> War of the Horns
>  by TiberiusBronycus
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Prologue - The Fall of Steam Steppes
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Swifty Blazefeathers needed more time. That's why even as the boxes came tumbling down on what had been some of Lemon Tart's closest friends, the mustard-yellow Earth pony didn't hesitate to kick a few more in their way to further slow them down. Lemon had to remember that these were not her friends anymore. That no matter how much it might hurt her to see her friends buried under those boxes, she had to keep going around and causing more of a ruckus. Lemon had to keep them chasing her around the town of Steam Steppes and to continue buying Swifty as much of a head start north to Dodge Junction as she could.
It shouldn't have come down to this, Lemon thought to herself as she ducked around a nearby shed, avoiding a few of the town's residents who were on the hunt for her. Resting against the wooden shack, she gulped down as much air as she could into her lungs while listening to the sounds of the retreating ponies. Yet while her pursuers went off in a different direction, there was no escaping the thoughts that had nagged and hounded her the entire time. How could this be happening? When their first few attempts to get a response from Canterlot failed, why had they not grown more suspicious? And why in the name of Princess Celestia had everypony lost their minds all at once?
The truth of it was that when the first pony had come out of the Singed Mines with their Cutie Mark gone, the ponies of the Steppes had been more curious than alarmed. Nearly all of the thirty or so pony residents of Steam Steppes were Earth ponies, with only a single Unicorn and Pegasus among them, but more importantly they were all frontier ponies. They were able to deal with the rough life of being out on the edges of known Equestria and the general consensus amongst them all had been to figure it out on their own before sending out a letter to Canterlot for help. Even when other ponies began to lose their Cutie Marks, stubborn pride had held through. After all, no one had started acting differently, so what was the big deal? Lemon had even been one of the most vocal to state that they didn't need any help from outsiders.
"I was so stupid.." As soon as Lemon opened her mouth, she regretted it. A cry of alarm from around the shed told the mustard yellow pony that somepony had heard her and her rest was being cut short. The chase was back on and before she knew it, she was dashing past the familiar houses that had just a few weeks back been filled with happy and hard working ponies. Now? Now every single house was empty and all of the town was looking for her.
That was a good thing, she had to continue reminding herself. If they were looking for her, that meant they weren't chasing Swifty. Lemon had to keep telling herself that. It was the only thing giving her the strength she needed as she leapt over the reaching hooves of two of the possessed ponies of the Steppes. A look back drove a dagger into her heart, nearly causing her legs to buckle under her when she landed as she realized that the ponies who had tried to reach up for her had been her own parents. They had been one of the last ponies to lose their Cutie Marks, but whatever was affecting everypony, it didn't seem to matter how long it was since one had lost their Mark. In the end, they all still fell prey to the sudden madness that had turned the Steam Steppes upside down.
The craziness had happened all so fast. Just this morning Flint Tumblestone, the only Unicorn who lived in Steam Steppes, had returned from his trip to the nearest mailbox all the way in Dodge Junction. It was a three day trek each way and by the time the Unicorn had returned to the Steppes, most of the town's population had lost their Cutie Marks. Worse, they had all been replaced by what appeared to be a charred hoof holding a length of iron chains. The frightening appearance of the new Cutie Mark had been the last straw days ago and the reason why the normally reclusive Flint had volunteered for one final run to Dodge Junction.
When the Unicorn had sworn to the town that he had made sure that the mail pony had picked up the letter before leaving from Dodge Junction, Lemon had been relieved. There had been no reason to doubt him. They were all frontier ponies, out here on the outskirts of Equestria, and it was their unity that kept them strong. The threats of wild creatures, terrifying dragons, and the ever present danger of the unknown might lurk around them, but the Steam Steppes' ponies had known each other for years. Besides, Flint surely had wanted his own Cutie Mark back so why would he lie to them, right?
That same night, Lemon, Swifty, and the remaining four ponies who still had their Cutie Marks had decided to hold a meeting in the town hall to continue discussion as to what other preventative steps could be taken to make sure this affliction didn't overtake them all. The first measure they had taken had been to shut down the mines. When that had not worked, the town had begun quarantine efforts. Now, with so many having lost their Cutie Marks, the last resort had been to abandon their loved ones until help arrived. It felt wrong, went against their very natures, but when Swifty had suggested it Lemon couldn't find the strength to disagree. Besides, this whole mess would soon be resolved once Princess Celestia sent some magical help to deal with this issue and they would all be able to come back and live with their families again.
Swifty Blazefeathers had pulled Lemon aside while the others continued the meeting to discuss the logistics of the temporary departure. The Pegasus had been Lemon Tart's closest friend since they were fillies, long before they had come out to the Steam Steppes, and just like Lemon Swifty's own parents had contracted the mysterious ailment. Swifty was also the toughest pony that Lemon had ever known, her best friend having been one of the few mares she knew of to serve in the E. U. P. Guard. The dark scarlet Pegasus might still have been serving in that elite squadron if not for an injury she had sustained during her tenure, her maimed right wing having cut her career short and taken away her ability to fly.
If her friend could be strong during this, so would she. The two best friends had agreed that they would take barely any supplies and leave everything they could for the ponies who would be staying behind when the door to the town hall had simply exploded, spraying everypony inside in a shower of splinters and woodchips. The cries of confusion and alarm from those who had just a few moments ago been discussing what to do about the town quickly were replaced by shouts of protests and anger. Two of the ponies who had been inside and near the now broken door had been quickly pounced upon by three of those who had lost their Cutie Marks, even as Flint Tumblestone trotted in with two others.
There had been something in Flint's eyes then, a sort of unbridled malice, that had nearly stolen Lemon's breath away. It was unlike her to freeze in a situation like this - this was the same Earth pony who had not hesitated to dive and tackle a fellow miner out of the way of a cave in - and yet there she found herself, rooted in place. The incredulity of seeing the ponies of the Steppes fighting amongst themselves had been too great. She certainly had not moved when Flint's eyes landed on her and Swifty, still had been in shock even as the Unicorn lifted a hoof in their direction and screamed for the now crowd of afflicted ponies outside of the town hall to seize everypony inside.
Lemon would have been caught right then and there, snatched up just like everypony inside the hall, if it had not been for Swifty's fast thinking. The Pegasus had kicked the nearby table in the direction of the approaching ponies before grabbing Lemon and diving out a nearby window with her friend. Even though the surprise of what was unfolding in the building behind them had left Lemon's legs feeling as heavy as lead, Swifty had refused to leave the mustard yellow Earth pony behind. The Pegasus had thrown her over her shoulder, certainly strong enough to carry her friend as they tried to elude their neighbors, their friends, who had seemingly transformed to become their enemies and captors. With the screams coming from the town hall, it wouldn't be long until Swifty and Lemon would join them, more than likely unable to avoid the pursuers until help arrived.
The realization that no help was probably coming was what had smacked Lemon right out of her bewilderment. Why would Flint have delivered the letter if he was now having everypony captured? What was worse was there was no way that the two best friends would get out of the town together. There were just too many ponies and even then she heard them calling out to circle around and surround them. There was only one choice left to the friends, one plan of possible escape. Swifty had known it too, because when Lemon had opened her mouth to tell her best friend to flee, to go for help and tell anypony she could find about what was happening in the frontier town, the Pegasus' eyes had already grown misty.
Still, Swifty Blazefeathers was tough. She had been a soldier. More importantly, she was the fastest pony in all of the Steam Steppes. She might not be able to fly anymore, but unlike most Pegasis, her strength had never been primarily in her wings but in her legs. She could outrun most Earth ponies with ease and often could keep up with many Pegasi flying overhead as well. That's why she knew she had to be the one to go while Lemon stayed behind. The two best friends didn't waste any time beyond a quick hug before the scarlet Pegasus darted off into one of the streets of the town, no doubt to make her way north towards Dodge Junction. Swifty had known what she had to do and Lemon's mission of buying her friend time had begun.
That same mission was what currently had Lemon Tart hiding on a rooftop, daring to peek her head out to see if any of her pursuers were close to her location. Luckily she didn't have to worry about being spotted from above, as the only Pegasus who resided in the town could not fly and was hopefully, by now, hours away on her way to Dodge Junction. Lemon had kept the town occupied for most the night. Hopefully the Earth pony was slowing down whatever it was that Flint Tumblestone and the other ponies of the Steam Steppes had planned. It was a shame for the town's residents that Lemon was fantastic at playing Hide and Seek. She wasn't sure how much longer she could hold out, but even if she bought herself a day, maybe two, that had to be worth something.
She kept repeating that to herself, this time mentally, until a feeling of absolute dread abruptly clamped down on her throat like a vice. The air that had been so eagerly flowing in and out of her lungs thickened, her lungs straining, as if a heavy weight was forcing the very act of breathing to be a taxing effort. She had never before felt such anxiety, such panic, and it was all too unnatural because she knew it wasn't coming from her own thoughts. Surely the night's events had been frightening, but not like this. This terror, this sense of dismay that felt as if it were choking the life out of her, was coming from behind her. Somehow, someway, she knew that something had suddenly joined her on the rooftop. It took everything in her, all of Lemon Tart's willpower, to slowly turn her head to look behind her.
And by all that she held dear, she had never wished for anything more than to not have looked into those burning eyes as her consciousness slipped away..


> Chapter 1 - Visions of the Past and Future
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

        Six hundred and eighty two. That was the number of times that Twilight Sparkle had touched the royal seal that adorned the scroll in her hooves. Four hundred and six. That was how often the studious Alicorn had unfurled the scroll before hastily rolling it back up. Three hundred and forty seven. That final number was the most important for it represented the amount of times that Twilight had read the actual contents of the letter. The same letter that had made her gather up all of her closest friends that morning and set out on the next train out of Ponyville to Canterlot. Even now, as the train rode closer to its destination, Twilight rubbed the golden sun that served as Princess Celestia's own stamp. Six hundred and eighty three.
        Anxiety had gnawed Twilight's every thought that morning after having read the princess' emergency summons. After all, why would Princess Celestia want to see her in such an urgent fashion? Was Twilight finally going to have to leave Ponyville? To go rule a kingdom of her own? She would never want to disobey the Princess, but then again.. could she truly leave Ponyville and her friends behind? The thought of it all was making her queasy and she avoided looking out the train window, lest it further upset her stomach. She hadn't even been able to ask Spike what his opinion on the matter was because the young dragon had been sent out to Saddle Arabia on royal business.
        "Oooh, a trip to Canterlot! How exquisite!" Rarity had hardly heard Twilight when she had told the fashionista that the Sun princess was summoning them to Canterlot on an official matter. All Rarity had needed to know was that they were going to visit the glamorous capital of Equestria. The seamstress had been to the city on several occasions but she never failed to be delighted at the idea of visiting the cultural center of all Equestria. "This does present me with quite the wonderful opportunity to scope out some of the latest fashion trends here. I have a hunch that puffy shirts will be all the craze this summer!"
        Pinkie Pie nearly tackled Rarity in her excitement, drawing a huff from the Unicorn as Pinkie settled her forelegs over Rarity's back and nodded in her usual energetic fashion. "And I can't wait to visit Donut Joe's shop and taste his latest batch of Dazzlingly Delicious Deep Dunked Dark Dipped Decadent Double Decker Donuts!" There likely wasn't a single one of Twilight Sparkle's friends that was more ecstatic to visit Canterlot than Pinkie. Actually, that probably held true about a lot of things. It really was hard to top the energetic pink mare when it came to enthusiasm.
        Rainbow Dash shook her head at the sweets obsessed Earth pony even as Rainbow tried to make out whatever gibberish Pinkie Pie had just said. "Uh, Pinkie.. don't you think that's a bit of a mouthful?" Sure Dash enjoyed a treat here or there, but whatever Pinkie was talking about sounded more complicated than tasty.
        "Oh boy, I sure hope so!" The drool that was forming at the corner of Pinkie Pie's mouth was all the incentive that Rarity needed to buck her off, causing the party minded Earth pony to giggle as she tumbled off and then rolled about on the train floor. Both Rainbow and Rarity shared a look before the two giggled as well. It was hard to deny Pinkie's infectious laughter.
Not for Twilight though. Not as she opened the summons before rolling it back up hastily. Four hundred and seven. A faint sigh left the young Alicorn as she fluttered her wings nervously before resting her cheek on the table in front of her. They had chosen to get a private train car, which did cost a few extra bits, but Princess Celestia had asked for more than just the six friends to make their way to Canterlot as soon as possible. Above all, the letter had stressed, they were to keep the utmost secrecy as to what they were doing. That last part was what had her so worried. The Princess of the Day often called Twilight and her friends to help with matters, both big and small, but she had never stressed for them to just remain mums on the entire matter.
The sound of hooves approaching brought her to lift up her head and see a concerned Applejack approaching her with Fluttershy in tow. One close look at Twilight Sparkle had a frown cross Applejack's face, the country pony shaking her head. "Shucks Twilight, you look more nervous than Rarity in a mud pie contest." From the side, they could hear Rarity just about to protest that remark before she was tackled by Pinkie Pie again.
"I know.." Twilight sighed as she reached out to touch the floating scroll that she magically kept hovering by her head, but at the last second Applejack's hoof fell upon her own. The Alicorn instead lowered her gaze back to the floor as she continued. "It's just that the letter said for us to go to Canterlot as swiftly as possible, but not why. What.. what if it's an exam? I haven't had any time to study at all. I don't even know what it could be about. Climate Changes Across Equestria? Bestiarum Vocabulum of Monstrous Companions? Advanced Magical Theoretics and Algorithms?"
"Twilight, think all logic like. Why would the Princess call for all of us if she wanted to test ya on yer fancy mathematics?" There was something about the drawl in Applejack's voice, not to mention the truth of her statement, that made the ball of stress that was bunched up in Twilight's stomach ease away just a smidge.
Fluttershy shook her head, the nervous Pegasus staring down at her hooves. "I-I kind of wish it was a test." She lifted her one eye to look at Twilight and Applejack timidly, the other hidden by her pink mane. "You.. you don't think it's something d-d-dangerous, do you?"
Before Twilight could even form a response to try and comfort her friend, Rainbow pushed herself into the conversation, grinning as she kept herself aloft with easy flaps of her wings. "Are you kidding me? I hope so! Danger is what we do! We've fought parasprites, timberwolves, even a dragon!"
"And besides darling," Rarity said as she joined up with the other four mares, Pinkie Pie bouncing along beside the fashion minded Unicorn, "No matter what might be needed of you, you can always depend on us to stand beside you."
"Exactly!" Applejack grinned as she lifted her signature hat off her own head and settled it right on Twilight Sparkle's own. Applejack was always reluctant to take her hat off at any given time, but when Apple Bloom had been younger and scared of things going bump under her bed, Applejack had often given her little sister her hat to wear at night and told her it would keep her safe. Hopefully, it had a similar encouraging effect on Twilight. "So don't go worryin' yerself up a storm before we even get 'ere!"
It might not have had the exact result it had on Apple Bloom but it did help. Still, some apprehension lingered with Twilight as she expressed her more serious concerns. "But what if this is Princess related..? What if Princess Celestia wants me to leave Ponyville? Cadance is ruling the Crystal Empire now. What if she wants me to go somewhere else?"
"Then we'll deal with that if it comes!" Rainbow hovered near Twilight, reaching over to push down Applejack's hat over the bookworm's face with a faint grin. "Together. Right everypony?"
Twilight couldn't help but smile a little wider as her friends chimed in their agreement. The newest Alicorn princess just had to keep reminding herself that no matter what came their way, her friends were right. They had faced so many obstacles together. There was no way that their friendship couldn't overcome another. "Thanks girls."
Pinkie Pie suddenly popped up on the seat beside Twilight Sparkle, grinning widely. "Besides! Who can think about anything like that when I'm already thinking about the new Colossally Crispy Chunky Caramel Chocolate Cheesecake Cronut!"


* * *


        The dream always started the same. Princess Cadance was always alone, in the middle of a void, and always distinctly aware that none of it was real. Then a voice would call out her name, sometimes as softly as a whisper in the wind, other times it boomed like thunder high in the skies. That was always the sign for her to begin running through the emptiness of her dream before it slowly began to take form around her. Down the endless halls of marble she would gallop. Sometimes, she would even take flight, but those moments were rare. Yet in the dream she was not running away from something. She was actually the pursuer.
        The shrouded figure was always within sight of Cadance in the dream. The halls would occasionally turn or even became forks, but no matter what route she took, there was the fleeing pony in sight and yet never within reach. She could never close the distance no matter how hard her legs tried, no matter how furiously her wings would flap, and even when she begged the figure to stop running away, it would never heed her pleas. It was always too far and when she would wake up, she always felt a distinct emptiness in her heart, as if she had lost something dear to her but was never able to recall exactly what it was.
The dream had haunted Cadance as long as she could remember. It came infrequently, maybe once or twice a year, yet the princess remembered every single one as clear as day. She had taken to writing about them in a journal, though for a long time that diary had been the only one to shared her secret. The existence of the dream had been one that she had kept to herself. Even her Aunt Luna, who ruled the night and tended to the dreams of ponies, was unaware of them. She had only just recently told her beloved husband, Shining Armor, but only that she had a recurring dream and never what its contents were. It had only taken her husband one look in her eyes to see how serious she had been about not discussing the content of these dreams.
"Cadenza.."
This time, it had started out as it always did. The voice called to her as it always did and it spurred her to run. Her hooves were clicking on the marble floor underneath her as she gave chase to the figure and that fact spelled alarm for her immediately. Outside of when she would first hear her name in the dream, it had always been silent afterwards. Now? She heard her wings flapping to try and give her speed, her heart pounding in her ears, her breath growing ragged while she gave chase. She could even hear the hoof steps of the one she pursued far in front of her.
"Cadance.."
Her name again. Why was the dream so different this time around? She had never heard her name said more than once. Also, it didn't sound the same as the first time, as if a different voice had called out to her. The second voice sounded familiar and far away, as if outside of the dream, but she couldn't possibly think to answer. She certainly didn't want to wake. Not when the figure before her had actually stopped running and was now turning towards her. The cowl it wore lifted and danced in the wind yet the hood around its head stayed firmly in place.
"Cadance.."
There it was again, the second voice calling out to her, sounding even more urgent than before. Not that it mattered. Nothing else was of importance other than getting to the figure, to what she could make out was a male before her. How long had the Princess waited? How many years had she spent chasing that being in hopes of catching up to him? How long had she hoped to see that very hoof far before her being outstretched as it was for her to take?
She couldn't make out his features, the hood still keeping that from her, but her heart was screaming in her chest. It was telling her that she knew him, that the moment she pulled that hood back, everything would all make sense to her. A hope swelled inside of her, a belief that all would be clear. After the first few times the dream had come to her, she had learned to cast away the expectation of ever catching up to the elusive figure, but here she was now, believing, wishing, and knowing that in a few more seconds, her hoof would be upon his claw.
Claw?
Cadance actually drew to a halt and shook her head, trying to clear away what must have been a mistake. When she looked again she realized it was not a claw, yet not a pony's hoof either she was looking at. The hoof was not cloven, for it had three toes instead of simply two. Why though? It had been a hoof before when she had first seen it extended, but maybe that was how she had wanted to see it? As if a memory had blurred her vision and had painted the reaching appendage in a manner that she would misconstrue it.
Even as she stood there, staring at the extended hoof, she noted that it was becoming larger. In fact, the entire figure was growing bigger, twice her size - no, even more! What little semblance to a world around her began to melt away, the marble floors disappearing into the shadows, swallowed once more by the void. She didn't dare to turn away, not after having come this far, and watched as the toes that were larger than she was reached for her. Somehow, she didn't feel any fear. She knew that this being wouldn't harm her.
It hadn't. Even as the hoof closed around Cadance, he held her carefully and slowly lifted her high into the air. She could no longer see any of his body, for no matter where she looked, all she saw was darkness, a swirl of shadows so thick it felt as if she could reach out and grab them. Even looking down, she could barely make out the blackened skin of the hoof she rested upon. Instead she looked ahead, back into the blackness that was faintly outlined by the hood, and the twin suns that seemed to flare into existence within.
No, not suns. They were fiery eyes, eyes that burned like lakes of magma, eyes that resembled pools of flames that still could not pierce the darkness around them. Had she not been in the dream, not been aware that none of this was actually real, she might have felt horror or even at least concern, but she didn't. The Princess of Emotions could feel nothing but a single feeling washing over her from those eyes.
Love.
"Cadance."
It was that pleading voice from before, the one from outside the dream. This time, Cadance had not been the only one to hear it. The eyes that had been showering her with fondness and adoration turned upwards, as did her own gaze, and she could feel the animosity that now exuded from the being who held her. Not at her. Never her. Somehow, she knew those eyes had been watching her for the entirety of her life and had always been filled with nothing but tenderness when they fell upon her. Now though, a hatred that was palpable was aimed from her companion within the dream towards that voice who had called to her. He held her still, an attachment that kept her anchored in his hoof, even as she felt her very core tremble at the force of the voice that suddenly escaped the hood.
"She.. is.. mine.."
Cadance did not know what to say. The being in front of her regarded her with nothing but love, a love far different from any she could ever remember. He sought to protect her, to shield her from the world, and it was almost maddening the devotion he felt for her. The Alicorn princess couldn't explain why he felt that way, why he cared so much for her, but she did know that he meant to keep her safe. That was why he was beginning to draw her into the hood, close to those eyes that had her riveted. She didn't know whether she should be trying to escape, to avoid being swallowed by the void and the orbs of fire that burned within them.. or if she should willingly let herself be taken in by the darkness, to throw herself into that overwhelming love. What she did know was that the male was making that choice for her. For some odd reason, that was okay with Cadance. He had her best interest at he..
"Cadance!"
The Alicorn woke with a violent gasp for air, Cadance's head swimming as her eyes filled with spots that speckled her vision. Had she been choking? Had she come close to dying in that dream? From the alarmed look on Shining Armor's face as he held her to him, she thought that might have actually been possible.
"Geez, Cadance! You nearly scared the magic out of me. I was worried that you wouldn't wake up!" Shining Armor said, the Unicorn shaking his head. Now that he felt sure that his wife wasn't in any sort of danger, he finally released her and scooted back on the bed. "You were moving your legs as if you were running.. but it was the crying that made me try to wake you up."
Crying? A quick glance from Cadance to her pillow showed that it was indeed stained heavily with what must have been her tears. Had she been sobbing out of fear? Or had they been tears of joy? At that moment, the Alicorn princess couldn't decide. She still felt light headed, as if she had gone days without sleep, and she lifted a hoof up to touch her horn. The feel of it relaxed her, the link to her magic helping to bring her back to reality and shaking away the figurative cobwebs.
"It was that dream again, wasn't it?"
The question from Shining Armor jolted Cadance out of her reverie, dispelling whatever grogginess had clung to her. More than that, it was the way her husband had phrased it. It had sounded more like an accusation than anything. She could see that she was right by the way his jaw had set, the way his eyes had narrowed. He was actually mad at her, as if her refusal to divulge any details about the dream had put her own life at risk.
She shared nearly everything with her husband, having loved him for so long, but the dream had always been an issue of contention between them. He rarely brought it up, but the few times he had, she had always shut down any chance of her husband prying into it. They had even gotten into a few arguments over it. The dream had been her deepest secret, one that had finally begun to truly unravel its mysteries to her. It was important to her, now more than ever, and she certainly didn't take kindly to the way he had asked her about it.
The sudden glare in her purple eyes must have shown quite clearly because the anger fled from Shining Armor's cerulean eyes swiftly enough, only to be replaced with genuine worry. "Cad, you can't just keep this bottled up. I was honestly scared for you. You were breathing as hard as Twily does when she has a test coming her way. You started to choke.. I'm just.."
The concern in his tone deflated Cadance's own anger, stealing her fury away as she reached over to touch her husband's hoof lovingly before the young Princess rose from the bed. She had a feeling that slumber was the last thing she would find if she tried to go back to sleep. At least, not a peaceful rest. Maybe she would even get drawn back into the dream, and Cadance was surprised to find that possibility was not scaring her as much as it should have.
She didn't say anything as her hooves took her to a nearby open window where a fantastic view of the Crystal Empire greeted her, her city sleeping peacefully under her aunt's full moon in the sky. Cadance decided there and then that Shining was right. She had to widen the circle of ponies that knew about her dreams, but more importantly, she had to seek the advice of her aunts on the matter. Now just how much she would reveal about what was her most jealously guarded secret? That was the real question.


* * *


By the time the train had settled into the station at Canterlot, the fear that had been knotted in Twilight Sparkle's stomach had fluttered away. Her friends were beside her, ready to help her with whatever came her way, just as they always had been since the moment they had befriended her in Ponyville. They had tackled countless trials, defeated powerful foes, and unraveled so many mysteries. With every passing step along the streets of the bustling capital of Equestria, Twilight felt more and more assured that they would succeed in whatever Princess Celestia needed them for. A confident smile was even upon her face, though they were still on important business, as the Alicorn was reminded the rambunctious Pinkie Pie. Only the swearing of a Pinkie Promise that they would visit Donut Joe immediately after they met with Princess Celestia in the palace kept the Earth pony in line.
The streets were busy at this time of day, with ponies from all over Equestria coming to Canterlot for various reasons, but it was a passing guard that caught Twilight Sparkle's eyes and slowed her pace. No, not a single passing guard, but a few. Twilight Sparkle had lived in Canterlot most of her life and she had never seen so many Royal Guards and E.U.P. Guard out in the city before. Not even during the wedding of her brother Shining Armor and Princess Cadance. The fear that had left her came back, though it was now for fear of her beloved mentor. Had something happened to Princess Celestia? Or to Princess Luna? What could possibly call for another showing of strength like this?
The Alicorn's thoughts were stolen away by the sound of something zooming overhead, quickly followed by Rainbow Dash's excited squeal. The rest of the girls looked up and saw the iconic uniform of the Wonderbolts worn by a Pegasus who had flown by far too fast for Twilight Sparkle to catch which one it was, the airborne pony already retreating in the distance. Twilight was still looking up to the sky, as were her friends, and were able to catch sight of another speeding Wonderbolt soar through the skies, swiftly followed by another. Then a fourth. A fifth.
By the time the ninth had flown by, Twilight Sparkle was beginning to wonder if there had been an event set for today. Could that be the reason for the increased security? She turned to look at Rainbow Dash, the biggest fan of the aerial acrobatics group she knew, but was surprised to see a frown over the Pegasus' face.
"Rainbow, what's wrong?" Twilight asked, her head tilted curiously at the expression on her friend's face, "I thought you would have been happy to see the Wonderbolts while we visit Canterlot.."
"That's not it." Rainbow frowned, her wings folding as she landed near her friends who were no longer concerned with the flying forms overhead. "That's not any flying formation I'm familiar with. I mean, it didn't even look like they were trying anything flashy.."
"Shucks, was flashy enough just seein' so many of 'em!" Applejack lifted her head up to look back at the sky before turning her green eyes back to the rainbow maned Pegasus. "Maybe they're practicin' some new git?"
"Those weren't show maneuvers." Rainbow shook her head and the frown that had been over her face only grew deeper as she spared a glance above before looking to the others, pointedly at Twilight Sparkle. "They were flying at the wrong altitude. They're not trying to put on a show. They're keeping an eye on the city."
        "B- but why..?" Fluttershy's timid question was barely heard over the sound of another Pegasus streaking through the air.
        "Girls.." The mares looked over to Rarity, the fashionista having walked away as something else had caught her eye. She was waving her friends over before pointing down a street. Twilight Sparkle remembered that the street in question led to the Bearded Plaza, a large public square that had a bronze statue of the famed conjurer, Starswirl the Bearded, at its center. During her time in Canterlot, under Princess Celestia's tutelage, the plaza had been one of Twilight's favorite spots in the city to sit down with a few good books and study.
        When Twilight Sparkle looked down the street along with her friends, the last thing that came to mind was studying.
        The plaza was alive with commotion as various uniformed members of Equestria's defensive forces bounded about. Tents were littered all over the square with messenger ponies running around, delivering messages or crates that carried who knows what. Some of the younger Unicorns levitated weighted objects up and down into the air to help strengthen their telekinesis, while the older ones practiced spells that were certainly classified under battle magic, such as the conjuration of lightning bolts Twilight Sparkle noticed one veteran guard summon. Pegasi flew overhead, drilling in evasive maneuvers, or sparred with the Earth ponies below who were mainly training with weapons like swords and spears.
        The sight had hushed the girls into silence, the unease that Twilight Sparkle had felt that morning not only returning in full, but now spreading to each of her friends. Even the usually buoyant and cheerful Pinkie Pie had a frown on her face, shaking her head. "That doesn't look like they are practicing for a parade.."
        "Nope," Applejack responded, "Looks like they're gettin' ready for a tussle."
        Rainbow Dash turned away from the plaza to look back to the sky, to the sight of her beloved Wonderbolts soaring ahead in anything but their normal theatrical manner, and the look in her eyes reflected the distress the others were sharing. "A big one."
        The six close friends looked back to the plaza, to the sight of the soldiers and guards preparing themselves for what looked to be some major conflict. None of them wanted to look away, fearful of what it was that could cause such a reaction in Canterlot, but Twilight forced herself to do so. She was not the same mare she had been when she set out to Ponyville long ago. She had became stronger because of her friends. Now, she was a Princess, and that meant she had to be tougher than others.
"Come on girls."  She motioned for them to follow her as she turned away from the Bearded Plaza, though truthfully she felt the plaza had turned from her. It had been a place her mind had always associated with joyful memories of endless study sessions. Now, it was a place for battle. "Princess Celestia will have all the answers we need. I'm sure of it."
        With Twilight Sparkle leading the way, the others soon followed suit, hurrying for the palace where Celestia awaited them. Their thoughts were so preoccupied by the recent changes in Canterlot and the hopeful promise that the Sun Princess might be able to explain the whole situation, that they had failed to notice the stallion who had been following them the entire time. The young Unicorn had been told to keep his eyes open for anything curious and certainly, the arrival of Equestria's newest princess and her friends fell under that.
        However, as the girls hurried to the palace, the male Unicorn turned to hurry to the train station in hopes of catching the next departing train out of the capital. Luckily, he made the last call on a train heading for Dodge Junction and as he sat down on a bench in his private booth, he carefully adjusted the traveling cloak he had been wearing during his stay in the city. After all, Flint Tumblestone had to be careful that his transformed Cutie Mark was recognized by anypony. Not with the news he had to bring back to the Steppes..
> Chapter 2 - Revelations Surface
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Oddly, despite the increased security in Canterlot proper, Twilight Sparkle found the palace to be less staffed than usual. Whatever threat Princess Celestia thought there was must have been an external one, and one she must have hoped to stop from reaching the castle. Or more likely by Twilight's reasoning, the Sun Princess was simply more concerned with the well being of her subjects than of her own welfare. No point in stewing over it, she kept reminding herself, as the doors to the throne room were opened by single member of the Royal Guard. So barren was the castle of actual sentries that the same guard hurried ahead of the girls, down the crimson carpet that flowed down the center of the hall, and took up the sole post of guarding the throne.
At the least some things hadn't changed, Twilight Sparkle noted with no small measure of relief. Princess Celestia sat upon the throne as the newest Alicorn of the royal court remembered her, though as Twilight and her friends drew closer, it was easy to note the worried look on her mentor's face. Princess Luna, who stood beside her older sister, wore the same expression. To their credit though, by the time the girls finally arrived at the throne, the Alicorn sisters had wiped away any sign of alarm as they stepped down from the raised dais together. They set their regal gazes upon the six close friends who knelt before them. Twilight Sparkle may not have needed to also kneel, but old habits were hard to break.
"Princess Twilight. Applejack. Rarity. Fluttershy. Rainbow Dash. Pinkie Pie." Princess Celestia stepped forward and inclined her head, the silent nod that the girls should rise up from their knees. "It is so wonderful to see all of you again. I am so sorry that I had to call all of you here on such short notice, but I fear a situation has come to our attention this very morning. One we had hoped to never encounter."
"Of course. We're here to help with whatever it is you might need Your Highness." Twilight said as she rose up from her kneeling position. Princess Celestia had told her that she no longer had to be so formal around her, but that was also something that the new Alicorn had not come to grips with. Nor did she actually want to. Becoming an Alicorn - becoming royalty - was not something Twilight had actually aimed for. It was incredible, but it also demanded so many changes from her that she was not entirely ready to accept. One of those was dropping the honorific title from either Princess before her.
"Yes, you six have always been my most trustworthy subjects. I have come to think of all of you so fondly." Celestia allowed a ghost of a smile to cross her face before shaking her head. The Princess of the Day motioned to the lone guard, dismissing him from his duty with a single wave of a hoof.
Only when the stallion had left and the doors to the throne room were closed did the elder Alicorn continue. "Which is why you must understand my absolute reluctance to share this.. yet I fear not doing so would cause even greater harm."
"No worries Princess!" Rainbow Dash was hardly one for decorum and the Pegasus hopped up into the air, punching her hooves together. "We're up for anything you can throw at us!"
Luna's somber tone was a sharp contrast to Rainbow's enthusiastic one. "I pray that thine confidence does not lead thee to fall to hubris. The threat we speak of is not solely limited to Equestria, but to all things.."
Rainbow Dash blinked a few times before settling down on the floor. The severity of the Princess of the Night's words had taken some of the wind from her sails, but she still bore a look of confidence. In fact, as Twilight Sparkle looked at her friends, they all shared the same look of determination to rise up to whatever challenge was presented to them. Well, except Fluttershy. The yellow Pegasus had taken to hiding behind Rarity, the Unicorn lightly stroking Fluttershy's head to ease her shaking.
Princess Celestia took a deep breath, as if steeling herself for the task ahead, before motioning for the girls to follow her and Luna. "Come with us girls. What we have to show you, to tell you, is something we can not risk being known by others just yet."
The Alicorn sisters walked carefully around the dais, each standing to either side of it before lowering their heads so that their horns pointed to the raised platform. An aura of magic covered their horns briefly before the girls heard what sounded like a clicking noise come from the throne. The platform began to slide backwards, revealing a set of stairs that seemed to go down as far as any of the girls could see.
"These stairs have not felt hooves upon them in millennia. Walk carefully girls." Princess Celestia took the first step upon the stairs, with her younger sister Luna following behind her. Twilight Sparkle took one look back to her friends before nodding, the six friends heading down the winding staircase behind the Alicorns. They had no fear of misstepping for the passage had torches held by sconces that came to light with magical fire the moment Celestia approached them. There was no magic coming from the Sun Princess' horn, so Twilight Sparkle figured that the magic came not from the Princess but from the light fixtures themselves.
As they walked down the staircase, Princess Celestia glanced back at the girls. She still looked as if she was deciding whether they were up to whatever the task was, but before Twilight  Sparkle could open her mouth to speak, the Princess of the Day shook her head and looked back ahead. Her horn flared to life and in the space over the railing, threads of light begin to knit together to form what looked like a large map of Equestria. "Far to the south, beyond the Macintosh Hills and deep into the Badlands, lie a few small volcanoes. They are popular stops in the Great Dragon Migration.."
Twilight looked back at Rarity and Rainbow Dash, for coincidentally, they had followed Spike once to those very lands. It had been when the young dragon had been confused about his own identity and Twilight, along with her two friends, had followed him to keep an eye on him. The Unicorn and Pegasus nodded at the youngest Alicorn before Twilight turned back to look at Princess Celestia. "Yeah we.. kind of came across a few teenage dragons there before.."
"Hmm.. yes, I do recall Spike mentioning that in one of his letters." Celestia's horn once more glowed with magic, the area inside the map reforming until it was mainly zoomed in on the region known as the Badlands. "Well, deeper into the Badlands, there lies a volcano that stands out above them all."
        "We have taken to calling it the Burning Prince," Luna spoke, her eyes finally coming away from the steps ahead of them to look at the map as well, "Thankfully it has been dormant for ages. Even before our rule."
        Celestia once more willed the map to refocus, settling on what the girls assumed was the Burning Prince, for it was surely the largest volcano any of them had ever laid their eyes upon. "At its base is the southernmost settlement in all of Equestria, the Steam Steppes. It rests at the very borders of our land and it is there that a few brave frontier ponies mine the Burning Prince for precious metals and gems.."
        Applejack looked around at the others before raising up a brow. "Yeesh, ain't that kinda far for somethin' like that?
        Pinkie Pie shook her head, pointing at the volcano with one pink hoof. "Not really! A sleepy volcano is the perfect place for a rock farm to set up! My sister Maud would love to study a place like that. I'm sure you'd find all kinds of nifty things!"
        "We already have." Celestia looked back to the girls, dismissing the map from existence as the group reached the bottom of the staircase. A long, barren stone hallway greeted them. The air felt musty and despite the Princesses being among them, Twilight couldn't help but feel a sense of foreboding when they looked down it
"The ponies of the Steam Steppes have found a wondrous metal amidst the mines of the Burning Prince. It.." The Sun Princess' voice grew soft and she actually ended her sentence in an unintelligible mumble, looking down to the floor.
        Luna frowned as she looked to her sister before turning her gaze back to the girls. "The metal is called ponychalcum. It's scarcity is beyond measure. So much so that we have not seen its kind in over a millenia."
        "Yes." Celestia found her voice once more and motioned for the girls to resume following them as the Alicorn sisters began to make their way down the hall. Much like the stairs behind them, the walls also had torches that lit upon their approach. "The metal has many curious properties, such as a resistance to magic, and is also harder than steel. It was a fantastic discovery.. but a problem has arisen in the Steppes."        
"As ye could imagine, communications with a town that distant are often sparse." The Night Princess took over for her older sister once more. "So when we did not receive word from the Steam Steppes in weeks, it wasn't particularly alarming. Twas the norm. However, months begun to pass and we grew worried. We attempted to send a letter to the town to ask if they had encountered any problems."
"We never received a response.." Celestia whispered.
Luna nodded as they all came to a halt before a large door. It was made of a curious metal that seemed to drink in the light of the torches in the hall. "Our fears became all too real yesterday when a Pegasus called Swifty Blazefeathers came to Canterlot. She hailed from the Steaming Steppes and claimed that they had an emergency on hoof. Apparently, the ponies of the town have not only been afflicted with some madness, but all of their Cutie Marks have also been stolen away, changed into something else entirely.."
Rarity had stepped closer to the door than any of the other girls, eyes filled with wonder at the mysterious metal. Although she worked primarily in fabrics, she could appreciate the beauty of the metal, the way it didn't reflect back any of the light in the hall. When Princess Luna spoke of an emergency, the white Unicorn turned her head back and spoke. "What could have happened..? Could it be dragons? Those creatures were quite crass when we went to the Badlands. I wouldn't be shocked if they swooped in and made a mess of things with their vulgar manners."
"Or maybe its those Changelings again." Rainbow Dash looked around, still feeling uncomfortable. She hated being underground, or in cramped places, and this place definitely made her feel claustrophobic. She felt as if the walls were going to close in on them. The Pegasus really wished the Princesses' had picked a different spot to tell them all this.
The Alicorn sisters shared a look, only briefly, but it was a look that Twilight Sparkle had never seen before so clearly etched on their faces; shame. Twilight had seen Princess Celestia saddened before, especially when she had spoken of her former apprentice Sunset Shimmer or of having to banish a transformed Princess Luna to the moon, but Twilight could tell this ran deeper. This was a guilt that both the Princesses shared and for the life of her, the studious Alicorn could not begin to imagine what that could be.
The two elder Alicorns turned back to the wondrous door and lowered their heads, sliding their horns into two distinct holes set into the door. Twilight Sparkle craned her head to try and remember where she had seen something similar before the memory came back to her. Back in the palace, Princess Celestia had hidden the Elements of Harmony in a vault with a similar lock, but back then it had only required Celestia's horn. For it to require both of the sisters meant two things; that whatever was hidden behind the door was of tremendous importance and that it predated Luna's transformation into Nightmare Moon.
        "Before we can answer that," Celestia spoke as she and Luna withdrew their horns, unlocking the door but not opening it yet, "I must know.. exactly what do you girls know of the founding of Equestria?"
        "Do you mean the story we told during Hearth's Warming Eve?" Fluttershy asked.
        "About how 'em three tribes of ponies tousled but then saddled up to work together, right?" Applejack had really enjoyed that play, though her costume had been itchy.
"That is correct," Luna responded, "However, there are pieces of our history that still remain a mystery to most ponies."
"By nature, ponies are blessed with all sorts of magic." Celestia motioned to each of them before continuing. "For some, like Earth ponies, it is more subtle. Others, like Unicorns, can use it more actively. Yet there is a magic that is found in all ponies, to some degree."
"Harmony." Luna uttered the single word with a mild tone of veneration.
"All ponies have the power of Harmony within them to an extent, though through the power of your friendship, you six have now come to embody the core tenets of that magic." Celestia allowed a faint smile of pride to come to her face as she looked over the girls before continuing. "Yet millennia ago, when the three tribes united for the first time, the power was great enough to create the Fire of Friendship. This did not spell the end to their troubles though as more problems arose.."
"Even with the Fire ignited," Celestia continued, "And the windigos banished, the three tribes still faced incredible hurdles. The issue of joint leadership still had to be sorted out, the land was filled with dangerous creatures, and worse of all, the unity of the three pony tribes drew the attention of the personification of chaos..."
Twilight Sparkle frowned and stomped a hoof unto the floor. "Discord."
"Exactly." Celestia turned an apologetic smile towards Fluttershy, understanding that of all the six mares, it had actually been Fluttershy's sincere gesture of friendship that had rehabilitated the former villain. The Sun Princess understood that hearing this part of Equestria's past might have been uncomfortable for the timid Pegasus but it was a necessity. "The draconequus took the establishment of order, of Harmony, as a personal slight, a challenge that he would happily rise to meet. His reign of chaos tested the spirits of all ponies and their lives were horrid."
"Yet the Fire had not been extinguished." Luna took a deep breath, closing her eyes. She looked as if she was steeling herself for what was to come. "From that declaration of unity, from that bond of friendship that had been forged by the three tribes, arose a being born from the magic of all types of ponies.. the first of the Alicorns.."
Rainbow Dash unfurled her wings as best she could and gave a small hop. "Awesome! So you came out ready to kick some rump, right Princess Celestia?!"
"No, Rainbow Dash." Celestia shook her head and turned towards the door, which even then was beginning to shake. The girls realized that it was slowly lifting up into the ceiling to reveal what was behind it to them all. "I was not the first Alicorn to emerge from the Fire. The one who stepped out.. was him."
The door receded into the ceiling entirely, allowing the group to slowly step past it into a large chamber, the torches within the room flaring to life at the presence of the ponies. The air felt very different from the previous hall. It was charged with long lost magic and the girls gasped as they stepped inside for the room looked as if it had sprung out of the pages of a history book. Ancient tapestries that had been spared the passing of time flanked four massive stained glass windows, similar to those within the throne room far above them. Neatly stacked beside one of the windows were several books and scrolls, while under another sat a trunk large enough that any of the two young mares could have fit inside.
The main attraction though stood in the center of the room, a sculpture that the Alicorn sisters moved to stand beside. Princess Celestia had always been the tallest pony that Twilight Sparkle and her friends had ever known, for the monarch was two heads taller than them, but the marble pony was at least a head higher than even the Sun Princess. The male Alicorn, for it was easy to note the wings and horn the statue had, was so lifelike, appeared so real, that it almost felt as if he were going to spring forward.
The marble Alicorn's mane and tail looked like small rivers of flame, his face was graceful and regal, but it was those eyes that Twilight Sparkle couldn't break her gaze from. They stared down at them, at all of them, with such frightening strength, such intensity, that it was hard not to kneel before the statue. The younger Alicorn nearly felt her legs buckle before shaking her head to look back at the Princess sisters.
"Behold." Luna gestured to the statue and there was no hiding the pain that lanced through her and Celestia's faces, momentarily stealing the Night Princess' resolve. Luna had to continue though and summoned the strength she needed to finish her sentence as she looked away from the statue to stare at the six young mares.
"The first of the Alicorns, the Spell King, Lord of Equestria.. and our older brother, King Arcanius."


* * *


So deep was the quiet that fell over all those within the hidden room that if a pin had dropped, it would have sounded like a clap of thunder.
Twilight Sparkle and all her friends stood flabbergasted at the revelation, stunned into silence. How? How could these two sisters, who were by all accounts the oldest ponies in all of existence, be predated by another? They were the sun and moon of Equestria, literally. Twilight Sparkle felt as if the floor was crumbling beneath her, as if everything she had ever known about history was being burned before her eyes and rewritten with that single proclamation.
Thankfully, Applejack had been able to pick her jaw off the floor and broke the silence. "Wait, wait, hold on a hay pickin' minute.. ya'll have a brother?! A big brother?"
Celestia actually scowled, doing her best to tear her gaze away from the statue that sat in the center of the room. "Had."
Luna stole a glance at her elder sister before shaking her head faintly. "Our brother saw the plight of all ponies in Equestria and it tore at his soul. He vowed to stop Discord and thus, set out to create one of the most powerful forces in all of Equestria.."
A gasp from Twilight had all eyes come to her as she shook her head in denial to what Luna was implying. "You couldn't possibly mean.. the Elements of Harmony?!"
"Yes." Celestia nodded and now it was the other girls turn to gasp. "Before Luna and myself were created by the Fire of Friendship, Arcanius took some of the embers of that flame that had been made by the harmonious spirit of ponydom and imbued the Seeds of Unity to.."
Rarity raised an eyebrow. "I'm sorry Princess, but the Seeds of what now?"
"The Seeds of Unity. Our brother sought out the summit where the three tribes of ponies had banished the windigos with their friendship. There, he sought the first trees that had ever been planted by the united ponies within this new land and took from them their seeds."
Applejack nodded slowly, apparently grasping what the others were still having trouble with. "Ohhh I gotcha now."
"I wish I did." Rainbow Dash lamented.
The orange Earth pony glanced at Rainbow before looking at her friends. "Think on back to what we acted out in the play. Remember how back then it was just the Earth ponies feedin' everypony, right? So if everypony started gettin' along, and everypony was pitchin' in.."
Rarity nodded as she came to follow Applejack's line of thought, finishing her idea for her. "Then those first few trees they planted must have had great symbolic importance."
"Exactly." Despite the severity of the situation, Celestia found a small smile at the cleverness of her favorite subjects. "Once the enchanted seeds were created, he planted them deep into the Everfree Forest, where the magic of the forest would help nurture them and allow the seeds to grow into the Tree of Harmony. By the time it had finished growing, Luna and I had emerged as well..."
Luna moved away from the sculpture towards one of the stained glass windows. The work of art depicted an Alicorn descending from the heavens to two smaller Alicorns. Upon closer inspection, it was easy to tell that it was the first of the Alicorns and his younger sisters. "Arcanius found us and tasked us with a quest; to travel Equestria and witness the misery of our kind, so that our resolve and power would be enough to find the Tree of Harmony and recover the Elements."
Fluttershy looked to Celestia, but only briefly. The shy Pegasus was scared of most things but the sculpture that the Sun Princess stood by terrified her to her core. It was far easier to look at Princess Luna, who still intimidated her, but nowhere near at the level of the statue. "B-but why didn't Arcanius stop Discord himself?"
"Our brother possessed great power," Luna responded, "Certainly enough to topple Discord on his own, but so did his enemy. Arcanius feared that an open battle between the two of them would cause great harm to the very ponies he sought to free. With a prolonged fight out of the question, the victory over the draconequus had to be a swift and decisive one."
Celestia moved to join her sister as she also found it easier to be away from the statue. "As well, the Elements of Harmony are meant to be wielded as such, by the combined harmonious spirits of ponies. It is true that a single pony could wield the Elements, such as I have done before, but they will not be able to tap into its true power."
The Night Princess gestured to Celestia and herself. "With our brother weakened from the considerable effort he put into the creation of the Tree of Harmony, it fell upon us to defeat Discord. With the Elements aiding us, we were able to stop Discord and finally brought peace to all ponies. Arcanius rose up and became the first King of Equestria, while we became the Princesses that you now see."
Celestia made her way to a different stained glass window, this one depicting what must have been an ancient city. It didn't look like Canterlot at all though. In fact, when Twilight looked closer, she could recognize the crystalline structures of the Crystal Empire. "Our brother took to the Frozen North, where the natural cold was not wrought by any windigos. From deep within the earth, he reached out and brought forth great crystals that would serve as the foundations of Equestria's capital at the time, the Crystal Empire."
Luna closed her eyes, the Alicorn throwing herself back into memories of an age long past. "We Alicorns each represent some facet of existence. I, the Princess of the Night. My sister, the Princess of the Day. Our brother, with his great might, characterized the power of creation. He built a city that he thought would stand as a testament to the glory of ponydom."
The Sun Princess did much the same as her younger sister, her eyes closing as well. "You girls have seen the Crystal Empire now. It is still beautiful, and yet it is a pale shadow to the glory it once was. Under our brother's rule, Equestria prospered and flourished. Our borders expanded, cities rose, and many discoveries were made."
Luna moved to a different stained glass window, this one showing a single Unicorn, wearing what looked to be wedding dress. "Our brother even married a fair Unicorn, Glorious Radiance. She was a gifted magician, much like ye Twilight Sparkle, and the royal court was blessed with a beautiful filly. Our hearts were full and we were at peace. It was a golden age for Equestria."
"But it would not last." Celestia frowned as she looked back to the statue in the center of the room. No longer did sadness linger in her eyes. "Our brother began to look past the borders of Equestria, to the griffon nations, to the lands of the zebra tribes, and his heart began to grow fearful. He viewed the outside world as a growing threat to his subjects, to his dear family. That worry, that frantic paranoia, would eventually give way to anger."
"It was that same anger that led him to begin banishing any being from Equestria who was not a pony. That same anger that started to poison his view of his own subjects, to begin feeling that ponies were wasting their lives, that they were like foals who needed to be led in a new direction. A most fearsome direction."
Luna nodded as she too looked to the statue of the male Alicorn. "Of course, we noticed the brooding that was taking root in him. Celestia and I did what we could to counsel him, to relieve him of his worries. We reminded him that our combined power should surely stand to any threat that would come to Equestria."
"Yet our brother did not listen. He thought we were falling prey to the same weakness he felt was infecting the rest of our kind." Celestia looked away from the statue and back to the girls, who stood as a group silently, listening to every word. Even Pinkie Pie kept her bouncing to a bare minimum.
"His fury.. only grew darker at the passing of Glorious Radiance." Luna came to her sister's side, for the more they spoke of their brother, it seemed to the girls, the more weary their expressions became. "She had always been frail of health, but one day she fell to an illness that no treatment or magic could heal. Even our brother's powerful magic could do nothing to stop it."
"Radiance was powerful, but she was also delicate and sensitive to the emotions of others. As the darkness grew in our brother's heart we.. well, we have always feared that it might have been he himself who unknowingly poisoned her.."
"He never recovered from her death.." Celestia said as her withers sagged. To the girls, the Sun Princess who had kept as young and beautiful despite her incredibly long life, had never looked so old before. "With Radiance's light extinguished from his heart, that rage took hold of his soul and festered into hatred. He no longer cared about being the King of Equestria. Instead, he sought to cow the world, to scour it clean of any possible threats that may await his subjects, and a maddening need for vengeance broke what remained of our brother.."
"Whoa, whoa," Pinkie Pie held her hooves in the air, looking from one to the other, "So what you're saying is that fear led to anger, and anger led to hate, and.. whoa.. that's serious stuff!"
"Quite serious," Celestia agreed solemnly, " For nothing could quench his wrath. Not the adoration of his subjects, not the devotion of his own sisters.. not even the love of his own daughter, Cadance, could break the ice that had formed over his heart.."
"Wait!" Twilight Sparkle shouted, and beside her, her own friends gasped. "He's Cadance's father?!"
"Yes, Twilight Sparkle," Luna answered, "Though we imagine it must have been as hard for her as it was to still view him as such.. particularly after his horrid transformation.."
Fluttershy looked around nervously, shifting to hide behind Rainbow Dash as she peeped out. "T-t-transformation?"
"As we said," Celestia spoke, her wings unfurling before folding back unto her body, "You six personify the Elements themselves, yet all ponies have the power of Harmony within them. With Alicorns, it is even further magnified. We were made from the Fire of Friendship and that flame resides in us."
"None more so than our brother," Luna slowly approached the statue of Arcanius, daring to rest a hoof upon it gently, "But as his spirit began to warp, so too did his form. The fire within him was not meant to harbor such thoughts. They twisted the gentle flame into a cacophonous blaze. A conflagration that burned at his form from within."
Rainbow Dash gaped as she looked to the statue as well. "You mean.. it burned him from the inside out?
"It was.. a nightmare for us to witness." Luna grit her teeth, turning her face away from the statue, the pain clear upon her face. "It was not like my own fall. My jealousy and bitterness swallowed me whole, but my anger was but a drop in the ocean compared to his. I was transformed into Nightmare Moon.. but Arcanius? His malice made him suffer an agony I could never imagine.."
"Gone was his soft bay coat." Celestia joined her sister by the statue, lifting a hoof as well to settle on the statue. She was finding it hard to talk and her words came out in a strained whisper that was only heard because of how silent the room was. "It burned and blistered until it resembled charred flesh. His hooves grew cracked, splitting.. and his eyes.. his eyes once shone like the stars but now burned with so much hatred.."
"Even his mane, his tail.." Luna sounded no better and a tear spilled down the Night Princess' right cheek. "They had once flared so beautifully. Yet when we looked upon what he was becoming.. it looked.."
"Princesses.." Twilight Sparkle took a step forward, unsure of what to say.
Celestia halted her by lifting the hoof off the statue, drawing in a deep breath before looking back to the six friends. Despite her attempt at strength, tears still brimmed in her eyes. "Sorry girls. It's.. it's difficult, even after millennia, to talk of him. You must know that we loved - still love - our brother more than anything. Before his madness, he was our light.. but the corruption of his body had become so much that he had begun to wear barding to conceal it, to keep the flames inside his being from tearing him apart."
"And the toughest day of our lives came when we sisters realized what duty commanded us to do. That for his own good, for the good of all Equestria, we had to dethrone our brother." Luna shook her head, openly wiping at her face before turning back to the girls. "His derangement, it was too much. Ye six must understand that. We did not wish to do this, but he would have led all of Equestria to war. With itself and then with the entirety of the world. The woe that he would have sowed would have torn all asunder.."
"Our combined strength was not enough. Arcanius dwarfed our power, yet Luna and I could not let him grow stronger. So we gathered the very Elements that he had created and for the second time since their creation, we used those artifacts, this time against their very creator."
A shudder ran through Luna as her mind raced back to that horrid day. "It.. was not enough.."
"Our brother's might was a terror to behold," Celestia reached a leg out and embraced her younger sister to her before looking back to the girls, "Even with the fact that the flame inside of him was rebelling against him. We marshalled all of our power, fought him with the Elements on our side, and even still could not topple him.. but fortune did favor us.."
"During the battle, the inferno burst from his horn, splitting it in half. The pain must have been excruciating, but more than that, it momentarily robbed him of most of his power. We pressed the advantage and forced him to retreat into exile." Luna looked to her hooves, the shame from before finally returning clearly to her face.
Twilight Sparkle shook her head, still astonished, but the young Alicorn had so many questions that it had taken all her control to not just interrupt the Princesses every few seconds.  "But how come I've never read or heard any mention of King Arcanius? Or the fight between the three of you? He would have been a prominent, if not the most central figure, in all of Equestrian history!"
"That was thanks to Luna and I," Celestia said, "We didn't want Equestria to remember him as the monster he had become. We loved our brother far too much, so we thought it would be fairer to have everyone forget him. As if.. he had never existed. We told the ponies of the royal court that our brother's duties were taking him to distant lands and gathered all we could find of his into this single tower before tearing it from its foundation and burying it underground."
Luna nodded. "We kept our subjects as busy as we could during that time, while rarely mentioning him. Celestia immediately ensured that his name was stricken from any account we could find while I touched the dreams of ponies and began to slowly erase him from such. Both waking and sleeping hours had to be accounted for."
Celestia's breath escaped her in a soft sigh. "Then.. as the centuries passed, time did the rest of the work for us, though it did little to mend our own hearts."
"Remember Twilight Sparkle," Luna advised the younger Alicorn princess, "Ponies do not often remember the myths and legends of the past. When I was still under the grip of Nightmare Moon, only ye remembered the old stories. Unfortunately, we have a tendency to forget the darker parts of our history.."
"And rest assured, no greater darkness has existed in our past than that of our wayward sibling.."
"But what about Cadance?" Rarity asked. "I mean, how could she forget her own father? And wouldn't that make her several thousands of years old? She seemed only a few years older than us."
Twilight Sparkle's brows furrowed. "Not to mention she told me that she grew up in a village of Earth ponies."
Celestia glanced at Luna before looking back to the girls. "Unfortunately.. the death of her mother, as well as the exile of her father, wounded Cadance far more than we had feared. Even more so than Glorious Radiance, Cadance had an affinity for emotions, particularly love. She was also young, too young to be able to shield her heart from the searing hatred her father had fostered for the world outside of Equestria."
Luna's gaze fell to the floor. "For her own good, we had to put Cadance into a deep slumber while working to mend her heart."
"In the process, I.. I made the decision that it would be best to have her forget Arcanius as well.." The Sun Princess' eyes closed, unable to look at her subjects at that moment, though there was no blocking out the gasps from the girls.
Never in her entire life had Twilight Sparkle looked at Princess Celestia with such surprise - and disapproval - as she did at that moment. She found it hard to piece together what she wanted to say and the youngest Princess could only whisper out a single word. "Princess Celestia, how --"
"It is not a decision I am proud of Twilight Sparkle." Celestia's tone was harsh as she opened her eyes to look at her former student, yet the rebuke in her gaze could not hold. "It has haunted me all my life. No decision I have ever made has done so. I can never be sure if we were right to rob her of her previous life.. but what I do know is that she would not have survived the ordeal if we had not given her some manner of rest. Physically and mentally."
Luna put a hoof to Celestia's side before looking back to the six friends. "And now you understand the depth of our concerns. We are worried that after all these years, our brother has returned. Returned not only to claim his vengeance but to bring forth his terrible war.."
Twilight Sparkle nodded. "But what makes you think that it's him? Did the Pegasus from the Steam Steppes say she saw him?"
The Night Princess shook her head. "When our brother began to change, the first part of him that rejected his new demeanor was his Cutie Mark. It became the same chained hoof that Swifty claims the residents of the Steam Steppes now wear."
"Also," Celestia said, "The armor that our brother wore that helped to contain the inferno inside of him? It was primarily created out of ponychalcum. I doubt his original barding could weather millennia of keeping Fire of Friendship contained. He would definitely require more of the metal."
Luna frowned, whatever regret having been in her heart before having been locked away, her face as stern as ever. "And for Arcanius to act in so open a manner.. it means whatever scheme he has concocted must be close to fruition."
Twilight Sparkle sat back on her haunches, trying to absorb everything that had just been thrown at them. It was all just so overwhelming! She wouldn't have believed half of it if it had not come from the very lips of Princess Celestia and Princess Luna. It only took her a few moments to realize that not only were the Alicorn sisters looking at her, but so were her friends. They were waiting to hear what she would say. And honestly, what could she say? This all felt so much bigger than any of them. They had encountered so many troubles together but if this really was the elder brother of the two rulers of Equestria, what could her and her friends do?
No! No way. There was no way she was going to think like that. Her and her friends had done miraculous things! They had overcome insurmountable odds before. Nothing was impossible for them because they had the greatest magic of all; friendship. It had seen them through so many tribulations and as she began to put her hooves under her, she felt the doubt in her heart dissipate. "Don't worry Princesses. We'll do whatever we can to help, right girls?"
Her friends immediately cheered, and even demure and timid Fluttershy pumped her hoof into the air as Applejack grinned widely, throwing her hat into the air before catching it. "Yeehaw!"
Rainbow Dash even had the gall to take to the air and circle the statue, glaring down at it. "That's right! We're gonna go to that volcano, find this chump, and kick.."
"No!"
The force of the shout set all the girls back, even bringing Rainbow Dash back to the floor as Celestia's eyes were as wide as saucers, shaking her head furiously. "Absolutely not! You six are not to confront Arcanius!"
"But Princess.." Twilight Sparkle tilted her head, confusion clear on her face. Why wouldn't Princess Celestia want them to stop their brother if he was the culprit behind the Steam Steppes' troubles? Could there still be some lingering sentiment? Now that Twilight really thought about it, what if it were Shining Armor who had betrayed her? Would she be able to so quickly send someone out to stop him?
"Please understand girls," Celestia interjected, "Luna and I agree that this must be resolved, If this is indeed Arcanius' work, then all the more so.. but you six are not fully grasping the depth of his power. He is unlike any foe you six have ever faced. He is ancient, powerful, and we do not know the state that his mind may be in."
Luna wholeheartedly agreed. "Recall what we told ye. Even with the Elements of Harmony and at the peak of our power, we were barely able to repel him, to stem his rampage. Surprise and a fortuitous chain events led to our slim victory."
"But," Applejack said, "Ya'll said we can use the Elements' true power."
"Yes," The Princess of the Day said, "Truly, you six wield the Elements of Harmony in a manner Luna and I could never have. I would say even Arcanius could not have imagined it. Yet I fear he has only grown stronger in his years in exile."
"Eyes and ears." Luna motioned for the girls to follow as her and Celestia began to walk out of the room. What needed to be told had finally been said but there was still much planning to be done. "If either of us went to the Steam Steppes, our brother would sense us immediately and would react accordingly. It might even put the enslaved ponies at risk. No, what we need right now is information. Infiltrate the town. Find out what you can."
As the door began to close behind them, Celestia spared one last glance at the door as it clicked back into place before continuing down the hall. "We are already in the process of creating a counter spell to break the enchantment. Once we know the source of this trouble, then and only then will we convene on how to tackle it. Our top priority is freeing the residents of the town,"
"I can only pray that our deepest fears have not already became reality. For if Arcanius has become more than just a memory, I fear for us all.."


* * *


        Turning over on the soft mattress, Lemon Tart groaned loudly as she woke up from her fitful slumber. She had dreamt of the most horrid pair of eyes, orbs that had reminded her of the color of blood but looked as if they were on fire. They had floated high in the air and had chased her in the nightmare, always staring at her. The Earth pony had felt as if they were stripping her flesh away, baring her soul and stealing away all her thoughts, her secrets, making her just another mindless puppet with a stolen Cutie Mark.
        Her Cutie Mark!
        The Earth pony threw her lingering sluggishness off her as forcefully as she did the bed sheets, the memories flooding back to her. Scrambling around in the bed, Lemon craned her neck to take a look at her haunch, fearing the worse, and saw that she still had the sliced lemon half on her body. Her relief was unmistakable and despite herself, despite the odd situation she awoke in, she couldn't help but let out a small laugh. She hadn't been transformed!
        "Laughter. How unexpected."
        The voice jarred her immediately, freezing her in place. She hadn't bothered to focus on anything else when she had been looking for her Cutie Mark but she was now distinctly aware that she was in one of the caves in the Burning Prince. More importantly, she was not alone in the room. She felt the same fear she had experienced on the rooftop, that same oppressive presence, though it was not as acute. Steeling herself, the frontier pony slowly turned on the bed, ready to face her captor and more than likely, the one who had turned her entire world upside down.
        Her captor was easily the tallest creature she had ever laid eyes on, easily more than two meters in height even on all four hooves, hooves that Lemon noted were not like her own, at least not anymore. They were split, cracked, his fore hooves broken into three toes while his back ones were cloven. At his sides were what once must have been glorious wings, now merely tattered remnants, the feathers a broken mess. Even his horn was all wrong, in Lemon's eyes, because atop his head did not sit one horn but two, the pair curving in a fashion that reminded her of a ram.
        He was an Alicorn, if it was even fair to call the blighted creature that, and Lemon couldn't help but recoil at the sight of him. Magnificent armor covered most of his form but it could not hide the entirety of his twisted being. What flesh was not covered by the resplendent barding was burnt beyond imagining, as black as a starless night. Webs of countless scars laced the entirety of his form and glowed like dying embers, giving the appearance of tiny rivulets of lava crossing his body. Darkness leaked from his form, wisps of shadows that fought to smother the rivers of fire that were his mane and tail, but neither won, instead forming a paradoxical dance that was as discordant as the rest of his appearance.
        Lemon's eyes were drawn up to the pony's face, where she could see that once she might have found his regal features handsome. She had to turn away though for there, set in that monstrous face, rested the eyes that had hounded her in her nightmare. They burned so furiously that Lemon actually thought they would spill forward and sear her right there and then, but the assault never came. In fact, the misshapen Alicorn, simply stared at her with the indifference of a dragon watching a fly. She was insignificant to him, and no matter how proud the Earth pony was, no matter how hard her self esteem told her otherwise, she knew in comparison to this creature, she was.
        "Come," The Alicorn's voice sounded like the crackling of flame, and even from where Lemon sat, she could feel the incredible heat that washed out from him, "You have been asleep for quite some time. You are likely feeling hunger." He turned and the snap of his tail was like a thunderclap, the appendage burning a bright and dazzling white flame before it once more resumed its regular orange color. Every hoof step left a faint burn on the cave floor that sizzled briefly before going out.
        Lemon McTart wasn't exactly sure what she should do, but she worried that if she didn't listen to her captor, he would just turn and melt her under his gaze. Better to keep close. Maybe she might find her friends and family, or what the monster's motives were in all this - anything that might help a would be rescuer. She could only hope that Swifty had made it to Canterlot by now. If her friend had been successful, help would certainly be on its way. Maybe even Princess Celestia herself was on her way!
        No point in tipping that off though and so Lemon carefully followed the larger pony, making sure not to step directly behind any place his searing hooves touched. They would have been walking entirely in darkness if not for the glow from not only the monster's horns, but from his own scarred body, which illuminated the network of tunnels and caves as if the very sun had risen inside the mountain. She was trying to place a marker in her head, to see if she recognized where they might have been inside the Burning Prince, though after a while she had to admit she had no idea. Mining had always been in Lemon's blood and she had an uncanny ability to memorize routes and locations, an invaluable asset in work like this, but she had never fully explored the dormant volcano. For now, she had to rely on the creature as her guide.
        They turned along forks and tunnels, passing through wide caverns and thin corridors in silence, the only sound being the sizzling of the Alicorn's hoof steps. Lemon scowled, for with each passing step, she could only think of her friends, of her family, probably also imprisoned by this thing. Finally, her own anger overrode her good sense and the Earth pony darted in front of her captor, holding up a hoof in a motion for him to stop. "Now hold on! Where are you taking me?!"
        The Alicorn turned his horrible gaze down upon her, thankfully stopping in his tracks before her. After all, Lemon doubted that even if there were ten of her there she could stop the creature from moving where he wanted to. With a voice devoid of any emotion, he spoke down to her. "To find you a suitable meal."
        Lemon shook her head, refusing to back down from those eyes. "Why?"
        "So that you may eat it."
The impassiveness of the monster nearly made Lemon yell in frustration before she took a deep breath, setting a frown upon her face. "Why are you doing all this? Where is everypony? And who in the hay are you?!"
"Better questions," Her captor nodded, "And ones I may even deign to answer.. once you have eaten."
As if on cue, Lemon Tart's stomach betrayed her resolve, growling so loudly that the sound echoed off the cave walls. The Alicorn lifted his eyes from her and walked around her, once more taking the role of guide as well as jailor. Lemon had no choice but to follow, and this time, she didn't stop their progress. To her belly's gratitude, the pair soon arrived to another cave that must have served as the larger pony's pantry, for there were plenty of provisions stored there, enough to feed an entire town for several days. A simple gesture from one of those split hooves was all Lemon needed to hurry inside and grab herself some fruit.
She eagerly dug into a crate of apples, not realizing how famished she had been, before she realized that she was the only one eating. She looked back to the Alicorn who stood so still at the cave's entrance, she could have mistaken him for a statue, before motioning to all the food. "Ain't ya gonna eat too?"
Only his eyes moved, looking to Lemon as he answered. "I have long forgotten the taste of food and drink."
Lemon had no idea how to respond to that. After all, when her and the other frontier ponies had visited Canterlot to seek Princess Celestia's blessing on founding the Steam Steppes, the Princess had thrown a banquet in their honor. Lemon had definitely seen the monarch eat then. "Alright.. well, then who are you? And what have you done with everypony?"
The Alicorn stayed silent, once more as still as a rock, and Lemon would have sworn the cursed thing had fallen asleep if she didn't see him blink once or twice. She even opened her mouth, ready to ask again, before the creature finally spoke again. "Even if I told you my name, I would wager all the gems in Equestria that you have never heard it. It has been lost to the passage of time.."
"And," He lifted a hoof before Lemon could continue her barrage of questions, "They are all well. I require their services. When their work is done, I will return their Cutie Marks to them and free them from my spell. If you like, once you are finished eating, I will take you to see them."
Lemon McTart dropped her half eaten apple immediately, stomping one of her hooves. "I'm done then! I want to see my parents! I want to make sure they are okay."
The Alicorn inclined his head and motioned for the Earth pony to once more follow him. Lemon quickly followed, eager to be reunited with her loved ones. Despite the creature's terrifying appearance and the feeling of dread she had initially felt from the beast, she found her guard lowering. After all, he could have done any number of cruel things to her, but instead he had been a civil, if not blunt, host. He had not even bothered to put any chains upon her..
No.
She shook her head as she followed, driving those thoughts away. There might not have been literal chains upon her, but Lemon had no doubt that she was a prisoner. He certainly was not going to just let her leave the Burning Prince. He might have been treating her courteously, but in the end, she was still under his control. They all were. It was just the reins he had on her were more subtle than those that had used on the rest of Steppes' ponies. And it only took one quick glance at the sizzling hoof steps the Alicorn left behind to question if this thing might be a pony on the outside only. Who knew what burned inside of it?
The cave that had served as a pantry must not have been too far from where the other ponies of the town were being held, because Lemon soon enough heard the familiar sound of pickaxes striking stone. Heck, as she closed her eyes and did her best to ignore the Alicorn in front of her, she could have sworn it was just any other day at work in the Singed Mines. She opened her charcoal gray eyes and darted past her captor, turning the bend to her left and despite her situation, let hope surge in her heart.
The Earth pony was rewarded by the sight of familiar faces, the ponies of the frontier town at work mining the walls of the tunnel they were in. Fate smiled on her that two of the nearest ponies were her parents and Lemon hurried over to them. The reunion was a sharp contrast from when they had been chasing after her a few days ago. Now her parents threw their limbs around her, embracing her as happily as she hugged them.
"Oh my goodness," Lemon said as she kept hugging her family fiercely, "I've been so worried about ya'll! Have you been fed? Hurt?"
Her mother, Lime Tart, shook her head and gently eased her daughter back, patting the top of her head lightly. "No such thing dear! The King has taken good care of us. We work even less than before. He knows exactly where the ponychalcum deposits are. No more blind luck for us!"
Even her father, Orange Tart, had a smile on his face, and her dad rarely smiled! "His Majesty has promised that once we help him finish this, he'll take all of us to an even better mining operation. Can ya believe our good fortune? At first we were scared, just like you, but this is the best thing to have ever happened to us."
Lemon could hardly believe what she was hearing, especially because no matter how happy her parents might have seemed, she only needed to spare one glance down at their transformed Cutie Marks to know that something was still wrong with them. They might not be chained in body, but their minds were not entirely their own. Still, at least they were safe and sound, as were Swifty's parents and the rest of the town. Their captor really had been honest about not having harmed them, and as far as she could see, they were all being fed and taken care of properly. The Earth pony had to at least be grateful for that.
Speaking of her host, he had caught up to her and was standing beside the bend in the tunnel she had taken. Her parents had resumed their mining once Lemon stepped away from them, the young Earth pony shaking her head lightly. She approached the Alicorn, the one that her mom and dad had called royalty, and looked up - way up - at him. "Why are you doing all this? Is the ponychalcum that valuable? We could've worked out a deal or something.."
He shook his head faintly, turning away from the mare as he began to walk down a different path. "The metal is important, but it is simply a means to an end."
Lemon took one last look back at her parents, at the rest of the Steppes' ponies. They were fine. They even looked happy. There was nothing she could do for them at this point. It's not as if they were bound to where they were mining. They were there because right now, they thought that was where they wanted to be. She would be better served trying to find out more about this "king" and his motives. Maybe she would find a way to undermine it when help did finally come.
Her legs carried her to his side this time, and when it became obvious that the Alicorn wouldn't tell her more without further prompting, she grumbled and spoke up. "Which is what?"
"A new and safer Equestria."