Everfree Abbey

by Hingard

Prologue

The mud squelched beneath the hooves of a white alicorn mare as she ran. Thick, gnarled trees twined their branches above the muddy path, darkening the night sky though the rain had no issues weaving through. The mare’s waterlogged mane flopped into her eyes, making it hard to see. She shook her head and glanced behind her, hoping to glimpse her pursuer. She saw her flying above the path, Nightmare Moon. Her body black against the heavy gray clouds, her light blue armor glinting in the light gathering around her horn. With a tremendous crack, a bolt of lightning shot from its tip. To the alicorn’s surprise, it hit the ground instead of her. More bolts showered from above, each a little closer, and she had to dance and dodge to avoid them now.

“Yes, run big sister, run!” Nightmare Moon loosed another barrage of lightning, accompanying it with her mocking laughter.

“Sister—please—stop this,” she panted.

“Why? Aren't you having fun, ‘Tia?” Celestia began unfurling her wings, “oh, we can’t have that.” Another chuckle, another bolt; this one connected with Celestia’s flank. She fell heavily onto her wing, and felt it crunch beneath her. She pushed herself up off the slippery ground with all the grace of a newborn foal. Another near-miss singed the ground beside her, but Celestia could not dance anymore. She looked plaintively at Nightmare Moon.

The dark alicorn’s eyes flashed pitilessly as she unleashed her killing blow. Everything seemed to slow down. Celestia could see the bolt traveling towards her. Gathering the last of her strength, she summoned her own magic. The light of the sun streamed from her horn, parrying her sister’s strike into the ground. The air, however, could not stand the heat, and burst with a crack louder than Nightmare Moon’s thunderclaps. The explosion sent Celestia flying, again landing awkwardly and rolling down a steep embankment, flailing aimlessly as she tumbled through the undergrowth.

She finally came to rest at a large wooden door. The edges of her world had eaten away her vision, but she could feel Nightmare Moon alight next to her and could almost feel it when she poked Celestia with her hoof. Celestia was too weak to budge or make a sound, Nightmare Moon laughed. “Farewell forever, my beloved sister.” She took a knee in mock respect, then flapped gracefully away, a wicked grin on her face.

Abbot Sparrow rose from his bed, woken by a loud thud from the direction of the Abbey gate. He rubbed the sleep from his eyes, feeling the wrinkled skin sag at his touch, before grabbing his cloak from a hook by the bedroom door and heading out into the downpour. He crossed the courtyard to the gates quickly. As he pulled them open he could hear the steady wing beats of a pegasus; he looked to the sky, but couldn’t see anypony through the rain.

“Hello? Is anypony out there?” The Abbot took a few steps outside the gate, catching his hoof on a soft unknown mass. Looking down, he beheld the unconscious and muddy form of an alicorn. He bent down and put an ear to her mouth; her breath came in rapid, shallow gasps. He ducked back through the gates and tugged on a thick, oily rope that hung there. The brass alarm rang through the Abbey, quickly bringing five more cloaked ponies to join him.

“Brothers, and Sisters,” he said, briefing his helpers, “we have an injured pony at our gates. Brother Leaf Wind, you and Sister Morning Dew prepare a bed for our guest in the infirmary and wake Tender Heart.” Leaf Wind nodded, and the two hooded figures bowed briefly before trotting back to the Abbey proper, whispering to each other.

“I will need your help taking her there,” he said to the other monks. He chose two to carry the alicorn, and the last one to help him lift her onto their backs. When she was secure, they quickly brought her inside. Her bed was waiting in the infirmary.

As they laid her down a few of the monks whispered, “Who is she?”

“Who does not matter, but what she is, is hurt. And she needs our help,” said Sparrow patiently, as though he were lecturing a foal. “Now where is Tender Heart?”

“Hold your horses Abbot, I’m coming.” A white unicorn mare entered the infirmary from a door on the far side.

She looked critically at the burn mark at the tip of her patient’s horn and the bruises all over her body. “Ginger Root,” she called, and a light blue unicorn filly poked her head into the room, “bring me out two leaves of nightshadow, three fronds of red fern, and a jar of my special ointment.” The filly nodded and her head disappeared back into the far room.

“How long has she been like this?” she asked, continuing to examine the wounded alicorn.

“I’m not sure, we found her by the Abbey gates but a few minutes ago,” said Sparrow.

“She has several broken ribs, and both her wings have multiple fractures, but those will heal in time. It’s her horn I’m worried about. It looks like it’s suffered a magical overload.” Tender Heart closed her eyes, probing the alicorn with her magic. Tender Heart could feel that the alicorn’s aura, and the pain that it held. A moment later, Ginger Root returned with the leaves and ointment, and Tender Heart set to work. She wrapped the nightshadow leaves around her patient’s horn, applying a small amount of the salve to hold the leaves in place. Then she placed the delicate red fern fronds on the alicorn’s tongue, dripped water into her mouth, and massaged her throat until she swallowed. She then began to apply the ointment to the mare’s bruises. Finally, she splinted the mare’s wings and braced her chest.

“All we can do is wait,” she stated. “The healing cream will soothe her bruises and help them heal, while the leaves with draw out the excess magic and calm her aura.” The alicorn’s chest began to rise and fall more slowly, her breaths deepening.

Tender Heart took Abbot Sparrow by the shoulder, her white hoof pushing back the sodden cloak to reveal his mud-brown coat, and led him to the far end of the infirmary. “Now tell me what’s going on,” she said, insistent. “I thought the alicorns had died out.”

“I’m as puzzled as you are.” He sat down at a nearby table and rested his chin on his hoof. “Since we are so deep in the forest we get very few travelers. Do you remember Tie Walker, the earth pony who passed away last spring? He didn’t want me to upset anyone with this information, but he sought refuge with us from a brutal civil war. We’ve had no news or visitors since his passing. For all we know our guest could be the last alicorn in existence.”

“Sparrow, I really must question our isolationist policy,” said Tender Heart, as she took a seat opposite the Abbot.

“I'm inclined to agree with you. The world is changing and we cannot stay hidden forever.”

“Then why haven't you done anything yet?” Tender Heart seethed, pounding the table with her hoof.

“Tender Heart, please our guest is still sleeping.”

Tender Heart muttered something that might have been an apology.

“That's better. Now, I cannot change the rules set down by our founders without the Council’s approval,” he said sympathetically, laying his brown hoof over her white one. “You will be pleased to hear that I will be holding an emergency meeting with the other elders in light of our guest’s appearance. I will need you to watch her while we talk. Can you manage as much?”

Tender Heart nodded.

Father Sparrow sat at the head of a small semicircular table made of mahogany. Hanging from the ceiling was an ornate chandelier, its light casting shadows amongst the pillars at the outer edge of the room. Sparrow could feel the cold stone floor beneath his hooves. The air around seemed to tingle with an ancient energy. Sitting to his left and right were Brother Leaf Wind and Sister Morning Dew, sitting on opposites sides were two pegasi and two earth ponies.

“Council members I’ve called you here to relay some alarming news; an alicorn was found severely injured at our door tonight.” The council members whispered to one another until a single voice spoke out.

“This is preposterous!“The alicorns are nothing more than a myth, superstition. You can’t expect us to believe something this outlandish solely on your word.”

Sparrow gave a heavy sigh, “I thought you would say that Brother Green Blade, That is why I have asked Leaf Wind and Morning Dew here. They will confirm my story and if that’s not enough, you can visit the infirmary.”

Leaf wind stood up from his chair, “It is true what the Abbot said, an alicorn has come to our Abbey.”

“Then what are we to do? If the outside world has found us, they will come searching for the Spirits and defile this place!” shouted Green Blade,

“We don’t know that, now everypony please calm down. This may have been the pony we’ve been expecting.”

A fresh wave of whispers made it’s way around the room. “Please everyone calm down,” said Sparrow standing to his full height, the volume receded till you could hear a pin drop. “Thank you, now when Star Swirl the Bearded first established our order, he received visions from the Spirits of Harmony and he chronicled these dreams in what we call the Harmony Scroll.”

With a wave of his hoof, the doors to the chamber opened, stepping into the chamber was Far Seer, the Abbey’s record keeper and keeper of the Harmony Scroll. The aging unicorn stepped into the light of the chamber revealing a faded red coat and now white mane.

“Now I would like to bring to your attention to one dream in particular. Far Seer would you please read the passage.” The unicorn bowed his head and unraveled the scroll. In a gruff and shallow tone he spoke:

“And so before me I saw a great darkness sweeping over the land. The darkness consumed all killing what it could not control. Yet out of this darkness a shining beacon a rose and fought back the darkness. Yet the light was not strong, it faltered and failed until darkness consumed all save a dying ember of light. From this small ember a figure did appear a great beast forged in unity, it rekindled the light and drove back the darkness.”

Far Seer quickly re-wrapped the scroll and left the room.

“I believe that the rekindler that the scroll talks about is the pony we have in our infirmary.”

“What makes you so sure Father S-.”

“With all due respect, Brother Green Blade, but have you not looked outside recently. The sun has not risen for the past few days, the darkness that the scroll describes is upon us!” Leaf Wind interrupted.

The green Pegasus pony recoiled at being spoken to in such a disrespectful tone, “Why you...” Green Blade seethed

“Please calm down. Leaf Wind, please, sit down,” the brown stallion placed a hoof on Leaf Winds shoulder pressing him back into the chair.

“Sorry Father,” said Leaf Wind.

Father sparrow returned his attention to the council, “As Leaf Wind mentioned the sun has not risen in some time, this correlates with the first part of Starswirl’s dream.”

Green Blade let out a defiant huff.

“The texts also say, Brother Green, that the chosen one will face many trails before end. That is why I propose we enroll her as a novice at this Abbey, we will teach her the ways of Harmony,”

"I still don't agree with this, we should be preparing for the outside world."

"I feel I must agree with Green Blade on this, we simply don't have enough information to make a decision." This time it was Sister Gentle Wind,

"Do the rest of you feel the same?" asked Sparrow, many of the council members nodded their heads. "Very well, we shall postpone the decision until another time. This meeting of the Council is adjourned.”

The council members began filing out of the room, both to rest and to reflect on what the future of their order might be.