Shadows of War

Twilight awoke to the delicious aroma of food and the gentle sound of music. Slowly, she opened her eyes to find Golden Courage mixing a black pot over a small cooking fire. She could feel her stomach rumble as a cool breeze blew over her face. Sitting up, she made sure to keep the wool blanket around her, as it was still a bit chilly and the blanket served to cover her wings.“Good morning.” She said groggily as she let out a long, tired yawn and rubbed the sleep for her eyes.

Golden Courage smiled. “Morning, sleep well?” He asked, keeping his attention on the pot as he tasted the contents within it. “Needs more garlic.” He murmured, reaching into a nearby bag and pulling out the plant. He crashed the garlic before adding it to the pot.

Twilight nodded. “Didn’t think I would, given my circumstance-” Twilight motioned to all the unfamiliar surrounds. "-but guess yesterday took a lot out of me...” She sighed and gazed down at her hooves.

Golden Courage gave Twilight a sympathetic look and slowly shook his head. "Poor mare..." He muttered quietly under his breath as he continued making breakfast.

Twilight sighed and looked up, noticing Battlesong with a simple wooden lyre in his hooves as he played his tunes. The sound slow, sweet with a hint of sadness. It set Twilight's raging nerves somewhat at ease. There was a magic to the earth pony's playing, not like a unicorn but one that was more passive. She had heard of earth ponies that had a sort of magic before, but they were rare and a few. Mage Meadowbrook, Puddinghead, and Rockhoof coming quickly to her mind. "That a lovely tone, what is it called?"

"The Lament of Archangel," The earth ponies kept playing the tone. "It about the day that the Grand Lord fight his sister and slew her."

"That horrible, couldn't he had saved her or locked her away?" Twilight replied, think to Luna and Celestia.

Battlesong kept on playing, "Mayhap he could have, but how long could he kept her locked away, or what if she gave into the darkness again? No, the Grand Lord did his duty the best he could, even if it cost him one so dear to his heart."

Twilight didn't speak for some time, partly still feeling worn out and her mind pondering the song. Could Celestia have done the same, if there had been no other to stop Nightmare Moon?

"Something the matter lass?"

"No, just still exhausted from yesterday."

Battlesong looked over at her and gave a small, light-hearted chuckle. "Trust me, lass most would be out for days after a guardian drains them of their magic."

Twilight perked up and turned to face him as her curiosity took over at the mention of the iron being. She scooted closer to the fire and gazed at Battlesong with keen interest. "Could you possibly tell me how the guardians came to be?"

Battlesong sample played his Lyre. “Depends… Which story?” He asked, plucking yet another string.

The purple mare leaned in with childlike eyes as if she were leaning in to hear a bedtime story. “I want to know everything.”

He chuckled at her eagerness and cleared his throat. “To the Earth Ponies they were sent by the old gods to add their children against the Devights, the Grand Lords always find this one to be the most foolish one. Ask our kingdom’s enemies, they would say they climbed out of the tartarus itself to rain death upon them.” He said.

“What about you?” Twilight asked.

“Well lass, I believe there is a reason the Grand Lords want it to be forgotten. The Guardians, while they may be a powerful weapon against the Devights, they are can be very uncaring about any that gets in their way.” He stated.

“But it's part of your history. Even if it's not the happiest tale, ponies should not forget it.” Twilight said knowing full well the ramifications of hiding the truth from history.

“Lass.” Battalsong sighed. “If you must know only two ponies may tell you, and as your luck would have it, we're headed to one. Just know, he'll need convincing if you want the answer. Better have a good enough reason.”

“Oh…” Twilight was a little disheartened but quickly shook it off. She was determined to know. “All right.” She said confidently.

Twilight was thankful that Battlesong had given her a cape, even if it was heavy and scratchy. It was warm and kept the crisp, icy air off her thin coat. It also gave her some protection from the thorns.

The path she found herself on was overgrown by the sharp, tangled vines of the lush blackberry plants that spilled over the path trying to rip the large cape from her back. This made it a tad uncomfortable as the cloth scratched at her, making her feel the need to itch it constantly. As she walked by a bramble bush, Twilight groaned in annoyance and tore the cape free of the thorny branches, muttering complaints under her breath.

“Say Battlesong isn’t the Tower of Seraph ahead?” Golden Courage asked walking through the bushes as if they were nothing.

Show off… Twilight thought as she watched Golden Courage walk through them with ease. She realized that this sounded uncharacteristically immature but right now, the purple alicorn couldn't care less. Her legs were covered in scratches from the bramble bushes and she was sweating in the chilly air. She sighed and looked to Battlesong, who was pondering what his lion friend had said. He remained silent for a moment as he held his gaze to the tower. “That it is.” He said finally after a few moments of silence.

“Tower of Seraph?” Twilight asked curiously as she eyed the tower with keen interest. “Why ‘Seraph’? Where'd that name come from?” This place really was strange. It reminded her of all the medieval fantasies she read in the library. Twilight missed her library. She longed to just wake up and find that this was all some crazy dream and she'd just fallen asleep reading another medieval fantasy. She wanted so badly to just wake up with a book sprawled open on her chest as she laid comfortably in her sitting pillows.

Twilight came back from her welcoming fantasy when Battlesong piped up. “Well about a hundred years after the Guardians were created, a unicorn by the name of Seraph found favor with Archangel for his knowledge of shield magic and sending messages. As a way of thanks, The Grand Lord of Justice gave him a tower and servants to further his research. the Earth Ponies, however, were less than happy about where the tower was built as it was a holy and sacred place to them.” He explained.

She pulled her cape free of yet another branch, muttering in annoyance. “Did either of the Grand Lords step in?” She asked, her thirst for knowledge quickly overtaking her annoyance. If Rarity was here, Twilight could've sworn she would've dropped dead at the sight of this road… And this cape… Especially this cape. Twilight chuckled inwardly at the thought of her overly dramatic friend.

“Well lass, both of the Grand Lords believe in a Divine Father, not in the old gods of the earth,” Battlesong said as he picked a few of the blackberries from their bushes with his magic and examined them. He stuck them into his mouth and ate the delicious berries.

“So… They didn't do anything about it?” Twilight didn't get it. Even in Equestria, the most stubborn ponies would respect others beliefs and sacred lands.

The gruff stallion only shrugged in response. “They didn't care. They thought that the idea of earth gods was ridiculous.”

“Please tell me they worked it out?” Twilight asked giving a nervous chuckle as she began to think about all the horrible things that could've happened. She didn't want to think about what would happen in this world if they couldn't work things out like civilized ponies.

He snorted. “Only if you call the Earth Ponies burning the tower the ground with everypony still inside... I’ll let you guess what that leads to.” Battlesong said as they come into sight of the ruined stone structure. Rubble and charred wood and rock were strewn across the ground and the tower looked as though it had been left like this for years. It was tall, even in it's the half-destroyed state and looked as though it was once quite a sight. Twilight sighed as she looked at a part of the tower was completely missing, no doubt the rubble that now littered the grass. Near where the door had once been, a marble stone now stood there, many names engraved into it. A memorial stone? Probably.

“Twilight.” An eerie voice seemingly whispered from within the ruins, its voice being carried faintly to her ears by a breeze blowing past her face. Twilight jumped in surprise and looked around. She found Battlesong and Golden Courage talking over by the stone, though whatever they were saying was lost to her. She gazed at the tower as it seemed to draw her to it. She felt an overwhelming urge to go inside, an urge that quickly got the better of her as she began to walk towards it, careful of the sharp stones and splinters scattered around.

“Dig young one.” The voice came again, a little louder this time, whispering in the back of her mind. Twilight found herself in a trance-like state as she obeyed the voice. She couldn't understand why she was so inclined but it made her worry, as she found herself unable to control her movement. She brushed away the rubble and began to dig. It wasn’t long until she unearthed an amulet, it was old and made of slightly rusted platinum. The emblem engraved on it was of a pair of wings, it was definitely something Twilight could see Rarity wearing… After it was washed of course.

She took it in her hooves, brushing off the layers of dirt that had collected on the necklace as she gazed at it intrigued. Suddenly, a blast of pain shot through Twilight’s head as she almost dropped the necklace. She squeezed her eyes shut, cringing from the pain. When it finally subsided, the world around her changed. It was a night without moon or stars, the world was dead silent, not even the wind made a sound. Only an ominous light floating only feet in front of her. No… light was not the right word, it was too fake to be called that. Orb? She didn't know what it was.

A shadowy figure moved at the edge of her vision. Due to its massive height and size, it was a bit hard to miss in the purple alicorn’s peripheral vision. She felt another one that was breathing down her back in a very terrifying, panic-inducing way as its icy breath sent chills down her back. “My you have such ancient magic my sweet, the likes few have ever been gifted with.” A third figure said. Twilight could hear the malice under his ‘innocent’ tone.

Twilight backed up against a wall, the panic quickly taking hold of her. “W-what do you want?” She asked. Her heart was pounding a mile a minute as she gulped nervously. She'd felt fear before, but never like this. Never this badly. Not even when Lord Tirek had her friends held captive, or when she was trapped in King Sombra’s crystal prison. These shadows were just pouring negative energy and darkness as if they were made of the stuff.

The figure stepped into the ominous light. He was even taller than Celestia and his teeth reminding her of Nightmare Moon. Even the color was that same ominous gleaming white. His eyes were so full of hate and darkness that even Tirek and Discord would've had their blood run cold and be gripped with fear.

Twilight couldn’t form words, though she tried, silently opening and closing her mouth, trying to process her raging and panicked thoughts. She felt herself shake as she watched a pointed hoof lower to the ground and paw at it, scraping up the dirt. These shadows didn't just pour off vibes of darkness and corruption… They might as well have been made of it. He leaned down to her eye leave and gave her a terrifyingly sharp, toothy smile, the faint smell of death in his breath. He ran his hoof along one side of the muzzle, "There are many things I want, and will have." He made forced her to stare into his eyes.

There was no love those eyes only darkness, hatred, envy and lust for what Twilight didn't know. “Don’t worry my dear. Soon you will be one of us… Then the age of light will come to an end.” The figure said as a shadowy magic aura enveloped his horn. Smoke than moved around Twilight’s legs, flashing a slightly crimson glow mingled with the smoke that eerily resembled blood.

Twilight tried to scream as a mark appears on her front leg. It was some strange rune from a language she had never seen. A burning pain beyond anything she had ever felt before shot through her entire body as she let out an ear-shattering scream of pain. Her vision started to blur and an icy chill ran through her body. Graphic images of her friends being ripped apart by an alicorn in dark purple armor flashed before her eyes. The most horrifying thing though, the pony seemed to be enjoying it. Tears welled up in the young mare’s eyes. She knew it wasn’t real but the feeling of helplessness and the sight of the deaths were too gruesome.

Suddenly a bright flash pulled her back into the world she knew. Golden Courage was nursing his paw a look of dread plastered across his face as he gazed worriedly at her. Twilight’s vision was still impaired and she seemed to sway on her hooves. “Wh-what hap...” She trailed off as the dizzy feeling got to her. Twilight collapsed and the world faded from view, leaving her in the cold, lonely blackness of unconsciousness.