Hearts of Flesh and Crystal
A Dungeon Keeper / My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic fanfiction
By Glimmervoid
Part 1
Clunk. The wagon jerked to a halt.
The Great and Powerful Trixie was having a bad day. That in and of itself was not unexpected. In fact, she'd been having a great deal of bad days recently and each and every one of them could be laid at the hooves of one pony. That pony wasn't Trixie herself, of course. No, it was the Mule, Twilight's, fault. Her and the rest of the rural hicks who spawned and lived in the so called 'Ponyville'.
Letting out a slightly undignified snort, she un-harnessed herself from her wagon and trotted around to the back. From that position, the problem was obvious. The two large rear wheels were wedged length ways in a pair of cracks in the road.
It just wasn't her day.
Turning around, she rose up on her forelegs and bucked, sending both her hind-hooves slamming into her stalled wagon. It moved, but only slightly, remaining stuck.
Trixie let out a scream.
The world was against her. It was a conspiracy. That was the only explanation. First the ponies of Ponyville tricked her with the Ursa, then they drove her out of town, stealing, yes stealing, her old wagon, and now the road had split open and trapped her replacement cart, leaving her stuck in the middle of nowhere.
According to her map, she should have been halfway between Stalliongrad and Coltstantinople but that clearly wasn't the case. The road between those two cities was meant to be large and well kept; the road she could see was anything but. It was small and winding, curving through a forest of rocky stone pillars and ragged crevasses. What wasn't rock was filled with scrub trees and other small plants.
Not only that but she should have reached a way station hours ago, somewhere to stop, have a hot meal and perhaps even a proper, hot shower. That was clearly not happening, though. It was already late evening, the sun low and red in the sky and not only was there no end to her journey in sight, she was now stuck.
A small part of Trixie's mind recognised that she'd gotten herself lost; a much larger part blamed it on the map. The colt who had sold it to her had clearly been a liar and a cheat.
Life just wasn't fair.
She let lose another scream and kicked her wagon again. The only result was to wedge the stuck wheels even deeper in to their respective cracks.
If only the wagon hadn't been so large she might have been able to levitate it out but even she, the Great and Powerful Trixie, had limits, as great and powerful as those limits might be. The same small part of her mind as before whispered that Twilight had managed to lift something even large to stop the Ursa, but she swiftly silenced it. That voice was not to be trusted. It was clearly insane. The idea that Twilight was a more skilled magician than her was as absurd, just as most of the voice's heretical notions were.
All the same she tried.
Setting all four hooves square on the ground, she lowered her head and horn. Then she concentrated. A purple glow sprang up around her horn, magic gathering and preparing. When ready, she reached out with her spell and she heaved.
Light flickered around her cart but didn't form into the proper glow of telekinesis. That didn't matter; it only meant she needed to try harder and try harder she did. Muscles strained under her blue coat, she gritted her teeth and the first hints of overglow began to form around her horn, flickering up like a candle flame, above and beyond the horn's normal glow.
In front of her, the cart looked like one of her light show. Motes of magical glow exploded from the wood and cloth; purple light flicked around it, one moment surrounding the whole waggon, the next just a small part; and the entire construct seemed to almost vibrate in place. After a few seconds it began to move.
Slowly at first but getting faster with every passing second, the rear set of wheels lifted off the ground and even that much was an immense strain. Sweat rolled down her brown and ruined her mane. But she was doing it! She was doing it!
Ponderous, like a blimp, the cart lifted into the air, front and back and everything in between. One foot. Two foot. Three foot!
It was amazing. She was amazing. The Great and Powerful Trixie! She'd never done any act of raw magic half so impressive before. The Mule couldn't ever hope to compete. She could see the Mule's face down, crushed by her own depression as the fateful realisation struck, that she would never even be half the magician Trixie was. It would be so sweet. The look in those amethyst eyes as tears welled up. The dejected slump in the legs. The way her neck would hang long, as if bowing to her now-and-always superior, forelocks over eyes.
So caught up in her fantasy was Trixie that she didn't notice when her concentration began to faulted. When she did, it was already too late. Between on moment and the next, the wagon slipped from her magical grip and came crashing down, right onto the rocky road.
Wood splintered, one of the wheels came off, rolling away down the road and Trixie screamed. The world did hate her and it was all the Mule's fault! Then road cracked open and Trixie had an entire different thing to scream about.
~~~
Pain was the first thing Trixie noticed, followed quickly by even more pain. She ground her teeth together until the backs of her eyelids stopped glowing red. Once that happened, she clambered to her hooves and looked around, each movement sending a miniature spike of agony through her body. Rock. Lots and lots of rock. Then she looked up.
It was dark overhead, with a few stars shining brightly, but they were a long way off, separated by what must have been twenty meters of rocky cliff wall. She appeared to be at the bottom of a chasm of some kind, or perhaps a cave whose roof had fallen in.
Then something struck her: she could have died! Trixie's ears flattened back against her head and she backed up a half step despite herself. A fall like that, well, it was clearly only because her great and powerful abilities that she was here at all. The reminder of those abilities calmed her some and she took a deep breath.
"Come on Trixie," she said. "Think."
First question: where was she, other than at the bottom of some pit?
A moment's concentration illuminated her horn and she looked about. There were other things among the rocks. Wooden things. Cloth things. Her wagonà She could have cried it was so unfair. She'd only just gotten it in a fit state to use. How could she have been so foolish?
No!
This wasn't her fault. Trixie wasn't entirely sure how, but she knew, just knew, the Mule was behind everything. She would pay.
Right then Trixie wanted nothing more than to scream or hoof something in the face but she forced herself to calm. She needed to escape; could she exit the way she came? She looked up. No, the hole in the roof was far too high and the walls much too steep to climb. Her sister might have caused a scandal by running off with a mountain goat but she certainly hadn't. That meant she wouldn't be leaving the way she came.
Some other way then.
Illuminated in the otherworldly purple glow of her horn, the space looked like a ragged gash cut into the ground. The hole she'd entered by was near one end of the gash, right next to a rocky stone wall, but the other end was hidden from sight, too far away from even her horn to illuminate it and roofed by rock.
Trixie defiantly didn't worry the ground with her front hoof. Only foolish foals did that kind of thing and she was no foal. All the sameà Too follow the chasmà Just on the off chase it might lead to the surface?
Scrap. Scarp. Scarp. She glared down at her left forehoof. It stopped moving.
It wasn't like she had much choice. Stopping only to rescue her saddlebags from her destroyed wagon and salvage some of her more valuable possessions, Trixie set of into the cave, recovered magician's cloak draped over her neck and back for warmth.
~~~
After an hour of walking, Trixie's saddlebags started to chafe against her flanks. After two hours her hooves hurt from walking over sharp, uneven stones. Three hours and she was ready to start screaming again. Ten minutes more and she did.
It was a dead end. A large slab of rock blocked her path, traveling at right angles across her tunnel. It was cast a ghastly purple brown in the light from her horn and was mocking her.
"Is this what you want!" shouted Trixie. "To trap me here! Well the Great and Powerful Trixie will show you."
She took a few steps back and levelled her horn. The glow intensified and a black cloud formed over her head. With a flicker of will, she sent a lightning bolt slashing forward. It hit the slab with a thunderous crack but left only a blackened soot mark. She blasted the rock again and again, each lightning bolt brighter than the one before. Not a one resulted in anything different than the first.
She screamed and threw everything she had into the magic. Wind battered the rock and rain drummed against it. She smashed it with animated rocks and the ripped at it with telekinesis directly. It was all for naught.
By the time she was finished, Trixie was panting. Her perfect sky blue mane was soaked with sweat and her horn almost drooped on her forehead.
It just wasn't fair.
In the dwindling light of her horn, Trixie stood in the cave. The rock mocked her, blocking her path. She was trapped. There was no other path. The gash lead from one rock wall to another, the only other exist a hole far too high up for her to reach.
One final time she looked at the rock slab, hoping for something, anything. The universe delivered.
The slab of rock wasn't a slab of rock! Swept clean of grim by wind and rain she could see it was a wall, each brick marked with a slightly recessed oval shape. It wasn't natural. It was civilisation! Civilisation meant ponies and ponies meant rescue!
Thinking quickly, she levitated a nearby rock and bashed it off of the wall as hard as she could. It clanged loudly. Hollow.
"Hello!" she shouted. "Can anypony hear me? The Great and Powerful Trixie would be most grateful for any help."
She leaned forward, putting her ear against the wall, not even caring out what that did to her coat and mane. There was sound from the other side. Hoofsteps?
She took a few steps back and again slammed the rock again the wall, rapidly this time.
"Help!" she shouted.
Before her one of the bricks fell away, just below head height. "Yes? What is you being wanting?"
Trixie knelt down of her forelegs and peered through the gap. What she saw took her slightly a back.
It wasn't a pony of any sort, not a Pegasus, Unicorn or even a Earth Pony. It looked like a diamond dog might if its fur had been replaced with leathery, almost reptilian kin.
Repulsive the creature might be but the Great and Powerful Trixie was a consummate performer, well use to interacting with her infamous.
"My good gentlecolt- err- thing. I appear to be lost. Mightn't I trouble you for directions to the surface?"
Its beady black eyes flickered up and down. "No," it said and slotted the brick back into place.
She would not scream. She would not scream. Trixie screamed.
"Now listen here you insignificant worm," she shouted. "I am the Great and Powerful Trixie. You will help me this instant!"
For a few heartbeats she was left standing there, head and neck lolling down, panting. Then the brick pulled back again and the black eyes reappeared.
"Mistress's? You is being new Mistress's?"
"I," said Trixie before stopping herself. "I am the Great and Powerful Trixie and you will help me!"
"You is Mistress's!" said the little creature and joy was evident in its voice. "Is wait please."
This time the brick did not slot back into place. Instead the surrounding blocks started to fall out and Trixie needed to take some very quick steps back to avoid the shower of debris. In a matter of seconds, the entire wall came apart. When it was completely down, a small creature stood revelled. It was a squat thing, probably not even reaching the top of her leg. It looked to have half again too much skin for its frame. It also had hands û not proper hooves û like some monkey, and an iron pick axe was thrown over one shoulder.
"You is coming this way, Mistress's, yes?" said the creature and beckoned her forward.
Being careful of the rubble carpeting the floor, Trixie followed.
~~~
The small creature led Trixie through a confusing maze of corridors. Branching paths split off ever few meters and occasionally great cavernous spaces would be visible, void of purpose and gathering dust.
After a few minutes silent walking, Trixie focused again the small creature. "You're taking me to the surface right? And what was that Mistress business?"
"I is taking Mistress's to the Heart," it said. "Is where new Mistress's becoming new Mistress's."
Trixie stamped a forehoof. "Stop. I want to get out of this place not go to this heart. And you didn't answer my question. What's this Mistress business?"
"Mistress's is Mistress's. She's is being in-charge of Heart."
"You still haven't told me what the heart is!"
"Heart is Heart. From there's, Mistress's is being able to do anything she's wanting."
"The heart can get me back to the surface?"
"Yes Mistress's. The Heart can do anything. It is powerful magic. We must go, yes?"
Powerful magicà That made Trixie's purple eyes gleam. Powerful magic to show up the Mule. Not that she needed more magic to show she was better than the Mule butà
"Yes," said Trixie. "Yes we must."
The 'heart', as it turned out, was not much further. It was a strange device: a gigantic onyx gem, almost the size of Trixie's head, polished smooth and shaped into a sphere. It sat, or more properly hovered, between four crystal pillars, made from the same material, but cut in uneven lines, like unsorted books piled atop one another. It set Trixie's horn on edge.
It was magical, of that there could be no doubt. She could feel its incredible energies in the air, like tensed springs. In truth, it felt dark and Trixie was suddenly a whole lot less sure of her actions that before.
"You is touching with hand, yes?" said the small creature.
Hand? thought Trixie. It probably meant hoof. That didn't matter, though. What mattered was whether she was going to do it at all.
"Listen," she said. "I'm not sure. This 'heart' thingà It feels dark."
You must really be feeling something, said the traitorous voice who lived in her head. That almost sounded normal.
"Heart is power," said the small creature. "You is touching and you is getting power, yes, yes?"
Powerà There was that world again. Power to beat Twilight the Mule, power to show the world just how Great and Powerful she was.
"And I could use this power to leave, right? And there's no other way."
"Yes. Yes. Heart can open path to surface. Heart is strong."
"Well okay then." Trixie swallowed then raised her head. "The Great and Powerful Trixie will use this power for the Great and Powerful Trixie's ends."
The little creature clapped its hands together and smiled, opening a gaping maw in its wrinkled face. "I is having new Mistress's!"
Carefully, Trixie raised one forehoof and moved it towards the heart. To her unicorn senses, it was like pushing through water, the magic as thick and strong as she'd ever felt. The traitorous voice in the back of her head screamed for her to stop but she needed this power. Needed it to make herself strong. Needed it to escape if nothing else.
It was only after her hoof touched the gem sphere that a thought occurred to her: if she was the new mistress, what happened to the old one? But by then it was too late. Magical lightning shot up her leg and along her body and pain consumed her world.
~~~
Grabit the imp watched as the lightning consumed his new Mistress's, mouth wide in an impish smile, rows of miss matched black teeth clear for all to see. Of course there was no one to see, not since the old Master was slain. The monsters had stayed around for a while but even they'd eventually drifted off, looking for new haunts and fresher treasure hoards. It had been just him for more years than he could count û which admittedly was limited by his allotment of fingers and toes û but that would change now. Now there was a new Mistress's, and there would be new monsters and a new war against the surface world. It was all he could do not to burst into an impromptu song and dance number; he didn't though. After so many years his choreography would be just terrible. All he needed to do was stop the new Mistress's meeting the same fate as the old Master and then... And then... His smile grew even wider.
Silently he watched as cold burning blue fire gathered around the Heart and stood stock still as it exploded out, letting it wash over him. Where it past, the floor and walls changed. Magic swept away years of dust and grim, and the iconography morphed. Gone was the blank oval of a keeperless dungeon and in its place was a magical wand, releasing a half moon of stardust, repeated over and over again, countless times.
Unseen even by the ever faithful Grabit, it swept out through the dungeon, covering the deepest cellars and highest bolt holes. It covered spaces which had once been training grounds, ran through the empty treasury, bathed long cold kitchens, and rolled out through the one hole in fortified outer wall, made by Grabit less than an hour before. It thundered down the narrow chasm path, a tsunami shaped and forced onwards by its own weight, until it reached one final wall. There in crashed in on itself, a raging inferno of cold magical flame. High above, though, shone the moon and half a world away a pony's eyes opened wide. Something very, very wrong had just occurred under her moon.
~~~
"Careful," said Spike.
Twilight paused, the beaker of florescent red liquid shaking in her telekinetic grip. She shot Spike an annoyed looked and went back to her work: mixing two magical liquid hopefully towards a productive result. The first drop of red liquid fell, falling into a bowl filled with its blue counterpart. Where they meet rings of iridescent colour bloomed to life.
"Careful," said Spike again.
Twilight closed her eyes, trying to block out her assistant's 'advice' and keep her magical grip steady. She'd gotten up extra early to do this experiment in peace and nopony was going to distract her, especially if that pony was a dragon. After a few seconds to sure-up her nerves, she started pouring again. Too much liquid too fast and it would explode; too little too slow and nothing would happen at all. Red and blue merged. Magic lived. The experiment progressed.
"Carful-" Spike suddenly jerked back and a small blast of glowing green flame jumped from his mouth. Twilight jerked back. Her concentration faltered. Red liquid fell in a wave. It met blue. And-
A black explosion erupted upwards, smelling of burning sulphur, right into Twilight's face.
Stillness settled over the room, not a pony or dragon moving an inch, then two purple eyes opened in a sea of black soot. For such a magical pony, there was very little friendship in them.
"Spike," she said, voice low, horn lowered and pointed right at the small dragon.
Said dragon laughed weakly. "You've got û hehe û mailà" He held up scroll, only slightly blackened by the explosion.
Twilight snatched it from him with a burst of telekinesis.
"Let's see," she said and unrolled the scroll. She pursed her lips.
"Let me see!" said Spike.
Twilight passed the scroll over.
"Hum," said Spike and cleared his throat, which for a dragon meant a miniature blast of fire. "'Hear ye, hear ye, Her Grand Royal Highness, yadda yadda yadda. Here we go, 'Here by orders Twilight Sparkle and the ponies known as Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Pinkamena Diane Pie, Fluttershy and Rarity and the dragon known as Spike to travel to the magnificent capital city of Canterlot for an audience before the Thrones.'"
He looked up at Twilight. "What does this mean?"
"It means, Spike," said Twilight, "that Princess Celestia wants to speak to us and is being oddly formal about it."
~~~
"No! No! No! This simple won't do," said Rarity, already hoofing through a large trot-in wardrobe. "I have simply nothing to wear!"
"Rarity," said Twilight but was cut off.
"Maybe this," said Rarity, levitating a green dress, lined with emeralds along the seams. "No no much too showy. This is Canterlot, not some gambling resort. Maybe a saddle instead?" Her horn glowed and a range of silk saddles with gently rounded pommels levitated into view. "Ah! What am I thinking? A saddle, at the royal court? I'd be laughed all the way back to Ponyville, left to wallow the rest of my life in ignominy and disgrace."
"Ignomin-what-ty?" asked Rainbow Dash.
"Long lasting Public disgrace," said Twilight, "and Rarity, if you must get dressed, what's wrong with your Galloping Gala dress?"
Rarity rounded on her. "Wear the same dress twice! To the same place! With the same people! I'd rather go naked! At least then way when the lowliest orphan on the street starts pelting me with rubbish I'll have an easier job cleaning it off!"
"Listen Sugercube," said Applejack. "Don't ya' think you mightn't be overreaching just a little?"
"Overreacting!" said Rarity, stalking towards Applejack. "Overreacting! Will I be overreaching when I'm banished from high society! Will I be overreacting when people stop buying my dresses and I'm left poor and destitute. Forced toà Force to do whatever it is poor and destitute people do!"
"Well, I, oh, never mind," said Fluttershy. Everypony turned to look at her and she looked down, beginning to hoof the ground. "Well, I, I just think the red dress with the embroidery stitched sleevesà I'll just be quite now."
"Hum," said Rarity and her horn glowed as she levitated the indicated dress into the air. "It's not perfect. I'll need to take in the sleeves slightly butà Yes, I do believe I've found my dress. Thank you Fluttershy."
The pegasus raised her head and smiled shyly. "Well, if you're sure."
"Yes, yes I am. How long do I have to make the modifications?"
"An hour," said Twilight, "or however long it takes me to find Pinkie Pie."
"One hour!"
~~~
In the end it was closer to two before Twilight, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Rarity and Spike were loaded into a pair of pegasus drawn flying chariots and headed towards Canterlot.
Upon touching down in in a large stone courtyard, Rainbow Dash erupted into the air, wings flapping. "Ah! I hate being cooped up at that. I can fly faster these guys anyway."
The pegasus who'd pulled the cart glared at her; Rainbow Dash ignored him.
"After how much effort I put into your mane?" said Rarity. "No. No. No. You might have refused my generous offer of a dress but I simply will not have you looking like you've flown backwards through an out-of-control storm. Now, come down here this minute."
"Fine. Fine," said Rainbow Dash and flapped back down, alighting on the courtyard with a dull click.
"Well, um, I think you've done wonders with my mane, Rarity," said Fluttershy. "Thank you."
"Oh it was nothing," said Rarity, waving a hoof. "Just a little bit of conditioner and a stiff comb. As I've said before, Darling, you have simply fabulous hair."
Fluttershy began hoofing the ground again.
"Ooh! Ooh," said Pinkie Pie, bouncing down from the other carriage, puffy pink mane bouncing too. "What about me?"
"Your mane, dear," said Rarity, "is, well... Your mane is unique."
Pink earth pony's mane was suddenly as straight as a curtain.
"The good kind of unique," said Rarity hastily.
At once Pinkie Pie's hair sprung back into its former puffy glory and she trotted away, a wide smile on her face.
Twilight sighed and hopped down from her cart, Spike and Applejack a few steps behind her. "Let's go everypony. From the sound of the letter, this is very important."
~~~
Without delay, the seven friends were ushered through the palace by a gaggle of butler-ponies and lead to a large set of double doors guarded by a pair of royal guards.
Rainbow Dash flapped into the air and examined both ponies carefully. She looked from one, to the other and then back down at her friends. "Are these the same ponies from when the Princess visited Ponyvile? I can't tell."
Nopony had an answer to that and if the guards did, they weren't sharing.
After only a few more seconds, the doors were pulled open and a head stuck out. It belonged to an elderly colt, with deep black hair only just going grey in places.
"Ah yes, Twilight and retinue. Please come inside. The Princesses are expecting you."
"Princesses!" hissed Rarity. "Both of them! I didn't know we were meeting both of them. What if Princess Luna doesn't like red! What if she's still angry about that business from a year ago!" One of her hoofs came up and started tugging at the neck-line of her dress.
"Calm down Rarity," said Twilight. "I'm sure Princess Luna will like you dress and won't have held a grudge."
The elderly colt coughed and motioned forward.
As they started to walk, Rainbow Dash leaned up to Twilight and said, "Hey, Twi, how come we're Twilight and retinue? I think we should be Rainbow Dash and the Rainbowbolts. Rarity could make us cool uniforms."
"Ooh! Ooh! Ooh!" said Pinkie Pie, bouncing up and down in place. "How about the Parity Ponies!"
"Spike and the Spikettes!" said Spike.
"Now just wait one apple pickin' minute," said Applejack. "Ah ain't going to be nopony's 'ett' and why do we have ta' be any of that junk? Couldn't they have just said our names? There's only seven of us."
"Well I quite like being Twilight and retinue," said Fluttershy, head down.
Argument faded as they were lead into the throne room and they all looked to the far end where the two princesses sat. There was a throne for each of them, both set atop the same high stepped daises, only a few inches between. The leftmost looked to be made of from gold and on it sat Princess Celestia, wings folded in and horn resplendent. The other was made from silver and held the smaller form of Princesses Luna. Behind them was a high stained glass window showing both princesses, Luna coloured in a range of blues, Celestia in white and pink.
Once all seven friends were lined up, Celestia leaned over to her sister and said, "Go on Luna. You felt it so it should be you who tells them."
Luna looked at the ground, ears back. "I'm not sure. What if I- What if it all goes wrong?"
Celestia looked her sister in the eyes. "You're my sister and I trust you. You'll do fine."
"Well. If you're sure..." Luna turned towards the assembled ponies. "Erm, I." She took a breath, clopped down off her throne and rose up on her hind legs, wings thrown wide for balance. Shadows gathered around her.
"Quail!" she intoned, voice only wavering slightly.
"Psst," said Rainbow Dash, under her breath to Applejack standing beside her. "Isn't quail a type of bird?"
Luna shot her a look which made even Rainbow Dash shut up.
"Quail ponies, for you stand before Her Grand Royal Highness Princess Luna of Equestria!" The waves of shadow crashed down and in the background lightning struck and thunder roared. "By Our Command you shall travel to the village of Hoofington, bearing with you Our Writ of Investigation. There, you shall find and confront the coming darkness and not return lest that darkness had been driven from Our lands."
Behind her, Celestia let out a light trill of laughter and clapped her hoofs together.
"See, sister. I told you it would all come back to you."
As Luna sat back down, the darkness receded and she returned to Celestia.
"I did good, right?"
Celestia leaned over and nuzzled her sister. "You did it perfectly."
Needless to say, there was quite a few confused looks following that announcement. Applejack turned to Rainbow Dash who shrugged. Fluttershy was peeking out from behind Rarity's legs and Pinkie Pie was bouncing up and down in place. After a few seconds they all turned towards Twilight, well, all except Pinkie Pie who'd stopped bouncing and started staring match with one of the stain glass windows. She was winning.
Twilight sighed. It was clear she'd just been volunteered, no volition required.
"Princess Celestia, Princess Luna," she said, dipping her head in a small bow to each. "What exactly is it you want us to do?"
"Oh it's nothing to important," said Celestia. "Luna said she felt something strange under her moon north-west of Hoofington. We just want you and your friends to go out there and make sure everything's okay. It should be a simple enough task for my most faithful student."
Twilight preened under the compliment but was still worried about the task. "Strange?"
"I know it's not much to go on," said Celestia, "but I'm afraid it's all we have. I'm sure it will all turn out to be nothing. It was only last week that Luna decided the squirrel outside her window was evil. She stayed locked in her rooms for almost a week and said it would get her if she left."
"Sister," said Luna, a note of whine in her voice. "Not in front of the M-O-R-T-E-Ls. And that squirrel was evil. It was looking at me. With its eyes!"
"They can spell you know."
Luna's eyes opened wide. "You let them read!"
Celestia let out a light-hearted whinny. "Yes, Luna, I let them read. Now Twilight, I want you to leave at once. If there is trouble, have Spike send me a letter as soon as possible. If there's not even time for that you might enlist the aid of Chef Perfect Boulanger. He lives in Hoofington and is one of Equestria's finest battle bakers. If nothing else, I'm sure he'll provide you with some very nice snacks."
~~~
"But I can't go to Hoofington," said Fluttershy, standing with the others outside the throne room. The meeting had ended a few minutes before. "What about all the animals?"
"And ma' farm!" said Applejack.
"And I simply couldn't abandon my boutique," said Rarity. "What would my customers think? It's only a week until the Raising Sun Celebration, one of my busiest times!"
Twilight turned to look at Rainbow Dashing who was flying along lazily on her side. The pegasus pony rolled a hoof. "Oh no," said in a droll voice. "What would the town do without me to control the weather." She stopped. "Ah, who am I kidding. This sounds awesome! A good twenty, no forty, no sixty percent more awesome than my job!" She stopped. "We get paid right?"
"I'll get back to you on that," said Twilight and then turned to the others. "Come on, it will only be a day or two and it's not like we have a lot of choice. This is a royal order."
"Well Ah guess Ah could have Big Macintosh watch the farm," said Applejack.
"I suppose my customers might stand a few days hiatus," said Rarity. "Most of the really important Raising Sun orders came in weeks, if not months, ago and are long finished. The kind of pony who leaves their dress to a week before hand probably isn't the proper kind of pony anyway."
"But the animals need me," said Fluttershy. "What will they do by themselves?"
"Ah could have Applebloom keep an eye on them for ya'," said Applejack. "She and her friends would be well powerful please for the chance."
Fluttershy paled, a pretty impressive feat for an already pale yellow pony. "No, no. That's all right. I'm- I'm sure I can find someone."
"Pinkie?" asked Twilight, looking towards the last pony in the group.
"Gosh, silly," said Pinkie Pie. "You can have parties anywhere! I can't wait to throw parties for a whole new town. Gummy might miss me, though."
Despite privately doubting Gummy even new who Pinkie Pie was, Twilight nodded all the same.
"Hey," said Spike, "what about me? Don't you girls think I might have a problem with running halfway across the country?"
Twilight gave him a level look.
"Fine, I'll get my coat."
"Silly Spike," said Pinkie Pie. "You don't have a coat; you have scales."
~~~
This is something I first posted over at <a href='http://s4.zetaboards.com/Temple_Of_The_Sage/index/' target='_blank' rel='nofollow'>Temple Of The Sage</a> (it a good forum check it out). I'm also posting it here for some comment.
As a side note, this was written pre-Luna Eclipsed so Luna is not quite like she is in canon, so no Royal Canterlot Speaking Voice.
Hope people enjoy it.
A Dungeon Keeper / My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic fanfiction
By Glimmervoid
Part 1
Clunk. The wagon jerked to a halt.
The Great and Powerful Trixie was having a bad day. That in and of itself was not unexpected. In fact, she'd been having a great deal of bad days recently and each and every one of them could be laid at the hooves of one pony. That pony wasn't Trixie herself, of course. No, it was the Mule, Twilight's, fault. Her and the rest of the rural hicks who spawned and lived in the so called 'Ponyville'.
Letting out a slightly undignified snort, she un-harnessed herself from her wagon and trotted around to the back. From that position, the problem was obvious. The two large rear wheels were wedged length ways in a pair of cracks in the road.
It just wasn't her day.
Turning around, she rose up on her forelegs and bucked, sending both her hind-hooves slamming into her stalled wagon. It moved, but only slightly, remaining stuck.
Trixie let out a scream.
The world was against her. It was a conspiracy. That was the only explanation. First the ponies of Ponyville tricked her with the Ursa, then they drove her out of town, stealing, yes stealing, her old wagon, and now the road had split open and trapped her replacement cart, leaving her stuck in the middle of nowhere.
According to her map, she should have been halfway between Stalliongrad and Coltstantinople but that clearly wasn't the case. The road between those two cities was meant to be large and well kept; the road she could see was anything but. It was small and winding, curving through a forest of rocky stone pillars and ragged crevasses. What wasn't rock was filled with scrub trees and other small plants.
Not only that but she should have reached a way station hours ago, somewhere to stop, have a hot meal and perhaps even a proper, hot shower. That was clearly not happening, though. It was already late evening, the sun low and red in the sky and not only was there no end to her journey in sight, she was now stuck.
A small part of Trixie's mind recognised that she'd gotten herself lost; a much larger part blamed it on the map. The colt who had sold it to her had clearly been a liar and a cheat.
Life just wasn't fair.
She let lose another scream and kicked her wagon again. The only result was to wedge the stuck wheels even deeper in to their respective cracks.
If only the wagon hadn't been so large she might have been able to levitate it out but even she, the Great and Powerful Trixie, had limits, as great and powerful as those limits might be. The same small part of her mind as before whispered that Twilight had managed to lift something even large to stop the Ursa, but she swiftly silenced it. That voice was not to be trusted. It was clearly insane. The idea that Twilight was a more skilled magician than her was as absurd, just as most of the voice's heretical notions were.
All the same she tried.
Setting all four hooves square on the ground, she lowered her head and horn. Then she concentrated. A purple glow sprang up around her horn, magic gathering and preparing. When ready, she reached out with her spell and she heaved.
Light flickered around her cart but didn't form into the proper glow of telekinesis. That didn't matter; it only meant she needed to try harder and try harder she did. Muscles strained under her blue coat, she gritted her teeth and the first hints of overglow began to form around her horn, flickering up like a candle flame, above and beyond the horn's normal glow.
In front of her, the cart looked like one of her light show. Motes of magical glow exploded from the wood and cloth; purple light flicked around it, one moment surrounding the whole waggon, the next just a small part; and the entire construct seemed to almost vibrate in place. After a few seconds it began to move.
Slowly at first but getting faster with every passing second, the rear set of wheels lifted off the ground and even that much was an immense strain. Sweat rolled down her brown and ruined her mane. But she was doing it! She was doing it!
Ponderous, like a blimp, the cart lifted into the air, front and back and everything in between. One foot. Two foot. Three foot!
It was amazing. She was amazing. The Great and Powerful Trixie! She'd never done any act of raw magic half so impressive before. The Mule couldn't ever hope to compete. She could see the Mule's face down, crushed by her own depression as the fateful realisation struck, that she would never even be half the magician Trixie was. It would be so sweet. The look in those amethyst eyes as tears welled up. The dejected slump in the legs. The way her neck would hang long, as if bowing to her now-and-always superior, forelocks over eyes.
So caught up in her fantasy was Trixie that she didn't notice when her concentration began to faulted. When she did, it was already too late. Between on moment and the next, the wagon slipped from her magical grip and came crashing down, right onto the rocky road.
Wood splintered, one of the wheels came off, rolling away down the road and Trixie screamed. The world did hate her and it was all the Mule's fault! Then road cracked open and Trixie had an entire different thing to scream about.
~~~
Pain was the first thing Trixie noticed, followed quickly by even more pain. She ground her teeth together until the backs of her eyelids stopped glowing red. Once that happened, she clambered to her hooves and looked around, each movement sending a miniature spike of agony through her body. Rock. Lots and lots of rock. Then she looked up.
It was dark overhead, with a few stars shining brightly, but they were a long way off, separated by what must have been twenty meters of rocky cliff wall. She appeared to be at the bottom of a chasm of some kind, or perhaps a cave whose roof had fallen in.
Then something struck her: she could have died! Trixie's ears flattened back against her head and she backed up a half step despite herself. A fall like that, well, it was clearly only because her great and powerful abilities that she was here at all. The reminder of those abilities calmed her some and she took a deep breath.
"Come on Trixie," she said. "Think."
First question: where was she, other than at the bottom of some pit?
A moment's concentration illuminated her horn and she looked about. There were other things among the rocks. Wooden things. Cloth things. Her wagonà She could have cried it was so unfair. She'd only just gotten it in a fit state to use. How could she have been so foolish?
No!
This wasn't her fault. Trixie wasn't entirely sure how, but she knew, just knew, the Mule was behind everything. She would pay.
Right then Trixie wanted nothing more than to scream or hoof something in the face but she forced herself to calm. She needed to escape; could she exit the way she came? She looked up. No, the hole in the roof was far too high and the walls much too steep to climb. Her sister might have caused a scandal by running off with a mountain goat but she certainly hadn't. That meant she wouldn't be leaving the way she came.
Some other way then.
Illuminated in the otherworldly purple glow of her horn, the space looked like a ragged gash cut into the ground. The hole she'd entered by was near one end of the gash, right next to a rocky stone wall, but the other end was hidden from sight, too far away from even her horn to illuminate it and roofed by rock.
Trixie defiantly didn't worry the ground with her front hoof. Only foolish foals did that kind of thing and she was no foal. All the sameà Too follow the chasmà Just on the off chase it might lead to the surface?
Scrap. Scarp. Scarp. She glared down at her left forehoof. It stopped moving.
It wasn't like she had much choice. Stopping only to rescue her saddlebags from her destroyed wagon and salvage some of her more valuable possessions, Trixie set of into the cave, recovered magician's cloak draped over her neck and back for warmth.
~~~
After an hour of walking, Trixie's saddlebags started to chafe against her flanks. After two hours her hooves hurt from walking over sharp, uneven stones. Three hours and she was ready to start screaming again. Ten minutes more and she did.
It was a dead end. A large slab of rock blocked her path, traveling at right angles across her tunnel. It was cast a ghastly purple brown in the light from her horn and was mocking her.
"Is this what you want!" shouted Trixie. "To trap me here! Well the Great and Powerful Trixie will show you."
She took a few steps back and levelled her horn. The glow intensified and a black cloud formed over her head. With a flicker of will, she sent a lightning bolt slashing forward. It hit the slab with a thunderous crack but left only a blackened soot mark. She blasted the rock again and again, each lightning bolt brighter than the one before. Not a one resulted in anything different than the first.
She screamed and threw everything she had into the magic. Wind battered the rock and rain drummed against it. She smashed it with animated rocks and the ripped at it with telekinesis directly. It was all for naught.
By the time she was finished, Trixie was panting. Her perfect sky blue mane was soaked with sweat and her horn almost drooped on her forehead.
It just wasn't fair.
In the dwindling light of her horn, Trixie stood in the cave. The rock mocked her, blocking her path. She was trapped. There was no other path. The gash lead from one rock wall to another, the only other exist a hole far too high up for her to reach.
One final time she looked at the rock slab, hoping for something, anything. The universe delivered.
The slab of rock wasn't a slab of rock! Swept clean of grim by wind and rain she could see it was a wall, each brick marked with a slightly recessed oval shape. It wasn't natural. It was civilisation! Civilisation meant ponies and ponies meant rescue!
Thinking quickly, she levitated a nearby rock and bashed it off of the wall as hard as she could. It clanged loudly. Hollow.
"Hello!" she shouted. "Can anypony hear me? The Great and Powerful Trixie would be most grateful for any help."
She leaned forward, putting her ear against the wall, not even caring out what that did to her coat and mane. There was sound from the other side. Hoofsteps?
She took a few steps back and again slammed the rock again the wall, rapidly this time.
"Help!" she shouted.
Before her one of the bricks fell away, just below head height. "Yes? What is you being wanting?"
Trixie knelt down of her forelegs and peered through the gap. What she saw took her slightly a back.
It wasn't a pony of any sort, not a Pegasus, Unicorn or even a Earth Pony. It looked like a diamond dog might if its fur had been replaced with leathery, almost reptilian kin.
Repulsive the creature might be but the Great and Powerful Trixie was a consummate performer, well use to interacting with her infamous.
"My good gentlecolt- err- thing. I appear to be lost. Mightn't I trouble you for directions to the surface?"
Its beady black eyes flickered up and down. "No," it said and slotted the brick back into place.
She would not scream. She would not scream. Trixie screamed.
"Now listen here you insignificant worm," she shouted. "I am the Great and Powerful Trixie. You will help me this instant!"
For a few heartbeats she was left standing there, head and neck lolling down, panting. Then the brick pulled back again and the black eyes reappeared.
"Mistress's? You is being new Mistress's?"
"I," said Trixie before stopping herself. "I am the Great and Powerful Trixie and you will help me!"
"You is Mistress's!" said the little creature and joy was evident in its voice. "Is wait please."
This time the brick did not slot back into place. Instead the surrounding blocks started to fall out and Trixie needed to take some very quick steps back to avoid the shower of debris. In a matter of seconds, the entire wall came apart. When it was completely down, a small creature stood revelled. It was a squat thing, probably not even reaching the top of her leg. It looked to have half again too much skin for its frame. It also had hands û not proper hooves û like some monkey, and an iron pick axe was thrown over one shoulder.
"You is coming this way, Mistress's, yes?" said the creature and beckoned her forward.
Being careful of the rubble carpeting the floor, Trixie followed.
~~~
The small creature led Trixie through a confusing maze of corridors. Branching paths split off ever few meters and occasionally great cavernous spaces would be visible, void of purpose and gathering dust.
After a few minutes silent walking, Trixie focused again the small creature. "You're taking me to the surface right? And what was that Mistress business?"
"I is taking Mistress's to the Heart," it said. "Is where new Mistress's becoming new Mistress's."
Trixie stamped a forehoof. "Stop. I want to get out of this place not go to this heart. And you didn't answer my question. What's this Mistress business?"
"Mistress's is Mistress's. She's is being in-charge of Heart."
"You still haven't told me what the heart is!"
"Heart is Heart. From there's, Mistress's is being able to do anything she's wanting."
"The heart can get me back to the surface?"
"Yes Mistress's. The Heart can do anything. It is powerful magic. We must go, yes?"
Powerful magicà That made Trixie's purple eyes gleam. Powerful magic to show up the Mule. Not that she needed more magic to show she was better than the Mule butà
"Yes," said Trixie. "Yes we must."
The 'heart', as it turned out, was not much further. It was a strange device: a gigantic onyx gem, almost the size of Trixie's head, polished smooth and shaped into a sphere. It sat, or more properly hovered, between four crystal pillars, made from the same material, but cut in uneven lines, like unsorted books piled atop one another. It set Trixie's horn on edge.
It was magical, of that there could be no doubt. She could feel its incredible energies in the air, like tensed springs. In truth, it felt dark and Trixie was suddenly a whole lot less sure of her actions that before.
"You is touching with hand, yes?" said the small creature.
Hand? thought Trixie. It probably meant hoof. That didn't matter, though. What mattered was whether she was going to do it at all.
"Listen," she said. "I'm not sure. This 'heart' thingà It feels dark."
You must really be feeling something, said the traitorous voice who lived in her head. That almost sounded normal.
"Heart is power," said the small creature. "You is touching and you is getting power, yes, yes?"
Powerà There was that world again. Power to beat Twilight the Mule, power to show the world just how Great and Powerful she was.
"And I could use this power to leave, right? And there's no other way."
"Yes. Yes. Heart can open path to surface. Heart is strong."
"Well okay then." Trixie swallowed then raised her head. "The Great and Powerful Trixie will use this power for the Great and Powerful Trixie's ends."
The little creature clapped its hands together and smiled, opening a gaping maw in its wrinkled face. "I is having new Mistress's!"
Carefully, Trixie raised one forehoof and moved it towards the heart. To her unicorn senses, it was like pushing through water, the magic as thick and strong as she'd ever felt. The traitorous voice in the back of her head screamed for her to stop but she needed this power. Needed it to make herself strong. Needed it to escape if nothing else.
It was only after her hoof touched the gem sphere that a thought occurred to her: if she was the new mistress, what happened to the old one? But by then it was too late. Magical lightning shot up her leg and along her body and pain consumed her world.
~~~
Grabit the imp watched as the lightning consumed his new Mistress's, mouth wide in an impish smile, rows of miss matched black teeth clear for all to see. Of course there was no one to see, not since the old Master was slain. The monsters had stayed around for a while but even they'd eventually drifted off, looking for new haunts and fresher treasure hoards. It had been just him for more years than he could count û which admittedly was limited by his allotment of fingers and toes û but that would change now. Now there was a new Mistress's, and there would be new monsters and a new war against the surface world. It was all he could do not to burst into an impromptu song and dance number; he didn't though. After so many years his choreography would be just terrible. All he needed to do was stop the new Mistress's meeting the same fate as the old Master and then... And then... His smile grew even wider.
Silently he watched as cold burning blue fire gathered around the Heart and stood stock still as it exploded out, letting it wash over him. Where it past, the floor and walls changed. Magic swept away years of dust and grim, and the iconography morphed. Gone was the blank oval of a keeperless dungeon and in its place was a magical wand, releasing a half moon of stardust, repeated over and over again, countless times.
Unseen even by the ever faithful Grabit, it swept out through the dungeon, covering the deepest cellars and highest bolt holes. It covered spaces which had once been training grounds, ran through the empty treasury, bathed long cold kitchens, and rolled out through the one hole in fortified outer wall, made by Grabit less than an hour before. It thundered down the narrow chasm path, a tsunami shaped and forced onwards by its own weight, until it reached one final wall. There in crashed in on itself, a raging inferno of cold magical flame. High above, though, shone the moon and half a world away a pony's eyes opened wide. Something very, very wrong had just occurred under her moon.
~~~
"Careful," said Spike.
Twilight paused, the beaker of florescent red liquid shaking in her telekinetic grip. She shot Spike an annoyed looked and went back to her work: mixing two magical liquid hopefully towards a productive result. The first drop of red liquid fell, falling into a bowl filled with its blue counterpart. Where they meet rings of iridescent colour bloomed to life.
"Careful," said Spike again.
Twilight closed her eyes, trying to block out her assistant's 'advice' and keep her magical grip steady. She'd gotten up extra early to do this experiment in peace and nopony was going to distract her, especially if that pony was a dragon. After a few seconds to sure-up her nerves, she started pouring again. Too much liquid too fast and it would explode; too little too slow and nothing would happen at all. Red and blue merged. Magic lived. The experiment progressed.
"Carful-" Spike suddenly jerked back and a small blast of glowing green flame jumped from his mouth. Twilight jerked back. Her concentration faltered. Red liquid fell in a wave. It met blue. And-
A black explosion erupted upwards, smelling of burning sulphur, right into Twilight's face.
Stillness settled over the room, not a pony or dragon moving an inch, then two purple eyes opened in a sea of black soot. For such a magical pony, there was very little friendship in them.
"Spike," she said, voice low, horn lowered and pointed right at the small dragon.
Said dragon laughed weakly. "You've got û hehe û mailà" He held up scroll, only slightly blackened by the explosion.
Twilight snatched it from him with a burst of telekinesis.
"Let's see," she said and unrolled the scroll. She pursed her lips.
"Let me see!" said Spike.
Twilight passed the scroll over.
"Hum," said Spike and cleared his throat, which for a dragon meant a miniature blast of fire. "'Hear ye, hear ye, Her Grand Royal Highness, yadda yadda yadda. Here we go, 'Here by orders Twilight Sparkle and the ponies known as Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Pinkamena Diane Pie, Fluttershy and Rarity and the dragon known as Spike to travel to the magnificent capital city of Canterlot for an audience before the Thrones.'"
He looked up at Twilight. "What does this mean?"
"It means, Spike," said Twilight, "that Princess Celestia wants to speak to us and is being oddly formal about it."
~~~
"No! No! No! This simple won't do," said Rarity, already hoofing through a large trot-in wardrobe. "I have simply nothing to wear!"
"Rarity," said Twilight but was cut off.
"Maybe this," said Rarity, levitating a green dress, lined with emeralds along the seams. "No no much too showy. This is Canterlot, not some gambling resort. Maybe a saddle instead?" Her horn glowed and a range of silk saddles with gently rounded pommels levitated into view. "Ah! What am I thinking? A saddle, at the royal court? I'd be laughed all the way back to Ponyville, left to wallow the rest of my life in ignominy and disgrace."
"Ignomin-what-ty?" asked Rainbow Dash.
"Long lasting Public disgrace," said Twilight, "and Rarity, if you must get dressed, what's wrong with your Galloping Gala dress?"
Rarity rounded on her. "Wear the same dress twice! To the same place! With the same people! I'd rather go naked! At least then way when the lowliest orphan on the street starts pelting me with rubbish I'll have an easier job cleaning it off!"
"Listen Sugercube," said Applejack. "Don't ya' think you mightn't be overreaching just a little?"
"Overreacting!" said Rarity, stalking towards Applejack. "Overreacting! Will I be overreaching when I'm banished from high society! Will I be overreacting when people stop buying my dresses and I'm left poor and destitute. Forced toà Force to do whatever it is poor and destitute people do!"
"Well, I, oh, never mind," said Fluttershy. Everypony turned to look at her and she looked down, beginning to hoof the ground. "Well, I, I just think the red dress with the embroidery stitched sleevesà I'll just be quite now."
"Hum," said Rarity and her horn glowed as she levitated the indicated dress into the air. "It's not perfect. I'll need to take in the sleeves slightly butà Yes, I do believe I've found my dress. Thank you Fluttershy."
The pegasus raised her head and smiled shyly. "Well, if you're sure."
"Yes, yes I am. How long do I have to make the modifications?"
"An hour," said Twilight, "or however long it takes me to find Pinkie Pie."
"One hour!"
~~~
In the end it was closer to two before Twilight, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Rarity and Spike were loaded into a pair of pegasus drawn flying chariots and headed towards Canterlot.
Upon touching down in in a large stone courtyard, Rainbow Dash erupted into the air, wings flapping. "Ah! I hate being cooped up at that. I can fly faster these guys anyway."
The pegasus who'd pulled the cart glared at her; Rainbow Dash ignored him.
"After how much effort I put into your mane?" said Rarity. "No. No. No. You might have refused my generous offer of a dress but I simply will not have you looking like you've flown backwards through an out-of-control storm. Now, come down here this minute."
"Fine. Fine," said Rainbow Dash and flapped back down, alighting on the courtyard with a dull click.
"Well, um, I think you've done wonders with my mane, Rarity," said Fluttershy. "Thank you."
"Oh it was nothing," said Rarity, waving a hoof. "Just a little bit of conditioner and a stiff comb. As I've said before, Darling, you have simply fabulous hair."
Fluttershy began hoofing the ground again.
"Ooh! Ooh," said Pinkie Pie, bouncing down from the other carriage, puffy pink mane bouncing too. "What about me?"
"Your mane, dear," said Rarity, "is, well... Your mane is unique."
Pink earth pony's mane was suddenly as straight as a curtain.
"The good kind of unique," said Rarity hastily.
At once Pinkie Pie's hair sprung back into its former puffy glory and she trotted away, a wide smile on her face.
Twilight sighed and hopped down from her cart, Spike and Applejack a few steps behind her. "Let's go everypony. From the sound of the letter, this is very important."
~~~
Without delay, the seven friends were ushered through the palace by a gaggle of butler-ponies and lead to a large set of double doors guarded by a pair of royal guards.
Rainbow Dash flapped into the air and examined both ponies carefully. She looked from one, to the other and then back down at her friends. "Are these the same ponies from when the Princess visited Ponyvile? I can't tell."
Nopony had an answer to that and if the guards did, they weren't sharing.
After only a few more seconds, the doors were pulled open and a head stuck out. It belonged to an elderly colt, with deep black hair only just going grey in places.
"Ah yes, Twilight and retinue. Please come inside. The Princesses are expecting you."
"Princesses!" hissed Rarity. "Both of them! I didn't know we were meeting both of them. What if Princess Luna doesn't like red! What if she's still angry about that business from a year ago!" One of her hoofs came up and started tugging at the neck-line of her dress.
"Calm down Rarity," said Twilight. "I'm sure Princess Luna will like you dress and won't have held a grudge."
The elderly colt coughed and motioned forward.
As they started to walk, Rainbow Dash leaned up to Twilight and said, "Hey, Twi, how come we're Twilight and retinue? I think we should be Rainbow Dash and the Rainbowbolts. Rarity could make us cool uniforms."
"Ooh! Ooh! Ooh!" said Pinkie Pie, bouncing up and down in place. "How about the Parity Ponies!"
"Spike and the Spikettes!" said Spike.
"Now just wait one apple pickin' minute," said Applejack. "Ah ain't going to be nopony's 'ett' and why do we have ta' be any of that junk? Couldn't they have just said our names? There's only seven of us."
"Well I quite like being Twilight and retinue," said Fluttershy, head down.
Argument faded as they were lead into the throne room and they all looked to the far end where the two princesses sat. There was a throne for each of them, both set atop the same high stepped daises, only a few inches between. The leftmost looked to be made of from gold and on it sat Princess Celestia, wings folded in and horn resplendent. The other was made from silver and held the smaller form of Princesses Luna. Behind them was a high stained glass window showing both princesses, Luna coloured in a range of blues, Celestia in white and pink.
Once all seven friends were lined up, Celestia leaned over to her sister and said, "Go on Luna. You felt it so it should be you who tells them."
Luna looked at the ground, ears back. "I'm not sure. What if I- What if it all goes wrong?"
Celestia looked her sister in the eyes. "You're my sister and I trust you. You'll do fine."
"Well. If you're sure..." Luna turned towards the assembled ponies. "Erm, I." She took a breath, clopped down off her throne and rose up on her hind legs, wings thrown wide for balance. Shadows gathered around her.
"Quail!" she intoned, voice only wavering slightly.
"Psst," said Rainbow Dash, under her breath to Applejack standing beside her. "Isn't quail a type of bird?"
Luna shot her a look which made even Rainbow Dash shut up.
"Quail ponies, for you stand before Her Grand Royal Highness Princess Luna of Equestria!" The waves of shadow crashed down and in the background lightning struck and thunder roared. "By Our Command you shall travel to the village of Hoofington, bearing with you Our Writ of Investigation. There, you shall find and confront the coming darkness and not return lest that darkness had been driven from Our lands."
Behind her, Celestia let out a light trill of laughter and clapped her hoofs together.
"See, sister. I told you it would all come back to you."
As Luna sat back down, the darkness receded and she returned to Celestia.
"I did good, right?"
Celestia leaned over and nuzzled her sister. "You did it perfectly."
Needless to say, there was quite a few confused looks following that announcement. Applejack turned to Rainbow Dash who shrugged. Fluttershy was peeking out from behind Rarity's legs and Pinkie Pie was bouncing up and down in place. After a few seconds they all turned towards Twilight, well, all except Pinkie Pie who'd stopped bouncing and started staring match with one of the stain glass windows. She was winning.
Twilight sighed. It was clear she'd just been volunteered, no volition required.
"Princess Celestia, Princess Luna," she said, dipping her head in a small bow to each. "What exactly is it you want us to do?"
"Oh it's nothing to important," said Celestia. "Luna said she felt something strange under her moon north-west of Hoofington. We just want you and your friends to go out there and make sure everything's okay. It should be a simple enough task for my most faithful student."
Twilight preened under the compliment but was still worried about the task. "Strange?"
"I know it's not much to go on," said Celestia, "but I'm afraid it's all we have. I'm sure it will all turn out to be nothing. It was only last week that Luna decided the squirrel outside her window was evil. She stayed locked in her rooms for almost a week and said it would get her if she left."
"Sister," said Luna, a note of whine in her voice. "Not in front of the M-O-R-T-E-Ls. And that squirrel was evil. It was looking at me. With its eyes!"
"They can spell you know."
Luna's eyes opened wide. "You let them read!"
Celestia let out a light-hearted whinny. "Yes, Luna, I let them read. Now Twilight, I want you to leave at once. If there is trouble, have Spike send me a letter as soon as possible. If there's not even time for that you might enlist the aid of Chef Perfect Boulanger. He lives in Hoofington and is one of Equestria's finest battle bakers. If nothing else, I'm sure he'll provide you with some very nice snacks."
~~~
"But I can't go to Hoofington," said Fluttershy, standing with the others outside the throne room. The meeting had ended a few minutes before. "What about all the animals?"
"And ma' farm!" said Applejack.
"And I simply couldn't abandon my boutique," said Rarity. "What would my customers think? It's only a week until the Raising Sun Celebration, one of my busiest times!"
Twilight turned to look at Rainbow Dashing who was flying along lazily on her side. The pegasus pony rolled a hoof. "Oh no," said in a droll voice. "What would the town do without me to control the weather." She stopped. "Ah, who am I kidding. This sounds awesome! A good twenty, no forty, no sixty percent more awesome than my job!" She stopped. "We get paid right?"
"I'll get back to you on that," said Twilight and then turned to the others. "Come on, it will only be a day or two and it's not like we have a lot of choice. This is a royal order."
"Well Ah guess Ah could have Big Macintosh watch the farm," said Applejack.
"I suppose my customers might stand a few days hiatus," said Rarity. "Most of the really important Raising Sun orders came in weeks, if not months, ago and are long finished. The kind of pony who leaves their dress to a week before hand probably isn't the proper kind of pony anyway."
"But the animals need me," said Fluttershy. "What will they do by themselves?"
"Ah could have Applebloom keep an eye on them for ya'," said Applejack. "She and her friends would be well powerful please for the chance."
Fluttershy paled, a pretty impressive feat for an already pale yellow pony. "No, no. That's all right. I'm- I'm sure I can find someone."
"Pinkie?" asked Twilight, looking towards the last pony in the group.
"Gosh, silly," said Pinkie Pie. "You can have parties anywhere! I can't wait to throw parties for a whole new town. Gummy might miss me, though."
Despite privately doubting Gummy even new who Pinkie Pie was, Twilight nodded all the same.
"Hey," said Spike, "what about me? Don't you girls think I might have a problem with running halfway across the country?"
Twilight gave him a level look.
"Fine, I'll get my coat."
"Silly Spike," said Pinkie Pie. "You don't have a coat; you have scales."
~~~
This is something I first posted over at <a href='http://s4.zetaboards.com/Temple_Of_The_Sage/index/' target='_blank' rel='nofollow'>Temple Of The Sage</a> (it a good forum check it out). I'm also posting it here for some comment.
As a side note, this was written pre-Luna Eclipsed so Luna is not quite like she is in canon, so no Royal Canterlot Speaking Voice.
Hope people enjoy it.
