Primeval Retribution

Chapter One: From Darkness, Arise

Celestia absorbed her attention in the letter floating in front of her, trying her best to not keep her face from planting into the floor. The cushion pushing up against her back beckoned for the princess to lay down, close her eyes, and relinquish to sleep, but the abundance of letters resting at Celestia’s side spoke otherwise. Flames in the fire place flickering and popping quietly, the inside of Celestia’s bedroom high up in her tower gave the princess of the night suitable conditions to rest, but they were out of reach for Princess Celestia. The raising of the sun would need to ensue in only a couple hours, and missing dawn wasn’t an option for the princess of the sun. After all, she had been on time for every other sunrise; Celestia couldn’t let exhaustion get the best of her and delay the sunrise for a few hours.

Sighing and letting the letter in her levitation spell roll up and fall onto the floor, Celestia rubbed her eyes and attempted to shake her lassitude away. The fight earlier in the night had taken all of the energy out of her, and her head still pounded after being slammed into the floor. The few ice packs that she had been brought by the royal guards that were still up weren’t helping, and the suspicion in the royal guards seemed to be growing about what happened to her. A simple slip was all she told them, but they knew that something else had happened, though they didn’t dare question her.

A knock near the door caught Celestia’s attention as she closed her mouth from a yawn. A unicorn royal guard stood near the entrance of the princess’s room, floating an ice pack in a dark green levitation spell. Though he had the rest of his armor on, his helmet was removed, letting his medium length pitch black hair hang down next to his eyes. His dark red coat lit up with the firelight as he walked into Celestia’s personal quarters, glancing the princess of the night as she slept wrapped up in a blanket in front of the fireplace. He set his eyes, one bright red and the other dark green, on Celestia as he came to a stop out at her side. The peculiar royal guard wasn’t a rare sight to be seen around Celestia when she was alone, though his appearance around the city of Canterlot itself was very sparse.

Celestia nodded to the royal guard as she took over the levitation spell on the ice pack. “Thank you, Fortune. I appreciate the help tonight,” Princess Celestia acknowledged, placing the ice pack on the aching side of her head.

“It’s my duty, princess,” Fortune noted, his voice smooth and hushed in part for Luna. “I feel I would be repeating myself if I were to remind you that you were the one that assigned me as your personal royal guard here in Canterlot. There is no need to thank me; I’m only helping my princess.”

“Is there a code I don’t know royal guards have that makes you so humble?”

Fortune took a subtle breath in and bowed his head slightly. “Is there anything else that I may do for you, your highness?”

Princess Celestia smiled partially at his choice of response. “After the nine years that you have been by my side, you could tell me how you still look as young as you did when you first joined the royal guard,” Celestia joked.

The dark red unicorn smirked. “A secret. I’m sure a princess such as yourself wouldn’t need cosmetic advice from a stallion, or a royal guard. You’re still young for an alicorn, are you not?”

The princess of the sun gave Fortune a smile. “A secret.”

“Touché, your highness.”

The two chuckled quietly to themselves, though they quickly tranquilized their laughter as Princess Luna groaned in her sleep and rolled onto her other side, smacking her lips a few times.

Fortune kept his eyes on Luna as he spoke, “I know I asked numerous times already and you’ve given me the same answer, but are you sure she’s alright? I’ve never seen her sleep this long during her nights.”

Celestia sighed softly as she tilted her head downward and closed her eyes. “There is nothing more to what I have told you earlier. Coming back to Equestria has been hard for her, and she needs her rest. Understand this, please.”

The dark red unicorn switched his line of sight to Celestia and raised an eyebrow. “Are you alright?”

The princess of the sun opened her eyes again and looked up at Fortune, the stallion tilting his head somewhat to the side. “I can assure you that I’m quite fine. I’m sure Luna would take appreciation into your worries for her and I, but there are no dangers or worries that lurk us for now. Equestria is peaceful and everypony is happy, and my sister and I will maintain that for as long as we can.”

Fortune lowered his eyes and scuffed his hoof against the floor lightly. “Yeah,” he whispered to himself, barely audible.

Taking the ice pack off of her head and setting it on the floor next to her, Celestia cleared her throat. “Fortune, there is something I would at least like for you to give an answer to.”

Fortune set his attention back on the princess. “Yes?”

“You never told me how your eyes got like that,” Celestia stated, focusing on the dark red unicorn’s bright red right eye.

A bit startled by the question, Fortune motioned his hoof to the ice pack next to Celestia calmly, yet quickly. He paused for a second before he spoke, “Will you be needing any more ice packs tonight, princess?”

Celestia peered at Fortune for a moment in silence before she nudged the ice pack with her wing. “No. This one will be enough. You may return to your home for tonight. Thank you, Fortune.”

The dark red unicorn bowed before he turned to face the door of Celestia’s room. “Goodnight, your highness,” he spoke as he began to walk.

“Goodnight,” Celestia replied and smiled. “I’ll give you some actual work tomorrow.”

Fortune stopped by the door of the room before he left. He turned around to look at the princess of the sun sitting in the middle of her personal quarters. He appeared as if he wanted to say something, though the look quickly brushed off his face as he nodded to the princess and trotted out of sight. Fortune’s hoofsteps growing distant and eventually disappearing into the halls of the palace, Celestia lifted the ice pack on the floor up to her head again.

The stillness inside of Celestia’s bedroom brought out Princess Luna’s quiet breathing against the popping of the fireplace. Her head resting up against a small and elegantly decorated soft pillow, the princess of the night continued to rest and regain the strength she had lost from her loss of control earlier. Her older sister watched her sleep, Celestia wondering what the princess that wandered other’s dreams could be dreaming herself. Happiness? Princess Celestia couldn’t tell, but the smile that barely showed on Luna’s face told enough that she was somewhere peaceful. Luna, being the co-ruler of Equestria, faced the many stresses that her older sister went through, and after the incident with Celestia earlier, the princess of the night needed her sleep.

A strange ring buzzing inside of Celestia’s room snapped her attention away from Luna. The princess of the sun shifted her eyes to the fire place behind her sleeping sister and stared at the flames closely, listening. Along with the ring resonating from the chimney came the swishing of air and the sparkle of magic, telltale signs of a letter being sent back to her quarters. Celestia continued to watch the bright orange flames in the fire place dance in their spacious display.

Who could be writing a letter to me this late in the night? Celestia thought to herself.

However, Princess Celestia’s suspicions soon became thoughts of dread as the smoke of the letter came into view inside of the fire place above the flames, and the princess of the sun felt herself shake ever so slightly inside. The smoke of the letter that clouded over the fire place was not that of any type of magic she had seen commonly used in Equestria. A solid black cloud and flowing around like the fire below it, the smoke didn’t resemble the usual incoming of her star student’s letters. Unless, that is, Twilight Sparkle had started using dark magic. Knowing Twilight’s ways of wanting to know more and more every second she could, Celestia had a brief thought of the hold of dark magic reaching the lavender unicorn, but she quickly wiped away the idea. She knew it couldn’t have been Twilight that had sent the letter; she was certain. The only other suspicion of who sent the letter was one that even Luna would be jittering with anxiety about, and despite her being asleep, the princess of the night’s smile seemed to have disappeared.

Celestia kept her eyes on the shapeless black cloud as it thinned itself out into a single strand of dark magic. The unformed letter twisted through the air elegantly in swirls and loops, slowly making its way over Princess Luna as it moved closer to the older sister. Whether the small sound emitting from the black cloud were whispers or the air rushing around it, the princess of the sun wasn’t sure, but the hushed cacophony breathing from the cloud was enough to send a chill down Celestia’s spine. Almost as if it were sensing the princess’s presence, the black cloud came to a halt out in front of Celestia’s face, bunching back up into an unshaped mass. In the cloud, Princess Celestia could barely see two circles of a bright green aura for a split second, but they were quickly enveloped in a bubbling formation of dark magic that engulfed the entire cloud. The green and purple mist stretched the cloud back into a single strand, and as the mist progressed further down the strand, a roll of pitch black parchment formed in its path. As the mist reached the end of the length of dark magic, an acute ring resonated into the room and slowly faded, making even Luna wince.

The black roll of parchment fell to the floor as it emerged from its cloudy state, flopping limply onto the rug that the princess of the sun sat on. Celestia stared at the piece of parchment for a moment, collecting her thoughts and trying to assure herself that the letter wasn’t what she imagined it to be. The pitch black parchment that the letter was made of was almost enough to tip Celestia off that her day of reckoning was at hoof, and as she rolled the parchment to reveal its other side, Princess Celestia only let a small wheeze of air out of her mouth as her eyes grew fearful. The side of the letter that had been against the floor revealed a purple symbol, outlined with a glowing green aura. The symbol was a circle with a hexagonal star hidden behind it, and off of the tips of each point of the star rested six shapes resembling fragments of a shattered crystal.

Despite having not even opened the letter yet, Princess Celestia knew that she and her sister were in grave danger. The princess of the sun cast a loud spell, generating an emphatic click that echoed through the halls of her palace. The attention she was trying to seize didn’t take long to reach, a shuffle of four royal guards soon arriving in her room and pinning their eyes on the princess.

“What is it, your highness?” one of the royal guards asked hurriedly.

Celestia strengthened her voice and stood up. “Get the entire royal guard awakened and ready to take positions around Canterlot as fast as you can. Do not waste time,” the princess commanded. She scanned her eyes over the four royal guards. “Where is Fortune?”

“We last saw him walking out of Canterlot. We assumed you sent him out. Did something happen?”

Princess Celestia thought to herself for a moment. “No, nothing happened. Awake the royal guards. Go.”

A nod and recognition from each of them, the royal guards rushed out back into the halls of the palace, their hoofsteps fading out into Canterlot as they ran for the royal guard barracks. Celestia quickly trotted over to the sleeping princess in front of the fireplace and shook her gently, softly calling her name. Despite the efforts, Princess Luna remained sound asleep, Celestia only receiving a few grumbles and breaths. Useless to try and get her sister up, Princess Celestia shook her head and trotted back over the lone letter she had left on the floor. She took a moment to stare at the black roll of parchment before she raced over to a desk near the corner of her room. She unraveled a roll of parchment and picked a quill out of a ink bottle resting on the desk, immediately beginning to scribble down a message onto the parchment.

My faithful student, Celestia began. It is to my grief that I have to inform you that Equestria is at risk. There is no time to explain through a letter; I need you and your friends to gather in the library at midnight. Princess Luna and I will arrive shortly after and we will elaborate on the situation. Do not delay gathering your friends; I must speak to all of you. Yours, Princess Celestia.

With the last letter onto the parchment, Celestia took no time to hesitate in sending the letter. The parchment billowed up into a cloud of a sparkling light grey smoke, the newly made letter swirling around in the air before it raced across the room and shot up the chimney, blowing around the bright orange flames in the fireplace.

A short sigh escaping Celestia’s mouth, the princess set her eyes back on the letter resting where she had been before. The symbol seemed to glare at her with the bright green aura, and the whispering that had been coming from the black cloud the letter was before began to come back, though the words they spoke where incomprehensible. Trying her best to ignore the hushed voices, the princess of the sun slowly made her way over to the black letter. She thought if she was only overreacting and that the letter was only a coincidence, but she knew that symbol, and so did Luna. Celestia took a glance at her sister before she lifted the letter up in front of her. She stared at the black parchment for a moment as she listened to the voices, and through the commotion, she could start to hear her name. Hesitantly, Princess Celestia untied the red string holding the parchment in its roll. Biting her lip and tilting her eyes worriedly, the princess of the sun unrolled the parchment, gradually revealing the glowing red words in the letter’s message.

Upon her eyes reaching the contents of the letter, Celestia froze with fear. The levitation spell she had on the letter disappeared and the parchment fell to the floor. She stood, still, her eyes wide open. Her fears were right.

Your word is broken.

The journey has started.

You have the time until The Shards are awakened to your loved ones.

Cherish the days, as they are your last.

-The Band of Parity

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Earlier in the night...

The sound of water dripping from within the cave coursed throughout the tunnels from the main cavern. A large crack in the ceiling of the cave let down various small waterfalls into a large fountain in the middle of the flattened floor, a system of magic from under the water container propelling the falling water upwards in a decorative manner as it reached the fountain. Moonlight streamed down from the chasm that stretched up to the surface from the caves, and along with the torches in the cave it lit up the immense cavern big enough to fit an Ursa Major. The floor of the cavern was smoothed out to the point where a ball could be rolled easily without interruption, though the walls of the cavern were sharp and rough to preserve some of the natural appearance that the caves once had. Aside from the sharp oval fountain in the middle of what seemed to be the center of an underground cave system, the cavern that made the main entrance of the collection of underground caverns and tunnels know as Liberus was void of any other unnatural decor.

A lone figure stood within the lobby in the moonlight, staring into his reflection as he propped himself up against the edge of the large and long fountain. The moon behind the stallion’s own reflection rippled and bounced with the constant descent of water into the provenance of the cave’s water storage, the stars along with it cavorting on the surface of the clear and clean water. The stallion’s dark red coat appeared barely visible in the reflection in the fountain, though his armor that seemed so familiar around Canterlot shined brightly in the light of the full moon in the sky visible from within the cavern. Sanctuary and home, both of the words were what Liberus was to him when his duty in the royal city was done. He felt betrayal, deceit, but he knew that he couldn’t leave. He could never leave.

The stallion sighed and removed his helmet, resting it on the side of the fountain. It didn’t take long for the metal of the headset of armor to be misted along with its owner, the dark red unicorn wincing slightly at the sound of the minuscule drops of water that deviated from the waterfalls plastered onto the metal. He slowly picked up his helmet with a dark green levitation spell and put it on the ground, trying his best to not let the ring of the metal echo throughout the cave. Though the tunnels that branched off from the lobby led far, far underground, sounds traveled great distance through the winding and intricate passages. Night time, as with the rest of Equestria, was a time for rest for the dark red unicorn’s fellow ponies within Liberus. Even if they were forbidden to interact with normal Equestrians without permission, the inhabitants that made Liberus their home weren’t that much different from their fellow ponies. Though, others would see different, and they weren’t too far from the truth.

Taken enough time to recuperate after taking the trip back to Liberus, the dark red unicorn within the lobby of his home knew it was time to face his superiors. The news he needed to affirm them of was dire, and their decision would make all the difference of what would happen with the organization so forgotten from the rest of Equestria. So long the band of ponies had been in oblivion, but no longer would they be in such a state, should The Six come to the agreement of returning, and end the reign of the present. The stallion posted against the edge of the fountain knew all of this, and as he undressed himself of the golden armor around his body, he thought of the turmoil that would come.

Quietly, the dark red unicorn walked along the side of the fountain, contouring to the stone edges containing the water as he carried his armor along with him in a levitation spell. A large passage near the end of the fountain lead to another part of the system of constructed tunnels that seemed almost natural to the caves themselves, the separate and almost sacred cavern cut off from the rest of Liberus visible from the end of the tunnel the lone stallion stood at. He set his armor down near the passage way delicately and shifted his eyes to the opposite end of the long and dimly lit tunnel. The torches that lined the tall passage flickered with the air rushing down from the chasm in the ceiling of Liberus’ main lobby, though the light from the torches halted completely near the other end of the tunnel.

Hoofsteps softly echoed through Liberus as the lone stallion walked through the tunnel. Despite the torches remaining lit and lively as they swayed in the gusts of wind weaving through the caves, an unnatural darkness began to seep its way into the tunnel that the dark red unicorn walked along cautiously. The light from the torches began to fade and draw into their origin flames, stopping only a few inches away from the glowing embers of the burning wood. Tunnel engulfed in darkness, the stallion continued to walk down the somber hallway, remaining as calm as he could. The effect was one that he was used to after walking through the passage so many times, and as a light blue mist entered his sight when he arrived near the end of the tunnel, he felt as if he were safe.

The stallion stopped at the end of the hallway he had been progressing towards, taking a moment to survey the surroundings. Another cavern, almost bigger than the lobby of the cave system, stretched farther than the normal eye could see, though the darkness that still hung in the air contributed to the effect slightly. The ceiling of the new cavern was much lower than Liberus’ main lobby, but it remained at quite a height with its natural rock formations jutting down from it. Large pillars, jagged and falling apart, were strewn throughout the bumpy and uneven floor of the open space, holding up the ceiling of the vast cavern. Dripping water softly interrupted the silence every once and a while as the river above Liberus flowed continuously, some of the water making its way down into the cracks of the imperfect caves. The wind coursing through the tunnels pushed around a light blue mist hanging within the cavern, a few specks of the strange mist collecting and forming larger balls of the floating substance.

The mist parted ways as the stallion standing in the cavern’s entrance began to walk down a smooth pathway leading to a cleared out center expanse within the dark, open area. The particles floating around in the air contoured around the stallion’s body and floated off into the further reaches of the cavern, leaving the soft light that came down onto the path from the cave’s ceiling. Through the darkness further down the track that the dark red stallion progressed on, another light emerged from the darkness, slowly revealing a great circular stone table within an area clear from pillars. As the light grew brighter, six stone statues egressed along with the table. Separated, they sat along one side of the table in front of them, their heads tilted downward and their grey, solid eyes closed. Alicorns, all of them, remained still as the dark red unicorn approached their resting place.

The stallion halted a few feet away from the large and round table, taking a glance at each of the stone alicorns before clearing his throat and speaking, “I’ve returned from the royal city,” the unicorn stated. “I assume that you know what has happened with the sisters already.”

The stone alicorn on the very left of the line of statues began to glow with a purple light from her closed eyes, and it spoke with a mare's strong, yet calm voice, “We have, yes. Have you come back to confirm the event or to rest for the night?” The glow in the statue’s eyes disappeared.

“I’ve come back for both,” the stallion explained. “The details of the occurrence, I’m sure you have observed them already.”

Another alicorn’s eyes began to glow, the statue next to the one that had spoken earlier emitting a blue light from its eyes. “The revival of Nightmare Moon, The Mare in the Moon,” the alicorn spoke. The mare's voice was much softer than the other’s. “The sun princess’s use of the forbidden, as well.” The statue’s glowing eyes disappeared.

Another pair of eyes took the place next to previous alicorn, these eyes glowing yellow and the voice that of a quite young mare, but still mature and formal. “The six of us have seen the ordeal, and we have made the decision.” The yellow lights died down.

The unicorn standing on the other side of the table walked forward slightly. “Are we ready for this? The Shards haven’t been active for so long.”

A fourth pair of eyes lit up, these ones next to the absent yellow glows and orange. The voice that came from the statue was that of a stallion, deep and rough. “How long The Shards have been gone take no effect on them. They will awaken once more.” The orange glows settled into nothing.

Green lights were the next to form, the stallion’s voice of the statue in between the two on the right coming out smooth and young. “There are many travels that you will have to make in order to awaken The Shards. Six of them, across the borders of Equestria.” The green lights faded.

At last, the sixth alicorn spoke up with its glowing red eyes, the statue on the very right’s voice sharp, though quiet. “Three days you must wait for each awakening. The letter to the leaders of Equestria will be sent. They will know their downfall is coming, and a burden it has been to us before, but it is our word to warn them as it was their own to protect their land. Go, Calamity. Awaken The Shards of Havoc, and bring an end to this disgraceful reign.”

The dark red unicorn peered at each of the statues as the red lights of the last alicorn dimmed. “I’m... not quite sure that I’m the most fit for this position. Surely there are others among Liberus that are willing to-”

Two orange eyes interrupted the unicorn. “You were the one that confirmed the news of Celestia and Luna’s actions in their city. You were the one that confirmed the other failures that they committed during their reign.” The voice paused for a moment. “You are the harbinger of the end of their positions as leaders. Proceed, and begin the awakenings.”

Calamity sighed quietly and bowed to the statues. He addressed them from left to right, “Solace, Euphoria, Crepuscularity, Resplendence, Aspiration, Inferno, I will take this duty and see it through, if it is your order.” The unicorn took a breath inward. “The Shards of Havoc will rise again.”

All at once, each of the statues’ eyes lit up with their separate hues, and along with Calamity, they recited in unison:

"We, The Band of Parity, shall act in times of darkness. As ruler, you are to protect your subjects, tend to their needs, and let them prosper. You shall not break your limits on your power, nor shall you bring back or use that which is forsaken. Failing to protect those who follow you will result in your end, and a new leader will be placed where you once stood. Should you break this pact, and destroy your word, The Shards of Havoc will be brought to life, and your time as ruler will end.

From this instant on, the throne is under your control, but your actions, are under ours.”