“I don’t understand…”
A pitch-black room covered itself with faint blue lights. The lights emanated from eerie glowing crystals engraved into the silent walls of the room. The room distinctly resembled an amphitheater, its round shape enclosing a strange device in the center of the room. It was filled with black and glass tubes, all planted on a magical generator. A huge black raven is sitting on a roost, monitoring a black figure, which is nervously pacing around the room. The raven’s eyes followed their master, a strange black-coated stallion topped off with a swirly fire-red mane. But the raven made sure never to look into its master’s eyes, two red orbs with vertical black pupils, like a snake’s. His teeth were triangular in shape and sharp as daggers. His body had wide stripes, darker than his basic coat. A black spiraling horn is drowning in the fire of his mane.
“I don’t understand it!” he roared in frustration at the bird. “After hundreds of years of research, I still ultimately fail to create it! Why?! Where have I made a mistake?” The raven doesn’t answer. It never answers. It just stares at him with its dark soulless eyes. But the black stallion’s sanity depends on this old creature’s presence.
"After all this effort I can’t make it last for more than one use… But why? My formula is perfect! I have enough knowledge to create it!”
He kicked the mystical device in irritation. His gaze fell upon a table, buried under countless scrolls and scraps of paper. Every piece of paper on the table was filled with unimaginably hard magical formulas, only look on which would make crazy on any average unicorn; blueprints, which would make skilled engineers to shrug in confusion; and tons of research reports.
The stallion’s eyes found a big sketch, showing five stone spheres on a weight-like pedestal.
“Hmm…”
Levitating the sketch up to his face, an idea struck his mind. Perhaps he could finally find the mystery to his problem.
“If this is not the answer, then there is no answer at all,” said he to the raven. The raven stayed profoundly silent.
*******
“Princess Celestia!”
A white Pegasus in the golden armor of Equestria Royal Guards rushed into the throne room. Smoldering feathers were dropping off of his left wing and a large crack shone clear on his helm.
“What happened?” asked Celestia.
“Intruder at the Crystal Shrine, your highness!” the stallion exclaimed urgently.
The Princess gasped in terror. “Impossible… Who is it? And how did he get through my barriers?”
“I don’t know, Princess… Some… Black… Stallion…” The soldier is clearly ready to faint. The Princess realized that there is no time to lose.
“Take care of him!” she ordered to her bodyguards. Gray unicorns simultaneously saluted.
The Princess vanished in a white light.
*******
The black stallion stands before a white pedestal. His body is surrounded by a hive-shaped barrier, filled with swirling red energy. Constantly, differently-colored beams strike the barrier’s surface, trying in vain to penetrate it. The stallion lets out a small chuckle at his enemy’s pitiful attempts.
“What wrong with that barrier?!” a gray unicorn royal guard exclaims. “Any barrier, no matter how strong it is, should have crumbled a long time ago after receiving so much energy!”
The only Earth pony in the bright room filled with light from hundreds of luminescent crystals, made a step forward and raised his head. A stallion, clad in grey armor with golden outlines. His face is hidden under a heavy helmet with visor, leaving only his nose with an enormous dark-red mustache visible. His coat is tan and his tail is as red as autumn leaves.
“Don’t hold back!” he ordered with his stoic old voice. “Alpha squad!” He looks at a pack of Pegasus royal guards, which are still standing on their hooves. “Try to breach his barrier from the flanks with your magic neutralizers! Beta squad, focus your strongest spells in one spot! If we attack together, even his barrier will crumble!”
The unicorns focused their spellbeams at a single spot in the center of the red barrier. The barrier began to bend under concentrated force. Pegasi split into two groups and took their enemy into a pincer, attacking the barrier’s sides.
“Tch! You are so annoying!” the black stallion’s barrier shrunk. “Do you never learn?”
The barrier explodes with a devastating energy pulse, knocking the Pegasi royal guards all over the wall. The stallion dodged energy beams with agile versatility. A pitch-black sphere the size of an apple appeared on tip of his horn. The black stallion shook his head, sending the black ball at the unicorns. The ball reached its destination, exploding with surprising force, knocking unicorns up high in the air. In the next moment, the iron-clad earth pony appeared from the dust, rushing towards the black stallion, trying to ram him. But the black unicorn jumped up, dodging the impact, causing the iron-clad pony to smash into the pedestal. A telekinetic force hurled the Earth pony away.
“The last seal…” The black stallion’s horn connects to a mysterious symbol on the pedestal with a thin red beam. His eyes widened as his target was so close in reach. His heart skipped a beat as the pedestal began to crack. Suddenly, a flash of white light illuminated the room.
“Stop right there!”
But it was too late. The sound of smashing glass pierced the air. The pedestal broke apart, revealing a shining jeweled case. The black stallion grins and turns to the princess.
“I am sorry to disappoint you Princess, but I have plans on these little accessories.”
“Stop!” ordered the Sun Princess.
An orb of light divided from the Princess’s horn and rushed to the black unicorn. But in a split second, he disappeared in a flash of red light before the orb could get him. A long minute of silence passed. The iron-clad Earth pony rose from the floor and walked to Celestia, limping.
“I am terribly sorry, Princess… We couldn’t save the Elements of Harmony… It is all our fault!
The Princess suddenly smiles.
“It’s alright, Ironhoof,” she said with a mystic grin.
*******
A heavy black door swings open. Exhausted, the black stallion with red mane walks in. His trench coat is soaked to the last fibers with his head covered only with a hood. A crow on the roost welcomes him with a husky caw.
“I did it, Nevermore! I got the elements! I can’t believe it was THAT easy!” He removed his wet coat, tossing it on the floor.
“Looks like that princess lived too much in peace and harmony.” His voice sounds happy as never before. Nothing could spoil his mood, not even after an hour of trotting in the freezing rain.
He placed the prized jeweled box on a table. Breathing quickly in excitement, the stallion opened the box, gasping as he readied himself to finally see his prizes. Next moment, silence rushed in the black amphitheater. One minute… Two minutes… the black stallion raised his head. Overwhelming grief and hatred reading in his red bottomless eyes. He grinded his teeth as he tossed the box to the floor. Unable to control his anger, he screamed out at the top of his lungs:
“DAMN YOU, CELESTIA!!!”
*******
“Fake elements, Princess?”
The old Earth pony named Ironhoof stayed near the radiant princess in the trashed crystal chamber. His massif moustaches are moving in tact of hoofsteps of medic unicorns, securing the fainted and wounded royal guards to the hospital.
“Yes, Ironhoof. After I spent too much time opening my own locks during the black dragon incident, I decided to re-hide the elements, leaving fakes in this former place, just in case. I haven’t told you that, because I have done that only yesterday.” Seeing that the worst case scenario was amazingly avoided, the Princess gave herself a small chuckle at her brilliance. Truly, nothing would have been worse than having the real elements stolen.
“This is a huge stroke of luck, Princess,” said Ironhoof impressed, “but where did you hide the elements this time?”
Princess Celestia smiles. “I will give them to their rightful owners, until the threat is neutralized.”
The old pony looked at the medics, dragging away the last injured soldier.
“This stallion…” he shakes his head slowly, “we had never seen anything like that before… Our magic is inferior to his. And his agility is to envy of… He will definitely return.”
“I know.” The Princess’s expression became much more serious than before. “And we shall be ready for him.” A fierce look of determination sprung onto her face.
“Do you have any strategy, princess?”
Smiling, the princess chuckled. “Of course I have.” She turned to the room’s entrance. A gallant crimson-colored unicorn came in.
“You called, Princess?”
“Yes, Crimson Tulip. You are the best architect in Canterlot, you know our castle from top to bottom. Find a good place and install anti-flash crystals there.”
The unicorn looked at the princess over her glasses. “You want to secure all areas from flashing and teleporting? Permanently?”
The Princess shook her head. “No. Make a switch activating it.”
“Yes, your highness.” The crimson unicorn bowed and headed out.
“Let’s set our dear guest a little surprise,” she said to Ironhoof with a mysterious smile.
“When are you planning to give the elements to their owners, Princess?”
“Soon, my most faithful guard. My student, Twilight Sparkle, wrote that she is coming to Canterlot.”
*******
A giant purple air balloon with three passengers is floating toward sparkling, graceful castle, laid on a mountain. Two ponies and a small purple dragon inside it are enjoying a view under them. Endless green ravines and forests are filled with incessant songs of birds. A melody of wind is swirling around balloon, making it slowly shake in rhythm of its silent music. The black book’s eye looks out at the clear blue sky.
“Hey, Stargale,” Twilight calls, “why are you so silent all of a sudden? You were constantly whining all the way to the air balloon, but you haven’t said a single word during the flight.”
“Are you afraid of heights?” asked Rarity.
“Of course not, you fools!” shouted the book. “Just…” The tone of his voice changed, becoming more soft. “The sky looked different in my time…” A thought passed through Stargale’s mind. “It was stained red…”
Twilight tried to imagine a red-stained sky, but failed. Even on the most beautiful of evenings, the sky would only get to an orange glow. A red-stained sky seemed too terrifying to be true.
“I remember, when I was a little colt,” the book continued. “Granma told me about a clear blue sky… I dreamt to see one for my whole childhood… Looks like my pink dream became real.”
“Red-stained sky?” inquired a horrified Rarity. “Is that even possible?”
The book remained silent.
“Hey lass,” he suddenly called, “who is your leader? A unicorn?”
“Yes… I mean, no… kinda,” Twilight replied in hesitation.
“What do you mean?” asked Stargale curiously.
“Our princess has a glorious horn AND dazzling majestic wings!” said Rarity wistfully.
After a minute of silence, the book made a sound reminiscent of a dreamy sigh.
“So, there are those that survived…”
Twilight, Rarity, and Spike looked at the book in confusion.
“What do you mean?” asked Spike.
“She is an Alicorn,” answered Stargale.
“Alicorn? I think I’ve seen this term in my books,” Twilight chimed.
The book gasped. “Long ago, before the sky was red… Even before Earth ponies, unicorns and Pegasi existed, these glorious creatures ruled our world in harmony. But then, something has happened, and Alicorns began to dwindle. They had begun to give birth to the pony tribes you know now instead of Alicorns. And never again, an Alicorn filly or colt was born.” The book looked on the slowly-floating clouds. “This began an Alicorn extinction. Alicorns began to disappear from the world. Their glory began to fade. A chosen few Alicorns gathered together and casted a spell of Everlasting Life on themselves in hope to save their kind from extinction.”
Twilight’s, Rarity’s and Spike’s jaws dropped.
“You mean, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna belong to some extinct kind, ancestors of all kind of ponies?”
“Are you dumb or deaf, lass?” The book’s tone changed back to its irritable old self. “That’s exactly what I said! Now, when we shall arrive? I am tired of waiting!”
Twilight rolled her eyes. “We are almost there.”
The balloon began to land.
“Welcome to Canterlot!”