Elements of the Past

Elements of the Past

Prologue

The great, blinding flash dissipated, leaving Princess Luna on the hard stone floor of the ruins, deep within the Everfree Forest. A great sense of bewilderment was felt by the Princess as the evil essense that overtook her very being dissipated outward. As it did so, at a volume of not more than a whisper, this essense did speak. It resonated throughout her scrambled mind.

"I'll be back, when your foolish Elements are no more. Do as you wish, but in a century and a half, I will return, and Equestria will know eternal darkness." The whisper cackled as it faded.

The Princess opened her eyes, to reveal her sister, as well as her saviors, standing before her. The two sisters hugged in an embrace of relief and sisterly love, her immediate worries put to rest by her elder sister's words. With promises of ruling Equestria together, as sisters, fairly and forever, the two royal ponies departed the ruins, giving thanks to their heroes, the six mares that were the bearers of the Elements of Harmony as they flew off toward their home in Canterlot. Much had changed in her absence, and her sister proposed they take the long way, flying, as opposed to teleporting to the site, so she could be told something of what had transpired in the vast stretch of time that she was trapped within the moon.

*****

The Sun Princess had to take action. Luna had told her everything; the Mare in the Moon was coming back. All she'd said in reply was that they'd cross that bridge when they came across it. Looking back, it was a close scrape this time, and for the sake of Equestria, they would be more cautious this time.

Princess Celestia entered the basement of the Canterlot Archives, a place within which only the most sacred and important spells were kept. It was heavily guarded, not by sentries or locks, but other mysterious--and thus far reliable--forces. Any hidden and ancient security simply allowed the Princess to pass. The security in question included self-sealing doors and other magical traps, the exact nature and potency of which none would dare test. There was no such thing as being too prepared, in case any pony of malicious intent were to enter this place and use its secrets against Equestria.

The Princess was looking for a specific spell, one even she only faintly remembered, and one she had not seen since she, along with her sister, defeated Discord. It was the spell of Elemental Heredity. A failsafe devised by an unknown spellcrafter, even before she and her sister wielded the Elements. This spell would be vital to her plan. In a hundred and fifty years, she'd need the Elements again, and she couldn't possibly rely on those that currently bore them, which--as of just that night--included her most faithful student, to still be alive then, nor could she rely on herself to wield them again.

So many personal students, the Princess had taken. Dozens of them had lived and died throughout her reign. Each one had been a great friend. A tear came to her eye as she thought of each and every one of them. Immortality was a double-edged sword, and one of the few things the Princess feared now was forgetting those she'd taken as students over her long life. She shook the thought, and proceeded deeper into the basement. She was looking for something. Celestia had decided not to inform her sister of her plan; it was risky to let anypony know. Only those not in danger of being possessed by Nightmare Moon, and those that would live very long could know about this, and only if they were willing to keep it a secret for a very long time. And besides, she'd kept Equestria well for centuries without catastrophe, she could handle it without her sister. But she might need help, for one reason or another. She thought of one being that could surely assist her with this plan. Not a pony, but a dragon, the assistant to her personal student. There were few as suited as he, the Princess thought.