The Guardian of Light, Part 1: Rise of the Shadowblight

by Justin Daniels

Rating: teen
Tags: Dark, Alternate Universe, Romance, Comedy, Adventure, Human
Length: 3938

When a dangerous enemy threatens the lives of the citizens of Equestria, Princess Celestia is left with no other choice but to summon one of her oldest allies from the Spirit World... an ally who's race is extinct... That ally would be a human..

The viewer's sight is covered in darkness. Only the sound of hoof steps could be heard, followed by a silent sliding noise, the noise a hoof makes when it makes a complete stop.

"What should we do, Your Highness? This threat is something that cannot be ignored!" A youthful, yet masculine voice asked, clearly showing a hint of worry in his tone.

About five seconds later, a deep and motherly feminine voice replied, "You're right. Thank you… this threat can no longer be ignored. I will eliminate this threat immediately, but…" Her voice paused for a moment, before continuing, "I'll have to deal with it alone. Please watch over the palace for me… I will be back in a week."

A couple more seconds later, the man's voice replied in a confused tone, "As you command… but are you sure you don't want an escort? I know it will be dangerous, if you're going somewhere for a week, after all!"

The female chuckled lightly, then replied, "That won't be necessary… after all… only I know where I'm going, and it would be far too dangerous for even my greatest guards to pass through unharmed, since they don't know anything about it!"

There was another moment of silence, before the man said, "Very well, then… but PLEASE don't forget what's coming up next week! We wouldn't want you to miss it! It is your holiday, after all!"

The female replied, "I will try not to, Flash Sentry… but please, do remember to send that letter I gave you to Twilight Sparkle as soon as you can. It's very important that she moves to Ponyville the day before the Summer Sun Celebration! She is, after all, going to be the supervisor for it this year. Oh, and one more thing!" Lighter sounding hoof steps could be heard, with another sliding noise of the hooves coming to a halt. "If she asks you anything about 'Nightmare Moon', then I want you to tell her to stop reading those dusty old books… and if she sends it before you send the letter that I've written, I want you to send the one you write first. Her curiosity must not go ahead of her duties. Understood?" A few seconds later, she said, "Thank you again. Now please… I must be off, so you are dismissed. And… nopony is to know what I've told you."

"As you wish, Your Highness! If you need anything else, please let us know right away!" The man's voice replied, followed by the sound of a hoof clopping onto a thin metal surface, sounding slightly like armor.

After that, the heavy hoof steps' sounds returned, followed by a door closing, which silenced the steps slowly afterward; the steps sounding like they were growing more distant, until they were unable to be heard completely.

The female sighed, and muttered to herself, "I only hope he remembers me… it's been so long, after all…"

Finally, the sound of a high-pitched magic aura could be heard, followed by an ominous burning sound mixed with a bubbling noise. Then, the sound of a large object sliding from one place to another was made.

Before the sound could be heard again with a weak crashing noise, like a stone wall clashing into something, the female said in an echoed voice, along with the sound of echoed hoof steps mixing with her voice, "Never thought I'd enter this place again… but I have to stay strong! It is, after all, what he taught me, all those years ago…"

[size=1.25em]Stated below is a timeline of the significant events prior to the story's prologue! If you wish to fully understand the storyline, I urge you not to skip it![/size]

[size=1.5em]It all began ten thousand years ago…[/size]

Justin Daniels was a young child, born in a simple Peasant family, who lived in the human kingdom's capital city, "Evalon". Naturally, he was a kind-hearted individual, always fending for his family, even if it risked losing his life. He worked at his family's farm daily, hoping for a good harvest, while sometimes fighting off wild animals that invaded the farm, like wolves, boars, and occasionally, even bears. Sometimes, however, he would end up facing creatures that were native to their neighbors, like timberwolves, cockatrices, and changelings, though they were mostly dealt with by his parents, whom were very protective of their children.

However, he occasionally snuck out of the city, and played around in the open fields. He even made a few friends out there… and not all of them were human!

Two months after he began sneaking out of the city walls undetected, his family was noticed by the generous king of Evalon, Alvo Stormblade, and called into the throne room, but not informed as to why, though. Worried for their son's safety, Justin's parents told him to stay inside the house, and that they would be back shortly.

Justin, however, was aware of their worried expressions, so he snuck out of the house the same way he did when he went out to play. He had a feeling that they were in danger because of him.

While he was hiding behind the curtains of the throne room, Justin was soon caught by the guards, and taken to the king himself.

To his parents' shock, he quickly pulled his arm from the guard who held him, ran up to the stairs that led up to the king's throne, and pleaded for their lives to be spared, and his to be taken in their stead. King Alvo looked at him confused, but slowly smiled, and called Justin up to him.

After examining Justin closely, he asked him what he could have possibly done that would cost his parents' lives. At that point, Justin confessed that he has been sneaking out of the city limits, and playing with his friends in the fields outside the city border.

Alvo looked at him shocked, and questioned the guards if they have seen him sneaking out, to which they declined. Then, he asked Justin who his friends were, to which he replied that they were Ponies.

The guards looked at him wide-eyed, and thought he was lying, since the Ponies' kingdom was way too far for a simple child to go to. In fact, it usually took a grown man two hours of a walk to make it to the borders of the Ponies' kingdom, Ponyland.

King Alvo, however, smiled at him, and believed in Justin's testimony, much to the guards' surprise. He even admitted to doing the same thing in his own childhood, and that his daughter, Princess Megan, did so to that day.

Alvo also believed that Justin's determination, honesty, and stealthy skills could be useful someday, so Justin and his family were soon adopted, and Justin was eventually raised as a Royal Knight by the generous king.

Justin quickly became well known for his incredible memory, and was soon chosen to be in charge of patrolling the roads to the towns and cities owned by Evalon, and their neighboring allies; the Ponies of Ponyland, the Gryphons of Stormhaven (though they were much farther away, within a separate continent, in fact), the kind-hearted dragons of the Frozen North, and the humble villages that surrounded the areas, like Everfree Village, Golden Shades, and the city of Evalon itself, which rested atop the Canterlot Mountains, high enough to see the villages from a great distance.

On the first day that Justin was in charge of guarding Everfree Village, however, he stumbled across a rare sight within the nearby woods… a small family of Alicorns; A mare with a pure white coat, and fire-red mane and tail, a stallion with a dark blue coat, and pure white mane and tail, and two baby fillies, the oldest being white-coated like her mother, with a blue mane that had pink and green stripes, and flowed freely, and the youngest of the two fillies being lightly blue-coated with a dark blue mane and tail that flowed similarly to her older sister, but sparkled like the night sky. She, of course, didn't have a full-grown mane yet, though, as she was still in diapers, so it was barely noticeable at the time.

Justin knew at once that they were, without a doubt, inhabitants of the neighboring kingdom, Ponyland.

The humans and Ponies of Ponyland seemed to have an inseparable alliance going on, to the point where most humans would lay their own lives on the line to protect them, so the family was in no immediate danger. Even so, Justin couldn't help but feel sorry for them, as their worried expressions made it obvious to him that they were lost. Without hesitation, he quickly, yet in a nonthreatening way, walked up to them, and helped escort them back to Ponyland, since he memorized the routes between towns and cities so well.

Upon arriving there, the family smiled at him, and said that they will surely meet again. To his surprise, he learned that the mare and stallion were actually the King and Queen of Ponyland. Their daughters even seemed to like him as a friend already, which made him feel glad to have helped, since he had few friends, anyways.

Throughout the days that he patrolled the roads to Ponyland, which spanned northeast of Evalon, Justin often encountered the white filly, and occasionally her younger sister, the blue one, once she came of age, trotting around, or playing in the grassy fields. It didn't take long for a close friendship to form between them, and deep inside, Justin felt like his job was well worth it, since he was able to see the grateful faces of those he protected on a daily basis.

Ten years of frequent encounters from the white filly later, and Justin realized that, after a few months of the filly's absence, she had earned her cutie mark… an emblem of the sun. Another thing that he realized, which he hadn't noticed before, was that she was now a full-grown adult, standing just above his thighs in height. He congratulated her, and gently brushed her mane, which she had grown to liking.

As he did, however, he realized that his hands were glowing. It didn't take him long to figure out what was going on. When he examined his hands, his eyes widened at the cause of the glow.

There, now engraved on the backs of his hands, were Cutie Marks, each of which matched the same ones on the pony's flanks.

Throughout history, there has always been a saying within Evalon's archives. The saying went, "Thou who art blessed with a Cutie Mark shall be blessed to roam the earth for all of eternity, and in Spirit Form, they shall live within a world separated from the Heavens and the Underworld, should they pass on, and become acquainted with those of their race that, too, hath been given the blessed marking."

It was also said that those with the blessed Sun Cutie Mark are given a powerful bond that could assist those with the mark by bringing them through the Spirit World, and back, through a certain spell that can only be cast by the original bearer of the Cutie Mark. They were also the only ones who would ever be able to cast Holy Magic, and even manipulate the sun itself at some point.

Those who were given the Cutie Mark, however, were also destined to live their lives on a personal mission… they are to become the sworn protectors of the one whom that Cutie Mark represents for all eternity… they were to become Guardians.

Seeing that his hands were given the Sun Cutie Mark, Justin realized that he was now in charge of protecting the young Alicorn with his life, and soul. At that moment, he swore to protect her, until the day he died, and even beyond then. He made his vow there on the spot, as he said her name… Lady Tia, daughter of Ponyland's ruler, Queen Sundance, the ally of humanity's Queen, Megan.

Thirty years on, and both Lady Tia, and Lady Luna, Tia's younger sister, returned to Everfree Village, every day being more cheerful than the last, as Tia's protector would always compliment her, and her sister, whom also received her cutie mark; the Mark of the Moon, ten years after she did.

One fateful day, though, they returned to Everfree Village, only to find it burnt to the ground, along with a huge smoke rising from the city of Evalon, hovering atop the largest hill in the valley. In a panicky state, they were about to run to the city, only for Tia to hear Justin's dying words through her Cutie Mark. The only way she knew that her knight was dying was because of the bond their Cutie Marks gave them. She heard his voice through her head, speaking to her, saying that he was going to be guarding her through the Spirit World. While he spoke, his voice faded quickly, telling her exactly how fast he was dying.

This, of course, brought her and her sister to tears, as he was their first true friend they ever had. Although her sister was the one he was destined to protect, Luna practically grew up knowing him.

He told Tia, who told her sister, that the city has fallen, that he was dying, and that he didn't have much time left to speak to her. Thankfully, he did manage to get a glimpse of the culprit, and warned her of his appearance, and his massive power. The creature was neither man, nor pony. In fact, his power made him seem like a Demon! And for that, he told them to run, and to hide… but also to warn their parents of what they have learned. And then, his final words were what made Lady Tia cry even more.

"Stay Strong, for you shall be a powerful leader someday! It is… in your blood, after all…"

After saying those words, Tia tried asking him what's going on, but her gut already told her what happened then. Without hesitation, Tia and Luna ran away, thankfully undetected, and headed for Ponyland to warn their parents of what they just learned.

All of the ponies and humans soon found out about the Demon King, his evil intentions, and his unquenchable blood-lust, through countless battles that he did against the human protectors, along with the ponies that were unfortunate enough to be there at the given time. Just the thought of his name gave Lady Tia shivers down her spine for many years… "Lord Tirek". He was defeated once, thanks to the valiant efforts of Queen Megan, when she was still a Princess. As for how he returned, nobody knew.

And so, after a thousand years of nonstop combat against Tirek's evil forces, the whole human race fell to extinction, with only two remaining in the Spirit World… Queen Megan, and Justin. They were the only two humans who were given Cutie Marks. Megan's, however, was the mark of a tree made of diamonds.

Throughout the battles, Tirek even managed to slay the King of Ponyland, which drastically lowered the morale of Queen Sundance, Lady Tia, Lady Luna, and all of Ponyland.

Although Justin's duty to protect Everfree Village failed, he still trained with illusions of the weapons he was familiar with through the Spirit World… and with the help of Queen Megan, his spirit was given the power to cast magic, in case the monsters he trained to face would be resistant to close combat.

Eventually, the remains of Everfree Village were long gone, and a large portion of wild trees and plants grew over the rubble, turning it into a forest. The dangers around it, however, still lurked.

Once the ponies and monsters fought in the final battle, the spirit of Queen Megan aided the ponies by giving them a weapon to use against the dark forces that could put an end to the dangers of the land, and bring both peace and harmony to the war-torn world… but to do so, her spirit would have to be sealed away in the form of a natural element for all eternity.

After a short debate in a secret meeting far from the war zone, a group of eight ponies, Sundance's younger sister Twilight, and her friends; Applejack, Firefly, Sparkler, Posey, Surprise, Tia, and Luna, decided to perform a sacred ritual that was used to bring a spirit into the world, and seal it into an object of the spirit's choice, in order for that spirit's intentions to come to life. Queen Megan's intentions, of course, was to stop Tirek, and cast him away, never to return again.

When they chanted the spell, hoof-to-hoof, in a circle within the Everfree Forest, the center of the circle began to glow, and at once, a seed of pure light appeared before them.

They decided to bury it where Everfree Village used to be. The years of war has, without a doubt, made the village nonexistent, to the point where even the rubble was gone, which proved that task to be an obstacle, but eventually, they found the right area to bury the seed, thanks to the memories of both Tia and Luna.

After burying it, however, a sprout instantly grew from the ground, and at once, the dark skies were filled with light again, and the signs of evil were, at long last, abolished, save for a few naturally evil creatures, but none capable of causing as much harm as one of Tirek's soldiers.

Tirek himself, having been caught off guard, was killed in a radiant light, and his spirit was dragged into a world separate from Heaven, the Underworld, and the Spirit World… he was cast into the Void, a land of pure darkness, and the polar opposite of the Spirit World.

Several years have passed, and eventually, a castle was built for Queen Sundance, where she could raise the sun and moon for the rest of eternity…

…But when the castle was finished, she was nowhere to be found…

It was then that the Alicorn Sisters realized that their mother was dead, for they felt a disturbance within the balance of life. When they searched the area, they found their mother standing in the cave that was built over the location of the seed, but her body was transparent.

When they asked her about it, she told them that she had to make a sacrifice in order to keep the Sprout of Harmony alive, for the corruptions of the land were starting to make it wither behind their backs, and the darkness was starting to rise again from afar. After finishing her final statement, she gave them her blessings to rule the land, while her spirit slowly sunk into the sprout, which before, was starting to turn gray, but after her spirit entered it, it started to glow again.

Not wanting any more sacrifices, they gathered the original six ponies who helped summon Queen Megan, and informed them of the situation. They knew that, if the requirement to keep the Sprout of Harmony was too strong for their mother, the queen, to handle, then their time of peace would be, without a doubt, limited.

Seeing no other option, the six ponies knew that they had to do something… but to protect their friends, the heirs of the throne, they had to secretly do something without them knowing… something that would change the fate of Equestria for generations to come.

They performed another ritual… but this one proved costly.

The six of the ponies gathered around the Sprout of Harmony, and chanted in unison, "Through the power of Friendship, and the elements of which it stands for; Honesty, Kindness, Laughter, Generosity, Loyalty, and Magic, we give unto thee, our souls, so that the Sprout of Harmony shall live on!"

When it was done, the six of them vanished, and their spirits, in the form of wisps, sunk beneath the ground, and into the roots of the Sprout of Harmony, while Tia and Luna watched in shock, as they appeared too late to stop them.

Due to their heritage, the two sisters became the new rulers of the throne; Princess Celestia, Mare of the Sun, and Princess Luna, Mare of the Moon. They chose not to claim the title of "Queen" though, for only one Queen could rule an entire kingdom… that, and the title would only remind them of their mother, who's death brought them to tears for many years to come.

Throughout the millenniums, Justin's spirit trained, and through the former teachings of Queen Megan, and trial and error, he became a master of the ways of both combat and magic. There was, however, a growing sadness deep inside him that he couldn't find a way to fix.

During the planning stages of the Seed of Harmony, Queen Megan informed him of her long-term plan, which was to create a weapon that could end their powerful enemies. The weapon was named "The Elements of Harmony". She claimed that protecting them would be as vital as protecting Lady Tia, and that he should also remember to protect them, as well.

Hearing her name only saddened Justin, though, as he wasn't able to contact her for a long time… he even feared the worst. He only had Queen Megan's words from a few millenniums ago that told him that she was safe. Once she vanished, though, he hoped that he would see someone again in the Spirit World. In reality, though, he knew he was alone now, and would probably be for the rest of eternity, for no more humans seemed to be getting Cutie Marks. He wasn't even aware that humanity has gone extinct.

Although the peace of the lands have been getting more corrupted by prejudice and greed, the Ponies always found a way to endure the hardships. One event was seven thousand years ago, when the Pegasi, Unicorns, and Earth Ponies all went their own separate ways for one generation, only for their leaders' servants to bring harmony to the new lands that they fought over. The lands, however, were destined to become something greater one day: the birthplace of the next Elements of Harmony, Ponyville.

Three thousand years ago, Princess Celestia met a cheerful Pegasus Stallion with a pure white mane, coat, and wings. While he didn't seem like the kind of friend that Celestia would expect to make, due to her serious personality, and his playful one, he proved himself worthy of trust by protecting Celestia from any harm that seemed to go her way. Eventually, they both fell in love, much to Princess Luna's disappointment, for she didn't trust him.

After one thousand years of dating, Celestia learned that he was known to be a prankster… and that his pranks were sometimes… "out of hoof", as they would say at that time. Of course, his parents raised him to be careful who he pranks, and to be mindful of others. He obeyed them quite well, yet even so, he still managed to get in trouble a lot during his years growing up. Even though he would get in trouble, however, his parents were kindhearted, and forgave him for his many mistakes. It was thanks to them that he became such a gentle-colt before he met Celestia.

But after the thousandth year of dating, the stallion heard news of his parents being murdered.

Fueled with extreme fury, his pranks turned more and more dangerous over the centuries, and his physical form began turning more and more dicorded by the bitterness of his heart, even taking on the forms of different creatures; a goat's leg, horn, and beard to represent his stubbornness, the arm of a lion to represent his pride, the claw of an eagle to represent his ruthlessness, the leg of a lizard with the tongue and tail of a snake to represent his deceitfulness. Eventually, his body was starting to take up more of the shape of a dragon, to represent his greed. It was only a matter of time before his entire pony structure was completely gone.

After five hundred years of trying to convince him to stop his madness, Princess Celestia had to draw the line, for she knew that, deep down in her heart, the stallion that she once loved is gone now.

Now, he was Discord, the Spirit of Chaos and Disharmony, and his powers were far too much to be ignored… he had to be stopped.

With his unimaginable power, he was able to easily overthrow Celestia and Luna from the throne… but since he was in love with Celestia long ago, he spared both her, and her sister's lives, while they supposedly fled from their castle, leaving him to plunge the world into chaos, for what they did to his family.

With no other option, both Celestia and Luna went back into the cave that held the Tree of Harmony, as it was now known to be, and with their magic, along with their deep connection of their friends, they managed to summon the spirits of their friends in the shapes of hexagonal diamonds, save for one… Twilight, the younger sister of Queen Sundance. She became the form of a star-shaped diamond, instead, as her powers were considered the strongest of the family. With the powers of their friends, the Elements of Harmony, they were able to seal Discord into a stone prison, and protect their mighty kingdom for five hundred more years as co-rulers.

One thousand years ago, Princess Luna's heart grew darker and darker, as she grew jealous of her sister, due to the Ponies of Equestria remaining awake during the day, yet sleeping during the night. In less than a month of her jealousy, her bitterness soon overwhelmed her, and after an argument between the two, Luna's anger caused her to lose her temper, and destroy parts of the throne room out of rage.

What she didn't expect was the dark presence of an evil shadow that engulfed her, and possessed her body and soul, manipulating her former love for her sister, and turning it into pure hatred. As a result, the two sisters clashed in a duel that could've been the end of Celestia's very life, but with the Elements of Harmony, she was able to banish her sister for a thousand years, hoping that one day, the dark spirit that corrupted her sister would be lifted upon her arrival.

Shortly after the incident, the inhabitants had to move from the area, by Celestia's orders. She then became the lone ruler of Equestria, and was in charge of raising and lowering both, the sun and moon, for a thousand years. Even so, she was always saddened by the memories of the castle that had fallen, and the many good years she spent with her younger sister. To keep her sister's chances of returning, she kept the title "Princess", so that when the time comes, Luna herself can rule with her again.

To avoid any more painful memories, though, she left the castle, and had a new one built in the highest part of the Canterlot Mountains, which soon became the name, and location, of the capital city of Equestria. The castle, and the town that surrounded it, soon fell to decay, until only the castle was all that remained.

Nine hundred and eighty five years after that incident, Celestia was called to a Magic School within Canterlot, in order to dispel a lavender-coated, purple-mane/tailed Unicorn filly's uncontrollable spell. When she did so, she instantly recognized the filly's Cutie Mark, which she earned that day… the Six Sided Star… the same shape that her Aunt Twilight's spirit took the shape of. It became clear to her that this filly was, without a doubt, a descendant of her former aunt.

Ironically, she, too, was named Twilight… but her full name was Twilight Sparkle, so to honor it, Celestia addressed her as so.

Seeing great potential in this young filly, Celestia chose to be her personal trainer, for only she knew, first-hoof, what kinds of power flowed through Twilight Sparkle's veins.

She did, in fact, have the blood of a future princess, after all!

Fifteen years of nonstop training, and frequent reading later, Celestia's former sister, now known as "Nightmare Moon", returned, and with her dark powers, threatened the way of life of the ponies that lived there, by engulfing the world into darkness. The thing that startled the citizens of Ponyville was not only the fact that the dreaded "Nightmare Moon" was back, but Princess Celestia disappeared!

With the aid of her new-found friends, Fluttershy, the kind hearted, yet timid, yellow-coated pink-mane/tailed Pegasus, Rainbow Dash, the fast, brash, but loyal, cyan-coated rainbow-mane/tailed pegasus, Applejack, the honest, yet stubborn orange-coated blond mane/tailed Earth Pony, Rarity, the generous, yet melodramatic, white-coated, purple mane/tailed Unicorn, and Pinkie Pie, the playful, yet childish, pink-coated, fluffed-out, dark pink-coated/maned Earth Pony, Twilight was able to stop Nightmare Moon from taking over Equestria, using the powers, and spirits, of their ancestors, the Elements of Harmony. In doing so, they not only saved Equestria, but freed Princess Luna from her curse, right as Princess Celestia entered the chamber the events took place in…

…The ruins of their old castle.

With a heart-felt reunion, both Princess Celestia and Princess Luna were, at long last, co-rulers again. Not only that, but Princess Celestia allowed Twilight to live with her new friends in Ponyville, which she quickly accepted. Although the question was never asked, however, Twilight Sparkle couldn't help but wonder one thing, though.

Where exactly WAS Princess Celestia when the former events took place?

One week before then, she was given a report from the guards of the northeastern town of Fillydelphia… an unimaginably powerful force was rising from between it, and the Foal Mountains, within a jungle. Hollow Shades, the cursed village that was once known as Golden Shades, a town run by both humans and ponies ten thousand years ago, was claimed to be home of a new breed of evil that found it's way to the Everfree Forest… the Shadowblight.

The village was originally put under a spell that made it unable to be entered, and exited from anything dead or alive, but somehow, the spell was starting to wear off, which only made Princess Celestia worry even more about the safety of the Tree of Harmony.

While the Shadowblight doesn't affect anything alive, if something were to die, and the Shadowblight were to enter the corpse, it would take over, and attack any living creature relentlessly. It wasn't a disease, though, so the creatures were certainly not zombies, but they were still a threat.

It's only downfall was that the bodies had to be intact, or the Shadowblight's ghostly form would fly from the body, as it crumbles to the ground, where the Shadowblight would either seek another body to take it's place, or put the body back together manually.

The only way to truly vanquish the Shadowblight would be through Holy Magic… something only those with the Sun Cutie Mark was ever able to use.

With the threat noticed, Princess Celestia prepared herself for a week-long quest. In this quest, she traveled deep beneath a hidden cave below the castle, in search of an old friend.

Her friend was the only one that could possibly fight the Shadowblight other than her… and with her royal duties, she was unable to handle this threat herself. She needed someone with the same powers that she had… someone she hasn't seen in millenniums…

…It was time to call her guardian back from the Spirit World…

Published 1970-01-01 00:00:00 UTC
Last updated 2014-03-26 08:36:36 UTC

Prologue: Friendship is Magic: Shadows of the Past...

Deep inside a cave beneath Canterlot...

Princess Celestia traveled through the dark tunnels, avoiding any potential deathtraps along the way with ease. The whole place was covered in them! Most of the cave contained several holes in the ground that spanned for more than tens of thousands of feet. While a Pegasus could easily fly from a fall like that to stop the fall, the air within the cave was too murky, so their wings would only weigh them down more.

The death traps were mostly natural, from roots that covered the holes, to loose rocks that could hinder movement. Not to mention the many crystallized spikes that either stuck out from the ceiling, the ground, or occasionally, both, were more than capable of either falling and stabbing, or impaling those unfortunate enough to be in the spike's path. There was, without a doubt, no possible way that anyone could survive this cave without a proper escort.

Celestia, however, knew this whole cave by heart, due to it being the resting place of her first true friend. It was also the last place in the world that any creature would ever be able to find any whereabouts on her friend's race and culture. It only had one entrance, and that entrance was guarded by a secret bookcase that only Celestia herself would have access to, so she wasn't worried about anyone following her in.

Princess Celestia was wearing a large saddlebag on her back, which contained bare necessities that she needed, like food and water, but they also contained blankets and jackets that she would wear when she reached cold points of the cave. She was also wearing white plated armor with a golden trim on the sides, to protect her from any unwanted enemies.

So far, the only potential enemies that she fought were nothing more than a few Snapper Snakes, large creatures that could easily snap the heads off of an unwary target. She did, however, encounter a small group of Changelings, but since she was alone in the cave, they were unable to disguise themselves as anyone, so she easily dealt with them with her spear. Even though she loathed violence, she also loathed creatures that attacked her subjects on a daily basis, without any signs of remorse.

At that moment, she was standing in a long, narrow tunnel that looked like it's been dug into long ago, and it followed a curvy path that separated the hole-infested side of the cave with a rather sturdy-grounded one.

When she reached the very end of the tunnel, she looked up, and smiled. Quietly, she muttered to herself, "It's been a while since I've been here..."

Right in front of her was a fallen boulder that sat in the center of the tunnel's dusty road. It had an old, worn-out archway resting on it that had a sign that read "Evalon" nailed on the top of it. With her magic, Celestia formed an arched hole on the boulder, allowing her through, before she used her magic to close it back again. Then, she walked through the desolated streets of a city that was underground, and filled with old ruined buildings that still appeared scorched, but also rotten over the millenniums.

Anything that was wood within the houses were already fallen down, and filled with holes and bugs. The bottoms of the buildings, however, appeared intact, since they were made of stone, after all, yet they also had large portions of moss that covered most of them. In the center of the town square was an old, broken fountain that used to have a statue of a human king, Alvo Stormblade, holding his right hand up, which was grasping a longsword, but the statue was already fallen, and covered in too much moss to make it seem even slightly close to human-like. In fact, at first glance, one would assume it to just be a large pile of moss-covered rocks that might've fallen from the top of the cave.

At the far-right corner of the entrance stood a mausoleum, which was where Celestia was heading. On the top of the doorway to the mausoleum was a stone sign that read "Here lies the Royal Knights of King Alvo Stormblade. May they rest in eternal peace.".

Then, Celestia looked at her cutie marks, and sighed, with a saddened expression on her face. "I'm sorry, old friend... but it is important that I take you from your peace for the sake of Equestria..."

At once, she used her magic to open the door, while she slowly trotted down the stairs that went down about three loops of ten steps each, before stopping at the square-framed entrance of a large dark room that had many coffins around the walls. While passing by, however, she closed the door again behind her.

While walking through the room filled with coffins, Celestia didn't stop at any of those within the walls, but did mutter soft words of comfort to the fallen, while she trotted through a circled out archway that led to an even larger room. Within that room was a large square platform that had only one coffin on it, with four torches that marked the edges of the coffin. The coffin was placed in the center of the platform, and the platform was in the center of the room. There was another door on the other side of the room, but she wasn't concerned about that one at the time, but she looked at the door, and muttered out, "I'm sorry, King Alvo, but I need to borrow your knight."

Celestia slowly trotted up the five steps of the platform, and stared down at the coffin. Then, with her magic, she lifted the top of the coffin, and gently leaned the lid right beside the coffin's far-right corner, while she stared inside, a saddened look covering her face even more.

There, with his arms crossed over his chest, was the decayed body of a knight in old, rusty silver full-plate armor that had a sleeveless tabard wrapped around his chest that lowered to his knees. The knight's armor's coat of arms was the sun, in the shape of Celestia's Cutie Mark.

His helmet was an old and rusty Flat-topped Great Helm, and the visor covered his face entirely, but inside, it was covered in red, but black-spotted decayed flesh.

The breastplate, though below the tabard, was once a shiny silver color that was also reflective, and had a pair of faulds below them that were strapped over the tabard. It was now covered in enough rust to deem it beyond repair.

His gauntlets also had a lot of rust on them, yet they still had a few spots that were still reflective, although the darkness of the cave proved to be difficult to notice, even with Celestia's "Light-Emitter" Spell active.

His leggings were about the same as the gauntlets as far as rust and reflectiveness goes.

His pauldrons that were strapped onto his shoulders, however, weren't that rusty, compared to the other armor pieces.

His boots were about the same, which surprised Celestia, because she had a feeling a long time ago that those would be the most likely to rust first, considering he walked on them a lot. Then again, they were also polished a lot, thanks to his regular patrols he made around the kingdoms.

Within his hands was a longsword that had a thin U-shaped guard made of iron, a blade made of steel, and a grip made of a darker iron than the guard. It was, without a doubt, very dull, and undeniably rusty, although the alligator leather-coated iron sheath that covered it made it difficult to tell at the time.

Halfway down the sheath was a kite shield that also had the Sun Cutie Mark on it, although the condition it was in made it nearly impossible to tell. It was made of iron, yet it also had a wooden coating that the coat of arms was engraved on.

After examining her friend for a good five minutes, Celestia's eyes began to fill with tears at the sight of the condition her old friend was in. After taking a deep breath, she looked down, and muttered, "I only wish I didn't have to see you like this," she looked back up at the body, "...Justin."

Then, she closed her eyes, and lowered her horn at the corpse knight, while her Cutie Mark began to glow a golden color, along with the hands and eye sockets of the body. While the glowing began to increase, the torches on all four corners of the platform started to light up, revealing a one-foot tall golden wisp in the center of the room that slowly glided into the chest of the corpse before disappearing.

After a minute of nonstop glowing, the corpse knight took a deep breath from within the helmet, and exhaled deeply, before sitting straight up, and breathing heavily. Then, he raised his right hand, and moved his fingers around, before repeating that process with his left. Finally, he moved his toes inside the metal boots, and sighed in relief when he felt his toes moving. Afterwards, he moved his neck around, which made a cracking noise as he did.

When his stretching was complete, he slowly started to rise from the coffin, but sat back down when he noticed his surroundings. Quickly looking to his left, he spotted Princess Celestia, and gasped. "Lady Tia?! Dost mine eyes deceive me?!" he asked in a surprised tone.

With an amused smile, Celestia shook her head, and replied, "It's been too long, Justin!" After that, Justin slowly stood from the coffin, and slowly limped to Celestia, where they both embraced in a friendly hug.

After the thirty second hug, Justin slowly broke it, and chuckled, "I see thou hath summoned me from the Spirit World, at last!" But then his tone changed to a serious one once he saw her worried face. "I know that look... you hath felt it as well, I presume?" She nodded at him, and sighed. "So what be that dark force that dares taint these lands, milady?"

She mentally noted that she should fill him in on the modern grammar soon. Even so, she looked down, and replied, "From a distant town, I've been informed that the woods that were near it were hit with the plague known of Shadowblight... I'm sure you've heard of it, right?"

Justin folded his arms across his chest, and had his right gauntlet over his chin, although it was covered in the helmet. "The phantom mist that uses the corpses of it's fallen foes as a body. Indeed, I've read about it in my studies within Everfree Village. Wasn't it all destroyed by Holy Magic, though?"

Celestia nodded her head, and replied, "I know for certain it was, as you and I can sense any forms of Necromancy from anywhere! In fact, I summoned you here because I need your help in ridding it from the Everfree-" She stopped herself immediately, remembering that Justin was dead long before the fall of humanity. No doubt it would be harsh for him to know, but it was important that he did know about the fate of Everfree Village.

Justin tilted his head, and asked, "Milady? Are you alright? Dost thou require my aid in Ponyland, as well?! I would see no fault in that, if that be the case!"

Again, her eyes watered up, while she weakly spoke. "Justin... how much do you remember... about your death?"

Justin froze there for a second, and sighed. "It was... a day of remorse, to say the least... the whole city was burning, and I was assigned to aid in the frontline... the battle was almost won in our favor... until a large red knight, cladded in green armor, with a horned helmet, stepped up, and... with one mighty swing of his sword..." At once, the sound of the screaming, the suffering, and the flames, started to ring in his head, while his hands started to shake. Then, he looked down, and sighed. "...I was unable to stop him... along with my allies beside me, and behind." He looked back up, and asked, "Please inform me, Lady Tia... How many survivors are left?"

Celestia's tears fell from her eyes, and at once, her voice started to shake, while she lightly cried. "J-Justin... I... think you should follow me... but this pain you might feel... it'll be far worse than death itself, I fear." Without another word, Justin slowly nodded, and followed her down the stairs, through the arched frame, followed by the squared one, and up the stairs. The door that separated the inside from the outside was still closed, so Celestia waited for Justin to get close to her, before revealing the bad news by opening the doors.

"Why do we tarry, Milady?" Justin asked, tilting his head.

Celestia lowered her head, and replied, "Beyond this door... lies Evalon... but what you will see will surely not be what you would expect... would you rather I teleport us away, instead?"

Justin gave it some thought, but shook his head. "If I were to conceal the truth, it would undoubtedly bother me later... and yes... I am ready."

With a slow nod, Celestia's horn glowed, and at once, the door slowly opened, revealing the ruins of the ghost town. Justin looked around it, and gasped. "Evalon..." Then, he lowered his head, and sighed. "I see... so we were unable to keep the Capital City... but what of the inhabitants? Surely SOMEONE must've survived, right?!" He looked at Celestia, who was still crying. With a saddened look on her face, she shook her head, while looking down slightly.

"It hurts me dearly to say this, Justin, but..." After taking a deep breath, she slowly trotted to him, and placed her hooves on his shoulders. "Due to the dark power of Tirek, the 'Demon Knight' that took your life, he went on a conquest for blood and power... which resulted in a genocide... and from what you can see, I'm certain you know who the target of that genocide was."

Justin stood there silently, taking the harsh news in. "So... what thou sayeth is... Humanity... it's extinct, now?" Again, she slowly nodded.

After a moment of silence, Justin sighed, clearly sounding troubled with the news. Even so, he brushed Celestia's mane the way he used to, which made her smile weakly, while he said, "Well... I thank thee for informing me of this, Lady Tia... is there anything else I should be made aware of?" He paused. "H-how fares thine family? Is Queen Sundance well?"

Celestia sighed, and shook her head. "I'm sorry, Justin, but... all of our friends from that era are dead, along with Mother, Father, and even Aunt Twilight. Now, only I rule the throne... I'll inform you the details as we escape this cave... there is much we need to discuss."

Justin gasped, and pointed to her. "Wait, so... thou art the QUEEN, now?!"

Again, she shook her head, then replied, "Due to the kingdom formerly being co-ruled by my sister and I, we decided to abolish the titles of 'King' and 'Queen', and instead remained 'Princess Celestia', and 'Princess Luna'... but..." She sighed, and lowered her head again, as she stopped in place.

They were standing near the broken well, which Justin occasionally looked at, but his attention was fully on Celestia at this point. He noticed the disturbance in her emotions, and patted her right shoulder with his left hand, before saying in a comforting tone, "If thou art incapable to speak thine next words, thou haveth no reason to do so, Milady." Again, he lifted his left hand, and gently brushed her mane with his fingers, which made her giggle.

"You always have been such a kind soul to me... I'm thankful that at least YOU became a Sun Guardian." After taking a deep breath, she continued. "A thousand years ago, my sister and I... we... got into an argument..." Then, her eyes teared up, while Justin gently wiped them away with his left hand. "The argument soon led to violence... and then..." After a brief stutter, she continued. "She even managed to strike me, and nearly took my life..." She looked up at Justin, who was looking down. "Within the Spirit World, weren't you only able to see other humans at all?"

Justin nodded. "Indeed, but only Queen Megan... and even so, my past few millenniums were spent alone, due to her suddenly disappearing without a trace." Celestia's eyes widened, and she gasped. This, of course, caught Justin's attention. "Before she left, though, she at least managed to bless me with the capability of using magic... but that is off the subject at hand. What, pray tell, has caught thine attention, Milady?"

Celestia sighed, and looked down again. "I know what happened to Queen Megan... but it is imperative that we wait on that answer, and focus more on how to restore your body to it's full condition." After she said that, Justin removed his right gauntlet, and nodded, as he saw his burnt rotten-fleshed hand that had the glowing sun mark. "But before any of those, we have to wait, because my subjects need my aid right now. At this time, I request that you get used to the ways how you use your magic... how much have you practiced in the Spirit World?"

He lifted his right hand, and snapped his bare fingers together, and at once, a small flame combusted from above them. Then, he balled his hand into a fist over the fire, which made it dissipate. Finally, he looked at a nearby stone signpost, and snapped his fingers, which made it glow in a bright yellow and white light, before it levitated from the ground, and slowly hovered towards him, and shape-shift into a stone chair, which he sat on shortly after. "I've been practicing on a daily basis, Milady... so I feel I don't need much training... in fact, I was even informed on how to move the Sun and Moon, thanks to Queen Megan, but since I'm to serve thee, I feel it unnecessary to do so, unless given permission." Then, he placed his gauntlet back on, and sighed.

In a serious, and slightly disappointed-sounding tone, he spoke, "But going back on the main subject... Little Luna actually STRUCK thee?! And since thou both art Alicorns, I feel she used magic, which, indeed, could prove fatal! Please continue!"

Celestia nodded, and said, "Very well, then... she struck me down, and nearly took my life." She looked up at him again, and asked, "Tell me... how much do you know about the 'Elements of Harmony'?"

Justin rested his arms on his waist, and said in a casual manner, "Queen Megan informed me that she planned on using it as a way to protect the citizens from the evils of the world. I found it quite clever, actually... to use a resource such as 'Friendship' is truly a worthy goal, and undoubtedly powerful, depending on the level of friendship it involves. If it rests in the right hands, surely it would prove to be a force to be reckoned with!"

With a nod, Celestia said, "Correct... well, I had no other choice but to... to..." Again, her head lowered down, while her tears poured from her eyes. Justin took notice, and quickly embraced her, gently patting her on the back. After she took a few deep breaths, she continued, "I... had no other choice, but to banish Luna to the moon... for a thousand years!"

Justin nodded, and said, "Knowing how age doesn't kill ponies, I would have to say it must've been what had to be done. I'm thankful thou hadn't banished her permanently, though. As the saying goes... 'Time can be the greatest remedy'." Then, he took both hands, and gently wiped the tears from Celestia's face. "Please, though, don't fret about me! If thou must do thine duties, I hath no say in it, for thine duties must come first!" Then he gave a light chuckle, before continuing. "I beg of thee, though, please do not forget about me down here, for I see no way out!"

After he said that, Celestia's eyes widened. "Oh, of course! Please hold on a second!" With that, her horn began to glow, and at once, a stone pillar grew from the ground in the center of the walkway, just a couple feet away from the well, and close to the road that led to the Mausoleum. It was about five feet wide, and rose up twenty feet high, and at the tip of it was a statuesque head of a Unicorn.

Justin scratched the back of his head, and asked, "What would this be for, Your Highness?"

Celestia turned towards him, smiled, and replied, "This is where we will be able to travel back and forth from here to my castle. It took me one whole week to get down here, after all!" When she said that, Justin's eye sockets widened, while she continued to speak. "I will place a portal on it that'll take you to a room that only I can open... well, I'd suppose you can open it too, since we share the same power, but I'll need you to remain hidden. For safety sake, though, I'll need you to remain here for the time being, and read up on this book." Celestia's horn glowed a bright golden color, while the flap on her right saddlebag opened, and out levitated a book that read "The Complete Guide of Modern Equestria". "Once the time is right, I will open the portal for us to travel back and forth from."

When she handed Justin the book, he nodded his head. "I shall not rest until every word is memorized, Milady! How long, though, must I wait, until thine choice is made to open the portal?"

After placing her right hoof over her chin, Celestia asked, "Would three months be alright with you? No doubt you'll need plenty of time to practice the modern speech, after all!"

With a nod, Justin replied, "Three months sounds perfect, Milady! I shall be looking forward to our next encounter with good spirits!"

Then, they both embraced in another thirty second hug, before Celestia said, "Thank you, Justin... I'm looking forward to it! Oh, and... I'm happy to see you again, friend!"

"And I am joyful to see you again, Princess Celestia... my friend." He replied, patting her on the shoulders.

With the plan set into motion, Celestia's horn began to glow brightly, and in an instant, she disappeared in a flash of light, while Justin looked down at the book, and smiled. With a basic spell, he made his eyes... well, eye-sockets... capable of seeing in the dark, while he walked towards the seat that he made, sat down on it, and opened the book, starting with a chapter titled "Common Speech: To Say, or NOT To Say: The Equestrian Way, from Day-To-Day"

With a smirk, Justin said, "Art thou serious? This shan't be a problem at all!" before reading the words out loud.

While he was down there practicing his speech, and memorizing the significant locations of Equestria, Princess Celestia was reuniting with her sister, while the citizens of Ponyville were congratulating their new heroes, The Elements of Harmony, for the safe return of their beloved princesses.