Even without having known about Stands for the longest time, a constant word of advice to keep in mind is presented to you, and it helps to ground the situation in front of you: even if you trust the user, the Stand being the one pouring the drink does not make things seem less fishy. And indeed, as Celestia's Stand uses it's...paws? Claws? Possibly even hands? As it used the extremities on it's forearms to pour the kettle out into a tea-set, you looked at the cosmos within with suspicion, dreading whatever it could've done to your beverage. You had no idea of it's ability or it's strength, and so as you grasped the teacup in your hooves, you took a drink expecting the worst.

Luckily, aside from tasting utterly fantastic, it doesn't seem to have been tampered with whatsoever. A calming sign, and a welcome one. You relax into the chair as the Princesses sit before you, their tea poured out by Celestia's Stand with a steady forehoof of indeterminate terminology. "Ah," Celestia sighs out after taking a sip of the drink, "that tastes wonderful." And you are inclined to agree.

"Now, we're sure you wish to have answers. After all, Stands are...tricky," Luna speaks up after a sip of her own, "but we're sure thou hast your own answers to given, yes? Please, do continue to go into detail, Shooting Star, if you'd wish." When presented the option, you just know you have to take it.

Ze1a7in: Well, I see no reason to disobey the Princesses. I say we spill what Discord told us, and apologize that we do not know more about where he hid the Elements.

wizard0209: more or less what Ze1a7in said. sorry for not contributing much this time around

Leaning over the table, you set the glass down and release the tight grip of your forehooves, luckily keeping it in place. As you sit back and relax, a wave of nervousness washes over you, knowing you are essentially a confidant to the most powerful rulers in the whole nation. But you know you can't hold back, after all, this is vital. "Well," you begin to explain, "Discord saw my Stand, New Divide, and began speaking to me. He told me about hiding the Elements, different Stand types and abilities. And in great detail, listing off strange and myriad abilities."

"I see," Celestia nods along, allowing the billowing rainbow mane to flow behind her. "Yes, Discord would know something about that. But that's for another time." She stirs in a little sugar to her tea glass, looking up to you expectantly, asking if you want some, which you shake your head to. "And he told you about the Elements of Harmony?"

"Yes," you respond in affirmation, before looking rather sheepish and visibly dour. You take a quick sip of tea, feeling it go down before you set the glass back on the table. "Princesses," you apologize, "I'm sorry, he did not tell me about where they are. Only that they aren't around. I wish I could be a bigger help." Surprisingly, Luna stands from her chair first, trotting around the table to be next to you.

"No worries, thy Pegasus," she states in a tone that indicates a bit of trepidation, as though not fully equipped to handle the whole "comforting" thing. "Celestia's student has already set out on a hunch of hers, taking her friends to recover them. They should be in safe hooves."

Celestia nods along to this in agreement, with a smile that seems to emerge from sheer pride. "Indeed," Celestia agrees, "Twilight should be able to handle herself just fine." You can't help but smile with her, gaining your own confidence boost from hearing that your monarch puts her own faith and safety in one Twilight Sparkle. You can only imagine what her own Stand would be, but that just makes another question that seemed very obvious to ask to smack you in the face like the question was that clumsy grey mare back in Ponyville with the lazy eyes falling from the sky and kicking your teeth in on the landing.

Sunny Milk: Shooting Star should ask about the origins of Stand Arrow

"Oh!" You say, smacking your own forehead with your hoof, "can't believe I forgot to ask." Luna sits back down as Celestia waits patiently, smiling at you. "Uh, so, where does the Stand Arrow come from, exactly? Discord mentioned a meteor...?"

Celestia uses her magic to bring the arrow back to the table, laying it in front of her. The light in the room makes the golden parts of the arrow shine brightly, glinting with a shine and sheen that only your first time laying eyes on it compares to. "Glad you asked," Celestia nods. "He was correct. Several hundred years ago, two meteorites crashed to Equestria. And one in Griffonstone, actually, funnily enough."

Luna's Stand suddenly activated, shadowy versions of ponies appearing on the table, along with a meteor right on your tea cozy. "They collected this meteor and studied it," Celestia continued, the shadow-ponies following suit. You noticed that the candle on the table went out when they arrived. "A powerful blacksmith made six arrows from it, and passed them around. We only know the location of two. The one you yourself found, and the one gifted to our mentor, Starswirl the Bearded, whom my sister and I credit as being the first Stand-user at the palace," Celestia continues, Luna illustrating. Judging by the look of things, Starswirl received that Stand by your favorite variant of the Scientific Method: he stabbed himself with it and waited to see if something happened. Luna's shadows vanished before his Stand was revealed.

"Wow," you say, impressed that you got two expositional moments in a single day. You feel smarter, if also feeling like you don't have the longest amount of time, anymore. "So, did Starswirl cut you with the arrow, too, Princesses?" you ask

To your surprise, Luna and Celestia actually shake their heads at this. "No," Luna responds. "Our Stand and the Stand of thy sister were with us since birth, and we have used it even before our banishment!"

Celestia looks at her sister with a raised eyebrow and gently notes "Luna, you can speak like a modern pony. It would help acclimate you better."

Luna looks a little sheepish at this. "I know, I just-," she responds, before suddenly using her magic to pick up her tea glass and basically slam her tea down her throat. When she sets it down, she pants for a second before continuing "I'm just a little stressed, is all, working on it, hush," to which Celestia and you both chuckle at the Princess' antics.

Sunny Milk: https://youtu.be/XUhVCoTsBaM

As your chuckles die down, you let your curiosity ask "So, any other powerful artifacts like the arrow out there in the world?" New Divide pokes it with a hoof before you de-summon it, moving the arrow a couple of centimeters.

Celestia looks to Luna with a smirk before replying "Well...there is this Stone Mask in the archive-" She is cut off by Luna moving her hoof across her throat in a "kill it" sign, and Celestia just shrugs and stops talking. You surmise that it's purpose must be a bit of a secret to the more common ponies.

Ze1a7in: We should also mention that Discord mentioned that the Elements of Harmony potentially have the power to grant the wielders Stands, and that we believe Pinkie to already have hers, as she noticed New Divide.

With all this talk of attaining and activating Stands, you remember the burning point mentioned before. You clear your throat, and to their credit, the sisters immediately pay attention. "There is...one more thing," you admit, looking up at your rulers before taking another sip of calming tea. "See...Pinkie noticed New Divide, and Discord mentioned that the Elements can, um...grant Stands?"

Celestia and Luna both look at eachother, but Celestia looked quite happy to hear that. "Truly?" she asks you upon returning eye contact, to which you nod back. "Yes!" she shouts, surprising you and, with a single word, shattering your mental image of a completely stoic leader as she hoof-pumps. "I knew Starswirl wasn't crazy when he suggested that!"

"Sister, I never said he was crazy," Luna retorts, looking rather embarrassed about having apparently being proven wrong on this front. "Just that I wasn't sure finding the other meteorite from Equestria, making six smaller-sized points out of them, then attaching them to the Elements was a normal response to the dilemma at the time."

"Hehe," Celestia chuckles, clearly still having won the discussion, looks back to you and simply says "What my sister said," back to you. You raise an eyebrow at this, and Celestia takes the opportunity. "It wasn't a bad plan," she elaborates, "the cuts heal, the power of the Elements renders the pain a matter of unimportance, and using the Elements requires another personal strength and willpower that it renders dying by one an impossibility. It's just the "why" part of it that everypony, even I, don't seem to get."

Luna just shrugs. She doesn't get it either, it would seem. "Pinkie Pie attaining her Stand first makes sense," Luna replies. "If more a matter of eccentrics than willpower." And with all that out of the way, you finish your tea and make it outside to hone your ability.

Ze1a7in: As for this training, I think we should ask them if there is any way to improve or increase the effect of a Stand's abilities? Increasing the distance we can fold space would definitely be helpful in the long run.

The sky looks more dreary, if also fortunately more normal, as you step aside into the gardens, lead out by Celestia and being followed by Luna. It feels nice to have the colder air bite at your skin through your coat. "So, um," you blurt out, "how does training a Stand work? Can I improve or increase New Divide's effects, or...?"

Celestia chuckles as she opens the gate, leading you out to a place of true beauty, surrounded by flowers. "Indeed you can," Celestia nods and confirms. "All Stands have different statistics, one of which is Development Potential. The higher a Stand's Potential is, the more it's abilities can increase, and the more it can attain sub-abilities." It makes sense to you, even if the concept of Stands having a stat-block didn't cross your mind before. "And speaking of which," Celestia says, swiveling on her hooves, "you should probably meet ours."

Celestia's Stand re-materializes and touches the grass near Celestia. To your astonishment, the grass her Stand is touching suddenly transforms into what is clearly water, still in the shape of grass, which somehow quickly freezes into ice. "This...is my Stand," Celestia says, "Supernova. The cosmos in it's hands alter matter. It cannot create matter, but what it touches, it can bend and change to it's will." She illustrates this by suddenly creating a whip out of the ice, quickly allowing Supernova to whip it, creating a sonic crack like it was the real thing, made from real rope.

You look to Luna, only to see that her own Stand has activated. The sunlight seems to impossibly dim around her as a pool of black emerges from her hooves, shadowy ponies crawling out of the darkness like a novel's incarnation of the undead. She is concentrating on it, her eyes closed and her voice mute, and so Celestia explains "And that is my Sister's Stand, Broken Hearted Soul. Simply put, it creates and manipulates shadows. It can dim the lights and create an inky black that she can call from in any capacity." The Shadow Ponies begin wielding spears that look real enough, save for a black shaft and a dim silver blade. "Now, my little pony," Celestia asks of you, "train with a bit of a trial by black fire, if you would. Simply put, defeat my sister's Shadow Ponies to hone your craft." You nod, but gulp, and bring out New Divide.

What will Shooting Star do?
Stand for Equestria Part 1

Author's Notes:

Musical References: Both Celestia and Luna's Stands are named after the songs Supernova and Broken Hearted Soul by the band RA.

And we back! And now for a fight! Fights work simply: comment with "spots" (to steal some pro wrestling terminology; basically, a spot is just a planned out moment in a battle of improv) that'll happen during a fight to hopefully carry the battle to it's conclusion. In this case, Shooting Star can win or Luna can win, I'm not going to make any definitive statements, but neither of them will die, so don't try and force an early death for either of the two.

And also, I've been calling this Stand for Equestria: Part 1, but I have no Part subtitle. No Phantom Blood or the like. So, I'm going to start asking things in here to engage with the fans of the story a little more and either receive their input or just ask a question that I feel would be nice to answer. And so, our first question is:

As this is Part 1, what subtitle should we give this?

@wizard0209: Don't sweat it! I love participation and I'm glad the Comment Driven part of the story is working out so far, but you don't need to force yourself to leave a comment every chapter. If you have a fun idea, though, don't hesitate to show it off! :D