//------------------------------// // A Great Storm // Story: The Legends of Avalon // by Sunsette //------------------------------// A song was being sung in the distance; a message to the world: Darkness shall cover the earth for a hundred years, and we shall be cast to a new Dark Age. All across the ruins of Equestria, foals wept on and on until they can no longer cry; mares and colts embracing each other, as the great storm covers the land. Dark, Cold, and Ominous. Like a weeping mare, the cold swept throughout the land, covering the land with snow and ash—remnants of the greatness they once had. A tall hooded mare, with short ethereal blue hair, and a sword on her back, treaded upon the battlefield: The Canterlotian fields. She eyed the fields with great sorrow, and she let out a single sad tear stroking down on her cheeks. drip! The sound of her tears echoed throughout the desolate fields, now covered in snow. crash! Her ears picked up the loud sound coming from the ruins of Canterlot: That city that was mostly destroyed during the battle. The remaining structures left were scorched in black. The mare pulled down her hood, her muzzle looking up in the air, sniffing the ashes of war left by the darkness. 'How must it end like this?' she pondered, her hoof stroking her soft and short mane, her blue eyes staring gently at the corpse beneath her; a stallion, white fur and red eyes, armoured in gold. A royal guard. She inspected the corpse: Deep cut in the throat — presumably by a sword, judging by the gaping size of the wound, still soaked in blood. She chuckled grimly; a corpse still fresh like this, must've been unlucky enough to fought the bandits that have been gathering 'round these parts. She rose up; an arrow whistling pass her. The arrow only missed her head only by a few millimetres, leaving behind a long and deep scar on her cheek. She screamed in pain, and put her hoof on the wound, now spilling out blood. Her blue cheeks mixed with the deep scarlet of blood; purple, like a lilac. She looked upon her attacker: An old stallion, probably in his late hundreds. He had ashen-grey hair, and a short yet scruffy beard. On his hoof, was a steel sword with a serpent-like head as the pummel of his sword. He spat out his spit and glared the mare harshly, grinning wickedly as he charge towards her. The mare drew out her sword: Deep blue, decorated with runes on the blade — Igni, it says, meaning 'Fire' in the old alicornian language. As the colt continues his charge, he let out a deafening roar, his other sheathed weapons clanking upon the silver armour he was wearing: A rogue knight. The blue mare raise her sword to the air and swung a savage blow upon the stallion's head, cutting it from it's neck. The lifeless body fell unto it's knees and topple over a rock, raising it's flank in the air. She looked at the stallion's cutie mark: A sword coated in blood. She wiped the blood on her blade with her coat, soaking it with wet and red blood. But she cared naught for the scarlet on his cloak, for she was only here for one reason: To climb the Canterlot Mountain. 'Damn wings, work you useless fucking things!!' She shouted, her voice echoing throughout the snowy mountain ranges of the Canterlot mountains, her wings as stiff as ice. She had stop using it a year after the Great War; for her dear sister told her to not reveal themselves to the mortal races. She would leave the following day, only leaving behind a note. A tiny pebble fell unto her muzzle, and she sneeze rather loudly. The cliffside shook, as a massive boulder was hurling down towards her. In her mind, she thought of one word: "Shit." She felt her grip on the rocks loosing; rocks falling down to the ground. She took one deep breath and jumped with all her might towards the other side. "Arghh!" She rolled around the surface, dirt on her once clean and beautiful mane. But she cared naught for her hair, nor she would ever will, for the Great War has done her many things such as making her incredibly dirty. She stood up, her legs shivering, her teeth clanking with one another. She felt cold...and afraid, as if she was in a nightmare; a harsh and horrific one. She pulled up her hood and wrapped herself with a long, silky red scarf she had looted way back when. The mare turned around and saw a beacon of light on top of the mountain: Celestia's light, as they called it. 'If only you were here, thy sister' She sighed sadly, and walked upon the steep stairs constructed thousands of years ago; all slippery and wet from the ice that had melted here. She reached to the top of the mountain, and she gasped at the sight she saw: It was her sister, dressed in a fine dress, woven in silk, her scarf made out of fur. Her hair was as beautiful as ever, but rather than the long and ethereal rainbow mane she used to have, long golden strands of hair replaced each and every strand of hair. She smiled gently at her; a mothers smile, and opened her arms for a hug. The mare wept tears of joy, dropping her sword on the ground and running towards her. She hugged her sister, and nuzzled her closely. Soft, more soft than ever. Just the way she liked it. She look at her face and whispered: "Why did you go, 'Tia?" She asked, her eyes soaked with tears. Her sister — no less the same — stroke her short mane softly. "I can no longer be here, Luna. My magic is withering, and the world doesn't need me anymore." She said sadly, and her sister looked at her in disbelief. "What do you mean, Sister? Have thou forgotten the times we have led our ponies to glory? To harmony?" Luna asked eagerly, awaiting her sister's response. Celestia looked at the dark and cloudy skies, and frowned. "I have not forgotten, my dear sister. But they must learn how to be on their own now, for Winter is Coming and I don't have the magic nor the capabilities to stop it." She responded, continuing to stroke Luna's short mane. She stopped stroking her mane and smiled. "You've grown a lot taller, Lulu" She remarked, and Luna blushed. "Why, yes I have, Sister. Before I was 5"4, now I'm 6"2; you know, growth spurt and that," She giggled. "And yet, here I am, still shorter than you by a few feet — 2 feet, that is." They both laugh merrily and hugged each other once again. They sat there, blinking at one another, before stifling out a chuckle. Luna fixed her gaze on the ground and sighed sadly. "What am I going to do without you, 'Tia? The world has fallen into madness, a madness that I can't fix." She confessed, and Celestia gave her a sad smile. She raised her large wings and blanketed Luna. "I'm scared, 'Tia. The winter is getting nearer every passing day, common sense is deteriorating as the survivors of an destroyed world fight over what little resources there is left; and what did I do about it? I ran away from the problem, the madness that has consumed Avalon, and traverse across the world, seeing the damages that damn menace has bestowed upon the land." As Luna talk about the on-goings of the world, Celestia frowned sadly and sighed. She stood up, extending her hoof for Luna to stand up as well. She does so and they both stare at each other, their eyes fixed unto one another. Celestia shed a sad tear and hugged her dear sister, the sister she had grown up with for thousands of years. She stared at her and smiled sadly. "This has been fun, my dear sister. But I fear that we can no longer meet no more." Luna froze, shocked and confused. She muttered one word: "Why?" A wicked smiled (or was it a frown?) crept upon Luna's face, as she laughed maniacally. She pointed at Celestia accusingly. "You, get to go see Father — whom I've never met — while I have to stay here, trapped here as if I was back on the moon!?" Luna continued to laugh, whilst Celestia's looked at her sister with worry. She then noticed something streaking down Luna's cheeks. Tears. Her wicked laugh soon degraded to a wet sob, as she laid her head on her sister's shoulder. Celestia felt sorry for her sister, away from her, trapped in a place where the chaos reign the land. She hugged her sister once again, and laid her head on top of hers. It will be another 30 minutes until Luna stopped crying, her armour and weapons on the ground, its silver and steel shimmering upon contact with Celestia's light. 'Tia grabbed Luna's sword and inspected it: Silver steel, blue runes — Igni — and a leather handle. She smiled at the sword, then at Luna. "Tis a fine sword you got here, Luna." Luna looked up at her sister and smiled sadly, tear stains on her cheeks; she smiled at her sword, a priceless commodity to some, but it meant the world to her. She grabbed the sword and stroke the blade gently. "I made it myself, thanks to the lessons our old Forge-master gave to me. As for the runes... well, let's just say that I had to go through a lot of old books — most of them were banned by us — to find at least one sign. It was a pain in the arse, really; countless days of reading books in the old ruins of Canterlot, whilst the bandits roamed free across the fields and the cities." She laughed heartily. "Entire camps of bandits have fallen to this sword!" She exclaimed with joy. Celestia smiled once again, her long ethereal golden mane glowing harmoniously, a cold breeze settling upon Luna. "I must go now, Lulu. But please remember: No matter where you are, or what situation you're in, just remember the times we had with each other" A ray of light settled upon the two sisters, and Celestia looked at her sister with great sorrow. "I must go now..." Tears were dropping down from her cheeks, her white cheeks now stained with wet tears. Luna sniffed softly and hugged her sister one last time. She looked at her sister, a smile creeping on her face — a sad smile. "Goodbye, my dear sister." And with that, her sister walked back to the mist, fading away as the light engulfed her form. Luna stared at the mist with great sadness, her sword in her hoof, her armour now rusted and losing its colour. She pulled up her hood and tread the mountain path slowly, pondering about the future. And as she walked away from Canterlot, a great winterstorm settled in, covering the many corpses that littered the land in snow.