• Published 2nd Mar 2013
  • 967 Views, 18 Comments

Bearers of the Elements - fluttershywriter



After a mysterious force takes over Equestria, Celestia and her younger sister have to search for the mysterious Elements of Harmony—but things become more complicated than the princesses expected when a third companion joins them.

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Chapter 1

" 'With her long mane flowing, the princess kissed her lovely prince and bade him good night as he cantered off into the sunset.' " I closed the book of tales with a snap and glanced down at my younger sister, currently nestled in her bed. "That's the end, Luna. Time for sleepy fillies to fall asleep."

"But I'm not sleepy," whined my younger sister, her dark eyes wide open. She tugged on my pink mane, pulling me into bed with her. "I want to hear another story, and then I want to play chase with you, and then I want to—"

"Shhh," I said, shaking my head and trying not to get too irritated with my younger sister. She was barely old enough to know how to sleep through the night without wetting the bed—I should know better than to think that getting mad would fix anything. "Luna, I've already read three stories to you. I don't know if there's anything else I can do to get you to fall asleep." That's it, I coaxed myself. Explain the facts in a positive tone, then explain what she needs to do, and then maybe sing her a lullaby or something. Then you'll have the entire night to study and read. All the parenting books that I had read in an attempt to take care of my little sister had done wonders for my ability to take care of young foals, not that I got much chance to meet other foals.

That's your choice, I reminded myself. You chose to isolate yourself from other fillies and colts. It's for the better, you cotton-headed fool.

I shook all the thoughts out of my mind and focused on Luna, whose lip was trembling. Inwardly, I sighed. What was I supposed to say to a little filly like her? How could I explain that after she watched me raise the moon, she had to sleep? How could I explain to her that sometimes, I just wanted to spend a night alone? "Luna," I said in my most soothing voice, "I don't want you to cry, all right? I'm going to stay here until you fall asleep. I can sing you a lullaby, if you want."

No response from the tiny blue filly lying in the bed. I resisted the urge to tear my mane out. "Listen to me, sister. If you aren't going to cooperate, I can always get one of the royal nurses to come up and care for you while I go do older-filly stuff . . ."

That got a response from my catatonic sister. She sprang out of the bed and leaped onto my bag, wailing, "Nonononononononono!"

I tried to not show my smirk. If there was anything that got Luna upset, it was socializing with our royal staff. As the princesses of Equestria, we had maids that could wait on us whenever we wanted them to, but Luna wasn't used to being around other ponies, so naturally she wouldn't have anypony but me take care of her, and I always felt uncomfortable when other ponies were helping me. I knew that I was supposed to be Equestria's most important political figure, but I wasn't even a mare yet, and most of the time I just felt self-conscious. I'd grow out of it, though. I hoped.

"Tia, I don't want one of the maids to come in and check on me," Luna whined, her voice muffled from her face being shoved in my mane. "I wanna play with you."

"You can't do that, Luna," I told my sister, gently lifting her off of my back using my magic. Tucking her back in, I gave her a quick kiss on her forehead. "Do you want me to sing you a lullaby? It'll make it easier for you to fall asleep."

My sister tried to protest, but ended up stifling a yawn instead. "Lullaby," she said, her voice thick with sleepiness. "But you've gotta climb in with me, Tia." I didn't argue. Getting Luna into bed was a big enough challenge as it was, and I wasn't about to complicate things with arguments about how she should be old enough to fall asleep without me sleeping next to her.

Carefully, wrapping one white wing around my sister, climbed into her bed and pulled up the sheet. "Are you comfortable enough, Luna?" I asked my sister in a low voice.

"Sing the lullaby, Tia," came the sleepy response.

"You're getting older, Luna," I told my sister, shaking my head. "You know how to talk well enough so that you don't have to call me by that silly nickname anymore—you're old enough to be calling me Celestia." I paused. No answer. "Luna?" I said again, in a quieter, more gentle, tone. Nothing. Sighing, I began to sing in a gentle, yearning voice. "Hush now, quiet now, it's time to lay your sleepy head . . ."


I turned a page in my book, my horn glistening with magic. I stifled a yawn, feeling as though I was Luna, insisting that I wasn't tired. Thank goodness there wasn't anypony to tell me to go to bed—I had to finish studying this new chapter before I went to bed. Although this assignment hadn't been given to me by my tutor, I often finished my assignments early and read ahead in the textbooks.

Snobby princess, learning for fun, said a snide voice in my head. I ignored it, wishing that the cruel voices in my head didn't come up so often when I was studying. It completely broke my concentration.

I heard fast hoofsteps padding up the stairs. Cursing under my breath, I slammed shut the book and turned towards the staircase expectantly. It was probably a maid wondering what I was doing up so late, or a butler wondering how I felt about next morning's breakfast. Why was it that whenever I was really beginning to do something interesting—in this case, learning more about the ancient pegasus empires—some servant came up to watch my every move?

A plump stallion's figure appeared in the shadows at the top of the staircase. I heard panting, then saw the stallion sprint towards me. I squinted, holding up my lantern so that I could see better. Gradually, a short, plump stallion appeared in front of me—one of the castle's cooks. I resisted the urge to roll my eyes as he gulped for air. I straightened my posture and attempted to look as though I hadn't been sprawled out on the carpet reading for the last hour and a half.

"Gustave," I said in a civil tone.

"My . . . my leader," he said through his gasps, bowing down. I felt heat spread across my face.

"Gustave, you don't have to bow," I muttered, hating the fact that a grown stallion had to bow down to a teenager. "Why are you up here, anyway?"

He gulped and took a few more heaving breaths. "Ran . . . all around . . . the castle looking for you," he said between wheezes. "There's . . . news. A . . . disturbance has been spreading over . . . Equestria. You're needed—needed in the . . . town hall tomorrow morning. Seven . . . a.m. Sharp."

I stiffened. "A disturbance? Spreading? What the hay is that supposed to mean? Is it so important that I have to be there at seven?" I didn't risk a glance at the clock, knowing that I'd be horrified with the late hour. I had been planning on sleeping in late, or at least as late as I could with Luna in the castle.

"The page did not say, Princess," said Gustave, sighing and wiping his brow of sweat. "All I know is that you are required to be in the town hall. We expect you there at seven. Sharp."

"Sharp," I echoed dully, strolling over to the lantern and blowing the candle out. "Thank you, Gustave."

"My lady," said Gustave, as if this was some form of thanks. The squat stallion gave one final, sweeping bow before strolling out, his chest heaving from the exertion.

I stood in the dark room, just staring off into space, for at least ten minutes. My legs felt unusually heavy, and my brain was a slushy pit of the stupidity of all the mortals. Then, finally, I shook myself and stumbled over to the window. When I peeked out from the curtains, there was nothing that showed me that there was a great disturbance in Equestria. Sighing, I trudged towards my bedchamber and pulled up the sheets, not bothering to brush my teeth or mane. I listened for any noise—my sister's cries, or anything else that could prevent me from going to sleep—but nothing out there could distract me from a good night's sleep before my big day in the town hall. I snuggled into my quilt, letting out a sigh of relief.

Just as I was falling into a heavy sleep, an uneasy sense of foreboding washed over me. I sat up, glancing around uneasily, but there was no evident danger. I sighed and curled up into a ball, letting my eyelids droop shut. Whatever worry was nagging at the back of my mind, I'd figure it out tomorrow, at the council meeting in city hall.

Author's Note:

Hi there! :pinkiesmile: Just a note—I know that back in the day when Luna and Celestia were fillies, they'd be talking in a more old-fashioned way than this, but for the sake of simplicity (and so that I don't have to keep on looking up archaic language) I'm going to have the sisters talk as though they're modern-day fillies. Thank you!