Keepers

The guards forced Aevum and Madia out through the gates, and slammed them shut behind them. "No, you need to listen!" Aevum called back desperately. "All of Equestria is in danger and you need to prepare yourselves!" He was breathing heavily as he tried to get the guards to let them back in, or at least do something useful.

"Go on, the king said to find the others. Do it, and maybe you'll get lucky." The guard at the gate said. "You don't get it, we have no idea who the others are supposed to be!" Aevum said. "Well then I guess you're out of luck. Can't say I'm surprised." The guard said again.

The master magician looked at them from the other side of the gate. She sighed and walked up to them. "Don't give up yet. You can still save the royal family. Use your powers, maybe you can figure out a way to warn them without them sending you away." She said to them.

"But what about finding the others?" Madia asked. "We are supposed to meet one here in the city based on my visions, but the other one is in a forest. We can't leave the city!"

The magician, named Narcian apparently, looked down towards the ground a moment, then back at them. "I'm afraid there isn't enough time for you to find them. I sense a powerful force of magic approaching. Find a way through. I know you can." She said.

Narcian turned and walked towards the castle. "Wait, what about you? Can't you convince them?" Aevum called after her. "That is beyond my power. The king's stubbornness is anything, but natural." With that, she entered the castle and closed the door.

Aevum sighed and turned around, cursing under his breath. He looked out towards the sun, and noticed something strange. He could see it moving. It was moving fast enough to have visible movement to it. Something was off about time. It was moving faster than normal.

Aevum looked at his surroundings. Everything else was moving at normal speed. The only thing moving faster was the sun.

Aevum began making his way down the path leading to the rest of Canterlot city. "Where are you going?" Madia asked confused. "To find one of the others. We're supposed to meet one in a city right?" He told her.

"Yes but we don't have time Narcian said!" She said to him. "I'm not going to waste my time trying to get in." Aevum responded. "It's better than doing nothing at least."

Madia went on with him, since it was the best they could do now. They continued down the path leading to the city.

Right before they reached the main part of the city though, Madia gasped and let out a yell. Aevum stopped and turned to see her. She had fallen to the ground, shaking. "Madia!" He ran over to help her, when he saw her eyes were blank again. Aevum immediately realized what was happening to her, and stayed calm.

After only a short time the vision stopped. "Madia, what did you see?" Aevum asked quickly. She looked at Aevum terrified. She kept trying to say something, but no words came out. "Madia, please. Try to focus. What did you see, I need to know." Madia was whimpering now. "He... H-he's... H-he's h-h-here!" She finally managed through shaky breaths.

Right then the sky flash, and the entire atmosphere transformed before their eyes. Clouds became black, birds disappeared from the sky, and the sky turned red.

Aevum saw something way up in the sky, it was very small, but it was definitely there. Only a moment later lightning started surging around that one spot, except this lightning was black, and didn't shine.

The air turned warm suddenly, and the wind blew harder away from where the lightning was. Aevum could hear sounds of panic coming from the city behind them.

Aevum immediately realized what was happening. "We're not ready yet..." He said, right before the explosive sound of lightning and electricity filled the air.

A tear formed in the sky where the lightning was happening, and the sky flashed as it opened wider. It was directly above the center of the city, and was pitch black on the inside.

A black figure came launching through it and crashed into the city. Aevum saw smoke rising up, and terrified screams as chaos ensnared the city.

"We have to get back to the castle!" Madia said. Aevum didn't have time to wonder how she had recovered from her vision so fast. He just listened and they both ran back towards the castle.

When they arrived, the gates remained shut and didn't open. "This is what we were trying to tell you!" Aevum yelled at the guards. "Please, let us in!" He begged. "We will hold these gates strong and defend the castle." The guard responded.

Madia walked up. "Please, if we don't get in the princesses will die! Do you want that on your shoulders?" Madia asked the guard. The guard hesitated at this. "Fine. Open the gates! Get in quickly." He said.

The gates opened, and shut again only a moment after they were inside. Aevum was surprised at how easily they had gotten in. Considering the circumstances they normally wouldn't let anypony in or out.

"We need to find the princesses, and fast. The king and queen will have their hands full at the moment." Madia pointed out. However before they moved again, there was the sound of breaking steel and then an explosion.

They turned around and saw a cloud of dust where the gates had once been. Before they could react again, a black figure appeared in the smoke, slowly walking forwards.

The dust cleared, and Madia gasped. Standing there with an evil smirk on his face, was the black alicorn himself.

His eye's were pure red, and only different where his eye pupils should be. They were like slash marks from a sword, jagged, thing, and long. His horn curved slightly at the tip, and his wings were that of a massive bat, only they were coloured a dark, almost brown maroon colour. He wore a blood red cape that seemed to be torn at the end. He was taller than any normal pony. Probably of equal height to the alicorn monarchs. His mane was long, and pointed, and hung down behind his head. It almost came down in front of his eye's but split to the sides before it did.

Then he spoke, his voice sounded like it had an echo behind it, and was deep and confident. "Is this truly all that this world has to offer? A petty castle with a magical barrier that couldn't even stop a filly? I'm lead to wonder if there was any magical barrier at all!" He scoffed.

Suddenly ten royal guards came running in from different sides towards him, carrying spears with one hoof. The alicorn looked at them unfazed. "It doesn't look like this worlds citizens are very smart either." He said.

He crouched down in a ready position, and right before the spears reach him, the spears exploded into splinters. The spear heads flew into the air, then stopped and floated above the alicorn. He jumped up and swiped his hoof through the air. The spear heads turned and went rocketing towards the guards, killing them on contact.

The alicorn landed on the ground, and admired his work. He looked up to the hole in the sky, and grinned. "Tennebris, I believe I shall only need a small portion of the army. Send in about ten percent of them." He said, seeming to be talking to somepony.

Lightning struck around the opening in the air, and suddenly a great black cloud seemed to come out from the hole. Upon closer inspection Aevum realized that within the cloud was hundreds of other black ponies with bat wings. They wore dark armor, but had no horns meaning they probably couldn't use magic.

The army descended upon the city, and Aevum got a good idea of the armies size. There were now at least two thousand of them flying around and attacking the city.

The black alicorn let out a sigh that almost sounded like he was relaxed. "What a foolish nation, where are the true threats? This has been no challenge so far!" He seemed to be asking somepony to attack him.

He got what he wanted. A blue beam came from the roof of the castle. His smile disappeared for a moment when he saw it. He quickly moved to the side, unnaturally fast and looked up to where the beam had come from. Aevum and Madia's eyes followed.

On top of the castle roof, was Narcian, the master magician. "If you want a challenge, fight without your villainous sorcery!" She called from the top. "And why would I do that? If that was the case I might lose." The alicorn responded. "And that's the very definition of a challenge!" Narcian said diving from the top of the castle.

In mid air Narcian suddenly launched towards the alicorn. "Ha, don't make me laugh!" He said. He raised one hoof and pointed it at her, when suddenly she disappeared. Only a moment later she appeared beside him and a massive beam came from her horn, completely engulfing the alicorn.

The beam disappeared, and the alicorn was gone. There was a moment of silence, where it looked like it was over. Narcian was breathing heavily from the large amounts of energy she poured into her magic.

Suddenly though, the alicorn materialized behind her and whispered into her ear. "That's a nice trick, but you need to be a little faster." Narcian's eyes widened for a brief moment, before the alicorn grabbed her with his magic and lifted her off the ground.

"Get out of my sight you pathetic excuse for a witch!" He said before flinging her towards the castle wall. He threw her so hard she crashed clean through the thick, concrete wall and out of sight.

Aevum stared in shock as the alicorn defeated the greatest unicorn in all of Equestria in under ten seconds flat. Madia snapped him back to reality though. "Aevum we need to hide! If he see's us we're dead!" She whispered to him. Aevum gulped and nodded.

They quickly ran into the bushes of the courtyard before the alicorn turned around. They watched through the leaves and branches as he turned around. "Now on to the real prize." He said, but then something caught his attention and his smile faded.

He looked around as if he was searching for something. "Unusual, somepony is trying to affect the entryway." He said turning around and looking at the tear in the sky. It seemed to be fluctuating. Lightning surged around it, and the hole flickered and shifted.

"Tennebris, what's going on?" He asked the air. Suddenly a voice echoed from the alicorns ears. "I'm not sure sir, it appears somepony is attempting to close the entrance." He said.

The alicorns eyes widened slightly. "And they're actually causing it to act up?" He asked surprised. "It seems so sir, but they are failing to actually close it." The voice said. A smile appeared on the alicorns face again. "Well then, perhaps there is somepony here with the potential to make a challenge." He said confidently.

He flapped his wings and picked himself up off the ground. He flew towards the main door at full speed and obliterated it on contact.

Aevum and Madia stared horrified at the decimated courtyard around them. "I don't believe it..." Madia finally said. "Such mercilessness... how can he do such things? He defeated the greatest magician besides the royals in all of Equestria like it was a joke!" She gasped.

"The master magicians magic is supposed to rival the king and queens... if he defeated her so easily, what will happen to them?" Aevum said. Aevum and Madia exchanged a terrified glance as they realized what it meant.

"We have to get in there and help them!" Aevum said. "How can we? You saw what he did to the magician and the way he moved! We don't even know how to control our powers yet!" Madia pointed out.

Aevum wanted to bang his head on something. She was right. They couldn't possibly take on that kind of power. Not yet at least.

Suddenly Aevum heard a familiar voice in his head. "Keepers, protect the princesses. I believe in you." It said. Madia immediately looked at Aevum. "Did you hear that?" She asked. "Yes, who was it?" He responded. "It was queen Alaria! We need to find the princesses, and quickly!" She told him.

They leaped out of the bush and ran into the castle. A set of stairs lead up to the main area where it expanded into the different hallways of the castle. They ran up the stairs and looked down each hallway and saw the alicorn down the left. He was searching through the rooms looking for something, or somepony. However he had almost checked all the rooms.

They looked down the other hallway. It had already been badly damaged, so they assumed he had already checked there. "They must be up the main hall! Come on!" Aevum said to Madia.

The two of them took off through the main hall. They heard an angry yell come from behind them down the left path. There was a rumbling, and the castle shook.

Madia and Aevum began checking the different rooms and doors as quickly as the could. Then there was the sound of hooves. Madia turned around and gasped. "Here he comes!" She said. Aevum looked and saw the alicorn come around the corner. He was no longer smiling. He was angry about something.

"Quick, hide in this room!" She said opening a door. They both ran in and shut the door quickly. They looked around. It was a bedroom, and there was a wardrobe and a closet. Aevum ran ran into the wardrobe and shut the doors. Madia hid under one of the beds since she was smaller.

Not a moment later the door swung open and the black alicorn walked in. Peering through the tiny opening of the wardrobe, Aevum watched as the alicorn looked around suspiciously.

Then movement caught Aevum's eyes, that wasn't the alicorn or Madia. He looked through the window on the side of the room, and saw there was a large space between this room and the one beside it. On the next room there was a window as well, however through that window Aevum saw something that almost made his heart stop.

There, in the room was the two young princesses. They seemed to be staring at something on the floor, shocked and terrified.

The alicorn noticed them too. He smiled villainous and left the room slamming the door behind him. Aevum immediately jumped out and helped Madia from under the bed. "He left... why did he leave? He should have searched the place..." She said fearfully.

"Because he found what he was looking for!" Aevum said pointing his hoof towards the other room on the other side of the window. Madia gasped and seemed to contain a yelp. "Oh no... oh no oh no this is exactly like my vision!" She exclaimed.

"We need to get over there or the princesses will die!" She cried. Aevum thought quickly, then remembered something Narcian had told them. "You need to learn to harness your powers and use them correctly." Now was the perfect time to do that.

Aevum opened the window and looked down. It was a long ways down, but he had no other choice. "Madia, meet me down in the courtyard. You have to trust me on this." He said to the desperate unicorn. She nodded and closed her eyes. She disappeared a moment later.

Aevum looked out into the princesses room, just in time to watch the door explode open. Now! He yelled in his mind.

Aevum leaped from the open window towards the princesses bedroom. He could feel time slowing down around him. Aevum wasn't entirely sure how it happened, but he pushed off of thin air and went flying towards the window. He closed his eyes and pointed his horn towards the closed window.

The window seemed to shatter in slow motion as he came barreling through the window. All time had slowed down, even gravity was less effective. Taking advantage of this, Aevum moved his hooves into a position to land.

He skidded on the ground and stopped beside the princesses. "What?" The black alicorn said in confusion. Aevum used the moment of confusion to grab the princesses and put them on his back. "Hold on tight!" He said.

He felt Celestia wrap her arms around him. Aevum stared at the black alicorn. His eyes were wide with shock, and his smile had all but disappeared entirely. Aevum glared at him, completely countering the alicorns intimidation. With that, Aevum leaped towards the opposite window and crashed out of the room.

Shortly after though, Aevum heard an enraged yell and a surge of power. Gravity suddenly took it's full effect, and Aevum went plummeting down towards the castle courtyard. Celestia and Luna screamed as they fell.

Aevum kept himself level so as to fall on his legs, that way he would break the princesses fall. He braced himself for the impact and the pain that would immediately follow, but suddenly he slowed down and landed on the ground softly.

Aevum breathed heavily as he caught his breath from everything he just did. "W-what just hap-" Celestia's question was interrupted when a light blue pony jumped down from the roof and landed beside them perfectly fine.

"Come on, we need to get out of here!" She said determined. "What? Who are you?" Aevum asked bewildered. "No time for questions, just move! I'll take one of the princesses!" She told him. Luna was suddenly lifted from Aevum's back and placed on the blue ponies back.

"Go!" She said. They both began running through the courtyard towards the front of the castle. As the ran the doors dividing the courtyard seemed to open magically.

When they got to the central courtyard, Madia was waiting. "Aevum, what happened? And who's this?" She asked in confusion. "I'll answer everything later, just shut up and move it!" The blue mare said to Madia. Madia was a little shocked by the harsh reply, but she listened and joined them as they ran.

They escaped the castle and ran towards the rest of Canterlot. On their way they passed many ponies running towards the castle, apparently looking for safety. Aevum knew they would find none up there.

Once they entered the main city Aevum got a full idea of the damage and chaos that was happening. Many buildings were destroyed, ponies ran helplessly all throughout the city trying to escape the army that was destroying their homes.

"This is it. If you thought escaping one alicorn was hard, escaping an entire army is harder." The blue mare said. "You're lucky you have something these ponies don't." She then said. "And what's that?" Madia asked nervously. "Magic."

One of the soldiers seemed to notice them, and started running towards them. The blue mare stepped forward and waited for him. Just before he reached her though, she jumped to the side and kicked with her back legs.

The soldier went flying and crashed into a building. "Come on, let's get out of here before more of them show up." She said. They started to make their way through the city, avoiding the soldiers as much as they could.

After a while, all the soldiers seemed to pause, and raise their heads, as if listening to something. Then suddenly, they turned and looked towards the escaping unicorns. "Run!" The blue mare yelled. The soldiers started chasing them as they all broke into a sprint for the edge of the city.

Then more soldiers showed up and blocked the path. Aevum looked around them. They were surrounded now. There was nowhere to go.

"We're trapped!" Luna exclaimed. "You've got that right little girl." A voice said. They turned and looked towards where the voice came from. A taller dark navy blue pony came out of the crowd. He wore a blue cape, and his eyes were just like the black alicorns, except blue. He seemed to be an alicorn as well, however he wasn't as large as the black one.

"Here me and my master thought we had lost you. I guess we overestimated." He said smirking. The blue unicorn smiled mischievously. "Oh no, I think your estimation was just right." Her horn was suddenly surrounded by a green light, then the ground beneath them seemed to flash green.

The smile on the navy blue alicorn faded. "What th-" That was al Aevum heard, before the green light filled his eyes. His stomach turned, and he couldn't breath. All he could see was the green light. Everything was completely silent.

Suddenly the green light vanished, and Aevum could breath again. His eyes took a moment to adjust, but when they did, he found he was in a forest. Celestia was clinging to him like there was no tomorrow, almost choking him.

He looked around and saw the others. He saw the blue mare was lying on the ground, her eyes closed. She was breathing heavily and coughing. Luna was standing beside her, not sure what to think or do next.

"What... what just happened?" Aevum managed as he caught his breath. Madia was as confused as ever. "Did we just... We're in the forest outside of Canterlot!" She noticed.

The blue mare coughed. "You got quite the guts... trying to outsmart... that guy... engh..." She said. Madia ran over to her. "What did you do?" She asked. "Hah... I thought you... would have figured that out..." The mare responded through coughs and heavy breaths.

Aevum walked over to her. He let Celestia down off his back and let out a sigh. "How did you do that? You teleported us at last three miles!" Aevum asked bewildered. "Ha, 2.67 actually... close enough I guess..." She corrected him.

"You need to rest! You used up almost all your energy doing that!" Madia told her. "And then some... I can't even... move..." She responded. Madia had a worried look on her face. She turned to Aevum to say something. "She used up so much energy her heart has slowed down!"

Aevum looked at her, and thought of the risk she had just taken. She could have died if she teleported them much farther. "I... I can't tell you how thankful we are." Aevum said. "Then don't... you've got bigger problems... to worry about..." She responded panting.

{Note: At this point, we switch perspectives and travel back to when the rip in the sky first appeared. This note is to prevent confusion.}

Cael watched from the roof top of a tall house as the black figure plummeted to the street, it's red cape almost leaving a streak as it followed it's wearer.

Her long, orange hair blew in the wind the hole in the sky seemed to be emitting. She decided her mother probably wouldn't appreciate her letting her hair get messed up by the wind. She had put a lot of work into making it look nice, braiding it so it would hang down past her ear.

Well, she honestly didn't care what her mother thought by this point considering the circumstances.

Cael saw the cloud of dust that rose from the city where the figure had landed, then a moment later the city exploded into panic.

She sighed, and looked around at the other nearby buildings, and then back to the explosion. Then she looked at the castle. The guards seemed more than happy staying up there than down here defending their country.

The whole thing was starting to tick her off, how ignorant the royals were being. So Cael decided to take matters into her own hooves.

Leaping from the top of the building she was standing on, she began making her way to the cloud of dust that was still fading. Let's see just who this party crasher thinks he is. She thought to herself.

Leaping across the roof tops of the buildings, she noticed ponies below in the streets ran in the opposite direction she was going. Of course, that only made her want to check it out more.

When she arrived, she stared at the freak of nature standing inside the crater. "At last! Some entertainment has finally become available!" He scoffed. The alicorn strode around confidently. "This place is far too bright for my liking. Too cheery and colourful for my tastes. I wonder if we can fix that." He looked around him mischievously.

The black alicorn crouched down and braced himself. Then he leaped up off the ground, his horn glowing, and spun in mid air. A blast of wind struck Cael as he did a three sixty in the air. When he landed on the ground however, the trick seemed like a little more than a dance.

The ground shook, and the area around the crater glowed. Cael saw what was about to happen a split second before it did. She covered her ears with her hooves and dove down behind another building, slowing herself down with her magic.

Thanks to her covering her ears, there was a muffled, but still loud, sound of an explosion. Cael felt the shock wave ripple through the ground. There was a creaking and crumbling sound coming from all around her.

She looked up, and saw entire buildings collapse, and crumble. The ones directly in front of her seemed to stumble and started coming down. She quickly ran away from the collapsing building and found somewhere safe to assess the damage.

It was much worse than she expected.

The crater had at least quadrupled in size, and buildings were still collapsing. The alicorn stood in the middle smiling. He took a deep breath, like he was inhaling fresh air and let it out.

"That was refreshing, but I'm disappointed. Where are the warriors? Surely this place has some kind of defense." He said aloud. Another voice suddenly came from him. "Perhaps their petty forces already ran in fear of you sire." It said.

The alicorn looked up the hill towards the castle. "Perhaps, but I have another theory." He responded. With that the alicorn leaped into the sky again and took off up the hill.

Cael looked around at the decimated city. She couldn't believe that one pony had done all that. She tried to make out any survivors, but there were no signs of life among the crater.

She cursed under her breath about how useless she had been just now. Surely my powers could have done something to him! She thought. Then she remember how powerful they had been, and how dangerous they were when they got out of control.

She sighed and decided to go look around and help any survivors. That would be the lady-like thing to do right? Considering the circumstances no pony probably even cared about how lady-like you were. They just wanted, and needed help.

She began searching through the rubble when she got a splitting headache. She almost fell to the ground it was so sudden and so powerful. Looking to the sky, she saw a black cloud, and many black ponies with the same wings the alicorn had came pouring from the tear.

Cael had figured out by now that the tear was literally a hole in space. She could feel the freakish energy emanating from it, but it gave her a headache every time something passed through it.

She completely forgot about helping survivors, as the army came flooding into the city. She was worried for her own families safety now.

She quickly made her way out of the destroyed portion of the city and made for her home. When she arrived, her mother was waiting. "Cael, what's going on?" She asked. "Don't ask me mother because I can't answer that!" She responded. "We need to get out of here. The best I can say is the city is under attack."

Her headache continued to throb as she helped her mother shove provisions into a bag. Suddenly, a young, nervous voice came from the other side of the room. "Mommy, what's happening?" It said. Cael turned, and saw her little sister. She was still a young filly, barely even in grade one.

"We need to leave home for a bit Variel. We're going somewhere we can relax." Her mother said trying to remain calm. "But I don't want to go. I want to stay here." She responded. "I'm afraid you don't have much of a choice." Her mother pointed out.

Cael's headache lurched, and throbbed harder. She ran out the door and looked. Hundreds of bat-winged ponies were flooding from the hole. I've just about had it with you! She said in her mind. She felt her energy surge as power flowed through her.

She grinned as she felt the familiar rush of adrenaline. She braced herself and stared hard at the opening in the air. Her horn glowed green, and she focused all her energy into her mind.

Finally, she focused all of her built up strength on the rip in the sky. The rip in the sky flickered, and seemed to react as if it was experiencing interference. Cael knew full well what that interference was.

She continued to focus on it for a little longer, trying to close it. Then her energy ran low and she had to force herself to stop. The opening was too powerful for her to cause any permanent damage. She wanted to lay down to rest now, but that wasn't an option, as there were soldiers from the army spreading throughout the city.

Cael stumbled inside to check on her family. "Cael, what's wrong?" Her mother asked. Then her eyes widened as she realized what had happened. "Cael, you over used your magic again! What did I tell you about over using it!" She said in annoyance. "I didn't push myself out of control mother, don't worry." She explained.

Her mother pushed the matter aside and moved on to the problem at hand. They had finished packing and were ready to go. "Alright, let's get out of this place." Her mother said.

The three girls left the house and looked out towards the nearest gate. There didn't appear to be any soldiers there yet. "Go, I need to rest a moment. I'll catch up with you." Cael told her mother. Her mother looked concerned, but she went on, knowing her daughter would be fine.

Cael sighed and sat down on the grass. She had always liked how their home was closer to the edge of the city, where it was a little more spacious and calm. She closed her eyes and relaxed a moment to try and get some energy back.

It seemed to be working surprisingly well. Too well.

She opened her eyes, and saw all the grass, flowers and plants around her had wilted and turned colourless. She felt great, but all living things within a short distance was dead or wilting.

Confused, Cael stood up and looked around. There was no pony nearby. Only her sister and mother running towards the city exit. She was beginning to fear that her powers were out of control again, but then she saw something move.

Cael looked over to where she had seen the movement, and watched for a moment. Then a voice spoke behind her. “If you value your life, pick up your hooves and move it.” It said.

Cael whirled around ready to defend herself, only to find there was no pony there. “What are you looking for?” The voice spoke again behind her. She turned again to find nothing. “Are you done yet?” It asked.

“Who are you?” Cael said aloud. “Somepony a lot like you. You think you’re the only pony with ridiculous powers?” The voice responded.

Suddenly, another voice spoke, this time in her mind. "Keepers, protect the princesses. I believe in you." The voice sounded familiar, and it made Cael think for a moment. Then she realized it was the voice of the queen herself. Cael had heard her voice before in some of her visits to the city and her announcements.

“That’s interesting. I think some one is relying on you. You wouldn’t want to disappoint them would you?” The voice said.

She wasn't sure why, but she found herself running towards the castle, completely forgetting about the voice.

When she arrived, she found the gate had been destroyed, and numerous were spread out across the courtyard dead.

From what the voice said, Cael had to find the princesses and protect them. Yeah, that sounded simple and easy. Not so much when there was an overpowered monster on the loose.

Maybe if I can get on top of the castle, I can get a good vantage point and stay out of sight of the alicorn. An idea dawned on her. The issue however was getting up there. She looked around the courtyard for a moment, then noticed there were stairs leading up to the top of the walls.

She quickly ran up the stairs and looked out across the gap between the lower castle roof, and the high walls. There's no way I can make that jump! She thought. She considered teleporting across the gap, but was it worth the risk? Cael already knew that there was a magical guard around the castle, but some ponies could bypass it if they had strong enough magic.

Finally she made the decision to teleport to the roof. It was a short distance, so she hoped it would help. Right before she did it, a thought crossed her mind. What's compelling you to do this? She asked herself.

Right then, she teleported in a flash of green light across the gap. She felt nothing and heard nothing for a spit second before reappearing on the castle roof. She was quite surprised how easy it had been. Sure it still used a considerable amount of energy, but far less than she expected.

She ran across the rooftops until she reached the end of the castle. She looked to the right and found herself looking into the throne room through a window. The king and queen were there, speaking with each other. Why aren't you protecting your children? Cael wanted to yell at them.

Then there was a rumbling sound, and the castle shook. Cael had to struggle to maintain her balance. She half expected the black alicorn to suddenly come bursting out of the roof. She was surprised he hadn't destroyed the whole castle like he did to the city center earlier.

She looked into the windows of the rooms in the hall. She saw two unicorns in one of the rooms. A boy and a girl, yellow and green. She saw them looking around frantically, then they hid under the bed, and in a wardrobe.

The black alicorn entered the room a moment later. He looked around a moment, then something on the other side of the window got his attention. He left the room without even searching it.

Cael moved back down towards the entrance of the castle to get a better look at what the alicorn had seen. When she saw what it was she almost stumbled. The princesses were right there in the room, completely helpless.

Cael didn't stop to think. She immediately started running towards the room, but then something unusual happened. A strange feeling came over her, and she slowed down. She looked at the room where the princesses were, then saw the yellow pony leaping from one to the next. Time seemed to move slowly, and the pony wasn't falling as fast as he should.

What a fool, there's no way he can make that jump. Cael thought. She was wrong. The yellow unicorn suddenly pushed off of thin air and went crashing through the window.

She stared in shock as he came launching out the other window a moment later, the two princesses on his back. At first, Cael thought they had gotten away successfully. They were falling gently towards the courtyard below. But before she could let out a sigh of relief, she felt a strange energy surge.

Gravity kicked in and the yellow pony began plummeting to his death. Cael thought fast and ran towards them, skidding to a halt before coming off the top of the building. She focused her magic on the pony and concentrated.

They suddenly slowed down and landed gently on the ground. Cael sighed, then leaped down after them, using the same technique she just used on the yellow pony to slow herself down.

"Come on, we need to get out of here!" She said to the confused unicorn. "What? Who are you?" The pony responded, trying to get a grip on what had happened. "No time for questions, just move! I'll take one of the princesses!"

Cael picked up Luna with her magic, and placed the filly on her own back. "Go!" She said, and with that, they ran off to escape the alicorns destructive power.

{Note: Once more we travel back and change perspectives. These perspectives are necessary in order to get the full story of what's happening and why and how certain events happened.}

Celestia watched horrified as her nightmare came to life before her eyes. There was the sound of electricity and thunder echoing in the sky, then what sounded almost like an explosion.

Her father immediately turned away from her to see what was happening. Celestia couldn't believe the timing. Right when she was about to warn her father, the very thing she was going to tell him about had happened.

Luna yelped at the sound and almost jumped into the air from how loud it was. Celestia quickly joined her father who had now run to the balcony. He was looking at the city. A dust cloud had risen from it now.

"Father... this is what we were trying to warn you about..." Celestia said. Her father turned to her, a sorrowful look on his face as he realized what he had done. "Celestia... I'm sorry." He said to her. "I should have listened to them..." The queen walked over to join him.

"It doesn't matter now. Celestia, please. If there is any important information please tell us now." She said to her daughter. "I think I can provide sufficiant information." A female voice said. They all turned towards the door. Standing in the entrance was the master magician.

"These four ponies are part of a prophecy. A prophecy you can't even begin to comprehend." She said. She there was a book beside her floating from her magic. She threw it towards them, and it landed open on a page with a picture.

The picture showed those four familiar symbols, but this time they were floating above four ponies. Each was a unicorn. Celestia noticed the green mare and her companion were in it. However there were two others as well. A blue mare and a dark red colt. Above the colt was the scroll symbol, and above the mare was the green star.

Nocturne looked at Narcian desperately. "Narcian, who are they, and why are they here?" Their father asked. "They are the Keepers of the Elements, and they hold complete power over each of the four elements of Equestria. Their coming has been foretold since Equestria's earliest days. The fact you did not know about them disappoints me greatly."

Celestia stared as the master magician, who wasn't even one eighth of the kings age rebuked him. "As Equestria's rulers it's your job to know about this sort of thing. I'm stunned that you didn't even look at this book! Think about your children, where will they be when this is over?" She said to the two monarchs.

Alaria looked at her daughters nervously. "Narcian, what else does the prophecy say?" Their father questioned. "It says you two must hand over your powers to the Keepers, and leave it in their hands. Only the Keepers can stop this force."

Nocturne looked confused. "Hand over our powers? How can we do that? We must defend our kingdom!" He said. "You cannot defend your kingdom anymore! It is beyond your control! The enemy approaching has an army large enough to cover Equestria!" She raised her voice.

"Do not let your pride control you, Nocturne. You knew there would come a day when you would be required to step down. Now is that day." She said, calming down now. Nocturne was speachless for a moment, then he sighed.

"The princesses need to get away from the city." He finally said. "I'm afraid it's far too late for that. They can't escape safely anymore, even if you went with them. The enemy is seeking them. He fears they know something he doesn't. Something that could easily end him with ease." The master magician said to the royals.

Luna and Celestia looked at each other for a moment. "What? How could we know anything he doesn't that could be important?" Celestia asked Narcian. "Prophecy works in mysterious ways children. Ways that not even I, nor your parents can understand. They were layed out by somepony far more powerful than us." She explained.

"Where are the keepers at this time? We must get a hold of them. Surely they can defend the princesses." Alaria said. "The keepers are not yet strong enough to stand up to the enemy, however they can slow him down, and cause him stress. Their powers are not fully awakened yet." Narcian pointed out.

"Can't we defend our daughters? Buy them time to escape?" Nocturne suggested. Narcian shook her head sadly. "They cannot escape on their own. Think about the army. They too will be looking for them." She shattered what seemed to be their final hope.

"Then what are we supposed to do to save our children?" Alaria asked getting desperate. "The keepers are your only hope. They can cause the enemy enough confusion to get away. Their current powers are sufficient enough to weaken him, but no more." The magician said.

"Then we know what we need to do. Alaria, take the children to their room. Contact the keepers if you can find them through telepathy." Nocturne began acting like the father Celestia knew again.

Their mother nodded. "Come on girls, let's get you back to your room." She said to her daughters. "But what about you? You could die!" Luna asked. "Don't worry about me. I promise we'll escape if we can't fight him."

Right then there was an explosion. "He's here. I'll do the best I can to defend the castle. Go, quickly!" The magician said, running out onto the balcony and disappearing in a flash of light.

"Let's go." Their mother said. She quickly lead them back to their room and brought them in. "I'll see you again dears, please stay safe." Their mother said before locking the door as she left.

Luna was whimpering. "What's going to happen to us?" She asked Celestia. Celestia sighed and walked over to join her sister on the bed. "I have no idea Luna. Don't worry though, those ponies we saw will help us." Celestia said trying to comfort her sister. Of course, Celestia didn't believe that entirely herself.

Then she got an idea. "Wait, what about the book? Maybe that has something that will tell us what will happen!" She offered, trying to get Luna to cheer up. "Okay, maybe." She responded.

Celestia pulled the old book out again and opened it to a random page. It was the page with the four symbols, and star, and the blood stain. She ignored it and began turning through the pages.

A rumbling sound echoed through the castle and the place shook. "What was that?" Luna asked. Celestia ignored it and continued flipping through the pages.

Then she gasped, as she saw what was on one of the pages that had been blurry before. "What's wron-" Luna began to say, then she gasped too when she saw what was on the picture.

It was a picture of the black alicorn, standing confidently. A bloodstain was drawn behind him, and on the ground to his left and right, lay two dead ponies. Those two dead ponies wore crowns, and had wings and horns. The two dead ponies, were Nocturne, and Alaria, their parents.

The two sisters stared at the book on the floor for a moment, taking it in. They barely even noticed the sound of hoof steps coming from outside the door. Celestia tried to tell herself it wouldn't happen, but Narcians words kept coming back to her. "Prophecies, always come true."

Celestia collapsed onto the floor on top of the book crying. “No! No no no no no!” She yelled. “This can’t be happening, it just can’t be!” Her sister just looked on, eyes wide and terrified.

“T-Tia... Is that... Mother and father?” Her sister asked the question even though she probably knew the answer. “They’re going to die... He’s going to kill them!” Celestia exclaimed. “We have to warn them, they need to escape!” She said to her sister.

“B-but, I thought p-prophecies a-always came true?” She stammered. “I don’t care if it’s a prophecy or not, we have to save them!” Celestia wanted to defy the prophecy, even though she knew it wouldn’t work.

The words echoed in her head again. "Prophecies, always come true."

Right then their door burst open. Luna and Celestia screamed and covered their eyes as splinters of wood filled the room.

When Celestia opened her eyes, she instantly wished she hadn’t.

There standing in their room, red cape and all was the black alicorn. His red eyes glaring, but his smile satisfied. He looked at the two princesses happily as he walked in. "Such a simple place to hide isn't it? Ironic how your own death will be in your very room." He said.

He raised a hoof and pointed it at them. What looked like a thin, purple mist started swirling around his hoof. The mist condensed and formed a small ball. This is it... Celestia thought to herself. We're both going to die here.

Then a strange feeling came over her. The alicorns smile vanished, and he looked around. The feeling was familiar. She had to think for only a moment before she recognized it. It was the same feeling she had felt when time had stopped earlier that day.

The window shattered, and the yellow pony Celestia knew as Aevum came crashing into the room. He skidded to a halt and stopped beside them. "What?" The black alicorn said in confusion.

Aevum quickly put Celestia and her sister on his back while the alicorn was confused. "Hold on tight!" Aevum said. Celestia wrapped her hooves around his neck. Luna grabbed onto Celestia, then they leaped through the other window.

They seemed to move slowly until the strange feeling faded. Time resumed, and they began falling at full speed. Celestia and Luna screamed as they fell. As they were falling though, Celestia noticed Aevum bracing himself to land on his feet. He's going to try to break our fall! Celestia realized.

Right before they hit the ground however, they slowed down, and landed about as gently as a feather. Celestia looked around confused. "W-what just happened?" She asked.

Then, a blue unicorn jumped down from the roof, and slowed down before she landed too. "Come on, we need to get out of here!" She said. "What, who are you?" Aevum asked. "No time for questions, just move! I'll take one of the princesses!" Luna floated up off Aevum's back. She reluctantly let go of Celestia, and then was placed on the blue mare's back a moment later.

"Go!" The mare yelled. They took off and made for the castle entrance. Along the way they met up with Madia, but Celestia hardly noticed. She was too busy thinking.

Celestia thought about her parents back in the castle. She looked back at the castle helplessly as the ran down the hill towards the city, thinking about the image in the book and what it meant.