Maintaining Harmony

by DiabloGuapo

The Kingdom of Unicornia

Princess Celestia paced the floor of the throne room of Canterlot Palace. Watching the anxious solar princess was the former captain of the guard, now the Prince of the Crystal Empire. Though he wasn’t pacing like she was, he was also concerned. The doors of the chamber opened, and the two immediately turned to the six ponies and the dragon that had just arrived.

“Princess Celestia, we’ve received your letter, and…” Twilight Sparkle stopped as she that noticed her elder brother was also there. “Shining Armor?” Excited to see her brother, she ran up to him, nuzzling the stallion.

“Hey, Twiley,” greeted Shining Armor.

“You’re here, too? Princess, what’s going on? Your letter didn’t explain what was…” she began to ask.

The princess held up a hoof to silence her excited student. “Twilight, I’m glad that you all have arrived here safely.”

“Safely?” Twilight said, confused at the alicorn’s words. Her friends shared her confusion. “What’s wrong?”

“Is a there a monster terrorizing Equestria, or something?” asked Rainbow Dash. She then pounded one hoof in the other. “‘Cause I’m ready show teach them not to mess our home!”

“No, Rainbow Dash,” the princess tried to calm the aggressive pegasus. “I have called you all here for your own safety.”

“What do you mean, Your Highness?” asked Applejack. Princess Celestia grew serious at the question.

“I have received a letter from an organization calling themselves ‘the Kingdom of Unicornia’ demanding that I relinquish my crown,” Celestia explained to her subjects.

“What!?” Twilight couldn’t believe that anypony could demand that of the benevolent ruler.

“‘The Kingdom of Unicornia?’” repeated Rarity, tapping her hoof to chin thoughtfully. “Why, isn’t that the name that Princess Platinum wanted to name Equestria?”

“Indeed it is, Rarity. But that’s not all, a threat has been made against all of your lives,” Celestia said grimly. She looked down at the young dragon that was standing beside Twilight. “Even you, Spike.”

“Spike!?” Twilight exclaimed as she instinctively wrapped a protective foreleg around her young charge. “But why?”

“In the letter, they claimed that they were planning to eliminate the Bearers of the Elements of Harmony and the Heroes of the Crystal Empire,” answered Celestia.

“And that’s why I’m here. I want to bring all of you back with me to the Crystal Empire where you’ll be safe,” announced Shining Armor.

“But, who are these ponies? Why are they threatening us like this? Why do they want you to give up you crown?” Twilight asked, becoming steadily more worried by the second.

“I believe that they are unicorns who believe that unicorns are superior to the rest of ponykind, and they also want to subjugate the types of ponies,” theorized Celestia.

“How could anypony be so insensitive!?” gasped Rarity.

“And super-duper mean?” added Pinkie Pie.

“Perhaps they wield the power of darkness,” the regal alicorn thought out loud.

“What do you mean, ‘power of darkness?’” asked Applejack.

“Nightmare Moon and Discord, we used the Power of Harmony to defeat them,” said Twilight, realizing what the princess meant. “The Elements of Harmony have the power to defeat those who would spread disharmony and darkness over Equestria. If they want us gone because of our connection to the Elements, which means they fear their power. Also, the Crystal Heart of the Crystal Empire spreads love and unity across Equestria. By targeting us, it means that they don’t want the power of harmony interfering in their plans to take over the kingdom. ”

“Well, it may be because we’ve saved Equestria before, and they’re afraid we’ll do it again,” suggested Rainbow Dash.

“That may be so, but I doubt that,” Celestia said. “They know who you are, Rainbow Dash.”

“Well, that’s not surprising,” the blue pegasus shrugged. “I bet a lot of ponies know who we are. We did save Equestria a few times.”

“Not exactly. While most ponies know that the Elements of Harmony were used to defeat Nightmare Moon and Discord and that a dragon delivered the Crystal Heart to Cadance, most ponies don’t know that it was you who did this things,” Celestia explained. “Yes, there are windows depicting your triumphs, many saw you at the ceremony acknowledging your achievements, and there are some eye witnesses, but the general public is not aware of all the details.”

“Why not, Princess?” asked Rainbow Dash. “It would be nice to receive the recognition that we deserve. The cheering fans, praising crowds of admirers, ponies coming from all over to see…” Rainbow stopped when she heard Fluttershy whimpering. She looked over to her friend to see that she was terrified of the thought of being surrounded by that many ponies. “Oh, right… Maybe there’s such a thing as too much attention.”

“That’s right, Rainbow Dash. Besides, don’t you remember how you were behavin’ before the whole ‘Mare-Do-Well’ incident,” reminded Applejack. Rainbow groaned, hating to have been reminded of one of her least proud moments. “Don’t want to inflate that ego yours more than it already is.”

“Yes, but that is beside the point,” the princess, trying restore the focus of the situation. “Over the years, there has been a few who were unsatisfied why my rule, and I have even received some threats. However, this is no ordinary threat. Whoever is behind this knows who you all are, and they want you all dead.” Her blunt phrasing of the situation caused the weight of the ordeal to sink in. The group looked at each other with uncertainty and dread. “Now, my little ponies, you must decide now what you are going to do. I can see three options; returning to your homes, going into hiding, or staying here in Canterlot.”

“I say we go and face them head on,” suggested Rainbow Dash.

“Well, if they know who Ah am, then they most likely know ‘bout my family,” Applejack said with growing fear. “If want to get to me, they might try to hurt them! Ah just can’t risk it! Ah’m goin’ home. We’ll look out for each other.”

“I would think that we would be safest in the Crystal Empire,” rationalized Shining Armor. “With Cadance and my protection magic and the Crystal Heart, we’ll be well defended.”

“Ah’m not gonna abandon my home or my family because of some high’n’mighty unicorns are makin’ threats!” the farm pony adamantly declared.

“Applejack, be reasonable!” begged Twilight Sparkle. “Sweet Apple Acres is not the most defendable place in Equestria!”

“What about the rest of Ponyville?” interjected Pinkie. “What if they attack the rest of our friends?”

“Maybe it is best that we did split up?” added Rainbow. “I mean, they can’t get us all if we’re not in one place? They’ll have divide their attention in able find all of us. You guys can hide, and I can look for who’s behind this.”

“Maybe we should pair up?” offered Rarity. “I can stay here in Canterlot with Twilight. She has family here, and I have friends here, too.”

“We have room at home. I’m sure Mom and Dad wouldn’t mind,” Twilight figured.

“Ah kind of like that idea,” Applejack said. “Pinkie can stay with me and my family at the farm.

“Well, who’s coming with me to bust some heads?” asked Rainbow Dash. “You guys can play it safe, but I’m not going to run and hide.”

“But if Twilight and I are in Canterlot, Applejack and Pinkie are at Sweet Apple Acres, Cadance and Shining Armor are in the Crystal Empire, and you running around ‘busting heads,’ where will Fluttershy go?” questioned Rarity. “Darling, would you rather stay with here with us, go with Shining Armor, or go back with Pinkie and Applejack?”

“I really would rather just go somewhere where no pony could find me. Oh, but I couldn’t leave my animals by themselves,” worried Fluttershy.

“Rainbow Dash, might I make a suggestion?” Celestia asked. “Let my soldiers take care of the situation. You can be responsible for looking after Fluttershy.”

“But I…” Rainbow was about to protest, but then she saw how the yellow pegasus was trembling. “Okay, I’ll take care of Fluttershy. Hhhmmm…I know! I just thought of the best place to hide!”

“R-really? Where, Dash?” asked Fluttershy.

“My place!” declared Rainbow Dash proudly.

“Uh, beg pardon, sugar cube. But how is that the best place to hide?” Applejack skeptically asked.

“Yeah, I mean it is just floating over Ponyville,” agreed Pinkie.

“Exactly! It floats! I can just move it anywhere I want,” explained Rainbow Dash. “And since it’s made of clouds, only pegasi can get to it. Heh, I’d love to see some unicorn try to get to us!”

“That’s brilliant, Rainbow Dash,” cheered Twilight, impressed by her friend’s clever idea.

“But what about my animals?” protested Fluttershy.

“Don’t worry, Applejack and I’ll take care of them,” offered Pinkie. “In fact, we can look after all of your pets for you.”

“Well, if it’s not that much trouble…”

“Don’t worry, we’ll be happy to do it for all of y’all,” reassured Applejack.

“Wait, what about Spike?” asked Twilight.

“I could take him with me back to the Crystal Empire,” offered Shining Armor. “I’m certain that the crystal ponies would love to have their hero back.”

Twilight looked down at the dragon with a concerned frown, her foreleg still around him protectively. “Spike, do you want to go with Shining Armor?”

“Yeah, it’ll be fun!” Spike answered enthusiastically. “They love me up there! Besides, it’s a city made out of crystal! All the gems I could eat!” His mouth started to water as he dreamt about an endless buffet of gems and crystals, and the other laughed at his enthusiasm.

“Very well,” stated Princess Celestia as she saw that they had figured out what their next course of action would be. “I have already sent out soldiers to search for any information. I’m also going to have guards assigned to protect you. Captain.” Hearing his princess call for him, a unicorn, wearing armor that designated him as the new Captain of the Royal Guard, entered the throne room and bowed. “I need three sets of guards to be assigned to protect these ponies. One to escort Prince Shining Armor and Spike back to the Crystal Empire, one to escort Applejack and Pinkie Pie back to Ponyville, and another to be assigned to Twilight Sparkle and Rarity. They are to protect them at all cost and at all times.”

“Yes, Your Majesty,” the captain said with a bow as he left to carry out the princess’s orders.

“Princess, what about Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy?” asked Twilight Sparkle.

“They are to leave immediately and not to tell anypony where they intend to hind,” she explained. “There is something sinister ahoof, and we need to be careful. If anything does happen, I want you all to go to ‘the place where harmony was discovered’ and wait for me there. Do you understand?” The group thought for a moment, and then they realized the meaning of her words and nodded. “Good. Now go, my little ponies.”