Elements of Revival

by ChivalrythePegasus

Discovery

Now, memories barraged Morningrise as he approached to door to the palace. Memories flashed through his mind, the sights, the sounds of the chaos. He froze, unable to even speak as the nightmare ran through his head. Aluna, Vela, and Echo walked to him, noticing the strange trance he was in.

"Morningrise, is everything okay?" Vela said, looking to the still figure. No response. She looked to the others, who just shrugged in confusion. She took a breath, and tried again.

"Morningrise, is..."

"This was the last place. The last place I saw Twilight." Morningrise said, as Vela began to bow out of the conversation.

"I'm sorry, I don't mean to bring up bad..." Vela said, as Morningrise moved his head from its stationary position.

"It's quite alright. After she told us to leave, to save ourselves she said something to me..." The voice ran through his head, vivid as day, as he spoke them to the others.

"Morningrise, remember, above all, be true to yourself. You have great power inside of you, you simply need to unlock it." Morningrise reopened his eyes. He had not even realized that they had been shut, as he looked around and attempted to shake off the memories. He looked to the others, then looked to the door.

"Best not waste our time out here." Morningrise said, as he cautiously approached the door, examining the doors, which appeared to have been damaged to some extent, not to the same form of damage to the others. This looked like a break-in. Something wanted in here.

The main foyer of the palace was ransacked, the beautiful tapestries that once dangled proudly from the rafters now lay tattered and shredded, some on the ground, some managing to hold on by the little strength that it had left. Morningrise had more memories in here, which were stronger. He wasn't paralyzed this time though, as he managed a slow trot through the foyer, seeing the destruction firsthand in detail. Voices ran through his head as he saw the shattered panes of glass that had one proudly bore the images of her teacher, as well as many of the once proud ponies of equestria.

"There's something wrong, I cant put my hoof on it, but it's not good." Twilight's voice began to ring inside of his mind.

"Morningrise, you have to listen carefully. You need to get everypony out of here, something bad has happened. The elements have failed." Suddenly, Morningrise was placed into the scene. He saw a much younger self, and was shocked at the pride and strength he once had. He went to intervene, but everypony was unresponsive to anything he had managed to say. The younger Morningrise looked to Twilight, and spoke.

"But Twilight, we can't just leave you..."

"No, you must, it is for the good of Equestria. Just promise me you will take care of Aluna and Vela." The young Morningrise looked in confusion.

"Aluna? Vela?"

"They are the daughters of Cadance and Shining Armor. Weeks ago they came here in secret just hours after we lost contact with the Crystal Empire. Celestia and Luna went to investigate, and buy us some time." The words shocked Morningrise still, even after years. Celestia and Luna could only "buy time". Finally, the young Morningrise nodded, as a young Chivalry brought in the two unicorns. They were almost perfectly identical, with the exception of their hair, each adopting the opposite order of colors than the other. Both sported grey coats, and had green and black manes. Aluna seemed much more confident, as Vela was a tad further behind. Morningrise chuckled to himself.

"If only they were still like that now." He said, as he was interrupted by Aluna standing behind him.

"Who were still like what?" Aluna said, suddenly knocking Morningrise out of his trance, as he scrambled to get an answer, finally just making and excuse.

"Oh, nothing." Aluna looked confused at him, then shrugged it off. The group continued, approaching the end of the massive foyer. It was there that he saw a glint, a group of them, lying on the ground. He approached them, and saw with a awe in his eyes. There, on the ground, lay four necklaces, two-thirds of the fabled artifacts of harmony.

In the city, everypony roamed, exploring the run-down city. Chivalry roamed the streets, noticing the sudden shutting of a door. He grabbed Starfury, who was trotting by, and signaled for him to follow. He approached the door, hearing a light murmur of conversation, that suddenly stopped. He looked to Starfury, then signaled that he was going to open the door. He took a breath, and then with a mighty push, bashed his hooves into the door, knocking the door open, as two unicorns came out, attacking Chivalry. The first one was male, and jumped high at Chivalry. Quickly reacting, Chivalry ducked, turning around and seeing him land on his side, as Starfury ran to him and pinned him to the ground.

"I'm not here..."
Turning, Chivalry was met with a blade of floating stone, as he turned the blade of his helm to meet it, as he slid a few feet then planted, being unmovable.

"...To hurt you." The two met eyes, the unicorn immediately noticing a Pegasus and not the gruesome creatures that they had been used fight. The blade dissipated, forming a set of armor that flowed fluidly around the unicorn. She looked at Starfury, who almost immediately let the male unicorn up. Chivalry turned to the female again, inquisitive.

"How are you guys still here? Canterlot fell years ago." The unicorn shivered when confronted with the fall of Canterlot, as she tried to push away bad memories.

"We were not in Canterlot when this all happened, but returned moons later in search of food, to no avail. My aunt Puresoul had to provide sustenance for all of us, including her three children. She did this by pure force of will. Weeks ago, she fell ill and died. Since then, we have had to resort to scavenging what we can." The unicorn spoke as three fillies came out of the house. One was green, one red, and one blue. Chivalry looked to the older unicorn, speaking to her again.

"I see. It must have taken a good deal of power for her to do that." The unicorn nodded, as Chivalry saw the pure intent in her eyes. She nodded, speaking in a melancholy tone.

"She was great.... We will miss her." The male approached her as she dug her muzzle into his flank. The male turned to Chivalry, and spoke.

"I am Staggershock, my sister here is Splice, and the little ones are Ruby, Sapphire, and Emerald." The male unicorn explained, as the three fillies walked closer to the group, and the green one, which Chivalry figured to be Emerald, began to cry too. Finally, Chivalry spoke after he allowed the group to let their emotions be released for a time.

"We have a place that you can stay. Come with us." Chivalry said, pointing in the direction from which he came. Initially, the group seemed weary, but upon seeing a much bigger group of ponies, they decided to follow.

Virtue was walking through the military quarter of Canterlot, which had been developed shortly after the griffon war broke out. This was her home for so many years, and she walked about the barracks that she used to parade about, proud in her once shining and new armor. She walked up to a building, marked with a small sign. It read a short, simple line of text. "Barracks, Lightbringer Squad- Celestia's Finest" She sighed, remembering the days of her old squad. She, too, was brought back to the fateful day. Hope approached her, Virtue still entranced by the now rotting sign. She spoke softly, but with enough volume to get Virtue's attention.

"Virtue?" Hope said. Virtue was immediately thrown out of her thought, turning to her sister.

"Yes?" Virtue responded, as Hope took in a breath and then exhaled. She looked to Virtue, speaking ever so softly.

"The day we lost mom, she told me something. She made me promise to tell you if you ever came back, so I have to tell you." Hope began, Virtue stunned, pure emotion running through her veins. Hope took a deep breath, and spoke, remembering what she could of what her mom had said so many moons ago.

"She wanted me to tell you that she is proud of you. That even though you have our dad's thick skull and you have your stubborn moments, that you also got his wisdom, his commitment, his pure heart. He is just as proud of you as mom is. And they both love you very much." Hope began to be overcome with emotion too now, as Hope began to cry. Hope dug her muzzle into Virtue's, as she spoke in a muffled voice.

"I miss her, Virtue."

"Me too, Hope."

Morningrise examined the pile of artifacts that now littered the floor like trash. In the pile, he discerned that the artifacts were those of the elements of Honesty Laughter Kindness and Loyalty. Each lay intact, with the exception of the emblem of the cutie mark of each respective element, which had been almost completely shattered, only a few shards still remaining in the slot where the once elaborate jewels were. Out of all this, that of the Elements of Magic and Generosity were missing, causing a rush of excitement in Morningrise. Perhaps his mentor was still alive. He noticed immediately behind the elements there was a path of destruction, heading for a side room that was in a hallway. He walked down the hall, the portraits, like in the foyer, were tattered and damaged. Finally, they reached the door. The door, like the entrance, had signs of forced entry. Morningrise began to become more and more excited, as he opened the door.

The room was enormous, housing a laboratory. He weaved through the tables and apparatuses that littered the ground, the tread of creatures further jumbling the chaos of the laboratory. He walked towards the back, noticing a strange journal on a desk. He picked it up, seeing the cutie mark of Twilight Sparkle on it. He shoved it into his bag, then turned his attention to his right, seeing a window. The window was open, which was rather uncommon for a closed laboratory. Morningrise walked to the door, examining it. The door had not appear to have been forcibly opened, and no damage was visible on it. Then, looking into the glass window, he saw a glint of light reflecting in his vision. He turned around, as his heart sank through the floor. There, on the ground, lay the last two artifacts, shattered. The others found him fixated on the last two artifacts, as he spoke one sentence.

"She's gone."

Chivalry stood in the town square, as everypony began to report in. He took counts, noticing that he was missing Virtue, Hope, and Arc, who he had sent out on a patrol to check nearby for any creatures. The lack of Arc unnerved Chivalry, as the others took no notice of her absence. Finally, Arc flew in, moving so quickly she slid a few feet and nearly fell over. Chivalry looked to her, as she was too winded to speak. She struggled, as Chivalry urged her to take deep breaths. Finally, Arc spoke.

"They're coming."

Morningrise's head faced the ground, as he continued to be fixated on the last two artifacts. All of the work, all of the sacrifice, for nothing. Aluna approached Morningrise and tried to comfort him. She spoke softly, trying to be solemn.

"She was a great pony, Morningrise." She spoke, as Morningrise still refrained from speaking. He looked up, meeting eyes with Vela. Sorrow riddled his eyes, his world destroyed. He finally broke his silence, again only speaking one sentence.

"All of this, for nothing."

"It's not for nothing, the others may have found something."

Morningrise did not respond. Aluna went to his side, nudging him forward as he walked, still saddened and unresponsive. He exited the castle, into chaos.

"What in Celestia's name?" Morningrise mustered, trying to seem normal in front of the others. Everypony was rushing around, trying to scramble together and get everypony out of the city. Chivalry walked to Morningrise, and spoke with a panicked look on his face, which Morningrise had not seen since that day so many years ago. Everypony began to look to Morningrise, their leader. It was what they had always done. Finally, the words came through to Morningrise.

"They're coming"