Prologue: Splattered Cakes and Blazing Skies
100 Years before Luna's return
Canterlot Palace Throne Room
"That is all of the petitioners for this morning's court, your Majesty"
"Thank you, that will be all for now, Feathered Quill. I shall be having lunch in my private dining room, you may relax until my meeting with the Griffin ambassadors." Celestia replied to her aide as she got up from her throne. Feathered bows before turning around and walking through the servants' door in the side of the throne room.
After many centuries, Celestia had her goal of a peaceful and prosperous nation within her reach. The final warehouses in the lowest districts of Canterlot had finally been completed and she had obtained peace and trade treaties with nearly all open society species. After her meeting with the griffins, the great nation of Equestria would be set firmly on the path of uncontested power, ensuring the safety of her ponies. The country of the Sheep of Faust already had come under Equestria's wings, and within the next few centuries, the rest would surely follow.
Her food was being set out on the large dining room table right as she walked in, Feathered Quill having sent word upon leaving the throne room. Celestia felt a twinge of sadness as she remembered he would be retiring in a few months, after doing his duty for well over three decades. She surveyed the gourmet feast laid out before her as she seated herself. Delectable cucumber sandwiches, salads made with the freshest of vegetables, and a four tiered chocolate cake standing above it all. Celestia was glad the waitstaff had already left as she felt her mouth visibly water as she grabbed the top tier of the cake and levitated it slowly towards herself.
It wasn't a secret in Canterlot, or pretty much anywhere, about how much Celestia liked her cake, having been known to eat a full cake before anypony else could finish their appetizers. Another unspoken rule was shared by all sane creatures: Don't get between Princess Celestia and her cake.
Right as the cake was about to reach her waiting muzzle, a wave of energy, a type she hadn't felt in over a century, flooded past her. The energy made her feel a cold dread, one that blotted everything else out. As soon as it had appeared, the energy was gone and she cold only watch in horror as the cake fell to the table, splattering her and the rest of the feast laid out before her.
Sat there in shock, the Princess of the Sun's confusion slowly turned to a cold, or rather, a hot fury as her mane and tail turned to fire. She teleported all of her war armor onto herself as she roared in the loud Canterlot voice that shattered the nearby windows and was heard throughout the city. "GUARDS!!"
It had been centuries since Celestia was last seen this angry, having calmed herself down to be a benevolent ruler for her ponies, but there were legends passed through the guard about the last time The Princess had roared. Guards streamed into the dining room, fear already covering their faces. As soon as they saw their Princess ablaze, and the remains of the splattered cake on the table, even the toughest of the royal guard started audibly shaking in their armor.
"Watch the City, I'm going hunting" She said in almost a whisper, one laced with a cold, ethereal fury before she launched herself out of the nearest window. A trail of fire followed her as she left her fearful guards behind as she headed for the source of the energy that ruined her lunch. She headed towards the Everfree.
Diplomat Wing of the Canterlot Castle
"I don't give a flying feather if we were supposed to work out a trade deal with the Princess!" Roared the griffon ambassador as he and his entourage scrambled to grab as many of their belongings as they could. "Obviously she is in no mood to make a deal and I prefer having a head!" Grabbing as much as they could, the griffons didn't even bother going outside, they just opened their windows and jumped out before flying the complete opposite direction of the flaming princess.
Somewhere over the Everfree- A few minutes earlier
All was calm in the Everfree Forest, well as calm as the Everfree could actually be. A few storm clouds drifted across the sky as the sound of trees rustling in the wind filled the air. Down below the canopy of the trees, life continued as usual. A pair of manticores clashed in a battle over territory, a cragadile managed to catch a cockatrice off guard earning itself some lunch, and a changeling hive buzzed with activity.
Far up in the sky, farther than any creature could see even if they had been looking, a small, black spark of energy appeared. The spark grew until it reached the size of an apple, before it took off, leaving a trail of black energy through the sky. A moment later, another spark appeared, this one coloured red as it too grew and sped off in the opposite direction.
The two orbs of magic energy sped apart until they were several miles apart and then stopped, momentarily pausing before curving clockwise until the reach the turning point of the other line of energy. Shooting off faster than the eye could see, the orbs began drawing a multitude of shapes and characters of a language so ancient, all trace of it has long since vanished.
A few wandering eyes from the forest managed to catch sight of the display in the sky. As more symbols and shapes were added to the increasingly complex light display, the forest quieted as more of the creatures watched on with fear and fascination. The magic orbs, having completed the massive magic circle they were creating, lost their trails and started to spiral inwards towards each other until the orbs smashed together at the center of the magic circle, unleashing a blinding light visible even beyond the forest.
As the light died down, the still partially blind creatures of the Everfree looked back up to the sky. Where the two orbs of magic clashed, now lay a large, black portal which seemed almost to suck the light out of the sky. Tendrils of blood red magic seeped out around the edges as from within, a flaming, rounded shape slowly emerged. Had any creature been close to the portal, they would have seen two sets of hand holding the object; one which was large and covered in shiny red scales, the other much smaller with smooth black skin.
The two sets of hands released the object, allowing it to fall all the way through the portal. As it fell towards the forest, the fire it was engulfed in formed a blazing trail behind it. The portal remained open as the blazing object fell away from it, though the hands from before had retreated back beyond it. With a thundering crash, the object landed into a glade, but not just any glade, this was the Everfree Glade, where the guardians of the forest resided.
The Guardians of the Everfree is more of an honorary title given to the nature spirits whom make their homes in the Everfree. These creatures represent the the numerous aspects and areas of nature in Equis. Thankfully, all the creatures in the glade managed to move out of the way of the fallen object, which now sat in a large crater. All eyes being on the crater, no creature noticed the portal and magic circle vanish from existence.
As the smoke and dust cleared, the oldest stone spirit, Sheer, stepped up to the edge of the crater. In the center of it, still slightly flaming, lay the last thing that anycreature would have expected: An egg. The egg itself was quite large, about the size of a small boulder; Many red, glowing veins wound across the purple shell, pulsing as if to signify the life within.
Only a few of the older and more wizened present were able to tell exactly what lay inside, and those who knew felt increasingly concerned. As more nature spirits and creatures of the forest gathered, a blinding light settled down over the crater. Rather than being painful, the light rejuvenated all the creatures it touched, filling them all with energy. After a few moments, the light faded away leaving all to gaze upon the slate left upon the ground next to the egg.
Sheer stepped down into the crater and gingerly picked up the slate made of Eternal Crystals, which could only be created by Faust, the True Creator, and read aloud in his gravelly voice what was written.
Through eternal flame, all must fight,
To bring an end to the conquest of the light.
The brightest light casts the darkest shadow,
Set right the tragedy of events long ago.
A species chained over the act of one,
Undo the sins committed by the God of the Sun.
Murmuring spread through the nature spirits at the words from the plaque. Before anything else could happen, the nature spirits sensed the approach of another creature, one who was very strong and radiated power. A crack in the ground appeared before a dark purple vine shot out towards Sheer. This vine, which is very seldomly seen, was the Everfree itself, the oldest and strongest nature spirit to exist. The vine grabbed the plaque out of Sheer's hands and pulled it back to the egg as the Everfree begins pouring dirt into the crater to fill it up. Grass, flowers and other plants rapidly pop up over the now filled crater, hiding the existence of the egg or the plaque.
Not even a few moments after the area had returned to normal, a glowing fireball of fury landed with a powerful blast across the pond in the center of the glade. Even before the sound of the blast faded away, an almost guttural growl emanated from the raging god. The air hummed with a cold fury as she spoke, "Where is it?"
Now the nature spirits were far from weak, with the majority being stronger than an equestrian mage platoon, but even the strongest fire spirit was metaphorically sweating at the situation. Sheer, being the king of the nature spirits, had all eyes on him. Despite the intimidating sight before him, Sheer knew there was only one thing he could do. He stared the goddess directly in the eyes, pointed to the south and said in a shaky voice, "It went that way."
Celestia only hesitated a moment before taking off into the sky, heading south of the glade in a heated search. The clearing stayed silent for a full minute before anycreature dare moved. A younger nature spirit, a tempest spoke up, her voice as calm as the wind before the storm. "Why did we send her away with false words? Should she find out that we mislead her, I doubt anything good will happen." A few other spirits murmured their agreements as all eyes turned back to Sheer.
"Our Lady Everfree has already made her position clear when she chose to hide the egg. Even if she did not, there is the Eternal Crystal we have to consider." Sheer explained as the shining plaque from before is lifted out of the ground by the purple vine. "This will continue to shine till the end of time, and the only being capable of making eternal crystal is Faust. It has been many millennia since Faust last appeared on this plain."
The tempest spirit nodded her head in acknowledgement, and while several others still seemed to be unhappy with it, they knew better than to argue. Sheer bent over, and grabbed the Eternal Plaque, allowing the vine to retreat back into the ground. "Send out word that the Nature Council must convene, however secrecy is of the utmost importance." Sheer ordered a nearby air spirit, who nodded and quickly flew off into the sky.
Canterlot Palace Throne Room, 5 days later
A bedraggled looking Celestia lands in the royal wing courtyard. Within moments, several squadrons of guards rush into the courtyard with their weapons drawn. Even in the state she is in, Princess Celestia manages to address her guards in her usual motherly tone. "It it alright, my little ponies. There is no danger that threatens us, you can go back to your normal rotations." The ponies seemed unsure but they obeyed their princess and left the courtyard. Once all her ponies were gone, Celestia allowed herself to slump a little as she made her way to her room.
Despite what she had said, Celestia was deeply worried over all that had occurred in the past week. The tremendous amount of power that poured out to the south of her kingdom, an amount almost reaching to a quarter of hers. Then, despite scouring the lands for any sign of what cast the magic she sensed, she was unable to find any sign of it. As Celestia enter.ed her personal chambers, she brought out a large stone tile from a hidden compartment in the wall. Engraved in the tile was a teleportation circle, one that would take her straight to Tartarus.
Knock Knock
"Your Highness?" Came the voice of Feathered Quill through the door.
"Yes Feathered Quill, please come in" Celestia replied as she quietly slid the tile back into it's hiding spot.
"I'm sorry to disturb you after your trip, Princess, but there are a few important matters that need your attention." Feathered Quill informed her as he opens her door, pulling in a cart with a large assortment of cakes on top.
"Perhaps Tartarus can wait till tomorrow." Celestia thought to herself. "Thank you Feathered, I shall get to these matters posthaste. In the meanwhile, please let everyone know day court shall resume in two days times."
"Of course, Princess" Feathered replied with a bow. As he closed her door behind him, he could already hear the sounds of a happy princess eating her cake. Chuckling to himself, he set off to complete the task given to him.
Author's Note
I'm not entirely happy with the prologue at this time, but I wanted to get this out and get the ball rolling on the story. I will probably come back and rewrite some parts of this prologue in the future, but it will be after I get a fair bit into the story. In the next chapter/chapter one, I will go further into detail on the spirits and other details. I just didn't want the prologue to be long and filled with facts. If there are any spelling or grammar mistakes feel free to let me know. Thanks for reading!
