Keepers

by SilverArrow

Rating: teen
Tags: My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Dark, Alternate Universe, Sad, Other, Princess Luna, Original Character, Tragedy, Adventure, Princess Celestia
Length: 71785

Thousands of years before the rein of Celestia, 4 ponies find themselves with the fate of the world.

Thousands of years ago, back when Celestia and Luna were still young fillies, their parents ruled the magical land of Equestria. But when an ancient prophecy is discovered by a unicorn by the name of Aevum speaking of a vengeful alicorn from a failed creation, Aevum must find the truth to his mysterious destiny, and join with three others to bring equestria, and it's four true elements to peace.

~Authors Comments~
Hello everyone! Silver Arrow here, also known as Destradious elsewhere. I thought I would give you guys a basic and quick look into what you're diving into and how this came to pass.
To begin, this story came as a break off of my other large story, Fractured Spirits. I realized I had nothing to do with a certain yellow earth pony that seemed to have a vast knowledge of what would happen and had the power to go just about anywhere and do just about anything. So I came up with the concept of Keepers.
Keepers is a story about four different ponies, both with a strange power over an element of the universe. I know what you're thinking, "Mary Sue!" Not quite. These characters have to grow and develop and learn how to use their powers while struggling with emotions and other problems along the way. At the same time, they have to protect Celestia and Luna from a powerful Alicorn who essentially took over Equestria by surprise.
In a sense this is a prequel, and my own theory about the parents of Celestia and Luna, and how they rose into power and grew up. It's also my fictional theory of how Equestria's harmonic balance remains in place.
I hope you all enjoy reading this Fic as much as I enjoyed writing and designing it. (No I have not completely stopped with Fractured Spirits. I will work on my two stories by alternating which I'm working on.)

~Silver Arrow

Published 2012-07-11 21:04:02 UTC
Last updated 2012-09-03 01:34:03 UTC

Introduction

Equestria, a land of magic and peace. A land filled with happy ponies of three central races. Earth Pony, Pegasus and Unicorn. These three races live in harmony and do not dispute between one another.

While Equestria was still in it's early state, the creator of the vast world decided it was time he moved on to a different project he had in mind. Equestria was created to sustain itself, but it needed government. So he created two powerful creatures called Alicorns, who had the wings of a pagasus and the horn and magic of a unicorn. The two creatures were bound by love and oath, and were granted a long infinite life that would not age. They were given powers over the night sky and the day light.
However the creator realized something. One of his older creations, based off a similar plan fell into chaos before. The creation had a single powerful creature, also an Alicorn, which had powers beyond anyone could imagine. However he was easily corrupted and entered a state of insanity.

Fearing for his new creation, but also curious as to how smart the ponies on it were, he set out a prophesy, foretelling the coming of this Alicorn from the other creation.

The creator realized his two governers were also easily corrupted, such was the natural heart, and realized they were not up for the task. So five thousand years before they even existed, the creator appointed four ponies with power over the four most important elements in Equestria. Time, Space, Dream, and Law. The creator built up the prophesy and hid it deep within a shrine in a forest, waiting to be found, and deciphered.

Finally having completed preperations for his exit, the creator then left to work on something new, something much more vast and complex. Something with qualities that matched his own image better.

Years passed. About three thousand in fact. The two governers had children, named Celestia and Luna, who were destined to recieve the throne. They were also Alicorns like their parents, and had recieved the gift of long life through them. These children grew up in a peaceful world and knew only happiness and content. They were treated well and taught how to read and write, and some basics on running the kingdom at a young age. Then before it was even noticed another two thousand years had passed. The princesses as they were now called, were fillies, and had learned much.

However at that time, another pony was born, this one was a unicorn. He was given the name Aeruth, meaning Endless Time, or Forever. He grew up like any normal pony would, year by year, unlike the Alicorns which took hundreds of years to truly age.

Over time he recieved his cutie mark. An ancient clock face, with gears and mechanics behind it. Many believed this just meant he was talented when it came to time related issues and had a good sense of keeping track of time as well. Others believed it meant he was destined to be a watch, or clock maker.

Little did they know it was far more than that, and that he was not the only one born with his destiny set before hand

Chapter 1 - Whispering Stone

A cold wind blew through the streets of the new settlement that had just been established. Only a few houses had actually been made so far, and there were numerous tents strewn about across the field. The streets were simply made from gravel and dirt, and trampled grass.

Winter was almost upon the settlers and if they didn’t set up their homes quickly they would be stuck out in the cold winter snow. This left almost no time for stopping as everyone was needed to build the little huts of wood and straw.

Aevum ran across the field towards one of the already built houses. His long, brown-red mane flew in the wind as he came to a screeching halt in front of the clay building. He shivered as his thin, yellow layer of fur proved almost useless against the breeze.

Using his magic, Aevum pulled his red cloak over his shoulder to keep him warm. Winter was coming faster than anyone had anticipated, and Aevum could feel that familiar chill in the air meaning it would snow soon.

The trees around the settlement provided some very faint shelter from the wind, but that was about it. Out towards the west was a very large and dense forest. It was apparently very dangerous though, filled with mysterious magic, and evil creatures. Aevum dared not go in there after the stories he had heard about that place.

Now as the winter weather moved in work was picking up, but before Aevum could start working he needed permission from his father, who was in charge of the building, if he could help. They needed all the builders they could get, and so far most of them were adults, but why not get some of the younger ones involved.

“Father, are you in there?” Aevum called to the house. A moment later his father opened the door. “What are you doing out there? Come in, come in. It’s your home too you know!” His father responded.

Aevum walked into the small hut and immediately felt warmer. In the middle of the hut was a small fire pit with a metal cover over it. Aevum sighed as he let the fire warm his body. He was thankful for the privileges he had as the son of the head builder, but he still felt bad for the others that didn’t have a warm place to stay yet.

“So what’s the matter? You’re not just escaping the cold, I can tell.” His father questioned him. “Well, I was wondering if I could help do some of the actual building instead of just gathering materials.” Aevum offered. “I would much rather assist in getting people places to stay than getting wood from the trees around here. The younger ponies can do that can’t they?” He went on.

His father paused a moment. “Well not all the ponies around your age actually have any knowledge of building...” His father explained. “But I do. I have had some training and experience in building before. I could help. Besides, winter is almost here and you could use all the help you can get.” Aevum reasoned.

His father smiled at this. “You always were the kind to find all the best reasons. Alright, you can get some tools from the supply tent. You already know where the materials are found.” His father pointed out.

Aevum grinned and turned around to leave, calling thank you over his shoulder.

After that, Aevum headed for the supply tent to grab some things. He got a hammer, some nails, and a saw. He put them in a small bag that he clamped around his body, and then left for one of the nearby houses that was still under construction.

Three pegasus were around the roof, which was just some wooden supports at the time. Meanwhile, unicorns held up wooden beams with their magic, while earth ponies would nail them together.

As he approached the working ponies, one of them noticed him. A white male pony, just a couple years older than Aevum walked up to him. “Hey Aevum, are you coming to help out?” He asked. “I figured I might as well since we have more than enough resources. What do you need me to do?” Aevum asked.

The white pony smiled. “Well, we need to get some more wooden planks. We are starting to run out, so you can saw us up some more from those logs over there.” He suggested. “Alright, sounds good to me.” Aevum agreed.

Aevum went over to the wood pile to grab a log, when he noticed a light coming from the forest nearby. Confused, Aevum stared at it for a moment. It seemed to be shining a bright green colour. Aevum let his curiosity get the best of him and began walking towards it.

When he got to the edge of the forest, he stopped, remembering how dangerous the rumors always said it was in there. Staring after the light, Aevum felt compelled to enter the forest and continue following it. The light was almost holding him in a trance. He couldn’t take his eyes off it.

Aevum continued to follow the light into the forest. After some time of walking, he realized it wasn’t as dangerous as everypony had said. He walked through in peace following the light, without getting hurt or finding any troubles.

Finally he caught up to the light. It was behind some thick vines, coming from a flat, smooth stone. Aevum pushed all the vines to the side, and found an indent in the stone, where a bright green emerald was jammed into the stone.

Huh... What’s this all about? Aevum thought to himself. Who would put a random stone and a valuable emerald way out here in a forest? Aevum decided to ignore that thought, and focused his magic on the emerald.

He tried to pull it out using his magic, but it was stuck so tight it wouldn’t come out. So, Aevum put his hooves on it to see if it was just a magic seal, and test to see if it was loose at all.

It wouldn’t move, but suddenly the stone shook and fell backwards on the ground, with the emerald facing up. The stone suddenly swung up on its side like a door, and revealed an opening that wasn’t there before with stairs in it.

Intrigued, Aevum walked down the stairs. It lead to a large cave, filled with carvings on the walls.

The cave was old and wet, and had a dark green tint to it. Aevum could hear the faint sound of dripping water somewhere in the cave. The cave was illuminated by light on the walls, that seemed to be coming from the carvings. The carvings were glowing a bright green colour.

Aevum follow the cave for a while, it seemed to go on forever. Some of the runes however, seemed to be familiar, like a story he had seen or heard before.

After a while, one he noticed seemed to be of the royals, the king and queen of Equestria and their young children. They were living happily together. The rune was glowing bright green.

Only a short time after, there was a rune of the stone Aevum had seen just a moment ago with the emerald in it. Now he was starting to get a little creeped out by this.

Just two more runes down, there was a really strange one. It look almost like a tear, a rip, like a hole that had been forced into something. The next rune showed something coming out of the rip. It looked like a pony, but it was too small to tell.

The next rune, however showed that pony in much more detail. It had a cape, and batlike wings where you would normally expect pegasus wings. However it also had a horn, like a unicorn.

The rune showed this pony with what looked like magic flowing around it. The magic was shooting out like flames in all directions from the pony.

Finally, the next rune he saw showed what looked like buildings burning, and destruction.

These strange runes he had found, were a much dimmer green colour and didn’t shine as brightly.

Aevum’s eyes widen as he put the pieces together and realized what all this meant. The older runes, which were brighter, were events that had already happened. However these dimmer ones were still going to happen. And soon.

Aevum completely forgot about reading the other runes and began to run towards the cave entrance where he had first come in.

Something was terribly wrong. Those runes were far too accurate to what had actually happened to be false. Those dim runes were going to happen, and what ever was going to happen, was bad. He had to tell somepony about this. Somepony who would trust and listen to him. He decided his father was his best bet.

The stairs of the cave came in sight, and Aevum ran up them and came out to the top, only to find himself face to face with cockatrice.

Chapter 2 - The Princesses Prophecy

Celestia stared at the book in front of her. It was an old book about magic, that must have been thousands of years old. The pages were crinkled and dry, and were a light brown colour. The text was written in old ink by hoof, and had a fancy pattern to it. There was still dust floating around from when she had placed the heavy thing on the floor of her and her sisters bedroom.

"Tia, why did we bring that book here?" Luna asked.

Luna was Celestia's younger sister, and Tia was the name Luna had given her to shorten it. Luna had helped Celestia carry the book since her magic and strength couldn't do it alone. Now she was leaning over her dark-blue bed, tired and bored.

"Because I want to know what it's about. If it's so old and still around it must have some neat stuff in it!" Celestia reasoned. Luna sighed. "But I dislike reading. It's so boring, and takes so long." Luna fretted. "Well then I guess you do not want to hear about us being in a book older than us do you?" Celestia tempted her sister.

Luna perked up at this. "What? We are in a book?" She responded with curiosity. Luna hopped down from her bed and walked over to join her sister by the dusty old book. "Yes, look here! There we are." Celestia pointed out, and placed a hoof on a picture on the page. "Woah, you did not tell me this book had pictures!" Luna said in amazement.

Celestia looked closer at the picture. It showed two large, powerful alicorns with the familiar flowing mane and tail of their parents. Their mothers fiery orange, and their fathers deep starry blue. Between them were two small fillies, one was blue like Luna, and the other was white like Celestia.

"Look there Tia, that's me!" Luna said excitedly as she pointed herself out on the image. Celestia giggled. "We're all on the picture, our whole family! It's like they knew we were coming even back then!" Celestia pointed out.

Luna sighed. "I wish I was as smart as father and mother. They know so much!" Luna wished. Celestia smiled. "You can be that smart, by reading!" She teased. Luna let out another sigh, but this one was much more exasperated. "Reading is boring though!" Luna repeated herself from earlier.

Celestia turned her attention back to the ancient book. She focused on the strange words again, and tried to make them out, but to no avail. "I cannot read these words. I do not recognize them. I can't tell what they say." Celestia said with disappointment. "You mean we dragged that thing all the way here for nothing?" Luna said angrily.

Celestia nodded. "Almost. We got to see a nice picture though!" She tried to point out something positive. "I can see nice pictures on the walls in the castle, I do not need this!" Luna exclaimed, poking the book with her hoof.

"But this picture came before us. How did they know about how we would look?" Celestia wondered aloud. Luna shrugged and went back to her bed. "I do not know, you are the smart one." Luna responded over her shoulder.

Celestia went back to the book, and decided to just take a look at the pictures since she couldn't understand the writing. She turned the page using her magic to look at the next picture. However the next picture was blurred out, like somepony got it wet. Celestia frowned in annoyance. Just when it was getting interesting too.

She turned the page again, and found this one was also blurred. She continued to turn the page and find blurred image, until one of them she found was slightly less blurry. All she could make out was that it was a black alicorn with a red cape. No other details.

Well that does me plenty of good. Celestia thought sarcasticly.

She turned the page once more. This image was not blurry at all. It was a picture of of some unusual lined star symbol. It was a bright pink colour, and had a black cloudy pattern behind it. It didn't make any sense but it looked cool.

Turning the page, Celestia found another clear picture. This time it looked like an old scroll. She turned the page again, there was a clock, with gears around it. Again she flipped the page and found what look like a bright green star, or like something she had seen in space looking through a telescope.

Perplexed, Celestia turned the page once more, expecting to find more interesting images like these, but instead those four pictures repeated themselves onto one page. However this time they were surrounding another symbol. This symbol was a blue six pointed star made from triangles with a circle going around it. At the center of the symbol was a what looked like a blood stain.

Celestia felt a little freaked out by the unusual picture, and turned the page, but the pictures were blurry again. She sighed and closed the book in dissapointment. So much for that... She thought to herself.

She pushed the book with her hooves as best she could and put it under her bed. "So any more pictures of us?" Luna asked. Celestia couldn't tell if she was being sarcastic or not. "No not really, the book was all damaged and I could not see the pictures." She explained.

Luna rolled her eyes. "I told you that old thing was a waste of time!" She responded. "I thought it was interesting." Celestia said. Luna laughed. "The most interesting thing about a book, is getting to close it!" She joked.

Celestia sighed. Maybe when she's older she see how important books are. Celestia thought to herself.

Suddenly there was a knock on the door. "Celestia, Luna dear, are you ready for your history classes?" Their mothers familiar voice came from the other side of the door.

Celestia quickly put her covers down over the little opening under her bed where she had hidden the book. "Yes mother! Just a moment!" Celestia and Luna ran around the room gathering their things. Books, quills, scrolls, and ink. They placed them in a bag and put the bags on their backs and walked out of their room.

"Ah, good. I was afraid you wouldn't be ready." Their mother said as they walked out the door. Luna and Celestia smiled innocently and exchanged a glance.

Their mother had a bright orange mane and tail, and wore a golden tiara on her head with a red jewel in it. Her hooves had gold slippers that also bore the red jewel that she was so well known for. It had been the symbol of her reign for as long as Celestia could remember. She was a white mare, with legs that faded to a light orange colour. She was recognized as the Mare of Light, Queen Alaria.

"Come along now, your teacher is waiting." She said to the young princesses.

She lead the way as they walked through the palace halls. Tapestries lined the walls with images from long ago, giving the young heiresses a look into their parents lives many thousands of years ago. Images of the building of the royal city of canterlot, the union between night and day that their parents represented, all sorts of beautifully sewn together tapestries.

They passed all sorts of doors and other rooms on the way, some which Celestia recognized, like the one leading to the magic training area's, and the study halls where you could read in peace.

Finally, they stopped in front of a door with a book carved into it. Luna made a disgusted face when she saw it, and Celestia giggled. Their mother just smiled and opened the door.

"Ah there you are! I was beginning to wonder if you were coming at all!" The old unicorn who was their history teacher said as they entered the room. "The princesses were in their room getting ready and studying. They wanted to be prepared for your lesson today." Their mother explained. As she turned to leave, she whispered something to her daughters. "Next time though, I would recommend reading the history books your teacher gave you, not the ones from the restricted section of the library." With that, she winked at them and walked away.

Celestia stared after her as she closed the door eyes wide. How did she know...? She thought. Her and Luna exchanged a nervous glance, then the two of them walked over to take their seats.

They were the only ones being taught in the classroom at a time. Since they were the princesses, they got special, more advanced teaching and were taught privately. They're parents believed it was a much better learning environment, but Celestia and Luna couldn't tell the difference, since they never got to do normal school.

"Now than, get out your "History of Royalty" textbook. You know royalty isn't just you two and your parents." The teacher told them.

It was true, even the guards were counted as royalty. The captain of the guard was especially royal. Probably the highest of the royals outside the official family, but that was about all Celestia knew so far.

“Now the most important thing to remember about the royal family is that it extends beyond your direct family, being your parents and yourselves.” The teacher began.

I already know that... Celestia thought to herself.

“Everypony who lives in the castle is considered a part of the royal family of Equestria, even the servants. The most important people in this royal family outside of the direct line, would be the captain of the guard, and the master magician.” He went on.

Luna raised her hoof. “Yes Luna?” The teacher beckoned. “Does the magician do magic tricks?” She asked. Celestia giggled. “She could if she wanted to, but she’s far too busy for that. She has more important duties.” The teacher answered calmly.

Luna seemed satisfied with the answer and turned to the book on her desk. The teacher continued. “Now, turn to page 46 and we will take a look at the history of the palaces royal magician.”

Celestia and Luna did as they were told. When they opened the page, it showed pictures of different master magicians. Some were male, others were female. Each wore a cloak and pointed hat. This was the customary royal magician outfit.

“One of the most notable of these head magicians was Starswirl the Bearded. You have likely heard about him. He was a very powerful unicorn, and his powers were even comparable to the king and queen. He even created some of his own magic spells. He only lived about one hundred years ago, and his descendants have proved strong in magic as well.” The teacher explained.

“Now if you wish the learn more about him, you can find an entire biography of him in the library. Here’s your reading assignment. You must read from pages 46 to 58. There’s lots of pictures, so it’s not as much as it sounds.” The teacher pointed out.

Celestia began turning through the pages and skimming through them before she went back and read them more thoroughly. As she was doing this however, she noticed something in the corner of her eye as she was turning a page.

She quickly turned back to the page to get a closer look. She saw writing in that same pen style she saw earlier in the old book. It said in the book, that it was the language the magicians used to communicate with each other in secret. There was a translator that showed what symbols were equal to in English. Celestia raised her hoof at this.

“Yes?” The teacher asked. “Um, I noticed on page 52 that there’s a language the magicians used. Why is there a translator in the book if it’s supposed to be a secret language?” Celestia asked.

The teacher smiled. “Those are special textbooks specially written for you two. They contain information for your direct family only. I’m the only one beyond your family that knows about that information. As the princesses, you are expected to know about that language yourself.” The teacher gave them the full explanation.

Celestia nodded and went back to the book. She looked at the translator, and thought of something. What if I use this to translate that old book I found earlier? Celestia got her sisters attention and showed it to her.

“Look see, it is that same language in the other book we found earlier!” She whispered to her. “Really? Are you sure?” Luna responded. “Yes, I’m certain! We should use it later to figure out what that book said.” She suggested.

Suddenly their teacher spoke up. “Girls, I sure hope you’re talking about what you’re reading.” He said. Celestia just nodded and said, “Yes sir.”

Celestia decided it would have to wait until later. After class she and her sister could find out what’s so important about that ancient book, and possibly how her mother knew they had taken it.

Chapter 3 - Dreamers Vision

The cockatrice stared directly into Aevum's eyes. Aevum stared back just as intently. The two of them stared at eachother unmoving. In fact, the cockatrice didn't even blink. Any moment, Aevum expected to feel his body turn cold as its gaze transformed him into a stone statue.

However it didn't happen. They just stared at each other.

The wind had stopped blowing, the birds had stopped chirping, everything was completely silent, except for Aevum's own breathing...

wait a second... Aevum thought to himself. It was true. All he could hear was his own breathing. Not even the cockatrice seemed to breath.

Aevum moved his head to the side. The cockatrice remained where it was, and continued to stare. Aevum frowned at the creature, a hybrid between a serpent and a chicken. It really was a funny thing, and now it was even funnier, staring harmlessly into space.

Aevum looked up into the sky. The clouds weren't moving, and the sun stood high in the sky. It must be around 2:15. He thought to himself.

Aevum turned back to the paralyzing creature and began circling it. A mischievous grin crossed his face as he thought of something. Using his magic, Aevum picked it up off the ground and placed it face down in a mud puddle. The mud seemed to hardly move in response, just form around the creature.

Aevum decided he had better head back to the settlement. He didn't want to be gone too long.

As he was walking back, everything was unnaturally silent. His footsteps didn't even make noise as he moved. It cast an ominous feeling of loneliness over him as he walked through the silent forest. There were bugs along the way just as frozen as the cockatrice, that would not move unless Aevum made them move.

Something was very wrong here, and Aevum knew it. A cockatrice doesn't just freeze up like that. He should have been turned to stone that instant. Same with the bugs, they're always moving. They don't just float on spot like that.

Aevum walked out of the forest and into the settlement, expecting a greeting, but he found none. Looking around, to his alarm Aevum noticed that all the ponies were frozen too! "Oh no..." He said aloud.

He ran to the building he was supposed to help build, and found it hadn't progressed really at all since he left, just a few more beams and such in place.

He ran over to one of his friends, who was helping build the house. "Come on, wake up!" He said to him with no success. "Just move, I know you're alive in there!" Aevum began shaking his friend. When he stopped, his friend seemed to float in the position he had shaken him into.

Aevum was starting to panic now. He ran to his fathers house and slammed the door with his hoof, but it only went as far as he pushed, as if it had no momentum at all. He pushed the door all the way open and ran in side.

He came in to a bizarre sight. The fire in the pit didn't move. It didn't flicker, didn't flow, even sparks were frozen in their places. He looked to his father to see him reading a book, in a middle of turning a page.

Aevum turned and ran out of the home. Everypony was frozen, in fact, everything was frozen! The air didn't blow, living things wouldn't move, the only thing that made a sound was Aevums breath.

Finally, Aevum realized what had happened. He couldn't believe he hadn't noticed it earlier.

Time had come to a complete standstill.

The sun was still in the same position, as well as the clouds, and there was a bird up in the sky in mid flight, hanging there in the sky.

"Oh no, no no no no no, how is this even possible?" Aevum muttered to himself. And why am I the only one not frozen? He thought. "How do I unfreeze everything?" Aevum shouted to the sky angrily.

Suddenly several things happened at once. He was hit by a furry of sounds, from wind to birds. He felt the breeze blowing against him again, and shivered. His friend fell over onto his side like he had been pushed over, and everyone started moving and doing there jobs again.

Aevum stared bewildered for a moment as everything resumed like nothing had happened. "But... I... How?" He stuttered as he stared at everything. The word magic came to mind, but not even the king and queen could controlled time.

Aevum shook his head. Did... did I do that? Did I unfreeze everyone? Aevum thought to himself. It had all happened after he said "unfreeze." So it must have been. Then Aevum wondered if that meant he had caused it in the first place.

Aevum retraced his steps within the last our. He noticed something strange around the cockatrice encounter. Yes, the cockatrice was alive and moving until their eyes locked, then it froze. That must have been when it happened, but why and how?

Aevum didn't think there was anyone who could answer that question. Besides, these ponies didn't even seem to notice time had stopped. They went about their business like normal. Who would believe him when he told somepony time had stopped?

"I might be able to answer your question." A sweet, soft voice spoke from behind him. Aevum turned around to find a dark green unicorn with a navy blue mane standing there. Her mane was somewhat puffy, but styled and curled at the ends.

"What, I never asked a question...?" Aevum responded. She giggled at this. She seemed to act awfully young for how old she looked. "Sure you did, you were wondering how time had stopped right? That's what you said!" She told him exactly what he had thought in his mind earlier.

Aevum's eyes widened. "Wha- But I never said that out loud..." He responded. The cheerful expression on the girls face disappeared. "Oh, I'm sorry. I guess I let myself wander again." She said embarrassed.

Aevum stared at her a moment in confusion. "Sometimes I just wander into people's thoughts and I can hear what they think. I didn't mean to really!" She tried to explain herself.

"Wait hang on, you said you could answer my question, do you know about time stopping?" Aevum asked her. "Yes, of course I do. I could feels everything around me come to a stop. Even ponies thoughts were frozen."

A pony that can read minds, that is a very unusual kind of magic... Aevum thought to himself. "I know that's what I said when I found out about it!" She suddenly blurted out. Aevum stared at her for another awkward moment. "Oh, I did it again didn't I... Sorry..." She said, once again embarrassed.

"It doesn't matter. If you weren't frozen either maybe we can both figure it out." Aevum suggested. She cocked her head at this. "Why would I want to do that, I've already figured everything out!" She told him.

Aevum shook his head. "What? No that can't be. How could you figure it out already?" He responded in disbelief. "Well you see, I also have unusual dreams. They often have hidden meaning. To be honest, and this may creep you out a bit, but I saw you in a dream, and you had stopped time!" She quickly explained.

Aevum was speechless. He tried to process everything, but she interrupted. "Is that what your cutie mark represents?" She asked.

Right then it hit Aevum like a hammer on a nail. Looking at his cutie mark, it was an image of a clock, with gears poking out from behind it. It can't be... Is that what it's meant all along? Aevum thought.

Aevum wasn’t creeped out at all. He was downright terrified. Magic just didn’t work this way.

“So let me get this straight, you can answer all my questions about this unusual stuff?” Aevum asked. The green unicorn nodded energetically. “Yes, I can answer just about anything! Well, as long as I know about it.” She explained.

Aevum was about to ask a question when she said something. “Actually, I want to go sit down somewhere. I’ve been standing and walking around a lot and I’m tired.” She told him. It was only then that Aevum realized he was tired too. “Alright then where should we go?” Aevum asked.

Only moments after he finished asking though she responded. “Oh don’t ask me that I already know where we’re going to go. Right there by that log see?” She pointed with her hoof towards a log on it’s side by the edge of the forest.

Aevum didn’t bother asking why and how she would know that, so he just followed her to the log.

When they got to the log the two of them sat down. It felt a little awkward, but Aevum wanted answers.

“So first things first, who are you and what’s your name?” He asked. “Well, my name is Madia. Some people just call me “Mad” though, if you know what I mean.” She explained. “Anyways, I have the ability to read minds, and sometimes dreams. My own dreams even tell me things.” She continued.

"So that's how you knew I had stopped time?" Aevum asked. Madia smiled. "Yes that's exactly how!" She responded gleefully.

Aevum decided to move on and ask another question. "How come you weren't frozen in time like everypony else?" He asked. Madia thought about this for a moment, and hesitated. "Well... You see I don't really know. I just felt a strange sensation flow through me and then everything stopped moving around me." She told Aevum.

"You have to admit though it was pretty neat seeing things like that!" Madia said energetically. Aevum smiled a little. "I guess it was quite an experience, sure gave me a scare though." Aevum said showing his own perspective.

"Alright, so what else do you know about me." Aevum questioned. But Madia seemed to be distracted. She was looking past Aevum, but didn't seem to be focusing on anything, like she was staring off into space.

"Madia?" Aevum said. He waved his hoof in front of her face. "Madia, hello?" Aevum tried to get her attention. "Madia!" He said once more clapping his hooves together in front of her.

Madia jerked out of her trance and stared at Aevum for a moment. She blinked once or twice and then turned and looked towards the ground embarrassed. "Oh, sorry. I don't have much control over my thoughts. I guess I slipped off and started thinking about something else. Or was somepony else thinking about something and I just wandered again..." Madia half said to herself.

Aevum shook his head. "Never mind. So, what else do you know about me?" He asked the question again.

This time he got an answer. "Well I know you are good with time in general. What time is it right now?" She responded. "That's easy, it's 2:36." Aevum said quickly.

"You see? I certainly couldn't tell you that! You also saw some runes earlier today right before you stopped time, but I don't know any details." She went on.

"Well if you want the quick summary, it looked like some powerful alicorn, similar to the king and queen, coming to equestria and causing destruction." Aevum told her what he had seen in the cave. Madia looked a little nervous. "Oh dear, that can't be good at all!" She said in response.

"Definitely not. I doubt anyone will think it means anything though. They were really vivid images, and ones that had already happened were glowing green." Aevum described his situation.

"Well I believe you." Madia responded. Aevum shook his head. "Are you sure about that?" Madia nodded. "Positive. If anypony knows a prophecy when they see one it's me! I see them in my dreams all the time!" She explained. "Then again though I have no control over when those dreams happen, they're kind of random." She then began to go on.

“Anyways, do you have any idea how I might have stopped time?” Aevum asked her. “Well I know that right when you saw the snake-chicken you seemed to panic.” Madia started. She paused then, staring directly into Aevum’s eyes.

She looked at him like that for about a minute. Aevum shifted uncomfortably. She sure has a habit of making things awkward... He thought to himself. “Oh I know, I’m just trying to feel what you felt when you saw that creature.” Madia suddenly said breaking from her trance.

She resumed the awkward stare, but this time didn’t take as long. “Hm, your heart skipped a beat when you saw the snake-chicken. Right then time stopped. Maybe it’s connected to your heart or your feelings?” Madia suggested.

Surprisingly, Aevum realized that made a lot of sense. Aevum had heard of magic being really strong in moments of fear. Something about adrenaline according to his father.

“That makes sense.” Aevum said his thoughts out loud, even though she probably already knew he had said it.

“So do you know anything about this magic? Any details you seen in your dreams?” Aevum asked Madia. Madia shook her head. “Not really. The most I can tell you is that there are two others, besides use, that have unnatural magic abilities.” She explained.

Aevum smiled slightly. “Well it’s still something. Any details about these other two? I want to learn more about all this and get some answers. Maybe they know things we don’t.” Aevum wondered. “Well one we’ll meet in a city, and the other we’ll meet in a forest. That’s about all I’ve got.” Madia explained.

Aevum nodded. “Alright then, let’s head to the forest, maybe we’ll find somepony there.” Aevum said. Madia nodded and they both began walking towards the forest, when suddenly Madia yelped and stumbled to the ground.

Aevum turned around quickly. Madia was on the ground, struggling. Her eyes were blank and clear as if she were blind, and she stared off into space like she had before.

“Madia! What’s wrong?” Aevum said running over to her. She seemed to be trying to say something, and was shivering like she had just jumped into an ice cold pool of water. She was breathing quickly and kept squeezing her eyes shut like there was something she didn’t want to see.

After what seemed like a couple minutes though, she stopped. Her natural purple eye colour returned, she stopped shivering and breathed heavily and slowly.

“Madia, what happened? What’s going on?” Aevum said. Madia’s eyes were wide with fear as she caught her breath. “I... I saw him... I saw all of it... Just like you said...” She managed through heavy breaths.

“What? You saw who, and what?” Aevum said confused. Aevum looked around and noticed everything had frozen again. He swore under his breath as he realized his panic controlled him again.

Madia shivered and looked up at Aevum. “I saw him! The Alicorn you talked about... He’s coming! He has an army... And they’re on their way!”

Chapter 4 - The Flowers Sapphire

Celestia closed up her history book and put it in her bag. The history lesson had just ended, and now they were getting ready to head back to their room. "Now remember, make sure you finish that assignment on time for next class." The history teacher was telling them.

Celestia and Luna barely noticed him though. They wanted to find out what information the old book had in it, so they packed their things and left in a hurry.

"Why do we even need to know about the old magicians and guards. When would that ever be useful to us?" Luna asked Celestia. Celestia smiled. "I thought you knew by now, a lot of school is like that!" She told her sister exactly how she felt.

Luna sighed. "I guess, but it feels like such a waste of time." Luna let out.

On their way back, they met up with the current captain of the gaurd, Flare Sight. "Hello children, how was your lesson?" He asked.

Flare Sight was almost like an uncle to the princesses. He was always nice to them and joked around too. He would watch them when their parents were too busy, and help them with some of the things they had difficulty with in school.

Luna responded to the question first. "It was so boring! I almost fell asleep!" Celestia giggled. "It wasn't quite that bad Luna! We could have been learning about father and mothers important union!" She pointed out.

Luna shuddered at that. "Don't even mention that, I had to stop myself from snoring!" Luna did a fake snoring noise with her throat that sounded more like a pig, and the two fillies burst into laughter.

Flare Sight chuckled. "Sounds like you've had a real energetic day." He said sarcastically. "So, any luck with those cutie marks of yours yet?" He then asked. Celestia shook her head. "No, not yet. It's taking forever. I can't seem to figure out my talent at all."

Luna then spoke up. "Yeah, the most I consider a talent is falling asleep in class." Flare Sight laughed. "Well, why don't you come with me. I can take you to the castle gardens, it's much more entertaining there." He offered.

"Well actually we-" Celestia was cut off by Luna's energetic reply. "Sure! I'd love to see the gardens! Come on Tia!" Luna ran off down the hall, closely followed by Flare Sight. Celestia sighed and ran after them.

I guess that book will just have to wait. Celestia thought.

Celestia walked into the castle's large garden. There were tree's scattered throughout it, and a small stream flowed through some rocks and pebbles to the left. Beautiful flowers like roses, and dafodills filled the place with colour.

Celestia had seen the garden before, but she never expected it to look so nice still during the end of Autumn.

"Well here we are. The castle gardens, as lovely as ever." Flare Sight said. "Have a look around, tell me if there's any you really like. I assure you I can get you the same flowers for your room."

For a captain of the guard, Flare Sight had always been so friendly. It seemed a little unusual, but Celestia and Luna had known him for a few years now.

Celestia began walking through the garden, admiring the sights. Many of the flowers growing in the garden weren't even in season.

After a little while of looking at the flowers, one lone flower caught her eye. It was a bright, vibrant blue with a wavy purple pattern on its petals. "Flare, what is this one?" She asked.

Flare Sight walked over to take a look. When he saw the flower however, his expression changed to one of interest and curiosity. "That, is a blue Narcian. These are incredibly rare. They say they only grow when something really important is going to happen. I don't remember seeing that one before." He explained.

Celestia eyed the pretty flower hungrily. "Can I get that flower? I really like it!" She asked Flare Sight. "I don't know, it is a very rare flower." He turned to one of the gardens keepers. "What do you think?" He asked the orange mare tending to the garden. She nodded and smiled. "Whatever the princess wishes. Those flowers bring good luck." She responded.

Flare Sight took a shovel and a small clay pot, and scooped the flower into it. "Here you are. I hope it brings you the greatest of luck." He said pushing the pot to her with his hoof. "Thank you Flare Sight." Celestia said, nodding her head respectfully.

Luna called them over, and they went to join her. When she saw Celestia's flower she stared in awe. "Woah, I want one of those!" She said pointing at the flower. "Sorry Luna, they aren't common. It's the only one in the garden." Flare Sight explained.

Luna's smiled faded, but then Celestia spoke up. "Don't worry, we can share it! I'll put it on the windowsill between our beds, that way we can both have good luck!" Celestia smiled at her sister. She smiled back with delight. "I like that idea!"

"It's settled then! Do you still want to pick out a flower Luna?" Flare Sight asked. "No, it's okay. I like this one!"

With that the two sisters left the garden and made their way back to their rooms. They thanked Flare Sight for the trip to the garden, and carried the flower through the hall with their own shared magic spells.

When they got back, they put the plant on the windowsill and looked at how nice it was up there. "I'm sure it will bring us both tons of good luck!" Luna said. "Yeah, I wonder what's going to happen!" Celestia wondered.

Luna looked at her sister. "What do you mean by that?" She asked. "Well Flare Sight said these flowers only bloom when something important is about to happen." Celestia explained.

Luna's eyes immediately widened. "Do you think we might get our cutie marks?" She said excitedly. Celestia laughed. "I don't know maybe! I hope so!" Celestia answered.

Celestia took off her bag and put it on her bed. She pulled everything out and put it back where it belonged, except for the history book. She wanted that for later, so she just put it on her bed.

Luna hopped onto her bed and lay down face first into her pillow. She always did that when she wasn't sure what to do next. "So, our next class is with dad on how to be a good leader at 3 o'clock." Celestia said looking at the dayplanner their mother had put on the wall. "That leaves us a little less than an hour to check out this book." She finished.

Luna let out a sigh. "You really want to bother with that book? It will take forever to translate it letter by letter!" She pointed out. Celestia frowned. Her sister had a point. It would take a long time to translate each individual letter.

Celestia pushed the thought aside and grabbed some paper and a quill.

She pulled the book out from underneath her bed and opened it to the page with her family on it. She was going to start translating it, when a gust of wind suddenly turned the pages. They stopped on the picture with the black alicorn she saw, but this time the image was not blurred by water damage.

"Huh?" Celestia said outloud. She looked toward the window. It was shut tight, and so was the door. "What now?" Luna asked. "The pages, they just turned themselves! And this picture was blurry before!" She told her sister.

Looking closer at the now perfectly clear image, she saw that the alicorn had blood red eyes, and a black slit where his eye pupils should be like a snake. His cape was the same colour. He had wings like a bat, and a long, slightly curved horn. His mane was a dark blue colour that was almost black, that parted before it went in front of his eyes. His tail was spiked, and looked sharp.

There was something weird in the corner of the picture. It looked like a hole, or a rip, but it was just drawn on. It wasn't an actual hole. There seemed to be a black cloud coming from the hole.

The pictured was a little freaky, so Celestia turned the page until she got to the one with the four symbols and the circular star with the bloodstain.

She pulled her history book over and opened to the part with the translator in it. Slowly, she began translating the writing beside the image.

While she was doing that, Luna slowly walked over hesitantly. "Four... found... through... chaos..." Celestia said aloud the words she translated. "Bound... by... fates... seal..." Luna looked curiously at the odd image and made a face. "Come... together... as... one..." Celestia wrote out everything on the papers as she went. "And... follow... their... destiny." She finished the first sentence.

"And just what does that mean?" Luna asked annoyed. "I don't know... I'll read some more." Celestia responded. “A... sacrifice... to... return...” Celestia continued translating the old text. “A... death... sparks... life, blood... deemed... clean, earns... life... free.” She finished translating the writing beside the image.

“Well that is a lot of help.” Luna said sarcastically. “I learned so much from that.” Celestia frowned at her sisters ignorance.

“It’s a riddle, it’s not supposed to make immediate sense.” Celestia told her sister. “You have to figure it out for yourself.” Luna sighed. “That’s annoying though! If there’s something important I want to know it now!” She complained.

Celestia ignored her sisters attitude and turned back to the book. She decided to turn back and see what each of the other pictures said.

First she turned to the pink star, and began translating the text aloud. "The... dreamer... wakes... to... show... the... prophecies... foretold." Celestia read the first line. "Through... mind... and... thought... a... peace... it... brought. Time... dream... space... law. Come... together... to... fix... the... flaw." She finished.

"Flaw? What is the flaw, and what is all this about dreams and time?" Luna asked. "Don't ask me, i'm just translating it." Celestia pointed out.

She turned the page to the scroll symbol. This time, instead of reading it as she went Celestia decided to just decipher the whole thing, and then read it all at once. "Laws of light and laws of sound. Some are not just written down. Time, dream, space, law. Come together to fix the flaw." She read.

"There's that line about the flaw again." Luna said bored. "You know for somepony who hates it so much you sure seem intent on commenting on it." Celestia said to her sister, turning away from the book for a moment.

Luna made a face, then turned and got comfy on her bed. "I was just saying is all." She lied. Celestia rolled her eyes and went back to the book.

Turning to the page with the green light symbol, Celestia translated this one. "A tear in reality, a rip through the fabric. The space between spaces, is traveled by formality. Time, dream, space, law. Come together to fix the flaw."

She turned the page again. The last symbol, the clock. This one was the most complex of the symbols. It was written in roman numerals, and had all different kinds of gears coming out from behind the clock face.

There was more text on this one too. Celestia began translating it. After some time she finished, and read it aloud.

“Without one, the other cannot live. Without the other, the one cannot live. Lead the conflict, fight the afflict. Freeze the sky, stop the cry. Mend the tear, guide the flare. Spark the flame, world to claim. Complete the sequence, banished delinquent. Time, dream, space, law. Come together to fix the flaw.” She read the complicated riddle aloud.

“It is a nice poem, I will give it that.” Luna said, who was still listening. “Well, it is more than just a poem. It means something. If this book knew about us, maybe it’s talking about somepony else!” Celestia reasoned.

Luna shrugged. “I don’t know. What does that mean to us?” She asked. Luna had asked an excellent question. Celestia didn’t know if this had anything to do with them.

But she was still mystified by this strange book. Some pictures had been blurry, but were now clear. How was that possible? Celestia wanted answers, but who could she possibly turn to that could give her straight answers?

There was a knock on the door, and a male voice came from the other side. "It's time for your leadership lessons girls." It was their father's voice. "Meet me in the throne room when you're ready." He told them. "Alright father, we'll be right there." Celestia answered.

They didn't have to take anything with them for this lesson. It was mostly just a talk and memorize lesson.

She went to put the book away, when suddenly she felt an odd sensation, like everything was slowing down. She suddenly felt tired, and low on energy. She looked at Luna, and she had a confused look on her face.

"What's going on?" Celestia asked. "I don't know, suddenly I feel tired." Luna responded. "Me too. Maybe we'll ask father about it later." All of a sudden the sensation stopped, and she got her energy back. Celestia shrugged it off and finished hiding the book.

The two sisters left their room and headed down the hall to the throne room.

When they entered, their father was standing on a balcony on the left side of the throne room, looking out into the city of Canterlot. "Father? Did you feel anything strange earlier?" Celestia asked when she came in.

Their father turned, and smiled. "Why yes, I did. It felt like a surge of magic to me. Probably nothing to worry about." Celestia could tell by the look on his face that it was more than that though.

Their father was a tall, deep blue, almost black colour, with stars scattered around him. He could almost blend into the night sky if he really wanted to. His mane and tail was similar in colour, but it moved and flowed like fire, similar to their mothers. His wings were the same way, majestic and powerful, and flickering like a star. He wore a silver crown with a purple jewel on it, and shoes of a similar nature. He was respected for his ability to handle things cooly, and never raise his voice. He was known as the King of Night, Nocturne.

"So, what would you like to learn about today?" He asked the filly princesses. "I was wondering, what do you know about figuring out prophecies?" Celestia asked. Luna shot her a look when she said that.

The king smiled. "Ah, now that's a tricky subject. Prophecies are a real complicated mess." He told them. "The first step to deciphering them, is remembering they often have double meanings. They almost never mean exactly what is said. They normally speak in metaphor, meaning it treats something like an object as something else." He began explaining.

"So, I could call something like a flower a butterfly, and it could mean the same thing?" Luna asked. Celestia was surprised by Luna's sudden interest and thought. "Or, a flower could represent peace, and a butterfly, gentleness. It's a common thing you see in poems, and since prophecies are often written in poetic form, you find them a lot. However being able to recognize what the metaphors mean is something completely different." Nocturne taught them.

"So, what about repetition? When you see something said multiple times in a prophecy or poem?" Celestia asked. "Well normally that means the author is trying to get a message through to you. A message of some importance." Their father pointed out.

Celestia thought about this. So does that mean in that book, the last lines of each page was trying to make something clear?

Her thoughts were interrupted by her sister. "What about something that doesn't seem to make sense, like something happening that shouldn't be possible?" She asked. Celestia wanted to bury her head in her hooves when she asked this.

"I'm not sure what that has to do with prophecy, but normally that means there's an enchantment of some kind. Give me an example of what you mean." The king responded. "Like something in a prophecy being impossible to read one moment, and then perfectly clear the next." Luna suggested.

Nocturne's smile was slowly beginning to fade. "I've seen something like that in prophecies before. Normally if it's hidden, it means you aren't supposed to know about something yet. They're very frustrating little enchantments, but you have to follow prophecies in that way." He explained.

"Oh, that makes sense I guess." Luna thought aloud. Celestia cut in next before her sister blew their cover. "How reliable are these prophecies? Like, how often do they come true?" She asked.

"I haven't seen one that didn't come true when it was supposed to." Nocturne confirmed. Celestia's heart skipped a beat. She thought of the black alicorn with the bat like wings, and how evil he looked.

"How do we tell when these prophecies are going to come true?" Celestia asked next. Nocturne's smile was almost completely gone now. "You can't really. The best way to tell is when you see signs leading up to the prophecy. Normal prophecies point out signs of its happening." He explained.

Celestia held back a sigh of relief. There had been no signs hinting at the black alicorn coming soon.

Suddenly, the strange sensation return, and Celestia felt her energy plumet. Nocturne immediately turned around and looked out the balcony. For a moment, Celestia thought she saw an almost annoyed, and confused look on her father's face.

Their mother came in a moment later. "Celestia, Luna, I think it may be best if you head back to your room now. There's something your father and I need to talk about." The look on their mother's face was serious. "Your mother's right girls, you look like you could use some rest anyways." He agreed with his wife.

"But, what's going on?" Luna asked. "You don't need to worry about it. Just a little magical surge. Probably the master magician." Alaria told her daughters. "Run along now." She said shooing them out the door.

Celestia started walking back, but her sister stayed at the closed door. "Come on Luna, lets go get some rest." She told her sister. "Wait just a moment, listen through the door." Luna told her sister.

Celestia looked around nervously. "I don't know if that's a good idea." She said. "Come on get over here and listen!" Reluctantly, Celestia went to the door and press her ear up against it. She could hear their parents having a conversation.

"Why does this keep happening? I thought we were the only ones with any control over this type of thing." Their mother said. "I do not know. Somepony is messing around with the elements, and they're powerful. More powerful than what can be naturally taught." Their father responded.

"Yes, but for it to actually affect us and our children, they would have to be an incredibly powerful being." Alaria pointed out. "I have no idea how anypony could do it. Our family is supposed to be the most powerful in any kind of magic in all of Equestria. Not even the master magician could do this." Nocturne thought aloud.

"I knew it!" Celestia whispered. "I knew it was something more than just a surge of magic!" Luna nodded. "Me too, let's keep listening." She said.

"Time just doesn't stop spontaneously like this. Somepony had to have triggered it." The queen reasoned. "And is it coincidence that the girls were asking me about prophecy today in our lesson?" Their father asked.

Celestia and Luna exchanged nervous glances.

"It's especially strange that it's not wearing off as fast this time. Last time it was short, but it's stuck for longer now. It's draining ours, and our daughters energy to resist it." Alaria noticed. "There has also been some strange magical energy fluctuations in the last day or so, like somepony is altering magic levels." Nocturne remembered.

"And don't forget the dreams ponies have been having. Just this morning I heard about several near prophetic dreams that came true as simple events later in the day." Their mother reminded him.

Nocturne sighed, and Celestia could hear him walking. "Something is going horribly wrong with the elements. We're losing control over them, and we are near powerless to stop it." He said.

Celestia and Luna broke away from the door, and stared at eachother in shock. "They have absolutely no idea what to do!" Luna said in a desperate whisper. "Let's get back to our rooms, we can talk about it there." Celestia suggested. "Right." Luna agreed to her sisters plan.

The two of them ran back to their room as fast as their tired legs could take them. Their energy had drained severely since the "magical surge" had happened. Luna collapsed on her bed after they walked in.

Celestia did the same, and lay there for a moment thinking. "Time has stopped somehow and our parents can't even do anything." Luna said. "It's why we're so tired. We're probably resisting the time stopping and we don't even know it." Celestia thought back to what her mother said about it draining their energy.

Then she thought about the prophecies. Their parents had mentioned dreams, and time. Both were in the book, and had including similar things that they had mentioned.

"The prophecies in the book... they're coming true!" She said aloud. She felt her energy still draining. She thought of the black alicorn again, and she was filled with fear. If these prophecies were coming true, who's to say the others wouldn't?

Chapter 5 - Silk Eye

Madia was still having difficulty breathing slowly as Aevum tried to get some more detailed information about what she had seen. Time was still frozen, but at the moment Aevum didn't really care. In fact it was probably better his time wasn't limited if what Madia had said about the alicorn was true. They needed all the time they could get to figure this out.

"Madia, please try to relax. We can prevent all this. Just tell me everything you saw." Aevum tried to calm her. "But we can't! Prophecies always come true! They can't be changed or stopped!" She was panicking, almost desperate.

"Yes, but we might be able to warn others about it and learn more about ourselves if you explain." Aevum was getting desperate too. "Please, I need to know!" He said to her.

Madia started taking deep breaths as she tried to calm herself down. "Control your thoughts... try to think of one thing at a time." Aevum tried to help her. "Easier said then done. My mind is so spread out I can't simply stop thinking about something!" She responded.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, she began breathing normally again. "Madia, are you alright now?" Aevum asked. Madia just nodded. Her eyes were filled with tears, and he could tell she was trying to hold them back.

"It's just too much. So many terrible things are going to happen... so many lives are going to be lost." She managed. "If you can explain any important details to me we might be able so save some of those lives." Aevum pointed out.

Madia let out a quivering sigh. "The black alicorn... he's on his way here right now, but he's not from Equestria. He's from an entirely different world." She began, trying to contain her panic.

"Well, he can't be on his way now that time has been stopped." Aevum thought aloud. Madia just shook her head. "He's too powerful, he resisted your spell and is still coming. You're magic isn't strong enough." Madia pointed out.

Aevum swore under his breath. "His army... his army is huge. You could easily fill Canterlot with it, and that's only the group that's with him." Madia gave Aevum a scale of how large the army was.

"When he gets here..." Madia gulped and took a deep breath. "When he gets here, he's going to attack Canterlot, and with no mercy or care for life..." Aevum let every word of information sink in. It was difficult to believe, but all the proof for her visions being true was there.

"He's going to end up battling the King and Queen. The battle will only last a few minutes." Madia jumped ahead.

"And who will win? Surely the king and queen?" Aevum asked nervously. Madia shook her head. "I don't know, it blanked out around there. Like a black cloud came across my vision." She described what happened.

"The princesses, they will be in extreme danger. Somepony has to protect them!" She said, her panic beginning to rise again. "Hold on one step at a time." Aevum said. "No, one of the last visions I saw was the black alicorn entering their room, and seeing their horrified, crying faces!" She burst into tears again and buried her head into her hooves.

Aevum's eyes went wide at this. He stood up and looked out into the forest. There's no time to go looking for somepony we can't rely on. Aevum thought. "We need to get to Canterlot and warn them about this, before it's too late. Prophecy or no prophecy, I'm not about to let that keep me from trying." Aevum declared.

Madia looked up at him nervously. "How will we get there in time?" She asked. "Time? I don't think we need to worry about time." Aevum said grinning.

"But it's still so far away. Even if time is stopped it will take a while!" Madia put in. Aevum thought about this for a moment. It would take a while to get there by hoof, and if this alicorn completely bypassed Aevum's magic, then it didn't make much of a difference.

"Can your powers do anything else other than read minds and see visions?" Aevum asked Madia. "Well I can enter ponies dreams. In fact... I think I can travel through them. It could be really dangerous though if somepony is having a nightmare. Not to mention how many ponies sleep in the middle of the day?" Madia gave Aevum the whole story.

"Well, your powers seem focused on dreams. Maybe you can put ponies to sleep?" Aevum suggested. Madia's eyes widened at this. "Really? You think I can?" She said mystified. "Won't know until you try. I'll unfreeze time so you can try."

Aevum thought about how he had unfrozen time before. He willed the world to start moving again, and to resume where it left off. Sure enough the breeze returned and everypony started moving again like nothing had happened.

Next, Madia looked towards on of the ponies who was taking a break from building homes. She concentrated on him for a moment, with a determined look in her eyes.

The pony suddenly yawned, and lay down in the grass getting comfortable, and fell asleep. Madia smiled happily. "It worked! I put him to sleep!" She said energetically.

"Wow, I didn't think that would actually work!" Aevum said. The whole day may have been weird and filled with confusing stuff, but Aevum had to admit to himself, it was really awe striking.

"Now how do we enter his dreams?" Aevum asked Madia. "Oh that's easy!" She responded. She suddenly put her hoof on his shoulder. At first Aevum wasn't sure what to think, but then his stomach did a somersault as the whole world around him spun, and changed.

It only lasted a moment though. When it stopped, everything was distorted, and misty. It was difficult to see much of anything. All that he could make out was that it was dark, and they were at what looked like an ocean.

Madia's hoof was still on Aevum's shoulder, but she took it off a moment later. Aevum felt a little sick after all that. "Do you do that often? How can you stand it?" Aevum asked heaving. "Oh you get used to it pretty quickly." She responded.

"So, what next? How do we get to Canterlot like this?" Aevum questioned. "Well, now that we're in this dream we just need to find somepony from Canterlot who is asleep right now. Then we can travel from this dream, to theirs." Madia explained like it was an art.

"And how do we do that?" Aevum asked. "Easy." Madia suddenly jumped high into the sky, and disappeared in a flash of light. Aevum blinked for a moment, confused. Suddenly there was a flash and Madia came falling down. She slowed before she landed and touched down softly.

"Come on, follow me!" Madia said. Instead of having him follow her though, she grabbed his hoof and jumped again.

Aevum's stomach lurched again as he went rocketing into the sky. There was a bright light, and suddenly everything was completely silent. When his eyes adjusted, he looked around and saw almost everything was dark, except these strange flat surfaces, that looked like windows.

"This, is how we travel into different dreams." Madia pointed out. "You should see this place at night, it's quite the party!"

Aevum looked around at the different dreams. Some were happy, some were sad. All sorts of different kinds of dreams of ponies he never knew. It felt a little like an invasion of privacy.

"How do we tell which dreams belong to ponies from Canterlot?" Aevum asked. Madia giggled. "For somepony who controls time, you sure ask a lot of questions!" She said.

"I don't control time... what are you talking about?" Aevum said confused. "Come on, this one looks interesting!" She said ignoring his question. She grabbed his hoof again and pulls him through.

The place they were in now was right outside a house at a small village. Inside the house there were lights on. It was nigh time and there was nopony walking around. The streets were made from gravel, and there were flowers and plants in front of the house.

"This village is obviously much farther progressed than ours..." Aevum thought aloud. Suddenly there was a crash inside the house they had appeared in front of. There was screaming, and cries for help. Aevum could see fire in through the window.

A mare came running out with a young filly on her back. Aevum and Madia stepped out of the way as she ran past them and turned to look back.

Then there was another scream from inside the building. The mare gasped and got a terrified look on her face. Aevum's eyes went wide as he realized there was somepony still in there. He took off his red cloak to run in, but Madia stopped him. "No! This is a nightmare! It isn't real! They aren't in danger, but you are!" She told him.

Aevum looked desperately at the burning house. He wanted to run in and save whoever was still in there, but if he could still be hurt, and they others couldn't, it wasn't worth it. "Come on, let's get out of here." Madia said, grabbing his hoof again.

They jumped out of the dream and came back to the black center of the dreams. Madia looked around for a moment, as if she was trying to decide which one to try next.

One particular window caught Aevum's eye. "Hey, that one looks like an alley of a city! Maybe that's Canterlot!" He pointed the window out to Madia. She smiled energetically like she often did. "Come on then, let's go!"

Madia grabbed his hoof and they went launching through the window and out into the open air above Canterlot. However it was hazy, and a little distorted, meaning it was a dream.

Thanks to Madia, they landed softly on top of one of the buildings above the alley. They looked around, and could see the palace way off in the distance.

"How do we get out of the dream again?" Aevum asked Madia. "All I have to do is will us out of the dream. We don't want to do it here though. We wouldn't know where to go. We want to be closer to the castle. If we were to leave this dream right now, we would appear on top of this building in the real world." Madia, once again explained it like she had done it for years.

"Alright then let's head towards the castle!" Aevum came to the conclusion. "No, we can't just do that. Dreams have invisible boundaries on them. The boundaries follow the dreamer, they never expand or change. When we leave those boundaries we'll just end up back at the hub." She explained.

Aevum looked at her funny. "The 'hub?' Where did that name come from?" Aevum asked. Madia just shrugged. "I don't know, it's just what came to mind."

Aevum sighed. "Well how are we supposed to get there if the boundaries will hold us in?" Aevum asked. "Well, maybe we can effect the dream, and the dreamer. Maybe we can get him to move towards the castle and follow him." Madia suggested.

Aevum was about to say something in response, but then he heard a yell. "No, please leave me alone!" It was a male voice, that sounded like he was in his late twenties.

Aevum and Madia looked over the edge of the building down into the alley. There was a brown pony, backing away towards the end of the alley. There was a dark blue male pegasus who was slowly advancing on him with a knife in his mouth.

"Another nightmare? What's with all the bad dreams?" Aevum asked. Madia gasped when she saw what was happening. "That brown pony is the dreamer! If he dies in the dream he'll wake up and disappear from here!" Madia explained quickly, trying to contain her panic.

Aevum looked back towards the pony trying to escape. "Please, I didn't do anything!" He was saying. "You did everything! Everything was going perfectly fine until you decided to show up!" The blue pegasus responded.

Aevum looked around frantically for a way down. He saw a clothes line and got ready to leap to it.

Madia apparently thought of a better idea.

She grabbed his hoof again and leaped off the top of the building towards the two. The knife was at the brown ponies throat.

Aevum just saw the knife move swiftly across the brown ponies throat before everything around them went pitch black.

It was almost complete silence. Only the sound of their breathing could be heard. Any moment, Aevum expected to see the windows appear again, but they never did. He could still feel Madia holding his hoof, however he couldn't see her it was so dark.

Then he heard her voice. "Whatever you do, do not let go." There was a hint of desperation, and determination in her voice that he hadn't heard before. After that change in attitude, Aevum didn't dare let go.

There were voices, very faint voices, whispering to them. They were impossible to make out though. They were rolling and mixing together, jumbled up in a way that made words sound different than they were supposed to.

"What's going on?" Aevum whispered nervously. "Just wait, and don't let go." She said again.

Aevum thought he could see black figures spinning around them, but he couldn't tell if they were real, or just the darkness playing tricks on him.

The whispering slowly got louder. Random words became audible. "Guide. Send. Protect. Find. Save. Show."

A tiny, white light appeared way out in the distance, that slowly came closer, and grew bigger.

More words became audible. "Heir. Monarch. Fate. Keepers." The whisperings got steadily louder still. Aevum wanted to ask Madia what they were talking about, but he figured he better not.

The light came closer and closer, until it engulfed them, and suddenly the whispering stopped all together, with the final word he heard being "keepers."

Aevum's eyes hurt as they adjusted to the sudden light and colour. They were inside the castle courtyard, near the entrance. It was day time, and there were a few ponies walking around. Some were tending to the plants in the courtyard, while others were just passing through.

The courtyard was filled with various plants ranging from flowers to bushes and hedges. The grass was perfectly even, and a bright green colour. There were a few trees here and there, some of which bore fruit. There were several doors leading to other area's of the courtyard, but one door lead to the other side of the castle walls.

"What... we're inside the castle walls!" Madia half whispered, half exclaimed. As happy as Aevum was about that, he wanted to know what had just happened back there.

"Madia, what just happened back there?" He asked. Madia looked at him nervously. "When the dreamer woke up, the whole dream collapsed in on itself while we were still in it. We've been sent to somepony Else's dream now." She gave him the quick explanation.

"So we're still not in the real world?" Aevum asked dissapointed. Madia just shook her head. "No, but that can be fixed! Let's get out of here." She responded.

She closed her eyes and concentrated for a moment. But after a bit, she frowned and opened her eyes. "What's wrong?" Aevum asked. "I can't get us out here. The real castle has a magical barrier. No magic can be used to enter the castle, you have to get in through to gates." She confessed.

Aevum sighed. "Well, who's the dreamer? We need to get through those gates without leaving the dream." He was beginning to get the hang of this dream business. "I'm not sure, let's look around and find the-" She cut herself off.

Her eyes were locked on something, or somepony. Aevum followed her gaze and saw what she was looking at. It was the two filly princesses, Luna and Celestia. They were playing under one of the tree's together.

"Madia?" Aevum thought back to how she mentioned seeing the princesses in her vision facing the black alicorn. "Are you alright?" He asked.

"She's the dreamer. We're in princess Celestia's dream." Madia finally said, keeping her cool. Aevum's eyes widened as he stared at the two as they played under the tree.

"We need to somehow get Celestia to move towards the castle entrance. We need to get out of the magical barrier." Madia said. Aevum couldn't believe how serious she was acting in contrast to her upbeat and energetic normal personality.

Suddenly there was an explosion from the inner castle. Celestia and Luna stopped playing immediately and stared in shock as a cloud of smoke and fire rose into the sky.

"What in Equestria is that?" Aevum said. Before anypony could answer, there was another explosion, this time closer. Aevum could feel the shock wave and heat of it this time.

Pebbles and small rocks started raining down on them. Aevum looked into the sky. The sky was blood red, and a massive hole hung above the clouds, like a rip. Aevum realized just what he was seeing. This was exactly what he had seen on the walls of the cave.

He could faintly make out what looked to be hundreds of black ponies pouring out of the hole in the sky. Aevum looked at Madia and saw she was terrified. This must have been what she saw in her vision! He realized.

"Madia, snap out of it! We have to focus now!" Aevum said, shaking her. She shook her head and look at Aevum a moment, fear in her eyes. She nodded and let go of Aevum's hoof, which she still hadn't let go of since the last dream was interrupted.

Another explosion, this time just behind the courtyard, sent rock and flame into the sky. It started raining large chunks stone and concrete around them. One was launching towards the princesses at breakneck speed.

Before he knew what he was doing Aevum ran towards the boulder and came skidding to a halt directly in front of the princesses. He wasn't sure what he was doing, but he reared up on his back legs and held out his front hooves.

"Aevum, no!" Madia yelled. The second the boulder touched Aevum's hooves, it froze in the air, and a golden shock wave echoed from Aevum's hooves. He let out the breath he was holding in, and brought his hooves down. He felt depleted of energy, all he wanted to do was lay down and rest.

He turned and looked at the princesses behind him, their eyes filled with fear and shock. Madia quickly ran over to join Aevum. "Aevum what were you thinking, that rock would have crushed you!" She said. "I... I honestly don't know... Come on, we need to get out of here." He managed through heavy breaths.

"Princesses, we need to leave this place before the entire castle destroys us." Madia explained to them. Celestia's eyes went wider than Aevum thought was possible when Madia addressed them. "Yo-your cutie mark! I-I've seen it b-before!" Celestia stuttered.

Aevum looked at Madia's cutie mark. It was a pink, glowing five-pointed star, with a black shadow around it. "There's no time girls, we need to leave!" She said desperately. Luna and Celestia just nodded, too scared to say or do much else.

They turned around and ran towards the castle entrance. The gates were locked tight, and wouldn't open. "How do we get out?" Luna asked terrified. Madia looked around frantically. She looked towards the boulder Aevum had stopped, and grinned.

"Stand back everypony!" She said. The boulder suddenly moved up into the sky. Madia looked at Aevum, and he quickly guessed what she was going to do. He backed away and focused his will power on the boulder. Madia gasped as it unfroze, and it's weight took effect.

She clenched her teeth, as she threw the boulder with her magic towards the gates. The gates burst open and the boulder went rolling down the road.

She panted and heaved as she tried to regain her energy. "Come on... let's go..." She let out.

Aevum lead the way. They ran out through the gate and out of the castle. They passed burning plants and bushes, and dodged rocks raining down around them from the explosions that were still happening.

After a little while of running they finally were a safe distance from the explosions to avoid getting hurt. All four of them let out a sigh at the same time. Celestia and Luna watched on as their home was destroyed, tears in their eyes.

Aevum looked too. He recognized on area of the castle that stood out from the rest. It hung out over the left courtyard. There was bright light shining through the windows, the kind of light caused by magic.

"Girls, I need you to listen to me. None of this is real." Madia was saying when he turned back. "This is your dream Celestia. This isn't actually happening. Your home is fine, and so is everyone in it. However this dream will keep going on unless you wake up." She continued.

Aevum gave her a confused look as she told Celestia to wake up. "Now we have to go. We will see each other again. Just try to wake yourself up, think of what makes you wake up in other dreams." Madia finished. She turned to Aevum and opened her mouth to day something, when Celestia spoke up.

"Ma'am, who are you, and what does your cutie mark mean? Please tell me!" She asked desperately. Madia looked a little confused, but answer anyways. "It represents creativity. Creativity and thought." She thought for a moment. "I don't really know who I am myself. That's what I'm trying to find out myself." She finished.

Aevum and Madia quickly ran off towards the rest of the city. When they were at the point between the castle path and the city, the dream seemed to surge. It faded slightly, but became vivid again. "She's waking up, come on. Let's get into the real world." Madia said.

She grabbed Aevum's hoof, and closed her eyes. With that, Aevum felt his stomach do another somersault, and felt the world change around him. He closed his eyes so as not to get confused.

When he opened them, the sky was blue, and filled with almost no clouds. There were birds singing, and a small breeze and rustling of leaves as nearby trees swayed in the wind.

Aevum took a deep breath and relaxed a moment. He thought back to how much energy freezing that boulder took. He decided he would have to learn how to control his energy next time.

"Well, here we are. In front of Canterlot Castle." Madia finally said. "Let's hope we still have lots of time before that alicorn arrives. We'll need it." Aevum paused. "But what about all the dreams? How come Celestia dreamt about the prophecy, and why were all the dreams nightmares?" He wondered aloud.

Madia seemed to notice this. "You're right. How could Celestia know about the prophecies? It can’t just be coincidence that all the dreams were nightmares either." She said. Aevum shook his head. "Something is very wrong about all this. I think more wrong than we originally thought." He said.

Chapter 6 - Piecing Together

Celestia's eyes blinked open. Sunlight was shining through the window, and onto the flower that her and Luna had decided to share. The odd sensation, which was apparently caused by time stopping from what her parents said, was gone. However she felt anything but refreshed.

She had fallen asleep after she ran out of energy resisting the time freeze that happened earlier that day. She thought back to the mysterious dream she had had. Those two ponies had unnatural power. Of course it was just a dream, but everything seemed to link together with the prophecy book she had found earlier.

After the unicorn with the star cutie mark said to wake up, Celestia had thought of a way to shock herself awake. She let a massive rock land right beside her, but it didn't quite work. A moment later though, something else came out of the castle. A black figure, and it was heading straight for them. Celestia braced herself, and right before the familiar alicorn from the book reached her, she awoke.

Nightmares were awful things. They left you terrified in your bed for ten minutes after you woke up. You didn't dare to move, or even look around out of fear that something may happen.

Celestia looked over to her sister. She was asleep too, but she looked like she was having a nightmare. Her face suggested she was upset about something, and she had pulled her covers up close to her, as if to protect her from something. She was tossing and turning quite a bit as well.

Celestia decided it would probably be best to wake her up if her dream was really so bad. "Luna..." she said quietly. "Luna wake up, you're having a nightmare." She said again trying to wake up her sister.

Luna didn't respond. She was in a deep sleep. Celestia sighed in annoyance. She felt bad for her sister and wanted to help her, but she wanted to be gentle. That's what their mother had always said to do.

She tried shaking Luna lightly. "Luna, come on get up." She whispered. Luna started muttering, Celestia couldn't tell what she was saying. "Luna? Are you alright? Wake up!" She whispered again. "Time, dream, space, law. Come together to fix the flaw..." Luna muttered.

Now Celestia was getting worried. "Luna, please wake up!" She wasn't whispering anymore. "You're scaring me!" She shook Luna a little more. "No... stop... Tia... help..." Luna was saying, completely ignoring Celestia.

Suddenly Luna gasped and her eyes shot open. She was shivering, and breathing fast, and heavily. Her eyes looked around frantically for a moment, then they met Celestia's.

They stared at each other for a moment, as if trying to process something. "Tia... Tia what's happening?" Luna finally said. "Why do all these things keep happening to us?" She asked through shaky breaths.

Celestia shook her head slowly. "I don't know Luna, I... I don't understand it either." She responded. Luna climbed out of bed and clung to Celestia. She was crying, Celestia could hear her sobbing. Celestia put her arms around her sister as she tried to recover from her nightmare.

"It's alright now Luna, it was only a nightmare..." Celestia told her. However Celestia wasn't convinced of that herself.

"Tia, he killed you! You were dead, and I couldn't do anything!" Luna burst out. "The black pony came and attack the castle! We tried to escape and hide but he found us!" Luna explained what she had seen in her dreams.

Celestia's eyes were wide as her sister explained to her what had happened. "It was so real... I thought you were dead Tia... I thought you were gone..." Luna sniffed. Celestia could feel her eyes tearing up too.

Celestia hugged her sister as she tried to make her feel better. "It's okay Luna, I'm fine. I'm here." She said. Her younger sister continued to sob. "Now we're both safe, we can move on now." She comforted her sister, while fighting back her own tears.

Celestia looked at the flower on the windowsill. It was wilting, even though they had just gotten it that day. It cast doubt on Celestia as she realized what that meant. The flower bloomed when something important was going to happen. What did it mean if it wilted?

The two sisters sat there for a minute or two, calming themselves down. After a while, Luna's sobbing stopped, and reduced to the occasional sniff, or quivering breath.

Finally Luna said something. "Tia, I d-don't want to go to sleep again. W-what if I have that nightmare again?" She said fearfully. "Neither do I Luna. Maybe we can ask mother about it." Celestia suggested.

Luna sniffed. "O-okay... yes, let's ask her..." She agreed. Celestia smiled faintly, and the two sisters let go of each other. "Let's go to the courtyard first. We should try to relax for a bit." Celestia suggested. Luna nodded. "Alright, I like that idea."

The siblings got up and made their way out their bedroom door and down the hall. Luna looked down at the floor the whole way, like she was thinking about something.

Celestia wasn't really going to the courtyard to relax. She wanted answers to her dream. The green unicorn had said they would see each other again. How did she know that?

As they were walking, Flare Sight walked by on his way to the throne room. "Princesses? Are you alright?" He asked, a look of concern on his face as he saw Luna's state. Celestia nodded. "Luna just had a nightmare, that's all. We were tired so we took a nap." Celestia explain.

Flare still seemed a little worried, but he dismissed it and went on towards the throne room.

When they arrived in the courtyard, they looked up into the open sky. The sun was going lower now, meaning it was probably around four o'clock or so. Their father had taught them how to get a basic estimate of the time just by where the sun was and the time of year.

It was a little chilly, but the sun had a surprising amount of heat to it as it shone on them, especially for the time of day.

Celestia looked around the courtyard. There was nothing special or different about it, which disappointed her a little bit. The workers were watering the gardens and trimming the trees. The gates at the entrance to the castle were locked shut, and guards stood on either side, outside and in.

Celestia and Luna sat under the tree they normally did when they were in the courtyard. It was always peaceful in the courtyard, it was an excellent place to rest. Especially since the nap didn't seem to bring back any energy.

"Tia, did you have any dreams?" Luna asked her. "Yes, I did. I had a nightmare too. I think it would have been like yours if it weren't for something else happening." She said to her sister. "What do you mean? What was your dream about?" She responded.

"Well, at first we were playing under this tree in the courtyard. It was a perfectly normal day like always. But then, there was an explosion, and the sky turned red. Everypony around us seemed to have left suddenly." Celestia explained her dream to her sister. "Several more explosions went off, and rocks and boulders started falling. One was heading straight towards us, when a yellow unicorn with a red cloak suddenly jumped in front of us and stopped the boulder in mid air!" She thought back to the mysterious unicorn and his unusual powers.

Luna stared and listened intently. "Really? That's incredible!" She said. Celestia nodded, and went on. "There was a mare with him too, she was green and was also a unicorn. She ran over to help the yellow pony who had almost collapsed to the ground. But get this, the boulder just floated there, and there was no magic around it!" Luna's eyes widened. "Really? How is that possible?" Luna asked.

Celestia just went on. "That's not the weirdest part. The green mare's cutie mark, was exactly like that pink star in the book!" She told her sister. "What? You mean those symbols were cutie marks?" Luna asked in surprise.

Celestia thought about this now. Her sister could be right. What if those four symbols were ponies cutie marks?

She put if off for now and went on. "Next, they took us to the gates to escape, but the gates were locked. The green mare picked up the boulder the yellow pony stopped, and threw it at the gate to break it open. But there was no magic surrounding the boulder that time either! We escaped the castle as it continued with explosions. After a while we found a safe place, and the green unicorn told me I was dreaming. She told me they had to go, but that I needed to wake up. She said we would see each other again, and then they both ran away."

She finished the important part of the dream and waited for her sister's reaction. "So, someponies saved us in your dream, and had strange magic powers?" She asked in confusion. "What does it mean?" She questioned.

Celestia shrugged. "I have no idea, but it must be important!" She said. "How many times has somepony told you that you were dreaming?" She asked her sister. "Never. Not once." She responded.

Celestia sighed. "I wish we could figure all this out. It's starting to scare me." She said. Luna shivered. "It's already scaring me." She said nervously.

Suddenly a familiar voice came from the other side of the walls. "Excuse us, we have something important to discuss with the king and queen!" It said urgently. Celestia and Luna exchanged a glance and moved over to see through the bars of the gate.

Celestia gasped as she saw the two unicorns from her dream. The yellow pony and green pony were there, trying to talk to the guards. "Please, this is urgent, we need to speak to the king and queen!" The yellow one was saying.

"One does not simply gain an audience with the king and queen." One of the guards said. "Unless you have been invited, or given permission to enter by a member of the royal family you may not come it." The guard continued.

"You don't understand, I know you won't believe me but the lives of the royal family are in great peril!" The yellow pony tried to convince the guards. "Let them in!" A voice called from atop the wall. Everypony looked up to see a bright blue unicorn wearing a black cape and pointed hat standing there. "I've been expecting them." She said.

The guards immediately opened the door. The two unicorns looked at each other confused for a moment, and then walked in. There was a flash, and the familiar master magician appeared in front of them, her cape shimmering with stars as the sun reflected off it.

"Please come with me." She said to the visitors. She turned around and started walking towards the door leading to the main castle. They started to follow, but they exchanged a glance with the princesses first. The green unicorn smiled faintly, then the two of them went on into the castle.

Celestia and Luna looked at each other in shock. "Did you see that? Those were the ponies from my dream!" Celestia told her sister excitedly. Luna nodded. "I knew it! Why do you think they're here?" Luna wondered. "Let's go find out!" Celestia responded.

They ran into the castle to follow the mysterious unicorns. They made sure to remain hidden so they wouldn't be spotted trying to listen in. As they were walking however, the magician turned and led them down a different hall away from the throne room.

The sisters continued to follow. The magician never said anything, but the two ponies were discussing something. Celestia listened closely to hear what they were saying.

"We don't even know her, how could she be expecting us? It makes me a little suspicious." The yellow pony was saying. "Maybe it's something to do with the prophecies?" The mare responded. "Maybe, but it still freaks me out..." He responded.

Celestia wanted to tell them they weren't heading the right way, but she didn't want to blow her and her sisters cover.

The magician turned and opened a door. "Please come in, I would like to talk to you about something." She said. "We would love to talk but we really need to speak to the king and queen." The yellow pony said. "I believe you will find it to be a great use to you, if you talk to me first." The magician answered coolly.

The three unicorns all walked into the room. Celestia and Luna exchanged a glance, then ran towards the door to listen.

"So tell me, what is it you need to so urgently discuss with the king and queen?" The magician said. "Well, you probably wouldn't believe us if we told you." The green pony said. The magician laughed faintly. "Try me." She said.

"Well, my friend here, Aevum, found a cave. A cave filled with carvings that showed things that had happened before." The green mare began. "He found that they were lit up bright green, but when he got farther down, there were some that weren't as bright."

"Hmm, sounds like prophecy to me." The magician said. "Go on." There was a sigh. "Well, I found several really disturbing carvings, that showed a rip in the sky, and a black alicorn arriving in Equestria. He was using powerful magic, and was destroying things. The next image showed Canterlot, and him attacking it." The male pony spoke up.

"That is disturbing. Anything else?" The magician asked keeping her cool like she always did. "Yes, later when I came back to my village, I found Madia, who had seen me with the runes in a dream. Later though, Madia had a vision of the very same thing I saw in the caves. We were going to go into the forest when she suddenly fell to the ground shaking." The pony, apparently named Aevum explained.

"I saw a vivid image of the black alicorn arriving, and attacking Canterlot Castle. The visions were sometimes blurred and unclear, and switched a lot. I saw the alicorn with an army, in a dark land with no stars, and he was walking up some stairs to what looked like an altar. The last thing I saw was the alicorn entering the princesses room, and getting ready to attack them!" Madia said nervously.

Celestia and Luna stared at each other. There was the sound of movement coming from the other side of the door. "That is unusual. Most visions only appear in dreams, if they appear at all. You having one when you weren't even asleep is quite concerning." The magician said.

"Do you know what any of it means?" Aevum asked her. "I know that it means you were right. The royal family is in danger." The magician responded.

"May I ask a question?" Madia said. "Technically you just did dear. Go on though." She said. "Why did you let us in, and how did you know we were coming?" Madia questioned. The magician did her classic laugh, that was more of a hum under her breath.

"I have known about you two for a long time. You were destined to show up eventually. You have been expected for five thousand years." The magician explained. "What? No that can't be right!" Aevum said. "Tell me, how does one stop, and start time at will? How does one travel through dreams and see into ponies minds? No normal unicorn can do that!" The magician said, no longer quiet.

There was an odd silence, then the sound of a page turning. "Look here. These prophecies show you, and two others, standing before the castle. Currently, there are two of you. There will be four in due time.” The magician pointed out.

“But who are the other two, and what’s so important about us?” Aevum asked the magician. “You don’t even know your own fate do you, children?” The magician said to the unicorns.

There was another pause, and then a sigh. “You are destined to control the elements of Equestria. There are four of you, there are four elements. Each of you will control one, however you’re powers have only recently begun to awaken." She explained to them.

"The four elements, are time, dream, space and law. Time speaks for itself. Dream gives you power over minds and sight. The dream element has control over what you can foresee, and allows you to do literally anything as long as you're dreaming, or in a dream."

The magician told them what each element could do. "The space element, is likely the strongest, and most potentially deadly. The element of space controls all matter and things that exist in the world, and even beyond. It can be used to make rough surfaces smooth, to teleport across vast distances, and even visit other worlds entirely."

Celestia gasped. "A single pony controls that? How can anypony be trusted with that sort of power?" She whispered to her sister. "I know, who knows what could happen?" She responded.

"The law element covers anything the other elements don't. Law, is far more than just guidelines for life. Law extends to guidelines of the world itself. This includes gravity, weight, light, and sound. Law is a mostly defensive element though. It's not meant to do physical damage directly." The master magician pointed out.

"So, are you saying we have complete control over our elements?" Aevum asked in awe. "No, not yet at least. I'm sure by the time all the prophecies come true however, you will. I'm not sure why you four are needed to control the elements, when they have been perfectly fine the last five thousand years, but it's what the prophecy says, and prophecies always come true."

"Always..." Celestia said under her breath nervously. Luna looked at Celestia, her face filled with worry. "If prophecies always come true, what does that mean about the book?" Her sister asked.

"Well, we honestly appreciate the help, but right now we desperately need to warn the royal family!" Madia said. "Yes of course. We need to convince them of this." The magician said.

Celestia and Luna pulled away from the door. "Let's go see mother and father, quickly. I want to be there for when this happens." Luna said. "Right, come on let's go!" Celestia responded.

The two sisters ran down the hall before the three ponies came out of the room. They turned and went up the main hall again towards the throne room.

They walked in and saw their parents talking about something. "Mother?" Celestia called. Their parents turned to them a moment. "Not now dear, we're discussing something important." Their mother responded.

Right then the throne room door opened again, and the master magician came in. Only a moment later she was followed by Aevum and Madia. "I beg your pardon your majesties, but I wish to discuss something urgent with you regarding the ah, magical surges." She said.

"Narcian, who are these ponies? Why are they here?" King Nocturne asked. Celestia and Luna backed away to watch the discussion.

"There is an important prophecy regarding these two ponies that I must speak to you about." The magician explained. "You see this pony here is responsible for the "magical surges" that happened earlier. You see he-"

She was interrupted by the king. "What? How? Not even we can stop time entirely!" He exclaimed.

Celestia was surprised at her father's interruption. He had always been so cool about everything before, why was he acting so unnatural now?

"Please your highness let me explain. An ancient prophecy stated that these two, and two others besides them, would arrive to control the elements of Equestria. He has control over time, and she has control over dream." She quickly told the monarch.

"That's impossible. Only me and my wife have any remote control over the elements, and hardly any at that! What purpose do you have for stopping time!" Nocturne advanced on the ponies. "Your majesty, please calm down! We haven't even reached the most important part yet!" The magician tried to stop him.

"I think this is plenty important. Now we know why the elements are falling apart. They're in the hands of these... children!" The king said. "Dear, this isn't like you. Please, control your anger." Queen Alaria said. Nocturne turned his head and looked at her a moment, then took a deep breath.

"Narcian, I want you to find the other ponies who control the other elements. Until then I want these two to remain in this city. Do not let them leave unless I let them." He said, addressing the magician.

"But your majesty, there's more you haven't hear-" She tried to tell him. "That's enough! We need time to concentrate. We must bring the elements back into balance." He said facing away from them. "But you don't understand, you are no longer in contro-"

"Narcian, it is probably best if you go." Alaria said to her. "Your majesty, this prophecy has to do with you and your daughters! There's something incredibly dangerous that's going to happen!" Aevum finally spoke up for himself.

"Your highness, we mean no disrespect! Equestria's safety is in our best interests, if you'll just let us explain!" Madia spoke too.

"Go, find the others, then we will talk. Guards, take them out of the castle." Nocturne replied.

Immediately, several royal guards blocked them off from the king and queen, and started pushing them out of the throne room.

Celestia looked at Aevum nervously, and Aevum looked back, his face desperate, before the door to the throne room slammed shut.

The king walked over onto the balcony and sighed looking out over his kingdom. Celestia and Luna left the spot where they had been standing that whole time, listening to the conversation. Their mother looked at them, concerned, then she went to join her husband on the balcony.

"Tia, what just happened? Why did father act like that?" Luna asked. Celestia let out a sigh. "I don't know Luna, all sorts of things have been going wrong lately..." She said her thoughts aloud.

"Father never raises his voice... and why wouldn't he listen to them?" Luna wondered. "Who knows..." Celestia responded. Then an idea struck her. "Wait a second. He wouldn't listen to them, but maybe he'll listen to us!" She told her sister the idea.

Luna smiled. "Yeah! He wouldn't send his own daughters away." She reasoned.

Luna and Celestia walked towards the balcony. "Father?" Celestia called. "Yes dear?" He answered. His voice was calm again.

Celestia gulped as she prepared to give her father the entire story. "There's something we need to tell you." She said. "And what's that?" He asked, turning towards them. His eyes were tired, and sad.

"Well, you see, we know about the prophecy the magician was trying to tell to you. We overheard her talking with the ponies about it." She began. "I think the prophecy is really dangerous, and from what we heard, I'm afraid of it." She tried to bring out her fathers sympathy.

"You see, I was wondering if we could tell you about it. If you hear about it I would feel much safer knowing you were ready for it." Celestia finished. Her father had a look of understanding in his eyes. "Alright, fine. Tell me what it is, and i'll be sure i'm ready for it." Their father said.

Their mother smiled warmly as their father finally decided to listen.

She began to tell her father how they had come to find out about the prophecy. She told him how her and her sister found the book in the library and carried it to their room. How some images were blurred out and how they found a way to translate it in their history book.

"So that's why you two were asking me about prophecy earlier." He said in realization. Celestia smiled. "Yes, that's exactly why!" She said happily.

Celestia took a deep breath to continue telling the story, but then the sky flashed a bright white colour. The clouds turned black, the wind began to blow, then finally, the sky turned blood red.

Chapter 7 - Splitting the Sky

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.

Chapter 8 - Usurped

Nocturne stood on the balcony watching his kingdom fall apart. He couldn't stop fearing for his children as Narcian's words continued to ring in his ears. "Only the keepers" she had said. The whole concept confused the king.

Why would these children be entrusted with such power? They are not even alicorns... He simply couldn't understand it.

Only a moment later, his wife walked into the throne room. "Any luck?" He asked. "Yes, I managed to find the Keepers. They were all in the city, but one of them left after I sent the message." She explained sadly.

The king sighed. "So only three of the four keepers are here?" He asked. Alaria nodded. "From what I saw in the one's mind, he didn't seem worried in the slightest. He left the city shortly after." She explained.

Nocturne shook his head. "Which keeper was this?" He asked. "It was the keeper of law. Why?" She responded. "No reason, I was just curious."

There was an explosion sound off in the distance. "What do you think it is our daughters know that he doesn't?" The queen asked her partner. "Could it maybe be the magicians language? Maybe he wants to determine his fate by prophecy?" The king answered.

"Possibly, but he could get that from us or the magician." Alaria thought out loud. "True. Perhaps it's still related to prophecy though." Nocturne stuck with his idea.

There was a short pause where the two of them just thought, their hearts filled with sorrow. "I suppose we should prepare ourselves to face him." Alaria finally said after a while. "What good does it do? Our powers have weakened, and this alicorn is far more powerful than us." He responded

"That may be true, but if we're going to die, let's at least die defending our kingdom." She said. Nocturne smiled weakly. "You're right. You always are." The king responded.

Suddenly everything slowed down. All around them, things moved slower than they should. The curtains and decorations of the throne room moved slowly, and Nocturne felt his energy start to drain slowly.

"Could it be...?" Alaria said looking at her husband hopefully. A moment later there was a faint, angry yell, and time resumed at it's natural speed. "That time surge even affected us. Have their powers grown already?" Nocturne said.

They didn't have time to answer, because that was when the fearsome black alicorn smashed his way into the throne room. He was enraged at something. He was breathing heavily, and his eyes glared. His teeth bore an angry frown as he entered the presence of Equestria's rulers.

"You seem to have a habbit of blowing things up. Tell me is that your special talent?" Nocturne asked. The alicorn's frown turned into a grin. "At last another pony like myself with a sense of humor for destruction!" He said confidently.

"We're not here to joke. This is where your journey ends, rogue." Alaria said crouching to a ready position. "Well that's upsetting. Tell me you'll at least be more entertaining than that pathetic 'magician' of yours." The evil creature said.

"We may not be able to stop you ourselves, but there some ponies who can, and will." Nocturne told the alicorn. "Ha, tell me then, where are these heroes!" He questioned. "Why don't they defend their kingdom if they are so powerful! Oh, wait... I think they already did." He half spoke to himself.

"Very unfortunate that they met their demises so quickly. Your children too, I must say their faces were priceless as their last hope and life died." He emphasised the last word hard.

Nocturne was pretty sure his heart stopped for all of five seconds. "No..." He said. "That's not possible! The keepers were prophesied to defeat you! Prophecies always come true!" The queen struggled to maintain a calm tone.

"Oh do they? And who set those laws? Last I checked I had control over the laws of this world!" The alicorn said to them. Nocturne's eyes widened. "What?" He said. "Oh didn't I mention? I was the sole keeper of my worlds elements. They are much like yours, only I don't seem to have as much power over yours. I wonder why that is?" He explained.

Alaria and Nocturne exchanged a fearful glance. If the alicorn had some control over the elements it was no wonder he was so powerful. "I thought before I arrived I would change the laws of prophecy here. It took a lot of effort, but I can now stop prophecies from coming true. It's a very interesting spectacle I must say." He smiled villainously.

"Do you realize now? You two are the only real threats left to me, if even a threat at that." Nocturne felt all his hopes for Equestria crumble. Their children were dead, the keepers had fallen, and soon, Equestria would also fall.

"I don't believe you. You were angered by something when you arrived here." Alaria said. "Those 'keepers' of yours were annoying to me. They actually lasted a long time compared to any other opponents." He explained.

"Enough of this, we will defend our kingdom whether we will die or not." Nocturne said. "Quite frankly if you didn't defend your kingdom I would be dissapointed, especially since you would die anyways." He pointed out.

Nocturne had had it with this freak. He charged at the alicorn and before the alicorn could react teleported behind him. However when he finished teleporting the alicorn wasn't there anymore. "I've seen that one before." A calm voice spoke behind him.

Nocturne turned around quickly and was face to face with the alicorn. The alicorns hooves were glowing with magic, and he was about to do something, when Alaria showed up.

Hit the alicorn in the side with her back legs, and teleported to where the alicorn was stumbling to hit him again. "You're smart, you remind me of myself." Right behind Alaria was the alicorn. There was a short pause where Alaria looked at the two alicorns, the one she had kicked, and the one now behind her.

"But not smart enough!" He merely tapped her forehead as she turned around to face her opponent, and she was sent hurtling into the wall. The alicorn teleported to the ground beneath where she was falling, aiming his horn at her.

Nocturne moved fast and slammed into the alicorn. Alaria landed on the ground with a thud. She coughed and pulled herself to her hooves. "Are you alright?" Nocturne asked. "Y-yes, I'm fine." She responded.

"Not for long." Nocturne and Alaria looked up. The alicorn was standing upside down on the roof with his front hooves aiming at each of them. A light purple ball of mist floated in front of each hoof.

The purple balls went speeding towards them. The alicorn grinned as his attack went in for the kill. Nocturne quickly raised a hoof and focused his magic on the purple balls. They slowed down, and Nocturne and Alaria got out of their way quickly.

Unfortunately, the purple balls continued to follow them. You can't be serious... Nocturne thought as the magic mist continued moving towards them slowly.

The alicorn leaped from the cealing and spun around to land on the floor. "Hahaha! You thought you could get away from this that easily? These things follow you until their target is dead!" He laughed. "How long can you last with these chasing you?"

"What are you, who are you?" Nocturne asked angrily. "I, am Discortunal, the great and mighty ruler of the 'failed' Equestria! The God of Chaos!" He said proudly. Nocturne paused for a moment. Failed Equestria? What is he talking about?

As it turned out, that pause was a significant strategic error. Discortunal appeared above Nocturne and smashed him into the ground. It felt like the weight of ten ponies all together!

Nocturne let out a strangled yell as the weight crushed him. Alaria came to his assistance quickly. Discortunal suddenly stumbled off of Nocturne. He gasped for breath as he could breath again.

Discortunal seemed to be reacting to something in his mind. "Quick, I'm causing his thoughts to conflict with each other. We have to both attack him!" The queen said, horn raised and glowing.

Nocturne nodded and thought of a plan as fast as he could. He always teleports behind us, or splits into multiple ponies. If we can find a way to contain that, we might stand a chance. He thought hopefully.

"Alaria, we need to create a magical barrier around him. With our combined strengths we can make one strong enough to contain his teleportation!" He called to his wife. "Clever, but you didn't take me into account." Nocturne suddenly found himself looking into the glaring eyes of Discortunal.

"Nocturne watch out!" At first Nocturne thought Alaria was pointing out the obvious, but then he saw the purple ball of mist out of the corner of his eyes. Panic rose in him for a split second as he realized he his situation.

He leaped into the air and the black alicorn followed him. Alaria jumped into the air to join them. Facing the alicorn on either side, Nocturne easily figured out what to do next. Alaria exchanged a glance with him and nodded.

Nocturne focused on his abilities over space that still remained. It was all he had left that could possibly hurt the alicorn at this point. Alaria raised her two hooves towards Discortunal, who was too focused on Nocturne to care.

Nocturne closed his eyes before releasing all his energy out his horn towards Discortunal in a massive beam. The beam was in his mind one moment, and reaching all the way to Alaria's hooves before you could even blink it was so fast. There was a split second where Nocturne could hear a yell, but that ended quickly.

The beam faded and disappeared. Discortunal was gone. Nocturne and Alaria landed on the floor, which was now covered in flames where the beam had come close to.

Breathing heavily, Nocturne looked around cautiously, not sure what to believe. Alaria did the same. Nocturnes hopes rose though when he saw the purple mist disperse and disappear. He looked at Alaria bewildered a moment, then they both smiled and let out a sigh.

They had used the attack once before. It was a focused beam of spacial energy from the sun, meaning it was pure heat and flame. It was an attack meant for fast opponents.

Nocturne and Alaria had basic control over the elements. Nocturne controled space and time, while Alaria controled dream and law.

When Nocturne used the beam, Alaria boosted it's speed by using Law to affect gravity. She pulled the beam to herself with as much force as she could, causing it to be close to the speed of light, and stopping it just in front of her hooves.

It had worked the other time they used it, and it turned out for them again. Nocturne closed his eyes as he released all the stress of Equestria's fate.

However, his shot open when he heard the sound of blood spattering, and a brief scream.

Discortunal, had hit Alaria with his horn, directly in the neck. Her eyes were wide and her pupils were shrunk. She made a faint sound, that seemed like a half scream, half whimper.

Discortunal had pinned her to the wall, and blood was strewn down her body as the wound bled. She coughed once, and her eyes closed. Nocturne watched in horror as his wife, and Equestria's queen died before his very eyes.

"Alariaaaaaaa!" He yelled. Discortunal pulled away from the now dead alicorn queen and turned towards Nocturne, a devious, and sadistic grin on his face as blood dribled down his horn and onto his face. "A cannot tell you how amusing I find this. Does it hurt, having the one you love pulled away from you at the very time you thought it was over?" He asked the shattered king.

He laughed maniacally. "I wish you could see your own face now, your daughters faces were entertaining, but this beats that by a long shot!" He scoffed. "No!" Nocturne yelled. He immediately teleported over Discortunal and struck him in the neck with his back legs in mid air.

Discortunal stumbled forward from the blow but didn't have time to react as Nocturne appeared in front of him, hitting him in the snout with his front hoof. The alicorn went launching and crashed into the throne sitting at the far end of the room.

Nocturne had enforced his strength with magic and he hadn't even realized it. Discortunal coughed as he got up from the crumbled ruins, still smiling. "It feels good doesn't it? Releasing all your hatred and anger on the one you hate! A satisfying, merciless feeling!" He said.

Nocturne didn't bother responding. All his energy was exploding out at once. He appeared above the black alicorn and unleashed the very same beam he thought he had killed his opponent with earlier, just this time not as large. The alicorn moved like it was nothing and dodged it easily.

"You're putting on quite a show, I can't wait to see you react to this." Discortunal said to the enraged monarch. The black alicorn appeared beside the dead queen and placed a hoof on her bloody chest. Suddenly all and any colour in Alaria's body disappeared. She turned a dead grey and white colour, even her blood turned grey.

The alicorn turned and looked at Nocturne. Nocturne gasped as their eyes met. Discortunal's eyes were exactly like Alaria's.

"You're wife is happy to see you again. Too bad she'll have to watch your death." He taunted Nocturne. Nocturne let out an angry battle cry and released energy into the floor. The entire floor was lit ablaze as Nocturne tried to defeat the cruel alicorn.

Discortunal merely stepped across the flames unfazed. His gaze was locked on Nocturne, his wifes pained, sorrowful eyes burning into him. Nocturne leaped through the flames at the alicorn, teleporting at the last second to strike him from above again.

This time however, when he reappeared, he saw his wife, not Discortunal beneath him. He stopped himself and appeared in front of her before striking her. "Ha, how can you defeat me if your care overpowers you? Maybe that's the problem with this world, too much care. No wonder it is so easy to conquer!" She said.

Nocturne had figured that Alaria wasn't actually there at all. Discortunal had somehow changed his appearance to look like Alaria. Nocturne could not bring himself to attack her.

She suddenly whirled around and kicked him in the chin with her back legs. "Weak." She said. She appeared where Nocturne had been sent from the kick and tapped his back lightly. "Helpless." She said as he was sent crashing into the floor. She came down on top of him hard, making him gasp for breath. "Foolish." The false Alaria raised her hoof to meet close to Nocturnes face. The familiar purple dust swirled and formed a ball. "Dead."

The last thing Nocturne, the king of Equestria felt, was all his life draining out of him, his heart failing, and his mind stopping. His final sight, was his own mate laughing maniacly, as his eyes clouded with purple. However his final thought, came not from him, but a familiar young female voice. "Your children are alive. We are alive. Your legacy, is alive."

Nocturne closed his eyes, and let death take hold of him.

Chapter 9 - Breaking the Law

"You... You're one of the keepers aren't you?" Madia asked the blue mare, who was still panting on the ground. "Apparently... geez, I'm never... doing that again..." She responded.

"You're cutie mark, I've seen it before in a book! What does it represent?" Celestia asked. "Well I'm told... it represents uniqueness... but I don't believe that... I think it has something... to do with magic." She answered the young princess.

"So, there's three of us now. Where's the fourth keeper? The keeper of law?" Aevum wondered aloud. They had found the keeper of space no doubt, but the keeper of law was no where to be found. "He'll be here... in due time..." There was a cough from behind him.

Aevum turned around and found the master magician, covered with dirt, scratches and blood, leaning up against a tree. "Narcian!" Madia said running over to help her. "We thought you were dead!" She said in amazement.

Narcian just smiled lightly. "So did I... but I managed to... cast a protection spell... before I hit the wall..." She responded. "Didn't quite work... to it's fullest... extent though..." Madia just smiled. "How did you get over here so fast, let alone past the army in this condition?"

"When the enemy threw me... I was sent all the way... to the edge of the... city. I should have... died after that, but... a certain red unicorn... arrived and helped me... escape the city." Aevum's eyes widened when he heard her mention the red unicorn. Thinking back to the image Narcian has shown them earlier, he wondered if it was the other keeper.

"Where did he go after that?" Aevum asked her urgently. "He went back... into the city... said he needed to finish something..." The half dead magician responded. Aevum swore under his breath. The final keeper was acting completely oblivious and showing no regard for his fate.

Celestia walked up to Aevum and prodded his leg. "Aevum?" She said. Aevum turned around to see her. "Thank you for saving us earlier... we would be dead if you hadn't..." She said shyly.

Aevum smiled. The young princess was very polite, and smart for her age from what Aevum had seen. Probably from special schooling as a princess.

Her sister also walked up to say something beside her sister. "Can you teach me how to slow down time like that?" She asked amazed. Aevum was caught off guard. He couldn't believe she had figured it out. She looked like she was younger than Celestia, but was just as clever.

"I'm afraid that's not... something you can be taught. It's a natural gift... bestowed upon him by... the creator." The magician said. "Creator?" Aevum asked confused. The magician ignored his confusion and moved on. "Madia, can your powers... do anything about these... injuries?" She asked Madia.

"I-I don't know. I've never tried before. How could I do that?" She responded. "The keeper of dream can... make almost anything happen... by willpower and imagination alone. The issue is knowing what... is required of that first." Narcian panted.

"I'll try..." Madia said doubtfully. Aevum decided to leave them to it and went to check on the blue mare that teleported them earlier. She was still lying on the ground breathing heavily and quickly. Her eyes were shut like she was trying to sleep.

"You alright?" Aevum asked. He didn't realize until after he asked it how stupid the question was. The mare didn't seem to care at this point. "A little tired... but I can recover." She said.

Aevum felt completely useless standing there not doing anything to help. Then he got an idea. Maybe there was something he could do.

He focused his magic into his horn and tried speeding up time for the blue mare. She gasped and her eyes shot open. Aevum immediately stopped. "I'm sorry! I was just trying to help you recover." He said worriedly. "No... do it again, that felt great." She responded.

Aevum gulped and focused his magic again. She winced when he did it, and seemed to move unnaturally fast. Her chest rose and fell faster than it should be possible, and when she looked around her eyes moved to look at something different in an instant.

When Aevum stopped, she was breathing normally. "How much time passed?" She asked. "Two minutes and forty seven seconds." Aevum answered instantly. She looked confused. "What? But it felt like ten!" She said surprised.

Aevum figured it out quickly. Since he sped up time for her, it made it appear to everypony like she was moving fast, but to her time had slowed down around her. It worked almost exactly like when Aevum slowed down or stopped time, except in a more reverse order and on somepony else.

"I feel better now. Thank you. What's your name?" She asked. "My name is Aevum, what's yours?" He asked the same question to her. "Cael. Nice to meet you, although not under the best circumstances." She told Aevum.

Aevum suppressed a laugh. Despite what he had just been through, Aevum was actually happy. He was glad they had found the keeper of space, and that everypony was getting along.

But still, he couldn't shake off his worry for the king and queen. What had happened to them? Aevum could only guess.

Then a voice spoke up, but it came from all sides and angles. "What an interesting group. All unicorns, and two young alicorn princesses." It said. Aevum immediately ran to stand in front of the princesses. Madia and the now recharged Cael joined him.

"You really should consider finding a more secure location. You can easily be hunted down and captured with such a short distance between you and Canterlot." The voice went on. "Who are you, what do you want?" Aevum called out.

"I find it interesting how the one with the orange mane hardly knows any of you, but is determined to protect the fillies. Perhaps that's motherly instincts kicking in?" The voice seemed to taunt. "Oh enough of this Flain, you're scaring the princesses." Narcian suddenly said walking by to join them.

"I don't think they're that terrified, look they aren't even shaking yet." The voice pointed out. "Flain you are wasting your energy, not to mention because you're powers aren't fully awakened you use far more energy than you should." Narcian commented.

Aevum and Cael exchanged a glance, both obviously thinking the same thing.

"Don't tell me about energy, I can control it." The voice said in a level voice. "That's not true, you can only tell energy to do basic things. As I said your powers are not awakened!" Narcian insisted.

"Hey, yellow pony. You caused me a lot of headaches screwing around with time you know. That's completely violating rules right there. Time wasn't meant to stop." It said directing it's attention to Aevum.

"Nor was sounds and voices meant to come from all directions." Cael countered. The voice paused for a moment at this. "Alright you got me, you have caused some pretty annoying migraine's though." It said finally. "Stop messing around Flain, get out here and introduce yourself." The magician said starting to get annoyed.

"Fine." The voice came from one direction this time.

Moments later a maroon coloured unicorn walked out of the bushes. His eyes were a bright vivid green, and his hair was dirty blond. It had been combed neatly back and stayed perfectly behind his ears, only coming down the back of his head. He wore a calm expression on his face that was nearly impossible to read. He seemed half bored, half satisfied. His eyes half closed lazily as he approached them.

"Hello, my name is Flain. I am the keeper of law, apparently. According to the magician I'm supposed to be important, as well as you three. Oh, and we can't forget the princesses. I suppose they're important too." The red pony gave them the unnecessarily long intro. The only useful information Aevum got out of it was his name and the fact that he was the keeper of law.

"My names Aevum. This is Madia, and Cael. Nice to meet you Flain." Aevum introduced everyone. Celestia walked out from behind Aevum. "And I'm Celestia, and this is my sister Luna." She said as her sister nervously trailed behind.

"The princess of the sun and princess of the moon. You should be careful though who you are friendly towards. I've seen what that creature can do. He can barely be called a pony with how he is." Flain responded.

"Excellent! The four keepers have finally come together! Now we may stand a chance against that alicorn." Narcian said. Aevum turned to her. "You mentioned before we have to unlock our power. How do we do that?" Aevum asked.

Narcian just shook her head. "My best guess is you have to learn how to use them properly. Practice makes perfect after all." She guessed.

"You each need to figure out what the base of all your magic is, and how to do a majority of your abilities. Madia and, Cael was it? Madia already knows her base, and for Cael it should be pretty straight forward." The magician explained to them.

"Aevum and Flain, yours are a little more complicated. Madia has to use her powerful imagination, and Cael has to focus and try to reach for the possibilities. You two however are a little more indirect." Narcian began explaining.

"Aevum, you need to rely on personal strength and your own inner clock. You likely noticed time acted up when you were in moments of peril, when you had a lot of adrenaline. You need to learn to control that with your own power and harness it in times when you actually want it. The stronger you are, and more effective it is." She gave him the whole story on how his power worked.

"Flain, you need to rely on balance. The more balance there is around you the more effective your powers can be. Since you can manipulate light, you can manipulate colour and sight. You can even cause illusions with this. Because you rely on balance, you rely on the other three. They maintain their elements and keep them balanced. When they are in perfect harmony your full strength is available to you." Aevum was shocked by how much she knew.

It all made sense though when it was put together.

Laws kept things in order, so naturally order would be key.

Dreams are completely based on the dreamers imagination, meaning imagination would be a large control point.

Space could range from destroying, to creating, to changing, however when you focus more and think things through you can find the truly powerful things it can do.

Time flowed, much like blood. When you have a lot of energy or are in an intense situation, the blood in your veins flows faster or slower. Time worked the same way.

Aevum had absolutely no idea how he had figured it out. He normally wasn't that clever or smart, so to think of something so vague and relate it was really unnatural to him.

"Now, another key role of the keepers is to work together. As you noticed law is powerless unless the others are harmonized. Space requires time to prepare and do what it's supposed to. Dream requires laws and guidelines to see visions and dreams correctly, otherwise it wouldn't be reliable. Time requires strength, which law can provide by manipulating energy." Narcian continued her explanation.

"Space can also work with time to improve each others strong points. While space fights with time assisting in the thought process, it can also provide time with the defense and options it needs. Meanwhile dream and law can work together and provide each other with much needed backup. While dream, the strategist, leads the others and tells them how to keep in order, law can go offensive and provide dream with the limits and what is and isn't worth the effort."

Aevum only just noticed now that her voice sounded different. It sounded slightly deeper and calm. Her eyes were a bright icy blue, unlike before when they were a much darker blue.

"Narcian?" Aevum tried to get her attention, but she went on.

"If the four of you do not work together, you won't be half the strength you should be. When putting your minds, strengths and powers together however, you can do anything!" She finished, and her eyes returned to normal, and she had a stunned look on her face.

"Wow, how do you know so much? Did your prophecy books tell you all that?" Celestia asked incredulous, who obviously hadn't noticed Narcian's change earlier. "I... I didn't know any of that until now... how did..." She was saying.

Aevum wasn't sure he understood entirely. How could she have suddenly known all that? And why did she change like that as well?

"So you're telling me I'm powerless unless these guys have their power? That makes me just about useless than unless they manage to control their element perfectly." Flain said sounding mildly annoyed. "No, you're just stronger with them balancing everything out." Narcian pointed out.

"So, I can't simply imagine anything? I have to follow his guidelines?" Madia asked. "Yes, but he also knows what will be too dangerous, and what won't. He naturally has all laws of this world memorized. It's his job to keep them and explain them to you all." The magician explained.

"I have to think of more in depth things and more complex magic? But I'm not a quick thinker, I can't do that in the midst of battle! That's why I don't always make the best decisions in peril." Cael explained. "And that's where Aevum comes in. He can provide you with that extra time to think, then you can even work with Madia. She is clever and thinks of things most ponies wouldn't." Narcian answered each question perfectly.

"You said Flain can provide me with energy, how is that and how do I control time when I'm in peril?" Aevum asked next. "Flain can control the life force and energy of living things. He can not only take life and energy from things around you but even himself and other ponies. Now to control time when in peril you'll have to learn to remain calm when things look bleak. Control your emotions." Narcian told him.

There was a long pause where the four ponies just exchanged glances. Aevum immediately figured out they would have to get along to succeed. It didn't seem like too much of a challenge so far. They were able to work together escaping the city.

"You four are the keepers. Each of your elements cannot work unless the others is there to back it up. I only explained to you the key requirements of each element. The elements need each other together to stand strong and firm." The master magician said.

"Alright, I think we all know what to do next then." Cael said. Flain nodded. "Find out how to release our full powers and strength correctly." He said. "What were you doing back in the city Flain?" Aevum asked the maroon unicorn.

Flain hesitated a moment, then he answered Aevum's question. "I wanted to see what happened to the king and queen." All of them, including Celestia and Luna moved in when they heard this. "And? What did you see?" Madia asked nervously.

Flain looked at the two princesses for a moment, his face still not completely unreadable. Then he turned back to his new comrades. "They've been usurped." He said.

Aevum couldn't believe what he had just heard. Usurped was a fancy word for overthrown, or taken over. In other words, the king and queen of Equestria had been defeated, and were now likely dead.

"Don't act like I don't know what you mean." Celestia said. The four keepers turned to see her, confused by her sudden anger. She was mildly annoyed, but there were clearly tears in her eyes. "I'm not some filly that can't handle reality. I know what that word means. Mother and father are dead, I saw it in a prophecy book before the alicorn came and attacked us."

Luna was standing a little behind her sister, tears also coming from her eyes. She was clearly afraid, but there was a hint of bravery in her watery eyes.

"Celestia... You saw it in a prophecy book?" Narcian said shocked. "We found the book earlier this morning in the library. We took it back and found many pictures were blurry, including the one about mom and dad. When we got back after you left to fight the alicorn, we saw the picture clearly." She explained sniffing.

Flains eyes weren't half closed any more, they were open fully, and his expression showed a hint of sadness. Madia walked up to the two princesses. "Celestia, Luna, I'm so sorry..." Madia said, fighting back her own tears. She was clearly upset for the two, now orphaned children.

"They put up an amazing battle, but the alicorn was just too powerful." Flain said. Aevum wasn't sure if he was trying to comfort the princesses or just throwing out facts.

"The alicorn uses some dirty tricks. He made himself look like the queen some how, and king Nocturne couldn't bring himself to strike his opponent." He continued.

Luna sniffed. "Father was acting strange today. He's normally so calm and quiet, but today he was getting angry." She said.

Madia sighed. "I knew there was something wrong... While we were there i accidentally drifted into his thoughts. His mind was conflicting. Something, or somepony was manipulating his thoughts." She told the group.

"We should have gone back to help them..." Cael said shaking her head and looking to the ground with her eyes closed, part angry and part sad. Narcian walked over to Cael. "It would have been useless. If you had done that, you would have died too." She pointed out to the blue mare.

"But I wish we had done at least something!" Cael suddenly said angrily. "You already have." Celestia said walking over to Cael. "You saved us, and that counts for everything." Celestia said leaning up against Cael's front leg.

Cael looked at the young, still crying filly on her leg and smiled faintly. "You're right. I guess that does count." She said to Celestia.

Aevum looked toward Flain, and found he had turned away and was avoiding everyponies gaze. Aevum was about to ask him what was wrong but then a quiet voice spoke beside him. "Mr. Aevum, you're going to stop that alicorn, right?" Luna asked him.

Aevum smiled and leaned down to be at her level. "Of course, we won't let your parents go unavenged. We'll save Equestria, and then you and your sister can become the new leaders." Aevum said to the young alicorn. Luna smiled faintly at this.

Aevum looked at Madia. She was talking to the master magician about something. Aevum figured it was probably important so he decided to go talk to Flain.

"Flain, can I ask you some questions about what you saw?" He said to the green eyed unicorn. "Sure, what do you want to know?" Flain said turning around. His face was plain again.

"How much did you see, you mentioned about a battle?" Aevum asked. "Well, when I first arrived the king and queen were fighting side by side. I think the battle had just started, so I saw quite a bit." He answered.

"Is there any useful information you caught?" Aevum questioned Flain. "Yes, quite a bit actually. I found out that the alicorns name is Discortunal, and that he was the ruler of an, apparently failed Equestria. He said he had some control over the elements as well."

Aevum wasn't sure what confused him more. The fact that the ruler came from a failed Equestria, or that he had some control over the elements.

Flain must have read it in his face though. "Some control, not all. For some reason he hasn't got as much power here as he did in his world. Oh yes, he also mentioned he was the God of Chaos apparently." He explained.

"God of Chaos? How can that be if he controlled the elements of his world? He did control them... right?" Aevum asked. Flain just shrugged. "I don't know. He said he was the sole keeper of the elements in his world, so maybe." Flain responded.

"Well, chaos would be the complete opposite of controlling the elements, so that doesn't make sense." Aevum thought aloud.

"Aevum, come over here. You too Flain." The magician suddenly called them over.

They both walked over to join the other five ponies who had grouped together. "The princesses have some useful information for you." Narcian said.

Celestia took a deep breath. "In the prophecy book me and my sister found, there was some strange riddles to do with your cutie marks." She began. "At the end of each one, it would say 'Time, dream, space, law. Come together to fix the flaw.' We couldn't figure out what it meant." She told the keepers.

Everypony thought for a moment. Aevum never liked riddles, they annoyed him because they wouldn't tell it straight when they could get the point across far more easily if they did.

Then Flain spoke up. "Maybe the 'flaw' is the failed Equestria the enemy mentioned." He said turning to Aevum. "What? Failed Equestria?" Cael said in response.

Flain quickly told them what he had already told Aevum, including the alicorns name and where he had come from.

"That could be then... Very unusual." Narcian said in response. "The riddle was obviously a repeated call for us to stop the alicorn, Discortunal you said his name was." Cael thought aloud.

Aevum nodded. "Right, but we can't answer that call until we unlock our powers right?" He said. Narcian nodded. "Unfortunately so. Currently we haven't a clue where to go next."

"Well, maybe we could go to the cave Aevum found earlier. Maybe that will hold important information about it." Madia suggested. Cael smiled. "That could work. You said it warned you of the alicorn first, so maybe it can tell us how to release our powers." She reasoned.

"Then it's settled! Next we need to go back to our village, and you can show us the cave Aevum." Madia said to Aevum. "Right, but we can't forget we need to protect the princesses. Narcian said that Discortunal is hunting them because they know something he doesn't." Cael pointed out.

"Okay then, we'll be on our guard. Let's go." Flain said.

With that, the four keepers, the master magician, and the alicorn princesses began making their way towards Aevum and Madia's settlement. The four keepers had finally come together, but now could they fix the flaw?

***** END OF PART I*****

Chapter 10 - Shattered Elements

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.

Chapter 11 - Trial of Law

Flain's eyes blinked open. Everything around him was white. There was no sound until he pulled himself up. The sound of his hooves and body shifting echoed through the vast, empty space. He looked at the ground and found that he couldn't tell what was the air and what was solid ground. It was so white nothing could be distinguished.

Flain looked around cautiously as his memory came back to him. We're supposed to be in trials... is this the start of them? He thought.

Suddenly there was the sound of shifting, and hoof steps. Flain turned around and saw the other three getting up off the invisible ground. Aevum was the first to see Flain.

"It looks like we were sent here when we entered the light." Flain said. "There must be something significant about this place." Aevum said. Their voices echoed and reverberated around them.

"Cael, Madia. Come over here. We should stick together." Flain said calling to the mare's. They hurried over to join their companions. "What happens next?" Cael asked. "This is the part where I apologize." A female voice said.

The four looked around wildly, trying to find the source of the voice. "Apologize? For what?" Cael asked the air. "For me and my husbands behaviour and our failure to defend our kingdom." The voice explained.

Flain's eyes widened slightly. "Queen Alaria?" He said questioningly. Suddenly the familiar white and orange alicorn materialized in front of him. "Hello Keepers, and welcome to your trials." She said.

The four of them bowed respectfully. "You no longer bow to me, keepers. It is I who should bow to you." She said to them. Flain found himself suddenly standing upright again. "You four have already surpassed me and my husband, and you haven't even learned how to use your powers correctly." The mare pointed out.

"Your majesty, I-" Cael began to say. "Please, I am no longer a queen. Address me by my name Alaria. Also, do not feel bad for not helping us. You need to survive anyway." She told them.

"I have come to explain to you about the trials. You each will have your own individual trials to complete. Each will focus on one's power. However as you know you must work together to use your powers to their best." Alaria explained to them.

"This is why you will all go together into the trials. To complete the trials you must make it to a crystal matching your element colour. Each element has it's suitable colour. Red it time, green is space, purple is dream, blue is law." She continued.

"You will start with the trial of law. The trials will be based on a location and environment you fear or hate most." Flain sighed. Perfect... I already know what mine is going to be then. He thought to himself.

"I will be watching and telling you what the requirements of each trial is. You have to figure out what it is based on what I say." Alaria told them. "I thought you said we had to find the jewel of our colour?" Aevum asked. "That's only the physical goal. There's a goal that each of you must complete for yourself. You'll know when you've figured it." She answered.

"Finally, this is the worst part. If you die in the trials, you will not return to Equestria. You will be dieing for real and your body will remain here in this place."

Alaria lifted up off the ground with her wings, and floated above them. "Good luck keepers. I know you can do it." She said. With that she vanished in a flash of light.

"So this trial's whole purpose is to go against us." Flain said. "And we need to discover something about ourselves to succeed." Madia said. "At the same time we have to make it through and find the crystals, using our elements to help us and each other." Aevum said. "Finally, if we die in the trial, we fail and don't unlock our true power, and die for real." Cael finished.

"Then failing is obviously not an option. Are we ready?" Aevum asked the group. They all nodded.

Moments later a powerful wind struck them. Flain braced himself against the hurricane force winds as the white world transformed around them.

When the wind stopped, the environment had gone from completely white, to full of colour. This colour wasn't pleasent to Flain however. The ground was rocky and red, and it was hot. Looking around Flain quickly figured out the environment.

It was a rocky mountainous land, filled with lakes of lava. Boulders and hills of rock scattered around the landscape. They were standing on a flat plateau of rock. Across the ledge was a large lave pool.

"Just perfect..." Flain mumbled. "Is this your least favorite environment Flain? Rough and hot?" Aevum asked. "I wasn't expecting it to be both." Flain responded.

Of course it would be an environment with less life. Really defeats my powers when it comes to giving people energy from life. Flain complained in his mind. Madia looked at him concerned. He figured she must have read those thoughts.

Flain looked out across the pool of lava. There was a broken bridge, and on the other side was a cave. Suddenly Cael appeared on the other side. "I can get across easily, but it takes me a lot of energy to teleport multiple ponies." She called to them across the ledge.

"There isn't enough life in this place for me to restore your energy. I would have to give it to you from some one else." Flain said to her. Aevum walked up to the broken bridge. Flain followed.

The bridge was a suspension bridge, meaning it was wood and rope. It likely couldn't take the heat and burned.

Flain closed his eyes and began thinking about the different things his powers could potentially do. Energy... Weather... Physics... Gravity... Flain opened his eyes. Gravity. He could effect his own gravity and walk or float across.

Flain looked over the edge, hiding his nervousness and putting on a brave face. He took a deep breath and focused his magic. He took a step out over the open air. There was a split second where Flain thought he was about to fall, but then his foot stopped.

He looked down. He was standing on thin air. "Be careful Flain." Aevum said standing on the ledge. Flain nodded and slowly stepped across the air, focusing his magic on his body and his feet.

He had caused gravity for him to have no meaning, so he could completely control his own movements. It took almost all his focus though.

Flain looked up to see how close he was. Cael was nervously watching him, and he was about half way there. No turning back now. He thought to himself.

Unfortunately, that thought and moment where he looked up was enough to break his concentration. He felt his weight return to him and he went falling towards the lava.

He heard Cael yell "No!" Flain looked up and saw her leaning over the edge to jump. "Wait, stop!" Flain called up as he thought of something. He remembered how the temperature changed back in Equestria earlier, and realized that was something law had power over.

His horn lit up and he focused his magic on the lava below him. He braced himself for the impact and landed in the lava.

Flain's eyes were squeezed shut, he felt cold, like he had just jumped into a lake back in Equestria. Only this was much thicker. Without opening his eyes, Flain swam to the surface and popped out taking a huge breath.

He opened his eyes and looked around. He was swimming in the lava, but it was cool like the ocean. He almost laughed to himself after that, orange lava dripping down his face. He felt a little tired after that, but he didn't care. He had survived.

"Flain, I'll get you out of there." Cael said. "Is it safe to come down?" Flain nodded as he floated in the lava. "Don't worry, it's cool as water now." He called up. Cael dived from the top of the cliff and landed in the lava beside him. When she surfaced, she shook her head sending orange drips off her mane. "This is so weird..." She said.

She put her hoof on Flain and there was a flash of green light. A second later they were standing on the cliff where the cave was. "Flain, you alright?" Aevum called over. Madia had a look of relief on her face, and Aevum looked a little confused.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I used my powers to make the lava cool." Aevum smiled. "I didn't know your powers could do that." Aevum said. "Neither did I until right before I hit the lava."

"How are you guys going to get across?" Cael said. She was panting a little bit. Probably from teleporting Flain with her. "I think I might have an idea." Aevum said.

He closed his eyes and his horn began to glow red. The collapsed bridge glowed red as well. A transparent red clock appeared above the collapsed bridge, and the hands spun backwards. Aevum stumbled a moment but he regained his footing. The bridge suddenly seemed to break down in reverse. The bridge rose up and joined together. Flames burned on it for a moment, but they died down, and the bridge's charred wood and rope turned as good as new.

Aevum opened his eyes and sighed. The red glow and clock disappeared, and the bridge sat there like it had never happened. Madia and Aevum walked across the now repaired bridge and met up with the others.

"What did you do?" Cael asked. "I turned back time for the bridge. Used a little more energy than I wanted though." He said panting.

"Alright, let's head into the cave." Flain said. The keepers entered the cave and looked around. Sure enough, there was more lava scattered around. There were platforms scattered around and the occasional island. At the end was a large crystal coming up out of the ground, coloured blue.

"That must be what we're looking for." Flain said. "First things first let's take care of the lava." He focused his magic on the rivers of lava flowing around them. However when he did he discovered it was using far more energy than last time. He had to stop after a while because he didn't want to lose all his energy just for that.

"I can't do it. Something is wrong, this lava is different." Flain told them. Madia looked at it a moment. "Hm, it's enchanted. You can't effect it." Madia said. Oh come on! Flain said in his mind. He kept his cool though settled with a sigh.

Examining their surroundings, Flain realized the platforms were too far apart to jump. It would be too risky to use the air walk with how close they were to the lava. The only one that hadn't used any energy so far was Madia, and there wasn't much she could do. Or was there?

"Madia, is there anything you can do with your imagination to help?" Flain asked. "Well... I might be able to make more platforms. I'll try." She offered.

Madia's horn glowed purple, and the lava began shifting around a certain spot. Suddenly Cael walked along side her and began using her magic. The lava spun like a current at one spot, and came together and hardened.

Madia let out a breath. "Thank you Cael." She said to the blue pony beside her. "Space can do more than destroy things." Cael said to her.

"All that energy though, for just one platform. This isn't going to work..." Madia said disappointed.

"I only know of one possible alternative. One of us could give our remaining energy to Cael and we can teleport over. It would be risky though." Flain offered. "Alright, I'll do it. I have the most energy out of all of us." Madia said.

Flain's heart skipped a beat when she said that. Flain never liked showing emotion. He thought showing too much emotion made you look week. That's why he generally avoided people when he was in an emotional situation.

However Flain had been watching and following Aevum and Madia for some time before he joined up with them. He had been in Canterlot when they arrived and watched them talking with the magician through a window.

Flain hated to admit it, but he had grown attached to Aevum and Madia. Flain also knew Madia was the youngest of them, and that it would be risky for her.

He struggled with himself about how to respond. He didn't want to show them that he cared for her, but he was afraid she might die in the trials. Flain finally decided he wasn't willing to risk that.

"No, I'll do it. You're too young, you might not be able to make it." Flain told Madia. "Flain, your only a couple months older than me!" She said to him. "I'll do it, I'm the oldest other than Cael." Aevum said. "You don't have enough energy, you would die." Flain pointed out.

"Flain, please let me do it. I have the best chance of survival." Madia tried to convince him. "It's too risky for either of you at this point!" Flain responded, his annoyance starting to show. "Flain, why are you being so stubborn about this-" Cael was saying. "Because I don't want any of you to die!" Flain interrupted her yelling.

There was a silent pause where everyone stared in shock at Flain's sudden reaction. Flain looked back at them, his face no longer hiding anything. He was angry, and cared for his friends. He wasn't about to let any one of them die.

"Cael, I'm giving you my remaining energy. Get ready." Flain said. Without waiting for a response, Flain crouched into a ready position and focused his magic. He could feel his energy draining from him as he sent it all to Cael.

His legs began to shake as he began to lose the energy to stand. Finally, he couldn't do it anymore without losing consciousness and stopped, causing him to collapse to the ground. Madia immediately ran over. "Flain! Are you all right?" She asked.

Flain was barely aware of it. He didn't even have the energy to speak. He could barely breath.

Suddenly a green light surrounded them and everything went silent. In an instant they were suddenly in front of the large blue crystal. Flain panted and heaved as he tried to stay awake.

"Flain, I had no idea you were so caring. You never showed it." Madia said to him. He couldn't respond. He was too tired. "All this time you weren't so blunt after all." Aevum said walking up to him.

Cael was on the ground too, but she was just resting. "Flain, you almost killed yourself." Cael said between deep breaths. "Next time, let me just use my own energy."

Suddenly Flain could feel his energy returning to him. "W-what the..." He said out loud. He pulled himself up of the ground shortly after. He saw Cael had already gotten up.

"Our energy returned to us..." Cael said. "What happened?" Aevum asked confused. Suddenly a female voice spoke.

"Keeper of Law. Place your hoof on the crystal." Flain looked around a moment, then approached the large blue crystal. He placed his hoof on it. The crystal flashed, and lit up. "Keeper of Law. What is it you have discovered about yourself." The voice said.

Flain thought back to every one's reactions to what he did. "I realized emotion doesn't make you weak. In fact, it can make you stronger, and be more respected by others. That is the hidden truth the riddle spoke about back in the cave in Equestria." Flain said.

Suddenly the powerful wind blew again, and the world transformed. The lava, rocks and crystal all turned white and vanished.

The wind died, and they found themselves back in the white place. "Flain, you have succeeded in the trials. It was I who returned you and your friends energy." Alaria materialized in front of them.

“What a fool I was. Emotions don’t make a weakness. In fact, having emotions and not showing them makes you weaker.” Flain said. “I shouldn’t have hid them from everyone.”

Aevum sighed. “Flain, I could tell you were hiding your emotions from the start. When the princesses found out about their parents, you were fighting back tears. In fact you turned away from us to avoid being seen.” Aevum said to Flain.

Flain thought back to that moment. He was right of course. His eyes had watered from how everything was going at the time. He couldn’t stand seeing the princesses like that at their age.

“You saw that huh?” Flain said smiling a little. “I saw it, and immediately knew you were hiding something.” Aevum said.

“Either way, you have successfully passed the trial of law. The next trial, is the trial of dream? Are you prepared?” The once queen of Equestria asked.

Madia stepped forward. “I’m ready.” She said.

Alaria nodded, and disappeared in a flash of light. The familiar blast of wind struck them as the world transformed around them.

Chapter 13 - Trial of Space

Cael had gotten used to the wind. At first it annoyed her as they changed locations, it made it difficult to breath. She ignored it now though as the black void turned into a mix of white and grey.

Cael let out an annoyed sigh when the wind turned cold. The warmth around her hooves faded and the cold temperature stung as icy snow began to blow into her face. It only lasted a moment though, as the wind quickly died down.

It was snowing hard, and the ground around them was white. It was quite a contrast to the suffocating darkness the other place included, but Cael would still rather be there than this frozen wasteland.

Taking a look at the landscape, she saw it was snow and hills as far as the eye could see. There were occasionally some hills that could be counted as mountains, but still not ridiculously large. The area around them had no trees and provided next to no cover due to the emptiness of the world. It reminded Cael of Alaria's place, only there was a little more variety and temperature difference.

The location was certainly large, but it was hard to tell with the heavy snow falling around them. Cael never liked the cold. It got on her nerves far more than heat ever did. Cold was something that could make you feel alone. That was one thing Cael hated. Being alone.

That was why she was so terrified, when she realized her friends were nowhere in sight.

Aevum, Madia and Flain were gone. She couldn't find them anywhere. She began looking around again much more frantically now. "Madia? Aevum? Flain? Where are you guys?" She called out. Her voice echoed from towards the higher hills, showing it carried far.

There was no response however. She cautiously took a couple steps towards one of the nearby mountains, being careful as to her surroundings. One reason she didn't like being alone was because she could only rely on her own vision. There wasn't anyone else who could warn her about something.

She sighed as she accepted the fact they had either been split up, or weren't with her at all. Either way she had to carry on the trial. They had come to far to fail now.

It was fortunate the wind wasn't blowing too hard. It would have made it a lot colder. She made her way through the thick snow towards one of the mountains, hoping to find something of value or help there. Especially shelter.

Unfortunately the trial had other plans. The mountains seemed to shift as she got closer. She strained to see carefully and realized the mountain was a lot farther away than it looked. The heavy snow that was falling had made it appear closer.

Cael considered try to teleport over there, but it would be difficult to pinpoint a location and go that distance with all the snow falling. The trial was working against her in everyway. She now knew how Madia and Flain felt during their trials.

Suddenly there was a low rumbling sound, and everything seemed to shake. Cael looked around nervously, then there was another sound that sounded like something had crashed into the ground, but it echoed and sounded watery and hollow.

The snow began to get thicker and everything was warming up a little. It was still freezing cold though. She was thankful for the slightly better temperature, but it made the snow heavier and more wet.

Once again the echoing banging sound came from all around her. Including beneath her.

Cael thought of something that made her heart skip a beat. She quickly began brushing the snow on the ground around her away. The snow was about a foot deep, but when she got through she didn't like what she saw.

She was standing on ice, and it was cracked. It was fairly thick, but water was seeping through some of the cracks.

Cael took a step and the ice shuddered. It was clearly weak and ready to break if she moved too much. She stood there trying to think of what to do next. She could teleport away but she had no idea how far the ice extended.

She was in a bad spot and had no idea how to get out of it safely.

Then she thought about her powers. If space had power over matter, could she make the water freeze without a lower temperature? She decided it was worth a shot.

Her horn glowed as she tried using her magic to make the ice stronger. It seemed to be working until her energy started depleting. She stopped and decided she would have to work with what she had.

Carefully taking a step forward, the ice cracked and threatened to give out. Suddenly a voice spoke in her head. "Cael, it's Madia. The ice towards your left is strong and thick. You need to walk in that direction towards the small hill." Madia suddenly spoke to her.

"Madia? Where are you?" Cael asked. "I'm out towards the hill I mentioned. Hurry the ice is melting!" She said urgently. Cael took and deep breath and stepped towards the hill, which she assumed now must be the bank of the river or frozen lake.

Madia was right. The ice held firm as she slowly made way across.

Suddenly there was a loud crash, and the sound of water spraying up. The ice beneath Cael cracked and shook. Cael looked behind her. A splash of icy water had come up out of the snow covered ice.

Cael watched for a moment. There was a massive hole in the ice. "Oh no..." Cael said as she guessed what had happened. Something had fallen through the ice, but what?

She regretted asking the question, as a moment later there was a crack beneath her hooves. She looked down and brushed the snow away. There was something under the ice. It was her sister. She was banging on the ice trying to get out.

"Variel!" Cael yelled in shock. She immediately slammed her hoof onto the ice. "Cael, no!" Madia's voice echoed in her mind. She didn't care. She smashed the ice again this time with both hooves and the ice broke.

It set off a chain react and the ice broke all around her. She fell in and felt the freezing cold water chill her to the bone. She forced her eyes open to look in the water. She swam to her sister and wrapped her arms and hooves around her in a protective grip.

She imagined the hill she had seen earlier and on a single spot on top of the hill. A green light surrounded her and her little sister as they suddenly teleported to the top of the hill, taking a large portion of water with them.

They landed on the ground with a thud and lay there a moment shivering, cold and wet. "V-v-variel... a-are you alright?" Cael asked, trying to keep her voice steady. Variel just whimpered and clung to her sister desperately.

Cael held took one hoof off to see if they were on solid ground. She brushed the snow aside and found what looked like dead, flattened grass. She sighed with relief and tried to relax and gain her energy back. The teleporting had taken a lot out of her, especially with two ponies.

"C-C-Cael... w-w-why are w-we here?" Variel finally spoke. "W-where are w-w-we?" Her sister asked shaking. "I'm n-not s-sure..." Cael responded. She looked around for a moment looking for Madia, but she was nowhere to be found.

After a little while, Cael and her sister stood up. Still frozen by the cold water clinging to her, Cael looked around again. She saw faint hoof prints leading one direction, but they were long, like someone was in a hurry.

Cael was getting worried now. Why would Madia just suddenly run off like that? She was about to follow the tracks, when a voice stopped her. "Cael? Is that you?" She turned around and saw Aevum approaching, just as soaked through as they were.

"Aevum, there you are. Have you seen the others? Madia was here a moment ago but she disappeared." Cael wasn't stuttering any more as she asked Aevum a question. "I'm afraid not. When I first arrived I was alone. Who's that?" He asked gesturing towards the young orange filly beside Cael.

"This is my sister Variel. I found her in the water just moments ago and saved her." She explained. Aevum looked surprised. "What? How did she end up in the trials?" He wondered aloud. "I'm not sure. Either way she's safe now." Cael said.

"Alright. We need to find the others now." Aevum said. "I was just about to follow what I think are Madia's hoof prints." Cael said walking over to the imprints in the snow.

Variel spoke again, her voice quivering. "C-Cael, I want t-to go home..." She said. "I know, I do too." Cael responded. She hated taking her sister through the dangerous trial like this, but she had no choice. They had to hurry and finish this trial. The sooner the better.

They began to follow the hoof prints through the thick snow, making sure to check every once in a while whether or not they were standing on ice, or solid ground.

After a while though, they stopped when they heard a struggling voice crying for help. Aevum turned to it first, and he suddenly grew tense. "Aevum? What's wrong?" Cael asked. She felt foolish asking the question shortly after, because when she saw what he was looking at she understood instantly.

Laying there on the ground covered in snow, was Aevum's father. "Father! Are you alright?" Aevum asked rushing forwards. Cael chased after him, with Variel trailing behind.

Cael and Aevum helped the old pony up onto his hooves. Cael looked at him a little confused with how much different he looked from before. His hair was now gray, almost white and almost all the colour had drained from him.

"Father what happened to you?" Aevum asked. "I just remember sitting in my home, and suddenly I'm sent here..." He responded weakly. "No, I mean why are you so colourless?" Aevum questioned. "I don't know... I hardly noticed." His father answered.

The pony all in all looked older than he did before at the settlement. Something was going seriously wrong.

"Either way we need to get you out of here!" Aevum said concerned. "Let's keep following the hoof prints. Maybe they will lead to our friends, or better, the crystal." Cael didn't like taking Variel and now Aevum's father through this. But she knew it was the only way to get them out.

Cael wished Flain were there. He could have easily made them feel warmer with his powers. "Aevum, what happened to you anyways? How did you find me?" Cael asked. "After I fell through some ice into the water, I came up on the shore and saw you in the distance." Aevum told her.

So Aevum had fallen through the ice as well, that meant there was a lot of ice around. That made things complicated. It would be hard to avoid it if it was scattered around everywhere.

Suddenly they heard a splash, and the familiar sound of ice cracking. Cael immediately checked the ground beneath them. Sure enough it was ice, but thicker than before.

Cael and Aevum looked out towards where the sound came from. Cael couldn't believe her eyes when she saw it. Shooting into the sky was a massive splash of water, however it was frozen. At least, that was what Cael thought until they got closer.

The water was definitely frozen, but not in ice. It was frozen in time. Droplets and large splashes of water hung in mid air. There was a hole in the ice around it, and cracks went out from the hole in all directions.

Something must have struck the ice with a lot of force to cause such a large splash and hole. It was larger than a pony by far.

"What happened here?" Aevum asked. "I certainly didn't do this." He said bewildered. Cael circled the unusual splash of water, eyeing it suspiciously. "I don't understand... Only you can control time in any way other than Discortunal." Cael said a moment later.

Aevum shook his head. "Not true. King Nocturne has some control over time, but I doubt he would mess with the trial this directly." He reasoned.

Another explosive splash came from past the first one. As Cael expected there was another plume of water up in the air, only there was something more around the area. Cael could see two ponies facing off with each other. One was green.

Cael quickly guessed it was Madia, but she couldn't make out the other colour. There seemed to be more than one colour mixed in.

"Aevum look, there's Madia! Let's go help her!" Cael said to her companion. "Right. Father, you stay here with Cael's sister. It's dangerous over there." He said turning to his father. His now feeble looking father nodded and Cael took off ahead, barely waiting for Aevum.

The other pony was moving fast, and seemed to bounce off of thin air as it tried to hit Madia. Cael was thankful that Madia was so good at predicting movements.

When they finally got close enough, Madia barely even took notice of them. The other pony did. It almost seemed to teleport it was in front of them so fast. Aevum however, was just as fast. He came from the side and struck the pony that had tried to attack Cael.

It went skidding across the ice and snow. When it stopped it glared at them with pure bright green eyes.

All of a sudden Cael recognized the strange pony.

The pony wore a deep red cloak and look around her age. It was clearly a colt based on its eyes and mane. His facial expression was clearly angry, but only moderately annoyed. He was calm and frowned slightly. His main was a brownish red colour, and was smooth hung down past the pony's ears slightly. It wasn't too long, but long enough to be considered longer than most colts manes.

His ears seemed to turn black the closer you got to the tips of them. A dark pattern circled around the middle of his body and his neck. It was abstract and was only slightly darker than his central colour. The pony had a unicorn horn that was glowing red with magic.

However what shocked Cael the most was this ponies colour. The pony was a bright, vivid yellow that seemed to glow slightly. Cael began to see terrifying similarities. The head shape, the mane style, the cloak and now the central colour.

Cael was sure of it. The unusual pony standing before them, was Aevum.

"What the buck?" Aevum said in complete confusion. Apparently that moment of confusion was what the pony wanted. The pony was behind Aevum in a flash and reared up on his back legs to smash on top of Aevum with his front.

Aevum noticed this quickly though, and got out of the way right before the hooves came smashing down. The false Aevum's hooves struck the ice, and Cael expected him to smash through and fall into the water.

It didn't though. Instead an indent lay there in the ice and the ice didn't even crack. Cael could honestly care less by this time though.

Cael teleported to Madia's side as the dark Aevum went launching towards the keeper of dream. Cael stood her ground and smiled mischievously and she raised her hoof to stop the oncoming pony. The other pony suddenly disappeared in a blur and was suddenly over top of Cael.

Cael didn't have enough time to react as the pony came down to strike her. Suddenly the real Aevum came running in out of nowhere and jumped over Cael as if to tackled the pony away. The false Aevum noticed this and looked at Aevum smirking.

Aevum had other plans than to let the fake one mess with him. He suddenly appeared on the opposite side, the side fake Aevum wasn't looking and crashed into him at an equal force as before. They both went tumbling and sliding across the ice and snow as both tried to fight against the other.

Cael went to help, but a voice stopped her. "Cael, please don't do this." It was Variel's voice. Cael turned to find her sister facing her. "What are you doing here Variel?" Cael asked, a little annoyed. "Sister, stop this. Please don't hurt yourself." She said quivering.

Cael sighed and was about to say something but her sister cut her off. "Don't hurt yourself, let us do it for you." The voice was no longer quivering. Cael was about to ask what she meant, but she didn't bother when the dark orange pattern appeared around her sister's body and neck.

Her ears suddenly changed into the same colour pattern as the false Aevum and her eyes turned bright green. Suddenly grew, but not just in size. Her mane became longer and she almost seemed to age. When she stopped she looked about the exact same age as Cael.

"Hello sister, would you like to feel real cold?" She said in a much more mature voice than before. Her sister whirled around and kicked Cael in the jaw. She kicked with alarming force, and Cael fell backwards as the force sent her off her front hooves.

She quickly pushed up and faced her grown up sister. "What are you? You're not a normal pony!" Cael said. "It has no importance, since you're about to die." Variel responded gesturing to the ice Cael was standing on.

Cael looked down and saw the two indents false Aevum had left. At first she didn't understand, but then the ice cracked and Cael watched as the ice around her burst open in slow motion. She looked towards Variel a moment before the freezing water suddenly shot up at full speed around her.

Ice cold water once again soaked and chilled her to the bone as the water came up with so much force she was lifted up. It struck hard and stung as she felt the pain of cold water smashing into her. A moment later she fell down towards the hole left by the water explosion.

She spun uncontrollably as she fell about six feet down. The back of her head smashed onto the edge of the ice and everything went blurry as pain shot through her head. She landed in the water and sank slowly.

She could barely see anything and her senses were failing. She barely felt the freezing water around her as she fell through the water. She couldn't even focus and process what had just happened. Her eyes flickered as she tried to hold them open.

She just let herself slowly float down through the water as her consciousness faded.

Something stopped her though. Energy was still flowing through her as she tried to stay awake. She couldn't tell where the energy was coming from, but she felt it gathering inside her. Her eyes slowly came back into focus, her body felt the freezing cold water again and she heard the sound of water and ice echoing through her ears.

Cael came to her senses and looked around frantically as she began to get filled with warmth. The cold water around her started bubbling slightly. After a short time she didn't even feel the cold water. She began to run out of breath and looked down to see how close she was to the bottom.

She saw something she didn't expect. At the very bottom of the lake was the green crystal, glowing just enough to be noticeable. Cael thought quickly for a short time, then thought of something. I can control airflow with my powers! She realized.

She looked towards the open hole in the ice and focused her magic. Her horn glowed green, and suddenly a large bubble of air came down from the hole and towards her. When she was inside it, Cael gasped for breath.

She almost laughed as she began to realize just how extensive her powers could be. She could manipulate matter, meaning she could move, destroy and even change things if she had the strength, will and power to do it.

Now she turned and looked at the crystal determined to get there. She focused her magic and swam with the air bubble around her towards the crystal. She reached it and placed her hoof on it.

"Keeper of Space, what is it you have discovered about yourself?" A male voice spoke this time, unlike the others. Cael suddenly remembered the crystal wasn't the only goal. She was supposed to learn something about herself first, and she had no idea what she had learned, or if she had learned anything at all.

Cael paused and thought desperately. The crystal shone brightly and Cael suddenly appeared above the ice.

The ice beneath her immediately started to melt when she appeared. She realized now it was her own body heat that was warming her. She changed that as fast as she could before melting all the ice. It cracked and Cael teleported to a spot right beside it to avoid falling in.

Cael stood there a moment panting and heaving as she noticed her new found energy had already been drained. She swore under her breath at how everything had just gone.

"Cael! Are you alright?" She heard Flains voice calling from ahead. She looked up and saw him looking over his shoulder standing with Aevum and Madia, facing false Aevum and what appeared to be a changed version of Aevum's father. There was also a cyan blue pony there, whom Cael didn't know. She looked for Variel but she was nowhere to be found.

"Yeah... I-i'm fine..." Cael puffed out. Flain turned back to their opponents and left Cael to recover. None of them could afford to sacrifice energy at this moment considering the circumstances.

Cael watched as her friends fought against ones they cared about. Aevum against his father, Madia against false Aevum, and Flain against the mare Cael didn't recognize.

Madia was struggling as she fought against the dark timekeeper. The false Aevum was controlling time to give himself an advantage against them. He seemed to be helping out Aevum's father and Flain's friend as well, because they were all wickedly fast.

Aevum was holding well, considering he had the same abilities. His father was surprisingly powerful though. For such an old looking pony the unicorn's magic was exceptional. He was clever and used well devised strategies to battle effectively.

Flain seemed to be having difficulty coping with who he was fighting. She was a pegasus, so she could fly, ultimately putting Flain at the disadvantage especially with her added speed. Although it looked like her kind of attacks were emotional.

"Do you know why I left you? I was afraid of you! Your power made me fear for me and my families safety! I lied to you when I left! I was escaping!" She was yelling at him. "That's not true! You left because you needed to find your parents!" Flain responded.

"I already told you, I lied! I never loved you truly, I was using you as a way to be popular. You were considered so cool because of what you could do with your voice, I just wanted the fame!" She said to him.

Cael could tell that this mare was obviously somepony that Flain had loved at some point.

She wanted to help them so bad, but the pain in her head was throbbing and she had no energy. She brought her hoof to the back of her head and felt it. When she brought it back there was blood on her hoof. She had hit the ice harder than she thought.

She was still determined to think of a way to help. She wanted to charge in and attack, but that clearly wouldn't work. Maybe I can do something from a distance... What kind of things does space include... She thought.

She knew she could move air, so she decided to try suffocating one of them. Then after thinking it through a little more she realized it wouldn't work. They were moving too fast.

She thought of melting the ice with heat, but that may be ineffective. What would that do to them, get the wet and cold and more angry.

She watched on helplessly as they battled. Then she thought of something. Wait a second... This is exactly what's making things better! She thought as she realized that her problem was she never bothered to think things through.

Right then there was a yell of pain. Cael looked at Madia and saw her laying on the ground half dead. She was bleeding from the side of her head, and appeared to be barely conscious. "Madia...!" Cael gasped.

Madia slowly began standing up, but the false Aevum was already charging, head down and horn aimed. Cael looked desperately at the others but they were too busy dealing with the others. No one was coming to help Madia, and she wasn't prepared to defend herself!

Cael quickly figure out the only feasible solution to the problem. Teleporting her away would use too much energy. False Aevum ignored breaking ice. The only remaining possibility was clear.

Cael summed up her remaining energy and teleported directly in front of Madia. "Cae-!" Madia began to say, but Cael didn't hear the rest. She suddenly felt excruciating pain in her neck as the false Aevum's horn pierced her.

He was moving so fast, dark Aevum slammed into her at a speed that would normally send her flying, however Cael had thought this one through. She enforced her stance with her special magic, because she knew she would be knocked back otherwise.

"Cael!" Madia screamed. "Heh.... you... missed..." Cael managed to say to the false Aevum through the blood welling up in her throat. She felt the pain on the left side of her neck. The false Aevum had missed her throat just barely, but Cael already knew she would bleed to death.

Cael got her usual mischievous smile as she began to feel warm again. She recognized the feeling, as a little energy returned.

False Aevum backed off, and Cael felt pain shoot through her neck again as his horn came out. She stumbled, but remained standing. False Aevum stared in shock and confusion at what just happened. "You should be dead!" He said.

Cael just smiled as she fought against the pain and bloodloss. "I'm... not... done... yet!" Cael said. The relatively small amount of energy she had gathered built up and coursed through her body. She focused it into her horn, and let loose a fiery beam of heat.

"No-!" False Aevum's yell was cut off as the beam of pure energy completely engulfed him. All the nearby ice melted in an instant.

When the beam dissipated, false Aevum was gone. There was nothing left of him.

Cael coughed and collapsed to the icy ground breathing quickly. False Aevum hadn't hit her directly, but he scratched her throat on the way.

"Cael what were you thinking?" Madia yelled desperately as she came to her side. Cael smirked slightly at her comrade. "Heh... oops..." Cael said sarcastically.

Suddenly there was another yell, but it was from a much older pony. Cael looked towards Aevum and his father. Aevum's father had frozen on spot shaking. His eyes were wide but his pupils were small. All and any remaining colour disappeared from the pony's body. His eyes rolled back into his head and he collapsed to the ground, dead.

Aevum watched in horror and confusion. He didn't waste much time though. He turned towards Flain to go help him, then Cael's vision began to blur. She felt her consciousness slipping once again, but returned a moment later.

Madia, Aevum and Flain were all standing in front of her with looks of worry and concern on their faces. "Cael... why did you do that?" Aevum asked, looking afraid. "It was... the only... thing left I... could do for Madia..." Cael said. "She... would have... died otherwise..."

Madia shook her head. "Your life is more important than mine! Space is much bigger than dream!" Madia reasoned. "Doesn't matter... I'd rather do... something..." Cael coughed.

"Hah... I can't believe... I never noticed... before..." Cael said. "What? What didn't you notice?" Flain asked her. "I don't... think things through... I make decisions... without thinking... about the consequences..." Cael explained. "I discovered that... right before... I saved you Madia..." Cael said.

Cael's vision started to fade again. "Aevum... protect... my... sister..." Cael said. The world turned black, and her senses faded away. "Cael...! Cael don't die...!" She could faintly hear Madia screaming at her. Her head began spinning and she closed her eyes, completely expecting never to open them again.

She was wrong. Cael gasped as all her senses returned. She felt no pain in her neck or her head, she felt filled with energy and fully alive. Her eyes shot open and she saw her friends again, still in front of her, only there was a fourth pony there, a larger one.

It took a moment for her eyes to focus, but when they did, she saw that the fourth pony, was none other then Nocturne himself. They were back at the starting point for the trials.

Cael looked at Madia. Her eyes were filled with tears, and her expression was half filled with shock, half sorrow. Only a few seconds later she wrapped her arms around Cael. "Cael! You're alive!" She cried.

Aevum smiled happily. Cael had never seen him so happy before, even though they hadn't know each other long it looked like a big deal. Flain let out a big sigh and also smiled.

"Welcome back Keepers. That was an awfully close one. Congratulations Cael." Nocturne said. Madia let go of Cael and stepped back. Cael pulled herself to her hooves. "But, I don't understand. I failed the trial. When I found the crystal, I hadn't learned anything yet. How did I pass? I was dead." Cael said.

Nocturne just smiled. "Once you touched the crystal, all you had to do from there was explain what you discovered. You did that only seconds before you died. You were brought back here, and were saved because you were still alive when you passed." Nocturne explained everything.

Cael couldn't believe it. She had done it and hardly even realized it. She thought she had to be touching the crystal while she said it. She was overjoyed to still be alive, pass the trial and remain with her friends.

Madia's eyes were still filled with tears as she smiled gleefully.

"You aren't done yet. There is one final trial. The trial of time." Nocturne pointed out. "Would you like to wait a moment to discuss?" He offered them some time before entering the final trial. Aevum shook his head. "I think we can all wait until this is over, then we'll ask questions." He told the old king.

Nocturne nodded. "Fair enough. Prepare yourself then, the fourth and final trial is about to begin."

Chapter 14 - Trial of Time

Aevum felt the wind blowing around him as they went to their final location. The last trial had been quite a confusing mess, first with the fake versions of ponies, then the fact Cael had actually passed even though she had died, or at least nearly died.

What worried Aevum most was what happened to his father's copy. He hadn't done anything when his false father suddenly turned grey and died.

Aevum had also found out that the cyan pony Flain was fighting used to be his marefriend from a while ago. Flain explained how she had left to find her missing parents and didn't return. From what Aevum gathered the copies were based on ponies the victims cared about.

He was afraid to think of how chaotic the next trial would be. Considering how bad space was there was a good chance of time being even more complex.

The wind stopped abruptly this time. There was no die down, it just suddenly stopped. The land around them finished changing, and Aevum sighed as he saw where they were.

The landscape was covered in collapsing buildings. They ranged from massive structures to small stone homes. Either way everything was mostly stone, including the ground. What annoyed Aevum the most about this was the everything was frozen in time.

Buildings were caught in the middle of collapse. Rocks floated in the sky and massive concrete pillars were littered all over the ground and in the air in mid collapse. It looked like an ancient civilization that had been stopped while it was being destroyed.

Aevum hoped that was all, but he was wrong. Not only was it frozen in time, but the silence around the place was ridiculous. It made Aevum shudder.

He hated it when time was frozen. Everything felt so dead, mysterious and freaky. It made sense that this was included in his trial. The ruins were just a base for the real environment.

"So, the final trial." Aevum said aloud. "If we can complete this, we'll unlock our powers and be able to defeat Discortunal." Cael then said what everyone was looking forward to. "We've already learned so much, who knows what our full power could do?" Madia said, clearly imagining the potential. "We can't back down now. Let's do it for Luna and Celestia, for their parents, and for all Equestria." Flain said, filling everyone with that determined flame.

They all nodded and got a look at their surroundings. There was definitely no grass or life here, it was mostly rock and stone as far as the eye could see. It was a strange, unnatural environment, and Aevum figured that was why it was his. He hated unnatural things.

"This place creeps me out. Hopefully we can find the crystal quickly." Madia said. Cael just shrugged. "Doesn't really matter to me, so long as we complete it." She said.

They all began walking through the ruins cautiously, keeping an eye out for anything dangerous. The only dangerous thing that Aevum could see was the boulders looming over head. Even those didn't pose much of a threat.

Aevum quickly recognized what each building was at one point. There was a tall building that had collapsed in on itself, that looked like a town center. There was a building with bars for windows that Aevum assumed was a jail.

"They are living..." A voice suddenly spoke, it was long and drawn out, almost like a moan. "They are not like us..." Aevum looked around nervously. "They are blessed... who are they?" The source of the voice was nowhere to be found.

"They have come to free us..." The voice came from behind them now, it was a female voice this time. "Who's there?" Aevum said out loud, looking around frantically. "They fear us... they do not understand us..." The first voice spoke again.

"Then let us help them understand... spoken heroes, your worst nightmare... it is Equestria's remains... turn and discover..." The second voice spoke to the four of them.

The keepers all turned around at once. Aevum couldn't believe what he saw. Standing there, tall proud and completely in tact, was a statue of Discortunal.

"You think you understand... however you do not..." A third voice was speaking now. "Around you lays what is left... of a once glorious creation, now corrupted by pride..." Flain's eyes suddenly widened, and Aevum knew that was a big deal.

"Aevum, Discortunal said while he was fighting the king and queen that he was the ruler of a failed Equestria." Flain remembered. "Are you telling me the trial of time takes place in a failed version of Equestria?" Aevum put the pieces together quickly.

Flain nodded. Madia seemed to have figured out something too though. "Guys, the trials aren't literal locations. We aren't actually sent anywhere for real from what I've gathered. This location is just based on the original." Madia said

She seemed to have a habit of figuring things out that almost no one else would. Then again as the keeper of dream she was naturally smart and could sometimes see and understand truth with little evidence.

"This one is smart..." The first voice said. "They are seeking something... perhaps we may assist them..." The second voice spoke. Aevum's ears perked up at this. "It could prove dangerous... the hunters will surely kill us..." The first voice said.

"Please, explain to us and maybe we can help each other!" Aevum suggested to the voices. There was a pause where the voices didn't say anything.

"Perhaps the lad is willing to strike a deal..." The third voice finally spoke. "Let us reveal ourselves... they cannot touch us anyways..." The first voice said to the others.

Suddenly four transparent figures walked out of the ruins. Through the ruins in fact, like ghosts. The ponies looked experienced, probably around Aevum's father's age.

The first one was a male, he looked the oldest and was coloured a dark mustard yellow. He was clearly an alicorn, because he had a horn and wings. The wings were like a bats, and the horn was curved at the end like Discortunal. His hair was long and draped over his eyes slightly. It was coloured a greyish brown. He approached them with a look of understanding, a look that reminded Aevum of Alaria.

The second one was a mare, she was blue and had the same wing and horn design as the first one. Her mane was a light orange, almost white as it hung behind her head pinned back like a tail. She looked serious and calm.

The third pony was a colt coloured dark red, with a blond mane mixed in with grey. His mane was combed back slightly, but some of it fell forward in front of his face. His wings blended in with the rest of his body because of his colour. His eyes were half shut lazily and he walked forward without smiling.

The fourth pony however, shocked Aevum. Unlike the others, she was young and looked like she was only ten or eleven. She was green with dark hair that seemed to fade from blue to white. It was curled and combed neatly, as if in preparation for a big event. Her bat-like wings were closed, but she walked with her head held high towards them. She smiled slightly and looked happy to see them.

"Allow us to introduce ourselves." The blue ghost said. "My name is Caelylia." She said. Aevum's heart skipped a beat. "My name is Flainetrav." The maroon pony said. No... it can't be...! Aevum thought to himself. "My name's Madianulai." The young green mare said. "And my name is Aevumentrial." The yellow pony said.

Aevum stared in disbelief at the four ponies now standing before them. Their names were simply larger versions of the four Equestrian ponies names. The others did the same.

"We were once the keepers of this land we called Equestria." Aevumentrial said to them. "Before you can understand you must hear our story." Caelylia said. Aevum gulped. "Alright, please tell us." Aevum encouraged nervously.

Aevumentrial nodded. "Back about five thousand years ago, we were the keepers of the four elements of Equestria. I controlled time, Caelylia controlled space, Madiaulai controlled dream, and Flainetrav controlled law. We had been bestowed our powers by our creator, who started the world with us and a few extra ponies who ruled the world."

"The main ruler of this land, was the black alicorn known as Discortunal. He was one of the four other ruling ponies created at the start of our race. In total there were eight of us ponies created as alicorns. While we keepers governed the elements, Discortunal and the others governed the nation." Caelylia explained.

"Unfortunately Discortunal and his fellow governors were more than just rulers. We discovered after some time that for everything that exists, there is an opposite that pushes against it. This is how balance is formed. With too much of one thing, it collapses. That was the significance of Discortunal. Him and the others were the negative elements of Equestria." Flainetrav explained.

"Wait, negative elements? Are you telling me there's elements which cause problems in the world as well?" Aevum asked. Aevumentrial nodded sadly. "This was something we didn't find out until it was too late. While we controlled the positive elements, Discortunal and his companions caused trouble in the world with their negative elements."

"We discovered that there were four negative elements. These elements were death, emotion, decay, and the most powerful of all, chaos. Discortunal controlled chaos, and used this to oppose law. Tennebris, the commander of Discortunal's army, controlled death, and used this to oppose dream. Grillula, the most powerful witch in Equestria, controlled emotion, she used this to oppose space. Nellurai, Discortunal's advisor and wife, controlled decay. She used this to oppose time." Caelylia told them.

"As it turned out, Discortunal became proud of his strength and went mad with power. He had discovered a way to take other ponies life force, magic and skills from them and use them for himself. He murdered Grillula and his own wife, Nellurai, and took their powers. However, he did not touch Tennebris. Discortunal feared for his own safety. He believed if he took on the power of death, he himself would die." Flainetrav went on.

"He searched and found us here in this very city. We were not prepared for his overwhelming power, nor did we expect him to turn against us. We never had any training in our powers and couldn't figure them all out ourselves. We were defeated and he stole our powers for himself." Madianulai suddenly spoke.

Aevum was surprised to hear the young pony suddenly speak so wisely. "Discortunal was still afraid of us however. Even in death, we remained. Apparently a last resort that our creator had set in place in case this was to happen. We haunted his dreams, his life and he was driven mad not just with power, but with fear." Aevumentrial explained.

"Seeking to put a stop to this, he had Tennebris bless eight individuals to have strength over us. Because we were dead Discortunal could not harm us, however Tennebris could using his powers. Discortunal came back a laid waste to our city, and froze it in the middle of its destruction as a constant reminder to us. The eight ponies Tennebris had blessed became known as the hunters. They are constantly seeking us, but even in death some of our power still remains." Caelylia said.

"However we are dead. We cannot harm the hunters, yet they can harm us. While we are away from the hunters, we continue to torment Discortunal. He has been cursed with this. Now, seeking an escape he has left this world entirely. We know of not where he went, but we can't reach him wherever he is. He has proved cunning and devious and found a place we can't carry out our curse." Flainetrav told them.

"We are aware that Discortunal threw all of Equestria into chaos when he gained our powers. Not knowing how to control the many over complicated elements, they fell apart and the entire nation entered a state of paralysis much like this city is now. Wind no longer blows, physics do not flow and react at all, nightmares and dreams don't happen at all, and time has completely stopped across the world." Aevumentrial said.

"There isn't a single word that can describe this once beautiful land and how it has fallen. Even though Discortunal is out of our reach, we cannot rest until he has met his demise and the curses original intent is completed." Caelylia said determined.

It took Aevum a moment to process everything, but it all made sense. "Keepers, your curse is still living on." Madia suddenly said. The original keepers all looked at her awaiting an explanation.

"We also know our world as Equestria. However this Equestria has not fallen. We are Aevum, Cael, Madia and Flain, the keepers of new Equestria's elements." Madia told them.

"We are currently passing through trials, and this is the final one. After this we can fully unlock our powers and defeat Discortunal. Discortunal's curse carries on through us." Flain explained to the ghosts.

The looked at them a moment, then Aevumentrial smiled. "Curses cannot be stopped. They always find a way through some way or another. That is why I believe you." He said.

"Thank you, now before we can unlock our powers we need to find a crystal. Do you know where one might be?" Aevum asked. Caelylia looked puzzled. "I haven't seen anything of the sort. If anyone has it would be Madianulai." The old keeper of space said.

"Yes... I recall seeing one inside the lower level of the jail. It is very dangerous there though." Madianulai told them. "What sort of dangers?" Flain asked.

Flainetrav sighed. "That is where the hunters reside. They stay in the lower level of the jail and hide there, waiting for something, or someone to use their powers on. They underestimate our knowledge however." He explained.

Aevum looked towards the jail nervously. "You said these ponies have power over death, can you tell us what they can do?" He asked the ancient ponies. "Their touch is lethal. If they hit you and they intended to do so, you will die instantaneously. That is why we avoid them." Aevumentrial pointed out.

Aevum shuddered. That was the last thing they needed. In other words they could kill all four of them quickly if they get a chance to strike.

"Wait... you four are already dead. How can they do anything to you at all?" Madia asked curiously. "Their power over death allows them to strike ghosts. If they were to strike us we would fade permanently." Caelylia explained.

"Well I don't know about you, but I think it's clear what we need to do." Cael said to the new Equestria keepers. Madia nodded and smiled. "Beat these hunters, reach the crystal and save Aevumentrial and the others all at once!" She said energetically.

The specters smiled. "Thank you, I hope that drives you to success." Flainetrav said.

"Come on, let's go. You four stay out of sight, we'll handle them." Cael said confidently. Madianulai smiled faintly. "Thank you keepers, please stay safe." She sounded unnaturally mature for her age, like she was hundreds of years older than she looked.

Aevum led the way as they walked over the the jail. Aevum could see the crystal through some bars on the ground connected to the wall.

"I believe we have visitors..." A wispy voice suddenly said. "Who do they think they are walking so confidently into our territory?" A slightly higher voice also spoke. "Why don't we make their confidence grow weary?" A mischievous female voice said.

"Do you know who we are?" The wispy voice asked. "The hunters, you have power over death. You have hunted for the four old keepers of Equestria for around ten years now." Madia said.

Three black ponies walked out of the building. "Interesting, you four are not phased by our power." The first voice said. "Arrogant ponies like this need to die." The second voice said.

Flain chuckled. "Ironic how your own master is so arrogant." He said to them. "Discortunal is not our master, we are only ordered by Tennebris, the one who bestowed these powers to us." The first older pony responded.

"Look, little girl, you've walked into your own death. I can smell your fear, you want to go home don't you?" The mare asked Madia.

The smaller male pony sniffed. "This one's afraid too! He's almost shaking!" He said gesturing towards Aevum.

He was right, Aevum was terrified of what might happen. He knew he had to come up with a clever way to strike them down without them having time to notice and activate their deadly touch. There were so many possibilities Aevum was feeling overwhelmed.

"He's panicking... it's annoying me. Let us destroy them quickly and get back to dinner before it goes cold." The female pony said. "Their colours are too bright for my liking, I want them gone!" The younger pony said.

"I think this calls for-" The first pony began to say, before Cael cut him off. She appeared above him and hit him so hard and so fast, he fell flat on his face in the ground. "Shut it." Cael said. The other two ponies jumped back in shock. The first one spat up dirt and turned to look at Cael.

"You're going to regret that one missy." He said looking at her angrily. Suddenly he gasped and lifted up off the ground. He was struggling and heaving as he tried to breath. Cael's hoof was lifted up towards him. "Call me missy again, I dare you." She said looking directly at him.

The old black pony struggled for a few moments, then he grinned at her. "It's going to take a lot more than a threat to stop me missy." He said tauntingly.

Cael bared her teeth, and the old ponies eyes suddenly widened and looked to the blackened sky. He tried to grab a few breaths of air, but he failed to do so from the lethal choke Cael was causing some how.

Aevum watched in horror as the ponies movements slowed down and finally ceased. Cael let him go and he flopped to the ground limp and lifeless.

"Cael watch out!' Madia called out. Aevum saw the black mare suddenly launch at Cael. Cael turned to react but the villainous creature was quick. She was still coming, so Cael made a desperate leap to get over top of her.

Aevum noticed that at the current rate, Cael's back legs would hit the hunters outstretched hoof before getting over top! He began to think quickly of a way to stop it. There isn't enough time, she won't make it! Aevum thought desperately.

It took way longer than it should have for Aevum to realize the solution. He focused his magic and slowed down time. The only ones that kept to their natural speed was the keepers.

Cael went soaring over top, narrowly missing the hoof reaching for her and landing behind the mare. She looked at Aevum thankfully a moment and then turned to the third pony.

Aevum felt his panic return though when the black mare spun around to look at Madia, who was focused on something else using her dream powers. The pony smiled mischievously as purple mist gathered in front of her hoof.

It went much faster than Aevum expected. A ball of cloudy mist suddenly went launching at Madia. Aevum suddenly lost his control over time as it went rocketing towards the keeper of dream.

"Madia!" Aevum called. Her eyes shot open to see the haze shooting towards her. Aevum tried to concentrate but he couldn't focus from all the different things happening. There were too many possibilities.

Right then, Flain was there. He ran to Madia's side and they both suddenly fell into the ground. The ball tried to follow, but it broke apart and faded when it hit the ground. Flain and Madia popped up a moment later beside Aevum.

"Aevum, what happened there?" Flain asked confused. "I... I don't know I couldn't concentrate!" He responded. Aevum looked out towards Cael who was battling with the younger pony now. He was quick and light on his hooves which made it difficult for Cael to keep up.

Aevum looked around frantically. Flain had gone off to fight with the mare and Madia was concentrating again. What do I do? If I try to help by slowing time I might lose concentration and they could be killed! He thought worrying for what might happen.

Aevum. Suddenly there was a voice in his head. It was Madia's. The very reason you lost concentration last time was because you were thinking too hard. She said to him. Aevum realized she was right. Everything fell apart once he started to panic.

Relax... Aevum thought to himself. He focused on only doing what he needed to. He would let Madia do the thinking, and have himself just do the work. Stop, we need time. Madia's voice said. Aevum responded and stopped time entirely. Their opponents seemed to resist slightly since they still moved slowly.

Cael took advantage of the timing and struck the younger colt on the side. He began reacting to the blow but it was slow because time was stopped. Meanwhile Flain came crashing down on top of his opponent with such force it should have killed her on the spot.

Madia opened her eyes and looked at Aevum. They smiled at each other confidently and watched as their comrades defeated their enemies with their help. Madia nodded at Aevum, and he released time.

Aevum couldn't think of a word to describe how quickly the two black ponies were sent crashing. One into the ground, the other into the jail wall. Cael walked up to the evil pony. "Pitiful, you can't even kill us on your own, you need help." He said panting.

Cael was clearly unimpressed, and her horn glowed green. The black ponies eyes widened and he suddenly vanished. What did she just do...? Aevum wondered.

Meanwhile, Flain was standing on top of the mare, who was somehow still alive. "I'll let you decide, life or death." Flain said trying to strike up an offer. She smiled coldly. "I hope... you die slowly..." She said to him.

She gasped as Flain suddenly crushed her underneath his weight, clearly using his law powers to increase gravity for himself.

Something seemed a little off though. His friends were being unnaturally cruel. For some reason they were showing next to no mercy. It didn't feel right. Madia looked at Aevum nervously, obviously concerned about the same thing.

Cael and Flain walked over to Madia and Aevum. "That's the end of that. Let's get out of here." Cael said sounding moderately annoyed. "Cael... the way you killed that first pony was awfully cruel..." Madia said quietly.

Cael shrugged. "A pony like that deserved it." She said defending herself. "Flain crushed the mare with his own weight, that's more cruel than what I did." Flain sighed. "Well it was the quickest thing I could think of." Flain said annoyed.

This isn't right... they aren't getting along very well and aren't acting normal. Aevum thought. "Let's get this over with and head to the crystal." Cael said yawning.

They decided to just move on, and went into the jail. Aevum didn't like what he saw. All over the walls were pictures of ponies that apparently once inhabited the town. All of them had X's across them, but most of them had circles too. Aevum quickly deduced that all the towns citizens were dead, and the circles showed which ponies spirits had been eliminated.

Then Aevum noticed Madia was just feeding him thoughts again. He was beginning to get freaked out by that concept.

There were four pictures of the ancient keepers. The images were faded and filled with holes and tears. The X's on them were written in blood.

Madia shivered beside Aevum as they saw them. It was a very dark and scary place. Aevum could never imagine living here like this.

"Looks like those ponies had a hit list." Cael said. "The four old keepers are probably their prime targets." Flain guessed.

"Come on, the crystal is on the lower floor, I already know what I'm going to say." Aevum said. Madia smiled as Aevum exchanged a glance with her, and the four of them took the stairs behind the counter down into the basement.

It felt more like a dungeon than a jail. It was musty, and there were six cells all separated by metal bars. One of them had the crystal in it. It glowed red faintly and grew brighter as Aevum approached.

However the gate was locked. They couldn't get in and the keys were nowhere to be found. "Looking for something?" A voice said behind them. Aevum whirled around and saw the first pony that they thought was dead. He was holding on to a ring with keys on it.

"You! I thought I killed you!" Cael said stepping forward. The black pony chuckled. "You did my dear. Once." He said calmly, a smug grin on his face.

"What are you? Surely more than a normal pony." Flain asked curiously. "I am a pony blessed by the powers of death itself. I can return from the dead so long as my injuries can be healed." He explained.

"Thank you, you just told us how to kill you." Cael said grinning. Aevum instantly realized what she was about to do as Cael raised her hoof. Madia did too, since they both reacted. "Cael wait!" Madia said taking a step forward. Aevum moved up as well.

"That's not necessary Cael. We don't have to kill him." Aevum said trying to remain calm. "What are you talking about? If we don't kill him he'll just keep tormenting the others!" Cael said angrily.

Aevum was a little caught off guard by her angry response, she wasn't acting entirely herself at all. "We need to get rid of him before he completely ruins the trial!" Cael pointed out. Aevum wanted to snap some sense into her, but he wasn't bold enough.

"Cael please listen!" Madia said desperately. "I agree with Cael, he needs to be killed, permanently this time." Flain said. Madia looked at him horrified. "Flain, you of all ponies should know about mercy!" Madia cried.

"Oh no, go right ahead. Do as you wish, don't let her stop you from your goal!" The evil pony said jeering. Aevum watched as Cael, Flain and Madia argued with each other. Madia was trying to convince them that there was another way to take care of him without killing him, but Cael wouldn't hear of it, and Flain only back Cael up.

Aevum looked at the pony with the keys. He was smiling maliciously as the ponies argued.

Finally Aevum was fed up. "Enough!" He yelled. The three friends immediately stopped arguing and looked at Aevum confused. The smile on the black ponies face faded.

"Cael, Flain, both of you are not behaving properly with this situation. If you kill these ponies you are no better than Discortunal and his army. This villain is manipulating you, he wants us to split apart!" Aevum told them.

Cael and Flain looked stunned at Aevum's sudden outburst and explanation. They exchanged nervous glances as they both realized Aevum was right. "Madia, you too. You're supposed to be the strategist! That means you consider everything and use evidence to figure things out. Don't let emotion distract you from that." He said to Madia.

Madia looked towards the ground, since she clearly figured as much. "You're a clever one aren't you?" The black pony suddenly said. They all turned to face him.

"You seem to know how to keep things in order. Your logic and reasoning are quite keen." The strange pony seemed to be complimenting Aevum. "I'll reward you with a hint. Whenever you, or one of your comrades comes in contact with somepony with power over death, than they will view killing, or murder, as the only solution to a problem." He told Aevum.

"That's why your friends are bent on killing me. Makes sense doesn't it? That's all you're getting. I hope you don't plan on getting in that jail cell though." The black pony said smiling again. "It's going to be awfully difficult without the keys." With that, the keys suddenly melted and fell to the ground.

"So basically, it immediately makes us want to kill the target with no mercy." Flain said putting the explanation simply. "Isn't that a little dangerous for yourself?" The black pony just shrugged. "It doesn't truly matter to me. I've learned not to care by this point." He pointed out.

"Also, do you think melting the keys will stop us from getting in? We have other ways." Cael said to him. "Not when it's protected by a magic-proof barrier." The dark pony responded smiling. Cael swore under her breath.

"Come on then, how are you going to get to it?" He taunted. Aevum looked around trying to think of a way to get in without magic.

Aevum, we need you to direct us. Madia spoke in his head again. You know our strengths and weaknesses better than most of us and can judge time well, so you should be able to figure out what we should do! Madia encouraged him.

Are you sure? I don't want to look like I'm trying to act superior. Aevum responded within his mind. He never liked to lead because it made him feel higher than he should be. It had made for some awkward and embarrassing situations in the past and he didn't want to do that now.

Aevum, you are among friends now. You are more capable of leading than any of us! You discovered the prophecy first, you saved the princesses from Discortunal, you figured out all the runes and now you dominate through the trials! Don't tell me you aren't fit to lead! Madia convinced Aevum.

Aevum sighed. She was right about that. Maybe it was time he stopped being paranoid of reactions and just do it.

"Madia, see if you can find a way to break through the bars. The gate is the weakest spot, so keep it focused on that." Aevum suddenly said aloud. Madia nodded and smiled, acknowledging his directions.

"Cael, keep the enemy busy and be ready for other things to do from us." Aevum then spoke to Cael. "Got it." She replied, appearing between the black pony and the rest of the group.

"Flain, anything Madia asks you to do, play along. If she figures out a way through she'll need some of our help to work with it." Aevum finally turned to Flain. "Sounds right." Flain responded.

"I'll make sure the other ponies stay down in the meantime." Aevum said to all of them.

"I was starting to think I was the only strategist in the group!" Madia said playfully. Aevum smiled, then turned and ran past Cael, who was now confronting her opponent and ran to the upper level.

Once Aevum reached the top of the stairs, he nearly crashed into the mare that Flain had killed earlier. "Hello love." She said smirking.

Aevum reacted instantly. He whirled around and kicked her right in the nose with his back legs, sending her stumbling back. Aevum felt the effects of the death element quickly. He wanted to kill his opponent and reasons to do so kept flooding into his head.

Trying his best to brush it aside he kept his focus on his enemy. The black mare had an offended look on her face. "Come now, you wouldn't hurt me. All I want is some friendship here, it gets so boring being with the same ponies for ten years in a row." She said trying to talk to Aevum.

Aevum resisted the urge to charge, and watched as the second pony walked in. "Don't make me laugh, you're always after more than friendship." The younger colt had come back too. Great, now I'm faced with two enemies, and one of them is a temptress... Aevum thought to himself.

"Do you have a problem with who I am Dren? That's not something that can be changed!" She said winking. "Shut up, we need to help Galt." The younger pony, apparently named Dren responded. The mare got that hurt expression on her face again.

"Shut up? I really don't appreciate ponies as rude as you. After all that's not how you talk to a lady at all!" She said sounding sarcastic, but still somewhat annoyed.

Aevum on the other hoof, had had enough. He sped up time for himself and hit them both as hard as he could. There was a slight delay because he was moving so fast, but once they react they both were caught completely off guard and fell back out the door of the main room.

"Ow!" The mare cried. "This is ridiculous, we're hunters not fighters..." Dren said sounding like he was more than just a little ticked off. "If that's the case why not leave already?" Aevum said.

The mare laughed. "If only it were that easy dear!" She said. "We are bound by oath to stay here, we cannot run away." Dren explained.

Aevum's opinion of the three hunters immediately changed. This whole time, they were practically held here against their will hunting the dead, who could only hide and not fight back.

"You mean, you have no choice with this?" Aevum asked. "Pfft, please. If we had a choice do you think we would live in a place like this hunting dead ponies for somepony like Discortunal?" The mare answered.

"So, you don't like to do this job you have." Aevum said. "It was fun for the first year but now it's only spirits here. We don't want to kill ponies who are already dead." Dren sighed.

"So, why don't you just break your oath?" Aevum suggested. "It's not like he can do anything to you by this point anyways." He pointed out. The mare burst out laughing. "Ha! Break the oath? You speak like it's a feasible thing! You don't know the half of it dearest!" She cackled.

"This is a magical oath, one which cannot be broken except by the oath starter, in this case Discortunal." Dren pointed out. "We would love to be anywhere else but here in front of you, but we don't have a choice really."

Aevum thought for a moment. "What happens if you try to break it?" Aevum asked. "We're stripped of our powers and we would die immediately. Not that it matters much really considering the state of this dead world." Dren told Aevum.

"If you don't care for this world and don't like your position, why not just defy Discortunal by breaking the oath? If you hate him so much, what better way to defy him than to show he can't control you with fear?" Aevum offered.

He wasn't sure if his urge to kill them was what made him suggest it, or just plain logic. Either way it seemed to make them pause a moment. They looked at each other, the mischievous mare, actually looking less crazy and more curious, or interested.

"You know, I think the lad may have a point." She said to Dren. Dren smiled slightly and nodded. "I would love to see Discortunal's face when he finds out the old keepers will be haunting him for years to come." He said.

"Alright then, but why should we listen to you?" The mare said turning to Aevum. "My name is Aevum, I am from another world and me and my friends are the keepers of that world." Aevum began to explain.

The mare's eyes widened, and so did Dren's, just not as much. "Discortunal has invaded our world, and we are going to defeat him. If you try to stop us here it will only delay Discortunal's defeat. Not to mention if you defy him it will hurt him more." Aevum explained to them.

The mare smiled, but this time it was more of a warm smile than a grin. "Ha! Well I'll be, the keepers curse lives on in a completely different way!" She said. Dren nodded. "I think that sounds like a good enough reason to me." He said.

"You hear that Discortunal? If you want to get rid of this 'curse' you can do it yourself! We refuse to do it for you!" The mare yelled at the sky happily.

That apparently did the trick. Aevum's urge to kill suddenly vanished and the mare slowly started to turn to stone. "Hah, I guess it worked." She said smiling.

She lifted her hoof up to the sky and looked up, before the stone completely covered her, and she was gone. "Slightly more peaceful than I was expecting..." Dren said sounding satisfied as the stone crept up towards his head.

"Dren, what was her name?" Aevum asked before the hunter was completely stone. "Her name was Salla. Why?" He responded. "Just for future reference." Aevum responded half sarcastically.

Dren smiled and looked at Aevum, a look of gratitude in his face. "Thank you Aevum. Teach Discortunal a lesson in humility for me." He said. With that, he sighed and wore a face filled with defiance before it turned grey.

Aevum didn't have the heart to tell him this was just a trial and wasn't real. It would have only caused complications. Of course, now that he knew how Discortunal's own subject felt about him, perhaps he could use that to his advantage in the future.

Aevum silently promised that he would put Dren and Salla's true burdens to rest once Discortunal was defeated.

He smiled, and turned back towards the jail. At that very moment though there was a crash. Aevum, get down here we need your help! Madia suddenly said in his mind. "On my way." Aevum said outloud trying not to worry too much.

When he got down, he saw that Galt was still standing, but he looked a little confused, almost disappointed. He turned around when Aevum entered. "I don't understand. Has our existence been for none then?" Galt said staring at Aevum seeking an answer.

"If this isn't real, what have we been doing the last ten years of our lives?" Galt asked. We had to tell him about the trial. He wanted to know why we wanted the crystal. Madia explained. "Look at it this way, you've been helping with the defeat of Discortunal all this time. Hunting the old keepers and protecting the crystal. It's all meant to train us. Without you, we likely wouldn't be able to defeat him." Madia tried to tell the confused pony.

"Yes, but why? I don't know what's real anymore, and I don't know what to believe." He responded turning to Madia.

Aevum stepped in now. "Think hard Galt. When did all this start? Can you remember when you arrived here?" He questioned Galt. He paused for a moment at this. "No... I don't recall it actually happening. All I know is I came to this place ten years ago... like it's a simple fact." He answered.

"Then how do you know whether or not you have actually been here ten years? How far back can you remember clearly?" Aevum said next. "I... I can only remember what has happened in the last hour... nothing farther."

Using his inner clock Aevum immediately realized that it was only one hour ago that the trial began. "The reason you can only remember that far back, is because that's when the trial began." Aevum explained.

Galt's eyes widened. "That... makes sense... so really, I've only been here an hour." He said. Madia smiled with relief. "Yes, exactly." Aevum responded. "Hm, interesting... well I guess that leaves me no reason to fight you." He said beginning to smile.

"If my existence and defeat contributes to Discortunal's death, I'll gladly surrender my life to the cause." He said. "I refuse to hunt the spirits of this town's inhabitants." He said. The oath acted immediately and his back legs turned to stone.

He smiled and looked at Aevum. "Make sure the real me finds out about this. Make sure he knows when Discortunal is dead." He said before the stone overtook him.

There was a silent moment when everyone just stared thinking, then they all seemed to let out a sigh at the same time. "Well, I certainly wasn't expecting that to be how they were defeated." Cael said, sounding a little mystified.

"No kidding. I was afraid we would never get to execute our plan." Flain said. "Plan?" Aevum said to Flain, beckoning him to elaborate. "Madia and I figured out a way into the jail cell, but we need your help." He added.

"Yes, we need you to start time flowing again around here. If you do that then rocks and everything will come crashing down. We believe this will break the jail cell." Madia explained.

Aevum nodded. "If we're going to do that then we better get out of here. Come on." Aevum said gesturing to the stairs behind him. They all nodded and ran out of the jail.

This is going to take quite a bit of energy... starting time like this will be difficult when it was caused by someone else in the first place. Aevum realized. He just shrugged it off though. It shouldn't be too straining.

He stood in front of the jail, looking around at the fallen town. He knew it could be dangerous to start time again considering the falling buildings, but it was likely the most effective way to do it. Not only did he get to practice, but it lay the frozen place to rest.

Aevum smiled as his energy began to build up. Focusing his magic on the world around him, he closed his eyes and started time again. Rocks and boulders slowly began to resume their fall as they lurched from their long sleep.

"Watch it!" Cael said. Aevum opened his eyes just in time to see the green flash as he was teleported a short distance to the side. Aevum watched as a cement boulder crashed where he had been standing a moment ago.

"I know you need to focus to use your magic, but maybe you could be a little more careful next time?" Cael said jokingly. Aevum just smiled as his energy drained away. He looked to the jail and saw the entire thing practically implode as all the walls came crashing down.

He could faintly see a red light shining through the rubble, which he guessed came from the crystal.

The four keepers watched as the whole city was leveled within only a minute. When everything stopped, Aevum let out a sigh and looked at the ruined town around them. The wind was blowing again, and everything seemed to be a little more alive, even with all the chaos of fallen buildings.

"Right, let's go and finish this trial." Aevum said. "Keepers." A voice said behind Aevum. He quickly recognized it, and turned around to face Aevumentrial. "You defeated the hunters, and I must say, if we could we wouldn't have hesitated to kill them." He said sounding impressed.

"The fact you talked to them and had them choose their fate, is something I couldn't have possibly foreseen." Aevumentrial went on. "It's nothing much really. Just mercy and compassion." Madia pointed out.

Aevumentrial smiled. "Yes, something this world seemed to severely lack." He said looking to the sky. "Either way, we thank you from the bottom of our hearts for this, whether it's real or not." Caelylia said walking out of a pile of rubble to join her companion. Madianulai and Flainetrav came out too.

"I'm glad you were older than I was Madia. It's not something I enjoy, being a child for all my life and there after." Madianulai said to Madia. Madia just smiled. "I'm not worried about age so long as Aevum has control over time." She explained.

"Age is a difficult thing to control, but because of how you are learning while we did not, I think altering someone's age is a very possible reality with your powers, Aevum." Flainetrav added.

"Go on. You have a trial to complete, and a world to save keepers. I wish you great luck." Aevum said. "We all do, may you stand far better a chance against Discortunal than we ever did." Caelylia said. With that the four ghosts images faded away.

"Let the next generation of keepers carry on far greater lives than the first." The four old keepers voices said in unison.

Madia let out a sigh. "I feel so terrible, knowing now what they went through." She said. "Let's keep their wishes alive and give Discortunal a surprise then." Cael said smiling determined.

Aevum turned and approached the rubble of the jail. Rocks and bricks lifted up from the site as he came closer. Aevum saw Flain's horn glowing, as he lifted the rocks using the law of gravity. Aevum nodded at him in thanks and looked into the smashed and bent up bars of the jail cell, and the crystal lying in wait within.

Aevum walked up to it and place his hoof on it. "Keeper of Time, what have you discovered about yourself?" A male voice said.

Aevum knew exactly what to say. "I discovered, that I shouldn't let my own doubts who I am. I shouldn't let fears of other opinions and reactions change my personality or what I do." Aevum looked at Madia, who was smiling happily.

"I also discovered that I am not limited to one thing. Just because my signature is time, doesn't mean I can't contribute to strategy and leadership." He finished.

The crystal glowed brightly and the wind blasted into Aevum. He barely even flinched though, as the grey ruins grew darker and spun and twisted until everything was black.

The four keepers stood there side by side in the pitch darkness, waiting for something to happen.

Finally, Nocturne came into view. He was grinning proudly, and almost looked overjoyed. "Well done keepers!" He said.

The area suddenly went from black, to grey. Alaria formed from the air and stood beside her husband. "Aevum, Madia, Cael and Flain. You have completed the Keepers trials, and have earned your right to your elements full power, and to become Equestria's Keepers of the Elements!" She said excitedly.

Chapter 15 - Spirits Wishes

The royals smiled at the keepers. Aevum could hardly believe that they had done it. Especially Caels trial. They should have failed that one. "You will return to the cave shortly, where your powers will eventually be released. However there are things we must discuss first." Nocturne said, his smile beginning to fade.

"You all have questions regarding the trials correct? We will answer them here. But please make it quick, Equestria is falling apart from Discortunal's chaotic reign, and because there is no one controlling the elements properly." Alaria pointed out.

"Celestia and Luna are in constant danger. You need to protect them when you return. They are destined to rule Equestria, and only you can ensure that happens." Nocture added.

"Right, but the problem with that is that they are alicorns like you, thus they age much slower than us. They can't rule at their current age. Because of that, they won't be old enough for another couple thousand years. We'll be long dead by that point." Aevum put in.

Alaria chuckled lightly to herself. "I don't think that will be a problem, your true powers will fix that." She told them. Aevum's eyes widened. "Are you telling me we'll have the lifespan of an alicorn?" He said shocked. Nocturne nodded. "And more young timekeeper."

The four keepers exchanged a stunned glance, but Madia looked a little hesitant. "But won't it be rather... strange watching our family and friends grow old around us? That sounds very disconcerting." She said.

Aevum wanted to comment how she seemed to be talking like him with her big words, but he ignored it and waited for the royals answer.

"Yes, that is an upsetting fact you will have to live with, but along with your release of powers will come an everlasting protection on your family. They will become immune to all natural illnesses until they reach a certain old age." Alaria answered.

"How does that work?" Flain asked. Alaria just smiled. "We'll ask our father when we see him." She replied.

"Hold on, father? Who were your parents, and why do you speak like you both came from the same parents?" Aevum questioned. Nocturne laughed half heartedly. "That's because we did!"

"What my husband means is we both came from the same person." Alaria added before the four keepers could react. "We were not born like you, we have no direct parents. We were created." Nocturne joined in.

"You see when Equestria was first made, the one who made this world created us to govern and guide it." Alaria said to them. "So we consider him our parent for that, and call him our father."

"That makes sense, but I didn't know there was a creator..." Cael said half to herself. Alaria shook her head. "What else would it possibly be? A world as vast and complexly designed like this would have to be created by someone, or something. Especially those prophecies." Nocturne reasoned.

"Good point. But if this creator made you why doesn't he stop Discortunal himself? Why do we have to do it?" Cael wondered. "Because what sort of free and thriving creation would it be if the creator did everything for the created? He already set the base for you, now all Equestria's inhabitants have to do is live out happily and strongly." Alaria responded.

"How would anypony ever learn if they didn't face challenges and problems themselves?" Nocturne put in. Aevum saw the logic in that. After all, that was how all four of them had learned in the past with the trials.

"We learned the same way. If the creator fixed our problems for us then how good rulers would we actually be?" Alaria pointed out.

Flain nodded. "Not very good ones at that." He answered.

"Alright, so what about the trials. May we ask questions about those now?" Cael said moving on.

Nocturne nodded. "Go right ahead, we are more than willing to answer." He told her.

"Right then, so how come some trials seemed more focused on one thing than others? Some were far more physical and others were more mental." Cael asked right away.

"That's because some people are meant to be planners, while others are meant to be quick on the spot thinkers and fighters." Alaria replied quickly. "It's to ensure you're trained properly in your correct focus. Time and Dream are mental, while Space and Law are physical." Nocturne said as well.

"Law's a bit of an all around element though. Like the prophecy said; "not meant to be a fighter" was meant in more of a way that law should focus more on its purpose of order instead of battle." Alaria included.

"So there's a lot of complicated and confusing things about these elements and everything to do with them." Aevum said. "You don't know the half of it Aevum. You'll learn and figure it out over time." Nocturne responded.

"Okay then, what about the trial of space? The ponies there were all ponies we cared about, right?" Flain asked. Alaria nodded. "That was meant as a test for all of you. It tested how well your ability to know when things are and aren't real."

Aevum paused for a moment. "Wait... so they're all ponies we care about. Each one is based on an individual, like mine was my fathers, and Cael's was her sister." He clarified. "Yes, that's correct." Alaria answered.

Aevum turned to Madia. "The one copy was me, and it was connected to you..." He said to Madia. Madia smiled and blushed slightly. She turned away to avoid Aevum's gaze. Aevum heard Cael laugh slightly behind them. Nocturne chuckled lightly.

Aevum turned to them bewildered a moment, then finally turned back to Madia. "But you've only known me for a day, how can you care about me more than anyone else you've met already?" Aevum asked confused.

Madia giggled slightly as she turned back to Aevum still blushing a little. "Because, there isn't a single pony in Equestria that cares about me as much as you do of course!" Aevum's heart jumped as he realized the feeling was mutual.

He thought back to all the time's Madia had been in true danger. He had run to her side to help each time that he could.

"Besides, my family doesn't care much for me anyways." She also said. Aevum's eyes widened. "What?" He said. "They're too busy worrying about themselves and whether I'm sane or not than my well being." She explained.

"Aevum, from the moment you said you believed me about my visions, I knew you were different from all the other ponies I knew." She also added. Cael suddenly laughed. "I knew it! I knew that you were into him Madia." Cael said laughing.

Madia blushed again and tried to avoid Cael and her watchful eyes. "Ah leave her alone, they've been through a lot after all." Flain said to Cael. Cael rolled her eyes still smiling. "Relax Flain, I'm not making fun of her. I think it's cute really!" She responded half sarcastically.

Aevum smiled at last, and spoke. "Well, don't be embarrassed about it. I know I'm not, and I'm not entirely surprised either." He admitted.

Madia smiled warmly at Aevum and Aevum smiled back. "Hey, quick question, when traveling through dreams, did we actually have to hold hooves to do it?" Aevum asked curiously.

Madia looked at the ground embarrassed. "Well... not entirely..." She answered meekly. Everyone laughed. "I was scared when that one dream ended okay? I didn't know what would happen!" Madia tried to make an excuse.

"Don't worry about it, it's fine really." Aevum said to her.

"As nice as this all is, it's important we finish all the questions. You need to return to the real world soon." Nocturne said urgently. "There will be plenty of time to sort out affairs later children." Alaria said smiling.

"Ha! Affairs? Tell them to get married already!" Cael said jokingly. Aevum looked at her awkwardly as she laughed. "Don't take her too seriously Aevum, that's her personality." Nocturne said, a hint of amusement in his voice.

Aevum sighed as Flain went ahead and asked another question. "So, how will our powers be unlocked? Will it just happen once we leave?" He asked. "Not entirely. Once you are fully out of the trials the awakening sequence will begin, and there will be a short time where you will all be completely powerless. This is to prevent using your power while it's out of control. If you could still use your powers during the time they unlocked, you wouldn't be able to control them." Alaria explained.

"But, won't that be dangerous? Being completely without our powers?" Madia questioned nervously. "Yes, it will be dangerous, but it's a fairly short time period that it lasts. You'll feel more powerful than ever afterwords. Just watch out for headaches." Nocturne answered.

"Headaches?" Flain responded sounding a little annoyed. "Great, as if it was bad enough having a rip through the sky to cause that." Cael grumbled. "I understand why the tear would give you a headache, it is a hole in space after all." Nocturne put in. "Not surprised..." Cael said.

"So, what exactly will we be able to do when our powers are unlocked?" Madia asked the royals. "Well Madia, you'll be able to control your visions a little more and use thoughts to manipulate ponies. You can have total power over a ponies mind." Alaria answered.

"Flain will be able to completely alter things like gravity, light, sound and temperature at will without using much energy." Alaria also said.

"An example for Cael would be that she can teleport great distances with multiple ponies and objects with ease. You won't ever risk death teleporting again unless it's ludicrously far." Nocturne joined in.

"Finally, Aevum will have complete control over time. He'll be able to freeze specific objects and ponies in time and manipulate it around others. Time is easily lethal if used correctly." The old king also said.

"Woah, that's... ridiculous." Aevum said in awe. "Ha! Discortunal won't stand a chance then!" Cael said confidently.

Alaria and Nocturne exchanged a glance. Aevum wasn't sure if it was nervous, or unsure.

"Well, I wouldn't say that..." Nocturne said carefully. "You see, because of Discortunal's vast power and strength he has an incredibly powerful resistance to changes in the elements targeted at him or around him."

"In other words, your powers won't have nearly as much effect as they should against him." Alaria rephrased. Aevum's heart sank. "What? But how do we defeat him then?" Cael asked sounding angry.

"With great difficulty. Your powers will be far greater than ours were when we fought him. Discortunal has one weakness. His pride. It causes him to not always pay attention to what's happening around him." Nocturne told them.

"He gets caught up in his own boasting and gloating he becomes an easy target. It's just a matter of how you strike at that moment really." Alaria also said. "He predicts the more cunning and clever tactics, but if you come up with something really unique and smart then he won't see it coming."

Nocturne nodded in agreement. "He also completely overlooks the simple things, so if you do something simple he won't see it coming."

"That sounds... idiotic." Flain said pausing to think of a good word. Alaria smiled. "Everypony has a weakness somewhere, some or more obvious or more ridiculous than others." She pointed out.

Aevum sighed again. There was a lot of information flying around and it was difficult to grasp it all. "If you call this discussion a lot of information, wait until your powers are unlocked." Nocturne said sternly.

Aevum was getting tired of ponies reading his mind.

"When your powers are released, you will automatically be aware of each limit you break, the most noticeable being energy consumption. You'll be learning a lot at one time. That's why you'll likely get headaches." Alaria elaborated.

"How come you ended up here after you died?" Madia asked. "It was set like that for thousands of years. We just didn't know it. We were meant to come here to guide you after we died so you could all stand a chance of success." Nocturne answered.

"We learned a lot upon doing so. Prophecies, secrets and things hidden from us, and all about this worlds design." Alaria included.

"Ah yes, that reminds me..." Nocturne said his face turning grim. "We found one prophecy that worries us greatly. It's concerning the remaining members of the royal family."

"You mean your daughters?" Cael asked. "Yes, and the current captain of the guard." Alaria replied. "Anyway, we saw a prophecy foretelling that our daughters, Celestia in especially, would end up facing Discortunal himself." Nocturne pushed on.

"No, that can't be!" Madia said stepping forward. "They wouldn't be able to raise a hoof against him!" Aevum didn't need any special powers to figure that out. "Which is why we are so concerned. We have no idea what will happen through that prophecy, but whatever it is it could be very terrible. That's why we need to rely on you to protect them." Nocturne reasoned.

"Please, you must save them from Discortunal when that time comes!" Alaria begged. "We are powerless now, we can't even see what happens beyond this place. The only way we can communicate is when you four enter this realm through the gates." She continued.

"Gates? I'm assuming those are the places in the cave we stood on?" Flain figured out. "Yes, but you can take others with you. We'll be waiting here for you to bring our daughters safely after Discortunal is defeated." Nocturne told them.

"We would very much like to speak to our daughters while they live, and tell them many important things about us, their future and themselves even." Alaria said calming down.

"Don't worry, we'll bring them to you perfectly fine." Aevum promised. Alaria smiled and nodded. "Thank you, Aevum." She said.

"You mentioned something about the captain of the guard before. What was that about?" Cael asked. "According to prophecy he will be of great assistance to you. We aren't sure what, but he will do something to make your battle with Discortunal easier." Nocturne responded.

"How could he have any effect on the battle's outcome, considering how powerful Discortunal is?" Aevum questioned. "We can't be sure, but he is very strong and powerful. He isn't captain for nothing." Alaria answered.

"Right, so we should try to find him then?" Aevum offered. Alaria and Nocturne exchanged a hesitant glance. "Well, let's just say you won't have to worry about that." Alaria said. She seemed to be hiding something, but Aevum didn't pry.

"It's almost time for you all to return and awaken your strengths. There's time for you to ask one more question." Nocturne said.

"Aevum, you haven't asked much. Anything you would like to ask them about?" Madia said walking up beside Aevum. Flain and Cael nodded in agreement as they handed over the final question.

"Well, there is one thing I'm a little curious about." Aevum said. "What's that?" Nocturne urged Aevum to ask his question.

"Well, may I have a full explanation of how the false versions of our loved ones worked in Caels trial? There's something I need to be sure of." Aevum told the monarchs.

"Well, they are a special kind of pony which take on the appearance of the loved one of any pony nearby. They are a race known as changills and are very rare. They don't have their own appearances, they just mimic others." Alaria began.

"They have only a few special traits. They have patterns on their bodies and black faded ears, along with bright pure green eyes to make them different from the original pony they copied. Some know how to control this though and mask their unique features." Nocturne went on for his wife.

"The ponies are immediately connected to the loved one, and establish a connection with thoughts and mind. Ultimately it makes it so the changill will reflect the loved one's condition perfectly." Alaria then put in.

Aevum felt his heart stop for a moment. Fear and worry filled his mind as he realized what that meant.

"M-my father's copy... he died without me even touching him! It makes sense now!" Aevum stuttered. Alaria's eyes widened and that concerned look returned. "Oh my..." she said.

"We need to get back, now!" Aevum yelled turning to his comrades. They all nodded in agreement. "Your majesties, please send us back! Quickly!" Aevum asked desperately.

Nocturne nodded, a look of urgency on his face. "Right, beware of your delay though. Good luck keepers." He said quickly. "Please, remember us and make sure we are never forgotten." Alaria said, her eyes filled with sorrow.

"Don't worry, we'll see you again, and it will be with your children!" Aevum promised before the gray realm turned black, and Nocturne and Alaria disappeared.

"Close your eyes. You will fall asleep. When you wake up, you will be in the cave again, and will have become the keepers of Equestria." The royals said together.

Chapter 16 - Unveiled

Aevum's eyes were suddenly filled with white, and he felt like he was falling fast. Suddenly a circle appeared around where he was standing. It was glowing bright red like the circle he stepped into at the very start of the trials of the cave.

Then the six pointed star symbol appeared within the circle, also glowing red. The star was made up of two triangles.

The two triangles slowly began to turn underneath Aevum’s hooves. With one final lurch the cave spun into view around him and all the white light disappeared. The red symbol remained underneath him.

He was back in the cave, but now the circle's each had the star symbol within them unlike before, when they were empty.

In a flash of light, Madia, Cael and Flain appeared on their designated circles. They looked around a moment and exchanged glances with each other.

Aevum's first thought was to leave and head back to the settlement immediately, but he was helf firmly in place by some sort of spell or enchantment.

The symbol beneath him spun faster and faster, steadily growing brighter as it did so. Aevum could literally feel the magic and energy in the air as the cave and it's runes lit up into the four colours of the keepers.

Like before, lines traced from the individual circles into the center circle. However this time something more happened. That same six pointed star beneath Aevum’s hooves slowly drifted down the traced line and into the center.

The other stars did the same until they met.

When the four stars collided the turned into one yellow star which expanded to fill the larger circle.

There was a flash, and Aevum felt like he could move again, but his internal clock was completely thrown off. He had no idea what time it was, which was something he was always aware of until now.

He figured it was the effect of their powers going away until they were fully unlocked. "Go now, you must hurry! Your powers will unlock in ten minutes!" Alaria's voice echoed through the cavern.

Aevum acted instantly. He took off down the cave hall leading into the prophecy area of the cave. Skidding as he came out he turned and began running towards the cave entrance.

He looked back to make sure the others were following him. Sure enough they were right there behind him.

He turned forward again and ran up the stairs coming bursting out into the powerful wind and... Aevum paused when he got out. He looked around, a red mist had filled the forest and made visibility low. The wind was blowing strong enough that Aevum had to hold back against it.

"What's going on?" Madia yelled over the sound of leaves and wind. "The elements are in total chaos! It's just as Narcian said!" Aevum answered. "There's no time to waste, come on!" Flain called out.

They took off again as fast as they could through the dangerous forest, trying their best to dodge the bushes trees and branches that almost seemed to be targeting them. Crashing through leaves and twigs Aevum flinched as they stung his face and body.

As they got closer to the settlement the fog and mist was slowly clearing. By the time they came bursting out into the village, the mist had completely faded.

Aevum almost fell over from running so fast and suddenly seeing his village. All four of them gasped as they took in the sight.

Ponies lay dead in the dirt and mud roads, buildings burned and most were destroyed. Massive gaping holes showing the inside of the burning homes. Debris from explosions and destruction littered the village that wasn't even complete yet.

Aevum fought to keep himself from dashing towards his father's house, but it didn't work.

He took off without a second thought to see his father. "Aevum wait!" Madia called after him. He ignored her and kept going.

As he ran he passed many ponies he had been friends with at some point. He passed the white one that told him to saw some wood, and the pegasus who were building the other house, one of which whom had been a very close friend of his.

The others were chasing after him, but he didn't really care by this point. He tripped and fell to the ground. He slid a little, scraping himself in the process. He ignored the pain and got up. He was directly in front of his father's house now.

The door had been blasted open, and flames were billowing from the roof. He ran in and stopped breathing.

Lying there on the ground, grey and fragile, was his father's dead body. Aevum felt the tears building in his eyes, but that wasn't all there was to see. Not far from him, was Narcian, also on the ground. She was bleeding from the chest, like she had been slashed or stabbed there.

She was still breathing, miraculously.

"Narcian!" Aevum said regaining his breath. He ran over to her as she lay on the ground trying to stay alive. "A-Aevum...?" She stammered. "Narcian hang on!" Aevum said to her desperately.

"Th-the p-princesses... th-they were... t-taken..." She said her voice filled with suffering. "Madia, Flain we have to help her!" Aevum yelled turning around quickly. "We don't have our powers anymore! We can't do anything!" Madia pointed out.

Aevum turned back to Narcian. "A-Aevum... P-princesses.. He c-couldn't... t-touch th-them... p-protection..." She managed to say. "What?" Aevum asked trying to get her to explain.

"P-p-please... save... our world..." She said as her eyes closed. Aevum watched as Narcian, the master magician of the royal family died in front of him. And we couldn't do anything to stop it... Aevum thought, his sadness turning into anger.

The four keepers stood in silence for a bit, then Madia said something. "We need to find the princesses. We can't let them die in vain." She said to Aevum.

"This will be the last death whoever did this will be responsible for." Aevum said his voice quivering. "Aevum, what do you mean?" Madia asked nervously.

Aevum turned around and pushed his way past the others.

"Aevum?" Madia said trying to talk to him. He didn't respond, instead he looked to the ground and found hoof prints. Aevum followed them with his eyes and they lead into another nearby forest other than the magical one.

Aevum felt his anger burning through as he took off on the trail. "Aevum, stop! Our powers aren't unlocked yet!" Flain called after him. Aevum wasn't concerned about that. All he cared about now was finding the pony who did this.

He crashed through the bushes and trees ignoring the pain he was feeling and chased after the pony.

He stopped when he came into a clearing. There was a black pony standing in front of the two terrified princesses. Celestia locked eyes with Aevum, before she and her sister vanished in a flash of light.

The black pony let out a sigh and turned around. It was the pony that had tried to stop them when they were first escaping with the princesses. His cold blue eyes made Aevum feel cold, but he was far too angry for it to have much of an effect.

"I must give your old rulers some credit. They stumped me quite well." He said. His face was serious and looked a little annoyed. He was still calm though. "You... you killed my entire village!" Aevum yelled seeing the blood on the alicorn’s horn.

"You call that a village? I could destroy it in my sleep." He taunted. Aevum clenched his teeth. "What was the point of killing everypony?" Aevum cried. "Why not just take what you want and leave?" He asked.

"Because they might try to stop me, like you are now. I think you're a little late now though." The black pony responded. He closed his eyes and grinned satisfactorily. "What did you do with the princesses?" Aevum questioned.

"I sent them to my master of course. If anypony can bypass that protection spell it's Discortunal." He said like it was obvious. "Protection spell?" Aevum wondered.

"Yes, those blasted royals placed some sort of protection on their daughters. I can't hurt them at all, otherwise they would be dead by now." The black pony explained.

"There's something special about you... I can feel it. You and two others escaped with the princesses. How?" The blue-eyed pony asked.

"It doesn't matter now. You won't live long anyway." Aevum said glaring. "Hahaha! That's rich. Are you going to kill me child? Do you want to get revenge? How do you plan on doing that?" He laughed.

"With our help." Aevum heard Cael's voice behind them.

Aevum looked over his shoulder and saw the other three walking up to join him.

"Ha! Four ponies against death itself! Do you know who I am?" He questioned the keepers. "I am the embodiment of death! I am Tennebris, captain of Discortunal's army!" He said raising his hoof towards them.

Suddenly what looked like clawed hands came up out of the ground and began grabbing the keepers, pulling them to the ground.

Aevum collapsed and lay there on his stomach held to the ground by the hands. Tennebris slowly walked over to them smiling.

Suddenly Aevum felt an odd sensation. It felt like energy flowing through him. Aevum and the others looked at each other. The energy was building up inside him and he felt time flowing around him.

"Do you know who we are?" Aevum asked a grin spreading across his face. Tennebris frowned as Aevum spoke. "We are Equestria's keepers of the elements!" Aevum said.

Aevum’s eyes suddenly glowed red as his powers returned. The familiar star and circle symbol appeared underneath them and the dark hands suddenly dissipated like mist.

The star’s triangle’s spun quickly and light filtered from the circle. Aevum and the others stood up to accept their powers back.

Aevum felt his inner clock working properly again. He knew the exact time down to the millisecond. He felt like he could do anything with time now, and was prepared for anything.

Suddenly his back felt sore and ached. The triangles stopped spinning and landed in a perfect position to align into the full star once again.

Wings suddenly grew from his back and Aevum suddenly felt the extra muscles and parts of his body as they appeared. The wings weren't like pegasus wings. They were bigger, and were red like his element colour.

With one final surge of energy, the symbol beneath them exploded with light and flame around them, leaving a crater in the ground.

The explosion caused no harm to the four of them, and they floated down into the shallow, but wide crater. Aevum looked at the others.

Madia now had purple wings like his, only slightly smaller. Flain was the same, only his feathers were blue and white. Caels wings were exactly like Aevum’’s except that they were green.

Aevum looked at Tennebris. They were now equal in height, unlike before when Tennebris was taller. His face was filled with shock, confusion and best of all, fear.

The four awakened keepers walked out of the crater side by side. "You may be the master of death, but we are the masters of this world, you and your master do not belong here." Aevum said facing Tennebris.

"This can't be possible... where were you four when we arrived?" Tennebris said in bewilderment.

"Discovering who we were. Your timing was terrible, we just unlocked our potential." Flain said calmly. Tennebris was horrified, but clearly angry.

"But the records show this world is thousands of years old! How did this world survive without keepers?" Tennibris asked. "Ask the one who abandoned your world, because his creation was corrupted." Madia said.

This made the other keepers turn and look at her. "The one who created your world left when Discortunal entered a reign of destruction. He cast you out in sad disappointment. Your world was supposed to be the most perfect of all!" Madia explained.

Aevum decided to roll with it and turned back to Tennebris. "The most perfect..." Tennebris echoed. "And... Discortunal shattered that..." He suddenly realized starting to have a change in heart.

The keepers look at each other. It was their turn to be shocked. The master of death was hesitating, and seemed to be having doubts.

"If Discortunal hadn't... No! Leniact is not your enemy!" He suddenly explained looking afraid. "What?" Cael responded. "Discortunal is your enemy! You don't know the full story!" He said. He seemed to be struggling. His teeth were clenched and his eyes were filled with pain.

Aevum was confused by the alicorns sudden attitude change. "What? What are you talking about? Who is Leniact?" Aevum asked trying to get some explanation. "Leniact, and Discortunal are one in the same pony! Leniact was our ruler! Discortunal was our destroyer!" Tennebris revealed.

Madia gasped. Cael stumbled over her words as she tried to say something in response. Clearly they had all figured it out somehow.

Leniact and Discortunal were the same pony, but one was a ruler, and the other was responsible for the other worlds chaos.

"Are you telling me Leniact was a good ruler, and Discortunal was not?" Aevum asked. "Leniact was the most suitable to be a ruler out of thousands! He never really cared for the living in it, but he cared for his kingdom! Discortunal takes pride in destruction and chaos!" Tennebris went on.

"You don't know everything, you need to know about our pas-AH!" He was interrupted by a yell as he collapsed in pain. His eyes were clenched shut and blood was visibly coming from his mouth he was clenching so hard.

"Oh my my, I certainly can't let you do that..." A voice said. Aevum recognized it instantly. "Discortunal!" He said. "Hahaha! My friend Tennebris, is this how my loyal servant repays me? I bestowed a way for you to follow me always without question, but these children found a weakness in that!"

Tennebris' eyes shot open, they had turned red like Discortunal's. "I'm afraid I'll have to remove what's left of your true self. You're my puppet until you die. Now please handle the situation accordingly." Discortunal's voice said like it was a joke.

"Yes... my... lord." Tennebris said standing up. All emotion was gone from his face. He looked at them, but seemed to be looking through them like he was staring at something behind Aevum. "He's completely under Discortunal's control!" Madia exclaimed.

Sure enough he went charging at the four keepers. The black clawed hands came up again. "Not this time." Flain said without raising his voice. The hands suddenly stopped. "According to law, the dead do not rise." He said, the smallest grin appearing.

The hands retreated into the ground again. Madia closed her eyes, clearing starting to think. "Aevum, buy me some time?" She asked. Aevum smiled. "How much?" He answered her with a question. "30 seconds?" She suggested.

"Easy." Time slowed at the perfect speed so Tennebris wouldn't reach them for another 30 seconds.

Madia stood there thinking, Flain and Aevum waited anxiously as the girls focused on what to do.

After exactly 28 seconds Madia spoke up. "Got it!" She said opening her eyes. Aevum immediately knew exactly what to do next.

Cael disappeared and Flain lept into Tennebris' path. Madia ran around to the other side of Tennebris as the last two seconds ended and stood in a ready position.

Aevum stepped to the side slightly and crouched down ready to run. Time resumed and Tennebris launched ahead to Flain. Flain stood there unmoving wearing a plain almost bored face. Tennebris went launching right through Flain like Flain was a ghost.

The puppet stumbled and before he could regain his footing Cael appeared with a pop and essentially punched him in the snout with her front hoof.

He went flying back towards Madia. Flain had joined her and was standing with her. Grass started to grow as the stunned pony went careening over to them. Madia and Flain leapt up and hit him in mid air sending him crashing to the ground. When he landed plants and grass sprung up.

Clever, they took his energy and put it into the ground so he would be weaker! Aevum grinned and charged at Tennebris at the perfect time.

Right as Tennebris stood up fully, Aevum struck (more like tapped) Tennebris on the shoulder. Aevum stopped without skidding and Tennebris' eyes widen.

Aevum took his hoof off of Tennebris, and the dark alicorn froze in time, permanently.

Aevum sighed. "Ha, now that's a well thought out plan." Aevum said complimenting Madia. "Thank you, but it wouldn't have worked without any of you!" She said giving everyone credit.

Tennebris' eyes turned blue, and he stared off into space never to move again. "I feel bad, after what happened and how he's going to remain now." Cael commented. Aevum nodded in agreement. "Perhaps we can unfreeze him later after all this is over." Aevum offered.

"Maybe, if he's 'himself.'" Flain added. They all sighed. "I feel like I have lost almost no energy at all." Cael commented. "Me too, having our powers like this is great! Discortunal has a challenge ahead of him!" Madia said energetically. "He wanted one if you remember from before." Aevum pointed out.

Then he thought of something. Tennebris had mentioned Leniact, and how Discortunal had once been a ruler. Was there more than what they thought to the tyrant?

"I'm impressed. You knew since I was the master over death, I could not be killed with ease. Instead you froze me. Or so you thought." Tennebris suddenly said.

Aevum whirled around. Sure enough, floating over Madia was the armored alicorn. He had his hoof on Madia's head, and she was staring straight ahead in shock.

"You honestly think I'm that clueless? I'm offended." Tennebris said calmly. "Perhaps this will teach you a lesson." He said frowning at Madia. "The strategist is the most important part of any battle. So it's only logical that you're first."

Madia gasped and all the colour started draining from her body. "Madia!" Aevum said starting to run to help her. Tennebris had clearly thought of this though. Another one of those hands came up and tripped Aevum.

Aevum got up quickly, but when he did Madia had gone completely grey. She collapsed to the ground and lay limp. Tennebris looked at her with what looked like suspicion.

Aevum felt his adrenaline building as Tennebris crossed the line. "You destroyed my village... you killed my father..." He said. "And now, you kill my closest friend." Aevum said still staring at Madia's body.

"Keepers, what a joke." Tennebris said. The hands came up and grabbed Aevum again. Aevum didn't even flinch. "Tell me, what happens when a pony gets old?" Aevum said, his voice cold and merciless.

Tennebris' eyes widened slightly. "Why, they become fragile and weak of cour-" He was cut off by a yelp of pain. "Correct." Aevum said looking up to face his enemy.

Aevum, I am not dead! Madia's voice suddenly said in his head. Your emotions are getting to you again! Don't let that cloud your judgement and mercy! She said.

Aevum flinched now. Tennebris gasped and stumbled to the ground. Aevum looked at him and realised he had aged. He had gone from looking 30 years old to 50. Madia's body suddenly vanished, and Cael stepped forward.

"Master of death, what a joke." She said. Madia suddenly materialized beside Cael, perfectly healthy. Aevum was really confused now.

Madia tapped Tennebris on the head. His eyes slowly closed and he fell asleep. "Aevum, freeze him now. He won't be able to ever wake up if he's frozen." Madia said. Aevum decided questions could wait a listened. He froze Tennebris and left him there.

Flain walked over. "So he made a copy of himself... how did he manage that?" He wondered. Madia shrugged. "Probably with a little help from Discortunal." She reasoned.

"Wait hold up, he killed you! What just happened?" Aevum asked for an explanation. Madia giggled. "Oops, sorry I thought I explained the whole plan to you!" She apologized. "I did exactly what he did. I projected a copy of myself. Kind of an illusion." She then explained.

"Oh, I see." Aevum said gulping. He was beginning to fear his own power. He had just forced that other pony to age unnaturally fast. It was such a cruel thing to do. Madia was right, his emotions controlled him.

"Aevum?" Madia got his attention. Aevum looked at her to show he was listening. "Closest friend?" She said clearly holding back a laugh. Aevum could swear he was blushing suddenly. How do I keep getting myself into these positions? He thought to himself.

"You just don't choose your words carefully enough!" Madia teased. Oh right, she can read minds! That only makes it better! Aevum thought sarcastically.

"Yes it does, now that my powers are unlocked I can see every single thought you have including your memories and opinions!" She said narrowing her eyes and smiling mischievously. "For Equestria's sake tell them to get a room." Cael said.

She promptly fell on her face as Flain tripped her up using magic. He chuckled to himself and began walking. "It's not their fault you're so immature about this sort of thing." He commented as he walked by Cael.

Cael got up spitting dirt and grass from her mouth. "Next time you trip me up you may find yourself being the one on the ground!" Cael threatened. Everyone laughed.

"A few ponies after my own heart!" Discortunal's voice suddenly boomed. Everyone immediately jumped up ready to fight. "Even in the darkest of times you still have your fun. Who knows perhaps next time you'll be the ones causing those dark times!" He jeered.

"Shut it, we're on our way to end these times!" Cael exclaimed. "Oh my, what a temper. You must be the keeper of space correct?" Discortunal said. "Oh, and the little girl with the imagination, you know love isn't something I appreciate in my kingdom. It's just not entirely... appealing to my nature." He said keeping his voice low.

"Your kingdom?" Aevum exclaimed. Madia looked stunned by Discortunal's comment. "Bahahahaha! You think you're the only one who can read minds girl?" Discortunal laughed noisily. "You really care for him that much? That will only make it even more fun to kill him!" Madia clenched her teeth.

"No wonder you murdered your own loved ones in your world. You don’t care at all for lives, you treat them like you can just make another one in an instant." Cael put in.

"Ah the young keeper of space! I'm certain you're curious about your sister’s condition are you not?" He taunted. "I think you may find her body at the west castle gates. It's a little hard to recognize though after what it's been through..." He commented.

"Shut up! You're a liar and a tyrant, why should any of us listen to you?" Cael said. Right then though an image appeared in front of them in the air. It showed a picture of an orange filly, but her body had been broken cut and bruised. There was mud and dirt all over her and she lay on the side of a road.

"No-!" Cael gasped. "Haaahahahahaha! She made a brilliant escape attempt, but she didn't get far! She was escaping the city with your mother when they got stopped by my loyal subjects." He cackled.

"What do you plan to achieve by telling us this?" Flain asked. "I'm merely giving you all an idea of your situation. Which reminds me, that pegasus friend of yours found her parents." Discortunal said. "Dead!" He burst out laughing again. Flain said nothing and his expression didn't change.

"My my aren't you a serious one? Ponies like you bore me, I will enjoy ending both you and your friends lives." He said sounding slightly annoyed. “Perhaps that’s the point.” Flain said.

“Hm, no matter. I look forward to your arrival at my castle! I will find your attempts to defeat me quite amusing, I know it.” Discortunal said. “Stop acting like you own this place, you’re far from it.” Aevum said.

“Bold words, but considering I already have the princesses in my possession and killed the rest of the royal family I think you will find anyone would say I have earned my right as ruler of this kingdom!” He said confidently.

“Kill all of the royal family, good luck with that.” Flain said. “You clearly don’t know about this worlds setup. Considering that just about every single pony in the castle is considered royalty, you’re going to have to be awfully merciless.”

“Thank you for pointing that out my dear friend, I shall get righ-” Flain interrupted Discortunal as he was talking. “Ah ah ah, did you know that all alicorns are counted as royalty as well? That means, we are royalty as of recently.” Flain told Discortunal.

Discortunal paused at this. Aevum smiled at Flain’s cunning explanation. “No matter, I’ll just kill you when you arrive. I will be waiting, keepers.” He said, sounding a little less confident after that.
Aevum exchanged a glance with his friends, the looked up toward the sky. “And we will be there. If you want a challenge, you’ll get one. I assure you.”

Chapter 17 - Defying a God

Flare Sight's eyes opened as he drifted back into the world he no longer recognized. As his senses returned, so did the pain which he felt all over his body. The cold, tight shackles around his hooves left crease marks and even cut off the blood circulation at times if he pulled on them too hard.

The place he was in was dark, and dank. The ground was rough and bumpy, and made from shaded stone slabs. There was some moss on the walls, and he could hear water dripping nearby.

His body was covered in scratches, bruises and cuts. His head throbbed as his memory tried to recall what had happened before he passed out. He remembered getting the cuts from one of those fiendish demon ponies, who had a knife. He also remembered being beaten on, but that wasn't his real concern.

Finally he remembered why he had passed out. Based on the fact he felt no pain in his head other than head aches, he assumed he passed out from extreme pain. But what had happened that caused that?

Suddenly more pain returned to him, but this was so excruciating he yelled in shock. He felt extreme pain near his forehead. No... it can't be...? He thought. He blinked and moved his face muscles. His face felt hot and sticky. He licked his tongue up onto his mouth and tasted blood.

He stepped back towards the wall the shackles were holding him to by chain, so he could lift his front hooves. Slowly, and ever so cautiously, he moved his hoof towards his horn.

He never found it. It simply wasn't there. It wasn't just broken, it was completely gone. His senses were fully returned now and he noticed that his face had some blood running down it. Whatever happened it must have been recent... the blood is still flowing and wet. Flare Sight thought.

Then he remembered what had happened. It was him, the black alicorn himself who had done it. He remembered the pain as his horn was snapped in two while it was still attached to his head, and then the rest of it being sawed at, but then he passed out.

What a cruel soul indeed... how could one ever end up in such a way? Flare Sight said in his mind. "Years, and years of hate, desire for revenge, for power, and success." A voice said. Discortunal walked into the dark dungeon room from the blackness.

He smirked slightly as he walked over to the half dead unicorn. "I'm surprised you woke up so fast." The tyrant commented. "Tell me, do you hate me?" He asked the once captain of the royal guard. Flare Sight looked up at him, but Discortunal was shocked when he saw the ponies eyes were not angry. They were not afraid either. They were filled with sorrow and compassion.

"No." Flare Sight answered. Discortunal frowned. "Is this how you were trained? To not give the enemy a satisfying result? If so perhaps your nation had something right here." The alicorn questioned. "This has nothing to do with training." Flare Sight said his voice strained with pain.

"Well then..." Discortunal said. Suddenly the chains detached from the walls and Flare Sight was pulled to the ground as the chains spread his legs out from underneath him. He let out a grunt as he was chained there.

Discortunal walked up. "You know, I find your resilience amusing. The fact you refuse to give in and refuse to tell me what I want only gives me the chance to enjoy your pain for longer." He pointed out.

"So tell me, when the ones you love, being the royal family and the entire population of the castle are dead by my hoof, does that not make you loathe me?" Discortunal leaned in close glaring. "Stop lying, and be truthful. Maybe your death will be quicker."

"Why don't you tell me, why would I lie at this point, when I'm already half dead? What would be the purpose?" Flare countered. "Besides, you said it yourself. You enjoy watching me in pain. That means you would never keep your word." Flare also included.

"Fine, but if you care for your nation perhaps you will tell me..." Discortunal slowly broke off as he stepped in front of Flare. Suddenly he reared up and slammed his front hooves on Flare Sight's back hard. Flare gasped and coughed. "How do I break the king and queens protection spell?" Discortunal yelled angrily.

Flare coughed a little and spat out blood. "Hah... you fear the children? They haven't any more power than I... they can barely use magic if even..." He said still gasping. "They hold the one thing I need to determine my fate. I wish to do to them what I've done to you. Squeeze the information I want out of them." He said.

"Children, you would torture children?" Flare asked genuinely surprised. "Why not, they are ponies too after all." Discortunal reasoned. "Ah, and that is one of the very reasons I do not hate you." Flare responded.

Discortunal frowned again. Flare couldn't help show the hint of a smile when he turned Discortunal's words against himself. "We are all ponies, even you. Modelled after the same thing, just with different personalities." Flare Sight went on.

"Of course... what is a perfect world without forgiveness and understanding?" He finished. Discortunal paused. "Forgiveness... understanding?" He said. Suddenly the chains pulled on Flare's legs and stretched him.

"How can one forgive us when we have performed such awful actions? How can one understand us without experiencing what we did?" Discortunal asked enraged. There were two voices speaking at the same time. One deep and angry, the other a little more curious instead of angry.

"One does not need to experience to understand. One needs only the wisdom of truth and reality to realize another’s pain, and to know the ones past." Flare sight answered insight-fully. Discortunal snorted. "My past? What could you possibly know about my past?" Discortunal asked.

"Ah, you meant 'our' past." Flare replied. "That past is shared by two, is it not? You spoke like there were two of you." He said. "There is only one pony here with you, and that is I! The great Discortunal!" The ruler said proudly.

"And, the great ruler Leniact." Flare added.

The expression on Discortunal's face turned from one of pride, to one of shock, bewilderment and confusion in an instant. "What?" He said.

"Anyway... you wanted the secret to the protection spell." Flare moved on. "I think you may find the blue flower within the princesses bedrooms important." He said. Discortunal completely forgot about how Flare knew his alternate name and focused on the new information.

"The flower?" He asked mystified. "The king and queen were not the ones who placed the protection spell. It was I." He said. Discortunal's eyes raised at this. "What? You? That's not possible!" He said in shock.

"Do you know why you caught me so easily? I was weak from creating the spell. I used the flower as a countdown. When the flower has wilted completely then the spell will wear off." Flare explained. The chains moved and Flare pulled himself to his hooves.

After a moment he started chuckling. Discortunal looked a little confused. Then Flare began laughing as if he had heard the greatest joke of the century. "Wha-... What's so funny?" Discortunal asked.

Flare stopped laughing. "Ha, I'm laughing, at how completely clueless you are." He said smiling defiantly. "What?" Discortunal responded to the insult.

"The royal family is not your only threat, not by a long shot." Flare began. "Explain to me and maybe I will be merciful to you." Discortunal responded. Flare burst into laughter again. Discortunal was clearly a little unnerved by his laughing prisoner.

"You wouldn't be merciful to me if your life depended on it!" Flare pointed out what he already knew. "Besides, do you honestly think I care what happens to myself by now?" He continued. "It's out of my hands, but there are others far more powerful than I."

"Who are these ponies? What can they do that I cannot?" Discortunal asked angrily. Flare stared Discortunal in the eye, smirking. Suddenly Discortunal lunged at Flare and slammed him up against the wall. A chain came out and wrapped around Flares neck and squeezed tightly.

Flare gagged as the chains shifted and threatened to choke him. "TELL ME!" Discortunal yelled at the top of his lungs, his voice echoed and menacing. "You know full well who they are." Flare pointed out. Discortunal looked at him shocked. "Those ponies are children, they can't be compared to me in the slightest!" Discortunal said.

"Sure they can, age does not a wise pony make." Flare said. "That's rich! With age comes experience, and with experience comes knowledge and wisdom!" Discortunal answered.

"Ah, but the other question is whether that knowledge and wisdom is the correct kind. One can learn and be aware of much, but if they aren't aware of the right things then they won't ultimately be as wise." Flare reasoned.

"Have you ever spent time learning how to use the powers blessed upon you, or did you instantly take off using them without going out of the way to learn?" Flare questioned. Discortunal looked at him curiously. The chains around Flare's neck relaxed slightly.

"The ponies coming for you are named the Keepers." Flare said moving on. "Impossible, I killed the keepers myself years ago!" Discortunal responded. "Ah but they cursed you didn't they?" Flare said.

Discortunal staggered back at this. "Wha-... How did you...?" He stuttered. "They expelled their remaining life force into a curse to haunt and torment you. Right before they died they made sure you too would die before you ruined everything for the new 'perfect' world here known as Equestria." Flare explained.

"That... that's impossible! How do you know all of this? This world is five thousand years old and you were born only thirty four years ago! You could not possibly know so much about both my world and yours!" Discortunal began rambling. "And what do you mean by perfect world?" He then continued to ask.

"The one who created this world meant for your world to be his greatest creation, bu then you decided to take matters into your own hooves. It was your fault the world fell apart. So the creator tried again with this world with success." Flare explained.

"Your intellect is... astounding... unnaturally so. Where did you learn all this?" Discortunal was in awe. Flare smirked. "Then again, I can't blame you for coming here. To rule a ruined world desolated by your own hoof must be terrible. After all, I have been there before... I would know." Flare finally began to let out his secret.

"What?" The ruler questioned. "I did not realize until recently. The four keepers are part of a prophecy, the royal family is connected to the prophecy, and me and the master magician are also a part of the same prophecy." Flare began telling Discortunal.

"Do you remember your wife, Leniact?" Discortunal's anger rose again. "Do not call me by that name!" He said. "You want to know where my knowledge comes from? Well why don't I explain?" Flare teased him.

"Shortly after you entered this world, my head was filled with a ponies knowledge. I'm not sure why or how it happened, but it did. Do you know who's knowledge that was?" He asked.

"That knowledge, was your wife's. I know everything about you, your world and your past." He revealed to the ruler. For a split second Discortunal's eyes flashed blue, but then they went red again. He shook his head. "I... no, that's impossible." He said.

"I didn't think so either, it's quite peculiar. But like I said, I understand you and why you're like this. There is one thing I wish, I wish that Leniact would wake up." Flare said. Discortunal yelled in pain and fell down.

"Leniact is still alive. Your wife knew that. She saw before you killed her the hesitation. You paused a moment like you didn't want to kill her. Leniact still lives." Flare went on. "Shut up! No!" Discortunal yelled as he struggled on the ground trying to gain control over his mind.

"Do you know what my part is in the prophecy? I was meant to help Leniact wake up, and assist the keepers." Flare said. "Leniact shall never wake up! I will not let him control us! We are in control and we wil not let him through!" Discortunal said.

"You are speaking like there are two of you again. Leniact is awake, and he's fighting you. I can see it." Flare said smiling. "Leniact... I... will... not... relinquish control!" Discortunal said standing up. His eyes were still red.

"I do not care how much do you know, I want any information you hold that may be important!" Discortunal tried to get information from Flare.

"I will tell you this, I know one thing for certain, this castle will be my grave..." He began and trailed off. He closed his eyes and smiled to himself even as Discortunal approached. "And yours!" He said.

Suddenly a light shone around Flare Sight. "I shall fulfill my part in the prophecy!" He cried as his eyes were filled with red. The pain in his forehead was indescribable, but by this point pain was of no matter to him. He felt the blood flowing from where his horn used to be.

His eyes filled with tears, but they were not tears of pain. "I cannot explain how proud I am, to hold such a part in this legend." He managed. Discortunal was caught completely off guard as magic filled the room. "Impossible! You have no horn, you should not be able to use his magic!" Discortunal said.

"Ask yourself Leniact, do you agree with Discortunal's chaotic reign? Stop hiding in the dark and awake!" Flare cried. Discortunal once again collapsed from either pain, or struggle.

"All my strength goes into this now..." Flare said. "Keepers... please... save our world..." Flare managed as all his energy was released into a burst of magic. With that the entire prison exploded in a cloud of purple smoke and fire.

Discortunal crawled from the rubble coughing. A voice spoke from his mouth, but it was not his own. "Remind me to thank Flare Sight for the encouraging words..." It said. "Shut up! Who are you, why are you speaking through me?" Discortunal said.

"You know full well who I am Discortunal." The voice said again. "I am Leniact, we are two ponies in the same body. I must give you credit though. I cannot move. All I can do is speak." Leniact said. "You can't control me... I am a god!" Discortunal panted.

"If you are a god, where is your left wing?" Leniact said coolly. Discortunal's blood red eyes widened. He finally noticed the pain where his one wing should have been. "Ironic, you take away Flare Sight's pride and joy, his horn. Flare Sight takes away your pride and joy, your wing." Leniact said a trace of humor in his voice.

Discortunal clenched his teeth. "If I was not waking up you would have escaped, but I fixed that. Might I add, Flare's horn was not completely gone. The horn is simply a bone rising from the skull. The horn is a part of the skull. Part of the horn was still there beneath the muscle and skin. To remove his magic would be to remove his skull. I wish you luck with that." Leniact explained for him.

"Drat... how could I not have thought of that..." Discortunal commented. "Because you were to caught up in your emotions. They clouded your reasoning and your pride stopped you from considering the possibilities." Leniact wisely pointed out.

"I hope the keepers kill us soon, for both mine and Equestria's sake." Leniact said. Discortunal wanted to make the alternate personality in him shut up, but he knew he could not. Leniact had awakened and was fighting for control back.

Chapter 18 - Deceiver

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.

Chapter 12 - Trial of Dream

Madia's heart nearly stopped when she saw where her trial would take place. Everything around them was dark. The ground was charred and dry, the skies were filled with black clouds but no rain fell from them. They were standing in what should be a swamp from the vines and drooping trees, but it was so dry that the mud was hard and cracked.

Dry, dark and dreary. That was Madia's least favorite environment. It generated a feeling of hopelessness and despair. Something Madia hated. She was afraid it would be bad when they arrived, but nothing like this.

"Welcome to the trial of dream, keepers. Good luck." A female voice spoke in the heavy air. Madia looked around for a moment, trying to think of what to do next. "Another unpleasant location. I can see why it's your least favorite." Flain said to Madia.

She nodded and looked at her comrades. "So we need to find the crystal primarily. Where do we begin?" Cael said. "Considering the circumstances it shouldn't be too difficult right?" Aevum shook his head. "It may be dry and clear, but the crystal can still be well hidden. It will also be difficult coping with these conditions."

Suddenly a screech echoed through the air. Madia jumped and looked around frantically for a moment. Something flew above them overhead. From what Madia could make out it had large black wings far too big for a pegasus, and they seemed torn and dirt. The figure looked like a pony from below, but Madia wasn't certain.

"What is that thing?" Cael said as the creature flew in circles. "I don't know, I've never heard of it!" Madia said. "Either way I don't like it. Let's try to steer clear of it's path." Flain suggested.

The group moved to a deeper part of the dried up swamp to stay out of sight of the monster if they could. It seemed to work. The monster flew away after a little while and went somewhere else in the forest of dead trees.

"I don't want to know what that thing will do if it see's us." Cael said. Aevum let out a sigh. "Well we have to start searching somewhere. Otherwise we'll never find the crystal." He said.

Madia decided to take a moment to think and concentrate on her powers. Each trial taught them how to use their powers creatively. If my element dream, is focused on the mind, can I manipulate what I see? She thought.

She looked at her surroundings. The trees made it difficult to see too far, so she tried to imagine them as not being there to test. It only wasted energy. A couple trees around them disappeared but that was it.

"Woah, some of the trees just vanished." Cael said. Cael walked over to the hole in the ground where one of them used to be. I see, so I'm literally making them disappear... Madia realized. She figured that was why it used so much energy.

She tried again, this time though focusing on what her mind could see. It took a moment, but all the trees disappeared from her vision. This didn't use nearly as much energy. She still couldn't see everything though. The area was too large.

"Madia, what are you doing?" Aevum asked. Madia's concentration broke and all the trees appeared. She sighed and turned to Aevum. "I'm trying to use my powers to see around us, but I couldn't find the crystal." She explained.

Aevum looked disappointed. "That's unfortunate. I guess we'll just have to look the hard way." He said turning to the others. Madia joined him and the others as they tried to come up with a way to search effectively while keeping away from the strange creature.

"Splitting up is obviously a bad idea since our powers were meant to work together." Flain pointed out. "But staying together makes things slower. It will take us forever to find it like that with how large this place is." Aevum responded.

Madia was only half listening. She was trying to think of a way to find the crystal without exerting herself. She thought about the kinds of things Alaria had done. Mainly how she had told them to protect the princesses back before they escaped. How did she find us back then? Madia asked herself the question.

Another screech sounded nearby. Madia crouched down low to the ground as her thoughts were interrupted by the piercing scream. She quickly backed up against a tree to get some cover from the tangled mess of branches. She looked up and saw the creature flying low to the ground, clearly searching for them.

Madia got a clear view of it now. It's body was shaped like a ponies, but where it's mouth should be, there was a beak, and from the neck up over it's head it had feathers instead of hair. The feathers were dark and dirty, and some of them were ruffled with blank patches here and there.

It's eyes were pure red and glowed angrily. It's front legs weren't like a ponies at all. They were skinny and yellow. They seemed to have claws like a bird instead of hooves. It's back legs however were like a pony. It looked like a griffin, but it was part pony instead of part lion. Its black body almost blended in with the cloudy sky. Its ribs were visible from under its skin, suggesting it hadn't eaten in a long time. There were spots where its fur had been scorched off, making the creature look like it had been through a terrible life.

It opened its beak and let out another blood curdling cry. Madia shuddered as it searched for them. "That thing is starting to tick me off..." Cael said in an angry whisper. "It's heading this way, it might see us in this low cover." Flain whispered.

Madia looked at it nervously as it approached. Her mind whirled as she tried to think of what to do. Then it dawned on her. If she could make things disappear from her perspective who's to say she couldn't do the same to the griffin pony?

She focused her magic on the creature and tried to concentrate. It took a little longer, but she manage to get through and affect the creatures mind. She hoped it worked, because she couldn't tell for sure.

"Everyone be quiet, here it comes." Aevum said. Everyone went silent like he had said and waited nervously for what would happen.

The creature flew closer and closer. Madia could feel her heart pounding as she watched the terrifying creature's eyes look from one direction to the next hunting for it's prey. It's black wings flapped against the humid air noisily as it flew almost directly over them.

It looked straight at Madia as it flew. Madia held back a gasp and held her breath as the creatures eyes fixed on where she was hiding. It turned and began circling. Aevum looked at Madia nervously as the creature hovered directly above their questionable hiding spots.

There was no doubt about it, the creature must have seen something, but maybe it was unsure. Madia silently prayed that her magic had worked and the creature was unable to see them.

After what seemed like an eternity, there was a thud sound a distance to Madia's left. Madia looked to see what it was. All her friends were to her right, so where had the sound come from?

The beast seemed to notice it too. It let out a screech and flew off in the direction the sound came from. Madia waited a moment until she could no longer see it, then let out the breath she had been holding. Everyone else did the same.

"Why didn't it attack us? It looked at us, but didn't do anything?" Cael asked confused, but relieved. "I used my magic on it. It wasn't able to see us clearly. My powers can alter minds." Madia explained.

"But what was that sound that came from way out there?" She then proceeded to ask. "That was me slamming my hoof on the tree." Flain said. Aevum looked at him funny. "What? But the sound came from over there!" Aevum said pointing one hoof out towards where the bird-pony had gone. "Law can alter sound as well. I made it sound like it came from out there and made it louder." Flain told them.

Madia smiled. "That's clever. Maybe your powers are stronger now." Madia reasoned. "I've always been able to do that. It was the first thing I discovered about my magic." The maroon pony said. "That was you then who was talking to me back in Canterlot!" Cael said.

Flain chuckled lightly. "Yes, who else? Unless you know any other pony who can manipulate the laws of sound." He responded. Cael smiled faintly.

Aevum sighed deeply. "That was far too close for me. That thing was freaky." He said happy to see it gone.

Madia couldn't help feeling bad for the pitiful thing. It looked like it was starved and half dead. Unfortunately, it wanted them for food, and Madia knew that couldn't happen.

Her thoughts returned as her focus was diverted back to the crystal. If Alaria was able to find them using dream, Madia figured she could too. So I'm searching for an object like a crystal. A purple crystal. She thought.

Suddenly she felt her stomach lurch as her perspective changed. She was looking at a large purple crystal stationed within a tree. However it was attached to the tree, like it had grown inside it.

She felt her hopes rise when she saw it. But where is this? And how do we find it without this? Madia asked herself. She paused as she thought for a moment. Then it dawned on her. She decided to see if she could make a beacon of light shine from the crystal.

Unfortunately she quickly guessed the black winged creature would notice it too. That would make it a race to see who could get there first.

But it was their best option, so she decided to go with it. She focused her magic above the crystal, and imagine a pillar of light shining high into the sky, not being stopped by any object.

It worked. Too well. A pillar of white light shot up from the crystal and burst clean through the tree and high into the clouds.

Her perspective switched and she found herself back with her friends. "I found it!" She gasped. She just noticed now how much of her power finding the crystal and making the beacon had used.

"It's where that beacon is out there!" Madia told her friends. "When did you do that?" Flain asked a little confused. "Just ten seconds ago. Come on, that thing will notice it too!" Madia said quickly. No one argued and they all began running through the dead forest and vines as they raced to the crystal that would end the trial.

Madia thought about something as they were running though. She had to discover something about herself to finish the trial correctly.

An endless sleep seizes the mind... that must be our locked powers. Madia thought back to the prophecies on the cave wall. If you can rest then you can find... when you sleep and dream your imagination is at its strongest. Or maybe it's because my powers require energy and I need to recover that. Madia threw ideas out.

She couldn't figure it out though. There were many other possibilities as well and she couldn't leave out any of them. The one about sleep and dreaming was the one she felt was the best but she wasn't certain.

She decided to put that aside for the time being. If she wasn't ready they would have to confront the monster searching for them. She decided to come up with a strategy in case they had to face the creature.

We could contain the creature with some of our magic. Aevum could freeze it in time... wait but what if that doesn't work? What if Aevum can't freeze living things? Maybe Flain can trap it by holding him with gravity... but he might crush the creature then! Madia fought with herself over what to do. She didn't want to hurt or kill the poor thing.

Maybe Flain can do what he did last time and lead it away... but what if it has learned by now not to fall for that? Okay what if I cause it to be confused using my powers... it might run rampant then! This is so frustrating! She couldn't make up her mind. She was supposed to be the strategist, but she felt she couldn't even make a decision.

Then the familiar scream filled the air. The monster was coming for them and they had to be quick. The beacon was much closer now, but it was still a distance away. Madia dared to look back to see the creature.

It wasn't as close as she had expected, but it was faster than them, meaning it would catch up eventually.

"Here it comes!" Aevum said. "At this rate it will catch up to us right before we reach the beacon!" Cael said. "Then we have no choice. If it interferes we're going to have to fight it." Flain said. Madia shuddered as Flain told them exactly what she didn't want to hear.

They continued to run, dodging the trees, dried up vines and branches. Madia tried to see ahead but it was difficult with everything in the way.

The bird-pony continued chasing them until it was almost right over top of them. It dove down once, but it missed and resumed its chase from above. Madia could see a very large tree up ahead, and the beacon was closer than ever.

Finally they came bursting out into a clearing with a single massive tree in the middle. It was at least twice the size of the other trees and glowed faintly. Madia couldn't see inside it, but she knew the crystal was in there.

At almost the same time the beast landed in front of them between the crystal and the keepers. "You've got to be kidding me. It's defending the crystal?" Aevum said angrily. "The trial is supposed to work against us. Maybe that's what this is." Madia said.

Up close the beast was even more terrifying, and Madia finally recognized it. She had seen the monster in a dream long ago when she was a filly. The creature was from her own nightmares. It was the very thing she feared most.

In the dream, the creature had killed her. She could remember it clearly. It had grabbed her neck with its claws and choked her to death, its powerful talons digging into her. In a dream, when you die you wake up, but you feel pain because it's in the mind. Suffocation was the kind of death madia feared, because it was slow and painful.

But it lead Madia to wonder. Why would it do that instead of kill her with its sharp claws or beak? Madia found herself questioning whether the dream was actually a nightmare or something much more.

The creature glared at them as it stood between them and their goal. Its eyes suddenly fixed on Madia. It knows this is my trial...! Madia quickly figured out it would target her.

"Come on then, what are you waiting for?" Flain said to the monster. It let out a screech and flexed it's talons in the ground. It seemed to be waiting for something, Flain was right about that, but what?

Madia and the beast stared at each other. Madia felt like she was frozen by its gaze. She couldn't bring herself to move. "Wake up dreamer. You're not ready for this." The creature said to her. "Bravery, focus, control. These all things you don't have." It's voice was deep and hoarse.

The words dug into her. It was true. She wasn't brave, she couldn't make her decisions correctly and she couldn't control when her powers were active.

"Shut it!" Aevum suddenly said. "We all have our faults, and that's why there's four of us!" Aevum said all of a sudden between the monster and Madia. The monster screeched in annoyance and charged at Aevum. He stood his ground as it went in for the kill, lifting off the ground with its mighty wings.

Suddenly Aevum vanished and the beast was going straight for Madia. There was a moment when Madia thought the beast was about to get her, but it suddenly slowed down. Madia saw Aevum standing beside the creature, his hoof touching its feathered neck. He had slowed it down.

"Madia, remember what Narcian said about working together?" Flain said, his voice was coming from right beside her ear. "What I say is law, and I say you can let your mind free." He said to her.

Suddenly there was a rumbling sound like thunder. It began to rain and the dried earth become moist. Madia looked at Flain in shock. He was panting a little, but he smiled at her as the rain poured down on them in a torrent.

Madia looked at her friends and saw Aevum at the ready with his magic. Cael had come between Madia and the griffen, her hoof reaching out to it to stop it.

Madia smiled and thought of something. As long as they are around to help me, I can do anything. Madia looked at the ground around her, and imagined the soil becoming fresh and fertile. Seeds appeared on top of the dirt and sunk in. Only a short time later grass grew and began spreading out into the clearing.

Aevum stood there speeding up the growth, Flain looked to the sky providing the rain and water, and Cael teleported the monster back in front of the tree and away from Madia. Finally, Madia created the seeds and source of life. Working together, they could literally create life.

The creature looked around bewildered as trees got their colour back, and grew leaves. Suddenly Madia gasped as she realized how much energy she was using and stumbled. The rain stopped, and everything stopped growth where it was. The four of them stood there panting.

Madia felt drained of energy and tired, but the beast was still around. She knew she couldn't stop now. It only took a moment for the beast to turn its focus back to her. "Come on then... let's just see who's brave." Madia said to the monster under her breath.

The creature took that as an invitation and charged towards her. Madia held her ground, but this time it wasn't out of fear. "I know why you're here." Madia began to say. "You never killed me back in that dream. I only thought you did." The bird-pony's eyes burned into her. "I controlled my dream that time." Suddenly the monster's eyes widened as it remembered.

"I made you disappear!" Madia yelled. She felt magic course through her as her horn glowed with power. Suddenly the creature froze right as its talons reached her. She felt them scratch along the side of her neck and winced at the pain.

However the talons didn't close around her. It floated there, eyes wide but clearly angry. There was a pause where the two looked at each other. "I am brave. I stand before you now. I am focused. I just need guidance by law. Finally, I am controlled. I stopped you with my power over imagination." Madia said to the monster.

"You, are not real." The beast let out one last echoing screech, and then vanished in a puff of white smoke. Madia fell to the ground as she used up her energy on the beast. She landed on the soft grass breathing heavily.

"Madia, are you alright?" Madia heard Aevum's voice as her friends ran to help her. "I... I'm fine... Just a little... Tired." She managed. Cael and Flain helped her get and they walked over to the large tree, now covered with leaves and a beautiful brown colour.

"We need to get into the tree. I bet I can teleport us in." Cael said. "No... there isn't... enough room." Madia said struggling. "Cael, maybe you can open the tree up with your powers instead of teleporting?" Aevum suggested. Cael smiled and clearly liked the idea.

"Yeah, that could work." She said. She placed her hoof on it and the tree suddenly shuddered. It split right down the middle and dust came flowing out. They all coughed as dust filled their lungs. "Oops..." Cael said.

It worked. The tree had been split vertically and was now opened up so they could get inside.

Once the dust cleared, Madia walked in on her own, struggling on her tired hooves. She put her hoof on the large purple crystal, and half leaned on it.

"Keeper of Dream, what is it you have discovered about yourself?" A female voice asked. "I discovered that just... because I'm the thinker... doesn't mean I have... to decide everything myself. I discovered that... dream and law both rely... heavily on their other counterparts." Madia said through gasping breaths.

"The rest the prophecy spoke about... had nothing to do actual rest... it was rest from doing everything... on my own." Madia said as she realized the meaning of her part of the prophecy.

The tree suddenly vanish along with the crystal. Madia almost fell over as what she was leaning on disappeared. The wind began to blow hard and Madia felt her energy returning to her. Everything turned white and swirled around them as they returned to the focus point of the trials.

When everything was completely white, Alaria was there waiting for them. "Congratulations, keepers of law and dream. You have both passed your trials successfully and learned things about yourself and your powers." She said to Flain and Madia.

"Now that I know my powers are in far better ponies than me, I can leave in peace knowing you two can carry on with Equestria's harmony. Thank you." She said.

A sparkling yellow light had surrounded her as she walked over to Aevum and Cael. "Aevum, Cael. Your trials shall be governed by my husband. He will guide you and take you through to your challenge. I believe in you two." She said to them.

Alaria's form began to fade as the sparkling light floated around her. She closed her eyes and lifted her head upwards, and faded completely from sight. Madia sighed and knew that would be the last time she saw the loving, once queen of Equestria.

There was only a short pause before the place suddenly faded from white, to grey, and from grey, slowly to black. Madia and the others looked around a moment, then the old king Nocturne arrived. His starry pelt almost blended in with the black empty place around them. He glowed a faint, but dark blue colour as he approached them.

"Hello Keepers. Let me start out by apologizing for how I acted before in the throne room." He said calmly as he walked towards them. "Think nothing of it sir, we understand." Aevum said.

"My mind was being manipulated by the creature we know as Discortunal. He was having an effect on this world before he even arrived." He explained. Aevum's eyes widened. "What? How?" He asked.

"Madia, did you notice how all the dreams were nightmares while you traveled?" Nocturne asked Madia. Madia remembered clearly the dreams they had seen before. "Yes, I do." She said.

"Flain and Cael, your headaches were caused by issues with law and space. Sound and light were effected by him as the sky turned red especially. Cael, Discortunal traveled through space and forced his way through to Equestria, something meant to be impossible." Nocturne told Cael and Flain.

"Finally Aevum. Did you notice how little energy it took for you to stop time? It happened on accident and hardly used any energy correct?" The starry alicorn asked Aevum. "Yeah, I thought that seemed unusual." He responded.

"Either way, this shows you how much power he has. He has some control over the elements, but it's weakened because this world does not belong to him. You four can defeat him together if you unlock your powers." Nocturne told them.

"Cael, the next trial is the trial of space. Are you prepared?" He asked the blue mare. Cael stepped forward, a determined look on her face. "Yes, I'm ready."