Equestria in Ruins

by Eclipse Shine

Chapter 10: Divinity in an Era of Malice

Twilight left a dim light on the once renowned kingdom of Canterlot, filling the streets with its fading light as dusk threatened to take back its throne. Every minute that passed, Equestria got darker and darker until the light that had once shone upon its beauty was no more. Shadows blended in with their environment, invisible to us but still making their presence known. Tonight, the sky seemed blacker, the air seemed thicker and the darkness was furious. Tonight, it vowed revenge on the ones that tore down the walls that it built.

We had arrived in Canterlot before dusk, indulging in the much needed meal that tasted even better after our first victory. Although this victory was bitter-sweet, we rested for the moment, barely speaking to one another as we ate our delicious dishes decorated was a variety of different foods; weariness promising us early slumber.

“We will discuss about further plans tomorrow.” Shining Armor declared as he took a bite out of a freshly baked loaf of bread. “You can all sleep comfortably tonight; it wouldn’t be long before we need to start up again so enjoy your rest while you still can”

I gulped down a glass of cider which had a hint of alcohol that barely made its presence known on my taste buds. Shining Armor told us that since we fought like warriors, we could drink like warriors. I’ve never been a big fan of the bottle, I really couldn’t tell what the big deal was; in the end it’s just something to quench my thirst. I drank grape juice for the rest of the night, the sugar not helping my battle with insomnia.

~

The stars did not shine tonight; our victory wouldn’t be met by applause or loud cheering from a crowd of foals. We weren’t heroes yet, there was still much to be done. It would be long until we got our recognition and even at that point, how long would it last? How long before our efforts would become meaningless; a simple history lesson in a class that no foal wanted to be in?

Today recognized, tomorrow forgotten.

These thoughts were running through my mind, chasing the promise of sleep away. I couldn’t help but feel that this was all for nothing. Darkness never dies; it has always been around since the dawn of Ponykind. All that we were doing was setting it back, mocking it until it finally had enough and erupted within each and everypony; taking us down with it. The harshness part was the fact that there was nothing we could possibly do to stop it completely.

Stop thinking that way! It’s not all for nothing, think of all the lives that you’ll save! Remember your destiny!

I was right, it served no use to overthink, regardless of what I thought; there was still a task that has to be completed. It was my duty, my fate, my destiny. It was everything I was and everything I would ever become. Fame wasn’t relevant in the end. What mattered is knowing that I did all I could in my power to save Equestria from certain doom; whether I make it out alive or not.

~

Dark. The Dark concealed all that hid in its shadow. Light. Light dismissed the darkness as a figure emerged from its depths and advanced towards me. Celestia had her head down, sorrow draining her life as she drifted towards me, almost as if she was floating.
She stood directly in front of me, her eyes met mine but like the rest of her expression, they were also absent of any indication of life.

“You did a great job saving the tree of Harmony but don’t presume victory just yet, there is too much left to do. Even after you stop the darkness, Equestria will be far from being stable. Too much damage has been done to be completely reversed; the darkness will leave a scar in the foundation of Equestria that will never fade.”

Celestia paused for a few seconds to catch her breath that had suddenly been taken from her as a tear streamed down her eye.

“What’s wrong?” I asked, concerned about the princess’ state. “We can do this some other time if you want?”

“No, it can’t wait much longer. The sooner it ends, the sooner Equestria will start to recover.” She responded uncertainty present in her voice. “The seventh element of Harmony that you received is temporary; it will lose its power over time.”

“I see…So tell me what I have to do next.”

She looked at me with regret as she started explaining the next task.

“The Crystal Empire. You must travel to the Crystal Empire. I’ve been locked away for far too long, gazing as my empire crumbles all around with nothing I can do to reverse it. That, Eclipse Shine, is why the tree of Harmony chose you; that’s why destiny chose you.”

“But aren’t you still under the effect of the dark forces?I mean setting you free would be nice and all but is it safe?” I replied, skeptical about what she was asking me to do.

“The elements of Harmony have set Luna free from Nightmare Night in the past; I don’t know why they wouldn’t do the same for me.” She began. “The sole purpose of the elements of Harmony was to avoid catastrophe, they only failed once…and look what happened. You must have faith in your abilities since your element can only be activated by the friendship you share with your companions.”

“But do Unity and Starshard feel the same way about me? Do they really love me enough to make this work?” I’ve questioned my friendship with the too filly’s before, I’ve always had a tendency to do so which is why I’ve lost so many in the past; I let them fade away with time.

“More than you could possibly imagine. Starshard is the one that brought the three of you together and Unity is the one that kept it that way. The three of you have showed on many separate occasions that it doesn’t matter how dark the world outside may seem; friendship will always prevail over everything else.” Pride was in her voice as this sudden revelation came as a shock to me; everything made sense to me now.

“I…I never looked at it that way.” I was a bit embarrassed at my misinterpretation of the true friendship that happened between the three of us.

“When ponies are young, they tend to look at things from the surface, only exploiting some of its realities. It isn’t a bad thing since it helps us hold on to our ideologies, however childish they may seem to somepony else. It’s still important to try to look at things from a different perspective, that way you can understand them for what they truly are.” Celestia spoke with thousands of years of wisdom, thousands of years from learning from her mistakes and thousands of years to make up for them.

“What should I tell Shining Armor?” I hadn’t told anypony else about my dreams since it would have them question my sanity even more.

“He knows.” She smiled as she started to fade into the darkness. “Remember what you are fighting for.”

“Wait!”

It was too late, she was gone.

~

I woke up the next morning in shock at Shining Armor sitting beside me; it was impossible to tell how long he had been there since
I slept like a log during the entire duration of the night after my other-worldly encounter with the Goddess of the Sun.

“Are you ready?” Shining Armor awaited my response while I rubbed my hooves onto my tired eyes.

“Ready...Ready for what exactly?” I asked in confusion, not catching on to what he was suggesting.

“The Crystal Empire”

My heart skipped a beat at these words.

How could he have known?!