Prologue - New Beginnings
New Heroes
Written by: The Lord of Night
Prologue
New Beginnings
Twilight
The cool morning air rushed through the open window above Twilight’s bed and she slowly awoke from her long sleep. Today would mark her fifth day as a Princess of Equestria, this meant all new assignments and all new responsibilities. She yawned and stretched out her hooves. She said out loud,”Wake up Spike. We have a big day ahead of us.”Grumbling to himself he said,”Ugh...what are we doing today that we have to wake up this early?”Twilight was already out of her bed and was combing her messy multi colored mane with a brush and said,”Today we are attending the Ceremony for the new Mage Knights remember. I marked it on our calendar.”She pointed her hoof on the calendar and Spike saw that is was in bright red ink and underlined and circled. Spike just rolled his eyes and turned over and said,”Wake me up in a few more minutes.”Twilight just smiled and washed herself up in the bathroom sink. While she does this she recalls everything she was asked to review on the Unicorn Mage Knights. The history of the Mage Knights go back almost to the founding of Equestria itself. Luna and Celestia initially had the School for Gifted Unicorns but back then the Wizards from there were not powerful enough to take on tasks that the Princesses weren’t capable of doing. That and Equestria had many enemies that were highly resistant to magic attacks. So the Order of Mage Knights was founded, to protect and defend Equestria.Mage Knights go under intense training to improve their telekinetic abilities. Normal Mages and Wizards only learn the basics of telekinesis, Mage Knights are for Unicorns who cannot use that much magical power to cast great mage spells. Along with their masterful telekinetic skills they are also renowned for their martial skills. Mage Knights are among some of the most elite fighters of Equestria. Once every year there is a test of skill and power so the Mage Knight in question can gain a rank among their fellows. The stronger the telekinetic powers, the larger the sword they wield and thus the different classes of Mage Knights are named after the magical sword being wielded. First and lowest are the Shortswords, then the Longswords, after that the Broadswords, and then the Greatswords. Of course since they are Mages some of their attacks and various forms of combat are magical based. These have their own classes and are very hard to master. There is the Ice Swords, the Fire Swords, the Wind Swords, and the Sun Swords. Sun Swords are the closest thing one Unicorn can get to a Paladin as most of their attacks are light and divine based.There are legends that Mage Knights are so attached to their weapons that they magically connect it to their soul. The Mage Knights founding member was Prince Talandus, older brother to Luna and Celestia and God of the Eclipse. Not much history is given about Talandus but legends say that he can wield both powers of the Sun and the Moon. Twilight wanted to know more about these Mage Knights, as this is the first time she has heard about them and read about them. She could not believe that they are now a hidden order of protectors that have watched over and guided Equestria since the beginning. She stood in the entrance to Golden Oak and breathed in a long breath of fresh air. Her lavender coat rustled in the breeze as it quickly rushed by. The sky was clear making way to a beautiful morning blue sky. The air smelled of fresh flowers and morning dew. Today marked the first day of summer.Twilight stepped out into the streets and began walking to the train station when she heard a soft voice beckon from behind her,”Hey! Twilight!”Twilight turned to see two somewhat familiar faces. She saw Bon Bon whom she knew almost instantly recognized the pale yellow coat and purple and pink colored mane and tail. Then there was the one who called out to her and she was pale yellow along with bright strawberry red mane and tail. Her name escaped Twilight until she saw the Cutie Mark. It was Rose. She trotted up to Twilight and she said,”Are you going to the Ceremony up in Canterlot? The one for Mage Knights?”Twilight raised an eyebrow and replied,”Yes...how did you know about that Rose?”Rose motioned to Bon Bon and said in the same serene and soft voice,”Bon Bon told me about it and she’s going there to root for Lyra whose competing to become a Broadsword...Oh it’s all just so exciting.”“Wait.”Twilight said furrowing her eyebrows,”Lyra is a Mage Knight? Since when?”“Since a few years ago. I don’t know what she did to get in there but she did and has been doing this for a while.”Bon Bon responded. Twilight then wondered who else might be a Mage Knight. Twilight looked at both Rose and Bon Bon and said,”Well...do you girls mind if-”She was interrupted by Princess Luna who was descending down and landed next to her. She said as she came down,”Thank the Moon and Stars that you have not left for Canterlot yet.”This brought a lot of confusion and questions to Twilight’s mind. Princess Luna was not one to meet Twilight in person unless Equestria is in danger or something serious is going on. What also perplexed her was the fact Spike was not running down to catch up with her with some letter for her mentor Princess Celestia. Luna looked at Rose and Bon Bon and said,”Will you please excuse us for a few minutes?”Rose and Bon Bon bowed low and stepped away. Twilight was about to say something but was cut off by Luna as she said,”No time to stand on ceremony Twilight Sparkle. I must be brief. Discord has rebelled against Equestria and is inhabitants. We underestimated him.”Twilight said,”No offense Princess Luna but how come Princess Celestia did not come to me with this news?”Luna lowers her head in sadness and says choking her words.”I...She...She was not powerful enough to fight Discord by herself and she was caught off guard….she...Celestia is dead.”The impact of the message hit Twilight like a lightning bolt from the sky...actually that is exactly what happened, a lightning bolt was shot at her chest and she was sent flying into a building. Her vision was blurry from the impact and she shook away the haze and saw Discord with electricity reverberating around his lion paw. He was laughing maniacally and said,”What’s the matter Twilight? Are you Shocked by the news!”He continued to laugh in a devilish tone and he turned his scorning stare back to Luna as he landed a few feet away from her he said,”We have unfinished business Princess Luna.”Luna returned with an equally threatening gaze and said as blue energy enveloped her body,”You know not what powers you wish to face. For you shall face the full power of the night!”She summoned on her tall slender body dark grey and black plate armor with her cutie mark on the chest plate. And in her magic held a pristine silver sword expertly made and curved. It almost instantly made her more intimidating. Twilight struggled as she stood up but as she did, she felt a sticky fluid run down all four of her legs. She looked down and saw blood seeping out of large gashes in her flesh. She looked up and instead of walking she thought it a good idea to hover. In an act of anger and frustration she shot from her horn a ray of pure purple magical energy.Discord however had his eyes on her the entire time and with his eagle claw he deflected the ray of magical energy. That had been one of her weaker spells as she had more up her sleeve. She hovered next to Luna and stood firm. Discord laughed and dark lightning shot from both his arms and quickly blasted in their direction. With good reaction time Twilight and Luna dodged out of the way. Quickly regaining her pose she shot a white hot fireball at Discord and Luna sent out a wave of energy slashing her sword in his direction. He simply held up both his arms and reflected the energy back at them. Luna dodged hers unscathed, Twilight was not so lucky. The fireball erupted at her hooves and she flew backwards.Twilight struggled to stand and Luna said when she stood up,”Go get the Elements of Harmony I will distract him.”More evil laughter could be heard from him and he snapped his fingers and said,”Oh...do you mean these Elements of Harmony?”Discord’s arms shot out dark lightning and the Elements began to crack and darken. Finally they burst in a flash of glistening gold and crystal shrapnel. Twilight’s mouth opened in shock. This was no mere revenge from Discord. This was liberation. This was Revolution. This was vengeance. Twilight never saw any villain her and her friends have ever faced, had tried to destroy the elements of harmony. Her wounds began to sting even more and she almost lost her consciousness but she caught herself and saw Discord laugh and summon dark ebony and scarlet energy around him and he said,”With little miss goodie two hooves and the Elements of Harmony out of the way I can embrace my true self. I can become the God of Chaos!”A storm of violent black and red energy swirled around him and his form began to change. His draconas form was hardening like he was growing some sort of exo-skeleton to form a natural armor. His lion paw and eagle claw began to change and they grew long claws and his pony muzzle changed to that of a wolf and he grew teeth like knives. He grew slightly taller and he grew stronger, not only physically but Twilight could sense that his magic abilities grew stronger as well.The most menacing thing about him however was his shadows of wings. They were made of pure dark energy and smoke. This was no longer just Chaos alone, he was fusing it with dark magic, an act that no pony should ever make. Fusing magic has severe side effects among them is setting yourself off like a nuclear explosion. Another is what is happening now and the magics that you are fusing together negatively affect your appearance. Twilight knew enough about magic that she and Luna had a small amount of time to take him down. While fusing magic made you really powerful, it took a long time to activate. About ten minutes. They had that much time until they were unable to stop him from unimaginable power.He was no longer after turning Equestria upside down. He wanted to make it into a wasteland. The feeling of true danger settled down on Twilight’s shoulders, it was up to her and Luna to take him down. Luna nodded at Twilight across the battlefield and Twilight responded as well with a nod. Twilight concentrated as she galloped forward towards Discord. She felt her horn began to heat up and finally shooting out of her horn was a cone of fire that shot directly at Discord.But the spell was being absorbed into his outstretched hand. After Twilight was done casting the spell he lunged forward and began slashing her with his claws. Twilight tried to dodge but her physical strength began to wane. She heard Luna cry in anger and sadness. She shot at him like a shooting star and slammed him in the ribs. But he made one final blow cutting her throat and blood slowly flowing out of her wounds. Her breaths were short and it hurt her chest.She wanted to cry out in agony and pain but she did not have the strength for it. All she could do was fall to the ground in terrible pain and watch as Luna took on Discord by herself.She had proven a very worthy adversary. She was flying all around him and he was too slow to catch up with her and slash his devastating claws. After moments of fighting finally with black blood dripping down multiple wounds he finally anticipated an attack by Luna and with great power swung his hand and she went flying into the already destroyed building. And the might of the blow the building began to shake and wobble as it was barely standing on its foundation. Twilight tried to look back but she was flown into the building as well.Many of her bones cracked and broke and she winced in the pain. Heat was rising through her chest to her neck and she felt she was on the verge of going unconscious. She struggled to keep her eyes open and tried to concentrate on the moving shadowy form that hovered towards her. It was then that she realised that their time was up. He had more power than ever before. The magics were fused together and he was ten times more powerful than before. Twilight heard as silence swept over Ponyville. She knew that most of the ponies stayed in their homes anticipating their Princesses to come to their doors and tell them that it is safe for them to come out.But that was not the case. She was buried under rubble and splintered wood. It did not completely collapse yet. While Luna was struggling to her hooves with a groan, Twilight was grabbed by the throat and lifted into the air. His grip on her throat was like a vice holding iron in place. Slowly constricting her throat and cutting off her airways. She gasped for air and held a threatening gaze on Discord and he said in a dark and reverberating voice,”Oh how I longed for this moment. Revenge is too sweet. I have killed one princess, now I am going to kill a second.”Twilight calmed her nerves as she knew this would be her death. Because she did not have enough time to fully embrace her powers she was still very much a mortal pony. Twilight needed time to fully embrace her powers as an Alicorn. But now she would die, showing little resistance to the full might of Discord’s power. Twilight cringed as she anticipated for Discord to make the final blow against her. But then she felt a warm light stream from the dark clouds, it cascaded across the land and gave her a sense of hope and determination.Twilight slowly turned her head towards Luna as she had her mouth agape. She knew that when something surprised Luna it was either something really astonishing or threatening. Twilight followed Luna’s gaze and saw an amazing sight. A stream of bright white light broke through the dark clouds and parted across the sky. Twilight looked longer and saw three figures descend from the sky. One large pony in the center followed by two smaller figures. Landing on the ground softly was the three figures. Twilight got a good look of the large pony and immediately saw that it was a tall bright gray Alicorn stallion. His mane and tail were as silver as the moonlight itself. He shot his eyes open and they were bright orange like two suns blazing in the sky.He wore sterling silver and gold plate armor, with scarlet red runes engraved on the shoulder pads, hooflets, vambraces, boots, and chest plate. Nearly his entire form was covered in the shining full plate armor. Along his flank was a long drape with plates with scarlet runes on them as well. In a sheath along his back was a large greatsword that emanated great power, even while it was sheathed. With merely looking at him she had a small shimmer of hope and determination fester beneath her chest and her heart began to beat a little bit faster. Along his left eye was three scars and another scar along his muzzle. He was a sight to see and one that Twilight will never forget.The two to his left and right was a unicorn stallion and an earth pony mare. This puzzled Twilight because earth ponies and unicorns could not fly. But she did not question it. The unicorn stallion stood a few inches shorter than the large Alicorn on his left. He wore dark black and red plate mail that covered him neck to toe. His coat was a sterling blue color, and his eyes were bright yellow. His armor was very uniquely made with many runes adorning the chest plate, vambraces, and hooflets. But he did not have any weapons that Twilight could see. He carried great power in his mind and she knew that he held up an invisible magical shield around him.She then turned her attention to the earth pony mare who wore dark grey scale mail, with only a chest plate, shoulder pads, back plate and vambraces as the only plate adorning her scale mail armor. When Twilight looked closer she saw that they were made of dragon scales and her coat was a dark red color and her mane and tail were ashen black. Her eyes were fierce and an aquamarine blue. She as well had no weapon that she could see, and deep in her mind she could as well sense great magic. But it was impossible. Earth ponies are in capable of using magic.Discord dropped Twilight to the ground and she landed with a thud and she winced at the growing pain in her body. Luna rushed to her side and held her head up with her hooves. Twilight said coughing up blood,”Who...are...they?”Luna looked long into her bright violet eyes and said,”They are here to save us.”She looked over at them and continued,”They are our saviors.”Luna and Twilight sat back as they saw Discord hover over towards the newcomers and he says in a dark and marauding voice.”So, I have gathered the attention of Prince Talandus the Righteous. The Highlord of Paladins. After I was done with Equestria I was going to head over to your neck of the woods-”His words were cut off as a bright beam of light shot from the sky and Talanus spoke in an angered and threatening voice as it thundered across the wind. Promising a swift and mighty death,”SILENCE! I will not be mocked by an insolent worm like you! For you have killed one of my sisters and for this I will have your consciousness spread across the COSMOS FOR ALL ETERNITY! SO THAT YOU CAN KNOW TRUE PAIN! AND SO YOU CAN SUFFER TWENTY FIVE DIFFERENT WAYS!”As he spoke he rose into the sky and wind began to pick up and more beams of bright silver and gold light shot from the sky and smote him greatly injuring him. His skin sizzled as the fiery beams of bright light shot mercilessly at him. They stopped and Discord was on his knees breathing heavily. Even more black blood streamed out out of more wounds along his dark body. But Talandus saw that they were slowly healing. Talandus drew his greatsword with his magic as the crystals that he held it with his telekinesis glowed a dark orange energy. He stood in a ready stance. And he motioned his gaze towards his two companions and said in the same deep and hopeful voice,”Selean. Drae’thaes. Gather as many ponies as you can and get them out of here. This will not take long.”He did not break his gaze off of the injured Discord and the two nodded and went off to rescue ponies. They were out of sight and Discord controlled his breathing once more and stood tall. Discord stood a good nine feet without him hovering. His legs were gone, replaced by dark swirling smoke. He cracked his neck and said after a deep breath,”I commend you on your great powers. I underestimated you, I expected you to have the same amount of powers as your two weaker sisters.”Discord bore a smug, dark look on his face and never broke his stare off of Talandus. Talandus growled in an angered voice,”They are not weak. You will not poison the ears of the uneducated with your acidic words. They are more powerful than you will ever be. Now I give you one more chance to surrender your power or face the wrath of the power of both the Sun and the Moon. Your choice.”Discord grabbed his chin and tapped his claw on his cheek and as fast as lightning he shot out of his hand a crackle of dark lightning. Talandus absorbed the blow into his sword and it cascaded away blasting a large hole in a nearby building. After the smoke cleared a look of shock blew across Discord’s face as he saw the tall form of Talandus standing there with his great sword floating in the air. Talandus moved his sword away from his face and readied it for a charging attack. He said spitting on the ground in a deep and threatening voice,”So be it.”Everytime he spoke it sent goosebumps all along Twilight’s arms and a shiver through her spine. She had never heard somepony talk with so much charisma and power. His voice however also bore much intimidation, as it was deeper toned than any other voice she had heard. Twilight looked as she saw Talandus casting a spell as he charged towards Discord. Words of great power shouted from his mouth as he proclaimed across the four winds,”HAMMER OF THE RIGHTEOUS!”Shooting out from his horn was a large hammer made of pure bright energy and crackling with bright yellow lightning. It struck against Discord and he was disoriented for a few seconds, which gave Talandus enough time to strike a large blow against Discord. Closing the gap between them both his large greatsword was glowing bright yellow and silver energy. Nearing his target he readied his sword and once he got close he slashed the sword in a wide overhead arc and it found its mark cutting deep into Discord’s shoulder. Black blood streamed out of the wound and began spilling out on the ground. Before taking his sword out of its wound he put his left forehoof on Discord’s chest and bright orange energy began to glow on his hoof. He pressed his hoof against his flesh and it singed his dark flesh. Discord roared in pain and bright energy was flowing through his veins and rising through his body.Talandus said taking his sword out,”Give my regards to Horrus.”Black blood splattered along his armor and face. Talandus wiped away the dark fluid and sheathed his sword. He trotted over to Luna and Twilight. He said as he approached them,”Are you two okay?”Luna nodded,”I am fine but Twilight is not. She needs help.”Talandus knelt down and said,”Who is this?”“This is Celestia’s prized student.”Luna proclaimed,”She needs our help.”They heard Discord groan loudly. And Talandus said in a deep voice,”We don’t have time to help her.”“What?!”“I’m sorry little sister but we do not have the time to carry her with us.”Talandus explained looking into his sister’s eyes,”We need to save everypony that we can. I promise you that she will not die in vain.”“But…” A look of sorrow crossed her face and she loosened her shoulders. Talandus cut her off and said,”We cannot stay here long. That spell will wear off anytime now. The best we can do is leave her while she still has some dignity left. We must mourn later. We have to go.”A tear streamed down her cheek and she ran her hoof along Twilight’s scarred cheek and said,”You will not be forgotten, Princess Twilight Sparkle.”Talandus lifted her up on her hooves and they ran away. When they were out of sight before her vision darkened she raised a hoof in protest but then she fell unconscious, knowing that she would die soon.She would be the first casualty in the Great Equestrian War. And the last student of Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorn’s.
