//------------------------------// // Prologue - Set Me Free // Story: The Eternal Storm 2 - Eternally Devoid // by TDarkchylde //------------------------------// The Eternal Storm 2: Eternally Devoid A My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic fanfiction Written by T. Darkchylde Prologue - Set Me Free "...And there is no way to go - I have seen it all. I have seen it all..." Five years previous, the Bearers of the Elements of Harmony had vanquished the entity known as the Nightmare from Equestria for a second time. They had given their all to free their friend and fellow Element Bearer, Rainbow Dash. In the process, they had spared the city of Cloudsdayle from certain destruction. Time passed. Though the bond of friendship still tied the Element Bearers together in spirit, time had marched on and created some separation between them. Equestria was changing for the better as it transformed into a great utopia. Discontent had become a thing of the past for most of its citizens. Life was good. Always, there is an exception to every rule... --==OOOO==-- It was a rainy night in a small village near a point where Pony, Griffin and Zebra lands met. Most of the citizens of New Harmony were simple folk, working together to try to live in peace in the new, fairly untamed village. Ponies, Zebras and Griffins all shared the village and worked side by side, each learning new things from the others on a daily basis. It was a town of new beginnings. One of its denizens, however, refused to let go of the past. At one point, she was a famous showmare known far and wide for defeating an Ursa Major with her magic. She had a great life back then. Everyone knew her name and her legend. She was loved, admired and respected. Then she made the mistake of visiting a small town named Ponyville. Two bumbling fools had awoken a sleeping Ursa and led it into town. With virtually everypony in town watching, her magic proved ineffective against the beast. Not only was she exposed as a fraud and a braggard, she was shown up at her own special talent by the town librarian, of all ponies. ...Never mind that the librarian was the bearer of the Element of Magic and one of Princess Celestia's personal students. She was unaware of this - and even if she were aware, it wouldn't have mattered. Her ego was so inflated at the time that she barely saw the Princesses as a worthy magical challenge. She was further humiliated when the librarian had informed everypony around that the Ursa her magic had failed against was but a baby, an Ursa Minor. Seeing little recourse, she fled in disgrace. In the years that followed, she couldn't even line up a gig to work foals' parties, much less book any serious work. She had gone from being the great and powerful unicorn who had vanquished an Ursa to being known as little more than an incompetent fraud. In this time, she redoubled her training and had actually become fairly competent at magic. It wasn't enough. Her reputation preceded her everywhere she went. She soon found herself destitute with the hat and cape she wore as her only worldly possessions. With no other place to go, she found her way to the land that would become New Harmony. She started to rebuild her life. Even when her reputation had caught up with her, enough of the townsfolk had seen her actions and judged her worthy to remain in town. She had her chance at the new beginning she needed. It was a pity that the Great and Powerful Trixie's sole remaining motivation was revenge. She soon arrived at her destination, an alchemical shop that sold various reagents and spellbooks for both Zebra and Pony magic. Fortunately for her, the old zebra who worked the shop was a night owl. As she walked in, the old zebra waved at her. "Great and powerful one, I bear good news," she said. "The book you sought is here to view." "You have it?" Trixie asked. "The Great and Powerful Trixie is pleased to hear this. As promised, Trixie has the remaining bits needed to purchase it." "With those bits it is yours, young showmare," the zebra said. "However, my source sends a message along - beware." "Your source is paranoid, Zephale," Trixie said as she levitated a pile of bits onto the counter. "The Great and Powerful Trixie knows that powerful magic must be dealt with... delicately. Rest assured that this book is in the best of hooves." "Then in you, I trust enough to give the spells of the greatest mage ever to live," Zephale said as she placed the book onto the counter. It was a thick old black tome with a lock binding it shut. Trixie levitated the book into her saddlebag and turned to depart the shop. "Oh... one last thing, old friend," Zephale called toward Trixie. "My sister's child will soon turn ten. He is interested in magical spells. Could you spare some time and teach him well?" Trixie stopped for a second to think. "Yes, The Great and Powerful Trixie believes she can spare some time to help out with that endeavor," she said, smiling. "She'll let you know when a good time happens to be." "That is great news, powerful one," Zephale said, smiling back. "I'll inform them the time soon comes." --==OOOO==-- Later that night, Trixie returned to her hut. It was not much, but it was far better than living on the streets. At the least, it allowed for the thing she needed most - privacy while she studied the dark tome. The tome was written by a unicorn mage who lived a little over 1,000 years before. She was a relative unknown at least as far as history went, but at the time her power rivaled those of the Princesses. She was practically erased from written Pony history because she had been regarded by her peers and the Princesses as being somewhat insane. Some of her magic had evolved by the end of her life to include zebra alchemy and equine sacrifice. She had died a rather violent death when a spell went wrong - just as the Princesses had sent guards to her residence to have her detained. Fortunately, some copies of the tome still existed in zebra lands. She would have never found it in any Equestrian library. Another fortunate thing was that the spell she had sought was crafted around the middle of the ancient unicorn's life, before she started using extreme methods. It would be disadvantageous for a pony in a small village like New Harmony to go missing, after all. As Trixie read through the book, she began to mentally file away some of the lesser spells in the book. They were all within her capability to perform, but they were not what she had spent six months' savings on. Around the middle of the book, she finally found the spell she was seeking - Reclaiming My Lost Power. The spell was written so that the mage could reclaim the source behind her vast magical power if it were ever stripped away. It used zebra alchemical components, as the author had anticipated having her unicorn magic stripped away. Trixie, of course, deduced this because the spell written immediately previous called for the blood of a newborn foal as a reagent. As she continued to study the spell and cross-reference the list of ingredients with those she kept on hoof, a faint, ghostly voice seemed to call to her. "Set me free..." She dismissed the voice at first. While New Harmony was a town of cooperation and friendship, some less desirable elements in the Griffin and Zebra populations liked to use the town at night as a meeting point to conduct illicit activities. Trixie was sure she had heard cries like that off and on over the year she had lived there. As she read on, however, the voice continued. "Set me free..." "Set me free..." "Set me free..." Trixie got up from her reading and walked over to a shelf of magical reagents, making sure she had everything she needed to bring the mage's lost power to her. The voice refused to let up, first speaking in a language she couldn't decipher. "Is someone there?" she asked as she quickly ran back to the book. The voice replied, "Set me free..." Trixie began to think to herself. "Perhaps the ancient mage calls out to the Great and Powerful Trixie to free her power?" She smiled as she started to make her preparations. "Tonight is your lucky night," Trixie thought. "The Great and Powerful Trixie will set you free and claim your power for her own... and then she will become the greatest magical power Equestria has ever seen..." "...Even greater than you ever dreamed of being." --==OOOO==-- Within the Sun, a dark power stirred. It could feel a magical force on Equestria calling for it to return, and it latched on to that power. As it grew stronger and prepared to escape its confinement, a single thought repeated itself. "Set me free..."