Timeless Harmony
Chapter 1: The Seal Of Time
(O.C. P.O.V.)
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1E5EZOYpzgHkrhT-CUH2Vn2srha-wTAZbJy31lMcwPOU/edit (This has the two mane OCs on it)
A very familiar aura filled the air of a small house in Ponyville; magic was in use. A large golden shield bent to the will of a single dark blue unicorn. Barrier focused all of her might on the item of pure defense as she attempted to enhance it with the power of magic.
“C'mon Barrier, you got this!” cheered a light brown earth pony with a makeshift wooden sword at his side. Stalwart stared in awe at his friend's amazing ability. The shield floated in the air above Barrier, shrouded in a shade of sky blue that mimicked the color of the glow that was emitted from her horn.
“Stalwart, I can't hold it!” screamed Barrier, clearly struggling with the spell. “TAKE COVER!” Suddenly the blue aura released itself from the golden shield and burst strongly, causing the two ponies to be sent flying through the room. Stalwart hit his head on a small bookshelf that was conveniently located next to an open window which Barrier flew out of and into a shrub. Stalwart rubbed his pain filled skull with one hoof while adjusting his wooden sword that lay relaxed in a sheath by his right flank with the other as he regained his hooves.
Barrier then leaped back into her humble home through the open window with her short blue mane flowing as she landed gracefully, completely unharmed. She gazed around her living room, (which could easily be confused with a small library) searching for her friend.
“I told you I wasn't ready for the 'Indestructible' spell yet, Stalwart!” barked Barrier at her loyal assistant, possibly sounding more harsh than intended.
“Geez, sorry Bare. I just thought you were ready for something a little harder.” Stalwart replaced his southern style hat atop his head as he trotted over to the fallen shield that had been spotted in areas with ash and dirt from magical backfire. The novice swordspony lifted the golden item in his jaw and carried it over to where it belonged; hanging up beside a large set of golden pony armor which was trimmed in silver.
“Look Stalwart,” began Barrier. “I know your trying to help by pushing me forward, but my defensive spells just aren't that strong yet. I mean, I barely perfected my spell for wards against magic blasts!” Barrier trotted across her living room over to a marble podium with a book on protective spells lying atop. Stalwart twisted his neck just enough to be able to read the spine of the closed book which read “A Shield From Darkness: The Best Protection From Unknown Magic”
“Hey Bare,” started Stalwart.
“Yeah?”
“Why are you so interested in that book? I mean, isn't it only useful against Old Magic?”
“Well yeah, but the spells in here are just perfect for my level!” squealed Barrier in joy as she flipped through the pages rapidly with her magic. “I mean, there are spells that form defenses from things you'd never think you'd encounter! Like this one here, 'Different Dimension Barrier', used for sealing tears in the universe. Or this one, 'Skin of Stone, Heart Of Gold'. This one makes you completely immune to cockatrice stares!” Barrier continued rambling through the spells that seemed to have minimal purpose due to the lack of situations when they would be needed.
“But Barrier, aren't most of those spells completely useless?” questioned Stalwart, trying to place logic back into the unicorn's head.
“That's not true!” retaliated Barrier, skimming through the book for a spell that might prove the skeptic earth pony wrong. “See, look right here!” Barrier shoved the floating book into her assistant's face, not even knowing what spell the book was turned to. “'Seal of Time'?” asked the confused earth pony poking his head out of the side of the floating book.
“Exactly!” boasted Barrier, not yet having a single clue as to what she was talking about. Stalwart rolled his eyes at the pride-blinded unicorn and continued to read through the page. “Um, Barrier” began Stalwart, already finding a flaw in the spell's design. “You do realize that this spell requires at least 2 pounds of Sacred Ash right?”
“Well yeah, but-” started Barrier, but was quickly interrupted by an arguing earth pony.
“ And that you can only obtain those through burning the leaves of a Sky Tree.”
“Well sure but we could just-”
“Which, by the way, only grows deep in the Everfree Forest.” Stalwart finally concluded his rant on reasons why this spell could never succeed.
“Well you know what, you stubborn pony you? How about you go and get me some then!?” demanded Barrier, again not entirely sure how loud she was being.
“Whoa whoa whoa” argued Stalwart. “You want me to go into the Everfree Forest? Alone? For a spell that's completely worthless?” That last remark lit a spark within the blue unicorn.
“That spell is NOT worthless!” she boomed. “And yes, I do want you to go. But now, you really are going alone. Besides, you're Mr. 'Great Swordspony'. It shouldn't be a problem for you.” Stalwart was taken back by his friend's demand, but followed her orders. He knew his friend wasn't a bad pony or anything, but she did have the tendency to lose a bit of temper from time to time. Stalwart left the house in slight distaste, but not before glancing back at his lifelong friend who stood there skimming the page of “Seal of Time”. Stalwart shook his head in playful disgust and trotted out the front door, leaving his friend to ponder the use of a purposeless spell.
---
Stalwart stood at the shadowy line between the outskirts of Ponyville and the Everfree Forest. Even in broad day light, the forest stood dark and forbidding. “Wow, this place still manages to give me the creeps” gulped Stalwart.
Stalwart drew his wooden sword from its resting point with his mouth, for he knew The Everfree was not a place to be taken lightly. Its creatures were evil, its plant-life was wicked, even its very weather struck fear into the hearts of innocent pony souls. Stalwart scanned his environment in fear as he took those few first steps into what seemed like a world completely plunged into eternal darkness. He knew of the dangers that may lay ahead but he fought back his fears and continued walking onward, gripping his trusty sword with great might in his jaw. On he walked, slowly but surely.
“Dear Celestia, I wouldn't even wanna know what it'd be like if all of Equestria looked like this” said the nervous pony to himself through gritted teeth which held his sword as he continued pushing onward and gazing at the horrifically dark environment. It wasn't before long that the distracted adventuring pony managed to trip over a rock. Stalwart was claimed by gravity as he began to roll down a small cliff. He rolled and tumbled down the slope, getting bombarded with dirt and mud. The tough pony reached the end of his fall with a thud, a face full of dirt, and a wooden sword almost breaking his jaw.
“Oh, Gross!” complained Stalwart as he spit dirt from his mouth and reclaimed his weapon, placing it back in its sheath. “Barrier better appreciate this!” The mud covered swordspony wiped away some grime from his flank, revealing the dual swords that branded themselves as his cutie mark. “Just like my dad” he sighed to himself, taking but a moment to gaze upon it.
“Well, I better continue my search” Stalwart said aloud, shaking away the thoughts of his father. He scanned his new environment from this lower altitude. And low and behold, an enormous tree reached up from the ground just a few paces in front of him. Its branches seemed to stretch as far as the heavens themselves. Its trunk as thick and strong as the most pure diamond in Equestria. The leaves flowed in the wind, as if waving to the pony below and showing off its bewitching sky blue color. Butterflies of a pure white floated around the twisting branches, dancing with the leaves that swayed with the cool breeze.
“Huh, so this is what a Sky Tree looks like in person” thought the novice swordspony. Stalwart shook his head to bring him back into reality from his awestruck state. He then leaped onto the side of the mighty tree and gave it a strong grip of a hug as he attempted to pull himself upwards towards the sky high branches.
“Barrier has no idea what I'm going through for this!” muttered Stalwart to himself as he struggled to continue shimmying up the huge trunk.
After his physically draining climb had concluded, the courageous earth pony reached a point where he could just barely reach out a small hoof a grab hold of the lovely blue leaves. Stalwart leaned as far as he could while still gripping the tree with his other hoof. Just as the determined pony wrapped a hoof around a branch of the precious leaves, he lost his grip on the thick trunk and was sent plummeting down to earth while still gripping on to the branch which snapped with the force of his gravity held trip.
Stalwart screamed in fear as his decent continued to bring him ever closer to the forbidding forest floor of the Everfree. And finally, he reached the ground. But there was no loud thud. No splat as he hit the stone. Nothing. Just the sound of rustling leaves as the brown pony squirmed out of the small bush he had landed in. Stalwart plopped out of the foliage and onto the stone, branch and Sky Tree Leaves lying by his side
“There's no way I'm EVER doing that again!” complained Stalwart to himself loudly. “Not for any spell!” Stalwart brushed himself off, retrieved the fallen branch from the floor, and began to trot back home with a sense of accomplishment. But something caught his eye. Something that didn't belong.
Out of the periphery of his vision, he saw what seemed to be a pink blur rolling around in the grass in the near distance. Stalwart silently walked closer to the pink bundle of motion and hid behind a small shrub to get a better look, but avoid being seen. Upon reaching a close enough level, he realized it wasn't some random blur, nor anything to fear. It was actually a pink earth pony, rolling around and seemingly fighting with a small black box. The pink stranger gnawed and chewed at the cube in a feeble attempt to open it.
“What's that filly up to?” thought Stalwart, still scanning the scene in front of him. The puffy maned earth pony endlessly wrestled with the sealed object. The strange pink character finally decided it was time to give up as she let out a wail of failure.
“Oh c'mon! This darn box wont open! I'll just take it to Twilight, she's super duper smart and will know what to do!” The cheerful pink earth pony then gripped the box in her mouth and flung it up atop her head as she began to trot away.
Stalwart worked his way out from behind the foliage and began to trail the strange character. “Why am I following her?” thought Stalwart to himself, knowing he had done what he needed to do and could just leave the dark forest.
As if reading his very mind, the pink earth pony turned around with a feeling that somepony was watching her. Once her theory had been proven, she gasped loudly and began to run.
“Wait!” called Stalwart through his teeth which held the branch, now giving chase. The stranger of a pony then made a sharp right turn to lose the stalking swordspony. Stalwart followed the movement in attempt of keeping up with her. But once he had turned the corner, the pink pony was nowhere to be found.
“She's gone!” gasped Stalwart in disbelief, dropping the branch as he spoke. And then, seemingly out of thin air, Stalwart was tackled and pinned by a force he did not see.
“Oh, what the-?” cried out the attacked pony.
“Gotcha!” squealed the pink stranger as she gloated over the light tan earth pony that was pinned beneath her.
Stalwart had dropped the branch during the attack and now gave a slight blush as the pink character introduced herself. “Hi! My name is Pinkie Pie! I haven't seen you around before, are you new in Ponyville? Or do you live in the forest or something?” The pony by the name of 'Pinkie Pie' removed herself from on top of the downed pony and reached out a hoof to help him up.
“And what's your name huh?”
“Uh, my name's Stalwart” explained the embarrassed adventurer as he took Pinkie's hoof to help himself regain his stance.
“Ooh, and you have swords as a cutie mark!” squealed Pinkie as she stared at the symbol on Stalwart's flank. “Thats sooo cool! What are they for?”
“Huh? Oh, that” stated Stalwart fairly bluntly as he fixed his hat and readjusted his sword in its sheath. “Its 'cause I'm a swordspony. It runs in the family. And no, I don't live in The Everfree. I just moved into Ponyville from Canterlot” explained Stalwart, leaving out a lot of details from his past.
“Canterlot!? Really!? Last time I was there I was with my friends and it was kinda a mess.”
“Yeah, I lived with my mother. My father was one of the guards for Princess Celestia herself.” Stalwart frowned at the thought of his father.
“Hey, what's with the sad frown all of a sudden?” asked Pinkie, lowering her gaze to where her new friend's eyes has wandered. The slightly depressed adventurer quickly snapped back into reality.
“Oh, nothing. Sorry about that!” apologized the slightly embarrassed brown eyed pony. “Um, I gotta go” claimed Stalwart, really just looking for an excuse to leave the forest which was slowly beginning to unnerve him.
“Aw. Okie dokie lokie, I guess I'll see ya around!” Pinkie Pie waved goodbye to her newly found friend as the brown maned pony turned around, retrieved his branch and trotted away with a smile and the thought that he had met somepony he was sure he could call 'Friend.'
---
Stalwart reached what could only be called 'The Light At The End Of The Tunnel'. In the near distance he could see the bright light of the peaceful land just outside the forest. He continued to trot toward the beam of warmth but felt a turning feeling in his stomach. “There's something about that pony” he thought to himself. “Her eyes, they were blue. And...they were beautiful” Stalwart felt himself truly getting lost in her eyes...
“Whoa Whoa Whoa!” yelled a voice of reason in Stalwart's head. “You Dont Even Know That Pony And Your Talking About Her Eyes!? Are You Mad!?” Stalwart shook his head to get the random thoughts out of his mind. Stalwart wanted to deny what was happening, and he tried. So he focused on the task at hand; getting those leaves to Barrier. And so the faithful assistant bolted to his temporary home in Ponyville, determined to complete the task at hoof.
---
“What's taking that colt so long?” asked an impatient blue unicorn to herself as she paced the room with her blue bangles, that never left her body, jingling as she walked. “Maybe something happened to him in the Everfree Forest! Oh, I never should have sent him out there alone! At least not with a wooden sword!” Barrier began to panic and worry about her friend. Although very skilled in sword combat, and roughly the same age as her, she still saw him as her little brother. But before doubt and fear overtook her mind, Stalwart came marching through the door, proudly wielding the branch of Sky Tree Leaves as he entered.
“Stalwart! Your finally back!” cheered Barrier at her reliable companion. “And I see you got the leaves.”
“Yup. Now can we just burn these bad boys and get this spell over with?” Stalwart grabbed a match off of a nearby counter and struck it, thus causing fire. He then dropped the Sky Tree Leaves on the floor and placed the match on top. Soon after, the plant was ablaze. Barrier placed a weak defensive spell around the fire to stop it from burning her wooden floor. After but a moment of raging fire, the flames began to dwindle, leaving behind nothing but a glowing pile of the needed Sacred Ashes.
“Finally! Now let's get this spell over with so we can move on to one that might actually benefit us! Maybe something related to my sword?” hinted Stalwart, already irritated by the trouble this spell had put him through.
“You know I always spend some spare time working on spells to help out with your blade training, I just wont let you see them yet. And besides, this spell will benefit us, just watch!” Barrier trotted over to where the ashes lay and began to focus her horn on the pile of magical essence. Magic began to flow between the unicorn and the Sacred Ashes. A light blue glow surrounded the spell caster's horn as the ashes began to float upwards. Stalwart watched in awe as the ashes began to float around the room and spin very rapidly.
Barrier struggled to maintain the spell, but managed to hold strong. Her bangles violently slapped her hooves as a strong wind began to stir the room. Stalwart's hat was blown off his head but stood with his body thanks to the string that binded it. The ashes continued to spin at lightning speed, still widening the circle it made until it reached the walls of the living room.
“Um, Barrier....” said Stalwart, starting to become nervous. The ashes swirled and swirled around the entire room. Magical aura filled the area in its yellow glow. The power filled the two ponies, making them feel the very flow of magic inside of them. But then... it stopped.
“Ya see!?” gloated Stalwart, feeling even more proud now as the magically drained ashes fell to the floor. “The spell didn't even work! Must've been a dunce.”
Barrier simply ignored the ignorant earth pony and trotted over to her copy of 'A Shield From Darkness'. She buried her face in the massive book, giving Stalwart her back and revealing her blue shield of a cutie mark. “Ah, this makes perfect sense!” Stalwart looked at his friend in confusion, not sure of what she had found out.
“So Bare, did it work or something?” asked Stalwart, scratching his head in thought.
“Yes, it did. The only reason it didn't seem to do anything is because it doesn't need to right now.” Stalwart was still completely lost.
“What do you mean? Aren't spells supposed to work right away?”
“It did” explained Barrier, collecting the ashes that now littered the room with a telekineticly used broom and dustpan . “You see, that spell infused us with its own magic. You did feel it, didn't you?” Stalwart looked down at his hooves with the thought. He did feel pretty magical, and that was unusual considering he was an earth pony.
“Yeah, I did. In fact, I still do” admitted Stalwart, blushing slightly.
“Exactly. The spell is actually still active, inside of us. Should the situation where a spell that would disrupt time or something like that occur, we would be completely immune to its effects and after effects. I think the same goes for the house” explained Barrier to her now enlightened friend as she placed the ashes in her carrying sack that bore the same shield as her flank.
“So as I said before, USELESS!” mocked Stalwart. Barrier thwacked her friend in the back of the head with the broom she was using to collect the magic spent ashes. “Ow! Geez, sorry!” Stalwart then walked away, looking very upset. But as Barrier tried to approach the seemingly depressed pony to comfort him, he turned around tackled the unprepared unicorn. They continued to wrestle playfully, knocking down books and pictures as they rolled around on the floor.
Suddenly, as if a scream from the Gods themselves, a loud explosion of magic thrashed itself throughout all of Ponyville. The wave of energy shook every house in town. But just as fast as it started, it was over. Barrier and Stalwart ran to the window to see what had unfolded outside, dropping their playful quarrel for another time. The once lively Ponyville, now seemed a deserted wasteland.
Houses were crumbling. The streets were empty. And night had somehow fallen despite it being high noon only moments ago. The two ponies walked outside of the house, leaving behind what they knew as a home. As they walked down the three steps onto Ponyville's earthy ground, Barrier turned back to take a look at her wooden abode. It remained untouched! The entire building stood as tall and proud as ever, from the stone steps to the hay roof.
“Whoa, what the hay happened to Ponyville?” asked a confused swordspony as he continued to look around the place he had come to know as home in the past few days.
“Stalwart, what do you make of this?” asked Barrier, pointing a hoof at her still intact house that easily stood out from the rest of the destroyed homes.
“I don't know, but something tells me I know somepony who would!” Stalwart announced.
“What? Who?”
“Well, I don't exactly know who she is but I know her name. Twilight.”
“Twilight?” asked Barrier. “As in Twilight Sparkle?”
“I think, why? Do you know her?”
“Not personally, no. But I know of her. I've read some stories on how she's Princess Celestia's faithful student and how she saved all of Equestria...TWICE! But anyways, how do you know her?”
“Well, this may sound hard to believe,” began Stalwart. “But I met this AMAZING pink earth pony named Pinkie Pie when I was in the Everfree and she was mentioning how smart this 'Twilight' chick was. Oh, and she had this weird box that she couldn't seem to open. I didn't ask her about it though 'cause it didn't seem like any of my business.”
“Hm, interesting. Well, I say we pay Twilight a visit! And maybe that 'box' could be of some help too!”
And so the brave and stranded duo left behind the safe haven of Barrier's home and traveled to Twilight's library, which was easily noticeable in the center of town.
---
After a short time of walking through the dead Ponyville, Stalwart and Barrier reached what hardly resembled Twilight's home. The once beautiful library that had been a marvelous eye catcher in Ponyville was now in ruins. The larger branches that had held balconies were completely snapped off or just barely hanging on. Barrier walked through the demolished front door as Stalwart brought up the rear with his weapon in his jaw. The library was completely torn apart. Books and rubble littered the entire lobby. The only thing that seemed untouched, was a small black box in the center of the room. The immediate area around it was also completely spotless.
“Hey Stalwart, is this the box you were talking about before?” asked Barrier.
“Yeah!” shouted Stalwart, dropping his sword as he spoke. “Pinkie Pie was struggling with that box earlier.”
“Oh my, I know what this is!” Barrier lifted the box with her magic. As the small cube left the floor, the area that was once untouched was then covered in the similar scum and aging that coated the rest of the house. “This box is a portal! I've read about them before. They are able to transport ponies to different time periods! Where in Equestria did they find this?”
“Well, Pinkie was trying to open it earlier when I met her in the Everfree” explained Stalwart.
“That explains a lot. You can't open this box. Only a unicorn or Alicorn with a high level of magic can enhance it with power and activate its abilities. Stalwart, do you know what this means!? Twilight and this 'Pinkie' character must have done something in the past to drastically change the present!”
“Then why was our house still okay?” asked Stalwart, not entirely sure of what was going on. Barrier thought for a moment, putting a hoof against her chin.
“The Seal Of Time!” she beamed, finally reaching a conclusion. “It kept us safe from anything that Twilight and Pinkie must have done in the past.”
“Heh, I guess that spell wasn't completely useless after all” said Stalwart, rubbing the back of his neck in slight embarrassment.
“You got that right!” gloated Barrier. “But this is no time for celebrating. We need to talk to Princess Celestia about this right away!”
“Alright, but I think we need to gear up first” suggested Stalwart.
“Good idea.”
And so the two time keepers fled from the crumbling library and suited up with both supplies, and the mysterious box, as they set out on a journey to find the Ruler of The Sun and set right the horrors that the past had brought into their world.