//------------------------------// // We All Fall Down // Story: Shepherd of Fire // by ERich935 //------------------------------// FLASHBACK - 4 Months before the Present Day The Mane Six and I were rushing to get to Princess Celestia, after Discord went rogue. "Princess Celestia! It's terrible! Discord has-" Twilight said to Princess Celestia before being interrupted by her, "Yes Twilight, I know what’s going on." "Oh… I’m so sorry Princess Celestia. It’s all my fault. I tried to stop Discord but he just wouldn't listen. He just started attacking Star Blade for no reason." said Fluttershy, feeling guilty. "And I would like to know why he attacked me specifically. He acted like he knew who I was, yet I've never met him personally until this very day." I said as I walked towards Princess Celestia. "That’s probably just his little tricks. He probably knows Star Blade as much as he knows us because he's been watching everypony ever since he was turned into stone." Applejack said in response. "That may be true, as he has watched all of you since you used the Elements of Harmony. Star Blade however, Discord knew from a different time, and never saw him again until this day." said Princess Celestia, as she looked upon her subjects. "But how is that even possible? If Discord knew who Star Blade was a long time ago, wouldn't Star Blade know as well?" Twilight questioned with complete confusion and worry. "Look, there are things I really shouldn't say to any of you." said Princess Celestia. "Then why can't you tell us now? We're at the brink of losing Equestria, and we need to know what's going on!" I said. There was silence, she didn't say anything for at least ten seconds. But before the next blast that Discord fired, we heard her say one word, "Spoilers." That word… the very word that guards my future. It’s been repeated to me time after time with every single question I ask which relates to my own future. It’s the only answer to be given without lying, and without revealing the truth. "What did you say?" I asked with a confused face. There was a loud boom heard from outside the castle. It was Discord, unlike the “chaotic” things he usually did, he was causing true destruction in Canterlot. But why was he doing this now? Throughout his life, he had every opportunity to do it. "We have to move, I don’t have much time to explain." said Princess Celestia as she began to run out of the main hall. We followed Celestia, while also protecting us with a barrier from Discord’s destruction. With every second, we could see, hear, and feel Discord’s power with every blow he made across Canterlot. After countless minutes of running, we finally made it to our destination. "Here we are." said Princess Celestia as we stopped in front of a large vault. "The old vault to the Elements of Harmony?" said Twilight with a tiny bit of confusion. Princess Celestia then used her magic to open the vault. "Princess Celestia, don't you remember? The Elements of Harmony are not here, they're with the Tree of Harmony." said Twilight once the vault door opened. "Yes, I do know that. But that's not why we're here." said Princess Celestia as she used her magic to reveal a small hole, almost big enough for my hoof to fit in. "Star Blade, would you come here please?" "What is it?" I asked as I walked to Princess Celestia. "I need you to place your hoof into here." said Princess Celestia, pointing to the small hole. Confused, uncertain, I questioned her, "Why do I have to do it? Is it something about me? Is there something there that has something to do with me?" She once again replied with the same answer as before, "Spoilers." "That word... what are you not telling me. It's important and I know that, by why are you hiding it?" I asked, giving her a serious look. She came close to me, and whispered three words into my ear, which just made me snap. "How do you… that’s not possible…" I said, struggling to speak, until I focused and spoke, "How do you know that?" "How does she know what?" asked Twilight. Another blast hit the castle, and everyone was defending themselves except for me and Celestia. She spoke again, "Look, there isn't much time. We must stop Discord in the current position he's in right now." "She’s right. We have a more important situation we’re dealing with here. We can discuss all of this later." said Rainbow Dash. We were at the brink of a fight against Discord we possibly had no chance of winning. So, I proceeded to go by Princess Celestia's request. Carefully, I placed my hoof into the hole, as a bright light shined through. I took my hoof out, and the hole closed. Just seconds after, we all saw something rise from the center of the vault. It was a cylinder platform that had what looked like a chest on top. Celestia then placed the chest off the platform and on the ground. "What's inside the chest?" asked Twilight. "Something that I haven’t been able to tell you or anypony for a very long time." said Celestia as she opened the chest. Inside the chest was what appeared to be some sort of crown… it had a dark gray star directly in the middle on the front of it. The star also had what appeared to have two swords behind it. The crown was completely platinum, and it had six tiny stars, each one had their own colors; pink, purple, red, blue, orange, and light purple. "What is this?" I asked, looking at the crown. "The gem within this crown is something I've been protecting for thousands of years…" she replied. "What?" I said, still not understanding. "This is an Element of Harmony, the Element that started it all…" said Celestia as she took out the crown. "WHAT?!" said the Mane Six with surprised looks on their faces. "This is the Element... of Leadership." said Celestia. "But I thought there were only six elements! It says that in all history books to Equestria, even your diary!" said Twilight, looking very confused. Celestia began to explain, "Although most books do say that there are six elements, that is only because I kept the Element of Leadership hidden, I never told anypony, not even my sister knew of it. It was safe with me, and I never mentioned it until the time was right." Twilight then questioned, " But why did you hide it? Why did you keep it a secret until now?" She continued to explain, "I kept this Element hidden so no one else would find it, and use it's power. Unlike the others, this Element of Harmony is connected with all of the others. So if anything were to happen to it, the other Element's power would be in great danger. However, I knew this day would come. I knew that Star Blade would come here. When he did, and Discord went from a being of chaos and disharmony to a being of destruction, I knew the time was right." "But why me? Why am I part of this?" I asked. "I was told this would happen, but it was merely stated as a prophecy, a rumor, legend, things I never believed." said Celestia. "If you were told these things would happen, who told you them?" I asked. "I’m sorry; I don’t have much time to talk about this. You must take the Element, find the others, and you need to stop Discord." said Celestia just before another blast was heard. "How should I trust you that I must do this?" I asked. "I'm just a regular Earth Pony with nothing special in particular at all." "You may think you are like that now... but there is so much more in your future... I know this... please... you have to do this for us... for Equestria... I wish I could tell you more to trust me, but I’m afraid it may affect your future. Please…" Celestia begged. If she knew so much, should I believe her? I wasn’t certain… But I didn’t have a choice. If she says that it may affect my future… I can’t take any risks… I knew that my future was in my hooves, and I knew that I had to protect it… but I never knew that it would affect Equestria in an impossible way... _________________________________________________________________________________________ PRESENT DAY - 10:27, 2 hours and 45 minutes until the Void opens After a couple hours of preparations, the meeting was ready to take place. "We are all gathered here today to discuss what may be the most catastrophic event in Equestria history; The Day of the Descension." said Princess Celestia as she sat down. Prince Shining Armor was the first to speak, "Princess, I would like to ask if I may; what is there to expect on this day?" "I will let Star Blade give us the details about this day, and what will happen." said Celestia, before I stood up. "And who might I ask, are you; Earth Pony?" Shining Armor asked me. "My name is Star Blade, citizen of Ponyville, and harnesser to the Element of Leadership." I replied. "Then let's not waste any time, please begin to explain. What is the Day of the Descension? I know that a phase of catastrophe is supposed to happen, but what is it?" said Shining Armor. "The Day of the Descension isn’t just any day of catastrophe towards Equestria. It's more than that." I said in response to Shining Armor's questioning. "Then what's supposed to happen?" asked Princess Cadence. "Nothing." I replied. "What are you saying?" Shining Armor asked , looking very confused. I began to explain, "At a specific time, a specific moment on this very day, a void will open at the Garden of Warriors, forming a paradox linked within the Space Time Continuum, sucking everything from Equestria’s past, present, and future, thus Nothing happening." "But if it’s sucking everything from different points in time of Equestria, how come it hasn't happened before?" Shining Armor asked . "It hasn’t happened before because during this day there is a fixed point in time, something that has to happen, something that has to stop the paradox from forming." I said, responding to Shining Armor's question. "Young Star Blade, if this paradox has to be stopped, how must it be done?" Princess Luna asked as she stood up. "Not to long I ago, I came across an old database, which contained an archive on all information pertaining Equestria’s past, present, and future. Within the files, I came across a prophecy towards the Day of the Decension." I said, continuing my explanation. "What was the prophecy, exactly?" asked Shining Armor. I stated it word for word, "For the paradox to be closed, Harmony must stabilize the void, while one pony enters the realm as the song of The Divider is played." "Is that all?" Shining Armor asked. "It’s all that's told." "How much longer do we have until it happens?" Celestia asked. "It happens at 1:15, so looking at the time right now, we have about 2 hours and 43 minutes." I said as I looked at my watch. "Then we should prepare." said Shining Armor. "Do you have a plan?" "Well, we've already been prepared." said Twilight. The hoofprint lock to the new safe opened. Placing my hoof in the hole, the platform arose with the Element of Leadership on top. As I put my crown on, I said to Celestia, "I understand everything about this day.But one thing I don’t understand is, why the Garden of Warriors? Why does it happen there?" "I'm not sure." said Princess Celestia. "I guess I'll find out..." I said, also with a smile. "I'm sure you will." Celestia said back to me. "Now, Mares and Stallions, this meeting is now adjourned." As the meeting came to a close, we walked out on our way to the Garden of Warriors. "Princess Celestia, who is that Earth Pony? Is he a friend of yours?" asked Shining Armor as he stood up. "You seem to be very close to him, as if you’ve known him for a long time" said Cadence. "He is a very close friend of mine… the only problem is that I know more about him now... yet he barely knows me at all" said Celestia as we were out of sight from the meeting room.