Keepers

Celestia could still feel the tears in her eyes as they walked through the forest. The sky remained red as they traveled through the bushes and plants, and cast an ominous presence on the strange group.

Luna walked along side her, head looking to her feet only guided by the rest of the ponies circling them. The keepers and Narcian had decided to stand in a circle around the sisters so they wouldn't be in any immediate danger if they got attacked.

Celestia still felt bad though. These ponies were putting their lives on the line for them. Celestia just didn't understand it. Why would four ponies who could control all of Equestria consider her and her sister more important than them?

"Luna..." Celestia said to her sister. At first she didn't respond and continued focusing on the ground. "Luna." Celestia repeated. Luna looked up this time. "What do you think happened to uncle Flare Sight?" Celestia asked her sister.

Celestia regretted asking the question moments later when she saw her sisters face. It was stained with tears, and she was still crying. Luna didn't answer the question at first. Celestia wanted to hit herself for asking a question like that when her sister was younger, and couldn't handle things as well.

So she was surprised when her sister said something. "Uncle Flare wouldn't be dead yet..." She said sniffing. "He's too smart to die easy..." Luna obviously wasn't convinced of this herself, but Celestia admired her determination to stay positive, even at this time.

"There was no prophecy about him... so maybe he is." Celestia said trying to cheer her sister up. Her sister smiled weekly. "I hope he is." She said.

The one named Flain spoke up. "I didn't see the captain of the guard when I went back to the castle. He could have escaped." He shed a little more hope on the situation.

"Why didn't he stay and fight?" Cael said sounding a little annoyed. "Maybe he knew the king and queen didn't stand a chance so he left. Or maybe they told him to escape?" Madia suggested. "Could be, but I'm not sure. I only saw from the battle's start and to it's end." Flain said.

Aevum sighed. "Any ally is a useful ally at this point. Maybe if we can find him we can get some help." He said. "For now though we need to focus on unlocking your power and learning how to use it. Until then you can't possibly defeat Discortunal." Narcian said pointing their focus in the right direction.

Suddenly there was a rustling coming from the bushes to the left. Celestia looked over nervously and saw the bushes shaking. The keepers quickly got between the princesses and the rustling bushes to defend them.

However that wasn't where the enemy came from. There was the sound of hoof steps coming from right behind Luna and Celestia out of nowhere. Celestia turned around and saw a black pony clad in armor charging towards the open spot of the keepers guard. The rustling leaves was a distraction!

Flain was the first to notice this, and immediately leaped over the princesses heads doing a front flip, and striking the charging pony directly on the back of the head with his back legs. The added force from the spin sent the black pony to the ground, skidding to a hault.

Flain sighed with relief. "Thanks Madia." He said. Everyone looked at Madia confused, but Flain answered their questions before they asked them. "She told me to do the flip. I couldn't have thought of that, so Madia did it for me." Flain pointed out.

Madia just smiled. "We're supposed to work together right? So why not start here?" She said. The pony on the ground coughed. "You didn't say anything... how could you have told him without speaking?" The pony said.

"Easy. She spoke through my mind." Flain told the bat-winged pony like it was a regular occurance. "What? That's impossible." The pony responded.

"Flain, the trees!" Madia suddenly said. Flain suddenly turned to the right and looked into the tree. Celestia's eyes followed. Standing there in the tree were two more ponies. They jumped down to face the group.

"So you're the ones that ran off with the princesses." One of them said. "I don't know if run would be the best way to put it." Cael said. The pony who was speaking shrugged. "Either way, you're all just children. How you escaped was a miracle of luck."

Right then Cael appeared above the pony in the blink of an eye, and hit him over the head with her front hooves. The pony crashed into the ground, sending up a cloud of dust. A split second later Cael landed on top of the pony.

The remaining pony gasped and stepped back. He turned around and began running and flapping his wings to take off, but he tripped and fell flat on his face. Flain grinned as he walked towards the pony on the ground. Aevum followed curiously.

Celestia couldn't believe how fast Cael had been, and how powerful her strike on that fully grown warrior was. It had left a small crater in the ground. Even with a helmet on, the black pony was unconscious. Cael looked a little surprised herself.

The first pony pulled himself up to run away, but Madia was quicker. She ran in front of the attempted escaper and hit him in the snout with her front hoof. The pony stumbled back in pain, but Madia had a terrified look on her face. She was staring off into space and her eyes were glazed over.

The black pony seemed to notice this and turned to face the princesses, now only guarded by Narcian. "Heh, you may be powerful but you clearly aren't organized." He said. He started running towards Narcian at full speed.

Celestia could tell though, Narcian wasn't fully healed. Whatever Madia had done earlier, it restored some of her energy, but didn't heal her. She was in no fit state to battle.

Obviously though, Cael had this covered. She instantly appeared between the charging warrior and Narcian. The black ponies facial expression changed to one of fear. Celestia just barely saw Cael grin from the angle she was at.

Cael simply held out her hoof as the black pony tried to stop. Instead it went skidding straight into Cael's waiting hoof. However when it should have fallen to the ground though, the pony was knocked backwards. It wasn't natural at all.

Cael walked over to the pony confused, Celestia and Luna followed. "He's unconscious..." Cael said in disbelief.

Celestia looked over to Aevum and Flain. "You were sent by Discortunal, weren't you?" Flain asked coolly, showing no emotion in his voice. "What are you here for?" Aevum asked. "What's it to you, and why should I tell you?" The black pony defied the yellow unicorn.

"Well, unless you want to replay the last 15 seconds for you over and over until you die than I think you should cooperate." Aevum dared the pony to remain ignorant. "You can't possibly do that." The pony said. "Want a bet?" Aevum picked up a leaf and dropped it. While it was still in the air Aevum tapped it with his hoof and it froze on spot.

The black ponies eyes widened. "No... It can't be! You can control time?" The pony asked terrified. "Willing to cooperate?" Aevum asked, looking at the poor creature on the ground. "F-fine... we were sent to find and kill the princesses. We weren't told they had guards though!" He said.

"Anything else?" Flain questioned. "We were also told to gather information while we were at it." The black pony said. "Well here's a bit of information." Aevum said. "Tell your master the keepers are united, and we're coming for him." With that, Aevum and Flain stepped away.

The pony immediately got up and took to the skies. "Hmph, pretty sorry assassin." Cael said. "They thought they were killing children. They weren't expecting us." Flain pointed out.

"Madia? Uh oh..." Aevum said. Celestia turned to see what he was worried about. Madia was still standing there, frozen on spot. "What's wrong?" Narcian said walking over to join them. "Madia is seeing something. Although normally her eyes are white when she has a vision." Aevum explained.

Madia blinked and gasped. Breathing heavily for only a moment, she looked around a little confused. "I... I think I just saw his thoughts!" She said. "What? I didn't know you could do that!" Aevum said in response. "Neither did I..."

Narcian walked over to them. "Dream holds dominion over the mind. I'm not all that surprised you can read them." She said. Madia shook her head. "I did more than read them... I literally saw his memories!" She told the magician.

"Really? What did you see?" Cael asked in wonder. "I'm not sure, but wherever it was, it was dark, dead, and there was no wind. The sky was black, the land was wasted, and not a single living plant was there. The only colour was the occasional light of flame." She described the memories location to the ponies.

Aevum's eyes widened. "A place completely decrepit of life? That sounds like a horrible place to be." Madia sighed. "It was horrible, but the worst part was when I read the ponies mind, I discovered that was where he lived." She said, no longer breathing heavily.

"How can anypony bear to live in a place like that? In fact how is it even possible?" Cael thought aloud.

Celestia and Luna watched on as the keepers tried to figure everything out. She felt useless, once again, being unable to help and needing to be protected like this.

"Madia, how did you read his memories before?" The magician asked. "Well it happened right after I hit him in the head." She remembered. "Alright, that makes sense. Try reading his memories again. See if you can extract any information." Narcian instructed her.

Madia nodded and walked over to the pony lying on the ground now from Cael's block. She touched the unconscious ponies forehead and closed her eyes. She made a frown and spoke. "It's difficult to see or control the thoughts. He's unconscious and his mind is running wild." She told the unicorns watching anxiously, her eyes still closed.

Suddenly Madia yelled and jumped back. The pony on the grounds eyes shot open. His face screwed up in pain, and all the colour drained from his eyes. The once red eyes had now turned grey, and his wings turned almost black they were so shaded. His hair turned white and he let out a faint gasp for air, and then stopped breathing.

Madia stared in shock. Celestia and Luna looked on nervously as Madia approached the pony. She put her hoof on his forehead again and closed her eyes.

She opened them a moment later. "He's... dead." She said. "What? How?" Aevum asked. "He's been completely drained of life. There's absolutely nothing in his mind now!" She explained. Flain walked over to join Madia beside the dead pony.

"I don't know how, but he must have died to prevent us from finding out information." Flain said. "That sounds terrible! Why would he die like that?" Madia asked Flain. "From his reaction I don't think he expected it either." Flain responded, prodding the colourless ponies hoof.

"The other one's dead too." Cael said. "They've both been killed somehow." Celestia and Luna looked at each other. "What kind of death is that? I've never seen it before." Luna asked her sister. "The only death i've seen is old age." Celestia said, looking at the poor creature lying before them.

"Come on, we need to hurry. We don't want to have to deal with anymore assassin's." Aevum said. The others nodded and surrounded the princesses. Celestia sighed and everypony resumed their trek through the forest.

Some time later, they arrived at the settlement. There were ponies running around building, and busy doing other things. Some were looking up at the sky, confused, others were discussing something with worried expressions.

"Aevum, where have you been?" An older pony suddenly came running up to them, his hair was long and a dark greyish brown. "Father? What happened to you?" Aevum said. "I was about to ask you the same thing. Who are these ponies here?" Aevums father asked.

"These are friends of mine. I'll explain everything to you later." He said. "Who's fillies are those, and why are you surrounding them like that? What's the danger?" The older pony asked.

Narcian walked out from the back of the group. "Mr. Tetrilen, I didn't expect to see you here." Narcian said to Aevum's father. "Master magician! I certainly wasn't expecting you either. Please, come inside to my home. It's been quite cold lately." He said.

Aevum turned his head slightly confused. "Wait, you two know each other? Also, father if anything it's warmed up since earlier today..." He pointed out. "Yes, master Narcian and I have met once or twice in the past, normally on business trips to Canterlot." His father explained.

"You never told me you had a son Mr. Tetrilen. I see he inherited his vocabulary from you." Narcian said to Aevum's father. He smiled and chuckled under his breath. "Yes, that sounds about right. His vocabulary has expanded vastly over the years, and at a much higher rate than most colts." He accepted the compliment.

"Father, what happened to your hair? It used to be a more vibrant brown." Aevum asked. "Is it not still that way?" His father responded. "Your son has a point. Your hair is looking a little less... colourful." Narcian said. Celestia noticed she sounded a little suspicious.

"Is that so? I haven't looked at a mirror all day. Maybe it's the stress of everything happening lately." He reasoned. "All that aside, please come in!" He said turning and walking a small house in the still under construction village.

"Something's off... his eyes are usually brighter too." Aevum said. "No use worrying about it now. I think we could all use a little rest." Cael said.

On their way there, Aevum's father turned to talk to them. "By the way, who's fillies are those you didn't answer my earlier question. And why are you all being so protective of the-" He began to say, but Madia and Aevum stepped aside to let the older unicorn see the princesses.

Aevum's father was speechless. He stuttered for a moment, mouth opened wide and eyes flickering from one pony to another. "A-are those th-the..." He stammered. Aevum walked up to his father. "Something terrible has happened father, we need to explain everything to you inside, where no one else can hear us." Aevum said.

"Aevum... what are you up to?" His father said, concerned. "Come on." Aevum lead the way to the small wooden hut.

When they got in, Aevum's father shut the door behind them nervously. "Please, explain why the royal princesses are here, and why they are with you." He said trying to remain calm. "What's going on Narcian, do their parents know about this?" He asked the magician.

"Hilfen, king Nocturne and queen Alaria are dead." Narcian said addressing Aevum's father by his first name. "I... what?" He said, not sure what to believe.

"There was an attack on Canterlot lead by a powerful alicorn by the name of Discortunal. He defeated both the king and queen in combat, and took over the castle. Your son and this mare here escaped with the princesses before they were killed themselves." Narcian gave him the quick summary.

Hilfen's eyes were wide with shock and fear. "Aevum, you... I don't understand. How were you in Canterlot in the first place?" His father asked.

Aevum sighed. "I'll tell you everything that happened." Aevum said to his father.

So Aevum told his father the whole story. He told them how he had found the runes, how he found Madia, how he stopped time, and traveled through dreams and arrived in Canterlot. Celestia remembered that last part, how Aevum and Madia arrived in her dream and saved her.

"Wha- how is that possible? Stopping time, traveling through dreams, visions... that should be something only the king and queen can do." Hilfen said in disbelief. "I will explain when we get to a certain part." Narcian said.

So Aevum continued. He told him how they went into the castle by the magician's permission, and met with her in a study room.

"Mr. Tetrilen, your son is a part of a prophecy. A prophecy set five thousand years ago. These other three are in it as well. They are meant to control the four elements of Equestria. Your son controls time, Madia here controls dream. Until recently they were the only two we knew about. The others recently arrived. Cael here, the blue mare controls space, and Flain controls law. That's the prophecy in a summary." Narcian explained the whole thing as quickly as she could.

There was a pause for a moment, where Hilfen just looked around at them all, bewildered. Aevum took that as a chance to move on.

He told him how the king was acting strange, and how they were sent away. He explained that it was then that the sky turned red and the powerful alicorn of the prophecy Aevum had seen showed up. He told him about the alicorns power and how the four keepers had received a message from the queen to protect the princesses.

"So we went into the castle, and found the princesses. I crashed through the window right before the alicorn killed them, and escaped out the opposite window. Before we hit the ground, Cael showed up and stopped us from falling too hard." Aevum said.

He then moved on to tell him how they escaped with Cael's incredible teleportation. Flain took over after that, and told them exactly what he saw during the fight between Discortunal and the monarchs.

Celestia could feel tears in her eyes as she heard how her parents fought and died. Luna was already crying, but she was putting on a brave, almost determined face. Celestia smiled faintly. Her sister was too proud to let herself look sad.

"After that, I met up with the others, and we figured we would come here to consult the runes. We think they may have information on how to unlock our powers." Flain finished.

Hilfen, was once again speechless. He had no idea how to respond to the whole story. "Your son is a part of something we can't begin to understand. The fate of Equestria lies on the shoulders of these four ponies." Narcian said.

Hilfen sighed. "I just... can't believe that my son... of all ponies, is a part of it..." He finally said. "I think I understand now. Thank you for explaining to me." He said, his voice faintly quivering.

Everyone paused for a moment, thinking. The fire in the middle of the room crackled and popped. The sound of hammers and saws could be heard coming from outside as the busy ponies continued working, oblivious to the tragic and terrible event happening across Equestria.

"Well, we should head out to the cave. We need to find out how to release our powers." Flain said finally. "Alright, let's go then. The sooner the better." Cael said. They all nodded and stood up. When Celestia and Luna got up however, Narcian stopped them from leaving. "I think we should stay here girls. This is their business and their destiny, not ours." She said to them.

Luna looked disappointed. "But I want to see the runes!" She said. "What do you mean? We're a part of this too! Our parents died and now Aevum and them have to protect us!" Celestia argued. Narcian hesitated for a moment, then she sighed. "Alright then, let's go. Hilfen, wait here. We'll be back in a bit." She said turning to Aevum's father. He simply nodded and watched them head out to the forest.

When they entered the forest, Celestia began to feel a little nervous. Even with the five ponies surrounding them, the whole forest felt unsafe and dark. She stayed close to Luna as they made their way through the thick bushes and trees.

Suddenly it became really warm. Unnaturally warm for the time of year. "What's going on?" Flain said. "This isn't proper temperature for this time of year." Everypony else seemed to notice it too.

The wind began to blow, and Celestia felt an odd sensation. Aevum looked around suspiciously. "That's unusual, it's only three twenty four. When we were talking to my father it was past four o'clock..." He said.

"Aevum, look at Narcian!" Madia said. Everypony turned to look at the magician. All the colour on her body was saturated, and almost all black and white. She looked at herself a little confused, then her eyes widened. "The elements, their falling apart! My colour is fading because the laws of light aren't straight!" Narcian explained.

"What?" Aevum said in shock. Aevum looked at the sky. Celestia followed her gaze and saw the sun. It was a deep blue colour against the red sky, and was moving at a visible speed. Backwards.

"Time is acting strange too! The sun is moving backwards!" Aevum yelled over the wind that was building. Cael stumbled, put a hoof to her head. "Cael what's wrong?" Madia asked. "I've got a splitting headache all of a sudden... It's just like when the tear in the sky appeared!" She said.

"This is really starting to tick me off." Flain said. "The wind isn't blowing that hard, but it's unnaturally loud." He said. "All the elements are falling into chaos because the king and queen are no longer around to make them stable! Discortunal is causing them to collapse in on themselves!" Narcian explained.

"Then there's no time to lose. We need to get to the runes and find our answer before the chaos destroys Equestria!" Aevum said. "But... why would Discortunal destroy the land he just conquered for himself?" Madia asked. "Because he finds it amusing. Trust me I've seen the way that pony reacts to destruction." Cael said.

"Come on then, quickly!" Aevum repeated. They all began running, Aevum taking the lead to guide them where to go.

Soon after, they found a flat stone turned up on its side with a green jewel on the front. Beside it was an opening with stairs leading to a cave.

The group ran down the stairs away from the chaotic forest.

Celestia looked around in awe at all the images and carvings on the walls. She recognized many of them. There was even one of her and her sister when they were just babies. Obviously it was a rune prophesying their birth, because their mother and father were there as well.

They walked down the tunnel until they reached the ones Aevum was talking about. Runes about the alicorns arrival glowed bright green. Farther down it showed the four keepers together.

"If there's any information it will be here." Aevum said. "This is right around our current time." Madia looked around. "What about this one?" She said. There was one rune that was glowing green, but not quite as bright as the others. It was becoming visibly brighter though.

It was a picture of a pony putting their hand on a wall, and the wall falling over. Aevum looked curiously at it. He then lifted a hoof, and placed it on the rune.

The instant his hoof touched it, the run turned its full vibrant green colour. And area of the cave wall suddenly collapsed backwards. When it struck the ground, it turned into sand. "That's interesting." Flain said.

Looking into the new opening, they found it lead to another cave. This cave was lit by a blue glow coming from the end of the cave. The keepers went in first, followed by the princesses, with Narcian taking up the rear.

They came out into a large, cavernous area after traveling through the cave, filled with glowing blue runes and writing, written in the familiar magicians language Celestia had come to recognize.

"These are riddles..." Narcian said. "Look at the floor!" Madia suddenly said, half interrupting Narcian.

On the floor, was a large glowing circle. There were four lines extending from the circle, leading to four smaller circles. One circle glowed sky blue, one glowed purple, one glowed green, and the final one glowed red. The circle in the middle was a light yellow colour.

"What is it?" Cael asked admiring the pattern. "Here, it says something on the walls." Narcian said, calling to everypony. "It says here, 'after thousands of year, the keepers arrive. Their powers are sealed, the end is nigh. Yet within the light, a secret is found. A hidden path brings, the heirs their crown.'" Narcian began translating.

"'The cycle will fight, the elements denial. For now they prepare, for the keepers trial.'" She finished reading the one section.

Suddenly Madia began speaking. "'Broken laws must deal with the lighter, the hidden truth will make your day brighter. Step forth to blue the spoken writer, for you are not one to be a fighter.'" Madia read another section of the text.

"Madia, you can read the magician's language?" Narcian asked. "I guess so." She responded. Narcian shrugged and moved on.

She went behind the red circle and read another passage. "'Time collapses from chaotic blight, relax the tension to gain your sight. Step forth to red the spoken night, your day shall come by power of flight.'" She read.

Madia approached the writing behind the purple circle. "'An endless sleep seizes the mind, if you can rest then you can find. Step forth to purple the spoken rhyme, seize the strength over all the tide.'" Madia looked at the writing and recited it perplexed.

"There's one more." Narcian said going to the writing behind the green circle. "'A reckless heart controls the nation, focus your mind to see the solution. Step forth to green the spoken destruction, hold the storm to free the creation.'" She read aloud.

"What does it mean?" Cael asked. "I think it's telling us how to unlock our powers!" Madia said excitedly. "I don't see it. How is it doing that?" Cael asked again.

"Look, to unlock law, Flain needs to find a hidden truth. To unlock time, Aevum needs to relax, and do something about flight. I have to do something about rest, and seize the strength over the tide. Cael, you need to focus on your mind and thought." Madia explained.

Cael nodded. "Oh I see..." She said. "I'm not entirely sure what some of them mean. I think they are telling us to step into our matching circles." Madia reasoned.

"Well then, let's try it." Aevum said. Aevum stood in the red circle, and the light glowed brighter. Madia stepped into the purple circle, and that light also glowed brighter. Cael stepped into the green circle and it reacted the same way. Finally, Flain entered the blue circle.

Suddenly there was a flash, and the light yellow circle in the middle glowed brighter. A line drew from where the line connecting the outer circles was into the middle. The four lines met at the center and formed another very small circle.

An unusual pattern suddenly filled the large circle and glowed brightly. Then a voice spoke. "The keepers have arrived. There are things you must overcome. Pass the keepers trials. Release the power of your element. Bring the elements together, and repair Equestria's harmony." The voice said.

Everypony looked around in confusion. "What? How do we unlock our potential?" Madia called out. "Enter the trials, and discover what truly matters. Find your own flaws first, to fix Equestria's flaw." The voice responded.

Madia's eyes widened. Flain turned to Narcian and the two princesses. "Get the princesses out of here. Take them somewhere safe. We're going to be gone a while." He said to Narcian. "What?" Cael said, who had overheard him. "Everypony, we're going to be going somewhere special. From what I've heard and gathered we are going to be tested. If we can complete the tests we should unlock our powers!" Madia quickly explained.

Celestia didn't want to go, but they had to. It was far too risky down here. "We're ready." Aevum said. When he said that, the individual circles light shot up and surrounded the keepers.

"Come on girls, let's get out of here." Narcian said. They began running out of the secret passage out towards the main cave. Celestia looked back just in time to see the keepers disappear in a flash of light.