You are Cordially Invited
The Cloudsdale Reconstruction Ball, celebrating the reopening of the city-state five long years after Hurricane’s attack, was to take place in a newly-commissioned airship. It was paid for by Prince Blueblood and was designed by the greatest airship builders money could buy. The main body was practically a building in and of itself, an opulent ballroom with crystal chandeliers and gold pillars to put Canterlot Castle to shame. A fully-featured kitchen—stocked with every sort of food imaginable and a few the chefs had cooked up themselves—waited to serve the guests a feast worthy of Cloudsdale’s resurrection. From the outside, the grand structure took on a more chaotic appearance, as the various critical components of a cargo airship seemed to have been bolted onto the otherwise-conventional building. Several envelopes, each the size of one of Felaccia’s flagships, hovered over the ballroom, colored to resemble clouds. Multiple engines with rumbling propellers waited to push the aircraft along a tour of Cloudsdale. An observation deck bulged at one end, and its wide windows extended along the perimeter of the ballroom to both offer a view of the city-state, yet also fully enclose the party in a temperate seal. The cockpit took some looking to pick out, but if one squinted, one could just spy the ship’s wheel at the front of the craft, just visible through an elevated window near a few of the larger propellers.
Applejack mused that she had never seen such a vessel in all her life; a castle meant to live among the clouds. Even the largest seaborne vessels paled in comparison to this sheer defiance of gravity. She got the sense from the pegasi working around and aboard the vessel that defiance was the main theme for the whole operation. They fought against the very idea that Cloudsdale could be crushed.
If she was honest with herself, that level of confidence chilled her bones after her conversation with Celestia. The old princess was certain she was about to die, and her death would herald hard times for all. Evil times, in Applejack’s opinion. Times where both parties and defiance would be met with equally derisive laughter.
All the more reason to speak with a few friends while she could.
It was with a heavy heart she boarded the Laputa and trotted towards where she heard familiar voices chatting back and forth. There, ahead, was the recently-reelected Mayor of Cloudsdale, Gaston the Griffon. A strong-built athlete from Griffonstone, he had immigrated to Equestria and entered the political stage in a whirlwind of popularity. In Applejack’s mind, he was one of the more level-headed in the council of mayors, even if he had a habit of voting with the crowd. There at his side, perusing the décor and making adjustments, were Prince Blueblood and his wife Fleur de Lis. Their daughter, Jadeite Jasmine Blueblood, was making a nuisance of herself adjusting that which did not need adjusting, and prettifying the previously-orderly.
Jade peeled away from her current crusade and made a bee-line for Applejack. “Auntie Applejack’s here!”
“Hiyah, Beansprout!” Applejack accepted the hug gladly. There was too little pure happiness in the world these days. “Bein’ good for your folks?”
“Yep!” Jade said, as though she had not just been shaving years off of her mother’s life a moment before. “We’re decorating for the ball!”
“Mm, yes,” Blueblood said, his eyelids low. “We’ve hired florists for just such an occasion, but you know my wife. Always adding the personal touch.”
Fleur kissed Applejack on both cheeks and gave her a warm hug. The farmpony gave the princess a wink in return. “Grandpère says hiyah.”
“Please give him my love,” Fleur said with a soft smile. Come to think of it, she did just about everything softly. “And let him know that once my husband gets this silly little project out of his head, we’re going home to visit my fellow Pears properly.”
“‘Silly little project?’” Blueblood harumphed and blustered about the ballroom, his hoof waving indiscriminately, to indicate absolutely everything the eye could see and quite a bit that it couldn’t. “This vessel shall be the pride of Cloudsdale! A haven for happiness and bastion of strength! A proof to Cloudsdale’s ability to adapt to hard times!”
“A showroom to part the rich from their bits,” Applejack muttered to Fleur.
Blueblood’s ears were not so dull that he couldn’t sense sarcasm from across the room. He jutted out his chin and bowed to her. “Charity should always be one of the strengths of the nobility, in my humble opinion.”
“Charity ain’t always looked upon favorable-like, ’specially when it comes from those who never needed it in their life.” Applejack shrugged and looked at Gaston, who had been fiddling with his wings since before she arrived. “Anythin’ I can do to help?”
Gaston’s large lower beak made for a striking visage, as though he was equal parts politician and pelican. His puffy sleeves barely out-stuffed his broad chest. As an average-sized griffon male, he towered over all but the most statuesque stallions. Most were intimidated at first blush, despite his congenial (often too congenial) attitude. Applejack was so far past first blush that she couldn’t see him as anything other than a slightly-scatterbrained, big-hearted galoot.
“I’m afraid there’s not much any of us can do aside from busywork, Mayor Applejack.” He adjusted the cravat of his station, despite the fact that it was placed with absolute perfection a moment before. “There are a few minutes until we get this bird in the air, and then a few hours before guests arrive. All we can do is pray.”
“First of all, I ain’t a mayor no more. That’s Merry’s wheelhouse and she’s welcome to it.” Applejack eased out of the way of a passing servant setting up the buffet table. She patted what she could reach of Gaston’s shoulder. “Second of all, you did good, Gaston. Don’t need to worry so much. Cloudsdale’s all fixed up. People are all ready to move back in. Your next term’s gonna be remembered as the first time Cloudsdale felt like home in ages.”
“I wish it was that simple.” Gaston rubbed his ample chin. “The amount of money that’s gone into Cloudsdale is more than has ever been spent on a single city at a time. It’s more money than I think even Celestia’s personally spent in her lifetime. We’ve had to raffle off vacant lots just to keep the costs reasonable for the average pegasus. It’s a unique enough city that people can’t just saunter in, claim a plot of land, and build log cabins like Ponyville. We’ve had to replan everything from the skyscrapers to the cloud cover and I’ve just about lost my marbles.” His eyes took on a glazed, hopeless sheen. “I’m stuck between those who think everybody should be given a home for free, and those who think everything should go only to those who can pay through the nose, and I find myself unable to satisfy either.”
“You’ll never be able to satisfy an extreme.” Fleur deftly plucked a green rose from Jade’s mouth with a twinkle of her horn. “We do what we can, where we can, right Applejack? Blueblood?”
Applejack could only softly nod. She was darned glad she was no longer one of the decision-makers in Equestria, not with decisions like these. People’s lives were a commodity she had no desire to trade in, in any sense of it. It was bad enough having employees on the farm.
“And yet, dare I say,” Blueblood dared to say, “that is not what tonight is about. Tonight is a celebration for a job well done. For the hard work of a thousand-thousand ponies of all walks of life. For the kingliest of griffons who leads them!”
He waved over a quartet of musicians hired for the night’s ballroom music and muttered a quick set of instructions to the mare on the double-bass. They started up a jaunty tune, as much to warm up for the evening as to appease Blueblood’s wishes. The prince himself danced aboard the stage and took a shallow bow.
“My it excites me to greet you, Gaston
Championing your great cause
Everyone’s come here to meet you, Gaston
Lifting up thunderous applause
“From Griffonstone down to Dodge Junction I’ve heard
The praises of all of your fans
Ears that are keen to your every word
The honor that your presence commands!”
Fleur de Lis lifted a bevy of flowers and placed them at regular intervals along the pillars framing the room. Their petals glistened with silvery light, their stems a deep blue. She smiled at her daughter as the young filly sought to place a flower of her own. With a touch of guiding magic from Fleur, Jade yelped with delight as it found its place at the center of the room. Fleur bobbed her mane and sang along.
“No one’s just like Gaston
Upper crust like Gaston
No one’s word is a thing you can trust like Gaston’s
“For there’s no griffon nearly as noble
The creature to depend upon
As they give up their gems, bits, and rubles
To again set their Cloudsdale to shine like the sun!”
Applejack dragged Gaston over to the buffet and held up a steamed cauliflower to his nose. He smiled as he took a bite, his chest feathers frilling out. Applejack continued down the line, her voice as clear as the crystal glasses used for the punch.
“No one’s smart like Gaston
Has a heart like Gaston
No one’s ready to do his own part like Gaston”
Gaston grasped the far end of a laurel and helped a pegasus servant hang it above the entrance. “I’ll admit that the challenge invigorates me!”
“We’re aware there’s no mayor like Gaston!”
Blueblood cupped a hoof to his mouth. “Give him a hand!”
Fleur pressed her cheek against Jade’s. “And launch the ships!”
Applejack leaned close to the pegasus servant to whisper in her ear. “He’s also the type to give five-percent tips.”
The mare rolled her eyes with a grin and continued finishing up the last-minute decorations.
Blueblood lifted a makeshift conductor’s baton to direct the quartet, who needed his help like they needed a hole in the head.
“No one’s right like Gaston
Filled with light like Gaston”
Applejack nudged Fleur’s shoulder, who responded with a ladylike snort. “No one’s penny-bag’s nearly as tight as Gaston’s.”
Gaston fluttered up to adjust the magilights illuminating the dance floor, multicolored with ever-shifting hues. He twitched the angle of one to mix blue and yellow, shining a soft green on the stage.
“The political life of the party
When I vote it’s with style and aplomb
I can sign all my bills rather smartly—no joke!
Though my budget’s dwindling with each passing loan”
Fleur swirled with Jade across the dance floor, causing their dresses to sparkle in the low light.
“No one flies like Gaston
A swell guy like Gaston
No one gubernates towns in the sky like Gaston!”
Gaston placed a talon across his chest. “All my grandiose speeches are understated!”
Applejack let out a snort before she could control herself. “Hooey. That’s par for Gaston.”
He hovered above the quartet and smiled with his beak parted. He performed an allerion roll, never missing a wingbeat.
“A medalist in the Equestria Games
That is where I got most of my fans
But now that I run in a different race
My political leanings are bland!”
Blueblood tapped his baton. “Might want to keep that one to yourself, chum.”
Gaston chuckled, rubbing his neck.
Applejack joined Fleur and Jade in a jig, the various lights shifting the colors of their dresses in a marvelous magical pattern.
“No one votes like Gaston
Hits those notes like Gaston
No one cherishes dreams, joys, and hopes like Gaston”
Gaston lifted a punch glass high. “To the restoration we’ll be celebrating!”
Blueblood matched the pose, his glass caught up beside his baton in a blue shimmer of magic.
“Friend to the end
We say once and again
By all ponies adored
Now and forever more
From his triumphant crest
To his muscular chest
He’s a symbol of victory’s lure
He’s the very best griffon we know, to be sure!
“No compare, what a mayor
Gastoooon!”
Gaston breathed a sigh of relief, resting a talon on the sheathed, ceremonial sword slung around his waist. “Well, perhaps tonight can just be about the victory of it all. The calm after the storm.”
“I’ll second that!”
Applejack looked over her shoulder to spot the new arrival. She was a gray-coated unicorn mare, about as old as her own mother would have been this year. That haircut and easy smile were nearly mirror versions of her favorite purple-coated friend. “Twilight Velvet, ma’am, pleased to see yah!”
Gaston, Blueblood, and Fleur all bowed at the neck at the knight’s approach, but Velvet waved them off. “Now, now, no need to stand on ceremony. I’m not so much here on official business as personal.” She pulled a face and tilted her head to one side. “Hmm… Officially personal business. Can I speak with you, Applejack?”
“Sure thing.” Applejack waved goodbye to the others as she joined Velvet in a secluded corner of the ballroom. “What’s up?”
“I lied,” Twilight Velvet said quietly. “The business is very official and very hush-hush. Celestia’s asked me to go to all the former Bearers and gather them for a secret meeting in her throne room before the ball.”
Applejack grimaced, casting a quick glance at Gaston and Blueblood as they second-guessed and third-guessed the guest list and how many would arrive on time. “I’m afraid of what it might be about… I’ll be there, for sure.”
Twilight Velvet nodded; Applejack’s attendance wasn’t in question, and she moved to the next thought almost before Applejack had officially agreed. “Any idea where the others are? Fluttershy’s spoken for, and I know Twilight intends to meet with Starswirl before the day’s through.”
“Yeah, the others are all meetin’ up at Rarity’s Homely House beforehand.” Applejack took notice of the way Velvet’s eyes shifted back and forth, watching everything except for her conversation partner. It wasn’t like Velvet to be so on-edge without something really, really big going down. She had even looked more in control back when Twilight Sparkle was in the hospital with a slashed throat. “If you want, I can get ahold of them for you while you speak with Twilight. Might take some of the load offa your back.”
“Would you?” Twilight Velvet’s voice didn’t sound relieved, but some of the tension around her eyes vanished. “That would be very helpful, Applejack. Thank you.”
“No problem.” Applejack cast a final reluctant glance at Fleur and Jade playing with the flowers, before finally walking out of the ballroom with Velvet by her side. “No problem a’tall.”
By the time she had walked from the Laputa to downtown Canterlot, the massive airship had already taken off and could be seen dominating the northern skies of the mountainside city-state. It was headed in a bee-line for the newly-rebuilt Cloudsdale, and would orbit the outskirts for the duration of the celebration.
Slightly humbler buildings surrounded her as she walked through the center of Canterlot. This place had also been the target of Hurricane’s attack, during a battle that had left it worn and weary. Buildings had crumpled beneath gale-force winds, hailstones had shattered windows, villains had attacked pedestrians. Some rebuilding had gone on in the past five years, but not to the extent that Cloudsdale had seen. Still, one building stood tall and peaceful, beautiful both within and without. Freshly-painted in warm yellows that drew the eye and reminded one of the refreshing scent of lemon. Spotted with windows all around to let in natural light and warm breezes. A low murmur of excitement reached Applejack even from this far away, growing more distinctly boisterous with each step forward.
The Homely House was Rarity’s personal project, realized in full in the months following the Battle of Cloudsdale. It had come none too soon, as the displaced people who had watched their city turn into nothingness under the cruel wing of Hurricane were literally scattered to the four winds. Many had taken solace in temporary homes in Ponyville, Fillydelphia, and even as far as Manehattan and the Crystal Empire. Only a few could stay in the already-packed city of Canterlot, and most of those had stumbled onto Rarity’s doorstep. Made from the ruins of her store, the Homely House had beds, a full-service kitchen, warm baths, and everything else Rarity could think to give people who were simply looking for a place to lay their heads.
Volunteers from all over Equestria had come to assist her. Employees, friends, complete strangers who were drawn to her story, all came with the heartfelt desire to help. Applejack stepped through the front door and was immediately greeted with hellos from familiar faces. She spied Rainbow Dash’s mom and dad shouting a greeting while carrying a hefty trunk between them; assisting a family with packing a wagon. Soarin shouted “Hiyah!” from over by the kitchens, trying to wrangle the youngsters and let the cooks work in peace. Coco Pommel could be seen hauling dirty laundry with Sassy Saddles, talking animatedly about the return of home for so many people.
Pinkie Pie’s curly pink mane flashed in Applejack’s vision as she danced around the kitchen, making sure everything was ship-shape for the feast Rarity was preparing for the denizens of the Homely House. Applejack smiled softly and trotted into the hot, humid room. She made herself small as she walked past the cooks as they prepared the evening meal. She thanked a few if they stopped to greet her, admiring the smell of skillful work being done. They spoke with glad voices, most of them calling her some variation of “Lady Applejack” or “Lord Mayor,” though she kept insisting on just Applejack.
She snagged Pinkie Pie as she zipped from one side of the room to the next. “Hay! Got somethin’ to talk to you about!”
“Can it wait?” Pinkie said, practically dragging Applejack behind her. Applejack grimaced as she realized that even after months back on the farm, she’d only recovered a third of the sheer strength Pinkie had. “If I don’t move it, the pies are gonna become biscuits.”
“Sure, but—” Applejack released Pinkie and flattened herself against a shelf to let a cook carry boiling water past her. Pinkie seemed to wriggle like a serpent around the pony. “Still important enough to say before the ball. You know where Rarity and Rainbow Dash are?”
“Rare Bear’s in her Inspiration Room.” Pinkie Pie flung open the oven and began stacking finished pies onto a hot pad, one after the other, without missing a beat. “Dashie’s somewhere around here. Check for the sound of stuff breaking followed by the cheers of children.”
Applejack shrugged. Sounded enough like Rainbow Dash for her. “Meet us in the Inspiration Room when you’re done?”
“Gotcha.” Pinkie grinned with all her sparkling teeth in view. “By the way, hi! Nice to see you!”
“Well, ‘hi’ yourself!” Applejack smiled to herself as she left out the back door of the kitchen. It had been too long since everybody had gotten together. Even if it was for official business, it would be refreshing. Even if…
She found Rainbow Dash in the back yard, regaling a few of the older kids with tales of daring exploits, performing stunts in midair whenever it suited the story or her own vigorous speaking style. The kids watched entranced, as they always did, as she related the time the Wonderbolts had performed their routines in Felaccia, only to be chased down by a hungry Roc who’d gotten a little too close to the capital city.
When Rainbow imitated the screeching call of an adult Roc, Applejack couldn’t hold in her laughter anymore. Rainbow’s cool, confident demeanor slipped for a brief moment as embarrassment at being caught doing something silly flooded her cheeks with blood. Applejack covered her mouth to stifle the guffaws, and Rainbow Dash’s embarrassment faded in a flash.
“Well, well, well, if it isn’t the Lord Mayor of Apples herself.” Rainbow Dash brushed a hoof against her chest nonchalantly. As she walked closer, Applejack realized that the pegasus had somehow grown even taller in the last few years; among their circle, she was second only to Twilight. “Does the peanut gallery have something to add, or can I keep going?”
“Sorry to interrupt,” Applejack said, half to herself. She gestured back to the Homely House, pointing at a room on the second story. “Can yah meet with us in the Inspiration Room? Oughta be quick.”
A hint of grimness touched Rainbow Dash’s face, but she nodded as though she hadn’t a care. “No prob. Official Bearer Business I’m guessin’. Always happy to do my part, yeah?” She cast an apologetic glance at the kids surrounding her. “Gonna hafta finish later, peeps. Looks like another adventure’s about to start.”
“Hope not,” Applejack muttered, low enough that no one could hear her. Out loud, she grinned and slapped Rainbow’s back. “Nothin’ so amazin’ as all that. Just something for the ball.”
The two of them went back inside, making their way up the staircase. A couple of pegasi passed them, and Applejack heard their conversation die down the instant they came into view. Once they had reached the top of the stairs, the pegasi could be heard muttering to each other.
“You read their book?”
“Of course not. You?”
“Why should I let a bunch of rich ponies tell me how to live m…”
The voices faded, but Applejack didn’t have to guess what they were saying after that. Rainbow Dash glanced at her out of the corner of her eye. “Don’t let it get to you.”
“Just frustrating, is all.” Applejack returned the sidelong glance. “Only you an’ Rares are rich anyhow.”
“And Twilight.”
“Eh, she does have the biggest house…”
“Besides…” Rainbow Dash glanced around at the dorms to make sure nobody was in earshot. “Compared to the people who’ve lost everything, we’re all rolling in it. Even if Fluttershy barely makes her payments every month.”
“I barely make my payments…” Applejack’s hissed voice took on a sharper edge. “You’d think the bank wanted to eat the farm whole.”
“You just made my point.” Rainbow Dash lowered her voice until she was practically murmuring in Applejack’s ear. “Just keep the money talk to a zero, capisce? People are happier when they’re not talking about money. Particularly you.”
Applejack had no time to formulate a reply, since they reached the door to the Inspiration Room in that exact moment. She hesitated as Rainbow slipped in; she wasn’t sure if she could answer even if she wanted to argue. It felt like all her struggles and the things she learned in her life had been dismissed simply because she was able to eat most days of the week. Why was it even a bad thing that she was giving advice based on her life experience? Why was it a bad thing to want to improve others’ lives by sharing her own hardships?
“What’s important ain’t about how you intended it,” she thought to herself, “it’s how they see it that’s important. And you look mighty haughty on that there book cover.”
She wondered just how she was going to move forward in life if even her own thoughts weren’t on her side.
The Inspiration Room was a carbon copy of all the other such rooms Rarity had kept over the years: A mess of cloth and ponnequins, thread everywhere, needles arrayed on tables, and patterns laid all over. The chaos that only made sense to one mind, which even Discord had marveled at a time or two. Every dress in the room was months away from being finished. Even the ones which needed to be done within the week. And so, Rarity would do the work of ten days in one night, and she would work just as hard in the morning when it came time for her duties around the Homely House. It was the life she’d been living these five years, since Cloudsdale fell.
She looked it, too. She was beautiful, gorgeous even, and Applejack was convinced nothing and nobody could ever change that. But her skin stretched and darkened around the eyes. Her once-plump, smiling cheeks had a concave, sullen air to them. Her mane was frayed at the edges—but only enough that her very close friends would notice. The curls were dangerously close to straight, and the luster of the purple had faded ever-so-insignificantly-slightly; but for Rarity, it was a massive change.
“Howdy, Rarity.” Applejack took a seat in a chair that had only three cloths draped over it. She was careful not to touch the fabric itself. “Been a minute.”
“Applejack, I cannot tell you how pleased I am to see you.” A genuine smile shone her way, and was shared with the pegasus circling overhead. “So many of us in one place at one time. It’s a red-letter day! I thought you were going to meet Gaston on the Laputa before takeoff.”
“Things got shuffled around.” Applejack turned to see Pinkie Pie close the door behind her. “We’re all here, so I’ll go ahead. Celestia called a meetin’ for all of us Bearers before the ball. Somethin’ real important and secret-like. Only we can know about it. It’s gonna take place as soon as all six of us reach her throne room at the castle.”
“Hmm. I had hoped to clean up a little.” Rarity’s glance at a mirror said she was referring to herself rather than her messy room. “Duty calls no mater the hour, it seems.”
“Time and tide wait for no mare,” Pinkie said, sounding uncharacteristically ominous, which was immediately neutered by her plenty-characteristic grin. The smile didn’t quite seem to reach her eyes, but it was the thought that counted. “We all knew we were in for some horseapples when we chased Twilight into the Everfree…”
Rainbow snorted at Pinkie’s cuss. “So what are we waiting for? We’re all dressed up and we’ve got plenty of places to go.”
Applejack cast a sympathetic gaze on Rarity. “How long you need for your makeup, sugarcube?”
“I shant be more than five minutes.” Rarity lit her horn with a glistening blue and carried a box of powders and creams to her mirror. “I wouldn’t want to keep the princess waiting.”
Applejack’s frown grew deeper. She wondered if Celestia was gonna tell them all about her premonitions. If so, then it was definitely too late for anything to stop it from happening. If not… why tell Applejack alone in the first place?
Idle speculation tended to leave everybody unsatisfied, so she decided to spend the rest of the evening focused on the moment, spent with three of her closest friends.
Twilight Sparkle flew into the Dream’s Keep, one of the towers on the northern side of the castle. It was a room most closely associated with Luna, but seeing as she was overseas at the moment, another pony had taken up residence. A pony who hopefully had input she couldn’t get anywhere else.
On a secluded balcony, the Keep itself held an enchanted telescope which had the power to show a bird’s eye view of any city in Equestria. It was more of a clever bauble than a true investigative tool, but it served to show whether a city was truly asleep, or if it stirred even in the late hours. Beyond that balcony was a doorway that led into the single room at the top of the tower. The interior walls were lined with mirrors, each polished to a nearly molecular level. A single bell hung from the center of the ceiling, whose ringing would bring a garrison of soldiers to assist whoever sounded it.
In the middle of the room, surrounded by tables overflowing with scrolls and spellbooks, was Archmage Starswirl the Bearded. The dark circles around his eyes said that he had barely slept since their adventure in the Everfree and the destruction of the palace. He sipped at a straw that piped liquid from a can of some energy drink popular with the kids these days. The bells on his hat jingled as he turned to regard the recently-arrived alicorn. “Ah, Princess Twilight. Have you deciphered anything from Clover’s writings?”
“That’s what I wanted to speak with you about.” Twilight sat on the opposite side of the table and perused his scrollwork. Mostly diagrams of his magic mirrors, judging by a brief overview. “It… it looks like she was strangely brief whenever the Elements were concerned.”
“That suits Clover well. She always considered the Elements too dangerous to allow into the wrong hands…” Starswirl took a seat in a chair that had his cloak thrown over the back. He took a slow sip from the can, as though savoring a rare wine, or gently stoking a pipe. “To the point of paranoia, and I say that with the utmost respect for my younger and better.” He spent a moment gazing at his own reflection in one of the many mirrors along the walls, seeing the past rather than his own image. “Have you checked for invisible ink?”
“I’m pretty sure there’s invisible ink covering every other page.” Twilight shared a rueful smile with him. “Several types, to the point where making them all visible at the same time might just cause the journal to burst into flames.”
“Or summon some otherworldly beast.” Starswirl tapped a pen against a half-finished scroll. He leaned his head back with a “Pah!” of exasperation. “Well, best to start from the beginning. What does she say about the Elements?”
Twilight’s lips twisted as she searched for the proper page. There, in the later third of the book, was a simple single-line description of the location of each Element of Harmony. But it was barely useful. All writing Clover had done in regards to the journey she, Celestia, Luna, and the other founders had made seemed to go out of its way to avoid describing the exact locations and happenings thereof. It was like reading a story with all the plot-relevant events removed, leaving only the day-to-day trudge of walking or sailing. The single-line descriptions were something, but… not a whole lot more than they had.
Kindness was found among the ponies
Loyalty was forged among the dragons
Honesty was accepted among the flatlands
Generosity was gathered among the griffons
Laughter was rescued among the changelings
Magic was unleashed within the mountain
“How very artistic,” Starswirl muttered. He ran a few spells over the surface of the page, detecting no fewer than six different methods of invisible writing. Numbers flashed in the air all a-jumble. Words and phrases in various languages alive and dead jittered across the paper. A smokescreen. “Clover was a mad genius after all.”
“Yeah, well, I’m gonna be an angry genius if we don’t figure something out.” Twilight leaned back in a chair and waved a hoof idly. She caught movement in the corner of her eye and tensed up before she realized it was just her own hoof reflected against a dozen mirrors back and forth ad nauseum. “Anything you can tell me? Anything at all?”
“Nothing that you haven’t figured out already. Maybe if I had a few days with it—” Starswirl glanced out the window, his ear twitching.
Twilight felt the shift in magic, too. Cadence was lowering the sun and raising the moon. The sky darkened minute by minute as stars appeared. Soon, it would be time for Starswirl to begin guarding dreams and hunting nightmares.
“Why don’t I leave this with you?” Twilight said, pushing the book closer to him. “Give me a shout if something clicks. I’ve been bashing my head against it for an entire week, but she was your student.”
“She surpassed me in nearly every way…” Starswirl took the journal close to his chest. A faint smile touched his lips. He tilted his head towards the balcony, beckoning her to follow him. “Nearly every way.”
The moon rose into view, a glistening pale orb, free of the scar that it held for a thousand years. The light of it reflected in Starswirl’s eyes as he and the princess stood side-by-side next to the telescope. “There was but one way I surpassed her, and then only later in life. Even so, she still found more practical use for it than I ever did.”
“What was that?” Twilight’s ears perked. She still needed to prepare for the Cloudsdale ball, but darned if she wasn’t having a conversation with her longtime idol.
“The magic mirrors, of course!” Starswirl bowed with a flourish that reminded Twilight a little too much of Trixie Lulamoon. “The ability to travel between the worlds, across both distance and dimension! At first the connection was far too unstable, but eventually two worlds were joined with no fear of destruction.” He deflated a little, his shoulders slumping beneath his cape. “Too late to mend what I had destroyed between Celestia and the Good King Sombra; too late to mend my relationship with the dear princess. Too late to prevent Hurricane from becoming lost in the Abyss. Too late to save the Pillars of Harmony from the Pony of Shadows. Too late to defend Luna from the Nightmares.”
Twilight nibbled her lower lip. Many of those lost to time had been recovered. Good King Sombra had died, but as himself, on his own terms. The Pillars had all been able to resume a similar life to what they had before, or even improved their circumstances. Luna had been rescued by Twilight and her friends…
Hurricane, though…
“That is where Clover took my creation and made it better.” He gestured to the Dream’s Keep, particularly at the mirrors on the wall. “The mirrors are enchanted to make it more difficult to forget yourself while dreamhopping. They make the lies of the Unseelie Fae easier to see through. Even while outside one’s self, the Nightmares must fight much harder when Clover’s inventions are operating.” He shook his head and let his beard hang to the floor. “Alas, she was only able to see the danger after Luna became Nightmare Moon. She was only able to see the solution after the worst had already come.”
Twilight lowered her ears. She didn’t want to let the mood sink any lower, not when he had a whole night of dreamhopping to go through. “What gave you the idea for the magic mirrors? The mirror pools in the mountains?”
“You might think so, but they and the mirror in Beefland are still a mystery to me.” Starswirl tapped the side of his nose. “I suspect they are connected, in a way, and through them I learned of the existence of other worlds… But their methods of connection are unrelated to the construction of the mirrors. You see, my original inspiration, the first alternate world I found, was the world of dreams. Dreamland. The very world that the stars and the good fairies populate. A world outside our own, but intrinsically linked. And our connection to it?” He pointed upward, towards the jewellike object shining down on the both of them. “What is the moon, but the largest mirror in the cosmos?”
Twilight’s eyes widened as she saw the moon in a new light. “The lesser light reflects the greater one. It’s still sunlight, at the end of the day.”
“Yes, yes, very humorous.” Starswirl’s eyes regained a little of their twinkle. “It is our connection with dreamland, but also the shield that separates the hereafter from the here and now. It is the keeper of knowledge, while the sun is the giver of life. In my hubris, I thought to mimic the moon, and unlocked knowledge that nearly led to our and the Reflection’s complete destruction. Knowledge without wisdom is folly; do not forget, Princess Twilight.”
“I won’t.” She looked down at the old stallion, her brow furrowed. “I would love to keep talking, but we both have duties—”
“Twilight! Thank goodness!”
Twilight looked at the other end of the Dream’s Keep, to the spiral staircase that led down the tower. Her mother rushed up the stairs, looking worn out but plenty strong for having just climbed one of the tallest parapets in Canterlot. She leaned against a mirror with heaving breaths. “Thank… goodness… you’re still here…”
Twilight galloped over to her mom and offered a supportive foreleg. “Mom? What’s up? Were you looking for me?”
“Yes… It can’t wait…” Twilight Velvet hugged her daughter and leaned her head on her shoulder. “Celes… Princess Celestia wants to meet with you and the other bearers in her throne room. Before the ball. As soon as possible.” Velvet looked up and pressed her lips tightly together. “It must be secret. Only the six of you can know.”
“I see.” Twilight glanced over to Starswirl, who was just coming in from the balcony. He had tucked the journal beneath his cloak, hidden out of sight. She hoped that he would be able to unlock the knowledge that Clover had deemed too dangerous to know. “I’ll head right down… Will I see you at the ball?”
“For sure, but you might get there before me.” Velvet winked as she and her daughter made their way down the stairs. “I’ve got something else to do at the castle first.”
Celestia spread her wings as Sky Wishes, a pegasus maid, dressed her in a lovely white dress made especially for the occasion. The skirt was flowing and ruffled to hide her thinning limbs. The fabric was brilliantly sparkled to offset the grayness that had taken hold in the old princess’ coat. The flowers in her mane and tail would make a natural contrast to her plain, pale, pink hair.
“Thank you, Miss Wishes.” Celestia eased herself into a chair facing a full-length mirror. “You may go now. I’ll take care of the rest of it.”
“If you say so, Your Majesty.” Sky Wishes paused at the door, as if she wanted to say something.
Celestia leaned a foreleg on the chair’s armrest and smiled coyly at the servant. “I’m sure Natter’s waiting with bells on for you to join the feast in the dining room.”
“Well, yeah…” Sky Wishes pursed her lips, gave the princess one last glance, then departed with wings aflutter.
A spell from Celestia’s horn awakened the mirror. Her reflection vanished, and was soon replaced with that of Luna, far away in Roc, the capital of Felaccia. The younger princess smiled brightly at Celestia, though she could sense Luna’s eyes trailing up and down her weakened body.
“We have good news, Sister!” Luna said with a puffed-out chest. “The gemstone design Adagio Dazzle came up with fits perfectly into the Sunspear. All our tests have proven successful. The Spear activates, the targeting systems function, and we have a solid connection with the core of Roc. All we need now is to schedule a proper, full-function test. With Cadence and Twilight on hand to guard against any problems, of course.”
“Wonderful to hear.” Celestia felt sorrow well up in her damaged heart. She wanted to reach out to Luna, to seek comfort from her younger sister, to hear her say it would be alright, that nothing would hurt her. She lowered her eyes to the ground to hide the fear she felt, but kept her smile on display. “It’s strange. Only a few years ago, I would have been wholeheartedly against this operation.”
“Alas, times have changed us both.” Luna glanced away from the mirror for a moment, as if to someone else in the room. “Times have changed us all.”
Celestia nodded in understanding. “Andean is with you, is he not?”
“Aye.”
“May… may I speak with him?”
Luna tilted her head to the side. She exchanged a silent conversation with the griffon king, after which she moved out of view. Soon, the entire mirror was dominated by the feathered, furred body of Andean Ursagryph. One golden eye looked straight at Celestia, rimmed by pinkish skin and a beard of black feathers.
“Celestia.” Andean’s low voice rumbled out of a throat that was as big around as Celestia’s malnourished torso. “It has been quite some time since we spoke last.”
“It always is,” she replied quietly. “I believe I am to blame for that.”
“Perhaps. Perhaps I deserve it, considering my ill-fated alliance with Ahuizotl.” He pulled two smooth stones, magnetic in nature, and rolled them around in a talon. “To what do I owe the breaking of your silence this time?”
Celestia met the golden eye with her own faded lavender. She sat up straight, and ignored the twinge in her chest as her bones rubbed against each other, the cartilage absent. “I have been doing a great deal of reminiscing. I have realized something I must say aloud. I was wrong.”
Andean’s eyebrow shot up as his beak frowned. He twitched, as though suppressing a gut-response. After a moment, he went with the diplomatic response. “Wrong about what?”
“I have said it many times, but never to you.” Celestia closed her eyes and bowed her head. “I was wrong to strike down Berkut in the manner I chose. I left your kingdom in turmoil. If you had not been there, there would be no Felaccia today. It is only because of you that even more innocent blood has not been added to my hooves. For that I am truly grateful. And of that, I am undeserving.”
Andean exhaled through his nose. His eye took on a harsher glint, even if his voice grew softer. “What am I to say to that? I cannot accept a mere apology—”
“I do not offer an apology. I have no right to ask forgiveness.” Celestia nodded to the mirror, her ears low. “I mean only to say that I was wrong, and you are right. I have stifled the people, prevented them from growing on their own. And so, I have spelt my own personal doom. The enemies of Equestria and Felaccia will rise up to throw off my cloak of suppression. They have grown from the children you labeled them as, and have become rebellious adults who hate my overbearing protection.”
Andean looked to Luna, who was just out of Celestia’s sight. He sighed deep in his chest. “I, too, have made grave mistakes which even now threaten to plant a knife in my back. Ahuizotl was just… the most egregious.” He scoffed, his curved beak snapping. “I fear we are both too late in growing, Celestia. Too late to prevent the coming price of arrogance, which is paid in blood.”
“I wish we could have learned to understand each other.” Celestia bowed at the neck. After a moment, she spoke at just above a whisper. “My only request that I could ever make of you is this: Take care of my sister. Please.”
At this, the last of the anger faded from the griffon king’s face. Celestia thought she might see understanding in that gilded eye, a tender warmth, a fatherly air that she had never felt in her entire life. For a brief moment, speaking with Andean Ursagryph, she imagined that even if life had fallen out of her grasp, it had been caught by the skilled, strong hands of another.
“I will protect Princess Luna with my life,” he said at last. “I swear it to you for as long as my lungs draw breath and blood flows through my veins.”
Celestia’s ears perked up at a knock on her door. Had so much time already passed? “I’m afraid I’m needed elsewhere. I love you, Luna.”
“I love you, too, Sister!” Luna said, just before the mirror returned to a reflection of Celestia’s tear-stained face.
She wiped her cheeks as she walked to the door and opened it. To her surprise, she found not the Royal Guard waiting to escort her to the Cloudsdale Ball, but Twilight Velvet, Knight of Counsel. “Velvet, what a pleasant surprise! I didn’t expect to see you until the ball.”
“I’m sorry for the interruption, Your Majesty.” Twilight Velvet stood tall, her years having been the Captain of the Canterlot Royal Guard having filled her with pride and purpose in equal measure. “Twilight asked me to come to you personally. There’s going to be a secret meeting in your throne room, just you and the six Bearers of the Elements. No one can know about it.”
Celestia gave Velvet a longsuffering smile. “Two ponies can keep a secret if one of them is dead. Very well, thank you for informing me. I suppose I’ll end up being very fashionably late to the ball this evening.”
“I think we all will,” Velvet said with a chuckle. “But I’m sure the party will carry on long after us old fogies have gone to bed.”
Celestia walked down the long hallways from her personal chambers to her shared throne room. She suspected Twilight had discovered something about the Elements and couldn’t wait to share. She hoped so. With all the wrong in the world, with all the darkness gathering, it would be a breath of fresh air to finally hear some good news.
Fluttershy had been left in a secluded corner of the Grove of Golden Apples, nearby the main cave mouth. Sunlight coursed in through the opening as it set in the west, nearly directly facing the grove. A series of wooden buildings had been constructed just inside the cavern, which served as housing for the Sirens and whatever minions they brought with them.
“The ghosts don’t come up to the entrance,” Adagio had told her several days ago. “The sunlight reminds them of life, and that terrifies them more than death. The other side is always scarier.”
She rested on a bed as she looked upon the open air that seemed so close, yet so far away. It would be a small thing to simply fly south towards Manehattan or Fillydelphia… but the hooded ponies waited in their forts, their arrows ever notched and ready to bring her down in a precise hail of iron.
They were called the Enthralled, she had learned; “thralls” individually. Each one had given up their free will in service to the Sirens. Each one had been trained to be as strong as a pony could possibly get, forgoing magic for muscle. A fair few of them had been Painted Ones; Ahuizotl’s personal band of religious followers. They had been brainwashed by the Sirens’ power to believe that the Master of the Unseelie Court was the reborn Ahuisotl, and thus, their god. Then, after having believed that, they had surrendered what was left of their free will in order to serve him with every fiber of their being.
There were not many of the Enthralled, around a hundred, but it was plenty to leave Fluttershy a perfectly-kept prisoner.
She was honestly glad the Sirens and their minions had left a few days ago. Even if she was to be kept in such a place, at least it was quiet. Empty. Vacant of the screams of fairies and the proud songs of the Siren’s soldiers.
As she looked out over the forests of the Northern Equestrian Wastes, a light tremor ran through the wooden building. As the sunlight faded from the green leaves of healthy trees, the tremor came again, and again. Fluttershy backed away from the rattling window and looked to her captors. The thralls were quiet as the grave, staring out into the wilderness without a care as to the rumbling within the mountain. As the quake grew more and more violent, chattering Fluttershy’s teeth, a few of the thralls stumbled, but did not fall.
She bolted from her room. The thralls would not attack her if she didn’t take flight. She leaned on the railing surrounding the lookout tower and saw the forests around the mountain shaking and swaying, as though a hurricane-force wind was pulling them back and forth. But no wind could shake a mountain. As she watched, the trees at the foot of the mountain seemed to become smaller. Was the mountain growing? No. No, as she looked closer at the base she could see dirt and stones being flung into the air as dust rose all around the hidden grove.
Piercing bright light flashed from among the murk and dirt. She gasped as she saw open air divide the mountain from the valley it sat upon. It seemed to be the same life-giving light as that which flowed through the golden apple trees. The mountain swayed beneath Fluttershy as it rose higher, higher into the sky. A floating island. A monolithic airship that dwarfed even the Smokey Mountains. Carried aloft not by lighter-than-air gasses, but by the power of immortality.
Behind her, in the midst of the grove, the largest golden apple tree pulsed painfully as its lifeforce was syphoned into the bottom of the mountain, propelling it upward and forward. She gazed at the scarred, battered tree and felt a sorrow deep in her soul that her mind couldn’t quite comprehend, not yet. It was as if a parent were weeping over the mistreatment of its children. As if something older and wiser than Fluttershy were feeling its pain through her senses.
The Mountain of the Grove of Golden Apples lurched forward, guided by its Unseelie masters, towards its final destination: The heart of Equestria, Canter Mountain.
Stats
Page generated in 0.022 seconds
Total duration
1,086 users online
1,552,858 hits today, 1,872,792 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
Oh no
11513779
Oh YES
Oh, okay. Secret meeting called by Celestia. Okay, okay.
Oh.