Twilight Sparkle, Alicorn Princess of Friendship, was searching the Canterlot Archives for something to read. She’d been invited to stay at Canterlot Castle by Princess Celestia, co-ruler of Equestria alongside her sister Luna. The reason for her stay was still shrouded in mystery as her old mentor had decided she needed to wait until the court was done for the day. This meant that Twilight had nothing to do for two whole hours. She reached her hand out to take a book when she felt a hand on her shoulder.

“Twilight Sparkle.” The hand belonged to Princess Luna, Twilight turning to face her. The princess wore a dress almost exactly like her own. It was without sleeves, a dark blue coloring with a white moon in the middle of Luna’s top half. The skirt was a simple dark blue with black linings. She was also wearing two black stockings that started right below the hem of the skirt. Twilight noticed she was wearing nice high heels.

“Oh! Princess Luna, what do you need?” Luna returned the bow Twilight gave her, smiling.

“Well, Princess Twilight, I thought you would like to join me in my observatory to watch the sky while we wait for my sister.” Twilight raised an eyebrow at this, wondering what she would she in the sky during the day.

“Princess, what exactly would we be doing in the observatory? I don’t think we can see stars in the day…” The Princess of the Night simply turned and walked away, Twilight hurrying after her. They walked in silence, the only sound being of their shoes clacking against the clean floor of the castle hallways. It didn’t take long to reach Luna’s Observatory. It was a bit messy, with star charts and papers with new stars and positions all over the place. Twilight walked over to the telescope at the far end of the room, peering into it. She gasped when she saw many stars in the sky.

“It’s magic, Twilight.” She heard Luna’s voice from right next to her, startling her. “This telescope is one of the few that can see the night sky during our sister’s day. We use it to plan star formations and meteor showers more efficiently.” Twilight walked around the room, Luna peering through her telescope. Twilight found a recent star chart with a red circle around a specific part of the sky. She picked it up, comparing it to another star chart. There was something very, very wrong.

“Uh, Luna? Does the reason Celestia summoned me have something to do with this star chart?” The Lunar Princess looked over at her and nodded, a serious look on her face.

“Indeed, Twilight. I found an anomaly in the sky that I couldn’t rectify. When I showed Celestia, she became panicked. It is why she summoned you.” As soon as she said that, the door to the observatory opened, revealing a servant. He bowed, clearing his throat.

“Princess Celestia requests your presence, Princesses. She is in the tea room.” The two looked at each other, curious. Celestia shouldn’t be free for a long while. Regardless, the two quickly headed towards the tea room, jogging slightly. They reached the room and quickly entered, closing the door. They froze, seeing Celestia glaring at a copy of Luna’s star chart, hands on her chin.

“Sit.” She said forcefully, her wings slightly extended, her stance aggressive. The two did so, silently taking their seats in front of her. “Luna, you weren’t around so you wouldn’t know what this means. Twilight, you’re too young to have ever heard of this.” Her two younger Princesses looked confused. They had no idea what was going on. “The stars have done this before. When they did… a great evil rose from the pits of Tartarus and almost beat me in battle. If it wasn’t for… a good friend, I’d be dead and Equestria would be burning.” Twilight needed a moment to take in the information, but Luna asked straight away.

“Sister, what evil do you speak of?” Celestia sighed. The name of that… creature was almost too vile to say.

“It’s name is… Azelus…” The room darkened for a moment when she mentioned the name, the air becoming colder. “Even the very air around us recoils at it’s name… It controls darkness itself, capable of wielding magic far beyond even my own. I was able to survive thanks to the Elements of Harmony, their magic shielding me. It didn’t last long, however… It’s magic was just so powerful… it managed to render the Elements useless and back me into a corner. I was sealed off from the sun, some magic spell placed on me severed my connection.” A smile graced her face. “That was when my friend appeared. He blocked a spell from It, surprising the both of us. My friend waged a long and arduous battle against it. He won, he managed to defeat it…But...” Her smile dropped slightly, Twilight placing a hand on Celestia’s from across the table. “He… He only managed to place a temporary seal on it. At the cost of his physical body, which served as a key to lock It into its cell.” Luna glanced down at the star chart. She pointed at it.

“And I’m guessing that the stars suddenly changing is a warning that the cell is breaking?” Celestia nodded. “Well… how long do we have?” Celestia opened an old looking notebook, reading a page quickly.

“Two years. Maybe less.” The three Princesses fell into silence. Two years was not enough to train. Even with help from the dragons, the griffons, the buffalo… Even then their hopes were bleak. They needed a Hero. One who was strong enough to fight It.

Location: ????

Emptiness. That was the first thing the Soul felt. There was nothing, there never was, there never will be. It was alone. It had been for… a long time. Too long. It sometimes felt something nearby and tried to search for it, but in the end, it could find nothing. It eventually gave up looking for the fleeting feeling, deeming it worthless.

“Hello.” The Soul panicked. A voice suddenly echoed across the emptiness. It was a soothing voice. “Do not be scared. I am here to guide you. Follow me…” The Soul followed wordlessly. It simply followed the echo, the soothing voice showing it the path. “You are needed. I will give you that which you lost. Use it well, for it will not happen again.” The voice vanished, along with that feeling the Soul felt. It was suddenly replaced by a new yet familiar sensation. Then, as quick as it had come, it vanished. The Soul then… fell. It fell into blackness. After what seemed like forever, light appeared in the distance. The Soul reached the light, a cool breeze brushing against it for the first time in many, many years. It opened it’s eyes, looking around. It was in a forest. It wasn’t dense, letting it see through the many trees that surrounded it. It… no, he, flexed his hands, moving his fingers. Memories… he didn’t have many, just the one, really. A person, pony, whatever it was, with wings of pure white. He stood, wobbling slightly. It was then he noticed his scarf around his neck. It felt… as if his emotions were running through it. He was happy, so the scarf was happy. At least, that’s what he thought as the scarf moved a bit too much for the slight breeze.

“Time to explore!” He said to himself, his voice surprising him. It was deeper. At least he thought it was, he didn’t really remember. He began to walk in a random direction, taking his time looking around.

Location: Canterlot

As Celestia closed the doors to her personal chambers, the talk with her fellow princesses having drained her, she gasped. She felt a powerful magical surge in her chest. She recognised it. It was a feeling she’d never forget. One she never thought she’d feel ever again. She ran to her balcony, scanning the landscape with her brilliant eyesight for any signs of magic output.

“Where are you?!” She half shouted out the window, her heart accelerating.

Azelus is returning, the Princesses are worried, someone Celestia knows has returned. Keep reading to find out!

Author's Note

So, new fic. This fic is gonna be long.

I made it because I work better when I work on more than one thing at the same time, means I don't get bored. Hope you like it!