Keepers

Celestia searched around her room. The windows were locked, the door had been barred and all possible ways of escaping were blocked by something. Luna was laying on her bed watching her sister pace throughout the room.

"It just doesn't make sense!" She said. "What does he want from us that he doesn't already know?" Celestia said trying to figure it out. "He has the magicians language, he can't hurt us for some reason, and he already has taken over Equestria!" She said frustrated.

Her sister shuddered. "It's gotten cold again..." Luna commented. "I wish the castle was warm again... it used to be always warm, but ever since mother and father died it's grown cold." Luna said to her sister.

Celestia looked at her sister a moment, then walked over to her. "If you're so cold just get under your covers silly!" She said trying to keep a positive attitude. Luna shrugged and crawled under the covers keeping her head out to watch Celestia as she continued pacing and thinking.

The keepers must be coming for us by now... Celestia thought. When they awaken they must be able to beat that alicorn! She kept telling herself.

She looked towards the flower Flare Sight had picked for her. It's petals were falling now and it hung down over the pot it was in slightly. The flower was dying, and with it, Celestia felt her hope dying as well.

Curiosity got the best of Celestia and she pulled out the book that had been the start of the princesses terrible day.

She flipped through the pages, seeing all the old images that had scared her before or confused her. She looked for the images that had been blurry at one point. There was one of a pointed hat and a very well designed helmet. She recognized them as the master magicians and the captain of the guard's head pieces.

Celestia was filled with sadness as she remembered what had happened before they were sent to the castle. After they had left the tunnel, Narcian took them back to Aevum's father's home. They stayed there for a while but after some time something terrible happened.

The sound of burning fires and screaming, helpless ponies came back to her like they were perfectly audible now. That dark pony with the blue eyes arrived and laid waste to the village. He mercilessly killed Narcian and Aevum's father.

But for some reason when he attempted to kill Celestia and Luna it had no effect. His magical spell burst the moment it came too close to them and failed completely. He took them away out to the forest so he wouldn't be found by anyone else.

He must have known about the keepers, otherwise he would have nothing to fear.

She was grateful to still be alive. In fact she considered it a miracle she was. If anything they should have died back during Discortunal's initial attack, but there was always something or someone protecting them.

Protection... Celestia said the word in her mind. She always needed protection. She could never defend herself, or help the ones that defended her. She hated it. She wanted to make a change and protect some one else herself, instead of being the one always getting protected.

The castle suddenly shook lightly and Celestia heard an explosion. Luna immediately shot up. "What was that?" She said nervously. Celestia walked over to the window and looked out. She could barely see a cloud of smoke coming around the corner of the castle.

"What's going on out there? Do you think it's Aevum and his friends?" Luna said hopefully. Celestia wanted to agree with her, but the explosion came from the dungeon. She could tell by the smoke. The keepers wouldn't be there... would they?

"Maybe if you fall asleep, they will visit your dreams!" Celestia said thinking of something. "Do you really think so? What about you?" Luna responded asking two questions at once. "One of us should stay up in case that alicorn comes by." Celestia answered thinking quickly of an excuse.

Luna seemed to buy it, and got comfortable again.

Celestia really just wanted some time to herself. The whole day had been nothing but tragedy, headaches and stress. She needed a chance to relax.

She missed her parents dearly, as well as Flare Sight and Narcian. She even missed Aevum and the keepers, which they had only known one day. They had been so willing to risk their lives for them and cared about them. Was that just special treatment because she and her sister were royal?

"So many ponies have died... Why do these things happen?" She thought outloud quietly.

"I don't think you will have to worry about it ever again." A familiar voice spoke. Celestia whirled around, and saw Flare Sight.

"Flare!" She said running to meet him. Luna stirred and got up. She apparently never fell asleep in the first place, based on how quickly she reacted.

Celestia embraced him crying. "Flare, we thought you were gone! Mother and father... they were killed by that black alicorn!" She let all her thoughts pour out to the captain of the guard. "It's alright, I know." He said to her.

"Flare...?" Luna hesitated as she approached. "Do not worry your highnesses. Discortunal is dead. He was killed earlier by an explosion." Flare told them. "Flare, the one side of your body is covered in blood-!" Celestia exclaimed, a little freaked out.

He looked over his shoulder, and looked angry a moment, but then he turned back to them. "I got in a little fight with one of Discortunal's troops earlier. No big deal." He said. "But, not even father and mother could kill him... how did an explosion kill him?" Luna questioned.

Flare paused only a second. "Well, if one is caught off guard they can be easily defeated." He answered swiftly.

Luna wasn't nearly as quick to walk up to Flare as Celestia had been. She looked at him up and down, as if looking for something. Her eyes were narrowed slightly, like she was suspicious of something. "Luna? What's wrong?" Celestia asked her sister.

"Something doesn't feel right..." She replied. Flare looked at her concerned. "I can understand why you would be suspicious, but trust me you're safe now." He said. He smiled warmly at them.

"Well, what about the keepers?" Celestia asked. Flare looked at her like he had no clue what she was talking about. "Keepers? Who are they?" He answered with a question. "Four ponies who are supposed to keep Equestria in balance." Celestia explained.

"I don't know about them, I thought it was the king and queen who kept balance when it was needed." Flare said in response. "Flare, if Discortunal is dead how come the sky is still red and everything is going all crazy?" Luna questioned the captain.

"I would have to guess that it's because there isn't anypony restoring them. If the keepers are supposed to control them why aren't they doing it now?" Flare wondered.

Luna looked a little annoyed by the quick, well thought out reply. "Oh, I forgot to tell you. I heard about the prophecy book you had. Would you mind showing it to me?" Flare asked. Celestia was about to speak, when her sister interrupted her. "We lost it. It disappeared after we got kidnapped and taken to the castle." She said.

Celestia shot Luna a look, but Flare didn't notice. "Ah, that's disappointing. I had really wanted to see it. It could contain valuable information about the future." He guessed.

Suddenly he seemed to flinch. He frowned and shook his head. Celestia looked at him curiously. Now she was starting to get a little suspicious. Flare walked over to the closet in the wall beside Celestia's bed. "Well perhaps we could find it then." He said opening the closet.

"Celestia... something is off about him... he's acting funny." Luna whispered to her sister. Celestia hated to admit it, but she was right. "Yeah... I'm noticing it too." Celestia sighed.

"Remind me, how did you find the book the first time?" Flare asked as he looked around. "It was in the library, why?" Celestia told him. "Just curious." He said suddenly turning away from the spot he was checking.

He then walked over to Celestia's bed. Celestia heard Luna gulp as he looked underneath the bed. "Ah, here it is!" He said pulling it out. He opened it almost as soon as he was able to. Flipping through pages, he frowned again.

"Fascinating. How come your parents never knew about this?" Flare asked without turning away. "Narcian was shocked too. I don't know." Luna answered. Flare continued flipping through. He paused a while at the different symbols of the keepers.

"Hm, this language, what is it? I don't recognize it." He said perplexed by the fancy writing. "It's the magicians language. It's only supposed to be known by great magician’s and the royal family." Luna said, a little too stubbornly for Celestia's comfort.

Flare sighed with what sounded like annoyance. "There isn't much of the royal family left, and the master magician is dead as well." He pointed out. Celestia froze. How did he know Narcian was dead? Celestia asked herself.

Luna seemed to have noticed too, and looked at Celestia clearly very suspicious now. Flare turned the page again. His eyes widened when he saw the picture all the symbols and the blood stain.

"This is interesting..." He said, obviously hiding his true reaction. "This image worries me. That magical symbol sometimes represents the royal family. It makes me fear for your... safety." He said pausing before saying that last word.

"Do you know what the symbols mean?" He asked the princesses. "Each one belongs to one of the keepers." Celestia said. Flare raised his eyebrows. "Really now? Then maybe this image..." He said trailing off. "Is saying the keepers will try to, or successfully kill the royal family." He said gravely.

"What? No! They would never do that!" Celestia gasped. "How long have you known them for my dear?" Flare asked her quickly. Celestia paused. "Long enough." Luna said jumping in to help her sister. "The keepers are friendly to us, they would only hurt their enemies, if even!" Celestia said to him.

"But what if you are their enemies?" Flare began. He closed his eyes and nervously shook his head again. "What if that was the plan? To make you like them so they could catch you off guard, then kill you themselves to take over Equestria?" He pointed out a reasonably clever argument.

Celestia was taken aback by this. Her mouth opened to say something more, but no words came out. Even Luna didn't say anything. "It makes sense doesn't it? Ponies are swayed by power and pride. With the king and queen dead, the only thing stopping them would be me, if even." Flare continued.

Suddenly Flare broke into a coughing fit. He covered his mouth with his hoof as he heaved and struggled to breath. Celestia stepped back a little with her sister. "Flare Sight?" Celestia said concerned for the sickly pony.

When he stopped, his breathing was raspy and he looked at his hoof gingerly for a bit, narrowing his eyes but still clearly being worried about something. He put his hoof on the floor again though and looked back at them.

"Sorry, I haven't had anything to drink all day... I really should fix that soon." He said still rasping a little. "Firstly though, we need to find out what this text says. Please, for your life’s sake, tell me how to translate the language?" He asked them looking at them protectively.

Celestia nodded. "There's a translator in the history book there." She said. Flare immediately turn around to get the history book. Luna gave Celestia a horrified look at what she had just done. Celestia didn't understand what she was worried about by this point. Besides, maybe the text could confirm if the keepers had been plotting against them.

Suddenly there was a rumbling. Flare looked back past the princesses again before he opened the history book. "What was that?" Celestia asked. "Flare, can you go check? I'm scared now... if the keepers want to kill us, what if it's them?" Luna said looking at Flare pleadingly.

Flare seemed to pause awkwardly as if trying to decide something. Finally he sighed and walked past them. "I'll go check it out for you. I'll be back, don't go away." He said leaving through the door.

When the door closed, Luna's expression suddenly grew serious and worried, instead of just plain frightened. "Sister, that is not Flare Sight." She said.

Discortunal sighed with annoyance as he walked away from the princesses room. "What a troublesome pair they are..." He said to himself. "Of course you didn't make anything better..." He mumbled.

Leniact snorted. "I wouldn't have it any other way." Discortunal frowned. The entire time he was trying to get information out of the princesses, his counter personality Leaniact kept attempting to take control, making it difficult for him to maintain the illusion.

"Fooling innocent children, that's low even for you." Leniact spoke again. Discortunal shook his head. "Shut up! You do not belong here anyways!" He said to his alternate self. "I could say the same for you. Quite frankly we should have both stayed in our original world." Leniact responded calmly. Discortunal was disgusted by the way Leniact acted and talked. Always so cool and relaxed. The complete polar opposite of Discortunal.

Discortunal walked up to one of the guards he had stationed at the entrance of the castle. "What was that noise I heard earlier?" Discortunal asked sternly. The guard jumped as his master approached from behind. "Sir! We do not know! We can't tell from this distance! It happened at the city gates!" He responded.

Discortunal glared at the guard, and the poor armored pony stepped back nervously. "If something is happening out there, we want to know about it. If you were a decent guard you would investigate the moment I finished speaking." He said his eyes narrowed. The guard instantly took off towards the castle gates. "And don't come back until you tell me what's going on!" Discortunal called after him.

As Discortunal turned around Leniact sighed and spoke again. "You do realize treating your guards like dirt is going to make things worse in the long run, right?" Discortunal raised his head high arrogantly. "Fear is the greatest form of control, even you should know that." He replied.

Leniact chuckled a little. "Not true, the greatest form of control is one that keeps calm and treats others with respect and kindness. I learned this from years of experience. Of course, you have only inhabited this body for the last twenty seven years..." Leniact said thoughtfully.

Discortunal walked through the palace marveling at the designs and patterns on the floor. They were bright and colours ranged from red, to gold, to blue. That same annoying language was engraved at some places including on the walls.

He tapped his hoof on the coloured stones and tiles. They were smooth and almost relaxing to him... Discortunal frowned as Leniact's thoughts and actions merged with his. This will be the death of me... I must take control over him before the keepers arrive. He thought desperately.

"Mhmm, good luck with that. Really even if you do stop me the keepers are still far more powerful." Leniact said out loud responding to Discortunal's thoughts. Discortunal stomped his hoof on the ground so hard some of the tiles cracked. "Get out of my head you son of a-" His response was interrupted by an explosion and another rumbling.

Discortunal ran into the nearest room and looked out the window towards the rest of Canterlot. His heart sank when he saw his troops running around like mad ponies. Some were on the ground clinging to their heads, some were fighting each other, and others were out cold. "This is the work of the keeper of dream. Brace yourself my hot headed friend." Leniact said a smile tracing across his face.

He looked in dismay as his well trained army of guards fell apart in front of him. With no commander other than himself he could not call more troops in from his world either. Discortunal clenched his teeth and glared. He narrowed his eyes and looked out past the castle walls. Columns of smoke were visibly rising from the city and dark batlike figures were flying around. He assumed they were his minions looking for something, or someone.

"'This castle will be both my grave, and yours.' I think this phrase works for me quite well." Leniact said, quoting the captain of the guard who had given his life to eliminate one of Discortunal's demonic wings.

Discortunal felt something he had not felt in years. He groped around in his head for a name, but it didn't come to mind for some reason. "It's called fear Discortunal, all ponies experience it. Even 'Gods.'" Leniact stated, mocking Discortunal's self given name of "god."

"I feel no fear... this is not fear!' The black alicorn denied. He whirled around and began making his way to the princesses room. I have no more need for the children. I know how to translate the text now, I must kill them! He thought to himself, and apparently his other personality. "So you do fear the children." Leniact said.

Discortunal snorted. "Fear those little fillies? Please, they couldn't lay a hoof on me!" He told his intruding opposite. "Neither can you lay a hoof on them in case you've forgotten." Leniact said reminding him of the protection spell.

Discortunal sighed at this. He hated to admit it but Leniact was right. The protection spell lasted until that strange flower had died. Discortunal could only hope it was already dead by now. The keepers were coming for the princesses. If who they came for was dead, their hopes would be shattered and he could defeat them.

"That's a common tactic for you." Leniact said reading his thoughts. "Trying to make your opponents emotionally weak. Didn't work on that Flare Sight pony did it?" Discortunal wished the voice would just go away. It was his body by right, he was the original personality! However someone ruined it and turned him into Leniact because he was too dangerous.

Well he was about to prove his creator right, and ruin his "perfect" world.

Discortunal grinned as he approached the doorway leading to the princesses rooms. The wind was blowing hard outside, and caused the tapestries within the castle to sway as the breeze found it's way in through open doors and windows. Discortunal sighed satisfactorily as the doorknob turned in front of him from his magic. He was going to end the royal family once and for all.

The door swung open and he instantly prepared his magic, but once he got a glimpse of the room he noticed several things that made him absolutely furious.

The princesses had vanished. They were no longer in the room, he couldn't even pick up their magical signature within the small area. What made things worse, was that the book with the translation for the mysterious language was also gone.

Discortunal let out a cry of fiery rage as he smashed wardrobe nearby to splinters with one hoof. His eyes glowed with power and his horn shimmered bright red. He narrowed his eyes to thin slits and clenched his teeth as if biting down on a stick.

He burst out of the princesses room and looked down the hall. Sure enough there were the princesses running as fast as their tiny hooves could carry them towards the throne room. Discortunal smiled mischievously, his eyes wild with anger and insanity. They are running to the throne room, they can't possibly escape from there! He thought to himself.

"Oh girls, please come back, don't you want to see your parents again?" He said laughing maniacly at the cruel comment. He leaped off the ground and flapped his one maroon wing and fell clumsily to the ground, suddenly remembering he could no longer fly without his other wing.

The alicorn swore under his breath and pulled himself up to chase after them. The wind was blowing harder now, and Discortunal distinctly felt time bending against his will. It was getting colder, and the colour was returning to the walls and tapestries. The natural balance of Equestria was being restored!

"You honestly believe this will work?" Leniact suddenly spoke from Discortunal's mouth. "Of course it will, it always has!" He replied continuing his sprint, but then he heard something that made him worry. On our world at least. Discortunal had heard Leniact's thoughts, and they had a terrifying point.

He pushed it aside though and kept going. He refused to let his weak alternate self make him fear anything. Fear was the central point of all weaknesses, and Discortunal had no weakness.

The princesses had already entered the throne room by the time he arrived. He came running in and saw that Celestia had the book on her back. The tyrant grinned as he walked towards the filly who was looking around frantically, looking for an escape.

Discortunal reached into his memory and pulled up a familiar voice. "Celestia, please be a dear and hand over that book." His voice sounded exactly like the queen he had murdered hours ago, who happened to be the mother of these fillies.

He smiled wickedly as Celestia's eyes widened with fright. The young princess backed up slowly, looking at the monster towering above her. He continued approaching until she was backed up into a corner and spread his wings to induce as much fear as he could upon the helpless child.

He swiped the book away from her and prepared to strike Celestia, but the book suddenly exploded into flames as he held it with his magic. "No!" He cried as it turned to ashes and fell to the ground. He felt a powerful magical signature and for a moment as he turned around his heart leaped as he expected to see the keepers.

However standing tall and brave was the other princess. Princess Luna, horn glowing brightly and strongly. She looked as shocked and confused as Discortunal was as the ashes of the book blew away in the breeze coming through the open balcony.

If Discortunal was angry before, his incredible rage was stronger than the heat of the sun itself now. He cornered Luna quickly and raised a hoof to hit her with his signature purple mist. He didn't even care about how he would kill her. He just wanted her gone.

He released the built up energy and laughed hysterically as it went in to hit it's target.
However his laughed turned into a gasp of confusion as he watched Celestia appear out of nowhere to stand between the deadly mist and her sister.