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A New Era

by Shadowmane PX-41

Chapter 1: Prologue

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Celestia walked down the castle hallways, gently flapping her wings against the light draft that lingered within the air. She had always been a steadfast and strong leader—even if she was unable to defend her people. Whenever the forces of darkness threatened Equestria and its' subjects, she and her sister Luna were always the first ones to stand up to whatever might have bared its' fangs at the kingdoms of their continent.

However, after Queen Chrysalis's latest attack on Equestria, security had increased thousand-fold. Every castle in the land needed a royal guard, with no exceptions from anyone. Not that anyone objected, though, given how close she had come to succeeding in the end. Not even Princess Twilight Sparkle, who had always been adamant in her own roles had denied Celestia's decrees.

She pushed through the double doors leading to the throne room, staring at Luna, sitting calmly on hers. Slowly, Celestia cantered towards her own throne and sat down on her haunches, letting out a heavy sigh as she looked out at the rest of the gilded room.

"What is the matter, sister?" Luna asked, peeking over at Celestia and her loosening muscles.

"Luna. This world is in a state of crisis." Celestia gazed over at Luna, her eyes meeting with that of her sister. "Chrysalis's last attack nearly destroyed us and the Magic of Friendship along with it."

"Do not stress yourself too much, sister. The Changeling hive in the Badlands now serves under the rule of King Thorax." Luna looked over at the stained glass pictures on the walls of the room. "Day by day, Chrysalis is having less space to hide in. It won't be long now until she's fully exposed and ready to be met with swift justice."

"It's not just that, Luna." Celestia took some deep breaths and exhaled through her snout. "Her plan involved kidnapping all of the most powerful ponies in Equestria—Twilight and her friends included. If ponies like those six can succumb to Chrysalis's attacks then what are we supposed to do about it?"

"There still exists that unicorn Starlight Glimmer and her band of allies." Luna nodded as her gaze turned to the latest picture, which showed Starlight saving everyone from Queen Chrysalis's plans. "Now that Chrysalis is on the run, it should be easy for them to nullify and neutralise her out in the open."

"What if they get captured as well?" Celestia's eyes went wide. "What can we do if every pony in Equestria falls to that horrific creature? Would it be safe to assume that this continent would be in ruin?"

Luna recoiled at Celestia's grim take on the future. "I... didn't really think about that. I suppose I have been slightly less focused since the Changelings reformed themselves." She shook her head and scratched her chin. "So you ask me, dear sister. What are we supposed to do should that time come?"

"That is the whole point, Luna." Celestia stood up. "If Chrysalis or some other villain tries to take over Equestria and doesn't hesitate to cut corners, then we might be in greater danger than we think. In a time where not even Twilight Sparkle and the Magic of Friendship can save us, we will all fall." She raised a hoof, barely even noticing that it was trembling. "But that time is not now. There is still time for us to prepare for another mass attack."

"But how?" Luna tilted her head.

"There is a kingdom far beyond here. Somewhere that even I have not visited, but it has been hailed for how powerful its' ponies are." Celestia used her magic to create a small hologram of the place that she was describing, complete with a castle with five towers. "I know not of the ponies that live there, nor do I know the traditions. But, I do know its' name: White Wings."

"White Wings?" Luna looked at the kingdom. "'Tis a rather alien name, is it not, Celestia?"

"Legend has it that there are five ponies there that are regarded as some of the greatest heroes that their side of the world has ever seen, slaying countless monsters that ravaged the lands, and foul ponies dead-set to bring about the end of all living things," Celestia continued. "Again, their identities are obscured, but if I am to believed correctly, then they might just be the ponies who will safeguard Equestria from any future threats like Chrysalis."

"It seems like you are simply betting on something that is not entirely true, Celestia." Luna stood up as the hologram vanished. "What if this White Wings place is not what you believe it to be, or that these five ponies won't even raise a hoof to help us out?"

"I'm sure that they won't say no to what we have to say." Celestia walked towards the closest regular window that she could find and looked down on the town beneath her. "Henceforth, I shall be sending Twilight Sparkle and her friends to handle this mission."

"Can't you go and aid them?" Luna raised a brow. "If these are cries for help coming from the highest authority in Equestria, then I'm sure that they would much rather hear them from you instead of Twilight." Luna ran over to Celestia and stood by her side. "The poor thing just became a princess over two years ago. She's not ready for something as big as this."

"You keep saying that, yet she managed to stop Lord Tirek and Starlight Glimmer of her own accord." Celestia turned towards the door. "I'm certain that Twilight Sparkle will be able to handle this. In the meantime, I want you to train the Royal Guard and the Night Guard three times as hard, make sure that they are as vigilant, strong, powerful, and dependable as possible. We don't want to risk another Chrysalis attack."

"I still think that there are better ways of going about this, sister." Luna followed Celestia out of the throne room and down the hallways.


Later, at the Ponyville Train Station, Twilight Sparkle and her friends had suitcases and bags filled with goods and essentials that they had packed. One by one, they all climbed onto the train, showing the conductor their tickets as they left their stuff in the luggage compartments. Starlight Glimmer and Spike were the first ones on after Twilight, as they had much less stuff to carry compared to their other friends.

"I still can't believe that we're going to White Wings!" Rarity sat down once she had dropped off her bags and looked out of the windows. "I've never been myself, but I've heard that their sense of style is absolutely gorgeous! I might just have to jot down some new ideas while we're there!"

"Calm down, Rarity. We ain't there for pleasure." Applejack sat down next to Rarity and gently pushed her hooves down to her sides. "Besides, if we were, I'd treat myself to some of the town's cider. It's incredibly rare to find in Equestria these days, and I've heard from my fellow Apples that it could put the Apple Family's cider to shame."

"Technically, speaking, it never leaves White Wings." Twilight Sparkle pulled out a book and began flipping through the pages. "I've heard tales of this White Wings place from Starlight. It's a place that barely shares its' history with any outsiders. And if there are books published about the place, they usually never leave the kingdom."

"My parents took me and Sunburst there when we were kids, and she gave me the book as we were leaving." Starlight Glimmer sat down next to Twilight. "Of course, we did have to keep it secret and avoid showing it to anypony there as we left. The ponies there get really defensive about their cultures, saying that it has to be seen to be believed, instead of just written down for the world to see."

"I don't get it. A place that wants to hide from the rest of the world?" Rainbow Dash flapped over her friends and lowered her eyelids, darting her eyes left and right. "Something seems fishy about that."

"Rainbow Dash, I can guarantee you that White Wings is not a hostile or shady place." Twilight stared at Rainbow Dash.

"Yeah, and if there is danger, then we'll whoop its' tushy into next year!" Pinkie Pie bounced onto her chair so vigorously that it almost flung Twilight and Starlight right off. "I mean, it's not like it's our first time fighting evil. We've done it like ten or twenty times already!"

"Don't get overconfident, Pinkie Pie." Twilight shook her head. "We're going somewhere we've never been before in our entire lives. There's bound to be something out there stronger than us in some way."

"I'm sure it's nothing you girls can't handle." Spike climbed up onto his seat, wiggling his legs as Twilight helped him up. "I mean, given everything you've already had to fight already, this mission in White Wings sounds pretty simple, right?"

"I don't know about the rest of you girls, but I'm awfully nervous to go on this adventure." Fluttershy slowly hobbled forward and sat down. "I mean, White Wings isn't even technically part of Equestria. We'll be total strangers to the ponies there. No-one'll know our names, and they may be a bit rude to us."

"I don't think that White Wings would be that kind of place if that was true." Starlight tipped her hoof towards Fluttershy. "I've been there. I know what it's like. There was hardly any pony that was rude to us." She then stopped to look up at the ceiling of the train. "But then again, I was just a filly back then. Times have probably changed."

Suddenly, a loud whistle ran through the train, sending shocks down the spines of the ponies and dragon.

"Next stop: Port Maretime!" The conductor called as the doors of the train began to close.

Once everything was checked and stowed away, the train slowly began to move. Steam blowed from the chimney and smaller whistles erupted as the massive vehicle stormed down the tracks, gathering momentum the more the wheels turned. It started out small, but soon picked up until the train was moving at a fast and steady pace.

"Well, there's no turning back now." Applejack looked out the windows and watched the world pass by. "White Wings, here we come."

"I still don't know why Celestia would send you instead of go herself." Spike shrugged and opened up a comic book. "If it's somewhere we've never been and barely even heard of, shouldn't she go herself?"

"Celestia's been incredibly busy as it is, Spike," Twilight said. "After Chrysalis's last attack, Canterlot's security's been the highest it's ever been. At least a couple hundred ponies had to join the Royal and Night Guards after we all got captured by her."

"I bet she's probably just too lazy to do it all herself." Spike deadpanned.

"Spike! Celestia isn't lazy. She's just..." Twilight had trouble finding the right word to finish her sentence.

"Incompetent?" Spike rolled his eyes.

"Spike!" Twilight spluttered. "Don't take Princess Celestia's name in vain!"

"But she is, Twilight. She's just let herself get defeated by Nightmare Moon, Chrysalis, and Lord Tirek." Spike used his fingers to count the different times Celestia had to fight in her life. "I know you think highly of her, but I'm just not seeing her as great of a ruler as she's meant to be."

"No matter what you may say or think, Celestia's still the proud ruler of Equestria." Twilight glared at Spike. "Regardless of her power or whether or not she can fight a villain, she's still the cornerstone of our country and its' cultures. Without her, Equestria would be wide open for more attacks."

"It's going to be open either way, so we've gotta befriend these new ponies in White Wings as soon as possible." Starlight nodded. "If they're really as powerful as the townsfolk say they are, then Equestria could be in good hooves."

"Let's just hope you're right, Starlight." Twilight put her hoof on her friend's shoulders and looked out as the town of Ponyville was no bigger than a speck. "If we can't make some new friends in White Wings, then there's no telling what could be in store for the future of Equestria..."

Author's Notes:

And so it begins. A new story. But not just any story, no, no, no. For this, folks, is my 50th story in total on this site!

Yes, after three long years of hard work, editing, and other such stuff, this story is the fiftieth one that I've put out, and I hope that yo do enjoy it for what it's worth.

I've written adventure stories before in the past, but I'm slightly nervous about how this story's going to play out. Adventure's a rather interesting subject. A lot of showing rather than telling. I want to be able to show White Wings in the next few chapters instead of just say that it's a place.

And if you like this story, then be sure to favourite it, give it an upvote, share it with your friends, and comment on it. It all motivates me to make more.

Have a nice day!

Next Chapter: Chapter 1: The Voyage Estimated time remaining: 2 Hours, 17 Minutes
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