Prologue
The flames of Hell always burned hot and today was no exception. Screams of torture and discontent filled the air along with the cacophony of other noises that sent spine chilling shivers up one's spine.
In what could be considered the center of Hell, resided a giant statue of a demonic pony. Standing higher than an Ursa Major, it could be could be considered nothing short of a monster. It was cast in shadow, the flickering of the flames that dotted Hell cast eerie images onto the blood red walls surrounding it.
CRACK!
A blast of pure white covered the entire area. The screams stopped, the angry cacophony of creatures stopped. White, a colour so unknown to the inhabitants of the underworld was suddenly the most dominant colour here.
For the first time in eons, the fires of Hell that surrounded the area were extinguished.
There was another swirl of ice and a pony appeared. He was clad in a pure white cloak, a hood cast a shadow over his eyes.
“So this is where the Dempony resides.” The outsider began to walk towards the statue. Already the ice on the statue was beginning to melt and a large puddle was forming at the base.
He circled the monolithic pony before coming to a stop before a pedestal. His eyes scanned the arcane markings on the tablet.
“Damn, I can’t read this. The language is too old, probably predates the princesses.” There was a small glow beneath the hood and ice encrusted the tablet before lifting off, forming a perfect copy.
“What you can’t take with you, copy.” He muttered under his breath. The sheet of ice slid into his cloak where he ensured that it was secured before stepping down from the pedestal.
“That is one ugly statue,” he said while looking up at it. “Thank goodness it’s stuck down here.”
There was a slight rattle behind and he leapt to the side only for an axe to fall through the space he had only just vacated. Whirling around the cloaked pony looked into two pits of darkness that were the eyes for the skeleponies.
How’d they manage to sneak up on me? His mind in a blur, or rather, why would they be guarding this statue... I mean beside it being a statue of a giant dempony.
He jumped back again as the axe smashed down onto the ground before him cracking through the ice onto the hellrock. With a sigh, he looked down and muttered,
“I thought I’d be able to get out quietly but...” his cloak fluttered open as the air began to stir, revealing a deep orange hide. Another glow emitted from within the hood as water coalesced from the air and froze into the shape of an odachi. It looked like a katana, only it was almost two metres long and was made out of ice.
“Now, it’s time...” the hooded pony murmured and blurred out of sight. He reappeared behind the line of skeleponies, the odachi evaporated into the air with a hiss; a second later the skeleponies clattered to the ground in pieces.
“Fuu... that was close,” his eyes closed. There was a loud crack!
“Ahh... that can’t be good.” Turning around and facing the statue his odachi reappeared in front of him in a guard position. Cracks were spreading along the dempony with a maddening speed. A piece fell off revealing a hide so red it looked as though it was blood itself.
“Shit! I think it’s time I take my leave” with that the mysterious pony turned, but before he could take a step an enormous pressure descended upon the area.
Skeleponies that were advancing on the area fell to the ground, unable to stand up to the sheer power that was coming from the statue. He fell onto his front knees, a red glow illuminated the area, growing stronger and stronger before blinding the entire surrounding in a blast of red light.
He turned his head and froze. Towering before him was the dempony completely released from its sealed state. It snorted and a burst of fire flared from its nostrils, its horns on its head were cracked, but then a bone from a skelepony suddenly flew into the air and melded into the cracks, smoothing it over, unblemished as the day it was created.
The dempony gave a earth shattering roar and flames shot up around the place and the ice was vapourised into steam. The odachi before the mysterious pony cracked and shattered releasing a burst of energy.
Damn! That monster will have noticed that! he screamed in his mind. Two sickly yellow eyes turned upon him and narrowed.
“What...” in a voice that cracked and wheezed, like one that had not been used in a millenia.
“What the hell is that pony doing here!” He roared out!
Suddenly as if a spell was broken a huge horde of skeleponies began to claw their way out of the hellrock. A skeletal hoof burst out of the ground right next to the pony. Thinking quickly he backflipped through the air and landed a few feet away. Calling on some power, a blizzard appeared behind him and swept through the area, but it did little more than blow the skeleponies back a bit.
The flames from the dempony must be counteracting my freezing abilities. No choice, I have to do it. With an intense look of concentration a glow began to build up from inside the hood and arcane markings began to form on the ground.
A wind began to pick up and swirl around the source of the power, until it was a whirling tornado of epic proportions with ice shards flying through it. Any pony
************************************************Meanwhile******************************************
It was another day for Electronic Lightning. Wake up, eat breakfast, get ready, then go to Cloudsdale Postal for work. “Hey Derpy,” he said as she passed by.
“Hi e-Lightning. What’s up?”
“Not much, same old, same old.”
“Well, you better get to delivering letters, you’re almost late.”
“Yeah. See you later!”
e-Lightning walked over to a pile of letters and put them in his mail bag. He took off to the house of the first recipient.
“Hmm... Fluttershy huh? I hope she doesn’t slam the door in my face again, that hoof shocker was only a joke.”
He landed at the door of Fluttershy’s house and knocked on the door. Fluttershy answered the door.
“Hi, I’m here to deliver a letter to you.”
“O-oh.” For a second it appeared that Fluttershy was about to slam the door on his face. In a small voice she whispered,
“Thank you...” and then she quickly whirled around and slammed the door in his face. e-Lightning stood there for a couple of seconds before shaking his head.
“Alright then... see you around.”
e-Lightning was flying to the next recipient when he saw Lightstone Glare, slacking off on a cloud.
“Hey! Get to work!”
“You can’t tell me what to do!” she shouted, and the cloud she was standing on began to crackle and produce ball lightning.
“Oh, come on!” He shouted. The ball lightning was headed straight for him. He flew as fast as he could, reaching Mach 10, then turning around to let the ball lightning hit Glare. She was electrocuted immediately.
“Bangarang!” e-Lightning shouted.
“OW!” Glare shouted in pain.
“Oh, and by the way, you’re fired,” he retorted.
“You will rue this day! You will!”
“Ehh, I don’t give a buck.”
*******************************************Meanwhile************************************************
“Princess Luna,” Stellar Flare started. “I’ve been meaning to ask you...”
“My apprentice, I already know,” Luna interrupted. “You wish to leave Canterlot.”
Stellar Flare, the magical apprentice of Princess Luna, had been studying under her ever since her return from her exile on the moon. He was once one of Princess Celestia’s most gifted students at the School for Gifted Unicorns, showing an aptitude for both magic and Equestrian history. Upon the defeat of Nightmare Moon, Princess Celestia chose Flare to become the purified Princess Luna’s magical apprentice, as the Princess of the Sun already had a prodigy in Twilight Sparkle. He had been studying under her ever since.
Studying under Princess Luna was, if anything, a series of very daunting tasks. The lunar Princess never seemed to be satisfied with any of the work that her apprentice was doing. Luna had Flare read every scroll in the Starswirl the Bearded wing of the Canterlot library until he knew each spell backwards, forwards, and upside down. Although he showed tremendous magical ability, Luna was never happy, and Flare was yearning for the day when the Princess would say complement him on his work.
Flare often read scrolls in the Canterlot library on Equestrian history as well as magical spells. He had become a well-respected member of the Canterlot Historical Society with several awards under his belt. Princess Luna, when asked about her student’s success in historical studies, said: “Well, at least he’s good at something.”
“Yes, my master, I have been yearning to explore Equestria and enrich my knowledge of magical studies as well as historical studies,” Flare explained to his teacher. Luna thought about this for a while.
“Yes, my apprentice. I believe it is time you left Canterlot and went on your own adventure. I am sending you to Ponyville. When you arrive, I want you to seek out the prodigy of my sister, Twilight Sparkle at the Ponyville library. You have been cooped up in this place for far too long, my apprentice and it is about time that you went to study abroad.”
“Yes, my master. I will leave immediately.”
“Oh, and Stellar,” Princess Luna called out. Flare turned around to look at his master. “In this instance, I will take a page from my sister’s teachings: try and make some friends.”
“Yes, Princess Luna,” Flare said as he turned and walked to a pegasus-drawn carriage that was waiting for him outside the castle.
****************************************Later*****************************************************
It was the dead of night when Stellar Flare arrived in Ponyville. The indigo-coloured unicorn looked around and saw that nopony was out this late. Flare pulled out a map of Ponyville from his saddlebag and used his magic to levitate it in front of his face. “Lets see, if I’m here,” Flare said, pointing at a section of the map marked “Sweet Apple Acres”, “Then I have to walk northeast of here to reach the library, which is in the centre of town.” Flare levitated the map back into his saddlebag and proceeded to walk to the library.
Stellar was surprised to see that the lights in the library were still on, even at this hour. He raised his hoof and knocked on the front door. The door opened immediately and a small purple and green dragon said, “Yes, may I help you?”
“Oh, hello,” Flare started. “Sorry to disturb you at this hour, but I’m here to see Twilight Sparkle.”
A voice called out from inside the library: “Spike, who is it?”
“It’s some pony asking to see you, Twilight!” Spike answered back. Twilight Sparkle suddenly teleported to the door.
“Yes, may I help you?” She asked.
“Oh, hello. You must be Twilight Sparkle,” Flare started. “My name is Stellar Flare. I’m Princess Luna’s apprentice.”
“Princess Luna’s apprentice?” Twilight questioned. “I didn’t know Princess Luna had an apprentice. What are you doing here?”
“Well,” Flare started. “My master has asked me to come to Ponyville to study with you and live in the Ponyville library. She also told me to come here and make some friends.”
“Hmmmm...” Twilight thought about this for a while. After a while, Spike broke the silence as he burped out a scroll in a puff of green smoke. “It’s a letter from Princess Celestia!” Twilight exclaimed.
Spike started to read the letter out loud, “My faithful student Twilight, my sister, Princess Luna, has just informed me that she has sent her apprentice to Ponyville to study abroad and make some friends. Stellar Flare is to live with you and Spike in the library. Make sure that he settles into Ponyville and introduce him to your friends. I believe that you will find him a great research partner and friend. Yours truly, Princess Celestia.”
There was a long pause until Twilight finally broke the silence. “Well that’s all the confirmation I need. Welcome to Ponyville, Stellar Flare!”
“Thanks for the warm welcome, Twilight! I hope I won’t be too much of a distraction to your studying,” Flare said.
“Oh it won’t be a problem, Stellar, in fact, I’m looking forward to studying with you.” Both Flare and Twilight blushed. “Well come on in, Stellar, you must be cold standing out there. Spike, take Stellar’s bags up to my room.”
“Wait...what?” Spike exclaimed. “Is he going to sleep with you?”
“What? NO!” Twilight yelled. “He’s going to sleep in the spare bed in my room.” Twilight’s face was completely red now. “Sorry about him, Stellar. Spike likes to jump to conclusions.”
“Don’t worry about it, Twilight, and please, call me Flare. All my friends call me Flare.”
“Alright, Flare, oh and by the way, if you don’t mind me asking, what does your Cutie Mark symbolise?”
“Oh, well the solar flare in the background is symbolic of my name and my aptitude for magic, while the Cross of the Ponies Templar in the foreground symbolises my passion for Equestrian history. In fact, before I came here, the Canterlot Historical Society assigned me to the job of Ponyville Historian.”
“Ponyville Historian? That’s perfect! I’m Ponyville’s librarian, and I have a lot of books on the History of Ponyville here. We could study together if you want...” Twilight blushed again.
“Sounds good to me, Twilight!” Flare said happily. “But i’m pretty tired after my long trip from Canterlot and I’d like to get some sleep. We can study together tomorrow, though!”
“Of course, I’ll show you to your bed. Spike should have already brought your bags up,” Twilight said while starting to walk up the stairs to her bedroom. Flare followed closely behind. When they arrived at Twilight’s room, Flare saw that Spike had fallen asleep in his bed. “Well this is your bed,” Twilight said, while pointing her hoof at a large two-pony bed opposite of her own. “Goodnight, Flare,” she said. “It’s good to have you here.”
“It’s great to be here, Twilight. Goodnight.”
***The Next Day***
e-Lightning lazily flew around Cloudsdale. It was Saturday, a day off for postal workers. “What to do, what to do,what to do...” he said. “I guess I’ll go to Twilight’s library. I need to return a book anyways.” He flew straight for the library. Apparently he was quite early. Twilight was still asleep. “Stupid timetable for postal service,” he thought to himself. He was walking around, browsing books when another pony caught his eye.”Huh? Who’s he?” he said to himself. The navy blue pony began to stir.
“Wha? Who’s there?” Flare said in a half-awake tone.
“Just me,” e-Lightning said.
“Who?”
“My name’s Electronic Lightning. I work for Cloudsdale Postal.”
Flare rose from his bed on the second floor of the library and proceeded to teleport to the main floor where e-Lightning was. “Nice to meet you. I’m Stellar Flare, Princess Luna’s apprentice and Ponyville Historian.”
“Nice to meet you too, Stellar Flare.”
“So what can I do for you?” Flare asked.
“I just want to return a book,” e-Lightning replied.
“Well Twilight’s still asleep. Give it to me and I’ll return it for you.” e-Lightning gave Flare the book and Flare used his magic to put it on the top shelf of a bookcase.
“So what are you doing here in Ponyville, Stellar?” e-Lightning asked.
“Well my master, Princess Luna, sent me here to further my studies in magic and to make some friends,” Flare responded.
“Oh, well enjoy your stay in Ponyville, Stellar.”
“Will do, e-Lightning. Thanks for stopping by.”