//------------------------------// // Beginnings // Story: Rise of the Spirit of Harmony // by Spirit of Harmony //------------------------------// Silence hung over the Everfree, broken only by an almost inaudible whispering coming from a small ruined hut in a forest clearing. Inside the hut, a white alicorn bent over a small Pegasus, lying on a bed of moss and ferns. “Save my child, I beg of you,” the Pegasus breathed, her eyes glazing over. “She is in the Ponyville Orphanage, watched over by a cruel headmistress…” Her voice trailed off. She let out a final breath, and was still. The alicorn closed her eyes with a gentle stroke of his hoof. “I will.” A twig snapped in the entrance, and the alicorn whipped around. A black unicorn stood in the doorway, his red eyes glittering with hatred. “Reuben,” He hissed, spitting out the name like a foul taste in his mouth. “At last, we see each other face to face. Mayor of Ponyville eh? You’ll wear a different chain.” “Before you say another word, Grelax,” the alicorn replied with a hint of desperation in his voice. “Before you lock me up like a slave again. Listen to me, there is something I must do.” He flicked his gold and silver striped tail at the Pegasus’ body. “This mare leaves behind a suffering foal, and there is nopony but me who can intervene. In mercy’s name, three days are all I need. Once the filly is safe, I will return, and we will settle our differences.” Before the unicorn could say a word, Reuben took off, ascending through a hole in the roof, and headed toward Ponyville. Behind him, the unicorn yelled after him. "I WILL FIND YOU REUBEN! YOU HAVE NOWHERE TO RUN, NOWHERE TO HIDE!" Landing in front of the orphanage, he walked inside, and emerged 20 minutes later with a newly adopted, rusty orange Pegasus filly following close behind. “Can I call you Daddy?” she asked. “Yes my dear, you can,” Reuben answered, lowering his head to nuzzle the filly’s dark purple mane. “Also, you never told me your name.” “Oops, I forgot. I’m Scootaloo!” the filly announced. “Thank you for rescuing me from that horrible place.” “Of course Scootaloo.” “Where are we going?” Scootaloo asked excitedly, after they had walked another five hundred metres. Reuben was about to answer, when he caught a flash of white light in the corner of his eye. He turned around, expecting the unicorn from before to be launching a spell. Instead, a mark appeared on his flank, a symbol he had only seen in a very old tome he had once read. A golden circle and star on top of each other, with six different coloured hexagonal gems arranged in a pattern: One on each of the star’s points, and one larger gem in the centre of the star. Scootaloo gasped. “You got your cutie mark!” she exclaimed. Suddenly, a voice sounded in Reuben’s mind. “Reuben… You are the Spirit… of Harmony… Come to the castle… of the Two Sisters…” “Reuben?” Scootaloo sounded worried. “Are you okay?” “I’m fine, my dear,” Reuben replied hesitantly. “I must go to the Everfree Forest. Stay here.” “I’m not leaving you now,” Scootaloo said, fear grappling with determination in her eyes. “I don’t care about the danger. Besides, where would I go?” Reuben realized she was right. “Come with me then, but stay close to me.” As the two of them approached the castle, the voice called out to Reuben’s mind again. “Reuben… approach the stone orbs… in the center… of the castle…” “Follow me Scootaloo,” Reuben said. “We’re going inside.” Reuben entered the castle, with Scootaloo, trembling, at his heels. The alicorn stallion and Pegasus filly walked through the ruined courtyard and into the main hall, their hoofsteps ringing out on the cracked stone floor. As they neared the stone orbs, a thread of white light snaked out of the empty podium in the center of the altar, and wove around Reuben’s legs, rooting them to the ground. Before he could say anything, the light jerked back, and Reuben tumbled towards the stone pedestal. “Reuben!” Scootaloo just managed to grab Reuben’s tail between her teeth, but was jerked along with him with a screech of surprise. The two of them landed in a heap on the podium, where an orb of white light surrounded them, slowly fading to a stone orb twice the size of the others. As Reuben lost consciousness, the voice spoke once more. “You will be awoken… when the sisters… are reunited… and the elements… are found…” 500 years later… Deep within the Everfree Forest, shrouded with the cloak of night, lay the Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters. Out of the relative silence, the sounds of galloping hooves could be heard echoing out on the weathered cobblestones. A flash of multicoloured light suddenly sliced through the darkness, joined by a voice of despair. "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" The rainbow light changed to white, and flashed like lightning, then, just as quickly as it appeared, it was gone. Another light appeared on the horizon, an orb of radiant sunlight against the darkness of night. The sun rose swiftly, making up for lost time, and dispelled the shroud of eternal night. Soon after the sun’s reappearance, a company of two alicorns, one white as snow with a pastel mane, the other midnight blue with a mane of night, as well as six smaller ponies, two pegasi, two unicorns and two earth ponies, exited the castle and walked across the ruined bridge. Once across, the white alicorn’s horn shone with a golden radiance, and in a flash of light, the group was gone. Back in the main hall of the castle, the only remaining orb shuddered on its pedestal, a large crack zigzagging along its smooth surface. It rolled off the pedestal, and came to rest about a metre away. Sealed within, Reuben and Scootaloo both heard the voice again. "Reuben... Spirit of Harmony... awaken... your time has now come..." "Awaken..."