Renewal

by Artisan

Chasing History

Frostbite cursed his stupidity under his breath as he ran down the hall. This was supposed to be a simple job: get in, grab what he needed and get out. No noise, no trouble. And simple it would have been had he not been dumb enough to get caught. He just had to turn a corner without looking first and walk straight into a patrol of guards.

But that wasn’t the worst of it. He tried casting a stasis spell, hoping to freeze the guards in time, but he panicked, and allowed his fear to cripple his efforts. The spectacular failure released a time shockwave throughout the city. Now all of Canterlot knew he was here and the would-be thief was running for his life.

The stallion raced past the white marble pillars and decorative tapestries adorning the walls. Turning another corner at the end of the hall he spotted a staircase heading to the lower levels. He took a deep breath, filling his lungs as he readied himself to leap over the stairs to the floor below.

“You three, head up those steps! Get to the upper levels!” a commanding voice blared from below.

Shock ripped the breath from Frostbite’s lungs as he skidded to a halt, the sound of hooves thundering up the steps reached his ears. Terror clouded his senses as he searched desperately for another way out. His only salvation came from another staircase leading further up the tower. He cringed: he couldn’t get out like this; if he kept climbing the tower he’d eventually-

He finally understood what the guards were doing: they were boxing him in, caging him like an animal. He stamped his hooves in anger. You idiot! Why didn’t you think of this?! Frustrated by his stupid mistake, he charged up the winding steps. When he reached the top the unicorn ran through an open door and slammed it shut behind him.

Frostbite allowed himself a moment to catch his breath. As he recovered the stallion took a step inside, his hoofsteps echoing through a large, empty room with a domed ceiling overhead. A few windows looked out to the night, and as he stared outside he realized he reached the final floor. The hunt was over; end of the line.

A sudden shattering sound jolted him from his thoughts. He ducked down and covered his face as dozens of glass shards ripped through the room. Over the noise he could hear massive, powerful wings buffeting the air, and he opened his eyes to a sight that nearly scared him to death.

*****
Princess Celestia landed next to her darker sister, crushing bits of broken glass beneath her hooves as she eyed the intruder. For a moment she was taken aback by the sight: a frightened boy, barely older than Twilight Sparkle, cowering in fear across the room, wearing nothing more than an emerald necklace and a pair of brown saddlebags. He unshielded his face and stood before the mares, his body shaking despite his efforts to control his fear.

“You’ve taken something from us,” Luna barked as she stepped towards him, “The book, return it. Now!”

The room fell silent. The stallion looked back at his bag, eyeing one tentatively as the sisters stared him down. For one fleeting second the thought seemed to cross his mind, but he turned back to the princesses, his eyes narrowing dangerously.

“No,” he challenged, anger seeping into his voice, “I’m taking this book with me.”

Luna’s face twisted in frustration, annoyed at his defiance. “Do you honestly think you can stand up to us?”

“That’s not simply a random tome you’ve taken,” Celestia stepped in, her tone serious as much as concerned, “that book holds some of the most sophisticated and detailed ideas on time ever conceived; written by a mare far more powerful than either of us. The knowledge within its pages is very old; its spells require extreme precision to perform!”

Celestia took a step closer, “You and I both know you don’t have that level of control over your magic. You’re not ready for what’s in those pages. Return the book.”

“This 'book' can save us!”

“Return it.” Celestia repeated more forcefully, “We won’t hurt you.”

“You abandoned us to die!” he lashed out, “you crippled us, destroyed us, you stripped us of everything when you left us!” His whole body shook with rage, tears falling from his eyes. Celestia turned to her sister in confusion and found Luna staring back at her, a puzzled look over her face as well.

The emerald hanging from his neck gave off a slight green glow as he trembled. The gem drew Celestia’s attention as power began to flow from it into the boy. The energy released from the stone, in a strange way it felt familiar to the white alicorn; like she’d felt it before but couldn’t remember where.

Celestia tried to reach out to him, to calm him down “You feel abandoned, cast off. I understand you’re angry, but we can help you if you let us. Please, return the book.”

“No!” The stallion roared. A bronze light glowed from his horn as his magic sprung to life. An ice needle formed in front of him and flung itself towards the nocturnal mare, but with barely a thought Luna threw up a barrier, blocking the simple spell as the needle shattered on contact. He threw another needle out, this time at Celestia, only to meet the same fate.

He let out a stronger, sustained beam at Luna. As a blue light swelled around her horn, Luna met his spell with one of her own. The midnight blue beam she released cut straight through his spell and struck him in the chest. The blue unicorn screamed and fell backwards against the floor, the spell dancing over his form. The effect lasted only a second before he stood up, his coat slightly burned but otherwise unharmed.

His necklace flared as magical energy bled into him. This time both Luna and Celestia were startled by the burst as his wounds began to heal. The energy began pulsing through his body, beating like a heart, and his eyes sparked with a new fire. Celestia could feel a presence stirring within the stone, protecting him, healing him, making him stronger. Something living was inside that stone.

“We were alive once,” his voice grew heavy as he let his gaze fall to the broken glass below him, “we were a living, breathing, vibrant culture. But when we needed you most, you were gone!”

He clenched his teeth as he looked up “You betrayed us, and we don’t forgive traitors!”

Every muscle in Luna’s body tensed. The stallion’s horn glowed and in one, swift motion he thrust another bronze beam out. With a blue shine of her horn, Luna met his blast full force with a beam of her own. Sparks showered the room as the spells collided, and the effects were felt immediately. A shockwave assaulted the room, the same kind the sisters felt earlier, the same kind that now sent Celestia into a panic: a time shockwave. The boy was casting a time spell.

“Stop, both of you!” Celestia commanded, her mind agonizing over the temporal strain, “You’re ripping time apart!”

Luna didn’t answer, neither did the boy. They continued pushing against each other, each fighting with every bit of effort they had, but the boy faltered and Luna pressed her advantage. All the while time was distorting itself, shredding itself throughout the room as the temporal fabric began to collapse. Celestia tried to contain the damage, but even her magical might could barely keep the distortion from growing.

“Luna, stop!”

*****
It wasn’t enough: his magic, the necklace. Soon the dark alicorn would overpower him and he’d be lost in…whatever came next. He felt surprisingly warm, like a child scared of the dark being comforted by a parent. The anger faded, as did the will, and he quietly closed his eyes.

A loud thump woke him from his slumber. He was surrounded by darkness, nothing to see except a forest of black, gnarled trees. Interesting, no cheesy "pearly white gates", no divine judgement, just...this. A smile crept up on his face: it really was like falling asleep, he didn’t even feel it. And the thumping sounds echoed around him as if he were in some great heart.

An emerald glow stirred behind him. He ignored it at first, but it grew brighter, more insistent. He growled in annoyance; he wasn’t in the mood for a haunting session. He turned to get rid of it, but instead found himself looking upon a familiar face.

A dark green form stood within the trees, a winged pony with a long green mane that curved over her shoulders, tying into a silver bead over her chest. Her mane was complimented with a flowing tail, and a pair of blue eye. She was huge, dwarfing him three fold, a horn jutting out from her head. She was the mare who sent him to Equestria in the first place; his mentor, his teacher, his friend. As she approached him, what could only be described as a mind the size of a mountain rolled over him, buried him. The alicorn held a hoof under his chin and stared tenderly into his eyes.

“I’ll always be there,” her voice echoed in the dark, “when you need me.”

*****
Luna thrust out one more time, shoving his spell back until she was right on top of him. Soon this little skirmish would be finished and she could lock the runt behind bars. She was nearly there, just a few more seconds.

A sudden bright flash came from the necklace and the spells vanished in a puff of smoke. Luna stumbled backwards, stunned as her mind was struck by a seemingly invisible wall. Celestia fared better: shielding the time stream from their conflicting spells helped her partially shield herself as well. Again it was a time spell, stunning the mind with a minor temporal variance between it and its surroundings. A simple spell, but an effective deterrent this time.

A gust of wind circled the room and Celestia looked on, the denial on her face as effective of a stun as the spell itself. His golden eyes were gone, replaced with a vibrant blue that pierced into her very core. On the surface was a boy, but under the skin was so much more: a pony of wisdom, age, and power; an alicorn out of time; a mare Celestia had known long ago.

The blue eyes stared back at Celestia. They softened, recognizing the princess to, but it lasted only an instant. The stallion leapt into the air, a small vortex opening in the ceiling and closing moments later, and he disappeared.

*****
No matter how hard she tried, Twilight could hardly believe what she had just heard. Slowly she sat down on the floor of her Ponyville library as she tried to come to terms with Celestia’s and Luna’s story. It was no secret she took pride in being right, in fact she often enjoyed it, but when it came to Frostbite she had hoped she wasn’t. Rarity, Applejack and Pinkie Pie were sitting behind her, all sharing the same disbelieving look as their purple friend. Both princesses were quiet as well. They had essentially dropped an anvil on the girls’ heads; it was going to take time before they fully understood what happened.

“Hold on here,” Applejack broke the silence, “If Frostbite broke into the Archives alone, where’d this ‘other mare’ come from?”

“And what was so important about that book he stole?” Rarity asked.

Luna turned to her pale sister, waiting as an unspoken question passed between them. Celestia nodded to Luna and she turned back to the girls. Luna stared absently at them, seemingly uncertain how to answer them.

“Ponies were not originally from this land, you know this. We came from a very far away country, from a time when the three pony tribes lived in bitter resentment of one another. That country was called Alastria. When the Windigos blanketed it in snow and ice, Commander Hurricane, Princess Platinum, and Chancellor Puddinghead left it to find a new home.”

“What you don’t know,” Luna continued, “What nopony knows, is that very few followed their brave leaders here. Most believed that being asked to journey across thousands of kilometers of ice, with no hope of food or water along the way, was being asked to die. They stayed behind, continuing to fight amongst themselves I assume. All we know is the Windigos’ presence eventually created an impenetrable ice barrier around the country and Alastria hasn’t been heard from for eighteen hundred years…until now.”

“So you mean-” Pinkie began.

“Frostbite’s Alastrian? Yes.” Luna interjected.

“But if there’s an impenetrable barrier around Alastria how did he get here? He wasn’t nearly strong enough to match a Windigo” Twilight observed.

“That’s where the mare Applejack asked about comes in,” Celestia chimed in, “There was a moment when a presence seemed to protect him from us. A second pony emerged from his necklace and helped him. At first I didn’t recognize it, but as they fled I realized what it was. The presence was Lemura. She was known as ‘The Chronarch’ or ‘The Mare of Time’ millennia ago in Alastria.”

The four girls looked at each other quizzically. Nopony had ever heard of this “Lemura” before. Even Twilight, despite all of her reading and her research, had never come across the name.

“I’m not surprised you don’t know her,” Celestia noted the confusion on their faces, “history from before The Migration is sketchy at best. She was an alicorn, perhaps the most powerful one to ever live. She influenced the passage of time in our world. She could predict the future or travel backwards into the past. Her studies formed the foundation of how we understand and perceive time today.”

“She wrote the book Frostbite stole,” Luna continued, “It contains her research on temporal mechanics, spells on manipulating time, even partial equations on how she predicted the future. We… suspect his emerald held some of her power and that he found a way to use it to travel here.”

“I honestly don’t know what he’s planning to do with her book, but there’s a reason time spells are locked away in the Archives,” Celestia explained, “those spells tap directly into the time stream, the fabric of temporal energy that flows through our world. Casting them is a delicate process, and the effects of those spells can spread everywhere. Without precise control over his magic-“

“He could shatter time throughout Equestria, everywhere!” Twilight cried out, horrified at the full gravity of what could happen. Saddle Arabia, Ponyville, Trottingham, The Crystal Empire, Vanhoover, everything could be destroyed in the blink of an eye! “Princess, we have to stop him!”

“And you’re not doing it without me!” a raspy voice shouted as the library door opened. Rainbow Dash galloped inside and stood next to her friends with fire in her eyes and an eager expression on her face. Fluttershy followed Rainbow in, taking a seat next to Pinkie Pie at the back of the group.

“Rainbow, you’re here!” Applejack cheered excitedly, “You two comin’ with us?”

“Are you kidding?” she boldly replied, “I heard it all: a big adventure to catch a dangerous thief, with the fate of the world in my hooves? No way I’d lose out on that! I’m not going to let you four have all the fun. Besides, I still owe him for what he did in the hospital.”

Everypony turned to the yellow mare sitting quietly behind them. She shrank back at the sudden attention, nervous at the expectation tossed her way. She quickly tried to form some kind of excuse.

“Um…Angel and I were planning to visit his family in Whitetail Wood,” Fluttershy sped through her words, “and unfortunately we can’t reschedule. I guess I won’t be able to go with you, I’m sorry!” She bolted from the floor, making a mad dash for the exit, but with a flick of her magic Twilight lifted the timid mare off the ground and back to her seat.

“Fluttershy,” Applejack pleaded, “Ah know it sounds dangerous, and it ain’t gonna be easy, but we have to go after him. If we don’t everything we have could be gone tomorrow, even Angel and all of your little friends. If we’re going to go, we’ll need you too.”

“But-”

“We’re at our best when we’re together dear,” Rarity cut in, sitting next to her pegasus friend. She gently wrapped a foreleg around Fluttershy, looking into her eyes with a caring smile. “Would you really let your friends go alone?”

Fluttershy could only stare back into Rarity’s eyes. Throughout all of the ambivalence, this one constant reminded her of who was most important. She closed her eyes, and with a deep breath she turned to Celestia and her sister.

“Okay…I’ll go,” was all she said. Everypony smiled with a soft glee and Rarity thanked her with a hug.

“Alright everypony,” Luna ordered sharply, “gather around in the center of the room. Alastria’s located at the southern pole, too far to travel by hoof, so we’ll have to teleport you there; which isn’t going to be easy, the ice shield’s going to require a lot of power to break through. And take these saddlebags with you; they should have everything you’ll need for the road ahead.”

The girls grabbed their bags and tied them to their backs. Twilight tightened the belt of her saddlebags and joined the rest of her friends in the middle of the rug. “Ready!” she announced confidently.

Celestia and Luna aligned themselves on opposite ends of the rug. A charge filled the room as the royal sisters cast their spell, a breeze circled through the room. Book pages rustled, manes whipped violently around as the breeze turned into tornado force winds. The room began distorting as bookcases, stairs, even the ceiling itself stretched up into a twisting and infinitely dark vortex.

A blue light glowed from the eye of the storm and sweat dripped down the sisters’ faces as they struggled to breach the icy shield. For one fleeting moment everything fell silent, the world stood still before the wind snapped upward and flung the six mares into the gaping maw above. Both princesses collapsed on the floor, exhausted and gasping for breath. A single blessing passed Celestia’s lips as she stared at the now empty ceiling.

“Good luck my little ponies.”

Comments

[KingdomheartSlayer]

keep going it good