Chapter 2: Ancient Evil
(Upon taking the advice of my first reviewer, I have decided to try and change the reading format on this, please bear with me as this may take a couple tries to get right) remember, read and review!
Within the span of an hour that the stranger crashed into Ponyville, he and the other six were in a large carriage, pulled by some of Celestia's royal pegasus guards. The six friends stayed on one end of the carriage, quietly talking among themselves, while the stallion pegasus sat a little farther away, looking out of the window, a solemn look on his face. Many cuts and bruises could be seen on him, and his breath still sounded somewhat ragged. Many thoughts were racing through Twilight's mind, some thoughts included, who is this guy? Where did he come from? What threat is he talking about? And most of all, how does he know Princess Celestia? Rainbow Dash, who was the one sitting closest to him, urged herself to say something to him, trying to be at least nice to him. "Uhhh…" she began, not knowing wether or not he would respond, "Umm, so how you feelin'? I mean, you took a pretty nasty crash, I'm still surprised that you're able to move…". She mentally kicked herself, Dang I must've sounded like an idiot! She shouted mentally. But to her surprise, he actually turned to look at her, and responded, "I'll be fine, I've taken worse hits than that trust me…". Her eyes widened, and immediately asked more questions, "Really? Worse crashes than that? Like what?". The stallion chuckled slightly, a hint of a smile on the edge of his mouth, "long story, I'll tell you later if you like". Rainbow Dash could've sworn she felt her face heat up in a blush, she quickly looked away, giggling nervously, "Hehe, uh yeah sure… that'd be… cool".
The next few seconds felt strangely awkward for Rainbow Dash, the then felt a nudge on her side, and looked to see Applejack and the other girls all looking at her, each with a smug look on their faces. Rainbow Dash was confused as to why they were looking at her in this manner, until Applejack muttered, "Like what ya see R.D.? hehe", Rainbow Dash blushed more intently this time, then shot her friends a venomous look that said, If you ever say that again, I will personally make you wish you were never born. The five merely chuckled and looked away, and Rainbow Dash looked to the floor with an aggravated huff, still, she found her eyes subconsciously drifting toward him again, I have to admit, she thought, he is kind of cute. The rest of the ride went on in silence, then something popped into Twilights head, and important detail she somehow overlooked, "Umm, excuse me" she said to the stallion pegasus, "It seems we never had a proper introduction, my name is Twilight Sparkle, these are my friends Rarity, Fluttershy, Applejack, Pinkie pie, and Rainbow Dash." She motioned toward each of her friends as she introduced them, each giving the stallion a kind smile. The pegasus looked at the six, and returned a surprisingly warm smile, "A pleasure to meet you all, I realize I never had much of a proper introduction, what with the crash and explosion and all. My name is Static.". "Well, the name certainly suits you well" said Rarity, "Yeah" agreed Applejack, "By the way, what was with all that 'lectricity cracklin' from yer body all about?".
Before Static had a chance to answer, the carriage suddenly lurched into a quick descent, shaking slightly as they landed in front of the Canterlot castle. The seven ponies exited the carriage and were met by two royal guards, who led them into the castle and down a long hallway to the throne room, where Celestia was waiting for them. Twilight was happy to see her mentor and friend once again, but wished it were under more pleasant circumstances, "Welcome Twilight and friends" said Celestia warmly, looking toward Static, she continued, "And it seems we have a new visitor". Twilight nodded and began to speak, before she could, however, Static walked forward, dropping his head into a bow and said, "Princess Celestia, it's so good to see you again, it's been a while". This statement surprised Twilight Sparkle immensely, again? She thought, he knows her? How? "The feeling is mutual Static" replied Celestia happily, but she took on a more worried look as she saw his physical condition, "Static, are you alright? You look a mess! What happened to you and why haven't you seen a doctor yet?". Static merely shrugged and replied, "I wouldn't see any medical attention until I got an audience with you". Celestia shook her head and sighed, I swear you remind me exactly of your parents at times, worry about everything else first, then worry about your own condition.
Static shrugged, a smile on his face, "What can I say, stubbornness runs in the family, besides, I've got some urgent news that you need to hear". Celestia then became curious, "And that is?" she asked. Static answered her question, this time with no humor, complete seriousness in his tone, "The Shadow has returned". As he said this, Celestia gasped, "The Shadow? It has finally reawakened? This is a very serious matter indeed, we need to make preparations, I have to warn the surrounding cities, how far out is It?". At this time, the other six were completely baffled, not just by the fact that he knew the princess, but they had no idea who this 'Shadow' thing was, "Excuse me princess, but what is 'The Shadow'?". Celestia didn't meet her gaze immediately, instead she looked down, a very frightened and worried look on her face, "The Shadow is everything that is opposite of good, a living incarnation of darkness. It has no definite form, but is seen as a billowing dark mass.
Many thousands of years ago, war ravaged the land of early Equestria, and because of this, darkness bas born into the hearts of ponies. In an attempt to stop the hate that the wars brought on, a group of highly powerful unicorn wizards created a spell to draw out the darkness from the ponies hearts. Overall, the spell worked, but in their triumph, the wizards made a fatal mistake, all of the darkness that was pulled out of their hearts gathered together, creating a creature that felt nothing but hate, fear, and destruction, a creature with a conscious mind, a mind with only one goal, to eradicate all that was good and plunge Equestria into and eternal state of darkness and despair". As Celestia spoke, Twilight and her friends could only listen with wide eyes and dropped jaws, "In an attempt to fix the damage they had caused, the wizards chose six ponies who were pure of heart, rare qualities in ponies who were born without the darkness. From these six their true qualities were found by the wizards, and thus the Elements of Harmony were born". "And so they threw down with the darkness in one epic showdown and defeated it right?" asked Rainbow Dash.
"Not quite" said Static, stepping forward and facing the ponies. "Yes, they did have a showdown with the Shadow, and for the most part, proved to be quite a challenge for it. However, the Shadow still managed to overcome the Elements of Harmony, the concentration of It's darkness was too great. The wizards were baffled at what to do now, they realized the Elements of Harmony were powerful, but still didn't provide the proper strength to defeat the Shadow. Then it hit them, they needed something that could concentrate the power even more, something to give the Elements the extra energy they needed. While pondering over what would be the proper substitute, inspiration finally struck, literally, in the form of a lightning storm. Lightning, they realized, would be a perfect catalyst, it was pure, concentrated, untainted energy that could provide enough power to help the Elements of Harmony defeat the Shadow.
Another pony was chosen, a pegasus pony, and the wizards cast a spell upon him that granted him absolute control over lightning, and on that day, they referred to him as the Elemental Equine, destined to aid the Elements of Harmony with the natural ferocity of a worldly element. The Elements finally had the extra boost they needed to defeat the Shadow, and in a final showdown, imprisoned the Shadow into a deep slumber, and brought peace to Equestria". As Static finally ended his story, the six were quiet for a time, not sure of what to say, "Wow" Twilight managed to say, "I can't believe I haven't read of that before, this is huge, not just Equestria, but the whole world lies in the balance of total destruction" she shook her head, trying to put all the information she heard into one manageable thought.
"Now hold up" said Applejack, "Somethin' dont quite seem right, how come ya aint never shown up here sooner? Why is it just now that you pop up when the peace of Equestria is at risk? ". At this question, Static looked to the ground, his expression unreadable, then Celestia answered the question for him, "When the Shadow was defeated, all the ponies in Equestria rejoiced. The only thing was, while they saw the Elements of Harmony as their heroes, they feared the seventh pony, feared the ferocity of his power, and so he was shunned. Anywhere the Elemental Equine went, he was driven out by the locals, they were afraid not of him, but of the amount of destruction his power could create. They've seen what lightning can do in the natural world, and now somepony could control it on their own, so they turned away from him, not welcoming him into the society. Eventually, he found a mate, and his bloodline lived on, even though they were shunned, the new generations knew that they had to keep the bloodline going. The Shadow was defeated, but it was near inevitable that it would rise again, they didn't know when, but they had to be ready.
"Eventually the family line went into hiding, so as to calm the nerves of the fearful ponies, but they secretly kept close ties with the royal family for the thousands of years to come. Static is the most recent of the bloodline, and the time has now come for the Elemental Equine and the Elements of Harmony to once again be called upon to destroy the ancient evil that threatens our world's peace." Upon finishing her sentence, the six friends, and Static, seemed to stand taller, their stances showing pride and courage as they mentally accepted the task that was laid before them. They knew it wouldn't be easy, but if this evil had been defeated before, then these seven would not rest until this Shadow was down and out once again. The fate of Equestria rested in their hooves, they couldn't let all these innocent ponies down, no matter what the cost… no pressure right?