Twilight and the bearers have been missing. When they return, Celestia has to deal with how her student and friends have changed. Will she be able to, when they now possess as much power individually as the Princess of the Sun?
I would like to thank everyone/pony/ling/hyperintelligent shade of the color blue who reads this, and my sister, who attempted to be the editor for this story.
Tags: Adventure for some globetrotting, Dark because... well, look at that cover art! Comedy for general Pinkie-ness.
[A/N] The cover art is one of my favorites from the comics. It doesn't have much to do with the story, or does it?
Princess Celestia, Diarch of Equestria and Bringer of the Sun, sat upon her throne and sighed.
Day Court had, so far, gone as one might expect, with nobles bringing her pleas to lower their taxes, allow them to build even fancier structures, and general nonsense such as who ticked off whom at last night’s fancy dinner party, and how the “guilty” party should be punished. The commoners, those wonderful little ponies of hers, were of a much gentler sort. They would bring her requests for aid for the various charities and orphanages, blessings for their newborn foals, and, unfortunately, their business gripes. They always came in pairs; one who felt he or she was wronged by the other party, and instead of going to their local court (which, by the way, had numerous ponies whose jobs were to solve petty disputes such as this), went all the way up the line to her to say that their stake was bigger and more important than the others, so to speak.
It was after one such harrowing experience that Celestia demanded a brief recess. She had already sent off some of her servants for refreshments, and took the time to reread the latest letter sent to her by her dearest pupil, Twilight Sparkle.
Dear Princess Celestia,
To be honest, not much has happened the past few days, not that any of us are complaining. As such, the girls and I have opted to take a few weeks off for a vacation of sorts. Given recent events, I am sure you will be able to handle anything that comes up without us. We will be venturing outside of Equestria, and I will not be bringing along Spike, so he can watch Fluttershy’s animals and keep the library in order. We will hopefully be back within two weeks, relaxed, refreshed, and ready for whatever fate decides to throw at us next.
Your dearest student,
Twilight Sparkle
That was three months ago.
Celestia could not deny they deserved it. In the few years Twilight since she and her friends discovered they were the bearers of the Elements of Harmony, they had brought back Luna, refrozen Discord, defeated Sombra and brought back the Crystal Empire, reformed Discord, and stopped a changeling invasion the day of Twilight’s brother’s wedding. When Twilight did not return within her specified timeframe, Celestia began to worry. Her student was almost never late, and would do anything to keep her mentor of sound mind. Celestia hid a smirk from the gathered nobles as she remembered the day Twilight forgot about her friendship letter, and instead of writing to her teacher about it, she attempted to make a problem to be solved. This involved a small stuffed animal, a Want-it-Need-it spell, and the entirety of Ponyville descending into chaos until Celestia herself had to step in and take control.
Celestia had sent guards, scouts, and anypony who could be spared out to look for the wayward bearers. However, after almost three weeks of searching, and many, many dead ends, she eventually called the search off. She knew that the bearers could get themselves out of pretty much any situation, especially since Twilight had also taken the Elements with them, and that Twilight could send her a note if they were really in danger… but to go two months without even telling the Princess she was okay? Twilight had better have one impressive friendship letter before this was over. As Celestia was musing, one of her servants returned from the kitchens with water and sandwiches for her. She thanked her servant, and was about to call the Day Court back to order when-
WHUMP.
Startled, the Princess dropped her sandwich and looked to the main doors, where the sound came from. Over the cacophony of her little ponies muttering amongst themselves, she heard one of her guards.
“Halt! Who goes there? Wait, what are you doing? Stop now or I’ll – AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!”
The entire courtroom fell silent. One of her other guards uneasily sidled over to the doors to see what the fuss was about. However, before he could so much as touch them, the doors flew inward, sending the guard across the room to impact against one of the pillars. At that instant, the room was filled with a wave of blackness from which no sights or sounds could be found. As the wave washed over Celestia, she braced herself for whatever new evil had shown its face. When she opened her eyes, she found nothing but a void. A void from which rose a voice, sweet, sultry, and with just a taste of venom.
“Hello, Princess. Did you miss us?” Celestia gasped. That voice. It couldn’t be!
Celestia immediately powered up her horn, and a wash of golden light dissipated the fog. She glanced about the room, seeing that nopony was injured, until her gaze fell upon the six new figures in the center of her court.
Twilight Sparkle. Rainbow Dash. Fluttershy. Pinkie Pie. Rarity. Applejack. All stood arrayed with Twilight at the head, their eyes all boring holes directly into her. And each and every one of them were alicorns. Celestia could only stare, her jaw having nearly touched the dais upon which she stood. She kept staring, and staring, and staring, her brain refusing to complete any thought. How did-? They can’t really be-? What could this-? Why-?
Her train of thought, and the oppressing silence, was shattered by laughter. Celestia didn’t even need to look to know who was laughing.
“Oh, man! You should see your faces! You’re all like ‘Whaaaaaaaaat?’ and we’re all like ‘Grrr!’ and you’re still like ‘Whaaaaaaat?’ and you have these really droopy funny faces like this-“ Pinkie, the mare in question, then proceeded to do a pretty good imitation of all the ponies around the room. This only lasted for a second before she burst out again, “And you guys are STILL like that, and soon we can talk about why we’re here, how we came back, and then everyone’s gonna be happy and playing as we all talk about the adventures we’ve had on account of us being gone for like, FOREVER! and then we have a really huge part-“
“Pinkie!” Twilight snapped. Pinkie immediately drooped a bit, only to resume bouncing a moment later. Twilight turned to look at her, grimaced, then said, “We can do that later. Now is NOT the right time.”
Celestia, by this point, had collected enough of her jaw off the floor to put a coherent thought together. However, before voicing said thought out loud, she gave the six another look over to make sure she wasn't hallucinating or this wasn’t another of Luna’s tricks. She noticed a few things immediately. First off, Pinkie’s hair wasn’t in it’s usual poof. She may be bouncing around like Pinkie usually would, but her hair was as flat as Fluttershy’s. According to one of Twilight’s earlier letters, Pinkie’s hair was the true indicator of her personality. When she thought her friends would not want to spend time with her, her hair went flat and Pinkie went into a deep depression. However, here she was just as happy as usual, and Celestia could feel the positive energy Pinkie was giving off.
Speaking of Fluttershy, she was not living up to her name. Instead of cowering behind Rainbow Dash as she usually would, she was standing confidently right next to Twilight. In fact, it was actually kind of intimidating. Applejack was the one who was cowering behind Rarity, like she wants to say something, but can’t work up the courage to do so. Rarity, on the other hoof, looked around with extreme disinterest. Celestia mused that she could don a polka-dotted shirt with plaid horseshoes right now and Rarity wouldn’t react at all. Rainbow Dash—
Celestia suppressed a shiver. Rainbow Dash was floating just above the rest, to Twilight’s immediate left, and looked at Celestia with such loathing. It was as if she could rip Celestia limb from limb at any moment, and gladly would, but something was holding her back. That something, Celestia surmised, being Twilight.
Her faithful student. Celestia was shocked to find, she could not discern anything about Twilight’s current feelings. She just stood there, wings partially flared out, as if holding the other five back, with the barest hint of a smile creeping up her face. Not a “Thank Celestia, we’re back” smile, but an “I know something you don’t” smile, one that, in this case, would give an Ursa Major pause.
Celestia also noted that the six were now quite a bit taller, coming up to her’s and Luna’s full height. One horn, two wings each, all matching the respective bearer’s coat, except now, Fluttershy’s and Rainbow Dash’s wings were more eagle- than sparrow-like, like her little pegasi usually were, and Twilight’s and Rarity’s horns were at least a good half-foot longer than the others. Celestia, never having seen another alicorn in more than two thousand years, besides her sister, could only gander that, because those four had been either pegasi or unicorns before the change, the wings or horn, respectively, were still very much the focus of their abilities.
Ah yes, the change. That’s what Celestia was going to ask first, wasn’t it? How, exactly, did two unicorns, two pegasi, and two Earth ponies somehow gain the means of ascension? Not even Star Swirl the Bearded, the greatest mind of his time, and arguably, even more knowledgeable than Twilight, could unlock the secrets. However, before she could bring forth her voice, Celestia was stopped by Twilight.
“I assume you are wondering a few things right now, Princess,” Twilight said that last word almost disdainfully. “Such as, how did this happen? Who gave us this knowledge? And the ever present, why? Why? Why would six of your most loyal subjects find a way to bring themselves to your level of power?” Celestia had to admit, those were her thoughts exactly. “Well, this is why:” her smile grows into a full blown sneer as Celestia’s heart drops to her hooves.
“We, the bearers of the Elements of Harmony, are here to overthrow your rule.”
Guards appeared seemingly from nowhere, quickly surrounding the six. Nobles and commoners alike panicked, running around the room like chickens with their heads off, all converging towards the grand doors from which the six came from.
However, Equestria’s newest alicorns had other ideas. With a nod from Twilight, they all leapt (or in Pinkie’s case, bounced) into action. Rainbow Dash and Pinkie flew out the closest windows, while Applejack used a combination of her magic and Earth pony strength to close and bar the entryway doors. Rarity began focusing her magic to stem off the tide of guards from the barracks behind the throne, and simultaneously Fluttershy started sealing the windows so no pegasi guards could enter. Meanwhile, Twilight charged her magic and teleported all of the guards… somewhere else. This all occurred within a few seconds of each other, with Rainbow and Pinkie slipping back into the room just as Fluttershy sealed the last window.
Celestia, in the midst of the haze of disbelief, had to marvel at their efficiency. It was as if they had practiced just what to do, over and over and over again, until they could do it in their sleep, and were waiting for Twilight’s signal to carry out this part. However, Celestia would not put it past her student to do so. Not arrange a coup, per say, but plan for every contingency that could be thrown her way. Now it was just Celestia, the Mane Six, and all the ponies that had come for a “relaxing” day at court. Celestia tried to send a mental signal to the Captain of the Guard, and was able to get a fuzzy response. By the eyes of the guards outside, Rainbow and Pinkie broke through a window, and flew around the palace so fast, not only did it make some of the more motion sensitive guard sick, but both performed a Sonic Rainboom (in Pinkie’s case, what would come to be known as a Party Rainboom). They then used their magic to warp the Rainbooms into a dark shield covering the entire palace like a second skin. Celestia knew they were trapped.
“Well now, I guess we should determine the means of our surrender?” Twilight asked sweetly. If Celestia had been drinking anything, it would have been spit right back up.
“Excuse me?”
“Oh, come on! Let’s just take her out now!” Rainbow Dash shouted as she charged at the slack-jawed Princess.
However, just before contact with the Princess could be made, a portal opened up in front of her and Rainbow Dash vanished, only to have a second portal open up somewhere above the other five, depositing Rainbow onto the ground with as much force as she had when entering the portal. Even in her shock, the Princess couldn’t help but wince as Rainbow left a largely alicorn-shaped hole in the floor upon impact. She climbed out of the hole, looking no worse for wear, and glared at Twilight.
“Why the buck would you stop me! I almost had her!” she screeched at her ringleader. Twilight just gave her that all-knowing smile and replied, “Dear Dash, there are certain, shall we say, proceedings we must attend to before we can, as you put it, ‘take her out’. Be patient, love.”
Twilight smirked, and then turned back to Celestia. “As I was saying before I was rudely interrupted,” with a glare at Rainbow that caused her to shrink a little, “We would like to negotiate the terms of our surrender.”
“And again I say, excuse me? First, you come into my courtroom unannounced after being gone for more than three months. Second, you are all alicorns, something you still need to explain to me. Third, you are going to celebrate your triumphant return by attempting to overthrow my rule? Lastly, you want to surrender? How am I supposed to react? Also, where are the royal guards?”
“For starters, darling, how about a trial?” Rarity quipped, brushing back her flowing mane. “That way, you can at least hear what we did and why we tried to stage such a coup in the first place! As for your guards, well,” with a glance at Twilight, “If her teleportation spell worked correctly, and I have no reason to doubt her, they are currently outside those doors, trying to beat their way in. Given Twilight’s calculations on the spells we put in place, it should take the combined might of the entire guard about three days to force down the doors.”
Celestia puffed her chest out, as if to berate them using the Royal Canterlot Voice, but then visibly deflated. "Fine. Twilight Sparkle, I hereby place you and your friends under arrest for treason against the crown of Equestria. Now, if you may, could you let the guards back in, so they may escort you to the dungeons to await your trial."
"Oh no no no, Princess, we have a much better idea, " Twilight spoke. "Since this is the Day Court, after all, why not have our trial right now?" With a wave of her horn, her hoof transformed into... a claw? Then, with a snap of said claw, all alicorns charged their magic and changed the hall. Applejack and Rarity disappeared, only to reappear dressed in police pony uniforms, complete with ridiculous hat and sunglasses. Pinkie Pie conjured up a jury stand, and teleported a dozen citizens into the seats, with her taking the first seat. All the other ponies were put into observer pews, with Rainbow Dash sitting somewhere near the back, looking disgusted. A witness stand appeared where the six once stood, with Twilight in the center and Fluttershy to the side wearing the business suit of a lawyer.
Celestia’s dais had been transformed into the quintessential judge’s booth, complete with gavel, censer, and poufy wig sitting atop Celestia’s head. After shaking the Sombra-damned headpiece off, Celestia was finally able to recompose herself. With a reluctant bang from the gavel, the Princess spoke.
“Alright, I suppose. I now call the trial of the bearers of the Elements of Harmony against the Royal Crown of Equestria to order. As the apparent presiding judge, I shall be the one to ask the questions. First question: what happened, Twilight?”
“Why, whatever do you mean?” she asked, fluttering her eyelashes.
“Do not play coy with me, Ms. Sparkle! You know exactly what I mean! Where did you six go, and why?”
“Okay, Princess. I suppose I can take us all back to the beginning of our little adventure. Well, it all started when—“
“Hey you!” Pinkie suddenly shrieked, pointing somewhere behind Celestia. Celestia whipped her head around, but could see nothing but the wall behind her throne. ‘Yeah, you! Down in front! Don’t you even think about going and getting popcorn now! The real show’s about to start! I know you won’t bring enough to share with all of us!”
Twilight facehoofed, then turned to Pinkie. “For the last time, dear, this is not some epic adventure story being read by hyperintelligent monkeys’ five planeshifts up from us! That doesn’t even make any sense!” Resuming her glare at Celestia as Pinkie sat back down in her seat, Twilight remarked, “Sorry about that, Celestia. Ever since we became this way,” gesturing to the wings and horn, “Pinkie’s Pinkie Sense seems to have gone into overdrive. I promise it won’t happen again, right Pinkie?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
"Anyways, it was about thirteen weeks ago this all started..."
-------------------
"I'm so boooooooooored!"
"Pinkie, quit yer complainin' and help with these darned apple trees!"
The six were out in the fields of Sweet Apple Acres, assisting Applejack once again with Applebucking Season. Well, more like helping with the cleanup. This year, Applejack had both Big Mac and, for the first time, Apple Bloom to do the actual bucking. That left it up to the other five to collect the apples and cart them over to storage so Applejack could sell them in the market for the next few months.
After one such trip, the Apples called for a short break. They all congregated around the picnic table as Granny Smith brought out lemonade and fresh apple pies to munch. Seven of them tore into their portions with gusto, while Pinkie, strangely enough, took to pushing her piece of pie around her plate listlessly. Twilight was the first to notice.
"Pinkie? What's wrong? You aren't acting like your usual self." All the others took notice, and slowly stopped eating, fearing the worst. Unhappy Pinkie Pie is not a good Pinkie Pie.
"What's wrong? What's wrong? You of all ponies, Twilight, should know what's wrong! It's nothing."
"Nothing?"
"Exactly! Ever since we got Discord to play nice, nothing's happened! No new ponies have come to town, no letters from the Princess, no earth-breaking dangers! I've had to resort to celebrating half-birthdays, Twilight! Half-bucking-birthdays!" She seemed on the verge of tears.
“Okay, what do you want me to do about it? It’s not like I could force a problem to happen.” She shuddered. “You all know the results from that little adventure.”
Suddenly, Rarity perked up. “Aha! Ideeeaaa!” Once everypony’s attention was on the diva, she continued, “Since we can’t very well wait around for an adventure to be dropped unceremoniously into our laps, why not go out and find one ourselves?”
Applejack looked uneasy. “What are you suggesting, Rars?”
“Well, since we’ve all pretty much done everything we can around Ponyville, why not take a vacation to some of the surrounding countries? I know I’ve run out of design ideas, and I’ve heard Zebrican designers can make some of the most exotic gowns anywhere in the world.”
At this point, even Rainbow Dash was interested. “Yeah, I’ve been meaning to go see some of the Griffonian cities. I know which one Gilda’s from, and it’s about time she showed me her own city. It’s the least she could do for me putting up with her all those years in Flight School.”
“Um, I want to go see the Minotaur gladiators.” Everypony whipped their heads around in shock to behold Fluttershy. “Eep! I mean… Ever since Iron Will came to town, I’ve always wanted to see their cities, and I hear their gladiator fights are world-renowned. I would love to go see them. Oh, can we Twilight?”
“Ooh! Pick me! Pick me next!” Pinkie exclaimed, waving her hoof in the air fast enough to create a current.
“Yes, Pinkie?” Twilight, muttered, fearing the worst.
“I want to go to Saddle Arabia!”
“Why?”
“Oh, no real reason. We were talking about where we want to go see stuff, and I want to go see Saddle Arabia! Really, Twilight, you should pay better attention.”
“Pinkie, I … uh …” Twilight had to resist facehoofing so hard she would self-lobotomize herself with her horn. She settled for banging her head on the tabletop. “So, Applejack. Care to voice where you wish to go?”
“Shucks, Twi. With all the help you five did today, Big Mac and Apple Bloom can deal with the rest of the harvest without me! Well, if’n I could pick someplace ta’ go, it’d be the Crystal Empire.”
“Really?” Rainbow groaned. “We’ve already been there, like, three times! Why would you want to go back?”
“If ya must know, RD, I’ve always been wonderin’ how them Crystal Ponies make all their crystal foods. If’n we can go there, I might jus’ be able to learn how, and that’ll push our apple sales through the roof! Imagine, Sweet Apple Acres Crystal Apple Cider! Heck, the Crystal Ponies’ be comin’ here to get their apples ‘stead of wherevers they get it from.”
Applejack turned to Rainbow to give her another round, but found her on the ground, salivating. “Crystal...CIDER?!” She twitched uncontrollably, then shot up, grabbed Twilight’s shoulders and started shaking her like a ragdoll. “TWILIGHT! WE HAVE TO GO TO THE CRYSTAL EMPIRE!”
A field of purple energy surrounded Dash, gently pried her from Twilight, and set her back on her seat. She took a moment to recompose herself, then chuckled. “Heh, sorry about that. It’s just… the cider…”
“Um, Twilight?” Fluttershy this time. “Where would you like to go?”
“Wow. Um, I guess it’s more of a question of where wouldn’t I want to go. There’s only so much you can learn from books.”
“Understatement of the century.” This earned Rainbow a swift foreleg to the ribs from AJ.
“I’ve always wanted to scale the peaks of the Himalneighya Mountains, wander the flats of Salt Lick City, find the legendary Hoofeuda Quadrangle and locate the merponies’ ancient cities within…” Twilight looked away, a mist forming over her eyes. She quickly regained her focus, then remarked, “But, really, anything you girls want to do is fine too.”
“Well, then I guess that’s settled!” Rarity whinnied. “We’ll all go on a globetrotting vacation together! And we shall start with…”
“Crystal Empire!”
“Cryst- I mean, Griffonia!”
“Minos.”
“Zebrica!”
“Saddle Arabia!”
All five glared at each other, then as if by unspoken agreement, turned to Twilight expectantly.
“… What? What do you want me to do?”
“Why, you’re the mediator, dear! Since you didn’t express a want to go to any specific place, you get to decide the order of things.”
“Well, I guess I could do that. Let’s see, according to my Atlas of Equis (RD: “She carries one of those in her saddlebags? Like, everywhere?”), the most sensible route would be to travel across Zebrica to the west, then head north to the Islands of Minos. From there, Griffonia is just across the Ponydratic Sea, with Saddle Arabia a little ways south. The Crystal Empire is in the northern tip of Equestria, so that would be the logical conclusion to our journey. That way, if AJ gets to learn about the crystal food process, and it runs a little longer than we think, she’s just a train ride away from Ponyville, not counting the stopover in Canterlot. That sound good to everypony?”
A chorus of agreements found its way to her. “Alright, everypony. Let’s plan to leave in one week’s time. Bring plenty of bits, food, and space in the saddlebags. Leave all disagreements at the train. For the next three weeks, we are officially on vacation!” Cheers all around. “Now, I just have to send a letter to the Princess detailing this…”
“Well, I guess I could do that. Let’s see, according to my Atlas of Equis (RD: “She carries one of those in her saddlebags? Like, everywhere?”), the most sensible route would be to travel across Zebrica to the west, then head north to the Islands of Minos. From there, Griffonia is just across the Ponydratic Sea, with Saddle Arabia a little ways south. The Crystal Empire is in the northern tip of Equestria, so that would be the logical conclusion to our journey. That way, if AJ gets to learn about the crystal food process, and it runs a little longer than we think, she’s just a train ride away from Ponyville, not counting the stopover in Canterlot. That sound good to everypony?”
A chorus of agreements found its way to her. “Alright, everypony. Let’s plan to leave in one week’s time. Bring plenty of bits, food, and space in the saddlebags. Leave all disagreements at the train. For the next three weeks, we are officially on vacation!” Cheers all around. “Now, I just have to send a letter to the Princess detailing this…”
----------And now, the continuation----------
“Yes, this was in your letter, Twilight. But what caused such a sudden shift in demeanor?”
“Ah ah, Princess. That would spoil the surprise! As I was saying, we left from Ponyville, and made our way to the capital of Zebrica. Now, we didn’t want to cause a fuss, so we asked those we met to keep our presence on the down-low. We were there to relax, not get caught up in some international dispute. So, our adventure first brought us to…”
--------------------
“Ladies, welcome to Zeboria!”
“Wow.”
What one may expect from a Zebrican city might be something akin to Ponyville, scattered houses, mostly of mud and thatch. In most cases, one would be correct. However, in the case of Zeboria, one would find a city to rival Canterlot. Walls, twenty feet high and ten feet thick, surrounded the city, with sentinels posted every few yards. Within the city, wide, spacious, well-kept roads of stone laid perfectly straight in a circular pattern, like the spokes of a wagon wheel. These spokes joined in the center, the cultural hub of the country of Zebrica and lands beyond.
All the ponies were busy getting sore necks from trying to look everywhere at once. All of them, except Rarity. Her gaze was dead set on the center of the city. She would see the height of Zebrican fashion if it killed her! However, a deep voice from a side street stopped all of them.
“Well, well, what do we have here? New tourists, come to our city dear?” The owner of the voice was, of course, a zebra. To Rarity’s disappointment, he was not lavishly dressed, sporting only a simple gold chain around his neck and a few rings about his hooves. Twilight was the first to respond.
“I’m sorry, but do I know you? I feel like I’ve met you somewhere before.”
“Ah yes, but I am Xanadu, if you please, for I am the humble ruler of the Zebricanese. Dear Twilight, I was sent by some, to give the Elements a warm welcome.” His voice dropped, as did his rhyming. “Also, I am the father of our dear Zecora, who has sent many a good letter about you.”
Before Twilight could respond, Rarity shoved her way up until she was almost nose-to-nose with Xanadu. “Alright, buster. I came here for one reason, and one reason only. I came here to see fashion! Are you able to accommodate that?”
“Ah, you must be the fashionista Rarity. I shall take you to the palace, if you would come with me.” He began leading the group towards the center. “If you come with, you shall see, fashion that will make you smile with glee! We shall also have a meal, company mine, for I fear it is almost past lunchtime.” Twilight glanced at her companions, all with rumbling tummies and grins on their faces. “Alright. Lead the way, Lord Xanadu.”
--------------------
Celestia had to hide a smirk.
“Whatever is so funny, Celestia?” Twilight snapped.
“I am sorry, but at any of the meetings of world leaders, he was always the one to make me laugh. That is most likely where he recognized you from, Twilight. I know there was at least one such meeting in Canterlot while you have been my student.”
--------------------
Later, after dinner and a fashion show, with Rarity scribbling down as many notes as she could without setting fire to her parchment, the plates had been cleared away and tea set for all seven. Twilight politely asked Xanadu to drop the rhyming, so they could exchange pleasantries.
“…And so, that’s why we’re here, Lord Xanadu. We just needed a vacation from all the hectic things happening in Equestria, you know?”
“Yes, I understand, Twilight Sparkle. In fact, that is the reason I met you at the gates today. Sometimes, palace life becomes a little bland, so I take a few hours off and become one of my little zebras. However, do not take me for a fool.”
“I’m sorry?”
“I know the real reason for your visit. You are here to make allies for the imminent power shift in Equestria, no?”
“What? What would make you think that? Celestia is the ruler, along with Luna. Who else would have any notion of taking the throne?”
“Why, you, my dear.”
“WHAT?” The room falls silent.
“Hush, it is nothing to fear.” Xanadu grimaced at his unintentional rhyming. “You see, the zebras are a very spiritual race. You have brought along the Elements of Harmony, yes? I don’t mean to pry, but I can sense their power.”
“Um, yeah, we all have ours,” Twilight remarked, lifting hers out of her saddlebag as her friends did the same. “I made sure to bring them, in case we ever ran into anything we couldn’t handle on our own.”
“Like I said, I don’t mean to pry, but our astronomers have been scouring the night sky. Ever since the Elements have come into your possession, there has been a shift in the energies of the cosmos. We take this as a sign that Celestia’s reign is coming to a close, and are prepared to weather any political strife that ensues from the shift.”
“I-I’m afraid I don’t understand. Energy shift in the cosmos? What does that mean?”
“Let me put it this way. Imagine the Elements of Harmony are sentient beings. They were treated with respect and awe for a very long time. Then, your Celestia and Luna came along and used them to imprison Discord and seal the Crystal Empire away. They went from being objects of power to nothing more than pets for your rulers. Then, the unthinkable happens. One of your rulers rebels against the other, and she is forced to send her own sister to the moon. Suddenly, the Elements only have half the connection with our plane as they did before. Celestia obviously fears their power, so she seals them away for another one thousand years.
So, you have six beings, hidden away for one thousand years. In that time, they fall into myth and legend. Then, what, fifteen, sixteen years ago? They are woken by an unbelievable amount of magic power, power that has not been seen since before Star Swirl the Bearded. They search the world, and find you. Do not give me that look, that is all Celestia would talk about for a time. They sense more power in you than Celestia has, and so, they gather their own power to change your fate.”
“Wait, wait, wait. Hold up a second, bub.” Rainbow Dash, rising out of her chair, floats next to Xanadu. “What you’re saying is, they found Twilight, and a bunch of rocks made it so she would eventually find them?”
“Nay, not just her. Our astronomers that day found not one, but six fates were changed. You were the one to perform the Sonic Rainboom felt across the world, yes?”
“Uh, yeah. I’m just that awesome.”
“Yes, and you unlocked a hidden power within you that day, as did Twilight. Ah, I did mention four other shifts, yes? The Elements, being six in number, would not be content with another diarchy. They sought out four others whose power was unleashed that day, and tied all of your fatestrings together. Also, not rocks, my flying friend. The gemstones you possess are naught but the physical manifestation of the power of Fate itself.”
“But that means—“
“Yes, the moment your blue friend performed her world-changing stunt, you were all fated to meet, retrieve the Elements from their hiding place, and bring about the fall of your now weak rulers. And, above all the others, rests you, Twilight. Loyalty, Kindness, Honesty, Generosity, and Laughter may be strong, but none are as powerful as the Element of Magic.
You, Twilight Sparkle, are the one fated to become the next ruler of Equestria.”
--------------------
“I take it you did not handle his prophecy well.”
“I almost destroyed the entire east wing of his palace. At the time, I thought he was spouting absolute nonsense. I know I am probably one of the most powerful unicorns of my generation, but to be ‘fated’ to force you from your throne, all because of some… how did you put it, Rainbow?”
“Some stupid rocks.” Rainbow called from the back, still in the same position she was before.
“Yes, some stupid rocks. Stupid rocks that, although they may be stupid, seemed to have chosen us rather than any other being in Equestria, or on all of Equis, to wield them.”
“Odd though he may be, Twilight,” Celestia intoned, “Xanadu and his astronomers are the best in the world. They can tie events in the night sky to anything happening on this planet. They were the ones to realize that the Elements did not conform to our world’s laws. Star Swirl himself based a lot of his research into the effects of magic off of what he learned from the Zebrican diviners and astronomers. In any case, what happened next?”
“We left Zebrica shortly after. As in, the same day. I couldn’t stand to be near him any longer. The other girls were affected too, but I could never figure out how much. We set off for Minos next, and had an absolute blast. We saw the honorable gladiator brawls, how they were more a show of strength than actually killing your opponent, something Fluttershy appreciated.”
“Humph. Now I know they were holding back on purpose. What’s the use in fighting someone if you aren’t going to let some blood be spilled?” Fluttershy remarked, drawing gasps from all (other than the five) who knew her. Fluttershy would never intentionally harm another sentient being!
“However, we ran into the King of Minos, a gargantuan minotaur by the name of Xerxes. We feasted with him, because, come on, how do you say no to royalty?”
--------------------
Xerxes was a large king, the kind that befitted a large dining table. The ponies all had to be helped into five foot tall stools to overlook a table crowded with piles upon piles of meat. Thankfully, Xerxes was aware of his guest’s diets, and ordered a selection of greens and fruits brought out. They chatted while they ate; well, more like, the king shouted while the ponies tried to hold on for dear life so as to not be blown away.
“So, how long until the old bird kicks the bucket?”
Twilight spit out the pit of the fruit she had been eating (the servants called it a “plum”. Apparently native to only the islands). “What?”
“You know what I mean, little pony. How long until your teacher is beaten down by somebody- sorry, somepony- stronger and that somepony else takes her place? Someone like you, perhaps?”
Twilight, having learned from the last ruler who tried to get her hackles up, stewed his comment over in her mind before responding. “I am unsure what you mean.”
“Oh come on!” He almost roared. “Celestia cannot shut up about how proud she is of her little protégé, how she cannot wait for her dear Twilight to become the next Star Swirl. I thought she was grooming you to take her place!”
“Now you wait just a darned second, Mr. King,” Applejack said in a huff. “Celestia is a strong ruler. She ain’t gonna be steppin’ down anytime soon!”
The King of Minos roared with laughter. “Ha ha ha ha ha! Oh, that’s rich,” he said, wiping a tear from his eye. His merriment died down, however, when he noticed that none of the ponies were joining in with him. “Man, she even kept her student in the dark, even when she… Impressive…”
“Hey!” Somehow Pinkie got across the table (without disturbing anything) and climbed up Xerxes’ chest to look him in the eye. “Celestia. Is. Not. Weak. Do you understand me?”
“Ya, ya, I hear you all right, little pony,” he said, gently removing Pinkie from his fur and setting her on the table, “I just don’t understand how she kept this act going for so long.”
“Alright, enough beating around the bush. Either say your piece or we’re leaving!” Twilight stood up, but then realized she was still suspended five feet in the air by a rickety stool. She slowly sat back down.
Xerxes deflated a bit. “Okay, but what we say can never leave this room, hear? If any of the other world leaders knew I told you this, I would be skinned alive by next moon. Okay? Okay. One thousand and whatever years ago, your two Princesses were at full strength. They could wield the Elements of Harmony as easily as I can swing a club. When they got that Chaos God put into stone, it drained them. I dunno if it was the Elements, or their own stupidity, but they were weaker afterwards. That was when Sombra succeeded in taking over your Crystal Empire. He capitalized upon the Princesses’ weakness and took a large part of your land for himself. Then, Celestia made a decision, and a stupid choice. She had to banish Luna to the moon, which further weakened her. After that, she sealed away her one source of infinite power. That was the straw that broke the camel’s back, if I am using that phrase correctly. Now Celestia was so weak, she could do nothing but sit back and observe for one thousand years, raising and lowering the sun and moon.
“We Minotaurs, we base our rule on power. The strongest of us get the best land, the best warriors, the best loot from raiding weaker camps and cities. When your Princess decided to sit back and watch as the Diamond Dogs encroached on her land, as the Griffins started taking the mountains to the north of Equestria, and as we heard rumors of possible changeling hives within your borders? We fortified our positions, as did the Griffins. She sat back and let it happen. That is the greatest sign of weakness to a Minotaur. When an enemy dares stake claim on your land, you crush them so they learn to never do it again. For the Dogs, it would have been easy. Just use her precious sun to burn the ground they stood upon, then send in her guards to clean them up. White one. I heard you ran into some trouble with the pesky Dogs. How do you feel knowing Celestia could have prevented that, fifty years ago, and did nothing?”
“Well, now that you mention it,” Rarity finally spoke up, “It does seem a bit bizarre that Celestia would allow those things so close to one of her cities.” The table fell more silent than before. Not even breathing could be heard.
“Um, Mr. King, sir,” Fluttershy chose this moment to speak, “This is an interesting story and all, but what does it have to do with us, if I may ask?”
“Huh? Oh, ya, ya, I was getting to that part. We can now fast-forward to, say, three, three and a half years ago? Your Nightmare Moon returns, and instead of facing her lost sister herself, Celestia ran. She sent her calf to ‘find’ your Elements of Harmony, when she knew exactly where they were. You defeat and reform her back into your Princess Luna. Now the pair is complete again, but still at a fraction of full power, something Luna never regained. If Celestia had been able to control Nightmare Moon, they would have been the greatest rulers the world had ever known. But she ran, and instead of harnessing the power her sister had, banished her. That is sign of weakness to us. When you take over rival camp, do you put all their warriors to the blade? No, you take the strongest among them and bolster your own ranks.
“Then, there is the events of two years ago. Due to three fillies, the God of Chaos is unleashed. Celestia bids you to use the Elements on him once again to recapture him. However, one thousand years is a long time for a deity such as Discord to plan. He steals away the Elements. Now, your rulers have enough power between them to at least stop him from wreaking havoc, while sending you into his maze to retrieve the Elements. Sort of a two-pronged attack. Instead, Celestia sends you in, no knowledge of what tricks he might pull, and sits on her Royal Plot as he rains chaos across your lands. The result? The bearers are tricked into denying their Elements, and he almost succeeds.
“Then I hear that her student, the one who also stopped Nightmare Moon, defeated Discord single-hoofedly, resealing him in stone. A youngling and her friends, taking down a millennia’s-old deity!
“And now we come to the crutch of the matter. One year ago, your Princess Cadance is married to Celestia’s Captain of the Guard, who, if I remember, is your brother, yes? Only, it is not your Cadance. She was captured by the changeling Queen Chrysalis in order to overtake your kingdom. Celestia and Luna, all-powerful ‘goddesses’ they may be, could not tell that one of their own was a fake? Then, once you, Twilight, exposed the mad queen’s plot, Chrysalis was able to defeat Celestia in a single blast. Where was the other Princess? Sleeping on the job! Us Minotaurs, we do not tolerate treason within our ranks. Nor do we accept slacking off when danger is imminent. In that, your Princesses are guilty on both accounts.
“Allow me to give a brief telling of my rule. I was born the third son of a simple farmer of a minor tribe. As minor as we were, we were eventually defeated and absorbed into a larger clan. I and my brothers were spared, and conscripted into their ranks. I rose quickly through my squad, coming to rest at second-in-command. Then, in a siege against one of our rival clans, my leader turned tail and ran. I took advantage of his weakness, and struck him down, taking up leadership of the squad. My squad was the first one through the walls that day, and took home the manticore’s share of the winnings. With a strong grip and sharp wit, my squad rose to the top of the heap. I eventually had enough power to challenge our general for complete military control. He beat me into the ground, but I delivered the killing blow. From then on, I used my mind, as well as my muscle, to win our clan battle after battle, war after war. Any rival general who dared stand up against me fell by my hand. It was not bloodless, and I ended the day with more injuries than a pony could stand, but I kept going. We overtook more and more clans, even as more kept popping up. At some point, we became so powerful, we came after the capital. Oh, how my forces blades did sing that day! We fought our way to this very room, where the ruling clan chief sat. He begged for his life to be spared. I felled him myself; we consider it the ultimate show of weakness to be reduced to groveling for one’s life. With that final blow, I took the helm, and transformed the Islands of Minos into an Empire. I never showed fear, never showed weakness, never gave my enemies a chance to get a better hand.”
“So, what you’re saying is,” Rainbow flew up, munching an apple, “is that Celestia allowed Chrysalis to almost take over, because of stuff like Discord and Nightmare Moon, moments of weakness? That’s messed up, and completely not true, right, Twi?” …
“Uh, Twi? You doing all right?” …
“Sugarcube? Come on now, if anythin’s wrong, ya can tell us.”
*POOF* with a sudden flash of light, Twilight was gone.
--------------------
“They eventually found me outside the palace gates, curled up in a ball and crying. There was a part of me that refused to believe what Xerxes said, that you were weak. However, there was now that nugget of doubt growing in my chest. You didn’t do anything about Nightmare Moon, or Discord, or Sombra, because you didn’t have the power to do so. To you we held the power, so you used us like chess pieces! You even went so far as to—“
It was at this point that Celestia’s thoughts became interrupted by a small buzzing in her ear. She raised a hoof to swat the annoying insect away, when it spoke. It spoke in another voice Celestia had not heard in weeks, one she was grateful to hear.
“Psst! Princess! I’m ready when you are. Just give the word.” With that, the pest was gone. Celestia smiled inwardly. She now had her ace in the hole.
“—and then there was the whole deal with Chrysalis, when—what’s so funny this time?”
Ponyfeathers. Some of Celestia’s mirth must have shown through. “Oh, nothing of any importance. You said you went to Griffonia next?”
Twilight looked bewildered, then shook it off. “Um, yes, we did. I won’t bore you with the details, but, in short: we met Gilda, she still hated our guts, turns out she is a daughter of one of the representatives of the Griffonian Council. Did you know Griffonia has a Democracy, not a Monarchy? They have representatives from each city who come to the elected Prime Minister and they work it all out. Fascinating stuff, actually.
“Because of our connection to Gilda, we ended up with the Prime Minister one night. He was as insufferable as Xanadu and Xerxes. He went on and on about ‘pledging the allegiance of the griffins to the new Equestrian rulers’ and other such nonsense. Same song, third verse. You know what he said your flaw was? Pride. The Griffins are nothing if not proud. They are so prideful, that their leaders are always the first ones on the battlefield, and the last ones off. He saw you sending the six of us after your foes time and time again as an insult to your pride. Not only do you send us to do your dirty work, but you show up ex post facto and claim it was all part of your plan to send us through that hell and back. He spouted off some more, but by then I had stopped listening. It all started to click, you know?
“Xanadu said you lost your spiritual connection. Xerxes spoke of how you lost your power, through your and our actions. The Prime Minister saw the downfall of your pride, as you kept sending us against foes you could not bear to face yourself. And through it all, the lack of qualities kept leading back to one place: us. The rest of the world saw it, but you kept everyone in the dark!”
“Twilight—“
“No, Princess! The time for you to speak is over!”
“Twilight—“
“You thought you could keep your pieces blind, well, hear this. We are taking our own king out of the equation!”
“TWILIGHT SPARKLE!” the roar came. Nopony had ever seen Celestia use the Royal Canterlot Voice, and it was downright terrifying. Every light grew dim, and all warmth left the hall. “”You dare use the accusation of others as a basis for your little game? I have ruled Equestria for over a millennia. What makes you think you can take what has been Ours for generations? This charade is OVER! Discord, now!” Celestia quickly threw a shield around her ponies, making sure to exclude the six. Discord would never harm a soul, but she wasn’t about to take the risk. She waited…
And waited…
And waited…
“D-Discord? Where are you? You said you would assist me!”
A laugh drew her attention back to the center of the hall. Twilight stood there, her head thrown back, cackling at the stars. “Oh, Princess. Did you really think we would overlook somepony as devious as Discord? What did he tell you? ‘Just give the word?’ Well, obviously, you didn’t give the right word. Flutters, would you care to do the honors?”
Fluttershy held out her hoof, and uttered one single Word. Celestia tried to grasp the Word, but it fell out of her memory like the echoes around the room, leaving her with only a remembrance of raw, untamable power. At that moment, all light and dark in the room was drawn to a single point. A chain of dark energy fastened itself around Fluttershy’s hoof, and at the other end manifested Discord. Rather, what was left of Discord. He was no larger than a small dog, laying on the floor like her common ponies did when they saw her. When he spoke, it came out like a small animal’s voice instead of the harsh cackle Celestia was used to. “You called, Ms. Fluttershy?”
“Is there something you would like to say to the Princess, -“she spoke the Word again. Discord visibly shrank, then nodded. He flew – not teleported, but actually flew—to Celestia, stopping just short due to the taut chain around his neck.
“I’m sorry, Celestia, but I had no choice. I found them like you asked, but they somehow captured me. Twilight drained me of my chaos energy until she forced me to give it up.” Discord looked on the verge of tears.
“Give what up, Discord?” Celestia had an inkling of an idea, but needed to hear it for herself.
“My Name, Celly. I was forced to give them my Name, you know, the one reserved for calling beings such as myself into existence? The Sacred Name that all beings on this plane of existence have? Twilight said she would give my power back only if I helped her. It’s not like I could resist anyways, with her saying It all over the place. Also, Fluttershy promised me Saddle Arabia. Saddle Arabia, Celly! Could you imagine me as a sultan? … No, really, imagine it. I barely have enough power to keep myself here.”
“[Word], I think that is quite enough out of you. Seeing as this whole trial nonsense will be over soon, did you bring our gifts?”
Discord whimpered, stole one last glance at Celestia, and then nodded at Twilight. From his pocket dimension (yes, Discord has one. Doesn’t every multi-planar being?), he produced a familiar purple box. Twilight reverently took it in her magic, opened the box, and distributed the objects to her friends. Within were the six Elements of Harmony, but not as Celestia remembered them. These Elements were jagged, the gemstones as black as night. The necklaces and tiara were unruly heaps of metal, rather than the simple shining gold pieces they once were.
Celestia could only gape. How did this happen? What happened to my dear student? However, something Discord said clicked in Celestia’s mind.
“How did you drain Discord of his energy? Raw energy, from any deity, would be enough to drive any mortal insane.”
“Ha! Wouldn’t you like to know?” Rainbow shouted.
“Now, Rainbow, what did we say about outbursts like that? That’s why you’re in the back. Well, Celestia, somewhere between Griffonia and Saddle Arabia, we all got this idea in our heads. We tracked down the one villain we never truly vanquished.” Twilight sneered, showing all of her… fangs?
A scream sounds to my left. I roll, just in time for a Technicolor creature to slam into the space I had been occupying a moment ago. None of it matters. I must get to Luna. She might not be equipped to handle this either, but by the Stars, we had to try something!
My student and her friends have turned on me. They said something about the Elements altering their fates since the moment Rainbow Dash performed her first Sonic Rainboom. As a minor goddess – yes, I am a goddess! Nopony on their own power could possibly move the celestial bodies the way my sister and I do! – I did feel something change that day. None could have guessed the ramifications behind it.
As I run, avoiding the bearers as they try to outmaneuver me, I think back to what transpired those few minutes ago, when that –thing—that used to be my student bought out the Elements of Harmony.
----------
“We hunted down Chrysalis.”
I could only stare. I didn’t even feel her words, all I could see is those fangs. The truth was out. The bearers were no longer ponykin.
“…What? Do I have a smudge on my cheek, Princess?” I hated how she said it, like a forced formality by a sworn enemy.
“Um, Twilight, dear…” Rarity floated a mirror over to Twilight, revealing her more, sharp, features.
“Well, “she spoke after a moment of consideration, “I guess the changeling’s out of the bag. I’ll just skip ahead to the juicy bits then.” A flare of purplish-green fire appeared around her hooves.
“We found Chrysalis’ lair, and she welcomed us with open hooves.” The fire moved up her legs, revealing holes like cheese. “Actually, she trapped all of us in cocoons and tried to drain us of any emotion we had ever felt.” It moved further, showing a glistening purplish-black body, though more fur than carapace remained.
“We managed to convince her we were there to help her get her heart’s desire: Canterlot, and Cadence’s head on a platter. So, instead of trapping us in cocoons and draining our emotions, she trapped us in cocoons and turned us into changelings.” Her wings remained mostly unchanged, only becoming a little thinner, with, of course, more holes.
“At least, she tried. I still haven’t worked out how, but we never became full changelings. I believe the Elements had something to do with it.” The fire spread across her snout and mane, making the former longer to better house those fangs, and the latter a luxurious, hole-riddled flowing affair. Not much different than my own mane, but instead of my pastel colors, her mane retained the overall deep purple color, with several stripes of various pinks running through it. Twilight’s eyes remained completely unchanged.
“The Elements changed fate again that day. They knew we would be powerless if we subverted to Chrysalis’ mind control, so they formed us new bodies, ones that could withstand the brain changes and would end up more powerful than Chrysalis, or any changeling queen, would ever be.” Her horn became jagged, curving into a crescent, sharp enough to cut.
“The Elements changed too. We were wearing them as we went into the cocoons; maybe Chrysalis thought it would give us more power as changelings. If so, she was right.” The tail grew long to match the mane.
“We went in as ponies. We were supposed to come out as changelings. Instead, we came out as more of a hybrid, the best of both worlds. The moment we were released – although, I believe we broke out of our own accord—we set upon killing Chrysalis with our newfound might. She was caught off guard, but still gave a valiant effort. When she fell, I dealt the killing blow. According to changeling law, that made me the new Queen of the Hive. I was also told I had to absorb what remained of Chrysalis’ spirit, to ensure my rightful rule.
“When I did so, I changed fate. Instead of taking it all, I split it among all six of us, taking just a little more for myself. For the first time, one Hive had six Queens!” I glanced over at the other five. They too had transformed, each an abomination of nature. All six were a blend of pony and changeling parts, with pony being more dominant.
“After that, we had both the forces, and the power to do what we wanted. So we waited, and planned, right up until this–” she pointed at Discord “- showed his ugly face. We can thank Pinkie for revealing him. Her Pinkie Senses went off at the right moment for us to see and capture.”
I had had enough. Twilight had been doing nothing but stalling this entire time, and it was high time I found out why. “That still doesn’t explain how you stole his energy.”
“Yes, yes, I was getting to that! See, the Elements changed the rules again. Instead of just feeding off love, like changelings are wont to do, we each gained a full range of emotions we could drain, mostly attuned to our respective Element. Fluttershy could drain compassion and mercy, Rainbow Dash courage, Pinkie joy and general recklessness, and me… well, I can now drain magic itself away, just like I’ve been doing to you ever since this farce of a trial started.”
“What?!” I quickly cast a detection spell. Sure enough, there was a thin trail moving from my horn to hers. Not enough for me to notice right away, but enough that it had impaired my judgment. I cast a spell for removing spells, and it seems to have worked. I can no longer see the trail.
“Humph. Took you long enough. So, Pinkie and I were able to join our feeding efforts to siphon off his chaos energy. From the way he screamed, you would have thought we were tearing his very soul away from his body! Eventually, yes, we learned of his True Name, and with it, the final piece of our match. With the Chaos Lord now subdued, only the combined efforts of Nightmare Moon and Sombra could have stood a slight chance in defeating us. We moved our forces here, to Canterlot, and waited for the perfect moment to strike.”
“That’s impossible,” I stammer out. “There have been no changelings in Canterlot since the invasion.”
“Oh, really?” Twilight then raised her horn, and my blood ran cold. A wave washed out from her horn, bathing my subjects in a shimmering purple light. They were there one moment, and the next, half of them had become changelings. “By the way, how is our dear Luna?” Now, my hooves have turned to lead. “It’s not like it matters. In a few minutes, Pinkie shall have retrieved her, and my plan will be complete.”
Pinkie? But, she’s been over there the whole—wait. A light pink shimmer around her form. I hit it with a weak blast of magic, and it faded away. An illusion!
“Yeah, Pinkie’s gotten very good at illusory magic.” Twilight clopped her hooves together. “Alright, enough chitchat. Fluttershy, if you would be so sweet as to lower the shield around the door? I think our pets want to make some new friends. The rest of us have a Princess to take. Hey, where did Celestia go?”
----------
Which brings us to now. Me, running from these hybrid abominations, limping slightly from when Applejack shot across the room and bucked me through my throne to the wall beyond. I can hear the sounds of battle growing fainter the farther I go. Since the invasion, my guards have been trained in how to deal with a changeling threat. My only hope is that they are up to the task.
As I climb the Lunar Spire, everything falls deathly quiet. I can only hear my hooves on stone, and my labored breaths. A thought nudges at the back of my mind. Are they leading me here? Why have they stopped attacking me? However, those thoughts also came with the thought of by my plot, I need to lay off the royal cake, so it became kind of muddled. As I near the top, a faint whimpering reaches my ears. Luna!
I charge up the last spiral of stairs, and burst into my sister’s study. The room is dark, like a starless night, with Luna sitting in the center in the single pool of light, her back to me.
“L-Luna?” I say warily. “Sister? W-we must do something about the bearers… Sister?”
As I approach, I notice a few things. Her mane is disheveled, like she hadn’t slept in days. There are also several strands of what appears to be paper hanging off of her. I stop a hoofs-length away from her.
“L-Luna? Please, say something. I can’t handle this without you.” “Do you wish to be happy, Celestia?”
“What?”
“I said, dear sister, do you wish to be HAPPY?” At the last word, Luna finally turns to me. Her snout is pulled into a ghastly smile, reaching ear to ear. Her eyes are wild and unfocused. It only takes a moment to notice these, because as she turns, she hits me with a blast of magic, throwing me against yet another wall, cackling the whole while.
As I pull myself up, I whimper at Luna. “Sister, what has happened to you? Please, you need to stop!” She continues to approach like a lioness stalks her prey.
Then, another voice from the shadows. “Aw, Princess. You didn’t say the magic words! Here, I’ll do it for you! Pinkie says, stop!” Luna immediately sits on her haunches. The mare in question steps from the shadows, as much an abomination as the rest of them. With her is a ghastly contraption, five feet of dull black metal, wagon wheels of iron with spikes around them, and a nasty, frayed fuse sticking out of the top.
“Pinkie, what did you do to Luna??”
“Isn’t it obvious, Princess? I made her happy!” She brandished her device. “With my new and improved Party Cannon, I can make ponies happy forever! It just took a little Twilight brains and Laughter energy, and I got this! Here, try it for yourself!” She fires.
I try to get out of the way, but am not fast enough. I am struck with another wave of energy, and my flank is hit with shrapnel. I expect pain, but only feel a warm, tingling sensation spreading along my leg. I glance down, and there are several strands of confetti on me from which this feeling is spreading. I force them off my flank, but it is too late. I already feel the faintest of smiles tugging at my lips.
“Aw, Princess! Don’t go spoiling the fun!” She bounces over, and drops her voice low, no emotion on her face. “You know, I really am sorry.”
“S-sorry about what?”
In an instant, her smile returns. “Sorry I didn’t see your face when Twilight gave her big reveal!” She falls back, laughing uncontrollably. Luna joins in the mirth, throwing her head back.
“By any means, I can now also control any pony I make happy. Watch: Woona, Pinkie says, stick your tongue out!” Luna sticks her tongue out as far as she could. “Pinkie says, do a backflip!” Luna does so. “Pinkie says-” she turns back to me, a malicious glint in her eye, “sic ‘em.”
----------
I am running through the palace again, now with the bearers, a changeling army, and my sister hot on my tail. I count myself lucky I was only struck a glancing blow by Pinkie’s Cannon; I was still in complete control. I had managed to drag myself behind her as she commanded Luna to get me. Luna had sprung across the room like an arrow from a bow, but instead of impacting with me, she collided with her new mistress. While they were tangled in a heap, I was able to fly out the balcony and come into the palace through an, unfortunately, closed window.
I can feel them breathing down my neck, but none are using magic to try and stop me. I have an inkling of a thought, that they are herding me somewhere, when suddenly, they all stop. I barrel around a corner and into a hallway the likes of which I have never seen. Everything is decked in opulence, with ribbons, gold and silver pillars, and gemstones everywhere… wait, gemstones?
“Ah, Princess, so lovely for you to join me! Why don’t you just sit down and relax?” The voice comes from everywhere and nowhere. I feel a compelling urge to comply with her request, but I remain standing.
“Come now, dearie! You’ve spent so long running away from your problems. Why not lay down and let someone else handle them?” It is more of a force now, pushing down on my shoulders and flank, wanting me to lay down and let all my troubles float away. My eyelids begin to droop.
“Yes, that’s it. Just lay down, let us take over, you never did much anyways.” With that, my mind clears.
“NO! You will not take my ponies from me!” I shout at the roof. With my resolve restored, I glance about the hall. I find Rarity near the door at the end of the hall, looking extremely miffed.
“Oh, poo! You weren’t supposed to break free! You were supposed to lay down and give up, then Twilight would come get you. Oh, well. I guess I get the privilege of taking out the Princess of Equestria!” She approaches me, her horn giving off sparks. I know I do not have the strength to fight her, but I ready myself nonetheless.
However, she stops short. “What? But, Twilight! She’s right here! I can make our problems go away! Yes, I know there’s a plan and everything, but buck that! I am dealing with this right—AAH!” With that, her horn fizzles out, and she falls to her side. I take advantage of her distraction and dash down a side hall.
Twilight. Twilight is the catalyst for this whole endeavor. If I can find her, I might be able to talk some sense into her. I find my way back towards the main hall, where all of this started; however, I am stopped at the final door by Fluttershy.
“I’m sorry, Princess, but Empress Twilight isn’t ready for you yet.”
“What? Empress Twilight?”
“What, did Pinkie knock some dumb into you? Yes, Empress Twilight. She leads us, as she has since the beginning, so she is granted the title of Empress. The rest of us are her Queens, and shall rule where she cannot.”
“Enough of this nonsense! Let me pass!”
“No!” With that, a wall of yellow light erupts between us. I looked back to see Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, and a slew of changelings also waiting behind a yellow wall. I charged my dwindling reserves of magic, and teleport behind Fluttershy. If she was surprised by that, she didn’t show it. I open the door…
To absolute chaos. My guards are surrounded, fighting a losing battle against an overwhelming army of changelings. My servants and ponies are huddled against a wall, under the careful watch of even more changelings. Twilight stands upon my dais, focused on her magic. A pair of orange hooves, coming straight for my… wait, hooves?
For the umpteenth time that day, I crashed into a wall behind me. This time, I know Applejack has cracked at least one of my ribs. I struggle to stand, and make my way back into the room. I hit Applejack midbuck with a weak freezing spell. Not enough to stop her completely, but enough to slow her down so I could pass. My focus is only on Twilight.
“Ah, Princess! Just in time too! Your chamber is ready.” She moves to the side, and the wall behind the dais shimmers out of existence. Inside what used to be my sister’s and I’s waiting room, where we would greet guests of honor, are two giant glass bowls, each with a symbol inscribed into it. Within the one with a moon is Luna, her mirth faded as she lay there in a heap. The other bowl is inscribed with a sun, and I know that is where she wants to get me. I cannot let her have that chance.
“You come into my courtroom. You accuse me of being weak. You threaten my life. You are not ponies anymore. You try and wrest my throne away. However, if you think for one bucking second I would let you bring harm to any of my little ponies, you. Are. Sorely. MISTAKEN!” I lash out at her with all I have. She responds in kind. As our magicks lance together, I am plunged into a void of darkness.
----------
Nothing exists except me and the abomination that used to be Twilight. Then, I hear a new voice from the shadows. One that has haunted me since that fateful day.
“Ah, Celestia. We meet again.” Out of the void steps none other than Queen Chrysalis.
What? How? Twilight said she killed you!
“Oh really now? She also said that to become queen, she needed to absorb my spirit, yes? Little did she know, when a new queen overthrows the old, and she takes the old’s spirit, she gains not only the power of the old queen, but also the memories of queens before.” What? But that means—
“Yes, dear.” Another changeling appears, to stand next to Twilight. “It means that we remember. We remember what you did to Queen Gomorrah almost a millennia ago.”
“We remember how you forced her out of her hives, all so you could build a fancy castle in the mountainside.”
“Your publicized reason was to make a new palace, away from your old, because you couldn't bear the memories of banishing your sweet sister.”
“But we know the real reasons.”
“You let your emotions cloud your judgment. Gomorrah was one of your closest supporters. When Luna went crazy, you needed a scapegoat.”
No. Soon, Celestia was surrounded by the memories of fallen changeling queens. Then, one more appeared. She was old, wizened, frail, but the largest and strongest of the memories.
“I never blamed you for your actions, Celestia. We were as close as you and Luna were. When a changeling misbehaves, he is sent to the lowest levels of the hive, to fight off quarray eels for the rest of his days. When you came after me, because of what your sister did, my heart broke. In my weakness, I was struck down, and the next queen took my place. She swore vengeance on you for robbing us of our ancestral home. She tried to take Manehattan for her new feeding grounds. They proved more than a challenge for her, and she fled to nurse her wounds. Eventually, the next queen rose up, and tried somewhere else. Again and again and again, queens tried to strike back, but were never strong enough to do so.
“Then, this one came.” Gomorrah placed a hoof lovingly around Twilight. “Chrysalis had a want- no, a need- to make this one pay. We are more than just spirits. We are raw power in basest form. We knew that Twilight had the greatest chance of exacting our revenge, so we left Chrysalis, and added our power to Twilight and her friends.” I was at a loss. I couldn’t speak, only listen.
“We no longer had to wait for the right queen to come along. We now had six who could oppose you.” The other queens started charging their power. “We helped console Twilight through the change, kept her sanity intact. Helped her create the plan laid out before you. The time of princesses is over. The reign of the Empress is at hand!”
Gomorrah sauntered over to me. “Don’t worry, Cel. We will make sure she keeps peace with your little ponies.” With that, the queens added their power to Twilight, and I fell into the darkness.
----------
I remember being dragged. I tried to struggle, but it was as if my body had given up. I was set down somewhere, most likely in the bowl Twilight had wanted me in all along. I found myself able to raise my head as a pounding made itself present. It was Luna, a look of horror on her face. Her voice came out muted.
“Sister? What happened? I remember sitting in my study, then suddenly the pink one comes in, but she is not the same pink one as before. She hit me with something, and I—I—oh, Celestia, I tried to fight it, but it was as if she had complete control over my body!”
“Shh, Lulu, I understand. I almost came under her control too. I tried to fight her, but—” at that moment, a sharp pain lanced through my horn. I heard screaming. It took me a moment to realize it was me and Luna both. I looked up, blinking away the tears, to behold Twilight, that smug grin on her face.
“Well, now that the family reunion is over, what say you to getting this show on the road? I have a kingdom to run!”
“Why—why won’t you just kill us?” Luna gasped.
“Are you mad? I still need you two to deal with the heavenly bodies! I can’t very well run a kingdom if I have to spend a lot of time every day making sure the sun and moon stay the course! So, let’s make a deal. You two stay in there, let’s say, forever, and keep the sun and moon rotating. You will be taken care of to ensure no harm comes to you. In response, I won’t march our ponies in here and execute them one by one. Imagine, you two will be the last thing they see, and it will be of their rulers, weak, defeated, defenseless. Doesn’t that sound fun?”
I hung my head. There was only one way out of this. “We accept.” Luna looked at me as if I had gone mad. Who knows? Maybe I have.
“What was that, Princess?”
“We accept the terms of our surrender. I only ask that you keep my little ponies from harm. If I find that you hurt even a single hair on my ponies’ heads, there will be nowhere in the cosmos you can run to that I will not find.”
“Yeah, yeah, imminent revenge and all that. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have a transition of power to oversee.”
Twilight stepped out of the room and replaced the wall she had come through, plunging the room into near darkness.
Empress Twilight sat upon Celestia’s throne and smiled, casually munching on an apple.
Actually, it was her throne now, wasn’t it?
She sat up, clopped her hooves together, and spoke, “Scribe!”
“Yes, Your Majesty?” He was there in an instant, Quick Note, she recalled.
“Take a letter for the Queens.”
“Yes, Your Majesty. Fire when ready.”
“Alright. Ahem…”
Dear girls,
It has been an eventful three months since we put Celestia and Luna away. For those of you who tend not to take notice, here is what has happened between us:
On the war front, things have progressed as one might expect. Fluttershy is having some trouble with the Griffonian clans, but I expect her to come back victorious. Do I regret going to war with nations that would be better off as allies? Maybe. But you all were there, they saw Celestia as weak. Because the Griffins and Minotaurs respect power, we will give them a taste of our own. Equestria will never be seen as weak ever again.
I hear that each of you has claimed a city of your own, which is good. Rarity took Manehattan, AJ Phillydelphia, Rainbow is in control of Cloudsdale, Pinkie has taken Las Pegasus, and Fluttershy wishes to return to Ponyville once her tours are done.
We have heard of several leaps and bounds in technology. Two researchers under Applejack, one Mr. Hoofison and one Dr. Graham Bell, have been working on a means of instantaneous long-range communication, without magic. I have received their agreement to move their labs to Canterlot, where I shall be paying close attention to developments.
Rarity has been working closely with her scientists to develop a device capable of launching precise bursts of magic, without draining the user. She, of course, came up with some fanciful name for the project, but I have declined it. Project Firearm is going to be the turning point in the conflict with the Griffins. Their superiority with the crossbow, in addition to their midair maneuverability, will be crushed when we have a legion of unicorns with these weapons able to deliver magic at unbelievable rates and speeds. Applejack has also taken interest in the project, and may be able to devise a way to adapt these weapons for non-unicorns. Of course, it’ll be tough to fire without a magic source, but her researchers have been developing small projectiles much more deadly than a crossbow quarrel.
I received the first working prototype, Rarity, and I am impressed. I even had an excuse to try it out! Luna, of course, tried to rebel again last week. My guard caught some rebels trying to break into the palace, and I made true on my promise to the Princesses. They were marched in front of the Princesses, made sure they all locked eyes, and I fired once into the heads of each and every one of them. The look on Luna’s face will be part of my happiest memories forever.
Ah, yes, the rebels. I assure you, girls, that these ‘rebel factions’ are nothing but a minor nuisance. They are popping up in all major population centers, except Cloudsdale. Rainbow’s Shadowbolts are keeping the populace in check there. They go by names like The Children of Celestia or The Warriors of the Sun and Moon, but they are fodder. They will quickly fall under the might of the Kingdom.
Well, I won’t keep you all waiting any longer. Long live me and glory to the Kingdom, and all that.
Your Empress,
Twilight Sparkle
“Twilight… Sparkle. Anything else, Your Majesty?”
“No, Note. Go, summon your couriers. Make sure they use the correct codes this time.”
Note powered his magic, changing the words in the letter into unrecognizable slop. Only the Empress, her Queens, and Note knew the correct way to decode the message. He then took the letter and split it into six identical copies. He presented one to the Empress, then bowed out of the hall to deliver the rest. Twilight summoned her pocket dimension, decoded the letter, and slipped it inside. Why bother trying to hide such evidence of the goings-on in the kingdom, when you can place it literally out of mind?
Empress Twilight stood, and walked down her dais. She stopped at a window, to behold her changeling guard leading a line of hooded figures towards the palace gates. She smiled.
It was a good day to be the Supreme Ruler of Equestria.
