Elements of Revival

by ChivalrythePegasus

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Hi, I'm Morningrise. And I know what you're thinking, and I'll have you know that I will not be narrarating. I'm just here to give you some explanations. Five years ago, demonic creatures invaded Equestria. None of us really know where they came from, or at least none of us care to tell. I lead a group of survivors, and we have managed to thrive in our home. I have to admit, this has risen my curiosity, and it has often gotten the best of me, as it does now. I personally sent and accompanied a group to a nearby city, out of curiosity and intrigue...

"Anything?". Morningrise spoke. The alicorn stood with a deep slouch, from years of stress. His coat was of a solemn gray, and his mane of a dark black.

"Not that I can see, but the city certainly has some potential.". An earth pony responded. Immediately the voice was heavy with accent, like that of a pony who had grown up in the country her whole life.

"Of?" Morningrise responded.

"Survivors of course." The earth pony responded, turning to look at Morningrise. "You know we could always just go back, after all, I don't necessarily feel comfortable out in the open like this."

"I'm aware of the risk," Morningrise responded. "I just have to know if there are really others. I'm sorry, Timberhitch, you're just plain overruled, the Council agreed this was best. If you don't want to enter the city, you can..."

"Wait out here?! Not a chance. With those... things travelling around here I don't wanna be alone out here. If y'all go, I'm going.". Timberhitch responded. She shook a bit when she said things, whatever she spoke of, she was certainly terrified of them.

"Okay, then I'll call the others". Morningrise turned and whistled, as two pegasi flew out from behind a rock, followed by another carrying a pale green unicorn. The two landed first, their armor clanging upon landing on the ground. The stallion was a dark blue, and the mare a light maroon. The stallion bore a scar which spanned the length of his snout, and what hair that was visible from his mane and tail were light grey. His eyes were a dark purple, counteracting the ice blue eyes and mane of his counterpart. Unlike her counterpart, she had a much more petite figure, which was a shock compared to the physical power she had. The two were obviously well acquainted, as they wore similar armor colors and landed and walked in a very coordinated manner, although both sets of armor were heavily worn, from years of disrepair and combat. The stallion spoke first, in a rusty yet firm voice. "What's the sit rep?"

"Small city, decent probability of life. Doesn't seem too ransacked." Timberhitch spoke, her eyes returned to the looking glass as the other pegasus landed, placing the unicorn on the ground. She spoke in a very soft voice, almost to the point that it was inaudible.

"Then can we get this over with, or are the mighty Chivalry and Virtue too scared?". The unicorn whispered. The unicorn had a light green body, with a light pink mane. She seemed to be used to speaking in a whisper, almost like she never spoke out of that tone.

"Oh, haha Echo. Maybe you should speak up.". Virtue responded, to which everypony laughed.

"Seriously, can we go though?" The pegasus spoke. Up close, a scar was visible over his right eye, at least the portion not covered by his helmet. His body language showed a great deal of impatience, almost nervous anticipation.

"Calm down, Sparta" Chivalry spoke. "That's for Morningrise to decide."

"Ready when you are." Morningrise said, turning back to the city and bringing out his wings. He looked back, seeing the others do the same.

The group took to the sky, flying to avoid any potential conflicts. Chivalry and Virtue took point, watching over the two ponies carrying their allies. Quickly, they arrived, landing just inside the city limits. Immediately, something seemed amiss. Unlike the other cities, there were fresh tracks of something. The tracks looked almost like those of pegasi. Chivalry and Virtue were diverted by this, quickly examining the prints and noticing two separate pairs, one with a simple, but panicked, gait, and the other with some strange ambiguous pattern. Chivalry spoke first.

"Morningrise, sign of a struggle. Not sure if demon or somepny that was just very unlucky." Now, they began to see some fresh blood off to the side. Everypony cringed as they looked at the signs that pointed to greater loss of life.

"Then track it, if you can." Excitement ran through Morningrise's veins, the joy, and danger, of discovery, brought him back.

"Are you sure? This could lead to trouble." Virtue responded.

"Yes, we have to know." The group scattered, trying to track the source of the struggle. Sparta got out of earshot, and mumbled quietly to himself. "More like you need to know."

Chivalry and Virtue walked down a street, quickly finding more signs of a struggle. They saw the droplets of blood intensified, becoming extremely more frequent as they proceeded, as well as damage to nearby buildings, appearing to be from some sort of weapon being swung. They worked quickly, finding the struggle signs ending at a door. He signaled to Virtue, who approached the door, she spoke under her breath, swaying back and forth. Sparta stood almost directly behind the two, with the blade atop his helmet ready to attack anything that exited the house.

"1,2,3!". She barreled her shoulder into the door, which gave almost immediately. Virtue jumped hoof first inside, weapon ready to strike at whim. Inside, the room seemed empty, until she noticed two pegasi cowering in the corner. She took some of her guard down, analyzing the situation. One had a severely wounded wing, which had been patched up to the best of the other's ability. She noticed that it had not really worked, as blood slowly dripped from it as his counterpart tried his best to try to patch it back up again. They looked surprised, but happy to see others. The wounded one tried to muster a smile, but instead had only a grimace of pain.

"Is everypony okay?" Virtue spoke, to which the unwounded one looked up.

"We're better now, but my brother is hurt very badly, some of those things got him." The other one spoke, very shaky in his voice.

"That would explain the struggle signs," Chivalry spoke, walking in to help him up "what's his name?"

"His name is Anteros," the pegasus began, "and I'm Starfury."

"Well, Starfury, Virtue and I will get your brother out of here, and Morningrise, Timberhitch, and Echo here will take you there." Chivalry spoke, pointing to the group outside. Starfury nodded, although he was very tense as the pegasi approached the two, finally giving in and letting them take Anteros. Chivalry walked Anteros outside, as the light blinded Anteros, causing him to groan in pain, as Sparta returned from his cycle around the city.

"What In Celestia's name...?". Sparta began, interrupted by Chivalry's response, as Chivalry gradually became much more intent on getting the Pegasus back to a safe area where he could find the proper medical attention.

"No time, Virtue get my six!" Chivalry and Virtue flew off, and Sparta turned to the others.

" Well, does somepony care to explain? Because it seems a little strange that somepiny can escape from these things." Sparta immediately had become suspicious, as he kept a distance from the other Pegasus that he had noticed walking out into the light.

"Well, this is all an extraordinary circumstance" Morningrise began, quite optimistic to have somepony new after all of their search. Sparta shook his head, looking at the Pegasus.

"Or maybe this mysterious somepony isn't who he claims to be."

"Sparta, are you suggesting that he is a saboteur?" Morningrise began, as the situation quickly began to erupt.

"I'm no saboteur!" Starfury quickly refuted, as an arguement broke out, quickly getting out of hand. Echo tried to diffuse the situation, but was unable to calm the two.

"guys?". Nopony could hear her as Morningrise tried as well to keep the situation under control.

"Seriously, guys?" Still nothing. The arguing got louder, building up anger in Echo, until she finally broke into a shout.

"STOP!!!". A soundwave exploded from Echo's position, collapsing several buildings and making Starfury stumble. A silence ensued, followed by a roar in the distance. Morningrise turned to the sound, and began to gain a degree of rush, trying to urge the group onward, as everypony began to look at Echo in amazement. The unicorn smiled, as she basked in the attention of everypony.

"That's better, now can we deal with this elsewhere, especially since they probably just found us.". Echo returned to a whisper. Morningrise agreed, along with everypony else, as the group quickly took to the skies. Sparta and echo flew ahead, as Morningrise strayed back to speak with Starfury.

" Don't let him bother you, he's a tad... xenophobic" Morningrise spoke sincerely, trying to find some sort of compensation for Starfury's treatment

"You don't say. I never noticed.". Starfury's sarcasm was biting. Finally, the base came within sight. Starfury's eyes widened in awe as he could see the details of the complex. The main portion of the building was enclosed by a wall, which had a massive roof, which formed a dome. Offset from the top, a tower was visible, with a single light flowing out of the tower.

"Here?" Starfury managed to ask, looking at the sprawling complex.

"Yep, home sweet home. Seclusion". The two landed, the ground giving a bit, but not enough for them to slosh down into the dirt. It was evident that it had recently rained, almost as if it were a flash rainstorm. Morningrise approached the massive door, which was opened, with Virtue standing at the door. She seemed antsy, almost to the point of panic. Morningrise trotted over, the light sloshing of moisture present with every step. Virtue spoke quickly, as Morningrise did not even have the time to initiate the conversation.

"Morningrise, we have a problem. Anteros's wounds reopened and he's not doing too well." Virtue said, urging them to follow and running inside, Starfury and Morningrise following intently, stopping at a room where the pegasus lay bleeding. Chivalry spoke.

"I tried my best to hinder the bleeding but the wound was too large." Chivalry immediately stood away from the body, as Anteros began to lose more and more blood.
Morningrise nodded and then dropped his head, concentrating heavily. A ray of light exited his horn, as the wound sealed and the light lifted Anteros to hid feet. Everypony stood in awe as Anteros began to smile, and open his eyes. Anteros descended to the floor, shocked to still be alive. He looked to Morningrise, bowing his head. Morningrise began to sway, as pain began to course through his body, the stress from the spell wreaking havoc on his body. Everypony around him had not noticed, but Morningrise stumbled a bit, hiding it by placing his hoof down firmly on the ground like he was shifting his weight. With a great deal of struggle, Morningrise managed a nod, as the pegasus spoke.

"Thank you, noble Alicorn." The sound echoed in his head until he shook it, mustering a response.
"Think nothing of it.". the group slowly dispersed, as Morningrise was left alone. He began to shake his head when the room emptied, as he had not noticed the alicorn in the corner. She stood in the darkness, blending in. After sitting for some time, cursing quietly at himself, the alicorn finally exited the shadow, shocking Morningrise, and speaking.
"Is everything okay, Morningrise?"