My Little Pony: Symphony of Fire

by LordStarKnight

Prologue

Antarctica - One year ago

The ocean was crystal blue, promising unknown kingdoms to those putting their eyes on it. The horizon revealed a long wall of pure ice--a reassuring yet oppressive protector. A chorus of winds was keeping it company.

Faraway, a titan of metal was piercing the water. Its tamer, influenced by boredom, made his horn sing, invading the frozen lands with its noise. The chimney spat out its thick black smoke, extending its invisible arms to the milky horizon. The tanker moved away with a mocking nonchalance, like his predecessors, unaware of the dark deviousness that operated a little more each time.

Far from the eyes of men, the unthinkable happened. A crackle echoed through the tired cliffs. Another happened, and nature itself seemed to hold its breath. The roar of a gigantic block collapsing. The cry of agony of a thousand-year-old guard. The ice hit the ocean and slid into the abyss.

And then, an infernal prisoner awoke in an explosion of sharp flames, before leaping to the clouds.

That day, many men saw a burning spear piercing the sky, tinging it blood red.

Equestria - Nowadays

There was a huge mess in Canterlot's archives. Around a giant hourglass, the only landmark still distinguishable, mountains of books, scrolls and other manuscripts strewed the ground and encumbered the space between the various bookcases. A small purple unicorn was merrily humming in the middle of these shambles. Her flank bore a pink star. She was magically floating a quill and different scrolls in a candy-pink aura generated by her horn, springing out of a long indigo mane crossed with a purple wick, just like her tail. A cohort of old books were levitating in front of her playful eyes as she listed them one by one. But her joy was far from shared.

Among the half-empty shelves, a large purple lizard, surmounted by green scales, was carrying, with difficulty, a pile of grimoires in his little arms. He could not help but whine because of the effort.

“Twilight ... I like being your assistant, but could you not ask for some help this time?”

“Spike, I promised the princess I would put the archives in order,” she replied without moving her eyes from her work. “The others have their own business to manage.”

The baby dragon dropped his charge, raising a cloud of dust that caused him to cough out his lungs.

“Sure. It’s more like you enjoy cleaning all these piles of dust by yourself.” he muttered under his breath.

“What did you say?”

“Nothing!” he replied.

Twilight interrupted her parade of old volumes when an element on her scrolls made her stop.

“If the old inventory is correct, it’s missing one book to complete the section about the links between animal species and magic energy: An encyclopedia of the felines. Could you bring it to me, Spike? It should be in that section over there.”

“You got it!”

The budding assistant plunged into the forest of paper in the direction indicated by the young unicorn. To go through the heaps of books was in itself a challenge, but the adorable reptile consoled himself by noting how much the shelves had already been greatly emptied. The book he was looking for was probably among those still on a shelf, otherwise he would have brought it back to Twilight earlier.

After having escaped several literary landslides, Spike discovered the objective of his quest: a blue thick encyclopedia , marked with a silver cat design. The only concern was that the book was at the top of a shelf, in the very last row.

The little assistant lamented in front of this unexpected obstacle. Because of his small size, the highest writings seemed unattainable to him. Twilight could take care of this with her magic he thought. As a result, Spike prepared to ask for her help. But he stopped. Something inside of him was telling him that he could get this manuscript by himself. Moreover, from the top of this piece of furniture, the book seemed to taunt the young dragon. He felt the ridiculously satisfying need to respond to this insult.

Spike began to climb the cliff with youthful determination. His ascent was slow but steady. His grip was firm and his claws helped him to hold on, despite a few slippery slips here and there.
Once at the top, facing the bookshelf crowded with books and rolls, a long smile lit up his face. The euphoria of victory was already exciting him. The baby dragon seized the blue grimoire between his little fingers and pulled. Nothing moved.

Once the initial incomprehension passed, he tried again to extirpate the manuscript, but without much success. Over time, the books had been stored without consideration, until they were tight against each other. The little dragon refused to give up. He grabbed the mocking book with both hands and pulled with all his might. It resisted again. The lizard insisted even more aggressively. Until the manuscript leaped like a champagne cork. Carried away by this sudden extraction, Spike was now on the verge of a vertiginous fall. He quickly grabbed the edge of the shelf with two claws. He sighed with relief. Then the weight of the child caused a slow tilting of bookcase.

From her headquarters of books, Twilight heard a cry of distress followed by a terrible crash. The unicorn dropped everything to gallop towards the source of this scream. There, she discovered, in addition to a fallen shelf, an ocean of books and a thick mist of gray dust. She called anxiously for her little companion.

“Spike! Spike, are you there?!”

The answer she received was a violent series of coughs, followed by a geyser of paper from which the awkward reptile came out. Many books levitated in a pink aura to create a path to the child.

“Are you okay?” asked the young pony. “Are you hurt?”

“I think I’m okay,” he answered spitting a lot.

Twilight examined him and asked anxiously what had happened. The dragon told her about his adventure as the thick mist disappeared. When he finished his story, the unicorn told him with kind concern.

“I told you to let me take care of that when it’s too complicated. I don’t want anything to happen to you.”

The child apologized with a voice full of guilt, disappointed that his temerity had worried his friend. Before the latter could comfort him, something strange appeared, interrupting her. When it fell, the shelf had revealed the wall behind it. And as the fog of dead particles disappeared, a strange decoration was revealed on the stones: An arch painted by the most refined of artists. Inside were all sorts of fine arabesques, accentuating the noble aspect of the drawing, as well as a horseshoe design in the middle, surrounding an eight-pointed star.

The young unicorn approached, hypnotized by this discovery. She was as captivated by its wonderful aesthetics as by the impeccable condition of the painting. An intriguing contradiction seemed to exist between the perfect black paint and the old stone.

“What is it Twilight?”

“I have no idea,” she admitted as she approached the drawing. “Why would anyone put a piece of furniture in front of something so beautiful?”

She inspected it and seemed intrigued by something that tickled her memory.

“That’s weird. The signs in the middle ... around the horseshoe. It looks like old unicornish. A really old version.”

“Can you translate it?”

The unicorn thought deeply for a moment. She was trying to combine her mastery of the classical version of this language with her limited knowledge of linguistics to clarify the forgotten message. She seemed confused by her conclusion, which she shared loudly as her hoof caressed the horseshoe symbol.

“I think it means: Only those who are in love can enter... No. Those who sincerely love the truth.

As soon as she uttered this last word, the drawn horseshoe illuminated itself with a soft cyan light. Surprised by this magical reaction, Twilight and her friend stepped back. Then, the entire arch from a forgotten time lit up with the same heavenly color. A few seconds later, the stones inside the arch began to recede, with a strangely discreet rock rubbing. An almost imperceptible caress.

After moving backward a little, the painted stone slowly rotated to reveal an opening into a world of darkness. At first, the unicorn and her reptilian friend were intimidated by this opening, which seemed ready to devour them. It was like their instincts were warning them that if they crossed the border, they would never really come back. Like a response to their fear, new luminescent lines lit up the passage, revealing an ascending spiral staircase.

Spike questioned Twilight, wishful of a reassuring explanation. But the purple pony didn’t seem to hear it. Slowly, her hoof crossed the threshold. Its snap echoed in the depths of the hallway. Worry did not seem to have any more grip on her. The sky-blue gleams gave the staircase a more reassuring aspect, inviting them to use it and to lose themselves in its arms. After the first step, Twilight definitely jumped into the unknown, without hesitation, and climbed up slowly. The baby dragon was more hesitant, he glanced anxiously behind him, like he was hoping for some help from the massive shelves and the dusty old grimoires. But the echo of the unicorn's hoofsteps, when she disappeared behind the central axis of the staircase, was a much more important call for him. He went to the other side of the door and ran to his friend.

The duo had a hard time knowing how long they spent in the narrow staircase following the azure lines. The darkness and the silence, accompanied by the echoes of their steps, gave them the feeling of being in a place cut off from the rest of this universe. They finally reached the last step and discovered a room still plunged in darkness. But it was only for a short time. When the two friends put their legs inside, a white glow began to radiate. It revealed its source, a magic crystal hanging from the ceiling, and so revealed rest of the place : A small chamber where everything was made of pure stone and devoid of any embellishment. Like an ancient hermit’s sanctuary.

“Look Spike!” exclaimed the unicorn. “Desks, shelves, seats ... There are even old ink bottles. This room was clearly dedicated dedicated to reflection and work.”

“Okay but why was this place hidden? And why is it so empty?”

Twilight could only admit her ignorance. The room had indeed some shelves and desks. But none of them had a single book on it, not even a little scroll. The thick layer of dust covering all the furniture revealed that it had been the case for a very long time. The unicorn and her little assistant inspected every corner for clues about the owners of this place. But Twilight could only confirm that their departure was in a distant past and that they had been very thorough.

“Twilight!” called Spike. “Look at this!”

The unicorn approached the entrance and quickly realized what had intrigued her assistant. On the sides of the passage was a fresco with faded colors and a simplistic but elegant design. None of them noticed it right away because, when they came in, they had their backs to it. Twilight discovered with amazement the portrait of a large black equine with a long mane looking like a river of milk. Its slim appearance confirmed her feminine nature and her posture, a nobility devoid of any sign of arrogance. Her eyes seemed to show a natural form of compassion and humility. But what mostly surprised the young pony was the presence of a long twisted horn at the top of her head and a beautiful pair of wide open wings. There was no doubt about it: It was an alicorn. An alicorn whose flank sported a triquetra of the same color as her mane. It was this last element which finished to blow up the young magician’s mind.

“Do you know who it is Twilight?” asked Spike with genuine curiosity. “I have never seen any alicorn other than the three princesses.”

His friend did not answer immediately. She just ran to the fresco and examined it constantly repeating : "That’s not possible!" The little dragon had to scream to get the unicorn out of her wonder.

“Twilight! Can you explain to me what's going on?”

The unicorn turned her euphoric face towards her assistant and could not help but jump again and again, full of joy she could not contain.

“Spike, Spike! Do you really not recognize her?”

“Uh ... no. Should I?”

“I think it's a representation of Equis herself!”

“Who?”

The magician seemed quite shocked when she heard that.

“What?! Don’t you remember I told you her story once. Well, I guess you were quite young when I did. But still! Even if we have almost nothing on her you should have heard of her. She is nothing less than the creator of our world!”

Then Spike was astonished too. Not as much as his book-loving friend, but enough to give her an interested ear. Twilight did not hesitate to give him an enthusiastic refresher course.

“It was a really long time ago. All we have about her is a rather short text, with a brief description that corresponds in every respect to this painting. It is said that, at the beginning, there was nothing. Then Equis appeared and created this world and everything that exists: stones, plants, animals, even the stars. It was also her who made all the thinking species, ponies of course, but also the griffins and dragons. It is said that she loved each of her children infinitely and guided them with unmatched wisdom for many centuries.”

“Wow!” Spike said softly. “And what happened to her?”

“Unfortunately, the ending is not a happy one. The legend tells of a terrible monster named Blazing Sky that appeared someday to destroy everything she had created. It was a horrible creature made entirely of flames and ashes, driven by pure madness. Its mere presence was enough to make the sky red, the air scorch and the seas boil. Equis bravely fought against this monster to protect her children and managed to destroy it. But the battle had exhausted her so much that she died soon after. Everyone mourned her, but they then told to the entire world what happened so that no one would ever forget her sacrifice. But it was so long ago that many do not think about it.

“You are right.” admitted Spike. “It is truly sad.”

“Indeed.”

Twilight and Spike didn’t know what to say for a moment. Though this story may well have gone back to the dawn of time, literally, the tragedy of its heroine still weighed on the hearts of its listeners. The pony turned to the fresco, expressing her thoughts.

“But what intrigues me is the reason why this room was so well hidden. Why would anyone want to hide a place like this?”

Spike had no idea to propose. He looked around with the hope of finding some clue. His search was shorter than he thought. When his gaze landed on the other side of the door, he saw another fresco he approached with curiosity. Once close enough, he questioned his intellectual friend.

“And this one Twilight? Who is it?”

The question ejected the pony from her reflections and she joined her assistant in front of the other wall. But what she discovered intrigued her even more. Like the previous one, the painting represented an alicorn, in the same posture as the first one. But the more crude aspect of the character made her understand without hesitation that it was a male. And this stallion was like Equis: a piercing horn, two huge wings, a posture full of dignity... It was like a palette swap of the world’s creator. He had a marble-white coat, a black mane and, on his flank, a black triskel.

Despite searching deep in her memory, she could not answers Spike's question.

“I have no idea. I have never heard of an alicorn like him. Nor even of a male alicorn.”

The unicorn seemed to regain some enthusiasm and explained with a childlike energy.

“Oh Spike! Do you realize what this means? We are surely making a historical discovery.”

The dragon did not share the purple pony’s enthusiasm but didn’t want to be a spoilsport. While she was examining the second fresco, hypotheses and questions cascading without interruption from her lips, Spike discreetly walked away. He went back to the stone furniture, looking for anything else that could give them new information. Under one of the desks, he found a small horseshoe-shaped symbol surrounding an eight-pointed star.

Twilight's assistant touched the drawing, thinking out loud.

“That’s definitely the same symbol.”

Spike heard his friend soliloquizing near the painting and tried to call her, but without success. The unicorn was lost in the whirlpool of her reflections. The reptile child then had a little idea that was worth experimenting with. He put his scaly hand on the hidden drawing and pronounced.

"What did she say? Only those who love the truth can enter?”

The symbol glowed with the same azure light as the others. Spike heard a slight stony rub and found a secret compartment opening under the furniture. Inside, he found a cylindrical iron case. In seizing it, he saw the same horseshoe symbol on the top.

This time, the little assistant ran to Twilight and suddenly pulled her from her thoughts, shaking her hard, carried away by pride.

“Twilight! Twilight! Look at what I found!”

The unicorn broke her concentration and discovered the famous artifact with a joy that she didn’t hide, congratulating her friend. She grabbed the case with her magic and opened it gently. The surprise was then replaced by frustration when shreds of parchment fell from it. If they were from a scroll, time didn’t have the slightest pity for it. On some pieces, the ink was even partially erased.

“Oooh!” lamented the little reptile. “I thought I had discovered something cool…”

“Wait Spike,” interrupted the unicorn. “Some of these pieces still seem legible.”

The scholar used her levitation to gently assemble some pieces of the parchment, under the baby dragon’s both intrigued and impatient look. After some time, Twilight said.

“Alright! I think I can get something out of this.”

“Really? Go ahead!”

So, if I believe this piece, this text is entitled: The Canticle of Truth. Here, it is about a great... city, I guess. This one is about Blazing Sky and an army of ... creatures on two legs and provided with hands.”

“Like me?”

I suppose. But it is written that they had no scales or fur. This passage is about terrible havoc caused by these creatures. Nothing was able to stand up against them. On this one, it says that Blazing Sky’s army reached the walls of this famous city. And this last piece speaks of the children of Equis fleeing. That's all I can read right now, and I do not know in what order to arrange it.”

Before Spike could ask anything. Twilight exploded with happiness, bouncing more than a sugar filled Pinkie Pie. She declared it was imperative to show all this to Princess Celestia. She quickly put the pieces of the scroll in the iron case and sprinted to the stairs, the artifact levitating beside her. The baby dragon hurried to follow her, pleading that she wait for him. She did not listen to him anymore. They left the room, letting it falling into silence as the magic crystal diminished its glow.