The dark awaits
~ New beginnings ~
It was a warm and beautiful morning in Ponyville. The sun was up high in the sky and warmed everything in its path and the blue sky was clear of any clouds thanks to Rainbow Dash. A lavender unicorn smiled to herself as she trotted down the streets of home. Her mane was a deep purple with a light shade of pink and her tail held the same bright colors, hanging down her legs and touching the street softly. Her eyes were a light violet color, filled with joy. The unicorn went by the name of Twilight Sparkle and held up the nickname of the princess's star pupil.
The unicorn was an apprentice to the princess of Equestria and started taking magic lessons when she was a young filly. Ever since then, Twilight has been studying the arts of magic and the magic of friendship. She was the most well working unicorn in Ponyville. "Twilight!" A voice from a mare called out to her. Twilight stopped in her tracks and turned around to be greeted by a flying blur of pink. "You would never guess what happened!" The ball of pink fluff cried out and looked at the unicorn that she had tackled to the ground.
"Huh?" The unicorn said, her eyes fixing on the earth pony's. The mare had a pink coat and a fluffy, curly pink mane and tail. Her cutie mark was of three balloons, one of blue, yellow and pink.
"I made cakes for the ball tonight! Of course they're new and topped with cherries, frosting and lots and lots of sugar!" The pink earth pony said with joy and smiled big and bright. Twilight shook her head around as she stood up from the ground. "The ball?" Twilight asked, not hearing of this dance her friend was talking about.
"The ball silly goose! The one were Princesses are going to tonight! Don't tell little old Pinkie Pie that you're not going!" Pinkie Pie shouted at her unicorn friend. Twilight flinched a little. She didn't attend balls that often and spent her nights studying and practicing her spells. So she only shrugged and continued trotting. The pink mare followed her, bouncing up and down. "But Twilight," Pinkie Pie whined, "It's a ball! You can't skip out on a ball!" Twilight sighed.
Pinkie Pie loved parties and threw them almost everyday. Her parties were lovely in ever sort of way, but Twilight wanted to spend the weekend days and nights studying, not partying. "Sorry, Pinkie." Twilight apologized to her friend. The pink mare then stopped bouncing and nodded. "Ok, Twilight. You win. But if you change your mind, we'll be waiting!" And with that, the pink mare hopped away. Twilight, now alone with herself, sighed and then trotted back into her library where her number one assistant worked, dusting off the books that towered on the shelves.
"Twilight, you're back!" The baby dragon said with glee and hugged her. Twilight some what giggled to herself and hugged him also, wrapping her fore leg around him. "You've done a great job Spike." She complemented and then floated a large spell book out of the top shelf with her magic. She set it down in front of her gently and began reading. But as she set a hoof down onto the floor, she immediately drew it back.
Spike looked at her and raised an eyebrow. "Twilight?" He asked. The unicorn looked at him and shook her head. "I-It's nothing Spike." She assured and then looked down at the floor of the library. There was nothing wrong with it; it didn't have any cracks to make things wrong. Still, something was wrong. Very wrong.
Twilight set her hoof down once more and suddenly drew it back faster than last time. The ground had a pulse. It was slow and steady and she could count the number of times it would vibrate. Twilight looked at her hoof and frowned. "Y-You don't feel that Spike?" she turned to ask her assistant. The dragon blinked then looked around them, even at the ground but shook his head. "I'm a supposed to feel something?" He asked, Twilight frowning again and looking down. Fear slowly ran though her nerves and made her muscles tense every time the pulse in the ground vibrated.
If Spike can't feel it, than maybe it could wait until she went to the ball tonight to ask the princesses what was going on.
It was late at night now, and the ball in Canterlot was just starting. Pinkie pie was dressed up in a fluffy pink gown, her curly cotton candy like mane tied up into a big fluffy bun. The earth pony giggled as she set the last red cherry on the top of her large cake she had made earlier. It was a huge vanilla flavored cake with three large towers and was covered with white frosting. Cherries littered it left to right, up and down. "It looks too good Pinkie!" Rainbow Dash said as she flew softly towards the cake. The blue pegasus was dressed in a blue dress which was not fluffy at all and pearl white earrings on each ear. Her rainbow mane and tail were left alone though.
"It does look yummy, Pinkie Pie." Fluttershy, all dressed in a yellow ball gown, said in her gentle voice. Her pink mane was up in a bun and she wore a flower necklace. Both ponies agreed with her and looked towards the stage where an earth pony named Octavia stood, bow in her hoof and cello to her side.
She began playing a soft tune that was joined by a soft chime of a harp played by a unicorn named Lyra and a piano. The music swallowed the room and ponies began to softly slow dance to it.
"Twilight, I thought you said you weren't coming." Spike whispered to her, shifting his black bowtie a little. Twilight nodded at him, her purple and blue dress waving a little. She wore two star earrings on both her ears and her mane and tail were the same.
"I needed to come here to see the Princesses." She whispered back and slowly entered the ballroom.
The ponies were too busy slow dancing to notice her trot by. The lavender unicorn looked around the large ballroom for the Princesses but only found other ponies dancing. "Twilight!" Rainbow Dash quickly spotted her though the crowd. She trotted over to them quickly, avoiding the dancing mares and stallions. "You look so pretty." Fluttershy complemented with her soft voice.
"So do all of you girls. Um, but where's Applejack?" Twilight asked, her head looking all around the room.
"She said she had work on the farm to do so she can't join us tonight." Rainbow Dash explained, her blue hoof raised in the air. They all nodded, understanding quite well. "Oh! Look here come the princesses!"
It was true, the princesses were here. They walked into the ballroom, dressed so beautifully and shining brightly. Every pony bowed their head in respect. Twilight did the same.
Then, every pony went back to dancing along with the classical music. Twilight quickly galloped over to Princess Celestia who sat high on her throne. "Hello Twilight, what's the big rush?" The alicorn asked her.
Twilight gasped for a bit of breath and began. She felt the uneasy pulse vibrate though the room. "Princess! This is really important!" She said, her eyes meeting the Princess's. Celestia looked down at her in astonishment and then nodded, taking Twilight outside into the night.
As soon as they were both far away from the room, Princess Celestia sat down on the grass. "Tell me Twilight, what is it?"
"You're telling me you don't feel that Princess?" Twilight said, stomping her hooves on the ground. The pulse still vibrated. The princess only shook her head. Twilight frowned. Was it just her imagination?
"B-But I can feel a pulse! Its running though the ground right now!" She shouted and then looked down at the dirt and grass. The pulse kept beating. And then it beat faster and faster and faster though her hooves. Suddenly, a roar of thunder boomed loudly and made Twilight's ears pop. She shook her head viciously and tried to hear again.
But her ears only heard a soft hum. Lighting crashed on the ground loudly and thunder continued to boom and light up the sky. She heard the low cries of screams and calls for help. Her vision began to blur and her mind felt heavy. The colors began to swirl around her. And then, she collapsed.
She was woken by music. It beckoned her, lilting and insistent; delicate music, played by delicate instruments that she couldn't identify, with one rippling, bell like phrase running though it in a gold thread of delight. There was in this music so much of the deepest enchantment of all her dreams that she woke up smiling. In the moment of her waking however, the music began to fade, and when she opened her eyes it was gone. Twilight only had one memory of the last and final note before it had completely faded. She felt herself instantly frowning.
"Hello?" Twilight called out as she stood up on all four hooves. The room she was in was bare and empty and eerily quiet. A gentle breeze blew pasted her and combed though her messy mane and down the hallway to her left. The lavender unicorn trotted over to it, looking right to left and then clopping down towards the doors which lead outside. It was dawn and the sun had just begun to rise from over the mountains.
"Hello?" She called out once more into the distance; and only heard her own voice call back. Where was every pony?
Twilight looked down at her dress. It was torn on the ends and ripped to shreds, only some of the shoulder fabric on her now. Her earrings were gone and her mane and tail were a tangled mess. The unicorn pulled the things off her body with her magic and galloped towards the train back to Ponyville.
No pony greeted her as she galloped by. There weren't even any ponies to greet at all. The farther she got into town, the darker and abandoned it looked. The houses which families of happy ponies used to live in were empty and boarded up with wood and nails. The shops were also empty and bare of any food or water.
"How long was I asleep?" She asked herself as she slowed to a walking pace. She then finally reached sugar cube corner. Twilight, much to her dismay, saw even the happy, cheerful pink bakery ran by her happy go lucky mare friend was quiet and boarded up.
Twilight Sparkle took a deep breath and used her horn to pull some wood out of the windows and the door. Inside, the shop was free of the sweets Pinkie Pie served and dark. Twilight could barely make up the outlines of the counters and the shelves in the shop.
So the unicorn took a few steps back and pushed on the door with her purple hoof. It didn't even budge. She knitted her brows together and pushed down harder. She pushed down so hard in fact, her hoof broke though the wood and went though the door.
"Oops…" She mumbled and then wiggled her hoof free from the large hole she had made. Now that the door was broken, she pushed it open gently and looked around. It was dark, so she lit up her horn with a dark pink light and then looked around.
Dust painted the shelves and counters, the glass on the shelves were cracked and broken and the counter was empty and free from anything that was once there.
"What could have happened here?" Twilight wondered to herself as she scanned the things around her. "Pinkie!" She called out, suddenly remembering her friend. There was no answer.
"I have to find Princess Celestia!" She cried out and galloped out of the old shop and down the streets of her once home. Everywhere she looked; the shops and homes were empty and boarded up with windows.
Suddenly, she stopped dead in her tracks and looked down at the ground. There was no pulse. Nothing vibrated though the ground anymore. A shiver slid up her spine and her ears pressed against her head. Suddenly, her ears shot up and her head turned to the left. The distant sound of a hammer clanking against metal filled the damp air. She galloped toward it, praying that she'll find some pony there.
"Ah, you finally woke up." A mare's voice said when Twilight had skidded to a stop in front of a small barn. The mare was an earth pony with a very deep voice and a long black mane. Her coat was a coal colored black and her eyes were a deep shade of gold. "Pardon?" Twilight said.
The mare didn't say another word and only turned around and walked into the barn. The unicorn followed her quietly. The smell of coal and the warmth of a large fire filled the air as they came into the center of the barn. A large stallion that was a unicorn used his magic to lift up his heavy hammer to hit the large burning metal in the fire.
"She has come." The mare said and walked to the left away from her. The stallion looked up and gently dropped his hammer on the ground. "Indeed she has." He said in a deep voice and looked her over. Twilight only stood there, lost of words.
"Pardon?" She said again.
"You are one of the sign seekers." The mare said when she had put down a basket full of apples at her hooves. Twilight, feeling like she hadn't eaten for a long time, bent down and bit into one. "Sign seekers?" She questioned after she had swallowed.
"You see, Twilight Sparkle," The mare said to her and sat down on the floor. Twilight blinked, wanting to know how the earth pony knew her name. "The dark is rising. And while you were passed out in Canterlot, the dark has been growing stronger and stronger."
The unicorn listened to what the mare had to say. The dark? Who was the dark and what did it want? "The dark is evil ponies, mares and stallions…sometimes even fillies and colts." The stallion explained to her.
"They are beings of the dark whom use black magic and are out to rule all of Equestria." Twilight, unable to hold all of this information, sat down and looked down at the ground.
"The pulse you had been feeling, was the start of the dark's rising." The mare said and knocked the basket down so the apples rolled over to her. Twilight continued eating. "The princess's magic was too weak to stop the black magic and she and her sister were turned to stone." Twilight coughed.
"T-To stone?" She shouted. The mare nodded sadly and continued. "There are six signs that can help stop the dark and bring light back to Equestria." The stallion said to her as he went back to clanging the metal piece in the fire. The mare began to chant.
"When the Dark comes rising, six shall turn it back;
Three from the circle, three from the track;
Wood, bronze, iron; water, fire, stone;
Five will return, one go alone.
Iron for the birthday, bronze carried along;
Wood from the burning, stone out of song;
Fire from the candle-ring, water from the thaw;
Six signs the circle, and the grail gone before."
Twilight listened closely, her purple ears up high. The stallion's hammer began hitting the metal piece faster and louder than before. The mare went on.
"Fire on the mountain shall find the harp of gold,
Played to wake the sleepers, the oldest of the old;
Power from the green witch, lost beneath the sea;
All shall find the light at last, silver on the tree."
The mare ended with a soft smile. Twilight was speechless. Suddenly, the pounding of the loud hammer stopped. The stallion set the hammer down, took the metal piece out of the roaring fire, and tossed it in a bucket of water with a loud hiss and sizzle. The unicorn watched as the mare stood up from her seat and trotted towards the bucket where she took the cooled down piece from the water, wiped it off and pulled it on a golden chain. The stallion then floated it over to Twilight and wrapped it around her neck and dropped it.
The metal piece was of a small gray heart which dangled there around her neck. "Thank you…" Twilight trailed off as she stared at it. The mare and the stallion suddenly grew tense as the loud flapping of wings filled the air and blew the hay around them. Twilight blinked and flipped around to see a large adult dragon with all black scales and large golden eyes. It looked at her and growled, showing white fangs and teeth.
Twilight felt a bolt of fear run though her body. But there was a pony on top of him, a black robe around him. The pony hopped down from the back of the dragon and smiled evilly at all of them. He put a hoof on the dragon's arm and walked towards them. "My dragon here needs a little fixing up to do." The stallion dressed in black said and looked down at Twilight's new necklace. The unicorn glared at him; getting the feeling he wasn't one of them.
"Right away sir." The good stallion Twilight had met with the hammer said and began making more shapes out of metal. The mare eyed him with her pursing golden eyes and then stood in front of Twilight protectively.
The stallion in black only gave out a chuckle and smiled down at them, lifting a hoof to pull off his black hood. Finally, Twilight saw his face. He had the most evil green eyes that stared into her soul and a bright red mane that was wavy and tangled. "Come on little pony," He looked at Twilight. The lavender unicorn glared.
"Let's take a ride on my dragon. He's very friendly you see." The black dragon snarled at them. Suddenly, the stallion dressed in black was behind her, pushing her towards the dragon that had his mouth wide open. She gasped and tried to gallop back, but was no match for his strength.
Suddenly, the good stallion pushed the stallion in black out of the way with brute force and both stood in front of Twilight, protecting her. "Ha ha…" The stallion stood back up and smiled evilly at all of them. The mare glared. "You're not welcomed here Rider!" She coldly stated.
"Foolish move Safire." The stallion in black said and climbed back on his dragon. The monster huffed and growled, spreading its large black wings in the air ready to take off. "I'll be back!" He shouted before the dragon took off into the dim gray sky.
"W-Who was that?" Twilight asked them, a little bit of fear digging into her heart. The good stallion named Safire turned to her. "He was a being of the dark, the Black Rider." The mare nodded, agreeing with him.
"You must make sure you never fall in one of his tricks to make you turn towards the dark instead of the light." She advised then smiled down at Twilight.
She then said, "We have something for you, Twilight Sparkle."
Twilight found herself being back inside the barn again, next to the warm fire and a white box in front of her. The mare and Safire stood in front of her, looking at her with bright, warm eyes. "Open it and begin your quest."
With her magic, the unicorn opened the box and looked at what was inside. There lay an Iron heart much like the one around her neck. A phrase rang though her mind.
Iron for the birthday.
"M-My birthday?" Twilight questioned. Safire nodded and in a blink of any eye the Iron heart was around her neck.
"Happy birthday, Twilight Sparkle."
"I-I've been asleep for one whole year?"
"Yes…" Both ponies hung their heads down.
Twilight, unable to hold all this information, lay down on the floor and groaned. "Maybe after a nice nap you'll be better." The mare said and Twilight felt herself fall into a deep sleep.