//------------------------------// // Prologue // Story: Rise // by Puppo530 //------------------------------// RISE Princess Celestia looked longingly through the colored glass of the main throne room. She stared at the depictions of the legends and tales of Equestria. There she was, banishing her sister to the moon for a thousand years. In another window further down the hallway was her pupil Twilight Sparkle’s image, reflecting the multi colored glass throughout the entirety of the room. Her pupil was immortalized in this window for her and her friends calming the heart of Nightmare Moon all those years ago. It was a glorious accomplishment that she was still proud of her young pupil for today. Celestia then glanced at the last window. It had no special decorations or colors, it was simply clear. There were no more legends or tales of importance to impress upon this window, so it remained the way it was, as clear and transparent as it was the day the palace was rectified. It stood there, a symbol of how the regal sisters could still look upon their subjects today. Even with all of the majesty and beauty of the palace and their powers, the two sisters could still see what was best for their subjects. It was boring. There needed to be a new tale, Celestia decided. A story that ponies would sing for ages to come. They would pass down legends of another great Equestrian story. Great heroic stories always seemed to boost morale, whenever the heroes won, that is. As Celestia stood there looking through the untouched window, she knew within her heart the real reason for her thoughts. Something was wrong. She just couldn’t put her hoof on it. ~~~ In the beginning, dragons lived in the stars. They lived relatively peacefully, as peacefully as dragons can live together. There was one old dragon, some say the eldest of them all, that seemed to isolate herself from the others. No one had ever seen her outside of her little home in the stars. She was protecting an egg. She had laid this egg quite a while ago, yet it refused to hatch until it was ready. Dragons were usually stubborn as infants, but this egg was different, the old dragon mother could feel it. This egg was waiting for the perfect time to hatch. One day, the egg finally decided it was the right time. The egg split in two, releasing an immense amount of light. When the mother had opened her eyes, she found that the egg contained no dragon, but instead a new planet burst out of the shell, growing to an enormous size for the dragons to inhabit. Gleeful, the dragons swooped down to the new earth, but when they arrived, their happiness turned to rage. The egg had not created just the celestial body, but also life of its own. There were other creatures already inhabiting this world. The dragons would not stand for it, insisting that the land was theirs. The dragons and the others engaged in an epic war. Both sides lost several hundred beings in the process of forming peace, when they agreed that instead of killing each other, they could reluctantly share the ground. Both sides seemed to be happy with this plan, except for that one dragon, the First Mother. Furious over the filthy beasts’ living on her child, and of the other dragons allowance of it, the eldest dragon descended upon them in rage. She torched villages, and endlessly wreaked havoc upon all the land. The beings of the earth rose up against her, preventing her from slaughtering many more. In order to be sure that she would not rise again in fury, they sealed her away in the icy northern regions. There she slept for millennia upon millennia. ~~~ “Princess Celestia!” the stallion yelled as he galloped into the room. “Princess Celestia! It’s terrible!” “What is it?” The princess always tried to remain calm, even during times of possible jeopardy to national security. She tensed her muscles and eased forwards in her throne, bracing herself for the worst. She was not prepared enough. “Princess Celestia! There have been reports of these, cracks all throughout Equestria! Earthquakes are splitting whole countrysides in two! They destroyed a stretch of railroad tracks, while there was a train, your majesty. We still have not found the ponies on board. You have to do something!” “Cracks? Earthquakes?” the Princess questioned. “Yes, your majesty. It really has started picking up quite suddenly. They appear to be-” A loud rumbling shook the palace. Chandeliers overhead shook, threatening to drop their priceless frames. The stained glass windows grew slight cracks. Bits of pebble and rock cascaded from the pillars. The warner took a deep breath when the rumbling had died down some. “They appear to be headed straight towards Canterlot, your majesty.” “What do you mean?” “The cracks, they all seem to be pointing here, princess.” The stallion reached into his satchel bag with a quick turn of the head. He plucked out a small scroll and held it out for the princess to take. Princess Celestia quickly levitated the paper towards herself. She unfurled it, revealing a map showing Equestria and the kingdoms to the north. On the map were quick sketches of cracks zigging, curving, and ripping through the earth. The stallion did not lie, the lines appeared to be headed towards one singular place, Canterlot. This recent one had been the first to be felt by the capital, but Celestia feared it would not be the last. She rolled up the paper and threw it back into the bag. “Send for Twilight Sparkle, Ponyville. Tell her to come immediately, and to bring her friends.” When the stallion hesitated, she commanded, “Hurry!” The out-of-breath pony did a slight bow, and then bolted out of the room, faster than he had entered. Celestia stared at the closing door as the stallion left the throne room. She slowly got to her hooves. She walked over to one of her royal guards, who was now trying to assess the damage to the palace. “Forget the pillars, Blue Storm. Quickly, fetch Princess Luna.” The pegasus bowed as he too bolted out of the room. Her worst fears were becoming a reality. ~~~ The two creatures were constantly at war. The first, an eagle, the most majestic and fiercest eagle that would ever live. The second, a lion, the most ruthless and ambitious lion that would ever exist. One would roar while the other would screech. One would growl while the other would caw. The lion would bellow and roar so powerfully that earth would spring from his mouth. Whole lands and worlds were created by this lion’s growls. The eagle would screech and flap its wings so powerfully that air would wash over the earth. All of the air was created by this one majestic eagle and its powerful beatings of its wings. With these two fighting constantly, they would generate enough of their respective elements to create the world as we know it. Alas, the land was barren, and the air void. There was no life and no water with which to fill the world. During one of their more fierce battles, the lion defeated the eagle. It slew its archenemy and slit its throat. The lion boasted proudly of its victory, even taking the time to cut off the head of the eagle as a trophy. The lion did not get away without its own injuries, though, as it had become severely handicapped at the legs. Still, despite its wounds, the lion bathed in the eagle’s blood. The blood, having come in contact with the lion, turned pure and blue, flowing freely out of the eagle’s body. With this abundance of water, life began to begin on this world along with many clouds appearing in the sky. Later, the lion died from its wounds. To commemorate the two beings that created it, Nature took the injured halves of both creatures and created the First Griffon, a majestic being that was half-eagle and half-lion. The First Griffon, hating both parts of its opposing body, instantly went into a rampage against Nature, threatening all life on earth. So Nature created new griffons from scratch to fight this first one. These new griffons sealed the First Griffon into the icy caps of the far north, disposing of the last remnants of the creatures that created the world. It is there the First Griffon lays in wait for the day it will finally escape once more and wreak havoc on Nature for creating it. ~~~ Princess Celestia sat back down in her thrown once more. She turned to the left to gaze at the empty pane. She noticed ponies everywhere in the streets of Canterlot trying to recover from the tremors that shook Canterlot a few moments ago. In the distance she could make out a large crack in the ground. It wasn’t much, not nearly as big as a ravine, but it was a start. She faced towards the doors and gave a heavy sigh as her sister, Princess Luna, threw them open as she bolted in. “What is it, sister? Is it about the earthquake?” Luna inquired. Princess Celestia slowly lifted her head to face her sister properly. A slight amount of water graced her eyes as she solemnly said, “No, sister, it’s much worse.” Luna took a step backwards. “What is it? What has happened Celestia? Tell me.” Celestia gave her sister a small nervous laugh. As she opened her mouth her lower jaw wobbled slightly. Full-on tears slowly began to trickle down her face as she said, “Mother’s coming home.” Her sister’s eyes grew wide with horror. She began to shake her head, repeating over and over again, “No, no, no, no, no, no...” “I’m sorry, but she is.” “But, how?” Celestia turned towards the empty window yet again. She stared out at the crack in the earth caused by the earthquake. She continued staring as she said, “I’m not sure, but Mother’s rising again.” She turned towards the pegasus that had re-entered the room. “Blue Storm, fetch the Elements of Harmony.” The two princesses gazed out the window as the pegasus left once more, looking on the clear evidence that something was amiss. With this and the news that Celestia had received earlier and the map she saw, there was no doubt in her mind what had to be done. She just couldn’t bear herself to do it. ~~~ A lone alicorn floated in space. That’s how she remained most of her days; since her mysterious existence began she just stayed motionless in one spot. She didn’t do anything. She just perpetually remained in that one spot. That is, until one day, when she spread her wings and opened her eyes. Bursting forth from the wings of creation came two smaller alicorns, one of light and one of darkness. She raised them and taught them how to use their powers wisely. This Cosmic Mother created a new world for them to live. She inhabited the place with many more creatures of various types. The two sisters lived on this planet, exercising full autonomous reign, separate from their mother that gave them life. For seemingly no reason, she grew increasingly angry at them. She rampaged across all the land, terrorizing, destroying, and wreaking general havoc. The princesses, in an effort to pacify their mother’s rage, sealed her in the icy north to calm her down. Many years later, they released her, thinking that she had come to her senses. They were wrong. In her time of solitude, she had only grown angrier. She rampaged once more, this time destroying nearly everything. The lands were torched and maimed bodies laid everywhere. The princesses faced her once more, and again sealed her in the ice, hoping that she would never escape. To this day the princesses are still traumatized by the events that took place during their mother’s outrage. They never spoke of their mother again, and whenever any creature mentioned her to them, they grew cold and distant, remembering the awful time when all hope was lost, and they almost ceased to exist. RISE