A Chance to Live On

Here in the land of Equestria, six ponies gathered in the throne room where they were awaiting the two princesses. One of the ponies, Twilight Sparkle, was walking back and forth nervously as time slowly ticked away. Each click of the clock started to wear down on Twilight as seconds felt like minutes passing to her. Her friends were trying to find ways to alleviate the boredom that lingered in the throne room mainly Pinkie who look bored despite her cheery demeanor. The silence seemed to continue on for some time before someone decided to break it. Said someone was Rainbow Dash who was, in her mindset, bored beyond her imagination, "Ugh... What is taking the two princesses so long? I know I shouldn't be rushing them and all but come on, this is ridiculous!"

Twilight was able to make a rebuttal until Applejack beat her to it, "While Ah agree with ya on not rushin' em t’ take their time t' do whatever it is they're doin', Ya shouldn't be sayin' something like that just cause they're takin' longer than usual..." She pulled out a yellow five card and placed it on the red five card with a smile as she had one card in her hoof, "By the way, Ah'm down t' one card 'ere Rainbow! What was the word ya were suppose t' say? Oh right, Uno!"

Rainbow could only look at her in exasperation before looking down at her hooves as she was holding onto three cards, "No fair! You pulled that plus two yellow card on me when I placed a yellow card down just as I was down to one card too Applejack!" Her friend could only smirk as she was silently cheering herself while waving the last card in joy.

The sight of their antics managed to make Twilight chuckle. Still, it only did so much as she was looking at the glass mural of Discord's reign. The memories of Discord’s short reign, no matter how short or blurry, echoed faintly in her mind causing her to shudder. Pinkie noticed the action prompting her to slowly scoot up to her and try to comfort her. Twilight initially jumped a bit when Pinkie suddenly hugged her but the gesture was enough to ease her worries prompting a smile, "Thanks Pinkie… I really needed that.”

Pinkie happily giggled as she let go of her… “You welcome Twilight! That’s what friends are for!” Before she then hopped off to watch the two of them starting a new game of Uno. Twilight could only giggle once again except this time, at Pinkie’s general silliness. Her laughter then faded away as she looked back at the Discord mural once again before turning her attention towards her friends.

Both Rarity and Fluttershy saw her looking at them seemingly having calmed down thanks to Pinkie’s sudden hug. However, they noticed that she was still a bit panicky just not as much thankfully. Rarity decided to ask to confirm if what they were thinking was true, “Darling, you still feel a bit… not yourself right now?” She tried to not be upfront about what she wanted to say as to not hurt her feelings.

Thankfully, Twilight was able to understand and put her best smile forward despite her thoughts, “Uh huh, I just can't help myself I guess. I know that this is just a normal meeting and all that but... I can’t help but take this seriously. Looks like I’m having trouble letting go of my old habits..." She let a light chuckle escape having explained why she was still a bit jittery and such.

Fluttershy wrapped a wing around her trying her best to ease her panic. Her carefree smile and gentle stance, next to Pinkie’s hug managed to alleviate almost all of her worries. Her voice was the last thing that she needed to soothe her pain, “It’s alright Twilight, we’ll be here for you when they come, I’m sure of it. Isn’t that right everyone?” That got all four of them to nod as they stopped whatever activities they did and group hugged her.

The gesture prompted Twilight to hug all of her friends in a tight embrace. It wasn’t successful like how Pinkie would do it but the effort was there, “Thanks you girls, it feels great to have such wonderful friends by my side.” All of them hugged her tighter in response before letting go and separating. With a newfound courage, she decided to change the topic in mind, “So… What do you think the princesses are doing?”

Their answer to the question was a simple shrug. Pinkie tried to answer that question to the best her mind could conjure, “Who knows? Maybe they got caught up in some court duties?” Everyone stared into space for some time wondering about the likelihood of that answer before they ended up nodding and agreeing with the party pony’s suggestion. Hearing her friend’s agreeing words prompted a big smile and an action from Pinkie as she let loose her happiness by pulling out her party cannon from her mane and pulled the string, letting loose some confetti. They then rain down upon her friends who could only chuckle at her antics.

As the confetti rain ended, the sound of opening doors alerted them. They turn towards the double doors as they slowly opened. Once the doors fully opened and the guards saluted and moved out of the way, the two princesses then stepped forward. The six ponies immediately bowed in response as usual when approached by royalty. However, that only elicited a chuckle from Celestia as she stood in front of them, “There will be no bowing for us today. Please, we are here as friends today, not as our subjects the six of you...” The six of them all rose trying their best to not look embarrassed with what Celestia said about the current situation.

Luna could only quietly chuckle seeing them acting like so. She was glad to be able to meet them personally some time ago. Now if they can let go of that habit of bowing like Celestia wishes, then she could see herself amongst the populace once she got to understand the current culture. She put the thoughts aside for now though as she focused on the current task in front of her. Something occurred in her mind that made her smile, “That is… unless you still want to act like so?” That earned a questionable look from Celestia while the six looked at each other silently pondering about their answer. Luna was counting in her head as she was awaiting their answer, One… two… three… four… five… six… seven… eight… nine… When she reached the number ten, all of them shook their heads prompting a smile from both princesses just as Luna was finishing her thought, And we have reached number ten… what was the phrase Rainbow Dash would say? Ten seconds flat?

While she was thinking, Celestia decided to speak when Luna fell silent for her, “We thank you for the patience you six. Sorry we took a bit longer getting here, the royal court was really chaotic… You know how the Canterlot ponies are…” That got all of them to nod in agreement having been around them long enough to have a decent understanding of what she meant.

Her words were enough to snap Luna back to reality and speak her thoughts on the matter, “I now understand why you get bored when attending court sis… I swear the ponies make me wish to be out of there… Always the same problems over and over again, can’t our citizens handle their own problems instead of conversing us? Tis annoying sometimes having to deal with them on a daily basis…”

Celestia could only sigh once before chuckling about it, “All true, hence I have ways of entertaining myself during those long court meetings. Would you believe that I do all that stuff in secret while court was still going?” Their faces had an expression of shock upon hearing that before three of them ended up laughing at the idea in question. The three in question were Applejack, Rainbow and Pinkie. Celestia chuckled quietly with them having got her answer, “I’ll take that as a yes…”

Luna looked at her with an expression of jealousy and apt joy as she was thinking about the courts, “I am more concerned with how you are able to keep up with their shenanigans with such a straight face. I cannot even last a minute in those courts without wishing to bring my head on the table and start hitting it. I wish I had your aptitude for these things…”

Twilight could only take in all of what was being said by the two princesses. Rainbow was the first of the six to speak after some time, “I… I can’t believe I’m hearing this! The princesses, get bored of royal court duties?! Oh this couldn’t get any better!” Celestia was chuckling while Luna simply shrugged at what Rainbow had to say.  

Celestia looked towards her student and noticed that she was silent. It made her concerned for her and she was about to ask until she spoke, “Wow… I… am not sure on how to feel about this really.” She scratched her head while looking at the two princesses in question, “I guess I’m a little surprised that you act like any other normal ponies…”

Luna felt a smile form seeing her sister’s student trying to absorb what she heard and seen, “Art thou really surprised Twilight Sparkle?” That got her to look at her question. She could chuckle as she continued with the conversation, “Think about it carefully, despite us being royalty, we only wish to get along with the populace as companions, not as deities of sorts. Don’t you remember the time you helped me back in Ponyville?”

That got Twilight to widen her eyes. Pinkie giggled as she recalled the event in question, “I sure remember it! I was like, Ah! Run! whenever I saw you Princess Luna! Er…” She immediately was scratching her head in response to her incoming apology, “Sorry about that Princess Luna by the way, I was just having way too much fun there…”

Luna chuckled but was thankful for her saying her apology, “Do not fret, Pinkie… I am, how I should say… over it as you ponies would say sometimes?” That got some of them to chuckle causing the night princess to smile, “So I did get it right correct?” They nodded to her question prompting her to stretch one of her forelegs up and say with the Canterlot voice, “Huzzah!” It took her awhile to realize what she did but when she did, she covered her mouth quickly and blushed while at it, “Oops…”

Everyone in the room, including Celestia, collapsed onto the floor and went into full-blown laughter upon seeing Luna perform the action. The night princess was bit miffed about them laughing but gradually, she snickered before joining in their laughter. The guards stationed outside the door were wondering what was going and opened them slightly. Their stoic façade was slightly broken in that they were snickering as well before they retained it and closed the doors quietly. Once the laughter slowly died down to normal levels, everyone picked themselves up and tried to continue the conversation starting with Rarity, “Oh goodness… That was something right there…”

Pinkie was having difficulty trying to contain her laughter as she was chortling seemingly to no end, “Oh my…! Hahahaha! I… I can’t stop laughing..! It’s too... too… haha funny!” She then was pounding on the floor as her laughter escalated.

Applejack was wiping away a tear as she slowly stopped laughing, “Oh nelly… that there… Whoo dang nelly, Ah sure needed a good laugh like that…” She then turned towards Pinkie whose laughter was looking to end thankfully as she was picking herself up and wiping a tear away as well. She smiled as she walked right next to her side, “So… best laughter ya had yet Pinkie?”

The party pony could only look at her as she struggling to not laugh once more, “As a big red pony brother of yours would say… Eeyup…” What she said almost made Applejack laugh once more. She stopped herself barely to a snicker as she covered her mouth. Pinkie then looked towards Fluttershy who was covering her mouth, “Having trouble stop laughing?”

Fluttershy could only let a few words escape as she was trying her best to contain her laughter, “I… I could use… a little help… here please… I’m having… trouble…” A few quiet chuckles escaped from her as she was clutching her chest.

Rainbow and Applejack tried to the best of their abilities to assist Fluttershy, “Hoowee, yer sure are strugglin’ t’ keep that ‘ere laughter in huh?” She could do a nod as she tried to slow and lower down her laughter to manageable levels.

While Applejack was assisting her friend, Rainbow turned her attention to Twilight who managed to calm down for the most part, “Still has some doubts about them being just any regular normal ponies Twilight or something of the sorts?” A few seconds of silence went by as she was waiting for Twilight’s answer to the question. When no answer came by, Rainbow raised an eyebrow as she waved a hoof in front of her face, “Hello? Equestria to Twilight… can you hear me?”

Rarity joined in her friend’s side as she too waved a hoof in front of Twilight. Upon finishing it, both of them begun to realize what they did, “Oh dear… it seems we broke our unicorn friend here.” After she said that, Pinkie decided to try numerous ways to snap her out of the trance. Celestia stepped forward to assess the situation as she put a hoof on her chin wondering on how to break her out of it.

Meanwhile, Pinkie was trying a lot of methods that would break Twilight out of her current state. One of them happened to involve using a party horn. She put her right hoof into her mane and pulled out said party horn in question. Everyone who saw covered their ears and braced themselves. Just as Pinkie closed her eyes and was about to blow, something stopped her from blowing into it. She opened her eyes to notice Twilight has snapped out of her trance and was looking at her, “Please don’t… I was in it for only a few seconds thanks to you poking me Pinkie…”

That only made Rarity and Rainbow confused about something, “But our own waving hooves couldn’t snap you out of it darling? Because I find that a bit hard to believe honestly…” That earned a look from Applejack prompting Rarity to look baffled for a moment, “What? Was it something I said?” Her answer only came as a shrug much to Rarity’s annoyance.

Twilight could only smile to seeing those two’s actions. She still felt like it was necessary to answer Rarity’s question however and she did want to answer it regardless of circumstances, “I had ponies wave their hooves in front of my face a lot when I was a filly. I’ve gotten use to it by now every time I study or something of the sorts that gets my attention.”

That got a chuckle out of Celestia as she recalled the events in question, “That is true… I remembered the one time I waved a hoof in front of your face to get your attention and you wouldn’t respond to it so I did the second best thing in question to grab your attention…”

That got Twilight to blush in embarrassment as she knew what the second best thing she was talking about. Everyone noticed it making all of them curious about it in question. Seeing everyone like so prompted Twilight to react quickly to the situation, “Please… don’t tell them what that se--” Twilight didn’t even finish the sentence as her eyes darted towards Celestia’s horn, “Um… Princess… your horn is glowing…”

Celestia looked at her in confusion as she wasn’t using any magic whatsoever. Luna then stepped in front of her and checked to see if what she said was true. It didn’t take long for an answer from her sister to come, “Sis, Twilight is not lying here. Your horn is glowing right now…”

Celestia knew she could trust their words but she materialized a mirror just in case to be sure that they spoke true. When she did notice her horn glowing, she was a little worried as she returned the mirror back in its location, “You’re right but… I’m not using any magic currently…” She looked towards at Luna hoping for an explanation but stopped as she noticed her horn, “Luna… Your horn is glowing as well.”

Twilight stepped forward to check this time and her answer was the same, “Both princesses horns are glowing even if you’re both not using magic? Something’s not right…” She couldn’t help but form a smile and clap her hooves together as questions begun to develop in her thoughts, “Oh my goodness! I have so many questions right now! Like why is this happening, what is the cause of this—“

Before she could into a question list tangent, she felt a poke on her backside prompting her to look behind her. She noticed Applejack was the one poking and was now pointing at her horn, “Uh Twi… yer horn is glowin’ as well… in fact, it looks like yer horns are gettin’ a bit brighter right now…”

All three of them were looking at each other’s horns and while the two princesses were a little panicky but calm for the most part, Twilight was on full panic mode, “W-What is happening?! I don’t remember learning about our horns glowing on their own in any of the books I’ve read!” Before Rainbow could reprimand her on that, their horns begun to glow at their brightest, prompting everyone but the princesses to cover their eyes from the intense light. Celestia and Luna got the chance to see what was happening though it only made them confused.

The magic from their horns were being merged together as its spirals around them. The colors were the respective magenta, orange, and blue of the magic users but the color slowly begun to either disappear or mix and soon came six new colors. Those colors in question were green, orange, yellow, blue, white and black. The magic begun to arise into an arch away from the eight ponies before landing right in front of the throne and flashed a bright light prompting the two princesses to cover their eyes quickly with their wings. As the light slowly faded away, both of them looked to see the arch of magic beginning to descend on the spot before disappearing. Soon everyone else that covered their eyes looked as well and their reactions all matched each other. Everyone looked surprised when the arch of magic was gone revealing six beings they’ve never seen before there now. Celestia was the first to step forward out of curiosity, “What and who are these creatures that appear before us?”

The rest soon joined to her side as they looked at the beings in front of them. Twilight was the first to ask the princess about what she heard, “Wait, you’ve never seen these… um… things before? Not to be rude and all that…”

The sun princess shook her head much to Twilight’s relative surprise. Luna stepped forward near one of them trying to understand what she was looking at, “She is not the only one confused here… I too am bewildered at what am I looking at. Oh and I know that you do not wish to be rude and such but try not to say that again when around others please?”

Twilight looked a bit ashamed but took her words in, “Oh… alrighty then. Still, what are these things? I’m curious as to what they are…” She looked at her friends and noticed Rainbow and Applejack respectively poking them. That made her a bit jumpy as she stopped the two of them with her magic, “What are you two doing?! Don’t poke them like that!”

That only got Rainbow to be a bit pouty, “Sorry but you know that we’re curious as well right?” Twilight opened her mouth and was about to make a rebuttal until she closed her mouth and realized that she was speaking the truth. She ended up relenting with a sigh as an answer to her question. Rainbow let a smile form but understood where her friend was getting from, “I thought as much, I won’t touch them again though if that helps you…” She then looked towards Applejack who noticed her looking and smiled while performing a Pinkie Promise.

It was enough for Twilight to smile back in return, “Thanks you two… I really appreciate it.” She turned towards her other friends who were simply looking at them then to the princesses who were conversing with one another about the situation. She wasn’t so sure on what to do at the time so she just decided to check out the six humans in question. When she neared one of them, she noticed a splotch of red behind a cape. Curious, she moved the cape slightly with her magic only to immediately back away in abject surprise. Pinkie noticed that sudden movement and was about to ask until she looked towards where she was looking making her gasp in question. Everyone looked at the both of them confused but what Twilight said managed to make some of them blanch in color, “T-There’s… a hole in this person’s body… and… is that blood I’m seeing?!”

The princesses immediately stepped forward and casted all of them in their magical aura wondering if all of them had fatal injuries only for them to scream out in pain and almost collapse. The six ponies helped them out wondering what just happened. It took a few words from Luna for them to understand why they screamed, “What unimaginable pain! Tia… we need to…!”

Celestia instantly understood what her sister was trying to say, “I know…! Let’s heal them with haste now Luna!” Just as she said that, both Luna’s and Celestia’s horns glowed bright alongside the auras that enveloped the humans in question. Both princesses tried to find any injuries found on the six and tend to those wounds quickly. All of them had at least a wound that somehow matched each other.  They wanted to ponder about it but decided to put it on hold as they patched those wounds.

While the princesses were tending to the people, Twilight was shuddering in place from discovering that fatal injury and seeing blood. Fluttershy came to her side and tried to reassure her to the best of her abilities, “Don’t worry Twilight, I’m sure the princesses will be able to heal them fully…” Despite trying to ease her pain and fear, she was still shivering from it. All of her friends were beginning to be concerned for the poor unicorn, “Twilight…”

She was still shaking from it but she was able to utter some words of concern, “H-How… W-Who would do that to those six people? I-I mean… that w-wound, it looked like it was p-pierced by a sword…” She was feeling tears welling up in her eyes as she closed her eyes. She rested her head on Fluttershy’s body as her tears begun to escape. Her friends immediately came to her side and tried to comfort her in her time of need. It only did so much for Twilight but it helped make it easier for her as she wiped away the tears, “T-thanks you five… I needed that badly.” She picked herself up and looked at the being she first noticed the wound, “I’ve read books about these injuries sometimes but to actually see it…”

Celestia felt sorry for the six of them to see something like that now. She actually tried to not let any of her ponies see something like so but now that they have, it was not going to be easy for them especially for her student, Twilight… She and Luna lifted their magics from the six humans and watched them to see if they were not too late in saving them. A few seconds felt like minutes pass for all of them as they awaited any sign of life from them. Thankfully, there was such a sign as both princesses noticed their chests rising up and down signifying that they were breathing. Both let out a sigh and let themselves collapse onto the floor, “We did it sister… we managed to save them just barely…” That got the six ponies behind them to silently cheer and move up to see the humans in question.

Luna could only chuckle before slightly cringing a bit from the pain, “Barely doesn’t even fit their condition Celestia. They looked to already be in death’s throes…” She noticed her sister sternly looking at her and the six ponies cringing. She blinked once before realizing what she just said, “Oh dear… I let that slip didn’t I?” A nod from Celestia was her only answer. Luna could only sigh but needed to bring up a reason regarding that anyway, “Well, either way, it was inevitable for me to say something like so sister whether on accident or not… You felt the pain too didn’t you? They were that close to facing their fate… If we had not acted when Twilight discovered such an injury…”

Celestia’s gaze softened knowing where her sister was going. She could only sigh in defeat as she looked at the bodies in question, “I know Luna… I just wish that this didn’t happen so soon…” Luna could only nod in agreement. Both picked themselves and walked towards the six in question their curiosity almost forgetting what just happened, “Well, now that we have healed all six of them, shall we check and see what makes them stand out…? Well, besides their appearance…” A simple nod confirmed her answer prompting the both of them to envelop them in their magic again. Their magics enveloped the first two people in mind. At first glance, not much was different sans them being bipedal creatures, wearing clothing, and having next to no fur. When they reached the spiritual level of the beings, both of them were relatively surprised as what they discovered, “Interesting… this person here has fire capabilities that could even match my own…”

That got Twilight to look and gawk in surprise at Celestia’s revelation. Having learned about elemental affinities while going through some books during her youth, she knew just about everything about it in mind despite it being knowledge not well-known in Equestria. Four of her friends were left confused however at what Celestia said prompting her to speak out her thoughts, “W-wait a minute! Now I know that everyone can tap into an elemental affinity of some sorts…”

That got Applejack confused as she looked at the genius of the group, “Really? Ah can do somethin’ like that? But Ah ain’t no unicorn like ya Twi s’ how can Ah be able t’ tap into this elemental thingy… whatever it is ya talking about?”

That got Rainbow to chuckle though causing both Twilight and Applejack to look at her in confusion. She let a small smirk form as she recounted what she learned back when she was a teenager, “Oh I know this one like it was in the back of my head! The reason we’re able to walk on clouds and manipulate the weather Applejack? That’s because the pegasi’s common elemental affinity is thunder and air here! We can do all that stuff because we can control those said elements easily! It’s why we tend to be the ones doing all that work and not unicorns…” Twilight’s eyes widened seeing that the athletic pegasus knows and even be able to speak about said knowledge in question. Rainbow could only look at her friend in a mix of confusion and glee, “What? Just because I always do crazy acrobatics doesn’t mean I don’t know how that works Twilight…”

Both Luna and Celestia chuckled hearing the bearer of loyalty speak like so. Still, they smiled seeing that she was smart for all her bold and brave behavior.  Luna decided to be the one to congratulate her on that, “That is correct Rainbow, I might give you a medal for that…” Rainbow smiled when she heard such a response before quickly hiding it. Luna chuckled once more while she returned back to the topic at hoof, “In any case, I could say the same for this person in question…” That got Rainbow as she looked at her with curiosity. Luna smiled as she explained what she meant, “He is capable of utilizing thunder-based attacks that could put even the best pegasi to shame right now…” She fell silent for some time before realizing what she said and looked towards Rainbow quickly as she tried to correct her blunder, “Not to offend you in anyway Rainbow Dash…”

Her answer came as a relative surprise as Rainbow looking at the person she noted about and simply dismissed it, “Nah, its okay to say something about that… I’m more curious as to how good he actually is at doing those thunder-based attacks you mentioned.”  It made Luna a bit glad that she wasn’t focused on that detail she let slipped.

Despite all of what was said, Applejack was even more baffled since none of what they said answered her question directly, “While Ah’m happy fer y’all, Ah’m still a wee bit confused ‘ere! How do Ah tap into whatever it is y’all talking about?!”

Celestia answered that question while she was casting her magic on the next human, “That is an easy answer; you don’t have to exert too much effort Applejack…” When the sun princess looked at her, she covered her mouth and tried to stifle her laughter as she looked at Applejack’s current expression being her most bewildered she might ever have. After the laughter faded away, she continued on with her answer, “Your body does it naturally for you figuratively and literally. When you grow the plants you need or when your body develops allowing you to take more hits, your elemental affinity will, shall I say, kick in without you even noticing it. And in case you are wondering what the common affinity for Earth ponies is, think of it this way, why do you think we call you Earth ponies?”

Applejack however, interpreted that question wrongly and thought of an answer that was not what the sun princess was expecting, “Um… ‘Cause we get along with the earth fine an’ dandy princess or is it ‘cause ya couldn’t think of a better name fer us?” Celestia instantly stopped using her magic at that moment and exploded into laughter bewildering the apple farmer in question.

Rarity could only facehoof in response having understood what the sun princess said, “Darling, not to be rude and such for you… but did you even understand a single thing she just said?” Her answer came with Applejack shaking her head. She could only sigh as she looked at Twilight who looked a bit saddened having her question being interrupted and such. She poked her once causing her to look at Rarity in question, “I’m sorry for your question being interrupted Twilight…”

Twilight could only smile in response, “It’s okay… I’ve gotten use to it by now…” She noticed Rarity looking at her once before shifting her head to Applejack. Twilight was able to easily connect the dots quickly as she remembered what her mentor said, “Need me to explain what Princess Celestia said to Applejack but simplify it for her?”

All Rarity could say when she managed to successfully gesture what she wished Twilight to do with the apple farmer while having a pleading expression of sorts was a “Pretty please?”

A simple chuckle escaped from Twilight before she obliged. She turned to try and grab Applejack’s attention only to see her looking at her and waiting patiently. Twilight could only smile seeing that she  noticed what Rarity was doing and instead, went  straight to her simplified answer hoping that the bearer of honesty was able to understand it, “In a simple way, Earth ponies’ common elemental affinity is… well earth. That and you can already use it in daily activities so no need for special training or something of the sorts…”

Applejack smiled and patted her friend on the back a few times as a gesture of thanks, “Thanks fer the answer Twi! Now that Ah was able t’ understand easily! Ah don’t like it when ponies get all specific on whatever answer Ah need t’ know. Ah’d rather get t’ the point than stall the answer! Er… no offense, Your Highness…” Rarity could only facehoof again from her friend missing the point the first time.

Celestia managed to stifle her laughter as she simply dismissed her words, “No… worries young Applejack. Oh goodness, I think I might’ve needed that laugh there…” As her laughter was beginning to be less pronouncing, she decided to continue with what she had intended to do as she enveloped the next person in her magic. When her magic fully enveloped him however, it caused her to blink twice just in case she felt that right, “That is quite unusual…” Everyone looked towards her wondering what got her attention, “He is one of nature itself, meaning he has the capability to manipulate the earth and wind itself but…”

That got Fluttershy’s attention who was silent lately throughout the princesses’ scanning as she stepped forward and looked at him, “Really? He sounds like someone that could love animals…” She looked towards his hands and noticed the pike’s nature design. Despite it being a weapon of sorts, she awed the design of the thing yet something about it made her also feel like it was lonely in its life…  She thought it weird, but it being alive made sense to her for some reason, “Wow… That’s a wonderful looking… um…”

Celestia looked where her eyes were focused and saw that it was on the weapon that her pause in the first place, “That is a pike Fluttershy, and a rather interesting if somewhat saddening one despite the artistic design of such a weapon…”

Everyone was confused when she said such a phrase. Many were about to ask and were about to speak but Fluttershy beat them to the question though she also caught them off guard them with a little tidbit of her own, “I-I thought I was the only one to notice that something felt… off about that pike… But um… what do you mean Princess Celestia?”

The sun princess blinked in surprise at what Fluttershy said but ended up smiling seeing that someone else noticed it besides her and possibly Luna. Seeing everyone’s gaze upon her prompted her to speak her thoughts on it, “During my scan on this person, I felt not one but two souls with the same elemental affinity of the earth and air…”

Everyone was confused on what she said at the time. Fluttershy was baffled as well but unlike the others was able to connect the dots overtime beating Twilight quickly though she is starting to like the fact that her friends are able to answer some questions not just her. Her answer though still surprised almost all of them, “A-Are you suggesting that… T-there’s something residing in that pike?”

Luna had just stopped scanning her side and answered that for her, “She is indeed suggesting that and as I found out, he’s not the only one…” Celestia turned towards her sister with a surprised gaze that also silently messaged the question in mind. Luna answered it for her and the others quickly, “This person seems to be the only female I stumbled upon and is part water, part ice elemental affinity. Her sword though is what catches my attention. Unlike that person where you felt two souls sister, I felt what amounts to an entire civilization within that sword…” All of them were looking at her surprised beyond their imagination. Luna shook her head and answered their silent question, “I wish I were joking here but I speak the truth…”

Just as Rarity was about to faint, both Fluttershy and Pinkie pulled out the fainting couch prompting the fashionista to proceed on with her gesture. Celestia fell silent for some time as her sister’s words repeated itself in her head, “An entire civilization worth of souls… held within the sword?” Luna nodded before looking at the sword, “Luna… why are you looking at the sword?”

The night princess stared at the sword for some time noting the design of it and the knowledge known to everyone at the time. By the time, she was done admiring the design; she looked back at everypony with an expression that Celestia recognized as one of understanding and mourning, “Yes but to my surprise, these souls not only acknowledge their fates and wish to only support this person in their time of need but are also centuries if not millennia old…”

Celestia could only blink once as she looked at the sword in question, "Centuries old? Are..." Seeing her sister shake her head confirmed her answer. She decided to change the topic to another question she thought of, "Well, if that is the case, did they ever tell you anything about this civilization when you made contact with them Luna?"

The night princess shook her head much to Celestia's chagrin. However, a smile formed as she turned towards the six people in question making Celestia curious about why she was acting like so, "They did not tell me much about their civilization simply saying that it would be best to learn from her personally. However, they did tell me something invaluable about who these beings are in question."

Twilight immediately stepped forward, her curious mind beckoning to know what this invaluable knowledge is, "Well what could it be Princess Luna? I want to know so badly right now!" Twilight's antics made a few of her friends chuckle seeing that she was still the eager knowledge seeker. For Celestia, it was a moment of joy for her to see her student act like so despite what just happened.

Luna had to back away for a bit from her suddenness at appearing in front of her face. By the time she did do so, she collected herself and was normal again for the most part, "Please, do not do that again Twilight Sparkle... you made me... a little surprised I presume would be the right word..." Twilight blinked in confusion before she immediately understood what she meant promtpting her eyes to widen and immediately backed away while sporting a blush of sorts. The night princess cleared her throat once while trying to dismiss what just happened, "Well... that moment aside... What I learned from those spirits is that these six beings in front of us, where they came from, they have been known to their world as the Six Heroes... warriors who defended the innocent from whatever harm come their way... I do not know what their origins are but it is a start..."

All the ponies were in awe once Luna spread the knowledge to them. Pinkie stepped next to the two heroes that have yet to be scanned clearly admiring what she heard, "So these six saved a lot of people when they were around? They sound like heroes I'd like to have an autograph with!" Everyone was very much in agreement with her statement as they all gathered around the six of them.

Celestia smiled seeing the six humans in a new light, "So these people... were protecters of their own race? I may not know what threats they faced but to hear such a thing is... it is a wonderful thing to think about..." While she was smiling on the outside, she felt a concern for them within herself as she still recalled the condition they were in when they came to this world, But that also raises questions as to why they came to us in such a life-threatening condition... She looked towards the last two people in front of her and enveloped the closest one to finish what they had started.

"Indeed, 'tis such a wonderful thing to hear. I wonder what accomplishments they achieved during their life?" She silently pondered about that for some times to herself. Before long, she noticed her sister doing what they were doing beforehoof and decided to perform as well on the armored knight. By the time she finished and felt his soul, she immediately stopped and backed away a few steps while breathing heavily from feeling his spirit, "T-That's impossible..."

Celestia had just finished and felt his spirit which left her surprised just as well. However, her concern for Luna was more important than spreading what she just learned, "Luna, is something the matter?"

Trying to shake off what she felt from the knight was not easy for the night princess. She was still able to converse with Celestia but her voice was having trouble keeping her shock and fear in check, "Tia... This... this being... I just looked into his soul. Never in my entire thousand year life would I ever feel so much rage, so much sorrow, and so much... bloodshed. Not only that, he... he has the capability to utilize the rare elemental affinity of darkness."

While everyone was shuddering from hearing the word bloodshed again, Twilight and Celestia were more shocked that someone was capable to using darkness. Celestia casted the same spell on the armored knight this time and her reaction very much matched her sister's as she immediately dispelled her magic and was breathing heavily. Before Twilight could even speak first, Celestia spoke up her thoughts on what she just felt, "It... it was almost too much... I know never to judge your words but to actually feel it is a different story. It’s almost… unbelievable…” It took much longer for Celestia to recover from the shock of what she felt from the armored knight. She decided to change the topic hoping that the both of them can cope with what they just felt, “Anyway… Having learned that this person is capable of manipulating darkness… Then I could perhaps say the same for the person's soul I felt beforehoof except he controls its counterpart: light."

Twilight blinked twice from not only hearing that revelation but wanting to be sure that she did not mishear what the princesses said. Initially adamant on not wanting to believe what she heard, she was tempted to perform what the princesses did on the two being in question but felt it would be a terrible move on her part in mind. Instead, she went on to ask them about it, “Your Majesties…” Both Celestia and Luna turn towards the unicorn in question. Although their gaze was gentle, being looked upon by the two princesses made Twilight anxious. A quiet gulping sound escaped from her before she finally found the courage to speak, “Um… about the both of them having those elements in mind… Are you sure that they both can tap into it?”

Both looked at each other about this before it slowly dawned upon them as to why Twilight was both worried to ask and the question in general. Luna gestured her sister to answer the question. Celestia gladly obliged as she looked at her student, “We are just as surprised about this as you are Twilight but to answer your question, yes… we are certain they can tap into their respective elements…”

A hoof rested on Twilight’s head as she wavered a bit from the idea that two of them can tap into one of the rarest elemental affinities, “Oh sweet Celestia… I might be able to let go of the fact that four of them can tap into the natural elements but not only can those two tap into it but are born with the moral elements as well? That’s almost next to impossible for any being in general…”

Her friends were bewildered by what she meant but decided to not ask about it for the sake of their minds. Their more pressing concern in their thoughts was the Six Heroes in front of them. Fluttershy showed the most concern for them as she was the first to ask the princesses, “So… what do we do now that they’re fully healed Your Majesties?”

Luna immediately smiled upon hearing the question, “We are glad you asked young Fluttershy! We were thinking of letting them rest somewhere that will not have too much attention by the ponies. As they are new creatures and only we know what little knowledge of them we have so far, it would be best to put them in a safe location for now. We however are blank at a place that could fit such requirements…”

Just as Luna said that, Pinkie sprung into action as she had an immediate idea of where to put them out of prying eyes, “Oh oh! I know of a good location we can let them rest! Fluttershy’s cottage!” Upon hearing her answer, the shy pegasus was trying her best to hide her luminescent blush. Pinkie simply chuckled at her reaction and tried to hug out all her fear, “Aw come on Fluttershy, think about it! Since not a lot of ponies come and visit often, it’s a perfect place for them to sleep for the night! It’s far enough for ponies to not notice! That and well, it’s in Ponyville! We Ponyville ponies can live with some strangers around the town. Not to be mean to the Canterlot ponies though…”

Luna simply dismissed her words having understood where she was going with this, “Oh no worries, we understand what you mean. I do see this working out honestly… besides, it is getting close to night hours and I would imagine that you six ponies are rather sleepy yes?” All of them nodded prompting a smile from the night princess, “Then we can do this under the cover of night… Are you fine with them sleeping in your home Fluttershy?”

She could only meekly smile as she was out of Pinkie’s tight hug, “I-I wouldn’t mind them sleeping with me for tonight. If it helps then I’d be happy to do it for them. That and um… I um… wanted to bring them over anyway…”

Luna clapped her hooves together as she lifted the six humans in her magic, “Then let us not waste time with this endeavor! Come, we depart for Fluttershy’s cottage everypony!” Everyone chuckled as they followed the night princess outside the throne room.

Celestia waved farewell as she watched them disappear from her line of sight. Seeing her sister act like so prompted a quiet laugh from the sun princess, “Ah it feels good to see her like so…” Her thoughts then switched to a different topic in mind as she walked out of the throne room and closed the doors behind her. She then turned towards the guards who saluted and showed her to her quarters. During the walk, a thought occurred to her that made her a bit excited, Perhaps it might be best for me to do my own research about whom and what those six are… A smile formed as she was thinking of their origins and what other things could she learn about them. A darker thought however emerged as she recalled their condition when they arrived, I wonder… if what Luna said is true… then does that mean…? She dispelled the idea for now not wanting to over think it too much and instead focus on their possible origins first.

Meanwhile with Luna and company, all of them were already on Luna’s chariot and heading towards Ponyville under the cover of darkness. While they were heading to the location, Twilight was looking at the six humans wondering about their origins like her mentor. The two beings capable of tapping into light and darkness made her curious but she could say the same for every one of them. She couldn’t resist smiling as she pondered about the many possibilities she could learn. Her gesture did not go unnoticed as she heard a voice, “Excited for tomorrow egghead?”

“I wouldn’t be surprised at myself…” was all Twilight could say before the chariot landed in front of the library. She opened the door and was the first to leave the chariot. The others soon followed suit and said their farewells to everyone before departing to their respective homes. Twilight did the same as she looked towards Luna, “Thank you Princess Luna for the ride… hope you get some good sleep…”

“The same to you Twilight Sparkle…” Her sister’s student smiled and turned around as she walked towards the library. After seeing her enter and close the door, she looked towards Fluttershy who was eyeing the six humans, “Shall we head to your home now?”

Fluttershy blinked once before smiling, “Oh… sure…” Both left the chariot and departed for Fluttershy’s cottage. As they arrived at their destination, Fluttershy opened the door silently as to not disturb the sleeping animals while Luna bought the six humans and laid them down gently. A smile formed as she looked at the expression of peace on their faces before turning her attention towards Luna, “Thank you Princess Luna… I’ll… take care of it from here…”

Luna smiled in return as she stepped back and into the chariot, “I know you can dear Fluttershy, you are quite a capable pony yourself you know? Good night and have a good night’s rest young one…”

The shy pegasus still retained her smile as he waved farewell to the night princess as she returned back to her chariot and left back to Canterlot. As she slowly closed the door, she turned towards the six once again before noticing that Angel was standing with an expression mixed with anger and curiosity, “Oh, sorry that it took awhile to get here… Don’t worry about the six here… They’re just temporary guests is all, nothing to worry about…” Angel’s expression softened after hearing her owner’s word. He just simply shrugged before hopping to his resting place. Fluttershy chuckled quietly before looking at the six one last time. Seeing their smiles made her smile, “Good night everyone, hope tomorrow will be a wonderful day…” She went upstairs and prepared herself for a good night’s rest.