Humans travel to Equestria accidentally and try to establish diplomatic relations.
For thousands of years Equestria has been isolated from other worlds. Now two human mages have found their way inside and the princesses are not sure how, but they're worried. Humans have had a colorful history with the land, but now it seems as if the land wants them around for something. What will it take for Celestia and Luna to learn a lesson in friendship?
“Your majesty?” the guard inquired from the doorway. Princess Celestia turned to him with an unusually serious look.
“Ready the chariot and a platoon of pegasi. There is a disturbance near the Everfree Forest,” she said, gazing into the distance. The guard saluted and left the throne room.
“Your majesty, surely you can send a letter to Twilight Sparkle,” an adviser said from her side. “You still need to meet with the mayor of Trottingham and the representatives from Cloudsdale over the weather. And let's not forget that today has a large number of petitions scheduled in court.”
The princess shook her head and walked stately out to the gardens. “This is a matter for me, not for Twilight. Ask Luna to take care of the mayor and representatives and reschedule court for tomorrow.”
The adviser sighed and jotted some notes on his pad. “If Luna can't take it, shall I put it off for tomorrow as well?” The princess nodded and the advising unicorn bowed, recognizing the dismissal. He sighed and trotted off with his pad, mumbling to himself about the fickleness of royalty.
Celestia stepped into the chariot, a rare frown on her face as the pegasi lifted off. Ponyvillle was a common area for magical events ever since Twilight Sparkle had moved out there, but this was different. Something had interfered with the ancient wards she and Luna had placed over the land so many years ago. And then, a minute later, she felt something poke her sun curiously, like a newborn filly investigating a cat for the first time. That meant that there was something new in the land, and yet strangely the land wasn't upset. She pondered as the pegasi drew the chariot through the sky, out of Canterlot, and toward Ponyville.
* * *
Rainbow Dash was having a relatively boring day. There wasn't any weather scheduled for today and Cloudsdale didn't need her or her team anywhere else. There weren't even any real clouds to clear, not that that would have kept her busy for long. Even training for the Wonderbolts just didn't feel right today. Sure, she could probably still work on the Triple-Twist Aileron Loop, but it was starting to feel stale. Practicing was boring, especially without anyone watching. She sighed as she floated through the air, landing on a small patch of cloud that she kept nearby.
“So borrrrred!” she cried to no one in particular. “I mean, come on, there's really nothing happening today? Pinkie's baking, Twilight's reading, AJ's been working on that new barn for days; Ugh! even Scootaloo's off with her friends.” She sighed and flumped back into the cloud sending little poofs swirling away, now just watching the boring market below. Rose was out selling flowers, Lyra and Bonbon were having lunch, Derpy was delivering mail in her own special way. Everything was just so...normal. She was about to give up and go visit Fluttershy. It'd be kinda dull taking care of the animals, but at least her friend always had something to talk about once you got her started. It was better than the other alternative...Rarity. Going to Carousel Boutique was pretty much the same as torture to the pegasus who prided herself on never brushing her mane. She was sure she was earning some kind of record and she intended to keep it that way.
So she took a quick look around town, in case a giant cupcake had fallen out of the sky or something. With nothing new to interest her she sighed and launched herself off toward Fluttershy's cottage. At least the wind was finally in her mane again. She let herself grin as she did a few loops almost without thinking. One of these days she had to get around to teaching Scoots how to do that. Then she'd finally have someone to fly with, maybe. Well, maybe not. The last time she'd seen Scootaloo, the filly still hadn't figured out hovering.
Dash was so lost in her thoughts, she almost didn't notice the strange shapes on the ground. But the movement caught her eye and she slowed down to circle over them. Halfway to Fluttershy's cottage, there were two weird looking creatures down there. One was wearing some sort of black dress and the other had on a white shirt. But it wasn't the clothes that made her puzzled, it was the way they walked. They were on two legs, not on four, and they had strange claws on their forelegs instead of hooves. And they didn't have a tail! Even tank had a tail, and he was a pretty weird sort of creature. Come to think of, almost everything had a tail, didn't it? Curious, she decided to investigate more closely. After all, she was the fastest pony in all of Equestria, and they didn't have wings or a horn or anything. If they tried anything, she'd knock them upside the head and zoom off fast enough to make a double rainboom. She circled down, ignoring the bright glint in the distance.
Whatever Rainbow Dash had thought of them, the two creatures weren't stupid. They'd seen the pegasus from a distance, watching her loop around leaving her signature trail of rainbows. Now they stopped in their steps, watching her as she circled down to hover in front of them. For a moment they stared at each other, the two creatures and a blue pegasus. And then, just as Dash was about to inch forward, the tall one spoke. “A pegasus, right?”
Dash jumped and fluttered back a foot. “Whoa! You can talk!”
The tall one, a male judging by his voice, nodded. The shorter one nodded. “And so can you, it seems.” She was definitely a she. Her voice was like a softer version of Luna's.
“Duh, of course I can talk,” Dash replied, coming up closer to get a good look at their faces. They were as tall as Princess Celestia, so Dash decided to stay in the air. “And of course I'm a pegasus. No other pony can fly and I'm definitely not a griffon or a dragon.”
“Pony?” asked the mare.
Dash facehoofed. “Duh, what did you think I was?” She flew around them slowly, taking a better look at them. The two things were quiet, watching Rainbow fly around them. “So, what are you? You don't have tails, wings, or a horn. You can stand on two legs and you have claws instead of hooves. And no fur. Huh, you're the weirdest creatures I've seen from the Forest. Not even any scales.”
“The Forest?” the man asked.
“The Everfree Forest,” Dash pointed back towards it. “All the weird creatures, like you two, come from there. How can you not know that?”
“Because we didn't come from the Everfree Forest.”
“You didn't? Then where'd you come from? And what are you?”
The girl opened her mouth to answer, but she was cut off by a spear of light slamming into the ground and knocking the humans down. Dash looked up, ready to go attack whatever this was, to see Princess Celestia hovering in the sky and a platoon of guards descending on them. The Princess' horn was glowing and her face was stern. Dash dropped to the ground, bowing as low as she could and praying that Celestia didn't blast her next.
The strange creatures, though, got up quickly and faced the sun princess. In his hand, the tall one held a shining spear of light while the shorter one had two disks of darkness in hers. The pegasi guards quickly formed a circle around the group with halberds at the ready. “These are humans, Rainbow Dash,” Princess Celestia said.
“Hu-humans?” the pegasus asked, looking up again.
The princess nodded and hovered before the two 'humans'. “Yes, and they do not belong here.”
“Well, we can argue about belonging later, but you're right,” the man said, unafraid, “we are humans. Who are you?” He pointed his spear at the hovering princess. Instantly the guards moved in closer with their halberds extended.
“Lower your weapons and stand down!” the nearest guard ordered. “You are in the presence of Princess Celestia of Equestria, Keeper of the Sun and Ruler of the Day.”
The man looked at the woman. “She's an alicorn, a winged pegasus,” she filled in for him.
“Lower your weapons!” the guard repeated. The man just looked back to the princess.
“With all due respect, your highness,” he said, “I'd rather not. You seem to have us surrounded.”
Without warning, a bolt of light shot from Celestia's horn. The man moved swiftly, bringing his spear up to meet it. There was a crack as it connected and for a moment he seemed to be straining before deflecting the bolt up and away. The movement left him open and in that split second several polearms pressed against his chest. Rainbow Dash couldn't believe what she had seen, nopony had ever done something like that before, not since the Changeling attack. She looked up to the princess, but Celestia's face was as blank as ever. Then her eyes moved. Rainbow followed to see the girl standing quietly, her black disks spinning.
“I recognize shadow magic, girl,” Celestia said, narrowing her eyes. “You are weak during the day, do not test me.”
The two stared at each other. Rainbow knew that look, it was the look of challenge that you gave to another pony before the race. It was a look that meant you were serious and you were sizing up the opposition. Somepony always had to back down from that, and when they did, that was when they lost. And as Dash expected, the girl was the one to back down. The black disks evaporated away and the guards moved in to surround them. The man gave her a look. “Tch,” he muttered as his spear dissolved into light.
“Get into the chariot,” the guard said. It was the same one from before, and he gave the man a sharp poke and he and the woman began walking. By now Rainbow Dash felt confident enough to stand again, the princess wasn't mad at her apparently, so now it was time to move along fly off before anything else happened. She turned slowly and was about to take off when two guards crossed their spears in her face. She looked around frantically. “You too,” the guard said to her, pointing to the chariot.
“Me! What'd I do?” She asked in panic as they herded her in to stand next to the two humans. “I didn't do anything! I was just going to Fluttershy's house, I didn't even prank anyone! Princess Celestia!” She turned to the monarch, pleading and clearly afraid. By now a crowd on ponies from the town had turned out to see the spectacle. She looked around but the guards were as stony as ever. She couldn't let herself be arrested, not here, not in front of all these other ponies. Without warning, she leaped into the air, but the guards were already waiting for her. Two were in front of her, halberds pointing. She dashed to the side to find another there, and then there was one behind her. She was being enclosed, but there was still an opening and she was Rainbow Dash, fastest pegasus in Equestria. She ducked down toward the ponies on the ground and in less than a second she was out and away from the guards. And then suddenly she hit a wall.
“What!?” Dash looked around frantically, squirming in air, held by a golden glow. She looked back to see Princess Celestia standing by the chariot, horn glowing, her face calm, but a little sad. “Princess?” The monarch was silent, as were the humans. Sighing, Dash stopped struggling and Celestia set her down. The pegasus walked over to the chariot, head and ears down, doing her best to avoid the gaze of the crowd. As she stepped into the chariot, she heard the guards start clearing out the assembled ponies.
“Relax, Rainbow Dash,” a voice said by her ear. She looked up to see the princess there with a slight smile. “You are not in trouble, but you were the first to see these humans. I need your help. Don't worry about your friends, I will send a letter to Twilight. In the meantime, please just relax and don't try to fly off again.” She gave Rainbow a smile before beating her wings, taking off. The guards followed, pulling the chariot into the air. Rainbow Dash looked up to the two humans, but their faces were blank and they ignored her.
“Princess Celestia!!” Rainbow heard the voice come up from far below and she poked her head over the side. “Rainbow Dash! What happened?” A purple unicorn was galloping after the chariot, even though she had no hope of keeping up.
“Twilight!” she called back to her friend, waving a hoof at her. Twilight's expression perked up and she began concentrating, her horn glowing. “Nonono!” Dash shook her head and waved her forelegs, but they were too far away for Twilight to hear and a moment later the unicorn blinked out of existence. Dash turned to look at the chariot, but instead of the usual flash of light there was a purple shimmer around the chariot followed by a scream. Rainbow scrambled to look overboard to see Twilight falling, her face surprised and scared. Dash tensed herself to fly after her, but the guards were already on it. Two stallions plummeted like hawks and below Dash saw her other friends waiting for her. She relaxed, as Twilight was caught by the guards and met by her friends. But they were shrinking, getting farther away as the chariot rose.
“Is she alright?” the woman asked. She looked down at Dash, a little worried. The pony nodded.
“Yeah...” The woman opened her mouth to say something again but Dash had already settled down in the chariot, ignoring the humans. All of this was their fault and Rainbow wasn't really sure how to feel about it.
Ahead of them Celestia flew onwards, her face determined. Humans had returned to Equestria. Somehow, even after being banished by the will of the land itself, humans had returned. <Luna,> she thought to her sister. She waited a moment as the velvet presence in the distance yawned and made contact.
<Sister? It's late.> The mental voice was clearly tired and the vestiges of sleep surrounded her.
<Luna, I am returning to Canterlot with the guards. We need accommodations: two rooms, magically sealed. Tell Shining Armor to prepare my quarters as well and wait for us there.>
The violet presence snapped awake, concerned. <Of course, sister. We shall meet you on the northern balcony.>
The link was cut and Celestia turned her glance back at the humans. They were waiting, behaving themselves. So far they hadn't tried any magic, but that didn't mean much. Somehow they had come here through the wards and that was never good.
Rainbow Dash hung her head over the side of the chariot. Her ears were still down, but at least the wind was blowing through her mane. Royal pegasi guards flew in formation, halberds ready in case either of the two passengers tried anything. They hadn't moved much beyond shifting their weight now and then. Celestia had said they were 'humans' but that didn't mean much. Rainbow Dash had never heard of humans before, but apparently the princess had. That meant that they were from a very long time ago. And since Celestia herself came all the way out here with the guards, that meant that whatever these humans were they were somehow dangerous. Dash never understood magic, but she knew enough to worry when the man had been able to deflect Celestia's power. But since then they had been quiet.
Several times during their journey Rainbow had tried to get a better look at the two humans. Just because she was the element of Loyalty didn't mean she wasn't curious as well. Dash was a very curious mare and these two people had seemed nice enough when they had met. But Celestia didn't like them, and Rainbow Dash didn't want Celestia to hate her, too. So she kept quiet and every time one of them looked down at her, she looked away quickly. They had strange clothes on and each of them had a gem on a necklace. She wondered what Rarity would have to say about them. The man dressed in all white and the woman dressed in black and blues and even had a small, smokey cloak on. Actually, it kinda reminded her of Celestia and Luna. She spent a while thinking about that. The chariot ride gave her a chance to exercise her mind that she didn't usually have, though after a while she started wishing she had brought along the latest Daring Do novel.
Celestia, in the meantime, had spent the trip in memory. It wasn't until the castle grew close that she came back to the present. A spark of magic passed between the two humans. She looked back but they hadn't changed. No weapons or auras about them, and the shield was holding fine. Whatever they had done was relatively small, maybe harmless? Who could tell with humans? They were the masters of deceit. Whatever it was, she narrowed her eyes and lit up the tip of her horn. The woman's eyes widened a little in surprise and the man tilted his head slightly in acknowledgment. Celestia wasn't satisfied, but it would have to do as they were about to reach the castle.
True to her request, Princess Luna waited the chariot on the balcony. A squadron of unicorn guards waited there, white and gray stallions with stony faces and golden armor. It wasn't really gold, of course, but few ponies knew that and even fewer cared. It was impressive and as soon as the chariot touched down the guards had surrounded it with halberds and horns ready. Luna took a moment to look over the two humans first, there was something odd about the woman, before turning to greet her sister. “Welcome back, sister,” she said as Celestia alighted. “It is a good thing thou art ever vigilant. It has been a long time since we have seen humans.”
Celestia nodded, looking back at them as the guards herded the three passengers off the chariot. They began walking down the corridors of the palace, with the humans following behind. Below, there was a flurry of activity among the guards as they sealed the castle. “Had they arrived at night, Luna, I am sure you would have felt them first and woken me instead,” the day-time ruler replied.
Luna nodded. “We have asked Shining Armor to await us in thine rooms. We have asked him to prepare his protection spell. Although, we must ask, why hast thou brought Rainbow Dash along and not thine student Twilight Sparkle?”
“Rainbow Dash was the first to meet them and is currently the only one besides us to know what they are. Twilight was not around, most likely studying I would imagine. That reminds me, I must send her a letter.”
“Dost thou think we shall need the Elements of Harmony?”
“No, sister. But enough ponies saw what happened and they have probably already learned that I took Rainbow Dash as well. They need to know she is not in trouble, else we may have to deal with the Elements of Harmony.” Neither princess really liked that idea. The Elements were very powerful, strong enough to seal away Discord and undo his corruption of the land. They weren't to be used on everything that came along. That and the fewer ponies that were exposed to the humans the better. Some pieces of history were better off left alone.
<Sister, turn left,> Luna thought to Celestia as they approached a corridor.
<Luna? What are you thinking? I know it's late for you but my rooms are the other way.>
<They should see our guest in the garden,> Luna reasoned.
<Are you sure? What if they wake him up?> Celestia gave her sister a doubtful glance.
<Then we will know where they stand.> Luna smiled and turned left down the corridor before Celestia had a chance to reply. The bright mare followed, as did their prisoners. Celestia had her doubts about Luna's motivations, but the idea was sound. Normally the alicorns stayed away from the gardens. Discord was sealed firmly enough, but his power was easy enough to sense. Even if a pony wasn't trying to sense magic, most could feel something coming from the statue, even if it was only enough to make them uneasy.
A few turns later and they came out along a long curving hall open to the gardens. From here a pony could see the entire place with all the immaculate shrubberies and flower beds. There were fountains and statues a plenty with Discord in the center. Placing him there had been Luna's idea. She figured that the exposure to the inherent harmony of the land would help strengthen the seal. Celestia had disagreed at the time, but it was a handy placement for him now. His power radiated all the way to the group and a few seconds later the princesses heard the humans stop. It was so sudden, Rainbow Dash nearly bumped into the woman's legs. She looked up to see what was wrong.
The humans were staring out at the gardens. They didn't say anything, but their eyes were wide and their mouths open a bit. It was kinda like a look of surprise but it was hard to tell. They weren't nearly as expressive as most ponies, particularly Pinkie Pie. They looked at each other for a few moments, eyes shifting between them and the garden. Dash looked out to see the garden looking normal as ever. These humans must be pretty weird if they had never seen flowers or statues before. Rainbow rolled her eyes and walked over to the princesses.
“Is there a problem?” Celestia asked serenely. She and Luna sat several feet away.
The man shook his head and took the woman's hand in his. “Not at all, Your Highness,” he said, walking again.
“Then let us continue, please. We're almost there.” Celestia rose and led the way toward her rooms. She didn't know exactly what they were thinking, but she was far better at reading faces than Rainbow Dash was. The humans had been caught off guard.
<I must hand it to you, Luna,> she thought, <placing Discord back in the gardens was a good idea after all.>
Luna winked at her sister. <Thou should trust us more often, Celestia. Thou art skilled in politics and diplomacy, but intimidation is our realm.>
Brief memories of Nightmare Moon came back to Celestia, and memories of the time before that. Whenever negotiations were being difficult, Luna would ask to take the other party out for an evening dinner, as a show of good faith. The next morning they came back ready and willing to accept Celestia's offers, sometimes quite eagerly. Celestia would always ask Luna what she had said and her sister would just smile and laugh and brush it off with a wink. Ponies all throughout the court knew that look and shivered whenever they thought of the poor pony who had had to eat dinner with Princess Luna.
* * *
A few minutes later the entourage arrived at a large room. The door was emblazoned with the sun symbol printed on Celestia's rear and a unicorn guard stood inside. He was clearly of high rank as he wore a different uniform and minimal armor. The princesses led the humans inside, the guards stayed out. Rainbow tried to follow but Celestia shook her head and the guards blocked her with their wings.
“Rainbow Dash, please wait in the guest suite. The guards will escort you,” Celestia said, giving her a gentle smile. “If there is anything you need, ring for an assistant.”
Dash was surprised and wanted to burst out, asking so many things, but a look from Celestia silenced her. She nodded and stepped back. “Yes, princess,” she said, unusually meekly for her. The guards led her away and the doors closed behind them. Now it was just the alicorns, the humans, and the one guard.
“Shining Armor, cast thy spell,” Luna commanded, and the guard nodded. He closed his eyes and concentrated. A purple bubble formed around the tip of his horn, and then suddenly expanded to fill the room. The humans were clearly surprised by this and looked around, admiring the protection spell. The bubble settled just outside the walls of the room, preventing anypony or power from entering or even listening or scrying within.
“Shall I wait outisde, your majesties?” he asked as he finished.
“No,” Celestia replied. “As captain of the guard you need to know the details of any threats to the kingdom and this castle. You may stay, but everything in this room is confidential.” The guard nodded and went to stand by the window. It was out of the way and let him keep an eye on the castle and the conversation. “Now, humans, please have a seat,” the princess indicated some cushions for them as she and her sister seated themselves on a pair.
The two did as they were told and waited for instructions. It was quiet as each pair regarded each other. The humans wore relatively simple outfits. The man had a white tunic and pants with a brown belt, while the woman had a dark dress that came to her ankles and a small black cape of mist. Both wore short sleeves for the warmth and boots as if they were traveling. At this point the princesses noticed that each human also wore a necklace, a simple golden chain with a gem. The man's was a white circle which seemed to glow even in the bright daylight, while the woman wore a circle that was so dark it seemed to drink in surrounding light. The gems emanated power just as Discord had, though not as strongly.
“It has been thousands of years since humans were here,” Celestia began, “so let's have some proper introductions.” The man raised his eyebrow skeptically but the princess went on. “We are the Royal Pony Sisters of Equestria. As I mentioned earlier, I am Princess Celestia, ruler of the day and this is my sister Princess Luna, ruler of the night.”
The man spoke up first. “I am Daniel, a Dragon Warrior and Bearer of both the Crest and Element of Light.”
“And I am Savannah,” the woman said, “also a Dragon Warrior and Bearer of the Crest of Curiosity and Element of Darkness. We are from a planet known as Earth as members of the royal family and representatives of the Dragon Kingdom. We are here in a mission of peace and diplomacy.”
“Daniel and Savannah. Thou come with rank, but not title, and thy dress is hardly befitting a royal diplomat,” Luna replied. “And thou art human, not dragon. How can thee be royalty of a kingdom of dragons?”
“Who's to say we aren't?” Savannah smiled and blinked. It was fast, very fast, but for an instant the princesses could see the familiar vertical slitted pupil of a dragon. They started, but Savannah just laughed and smiled, her eyes back to normal. “It's mostly just a name now-a-days. “Originally the Dragon Kingdom was completely inhabited by dragons and had no other nations to interact with, hence the name. I believe there was originally a proper name, but I am not the court historian.
“We are in the process of merging our nation with the rest of our world. It is a world ruled by science, not by magic, and the peoples need the proper setting to adjust in. We have seen various methods of revealing the presence of magic to our world and many of them were not received positively. Once we get there, I'm sure we'll get a proper name, but that is beside the point, and with all due respect, so is the tale of how humans are now royalty.”
“Perhaps it is out of the way for now,” Celestia said, “but I am quite curious about that story.” Luna nodded in agreement and Daniel bowed his head.
“Then I promise we shall tell it in full before we leave, your majesties. In the meantime, where should we begin?”
“If thou will not tell the tale of how thou became royalty, then tell us the nature of thy kingdom. Thou art here on a mission of diplomacy and thus we must know what to expect from thee.”
The humans nodded and the princesses settled. Shining Armor trotted over from the window to stand by the bed. “If I may,” Savannah said, pulling a small brass device from a hidden pocket. It was about the size of a hoof and oval in shape. Several gems were set around a central opening, but neither princess could guess at it's purpose. Savannah set it on the floor and pressed a green gem. The opening lit up and an image of a curled dragon appeared in the air above it.
“This is the royal crest of the dragon kingdom. It's actually more of a sacred symbol to the dragons than it is a political one. But I'll come back to that, it just loads up whenever you turn this thing on.” She pressed another button and a map appeared instead.
“This device projects illusions?” Celestia asked. She had never seen a device capable of doing something like that before. The humans had not had that before.
“That is correct. I thought you might appreciate that more than us throwing magic about to do the same thing. Besides, this way you can keep it and look through it for yourselves. It's like an encyclopedia, but easier to carry.” The princesses nodded, Luna looked more interested than Celestia and she leaned in a bit to examine the device. The older princess looked over the map. The kingdom seemed similar to Equestria, though there was only one other settlement marked besides the main castle.
“As you can see,” Savannah continued, “the dragon kingdom isn't particularly large. The population is relatively small and the one outpost you see there is for mining. Most of the population is draconic as you might expect and most live in the capitol city. Dragons are mostly predatory so there is little farming compared to what we saw of your kingdom. They like bread a lot, though, but let's move on.” She pressed a blue gem on the device and the map changed to an image of 12 humans. Each small image was captioned with a name and an element. Celestia looked at the image of Savannah which read, 'Savannah, Element of Darkness.'
“This is the new royal family of the dragon kingdom,” Savannah said, gesturing. “Well, we call ourselves that because we have official royal titles but none of us are actually related except for those two,” she pointed to a woman in dark blue and a man in light blue. “That is Naomi and Caleb, they are brother and sister and bear the elements of Water and Ice, respectively. Of all of us they are next in line to the throne. Our current queen is Sharon,” she indicated a woman in golden robes, “as she was the wife of the late king Josef—Naomi and Caleb were his siblings.”
“Despite the titles and positions of those three,” Daniel said, “we all share the responsibilities of running the kingdom. Eric,” a man dressed in yellow, “is the captain of the guards and man-at-arms. Sarah takes care of most of the technological research and her wife Paige oversees agriculture and wildlife,” he gestured to a woman in a brown coat and another in green work clothes. “Each of us does something and has our own niche.”
“And you are the diplomats, then?” asked Celestia.
“Not exactly, your majesty. We each share in the roles of explorers and diplomats, though Nathan explores the most (he's the one in gray). While we each have a different element,” he touched a button and the images of people were replaced with the elements and various symbols, “there is some magic that is universal.” A cream-colored circle appeared in the center of the image and slowly spread to fill it. When it touched the other symbols it was tinted by their colors and the monarchs took a moment to examine the display.
At the top was a fire with a reddish orange tint. Clockwise from there was a gold key, a dark blue teardrop, a faint blue snowflake, a brown dust devil, a green tree, a yellow lightning bolt, a dark orange swirl, Savannah's black orb, a bar with red and blue ends and a dark purple tint, a light pink crystal, a gray whirlwind, and Daniel's white orb. Out of curiosity Luna reached a hoof out and poked the purple bar. It expanded to fill the image with what appeared to be a data page for the element: Magnetism. The night princess exclaimed at the display and tried poking it a few more times, bringing up different elements each time. Each entry had a basic description of the element, some technical details about the physics involved, a link to the current wielder of that element, and some animated examples of applications or spells of that element. The humans sat back and relaxed and the princesses explored around. Luna was particularly amused by the way the device responded to her hooves. Celestia, though, merely read the information and filed it away for later, keeping her trademark poker face. When Luna had finished going through all the elements, Celestia looked back to the humans.
“This is an impressive device, and we appreciate knowing all that we can about your family and kingdom, but this doesn't explain what you mean when you say that you are all diplomats,” she said. Daniel nodded and reached out to poke the creamy filling of the large diagram. It expanded into the Universal data page. The princesses were surprised at that, but read it anyways.
“What thou calls Universal magic we simply know as unicorn magic,” Luna said as she skimmed. “We are somewhat relieved to see that as it would be quite embarrassing if thou could not levitate a pair of boots.” The humans smiled at that.
“Princess Celestia, Princess Luna,” Shining Armor spoke up for the first time, pointing at the last entry on the page. “I believe that may be the answer we are looking for.” The princesses looked at the entry he pointed to: portals. “Humans, what are these portals? Are they the magic you used to get here?”
The humans nodded. “Portals are a means of traveling large distances,” Savannah said, “as long as you can clearly define the end points. We have other means of traveling, but portals are the only ones which can let us travel between the worlds.
“So that's how you got through the princesses' barriers,” the guard accused.
“Well...about that...” Savannah wrung her hands uncomfortably and looked at Daniel for help. He sighed and shrugged, putting a hand on her knee.
“We don't know how we got through the barriers, Captain. The rules of portals are that you have to define the endpoints of each portal and there can't be a magical barrier surrounding it.”
“How can we trust your words?” the guardspony asked.
“Let us prove it. Your barrier is sufficient to block our portal, even with the two of us working together.”
“Your majesties?” Shining Armor looked to the princesses with a raised eyebrow. They nodded and he smiled. “Very well, humans, please try and build a portal out of this room.”
Savannah frowned and thought for a moment. “We don't know this place very well, but a portal to the gardens should be doable.” She and Daniel stood and turned to the doorway. As Daniel gathered energy, Savannah traced the frame with silvery fire. The inside of the frame glowed and filled with mist. She stepped back and Daniel drew a symbol in the mist. For a moment the symbol floated in the mist. Then the door turned red and with a crack the spell fizzled out. The humans turned to the three ponies.
After a moment of thinking, Shining Armor nodded. “The barrier held. It felt like someone was poking at it softly.”
“Can that spell pierce your shield, Captain?” Celestia asked, but the guard shook his head. “Do you think they could break your shield with a different spell?”
“Probably. The changelings were able to break it with physical force, but it was weaker then. Even if they did break through it, there's no way they could do it without alerting me.” Shining Armor looked back at the humans. “Is there any way for your portals to bypass a barrier?”
Daniel nodded. “We can get around a barrier if we know that we can and if we know how to, but we can't break through one with a portal spell. For example, if Savannah were to place small shield in the air here,” the woman summoned a small black shield and let it hover in the middle of the room, “I could make a portal leading to the other side of the room like this.” Daniel turned back to the door and traced the frame. The spell looked the same as last time but when he made the final touch the mist glowed blue and suddenly cleared to give a view of the room from the other side. Looking at the opposide side of the room the princesses could see the portal staring back at them. Celestia stood and walked over to it, putting her hoof through. As she expected, it came out the other side and she gave Daniel a light poke.
Returning to her seat she asked, “What if the barrier is extended?”
“Making the barrier larger or smaller or changing the placement doesn't affect the portal,” Savannah said as she demonstrated moving the barrier around. “But I can break it.” With a wave of her hand the barrier stretched across the room completely and the portal shut closed with a loud crack. The barrier dissipated a moment later and the two humans returned to their seats. “In short, your majesties, Captain, we don't really know how our portal brought us here. If we can't break the barrier around this room, there's no way we could break the one around this world, even with all 12 of the family working together.”
The ponies were silent. On the one hand, their combined knowledge of magic told them that the humans had been truthful, but the princesses had trouble believing them. Humans had lied in the past. They were crafty and cunning and devious. Shining Armor didn't trust them either, though in his case it was a different personal experience behind his skepticism.
“I suppose we shall have to look into it from our side of things,” Celestia said eventually. “It will take a while, though, and it's getting late. Before we retire, tell us, what were doing wandering the universe that landed you here?”
The two humans looked at each other uncomfortably. “Ah, well, how should we put this?” Savannah wondered. Daniel shrugged and she pulled out another brass device and pressed the emerald to make the display appear. A series of planets appeared in the air with a trail in between them. “We were on a trip, actually, a vacation.” Celestia blinked in surprise and Savannah pointed to the destination planet. “This world here is known to the universe as a popular resort planet and we thought it would be a nice, well, um...place to...relax together.” She blushed a little as she finished.
Luna smiled, enjoying the sudden revelation and implications. As ruler of the night she was the one who made it so couples could enjoy themselves privately and secretly. And as such, she tended to be the more juicy of the two sisters, receiving so much charged energy. “Oh ho ho, dear sister, I think we have interrupted a sweet honeymoon,” she raised an eyebrow suggestively, no longer so formal as she had been earlier. “But then why, we must ask, would such a couple come to Equestria of all places? Surely it is not the...palace of sweet release you were seeking.”
“Luna!” Celestia admonished her sister. The humans were blushing a little at this and Shining Armor took the opportunity to clean a blemish on his uniform.
Daniel cleared his throat and pushed the conversation back on track. He pointed to the holographic map. “We came from this world here, Earth, and travel by portal as we explained earlier. The thing about portals is that the farther away the destination, the more energy a portal takes. It is possible to go from here to here,” he drew a dotted line from Earth to the destination planet and several numbers appeared, “but the amount of energy involved would require more than the two of us and would leave us all tired. Either that or we would have to spend days constructing the portal, and that is far too much effort.” The numbers above the new path were much larger than the ones above the other paths, though the princesses had no idea what they actually meant.
“So we decided we'd make a proper trip of it,” Savannah said. “I assume that here you could travel somewhere via train, if we saw correctly during our flight, or you could just walk here. Obviously the train is faster, but more expensive while walking, or trotting I suppose, allows you to see the sights and enjoy the trip as well as the destination.” The princesses nodded at this, as they had tried to teach this lesson more than once in the past. “So I went ahead and plotted a course of known and unknown worlds for us to travel to and explore. Give us some time together.” She laughed a little as she finished, causing the princesses to raise an eyebrow.
“Is this a human joke?” Luna asked.
“No, your majesty,” Daniel replied, smiling for once. “It's just that usually when our family makes first contact and begins diplomatic relations with the heads of state, it isn't because a couple decided they needed some alone time.”
Celestia nodded and stood, moving toward a large map of the countryside on the wall. “I certainly agree, and while I am glad to hear why you are here, or at least why you are traveling, I am still troubled. Humans have had a poor history in the land and your powers concern me. Together the two of you possess power on the same level as my sister and I-”
“We are at a disadvantage, your highness,” Daniel interrupted, receiving a sharp glare from Celestia.
“Perhaps, but there is your family to consider as well, not to mention the dragons.”
“Princess Celestia,” Savannah pleaded, “we are not here to fight, conquer, or anything else. If you wish, we will leave and tell the others to leave this place alone. You are not the first race to ask us to leave.”
“That may be, but it is hard to trust you. There is so much we don't know.”
“What is the nature of thy powers?” Luna chimed in. “We can sense thine affiliation with our own powers: thou possess Light and Dark while we possess Day and Night. These are very similar, identical in this world.”
“And how did you manage to come here?” Celestia asked. “This world is under our protection, and aside from one other, no creature or being has been able to breach that protection.”
“The creature in the garden?” Savannah asked before she could help it.
“Nay, that creature is of this world, though we wish it were otherwise.”
The shock was plain on the humans' face, but the princesses ignored it for now. “Thine powers are Light and Darkness, correct?” Luna asked.
Daniel nodded. “And your powers are day and night?”
The princesses nodded in return.
“So, Princess Celestia, your power takes the form of light and you derive your power from the sun. When it is in the sky, your power and strong and your sister's is weak. My powers are similar. They are derived from light and the more light around the stronger I am.
“My power is the sun. I raise and lower it every day,” Celestia corrected. “Princess Luna raises and lowers the moon in the same way. Our powers are equal. My power is stronger now not because it is day but because it shines down upon us. Luna is only diminished because she allows herself to remain here. Were we to go to the other side of the planet she would be stronger because her power shines down instead of mine. The light that we see now is a direct extension of my power and I am a manifestation of it.”
“In other words it's a form of resonance,” Savannah said quietly. “The same thing which gives us our own powers. Right now Daniel is stronger because his magic resonates with light and there is a lot more light than shadow here. Your powers work similarly.” The princess nodded.
“Exactly. For humans, thou shows a strong grasp of magic. Twilight Sparkle would be envious, sister. But then thou also understands why we must be wary of thee. Right now we four may be evenly matched, and while that commands our respect, it also makes us cautious. Thou said there were more of thee, and thou also said that thine elements are Light and Darkness. Are we correct to assume that there are others who wield different elements?”
The humans nodded.
“And are we correct to assume that these other elements are such that they may not be easily met by our own powers?”
“It's hard to say, but our guess is yes, your majesties,” Daniel said quietly.
“And are we correct to assume that thou possess other powers as well?”
Again they both nodded.
“And are we correct to assume that thine powers are less than the power of the creature in the garden, and that only with thine family could thou meet it in battle evenly?”
They hesitated. “The statue holds more power than us two, yes. I do not know how it compares to all of us together, but it would be very close I think,” Savannah said quietly, seeing where this was going.
“Then thou will proceed quietly to thy rooms until we call for thee. Thou art free to speak with each other in thy minds as my sister and I do, but should we sense any other magic, we shall meet it with force.”
“Yes, your majesty,” the humans said, bowing. Together, the four stood to leave and Luna nodded to Shining Armor to lower the shield.
“Wait,” said Celestia, stepping forward to be very close to Savannah. “Your gems.” Her horn glowed and a white magical outline appeared around Daniel's necklace. A dark blue one appeared around Savannah's, the same as the glow of Luna's horn. The humans' faces, once relaxed, were now stoic and expressionless.
“They are ours and ours alone, Princess,” Daniel said, now every bit the royal he claimed to be. “Thou hast no right nor power over them.”
“You underestimate the source of our powers, then,” Celestia replied. Her horn glowed brighter, and to Daniel's and Savannah's horror, the chains of the necklaces expanded and lifted over their heads. They traveled to the princesses and slipped down their necks to attach themselves to the princess' torcs. “We are the sun and moon. We are the light and dark in this world. Your powers are our own.”
The magical glows faded and the humans were left in stunned silence. The shield around the room came down and the doors opened. Unicorns marched in and flanked the humans. In silence, the once-powerful supposedly royal mages walked out to follow Shining Armor to their room.
* * *
Dear Twilight Sparkle,
I am sure that by now you have heard how I and my guards took your friend and loyal companion Rainbow Dash with me to Canterlot under guard. Know that this was not a punishment, nor am I coming for any of your friends or the townsfolk. An old threat has returned to Equestria, one powerful enough to rival Discord and ignore the many defenses Luna and I have placed over this world. Luna and I have it under control for now, but you will need to be ready in case the Elements of Harmony are needed. Please keep this between your friends, and definitely do not tell the townsfolk.
And please do not worry about Rainbow Dash. I need her for a special task still. If all goes well, she should return to Ponyville by tomorrow night.
Rainbow Dash had no idea what was going on. Sure she wasn't the smartest of ponies, but no one had explained anything to her. One minute she was bored out of her mind in Ponyville, the next she's suddenly a prisoner or something in Canterlot. It might have been exciting, technically, but it certainly wasn't what she'd been hoping for. “In here, Ma'am,” the guard said, breaking her out of her reverie and practically shoving her into her new quarters. They were at the top of a tower, the same ones Rarity had been in back at Twilight's birthday. “You'll need to stay here for the time being, until the princesses release you.”
She sighed and looked back at him. “Don't suppose I could at least stretch my wings a bit, could I?” she asked with a sheepish grin. The guard wasn't amused and she sighed, head sinking. “Didn't think so.” She walked to the bed, ears down flat and sighed as she flumped herself down on her back, bored again. “How do I keep ending up stuck in bed? I didn't even hurt my wing or anything. And no Daring Do to keep me company, either.” There wasn't anything left at this point but to stare out the window and hope that Twilight came to the rescue somehow.
* * *
Back in Ponyville, the purple mare of the hour was busily pacing a new ring in her newly refurbished tree house floor. Spike had given up on her a while ago and was off in the kitchen, looking for the ice cream. “It just doesn't make any sense!” she said. “Why would Princess Celestia come all the way out here with a bunch of guards and kidnap Rainbow Dash?” She paused in her circling to look over at the pile of books on the table. It was actually a fairly small pile of unicorn reference books, things that might explain really strong surges in magic. The only entry that had been helpful so far had been the one about Princess Celestia's magic and all it did was identify it. She already knew the princess was there. What she didn't know was who the other creatures were and why the princess had put up a barrier around the chariot.
“Spike!” she called, hopping out of the ring in the floor nonchalantly and trotting her writing desk. The dragon poked his head out of the kitchen, looking guilty. “Put the ice cream away and come take a letter.” She hadn't spoken to her friends yet, but she knew they'd just tell her to ask the princess. She wanted to have something real, something concrete before her friends came to bother her.
“A letter?” Spike asked, wiping his mouth with some parchment. “But a letter just came for you.”
“What! Why didn't you tell me?!” She whipped around and bore down on him with the Look.
“Well, you get letters all the time and I figured that since you were so busy pacing and all that I could get some ice-”
“Where. Is. It?” she interrupted him, pushing him into the floor with her glare.
“Ah, well, oops.” He held up the bit of parchment now smeared with an unusually large amount of ice cream.
“Ewww,” she said, levitating it with her horn. “Just, go clean up the kitchen or something.” She tried to wipe of most of the ice cream with a napkin before unrolling the scroll and reading it. Spike made a quick exit, hoping to get one last bite of ice cream in. “That's weird. Since when would the princess ask me to keep something like this secret? What could possibly be so bad? Was that what she had come here earlier for? Was the threat here?” She scanned over the letter again, subconsciously levitating several books on Equestrian history toward her. A knock on the door broke her concentration for a moment.
Twilight trotted to the door and opened to find her yellow pegasus friend waiting patiently and looking worried. “Fluttershy!” The pegasus eeped and shrank back a little. Twilight poked her head out and looked around before pulling Fluttershy in with her. “Fluttershy, did you see them? I heard the Princess landed close to your place.”
Fluttershy shook her head, mumbling and trying to hide in her hair a little and hoping Twilight would just put her down.
“What? Oh, sorry.” Twilight relaxed a little and stepped back, giving the mare some space.
“It's ok. You must be worried sick about her.”
“How'd you know?” Twilight asked, confused. She had never quite understood how expressive she made herself sometimes. Fluttershy merely pointed to the floor, however, and smiled a little. Twilight laughed a little self-consciously and trotted back to her desk, sorting out some books. “So did you see what happened?”
Fluttershy nodded. “Oh, well, not all of it. I mean, I only saw the end. We pegasi can't sense magic so well, you know, so I didn't know anything was happening until the Princess' chariot arrived. There was a big flash of light and it spooked some of the chickens. I was coming around to see what had bothered them when I saw the Princess and the guards in the distance. I couldn't hear anything and I didn't want to get too close, but I saw Rainbow Dash there, along with those two strange creatures.”
“Strange creatures? The ones in the chariot?”
Fluttershy nodded. “I couldn't see them very well, but it looked like they stood on two legs like you-know-who. It looked like they had some type of magic and the Princess sent some of her magic at one of them. But instead of hurting it, the magic bounced off and flew into the forest.”
Twilight dropped her books along with her jaw. “The magic...bounced off!? How can that happen?”
“I don't know Twilight, you're the expert there. But after that the guards moved in and escorted them to the chariot and then you and the others showed up. I don't know where those creatures came from or how Rainbow ended up there.”
“And you couldn't hear anything they said, or get a closer look?” Twilight pleaded, desperate for more information. Bipedal creatures were very rare and if Fluttershy didn't know what they were, her books probably didn't either. Really, one of these days she had to get Fluttershy to write a book or two of her own.
“I'm sorry, Twilight. I was too far and I didn't want the Princess mad at me. I didn't know Rainbow Dash was in trouble and I feel bad for leaving her there. That's why I thought you might know what happened to her.” Fluttershy's ears had fallen and she sat down sadly.
Twilight set her books down and went to put an arm around the pegasus. “It's alright, you did your best. And you know Dash wouldn't want you to just rush in there like that. Besides, if she didn't go down fighting, it must not've been that bad, right?”
Fluttershy sniffed and nodded. “I guess so.”
“Well I know so, especially since the Princess just sent me a letter about it.” She showed Fluttershy the letter, apologizing for the ice cream stains. She waited for her friend to read it and then smiled. “See? She'll be back in 10 seconds flat.”
“I guess so, but what does she mean about a new threat?” Fluttershy was already looking around nervously.
“She must be talking about the strange creatures you saw, the ones that blocked her magic.” Twilight was already back looking through her books. In no short order the stack of useless ones had grown rather large.
“I guess so, but how could they be worse than...well, him? He was evil and they didn't do anything.”
“I don't know, but we'll find out. If she thinks she'll need us, then sooner or later she's going to have to tell us.”
“Um, ok. If you say so, Twilight. I just hope Rainbow Dash is alright and not hurt or scared or anything.”
Twilight looked up and smiled. “Rainbow Dash? Scared? That filly's never been afraid of anything. Even if she were hurt she'd probably be fighting to the very end.”
Fluttershy nodded as she turned to leave. “I know. That's what I'm worried about.” She fluttered out of the door, leaving Twilight to ponder the letter. What did the princess mean and what would she tell her friends?
* * *
Princess Luna sood out on her balcony, her horn glowing darkly. Celestia stood beside her. Across Equestria the sun set and the moon began to rise. In the west the sky went from orange to red to a rich purple as the great firey orb fell below the horizon. Luna looked away from the beautiful sunset to one of the towers. A strong aura of magic was emanating from the window and she could see the shape of the man inside. Daniel. Luna blinked and activated her mage-sight, confirming her guess. The aura was white, but it was clearly fading and setting with the sun. The emanation was filled with many different sensory spots, suggesting that he was trying to drink in the last of the sunlight. That and the fact that the aura was fading. The sensory spots were falling off like petals of a blossoming tree. It was strangely poetic and the princess found herself feeling for the human for a moment. She blinked and the mage-sight vanished, to be replaced by the warmth of her sister against her side.
“It seems our guest enjoyed your sunset, sister,” she said, still watching the tower window.
“I noticed,” Celestia said. “It seems the night bothers him.”
“It bothers you.”
Celestia nodded. “It is cold and dark. I don't like it much more than you enjoy the piercing heat of the sun.” Already the mare had wrapped herself in a fuzzy yellow glow to protect her from the chilling effects of the night. To Celestia, night was a cold mist that seeped in to chill and silence. Luna wore it like a cloak, relishing the soft, smooth feel of the night against her coat. But it was not something to fight over, it had been that way for thousands of years. She just stepped back into the palace chamber and levitated a brush to her mane.
“Sister,” Luna said from the balcony.
Celestia looked back up. “Hmm? Changed your mind about the sun?”
Luna stuck out her tongue at her sister and came back in. “I am just thinking about the humans.”
“This was your plan, remember. I was just going to toss them in the dungeons.”
“Because something's not right with this.”
“They are human,” Celestia said, “what do you expect?”
“I expect them to try and kill us.”
“Exactly.”
“So why haven't they?” Luna asked.
“They're just biding their time,” Celestia said. She looked down at the white gem that now adorned her chestpiece. “Of course, without these they will have a much harder time of it.”
“You said they surrendered when you met them near Ponyville.”
“They were out-matched,” the white alicorn reasoned.
“The dark one was, but she was not alone. Daniel was able to deflect your magic.”
“Yes. Isn't that why you suggested this arrangement?”
Luna nodded. “It will keep them weak and make sure we have the advantage, assuming whatever secrets they have are not enough to make up for it. But that is also what makes me think. If Daniel were able to match you, Savannah could have easily dispatched the guards. Then you would have been in trouble.”
“Only until the elements showed up. It didn't take Twilight Sparkle and her friends to appear without a fight. They would have come much sooner with one.” Celestia put the brush down and walked over to Luna, nuzzling her. “Relax, sister, I wasn't in any more danger than we've ever been in. And with this arrangement, we can learn about the humans is safety.”
Luna nodded and put on a smile for her sister. “I suppose you are right. Sleep well, Celestia, I will handle Daniel for the evening.”
“You are sure you can handle him and the night court?” Celestia asked.
Luna poked her sister lightly with a hoof. “Of course I can. I'm a better administrator than you are and you know it. I can handle one more courtier.”
Celestia smiled and relaxed. “Very well, good luck, sister. I will see you in the morning, on the stone as agreed.”
Luna nodded, thinking ahead to that. They hadn't needed the sacred stone in a long while. It would be the first time she stood on it since she returned from the moon. Probably about time, it would be good to restore her connection to the land. She gave her sister a last hug for the night and flew out toward the other tower, planning her night. For starters, she needed to test out this new gem she obtained from Savannah.
Hovering outside the tower she opened her magic and examined the stone. It was deep and filled to the brim with power. Such power she had felt before, it was similar to herself and Celestia, but she had never felt that sensation of depth before, especially not in such a small package. Not only that, but it felt so pure, as if an alchemist had distilled the entire winter solstice night in the deepest and darkest caverns beneath the mountains. Dipping a metaphorical hoof into the gem, Luna was filled with power. She slipped into a shadow behind the tower and immediately her body melded into it. No fog effects this time, she moved from shadow to shadow as easily as gliding through the sky. She flowed into a shadow of one of the guards and re-materialized next to the poor pony. Fortunately they were somewhat used to this, but the guardspony still jumped a bit when he saw the princess appear so suddenly.
“Apologies, sir. You are relieved,” she said, bowing her head slightly in respect.
“Y-yes, your majesty!” The guards saluted, knowing better than to ask questions. They trotted down the hall.
Luna took a moment to compose herself, letting the power go. Then she lifted a hoof and knocked rather politely. The door was opened a moment later revealing Daniel in a simple white tunic and pants, looking almost ready for bed. “Princess Luna?”
The blue alicorn only looked up at him. She was a few inches shorter than he was, close to Savannah's size. “We hope thou enjoyed our sister's sunset, Daniel. We never exert ourselves so early in the night, though your choices are your own.”
“What?”
“We rule the night. As our royal sister sets the sun, we raise the moon and the stars, casting a grand tapestry for all to view and to rest under. The soft light guides the hoofsteps of those who walk our night while the darkness allows the other ponies a chance to rest and recover for tomorrow.”
Daniel said nothing.
“Thou does not understand. Then let us make clear the conditions of thine stay with us.” She stepped into the room, examining the state of the bed, which clearly had not been used yet.
“Conditions? You hold us prisoner and now explain that there are conditions for being a prisoner?” Daniel turned to watch her as she walked. Behind him, the guards edged closer at his tone.
“Indeed. Thou may rest in comfort here in the palace. Thou will be provided three full meals each night, vegetarian of course. Thou will have an opportunity to peruse and borrow books from the palace library as would any guest. Thou will be safe from any harm should an enemy of Equestria attack or should some pony try and hurt thee. In return, thou will stay the nights with me, personally.” She stared into his eyes intensely, doubling the effect of the singular pronoun. “Thou shalt tell us of thine powers, thine family, travels, and intentions. Perhaps we shall even ask thy advice during court. But at all times during the night thou shalt stay with us or with the Night Guard. Thy companion, Savannah, shall keep my sister company during the day.”
Daniel was silent.
“Dost thou agree?”
“It is a generous offer, Your Majesty, certainly more than most humans on Earth would give. May I ask why this arrangement? Surely Savannah would make a better companion for you.”
“Surely you have heard that opposites attract?” Luna said innocently.
“I have heard that when opposites meet, the stronger wins and this arrangement gives you all the cards.”
“Of course.” She sat in the doorway, looking smug. He rolled his eyes.
“Then before I decide whether to accompany you, what will the jail be like if I refuse?”
“Darkness,” she said softly, looking away to avoid his eyes. “And for Savannah, only burning Light.”
“Very well then, Your Majesty. I would love to see the night-time court of Equestria.”
Luna smiled again, “Then follow us and we shall acquaint you with the business of the night.” Daniel followed as she trotted out. Luna led the way through the halls, making small talk. She pointed out the various important areas, such as the library, armory, gardens, kitchens, etc. Daniel was quite silent and even though she continued her tour she wondered what he was thinking. Humans back in the old days had never liked being prisoners, understandably perhaps, but they were a crafty bunch. If tales from that time still existed, the tales of their escapes and infiltrations would be quite popular.
“Here is where we shall hold court, from the Throne of Stars.” They had finally arrived at Luna's throne room. It was smaller than Celestia's, which they had seen earlier, but it felt more comfortable and fitting for the smaller alicorn. “As guardians and protectors of this land and our little ponies, my sister and I hold court to hear their complaints and needs. Should they need a little more light in Manehattan, or should there be a dispute in Fillydelphia which they cannot handle, they come to us. We are also their protectors from the creatures who would otherwise prey on them. Creatures such as dragons and parasprites. Many times the ponies can handle themselves, but many times they cannot. Our sister's student and her friends have been unusually adept at it, or so we have been told.”
“Beg your pardon, your highness, but it doesn't seem like you would need such an elaborate court for something so simple. And protecting your people would require you to be elsewhere. What else do you take care of here?”
“We also review various administrative decisions, mostly fiscal in nature. Princess Celestia handles the military, diplomacy, public works, and education, while I handle arts and sciences, magical research, and intelligence. Here we listen to proposals and presentations and pontificate on how to provide peace and prosperity through perspicacious application of pounds earned by prevailing ponies.”
Daniel raised an eyebrow. “I thought your currency was bits, not pounds?”
“It is,” the princess nodded, unperturbed, “but we wished to continue the alliteration.”
Daniel rolled his eyes and looked around the throne room. “Well then, it's almost time for alliterative alicorns to alight upon their throne and alternatively allow allusions to allegories and allegations regarding all altruistic intentions to become as alcohol lest the almighty be aloof and alone.” Luna's mouth dropped open and she stared at him at a loss for words. He smiled and bowed, very politely. “And where shall I stand, your majesty?”
She shook her head to clear it of his impressive poetic display. “To the left of the throne, by the wall.”
“Aren't you worried about your petitioners seeing me?”
She shook her head and her horn glowed. A dark blue aura settled around him for a moment, and he was dismayed to see the same aura emanating from the Gem of Darkness around her neck. “That is a spell of illusion. The ponies entering will only see a scribe and will think nothing of it.” Daniel was quiet and in a moment the vision of a human was replaced by a white unicorn stallion with neat brown hair. His cutie mark was a lens refracting light. Luna walked around him, taking the measure of the illusion. “Very well, it will do. Should it come up, your name is Lux. Now find a place and wait; the court begins.” She took her place on the throne and signaled the guards.
Within minutes the real advisers came in and the heralds sounded the beginning of the Night Court. One by one petitioners came forward to address the princess. Most of them looked very nervous before the princess, but none of them argued with her regardless of her resolutions.
Most of the petitioners were seeking resolutions to disputes or asking about some help in fixing odd problems here and there. The disputes were either settled there in court after briefly hearing both sides or they were given to the guards to settle through some predetermined methods. One such case involved two farmers from some place called Appleloosa who were arguing over land. Luna's solution was to have a guard stand on one side and fire an arrow into the air. Where the arrow came down was where the new boundary would be drawn.
The first interesting petitioner came from the Manehattan Symphony Orchestra. The musicians and the management had been involved in a labor dispute for a few weeks. Attendance at the concerts had been down, and as a result the management had to lower the salaries for next year. The musicians were protesting, arguing that by not offering competitive wages, the MSO would be losing talented players. The management couldn't really disagree but didn't have much of an alternative. Fortunately the musicians weren't asking for an increase in pay, even they saw the reality of the situation. At this point, Luna took a real interest in the situation. Her advisers presented her with a summary of the information they had obtained of the MSO's finances earlier. She reviewed them, questioning the management on why they needed a certain amount of money here or why there was a deficit over there. Then she questioned the musicians, asking about their lifestyles and if they needed to eat out at fancy restaurants every night, or why the first chair violinist was paid significantly more than the first chair cellist.
Both representatives were looking a bit flustered by the end of her probing and she outlined a few cutbacks both sides could make to preserve the budget before assigning the rest of the details to be worked out with one of her secretaries. The representatives bowed and walked out stiffly to be met by the assigned secretary. Luna sighed a little, wishing that they could have loosened up a bit. Even her advisers were very formal and, dare she say, uptight. Many petitioners were outright nervous. While she could understand if they were nervous because they didn't know how she handled court compared to her sister, she could tell it was more than that. But that was a problem of trust and issues of trust had to be worked on and took time. One night wasn't going to solve it, Luna reminded herself as she settled in for the next petitioners.
There was another discussion over land, this one solved by reminding the ponies that both their lands had originally been owned by the same pony and it would revert to his family if they didn't work something out. Then there was a request for more rain in Las Pegasus, a request to help a sick family member, some pony claiming he had invented a cure-all and was trying to peddle it to the princess, and so on. As the court went on Luna thought more and more about the issue of trust and this human here and began to get an idea. Not only would it let her gain some insight into his personality, but it would throw him off his guard.
The next petitioners to come in were two farmers with another dispute over their land. Unlike many other ponies, Luna recognized these two straight away. They had come to ask for assistance in resolving their conflicts several times before: there was simply no harmony to be found amongst these two. When they finished presenting their case, Luna made a show of looking quite pensive and then looked to her side at the quiet Lux. It was not uncommon for the princesses to ask for some advice from the various advisers, but this was likely to toss the court into some confusion.
“This is a difficult problem. Both of thee have such good arguments that we cannot decide on our own. Our newest assistant, Lux, shall provide some advice for us.” She looked straight at Lux, as did the rest of the court and they waited for the pony to say something. He was very quiet though, absorbed in a piece of parchment. Some of the advisers near him coughed and one gave him a little jab with a hoof.
Daniel looked up with a start to see the entire court looking at him and gave a quick bow to Luna. “I humbly beg your pardon, Your Majesty, I was working on the...local...wine sales figures from...” he scrambled to remember names of the places he had heard, “the Fillydelphia area! It seems their reported revenues are 8% higher than production expected.”
Luna raised an eyebrow and some of the advisers murmured among each other. “Really? How unusual, especially for a scribe working in the research division, Lux.”
“It's a new algorithm the economists asked us to try out. Since my uncle owns a vineyard, I've always had a passing interest.”
Luna did not look amused by this, but at least some of the rest of the court relaxed at that, it was a sensible explanation to most of them who had no idea what the research division really did. “Then let us repeat the question. These two have another dispute over their land.”
“This makes the...6th such dispute tonight?”
“Yes, but it's only their 4th,” Luna said, annoyed at the interruptions. “We need a solution that will solve the problem permanently. Since thy uncle owned a vineyard and thou has had experience in the field of mediation, perhaps thou has some insight into the problem?”
Lux nodded and stepped forward into clear view. “There are several such solutions, Your Majesty,” he said, addressing the two disputers. “If this were simply a case of disputed boundaries, the arrow solution would work the best. If this were a case of ambiguous purchase then asking them to work it out might be the best. However these two ponies have been unable to work out their differences for four times now and each of those times they have felt that the problem was so great that they had to come see one of the rulers just so they could get along, so none of the earlier solutions are fitting. Now, may I see a map of their land?”
An adviser passed a folder to Lux. He began skimming the documents, identifying the map and the summary of the previous cases quickly. He took a minute, mumbling to himself. “Very well, here is my solution.” Using what little power he had, he projected an illusion of the map up for the court to see and outlined a section of the border. Several of the ponies gasped at this magic, apparently surprised.
“It is his special talent,” Luna said behind him. “Lux is assisting in the research of the reflection and refraction of light. He will be spending the next few nights with me, learning of the magic of the moon.” The court relaxed at that and Lunda nodded, “Please continue, Lux.”
The illusory pony nodded. “This area of land will be sown with leafy trees. Since these ponies can not stand the sight of the others' land and since they cannot work out their differences, they should not have to bear the sight of the other. A thick treeline will serve effectively; I recommend evergreens. Should any tree be removed or harmed, both farmers will bear the responsibility of replacing it lest they blame one another for it.”
Luna nodded, it was a very good idea. “If it will please the court, why trees and not a wall?”
“They look much better with holiday lights than a wall, Your Majesty.” The court laughed at this and the two farmers grumbled and looked up to the princess, hoping to appeal, but the princess was smiling as well.
“Very well then, make it so. Since thou farmers cannot abide even the sight of each other's land, a tree line shall be planted in the exact dimensions specified before this court. It shall consist of various evergreens and mistletoe so that even in the dead of winter thou mayest look out upon a scene of harmony. Oak Leaf will see to the details, thou may speak with him afterwards.” The two farmers grumbled a little and left to meet with the large red-green stallion Luna had indicated. As they left the herald stepped forth to announce the end of the night. It seemed the petitioners had finally finished.
The crowd of advisers, nobles, and scribes began to break up. It hadn't been a large crowd to begin with, and as they left several of them told Lux good job. Many of them had seen these two farmers once or twice before and they all knew how odd it was for the princess to give the decision to a new pony like that. Of course, several others left feeling quite suspicious of the sudden addition to the research department.
Well, that was enlightening,” Daniel said, once they were alone. “I take it I was a young stallion of sorts?”
Luna nodded. “We thought about a mare, but no pony would be in Canterlot with the name Loosey Fur.”
Daniel nodded. “Indeed. One way or another, that pony would not be in Canterlot. Now I suppose we retire for lunch and I divulge all my secrets?” Again the princess nodded, leading the way. “Well, then I'll begin as all teachers do and ask what you've learned from the gem, now that you've been using it for a while?”
Luna was quiet for a while, considering. “The gem is a silent vessel. It gives us more power than we had before, yet it reveals nothing. Only our strength has been increased, not the range or variety of our powers.”
“That sounds about right. The gems take some imagination to be used well. Any human, or pony I suppose, with magical talent can use the gem. Since most humans have a small level of magical ability, we don't really know what would happen to someone with none, but I think that having the gem would give them a magical sense.”
“So thy portal magic does not come from these gems of power?”
“That is correct. We had to learn and invent all the spells we use, but we'll save the history for later. Our powers are known as Elements. There are 13 of them, 14 if you count Healing. Each element resonates with a certain force of nature, a certain type or structure of matter, or a certain type of energy. My element is Light and my magic resonates most strongly with electromagnetic radiation. Savannah's element is Darkness and her magic resonates most strongly with the vacuum and the void. It is a hard burden for her.”
“We can empathize with her.”
“Perhaps you can fill me in later on the history there. From what I saw in the court this night, it seems there is something important.”
“Continue.”
Daniel hesitated, “Well, I said earlier that most humans have a small level of magical ability. The royal family is made of people whose magical ability is incredibly powerful. In our world, magic tends to focus itself on one of the elements, so everyone has a certain elemental affinity. Some people have two or three, and every once in a very long while there's someone who has an affinity for all of them. What distinguishes us is the level of potential and it was because of our potential that we gained custody of the gems.”
“Yet without thy gems thou are less powerful than either my sister or I. With them thou can only equal us. That does not seem very special.”
“Perhaps, but surely there are ponies with much more magical talent and ability than others, right?”
“Twilight Sparkle, my sister's prized student, is one such filly. A long time ago there was another, Star Swirl the Bearded, who was my student and equally as strong.”
“Then think of us as being like those two. A star is bright next to a nebula, but dim beside the sun and moon.”
Luna smiled, appreciating the metaphor. “So thou are the star-folk of your world and have found these gems, giving thee the power of the gods.”
“In a manner of speaking, though we are certainly not gods.”
“But with these gems, thou hast the power of a demi-god. We would know.”
Daniel was quiet for a moment, pondering that. “Perhaps, but that is not something we dwell on, though I suspect we will need to address it sooner or later. People will be quite jealous of us and if we expect to establish any sort of democratic society the people will likely demand we give up the gems.”
“Will not thine powers be diminished should thou do that? Will not thou lose the control over the day and night?” Luna asked, a little perplexed at the idea of giving up that power.
“Our own power still resonates with our element, hence why I could make the illusion and why I was able to diffuse my senses into the sunset. Even without her gem, Savannah will still be able to sense the shadows and move them and hide in them as she wishes.”
“Canst thou hide in the light?”
Daniel nodded and walked toward a torch. He held up his hand and the torch began to glow brighter and brighter until he seemed to fade into the light.
“So that is the nature of thy power, yet it is merely a cheap trick. Thou hast merely turned thyself invisible.”
“Indeed,” he said, as he stepped out. “The brighter it is, the more truly invisible I am. Were you to snuff out the light, I would return to visibility, just as Savannah would return should you illuminate the shadow.”
“I see.” Luna continued down the corridor, going up a gentle flight of stairs. “Are there other aspects to thy powers?”
“As far as the elements are concerned? A few. The first is that there exists a type of general magic not affiliated with any particular element. Portals use that kind of magic, as does simple levitation. Many magical weapons are also considered general. Any general magic may be tinted or flavored with an element and after that it may only be wielded by the strongest or most crafty mage of that element. Anyone may deflect a ball of magic, but only Light mages may deflect one of mine.”
“And the second aspect?”
“The second aspect pertains only to Savannah and myself. Our elements have a metaphorical application as well as the physical ones. Mine inspires hope and courage and can peel away secrets. Hers can hide things and grant rest and rejuvenation.”
“Ah, we know what thou speak of. These powers are the ones that my sister and I also use. I control the idea of the night and all that is represents as my sister does the day. Hence her powers are weaker now while mine were weaker then. It is a curious strength, as well as a crippling weakness.”
Daniel nodded and the two moved onwards in silence, each thinking about the conversation. Fortunately for them it was lunch and they had arrived at their destination: a very large dining table in a large hall with a fireplace. Two places had been set and cushions were ready for them at either end of the table. Luna was relieved to finally get a chance to eat. Celestia preferred to have her court in the afternoon instead of the morning, but Luna always wanted to get it out of the way that much faster. It was usually smaller and made the lunch that much more appealing. She imagined Daniel was anticipating it as well and hoped he would eat enough to keep him awake. Although the main course of the evening was over for him, she would not permit him to doze off. It was going to be a long night.
Lux and Luna sat before a modest table set with a large amount of food, all vegetarian. Lux had to explain that he had an unfortunate allergy to flowers when Luna ordered them both a large daisy and posy salad. The butler expressed his sympathies and offered the young stallion a charming plate of celery, carrots, and beans to which Lux agreed. In the meantime, the staff brought out several fruits and a basket of rolls as appetizers. They made small talk until the staff finally finished and they could resume real conversation.
“Humans are allergic to flowers?”
“No,” he said, cutting up a pineapple, “but we don't find them tasty and I suspect we can't really digest them anyways.” He paused a moment to really think about it. “I think I've seen some really fancy restaurants use them, but we have to be careful what we eat. As omnivores we can eat a wide variety of things, but we are more restricted with plants than ponies would be.”
“Hast thou ever tried a flower?” Luna levitated a crisp rose over to him.
Daniel took it and looked at it blankly. “I suppose not.”
“And why not?”
He thought about this one. “Well, I suppose part of it is because there are many plants and flowers that are poisonous. Most humans have lived in cities or on farms for the past several centuries. All the food we get is grown for us to eat, so we don't forage around for edibles much. If it's good and we can eat it, we start growing it.”
“But there are many flowers that are not poisonous!”
“This may be true, but we already have plenty of crops that provide better yield than flowers: corn, wheat, soy, carrots, etc. And flowers go bad more easily than most of those.”
“So because thou art comfortable with one thing, thou hast never tried a flower?”
Daniel nodded. “Oh, and there's the fact that we treat many of our crops, including flowers, with pesticides and preservatives. Most of them are fine, but since we don't grow flowers as an edible crop, I wouldn't be surprised if the chemicals we used on them were toxic.”
Luna didn't look very impressed. “Thy world is a strange place. Tell us more of it, what are these chemicals you speak of? We are familiar with alchemy and the study of strange substances, but what are pesticides and fungicides?”
Daniel smiled and set the rose down, about to start when the rose levitated itself back in front of his mouth.
“Please, thou should try new things in a new world.”
“When in Rome...” he sighed and plucked a few petals, trying them. As expected, they were papery and felt like velvet. There was a mild taste there, aside from the clearly vegetable one, but it was new and he couldn't place it. It wasn't bad, but he doubted he'd make a habit of it. Luna looked expectant, though, and he tilted his head thoughtfully. “Well, it's no carrot, but it's much better than broccoli.”
Luna humphed and levitated the rose back. “I suppose there's no accounting for taste.”
He smiled and continued with his pineapple. “Perhaps not. Now, where should I begin?”
“Pesticides and fungicides. What are they?”
“They are poisons that we spray on our crops. They are designed to be harmful to fungi which would blight the crop or harmful to insects which would devour it. Some of them can be harmful to us but as I understand it we usually use very small amounts and thoroughly wash our food before eating it.”
Luna looked horrified. “You...you humans poison your own food just to protect it from the rest of nature? How can that be acceptable to the people of your world?”
“It increases the yield dramatically. There are 6-or-7 billion humans on Earth and that number is increasing. We need to be able to feed everyone, even if they don't really think about it. But not everyone is satisfied with the way things are done. There is a movement, fairly sizable, which calls for people to eat only foods that have been 'grown naturally', without the use of fungicides, pesticides, and other things. They call it organic food. The problem with it is that most organic crops have lower yields, smaller fruits, and cost more. Some people address this by growing their own vegetables in gardens, others start a “buy local” movement to get support for local farmers.”
“That still seems a strange way of doing things, though we admit that it must be a challenge to feed so many. There are more people in thy world than stars in our sky.”
“Surely there are billions of stars, Your Majesty.”
“Oh, perhaps,” she waved a hoof dismissively. “We only worry about the few hundred major ones. The rest are, we must admit, generic and placed without thought. A clump here and there makes it look purposeful and only the astronomers would noticed anyways. But enough about that, tell us more of thy world and civilization.”
“Well,” he began slowly, unsure how to condense several thousands of years of history down into half-an-hour for dinner. Fortunately the staff returned at that moment with the main course and refills of their wine, though Daniel opted for tea. “My, what a charming array. My compliments to the palace staff.” Luna agreed and they began their courses eagerly. The vegetables were very crisp and the fruit nice and large. Daniel added a bit of salt to his beans and waited for the staff to finish before he continued.
“As I was saying, Your Majesty, I'll begin with a brief description of civilization. I already told you there are billions of people on the planet. About half of them live in cities, some large enough to hold millions of residents. To accommodate everyone, we have large buildings made of steel and glass in the hearts of the cities. Older buildings are still stone, but the modern ones are steel. Most of the residents live a good distance from the city's center in homes similar to yours, though our construction methods are different. In particular we got rid of thatched roofing over a century ago and replaced it with various metals and ceramics.”
“And how dost thou produce so much? Surely tremendous resources must be needed.”
“About 150 years ago we developed mechanical power from steam and gears. Fifty years after that we harnessed the power of lightning: electricity. With those two we were able to build bigger mines and refineries and could refine more ores than before. We also invented a material called plastic, an easily shaped and molded material made from chemicals. And to top it all off in the last 20 years we've developed new methods of recycling old materials so that we can reuse it and cut down on waste.”
“It certainly sounds very advanced, but what is the catch? From what I remember, humans were rather unscrupulous, despite your resourcefulness.”
“The catch is that we tear up the land. Our cities generate small mountains of waste that we simply pile on the land side. Our production centers and refineries and power stations generate pollution: chemicals which cause harm to the environment. The same people who put forward the idea of eating organic food are trying to reduce the harm caused by this production, but it has not been very successful and only the worst toxins are eliminated.”
Luna closed her eyes in sorrow. “Such a high cost.”
Daniel nodded. “The introduction of magic would help people handle a lot of that, but human society has been so focused on science for the past 600 years ever since the Renaissance.”
“The Renaissance?”
“It was a renewal of art and culture after a long time of agrarian living in the continent of Europe.” Already Daniel could see this was going to take a long time. “Perhaps I should start with an overview of the planet. History makes more sense with geography.” He focused the light from several of the torches nearby to make an illusion of the globe. It wasn't perfect, Savannah would have done a much better job, but it would do. The sudden blast of fatigue, though, reminded him that it was way past his usual bedtime. “Ah, before we begin, Your Majesty, perhaps we could get some dessert and maybe a coffee?”
* * *
Lunch concluded a little bit later than usual. Daniel had managed to give the princess a very brief overview of European and American history from the Roman Empire to current times. He had glossed over the rest of the world, as most people from the Western Hemisphere did. It wasn't very fair, but it did explain modern technology and culture. There was still much more to discuss and Luna seemed very disturbed by the wars he had mentioned, but there were other matters to attend to. Luna had policy decisions to review and she informed Daniel that he, as Lux, would be free to peruse the library until dinner. Lux thanked her very graciously and let the night guard escort him to the library.
It was quite large, as one would expect of the royal library. He didn't know exactly how it compared to the one back home, but he knew Kathryn would be very jealous of this one. He browsed about, picking a few general books here and there. Titles such as The Three Tribes, A Foal's Guide to Equestrian History, Geography for Eggheads, and Mythical Beastes: ye olde Reference Guyde piled on a table by the fireplace. At least the place was bright and Daniel finally felt comfortable. He could recharge a bit away from the strange darkness of the night. He hadn't been outside yet, but even walking through the open air corridors it felt like he was walking through a fog. Obviously he could see alright, but it still slowed him down a bit. Here, though, the night was banished to a few thin wisps coming in from the window, and the fire did wonders to keep him warm.
As he sat, taking a sip of the ever-present tea that always accompanies late-night readers in libraries, he considered pulling out one of his auxiliary gems to charge. Savannah had brought several small storage gems with them so they would have a reserve of power and access to other elements if needed. The gems were hard to recharge, though, so they were generally used for emergencies only. Obviously once emptied they could be filled by one's own element or generic magic, but that almost defeated the purpose. There were other ways to recharge the gems with elemental magic, placing a gem in a hot fire would give it some Fire magic, for example, but it was never as efficient as just getting them refilled. They had used some of them in their travels already and Daniel thought he might be able to get some Fire magic from the fireplace here, but the princesses had already taken their main gems and probably didn't know about these. He needed to keep them a secret for now in case there really was an emergency of some sort, so he put them out his mind and began reading.
The planet was round, though a lot smaller than Earth. It actually looked much closer in size to Mars if he had to guess. Equestria was the larger continent and there was smaller one like Australia on the other side. The country of Equestria took up a large portion of the continent and was situated toward the center. The only ports were on the rivers, which did lead to the ocean, but it meant that most trade was probably by land or air. North of Equestria was marked as dragon territory while griffons had a small holding to the southwest. Aside from that it didn't seem like there were many other nations around and there was no record of circumnavigation that he could find, making him doubt the accuracy of the maps.
Where the geography was simple enough, the history was a much more convoluted manner. The proper history accounts only began less than a thousand years prior. They discussed relatively boring things and throughout all of it Princess Celestia had reigned. Apparently Princess Luna was fairly new, only appearing a year or so ago and there was no mention of where she had come from. The only things Daniel could learn about earlier history came from various legends and tales thrown in here and there. One explained how the three tribes of ponies came out of the northern lands in response to a terrible winter. The tale wrapped up by revealing that the winter was caused by legendary creatures which fed off of distrust and feat and were defeated by the tribes becoming friends. It was clearly a foal's tale, but it appeared often enough in the history books that Daniel figured some truth had to be there.
Another common myth told of how the princesses came to Equestria bringing the Elements of Harmony and defeating a creature known as Discord. A third legend spoke of an evil pony banished to the moon for a thousand years known as Nightmare Moon. Strangely that tale was dated well enough for Daniel to figured that it came from about a thousand years earlier. Still, it seemed that nopony had ever properly chronicled ancient history and they hadn't figured out much archeology yet (the only real references being to a series of adventure novels).
With history a dud, that just left basic information about the abilities of and differences between the unicorns, pegasi, and earth ponies. Getting basic information was easy enough, it was in the foal's section of course, but from there it went straight into the technical details. It seemed there was no hitchhiker's guide to Equestria. Nonetheless he learned that most weather was managed and manipulated by the pegasi and that the earth ponies handled the majority of the farming. The unicorns helped out where they could, but it seemed they were responsible for the arts, sciences, magic, and culture rather than anything else. It made sense: those who didn't have to work for a living had time to expand their minds and learning. It also meant that the majority of the nobility were unicorns.
Daniel yawned as he set down The Three Tribes, suddenly realizing just how much time had passed. It had been a few hours and he was beginning to grow hungry again. He still hadn't read over the various flora and fauna or become acquainted with their magic, but he knew enough of their culture to gain a footing. From the pictures it looked like Equestria was mostly influenced by European culture. They had fine arts and music (some type of classical it seemed). The only thing out of place was Canterlot Castle, which looked as if it had been inspired by Byzantine architecture but built by a whimsical 8-year old who didn't know anything about castles other than walls and towers. It was also obvious that Equestria relied mostly on magic and had made little technological progress. Daniel guessed that made the place pre-Renaissance, but it wasn't like he had a reference guide of European history to check. He made a note to check with Savannah later, assuming he even got a chance to see her. He wasn't sure the princesses would be too keen on that.
At any rate, he stood and stretched out with a yawn. He was glad of the library time, since the exhaustion of staying up all night was finally catching up to him and he was at that strange intersection of being tired and hungry. Hopefully dinner was soon, else he was going to start becoming irritable, as would anyone else. Belatedly he wondered what would've happened had he tried to take a nap, but he reluctantly pushed the idea away. Even if he had been allowed to sleep, it would've made sleeping through the day that much harder and tomorrow night wouldn't really be any better. At least it was still warm in the library. The air from the windows far above looked pretty chilly and the night looked thicker than earlier.
He sighed and began stretching out, warming up his muscles and getting some energy flowing again. The tea was still around, but it wouldn't help at this point. A few minutes later, there was a knock at the door and Princess Luna entered. “Have thine studies been fruitful?”
“Except for history, quite,” he countered, wondering if he'd get anything from her on that subject.
“Excellent. It is nearly time for dinner, Lux. Perhaps thou can tell us what thou hast learned about the magic of friendship?”
“Huh? Magic of friendship?”
Luna laughed. “Nevermind, it is my sister's little thing.” She led the way back toward the dining hall, the night guard in tow. “She has a student who is studying the magic of friendship. My sister is always looking forward to her reports so as to keep an eye on Twilight's adventures.”
“Well, I cannot speak for friendship, but Rincewind's treatise on unicorn magic was quite interesting. Obviously it's an older work,” he said quickly before she could tease him, “but sometimes it's necessary to go back and review the fundamentals before one can solve a problem: in this case, a method of trapping and empowering light into a tight beam.”
Luna nodded, playing along. “And how did Equestrian history fit in with that, dear Lux?”
“Ponies have known about the refraction and reflection of light through lenses and mirrors for a long time.” He had seen enough pictures of ponies with glasses to guess at that. “I was wondering when lenses first took off. The history was meant to provide me with a range of dates to search. Whoever the pony was the first made lenses ought to have some interesting texts on focusing light.”
Again Luna nodded and the guards took no notice. It was common for unicorns to babble about their research. Daniel went on about a few technical details, seeing as he was very familiar with light of all sorts and how lasers worked. Finally they arrived at dinner and Luna was quite relieved when the babbling stopped. She dismissed the guards and they ordered dinner, Daniel asking for pasta this time around. There was some more small talk until they were alone again. “Princess, the night is nearly over,” he said.
“Indeed. It is a rather late dinner tonight. In an hour or two we will lower the moon to make way for our sister.”
“Will I be allowed to speak with Savannah?”
Luna said nothing at the direct question, sipping on her tea. “It is a most interesting time, twilight. It comes twice a day, once at dawn and once at dusk.”
“Will I be allowed to speak with Savannah?”
“It is the only time of day that Celestia and I are both normally awake,” Luna continued, ignoring the question.”Obviously, we will awaken Savannah early so that she can see the sunrise and stay in the care of my sister for the day. Thou will not quite be abed yet, though, sunrise is a very nice sight.”
“But will I be allowed to speak with Savannah?”
“You know,” she paused and stared into his eyes, night into day as it were, “many ponies have wondered what would happen if we didn't fulfill our royal duties. The topic of eternal night has come up before, and the idea of eternal day has been thought about a few times as well. Many of the brightest minds have put out theories as to what would happen, predictions based on extending the constant increase or decrease in temperature.”
Daniel said nothing, looking at her gaze stoically.
“The big mystery then, is what would happen if we left it right in the middle like that, leaving the world to twilight as it were. The sun and moon would be below the horizon, the sky at that perfect stage in between night and day. Both of our powers equal and neither one really present. What would happen?”
Daniel was silent and ate a pear as he waited. He knew this tactic; she wouldn't answer until she had made whatever point she wanted to make. And when she got there, it would certainly be a doozy. Sharon did this all the time back home.
“The trick of course, is that we are so perfect that there is only the briefest of moments between lowering the moon and raising the sun. No pony knows what its like exactly, except us.”
Stoic silence.
“You aren't curious? It is, after all, the boundary between light and dark.”
“Will we be all-” he began, but Luna held up a hoof to silence him.
“Thou will learn when the time arrives. Until then, eat. Thou art tired and thou needs thy strength for tomorrow night.” Daniel narrowed his eyes at her in frustration, but she had a point: he was tired and it was making him crabby. The food arrived at that point and the two spent their dinner in silence. The food was as good as before, though Daniel missed the taste of meat in the sauce. Still, he felt better as he ate, feeling more able to push the frustration aside a little. The downside to eating was that he felt much more tired than before. He was glad this night would be over. There seemed to be a good chance that he would be allowed to speak with Savannah for a time, especially if the princesses really were as busy as it sounded. If nothing else they should still have mind-speech, but he wasn't completely sure. The real problem with that was that it was right where the princesses wanted them. So far there was still no way out, which meant more waiting.
* * *
Dawn.
Canterlot castle had the best view of it in all of Equestria. Sure Manehattan had their big fancy statue, and Las Pegasus and Cloudsdale had aerial views, but Canterlot castle had a grandeur that couldn't be denied or copied. Along with Princess Luna, Daniel now stood on a great stone plinth. It jutted out from the castle over the valley below. There were all sorts of stories about this place, how it was ancient and powerful. Most importantly, it overlooked all of Equestria. From here a pony could see to the farthest mountains of the land and even a little beyond, if their eyes were good. From here a pony could watch the sun rise and the moon fall and maybe catch a glimpse of the in-between time, if they were keen enough.
On this ancient plinth, inscribed with a magic circle and many old runes, stood the alicorn princesses: one of day and one of night. Normally there was no need for the ritual, but today was different because today they had guests. The humans, no illusions now (for no illusion could last on the sacred outcropping of oldest stone) stood by the princesses in stark contrast, black with white and white with black. To one side was the moon, already half-way below the horizon. On the other side the light of the sun could be seen, making the sky turn from blue to pink. The princesses' horns began to glow and the final approach began.
“THIS IS THE HOUR OF TWILIGHT.” The daytime ruler spoke in an old, powerful voice that pierced their way through rock and flesh. “In this hour, you may see each other.”
“THIS IS THE HOUR OF DAWN.” Now the princess of the night spoke, her tones more dulcet and yet flowed through the world as if it were mist. “When the sun is risen, we will part.”
The humans nodded and ran toward each other, meeting in the central circle. They embraced tightly. “You're so tired,” she said.
He nodded and said, “Yeah, I'm just glad to see you safe.”
“Celestia told me about the arrangements. I guess this is the only time we can see each other.”
“Yeah,” he smiled and brushed a hair from her face. “Sorry, but I'm not staying up.”
“I know. You need to rest. You have a long night ahead of you.”
“And you have a long day. A bright day.”
“It'll be ok. I'm awake most days anyway.” She stuck her tongue out.
“Maybe, but it's different here. The Day and Night are the same as the Light and Darkness. It drains you, that's why the princesses take turns.”
“Ok, so it'll be a bad day. We've had worse.”
“I hope that's all it is.”
Savannah smiled and leaned up to kiss him softly. “I'll be fine. Promise you'll get some sleep?”
He smiled. “I promise.”
“Good.” She wrapped an arm around his waist and they turned to look at the world. On either side the princesses stood as if carved from the stone they stood on. The only signs of life were their horns and their eyes, both of which glowed with power. Power which was much stronger than before. It shone like a beacon across the planet, warning any foes watching what might come. “Our hosts are certainly impressive, if a bit dramatic.”
Daniel nodded. Already a few more minutes had gone and they watched the moon sink. It was a quarter of the way down now. “Then we shouldn't prolong things.”
“What do I need to know?”
“Well, for starters you might want to brush up on your history. I don't know what Luna is telling her sister, but Celestia will probably ask you about it. Come on, we've got a little while, let's have a seat.” He pulled her down and they sat on the sacred stone, feeling it humming with power. They sat across from each other, hands intertwined and heads bowed against the other. No time, or need for words, they began speaking mind-speech. It was faster and more intimate. Daniel told her everything he learned about the court, the geography, history, and culture. He showed her what he knew about the taste of the night and the magic that pervaded the air. He told her where he had left off, what he hadn't learned, and who he was insofar as the court was concerned.
As the moon set and the light on the horizon grew, the wind above the plinth grew stronger as well. It whipped and whirled around the princesses, sending even their royal hair askew. In the center sat two humans, right in the middle of things and hardly even noticing. Below, the sigil on the stone began to glow and the princesses' eyes widened in surprise. The stone had never done this, but now it was glowing in yellow and blue, little whisps and auroras sparking up from the sigil.
The humans never once broke their contact, but just as the moon set, and just before the sun rose, they stopped and the sky was gray. The wind was gone and time slowed. For one brief instant the world stopped.
A chime.
The wind howled and the sun rose. The glowing on the stone began to fade, yellow winning the battle over blue. For one instant there had been twilight and then it was gone. The golden light of the sun spilled over the land and the night faded in the west. The humans sat through it all, unmoved and silent, there was much to share. The princesses watched the humans as the sun rose. Finally, they lifted their heads and embraced again.
“I will see you tonight,” she said, giving him a soft kiss. “Rest well.”
“Be safe. We still have a trip to finish.” They smiled and the sun reached the half-way mark above the horizon.
“THE DAY HAS COME.” Luna's voice rang out as a soft bell across the land, washing away their sleep.
“THE HOUR IS ENDED.” Celestia's voice set the hearts of every pony afire, readying them for the day.
The humans returned to their respective guardians and Luna and Daniel left first, ready for a long day's sleep. Celestia and Savannah followed, walking toward breakfast eagerly. The stone remained as it had always been, quiet and powerful as the sun shone down a new day. All across Equestria, ponies felt something new, something that they hadn't felt in a long time. They were ready to go, even the most reluctant teens were up and willing to face the day, or at least tolerate it. Some ponies felt excited; a few felt nervous, but every pony was on fire to get a heard start that day.
Savannah and Celestia sat at breakfast. It had been quiet as they waited for the food. Celestia had already explained the illusion and cover story. To the other ponies, Savannah was the unicorn mare Tenebrae. She was a student at the Trottingham College, here on a visit to observe the princess for a thesis on political science. Her special talents had to do with being sneaky and Celestia was the sneakiest of them all, even if she did everything in the full light of day. Unofficially the two had a challenge to see who could pull more pranks on the guards. There wasn't anything likely to come of it, but Savannah appreciated that the princess knew how to have fun. Pranking wasn't really her thing, Eric was the prankster in the group, but if the princess started anything she had to be ready to play along. It was probably a means of keeping her under control, making sure that her powers didn't recover or anything.
The food finally came and Savannah put all thoughts of political intrigue aside. It was hard to think about backstabbing and underhanded deals and the silly plumes on the guards' helmets when there were delicious pancakes available. She opted out of the hay bacon strips saying she'd had a bad case of hay fever when she was a filly. For a little while the two ate breakfast in silence. Celestia was the first to say something. “You seem to have adjusted well.”
“Pardon, Your Majesty?”
“Talking ponies, pegasi, having to manually raise and lower the sun.”
“Oh, that. We've been around, had our own share of difficulties. This certainly isn't the first time any of us have come across new forms of life or been in the presence of gods.” Savannah looked up thoughtfully, chewing on a syrupy fork. “Although, I think this is the first time I've had breakfast with one.”
“And this is the first time I've had breakfast with humans.”
“But not the first time you've seen us. You mentioned a few times that you knew about humans. From what I heard from Daniel, it sounds as if they used to live here a long time ago.”
Celestia nodded. “It was a very long time ago, before the time of the three tribes.”
“So the tale is true?”
“Every legend has a grain of truth to it. Personally, though, I prefer the tale to the truth. It's much more interesting and makes a nice play.”
“Is there a legend or story about the cutie marks?”
The alicorn shook her head. “No. Cutie marks are a fact of life here in Equestria. They are part of the magic of the land.”
Savannah thought on that. “It feels like there is a lot of that kind of magic around.”
The princess nodded. “All creatures in this world are extensions of the natural magic of the land. It is woven into their very being and many of them draw upon it for support.”
“Sounds like Earthpower,” Savannah mumbled.
“Like what, now?”
“In my world there was a series of books about a magical land that had some similar properties. The land and the creatures there were infused by a force of natural magic called Earthpower: the living blood and magic of the earth. It made the land healthy and beautiful and without it the land would become corrupt and die.”
“I suppose that is similar to the natural magic of the land here, though our magic is more passive. Luna and myself are really the only ones who can actively shape and work with it, though many other creatures use it everyday.”
“Such as the pegasi?”
The princess nodded. “Exactly. The natural magic of the land allows pegasi to walk on and manipulate clouds. The same power gives earth ponies their strength and endurance and allows them to grow crops better than any other pony.”
“What about unicorns?”
“Unicorn magic is different, probably more similar to your own. Unicorns have little connection to the magic of the land. It is because of the natural power that they receive a cutie mark and special talent, and it allows them access to their own magic, but otherwise they are severed from the land.”
“Doesn't their power make up for that?”
“For many of them, yes. There are always some, however, that can't quite understand the connection to the land and its creatures that other ponies have. I suppose they are the most human-like of all ponies. It's where they got the idea for nobility and an upper class.”
“So ponies that can't understand the land or relate well get rewarded with power and fine living?”
Celestia smiled her trademark half-smile-that-meant-she-had-10-plans-at-once-and-one-of-them-was-poking-you-sharply-in-the-side. The locals knew it as her dangerous smile. “I wouldn't really call it a reward. Each of them gets exactly what they deserve and they never get a break. They may feel privileged, but if they let down their guard, another pony kicks them to the slums.”
“I'm not sure if that sounds any better.”
Celestia shrugged. “They have the choice to change. The best of them are the ones who choose to explore the connection that they are missing, such as my student Twilight Sparkle. And at any rate, such unicorns are rare.”
“Is that how you see humans?”
“What do you mean?”
“You said the unicorns who couldn't understand the connection other ponies had with the land were the ones who were most human-like. Then you described their society as cutthroat and cruel, blaming it on their own choices not to try and gain wisdom. That's what you think humans are like, isn't it?”
The princess sighed and stood, her breakfast finished and her appetite gone. “We must get ready. My court lasts longer than Luna's and I still have some things to check on. In the meantime, the guards will lead you to the library. If you want to understand Equestrian society, you should examine weather management theory.”
Savannah was not pleased with the lack of response, but assumed it represented the response she didn't want to hear. Celestia had already made it plain that she didn't approve of humanity, there was no reason for her to come out and say it. Still, that remark was almost tempting enough to start that prank war, but she restrained herself. It would do her no good to start proving the princess right. Instead she calmly finished her breakfast and walked out, following the guards. The walk to the library was quiet, as were most things in her life. She didn't like drawing much attention to herself, though she had made admirable strides in socialization over the last few years. Gaining a new family and a new set of friends had helped tremendously. At any rate, she was back to her lonesome old self now, and in a library of all places. She was never the researcher of the group, but she might as well read up on this place. She needed to find a way to convince the princesses to let them go, and she didn't really have any idea how to go about that. Maybe she'd just go ahead and start with weather management theory after all; the princesses had sounded very concerned with what they had learned about human civilization and progress. Comparing the two societies' approach to weather seemed as good a place to start as any.
* * *
Rainbow Dash sighed as she watched the Canterlot pegasi shift clouds outside. Today had been just as boring as yesterday, except for the weird thing with the dawn. She wasn't usually an early riser, but one of the guards had woken her up early, saying there was something she should see. The big stone hadn't been new, every pony who had ever been to Canterlot knew about that, but this morning had been the first time she'd ever seen it used before. And the way the princesses had spoken, it made her want to go flying more than ever before. She needed it, and being cooped up here was just torture, especially with those other ponies flying around outside. “Arrgh, I can't stand it anymore!” She zoomed to the door and threw it open. “I don't care if I'm not allowed, catch me if you can!” she shouted to the guards, expecting an exhilarating chase, even if she knew it would end in the dungeons or something.
“Really, Rainbow Dash, wouldn't that be too easy for you?” A calm voice said from below her.
“Huh?” Rainbow paused and turned around to see the pastel-haired alicorn below her. “Princess Celestia!” She landed and bowed, feeling embarrassed now.
“It's alright, Rainbow. Come on in and let's talk. I have a special job for you.”
“A job? For me?” Rainbow's earlier itch to fly already replaced with curiosity. She followed the princess into the suite and the doors closed behind them.
* * *
Savannah was beginning to get bored with this line of inquiry. Weather management theory had held her interest for all of half an hour. She understood the basic gist of things, why delve into it much further? All she had learned was that weather in Equestria, for whatever reason, didn't happen on its own. It took the pegasi to create and manage the weather, basic stuff that every filly and colt already knew, and all of it was monitored and carried out by Cloudsdale. So the ponies had an extremely strong vested interest in avoiding pollution and keeping the climate working. Yes, that was markedly different from the way the humans looked at the weather, but the whole world was different as well. Humans could only affect the weather and that either took a lot of magic or a lot of time. Even with a sixth of the population able to assist, Savannah estimated, it was unlikely that they could control the weather, although it might make them think more about it.
The next topic she looked into was farming. As she expected, there wasn't much there for beginners that wasn't directed toward foals. Most of what was there was advanced studies and reading over crop yields and statistics was incredibly boring. At least the weather management theory had had some science to it and she felt like there was something to learn. The only thing she could get out of another half-hour of dull statistics was that the only real farmers were earth ponies. No one talked about why that was or what it was like for other ponies trying to farm, but she assumed it wasn't very productive. She couldn't even find any studies or productivity comparisons. Giving up in frustration she turned to fairy tales. There were plenty of other topics, but she wanted something interesting and fairy tales fit the bill. Not to mention the fact that many of them were rather dark and she was needing some metaphorical darkness right now.
As expected, the fairy tales relaxed her and told her a lot of what she wanted to know about Equestrian culture. As with earth, the foundations of civilization resided in two things: survival and stories. She knew about survival by now, but the stories she was unfamiliar with. Many of them were fables expressing similar morals as earth, though the one about cake-throwing was just strange. She read over the now familiar tale of Hearth's Warming Eve and the story of Nightmare Moon. She couldn't find anything about the great stone plinth from this morning, but there were dark tales of changelings that satisfied her. The ending notes contained references to another book which she had spent ten minutes looking for.
It was a very old book and the cover alone promised chills with it's eerily grinning changeling face, entitled The Stallions Grimm: Equestrian Fairy Tales. She settled in with the ever-present cup of tea and read. The tales were dark indeed, and very old. Stories of changelings and of dragons, which she was a little surprised to read. There was the obligatory sleeping beauty story and another about a little duck who could turn into a dancing pony. But there were two stories which captured her attention the most.
The first story was about a creature named Discord. From what she could tell it happened far before Nightmare Moon and was one of the very few stories to mention a night princess. It detailed the rise and fall of the strange creature, the one out in the garden. It also mentioned some interesting details about the princesses. Savannah made a mental note to ask about those later. The second story was the big one, the one she had been looking for: a story about humans.
She couldn't say when it took place. Since it featured Celestia and Luna it seemed like it should have been after Discord, but there was no mention of the familiar Equestrian landmarks or places which put it in the time of the Three Tribes. Despite all that, there were very few ponies mentioned. The tale focused on the humans: how they lived in towns and warred with each other. The royal sisters worked with them to help them advance and learn peace, but the humans were greedy. They spread across the land taking everything they could and fighting with each other. The sisters eventually chose two men, a wizard and a king to unite the people, and it worked for a long while. But the men were betrayed by the king's own family and destroyed. Strangely this united the humans but not in peace, instead they turned on the pony sisters and their people, spreading lies about the ponies and the other creatures of the world. They ensnared griffons and dragons in their cause and went to war with the royal sisters. Beyond sorrow, the princesses defeated the humans and they were not seen again. Similar to the other stories, it ended warning little ponies to behave or else the humans might come back and gobble them up.
It was a strange ending, almost feeling out of character, but the authors had nothing to say about it save that it was old. None of the other tales mentioned it either and Savannah couldn't find any references in the other books on fairy tales. It seemed this was the only story and the only clue she had on it was the place of origin, which the authors had listed as “ubiquitous...oldest versions come from hamlets in the eastern forests.” That wasn't even very reliable as they also noted that no version of the story gave a location for the humans. So that was it, an old tale about the evils of humanity: they appeared one day and disappeared the next and the only clue she had was forests in the east. Even if she could leave, going out there to look wouldn't be useful. The story was so old that the forests and towns probably didn't exist anymore and the authors didn't give any point of reference so she didn't even know what the forests were east of.
Savannah humphed and set the book back on a re-shelving cart: librarians were picky about those things. It had been almost two hours since she'd arrived and there was still no sign of Celestia. The library was big enough to wander, but as far as she could tell there weren't any secret rooms. The whole place was well lit, but at least it kept her out of the sun. As Daniel had warned her, the daylight felt unusually draining. The light coming in from the windows was too bright and it felt like it was trying to dry her up like an apple slice. The urge to see more of the palace was tempting, but that would probably mean venturing into that light and she didn't want to do that just yet.
She wandered back into the main room to find the princess had arrived. “I see you found some interesting reading. Not a fan of weather management?”
“Sorry, Your Highness, I'm not a weather gal. Eric, Nathan, Naomi, they'd like it but all I'm really looking for is basic cultural information. Of course, when pegasi have been managing the weather for millenia, why write a beginner's guide to it? It just got too technical for me.” She shrugged and looked over some of the books she'd put on the cart.
“If you are looking for a book to take with you, I recommend this.” Celestia levitated a dark red book over to Savannah. The girl took it, examining the title, The Duke, by Neat Shale. She nearly face-palmed at the similarity to her world and took it. “Since you are posing as a political intern, it wouldn't make much sense for you to have a book on old fairy tales.”
Savannah nodded and opened it, scanning the table of contents. “I suppose not. Besides, someone else might want to read that one,” she said. The princess let her look through the book for a moment longer. “Alright, if nothing else it might be worth a look later. Is it time for Day Court?” The alicorn nodded and walked out. Savannah followed with her appropriately political book in hand. From what she had heard from Daniel, it seemed unlikely that she would be noticed, at least not until Celestia asked for her advice on something. Come to think of it, she realized she didn't really know what areas of government Celestia focused on. If anyone did talk to her, she'd need to know some background.
“Princess Celestia?” The princess looked back at her. “Before we begin, is there anything I should know about? Like what areas of government you handle?”
“I take handle the needs of the people, like my sister does. I usually have to handle more policy, though, as many ponies are not used to Luna yet. My responsibilities include diplomacy, the military, commerce, law, transportation, public works, and so on. And of course there are the ponies whom I must refer to my sister.”
“Diplomacy? Commerce? I was under the impression that Equestria was practically the only nation here.”
“Not exactly. There aren't other nations with the level of development that Equestria has, but there are other species and factions in the world, some of whom consider themselves nations in a sense. There are dragons, griffons, diamond dogs, and even other ponies out there. But most of the diplomacy and commerce I was referring to occurs within Equestria. Distributing food is the biggest part of our economy and was the driving force behind the development of the railways.”
“I suppose materials such as lumber and ores are shipped via rail as well?”
“When the need arises, though demand for those items is not like what it is in your world.”
“So in other words, you are in charge of technological progress and urban development. You make sure the ponies don't become like the humans,” Savannah accused.
Celestia smiled. “I protect my little ponies and I protect the land. It is what I was born to do.”
“Born or summoned?”
“Does it matter?”
“Not to me, though it might matter to certain other members of my family.”
“Then all you need to know is that I am here to protect my subject from whatever threats arise.”
“Apologies, Your Highness,” Savannah said. That seemed to end the conversation and the two continued into the throne room. It was very large and elaborate, as one might expect of the ruler of the day. Gold and alabaster shone everywhere and several advisers had already found places for themselves. Savannah found a cushion to the left of the throne, near the wall and settled herself down. It didn't give her the best view of the court, but she would be left alone back here, and there was some shade as well. There were stained glass windows around the room, but they still let in a lot of light.
Around her ponies began filing in to take their places around the room. Most of them appeared to be nobility, if the fancy clothes and high noses meant anything. Not for the first time she wondered why nobility showed up to court. They did it back home as well but generally the person on the throne only wanted to hear from the appointed advisers. Occasionally one of the nobles would offer to assist but Savannah suspected they were just there to talk amongst themselves, not to assist the court in any way.
Court began as most of them did back home. There was a herald to announce things, some modest fanfare, and then the petitioners began entering. At first it seemed as if the petitioners were all similar as well and she almost started reading that book. Then they began discussing the weather. Back home, both on Earth and in her kingdom, when people discussed the weather it was either appreciative or complaining and in either case it was passive. When the ponies here talked about the weather, it was with a more active tone. Some of them were farmers come to complain about the pegasi and other were pegasi asking to change the schedule. It was always about needing a storm here or there and the limited supply of water. At one point somepony asked if they could bring in more water from outside Equestria. Savannah hadn't realized just how much management there was in the weather here. Most of it was referred to Cloudsdale, but there were some things Celestia handled personally, making a recommendation here or there. The biggest thing Savannah noticed was that Celestia was always calm and loving with the petitioners. That really drew her attention.
Court continued for a while with the small things: ponies with civil suits, weather management, and request for magical assistance. At one point she heard a pony asking for assistance against something he called a parasprite. That had gotten the attention of the court and Celestia immediately dispatched a squad of guards and specialists to deal with the problem. Savannah knew better to ask and make everyone suspicious, but she made a note to get a hold of a book on Equestrian zoology as soon as she could. Of course, as she made the note, in walked a griffon.
The premise was simple enough. The griffon in question was seeking damages from a group of pegasi who had settled out on the southern borders, apparently a little too close to the griffon's nesting grounds. There were several others with her who shared complaints about how the pegasi were altering the weather and hogging the good clouds and disrupting local wildlife. Savannah gathered that much of the problem was centered around the issue of the nesting grounds, as griffons were highly protective of their young. Hearing them, it sounded like the pegasi should just go ahead and move, especially since their homes were on clouds. Nonetheless, the princess asked the settlers what they had to say about the whole thing. According to them, that particular location was settled near some good cross-winds but could itself sit right outside without any problems. It was also near a fresh stream so they had access to water and the mountains provided shelter in case they needed it for anything. It was a great location and it wasn't too far away from the heartland that they were cut off. They'd tried to avoid the griffons' nests and claimed that the griffons claimed a much bigger area than they needed.
As Luna had, Celestia proceeded to question each side in turn. Did the griffons really need a large amount of airspace? Did the pegasi really need that many clouds for such a small community? Had the griffons tried working with the wildlife? Had the pegasi thought about expanding their settlement to the ground so the earth ponies and unicorns could join? Certainly farmland would be important to the new settlement, and unicorn magic would be able to help the pegasi alter the local winds. Once both sides had calmed down and were willing to admit issues and listen, the princess outlined some ideas and asked one of the nobles to help the group with the rest. A few others offered some resources and the princess nodded to them. Together the group left and made way for the next petitioner. So that's why the nobles were there, because every so often some of them had resources to offer. Savannah wasn't sure the exact nature of the exchange, but no noblepony would offer services or resources without something to gain, most likely some sort of royal favor.
Savannah settled down again, her book next to her, waiting to see what the rest of the day would bring. One pony came to report on the railways, indicating there had been some disputes recently between grain suppliers and distributors near Fillydelphia. He didn't ask for anything aside from a potential statement if the situation wasn't resolved, but he also explained the negotiations they were in and estimated the whole thing should be resolved by tomorrow. The princess nodded and the railpony left. None of the other ponies seemed to mind, so Savannah assumed this was relatively routine. And indeed, the next petitioner had an even more dull report on quarterly figures on Manehattan exports. As uninterested as she was, a few of the nobles were paying close attention and left with the economist.
Savannah was about to give up on court and try pranking the guards a little when the last petitioner came in: a pony with a curious electrical invention that he claimed could store electrical energy. Savannah perked up at this one, the invention of the battery was a pivotal moment in any civilization. The inventor rolled a large pile of metal in and connected some wires to a small crystal. Savannah didn't know what the crystal was for, but she recognized the rest of it. It was a basic battery: a stack of alternating copper and zinc disks with each disk separated by paper soaked in saltwater. The inventor explained all this and then went on to say that when connected properly, the crystal would glow as the energy passed through it. There were many skeptical murmurs around the hall at this claim. Savannah risked a glance at Celestia, expecting her to disapprove, but her face was calm and serene as usual. The inventor wasted no time demonstrating his claim and sure enough the crystal began to glow to the applause of the assembled ponies.
The inventor practically glowed with pride before hushing everyone and claiming that he could reverse the process by taking a setup which produced no energy and then charge it up. At this claim the assembled ponies gasped in disbelief. Savannah again looked to Celestia but still saw no sign of disapproval. Surely this was the kind of thing that she would disagree with if she wanted to keep the scientific growth of ponies slow. As the inventor readied his next setup, Savannah debated whether or not to sabotage the inventor. She had a good guess that his setup would work and if she could subtly break it, Celestia was sure to give him words of encouragement to keep at it, if only to try and bolster his confidence after the court laughed at him. On the other hand, if he was successful, Savannah couldn't see Celestia doing anything positive. She'd probably say something nice but then turn it against the poor inventor to make sure his inventions never went commercial.
In the end, the thought of what the rest of the family would say to her if she interfered convinced her to sit and wait. She wouldn't sit by idly, though, and made sure to step forward to get a better glimpse a this, knowing Celestia would easily see it. The inventor had a second, smaller cell ready and he connected it to the spectators to show that it couldn't light up the crystal. Then he hooked up the large pile to the smaller and explained that it needed some time to charge. As it did, he went on about some of the other details he'd found, such as the fact that if one the metals was rare it worked better, but for the most part Savannah tuned him out, uninterested in a lesson in electrochemistry. After a few minutes he unhooked it and demonstrated that the energy had indeed been transferred to the smaller pile by lighting up the crystal. Again with the large applause from the crowd. Apparently this really was new. Even better, the inventor was an earth pony, which was apparently unusual according to the gossip she was hearing.
Enough of the gossip. Savannah looked up to Celestia to see what she had to say. For a moment the alicorn said nothing and the talk slowly died down. “This is a true advancement, Voltin.” The inventor smiled and puffed his chest out, smiling smugly. “I wonder, you said this can store energy?”
“Of course, Your Majesty. Shall I demonstrate again?”
“Oh no need,” she smiled her trademark danger smile, but the inventor was too busy readying another demo to see. Her horn began to glow and the noble ponies backed away a little nervously. Surely the small device couldn't possibly hold the power of the princess. “I'd like to try it for myself,” she said softly. The inventor turned around just in time to see her horn glowing with far more power than his device could handle.
His mouth dropped and he was about to duck when a dark colored pony jumped out in front of the court, putting herself between the princess and device. “Princess!” she said, glaring up at the monarch.
“Tenebrae. I am surprised at this. Whatever is the matter?” Celestia said.
“Sorry for the outburst, but there's no need for you to test it, Your Highness. Allow me.”
“A bold move, Tenebrae, especially for one whose specialty is shadows.”
Tenebrae nodded. “Professor Wilhelm says that bold moves are necessary to hide true intentions.” She turned to the professor and sent a much smaller stream of power into the crystal connected to the smaller cell. As she did that, she looked back to the guards and their shadows began to darken as she prepared a third spell.
The princess raised an eyebrow and her horn glowed again. “Really Tenebrae, I expected more subtlety from you. Guards.” She looked back to the two guards and they saluted and stepped to the side, except their shadows didn't. The court gasped and the two mares smiled as the one dispelled the shadow trick and the other released her spell.
“Ah, it was worth a chance,” Tenebrae said, releasing her stream of magic into the battery. “There, sir. Try your device now. Let's see if it stored the magic.” She stepped back as the confused inventor reconnected his device. True to his promise, the crystal was glowing as it pulled power from the metals, only this time it was glowing a dark purple, the same as Tenebrae's magic. The crowd was most impressed at this and gave them a great applause. Even Celestia had to smile in approval. Tenebrae bowed to the inventor and looked back at Celestia. “Your Majesty, I'm sure it is late notice, but surely Princess Luna should see this as well. It would have a profound effect on ponies' ability to appreciate her nights if they also had a portable source of light.”
Several ponies murmured excitedly at that and the inventor began to look bashful, finally sensing that maybe this wasn't the safest place to be. “Of course, what a wonderful idea, Tenebrae. I will let you write up the proposal this evening,” Celestia said. As always, her face was serene and her voice steady. Only her oldest advisers could tell how put off she was by this strange mare's boldness.
Tenebrae bowed to the princess and trotted back to her side. She had barely returned and already had to fend off admiring ponies. When she finally looked back to the court, the inventor was heading out of the door quickly. Ah well, at least the princess hadn't yet noticed the real prank on the guards. As much as she didn't think she'd need to rely on that cover story, it had come in handy for saving her flank today, and hopefully her third spell had been successful in actually pulling that prank off. Court continued in the meantime and while she couldn't zone out, she earned a nice conversation with some minister to hold her through. By the end of it, nearly an hour later, she was feeling quite tired and hungry and eager to get away from all these faces. Faces she hoped she would see again tomorrow. Apparently the rest of the ponies were quite worried she might end up being banished to the moon or something. It sounded very silly but she was beginning to be concerned.
After promising several times that she'd be fine, the rest of the advisers and nobility finally left. It was just Savannah and Celestia now and they stared at each other for a moment. “The guards,” Celestia said, watching them leave. “When did you...?” Savannah looked over and smiled. The guards had left behind hoofprints made of shadows in the floor as they had left.
“I may not know a Professor Wilhelm, but I know how to be sneaky. We're at 1-0, Your Highness.”
Celestia laughed a little to herself as she walked to the door, the shadows already disappearing. Then she turned to look at the human by her side and her face fell stern again. “That was a very bold move, Princess. Why risk it?”
If Savannah was surprised by the title, she didn't react. “You would have destroyed his work. You could have used a small amount of power, but you were readying a blast that would have ended terribly. Oh I'm sure you would have apologized and suggested he keep working, or maybe you might've given him a project or a stipend, but he would have stopped his research into batteries.”
“So you interfered. Is that normal for your family?”
“No. But it was necessary. The ponies need to be able to advance. Besides, batteries could really help out the quality of life for the ponies. What do they use for light now, fireflies?”
“Who are you to decide what is good for my people?”
Savannah shook her head. “No one, and I do not intend to decide what is best for your people. I just want to show you that technology and advancement isn't that bad.” She looked over at the alicorn and gave a warm smile. “Especially when they have someone like you who loves them so much.”
Celestia blinked. “Of course I love them. How could I not?”
“None of my family can go through court with as much love for our subjects as you can. I've never heard of any human monarch or head of state who has done that outside of legend. If you can sit through all the silly disputes those ponies bring, you can handle a battery.”
Celestia paused in the corridor, gazing steadily into Savannah's eyes. “You are my prisoner. I have stolen your power and made you walk with me in the day. I could chain you in a room as bright as the sun. I could even arrange to send you to the sun.”
“You could,” Savannah said.
“And you are not afraid?”
“Nope.”
They stared at each other for a moment. “Then you have earned my respect, Princess Savannah,” Celestia said. She bowed her head just a few degrees as was appropriate for another national leader.
Savannah returned the gesture. “Thank you, Princess Celestia.” She would have said more and made a bit of a flowery speech there, but a rather loud rumbling interrupted the moment and she blushed a little, scratching the back of her head. “Ah, sorry, Your Majesty. I guess breakfast was longer ago than I thought.”
“It's alright, I am ready for dinner as well. Come, let's see what the royal chefs have prepared for us tonight.”
Throughout their conversation, neither of them noticed the rainbow leaving the castle.
For the fifth time this afternoon there was a knock at the library's door. Twilight yelled and threw her book down, “Agh! How is anypony supposed to study with all these visitors?” She got up and stalked over to the door and opened it with a huff of her magic. “Yes? What do you-” The royal guards stood outside with the chariot. “Oh! Oh my, I'm so sorry. Please come in.” She backed up and three guards entered. Two of them carried a large jeweled chest with their magic. Outside, two pegasi stood watch.
“Ms. Twilight Sparkle,” the pegasus said. “We have brought this to you, by order of the princess.”
“Is that the Elements of Harmony?” Twilight asked. She'd seen the chest once before, back during the discord incident. “Only Princess Celestia or Princess Luna can open that.”
“It will open when you and your friends are present. I was told you have an assistant?”
“Uh, yes. Spike!” she called, hoping the dragon wasn't having one of his naps again. They waited a moment while some noise came from the kitchen. It vaguely sounded like someone saying 'hold on a moment.' Twilight bristled at him before turning back apologetically to the guards. “Uh, just one moment, sirs.” They didn't respond and she flashed off. The sound of pots and pans crashing to the floor along with an inexplicable cat's wail came from the kitchen, followed by a purple unicorn shoving the baby dragon out as he protested.
“Here we are, one assistant,” she said, puffing her chest out.
“You could've just waited,” Spike grumbled.
“Spike!” she hissed and he sighed.
“Well, hey fellas, what do you need?”
The guard was rather unimpressed. “You know where to find Twilight's friends, correct?” The dragon nodded. “Please bring them here, quickly.”
Spike saluted. “Aye, Aye, sir! Ah, but what about Rainbow Dash? She disappeared with you guys yesterday.”
“Ms. Rainbow Dash is with the princess. Please bring the others. The princess has need of the Elements of Harmony.”
The dragon saluted again and ran off. Twilight looked back at the guards confused. “But how can we use the elements if Rainbow Dash isn't here.”
“I'm sorry, Ms. Twilight,” the guard said, “My instructions were to bring the chest and your friends together. Once they are here you will open the chest and retrieve the contents. Then we will return to the castle with the chest.”
“But how can we open it or even use the elements without all of us here?”
“Not that it is my place to presume the princess' intentions, but I believe she has made arrangements for that.”
“Well,” Twilight said, hoof to her chin in thought. “I suppose if those are the princess' instructions she must have made sure the five of us can open it. Oh well.” She looked back at the guards, who were stoic and silent as ever. “Um, is there anything I can get you to drink?”
“No, thank you.”
“Right,” she said. The awkwardness was building slowly. “Um, in that case, I'll just be over here, if you need anything.” The guard nodded and she walked back to her book. It may have been awkward, but Twilight was a master egghead. She could read even if the world was ending around her and had actually done so at one point.
Fifteen minutes later the door opened. Her friends had finally arrived and Spike looked a little annoyed. “Look, we'll go back to get you a sofa later, Pinkie,” he said, apparently the end of an argument.
“Uh, what?” Twilight looked up from her book with an eyebrow raised.
“Don't worry about it, Twilight,” Rarity said, hoof over Pinkie's mouth. “Now, what is this all about? It's not usual for the guards to show up uninvited like this.” The others nodded in agreement.
The pegasus guard indicated the chest as the unicorns set it down. “Princess Celestia has sent this to you. She was very specific in her instructions. You are to remove the contents of the chest and then send it back with us.”
“Alright, then, let's see what it is,” Applejack said. She reached a hoof over to open the shiny box, not quite recognizing it. She landed her hoof on the latch, but it wouldn't open. “Huh, must be stuck.” She grabbed it in her forelegs and pulled harder, trying to pry the latch off with her mouth.”
“That's not going to work, silly Applekjack!” Pinkie giggled.
“What d'ya mean it ain't gonna work?”
“That's the chest for the Elements of Harmony, dear,” Rarity said.
“Yup!” Pinkie chimed. “So we all have to open it together!”
Applejack shook her head and set the chest down. “Well how in the hay is that supposed ta work? We're missin' Rainbow.”
Twilight tapped a hoof to her chin. “My guess is that Princess Celestia had Rainbow activate her part already.”
“So what're we supposed ta do?”
Twilight shrugged. “I dunno, pass it around?”
“Well I already tried, so somepony else go,” Applejack said. She picked up the chest and handed it to Rarity. The unicorn tried using her magic delicately on the latch and then the gems. The box remained shut tight and she shrugged and passed it to Pinkie. Pinkie set it down and began examining it from all angles, literally. She pounded on it, tossed a cake at it, jack-hammered it, begged, and finally collapsed on top of it. Nothing opened it and she humphed, moving on to something else. Twilight looked at Fluttershy who stepped over and tried knocking politely. Immediately she jumped back, crouching behind her hooves, but nothing happened.
Twilight sighed and looked up to the guards, but they had already left. She had no clue why and paced around the chest. “I don't get it. What are we supposed to do?” She picked it up and shook it furiously like a filly at Hearth's Warming. With a small click the top opened and a small sheet of paper. “Huh? That's not the elments,” she said.
Rarity levitated the paper over to her. “It says, 'Meet me in the forest castle tonight.'”
“What! Lemme see that,” Applejack demanded. Rarity passed it over with a shrug and the farmer read it over. “And its signed RD.”
“RD!?” Pinkie jumped over, knocking AJ aside. “It's from Rainbow Dash! She must be on a secret mission from the princess! She's probably zooming all around Equestria, but she'd have to be sneaky, so she can't zoom like normal cuz then she'd leave rainbows everywhere. But if she was flying slowly it'd be weird.” Pinkie sat back on her haunches staring at the ceiling in thought. “And she can't get from Canterlot to here if she goes slowly. Maybe Princess Celestia made her invisible! But if she was invisible then how would we know where she was if we got there? How would she know where she was?”
“Ah, right then,” AJ said after a moment. “Then I guess we'd better get going.”
“So early?” Rarity asked as Twilight threw the paper into the fireplace.
“Remember last time we tried to go there? It took us all day!” Applejack said.
“Well, it was dark out,” Fluttershy said. “And Nightmare Moon was getting in the way too. It shouldn't take us all day to get there.”
“Then we've got plenty of time to prepare,” Twilight said as she opened the door. “Here you go sirs. Everything is in order. Please thank the princess and let her know we're on it.” She levitated the chest to the guards who took it back to the chariot. The pegasus bowed to her and they flew off. “Right then,” she said as she kicked the door shut with a back leg. “Spike, let's make a list: Preparations for the Everfree Forest.”
* * *
Celestia sat across from the human. Dinner was fine as always, but conversation was lacking. Finally, a human had returned to Equestria. After all those years they'd come back. As kind and loving as she was, she had never got over her distaste for humans. When she'd had to banish Nightmare Moon she had been heartbroken for a hundred years. A hundred years before that Yarrel the Malignant had rallied the other dragons around him to destroy Equestria and enslave the land. She and Luna had killed him with sorrow in their hearts. The only pony to ever warrant the death penalty, Star-Crossed the Mad, had killed so many and defiled them, and yet she cried for days after sending him to the dragons (in the end she had not been able to kill him herself).
But the humans had been just like Discord. They had defiled the land and tried to enslave everything from ponies to dragons. If that had been all, though, perhaps it wouldn't have been so bad. For a little while she had been able to hold back the tide of progress by appealing to the other races and the few humans left who still cared about the land. The humans caught on, though, and spread their propaganda to the other races. That was when she and Luna had moved and banished every human from the world and then sealed it off. She still felt no remorse for that, just as there was no remorse for imprisoning Discord. The land would not be abused.
But here sat a human. A human in Equestria for the first time in millenia. She had done nothing wrong and very few other ponies knew about her. The land didn't even reject her, as had been proven that morning. If the land still bore a grudge against humans, they would not have survived the morning's ritual. Even so, Celestia didn't trust her. Not only had she and her husband broken through the barriers around the world, but they had come with strange and powerful magic. They were strong enough to rival the princesses and had claimed that others waited back home. If this was an invasion, it was a rather polite one. Although, it was really more like they were just putting pressure on the princesses: be friends or else. As far as politics went, this was relatively normal. Still...something about this human, about both of them, was a little off. There was something else here, something that she felt like she missed, but it was getting late and she couldn't put her hoof on it. Maybe in the morning she would figure it out.
A dark sparkle caught her eye and she turned toward the window. The evening star was showing and she could see the guards beginning to assemble on the plinth outside. The sun was getting low and it was time for the evening ritual. Again, not really necessary, but Celestia could feel the land pushing them toward it. Like this morning, the land wanted something, was waiting for something. She looked back to Savannah, who had apparently felt the night's arrival. She was looking a little more perky and her gaze was on the darkening sky. She'd only been here one day and already syncing with the land's power. Luna would be up soon, and Celestia guessed that Savannah was already saying good morning to Daniel. She stood and walked to the door, Savannah joining her after a moment.
They walked through the corridors softly, toward the stone plinth. Savannah broke the silence, “Princess Celestia?” The alicorn raised an eyebrow. “Do you know of any other deities?”
The princess was surprised at the question and thought for a moment, pausing in mid-step. “No,” she said. She continued walking again, feeling the land pulling her to the stone. “Why do you ask?”
“I was just wondering. It might have something to do with how we cam here,” Savannah said. She didn't say anything else and Celestia let her keep her silence for now. The pull of the land, wanting to turn to night, was very strong now and already she was preparing the spell to lower the sun.
The two of them walked out on the ancient stone to find Luna and Daniel already there. The alicorns' horns were glowing as they stepped into place on opposite sides of the magic circle. Day and night had reversed since this morning, but the scene was otherwise unchanged. The pony illusions melted off the humans and the princesses raised their horns to the sky.
“THIS IS THE HOUR OF TWILIGHT,” Celestia said, her voice piercing across the land with the last rays of the dying sun.
“THIS IS THE HOUR OF DAWN,” Luna replied, her voice falling over the land like a mist. She nodded to Daniel and he stepped into the circle to meet Savannah. Immediately the magic circle began to glow as before, with wisps and auroras of yellow and blue. The humans met in the center and sat, locking hands as they had done before.
Luna looked to her sister to see her eyes and horn glowing. The magic was surging up and Luna couldn't deny it either. The land wanted something. Being back in Equestria was strange enough after a thousand years away, but to feel the land waken like this was different. The last time she had felt the land call out was during Discord's reign. Back then six ponies had sacrificed themselves to bring Luna and her sister back from the heavens. Back then the land had cried out in vengeance and had granted the sisters with the powers of the Elements of Harmony. This was similar, but the land wasn't being very clear. There was nothing to declare vengeance on, but the land still wanted something. She could feel it trying to reach up and out. Was there something outside the world that it wanted?
By now the amount of power around had taken on a life of its own, leaving Luna free to take a closer look at the magic. The sigil in the stone had flared up again and the wind was beginning to swirl. Luna closed her eyes and looked out with mage-sense. She could see the magic of the land flowing into the stone from all over Equestria. It was stronger than this morning. She traced it up into the sigil, which acted as a sort of magical CPU (Twilight would have loved the chance to study this). From there some of the magic was shooting through the alicorns and she could see the opposing spells casting themselves through her and her sister. Celestia, a blazing white silhouette, was also examining the spell.
<This is not right, sister,> Luna thought.
The white blaze nodded. <This has never happened before. The land is trying to do something new. Look in the center.> Luna looked at the center of the magic circle, past all the matrices and frames. In the middle sat two flames, one white and the other black. The flames had a vaguely human shape, but it seemed they also had wings. Power was flowing into them from refining nodes around the circle. The nodes were drawing some power from the land and some from the princesses and some from the magical gems around their necks. It was being changed and channeled through the humans, shooting up into the sky.
<Do they not sense it?> Luna asked.
<I think the land is using the gems,> Celestia replied. <It's taking our power, the strength of the land and sending them through the gems.>
<The humans don't realize because the magic is their own,> Luna concluded. Celestia nodded.
<It needs their magic, their power for something it can't get from us,> the white princess said.
They watched as the sun set and the moment of twilight approached. The winds were gales now, but the princesses could barely feel them. The magic of the sigil was changing. Whatever the land was trying to do, it was getting ready to do it. Luna watched as the nodes moved around the circle and new matrices formed, faster and faster now. It was almost exponential and if her instincts were right, it was likely timed for twilight. She chanced a look back at the sun and confirmed: there were only seconds left.
Suddenly the magic running through her shifted and a torrent of raw power rushed through her. She heard herself screaming, or maybe it was her sister. She could sense the guards trying to approach but their attempts at help were so feeble they were barely even blips to her mage-sense. She strained to look upwards at the final spell matrix above the humans and nearly staggered in surprise. <Celestia! It's a portal! The land's making a portal!> The white princess reacted in shock and immediately they grabbed control over their magic.
The land fought back. On the scale of microseconds the princesses took control over the torrential flow of magic and closed off the channels to the sigil. But the land had other plans. Just as she shut down the flow to the sigil, the land stopped giving her power and in that moment the sun set. It was twilight. The sisters scrambled to rally their own power, trying to force the sun down and the moon up by sheer force of will, but their familiar heavenly bodies wouldn't listen and in the moment of twilight, now approaching half a second, the portal was opening.
<Luna!> Celestia cried, <the portal! Help me stop the portal!> The white blaze coalesced into an alicorn and a new stream of magic flew from it to the portal, binding it.
Immediately Luna responded with a blast of her own power. The land raged against them, but the ties had already been severed and as long as they held the gems, the humans were powerless to help it. The alicorns were winning and the portal began to close. The land's power faltered and fell apart and in the last moment of twilight, just before the portal closed, a new spell shot forth from the human flames in the center. The spell, it was a tiny thing, entered the portal as it closed with a thunderclap.
On the stone, the winds raged with the force of a small hurricane as the magical backlash exploded outward. Ponies watching said they could see the pressure wave race away and down in Canterlot nearly every window was shattered. Ponies there rarely took storm-proofing measures. The humans were blown to the ground and the sisters collapsed, heaving. The glow of their horns faded, but the moon was up and moving.
Guards and advisers came running out as soon as the winds settled. The princesses struggled back to their hooves amidst concerned nurses and guards. Luna looked across the stone to Celestia, who was staring at the humans. “That...spell,” she said, out of breath. “Luna, that spell...did you see...what it was?”
The night princess shook her head as the nurses brushed her down. A large bucket of water found its way over to her and she plunged her head in, drinking heavily. She came up with a gasp and took several breaths. “Nay, sister. I only saw that it was the humans' spell, not part of the lands' magic.” She took another drink, this one more composed, before walking toward the humans. She poked them while Celestia took a few moments to recover. Despite common perceptions, the two alicorns were equal in power and therefore equal in exertion.
“They knew what the land was trying to do,” Celestia said, her face now dripping water. “Guards, wake them.” The guards moved over with buckets of water and unceremoniously dumped them on the humans. They stirred and sat up slowly, clearly somewhat grumpy but not as drained as the alicorns.
“Good evening, Your Majesties,” Daniel said. He looked up at the princesses and then smiled as if he had heard a good in-joke. “Looks like things didn't go quite as planned, eh?”
The princesses frowned at him. Savannah didn't pay him any mind but looked closely at the princesses and then at the sigil on the ground. “What was that spell thou cast?” Luna asked.
Daniel knotted his eyebrows together for a moment in thought. “Oh, at the end there?” He relaxed against Savannah who looked a little annoyed at him. “It was a communication spell, no big deal. Once we recover a bit we'll send the second half and things'll be alright.”
“Communication spell? You plan on summoning the others here!?” Celestia perked up regaining some of her poise.
Daniel shook his head. “No! Geez, I don't know what humans did to you in the past but we're not trying any of that. It's just a spell to let the folks back home know that we're doing alright.”
“Then why didst thou say there was a second half?” Luna inquired. She had a good idea what this spell really was.
“Because that's part of procedure,” Savannah said, standing up. She was still looking at the sigil instead of the royal pony sisters. “Send home two messages so that no one thinks anything strange is going on wherever we are.”
“And if you don't send the second part?” Celestia asked.
Savannah shrugged. “Someone comes looking.”
“So it summons your whole family?”
“No, just one person. Just coming in to check up on things. Sometimes they have a partner, depending on what we already know about the location.” She sighed and looked up at the moon, drinking in the power of the night.
“Was thy spell successful?” Luna asked.
Savannah shrugged again. Daniel stood and said, “We couldn't tell. The portal was closing too quickly. We don't even know where it was trying to open up to.”
The princesses relaxed a little. “Very well then,” Luna said. “We will consider the implications of this. But for tonight, thou shalt spend the night in the dungeon. The barriers around our world were nearly shattered because of thee.”
“Are you serious?” Daniel demanded angrily. “I know you sensed what was happening here tonight. None of this was our fault at all. We had no control over that magic.”
“We know,” Celestia said. The guard ponies gathered around the humans. “But we cannot risk you sending another message home. And if the land needs you for its purposes, then it is best we keep you away from it for the time being until we can figure it out.”
“Besides, with this display of power and lingering sentiment the ponies tonight will be quite agitated,” Luna said. “I will not be able to watch over you. And I suspect Savannah needs rest.” The girl shrugged at that.
“Very well, princesses,” Daniel said, placing his hands behind his back and allowing the guards to lead them away. “But don't ask us to help you with those gems.”
Luna looked down at Savannah's gem for the first time that evening. For the past day she had felt a large reservoir of power inside, enhancing her every spell. But now it looked dull and she couldn't feel anything from it. A glance at Celestia confirmed the same was true for her. Either the gems were empty, burned out, or they had somehow been sealed from the alicorns. With no reserves to call on and not much power left after the foiled ritual, Luna prayed to the land that the night be a peaceful one.
* * *
Author's Note: I will be making major revisions in the next few days to the earlier chapters. I say major revisions, but it's more like rewriting. I want the other chapters to be more like this one--told from the ponies' point of view. That means I'll be cutting a lot and rewriting what I don't cut. It also means that there will be less exposition about Equestria. I also plan to cut out a lot of the exposition regarding human history save the stuff that's needed to explain the magic of the humans. My goal here is to try and make this more ponified and to help readers feel less lost at the beginning. After all, the readers are more similar to the ponies in that these humans are strange and new and come from a world that is unknown, so it makes more sense to tell the story from a familiar perspective.
In the meantime, thanks for reading this far. Leave me a comment if you have some feedback or an opinion about my proposed editing.