Echoes of the Old World

by Ultima75000

Messenger from the Stars

Chapter 1: Messenger from the Stars

“Fear is born out of the illusion of loss… Loss is born from the reality of life…
And I’ve dealt with my loss poorly... But my life won’t be the one that suffers…”

It was a dark night. An eerie unnatural darkness not familiar with the casual night skies; as if even if the Moon itself became dim. In the Moon’s fading gloom many ponies slept unaware and unnoticing. But somewhere a single winged unicorn stood vigilant over the night. Here it was her hour, here this was her domain. Here she was the god, but she didn’t feel like one.

Princess Luna; younger sister of Princess Celestia of Equestria. In the top of the watch tower the night sky was her only company. It was quite dark, even for her own cyan eyes which were normally attuned to the dark nights. Despite the darkness, the moon continued to cast its glow over Canterlot and the rest of Equestria. Not noticing anything out of place; Princess Luna removed her gaze from the telescope. Everything is as it should be. She thought. Then a shimming twinkle shot its way through the night sky, vanishing as quickly as it appeared.

What was that? Luna thought to herself. She gazed around for a bit aghast by the sudden brightness of the light. But she could not find it. I must be seeing things.Luna said to herself again. Indeed although being a Princess is an honor it was lonely and tiresome. Nopony would be awake in her time of work, and many more would not even remember her role in the castle if not for her older sister.
Her train of thought was once more interrupted by the same tiny beam of light. This time she saw it.

A distant shooting star was moving fast against the darkness. Its light flickering as it scared the night sky. Shooting stars we’re not unfamiliar in the sky, but this one as moving fast. Too fast and it was getting larger…

Outside in Ponyville only one pony was awake; her face in the books and head in the clouds.

“Spike did you find it yet?” Twilight Sparkle asked the baby dragon who was rummaging around bedroom
“I know I left it here somewhere… ” Spike said shoving a bunch of things from underneath the bed. “Of all times to misplace my blanket.”
Twilight giggled “I’m sure it’s just folded up somewhere.”

*BOOM*

“Woah!” Spike said suddenly from the thunder

“A storm?” Twilight questioned “But I don’t remember anything on there being thunderclouds around Ponyville.” She looked outside. The few clouds that we’re in the sky we’re shifting and did not seem anywhere near the size or color of storm clouds. The thunderous noise however did not come from the clouds. Looking past the sky, the falling star came closer and closer towards the land; send sparks of electricity and fumes of flame in every direction.
“Spike look!” Twilight said to the dragon that came running towards the library window “Wonder what that can be!?”

The star flew far past the skies of Ponyville straight over towards Everfree Forest, crashing through dozens of trees and plowing its way into Ghastly Gorge, landing with a thud the shook the ground beneath it. Several of Twilight’s library books fell off their shelves from the impact.

It took a bit for both Twilight and Spike to recover from the impact and clean up the slight mess it caused. “Did a star just fall from the sky?” Spike asked

“I think so. I’ve read about falling stars and asteroids but I’ve never seen one before.” Twilight answered. Then there was a knock on the door.

“Twilight!? Twilight are you there!?”
The library door was soon knocked flat open, by Applejack and Rainbow Dash.
“Did you see what happened earlier? The entire floor shook!” Applejack said her hat almost flopping off as she pranced in.
“It even blew my windows open!” Rainbow Dash said “And I just got to the good part of Daring Do.”
“It was asteroid. It shot down like a falling star.” Twilight said
“The sky is falling!?” Rainbow Dash panicked
“Hogwash!” Applejack said “An asteroid would have left a crater the size of town hall.”
“But…” Twilight began however Spike all of the sudden pointed outside towards Ghastly Gorge. “Look!”

The spot which the fallen star had landed had started to emit a flicking white light that spread through out the gorge and past the Everfree Forest like a mini sunset.

“Oh nelly…” Applejack said with her mouth open “That don’t look good.”
“Should we check it out?” Rainbow Dash asked
“Perhaps, but I should contact the Princess.” Twilight said moving towards the writing desk
“What about the others?” Spike said “Rarity and Pinkie Pie must have felt that. And Fluttershy must have definitely seen that.” The realization hit everypony in the room

“FLUTTERSHY!” Everyone screamed
“Oh man I forgot she’s right next to it all!” Rainbow Dash yelled
“What if that meteorite got too close!?” Applejack squealed
“Come on!” Twilight said dropping her quill and charging out the door. “We got to get the others and find Fluttershy!”
“Good luck!” Spike yelled as they ran off

It didn’t take long to gather both Pinkie Pie and Rarity to go search for Fluttershy. Rarity stopped complaining about her beauty sleep as soon as they mention the asteroid. Pinkie Pie went because she’s… well Pinkie although this wasn’t exactly a laughing matter. If fact a good portion of Ponyville was awoken by the sudden impact and we’re now gazing at the flickering glow given off by the asteroid.
“What was that?” What is that glow over there?” “Did something fall out of the sky? Really?”
Ignoring these questions and comments, Twilight and her friends made their way quickly to Fluttershy’s cottage. To their relief the cottage still stood.

Twilight started to knock on the door. “Fluttershy? Fluttershy!? It’s us! This is Twilight!”
“Poor girl is probably so scared she can’t even speak.” Rarity said with an almost pouty face.
“I’ll check.” Rainbow Dash said flying around the cottage to look through the bedroom window. To her surprise Fluttershy was not hiding in her bedroom. In fact the bed itself looked as though nopony has even gone to sleep in it yet.

“She’s not here!!!” Rainbow Dash screamed over the cottage receiving an equally loud scream of “What!?” from the others.
“But if she’s not here then where is she?” Applejack asked
“Maybe this little guy can tell us!” Pinkie Pie said smiling “Right Angel?”
Angel, Fluttershy’s pet bunny rabbit came hoping from behind Pinkie Pie.
“Angel darling.” Rarity said looking down at the white rabbit “Where in the heavens has Fluttershy gone off too?”
Angel made a gesture before hopping past the other ponies and around the cottage. He pointed at the large gash in the ground followed a mess of broken trees caused by the asteroid.
“She went towards the asteroid!?” Twilight said in disbelief, staring back between Angel and the broken path through the Everfree Forest. “Why would Fluttershy of all ponies go in there alone!?”

Angel started waving his hands and jumping in circles.

“What are you trying to say?” Twilight said trying as hard as she can to understand
“I think Angel is saying that Fluttershy went in there to check on some birds that got caught by the flying rock!” Pinkie Pie said. Angel nodded as the rest of the ponies looked at her. “It came from my Pinkie Sense.” Pinkie Pie smiled.
“We have to go after her!” Rainbow Dash said

“WAIT!”

The five ponies looked up to see a chariot being drawn by two bat winged guards. Princess Luna was landing.
“Princess Luna!” Twilight said looking at the winged unicorn and bowing, as did the rest of them.
“There is no time for formalities Twilight Sparkle.” Luna said “What have you all gathered here for?”
“We saw something fall from the sky and crash down at Ghastly Gorge. And we came to check on Fluttershy since she was the closest to the crash.”
“Fluttershy is missing and for some reason she’s heading towards it!” Applejack continued
“There’s no telling what could happen to her!” Rainbow Dash added
“Do not worry my little ponies” Luna said in a commanding voice. “I was heading there myself and I assure you that no harm will come to her.”
“We’re going in there too!” Twilight said
“Very well, but we must be quick. I fear that this may not be all that it seems.”

Trudging their way though the broken down Everfree Forest wasn’t easy, especially sense so many trees we’re uprooted or shattered on the fallen star’s entry. This made it all the worse the deeper they went. Soon after leaping over a large mound of logs they found themselves surprisingly in front of Zecora’s hut. The lights we’re on from the inside.
“Princess.” Twilight said patting Luna on the back “We should ask Zecora about this. She couldn’t have missed this.” Princess Luna nodded.

Upon a closer walk towards the hut, they found the door already open. Inside Zecora was brewing something in her clay pot. “I’ve been wondering when you ponies would arrive in my hive.” Zecora said still stirring the brew
“Zecora, have you seen Fluttershy?” Twilight asked ignoring the rather putrid smell and look of the brew
“You friend is over there, wound up like a little mare.”
Twilight and the others quickly went towards the small bed in the corner. Wound and definitely inside the covers was a wide eyed, whimpering Fluttershy.
“Fluttershy!” Twilight said
“Thank Celestia your safe!” Rarity said
“Oh… hi girls…” She said smiling from the bed
“Why are you way out here!?” Applejack asked rather harshly “You terrified of the Everfree Forest!”
“I know…” Fluttershy said “But the birdies, they’re nests we’re broken… so I…” she didn’t continue
“It’s OK Fluttershy.” Twilight said “That was very brave of you.”

“Mistress Luna I presume” Zecora said bowing towards the princess
“Indeed.” Princess Luna nodded “I have to thank you zebra for taking care of the pegasus here.”
“There is no need to thank for a good deed. But I can see that that is not all you wish to see.”
“Yes. The fallen star…”
“Princess Luna…” Twilight interjected “Are you still going towards the asteroid?”
Princess Luna nodded “Then I’m going with you.”
“Wait a minute Twilight!” Rainbow Dash said “Fluttershy is safe, let’s just head back to Ponyville!”
“She’s right, there’s no more reason to get involved.” Rarity confirmed.
“I need to see this for myself girls.” Twilight said calmly “And it’s not about the research or anything either.”
“If you say so.” Applejack said tipping her hat “We’ll see you back in Ponyville.”

Without saying another word Twilight Sparkle followed Princess Luna out of Zecora’s hut and towards the Ghastly Gorge.

“You don’t have to do this Twilight Sparkle.” Princess Luna said
“I’m sticking with you till the end. You can’t just do this alone.” Twilight justified
“But I’m supposed to be the guardian of the night. It is not your duty!”
“Duty or not, I’m not letting any of my friends go in alone!”

Princess Luna stopped. The words: friends and alone hit her like a cold slap. “You do this because I’m your friend?”
“Of course! I learned this lesson from the very same five ponies that changed my life.” Twilight said with a smile. “And I always remember it.”

Princess Luna, despite being extremely used to a lonely night and isolation from her subjects could not help but smile and shed a single tear which she quickly hid. “I thank you…”
“Don’t mention it…” Twilight said only to almost sudden drop into the gorge.
“Alright…” she said pulling herself up and regaining balance “We’re here.”

The Ghastly Gorge was well lit up from the glowing asteroid that fell from the sky. Despite its rocky exterior it seemed as though it carved quite a distance before coming to a stop. The only thing was what ever landed was no bigger than another pony.

Princess Luna gently hovered to the bottom of the gorge while Twilight simply teleported to the ground floor. They followed the damaged road that followed until they reached crater itself lodged at the edge of a cliff. However…
“There’s nothing here…!” Princess Luna exclaimed looking at the rocky crater. The light was simply the after effects of the crash. What ever was here is gone and residue it left behind lit the gorge up like a torch.
“Then why is the place still humming with light!?” Twilight said looking closely at the glowing terrain that was stuck by the asteroid. “This doesn’t look like any kind of magic I’ve seen.”

‘How can this be?’ Luna thought to herself. ‘No other pony should have come here before us’ She took another glance around the glowing debris until she finally set her eyes on something.

Hoofprints

“Twilight Sparkle!” Princess Luna called as the purple unicorn looked on “Someone was here!”Twilight soon took her gaze off the stones and started towards Princess Luna directing her attention towards the hoofprints. “But how? This isn’t simply hoofprints…!”

Princess Luna and Twilight both exchanged looks of worry and mystery
“Theses are hoofprints of someone-” “-Who fell out of the sky…!”

At that moment a large white figure leaped out of the gorge’s shadow from behind them. Soaring over their heads and landing on top of a stone cliff over looking the crater in the gorge. Both Twilight and Luna could only look in horror in awe at the stranger. The fallen star wasn’t an asteroid. It was pony! A stallion covered in the glow of bluish white light. But the glow did not come from the stallion itself. It came from his wings, which we’re so unlike regular pegasi wings, being constructed seemingly from flowing light and armored at the rims. The stallion himself was also armored from head to hoof. His revealed coat partly covered by tattooed sigils and brilliant cyan shining eyes from underneath the shadow of his helmet.

“WHO ARE YOU?” a metallic male voice came from the stallion.

Princess Luna couldn’t utter a single word or move a muscle. She had never had to face another pony like this before. And if this pony was an enemy was she capable of fulfilling her duty and what if she failed? Twilight saw the look on Luna’s face but she too didn’t say a thing.

“WHO ARE YOU!?” the stallion asked even louder this time. However Twilight answered for Princess Luna’s sake.

“My name is Twilight Sparkle, I’m a Unicorn.” She took another breath “And this is Princess Luna.”
Luna made a soft whimper and made a quick look at Twilight. Twilight though gave her a reassuring nod. Regaining her posture, Luna stood confidently facing this unknown stallion.

“SO I’VE FINALLY ARRIVED IN EQUESTRIA…” The stallion declared turning his head back and forth

Both Twilight and Luna stood upright and stiff
“You know of us?” Princess Luna asked

“YES…”

“Then why are you here?” Twilight continued “What are you here for?”

“I’M HERE…” The stallion said his helmet starting to manually disconnect and fall apart revealing his full face and midnight blue mane. “To bring a message…”

Author’s Notes
Actual Chapter ends here, this is simply a part for explanations of some things including that of previous stories, retcons, reasons, inspirations and etc. Most of this will more likely pertain to anyone who has read any of my previous works including MLP *In which case only one other was published online* However this may also answer some questions from new readers as well as giving a bit of an expectation of what is too come.

1. What’s the inspiration of the fan-fiction?
A while back I did another MLP fan fic called My Little Pony Royal Reunion. The premise was that of the return of the king; father to both Celestia and Luna. Other things that went in were my own explanation of the Elements of Harmony, usage of magic and dark secret. I never expected it to be popular. In fact it was more of a one-shot of explaining the back story of the princesses themselves. However I got some support from my friends and a couple messages from interested readers so I expanded it a bit.

I knew that there have been other versions of an Equestrian King however the thing I more wanted to add over time was that of the Queen. It has been stated that the reason Celestia and Luna are called Princess instead of Queen was because Queen was equated with evil. That was not necessarily true; however the connection could obviously be made. On the other note it was stated that Celestia and Luna don’t have parents who OUTRANK them. Not the fact they didn’t have parents at all. This in my own interpreted thoughts said that simply the children took over when they retired. What happened to them afterwards is left ambiguous and up too really up to general imagination. I even saw pictures of deviantart of their parent’s depiction. So I decided to take a chance and write down my take on it. However as much as I liked the picture of their parents; I didn’t want to exactly make them gods or even god like in a sense. I understand that both Celestia and Luna are powerful Alicorns and their parents should at least be at that level or higher. But placing them on the seat of divinity I believed was a bit much for the FiM universe, fan fictional or otherwise. (No offense to anyone; I do love the pics!) so I toned them down to fit in more to the way that the show depicted Alicorns.
Reading other peoples stories and figuring that simply throwing in Alicorns would be frowned upon without good reason I sought to pitch in something that made sense with the canon. Royal Reunion depicted Alicorns as a race that was once as numerous as the other ponies. However past events caused many of the Alicorns to (for lack of a better word without spoiling too much of it) disappear. It also depicted the King as a surviving Alicorn who gave birth to both the royal sisters. The queen to my personal choice was a simple earth pony that despite not having any magical gifts was a key factor to the storyline; especially the part in which Celestia and Luna decide not to take the name of Queen in loving memory of their mother. In that way I kind of explained what makes Alicorns so rare and turned the supposed evil queen into something more memorable, because lets face it: kids love their moms and so do we.

2. Why did I decide to re-write it?
Before I posted the last rather cut down chapter in that fanfic I had to deal with my 3rd year of college (In which I had to move into a new apartment right after the holidays) after which my life pretty much went to heck from it. The last chapter before was posted in 2011, I didn’t update till late mid 2012 since I’ve been so busy with college and paying my bills. On top of that I kind of lost the drive to continue the story after being exhausted and whatever free time I got on other things. One day however I got another message from a reader who enjoyed the story and asked me to continue. It was strange because I never actually got one before. I never believed myself a great writer of sorts. Most of the stories are simply daydreams I put on paper. But it brought it back to my mind and was further reinforced when my room mates told me that I had a great idea going and that I should continue it. So I looked at the story again from the reader’s point of view and after finally finishing season 2 of FiM I told myself “Alright I’ll do it and better than before!” I decided to start it again anew too fix my old mistakes and put things that I didn’t know before season 2 ended. And so another story begins. All I got to do now is find the time to put my fingers on the keyboard.

Expect another chapter soon! (I’m not going to really post a set date or time I intend to do a story but I intend to set at least 1 chapter a month minimum)

I hope you enjoyed reading this chapter and I look forward to any helpful reviews.
Thanks for reading!
Ultima75000

Author's Note:

Comments

[Seraph973]

Why the human tag?