> The Princess that Equestria Always Had
>  by rillegas08
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> 01: Opportunity Awaits
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The throne room of Twilight’s crystalline castle was empty, save for the thrones, the table that hosted the map of Equestria in the center, and the magnificent chandelier made of the roots of the Golden Oak Library. The gems containing memories from before the library’s destruction glittered, the sunlight glinting off them in various directions, providing some extra light to the large room.

The door opened, and Twilight and her friends filed into the throne room. Spike ran toward his throne, sized just for him next to Twilight’s throne, and slouched on it, stretching his claws.

“Now this is what I’m talking about,” he said, closing his eyes with a smile.

“I agree with Spike,” said Fluttershy, as timidly as always. “It’ll feel good to get off our hooves after that last adventure. Ooh, Rarity, why don’t we go to the spa?”

“I was just about to suggest that, darling,” the white unicorn smiled. “Would anypony else like to join us in a relaxing hot tub? It’ll be the perfect way to ease our muscles.”

“I ain’t usually one fer gettin’ all fancied up, but I guess I am a little sore. Shoot, I’ll join ya.”

“I’m with AJ,” said Rainbow Dash. “My bed at home will feel so much better after a wing massage.”

“Yay! Party at the spa!” Twilight's friends turned toward the door again, but Twilight stayed behind with Spike. Rainbow Dash turned to her.

“Hey Twilight, you coming or what?”

“I’ll join you girls later,” the purple alicorn replied. “I’ll do some light reading first and then meet you all at the spa.”

Twilight followed her friends out of the throne room, and was about to close the door when she realized Starlight Glimmer wasn't following her friends. She heard a zap of magic, and the sound of the map being activated. She turned around, and saw her newest enemy-turned-friend with her hooves on the giant table in the center of the room. She walked over, standing beside the unicorn.

Starlight's face was saddened, and her eyes were distant as she looked across the map of Equestria and its neighboring countries. Twilight looked at the map, following Starlight's gaze to the town where they'd met.

"Starlight? Is everything all right?"

The unicorn took her hooves off the map, standing upright. "I guess," she replied. "Sometimes I still get random feelings of guilt for what I've done."

"I know what you mean. I may not know everything you've gone through, but I do know exactly how that feels."

"You do?"

"Mhm. The day before Nightmare Moon returned, I avoided going to a party held by somepony who used to be my friend. Her name is Moondancer. You might have seen her at my talk about cutie mark magic. She was sitting by Spike." Starlight put her hoof to her chin, trying to remember as Twilight continued. "Back then, I thought friends were nothing more than a distraction, and I didn't go because I was focused on stopping Nightmare Moon. It wasn't that long ago that I realized that avoiding that party was the deciding factor in turning Moondancer into a bitter recluse." Twilight put her hoof on Starlight's shoulder. "I would have understood if she never wanted to be my friend again as long as she didn't alienate others, but she forgave me, and I kept feeling guilt until I forgave myself. And that's what matters for you, too. My friends and I, and the ponies from the town we met you, have all forgiven you. You need to forgive yourself."

Starlight wiped a tear from her eye and thanked the purple alicorn before leaving the throne room. Twilight followed her out, taking the first door on the left. Even though she had been in this library many times since she started living in the crystalline castle, she was sometimes still amazed at the size of it. The glass dome of the ceiling was nearly as high as the Canterlot library’s, and the shelves reached all the way to the edge of the glass, each shelf filled completely with books she’d all read before. It reminded her of the library – albeit a much smaller version – from Beauty and the Beast, which she’d watched once with her Canterlot High friends.

Twilight browsed the shelves, searching for a book to pass the time. Sometimes light reading for the Princess of Friendship involved previously read historical books with plenty of facts; other times, she read a book of poems by Colt Witmane or her favorite author, Jade Singer. Usually, however, as was the case today, she craved adventure, picking up one of her Daring Do books, Daring Do and the Ring of Destiny. It was one of A.K. Yearling’s more recent novels, and one of Twilight’s favorites.

Daring Do’s house had just been invaded by Dr. Caballeron and some of his minions when Spike came into her view. She looked up and noticed that he was holding a sealed scroll in his hand.

“Hey, Twilight! Guess what just came!”

“Let’s see, you’re holding a scroll... Is that the royal seal!?”

“It sure is. It’s a letter from Princess Celestia!”

Twilight set the book aside, excited. “I haven’t gotten a letter from Celestia since Dr. Mindwell came to town. What could this be about?” She broke the seal and started reading.

“My dear Princess Twilight, my sister Luna and I have a unique study opportunity for you in Canterlot. It is an opportunity that Luna and I feel would be best appreciated by you. We understand you and your friends have only just returned from another place the map in your castle sent you, so we advise you take a day or two to relax from your adventure and to prepare for your journey to Canterlot before coming.”

“A unique opportunity?” wondered Spike.

“I wonder what kind of opportunity it could be.” Spike shrugged, and the two of them hurried toward the spa. Bulk Biceps opened the door after Twilight knocked.

“Welcome back, Princess and little dragon!”

“Thank you, Bulk. We’re here to join our friends.”

“They’re in one of the hot tubs after their massages. Let’s go!”

The three made their way into the room of the spa where the large hot tub was, surrounded by several lounge chairs. Sure enough, all six of her friends were relaxing in the tub, up to their necks in steaming mineral water. Twilight greeted her friends and Lotus Blossom gave her a quick mud facial and horn filing before Twilight joined them in the hot tub.

“While I was reading, I got a letter from Princess Celestia and Princess Luna.” Her friends were understandably surprised and excited, asking what it was about. Barely able to contain her excitement as it grew, she continued. “Princess Celestia and Princess Luna have given me a special opportunity to study in Canterlot! I don’t know the details, but from their letter, it sounds exciting!”

“Maybe exciting for an egghead like you, Twilight,” retorted Rainbow Dash. “What are you going to do while you’re in Canterlot and you need us, huh?”

Twilight smiled, and Rarity caught a glint in her eye. “You want us to come with you, don’t you?”

“Mm-hm!”

The ponies cheered and congratulated Twilight, splashing water out of the hot tub. Pinkie jumped up and down, splashing farther than the others, and some water from her splashes landed on Spike and another spa patron walking by.

"That's wonderful!" said Starlight Glimmer. "I haven't had any luck finding Sunburst yet, but I can try again at Celestia's school."

“It would have to be temporary. Applejack and Rarity have thriving businesses here in Ponyville. Fluttershy’s animals will need feeding.”

“And bedtime stories,” Fluttershy replied, and Twilight continued.

“I don’t know how long my studies will take. This may take months, so I’d understand if you returned to Ponyville to keep things going.”

“Nonsense, Twilight. We set up temporary supervisors whenever we go off on adventures that take more’n a few days, an’ Big Mac, Granny, an’ Apple Bloom are more than capable of handlin’ all the chores and business for a few weeks.”

“Most of my income comes from big contracts with celebrities like Sapphire Shores, although I always love the business with the ponies of Ponyville. I’ll miss them more. And besides, it’s not like an occasional excursion to Canterlot is rare anymore; you haven’t forgotten about the Canterlot Carousel already, have you?”

“How could I forget? Wearing the Princess Dress on opening day is part of the reason the Canterlot Carousel became so successful so quickly.” Twilight turned to Fluttershy. “What about the animals?”

“I do what Rarity and Applejack do. Sometimes I invite Treehugger to take my place. There’s also a colt in Ponyville who just adores animals, and I’ve taken him under my wing lately. This would be a good opportunity for him to try taking care of them on his own. They’re both so good with the animals! Besides,” she continued, more to herself than anypony in particular, “I never really tried getting on good terms with the animals in the Canterlot gardens. We’ve always been so busy when we’ve been there.”

“We’ll just have to keep in touch and return if something big comes up.”

The seven ponies agreed to spend a full day making preparations, and meet at the train station the morning after for the first train to Canterlot. “Spike, take a letter.” Spike asked the spa ponies for some paper and a quill. Once he was ready, Twilight continued. “Dear Princess Celestia, I was so excited to receive your letter after so long! My friends and I will be leaving on the first train to Canterlot in two days’ time, giving us time to rest and pack. Your fellow Princess, Twilight Sparkle.”

Spike sent the letter, and the mares all spent the next hour or so relaxing at the spa before going home to pack some luggage for their journey. Back at her castle, Twilight and Spike went to a storage closet near the entrance of the castle, opening the door. The door led to a decent-sized room, filled with clutter. Suddenly confetti burst straight up from the floor, and Twilight and Spike stepped back.

“Looks like we found another one of the party cannons Pinkie Pie hid a while ago. Come on, let’s find my luggage.” They rummaged through the clutter, eventually finding a pair of saddlebags and a suitcase. “These should be more than enough to carry the parchment and quills I’ll need. Oh, and when we come back from Canterlot, remind me that we should organize this closet together.”

“Are those the saddlebags you got from that world that you were never born?”

“Sadly, those were destroyed soon after I returned when Tirek destroyed the Golden Oak Library. It’s too bad,” she sighed “They would have been a good memento to bring with me on more adventures.”


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


The train from Ponyville pulled into the Canterlot station, where Princess Celestia and Princess Luna were waiting. The seven mares filed out, each taking a moment to bow to them. Twilight came last, Spike riding on her back.

“Welcome, Princess Twilight,” said Luna as the nine started walking toward the castle. “You certainly arrived quickly.”

“I really enjoy studying,” the purple alicorn replied, “and this unique opportunity you mentioned in your letter sounded too good to pass up. Also, I may have been a little over-excited when I got a letter from you after so long.”

“A little?” Spike interjected

Celestia smiled at Spike before turning her attention back to Twilight. “Indeed you do, Twilight. We hope you’ll have the patience to wait a few minutes longer.”

“Oh. Why is that?”

“This study is unlike any other, and we shouldn’t talk about it until we get to the library.”

Spike and the eight ponies made their way through the streets toward the Canterlot library. They only met one small delay as they bumped into Coco Pommel, who was in Canterlot looking for inspiration and fabric for new designs. She and Rarity had a little chat, catching up with each other’s accomplishments in the Equestrian fashion industry. Rarity cut the meeting short, promising to meet up with her again soon after giving her the address of her Canterlot boutique.

The Princesses listened to the tales of the ponies’ adventures as they turned the corner away from the main wing of the library. Pinkie Pie, Twilight, and Spike recognized the path they were taking; it was the same path they’d taken to the Star Swirl wing of the library after Twilight had gotten a message from her future self. With a nod from the princesses, the guards in front of the doors let them and their companions through.

“Now we are free to talk about your assignment, Princess Twilight,” said Princess Celestia once the doors had closed. She lifted her horn and unlocked the giant metal gate.

“My older sister and I have decided to let you study under Star Swirl the Bearded himself.”

Eight jaws dropped as the young mares and Spike gasped.
> 02: Under Star Swirl
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Princess Celestia smiled at the simultaneous reactions, stifling a giggle. Spike was the first to break the silence.

“Wow, Twilight. Who would have thought you’d get to meet your idol face to face? He lived a thousand years ago!”

“I’ll get to meet Star Swirl? But… how?”

“With a very powerful time travel spell, created by Star Swirl himself,” replied Princess Luna.

Twilight was flabbergasted, and tried to figure out how such a thing was possible. “I know Star Swirl created hundreds of spells and created and perfected many time travel and cross-dimensional spells.” She turned to her friends. “The crystal mirror that I followed Sunset Shimmer through is one of those cross-dimensional spells. And the last time Pinkie, Spike, and I were here I cast a spell that allowed me to go in the past only for a few moments. None of the spells he developed were capable of sending somepony a thousand years in the past."

"I was able to change one of his spells to be cast more than once," said Starlight, "and to send its caster years in the past rather than just a week by connecting it to the map in Twilight's castle. Maybe he just didn't have the resources we do today."

"Did somepony else make a more powerful spell than Star Swirl himself?”

“Nopony in the history of Equestria was able to replicate what Star Swirl accomplished with time travel, although Starlight was able to come closer than most. None of them came to me for help.”

“That’s right. In your and Luna’s journal you mentioned that you and he worked together on them.”

“Indeed, few ponies have developed spells as powerful as Star Swirl did. The spell that you completed and became an alicorn was his unfinished masterpiece, but there were other spells that were so powerful that no unicorn could cast them, and had the potential to be so dangerous that he chose never to make them public. He was wise for doing so.”

Princess Celestia’s horn started glowing, and the giant hourglass lifted off its pedestal, setting it aside. Princess Luna’s horn glowed, and a compartment lifted from the pedestal, opening up to reveal an ancient but well-preserved book. Pinkie Pie ran up to the pedestal and picked up the book. Celestia’s magic pulled the book over to the others, Pinkie’s back hooves dragging along the floor as she hung off it.

“This book contains the spells Star Swirl deemed too powerful and too dangerous. There is even one capable of sending somepony to any period of time for any duration of time. And it can be used more than once. No limitations.”

Twilight gasped. “That was his ultimate goal for time travel spells. The history books say nothing about him actually accomplishing such a spell. Are you saying he did?”

“Yes, Twilight.”

“That spell sounds way too powerful to have such low security measures,” said Rainbow Dash. "I mean, come on! Twilight told us what Starlight did with one of Star Swirl's less powerful spells." Starlight sighed, knowing how the blue pegasus tended to speak her mind without thinking, but nodded. "What if somepony worse got his most powerful spell into their hooves?"

“Didn’t you see all the guards we passed to get here?” Applejack asked her. “Clearly it’s protected.”

“Even if somepony were to get past all the guards and the locked door,” said Princess Luna, “they wouldn’t be able to lift the hourglass even if they knew where to find this book. Perhaps Rarity would like to try lifting it?”

Rarity’s horn glowed, and her aura wrapped around the hourglass, but it wouldn’t budge. She tried harder, groaning, but then stopped.

“I can’t lift it. It’s too heavy.”

“Alicorn magic is much stronger than unicorn magic. It must be so heavy only an alicorn can lift it.”

“Indeed, Twilight. It was built and enchanted by Star Swirl himself to be very heavy for that very reason. When he had gotten quite old, he had it built and then enchanted with a weight spell. All that time he had kept it on him wherever he went. He asked me to keep it, knowing it would be safest with me when he was gone and to prevent anypony from using the spell for evil. For many centuries, I was the only one able to move it. Occasionally I would remove the hourglass, wondering whether I could go back, talk with him or Luna some more after they were both gone.”

“So why didn’t you?” asked Rainbow Dash.

“Come now, Rainbow Dash,” said Rarity immediately, annoyed at the blue pegasus’s brashness. “I’m curious myself, but please be decent enough to not ask more of somepony else than they want to reveal.”

“That’s quite all right, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash. I was just about to tell you. I never cast the spell because I knew I would be casting it out of regret, something I haven’t done since the day I banished Nightmare Moon.”

Celestia wasn’t showing it, but Twilight knew how the princess must have felt that fateful day. She’d seen it when she drank Zecora’s potion after they’d gone missing once; she’d watched as Luna descended into the visage of Nightmare Moon; she’d flown with the sisters during their aerial battle; she’d seen Celestia banish her sister with the Elements of Harmony. Twilight had been nearly heartbroken when Shining Armor had disowned her after she accused his bride-to-be of being evil; how much more heartbroken must Celestia have been, who had to banish her sister to the moon after spending decades so close to each other. Maybe more; she didn’t actually know how old the alicorn sisters were. Something in the princess’s words made her think she hadn’t intended her sister to be sent with Nightmare Moon, just separated. Perhaps it was just coincidence, but if it wasn’t Celestia wouldn’t want to take the chance.

“We understand that this choice is an important one, and so will require plenty of time to weigh the pros and cons,” said Princess Luna. “Take as long as you’d like.”

“Are you kidding?” said the purple dragon. “She’ll only be studying under the smartest and most powerful unicorn in Equestrian history! Of course she’ll do it!”

“Twilight, are you sure this is wise?” Starlight interrupted. “You and I both know what happened when we kept casting the spell I modified. We changed the course of Equestria's fate for the worse several times.”

"That's true, but eventually everything happened the way it was supposed to. After several time loops, Rainbow finished the race without being interrupted by us, performed a sonic rainboom, and the rest is history."

“And what about the map?” inquired Rainbow Dash. “If you’re in the past, what are we gonna do if it calls you someplace and you’re not there to go?”

“That doesn’t seem to be an issue for the map,” the alicorn answered. “When we went to Starlight Glimmer's town in the east, she’d obviously been leading those ponies long before the map sent us there. When it sent you and Pinkie to Griffonstone, the kingdom had been in disarray for a really long time, and Gilda had lived there since she visited Ponyville last year. Rarity and Applejack were sent to help Coco Pommel when she needed the most help, not when she started asking for help from the ponies of Manehattan. And when it sent Fluttershy and me to the Smoky Mountains, the Hooffields and the McColts had been feuding for decades. I can’t be positive, but I’m pretty sure the map is somewhat intelligent, sending only the ponies necessary and only when it’s most important.”

“Besides, darling, this is the rarest of opportunities!” exclaimed the white unicorn. “The kind of opportunity where it’s hard to say no regardless of the risks, like Fashion Week, famous celebrities coming to town, or unexpectedly receiving tickets to the Grand Galloping Gala.” Twilight couldn’t help notice that all the events she mentioned were focused around Rarity’s dreams, yet she couldn’t fault her friend. Out of all her friends, Rarity had had access to the most celebrities and unique events, even though Twilight was the whole reason any of them had gone to the Gala in the first place.

“That is true. I’d be the first pony in a thousand years to ever meet Star Swirl face to face. Uh, Rarity? Can I ask you something?”

“You just did, silly!” bounced the pink earth pony.

“What is it, Twilight?”

“How have you gotten over the nervousness of meeting somepony you’ve admired for a long time?”

“Hey, that’s right,” said Applejack. “We all admire Princess Celestia, but you’d known her for years before we even met her. I’d reckon you’d never had to deal with butterflies in your stomach.”

“When Sapphire Shores and Trenderhoof came to Ponyville, I was ecstatic, but I kept my mind off being nervous by focusing on what needed to be done.”

“Don’t worry, Twi. You’re gonna be fine.”

“Do you have your saddlebags?” asked Princess Celestia, suddenly interrupting the friends’ conversation.

“Yup. I’ve got some food, scrolls, quills, and ink. Everything I’d need for studying.”

“You’ll need this, too,” said Princess Luna as she pulled a cloak out from behind a bookshelf. It was made of a brown cloth, very plain, and a hood. Twilight cocked her eyebrow, thinking back to the racks of plain cloaks they’d seen in the first town the Cutie Map sent them to. Rarity must have had the same thought, because she gave a little cough and turned her gaze.

“Why would I need a cloak?”

“To cover your wings. Do not forget, Twilight Sparkle, that my sister and I were the only alicorns until Princess Cadance became one, and very few had been seen before we showed up.”

“Right. Having both wings and a horn would draw unnecessary attention to myself, and wings are much easier to hide.” Twilight removed her saddlebags, put on the cloak, and replaced her bags.

Celestia watched as Twilight put on the cloak. “You might want to tie your wings to your body once you get there. I doubt you’ll have much time at all to stretch them, and you know well how unpredictable wings can sometimes be.”

Spike’s gaze shifted downward, his claws folded. “Uh, you don’t think I could come along, do you?”

Twilight smiled at the thought, but then wisely looked to the Princesses. “You two are more familiar with that era than anypony else. What do you think?”

“Unfortunately, Spike won’t be able to go with you,” replied Princess Celestia. “You’ve seen how dragons are these days, and it wasn’t so different a thousand years ago. Spike’s behavior is exceptional for dragons even today.”

“Yeah, she’s right,” said Spike, his head lowered. Fluttershy put her hoof on his back.

“I must ask all of you to return to your rooms after bidding your friend good bye,” said Princess Celestia to the others. “With a spell this powerful, we cannot take the chance that we send the wrong pony. Starlight, I'd like you to wait outside the door. I've heard you're trying to find somepony.”

Twilight’s friends all agreed, and each spent a moment saying good bye and left the Star Swirl wing. Once they were alone in the wing, Twilight faced the princess sisters.

“Have you ever cast a spell like this?”

“No, but I worked with Star Swirl until it was completed. I won’t say it’s perfect, as there are many variables, but you’ll be as close to his location as we can possibly get you that far into the past.”

Twilight nodded and closed her eyes. Suddenly feeling a spell like this required a regal recipient, she raised her head and tried spreading her wings, momentarily forgetting they were covered by her cloak and saddlebags. She smiled sheepishly, and stood plainly. The Princesses of the Day and of the Night pointed their horns at Twilight as they started to glow yellow and cyan. The two colors hit her chest, wrapping around Twilight’s body, slowly enveloping her body until it was completely covered in their auras. The colors moved faster, getting brighter until there was a bright flash of white light, and the young alicorn had disappeared. Celestia and Luna stood silent for a moment until Princess Luna broke the silence.

“Do you think she will figure it out?”

“I know she will. She’s very smart. My concern is how she will react when she learns just how much Equestria depends on her.”

The two sisters stepped into the hallway where Starlight was waiting. "She already knows how much Equestria needs her. She learned that when we kept preventing Rainbow Dash from performing the sonic rainboom that connected all of them."

"She learned how much Equestria has depended on her friendship with her friends. This time, she learns how vital she alone is to Equestria. After all, friendship connects all of Equestria."
> 03: A Sparkle in Time
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The magic of the two alicorns hit Twilight’s chest. She flinched slightly and winced at the somewhat painful brunt, but the discomfort quickly dispersed as she felt the magic flow around her whole body. There was a snap, the familiar sound that indicated time travel and teleportation. She opened her eyes, expecting to find herself where she was supposed to be, but was surprised to find that she wasn’t even in a physical plane of existence.

She was in a tube that appeared to be made of pure energy, a place where gravity didn’t exist. The energy appeared to consist of white, black, and every color of gray in between, but when she looked closer she found that what she thought was gray was actually very miniscule spots of color which blended together at a distance. The tube had seemed bland at first glance; these colors turned that blandness into beauty. She floated quickly along against stagnant particles, not realizing that all of the particles of energy were, in fact, flowing in the opposite direction she was going, but at a much slower rate.

This is the flow of time, isn’t it? she thought to herself. Last time I traveled through time, it was instantaneous, though I only traveled a few years in the past. It makes perfect sense that going back a thousand years would take much longer.

She didn’t move, trying to estimate how long she would be traveling. She counted the seconds in her head, but each guess turned out to be incorrect, and when the guessed times passed she had to recalculate. Her estimations were hindered by the fact that she couldn’t see specific moments in time, but unexpectedly there was a flash of bright light and a snap as she was sent to the time she needed to be.

Twilight stumbled as her hooves touched the solid ground, and she tripped over the hem of her cloak, falling hard on her side. She groaned and lay on the ground for a few moments while she got used to her new surroundings. She took this time to think, estimating that she had traveled for just about six minutes through the flow of time. She stood back up, brushing some dust off her legs and her cloak, and looked around her.

All the buildings around her were a single story tall, nearly all of which appeared old and unkempt. Behind every third house or so were larger buildings that resembled the barn at Sweet Apple Acres, although they were much smaller and didn’t have nearly as many embellishments. The sound of her travel must have been louder than she thought, because a few of the windows were lit. As she looked around, most of the lit windows quickly darkened. Taking a short detour between two of the houses, she looked behind the barns and saw nothing but fields for a long distance and trees beyond them.

“I must be in an earth pony town.”

She made her way back to the main street and walked up to a house that still had its lights on. She knocked on the door, and soon an earth pony mare with mustard fur, a pale blue mane, and clothes that were clearly very old opened the door, rubbing her eyes. She looked at Twilight and frowned.

“I’m terribly sorry for disturbing you this late at night, but would you by chance know where I might find a unicorn known as Star Swirl the Bearded?”

“You’ll find your kind that way.” The mustard mare pointed her hoof down the road, the opposite way Twilight had come. She closed the door somewhat loudly.

“Oookay then. Good night!” She started walking the direction the mare had indicated. “That was kind of rude.” She thought back to what the earth mare had said about “her kind.” The way the earth mare had said it made it sound like she didn’t care much for unicorns. Twilight suddenly remembered that for much of his life, Star Swirl lived in a land that wasn’t Equestria, when there was much dissent among the three pony races.

“I thought I’d be sent to a time when he lived in Canterlot. I must have been sent back farther than I realized.”

She continued walking along the road, looking from house to house for evidence of unicorns, finding nothing unique about any of them, and finding no clues as to where she could find other unicorns. Soon she caught a glimpse of light between two of the houses. It was nearly hidden by trees, but she knew what she saw. She hurried across the field toward the forest’s edge, hoping the light came from a house. Sure enough, the light was from a first-story window of a rather large house. It was easily twice as tall, twice as long, and twice as wide as one of the houses along the main road. The house was position away from the forest’s edge, but not so far as to require an unusually long path to get there. This house must belong to somepony important, she thought as she knocked on the door, perhaps even the leader of this town.

Soon the door opened, and in the light she saw a tan-colored earth mare, whose coat was covered in several dark spots, with a mane the same color as the spots. Twilight felt a little disheartened from her last encounter with an earth pony, but kept a smile on her face. She started to speak, but the spotted mare put her hoof to her mouth, and looked around before quickly beckoning Twilight in.

The interior was expectedly more furnished than the previous house, which further confirmed Twilight’s suspicion that this mare was somepony important. The floor was wood, covered with a simple-patterned rug. The walls were covered in plaster, in contrast to the plain wooden walls of the house she had had a glimpse into a few minutes before. There were even some pictures on the walls.

“What are you doing out in the open?” asked the mottled mare after she closed the door. She spoke with a faint drawl. “All of the ponies in this town resent the unicorns, and as far as I know I’m the only one who doesn’t.”

“What do you mean? What’s going on?”

“You been living under a rock or something?”

“Let’s just say I’ve never been to this part of the country before.”

She gave Twilight a quizzical look momentarily, but shrugged it off. “All right then. This has been going on fer years now. I’m sure you know the unicorns raise the sun an’ moon an’ expect us earth ponies to give them a portion a the food we grow. It makes sense, since we need the sun fer our crops to grow in the first place, but I’m concerned most of them use their race as an excuse to get free food. An’ the pegasi ain’t much better.” The sun and moon weren’t raised by Celestia and Luna but by unicorns demanding food as payment? It’s no wonder Twilight didn’t recognize where she was; Equestria hadn’t even been founded yet. “Anyway, now you gotta answer my question.”

“Right. You did ask first, after all,” she chuckled. “I’m looking for Star Swirl the Bearded.”

“Yer looking for Star Swirl? Shoot, even most earth ponies admire his talents, even if they also resent yer kind.”

“Great. Do you know where I can find him?”

“Yeah, he’s in a valley to the north past some hills with more unicorns. He was kind enough last evening to come by an’ let me know they’d be in the area before trotting off. Probably told me so I could prevent too much unnecessary interaction between them an’ the townsponies. In fact, it’s almost morning. You caught me just after I woke up.”

“Did I? Sorry about that. I think I woke up another pony earlier too. She... wasn’t as lively as you.”

“I gotta be up earlier than the others. I’m this town’s emissary to the Chancellor, an’ that comes with a lot a responsibilities.”

“If you hurry you can probably watch them raise the sun.” Twilight opened the door with her magic and started to leave. “By the way, I’m Smart Cookie. I never got yer name.”

“Nice to meet you, Smart Cookie. I’m –” she suddenly stopped speaking. Twilight couldn’t tell the earth mare her real name. Smart Cookie was the advisor to Chancellor Puddinghead, the figurehead of the earth pony tribe, and if she told the mare her real name, there could be record of her a thousand years before she was born. Twilight knew all sorts of forgotten history, but had never come across her own name. She had to come up with something, and quickly. Smart Cookie was already starting to look at her funny.

“Actually, would it be wise to give you my name? If somepony were to figure out who your mysterious unicorn guest was, there could be come political consequences.”

“Perhaps yer right. Star Swirl an’ his group tend to be exempt from the racial tensions because of their daily contributions. Actually,” the tan mare touched her hoof to her chin, “there might be more than one group. Aside from Star Swirl, I’ve never seen the same unicorns twice.”

“That would be accurate. It takes a lot of effort to raise and lower the sun and the moon that most ponies can’t handle doing it more than once.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“It takes so much effort that their magic is depleted forever.”

Smart Cookie softly gasped. “I think I maybe been a little too harsh on unicorns. I always thought most unicorns were taking advantage of the accomplishments of the others so they didn’t have to earn it themselves. Uh, no offense.”

“None taken, but I’m sure you’re not completely wrong about freeloaders.” Twilight opened the door with her magic and went out. She turned her head back to the other mare. “To the north, you said?”

“Mhm.” There was a pause as Twilight started walking. “It was nice to meet you. Will I ever see you again?”

“I don’t know, but if we do, let’s hope it’s under better circumstances.”
> 04: Meeting Her Pre-Classical Idol
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Twilight had only her thoughts to occupy her as she walked north. She couldn’t have been in the past longer than an hour, but she had encountered so much already, most of which she hadn’t expected. 

She looked up to the sky, and noticed the moon was starting to go down. It wasn’t the smooth movement with which Princess Luna moved it, and Twilight had to remind herself again that the alicorn sisters hadn’t even received their cutie marks yet; that happened sometime after their coronation, which happened sometime after Equestria had been founded. She realized the unicorns had begun their work, and started running to meet them. As she crossed over a hill, she heard a voice speaking commands. She turned toward the voice and followed it over some more hills.

Finally, at the top of one hill, she saw a group of ponies. Stepping carefully down the hillside to avoid slipping, she placed herself behind a small grove of trees. Having had the responsibility for lowering the moon and raising the sun once not long ago, she knew such a feat required a great deal of concentration.

She counted eleven unicorns in all, one of whom she recognized immediately: Star Swirl, with his iconic blue cloak and hat, and of course his brown beard. It was shorter than – and not nearly as gray as – the images she’d seen of him in her own time depict him, but there was no mistaking his image. His horn and the horns of five of the other unicorns glowed their respective colors, and Star Swirl guided the others to keep them synchronized.

Her heart skipped a beat. Here was her idol, the stallion she admired most in all of Equestrian history, and she was about to meet him. She racked her mind, remembering what Rarity had said about meeting somepony she’d admired so much. Right. Focus on what needs to be done. She closed her eyes, held her hoof to her chest, and slowly inhaled. She held her hoof away from her as she exhaled, and her heartbeat slowed, her breathing became calmer, and her thoughts less jumbled.

When she reopened her eyes, the moon was below the horizon, the other five unicorns had taken the places of the first five, and the sun was above the horizon. The unicorns’ horns glowed with their magic auras until the sun reached its apex, when their magic fizzled out. Twilight chose this moment to approach the group.

“Good work, everypony,” she heard Star Swirl tell the others, before the grey stallion turned around to return home and saw her. He rattled off a “good morning” to her before trotting past her, not immediately realizing she wanted to talk with him.

“Excuse me, sir,” Twilight began. She could already feel her heart beat faster, but took a deep breath as the stallion turned to face her.

“No need to call me ‘sir,’ young mare. What can I do for you?”

Feeling calmer, she continued. “First of all, it’s great to finally meet you! I’ve admired you for so long – since I was a filly in school, actually – and I thought it would be impossible to actually meet you face to face.” Her heartbeat was still quick, but she herself was surprised that she was able to control her excitement without once again using the calming technique she'd learned from her sister-in-law some time ago. The bearded stallion smiled.

“It’s always good to meet a fan like yourself, and see the impact I inspire in young ponies. I must say,” he continued, “in all my years I’ve met many unicorns, and I’ve met fewer admirers as my visits to villages became more common. You must be from far away.”

“You’re right. I’m not from here at all. It’s taken a great effort to get here.” In more ways than one, she said to herself. Suddenly she remembered why she went back in time in the first place. “Right, I’m not just here to chat. I was hoping I could study under you.”

Star Swirl put a hoof to his beard. “It’s been a while since I’ve had a suitable student. I tend to work on spells that require a great deal of control, which many ponies can’t handle. Can you demonstrate your magical abilities?”

Twilight nodded, and quickly ran through the list of the types of magic she could do. Why had she not considered that this might happen? Many of the spells she knew were created after Equestria was founded, so those were out. Teleportation, although it came easy to her now, was a difficult spell when she was Celestia’s star pupil, and it might not have been around before Equestria was founded. It was safe to assume, then, that teleportation wouldn’t be suitable. Levitation is one of the oldest and easiest spells to learn, so she would have to try something unique with it to impress him enough. Perhaps standing on her forelegs, levitating rocks on her hind legs? Nah, that’s just silly. She decided to use her telekinesis on several of the rocks near them, throwing them up and shooting them with blasts of magic in quick succession. She noticed the remnants of the first rock fall toward Star Swirl before she’d finished, and Twilight quickly added a second layer of her magic to move them away. Star Swirl looked at the pieces and grinned.

“Impressive. Only strong unicorns can use multiple spells at the same time. Next concern: many have come seeking not to learn, but only to say they were my student, and I’ve had to let them go.”

“I’ve experienced that firsthoof, so I know what that feels like. I promise I’m not just here for bragging rights.”

Star Swirl looked into her eyes, and Twilight found herself unable to speak. She felt nervous, as if he wouldn’t believe her and would send her away. The trip to a thousand years in the past wouldn’t be worth it if he were to reject her. After a moment, Star Swirl broke his gaze and smiled.

“Ponies may lie, but their eyes never do. Any pony like yourself, who enjoys learning and is sincere, will always be welcome as my student.” He placed his hoof on her shoulder for a moment before starting to walk. “Let’s go to my study so we can begin. How long have you been studying magic?”

“Ever since I got my cutie mark when I was a filly. I created a spectacular display of magic, and became determined to figure out what else I could do.”

“Ah, excellent. Say, I just remembered there’s a faster way home. Prepare yourself, young mare! This is going to be exciting.”

Before Twilight could respond, there was a flash of light as Star Swirl teleported them both to a room large enough to accommodate several ponies. So teleportation is possible in the past. The room was mostly circular, with a single door and no windows. Several candles lined the curved wall.

“Where are we?” she asked.

“We’re in a tower not far from my workshop. I teleport here often, especially when I have to travel far to find suitable unicorns for moving the sun and moon. Usually it’s not safe to teleport somewhere you can’t see, but I keep this room empty for the sole purpose of teleporting here whenever I need to.”

That’s good to know, she thought. Maybe I should reserve a room in the castle for such a purpose.

“Why not use the same ten unicorns?” she asked as Star Swirl opened the door and they started descending a spiral staircase. Although she knew the answer from reading the Journal of the Two Sisters, she knew most ponies who hadn’t volunteered to move the celestial bodies before wouldn’t know.

“The effort and concentration to move such things are so great, their magic is depleted. My magic is stronger than the average pony’s, I think, so my magic is preserved.”

They opened the door at the bottom of the tower and made their way across the short path between it and the other building. The terrain was moderately hilly, with groves of trees in several directions. Star Swirl’s workshop and the tower were on a hill in the middle of the plain.

The workshop itself, to Twilight’s surprise, was smaller than she expected it would be. Here was the home of the most powerful magician in Equestria, yet it wasn’t nearly big enough to accommodate all the scrolls, books, living spaces, and equipment she assumed would be necessary for such a reputation. It was two stories tall, and the second story contained most of the windows. They entered the workshop, and Twilight saw more or less what she expected: shelves and shelves of books, tables with half-written spells and other research on them. Twilight picked up one such book, glancing over it. In it she found sketches of the stars’ paths through the sky and the phases of the moon. She asked him what this book was.

“Ah, that’s my ongoing research on all the heavenly spheres. Fascinating, really. I’m currently working on a theory that can utilize their alignments to travel to different worlds. If they exist, that is.”

“I’m sure if they do exist, you’ll be the first to figure it out.”

“Thank you... Hm. I must be scatterbrained today. I don’t recall your name.”

“I never got around to saying it. I’m Twilight,” she said, choosing not to reveal her surname.

“Well then, Twilight, shall I take your cloak?”

“I’d rather keep it on, if that’s all right.” I’d rather not reveal right away that I’m an alicorn. That could cause major problems later on.

Star Swirl shrugged. “All right then. Are you hungry? I think I’ve got enough food for the both of us for a day or two.”

“Now that you mention it, I am a bit hungry.”

“Right then! Let’s have some breakfast.”

It was at that moment that there was a knock on the door. When Star Swirl opened the door, they saw a messenger pony. The unicorn stallion wore a simple yet regal outfit. 

“Venerated Star Swirl the Bearded, I have a message for you from King Bullion and Princess Platinum.”

“What could they want this early in the morning?”

“‘Dear Star Swirl, I am contacting you about a matter which may be of some urgency. There have been rumors and reports of some rather unseasonal snow in the west reaches of the unicorn kingdom. If you have time, We request your advice on how such weather might occur. Regards.’ Dictated by Princess Platinum.”

Star Swirl put a hoof to his beard. Twilight noted that he seems to have made a habit of the gesture when he was thinking. 

“Your highnesses,” he began, “I thank you for your contact. I shall begin looking into the matter, but as of right now I can foresee two reasons for the snow that are most likely. First, the pegasi could be messing with the weather in the western regions. This correlates with the prejudice against the pegasus tribe, but makes little sense, as snow destroys the crops they would receive from the earth tribe. The second reason is a rare creature I have heard of in my travels and research: Windigos.”

“Windigos...” said Twilight softly. She hadn’t been able to pinpoint exactly when in the past she had gone, but if the strange winter had already started in some places, she felt she had a pretty good idea.

“They have the ability to cause unending winter,” the grey stallion continued, “and their power is drawn from the fighting among ponies.” He gave some coins to the messenger pony for his trouble, and sent him on his way.

“That was rather eloquent.”

“Yes, well, one must be professional when speaking with the King and his daughter. Now, what were we doing before he came?”

“Breakfast,” Twilight replied with a smile.

“Yes, that’s right! Say, you seemed interested in the Windigos when I mentioned them. How about we begin your studies by talking about them?”

Twilight smiled at his offer and agreed, even though she already knew quite a bit about them. She could forget about keeping up with her cover story at times like this: it’s always interesting to listen to your idol speak about something he’s passionate about.

“It was many years ago, soon after my beard had started growing, in fact. I was young and full of wanderlust. One day I’d found myself trotting north, much farther than anypony else at the time...”
> 05: Choices of Future Past
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

A few weeks later, Star Swirl and Twilight made their way through the nearby town to pick up some more food, quills, and parchment, the usual shopping list of a wizard like Star Swirl. Twilight had asked if she could come with him, and he agreed, suggesting she could go by herself if he was ever preoccupied. Since this was her first time in the unicorn town – somehow, she had never gotten around to it earlier – he acted as her guide, showing her the way to the town and through it. Twilight levitated a map between them as Star Swirl pointed out the buildings and shops they would use the most.

“Unfortunately, due to tribal prejudices, the earth ponies’ food stalls are quite far from the books and other supplies we’ll be using. I wish I could say this was a temporary sentiment, but it’s been going on for many years.”

“Good morning, Star Swirl,” greeted one of the unicorn mares as they passed. Her coat was white with a tint of yellow, and her mane orange with brilliant gold highlights. “Who’s your friend?”

“Hello, Glitter Gold,” he replied in an uneasy tone, then cleared his throat. “This is Twilight, my new student. She just started working with me a couple days ago.”

“Pleased to meet you, Glitter Gold.” Twilight offered her hoof but the mare didn’t take it.

“Charmed.” Her voice was cold, and she didn’t offer up her own hoof in response. Instead, the mare turned to Star Swirl. “Yet another assistant, Star Swirl?” she asked, a touch of bitterness in her voice. “I just want it like it was before. You, me, the magic...” Glitter Gold’s eyes were fierce, yet beckoned to the famed stallion.

Star Swirl coughed uneasily and pushed his hat up with his hoof to rub his forehead. “Yes, well, you were never all that good with magic, were you?” He readjusted his hat. “Now, if you’ll excuse us, we’ve got shopping to do.”

Glitter Gold harrumphed and turned away from the two, her nose upturned. Star Swirl and Twilight continued on their way through the market.

“What’s with her?” Twilight asked after the mare had gone out of earshot.

“Glitter Gold was a unique case. She came to me asking to be my student, but didn’t have a show of her skills prepared. She came back a few days later with a routine. It wasn’t that impressive, but I needed some help around the house, so I accepted her anyway. As it turns out, she wanted to be my special somepony. I doubt she truly cared about me more than the bragging rights. I let her go, and she’s been somewhat bitter since. Truly outrageous, though I'll admit there was a sort of beauty in her boldness...”

Star Swirl’s words trailed off as Twilight stopped listening. She hadn’t considered the possibility that somepony – or several someponies, for that matter – might have been romantically interested in Star Swirl. All the books she’d read about him said nothing about having a family, so it had never even occurred to her. She merely followed as he continued talking, mostly to himself, until eventually they reached the far end of the market.

“Ah, here we are,” said Star Swirl. “The food stalls!” They browsed the stalls, buying different fruits, vegetables, and grains from several stalls from the earth pony vendors. A few smiled when they saw Star Swirl approach them, no doubt recognizing him for his contributions to pony kind, and offered to give him some food for free or, for one pony, a discounted price. Twilight looked from stall to stall as they passed, and saw other vendors, as well as some of the generous ones that had offered free food to them, refuse to give other unicorns free food. Twilight also thought she noticed less food than the last few times they’d gone to market, even though today they’d come earlier in the day than the previous times they’d gone to market. Star Swirl interrupted her thoughts.

“Do we have everything we need? Two quills, five jars of ink, six rolls of parchment, two empty books, and the food?”

“Check, check, check, check, check,” she replied, having gained a little more appreciation in the last few weeks for Spike’s patience with her own lists. Princess Celestia had always said that Twilight reminded her of Star Swirl, and Twilight was beginning to see why. Princess Luna, on the other hoof, had once said that he was more like Pinkie Pie, which she had also had some chance to witness as they had gotten more acquainted. “Oh yes, and the book that I’d never heard of before for my personal collection.” She removed the book from her saddlebag momentarily before replacing it next to the other items.

“Then shall we teleport back to my workshop?”

Twilight nodded, and then changed her mind. The sun was up, there were only a few fluffy white clouds in the sky, and a nice breeze was blowing. “Actually, it’s such a nice day out. Can we walk instead?”

“I suppose we could. It isn’t that far, after all, and I wanted to talk with you about something anyway. I’ll tell you when we cross the town’s borders.” They walked together silently for a few minutes. Once the din of the busy city had become silenced, he spoke his mind. “Have you ever wanted to see what things will be like in the future, or to fix a mistake you’ve made in the past?”

“Time travel? That sounds like complicated magic.” Twilight wasn’t oblivious to what was going on; she was witnessing the beginning of some of Star Swirl’s greatest achievements! How exciting!

“I suppose that’s the case, but I was thinking more along the lines of using such spells to work on several projects at the same time. I have so many sometimes it’s hard to keep straight.”

Is now the right time to tell him? I’ve only been in the past for a few weeks.

“I’d like your help figuring out some of the details.”

Twilight stopped in her tracks suddenly, then trotted to catch up with Star Swirl, who hadn’t noticed her stop.

“You want my help for something as powerful as a time travel spell?”

“Of course! I’ve seen how you work. You’re organized, very intelligent, a have very strong magic.” He paused, touching his hoof to his beard. “It might even be stronger than my own.”

“No, that can’t be,” she immediately insisted. “You’re the greatest magician of all ponykind!”

“So far that has proven true, Twilight, but – ”

He suddenly stopped talking when he noticed a messenger pony, the same messenger pony that had come to Star Swirl’s door a few weeks ago, galloping straight for them. They greeted him. His breath was labored from all the running.

“Urgent message... from His Highness King... King Bullion to... Star Swirl the Bearded...”

“You must be exhausted,” said Twilight. “Here, lie down and rest while you tell us the message.”

He lay down, putting his four legs underneath him. She offered him some water, and the stallion drank and thanked her as he started the message.

“‘Star Swirl, I am afraid there’s no time for pleasantries this time. In my last message, I mentioned that the far western parts were having an unusual winter. It appears that this strange weather is only growing, as we at the castle can see the winter encroaching upon the castle. We request your presence to help shield the castle from what must be a cruel joke by the pegasi. We await your answer. King Bullion and Princess Platinum.’”

Star Swirl sighed. “I told them not to blame the pegasi. There’s no proof!”

“Is that your response, sir?”

“No, just my unfiltered thoughts. Here is my response: ‘Your Highnesses, I shall respond with equal urgency. My apprentice and I shall begin our journey as soon as we are able. We’ll pack the things necessary to begin our journey. Star Swirl.’”

The messenger pony stood up again, and Twilight gave him some coins. He thanked them both before turning and galloping away, and Twilight turned to Star Swirl as they started walking back, a little faster than before.

“You said you and your apprentice would be going. I’ve been with you for several weeks now, and I haven’t seen Clover the Clever, or heard anything about her.”

“Twilight, I don’t understand what you mean. You’re my apprentice.”

He said something else, but Twilight didn’t hear him. She was too excited, giddy in fact.

“Twilight?”

“Hm?”

“Who’s this Clover you mentioned?”

“Oh, she’s – ” Twilight’s thoughts interrupted her words as she thought of everything she knew about Clover the Clever. One of the six founders of Equestria, Clover was the apprentice to Star Swirl the Bearded and the personal assistant to Princess Platinum before and after Equestria’s founding. She knew little about Clover before what she knew of the history of Hearth’s Warming. Wait, what if I’m Clover the Clever? Her pace slowed slightly. “Never mind,” she responded. “She’s a unicorn I must have heard of somewhere else.”

“Mhm.”

They approached Star Swirl’s workshop, opening the door and entering. They started unpacking their saddlebags, placing the scrolls and books on the tables and the quills next to them. Twilight picked up all the food with her magic and packed them away in the cupboards, organizing the vegetables on the top shelf, the grains on the bottom, and the fruits in the middle.

How can I tell him what’s going to happen without saying it outright? she wondered as she put things away.  For that matter, do I even need to tell him? I’m sure he’d appreciate it if I told him about Equestria and what he’s going to do in the next few years, but... Normally she’d worry more, but she felt her wings strain against their restraints, and remembered that her wings would tend to flap on their own if she worried too much, like they did before the Princess Summit in the Crystal Empire. She took a deep breath to calm herself down.

“Is something bothering you, Twilight?” asked her mentor.

There was silence for a moment as she figured out how to say what she wanted to say. “With the tensions among the three tribes and the approaching Windigoes, something bad is going to happen. I just know it.”

“I’m sure you’re right,” he replied as he began repacking his saddlebags with supplies for the journey.

“One more thing, Star Swirl. From now on, can you call me Clover the Clever?”

“The mare you thought you knew? Whatever for?”

“It’s... complicated. I’ll explain eventually.”
> 06: Platinum and Bullion
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

They had left Star Swirl’s workshop after eating lunch the day before. Their journey began uneventfully, traveling through plains and forests, but as they traveled farther north, nearing King Bullion’s castle, they noticed the breeze was becoming colder and stronger. Soon they started seeing layers of snow cover the ground. As night fell, Star Swirl led them toward a town of unicorns to stay the night.

“It’s almost time to raise the moon, Clover,” he told her as they placed their bags on the floor of their room in the inn. “Would you like to join the group tonight?”

Having read – nearly memorized, in fact – the journal that Princess Celestia and Princess Luna had kept early in their reign, she knew that raising the sun and moon would deplete the ten unicorns of their power permanently. She was an alicorn, however; could her magic remain intact?

“Not unless it’s a last-minute thing,” she replied. Early in her stay she’d prepared her answer for when he would ask her. She hadn’t expected him to ask this early, however. “I know the sacrifice I’d have to make, and if you want my help with the time travel spells, we shouldn’t use my power so soon.”

“Hmm. Yes, you make a good point. Well, I’m off to round up some volunteers. Good night, Clover.”

“Good night.”


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


The next morning, Twilight woke up as the rising sun shined in her eyes. She rubbed them, still a bit groggy. She got up, adjusted her cloak, which got wrinkled as she wore it each night, and looked out the window, seeing the unicorns disperse and Star Swirl walk back into the inn.

“Sorry, wings. I thought I’d be able to let you out for a minute today before he got back.” Instead, she placed her saddlebags on. She’d only had the chance to stretch her wings once so far

“It got really cold overnight,” he said as he walked through the door. “We may have to cast a spell to warm us up as we finish our journey. Have you learned any yet?”


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


“There it is,” said Star Swirl, pointing his hoof between the trees to clearing. Twilight could make out the faint shape of a very tall, dark castle tower against a steep mountainside. She was sure that if it hadn’t currently been snowing, it would have looked wondrous against a cloudless blue sky.

“And just in time, too,” he continued. “I think the spell’s starting to wear off.”

They approached the castle’s gate, which was guarded by two large unicorn stallions.

“Greetings,” said one. “State your names and business.”

“Greetings, sir. I am the renowned Star Swirl the Bearded, and this is my apprentice Clover the Clever. Our business is the study and implementation of magic and the natural world to create better lives for all ponies!”

Twilight held back a smile. Misunderstanding what definition of “business” the guard meant is something Pinkie Pie would do. Perhaps Princess Luna was accurate when she had compared the two, at a time when Princess Celestia had gone missing for a few days. “I’m pretty sure he means our business with King Bullion and Princess Platinum.”

“Oh...”

Twilight turned back to the guards. “We come seeking audience with the royal family concerning the strange weather and national security.”

“Very well.” The two visitors started walking again, but stopped when the realized the guards weren’t opening the gate. “Do you have a statement signed by His Highness?”

“No,” hesitated Star Swirl, “but there was a messenger that should have arrived not too long before us.”

“Sorry,” said the guard flatly. So far the other guard was silent, though his eyes darted between the conversation and the areas outside the castle walls, scanning for potential threats.

“But I’m Star Swirl the Bearded!”

“Sorry. We can’t let anypony in if they don’t have a signed statement. New policy.”

“How new?”

“Last week.”

As they talked – or argued, if you prefer – Twilight’s eyes caught movement within the castle’s yard. Down the path, a mare dressed in an elegant white wool coat bejeweled with gems of purple and blue. She wore a matching ushanka-style hat. As she approached, Twilight saw that the mare had pale gray fur and shiny silver hair.

“Not again,” muttered the mare. “Red Tape, let them in. Father and I were expecting them.”

“Princess! My apologies.” The guards opened the gate and ushered Star Swirl and Twilight inside. “Welcome to Bullion Castle, Mr. Swirl and Ms. The Clever.”

“I must apologize about the guards,” said the princess as she accompanied them inside the castle. “Red is particularly strict about procedure.”

“It’s a nuisance,” said Star Swirl, “but I suppose in most cases it helps. You wouldn’t want any troublesome ponies or undesirable creatures to enter the castle, now would you?”

Princess Platinum asked Star Swirl about his apprentice as they walked through the castle halls, which, Twilight noted, were brightly lit, the light reflecting off marble inlaid with gold and silver. Quite the contrast from the exterior’s plain gray walls.

They entered the throne room, which carried the same motif as the halls with added blue and purple banners hung from the rafters. King Bullion, a stallion with a golden coat and black, graying mane, looked up from his throne and dismissed the few ponies that were with him.

“Father, Star Swirl the Bearded and his apprentice Clover the Clever.” The two bowed as their names were spoken, though Twilight almost forgot to. As a princess herself, former pupil of another, and sister-in-law to a third, she’d never really gotten into the habit of bowing to royalty. She hoped no one had noticed.

The king greeted them and brought them into a room behind the thrones. This room’s walls were not marble inlaid with gold and silver, but had only the bare stone walls. Its purpose clearly didn’t require it to be aesthetically pleasing. In the middle of the room sat a large table, around which up to a dozen ponies could stand and discuss important issues. Princess Platinum removed her hat and placed it on the table. Her silver mane was beautifully quaffed. There was no doubt that the gray princess prided herself on her elegance.

“Thank you for coming so quickly,” the king said. “As you can tell, the strange winter has already approached the castle. An advisor has told me that if it continues spreading at its current rate, it could encompass the whole world in a matter of months.”

“That is a fair estimate,” answered Star Swirl. “The signs of the winter have already reached halfway to my village south of here.”

“That cannot be good,” said the king’s daughter.

“Has anypony suggested any possible solutions?” asked Twilight.

“A proper solution requires a source to solve,” he replied, “and unfortunately the advisors haven’t come to a conclusion. They’re still arguing about whether the pegasi are causing the winter or if it’s those Windigo creatures Star Swirl mentioned in his previous message.”

“Nonsense, daddy. It must be the pegasi, if only because we don’t know how to counteract those windy things.”

“Very well,” King Bullion sighed. His daughter certainly had strong convictions, and he was tired of trying to argue with her after years of unsuccessfully trying to help her become less stubborn. “Since you are so convinced it’s the pegasi, let’s come up with a way to deal with that.”

“It’s not the pegasi,” mumbled Star Swirl, but only Twilight heard him.

“I for one refuse to speak with them,” stated Princess Platinum. “They’re too stubborn for their own good, and they should leave. The unusual winter should then leave with them.”

“Daughter, that’s rude. You are royalty, and I don’t want any successor of mine to behave so foalishly.”

“Then what would you suggest, Daddy?”

“That depends on your willingness to talk with them.” Platinum snorted, crossing her forelegs. “As I thought. In that case, we should  prevent conflict another way. We’ll go somewhere where the pegasi don’t control the weather.”

“But Daddy, this is our home! Our kingdom!”

“Darling, my grandfather created this kingdom out of nothing. And what is a kingdom, but the ponies who willingly follow us? When we go, we’d do the same.”

Star Swirl’s and Twilight’s gazes switched between the two royals as they talked.

“This is going nowhere,” said the magician.

Twilight tapped her hoof on the table. Bullion and Platinum stopped talking and turned to her. “I wish to propose a summit. The three tribes would each be represented, and there you can discuss with the other tribes how to solve this problem. The leaders of the tribes can send their advisors first to discuss a time and place.”

“Please consider this option, princess,” King Bullion said before his daughter could respond to Twilight’s suggestion. “If it works, nopony needs to leave their home. Star Swirl, Clover, why don’t you two set up the ward against the cold while you wait? If I know my daughter as well as I think I do, this may take a while.”

“By your leave, then, your highness,” Star Swirl said as he and Twilight bowed again before leaving the room.  Star Swirl led his student to the center courtyard, where they began casting the shield spell.

“So, my student, what do you think the decision will be?”

“I think they’ll decide to go through with it.” Of course, she didn’t want to tell him the real reason she knew the princess would agree to it. “The princess is rather stubborn, but she seems more receptive to her father’s persuasion than anypony else’s.”

“I recognized that too. All right, let’s concentrate.”

They stood in silence until they finished casting the ward. Once completed, they turned to go back into the castle, and found that Platinum was standing near them.

“That’s impressive,” she said in awe as she looked at the results.

“How long have you been here?”

“Sorry, I just got here a moment ago.”

“What did you and your father decide?” asked Twilight.

The gray mare sighed. “I’m still not too excited about meeting with them, but at least you’ll meet with the other advisors before then.”

“Your father doesn’t have an aide he can spare?” asked the stallion.

“Not right now. His usual advisor is ill, and the other advisors are working overtime until he gets well again. He decided you, Clover, should be my advisor, since Star Swirl might be too busy.”

“Oh?”

“Yes, with all your research and gathering unicorns to raise the sun and moon.”

“Is nopony going to ask me if I’m okay with it?” asked Twilight. Interestingly, she was okay with somepony else telling her what to do, at least in the past. It indicated that she didn’t have to move the timeline along the proper path. Some things were going to happen without any effort on her part. “I mean, I am all right with it. This could be interesting, and I look forward to it. ”

“Wonderful!”

“Very well then. Clover and I will figure out when to meet and contact the other tribes. The shield should last for many weeks. If you no longer need us, we’ll be off. With your leave, of course, princess.”
> 07: The Bearded, the Clever, and the Smart
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Since it was nearly time to lower the sun and raise the moon, Princess Platinum had a servant direct Twilight and Star Swirl to their room for the night. They set their bags down, and Star Swirl left to ask the unicorns around the castle if they wished to assist him with the daily. Twilight watched out the window as the day turned night, and pulled the covers over her, letting sleep wash over her.

The next morning, however, was a different story. Many declined, some of whom had already helped him, and some of whom had been told of the consequence of their magic being permanently rendered useless and didn’t want to give up their magic. Nine, however, volunteered their services. This presented an obvious problem, however; there was one spot available, nopony else was willing to volunteer, and time was running out. Star Swirl gathered the volunteers in the center courtyard and found his way to the king.

“Your Highness, may I have a word?” King Bullion nodded and led him back to the conference room, where he told the king his issue. “I don’t suppose you would be willing to join us tonight?”

“Hmm,” the king responded, his chin on his hoof. “That’s quite a conundrum. Volunteering would set an example to those less than positive about the consequence. However, as the king of the unicorns, I fear losing my magic could bring about war if enemies were to find out I was powerless.”

“What about your daughter?”

“Of course not,” he said immediately, his brow furrowed. “Even if I were to allow it, she surely wouldn’t. Although she barely uses her magic, she is very fond of it when she does use it.”

Star Swirl nodded his head, understanding. He asked the king's leave, and the king bid him farewell. Having no other options, he concentrated on any other way to raise the sun again as he followed the halls back up to the room.

"What to do?" he asked himself. "Nopony wants to help, but we need just one more unicorn. Just one more is all I ask." Then, as if he had just said the right sequence of words to light a candle without a flame, his eyes lit up. "Well," he hesitated, "there is one more option..." He reached their room, woke up his apprentice, and told her the situation.

“You’ve exhausted every other option?”

“I’m afraid so.”

Twilight sighed. Sure, she’d lowered the moon and raised the sun alone before, but that was when she had the combined powers of three other alicorns as well. If the movements of the sun and moon then were any indication, she knew she would need a lot more practice before trying again. In truth, she had no idea if she could even do it with her own power. As she had read in the two sisters' journal, Celestia and Luna had done it practically effortlessly their first try, but raising the sun and the moon were their special talents. She wasn't sure how well a special talent of "magic" could compare to such destinies as theirs.

“Twilight,” her mentor said, “I promise I’ll find a way to restore your power while you’re advising the princess.”

Twilight knew, once again from reading the alicorn sisters' journal, that he would eventually find such a way with Princess Celestia's help, but it was far too soon, she assumed, for him to figure it out.

"Try not to worry about it, Star Swirl," she told him. The irony of telling him not to worry when only a few weeks before she was the one worried about meeting him was not lost on her. "Yes, it's regrettable that losing one's magic is a necessary consequence of doing this duty. Actually," she put her hoof to her chin, "I've never thought about it before. Why do unicorns have to raise and lower the sun and the moon?"

"You don't know the legend?" Twilight shook her head. "Well, it is said that long ago there was a beast with a very powerful magic, the magic to do whatever he wished with no consequences. According to the tales, the sun and moon used to move across the sky on their own, but he decided to stop them in the middle of the sky. It created chaos, and ever since unicorns have had to use their magic to move them."

Powerful magic, chaos, the sun and moon in the sky at the same time? He has to be talking about Discord, she realized. "Does anypony know what happened to this beast?"

"Not that I know of. It's merely a legend, after all."

She thanked him and joined the other ponies in the courtyard. She waited patiently as the moon was lowered, and then joined the rest to raise the sun. She had expected it to be harder than it was before, but with Star Swirl’s direction and the combined effort of the other five ponies (who were clearly exerting a good deal of effort), it was actually slightly easier than she remembered.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


“We can’t just teleport back?”

“Not unless you can still use your magic.”

Twilight paused, closed her eyes, and concentrated hard on lifting a small stone nearby as Star Swirl kept walking along the path away from the castle. A few sparks spurted from her horn.

“Nope.”

They hurried back to Star Swirl’s workshop, aiming to arrive before sundown, discussing when and where the advisors would meet .

“I’ll go tell Smart Cookie,” said Twilight after they figured out the details.

“Who?”

“Smart Cookie. She’s the advisor to the earth tribe’s chancellor. I actually met her not long before I met you. I’ll go to her house and let her know the details.”

“Very well then. I’ll let the pegasi know. I’ll see you back at the workshop after sundown then.”

Twilight said goodbye and turned off the main path, heading toward the earth pony village she arrived in. Soon she recognized the landscape where she’d first seen Star Swirl, and headed toward the forest. It would take a little longer to navigate through the trees, but she was alone, and with the trees as her shield she could stretch out her wings. She couldn’t remember how long it had been.

When she was adequately hidden, she removed her cloak with her magic, which was still weak from the exertion that morning (though slowly being refreshed), and untied her wings. Immediately pain shot through her body, her legs grew weak, and she winced, groaning with the pain. She lay on the forest floor as the cramps continued.

She didn’t know how long she’d been laying there when the pain finally subsided, but she stood up, finally able to flex her wings with minimal pain.

“I don’t know how long between stretches I’ll have, and I don’t want my wings to atrophy.” She packed her cloak and the rope into her saddlebags, then flapped her wings. She rose into the air and navigated through the trees toward Smart Cookie’s house.

She started slow, but eventually grew more confident, flying faster until the trees blurred as she passed them. For a few minutes, she forgot she was in the past. She forgot the pain that still lingered in her joints. All that ran through her wings was the wind, and all that ran through her mind was the exhilaration of flying freely. There was no aerial battle, no planned flight path, and in that moment she felt what Rainbow Dash must feel several times each day.

Soon the image of a house peeked through the trees. Since Twilight had only seen Cookie’s house at night, she wasn’t sure at first if it was hers, but remembered that she hadn’t seen any other lights in the forest. She turned around, flying until she couldn’t see the house anymore, and landed. She removed the cloak and rope from her saddlebags, retied her wings to her body, replaced her cloak, and walked the rest of the way to be safe. “Sorry, wings. You'll have to be tied up for a bit again.”

“I’m comin’,” Twilight heard after she knocked on the door. When the door opened, the tan earth mare smiled as she recognized Twilight. “Didn’t think I’d ever see you again, stranger. How’ve you been?”

“I’ve been well, and I’m actually here on business.”

Smart Cookie nodded and beckoned her in, closing the door behind her. “You gonna tell me your name before we get started?”

“I’m Clover the Clever, Star Swirl’s newest apprentice, and personal advisor to Princess Platinum.”


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Twilight told her new friend what had happened since their first encounter, from meeting Star Swirl to becoming his apprentice, to the issue of the abnormal winter. A natural segue from personal to business matters, Twilight noted to herself. She talked of Star Swirl’s and her 89meeting with the king and the princess, and what had been decided. Smart Cookie stayed pretty much silent as she listened to Twilight talk.

“On our way home from King Bullion’s castle, Star Swirl and I decided the advisors would meet after sunrise next Thursday along the border of the nations. Here,” Twilight took one of Star Swirl’s maps out of her saddlebag and pinpointed the location of a waterfall which bordered the unicorn and earth territories.

“That’s more than enough time to talk to the Chancellor about it.”

“So we can expect you there?”

“You bet. Who else will be there?”

“You, me, Private Pansy of the pegasus nation, and Star Swirl as moderator.”

“Do you think it’s wise to have two unicorns and only one pegasus and one earth pony?”

“What, like a conflict of interest?” Twilight asked, to which Smart Cookie nodded. “He plans on being a neutral party, but I understand your concern. I’ll talk with him about it. Do you have another neutral party in mind that could replace him?”

Smart Cookie sighed. “The first thing that comes to mind would be an alicorn. They got the strength of earth ponies, the wings of pegasi, and the magic of unicorns. One a them’d be perfect, but nopony’s seen hide nor tail of one a them in a very long time. I doubt anypony even knows where to start lookin’.”

Twilight’s wings flexed instinctively against the ropes. Yes, I know I’m an alicorn. “You’re right about that. Can we expect you at the meeting?”

“You bet,” the earth mare replied. “It’s our responsibility as the advisors to remain open-minded even when our leaders ain’t. Otherwise, there ain’t no point in advisin’.”

Twilight smiled. “I look forward to the meeting, then.”

Smart Cookie opened the door. “Hopefully we can figger out how to fix this mess.”
> 08: Diplomacy
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Twilight arrived at the waterfall the night before the meeting had been scheduled. Using her magic, she started a fire a few yards from the edge of the pool, sitting by it for a few minutes until she was warm enough. She removed her saddlebags, setting them nearby. She removed some sticks and canvas from the small cart she’d been pulling, setting them up nearby before placing her saddlebags inside.

Before entering the tent, she looked around and, when she had confirmed that nopony was watching, removed the cloak and the binds that kept her wings tight to her body. As before, they hurt when she stretched. It was a dull ache, and not nearly as severe as it had been before.

“I hope nopony comes by while I have these out,” she said as she stepped inside the tent and lay down. “That would be difficult to keep quiet.”


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Twilight awoke soon after dawn, though it was hard to tell exactly what time it was. The morning sunlight had been diffused through a thin layer of clouds, though it was still bright enough to shine through her tent. She groaned and stretched her legs and wings, still groggy from her slumber. She rubbed her eyes with her hooves, and looked around. The meager fire she’d begun the night before had gone out, a thin layer of frost covering the coals. The water, likewise, had started to freeze around the edges She shivered, wrapping her wings around her, as she cast a spell to warm up the area around her. She tied her wings back against her body and replaced the cloak on her back.

The meeting had been set for just after sunrise. Now all she had to do was to wait for the others to arrive.

Twilight was not good at waiting. As was the case not so long ago when the map sent Rarity and Applejack to Manehattan, she grew bored. As such, she started cleaning up her camp site. She dismantled her tent, placing the sticks in the cart before folding the canvas and placing it on top. She did, however, make sure the fire was still going strong.

Fortunately, the first of the other two advisors arrived just when she had finished packing everything away; there was no need to look around for something to do while waiting. When the tent was packed into the cart, Twilight turned around to see a pegasus mare with a bright yellow coat (though most of it was covered by the black and silver armor she wore) as she landed near the fire. Her mane was long and straight, striped with purple and white. Just like when she had encountered Smart Cookie and Princess Platinum, this pegasus reminded her of Fluttershy.

“Good morning,” Twilight said. “You must be Private Pansy.”

The yellow mare, caught off guard, stumbled at the introduction. However, she regained her balance, closed her eyes, and took a deep breath to calm her nerves. She held her legs, however, tight against each other, knees unbent. If Pansy’s personality was as much like Fluttershy’s as her appearance was, then Twilight guessed that Pansy’s stress level was pretty high right now.

“Hello,” she replied, rather quietly.

“You look tense. Are you all right?”

Private Pansy lowered her head a little, turning her gaze from Twilight. “Y-yes. It’s just... It’s hard for me to meet new ponies.” She stopped talking, and there was silence for a few moments before Twilight spoke again.

“Is it a kind of nervousness that your mind can’t thinking about, sometimes to the point of being frozen in place by the fear of what might go wrong?” Pansy looked at Twilight, shocked that she was able to guess correctly right away. Twilight smiled and continued. “I have a friend back home that’s the same way.”

“So, you won’t tease me or anything horribly mean like that?”

“Not at all. You can relax around me .”

“That’s a relief.” The pegasus’s legs relaxed a little, and she smiled. She looked around. “I was told an earth pony would be joining us. Where is she?”

“She’s probably still on her way. The sun just came up, after, and they can only travel as fast as their legs can take them.”

“Oh.”

“In the meantime, we can get to know each other a little until she comes.” 

“That sounds lovely.”


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


It wasn’t long after this that Smart Cookie, cart in tow, turned a corner and was able to see the waterfall in the distance. She unhooked herself from the harness and went around to the back, rummaging around to find the map she had packed, the location of the waterfall marked where Clover had indicated a week and a half earlier. She looked around at her surroundings and packed it away again.

“I hope that’s the right waterfall. There ain’t another one for a good while.”

Following her gut, she hooked herself back up again and kept walking toward the waterfall. It had been a long journey from her little village, but she pressed on through her legs’ exhaustion. Soon enough, she got a glimpse of what looked like a tent and two ponies sitting beside the waterfall. Relief flooded over her, renewing her energy.

“I really hope those are the others I’m s’posed to be meetin’. My legs are dog-tired. Hey there!” she finally called out, and the other two turned and stood up to face her. Clover took the forefront, while the bright yellow pegasus stood farther back, partially hidden behind the unicorn.

“I’m glad to see you had a safe journey, Smart Cookie.”

“Thanks Clover, but you can just call me Cookie if you want. Smart Cookie’s a mouthful to say, if ya ask me.” The tan mare shrugged off the harness. She looked around at the ground, surprised. Around the fire, the grass was green as usual, and the edge of the water stood still at the shore; however, a few yards away from the fire in a perfect circle, the grass was white with the morning’s frozen dew, and the edge of the water had no ice built up.

“You got some sorta heat spell goin’ on here? It doesn’t feel any different, but it certainly looks it.”

“I did cast one earlier, but it might be wearing off. Here, let me cast it again.” Twilight touched her horn to the ground and cast the spell. Immediately the air around them was warmer, and the frost around the edge of the circle melted. She cast a second spell, a barrier spell to keep the heat inside the barrier longer.

"Mmm, that's warm," Private Pansy commented.

"I'll say it is," retorted the tan mare. She looked at Twilight with an odd expression that indicated skepticism. Twilight didn't notice, however.

"All right, let's begin this meeting with what we know for sure, facts with no interpretation behind them. The world is getting colder: it's the middle of the summer months, and there is an abnormal winter approaching."

"This cold weather is makin' it harder and harder to grow enough good to feed everypony. Earth ponies across the country have started coming to our chancellor, saying that they've been pushed to their own little district in markets. Some are even being accused of stockpiling their own food before selling it to everypony else."

"Star Swirl the Bearded and I noticed the food stalls were set apart the last time we were buying supplies in town," said Twilight, who then turned to Private Pansy. "What news do you have, Pansy?"

"Oh... we pegasi can't do anything to help."

"Why not?" asked the earth mare, who had grown slightly indignant, although not noticeably. She wanted to confront her about whether is was truly because they were unable, or if they just didn't want to, but had the presence of mind not to escalate the situation by accusing somepony of something they weren't responsible for.

"It's not because we don't want to, if anypony was wondering... there's nothing we can do to control them. All the clouds and snow we clear are never gone for more than an hour. They won't listen to us."

Twilight and Smart Cookie were taken aback, though Twilight recovered more quickly. It was never mentioned in the legends, but it made sense. The pegasus ponies had controlled the weather for a long time, but the clouds made by the windigoes must be different from natural clouds in such a way that pegasi couldn't control them.

"I can demonstrate, if you'd like."

The other two mares looked to the sky, which indeed had grown more overcast as they'd spoken.

"How do we know there ain't a bunch of pegasi up there ready to push the clouds back?" asked Smart Cookie. Twilight gave her a stern look, and she hastily added, "Just makin' sure we're not being naive, Clover. Not accusing anypony of anything."

"A demonstration could be helpful, Pansy," Twilight said to the yellow pegasus with a smile. "Go for it."

Private Pansy crouched low, the launched herself into the sky toward the clouds, much faster than she usually did. Pansy preferred to flutter or hover to flying, though she could go faster. As a filly she'd enjoyed going fast, but as she grew and joined the Pegasus Air Corps the thrill of going fast was gradually replaced with the expectation to. It was then that she'd started to flutter when not training, and when she started enjoying the world she'd passed by before.

Now, however, another expectation was placed on her: to prove that there was nopony hidden among the clouds, and had pushed herself as if she was once again in one of the speed training exercises. Private Pansy could have flown up and bucked a few clouds, but the way Smart Cookie had said that bothered her. Smart Cookie had suggested something that neither she nor her commander - nor any of the other pegasi, for that matter - had even thought to suggest the week before. She certainly lived up to her name.

This is for peace, she kept reminding herself, straining herself to go as fast as she could. Smart Cookie was mean, but I'm sure she meant well. She had to have. Come on, wings. Let's give this all we've got!

Back on the ground, Twilight and Smart Cookie watched the pegasus mare fly up. "I understand your caution, Smart Cookie," Twilight told her as they watched, "but next time try to be more subtle, okay? Private Pansy's the kind of pony to take comments like that personally, even though she might not show that she does."

Smart Cookie didn't respond; she only thought about what had been said by both of them as Pansy sped through the clouds. At the speed she was going, the air flowing around her wings pushed aside an area of the clouds smaller than the pond. Pansy changed direction, flying in a circle around the clearing she had made so that the hole in the clouds became much larger than the size of the pond they were meeting at. The sunlight shone through the clearing, reflecting off the gently rippling water and the thin layer of ice that had surrounded the edge. With the clouds gone, the sun's heat was able to pass through once again, and both mares on the ground smiled as Twilight dropped the heat spell to feel the sun's natural warmth.

"Well, I gotta give her credit. Any pegasus waitin' up there to recover the skies would have been too surprised to move away in time."

As Pansy fluttered back down, however, a single windigo peeked over the edge of the opening she had made, going unnoticed by Twilight or Cookie; it was simply too well hidden at that height. Down below, the mares could see the clouds begin to close again as the clouds on the western edge started to fill in.

Smart Cookie and Twilight were still looking up at the sky when Pansy landed, breathing heavily and wings drooping. The pegasus looked at the two. Smart Cookie's face looked confused, and Twilight's expression was similarly confused, although Pansy thought she saw a bit of fear showing through her eyes. Pansy followed their gaze back up to the clouds, which had begun to roll in faster.

"What's going on?" she asked.

"Somethin's puttin' the clouds back. And thicker this time. What do you think, Clover?"

"Something's not right. I've seen pegasi put clouds in the sky, and whatever happening's up there is not how they do it."

"I'm sorry I doubted ya, Private Pansy. Though, this all's makin' me think. There might be a temporary solution that'll grow crops until we can figure out how to get rid of the winter weather in the middle of the summer."

"What would that be?"

"Two, actually. One is to have all the pegasi work together to keep the skies clear. It'd be long and hard work, seein' how Pansy here is breathin' and her wings are loose. The other is to have the unicorns cast heat spells like the one Clover's been usin' here."

"Or a combination of the two," Twilight said, forgetting for a moment that she was in the past, and that what she was about to say isn't what had happened. "Casting such spells would take a lot of effort, since they don't last very long without needing to be recast, and a larger area takes more effort than the small area I'm casting it on now. They would need to work together with the earth ponies to work out schedules that would allow for warming up the earth, raising the sun and the moon, and enough rest to remain functional long-term. With the unicorns also raising the sun and the moon, some may think that too much is being expected of them, and problems could arise from that new issue." As she spoke, the excitement of solving a problem slowly faded when she remembered that she was in the past, but she continued.

"On the other hoof, if the pegasi kept clearing the clouds over half of the country, like the cities and the roads, while the unicorns focused heat spells on just the farmlands, this would be a temporary compromise that benefits all three pony nations the most while also having the fewest disadvantages to each."

"Oh, I like that idea."

Smart Cookie put her hoof to her chin, then shrugged. "I got nothin' as good as that."

"Then let's put it to a vote. All in favor of this option, say 'aye'."

There was silence for a moment.

"Clover... what the hay are you doin'? We already said we were all in favor."

"Sorry! It just seemed more official that way."

They spent the next hour hammering out the details: when to set up the meeting of the tribes' leaders, where it would take place, and advising each respective leader the best ways to conduct the meeting. Once they agreed on the specifics, they adjourned and had lunch before heading off toward their respective homes. Yet, as each pony went their separate ways, there was one question that had been stuck in the back of Twilight's mind which she now brought to the front: If the three advisers had come up with such a good solution, how could it have gone so wrong?
> 09: Return to Castle Bullion
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

By the time Twilight returned to Star Swirl's workshop, a layer of snow up to her ankles had fallen. It was thick and wet, and before too long she found it more and more difficult to keep walking and towing the supplies she'd brought with her.

She trudged up to the door, knocked, and waited for Star Swirl to open it. She could have used her magic to open it herself, but there were two reasons she chose not to. First, Star Swirl still thought that her magic, like every other unicorn who had assisted with moving the celestial bodies, would have been depleted, and as such wouldn't expect her to still have it. The second reason was much more mundane: she was tired, cold, and didn't have the energy to open it herself. Finally the door opened.

"Ah, there you are," exclaimed the wizard. "How was the meeting?"

Twilight stepped inside and stamped the packed snow out of the frogs of her hooves. "It went very well. We found a temporary solution that would work until the tribes figure out what's causing this winter."

Star Swirl pause, turning his head toward her. "You didn't talk about the windigoes, did you?"

Twilight sighed. "Unfortunately not. You and I both believe there's enough evidence to show that they're the cause, but to everypony else they'd be seen as a convenient contrivance to shift the blame. I didn't want to complicate things by mentioning something they didn't believe existed." She yawned. "Can you start a fire? I've been cold for hours walking through that snow."

"Of course, Twilight." They made their way to the furnace, and Twilight laid on her side, her hooves facing the furnace as her mentor started a fire inside it. "Would you like something warm to drink as well?"

"Yes, please. Some tea if you have it."

Though she was tired, she decided not to rest her eyes, in no small part because she had just realized that she was laying on her wing.

Ow. Ow. Ow.

"Here you go, a fresh pot of tea, specially brewed to warm you up." He levitated a steaming cup into her hooves and sat beside her. Twilight took a long sip of the tea before her. She didn't taste anything different in this brew than from the tea she and Star Swirl usually drank. He hadn't lied, however; it did warm her up, though it was more likely because the tea itself was hot.

"Say, you're Princess Platinum's adviser. Shouldn't you be there, talking to her about the meeting?"

"I was going to, but by the time I remembered to do so, I was closer to here than to Bullion's castle. Besides, with their new policy requiring a letter of recommendation, I would've had to wait overnight anyway. Can you write one I can give to them? It's probably not as official as they'd prefer, but - "

"But it's the best we can do in a pinch," he finished for her.

"Exactly." Twilight yawned again. "I wonder why the king and the princess didn't just give us a long-term letter the last time we were there?"

"Why, we didn't ask, of course."

"That, or they simply didn't think of it at the time. "

"Or both."

Twilight nodded. "I'll just get an official letter from them when I'm there tomorrow."

"Tomorrow? We left at midday last time, arrived midday the next day, and still had to stay the night in an inn partway there."

"True, but we didn't leave at dawn and we weren't going any faster than a brisk walk. It'll go faster that way, and I'll have the energy to do so after a good night's rest."

Star Swirl nodded. "Come, Twilight. Finish your tea and let's get you to bed."

They talked about what Star Swirl had been doing since Twilight left. It was pretty much what she had expected: more research. She lsitened in silence until he finished speaking. He then helped her up and over to her bed. She fell asleep almost as soon as she closed her eyes.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


"Quills? Parchment? Boots? Scarf?"

"Check, check, check, check."

"Then it appears... that you are ready to go..." sighed Star Swirl. The next few moments between the two were held in silence. If somepony were to listen closely, they could hear the final embers of the furnace before being snuffed. They could hear the creaks and groans of the workshop's walls as they settled ever so slightly into the foundation. They could hear the balls inside the bells of Star Swirl's outfit as their momentum slowed to a standstill, their final jingles out of tune. To Twilight, however, the loudest of the silence's sounds was the sound of the sadness in Star Swirl's voice as he spoke the words that caused the silence to begin with.

"Okay," she said, finally breaking the silence, "what's wrong, Star Swirl?"

"Hmm?"

"My friends have been sad enough times that I can recognize the signs. What's on your mind?"

"You're leaving to become Princess Platinum's adviser, but I've only just gotten used to having an apprentice around here again."

"I know exactly what you mean," she replied, placing her hoof on his shoulder as she recalled the time when her own number one assistant had gone to look for other dragons. She reminded herself to show some more appreciation for Spike when she returned to her own time.

"Sorting all this out," she continued, "shouldn't take more than a few months, and after that we'll be working together again. You'll see." This she had said in complete confidence, having read historical accounts about Star Swirl and Clover the Clever working together long after the founding of Equestria and the coronation of the alicorn sisters.

I'm going to have to stay in the past much longer than I'd thought. We haven't even met them yet.

"I'll send you messages when I can about our progress."

"Every day?"

"I can't promise that, but I can promise I'll write as often as I can."

"I'll look forward to receiving those letters, then," he replied. "Have fun storming the castle!"

Star Swirl closed the door behind her, and Twilight pondered what he could have meant by his parting phrase as she started trotting down the path they'd taken not even two weeks earlier. She knew from the Hearth's Warming story that the majority of the fun would only be after she and the other advisers had encountered the windigoes. Furthermore, she wasn't storming Bullion's castle, not even close. She was just going to live and work there for a while. He's certainly eccentric, she thought. History and personal experience has proven that several times.

Twilight trotted along the path, heading toward the forest on the horizon that she and Star Swirl had passed through on their first journey to and from King Bullion's castle. Once adequately hidden by the foliage, she went through what was becoming a routine: freeing her wings, flying through the trees, and hiding them again before emerging.

All the while, she let her mind wander. She thought about what she was going to say when she arrived; she tried to figure out a timetable for what she knew was going to happen; occasionally she even caught herself wondering what Daring Do would do if she had been sent back in time.

"Remind me to talk to Rainbow about that when I get back," she said to nopony in particular.

Twilight arrived at King Bullion's castle in the mid-afternoon. As she approached, she saw that the dome of the protection spell that she and Star Swirl had cast had, for the most part, done its job. The area surrounding the castle was covered with a much thinner layer of snow than the area beyond the castle's walls. She approached the guards at the gates, and the one named Red Tape spoke.

"Stat your name and business."

"Tw - " she began, but then faked a sneeze; she'd almost forgotten that she was using a different name in public. "Excuse me. Clover the Clever, apprentice to Star Swirl the Bearded, and new adviser to Her Highness Princess Platinum. I am here to begin my service alongside the princess."

"Do you have a letter of - "

"Yes, it's right here." She levitated the letter our of her saddlebag and gave it to the guard. He took a moment to look over it, then gave it back to her.

"I guess they forgot to mention that the king's seal needs to be on it."

"Oh..." Twilight's face fell, but she kept standing firm. "Can one of your bring it in to be sealed?"

"Unfortunately we can't We're not allowed to leave our positions until sundown."

"I've heard that Star Swirl can teleport," the second guard finally spoke.

"Yes," she replied, "he has a tower for the sole purpose of teleporting back to his workshop so he can get back to his experiments and research faster."

Red Tape glared at his partner. "You're not suggesting she get past us that way, are you?"

"Of course not. The policy states that no pony may enter by any means without a letter of recommendation sealed by the king."

"Thought not."

Twilight thought for a moment. "Nopony may enter... no, no pony," she realized. "Does the policy say anything against sending the letter itself inside?"

Red Tape shrugged, readjusting his armor which had suddenly become a bit uncomfortable. "Well, no, but - "

"Great!" Twilight grinned and immediately teleported the letter into the throne room.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


King Bullion, seated on his throne, was holding court, his daughter seated beside him. One unicorn stepped forward to present his case when suddenly there was a flash of light accompanied by the sound of a crack. Something appeared in front of the king's head, and he jumped in surprise. Unsurprisingly, such an odd event frightened every other pony in attendance. To their credit, they all thought an intruder had compromised the castle's security, and thus had reacted appropriately for such a sudden invasion.

"SILENCE!" shouted the princess as she stood up, and everypony immediately quieted. "Do calm down. It's just a piece of paper!" She levitated it over and gave it a quick read. "It's from Clover," she finally said. "Have it sealed and then sent to the gates!"


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


"I appreciate your... enthusiasm," the princess said after Twilight had been allowed to enter the castle, "though you could have used more tact. I highly doubt you knew for sure we were in the throne room." Platinum had excused herself from court, and she and Twilight were now standing in the conference room adjacent to the throne room, the same conference room they'd been in before. "That said, we shall soon have a proper letter written up for both you and Star Swirl."

"Thank you, Your Majesty."

"All right, let's waste no more time with pleasantries. How did the meeting with the other advisers go?" Platinum listened to Twilight as she recalled the meeting and the decision they had made, then closed her eyes in thought. Twilight, not wanting to be rude, waited for her to speak first.

"It's difficult taking somepony's advice when you disagree."

"Indeed it is, Your Highness."

"I have insisted on immediate action, but several others have insisted on more assertive options. Star Swirl, my father, and now you and the other tribes' advisers. I know when it's pointless to fight back. I shall attend the meeting as has been planned."

"That's good to hear, Your Highness."

"What do we need to do to prepare?" the gray princess asked. "I've never done anything like this before."

"You've never been to a peace summit before?"

"I've been to peace summits with my father, though never as a participant. I've also never had to ask for help before," she admitted. "Tell nopony. I have a reputation."

"I promise I won't say anything." Almost instinctively, Twilight started reciting the Pinkie Promise. She kept silent, since nopony in this era - or for almost a thousand years, for that matter - but couldn't stop her hoof from crossing her chest. I'll just cross my chest instead of reciting the whole thing. It'll mean the same thing, right?


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~




Dear Star Swirl - 
Sorry for not writing sooner. We've been really busy here at the castle preparing for the summit. King Bullion, for the most part, has let Princess Platinum and me take care of our own preparations, though he hasn't been completely absent from the process. Having been in many summits himself, he's provided some insight for both of us.
When I arrived here, the heat spell we cast last time we were here had since weakened and dissipated. The morning after I arrived I was asked to cast it again. You know that I couldn't, and I ended up teaching the spell to some of the other unicorns here. It should last a very long time as long as they remember to strengthen it every few days or so.
As it turns out, the letter you wrote wasn't quite enough to get me in. They forgot to tell us that it needed to be sealed with the king's seal for it to be valid. Fortunately I was able to get it into the castle quickly and was let in. The king's scribe has written us two official letters, both sealed. This way we should never have to be subject to this confusing process again. I have enclosed your copy of the letter.
Even though our days have been busy, the nights have not. Before I fall asleep I've found myself thinking about you and your work. How have you been in my absence? Are you staying on the sleeping and eating schedule we've been working on? I know you can sometimes get too distracted to remember to eat or sleep, but I just wanted to make sure. Have you been working on any new spells or research since I left? Nothing too destructive, I hope.
I'll write again in a few days, after the summit has been adjourned.
See you soon,
Clover



Star Swirl held his hoof to his beard, rubbing at the singed ends. Just before receiving Twilight's letter he had been attempting a new flame-based spell when there was a knock at the door. Losing his concentration for a moment, the sphere of flame he had conjured succumbed to gravity, landing on the end of his brown beard before dissipating to the sides. He waved his large blue hat around to get rid of the smell of the smoke, the bells jingling in their usual tone. He thought about what he'd read, a puzzled expression on his face. Something seemed... off. After a few minutes, he used his magic to shuffle through some papers nearby. He found a page that Twilight had written on a few weeks earlier and examined both it and the letter he'd just received.

"I saw Twilight use her magic to write this one," he mused, looking at the older page. "It's the same script. No scribe could match it so perfectly if she'd dictated it. And I've seen her hoofwriting; it's not nearly as good as this. No, she had to have used her magic to write this letter. But her magic should have been depleted after raising the sun."

He put the page back where it had been, and set the letter on the table beside him. He closed his eyes and rubbed his hooves against them, thinking back on the last few weeks.

"Why would Twilight hide how strong her magic is?"
> 10: The Summit of Pieces
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Daddy, I'm nervous."

King Bullion wrapped his foreleg around his daughter's shoulders and pulled her into an embrace. The sun had just set, everypony from the king's court (including Twilight) had gone to their own homes and rooms for the night, and the two royals were alone in the castle's halls. Being alone was the only reason Princess Platinum allowed herself to admit any sort of weakness.

"I know you are, darling. It's a natural emotion to feel before your first summit. I was very nervous myself before my first summit."

"You were nervous? But I've seen you in meetings and at summits, and you act so naturally!"

The king chuckled. "Daughter," he said, "I have had many years to overcome my nerves. I understand what you're feeling. You've been to a few summits with me, so you know something about what's going to happen, but you've never had as large a role as you will tomorrow evening in your first summit without me.

She rested her chin on his shoulder. "I wouldn't be nervous if you and Clover were coming."

"Yes you would. You just wouldn't be as nervous. Besides," he said, "there are several reasons I cannot come. You know them, right?"

"I ought to. You've mentioned them enough in the last week." She looked at her father, who looked back at her, expecting her to say the reasons. She sighed and continued. "The ponies in our kingdom need you, and spending too much time away would be a disservice to them."

"And the other?"

"Because you won't live forever, though our subjects say 'May the king live forever,' and you want me to be ready to lead before you're gone instead of being overwhelmed with so much to learn after." She lowered her head a little, and rubbed a foreleg with her hoof. "I don't like thinking about your mortality, Daddy."

"Nor do I, yet we cannot ignore it. It is an inevitable fact of life, after all." By this time they'd reached their respective bedchambers. The king placed a kiss on his daughter's forehead and they bid each other a good night. Princess Platinum slipped out of her formal robes, putting on a purple silk nightgown, and climbed into her four-post bed. As much as she tried, however, she could not fall asleep. Letting out a sigh of frustration, she got out of bed, crossed the hallway to her father's quarters, and knocked lightly on the door. She waited a few minutes, pacing the floor in front of the door, before deciding that her father had already put his earplugs in for the night, and wouldn't be disturbed until the sun shone through his window the next morning.

Before returning to her room, she made her way down the hall to the bedroom of her new adviser and knocked on the door.

"One sec!" she heard from inside, and found herself pondering the odd phrases her adviser used once in a while. Sure, Clover had explained that "sec" was merely a shortened form of the word "second," but that didn't make it any less strange. She didn't have much time to ponder, however, as the door opened, her purple adviser on the other side.

"What can I help you with, Princess?"

"It's nothing too severe, but I'd rather say in privacy." The adviser nodded and let the princess in, closing the door behind her. "I can't sleep."

"Nervous about the summit tomorrow?"

"Yes."

"I thought you might be. Fortunately, I know a great breathing technique I use to calm my nerves."


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


"Private, drill me again. I want to be absolutely sure that I'm going into that summit arrows a-blazing."

Commander Hurricane stood in his office formed from clouds, as was every structure in the sky-bound pegasus nation, looking out an arched window as Private Pansy stood in the doorway. Outside, the clouds of the capital of the pegasus nation glowed orange with the setting of the sun, and pegasi hurried to their barracks and their homes.

Hurricane was a tall, strong, and intimidating stallion, and the fact that at the moment he held his helmet in his foreleg didn't distract from that fact. His coat was a dark navy color, and his mane, made of three different shades of blue, was cut short. The helmet and the rest of his armor, like all the armor worn by the soldiers in the pegasus military, were made of crudely hammered raw iron, accented with gold trim and rivets. The only difference between his armor and the private's at his door was that his had more gold embellishments, a luxury only offered to higher-ranking officers like himself.

"Well, Sir," the yellow mare began softly, then cleared her throat and spoke less timidly, "there aren't going to be any arrows. It will just be you, Princess Platinum of the unicorns, and Chancellor Puddinghead of the earth ponies, standing around a table, Sir."

As she spoke, Commander Hurricane sighed and rubbed his eyes with his fetlock, and he realized how tired he had grown. "I know," he said, cutting her off just as she was about to continue. "It was just an expression." He put his helmet back on and turned toward the yellow mare. "It's getting late. I'm getting tired, you're probably getting tired too. Head back to the barracks, Private. You can brief me after morning roll call."

"Yes, Sir. Good night, Sir." Pansy saluted him.

"At ease, soldier, and good night." Hurricane saluted as well, and watched the yellow mare leave his office. "Thank Pegasus and his wife Pegase that I made the right decision when choosing an adviser."

Private Pansy left the administration building and flew back toward her barrack. The military was no place for a pacifist pony like herself. Commander Hurricane believed that the strength of the pegasus military was all they needed to resolve conflicts; before the adviser's meeting, it was all she could do to convince him to try a more peaceful, diplomatic approach before resorting to such violence.

"He still thinks that," she reminded herself as she entered her barrack, the other privates already lying in their cots.

A mare near the door propped herself up and looked at the yellow mare, a slight mischievous grin on her muzzle. "Who does? Does a stallion have his eye on you?" 

"No, it's just something about the commander."

"Ooh, has Pansy set her romantic sights on Commander Hurricane himself?"

Pansy blushed in embarrassment, but before she could respond, another private spoke up. "Hey, Gossip, give her a break." Gossip wasn't the mare's real name. It was Gossamer Wings and she didn't like the nickname, though it fitting. "You know she's too timid to talk about romance. She's just his adviser."

"Okay, but how did a pacifist private become the official adviser of the commander himself, huh?"

"Let it go!" shouted a chorus of the voices of everypony in the barrack.

"Fine."

Pansy let out a breath of relief and laid in her own cot, and she found herself asking a question she'd asked herself many times before.

What am even I doing here?


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


"Of course I'll remember what we'll talk about tomorrow night, silly."

Chancellor Puddinghead and Smart Cookie sat at the table in the dining room of the Chancellor's Mansion, eating a dinner of vegetable stew and pudding for dessert. The mansion was made of irregularly-shaped stones, chiseled to fit snugly with each other. It was a feature unique to the Chancellor's Mansion since it was built decades earlier, and fitting for a structure about the same size as Smart Cookie's own residence, though Cookie's house was built from the wealth and resources that her family had gathered over many years. The walls inside were whitewashed, and the orange light of the candles and lanterns reflected off with a warm glow.

The appearance of the walls also reflected the colors of the Chancellor herself, a white-coated mare with a striped mane of butterscotch and light brown, and light green eyes. Her mane and tail were styled in a gentle swirl, culminating in a curl at the tip.

"I'm sure you do, Puddin'," the spotted mare sighed, using the name she'd been calling her friend since they were fillies. "You can still remember the name of my great-granddad's uncle after only hearin' it once."

"Sourdough, your mother's father's father's mother's brother!"

"See, I'd have had to look that up. There's no doubt your memory can be amazing. Still, I'd feel more at ease if you had a list of reminders, just in case. You've only been Chancellor for a couple years, after all."

The vanilla-colored mare gasped and braced her hooves on the wooden table, startling her friend. "Silly Vanilly!"

"Huh?"

"Your new nickname for when I call you 'silly' like I did before. Silly Vanilly!"

"Another nickname?" she sighed, then grinned. "Well now, two can play at that game. I can come up with a few myself, you know."

"Yeah?" Puddinghead lowered her head onto her hooves, a challenging look in her eyes.

"You bet I can, Chancellor Pinhead," she said with a smirk and a wink.

"Aww, that's mean!"

"Come on now. We both know you think that's funny."

"You're absolutely right!"

The two laughed and finished their meal as the sun lowered in the sky.

"I should get goin' back home before it gets too dark to see anythin'."

"Good night, Cookie!"

"Good night, Puddin', and good luck at tomorrow night's summit."


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


The sun dipped below the horizon, casting hues of red and orange across the snow-covered land before remaining hidden for the night. The moon soon followed, transforming the warm colors to more calm, bluer hues. Not too far from the waterfall where the three advisers had met, ponies of all three tribes gathered toward the city hall of a small village. The village was well-known among the neighboring towns for its artistic performances, and the village's three-story city hall doubled as a performance stage and a venue for any large-scale event in the region.

Pegasi flew in, some wearing their military armor, others wearing the robes worn by the non-military pegasi, landed on the roof and the ground. Unicorns -- dressed in various outfits from the most basic scarf to a more formal outfit, complete with a hat -- and earth ponies walked toward the hall's doors. Nopony spoke to each other. Nopony looked at each other unless it was to glare, preferring to look away. Though the city hall's doors were double-wide, most ponies found themselves in each other's way, pushing through as they filed their way haphazardly into the building.

High in the sky, a trio of windigoes arrived, having sensed a growing nexus of negative energy here. They watched and waited.

The main foyer of the town hall was in the center of the building, its ceiling as high as could be. The second floor opened out over the foyer into a wraparound balcony, where each of the three pony tribes segregated themselves above the banners of their respective nations. The banners themselves had been sent by each tribe's adviser not long after their meeting at the waterfall, and the townsponies had put them up. Below the banner of the pegasus nation, two armored stallions stood guard, ready to open the door for their commander at the signal. Below the unicorns' banner, a single unicorn stood ready to do the same for her princess. Nopony stood under the banner of the earth ponies, and some ponies in the balconies wondered who would open the door for the chancellor.

Though it was not quiet enough to hear a pin drop, it was definitely quiet enough to be awkward. Ponies whispered and mumbled to those next to them. Each tribe refused to bump into the others, creating a thin line of emptiness between pegasus and earth and between earth and unicorn. An earth foal looked through its mother's legs, and waved at a pegasus foal, who waved back when their eyes met.

As soon as the sun had set, a stallion stepped out of the fourth room adjacent to the foyer. He wore a peculiar outfit: a dark, hooded cloak, designed for the sole purpose of masking a pony's race. It had been decided (by whom, nopony knew) that such an outfit would make the moderator of the meeting a truly neutral party. The cloak was oversize, held firmly away from his body with rods, to hide a pair of pegasus wings. The hood, likewise, was oversize and held away from his head, though it had an additional front panel, to hide the horn of a unicorn. An earth pony, on the other hoof, would have no need to hide additional body parts, but to hide the absence of them. He stamped his hoof on the floorboards, capturing the attention of all ponies in the building.

"We shall now begin the summit of the nations. Your leaders have been briefed by their aides on all relevant information, and several possible solutions to the main issues. Please keep all commentary and insults to a minimum. We shall keep this discussion civil. Now, without further delay, I shall announce each leader.

"Her Royal Highness, the daughter and successor of King Bullion the unicorn king: Princess Platinum!"

Horns played a fanfare, and the unicorn at the door used her magic to open the double-wide doors, revealing the unicorn princess behind. She wore her most formal purple wool robes, trimmed with a thick hem of white, purple, and silver. On her head was a perfectly polished silver crown accented with polished tanzanite on each pointed floret, and hemmed with the same design as her robe. Two unicorn handmaidens followed behind her, holding the train of her gown with their magic. Platinum approached the table and set her crown on it, standing in wait for the others as the two unicorns released her train, billowing it out behind her, and returned with the doormare into the adjacent room. The unicorns on the balcony bowed their heads in respect to their princess.

"The skilled tactician and great warrior, the ruler of the pegasus nation and its military: Commander Hurricane!"

Horns played another fanfare, and the two stallions held open the doors for their leader, who had been hovering behind. He wore his armor as usual, and although the armor was its usual dark color, it had been polished with such a sheen that the smallest of lights could be reflected. He slowly flew his way to the table, then landed and placed his helmet on the table beside him. The spectating pegasi who wore armor stamped their hooves against the floor twice before hitting their chests, while the non-military pegasus citizens bowed their heads.

"The loved and honored politician, elected by the earth ponies: Chancellor Puddinghead!"

Horns played another fanfare, but this time they were almost drowned out by a burst of confetti. Puddinghead jumped through the doors, planting her hooves as she played her own fanfare on a kazoo. Once she'd finished her personal fanfare, she spat out the kazoo and walked toward the table, placing her own hat on the table next to her. A few earth pony spectators put their hooves to their foreheads, and a few bowed, but most just watched their leader.

"Commander."

"Chancellor."

"Princess."

"Chancellor."

"Commander."

"Princess."

"Chancellor. Oh wait, that's me." A faint groan passed among some of the earth pony spectators.

"Ponies," said the stallion in the strange black cloak, "we all know our nations are approaching a crisis. If we do not find a solution here, then circumstances may be more dire than we thought. Perhaps the three tribes can finally settle their differences, and agree on a way to get through this disaster."

Another pony, wearing a similar black cloak as the stallion, entered, pushing a cart with three small boxes on it. "I have with me three boxes. One of them contains a slip of paper, and the other two are empty. The pony who receives the box with the slip of paper will speak first. I do not know which box contains the paper. Please distribute them now."


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


The windigoes waited for some time after the town hall's doors had closed. They alternated between looking at each other and looking toward the building. The existing hostility among the tribes appeared to the winter spirits as a faint cloud of negative energy. This cloud provided them a snack for over a half hour. By this time, the three were losing interest, communicating smalltalk to each other through howls and whinnies.

Quickly, the cloud grew dense, and the trio turned their gazes to the building once again. They breathed in the new thick meal, smiling. One of them had promised that following three particular ponies would bring a delicious meal, and now the other two knew its instincts had been correct.

The doors to the town hall opened, and the cloud of negative energy immediately grew thicker, releasing the negative energy that had been building up in the main foyer for several minutes. Three ponies, a unicorn princess, a pegasus military stallion, and an earth pony each tried to leave the building first, but instead had ended up blocking the door, preventing anypony from getting out at all. The windigoes deeply breathed in the delicious sustenance.

A cold wind blew hard, and snow started falling.

Finally, Commander Hurricane stepped back, and the two mares stumbled out the door, falling on the ground. He chuckled as he spread his wings and flew out the door above them.

"A true leader knows when retreat is the best option!" he smugly shouted over the wind.

"You'll regret doing that to royalty!" Princess Platinum shouted back in reply.

"Oh yes, your worshipfulness, very regretful," he retorted sarcastically, putting his hoof over his chest in mock repentance. "I doubt it!" he added as he flew away toward his office.

"I'd heard that some royals like to walk over their citizens," said Chancellor Puddinghead from below the unicorn, "but this is ridiculous!"

Not realizing that she had landed on top of the chancellor when they'd fallen out the door, the princess got off the earth mare. "I beg your pardon? That was hardly my fault! Commander Hurricane pushed us through!"

"At least earth ponies don't have an excuse like being a snob for taking advantage of each other!"

"Yes, I'm sure your earth ponies elected you because of your competence. Good day to you, Chancellor Pinhead!"

Puddinghead stood still, staring at the unicorn as she stormed back to her castle.

"Aww..." Her voice was soft, and her eyes showed pain. It was very different being called that was now that it was mean-spirited and not in good fun like it had been with Smart Cookie. "That's mean..."
> 11: Spacious Plans For a New World
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Few pegasi flew about the clouded compound. With Commander Hurricane gone, most of the soldiers had decided to take it easy for a day. Normally they wouldn't, but today many had decided that they could afford a day off especially considering how the overall energy and physical health of some of them were.

Private Pansy flew toward a military hospital building on a separate cloud, inside of which a few pegasus nurses treated treated the sick and cold pegasi soldiers that nearly filled up all the beds. Pansy passed through the halls, checking on the patients. She knocked on one of the doors that had been propped open. Inside this particular room, a nurse was attending to a patient that was currently sleeping. His body showed early signs of being malnourished, and had thick bags under his eyes. His armor rested on a mannequin, waiting for its owner to be well enough to wear it again. Part of the plume of his helmet was thinner than the rest. Pansy didn't know what had happened to the plume to make it look that way, but she did know that the sleeping private would receive some choice words from the commander for it being out of uniform.

"Excuse me," the yellow pegasus asked the nurse, who had looked up from her notes when she head the knock. "Is there any way I can help?"

"Not here," she quickly replied.

"Oh, okay." Pansy turned away from her, facing the door, but paused when she felt a hoof on her back.

"I didn't mean it to sound that way. What I meant was that this patient is stable. Why not check the hypothermia and frostbite unit? It was pretty busy last time I checked."

Pansy thanked the nurse and made her way down toward the other unit. When she approached, she saw a lot of pegasi with their hooves in hot water, wrapped in blankets, or in other ways of staying warm. Several nurses buzzed around, attending to more patients than they were used to. She approached one of the nurses and asked how she could help.

"We could've used some extra hooves earlier. Things have just started to slow down." This nurse did not apologize for her rudeness the way the first had.

Pansy stood there for a moment, hoping the nurse would continue, or tell her what to do, or something. Instead, it seemed like the nurse was ignoring her. Pansy turned away, and asked a nearby patient if he needed anything.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Pansy smiled, resting on a small cloud after helping all the ponies she was able to in the hospital. Suddenly there was a streak of blue as Commander Hurricane sped by, startling Pansy, and he landed in a crouched position on the steps of the administration building. He straightened up and turned around, seeing the bright yellow mare on the gray cloud, who had hidden behind some of the cloud.

"Atten-tion!"

Pansy straightened up and saluted. "Oh, Commander Hurricane! Sir. Welcome back."

"At ease." Private Pansy fluttered down to the base of the steps. "Follow me, Private."

"Yes, Sir."

He turned around, not checking to make sure she was following him. After all, he was her superior officer; she was obligated to follow his orders.

Pansy climbed the steps, following behind him. They passed through the halls in silence until they reached his office. Once in, she stood in front of his desk as usual. He turned around to face her. There was silence for a moment.

"Well?" She looked up at him, puzzled. Hurricane cocked an eyebrow. "Aren't you curious about how it went?"

"Oh, of course. How did it go, Sir?"

"Horribly!" he replied, stamping his front hoof on the desk. "Those other tribes are so disrespectful!"

"I'm sure you don't really mean that, Sir. Smart Cookie and Clover the Clever were very respectful when we met last week, Sir."

"I'm sure they were, but the other ponies watching the summit and their leaders certainly weren't. Sure, we started peacefully enough, but it wasn't even twenty minutes later they'd both shown their true colors. Don't they realize that we're a mighty tribe of warriors and should not be crossed?" Pansy started to reply, but Hurricane didn't notice and continue. "We've got to break rank with those weak foals!"

"Break rank, Sir?"

"In times of war, going against an enemy head-on doesn't always work. We can practice drills and techniques until they're perfect, but if the enemy refuses to acknowledge the rules of engagement, then none of that matters. Well, it still matters. Just less so. In such cases, it is advisable to part with procedure until a time comes when we have the tactical advantage."

"Does that mean we'll be going to war with the unicorns and the earth ponies?"

"I wouldn't have made you my adviser if at my age I still wanted to go to war at the drop of a hat. No, Private Pansy, we just need to go somewhere where there will be no need to go to war."

"Where would that be, Sir?"

Commander Hurricane smiled. "It's a simple solution, really, although the execution has the potential to be dangerous or exhausting. We go find a new land where the other tribes aren't."


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


"Open the gate!" called out Princess Platinum to the two guards. "And so help me, Red Tape, if you try to keep me out again, you'll pray to Monokere to keep me at bay!"

"Just do what she says, Red Tape," said the other guard as he started opening the gate without his partner. "The King and his daughter are exempt from the new policy, since they're the ones who seal the letters anyway. Besides, you know that not even Monokeros says no to his wife."

By the time Princess Platinum reached the gates, they had been opened with plenty of room for her and her robes, which billowed behind her as she ran. The castle's doors opened, and the princess made her way inside.

"Clover! Clover?" she called down the halls, populated by the unicorns who worked at the castle and some of the kingdom's subjects. "Has anypony seen Clover the Clever? I need her!"

Twilight's ears perked up, turning toward the sudden commotion. The library was much smaller than the one at Canterlot, of course, and although it was about the same size as the Golden Oak had once been, there were several times more books due to the presences of proper shelves, rather than hollowed out sections of the tree's trunk. Twilight had read some of the books in King Bullion's library before when she'd browsed the shelves of the Canterlot Library, but most of the books she was reading she had never heard of before, many of which having been lost over the millennium between now and then.

She saved her place in the book she was reading, and stood up. She hurried toward the uproar, soon seeing the princess surrounded by the other unicorns in the halls.

"Has anypony seen Clover the Clever? I need her!"

"Excuse me. Sorry. Pardon me. What is it, Your Highness?"

"To my quarters, Clover. We need to talk about the summit."

They entered Platinum's chambers, where the princess lay on her side on a cushion near the wall.

"Could you be a darling and help clean me up? I made the mistake of galloping most of the way here, and I am exhausted." Twilight only nodded, levitated a brush over as she removed the princess's crown, and started brushing the disheveled mane. She also started filling a small wooden tub with water from the princess's tub and started heating it up for her hooves.

If life is a play and the world its stage, then nearly every line, nearly every blocking, is improvised. Nopony was supposed to know their cues, or what elements of the plot were to happen next. It was what made watching a performance on a stage enjoyable; though the audience usually didn't know what was going to happen, they knew the actors knew, and had practiced for weeks. The thrill of life is that you can be prepared for almost anything, but you could still find yourself not knowing your lines or the key plot elements.

Twilight knew the plot of this play, and she knew her lines.

"Did the other pony tribes see reason as I predicted?"

The grey princess scoffed. "Hardly. Those other tribes are impossible to reason with! I, for one, can no longer bear to be anywhere near those lowly creatures. The unicorns are noble and majestic. We will no longer consort with the likes of them!"

With the tub full of warm water, Twilight levitated it over, setting it before the unicorn. Platinum stamped her forelegs in the warm water, splashing some of it out and onto Twilight's muzzle. She wiped her wet fur with her foreleg and sighed.

"Okay, breathe." They both held their hooves to their chests, inhaling slowly, then just as slowly exhaled, extending their hooves. "Now, start at the beginning. What happened at the summit?"

Platinum sighed. "I really wish I hadn't been there alone. Still, what's done is done. Things started well enough. I was chosen to start, and I did as you said. I stated only what was truly known, with no speculation. That part went well."

"And then?"

"The three of us remained calm for a short time, but then things quickly got out of hoof. Commander Hurricane accused the earth ponies of hoarding food, she accused the pegasi of causing the snow, and he responded by accusing us unicorns of causing the snow with our, and I quote, 'freaky magic'! It was so infuriating to be accused in such rude terms that I lost some of my composure. Needless to say, it quickly got out of hoof. Diplomacy has failed, and now I don't know what to do."

"Would you like my advice?"

"Please."

"Any military action is out of the question. The pegasi already have that in their favor, and the earth ponies are very strong and sturdy. There are other options we could try, too. We could have another summit, but this time the leaders' advisers could join and help maintain a calm environment."

"Ugh. Not another summit so soon."

"I thought you might say that. In that case, there's only one option that's practical. You father actually mentioned it a few weeks ago."

"He did?"

"Mhm. If you recall, he suggested that if peace couldn't be found, the unicorns may have to leave the pegasi and the earth ponies behind in order for the unicorns to survive without this strange winter."

"I do recall now. He also said that the nation wasn't the country's borders, but the unicorns themselves."

"Exactly."

Platinum smiled. "Thank you, Clover. Talking with you has filled me with determination! We shall find a new land to call home!"

Twilight knew the plot of this play, and she knew her lines. And yet, as prepared for this role as she was, there was still a great deal of improvisation.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Smart Cookie faced the door, but heard a thud behind her. Turning around, she saw a dissipating cloud of ash and the chancellor lying on the floor, covered in soot.

"Thinkin' inside the chimney again, Chancellor?"

"You know it, Smart Cookie!"

The tan mare went into the other room and returned with a towel around her shoulders. She took it in her mouth and tossed it to her friend. "You've got some soot all over you again."

"Thanks."

"So how did the summit go?"

Puddinghead sighed. "Not well. At first it was kind of fun, though. I entered with a kazoo fanfare!"

Smart Cookie chuckled. "Of course you did."

"Yeah, gooood times," she said with a smile and a far-off look. It wasn't long, however, until her eyes refocused and a sad expression filled her muzzle. "But then things got mean. Oh, speaking of which, don't call me Chancellor Pinhead again. That unicorn princess ruined it!"

"Aw, so the other tribes didn't come around? Shoot. I really thought we could get through to 'em if we--"

The chancellor put her hoof to her friend's mouth. "Shh, shh. Let's not worry about them, Cookie."

Suddenly a low growl rolled through the Chancellor's Mansion. Smart Cooki looked out the window.

"What the hay was that?"

"Just my stomach. I didn't eat before walking all the way back here. We still have food left, right?"

"Well, yes, but it's nearly all gone."

The two sat at the table, eating what was left of the food in the mansion in silence. Puddinghead ate slowly, deep in thought. Smart Cookie watched her, waiting for the gears of Puddinghead's mind to finish cranking. The white mare's eyes suddenly lit up.

"Cookie, hold onto your hooves. I'm about to be brilliant! It's in there somewhere. Somewhere... come out of there!"

I can see you being smart, thought Smart Cookie. Lucky a lot, smart quite a bit, but brilliant would be a first.

"It's simple. We just have to go somewhere new where we can actually grow some food without the other tribes to bother us! And with me as our fearless leader, what could possibly go wrong?" Puddinghead left her food on the table, trotting into the foyer, opening the door. The mansion had been built with little thought to how the wind would flow around it. As a result, it just so happened that the wind had blown plenty of snow against the door, causing it to be much higher than was outside the windows. When the door opened, and the snow's support vanished, much of it fell onto the waiting chancellor.

Smart Cookie started clearing the snow away from the door so it wouldn't block it from closing. That's one.

Puddinghead's hoof shot up through the snow. "Onward to the new land!"
> 12: Confessions
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Recruits," began Commander Hurricane, speaking to the dozens of pegasus soldiers lined up before him, "I must take my leave. Today I embark on a journey to find a new land, uninhabited by the unicorns and the earth ponies." Some of the soldiers whooped, but a loud "Atten-tion!" from their commander was enough to silence them. "Save your celebration until I'm done, or I'll never finish!" He cleared his throat and continued. "I do not know where I'm going, or how long I'll be gone. I cannot promise when I'll return, only that I will. I'm Commander Hurricane, after all," he smirked, and a chuckle spread throughout the soldiers. "You may be wondering who will be joining me. Unfortunately, due to lack of rations, it would be best if the scouting crew remains small. As such, only my adviser and I will be going. Once we find the new land and ensure we can survive there, we shall return to begin our emigration. At ease."

The cadets dispersed, heading toward their morning tasks. Private Wings looked at Private Pansy, their eyes meeting as she walked by. Wings smirked, and Pansy blushed, embarrassed, and walked faster away from her toward the administration building. She knew what Gossamer was thinking, and she knew that heading toward Hurricane's office was only going to provide more fodder for her incessant teasing. Yet, somewhat ironically, Hurricane's office was still one of the few places left in the compound where she felt the farthest from Gossip's eye.

She turned the first corner into the hallway, and breathed a heavy sigh of relief. Her wings had been tense since Gossip's eyes had met hers, and were starting to feel sore as they finally relaxed. She walked to Hurricane's office, standing outside the door in wait for him.

Soon, Commander Hurricane appeared at the end of the hall. Pansy held her salute from the moment she saw him.

"At ease, soldier."

She lowered her hoof and followed him into his office. "Permission to speak freely, Sir?"

"Permission granted, Private."

"When will we be going, Sir?"

"As soon as we can. I don't want to stay in this land of unicorn snobs and earthy foals any longer than I have to. We'll gather a week's worth of rations for the both of us before we go."

"If it takes longer than that, Sir, we'll have to scavenge or barter."

"Mighty warriors do not scavenge!"

"We can't be mighty warriors if we have no food. And we won't be leaving as mighty warriors. You said it yourself at roll call this morning, Commander: we'll be going as scouts. If we go as mighty warriors, we'll be seen as intruders."

There was a pause, then Commander Hurricane broke the silence, his voice slightly softened. "Once we've left our territory, there's something I want to talk to you about."


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Princess Platinum and Clover the Clever traveled through the snow away from her father's castle, passing through the trees, which become more densely packed the farther in they walked.

"This is taking forever," Princess Platinum complained. "Ouch. My hooves are killing me."

"That's probably because you galloped all the way back to your father's castle from the summit last night."

"How long have we been walking, Clover?"

"About five minutes, Your Highness. You can still see the castle behind us."

The princess turned her head. "Oh. You're right. Well, I can't just keep walking on sore hooves the whole time. I need to rest up for a bit." The grey princess's head turned toward her purple assistant. "Say, I don't suppose I could ride on your back for a while?"

Sweet Celestia, she's actually being serious right now, isn't she? I thought the whole "Princess Platinum rides Clover the Clever" thing was just something that was added to the Hearth's Warming story to add some humor. "Fine," the purple alicorn replied, "just give me a minute to make sure you'll be comfortable. I really hope she won't feel my wings. Hmm, this could work. Twilight rummaged through one of the over-packed saddlebags and took a spare blanket out of it, folding it neatly over her back. She knelt down, letting Platinum sit atop her (sitting sideways, her hind legs draped over one side as any proper lady sits on a horse), and struggled to stand back up.

"Oh, you're struggling," Platinum noticed. "I'm not overweight, am I?"

"Not at all, Your Majesty. It's just that I've never carried anything heavier than a foal before." Spike weighed about as much as a foal, right? "I'll adjust." Twilight cast a quick spell to temporarily increase her strength and endurance, and started walking again.

"Looks like I got on your back just in time. Monokere forbid I chance soiling my robes in that river."

Twilight looked ahead. There certainly was a river, not a tiny stream as the Hearth's Warming pageant had suggested. It made sense, after all; a tiny stream would have frozen over weeks ago. Here, though, only the edges were iced over and the rest flowed too quickly to freeze.

"Okay, we have three options." Flying is a fourth option, but one that's out of the question right now for several reasons. "First, we could find another way around, like a bridge or a section where the bank on either side is closer to each other."

"No. that may take too long, and we already have a head start on the other tribes" Platinum protests.

I... can neither confirm nor deny that. "Second, I could try to jump across. I think I can make it."

"And risk dropping me? I think not!"

"I didn't think you'd like that idea."

"What's the third option?"

"The fastest option: I teleport us across. Have you ever teleported before?"

"Heavens, no. That's a very advanced spell. Only you and Star Swirl are known to be able to cast it."

"It's a spell that requires a lot of concentration and energy. The distance a pony can travel depends on how much energy they have available, so it's not a useful spell to use very soon after using other spells or if a unicorn isn't very magically gifted in the first place. As the distance traveled increases linearly, the amount of concentration increases exponentially in order to teleport accurately. I've known how to teleport for years, though, so you're in good hooves. Ready?"

"Not really. What does teleporting feel like?"

"It's a strange feeling, neither pleasant nor unpleasant. More like a sudden tingle that eventually dissipates. You get used to it the more you teleport."

Platinum wrapped her forelegs around Twilight's neck. "Do it quickly, before I change my mind."

Twilight nodded, her horn glowing, and teleported them across. Instantly they landed on the other side. Platinum still held onto Twilight, her eyes shut tight. Twilight tapped the mare's hoof, causing her to open her eyes.

"It happened already? I didn't feel anything."

Twilight giggled. "I think you were too tense to feel anything else, Your Highness."


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


"Relief?" Chancellor Puddinghead's voice rolled out over the mountainside, continuing a conversation about an upside-down map and whether or not up and down were what everypony said they were that they'd been having for several minutes. The vanilla-coated mare turned to face her tan companion, an expression of anger on her face. "You don't need relief! If anypony needs relief around here, it's me! I'm a chancellor, a big shot! You're just my..." At this her face and voice softened, realizing what she was about to say. "Um..."

Smart Cookie cocked an eyebrow. "Your what?" she challenged the chancellor.

"I was going to say secretary, but that's not at all just what you are. You're my friend."

The two continued on in silence for several more minutes. Cookie looked at her friend. Any other pony might have thought nothing was wrong, but Cookie knew her friend better than that. Behind Puddinghead's firm, neutral expression, her eyes betrayed her actions. Like the night before in the Chancellor's Mansion, Puddinghead was in serious thought, and like the night before, Cookie didn't pressure her into speaking until she was ready to. When she finally did, her voice was softer than usual.

"Cookie, how did I get elected?"

Puddinghead had asked Smart Cookie this same question several times since her election. Sometimes she had asked with the same softened voice. "The vast majority of earth ponies who chose to vote in the election voted for you." That answer had always satisfied the chancellor in the past. 

"Well, yeah, that's how. You've told me that before. But why was I elected?"

Uh-oh. "What do you mean, Chancellor?"

"I've heard what some ponies have said about me. I've been called silly, foalish, a marechild, and more. I always thought they were joking, but after what Princess Platinum said at the summit and what I was just about to say to you... they weren't joking, were they?"

Smart Cookie sighed. "I'm afraid not, Puddin'."

"So how did I get elected?"

"Your poll numbers were always lower than the other candidates. You were called silly, foalish, and other things. A lot of them also thought you weren't actually lookin' to get elected, but simply lookin' for attention."

"Of course I was, but that was just part of it. What pony receives more attention than the leader of all of them?"

"I heard what they were sayin'. I saw what their words were gonna do to you if they kept talkin', so I decided to help you with your campaign. Your ratings rose as the public saw a mare that loved fun but was also highly intelligent." Puddinghead looked at Cookie, a pained expression in her eyes. "I didn't mean you weren't intelligent, Chancellor. I've known you long enough to know that your intelligence just tends to be expressed differently than other ponies'. Like you say, you think outside the box, which allows you to think inside the chimney. I don't know anypony else who would think of that. What I'm saying is that the other ponies saw goofiness where I saw intelligence, and after I joined your campaign I worked to bring out that intelligence, as well as addin' more than a few tidbits of my own to help you along."

"Why didn't you run for Chancellor, Cookie? You're probably better at it than I am anyway."

"Regardless of how good I am at it, I'm not that interested in politics. You're my friend, and I'd rather help you with your interests. Besides, working alongside you these past couple years has been fun. Ain't that what matters?"

Puddinghead smiled.





Some time later





The two princesses traversed side by side across an open plain. They had long left the snowy landscapes many miles behind them. Ahead of them, a wide stretch of mountains spread across the horizon, a jagged border between green grass and blue sky. The sun glinted off the mountains, causing cascades of faint rainbows to spread across the land.

"I don't think that's fair at all," said Princess Platinum, breaking a silence that had settled comfortably between them not long ago.

"What's not fair?"

"That mountain range is shining. Stone isn't supposed to sparkle like that! Alas, my cutie mark remains dull like pewter."

"It may not remain dull forever, Princess."

"What do you mean?"

"The light we see when we receive our cutie marks isn't the only time they glow. It's incredibly rare, but I've seen them glow when a pony rediscovers who they're meant to be. When they let the magic in their hearts stay true." Seeing Rara's cutie mark shine during her performance that night at the Helping Hooves festival forever placed that event as one of her favorites, and though she didn't see it for herself, Diamond Tiara's cutie mark glowed not long before that.

Twilight had seen Platinum's cutie mark once, a rare occurrence since she always wore her robes or another formal gown. It reminded Twilight of the cutie mark on Diamond Tiara's flank, a five-pointed crown, though Platinum's was a dark gray over the light gray of her coat. Wow I just realized how similar Princess Platinum's colors are to Silver Spoon's. They're almost exactly the same. I'm sure it's just coincidence, though. There can only be so many color combinations in a thousand years, after all.

Twilight looked at the mountain range ahead of them. Sure enough, it was sparkling in the midday sun. Squinting her eyes, she saw why: the mountains were covered in gems. "The mountains appear to be covered in jewels, Your Majesty." Wait, I recognize the shape of these mountains. That's Unicorn Range! Mom and Dad brought Shining Armor and me here once when I was a filly. There weren't any gems there back then. They must have all been mined out over the next thousand years.

Platinum's eyes immediately shone as bright as the mountains. "Jewels? What are we waiting for, Clover?"

They hurried toward the mountains. Once they reached the bottom, they climbed and jumped from ledge to ledge until they were about halfway up. Platinum's eyes glazed over more than once during the trek as she reveled in the sight.

"Oh, I've never seen such jewels!" She pressed her hooves against the exposed gems and gazed at them for a while, as if at her own reflection. She cleared her throat and placed all four hooves on the stony ledge. "Clover, I have made a decision. This is the land we have been searching for. These jewels shall become the centerpiece of the new unicorn society. As my first act as princess of our new land, I hereby declare this mountain range and its surrounding areas to be called 'Unicornia'!"

This was the part of the pageant where the three tribes realized they'd all discovered the same land. Twilight's eyes scanned the ground at the foot of the mountains. Sure enough, she saw two earth ponies inspecting the ground. She looked up and saw two armored pegasi, one of whom was looking down at them.

"Uh, Princess? You might want to look at the ground and to the clouds. You may not like what you're going to see."

"Why? What --" Her words halted when she saw the ridiculous outfit of the Earth Chancellor, and though she didn't want to, she looked up, seeing two armored pegasi looking down on them from the edge of a cloud. "Oh, for goodness's sake!"


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


"Permission to speak freely, Sir?"

"Yes, Private. And again, you don't have to ask when it's just us."

"Sorry, Sir. You said there was something you wanted to talk to me about."

Hurricane sighed. "Pansy..." he said, quieter and softer than his usual tone. His yellow companion looked at him. He rarely called her by her given name, and she'd never heard him speak so gently. He cleared his throat and began again.

"Private, do you know why I made you my adviser?"

"No, Sir."

"Have you ever wondered why?"

"Only when the other Privates in my barrack tease me about us."

"Us?"

"Oh! Um, Private Wings sometimes teases me, saying we have a relationship, especially after meetings that go until sundown."

"I had no idea. I'll have to speak to Private Wings about her conduct. However, she's... not completely wrong."

"Sir?"

"When I chose you as my adviser, I didn't care what my adviser would look like. I didn't care how much knowledge or might my adviser might know about the military or war strategy. In short, I didn't want somepony who would be like me. I chose a Private because of their lack of knowledge. Fresh eyes, as it were. And I chose you because you avoided confrontation.

"I'd watched the new classes of recruits many times after I'd decided to take on an adviser. They were all fine soldier material, eager to fight any opponent they encountered. I found few who preferred to avoid conflict, fewer still who would admit it.

"When I watched your class, there was only you who fit my criteria. You were the first recruit to openly admit to being a pacifist. Why, then, did you enlist in the military?"

"I enlisted because my mother wanted me to. She thought I would get over my foolishness if I was confronted with it every day. She wanted me to be like her, Sir. Lance Corporal Schmuckadilly, Sir."

"Schmuckadilly is your mother?"

"Yes, Sir."

"Did you know she's the reason we have some of our... stranger policies? In any case, Pegasus and Pegase prepared your path here. Don't change who you are, Private, just because somepony doesn't like it."

"Even my mother?"

"Especially your mother. Parents tend to be narrow-minded when thinking of their children's futures, especially when they couldn't or wouldn't live up to their potential when they should have." He paused a moment. "What were we talking about before we were talking about your mother?"

"Why you chose me as your adviser, Sir."

"Ah, yes. I chose you because, as a pacifist, you have no business in the military. I wanted somepony calm to offset my brashness. I wanted somepony who used their brains more often than their brawn. Over the last few years, I've become more aware of the dead end of responding with battle and have worked to stop resorting to violence so soon. So I chose you.

"It was after you started advising me that I realized how lucky I'd gotten. You're not just a pacifist; you're a tactician. You don't just want to avoid conflict; you're smart about how to do so. And over time, I came to realize that you're a beautiful mare in all aspects."

Pansy felt her cheeks grow warmer. "Sir, are you saying --"

"That I'm attracted to you? Yes. I've never been very comfortable expressing myself."

"Maybe not, but the way you said it was poetic."

"You think so? Maybe because I've been practicing how to say it for weeks. I realize the scandal this could cause, a private in a relationship with her superior officer --"

"I'm afraid I can't feel the same way, Commander," Private Pansy interrupted. Hurricane slowed, and Pansy continued. "You're right about how I avoid conflict. Right now, the best way to prevent any future complications is to say it now and avoid any chance of a scandal. You're big, strong, smart, and wise. You're firm but gentle when you need to be. But I'm unable to view you as anything other than my commanding officer. That doesn't mean I never will, though. Maybe one day when our militaristic society is no longer as necessary we can think about this again, but nopony knows how long that might be."

The two flew in silence for about a minute before Commander Hurricane broke the silence. "Thank you for being direct, Private, and you're absolutely right."

"You hid it well, though."

Hurricane smirked. "Years of practice while I rose the in rank. Say, Private Pansy, what do you see around us?"

"Forests, green grass. A very tall mountain ahead and to the left and probably up ahead as well."

"What does that tell you?"

It took a moment, but Pansy soon understood what he was talking about. "Trees! Grass! No clouds or snow!"

"Bank left, Private. We're going to take up scouting positions on the clouds surrounding the mountaintop up ahead."

The two landed and separated, walking near the edge of the clouds in opposite directions to cover more ground quickly. They looked for movement, finding none. They looked for farmlands, finding plenty. Soon, they were able to see each other around the mountaintop again.

"Private, report findings."

"I have detected no sign of hostiles, Sir, and plenty of healthy trees and acres of grass."

"I've found the same, Private." Hurricane grinned. "Pansy, this is it! This is the land we've been looking for! What do you think we should call it?" Pansy shrugged. "Why don't we pay homage to our ancestors, then? Pegasopalis!"

"That sounds like a wonderful name, Sir." Pansy looked across the rolling hills beneath them. Her gaze fell on a particularly high hill. "Ooh, that hill looks nice. I bet a house would have a lovely view from there."

"Which hill?" Pansy pointed her hoof at at it, and Hurricane's gaze followed where she was pointing. Hurricane saw the hill in question, but his eyes also caught movement on the ground and on the side of the mountain range up ahead. Looking closer, he recognized the outfits of two of the individuals: Chancellor Puddinghead and Princess Platinum had avoided detection and were inspecting the land he'd just claimed.

"I don't believe it."


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Two earth pony mares wandered, seemingly aimlessly, across the land. They had long since left the snow of their former land behind. Chancellor Puddinghead was bouncing across the ground, landing every few feet or so. Smart Cookie followed close behind, walking normally.

Bounce. "No." Bounce. "No." Bounce. "No." Bounce. "Yes!" She marked the ground before continuing on. Bounce. "No."

Smart Cookie dug at the ground where the chancellor had marked it. She found very fertile soil where her friend had marked it, but stopped digging after Puddinghead had said "no" a few more times.

"It's been too long since we've done this, Cookie."

"You're right, Puddin'. We haven't done this since we were lookin' for treasure in the forest behind our houses when we were fillies."

Puddinghead continued bouncing away from the forest, farther into the treeless plains. "No. No. Yes. No. Yes. Yes. Yes! Cookie, that's three in a row!"

Smart Cookie smiled. "I know! Keep goin'."

They continued on toward the middle of the plains, bouncing and running faster, the white mare chanting "yes" with every bounce. She finally stopped bouncing at the top of a hillock, paused, and started to dig, exposing the perfect loam underneath.

"This dirt is the dirtiest dirt in the whole dirt world!"

Smart Cookie chuckled, picking up a hoof full of the loam. She rummaged through one of her saddlebags until she found a seed. It didn't matter what kind of seed it was, just that it was sturdy enough to survive being tossed around a full saddlebag. It was a characteristic held by most seeds, in fact. She packed the seed into the soil and rubbed the ball of dirt between her hooves. Soon, a tiny, bright green sapling spurted from the dirt.

"Wow," she said, gazing at the tiny growth, "this soil's really fertile too. I don't think I've ever seen a seed grow so quick. It's perfect for growin' a lot of food in a short amount of time."

"Smart Cookie, this is where we'll make our new home. Right here on this little hill!"

"I advise you to reconsider, Puddin'. This mound is the best soil I've ever seen. It would be a shame to make it unusable by buildin' a buildin' on top of it."

"Hmm, you're right. We'll start building Dirtville over there!" she said, pointing at the edge of the forest they'd just left.

Smart Cookie eyebrow raised. "Dirtville?"

"Yeah, that'll be the name of the city that'll be here in a few weeks. The capital of our new country!"

"Sounds all right, but what about the name of the new country?"

"Umm... I got nothing."

"Then it's a good thing I've got two ideas. We could honor our ancestors Equo and Equa and call it somethin' like Equus, or we could just go simple and name it after our tribe: Earth."

"Earth," Puddinghead pondered. "That rolls off the tongue nicely. Let's call it that!"

At about this moment, Smart Cookie heard something above and far from them. She put her hoof to her eyes and squinted, scanning the landscape. It didn't take long for her to find the source of the sound: on the side of the mountains ahead of them, she saw a blue armor-clad pegasus talking to a regal gray-coated unicorn. The unicorn held a purple unicorn in a simple cloak between the two tribe leaders, a unicorn that Smart Cookie recognized immediately.

"What the hay is goin' on up there?"
> 13: Strings of Tension
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Princess Platinum and Twilight Sparkle watched the blue pegasus stand at the edge of the cloud, looking between the two opposing tribes. 

"What do you think he's doing up there?" the gray princess asked her purple adviser.

"I think he's deciding which tribe to confront first," she replied as Commander Hurricane took to his wings and headed toward the unicorns. "And it looks like he's made a decision."

"Wonderful! Just what I needed right now. You wouldn't want to use that teleportation spell to delay the ensuing argument, would you?"

"I'd better not. The commander would just see that as a sign of retreat and declare victory by default."

"Not to mention lauding the act over us for the rest of our lives." Platinum sighed, the blue pegasus coming ever closer. "Well, wish me luck."

Hurricane stopped in front of them, hovering just beyond the edge of the mountain ledge where the delegates of the unicorn tribe stood firmly.

"I didn't think I'd see you so soon, Princess."

"Likewise, Commander."

"And you must be Clover the Clever. Private Pansy's told me about you."

Twilight stepped forward a little."Hello, sir," she said. "It's an honor to meet one of such high rank."

"Clover, what on earth do you think you're doing?" Princess Platinum asked, stepping in front of Twilight and facing her.

"Being polite, Your Highness. This is the first time the Commander and I have met, after all."

Hurricane chuckled. "And already you've made a better impression than our dear princess here." He spoke the last phrase with a tone of sarcasm, then his face hardened. "All right, enough small talk. Let's get right to the point. Platinum, I could arrest you right now for trespassing on territory that belongs to Pegasopalis of the Pegasi."

Princess Platinum scoffed. "Arrest me? The sky belongs to you, not the land, does it not? Even if it did, this land first belonged to Unicornia, and you cannot arrest the sovereign leader of her own country!"

Hurricane smirked, scoffing. "You named it after your own tribe?"

Princess Platinum returned Hurricane's scoff with a glare. "So did you!"

"I had the humility to name it after both my tribe and my tribe's ancestor."

"Only because they're the same name."

"If I may interject..." Twilight began.

"Hoo boy, that climb's tough," said a heavily breathing Chancellor Puddinghead, interrupting Twilight. She removed her big hat, wiped her forehead with it, and replaced it on her head. "I couldn't help but notice you two talking about naming something after yourselves. Oh, hey," she said, noticing Twilight, "you must be Clover. Cookie's told me a lot about you!"

"It's nice to meet you too, Chancellor," Twilight responded with a smile.

"Did you name it something else?" asked Princess Platinum, choosing to ignore the exchange between the earth pony and her adviser. "Anything's better than 'Pegasopolis'. Ugh, such a gaudy name."

"Hey!"

"I sure did! You're all standing on Earth!"

There was a moment of silence as the pegasus commander and the unicorn princess looked at each other. 

"You named it after your own tribe as well," said Princess Platinum in disbelief.

"No, my tribe was named after the ground. There's a difference!" Twilight's mouth turned up into a slight smile and she stifled a giggle.

"Why would you name it after the ground?" wondered Princess Platinum. "That's almost as bad as the Commander's name. Why not just name it Dirtville?"

"I almost did! Are you psychic?"

"All right, this is taking too long. You're both under arrest for trespassing on Pegasopolis territory, and Clover gets a warning."

"You're trespassing in Unicornia!"

"Its name is Earth!"

This went on for several minutes, each leader presenting the same arguments and counterarguments against each other and getting nowhere. 

"Wait a minute," Hurricane said suddenly, "we've just been going in circles. I say there's only one way to settle this dispute: on the battlefield!" he exclaimed, punching one hoof into the other.

"Resorting to bloodshed so soon, Commander? How barbaric. Clover the Clever?"

"Ye-- hey!" Twilight was about to speak, but was interrupted when she was lifted with Princess Platinum's silver aura and held over the edge of the ledge in front of Commander Hurricane, her face a mere leg's reach away from his. "Uh, hi."

"Throw this brute in the dungeon, Clover!"

"What dungeon?" Twilight asked. "There's nothing here!" If the grey princess heard her, she didn't show it, instead preferring to argue more with the blue pegasus and the cream earth mare. Twilight frowned as she looked at and heard the three fully-grown ponies acting like foals. She couldn't help but think of the feuding families of the Hooffields and the McColts a few months before. For all the things that's changed the last thousand years, she thought, some things never seem to. I've had about enough of this.

Suddenly all three tribe leaders were frozen in place. Twilight had cast the same spell she had used on the Hooffields and the McColts a few months before, and it predictably had the same effect: catching its victims by surprise, leaving them unable to speak long enough for Twilight to get a word in edgewise. It was less taxing, however, as she had only frozen three ponies instead of two large families.

"Do you three do anything but argue? All three tribes discovered this area independently of each other. Maybe we're meant to share the land, to use our individual talents for each other's benefit, but that's not going to happen if you refuse to let it happen! I've been in this situation before, stuck in the middle of conflicting opinions and a lot of hate. Ponies refused to see the merits of their opponents instead of staying calm and trying to fix the issues they had with each other!" By this time, Smart Cookie and Private Pansy had approached the mountain's ledge.

"I agree. Let's all calm down," said the tan mare. "Phew, that's a climb."

"That's what I said, too!"

"I vote for calm."

"Now then," Smart Cookie said before Twilight could speak again, "I expect you three to sit tight while the three of us advisers come up with a way for us all to work together."

That wasn't in the Hearth's Warming story, thought Twilight. Then again, there's a lot most ponies don't know about what happened a thousand years ago.





"This ain't workin'."

Smart Cookie's words, though accurate, felt like gross understatement.

Not three weeks earlier, the three tribes had begun living together amicably enough: Commander Hurricane and Private Pansy formed a forward operating base among the clouds and kept a watchful eye on the; Chancellor Puddinghead and Smart Cookie started building a homestead in the clearing and divided the land into small sections, where they planted different crops and tested different fertilizers; and Princess Platinum and Twilight made their home on the ledge, and Platinum had requested Twilight to harvest some of the jewels and test them for their magical capacity and their value. When the earth ponies and unicorns asked for rain to water their crops or sunshine to let them grow or to examine the luster of a gem, the pegasi obliged. When the earth ponies harvested some crops, they shared them with the pegasi and the unicorns to test the quality of the new produce.

Slowly, however, tension had grown. Hurricane and Puddinghead had confessed to their advisers that they believed the unicorns were merely playing with rocks and therefore weren't doing enough to earn the food or fair weather they had been requesting. When Smart Cookie and Private Pansy had brought these concerns to Twilight, she had agreed that since it was unnecessary for her and Princess Platinum to raise and lower the sun and the moon each morning and night, it seemed like the unicorns weren't doing enough, and had admitted that the unicorns would be most useful in the long term once they'd figured out the capabilities of each gem. Cookie and Pansy had brought Twilight's response to their superiors, who at the time had seemed discontent but sated.

Now, the three advisers watched their leaders argue with each other once again. They used the usual arguments, calling each other names and refusing to listen to each other.

"What can we do?" asked Private Pansy. "There's got to be something to get them to stop."

"We've tried everything we can, Pansy," replied Twilight. "I don't think there's anything else we can do but wait for things to blow over." It's times like this that makes it hard for me to hide what I know to be historically true.

"I don't like waiting." Out of the corner of her eye, Smart Cookie saw Private Pansy rub her nose with her fetlock. "Now, now, Pansy," she said calmly, as a mother reassuring her crying foal should, "no need to cry. We'll figure somethin' out."

"I'm not crying, actually."

Smart Cookie and Twilight looked over at Pansy, and immediately looked up.

A thick cover of gray clouds had formed above the tops of the mountains, and white spots dotted them as snow fluttered down. The wind had picked up a bit, and one by one snowflakes bit at all three ponies' noses.

"Snow..." Twilight said softly. She knew there was no sense in delaying any longer; history was waiting to be made.

"All right, now what are we going to do about this snow?" Smart Cookie asked her companions.

"Like I said before," replied Twilight, "all we can do is wait for things to blow over. This storm's only going to get worse. Have either of you found a cave these last few weeks?" The earth mare and the pegasus mare confirmed that they hadn't. "Then start looking for one. There's got to be one nearby that we haven't discovered yet that we can take shelter in."

"What makes you so sure?" asked Cookie, looking at Twilight with a cocked eyebrow.

"You're going to have to trust me, Cookie. The time will come when you understand why."

Smart Cookie harrumphed. "If you say so, Clover. Come on, Pansy. Let's go find that cave."

The two mares hurried off to find the cave Twilight had insisted was there, and it wasn't long after that enough snow had fallen, unnoticed by the three tribal leaders, thick enough to reach the tops of their hooves. Chancellor Puddinghead dug her hoof into the newly fallen drifts, formed a ball, and threw it at Princess Platinum. It splattered on her muzzle, and Commander Hurricane couldn't hold back a hearty laugh. Platinum gasped, speechless. The moment passed, however, and Platinum's eyes flared with anger as she used her magic to form two snowballs of her own, projecting one at each of her opponents. Hurricane barely had enough time to dodge the attack. Puddinghead, however, was looking down at the snow, and took the projectile in her shoulder.

"Wait a minute," asked Puddinghead suddenly, looking up at the other two, "where did all this snow come from anyway?"

"It's not us," Hurricane responded right away. Controlling the weather was the pegasi's responsibility, after all, and he knew everypony would blame him first. "We've been on the ground since before there even was any."

"I don't know any spells to change the weather," Princess Platinum replied in kind, "and even though Clover studies under Star Swirl himself, there's nothing that suggests either of them know such spells either."

It was at that moment that Smart Cookie and Private Pansy reappeared through the growing storm, galloping towards the others. Visibility was quickly decreasing.

"Commander! Puddinghead!" called out Smart Cookie. "The storm's gettin' worse!"

"Tell me something I don't know!" replied Puddinghead.

"There's a cave not too far from here we can take shelter in! And no arguin' about bein' stuck with the other tribes! Let's just survive tonight first!"

A sudden gust of wind blew, bringing more snow that settled around them. All six ponies covered their faces with their hooves and turned, facing away from the wind. Commander Hurricane landed.

The snow continued falling as five ponies made their way to the nearby cave. The sixth, however, remained: since the snow had started falling, Princess Twilight had stood still, watching the scene unfold. Many thoughts crossed her mind during the altercation, but one had become increasingly prevalent at the front of her mind: a single line from the pageant she and her friends had put on in Canterlot not too long ago.

"'And so the paradise that the ponies had found was soon lost, buried beneath a thick blanket of snow and hard feelings...'"
> 14: Kindling and a Spark
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The freshly-fallen snow crunched under Twilight's hooves as she followed the hoofprints of the others toward the cave that had been discovered at the foot of the mountain range. The temperature dropping and the wind blew faster, chilling her haunches as if the cloak being pressed against her body wasn't there, and forcing her to shield her face with her hoof. She entered the cave, and a sudden gust lasting several seconds followed her in, causing the five other ponies to shield themselves as well, and blowing her cloak and mane around. She shivered and stamped the snow out of her frogs before passing between the two earth ponies and the two pegasi toward the gray princess.

The entrance of the cave, about as high as an apple tree, curved around sharply before opening into a large, dome-like cavern. The curve of the entrance protected the cavern from the wind and snow, shielding the ponies inside from the unusual weather. Twilight guessed the dome was about the same size as the the throne room in her crystalline castle. On the side opposite the entrance was a smaller opening: a tunnel, which led only to darkness. Princess Platinum was standing firmly near the opening, facing the other tribes, as if defending the only escape route.

"You took your sweet time coming here, Clover," said Princess Platinum to her adviser. "I, on the other hoof, was the first one inside."

"Why are you all the way back here, Your Highness?"

"I took up a position farthest from the entrance so I wouldn't have to deal with the elements. Of course, that also means that the only means of escaping those ruffians is down this dark tunnel, which may end after a few steps or may lead to deadly fall down an unseen cliff." The gray princess sighed. "I'm no longer positive it was a good decision."

"I see."

Twilight backed up against the wall and laid down, tucking her legs under her torso. Her eyes and ears focusing on each of the other five ponies in turn. Each tribe was about the same distance from each other, and each pony stood, sat, or lay by the cavern wall. Nopony spoke, so the cave only echoed the howls of the storm outside. On the cave's floor, Twilight could see that the dirt on the cavern floor had been disturbed; perhaps there had been a territorial scuffle before she'd arrived. 


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Twilight hadn't realized that she'd closed her eyes, but when she did, she found that her head was resting on the cavern floor. She held back a yawn and, looking up, saw Commander Hurricane walking toward her and Princess Platinum.

"Stop right there!" Princess Platinum stepped in front of Twilight, standing firmly in place.

"What is it, Princess?"

"One step more and you'll be trespassing on the part of the cave that belongs to Unicornia, Commander Hothead."

"It's Commander Hurricane," he corrected, "and I see no line. Besides," he continued, "I was getting bored, and I noticed this dark tunnel just begging to be explored."

"Ooh, that was a good rhyme!" While the unicorn and pegasus leaders had been talking, Chancellor Puddinghead had also approached them. "Do you do that all the time?"

The stallion chose not to look to the earth mare. "I try not to make such foolishness a habit."

"Or perhaps his wit isn't as quick as a rabbit," Smart Cookie said, stepping up beside her friend. Puddinghead giggled. "Come on now, Chancellor, let's stop botherin' the stallion."

"Otherwise he'll be a rapscallion?"

"Well, sure, that rhymes. Just didn't want to cross the line from having fun to making fun of somepony. That's a bit close for my comfort."

The blue pegasus rubbed his hoof between his eyes. "Anyway, we'll be going. Come along, Private."

"Yes, sir, but... it's very dark." Though she appeared calm as she approached her senior officer, her fear of unknown dangers in the dark could be seen in her eyes.

"Before you go in there," Twilight began, rummaging through her saddlebag before levitating a gem out of it. She held it to her horn and cast a light-emitting spell into the gem before giving it to the yellow pegasus as she passed. Princess Platinum frowned. The private took the stone in her teeth as it started glowing. "Take this. No point in going very far if you can't see, after all."

"Thank you, Clover."

"Clover," the gray unicorn said to her assistant after the two pegasi had disappeared into the darkness, the light from the gem swallowed by the darkness. There was a pause.

"Yes, Your Majesty?"

"You just helped the enemy! Why did you do that?" The princess was practically fuming.

"Several reasons, Princess." Twilight stood and faced the unicorn. "For one thing, like I said, there's no point exploring a dark place if you can't see anything. For another thing, we're in a foreign land. Nopony knows what dangerous creatures may lurk in there, or whether there'll be sudden cliffs leading to bottomless chasms. Third, it's politically advantageous for unicorns."

"What do you mean?"

"Just last week, we were being accused of not earning sunlight or food because nopony thought we were doing enough to earn it. Admittedly, above ground with little else to do, that's probably accurate. However, down here, pegasi are at a huge disadvantage. Even if there are large open spaces, most caverns don't have enough room to fly about. Even earth ponies might have a slight advantage even without a source of light; some can detect different densities of stone and earth."

"The chancellor can do that," Smart Cookie mentioned. The two earth ponies had started listening in, but Twilight continued.

"Down here, unicorns who are capable of illumination spells have a big advantage. We can see how big caverns are without flying around. We can see whether or not there's a cliff we can fall over or if a ledge is unstable. This is as good an opportunity as any other to prove to the other tribes that we belong."

"Do you think you can lend us one of those gems?" Smart Cookie asked, having approached the two unicorn representatives.

"You're getting curious about the tunnel too, aren't you?" asked the gray princess.

"I'd be lyin' if I said no, Your Highness."

Princess Platinum hesitated, then levitated a gemstone out of Twilight's saddlebag. "Clover, could you cast a spell on this? I... I don't know any illumination spells."

"Of course, Your Majesty," Twilight smiled, and touched her glowing horn to the stone before her. When she pulled her horn away, Princess Platinum levitated it over to the tan mare, who held it in her teeth.

"Fhank ya conley. Come ong, Shanshur." Soon, the two earth ponies also disappeared into the darkness.

"Clover," spoke Princess Platinum after several moments of silence, softer than before. "Despite the political ramifications, it's not why I gave them one of our gems. Why did I do that?"

"A little generosity can go a long, long way, Your Highness. Come on," Twilight continued as she started walking into the tunnel, her horn already glowing with an illumination spell, "let's make sure they don't hurt themselves in there."

Unknown to any of the six ponies, frost had been building up at the apex of the dome and was now traveling down the sides toward the tunnel.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


"Shine that light over here, Private."

Standing behind him, the yellow pegasus held up her hoof to her mouth, dropping the gem from her teeth into her frog. She pointed it to their right, the direction that the commander had indicated. The light illuminated several yards past them. Ahead of the two pegasi, the floor of the tunnel they'd been walking on inclined sharply. To their right, the tunnel widened for a few feet before culminating in another wall.

"Darn," he snorted, stamping his hoof on the cavern floor, "that felt like it widened up more than that."

"Guess we'll just have to go up then," said a familiar and cheery voice behind them.

"Please tell me that's not the Chancellor." Hurricane looked behind him, finding the tan and the cream-colored earth mares standing behind him. Smart Cookie held a similar light-infused gem in her teeth that Private Pansy held in her hoof. The stallion frowned.

"It's not me!" said the Chancellor with a smile.

Commander Hurricane groaned, pressing his hoof against his forehead. "Why must the figurehead of the earth nation be such a mare-child?!"

Puddinghead's smile disappeared, and she stepped forward, facing the Commander. "I know what my people call me behind my back. Foolish, stupid, immature, and yes, mare-child. And yes, I do have a lot of fun while Smart Cookie takes care of the paperwork and most of the boring stuff. We may not be the best leaders of our tribe, but what we do works! I could never be as no-nonsense or stiff as you are, Commander. Smart Cookie and I play a game where we poke fun at each others' names. We do that because we've been friends since we were fillies, but when you call me Chancellor Pinhead, there's no fun in it! It's just mean!"

Puddinghead closed her mouth and looked down at her chest. Smart Cookie had stepped to Puddinghead's side, placing her hoof on her friend's chest as she spoke. Meanwhile, Twilight and Princess Platinum had walked up behind the earth mares. Puddinghead stepped back and sat down on the floor, closing her eyes. Smart Cookie placed the shining gem in her frog and turned to the stallion.

"Commander, I understand any faults you may find with the chancellor. I've seen them since we were fillies, and other earth ponies see the few faults that show up when she makes speeches or attends public events. But you gotta figure out how to work around somepony's faults to find their strengths!"

Hurricane didn't respond. After a second or two, Private Pansy's mouth widened slightly and she looked at her commander. While his face remained stoic, they had both thought of his confession several weeks before where he'd revealed that he'd done just that with his adviser. Meanwhile, Twilight and Princess Platinum had come up behind the earth mares.

"Is everything all right here?"

"Uh, yes, Clover, thank you," replied the blue stallion.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


It wasn't long before the tunnel widened up into a vast, seemingly endless expanse, filled only with darkness. Private Pansy and Smart Cookie shined their lighted gems around, but could only see the floor and the walls next to the tunnel they had just exited.

"Can't those stones shine any farther?"

"My apologies, Chancellor," Twilight replied. "I didn't anticipate such large rooms like this, so I didn't put too powerful a spell on the stones." Twilight braced herself, and her horn started glowing brighter and brighter. "You might want to look away. This is going to be very bright." Finally a ball of light shot from her horn, arcing into the expanse. Suddenly it burst, acting like a miniature sun as it illuminated a very large chamber.

The six ponies gazed about the vast chamber, speechless. Stalactites spotted the ceiling, and stalagmites littered the cavern floor beneath them. Some had grown so large that they'd merged into pillars spanning the height of the cavern, with diameters ranging from a few inches to the length of a pony's barrel.

"Wow..." Princess Platinum was the first to break the silence.

"I know, right?" replied Chancellor Puddinghead. "This place is massive!"

"What?" Platinum turned her head to the earth mare. "Oh, yes. Massive." She turned her head back to the spot on the ceiling she'd just been looking at, just above the top of the tallest pillar. It was a spot she was sure glittered more than the calcium carbonate the cave was made of.

"It's a little cluttered, but maneuvering around those pillars shouldn't be a problem for us if we wanted to stretch our wings for a bit, Private."

"Agreed, Sir."

"While you're stretching your wings," Twilight interrupted, "can you see if there are any paths out of here?"

The pegasus commander nodded, and he and his yellow-coated adviser took off, flying around the cavern. At the same time, Princess Platinum started walking toward the spot on the ceiling she'd been staring at. Smart Cookie stepped up next to Twilight.

"You're not plannin' on splittin' up, are you?"

Twilight shook her head. "Not at all. It's just that the storm outside didn't show signs of letting up anytime soon, so we might as well explore the whole cave while we're stuck in here."

For a moment, Smart Cookie was quiet. "You know, Clover," she finally said, "sometimes I think you may be the smartest of all of us. I'm gonna stretch my legs a bit as well."

Twilight nodded and searched the cavern for the unicorn princess. It didn't take long, since most of the chamber was wide open, the pillars being the only obstructions, and soon Twilight was by the mare's side.

Princess Platinum was still looking up at a part of the ceiling at the top of the widest pillar, and Twilight followed her gaze.

"Clover, can you tell me what you see up there?"

"I see... something glittering more than the rest of the stone in this cave, and in more colors. And in the middle is just a dark hole."

"Mhm. Do you think it goes somewhere?"

Twilight looked again, this time focusing on the dark hole. "It's difficult to say for sure, Your Highness. I don't see any light at the top, or if it even makes a turn anywhere. However, it looks like there's been some water dripping down for ages that caused the stone to erode. See how the edge of the hole butts up against a wider part of the top of the pillar?" The princess nodded. "With a pillar this size, there has to have been an enormous amount of water trickling down for a very long time." Twilight recalled from her youth the waterfalls that cascaded down Mount Canterlot.

Commander Hurricane landed near the horned mares, a slight grin on . "Let me guess, you probably wish you could fly up there about now, right?"

"Flying would be helpful," replied Twilight, suddenly feeling her wings held against her body by the rope, "though it's hard to say if anypony can actually fit in that hole to find out."

"What if you launch another light spell straight up?" he asked.

"Hmm, that could work." Twilight's horn glowed, and she aimed the tip into the hole. Princess Platinum and Commander Hurricane looked away, and suddenly the chamber was once again filled with light, almost blindingly bright when added to the already existing light. The light traveled up the hole, reflecting colored light off a myriad of gems as it went. Once the spell hit the apex of its trajectory, it burst, but showed little. The hole was just too long for the light to reach an opening.

"It looked like the hole was filled with jewels!" Princess Platinum could barely contain her excitement, and her hooves stepped lightly in place.

Commander Hurricane chuckled. "Ah, mares; is there anything shiny you won't fawn over?" Princess Platinum stopped dancing and stared at the commander.

"Your armor," she retorted. "It's too gaudy."

"Well," the stallion stumbled over his words, "this suit of armor isn't supposed to look good. We have other armor, that is, separate sets which are always kept polished exist for formal events. Formal events and public appearances..." The two mares continued to stare at him. "Anyway, Private Pansy and I discovered another tunnel. It's over this way."


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Like the previous tunnel, this tunnel led upward, and also led into a large chamber. The caverns were little more than a series of tunnels and rooms of various sizes, many of them with various numbers of jewels embedded in the walls. In some chambers, Chancellor Puddinghead tapped the walls until she found a spot that was more hollow than the others, and then Twilight would blast a path through. In others, they would have to go back the way they came, sometimes several chambers back, in order to find a different path. Hours passed, and eventually the six found their way into the final chamber in the cave system.

Chancellor tapped her way around the edge of the chamber, returning to where she started, unsuccessful. "I can't find a way out of this one."

"Well, darn," Smart Cookie replied. "Looks like there's only the one way into and out of this whole cave."

"Ladies, we'll have to double back all the way to the bottom again."

"And just who put you in charge?" Princess Platinum stood firmly, glaring at the stallion.

"Nopony. Why, were going to suggest something else?" The gray unicorn stammered. Commander Hurricane harrumphed. "That's what I thought." He turned and led the way out of the chamber. Private Pansy, after a moment's hesitation, followed after him as the earth and unicorn mares remained in the room.

"I think the Commander is getting frustrated," Twilight said.

"We've been wanderin' around these caves for hours, Clover. Aren't you a bit restless?"

"Well, yes, but those two especially. There haven't really been any rooms big enough for proper wing exercise for a while."

"Oh, come now, Clover," Platinum smiled. "It's not like wings have a mind of their own."

They kind of do, actually.

Suddenly they heard Hurricane's voice echoing down the tunnel they'd left not long ago. "Everypony, get down here!"

Princess Platinum stormed to the tunnel and shouted into it. "I'll come down when I'm good and ready, Commander!" She huffed and turned away. "That stallion should not be bossing me around!"

"Because you're royalty?" asked Puddinghead.

"Of course it is, Chancellor."

Private Pansy appeared in the tunnel. "Commander Hurricane can be rude sometimes. I've calmed him down for the moment. You all really should come down; you won't like what you're going to see." Pansy's face wore a worried expression, and the other four mares' followed suit. The followed the yellow pegasus in silence, and soon stood with him.

What they saw left them speechless. Not fifteen minutes earlier, the chamber they'd passed through was a normal cavern: stalactites, stalagmites, stone. Now, almost half the room was covered in white frost, centered around their original entry point. Where before the cavern's air was warm and stagnant, disturbed only by the sounds of dripping water, there was now a cool breeze emanating from the tunnel, and any sounds of water had ceased.

"How is this possible?" asked Chancellor Puddinghead. "We're so far from where we came into this cave system that that shouldn't be happening!"

"And yet it is," replied the commander. "Since there was no weather to control inside the cave, we pegasi couldn't possibly have anything to do with it. Unicorns, on the other hoof..."

"You'd better not finish that sentence, Commander. I'll have you know that my knowledge of magic does not include weather manipulation, and Clover's been too busy providing us with light to bother using such a spell."

"Not to worry, Highness. I was never going to finish my sentence. I knew you'd finish it for me."

"Commander, Princess, we should go back," said Twilight, stepping around the princess and in front of them. "That frost is not retreating any time soon, and I'm sure none of us want to be surrounded by it right now."

"Right as usual, Clover. Come along, everypony; let us retreat to the last chamber. That frost looks too close to that other tunnel, and we might not make it across the room in time." Princess Platinum turned, leading the small herd back into the room they'd just come from.

"Princess," asked the leader of the earth ponies once they'd entered the room once again. "Something just occurred to me... who put you in charge?"

Platinum stopped and stared at Puddinghead."As the only one among us with royal blood --"

"I'm not so sure about that, actually," he interrupted. "Who in your family's past decided your family deserved to be placed above everypony else?"

Princess Platinum scoffed, offended and speechless.

"He kinda has a point," Puddinghead said. "My people chose me to lead them, and I'd imagine the commander earned his position."

As the three leaders spoke, the air grew cold around them. As Twilight watched the entrance, the frost had continued to grow towards the group, and it seemed to be growing faster than before with every unkind and mean-spirited word. Twilight pulled Smart Cookie and Private Pansy to the side, away from their superiors, who had now started bickering.

"What's going on, Clover?" asked the yellow mare as they backed away from their leaders.

"You mean aside from our superiors arguing as usual?"

"Look at the entrance, girls." They did, and they gasped when they saw the encroaching frost gathering at the hooves of their leaders. "Come on, girls. We'll have to just wait this out."

"But what about them?" Private Pansy asked, indicating their leaders.

"They're arguing too much to realize what's going on. I'm afraid they'll freeze over before they do."

Sure enough, the ice was traveling up the legs of the chancellor, the princess, and the commander, and none of them noticed. By now, their arguing had evolved into hurtling insults at each other. The cold wind swirled around the room, blowing the ponies' manes and tails about. A loud howl blew with the wind, its echos swallowed by the wind.

"How can there be a storm inside a cave?" Smart Cookie shouted out over the din.

"Because this storm isn't natural!" shouted Twilight in return. Though she was sure what she was going to see, she looked up anyway to remove any doubt. Sure enough, three windigos were circling above the six ponies in a higher portion of the chamber. "Look up!"

Cookie and Pansy gasped when they saw the trio of ethereal creatures above them. The three advisers huddled closer to each other, the frost inching ever closer to them as the windigos continued to howl.

"What are those things?" asked Private Pansy.

"They're windigos! Star Swirl told me all he knew about them!"

"What are they doin' here?"

"Windigos are winter spirits that feed off negative energy like fighting and hatred, turning that negative energy into a strong winter storm! The more hate the spirit feels, the colder things become!"

"In other words, they found an all-you-can-eat buffet when they discovered our quarrelin' tribes! This is all our fault!"

"Exactly!" replied Twilight. "Our hate caused the blizzard across our nations to our homes, and everypony blaming each other only made things worse!"

"And now it's destroyin' this land, too! All because we were foolish enough to keep hatin' each other!"

There was a pause, and the ice grew closer to the three, who huddled closer, keeping Twilight pressed in between them. One of the windigos looked down at them and roared.

"I don't hate you," Pansy said. "In fact, I actually like you guys more than I like Commander Hurricane."

Smart Cookie chuckled. "Well, then that makes too of us. I don't hate you either."

"Nor do I."

"No matter what our differences," Smart Cookie finally said as the ice reached their hooves, "we're all ponies."

"Is this it for us? Are we all just going to die, with nopony at home knowing we became friends?"

"No, Pansy," Twilight replied. "As unbelievable as it may sound, we'll all survive. I think I know how to stop them. Close your eyes, girls," Twilight told them as the ice wrapped around their torsos, and they did. Twilight could feel something like small spikes poking into her legs and sides, and could see her two friends wince as they no doubt felt the same cold grip. "Imagine what our new nation will be like."

The ice climbed and tightened around their bodies as the earth and pegasus mares tossed out ideas: wide, sweeping fields of flowers, grasses, trees, and all types of fruits and vegetables; quaint, simple towns and large extravagant cities; and many more ideas.

"Do you really think we'll get to see all that, Clover? Ouch!" Private Pansy asked as some ice poked into her earlobe.

"All that and more, girls."

"The ice is gettin' really close, Clover. Are you going to do what you were planning soon?"

Twilight would have responded, but she saw the ice enclose around the earth mare's muzzle, and soon both of her friends were completely encase in ice. She looked up at the circling windigos, a determined look on her face. "I know you think you've won, but you won't. I know how this ends!" She aimed her horn toward the center of the chamber as all three windigos roared at her, and closed her eyes as the ice enclosed her head.

Inside the ice, Twilight could only hear the muted sounds of the windigos' blizzard and the amplified sounds of her and her friends' beating hearts. 

All right, Twilight, think. What spell can I use to dispel the windigos? In the story, it seemed like the magic spontaneously came out of Clo -- out of me just as the ice covered my horn. But what about the Fire of Friendship? I don't know any spells that can do what that did, other than the one taught to unicorn foals for Hearth's Warming pageants, but that's just for show and doesn't give off any heat. Maybe if I think of the Elements of Harmony while I cast it? That could work; after all, friendship is the most powerful magic in Equestria. and it worked in the alternate universe to bring back the Elements of Harmony. The ice covers Twilight's horn. "I'll just have to use a heat spell to melt the ice around my horn first. I bet that could provide the heat for the Fire of Friendship as well."

Twilight thought of her friends as horn glowed with the magic of a heat spell, which eventually melted enough ice to surround her horn with a pocket of the cold air of the cave. She thought of her fondest memories of her friends, memories that showed the six of them proving themselves worthy of being the Element Bearers, and casted the Fire of Friendship spell alongside the heat spell.

Although she knew what would happen next, she could not have predicted how quickly and how violently it would happen. Without warning, and without resistance, as if the ice hadn't been there, her eyelids shot open and all she saw was a bright light, much like when she and her friends first activated the Elements of Harmony to free Princess Luna from Nightmare Moon's clutches. Suddenly, the ice shattered, bursting apart like a balloon filled too full, and the three advisers were freed from the ice's grasp . Private Pansy and Smart Cookie were pushed to the side, and Pansy hurried over to Smart Cookie. They stepped back, watching their friend and comrade as strong magic surrounded her. Twilight started hovering above the cave's floor. Above them, the windigos screeched, as if in pain, and clawed at the ice at the cave's entrance to escape.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


The next thing Twilight remembered was waking up on the cave floor, the cave bright and warm from the Fire of Friendship. She also remembered having a headache. She'd only cast two spells; she'd cast up to four spells at once before, but creating the Fire of Friendship must have drained a lot of her stamina and caused enormous strain on her.

"Ow, my head..."

"Are you all right?" asked Pansy, who was still standing behind Cookie. "And what was that?"

"I think I'll be fine." Twilight rubbed her head. "That's the Fire of Friendship, a very powerful magic that takes a lot of energy."

"I didn't know unicorns could do that," said Smart Cookie. "Even Star Swirl hasn't been known to do somethin' like that."

"Nothing like this has ever happened before," Twilight responded. "I don't think any unicorn will ever be able to match it, either."

"Uh-huh. You're not a unicorn, though, are you? Clover," she paused as she pointed her hoof at Twilight's torso, "why do you have wings?". Twilight followed where Cookie's was pointing. Twilight saw that her cloak had been tossed out of the way, and snapped bits of rope littered the cave floor around her, and sure enough, her wings were open, resting on the cavern floor.

Twilight closed her eyes again and let out a soft sigh. She had some explaining to do.
> 15: Equestria
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Fire of Friendship continued to melt the ice inside the chamber as Twilight gave her explanation: how she and her friends had met, how she'd ascended to alicornhood, how she'd traveled through time, how she'd come to be Star Swirl's and Princess Platinum's assistant, and how she was so sure that they would survive.

"I believe that by combining a heat spell with the illusion spell I learned as a filly we use in winter pageants to commemorate this event, I was able to make that illusion spell into a functional fire. Furthermore recalling my memories of my friends and I proving ourselves worthy of bearing the Elements of Harmony made the two spells more powerful. But it wasn't just my other friends, it was you two as well."

"Us?"

"Mhm. Cookie, you have a lot of similarities to my friend Applejack: you're honest, strong-headed, and stand up for your friends. Pansy, you have similarities to Fluttershy: you're kind, soft-spoken, and can be very strong despite appearances. So you see, it wasn't just me or the memories of my friends; it was also the three of us, joined together in friendship."

"And what about them?" asked the earth mare, pointing her hoof toward the three leaders, who were still frozen solid.

"I believe they also share similarities to my friends. Chancellor Puddinghead seems to use humor a lot, so she'd be like the Element of Laughter. I've seen Princess Platinum be generous, and as for Commander Hurricane, he must be Loyalty, though I haven't really seen much of how he acts until today. Six ponies, six Elements of Harmony."

"I meant if they'd be all right, actually. They're still frozen, and that can't be good."

"Oh. They'll be fine, eventually. All six of us are credited with founding and documented with leading the new nation for years."

Pansy sat down. "What will we do until then? We can't exactly leave yet."

"In the legend, the three advisers told each other stories and sang songs, keeping the Fire of Friendship stoked until all the ice and snow melted." Twilight paused. "You're... taking all this really well. I expected I wouldn't be believed."

"Clover, not even an hour ago I didn't know windigos existed, or that you were an alicorn. Before you knocked on my door a few months ago, nopony'd ever heard of Clover the Clever. A pony showin' up out of nowhere and somehow knowin' everything that's about to happen is either very convenient or... well, I don't know what else it would be. It's hard to believe it's true, but it's hard to deny if it's false, too."

"What about you, Pansy?"

"Oh, I don't really understand time travel or most of what you talked about. Right now I'm just glad we're all safe." There was a moment of awkward silence before the yellow pegasus broke it. "You said something about songs. Do you know any?"

Twilight smiled. "Of course I do! The holiday that commemorates this day is by far one of my favorites! I don't want to be the only one responsible for creating some of my favorite carols, but just one couldn't hurt. Everypony sings this one after every reenactment. It's called 'The Hearth Carol'"

As dawn shines on us every morn
The Fire of Friendship is reborn
And all the friendships we have made
We cherish in every way

Loyalty binds us and makes us strong
Honesty shows that we belong
And kindness shared will unite us through each day

The Fire of Friendship lives in our hearts
As long as it burns, we cannot drift apart
Though quarrels arise, their numbers are few
Laughter and singing will see us through

Here's where some ponies harmonize with

Will see us through

And then the full choir.

We are a circle of pony friends
A circle of friends we'll be to the very end

Though the winter brings all its cold and storm
The glow in our hearts keeps us warm
The friends we now call our family
Will always see us through

Loyalty binds us and makes us strong
Honesty shows that we belong
And kindness shared will unite us through each day

The Fire of Friendship lives in our hearts
As long as it burns, we cannot drift apart
Though quarrels arise, their numbers are few
Laughter and singing will see us through
Will see us through
We are a circle of pony friends
A circle of friends we'll be to the very end

Smart Cookie and Private Pansy added their voices to the last chorus. Twilight smiled, their voices echoing around the chamber. "That was great, especially for the first time hearing it. Once the song is written down and set to actual notes, it'll sound even better!"

"I'm sure it will, Clover. By the way," Smart Cookie continued, "is that your real name? Not tryin' to be rude, but I was just wonderin'."

"I understand, Cookie, and no, it's not my real name. I'd rather not say what it is. Like with my wings, my real name was never documented, other than in genealogical records, until after I was born. Or will be born a long time from now."

"Time travel seems pretty confusing," the pegasus mare said.

"It can be, but once you realize there are a few rules it follows, it's actually not so bad."

There was a quiet moment as nopony knew what to say after that, and the only sounds were the crackling of the Fire of Friendship and the dripping of the melting ice. Then Smart Cookie cleared her throat, breaking the awkward silence.

"Anypony want to hear a funny story from when Puddinghead and I were fillies?" The other two agreed. "All right, so we were walking by a river one day..." 


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


The three advisers kept the Fire of Friendship alive by telling stories to one another and by singing songs. Soon, the warmth of the fire began melting the ice around the three leaders' bodies. Their ears, since they were closest to the Fire of Friendship were among the first to thaw, and each leader's attention was turned toward the three ponies who sang and laughed as friends. Each tribe leader, unable to see their advisers, were left encased in the melting ice as they listened; each tribe leader wondered curiously about how three ponies from opposing nations could hold themselves in such mirth. Eventually, their mouths were freed and they could finally ask for their companions' help.

"Pansy, come help me out of this!"

"Clover, come quick! I can hardly see!"

Pansy, Twilight, and Cookie hurried over to their leaders and started removing the ice around them. Smart Cookie started kicking the ice from her friend. Twilight pulled the ice off Princess Platinum's body with her magic while the gray mare waited patiently for her adviser to free her. Commander Hurricane grew impatient as Private Pansy pulled at the chunks of ice, trying not to hurt her superior.

Eventually the blue stallion was the only one still stuck in the ice. Pansy pulled a chunk of ice from his forehoof, and he pushed his leg through, breaking it the rest of the way. He then proceeded to stomp his hoof against the rest of the ice as Pansy backed away.



"Don't you start!" Smart Cookie raised her voice, her head and ears lowered as she looked at the three leaders. Her voice echoed softly throughout the chamber. "Arguing again is only going to bring back the windigos!"

"The what?" asked Hurricane and Puddinghead simultaneously. Twilight prepared to explain what the windigos were, but Princess Platinum interrupted her.

"The windigos are a type of creature that feed off negativity and as a result bring about a harsh winter." Hurricane and Puddinghead looked at the unicorn princess, who continued. She lowered her head and her words had the sound of regret to them. "Several months ago, before Clover had even become my adviser, Star Swirl the Bearded himself sent my father a letter detailing these creatures and what they could do after we'd asked his opinion on why the weather had become so unpredictable. I dismissed them as unlikely, but after seeing the frost move as quickly as it did in the other room, I now believe that was too hasty a decision."

"I want proof," the blue stallion said suddenly, stamping his hoof on the cave's floor. "If these windigos do indeed exist, then they should still be around somewhere, correct?"

"Theoretically," Twilight replied. "The tunnel was iced over when I cast the spell, and it's not like there's another way out of this chamber. I don't know enough about them to know if they can camouflage themselves."

"What about this hole at the top of the chamber?" asked Private Pansy, pointing to a small hole where the sunlight passed through.

"I don't get it." Smart Cookie scratched her head. "There was no way out when we entered this chamber before. Where on earth did that come from?"

"Well, it's possible that the blast of magic was strong enough to break a hole through. Or maybe the windigos were able to break through. Were any of us really paying attention to them after I cast the spell?" She turned to Private Pansy and Smart Cookie, who shook their heads.

"Wait a minute..." Chancellor Puddinghead stared at the hole as the other five looked at her. Suddenly she walked toward the hole and started knocking on the wall near it.

"Chancellor, you already checked all the walls. There's no other way --" Hurricane was cut off as the earth mare shushed him and continued to knock on the wall, holding her ear against the stone. Twilight, of course, had figured out what Puddinghead had as well; if there was sunlight coming through that hole, then they were near the edge of the mountain and could break through with enough effort.

"A-ha!" She turned to face the others. "This part of the wall isn't as thick as the rest of it is."

"Why didn't you notice that before?" asked Princess Platinum.

"Hey, give me some credit. It's such a small difference in thickness that it's almost undetectable if I'm not specifically listening for it. Should we bust through?"

"Maybe Private Pansy should fly through that hole first and see if we'd even survive once we broke though," said the pegasus commander. "Wouldn't do much good to break through if it's a sheer cliff, now would it?"

"Why me, Sir?"

"Only the two of us can fly, Private, and you're smaller than I am. Believe me, if I thought I could fit through that hole, I would've been through and back already."

"Yes, Sir." Private Pansy flew up and squeezed through the hole, pulling herself through at the end. After a few moments of silence, the five other ponies heard a gasp, muffled through the small hole.

"What is it?" asked Commander Hurricane. "Is it a sheer cliff?"

Private Pansy started speaking, but there was too much stone between her and the others to let her voice carry. Hurricane told her to talk louder.

"Actually, no," she said again. "There's a big ledge with plenty of room out here."

"That's great!" he exclaimed.

"If there's plenty of room," Twilight called out, "then why did you gasp?"

"One of the windigos is out here. I... I think it's hurt."


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 

Once Private Pansy had flown back through the hole in the ceiling, they began discussing how to break through the cavern wall. Pansy, having seen where the windigo lay, told them where to break through so that as little debris as possible would strike its ethereal body. Twilight asked Puddinghead to check the wall for the weakest spots, which the vanilla-colored mare then marked by scraping her hoof against the wall. Once she had found several weak spots, Twilight asked her to step back so that she could weaken the stone. Her horn glowed, and Twilight fired multiple blasts of magic against the markings. Once she had finished, each mark had been replaced with a divot that appeared to have been burned into the stone. Then, all six ponies lined up, facing away from the wall. The two earth ponies and the two princesses stood on the floor while the two pegasi flew up into the air to reach the top, as well as distribute the force to weaken more of the stone at once. On the count of three, all six ponies bucked as hard as they could, and some of the stone gave way. They kicked again and again until finally, there was plenty of room for all six to pass through the opening.

Immediately, Private Pansy hovered over to the fallen windigo.

"Fall back, soldier. It could still be dangerous."

She complied, and stood next to her commanding officer as the others joined them around the fallen windigo, watching it. Its chest heaved with heavy, labored breaths. In some places, its translucent body was either transparent or colored to a nearly solid white.

"What should we do with it?" asked Chancellor Puddinghead.

"I think we should ignore it," replied the gray princess. "That creature has given us nothing but trouble for many moons!"

"I want to help it!"

"Help it?" asked Princess Platinum. "Pansy, that thing just tried to kill us, and you want to help it?"

"Look at it! It's obviously in distress, and we can help. What kind of ponies would we be if we didn't help it?"

Slowly, the oddly colored spots on the windigo's body grew smaller as the six held their discussion, the discussion slowly turning into an argument. Its ears turned toward the discussion, and its breaths became steadier and more controlled. It blinked its eyes open, and soon the blurred colors it saw before it came into focus. Its eyes widened as it saw on the purple pony, and its heart started beating against its chest. It clawed at the ground, pulling itself away from the ponies.

"Where's it going?" asked Princess Platinum.

"I think it's afraid of us," Twilight said. "We did quite a number on it."

"You did," replied Smart Cookie. "We didn't do anything."

"Does the windigo know that?" responded Twilight, to which the others had no answer.

The six ponies watched as the windigo neared the edge of the cliff and pulled itself over.

"It's going to fall!" Pansy's eyes were wide, a panicked look on her face. She could barely hold herself back from running toward the windigo

The windigo's tail disappeared over the side as Twilight hurried near the edge. She watched the windigo fall down, down toward the ground below. Much of the snow had already melted, and spots of green shown through the white. Twilight's horn lit up, and the windigo was caught in a bubble, saving it from death. The windigo squirmed, recognizing the magic as the same as the one that had wounded it. Meanwhile, the other five had reached the edge and looked over.

"Why won't it fly?"

"It must still be injured."

"Do you know any healing spells?"

"I know a few, but I don't think any of them would work on a windigo. The Fire of Friendship helped us, but harmed the windigo. Did any of you see anything different about the windigo between when we first saw it and when it jumped off?"

There was a pause, but then Pansy spoke up. "It seemed less injured than when I first saw it."

"And we were arguing before it crawled away."

"Exactly. I think negative energy such as arguing keeps them healthy." Twilight sent a bit of the shadow magic down to the windigo. She'd cast this magic only twice before: while she was trying to protect the Crystal Empire against King Sombra, and in Applejack's barn in the alternate universe she'd accidentally traveled to almost a year earlier. Her eyes went white, and purple licks of flame spread behind her eyes for only a moment. Her five companions stared at her as she cast the spell, having never seen anything like the magic she was now using. None dared to approach Twilight, wary of what getting to close to what appeared to be dark magic emanating from her. Below, the windigo stopped squirming inside Twilight's levitation spell, and turned its snout toward the dark magic. It closed its eyes and breathed it in. The coloration of its body became more uniform, the rest of the spots on its skin disappearing. Twilight released her levitative hold, and the windigo flew away.

"Well," said Chancellor Puddinghead, "that solves that discussion."

The six ponies watched the windigo disappear into the sky and looked out upon the landscape. The bright midday sun pierced through the dark snow-filled clouds, dissipating them. The breaks in the clouds brought the sun's light and warmth, melting the snow, revealing once again the bright green grass they had seen only hours before. The light glistened off the snow-capped mountains surrounding the valley below, where the crops that the duo of earth ponies had planted weeks before still grew.

"I've never seen a landscape look so... divine!" Princess Platinum exclaimed.

"We've been living here the last few weeks, Your Highness."

"Yes, but not like this," Princess Platinum replied.

"Chancellor, Princess, our advisers have been correct all along. Despite all our bickering over our differences, we're all ponies , and when a pony is stranded on the battlefield, his or her comrades have a duty to assist. We should choose a name that reflects that unity."

"Equus?"

"No, Chancellor," said Platinum, rolling her eyes, "we're not naming it after your deity. We had plenty of trouble with that debate a few weeks ago."

"He's not technically a deity," Smart Cookie said. "Truth be told, long ago we earth ponies found out that unicorns and pegasi had their deities, and made up Equus and his wife so we wouldn't feel left out. Their names literally just mean "pony". We only made them earth ponies out of convenience."

"Well anyway, it should at least roll off the tongue better."

After a few minutes of discussion, as well as some nudging by Twilight, the six ponies decided to name the land they'd discovered Equestria. Princess Platinum suggested they build the capitol city on the very ledge they were standing on, and the others agreed.

"Shall we move to matters of governance?" asked Twilight.

"Let's leave that for when the rest of our tribes come to join us."

"Agreed," stated the stallion, stepping beside the two mares. "Our mission was to discover a new land to which we can relocate our citizens, and I assume yours as well?" Twilight and Smart Cookie both nodded. "We have discovered that new land, so logically we must now bring our fellow ponies here to Equestria."
> 16: Mandate to the Masses
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Although the journey had started simply enough, as each tribe approached their native land it soon became apparent that things had only gotten worse. The snow was piled deeper, and the wind blew colder than it ever had before they'd left. Princess Platinum and Twilight had initially tried keeping the cold away by telling stories, but the bitter cold soon devolved their conversation to quick games for foals that required less thinking.

"I spy with my little eye something white."

"It's not snow again, is it, Clover?"

"No, Your Majesty. It's the fringe on your cloak."

"Oh, thank goodness."

"I don't know how much more of this I can take."

"I spy something green!"

Twilight looked around for a moment, trying to find the green the gray princess had spoken of. As she looked, her attention became focused on the unicorn princess, who was grinning. Her body shook with both the shivers of cold and the anticipation of home. Twilight followed Platinum's gaze forward and, sure enough, she caught a glimpse of green peeking over a gray stone wall that rose above the snow on the horizon.

They both took off, hurrying towards King Bullion's castle as quickly as they could through the thick layer of snow. As they approached, it occurred to Twilight that she could see the shimmer of the shield spell's magic still protecting the land around the castle from the harsh elements.

The two guards at the gate recognized their princess and her adviser, and opened the gates for them. Twilight and Princess Platinum burst through the snowbank into the warm protected area. Breathing heavily, their pace slowed as their bodies grew accustomed to the warmth inside the castle grounds. Once the unicorn princess had caught her breath, she asked the guards of her father's current whereabouts.

"I'm told your father and Star Swirl the Bearded are usually in the conference room behind the throne room," replied one of the stallions.

"Star Swirl the Bearded is here?" asked Twilight. "Why?"

"The shield spell you two put up has been weakening, so His Highness asked him to return to strengthen it," said one guard.

"I think it's because the effort required to maintain it requires more magic than most unicorns here are willing or able to give each time," quipped the other.

"Shall we go meet them, Your Highness?" Twilight asked as the two mares walked toward the castle.

"While we're wet, dirty, and tired, Clover?" the princes scoffed, and the two passed through the castle's doors. "Of course not! We need to bathe and change our clothes first. As a member of the royal family, I do have some standards to uphold. Oh, servant," she got the attention of a passing worker, "can you pass a message to my father for me?"

"I'll start the bath, Princess," Twilight said, and started walking toward the Princess's suite.

About an hour later, the two mares were ready to meet with the king. They made their way toward the throne room, and then behind the thrones to the conference room. Once Platinum and Twilight entered the conference room, King Bullion stopped speaking and beamed, seeing his daughter for the first time in many weeks. He approached her and wrapped his forelegs around her shoulders. "Welcome home, Princess. Welcome home."

"Our apologies for our tardiness, father."

"No need for apologies, Platinum. You've returned home, safe and sound, and no doubt with much to tell from the last several weeks. Come, let's sit and catch up."

Twilight smiled as she watched the reunion of the two, but her expression faded when she saw Star Swirl's expression. Star Swirl blinked at her, clearly not as pleased to see her as the king had to see his daughter. He didn't smile, nor did he approach his assistant to greet her. He just looked at her, and Twilight felt he was silently telling her that they, too, had much to discuss, but not just about what had happened the last few weeks.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Once the meeting was over, Star Swirl and Twilight walked in silence toward their room. Star Swirl opened the door, let her go first, and then closed the door behind him as he followed her in. Once the door was closed, Star Swirl turned to face Twilight.

"Your magic wasn't depleted after moving the sun that day."

Twilight closed her eyes, lowered her head, and spoke softly. "How did you figure it out?"

The stallion pulled Twilight's letter out from under his hat. "One of your letters," he replied. "The words have the same elegant script after your magic should have been depleted as the notes you've made during our studies. I'd imagine, as a unicorn, using your hooves doesn't result in a script nearly as fancy."

Twilight sighed. "You're right. My magic was still strong, even after most unicorns' magic would have been gone forever." She took a step toward her mentor. "You're mad, aren't you?"

Star Swirl held up his hoof. "I was at first, furious even, but I've had some time to think while you were away. Now I'm more cautious than anything, if you recall my previous experiences with ponies who just wanted the privilege of calling themselves my student. Even when we met, I had a feeling you were hiding something, and while we worked together sometimes it felt less like you were helping me, but that I was helping you. As I got to know you I figured there must have been a very good reason for you to keep secrets. I decided to give you the benefit of the doubt."

Twilight closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "There's no good way to ease into explaining this, so I'll just start at the beginning: I haven't been born yet. I was born in a city that has yet to be founded, in a nation that has only just been founded." Twilight told Star Swirl the story of her life, purposely neglecting to reveal names. She told him about how she grew up, to the release of her power that hatched Spike, to her years of studying under Celestia's tutelage, and how she was sent to learn friendship in Ponyville. "While in that town, I and five mares who would become my closest friends were able to defeat a powerful foe with some very old and very powerful relics. My first encounter with time travel was with a spell you have yet to write. It allows the caster to travel a week back in time, but only for a few seconds. Very useful for sending a message to yourself, as long as past you pays attention."

"So time travel is possible."

Twilight nodded and continued. "It wasn't long after that that my life changed forever into something I never expected. It started with a spell you'll never finish. I accidentally cast it, and the destinies of my friends became swapped, and nopony seemed to realize that something was wrong! I was able to use those relics I mentioned earlier to set everything right, as well as complete the spell. Finishing that spell brings us to one of the most important events in my life."

At this, Twilight levitated the cloak off her body, revealing her wings bound against her body. She untied the rope with her magic and spread them out, displaying them to him. Star Swirl was speechless, his eyes wide in wonder at the sight before him.

"You may have been right when you said that I was more powerful than you. It's hard to understand, but basically, completing that spell created a new magic, and my alicorn mentor transformed me into an alicorn princess. Only a couple months after that, I was given a great responsibility. There was a powerful villain with the ability to absorb a pony's magic, and had set his eye on the alicorns he knew existed. He didn't know about me yet, so I was given the responsibility of keeping the other alicorns' magic from him. Since they had no magic, I had to move the sun and the moon for them. That was... difficult... to control such powerful magic that I'd never had before.

"A few months ago -- the day before we met, in fact -- my mentor gave me an incredible opportunity, to meet and study under you. Knowing what I know now, though, I'm pretty sure that I was sent here to fulfil my destiny as Clover the Clever. I suppose you probably still have some questions about why I asked you to use that name in public?"

"Yes."

"There are several reasons why we chose to keep my identity a secret. For one thing, there's no record of an alicorn in Equestria from this time period until the alicorn sisters arrive. My name also doesn't appear in this time period, but Clover the Clever's does."

"Hold on..." The stallion rubbed his chin, processing this new information.

"What is it?"

"You took the name of a notable historical figure, then became the historical figure you named yourself after."

"That's what will be called a causal paradox in the future."

"It seems confusing, but I'm sure if we talk more it won't be too hard to understand.Twilight, it seems our destinies are very much intertwined."


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


"Hear ye, hear ye!" the town crier called in his village, and across the land each village's town crier did the same. Unicorns in their homes poked their heads out open doors and windows, and those in the streets turned to face the messenger ponies. "'His Highness King Bullion of the Unicorn Kingdom has decreed that all able Unicorns are to arrive at his Castle in three Days for a very important Announcement concerning the Future of the Kingdom.'"

"Three days?" one stallion asked the town crier. "That's tomorrow! It takes two days to get there, so that message is two days old, and we won't be able to get there until the day after tomorrow!"

"Not to worry. I was given this message yesterday and a separate message telling me to wait until today to relay this message, to account for the time it takes the farthest unicorn village to travel to the castle."


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


On the day of the announcement, the grounds at and surrounding King Bullion's castle had become much busier than they usually were, as unicorns from across the land had begun arriving from their towns and villages to the king's castle for the meeting that King Bullion had called. As their numbers grew, Star Swirl began recruiting unicorns to increase the size of the protective dome so no unicorn would be forced to pitch their traveling tents in the snow. The tents themselves were cramped together outside the castle wall with barely enough room for a pony to squeeze between the tent stakes. Within the wall, walkways had been designated against the wall and against the castle, with perpendicular paths located every twenty to thirty feet.

When it was time for the king to make his announcement, some of the castle guards made their rounds, declaring to the visitors that they needed to move toward the courtyard. They guided the unicorns along a passage inside the castle that had been designated for the traffic.

The courtyard was nearly filled when unicorn heralds appeared on the balcony. They raised their horns to their mouths and played the royal fanfare. Any conversation among the unicorns went silent, and one of the king's aides stood at the balcony's railing.

"His Majesty King Bullion, and his daughter Her Highness Princess Platinum!"

The aide stepped aside, and King Bullion, his golden coat adorned with a bright golden cloak, stepped up to the railing with his daughter Princess Platinum by his side.

"My unicorn citizens, hear us speak. We bring news regarding this winter. Three months ago, my daughter Princess Platinum and her adviser Clover began a journey to find a new land to call ours in order to escape this terrible winter. They returned the other day, with good news: we have found the perfect land to immigrate to!" At this, the unicorns below broke out into cheers and applause. "My daughter will now describe our new land."

"Me?" the gray princess asked as her father stepped aside. "Daddy, I've never spoken to a crowd before."

"Don't worry, my daughter," Bullion replied. "Clover was in the new land as long as you were, and will support you if you need assistance."

"I have been absent from my home for many seeks searching for a new home, and we have found one in this new land. This new land is beautiful, untouched by civilization. The trees are tall, and the land is fertile for all kinds of crops. The skies are bright and clear, and the mountains sparkle with gems. We have called this wonderful new land that will become our home Equestria!" The crowd below started murmuring excitedly. "What's more, Clover and I have begun making peace with the pegasus and earth pony nations." Some ponies cheered, but were shushed by others, who kept silent or who were not pleased about cooperating with the pegasi and earth ponies.

Princess Platinum looked over her shoulder at her father and her adviser with an uneasy expression. King Bullion started forward, but Twilight put her hoof on his shoulder. Twilight stepped up to the railing and cleared her voice. "I was expecting this mixed response. It is news, after all, that has many implications. This means that when we shop for food and supplies, we will not have to travel clear across town just to buy food. This means that we can get to know each others' cultures and work together using the strengths of one tribe where another has weaknesses. This also means that those of us who fear or hate the pegasi and earth ponies will have to confront their prejudices. I may not have the same experiences you all may have, but I do know this: if we don't try to leave our comfort zones, we may never learn what wonderful things we'll miss.

"Most of you believe that this winter was caused by the pegasi, and that the earth ponies have been hoarding food. Star Swirl the Bearded, Princess Platinum, and I know otherwise, and Princess Platinum and I have seen and fought against the cause of this winter. This winter is not caused by the pegasi as many unicorns and earth ponies have come to believe, but by a supernatural creature that feeds off negativity and strife known as windigos." Twilight used her magic to project an image of a windigo over the crowd. Some gasped and started moving toward the exit. "Don't worry! This isn't a real windigo, just the image of one. This can't harm you."

High in the clouds above the castle, a windigo, enticed by the potential dissension of a growing crowd scowled. It recognized the two mares below and flew down, not noticing the magical barrier. It collided with the magic and screeched as electricity from the dome surrounded it momentarily before flying away.

The ponies looked up at the barrier at the muffled sound of the impact. Everypony gasped, including Twilight, who dropped her illusion.

"That one won't hurt you either! That's a real windigo up there, and it doesn't feed on ponies but on emotions like anger and fear. So don't be afraid!"

King Bullion stepped forward and spoke up once again. "We have discovered a land where we can live in harmony with our fellow ponies, both unicorn and non-unicorn. My daughter and I will lead those willing to cooperate with the other tribes to the new land. We depart in one week. Thank you for coming."

As the king and the two mares turned away, a murmur arose from the unicorns below. It started quietly, then grew in intensity. Princess Platinum's pace slowed to a stop as she heard the commotion. She turned around and approached the railing once more to address her nation. Twilight and her father turned around as well, and stood behind her.

"You're concerned," she began, and the crowd went silent, "about leaving your homes and your families behind for a future with ponies we've fought against for so long." Nodding heads and sounds of agreement rose in a moment, and as they died down Princess Platinum continued. "Your houses are your homes, it's true; but your home is where you feel most at home." The princess paused, and looked at her father. Her father looked back at her with kind eyes and nodded. Encouraged by her father, she smiled and continued. "This castle may be my home now, but it won't be forever. This castle is merely thousands of stones stacked upon each other. My home is where my father is and where my family will be, wherever that may be. I will be giving up this castle to go to a land where we can thrive, but we can only thrive if the three tribes can cooperate. Commander Hurricane of the pegasi, Chancellor Puddinghead of the earth ponies, myself, and all our advisers have all agreed to cooperate, and I hope you all may join us in making Equestria our new home."

King Bullion stepped up to his daughter with a smile and wrapped his foreleg around her. She turned to him and returned his embrace.

"Perhaps," Star Swirl said to Twilight quietly, "it is time to make our own preparations. But first, tell me more about windigos. I've never actually seen one, and they sound like incredible creatures!"