Age of the Alicorns: Chaos Rising

by AleximusPrime

2. The Night Arrives

CHAPTER 2: The Night Arrives

“Tia, I can’t believe I’m already on my way to raise the moon tonight!” Luna shouted flying next to her sister high above the Equestrian landscape below them.

“Neither can I Luna.” Celestia responded. “It seems like it was just yesterday when I raised the sun and earned my mark.”

“Do you think I’ll get my mark too?”

“I got my mark the first time I raised the sun and I have a feeling you will too.”

“I sure hope I do…”

“You will Luna, I know you will. And don’t feel bad if you don’t get it the first time; you can always try again. I’ll come with you a second time if I have to…”

“No…… there won’t be a second time, I will raise the moon tonight!”

“That’s the spirit Luna!”

“Though I’ll bet I can get there before you!” Luna snickered, speeding up ahead of Celestia.

“Oh, so you wanna race do you?!” said Celestia, diving forward at greater speeds.

“I’ll get you Tia!”

The two royal sisters kept speeding up ahead of each other. They needed to have some kind of fun on the way for it would be another hour or two before they reached the shore before sunset.

By the time the sun was ready to set, they had finally made their way to the shore. The ocean breeze felt good and the sky was clear at the horizon enough for Luna to be able to tell where the moon would be. Just like any shore, the waves were crashing against it but the sisters landed far enough away that the waves would not interrupt Luna’s concentration. They glided down to the sand, landed on all fours, and folded their wings.

“Alright Luna.” said Celestia, “The moon will be up in just a few moments. I’m going to go set the sun real quick and then you let me know once you’re ready to start.”

“Don’t leave me Tia, I want you to be around when I do this.” Luna said worriedly.

“I won’t leave your side Luna, I promise.” Celestia said with a smile while patting her little sister on the head. “I will stay right here and set the sun as quick as I can. If you want, you can watch me to get a little hint of what’s to come.”

“Alright…” Luna sat herself down on the soft sand and Celestia turned to the west with her horn held high. The sun was bright and orange and was barely obscured by some thin stratus clouds in the distance. The beach was so far from Everfree that the palace and tallest mountains were not visible. Although Equestria was a very mountainous country, the only real land formation around was a large cliff to the south of the shore so there was just enough room for Celestia to see where the sun was. She closed her eyes and slowly lowered her glowing horn. Having raised and set the sun for several years, she was very used to this so she did it in no time leaving a beautiful orange sunset sky with just enough light for them to see what they were doing. The sun was already under the horizon and night had just begun. Now all that was left to do was for Luna to raise the moon.

“Done. Now are you ready Luna?” Celestia asked her sister.

“I believe so.” said Luna nervously. She looked a bit worried but then stood up and appeared more determined and serious. She turned herself around, looked at the horizon and closed her eyes.

“Alright…eyes closed. Reach out. Remember what Starswirl said: ‘Concentrate on the moon and nothing else.’ Hopefully this will be almost as easy as lifting many objects like in my test.”

“I’ll be here if you need me Luna. But for now I’ll leave the rest to you.” Celestia said taking a few steps back and sitting down.

Luna stood there with her eyes closed for about a minute in deep concentration. Her horn then began to glow a bluish light producing little sparkles and she opened her lips to show her teeth gritting. Celestia looked out at the edge of the ocean and just started seeing the white sliver in the distance that was the moon. Luna’s horn glowed brighter and a windy effect caused her mane and tail to flow with it. She then opened her wings and started flapping them to move herself up and better control the movement of the moon. She flew up slowly but not very far like Celestia did when she first raised the sun.

Celestia had thought perhaps Luna had it easier since it was cooler weather and there was no extremely bright object in front of you. The moon was also smaller and not as intense and active as the sun was. Celestia could already see that Luna’s progress so far would guarantee her a successful first night of raising the moon.

“You are doing it Luna! Don’t stop now!” she called to her.

Luna gritted her teeth more and started to slowly raise her front hooves. There was more wind in the vicinity, and Luna’s horn was growing very bright lighting up the whole shore in the darkness. By this time, the moon was about half way there. She was flapping her wings faster and the light shone more brightly than ever before.

“She’s doing it!” Celestia said to herself out loud.

Luna kept herself still in midair while finishing the rest. The last bit of the moon finally crept up over the ocean and was in full view. Luna was finished, but her horn kept shining and her wings kept flapping.

“DID I DO IT SISTER?!?!” she called out to Celestia below.

“YES, YOU DID IT LUNA!!” Celestia called back.

Luna then stopped flapping her wings and her glowing eyes opened wide.

“I DID?!?” she said excitedly. She had practically forgotten that she was suspended above the air a dozen yards and slowly started to plummet to the earth below.

“WHOAAAA!!” she yelped.

Celestia didn’t think Luna would forget to keep flying. She immediately got up and started running, but there wasn’t enough time to go catch her as she fell. Luckily the sand was soft enough to give Luna a safe landing. Celestia stopped a few feet away from her and laughed at the site of the little alicorn filly with her face buried in the sand and her legs wiggling.

“Luna, you silly filly! Get up and look behind you!”

“Behind me? OOOOOH!!!”

Luna turned her head around real quick just in time to see her rear end glowing all over and a small burst of light appeared leaving little white crescent moon on both flanks. She smiled with joy and then jumped up in the air flapping her wings.

“HUZZAAAAAAAH!!!! I DID IT TIA!!!”

Celestia was so overjoyed that she couldn’t even respond at the sight of Luna leaping around her in circles shouting the victory chant of olden times.

“HUZZAH, HUZZAH, HUZZAH!!!”

“See Luna?! I told you that you would get your mark! Now we both have our cutie marks!”

“That’s right, the marks have been doubled!!” said Luna turning around admiring her cutie mark again. “Say……it’s not just a moon, it’s……it’s like a black cloud with the moon on it. It’s big too… Wow, it’s almost reaching across my entire behind! Do you see it Tia?!”

“That’s one special cutie mark Luna. It’s even bigger than mine!”

“It is special! I’M SO HAPPY I DID IT TIA!!”

She jumped forward and hugged Celestia by the neck.

“Just wait till Mother and Father hear about this!” Luna said.

“I know, they’re going to be so excited to know we both have our marks now Tia!”

“Well, now that we’re done here, we’d better hurry on back to the palace before they-AAAAAGGGGGHHHHH!!!!”

They both looked towards the sea to see a huge wave crashing down on top of them. They had seen it too late to even have time to run away. The wave pushed them off of the sand and sent them tossing and turning through the current until they hit a higher sand bar on the beach, and the wave started to recede. They were covered in water and wet sand and had both their faces implanted in the ground. The sand was so miry that it took a little effort to pull their faces out of it. As soon as their heads came up, they both started spitting and shaking their bodies to rid themselves of the sand.

“BLEH, WHO KNEW THE SHORE DUST TASTED SO DISGUSTING!!” shouted Luna as she began wiping her tongue off with her front hooves. “How did that even happen?!”

“Oh dear…… I’m sorry Luna, I think we both forgot about the gravitational effect the moon has on the ocean. You might have raised it a little too fast.”

“The ocean?!? Oh by the stars I forgot! I’m sorry Celestia…”

“It’s alright Luna, you still raised the moon and you got your cutie mark. Plus, next time you raise it, you won’t have to do it from the shore like this now that you’ve adjusted.”

“You’re sure?”

“Of course. Remember what I said: the first time is always the hardest. From now on you can get just enough concentration if you go to one of the upper towers back at Everfree and look out at the horizon. You just do the same as you did tonight and it will be no manner of trouble for you.”

“Oh. Well in that case, I guess I have nothing to worry about. But still, what if there are other ponies on the beach when I raise the moon? I should still be careful, sister. I would hate it if I……uh, Tia? What is that noise?”

“Oh……Luna…I think there is something behind us…”

Behind them could be heard slimy splattering footsteps accompanied by what sounded like strange creatures grumbling. The sisters turned their heads around to find out that sure enough, that is what it was. Several creatures made of what seemed to be seaweed and other ocean-born plants were walking towards them slowly. They had glowing yellow eyes and mouths and had their arms were up above their heads. They clearly saw Celestia and Luna and were heading right for them to attack.

“AAAAAAGGGGGHHHHHH!!!” they both shouted, jumping up and standing back to back against each other rearing in defense.

“TIA WHAT ARE THESE THINGS?!?” Luna asked.

“I have no idea, but I think now is time for Lesson Twelve!” Celestia told Luna getting down on the ground prepared for battle.

“Lesson Twelve?!”

“Yeah, remember?! Concentrate a burst of magic powerful enough to launch it like a projectile and……OH YOU KNOW WHAT STARSWIRL TOLD US!!”

“Oh, that lesson, right! PREPARE FOR LESSON TWELVE THOU FOUL CREATURES OF THE DEEP!!!” Luna yelled using a magical booming effect in her voice known as the ‘Royal Everfree Voice’.

Luna shot one blast at the monster in front of her and it exploded into smaller pieces in no time at all. Celestia did the same and it appeared their magic blasts were quite effective on these beasts.

“TAKE THAT! AND THAT!!” said Luna shooting several more of the monsters.

“Easy now Luna, we don’t know exactly how powerful these things are!” Celestia said before shooting her next monster.

In just a matter of seconds, all the monsters were down and the sisters stood panting with their horns still glowing.

“Did……we get them all?” Luna asked.

“I……I think we did.” Celestia responded.

“What in Equestria were those things?” Luna asked, looking down at one of the pieces of seaweed in front of her.

“I don’t know, but at least we got them…”

Suddenly, all the remnants started to move and come back to life. They moved all in one direction towards the ocean. The sisters thought perhaps the monsters had not been defeated but scared off, and were heading back to the ocean, but then something worse happened: all of the clumps of seaweed started to form an even bigger monster!

“Uh…Tia…I think we made it angry.” Luna said staring up at the creature that stood about ten feet above them in height.

“LUNA, GET BEHIND ME!!!” Celestia shouted to her sister. She then produced a shield of magic energy to protect them both. This was a spell Luna had not yet learned: the shielding spell.

“GET BACK, GET BACK BEAST!” Celestia snapped at the monster.

The Monster roared at them, causing chunks of seaweed to spew out of its mouth hitting the shield and bouncing off. The shield would more than likely protect Celestia, but the fact that this was a creature she had never seen or heard of made her scared. She thought it might spread to the rest of Equestria.

“SISTER, LET’S GO!” Luna said, pointing inland.

“WE HAVE TO FIND A WAY TO DESTROY THIS THING LUNA, OR IT WILL ENDANGER OTHER INNOCENT LIFE IN EQUESTRIA!!”

Celestia shot her most powerful blast at the monster, causing him to stumble backward but it had little effect and only provoked him further. She slumped down on the ground with exhaust from using too much magic.

“TIA?!? TIA GET UP!!”

Celestia mumbled to herself and could barely stand. She began to open her eyes and looked up to see the monster towering above them with its right arm raised.

“Of course, silly me…” Celestia said under her breath.

Just as the monster was about to strike the shield, it made a painful grunt and its chest lurched forward from some force from behind. A glowing sharp object then protruded from the chest and bursted with light causing the monster to disintegrate into flames. Then there was a large explosion. Celestia had used up a lot of magic, but luckily her shield was just enough to protect them both from the murky shrapnel. They closed their eyes from the brightness of the light and curled up against each other. For a few moments they stayed like that, before both opening their eyes gain. There was still a light shining but it was not from the explosion. It was magical light; the same kind that shone from a unicorn’s horn. The light started to die down to reveal what appeared to be a very tall pony. That sharp object was in fact a unicorn horn, but it belonged to an alicorn, for there were also two wings spread from his back.

The light finally went out, revealing a tall grey stallion with a short black mane cut, an unusually long snout with a white beard, and white eyebrows above his closed eyes. His eyes opened to reveal two dark blue irises. He had a solemn look on his face, but it turned to a warm and friendly smile as soon as he saw the sisters.

They immediately recognized him: he was Accord, the “Keeper of Harmony”. He had been friends with their father for centuries and had served in the courts since before Celestia was born. Celestia and Luna knew him very well, but he had been gone for a few months to take a league of absence. They wondered for so long if their old friend would return, and he was finally there standing before them just as excited as they were.

“ACCORD!!!” the sisters shouted, rushing to him and hugging him by the legs.

“Celestia! Luna! You have no idea how happy I am to see you two!” Accord said happily as he reached down with his head to nuzzle against them affectionately.

“We missed you ever so much!” Celestia said looking up to her life-long friend.

“Yes, the palace hasn’t been the same without you!” Luna said eagerly.

“Oh I know Luna, I feel awful about leaving for so long! I needed to just get away for a while but I really started to miss you girls, the palace, and the work I did. So I decided it was time to return. Of course seeing the two little princesses I love most in trouble required my immediate attention! May I ask what you two are doing out here at the shore any-……Ooooooh.”

Accord looked down to Luna and saw that her flank was decorated with a newly-acquired cutie mark. He suddenly felt even happier to know that this little filly had finally found her special talent as well. He was just sorry that he wasn’t able to take her to the shore this time like he did with Celestia several years ago.

“I see you got your cutie mark Princess! Now both of you are complete!”

“You should have seen me Accord! It was so much easier than I had expected!” Luna said bouncing up and down with excitement.

“Hey Accord?” Celestia asked, “I hate to go off topic but do you have any idea what it was that attacked us there?”

“Sadly I don’t think I’ve ever seen such a foul creature. It could have been anything I suppose, but you know how it is with the sea: there are always mysterious creatures down there. But don’t you two worry, I took care of it and we won’t be seeing him anymore.” Accord explained.

“Oh yes, you were impressive Accord!” Luna replied. “I sure hope I can be just like you someday!”

“I think you both are on your way to being greater alicorns than you ever imagined! One day you will lead our country, and getting your cutie marks is the first step into maturity. Your parents will be so pleased to see you both adorned with the marks of talent. Speaking of which, we should probably be going back to Everfree. It’s getting darker.”

“He’s right Luna. We have so much to tell Mother and Father!” Celestia said, turning to the west to get ready to leave.

“Of course. Oh I’m so happy Celestia! I raised the moon, got my cutie mark, and now Accord has returned! OH MOST WONDERFUL OF NIGHTS!!!” she shouted using the Royal Everfree Voice once again.

“Hehe… Alright now, you silly little princess!” Accord laughed rubbing her head with his front hoof. “Save your energy for the flight home!”

“I’ll be there before you!” Luna teased.

Suddenly Accord dashed off leaving a grayish blur and soared into the air like a falcon.

“I DON’T THINK SO! HAHAHA!” he called back.

“OOOOH, JUST YOU WAIT!!!” Luna said going after him with Celestia laughing.

The three alicorns flew off into the western sky, back to the Everfree Palace to meet with the king and queen and give the wonderful news. Accord himself was very eager to return to the palace he had lived in for so long, and continue his work for the king and for his people. With the two lovely princesses at his side, he continued onward back to his home to start his life over again.

Meanwhile, on the side of a nearby mountain, stood another pony watching them fly away. He wore a dark and tarnished cloak which obscured most of his features, making him appear very mysterious. No doubt he had been watching the sisters the whole time down at the shore, but still preferred to keep himself out of sight. He could have been anypony, but who he was made no difference. A pony as ominous as this one would probably be never welcome in the palace. He spoke with a low and daunting voice as if warning them of something.

“So the princesses have both earned their marks. Should they expect a painless and simple path ahead of them from here on out, it will surely be their undoing. Tread lightly Celestia and Luna, or this kingdom will crumble and you will never be ready for the imminent chaos that knocks on your door…”

TO BE CONTINUED…

Comments

[Evil-Lovieness]

Not sure if this shadowy figure is the foretelling villain to infect Accord with Chaos...
i.imgflip.com/1bgw.jpg
Or a good guy who knows what's gonna happen to Accord.

Either way I love this!!! Please update!! When you can of course!

[Caden]

I loved Luna's lines. Great job. Can't wait for the next one. :)

[AleximusPrime]

1521596 Yeah, I have a lot of fun when coming up with lines for that little filly! :3

[AleximusPrime]

1520125 He's spooooooooooky!

[Evil-Lovieness]

1521865 Who? Your guy or Fry?

[AleximusPrime]

1522214 Both I guess! :3