Harmony

by Luna Nightshade

1 - Sun meets Moon

Twilight paced through the empty hallways of canterlot castle. The eyes of the otherwise silent solar guard followed her every move. She had asked Princess Celestia about the Tree of Harmony and the Princess had replied to her request that they should meet personally to answer the question she had. Now she was really nervous. Why would the princess want to meet her personally to disclose this? Why wasn’t a short letter enough? She looked out of the stained windows showing her and her friends saving equestria more than once. The latest addition was her and her friends defeating Tirek. But the questions in her mind stopped her from really appreciating the art of the craftsponies. Why had the tree spawned that chest and that chest evolved into a castle and now the map in that castle and then there were those cutie marks on the trunk and …

The tree was more than met the eye. That much was certain to anypony. The tree had powerful magic and all those things that had happened, the elements, the chest, the castle, all of that couldn’t just be some strange coincidence. Her research so far had brought up nothing about the tree. The most it got was some notice that it existed and many of those clues were from Celestias and Lunas journal alone. But nothing explained or even tried to explain its existence or what it did. There was nothing in the Royal Canterlot Library, as well as all the books left behind in the old castle of the Royal Sisters.

At first she thought she could just roll with it and explore and discover the secrets of the tree herself. Maybe even write some thesis on it like some of Starswirl the Bearded earliest works on magic. But since the map just happened to mysteriously appear within her new home, and sent her somewhere where she and her friends were needed, she was on edge. It seemed that the tree and that map knew more about the problems in Equestria than even the princesses themselves.

The sun slowly disappeared behind the horizon and made room for Luna’s moon to rise, the colors of the corridor shifted and the solar guard was replaced by ponies of the night guard.
“Sorry, that I kept you waiting”, Celestia said as she entered the corridor through some of the doors at the side. With a nod she dismissed the guards with her and closed up to Twilight.

“It’s no problem”, Twilight replied, her voice squeaking unusually high.

Celestia ignored her signs of nervousness as usual. “It’s good to see you again.” She smiled her benevolent smile and went past her along the corridor. “Come.”

Twilight fell in next to her. “Yes, yes. Everything is fine as the princess of Friendship. We already had a chance to do our duty, thanks to the castle.”

“Are you already learing the traditional way of being a princess, using the royal we?” Celestia seemed to smile just a bit more than usual.

“N… no. I meant my friends and I”, she stammered. Only then she noticed Celestia giggling. She felt herself blush slightly.

“No need to be flustered.” She stopped in front of a door and opened it with her magic. Twilight followed the Princess into the Solar Study, Celestia’s private rooms. The princess kept her room as tidy as it could have been, only a few pieces of paper and some ink were there for when she felt the need to write letters. There was a small table with a pot of steaming hot tea and two cups prepared.

There was a comfy rug in front of the fireplace, where a small fire was already going, warming the room with its crackling, orange flames. Celestia settled down on the rug, motioning with her wing for Twilight to do the same. Her horn glowed and she poured each of them some tea and levitated some over to Twilight. She took that cup carefully into her own magic and took a sip. The tea did wonders in calming her down.

“To the matter at hoof. You had a lot of questions about the Tree of Harmony. As I recall you implied that the Tree has a mind of its own.”

“So it has a mind of its own?” Twilights ears perked up and she looked at Celestia. She felt like her personal student once again, the situation so similar to many evenings before she went to ponyville.

“You haven’t changed much in that regard.” Celestia chuckled. “Your conclusion is neither right nor wrong.”

Twilight slightly embarrassed smiled grew into confusion. “I do not understand.”

“Well, for you to understand, I will need to tell you a story”, the princess answered and looked out of the window and unto the moon that rose past her window and out of sight, gently guided by her sister. “It is a story long forgotten in time and my own memories of it are hazy at best. Some things might not be very accurate.”

“Is there a book I can read about that?”

Celestia had to giggle. “No, I’m afraid not. In fact, I wish Luna and I had started that journal of ours a lot sooner. I never wrote it down and I never will, because some details always change each time I try to remember them.”

“But wasn’t there somepony else that remembered it?”

“There were, but …” Celestia shook her head. “Sometimes a ponies wish to erase something is stronger than anything else.”

“A wish to erase something?” This only got more and more cryptic by the minute.

“Be patient. I think you may understand some things, once I have told you everything I know. I do hope that you have a bit of time.”

“Don’t worry, Princess, I have all the time we need.”

Princess Celestia chuckled. “I can imagine.” It made Twilight blush again. “Well, this is a story from a time long forgotten, very long ago. It is from before Luna turned Nightmare Moon, it is from before Discord tormented this land and even before Sombra ruled the Crystal Empire.” Celestia closed her Eyes and her horn started to glow in that faint golden glow it always had when she started to cast magic. Images floated in front of her, showing Twilight glimpses of the past she was recounting.

“It was before Luna and I ruled Equestria, before Tirek and Scorpan came here and even before the events that lead to Hearths Warming eve.”

Twilight gulped as even more images floated through the space in front of her. It was as if the room around them disappeared and as she looked to the side quickly she noticed that the room had disappeared. She was floating in some kind of void, similar to when she ascended into princesshood.

“Back then pony settlements were few and far between and the three races kept mostly to themselves. This land wasn’t anywhere close to what we have today.”

“As I recall, back then ponies weren’t living here at all!” Twilight recounted the events of Hearths Warming Eve in her head.

“Back then Equestria wasn’t founded. Ponies did not travel too much, for them a new land was behind the next hill, mountain or river.” Celestia raised an eyebrow. “You of all should know that the stories of Hearths Warming Eve have been modified over time. They are not that much of an accurate description as any scholar would like.”

Twilight smiled embarrassed again and took another sip of her tea to hide that blush.

“But besides all that, there were a few more things very different to today: The weather needed not to be tended to by pegasi and their city was swept where the wind would carry them. Sun and Moon rose and set by themselves, the seasons were coming and going automatically without anypony needing to intervene.”

“Y… you mean everywhere was like the Everfree Forest? That is BIG! Why hasn’t anypony mentioned that in any books or texts? What happened to change all this?”

“Slow down, Twilight. You might find the answer in what I am about to show you.” Celestias horn started to glow even brighter. “The windigoes were attracted to what were the governing powers back then: Selfishness, greed, cruelty, sadness and lies. Everypony looked out for themselves and friendships were few and far between. But there was one more thing that nopony had back then: A cutie mark.”

Twilight gasped as the pictures seemed to overwhelm her, take hold of her consciousness and plunged her right into the memories of the princess herself …

~*~*~

Celestia trotted down the streets of the village, next to her mother. Her mother was a beautiful while alicorn mare, her mane and tail the color of the sunset. They were sparkling and moving on their own, although there was no wind. It made her stand out against the dark, cloudy sky and the otherwise grim atmosphere of the village itself. They were taking a stroll over to the market to get a few apples, but there was something that struck her has odd. She wasn’t sure what it was or why it bothered her so much: All the ponies around seemed to be either ignoring or avoiding them, whispering to one another. Only the day before they still gave courteous but small nods. There were also far less ponies around than usual, but looking at the weather above, that wasn’t very surprising.

She could remember when they first arrived at the village. Everypony was thrilled to have not only one but two alicorns in their midst. But over time that feeling seemed to fade and acknowledgement of their presence faded to only a nod. Maybe they were completely tired of their appearance now.

The market itself was buzzing. Ponies of all colors and races, mostly earth ponies though, stood around, listening to one pony proclaim something in a loud voice. Her mother suddenly stopped and put a hoof in front of her path. Celestia looked to her mother who was intently listening to what the pony was saying. Curious as to why this was so important, she herself strained her ears to listen.

“… as of now, we need to defend ourselves.” His voice carried undertones that made Celestia shiver. “They tried to subdue one village and it took all of them and all their wits and magic to win. And even when they were moments away of winning, their opponent doomed their lands! All plants shriveled and nothing will grow there anymore, ever! I say we should get rid of those demons in our midst before they do the same to us!” His outburst of speech riled the crowd. “We are officially at war with them all! Let us show them that we don’t just take them as our masters, that we are capable of defending ourselves, capable of defeating them!” His hoof outstretched he pointed toward them.

Celestia stepped backwards, only to run into a pony behind her.

“What is the meaning of this?” Her mother asked. Celestia looked around, noticing that they were surrounded by other ponies.

“First they said that would stay neutral while we struggled, while we fought our little wars”, the pony on the center continued. “Now that they think that we are weak, they have tried to make us their slaves! I say we show them that we are no ponys slave! I say we hunt down all of them and show them what it means to go against us! I say down with all alicorns!”

The ponies around them turned toward them, their eyes hard, unyielding. “I assure you that we do not intend to harm or enslave anypony”, her mother pleaded.

“They have fooled us once”, the pony shouted. “Don’t let them fool us twice!”

“Yeah”, several other ponies around them shouted. And some of them drew the swords they were carrying around.

Her mother cast a shield and pushed them away. “Stop this nonsense at once”, she shouted back. “We have lived with you for months. We gave you counsel, whenever you needed it. We did no harm to any of you!”

“They feel superior to us and won’t hesitate to exploit our weaknesses”, the pony shouted. The ponies around them stepped forward again.

“What have we done?” Her mother shouted, her horn glowing, her wings outstretched. She stepped over Celestia and stared at all the other ponies.

“Counsel?” One pony shouted all of a sudden. “All your advice did was weaken our village against our attackers. We have lost many ponies because we heeded your advice to offer peace more than once!”

“But you also made friends. The few pegasi and unicorns living with you are proof.” Celestia bit her lip, stifling her own voice. She felt tears running down her face.

“Friends? Those few that changed sides don’t matter! We lost ten time the amount we gained as friends!” Another voice shouted.

“I lost my husband”, one mare cried out.

“They are too far gone”, her mother suddenly whispered. “No matter what we say, we can’t change what they think now.” She felt herself being picked up and her mother took to the air. “Run as fast as you can, I’ll be close behind you. Now spread your wings!” Celestia opened her wings and before she could say anything more, she was hurled through the air, her mother’s magic propelling her forward faster than any pegasus could fly.

She kept moving her wings, trying to stay airborne. Thunder growled behind her and she thought she heard her mother scream. But it would be okay. Her mother said she would be right behind her. She always kept her word. She kept on gliding through the air, towards empty streets. She struggled to keep afloat, but soon her hooves touched the ground and she changed toward galloping. Her vision was blurry. Tears streamed down her cheeks, but she kept going. Kept telling herself that her mother would be fine. Thunder growled again as she left the last few houses of the village behind. A few drops of water met her face, but she kept on running and running. A few droplets started to become a lot and the rain turned into a real downpour. Finally she stopped galloping and went down into a trot. She looked behind herself. The village was out of view. And her mother did not come. She felt something akin to a wave of love from her mother. It made her hope that she was close. She should be coming soon. But she couldn’t wait here out in the open. She ran to a tree nearby and waited … and waited. And waited … Thunder bellowed above and she shrieked. She shivered, feeling cold and lonely. She looked toward the direction the village was again. There was no trace of her mother, no trace of anypony.

Tears started to run down her face. Somehow she knew that her mother wouldn’t come anymore. She cried as the rain poured down all around her, a perfect mirror to how she felt.

~*~*~

Celestia left her spot on the tree, trotting along the dirt road that lead to the next village. She had been there a few times with her mother to get some special herbs and ointments. Maybe they could give her some shelter for a while. At least those unicorns always smiled when they arrived. The scholars hanging at her mother’s lips when she told them a few more secrets of magic, of what alicorns and unicorns could do with training and knowledge. Although she had been at edge with the alicorn there, that tought those unicorns spells to summon fireballs or thunderstorms. Still, there was another alicorn there. One that could help her, possibly. What was his name again? Warlock? Either way, he was the closest she had to family now. Maybe he even knew where her father was.

She started to gallop a bit faster again. Maybe if she hurried, she could be at the village at nightfall. As she galloped along the hills and fields, the clouds broke. The sun’s rays warmed her not only her coat but also her heart a bit. She would find her father and stay with him from now on.

Her hooves flew over the ground as fast as they could carry her, her face showing determination as she ran across the land. Her hooves soon felt sore, but she pushed herself further. She didn’t want to stay outside, not during the night. Not with what happened at the other village. Her mane and tail streamed through the air as the sun started to vanish behind the horizon, but she kept on running. She had never run as much in her life before, her lungs burned slightly as she kept pushing herself.

She rounded another curve on the road and saw a mare in front of her. The unicorn turned and looked at her in surprise. She stared at the white filly, a basket floating next to her, hold in her pale magic glow. “What are you doing out here alone?” She asked with a gentle smile.

Celestia heaved strongly as she came next to the mare, her hooves suddenly refusing to move another inch. “Aren’t you … oh dear. Come with me.” The mare set the basked down, picked Celestia up in her magic and put her on her own back. After that she picked the basked up again and trotted slowly into the village.

“I … I wanted … to see … Warlock”, she heaved out between words. “Something … terrible … happened …”

“Calm down. You can tell all of us after you rested for a bit”, the mare said and rummaged through her basket. She pull single carrot out of it and gave it to Celestia. Gratefully she accepted the treat and bit into the tip, holding the rest of the carrot with her lips. The sweet crunchy taste filled her mouth. Memories of her mother surfaced again and tears started to stream down her face. She cried softly all the way it took them to reach the village.

The mare trotted toward a small cottage that was almost at the center of the town and brought her inside. A pale green unicorn stallion with brown hair sat next to a table and stared at them. Without saying a word she brought the filly upstairs and in a room, laying her on a bed and pulling a blanket over her. “Rest for now. Tomorrow we’ll look for Warlock”, she whispered and left the room.

Celestia shivered beneath the blanket. She bit again into the carrot, her hunger defeating her sadness only slightly. She closed her eyes and settled into the bedding some more. Sleep did not come although she felt tired.

“Are you crazy?” The voice of a stallion startled her. “Why have you brought her here?”

“She is a filly! I couldn’t do anything to her while looking into her eyes.”

“She is an alicorn first! Do you think the others will look kindly on us when we are found out sheltering one?”

“But …”

“No buts. It doesn’t matter if she is a filly. If we don’t do anything right now, we’ll be seen as traitors and not handled any different than they!”

“You wouldn’t say that if you had seen her …”

“It is her or us!” There was a bit of silence. “I knew you would do the right thing. Keep her up there, I’ll get the others.”

Silence fell. Celestia felt everything within her cramp up. She felt paralyzed. Was it the same everywhere? Slowly she willed herself out of bed. Her limbs still protested, but complied to her sheer will. She looked around. The only way out of the room was the door. Or the window. She willed magic into her horn and unlocked the window. She spread her wings and jumped, fluttering slightly to gain more height. She got to the windowsill and grabbed on with her hooves, struggling with her wings and hind legs to get outside. She was on the straw covered roof and looked around.

The green unicorn was coming back with a few more unicorns in tow, holding a torch in his magic. Celestia panicked. She went around the roof and to the other side. It was a pretty steep way down, but with her wings she probably could manage to get down. Gulping she took the leap of faith and spread her wings again. Somehow she kept long enough in the air to get over to the next roof. Maybe she could just hide there for a while …

“… and you caught her by yourself?” She heard one pony say.

“My wife found her on the road, gained her trust and brought her here.”

“Very well done”, another pony replied. She heard the door open and soon after that it was silent. It only took a few minutes, then the ponies were out on the street again. “She couldn’t have gone far! Find her!”

Celestia pressed herself against the straw of the roof. The ponies spread out. At least there were no pegasi in this village. She still dared not to breathe a breath of relief. She still had to get out of that village.

She waited some more, then jumped to another roof, catching her breath once again. Crouching she went as far to the edge of the roof as she dared and got a good view on the ponies running around, their torches lighting the otherwise dark streets.

“Seen any hoof-markings?” She overheard somepony, her ears swiveling.

“No. Maybe she flew away?” Another pony answered.

“I don’t think she can fly for long periods of time. She is young and exhausted.”

“What do you propose then?”

“Check the roofs. She must be up there somewhere.”

Celestia crouched back. She needed a different hiding place. Her heart beat fast. Where could she go from there? She looked around. She couldn’t go inside any of the houses. Her pulse racing and adrenaline pumping she kept looking around. There was one promising house where she could hide below the slightly elevated entrance to the house. She just needed to get there, then wait until everypony had settled down and escape in the late hours of the night.

“I’ll tell the others to check the roofs. We spread out from here?” She didn’t hear an answer but the hoofs of the pony clopping over the ground told her that that discussion was over. She was running out of time. She crouched to the edge of the roof, looking down left and right, then got back a bit and jumped over. Two more.

“Was there something?”

She crouched down. The pony from before might be searching the dark sky now. Her white fur wasn’t the best of colors to hide against the dark of the night.

“Are you sure you saw something?”

They were in the street behind her. Celestia gulped, ran and jumped.

“Give me a lift with your magic.”

Celestia ran further, she had to get out of sight.

“Y… you are heavy …” She heard from behind. She pressed herself down against the roof on the other side of the tip, hoping that the darkness would conceal any tracks she might have left behind on the roofs.

“A bit higher.”

Celestia closed her eyes. Her pulse throbbed so loud in her ears that she feared those ponies might hear it, too.

“And, do you see something?”

“Give me a moment, it is too dark like this …”

“I’m telling you … nnggghh …”

She heard some grunting and grumbling. “Can’t you keep a simple levitation spell going?”

“You are too heavy!”

“Fine, then I’ll lift you and you look!”

Celestia used that brief respite, summoned all her strength and jumped again. This time she tried to step as lightly as she could over the roof to leave no marks there, hiding on the other side again. “I don’t see anypony”, she heard the voice of the other pony again. “I told you that you were chasing ghosts.”

Celestia took a deep breath. She only had to get into her new hiding place now. Without leaving any tracks. She quickly looked left and right and jumped down, her wings keeping her off the ground for the time. She reached her forehooves under the platform and dragged herself forward. After half the way she had to fold her wings and her hindlegs touched the ground.

Quickly scrambling under the platform she used her magic to erase the tracks she had left behind, pouring some dirt over them and hoping that nopony would notice. There she waited. There were a lot of ponies up and checking the roofs. She prayed, hoped that none would notice the tracks on the roof for hoofmarks.

She waited and shivered although her pulse still went strong. The unicorns passed her hiding place a few times, but thankfully they were still looking through the roofs. The night went on and started to change into day again.

“Have you found her?” She heard for the eighth time as a group of ponies met close to her hiding place.

“No. She must have escaped. Even if not, we have bigger things to worry about.”

“Another one?” The first one asked.

Celestia wondered if she should get to that alicorn first and ask him or her for help.

“He calls himself Galy Leo”, the other one replied. “We need all available horns.”

The torch fell out of the pony’s magic and clattered on the ground. Celestias heart jumped. “Lead the way!”

She saw their hooves moving away, heard the clopping of them grow fainter and fainter. As she was sure she didn’t hear anypony anymore, she crawled out of her hiding-place, hoping that that wasn’t any kind of ruse to get to her. She oriented herself by the rising sun and the way the ponies had run off to, to gallop north.

That alicorn was having to face the whole village and she wouldn’t be able to help him in any way. She still felt sore from the day before and her powers were limited. If she was lucky then she could compete with one grown unicorn, but that was all the extent her powers allowed her.

A loud crack behind her made her jump, her wings opened out of reflex and she fluttered a few times, before touching the ground and running again. She looked back. Behind her the sky turned red and yellow, green and purple as several different spells were cast. A bright flash and another crack told her that no one was pulling punches.

The whole scene remembered her just of the day before. Tears started to stream down her face again as she cried, galloping down the road. Why had she been so stupid? That pony telling them that alicorns would be ponies non grata had to have been there before her already. She wouldn’t be safe anywhere now. She looked behind herself once more as she left the last buildings behind. There was a sudden bright flash and the earth rumbled. She felt a powerful wave of energy. Magic. Her own horn reacted to it, lit up like a small lantern. She started to float above the ground.

Her heart started to race even faster as fear gripped her. Why was this happening? She tried fluttering with her wings, tried to run with her hooves, tried concentrating, but she couldn’t get her horn under control again. She still moved forward, but without control it was as good as not moving at all!

“What are you doing?” A voice scolded her from somewhere. “Do you want them to see you?”

She tried to hide herself behind her hooves and wings, despite knowing that that wouldn’t work. A hoof gently touched her horn and her own magic dissipated. The filly fell towards to the ground. Just before kissing the earth, something grabbed hold of her, kept her in the air and pulled her aside, from the road and over the fields into the forest.

Looking around she finally found someone holding her in her magic, flying above her, but still below the tree tops.

She tried to look up, to get look at the other alicorn above her, but the red-orange colors of the on setting dusk changed what she really looked like. She seemed orange blue with a ligher orange mane in that light. Her wings flapped every now and then, letting them speed through the forest.

They passed ciders and acorns, cherry and apple trees, some evergreens and more on their way deeper into the forest. It was only when they suddenly stopped in some sort of clearing that she allowed herself to ask “who are you?”

“I am the one that saved your hide”, the mare said as she landed next to her. “Seriously, what were you thinking?”

“I was only trying to get away, then this weird magic hit me and I couldn’t do anything!” She closed her eyes while loudly defending herself.

“Calm down or you’ll alert them to us sooner or later”, the mare put a hoof to her shoulder and looked around, her ears alert. “Sorry, it’s just … I have seen a lot of weird things lately and lost a lot of brothers and sisters.”

“Me too”, Celestia sighed and looked down. “Thanks for saving me.”

“Don’t worry about it”, the mare answered, “those of us that are left need to stand together. I’m Harmony by the way. And the filly on my back”, she turned slightly so that she could see the mares back, “is Blueberry for now.”

There was indeed a small blue filly on the mares back, her mane and tail were light blue and her eyes were closed shut frantically.

“I’m Celestia”, she answered, staring at the two.

The blue filly opened her eyes and looked back at Celestia, her big teal eyes slightly fearful.

“I… found her two days ago on the outskirts of that village I came to. I was wandering around as they started to attack every alicorn they saw. I was in luck that there was a stronger stallion there, so they focused on him and I could slip away. She was sitting outside next to the road, crying her eyes out and calling for her dad to come to her.” She sighed. “He was strong, but against that village … even he didn’t stand a chance. So I took her with me. She tried to get back and then we felt this strange wave of magic in the air … she was quiet ever since.”

Celestia looked down. She knew how the filly felt. “I don’t suppose you know the alicorns name or what he looked like?”

Hamony shook her head. “Maybe you can ask her, should she speak again.”

Celestia looked away. She wasn’t sure she could ask her about her father. It was sure to rile her own memories of her mother.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the earth shaking. Lightning struck soundless over the sky. Sun and Moon started to move on their own, trading places in a manner of seconds. An ominous scream went through Celestias limbs and bones. She thought she heard something like a clock ticking. With each tick they moved faster and faster. Celestia felt another wave of magic, her horn lit up again as did the one of the blue filly, both of them lifted into the sky.

Harmony flapped her wings, trying to catch them. A shock went through the whole world. The sun stopped at the horizon, the moon was out of sight, the sky a deep orange. The magic around Celestia’s and Blueberry’s horn dissipated again and they fell past Harmony.

The older mare caught them both with her magic and landed next to them, staring at the horizon.

“W… what was that?” Celestia gulped. The blue filly next to her shivered all over.

“I… I don’t know”, Harmony answered, her eyes still fixed on the horizon. Celestia trotted over to Blueberry and folded her wing over her back, comforting her like her mother did with her …

“The sun … it’s not moving.” Harmony said after a while.

“What do you mean, it’s not moving? It isn’t supposed to move.”

“You are right, it isn’t supposed to move in the way it did just now, but it is supposed to move slightly. It and the moon moving slightly are creating our night and our day. But the sun isn’t moving at all.”

“B… but why?”

“I suspect it happened when the alicorn in that village died. It was like his dying gift to this world.” Harmony sighed and settled down next to them, folding her wing over them both.

“Will the sun be okay? Will we be okay?”

“We will be okay”, Harmony answered with a soothing voice. “And I think the sun is okay as well. Don’t worry about it, too much.”

Celestia stared at the Horizon and shivered. But she wasn’t the only one. The blue filly shivered, as well as Harmony, even though she did her best to hide it. It made her think that the words she said just now were only meant to soothe her, but she probably didn’t believe them herself.

Comments

[Kobitsu]

“Don’t worry, Princess, I have all the time we need.”

Fucking stop calling Clestia Princess, Twilight Why does no one on this damn site get that they're equals now

[Elkia Deerling]

How strange that no one likes alicorns anymore. Nice piece of mystery!