Prologue
Signs of Salvation
2000 Years Prior…
Long ago, in the land of Equestria, a figure jolted from her bed as she felt a tremor. Getting a bad feeling of this tremor, she looked out to the night sky.
“Oh no! Please don’t tell me…”
Her voice trailed off as she left her bedchambers and made her way down the twisting corridors of a recently-built castle. The torchlight revealed a tall snowy-white pony with a horn on her forehead and angelic feathery wings. Her mane flowed in the colors of the morning dawn: blue, pink, and green.
An alicorn.
The alicorn tugged her heavy gray cloak against her body with golden magic emanating from her horn, lifting the cloak enough so that she could run down the corridors. Many twists and turns she took until she came face-to-face with a large, bog oak door sealed with locks of various forms from physical to magic. Pulling out from her cloak, the alicorn inserted a key into the main lock. With a single twist, every physical chain and lock came undone. Once the metal chains were down, the alicorn used her magic to remove the remaining locks before opening the door.
Inside was the entrance to a secret passage that was carved into the mountain. The mare used her magic to light the trail before her. She had been through this corridor many times in the past, usually with eight others.
But it was only her tonight.
After what seemed to be an hour of darkness, the alicorn saw moonlight at the tunnel head of her. Bracing her eyes, the mare stepped out of the shadows and into the light. Once her eyes adjusted, she marveled at her destination. No pony knew that the mountain was hollow nor did they know of the secret inside said mountain.
In the hollowed mountain was a hidden valley filled with rare and exotic plants. A secret garden, if you would care to think. Like the passage she came from, there were multiple entrances around the walls of the mountain. She had been into these passages before; each one leading to specific chambers or were used as windows to the outside at both sides of the chambers. At the center of the garden was what she was looking for: a stone dais inscribed with writing long dead. On the stone dais where nine pristine white pillars that toward to the heavens. So high that not even pegasi could find an end to the towering edifices. Toward the bottom of the pillars were nine different colored bands, each with a unique symbol on them.
At the center of the stone dais was a stone scrying basin that sat on a stone pedestal. At the four “corners” of the basin where candles that were unlit. The alicorn rectified that and gained more light in the area. Cautiously, she approached the basin. Swallowing her nerves, she spoke to the basin.
“Show me…the Pillars of Nosgoth.”
The alicorn waited patiently as her reflection rippled violently in the basin’s waters. Aided by candlelight, she was able to see the image of what she was looking for presented itself to her. What she saw horrified her, for in the pool was the image of pillars that looked exactly like the ones before her. However, there were differences, each more twisted than the last.
The colors of the pillars in the scrying basin were mirrored compared the towering edifices before her. She watched in horror as the pristine pillars turned grey and cracked as a shrill, agonizing scream echoed in her mind. The sudden sound made the mare jump and made her heart fill with dread.
"Show me...Ariel."
The water in the pool rippled, changing the scene before her. In place of the pillars, there was a pale, bipedal creature with blond hair lying on the ground in a pool of blood. The mare gasped as she recognized the figure in the pool.
"Oh, no..."
The water returned to normal as she backed away, horrified at what she had just seen. Her mind raced as she struggled to figure out what had happened. Who could have done such a thing? Why? Would the ones responsible come for this place as well?
The sound of hooves brought the mare out of her worries and forced her to break her gaze of the scrying pool to the door behind her. A unicorn stallion with a starry-night blue coat and a long, silver mane and tail approached her. His cutie mark was hidden by a robe that resembled a starry night. His aquamarine eyes held a pain look as he spoke to the alicorn.
"You felt it, too?"
The mare nodded sadly, looking to the basin.
"I am sorry, Antares. Ariel has been slain and the Pillars of Nosgoth became corrupted. Unless her successor manages to perform their task, I fear it is up to us, now."
The stallion, Antares, frowned sadly as he looked to the pillars.
“So. We are to uphold the Balance between annihilation and salvation, now. So that our world may live while Nosgoth is given a chance to right itself.”
The alicorn sighed as she walked back from the pillars, keeping her eyes on them as she placed a hoof on her chest.
"Indeed. Yet I cannot help but dread the future."
Antares placed a comforting hoof on the mare's shoulder.
"The barrier's still in place. They can't get here."
Silence greeted him as a storm began to overcast the mountain. The alicorn and the stallion looked up to the moon, seeing it disappear behind the clouds. Because of how their land worked, they knew this wasn't an ordinary storm.
This was a dark omen.
1000 Years after...
The alicorn mare wept at the pillars. This was a dark night. She had just fought her own sister, a fellow Guardian herself, and banished her to the moon so that the world would remained balanced. Yet, it was not a victory to the mare, but a defeat.
She had not seen the growing jealousy in her sister's eyes. She did not try to comfort her or help her. And as a result, she rebelled against the mare, becoming a vicious alicorn that sought eternal night in Equestria. Her fellow guardians tried to either reason with her or fight her. All but the weeping alicorn did not survive the younger sibling's wrath. Even Antares, who loved the corrupted mare, had not been spared.
Now, she was truly alone. No pony in all of Equestria could understand the pain she was going through. And it all came from the pillars before her. She wanted to die, but knew that if that happened, no pony would help the next generation. And with the corruption in Nosgoth remaining due to the ruthless, vile, selfish successor of the slain Ariel, who knew when the new guardians would be born. And one of the pillars here, the Pillar of Death, had become corrupted like its Nosgothic twin.
Yet, there was still hope.
While there was nothing she could do for Nosgoth, she would be waiting. Biding her time until the spell she had cast on her sister had worn off. She would come after her, yes, but there was a chance. A chance that if the new guardians were born in time, they could purify her sister of her corruption. They could alleviate the burdens that were now weighing her down. They could...
With renewed hope and determination, the alicorn stood up and placed a hoof on her chest, making a vow.
“I swear by the Pillars of Equestria, I will remain vigilant. I will watch over the Pillars as the sole Guardian until the other seven are born. I will watch as I wait for the return of my sister, the Guardian of the Pillar of Death. And when that day comes, I pray that I’ll be ready.”
Equestria: 989 Years Later…
The alicorn mare yawned as she went over the day’s paperwork. Ever since that fateful night, her work had increased six-fold. With her other half imprisoned, only she was left to tend to her duties, both known and secret. She wrote her name on a piece of parchment regarding the proposed settlement of Appleoosa towards the southernmost region of Equestria. Her name and title, “Princess Celestia,” had become more of a ritual and a label, seeming to hold little meaning these days. At least she had her “other” title to think about.
“Sometimes, I would rather be just the Guardian of the Pillar of Energy rather than the Princess of Equestria. It is hard enough shifting the sun and moon into their designated positions every dawn and dusk. But Starswirl approached the two of us to be the ones to rule Equestria together and to manage the sun and moon.”
Celestia sighed as she left her desk, marching her way to a parlor adjacent to her study. It was a secret parlor that she had built for when the ones she was waiting for make themselves known. Thinking of times long passed, Celestia approached a bookcase and pulled on a single book. The sound of a latch clicking compelled the princess to back away, careful not to trip the cloak she wore every day since the day she found out what she was born to be. However, she had placed a spell on the cloak, so that only she could see it.
As the book moved, a glass case was revealed on the other side. In the glass case were six items of unusual make. In the case was a blue comb with three feathers decorating it, a pocket watch with an hourglass shape on the cover, a helmet of pure silver, a golden set of scales, a medallion with the image of a blood-red eye on it, and a crimson orb that was mounted on a receptacle made of a single skull of unknown origin.
It was the orb the Celestia took from the case. Using her magic, she gingerly levitated the orb from its resting place and placed it into her own hooves. Once her magic faded, Celestia allowed her tears to fall as she cradled the orb like a newborn foal. Her sorrow emerged once again. A sorrow that no pony knew about or even cared for.
“Oh, Luna…”
Suddenly, a loud boom filled the air, causing Celestia to nearly drop the orb. Noticing a flash of rainbow-colored light, Celestia held her breath as she raced to her study’s balcony. Sure enough, a rainbow ring spread out in Equestria’s skies. The Princess of the Sun knew what it was that created such a marvel.
A Sonic Rainboom.
The appearance of the Rainboom sent a wave of energies into Celestia. Energies she had not sensed in 989 years. Her eyes widened as she recognized the energies. New tears formed in her eyes. This time, tears of joy.
“They were born.”
The sounds of screams caught the princess’ attention to the city of Canterlot below. What she saw caught her interest. A dazed dragon’s head pierced through the roof of the evaluation tower where young unicorns were tested. Tested to see if they held the capabilities to attend her school for gifted unicorns.
And one of the energies she felt was coming from that tower.
Spreading her wings, Celestia flew from her balcony and made her way to the tower. Evading the fleeing ponies, she made her way to the examination room where the energy was coming from. Much to her amazement and surprise, the energy came from a young lavender unicorn with an indigo-blue mane and tail that bore two pink stripes, one fainter than the other. From the look of her, she bore no Cutie Mark.
And from the look of her, she was having a magic overload.
A gentle smile gracing her lips, Celestia approached the overpowered filly and placed a gentle hoof on her shoulder. This brought the filly’s attention to Celestia. With a kindly nod, Celestia was able to help the filly cease her magic ability. This caused the magic around her to dissipate, including returning two plants into the filly’s parents and restoring the dragon to its infant stage. Now that Celestia got a good look at the filly, she saw amethyst eyes looking around in shock and worry.
Celestia knew the young filly’s name from an application she read and spoke.
“Twilight Sparkle.”
The filly cowered at her name.
“I-I’m so sorr-!”
But Celestia interrupted her. “You have a very special gift. I don’t think I’ve ever come across with your raw abilities.”
The filly gasped in confusion as Celestia continued.
“But you need to learn to tame these abilities through focused study.”
It was then that Celestia made a decision that would change everything.
“Twilight Sparkle. I would like to make you my own personal protégé here at the school.”
Once again, the filly gasped in surprise as Celestia waited for an answer. The filly looked to her parents, where were nodding their heads eagerly. Much to Celestia’s amusement, the filly jumped into the air happily.
“YES!!!”
Noticing something, Celestia held up her hoof. “One other thing, Twilight.”
This caused the filly to pause as she landed on her stomach. It was then that Celestia pointed to the filly’s recently-acquired Cutie Mark. It consisted of a large 6-point magenta star, surrounded by five smaller white stars.
Seeing this, the filly jumped around happily, overjoyed at all the good that had come out of this little mishap.
Of course, Celestia saw more than magical potential in the young Twilight Sparkle. With a happy smile, she thought to herself as she gazed at the filly. She was not ready to learn of the role ahead of her, but that did not stop Celestia from mentally giving her the title she was destined with.
“It is a great joy to finally meet you, Twilight Sparkle: Guardian of the Pillar of Balance.”