Hello! This is Petalsteps, and this is my first fanfic that I'm posting on here. I also have another Warrior fanfic I'll be posting! So thanks, and please R&R!
Twilight Sparkle used her magic to grab a book off the top shelf. "Here we are!" she said. "'Legends of Equestria Royalty!'"
She opened up the book to the table of contents. One article caught her eye. "Four Princesses?"
The book read: "Legend has it that there is not only the sun and the moon to take care of, but also fire and water. Princess Celestia and Princess Luna may have to take care of more than the two elements. When there is a full moon and a lunar eclipse at the same time, the new twin princesses will be revealed!"
Spike came running into the room at full speed. Twilight twirled around in glee. "Spike! You'll never guess what will happen to the princesses."
"Hold on," the dragon panted. "I have a letter for you. It's a new quest from the princess. Something about fire and water."
"The twins!" Twilight blurted, much to Spike's confusion.
"Twins?"
Twilight ignored him. "Take a letter, Spike!"
"But you haven't even read-" Twilight shot him a glance. The baby dragon rolled his eyes and took out a scroll and a quill. "Dear Princess Celestia, I am pleased to take on this mission. I just read about the two new twin princesses, and I am more enthusiastic than ever to welcome more members of the royal family into the Canterlot castle. As your loyal pupil, I will do my very best to find the two princesses and bring them home. Your faithful student, Twilight Sparkle."
Spike took a deep breath and sent the flaming letter to the princess. "So, fire and water? New elements?"
"Yes, Spike," the purple unicorn turned to him with pride. "I think you're getting smarter every second!"
The dragon smiled at his companion. "I'm gonna go get some gems from Rarity," he exclaimed smugly. "Rarity is just amazing and pretty and so-"
Spike was interrupted as a huge belch escaped from his mouth. Twilight took the scroll with her magic and trotted over to the window, where there was more light.
"Dear Twilight Sparkle, what are you talking about? I need you and your friends to help two twin firefighter ponies in Filly-delphia. There has been an outburst of fire, and the town needs a bigger supply of water. I can't go because I have too much work to do here, what with Shining Armor and Princess Cadence coming back. Sincerely, Princess Celestia."
"What was with that whole twin thing, anyway?" Spike asked from over Twilight's shoulder.
"I thought it might have been like Nightmare Moon," the young unicorn answered. "But maybe I was wrong."
"There you go little critters," Fluttershy cooed. "Off you go now, little baby bunnies. Those coughs are sounding better!"
Fluttershy gazed proudly at her little friends as the three scampered back to their den. Rainbow Dash blew her mane away from her eyes, very bored.
"When are Twilight and Applejack going to be here?" she complained.
"Now, hold on there, Rainbow," A country voice called. "We're here."
Two ponies trotted over to the ones that were waiting.
"Sorry I'm late," Twilight said, disappointed. "I'm usually not like this, but I've been thrown off ever since I… oh, never mind."
Her friends looked at her with concerned expressions.
"You can tell us," Fluttershy flew over to her friend. Pinkie Pie bounced over. "What is it? Friends don't keep secrets, silly!"
"You'd just say the same thing as the princess."
"Oh, Twilight," the elegant Rarity laughed from next to Applejack. "If it's important enough to tell the princess, it should be okay to tell us!"
Twilight looked up and smiled. She should've known that she could trust her good friends. "I was reading a book on legends of the princesses when I came across something. It said that the princesses might have younger twin sisters!"
"Really?" Pinkie Pie said. "That's it?"
"What do you mean?"
"Duh!" A speedy pony exclaimed. "Everypony knows that story."
Rainbow Dash flew up to a cloud, and kicked it into the shape of two tall ponies. She kicked another cloud into smaller ponies. "Every filly in Ponyville has heard that bedtime story."
"I've said it before and I'll say it again," Pinkie Pie exclaimed. "You really, and I mean really, have to get out more."
"I've always thought that bedtime story was a few apples short of a bushel," Applejack said dully. "But now, it made it into one of Twilight's books. It could be like another Nightmare Moon incident."
Twilight's other friends nodded in agreement, and then headed off to the train station.
* * * ember voice: rough and breathy shimmer voice: twilight mixed with rarity
The train came to a halt, and six ponies came off. A bright orange mare lifted her head. She nudged her twin sister.
"I think those are the ponies we're waiting for, Shimmer," she spoke. "As firefighter ponies, we need all the help we can get."
Ember pranced over to the younger mares. Her pale orange flank sparkled and her flame-colored mane's yellow stripes waved in the light breeze. Her mane covered the small horn on top of her head, and her feathered wings covered her fire cutie mark.
"Greetings," her sister said. Her dark blue coat shimmered with glitter, and her pale blue and light blue mane flowed down to her legs. She, too, covered her tiny horn. Her wings also hid her water drop cutie mark. They were identical twins, except for their personalities. Ember was more adventurous and daring, while Shimmer was on the more serious and intelligent side.
"Hello," a purple unicorn spoke formally. "I'm Twilight Sparkle. My friends are Applejack, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie."
The pony with the braided mane vigorously shook Ember's hoof. "She seems like a nice pony," Ember thought. The one called Rarity bowed down gracefully. Shimmer smiled at her. The mare with the wings and rainbow mane flew in circles around Shimmer. Ember couldn't help but laugh. She liked this pony, too, but Shimmer didn't seem all that satisfied. Fluttershy was very quiet. "Nice to meet you," she smiled timidly. Shimmer smiled back nicely. Ember liked her too. She seemed nice. The pink one brought out some sort of canon. "What is-" Shimmer said, full of precaution, before the cannon burst out balloons and confetti everywhere.
"Pinkie!" the other five shouted.
"Like I said," Pinkie Pie said, smiling from ear to ear. "I never leave home without my party cannon!"
Ember snorted and laughed while Shimmer rolled her eyes at her sister.
"Hello," she said. "I'm Shimmer, and this is my twin sister Ember."
Ember stood up and smiled at the ponies. She spread out her wings and turned to show her full self. She struck a dazzling pose.
"Show off," Shimmer muttered.
Ember was about to retort when she saw the one called Twilight Sparkle staring at her cutie mark. She looked confused.
"What's the matter?" Ember said, worried. "Is there some stain on it?"
"Again," Shimmer laughed.
"No," Twilight said. "It's just that…"
Twilight nudged her country friend. Applejack turned to the unicorn with glee in her eyes. Ember realized that all of the young mares were full of happiness, even the shy one.
"Oh, this is wonderful!" Fluttershy cheered somewhat meekly. "Woo-hoo!"
"Yes," Rainbow Dash exploded into the air and did a loop-de-loop.
"Quite ravishing!" Rarity's eyes twinkled.
"I don't understand," Shimmer said. Ember gasped. Her sister understood everything!
"What?"
"Our cutie marks our supposed to represent that we're firefighter ponies, but maybe it's something more."
"You mean… the story?" Ember gulped. Shimmer nodded.
"Have you heard that old bedtime story, too?" Rarity smiled, stars in her eyes.
"Yep," Ember nodded. "We thought we were born with just long legs, and our cutie marks."
"You were born with your cutie mark?" Pinkie Pie exploded. "That's so amazing! My cutie mark came when I was just a little filly. I lived on a rock farm, and we had to move the rocks from the west side to the east side. So one day, I was just there, and then out of nowhere this giant rainbow came out of nowhere! And I had never felt happiness like that before, so what I did was I decorated the silo and-"
"PINKIE!" the other five yelled. The party pony sat down, face red.
"Sorry," Twilight said. "She does that sometimes. Well, most of the time, actually."
Shimmer and Ember giggled.
"So anyways," the unicorn continued. "You must be the new princesses!"
"We've known about it for a while," Shimmer admitted. "And I never thought that it was really true, until now."
"Well I know Princess Celestia!" Twilight exclaimed. "I'll send a letter to her right away!"
"Come on now, y'all," Applejack said. "Let's get to our stable."
"You can stay with us!" Shimmer offered.
"Yeah, we won't mind!"
Twilight and her friends exchanged looks. "Okay!"
The ponies went off into the village and away from the train station, lead by the new princesses.
Princess Celestia walked over to her window. "Beautiful outside today," she said to herself. "It always is in Canterlot."
She levitated a hairbrush with her magic, and combed her mane for a few minutes. Then, she walked out of her room and started to complete her morning duties.
"Shining Armor!"
"Yes, princess?" the stallion replied. He had just come back from his honeymoon.
"Are all the normal guards at their stations?"
"Yes, princess. And I sent out some extra, just in case," Shining Armor sounded anxious. "Still having those feelings?"
"Yes," Celestia said gravely. "In just a few days, it will be the lunar eclipse, and the alignment of the planets. I may have lied to Twilight Sparkle again, but with my sense of a new threat, what could I have told her?"
The strong stallion nodded. "I know my sister well. She wouldn't have been very… calm, after she found out about fire and water."
"Yes," the princess sighed. "Thank-you, Shining Armor. Keep up the guards."
He lifted his hoof to his forehead in a salute, and the Princess dipped her head in return. She headed up to the lookout tower for her next line of duty.
"Luna!" she called. Nopony answered. "Luna?"
As Celestia rounded the corner, she saw a blue crown on a shelf by the balcony windows.
"Blueblood," the princess said, rather scornfully. Her nephew wasn't the most charming of all the Prince Charmings. "Maybe she went for a walk? She did tell me she had been getting some pretty bad headaches."
The princess headed out to the gardens. She slowed down her pace, admiring the pretty flowers and the magnificent statues. She casually trotted through the bushes until she came across a blank base. Her eyes grew wide in fright as she spotted a blue mane and white body lying on the ground.
"Prince Blueblood!" she called fearfully. The body groaned in a deep voice.
"Celestia?" he said. "Luna turned into the moon. And then, the statue came to life!"
Celestia kneeled to help her nephew up. His eyes were rolling around, and he shook his head.
"Princess Luna became Nightmare Moon again!" the prince explained. "And then Discord broke free again. They headed into the horizon talking about a queen of crystals. I couldn't quite understand them, because at that point I was pretty much out cold."
The princess leapt up and bounded to the Captain of the Royal Guard, leaving her insensitive nephew behind.
"Quick!" she said hastily. "Double the guards and send out letters to guard all of Equestria!"
Princess Cadence looked up from where she was standing with her husband. "Why?"
"I'm sorry if I interrupted something, but my sister and Discord and the changelings are back!"
"Nightmare Moon, Discord, and Queen Chrysalis?" the captain's eyes gleamed with determination. "Guards!" he called. Fifteen soldiers raced to his side immediately. "We need to double our defense, and send out extra soldiers to every single city in Equestria!"
Shining Armor quickly explained the situation and the soldiers took immediate action.
"This time," Celestia said to her niece and Captain. "It's a triple threat."
"Dear Princess Celestia, I have found the twins, and they are the new princesses! Shimmer and Ember should now be called Princess Shimmer and Princess Ember. Princess Celestia, I hereby decree a recommendation that you anoint the new princesses! Your faithful student, Twilight Sparkle. How does that sound, guys?"
"Perfect," Rarity declared.
"I wouldn't change a thing," Fluttershy said sweetly.
Twilight smiled smugly and trotted outside to put the letter in the mail.
"I wonder how the princess will take this," Applejack thought out loud. She felt that the princess wasn't being quite so honest with her student. "After all, she might have denied it for a reason."
"Maybe she thought it was startling," Fluttershy said quietly. Applejack knew how Fluttershy felt about being scared, and frightened, and, of course, startled.
"I say," Pinkie Pie said. Applejack braced herself for the nonsense. "That the princess suspects something. What other reason would she have for sending out a bunch of guards to the town?"
The others stared at her. It wasn't like Pinkie to be that serious about something. And how did Pinkie always know what was going on? "Pinkie sense," Applejack thought.
"Guards?" Rainbow Dash said. "What guards?"
"The ones right there, silly!"
The friends turned to see that what seemed like a whole army had arrived at Filly-delphia.
"Why are they here?" Twilight spoke from the doorstep. She went back outside. Applejack saw her from the window in the twins' home.
"Maybe the princess was right about the twins," she gulped. "I asked them why my brother sent them here, and they said that all the enemies we've ever faced were going to attack Equestria!"
Applejack's mouth dropped as everypony gasped. "So that means," it was Applejack's time to gulp. "That we're going to have to face Nightmare Moon, Discord, and the changelings all over again?"
"At the same time," Rainbow Dash said.
"This is going to be one heck of a DOOSY!" Pinkie Pie shouted.
"Of all the worst things that can happen this is the! Worst! Possible thing!"
"Oh, my."
"I don't know if the elements of harmony are going to be enough!"
"They must be," Applejack said. She didn't know what to think. Her mind was whirling, and she felt she was on the very brink of insanity. "And if not, we're going to make them. We have to work hard and use them harder than before!"
"How can you use something harder?" Pinkie Pie started. "I mean, with a jackhammer you just turn it up to a higher level! Applejack, do the necklaces have notches on them? Do they?"
"What?" Rainbow Dash stared at the crazy mare.
"AJ," Twilight sighed, ignoring Pinkie. "This isn't just any workday at Sweet Apple Acres! If the Elements fail…"
"Then we don't have any more hope than an uprooted apple tree."
Twilight stared at her friends, all things silent, except for the sounds of the soldiers outside. Ember and Shimmer walked into the room, eying the guards with odd looks.
"What's up with all the guards, you guys?" Ember asked.
"Are they here on some sort of royal duty?" Shimmer questioned.
"My brother sent them here. He's captain of the royal guard!"
"Shining Armor is your brother!" Ember perked.
"Here we go," the new princess' sister rolled her eyes.
"He is so handsome!"
"Can it, he's married," Twilight narrowed her eyes at the "single and available" mare. Ember stared back at the unicorn, holding her stare.
"No need to fight, sillies!" Pinkie interrupted. "PARTY TIME!"
"Wait-" Rainbow started, before pinkie blasted her cannon on the two steaming mares.
"You're right," Ember said to Twilight.
"Yeah, my brother did send them here because of Discord and Nightmare Moon and the changelings."
"No, I meant about him being married," Ember laughed. She stopped and stared the unicorn right in the eyes. "And also about the… enemies."
"Onto more important measures," Shimmer cleared her throat. "Why are they all back?"
"I think it's because of the lunar eclipse," Twilight spoke.
"What do you mean Twilight?" Rainbow Dash inquired.
"Well, in my book-"
"Of course," Rainbow Dash muttered.
"As I was saying," Twilight started again. She shot a glance at the Pegasus pony. "The book says that when a full moon and a lunar eclipse happen at the same time, the new princesses will be revealed."
"Wait a minute," Shimmer stopped pacing in the middle of the room. "Isn't that… in a few days?"
"Yes," Twilight replied somberly.
Ember seemed to be taken aback. Shimmer had the same reaction.
"Then we must be prepared," Shimmer was suddenly bursting with determination.
"For all of the enemies who have ever faced Equestria," Ember stood next to her sister.
"The Elements," Twilight stated. "We must use them, and we can add power onto them now!"
"We will fight for our friends," Rainbow Dash said, placing her hoof in the center of their circle.
"For our helpfulness to one another," said Fluttershy, adding another hoof.
"For all the lies waiting to be brought to justice," said Applejack. Another pony was in.
"For the help everypony needs and seeks," Rarity placed her hoof in the circle.
"For all the celebrations yet to happen," Pinkie Pie bounced as she stretched her leg forward.
"For the magic each of us yearns for every day," Twilight's eyes shone as she placed her hoof in.
"For the burning flames in all of our hearts," Ember said.
"For the powering waterfalls inside our hearts that give us love and faith," Shimmer added. All eight hooves were in the circle.
"For our home, for Equestria," the ponies shouted. "For our DESTINY!"
I hope you guys liked it! And tell me if I didn't make it clear somewhere. I'd appreciate the feedback! So please, R&R!