Guardians of Light: A Shadow Forms

by Alphadude007

Tremors

Guardians of Light: A Shadow Forms

Chapter 12-Tremors

-Fillydelphia: 1,000 years before Nightmare Moon's return-

Luna looked around the Fillydelphia Town Square. Everything she saw was for her sister. Banners depicting the sun hung on various street lamps above the cobblestone walkways. Ponies sold Summer Sun Celebration memorabilia at the stands they had up for the event. Even the little colts and fillies had drawn solar illustrations on their faces and sides using face paint.

Luna should have felt happy for her sister. Happy that Celestia was having her moment in the sun as a ruler. Yet all she felt was bitterness.

Why do I feel this way? Luna wondered, putting on a happy face to mask her inner jealousy. Why am I not proud of my sister? To these questions, a small lingering voice in her head was telling her the answers.

Because she gets all the credit! Why do our subjects not appreciate the night as they do the day? Luna thought, gritting her teeth. Why is it that whenever she- Luna began to think but was cut off as Celestia interrupted her line of thought.

"Is this not a grand day, Luna?" Celestia said with a proud look on her face as a pair of pegasi hung an orange banner with a big yellow sun emblazoned in the middle onto one of the street lamps.

Grand day, indeed. Luna thought as she gave her sister a smile. "Aye, dear sister. 'Tis a splendid day." She said, barely managing to not clench her teeth.

Failing to see her sister's façade, Celestia continued to watch the festivities unfold.

Luna turned her head away from her sister's gleeful look. The conflict she felt inside her made Luna want to scream but was held back by public circumstances.

This celebration is such a waste of time! Why would- Luna began to think, but caught the eyes of two young fillies that were staring at her. One had yellow fur with fuchsia eyes, and a curly mane that was the same color of her eyes. The other had sky blue fur with sea green eyes, and a rather unkempt mane that were the same shade of green as her eyes.

The yellow one leaned over to her blue friend's ear. "The princess is looking back at us!" She said in a hushed shout, trying to vainly mask her fear of the moon princess.

"This was your idea! Go and speak to her!" The light blue filly responded in the same manner.

A small grin appeared on Luna's face. "If thou wish to speak to me, then by all means continue with your scheme." She said in an authoritative, yet humorous voice while still keeping a smile.

The yellow one took a few tentative steps forward and bowed low to the ground. She looked up at the princess on the platform and spoke. "Princess of the Night, I, your humble subject, wish to make a request."

"State this request. And thou may rise, young filly." Luna said, gesturing her hoof in an upwards direction to the brave filly. Celestia had taken notice of this and looked at Luna and the fillies. She gave a thoughtful smile to the fillies as the yellow one stood back up.

The yellow filly gestured to her sky blue friend. "My friend, Sea Shine, has not been sleeping well in days past." The filly said, getting a concerned look from Luna. "She keeps having these terrors in the night. She tells of a yellow-eyed monster that attacks her in her dreams. She hath gone to local physicians and doctors, but nothing has been done to banish this terror from her mind. So this is my request. Princess of the Night, could thou makest the night peaceful for my friend once again?"

Luna gave a compassionate smile and nodded. "I shall see to it that this nightmare shall occur no longer. I know of Sea Shine's name, but who art thou, my brave little filly?" She asked.

"Morning Bloom, your Highness." The filly said.

"Morning Bloom, thy request shall be granted. Sea Shine shall endure this nightmare no more." Luna said with a grin.

A large smile broke onto Morning's face as she galloped back to her friend and embraced her.

Luna looked on the sign of affection with a smile.

Celestia looked to Luna. "Thou art as kind as thou art hard-working, Luna." Celestia said with a proud smile.

Luna gave her sister a genuine smile for the first time that day. Maybe I am not as unappreciated as I thought I was. Luna thought, a smirk tugging at her mouth. I was wrong to harbor such jealous thoughts. Should I tell her what I was going through today? Luna cast her sister a glance. Celestia still looked as serene as ever. Yes.I think I shall tell Celestia right now. She would understand. Luna thought, opening her mouth to speak.

Suddenly, a great tremor rocked the town square. Luna and Celestia almost lost their footing on the platform as ponies began to flee in terror. Carts that sold Summer Sun Celebration merchandise were turned over, causing their contents to spill onto the street. Streetlamps that once proudly displayed symbols of the sun began to sway, some already toppled over from the shaking.

Celestia, while trying to keep her footing on the platform, looked upon her destroyed celebration site. Celestia had a sad look on her face as she watched the once proud Summer Sun Celebration become a ruined mess. However, mourning the celebration would have to wait.

"Tia! We have to get off this thing!" Luna shouted, the platform's support beams almost giving way from the quakes.

"Jump!" Celestia replied, leaping off the platform with Luna close behind. As they got closer to the ground, Luna and Celestia extended their wings, slowing their descent. They lightly landed on the cobblestone, a platoon of royal guards immediately going to the princesses to protect them.

"Do not worry about us! Go help the civilians!" Celestia ordered the guards. A few gave each other concerned looks, but they complied nonetheless. They took off in every direction, looking for ponies in need of their help.

A loud creaking caused both royal sisters to snap their heads around. Behind them, the platform, on which they were standing on mere seconds ago, was collapsing around them. Luna and Celestia immediately took off in a full gallop away from the falling structure, beams of wood beginning to crash around them. Splinters flew, wood shattered, and support beams fell to the ground where the two alicorns had been standing moments ago.

Luna, still trying to maintain a proper footing, looked to her sister. "What's happening?" She shouted over the rumblings.

"I don't know!" Celestia shouted back, the rumblings causing her hooves to shake as well. What happened next, surprised them both.

Down the middle of the cobblestone plaza, the rumblings caused a large crevasse to split the town square in two. Out of the crevasse, a large black rock shot out, displaying itself proudly as a macabre monolith amongst the destruction. Even though the ground was shaking, Celestia could clearly tell that it wasn't just any rock that had come up from under the ground. Crystal? She thought. What in Equestria?

Almost as soon as she finished the thought, the quakes began to settle down until no tremors remained. What was once the site-to-be of the Summer Sun Celebration was now a ruined plaza with ruined shops, toppled streetlamps, and a large black crystal stood proudly in the middle of the wreckage.

"What was that all about?" Luna asked, now having to get used to the ground not shaking under her hooves.

"I do not know." Celestia said, narrowing her eyes at the crystal. "But I do know somepony that might."

Luna snapped her head in her sister's direction and gave her an incredulous look. "Tia, you can't be serious. That old coot is on the border of senility."

Celestia gave her sister an indignant look. "That old coot may be the only one that knows what caused this disaster. Besides that, he is our oldest and most trusted advisor. It would be foolishness to not ask for his advice." Celestia said sternly.

Luna pondered this for a moment, then gave a defeated sigh. "Fine. We will go to him." She said, her horn glowing a deep blue.

"Thou knowest where he is?" Celestia asked, making sure Luna knew where she was about to go.

"Where he always is." Luna said, her horn's light glowing brighter until she vanished in a flash of blue light.

Celestia took one last look at the ruined town square as her horn began to glow yellow. The solar princess sighed as she looked at all the ruined work that her subjects had tried to do for her. Ponies are resilient creatures. We will fix this in time for the celebration. She thought, her horn's light glowing brighter. With a flash of yellow light, Celestia vanished.

-Canterlot Archives: 1,000 years before Nightmare Moon's return-

"This is certainly intriguing." Clover the Clever wondered aloud as he read a passage from A Brief History on the Second Age of the Griffon Kingdom.

Starswirl looked up from the tomes on his desk but kept his back to the curious unicorn. "What is so intriguing, my student?"

Clover put a hoof on a particular passage in the book. "It says here that 'during the reign of Discord, the griffons were able to see what he was doing to Equestria, but Discord never laid a claw on the Griffon Kingdom'. I am intrigued as to why Discord would prey on pony kind alone."

Starswirl turned to face his student and gave Clover a serious look. "To answer thy question, my student, I have a question for thee. How can we possibly know what goes on in the mind of one whose ways are impossible by our nature? Did that draconequus have private motivations for ruling only pony kind? Or was he preparing himself for a more widespread reign before he was made into the statue we see in the gardens to this day? We cannot know for certain. However, there are several reasons that we can see that may have influenced his decisions." Starswirl said, pausing to see if Clover had anything to comment on.

Clover simply sat there and listened with a risen eyebrow, taking in every word that came from his teacher's mouth.

Noticing that Clover had nothing to say yet, Starswirl continued. "Ever notice any differences between ponies and griffons, Clover?"

Clover seemed to snap out of a trance at the sound of his name. "Uh... um…" He stalled, trying to find an answer.

Starswirl's mouth cracked a grin as he watched his student fumble with his words. "One of the most notable differences is reaction to danger. Now based on what you've seen ponies do, what do they do when a disaster is about to occur?" Starswirl asked.

"They… panic?" Clover responded, tentatively suggesting his answer.

"Correct. They panic." Starswirl said, hearing Clover sigh with relief. "But what do the griffons do?" He asked, this time getting a befuddled look from his pupil. Knowing that Clover had not had any experience with their beaked neighbors to the east, Starswirl knew it would be an impossible question to answer.

"I do not know, sir." Clover said ashamedly.

Starswirl smiled. "It is okay to not know, Clover. It is impossible to know all things, yet this about the griffons you can know. When a disaster is about to occur, griffons do not panic like ponies do. They prepare themselves. Their troops form ranks and their civilians go to safehouses that were made ahead of time. So if a foreign power like Discord tried to invade, the attackers would have a much more difficult time trying to pry land away from the griffons than they would here in Equestria."

Clover nodded his head in agreement and gave his teacher a smile. "Now that does make much more sense. Thank you, Master Starswirl." He said in a thankful tone.

Starswirl waved it off. "It is what I am here for, Clover. No need to thank-" The dark blue unicorn began to say, but was cut off by a violent shaking.

The rumblings seemed to come from nowhere as books began to shake from their positions on all the various shelves. Ancient tomes, scripts, and notes all became at risk in an instant. Clover was having trouble finding his footing as a tome on astronomy fell to the ground next to his hooves.

"Save the ancient works! Do not let any harm come to them!" Starswirl shouted as he was shaken from his desk, grunting as he fell onto the floor with a thud.

Clover's horn glowed a silvery glow as he began to charge up a mass levitation spell. When he heard Starswirl hit the floor, his head turned to see his fallen teacher. "Master! Art thou alright?" Clover asked as he began to catch books in midair.

"I am fine!" Starswirl responded, trying to get his footing back, but the tremors prevented him from getting back onto his hooves.

"Is this an earthquake?" Clover asked, catching a late work by Trotting Hoof in the air.

"There are not any major fault lines near Canterlot that I know of!" Starswirl shouted from his prone state. He looked to his desk and saw a certain book about to fall. A white book with gold trim.

NO! His mind shouted as his horn glowed a deep navy blue. Just as the book slipped off the desk, Starswirl caught it and levitated it into his hooves. He held the book close to his chest as the tremors began to intensify. Suddenly, a sharp black object protruded from the rock floor. Starswirl watched in amazement as the pointy object rose up to reveal a large black crystal that had shot up through the floor. It broke through the stone floor, leaving chunks of grey rock surrounding the proud black crystal as it stood in the center of the room.

Crystal? How can that be? Starswirl thought as his eyes widened in horror at his revelation. He looked up at the black monolith as the shakings began to settle down. Soon, the quakes were but a memory. The present reality was a pair of two terrified unicorns, a few dozen books levitated in midair, a broken stone floor, and a large black crystal standing in the middle of the room. Oh no.

Clover, using his magic, put all the books into stacks and set them on the ground. "Well that could have been worse." He said with a slight smile, trying to lighten the mood. However, this was neither the time nor place for jokes.

"Oh believe me, Clover. It is worse." Starswirl said gravely, still staring at the crystal.

Clover then looked at the crystal with a curious expression. "Where did this come from?"

"It came from-" Starswirl began to say, but was cut off by a bright blue flash of light behind him. He turned to see the Princess of the Night herself standing before him.

Both Starswirl and Clover knelt as Luna looked at the crystal. "It has happened here as well." She said in a mix of fear and awe.

"As well, princess?" Clover asked.

Luna opened her mouth to explain, but a bright yellow flash interrupted her. Celestia walked next to Luna and looked at the ruined state of the archives, notably the black crystal in the middle of the room. "Canterlot as well? How many other places were hit by these quakes?"

"So this quake was not just a local event?" Clover asked, still confused.

"Nay, my student. It was not. It was a quake that shook all of Equestria." Starswirl grimly said to the princesses.

Celestia's concern turned to anger. "Then what could have caused all this destruction to our lands?" She said, angry that all her subjects had been affected by the quakes.

"It was a realm far to the north. Make no mistake, Princesses. This was not an attack, but a message." Starswirl said, turning his head to the crystal.

"A message from who?" Luna asked.

Starswirl looked back to the princesses with a sorrowful look on his face. "The Crystal Empire."

"Crystal Empire? Master, does such a place exist?" Clover asked incredulously.

"I believe the evidence for its existence is more than substantial in today's case." Starswirl said, gesturing towards the crystal.

"Then what is this Crystal Empire?" Celestia asked in a somewhat agitated tone.

"Come with me and Clover, princesses. We have much to discuss and I'm afraid that these archives are too unorganized to find the right source material." Starswirl said.

Celestia and Luna nodded as the two wizards began to show them the way out the archives. Just as Luna was about to leave, her ear twitched. She looked back in the direction of the strange noise and found the source to be the crystal. That sound… is that… whispering? She wondered, curious to get closer to hear better.

"Princess Luna? Art thou still with us?" Starswirl asked from down the archives entrance hall.

Luna looked at the group of three. "Yes I am. Just catching my breath is all." This got a few confused looks, but they soon shrugged off their suspicions as Luna rejoined them.

-The Crystal Castle: 1,000 years before Nightmare Moon's return-

He did it. That alicorn actually did it. Sombra thought, a wide grin spread across his face. He looked down on the crystal ponies from his balcony, watching them carry out their daily activities. Some were carrying on with business as usual, yet others wore black cloaks over their heads to hide their crystal sparkle, an ancient crystal tradition when the death of somepony had occurred. News of the senators' deaths spread quickly throughout the empire, causing mass grief over demise of the politicians. Almost all of the Crystal Empire's residents was shocked that anything so horrible as death could come to their peaceful capital. However, one unicorn in particular was unfazed by the deaths.

They are finally out of the way. Sombra thought, taking another triumphant look over his kingdom. The way the senaors died had been very efficient and left no trace. A single stab wound in the throat while they slept. There were no witnesses of the acts and no traces of evidence were found. The alicorn had been right. The Empire was now his. Completely, utterly his.

The smile on Sombra's face grew as his horn began to glow jet black. With a flash of dark purple light, Sombra disappeared from the balcony.

---

A burst of dark purple light caused the throne room's attendants to look toward the throne room's entrance in alarm. Before the attendants stood a dark grey unicorn with a red horn and green eyes with red irises, out of which a purple smoke seemed to pour. The attendants stepped back from the intruder in alarm.

"Be at peace, my subjects. Do you not recognize your king?" The intruder asked in a deep voice.

A few 'King Sombra?'s were heard from some of the attendants as looks of horror found themselves on the faces.

The dark king grinned. "Aye, 'tis me, my subjects." Sombra said, eyeing the crystal throne on the other side of the room. He slowly began walking towards it, a hungry look finding itself in his eyes.

A light blue crystal pony with a brown mane tentatively stepped forward. "Sire? Art thou well?"

Sombra gave the crystal pony with an amused chuckle. "Oh my dear Sapphire Shimmer, I have never felt better in my life!" He exclaimed, his evilly jubilant voice bouncing off the crystal walls.

"Well s-sire," Sapphire said, stammering in fear. "Is there anything y-you w-would like for us to d-do?"

Sombra halted his slow pacing towards the throne. He turned his head to look into Sapphire's eyes. Even though he was at least several meters away from the king, Sapphire could feel Sombra's eyes bore into his soul. He felt as if every shameful moment of his life had just been brought to light. His breath hitched as reminders of school bullies, early financial troubles, his parents' deaths, and every bad memory in his life was flashed before his eyes. Seeing all the memories at once was too much for the poor pony as he broke down and began sobbing. The other crystal ponies backed away from Sapphire in shock of his outburst and at Sombra's new power.

Sombra gave Sapphire a look of fake sympathy. "No need to mourn, Sapphire. This is a happy day. And on this most glorious day, I want all of you to go to the corners of the Empire and deliver a message to the people." He said, looking to the rest of the attendants. After seeing what just Sombra's gaze could do to Sapphire, the other ponies were quick to avert their gazes from him as Sombra gave his command. "Every crystal pony is to come to the castle courtyard. There I will issue a decree that will usher in a new and glorious era for the Crystal Empire." He said proudly.

The attendants, including Sapphire, were quick to leave the throne room. Within less ten seconds, Sombra had watched every pony leave the room. His gaze then turned back to the light purple crystal throne before him.

Sombra stepped up the steps of the throne. The crystal throne that had held great kings and emperors was just about to receive its current occupant once again, this time with a new power in its seat. The dark unicorn king placed his front hooves on the throne's arms and pulled himself into the seat. As soon as he sat in the throne, Sombra could feel the power coursing through his very being. The purple smoke that was emitting from Sombra's eyes began to travel upward, toward the top crystal of the throne. The smoke touched the crystal, immediately turning the purple crystal to a shiny black. The black from the top crystal snaked down the lengths of the throne, eventually turning the rest of it black.

As soon as the throne had turned black, a great tremor came from the throne, shaking the throne room. Sombra could feel the dark power going from him and into the throne, claiming it as his. Even though the room was shaking violently from the quakes, King Sombra began to chuckle. His chuckling soon turned to laughter, which soon turned to manic howls of laughter.

"It's mine! It's all mine!" Sombra shouted triumphantly, resuming his roaring laughter.

Sombra could feel the quakes in the throne room, but he knew the shaking wouldn't just be confined to the Crystal Empire. The tremors would travel across the land, letting every pony know that he was in control.

The yellow-eyed alicorn from Sombra's dream had been right. It was a new day, and nothing was going to be the same.

Comments

[randomreader11]

Sombra goes to war with Equestria! One issue though, how do the ponies know that King Prodigal has a new name and that it's Sombra? Other than that it's a good chapter