Chapter 9

‘Migration Delaytion’

“What was that you said?!” demanded one of the Unicorn’s Guild. “What did you say?!”

“Never mind them!” said another. “We need to figure out what to do about that beast!”

“Not until we get rid one last traitor!” the unicorn roared back.

“What are you talking about?”

“I’m saying that Ms. Nimph has a good ideal about how that monster got here!” His angered blue eyes found the guilty yellow. “Well. Ms. Nimph, is there something you wish to share with us?!”

“I…I… He said that after it was done, you would have no choice but to give me Star Swirl’s work!” Nimph said ashamed of herself.

Around her, the ponies of the town were looking at her along with the guild that groaned in disbelief.

“And you took his word on that?” said the white mare saddened by what she had just heard.

“He said that it was a fake. Romulus said…”

“Oh, Romulus said did he?!” boomed one of the guild members. “And did he tell you that the spell he was planning on casting was dark magic?”

“No!” Nimph shouted back. “He knew that I would never have agreed to his plan if he did! Please you have understand, I never wanted this to happen!”

“Oh, we understand alright!” roared another guild member. “Your own desires mean more to you than the rest of us!”

“No, that’s not true!” argued Nimph. “I would have never agreed with Romulus if I knew that spell was dark magic! Don’t worry! I already said that I would fix this! And as Star Swirls apprentice…”

“Enough,” said the white unicorn firmly.

Her voice was strong, but patient as she had eyes only for the guilty mare before them.

“We know that you are Star Swirls student Nimph, but did you ever find it odd that he never mentioned you to us?”

Nimph had indeed thought about this. She only thought he never mentioned her because of his stubborn attitude to work alone and never let it slip that he had help along the way. Now, hearing one of the Unicorn’s Guild members tell her that they knew she was Star Swirl’s pupil gave her a sense of dread. She didn’t want to hear what the tall mare had to say next.

“The reason why we refused to let you have his work is because he told us so himself. He felt that you were not ready to have that much power at your disposal. And after tonight, I see why. His creations, his spells will never be yours.”

Nimph stood frozen to the spot. She couldn’t believe it. She didn’t want it to be true. In desperation she spoke out, this time her eyes swam with tears that were in danger of falling.

“Please, I know I can help you fix this! If you lend me his work I know that in time, I can find a counter spell!”

“No Nimph! You’ve already done enough! I’m sorry, but I think for now, you should leave.”

“Hold on!” said Nimph’s big sister. “By leave you mean stay low until you sort things out right?”

“You know what they mean big sister,” said Nimph, her tears finally falling. “If that is what they wish then… I will leave, but I swear to you, I will find a counter spell!”

“You have no idea what you are getting yourself into Nimph,” said the white unicorn warningly. “I implore you to not pursue your goal.”

Nimph glared at the tall mare as she felt hatred towards her and the rest of the guild. She levitated her ruff sack on her back and made to leave the towns ponies behind. They stepped aside allowing her to leave, watching her as she walked passed them. When she looked back at them, she saw the guild was once again talking about ways they could defeat The Defiler. Amongst the crowd of scared ponies, she could have sworn that she saw her big sister, niece and brother in law watching her as she left. Nimph knew that if anypony was going to have a chance of defeating The Defiler, it would be her! She was Star Swirl’s student after all and she knew magic that the guild had no knowledge of. She felt her blood boil as she thought back to what she had just learned. How could her teacher think that she wasn’t ready to continue his studies after he was gone? Hadn’t she already proven to him that she was worthy of carrying on his title? No, according to the guild, Star Swirl didn’t think that and he didn’t want her to either. A new feeling of anger and determination flowed through her, stronger than any spell she had ever cast! She will show them all that she was worthy!

Back at Canterlot, the king stood on the balcony. He stared out into the horizon in deep thought. He didn’t know why, but for a moment he felt like something was wrong. Breathing in fresh air his gaze stayed on the mountains beyond the Everfree Forest.

“Night Shade,” said a soft voice from behind him.

As his queen nuzzled his neck, he knew that she must have been looking for him.

“Shouldn’t you be sleeping dear?” he asked.

“Shouldn’t you know that you can’t hide your feelings from me,” she said sweetly. “What is it? You’ve been awfully quiet.”

“I don’t know,” said Night Shade still looking at the mountains that remained undisturbed. “I thought I heard something.”

“Oh?” questioned Star Bright. “Like what?”

“Nothing, forget it. It’s probably just my imagination,” said Night Shade.

“Imagination or not, you have to go with your gut feeling,” Star Bright said kissing him on the cheek. “While your gaze is on the mountains, you do know what tomorrow is right?”

“Yes, the Dragons will begin migrating. Perhaps we should let the girls see it.”

“Yes, I think your right,” replied Star Bright stepping closer to her king and laying her head on his crest and rubbing against it sweetly.

The king returned her affection with placing his wing around her shoulder and together they stared out into the distance for a while longer before they headed back inside the castle.

“Celestia are you paying attention?” came the misty voice of her magic teacher.

Celestia was staring out into the horizon in deep thought while the unicorn was explaining to her and Luna about how far magic can stretch and where the line between possible and improbable meet. The two sisters at this point were reaching their second stage of magic training and soon they would be ready to do things that they had only dreamed of. Celestia blinked out of her daydream and looked at her teacher completely relaxed and ready to be asked a question.

“I said would you mind demonstrating how water can be used by magic?”

Celestia stood up and walked to the center of the almost completely empty room and focused her magic until she felt her horn emit yellow light. With magic briskly flowing through her, she concentrated on the image of water until she saw in her minds eye an underground lake in the mountain their castle had been built on. Opening her eyes in surprise she let her horn dim out and started to explain how the gap of magic works.

“When casting you have to keep a calm and steady form. While it is possible to conjure up materials or objects, the caster must be able to visualize the thing they want before it appears. Things like food are one of a handful of things that cannot be made out of thin air. By the way Madam Quill, I didn’t know that there was an underground lake around here.”

“Oh, yes!” said Madam Quill dreamily. “There is indeed a lake around these parts! In fact I too had just discovered it myself when I came here to teach you two the ways of magic! It would explain where you get your water source from and I must say, that I’m surprised that nopony has bothered to explore the mountain this castle stands on! Perhaps there could be a secret entrance somewhere leading to it! or perhaps, it is nearly impossible to find it because there is no hidden cave.”

“You told us that materials can be conjured,” began Luna. “But is there a limit as to how much can be brought up.”

“Ahhh…” said Madam Quill impressed. “That my dear, is where two horns are better than one. While magic can be cast by a single unicorn or in both of your cases, Alicorn, magic uses energy. The stronger the spell the more energy is needed to preform.”

Luna listened intently at what was being said. She found herself being fascinated by learning about the many ways magic can be used. Her sister on the other hoof, preferred to make these new discoveries on her own. In her eyes there was no sense of surprise or excitement of finding out these new ways of casting magic if you have already been told how they work. To her, it just took all the fun out of finding such things out on her own. While their magic training and flight lessons were going as well as they could expect the fact still remained that they would have to master their power over the sun and moon. At first Celestia thought that deliberately throwing herself into harms way would awaken her newfound powers and help her succeed in lowering the sun again. This theory only led to a worried little sister and an irate Snap Shot who told her off on several occasions when she tried recreate what she had done before to make the sun set.

“Princess, you will master your powers in time, but for now just for the love of Equestia, don’t do anything too rash!”

“Come on “Captain Grump!” Celestia argued back after he had stopped her from preforming another dangerous stunt involving a dive bomb at the ground.

The idea was to dive at the ground only to pull away seconds before impact.

“How am I supposed to master the sun if I can’t even make it move!”

“I don’t know!” said Snap Shot shouting back at her.

The two hovered in the same spot for some time while they glared at each other. Once Snap Shot had calmed down a bit he said in a more relaxed tone, “I don’t know when you two will be able to control the sun and moon willingly, but what I do know is that when the time comes, I have a feeling that you will know. And…”

“And what?” Celestia asked her cheeks still red.

“Nothing, forget it,” said Snap Shot turning away from her. “Luna, take your reckless sister and go over what we have learned today!”

“Reckless?!” Celestia shot back and before she could start another fight, Luna grabbed her tail and pulled her away from the retreating Pegasus.

The next day, Celestia woke up early before the sun had even begun to rise. Luna was fast asleep in her room having being worn out from learning about stars and what she could do with them once she could raze the moon. Celestia snuck out of the castle and galloped her way down the empty streets of the city until she came to a stop near the edge of the cliff overseeing the Everfree Forest below. The night was warm, scattered clouds hung above the forest. If it weren’t for the vast canopy, the clouds would have cast their full shadow over the forest grounds. Celestia stepped close to the edge and looked down. Only now she had realized just how high they were from the kingdom’s lands below. She kicked a small rock over the edge with her hoof and watched it disappear into the canopy. She then looked out into the horizon. The stars above her twinkled in her eyes. The crescent moon; shun its remaining light down on the mountains surrounding the land. Celestia backed away from the cliff in order to distance herself. With a determined look she walked back taking each stride with purpose. Upon reaching the edge of the cliff she closed her eyes and visualized herself taking flight with her sister as they prepared to fulfill their duties to Equestria. She was now inches away from leaving the ground. With a deep breath she reached out a hoof and allowed herself to fall. The wind brushed her coat and feathers as she fell further down. Her shadow followed her decent until she let her wings spread and she pulled out of her dive and soared up into the sky. Once again the feeling of freedom took over her, she opened her eyes too let out an excited laugh as she climbed higher. Her wings carried her to the clouds where she made to dive through them.

Splat!

Celestia felt her head and upper body sink into the cloud while the lower part stuck out, trapped in the never-ending dive. Despite having landed face first into the cloud she felt no pain upon impact. In fact the whole ordeal was like falling into a pile mud, soft and wet. The only difference here is that she didn’t feel disgusted after having done the latter and where there would be nothing but brown being seen before your vision goes black; she saw a white blanket of mist. Lowering herself she felt her hind legs touched the cloud and she began to pull herself free. At last her head popped out leaving an imprint of where she once was. To her amazement she realized that she was walking on the cloud! To her, it felt the same way as it would if she was back on solid ground. She started off walking down the cloud, then she tried trotting and finally with her excitement building she broke off in a gallop. As she reached the end of the cloud she found herself not wanting to stop before she leapt.

Nearing the end of her white platform, she jumped and landed with ease on another cloud. Celestia began to laugh. And once started it was impossible to stop. She rolled around on the white surface as the joy she was feeling came full circle. Her laughing became nothing but small giggles after words. She laid on her soft floating blanket and looked up at the stars. Sitting up she saw that a hint of pink and orange was creeping up on the horizon. The sun must be getting ready to rise. Once more Celestia set her sights on where the day’s light was coming from and closed her eyes to envision herself rising with it. She felt the warmth of the sun as its light hit her face and following its steady rise she two felt herself rise with it. She didn’t even stop her wings from spreading as her body gently lifted from the cloud and like before she spread her hooves out and rose with the sun. She hovered there for some time until she let her herself come back to reality.

"One day. Just you wait," She thought to herself with pride. "I will bring forth the sun!

Celestia flew back to the castle and landed on her bedroom’s balcony. She headed back inside to begin the day when something caught her eye as she was passing by her mirror. At first she thought that her eyes were playing tricks on her, but then she looked at her flank where sure enough clear as the day itself an image of a sun was seen!

Star Bright was the first to notice her oldest daughter’s cutie mark. The reason behind this… Celestia came down to breakfast that morning with such a smug feature on, that it aught to have been banned. Smiling to herself Celestia wasted no time in showing off her new feature to anypony who would notice.

“Wow!” exclaimed one of her friends when she showed it to them later that day. “How did you get it?”

“I have no idea!” said Celestia proudly. “But what ever I did, it worked!”

“Big deal,” said a stallion next to the mare who was admiring the cutie mark. “It’s just a sun.”

“And yours, may I add is what again BlackWood? Shears?”

“Yeah, what about them?” asked Black Wood, a little flushed.

“Oh, nothing,” replied the mare with a devious smirk. “Well, what do you think it means Celestia?”

“I… Don’t know,” replied Celestia wondering the same thing. “It could mean anything?”

“Well, at least I know what mine stands for,” said Black Wood grinning to himself.

“Yes, we all do. The shears are in fact proof of your “Shear dimwittedness,” the mare pronounced.

“Careful Wind Chime," said Black Wood in a teasing manner. "Or I’ll be sure to give you demonstration of one of my bad mane cuts,”

This shut her up as she quickly made to protect herself from the mischievous stallion before her. Both Celestia and Black Wood laughed.

“Don’t worry Wind Chime," said Celestia patting her friend on the back. "I highly doubt he would follow through with that threat,”

“Who’s to say I wouldn’t,” protested Black Wood smiling broadly at the two young mares. “While I have tried my techniques out on sheep, I have yet to try them on ponies,” he said the last bit so quietly that only Wind Chime could hear him.

Celsestia was sure that Black Wood did it intentionally.

“Anyway,” she said clearing her throat. “What about you Black Wood?”

“What about me?”

“Wind Chime has flying lessons, Tick and Tock have magic training, Luna and I have be able to do both, what about earth ponies?”

“There’s nothing to it really,” said Black Wood and he added with his chest puffed out with pride. “We may not have horns or wings, but we do have spunk.”

Wind Chime snorted sarcastically at this claim, but Black Wood only beamed with pride as he pounded his chest. The four spent their time together talking more about cutie marks and how they have such a huge impact on their lives once they have them. Cutie marks have been believed to have a type mystical element about them. It was as if once a pony earned theirs, the individual would not only have a marking on their flanks, but that marking would become a symbol of their destiny. Although Celestia had a pretty good idea of what her cutie mark meant, she and Luna decided ahead of time to keep their roles as future Princesses of Equestria away from their friends until they felt ready to tell them. Something about their friends calling them “Princess” didn’t quite feel right. At least to Luna it didn’t. Celestia on the other hoof, once she had accepted her duties, she felt a tinge of excitement whenever the word “Princess” was brought up. Luckily she did agree with Luna to keep that part of them a secret, but that didn’t stop her from grinning widely whenever she discovered another thing she thought was interesting about their future roles to the kingdom. That afternoon, Celestia and Luna along with their parents and friends waited near the edge of the city to witness the dragons migrating from the west. Luna spotted Tick and Tock talking heavily about the event. Tock was a red unicorn with silver eyes and an odd mane and tail color. His little brother Tick was a light blue unicorn with black eyes and like his bother; his mane and tail had a unique color. The reason behind this was that the two considered themselves as the inventive type. Highly creative and willing to take risks on certain things that many would think twice before going through with it. Ticks cutie mark was a clock with only its short hand facing to the right; while his brother Tocks, was a clock with only its long hand facing the left. Tock pointed his hoof up at the sky and moved it around while trying to explain something to his brother. When Tick spotted Luna he and Tock made their way over.

“Ah, Luna glad you’re here too,” said Tock happily. “Please tell my brother I’m right.”

“No Tock,” said Tick nudging his big brother aside. “Luna can you please tell him that in this case he could be mistaking.”

“How could I tell any of you what I think when I don’t even know what your talking about?” said Luna wondering what in Equestria's name could they be up to this time.

“Yes, well, you know how this is the time for dragons to be migrating right?” Tock began explaining. “I was just telling Tick here that we should be taking cover incase a chance of fire.”

“You shouldn’t even be joking about that Tock!” exclaimed Luna. “The dragons won’t bother us as long as we don’t do anything to upset them!”

“That’s what I said,” said Tick in agreement. “But Tock thinks one of us might give one of them the wrong impression.”

“You wouldn’t dare!” Luna rounded on Tock.

“I wasn’t going to do anything,” said Tock innocently. “But what if…”

“What ever it is your scheming Tock, it will be the last thing you ever do.” Luna said seriously.

“Relax Luna,” said Tock putting a hoof on the Alicorns shoulder and patting it. “Even if I was planning on experimenting with something, I probably won’t get the chance to.”

When Luna eyed the unicorn sternly he added casually, “It looks like they are late this time around.”

He was right. Not only was there no sign of the dragons, but the clear sky continued to remain empty. Usually the dragons would take this window of opportunity to head out. Clear skies meant better flying conditions and for the ponies it meant having the chance to see the majestic creatures soar by. The Pegasus had once again been requested to stay grounded while the event was in motion so the dragons could continue their path without being disturbed. Night Shade’s gaze was fixed on the west where the dragons would be seen. The minutes turned to hours and finally the event was called off.

“Where are they dad?” asked Celestia.

“They must be running behind schedule this year,” said Night Shade. “We’ll hold the event tomorrow and see what happens.”

They did just that and even when the inhabitants showed up for the show a second time, they were let down by the absence of the mighty winged reptiles. A full week had passed and still there was no sight of the majestic creatures. To add to the mysterious absents of the dragons, word had reached Canterlot that a mighty fire had taken out an entire village in the north. Of course the king sent his troops to aid the ponies that have lost their homes, but something didn’t feel right. Night Shade was growing concerned and more curious as to why the dragons were missing in action. One night after training a highly amused Luna on how to create constellations with the stars, he set out on his own in search for answers. He flew passed valleys and explored ravines with no luck. Finally his search led him to the top of one of the mountains that were last rumored to have dragons roaming on them. By the cover of night, Night Shade made his way to the top of the mountains. What he found there was not what he had expected. He was only expecting to see an average twenty dragons or so. Instead, he saw a good fifty huddled at one mountaintop and forty more at the neighboring peak. One dragon stood watch at the edge of each peak. Night Shade hovered overhead blending in with the night. What in the name of Equestria was going on here?

He began to descend, hoping that his crown wouldn’t be reflected in the moonlight. The dragon’s long snout breathed in the air as its horned head turned from one side to the next. Night Shade landed gently on the rocky surface of the mountain and thought about the best way to approach the massive creatures. Even though he was tall himself, he only reached the shins of the mighty beasts. He carefully approached the one keeping watch while the rest behind him slept. Taking each step slowly the king drew closer to the dragon, but before he could make himself known it spoke with a low rumbling voice.

“You traveled far little one. Why have you come here? Your majesty?”

His orange eyes found the king but his head remained fixated on the horizon.

“I want to know why you and the rest of the dragons haven’t migrated yet?” said Nigh Shade looking up at great reptile.

So the dragon had smelt him coming, but why did he wait to speak until now?

“It is dangerous for you to be here alone,” said the dragon growling deeply. “If my kin sense you, they may not be so willing to speak with you like I am doing now.”

“Is there something wrong with the weather?” asked Night Shade. “If that is the case, then I could ask the Pegasus to make the weather more to your liking.”

“No,” said the dragon, “No, it has nothing to do with the weather.”

“Well, what then?”

The Dragon breathed in again. His eyes turned back to the horizon as if he had sensed something that the king could not. His eyes narrowed as he let out a low angry growl.

“It is a bad time for us to be roaming where ever we please. We can no longer do so. Not with him out there…”

“Who?” asked Night Shade.

“There is a great evil out there,” began the dragon, his gaze still fixed on something the king could not see. “He moves in the shadows, waiting for us to come to him, but we will not!”

“Is he another dragon like you?”

At this, the dragon turned his head to face the king and glared down at him.

“He is not one of us!” he snarled. “He is nothing, but a bloodthirsty monster!”

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to offend you!” said Night Shade worried that he had gone to far.

“That thing out there is nothing like us,” said the dragon returning to his low growl. “Such darkness is upon this land now. We will not venture out while he is at long last free to do what he tried to accomplish last time.”

“What did that thing try to do? Who is he?”

“He is a monstrous creature, bent on nothing but causing others suffering under his rule. He is what I and the rest of my race call… The Defiler. As long as he is around, this land and all those surrounding it will not be safe.”

“How can I help you put a stop to this?”

“Little pony, you are on your own. We will not risk another confrontation with The Defiler.”

“Hang on!” said the king loudly.

The sleeping dragons behind him stirred in their sleep. The dragon on the mountains edge beside them looked over to see who had spoke aloud.

“Calm yourself,” said the dragon to his fellow kin. “He won’t be around much longer.”

“How can you expect us to take on a creature that has scared even you?”

“That, we leave to you,” said the dragon regrettably.

“There was a fire in a village to the north,” said Night Shade. “Do you think it could have been him?”

“Hmmm, was the fire large in size?” asked the dragon.

“It was big enough to take out the homes of all the inhabitants.”

“If it was him then his symbol would be there too. I hope for your sakes that it wasn’t. Because if it was, then it has already begun. This world will be covered in flames and all those living will parish in the firestorm.”

“There has to be a way to stop him!” demanded Night Shade.

“There is, but we dragons know nothing of how he was stopped before. If we did, we would have stopped him ourselves by now.” The dragon said with another snarl. “I wish you and your kind the best of luck.”

“So that’s it then,” said Night Shade, his ears sinking. “You’re giving up?”

“Have courage little one. You will need it…”

Night Shade spread his wings and kicked off the ground leaving the dragons behind. The large reptile watched as the king flew higher and disappeared into the night. As he flew away the dragon saw in the distance a brief outline of something large moving through the starry sky. A sharp shiver went down the long spine as his eyes followed the winged beasts movement. The Defiler continued on his path in search for those who would not assist him in his conquest. The dragons dreaded what would happen to them if they didn’t help, but their minds were already made up. They would rather burn with the rest of the world, than take part of the rising flames.