sisters looking at her, but so were her friends. They were waiting to hear what she would say. And honestly, what could she say? This all felt so much bigger than any of them. They had encountered so many troubles together but if this really was the elder brother of the two rulers of Equestria, what could her and her friends do?

No! No way. There was no way she was going to think like that. Her and her friends had done miraculous things! They had overcome insurmountable odds before. Nothing was impossible for them because they had the greatest magic of all; friendship. It had seen them through so many tribulations and as she began to put her hooves under her, she felt the doubt in her heart dissipate. "Don't worry Princesses. We'll do whatever we can to help, right girls?"

Her friends immediately cheered, and even demure and timid Fluttershy pumped her hoof into the air as Applejack grinned widely, throwing her hat into the air before catching it. "Yeehaw!"

Rainbow Dash even had the gall to take to the air and circle the statue, glaring down at it. "That's right! We're gonna go to that volcano, find this chump, and kick.."

"No!"

The force of the shout set all the girls back, even bringing Rainbow Dash back to the floor as Celestia's eyes were as wide as saucers, shaking her head furiously. "Absolutely not! You six are not to confront Arcanius!"

"But Princess.." Twilight Sparkle tilted her head, confusion clear on her face. Why wouldn't Princess Celestia want them to stop their brother if he was the culprit behind the Steam Steppes' troubles? Could there still be some lingering sentiment? Now that Twilight really thought about it, what if it were Shining Armor who had betrayed her? Would she be able to so quickly send someone out to stop him?

"Please understand girls," Celestia interjected, "Luna and I agree that this must be resolved, If this is indeed Arcanius' work, then all the more so.. but you six are not fully grasping the depth of his power. He is unlike any foe you six have ever faced. He is ancient, powerful, and we do not know the state that his mind may be in."

Luna wholeheartedly agreed. "Recall what we told ye. Even with the Elements of Harmony and at the peak of our power, we were barely able to repel him, to stem his rampage. Surprise and a fortuitous chain events led to our slim victory."

"But," Applejack said, "Ya'll said we can use the Elements' true power."

"Yes," The Princess of the Day said, "Truly, you six wield the Elements of Harmony in a manner Luna and I could never have. I would say even Arcanius could not have imagined it. Yet I fear he has only grown stronger in his years in exile."

"Eyes and ears." Luna motioned for the girls to follow as her and Celestia began to walk out of the room. What needed to be told had finally been said but there was still much planning to be done. "If either of us went to the Steam Steppes, our brother would sense us immediately and would react accordingly. It might even put the enslaved ponies at risk. No, what we need right now is information. Infiltrate the town. Find out what you can."

As the door began to close behind them, Celestia spared one last glance at the door as it clicked back into place before continuing down the hall. "We are already in the process of creating a counter spell to break the enchantment. Once we know the source of this trouble, then and only then will we convene on how to tackle it. Our top priority is freeing the residents of the town,"

"I can only pray that our deepest fears have not already became reality. For if Arcanius has become more than just a memory, I fear for us all.."

* * *

Turning over on the soft mattress, Lemon Tart groaned loudly as she woke up from her fitful slumber. She had dreamt of the most horrid pair of eyes, orbs that had reminded her of the color of blood but looked as if they were on fire. They had floated high in the air and had chased her in the nightmare, always staring at her. The Earth pony had felt as if they were stripping her flesh away, baring her soul and stealing away all her thoughts, her secrets, making her just another mindless puppet with a stolen Cutie Mark.

Her Cutie Mark!

The Earth pony threw her lingering sluggishness off her as forcefully as she did the bed sheets, the memories flooding back to her. Scrambling around in the bed, Lemon craned her neck to take a look at her haunch, fearing the worse, and saw that she still had the sliced lemon half on her body. Her relief was unmistakable and despite herself, despite the odd situation she awoke in, she couldn't help but let out a small laugh. She hadn't been transformed!

"Laughter. How unexpected."

The voice jarred her immediately, freezing her in place. She hadn't bothered to focus on anything else when she had been looking for her Cutie Mark but she was now distinctly aware that she was in one of the caves in the Burning Prince. More importantly, she was not alone in the room. She felt the same fear she had experienced on the rooftop, that same oppressive presence, though it was not as acute. Steeling herself, the frontier pony slowly turned on the bed, ready to face her captor and more than likely, the one who had turned her entire world upside down.

Her captor was easily the tallest creature she had ever laid eyes on, easily more than two meters in height even on all four hooves, hooves that Lemon noted were not like her own, at least not anymore. They were split, cracked, his fore hooves broken into three toes while his back ones were cloven. At his sides were what once must have been glorious wings, now merely tattered remnants, the feathers a broken mess. Even his horn was all wrong, in Lemon's eyes, because atop his head did not sit one horn but two, the pair curving in a fashion that reminded her of a ram.

He was an Alicorn, if it was even fair to call the blighted creature that, and Lemon couldn't help but recoil at the sight of him. Magnificent armor covered most of his form but it could not hide the entirety of his twisted being. What flesh was not covered by the resplendent barding was burnt beyond imagining, as black as a starless night. Webs of countless scars laced the entirety of his form and glowed like dying embers, giving the appearance of tiny rivulets of lava crossing his body. Darkness leaked from his form, wisps of shadows that fought to smother the rivers of fire that were his mane and tail, but neither won, instead forming a paradoxical dance that was as discordant as the rest of his appearance.

Lemon's eyes were drawn up to the pony's face, where she could see that once she might have found his regal features handsome. She had to turn away though for there, set in that monstrous face, rested the eyes that had hounded her in her nightmare. They burned so furiously that Lemon actually thought they would spill forward and sear her right there and then, but the assault never came. In fact, the misshapen Alicorn, simply stared at her with the indifference of a dragon watching a fly. She was insignificant to him, and no matter how proud the Earth pony was, no matter how hard her self esteem told her otherwise, she knew in comparison to this creature, she was.

"Come," The Alicorn's voice sounded like the crackling of flame, and even from where Lemon sat, she could feel the incredible heat that washed out from him, "You have been asleep for quite some time. You are likely feeling hunger." He turned and the snap of his tail was like a thunderclap, the appendage burning a bright and dazzling white flame before it once more resumed its regular orange color. Every hoof step left a faint burn on the cave floor that sizzled briefly before going out.

Lemon McTart wasn't exactly sure what she should do, but she worried that if she didn't listen to her captor, he would just turn and melt her under his gaze. Better to keep close. Maybe she might find her friends and family, or what the monster's motives were in all this - anything that might help a would be rescuer. She could only hope that Swifty had made it to Canterlot by now. If her friend had been successful, help would certainly be on its way. Maybe even Princess Celestia herself was on her way!

No point in tipping that off though and so Lemon carefully followed the larger pony, making sure not to step directly behind any place his searing hooves touched. They would have been walking entirely in darkness if not for the glow from not only the monster's horns, but from his own scarred body, which illuminated the network of tunnels and caves as if the very sun had risen inside the mountain. She was trying to place a marker in her head, to see if she recognized where they might have been inside the Burning Prince, though after a while she had to admit she had no idea. Mining had always been in Lemon's blood and she had an uncanny ability to memorize routes and locations, an invaluable asset in work like this, but she had never fully explored the dormant volcano. For now, she had to rely on the creature as her guide.

They turned along forks and tunnels, passing through wide caverns and thin corridors in silence, the only sound being the sizzling of the Alicorn's hoof steps. Lemon scowled, for with each passing step, she could only think of her friends, of her family, probably also imprisoned by this thing. Finally, her own anger overrode her good sense and the Earth pony darted in front of her captor, holding up a hoof in a motion for him to stop. "Now hold on! Where are you taking me?!"

The Alicorn turned his horrible gaze down upon her, thankfully stopping in his tracks before her. After all, Lemon doubted that even if there were ten of her there she could stop the creature from moving where he wanted to. With a voice devoid of any emotion, he spoke down to her. "To find you a suitable meal."

Lemon shook her head, refusing to back down from those eyes. "Why?"

"So that you may eat it."

The impassiveness of the monster nearly made Lemon yell in frustration before she took a deep breath, setting a frown upon her face. "Why are you doing all this? Where is everypony? And who in the hay are you?!"

"Better questions," Her captor nodded, "And ones I may even deign to answer.. once you have eaten."

As if on cue, Lemon Tart's stomach betrayed her resolve, growling so loudly that the sound echoed off the cave walls. The Alicorn lifted his eyes from her and walked around her, once more taking the role of guide as well as jailor. Lemon had no choice but to follow, and this time, she didn't stop their progress. To her belly's gratitude, the pair soon arrived to another cave that must have served as the larger pony's pantry, for there were plenty of provisions stored there, enough to feed an entire town for several days. A simple gesture from one of those split hooves was all Lemon needed to hurry inside and grab herself some fruit.

She eagerly dug into a crate of apples, not realizing how famished she had been, before she realized that she was the only one eating. She looked back to the Alicorn who stood so still at the cave's entrance, she could have mistaken him for a statue, before motioning to all the food. "Ain't ya gonna eat too?"

Only his eyes moved, looking to Lemon as he answered. "I have long forgotten the taste of food and drink."

Lemon had no idea how to respond to that. After all, when her and the other frontier ponies had visited Canterlot to seek Princess Celestia's blessing on founding the Steam Steppes, the Princess had thrown a banquet in their honor. Lemon had definitely seen the monarch eat then. "Alright.. well, then who are you? And what have you done with everypony?"

The Alicorn stayed silent, once more as still as a rock, and Lemon would have sworn the cursed thing had fallen asleep if she didn't see him blink once or twice. She even opened her mouth, ready to ask again, before the creature finally spoke again. "Even if I told you my name, I would wager all the gems in Equestria that you have never heard it. It has been lost to the passage of time.."

"And," He lifted a hoof before Lemon could continue her barrage of questions, "They are all well. I require their services. When their work is done, I will return their Cutie Marks to them and free them from my spell. If you like, once you are finished eating, I will take you to see them."

Lemon McTart dropped her half eaten apple immediately, stomping one of her hooves. "I'm done then! I want to see my parents! I want to make sure they are okay."

The Alicorn inclined his head and motioned for the Earth pony to once more follow him. Lemon quickly followed, eager to be reunited with her loved ones. Despite the creature's terrifying appearance and the feeling of dread she had initially felt from the beast, she found her guard lowering. After all, he could have done any number of cruel things to her, but instead he had been a civil, if not blunt, host. He had not even bothered to put any chains upon her..

No.

She shook her head as she followed, driving those thoughts away. There might not have been literal chains upon her, but Lemon had no doubt that she was a prisoner. He certainly was not going to just let her leave the Burning Prince. He might have been treating her courteously, but in the end, she was still under his control. They all were. It was just the reins he had on her were more subtle than those that had used on the rest of Steppes' ponies. And it only took one quick glance at the sizzling hoof steps the Alicorn left behind to question if this thing might be a pony on the outside only. Who knew what burned inside of it?

The cave that had served as a pantry must not have been too far from where the other ponies of the town were being held, because Lemon soon enough heard the familiar sound of pickaxes striking stone. Heck, as she closed her eyes and did her best to ignore the Alicorn in front of her, she could have sworn it was just any other day at work in the Singed Mines. She opened her charcoal gray eyes and darted past her captor, turning the bend to her left and despite her situation, let hope surge in her heart.

The Earth pony was rewarded by the sight of familiar faces, the ponies of the frontier town at work mining the walls of the tunnel they were in. Fate smiled on her that two of the nearest ponies were her parents and Lemon hurried over to them. The reunion was a sharp contrast from when they had been chasing after her a few days ago. Now her parents threw their limbs around her, embracing her as happily as she hugged them.

"Oh my goodness," Lemon said as she kept hugging her family fiercely, "I've been so worried about ya'll! Have you been fed? Hurt?"

Her mother, Lime Tart, shook her head and gently eased her daughter back, patting the top of her head lightly. "No such thing dear! The King has taken good care of us. We work even less than before. He knows exactly where the ponychalcum deposits are. No more blind luck for us!"

Even her father, Orange Tart, had a smile on his face, and her dad rarely smiled! "His Majesty has promised that once we help him finish this, he'll take all of us to an even better mining operation. Can ya believe our good fortune? At first we were scared, just like you, but this is the best thing to have ever happened to us."

Lemon could hardly believe what she was hearing, especially because no matter how happy her parents might have seemed, she only needed to spare one glance down at their transformed Cutie Marks to know that something was still wrong with them. They might not be chained in body, but their minds were not entirely their own. Still, at least they were safe and sound, as were Swifty's parents and the rest of the town. Their captor really had been honest about not having harmed them, and as far as she could see, they were all being fed and taken care of properly. The Earth pony had to at least be grateful for that.

Speaking of her host, he had caught up to her and was standing beside the bend in the tunnel she had taken. Her parents had resumed their mining once Lemon stepped away from them, the young Earth pony shaking her head lightly. She approached the Alicorn, the one that her mom and dad had called royalty, and looked up - way up - at him. "Why are you doing all this? Is the ponychalcum that valuable? We could've worked out a deal or something.."

He shook his head faintly, turning away from the mare as he began to walk down a different path. "The metal is important, but it is simply a means to an end."

Lemon took one last look back at her parents, at the rest of the Steppes' ponies. They were fine. They even looked happy. There was nothing she could do for them at this point. It's not as if they were bound to where they were mining. They were there because right now, they thought that was where they wanted to be. She would be better served trying to find out more about this "king" and his motives. Maybe she would find a way to undermine it when help did finally come.

Her legs carried her to his side this time, and when it became obvious that the Alicorn wouldn't tell her more without further prompting, she grumbled and spoke up. "Which is what?"

"A new and safer Equestria."