Equestria in Ruins

by Eclipse Shine

Chapter 7: The Decay of Harmony

The petrified tree stood tall before us as its luminescence deemed our lanterns useless. It was difficult to believe that even in Equestria’s state; such a beautiful sight was still possible.

Its Barks had been engraved with the cutie marks of Luna, Celestia and what I assumed was Twilight’s. With two Princesses dead and the other two overwhelmed by the power of madness; the sight provided a sentiment of mutual sadness that was shared among those that were able to see its magnificence. Corrupted royalty was the least of our worries if darkness were to spread across the tree that stood solidly on its own footing for an eternity.

The decay of Harmony has commenced, the roots of the tree no longer maintained their glow that had once enchanted this cavern with hope. We needed to act quickly in order to reverse the curse that had already taken its toll on the unsuspecting presence before us. We were clueless as to what to do next, everypony scratching their mane in deep thought.

Suddenly, the words echoed within the very confinement of my mind as if they were preaching hope to me.

A light will shine upon the darkness, casting the ancient evil away.
That light will vanquish the feasting shadows and reverse the curse that commenced the decay.

What could it possibly mean? Surely Luna had reason to teach me this rhyme?

I repeated it once more.

“A light will shine upon the darkness, casting the ancient evil away.
That light will vanquish the feasting shadows and reverse the curse that commenced the decay.”

This time the words, instead of staying within my mind, echoed throughout the cavern; making it so that everypony had heard them as well.

“Where did you hear those words?” Shining Armor interrogated me, defiance in his tone as if the very words that sounded in the cave ran towards him.

“I recognize it as well, it was written inside one of the spell books I had studied.” This time it was Unity that had the privilege to speak. “They were part of a reversal spell aimed towards decay on plants.”

“That makes perfect sense!” Starshard gasped at the very thought of those words coming from my mouth as if I was a prophet from the olden days.

“We better get started on that spell!” Shining Armor exclaimed, trying to hold back the adrenaline that was pumping through his stallion veins. “Unity, I’m going to need your help if this spell’s effects were to be permanent.”

Both ponies concentrated their magic while chanting the words together in harmony while the cavern roared with the sudden disturbance in the atmosphere.

“A light will shine upon the darkness, casting the ancient evil away.
That light will vanquish the feasting shadows and reverse the curse that commenced the decay.”

At these words, a flash of light erupted from the sleeping giant, vanquishing all the dark forces that had made this subtle cave their home. Soft yet bright, it soothed us as it died out, leaving the tree to shine upon the geological ruins. The faint light was exposing our complexions once more.

On the floor of the cave laid a circular stone that emitted a light of its own. Holding it up in my hoof, I could feel its coolness chilling me to the bone although it resembled the burning Sun itself. Upon further examination, it revealed its true identity; an eclipsed Sun was making its presence known upon my worn out hooves.

“The seventh element…” Shining Armor trotted up to me, holding out his hoof as he examined the divine stone himself.

Its light was slowly fading to a diamond-like sparkle; the light of the tree projecting its image as it collided with the celestial object.

Unity and Starshard kept silent, mesmerized by the sudden discovery of the foreign object.

“But I thought that all the elements had been destroyed…Obliterated?” Scootaloo was a bit skeptical about the authenticity of what looked like a tree ornament to her.

“This is an element in its rawest form,” Shining Armor started, “it wasn’t tampered with or modified in any way by the hands of Ponykind. It is best if nopony knows about its existence; it would cause certain chaos in Equestria. Although Eclipse is the only pony capable of using it, we couldn’t let anything happen to this delicate gem. It’s an exquisite gift from Mare Nature herself.”

Shining Armor’s emotion in the process of his speech came as a shock to everypony that had the opportunity to witness it. He truly took pride in his contribution towards this leap forward into a new era of harmony.

Everypony took turns to examine the element for themselves, mesmerized by its true beauty.

“If Spike was around, he wouldn’t have been able to give it back to you, Eclipse!” Scootaloo started laughing at the thought of the dragon running around with the element as we chased him through the night. “I sure miss that cute little guy”

Spike had been separated from the mane six during their battle with King Sombra. The search team was unable to find proof that he was alive of dead so they dismissed him completely. Everypony had assumed that he had perished along with the mane six at the wrath of the crazed king.

~

They say that sleep comes easily to the guiltless but I find that statement awfully hard to believe. I’ve done nothing to deserve my constant nights of insomnia that haunted me with delusions; I’m surprise that I haven’t gone mad yet. Most nights, it would take me hours to find rest; tonight was no exception.

I stayed up observing the luminescent light emitted from the tree which served as good to me as the moon. Most ponies were already asleep but its hypnotic effect had yet to tamper with my instincts. I always feared that something would happen to me as I slept; as if something was waiting for the right opportunity to strike. The crucial hours of slumber needed for tomorrows return to Canterlot hadn’t come to me when they were most necessary. Once in Canterlot, we would make plans as to where we should head next.

I hadn’t had anything to eat since the morning and my stomach kept growling like an active volcano as the acids in my stomach found no more substances to dissolve.

Sleep came at last.

~

It was early in the morning when I got something shook me awake from my deep slumber. Unity was rustling me, waiting for me to get up from my resting place.

We headed out of the cavern, dawn’s lights blinding us as the Sun commenced its ascent into the heavens above. Hoof covering our eyes, we observed our surroundings, careful to not trot into some unexpected visitor.

We trotted for what seemed like an hour; it could have been more or less but it was impossible to tell time as it seemed to stand still.

CRACK

We turned around, astonished by the sudden sound of trees snapping in the distance.

CRACK!

Leaping out of the trees were four huge beasts that rushed towards us with fury in their eyes.

Timberwolves!