Whither Must I Wander

by thelegendarytoothpaste

Chapter 1ne

Let me tell you a story about Equestria.

It hasn't known war for a good many years. The land itself is ruled by two benevolent sisters: Princess Celestia, the Goddess of the Sun, and Princess Luna, the Goddess of the Night. They were responsible leaders. Equus was tidally locked to its sun following a dark magic surge many thousands of years in the past. Without intervention, the planet would become totally uninhabitable save for the sides in perpetual twilight. The side facing the sun would become a scorching desert; the side facing away a barren glacier. A tidal lock can spell the end of any normal planet, and it has time and time before.

Equus, however, is no normal planet. It has an unusually high field of magic surrounding itself as well as its star. Wormholes constantly form and dissipate on the planet and around it. The planet should not even host life either, as it lacks a magnetic field. Studies are underway to determine what exactly protects the planet from solar radiation, but the answer is almost certainly "magic."

Magic is what gives the planet its atmosphere. Magic is what defends it from collisions by comets and asteroids. Magic is what shields it from radiation.

Magic is the work around for the planet's tidal lock. Every day, Princess Celestia uses a speed up spell on Equus as a work around for the tidal lock. The spell quickens the rate at which is rotates and presents the illusion that the Sun itself is being raised and lowered. Princess Celestia certainly possesses the strength to do so and has controlled the sun in the past- just look at her cutie mark, but she prefers to work with Equus itself, as making a miscalculation with the sun could doom the entire planet. She was also responsible for making sure the fuel at the core of their home star never ran low.

Like clockwork, Princess Luna, since her reformation, was responsible for the moon. With the two at the helm, the planet would host life for an eternity. It all depended on a harmonious exchange between the two.

Harmony was big in Equestria. All it took to defeat the darkest threat to the pony races was Harmony. Specifically, the Elements of Harmony: Magic, Generosity, Laughter, Kindness, Loyalty, and Honesty. Each pony on the planet embodied every Element in one way or another, but only six held them so well that they would be considered Element Bearers.

Those six were a former Unicorn-turned-alicorn, Twilight Sparkle: Element of Magic. Beautiful white Unicorn fashionista Rarity: Element of Generosity. Pink ball of fuzz that defied the laws of physics: Pinkie Pie, the Element of Laughter. The butter colored pegasus named Fluttershy, the soft spoken bearer of Kindness, the cyan and rainbow maned pegasus by the name of Rainbow Dash, the Element of Loyalty. Finally there was Applejack, the rough and tough cowgirl and Element of Honesty.

The six wielded a magic that could never be corrupted. When used together, the magic of Harmony was unstoppable.

---

It was a rare occasion for the Elements of Harmony.

Most of their time was dominated by life itself. Whether they had work, family gatherings, out of town meetings, or spa treatments, it was a rare occasion for the six to be able to just spend time together relaxing. After all, since when was a spa relaxing?

This was one such day.

"Rarity, did you bring enough sunscreen for everypony in town? Sheesh."

Rarity said little for a few moments. Instead, the unicorn's horn projected its magic, and she began to apply globs of sunscreen to her brilliant white coat.

"Tut tut, darling. You think I'm paranoid, but do you have any idea what sun damage can do to the coat, let alone your skin? The last thing I need is to be splotchy."

"Generous would not be the word to describe the amount of sunblock you've already used, sugarcube. I'm with Dash on this one."

Rarity sighed, dismissively waving a hoof towards them.

"I'll take my chances. Say what you will, but I'm not going to be the one who gets burned."

The brash blue pegasus snorted. "Please. I bet if I tossed you into a volcano you wouldn't catch."

Twilight Sparkle, the purple alicorn of magic, chose that moment to intergect.

"Actually, sun screen has no bearing on things such as fire. Sun screen works by scattering radiation away from the skin or otherwise absorbing it so we don't have to. It has no bearing on flames."

Everypony stared at her, save for Pinkie Pie. There are many things Twilight Sparkle is good at, but recognizing hyperbole is not one of them.

And speaking of Pinkie Pie...

Splash! she shot out of the water like a missile, coughing madly.

"Guys, do not taste the water. It's really salty! Did you know that?"

Twilight sighed. "Pinkie, it's in the name. Salt water. And you really shouldn't drink it. It can cause kidney failure, hallucinations, and chapped lips."

Pinkie blinked, and yanked on a loose strand of her mane. With a "POOF!" it returned to its normal state of perpetual chaos, sending ocean water in every direction. Her friends were less than amused.

"Well, it was an honest mistake. Isn't there a quote? Water, water everywhere so let's all have a drink."

Nobody bothered to correct her. When Pinkie got like this, it was better to let her think what she wanted to think.

"The summer is never long enough anyway," said Rarity. "There is something about the smell of sun screen that brings about the magic of the hot season."

The others murmured their agreement. "At least the Summer Sun Celebration is on the way. If only the Princesses could join us this year."

"The show is in Manehattan this year, darling. You know that."

Twilight nodded. "Yes, yes, I know. Still though, it would be nice to have a visit. Maybe we can see her sooner or later."

"That would be nice," said Fluttershy, interjecting herself into the conversation for the first time. "I wonder how Philomena is doing?"

Twilight smiled. "You know you can write the princess whenever you wish. You're the Element of Kindness. She'll be glad to hear from you. Well, more so than she is to hear from anypony on a usual day."

It was true. To say Princess Celestia fawned over her little ponies like a mother hen was an understatement. Celestia truly loved all of her subjects dearly. She was seen laying beside a sobbing filly in the rain solely to comfort her, and it wasn't uncommon for her to send well wishes and happy birthday cards to young fillies and foals who wrote her to ask for her presence at their parties. I know what you're wondering too, and yes, she did also send presents.

Fluttershy meekly nodded, though Twilight knew that her shyness extended even to letter writing. The mare actually managed to stutter in letters to friends and family.

The conversation itself was stopped completely by a loud gasp from Pinkie Pie. She seemed to tense up in midair as her mane appeared to shoot out every which way like an explosive. Her tail was swish a swishin' so quickly that it seemed to be keeping her in the air, and her ears were twitching too. Granted, though, the ear twitch was relatively normal. Pinkie had twitchy ears.

"Land sakes, Pinkie. You okay?"

The others approached her cautiously, as if fearing what her next action might be. When she landed, her eyes had widened and her pupils shrunk.

"A doozy," she whispered.

Comments

[Thatdankmemelord]

I’m already liking the story. It’s honestly pretty rare to find a well written crossover fic that isn’t “too” out there if you catch my drift. Anyways, keep up with the good work.