The Darkness among the Stars

by Haseo

Chapter 4 - Prophecy of Darkness

Chapter 4
Prophecy of Darkness

Princess Celestia walked back the same way she came mere minutes before. Her royal guardian accompanied her to the throne room where the representatives from the country of Saddle Arabia awaited her.

“So why are they here? It's more than unusual for them to appear without an appointment.”

Even the disciplined guard couldn't hide his concern. “My Princess, the prophets of Saddle Arabia foretold that something horrible will happen. They won't talk, unless I bring you to them.”

The Princess ignited the door in front with her magic and opened it with a sudden push.

“What is this ruckus all about? I demand answers! You can't scare my guards and deny to talk to them!”

The three representatives were dressed with fancy dress parts that hid their faces and covered their hips. They were completely dressed in black, they could have been attending a funeral.

They exchanged worried looks. “We're very sorry for this sudden bother, but something terrible is going to happen, We couldn't wait, so we came the long way from our homeland to warn you.” The Princess slowly stepped forward with a self-confident smile on her lips.

“Phalanx, please leave us alone. I think this will need some time to discuss.”

The guardian did as demanded and left the room.

“So now I'm here. Please tell me what your prophets have foretold.”

Once again, the three Arabians hesitated a short moment before one of them stepped forward.

“Your highness, our elders has foretold that he will return!”

Now the Princess began to worry, but there were many enemies that once challanged the Princess. “Who exactly will return? And what will happen, if he does?”

The expressions of the representatives became more and more fearful as they told the Princess the prophecy. “Darkness will fall upon Equestria. History will repeat.”

Now the mood of the sun Princess dropped into the bottomlessness. “What history will repeat? What do they mean by darkness will fall upon my subjects?”

The Arabian ponies, now again neatly arranged in a single row, spoke in unison the final warning.

“A terrible war will start against the ghosts of your own past. If nopony stops them, the downfall of royalty is sealed. The darkness among the stars will return and tear everything into nothing.”

Princess Celestia stumbled slowly backwards as she tried to comprehend the message she received. “What do they mean by 'the darkness among the stars'?”

Now all of them looked to the ground. “We're afraid that is everything. They didn't tell us more.”

Only a few seconds passed, but for all attending ponies, it felt like an eternity before the Princess spoke again. “I'm very grateful for this warning, but I ask you to maintain silence about this. I will discuss this matter with my sister and will inform your Sultan when we decide what shall be done. You shall leave now. But make sure we receive word if they make a new prediction.”

The three Arabians slowly began to retreat. Not a single one of them dared raise their head until they left the room. As soon as they where gone, the Princess ran to the private chambers of her sister.

---

[/hr]

Twilight walked in the direction of the library and was lead through the royal garden. A guard crossed her way. It was the same guard that previously took the Princess away.

“Good morning Miss Sparkle, it's a pleasure to see you again.”

Though she was happy to be greeted in such a friendly manner, she felt quite guilty not to know the name of the guard.
“It's nice to see you, too. Please don't feel offended, but I don't know your name.”

The white guard wasn't offended but showed Twilight a relieved smile. “No way, you can't possibly offend me with something like that. I can understand because every guard looks quite similar with all this armor. My name is Phalanx.” He slightly bowed to Twilight.

“Oh please, don't bow in front of me, it’s embarrassing.”

The white stallion raised his head so he and Twilight were on eye-level again. Both of them gave each other a warm smile, until Twilight’s mind began to press a question out of her mouth. “Could you tell me what the representatives of Saddle Arabia told the princess?”

The face of the guardian returned to his normal stoic expression. “I'm sorry but the Princess sent me away before they told her what was the matter. I only know that they brought a prophecy to her majesty.” Due to his practise, a royal guard could lie without showing any indications of lying. This meant that Twilight didn't notice that he hadn’t told her everything he knew.

“Oh okay, then please, would you tell the Princess that I will be studying in the Canterlot Archives, probably in the Star Swirl the Bearded wing.”

Again the guard showed his respect to the personal student of the Princess with a short bow. “Of course, I will report to her as soon as she is done with the audience.”

They said good bye with a short smile and Phalanx continued his duty as Twilight went to the archives. She continued her way through the marvellous gardens. Next to the path bloomed various flowers of different colours. The fountain behind the fields of flowers was decorated with the insignia of the sun Princess and a figure of herself graced the countenance of this water’s donor. Soon, she reached the stairs to the archives and faced the giant doors. These doors were different from the ones inside the castle. Instead of wood with carved patterns, these ones were made of steel, nevertheless, they were crested with various motifs of ponies and other creatures.

Only a unicorn could open these.

The two guards alongside the doors opened them courteously before Twilight started to do it herself.

She thanked them with a quick nod and stepped inside.

Immediately, she walked towards the Star Swirl the bearded wing. The blue painted corridors and purple shaded banners garnished the way the to her destination. The entrance was blocked by a metal grid which she easily unlocked with her magic. Wherever she looked, her eyes always came to a halt at one of the books. The room was filled up to the roof with bookshelves that were stuffed with books and scrolls.

In the middle of the circular room stood a huge hourglass. Pretty suitable for a room containing time-related spells. While she looked through the bookshelves, she searched for a matching book.

“Hmm, not a single one of this books tells me something about Star Swirls personal life, maybe I have to go deeper.” As she walked down the dusty and unkempt scene, she discovered a small wooden box at the end of one of the countless corridors between the shelves.

The box was decorated with astronomic figures and a symbol that seemed to be an old language which consisted of circular forms and dots.

It was engraved with golden characters, but Twilight couldn't decipher the ancient-looking letters on the box. So she decided to open the mysterious box. Twilight was greeted by an explosion of dust and dirt. Scrolls covered with spider webs and wood chips lied in there with a painting of two stallions. The first one was a young grey stallion with a white mane and goatee. He had shining golden eyes. The second stallion had a deep black coat with a light grey shaded mane and beautiful blue eyes. On the back, somepony had written something down.

“Star Swirl and Black Terror. The beginning of time and space.”

Twilight couldn't believe what she saw, she put the painting carefully aside and pulled one of the scrolls out of their protective sleeve. The seal was already broken but it clearly showed the cutie mark of Star Swirl the bearded. Her eyes glowed with glee as she realized that she may have found the personal letters between Star Swirl and Black Terror. She opened the scroll and began to read:

---

[/hr]

My dearest friend,

We are all still worried about your well-being. Since you started your mission in the territory of the dragons, eight months has passed. Everypony wants to believe that you are alive. My letters are all being returned to me. If you get this one, you should know that your filly-friend will always be waiting for you.

She visited me again yesterday, I couldn't tell her that you never got my letters... Don't torture her, please return to us. There is one reason more.

The dragons are showing interest for our newly founded home. I'm afraid to say that war is coming.

After you got the position in the special forces, you promised to protect your family and friends.

You promised to marry her when you returned. Keep your promises. Everypony misses you.

She misses you… And I miss you as well.

I hope we see each other again,

Your friend and lifetime rival, Star Swirl

---

[/hr]

A single tear rolled down Twilight’s lavender cheek as she read the letter. “How sad, but why are there no traces of his history? Even if he died, there has to be something. ” As she began to take the next scroll, Twilight saw a book buried under the letters. She put the letter neatly back into the box and pulled the book out before she could read the title.

'The power of imagination' was the headline. The writers were immortalized at the bottom of the cover. Their names were Helia and Star Swirl.
“Helia? Who is that supposed to be? I never heard of her.” She flipped the first page open. A short description appeared in front of her:‘The power of imagination is wonderful and dangerous at the same time. They can lead you to your dreams and fulfil your desires. These spells are only to be used by the original owners...’

The rest of the text was eroded through the ages. The curious unicorn couldn't resist and flipped through the pages until she found a particular spell. It was called the 'Imaginary Transportation'. A description was written below.

The owner will be transported to the original place of a memory. Caution: Extremely high amount of magic power is required.

Of course, this wasn't a hindrance for the personal student of Princess Celestia. She concentrated her magic on the spell. Her surroundings became blurred, the wooden box in front of her got smashed underneath the bookshelf, but with a sudden crack the spell was broken.

“Darn, I was so close. But I'm not giving up!” Once again the little unicorn lit her horn.

---

[/hr]

Meanwhile at the other side of the castle, in the private chamber of Princess Luna, the two leaders of Equestria were discussing a important matter. The brighter of the sisters walked anxiously around the chamber while her darker counterpart sat calm on her bed.

“Luna, do we agree to wait and observe the situation?”

The Princess of the night answered her sister with a sad and at the same time warning tone. “We don't know what this darkness is. It is possible that Discord, or even worse, that Night Mare or Radiant Flare will return. So I suggest to wait until we're sure who our enemy is. As long as we are together, no one can defeat us.”

This was the first time the Solar Princess smiled in this conversation. But as soon as her smile came, it faded. “Sister, I feel something strange. It's like somepony is draining a huge amount of power from somewhere above us.”

Princess Luna thought about possible explanations but she couldn't really think of one.

“I feel it too, but the only thing above as are the Elements of Harmony and only one of them could be skilled enough to activate them.” As Luna spoke the final words of her sentence, the coin dropped by both of the Princesses. They shouted at each other what they realized.

“Twilight!”

Both of them teleported with much more force than necessary to the breakfast chamber where they saw Twilight the last time. But instead of her student, Phalanx was patrolling through the room.

He was thrown off by the explosion of the arriving Princesses.

“Phalanx! Where is Twilight Sparkle!”

The royal guard, still dizzy from the blast, could only answer slowly. “I met her in the gardens. She mandated me to tell you where she is.”

Princess Luna lifted the defenseless guard in the air. “And where is that?!”

Phalanx slowly regained his mind and told them about Twilight’s whereabouts. Once again the Princesses teleported themselves away. This time to the Star Swirl the Bearded wing.

But the only thing they found was the still-burning remains of a book on the ground covered with ashes.

Twilight Sparkle was gone.

Comments

[Haseo]

I followed your suggestions. I've got two proofreader by now, so the grammar shouldn't be a problem anymore.
If you would like to take a second look now, tell me your opinion, please.

[Evilpresident]

Things are looking a lot better now I'm glad that this story is coming to its right, now that you have some help. I'm going to read the rest of this tomorrow and I'll drop another comment by then