The Apprentice

Prologue

The smoke faded away, allowing the moonlight to illuminate the room once more. The room itself was a large stone hallway, its walls decorated with opulent banners and murals. Most of them hung in tatters, and some were smoking as if recently burned. At one end of the room were two thrones: one was made of ivory, the other of ebony. The former was gilded in decorative patterns and large golden sun adorning the back, while the latter was laced with silver and accented with the mark of a crescent moon. Both thrones had pieces missing from them, most likely strewn across the hall.

Opposite the dual centerpieces was a huge pair of oak doors. There were several scratches and chunks taken out of its surface, to the point where hardly any evidence was left of the expert craftsponyship put into chiseling its exterior. A dark blue shimmer surrounded the doorway, keeping anypony from getting out or coming in. A small, low-pitched hum emanated from it.

One pony stood in the midst of this scene. Like her surroundings, she herself was in terrible condition, with her pink mane dirty and falling all around her head and horn. One of her wings was broken in several places, many of the pinions were ripped out. Every time she moved it she winced in agony; so she just let it hang limp, no longer bothering. She tried to take a step forward but her legs gave out. She slammed on the ground and cried out. Right in front of her nose lie 6 beautiful gems. One was yellow, another orange, the third blue, the fourth maroon, the fifth pink, and the last one a deep
violet. It was slightly larger than the rest and had a dim aura around it; an aura that seemed both inviting and intimidating.

With nowhere else to look the pony’s gaze turned towards the nocturnal heavens. Everything seemed calm and serene, except for the large scar that now marred the moon's pristine opalescence. Dark splotches dominated the surface, arranged in the profile of a unicorn's head. Next to the moon was a comet, its long green and blue tail pointing towards the western horizon. The pony was too numbed by pain to appreciate this tranquility, both physically and emotionally. She had just lost the most important pony in her life, and she was the one to blame. A small spark of emotion found its way into the pony’s conscious, and tears came running down her face.

Luna, she weeped. How can you ever forgive me?

Everything became silent, the only noise came from the pony’s labored breathing accompanied by sobs. Silence, the greatest amount of nothing the world had to offer. Silence, the sound that says it all. For the pink-maned pony in the middle of the room, the silence only made her feel more lonely.

Luna, she thought once more. I tried everything to help you. Was it right what I did? Should I have done it?

More tears streamed down the pony’s cheeks.

I’m so scared. Without you, how can I go on? You were always there for me, and
I was there for you.
We were strong together.
We could do anything together.
We were happy together.

But now all that was there was silence; it was the only companion the pony had
now. And yet, something seemed off. The silence had brought something with it, or
perhaps had taken something else away.

The force field.

The hum from the force field had died down, and the blue shimmer along with it. The
door burst open with a dozen ponies galloping and flying in.

“CELESTIA!”

The pink-maned pony raised her head to see who was addressing her. Through a blurry haze she managed to make out a grey and blue blob. The blob came into focus as it moved closer, revealing an old dust-colored unicorn with a long white beard. Atop his head was a tall, blue, pointed hat that had the constellations of the night sky embroidered upon it, along with a matching cape. Both of these had silver bells along the edges that made quiet twinkling noises whenever he moved. A look of anxiety and concern crossed his face.

“By the heavens! Are you alright Your Majesty?” he held out a hoof to help her, but the Princess waved it off with her own. “I’m fine, Starswirl, thank you.” Celestia slowly began to raise herself onto her hooves, but she faltered and collapsed. Several of the soldiers, all of whom were clad in golden armor, rushed to help her. “We must hurry Princess, there isn’t much time until she realizes what has happened!” Starswirl said, urgency abundant in his tone. “Do you have it?” While the rest of the guards had no idea what Starswirl was talking about, the Princess, in fact, did. Using what little magic was left in her, she levitated out a long black object.

“Is that-” asked one of the soldiers.

“The horn of Nightmare Moon? Yes it is,” Starswirl replied.

Several of the soldiers stepped back and gasped. Having the magical organ of the tyrant they had fought in their midst was quite unsettling. “Commander Ox!” shouted Starswirl, addressing the leader of the group, a brown
earth pony with a cropped, black mane and a short beard. “I need you to order all of your soldiers to stand guard outside this door. Nopony gets out, or in. Understand?”

“Yes, Court Wizard!” replied the officer with a sharp salute. “You heard the pony, get your flanks out that door double-time!”

“SIRYESSIR!” all the soldiers responded in unison. The two that were supporting Celestia were relieved of their position by Ox and Starswirl, who was now using his magic to pick up the gems and the horn. Before the last soldier went out, Ox called out for him. “You there! Soldier!” The pony, a white unicorn with a blonde mane, turned around and saluted his superior.

“Yes commander?”

“Get to the battlefield and spread the news that Nightmare Moon has been defeated. That should give our troops some morale and cripple the lunar guards’.”

“Yessir!” the young soldier replied, and was out the door in a flash.

“Ox, set the Princess down over there.” The Commander gently lowered the Princess, who was barely hanging on to consciousness at this point, a few feet away from the center of the room. Meanwhile, Starswirl closed his eyes and his horn began to glow a bright silver. The bricks in the middle of the hall began to quake, collapsing on each other and shifting out of the way to make a large circular hole. A large platform with a large cylindrical tube on it rose from the hole. On the base were two small holes on either end and six indents in the center, with one be slightly larger than the other five. Starswirl placed the gems in these indents and the horn of Nightmare moon in one of the holes. Celestia looked through half open eyes at the structure in front of her. Using the last of her energy she dragged herself a few inches towards it and inserted her own horn into the other aperture.

The six crystals began to glow brightly, giving off a very calming energy, while the structure itself began to hum. At first it was low pitched, but then it started to get higher, and higher, until it was no longer audible.

A bright beam of white light erupted from the top of the structure, washing out the entire room in its luminance. The beam burst through the roof, straight for the moon. It was at this point the comet had completely passed in front of the moon. The beam tore through it without hesitation, and a large section of the comet began to fall to Earth. The beam then hit the moon, enveloping it with its radiance. There was a moment when the moon was nothing but a bright white ball. Then the light receded from the moon and shot back down towards its origin. It hit the structure, once again, drowning the room in light.

The wizard and commander both raised their hooves to shield their eyes. When it appeared all was back to normal. They opened their eyes to see the Princess standing up straight. Her wings were fixed, her hair now shimmering in
several colors, appearing to blow in a non-existent wind. The Princess had returned to
her former glory.