It had been one thousand years since Twilight had taken on the duty of the Eternal Guardian, and much had changed in the world of Equestria. It had been rebuilt, and ponies soon forgot about the war that nearly destroyed the world. It remembered the six heroes that had saved them for a long time, but eventually, history forgot the details of how they fought the great alicorn and the heroes were lost in the past with a multitude of others that had gave their lives to stop the tyrant.
Twilight stood on the balcony of her castle in Ponyville as she began her spell to raise the sun for the morning. Another thing that had changed was the two sisters. As time progressed, the alicorns had began to age, and with it, their magic began to weaken. Celestia was now an elderly god with hardly enough magic to do her daily activities, and Luna was getting to that point, with just enough magic to raise and lower the moon each and every night.
This morning the sun was coming up with a reddish tint, either blood had been spilt during the night, or something was coming, and as Equestria had been at peace for a thousand years, she guessed that there was something coming, something big.
This morning as the sun began to rise, Twilight's thoughts began to wander to that of her friends. They had all past through this plane and joined the others in the great beyond, as had her predecessor and teacher, Fury Flight. She averted her mind, no, she wasn't going to cry today. A sound drew her attention as the door to the balcony opened.
"Good Morning sleepy head, I was just raising the sun," Twilight said to the unicorn that walked out from the castle. His name was Star Shadow, a dark blue pony with a black mane. He was the student of Twilight, learning the magic that had helped her so long ago, friendship and other magic's. It was after she had taken him into her castle and began to teach him the magic that had changed her so radically that she learned that he was the descendant of her old teacher, and one of her friends, Rainbow Dash and Fury Flight. It was then that she realized the love for magic he had, and the determination he had, that reminded her of his ancestors. He had the best of both of them, the magical prowess of Fury flight, and the determination and loyalty of Rainbow Dash.
"Good morning Princess, what is my lesson for today, are we finally going to work on those time spells," Star Shadow asked as his ears perked up, "Or are we going to do more teleportation?" he asked slowly.
"Actually, neither Star Shadow, there is somewhere I want you to see," Twilight said as her spell concluded.
At this, Star Shadows ears perked back up as his interest began to soar. "What do you mean Twilight, where are we going?" he asked.
"take my hoof and I'll show you," Twilight said as she held out her left hoof to the unicorn. Star Shadow took her hoof and they disappeared from the balcony, and reappeared in a cave on the edge of Equestria.
"Where...... are........ we?" Star Shadow asked as he took in the sights of the oldest spot in the countries history.
"This is known as the start, or better as the Cave of Friendship. This is where the three tribes came together and defeated the Wendigo's and gave birth to Equestria. This is also the sight of another cave, one shown to me by a pony that I looked up to," Twilight said as she walked into the cave that held memories of another time, during the war that she became the Guardian of Equestria, and she seen some of the creators of their world.
They walked through the ancient cave, and Star Shadow's eyes were moving all around, taking in the sights of the cave, with drawings on the wall of the spell that drove back the frozen foes and the unicorn that had saved them all, clover the clever.
"Is that....... Clover.." Star Shadow began, but Twilight finished his sentence and answered his question.
"The Clever, yes, And yes, she was taught by the greatest mage in history, Star Swirl the Bearded," Twilight answered with an almost fan girl voice.
The two walked to the back edge of the cave where Twilight sensed the doorway, and in shock, seen it open before her. Fury had seen it, and had guided Twilight into it, and now she was here, guiding Star Shadow through it. She walked through it and heard a thump as Star Shadow hit solid rock.
"Twilight, Princess Twilight........ Where are you?" Star Shadow called out.
"Right here Star Shadow," Twilight said from just behind the doorway. "Walk this way, and remember this, that there is no wall in front of you," Twilight said, as she heard the unicorn begin walking towards the sound of her voice.
Then the unicorn slowly came through the barrier repeating to himself that their was no wall.
Twilight placed a hoof on the unicorn's nose before he walked into her. "Your through Shadow, you can open your eyes," Twilight said softly as the unicorn blinked his eyes open slowly.
"Wooaahh, Twilight, this is amazing," Star Shadow said as he looked around at the sights of the eternal maze.
"Don't get too inquisitive Star Shadow, just follow me, or you will be lost forever in here," Twilight said as she started to walk down a path that was lit up to her through her guardian sense. The two walked down the path for what seemed to be forever until they came upon the light of the eternal cave.
As they walked into the cave, Star Shadow's curiosity became overwhelmed, and he collapsed.
"Oh my gosh, are you all right?" Twilight asked as she picked Star Shadow up off of the ground with her magic.
"Yea, I am all right Princess. where are we?" He asked.
"This is the Eternal cave, the place where you will receive your next lesson, if you accept it that is," Twilight said as she looked at the unicorn.
"Accept what?" He asked.
"A burden heavier than even royalty," Twilight said as she walked over to the great eye. "Your family holds a legacy, far greater than any member of royalty, even me," Twilight began. "One thousand years ago, your ancestor and by far the bravest stallion I have ever known, bestowed that legacy upon me, and now, I am here to bestow that legacy back into his blood line," Twilight said as the eye behind her open, and looked into the soul of Star Shadow.
He saw a figure, a greenish brown alicorn looking at him from a place of light, and beside him was a cyan Pegasus with a rainbow mane.
"Do You accept this destiny as your own, Star Shadow? Do you accept the responsibility of the Eternal Guardian upon yourself?" The figure asked, staring straight into the eyes of the unicorn.
Star Shadow looked down, and then over to the Two figures, "Yes, I will, but first I have a question, Who are you?" Star shadow replied to the being.
"My name was Fury Flight, and I was the Eternal Guardian before I gave it to Twilight Sparkle, I held the burden of guardian for three thousand years, taking it from my father, Galaxo, king of the Cosmos. I seen many wars and skirmishes, villains rise and fall and the progress of Pony kind from the background. I protected the Elements of Harmony, even to my dying breath, several times. Do you still wish to take on the burden of the Eternal Guardian, my young unicorn?" Fury Flight asked from beyond the grave.
"Yes, I will take the burden and carry it as my own," He said as the figures began to retreat back to the light.
"Then you shall be trained by Twilight to one day take the honored position of Eternal guardian, but first, have a token of your family behind the eye," Fury said as he and Dash turned back into dust and disappeared.
The eye opened to reveal it's contents, two spells, five small parchments, a stone that seemed to draw life away from everything around it, and a tattered photo, showing two ponies in a stadium, one cyan with a rainbow mane, and the other greenish brown with a fiery red and yellow mane. Star Shadow took the photo from the vault and showed it to Twilight.
"This was him, wasn't it, Fury Flight," Star Shadow asked Twilight, who had tears streaming down her cheeks at the sight of her long lost friends.
"Yes, that was him, and the mare was Rainbow Dash, the Element of loyalty, and my friend," Twilight said as she looked back to the eye that had closed again, blocking the rest of the world from it's treasure.
"When will my training begin Twilight?" Star Shadow asked.
"It already has Star Shadow, it already has," Twilight answered as she prepared her magic to take them out of the cave and back to the castle and to the next part of Star Shadow's training, the forbidden library where he would learn about the Guardian magic and history, along with the oath that he would one day take to defend Equestria from all evil.