It was a dark, and as cliche as it sounds, stormy night. The land of Equestria was in a somber mood. Despite the massive booms of thunder, and explosions of white sizzling bolts of lightning streaking the sky, the pony folk slept somewhat peacefully. Emphasizing on the ,"somewhat," for there was still an average amount of restlessness in the country of miniature equines. Many poor souls, especially young foals and fillies, had been plagued with endless nights of terror, caused by malicious nightmares. Horrible nightmares, so dreadful many woke up in a chilling sweat, or screaming in the dead of night. Nightmares of their loved ones in slavery, and their kingdom in shambles. Nightmares caused by a certain centaur-esque creature's recent arrival. Equestria was still in a small state of shock after the rise and fall of the tyrannical monster known as,"Tirek." Why wouldn't it? It was nearly lost when the foul being manage to take the power and energy from everypony, and nearly conquered the land. It was very fortunate that Equestria's ultimate heroes, known by many as the,"elements of harmony," used their power of peace and friendship to banish Tirek back in the dark prison From once he came.
After Tirek was banished, the elements of harmony made a large campaign to settle their fears,and to also bring a new era of love and tolerance.( it even had a clever slogan; Let the rainbow remind you that together we will always shine.) This did manage to calm the populous, for the most part. Still, many were still ,"jumpy," and the nightmares that followed afterwards didn't help.
Which is why the princess of the night was also disturbed.
" Celestia, I can feel the fear of so many young children. It is my responsibility to end this terror. Yet instead, here I am with you, trotting about a dark and dangerous cavern looking for a speculative room of treasure."
If you hadn't already already guessed through the wonderfully written piece of exposition, the ruler of the dark Luna, and leader of the day, Celestia, were indeed traveling through a large treacherous cavern. the stalagmites and stalagtites reached out from below and above as if to grab them. If it weren't for their powerful magic shining a brilliant light through the subterrane, it would be pitch black. This kind of environment can make many nervous, however the royals were calm and kept poise, as if they were headed to the grocery store to but milk.
"Luna." Celestia said in a dead serious tone"I know you were incredibly skeptic of these artifacts and their power, but you must trust me. Finding this room again is of the greatest importance."
Luna reacted viciously. " MORE IMPORTANT THAN YOUR OWN PEOPLE?!" she screamed, while practically lunging at her sister.
Celestia was at a shock for a moment. Luna rarely used what was called the,"royal canter lot voice," as they both agreed that it was too harsh for this decade. She then noticed her sister slowly calming down, taking a breath, and now speaking in a very quite voice.
" Sister...forgive me. However,these past few weeks have been a living nightmare. Trying to settle down the common folk has not been easy. Ponies everywhere are afraid of more monsters like Tirek taking over, and I have been running ragged trying to cease the bad dreams all across Equestria. "
Luna then paused, and stared at Celestia with an intense look of frustration.
" It is because of this, that I see no good reason for your recent behavior. Spending time preparing supplies to find some sort of power, instead of spending it helping me by speaking to the public about Tirek and his imprisonment."
As the path grew narrower, and the walls of the caves started closing in as they walked deeper, Celestia spoke to Luna with a voice sweeter than honey, and a face of compassion and love. An ability she was secretly proud of.
"Luna, it's because of Tirek that I've decided to find this room again."
They took a sharp turn to a large staircase spiraling down, carved through the cavern's stone itself.
As they walked down, Celestia continued.
"Tirek was an eye opener. I realized, or rather, remembered, that there are still forces of evil who are out there in Equestria,malicious and power hungry. After all, nearly everypony in Equestria was drained of their magic. Even the elements of harmony barely stopped him."
Luna was surprised at that had always spoke highly of the powe"r of harmony, and was especially proud of one of the members; her pupil Twilight Sparkle, now an alicorn princess. Yet here she expressed a sort of doubt.
" Have you lost your faith in the elements, sister? I'm astonished that you seem to believe more in trinkets locked away in a dark cave."
"Oh.." Celestia cringed in embarrassment." I have never lost faith in harmony. It's just...when Starswirl first came to me, ranting and raving about a spectacular magic, I had my doubts. But then he shows me He brought back ANYTHING and EVERYTHING he could bring back. That wizard wouldn't pull such an extravagant prank or exaggeration."
Then as soon as they reached the bottom of the staircase, Celestia stopped and stared at her sister with a very serious, and slightly worried look. "Luna," she murmured, which startled the moon princess as she rarely saw her sibling so fearful," I saw things made from this magic. Wonderful things. Terrifying things. Things that could make you fall to the ground. I can see Starswirl was right. This power is nothing the likes of Equestria has ever seen."
They soon walked ahead to a large trench only connected by a rickety old plank-bridge. Not necessary for the 2 mares as they merely needed to fly over the chasm. As they fluttered over, Luna asked," How do you even know where this chamber is? You brought no map."
"That's because there was never one. Starswirl never wanted to risk it. I merely use a special tracking spell that leads me right to the magic. Of course, that's still dangerous, as sometimes the spells cast on the objects had unpredictable effects-"
BOOM!
POW!
SEEER!
A massive tremor shook the walls, as large streaks of sparkling light zoomed from the trench."
" YAAAH!"
A large stalagtite pierced Luna's right wing, and she plummeted down into the darkness as she struggled to keep lift.
"Luna!" Celestia shrieked as she did a near perfect falcon dive after her sister. However her screams were muted by a downpour of stone striking her intensely and painfully. Then everything went black.
"Sister?"
"Sister?!"
Celestia awoke in a haze, only to be greeted by the shocked face of her sibling, which she soon saw become extremely relieved
" Oh, thank Faust, I was worried for a second."
Now standing up, but with a minor migraine, Celestia groaned,"ugh...how long was I out?
"I'd say about a minute, but that might not be our most pressing matter right now."
"My personal health doesn't matter? I didn't think you really felt that way, Luna."
"At least, it doesn't matter to you. You, see that fall we took was apparently an excellent shortcut."
Celestia's jaw nearly dropped, as Luna led her through the fallen debris, to find a giant, wooden door. She stood right in front of that door now, as she couldn't believe she was here once again. For a moment, she briefly reminisced about all the wonders and horrors she had seen trough this door, and wondered if Equestria, or even if the world was ready for it. Then her thoughts were interrupted by Luna.
"Well, now that you've found your magic...what do you plan to do?"
"Well, magic isn't my expertise. I need someone who has grown to be knowledgable of these sort of artifacts. We will have to send for Twilight and her friends."
Luna smirked," I expected as much. Come then, we will find a new path out of these caverns and send an immediate message to princess Twilight."
"Wait" Celestia looked toward the door, then to her sister." First, I would like to go back inside, just to make sure nothing has been disturbed."
" Well, if you wish, then we shall take a look-see."
Celestia nodded, then began to pry the door open. As she worked her spell, time seemed to stop as she knew what she was going to find next, and took notice of all the details engraved in the door which always astounded her. To the left, a vast jungle seemingly filled with temples, ships, and exotic wildlife. Above it, a sort of western frontier, so much like southern Equestria it was scary. Above was a village similar to towns she had seen in the marshlands, overlooked by a large mansion. To her right, was a mystic forest, filled with odd landmarks, it reminded her most of Equestria. She never could understand what was below it though. A vast, shining city, designed as if it were from another time, or world.(and it very well could have)
" Celestia, are you alright? You've barely moved the door an inch and have been staring at it for 30 seconds."
Celestia's shining face, which usually matched the rest of her coat as a brilliant white, had now become a distinct shade of pink. Evidently time wasn't what had stopped."Uhm...yes. Luna,why don't you open the door?"
"I see no reason not to.", she said with a smirk, as the doors became engulfed in a dark aura."
Celestia felt her bones tightening, as the barrier between her world, and another, was splitting in seconds. The doors split evenly between her favorite engravings in the door; a large, beautiful castle. The castle had paths that connected to all of the other realms depicted, and was in front of a street filled with quaint buildings and structures. It all held together in a sort of equilibrium, a peace.
A harmony.
As she walked in the chamber, she then knew as she always suspected. No mAbatter how scary or dark it sometimes appeared, this sorcery was meant for good, and she could find that good. Her student could find that good. There was definitely light, and hFappiness in this magic.
Above the door,there was a stone engraving, which Starswirl had apparently seen in the original place he found these relics. The engraving depicted what appeared to be a peculiar d, which could have also been a peculiar g, in the center of a large circle, with 2 smaller circles connected to the top.
Oddly enough, it always reminded her of a mouse.
