Balance of the World

Chapter 2:
The Crimson Graves

The sky around Ponyville had gotten dark. It was a clear night, many if not all the stars where out, along with the brightest full moon Twilight has ever seen. As Twilight walked through town she looked around. All the shops were closed, and everypony in their homes either finishing up dinner or just plan heading to bed. Not much happened at night, even over the years, the night has been very quiet. Princess Luna has made sure that every night since her return was just was beautiful as the next, and in time many ponies came to love the night and not fear her anymore. Twilight has had many talks with the night princess and her sister, helping them with problems they had between each other, effectively improving their relationship and in return be come very close with both of them. It would be sometime before they would visit her again, and this got twilight thinking as she neared the edge of town.

“The next time they come over, I really should throw a small party, thanking them for the friendship over the years.” Twilight giggled as she exited the town and headed for the Everfree Forest.

Normally she would avoid heading into the forest at night, but Twilight felt she needed to try something new. Twilight had learned a new spell for defending herself and wanted to try it out. As Twilight walked deeper into the forest a strange sense of calm hit her. Even though the Everfree Forest was normally quiet and calm, this was different.

As the wind blow through the trees, all that could be heard was the sound of the wind, and even that was quite. It was as if every creature in the forest was scared and hiding. Twilight walked towards Zecora's place, picking up a bit of speed, and hoped she was home. Zecora’s hut came into view just as a pack of timber wolves appeared in front of Twilight.

Twilight stopped right in front of them, less than a few feet away. The pack looked at her with hungry eyes. Twilight started to light up her horn, readying the spell she just learned and knew this was a great time to test out, and if it failed, she would just teleport back home.

The wolves slowly approached Twilight, bearing their teeth when they stopped and sniffed the air. Twilight was a bit puzzled as she saw them slowly backed away, tails between their legs. The timber wolves howled and run away, clearing growling at the missed easy meal. Twilight now knew something was defiantly wrong. Timber wolves never run away, let alone if they thought it would be an easy meal. Something clearly scared them, so bad in fact to run instead of eat.

Twilight pushed the thought to the back of her mind as she made a mad dash for Zecora’s door. Twilight hit the door with a loud thud bouncing back onto the ground. She looked up and noticed a sign on the door.

“Away, Will return another day.” The sign read

Twilight turned a bit pale. “Of all the times for her to be gone, tonight had to be it!” Twilight yelled, now more scared than ever. She was hoping Zecora would be home and she could stay the night, but it seems Twilight was out of luck and at all times

Twilight started to light up her horn for the teleporting spell to head home when she heard a faint sound from behind Zecora’s hut. “That sounds like crying?” Twilight questioned as she walked behind the hut and headed for the sound.

Twilight hopped it was another pony so at least she would not be lone, and maybe they knew what was going on. Twilight has never went pasted the hut before, she never really had a reason before, so this part of the forest was unknown to her. The crying seemed to get louder as Twilight exited the forest into a clearing.

There as Twilight stepped out of the forest, what she saw shocked her and raised many questions. In front of her, all though out the clearing laid a mass graveyard. It looked very old and had to have more than a hundred graves. Twilight slowly walked through the graveyard as a thick fog covered the ground, but never rose above half the grave stones. How did she not know of this? For so many years nothing, not even in the Canterlot archives did Twilight ever find anything about a graveyard, let alone one this big?

Twilight looked around as she got closer to the crying. In front of a statue of two ponies intertwined around what looked like the world sat a pony, clearly crying. As Twilight got closer she could make out what the pony looked like. There crying sat a white colt, no older then Twilight herself. He had semi-short blonde hair and tail. Twilight got a little closer and she could make out his cutie mark, one she had never seen before. There on his flank was a yin-yang, the small circle’s inside of the symbol where clearly a sun and moon. The symbol was also inside of a bigger circle and in a cross pattern at each tip was one symbol of the elements, earth, wind, fire and water. Twilight walked up to the strange pony, not wanting to scare him of pry, she had to know why he was crying and alone in this graveyard.

“Um… Are you ok?” Twilight said, now right next to the pony

He looked up and Twilight saw even though his bloodshot and puff eyes, they were the most beautiful shade of blue ever, even better the Princess Luna’s eyes. The pony whipped his eyes

He stood up, slightly taller than Twilight he turned to her and with a kind and gentle voice he smiled “yes I will be. It’s always sad when some pony loses a close friend.”

Twilight was a bit awestruck at eh kindness in his voice, it was more kind then Fluttershy’s. Twilight nodded

“Yes it is. May I ask how long ago did they pass?”

The colt turned to the grave “a few days ago.” He said with a tear running down his cheek. He quickly turned back to Twilight

“What are you doing here anyway?” he asked as he walked around twilight looking at her, almost as if he was studying her

“Well I was heading to my friend Zecora’s house when I heard a crying, she was not home so I wanted to make sure some pony was not hurt” Twilight quickly said. She felt no need to go into much more details then this.

“Ah, I know Zecora. She is a close friend” he said smiling

“Really? She never said she knew…” Twilight realized she did not know his name, let alone tell him hers. If Rarity was hear she would kick my flank for my lack of manners.

“How rude of me, my name is Twilight, Twilight Sparkle and you are?” she said holding out a hoof

The white colt smiled, “so you’re Twilight Sparkle? Zecora talked a lot about you. My name is Balance, it’s nice to meet you” balance said shacking Twilights hoof

“Balance? Zecora never said anything about a pony named Balance before?” Twilight said raising an eye brow

“We knew each other when we were younger; I had only just come to visit her again.” Balance replied quickly, blushing a bit

Twilight has had many talks with Zecora about her past and she saw Balance blush a bit so twilight just assumed he was an ex-lover. Twilight looked around “so how do you know of this graveyard? Even I did not know of it” she said a bit smug in her knowledge

“That’s not surprising, the fog around here is enchanted, hiding it from even the princess’s, you may know this graveyard by its name ‘The Crimson Graves’.”
Twilight stepped a bit and almost fell to the ground “The Crimson Graves’!? But that’s just a myth right?”

Balance smiled and looked up at the sky “tell me Twilight what you know of this place?”

Twilight thought hard, it’s been a long time since she read about it, “Well from what I read, The Crimson Graves it the also known as the moving graveyard. Very few ponies have seen it and it’s never in the same place twice. They say it is also the place where all alicorns a buried, Princess Luna told me about it one night long ago”

“Correct Twilight, but there is more” balance said walking down a row of graves as Twilight followed.

“Yes it is true that most if not all the graves here are of passed alicorns. While most believe they are immortal, in fact they just have a long life span. This is a holy place that good and evil alicorns are buried, there magic runs deep in the ground under us long after their body are gone. The fog in fact is a result of this long with it moving. Only alicorns can find this place or very close friends of one and only when one of them are about to pass.”

Twilight stopped in her tracks “does this mean one of the princesses are about to die?!” Twilights face now full of fear. Balance saw this turned to her

“No Twilight, they are both fine, it’s not there time” balance smiled

“But how could you know that?! It’s impossible to know when any pony will die, let alone an alicorn!” Twilight say angrily

“My family is well the caretaker of this place, since before your time. They were blessed with the ability to know the life span of alicorns and we are sent to them in their final days to make sure the one that loves them most can bring them here to rest in peace” balance said frowning. “After my parents passed it now my job to watch over this place and with it I have the ability as well”

“So you are like a grim reaper for alicorns?” Twilight said backing away a little. This was getting to be a bit much for her to take in

“You could say that, but fear not Twilight, we do not take the souls of the falling like the reapers, and we just watch the graves and deliver the new. We have no power over life or death, just watchers” balance said trying to make Twilight feel less scared

They soon reached two grave stones, it seemed like they were newer then the others. Balance waved twilight over to the graves. “Read.” He said smiling a bit

Twilight walked up to the graves and read them both. The graves where writing in old equestrian, but Twilight could read most of it “ here lies the beloved king and queen, loving rulers and even more loving parents of the next to rule Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, maybe there souls forever watch over this land and there loved children”

“Wait those are…!” twilight yelled but before she could finish balance stepped in

“Yes its Princess Celestia and Luna’s parents. To my count I heard that both Celestia and Luna where the ones to bury them hear. I can sense some fear in you Twilight, I can only assume that they both have never talked about this?”

Twilight nodded, she had never asked the princesses about their parents, but not felt she might have to, if balance was telling the truth then it raised many questions.

“Twilight, this graveyard moves, and in a few months it will be gone. I heard you are close friends with the princesses, and how you tend to over think things, I suggest you go talking to them before anything else. If I say anymore I fear you might not believe me. It’s not by chance you came here; one does not simply find this place by accident. It’s getting late you should go” balance said the tone in his voice seemed to change in the pass few minutes from kind and caring to a darker tone, more stein then before it gave Twilight small chills, the fog soon started to get thicker

“Ok but I will return, I have many more questions!” twilight yelled as she turned her back and started to walk away, she though she heard Balance say something she turned around to answer him, but when she turned around, he was gone, so was the graveyard. Twilight stood in an empty clearing, nothing for miles. Twilight could see the sun rising over the now empty hills and she wonder how long she was gone it only felt like an hour had passed, but it truth it was much longer.

Twilight walked back into town. Many of the shops where opening for the day as Twilight strolled passed them. She soon ran into Rainbow dash that was flying overhead. She landed in front of Twilight with a thud.

“Morning Twi! You were gone for a long time I was worried” Rainbow said walking up to Twilight, it seem like she was checking to see if Twilight was hurt. “You seem fine.” She said smiling relived Twilight seemed unhurt

Twilight on the other hand was a little confused “I was only gone for an hour? Or well its seems all night really” Twilight thought it must have been because of the enchanted graveyard

Rainbow was not a little more worried “Um Twi? I saw you enter the Everfree forest that night, but just thought you were going to see Zecora. That was almost a week ago!”

Twilight just dropped to the floor “A WEEK! no that’s not possible!” it could not have been a whole week she was not even hungry, a little tired but other than that she felt fine

“yeah, everypony was looking for you after you did not retune for two days, when we got to Zecora hut and saw her note, we all assumed you went on a trip with her” Rainbow frowned a little

Twilight remand silent, Zecora has been gone for a week? But that’s not right, even if Twilight was gone, she knew Zecora was never gone that long, this scared her deeply and before she could say anything rainbow butted in

“Well I am just glade you ok, but you should return home quickly both the princesses at your house worried, they have been for a few days, waiting for you to return” she said before flying off

Twilight realized that before going to go find Zecora, she needed to talk to the Princesses, if they really have been worried its only right she go see them, besides, with their help maybe she can find Zecora faster. Twilight quickly headed home, hoping only the princesses would believe her story.