Twilight Sparkle was adjusting to being a princess, so she was running the castle while Princess Celestia away. She went into the Great Library; it was filled to the brim with books and statues of ponies past. But in the center of the room was a large hourglass, low on sand to flow down. She recognized what it was. It was time for a new age.
“Spike?” She called. “SPIKE?” She looked around. “Oh, where is he? The hourglass is almost out of sand. A message has to be sent to Celestia telling her that a new age is coming, due to the hourglass.” Another pegasus janitor walked in overhearing her.
“Princess Twilight?” he asked. “What do you by a new age?”
“A change in the era.” She replied. “The eras are in a natural cycle. At the very beginning of an era, the hourglass has all of the sand at the top. As time goes on, sand travels down to the bottom. At the end of an era, the hourglass is flipped over.”
“You lost me.” he replied.
“It’s like a calendar.” She replied.
“Oh, okay.” he answered.
“Apparently, if I’m correct, it is approaching the end of the horse era. I have to double check.” She said. “I’ll check in the back.” She walked away to that area. The pony walked up to the hourglass.
“A new era, eh?” he stated as he put his hoof on it. “I don’t believe in that hogwash.” He looked over on the table and noticed a pile of books attacked high. “I wish Princess Twilight would not so many books around.” He picked up the book pile with his hooves, not realizing how heavy it was. “Oh God, this is heavy.” Losing his balance, the books fell over and they knocked the hourglass over. It shattered as it hit the ground. The sound resonated across the room getting Twilight’s attention.
“What was that?” Twilight asked from the back. “Did something break?”
“It’s nothing!!” he replied.
“Okay.” She answered. “I checked the era list. We are leaving the horse era and entering the mountain cat era.”
“Oh no. What do I do?” he thought. “I know I’ll clean it up.” Using his wings, he grabbed a broom and dustpan and swept it up. He chucked the trash in the waste basket as Twilight came back.
“Hey.” She asked. “Where’s the hourglass?”
“Uh…” He replied. “I had a few ponies come in and remove it to be cleaned.” It was a lie to cover up his mistake.
“Okay,” she answered. “Just to let you know, that the hourglass was an artifact that was around since the Classical Age.” Sweat began to roll down the pegasus’s face. “But I am going to trust your judgment.” She left. “Just put it back when you are done.” The pegasus sighed of relief and he generally forgot about it. But the dust that once was bright in the hourglass had turned black.
Twilight Sparkle went back to her room at the palace. It was calm place for a princess to reside, she was rather bored. There was a little old box that she just noticed.
“A wooden box?” She thought as she walked over to it. “Who put that there?” It was an old green box with a yellow sun on the lid. The joints were slightly rusted. “This thing must be old; I don’t remember anyone having something like that.” She looked away for a little bit. “Maybe I’ll take one quick peak.” She opened up the box.
Music started to play as it was opened. The interior was done with a blue velvet finish. The center figure of an ascended alicorn was twirling as in dancing. But it was not the figure, that caught Twilight’s eyes. It was what appeared to be a photograph inside. Using her magic, she lifted the photo out.
In the photo was her former teacher, Princess Celestia. She didn’t know who was next to her. It was a copper-colored stallion that was her age. He had a silver-colored mane and green eyes. In addition, he had two hooves together as a cutie mark.
“Who’s this pony?” she thought. “I’ve been princess for the last five years. How come Princess Celestia didn’t mention this pony? I’ll ask her when she gets back.” She sighed. “Come to think of it, I looked at the Coming of the Age coming up. The next age coming up is will be the thirteenth age since Discord’s sealing.” She began to pace. “At the end of the sixth age was Nightmare Moon’s uprising. Would something happen at the end of the twelfth? The only logical explanation would be Discord’s escape from his stone prison, but he already escaped, was resealed, released and reformed to a degree and he hasn’t shown his face since. If it’s not Discord, then who?” She thought a bit. “I’ll have to look around.” She turned to the photo and placed it in her bag. “I’ll keep this photo, it might be important.” She left her room in concern.
Meanwhile on the statue of Princess Celestia, there are several black moths…
10 days later…
Rainbow Dash was finally on patrol as a member of the Wonderbolts. This was going to be her final years of service.
“I can’t wait to finally be back in Ponyville.” Rainbow Dash said to herself. “I can relax for a bit and…” She noticed on the ground was the lake being held up by the Manecon dam was overfilled. “That can’t be good.” Then, she flew to the city itself to talk to the Mayor of the town. She went to the town hall. The mayor just happened to be outside.
“Mr. Mayor?” she asked.
“Yes?” the mayor replied.
“I kind of noticed that the dam is overfilled with water.” she explained. “Might I suggest removing some of the extra water and putting it elsewhere?”
“So far, there has been no fuss about the dam.” He replied. “I don’t see a problem with it.”
“The problem is I’m worried that…” she stated. Then, a loud cracking was heard and then a boom was heard. She looked toward the sounds. The dam had completely been destroyed. “OH CRAP!! THAT WOULD HAPPEN!!”
“EVERY PONY, THE DAM HAD BROKEN!! HEAD FOR THE HILLS!!” the mayor shouted. The ponies panicked as the waters were beginning to approach them. Rainbow Dash decided to rally the pegasi together to hold off the waters. When the pegasi were rallied, together they saw a wall of water about 5 feet tall rushing at them at fifty miles per hour demolishing and drowning everything in its path. She and the pegasi formed a giant twister to combat the water rapids. At first it worked, but there was so much water that they were knocked to the side. The water came in and destroyed all of Manecon taking the lives of many ponies. Rainbow Dash survived and blamed herself for the failure.
Another 10 days later…
Twilight Sparkle was comforting Rainbow Dash at Canterlot.
“It’s all, my fault!!” Rainbow Dash stated bawling her eyes. “All those ponies lives were lost because of me and I’m to be the best member of the Wonderbolts!!”
“Rainbow Dash,” Twilight explained. “No one was able to tell that the dam was going to break when it did. You shouldn’t blame yourself.”
“But what about the now homeless survivors of Manecon?” she asked.
“We, Princesses, are trying are best for comfort them. Princess Celestia is already over there working on aid.” Twilight replied.
“I never failed a mission.” she replied. “Why now?”
“Twilight!!” a familiar voice stated. The two looked up and saw Rarity running towards them. She stopped to catch her breath.
“Rarity, it’s so good to see you.” Twilight stated. “What can I do for you?”
“Twilight, I was recently checked the Pony News and, you should see this for yourself.” She handed her a message with her magic and Twilight began to read it. She was in shock when she read it.
“We need aid immediately.” the note stated. “Mt. Akuma had violently erupted and has destroyed nearby towns and villages, many lives were lost. Also, lots of ash and toxins were thrown into the air. The areas forests and crops are also destroyed please send aid.”
“This is terrible.” Twilight stated. “Princess Luna has heard about this, but I didn’t realize it was that horrible. I’m sure we will be able to handle this as well.” Rarity smiled. “I hope…” She added under her breath.
Yet another 10 days later…
“Dear Flash,” Twilight Sparkle wrote as she was writing a letter to him. “I hope you are doing well. I’m sad that I don’t get to see you since you are stationed in Horseton. There is a lot of weird stuff that has been going on.” She paused for a moment.
“First, there was the dam breaking in Manecon. And second, was the volcanic eruption to the west at Saddle Town at the Northwestern Coast. Princess Celestia and Luna, are taking care of the situations respectively. For the disasters to occur within ten days of each other, it’s not naturally possible. I also heard that the economy just suffered major damage today as well. I hope that you would stay safe. I hope we can see each other again soon. Sincerely, Twilight.” She put the letter in an envelope and then handed it over to Ditzy Doo to take to the South. It was nighttime at Canterlot, a night of the full moon to be exact. She looked out into the night sky looking for answers.
“What is going on here?” she stated. “If there is anyone who can answer these questions, please show your face.” Then at that moment, some dark clouds were coming over Canterlot. They were not being pushed or pulled by any pony. “Me and my big mouth!!” She got ready to fight something, the clouds began to take shape. It formed the shape of a pony, a unicorn to be exact. The mighty winds began to blow throughout all of Equestria at it formed. The wind blew the picture onto the ground and Twilight picked up the photo with her magic and ended up looking at it again. She was shocked to see that the clouds formed the unknown pony in the picture. “MY GOD!! What happened??” The pony shouted a mighty blast from his voice. His head was lined up with the moon and he was large enough that all of Equestria could see and hear him.
“ALL EQUESTRIANS!!” He proclaimed. All ponies in the land were paying attention to him. “I am one who is the unknown but not forgotten by the elders who knew me. I am a stranger amongst my own kind. I come to you tonight to bear word to all you ponies.” Twilight, then, noticed that the eyes on him were glowing white and the body was slightly translucent. “Heed the words I give you. Stay true to your ideals, your principals, your convictions, lest your home will perish on the moonless night. Thus, it shall fall at the hands of one who is most disturbed.” Twilight was frightened by these words as well as every pony who heard him. “Stay true, ponies. Stay true, pegasi. Stay true, unicorns. Stay true, stay true.” Then, he faded away without a trace leaving a peaceful night sky.
“I need to write letters to the princesses right away!!” Twilight stated out loud in panic. She didn’t hesitate to bring out lots of paper and began writing letters like crazy.
Author's Note
I wanted to make the chapter very dark and mysterious. It feels like everything is falling apart, and it should have that feeling. That was what I am aiming for.
