Broken Seals
In Canterlot, high above the city in the tower balcony of the castle Princess Celestia stood watch over the darkened land stretching out from beyond the base of the mountain. The night was ending, and soon it would be time for her to raise the sun and bring about the light of a new day. Her sister, Princess Luna, was scheduled to arrive at any moment to bring her word on Equestria's status as the night had progressed. Though as the time went on, she noticed a hollow feeling within her, one she had not felt for some time and could only vaguely remember. There was something off, and she couldn't quite nail it down.
She closed her eyes to try to tune to her own senses. To see if she could remember where, or even when she had felt it last. Though her concentration was broken by the soft beating of feathers behind her. A rush of air sweeping past her followed by the clopping of hooves were the sign of a pony who had landed. The clicking of hoof steps atop stone neared, slowing to a halt to her side. Opening her eyes, it was affirmed to Celestia that Princess Luna had arrived. Together, they cast their gaze across those beneath their charge.
"My sister," Princess Celestia greeted the alicorn, "how was the night?"
"It was well," replied the younger of the two, looking up at her elder, more regal sibling. "Most of the ponies are dreaming in peace, aside from those who chose to be awake at night, or intend to rise before your sun does." Celestia nodded, closing her eyes while she did. "Speaking of which, shouldn't you be illuminating Equestria about now?"
She exhaled. "My apologies, Luna. I have been distracted." Her long horn glowed with a faint golden aura. Spreading her wings, she took several breaths in and out, relaxing both body and mind. Beyond the horizon far in front of them, the sky began to turn from black to orange as if a distant wild fire was approaching. It grew brighter and brighter, consuming more of the darkness with it. Soon a brilliant ball of light emerged, shinning its rays upon the land.
"Pray tell?" Princess Luna turned her body towards the white alicorn. "If it has to do with the consulate meeting this afternoon, I would be able to take your place, should you wish. I could understand that a meeting of this caliber with dragons of all creatures could put immense pressure on yourself and Equestria."
"No, it is not that. I have a strange feeling about something. I do not know what is causing it."
"You've felt it, too?" Celestia quirked an eyebrow to her sister's question. "I started to feel it midway through the night. It came at once with no indication of it approaching."
"Hmm... There is has been a great shift in magic."
"How do you mean?"
"Something has been added to the land that is taking vast amounts of magical energy. So much so that we can feel it."
"I wonder if Princess Twilight or Princess Cadance are able to feel it. Or maybe even other unicorns?"
Celestia shook her head slowly. "Although they are alicorns as well, they have not been around as long as us, and are not as in tune. Take note, my dear sister. My sun is rising, but something else is rising with it. This new day could very well mark the beginning of something important."
Nodding, Princess Luna turned back to face back at the horizon the sun rose behind from. Before either of them got the chance to speak again, the doors behind them opened up. In the doorway stood a Royal Guard, his white coat covered in gold armor. "Your highnesses," he bowed respectfully, making sure that his horn wasn't directed at the two alicorns. "I bring news from an archaeology team in the Everfree forest."
"Yes, Sergeant," Princess Celestia greeted. "What is it?"
"They found something in the lower levels of the ancient castle of the Royal Sisters, your highness."
Luna took a step towards the guard, tilting her head to the side. "Impossible. We know of everything within that palace. There is nothing new to be discovered."
"Let him speak, sister," Celestia said. "Go on..."
"Behind a book case in the lower levels," the guard began. "When the team pulled it back, they found a large stone door that looked like it was once sealed."
"A sealed door?" Luna asked. "I know of no such door. Celestia?" She craned her neck to look at her sister directly. The white Alicorn had her eyes half closed, looking intently at the guard, analyzing the words as the the came out of the stallion's mouth.
"What was inside?" she further questioned the guard.
"Uh... we do not know, your highness..."
"What do you mean, 'you do not know?" Luna took another step towards the guard.
"Nopony went inside. It didn't feel right."
Celestia held her tongue for a moment of thought. "Princess Luna," she turned to her sister. "Accompany the sergeant here back to the castle and investigate what he has found. Should you need, use Princess Twilight as a resource if necessary."
"What is it?" The darker alicorn asked. "Do you know of this?"
"I'm hesitant to say... Now go, what ever this is, it may be important."
Luna nodded, her horn glowed a deep purple, swirling around her to form a sphere that encompassed both herself and the guard that shrank into the ground, leaving nothing behind but empty space. Celestia turned back to face her rising sun, and the land that it illuminated.
"I fear that this day may be more memorable than I had hoped."
In the lower levels of the ancient castle of the Royal Sisters, a flash of light signaled the arrival of Princess Luna and the Royal Guard. They appeared in a dimly lit hall, covered in thick layers of dust broken only by the tracks of other ponies who had passed through not long ago. Princess Luna looked around, letting the sights soak into her mind, contrasting with what she remembered how the ancient hall used to look.
Her ears picked up a busy sound coming from the half opened doors of a nearby room. The Royal Guard led the alicorn towards the doors, opening the rest of the way for he and ushering her inside. The room appeared to be a small library that was covered in a thin layer of dust the same as the corridor outside. Wooden scaffolding created elevated platforms for ponies to climb along in order to reach the higher sections of the decaying shelves. Unicorns carefully used their magic to remove books, giving them to ponies below who examined them on a large table in the center of the room.
Just as Princess Luna crossed through the threshold, they all turned and bowed out of respect, some even shocked to see her there in the first place. "As you were," Princess Luna calmly commanded, returning the ponies to their original tasks.
She looked around. Everything seemed to be normal at first. Ponies were milling about conducting their work. The room was a mild temperature. An old musk hung in the air, released after being trapped for hundreds of years between the pages of old archives. Aside from the effects of aging, everything was as how she remembered. Except for the far corner. A bookshelf had fallen over into the middle of the room, and nopony seemed to dare to go near it.
As Luna approached the area, the air around her felt as though it was growing colder. The sergeant who had been following her as an escort, stopped, and staid behind with the other ponies. Luna slowed her confident pace to a hesitant one; the reactions of the other's putting her on edge as to what was hiding in the darkness in front of her.
Nearing, it became clear that something had pushed the bookshelf over from behind. On the wall where it stood against, was a set of large stone doors, just smaller than the shelf itself so that it was hidden from view. There were four circular indentations in the crack that separated the two halves. lined up vertically and evenly spaced, the first being just above the floor and the last hanging just below the top of the door. What ever they held had no fallen to the ground in a pile of dust. The doors themselves were were opened slightly into the small library, a current of cold air flowing through the small crack. Luna held her ground, gazing into the darkness on the other side.
In the edge of her vision she could see the other ponies anxiously hiding behind desks, chairs, other bookshelves, anything they could find while she examined the doors. Directing her attention back to said doors, Luna telekenetically opened the them the rest of the way. Their stone hinges grinded to dust after years of no use. No longer held by the walls, the doors too fell to the ground like the bookshelf before them, seemingly shaking the earth, knocking the dust off of everything else in the room. Condensation built up on the objects nearest to the dark opening, a sign of the cold temperatures coming from within.
"What is it, your highness?" asked a mare who had gained enough bravery and stand, taking a step out from behind the protection offered to her by a pile of books.
"A magic I have not yet encountered," Luna replied hesitantly. She took a step forward, waiting for her eyes to adjust to the darkness. Even using her innate ability to see well in such an environment, it was impossible to pick out any details. She cast a spell; projecting a ball of light into the room only to have it consumed by the darkness. Luna extended a hoof outward, reaching into the void, feeling as the cold enveloped itself around her hoof. Retracting it, she bowed her head slightly, taking her first steps forward.
The archaeologists watched tentatively from the side lines as one of their princess disappeared into the blackness. They looked around at one another, waiting for somepony to step up and take charge over the situation. It was eventually the Royal Guard who assumed that roll after several long minutes.
"Well," he said, placing himself in the center of the room, "you might as well get back to work, there's nothing we can do from here."
Without confidence, the ponies returned to their research of the room, removing and dusting off ancient books from the shelves, examining their pages and recording what they found. Except for the same Royal Guard, who remained in the center of the room with his eyes fixated on the void. Faust... he cursed himself. Well, it is my responsibility to protect her...
He too took steps towards the door. All the while his subconscious screamed at him not to. As he neared he felt the air grow colder.
"Princess Luna?" the Royal Guard called into the vastness. He had expected at least an echo to return. But much like how the light seemed to be consumed, so too did the sound seem to disappear. Just as he was about to take his own first steps into the blackness, Princess Luna emerged from it, merely inches away from him. The guard quickly backpedaled out of her way. Noticing her reemergence, the other ponies in the room directed their attention back to the developing scene. "Your majesty," the Royal Guard bowed after stepping off to the side. "Did you find anything?"
The Alicorn hesitated for a minute, visually scanning the room and it's inhabitants before redirecting her attention to the Royal Guard before her.
"Where is Twilight Sparkle?" she asked.
"Uh," not expecting his question to be met by another, he rose and thought for a minute. "Unless she's been called to some duty, I would imagine that she's in Ponyville, your highness. Might I ask what the problem is?"
"Stay here and watch the entrance," Luna began to walk out of the library and into the corridor. "Nopony enters," she called back, her voice echoing, "and nopony exits."
The last part of her command caused his stomach to become uneasy. He gulped, looking behind him at the void. Nopony... exits?
"Ah just don't get why ya can't at least filter the water before ya put it in the clouds!" Applejack argued. She and one of her closest friends, a pegasus by the name of Rainbow Dash, walked side by side down the halls of the new tree castle outside of Ponyville. After having breakfast with the rest of their friends earlier that morning, the two took their leave to tend to chores. With an upcoming harvest, the farm ponies found themselves hard pressed to spend their free time on anything else but the land. All the while the weather ponies were bringing in final storms in order to help keep the crops healthy.
"There's nothing wrong with my clouds!" Rainbow Dash retorted, her emotions putting her into a hover along side the orange pony about a foot in the air. "Besides. I don't make them. Cloudsdale does. I don't have any control over what water they use; it isn't Ponyville's turn to bring them water yet. And that's assuming there's something wrong with my clouds."
"When Granny Smith got up this mornin' she found one of the fields dryin' up. They didn't get any water! Even though somepony was supposed to bring rain the other night."
"It did rain! Two nights ago! I remember because Cloudsdale added too much lightning and a bolt struck the top of the school tower. I had to do all the paperwork to cover the damages. Still got the paper cuts, too!" The cyan mare hovered in front of Applejack, presenting her hooves for the earth pony to examine. Along the tips were small red lines. "Maybe it's your plants that's the matter, not my weather."
"Ain't nothin' wrong with them crops. I picked out the seeds mahself!" The two approached the double doors leading to Ponyville. "Maybe you should do your job for once instead of nappin' or practicing all day."
"My job?" Rainbow Dash opened one of the doors to allow Applejack through, intending on continuing their friendly conversation on the other side. "How about instead of eating your crops all day you could go out and work the fields!"
Applejack froze, flabbergasted at what she had just been accused of by her friend. "Did you just call me fat?"
"I ain't callin' ya big boned," Rainbow Dash mimicked the farmer's accent.
"Why you..." Applejack grabbed onto the hovering pegasus' tail with her teeth, dragging the cyan mare to the stone pavement. Just as she was just about to jump on top of the downed pony, a shadow being cast over them stopped her. Rainbow got up to turn and fight, but she too was halted.
"Princess Luna," the mares scrambled to their hooves, jumping out of the way of the doors and giving the royal alicorn a respectful bow.
"We're sorry, your highness," Applejack began, "we didn't see ya there."
She motioned for the ponies to rise from their curtsy, her eyebrow quirked. "Young Applejack, Rainbow Dash. What is your quarrel about?"
"She's trying to blame me for her stupid plants not growing!" Rainbow Dash directed an accusing hoof at Applejack.
"Well she's been sendin' me polluted water ta mah fields!" Within seconds, the two mares were muzzle to muzzle, sparks threatening to ignite between their two foreheads.
Princess Luna telekenetically separated the two, placing Applejack on her left, and leaving Rainbow Dash to hover on her right side. Pressing on through the doors and into the castle, she spoke, "Your indifferences will need to be set aside for now. Is Princess Twilight present?"
"Yeah," Applejack nodded. "She was still in the library when we left."
"Egghead..." Rainbow Dash muttered under her breath, unknowingly loud enough that the other two ponies could hear her.
Rainbow Dash and Applejack followed Princess Luna down the light blue, crystalline walls. The castle was amazing and served its purpose; a home for the Princess of Friendship. At the same time, none of them had really gotten used to it yet. Twilight often spoke of how she missed the simplicity of the old library, having lived away from the regal lifestyle Canterlot had offered for so long. Not to mention how it clashed architecturally with the rest of Ponyville.
The three ponies turned right at an intersection, following another, shorter, corridor to a set of double doors. Pushing through them they entered into the main library of the castle, something that Twilight didn't gripe about her new abode. It easily rivaled the old one. There they found the intellectual pony skimming through a pile of books, and her purple dragon assistant snoozing on a recliner made of them.
"Princess Luna!" she gasped, looking up from her studies. In a flash of light Twilight teleported herself in front of the other alicorn. "Wha-What are you doing here? Spike didn't say anything about a visit from you today..."
"Trust me, Princess Twilight," Luna replied, "if it were my decision I would be in a deep slumber by now."
"So why are you here, then?"
"Something was discovered in the ancient castle of the Royal Sisters..." To this news, Twilight perked up a little, already levitating note paper and quill to her side. "My sister sent me to investigate it. A room, hidden behind a bookshelf, that was once sealed but is no longer. There was something to this room... I magic I cannot explain and am not familiar with."
The purple alicorn had been taking extensive notes, practically writing down what Luna had spoken word for word in addition to her own theoretical notes written along side them in the margin.
"Twilight," Princess Luna continued, "I would like for you to examine it for yourself."
Her pupils grew three time in size, seeming to glow around the edges as sparkles danced across them.
"Yes!" Twilight blurted out. "I-I mean of course, Princess Luna. I would be glad to assist you in anyway I can. Spike!" At the mention of his name, the young dragon startled himself out of his sleep, popping the bubble of saliva that was expanding and contracting at the edge of his mouth.
"Huh?" he moaned.
"Could you go get some of my equipment, please?"
"It's already by the door, Twilight..."
"Thanks, Spike, you're the best!"
"Hmmhm..." Yawning, the dragon rolled over to face the opposite direction, quickly falling back asleep.
"Come on, there's no time to waste!" Twilight nearly ran out of the room, levitating her friends behind her despite their best protest. Princess Luna followed behind the three mares. By the time they reached the door Applejack and Rainbow Dash had stopped resisting, following the excited alicorn on their own free will. Along the way they had encountered Fluttershy, Rarity, and Pinkie Pie, who had yet to leave. Twilight managed to convince them to come along as well, some more than others. As the exited the castle, she picked up her equipment, along with note taking materials, and eagerly lead the way to the Everfree Forest.
The trip over all took them several hours. When they finally arrived, Princess Luna took them down to the old library, which had nearly been completely emptied of its literature by now. All that remained were a couple of Royal Guards who stood post outside of the dark void.
"You are dismissed," Princess Luna commanded as she approached them. They nodded, bowed, and went about the rest of their assigned duties for the day. She stepped off to the side so that the six others with her could see the gaping entrance.
Most of them took several steps back, with Fluttershy practically bolting from the room with nothing but an "Eek!" to sound her escape. Applejack went to retrieve her while Pinkie Pie was the first to approach the void. She extended her hoof towards it, giggling when the darkness stuck to her as if she had just reached into a jar of freshly made taffy. Just before she bit into the shadows extending from her hoof to the void, she was pulled away by Twilight's magic.
"Pinkie," the alicorn began, "we don't know what this is. Eating it probably isn't the best way to find out."
"But it is the funnest!" the bouncing pony retorted.
"That may be true, but we need to approach this carefully."
"Pfft," Rainbow Dash blew away several stands of hair dangling in front of one of her eyes, at the same time rolling them. "So let's just find out already!" She jumped, opening her wings and propelling herself forward, only to land just before the entrance upon hearing Twilight yell at her to stop. Inches away, she turned to face the frustrated alicorn.
"Did you not just hear what I just said to Pinkie Pie? There's obviously something very wrong with this. We need to take our time with it or else—"
"Or else what?" Rainbow Dash scoffed. "It's gonna grab you? Ooooooo stay away or else it'll eat you!"
Fluttershy cowered behind Applejack, "It would be nice to listen to Twilight, Rainbow Dash. We don't know what kind of magic is in there... You know, if you want to listen to her..."
"Quite," Rarity spoke, "something doesn't feel right. It's best to approach this situation thoughtfully before we trigger something awful."
"What?" Rainbow Dash tilted her head to one side. "Seriously? You're not afraid of the dark, are you—ooouuaaaaaahhhh!" In the time that she had been speaking, several black wisps had extended from the dark void and wrapped themselves around the hind legs of the unaware pegasus. Just as they tightened their grip around her, a third wisp shot out and grabbed the mare around her barrel, making sure to include her wings in its grasp. It forced her on her knees and began to drag the mare back, despite her desperately trying to claw her way away. More wisps emerged, grabbing hold of her shoulders and fore legs. One entangled itself around her muzzle before she could let out a scream.
"Rainbow Dash!" the pegasus' friends gasped. They ran forward and tried to pull the struggling mare away, but were swatted away by quick moving wisps. By the time they got back on their hooves, she was gone.
"Oh my..." Rarity covered her muzzle.
"That's it!" Applejack threw her stetson to the ground. "Ain't no shadows gonna take mah friends away from me!" Only a few steps into her rage induced march, she was halted by the pressing hoof of Princess Luna.
"I shall go first," she said, positioning herself in front of the five other mares, her wings spread open protectively. "You may be afraid of the dark, but it is afraid of me."
The mares nodded, following the Princess of the Night into the entrance of the void. Twilight and Applejack were close on her flanks while Pinkie Pie and Rarity practically pushed Fluttershy through the gateway. Instantly everything around them went black as they were enclosed by the chilly air.
"Everypony stay close..." Twilight whispered. Her voice seemed to echo indefinitely, along with their own hoofsteps.
"Close to where?" Applejack asked. "Ah can't see anypony."
"Eek!" squeeled Fluttershy. "Something touched me..."
"Sorry," Rarity apologized.
"Oh oh oh!" The unmistakable sound of Pinkie's hyperactivity resounded throughout the void. "I spy with my blue eyes..."
"Pinkie!" Twilight halted the mare's game barely after it started. "Now's not the time."
"Really, we need ta find Rainbow Da—" Applejack began but was cut off.
"Ah!" Rarity yelped. "Now something's touched me!"
"Oh, I'm so sorry..." Fluttershy said.
"It's quite all right. So long as we don't run into anything—" on cue, she did run into something else, her and the other mares with her. Each ran into Princess Luna's extended wings, keeping them from going past her. Though none of them new for sure what it was.
"My apologies," Princess Luna said, re-furling her wings. "We're here."
"Uh, princess?" Applejack asked. "Where exactly is here?"
A purple glow radiated from Princess Luna's horn as she cast a spell upwards. The ball of magic shone bright above them, remaining in place to act as a flare. It's radiance illuminated the area around the ponies. They were standing a top a cracked stone floor. The walls and ceiling were still to far away to be seen, the space in between them and the ponies occupied by more darkness instead. In front of them was Rainbow Dash, seemingly unharmed, though her attention wasn't fixed on the arrival of her friends. It was directed to what was directly beneath Princess Luna's flare.
There stood a small stone pillar about half the height of the pegasus. A stand that held a blue and white crystalline covered book. It had been opened to a series of blank pages about half way through it. Positioned around the pillar forming a ring were four more pillars. Atop one sat the stone bust of an alicorn, another an earth pony, a unicorn, and lastly a pegasus. The stone that comprised them was cracked and flaky, with various colors of smoke drifting up from within the gaps. White from the alicorn, green from the earth pony, blue from the unicorn and red from the pegasus.
Rainbow Dash took several steps away from the center pillar, rejoining her friends in cowering behind Princess Luna. It was only her and Twilight who didn't cower, they instead looked around trying to gather as much information about their environment as they could. One looking for any threats to their well being, the other for any scientific or quantifiable information.
"What is this place...?" Twilight finally asked.
Her question was greeted by more hoofsteps, however none of them were moving. The sound resonated from in front of them. From the shadows emerged a tall and regal white alicorn, one that was very familiar to them.
"We are in another realm," Princess Celestia stopped just before the center pillar, looking down at the blank pages of the open book in front of her. "A realm I created to lock away the greatest threat to us all. This place was designed for one purpose: to seal away the apocalypse... And the seals have been broken." Then came a brilliant flash of light as Princess Celestia's eyes turned white, and a spell was cast from her horn.