Guardians of Light: A Shadow Forms
Chapter 35-Calm Before the Storm
-Crystal Empire: 1,000 years before Nightmare Moon's return-
Celestia and Luna stared in awe at the crystalline glory that shone before them in the midmorning sun. Their eyes scanned the city, taking in every feature. Multihued buildings encircled the center of the reflective city, bright flashes of carnelian, azure, royal purple, emerald, and dozens of other colors dotted the landscape, roads shooting from the center of the city, forming a hexagonal star on the ground. In the middle of the capital loomed a splendid white palace that stood on three archways, its thin spires rising high above the base, the largest and tallest one standing in the middle.
"Amazing." Celestia spoke, breaking the awed silence between them. "Absolutely incredible."
Luna slowly nodded, her blue eyes glued to the shining metropolis before them. Such elegance. This place rivals even the sun in glory. She thought.
It would be a shame to see such a place fall into the hooves of thy sister.
Luna's ear twitched at the voice in her head.
Do not let this place of beauty be spoiled by Celestia's rule, Luna. Thou may be looking upon the empire with awe, but look to thy sister.
Luna's eyes tore themselves away from the crystalline structures and focused on Celestia's magenta ones.
Do thee not see the greed in her eyes? To her, this is just another place to rule. But we both know there is much more to the Crystal Empire than lucid ponies and a mad king. The power this place possesses would be more than enough to conquer Celestia's and she knows it. That is why we must not let her have it.
A confident smirk tugged at Luna's mouth. No need to worry. I will make sure she does not own a single speck of dirt in this land.
"Luna?" Celestia's voice snapped her out of her trance-like state. Luna turned to look at her concerned sister. "Is everything alright?"
Luna quickly regained her composure. "Of course, Celestia. Just trying to keep it together until we fight Sombra."
Celestia nodded. "Understandable, Luna. But hopefully thou do no space out during the battle."
"I will make sure not to." Luna assured, turning her eyes toward the Crystal Empire again.
Suddenly, she spotted a silhouette flying against the midday sunlight, heading away from the crystal capital.
"Celestia? Do you see-"
"I see it as well. I do not think crystal ponies can fly." Celestia said, her eyes tracking the flying object.
Luna squinted her eyes at the object, trying to get a better view of its features. A small tail-like extension fluttered behind it as it flew, a pair of wings beating at its sides.
"Tia, is that the pegasus scout you sent out before we came here?" Luna inquired.
"It may be. Come on, let's go find out." Celestia said, extending her wings. A few flaps later, the solar princess was in the air, followed closely by her sister.
Shooting Star soared through the midday sky, the buildings below her glistening in the light. The wind rushed through her fiery mane as her wings beat, her eyes set on the southern mountains.
And now I have to find my way back to Canterlot. She thought, scanning the craggy mountains that were beginning to rise up beneath her. The snow-capped peaks drew nearer and nearer as her wings beat against the air, the pegasus scout ascending into the sky.
Her blue eyes scanned the area in front of her, her vision catching two shapes that were rapidly approaching her position.
They're coming from the southern mountains and crystal ponies can't fly. They must be two more scouts sent by the princesses. Shooting figured, veering towards the flying pair of ponies As Shooting Star neared the flying figures, she took in more details of the pair. Both had wings, one was a midnight blue and the other was a pure white, around each of their necks were a trio of gemstone-like objects. What caught Shooting's eyes were the horns that were jutting from their heads. The princesses!
"Princess Celestia! Princess Luna!" Shooting called as soon as the regal sisters were within earshot.
The royal sisters approached the pegasus, waiting to get closer before responding.
"Shooting Star!" Princess Celestia addressed as they neared the scout. "What reports do thou bring us?"
As all three Equestrians landed on a nearby cloud, Shooting Star began to divulge her findings during her mission.
"I arrived in the Crystal Empire yesterday to find that the streets were largely deserted." Shooting Star began, earning a confused look on each of the princess' faces. "I assume that the populace was taking shelter in their homes. King Sombra's new style of ruling has caused a good deal of fright throughout the empire."
"New style of ruling?" Luna asked.
Shooting nodded. "Yes, Princess. My source in the empire told me that Sombra was a fair leader up until recently. That and there's something else thou should know about him."
"That he is a unicorn from Equestria?" Luna assumed, earning a surprised look from the scout as well as a puzzled one from Celestia.
"Yes, Princess. But how didst thou know?" Shooting Star inquired.
"I have seen him in a vision. Once a citizen of Equestria, he has given his allegiance to an empire of hued glass. Do thou know how he became corrupted?" Luna asked.
And soon that empire will be thine to rule. The voice in her head said eagerly.
Shooting shook her head. "Unfortunately no, Princess Luna. My source did not know what caused this change in personality."
"All the same." Celestia spoke up. "Does he have any guards or soldiers protecting him?"
"It would seem he does not, thy Grace." Shooting replied, casting the empire behind her a glance. "If all the empire's populace is in hiding, then Sombra would not need protection from those that are paralyzed from fear of him."
"Good. He is more vulnerable than I had previously thought." Luna said in a tenacious tone.
"Or it could very well be a trap, my sister. Either way, it is him alone we will be facing." Celestia warned, spreading her wings once more. The princess's magenta eyes turned toward the spires of the Crystal Palace. "Shooting Star, wait for us on this cloud until we return."
Shooting Star gave the regal sisters a bow. "I wish thee luck in the fight ahead, princesses." She said, rising to her former position. "But art thou sure I should not fight alongside thee?"
"We are sure." Luna said, her eyes falling to the necklace that held her Elements. "We have the power to defeat Sombra with a single stroke."
"I admire thy loyalty, Shooting Star. But Sombra's dark magic would be too strong for thee. I wouldn't want one of our best scouts to be turned into one of his agents should we fail to protect thee in the battle." Celestia said, giving the pegasus an understanding look.
"Very well, Princess. I shall remain here." Shooting said, planting her hooves on the cloud.
"Don't worry, my little pony." Celestia said with a slight smile as she and Luna approached the edge of the cloud, both sisters spreading their wings. "We'll be back before thee know it."
With that, both Celestia and Luna leapt off the cloud, their wings beating against the air as they shot towards the Crystal Palace.
Shooting Star watched the sisters as their figures shrank in the distance before disappearing into the Crystal Palace's grand form. Be safe, Princesses.
Shining Star stepped out of his house, his eyes riveted to the pair of flying ponies that were gliding through the sky. He knew who they were, where they had come from and where they were going. As they neared the Crystal Palace, Shining's eyes fell to the grass beneath his hooves, a sigh escaping his muzzle.
"Father?" A small feminine voice behind him asked.
A slight smile tugged at his face. "Yes, Lapis?"
"Why art thou staring at the sky like that?" His daughter asked concernedly.
Shining turned back around to face his child, his expression void of emotion. "No reason, my dear. It's just a beautiful day and I would hate to see it pass us by unnoticed." He replied, his eyes turning to the sky again, the sun's rays shining brightly on his face.
"Well can thee come inside? It's almost time for lunch." Lapis Lazuli beckoned.
Shining's gaze fell from the blue sky to his daughter once more. "Of course, Lapis. I'll be in in a moment."
An innocent smile grew on Lapis's face as she accepted her father's answer. Her figure retreated from the open doorway, leaving an inviting open door for Shining to come through.
Shining took one final look up at the sky. Worry clouded his mind as both the Equestrian princesses were not to be seen anywhere in the azure expanse.
I pray the Equestrian rulers will be victorious. The crystal pony thought, taking his eyes from the sky and began walking back inside his home.
Silence began its reign over the street Shining and Lapis lived on, its rule lasting only a brief moment for the residents of the Crystal Empire.
-Canterlot Archives: 1,000 years before Nightmare Moon's return-
Starswirl the Bearded stroked his beard, a 'hmm' escaping his muzzle. He narrowed his golden eyes as he inspected his entranced pupil.
Clover's eyes no longer carried their light green hue, rather a harsh red filled his irises. The whites of the unicorn's eyes, instead of being the color their name inferred, were a glowing green.
"Pardon me, master Starswirl. But how long art thou planning on keeping Clover in his current state?" Commander Storm asked, raising an eyebrow at the wizard.
Starswirl gave the commander a quick glance to acknowledge his question before going back to looking over his student. "I am almost done, Commander. I simply need to find out how to awake him from this trance he seems to be in."
"Well I believe I can be of assistance in that area, Starswirl." The unicorn guard said confidently.
"I appreciate thy desire to help me, Commander Storm, but I do not believe thy magical capabilities are up to the task." Starswirl responded, not turning his gaze from Clover's.
"It has nothing to do with magic, Starswirl." Storm said, feeling mildly offended by the wizard's words. "Do thou recall how I woke thee up from thy trance?"
Starswirl slowly raised his head, his eyes lighting up with realization. "Yes. Thou called my name, shaking me from that dream."
"Then try waking thy student in the same manner." Storm said, leaning towards Starswirl to get a better view of Clover. If the vision Starswirl experienced in his trance, then how much worse could Clover's be?
Starswirl nodded. "Okay. I shall give it a try." He said, putting his mouth to Clover's ear. "Clover, canst thou hear me? Clover?" The wizard backed his head away to see if it worked.
To Starswirl's relief, Clover suddenly blinked a few times, the glowing green whites and red of his irises vanishing, his normal white and bright lime colored eyes replacing them.
Clover's eyes immediately went to the face of his mentor, a moroseness filling his gaze. "Starswirl?"
"Yes, Clover. I'm here, as well as Commander Storm." The unicorn wizard replied, casting Storm a glance. "Art thou alright?"
Clover's sullen visage changed into one of bitterness as his eyes narrowed at Starswirl. "Why wouldst thou care?"
Starswirl was taken aback at his pupil's words. "What ever dost thou mean, Clover?"
"Thou know what I meant." Clover spat. "Why bother having concerns for a failure? Or art thou so depraved that thou wouldst appear to care about how I feel?"
"Clover. Whatever thou saw in thy vision was all a lie." Starswirl said, a sternness creeping into his tone.
"Horsefeathers!" Clover shouted, immediately rising to his hooves. "Of course thou wouldst tell me it was a lie. Tell me, Starswirl. Do thee think of myself as a failure?"
He won't take any answer other than yes. Storm realized as he watched teacher and student arguing.
Starswirl put on a determined look. "I would never say such a thing, Clover."
Clover spun around, facing towards the crystal and belted out a laugh. "HAHAHA! Naturally thou wouldst deny telling me what thou truly feel, for fear that I couldn't handle the truth!" Clover exclaimed, slowly turning his head get a glance at Starswirl. "Well no more of thy lies. Thanks to that vision, thou no longer have to keep thy secret."
Starswirl gritted his teeth in frustration. "Clover, listen to me!"
"No, Starswirl!" Clover roared, whipping around to face the wizard. "All my life I've listened to thy deceit! But no more, Starswirl the Bearded. Today is the day I say no!"
Both Starswirl and Commander Storm were taken aback at the sight of Clover's eyes flashing the same red and bright green that they were before at Clover's last word.
The silence in the library was deafening as no one in the room moved a muscle, Starswirl and Storm staring in surprise at Clover as he stared accusingly back at them.
Starswirl bowed his head towards his student, a bright blue aura beginning to surround his horn.
"Pfft. What are thou going to do, Starswirl?" Clover scoffed.
"This." Starswirl responded sternly, a light blue light shooting from his horn and striking Clover between the eyes.
Commander Storm leapt forward. "Starswirl! What did thou just do?"
"Memory spell. Hopefully after it wears off, he'll rediscover the truth." Starswirl responded, watching his student crumple to the ground absentmindedly.
The pair of unicorns waited a brief moment before seeing Clover blink rapidly as the spell wore off.
Here it goes. Starswirl thought, leaning down towards his student. "Clover, art thou alright?"
Clover's gaze shot towards Starswirl's. Upon making eye contact, Clover buried his face in his hooves. "Master." He said, sobs beginning to choke his words. "I'm sorry… so, so sorry."
Starswirl put a hoof on Clover's shoulder. "All is forgiven, Clover. Fear can make ponies do and say things they normally would not."
Clover looked up from his hooves to his teacher's forgiving expression, his facial fur stained from a few tears. "All those things I said… that couldn't have been me."
"But it was." Starswirl said, a look of worry crossing Clover's visage. "The magic you and I both experienced capitalized on our innermost fears." Starswirl's gaze turned to the monolithic black crystal that stood in the middle of the room, black magic oozing out like blood from where Starswirl had cut it. "Which answers what kind of magic Sombra is capable of doing."
"So both the princesses are going against a tyrannical ruler that specializes in fear magic?" Commander Storm spoke up.
Clover and Starswirl exchanged concerned looks. "Unfortunately that seems to be the case." Starswirl concluded.
Commander Storm bowed his head. "Then heaven help them."
-Ponyville: Present day-
She's gonna have to stop at some point. She'll pace a hole into the floor otherwise. Spike thought as he observed his purple guardian walk nervously from one end of the library atrium to the other.
"Where's Pinkie? She should have been here a whole four minutes ago." Twilight said worriedly.
"Surely her party should be close to being, if not completely, over by now." Rarity said, trying to assure the nervous alicorn.
"That's the thing about Pinkie, though." Rainbow Dash chimed in from her hovering position above the others. "When it comes to parties, she never wants it to end."
"Not helping, Dash." Applejack said, casting the pegasus a stern look before looking back at Twilight. "Don't you worry, sugarcube. Pinkie'll be here when she gets here and when she does, we can get her up to speed."
"But I told her to be at this meeting at eight PM. Not four- no, five, minutes later than that." Twilight replied anxiously. "And I insist that we all be here for when we start the meeting, Applejack."
"Fine, fine. We'll wait for Pinkie to show up." Applejack said, backing off the subject.
"So what do we do while we wait?" Spike asked, his boredom making itself apparent in his tone. Spike's eyes drifted to the still warm plate of nachos he'd made lying next to him on the table in the middle of the room. Well, may as well not let them go to waste. He thought, reaching over and grabbed a cheesy cluster of chips from the plate.
"Sooo… how was everypony's day?" Rarity asked awkwardly.
"It was fine." Applejack responded first. "Did some work on the farm, went to the market to sell some apples, dropped the leftovers at the barn, then came straight here."
"Sounds pretty boring if you ask me." Rainbow chimed in.
Applejack looked up at the daredevil pegasus and gave her a smirk. "As if mah day was any more exciting than yours."
"Actually it wasn't." Rainbow said assuredly.
"Do tell, darling. What made your day so thrilling?" Rarity pressed.
Rainbow crossed her hooves and gave a prideful grin. "Well a certain old friend came by to visit me today."
Several eyebrows arched at Rainbow in response.
"Really?" Rarity asked, now intrigued by Rainbow's vague answer. "And who was this old friend?"
"You guys remember Gilda, right?" Rainbow said, reactions varying from her friends.
"How could Ah forget?" Applejack said, her words taking on a bitter tone.
"Why yes I do recall meeting that-" Rarity stopped, about to say 'ruffian', but recovered upon seeing the look Rainbow was giving her. "-griffon friend of yours. Especially how she treated Fluttershy when she visited."
The yellow pony in question nodded. "I remember her too. What did she come back for?" She asked innocently.
"Huh?" Twilight asked, taking her eyes from the clock that was ticking away as she waited for Pinkie to show. "Oh yeah. What did Gilda go to you for?"
"As surprising for some of you as it might be, she came by to apologize for the way she had behaved to you guys when she visited me." Rainbow said proudly.
"Is that so?" Applejack said, her eyebrows rising at Rainbow's answer. "And did you accept her apology?"
"Psh. Of course I did, AJ." The cyan pegasus replied. "After that she and a griffon friend of hers from back home hung out and caught up with each other."
"And how is she doing back home?" Fluttershy wondered.
Dash's happy expression faded. "Not too good." She said, a few surprised faces appearing on the faces of her friends in response. "I mean she's fine, but the Griffon Kingdoms aren't exactly on the best of terms right now."
"How bad are we talking here?" Applejack asked.
"Pretty bad." Twilight perked up. "The Western Griffon Kingdom has been accused of the assassination of one of the premier ambassadors from the Eastern Kingdom. The Easterners say the Westerners are liars, the Westerners claim they didn't do it. Distrust of one another has gotten to the point where both sides are questioning how the other's resources are being spent. Some suspect both sides are preparing for a war soon."
"Good heavens." Rarity uttered, sharing a shocked look with Fluttershy and Spike.
"They aren't going to start fighting soon, are they?" Spike asked, a nacho pinched between two of his claws.
Twilight shook her head. "Well I've heard Princess Celestia say she's trying to negotiate peace but with the developments that have been occurring the past few days, nothing has been done to prevent it."
"So did she go back home after her visit?" Fluttershy asked, nervously looking up at Rainbow Dash.
"Yeah. She and her friend left just before sundown."
"Well I hope they made it back to where they came from." A voice from the door said. All heads snapped to face the library entrance, a familiar bubblegum pink pony standing in the doorway.
"Pinkie? How long have you been there?" Applejack asked.
"Long enough to hear that Gilda's headed home." Pinkie replied, stepping inside the library and closing the door with her hind hoof.
"And how do you feel about that?" Twilight asked, seeing the morose look on the party pony's face.
"Just awful!" Pinkie exclaimed. "I just got done with one party for three newcomers! Had I known Gilda was in town I could have thrown another!"
A collective sigh of relief was heard as Pinkie approached her friends.
"Well I'm glad you could make it, Pinkie." Twilight said with a smile. "So then, shall we begin the meeting?"
"So let me get this straight." Trixie said, glancing at the ponies to her left as the group strolled down the road. "You want to conduct an experiment involving pegasi and unicorn magic." She said, receiving three nods in reply. "To see how unicorn magic can help bolster the flying strength of pegasi in order to brave harsh weather conditions." Another trio of nods. "And the best place to do this is a mountain in the middle of northern Equestria where it would just be us four and the two partners you mentioned that are already there."
"Precisely." Palm Spring replied, giving Trixie a grin. "So are you in?"
Trixie looked at the trodden dirt in contemplation. "Hmm. And what purpose, should we succeed, would this experiment yield?"
"I'm sorry, but that's classified." Speedy Delivery shot down the question.
"Haha! Classified?" Trixie asked in a facetious tone. "Who are you doing this experiment for? The princesses?" Another bout of laughter echoed down the road as the four continued on. Eventually Trixie's laughter died down at seeing the sober looks on their faces. Her eyes widened in realization. "Oh. You're serious."
"We've told you more than you need to know, Trixie. The out-of-way location for the experiment makes sure that our research isn't spied on." Speedy responded. "And let's just say that should you help us and we succeed, then think of the possibilities that could be reaped from our studies. Faster deployment of weather teams, enhanced pegasus troop training for the royal guard… the possibilities are quite extensive."
"And you would be the one that makes it all happen." Palm Spring said, casting Trixie a glance.
Trixie considered her options. One, not do it and they find some other unicorn for their studies while I try to find a new wagon to purchase with what bits I have left from my show business. Or two, I do go with them and be a major contributor to a magical development for pegasus flight. The unicorn mare thought.
Taking a breath and letting out a sigh, Trixie looked to Palm Spring. "I'll do it."
"Excellent to hear, Trixie." Speedy Delivery said, a smile stretching across his face. "You know where the air balloon is tethered in this town?" Trixie replied with a nod. "We'll meet you there tomorrow morning at first light."
"I'll be there." Trixie responded. "But I have just one question." All three disguised changelings looked at the unicorn as she asked her question. "I can understand why we would need pegasi and a unicorn like me for this, but why are you earth ponies coming along?" She asked, turning her soft purple eyes to Silver Star and Speedy Delivery.
Silver beat Speedy to answer her question. "We just assist with the experimentation process and data collecting. Being the head research assistant, it is my duty to make sure that everything goes smoothly. Isn't that right, Speedy?" He asked smugly.
Speedy hid a grimace behind a grin. "Of course, Silver-"
"Mister Silver Star." Silver corrected, Palm Spring rolling her eyes at the earth pony.
"Mister Silver Star. My apologies." Speedy said, the desire to sock Chassis in the muzzle starting to seem quite appealing to the disguised changeling.
"Now, now, children. Let's not get too mixed up with titles so as to forget our objective here." Palm said, speaking from both her disguise and as a changeling. "Besides, Trixie has a long day tomorrow and so do we. Let's head to our homes and call it a day."
"I'm with you there. I don't think I've eaten that much in my life." Speedy said, clutching his belly.
Trixie let out a chuckle. "Well Pinkie Pie's parties are notorious for their massive amounts of sweets."
"Well I need to go sleep it off. See you tomorrow morning, Trixie." Speedy said, the trio of undercover changelings breaking off from the road and began heading to their rental home.
Trixie continued along the path until she found a bench on the side of the road. Just as good a place as any, I suppose. She thought, lying down on the bench. As she lay down, Trixie looked up at the night sky. The moon cast a soft silver light on the town, the stars twinkling back at her. Letting out a peaceful sigh, Trixie lay her head on the bench and closed her eyes.