Seventh Soul: Birthby Z.K.DuskChaptersPrologue: A Dark OmenGuardian ScrollCrisis in Ponyville! Enter the HeroPrologue: A Dark OmenIt was dark outside, an unnatural darkness that spread across the entirety of Equestria. Princess Luna's beautiful night had taken a strange coloring as of late. Stars were disappearing only to reappear moments later in a drastically different color, even the void between the stars had shifted from a vivid black to a color similar to coal, but the most astonishing thing was the moon itself. No longer was it the pearly white orb that Luna loved, no, now it was distorted and glowing a sickly red across the world. Normal ponies were unable to notice the change to sky that night, to them it was the same old thing they saw every night, but the princesses could see the changes all to clearly. There they stood on their balcony of Canterlot castles tallest tower, neither could speak as they stared into the altered night sky. "How..." said Celestia trying to break the silence. Still in shock from the skies appearance she turned to face her sister. "Luna" she said sternly, drawing her sisters attention away from the sky. "How could this happen? No unicorn today has the power to effect the sky like this, and I don't even feel your magic within the sky anymore!" Celestia's gaze shifted between the sky and her sister nervously. "That, dear sister, is because our magic has been cut off from the sky." Despite the sadness and anger at having her precious night taken from her by an unknown force, her voice was calm and her habit of using old Equestrian was showing. "As for thy question, I know not the answer. Although me thinks it be an omen directed towards us alone." Celestia walked over to the edge of the balcony and stared down at the ponies below. She was lost thought "Luna is right, if this were seen by the public then no doubt would there be panic. The real question is who could do this... and why?" She continued to think over the situation for several more minutes before returning to her sisters side. "You are right Luna this has to be a message to both of us, but what could this message mean?" Luna's horn glowed a elegant blue as she tried again to reconnect with her beloved night, but to no avail. Her head sank in sadness and a look of lose swept her face as she spoke " *sigh* Again, sister, I know not..." She looked up slightly to meet her sisters gaze "but it must be connected to the events of recent, of this i am certain." "What do you mean?" Celestia gave Luna a quizzical look. She opened her mouth andwas about to add to the question when she was cut off. "Read the signs Tia!" Luna had jumped into a standing position and faced Celestia. The stress and emotions Luna felt were clear on her face and carried while she spoke. "Every day since the attack on the castle during the wedding three years ago Equestria has been growing more hostile. The dragons have broken their pact with us and now attack the peaceful villages many innocent ponies call home, The beasts we long thought to be extinct are reappearing across the land, normally calm and innocent creatures becoming violent and attacking, and now even the sky changes it appearance to send us a message! Yet we sit here and do nothing,why is that so Tia?!" Lunas tone was cynical at that last question. "I have mobilized the royal guards throughout the whole of Equestria, Luna, They are doin their be-" She was cut off mid-sentence by Luna as she slammed her hoof against the balcony floor with a resounding thud that echoed through the castle. "THAT ISN'T ENOUGH TIA!" Celestia was taken aback at her sisters use of the Royal Canterlot voice and at how Luna was acting, stressed or not, no one talked to Celestia that way. "AND WHAT WOULD YOU HAVE ME DO LUNA!?" Luna fell to the floor from the shear strength of her sisters royal voice. "What would you have me do? It is all the power I have to mobilize the guards and issue their orders. I truly wish i could be there on the front lines with my troops, but i can't, much has changed during the thousand years you were trapped Luna." Celestia was shaking from a mix of her own stress, regret, and fear. "I apologize sister I wasn't thinking straight, all the work from the past few days has started to get to me." She chuckled slightly trying to brighten the mood, to which Celestia gave her own meek chuckle. Luna trotted over to where her sister sat on the cold floor of the balcony and placed herself next to her. She placed a hoof on Celestia's shoulder and rubbed it softly trying to calm down her sister, and herself. They sat like that for what felt like hours, feeling her sisters body stop trembling and seeing a bit of her composure regained, Luna decided it was safe to continue "Tia, I know its hard to do all this, but I am with you whenever you need me." She smiled tenderly to Celestia who responded by wrapping Luna in a warm hug. "Thank you." Said Celestia in a voice that was just barely audible even to Luna. Small tears formed in both their eyes as they left each others embrace. "Tia... There must be something more we can do. I feel useless with such limited ability." Luna was wiping the fresh tears from her eyes as she talked, but her tone was stern in addressing the matter. "Trust me Luna I've tried, yet all my efforts were in vain. Whatever or whoever is causing this rise in violence is beyond even me." Celestia said fwith anger in her voice. Luna began to think to herself and mull over the information in her head. "If even Tia is baffled by these things what hope do we have.... Wait, there is still one shot left!" Luna snapped back into reality and whipped around to face Celestia. "Tia, do you remember that spell from before I was banished into the moon? The one that Starswirl and the other Five Greats made to summon forth guardians in times of peril?" Lunas voice was shaking, not of fear or stress but of excitement. Truth was she could barely contain herself. "Yes Luna I remember that spell well enough but sadly..." Her horn began to glow a soft white and a flash of bright white filled the room, nearly blinding Luna who shook off the daze and looked transfixed at the object before Celestia. Floating infront of her was a scroll. By the looks of it it was older than the entire town of Canterlot, and gave off an immense magic presence. Celestia levitated the scroll to Luna who wrapped it in her own magic and began to unroll it. Despite its anctient origin the scroll was in good shape, not a rip or tear in sight. Upon fully opening the scroll luna peered at the writing and her hopes were instantly crushed. "Wha- What is this? What happened to the spell! All i see is random gibberish!" "Exactly" said Celestia staring at her sister. " When the Six Greats made that spell they knew it was a power beyond even an alicorns ability to fully grasp. No pony has ever been able to crack that spell, its secrets are beyond even my comprehension." Celestia looked at the scroll and closed her eyes in frustation knowing the greatest hope they had was useless. "That may not be true, Tia. I can think of one pony in Equestria with the skill and raw talent to pull it off." A wide smile crept across lunas face as a new plan worked itself out in her head "if anypony can do it she can." She was interuppted from her thoughts by a soft cough from celestia. "And who may I ask is this miracle pony that outshines even my best resear-" Her question was stopped by a green swirling flame that stopped in front of her face and materialized into a small familiar looking scroll. Celestia was quick to envelope the parchment with her magic and began to read it despite Luna standing right next to her. Dear Princess Celetia, Today i learned a very important lesson on friendship... Celestia read through the letter fast, but slow enough as to not miss any details. Upon finishing the letter she saw the all to familiar signature of her prized pupil. Your faithful Student, Twilight Sparkle Celestia stared at her students signature for a few moments, and then returned her gaze to Luna who still had that wide grin on her face and a spark in her eye as she stared at her sister. No, not at her, Celestia realized, she followed Lunas gaze to Twilights scroll still hovering in the air. It didnt take her long to put two and two together. "You cant possibly think Twilight capable of such a feat." her tone was prideful but with a tinge of fear, like a mother defending their child. "Oh but i do Tia." Luna's smile grew even bigger and her voice became excited. "Who better to unravel the spell than the most powerful unicorn pony alive today, not to mention shes the element of magic and shes your protege to boot!" "I don't know Luna. What if she gets hurt trying to decipher it? What if its a trap left by the Six Greats to harm anypony trying to gain the power?" Celestia was obviously worried for her students safety, and Luna took that into consideration will continuing on. "Tia, she is a grown mare now, not the filly you took in and taught. There is no point hiding the risk of giving her the scroll. She could very well get hurt or worse." At that Celestia sunk her head but continued to listen to Luna "But, you must trust her as your student and as the mare she has become. I shall not ask you to force this burden on her, just promise me you'll show her the scroll and give her the choice she rightly deserves." Luna walked to stand in front of her sister who had also risen to all four hooves. They both looked to each other and the scroll luna was waiting for an answer while Celestia went over the possibilities in her head. After many long moments of silence Celestia finally spoke. "Very well Luna I will call Twilight to Canterlot tomorrow and inform her of the scroll. Whether or not she accepts shall be completely up to her." her voice and stance were at their full regal state once again, though a faint hint of worry was still in her voice. She lifted her head to gaze at the distorted night once more. "Now Luna it is late and I am in need of rest before i raise the sun tomorrow. Goodnight." Celestia exited the balcony quickly and was at the door leading to the main hall of the castle when her sisters voice stopped her. "Goodnight Tia. Don't worry Twilight will be fine, I have full confidence in her abilities!" with that Luna flew off the balcony and into the night sky. The red of the moon contrasted greatly with Lunas blue coat as she flew out of sight. "I hope your right Luna. I truly do." White light gathered around her horn and in a flash she vanished, only to reappear in front of her private quarters scaring the two guadsponies stationed there. Before they could say a word to her she said " It is late, and i am tired let no one enter till morning. Understood?" both guards nodded vigorously and returned to their stations as Celestia entered her room. Once inside she went immediately to her desk and levitated a piece of parchment,quill, and ink well to her. She stared at the for a minute then began to write her letter to Twilight telling her to be at the castle as soon as possible and emphasizing the urgency. With the letter done Celestia hopped onto her bed, completely ignoring the metal ornaments that decorated her body. As she was drifting off to sleep she had one last thought "Please Twilight, for your own safety, do not take the scroll" as she lied down the peace of the room took its effect her thoughts became fuzzy and before Celestia knew it she was in sleeps soft embrace. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A/N: Welp thats it the very first chapter of "Seventh Soul: Birth." I hope you enjoyed it. There will be more action and elements of the other tags within a few chapters. I welcome constructive criticism so feel free to comment. Guardian ScrollIt was early morning in Ponyville. The entire town was quiet as its citizens slept. The sun was just beginning to rise above the horizon. The silence of that morning was broken by the screaming of a purple unicorn librarian at her assistant. "Spiiiiiiiiiiike!? Are you done packing yet we should have left five minutes ago! At this rate I'll be *gasp* TARDY!" Twilight was in full on panic mode at this point. Her hair and tail, which she had been growing out for a year, was a mess its long strands were pointing in every direction as she paced the room causing a grove to form on the floor. She stared at the clock one more time and saw the minute hand move, her panic worsened. "Spiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiike hurry up!" There was a faint sigh from the next room, followed by a grunt as spike walked out carrying a saddlebag filled to the brim with papers and books. "Geez Twilight, any louder and the whole town will be awake." Spike had changed much in the three years since the wedding. According to Zecora, after the greed phase a dragon will gradually mature, but they do so at a far faster rate than ponies. Spike was a prime example of this, the spikes on his head and back had grown and become more pointed, his voice had become slightly deeper, the biggest change though was his body. He now stood slightly taller than Twilight when on his hind legs, and to Twilight's surprise, his wings had begun to grow in. Spike gave a sigh of relief as he sat down, happy to get the load of the saddlebag off, his tail was acting as a cushion as he sat and looked at Twilight. "Seriously Twi, why exactly do we need all this stuff? We are just heading to canterlot for a day." he said flatly "Because the princess asked us to bring my past research on ancient spell deciphering, though I'm not quite sure why... Regardless my mentor asked for it so we are taking all of it with us." Spike moaned knowing he'd be the one carrying it. " Besides Celestia's letter was very urgent, she said it would all be explained once we got to the castle." Twilight lifted her mentors letter to her face and begin reading it for the hundredth time. To My Most Faithful Student, A matter of concern has come to my attention, and I am in need of your assistance. I can not reveal the circumstances to you in this message, for that i apologize, but know that all will be explained when we meet. I am sending for a carriage to pick you and Spike up at 8 in the morning. It is imperative that you arrive as soon as possible, for i fear the longer we stall the matter the harder it will be to address. Also, if i remember correctly you researched ancient spell theory while in the academy. Please bring all things regarding the subject with you to the castle, as the may be neccassary to the task at hoof. You Mentor and Friend, Celestia Twilight had forgotten all about her panic and potential tardiness while reading her mentors letter. She didn't really know what was going on, in the 17 years she has been the princess' student not once had she been called upon like this. This thought and others swam through her head as she stood in the library, completely forgetting Spikes presence or the time. Her thoughts were cut short by a knock on her door "Coming" she replied and trotted over to the door, putting her old thoughts out of her mind. When she opened the door there stood a Royal guard in full armor. "Ms. Sparkle." his voice was gruff and his tone uncaring. He bowed his head to her more as a formality than anything else. "Yes, that's me. I take it your my escort?" Twilight replied trying to mimic the guardponies tone, but to no avail. "Correct, now if your ready please follow me to the carriage." Finishing his talk he turned and walked off. "Come on Spike time to go." Said Twilight as she followed the guard out the door. She heard Spike moan in protest as he lifted the saddlebag and followed. Once at the carriage the guard quickly hooked himself on and checked that his two passengers were secure, seeing they were he took of towards Canterlot. Twilight stared over the side at the ground below and thought "Relax Twilight, if it was truly serious she would call the other Elements of Harmony." She leaned back and relaxed as the castle slowly came into view. Celestia and Luna sat upon their thrones as they waited for the days tasks to begin. Today was they day they were to hear from the public and try to deal with the ponies problems as best they could. The assembly was just about to start when a guard approached the princesses and saluted. "Twilight Sparkle has arrived at the castle." he said bluntly and lowered his hoof to the ground while awaiting orders. "Good. Escort her to the throne room immediately. Once here nopony is to enter, understood?" she didn't wait for the guards reply as she stood and walked to the center of the room, the assembled ponies quieted as she walked by. "My dear subjects. I am sorry to say that this assembly is canceled due to unforeseen circumstances. The assembly shall gather again tomorrow, until then I ask you all leave the all." her voice was not demanding, but everypony cleared the throne room immediately as to not upset their princess. "Nice lie." said Luna after the room was clear. Celestia just looked back to her sister and nodded, then returned to her spot on the throne. The room was silent. Neither sister spoke as they waited for Twilight to enter. After five minutes the doors opened and a purple unicorn mare followed by a "baby" dragon entered the room. "Good morning princess. Im sorry for the delay, bu-" Celestia raised a hoof signaling for her to stop talking. "It is good to see you to Twilight, but formalities will have to wait. Follow me." both her and Luna rose from their throne and turned to face their seats. Celestias horn lit up, followed by Lunas, and the two thrones began to glow. "Drelct nix vra Gh'ect." the princesses said and in a flash the thrones disappeared leaving a stairwell where they once stood. Twilight was dumbstruck at what she just witnessed. She had never heard an incantation spell like that before, and her curiosity was building. She was about to ask what kind of spell it was, but before she could ask celestia said "Come Twilight we must hurry before the doorway closes." both princesses headed down the stairwell. Twilight and Spike looked at each other confusedly before heading down the stairs with the princesses. They walked down a tunnel for several minutes in silence. Despite no visible light source the tunnel had a faint glow to it which lead the way down the path. Twilight was looking at the strange architecture of the tunnel, its designs were so ancient and beautiful it would be impossible to describe them with words. the silence, as well as Twilight's amazement at the tunnel, was broken by Luna "We are here." was all she said. Twilight looked in front of them straining her eyes to see in the dull light. Before them was a door, it was bigger than a full grown dragon and looked to be 1000 or so years old. The designs on the door were even more breath taking than the tunnel walls, so much so that twilight felt a tear come to her eye. Celestia didn't share her students wonder at the designing, and simply held a hoof up to the door causing it to open. The four walked through the doorway and into a black room. Celestia's horn lit up once again and four torches the size of ponies burst into flame along the walls, illuminating the room. Twilight stared around the room puzzled, she saw spike doing the same out of the corner of her eye. There was nothing in the room besides the now lit torches along the walls and a stand in the center with a large rolled up scroll placed upon it. Twilight could feel the great magical energy emanating from the scroll and stared at it transfixed. Celestia saw her students reaction to the scrolls magic and said "Be careful many a good pony has gone mad in the presence of this scroll." she saw her student break her gaze immediately and look to her for answers. "That is the Guardian Scroll. It is the last spell ever constructed by the Six Greats and nopony to this day has ever been able to use it... including myself." She saw her students mouth hit practically hit the floor, but she ignored the urge to laugh at Twilight's face and continued "As you know many things have changed in Equestria ever since the changelings attack. The troubles of the people grow each day and all my power goes to helping the ponies who are made victims. All the while the cause of these events hides in the shadows and taunts us." The anger was clear in her voice as she continued "This scroll is a long shot but if it works then the guardian brought here can put a stop to the one responsible." Her expression softened as she levitated the scroll from its spot on its pedestal and floated it over to Twilight. "The task of deciphering and performing the spell goes to you, Twilight Sparkle. You can decline if you wish, but if you accept be forewarned the enchantments on this scroll make the spell impossible to read, it has baffled even the greatest of my researchers. " If Twilight's mouth could have fallen off it would have. In front of her face was the greatest spell ever constructed in pony history, and it was her task to decipher it. She could barely contain her joy, but managed it down to respond to her mentor. "This is a great honor princess. I accept the task to decipher this great spell." She bowed to both the princesses, Luna had a smile across her face while Celestia seemed downcast slightly. Twilight ignored their looks and unraveled the scroll wanting to see how bad this enchantment could be. She stared at the scroll with a confused look, she glanced at the two alicorns curiously and asked "Uhhhh... are you sure this scroll is enchanted?" The question caught the sisters off guard. "Of course it is." Said Luna "Why dost thou ask?" her use of old equestrian showed she was irritated by being asked such a stupid question. Twilight didn't pick up on it though and continued speaking "Well... I can read it fine." she said bluntly. Spike, who had stayed quiet as he tried to follow all the magic stuff, walked up to Twilight and glanced at the unraveled scroll. "You serious? I cant even tell which side is up on that thing!" She looked at her assistant puzzled, then at the princesses. Both of the had looks of disbelief. Twilight laid the scroll onto the floor and said "I dont understand. Right here is the ingredients list." she pointed to a jumble of symbols that none could made hide nor tail of. "And over here are the spells steps." This time she pointed to what looked like a hole in the paper. "Maybe you should lay down, Twilight. I don't even see anything that could be considered language on that scroll." Twilight looked to spike angrily. Sh wasn't crazy and she could see the spell clearly. "Why only me?" she thought to herself. "I'd expect no less from the Element of Magic." said Luna. Her shock had faded and was replaced by hope. The hope that Twilight can do the spell. "Now since only you can read this scroll what exactly do you need?" Twilight quickly read the ingredients list and instructions. "Well... the ingredients are easy enough to get, and the runes are relatively easy to write. The only concern is the magic energy required to do the spell. Nothing can give off this much power..." she stopped as a thought came to her head. "Except, maybe the Elements of Harmony." Celestia looked at her student and thought over bringing together the elements again. After what felt like hours she answered. "Very well Twilight. I shall send out a notice to all of them telling them to meet you in Ponyville a week from today. Also, I shall have all necessary materials for the spell sent to you." "Thank you princess." Twilight bowed and put the scroll in the bag spike was carrying. "Wait" said Spike. "Are you telling me i draggd this huge bag along for nothing!" he stomped the ground angrily. "A little exercise never hurt anypony... or dragon in this case." said Celestia with a smile across her face, which made Spike all the more pissed. "Calm down Spike." Twilight said "We can just teleport home remember?" "Oh... Yeah" Spike put his head down in embarrassment. "Well i think that's everything. I'm sorry to leave so suddenly, but i wish to start work on the spell immediately." She looked at the princesses. Both bowed their heads in understanding. "Very well. Be sure to send reports to me on your progress. I shall send the messages to the other elements immediately " Said Celestia as she gave Twilight a small hug goodbye. "Thank you again princess." Twilight smiled and turned to stand besides Spike. "Now if you'll excuse me Ive got work to do!" Her horn flashed bright purple and in an instant she was gone. "That mare will never cease to amaze me. Will she?" Luna walked past her sister to leave the room. Seeing Celestia remained behind she stopped and turned. "No." said Celestia after a moment of thought. "I don't believe she will." she started to laugh, and Luna all to happily joined in. The two left the room laughing the whole time. A small glimpse of hope had been found. Hope for all of Equestria. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A/N: Huzzah! Chapter 2 of "Seventh Soul: Birth" is complete! Next chapter expect some action. Crisis in Ponyville! Enter the HeroThe train pulled into Ponyville around sundown. Once in the station many ponies left the train, including two very familiar white mares. "It sure is good to be back home, right sis? Especially after all that fuss in Manehatten about your new clothes line." said the smaller mare. Her hair was long and split into two colors, a light purple and pink, same with her tail. Both were very nice in contrast with her pure white body and green eyes. The most noticable thing about her, however, was her cutie mark, a smiling face with music note flowing from the mouth and forming a heart shape. "Right you are Sweetie Belle, but we are running late as is so we can't stop for nostalgia." Said Rarity as they walked through town, turning the heads of quiet a few stallions along the way. As they walked they ignored almost all the hellos and greetings from the ponies they passed, truth was Rarity was to deep in thought to care. "I cant believe I'm late to an order from the princess! As long as i find Twilight fast everything should be fine... I hope." Her thoughts were cut off by Two very familiar voices. "RAAAAAAAARRRRIIIIITTTTTYYYYY!!!!! SWEEEEEETIIIIEEEE BBBEEELLLLEEE!!!!" yelled a bouncing pink pony from across the street, an orange mare with an old brown stetson upon her head standing next to her waving. "Pinkie Pie! Applejack!" yelled the sisters back as they ran to their old friends. Rarity noticed how different her friends looked as they got closer. Both had grown taller, pinkies mane and tail were even more swirly and untamed. Applejack had her mane and tail untied so they fell nimbly along her body, and her body was more toned from all the farm work. "Darlings, it has been far to long since we saw eachother! How are things with you two?" Asked rarity slightly out of breath from the run over. "Well the farms been doing great ever since Applebloom got'er cutie mark and started up a construction business using our orchards dead trees." said Applejack proudly as she told of her sisters exploits "Great to hear Applejack, I always knew Applebloom would be an asset to the farm. What about you Pinkie, last we saw you said you were moving to Canterlot to open another Sugarcube Corner." Rarity asked the, still bouncing, pink pony. "O business is just GREAT! All those fancy ponies love the sweets i make and order them for all the events! I even made the cake for the Gala last year. Celestia ate almost all of it it was so good!" Pinkie was mixing between yelling and squealing with glee. "It's lovely to hear that you both have been doing well and I wish we could talk more about our time apart, but I know twilight must be in hysterics right now so it's best we get to her." said Rarity checking a clock nearby. "Got that right. She had the 2 of us go look for y'all and told us not to come back till we found ya." Applejack chuckled remembering her friends fit. "O I almost forgot. Sweetie, Applebloom and Scootaloo are waitin' for ya up at the clubhouse." she said looking back at the smaller mare. "Yay the crusaders are united again!" she stopped and turned to Rarity. "Can I go sis?" her eyes swelled and she took a pleading pose. "Fine, but be careful with all the craziness happening in Equestria these days you can never be to careful." Sweetie's face brightened and she ran off leaving a dust cloud in her wake. "Now where exactly is Twilight I'm sure she's expecting us back by now." Rarity said turning to her own friends. "She over by the edge of town setting up the ritual. We better hurry before she goes all 'firepony' on us" Pinkie said as she bounced ahead to lead the way. Rarity opened her mouth to question what a "firepony" was but applejack stopped her. "It's just Pinkie being Pinkie, now come on." she ran off to follow Pinkie. Seeing the distance between them lengthen Rarity ran to keep up, and followed them to her other friends. "Hey Twilight! the others are here!" Twilights lifted her gaze from her book and pointed the light from her horn, which she was using to read in the darkness of night, at the voice. "Coming Rainbow!" Twilight called back closing her book and trotting over to her assembled friends. She was careful to avoid the intricate spell network laid out on the ground, which was strangely glowing in the moonlight. Walking up to her friends she said "I'm glad you could all make it on such short notice, and it's good to see all of you again." She smiled as her friends nodded in agreement. "I don't mean to sound rude, but can we please save this mushy stuff for after this ritual thing is over?" Rainbow Dash said. Other than her new Wonderbolts uniform she looked exactly the same as the last time she saw her friends. "I-I agree with rainbow... we should finish the princesses task now..... if you all want to that is." came a small voice from next to Twilight. Everyone looked at her as she hid her face in her mane which was easily done considering how long it had gotten. "Well since the princess is expecting a report about the spell soon, i guess the catching up can wait. Follow me everypony." Twilight turned and walked up to the spell network. The guardian scroll levitated out of her bag and unravveled in front of the elements. Twilight began " This is the Guardian Scroll, the most powerful spell in history is written upon it. It is our job to perform this spell, and summon the Guardian. For that we are using these" Her horn flashed and a small box materialized into existance. Everypony knew that within it were The Elements of Harmony. "If all goes according to plan the guardian can put a stop to all the events that have been happening in Equestria." She waited for the depth of the situation to set in. "Well shoot Twilight why didn't you say so. This 'saving the world' stuff is easy after doing it twice." Applejack said as she dawned her element. the others followed suit including Twilight. "Applejacks right." said Rainbow Dash as she placed her element around her neck. "All this just to use the Elements again? To think I missed a week of training for this." the last part was barely audible to anypony. "Well since everypony seems to want to get this over with as soon as possible lets get started." They all smiled shyly at Twilights statement, mainly because it was true. They all just wanted to do the spell so they could spend time with eachother, and catch up. "Ok each of you stand in front of one of the outer circles." each did as they were told and went to the edge of the network where there were six circles, each with a strange rune written in it. Twilight saw everypony in position and took removed a small knife from her bag. "What exactly is the knife for?" said Fluttershy nervously staring at the blade. In response Twilight put the blade up to her right forehoof and sliced, leaving a decent cut behind. She held out her hoof allowing her blood to drip onto the rune she was in front of. Once the blood touched the spell network a humming started to be heard, and Twilights tiara began to glow faintly. "The spell requires the blood from two of each race of pony, and they need to be exceptionally strong." she whiped the blood off of her knife and placed it on the ground. Her horn flashed and five more knives floated to each of her friends who looked at her in disbelief. "Well ah'm not sure how i feel bout this, but ah trust you Twi and if you think it's safe then so do ah." she grabbed the knife in her mouth and slit her hoof letting the blood drip onto the rune. The humming grew louder and Applejacks element began to glow. " Sam here, if Twilight says its safe then so do I." she lifted the sleve to her uniform and cut. The humming sound stopped and a slight thumping sound could be heard as Rainbows element lit up same as the others. Pinkie grabbed the knife in front of her and slit her hoof without a word. A strange smile crossed her face as she watched the blood hit the rune, heard the thumping grow faster, and her Element begin to glow. Rarity and Fluttershy both looked at the knives and the blood with unease. Both felt like fainting, but knew they must complete the spell first. "Well seems we are the last ones." Rarity said nervously while looking at Fluttershy. "How about we each go on the count of three?" Seeing Fluttershy and grab the knife rarity did the same "One. Two." both closed their eyes as they set the blade to their hoof. "Three!" said Rarity and both slid the blade across their skin the blood flowing straight onto the rune at their feet. the thumping stopped and silence filled the air. All the Elements were glowing and resonating with one another. The spell had begun. Twilights eyes lit up the familiar white light and the others began to lift off the ground as the magic engulfed them. It was then that the lights shot forth from each of them and swirled into the air, but something was different this time. Instead of the familiar rainbow forming, the colors merged into a beam of pure white. Twilight felt something within her as the white beam formed, something ancient and sinister. She tried to stop the spell but to no results. The magic was to far gone and out of control. The white light beam shot straight into the ground creating a wave of force that sent the six of them flying backward. and a crater left in the ground where the runes once were. All of them recovered quickly from the shockwave and ran to twilight who was standing at the craters edge with a look of both amazement and horror. "Well did it work? Did we summon this guardian or whatever its called?" Said Rainbow looking into the small pit for any sign of life. The others did the same, and soon their expression were the same as Twilight's Lying in the center was a skeleton of a creature nopony had ever seen before. it resembled a monkey in some ways but was missing a tail and was about five times bigger than any monkey they had ever seen, which wasn't many. Twilight broke the silence "This is the guardian? How is a skeleton of a.... thing supposed to help at all!?" she stomped her hoof letting her anger show and was about to check the skeleton for something of use when she heard a sound that made her blood run cold. "Did anypony else hear that?" she turned to look at her friends and knew from the fritened looks on their faces that they had. It was silent for what felt like hours but was probably just a few minutes. They all held their breath hoping they had heard wrong. The sound came again, much closer this time, it was a howl from. Their hearts nearly stopped because they all knew exactly what the howling meant. "Timberwolves." they said collectively. A scream came from Poyvile. They looked trying to see what was happening and saw a blue stallion come running around a corner screaming for help "SOMEPONY HELP PLEASE! HEL-" he never finished, those were his last words. A timberwolf had jumped from hiding in an alley and gripped his neck in its jaws. With a quick turn a loud snap rang throughout the town and the stallions body went limp. Four more timberwolves appeared and began to feast on the new kill. The girls looked on in horror as the timberwolves ravaged the dead body, a pool of blood formed around the wolves. More cries of terror and wolf howls could be heard throughout the town as the chaos began to set in. Ponies were fighting for their live as the timberwolves pounced upon them and ripped them to pieces. Blood was everywhere now, windows to shops and houses were broken in as the wolves searched for their next meal. The girls stood and looked unable to move from fear. Applejack turned to her friends and yelled "What are y'all standing around for! We gotta go help!" Without another word she charged into town determined to help anypony she could. The others looked at eachother, then back at applejack. " Lets go guys she can't do anything alone." yelled Rainbow as she flew into town followed by the other. Except Twilight. "This is my fault. The spell must have done something to provoke the timberwolves. What have I done?" grief had taken over she looked away from town and back at the skeleton. "What did I do wrong? Guardian I beg you stop the timberwolves!" tears were streaming down her eyes as she bowed her head, her horn sticking into the ground. She cried at the skeleton and continued to beg when she noticed something had changed around her. She lifted her head and looked to Ponyville to see everything frozen it time. She stared in disbelief, somehow time itself had stopped, she turned back to the skeleton and leaped back in shock. Standing, floating might be a better term, before her was the skeleton of the strange creature, two glowing orbs of white were in the eye sockets acting as eyes. "You are the one who summoned me to this plane?" came an ancient booming voice inside of Twilight's head. "Y-y-yes I am Twilight Sparkle and I am the one who called upon you." she said trying to hide her emotions and speak with dignity. "Very well. What is thy wish young one?" asked the voice. "Please stop the timberwolves from attacking and help all the innocent ponies!" she begged a tear started to form in her eye from the grief. "I am not of this world young one. I can not actively interfere in thy worlds affairs. Make another wish." said the voice in an emotionless tone. "Then bring me someponies who can! Anypony that can save them is fine!" She said angrilly looking to her home hoping her friends were alright. The voice was silent for a few moments "Thy wish is granted, but know this young one. You have released forces no mear mortal has seen in many millennias." The voice grew quite and the white light from the skull faded into nothingness. Time began to move again, but this time the ground began shaking stopping the ponies and timberwolves in their tracks as the braised for an earthquake. Twilight looked on at the still standing skeleton in amazement. Muscles began to work around the bones, and organs grew in place inside, what twilight identified as, the rib cage blood was dripping from it. Once the muscles and tendons had formed shim slowly crept around the body, it was a strange whitish color that twilight had never seen on any ponies before, the skin slowly worked around the face and finished growing on the skull. A long black mane fell down to its shoulders and the body was finished forming. The runes from where her friends placed their blood began to glow and six balls of light floated up into the air, surrounding the body. Two orbs began to float towards the body, one was a deep blue the other a burning orange, and both dissipated into the creatures head. A giant crooked white horn shot from the skull followed by 4 smaller horns sideways horns on the temples. Next the an blood red orb and a forest green orb entered the creatures torso and two giant black wings sprout forth from it's back, they were easily the size of a full grown pony. Lastly a bright pink and a light yellow orb floated into the creatures two legs causing two tails to grow at the base of it's back. Twilights mouth nearly hit the ground from what she just witnessed. Standing before her was some type of alicorn that stood on two legs. "What in Celestia's name is this thing?" thought twilight, but she stopped thinking all together when the creature opened it's eyes. The irises were a metallic silver and the horn quickly changed to the same strange color. A streak of silver ran down it's hair. Twilight barely noticed the change at all she was to enthralled in it's gaze. The creature began to look around, it's gaze stopped when it saw Ponyville. More specifically the stallion that Twilight saw get slaughtered. A scowl swept it's face as he stared at the warped body of the stallion. The silver coloring faded and was replaced by the same blood red as the orb. A horrible aura filled the air making it hard for Twilight to breath. "Wha-what are you?" she forced herself to ask. The red eyes shot her a look of pure hate. She felt, for the first time in her life, that she was going to die. Instead of killing her the creature raised its wings and in a cold rough voice said "I am Rage." With that It brought its wings down and rocketed into the sky, headed straight for ponyville. "What exactly have I done?" she stared up at the sky and saw the moon begin to turn red. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Prologue: A Dark OmenIt was dark outside, an unnatural darkness that spread across the entirety of Equestria. Princess Luna's beautiful night had taken a strange coloring as of late. Stars were disappearing only to reappear moments later in a drastically different color, even the void between the stars had shifted from a vivid black to a color similar to coal, but the most astonishing thing was the moon itself. No longer was it the pearly white orb that Luna loved, no, now it was distorted and glowing a sickly red across the world. Normal ponies were unable to notice the change to sky that night, to them it was the same old thing they saw every night, but the princesses could see the changes all to clearly. There they stood on their balcony of Canterlot castles tallest tower, neither could speak as they stared into the altered night sky. "How..." said Celestia trying to break the silence. Still in shock from the skies appearance she turned to face her sister. "Luna" she said sternly, drawing her sisters attention away from the sky. "How could this happen? No unicorn today has the power to effect the sky like this, and I don't even feel your magic within the sky anymore!" Celestia's gaze shifted between the sky and her sister nervously. "That, dear sister, is because our magic has been cut off from the sky." Despite the sadness and anger at having her precious night taken from her by an unknown force, her voice was calm and her habit of using old Equestrian was showing. "As for thy question, I know not the answer. Although me thinks it be an omen directed towards us alone." Celestia walked over to the edge of the balcony and stared down at the ponies below. She was lost thought "Luna is right, if this were seen by the public then no doubt would there be panic. The real question is who could do this... and why?" She continued to think over the situation for several more minutes before returning to her sisters side. "You are right Luna this has to be a message to both of us, but what could this message mean?" Luna's horn glowed a elegant blue as she tried again to reconnect with her beloved night, but to no avail. Her head sank in sadness and a look of lose swept her face as she spoke " *sigh* Again, sister, I know not..." She looked up slightly to meet her sisters gaze "but it must be connected to the events of recent, of this i am certain." "What do you mean?" Celestia gave Luna a quizzical look. She opened her mouth andwas about to add to the question when she was cut off. "Read the signs Tia!" Luna had jumped into a standing position and faced Celestia. The stress and emotions Luna felt were clear on her face and carried while she spoke. "Every day since the attack on the castle during the wedding three years ago Equestria has been growing more hostile. The dragons have broken their pact with us and now attack the peaceful villages many innocent ponies call home, The beasts we long thought to be extinct are reappearing across the land, normally calm and innocent creatures becoming violent and attacking, and now even the sky changes it appearance to send us a message! Yet we sit here and do nothing,why is that so Tia?!" Lunas tone was cynical at that last question. "I have mobilized the royal guards throughout the whole of Equestria, Luna, They are doin their be-" She was cut off mid-sentence by Luna as she slammed her hoof against the balcony floor with a resounding thud that echoed through the castle. "THAT ISN'T ENOUGH TIA!" Celestia was taken aback at her sisters use of the Royal Canterlot voice and at how Luna was acting, stressed or not, no one talked to Celestia that way. "AND WHAT WOULD YOU HAVE ME DO LUNA!?" Luna fell to the floor from the shear strength of her sisters royal voice. "What would you have me do? It is all the power I have to mobilize the guards and issue their orders. I truly wish i could be there on the front lines with my troops, but i can't, much has changed during the thousand years you were trapped Luna." Celestia was shaking from a mix of her own stress, regret, and fear. "I apologize sister I wasn't thinking straight, all the work from the past few days has started to get to me." She chuckled slightly trying to brighten the mood, to which Celestia gave her own meek chuckle. Luna trotted over to where her sister sat on the cold floor of the balcony and placed herself next to her. She placed a hoof on Celestia's shoulder and rubbed it softly trying to calm down her sister, and herself. They sat like that for what felt like hours, feeling her sisters body stop trembling and seeing a bit of her composure regained, Luna decided it was safe to continue "Tia, I know its hard to do all this, but I am with you whenever you need me." She smiled tenderly to Celestia who responded by wrapping Luna in a warm hug. "Thank you." Said Celestia in a voice that was just barely audible even to Luna. Small tears formed in both their eyes as they left each others embrace. "Tia... There must be something more we can do. I feel useless with such limited ability." Luna was wiping the fresh tears from her eyes as she talked, but her tone was stern in addressing the matter. "Trust me Luna I've tried, yet all my efforts were in vain. Whatever or whoever is causing this rise in violence is beyond even me." Celestia said fwith anger in her voice. Luna began to think to herself and mull over the information in her head. "If even Tia is baffled by these things what hope do we have.... Wait, there is still one shot left!" Luna snapped back into reality and whipped around to face Celestia. "Tia, do you remember that spell from before I was banished into the moon? The one that Starswirl and the other Five Greats made to summon forth guardians in times of peril?" Lunas voice was shaking, not of fear or stress but of excitement. Truth was she could barely contain herself. "Yes Luna I remember that spell well enough but sadly..." Her horn began to glow a soft white and a flash of bright white filled the room, nearly blinding Luna who shook off the daze and looked transfixed at the object before Celestia. Floating infront of her was a scroll. By the looks of it it was older than the entire town of Canterlot, and gave off an immense magic presence. Celestia levitated the scroll to Luna who wrapped it in her own magic and began to unroll it. Despite its anctient origin the scroll was in good shape, not a rip or tear in sight. Upon fully opening the scroll luna peered at the writing and her hopes were instantly crushed. "Wha- What is this? What happened to the spell! All i see is random gibberish!" "Exactly" said Celestia staring at her sister. " When the Six Greats made that spell they knew it was a power beyond even an alicorns ability to fully grasp. No pony has ever been able to crack that spell, its secrets are beyond even my comprehension." Celestia looked at the scroll and closed her eyes in frustation knowing the greatest hope they had was useless. "That may not be true, Tia. I can think of one pony in Equestria with the skill and raw talent to pull it off." A wide smile crept across lunas face as a new plan worked itself out in her head "if anypony can do it she can." She was interuppted from her thoughts by a soft cough from celestia. "And who may I ask is this miracle pony that outshines even my best resear-" Her question was stopped by a green swirling flame that stopped in front of her face and materialized into a small familiar looking scroll. Celestia was quick to envelope the parchment with her magic and began to read it despite Luna standing right next to her. Dear Princess Celetia, Today i learned a very important lesson on friendship... Celestia read through the letter fast, but slow enough as to not miss any details. Upon finishing the letter she saw the all to familiar signature of her prized pupil. Your faithful Student, Twilight Sparkle Celestia stared at her students signature for a few moments, and then returned her gaze to Luna who still had that wide grin on her face and a spark in her eye as she stared at her sister. No, not at her, Celestia realized, she followed Lunas gaze to Twilights scroll still hovering in the air. It didnt take her long to put two and two together. "You cant possibly think Twilight capable of such a feat." her tone was prideful but with a tinge of fear, like a mother defending their child. "Oh but i do Tia." Luna's smile grew even bigger and her voice became excited. "Who better to unravel the spell than the most powerful unicorn pony alive today, not to mention shes the element of magic and shes your protege to boot!" "I don't know Luna. What if she gets hurt trying to decipher it? What if its a trap left by the Six Greats to harm anypony trying to gain the power?" Celestia was obviously worried for her students safety, and Luna took that into consideration will continuing on. "Tia, she is a grown mare now, not the filly you took in and taught. There is no point hiding the risk of giving her the scroll. She could very well get hurt or worse." At that Celestia sunk her head but continued to listen to Luna "But, you must trust her as your student and as the mare she has become. I shall not ask you to force this burden on her, just promise me you'll show her the scroll and give her the choice she rightly deserves." Luna walked to stand in front of her sister who had also risen to all four hooves. They both looked to each other and the scroll luna was waiting for an answer while Celestia went over the possibilities in her head. After many long moments of silence Celestia finally spoke. "Very well Luna I will call Twilight to Canterlot tomorrow and inform her of the scroll. Whether or not she accepts shall be completely up to her." her voice and stance were at their full regal state once again, though a faint hint of worry was still in her voice. She lifted her head to gaze at the distorted night once more. "Now Luna it is late and I am in need of rest before i raise the sun tomorrow. Goodnight." Celestia exited the balcony quickly and was at the door leading to the main hall of the castle when her sisters voice stopped her. "Goodnight Tia. Don't worry Twilight will be fine, I have full confidence in her abilities!" with that Luna flew off the balcony and into the night sky. The red of the moon contrasted greatly with Lunas blue coat as she flew out of sight. "I hope your right Luna. I truly do." White light gathered around her horn and in a flash she vanished, only to reappear in front of her private quarters scaring the two guadsponies stationed there. Before they could say a word to her she said " It is late, and i am tired let no one enter till morning. Understood?" both guards nodded vigorously and returned to their stations as Celestia entered her room. Once inside she went immediately to her desk and levitated a piece of parchment,quill, and ink well to her. She stared at the for a minute then began to write her letter to Twilight telling her to be at the castle as soon as possible and emphasizing the urgency. With the letter done Celestia hopped onto her bed, completely ignoring the metal ornaments that decorated her body. As she was drifting off to sleep she had one last thought "Please Twilight, for your own safety, do not take the scroll" as she lied down the peace of the room took its effect her thoughts became fuzzy and before Celestia knew it she was in sleeps soft embrace. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A/N: Welp thats it the very first chapter of "Seventh Soul: Birth." I hope you enjoyed it. There will be more action and elements of the other tags within a few chapters. I welcome constructive criticism so feel free to comment.
Guardian ScrollIt was early morning in Ponyville. The entire town was quiet as its citizens slept. The sun was just beginning to rise above the horizon. The silence of that morning was broken by the screaming of a purple unicorn librarian at her assistant. "Spiiiiiiiiiiike!? Are you done packing yet we should have left five minutes ago! At this rate I'll be *gasp* TARDY!" Twilight was in full on panic mode at this point. Her hair and tail, which she had been growing out for a year, was a mess its long strands were pointing in every direction as she paced the room causing a grove to form on the floor. She stared at the clock one more time and saw the minute hand move, her panic worsened. "Spiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiike hurry up!" There was a faint sigh from the next room, followed by a grunt as spike walked out carrying a saddlebag filled to the brim with papers and books. "Geez Twilight, any louder and the whole town will be awake." Spike had changed much in the three years since the wedding. According to Zecora, after the greed phase a dragon will gradually mature, but they do so at a far faster rate than ponies. Spike was a prime example of this, the spikes on his head and back had grown and become more pointed, his voice had become slightly deeper, the biggest change though was his body. He now stood slightly taller than Twilight when on his hind legs, and to Twilight's surprise, his wings had begun to grow in. Spike gave a sigh of relief as he sat down, happy to get the load of the saddlebag off, his tail was acting as a cushion as he sat and looked at Twilight. "Seriously Twi, why exactly do we need all this stuff? We are just heading to canterlot for a day." he said flatly "Because the princess asked us to bring my past research on ancient spell deciphering, though I'm not quite sure why... Regardless my mentor asked for it so we are taking all of it with us." Spike moaned knowing he'd be the one carrying it. " Besides Celestia's letter was very urgent, she said it would all be explained once we got to the castle." Twilight lifted her mentors letter to her face and begin reading it for the hundredth time. To My Most Faithful Student, A matter of concern has come to my attention, and I am in need of your assistance. I can not reveal the circumstances to you in this message, for that i apologize, but know that all will be explained when we meet. I am sending for a carriage to pick you and Spike up at 8 in the morning. It is imperative that you arrive as soon as possible, for i fear the longer we stall the matter the harder it will be to address. Also, if i remember correctly you researched ancient spell theory while in the academy. Please bring all things regarding the subject with you to the castle, as the may be neccassary to the task at hoof. You Mentor and Friend, Celestia Twilight had forgotten all about her panic and potential tardiness while reading her mentors letter. She didn't really know what was going on, in the 17 years she has been the princess' student not once had she been called upon like this. This thought and others swam through her head as she stood in the library, completely forgetting Spikes presence or the time. Her thoughts were cut short by a knock on her door "Coming" she replied and trotted over to the door, putting her old thoughts out of her mind. When she opened the door there stood a Royal guard in full armor. "Ms. Sparkle." his voice was gruff and his tone uncaring. He bowed his head to her more as a formality than anything else. "Yes, that's me. I take it your my escort?" Twilight replied trying to mimic the guardponies tone, but to no avail. "Correct, now if your ready please follow me to the carriage." Finishing his talk he turned and walked off. "Come on Spike time to go." Said Twilight as she followed the guard out the door. She heard Spike moan in protest as he lifted the saddlebag and followed. Once at the carriage the guard quickly hooked himself on and checked that his two passengers were secure, seeing they were he took of towards Canterlot. Twilight stared over the side at the ground below and thought "Relax Twilight, if it was truly serious she would call the other Elements of Harmony." She leaned back and relaxed as the castle slowly came into view. Celestia and Luna sat upon their thrones as they waited for the days tasks to begin. Today was they day they were to hear from the public and try to deal with the ponies problems as best they could. The assembly was just about to start when a guard approached the princesses and saluted. "Twilight Sparkle has arrived at the castle." he said bluntly and lowered his hoof to the ground while awaiting orders. "Good. Escort her to the throne room immediately. Once here nopony is to enter, understood?" she didn't wait for the guards reply as she stood and walked to the center of the room, the assembled ponies quieted as she walked by. "My dear subjects. I am sorry to say that this assembly is canceled due to unforeseen circumstances. The assembly shall gather again tomorrow, until then I ask you all leave the all." her voice was not demanding, but everypony cleared the throne room immediately as to not upset their princess. "Nice lie." said Luna after the room was clear. Celestia just looked back to her sister and nodded, then returned to her spot on the throne. The room was silent. Neither sister spoke as they waited for Twilight to enter. After five minutes the doors opened and a purple unicorn mare followed by a "baby" dragon entered the room. "Good morning princess. Im sorry for the delay, bu-" Celestia raised a hoof signaling for her to stop talking. "It is good to see you to Twilight, but formalities will have to wait. Follow me." both her and Luna rose from their throne and turned to face their seats. Celestias horn lit up, followed by Lunas, and the two thrones began to glow. "Drelct nix vra Gh'ect." the princesses said and in a flash the thrones disappeared leaving a stairwell where they once stood. Twilight was dumbstruck at what she just witnessed. She had never heard an incantation spell like that before, and her curiosity was building. She was about to ask what kind of spell it was, but before she could ask celestia said "Come Twilight we must hurry before the doorway closes." both princesses headed down the stairwell. Twilight and Spike looked at each other confusedly before heading down the stairs with the princesses. They walked down a tunnel for several minutes in silence. Despite no visible light source the tunnel had a faint glow to it which lead the way down the path. Twilight was looking at the strange architecture of the tunnel, its designs were so ancient and beautiful it would be impossible to describe them with words. the silence, as well as Twilight's amazement at the tunnel, was broken by Luna "We are here." was all she said. Twilight looked in front of them straining her eyes to see in the dull light. Before them was a door, it was bigger than a full grown dragon and looked to be 1000 or so years old. The designs on the door were even more breath taking than the tunnel walls, so much so that twilight felt a tear come to her eye. Celestia didn't share her students wonder at the designing, and simply held a hoof up to the door causing it to open. The four walked through the doorway and into a black room. Celestia's horn lit up once again and four torches the size of ponies burst into flame along the walls, illuminating the room. Twilight stared around the room puzzled, she saw spike doing the same out of the corner of her eye. There was nothing in the room besides the now lit torches along the walls and a stand in the center with a large rolled up scroll placed upon it. Twilight could feel the great magical energy emanating from the scroll and stared at it transfixed. Celestia saw her students reaction to the scrolls magic and said "Be careful many a good pony has gone mad in the presence of this scroll." she saw her student break her gaze immediately and look to her for answers. "That is the Guardian Scroll. It is the last spell ever constructed by the Six Greats and nopony to this day has ever been able to use it... including myself." She saw her students mouth hit practically hit the floor, but she ignored the urge to laugh at Twilight's face and continued "As you know many things have changed in Equestria ever since the changelings attack. The troubles of the people grow each day and all my power goes to helping the ponies who are made victims. All the while the cause of these events hides in the shadows and taunts us." The anger was clear in her voice as she continued "This scroll is a long shot but if it works then the guardian brought here can put a stop to the one responsible." Her expression softened as she levitated the scroll from its spot on its pedestal and floated it over to Twilight. "The task of deciphering and performing the spell goes to you, Twilight Sparkle. You can decline if you wish, but if you accept be forewarned the enchantments on this scroll make the spell impossible to read, it has baffled even the greatest of my researchers. " If Twilight's mouth could have fallen off it would have. In front of her face was the greatest spell ever constructed in pony history, and it was her task to decipher it. She could barely contain her joy, but managed it down to respond to her mentor. "This is a great honor princess. I accept the task to decipher this great spell." She bowed to both the princesses, Luna had a smile across her face while Celestia seemed downcast slightly. Twilight ignored their looks and unraveled the scroll wanting to see how bad this enchantment could be. She stared at the scroll with a confused look, she glanced at the two alicorns curiously and asked "Uhhhh... are you sure this scroll is enchanted?" The question caught the sisters off guard. "Of course it is." Said Luna "Why dost thou ask?" her use of old equestrian showed she was irritated by being asked such a stupid question. Twilight didn't pick up on it though and continued speaking "Well... I can read it fine." she said bluntly. Spike, who had stayed quiet as he tried to follow all the magic stuff, walked up to Twilight and glanced at the unraveled scroll. "You serious? I cant even tell which side is up on that thing!" She looked at her assistant puzzled, then at the princesses. Both of the had looks of disbelief. Twilight laid the scroll onto the floor and said "I dont understand. Right here is the ingredients list." she pointed to a jumble of symbols that none could made hide nor tail of. "And over here are the spells steps." This time she pointed to what looked like a hole in the paper. "Maybe you should lay down, Twilight. I don't even see anything that could be considered language on that scroll." Twilight looked to spike angrily. Sh wasn't crazy and she could see the spell clearly. "Why only me?" she thought to herself. "I'd expect no less from the Element of Magic." said Luna. Her shock had faded and was replaced by hope. The hope that Twilight can do the spell. "Now since only you can read this scroll what exactly do you need?" Twilight quickly read the ingredients list and instructions. "Well... the ingredients are easy enough to get, and the runes are relatively easy to write. The only concern is the magic energy required to do the spell. Nothing can give off this much power..." she stopped as a thought came to her head. "Except, maybe the Elements of Harmony." Celestia looked at her student and thought over bringing together the elements again. After what felt like hours she answered. "Very well Twilight. I shall send out a notice to all of them telling them to meet you in Ponyville a week from today. Also, I shall have all necessary materials for the spell sent to you." "Thank you princess." Twilight bowed and put the scroll in the bag spike was carrying. "Wait" said Spike. "Are you telling me i draggd this huge bag along for nothing!" he stomped the ground angrily. "A little exercise never hurt anypony... or dragon in this case." said Celestia with a smile across her face, which made Spike all the more pissed. "Calm down Spike." Twilight said "We can just teleport home remember?" "Oh... Yeah" Spike put his head down in embarrassment. "Well i think that's everything. I'm sorry to leave so suddenly, but i wish to start work on the spell immediately." She looked at the princesses. Both bowed their heads in understanding. "Very well. Be sure to send reports to me on your progress. I shall send the messages to the other elements immediately " Said Celestia as she gave Twilight a small hug goodbye. "Thank you again princess." Twilight smiled and turned to stand besides Spike. "Now if you'll excuse me Ive got work to do!" Her horn flashed bright purple and in an instant she was gone. "That mare will never cease to amaze me. Will she?" Luna walked past her sister to leave the room. Seeing Celestia remained behind she stopped and turned. "No." said Celestia after a moment of thought. "I don't believe she will." she started to laugh, and Luna all to happily joined in. The two left the room laughing the whole time. A small glimpse of hope had been found. Hope for all of Equestria. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A/N: Huzzah! Chapter 2 of "Seventh Soul: Birth" is complete! Next chapter expect some action.
Crisis in Ponyville! Enter the HeroThe train pulled into Ponyville around sundown. Once in the station many ponies left the train, including two very familiar white mares. "It sure is good to be back home, right sis? Especially after all that fuss in Manehatten about your new clothes line." said the smaller mare. Her hair was long and split into two colors, a light purple and pink, same with her tail. Both were very nice in contrast with her pure white body and green eyes. The most noticable thing about her, however, was her cutie mark, a smiling face with music note flowing from the mouth and forming a heart shape. "Right you are Sweetie Belle, but we are running late as is so we can't stop for nostalgia." Said Rarity as they walked through town, turning the heads of quiet a few stallions along the way. As they walked they ignored almost all the hellos and greetings from the ponies they passed, truth was Rarity was to deep in thought to care. "I cant believe I'm late to an order from the princess! As long as i find Twilight fast everything should be fine... I hope." Her thoughts were cut off by Two very familiar voices. "RAAAAAAAARRRRIIIIITTTTTYYYYY!!!!! SWEEEEEETIIIIEEEE BBBEEELLLLEEE!!!!" yelled a bouncing pink pony from across the street, an orange mare with an old brown stetson upon her head standing next to her waving. "Pinkie Pie! Applejack!" yelled the sisters back as they ran to their old friends. Rarity noticed how different her friends looked as they got closer. Both had grown taller, pinkies mane and tail were even more swirly and untamed. Applejack had her mane and tail untied so they fell nimbly along her body, and her body was more toned from all the farm work. "Darlings, it has been far to long since we saw eachother! How are things with you two?" Asked rarity slightly out of breath from the run over. "Well the farms been doing great ever since Applebloom got'er cutie mark and started up a construction business using our orchards dead trees." said Applejack proudly as she told of her sisters exploits "Great to hear Applejack, I always knew Applebloom would be an asset to the farm. What about you Pinkie, last we saw you said you were moving to Canterlot to open another Sugarcube Corner." Rarity asked the, still bouncing, pink pony. "O business is just GREAT! All those fancy ponies love the sweets i make and order them for all the events! I even made the cake for the Gala last year. Celestia ate almost all of it it was so good!" Pinkie was mixing between yelling and squealing with glee. "It's lovely to hear that you both have been doing well and I wish we could talk more about our time apart, but I know twilight must be in hysterics right now so it's best we get to her." said Rarity checking a clock nearby. "Got that right. She had the 2 of us go look for y'all and told us not to come back till we found ya." Applejack chuckled remembering her friends fit. "O I almost forgot. Sweetie, Applebloom and Scootaloo are waitin' for ya up at the clubhouse." she said looking back at the smaller mare. "Yay the crusaders are united again!" she stopped and turned to Rarity. "Can I go sis?" her eyes swelled and she took a pleading pose. "Fine, but be careful with all the craziness happening in Equestria these days you can never be to careful." Sweetie's face brightened and she ran off leaving a dust cloud in her wake. "Now where exactly is Twilight I'm sure she's expecting us back by now." Rarity said turning to her own friends. "She over by the edge of town setting up the ritual. We better hurry before she goes all 'firepony' on us" Pinkie said as she bounced ahead to lead the way. Rarity opened her mouth to question what a "firepony" was but applejack stopped her. "It's just Pinkie being Pinkie, now come on." she ran off to follow Pinkie. Seeing the distance between them lengthen Rarity ran to keep up, and followed them to her other friends. "Hey Twilight! the others are here!" Twilights lifted her gaze from her book and pointed the light from her horn, which she was using to read in the darkness of night, at the voice. "Coming Rainbow!" Twilight called back closing her book and trotting over to her assembled friends. She was careful to avoid the intricate spell network laid out on the ground, which was strangely glowing in the moonlight. Walking up to her friends she said "I'm glad you could all make it on such short notice, and it's good to see all of you again." She smiled as her friends nodded in agreement. "I don't mean to sound rude, but can we please save this mushy stuff for after this ritual thing is over?" Rainbow Dash said. Other than her new Wonderbolts uniform she looked exactly the same as the last time she saw her friends. "I-I agree with rainbow... we should finish the princesses task now..... if you all want to that is." came a small voice from next to Twilight. Everyone looked at her as she hid her face in her mane which was easily done considering how long it had gotten. "Well since the princess is expecting a report about the spell soon, i guess the catching up can wait. Follow me everypony." Twilight turned and walked up to the spell network. The guardian scroll levitated out of her bag and unravveled in front of the elements. Twilight began " This is the Guardian Scroll, the most powerful spell in history is written upon it. It is our job to perform this spell, and summon the Guardian. For that we are using these" Her horn flashed and a small box materialized into existance. Everypony knew that within it were The Elements of Harmony. "If all goes according to plan the guardian can put a stop to all the events that have been happening in Equestria." She waited for the depth of the situation to set in. "Well shoot Twilight why didn't you say so. This 'saving the world' stuff is easy after doing it twice." Applejack said as she dawned her element. the others followed suit including Twilight. "Applejacks right." said Rainbow Dash as she placed her element around her neck. "All this just to use the Elements again? To think I missed a week of training for this." the last part was barely audible to anypony. "Well since everypony seems to want to get this over with as soon as possible lets get started." They all smiled shyly at Twilights statement, mainly because it was true. They all just wanted to do the spell so they could spend time with eachother, and catch up. "Ok each of you stand in front of one of the outer circles." each did as they were told and went to the edge of the network where there were six circles, each with a strange rune written in it. Twilight saw everypony in position and took removed a small knife from her bag. "What exactly is the knife for?" said Fluttershy nervously staring at the blade. In response Twilight put the blade up to her right forehoof and sliced, leaving a decent cut behind. She held out her hoof allowing her blood to drip onto the rune she was in front of. Once the blood touched the spell network a humming started to be heard, and Twilights tiara began to glow faintly. "The spell requires the blood from two of each race of pony, and they need to be exceptionally strong." she whiped the blood off of her knife and placed it on the ground. Her horn flashed and five more knives floated to each of her friends who looked at her in disbelief. "Well ah'm not sure how i feel bout this, but ah trust you Twi and if you think it's safe then so do ah." she grabbed the knife in her mouth and slit her hoof letting the blood drip onto the rune. The humming grew louder and Applejacks element began to glow. " Sam here, if Twilight says its safe then so do I." she lifted the sleve to her uniform and cut. The humming sound stopped and a slight thumping sound could be heard as Rainbows element lit up same as the others. Pinkie grabbed the knife in front of her and slit her hoof without a word. A strange smile crossed her face as she watched the blood hit the rune, heard the thumping grow faster, and her Element begin to glow. Rarity and Fluttershy both looked at the knives and the blood with unease. Both felt like fainting, but knew they must complete the spell first. "Well seems we are the last ones." Rarity said nervously while looking at Fluttershy. "How about we each go on the count of three?" Seeing Fluttershy and grab the knife rarity did the same "One. Two." both closed their eyes as they set the blade to their hoof. "Three!" said Rarity and both slid the blade across their skin the blood flowing straight onto the rune at their feet. the thumping stopped and silence filled the air. All the Elements were glowing and resonating with one another. The spell had begun. Twilights eyes lit up the familiar white light and the others began to lift off the ground as the magic engulfed them. It was then that the lights shot forth from each of them and swirled into the air, but something was different this time. Instead of the familiar rainbow forming, the colors merged into a beam of pure white. Twilight felt something within her as the white beam formed, something ancient and sinister. She tried to stop the spell but to no results. The magic was to far gone and out of control. The white light beam shot straight into the ground creating a wave of force that sent the six of them flying backward. and a crater left in the ground where the runes once were. All of them recovered quickly from the shockwave and ran to twilight who was standing at the craters edge with a look of both amazement and horror. "Well did it work? Did we summon this guardian or whatever its called?" Said Rainbow looking into the small pit for any sign of life. The others did the same, and soon their expression were the same as Twilight's Lying in the center was a skeleton of a creature nopony had ever seen before. it resembled a monkey in some ways but was missing a tail and was about five times bigger than any monkey they had ever seen, which wasn't many. Twilight broke the silence "This is the guardian? How is a skeleton of a.... thing supposed to help at all!?" she stomped her hoof letting her anger show and was about to check the skeleton for something of use when she heard a sound that made her blood run cold. "Did anypony else hear that?" she turned to look at her friends and knew from the fritened looks on their faces that they had. It was silent for what felt like hours but was probably just a few minutes. They all held their breath hoping they had heard wrong. The sound came again, much closer this time, it was a howl from. Their hearts nearly stopped because they all knew exactly what the howling meant. "Timberwolves." they said collectively. A scream came from Poyvile. They looked trying to see what was happening and saw a blue stallion come running around a corner screaming for help "SOMEPONY HELP PLEASE! HEL-" he never finished, those were his last words. A timberwolf had jumped from hiding in an alley and gripped his neck in its jaws. With a quick turn a loud snap rang throughout the town and the stallions body went limp. Four more timberwolves appeared and began to feast on the new kill. The girls looked on in horror as the timberwolves ravaged the dead body, a pool of blood formed around the wolves. More cries of terror and wolf howls could be heard throughout the town as the chaos began to set in. Ponies were fighting for their live as the timberwolves pounced upon them and ripped them to pieces. Blood was everywhere now, windows to shops and houses were broken in as the wolves searched for their next meal. The girls stood and looked unable to move from fear. Applejack turned to her friends and yelled "What are y'all standing around for! We gotta go help!" Without another word she charged into town determined to help anypony she could. The others looked at eachother, then back at applejack. " Lets go guys she can't do anything alone." yelled Rainbow as she flew into town followed by the other. Except Twilight. "This is my fault. The spell must have done something to provoke the timberwolves. What have I done?" grief had taken over she looked away from town and back at the skeleton. "What did I do wrong? Guardian I beg you stop the timberwolves!" tears were streaming down her eyes as she bowed her head, her horn sticking into the ground. She cried at the skeleton and continued to beg when she noticed something had changed around her. She lifted her head and looked to Ponyville to see everything frozen it time. She stared in disbelief, somehow time itself had stopped, she turned back to the skeleton and leaped back in shock. Standing, floating might be a better term, before her was the skeleton of the strange creature, two glowing orbs of white were in the eye sockets acting as eyes. "You are the one who summoned me to this plane?" came an ancient booming voice inside of Twilight's head. "Y-y-yes I am Twilight Sparkle and I am the one who called upon you." she said trying to hide her emotions and speak with dignity. "Very well. What is thy wish young one?" asked the voice. "Please stop the timberwolves from attacking and help all the innocent ponies!" she begged a tear started to form in her eye from the grief. "I am not of this world young one. I can not actively interfere in thy worlds affairs. Make another wish." said the voice in an emotionless tone. "Then bring me someponies who can! Anypony that can save them is fine!" She said angrilly looking to her home hoping her friends were alright. The voice was silent for a few moments "Thy wish is granted, but know this young one. You have released forces no mear mortal has seen in many millennias." The voice grew quite and the white light from the skull faded into nothingness. Time began to move again, but this time the ground began shaking stopping the ponies and timberwolves in their tracks as the braised for an earthquake. Twilight looked on at the still standing skeleton in amazement. Muscles began to work around the bones, and organs grew in place inside, what twilight identified as, the rib cage blood was dripping from it. Once the muscles and tendons had formed shim slowly crept around the body, it was a strange whitish color that twilight had never seen on any ponies before, the skin slowly worked around the face and finished growing on the skull. A long black mane fell down to its shoulders and the body was finished forming. The runes from where her friends placed their blood began to glow and six balls of light floated up into the air, surrounding the body. Two orbs began to float towards the body, one was a deep blue the other a burning orange, and both dissipated into the creatures head. A giant crooked white horn shot from the skull followed by 4 smaller horns sideways horns on the temples. Next the an blood red orb and a forest green orb entered the creatures torso and two giant black wings sprout forth from it's back, they were easily the size of a full grown pony. Lastly a bright pink and a light yellow orb floated into the creatures two legs causing two tails to grow at the base of it's back. Twilights mouth nearly hit the ground from what she just witnessed. Standing before her was some type of alicorn that stood on two legs. "What in Celestia's name is this thing?" thought twilight, but she stopped thinking all together when the creature opened it's eyes. The irises were a metallic silver and the horn quickly changed to the same strange color. A streak of silver ran down it's hair. Twilight barely noticed the change at all she was to enthralled in it's gaze. The creature began to look around, it's gaze stopped when it saw Ponyville. More specifically the stallion that Twilight saw get slaughtered. A scowl swept it's face as he stared at the warped body of the stallion. The silver coloring faded and was replaced by the same blood red as the orb. A horrible aura filled the air making it hard for Twilight to breath. "Wha-what are you?" she forced herself to ask. The red eyes shot her a look of pure hate. She felt, for the first time in her life, that she was going to die. Instead of killing her the creature raised its wings and in a cold rough voice said "I am Rage." With that It brought its wings down and rocketed into the sky, headed straight for ponyville. "What exactly have I done?" she stared up at the sky and saw the moon begin to turn red. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~