My Little Pony: Shadows of the Two Kingdoms

It was during the early years of Equestria when one of the first kingdoms was created. Far to the south, this kingdom was merely a small village at one time, and under the guidance of Princess Crystilia, a proud mare with a skin tone like golden fire and a mane of dark purple, and it seemed as though the stars had colored it that way. She led her village with a proud heart and a powerful will and it soon blossomed into one of Equestria’s first kingdoms. It was called Latria and was a beautiful city, bearing host to every kind of pony unicorns, pegasi, and earth ponies. All three races of ponies lived in harmony, and everything was perfect. Soon, the princess and her mate had two unicorn children, a colt and a filly. The young filly had dreams of one day being a princess; while the colt had dreams of being a noble knight standing beside his princess, ready to protect her until the end.

One fateful day, 15 years later, tragedy struck the kingdom. The Princess fell terribly ill and passed away, leaving the kingdom without a beacon of courage and strength. The young daughter was tasked with the control of Latria until a new Alicorn princess was found, but the roots of hate and jealousy had been planted in the young mare’s heart years earlier, and she knew she could never hope to become princess permanently. She vowed not to give up the throne. The young stallion, Princess Crystilia’s only son, when asked, refused to help lead the city, and so, he instead set out to find a new alicorn princess, one with a strong heart and powerful will, like his mother had, for he alone knew of the darkness that lay dormant within his younger sister. Far from the beautiful kingdom where he grew up, in a small town called Sunburrow, he discovered the alicorn he’d been hoping to find. Her name was Ruby Heart, and she was a mare with a rose-colored coat and a twinkling mane of crimson that shined with bright white stars. She wasn’t an experienced leader, but the stallion knew her heart was pure and there was a deep fire burning within her.

They returned to Latria after only a few years to find the kingdom shrouded in a terrible darkness. It was the stallion’s sister. She had gained incredible power since he had left; the stallion and the new princess entered the once beautiful kingdom, only to find his sister sitting atop the throne. “So brother you have returned with your little squeeze to take my throne, have you?”

“Sister! This is madness! What you have done? Can’t you see this is not how a kingdom is to be ruled!” the strong stallion shouted.

“If you are so intent on spreading your petty love and compassion, you will have to tear my throne from me,” the power hungry sister said with a laugh and a sneer.

“Dearest sister, you know I will not fight you. We are blood!”

“I wasn’t talking to you fool, I was speaking to your little mare friend.”

“No this is between you and me a...” the stallion stopped, realizing that Ruby Heart had stepped in front of him.

“So, you think it is right what you are doing? You think to spread fear and chaos over this kingdom, to lead it to ruin is your goals!” The young princess says in a thundering voice.

“You dare to challenge my rule, to question my power!” The young sister says defiantly as she brandishes her horn. A flash of light erupts, streaming straight for Ruby Heart. An explosion of dust and debris follows from the magical arrow.

The dust clears away and the young alicorn princess is still marching forward towards the younger sister. “Your power is weak little one, for the powers of love and compassion shield me from your twisted black magic.” Ruby Heart continues to march forward as magical bolt after bolt bounces away and off her rose colored skin as her mane twinkles in the moonlight rays coming through the windows of the great hall. “Your brother sought me out on his own initiative, he told me of the darkness that slumbers within his dearest sister, now that darkness has escaped and you have revealed your true motives to all of Latria, Diamond Dust!” Diamond Dust glares with a look of disbelief “How is this possible?” she shouts.

Ruby Heart breaks into a swift stride and stops before the throne, her mane glinting and her eyes narrowed with a look of pure fire. “Because, love and compassion is stronger than any spell, Diamond Dust, and your brother’s love defends me from any twisted spell you dare conjure, while my love will defend him from any harm you intend to him.”

“We shall see.” Diamond Dust leaps off the throne and brandishes a magical bolt directly at her own brother. Ruby Heart leaps in with a spell of her own ready to be cast “You shalt not touch him.” Both mares’ horns locked, fighting for ground. Diamond Dust’s older brother comes charging in to attempt to help his loved one and brandishes his horn against his sister. Diamond Dust, fearing the worst, releases a powerful black aura from her horn.

The black Aura seems to grow in intensity as minutes of fighting pass. The older brother brandishes his own aura spell, as does the young princess the three magical auras together begin to combine becoming so bright with such burning intensity that an overload of magical power could happen at any moment. A large beautiful tri-colored blast radiates across the city as the castle collapses in on itself. Ponies on the streets look up in awe and wonder what has happened in the heart the kingdom.

When the smoke and rubble clear Diamond Dust is nowhere in sight, “She’s gone.” the older brother said to his princess. “So what now?”  “We rebuild the city, make repairs, and improve it, also we need to prepare ourselves in case Diamond Dust ever returns.” Ruby Heart says in a soft loving tone. “Have the unicorns begin work on something to protect our beautiful city and don’t fear for your sister. She will see the light and remember who she really is in time, my love.”

“And so, even though the brother never saw his sister again, he has kept a close eye on the horizon, hoping to see her appear over the hill and return to the kingdom of Latria, now known as Rubia, for it is her one true home.” Twilight Sparkle finishes the book and sets it aside peering around the room at the five ponies staring at her mouths dropped open in awe. “What, it’s just an old ponies tale.” She says with a smile.

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