Preface and Prologue

AUTHOR’S NOTE:

The account following was assembled from first-hand interviews with those involved (at least, those who could be contacted within a reasonable timeframe). Though the author accepted most of this testimony, rigorous cross-checking was done in the event that it was likely the witness was lying to cover up past misdeeds or exaggerating past successes, which admittedly was most of the time. Since this history bridges such a long period it is unavoidable that there has been some aberration in the historical record. However, in the interest of future generations that might benefit from this work, it has been presented in as factual a manner as can be reasonably attempted.

-Her Majesty High Princess Twilight Sparkle of Equestria,

Dated: 18 Aug. 3256 (Unified Imperial Time)

22nd day of Reaper's Moon, 4 (Third Age of Equestria)

Prologue

Twilight closed the door to her room gently and walked slowly over to her writing desk. This was the day, the culmination of months of research, trawling through exhaustive historical documents and interviewing countless subjects. Finally, it was time to begin. She ran her eyes over the desk. Everything was there that she would need: recording touch-screen and stylus, fibre optic network link, and of course a mountain of parchment, her notes and plans. Some might call her old-fashioned, after all a personal data assistant could have held all this and more, and all in a space smaller than an envelope. But Twilight still wasn’t used to the new Equestria, and she doubted she ever would be.

Outside, the wind gusted as an international transport liner shrieked by overhead, bound for the newly constructed space port in New Appleloosa. The wind whipped through the flags adorning the peaked roofs of the nation’s capital. Slowly, Canterlot had recovered from the purgatory of the past few years, the horrors of the Integration. The city was rebuilding itself, struggling on as best as it could in the brave new dawn that Equestria faced.

Reflectively, the lavender unicorn examined the only other object on her desk, a faded photograph of her old mentor, Celestia. The picture had been taken more than six years ago, back when the Princess had still had her beauty. Celestia stood proudly in the foreground, framing the rising sun at her right shoulder and the gleaming capital over her left. I’m doing this for you, Celestia, she thought to herself. The ponies must be made aware of how wrong they were about you.

Twilight picked up the stylus, and shuffled a few pages around as she tried to get her thoughts in order. The story was long and complicated, intertwined through history like a tightly coiled braid. Realizing that this task was going to require utmost concentration, she pushed a virtual button on the holographic console that stood just off to the desk’s right. Shortly, a trim white unicorn appeared in the doorway. Although she was dressed in the white and blue robes of the monarchy, this servant had embellished hers with a ring of multicoloured gemstones about the collar. It perfectly complemented her light blue eyes.

“Do you require something, Your Majesty?” asked Rarity, careful to show the proper respect and deference to the newly crowned High Princess.

“Nothing special, Rarity,” Twilight replied. “I just want to make it clear that I am absolutely not to be disturbed for any reason while I am writing.”

“Ooh, you’re finally getting around to it?” Rarity approached cautiously, and then a drawn expression appeared on her face. “It really is a terrible tragedy, all that has happened. However will you even start?”

“I think I’m just going to have to begin where it all began, so long ago. Ponies deserve nothing less than the whole truth.”

Rarity cast a quick glance over her shoulder, and then closed the door silently with a shot of magic. “But I thought you were being commissioned by… him,” she finished in a very quiet voice.

Twilight felt an involuntary shiver pass down her spine as she thought of her superior, the disturbingly twisted figure that now paid her living expenses, and who had originally commissioned her “official history”. “Just because it will be stored in the Imperial Archives, doesn’t mean that ponies shouldn’t read it. In order to move past this as a country, we must come to terms with our history.”

Rarity straightened her posture once more, standing stolidly as she waited for the Princess’ dismissal. “Do whatever you feel is necessary then, Twilight,” she concluded. “If that is all you need me for, I have a chess match scheduled this afternoon with Spike. You know how busy he is these days, so I’m really looking forward to the opportunity to get reacquainted with him.”

Twilight waited for several seconds, then realized why Rarity was still standing there. “Yes! You can go, of course!” Twilight finally blurted out. “We’re friends, Rarity! Haven’t I told you that don’t need to put on the whole formal rules of etiquette when we’re in private?”

“Thank you, Your Majesty.” The Lady of the Chamber bowed low with a slight smile, and then retreated to the door, letting herself out silently. Twilight berated herself. She was never going to get used to this whole Princess thing, of that she was certain. Then, an idea sparked off inside her mind, bouncing away from what Rarity had just said. Chess.

It seemed just right, oddly appropriate. Pulling off the first few stacks of her notes, she found the passage she was looking for. Indeed, it would be the perfect place to start. Summoning her concentration, she put stylus to screen and began to write. Equestria, she thought, here begins your story, a story that will be written in fire, water, and blood.

Chapter 1: Opening Book

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“Equestria under Discord: what a frightful place. So long as I shall live, it is my duty to ensure history never repeats itself.”

- High Princess Celestia, Personal Journals (Vol. 2)

14 Apr. 1349 (Unified Imperial Time)

14th Day of Planter’s Moon 908 (First Age of Equestria)

Discord’s Capital City of Eridian

“It’s your move, Sister.”

Celestia glanced up across the table towards Luna, her concentration having been momentarily broken. With a shake of her head, she returned her attention to the pieces laid out on the table between them.

Celestia was fully aware that it was in fact her move. She had been puzzling over the arrangement of the chessboard in front of her for five minutes already. Her White King was well-defended on the near rank, and her sister’s King was vulnerable, as her other pieces were scattered about in a seeming mess. Luna’s Mage, especially, was stranded in a corner, unable to give any real support to the formation. Checking the board over a final time, she reached out with her hoof, and manipulated the White Princess onto h7. Satisfied, she sat back with a small grin. Now that the Captain was pinned to the King, her sister was quickly running out of options.

When Luna immediately charged the Black Princess down to a1 and stated, “Check,” in a satisfied tone, Celestia had to put in an effort resisting the urge to raise her hoof to her forehead.

“Seriously,” she began, exasperation clear in her tone, “you’re not even trying anymore, are you?”

“Whatever do you mean?” Luna asked innocently. “I checked you. Isn’t that the whole point of the game?”

In frustration, Celestia stood up, and indicated her sister’s stranded Princess with an outstretched hoof. “Yes, you checked me. Now what am I going to do? I only have one move: to capture your Princess like so,” she stated as she executed the capture. “Now you’ve gained absolutely nothing, and lost your Princess. It’s no wonder I always win these games, if that’s how you think!”

There followed a moment of silence, and then Luna came out around the table to stand beside her sister. In the flickering light of the room’s lone candle it would have been difficult for most ponies to ascertain the intent in her eyes, but Celestia had known her sister for years, and could read her innocence like a book. “Come now, Sister, it’s only a game. I play it to have fun, just as you should. Do you want to continue?”

In response, Celestia turned away from her sister, and started walking toward the window. “If you’re not even going to try to challenge me, then what point is there in continuing?” After a moment of silence, she began to hear the sound of the chess set being packed away. Celestia spent the time surveying the view out over the city.

The room that she shared with her sister occupied the second floor of a roughshod hovel on one of Eridian’s low and dirty side streets. The winding, pitted dirt road that serviced the dwellings here ran for about a mile before dead-ending in one of the city’s many plazas. Beneath her, Celestia could see that the ponies living in this section of town were mostly out in the street, doing whatever they could to survive. It didn’t matter whether that meant scavenging or begging for food, or attempting to barter what possessions they still owned for the necessities of life. In that sense, she and her sister were lucky. They had their own ways of obtaining food and drink, though they might not have been particularly honest. In Equestria, one did whatever had to be done.

Turning back inside, she could see that Luna had set the chess set aside in the dim corner where they kept such pleasantries. Besides the small table and two chairs that they had been seated at for the game, the room also contained each of their sleeping arrangements, and an improvised kitchen area. Overall, about a hundred square feet of living space, enough to get by with, but not nearly enough for real comfort. Not that either of them really cared. It was all that they had ever known, and they did at least have each other, which was more than most ponies in Eridian could claim these days.

For the moment, what light there was filtering in through the window was doing very little to illuminate the space, thus the necessity for the candle on the kitchen countertop. It was the middle of the day, or at least the middle of what passed for “day” here in Equestria, though in Eridian that didn’t matter. At all hours the sky above the city was obscured by a thick wall of swirling grey cloud, the work of Discord’s magic, or so everyone said. Because of this, the streets of Eridian were held in a state of permanent twilight. The passage of time had thus become a completely arbitrary thing, up to the decision of the individual. The way that Celestia and Luna defined a “day” was just as likely to be completely different from the way their own neighbours did it.

Finally, Celestia’s gaze fell back onto the form of her sister, who was rummaging through the cache of foodstuffs in the back of the room, likely looking for a snack before work tonight. She casually approached, stopping just behind Luna. “Could you pass me out an apple, Sister?" she asked over the rustling in the closet. "And take one for yourself as well.”

Luna emerged holding three apples. She passed one to her sister, and took a large bite from one of the others, causing several drops of juice to run down her lips and onto the floor. With a sigh, Celestia worked the other apple free from her sister’s hoof and tossed it back into the pantry. “Just one is all for now, I’m afraid,” she said to Luna in a stern voice. “We’ll need two for the shill tonight, and who knows how much more if you screw up again like last time.”

With an indignant glare, Luna wiped her face with the back of her leg. “It was just two apples! And we came out four ahead of what we needed besides!” Taking another bite, Luna relaxed against the counter. “But did you see the look on that colt’s face when he won? Oh, it just melted my heart! For all you know, he could have had a family to feed.”

“Well, we can’t be bothered to go around seeing to the needs of every pony in Equestria, now can we?” was Celestia’s cold reply. “Since it looks like I’m the only one here looking out for us first, tonight let me decide who gets to win, alright?”

Luna nodded, but Celestia knew that the issue was far from settled. She resolved to watch her sister very closely tonight, to make sure that no profit was unnecessarily lost. Celestia took a delicate bite of her own apple, and then allowed her gaze to fall to the window once more, rising up over the low roofs of the city, and out into the horizon. Far beneath Eridian’s mountain perch lay a country of green fields and running streams. Nonetheless, life out there was just as lawless and unfortunate as it was here. She wasn’t being callous in looking out for herself first. If she and Luna had been able to make a larger difference, to do something meaningful in the broader scope, she wouldn’t hesitate at the opportunity to help. But as it stood, the problem was simply too large for either of them to face. What good would a few apples do to help a population of thousands?

As she stood looking out the window, an apple core passed several inches over her head, sailing out into the street before rolling a few yards down one of the worn pathways. Behind her, Luna climbed into her bed for a few hours of rest. Celestia, though, stayed awake for several minutes more, to think.

Their hired help was late, so Celestia and Luna had to stand together on tonight’s street corner for several minutes just waiting for him. After a couple of nights spent plying their trade in the general vicinity of their residence, tonight Luna had voted that they strike out somewhere new, so as to attract some fresh eyes. The square where they now stood was in an upper ring of the city, though of course it was just as dim and decrepit as the rest. The only difference here was that if one looked up, the crooked and twisted spires of Discord’s castle punctuated the sky. Built from blank grey stone, the towers of the tyrant’s seat cast themselves round each other in a chaotic tempest of style and design. Indeed, any attempt to discern an overall theme in the architecture left an observer only more confused than when they started.

The self-styled High King rarely left his quarters within the castle, but his power and presence could be felt throughout Equestria all the same. Ancient history told that once Equestria had been a peaceful land. The three pony tribes had lived in harmony with each other, governed by an equal triumvirate of representatives. The arrival of Discord had changed that, and now all of ponydom knew only fear and uncertainty. Even as the two sisters waited now in the plaza, lightning flashed in the distance. Just another one of the King’s mood swings.

Finally coming to the conclusion that it was late enough to start even without their shill, Celestia motioned for Luna to set up their apparatus. It was a simple enough deal: one square table, three inverted cups, and some small trinket to serve as a marker. The game was as old as the hills of Equestria, and was usually a fair way to spend one’s time when among friends. It was only when put on by a skilled practitioner that it became a reliable way to earn a living.

Technically, “Fool’s Paradise”, as it was colloquially referred to, though Celestia preferred the rather less pejorative “shell game”, was a confidence trick. Thus it was at the very least highly unethical, and probably would have been illegal in a more civilized society. Eridian, however, was about as far from civilized as a society could get, and so the two sisters were free to pull their con on anyone ignorant enough to fall for it. Of course, Celestia didn’t put it quite that way when she thought about it to herself. To her, they were doing what was necessary for their own survival, just as any pony would do.

Luna was the one with the skill, a deftness with her hooves that she had developed in her free time at a young age. Contrary to some popular beliefs, a well-run shell game did not require a trick table or other subterfuge. Instead, it was all a matter of having somepony on hand who could be deft enough with the cups. Celestia’s participation in the endeavour was to act as a hook, luring potential marks into the game and watching over things to make sure they stayed under control. Usually, there would be one or two other shills present to create an aura of reputability, but tonight the two of them were being forced to go it alone.

Not that Celestia found it difficult to gather a crowd, since even though Equestrian ponies were unique creatures in several ways, one thing that consistently bound them together was their outwardly trusting demeanour. Celestia grabbed onto that naïveté and milked it for all it was worth.

Striding out in front of Luna’s table, Celestia stood tall and let her voice carry out over the area. “Who’s feeling lucky? Want to turn one apple into five, two into twelve? With one simple pick you could be set for a week!” Zeroing in on a reasonably well-dressed colt just off to her left, Celestia approached him with a jovial grin. “How about you, fine sir? Have time for a simple game to make your fortune?”

Celestia’s smile was disarming, and she could tell that he was seriously considering it. Taking the initiative, she led him over to the table, where a small crowd had already gathered. As she approached, Celestia knocked on the table twice. She could see the acknowledgement pass immediately over her younger sister’s eyes. Let him win once to hook the crowd, then run him till he’s done. Luna returned a slight nod.

Turning to face the crowd, she kept up the enthusiastic grin, as well as a calm and level voice. It was time to seal their interest. “It’s a simple game, ridiculously simple really. One stone, three cups. The stone goes into one, and around it goes.” As Luna began shuffling the cups, Celestia turned to address their mark. “Now sir, I shall ask you one simple question: where is the stone now? Even shot at success, and we’ll pay 2-1 odds. That sounds like a winning proposition, does it not?” She noted nods at her question from the crowd. Indeed, tonight was going to go well.

Ten minutes later, the two sisters were doing a roaring trade. Although perhaps “trade” wasn’t quite the right word, since the apples were only really flowing in one direction: out of the hooves of the willing marks and into the stash in Luna’s saddlebags. Now all Celestia had to do was stand at the curb side, stopping the occasional passerby to keep the crowd going.

There was another factor at work in increasing the spectacle, that being the sheer visibility of the two sisters themselves. The striking opposition of their appearances conspired to make them stand out in any crowd. Celestia’s white coat and flowing mane served as a counterbalance to Luna’s shadowy visage. For that matter, the two of them stood out biologically as well. The “winged unicorn” sub-species, of which both Celestia and Luna were members, was quite rare among the pony tribes, although not altogether unheard of.

And so, standing with wings outstretched and horn raised to the heavens, Celestia made a mystical sight on any street corner. It was more than enough to cause ponies to stop and talk, and from there most simply strayed into the crowd afterwards.

Since the business of drawing ponies in was mostly taking care of itself now, Celestia busied herself watching over the crowd. Every so often, she would give her sister a slight nod, indicating that the current player should be allowed to win, so as to keep everyone hooked. But even if a mark won once, Luna was never, ever, to allow one of them to leave while up on the House.

When a young foal came up to the table, Celestia could tell immediately that he brought some trouble with him. Dressed in only a tattered felt cap, the light green earth pony had a pair of large blue eyes that turned the heart of any pony that looked into them. She cast her sister a fiery glare over the crowd, very clearly intimating that he was just another mark, but from the look on Luna’s face, what she planned to do was obvious. When the foal laid his solitary apple on the table, her sister shuffled the cups around, gazing into the eyes of her customer the whole time, as if trying to tell him where the stone was by telepathy.

Celestia knew that she had to do something before Luna screwed them both over. Jostling her way through the crowd, she got to the table just as the cups were coming into their final resting positions. Sure, they would only be paying out two apples to this particular foal, but there were other bets on the table too, and those would take a much more sizable chunk out of their payday.

Coming abreast of the table, she roughly pushed aside the cups, leaving the bets open. Addressing the crowd, she spoke quickly. “Sorry folks, that’s all for tonight. There’s rain on the horizon, and we need to get out of here to keep our equipment dry. Sorry for the inconvenience, but we’ll be around again soon. Have a good night.” She felt a sharp jerk on her shoulder then, and found Luna’s earnest eyes waiting for her.

“Are you serious right now?” was all that her sister said to her.

“I’m certainly not going to let you or your silly ideals get in the way of the success of our operation,” Celestia replied with a sharp whisper. Seeing that the young foal was still standing in front of the table, she tossed him back his apple. “Sorry kid, but we’re all done for tonight. Run along now.” As the crowd dispersed, Celestia busied herself folding up the table, leaving Luna to secure their takings.

That night, once they had arrived back home, Celestia went over the numbers of that evening's take. It was an impressive balance sheet, especially since they had been going it alone, and didn’t have to give away any cuts to partners. But when she got down to the bottom, the numbers didn’t quite add up.

Celestia did them again, just to make sure that she hadn’t made a mistake, and then looked up to where her sister was sitting, chewing on a late-night snack. “Luna? We’ve got three apples fewer than we should. Would you know anything about that?” She had a feeling as to what the answer was going to be, but wanted to give Luna the chance to admit it first.

“Three apples?” Luna asked, as she tossed her eaten core out the window once more. “Right. I passed them to that foal when you weren’t looking. You should have seen the look in his eyes. I just couldn’t stand to let him go with nothing.”

Even though she had been expecting the answer, Celestia still couldn’t believe that her sister could have been so naïve. “The eyes, right? And where do you think he is now, Luna? Melting somepony else’s heart in order to get even more charity, that’s where! Meanwhile you almost threw away more than a dozen.”

Luna got up and walked over to the table, sitting down opposite to her sister. She wore a calm smile as she gazed into Celestia’s eyes. “Why do you always have to be so serious, Sister? You know that we’re not the only two ponies in this city trying to do our best to get by. Why not save a thought for their problems from time to time?”

Celestia’s eyes drifted back down to the table, where the results of their evening’s work were still spread out. “If I don’t worry for us, who will?” she eventually replied. “Go about your own crusades of kindness if you want to, but the expenditures will come out of your share.”

Once Celestia had finished the final inventory of their takings, Luna blew out the candle, and the room settled into the natural twilight of the city outside. The dark alicorn came down to sit beside her elder sister on the edge of one of the mattresses. As they sat together in the silence of the room, Luna’s whisper cut through the air once more. “You’re not really mad at me, are you?”

Embracing her younger sister for a moment, Celestia spoke softly. “We're sisters, Luna, and you're all I've got right now. You know that I could never stay mad with you. Just... let me do the worrying for the both of us.”

“Goodnight, Celestia.”

“Goodnight, Luna.”

Chapter 2: Closed Game

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“In those days, there were no rules. The smart ponies did whatever they could to get ahead. One naturally learned to use absolutely anything that was at one’s disposal, if it meant gaining an advantage.”

- High Princess Celestia, Personal Journals (Vol. 2)

Celestia and Luna didn’t have to go out for work every night. Depending on the size of their take, sometimes the two sisters could survive for more than a week without having to hit the streets again. But ponies could not survive on apples alone, so it was necessary from time to time that they emerge into the wild to engage in some trade.

The old economic systems of Equestria had completely collapsed after Discord had taken over the country. Currency no longer held any value, although a few families still kept secret hoards of rusty silver tri-coins, hoping that someday they would be valuable again. A pony’s wealth was measured in the bare essentials, and the only way to get your hoofs on all of them was to trade what you had with someone else who had what you needed.

And so tonight, Celestia and Luna had packed a small saddlebag’s worth of apples before setting out into the eternally blue-tinged twilight. Their destination was a marketplace where the local ponies often gathered to interact and do their business. Although it was only about a mile away, the journey would take some time, due to the winding terraces upon which the city was constructed.

Eridian, most remarked upon seeing it for the first time, was built in a rather perilous position. On the northward face of a long chain of mountains, which continued far to the south beyond the Equestrian borders, the city’s foundations were screwed into the side of a nearly vertical cliff-face. Celestia had always felt that the engineer who had conceived of this bizarre arrangement must have been ridiculously arrogant, or else just crazy enough to see the project through to completion. Either way, the city’s present day residents were forced to live with the decision.

The city itself was actually surprisingly horizontal, built on the flat outcropping of stone that had been prepared for it, but compromises had been made as new developments were added on over the years, and nowadays it wasn’t entirely strange to look out one’s penthouse window into the neighbour’s basement. As might be expected, the streets and pathways constructed to service the area were a maze of switchback curves and foolhardy cross-paths. Even though this was far from the first time that the two sisters had made this journey, Celestia and Luna both knew that a careless traveler could easily get swallowed by the labyrinth. And the dry sameness of the city’s architecture meant that recovering one’s sense of direction was a nearly impossible task.

As she carefully picked her way across broken cobblestones, Celestia realized that her sister was quiet, far more so than usual. The events in the square the other night must have put her off more so than Celestia had originally thought. But Luna had never been the type to hold a grudge, so her older sister was sure that eventually she would speak up. If anything, Celestia preferred having the opportunity to think in peace.

But the soothing silence, like all good things, had to come to an end eventually. As the pair rounded a corner and the countryside again fell out in front of them, Luna finally gave voice to what was occupying her mind. “Sister, Equestria is massive, isn’t it? Millions of ponies live out there, and all are suffering under the same scourge as we are. Haven’t you ever wondered if there might be some way to help them?”

“Luna, we can barely help ourselves. What good can we do for the larger population?”

“Certainly nothing if we don’t try.” Luna’s voice carried a hint of iron beneath her words. But when she caught the look in her sister’s eyes, her gaze fell back down to the road. “I’ve been thinking about it a lot lately.”

Celestia remained silent to let her sister sort out her own intentions. It wasn’t very often that Luna took time to think about things, rather than charging in headfirst and tackling problems as they came up. All around them was the disturbed silence of a city caught eternally halfway between rest and work, forever unsure of when to be active and when to stop and reflect on its own misfortunes. A scent of rotting garbage wafted up from a side street, so Celestia picked up the downward pace. After several moments, her younger sister found the words she was looking for.

“We are special, Celestia,” she began flatly. “It’s in our very bones: alicorns are destined for greatness. I mean, look at the historical record for proof of that. You and I each have our own special talents. I just feel like a life spent scratching existence off of other ponies’ ignorance would be a life entirely wasted.”

Celestia took a moment to compose her response. Sure, the historical record was on Luna’s side in this argument. At times, she too had felt that certain mysterious feeling of untapped potential. But the risks, and the toils associated with aiding a country like Equestria were simply too large for either of them in their present states. That being said…

“I do agree with you on that first point,” Celestia started, pausing for a moment to navigate a particularly dilapidated section of roadway. Above them, the sky rumbled as a bolt of blue lightning crackled through the cloud covering the city. Finding her hooves on solid cobblestones again, she continued. “Perhaps ponies deserve better, and some pony needs to take the responsibility to make that change happen. But look around us, Luna. This problem is massive, just like you said. Without resources, without skill, we wouldn’t even know where to start.”

Luna took all of this with a silent and sullen demeanour. For a moment, her elder sister thought that a reply would be quickly forthcoming, but Luna seemed to want to think things over very thoroughly before continuing the discussion. And so the pair continued on in silence for the better part of an hour, passing through crumbling neighbourhoods and the occasional plaza, many of which had likely once been bustling commercial centers, but were now just forlorn patches of stone. From them a pony could look down the mountainside and glimpse countryside which, like them, had probably once shone with the beauty of a polished diamond, but was now merely an expanse of dull brokenness. It wasn’t until they stood on the hill overlooking their ultimate destination, admiring the twinkling candlelight of the atmosphere below that Luna spoke again.

“Promise me something, Sister,” she said quietly.

Celestia turned to look at Luna and could tell by the look in her eyes that she had come to a decision. Whatever her sister was about to ask her, Celestia knew that Luna considered it to be very important. “What do you need?”

“That if an opportunity does arise for us to do our part for our fellow ponies, you will join me in undertaking the task. It just feels right to me that that is what we should be doing. I can’t quite explain it, but—”

She was interrupted by her sister then, who reached forward for a single loving embrace. “Of course I will,” Celestia replied firmly. “I will always be there to support you if such a decision comes to us.” Finishing up, Celestia allowed the warmth to leave her tone in an instant. “Now, you know what we’re here for right?”

“Of course,” Luna replied.

“Good. See you in half an hour then, at our usual place.”

Roughly thirty-five minutes later, Celestia’s saddlebags had been relieved of most of their fruity contents, instead now being weighed down with candle wax, refined baked goods, and several fresh canteens of water. The water was a bit of a luxury purchase, as it wasn’t particularly difficult to boil collected rainwater, but the two of them had a surplus, so Celestia had decided to go for something special. She carried the load over to their usual table in the square, one of several that were set out. Most were populated with various groups shooting the breeze over tall glasses of cider. The beverages were provided by the middle-aged practitioner of a nearby eatery, which actually did a reasonable trade, at least as far as Eridian went.

Luna was seated at the table already, staring out over the horizon with a thoughtful look on her face. The results of her bargaining were positioned underneath the table, and Celestia withdrew them to run a quick inventory.

Gazing over at Luna for a moment, Celestia could see that her expression was very distant. Clearly, she was still lost in her thoughts about the plight of the nation. Celestia went back to the numbers. Perhaps she had agreed to her sister’s proposition earlier, but Celestia knew that her own heart just wasn’t into the whole idea. Effecting real change in Equestria would require vast power, and support from the citizenry. Neither she nor Luna had ever even set their hooves outside the city for their whole lives! How could either of them hope to make a difference? Still, she respected her sister’s determination, and strong sense of right and wrong. It wasn’t that Celestia didn’t realize Luna was right, she just had more important things to think about right now. If a true opportunity ever did present itself, and Celestia highly doubted that one would, she wasn’t entirely sure what she would do. It was a bridge that would have to be crossed when encountered.

She stopped with the inventory for a moment, scratching her chin thoughtfully. Her sister’s numbers weren’t adding up. For an instant, she wondered if another “charitable donation” had exited their funds tonight, but the real answer hit her soon afterwards. Spying the mug of cider (mostly untouched) that sat in front of her sister’s chair, she felt that familiar hoof-to-face feeling coming on again. “You actually paid for that drink, didn’t you?” she asked in an incredulous tone.

With a look of innocent surprise, Luna turned to face her. “Isn’t that what you’re supposed to do?”

Celestia laughed; a soft chuckle that caused her flowing mane to ripple in accelerated time. “I hate to tell you this, sister, and I don’t mean to be insulting, but only a simpleton pays for her own drinks. You should learn to use the blessings that we, as mares, have received. Allow me to demonstrate.” Turning away then, Celestia scanned the plaza. Several tables down were a group of lively young stallions, likely splurging a month’s worth of savings on a night of decadence. The night was still young, so they were likely to still have some good credit with the barkeep.

Zeroing in on a handsome brown colt who appeared to be several years younger than she was, she made sure that he noticed her eye contact. Seeing the interest in his expression and body language, she flirtatiously tossed back her mane, making sure to frame it well with the twinkling light of her eyes. Now that his interest was piqued, she offered him a seductive wink. Although it wasn’t really necessary at this point, she also decided to go a little over the top for her sister’s benefit, and so blew him a kiss as well, making sure to maintain direct eye contact of course.

Celestia turned back to Luna with a satisfied smirk on her face. A minute later, the establishment’s practitioner arrived with a tall flagon of cider. “Compliments of the gentle-colts down the way,” he explained tersely, before moving on again. Celestia sipped at the beverage, admiring the mixture of emotions that played across her sister’s face.

At length, Luna found her voice. “I am not entirely sure how I feel about that,” was her only reply.

Still savouring the cool flavour of the cider, Celestia opened her eyes to regard Luna coolly. “It’s called being resourceful, sister. Everything at your disposal is an advantage if you know how to use it properly. That’s another reason that I always beat you in chess, I think.”

“But I feel like it’s not really necessary, is it Celestia? Why not ask them nicely first, instead of using them to get what you want?”

Celestia shook her head. “Do you honestly think that any of these ponies would care about us when they themselves are barely getting by? Use your head, Luna! Everypony takes care of themselves first.”

Luna was silent then for some time, leaving her sister to go back to enjoying her beverage. She was finishing it off when Luna finally spoke again. “Even in dark times like these, a kind heart is easier to find than you would think, Celestia. Take that stallion by the bar for instance. He doesn’t look particularly friendly, but I’ll bet you this glass of cider that underneath he has a heart of gold.”

Celestia took a moment to examine the patron in question. He sat hunched over the bar; caressing a glass of apple whiskey between his two front hooves. Oddly enough, his profile didn’t really fit with the standard Eridian rabble. A clean and well-trimmed deep brown mane swept back over slender shoulders, down to a pair of neatly folded wings adorning his back. His light green eyes contrasted well with his dark, slightly off-yellow coat. Right now, those eyes stared intently into the depths of his whiskey, though every now and then he would turn aside and glance in their general direction. Perched gently on his nose was the strangest thing about him: a clean and well-maintained set of glasses, fitting him perfectly. Celestia didn’t even know where in Equestria a pony would go to get glasses made. Overall, he just didn’t fit in, and that meant he was trouble.

But Luna was already on her way over. After retrieving their purchased items from beneath the table, Celestia followed warily, ready to pull her sister out if things got out of hand. The mysterious pony paid them no heed as they approached, instead continuing to examine his drink. He didn’t react until Luna, having walked right to his side, reached out and patted him on the shoulder. “Good evening, sir,” she chirped.

The stallion turned and looked Luna over with an appraising stare. Behind her, Celestia tensed, ready to intervene at the first sign of trouble. But after a moment, the pegasus simply took another drink. Setting down his glass again, he passed a remark over his shoulder at Luna. “Little young to be out alone, aren’t you?” His voice was crystalline, clear as a flute, and lacking the pompous pretension of a pony trying to puff up his ego.

Luna responded quickly. “Actually, I’m eighteen, but thank you. And I’m not alone, right behind me is—”

“Ah, you have a friend as well!” blurted out the stallion, seeming to notice Celestia for the first time.

“Um, no,” Celestia stammered. “Her elder sister actually, and I’m sorry for her having interrupted you. She can be a bit impulsive sometimes.” She placed a hoof on Luna’s shoulder, hoping to get away quickly.

“Nonsense!” declared the pegasus immediately. “In fact, I daresay I could use some company. Why don’t you both have a seat? Here, I’ll even buy you some drinks.” His smile was innocent enough, but Celestia was still nervous.

Luna though, wasn’t prone to any of the same inhibitions. She sank easily down onto the stool nearest to her new friend, shooting her sister a glance that very clearly said, I told you so. Rolling her eyes, Celestia followed.

Given a second chance to look him over from this closer perspective, Celestia could see that he had finished about half of his beverage, which occupied a cloudy glass sitting upon the worn bar. A surreptitious glance into his eyes revealed a complexion that was still bright and clear though, not showing any signs of impairment. As payment for their two new glasses, he merely cast the barkeep a sidelong glance. “I restocked his inventory this afternoon, so tonight mine are on the house.” He took another sip from his own whiskey.

“So you work here then?” Luna asked.

“Me? No, no, I just got into the city this morning. I was looking for odd jobs, and happened to run into this fellow in need, so we helped each other out. Tomorrow, I guess that I’ll need to find somepony else to help, or else I'll just move on.” He calmly adjusted his spectacles a touch farther up his nose.

"A migrant worker, then?" Celestia let an ounce of distaste enter her tone. Just as she had suspected, here was another pony who was merely doing whatever it took to survive.

The smile on his face did not wilt. "Well, we all have to eat somehow. I simply prefer to spend my time helping other ponies out, lending a smile and a strong hoof to make somepony else’s day just that little bit brighter." He extended a hoof over to Luna. "Sorry that I forgot to introduce myself by the way. I’m Atlas."

“Luna,” she returned, “and my sister here is Celestia.”

Celestia examined his face closely as she returned his gesture of greeting. The smile seemed genuine and friendly, but she was still wary. Atlas’s story was admirable, but his appearance was far too trim for it. If he truly did live only off of the kindness of others, then she would have expected his complexion to reflect the inherent uncertainty of such a lifestyle. His groomed mane and blemish-free face spoke volumes to the contrary. “So what brought you to Eridian then, Atlas? There must be plenty of work in the rest of the country.”

“Well, it had been a while since I last swung through here, to be honest. And it really does seem that everywhere I go there are opportunities to help once I look hard enough. Besides, any city which could have produced such interesting specimens as yourselves clearly can’t be all that bad.” He chuckled as he delivered that last remark, then continued, “You certainly do seem a cut above the usual desperate types here in the city. What’s your business, then?”

“Our business is our own,” Celestia replied sharply, before Luna had a chance to respond. “We do what we have to do to survive.” She could see Luna immediately pick up on the unspoken message in her tone. Nothing else would be said on that matter.

“Well, that sounds awfully cold,” he replied after taking another drink. There was a moment of silence between them, and Atlas brought his eyes over to Celestia’s own, probing for a response.

“Some of us have to be cold,” Celestia returned with a bit more force, intimating her own silent challenge to him. “How else would you expect us to survive?” Expectantly, she waited for the riposte that would continue their little verbal back-and-forth.

After an instant though, Atlas merely shrugged and reached again for his drink, seemingly admitting that she had won the round. “Fair enough,” he said. He was silent again for a few moments, apparently lost in thought, before Luna took it upon herself to extend the conversation.

"Is something wrong, Atlas?"

"Hmm?" he replied, looking up at her. Then, he seemed to shift gears almost, and Celestia realized that he was trying a new tack at the conversation. "No, nothing’s wrong with me. It’s just that whenever I think back and remember my travels back and forth through this country, I can’t help but think of all of the other unfortunate souls out there, each suffering in their own way under the tyrant’s rule. Compared to them, I’ve done relatively well, but I can’t help but feel a bit guilty that I am succeeding while so many others are barely getting by."

Luna’s eyes lit up when she heard this, and immediately she nodded in agreement. "I know. Certainly it should be the responsibility of those among us that succeed to help the less fortunate. Sometimes... sometimes I wonder if every day that I do not act I am actually making the problem worse. But, what can a pony do, after all?"

"The problem is just too big, isn’t it?" Atlas continued after her. "Any single one of us can never hope to cause meaningful change when the whole country is mired in tragedy." He turned in his seat then, and looked deeply into Luna’s eyes. "But even a small act of kindness is important to somepony, right? And if we all do what we can, then maybe enough small things can add up to something bigger."

"Of course," she replied, and looked away from him for a second. "But where to start, then? The problem is everywhere, all around us. Even if I help one pony, surely there will be twenty more that I will have to ignore. How can I make that choice?"

"We all just have to do what we can, and hope for the best," Atlas replied, and then took the last gulp of his drink. "Some of us can do more, some of us have to do less, but we all have our own talents and gifts to contribute. If you think on it hard enough, you’ll know where you need to be in order to make the most difference."

Luna was silent then for a moment more, and Celestia could tell that she was thinking hard. She had a pretty good idea of the kinds of thoughts that would be going through her sister’s mind as well. Finally, Luna spoke up in a soft, clear voice. "I think... I think that I know where I need to be, Atlas."

"Then why aren’t you there, doing what you need to do?"

Luna’s eyes flicked unconsciously to the side, over across Atlas’s seat and onto the adjacent one, where Celestia was sitting. Her older sister felt a little smaller in her seat, as the implication was clear. Celestia returned just the smallest shake of her head, hoping to be as discreet as possible in her dismissal.

"I’m... I’m not really sure," was Luna’s reply.

Atlas slowly placed one hoof over her shoulder then, and very calmly looked her in the eyes. "You’ll figure it out. I’m sure you will." And then, after holding her gaze for just a moment, he turned around in his seat to address Celestia. Although it was only for the briefest fraction of a second, Celestia caught a grin coming to his features, and instantly she was on her guard. Any doubt had now vanished from her mind: this was not merely a chance meeting. This pegasus had an agenda, and he was working some sort of angle on them. Whatever it was, she had absolutely no intention of being caught up in his game. “And what about you then, Celestia? What’s your take on all of this?”

Celestia had a feeling that she should probably just leave now, which would certainly be the safest option. But in spite of that, she also felt a certain curiosity towards Atlas which needed to be satisfied, so she decided to play her part in the dance, at least for now. “I have my own concerns to worry about,” she replied in a level tone. “A little kindness, though a nice gesture, is not enough to save Equestria. We need something bigger than that.”

“True, perhaps. But if you’re not willing to be part of the solution, then what are you?”

“Not part of the problem, if that’s what you’re implying. I want to help just as much as the next pony does. I just can’t see how an individual’s actions could make any kind of difference.”

“Hmm,” Atlas turned back to the bar and swiveled his now-empty glass a few times across the surface. The sounds of conversation from the rest of the square drifted back over the party as Atlas waited. When he turned back to Celestia he had an odd look in his eye. “Are you happy with your life, Celestia?”

The penetrating question caught her off-guard, and she didn’t like it one bit. The really unfortunate thing was that it truly was a very difficult question to answer. Would she really be happy living the way her and Luna did now for the rest of their lives? Taking advantage of the ignorance of others to gather enough of the essentials to get by day to day? “I... know that there are worse circumstances that we could be in,” she managed to say.

“Really?” Atlas brought a foreleg down onto the counter, and when he spoke again he was all seriousness. “You’re criminals. Everything that you have you got through deceit, cunning, and taking advantage of those less fortunate than yourself. If you truly are content with living the rest of your life the way that you are right now, then I daresay you really are part of the problem.”

Celestia felt the impact of his words cut into her like razorblades, and knew that she was in an indefensible position. A quick glance across the table revealed that Luna too had felt the effects of that damning verbal condemnation, and her gaze had once more turned downcast. Celestia chose indignation as the proper response. “Just got into the city this morning, did you? How long have you been watching us?”

Atlas was grinning again, and it was clear that he knew he had struck his target. “That doesn’t matter. And I think your reaction proves that you agree with me, even if you’re not willing to admit it to yourself.”

Celestia had had enough of this. “Come on, Luna, it’s getting late. We should start heading for home,” she said curtly. She cursed her own foolishness for allowing any of this to happen. She had known that this pegasus was trouble as soon as she had first seen him. She had nothing but her own curiosity to blame for this.

Luna quickly obeyed, retrieving her items from beneath the stool. She was about to wish Atlas a good evening, but Celestia grabbed her shoulder and spun her around to face the far side of the square. She was practically dragging her sister out of there.

“You know, it doesn’t have to be this way!” Atlas called after them. Celestia kept walking away, and then he was beside them again, his powerful wings easily keeping pace with the two sisters.

“Why in Equestria should I listen to you?” Celestia threw her words at him like stones. “You skulk about in the shadows for who knows how long, keeping tabs on us, then suddenly show up out of nowhere to berate us for doing what we needed to do to survive? What do you want from us?”

“I wanted to prove to you that you are wasting your potential! That you could be doing so much more to help your country.” The smile on Atlas’s face was endearing, inviting. “And I wanted to make you an offer, because I know that deep down you both really want to help too. I wanted to offer you the chance to be part of the solution, rather than part of the problem. I wanted to offer you the chance to help me save Equestria.”

“What are you talking about?” Celestia answered back quickly, although she knew that she was rapidly losing control of this conversation. Although she had never been in this sort of a situation before, she was beginning to understand the emotions that probably played through Luna’s mind near to the end of their chess matches, as options dried up and avenues of defense were taken by the opponent.

Atlas drew up into a hover, as the trio had reached the edge of the square. Before them was a dark and narrow alleyway. “Not everypony out there thinks of themselves first,” Atlas continued. “Some of us know that there are bigger things to worry about than that. I’m offering both of you a chance to do something bigger, to effect some real change in this country, and to finally do the right thing for Equestria. Are you going to keep on walking the path of darkness, or are you going to join me on the path to freedom?”

Celestia took a brief look about, between the seemingly warm and caring eyes of Atlas and the pleading expression on her sister’s face. Undoubtedly, walking away now was not going to be a popular decision. But there was no way that she was going to give in to this charmer, whoever he happened to be. She turned back to him with an expression of fire. “Whatever game you’re playing at, neither Luna nor I will have any part in it.” And she walked away, jerking Luna into step after a couple of paces. Atlas remained hovering at the entrance to the alley, but Celestia didn’t look back at him. The next few days were going to be hard enough as it was.

Chapter 3: The King's Pawns

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“For we are above all else an adaptable species. Place a pony in any circumstance you could care to name, and it will find a way not just to survive, but to thrive.”

- Twilight Sparkle, The Politics of Friendship

Celestia was pacing about in the cramped space of their apartment, a hard enough task under the best of circumstances. Her mind was restless, just as it had been for all of the hours since the two of them had returned here. It seemed that whatever she tried to do to forget about her discussion with Atlas back in the square, the events refused to be set aside.

For a moment, she paused beside the drooping mattress that was her sleeping arrangements. Nestled into their own protected nook by the bedside were a few battered grey volumes, pages worn by years of use. Neither she nor Luna had ever had a formal education, indeed almost no pony had since the beginning of the King’s reign. These few relics of the bygone era of prosperity were her own way of remembering that which once had been.

Technically speaking, of course, spending supplies on literature went against her usual mantra of practical, frugal living, but Celestia had an insatiable curiosity, and she simply could not sit idle knowing that there was knowledge out there for her to learn. She had pored over each of these books many times, extracting the maximum amount of insight that she could from the histories held within their pages. Often, it was into a book that she would retreat when the world outside seemed to be getting too dark to live in anymore.

These old friends, however, had proven to be useless in driving away the feelings eating away at the corners of her consciousness. It was Atlas’s first question to her that rattled constantly through her head, delivered in that crisp, friendly, but now maddening tone: “Are you happy with your life, Celestia?”

Even after all of these hours of contemplation, she still didn’t have a satisfactory answer. This had been her life ever since Luna had been old enough to work with her, and it was certainly better than what she had had to deal with before then. But was it good enough? She took in the entirety of the room with a glance around. It would indeed be an ignominious end if the two of them never achieved anything more than this for the rest of their lives.

But that line of reasoning had an unfortunate conclusion that she didn’t like having to come to. If this life was indeed not good enough, and she should be looking for ways to strike out into something new and exciting, then it seemed inescapable that by refusing Atlas’s offer she had missed out on the perfect opportunity to do so. Now, all that she and Luna were left with was more of the same, moving about their usual cycle without any hope of breaking out of it anytime soon.

Behind her, she heard the sounds of her sister stirring from the peaceful slumber that had consumed her all through the night. Celestia had done her best to avoid the confrontation that she knew was inevitable, hoping that after a few hours her head would be clear enough to present a convincing argument that would placate her sister. It seemed now, though, that the delay had only served to confuse Celestia further.

Still, with morning now dawning – such as that could be said of course, in reality neither of the two sisters had ever even seen the Sun, let alone a sunrise – there really wasn’t much point in putting off the discussion any longer. Once Luna had shaken the last few wisps of sleep from her head Celestia walked over to her own bed and stood facing her. She didn’t need to say anything for Luna to realize that the time had come. “So, ready to talk then?” her sister prompted her, looking up with expectant eyes.

“I still stand by my decision,” Celestia said, trying to sound as confident and assured as possible.

“Why, then?” the reply was quick and pointed.

It was a rare event that Luna was the one asking the pointed questions. To Celestia’s memory, it usually worked the other way around. She tried not to sound too defensive in her answer. “I think that we would have been fools to trust Atlas after the way that he came after us. There was a lot that he wasn’t letting on.”

Luna got up from the edge of her bed and walked forward to look her sister in the eyes. Her gaze was shining bright with passion. “And why do you think that any of that matters, Celestia? You know that he was right, after all. Equestria is the way it is now because of ponies like us, ponies willing to live within Discord’s kingdom rather than fight it.”

In spite of the fact that she knew she needed to remain calm, Celestia felt her own emotions rising. “I would not be willing to throw away everything that we have worked so hard to gain merely for the chance that things might get better!”

“Oh, that’s right, I forgot! You’re totally satisfied with your life the way that it is right now. Totally willing to keep on perpetuating the very problems that we both know are to blame for the wretchedness of our circumstances.”

“Oh, come now, Luna! I mean, especially in our line of work, I would expect you to be aware that a pony is not always what he claims to be.”

“Oh, I am well aware of that.” Luna stalked away from her toward the window. “And I guess that I am also supposed to be happy with the fact that for the rest of my life I will be nothing but a liar and a criminal, surviving only off of what can be swiped from the tables of the innocent while they’re not looking. What a life that will be.”

Celestia took a deep breath. She knew that she had to be conciliatory now, as further escalation of the argument wasn’t going to get them anywhere. The only problem was that she wasn’t sure how to put a positive spin on any of this. “It won’t be this way forever. One way or another, this will not be our final destiny. Once we have enough to fulfill our own needs, then we can start to worry about the rest of Equestria.” She approached Luna slowly from behind, and reached out to lay a comforting hoof onto her sister’s shoulder.

“Then why did you say no?” Luna wheeled about as soon as Celestia’s hoof touched her. There were tears in her eyes. “Why did you refuse the only chance that we’ve ever had, to get out of this cycle once and for all?”

Celestia drew back from the sharp rebuke, and her sister quickly moved around her back into the room. She didn’t know what to say anymore, what the argument was that would justify her position. She heard Luna open up the pantry to rustle about for some food, but still Celestia remained at the window. Eridian spread out before her in all its grime and squalor. She didn’t want this to be their end, did she? But then, why? Why refuse her first chance to have a different life, to do something constructive to help change all of this? She didn’t know.

They went out for work again that night. It was the same routine, just like they had been doing for so many years, but tonight was different, if only for the pall of melancholy that had fallen over Celestia ever since the confrontation she had had with Atlas back in the square.

Still, Celestia hoped that perhaps getting back into the regular daily routine was just what was needed to chase the niggling concerns about their future from her mind. She knew of course that Luna didn’t like having to do it, but it wasn’t like they had a choice. For this night, they chose to move to a new area of the city. She had told Luna that it was only to reap the benefits of inexperienced marks, and of course she understood that even saying that didn’t put a particularly bright spin on the whole ordeal. But Celestia knew that Luna could see what the real reason was for the change of location. She swore to herself that she would be exceptionally vigilant tonight, to make sure that no uninvited guests could eavesdrop on their activities.

There was a chill wind in the air that night, and Celestia even felt an uncharacteristic shiver as they entered the square and set about preparing for the night’s work. While there were no real “seasons” in Discord’s Equestria, she somehow had the feeling that the days had been growing colder of late. Something probably had the King in a foul mood. Regardless of the weather, there were still ponies out and about, and it wasn’t long before both of the sisters fell into their pre-established routine, and set about to their task.

It was quite the brisk evening for work, and it was only a matter of minutes before they had amassed the usual stockpile of takings. Luna caught her eye over the crowd, and indicated their bulging saddlebags behind the table. Celestia returned a nod. The crowd was still lively, so there was no reason not to continue. With any luck, this might be the last time for a while that they would have to do this.

After sharing this unspoken conversation with her sister, Celestia turned around to go off again in search of any new clientele. Just as she stepped away once more into the square, she nearly collided with a stallion who had been standing behind her, a youthful yellow pegasus with shiny spectacles straddling his face. She quickly apologized before stepping around him, but then his face registered inside her memory, and she stopped.

“Hello, Celestia,” Atlas said, his voice just as clear as it had been last night.

“Hello, Atlas,” she returned, before turning around and coming up to stand beside him again. Part of her felt a bit smug to be here defying him so openly, but there was also a part that was very much on guard. Not only had he found them again, but clearly he had another discussion planned, since he had made his presence known so openly. “To what do I owe the courtesy of this meeting?”

Atlas kept on watching the spectacle before them with a deadpan expression as he continued, “Not to me, I’ll have you know, Celestia. I was quite disappointed, you see, with our conversation the other night, and so I went back to my colleagues, my fellows in the Resistance, with a bitter heart.

“I told them that we were wasting our time here in Eridian; I told them that you and Luna were clearly a lost cause, and that there was no point in continuing our attempts to persuade you to join our little crusade to free the country.”

“Hmm, and yet here you are again,” Celestia returned. She felt a bit of her original curiosity towards him re-surfacing. Regardless of whatever danger Atlas might represent, there was still something mysterious about him, and this resistance that he claimed to represent, that she wanted to know more about. Of course, that didn’t mean she was going to be any less wary of his motives.

A collective sigh reached them from the crowd ahead. The House had won another round, and Luna pulled another dozen apples over the counter. A warm smile came to Celestia’s face as she thought of all that tonight’s take would purchase for them, but she hid it quickly when Atlas brought his eyes over toward her. He held her gaze for just a moment before answering her unspoken question.

“Well, I was out-voted. There were others among the group that did not share my view, and felt that the two of you were worth a second attempt. So they sent me back once more, and I figured that there really wasn’t much of a point in trying to be subtle about it this time around.”

It was a satisfactory answer, certainly, but Celestia felt her interest intensifying. “And what is it about the two of us specifically that makes them so interested?”

Atlas remained silent for a moment, and Celestia guessed that he was weighing his options, in trying to figure out precisely how much he was going to reveal to her, and how much he was going to commit to the sale this time around. A cheer and some applause echoed over the square to them, but Celestia didn’t pay the ongoing game any attention. Luna would allow the players to win every so often to convince them that it was still worth their time.

At length, Atlas replied. “Do you think that I spend all of my days restocking bar inventories? You are correct after all. While little acts of kindness do help the situation, we are both aware of what needs to happen if Equestria is to change. And it is not an easy thing.” As if to punctuate what he was saying, a purple burst of magic lightning lit up the sky off in the distance, answered by a low rumble of thunder that echoed over the city.

Celestia knew what he was talking about, of course. Nothing could be done to change anything whilst Discord still reigned. But the state of Eridian itself was a testament to the power that he commanded. What could anypony hope to do to challenge it? “So if that is your grand goal, then why do you think that we have anything meaningful to contribute to it?”

“There are a variety of reasons in fact, not the least of which being the wings on your backs in concert with the horns on your heads. By virtue of your birth, you and Luna already have access to a greater potential power than an ordinary pony would. But most of all, it’s because I can see that you really do want to change things, in spite of anything that you might tell me. It’s that spark in a pony’s heart that really lets them change the world, for good or ill. You just need to believe that you can.”

For an instant, Celestia allowed herself to imagine what might happen if Atlas’s words were indeed true. For that moment, she wavered on the edge of the decision, enraptured by an image of everything that her and Luna might accomplish. There would be justice and freedom once more, security, safety, and strength. Light would return to a forsaken land. It was an impossible and yet invigorating idea, far and away greater than anything she had ever imagined for herself. But it was such a challenge, and such a risk. It would mean the end of all of this, in exchange for a completely uncertain future.

Atlas continued quickly, seeming to sense that he was on the verge of a breakthrough. “You wouldn’t be alone. There is more to the Resistance than just me. We would teach you about the powers that you could wield, about how to unlock the hidden might of your mind and of your spirit. And when it comes down to the end, we would stand with you.”

In spite of all of it, Celestia still found that she could not quite say yes. Even given everything that Atlas had said, both now and over the previous night, there was still one question, the answer to which she could not proceed without: “Why should I believe you?”

She could feel his will radiating out through his bright eyes, willing her to finally give in. “You should believe because you want to. And because if you don't, you know that you will regret it for a very long time.”

It was the third cheer, with resounding applause and a murmur of approval, that finally jolted Celestia back to the plane of reality here in the square. She looked out over the large crowd of ponies and finally caught sight of Luna’s frantic attempts to gain her attention. Around went the cups once more, and again the stone was revealed. Her sister handed twenty-five more apples back to the assemblage.

Celestia’s breath caught in disbelief. She glanced over at Atlas, who was still watching nonchalantly, and knew immediately what was going on. “What are you doing, Atlas?” she demanded of him.

She could clearly tell that his surprised expression was feigned. “Me? I’m not doing anything. I’ve just been here talking to you.”

An expectant hush fell over the square for a moment, and then another burst of applause came from behind her. Celestia could see more ponies rushing toward the spectacle, eager to cash in while things were good. “We need these apples to survive, Atlas!”

“Really?” he replied, his satisfaction now all too evident. “Celestia, you had enough to get by with more than fifteen minutes ago. So why not stop then, hmm?” His eyes probed her once more, and Celestia felt that sinking feeling, the same one as she had had back in the square the other night. That feeling of her king being backed into a corner, deftly sidestepping a rook’s determined thrust only to have a pawn leap forward and cut off her only means of escape. She had been outmaneuvered, and now all that was left was damage control.

She whirled about and stole a glance again at the table. The wagers were coming out, larger now and more assertive, as the marks tried to double and triple their winnings. She had to get there to stop it all before she and Luna had nothing left to pay out. She left Atlas standing there, and dove into the crowd.

It was difficult to maneuver herself through the crush of bodies. They were all straining forward, eager to get their own place at the board, and eager to throw their own bets down on the table. She had to push, squeeze, and shimmy her way through as best as possible. Up ahead, she could hear Luna’s shaking voice, calling out the end of the betting round and going into the shuffling. It was close, just over this next row of patrons. With a grunt of exertion, she reached forward with her wings and pried open a gap, just large enough for her to squeeze through and flop out next to the table.

“Luna!” she managed to gasp out between pants. “We need to stop everything, right now!”

Luna had just finished moving the cups around, and the player had just been about to make her decision. The dark alicorn looked down at her sister, and then nodded once. She reached out to place one hoof over the far left cup, and began her announcement. “Sorry folks, I’m afraid that’s all for tonigh—”

“Oh no you don’t!” This came from an excited green stallion, who leapt forward from the crowd and slammed a hoof down onto the table, causing everything on it to bounce upwards an inch and a half. “There’s no way you’re stopping it now, not with my bet on there! Let her play out the round.” He was answered by a chorus of angry shouts from throughout the crowd. Luna looked over to her sister for an answer, and Celestia knew that there was no way out. She acquiesced with a sullen nod.

The player stepped forward to make her decision, and Celestia got her first chance to see the pony who had apparently caused them all of this trouble. She wore a dark traveller’s cloak that obscured much of her face, but from this angle Celestia could see that she had a pair of expressive light blue eyes evenly spaced beneath a lengthy pearl-white horn. When she reached out to indicate her choice, Celestia also saw something else. It was minuscule, so small that it would surely have been missed if she hadn’t been looking directly into this mare’s face, but Celestia recognized it immediately: a tiny glimmer of azure light caught in her pupils. Sure enough, her indicated cup contained the stone.

The mare turned her eyes right to Celestia then, and it seemed that she was smiling, with that same smug grin that Atlas was no doubt still wearing, back out in the square. As the last cheer went out through the crowd, and Luna handed over still more of their takings, Celestia set her own thoughts back to their present conundrum. She would be getting answers tonight, however she had to go about getting them.

Once everyone in the crowd had gotten their winnings and dispersed, and the two sisters had packed up their apparatus as well as their now meager takings, which turned out to be barely enough to survive on, Celestia and Luna once again met up with Atlas and his mysterious colleague in the center of the square. Atlas made the formal introductions. "Celestia, Luna, I’d like to introduce you to Aqua, a very close friend of mine, and another member of the Resistance."

Aqua exchanged a silent hoof-shake with each of the sisters, and when Celestia grasped the unicorn’s hoof, she took a moment to study the mare’s features. Aqua had let down her hood to reveal a well-groomed blue mane that cascaded in curls down over her white shoulders. It framed a weathered complexion that still retained memories of a classical beauty, and which radiated a calm, confident surety. The austerity of her features suggested to Celestia that hers was a face seldom graced by a smile, and indeed even now she felt a hardness in Aqua’s gaze. Celestia became aware that Aqua was studying her keenly as well, and she sensed a great deal of calculating going on behind those clear eyes. Finally, she let go of Aqua’s hoof and went back to standing patiently at Luna’s side.

With the introductions over, Atlas cleared his throat. “Right. It’s time that we got down to business.”

Celestia agreed. The time for flitting about between each other’s advances in an attempt to keep the other side off-balance had ended. “Okay,” she said, stepping forward to speak for both her and her sister, “what is your game?”

It was Aqua who answered her, “No games, Celestia. Not anymore. After what happened before, we decided that it would be best if this time nothing was left to chance. This was all merely an exercise, to demonstrate to you what staying here in Eridian would mean for your future.”

Although the directness of the unicorn’s tone signalled to Celestia that this had indeed become a serious negotiation, the words weren’t quite what she had been expecting. “A demonstration? I’m not quite sure that I follow.”

“Precisely,” Aqua replied. “This was only the first part. If you’ll follow us, we can show you the rest.” She gestured off to one of the myriad side-streets that branched off from the square.

Celestia wasn't sure what to think of this. She still didn’t have the answer to that fundamental question: “How do I know that I can trust you?”

The serious expression on her face did not waver. “Like I told you, Celestia, no more games. You can walk away from this whenever you like, and if you say no now, you’ll never see me or Atlas again. It’s completely up to you.”

Once again it seemed that they had come to a crossroads. This time the choice didn’t seem quite so final as it had with Atlas before, and yet Celestia had the feeling that setting even one hoof along this new path could lead the two of them to unexpected places. Once again, she could see Atlas’s will plainly written across his face, but the feelings of the unicorn standing beside him were much more difficult to determine. Celestia again got the distinct impression that she was being judged, weighed and measured carefully behind the clear pools of those blue eyes. She found herself suddenly wondering at Atlas’s words from earlier. Was Aqua the colleague that had convinced him that the two of them were worth the second try?

Celestia also felt another will beside her, this one belonging to Luna, who obviously was all for the new opportunity. If Aqua’s offer was to be taken at face value, then Celestia knew she would find it nearly impossible to justify an answer of no to her sister. And to top it all off, she felt that draw of curiosity, intensified now that she had met this most interesting white unicorn. She still had so many questions that she needed answers for. If she said no now, those answers would clearly be lost forever.

Celestia looked up from her deliberations. “Okay. The two of you shall lead us on to the next part of this demonstration.”

Two sighs of relief rent the silence of the night in answer. Only Aqua remained as implacable as ever, although she did at least acknowledge the answer with a nod. She gestured with a hoof off into the labyrinth of streets that branched off from the square. “Go ahead then, Atlas,” she said.

The group headed off in silence, with Atlas in front, Celestia and Luna behind him, and Aqua bringing up the rear. Shortly they began ascending the hillside, although they kept to the side-paths and avoided the city’s major thoroughfares. The city was mostly dark and deserted, with the occasional whispering breeze flowing down into the alley from higher up the mountainside. The silence hung the air with tension, and from the way that Aqua swept her eyes over the surrounding neighbourhoods whenever the group turned a corner, Celestia sensed that this part of the city held some hidden threat.

Atlas resumed talking, in explaining what this second part of the “demonstration” was to entail. It seemed that it was still his job to make the sale. “You’re both intelligent mares, Celestia and Luna, and you’ve already found a way to survive in Discord’s Equestria. This speaks a great deal to your resourcefulness, and your cunning. However—” he arched an eyebrow dramatically “—success in this society can only lead in one direction. Aqua and I have decided to show you precisely where the path that you are currently on is going to take you, so that you can make the final decision about whether or not it is a place where you would like to live.”

Once they had turned around a final switchback in the path, Celestia realized that the environment had changed. The dirty streets of the city had fallen away, and up ahead a gleaming and polished stone archway beckoned. The cobblestones beyond this barrier were all well-set and sturdy, and proper sidewalks ran alongside the wide avenues. She could even discern the spires of several large buildings shooting skyward beyond the portal.

Atlas paused just off to the side of the archway, and when Aqua had caught up to him, the two of them shared a nod. Both of them took long, deep breaths, and Celestia knew then that her earlier suspicion had been correct. There was danger ahead.

It was Aqua who turned to give the sisters some explanation. Her voice was very serious, even a bit grave. “Beyond this arch is Upper Eridian, a sequestered town that lies in the immediate vicinity of the King’s castle. I want you to both be on your guard. Stick to the shadows, and watch out for any suspicious movements. Atlas will show you the way. There is magic in the air up here that warns the King about any approaching unicorns, so I will be engaged in protecting us from it with a counter-spell. The clouds overhead—” she indicated the dark grey ceiling that spread out over all of Eridian, surprisingly and frighteningly close now that they were this far up the mountain “—are also of magical origin, and will prevent any of us from flying to escape. You will have only your wits to protect you from this point on. Stay close.”

Atlas saw the uncertain expressions that materialized on both of their faces, and so he placed his own addendum on his partner’s speech. “Once again I’d like to remind you that this is all your own choice. Walk away if you like, but this is your last chance to do so. Whether or not you end up joining the Resistance tonight, nopony that enters Upper Eridian ever leaves it the same.”

While she was still uncertain, Celestia realized immediately that there was no way she could turn down a hook like that. They had spent the better part of nine years engaged in the same cycle of making ends meet down in the city. Any way out of that was a welcome turn of events. She felt a strange mixture of emotions at the prospect, as the excitement for something new mingled with her lingering doubts and the clear sense of foreboding that Aqua’s warnings imparted. When she looked over at her sister, she saw a similar melange of feelings written upon her face. But Luna caught her gaze with a hopeful smile. “Something different for a change,” she simply said.

“Okay then,” Celestia said to their two companions. “Lead on.”

Towering slate roofs and spires of cold stone pierced upwards into the low grey cloud layer on both sides of the avenue. Every flicker of lightning over the city cast long, deep shadows across Upper Eridian. Each house occupied its own expansive estate, and most were separated from each other by tall wrought iron fences or stone walls. Many of the estates also included numerous outbuildings, primarily storage sheds and the occasional servant’s quarters, each of course built in a far less salubrious style than the main houses. The emphasis on glamourous architecture was markedly at odds with the environment, which was of course still as dark and gloomy as ever.

The four ponies had immediately gotten off of the main road after having passed through the archway into the upper city, and now ducked cautiously between the shadows in between the estates. Atlas led the way, seemingly able to pick a sense of direction out of the surroundings. Celestia and Luna both followed, with Aqua, horn glowing bright to ward off the detection magic, again bringing up the rear. Occasionally they had to scale walls in order to do this, but fortunately the entire area seemed to be deserted. As they passed through each estate’s grounds, Celestia spied hedges and gardens cultivated into elaborate patterns, and even the odd statue, carved from rough grey stone and invariably depicting a single pony, presumably the owner of the estate, standing tall at regal attention. Such a lavish display of seeming wealth shocked her. She hadn't thought that such a lifestyle could even be possible in today’s Equestria.

It was Luna that first voiced the obvious question, though of course in a quiet voice befitting the circumstances. “Who owns all of these houses?”

It was Atlas, once again leading the company, who answered. “The elite citizens of Upper Eridian own all of this. It is an exclusive group, but its members enjoy all of this and more. A citizen of Upper Eridian never has to worry about getting enough to eat or drink, and they get to relax while the work of their households is done by others. They can sleep safe and warm, and spend the day relaxing and socializing with the other members of the enclave.”

Atlas seemed to be doing a pretty good job at selling the whole experience, but Celestia knew that something had to be up. Especially in Discord’s Equestria, something this good simply couldn’t exist. “Surely there is some kind of catch to it all, though, right?” she asked.

Atlas stopped and turned around. A sly, mischievous grin had grown on his face, the same calculating smile that told Celestia he had reached a key point in his strategy. “Hmm, I guess that there is one little catch. But knowing the two of you, it’s not such a hard thing. This place, really, is proof that individual ponies can, and in fact do, have influence over the state of Discord’s Equestria.” He came back a couple of steps, so that he was standing just in front of Celestia and Luna, and then extended a hoof to his left to indicate the house on their current estate. “All of this that you see here, Celestia and Luna, from the wood and stone used to build these houses, to the food in these pantries, the wine that stocks these cellars, the jewels that adorn the chandeliers of these lofty halls, and the gold that trims these walls, is stolen. All of it is stolen from the ponies down there.” He had swept his forelegs all about the city in making this proclamation, and was now even up into a low, excited hover as he indicated the rest of Eridian farther down the mountainside. “That’s all that it takes to get into Upper Eridian: the know-how and the spirit to know what you want and to take it.”

Once again, Celestia felt his words hit their marks like well-aimed arrows. There seemed to be nowhere she could hide from this logical barrage. Still, the comparison was hardly fair. “How can you make that implication, Atlas? This, this is theft on a completely different level than what Luna and I do. We take only what we need to survive.” It was the same argument that she had brought out with him before, and Celestia could almost feel the rhetorical walls closing in. She didn’t have much space left to stand on anymore.

The grin on his face did not dissipate. “Celestia,” he replied with a shake of his head, “there’s a big difference between survival and exploitation, just like you say. But if you think back to earlier this evening, I seem to remember the two of you continuing on past the requirements for survival. And if I remember right from our first meeting, you had bought a bit more than just the necessities with your hard-earned goods. And yet, you are right. There is one key thing that still separates you and Luna from the citizens of Upper Eridian.” He paused here, and Celestia realized that this was it. All of their smaller debates and arguments were to come to their natural conclusion in this moment. Atlas was about to finally play his trump card.

But instead of saying something, the pegasus merely set down and began walking again, farther up the hillside. After a moment’s hesitation, Celestia followed, with Luna and Aqua, whose horn was still glowing from her counter-spell, coming along behind her. The group again ascended in silence for a time, until slowly Celestia began to hear the irregular sounds of conversation up ahead. Atlas came to a stop amidst a thicket of tall grass and low evergreens, whose branches knit together to block out the path ahead. He crouched down in the foliage, and the two sisters did the same. Aqua joined them, but instead of looking ahead she continued to survey the surrounding area, ensuring that the group was not surprised from behind. Quietly, Atlas reached into the treeline to open up a small vantage point. In a whisper, he said, “Go on, and look, both of you, but make sure to be quiet.” Gingerly, Celestia leaned forward to see what lay beyond.

The space beyond the trees was a sizable clearing, paved in radial lines of cobblestones stretching away from a babbling fountain in its center. The space was illuminated by bright torches, burning in groups of three spaced throughout the clearing. All around these, concentrated in knots of conversation and clutching at fine crystal snifters of brandy, were the citizens of Upper Eridian. Unicorns, pegasi, and earth ponies were all represented, and each one of them was dressed in dazzling fineries: scarlet, blue, and gold dresses for the mares, and prim, stark suits for the stallions. Glints of fine crystal, and even rare Fillydelphian charm-jewels sparkled throughout the crowd.

But by far the most shocking aspect of the display was the sight that now strode toward them from the far side of the clearing. It walked on two uneven legs, wearing a lop-sided grin upon its face and clutching its own glimmering snifter in an eagle’s claw. It was Discord, the King of Equestria himself. But more than that, it was the fact that every pony he walked past offered his or her own expression of submission: a bow, salute or curtsey. Finally, Celestia realized what Atlas was driving at. There was indeed only one qualification to get into Upper Eridian: fealty.

When she finally drew back from the image, Atlas was smiling again. “Upper Eridian, you see, is built on Discord's power. Without it, these ponies would not have the confidence they require to rob their fellow citizens blind and to live in ignorance of the rest of the country’s strife. And that oath of fealty is indeed the only thing that still separates you from them. So now I have to ask, for the last time: Celestia, what do you want?”

Celestia had no response. What was there to say? She had nothing left to hide behind, no safe territory from which she could continue to stage her defense. There was no in-between anymore, no fence left to stand on. Atlas and Aqua had broken that position. Just like he had said before, there was no going back to their old life now. If what she truly wanted was to live peacefully and securely, and not to have to worry about the necessities for survival, then Upper Eridian beckoned, just beyond the treeline. It was only logical.

But that was, just as Atlas had said during their first meeting, precisely the problem. Equestria had been ruined by ponies like these, ponies who had thought only of their personal well-being, and so had made the logical decision and thrown in with the side that could provide them with everything that they desired. To join them in following that path would be to perpetuate the vicious cycle that had torn the country apart, and had created the very squalor that she wanted to escape. If she really wanted to be part of the solution, and work to help others, then there was only one avenue of action left.

Celestia looked over to her sister, whose face showed the same deep blush of shame that still lingered in her own heart. Luna hadn’t deserved to be browbeaten in this way. Her sister’s heart had told her the right way to go from the very beginning, and it had only been her own pride and stubbornness that had necessitated things coming to this head.

She turned to Atlas, and once more he was wearing his compassionate, endearing smile. “The same offer as before, Celestia,” he said to her warmly. “There is a solution out there, and I think you know that you want to make it happen as much as Aqua and I do. Will you help us save Equestria?”

With one last deep breath, Celestia closed her eyes and nodded. Deep down, she realized that she had always known, right from the start, that this was what she would have to do. Whatever her reasons had been, it was impossible to go on wishing for the world to change whilst only making the problem worse. This was the only way that things could ever get better, and it was the only choice that she had left.

Chapter 4: The Four Masters

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“Fate is a cruel friend. It will steal up to our doors in the middle of the night, rapping quietly and waiting only a short while. If one is not ready to answer, one can only curse the missed opportunity forever more.”

- Star Swirl the Bearded

Aqua and Atlas wasted no time in getting away from Upper Eridian. The journey down through the city again passed in silence, though now that the immediate danger of the moment had passed it was a peaceful silence, or at least as peaceful as a silence could get in the ruined city. With things being calm once more, Celestia took a moment to once again analyze their two companions. Atlas and Aqua each walked with pride, a carefree smile having returned to the pegasus’s face, though a stern frown remained upon that of his partner. Even so, Celestia guessed that Aqua too was now more relaxed, though she hid it very well. It seemed almost as though a hidden weight had been removed from their shoulders, and now they were free to enjoy themselves once again, each in their own way.

Celestia also noticed the subtle glances that passed between the two of them as they walked at the head of the party, the unspoken communication that spoke of a deep history between Aqua and Atlas. Clearly the two of them were very close, yet Celestia found it difficult to fathom this pair: Atlas’s jovial idealism did not seem to fit well with Aqua’s stony dispassion. Then again, Celestia stole a glance over at her own sister, and realized that the world seemed to have a way of creating such apparently unlikely sets of friends.

Once they had gotten back down into the winding and shadowy alleyways of the lower city, the group stopped. Aqua turned around to address them. “Now that you have made your choice, you have a journey to make. The resistance does not operate here in Eridian, as there is not much we can do this close to Discord’s base of power. We can only be safe far away from this wretched place. I will go on ahead to prepare for you, and Altas will lead you after me to our safe place. Soon enough, you will finally be free.” Aqua bowed her head, and then, in a bright flash of white light, she vanished.

Celestia was left midway through opening her mouth to voice one more question, but realized immediately that such things would have to wait. The awkward silence lasted only a moment though, before Atlas stepped in to fill the void left by his partner, and his calm chuckle steadied Celestia’s heart. “I’m afraid that I must apologize for her,” he said. “Aqua never did care much for standard social graces. Still, she is correct. The three of us have a long journey to follow her. We're far enough down the mountain that we can fly now, if we stay low. Are you both ready to go?”

Celestia mentally went over what little they did have here in the city. Most of it was trivial things: food, water, and other supplies. The only things that she would have difficulty leaving behind would be her books. They were tokens of a past life, a life that it now seemed she would be leaving behind. Still, they had many memories attached to them. She could not simply leave them for the next wandering soul to happen across.

She looked over to Luna, and sent a clear message with her eyes. Luna nodded very slightly, and Celestia knew that the message had been understood. “Not yet,” she said. “We have to get a few things from our home.”

Atlas looked disappointed. Likely he had been looking forward to getting away from Eridian once more. “Fair enough,” he said evenly. “Lead on. But try to stay off the main thoroughfares. We don’t want to be seen by any prying eyes.”

Even though they were still far up the mountainside and a long way from home, it took Celestia only a couple of seconds to orient herself. She had lived in this city her whole life after all, and had had to fend for herself for much of that time. She set off with Atlas by her side, and Luna a couple of steps behind. Celestia realized that it had been some time since her sister had said anything, but perhaps that was to be expected. She cast a look back at her sister, and could clearly see the look of excitement on her face. Luna was about to live out her personal dream, of fighting for freedom alongside the heroes of the struggle against Discord. It was almost like a story from the old history books that she was now going to retrieve, but to Celestia the thought still seemed absurd. Such days were past.

A thought occurred to her as she picked her way cautiously down the mountainside. “You don’t know where we live?” she asked, turning to Atlas beside her.

The pegasus chuckled. “Suppose instead that it simply means I trust you. Even though clearly you still don’t trust me.”

Celestia realized that she was perhaps still being a bit too hard on Atlas. Thus far, he had given her no reason to believe that he was not what he claimed to be. Still, trust was one of the few remaining resources in Equestria that held value. Experience had taught her that those who gave their trust away freely soon came to regret it.

She chose to leave off with the conversation there, and the trio progressed in silence for some minutes more, occasionally pausing at a dim street corner to investigate the paths ahead for suspicious eyes. Slowly, Celestia grew more comfortable with her sense of direction, and she became able to pick out recognizable spires and landmarks from the ruins of the old city.

It was as they were turning the final corner, and Celestia spied their crumbling old building rising on the right-hoof side of the street that Atlas finally chose to speak up once more. “These books of yours,” he asked, “what are they about?”

Celestia stopped in front of the façade of their residence, and examined it for what she realized would likely be the last time. The front of the building was marked by a row of partially collapsed columns, which had likely once been a proudly arched colonnade, but now more closely resembled a row of splintered teeth, worn down into dull points by the years of decay. The cold stone of the edifice above them was more of the same: large bricks of rock that whispered a tale of once being bright and respectable, but were now merely blank and lifeless. She took a deep breath, exhaling slowly. Behind her, Luna did the same.

Celestia glanced over at Atlas, and then decided to answer his question. “My books are kind of like this building. They tell stories of a time long ago, when this nation was bright, fair, and peaceful. They say that back then ponies cooperated with each other for the good of all, and lived together in harmony and prosperity. Discord changed all of that, of course, and now only the memories remain, locked away in stories.”

The pegasus did not immediately reply, and so she led the way into the structure and up to their room, which was of course just as they had left it. The place still retained a warm coziness to Celestia, as it was still all that her and Luna had to show for their lives so far. She noticed that Atlas maintained a nonchalant, even bored, expression. Perhaps he had seen many such dwellings in his travels. Luna immediately went to the pantry and began rummaging about, picking out a few choice snacks for what might be a long journey. Once again, Celestia and Atlas were left momentarily alone.

Celestia walked over to her bed and, reaching down, scooped up her collection, depositing the books carefully into her saddlebag. She took one last look over her living arrangements, and then with a sigh turned back towards Atlas in the center of the room. From the look on his face, she could tell that he was thinking about something. “Something to say, Atlas?” she said.

“Oh, nothing,” he replied calmly. “I was just thinking about what you said earlier. It sounds like Equestria really was a great place to live back then.”

To Celestia, his statement seemed almost certainly be leading on to something more. She decided to go along with it, to see what he might be getting at. “That place is gone though,” she said confidently, and walked over the window, from which both of them could see a view out over much of the lower city. “It only exists in the storybooks now. There is no hope left here, no harmony or prosperity.”

She turned back to look at him. “If there is any of the old Equestria left, I’m not seeing it.”

In response, the pegasus reached out his right fore-hoof, and cautiously brought it to rest upon her shoulder. The look in his eyes was clear, confident and bright, and when he spoke his voice was just as crisp and jovial as it had been when they had first met. “Celestia, there is a lot of Equestria that you haven’t seen yet.”

The clarity of the moment was broken by Luna’s return, as the younger sister, clearly excited to be off, practically jumped across the room to join them by the window. “You’ve got all your things?” she asked. “Then let’s be off!” Without waiting for a reply, she started off toward the door.

Atlas turned immediately to follow her, and after a couple of steps he turned back to Celestia. “Ready?” he asked, gesturing on in the direction Luna had gone.

Celestia steeled herself a final time, and took one last look out the window. Eridian’s edge could be spied from it, although the country remained bleak and grim all the way to the horizon. Somewhere out there was where her future was going to take her. Apparently, there was much that she still had left to discover. She took one last deep breath. “Let’s go.”

Over mile upon mile of bleak countryside, the three winged ponies soared swiftly on toward their ultimate destination. Atlas had remained tight-lipped about where precisely they were headed, although Celestia could at least guess from what Aqua had said earlier: somewhere far enough from Eridian that Discord’s power was not so clearly felt. Could such a place really exist? In Eridian the King’s power had seemed so absolute that Celestia found it hard to believe there could be places he did not control.

About ten minutes along, they broke out of the eternal twilight of Eridian, and both of the sisters laid their eyes on the light of dawn for the first time in their lives. The golden light of the Sun cut its way through low-lying clouds over the far eastern deserts, illuminating the countryside in gleaming shades of gold. The grasslands lit up with a pristine fire, and every lake became as a sparkling diamond. From their altitude, it seemed as though the entire country of Equestria was one gigantic pile of treasure, glittering in the glow of a new day.

The stunning vista was, however, short-lived. In the blink of an eye, the brilliant Sun plunged toward the horizon, to be replaced instead by the silver fullness of the Equestrian Moon. Now, when Celestia looked down around her, she beheld a countryside wreathed in shadows. But even darkness was infinitely better than Eridian’s perpetual sameness, so even though she much preferred the look of Equestria during the day, the night still brought a sense of calm into Celestia’s heart. Indeed, the country looked to have much life left in it yet.

In an attempt to pass some of the time, Celestia flew ahead until she was alongside Atlas, matching the rhythm of the strokes of his wings. In a conversational tone she spoke up, “I suppose you’ve made your point.”

Carefree, Atlas turned over so that he was flying upside-down, looking sidelong at Celestia with a grin. “You like it?” he asked. “That's great to hear. In reality, while Eridian is the center of Discord’s power, his influence will decrease as we move farther away. So the view is only going to get better from here.” Without even looking, he cut lazily to the left to avoid a patch of cloud. Celestia and Luna followed as best as they could.

The miles of their journey progressed in a similar fashion for several hours more. For the most part, the trio flew in silence, since Celestia was taking in the countryside, and neither Luna nor Atlas seemed to have anything else to say. As they flew farther and farther from Eridian, the mark that Discord’s power had left on the countryside seemed to fall away, and the land steadily grew brighter and fairer.

Eventually, Celestia again noticed a change coming over the ground beneath them. It was growing hillier, and rising steadily up into foothills. When she looked ahead, she could a line of grim mountains stretching across the horizon. Their rough crags clawed upwards in shards of obsidian-black, razor-sharp and menacing. Finally, as the three ponies passed through the first high passes of the mountains, Atlas broke the silence once more.

“We’ve reached the far northern frontier of Equestria,” he said. “It is desolate land, far enough from Eridian that Discord’s power holds no sway over it, which makes it the perfect place for Aqua’s headquarters. It is there that you shall stay while you learn from her.”

“So you don’t live here then?” asked Luna quickly.

“No, I don’t. Like many pegasi, my heart yearns for the wide open spaces that only the sky can offer. I don’t really have a permanent home, but I dally around in the cloud layer above Equestria. It might not have the same amenities as Aqua’s base might offer, but it is a wonderful place to think and exercise.”

He stopped himself there, as a column of purest white light had become visible over the jagged profiles of the mountains in front of them. Like a beacon, it called out to the weary travelers, illuminating the path to their final destination. Finally, through a crack in the sheer cliffs ahead of them, Celestia caught a glimpse of Aqua’s headquarters.

In a hidden vale, a clear stream tumbled over the cliffs and down the mountainside. Around it, a complex of buildings had been constructed out of bluish-grey stone. The steeply peaked roofs of the structures were shingled in polished tile, catching the light of the Moon to appear as if edged with silver. The buildings were arranged in a simple horseshoe pattern, bisected by the river as it cut its way through the valley. In the open space between them, a cultivated forest could be seen, a speck of green in amongst the lifeless mountains. Within these moonlit grounds, numerous unicorns could be seen going about their routines, some practicing magic, others simply enjoying the peace of the night.

But the crown jewel of the compound, and also the structure to which the illuminating column pointed, stood in the centre of the horseshoe’s gap, its foundation straddling the stream with a finely crafted arch. Atop this foundation stood a slender tower, glistening in pristine whiteness as it stretched toward the heavens like a spike of porcelain. At its very peak was a small platform, atop which Aqua could be seen, horn aglow like the new dawn, calling them in. Here indeed was the Equestria that still lived on, in spite of all that the King had done. Faced with this gleaming jewel of the past, she could almost picture Eridian and its surrounding area as it must have once been, shining with silver upon its mountain perch. The sight was beautiful beyond measure, and suddenly Celestia realized that she very much was living out a story from one of the books within her saddlebag. But this was the here and now, the spark of enlightenment that still remained smouldering in an otherwise lost realm.

As the three companions came in for their landing, Aqua ceased her spell, causing the night to go dark once again. In turn, each of them landed softly on the smooth silver stone of the roof, which was inset with patterns of still water. Celestia allowed herself the luxury of a deep breath. The flight had taken more out of her than she had expected, and she was slightly embarrassed at the show of weakness, since Luna clearly wasn’t the least bit fatigued.

As was her style, Aqua wasted no time on pleasantries, instead electing to get straight down to business. “Welcome, Celestia and Luna, to our haven against the chaos of this time. Each of you will stay here while you study magic under my tutelage. Tonight, however, we will celebrate your new birth as free ponies. You will dine with us, at the places of honour.” Having said her piece, Aqua dipped her head, creating a slight glow around her horn. Before anyone else could speak, they were inside the tower, materializing in a well-lit reading room.

From there, the group began a journey downwards, circling about a grand spiral staircase that ran the circumference of the tower down to ground level. The rails and steps of the stairs had been hoof-etched with patterns of flowing water, such that the entire stairway felt like one giant waterfall, collecting the many tributaries of the tower’s other rooms downward to its base. As they passed, Celestia spied many different sorts of rooms through doorways that had been left ajar. While most were utilitarian office spaces, her interest was captured by the occasional library of scrolls that they passed, each one filled with documents and tended to by silent librarians.

At the base of the tower, they exited out of a grand doorway onto a spindly staircase that was positioned directly over the loudly rushing mountain stream, its two landings straddling the river. Aqua and Atlas led the two sisters down one of the landings and out into the orchard in the center of the compound, which was hung with the intoxicating smell of ripe fruit.

All of these details had been building themselves into a record in Celestia’s mind, as slowly but surely she built up an impression of Aqua, just as she had for Atlas over the course of their several meetings. Given that this place was the white unicorn’s home and workplace, after all, there was much to be learned about her personality from it. Now, Celestia felt confident enough to ask a question. “Aqua?” she began, suddenly realizing that she had not been informed of the proper way to address her new teacher.

“Yes, Celestia?” Aqua replied.

“If you don’t think it too forward of me to ask, does water bear some significance for the Resistance?”

Without stopping, Aqua turned back to face her, and from the look in her eyes, Celestia sensed that she was pleased at the question, although she did not smile. “Yes, it is my personal motif. The Resistance consists of four groups, you see, and I am the head of one of them, the Order of Water. Our members seek to use magic to bring about change in the country.”

Emboldened by the fact that she had been right, Celestia pressed on. “If I may make a second guess, then, is Atlas the leader of another of these groups?”

This time Atlas answered. “Indeed. In fact, I am the Master of the Order of Air, those who seek excellence in some of the more physical arts, in which the pegasi usually excel.”

“And what then of the other two? Fire and Earth, I presume?”

Finally, the two corners of Aqua’s mouth were tugged upwards into the barest of slim smiles. For some reason, the thought of pleasing her new companion brought Celestia great satisfaction. However, again it was Atlas who actually answered the question. “Correct again, Celestia. The Order of Earth is the oldest of the groups that make up the Resistance, and they are focused on history and on the ways of nature. They are led by Terraria, the oldest and wisest among us. Her and the rest of her Order make their residence in a wondrous citadel in the country’s southern forests. It was her that taught each of us the skills to unlock our potential, and it will be her that ultimately judges each of you, if you are found worthy.”

Celestia filed away all of this information into its requisite spots in her memory. A complete mental picture of the situation that she was now in had begun to form. “And Fire?” she asked again, eager to hear the last pieces of the puzzle.

For the first time, Atlas appeared uncertain. “Well, um, actually—”

“There will be time for all of that later,” Aqua cut in. The group had arrived at the far side of the orchard, and the unicorn had opened a door into one of the tall structures that ringed the compound. She gestured into it with a solemn expression. Celestia realized that the rest of the conversation would have to be saved for later.

The two alicorns followed Atlas through the door, and he eventually led them on into an expansive hall, which was dotted with tables here and there. Presumably, this was to be the location for the dinner that Aqua had mentioned earlier. The room was lit up by blazing torches in the far corners, and on the supporting columns to either side. Overhead, a dramatic circular dome arced gracefully upwards, framing the shining full Moon in a wide skylight. Atlas directed the two of them to seats at the lengthy head table at the front of the room.

As time went on, the smaller tables began to fill with the rest of Aqua’s students, who slowly filtered in through several doorways. The vast majority of them were unicorns, but Celestia spied a few alicorns in the crowd as well. As the room filled up, the floor became a multicoloured tapestry from all the different manes and coats. Finally, once everyone was seated, the meal was served. The head table was naturally served first, receiving a collection of delicately prepared rolls, infused with natural flax from the low-lying foothills. As the silence of the room was broken by the sound of the meal getting underway, Celestia was finally able to turn to her sister and engage in some much needed conversation.

“Well, Sister,” Luna began, “it seems that this is what we have been missing. See what can be accomplished by letting one’s guard down just once every so often?”

“Perhaps,” Celestia admitted. “But if I always let you have your way, we wouldn’t even have had enough apples to trade that night, and we wouldn’t even have run into Atlas in the first place.”

“Hmm, but if I always listened to you we would be back at home right now, lamenting our forlorn circumstances instead of doing something about them,” Luna countered in a friendly tone. “Check.”

Admitting the point, Celestia took a small bite of her roll. The food melted in her mouth, releasing the sweet taste of cherries. Astonished, she examined the delicate pastry again, but there was most certainly not any fruit in the cooking. Taking another bite, she felt the same flavour explosion.

Eventually, she glanced over at Aqua, who was grinning for the first time since Celestia had met her. Her roll was surrounded with a light blue corona, as it levitated next to her mouth. It was Atlas beside her, though, that finally let Celestia in on the secret. “Magic,” he said simply. “It’s good for plenty more than just moving books around.” With a chuckle he took a bite of his own appetizer.

Celestia wasn’t entirely sure why the idea had never occurred to her of using magic to enhance the flavour of food. It wasn’t merely a question of convenience, but the formation of an entirely new art form. Suddenly she was very eager to see what else this evening had in store. But first, there was a small amount of business that they still needed to finish up with. “So, Atlas,” she began once all four of them had finished with the course, “what were you going to tell us before we came in here? About Fire?”

The contented smile vanished immediately from the yellow pegasus’s face, and once more his complexion grew cloudy and uncertain. For an instant there was an uncomfortable silence, broken only by murmurs of conversation from the other tables. “Yes, yes, concerning Fire.” A bead of sweat materialized over the right side of his brow, and Celestia caught a rapid look that passed between the two Masters. It was a look of caution. “It’s, um, something of a sensitive subject,” Atlas finally continued. “Not really fit for table.”

At that moment, the second course arrived, and both of the Masters immediately began once more to eat, cutting off the conversation. Put off, Celestia glanced over to her sister, who merely shrugged before also recommencing the meal. It had seemed like such an innocuous question, and yet all of a sudden she had apparently broached a most unseemly topic. Still, her survival sense told her that whatever this information was, it was going to be very important to her going forward. For the moment, she decided to also progress with the meal, though it was now rather uncomfortable since the group was eating in silence.

When the dessert came and still no conversation had transpired, Luna took it upon herself to break the ice. “So what’s next for us?” she proffered in a chipper tone.

Atlas seized on the new conversation hook with all of his usual enthusiasm. “Excellent question. As the two of you have no doubt gathered, you will be spending some time over the next little while studying under each of us, learning the ways of wisdom and power. Each of our two Orders emphasizes different elements of the psyche, which is why you shall learn from both of us separately. Only through balance can true power be obtained."

“Each of you will spend six months with either of us,” continued Aqua sternly. “Celestia, your first rotation will be here with me. Luna, you shall begin in the sky with Atlas. At the conclusion of a year, if you are ready, you will undergo the final test.”

“Excuse me?” interrupted Celestia. “There’s no way for us to stay together? We have lived together all of our lives, you see.”

“Indeed,” Luna elaborated. “I’ve never lived without my sister. Must we be separated?”

Aqua was stonily dispassionate. “It is necessary that you be removed from each other’s influence for the duration of your studies. Each of you has individual talents, which must be probed and stretched in their own ways. You must learn to live independently.”

Celestia looked over to her sister in dismay. Indeed, the two of them had been at each other’s side for as long as they could remember. In Luna’s case, it had been for her whole life. Their mother had died during Luna’s birth, and their father had been killed in the streets of Eridian only several weeks later. By circumstance, they had been forced to care for each other, forced to rely on each other’s skills to stay alive. The thought of being apart from her sister, if only for a year, filled Celestia with unease. She could tell that Luna had similar misgivings about the situation.

Playing the role of the conciliator, Atlas stepped in to fill the silence. “I know that it may seem like a difficult thing to do, but both of you are adults, and certainly should be able to survive alone. Besides, we are not stranded in the anarchy of Eridian anymore. Both of you will be perfectly safe among us.”

With eyes of sorrow, Luna turned to face her sister. “Whatever it takes to do the right thing,” she said softly. “You promised.”

“We both did,” Celestia returned. “Stay safe, Sister.” She reached over to give Luna a hug.

“I will,” Luna replied, holding the embrace for a moment. Then, with finality, the two released their hold on each other.

Now that the meal was finished, Aqua rose from the table. “Tomorrow your studies will begin,” she stated, back to her usual calm and commanding voice. “Make sure to get some rest, as we will begin in earnest.”

Standing, the rest of the students began to file out of the great hall. The two sisters also left, following Atlas to their allotted rooms. Celestia, though, knew that her evening was not done just yet. She still had one thing that she needed to know.

Fire.

Under the light of the twinkling stars, Atlas lay upon the warm earth, letting the sound of the brook calm his mind. In the peace, he let his thoughts swirl around where they may, eventually leading him back to the math he loved. Numbers and symbols danced in his mind’s eye, flowing over each other just as the waters of the river cascaded about between rocks and sheer walls. Always leading on somewhere, falling downward to some great truth. In math, the end was always some conclusion, some theorem resting just beneath the numbers, waiting to be teased out into the light of day. Numbers were so much more malleable than the world, so much easier to control. If only Equestria was as logical as his proofs, then he would never have to worry about the problems of this world ever again.

He sensed Celestia behind him before she made her presence known, as he could feel the slight reverberations caused by her hooves contacting the ground. Nonchalantly, and without opening his eyes, he spoke. “I was wondering when you would come.”

Coming around in front of him, Celestia regarded him with calm interest. “So you know why I am here.”

Finally looking at her, he motioned for her to join him on the grass. For an instant, both of them simply admired the starlit night. Then he continued, “Celestia, from the moment we met, I knew that you were not the kind of pony who could let sleeping dogs lie. You want to know about the Master of Fire, and why we are so hesitant to speak of him.”

Celestia remained silent, waiting for him to continue. Around them, the calm scent of the green meadow intermingled with the humid vapour from the cold water, creating an invitingly peaceful atmosphere.

With a sigh, Atlas began again. “It is a long and tragic story, but I know you won’t rest until you hear it, so here goes. There is indeed a Master of Fire, and he is out there in Equestria somewhere, though I know not where. Once, long ago, he was with us, in fact he was my closest companion. His name was Seraph, and together with Aqua, we made up a very close circle of friends, probably as close as you are to your sister, if you need a comparison.

“We had grown up together, weathered the tragedies of Discord’s rule, and hoped for a better time. The three of us even became daring revolutionaries for a while, running raids on Eridian to try to incite a rebellion. Seraph was a genius with his hooves, and devised all kinds of mechanisms and contraptions to aid in our plots. Together with Aqua’s magic and my aerial skill, we made a great team.”

Atlas let a wistful smile grace his face. “But then, destiny found us. It wasn’t long before we came in contact with Terraria’s group, the real resistance in Equestria. The three of us were the greatest hope the country had found yet, and Terraria recognized that we could pose a legitimate threat to Discord. In keeping with the ancient ways, she christened us the new Triumvirs, so that we could bring back the age of peace.”

Celestia had of course heard of the ancient Triumvirate, the government of the ponies from even the most ancient of histories: three ponies, one chosen from each of the tribes of Equestria, acting together for the good of all. “Seraph was an earth pony, then?” she asked.

Atlas’s face had clouded over by then. “Yes, he was, but tragedy befell us that day. For Seraph’s heart had grown ambitious through our success. Faced with the possibility of ruling Equestria, he decided that he deserved single rule and domination of the kingdom under his own hoof. He allowed greed and pride to cloud his thoughts, and neither Aqua nor I could turn him from his ambitions. It wasn’t long before he left us, seeking his own future in Equestria. We searched for him, but he had disappeared into the mist of the country, and we could find no trace. He was like a brother to me, but now it has been very long since I heard any sign of him. Perhaps he moved on in his own way, but in any case neither Aqua nor I like to speak of him much. I think that the wounds are still too fresh for both of us.”

Celestia listened to all of this, fitting it all into the various empty spaces that their earlier conversations had left. It all made sense, except for one thing. “But if Terraria made you the new Triumvirs, and said you could challenge Discord, why have you not done so? Why is Equestria still under his control?”

“A Triumvirate needs three members. It’s all in the constitution. With Seraph gone, we needed another member to complete us. And so, that is what we have done since then: searched the countryside far and wide for one powerful enough to join us as the third Triumvir of Equestria.”

Atlas fell silent then, admiring the skies again. After a moment, Celestia wished him good-night, and made her way back to the Order’s dormitories. Finally, she had put the pieces of tonight’s mystery together, forming a proper picture of the story of the Four Masters, and more importantly, how she and Luna fit into it. Could that really be her destiny? Triumvir of Equestria in the new government? It seemed almost like she had stepped into a dream as soon as she had exited Eridian. More troubling, though, was the question of whether or not she should tell Luna about these new developments. For if what Atlas said was true, then only one of them could achieve that ultimate goal. Did she have it in her to leave her sister behind if the chance presented itself? Celestia didn’t know the answer to that question.

Chapter 5: Fire

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“The earth I shall tame with iron, the sea I shall dry with fire, and the sky I shall rend with lightning. And all the world shall look upon my power, and it will know my strength.”

- King Solaris VII of the Unicorns

High up on the mountain upon which Eridian sat, beyond the tallest ruins of the lower city, in amongst the clean and well-maintained green spaces of Upper Eridian, Seraph walked with his head held high. As it did every night, the idea that he lived right on the High King’s very doorstep set the earth pony’s spirit alight. Places like these were where the real work of the Resistance ought to be done. While the others waited and bided their time in secret far away, he was here now, and poised to strike should the opportunity ever show itself.

Tonight, as was his custom, Seraph wore a crimson cape tied round his front shoulders with a golden brooch, set with a choice ruby. The fiery stone went well with his dark orange coat, and captured the prismatic shimmer of his vermilion eyes. An exquisitely coiffed mane completed the arrangement, red hair struck through with orange highlights. Tonight, a finely crafted monocle and black top hat also complemented his features. Indeed, he was the picture of a true gentlecolt.

He had lived here for nearly twenty years now, in secret amongst the traitors of Upper Eridian. Tonight, the nobility was all crowded into the courtyards around the King’s castle, milling about and socializing before the court came into official session. The grassy clearing around him was filled with knots of ponies, murmuring with gossip in the still evening air.

Seraph strolled in between them, aloof, above all of their petty concerns. The act was just that, though, an act. In truth, they were all merely servants of their lord, only a single step up from the huddled majority in the rest of the city. They still lived under the same lightless sky, still searched for meaning in the dull routines of their lives, and they still lived in fear.

Seraph hated all of these obsequious fops, so abjectly terrified of the High King that they would bend over backwards to grant his every whim and desire. They scuttled about in service of their master, perhaps holding to some ridiculous hope that they would somehow be happy, if only their world was just a little bit brighter than their neighbour’s.

The burning torches in the courtyard cast flickering shadows across the grass, which was long and dewy underfoot. Reluctantly, Seraph approached a small group of his “colleagues”, clutching at snifters of brandy and incessantly discussing the latest court gossip.

“So I told her, if you think I’m going out in something like that, you’d best have that horn of yours examined. I think I might be scratching your brain!” exclaimed the stallion that was talking just then, earning a chorus of titters from the assembled group. His moustache was tightly stretched out over a generous mouth, holding teeth which appeared white enough to light a room.

“But it is indeed a most smashing outfit!” gushed one of the mares beside him, her gaudy jewellery clinking as she spoke. “Perhaps not one to match Lady Couture’s from the other night though. Have you seen it?”

The other mare in the group, a teal earth pony with a ridiculous stack of silver curls atop her head, nodded vigorously. “With the Fillydelphian ice diamonds on the brooch? My, what a sight that was!”

Seraph tried to pay attention to the inane chatter, but he could not fathom the worth of the conversation. How deluded these fools were, to discuss matters of such inconsequence as their country rotted around them! Still, though he found the politics of the court to be tedious, it was important to pay attention to which ponies had their reputations on the upswing, for they were the ones that could potentially accumulate real power in the apparatus of Upper Eridian.

For though some of the ponies here might have been fools, Seraph knew that all of them had come here for the same reason: a personal greed that could only be satisfied by supporting what was currently the winning side. And all of them recognized that there were threats to the peace and security of their way of life, though some chose simply to ignore them. The truly ambitious ones realized, though, that giving Discord concrete information on the resistance would surely result in their permanent success. And so the elite sent out their spies and households throughout the population, seeking everywhere for that elusive lead that would guarantee them the favour of the High King. In a way, the contest amongst these inhabitants of the inner circle was just as desperate as it was for the regular rabble out on the streets.

Finally, in unspoken agreement, the court members funnelled into the crumbling grey hall that served as Discord’s audience chamber. Much like the rest of the castle, the room was dreary and unadorned. A large rectangular stone floor stood cracked and barren, broken only by a colonnade that encircled the room. Beneath the columns stood the courtiers, waiting for the King to make his appearance. It was no secret that Discord carried on this assembly only for his own amusement, and that meant just about anything could and would happen. The King was just as likely to walk in the door as he was to rise like a wisp through a crack in the stone walls.

But today the room was silent as a grave. As a few minutes ticked by, the courtiers began to shift uneasily and murmur amongst themselves. A group on the far side from Seraph erupted momentarily in a fit of giggles, apparently the result the result of an exceptional bon mot from a stallion in back.

Seraph ran his keen eyes slowly over the chamber. Clearly this was all just a bit of fun on Discord’s part. Likely he was already here, watching and listening from some dark perch, laughing to himself all the while. Or perhaps he was hiding in plain sight, waiting for some observant fellow in the crowd to see through his ruse. It took the orange stallion several seconds, but soon enough he saw the trickery. Clever, he thought. Even after four hundred years, he still finds ways to surprise.

With a cackle, Discord materialized in the room, transforming out of the high-backed wooden chair that was normally his seat for these occasions. The feat was met with respectful applause from the ponies of the court. “You have your King, Equestria!” he proclaimed in a booming voice. “As any good monarch must, however, tonight I am at the will of the suffering public,” he continued with a gleeful smile. “Tonight I almost feel merciful. We’ll see what entertainment the rest of the evening brings.” With a mischievous snicker, he snapped the talons of his left claw, creating a new seat at the head of the room, as well as opening the door to admit the evening’s first supplicant.

The pony that entered was light green, and dressed in faded overalls that spoke of hard work. A day’s worth of stubble was growing over his drawn face, and the deep purple irises of his eyes showed little hope. Still, he carried a reasonable degree of determination for a task that he probably knew was only a futile gesture.

Coming to a stop in the center of the chamber, the stallion bowed low and addressed Discord in a respectful tone. “Most High King of Equestria, and Eternal Lord of all the Ponies, please hear my request!”

Discord nodded very slightly, checking the claws of his lion’s paw. The supplicant continued, “I come from a long line of carpenters, gracious King. We have plied our trade on the outskirts of your fair city for many ages. But with the Sun shrouded, the forests we relied on for raw materials have all passed away. Please, restore light to our lands, such that we may have hope for tomorrow!”

Seraph had to admit a certain degree of respect for this peasant. Though he knew his plea was desperate and unlikely to succeed, he still came in here with honour, and had not stooped to kiss the King’s feet or begged for mercy. At least he still had his self-respect intact. Most of these “supplicants” were in fact ordinary civilians that the nobles rounded up and coerced into coming just to give Discord some entertainment. Seraph wondered if that was the case here, or if this stallion had actually had the gumption to try it on his own.

The King seemed to mull the request for a moment, and then had a brainwave. Leaning forward in his seat, Discord levelled his decree. “You say you are a carpenter, hmm? Then make me a stool. I’ve been on my feet all day and they could use the rest. Surely you can sympathize?”

The stallion was taken aback by the answer. “Indeed m’lord, but I have no tools or wood to work with.”

In response, Discord simply winked. The hall was silent for the briefest moment, before being punctuated by a distinct rumbling. All at once, two great trees pierced the floor around where the supplicant stood, stretching out their voluminous boughs to both ends of the cavernous hall. The unfortunate carpenter was caught up in the surge, and ended up desperately clinging to a branch near the room’s ceiling, casting his wild gaze about. With a chuckle, Discord tossed a small handsaw and some other tools down to the base of the newly grown foliage. “No worries now, right?”

What followed was an unfortunate display. Seraph felt real shame pierce his heart as the carpenter attempted to find his way down the hulking tree, then sat wondering how best to fell a metre-thick trunk with only a 30 centimetre blade. Throughout the ordeal, he was subjected to the mirth of the King, which was answered by all the courtiers in the chamber, careful to match their master’s timing and sure not to miss an opportunity to pass a sly remark.

Seraph could only watch the ridiculous display with sadness deep in his stomach. How had Equestria fallen so far? How could these ponies live with themselves, crawling over each other’s backs for a taste of imagined power? How could they be reduced to such barbarism, in the pursuit of the favour of a cruel leader? Seraph silently vowed, as he often did, to fix this broken nation, once and for all. Meanwhile, he laughed along with them. Discord would surely be watching to make sure none of his admirers was hiding any secrets, and he most certainly did not wish for his true thoughts to be discovered.

Several hours later, Seraph found himself back next to his own home. On the outside, it was a large house, with striking tall windows, and a steeply peaked roof. In reality though, as with so much in Upper Eridian, it was just for appearances. Seraph made use of the residence only very rarely. His business was generally conducted in other, more secret places.

Coming around to the back of the home, he casually unlocked the sloped doors leading down into what appeared to be a root cellar. He cast a look around to make sure that he was not being watched, and then silently he disappeared into the gloomy, dank darkness, carefully relocking the door behind him.

Sure of his step in spite of the piercing blackness, Seraph reached along the wall and found a well-used lantern, which he quickly lit with a couple of matches from a pocket of his cape.

The lantern’s glow revealed a view that was anything but a root cellar. A rough-hewn passageway spiralled down and out of sight, stretching hundreds of feet into the mountainside. As he descended, stepping carefully in the smooth, gently sloped passage, the air grew drier, and a warm breeze wafted up from beneath. Slowly, a yellow ambient glow from the depths of the mountain began to be visible. Seraph breathed a contented sigh. Finally, he was home again.

The passage ended in an immense stone chamber, lit by burning cauldrons and torches. It was his fortress against the unpredictability of the world, his refuge in the regularity of fire, and the mechanical work of his own hoofs. Lining the far wall was a row of massive boilers, fed constantly by hulking mounds of coal. From them emerged myriad ducts and pipes, carrying the life-blood of steam off to the various other devices in the cavern. Other areas in the space were occupied with all the necessary equipment to feed Seraph’s voracious mind: massive furnaces and foundries, workshops, laboratories, assembly lines. Seraph looked out over his domain, blazing with the fire of enlightenment, and felt his heart fill with hope again. Here was where Equestria’s true future lived.

As he rode up a clockwork-powered elevator to his private apartments, which were erected along a wrought iron truss high on the near wall of the cavern, Seraph thought of all the potential in this room. Since the days of his youth, he had always been enamoured of the power intrinsic in fire and machines. He remembered playing around with water-wheels, and marvelling at the might of lightning. Truly, he had thought, it was the destiny of any ascended species to harness this potential.

But Discord stood in the way of all that, which was why Seraph had chosen his current path. Twenty minutes later, he was in his own sparring hall, ready to work away the stress of life aboveground. Walking over to his personal armoury, he reverently withdrew a lengthy blade of layered steel, sharpened to a razor’s edge, and balanced precisely to his fighting style and proportions. Approaching a worn-in training dummy on the practice floor, he assumed a proper stance. As he always did in these practice sessions, he simply summoned the memories of his own disgrace, how his one-time friends had proven their true colours in their final dealings with him. With a roar, he fell upon the dummy in flashes of bright steel.

The three of them had been perfect, Equestria’s ultimate answer to Discord’s stifling repression: Aqua, the tactician and magical prodigy, Atlas, the idealist and flyer extraordinaire, and of course, himself, the genius engineer and master of the blade. All his youth, he had dreamt of earning that chance, to set things right once more, and claim his proper place at the head of the new Equestria.

Seraph caught himself, and stepped back. The dummy had been fully dismembered, and he would probably have quite enough work putting it back together for another session. As he wiped sweat from his brow, Seraph sauntered out to the balcony overlooking his factory floor. Smoke billowed from the chimneys of the foundries, as iron was smelted into steel for construction and metallurgy work. The exhaust was all diverted carefully through pre-existing funnels in the rock ceiling, eventually emerging to mix harmlessly with Discord’s eternal shroud.

Although he had purged his mind of the day’s business, his heart still burned bright from the remembered betrayal. When confronted with the ultimate choice, of facing destiny or hiding from it, his friends had chosen cowardice, covering themselves with the flimsy veils of tradition and history to avoid facing the obvious truth. Equestria had lost its chance at freedom, and so it continued its slide into nothingness, forgetting its once-hallowed place in the world.

Atlas and Aqua had tried to explain their reasoning, but Seraph could only look at either of them with contempt. How he had ever imagined that they might be the saviours of his country, he could not now say. But he had known what his destiny was, right from the start. They could not stand in his way, any more than they could hide their personal flaws from the test of destiny.

Seraph turned his gaze upward to the ceiling, imagining Eridian above him, the potential for greatness inherent in every pony. He had trusted in friends, certain that they would never betray their ultimate cause. Now, the task fell to him and him alone.

And when Equestria rose from the ashes of its mire, he would be there for it, a shining example of everything it could aspire for, everything that ponies could accomplish. A mechanized state, built on the principles of order and responsibility. A just society, rewarding intellect, effort, and honour. He would lead his country into the fair dawn of its glorious future.

Seraph smiled contentedly, for perhaps the first time in a long while. All in its due time, I will be King, and the future will be bright.

Chapter 6: Water

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“To move without reason is worse than not moving at all.”

- Ancient Unicorn Proverb

As promised, both Celestia and Luna began their training regimens immediately following that first night’s sleep. Despite knowing that she would probably be up early, Celestia had spent that whole night in restless thought, wondering about what the future held in store for her. When she awoke that first morning, Atlas and Luna had already departed for the open countryside. She could only begin her own studies, and hope for the best when her six months were up.

Aqua was a stern teacher, but not without a gentle side. Celestia’s day generally began with a light breakfast at sunrise, followed by several classes dealing with ancient law and government. After a brief lunch spent in solitary contemplation among the school’s grounds, Celestia would take the rest of the afternoon in private study with her teacher. The subjects of these lessons would vary, from magical spells and practice, to intellectual development. On the whole, Celestia found herself enjoying the strict routine, and clung to the Master’s side whenever she could. True to her reputation, Aqua was a unicorn blessed with great wisdom, and every so often she would grace her student’s ears with a few words of deep meaning. Celestia took care to write down these profound sayings, so that she could study them later.

One day, Celestia was finishing her lunch under a large oak tree near to the centre of the compound. A bright noonday Sun filtered its way down through the spread leaves of the monolithic tree, showering the grassy ground with rays of gold. Celestia loved this spot, and came here often just to think. Sometimes she would practice her magic here as well, whenever a particular spell was giving her difficulty. She was one of the fastest learners at the school, and in only a few short months had already advanced above simple telekinesis and teleportation into transmutation spells.

Celestia enjoyed magic immensely. The amount of control that she felt over her surroundings whenever she was casting a particularly intricate spell made her feel like she was already ruler of her own little patch of Equestria. Today, she held a small stone from the nearby river aloft, twisting it subtly with her mind, coaxing out its hidden treasures. With a satisfying crackle, the cold rock dissolved into steaming liquid, which she carefully poured into a waiting mug. Taking a small sip, she savoured the rich taste: cinnamon tea, with one spoonful of sugar, her favourite.

“Impressive, my student,” came a voice suddenly out of the underbrush, causing Celestia to almost spill her tea. Without mirth, Aqua materialized out of thin air with a torrent of silver sparks.

Hurriedly collecting herself, Celestia stood up in front of her teacher. “I was just practicing, Teacher.” Aqua preferred that their relationship remained formal, so Celestia was careful not to act too familiar around her instructor, although she did feel almost as if Aqua had become something of a surrogate mother to her in these recent months.

“Indeed, practice makes perfect,” Aqua answered, coming forward to examine the tea, which was still hot. “Your control is exemplary.”

Though she did not show it, Celestia beamed with pride underneath her stoic expression. Whenever Aqua complimented her, it only drove her forward to greater accomplishment. She had vowed to be the greatest student the Master ever had the chance to see, and to truly earn her spot at the forefront of the new Equestria.

Stopping in front of her and looking Celestia straight in the eyes, the old white unicorn maintained her stern complexion. “Come now, my student. Today I have something special planned for us.”

With excitement, Celestia followed her mentor through the expansive gardens of the school’s grounds. The branches of the fruit trees were hung low with their produce, and songbirds chirped in the branches while insects flitted about between vibrant flowers that grew in carefully tended beds. The sun cast an inviting aura about the place, causing the whole of the surroundings to burst forth in vibrant colour. After a life spent in grey Eridian, Celestia was still taken aback by her newly verdant environment. The presence of such beauty always lifted her heart, and gave her hope for the future of Equestria. Surely with such potential, peace was only a short effort away.

Today, Aqua was silent as they walked among the orchards and gardens. Celestia became aware that they were entering a private section of the grounds, as the sounds of other students practicing among the flowery groves faded away. But the silence was broken by the cheery ambience of the woods, so the place still seemed comforting. Finally, Aqua led her to a small table set among the trees, in the shade of a spreading sugar maple. The table was a polished stone square, with two seats opposite each other. Once both ponies were seated, Aqua addressed her student.

“You have progressed quickly, Celestia. You are undoubtedly aware that you are probably one of my most promising acolytes. So I think the time has come for a test of sorts, to gauge your true potential, in a way fitting with our standards of mental purity.” With a subtle smile, Aqua reached over her shoulder and gestured with a hoof. Seemingly out of nowhere, an acolyte appeared beside the table. Wordlessly, he laid a glass chessboard upon the smooth surface, the pieces already set up.

Inwardly, Celestia breathed a slight sigh of relief. She had always loved chess, in fact it had been one of her favourite ways to pass the time back in Eridian. Luna hadn’t beaten her once as far back as she could remember. Granted, Aqua would likely be a more formidable opponent, but today Celestia felt as though she was truly within her element. This stood as a perfect chance to impress her teacher even further.

The pieces, so orderly when the game had started, were now shuffled into a forest about the center of the board. Aqua’s Black pieces seemed to have all of the angles covered, but Celestia knew that there had to be a weakness somewhere in her position. Neither side had taken a piece yet, but with a final look over things, Celestia decided that it was time for that to end. Confidently, she nudged one of Black’s centre pawns off of the board.

Aqua watched her as she carried out the move, remaining silent on her side of the board. For several seconds, she made no response, and then a glint caught in her eyes as she addressed her opponent. “You play very well,” she said. “Where were you able to learn the game?”

“The rules I found in a book,” Celestia replied, serious in spite of having received another compliment. “The strategy, however, I worked out for myself. There was little else to do.”

Aqua nodded. “Indeed, you would have had a lot of time to think whilst trapped in the mire of Eridian. Tell me, did you spare any of your thoughts for the greater plight of the nation?”

Celestia’s smile clouded over. The question sounded a lot like the questions that Atlas had asked her when they had first met. She had spent many evenings since then trying to come up with satisfactory answers, and still wasn’t quite sure what to say. “I considered the situation from time to time,” she answered honestly, “but eventually I stopped. There seemed to be nothing I could do to rectify the matter, and there seemed to be more important things to think about.”

Leaning forward, Aqua recaptured her position in the center with another pawn. “And what about now?” she asked again, her voice now low and serious. “Now that you know that there is more than just the darkness of Eridian, what are your thoughts?”

Celestia recognized the look on Aqua’s face now as one of challenge. Aqua always looked at her students this way when she asked them a question that she considered to be important. Since her answer now would probably impact the direction of the rest of their conversation, Celestia pushed the game out of her mind.

Indeed, what she had now seen certainly did impact her perspective on the situation. To know that there were such institutions out here in Equestria, such large groups solely dedicated to the King’s removal, was heartening. Sometimes, when she was in one of the larger classes here at Aqua’s school, and the gathered unicorns succeeded in dislodging a massive boulder from the mountainside or growing a whole tree together, their power seemed almost limitless. And there was Atlas in the air and Terraria in the south to remember as well. There was indeed much hope that she had not been aware of previously. And yet, given all of that, there was one thing that did not make sense.

“Why have you not moved on Discord? Why is the Resistance so cautious with its power?” Celestia spoke confidently, and attempted to fix her teacher with her own look of challenge. For her part, Aqua chose to grace her student with one of her rare smiles.

“Were we to move today… perhaps we would have a chance.” Aqua rubbed her chin thoughtfully with a hoof, and gazed out into the orchard as she thought. “And there are those among us who say that alone is reason enough to move. They say that with Discord out of the way, things will go back to the way that they were before. After all, once the King is destroyed, the game is over, right?” She turned back to Celestia and gestured towards the board that lay between them.

“And yet,” Aqua continued, “I have always found chess to end rather abruptly. For the King himself is merely the head of the system that has built itself around him. Without a plan for what we would do afterwards, the quislings of Upper Eridian would probably just keep on without him, and things wouldn’t really get any better.

“And while a return to the way that things were before is indeed an honourable goal, it would be foolish to assume that it would magically fix all of Equestria’s problems. Don’t let Atlas fool you. Even before Discord, the nation was still threatened, and still required prudent government to remain strong.”

Celestia’s eyes drifted back down toward the pieces. “We must think before we act,” she said, realizing that this was the purpose behind their game today.

Aqua smiled one of her rare genuine smiles, and the Sun caught in her large azure eyes to create a twinkle of reflected light. “Indeed, my student. Impulse would have had us move on the King ages ago, and who knows what would have happened? But we must instead be prudent. We must be sure that when we move, we do so with a purpose, and with a plan for what will happen afterwards.” She sat back once again in her chair, and returned her gaze to the board. “Shall we continue?” she said seriously.

It took a moment for Celestia’s thoughts to return to the game at hoof. She had thought that the only reason they had been playing was to get her into the mindset of thinking ahead, to drive home this lesson into her mind. “Is there still more to this lesson, Teacher?”

Aqua chuckled once. “No, indeed we have covered everything that I wanted to get to today, my student. But I never leave a game unfinished. And I doubt that you would either.” Once again Aqua looked at her with that challenging glare.

Celestia answered by advancing her King’s guard to the left-center of the board.

That evening at supper, Celestia sat eating alone in the complex’s grand hall. While she had made several acquaintances among the other students of the Order, her position as the Headmare’s favoured student did act to isolate her within the school, and she often found herself alone in the evening hours, with nothing to do but think or study.

Celestia had never had a problem with being alone. For much of her foalhood, she had had no one else to rely on, no one else to socialize with or to call her friend. She only had Luna, her charge and her responsibility, and she had their survival to focus on. There was precious little time to even think about other things.

Once Luna had grown up of course, they had had each other. The two had almost never been separated once Luna had been able to walk, and they had weathered the dark times of this age together. Now Luna was gone, off studying with Atlas, and Celestia found herself truly alone for the first time in more than a decade.

She had her studies to focus on, though, and she had the future to think about. Celestia was no stranger to planning for the future, of course, but now, after her game with Aqua, she realized that she wasn’t just planning for herself, but for Equestria. If she was to be the third Triumvir that the Resistance sought, she would need to take her place in the government that was to follow Discord’s rule, and that meant she would need to know what sort of country she wanted to build.

But as she sat and tried to think about social policy and law, the things that she learned about in her morning classes, her thoughts kept coming back to Luna. What was she learning about up in the sky with Atlas? How was she adjusting to this new destiny that had been so suddenly thrust upon them? Most importantly, did she miss being by her sister’s side as much as Celestia missed her?

Her gaze was pulled upwards as she noticed Aqua pulling out the chair across from her. While the Headmare usually ate alone in her office, occasionally she dined with her personal student, whenever there were important things to discuss. Celestia pushed the thoughts of her sister out of her mind and went back to her meal, waiting for the white unicorn to begin the discussion.

Aqua wasted no time. “You are concerned about something, my student. I could see it on your face from across the hall.”

Celestia looked up at her. Instead of the usual ice, Aqua’s tone had been warm, and there was genuine concern in her eyes. For a moment, Celestia wasn’t quite sure how to react. Then, she found her voice, “It’s my sister. I… I wish I knew how she was doing.”

“Don’t worry about her,” Aqua replied. “Atlas is worthy of our trust. He will not let any harm befall her while she is within his care.” She turned back to her meal, but as she began to eat she spoke again. “But that is not really what concerns you, is it, my student?”

Celestia realized that there was nothing she could hide from her teacher. “Atlas told me about my purpose here,” she began, saying the words slowly so that she could organize her thoughts. “About how, in time, you hope that Luna or I might become the expected third Triumvir, and lead the Resistance to retake the country.” She paused, but Aqua only gestured for her to continue, and took another bite of her meal. “If that were to happen, it would mean that one of Luna or I would have to be left behind. Only one of us could fulfill that destiny, only one of us could be that hero. I want it to be me, but I don’t want Luna to be forgotten.” She looked up once again at Aqua, and waited for the unicorn’s counsel.

For her part, Aqua remained silent for several seconds, and then she slid her chair along the floor, so that she was no longer sitting across the table from her student, but instead right beside her. She reached out with a forehoof and clutched Celestia’s own, looking right into her student’s eyes. When she spoke, the tone was tender and caring. “It is an unfortunate truth for those living in such dark times that difficult choices are almost inevitable. I can’t tell you what you should choose, my student, only that all that matters is what you find to be most important.”

Aqua looked away, down at the table. “I too had to make my decision. I had a brother once, you see. He was a keen and passionate young stallion, and when he looked out at the devastation of the country, a fire was lit in his heart that only Discord’s defeat could quench. He didn’t care about what happened after, to him the crimes that the King had committed against us were reason enough to act, whenever and wherever possible. He was strong, skilled, and devoted, and he stood by my side through many a trial.”

Celestia listened to her teacher’s story attentively, and it didn’t require much insight for her to see the parallels that existed between Aqua’s history and her own. Indeed, Aqua’s brother sounded nearly exactly like Luna, devoted to doing whatever he could to alleviate what suffering he could, no matter what the cost would be to himself. “But what choice did you make?” she asked. “What ended up happening to your brother?”

“He went his own way,” Aqua answered calmly. “And for me, the Resistance came first. I missed him for a time, but eventually I realized that it was the only choice I could have made. And it will be the same with you when you are faced with your own difficult choice. What you choose is up to you, but if you are honest you will make the right decision, even if you regret it at first. You must understand what is more important to you.”

Celestia nodded, and there was no further conversation for the remainder of their meal. But Celestia kept on thinking about it, on into the rest of that evening. If it came down to that choice, she knew that letting Equestria miss a chance at freedom just so that she could avoid having to part with Luna made no sense. Her destiny as a Triumvir, if it came to pass, would be more important than anything else. If things worked out in reverse, and Luna was the one making the decision, she felt certain that her sister would spring at the opportunity to save the country. And yet even though she knew all of these things, still she was troubled.

Chapter 7: Air

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“In my dreams I have seen a storm, dark and powerful, covering all the world. But rather than nourish the earth with rain, it leaves only ruin in its wake: downfall, destruction, chaos.”

- Last words of Skullhum the Far Seer

Luna and Atlas were miles away, down on the ground just on the foothills of another set of mountains, these not as grim as the menacing northern ranges, but just as tall and imposing. The West Barrier Mountains separated Equestria in the east from the griffon kingdom in the west, and historically their foothills had been Equestria’s breadbasket, as swift mountain streams nrushed down the hillsides to water acres of fertile countryside.

Of course, very little grew here now. Since one could never be sure when the Sun was going to be in the sky, the growing season was indeterminate. Only a few dedicated earth ponies remained tilling the fields, and Luna admired their determination. In spite of all the hardship they had to endure, these farmers refused to give up.

So she and Atlas had helped them, whenever they could, over the course of the past few months. The western region of Equestria was about as far as a pony could get from Discord’s influence, and apart from the randomness of the Sun and the Moon, things were almost normal here. Most of the time, Atlas instructed Luna in the pegasus arts high in the clouds overhead, but he always made himself available whenever one of the locals asked him for help. Luna was only too happy to oblige.

Today, this meant that the two of them were weeding an acreage by hoof. The Sun overhead was hot, and the work was difficult, but Luna was smiling. She was helping, she knew, finally she was doing something for somepony other than herself. Jobs like this may have been drops in the bucket of Equestria, but they were definitely better than nothing. The hope that she saw in the faces of the families out here whenever she and Atlas would visit stood as a stark contrast to her experiences in Eridian. Sometimes, if she tried hard enough, she could almost pretend that other part of the world didn’t exist.

Atlas came up beside her, and stood for a moment’s break from his work. His normally clean exterior was dirty and tousled, but he too wore an enthusiastic grin. “Taking a break, Luna?” he asked.

“Just thinking,” she replied.

Atlas didn’t respond, and Luna knew that it was her choice as to whether she would reveal what was on her mind. Atlas gave her that measure of privacy, and it was refreshing. In Eridian she had had no secrets, since Celestia could always read her like an open book. But she never felt wary of sharing her thoughts with her new mentor.

“I wish that Celestia could be here,” she said.

Atlas went back to his work. “You know that she will be, soon enough.”

“Well, I wish that she could be here with me. I want to see her smile for once, Atlas. To see her forget about everything that she’s always worrying about. She might stop thinking and planning all of the time. Out here, we wouldn’t have to be partners. We could be family, like we always should have been.”

Atlas stopped and turned to look at her. "You do realize that out here there is still plenty to worry about, right?"

Naturally she knew that. In spite of the cheeriness of this place, things were still pretty grim. "But that’s not the same. In Eridian things always seemed more immediate, like if we didn’t constantly have our guards up, we would get jumped walking around a corner. At least out here you can rely on your neighbour’s honesty."

Atlas went back to his work, and motioned for her to do the same. "Do you honestly think that your sister would find peace out here?"

Luna didn’t even have to consider it. "Of course not. If there ever was a pony who couldn’t stop thinking, it would be her. Still, it’s a nice thought."

Atlas was silent, and Luna went back to the rows, thinking that the conversation was over. About half a minute later though, she heard the pegasus reply, in a quiet voice that sounded distant, as though Atlas’s thoughts were far away from here. "It is, isn’t it?" Luna thought to respond, then decided not to. There were no further attempts at conversation.

By evening, Luna was exhausted, but the work was done. Together, she and Atlas walked up the narrow lane that led to the farmer’s house, so that they could say their goodbyes. The house itself was of sturdy lumber, painted white and maintained scrupulously by the family. To Luna it was yet another reminder of how things should be, even in spite of what they were. To emphasize that fact, the Sun chose that moment to dive headfirst behind the horizon, plunging the world into darkness.

The house’s porch light was soon lit by the old farmer’s wife, a hardy yellow mare with a red mane, whose hooves had been toughened by years of work. She beckoned them to join her on the porch. “All finished?” she asked, a subtle twang accenting each vowel.

“All done, ma’am,” Atlas replied with a humble bow. “We’ll take our leave. Give my regards to your husband.”

“Ah, you can’t be serious!” she said just as he was about to turn and leave. “A working stallion deserves a working stallion’s supper, and I just couldn’t let you go without offering something in return. Won’t you stay for a little while?”

Atlas smiled. “Why, we would be honoured to dine in your house. Thank you so much.”

As she followed Atlas through the front door, Luna smirked. Atlas had a kind and generous heart, but even he never turned down free food. And neither could she blame him, when she had come inside and smelled the warm, fresh scent of old-fashioned country cooking that suffused the air. Naturally she was starving, and so once the proper courtesies had been exchanged she dug into the food with the same gusto as everypony else.

When the meal had finished, the old farmer, a squat teal stallion with an enormous beard, turned to Atlas with a smile. “The fields look mighty fine,” he said, in a much thicker drawl than his wife. “I gotta thank you again, Mister Atlas.”

Atlas chuckled. “It was nothing, sir. I’m always happy to help wherever I am needed.”

“Well, I’m just saying, we couldn’t get by without you,” the farmer continued. “What time should we expect this year’s rains?”

“Hmm. That depends on how soon I can teach young Luna here the basics of precipitation,” Atlas said, indicating Luna with a meaningful wave.

Luna smiled, though the remark had come as a surprise to her. Atlas hadn’t mentioned that he was planning to make a prolonged shower for the region, though when she thought about it, it made sense. Atlas’s skill with the weather was probably the only reason that anything grew out here at all.

“I wouldn’t worry,” the pegasus was continuing. “She’s quite the quick learner. We should have the rains ready to go in a couple of weeks.”

“If you’ll excuse me,” the wife interjected, gently tapping her husband’s shoulder, “I’d like to hear more about young – uh, what did you say her name was again?”

“Luna,” she offered.

“Luna, yes,” the yellow earth pony smiled at her endearingly. “I’m sorry, but we don’t get that many of your type around here. What’s your story?”

Luna took a quick glance around the table. She wasn’t accustomed to being the center of attention, but the couple did indeed look eager to hear what she had to say. Only Atlas’s face was drawn, as if he didn’t like the direction that the conversation had taken. But then he already knew everything that she was going to say, so of course it would be boring for him.

“Well,” she began. “I was born very far from here, in a place called Eridian, in the east. There, the Sun never shines, nor does the Moon. It’s always cloudy, but it never rains. It’s always light but it’s never bright. It’s pretty grim, unfortunately, much worse than things are around here.”

“I’d say so!” the farmer’s wife said. “I’ll bet you were happy to leave.”

“Oh, certainly. There was nothing for me there, only more of the same. Now, I’m studying under Atlas, and helping to make ponies’ days brighter.”

“We thank you for that,” she replied, turning to her husband. “Just think of that, dear. All alone in such a terrifying place as that! I don’t think that I would be able to stand it.”

“Well, I wasn’t all alone,” Luna said. “I had an elder sister, and we watched out for each other. She’s in the north now, but we’ll see each other soon.”

“And what else?” the wife asked. “What about your parents, dear?”

Luna swallowed as an uncomfortable lump rose into her throat. The story of how her parents had died was a tragic one, and one that she didn’t like to talk about. In truth, it had been when she was very young, and she didn’t know anything about it besides what Celestia had told her. Still, it was a part of her story. “Well, they’re both dead. My mother died while giving birth to me, and my father in a knife fight shortly afterwards.” She looked over at their shocked expressions. “It’s okay, really,” she said, trying to sound sincere. “Worse things happen in Discord’s city.”

The farmer and his wife both gasped, and out of the corner of her eye, Luna noticed that Atlas was now looking morosely at the table, as if she had committed a massive faux pas. “Don’t say that!” The earth pony mare hissed at her, a worried look now in her eyes. “The Eye will see us if we speak its name. It will return!”

“Calm down, my dear,” the old farmer said, stroking his wife’s mane gently with a hoof. “She’s not from around here. She doesn’t know.” But Luna heard the tremor in his voice too. She couldn’t imagine what it was that had them frightened. It was a tragic story certainly, but it was old news. And all this business of the “Eye” seemed completely out of the blue.

Atlas spoke up. “My apologies, but Luna and I really ought to be going. It’s getting late.” He stood up from the table, and tipped a small wave at the farmer and his wife. Luna followed him out the door.

“What in Equestria was that all about?” she asked as soon they were off of the property.

“Oh, nothing,” Atlas replied, suddenly sounding tired, though he still walked with his usual strong step, and his eyes looked as bright as ever.

“How could it possibly be nothing?” she returned. “That mare looked like she was scared half to death! And what was that business with ‘the Eye?’”

Atlas stopped, and looked her right in the eye. “Discord is the Eye,” he said, his voice level and serious. “You mentioned him by name. That’s why they were so frightened.”

Luna tried to think it over, but it still didn’t make any sense. “But why should they care if I say his name? What difference does it make to call him the Eye, if everypony knows what you’re talking about anyway?”

Atlas sighed and then kept on walking. “There is a lot of superstition surrounding the Eye in these parts,” he said. “One folk tale says that if his name is spoken aloud, he will hear it, and the pony who spoke will be cursed with bad luck. These ponies have lost a lot to Discord already. Surely you understand that they don’t wish to lose any more.”

“Hmm.” At least that all made some sense, though it was all news to her. Luna wondered why there hadn’t been any taboos or superstitions around Discord up in Eridian. Since things were so much worse over there, ponies should be even more scared, shouldn’t they? Moreover, inventing folklore wasn’t going to fix their problem any time soon. “Well, that still doesn’t make any sense though. What good does it do them to trivialize Discord with superstition? If they don’t wish to lose any more, then they should join up with us. If they don’t do anything about the problem, they can’t expect it to get any better.”

In answer, Atlas only laughed. “You know that I could never ask them to make a sacrifice like that. They’re just poor farmers.”

“Who was I when we first met?” said Luna. “Everypony has a part to play. That’s what you told me. Anything would be better than staying here and hoping things work themselves out!”

“You don’t know what they’ve been through!” Atlas snapped. The usual melodic clarity of his voice was now gone, and a furrow had grown upon his brow. He took another deep breath before continuing. “You have a very strong heart, Luna, and that’s good, but these ponies have already experienced things that you couldn’t even imagine. They’ve had their fill of conflict, more than two lifetimes’ worth. I would certainly appreciate any help if they offered it, but it would be a crime to ask them to suffer more.”

“Don’t talk to me about suffering! Are you forgetting where I grew up? Smack in the middle of Discord’s power, constantly on the watch for the next threat to my survival. What could possibly be worse than eighteen years in Eridian?”

In answer, Atlas unfolded his wings and jumped into the air. “Come along, Luna,” he said to her, gesturing with a hoof that she should follow. Wordlessly, Luna joined him in the sky, and they began to fly quickly south. For a few minutes, Atlas was silent, and Luna wondered if she had been too hard on him. She had seen the fear on that old mare’s face, and knew that it was genuine. But it wasn’t as though Discord didn’t scare her too. The ponies who let fear rule their hearts lived in Upper Eridian, and anypony unwilling to face that fear may as well be in the King’s camp.

“I’m sorry that I didn’t say anything before,” Atlas said, sounding a bit more like himself now. His smile hadn’t returned though.

“I would have appreciated a warning,” she replied. “But I suppose that it makes some sense now. Where are we going though? This isn’t the direction that we came from.” Indeed, though they had not flown very far, the countryside had grown dark and unfamiliar, with sheets of fog now hanging over the hills. For no discernible reason, the sight made Luna uneasy.

“Do you remember the storm above Eridian?” Atlas asked, as he cut to the left to avoid a patch of low cloud.

“Of course,” said Luna. The storm was as much a part of Eridian as the mountain upon which it sat. The purple clouds constantly swirled about the spire of the upper city, blotting out all light. It was impossible to even think of Eridian without seeing the dark sky superimposed over everything.

“To you, I imagine the storm seems huge, but actually now it’s rather small,” continued Atlas. “Believe it or not, right now Equestria is experiencing a relative peace. Outside of Eridian itself, Discord’s power is small, and almost disappears entirely when we’re this far away. But it wasn’t always like this. Sometimes, the storm grows, rushing quickly outwards from its mountain perch, until its arms cover the whole country, from north to south and from west to east.

“Those are the dark times. Ponies call them ‘Reigns of Chaos’. During them, Discord doesn’t stay holed up in his castle, instead he roams around freely, imposing his will anywhere he pleases. And his storm follows along with him. We don’t call Discord the Eye because he sees all, instead it’s a reference to the storm, of which he is the Eye.”

Luna noticed that something was changing as they flew on. It was getting harder for her to maintain her altitude, almost as if the air was growing thinner. But they hadn’t flown any higher, so the density of the air shouldn’t have changed. She looked over at Atlas, and he just pointed toward the ground. “We’ll land over there,” he said.

The spot where they landed looked innocent enough, a small clearing of grass at the base of a large hill. The Moon shone brightly high overhead, and a breeze whistled over the hills, kicking her mane up into her eyes. Luna suddenly realized that she was cold. It was as if all of the warmth had been sucked out of the air. Beside her, Atlas took a deep breath.

“Follow closely,” he said, “and watch your step.”

As they climbed the hill, Luna could sense that the world around them was changing. By the time that they were halfway up, she could see that the grass, which had looked properly green from below, had morphed into a sickeningly bright yellow. When she looked down, she spied a streak of red, and realized that her own mane had changed colour too, as had the rest of her. She quickly cast her eyes left and right, searching for an explanation, but there was only grassland as far as she could see. The subtle sense of unease had grown, now a sizeable flock of butterflies flitting about her stomach.

“What is this place?” she said.

“Come and see,” Atlas replied, standing now at the crest of the hill.

Luna was almost afraid to look. Clearly something evil was at work here, and a part of her wondered if she would look over the hill down into the twisted visage of Discord himself. But what she saw was instead more familiar, though not in a comforting way.

The other side of the hill quickly plunged down into a deep ravine. The sides were steep, and thick shrubbery was tangled across the tops of its banks, making them surely impassable. The only way forward was down into its dark depths, which were obscured by a low hanging fog that hung thick over its floor. This fog was different from the fog that they had seen earlier though. The moonlight tinged this fog with an unnatural shade of blue, reminding Luna of the clouds that hung over Eridian. She remembered what Atlas had said, and suddenly she realized what she was seeing.

“A Chaos Storm,” she whispered. In answer, a dim crackle of fluorescent lightning lit up the horizon, twisting wickedly within the fog bank.

Atlas nodded. “Only the remnant of one, actually. This area was ravaged during the last Reign of Chaos. Here, place one of your hoofs on my back. If you get lost down there, it will be impossible for me to find you.”

The butterflies worked themselves up into a frenzy. “You don’t intend to actually go in there, do you?”

He just smiled. “Trust me.” And he started walking.

Luna followed closely, concentrating on maintaining her contact with the pegasus. Up ahead, the azure mist swallowed up all of the Moon’s light, making it impossible to see anything that might lie beyond. With every step forward, she felt her trepidation grow, fear worming its way into every crevice of her mind until she wanted nothing in the whole world more than to be far away from here. Atlas paused for a moment on its edge, and took another deep breath. Luna knew that this was her last chance. She mustered up a deep breath of her own, attempting to purge the maddening, screaming terror from her mind, but it would not leave. This was crazy. She pulled back her hoof and turned away. "I can't do it, Atlas," she said. Instantly, the turmoil within her head vanished.

Atlas turned around, and Luna could see that his face was still serene, calm as though he were about to go for a walk on the beach. "Yes, you can," he said.

"How can you be sure?" Even looking back in the direction of the mist caused her heart to beat faster. "Nothing good can happen in there! Can’t you feel it?"

"It’s frightening, I know," he said. "But you have to push through it. It’s the only way."

"Why?" Luna demanded, a new sense of anxiety sweeping through her. "Why are you so eager to place me in harm’s way? I won’t have any part in it!" She peered at him with suspicion, but could discern no malevolence in Atlas’s eyes. He must just be crazy, she decided. Suddenly she knew that she had to get away. "I don’t know why I ever trusted you, but I won’t go any further with whatever your plan is. I—"

"Luna!" Atlas yelled as he grabbed ahold of her, just as she was taking off.

"Let go of me!" she cried. But Atlas held on.

"Luna, look at me! Look into my eyes!"

Trembling, knowing that she couldn’t escape, she complied. She turned around and set back onto the ground. Once more Luna looked deeply into her mentor’s eyes, and in them she saw peace, not just the strange calm of a mad-pony, but the surety of absolute determination.

"Listen to me. I would never do anything to harm you, Luna. Do you know that?"

Slowly, Luna’s heart settled. Then, with a flash, the darkness that had taken over her mind lifted. She gasped, as she finally heard what she had said. "I’m sorry," she whispered. "I don’t know what happened."

"Don’t worry," he said, wrapping a comforting foreleg about her shoulder. "The Chaos had ahold of your mind. But you see that now, don’t you?"

Luna continued to take deep breaths, as she came to terms with what had happened. She took another look behind them, down into the ravine where the mist still waited, coiling about the twisted vines of the valley’s sides like a contented snake. When it had taken control of her, she would have thought anything, said anything, done anything to get out of here. Suddenly she understood why the farmers were so afraid of facing Chaos again.

"I see your point now," she said.

"Good," Atlas answered. "But we still have to go in. Stay by my side. I’ll make sure nothing happens to you. Now, are you ready to try again?"

With her mind now steadied, Luna realized that there was no turning aside from this path. And now that she knew the fervour with which the Chaos had tried to stop her from learning its secrets, a morsel of her determination had returned. If she couldn’t beat Discord now, in such a small test, there was no way she would be able to face him in the flesh. She nodded. "Let’s go."

Only a single step inside, the world around them ceased to exist. Except for the ground that she could feel beneath her hooves, Luna had no indication that they were anywhere near the hill where they had started. Even the whistling of the breeze had stopped, and she could feel no current of air coming from anywhere. In the gloom, she couldn’t tell if they were even moving, or if the ground was simply moving beneath them and rooting them to the spot.

It was impossible to know if they were still going straight; logically speaking, Luna knew that the ravine should keep them on a roughly straight path down the hill, but she also had the distinct feeling that logic was not going to be her friend in here. The nerves in her head were back, only they weren’t butterflies anymore: they were hornets, worked up into a lather, screaming at her to get out, to abandon this mad quest and find some safety. But this time she just ignored them. Nothing was going to stop her.

And somehow Atlas walked on, seemingly sure of his direction, absolutely certain that he would find his way through. Though he didn’t say anything, somehow Luna sensed that he wasn’t afraid, and his calm steadied her racing heart, until eventually she saw light emerging from the blue mist. Ahead of them the clouds parted, and once more she saw a flat expanse of black earth, this one going on a short distance before vanishing over a sharp drop-off. More lightning danced in the grey sky that lay beyond it. When she looked back, there was only the same impenetrable wall of mist.

Atlas stopped, and he gently lifted her hoof off of his back. “Welcome,” he said, “to nowhere.”

Luna took a moment to try to get her bearings. The landscape was unlike anything she had ever seen before, as if they now stood on a completely different planet. Still, the fear in her mind was gone.

"Hah! Take that, Discord! I’ll never be afraid of you!" she shouted into the blackness, though it swallowed up her words and there was no echo.

Beside her, Atlas only laughed, the clarity of his voice, now finally back to normal, seeming to shine almost like a light in the alien surroundings. "You made it. I knew that you had it in you."

Luna looked at him. "But how? How could you have possibly known that we would make it through?"

Atlas smiled. "Think back to our lessons. What have you learned about pegasus magic?"

Now seemed an odd time to return to learning, but Luna was willing to go along with it. "Pegasus magic comes from the heart," she repeated from memory. "It is by will and confidence that a pegasus shapes the world."

"Now." Atlas came over to her and looked out over the edge of the precipice. "Why do you think that Chaos tries so hard to make us afraid?"

When it hit her, the shock of the revelation was almost like a physical blow. All of her life, from the years spent clutching at an existence in Eridian up to this moment, was suddenly cast in a whole new light. "It takes away our magic," she breathed. "Without the will to fight, pegasi have no power."

"Exactly," Atlas replied with a triumphant grin. "Fear is one of the King’s primary weapons, for with it by his side, he doesn’t have to worry about the wrath of the pegasi. But if you can keep your heart, your magic will stay with you, even in the deepest of Chaos’ darkness."

"So this was all a test, wasn’t it?" Luna looked at him with a playful scowl.

"Of course," he replied, "a test that you passed easily, just as I knew you would. But hopefully now you see. You and I are special, Luna, in that we are capable of facing our fears and pushing through them. That is the awakened power of our pegasus magic. It’s for that reason that we are the ones who must take the fight to the King.

"Now," he said, turning back toward the mist. "Let’s get out of here, back to where things make some sense."

Luna joined him by the edge of the fog. The fear she still felt, tugging at the corner of her consciousness, insisting that she was wrong, that she was not safe. But now she understood that it was not her mind that was trying to warn her. Everything is fine, she said to herself, echoing Atlas’s contented smile on her own face. And even if they emerged to find themselves face-to-face with Discord, Luna knew that she would never again be afraid.

Chapter 8: Earth

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“Equestria has always housed the greatest beauty that thought has thus far been created on this world. Even in the darkest times, there have always been those among us able to preserve and protect this heritage of ideas.”

- Spry Acorn

Northern Equestria

Eight Months Later

When Celestia flew around the last bluff in the mountains, she let a contented sigh pass her lips. Nestled in its protected vale, Aqua’s school called out to her mind, welcoming her home. And even though she had lived more than thirty years under Discord’s shroud in Eridian, she felt more at home here in the mountains than she ever had.

It was high afternoon, and the Sun’s light gleamed off of every polished surface of the mountain commune, so that the air seemed to be filled with sparkling diamonds. There was another harvest hanging ripe from the trees, its scent intoxicatingly sweet. A light breeze rustled the leaves as Celestia set down at the base of Aqua’s grand tower, the noise mingling with the laughter of the brook as it danced carefree down through the glade. Here, here was home.

The grounds around her were a hive of activity, as workers rushed to bring in the orchard’s fruit. Virtually everywhere she looked, Celestia could spy a pony up on a ladder hard at work. But the one pony that she was looking for was nowhere to be seen. Somehow Atlas and Aqua had contrived to have Celestia and Luna change places without meeting each other, so it had now been a year since she had last seen her sister. Celestia had expected that Luna would be here waiting, and sorely desired to have a long chat with her concerning everything that had happened over the course of their studies.

But then, given the time of day, it was possible that Luna was still hard at work somewhere. More than a few times Celestia had lost herself within the forest of Aqua’s bookshelves. Perhaps her sister had merely lost track of time in her studies.

The library occupied the entirety of one of the tower’s upper floors, consisting of one giant circular room with bookshelves radiating outward from its centre like the spokes of a wheel. The aisles between the shelves had been built deliberately narrow at the edges of the space, and wider toward the centre, like tributaries of rivers carrying the knowledge of the shelves in toward the central lake. The reading tables all sat in the middle of the room, concentric circles around a tinkling fountain. It was all so grand and elegant, and every time that Celestia came in here, she had to set her head back and sigh, letting go of all the problems of the outside world. Here was a place that Chaos could not reach. Here there were no questions without answers. Here there was only knowledge.

It seemed like it had been ages since she had last had a chance to just stop and think. Out west with Atlas she had faced the truth of the world on a daily basis, and while it was a sobering reminder of why the Resistance had to exist, six months of it had been torturous.

When she came into the centre of the room, she quickly glanced around in all directions, hoping to see Luna stooped in silent concentration over a scroll. But her sister was nowhere to be seen. After a second, Celestia chuckled. Perhaps it had merely been wishful thinking to imagine that Luna could ever lose herself in a library.

But she did not see anypony else, either, so Celestia decided that she would wait here herself. There was no sense in running about looking for Luna, when somepony who knew her location was bound to come in here eventually. And there was one small thing that Celestia wanted to try.

She plucked a few random books off of the shelves with her magic, stacking them all onto a nearby table. Normally, organizing and cataloguing all of these books again would be a time-consuming process, but one afternoon a few months ago, while she had been toiling in some farmer’s field, she’d had an idea as to a way to expedite the process. Now she finally had a chance to try it out.

Celestia dipped her head, concentrating. Unlike pegasus magic, which she had spent the last six months unsuccessfully trying to figure out, unicorn magic required a clear mind. A haze of golden magic surrounded her horn as she worked her way through the spell. Smoothly, her magic once again picked up the books, and inside Celestia’s mind she could see the spell analyzing them, discerning their content so that it could figure out where they ought to go. One by one, each one of them was carried back to its destination.

When the spell was finished she raised her head again. In less than a minute, her spell had accomplished what would have usually taken nearly an hour. Celestia smiled broadly, glad to once again be back in her element. “Let’s see a pegasus do that, Atlas,” she muttered under her breath.

Celestia was about a third of the way through an advanced teleportation textbook when she heard the library door click open once more. When she raised her head, she immediately discerned Luna’s profile standing in the doorway. Seeing her, Luna ran in, a wide smile upon her face. “Celestia!” she cried.

“Luna!” Celestia said as she rose to give her sister a heartfelt embrace. “It’s been almost a year. How are things?”

“Well, things are all right,” Luna replied, but her voice didn’t sound like she meant it. “It’s actually strange,” she continued, releasing the hug. “Coming in just now to see you bent over a book reminded me of how things used to be, back in Eridian.”

“Hmm, I suppose some things never change,” Celestia remarked. “Just like I can tell that something’s the matter. One thing that it seems you haven’t learned is how to keep a secret.”

Luna sighed, and collapsed into a chair at Celestia’s table. “I can’t believe I lasted through six months up here! They’ve been the most boring six months I could ever imagine.”

Celestia remained silent, since clearly Luna still had more to say. Of course, while she had been struggling with Atlas out west, she had wondered how her sister’s free spirit would fare with the rigid discipline that Aqua imposed on her students. In a way, it was good to know neither one of them had had a perfect year.

Luna did not remain seated for long. When next she spoke, she vaulted out of her chair with a flutter of her wings, and began pacing the floor. “I joined with the Resistance so that I could help ponies. But all Aqua wants me to do is learn about history and magic! How is any of that supposed to help remove Discord from his throne? How is that supposed to make anypony happy? At least Atlas knows what it is that we’re trying to accomplish.”

About a dozen sharp retorts sprang to Celestia’s mind, but she bit all of them back. As proud as she was of everything that she had learned from Aqua, now was definitely not the time to start an argument. “Well, we made it through, didn’t we?” she said with a smile. “Now that our years are over, it’s time for us to move on to the next step.”

“But that’s just it!” Luna said. “Clearly I was supposed to be learning something useful if I spent six months up here. All of this time I’ve been trying, trying to figure out what it is about all of this that works towards our true purpose.” All of a sudden, Luna fell back down into her seat.

“Now that it’s over, and I still have nothing…” She looked up, and Celestia could see that Luna was close to tears. “I’m not sure if I’m ready.”

Celestia reached over and stroked her sister’s mane. “Come on, you’re not the alicorn that I know. Where’s that fire? Where’s that determination you always had? Things can’t be so bad.”

Luna sniffled. “Certainly they aren’t for you, I’m sure. You probably didn’t have any problems at all.”

Celestia pulled her chair in closer, and brushed Luna’s mane out of her eyes with a little bit of magic. She reached a hoof under her sister’s chin, and gently tugged Luna’s face up until she could look right into her eyes. “I’ll tell you a secret,” she whispered. “Right now, if Atlas told me to kick another cloud, I would turn his mane into straw first. If he told me to tend to another garden, I would make sure that all of the thistles ended up in his pillow.”

Luna chuckled at that one. “I never thought of that.”

“So cheer up,” Celestia finished, now that Luna was done crying. “Sometimes things just don’t work out the way we’d like them to.”

Luna took a deep breath, and wiped the last of her tears from her eyes. “So you’re anxious too then?”

“Certainly. But like I said, here we are on the other side,” Celestia said as she stood up, picking up her book with her magic. “Anything else that comes, we’ll just have to deal with, like we always have.”

Once again, Luna smiled as she joined her sister. “I guess that some things really don’t change, do they?”

“Never,” Celestia replied, and gave Luna another soft hug. “Now come on. We have to pick out our gowns for tonight’s ceremony.”

That evening, the whole of the school gathered on the grounds of the academy for the celebratory feast. Massive pots of steaming vegetables had been cooked for the occasion, and the freshest grains had been brought in from the outlying country. Unicorn chefs had been busy all afternoon, infusing the food with exotic flavours as they laboured over the preparations.

Celestia and Luna walked together through the assembled multitude, approaching the head of the proceedings down the central aisle. Both of them were dressed in their best fineries, long gowns that stretched down to the ground. Celestia had eventually chosen a snowy white configuration, decked in jewels to complement her shimmering mane. To show off her independence, Luna had opted for a more colourful arrangement, but it was nevertheless still haughtily formal. As the pair came up to the elevated platform that stood just under the tower, Celestia helped her sister up the steps.

Aqua and Atlas were there waiting for them. The unicorn had done up her mane into an intricate set of curls, framing her face perfectly, and matching her very conservative outfit. Atlas, meanwhile, had on a white suit jacket and red bowtie. His mane was parted casually to the side, although at least he had taken the time to comb it. Still, the two Masters stood out in opposition to each other: order and individuality.

When both of them were in place on the platform, Aqua called for order. Speaking in her usual commanding tone, the Master of Water began her speech to the assemblage.

“Students of Air and Water, esteemed guests, trusted companions, friends: welcome. We are gathered here tonight in celebration, for these two students here by my side, Celestia and Luna.” There was a moment of respectful applause, and Celestia tried to suppress a proud smile as she felt the warm attention.

“They came to us a year ago, and at that time we toasted their rebirth as free ponies: released from the shackles of Discord’s tyranny. Over this time, they have grown, and matured into new beings. They have learned the unifying harmony of mind and spirit, as emphasized by our separate disciplines. They have found power by looking inside themselves. They have excelled in their chosen fields. My children,” she stated, turning now to the two alicorns with sincerity in her tone, “you are students no longer.”

There was another outbreak of applause, which the Master of Water immediately quieted with the wave of a hoof. She now spoke directly to the two sisters, and Celestia felt the eyes of the audience drawn in toward her as well. “You go forth now to fight the battles that must be fought, to spread peace, justice, and harmony as far as you can, to reclaim this land in the name of all that have fallen in defending it. May Harmony stand with you.”

Reaching for a crystal goblet that seemed to appear beside her out of nowhere, the Master raised it in a toast. Her magic cascaded around the glass in an azure shimmer. When she looked down, Celestia was startled to see a similar glass in front of herself. With a tiny effort, she raised it with her own magic, and Luna did the same. The rest of the students joined them, and more than a thousand snifters glinted in the moonlight. With finality, Aqua finished her toast. “A year ago, we drank to new beginnings. Now, allow me to reaffirm that pledge. Celestia and Luna, you are once again born anew, free from the self-imposed prison of ignorance. We wish you the very best in future endeavours, as we work together for ultimate victory and a free Equestria once again!”

In unison, the crowd drank to the toast, and all four of the ponies on stage did so as well. The wine tasted, somehow, mystical, full and round while still sweet on the tongue. It was a majestic moment, one that Celestia wanted to go on forever. The light of the Moon glistened off the buildings of the school, casting its inviting aura over the congregation. The air was still, comfortably humid from the bubbling brook, which danced to its own music in the background.

Soon enough, the toast had completed, and the rest of the students got down to the business of the meal. But for the four on stage, the ceremony was not complete, or at least so it seemed. Aqua turned round to address the two sisters, speaking in a calm voice. “Come. We have something wonderful to show both of you.”

The four made their way down off the stage, and reverently climbed the curved steps that rose over the stream to the base of the tower. They came together under the structure’s base, on the small landing that straddled the river. In the background, the night air was broken by the ebullient sounds of dinner getting underway. But the two Masters had eyes only for their new companions now.

“Well, that’s finally over with,” chuckled Atlas as he hurriedly undid his bowtie and tossed it into the river. “Congratulations to the both of you. You’ve earned your spot here. Few are able to pass the trials both of you have faced; even fewer can reach your level within only a year. Aqua and I are both proud of all that you have accomplished.”

Luna beamed with satisfaction, and Celestia also couldn’t hold back a satisfied grin. It had been a rough year for the both of them, filled with trials. Finally, they had reached the end. Looking up, Celestia even noticed the barest hint of a smile on Aqua’s features.

Behind them, at the railing, Atlas spoke up again. “So both of you are probably wondering when you get to eat, right? I’ll admit it sure does smell good over there.”

Both of the sisters stayed silent, awaiting an answer, but Celestia did have to admit that the luscious aromas wafting over from the banquet had piqued her appetite. Aqua, however, merely summoned an orb of energy into their midst, holding it above her horn for a second. In a steady voice, she addressed the two sisters. “There will be time for all that later, but first there is business to attend to. The first stage of your journeys has come to its end, but now it is time to begin anew.” With a flash, she released the magical orb, which expanded out to envelop the four of them. In an instant, the mountainside around them disappeared.

Celestia felt herself floating in a shapeless blue void, with nothing but an infinite featureless horizon in all directions. She wanted to call out, find something or someone to hold on to, but suddenly realized that she didn’t even know if her voice would carry here. Was there even air for her to breathe? Celestia felt lost, on an instantaneous verge of panic. Then, Aqua’s calming voice emerged through the fog, giving clarity to the scene, drawing out recognizable shapes in her mind’s eye.

“Do not be afraid,” Aqua intoned steadily. “This is simply a magical construct, a visual way to experience a message. Now that you are ready to join us, you have earned the right to this vision, that of the power we face, and hope for that which once was, and that which may yet be.”

As Celestia looked on, lines of silver etched their way through the limitless void, forming into a recognizable outline. Colours inflamed the scene, and Celestia found herself looking at the city of Eridian, but different. It was older, and unadorned with the wicked towers of Discord’s castle. In their place was a brilliant triangle of golden stone, three slender pinnacles set round a central spire of straight lines and peaked arches, reaching upward to a dizzying height. Perched on its very peak was a massive statue: three ponies reaching skyward in unison, claiming the brightness of Equestria’s future.

Celestia gasped as the vision slotted itself into her memory. The Tower of the Triumvirs! This meant that the city could only be the legendary Equestrian Capital City, unspoilt in the early years of the free Equestria. Looking closer, Celestia could see that each of the secondary towers was adorned in its own way, put to the use of one of the pony tribes. The unicorn tower supported a powerful observatory, and was ringed about with banners and measuring instruments. Its ornate balustrades were etched with images of astronomical bodies, bright stars and exotic planets. Nearby, the pegasus tower was surrounded with clouds and lightning, as the masters of the weather directed the meteorology of the nation. And finally, the enterprising earth ponies had turned their tower into a centre of administration, and had even planted a small field on its roof, never letting a single foot of space go unused.

In the light, the city shone with all the glory deserving of its place in history. Celestia felt its reflection illuminate the depths of her soul, inspiring her as it must have inspired all ponies in ages past. But alas, for the vision was not finished. In an instant, Celestia felt darkness pushing at the corners of the utopia. Like a flood of serpentine wisps, grey evil flowed up into the vision. All at once, fate turned upon the city. The clouds of the pegasi turned upon the population, unleashing a torrent of rain and destructive lightning, igniting fires and sparking panic. Confused unicorns rushed out onto their balconies, but could only watch in dumbstruck awe as their own instruments of science transformed into fearsome weapons, assaulting the populace with focused energy. Even the earth ponies saw their machinations turned against them, as the fruits of their field suddenly grew to enormous size, caving in the roof of the tower. All throughout the city there was great distress, and nothing that the powers of any tribe could do to stop it.

Like a breath of cold stealing the life of a calm spring night, chaos spread through the city, robbing colour and creating only lifeless dullness. Finally, the malady became complete, and the Tower of the Triumvirs crumbled, falling to earth with a deadened crash. The vision morphed then into something all too recognizable to Celestia. It was Eridian: dead and broken in the place of what had once been great. She felt determination settle into her heart then. For such a crime, there was only one justifiable punishment. And now that she had the power within her, she vowed that Discord would pay the terrible debt that he owed her country.

When Celestia rematerialized in the real world, she felt a wave of nausea as her body attempted to readjust. Beside her, Luna was engaged in a similar process of acclimatization. But from the passion in her eyes, Celestia had no doubt that her sister had witnessed the same vision she had.

Once she finally got her head back in order, Celestia spared a glance around the area, but was immediately shocked. They most certainly were not up in the mountains anymore. The ever-present babble of the mountain stream had been replaced by a sort of living stillness, quiet, but not uncomfortably so. Taking another, longer gaze, she analyzed whatever she could.

They appeared to have materialized in a dense forest. The light of the Moon trickled down through the branches, illuminating a forest floor covering in loose grass. The trees were spaced regularly, growing in harmony with the world and allowing easy passage. The two sisters seemed to be on a worn path, which ran straight for several meters before disappearing over a low rise. The forest grew thicker ahead, so it was difficult to determine where the path led. Overall though, the place certainly seemed safe. Her confidence grew when the two Masters also phased into existence just in front of her.

Aqua and Atlas reintegrated with the real world far faster than their two students did, likely due to experience with the process. Both appeared quite pleased to be here. Atlas took a deep breath of the crisp air, letting all of his stresses fall away with every exhalation. Aqua did the same, but in a more refined manner.

Celestia realized suddenly just how much she had changed, and how well this moment encapsulated it. Here she was in an unfamiliar environment, and the Celestia of old would have immediately brought up her guard, distrustful of anything until she got answers. She realized how open she had allowed herself to become. It was certainly something to consider later.

Luna was the first to find her voice. “That vision… that was Equestria in the past?” she asked, directing the question to Atlas.

The pegasus was engaged in ruffling his mane and unbuttoning a few of his suit jacket buttons. “Yes,” he replied nonchalantly. “That was what once was, and what we hope to restore.”

“It was beautiful,” Celestia said in a voice edged with sorrow. “And thanks to Discord it is now all lost. Such an unforgivable tragedy,” she finished, hanging her head low in remembrance.

But when Celestia raised her eyes again, Aqua had on a knowing smile. Speaking in a mysterious voice, she addressed her students. “I knew that both of you were ready to see it though. Hopefully, both of you now understand the power that we face. All the might of our ancestors could mount no opposition to Discord’s assault. However, if you’ll follow me,” she said with a wink, “I think you’ll find that the future is not as bleak as it might seem.”

And without any more words, the two Masters walked together toward the small hill in the path. With a look, Celestia motioned for Luna to go first, and they followed. The wood was serene in the moonlight, almost heavenly. The elder sister managed to spot the occasional nocturnal creature about its routine, but soon sensed that her attention should lie ahead. Both Aqua and Atlas seemed to grow taller with every step, in clear anticipation of what lay just over the ridge. They paused for a moment just on the lip, and motioned backwards for the two alicorns to come forward. As Celestia laid her eyes on the grassy clearing below, she felt her jaw slacken in shock.

It was the Tower of the Triumvirs, rebuilt brick for brick from the original, standing tall and proud in lordship over the forest. The central spire was ringed with gold, reflecting the moonlight in a dazzling array of patterns as it stretched storey over storey high over forest. Each of the secondary towers stood atop its own independent mound, and each was adorned according to the individual sense of the tribe it represented. The unicorn tower was again bristled with telescopes, and the earth ponies once again grew their crops. Even the pegasus tower again bristled with clouds, undoubtedly the reason that the forest grew so lush around them.

“The Citadel of Everfree,” Aqua announced with a reverent voice. “Last bastion of the free ponies, and home to Terraria, Master of the Order of Earth.” Both she and Atlas were looking upwards at the amazing structure, with glassy, nostalgic looks on their faces.

For the two sisters, it was as if they had stepped from a dream into history itself. Aqua’s base in the mountains now seemed utilitarian, compared to this extravagant display of beauty. Even now, in such dark times, hope burned eternally. For beneath the structure, Celestia now beheld a multitude of ponies, heralding each of the distinct tribes in roughly equal proportion. They were dressed in varied robes, long and flowing garments of silk and cashmere. The crowd erupted in approval upon seeing the newcomers, pointing and applauding vigorously. For an instant, Celestia wasn’t sure what to do, but she noticed that Luna was merely smiling proudly at the adulation, and she decided to do the same.

The perfect completion to the scene reached her then, as the scent of exquisitely cooked fruits and cereals wafted up to the ridge. It seemed that they would get their celebratory meal after all. She looked over at the Masters: each of them seemed ready to forget all the troubles of life to settle into this one moment. Celestia realized that it was time she and Luna did the same. This was the celebration they had earned, their first night as truly free ponies in the new Equestria.

Chapter 9: Old Habits

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“Throughout all of pony history, the vitriol between the Unicorns and the Pegasi always seems to rise over all else. But our two tribes are not enemies. We’re just scholars who look at the world in very different ways.”

- Inscription dedicating the Library of Cloudsdale

Atlas breathed a contented sigh as he climbed up the long spiralling staircase that circled Pegasus Tower. This place was filled with so many memories, memories of a simpler time, before life’s destiny had moved him and Aqua onto their present paths. The two of them had had each other, and they had had work and study to occupy their thoughts and minds. Then, unexpected as a bolt of lightning, the world had worked its mysterious magic on their fates.

He stopped before an unobtrusive door about midway up the tower’s length. As he examined it, his heart skipped a beat on seeing the marks and gashes from its former use. Every nick was a piece of his former life, so long ago. Pushing it open, he stepped back into his old room.

Everything was just as it would have been ages ago. The room was ellipsoidal, and mostly open in the centre. Along the far wall, the low writing desk was still piled high with parchment: drafts and drawings from his older studies. He was shocked to find that even his old chalkboard was still in here, still covered with scrawled notes and diagrams. The rest of the living arrangements were pretty ordinary, as befitted a tenant who had once been just another student.

Atlas immediately threw his white jacket onto the bed and walked over to the room’s single window, which offered an inspiring view of the forest from this height. But more importantly to him, this window faced the adjacent Unicorn Tower. Atlas remembered all the times he had sat at this window in ages past, gazing wistfully across the way, admiring the magnificence of that tower’s braided architecture. He had been so young back then, full of energy and passion, but also naïve and fearful. The object of his desire had been so close, and yet had seemed like it was on the other side of Equestria.

Tonight, he recognized a familiar glint from the opposite window, a twinkle of light that indicated activity in the other tower. Atlas remembered every night that he had sat here as a youth, promising himself that one day he would take the plunge, and take hold of life. How complicated the matter had seemed back then! Countless nights he had stopped himself in front of her door, questioning how she would react, whether or not it was his place to ask for that which he desired. Many times, he had retreated back to this room, vowing that someday he would have enough courage to let her know.

He laughed to think of how foolish he had once been: such a lovesick colt, wishing for attention but unwilling to take the necessary step. Ironically enough, it had actually been Seraph who had first convinced him to take that leap of faith, grabbing fate for his own and seeing where his future would lead. He felt a pang of guilt as memories of his lost friend surfaced once again, but buried it. Seraph had made his choices, despite any opinions Atlas might have had on the matter. What was done now could never be undone, regardless of how much he might desire that. Ever since then, Aqua had been all that he cared for, although of course she always let work come first. She was such a headstrong mare, but then that fire in her personality was exactly what made them so similar, so compatible.

But tonight, both of their labours had reached fruition, at least for the moment. He felt a familiar longing surfacing through his mind, and knew that both of them deserved this night for each other.

Twenty-five Years Earlier

Citadel of Everfree

A harsh summer sun beat relentlessly upon the gilded towers of Everfree. For more than a week, all of Equestria had suffered under an unprecedented heat wave. Ponies looked at the sky every morning and wondered what it was that apparently had Discord in such a rancour.

Spots of covered shade quickly became the most valuable commodity at the Citadel, and students gathered in the guarded nooks in an attempt to beat the heat. As could be expected under such conditions, irritability ran high in the population. Any given day was likely to bear witness to several escalating verbal arguments, with the odd one turning physical. Luckily no one was able to sustain a brawl for long in the sweltering conditions.

Atlas spent most of his afternoons along the outer boundary of one of the Citadel’s central courtyards. It was a well-kept little area, encircled by a low wall, and interspersed with several small tables, perfect for impromptu games of skill or contemplative lunches. The courtyard itself was filled with exotic flora cultivated by Terraria’s Order: brightly coloured flowers and striated ferns from far-off lands. All brought here from various expeditions and travels.

Of course, the plants were suffering in the heat, but the Order’s gardeners were fanatical, never letting a single root go untended. There were jokes that Terraria loved her plants more even than her own family, and even held funerals for them when they passed on. Atlas wasn’t entirely certain what to think of stories like that, but the ancient Master definitely did have her eccentricities.

Atlas was simply a student here, as were so many that walked about within this last stronghold of the Equestria that once was. After a youth spent in destitution wandering around the country, he had found his way here a few years ago. Just like all that had come before him, Atlas had begun a course of studies into the ways of nature and history. It was a classical education, but one that he honestly couldn’t care less about. Even now, a selection of parchments lay spread out in front of him, dry and brittle in the desiccated air. But Atlas wasn’t looking at them. He only had eyes for the brilliant white mare across the courtyard from him, engrossed in her own affairs.

Atlas had first run into the young unicorn more than a month ago, a chance encounter in a random hallway. He had been wandering about rather aimlessly, searching for something with which to occupy himself. Coming around a corner, he had seen her then, at the far end of the hall and coming forward. The mare had moved with a purpose, clear intent visible in her light blue eyes. Every inch of her form radiated pure order and reason, as would a single crystalline thought, navigating the chaotic swirls of life on the way to its destination.

She had spared him the slightest of glances before passing by, unimpressed. All of a sudden, Atlas had become aware that his school suit was wrinkled and dirty, and his mane was unkempt. He had remained staring after her for a while, admiring the way her beautifully managed mane fell effortlessly around her glistening and delicate shoulders.

Over the next few weeks, fate seemed to conspire to drive them together, as Atlas began noticing her around where he hadn’t before. The two of them ended up in a class together, and Aqua, for he had found out her name almost immediately after that first meeting, distinguished herself as a top student, a clear rising star. Meanwhile, struggling with the content, he had felt more inadequate than ever.

Ever since then, he had found himself shadowing her day-to-day, admiring her assured and self-confident life. At the same time, he wondered what he could possibly be hoping would happen. Aqua was a star, a sparkling diamond in the dust of life. Surely her fate was to meet another such gentle-colt, a high achiever who could offer her the chance to live her dreams. Meanwhile, he was just another student, laughably inept at everything in which she excelled. Back in the present day, Atlas let a hopeful breath pass his lips as he kept on staring across the courtyard. Every day, he wondered what chance he could have. What harm would it do to approach her, and try to strike up some conversation?

But each time, that memory of their first meeting in the hallway came back to him. As Aqua had casually stepped past him, she had been wearing a deadpan expression, already moving her attention on to the next task. Unimpressed. If he ever wanted a chance, he knew that he needed to make a better first impression than that. And to do that, he would need to have a plan, a dashing presentation that was sure to knock her off her hooves.

Later that afternoon, when Aqua had gone off to one of her classes, Atlas decided to pay a visit to Seraph. The orange earth pony lived in a rather large room near to the top of Earth Pony Tower, a secluded area that very few others dared to enter. Rumours abounded throughout the school of what went on within that room, as strange sounds and smells were known to emanate forth from it at all hours. Only Atlas knew the real truth: Seraph was just one strange stallion.

Most of the other students looked at the youthful orange stallion as a loose screw, a wild and unkempt soul that needed to be shown the path back to regularity. Most simply avoided him, but Atlas had taken a shining to the budding engineer. He was an analyst, a pony steeped in reason despite his chaotic exterior. Whenever Atlas was in a pickle, he had always been able to count on his friend’s rationality to get him out of it. With that said, such advantages did come with a certain amount of drawbacks.

This afternoon, just as Atlas grasped the handle to his friend’s quarters, the floor shook as a massive crash reverberated through the building. It was accompanied by a loud shattering sound, as though a hundred wine glasses had been thrown from a cliff, and landed on hard, unforgiving stone. Opening the door gingerly, Atlas found the orange stallion standing amid a pile of glass shards, a screwdriver in one hoof and a scowl on his face. “Uh, hey Seraph, what’s up?”

With a grunt, Seraph stepped away from a complicated-looking set of brass frames and wires in the centre of the room. “Nothing of your concern, Atlas,” he answered in a calm, ever so slightly affected voice. “The main lens for my solar collector is lying in ruin upon my floor, which is a positive waste of good crystal. Luckily I have a spare. Would you mind lending me a hoof?”

Atlas nodded as his friend began shifting items about on the long workbench that circled the room’s perimeter. He caught sight of water wheels, lightning rods, mounting brackets, and even a whole set of glassware being tossed into its own corner, adding to the already cluttered state of the surroundings. Seraph’s apartment was a testament to past experiments, some of them successful, but most being abject failures. Every spare corner was piled up with twisted metal and machined lumber, some of it burned and blackened from a few of the more explosive tests. All of it was of course entirely incoherent to Atlas, but his friend didn’t mind at all. Seraph was used to living in his own world. Casting a quick look about, he noticed that the room didn’t even appear to have a bed. Probably, it was hiding underneath the mess.

Finally, Seraph motioned him over. Atop the bench in front of him was a large disk of polished glass, more than a foot in diameter. Seraph’s eager face was reflected nearly perfectly in its bright convex surface. Carefully, the two of them hoisted it over to the centre of the chamber, where a column of sunlight was shining through a window, illuminating the unruly apparatus Atlas had noticed upon his entrance.

Noticing his confusion, Seraph decided that perhaps an explanation was in order. “It’s a solar collector, my friend. I intend to focus the power of the Sun into something worthwhile, since it has been beating down on us so long anyway.”

Atlas held the lens in place as Seraph set about attaching various mounts and brackets around its circumference. He realized that it was probably time to broach his own issue, lest the inventor get off on a rant about this new project of his. “Hey, can I ask you something?”

The orange stallion glanced over from his work, tightening a small screw in an overhead mount. “Any time. Problems with your ecology homework again?”

Atlas looked away in a sudden fit of embarrassment. “No, nothing like that,” he admitted. “It’s actually… something a bit more personal.”

“Hmm?” Seraph prompted him to continue.

“You see, there’s this one other student, this mare—”

“Uh, pardon me for a second, would you?” Seraph put down the screwdriver and fixed his friend with a long glare. He gestured that Atlas could stop holding the lens, and indicated the room around them. “I’m flattered, old friend, but take a good look around you. I’m what you might call a ‘solitary’ fellow. Do you really think it’s such a good idea to ask me for help with the mares?”

Atlas kept staring his friend right in the eye. In fact there was a very good reason, which Seraph was about to find out. It was the reason he had come here in the first place, the source of the most persistent of the rumours that circulated about within the student body. Most found it difficult to believe, but Seraph and Aqua were in fact brother and sister. So if he was going to learn the route to her heart, Atlas had figured that Seraph was probably the best place to start. “It’s Aqua, friend.”

The incredulous look in Seraph’s eyes vanished, to be replaced only with a sombre resignation. With a sigh, he turned back to his work. “So you went and dug yourself into that particular hole, did you?”

“I feel her, Seraph. Like the clear light of a spring sunrise she calls to my soul. I just know that she was made for me, that together we’ll be happy.”

“Heh, I’ve heard that one before, I think,” Seraph replied. “She has that effect on stallions, you know? Everypony thinks she’s this unassailable peak, a treasure beyond reckoning. You aren’t the first to come around here asking for advice, Atlas. Can you pass me that Allen wrench?”

“Well, can you blame me?” Atlas shot back defiantly, grabbing the wrench off the worktable and handing it to his friend. “I don’t want to lose this opportunity. So tell me whatever you’ve told everypony else, then. What is the secret to winning Aqua’s hoof?”

Seraph was silent for a very long time, twiddling with his solar collector. Atlas stood expectantly off to the side, dreaming his dreams of happiness, and waiting for the golden nugget that Seraph had in his possession. Information that could only come from an inside source, a source that knew Aqua’s heart better than any outsider could. Seraph had that information, the sort of insight that only a younger brother could provide, but he had probably seen many other suitors lose themselves on this path before, and obviously wasn’t sure what to tell his friend.

After an eternity of silence, Seraph stood back and reached up to a small rope that Atlas had not noticed before. The rope ran up through a sequence of pulleys to a shutter that was attached to the roof. With a grin of anticipation, Seraph indicated the machine in front of him. “I’ll only tell you this once, and it’ll be your decision whether or not you want to continue down this road, so watch and learn.”

Seraph yanked on the cord, opening the shutter and letting sunlight stream through the opening. Focused by collimating mirrors, the light fell onto the main lens, being sharpened down onto a single pinpoint. A small scrap of parchment was there at the moment, and it instantly burst into bright flame. Satisfied, Seraph pulled another rope, and closed the ceiling again.

Turning around and facing his friend, Seraph remained smiling. “Aqua is like that parchment. On her own, she can be very perceptive, filled with words of wisdom and knowledge of the ages. She tries to fill her heart with reason and understanding, but I know her well enough to see that she misses the joy of true beauty underneath. That is the secret you are looking for, Atlas. She needs to have her spirit awoken, lit up by the beauty of a true relationship.”

Atlas absorbed all this information like a sponge, trying to work it into his strategies for the future. All he needed was to wake up Aqua’s sense of wonder, perhaps showing her some sight few looked upon in their times, or maybe even taking her to a dangerous place, and allowing some adrenaline to get through to her brain. He could do things like that. In fact, the first ideas of a plan sprouted somewhere inside his head. Finally, he felt some hope again. The two of them would be together in the end! He turned a hurried gaze back up to Seraph, and nodded his understanding.

Seraph stood complacently, shaking his head as if wondering if he had done the right thing. In response, Atlas came up and clapped him once on the shoulder. “Thank you, Seraph. The two of us are destined for each other, and I’m going to show her just that. Tomorrow, we will look upon this day with fond memories.”

“Well, you’d best get on then,” Seraph replied with a hint of humour returning to his voice. “Go, I’ve got plenty more work with which to occupy myself.” And so Atlas left, thanking his friend silently every step of the way. When this was all worked out, he would have to find some way to reward the orange pony for services rendered. For the moment though, he had his own job set out to do. If Aqua was the parchment, then it was his job to set the flame of wonder within her heart, so that they could light up the night with the pristine fire of their love.

Present Day

Citadel of Everfree

The doorway to Aqua’s room was far more salubrious than the portal to his simple apartment, but then that was to be expected. The unicorns had always delighted in the regal trappings of their offices, and so made sure to leave no surface unadorned. Somehow though, the whole place managed to maintain an air of magisterial beauty, rather than vain showmanship. The door was closed, meaning that the room’s occupant was likely busy and did not wish to be disturbed, but he grasped the handle anyway.

Inside, the room was mostly dark, lit only by the starlight coming in through the open window. Had he stopped to look around, Atlas might have noticed that the bed was a large and comfortable four poster, and the writing desk, though still piled with notes, was far more solid than his own, carved by hoof from rosewood. But he only had eyes tonight for the room’s occupant, who stood by the open window peering upward through a silver telescope.

Atlas knew that he really should make his presence known, but he took a moment to appreciate his fellow Master’s form. Aqua had removed her usual traveler’s cloak, so Atlas ran his eyes over her fine figure, all the way from her delicate neck, along the gentle curves of her front legs, and back along her body. Coming up behind her quietly, he approached the windowsill, sliding in alongside her and peering upward at the night sky.

She noted his presence immediately, but barely spared him a glance before turning back to her eyepiece. Put off, he let a loose breath out of his lips. “Hmm. Why is it that a unicorn never can let well enough alone, Aqua?”

She didn’t reply, so he hooked a hoof over top of the telescope and nudged it out of alignment with a gentle pull. When she scowled and looked up again, he swept his other hoof over the nighttime sky. “Why is that they have such a desire to understand everything, and put it in its proper place? I can look upwards, and I don’t have to map every star onto a precise grid to know that everything is exactly where it needs to be.”

With a smile to match his, Aqua turned away and walked back into the room. In a challenging voice, she answered his question with a question. “And why is it then that pegasi can never see the precision and the applicability of our knowledge? Understanding the beauty of the stars will not allow you to navigate by them. Appreciating the Sun’s light will not let you predict a solar eclipse.” Her eyes shone with a playful energy, a bewitching twinkle that teased Atlas along.

“It seems that we have much to learn from each other then, my dear,” he replied, pushing himself off the windowsill and coming around to face her in the room’s centre. “Just like always.”

The two Masters stared into the depths of each other’s eyes, searching for that lost connection, the spark that both of them had found so long ago. It felt like it had been forever since they had had a real private moment like this one, without work and life pushing either of them along. Both could feel the warm blaze of desire surfacing from the depths of their minds.

Atlas reached forward and touched his friend’s mane, stroking his hoof down around her perfect face. Then, the two of them came together for a long, passionate kiss. Atlas felt all the stress of this life fall away from his mind, as he allowed himself to think only of this moment. When their lips parted, Aqua looked up at him with a new clarity. “It’s been a very long time, my love,” she said in a voice bright and clear. “We are not the brash young students we were so long ago.”

Atlas allowed himself a carefree chuckle, and took a step around her, manoeuvring them both closer to the bed, which was plenty large enough for the two of them. “Perhaps not,” he admitted, “but our love still burns just as bright, does it not? Brighter yet, I might wager.”

Aglow from the anticipation, Aqua lay down in the centre of the mattress, her front legs spread out invitingly. “Then let us light up this night, like we did in the fearless days of our youth.” Atlas needed no further encouragement.

Chapter 10: Terraria

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“Over the long years of my life, I encountered many sages, and equally as many fools. But determining one from the other is a skill that I mastered far too late.”

- High Princess Celestia, Personal Journals (Vol. 3)

Dawn came to Everfree, and for once, when Celestia woke up she realized that the Sun had risen almost exactly when she would have liked it to. The golden rays of the dawn slanted through the tall window of her room here in Unicorn Tower, illuminating the space with a gentle light.

Celestia didn’t want to get up. The soft down of the mattress beneath her was more comfortable than anything she had ever felt before, and the woods outside were peaceful and quiet. She was finished with her training, so there was no longer a rigid schedule guiding her days, and there were no pressing concerns to take care of, as there had always been in Eridian. She was free to do as she would, for once.

Then, almost as if to mock her false peace, the Sun dipped quickly back below the horizon, plunging the world into utter darkness, before rising again just as it had before. Now Celestia remembered why it was that she was here. There could be no peaceful mornings until that task had been taken care of.

Her window faced southeast, out over the trees of the forest, until eventually the ground rose up into dark hills on the edge of the horizon. She found the view to be noteworthy, not just because it was another feature of the forest, but because of the way that it felt. With her unicorn magic now awakened within her, Celestia had begun sensing magic around whenever it was present, and here at the Citadel, she could feel more of it than ever before. Something powerful was at work within these woods, and she could feel it the most strongly when she looked out of her window at the distant hills. It was another question for her to answer.

The Sun’s light gleamed off of a piece of white paper that was lying on the floor just inside of the doorway, evidently having been brushed underneath some time during the night. With a sigh, Celestia grasped it with her magic and held it up. The solid, square script she immediately recognized as Aqua’s.

“Good morning, Celestia. Now that you’ve completed your studies, the time of judgement is upon us. Today we shall see if you are worthy of becoming the third Triumvir of Equestria. But first, it is time for you to finally meet Terraria, the leader of the Resistance, and the one who will be your ultimate judge. This is a magical letter, which will alert us as soon as you finish reading it. We await you and Luna in the Central Meeting Chamber.”

Aqua, Master of Water

That was it then. Of course she had known that it was only a matter of time until the final test came. For all of the time that she had spent thinking about might happen afterwards, she had probably spent just as long thinking about what exactly her final trial was going to entail. Today it seemed that it was time for her to find out. When Celestia placed the letter down onto the room’s writing desk, it promptly disappeared in a puff of blue magic. Eagerly, she set about preparing herself to meet Terraria.

About twenty minutes later, Celestia let herself out of the bedroom, and into the hallway that circled this floor of Unicorn Tower. The interior layout of the building very closely resembled Aqua’s tower from up north, to the point that it was clear where the latter had drawn its architectural inspiration from. Each tower was joined to the main complex of the Citadel via a covered walkway about midway up its length, and so it was to there that Celestia set out.

Every corner of Unicorn Tower seemed to have a story to tell, and the painstaking effort that its builders had taken in their reconstruction was plain to see. Important moments from pony history were enshrined in paintings upon its walls, in engravings upon its ceilings, and even in beautiful stained glass in a few large window panes. Just like Aqua’s base up north, the tower was bristling with history, with stories of a time long past, but still remembered, and still fervently hoped for.

When she crossed over into the central complex, she found Luna waiting along with an emerald-robed attendant. As she approached, the attendant gave her a small nod, and then turned and began leading the two of them down through the structure, presumably to the Central Meeting Chamber.

“Well?” Luna said, looking at her with an excited grin. “Here we are, finally ready to move on. Finally ready to get out there and do something for a change.”

“I don’t think that we’ll be marching back to Eridian as soon as the trial is over,” Celestia cautioned. “One day at a time, sister.”

“I know.” Luna replied, “but I feel like I’ve been waiting my whole life for this chance, and even one more day is going to be like an eternity. I just can’t wait to get back there, to look out over that city and know that I am going to do something to help.”

It was true, and Celestia had spent many of her own nights thinking just the same thoughts. But each time in the past it had been easy to remember that the day of judgement was still far in the offing. There was no avoiding it now.

“Luna,” Celestia said softly, breaking her sister out of her thoughts. “I… I suppose I never apologized for before.”

“What do you mean, before?”

“Well...” Celestia looked away. “Before this, before everything. Before we met Atlas and our lives changed. I thought that I was looking out for us, but I guess now we both know that I was just being selfish. What I should say is, you were right, Luna.”

“Oh, come now, sister.” Luna placed a comforting hoof upon her shoulder. “I understood back then why we did what we did. And it wasn’t your fault that our lives were hard. What you or I did back then doesn’t matter. What’s important is that now we’re going to fix things. After today, and after Discord, we’ll be able to live the life that we always deserved.”

“But that’s just it!” Celestia snapped. “It’s not going to the same, Luna. After today, one of us is going to be a Triumvir, with responsibilities, with duties, with all of Equestria hanging in the balance each time we make a decision. And the other...” Celestia returned her gaze to the floor. “The other is just going to be watching from the sidelines, forgotten to history.”

“Is that really what you’re thinking about now?” Luna said, pulling her sister to a stop mid-stride. “None of that matters. Perhaps only one of us can be a Triumvir. Perhaps only one of us can be Equestria’s hero, and have her name in all the history books from now until the end of time. But the other will never be forgotten.” Luna let go of Celestia and brought her hoof back to her chest, placing it right over her heart. “I swear to you that you will always be my sister and my equal, Celestia, no matter if one of us wears a crown or lives in a palace. We will always be together.”

“Of course,” Celestia replied, and raised her own hoof to her breast to mirror her sister. “And I swear the same. We will always stand together.” She smiled, and then reached forward to embrace Luna in a warm hug. It was probably the last time that they would be together like this, at least for the foreseeable future. For while she agreed with her sister’s sentiment, a part of Celestia still knew that it was only wishful thinking. Only one of them was going to be Equestria’s champion.

“Okay, now let’s get on with this thing,” Luna said as they released each other, and pointed ahead to a large set of oak double doors that their attendant had just stopped beside. The murmuring of many conversations drifted through them, though everything went quiet when the attendant banged once on the large iron knocker. After an instant, the doors began to swing inward with twin creaks from their hinges. With one final nod to Luna, Celestia stepped inside.

The doorway opened up into an expansive hall, which from its size and shape Celestia guessed must lie near to the centre of the Citadel’s tower. Underneath a high vaulted ceiling stood four hewn wooden chairs, facing inwards on a flat, raised platform. Behind each chair were rows of benches, rising up in relief to each of the far walls. Most of the seats were empty, except for the section on the wall across from the door, which was filled with ponies of many colours.

Each of the chairs was flanked by blazing torches, their light casting a warm orange aura over the room. As she climbed up the steps to the centre platform, Celestia could see that three of the chairs were occupied: Aqua sat in the chair to the left, dressed in voluminous purple robes that the young alicorn had never seen before, with a shining white diamond set upon her brow by a golden circlet. Atlas, who sat immediately across from his partner, was also attired in haughty formality, with a matching circlet, though his was set with a sapphire. Its twinkle complemented the shine of the lenses of his glasses, as well as his bright white teeth. He seemed to be the only pony in the room who was smiling.

Finally, between the two of them on the far side of the space there rose a small dais, upon which sat a chair so large and ornate that it was better called a throne. Each of its four legs had been carved to resemble the trunks of great trees, and indeed as they rose up from the floor their branches spread and interwove to the create the throne’s seat and back. Over the top, the trees ended in twin blooms of leaves, one framing the Sun and the other the Moon.

And seated on the throne she could now see a small pony, with a snowy white mane and a coat of shining emerald. Around a large opal brooch bound at her neck, cloths of many colours fell: yellow, red, and green, like the colours of the forest in autumn. Without a doubt, this was Terraria, the Master of Earth. For the moment, her head was bowed as if in deep thought, and her face could not be seen among the locks of her mane.

Their attendant led the two sisters right to the center of the room, then departed for an empty bench after giving a deep bow to Terraria. Celestia felt small in the cavernous space, especially since the benches behind Terraria’s seat were filled with all the ponies of her Order, and every one of them seemed to now be watching in expectant silence.

After a moment, Aqua rose from her chair in a rustle of fabric. “The Orders of Water and Air submit Celestia and Luna, of Eridian, as candidates for the position of third Triumvir of Equestria, in accordance with the old laws, and the traditions of our Orders,” she said, in a voice that was dry and monotonic even for her. Celestia realized that Aqua was very likely just following protocol, speaking words that she had said many times before. With luck, she would not have to say them again.

The words seemed to rouse the old Master, and slowly Terraria brought her face up, as though she were waking from sleep. “Air approves?” she asked, in a voice that boomed out over the quiet space, surprisingly deep and full for her delicate frame. To her left, Atlas nodded decisively.

“Ah, then the time is once again upon us, when our fate shall be decided.” Terraria pulled herself forward in her seat, and lowered her hooves onto the dais. Terraria was quite short, so that even though she was standing almost a foot and a half above the two sisters, her eyes were about level with Celestia.

Closer up, the old Master’s age was much more plainly visible, as lines of care and worry could be discerned running along her brow and underneath her eyes. Terraria’s slender frame was enveloped by the folds of her clothing, but her head was held high and strong, and the expression on her face was not the blank stare of an aged mind. Instead, her eyes were bright, and rapidly darted over each of the two sisters, taking in details. “Tell me, which one of you is the one called Luna?”

Luna stepped forward. “That’s me,” she said.

“Ah,” Terraria replied with a nod. “Air’s candidate, I suppose?” She looked over in Atlas’s direction. Celestia kept her eyes respectfully forward, but it was clear from Terraria’s reaction that Atlas had nodded.

“Indeed,” Terraria continued, now looking at Luna again. “Tell me, child, why have you come here?”

“I am here to help,” Luna said immediately. “I am here to stop the injustice of the King’s rule, and to help ponies once again find happiness.”

“Hmm, satisfactory,” the old Master said, with a small smile, “I know of many who found their way to my door by following that path, including the pegasus to your right. No wonder he chose you.” Terraria then turned to look at Celestia. “And that makes you my good friend Aqua’s choice, then?”

“Yes,” Celestia replied. Clearly the old Master was going to ask her the same question she had just asked Luna, and so Celestia decided to save her the time. “I came here, because I had to,” she said. “Because there was no other way to lead an honest life, and no other life that I could be happy with.”

There were a few murmurs and rustles within the crowd behind the throne, but Terraria’s smile did not diminish. “Hmm, perceptive, direct, just like a certain unicorn I know. So no mystery to that decision either. I suppose you both have been told that I shall be judging you, to see if you are worthy of becoming our third Triumvir.” It was not a question, but Celestia and Luna both nodded anyway.

The old earth pony turned back to the dais. “Well make no mistake, your trial is imminent, but it shall not be I that decides your fate. That decision was made by destiny ages ago, and today we shall only see what was already preordained. Such is the way of things. It is the same for all of us, myself and your mentors included. None can escape the call of fate,” she said, and then turned to once again face the rest of the room, continuing in a voice low and grave, “not even a King.”

“You all know the story of our nation’s past?” she continued, much louder now, her voice echoing in the silent hall. Celestia sensed that Terraria was not just talking to them anymore, but speaking for the whole room’s benefit, and indeed everypony else was watching her in rapt attention. “You have already seen the dark power that usurped the throne of our ancestors? The grim tale of the rise of Discord, and the fall of Equestria?

“Yes, it is a tragedy that we shall never forget. But, my friends, the story does not end there. While there were some traitors who readily embraced Discord’s rule, there were others who already plotted against him. Among them my grandfather’s grandfather, Stout Heart the Bold, and his sister Heirloom.” Terraria turned back and indicated two ponies whose images were carved into the back of her throne. “They fled from the city, along with all those they could find who would fight on with them, and they came west, far from the King’s eyes.

“There they readied themselves with all of the might of our ancestors: Unicorns, commanding the Earth and the stars, Pegasi, with the sky at their command, and of course Earth Ponies, grim and determined that this would not be Equestria’s end. Two months later, they marched on Eridian, a host nearly a thousand strong, the starlight gleaming on their banners as beautiful as the lost dawn.”

Her words were enchanting, and Celestia envisioned the scene as it must have been, four hundred years in the past. All of the might of the Equestria of old, everything that she had read about in the old books, standing together on the field to face Discord. Unfortunately, she knew that it had not turned out well.

“But in that hour,” Terraria continued, “whether in fear at the power arrayed against him, or in spite that there still existed those courageous enough to stand, the tyrant unleashed his darkness upon the land, beginning the first Reign of Chaos. The skies were darkened, the mountains trembled, and his magic roamed free, distorting reality and destroying innocent lives. In terror, the forces of the Resistance were scattered, and their leaders were all hunted down by the King’s sycophants. All but two, Stout Heart and Heirloom.” Celestia noted that the ponies in the room all took a shallow bow at her words, hanging their heads in solemn remembrance. She and Luna did the same.

“They survived by coming here, south into the forests, where even the King’s power could not reach them. For a while they merely hid, waiting for the storms of Discord’s anger to subside. But as soon as some form of peace had returned, Stout Heart once again sought to rebuild, for the memory of what had once been had not left his heart, and he had sworn – as we all so swear – to always keep it.

“Over generations their cause grew, drawing in hopeful souls from all across the land, and they began building a base here, where they would learn and train for the next battle. But then, dear friends, everything changed.

“For it was my mother, Rough Diamond, at work excavating a new hall beneath the earth, who found what we now hold as our hope. Yea, I speak of nothing but the Prophecy of Skullhum the Far Seer, and of its prediction that soon enough we would again be free!

“Now Skullhum, so history tells us, was a great dragon from the elder days, before Equestria, before even Discord, when his kind held dominion over all these lands. He was renowned by all his kin as an Oracle, whose sight could pierce the fogs of time and space. As Rough Diamond saw, he had correctly predicted Discord’s rise, though he wrote it down thousands of years before it happened. So we knew that his other words must also be true.

“I was but a filly in those days, but like many of you my heart burned for the loss that our fair nation had suffered. I wanted to do whatever I could to right the wrongs of our past. I knew at once that this was my path, that this was how I would do my part. So I studied under my mother, working with her to decipher Skullhum’s words, and to understand what it was that we had to do. And when she and my father had passed on, I built Everfree to protect what they had found, and to preserve what was left of the Equestria of old.

“But, you ask, what does the Prophecy say? What is it that we must do see the end of Discord the Foul, and to take back our country? I say to you that it is simple. Skullhum tells us that it will be three heroes who meet the King to defeat him. Two of them are already seated here before you, to my right and to my left, chosen by the great dragon’s words without a doubt. We hope, of course, that the third stands here today.

“Now, Celestia and Luna.” Terraria lowered her voice solemnly, and once again looked down at the two sisters standing before her, “The time comes for you to face the test that the Prophecy lays out before you. Within Skullhum’s words, just as there was everything that has guided our Orders, there is this, the last trial which will reveal our third Triumvir. Atlas, if you would be so kind, as to once more grace our ears with those fateful words?”

Celestia turned around to follow the old Master’s gaze, and saw Atlas rise to his hooves and clear his throat. Slowly, his melodic voice filled the room with the old dragon’s words:

‘Neath mottled Earth in Everfree,

Mind and Spirit in Harmony,

When the Light of Order again shines free,

Chaos’ End shall find thee.

When he had finished, Atlas once again took his seat, looking relieved to have finished up with his part of the proceedings. Celestia thought hard on his words. It was incredible to think that so long ago a dragon could have foreseen so many details of the present time, but if Terraria was right, then this would not be the first detail that Skullhum had predicted. The focus of the room turned once more back to the front, as Terraria once more stood, and brought her gaze back down to the two alicorns.

“Since ancient times, the Lights that ordered our days were of course the Sun and the Moon. Skullhum tells us that when they shine free, the path to Discord’s defeat will open. But now, the King’s dark power holds them in sway, weaving their courses about each other and ensuring that none of us can ever forget the crimes that he has committed. Thus the task set before you, Celestia and Luna, is simple: restore the natural order of the Sun and the Moon, and only then shall the path to our freedom be made known. Do this, and we shall know you are our third Triumvir.”

Terraria let the last words echo in the space for a few moments, before once more taking her seat. “Are there any questions?” she asked.

Celestia took a few moments to again reevaluate everything that she had heard. It seemed simple enough, as indeed she had sensed Discord’s magic at work whenever it grabbed ahold of the Sun and threw it to a new position. A pony capable of undoing the King’s work in such a macroscopic manner would surely be capable of facing him in the true fight. She looked up at Terraria and shook her head. Beside her, Luna did the same, and Celestia knew that her younger sister shared her confidence.

Terraria nodded once more, and gestured to Aqua and Atlas, who each rose from their seats and stepped forward. “Then the time for the judgement has come,” the old earth pony said. “The Masters shall take their candidates out into the forest, and leave them alone to do their work. We shall reconvene this evening.”

With that, it seemed that the meeting had ended, as once more a chorus of murmurs and rustles came from the crowd, and a few of them rose and headed for the exits. Luna turned to her and rolled her eyes. “Finally,” she said, “I was beginning to think that she was going to keep going on forever.”

“Luna,” Celestia retorted. “That was all very important information.”

“To you, maybe. All I wanted to hear was that part on the end.” Her sister grinned. “Have any ideas as to how you’re going to make the Sun rise when you want it to?”

“I may have a few,” she replied, sharing in the smile. There was a tap on her shoulder, and Celestia looked over to see Aqua beside her, motioning silently back toward the exit. It was time to begin. “Best of luck to you, Luna!” she said.

“Same to you,” her sister replied, as she too was turning to leave. “See you on the other side.”

Chapter 11: Parallel Lines

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“Hope is the greatest weapon which can be wielded against tyranny. For a tyrant may sunder our freedoms, deny our rights, even take the voices and lives of those who would stand against him, but hope that burns within our hearts he cannot touch. And hope is what unites us against him.”

- Last recollections of Atlas, retrieved from the Cloudsdale archives

Twenty-five Years Earlier

Citadel of Everfree

Atlas’s steps were lit only by burning torches as he slowly climbed the circumference of Unicorn Tower on this night. Outside, the light of the Moon was shrouded by great storm clouds, and a steady patter of rain fell onto the stone walls and roofs of the Citadel. The rainclouds came out of the east, having split off from the eternal maelstrom above Eridian, and they carried with them shards of Discord’s magic. The rain that fell from them was notably fouled, and plants that were watered with it shrivelled and died within days. Seraph had taken it upon himself to analyse the water, over the protests of his instructors, who believed that any contact with the chaos magic would be folly.

At least, that had been his intention, until his friend had shown up outside his door and nearly dragged him halfway across the compound. So now, Seraph was ascending the stairs alongside his compatriot, seething with each step. A crackle of lightning threw its light over the scene, casting the orange stallion’s features in deep relief, as drops of water still trickled from his loose and unkempt mane. “You seriously owe me for this one, Atlas,” was all he could say.

“I needed a partner, a wing-colt if you will,” came the yellow pegasus’ slightly nervous reply. “She’s your sister, after all, and I might need some backup later on down the line. I’ll pay you back, don’t worry.”

“It is not merely a question,” Seraph continued through clenched teeth, “of a few extra desserts over lunch. There are some very important experiments going on in my room right now, and if anything happens to them while I am gone, it will all be on you, Atlas!”

“Nothing will happen to them, my friend. Now could you focus for a moment? This is my future we are talking about here, and I need your head to be in the game as much as my own.”

Atlas turned off the staircase and onto the circular hall that outlined this particular floor of the tower. Inside, his heart was dancing a merry jig about the walls of his ribcage, as he tried not to think of the myriad ways this plan could blow up in his face. Still, it was the best one that he had been able to think of over the past few days, based on what his friend had told him. The plan was risky, and a large part hinged on his abilities as a charmer. But if he wanted Aqua’s hoof, a large part of it had always depended on his charm, so that wasn’t so much of a detail.

The two of them finally arrived outside of the door to her room, which was large and salubriously adorned. Atlas remembered all the times he had stopped here before, with his hoof outstretched, trying to work up the courage to knock and finally throw it all out there. Truthfully, there was a sizable section of his mind, even tonight, that insisted now was not quite the time. But blinking a moment, Atlas realized that if now was not the perfect moment, then that moment would never come. Turning to his friend, he spoke in a low voice. “I need you to go in as soon as she opens the door. You still have a private area here?”

“A small storage closet, yes.”

“Rummage about in there for a moment, and meet me back here. Hopefully, I’ll have been able to talk her into the enterprise by that time.” Seraph nodded, but couldn’t quite suppress a sarcastic laugh at his friend’s confidence. To his experience, Aqua was not a mare that allowed herself to be easily talked into anything.

Finally, steadying his racing heart for a moment, Atlas took a deep breath, and knocked twice. There came a second of tense silence, then another, then a third, and then just as Atlas was breathing a sigh of relief, the door swung inward silently, and the face of Aqua appeared in the entryway.

Her light purple mane was uncombed and unruly, but Atlas still found himself struck dumb by her beauty for a moment. Every curve of her face stood out in perfect harmony, crafting a visage as clear and focused as a freshly cleaned diamond, and punctuated in azure brilliance by the deep reflecting pools of her large, clear eyes just above it. Tonight those eyes reflected a flicker of lightning outside with a sparkle of divinity, and Atlas had to hurriedly clench his jaw in order to save some dignity as Seraph brushed past his sister into the chamber. He now had a minute, maybe two, to attempt some sort of sales pitch.

“So,” she began, looking at him with a knowing smirk. “My brother roped another innocent into one of his experiments.”

Although he had been planning several good opening lines, Atlas’s mind had totally forgotten them on first sight of his love. Still, he wasn’t so far out of it not to notice a thrown line when he heard one. “Yes, unfortunately,” he replied in a tone that barely bordered on exasperation. “You know him better than I do. It’s always something.”

“And what is it this time?”

“Rock samples, for his chemical work. Very special rocks, he assures me, only found—” and here Atlas glanced up, attempting to add a mischievous glimmer into his gaze “—in the caverns underneath the Citadel.”

This caught Aqua’s attention, for the caverns were a forbidden area for all the students, regardless of seniority or specialization. “The caverns?” she repeated back to him. “He’s not allowed down there, and neither are you if I’m not mistaken.”

“That’s correct, but something about the very nature of ‘forbidden’ things has always interested me, just as it has your brother, I think. What is it about them that is so important we will never be able to see it?” He tried to project an air of adventurous disdain, of the potential for excitement in things unknown. For her part, Aqua answered his question with a challenge of her own.

“And what is it then about the inside of the Headmare’s office that seems to interest you and him so much? If she finds out about this, the both of you will have invited punishment most severe. I tend to think that when something is forbidden, it is that way for a reason.” Her eyes were cold, but Atlas thought that he might have seen just a hint of a playful glimmer. She was likely enjoying this test of wits.

“Ah, but is not the risk of danger half the excitement?” he returned, locking eyes with her. “Besides, the Headmare is in her garden, just like she is every night, and she won’t be back for a very long time. There is little risk of our being caught.”

Her eyes seemed to search deeply within his mind, penetrating beyond what veneer of confidence held his features in what he hoped was an invitingly disdainful expression. After an instant, she was interrupted by Seraph again exiting, having tossed about his closet for a bit. Brother and sister exchanged a set of looks, and then Aqua turned back to her caller. “Well, I suppose the two of you shall be off on your adventure then.”

“I suppose so,” he replied, still calm, but willing her with his eyes not to leave yet. “On to adventure, discovery, and maybe even a bit of danger, hmm?”

He had laid it all out with that last statement. Either she would say yes now, or else the whole thing was dashed. He reached out to her with all his heart, but Aqua merely motioned after her brother, who had begun to walk away. Delaying until the last second, Atlas turned to follow his companion back down the hallway. That was it, then. Three days of planning, of working up his courage and he had nothing to show for it. Perhaps his conscience had been right all along after all. Perhaps she simply was just too good for him.

His thoughts were interrupted then by a ruckus from farther up the hall. Glancing backwards, he saw a most unexpected sight, and felt his heart jump up again. Buttoning up a raincoat, Aqua emerged from her room, and ran forward to join the two of them at the staircase. As she arrived, he fixed her with a questioning glare. “Thought you didn’t like forbidden places?”

“I still don’t,” she replied with an upright air. “But I think I recognize you now. We’ve taken a couple of classes together, and you’re that dreamy-eyed one that always sits in the back, with his head in the clouds.” Affixing him with an appraising stare, she continued. “If my brother is going to be going on some adventure fraught with risk, I would much rather prefer his escort to be some pony I know I can trust to think maturely.”

Accepting her presence with a nod, Atlas wasn’t entirely certain whether that previous statement had been a compliment or not. Regardless, he was happy that tonight’s itinerary was still afloat. The three of them continued down the staircase in silence, before stealing across the covered walkway into the heart of the Citadel. Thunder rumbled in the distance as they descended stair after stair, peeking around corners in darkened hallways to ensure that their presence was not detected by the members of the night watch on duty.

Finally they came to a solid wooden door, wide with dark iron hinges. A big padlock stretched across its handles, barring entry, and a cool draft exuded from behind it. Atlas turned to Aqua then. “Thus far, the three of us haven’t broken any major rules. That changes as soon as we go through this door. Just making sure that you understand that.”

Aqua brushed him aside, and stepped away. “Of course I understand that. And as I’m clearly the only one here who’s actually thought about the consequences, I think I understand it even better than the both of you do. But somepony here has to be the mature one, so do whatever you think you have to.” Atlas could see that she had resigned herself to whatever amounted from this endeavour, but as he waved Seraph forward, he couldn’t resist tickling her sense of adventure a little.

“Come now, Aqua. Tell me you’re not at least a bit curious about what we might find. A chamber bristling with ancient history, upon which this very Order was founded. Doesn’t the intrigue just whistle to your intellect?”

“Oh, it whistles to her, alright,” Seraph interrupted from in front of them. The engineer had pulled an assortment of lock picks from a front pocket of his shirt, and diligently set to work on the locking mechanism. With a final shake, the lock fell to the floor, and Seraph pulled on the door handle, revealing a dimly lit stair beyond. “But she’ll never let on, and certainly not to you, my friend. Now can we get on with this?”

Ready with a glare of annoyance, Atlas whipped his head around to his young friend. But just as his sight was leaving her face, he saw the faintest hints of a blush coming to Aqua’s cheeks. It seemed that Seraph’s observation had been right on the money. Quickly hiding his scowl beneath an expression of genuine joy, he stepped toward the portal. “Coming?” he asked Aqua behind him. “Or are you going to let this opportunity go to waste? Last chance to turn back.”

All business again, she brushed past him. “Fine. Let’s get this over with then.” As Atlas and Seraph joined her on the stairs, the two stallions exchanged winks. For his part, Atlas could barely contain his glee.

The stone stairs became steeper and more treacherous as the group descended. When Atlas had shut the door behind them, the area had been plunged into utter darkness, before Aqua had created some light with her magic. It didn’t take long for Atlas to realize that they were entering a whole new world down in the depths. The passageway grew narrow, constricted by grey stone on all sides. Still, it tunnelled deeper into the earth. The air was noticeably colder and drier, and suddenly Atlas realized that even the steady patter of the rain outside had died away. Pausing for a moment, he faintly heard a rumble of thunder high above them. It was the only sign, except for the passage itself, which confirmed that they were still anywhere close to the Citadel.

Since she was the one providing illumination, Aqua led the group. Seraph went second, his eyes eagerly sweeping over the area, gleaning as much information as he could from what he saw. Even though the story about collecting rock samples had only been a ruse, Atlas wondered if the orange earth pony might have decided to collect some anyway, so long as he was here.

Atlas brought up the rear, trying to think of how best to continue with his personal plans for the evening. It seemed that he had done little to impress Aqua so far, and he wasn’t entirely sure what more he had in store for her. At least Seraph had demonstrated that she was at least somewhat excited about what they might discover down here, so he would have to work with that. She clearly wasn’t enthralled by the risk, or the thrill of adventure. Atlas shook his head in confusion. He had struck out on all of his options thus far, and that familiar voice of doubt rose in the back of his mind once again.

“Who are you to ask for that which is so clearly above your station?” it whispered into his mind. “Settle for that which life has adorned for you: a future fashioned from your destiny.” Was that truly to be his destiny? Alone and heartbroken for the rest of his life, until some other mare came along that he could impress? Ahead, light from Aqua’s horn refracted through crystalline deposits in the rough-hewn walls, adding a rainbow of colour to the azure magic. The brilliant sight steeled his resolve. Screw destiny. I love her, and we will be together, whatever sacrifices will be required to get there.

After some minutes spent in silent descent, Aqua’s flare of light struck out into open space. The three students exited the confined tunnel into a large antechamber, with a high, arched ceiling that stretched out over their heads. The ceiling was engraved with simple designs, straight lines meeting at sharp angles to denote corners and edges. The antechamber continued on ahead for several yards, before opening up into a yawn of sheer blackness. Whatever lay beyond may as well have been the edge of the world for all they could see.

All three of them had to stop for a moment, taking in the scope of their surroundings. It was an awe-inspiring sight, after all. Seraph was the first to recover. “Well, best to take a look around, I suppose,” he said in a deadpan tone. “I think I’ll leave the two of you to your own devices.” With that, he picked up a torch from a pile that lay on the floor a few paces to the group’s left, apparently left for any earth ponies that needed to come down here without magical aid. He struck a phosphorus match off of the rock wall, and wandered off into the gloom.

As he watched Seraph leave, Atlas tried to come up with something else to say, to get the ball rolling again between the two of them. “Umm, shouldn’t somepony go with him?”

Aqua turned to look at him with a strange smile. “No, in the end I trust his judgement more than I trust yours. He’ll be fine, I’m sure.”

The two of them began to follow Seraph slowly toward the far end of the hall, which could not be seen even in spite of the illumination. The room seemed to stretch out unto eternity, a simple, repetitive architectural style. The columns which held up the ceiling were regularly spaced, and separated by expanses of rock. The areas on the near walls were entirely blank, although they could see that some ways up on the left a series of carvings began. Ahead of them, Seraph had already bent down to examine the first such image.

Aqua quickly noticed the awestruck face of her companion. “The thrill of adventure proving a little much for you?” she asked in a familiar, challenging tone.

Atlas tried to hide his amazement, and then decided that maybe it was a proper tack to start out with. “Well, how do you expect me to react to something like this?” he replied in a flabbergasted tone. His voice barely even echoed back to him in the cavernous space. “I mean, just look!” he continued, spreading his forelegs wide to better illustrate his point. “All the ponies in Equestria could stand in here, and there would still be room left over! What beings could possibly have built this?”

Aqua got an exasperated look on her face, and rolled her eyes away from him. “Don’t you pay any attention in history class? This chamber might be a secret, but everypony knows that the Citadel is built on an old dragon lair. I suspect that the room’s dimensions are merely a matter of convenience for a well-aged dragon.”

“And that doesn’t impress you at all? To think a dragon used to stomp about this place, in all the majesty of his youth. Does nothing impress you, Aqua?” He turned to look her dead in the eyes, entreating a spark of interest to appear. But the cold logic refused to leave.

“Nothing that I understand already, Atlas. Yes, the room is old and magnificent, and yes, it is an impressive thought to think that it was carved out thousands of years ago by a being that we don’t even fully understand. But that doesn’t impact me at all. And it certainly doesn’t impact my plans for the future, besides being one more piece of information to slot into my memory.”

She looked ahead, to where Seraph now squatted close in to the wall, swinging a small pick at a section of stone. “I’m not like my brother, you understand,” she lectured Atlas on. “While everything in the world is something to be deciphered for him, I see only a world which must be understood to be controlled. And understanding is obtained from quiet, private contemplation, which is nothing to get excited about.”

Atlas realized that he wasn’t going to get anywhere with this. He felt the confidence of the past few minutes deflating like a punctured balloon. Maybe his subconscious had been right all along, and the two of them were simply too different to ever be compatible with each other. He would just have to go back to his own life, struggling through one day to the next, and watch her succeed from afar. At least he would know that he tried, and perhaps would have a dream to go to sleep with. At least he would have that much closure. Now all that remained of tonight was to make sure that they didn’t get caught. A punishment on top of this abject failure would be just the kicker he needed right now.

His thoughts were interrupted then by a shattering sound coming from just ahead, where Seraph knelt against the wall. The earth pony stepped back from his work in astonishment, and both Atlas and Aqua hurried over to see what the matter was. Seraph had been working under the first one of the great carvings which adorned the walls. Having seen a section of oddly-coloured stone, he had attempted to break off a sample for testing. Now however, the blow of his pick had sent spider webs of cracks throughout the lower corner of the wall.

Embarrassed, Seraph turned to face his sister first as the two of them approached. “I didn’t do anything, I swear!” he entreated, his unkempt mane waving as he vociferously shook his head. “I just tapped it lightly, looking for a sample, and the whole thing shattered.”

Atlas looked over the damage quickly. The cracks were wide and plainly visible, covering a blank section of the lower corner of the image. It would now be impossible to cover up the fact that someone had been down here. So now, this failure of a night was perfect. He was just about to suggest that they cut their losses and leave when he noticed that Aqua was intently studying the spot where Seraph’s pick had fallen. Approaching from over her left shoulder, Atlas tried to see what had her so interested. Turning to face him, she motioned that he should come closer. “Atlas, take a look at this.”

Aqua moved aside to give him a closer look. A small amount of rock had fallen away from the point of impact, revealing darker stone underneath. Of greater interest, though, was a curved mark in the stone, cutting gracefully across the area from top to bottom. Reaching in with his left hoof, Atlas felt the depression. “It’s very smooth,” she remarked beside him. “Almost as though it was engraved.” Atlas nodded in agreement, although he hadn’t a clue what it could be.

Seraph too had now come up behind them. “Looks interesting,” he said, the panic in his voice having been replaced with piqued interest. “Almost like it might be a part of something bigger.”

Atlas followed the mark, until it disappeared underneath a section of shattered stone. He grasped the rock, and found it was brittle, cracking easily. With a slight pull, he tore away a section, revealing even more engraved marks. A fully formed letter ‘n’ now looked back at him. “Text?” Seraph asked from behind them. “That’s odd. All of the writing on these pictures is in the dragon language. No Equestrian as far as the eye can see.” Atlas nodded. Equestria hadn’t even existed when the dragons still lived permanently in these areas. He did at least remember that much.

Beside him, Aqua had remained calm, but from the look on her face, Atlas could tell that she was thinking hard. Now having reached a decision, she stepped away from the wall. “Stand back, both of you,” she said in a very serious tone. “This whole wall is going to have to come off.”

Both of the stallions retreated to a safe distance. When Aqua switched her attention, the light on her horn went out, leaving the only illumination in the area the flickering light from the torch that Seraph had left against one of the columns. With a grimace of exertion, she reached out to grab the loose veneer of stone. In a single fluid motion, she ripped it all away, revealing the engraved message for the first time in four thousand years.

“By the Four Winds…” Atlas breathed.

Viam pones ut vetus quam novum fit chaos pro fine propinquat.

Τοποθετήστε τη διαδρομή της παλαιάς τάξης έκανε νέα, για το τέλος του χάους »εφιστά την πλησιάζει.

Legen Sie den Pfad der alten Ordnung neu gemacht, für Chaos-Ende naht.

The words were gibberish to Atlas, and he could immediately see that they were no more understandable to Seraph beside him. They didn’t even appear to all be the same language, and they certainly weren’t Equestrian. Looking over to Aqua, though, he saw that her eyes were lit up with wonder, unlike he had ever seen them. She turned and saw his expression of confusion, and indicated the wall spread out before them. “It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” she asked, her voice now carrying a noticeable undertone of excitement.

Taking a step toward her, Atlas understood no more than before. “Hold up, you understand all of this?” Seraph appeared equally bewildered.

Aqua gave them a tortured sigh. “Were both of you sleeping in Ancient History?! These languages don’t even appear slightly familiar to either of you?” Both of them shook their heads weakly.

“I suppose both of you think that ponies just always spoke common Equestrian, then? Of course not. These are the ancient, pre-unification pony languages, matched up with each other and the dragon script. I’m no expert, but the top there is Unicorn, the second is definitely Pegasus, and the third then has to be ancient Earth Pony. When the tribes unified in the founding of Equestria, a new language was created by blending together these three. That is what we call Equestrian.”

Atlas was still trying to get his head around it, but Seraph seemed to have figured out a bit. “So, what you’re saying then, is that this is a translation?” he proffered in a slightly hopeful tone.

“Yes!” his sister replied. “Don’t you see? All of these sentences say the same thing, including the dragon script! This will unlock their language, allowing us to understand even more about this room, and the meanings of the other inscriptions!” Turning back to the wall, Aqua ran her eyes over the engravings again. “As I said, languages aren’t my biggest interest, but I know my ancient Unicorn. And this says: ‘Lay the path of the old order made new, for Chaos’ End draws nigh.’ It certainly sounds prophetic to some degree.”

The words meant little to Atlas, for even though a section of his mind was still trying to decipher the meaning of what lay in front of him, he had seized on an entirely different realization, which had triggered his own special sort of elation. Watching Aqua eagerly pore over their discovery, he noticed the keen fire in her eyes, the carefree smile that now lit up her face. By circumstance, his question from earlier now had its answer. As it happened, certain things did impress this particular mare, and the thrill of new discovery was one of them. And that meant that tonight had not been a total failure after all.

Chapter 12: The Sun and the Moon

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“In ancient times, ponies revered the Sun and the Moon as guardian spirits. They served as the closest approximation to gods that the tribes had. One perhaps understands the significance of the titles that Luna and I were given upon our ascendance to the throne. We were not merely royalty, but something greater than that.”

- High Princess Celestia, Personal Journals (Vol. 4)

A Forest Path

Present Day

With each step, Aqua led Celestia deeper into the wood. They had left the Citadel far behind by now, moving southeast, where the trees grew thicker and the leafy canopy overhead became more dark. Presumably, the Master of Air was going through a similar process with Luna somewhere else.

The excitement that she had first felt upon hearing the exact nature of the trial in front of her had by now fallen away a bit. It had seemed surprisingly simple back at the Citadel. Nothing physical or emotional about it, just a straightforward magical puzzle, exactly the sort of thing that she had prepared for. But if it were in fact so simple, somepony else probably would have done it by now.

As she walked, Celestia could feel the ground rising beneath her hooves, and she knew that they were heading towards the far-off hills that she had spied through her bedroom’s window. The magic that she had felt back in the Citadel was much stronger now, and pulsed gently in her eardrums with every step.

One of the first things that Aqua had taught her was that every pony’s magic was distinct, manifesting in unique pulses and rhythms that only an adept unicorn could sense. Whenever a unicorn created a spell, it would be unavoidably laced with its creator’s mental pattern. Understanding that pattern was the first step to interacting with the magic. Celestia knew, of course, that since Discord was not a pony, his magic could work in an entirely different way, but she hoped that she could interact with his magic via the same process.

She had experienced many unicorns’ natural rhythms in her studies, but the pulse that she now felt as her and Aqua pushed deeper into the forest was something entirely new. It had a deep, primal simplicity to it, thumping regularly with such magnitude that she could almost feel the pressure of each pulse upon her skin. It was not an uncomfortable sensation; indeed it was invigorating to feel the natural power of such strong magic coursing through her form. She glanced to her left and tossed a transmutation spell at a leaf. With only a bare effort, she turned it into a feather.

“You feel it, Celestia?” Aqua said in front of her. “We draw near to the Hill of Shadow, in the deepest part of the forest. Here all magic is amplified, for unicorns, pegasi, and even earth ponies.” She stopped, and with her magic drew aside a wall of branches to the right. Beyond it was a small clearing, its tall grass waving slightly in the breeze.

As Celestia stepped through into the clearing, she realized that the forest had grown quiet, as though all of the animals understood the momentous importance of what was about to transpire, and did not wish to ruin the moment. The Sun was now high in the sky, looking down at them from almost directly overhead. She now understood why Aqua had taken her here to attempt the trial, but there was an obvious question to ask. “Do you know why our magic is stronger here?”

“No” Aqua continued, still standing stiffly at the edge of the clearing, her eyebrows knit together in thought. “Terraria’s records show that nopony has lived here in all of Equestria’s history, and there is no evidence of anything before that either. We know, of course, that in the era of the dragons, Skullhum lived here. Perhaps it is some of his residual power that we now feel. It is likely that this power is what protects the area from the worst of Discord’s damage.”

As she spoke, the Sun rapidly sank toward the horizon, pulled down by the King once more, but as it fell Celestia noticed something else. Almost like thin wisps of smoke, tiny tendrils of grey pulled themselves up from the ground and swarmed toward the Sun. And as they did, Celestia for the first time heard the ghostly sound of Chaos in her mind. For that second the pulse of the area’s magic was overwhelmed, and collapsed into a cacophony of noise, thousands of overlapping rhythms competing to be heard. They flowed through her mind in a crescendo, and Celestia had to close her eyes and clench her teeth to force them away.

When she looked up again, Aqua had on a knowing smile. “As I said, all magic is amplified here, including Discord’s own. When I was young, I used to come out here and listen to it, trying to understand it, but I never could. If you can do that, then surely you are the Prophecy’s hero.”

Celestia felt her heart flutter up nervously and took a deep breath to settle it. “Thank you,” she said to Aqua, nodding towards her mentor. “Thank you for everything. I won’t let you down.”

Aqua’s grin widened, and for a moment, Celestia almost could have believed that the white unicorn was her mother, beaming with pride at her daughter’s success. “Best of luck,” she said tenderly. And then the smile disappeared, to be replaced only by the usual stone. “Usually, the trial lasts a couple of hours, but there is no hard time limit. We will await you eagerly at the Citadel.” She stepped back into the forest, and in a flash of her azure magic, she was gone.

Celestia decided not to waste any time, and found a clear and level spot in the grass where she could sit. Normally, before attempting to interact with magic like this, she would study the particular spell for weeks, understanding it on a theoretical level before putting anything into practice. But of course there were no books on Discord’s magic, so this time she was going to have to figure it out as she went.

She knew only what she had heard in that split second, and it had not been encouraging. The sound of the magic in her mind had seemed unbelievably complex, built fundamentally unlike anything she had felt before. Normally there was some foundation to any spell, some principle that held the other elements together, but she had not heard anything like that. In order to make any progress, she knew that she would have to focus her whole intellect on the problem. And not lose herself in it as she had the first time.

It did not take long for the Chaos to once again make its presence felt. In her relaxed state, Celestia heard it sooner than she had the first time, as it was still only a trill of a melody in the background of her perception. Very quickly, though, it began to grow, stronger and more discordant by the second. Celestia fought to keep her focus, to see the system that belied it, but the Chaos seemed to build itself into a thick fog, permeating everywhere and buzzing in her ears like a swarm of hornets. The more she fought to hold on to it, the louder and more insistent it became, until finally with a shriek of pain Celestia had to let go.

She opened her eyes to find that her cheeks were running with tears. Her ears still hurt from the magical barrage, but this was not how it was going to end. She needed to focus more.

Celestia shut her eyes again, and took a few more deep breaths. With each exhalation she shut off more of her thoughts and emotions, seeking emptiness of the mind. When the magic came again, there would be nothing to distract her, nothing between her and Discord’s power.

As she focused, Celestia became keenly aware of every sensation in the world around her: the touch of the long grass on her legs, the barest hints of a breeze circling through the leaves, the call of a bird heard from miles away. A butterfly could not have flapped its wings without her noticing, but this was not what Celestia wanted. All of these stimuli were still just noise, distractions that she could not devote mental time to.

She focused deeper, willing her mind into a state of complete blankness. Unconsciously, her magic flowed up out of her horn, and formed itself into a protective sphere around her form, separating her body from all of the rest of the world. It blocked out all light, all sound, all warmth, all sensation. Now, Celestia’s mind was totally clean. To her, there was only magic.

When she opened her eyes again, the forest had disappeared. She was sitting in a black void, lit only by a dull grey light that seemed to have no source. Very dimly, she could make out the outlines of the terrain that she knew lay all around her, and she could still feel the ground beneath her hooves, so it she could at least still get her orientation. To the northeast she could make out the profile of the Citadel, jutting high over the horizon. It too was illuminated in that slowly pulsating grey, casting no shadow.

Celestia turned around the see the southeast, and her jaw fell. The hills ahead, belying their name, shone bright as stars, and then she once again felt it. The beat of the magic in her mind built up once again, thumping in time with the pulse of the light that they gave off.

Celestia stood up, and with a bare effort she took to the skies. As she drew closer, she could see that the light coming from the hills was actually a multitude of small lights, each one manifesting as a shining thread wrapped from one point to another. She landed nearby to one of them, and tentatively reached out to grasp it. As soon as she came into contact with the glimmering thread, her mind was filled with a familiar sensation. A sense of focus and concentration, and the mental patterns and calculations that she could immediately identify as a transmutation spell. Each one of these threads, then, was a tiny piece of magic.

Celestia withdrew and thought for a moment. If she could see magic, then could she also interact with it. This close up, she could see that what seemed to be a single thread was actually a braided rope of many threads, each one a constraint, a parameter, a variable that the pony casting the spell had considered. Once more she reached out and touched it, and once more visualized it in her mind. Knowing each piece now, it was simple to undo them, to reset the variables and undo the constraints. As she worked she could the see braid uncoiling itself before her eyes, until finally with a last thought it vanished entirely.

Celestia smiled, knowing now that this was how she was going to succeed. Now she only needed to find some Chaos magic to work with.

Once more she took to the air, this time heading north, out of the forest and back into the open spaces of Equestria. It did not take her long to find what she was after. As soon as she emerged from the forest, she saw the whole country spread out before her, bathed in an unnatural mauve that came from Eridian in the east. Everywhere, like snakes slithering eerily over the landscape, she could see pieces of Discord’s magic, in some places wrapped tightly in knots, while in others long and thin like pasta.

Directly ahead though, stood the mightiest braid of all, a colossal tower of magic that stretched from the heart of Eridian up high into the clouds. And at the top, its light muted by the many strands of magic that held it in place, there was the Sun. Celestia took a deep breath and flew towards it.

Aqua, Atlas, and Terraria waited patiently on a high balcony which jutted from the central terrace of the Citadel of Everfree. The outlook offered an impressive view out over the whole of the forest. Overhead, the Sun spun through its cycle like an irregular pendulum, bouncing back and forth between high noon and twilight.

“So once again we come to the moment of truth,” Terraria intoned. “Tomorrow, Equestria may be saved, and our tasks will finally have come to their end.”

Aqua and Atlas joined their hooves together on the railing. “Yes,” he replied, a wistful edge to his voice. “This is probably the closest we have come yet.”

Aqua turned to him with her wide eyes open. “Which of them do you think it will be?”

Atlas considered the question honestly. Of course, Luna had been his choice as candidate, but he knew that his partner favoured Celestia instead. “Luna has as strong a heart as I have ever seen,” he said, raising his chin just a bit in defiance. “I bet that it will be her that comes back to us victorious.”

Aqua, he could tell, was also thinking hard on the question, but clearly she wasn’t about to abandon her own selection. “Heart alone will get her nowhere. It requires a clear mind to understand magic, and Celestia grasped that faster than any student I’ve ever taught.” She levelled her eyes at him. “I believe that it will be her that claims this prize.”

Atlas smiled, knowing that he was never going to dissuade his fellow Master. But Aqua did have a point. Both Celestia and Luna were prodigies in their respective fields, each one excelling where the other came up short. “It’s a shame,” he said finally, “that we could not take both of them. Together, they are very likely the greatest power we have yet seen.”

“Perhaps that’s true,” Terraria answered him. “But we all know that it cannot be done. The Prophecy is very specific in calling for three heroes, and the two of you are already here.” She took a seat on her high chair, and returned her gaze out to the woods. “It will be one of them, or it will be neither of them.”

Atlas thought a bit about that particular statement. This was not the first time that his own opinion had gone against what the Prophecy had foretold. So many years ago, his heart ached to think of what might have been. In the end, it had been his choice to make: his love, or his country. He had made the only choice that he could have back then; now he couldn’t help but think of what might happen if that decision came around again.

He could still hear his old friend’s impassioned words, reverberating back through his memory as they so often did when he took time for introspection.

“Who are we to deny our country its first true chance at redemption? All because our ‘destiny’ was scratched into a wall by a deluded dragon thousands of years ago? Equestria deserves so much more from us, the so-called Resistance. It deserves the right to freedom, not according to some divine plan, but however we can get it! Why wait for ‘the perfect moment’ when an opportunity for victory is staring us in the face today! Won’t you join me, my friends? Won’t you fight now, for the end of our struggle?”

It had been the night of the sundering of their fellowship, so many long years ago. He had had Seraph at his right and Aqua at his left, an impossible choice. Either way, he knew that he would be second-guessing himself for all the years afterwards, a prediction which had proven depressingly accurate.

Aqua caught the faraway look on her love’s face, and squeezed his hoof a little in her own, causing his face to turn back around into hers. Their eyes locked again, and he snapped back to the present day.

“None of this was your fault,” she said slowly, her voice filled with compassion. “You did the only thing that you could.”

His gaze wavered for a second, and then came down. “We’ve both sacrificed so much, my love. Our friends, our lives, our futures perhaps. Sometimes I just want the whole thing to be over. We’ve spent so long biding our time, waiting for the perfect moment, as we’ve been told. And for what?” He brought his hoof down hard onto the railing. “Twenty years ago, we were ready. We could have done it, but for the Prophecy. In all that time, all we’ve done is waited. We’ve scoured the nation for our hero, for the one who could lead us to victory. But what if we already had him?”

“Enough, Atlas!” Terraria cut him off before he could continue. She stood up and walked over to them, her eyes blazing. “What do you think would have happened if you had followed Seraph in his folly? If the two of you had kicked down the King’s door and demanded his surrender?” She waited a moment, expectant, searching his face for any sign of a reply. But Atlas knew that nothing he could say would be the right answer.

“Right,” she said after a few seconds had passed. “You don’t know. You would have thrown your chance away on a whim, just like he did. But remember: we are all that Equestria has. Without the Resistance, nothing would stand in the King’s way. We must move when we are sure, or we will surely accomplish nothing. Do you understand that?”

Atlas nodded, keeping the expression on his face blank despite his true feelings. “Of course, Master,” he said.

“Good,” Terraria replied, already on her way back to her seat. “Now come, let us watch. With luck, tomorrow you may get your wish, if one of the sisters is chosen.”

Atlas turned back to the forest, letting out a deep breath. But Aqua’s eyes were on him. “You still miss him,” she said.

“Whenever I stop to think, especially at times like this. Sometimes,” he said, turning his eyes east, towards Eridian, “sometimes I wonder if he might have survived, and still be out there somewhere.”

Aqua shook her head. “You saw. He walked right out into the middle of a Chaos Storm. There was no way that he could have survived.”

“You’re right,” he said, looking back over at her again. She wasn’t right, and Atlas knew it, but that was a secret for another time. If Terraria found out, Atlas knew she would move mountains to have him found. “Now we’re all that we have left.”

The two Masters took each other by the shoulder. Atlas let his head rest against his partner’s well-groomed mane, and both settled back to watch the horizon. Overhead, the Sun ground slowly to an agonizing halt.

Celestia swirled in quick circles about the tower of Chaos magic, analyzing and understanding each individual spell that made up its structure. Every time that she touched it, her mind was once again filled with its discordant melody, but now she could see its every reverberation, and it was not hard to pick out the patterns that sat beneath it. From there, she began to work.

Discord’s chaos was just magic, after all, and that meant that it could mount no opposition to a practitioner who understood its inner workings. As Celestia grew used to it, she picked up the pace with which she was unwinding its threads. It became a rote pattern, moving from one strand to the next. High above, she started to see the Sun poking its light out, as the Chaos loosened its grip. Finally, with a last mental twist, it was released.

Immediately, Celestia felt everything else in her mind fall away, to be replaced by a searing and unstoppable heat. The Sun came up before her, burning bright and hot, terrifying in its power.

Celestia drew back from the heat, but even in doing that she knew that she couldn’t stop now. The hard part was over. Now was just a matter of moving the Sun back into its normal place. It should have been as simple as moving a stone.

The Sun, though, seemed to have other ideas in that regard. Its might radiated through her, subsuming all of her thoughts and demanding that she give way, that she let it pass. Celestia grit her teeth and braced herself against its onslaught. There was no way that this was how it was ending.

She bore down and let out all of the magic that she could muster, burning the sky bright yellow with her power. Her magic reached out and latched onto each of the Sun’s sides, gripping it tightly. With all of her being, she willed it forward, inch by inch. It started slowly, but after a few seconds she began to feel the resistance letting up. She was doing it. When this was done, the Resistance would know that she was the third Triumvir, and together they would save, and then rebuild, Equestria. The vision of the future that she had first considered way back in Eridian materialized once again in front of her eyes. Justice, prosperity, security. And she and Luna could be together and happy again.

In that instant, though, there was a sudden flash of orange, blotting out her mental picture. Without warning, the Sun flared, bucking its way free of her control. It smashed the chains of her magic, and once more pressed itself upon her. Celestia tried to fight again, but she had already given it her all. There was no more magic left to give, and the Sun’s heat filled her again. There was nothing left in her except for its power, which built itself up to a tremendous roar. No, she thought weakly with what was left of her conscious mind. Then, in an instant, it all disappeared.

She snapped back to reality once again in the forest clearing. She was lying on her back, having been knocked down by the magical burst. Around her, the grass had been blasted and scorched flat, like something had exploded right where she had been sitting. Slowly, Celestia turned her gaze back up to the sky. The Sun still floated overhead, again seemingly benign and small from this distance. For a moment, she wondered if maybe she had impacted it at all, but all too soon she felt the grey wisps of magic once again coursing through the air, seeming to chuckle mockingly as they went about their work. Once more, the Sun spun below the horizon and she found herself looking out at the darkened forest.

Celestia breathed a final shuddering breath. So shortly ago, everything had been right in the world. Now, Celestia forced herself to consider the unthinkable.

I lost.

Chapter 13: The Elements of Harmony

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“The Elements of Harmony are one of the most enduring of the legends which permeated out from the country of Equestria over the years. It was said that they were artefacts of pure, crystallized magic, the strongest force known to exist. Naturally, we paid very close attention to such whisperings.”

- Dr. Szill Tosak, Research Log: July 5, 1900 UIT

A sombre mood seemed to reign over Everfree, and for once the weather had lined itself up to suit the occasion, as ominous storm clouds had rolled in, and a grim shower fell throughout the forest. Around the Citadel, and its sister towers, windows were drawn and fires were kindled, as the disheartened members of the Resistance tried to warm their hearts and spirits with the same tools as they warmed their bodies. For Celestia though, the day’s events were simply too grim to be helped. For another year at least, Equestria would remain captive.

Celestia had trudged back into the Meeting Chamber listlessly, the weight of her heart holding her back almost as much as the exhaustion that sapped her limbs. When Terraria had questioned her, she had only shaken her head. There were no words that could fit the situation. Aqua and Atlas had been consoling, insisting that this was not the end of her journey, that there would always be a place for her within the Resistance. But there was only one place that she had wanted. And only Luna could get it now. Celestia had wished with all of her heart that her sister would be up to the task, though she had wondered if that were possible, and had seen the same fears on the faces of the Masters.

They had waited for hours, through several hasty cycles of day and night, and still there had been no word or sign of Luna’s success or failure. Finally, Atlas and Celestia had ventured out in search of her. They found her precisely where Atlas had left her, bent in thought, her brow creased in effort, still trying. But it was no use. With tears of frustration in her eyes, she had joined them on their way back.

Now they were back up in their room, Celestia pacing restlessly, while Luna sat at the window looking long out at the country. “I thought that I had done it,” Celestia said, mostly to herself. “I was right there, with the Sun and the Moon free, but I couldn’t control them. Why not?” The question had been rattling through her head ever since the event, and she could come up with no satisfactory answer.

“Nopony can,” Luna answered from the window.

“What?”

Her sister turned around. “Nopony can control the Sun or the Moon. They are elemental spirits, more powerful than any magic. They bow to no one.”

“What would you know about any of that?” Celestia snapped. “And besides, if that’s true then how does Terraria expect anypony to be able to complete her trial?”

“I know a great deal more than you!” Luna got up and walked over to her sister, each step resonating hard off of the stone walls of the room. “I’ll bet you approached the problem just as if you were sorting a book in a library: a classic unicorn mistake! Celestial bodies are not objects, they are forces of the world, just like the winds and the oceans. They do not answer to any command but their own.”

Celestia was momentarily taken aback, but she quickly found her footing. “That still doesn’t help the situation. Terraria wants order. How does it happen if we can’t make it happen?”

“You just have to understand!” Luna shouted, waving a hoof up at the sky. “They are not objects, and they have wills of their own. The Sun wants to rise at the right times, and set to cede the sky to night. If you let it, that’s what it will do. But if you try to shackle it, try to make it follow your will, then it will fight you, and you will lose.”

Luna turned away from her and returned to the window. Outside, the rain was pouring down onto the leaves of the forest, and sky overhead was obscured, so it was impossible to tell whether it was day or night. The twilight reminded Celestia of Eridian, and indeed the forest looked dull from here, dead though hours ago it had been vibrant.

“I can feel them out there,” Luna continued, now sombre and reserved again. “As clear now as I could this afternoon. More than anything else, I just want to help them, to set them free. But the Chaos magic is too powerful. While it’s out there, neither one of us can do anything, I suppose.”

A sudden idea sprouted in Celestia’s mind. Here was Luna, seemingly with the answer that had eluded her earlier in the day, stymied by the very thing that she had succeeded at. She joined her sister at the window. “If the Chaos magic was gone, you would be able to set the Sun back into its proper course?”

Luna looked up at her, still forlorn. “I suppose so. But I tried to make it disappear all afternoon. I know that I can’t make it happen.”

“But I can.”

A spark of understanding lit up in Luna’s eyes. “You can, can’t you? Then that means that together—”

“We would have a chance,” Celestia finished for her. “Come on. I know you haven’t given up yet, and neither have I.”

The rain had intensified by the time the two sisters exited the tower, so each drop felt like the sting of a tiny needle on their backs as they began their trek out into the forest. Even though it was only about early evening, the combination of the clouds with the leaves overhead made the forest floor exceedingly dark. It was Celestia that struck up a light with her horn, just so that they could see where they were going.

The pair walked in silence for a few minutes, each one in deep thought over what they were about to attempt. Although it had never been explicitly stated that they would not get a second chance to succeed, it had been quite seriously implied. There was even the possibility that attempting a stunt like this would put them in dire trouble. It was fair to say that Celestia didn’t really care about such considerations at this point. For if they succeeded, then that was another matter entirely.

After about five minutes of silence filled only by the tense patter of the raindrops impacting the leaf canopy overhead, Luna spoke. “Do you remember a year ago, back in Eridian? We both promised to do whatever it took to save Equestria?”

Celestia remembered. Eridian felt like it had been ages ago, before both of them had been thrust into the search for their final destiny. All of that had been leading to this night, this one chance at success. “I do. I remember that I promised to always stand by your side, if an opportunity should present itself for us to free our country.”

She stopped for a moment, letting Luna come alongside her in the darkness. In truth, it had been scarcely a week since they had been reunited, after a year spent in individual solitude. But neither of them had grown apart, indeed that year had only strengthened what had always been an unbreakable bond, a bond forged from hardship and struggle in the depths of the High King’s cruelty. And now, the two of them were about to become even closer.

“We go forward together now, Luna,” Celestia said. “Whatever happens in the times ahead, I shall never leave your side. We shall fight for this country, and rebuild it in time, as one entity, forever.”

“Together, forever,” Luna agreed. “I couldn’t have made it this far without you.” And the two sisters shared a long embrace, as the rain came down all around them, and lightning lit up the black sky. Both were so lost in the moment that neither realized that the forest in their immediate vicinity had been illuminated slightly during that instant, but the effect was lost as soon as they released each other.

They came thence to the small clearing in which Luna had made her attempt earlier in the afternoon. It was roughly circular, and filled with tall grasses that swished about the two alicorns’ knees as they came into its center. Unfortunately, since they were now clear of the forest’s protective canopy, the rain fell upon them again in a hard torrent. But neither one paid any heed to it. Nothing would deter them from their goal at this point.

Celestia and Luna both cleared their own section of the space, sitting down into their own pieces of privacy. Taking a deep breath, and steeling herself for facing this task yet again, Celestia locked onto her sister’s gaze. “Ready?” she asked simply. Luna nodded, and so both of them closed their eyes, and fell down inwards into their own worlds.

Equestria fell away once more, and again Celestia awoke to find herself suspended above the intricate web of knotted cords that was Discord’s hold on the county. The tangle of his magic infected every corner of the land, concentrating on population centers but present everywhere regardless. The colossal warped tower that was his hold on day and night still stood there, forming a bridge between land and sky. It was thick and twisted as a braid, but Celestia knew its weaknesses. She had deciphered this puzzle once before, after all.

But before she could set off on that errand, Celestia felt it. A sort of uneven pressure applied across her eardrums, building up to a note of pain. In order for their plan to work, Luna had to bridge their consciousnesses, so that they could occupy the same mental realm. Naturally neither one of them had known what it was going to be like, but Celestia hadn’t thought that it was going to be quite this hard. She gritted her teeth and tried to force the sensation away, but with each breath it came harder, focusing into two intense spikes of discomfort. Eyes clenched shut; Celestia heard her sister’s voice, softly echoing in her head. Don’t fight it. You have to let me come. I’ll be here for you the whole way.

Celestia allowed herself to relax, taking a deep breath even as the discomfort intensified further. That’s good. It should only take a few more seconds. Do you remember our years together in Eridian? It wasn’t much, but we made everything that we could out of it.

I do remember, she thought to herself, casting back in time to what happy memories there were of that part of their lives. Most of the time they had been working, either in the streets or back at home, doing whatever it took to get by, but there had been moments that created fond memories. Surprisingly though, it was not their games of chess that Celestia found her memory drawn to. It was instead the times that they had just talked, just been together, without objectives or plans. Just the two of them.

In an instant, the pain built to an almost unbearable climax, and then was gone. Celestia opened her eyes, and found that Luna was now standing beside her in the realm of her own imagination. Her younger sister’s dark mane flowed out behind her head as she stared in shocked silence at the nightmarish landscape that was laid out before them. Celestia came up to stand beside her.

“It’s…” Luna tried to begin. “It’s… unbelievable. The way I could see it, it was all just grey, as if Discord had drained all the life and colour out of the country. I could sense them, all the lives out there, waiting for the day that they would be free. Now I can see why they’re not.” Both of them felt their gazes drawn to their old home, which seemed almost to glow, such being the sheer concentration of magical strands that ran like tentacles out from it.

“Seeing it again, I almost want to go back there right now and dismantle everything from the ground up. Tear it all out by the roots,” Luna continued, a note of anger entering her complexion.

Celestia shook her head. “As much as I agree, we’re still not strong enough for that. Our only hope lies in the Prophecy still.” Let the light of order again shine free; And Chaos’ End shall find thee. “Our task lies over there.” And she indicated the tower of magic clawing its way up into the heavens.

Both of them took to the skies, flying over to the area where the mass of magic rose like a tree trunk to the sky. It did not take Celestia long to discern the shape of the structure again. It was different than it had been last time, but still followed the same general patterns as before. It was beyond simple to cut it up once more.

Finally, she stood precisely where she had been only a few hours previously, with but a single strand still holding the celestial bodies in submission. Luna now hovered a few feet to her left, taking in the scope of the situation. “Okay, Celestia. So as soon as you cut that last thread, all of that power is going to be released, right?”

“Yes, Luna. You can feel them just like before, can’t you?”

Luna nodded immediately. “Their power is almost unimaginable at this close of a distance. None should be capable of withstanding this strong of a force.”

“But you’ll just let it pass through, right? You’ll allow each of them to find their own way?”

Luna was silent for an instant, and then calmly replied, “I think so, but I might need your help as well. There’s going to be a lot of magic at work here, perhaps too much for me to handle on my own. Be ready to jump in if I need you.”

“Right. Are you ready?” Receiving one final nod from her sister, Celestia reached out and cut the final strand, once again letting the full fury of the Sun run wild. She could feel it at the corners of her own awareness, that same burning force of nature as before. Expecting a similar grimace of concentration, she looked over at her sister. But oddly enough, Luna’s face was serene, eyes closed and lips curved into a gentle, slender smile, as though she was contentedly resting after a day’s hard work. Rather than fighting the rush, she was simply letting it happen.

But it was only an instant before she noticed a slight creasing of her sister’s brow, and the pulsing of a vein above her right ear. It seemed that her sister’s magic was indeed not enough. Coming to Luna’s side, she whispered softly in her sister’s ear. “I’m here, Luna. What do you need me to do?”

When Luna spoke, her voice was strained with obvious effort. “You… can feel it, right? Take… some of the burden, let it pass through you.”

Although the prospect frightened her, Celestia knew that there was most certainly no turning back now. So, gathering her own thoughts, and focusing hard on her sister’s words, she opened up her own mind to the torrent, immediately feeling the rush of power run through her consciousness. Fighting her natural urge to maintain control, she tried to just relax and let it all happen. It was a terrifying feeling, as if she was being swamped in the flood of magic and natural force. If she didn’t assert her own place, take some control, she felt sure that she would be lost. But then she heard Luna’s voice again, and it gave her strength. “Take heart, sister. Don’t fight it; above all else let it flow. We don’t have to do this alone. You should be able to find me within the torrent.”

Celestia tried to think calmly in the raging flood, tried to see through it to the source of her sister’s voice. Sure enough, she could detect the pinpoint of Luna’s consciousness, doing its best to stand amidst its own current. Slowly, the two of them came together. “Offer me your strength, Luna, and in return you shall have my own. Together we shall outlast all of this.”

“Together forever, Celestia,” Luna answered, and in that instant, their minds joined to become one.

It was an altogether novel experience for both of them. Never before had they been so close, literally joined together on a psychological level; each intimately aware of the other’s thoughts and memories. Time stretched out to an infinite continuity as the two sisters simply were, together in the face of the entire world’s power, weathering the storm. Neither before nor again would any two ponies experience such purest Harmony as did Celestia and Luna that evening.

After only a second — or an hour, or a century, it was impossible for Celestia to tell — it was over. The torrent ceased, bringing with it a sense of purest excitement, and undeniable power. For perhaps the first time, Celestia truly felt the legendary fury of the magic of the pegasi, held deep within her heart, and combining with the unicorn magic in her mind. The collected energy erupted forth from both of them in a dazzling nova of light, illuminating both their mental realms and the real world of the forest where both still sat. Looking beneath their perch where the Sun and Moon had once been held captive, Celestia could see the tower of magic, before merely severed, now shrivelling in the intense blast of light, dying away to nothing on the matted floor of the country. Indeed, not only was the Sun free for now, it would be for a long time afterwards. They had done it.

When Celestia and Luna opened their eyes, they were met with a most unexpected sight. It was still dark, for apparently the “true” time had been the middle of the night, but the fullness of the Equestrian Moon lit up the forest with a twinkling radiance. There was not a cloud to be seen. Moreover, the formerly empty clearing had been blasted flat in radiating lines, each blade of grass blown outward from the very center of the area. And in the clearing’s center, still smoking slightly from the release of magical energy, rested a most curious artefact.

On its side on the ground was a circular disk of gold, upon which the design of an eight-pointed star had been inlaid. Resting on the outlying edges, five bright gemstones had been arranged in a symmetrical pattern, with a sixth sitting in the very center. Each of them greedily drank in the light of the Moon, shining forth in a dazzling array of colour. Besides their visual beauty, Celestia and Luna could both feel something else. An intense magical aura radiated out from the area, imprinting each of their minds with a feeling reminiscent of what they had experienced together in their shared mindspace. It was an exhilarating experience, and both of them turned to each other with wide grins.

“We did it, Celestia!” Luna let a joyous laugh shake through her features. “Discord’s power has been shaken, and soon it will break.”

“Indeed, Luna. These magical gems must be the article spoken of in the Prophecy: Chaos’ End. I can’t wait to get back to the Citadel and spread this news.” And picking up the ring, Celestia began galloping back through the forest.

“Sister, wait!” Luna yelled after her, causing her sister to stop and turn. Luna was airborne, wings flapping powerfully over the forest. “I don’t think that this occasion really calls for walking,” she called down to her sister. “Let us bring back this news with the triumph it deserves!”

With a laugh, Celestia joined her sister in the sky, and in seconds the two of them were closing in on Everfree. Both could see that a few ponies were outside, milling about in confusion over the rain’s sudden disappearance. It wasn’t long before one of them pointed upwards, spying the returning sisters out over the forest’s canopy. Afire with each other’s fully awakened magic, both of them knew that the situation required something special. And so, with only the slightest effort, Celestia and Luna reached out with their minds and built a sprawling rainbow, arching gracefully from one end of the night sky to the other, and passing directly over the Citadel.

As the news spread quickly through the building, more windows and doors were opened, and soon enough there was a large crowd gathered beneath, joyous at the turn of events. Celestia couldn’t help but think back to the days they had spent entertaining crowds back in Eridian, although this event comprised a completely different nature than those ones had.

Celestia looked over at her sister, aflame with the glory of magic and light that rang through both of their minds. “We’re ready sister. Today Everfree, tomorrow Equestria, and for the future, finally there is hope.”

“Ponies will be free once more. Thank you for everything, sister.” And again the two of them embraced each other lovingly, to the exuberant cheers of the multitude gathered down below.

The Sun had begun to peek its way over the far eastern horizon by the time that things had gotten settled in the Citadel. It was the first real sunrise that Equestria had seen in more than four hundred years, and Luna could feel the hope that had radiated out to the whole of the country this past night. The two sisters now stood together outside of the entrance to the great chamber in the Citadel. Since it was such an important occasion, envoys had arrived from Aqua and Atlas’s Orders as well, so the room was much more vibrant than it had been before.

From where they stood, just outside one set of doors into the room, Celestia could see a great deal of the arrangement, as multitudes of unicorns, pegasi, and earth ponies sat in their assigned sections. The overall mood was jubilant, echoing the thoughts and feelings which circled about within her own heart. In the centre however, things were surprisingly more subdued. Atlas especially appeared almost uncomfortable. Celestia put it down to nerves. He never had liked being the center of attention.

Once everything had gotten settled down, Celestia and Luna dutifully made their entrance, letting the excitement of the past twelve hours show clearly in their faces as they received a standing ovation. Celestia carried the magical ring in front of them with her magic, and finally placed it in the very center of the room, such that it was literally the focus of everyone’s attention. Two extra chairs had been laid out for them, and both sisters promptly took their seats, eager to get the proceedings over with so that they could be off to Eridian to complete the revolution.

Terraria rose first to address the assemblage. “First, allow me to extend most sincere congratulations to our two guests of honour, Celestia and Luna, for having restored natural light to our Citadel, and recovering this article of power.” There was another round of applause, even with some light whistles thrown in from a few of the pegasi. These Terraria quieted with a raised hoof. “Truly, the hour of our final victory is very near at hoof. Our long years of waiting have not been in vain, and very soon we shall at last be free.” More cheers and applause broke out as she spoke, but again the old Master asked for silence. “However, allow me to advise caution,” she continued, her voice having suddenly grown very grave. “This cannot be thought of as our final redemption.”

A collective gasp shot through the pegasus section, as well as a few of the earth ponies, but the most of the ponies behind Terraria nodded their approval. “We require three heroes to form our new Triumvirate,” Terraria said. “At the moment, we have four. Somehow, we must still choose one of the sisters.”

A pegasus in the front row of the Air section rose then to speak. “Respectfully, great Master, did you not see the signs of power that I saw this last night? These two sisters have given their all to our cause,” he bellowed out over the room. “Surely they are the heroes after which we have sought. How can we then commit such a crime as to only allow one of them to save our country?” There was a chorus of approval from the benches behind him, but Terraria immediately rose to answer.

“The Prophecy is very specific on this point,” the Master of Earth enunciated clearly. “For twenty years now we have known what we require, and Atlas and Aqua were selected beyond any doubt. We must make our choice somehow.” In his seat, Atlas stared longingly into the wood grain of the floor, looking as though he would rather be anywhere than here. Behind him, his Order was calling for their Master to speak.

Reluctantly, Atlas pushed himself forward, and stood facing Terraria’s seat. In an uncomfortable voice, he began, “This is a truly momentous occasion. For many of us, it is the first real hope that we have seen in all our time with the Resistance. Understandably, many of us are cautious about believing that the end has arrived after all our years of work.” He spared a moment to glance over at Aqua, seated across the room, then continued. “I think that my Order is simply a bit… restless after so many years of waiting for our opportunity to arrive. Now that real power has finally found its way to us, might we not consider striking against the tyrant while we can?” A tiny sliver of determination entered his voice on the end of this speech, bolstered by the many shouts of approval which he received.

Terraria quieted all of this with one hoof. Authoritatively, she rose once more. “To move on Discord now would be folly,” she emphatically declared. “We must wait until the right time comes, and that time has been ordained for us by the Prophecy. Until it is fulfilled, we must take our responsibilities with heart.” But no sooner had the words exited her mouth were they drowned out by another cavalcade of objections, answered by shouts of approval from Water and Earth.

As the chamber descended into argument and disarray, Luna turned to face her sister in the very center of it. “When you said that there would be a small ceremony before we got to go fight Discord, did you have this in mind?”

Celestia shook her head slowly, feeling the excitement of the past few hours drain out of her system. On the floor in front of them, even the magical gems had lost some of their lustre, seeming to react to the tension and distrust in the room. “No, Luna. This isn’t what I thought would happen at all.”

Chapter 14: Burdens of History

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“Although it has always been safer to maintain the status quo, true progress can only be achieved by those willing to strike out on their own and chart their chosen destiny, throwing caution to the wind before the judgement of a fickle universe.”

- Carnelian, Memoirs of The Equestrian Silver Age (2296 UIT)

Roiling tongues of flame lit up the deep mountain cavern, matched in intensity only by the hardness of Seraph’s gaze. The Order of Fire lives on. Standing high atop a foreman’s platform, he watched as more than a dozen ponies beneath worked the bellows of the furnace. The air rushed its way upwards through a suspended crucible of molten iron ore, burning off impurities. Soon, it would be pure enough to be cast into steel, forming the basis of the Order’s weapons and armour.

Though Seraph had been thrown out of Everfree, alone and disgraced, it had not taken him long to amass a new following. Equestria was filled with strong spirits like his, thirsty to do whatever they could to rid Equestria of Discord’s rule as soon as possible. Earth ponies, pegasi, even a few unicorns, all united in their desire for freedom. Together, they had built all of this, a future held in store for all ponies. It was infinitely more than the Resistance had done, hope instead of blind faith.

But hope it remained, unfortunately, until that perfect opportunity came along. For Seraph had realized that without a supreme advantage he could not move alone against Discord. The King was simply too powerful, and had too many allies both in Upper Eridian and abroad throughout the country. Any victory would need to be a swift decapitation strike, taking out the head and letting the rest of the apparatus shrivel and die. Otherwise, his revolution would be scuttled against Chaos’ grip on the country.

So Seraph had waited. Biding his time and his power. Continuing on in his research and his training, so that when that day came, he would be ready. A few of his followers had brought whispers of the events transpiring in the southern forests to him, and he had to admit that he had found the news heartening, if only for a moment. After all their years of work, it seemed that his old allies had found something to hang their hopes on to as well.

Seraph turned and began a slow walk back out across the factory floor. Sparks flew beneath him as smiths went to work on the latest round of the Order’s weapons. Seraph felt his mind drifting. It was in moments like these that he always thought back in time, to those happier days he had shared with his sister and his best friend. In their youth, freedom had seemed so close, resting on the edge of little victories here and there. The three of them had grown up together, matured into a group bound closer than any that had come before. Their skill sets had complemented each other perfectly, leading to success in their training and out in the field. Surely, he had thought back then, destiny was smiling on the Resistance.

Seraph shook his head to dislodge the wistful memories as he arrived at the entrance to the passage that would take him up out of the cavern and back into the grey lifelessness of Eridian. Such things were gone to him now, and no amount of nostalgia could ever get them back. He had chosen the difficult path of which they had not been capable: making the personal sacrifices necessary to ensure peace within his own lifetime, rather than waiting for help like a fool. Equestria deserved so much more than that from those who would pledge to protect it.

In truth, Seraph hated to have to leave his work behind at all. Given a choice, he would spend all of his time here beneath the mountain, forgetting the touch of sunlight and letting flame alone warm his heart. A world of metal, wheels and levers, this is what he would build for Equestria, a way forward from the ignorance of the past. An ascended species deserved just that right, the right to forge its own future amid the tumults of time, rather than lying vulnerable for the next force of nature to come along and take over.

But the situation remained complicated, and he still needed to keep up appearances so as to avoid suspicion. Thus, tonight was his night to keep watch over Upper Eridian, guarding the King’s stronghold along with whoever else on the sham court had been forced into the onerous duty. The job was usually rather slow, as it was well known among the population that those who ventured up into the secluded cloisters of Discord’s inner sanctum usually didn’t come back.

Once he had emerged out of his false root cellar, Seraph did something that he hated every time: he walked over to the front door of his house, and let himself in. The house was large and well-adorned, as he was actually forced to entertain guests here from time to time, in keeping with the tradition of wilful ignorance endorsed by the citizens of Upper Eridian. It never ceased to amaze him how much tragedy ponies could forget about so long as they had cocktails to drink and gossip to discuss. He hated this house along with everything that it represented, the barely concealed barbarism that Equestria had been forced to adopt. The idea that the only way forward was over the back of your nearest rival, and that the only chance of success was to win the approval of your betters, rather than achieving victory by your own judgement. Every time that he came in here, Seraph was filled by a desire just to lay the whole forsaken thing to the torch. But that would be to sacrifice all the work of the past years, all the struggle and personal effort. He owed it to Equestria to persevere.

Resting upon his kitchen table was the single piece of the uniform of the Eridian High Guard: a relatively gaudy earring. The jewellery was special, having been touched by a magic spell in tune with the fields of darkness permeating the entire upper city. It was a sort of warding magic, which alerted the guards whenever an entity in possession of its own magical powers was detected in the vicinity. Most of the time, however, the uncomfortable twinge that it generated in its bearer’s eardrum was a false alarm. Seraph had always secretly suspected that this was Discord’s way of testing his supposed followers’ loyalty, and making sure that none of them was slacking while on the job. Of course, it could also just be the tyrant’s idea of a practical joke.

And so, thus properly attired for the position, Seraph set out into the dullness of the city’s twilight. Another shift of tedium waited. It was only several minutes before his mind began to wander again.

Twenty Years Earlier

Lower Eridian

“Keep your heads down, both of you!” Aqua whispered sharply to her two companions, as the trio trudged sullenly up the steep path. “While these ponies may be the ones that we are striving to save, for the moment we have to regard them as potential enemies. We can never be sure where their loyalties truly lie.”

Seraph and Atlas both pulled their traveller’s cloaks farther forward to cast their faces into deeper shadow. The three friends were ascending a twisted path that wound its way ever higher up the steep face of Eridian’s mountainside. It passed as a primary road around here.

Since Atlas had once visited the city in the wanderings of his youth, he was leading the way, trying to pluck a sense of direction out of the foggy memories that he had of the place. At least for the moment, navigation wasn’t particularly difficult. All three were well aware that the path to their target was directly up, into the more affluent areas surrounding Discord’s castle.

Although each one of them was carrying a saddlebag, neither Aqua nor Atlas had any equipment of their own. Neither one needed any. But since Seraph was incapable of solely carrying his own burden of equipment, it made sense that they split the load. Dressed in plain, dull brown cloaks, neither one looked particularly dangerous, although of course the citizens of Eridian knew to keep their distance from anything strange or unwanted, and so the three had been relatively unbothered as they had trudged through the city. Nonetheless, the benign aura was far from accurate.

“When should we expect to start encountering real resistance?” Seraph asked in a low voice, pausing to adjust his cloak so that the dual throwing knives nestled against his front shoulders could slip into a more comfortable position.

“If all goes to plan, never,” his sister answered from the rear of the group. “We don’t have to get all the way into the inner sanctum, after all. The ruins of the old city should be accessible from some of the lower rings of Upper Eridian, and patrols are much sparser there, right, Atlas?”

“Yes,” the pegasus replied. “We only need to skirt about the outer walls of the city, until we can find our way down. We’re absolutely certain that they won’t have been removed from the ruins, right?”

“Of course not,” Aqua replied in a tone that just bordered on a scoff. “Discord couldn’t care less about our heritage or history, so it doesn’t make sense that he would put artefacts like these under any sort of security. And the chamber was at the very heart of the old Tower complex too. It should still be primarily intact, since Discord just built over top of the old city.”

The two males returned nods to her statement. This wouldn’t be their first raid on a securely held position, but it was their first time here in Eridian, so directly under the control of the tyrant himself. The air was much closer here, holding a perceptible tension, as if the sound of every hoofbeat could potentially alert somepony of their presence. It was very different from sneaking about in the more remote segments of the country.

After climbing out of the squalor of the lower city, Atlas finally stopped at a small switchback in the path. A short distance above, the track continued underneath a stone archway, marking the transition into the protected enclosure of the upper city. It was from that point on that the danger would really begin.

Since once they continued on they would be marked as intruders regardless of disguise, all three lowered their hoods. The cloaks would still help, allowing them to blend into the shadows, but it made more sense to leave their vision and other senses as open as possible. Aqua explained the plan one final time.

“All right. We know that from this point on, there are warding spells that alert the guards to magical presences, so I will be occupied shielding us from detection. That means that you two will be responsible for clearing obstructions and dealing with unfortunately placed guards.” Seraph unconsciously ran his hoof over the hilt of his other concealed weapon, a rapier sheathed by his right side. This earned him a disapproving glare from both of his friends. “Non-lethal force only unless absolutely necessary,” Aqua continued. “Remember that we are looking for a way down. Atlas has several older buildings dug into the mountainside picked out as possible places to start. We’ll go slow and stealthy. I’m certain that none of us want to see the inside of Discord’s dungeon tonight.”

Seraph hurriedly retracted his hoof following his sister’s rebuke, and adopted a steely expression as Atlas prepared to lead them onward. But inside, his heart was burning with determination. To be so close to the very center of the tyrant’s grip on the country set his youthful spirit ablaze. Tonight would be merely a test run of their ultimate victory, a mission that was just over the horizon, especially if they met with success in tonight’s endeavour.

The Resistance was being overly cautious, of that he had become very sure in recent months. As the three friends’ revolutionary exploits grew in fame throughout the land, so too had surged Seraph’s hopes for their final success. And yet still Terraria resisted, insisting that to move before the final confirmation of the Prophecy’s fulfillment would be a foolish risk. Seraph had buried himself within his studies, putting that fire of determination to good use, but always he had wondered what it would take to convince Terraria that they were the ones that would be capable of finally freeing Equestria from Discord’s grasp. It was during one of those long nights, as he had watched an experiment froth and bubble, that the idea for tonight’s expedition had come to him.

It was a simple task, yet its accomplishment was close enough to an actual strike against the King that it would be sure to convince even the most conservative of the doubters. Tonight, the three of them would venture deep into the heart of the old city, in search of the symbols of the old order they hoped to restore: the Triumvirs’ Circlets. The Circlets had been held in the central chambers of the old Tower of the Triumvirs, and since the Citadel of Everfree had been built as an exact replica, Seraph knew that it wouldn’t be hard to find their way around once they got inside.

As the trio passed under the archway, Aqua’s horn began emitting a pale blue light as she began masking their presence from the warding spells that permeated the area. Atlas led the group silently between shadows, snaking about to the right. The homes in this area were separated by relatively large distances, but they also had numerous outbuildings and hedges, which made cover plentiful. While crouched down behind a set of pitted doors leading into the earth, Seraph took a sniff of the wood and realized that it was actually a wine cellar. The thought that such affluence could possibly exist in the ruined Equestria made his spirit blaze all the hotter.

Finally, the three friends dashed across an open expanse of trimmed grass to come up behind an aged stone structure that was dug right into the mountainside. The door was locked with a rusted chain, but Seraph had it picked in a matter of moments, and they were in. Seraph immediately began tapping on the sole room’s wooden floor, listening for reverberations. The sound that came back was promising, slightly echoing in the silence. Without turning, he spoke to Atlas, “Hoof drill, in your right saddlebag.” Aqua meanwhile was doing her best to watch out for patrols, whilst also concentrating on maintaining her masking spell.

With practiced efficiency, Seraph drilled straight down through the floorboards, breaking through after only two inches. Once finished, he swapped out the bit to widen the hole until it was about three inches in diameter, wide enough to get a good view of the space beneath, if it could be illuminated. For that, he turned back to Atlas, once again gesturing toward his friend’s right saddlebag. This time, Atlas withdrew a short, metallic wire, which Seraph quickly lit with a struck phosphorus match before dropping it into the new hole. Within moments, deep orange sparks had lit up the lower area, and both Seraph and Atlas bent down to see what lay beneath.

Seraph felt his spirit soar. The stone chamber beneath them was rough and unkempt; obviously the floor had been laid over top of it without any consideration to what was being covered up. The rough rock walls were certainly the boundary of the mountain itself. But even better than that, he could see the beginnings of what appeared to be a narrow passageway, leading deeper into a shadowy blackness. With any luck, it was an entrance into the ancient city of old.

He got up and waved to Aqua. “We have our opening. Now you need to get us down there.” She drew in a short breath, and then let her masking spell die away. For an instant, she would be detectable by the warding magic, but in the next second, the three of them had teleported to the lower room, and were hidden again. Each one let out a sigh of relief. That was the hard part over with.

Aqua examined the passage, which opened out from a small recess in the mountainside. The orange light of Seraph’s sparkler cast its opening into deep relief, and amplified the blackness of its interior to appear darker even than the darkest of midnights. It also made it immediately obvious just how narrow the passage was. Aqua turned back to Seraph. “We’re not going to be able to fit through while carrying all of this gear.”

Although he was reluctant to part with his tools, Seraph knew that she was correct. He cast about his eyes, finally settling on a dark corner. “Okay then. Stash it over there, and we’ll pick it all up again on the way out.” After each of them had dropped their packs, the earth pony rifled through his own, covertly drawing out several small packets. He tucked them into a few pockets of his cloak, and also took a packet of his trusty matches. After all, unicorns had magic and pegasi had wings. An earth pony always had to have something up his sleeve, and for Seraph that had always been a bit of fire when he needed it.

Seraph tapped his cloak at his sides, making sure that each packet was securely in place. With a slight smile, he turned back into the room, only to find himself face to face with Aqua. His sister was not smiling. “What was that I saw you tucking away there? Another one of your secret side projects?”

Seraph brushed her off. “It’s important equipment that I absolutely cannot part with. We don’t know what we are going to find down there after all, so we should be prepared for anything.”

Aqua nodded once, but as the two of them rejoined Atlas by the cave’s entrance, she gave him one more reminder. “I respect your wanting to keep a few secrets, Seraph. Just as long as they don’t end up costing us more than they’re worth.”

“Fine.”

Atlas, who had been trying to see some way through the shaft with what light the now-dying sparkler could offer, turned around to face them once more. “Are we all ready? Once we get through to the ruins of the Tower, navigation should be simple. Still, we don’t know what could be waiting down there.” He extended one hoof out into the space between them. “For Equestria?”

They each reached out to meet him. “For Equestria,” they affirmed.

Aqua once again led the way, as her masking spell also illuminated the space in front of them. The passageway was very narrow, having been obstructed by rockfalls and natural decay over the years. Protruding rocks tore gashes in Seraph’s cloak as he pulled himself forward, but fortunately his concealed equipment remained safe. In some places the echo of dripping water reverberated through the shaft, evidence of the underground rivers that had once supplied the old city’s cisterns. Besides that, the trio crept forward in total silence.

Finally, Seraph heard the sound of his sister’s hoofbeats echoing off of smooth walls ahead. His hooves found a final purchase just in front of him, and he pulled one final time, emerging out into a square corridor. After a few seconds, Atlas broke out behind him. Aqua looked about the gloomy area for a moment, and then switched out her spell for something a bit brighter. With her face now cast in stark relief from the light on her horn, she turned back to face the others. “We’re far enough underground that we shouldn’t have to worry about being discovered, I think. How are you both doing?”

Each of the two stallions nodded, eager to get on. Atlas looked to be a little the worse for wear; he had a small cut across his left shoulder, the work of a particularly sharp rock. Nevertheless, he was clearly eager to press on. The hallway they had emerged into was wide enough for all three of them to walk down it beside each other, so it was likely close to the central, more important chambers of the complex. Seraph’s suspicions in this regard were confirmed when the three of them rounded a left turn, coming face-to-face with an exceedingly well-preserved portrait hung high on the stone wall. Even after so long, its colours still stood out sharply in the bright light of Aqua’s magic.

Seraph kept on walking, trying to make out the rooms ahead in the encroaching blackness. He had taken several steps before he realized that their light source was not coming with him. He whipped around to find that his sister was still standing enraptured by the art. Atlas had also stopped with her, unsure of whether he should stay with the light or push onwards. After a few more seconds, Seraph cleared his throat. “Might we move along?”

His voice seemed to startle Aqua, breaking her back to reality. After a moment, she shook it off and came back to him. “Sorry, I guess I kind of lost myself there for a moment. I wasn’t expecting the complex to be so well-preserved.”

As they penetrated deeper into the structure, they passed by some similar pieces, and each time Aqua stopped to admire them for several moments. Seraph felt a rising frustration with her.

“Why are you so drawn to these elements of our past, sister?” he asked after they had paused for the fifth time.

“Why?” Aqua replied with a confused look. “They remind me of the greatness that this country once had, and of the great nation that we shall be rebuilding once we are rid of Discord. They are symbols of the very things that we fight for.”

Seraph bristled at the reply. “Excuse me, but I thought that we were fighting for the ponies up there,” he said as he gestured toward the roof. “We’re going to build them whatever future they deserve, not just return them to the state they were in before.”

“And why shouldn’t we go back to the way things were then? The nation was happy and peaceful, after all.”

“And we couldn’t do a thing to stop Discord from taking over in a day,” Seraph returned briskly. “I think it’s obvious that something new and different will be required if our new nation is to last, Aqua.”

“Well, that doesn’t mean that we should just throw away everything that we’ve already accomplished! If anything we should treasure it all the more, since it has survived.”

Seraph turned to his best friend looking for help, but Atlas appeared uncertain. He glanced uncomfortably between each of the others, who were regarding him with expectant expressions. With a deep sigh, he lowered his gaze to the floor. “I… I think we should worry about that when the time comes. For now, let’s keep thinking about the task at hand. If my memory serves me, we should be drawing close to the central chamber, right?”

Aqua was all professional again. “Yes, in fact it should be right through this next hallway on our left.” Reaching the corner, she stretched her head around to light up the space, expectantly searching for the glint of the Circlets’ jewels in the darkness. Instead all three of them found the way blocked by a thick wall of boulders. The ceiling of the hall had apparently given out years ago, barring the path.

Atlas stood looking at the obstruction for only a second before he stepped forward and started trying to muscle the stones aside. “Give me a hoof, Seraph,” he spoke back to his companion. “We’ll have to clear this all out before we can proceed.”

Seraph looked over the rockfall again. Some of the stones looked to be heavier than both him and Atlas combined. There was no way they were going to be moved. “I don’t think that we’re going to get through by muscle alone, Atlas. But I think that I might have a solution,” he said, removing one of the packets from an inner pocket of his cloak. “Step aside.”

“What’s that you’ve got there?” Aqua asked as he went to his work, pouring out each packet into a growing pile of coarse, black powder.

“Just a small invention of mine. A powdered mixture of sulfur, charcoal, and fertilizer. One touch of flame and this should clear out the whole passage.” He stood up, and slowly poured out the final bag to make a trail that led away from the impromptu explosive. As he passed by each of his companions, he motioned for them to follow him. “You’ll probably want to take cover. This will be quite violent.”

“Are you kidding?” Aqua grabbed her brother before he could pass by her. “Do you have any idea what kind of damage this might cause? Some of the most priceless artefacts of pony history are behind those rocks. We can’t risk damaging them.”

“So what would you prefer?” he retorted, shaking himself free. “That we get the Circlets a little banged up or that we don’t get them at all? We can’t break through that pile any other way.”

“Perhaps there’s another way into the chamber?” Atlas offered up helpfully.

“And what if it’s blocked too?” Seraph recommenced laying his trail of black powder. “There’s no reason not to do it right now. I can’t believe that we’re even having this discussion, when we’re literally right outside the room with our objective in it. There’s no point in giving up Equestria’s future just to preserve a few pieces of its past.”

Seraph could tell that his sister still didn’t want to go through with it, but she couldn’t come up with a counter to his argument. For of course there wasn’t one. It would be folly to give up on their first real chance at success just to preserve a few old trinkets of a time long forgotten. He gestured at both of them to get behind him. Striking up his match, he touched the flame to the trail of powder, watching as it raced off down the hall. A second later, a thunderous boom and a shower of rock fragments came out of the hallway. Seraph uncovered his ears and turned to each of his friends. “See? Much easier than any other alternative.” Aqua would not return his grin. Instead she walked gingerly up to the corner, where smoke was still finding its way out of the wreckage.

She stood transfixed there a moment, such that both Atlas and Seraph ran up to see what held her gaze. When Seraph looked out past the nicely-formed hole, what he saw took his breath away.

Chapter 15: The Breaking of the Resistance, Part 1

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“Once our lives are merely a piece of history, historians will no doubt endlessly debate which one of my sister and me was in the right. The answer, though, is very simple. Even though sometimes we ended up in opposition, we were always doing what we thought was best.”

- High Princess Celestia, Personal Journals (Vol. 4)

The Sun was setting in the west by the time Celestia and Luna returned to their room. All day, the Resistance had debated, back and forth on the very same question. But Terraria had refused to budge. For her it seemed to be three heroes, or nothing.

Once again, Celestia was pacing about in the centre of the room, trying in vain to understand the old Master’s reluctance. Perhaps the Prophecy really was as specific as Terraria said. If so, then it seemed that they really were no closer to victory than they had been before.

“But why?” she repeated to herself.

“I think I know,” Luna said from the other side of the room. She was seated on the desk by the wall, her hooves propped up on the chair. Just like Celestia, she had been brooding for most of the evening. But now her eyes shone with a sudden light, and her voice came quick and determined. “I really should have seen it sooner. Terraria sits here in Everfree on her carved chair like a Queen. As soon as I saw her I knew that she reminded me of someone, but I’ve only now figured out who.” She leaned forward and scowled. “She’s just like those rich ponies in Upper Eridian, content to ignore the real problem and keep living in her imagined prosperity.”

“Luna, that’s hardly fair,” Celestia replied, dismissing the suggestion with a wave of her hoof. “Terraria has dedicated her life to understanding the Prophecy and interpreting it. The Resistance is only giving her what she’s due.”

“Do you really believe that?” Luna stood and walked up to her sister. “Look around you. All the time and effort that must have gone into building this place. And none of it actually helped anypony. This is not what I signed up for. This is not what I thought that the Resistance was going to be.”

Celestia sighed. Admittedly, things weren’t going quite the way that she had thought they would, but certainly her sister was overreacting. “Calm down,” she said, and laid a hoof on Luna’s shoulder. “Eventually we’ll figure this out, and then we’ll get to the real business at hoof.”

“But there’s nothing to figure out!” Luna cried, wheeling away from her. “You and I know that Discord is as good as gone! Together we could end him with a flick of our horns, and that means that we have to. The Resistance might have helped us before, but now they’re only standing in our way.” She looked out the window, through the night into the east, where Eridian waited. “I’m going, with or without Terraria’s blessing.”

Celestia wanted to chuckle, to dismiss the suggestion as wishful thinking, but Luna’s tone gave her pause. She hadn’t heard her sister talk like this since that night a year ago in Eridian, when they had first met Atlas and had started down this road. “You don’t really mean that, do you?” she asked tentatively, hoping that she had misjudged her sister’s intentions. “The Masters have worked for decades for Equestria. This is their victory as much as it is ours.”

“Worked?” Luna snorted. “For a group of ponies that call themselves the ‘Resistance’, I would expect them to do a little more resisting. All these years they’ve done nothing. Nothing but wait. And now, with the opportunity to do something staring them in the face, all they want to do is wait some more. Well I’m tired of waiting. I’m going, and you’re coming with me.”

She turned back around, and from the look in her eyes Celestia knew for sure that she was serious. And Celestia wanted to agree with her. She knew what she had felt that night, just as surely as Luna did. But that wasn’t the reason why she couldn’t go. She had to make Luna see.

“I’m not going,” she declared, and her sister looked up at her in surprise.

“But why not?” she said.

“It just won’t work. I know you’re frustrated, but the two of us simply can’t do it alone.”

“What do you mean?” Luna demanded, a note of frustration now in the edges of her tone. She reached over the room’s desk, and picked up the ring of gems. She held it up in front of her chest like a shield. “With these, nothing can stand against us. Discord will fall.”

“It’s not Discord!” Celestia took a deep breath, trying to calm herself, but she could feel her own pulse rising. Why was it always so hard for Luna to think of consequences? “Think of the bigger picture for once. Discord is only the start of what we must do. All of Upper Eridian would fight us, and even then we’d have a whole country to rebuild. Magic alone won’t get us there. The Resistance has planned for that eventuality for decades. They have structures and resources already in place. If we want to really help anypony, we are going to need the Resistance’s support.”

“I know the bigger picture!” Luna stepped forward, until she was right in front of her sister’s face. “The bigger picture is out there, where thousands of ponies suffer every day because we choose to wait! This is just like before we met Atlas. If we have the power to help but don’t, then we only make the problem worse!”

“This is nothing like that! If we don’t know what we’re going to do, then we won’t be able to help anypony! If we act rashly, that is what’s going to make this problem worse.”

“No,” Luna replied, suddenly unsettlingly calm. “I think that it’s exactly the same,” she continued, now looking at Celestia with a mischievous grin and scratching her chin mockingly. “If Luna leaves, then Terraria’s question will be solved. The Resistance will make me a Triumvir, and I’ll get to claim my rightful place along with them. My life will finally have the stability that I’ve wanted, and I won’t have to worry about stupid Luna or her conscience ever again.” She brought her hoof down to the floor hard, then shook her head. “I honestly thought that you had changed.”

“As if you have!” Celestia shouted. “Here’s little Luna, charging off on another crusade of kindness without any thought of the consequences. I’ll bet you don’t even know what you’ll do beyond the front door! So go! The Resistance will be stronger without you. Do you know why? Because they want a leader, and a leader is somepony who understands when to act, and when to wait. I know that, so I will happily become their Triumvir!”

“Aha! I knew that was all that you cared about. Never mind the fate of the country, so long as things work out good for Celestia. Well you can have it.” Luna headed for the door, and while walking ripped open the closet with her magic and began tossing their clothing at her sister. “Take your fancy clothes, your followers, your crown. Go on living in ignorance. I just hope you remember when you get up in the morning how much ponies have to suffer to make it possible.”

She threw open the door and stepped through it, then paused, just on the other side of the threshold. For a moment, Celestia wondered if maybe this had all been a ploy, and Luna didn’t really intend to go through with it. “Well?” she demanded. “Going to do it, or have you understood how much of a mistake you’re making?”

Surprisingly, Luna smiled. “No, I’m going. It just feels good to be my own pony for once. I really should have left you a long time ago, sister. At least now I’m going to accomplish something with my life.”

“Just go then!” Celestia yelled, and she slammed the door in her sister’s face. She stood in the centre of the room for a few minutes breathing heavily. Outside, she could hear Luna’s hoofsteps retreating down the hall, echoing fainter and fainter with each passing moment. Finally, they were gone, and the room was silent except for the pounding of her heart in her ears.

The cool evening breeze felt good in Luna’s hair as she soared over the forest. Even just this felt so much better than sitting cooped up in Everfree. She was moving, heading in the right direction for the first time in what felt like forever. It was ironic that now the right direction was back to where she had started, but Luna felt like she was returning to Eridian as a new pony, finally having the strength and will to do what was necessary.

The magical ring was now slung over her right shoulder, tucked away in an ornate saddlebag that she had snatched from the lobby of Unicorn Tower on her way out. Somehow, Luna felt that it too was happy to be free again, and the fire of its magic flowed steadily out through her being, adding to the euphoria that flying always brought her. If only she could show Celestia this feeling, if only her sister would stop thinking all of the time and understand how beautiful it was to act on her convictions. If only…

Luna stopped herself. Her sister had now made her choice, and there was no taking it back. This was her fight now, and hers alone. Nopony was going to stand by her side now, but nopony was going to stand in her way either.

Luna turned herself over in the air, so that she could see back along her path. Everfree was still plainly visible through the trees, though by now it was far enough away that its four towers had merged into one needle piercing the sky. With the night’s clouds hanging low over it, it reminded her exactly of the great manor houses of Upper Eridian. Complete with traitorous inhabitants, she thought. Forward, that was where the future lay. Luna turned back to the horizon in front of her, and all the way to Eridian she never looked back again.

Once she broke out of the forest, Equestria once more spread itself out in twinkling radiance beneath her. The multitude of stars illuminating the sky overhead gleamed in the rivers and the lakes like jewels, and the full Moon lit up the countryside, more beautiful than it could ever have been during the day. In another life, one without Discord, she could have lived for this night, eagerly waiting for evening so that she could once again take to the skies and enjoy the peace of the darkness. But this world’s night was not perfect. Off to her right, sticking out like a sore hoof, Eridian still sat, exactly as it had been when she had seen it last. The purple storm still swirled wickedly over the blank grey stone of the city, lit up only by the occasional bolt of Chaos lightning. Eridian stood out like a deep gash across the perfect face of Equestria, and the sight of it again sent shivers running down Luna’s back. But it also re-kindled the fire in her heart, and with a new effort she strove forward, heading straight for the top of the city.

As she flew up the mountainside, Luna spared a few glances down into the lower neighbourhoods. They were of course little-changed since the last time that she had seen them, and she could see a few citizens out and about, going about their routines. A part of her wanted to cry out to them, to triumphantly announce that their redemption was here, that today their suffering would end. But there would be time for that later. She pulled her eyes up, up, to the top of the city, where the clouds grew thick and ominous. The Chaos storm had frightened her when she was a filly, but now nothing was going to get between her and the King. She flew straight on into it.

For an instant, as soon as she entered the storm, she felt that voice of fear rousing itself in the back of her head, just as it had done in the hills of West Equestria months ago. Once more it insisted that this was a fool’s errand, but this time Luna paid it no heed. It was a treacherous voice, she knew, not her conscience but only Discord’s attempt to turn her away. He would have to try a lot harder than that to save himself.

All at once, though, Luna felt the air around her grow still, no longer rushing past her as she climbed. There was a moment of unnerving weightlessness, and then she felt herself falling. She struggled mightily with her wings, but it was as if all of the air around her had vanished. Too late, she remembered the other effect of the Chaos storm, but she had no time to berate herself.

As she fell out of the clouds, Upper Eridian was revealed beneath her, its sharp stone towers and unforgiving slate roofs frighteningly close, and getting closer by the second. Luna scanned the ground beneath her for ponds, hay-piles, anything that would permit a soft landing, but there was only stone and earth. Right up in front of her, a tall tower loomed, only a few hundred feet ahead.

Luna strained with all of her might to steer herself, to get some purchase on the wind rippling through her feathers, and as she descended she could barely feel some control returning. Agonizingly slowly, she could feel herself turning.

But when she looked forward again she knew that it was not going to be enough. The stone wall grew in her vision: fifty feet away, forty, twenty. She wasn’t going to turn in time. As her left wing collided with the tower, Luna felt no pain. Everything just went black, and for a split second she felt her body start to cartwheel as it bounced off of the tower. Then there was nothing. Nothing except for her sister’s chiding voice echoing between her ears.

“Pegasi can’t fly in Upper Eridian, remember?” Celestia said, laughing mockingly. “Acting rashly, just like I said. Good luck helping anypony now. Didn’t I say you ought to have thought about this just a bit more?”

Just as he had expected, Seraph’s shift so far had been an exercise in tedium. For hours now he had walked aimlessly up and down the streets of Upper Eridian, thinking of the past and of the future. There had been nothing noteworthy, and Seraph suspected that very soon another aristocrat would be along to relieve him.

He was standing now on a small outcropping of stone, underneath which the whole of Eridian spread itself out on the mountainside. Tier upon tier the city swept downwards, its lanes, surely once grand and straight, now choked with detritus and grime. If one looked very hard one could see the greatness that lay beneath the layers of dread that Discord had left here, but that lustre was still there, unforgotten. All it needed was a new ruler with the right plan to make it all shine again.

What he needed though was a trump card. Something decisive to tip the scales in his direction, something which the King could not possibly stand against. Seraph sighed. His trap was set, indeed it had been set for more than a decade now. But he still needed to find a trigger to get things moving.

As he turned back to once again look up the mountain, Seraph saw a flicker of light just over his right shoulder, but he paid it no heed. It was probably just another lightning strike. Immediately following it though, he heard a dull thud, followed after a few seconds by a muted crash, as of something massive impacting the ground. He wheeled toward the direction of the sound, but there was nothing to be seen. Still, he was the guard on duty, so he knew that he had to check it out.

Seraph began making his way through the cobbled streets of the city, wary now for signs of trouble. It was not unprecedented for a youthful would-be hero to work up a head of righteous fury and charge up the mountainside, eager to give the King a piece of his mind. What he had heard already lined up roughly with what usually happened when such a pegasus realized that flight was impossible up here. It was unfortunate really. Seraph quite admired anypony that had the guts to try and do something about the King, and when he had the opportunity to capture one of these rebels, he usually offered them a place in the Order of Fire. Pegasi, though, rarely survived the journey.

But as he picked his way carefully over the cobblestones, Seraph soon began to feel something else. A twinge of discomfort sliced its way through his earlobe, a sensation that he recognized as a warning from his magical earring. He stopped and stood still a moment, listening for the sound of anypony else nearby. No one could possibly have survived the fall that he had heard, but dead ponies did not register in the area’s magic. After a few seconds of silence, he continued on.

Rounding the last corner, Seraph immediately knew that his earlier suspicions had been correct. A short way ahead was a grand estate, similar to all of the others that lined the streets up here, except that this one was missing a few shingles from its roof, and had a sizeable mound of upturned sod in its front lawn, clearly the result of an impact. From here, his eyes could barely see the tip of a dark blue wing extending above the mound, not moving. Even so, the sensation in his ear grew stronger, ramping up to a shrill sting.

With every step forward now, that sting intensified, far beyond anything he had ever felt, until his eye was watering at the effort of holding back the pain and he was forced to throw it aside. As Seraph tentatively stepped closer, the scene of destruction revealed itself in pieces: first the rest of the wing, then a long and flowing tail, followed by two rear legs and a youthful body. Finally, he stood just over the side of the furrow dug by the impact, regarding a mare who couldn’t have been far into adulthood. Remarkably, her body was still all in one piece, even without any visibly broken bones. But even the horn on her head still didn’t explain why he had sensed magic in the vicinity. Unless…

Bracing a hoof on the grass, Seraph jumped down into the furrow. Up closer, he could make out the delicate curve of her chin, the folding grace of her eyelashes, peacefully drawn down over large eyes. All still remarkably sturdy and intact, especially since it had clearly been a head-on collision. Slowly, he bowed his head down to the ground, listening with his ear to her chest.

The strong thump of her heartbeat made him jump back, eyes wide. That was impossible. It was absolutely impossible. Nopony could have survived such a fall. Seraph placed a hoof to his forehead and roughly shook himself until he had recovered. He leaned down again to take a closer look, and indeed, he could see the light disturbance of the air leaving her lips as she exhaled. No doubt about it now.

Seraph leaned back against the earthen mound, trying to get his head in order. If he just left her here, the next pony on watch would almost certainly report this to the King. It would make a few headlines about the court, but overall probably nothing would come of it. His eyes stole down to her horn again, and his ear twitched in memory of the sensation of her magic. His breath was coming in quick shots as his brain processed what this all meant. He couldn’t let that happen. This pony was something special, something new and interesting. Whatever this magic was that had kept her safe, it could be just what he was after. A trigger.

He scrambled his way up the mound, then scanned the surrounding area for any signs of life. Nothing moved, and there was no sound at all, so he still had time. Seraph quickly made his way back down into the furrow. Gently, he took her up by her front shoulders, careful not to give her any jolts or jostles, and laid her onto his back. He would take her deep underground, where her magic would no longer set off any alarms, and there he would find out exactly who this mysterious mare was. Suddenly tonight was looking up.

Luna felt herself drifting back awake. As the last wisps of sleep fell away from her, she braced herself for what she knew was coming: pain, fear, perhaps even Discord’s face as he looked over his newest prisoner. She wasn’t about to give him the satisfaction of her tears. But when she opened her eyes, there was none of that. Instead there was only a gentle warmth, and the feeling of soft sheets under her back.

Luna sat up, and surprisingly there were no screams of discomfort from any of her muscles. Everything seemed to still work fine, which was a relief. It meant that she would have a much easier time escaping whatever prison she now found herself in.

“Are you alright?” a voice asked from the other side of the room. When she looked to see who had spoken, she saw an orange stallion seated on another bed, only perhaps ten feet away. He was dressed in an ostentatious red shirt, but it was open at the collar, and his mane, which was streaked with brilliant red and yellow, drooped casually over the right side of his head. In front of him sat her magical gems, and he appeared to have been taking notes on them in a thick ledger. “No aches or sprains?” he asked, looking up with concern.

Luna remained silent. This stallion perhaps sounded sincere, but from the look of him he was clearly a citizen of the upper city, and that meant that he was not to be trusted.

He kept looking at her expectantly for a few seconds more, then nodded knowingly. “You must think that I’ve taken you captive for Discord,” he said. “Allow me to assure you that nothing could be further from the truth. You crashed, you see, in the city above, and I’ve merely taken you here, to safety.”

Luna wasn’t sure how to respond. Of course she wanted to believe him, to believe that she had another friend, another honest pony in the world that her sister believed had run out of them. But maybe she had learned a bit more from Celestia than she’d like to admit. “And where is here, exactly?” she said warily.

“Ah, allow me to show you!” He jumped up excitedly, a grin sprouting on his face. “You can walk, I assume?”

Luna nodded, and slowly got to her hooves. The decor of the room around her was chiseled stone, lit up by a soft orange glow that came from a few candles in its center. The air was quite warm and dry, which was very surprising for Eridian. Then again, the stallion had mentioned “the city above”, so perhaps they were somewhere further down the mountain? Either way, his seeming enthusiasm to show her around fit with the idea that he was not her enemy, so Luna allowed herself to relax a little.

When she made it to the room’s door, the orange stallion held out the ring of gems to her. “Yours, I think,” he said. “An heirloom of some sort?”

Luna accepted the ring with her magic, stowing it safely once more in her saddlebag. She chuckled awkwardly. “Uh, something like that, I suppose.”

The stallion was smiling, his hoof grasping the door’s handle. “Don’t worry about it. We all have a past to carry around with us. Now, are you ready to see something special?”

He didn’t wait for her to answer, and instead swung the door wide open, allowing the rich glow of the torches beyond to rush into the space.

The sight was unlike anything that Luna had ever seen before. They stood now at the top of what seemed to be an enormous cavern, roughly conical in shape, its walls sloping upwards to a wide chimney, where a great cloud of smoke was rising up through the ceiling. The smoke came from fires that burned all throughout the cave, from the many torches and braziers that lit up the space, but also from row upon row of furnaces that lined the far wall, their flames being fed constantly dozens of ponies bent over mounds of coal. In front of them, there arose a maze of pipes, each one emerging from hulking boilers and crisscrossing the space like the threads of a spider’s web. The steam pipes fed together into engines and machinery that lined all the walls of the cave, and around them she could see more ponies at work, some bent over forges with smithing hammers, others wheeling about great containers of molten metal. It was all quite a bit much for her, and for a second her jaw could only hang in slackened awe, as the furnaces belched smoke in time with the hammers of the smiths, a pulse of clangs and crashes that echoed endlessly in the space.

“Amazing, isn’t it?” the stallion beside her asked. Luna looked over to see that he was beaming with pride, sweeping his forelegs out over the space. “We’ve built all of it, deep beneath Eridian, where the tyrant will never find us. I’m Seraph, by the way,” he said, extending his right hoof to her, “the Master of the Order of Fire.”

Luna shook his hoof weakly. “I’m Luna, pleased to meet you,” she said. “The Order of Fire? That sounds familiar. You wouldn’t happen to know about any other Orders, would you? Say, Water? Or Air?”

The smile on Seraph’s face vanished, and his eyebrows grew stormy. “What do you know about Water and Air?”

“I was a member,” Luna replied, “until today, that is. What do you know about them?”

Seraph turned away and walked over to the ledge, looking out over the factory floor. “Long story,” he said, in a voice that was very difficult to place. “Suffice it to say that once upon a time I was a member too. But I felt that I could be more effective working on my own.”

“Well, that’s good,” Luna said, joining him on the ledge. “That’s exactly what I thought. I came here to do something good, to help ponies. Together, we could surely accomplish even more.”

“Yes.” Seraph looked up, and a look of excitement once again came over him. “Yes, that would work just fine. Luna, consider yourself a member of the Order of Fire, the last true Resistance in Equestria.”

“Thank you,” she replied, her heart glowing just as warm as the torches in the room. And Celestia had said that things could only go badly! Less than a day away from Terraria, and she had already found the real Resistance. If only she had thought to strike out on her own sooner.

Seraph stepped away from the ledge, toward a set of switchback stairs that ran steeply down the nearby cavern wall. “Come on. Let me show you more of the operation. What news can you tell me from Everfree?”

“Plenty, actually. Terraria’s Prophecy has been fulfilled.”

The words stopped Seraph dead in his tracks. He turned around slowly, his eyes showing a mixture of confusion and anxiety. “How do you mean, fulfilled?”

Luna shrugged. “She has her three heroes, and the Sun and Moon are back to their normal cycles. Even she can’t delay anymore, I think.”

Seraph looked rapidly down at the floor, then began to pace quickly as he thought. “The Prophecy’s in, you say, what does that mean?” he spoke in an undertone, quickly moving from one idea to the next. “You’re right, even she can’t delay anymore now. So what then? They’ll march. They’ll come straight here and challenge him, just like her stupid Prophecy says. It’ll be a big event, surely at least a distraction for him. Enough perhaps for us to move. Yes... Yes, yes this is perfect!” he shouted, stopping short and looking up to her with eyes of keen fire. “They’ll come to challenge him, and we’ll be ready to land the decisive blow! Come on, Luna! We’ll need to be ready for them, and that means that we have lots of work to do!”

He ran off down the stairs toward the floor, and Luna followed. Of course, her sister had been wrong. Decisive action was the way to effect change, and Seraph seemed to get that. Finally, it seemed, she had found where she belonged.

Chapter 16: The Breaking of the Resistance, Part 2

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“History is like a polished ice-diamond, holding a record of millenia. Just like the jewel, the chronicle will show itself differently depending on the perspective from which it is examined, and just like the gem’s hidden core of ice, history often hides its nasty imperfections, only revealing them to the dedicated seekers of truth.”

- Twilight Sparkle, Foreword to A Complete History of Equestria

When the Sun peeked back over the eastern edge of the forest, Celestia was up to greet it, though this time she wasn’t very happy about it. She would have much preferred to once again have been woken from a peaceful slumber by its gentle light, but tonight it had been impossible for her to find that peace. Thoughts of her sister refused to leave her. It didn’t matter that Luna was still wrong, that going off on her own had been a stupid, rash thing to do. It didn’t matter that Celestia was on the right side of the argument; Luna had still gone off and thrown herself in harm’s way. And Celestia was worried for her.

Celestia looked northeast out of the window, imagining Eridian far off over the horizon. Luna wouldn’t have wasted any time, heading straight for the upper city. If she had been successful at her task, Celestia had a feeling that all of Equestria would have known by now. But if she had failed… Celestia didn’t want to think about that possibility.

There was a gentle knock at the door behind her, and Celestia pulled it open with her magic to reveal Atlas, once again dressed in his formalities, an uneasy smile on his face, though it looked like he too had had a hard time finding sleep. “Good morning, Celestia,” he said, then held up a hoof to stifle a yawn.

“Good morning, Atlas,” she returned, not moving from the window.

Atlas stepped over the threshold. “Sorry to come so early, but we have another long day of deliberation ahead. Today we must decide how we will choose which of you and Luna will be the third Triumvir.” He ran his eyes over the room. “Where is Luna?”

Celestia sighed, and cast another look out the window. “She’s gone,” she said.

“Gone? Gone where?”

“Gone to Eridian, I expect. Gone to see to the matter herself. And I don’t think that she’ll be coming back.” She turned back to Atlas, offering up a small smile that she hoped was consoling.

The expression on Atlas’s face was very difficult to read. “That’s… That’s a shame,” he said, his eyes finding the floor. There was an awkward silence between them for a few seconds, as Atlas seemed lost in thought, and Celestia fidgeted nervously by the window, wondering what she should say next. She knew that Atlas and Luna had been close, and guessed that he was probably thinking just the same thoughts that she was.

Eventually, though, Atlas managed to find his voice. “We should inform Aqua and Terraria of this development,” he said, and turned toward the door. “Come with me.”

Celestia joined Atlas in the hallway, and the two of them began the descent through Unicorn Tower. Again, the two of them walked quietly for some time, their hoofsteps echoing airily in the tower’s lofty halls. Celestia kept looking around through the place, desperate for something to capture her attention so that she could stop thinking about the circumstance that was holding both of them silent, like a dark blob of matter floating between them that neither one dared acknowledge. Finally, as they were crossing the walkway into the central tower, Atlas attempted a small smile.

“I know that it’s difficult,” he said, “but we should look at this as a happy moment. We’ll be following after Luna soon enough, now that there is no question that you should be the third Triumvir. With any luck, we might still find her out there somewhere.”

Celestia gave him a questioning look, and surprisingly there was no doubt on his face. The doors to the central chamber loomed ahead, and the muffled sounds of deliberation once more reached Celestia’s ears from behind them. “Do you really think that?” she asked him.

Atlas drew to a stop just in front of the doors, and as he grasped the handle he turned and gave her another simple smile. There was a cheery twinkle in his eyes, like there had been on the night when they had first met, just over a year ago. “Both of us know Luna very well,” he said. “If there is any way for her to succeed, I know that she would find it.”

And he pulled gently on the door handle, letting the light of the chamber spill out into the hall. Celestia once again looked out at the assembly of ponies, and wished with all of her might that Atlas was right.

“Ah, it is time for our deliberations to once again begin!” Terraria was seated upon her throne at the end of the room, an ornate goblet of orange juice perched on the armrest. It looked as though she was just finishing up her breakfast. Immediately to her right, a small plinth had been erected, and upon it sat a gold circlet, just like the ones that Atlas and Aqua wore, except that this one bore a shard of ruby, the gem of the earth ponies. “Atlas, where is the younger one, Luna?”

As the two of them ascended the room’s central platform, Atlas offered the Master of Earth a deep bow. “Luna has gone, Master,” he said, while still bowed. “Celestia told me that she left during the night, with no intention of returning.”

Terraria’s eyebrows rose, and she turned her attention to Celestia, standing in the room’s centre. “Is this true?”

Celestia nodded. A ripple of whispers seemed to spread through the room, echoing off of the walls before returning to the centre, and ceasing when Terraria silenced it. “It seems then that we must consider her candidacy void.” She smiled down at Celestia. “Destiny has apparently made our choice for us, as it should. Today, we shall have the celebration that we deserved yesterday.”

“I had the Circlet brought out today to remind us of the weight of our duty,” Terraria stated, rising to her hooves in a rustle of cloth, and indicating the plinth with a flourish. “I wasn’t sure if we would be able to have the coronation today though.” She picked up the circlet, holding it up over the room, so that its ruby could drink in the light of the room’s torches, twinkling brilliantly in her hooves. “Celestia,” she said, looking once more down at the white alicorn in the centre of the room, “please step forward.”

Slowly, Celestia took her steps toward the dais. The room had gone silent, each pony waiting in reverence for the circlet to drop. She cast a quick glance at each of the two Masters beside her, and saw that Aqua’s face was hard, though perhaps her eyes held just a sparkle of pride. Atlas, for his part, was smiling at her, but something in his eyes told Celestia that his mind was still on Luna.

“The Order of Earth bestows upon you, Celestia,” Terraria said as she arrived just beneath the throne, “the rights and responsibilities of a Triumvir of Equestria, to lead all ponies through times of plenty and times of despair. To defend them from those who would seek to subjugate them, and to safeguard them from all miscreants, criminals, and villains that would upset the beauty and purity of Equestria. Do you accept these duties?”

Celestia tried her best to summon her pride as she solemnly said, “I do.” This was the moment, after all, that she had strived for, that she had dreamed of for months. Finally she would have the power to remake Equestria according to her vision, to lift ponies up out of Discord’s darkness. This moment should have been magical, but it was all wrong. The magical moment had been two nights ago, when she and Luna had together banished Discord’s hold on the Sun. This was her sister’s victory as much as it was hers, and it was wrong for her to be here taking all of the credit, while Luna was out there fighting for what she believed in. For what was right.

So even as Terraria gently laid the circlet upon her head, and the room around her erupted in a chorus of cheers, Celestia did not smile. Terraria, though, immediately jumped back on the dais, and shouted out to the crowd in a joyous voice. “See now, my brothers and sisters: our long years of waiting are over! The Prophecy stands ready for its fulfillment, and so now we must prepare for our glorious march to victory. We depart for Eridian at noon today, with the Triumvirs at the head of our column! Spread this news as far as you can!” With a further wave of her fore-hooves, she sent the crowd in the benches off toward the room’s exits, each of them excitedly discussing their own preparations for this momentous occasion. Very soon, Celestia and the three Masters stood together alone.

“The same goes for us, my heroes,” Terraria said, motioning to the three of them. “So long we have waited for this day, so the three of you ought to think of how you will go about accomplishing your heroic task.” She looked down pointedly at Celestia, who was still sombrely gazing at the floor, lost in thought. “But first, I see that something troubles you, Celestia.”

Celestia looked up. Once again, she had a feeling that Atlas knew just what she was thinking, and wondered if she should bring it up. Terraria hadn’t seemed too concerned for Luna when she had heard what had happened. Still, the old Master knew that something was on her mind, so she wouldn’t be able to get away with saying nothing.

“It’s Luna,” she said, hesitating, hoping to see some inkling of understanding on the old earth pony’s face. “She helped me so much to get here, and all throughout our childhood. It just doesn’t feel right that I should wear this crown, while she will get nothing.”

Terraria nodded, and for a second Celestia thought that the old Master understood. She sat down once again on her throne, and said, “Truthfully, there are many ponies that have worked towards this day, and all deserve some credit. But remember that Luna chose her path. A test was placed before both of you, and Luna chose instead to run after a fool’s errand. That is why this is your victory.”

Celestia felt her face grow warm as she heard the words. She hadn’t expected consoling, but Terraria had no right to be so dismissive. “Luna didn’t run away!” she cried. “She chose the dangerous path, to go alone and risk her life for all of the ponies out there! I wish that I could have been so brave.” Celestia looked quickly about between the three Masters, hoping to see some agreement from them. But Aqua once again stood in stony silence, and Atlas’s face too was blank, seemingly uncertain. On her throne, Terraria screwed her lips into a frown.

“Remember your place, Celestia. You are a Triumvir of Equestria, a hero of the Resistance. A great responsibility has been laid upon your shoulders, a responsibility that destiny decided your sister was not ready for.” She took a sip from her orange juice. “History will forget about Luna, so you should too. There are more important matters to consider.”

“That… that’s ridiculous!” Celestia could barely think of words to say. “Luna is my sister, I can’t just forget about her! She might be in danger out there, and I’m just supposed to not care?” She took an angry step towards the throne, but then she felt a sharp tug at her shoulder.

Atlas was holding her back with an outstretched wing. The expression on his face was pained. “Come on,” he said in an undertone, so that Terraria couldn’t hear. “You won’t get anywhere. We should get ready to go.”

Celestia threw another glare at Terraria, who was finishing off the last of her breakfast. Atlas was right. This wasn’t the fight that she should be caring about. But as she left the room in silence, Celestia couldn’t help but think that Luna had been right.

The rest of that day passed in silent thought for Celestia. Over the course of the morning, the Citadel was emptied, and soon enough the three Triumvirs had found themselves at the head of an impressive company. Terraria and the ponies of her Order were dressed in shimmering, colourful robes, decorated with the insignias of Equestria’s past. Celestia too had been given ceremonial clothing to match Aqua and Atlas, and though the Triumvir’s Circlet upon her head was comfortingly light, Celestia felt no honour in wearing it.

Then, through the afternoon they had marched, on into the forest, and eventually into the wide plains of Equestria’s south. The journey had passed in solemn silence, broken only by the merry chirps of birds in the boughs of the forest.

The company had come to a halt that evening, at the foot of the great hills that rose up to the base of the tall mountain upon which Eridian sat. They had made camp here, a collection of brightly coloured tents that stood out starkly in the dead countryside. Now, Celestia stood looking up at the great city once again. Luna, she knew, would already be up there. Whether she was lying low, or in the thick of a fight, Celestia couldn’t tell. But she guessed that it was probably the latter.

Of course, now that Eridian was so close, her sister was no longer the only thing on Celestia’s mind. Tomorrow, they would continue their march, right up to the top of the city, where Discord waited. He would surely be expecting them, since Terraria was not making any effort to be stealthy. And then what? The three of them would have to face him.

Celestia shook her head despondently. Whatever Terraria’s prophecy said, she just didn’t see it. Aqua and Atlas were powerful, and so was she, but they were lacking a distinct advantage. She thought back to three nights ago. If Luna had been by her side, Celestia knew that she wouldn’t be nervous about it at all.

Atlas’s head appeared around the far edge of her tent. He hadn’t smiled all day, and now was no different. Celestia assumed that he too was nervous, having prepared so long for this. “Have time for a few words?” he asked, and gestured to the open tent flap. Celestia nodded, and followed him inside. Aqua, who had been behind her fellow Master, quickly joined them.

“I know that you’re worried about Luna,” Atlas said as soon as they were seated, speaking far more quickly than normal. “So am I. I should have known that something like this was going to happen. I should have done something, I should have said something, I should have—”

“Atlas!” Aqua interrupted him. “Get ahold of yourself.” She looked apologetically over at Celestia. “What he wanted to say is that we haven’t been entirely honest with you. This situation with Luna is… well, it’s nothing new, unfortunately.”

Celestia was surprised, but it did not take long for her to acclimatize to the new information. “You’ve had candidates leave before?”

Atlas nodded forlornly. “Once,” he said. “And this morning, you said what I should have said then. What I should have said ages ago. If I had had the courage to do that, then maybe I wouldn’t have lost a friend.”

Celestia saw the connection immediately. “Seraph.”

Aqua nodded. “As I said, a year ago we told you what happened to the original fourth Master. Now, we believe it’s time for you to finally hear the truth.”

Twenty Years Ago

Citadel of Everfree

Atlas was glad to see Everfree’s prominent profile jutting through the forest canopy ahead. It had been a long night, stealthily stealing into Upper Eridian, penetrating the deep vaults underneath the city, and finally finding the heart of the old Tower of the Triumvirs. A gentle drizzle was pattering the leaves overhead as they trekked through the forest, but the night was still crisp and peaceful, echoing the contentment that filled his heart.

In the end, once the dust had settled, they had found the central chamber of the tower surprisingly intact. Their trophies were now tucked into Seraph’s saddlebags: two circlets of gold, one bearing a glittering sapphire, the other a brilliant diamond. They had searched high and low for the ruby of the earth ponies in the ruins, but whether it had been destroyed in the explosion, or was already long gone, they would never know. Still, two out of three wasn’t bad.

Seraph certainly seemed to think so. His step had been light and free the whole way back, even though in the end he hadn’t had a chance to test out his sword. As the three of them arrived at the Citadel’s huge doors, the young orange earth pony stopped them with a raised hoof. “Well, tonight went great,” he said with a smile. “Certainly enough to silence the doubters, I think.”

Atlas had to agree. “We’ve reached deep into Eridian, nearly to the King’s heart. I don’t think that anypony can question our ability to do the job now.”

He looked expectantly over to Aqua, who was predictably more circumspect. “The ultimate decision rests with Terraria, you both know.”

“Well, what can she say to this?” Seraph chuckled. “We’ve proven, beyond any doubt, that we’ve got what it takes to do the job. She would have to be crazy to deny us now.” He took hold of the door handle and pushed it open with a shove.

As soon as Atlas followed Seraph inside, he found the halls engulfed in a hushed quiet. The other ponies stepped aside respectfully as they passed, some even offering small bows. He heard whispers following them through the corridors. The three heroes had returned, and had retrieved their prize. Up ahead, a green-robed page quickly pulled open the door to the meeting chamber.

Terraria was sitting high on her throne in the cavernous space, though she was not alone, the benches behind and around her filled with other ranking members of the Resistance, all eagerly awaiting the results of their mission. The old Master glanced up expectantly as soon as the door opened, and as the group approached her throne, Atlas held his head up proudly. This wouldn’t be the first time that they would ask Terraria to decide their fate. For years they had worked for this night, the culmination of their training and their practice, and many times already she had deferred judgement, insisting that they prove themselves once more. But this time, Atlas was sure. They were ready.

Once they stood together in the centre of the room, Aqua stepped forward to offer a debriefing. “Tonight, the three of us ventured into Eridian, seeking the Triumvirs’ Circlets of the old country,” she said, her voice quick and direct. “We encountered little resistance as we made our way through the city, and eventually penetrated the depths of the mountain, all in absolute secrecy.” She motioned to Seraph, who carefully drew out the circlets and lay them at the old Master’s hooves. “Underneath Eridian we found these, the Circlets of the Unicorns and the Pegasi. Regrettably, it would appear that the Circlet of the Earth Ponies has been lost to time.” Aqua paused a moment, and Atlas saw a moment of emotion pass over her features of stone. The unicorn might always try to act the consummate professional, but Atlas knew that she wanted this victory as much as they all did.

“The mission was a success,” Aqua continued again, back to a voice of steel. “Once more, we submit to the Order of Earth the question: in accordance with the ways of old and the Prophecy that is yours to keep, are we to be the next Triumvirs of Equestria?”

There was a moment of silence, except for the pounding of rain on the roof of the Citadel high overhead. Once again, it was time for Terraria to deliver her judgement.

“It is an impressive feat, surely, to have penetrated so close to Discord’s seat, and to come back unharmed,” she mused, turning in her seat to look at the frescoes that adorned the room’s walls. “In recent months, it seems that the three of you have performed many such feats. It is an encouraging sign.”

Atlas felt his pulse rising as he listened. As he should have expected, Terraria was taking a while to get to the point, but her words sounded good.

“Never did I think that Chaos’ End would come during my time,” Terraria continued, now running her eyes evenly over each of the three ponies. “But in you I can now see great power, enough perhaps to bring about that end. Indeed, after such a success, it would seem to me that the three of you have what it takes within you to take the mantle of the Triumvirate.”

Atlas’s heart leaped as he heard it. He heard Seraph draw in a quick breath as well, and had to resist an urge to hug his friend in celebration. But Terraria was not yet finished.

“However,” she said sharply, quieting the whispering of the crowd, “this decision is not solely up to me. In this, as in all things, I must consult with the wisdom of Skullhum the Far Seer, as it guides all the actions of the Resistance. And with that, the presence of only two of the Circlets poses a puzzle. Surely, it is a sign that is meant to guide us. Two of the Triumvirs are here, but one is not. A unicorn—” her eyes settled on Aqua, “—and a pegasus.” She moved on to Atlas, then settled her gaze onto Seraph. “But no earth pony.”

Terraria settled back into her seat, once again letting silence reign in the chamber, except for the moan of gusting winds overhead as the storm broke. It was Seraph who broke the silence. “So what is your decision?”

“I have already said it,” Terraria said dismissively. “Aqua and Atlas are confirmed, but you are not. So we must wait until the third reveals themselves. There is no more to say on the matter.”

Atlas wasn’t sure how to feel. On the one hoof, he had apparently proven himself worthy, just as he had hoped. Yet somehow it seemed that their ultimate victory had not materialized.

“But you said yourself that we were ready,” Seraph implored. “All you have to do is say the word, and we will go to Eridian tonight and unseat the King! Why not do it?”

“Because it is not my decision!” Terraria stated. “Were it up to me alone, perhaps this would be enough, but who am I to argue with destiny? You, Seraph, are not fated to be a Triumvir.”

“Destiny has nothing to do with this. Your word is what separates us from this task, not the words of the Prophecy, or whatever other idiocy that dragon scratched into his wall! If you want to see Discord’s end, then all you have to do is say it!”

“You will watch your tongue when speaking of the Prophecy!” Terraria sat up, and levelled an angry glare that could have wilted a flower at him. “This Order was built on Skullhum’s Prophecy, and I will not turn from it to suit your whims! There shall be no further discussion on this matter.”

Atlas could tell that this wasn’t going to go anywhere. He exchanged a glance with Aqua, who gave him a slight nod, a knowing look in her eyes. They both understood what Seraph was feeling, but now that Terraria had put her hoof down, there could be no convincing her otherwise. Atlas placed a hoof gently on his friend’s shoulder. “Come on,” he said calmly. “Let’s go get a drink. It’s been a long night.”

But Seraph roughly shook himself free, and turned to Atlas with a look of fire. The pegasus had never seen him this angry before. “No,” he said simply, his voice unnervingly calm. “This has gone on long enough. It’s ending tonight.” Then Seraph turned back to the front of the room, and took a few bold steps up toward the dais.

“You know that there is no divine providence protecting the King, don’t you, Terraria? A knife to his heart will end his reign, whether prophesied by you or not.” Seraph stared piercingly into the old earth pony’s face. “Our own laws say that there is no divine right to the Triumvirate. There is only merit. The heroes of the Resistance, they who overthrow the tyrant: they were to lead the country afterwards. This is what you always told us.”

“Careful, child. You are speaking words beyond your station,” Terraria said dismissively.

“Am I? Wasn’t it me who sat by your side as a foal, listening raptly to your tales of a better Equestria, if only our freedom was won? Wasn’t it me who dedicated myself to my studies, learning intently from you how I ought to bring about your victory? Hasn’t it been me, who has fought these long years for you? I understand exactly what you said, even better than you.”

The old Master’s eyes jerked forward. “What you speak is heresy,” she said in a whisper. “I will not warn you again.”

“Do you think that I care? I will say my words, then come what may, but I will finish first. The Resistance deserves to know your true nature, Master.” He turned then, and looked out over the faces of all the ponies assembled in the room. A few of them were scowling in disapproval, but there was also a good number of them who looked uncertain, their eyes running back and forth between him and Terraria’s dour glare.

“Have I not worked as hard as any of you to bring about the end of our war?” Seraph asked the room, receiving only silence. “And yet that honour has been denied of me, not because I fall short of that yardstick, but indeed, because I surpass it. Terraria has told us that the worthy will become the Prophecy’s chosen heroes, but this is not so. She does not want heroes, only those ponies that she can control.”

At that there was an uproar from the benches of the conservatives. “Heresy!” they shouted, shaking their forehooves threateningly at him. Seraph merely smirked coolly back at them, and turned once more to the front of the room, where Terraria still sat, though Atlas could now see uncertainty in her complexion.

“You,” Seraph declared, his voice booming out over those that still shouted in protest, “are a false prophet. You are an Oracle of Deception, not seeking peace, but only the kingdom for yourself. You so love your throne here, that you wish to extend it over all the ponies of this land. You will not accept the King to fall, unless you can be sure that you will replace him. Until then, you are happy to continue your reign here, blinding us all with a promise of future peace. But those of us who really believe it, those who really fight for your victory: they are the ponies you cannot control, and they are the heretics. Who are you then, who would play games with the future of a country, who would let thousands suffer for your own gain, who would deny your own son his destiny, just so you can hold on to your power?”

Seraph’s last shout echoed through the hall, meeting a stony and uncomfortable silence from all of the ponies on the benches. Atlas had stood rapt through his speech, and his heart had soared as his friend had delivered the damnations, giving voice to the doubts that swirled within his heart. He wanted to step forward, to congratulate the earth pony on his courage, to give his voice in agreement. But he also saw many looks of disapproval from within the crowd. At the front of the room, Terraria pulled herself onto her hooves.

“Never before,” she began, looking down at Seraph with an expression of utmost scorn, “has such evil been spoken within the hallowed halls of our forebears. Perhaps I doubted the whims of destiny before, but now there can be no doubt. No son of mine would so openly spit upon the traditions which uphold this Order, nor so heinously disrespect the elders that worked to offer him a chance to fulfill his destiny. Seraph, for these crimes there can be no penance. You are banished from the Resistance, never to again set hoof within the halls of Everfree, nor to share in our coming victory. I offer you only the chance to show yourself out.”

Seraph accepted the pronouncement with defiance, holding his head up proudly as turned and began the trek out to the door. Overhead, loud crashes of thunder broke out, and the howling of the wind intensified, seeming to laugh wickedly as it swirled through the arches and railings of the tower high overhead. Atlas recognized that laughter, the chortle that had haunted ponies’ nightmares for the last three hundred years. Chaos was coming to reign again.

When Seraph reached the doors, he turned back to face the room, a grim frown still set upon his face. “You often speak of destiny, Mother,” he said, sweeping his eyes back over the room, “so perhaps let me say one thing about it. A hero is not ordained as one prior to his victory, nor is anointed by history long before his time. A hero is a pony who seizes the opportunity to forge his own destiny, to remake the world in his chosen image. I know there are ponies here who see that truth, as surely as I do. I am going to unseat the King, and I invite all of them to join me, now that they know what awaits them if they stay.”

And then he looked back at the centre of the chamber, and Atlas felt the pressure of his friend’s gaze. But he could also feel Terraria’s eyes on him, as well as the hard stares of the many other ponies in the room that sided with her. Beside him, Aqua’s gaze was downcast, hopeless. She would not follow her brother, though Atlas suspected that she too knew he was right. She would not also invite her mother’s fury. If he went, he would be alone, and he would be giving up what the Resistance had already granted him, striking out on his own into the wild.

So, against the voices in his heart that urged him to go, Atlas closed his eyes and shook his head despondently. When he opened them again, Seraph was still looking at him, though now his friend’s features showed only disappointment. As the guards outside took Seraph by the shoulder and turned him out to the door, Atlas could only stand and look after him, as the Chaos danced overhead, rolling in waves of wind and rain.

Chapter 17: Firestorm

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“Sacrifice of personal desire is the very first thing that a monarch must learn. You must serve the nation, for the result of the opposite can only be disaster.”

- Princess Luna, Personal Journals (Vol. 2)

“So I came here, you see, alone and unwanted. Of course none of this was here then, but I built it. All so that when this day came, I could finally stop my mother from stealing the throne of the country, and claim it rightfully for myself.”

Seraph had been animated as he told the story, occasionally unable to sit still as he shook his hooves to emphasize his anger, and to Luna it had seemed as if it all had happened only yesterday, such was the blaze of fire in his face. The scars were evidently still very fresh, even though it had been nearly twenty years. But then, it was not just Seraph that had suffered. The whole country had been forced to endure years more of Discord’s reign. When Luna thought about it, she could feel that same fire burning in her. How much grief had Terraria caused through her arrogance? And now she was coming, coming to take the crown that she sought, and it was up to her and Seraph to stop her.

“And Atlas really just did nothing?” she asked, leaning forward in her seat. The two of them had retired back to Seraph’s apartment, after hours spent working down in the factory. Just as in the city above, it was impossible to tell time down here, but from the tiredness that was settling into her limbs, Luna guessed that it had been nearly a day. Seraph, though, looked just as bright as ever. It was as if his anger alone was sustaining him.

“You and he were close, weren’t you?” Seraph was sitting back, looking at her coolly. His eyelids were drawn down, and he paused a moment, calculating. Suddenly the family resemblance between him and his sister dawned on Luna. “You must have thought him strong, as I once did. That his convictions and ideals would compel him to always take the side of justice, and of good. I’m sorry that you had to find out his true nature this way.”

“No matter,” she replied. “I suppose that I was bound to find out eventually. It’s not important. What matters now is that we make sure the tyrant falls, and when he does, that the crown is returned to the proper hooves.”

“There we are! The fighting spirit of the true Resistance!” Seraph sat forward and clapped a hoof down on the table between them. “Now, you’ve told me everything about what you’ve learned, about unicorn magic and pegasus magic. Once upon a time, the Resistance had a third course of study, which you missed out on. Would you like to know what an earth pony can show you?”

Luna remembered her studies under Aqua. “It’s not… something learned in a classroom, is it?” she asked uncertainly.

He let out a hearty guffaw. “I can tell that you didn’t appreciate my sister’s methods. Don’t worry, my lessons are much more hooves-on. Shall we?” He pointed towards an ornate set of wooden doors that were across the room. Luna had noticed them before, since their ornamentation stood out boldly in the otherwise spartan apartment. Whatever was behind them, she assumed, had to be something of great value.

Seraph unlocked the door slowly, with a reverence that Luna hadn’t seen from him yet. Down below, while they had been working, the earth pony had moved with swift, almost chaotic ferocity. Here, though, he moved calmly and deliberately, and even took a deep breath before pushing the door open. It took Luna a moment before she understood what it reminded her of: it was exactly how Celestia always acted before she stepped into a library.

Beyond the door’s threshold was a large, open chamber, lit only by brightly burning torches set into its rear wall. Two short benches ran along the back of the room, now empty of course. On the left wall were a few training dummies, each well-worn by practice. And on the right wall was displayed the most diverse assortment of weaponry that Luna had ever seen. There were swords of all sorts, some long and some short, some graceful and thin, others seemingly too heavy for a single pony to lift. Some of them Luna recognized from Aqua’s history books, wing-blades for pegasi and dagger-meshes for unicorns. Some others though were so outlandish that Luna had no idea how they were to be wielded.

Seraph walked forward until he reached about the centre of the room, then turned around to face her. “Earth ponies, you know, have always been the disadvantaged tribe. The unicorns and the pegasi are born with all the power, and so it is perhaps unsurprising that the first smiths and forgers were earth ponies. It was only with weapons like these that we could even the odds.”

Seraph inhaled deeply once more, then closed his eyes and exhaled slowly. When he brought his gaze back up to Luna, his face was clear and focused. “Having grown up in Eridian, I expect that you are somewhat familiar with unarmed combat?”

Luna felt a ripple of nervousness course through her. “Celestia protected me when I was young,” she said. “When I got older, we survived with our wits, not with our strength.”

Seraph’s eyes stayed on her, sizing her up, investigating every corner of her body. Luna felt exposed under his stare, just as she always had whenever Aqua asked her a penetrating question. She took a few more steps into the room, watching the Master of Fire closely. The floor underneath felt like thin cloth stretched over wood, sturdy and springy at the same time.

“That may be,” Seraph said, “but I’ve never met a street urchin that didn’t know how to handle herself in a fight, even if she might not know it.”

Seraph moved fast, lunging forward with a quick right forehoof. By the time that Luna had time to think, she had already ducked underneath it, and stood once more facing him. Seraph was grinning.

“See? You’ve got it in you. Now let us see what else you’ve got.”

And again, quick as lightning, he came at her.

Celestia sat in silent contemplation as she absorbed the implications of what she had just heard. All of the things that she had thought she knew about the Resistance had been cast in a new light as Atlas had told his story. But each new detail, unexpected though they might have been initially, quickly slotted into its proper place. Looking at the completed picture now, there was only one thing that didn’t make sense.

“Why didn’t you tell me all of this in the first place?” she asked, looking pointedly at Aqua. Atlas was still staring despondently at the ground, reliving his own demons. His partner, though, had enough of a hold on herself to answer.

“There are a few reasons for that,” Aqua said, her eyelids drawn down in thought. “Firstly, the story of that night is a closely-guarded secret within the Resistance. Terraria would have been furious with us if it got out. Second, Atlas and I have both spent years trying to come to terms with what we did. Trying to pretend that it never happened was the easiest way to forget.”

The white unicorn placed a comforting hoof on her husband’s shoulder. With an effort, Atlas raised his head and looked into her eyes. “We were trying to run away from our responsibility,” he said, “just as we did that night. But we can’t avoid this burden.”

Aqua nodded, and slowly the two of them came together into a tender embrace. Celestia wanted to say something consoling, to reassure them that their hearts had always been in the right place, but decided now wasn’t quite the time. After an instant, Atlas opened his eyes again, and released his wife. He turned once more to Celestia.

“There was one other reason why we deceived you, a plan which unfortunately ended up turning against us. Twenty years have passed since that parting, and in all that time, we’ve come no closer to the victory that then seemed so close. That is, until we met the two of you.” He gave Aqua another meaningful look. “Luna and you were truly powerful, both of us knew it as soon as we met you. That’s why we pursued you so doggedly in Eridian. You were the first real hope that we’d had for years.”

“But we were both frightened that history would repeat itself,” Aqua said, nodding as she continued. “We feared that ponies with as strong of hearts as yours would follow the same road as Seraph, and once again leave us adrift. We thought that maybe, if we painted him as a traitor, it would bind you and your sister to the Resistance.”

“That, in the end, is why we lied to you,” Atlas continued, his eyes searching her for signs of forgiveness. “If we had known that this was how it was going to end up, we would have left you to your own business.” He stopped, and bowed his head low again, silent. Aqua too seemed to have nothing more to say.

Celestia wasn’t sure how to respond. “But surely things aren’t so bad as all that. If we are the fulfillment of Terraria’s Prophecy, then—”

“Terraria is a fool! Her words aren’t worth the air that takes them to your ears!” Celestia’s head jerked up, for the outburst had not come from Atlas, but instead it had been a voice she had never heard before. Aqua’s brow was stormy, and her normally crystalline eyes shone as with inner flame. “Her Prophecy does exist, but she takes great liberty in its interpretation. I tried to trust her, I tried to believe that she really knew what she was doing, but the events of the last few days can only mean that Seraph was right.”

Celestia tried to get her head around this latest development. “But then there was no need for the Resistance to choose one of me or Luna?”

Aqua sighed. “No. Atlas and I knew immediately, as soon as you restored the Sun and the Moon, that it was you and Luna, together, who had the power to unseat the King. I think that the rest of the Resistance knew it too. But Terraria had already confirmed the two of us, and we foolishly hoped that maybe both of you would stick around, even if only one of you could be a Triumvir.”

Celestia thought back to their year spent apart, and the past few days that she had spent with Luna. They had been happy days, overall, but always the spectre of that decision had hung over them. The necessity that one of them rise over the other one had been the spike which had driven them apart, the wedge that forced them to work against each other, when in reality they should have worked together from the start. And now… Her thoughts turned once again to Luna.

Celestia looked up, and saw a mournful sense of recognition in Atlas’ eyes. Finally, she understood the expression that she had seen on his face that morning, when he had first heard of Luna’s disappearance. It was the pain of reliving the darkest days of his past, the despair at knowing that Equestria’s one chance at freedom had once again slipped through the Resistance’s hooves.

“Yes,” he said with a sullen nod. “Luna was very likely our only chance.”

Celestia caught the meaning hidden in the choice of words. Of course she had thought the very same thing that morning, but for some reason hearing Atlas say it outright brought things into sharper focus. She blinked back a tear that was trying to form at the corner of her eye. “You said that you thought there was a chance…?”

“A day? Alone behind enemy lines?” Aqua caught herself, and instead she tried on a consoling smile. “I know that it’s difficult to accept, but it’s simply impossible. If Seraph couldn’t make it, then neither could she.”

Atlas took a deep breath. “Aqua, Seraph is alive.”

She whipped her head around. “What? But that’s impossible! How could he have lived?”

Atlas closed his eyes again, and solemnly began the tale. “For three years, as Chaos Reigned, I tried to live without knowing, like you, my love. But I couldn’t. I couldn’t sleep without being sure. Because if he was still alive out there, then that meant there was still a chance to make something good out of my life.

“So I followed him, as soon as the storm cleared. I knew that he would come to Eridian, so I traveled there first. I spent some weeks lying low among the crowds, searching every alleyway and slum for signs of my old friend. I had almost given up, when one day on a whim I ventured up, into the old city. That was where I saw him, with his head held high, among the traitors.” He looked up again, deep into Aqua’s eyes, almost challenging her to believe it. It took a moment, but then the slimmest of smiles came to her lips.

“Why did you never tell me?” she whispered.

Atlas reached up and caressed his wife’s cheek. “I always wanted to, but I couldn’t. If Terraria had ever found out…”

“Of course,” Aqua returned. “He had to stay dead, for all of our sakes. But all this time he’s been alive. And if he could make it—”

“Then maybe Luna could too,” Celestia finished for her. The thought flashed through her mind, bringing with it an immense sense of relief. If there was any chance, Celestia knew, then her sister would have found it. It meant that there was hope still, hope that she could apologize to Luna, and heal the rift that should never have grown between them.

“What good will that do us, though?” Atlas asked, clapping his forehead with a hoof. “Tomorrow morning Terraria is going to march us right into Discord’s throne room. We won’t have any time to find them.”

“Maybe we won’t have to,” Celestia said thoughtfully, drawing the attention of the two Masters. The hope that she might see Luna again had brought with it a feeling of mental clarity. Celestia just knew that Luna was out there, trying her best to do what she knew was right. And that meant that Celestia needed to do her best too.

“Seraph is a member of the court now, right, Atlas?” The pegasus answered her with a quick nod. “So we’re not going to go in stealth. If we make sure that all of Eridian knows we’re coming, then my guess is he’ll find us. We can only hope that Luna comes too.”

Atlas and Aqua both leaned in towards her. “You have a plan?” Aqua asked.

Celestia smiled conspiratorially. For the first time that day, she felt like she was back in her element. “Yes, I believe that I do.”

Hours later, Luna had locked herself into a trance, the trance of complete control over her body and her mind. Rapidly she had acclimated to Seraph’s instruction, learning to stay low, to make use of her momentum and her mass to catch her opponent off-balance. Now the Master of Fire stood at the front of the room, between the two torches, watching her practice with a hard smile on his face.

“Good, very good, my student,” he said, raising a hoof to signal her to stop. Dripping with sweat, but flush with pride, Luna brought herself up to attention. If there was one thing to be said about combat training, it was an excellent outlet for her frustrations and uncertainties.

“You’ve learned quite quickly,” Seraph stated. “It is as I suspected. Your fillyhood was difficult. Evidently it taught you lessons that you later forgot. But with how short our time is, it is good that we can now get to the truly important work.”

The earth pony started walking over to Luna’s right, towards the wall that was decorated with weaponry. “Normally,” he continued, “an acolyte would have to train for weeks to reach this step, but our time is regrettably short. The presentation of your sword would usually be your induction into the Order, and normally I would make it myself, customized to your fighting style and proportions.” He reached up and unhooked a long and ornately decorated blade from the wall. Holding it tightly in his right hoof, Seraph inspected its length.

“Based on what I can tell, something of this sort should work for you. Not too heavy, optimized for a pegasus’ agility and speed.” He looked up at her darkly. “May it drink the tyrant’s blood within the fortnight.”

As he stepped once more to the front of the room, Luna felt her excitement ebb away. Unarmed combat for personal defence was one thing, but a weapon like that could only serve the purpose of death. “Why is it necessary?” she asked timidly. “A sword is no use against Discord, else you could have personally destroyed him ages ago.”

“True,” he said, “and I would have. But you forget that we have other enemies besides the tyrant. There are other obstacles which will stand in our way, and they are much less resistant to force.”

“They are powerless without him, though,” Luna insisted. “With the King destroyed the citizens of Upper Eridian will have no choice but to surrender.”

“Their surrender is worthless!” Seraph snarled, swishing the sword from left to right in front of him, at just the right height for a pony’s neck. “What right do any of them have to expect forgiveness, after they’ve spent their lives perpetuating the whims of their master? There is only one just punishment for their treachery.”

The words resonated around in Luna’s mind, and there was a part of her that agreed, a section of her heart that was bright and passionate, just like the fire that shone in Seraph’s eyes. But there was another part of her heart, a part from which she heard Atlas’ voice drifting up through her mind. “You and I are special, Luna,” it said, “in that we are capable of facing our fears and pushing past them. It’s for that reason that we are the ones who must take the fight to the King.”

Once upon a time, she would have agreed with Seraph. Anypony who wasn’t willing to fight Discord would have been his ally, and thus her enemy. But nopony sided with the King willingly, they only did it out of fear for what would happen if they didn’t.

Luna looked up into Seraph’s face and slowly shook her head. “I won’t kill them,” she said.

Seraph looked disappointed, though he did not put the sword back. Instead he continued gripping the hilt as he paced a few times at the front of the room. “You may think yourself noble, honourable even,” he said grimly. “But do not kid yourself into thinking there will not be a fight. We are not the only ponies chasing after the crown, and you shouldn’t think that Terraria will be so merciful. Would you allow her to waltz in and take it, simply because she is willing to use force and we are not?”

Luna had forgotten about Terraria. There was no doubt in her mind that the Master of Earth did not deserve to lead Equestria after everything that she had done, but looking at Seraph, who was once again holding the blade out to her, brought Luna to the real heart of the question. Terraria may have been manipulative, but the rest of the Resistance, Luna knew, was noble. Ponies like Atlas, Aqua, even Celestia. True, they were following the wrong leader, but if it came down to that, Luna knew that she could never lift a hoof against any of them. She shook her head.

“You would give it to her?” Seraph was beginning to look agitated. “Why did you come out here, why did you join me, if you didn’t have it in you to do what it takes to set Equestria free? You should be back in Everfree, groveling at her hooves like the rest of the Resistance.”

“You are speaking of two different things,” Luna said, mustering up her courage as she looked Seraph right in the eyes. “When it comes to the tyrant, I will do whatever it takes. But if Equestria is ever to rise again, it must do so unified. You would start a civil war, just to have your revenge.”

“That crown belongs to me!” Seraph roared, spittle flying from his lips. “I worked for it for twenty years, it’s mine! And nopony is going to get in my way, not you, not Discord, not Terraria, nor any of her pawns! I’ll cut them all down if I have to! When Equestria’s future is on the line, there’s no cost that’s too high.”

He stood for a moment there, chest heaving as he recovered his composure. Luna took an involuntary step backwards. Earlier, she had seen that Seraph was a pony dedicated to action, and had thought that he was just like her. When it came to freeing Equestria, any action was better than nothing. But now she saw that this earth pony didn’t care at all for Equestria. His sight was fixed firmly upon the crown, and upon the ponies that had betrayed him.

There was no way that she could stay here, no way that she could follow him in his mad pursuit. But escape from this place would be nigh on impossible. Luna felt a wave of remorse wash over her. In the end, Celestia had been right, just like she always was. In her haste, she had gotten herself into an intractable situation. I’m sorry, Celestia, she thought, I should never have left you.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a sharp rap on the door behind them. Luna dared not take her eyes off of Seraph, since after all he was still holding the sword. His head jerked up toward the sound. “No interruptions!” he yelled.

“Humblest apologies, Master!” came a feeble voice from behind her. “I have a very urgent message from the court, which you absolutely must hear.”

With a sigh, Seraph waved his hoof inward. Luna heard a faint clip-clopping behind her, and then suddenly a small, very well-dressed blue stallion came into view. Likely, he was one of Seraph’s spies in the court. The two of them conversed in hushed tones for several seconds, with Seraph gazing up pointedly at her a few times. Luna took the opportunity to think some more on how she ought to get out of here, but once again came up blank. Something like this was more Celestia’s sort of problem. Once again, the Luna wished that her sister were beside her.

Finally, the spy stepped aside and Seraph looked up, wearing an odd expression. “A white alicorn has appeared in Eridian,” he declared, eyes watching her intently. “She claims to have captured the leaders of the Resistance, and will present them to the court in several hours for her reward.”

Luna’s heart leaped as she heard the news. Celestia had arrived, and with the rest of the Resistance no doubt. If she could get to her sister, then things could still end well. But she couldn’t let Seraph know this. He was still watching her, surely trying to determine if she could be trusted. So she took a deep breath to settle her pounding heart, and looked at him seriously. “Terraria is making her move,” she stated.

Seraph nodded. “Indeed, just as brash and foolish as I knew she would. And that means it is time for me to make mine.” He once again held the sword out to her. “Moment of truth, Luna. Are you going to stand by my side, fighting for justice, or are you going to sit this one out?”

Luna’s eyes darted between Seraph and the stallion standing next to him. He too looked excited, clearly eager to go down to the factory and collect his own weapons, so that he could march with his Order and fight his Master’s fight. This was it, her chance to stop them.

So Luna knelt down before him, and looked up at the Master of Fire in deference. “However I am able, Master,” she said, “I will see that Equestria is returned to its rightful keeper.”

Chapter 18: The Eye of the Storm

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“We remember that day as the day of Discord’s fall. But what really happened that day was that our nation was born again, as unity once again trumped division, and love once again conquered hatred.”

- High Princess Celestia, Personal Journals (Vol. 1)

After a year spent away from its gloom, Celestia felt very strange to be back in Eridian. When she had first left, she had hoped that she would never have to see its grim features ever again. Whatever happened now, at least she wouldn’t have to look at them for much longer.

Atlas and Aqua were by her side, each one bound like livestock, an indignity that she most regretted, but which was unfortunately necessary for their cover. At least Atlas’s wings were free, though of course here in the upper city they were useless to him anyway.

Celestia had made sure that their entrance to the city would not remain a secret. Her past spent working the streets had proved an asset for that, since now she knew where to spread rumours to ensure that they reached as many ears as possible. It was only a matter of hours before an emissary of Upper Eridian had arrived to verify her claims. Eagerly, he had led them up the mountain, until now the three of them stood just outside the doors to the King’s audience chamber. From inside, the noise of the assembled nobles filtered out, all of them here to watch what would surely be a spectacle.

All of them, Celestia fervently hoped, including Seraph and Luna. Especially Luna. The Master of Fire would be a lucky bonus, but without her sister Celestia knew that she wouldn’t stand a chance against Discord. With the magic that the two of them shared though, the shoe would be on the other hoof.

There was a clang from the cold iron of the doors in front of them, and then with twin screams of rusted metal they were hauled open. Celestia stepped forward, tugging slightly on the ropes with which she led her two prisoners. The passage beyond the threshold was high and wide, and thronged with ponies dressed in all sorts of colourful arrangements. Their clothing stood out in the dullness of the stone room; though muted by Eridian’s constant dusk, it was still lively. Any lifting of Celestia’s spirit that the sight brought her was instantly quashed, though, by the assault of jeers that the nobles immediately threw back at her.

For a moment, her resolve wavered. There was so much malice on display here, in how the mares spat upon the floor where Aqua and Atlas walked, and how the stallions derided them for falling victim to the King’s power. She knew that each of them only did this out of fear, that they were merely acting how they believed their King wanted them to act, and it was for that reason that the Triumvirs had resolved to save them too. But right now it required all of her self-control to pretend to be on their side, and not let all of her magic show in defending the honour of her teachers.

“Pay them no heed,” Aqua whispered to her, seeming to sense her student’s righteous fury. “Right now we need to be on the lookout for Luna and Seraph. Do you see them anywhere?”

Celestia ran her eyes quickly over the crowd. Some of the ponies she recognized immediately: Terraria and a few senior members of the Order of Earth, who had assimilated themselves into the room shortly prior to their entrance. Resplendent in her best robes, and accented by a few choice pieces of jewellery, the Master of Earth fit into Upper Eridian as if she belonged there.

The rest of the room blended itself into a mosaic of colour as Celestia scanned over it. There were rows of ponies here, all garishly dressed, all with their contempt on full display. For an instant, she wondered if somehow Seraph and Luna weren’t there.

Then Atlas gave her a poke in the shoulder. “Down the left side, by the third column,” he whispered. Surreptitiously, she stole a look in that direction. Sure enough, standing off to the side quietly was a tall orange earth pony, dressed in a vibrant red cape, and regarding her coolly. And even better, right beside him, almost unrecognizable in her fashionable outfit, stood a dark purple alicorn, with a long sword sheathed at her side. As their eyes met, Celestia could almost feel the spark of recognition that passed between them.

There was neither time nor opportunity for them to talk, so Celestia tried to say everything that she wanted to say in that one look. That she was happy to see Luna still alive, that she was sorry for not going along with her at first, that she had a plan to get out of this. For her part, Celestia sensed a note of warning in her sister’s expression, coupled with a subtle shake of her head in Seraph’s direction. Doubtless, the earth pony had plans of his own.

Celestia offered her sister a small smile as she passed. It was all that she had time for, because just then there was a flash of magic at the far end of the hall. Multiple tendrils of grey smoke materialized, winding themselves together in a swirl of wind. After a second the maelstrom cleared to reveal the High King, Discord, looking out over the assemblage with a twisted sneer. All at once, the room fell silent.

“Welcome,” he said genially, giving Atlas a slight wave. “You have no idea how lonely this place gets, surrounded by groveling sycophants, themselves only suited as instruments in another’s plans. I’m so pleased to finally meet ponies capable of taking the initiative to spread Chaos on their own.”

With a snap of his talon, Discord once again disappeared in a puff of smoke, and appeared immediately standing between Aqua and Atlas. “I always found the idea of your ‘Resistance’ as little more than amusement,” he continued, leaning down so that his eyes were level with those of his prisoners. “Sure, you scurry about spreading hope and happiness, but you’ve never posed any threat to me.” He reached out and grabbed Aqua and Atlas by the shoulders, pulling them in closer. “But you wouldn’t believe how much you’ve scared my minions here,” he whispered, so quiet that even Celestia could barely hear him. “They believed that I wanted your heads on silver platters, and they’ve expended quite some effort trying to get them.”

Standing up again, Discord pulled Aqua and Atlas into a tight embrace. The two Masters struggled mightily, but bound as they were, their attempts were in vain. “I can’t thank you both enough,” Discord announced. “You’ve given all of these ponies a raison d’être, you see, an excuse to scour the countryside, arresting those deemed to be sympathizers. Everything that you’ve done has only served to allow my court to spread fear and chaos all throughout Equestria, and all without any of my help.”

He released his grip, allowing Aqua and Atlas to fall to the ground roughly. A tear rolled down his cheek, and he pulled a handkerchief out of nowhere, blowing his nose on it loudly. “You’ve all grown up so fast,” he sniffed. “When I first arrived here, Equestria was such a peaceful, friendly place. But now, the divide between your two camps is destroying friendships and tearing families apart. A few more years like this, and Equestria wouldn’t even need me anymore.”

Celestia caught the glimpse that passed between Aqua and Atlas. Could Equestria really have been a better place if the Resistance hadn’t been formed? Of course not. But it was undeniable that the war between Eridian and Everfree had caused Equestria harm. She stole another glance at Seraph, and saw that his eyes were fixed firmly on Discord, and were burning with hatred.

Discord snapped his talons again, and in the next second he was seated, peering over steepled fingers at his prisoners, once again serious. “So you see, if it were up to me, I’d just as soon see you free. But since your captor has been such a good dog and brought you to me, I suppose she deserves some reward. Would she please step forward?”

All the eyes in the room turned towards Celestia, and she took a few tentative steps forward. It was crucial here that the King not suspect her true intentions, so she tried very hard to hide the nerves that were jumping around in her head. She was a good servant, who had done her master well. That meant she had to look proud, triumphant even. She stopped walking when she reached the foot of Discord’s seat.

“Who are you?” he asked simply.

“My name is Celestia,” she answered, confident that he would not recognize the name.

“And what do you desire, Celestia?”

Celestia cast her eyes down respectfully. “The reward is not mine to claim, Your Majesty. I acted only as the instrument of my lord and master, whose name is Seraph. He is the one who deserves your reward.” And she pointed to her left, where the Master of Fire stood. A muted gasp spread through the room.

Discord tittered. “How chivalrous! How humble! It was your work that won you this boon, why should you not be rewarded?”

Celestia kept her head bowed. “Some of us can do more, some of us have to do less,” she recited, letting a very small smile tug at her lips as she spoke. “When I thought about it, this was how I would make the most difference, in service of Your Majesty.” She did not have to look to see the spark of recognition that would light up Luna’s face when she heard the words. The words that Atlas had first spoken to them, a year ago, which had started them down this journey. The words that, hopefully, signalled that she had a plan for ending it.

“Okay, fine, whatever!” Discord waved her off dismissively, as though her formality had interrupted his fun. “A simple yes or no will suffice. If you don’t want any part of it, then go stand with the rest of his servants. Let this Seraph character come to claim the prize.”

Celestia gave him one final bow, before turning and making her way down to where Luna stood. As she passed him, Atlas gave her a subtle wink. So far, things were going exactly to plan.

When she arrived at Luna’s side, Celestia calmly took her place in the crowd, just standing dutifully with the rest of her master’s entourage. Seraph shot her a puzzled look as she arrived, but Celestia ignored him. He could only step out to the front of the room and leave them be.

“I’m sorry, Sister,” Luna whispered to her as soon as he had gone. “I thought I could see this through on my own, but all I’ve done is complicate things even more.”

Celestia turned to look at her sister. With the rest of the crowd’s attention on Seraph, now they had an opportunity for a more intimate exchange. “No, I’m sorry,” she said. “You were right all along, about the Resistance and about Terraria. I should have helped you do what I knew was right.”

Luna looked up at her, warmth blossoming in her eyes. “It’s good to see you again,” she said, and in the next instant she was hugging Celestia tightly.

“Good to see you too,” Celestia said as she returned the embrace. And she felt the same warmth light up her own heart. Today, the fate of Equestria was hanging in the balance, and with Luna here by her side, she could feel that things were going to work out just fine.

After a second, Luna let go. “I did tell you, though, didn’t I?” she asked, tossing her mane over her shoulder casually. “So this is what it feels like to be right for once.”

“I said that I was sorry. Anyway, we’ll have time for all of that later. Do you have them?”

“Yes,” her sister replied, serious again. She indicated her saddlebag, which was lying off to her right. Celestia could barely see a large red jewel poking out the top.

Celestia smiled. “So you did figure it out.”

Luna grinned. “Of course. With Aqua here, Discord will expect his spells to detect magic. Which allows us to sneak in with our own. Great idea, by the way.”

“Thank you. With those, things become quite a bit easier.”

Luna took a deep breath, and her eyes flicked over to Seraph, who was taking his time walking up to Discord. “There are complications,” she said darkly.

Celestia once again looked over to Terraria, who was watching eagerly at the rear of the room. If she had recognized her son when Celestia had pointed him out, she wasn’t showing it. Then again, she had believed that he was dead for twenty years now. Several of her followers were grouped around her, each also looking excited to finally be here. “Tell me about it,” she said.

Luna took a step closer to her, so that they could whisper without anypony else hearing. “Seraph has henchponies spread out here, and all through the city. All of them are armed. When we unseat the King, they’re all going to move with him to secure power.”

Celestia’s eyebrows rose. “How do you know that?”

“I… sort of fell in with him,” Luna admitted, glancing uncomfortably down at the sheath attached to her shoulder. “He wants action, but he’ll stop at nothing to get the crown. I don’t think that we can afford to let him get it.”

Celestia nodded. “Terraria did bring an honour guard with her. That’s her over there,” she whispered back, flicking her eyes in the direction of the Master of Earth. “They’re unarmed though. I don’t think that she was expecting much of a fight.” She looked back toward the front of the room, where Aqua and Atlas still stood. “The two of them will be on our side, but even so they won’t be much against an army. I don’t suppose that Seraph would be open to negotiation?”

Her sister shook her head. “He’s been waiting for this day for too long. I don’t think that he’d be satisfied with anypony else on the throne.”

“And I doubt that Terraria will be happy to see him.” Luna was right. No matter how this went, it seemed undeniable that things would degenerate into a fight.

“Why does it always have to be so complicated?” Luna sighed. “You have a plan though, I hope? You always have a plan.”

Casting her eyes once more about the room, Celestia took in all of the available data. Discord was still at the front, making ready to give Seraph whatever reward he had in store. The rest of the ponies here, the regular citizens of Upper Eridian, were watching raptly. Should things start to go downhill, Celestia guessed that few of them would stick around. Seraph, though, would get straight to business. She glanced once more at Terraria. As much as Celestia despised her for what she had put the country through, she still wanted to get through this with as little blood spilled as possible.

“Well?” Luna asked, a bit more urgently this time.

“I think so,” she replied, nodding slowly. “It’ll be tough, but there might be a way to do it.” She turned back to Luna. “We have to deal with Discord first though. Are you ready?”

Luna’s grin returned. “To finally do something to help Equestria?” She gave Celestia a sly look. “You were the one who promised.”

Celestia remembered that night, when they had been walking through the city not far from this spot. Back then she had been just trying to shut Luna up, and indeed she had reneged on the promise almost immediately. But that was before she had known just what her and Luna were capable of. Before she had known that sometimes the will to fight really could make the ultimate difference. “I said that I would always be there when the opportunity came,” she said. “I’m not going anywhere now.”

“Then let’s do it.” Quickly, Luna reached off to her side, and withdrew the gleaming ring of gemstones from her saddlebag. Immediately, Celestia felt the rush of its magic once more infuse her being. She reached out with a hoof and touched the ring, and a blossom of pure light sprang from the central gem, bright and radiant in the drab surroundings. In sequence each of other fives jewels lit up as well, their colours adding to the prismatic glow that now encased both of the two sisters.

Then, with an electric crackle the light branched off into two tendrils, one running into Luna via her hoof, and the other into Celestia. It felt exactly like it had on that first night, a divine essence that penetrated every facet of her being. Luna was here with her too, not merely standing beside her, but somehow inhabiting the same mental space. Their two minds were now one, joined by the magic of the ring.

At the front of the room, Discord started. His attention had been fixed on nothing in particular, as Seraph had slowly made his way up to the front. Now, though, the light show in the farther down the hall had caught his attention. “Magic,” he breathed, looking about hurriedly until his eyes found Aqua. The unicorn offered him a sly smirk.

“Check and mate,” she said proudly.

“Not if I have anything to say about it,” Discord growled.

With only a bare effort, the two alicorns lifted off from the floor, floating out into the centre of the hall, so that their view of Discord was no longer obstructed. All around them, the other ponies of the court were aghast, some already cautiously making their way to the exits, but most simply standing stock-still, their mouths hanging agape at the spectacle.

“Discord!” Luna yelled, her voice emerging layered with magic to sound loud as thunder. “Your reign is ended.”

In front, the draconequus also flew up into the air, conjuring a dark purple ball of magic on top of his right thumb. “We’ll see,” he called back. “I took on all the magic in Equestria to get here. I think that I can handle a couple of alicorns. Face it,” he snarled, “you’re way out of your league.”

Celestia felt her sister’s anger burning beside her like a torch. The time for posturing had ended. “Come on, Luna,” she thought. “For everypony.” And together, the two sisters called up every last reserve of their magic. Celestia thought back to all of the years that they had spent together in Eridian, lawless, full of misery and danger. She could feel Luna’s memories too, of all the despair they had seen as they traveled the country with Atlas, and all the pain she had learned about in Aqua’s histories. The memories welled up inside them, and then all at once they overflowed, shooting out through Celestia’s and Luna’s horns into a single pinpoint, from which a brilliant beam of light grew, and headed straight for Discord.

The High King was struck fully in the chest by the magic, which grew and encapsulated his form in a glowing ball. Starting from the feet, his body began changing, solidifying and freezing into granite. With a last grunt of exertion, he threw his ball of magic up at the ceiling, moments before his arm and upper body solidified too. “Enjoy your reward,” he whispered, as the stone spread up through his neck, and then he chuckled, just once, as it finally claimed his head.

There was a decisive clunk as the King’s petrified form hit the floor, toppling over backwards. Celestia and Luna stayed in the air for a moment, watchful for any additional tricks, especially from the ceiling. But Discord’s magic winked out of existence as soon as its master was no more. There were several seconds of silence, and then the two of them floated back down to the floor.

Disconnecting herself from Luna’s consciousness once again came with an overwhelming sense of triumph. “We did it, Luna!” Celestia shouted, as she grabbed her sister in another hug.

“Yes, indeed you did,” came a bright voice from behind them. Startled, Celestia looked up, and standing there was Terraria, a brilliant smile lighting up her bright teeth. She was flanked by two grinning stallions, ranking members of her honour guard. “Just as the Prophecy guaranteed you would.”

“Oh, what a load of garbage!” came a yell from the front of the room. Once again, the two sisters turned around in surprise, and this time it was Seraph, emerging from behind a column with a smirk on his face and a long, gleaming sword clutched in his hoof. “Leave it to my mother to be the first pony to claim the credit for somepony else’s work.”

A great many emotions played themselves out rapidfire on Terraria’s face when she saw him. Unsurprisingly, Celestia didn’t see relief anywhere in the sequence. Finally, her features settled into an expression of disdain. “Unsurprising that I would find you here,” she stated, coming forward to stand in front of Celestia and Luna. “A traitor among his kin. This is the Resistance’s victory, Seraph.”

“Not yet, it’s not,” he replied, and flourished his sword. There came the sound of a dozen more swords being drawn around them, as ponies stepped out of the crowd, each one clad in the red of the Order of Fire, and each one looking stone-facedly at Terraria.

Celestia knew that she had to intervene, before things could get out of hoof. Extending her wings, she leaped up into the air. With quick shots of magic, she cut the bonds from Aqua and Atlas. Luna took care of Seraph’s minions, blasting their weapons away with a few focused beams. The two of them turned back to Seraph now, once again afire with their magic. “There will not be blood today,” Celestia said. She nodded to Atlas and Aqua, and each one stepped in between the Masters of Earth and Fire.

Seraph looked deep into the eyes of the pony who had once been his best friend, but his expression did not soften. “Do not stand in my way, Atlas.”

“Think about what you are doing,” Atlas replied. “The country is finally free. This should be a happy day, not one for bloodshed.”

“Don’t tell me to think!” Seraph snapped. “I’ve been thinking about this for twenty years! There can be no freedom while this false Prophet covets the crown.”

“And what would you replace me with, my son?” Terraria, answered, sticking her head out around Aqua, who stood resolutely blocking her mother’s path. “We have not shrugged off one King only to bow to another!”

“Equestria does not expect a Queen either, Mother.” Seraph sneered back. “And yet that’s exactly what you’ve become!”

Terraria’s face took on an ashen hue. “I’ve only ever acted for the good of the country!” she yelled shrilly. “How dare you question my loyalty to the ponies that I’ve served for decades?”

“You didn’t serve them, you were served by them, a Queen of the Resistance! All you’ve ever wanted is to stay in control!”

“Then what is it that you want, my son? Why is it that you cannot brook the idea of somepony else taking the crown?”

Now it was Seraph’s composure that broke. “I want only what I deserve!” he roared, levelling his sword at his mother. “What I earned through the sweat of my brow and the work of my hooves! What you took away from me, when you realized that I would never bow down to you! You so often spoke of destiny, well this is mine: to save Equestria from you.”

For a second, Atlas had hoped that maybe, just maybe, some of the friend that he had once known was still there in Seraph’s head, and this whole thing would be solved peacefully. But now that he saw the hatred that held sway in the earth pony’s mind, he knew that this was not going to end well. No amount of dialogue was going to solve this disagreement.

All around them, the ponies of the court were standing, most of them still in shock from Discord’s defeat. Seraph’s minions were still there too, their eyes darting quickly between Luna, who was doing her best to hold them all in check, and their Master.

“It’s no use, Celestia,” he called out to the alicorn behind him. “These two are going to kill each other no matter what we do with them.”

“I won’t accept that,” she replied. “Even if we have to—”

She was interrupted by a wrenching crash from above, and a horrific grating sound of dislodging stone. Atlas looked up just in time to see a large chunk of masonry start to fall. Immediately, he pushed Seraph hard backward, then used his wings to pull himself in the opposite direction. The huge block crashed down right where they had been standing.

“What the—” he started to say, but in that moment twin booms erupted from the ceiling above them, and then the whole roof was torn away, revealing a swirl of menacing purple overhead, crackling with bolts of bright lightning. A gust of wind swept through the room, roaring malevolently in Atlas’s ears. The sound he recognized immediately from his nightmares.

“The storm!” Luna yelled, her words barely audible amidst the tempest. “Discord must have reactivated it before he was petrified. We all have to get out of here now!” No sooner had she said the words than a bolt of Chaos Lightning arced right towards her. Luna flinched, but a magical shield formed itself around her, causing the lightning to bounce off to the floor, where it opened up a two foot-wide rift of inky nothing. With a quick blast of her own magic, Celestia sewed it back up.

“Luna and I can hold it off,” she shouted to Atlas, even as another bolt ricocheted off of her, “but not forever. You have to get everypony else out!”

Atlas nodded briskly, quickly taking stock again of the rest of the room. Most of the nobles had been jolted out of their stupor by the storm, and needed no further encouragement to head for the exit. Seraph’s followers were still standing their ground, though on their faces Atlas could see uncertainty. That changed when one of them was struck by a loose bolt of Chaos, and disappeared after a short scream. Atlas pointed to the door. “Go!” he yelled. All of the stallions took off at a gallop.

That just left Terraria and Seraph. In the centre of the room, Aqua was still doing her best to keep the two Masters separated. Chaos bolts were now falling all around them, opening up rifts faster than Celestia and Luna could seal them back up. It would only be a few more minutes before the storm consumed the whole castle.

But neither one of Terraria or Seraph seemed to care, so fixated were they upon each other. As he watched, another crackle of lightning sped down towards them, this time forcing Aqua to quickly teleport away. Terraria jumped nimbly aside, towards where Luna was hovering, and in one deft movement she had unsheathed and stolen the alicorn’s sword. Now armed, she looked at her son anew. “Don’t forget who it was that first taught you the secrets of the blade, my son,” she said calmly in spite of the chaos around them. “You never could beat me.”

Seraph didn’t waste time replying, instead charging right at the Master of Earth with his sword extended. Terraria parried him swiftly, and jumped back to avoid a huge bolt of lightning that cut a swath through the floor, from one wall to the other. Neither one paid it any heed, instead continuing their duel and adding the clangs of their swords to the din of the storm.

Celestia’s voice came strained. “We can’t… hold this room together much longer.” She looked down tiredly at Atlas. “Leave them,” she said, ”save yourselves.”

Atlas looked over to the back of the room, where the open doorway beckoned. All the other ponies had already made it out, and indeed there was only a thin corridor of stone floor that still linked them to it. Then, in the other direction, he could see Seraph and Terraria, locked in their duel, completely oblivious to the storm.

He could leave, taking Aqua with him and abandoning those two fools to their fate. But Atlas already knew where that road led. It led to sleepless nights and tortured mornings, to memories and questions that assaulted him whenever he spared a moment to think. It led to doubts about what could have been, and guilt that he had done nothing when maybe he could have made a difference. Beside him, he saw similar emotions on Aqua’s face, and knew that she too was done with hiding from their responsibility.

Atlas just shook his head. “No,” he said, “not again.”

Celestia nodded. “Then do it quickly.”

The pegasus took to the sky at once, and hoisted Aqua up by her forelegs. Up ahead lay a vast chasm of void, eagerly drinking in the collapsing walls and columns of the room, and each passing second brought a fresh salvo of lightning.

Atlas weaved and bobbed, twisting left and right to avoid the bolts of Chaos that rained down in his path as though they were consciously trying to stop him. Aqua helped too, diverting falling chunks of masonry with her magic. Up ahead, Seraph and Terraria were still going at it, standing on what now looked like a small mountain of solid earth, with chasms all around it.

“I won’t be able to carry both of them,” he said to Aqua as they approached.

“Set me down there,” she replied, pointing out a flat square of floor, seemingly safe. “I’ll pick up Seraph with my magic, then teleport away. You get Terraria.”

“Right.” With one more spin away from another bolt, Atlas dropped his wife as carefully as he could on the patch of ground, then took off for the Master of Earth like a stone from a sling. Overhead, he could feel that familiar static in the air, and looking up he saw a huge Chaos bolt forming, making ready to strike right where Seraph and Terraria were standing. Each one’s focus was locked upon the other, absorbed by the fight. Atlas put his head down and flew straight on.

Atlas and the Chaos bolt arrived at the same time. For a second, a kaleidoscope of colours lit up his vision, as reality disintegrated around him, accompanied by a cacophony of discordant sound. Atlas fought to keep his mind focused, groping blindly for where he knew Terraria had been standing. His right hoof touched her on the shoulder, and so he quickly wrapped his forelegs around her and gave his wings one more stroke, powering them both free of the carnage.

The Master of Earth was still flailing in his grasp, swinging her sword ineffectually. When Atlas turned around he could see Seraph too floating there, enveloped in Aqua’s crystal blue magic, a scowl still on his face. She was standing where he had left her, and she was clearly relieved that he was still okay. Beneath them, there was now only an endless hole of darkness.

Atlas wanted to breath a sigh of relief, but the danger wasn’t over yet. He gave Aqua a nod, and started to once again fly quickly toward the door.

But as he passed, Seraph gave one more grunt of exertion, and slashed his sword murderously out sideways, aimed right for Terraria’s heart. Atlas didn’t see the stroke; all that he felt was a strong gust of wind from overhead, then a biting pain at his side. He heard Aqua scream, and when he looked down, he just caught the sight of his severed wing falling down into the abyss. After a motionless second, he and Terraria followed.

It only took an instant before Atlas felt himself being pulled up again, as Aqua’s magic suffused his form. The jerk of the stop pulled Terraria from his grip, and without his wing there was no way that he could get her back. Atlas could only watch as the Master of Earth fell down, her screams lost in the tumult of the storm, and drowned out by Seraph’s derisive laughter above them. Then the pain in his side hit him, and Atlas passed out cold.

Chapter 19: The Two Princesses

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“History remembers that day as the first in our reign, but that view is mistaken. It was instead the first day that ponies took back Equestria, and agreed to safeguard it together against all who would seek to take it away from them.”

- High Princess Celestia, Personal Journals (Vol. 1)

The sky was raging purple and white as Celestia, Luna, and Aqua dashed out into the open, the latter still bearing her brother and her wounded husband. A raging wind whipped through the grounds of the castle, throwing Celestia’s mane high into her eyes, and lightning danced out over the city. Yet the effect out here was still muted compared to the maelstrom inside, and she sensed that they would be relatively safe out here. At least the ground wasn’t liable to disappear from underneath her hooves, as had happened to the unfortunate Master of Earth.

As soon they were clear, Aqua set Seraph down, and ran quickly over to a flat spot of ground, where she laid Atlas. The pegasus’ face was pale now from loss of blood, and the flow from the gaping wound at his side was showing no sign of slowing. “Atlas!” Aqua cried, cradling his face with her hoof, “are you still with me?”

Atlas coughed, and raised his head slowly to look into her eyes. “Yes,” he replied, his voice still clear and crisp, like normal. “We did it, my love. Finally, we did it.”

“Of course we did,” she said, tears running down her face. “We had to. Now, let me take a look at your wound.”

He coughed again. “No need,” he said, then looked up at her and smiled warmly. “You’re a miracle-worker, but I know that this is beyond your skill. Never mind about me.”

“What do you mean?” she asked.

Atlas looked over at Celestia and Luna, and his face lit up with pride. “Equestria is safe again, thanks to all of us. It would have been nice to see peace return, but I can rest easy just knowing that it will.”

“Oh, Atlas,” Aqua sobbed, and let her head rest upon his chin for a moment. Then she looked up into his eyes. “Not a day will go by that I won’t remember—” Aqua’s voice caught when she saw Atlas’s eyes suddenly go wide with fright. In the next instant, she felt the cold bite of a blade at her throat.

“Now, nopony move,” Seraph said slowly, maintaining a firm grip on his sword as he held his sister’s mane tightly with his other hoof. He looked much the worse for wear after his duel with Terraria, his mane matted and blood trickling off of his chin from a couple of cuts on his face. But the expression in his eyes was still hard.

Celestia had momentarily forgotten about the earth pony when she had seen Atlas’s plight. Her mind was still so full of everything else that had just happened, awash in adrenaline and excitement from their narrow escape. She should have known that Seraph would move quickly, yet now he had once again gotten the drop on them. Aqua’s eyes were glittering with fear, yet Celestia knew her well enough to know that she was still thinking, calculating, trying to find a way out.

Celestia looked up and nodded at Seraph, trying her best to reassure Aqua in the same gesture. “We’ve won, Seraph,” she said, speaking slowly in spite of her still racing heart. “The time for swords is over.”

“Easy for you to say,” he replied, “seeing as you don’t have one. But I set out today with one purpose in mind, and from where I’m standing the fight isn’t finished, not yet.” His eyes darted quickly to the hedges of the castle grounds, and when Celestia followed his gaze, her heart sank.

Stepping out of the hedges now were more members of the Order of Fire, each one clad in the same red as the ones inside, each one clutching a sword, and each also with a hostage, citizens of Upper Eridian that must have been grabbed as they fled the carnage of the throne room. The civilians’ eyes were wild with fear, and their captors’ faces showed triumph.

“No false moves now,” Seraph intoned behind her. “Trust me that I won’t hesitate. I see any magic and Aqua here will have manipulated her last chess piece. You said that you didn’t want any blood? Do things my way and there won’t be any.”

Celestia shot a quick glance over at Luna, but her sister’s eyes were just as desperate as her own. Seraph had all of the angles covered. With a sigh, she let her head down. “What do you want?”

“Simple,” he said, not relaxing his grip. “I want all of you to go away. Go back to your normal lives and leave Equestria to its rightful ruler.”

“Impossible,” Luna interrupted, her voice sharp. “We did not come this far only to give up the fight now. Equestria does not belong to you.”

“Why shouldn’t it?” he snarled. “I was the only pony in the Resistance who wasn’t happy with leaving it to Discord, I was the only one with the courage to reach out and take it! And right now I’m the one making the decisions, so I say it’s mine.”

“You’re not courageous,” Luna answered, looking up to stare into his face with fire in her own expression. “If you want to see a brave pony, look behind you.” She indicated Atlas, still lying on the ground, unmoving. “He had the courage to give everything that he had so that Equestria could be free, even if it meant his death. And meanwhile you would start another war, just so that you won’t have to give it up.”

“Him?” Seraph bellowed, pulling hard up on Aqua’s mane, so that she shrieked in pain. “He was weak, unwilling to do what was necessary when it mattered most. If it hadn’t been for his cowardice, Equestria would have been free years ago! Do you think that I would now repeat his mistake, surrendering it to the false Resistance? I’ve come too far now to do that.”

Once again, Celestia felt her frustration with this obstinate stallion rising, just as it had back in the throne room. It was exacly like Discord had said: the war between Eridian and Everfree was going to prolong his reign even without him around. “You will fight on, then?”

“I’ve fought for more than twenty years already,” he said with a twisted grin. “It’s what I was born to do.”

“Maybe,” Celestia answered. “But what of these other ponies here, the members of your Order? Surely they can appreciate the glory that this day should have. Discord’s defeat was supposed to bring about peace; that’s what we all hoped for. Right now you are the only pony standing in the way of that.”

“Ha!” Seraph snorted. “You think that you can turn them against me? My Order follows me because they believe in my vision for the future, that Equestria should be strong, not subservient to fools or tyrants! They follow me because they know that only I, free from the taint of the Resistance’s ideology, can bring about that future. They have fought with me all this way, and they will stand with me yet.”

“But where are you taking them?” Celestia asked, turning forward to face the crowd. Though each of Seraph’s minions wore the same red cape, she could see a great deal of variety among them. Unicorns, pegasi, and earth ponies were all represented, male and female, young and old. The only thing that separated them from the ponies that they were holding captive was the clothing on their backs. And yet these ponies would do whatever Seraph told them to, even if it meant turning on their fellow Equestrians.

“You are asking them to spread fear all throughout the population, to put down the inevitable rebellions against your rule. You are asking them to be your spies, to be your ears, your eyes, and your hooves in the days and months to come. You are asking them to become a second court, another cult of nobles gathered around a tyrant King, willing to do whatever is necessary to avoid your wrath.”

She could see the fear in their eyes now, shuddering just beneath the surface, sometimes manifesting as a slight wobble in the blades that they held. Celestia knew what that felt like. She knew that each of them had looked at the situation objectively, and concluded that Seraph was the pony to back. A year ago, she might even have joined them.

But something had changed over the course of this past year. She knew now that personal ambition, if it came at the cost of others, could only hurt the country. It could only give strength to the ponies like Seraph and Terraria, who sought to leverage fear and divisiveness in the furthering of their agendas.

“Your Master beside me talks of courage, and indeed he is right that only courage now can save us. These ponies that you are holding prisoner lacked the strength to do what was right, and Equestria suffered for it. But how courageous are you now, doing as they did?” Celestia was shouting now, letting her voice carry long and far on the wind, bewitching her listeners not with magic, but simply from the power and emotion in her words. “I know how that feels, to understand suddenly that you’re not acting out of courage, but only out of fear. Your Master is asking you to follow in the hoofsteps of the ponies you hold at knifepoint, and he calls that courage! He’s asking you to protect him, just as these ponies did for Discord before! But what if instead you chose not to fall in behind the force of fear? What if you chose to stand together against it? Today brings the dawn of a new era for Equestria, and with you now lies the choice: will it be a new Dark Age, or an era of unity, of peace, of harmony? What greatness could we accomplish if we start this era standing together, rather than against each other?” Celestia bowed her head again, and stepped back into line with Luna. “All it takes,” she said, softly now, “is a little courage.”

As she finished, a silence came over the hilltop, broken only by the swishing of the wind through the bushes and hedges of the castle-grounds, and the occasional metallic clink as the members of the Order of Fire fidgeted nervously. Celestia saw their eyes flickering around, and she willed them with her whole heart to give in. It was now or never. But each one kept their blade up.

Beside them, Seraph slowly started to chuckle dryly, and a grin came onto his face. “So fair your words,” he said, “but so naïve. Who would risk becoming my enemy, knowing how I deal with ponies that get in my way?” He once again tightened his sword to Aqua’s throat. “Now, if your theatrics are over, perhaps we can get back to serious busi—agh!”

A blossom of red suddenly sprouted from Seraph’s shoulder, and he leapt back, dropping his sword. As soon as the blade left Aqua’s skin, Luna reacted, catching Seraph in a ball of purple magic and lifting him off of the ground. He flailed about for a moment, and Celestia could see a thin knife protruding from his shoulder. She looked back down to see Atlas, propped up on his haunches, offering a wave in the direction of the crowd of Seraph’s followers. A young earth pony in red was waving back, and then he threw his sword onto the ground, and let his prisoner go free.

One by one, the rest of the Order of Fire followed suit, until finally all of their blades were on the ground, and Seraph was left to look down at all of them with a burning look of fury.

Atlas offered a proud smile up to his one-time friend, then suddenly he collapsed over forwards, sprawling out on the ground, his skin now ghostly white. Aqua rushed to his side again, kneeling down by his head. “He’s still alive,” she said, holding his neck tightly, “I can feel a pulse.”

Celestia gave a look over to Luna. She knew that they couldn’t just let Atlas go, not after everything that he had done for them, and for Equestria. He had given everything he could, and that meant that he deserved everything they could do to help. Luna nodded back to her. “We have to try,” she said.

Lightly, Luna tossed Seraph aside, towards the members of his Order. Several of them immediately grabbed him around the shoulders holding onto him tightly so that Luna could release her magical grip. Then Luna once again held up the magical gems, and Celestia took hold of it. She called up all of the magic that she had left, once again focusing it out through her horn and joining it with Luna’s.

A shining sphere of gold and blue magic surrounded the fallen pegasus and his wife, shot through with multicoloured streaks of shimmering light. The magic lifted their bodies up, holding them aloft as a million sparks of light rushed inwards into them. Then, with a blinding flash that made everypony present cover their eyes, everything was quiet again.

When the dust settled, Aqua was left once again kneeling with her husband, still embracing him tightly. She looking quickly down to his side, where his wing had been, and saw that it had been fully regrown, and his coat once again shone with vibrant colour. But then her eyes moved up to his face, and Aqua gasped, for right on his forehead was now a sleek and graceful horn, just to match hers.

“Atlas,” she breathed, and then turned back to the sisters, her eyebrows high and her eyes wide. “You’ve—”

“Only done what he deserved,” Luna answered, “what you both deserved.” And she looked meaningfully at Aqua’s side.

The unicorn followed her gaze, and then she gasped again, seeing the clean white wings that were folded neatly over her own back. For the first time since Celestia had known her, Aqua appeared to be speechless. “I- I don’t understand,” she said.

“Like Luna said,” Celestia replied, taking a few steps closer to the two Masters. “It’s exactly what the two of you deserved. Your relationship is a bridge, a joining of two tribes known only for their historic vitriol. Yet you learned from each other, becoming stronger together. It is exactly that spirit that Equestria is going to need now, which is why it needs the two of you to lead it.” And she bowed low to the Master of Water, joined by Luna and all of the other ponies present.

Aqua was taken aback, and for several moments merely knelt in silence, rocking her hoof back and forth over Atlas’s mane. Slowly, the usual clarity returned to her eyes. She stood up and walked over to Celestia. “No,” she said calmly into her student’s ear.

Celestia stood up in surprise. “But you are Triumvirs,” she said. “Duly chosen by history and by all of the old laws. You are the heroes of the Resistance, the only ones who maintained the true spirit of freedom and cooperation that the organization was supposed to represent. This is your victory, what you’ve worked decades to achieve. It belongs to you.”

“No,” Aqua repeated, back to her usual serious tone, and Celestia almost felt as though she were back up north in the mountains, and her teacher was testing her on a question. “Everything that you’ve said is true, but my time has passed.”

Now it was Luna’s turn to try to find her voice. “What are you saying?”

Behind them, Atlas stirred, his eyes slowly opening a crack, then snapping wide. Aqua trotted back to his side, leaning down and giving him a kiss, then pulling him gently up to his hooves. Atlas shook his head a moment, then glanced down at his side, smiling brightly when he saw his new wing. “Thank you,” he said warmly to the two sisters.

“Thank you as well,” Aqua said beside him. “You were right, Celestia: a new era is dawning for Equestria. The time of the Triumvirs is over, and we are happy to see it go. Our work is finally done, but our lives are moving on. We are tired, and you are young. I’m proud to say that the future belongs to you, Celestia and Luna.”

The eyes of the crowd shifted onto the sisters, and Celestia felt a surge of pride as she heard the words. Somehow, the idea that either she or Luna deserved to lead had not entered into her thoughts these past few days, even though it had been a dream she had harboured since Atlas first taught her to hope. She had been thinking about Discord, about Luna, about everything that could go wrong if her plans didn’t work out.

But now all of that had passed, and the future once again beckoned. Her and Luna would bring back peace, bring back security and prosperity. They would take Equestria right back to where it had been, and even further. A wide smile broke out on her face as she thought, and she bowed once again to the two Masters. “Thank you so much,” she said. “We won’t let you down.”

“But which one of you will be Queen then?” came a derisive cry from the crowd, jolting Celestia out of her thoughts. The voice had been Seraph’s, and indeed he still wore a triumphant grin as he struggled with the ponies holding fast to his legs. “How long, I wonder, before the other one fancies a try at the top job?”

“Quiet!” yelled the stallions around him.

“No,” Celestia said, and raised a hoof toward them, “he makes a valid point.” She gave another look toward Luna, who returned a respectful nod. Of course Celestia knew that her sister would never turn against her in envy of a crown, but Seraph’s question had already nearly torn Equestria apart. Now was their chance to stop it ever happening again.

“One thing we have learned from you, Seraph,” she declared, looking down at him pointedly as she spoke. “Equestria should not be subservient to a tyrant, it should be strong. But that future shall not be ordained by any prophet, nor will it be decreed by any monarch. It belongs to all ponies, and all of them should have a say in it. So there will be no Queen.” She reached over to Luna, and put her foreleg around her sister’s shoulders, as Luna returned the embrace, smiling up at her warmly. “Instead, today Equestria becomes a republic, and will stay that way for evermore!”

A cheer erupted from the crowd, joined by both the former ponies of the court and the revolutionaries who had once held them at knifepoint. Celestia looked over them and felt her heart once again swell with pride. Here was Equestria’s future, just as she had hoped it would be. Ponies from all walks of life, joined together in celebration. But in the midst of the ovation, Seraph remained grim.

“As for you,” Celestia declared, once the cheers had died away, “anypony who questions the unity of Equestria, and seeks to undermine it, has no place within it. If you will not recant your position, then we have no choice but to banish you from Equestria.”

There was another rumble of applause from the crowd, and the stallions that had grabbed hold of Seraph’s shoulders hauled him around, carrying him away down the hill in silence.

“Well said, Sister,” Luna said to her softly, with her leg wrapped tightly across her shoulders. “He would never have left us alone.”

“Of course not,” Celestia replied. “But we shouldn’t worry about him. Now we have a whole country to look after.”

“Oh, please don’t get serious again already! I was thinking we could have another party for once.”

Celestia looked up, out beyond the crowd down into Eridian on the lower mountainside. There was something about the city that was strange, something different that she had never noticed before. Then a few of the courtiers in the crowd pointed up behind her, their faces shining in surprise. Celestia wheeled around, and gasped.

The Sun was rising over the far mountainside, bathing Eridian in its golden light for the first time in four centuries. The Chaos Storm was now all gone, dissipated into thin wisps of blue that were quickly disappearing on the breeze. Celestia realized what had been different then about Eridian: it was colourful, showing off the light and energy that had been hiding in Discord’s darkness, waiting for its chance to once again shine with all the glory of its past.

Celestia looked back down at her sister, with the warmth of the Sun building in her heart, and she laughed, light and carefree. “Yes,” she said. “That’s exactly what I was thinking too.”

End Act I

Epilogue

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One Week Later

Beneath the Citadel of Everfree

The caverns deep beneath the Citadel were silent, held in stasis from the forces of time by the impenetrable rock above them. The way down was locked, and would remain so, by order of the Princesses, indefinitely. There were no longer any within the Resistance who cared for Terraria’s old stories.

The panel which the Master of Earth had interpreted as bearing the prophecy of Discord’s defeat still stood, starkly and boldly declaring its message to anyone who would read it. The Grand Prophecy was resting, oblivious to any of the goings-on above, still carrying on the purpose that had been laid down for it millennia before.

But suddenly there was a rumble, shaking loose a few cracked stones from the adjacent columns of the room. Streaks of light shot through the blackness of the cavern, cutting their way across the bare wall that stood at the end of the Prophecy’s current progression. The light sliced its way through the rock, leaving new engravings where before there had only been blank stone. In moments, the next panel of the Prophecy had come to life, waiting dutifully for its fulfillment, when it could signal the next one forward. There were many panels left, a long future left to be decided.

The Great Eastern Desert

And so they had left him here, those traitors that he had once thought his allies. His own Order, the product of all his labour, all his sweat and blood, they had fallen in behind those upstarts, those sweet-talking alicorns from the Resistance. After everything that he had done for them, after he had slain the deceiver, the False Prophet who had almost led Equestria to ruin. He should have been hailed as a hero, not cast out here in the wastelands to die.

All around Seraph, the wind whipped dust and sand over long, sloping dunes. The Sun beat down harshly above, its heat sapping his limbs of their strength. Yet somehow he still found the strength to keep walking.

He had been held for about a week, kept under lock and key like a common criminal. Then his Order had taken him out here, far to the east, beyond borders that ponies had never crossed. They had thrown him aside, without food or water, clearly trusting that the desert would take care of him, would do what they didn’t have the courage to do themselves.

How he had walked after that, Seraph didn’t know. The trail of his hoofprints stretched long behind him, though the wind would quickly erase them with shifting sand. He had no thoughts of where he walked to, or what might await him out in the wild beyond, but he pushed on regardless. He’d fought all his life up to now, and nothing of that was going to change.

For hours he trudged on through the blowing grit, as the shadows of the dunes lengthened and the Sun slowly sank behind him. The wind was picking up, coming at him head-on, the sand stinging in his eyes and making it even harder for him to progress. Seraph could feel the strength leaving his limbs, but he would never give up, not until the wind beat him down onto his back and forced his submission.

He faltered, his hoof sliding out from underneath him as he stepped forward, and Seraph landed headfirst in the sand. He tried to prop himself up onto his knees, but his muscles refused to respond. The wind whipped again through his ears, and his vision blurred as the sand blew all around him. If this was to be his end, then Seraph willed it to come quickly.

Then, far in the distance, Seraph saw something. The outline of a creature appeared, hazy in the blowing dust, but it was clearly not a pony. It strode forward on only two strong legs, its other two held at its side. The creature stood tall and gaunt, stepping gracefully through the sand towards him. Then everything went black.

Sun & Moon Act I: Ascending Star

by cursedchords

Preface and Prologue

Chapter 1: Opening Book

Chapter 2: Closed Game

Chapter 3: The King's Pawns

Chapter 4: The Four Masters

Chapter 5: Fire

Chapter 6: Water

Chapter 7: Air

Chapter 8: Earth

Chapter 9: Old Habits

Chapter 10: Terraria

Chapter 11: Parallel Lines

Chapter 12: The Sun and the Moon

Chapter 13: The Elements of Harmony

Chapter 14: Burdens of History

Chapter 15: The Breaking of the Resistance, Part 1

Chapter 16: The Breaking of the Resistance, Part 2

Chapter 17: Firestorm

Chapter 18: The Eye of the Storm

Chapter 19: The Two Princesses

Epilogue