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                  Rise of the High Bloods                  
                      -by M E Grimm-                       
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                          Buried                           
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Buried
.....................(((...)))....................
(""""Below Titan Moon..."""")
("Celestia, can I ask you something?")
("Sure, Stella, what is it?")
("Why do you call us your..."siblings"?")
("Oh...Why do you ask?")
("Because “siblings” is a word that only the humans use. It implies that we were "born" into this world, which isn't the case for us.")
("I just would like to believe that we all have a bond with each other that extends our similarities beyond the obvious; that we all came from the same parents, and therefore, one way or another, we all have something in common.")
("But, Celestia...")
("Yeah, Stella?")
("... that's not true.")
("What...?")
("We were created. Not begotten. That means that we are all a separate vessel of ourselves.")
("We also have spent our entire lives being raised by the same people who created us. That alone should make us brothers and sisters, Stella.")
("But we weren't born, Celestia. The blood running through your veins is not the same as mine at all.")
("I apologize if you don't like it, Stella, but I wish to consider that you are of the same flesh and blood as the rest of us, High Bloods and Humans.")
("...Don't say that, Celestia. Never say that again. Do not ever, ever,  compare me to the Humans.")
("... Why...?")
("Because, Celestia. I despise humans.")
..............................................................
Her golden eyes opened into darkness. She hasn't awakened since... well... it must have been about a year, but she couldn't even remember for sure. Time had lost meaning to her long ago.
Clunck
Into the trash it went.
Useless in the cold, dry enclosure of the moon around her. Along with food. And air. And water.
Clunck
Clunck
Clunck
Her body never needed any of those things even when she WAS on Earth, but she truly did miss those things. The sweet juice of freshly picked Ambrosia Apples. The omnipresent feel of freedom that can only be felt from a fresh spring breeze-
"Do not think of those things." She whispered to herself. "That is not why you've awaken."
No, indeed, it was not her thirst nor her hunger that had awoken the slumbering goddess from her purgatorial hibernation. Both now merely reduced to an itch, after eons of surviving without them.
Long ago, what she estimated to be about a thousand years ago, she had felt a presence far beyond the reaches of this forsaken moon. Another High Blood had been banished from the cradle of Earth because of the Elements of Harmony. Whoever was banished meant nothing to her, the only thing that she had noticed was that, when the Elements were used, it opened a crack in her prison small enough for her to catch a glimpse of the Stars above; allowing her to slowly but surely regain some of her abilities.
About year ago, she decided that she had waited long enough and that she had gathered enough of her strength. With the small sum of power that she reclaimed, she devised a plan.
If she could somehow instigate the resurgence of the Elements, then maybe, just maybe, it would weather away at the prison enough for the crack to grow.
Using the little power that she had, she gripped a small cluster of stars and realigned them; freeing the nameless High Blood as a sort of investment and gesture of gratitude. After a short amount of time, an invisible wave of impossible energy passed through the moon, shaking the ground until the crack grew to the size of her palm.
Her investment paid off.
The Elements had returned.
However, another discharge was not what awoke her this time.
It took only eight steps to cross the tiny prison to where the crack was as the dim light from the outside world lightly illuminated the upper portion of her naked body. She had lost her clothing when she lost her staff, which happened when the Elements had banished her. As she was plummeting into the moon in a ball of energy and light; the crust of the moon melted as she hit the surface, forming around her into the prison it is now; she had lost her staff into the writhing abyss of the solidifying moon.
  Now, she was beginning to regain a fraction of her original strength, and even though it was not enough to retract her staff on her own, it didn't matter. She could tell that she had amassed a good amount, too, because as she craned her neck to look through the crack in the planet's crust, she could see that her awakened state was causing a massive disruption in the skies beyond.
"What a mess," she muttered, "I can't see anything."
Raising her hand, she felt the magic within her flow into her arms as she gripped the energy within the thunderstorm and pulled it down below the clouds. Seeping it into herself, she left a small amount of it within her fingertips, and with it, she pushed and tugged away at the now calm yellow clouds; rearranging and shifting them until she finally made a space  in the atmosphere large enough to see through.
Beyond, the expanse of outer space glittered and twinkled with its infinite galaxies and infinite stars. At one point in time, it was her destiny to watch over the stars and control them. Now, she was trapped within a moon millions and millions of miles from her home planet of Earth.
The definition of a great cosmic joke.
'Enough with those thoughts' She mentally scolded herself, 'Your vengeance will have it's time soon enough.' Yes, her time to escape was nigh. Only one or two more Earth days of soaking in the starlight from the tiny crack, and she would then be able to walk upon the surface for the first time.
Then, and only then, could she truly begin to build her strength.
As she looked up through the clearing in the sky, she realized that, far off across the gulf of space, the small blue dot in the distance was, in fact, her ancient cradle of Earth. Looking at it, all of the hatred that she had awoken with simply melted away from her thoughts.
The long cold nights spent practicing on the stars while lying upon the top of the highest cumulonimbus cloud.
The hot summer days of daring Celestia to turn down the Sun's temperature, freaking out their creators into thinking that something was wrong with the Sun.
Terra's peace of mind...
Nebula's unbridled love of raw freedom...
Luna's...
... Wait.
This feeling-
A streak of bright orange screamed into view as the world seemed to slow down to a crawl. Within the streak of light, she felt an ancient memory scratch at her fractured mind.
So. It was you who woke me.
Prometheus.
She couldn't help but sport a wide grin on her face.
"After two thousand years, your penance is over," she whispered, "thanks to the same one who banished you." She pressed her head against the cold rock and closed her eyes in frustration. Gritting her teeth with a boiling rage, she struck the rock with the ball of her palm; causing the prison to shudder under her raw strength.
"And you didn't."
crack.
"EVEN."
CRACK.
"THANK ME!"
With a vicious kick, she blew a crack into the wall; broadening it from just a hand-sized hole to a door-sized one. She didn't bother trying to escape, already the magic sustaining the prison was tracing it's way across the stone; reassembling the broken wall.
"But that's okay," She whispered as she regained her composure, "you've given me a sliver of hope." She walked next to the opening and sat down below where the original crack would be, folding her legs into a meditative form that she learned in her childhood.
"Because if you're able to escape, then that proves my hopes true beyond the slightest shadow of a doubt."
The reconstructing wall stifled the light to her bare upper body as the energies sealing it rushed past her, tossing around her short, golden hair.  Eventually the last pebble slid into place, the wall now completely reconstructed into the status it was in this morning.
"I can escape."
The crack was still there.
"I will escape. Along with all the others."
She couldn't help but grin again, the dim light illuminating a hint of insanity within her ethereal golden eyes as she gazed in great adoration upon her goal: Earth...
"The High Bloods will rise again."
::Buried::
((((((( The Bearer of Loyalty, Rainbow Dash. )))))))
'What the... heck...?'
((((((( The pieces are falling into play. Events are screeching into motion, even as We speak.)))))))
'Who are you?'
(((((( Please. There is no time. The Last One has been freed, that means war is beyond the horizon.)))))))
'What-'
((((((( He is here.)))))))
((((((( Wake up.)))))))
((((((( Wake up. Now.)))))))
Magenta eyes shot open as a girl jolted forward in her bed, smacking her head into the cloud bed's headboard with a dull thud. With a grunt and a pop, she pulled her tangled, rainbow-colored head of short hair out of the cloud headboard, rubbing tenderly the spot where she smacked her head.
"Ow..." she complained, " Who knew a cloud could be so freakin' solid?" Pulling herself upright while still caressing her head, she figured that she must have moved around in her sleep to face the headboard as she turned to her left and kicked the bed with the ball of her right foot.
The willowy seventeen-year old Nephilim had tried to get a good night's sleep after a long day of leading her Training Squadron through a rigorous bout of war games that Commander Spitfire had pulled out of nowhere amongst the class. The fiery-haired officer had simply burst into the cafeteria as they were eating and shouted:
"All-Out War!"
This meant that everyone who wasn't in your squadron?
Yeah, they were your enemy.
Fantastic.
After making a mad dash back to their barracks, grabbing up their bows and quivers of training arrows, with some shouting out "Hurrah!", and outlasting and outmaneuvering the entire class for four hours, Rainbow's squad had come out on top. With the pride of being the victors, they were also allowed amnesty from the next day's activities, in order to rest off the deficit of energy that their adrenaline rush left.
Now, here she was, supposed to be snoozing up a coma on her lucky cloud mattress, McCloud. Instead, she was having weird dreams and bumping her head against headboards.
"No rest for the wicked," she grumbled as she rose to her feet and walked over to her bathroom. "No rest at all."
About a week had passed since her first day of admittance into the prestigious Wonderbolts Academy, and already she had settled into cadet life quite comfortably. Everybody around her contained the same amount of motivational drive, and everybody was very fairly leveled and judged. Except for that one little fiasco on the first day, and even then, she and Lightning Dust had since made up and became well-known frenemies within the academy. All and all, she felt like she was right where she belonged.
And it came with it's own room and board, to boot.
Walking into the bathroom, she took off her sports bra and panties as she walked into the shower, reaching up to the dark cloud roof above her, and pushed on it, emptying it's contents in a slow drizzle.
"Let it go doooown the drain, Dash," She sighed as she flexed out her powerful cyan wings, the cool rainwater trickling down her feathers and then down her slender body. "Today's just gonna be a chill day."
Eventually, the cloud above her was emptied to a pearly white color as she walked out, took a towel, and dried herself off. Putting back on her sports underwear, she walked back to her bedroom as she fluffed out her wings and looked at the clock on the dresser next to McCloud.
14:00 A.M.
She briefly debated with herself whether she should go back to bed, or just stay up because she was already awake. She looked at McCloud, remembered how hard it was for her to go back to sleep after vivid dreams and nightmares, and then out the window to the fresh mountains of cumulonimbus clouds that the night weather team had cooked up.
She came to her conclusion in ten seconds flat.
"Maybe I should go for an early morning jog." She sighed. "Good way to clear the mind."
With her wings now damp, she went into her closet and took out a sweatshirt, a pair of leather pants, a cadet aviator's leather jacket, and a pair of boots. Pulling the sweatshirt over herself, the magic residing in her wings allowed the shirt to pass through the wings as if they were made of thin air. She put on the aviator's jacket in similar fashion, and the pants went on afterward, humorously, in the opposite order that she was trained to dress. Finally, the boots went on, left then right, as she stood up and admired herself in the full-body mirror made of frozen rainwater.
"One piece still missing." She smiled sleepily as she walked up to the mirror and reached up to take down her gold and bronze rimmed aviation goggles. Her lucky goggles.
"Can't possibly fly without these." She muttered as she placed them on her head, pulling the leather belt strap on its back into a snug fit. As she looked at herself once again in the mirror, she couldn't help but release a little shudder of giddiness upon seeing her Leader's badge pinned upon her cadet's jacket. 'I'm exactly where I want to be.' She thought to herself with a proud chest.
"Oh!" She kicked herself, "That reminds me!"
She power-walked to the bathroom and dropped to a knee to the shower floor, now a dark grey color from absorbing the shower water from earlier. With her slender hands, she reached down and  pulled out the grey cloud from the surrounding white ones that made up the floor. Taking it to the bedroom window, she threw it outside and then leaped out after it, landing on it with acrobatic ease.
Immediately, she felt herself be absorbed completely  by the sheer scope of everything around her.
From outside of the cloud fortress of the Wonderbolt Academy, she could see as far off as the mountainous capitol of the Citadel. Everything in between was just a beautiful panoramic canvas of the sleeping world of Equestria. Below her, was the little town that her five friends called home: Ponyville.
Reaching down, she put both her hands into the plush of the dark cloud and began to squeeze the rainwater from the interior of the cloud; the outer curls slowly shedding the grey to a normal pearly white.
"Gosh. I sure hope no one's below me." She blushed, "That would be real embarrassing."
Finally, the cloud was empty, as she could visibly tell by it's snow white color. She leaped off of it, kicking it as her feet left the cloud, and unfurled her wings mid-flip; catching herself with the steady beat of her cyan wings as she floated in midair. The cloud peacefully coasted back through the window and stopped right next to McCloud, just calmly hovering there. She'd put it back later, when she had to take out the top portion of the shower and fill it back up with water.
'But for now,' She thought eagerly to herself as she looked up at the mountains of cumulonimbi.
'I'll indulge myself a little.'
She tucked her wings in, allowing herself to free-fall as she closed her eyes; the wind whipping around her ears like a symphony.
No one ever needed to see a symphony to get lost in it.
The same could be said for Rainbow Dash.
Lower and lower, faster and faster.
Lower and lower, faster and faster.
Until...
'Now.'
Her eyes shot open as she opened her wings, catching the air beneath her as she banked backwards, using her momentum to fly horizontally at first, then she flapped her wings in order to further bank backwards and took herself vertical.
Beating her wings to add to her already dizzying speed, she ascended the cloud mountains with great pace as she flew higher and higher into the lithosphere.
One moment, the distant academy was nearby, the next, it was simply an ant sized cloud among many others in the lithospheric layer. Rainbow Dash twirled and encircled her flight pattern around the great bodies of air as she flew higher and higher, eventually breaching the stratosphere without her knowing.
The lenses on the goggles didn't freeze, but the gold and bronze rim began to; putting an end to her adrenaline high as she once again clasped her wings and let herself fall.
'Not too high, there, girl,' she thought to herself, 'don't want frostbite, not when you're just hours away from a weekend break with your friends.' She fell about two hundred feet before landing at the peak of what she figured to be a seven hundred foot tall cumulonimbus cloud. She jumped down a couple of layers of the cloud before stopping at one and sitting down; throwing her legs over the edge and getting herself comfortable.
As she moved the belt strap on her goggles to a looser size and lowered them to her neck, a powerful gust of wind rushed past the exterior of the cloud as she began to vigorously shake her head just for the fun of it.
The rush of pure physical freedom that she felt as the wind rushed through every strand of her short, rainbow colored hair made her release a shrill squeal of pure delight unlike any she had released in the past week. When the wind passed, she stifled her voice to a light bout of giggles as she rolled her eyes up to her messy hair and let a great huff of air escape her chest, signaling the ending her brief euphoria.
"Heh, heh, heh..." She chuckled as she ran her fingers through her hair, trying to fix it to the best of her ability. "No wonder I'm always so tired... Heh, heh."
Above her, the clouds drifted lazily across the night sky, allowing her to view the canvas of outer space from the comfort of the softest substance on the planet.
"Wow." Was all that came to mind as she tried to take in the entire scene before her. As a flight cadet, she was trained to learn the different names and formations of constellations in the event of losing track of your immediate position.
And here it all was, right in front of her.
Not as a test, but this time as an art gallery of sorts.
  So she immediately knew that something was wrong when she first saw the little orange speck out beyond the pitch black New Moon.
"Huh," She pondered, "what is that, I wonder?" Before she could see anything else, though, a herd of massive cumulonimbus clouds floated by and slowly began to obstruct her view.
The last thing that she saw, however, gave her chills.
The orange speck seemed to illuminate some of the dark moon...
... which meant that it had just passed by the Moon...
'What the... heck?' She thought to herself as she pulled her feet back from the edge and stood up on the cushiony ledge. 'Was that a meteor? Or an asteroid? Or... Something?'
  If she wanted to see it again, then all she had to do was to fly up beyond the stratospheric clouds for the briefest of moments, and then just go back down before her body temperature dropped too low. It sounded so very easy once she put it together in her head in that way, but for the life of her, she couldn't bring herself to actually follow through and make the motions necessary to fly, or to even unfurl her wings.
This was not fear.
This was something that she felt from deep within her blood that she must avoid.
She was so wrapped up in trying to name the feeling that when she heard a noise behind her, she nearly jumped out of her skin, and off of the ledge. Whipping around, she turned to see a blackbird flapping its wings, navigating the winds surrounding the cloud with incredible focus while crisply singing out tunes into the open night. Upon sight, Rainbow Dash let out a long sigh, allowing her worried mind to ease.
"Just a Blackbird trying to find it's way." She chimed to the bird as it flew on past her in the direction of the stratospheric clouds.
At that moment...
((((((( ...Blackbird, singing in the dead of night...))))))
The song came from nowhere, nor had she ever heard of it in her entire life; but the voice...
It was the voice from her dreams.
((((((( ... Take these broken wings and learn to fly...)))))))
The song was incredibly beautiful to Rainbow Dash, but she was slowly becoming unnerved at the same time. Above her, she could see a small orange hue emanating from behind the stratospheric clouds. Something was very wrong. She could feel it.
((((((( ... All your life...)))))))
A massive crack of energy discharged from behind the clouds, making Rainbow Dash jump and painting an electric blue color around the brightening orange light in the cloud. The meteor must have entered the Earth's atmosphere.
((((((( ... You were only waiting...)))))))
'It's going to crash in Ponyville.' She realized as she looked down to the town below, trying to quickly gauge about how long it would take to reach the ground and warn the residents of Ponyville.
((((((( ... For this moment...)))))))
Three loud cracks of energy from behind her quickly reminded her that she wouldn't have any time at all. That didn't stop her from leaping off the cloud and diving down into the night air, angling her descent correctly for optimal speed and momentum. She at least had to try and make it.
((((((( ... To...)))))))
The rush of wind and speed did nothing to drown out the song in her head, but it did give her motivation to focus on her decent to the surface.
She had only just passed the lithospheric layer and the academy, when...
((((((( ... Arrive.)))))))
SHRAAAAAZZK!!!!!!
She screamed out loud as the orange comet streaked past her, throwing her off course and into a hopeless tailspin. As she span out of control, losing some of her momentum in the process, the meteor lost a bit of its speed as it curved to a more horizontal flight, zooming just above the sleepy town and past Sweet Apple Acres, careening into the Everfree forest.
Meanwhile, Rainbow Dash was trying to pull herself out of her tailspin as quickly as she could, so that she could see if the meteor had caused the town any damage.
"Get... A... Grip!!!" She screamed out just as she broke out of her tailspin and balanced herself to a light hover.
Right as she saw that the town was untouched, a colossal explosion came from the direction of the Everfree forest, sending a small shock wave through the town.
From the direction of Fluttershy's house.
She whipped her head around immediately to see if the little cottage was not the source of the explosion.
To her relief, it was not.
To her horror, she discovered that the Everfree was.
The inferno caused from the meteor's impact illuminated the darkness of night as it spread to more and more of the forest, like an infection. From what Rainbow Dash could tell, if they didn't do anything about this meteorite's mess soon, the flames might very well take the entire forest.
((((((( That is no meteorite.)))))))
She once again heard the voice as she looked around frantically to see where it came from.
"Then what is it?! Why can't I see you?! How do you know what it is?!" She yelled out in vain as it once again entered her head. The sheer amount of confusion was starting to frustrate the young flier.
((((((( Look down into the town. You will find that they are all awake.)))))))
She looked across the town and to it's outer reaches. She saw nobody.
"I don't see anyone...stupid voice." She spat the last word vehemently as she once again tried to look around for the Echo's source. "Why is nobody awake?!"
((((((( The Second One has cast a spell over the town. She does not want anyone normal to discover The Last One.)))))))
"'Anyone normal'?" She asked.
((((((( Look again.)))))))
And so she did, harder this time, as the Echo requested.
Near the Library entrance, she could see Pinkie and Rarity talking through the door to somebody intensely, she figured it to be Twilight.
Anyone "Normal"
Ah.
The Echoes spoke to her again as she saw her friends below her stop what they were doing, looking as if they were listening also to a voice from nowhere. Probably each one hearing something different.
((((((( Bearer of loyalty, Rainbow Dash, this will be the last time you hear from us. So listen now, and listen well.)))))))
"Okay." She replied shakily. "What is it you wanted to tell me?"
((((((( The Human races are about to be hunted down without remorse or prejudice by beings far beyond their current capabilities. The First One, The Second One, and The Begotten One will do all in their power to protect them, but it will not be enough. The Elements must now find their last purpose of being. The Last One will train you and aid you in finding that purpose, but heed our words now very carefully...)))))))
" ... Alright..."
((((((( ... The Elements will NOT aid you until that purpose is realized by all of the Bearers.  This you must search for individually, but find collectively. Do you understand?)))))))
"No. What are the first and second ones? What is the last one?" She asked frantically.
((((((( We wish that we could aid you further, but The Continuity would surely fall apart if we were to strain it any further, rendering all of our efforts fruitless. We can only be heard by many during times of great change and temporal resonance. Our time is drawing to a close, Rainbow Dash. Remember what we've taught you.)))))))
She looked back down to the Library to see that Pinkie had spotted her, and was now waving at her to join them at the entrance.
"Alright," She muttered. "I will."
((((((( One final note.)))))))
"Yes?"
((((((( Keep faith in humanity. She can be easily frightened, and sometimes can get lost along the way, but in the end, she is always worth fighting for. And trust The Observers. They doesn't always make sense sometimes, but it all adds up in the end, trust us.)))))))
She wanted to protest and ask as to what this all meant again, but the cracking of burning pines suddenly became louder, as if to remind her of the dire situation before her.
"Alright." She sighed. "I'll just add that to the list."
((((((( Godspeed, Bearer. Godspeed.)))))))
And just like that, she felt the empty presence exit her mind, leaving her only with the eerie crackling of fire left to listen to.
"HEY RAINBOW DASH!!!!!! COME DOWN HERE!!!!!!! WE WANNA TALK TO YOU!!!!!!!!!!"
And the impossibly loud noise of Pinkie Pie's voice blasted through a megaphone that she seemingly pulled from thin air.
As she quickly descended to the Library below, she let out a heavy sigh of regret.
"So much for a chill day."
.........................................................
(Twilight's POV)
("""" Earlier that morning, in the Ponyville Library..."""")
((((((( He is here, Bearer of Magic, you must awaken from your slumber.)))))))
((((((( The Last One has returned home.)))))))
((((((( Wake up.)))))))
((((((( Wake up now.)))))))
The last word was said just as what she thought was a massive thunderclap crashed outside, kick-starting her alertness of her surroundings. She quickly found out that she was not the only one who was startled, because as she looked over the side of her bed, she saw the fourteen-year-old dragon, Spike, on the floor next to his trusty mattress, grasping his chest in shock.
"Was that lightning?" He gasped as he picked himself from off of the ground and stood up, cautiously watching the outside of the window the whole time. "It sure seemed too bright for it to be that." Quickly, Twilight pushed the bed comforter off of her as she slid her legs over the side of the bed and stood up; another flash of bright electric blue light startling her as she did so.
"I've never seen an electrical discharge quite like that in the natural world." She observed as the boom of the thunder finally caught up with the strike, making them all flinch as it rattled the window pane. "I've only ever seen electricity like this when it is magically made. And even then..."
"So it isn't lightning then." Spike asked again.
"Well, I don't know, Spike, I just woke up!" She rebuked.
"Was it the lightning that woke you up, Twi?" Spike asked suspiciously. At this, Twilight turned from looking at the window to the adolescent dragon next to her, his impossibly emerald eyes glistening in the dim light of night.
"What do you mean, Spike?" She whispered.
"... Did you hear them? The voices?" He asked cautiously. From Twilight's wide-eyed expression, Spike figured that was a 'yes'.
"By Celestia, did you hear them too...?" She gasped.
He nodded.
And then his eyes rolled up into his head as he passed out and fell to the floor, Twilight barely catching him before he hit the ground.
"Spike!" She yelled to her conscience assistant, shaking him repeatedly in an attempt to awaken him.
((((((( The Second One has cast a spell over the village, it will lift when the Sun does.)))))))
"What? Who is The Second One? And why is Spike unconscious?!?" She yelled out to the Echoes, summoning her enchanted garments just in case this night got any weirder.
((((((( She is the one who amplified this night so that no one normal would discover the one she wishes to call 'brother'.)))))))
'The one who amplified the night'? Princess Luna? And... the one she wishes to call brother...?
Another High Blood...
She reached for the air around her with her gloves and confirmed what the Echoes had told her about the spell.
It was a powerful incantation unlike anything that she had been taught by Celestia, or read about in any archive.
Luna had manipulated the natural forces of the night to keep this High Blood unseen, but why?
((((((( You care for that dragon very dearly, we know. But the time is drawing ever nearer. You must leave the house. Now. )))))))
At that moment, a cataclysmic crescendo of thunder erupted from far beyond the dimly lit bedroom as she saw an electric blue flash from behind the clouds in the night sky, then noticing another object, giving off an orange light, descending at a rapid rate from where the energy was discharged.
"By Celestia, it's going to crash right in the middle of Ponyville!!!" She cried out as she quickly but carefully laid Spike's head and ran out of the room. As she burst through the door and entered the main Library room, she jumped over the second level ledge and, using her magic, teleported to the front door, shoving the door knob down and yanking the door open.
Right as she walked out into the open night, the bright orange object screamed past the Library's tree branches, the heat emanating from it singing her eyes and lightly setting one of the branches on fire, before curving upwards past Sweet Apple Acres and finally careening into the Everfree forest, illuminating the once dark forest as it flew deeper and deeper into the thick flora and fauna.
All of this happened within the span of a few moments, but for Twilight, she still felt as if she had frozen when the High Blood had passed right over her.
From within the bright orange glow, she had seen... a figure...
"Twilight!"
The voice snapped her out of it as she turned to see that her friends, Pinkie and Rarity, had awakened as well; and were now riding on Rarity's horse, Amethyst, who was galloping as quickly as she could in order get to Twilight's Library as quickly as possible. The looks of exhaustion on their faces told Twilight immediately that they, too had been awakened thanks to the Echoes.
"You too?" She yelled out to them.
"I was about to say the same thing to you, darling, did you see what just went by?" The nineteen-year-old fashionista said in a proper Citadelian accent as she rode up to the Library entrance, her flowing, curly hair bobbing gracefully as she dismounted Amethyst.
"Yeah! Man, did you see it, or did you see it? Yeah, all of the thunder strikes going all like POW!! KSHOW!!! CRACK!!! SHOOM!!! How awesome was that?!? And then the way it curved just above the town but it was still so freakin' close, man, the Wonderbolts can go freakin' suck it!!! That was just the coolest freaking thing that I've seen all day! When it went all like KAVWOOOOOOSHHH!!!!" The hyperactive pink haired sixteen-year-old illustrated by stretching her arm as far back as she could as she bent into a back-flip off the mare's back and then onto her own two feet. Rarity simply gave her a dry look in response to her grand spectacle.
"Pinkie, that's the only thing you've seen all day besides me." Rarity pointed out.
"Yeah, I know." Pinkie replied bluntly as she stood herself upright and scratched the tip of her nose. "'Still the coolest."
Before they could say anything else, an earth-shattering implosion arose from the direction of the Everfree forest, the sending a small shock wave coursing through the town as it rattled windows and whipped around the girls' pajamas. When they turned to look for the source, they saw a massive fireball rising from deep within the forest where Twilight guessed the High Blood finally crashed. Rarity stared at the fire holocaust in utter amazement and shock. Pinkie, however, seemed to be relatively entertained by the whole thing.
"HOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!" Pinkie cooed. "What a scorcher!"
"Twilight," Rarity shakily asked, "do you have any idea as to what that object could have been?"
Before Twilight could answer herself, the Echoes' voices entered all of their minds at once.
((((((( It is a High Blood. The Last One, to be exact.)))))))
"A High Blood? Huh, that sounds important. What is a High Blood, Mr. Echo man?" Pinkie Pie asked, not appearing even the slightest bit unnerved by the fact that they were all hearing the same disembodied voice inside of their heads.
In fact, she seemed to be acting as if she had been through something like this before.
((((((( We think that it would be best explained... if the Bearer of Magic indulged her knowledge of the subject...)))))))
The two girls turned to look at Twilight, making her feel uncomfortably put on the spot.
Introvert problems.
"Well, uhhhhh... Geez, how do I start...? You know the Princesses, right? Celestia, Luna, and Cadance?" She started, using her hands as a visual aid.
"Well, yes, of course we know who the Princesses are, why would we not?" Rarity acknowledged in a sarcastic as-a-matter-of-fact tone that Twilight became slightly annoyed with, but ignored for the sake of time, because of how they were running out of it.
"The term "High Blood" is the name of their race. The very first race on this Earth." She explained quickly. "Now," She pointed at the glowing inferno in the Everfree. "another one has found its way to Earth, apparently, and it's currently burning up in the middle of the Everfree forest." She hadn't meant to come off that snarky at all, but from the wide eyed expression from them both, (well, as for Pinkie, she couldn't speak for.), the point seemed to thankfully come across to them.
((((((( Yes, it is as Twilight has said. The First Race have worn down the confines of their prisons and are planning to return to The Cradle, and the High Blood in that forest is the only one who can train you for the oncoming storm.))))))
A strange sound filled their ears, not like the crackling of burning pines in the distance or the rustling of the night wind, but more as if those noises had bent together, making a noise that made Twilight and Rarity cringe. Pinkie had merely scratched her ears with slight annoyance when she had heard it.
((((((( The Continuity is closing around us, our time is drawing to a close, Bearers. Bearer of Laughter, if you look up to your right, you will find the Bearer of Loyalty. We have been speaking to her as well. You know what to do. Call her down.)))))))
"Okie-dokie-lokie!" She crisply complied as she looked up to see Rainbow Dash in the distance in her cadet's uniform, hovering above the town and looking at the inferno in the distance. As Pinkie began trying to wave down Rainbow Dash, The Echoes isolated their voice to the two mages: Twilight and Rarity.
((((((( A war is on the horizon, Bearers. A being of unbridled insanity is going to rekindle the flames of war and will hunt down the humans without remorse or prejudice. The First One, The Second One, and The Begotten One will do all in their power to protect their subjects, but it will not be enough. The Elements must now find their last reason of being. The Last One will train you and aid you in finding that purpose, but heed our words now very carefully,  Mages. This is a crucial detail.)))))))
Twilight and Rarity looked at each other before nodding in understanding.
"What is it?" Twilight asked.
((((((( Until that purpose is realized by  the Bearers of Harmony, the Elements will NOT allow you to use them. These purposes must be searched for individually, but found collectively. Do you understand the riddle given before you?)))))))
"I would naturally protest and question, but it appears that the situation has not allowed us that luxury." Rarity answered, her gaze still fixed on the growing forest fire.
"Yes, we understand." Twilight finished.
((((((( Very well, then. The Continuity is closing around Us. As a sign of good faith, We have lifted the spell for your dragon friend. You will find that We have brought him up to speed with the situation.)))))))
Hearing a loud grunt and moan from inside of the Library, Twilight was relieved to confirm what the Echoes had told her, as he saw Spike's head peek from the bedroom door, awake and unharmed.
"Thank you for that," Twilight whispered to the Echoes. "We will probably need him with us where we're going tonight."
((((((( One last note. Keep faith in your race. She might not be the most fearless one, nor the strongest, and she might even get lost down the wrong path from time to time. But in the end, she is always worth fighting for.)))))))
"Okay, we won't forget it." Twilight replied strongly, her confidence now boosted thanks to what the Echo said.
"HEY RAINBOW DASH!!!!!! COME DOWN HERE!!!!!!! WE WANNA TALK TO YOU!!!!!!!!!!" Pinkie Pie screamed through a megaphone that no one knew she had on her.
'That girl, sometimes.' Twilight thought to herself, still coiled up from surprise. 'Sometimes, I just don't know about her.'
((((((( Oh, while you're still thinking of the Bearer of Laughter, one final note. Trust in The Observers. They may not always make sense sometimes, but their actions always come together in the end.)))))))
"Observer? What's an Observer? And what's that got to do with anything "Pinkie Pie" related?" Twilight asked, having put aside her confusion for long enough for the Echoes to finish speaking. She had never heard once the name "Observers" come up in any of her studies, and she always got frustrated by things that she didn't fully understand. However, that sound of feedback once again entered their ears.
((((((( Our time is up, now. But yours has only just begun. Complete what The First One started. Complete the Elements. Godspeed, Bearers. Godspeed.)))))))
And with that final note, the empty presence seemed to exit their minds as the sounds of the distant fire once again filled the night sky.
"Did it stop talking to you to?" Rainbow Dash shouted as she flew down and hit the ground; falling into a kneel, and then pushing herself back up while tucking in her powerful cyan wings.
"Yeah, just now, actually." Twilight replied as she felt Spike's hand sleepily grasp at her shoulder as he lumbered next to her.
"Hi, Spike." Pinkie said. In response, Spike just groggily threw his right arm up in what was supposed to be a greeting gesture but ended up looking like he was trying to swat away a fly.
"Spikey-wikey, are you quite all right?" Rarity asked in a genuinely worried tone as Spike grinned.
"Don't you worry, I'm... *Yaaaaaawn* ... not actually this tired. My mind's just... ugh... more awake than my body is right now." Spike smiled as his eyes fluttered between sleep and exhaustion. "I'm already... ... ... brought up to speed, thanks to... *Yaaaaaaaaaaaaawn* ... the voices. Don't bother explaining... anything."
"You sure that you're up for it, Spike? You seem..." Twilight gave Spike a once over and didn't like what she saw. "... Out of it."
"Well, he'd better darn well be ready fer it," A voice with a familiar southern drawl came from up on the road. " where we're headed, I reckon that we'll need somebody with skin as thick as yours."
Applejack quickly walked with Fluttershy in tow to the party of five, with Big Macintosh's tall, lean figure in between the two. The size of the twenty and eighteen year old brother and sister almost made the demure seventeen year old Nephilim look dwarfed while standing next to them. However, Applejack’s hair wasn’t in a ponytail as it usually was, and her long, flowing blond hair was slightly off-putting to them, especially without her lucky cowgirl hat.
"Fluttershy!" Rainbow Dash cried out before running up to the pink-haired girl and scooping her up in a bear hug. "Oh, Celestia, you have NO idea how worried I was when I saw that thing go by your house! Oh, I'm so glad you aren't hurt!"
"T-thank you Rainbow Dash, but I was really just really s-s-scared." Fluttershy replied softly as she returned the hug full on. "Right after that t-thing crashed into the forest, Big Macintosh ran up here to see if I was okay. If you want to thank anybody, you should thank him."
At this, the two blushed and looked away from each other, both feeling bashful about tonight's heroics.
"No need t' thank me at all, Miss Dash. Was jus' worried 'bout Miss Fluttershy, was all." Big Mac humbly replied, scratching his short, dirty-blonde hair. Regardless of his humility, Rainbow Dash ran up to him anyway and gave him a big hug.
"I don't care. Fluttershy thinks you need to be thanked, so you're getting a thanks." Rainbow Dash said stubbornly as she gave him a pat on the shoulder before running back to Fluttershy, unbeknownst to her that the two were stealing glances at each other when the other wasn't looking.
"I'm gonna go on a limb and guess that the voices spoke to you two as well?" Twilight asked as Fluttershy and Applejack both stopped what they were doing and turned to face Twilight.
"Y-yes." Fluttershy meekly replied.
"Yeah, Fluttershy and me both. It woke us all up, includin' Big Mac over here." Applejack replied heartily, patting Big Mac on the shoulder.
"Well, that, and I was worried 'bout you two." Big Mac said as he waved his index to his sister and Fluttershy. Rarity, however, picked up on the strangeness of his tale.
"So you heard the voices as well, Big Macintosh?" Rarity asked carefully.
"Eeyup." He answered.
"And they woke you up?"
"Eeyup, but it was kind of difficult fer some reason. It felt... well, I felt kinda like Spike's feelin' right now. Granted, I did shake myself out've it." Everyone looked at Spike, who was now leaning against the door frame, looking vastly more awake than he did only a couple of seconds ago.
"Yeah, Big Mac's right, I'm kinda beginning to snap out of it." Spike said as he closed his hand and then snapped it open, hearing a sharp noise as he summoned his claws, and then closed his hand again, sheathing them. "I think I'll be okay if we go now. Applejack was right, you guys will need skin as strong as mine if you plan on just waltzing in there with trees burning and falling down all around you."
"Well you're better than okay, I hope you're ready." Twilight said as she walked out to the road, still gazing at the burning wildfire in the distance. "Because something tells me that this is going to be a long night..."
With a wave of her arm, the party of eight made off to the raging inferno beyond, not once questioning if it was a good idea or not.
Because , unbeknownst to them, the fire was not of natural origin...
... it was power being shed from the nameless High Blood's body...
... power that he hadn't used eons...
... power that was dangerous...
... power that he might not be able to control...

//-------------------------------------------------------//
                          Reunion                          
//-------------------------------------------------------//
Reunion
....................(((...))).....................
("""" In the Citadel Castle..."""")
(Flashback)
They did not have time to move the Sun and the Moon on that day. The Moon was rising in the East and the Sun was setting in the West, but they just hovered in their respective poles, unmoving completely. To Celestia's right, the setting evening sky was painted a somber amber and tangerine color as the Sun stayed there, frozen in place. To her left, the night was rising with an empty, dark navy blue hue as the Moon, too, simply hovered in place, frozen.
Her sister, Luna, was also to her left. The girl's hair was messy, matted, and unruly. The magic had long left their hair, leaving them in their natural state, Celestia's pink hair and Luna's turquoise hair now short and naturally fibrous. Their war dresses were battered and torn, their golden blood was seeping from deep cuts and lacerations from the titanic fights that occurred only moments ago. But now that was over. Finished.
There was no more war.
It had ended.
The world around them filled with an unnatural silence unlike anything that any lonely night or any lazy day could bring. There was simply a vacancy in the air. Something was just, plain wrong with the way the world was now.
Maybe it was the fact that the wind was slowly dying. Not like "the wind is settling down" dying, but as if the breeze itself was dying because Nebula was no longer there to stir it back up again to it's normal, vibrant, free self again.
Maybe it was because the plants' flora was a slightly more grey tone than it was earlier. Terra always did like her plants to look as beautiful as they possibly could. Now that she, too, was gone, the plants looked as if they were simply living for the sake of existing, as if they had simply forsaken the beauty that they once held in protest to what the two remaining gods had just done.
But Celestia didn't care. Or, at least, she didn't at the time. The war was won, Luna was safe, and so was humanity.
That was all that mattered.
That was all that ever mattered.
Luna made a sudden movement to Celestia's left and she whipped around to see what it was. Luna was raising her right arm and looking at it, the Elements of Harmony forming the golden armor that covered it. Luna was carrying the Elements of Generosity, Loyalty, and Honesty; while, on Celestia's left arm, Celestia carried the Elements of Laughter, Kindness, and the most powerful and elusive of all six: Magic.
The smell of ozone still emanated from the place where Stella and her army, The Collective, had once stood. After ten long years, there was finally a time to rest and take in everything that's gone on since the war's inception.
But when Celestia tried to, she couldn't remember anything that was worth remembering. She felt as empty as the new world before her now.
She felt a void where she should've been feeling victory. This drink, she realized, had no taste to her.
"It's over. Finally it's over," Celestia said, trying her best to put up a sincere smile as Luna ignored her and continued to look at her Elements as she took the armor off of her arm. Her sister seemed to be in deep thought as she gazed at the artifacts.
"Luna...?" Celestia asked, now starting to get visibly worried. "Are you all right? Are you hurt?"
Luna clenched her teeth and hurled the armor with all her might, screaming a bloodcurdling scream of anger and sadness as she fell to her knees, burying her face into her fists and bawling her eyes out.
"Luna!" Celestia cried out as she dove to the ground, cradling her weeping sister as she struggled beneath her grip, her entire body convulsing with repressed emotions. "What's wrong?!"
"They're gone, Celestia!" She sobbed, still looking at the empty spot where the army once stood, their march forward halted by two of their siblings who had stayed in the blast in order to ensure the trap. "They're gone... All gone..."
Then, reality dawned upon Celestia.
They were all gone.
Every.
Last.
One.
They were the only ones left. The sisters Sun and Moon.
The realization made her hug her sister even tighter, holding back her tears so as to try and calm down her distraught sister.
"Shhhhhhhhh... Shhhhhhhhhhhhh.... It's okay..." She said as her sister continued heaving out her tears beneath her. " I'm here... so is Cadance... We're both here for you..."
"I miss them, Cel. I miss Mom. I miss... Dad." She wept, holding onto Celestia's arm with a fierce grip as she held her arm close. Those two sentences proverbially broke the dam as tears leaked down Celestia's cheeks.
"I know, Luna. I know." She choked as she slid down to the ground behind Luna and held her to her chest, rocking her back and forth as Celestia dug her head into her shoulder. "I miss them too. More than you can possibly imagine."
As Celestia was embracing her sister, she felt her fingers run over a cut on her back. Luna did not flinch, but Celestia raised her hand from around Luna's back so as to not cause her any more pain than what she was already feeling.
However, as she raised it from her trembling sister's back, she couldn't help but see what was on her hand. Ichor. The golden blood that ran through the veins of every High Blood. She saw that her hand was covered with her sister's own blood.
It was Luna who had given it that name, so many years ago when they were young and the world around them was so very large and strange. She, like a few of her siblings, could listen to the Echoes of the Universe and hear their vague teachings of the world around them. One day, she ran to Light and Dark and told them of her discovery, their parents so proud to discover that their first Observer had interpreted her very first encounter with the Echoes.
But that was in the past, when siblings didn't shed the Ichor of their fellow siblings.
That was when she was innocent.
As she looked at her hand now, covered in the blood of her weeping sister, she felt only one word come to mind when she thought about herself.
Tainted.
She could no longer pretend to be fearless.
The tears flowed like waterfalls.
This was not how things were supposed to happen. This is not how Light and Dark wanted things to be. This war was far too horrible, to costly for anyone to possibly wish something like this to happen.
No brother should try to kill their sister.
No sister should try to kill their brother.
And yet it happened. Which left Celestia feeling just as guilty as the others.
She spent so much time crying, that she didn't even realize that Luna had lifted her head and saw her elder sister crying, and took her and pushed her close to her chest, just as Celestia had not moments ago. Celestia returned the gesture with a hug.
After all of this, Luna still loved her sister.
After all of this, she still remained pure of heart and soul.
Celestia felt a twinge of something that she hadn't felt in a long time tug at her soul.
Hope.
"Thank you, Luna." Celestia hiccuped as she pulled herself out of the hug and put her hands on Luna's shoulders, looking straight into her sapphire eyes. "I swear on Mother and Father's names that I will protect you until my absolute final breath leaves my body. I swear it. I don't ever want to see you hurt ever again. I swear it, Luna, I swear it."
She took her little sister's hands and held them between her own.
"This world is what we make it to be, now. It is what our parents had entrusted us to do when we were created, and it still hasn't changed. We owe them that much." Celestia said, her amethyst eyes now red from the tears. “They believed that the humans had purpose, and I'll be damned if I let their work go unfinished. We will build an empire for the humans, we will provide them with knowledge, and we will guide them as best as we can for them to be the best that they can be."
Suddenly, Luna's smile slightly faded as she took her hands from Celestia's; turning her head slightly away in shame.
"Luna?" Celestia whispered.
"Do you really believe that we deserve to rule? Do you really believe that we deserve such responsibility and power after all of the sin that we have experienced?" Luna sniffed as her sapphire eyes gazed into Celestia's. She desperately scratched her mind to look for an immediate answer to her question, but could not find one.
Luna was right.
They had experienced such maddening amounts of sin...
... and they, too, had sinned...
"I don't know, Luna." Celestia finally answered with a raspy voice. "I truly do not know, but I know that we must try."
With that, she pulled her sister once more into another long embrace, both still lightly shedding what little tears that they still had left as they cradled each other and rocked back and forth on their knees. It is unknown how long exactly that they stayed in that embrace.
Because on that day, the Sun and the Moon did not move.
It was The Longest Day.
"We must try."
...............................................................
"Luna..."
"Luna!" Celestia cried out as she sat herself upright in her bed, her flowing hair of pink, turquoise, and cobalt covered with beads of cold sweat, most likely because of her vivid recalling of that horrible, horrible day.
The Longest Day...
"What was that...?" She whispered to herself as she stroked her head with her hands, trying to slow down her hyperventilating and calm down.
"Did I just... dream?"
Indeed, ever since she was forced to banish her sister to the Moon with the Elements, she had found herself completely incapable of experiencing dreams. Not even nightmares. A sort of side effect that also went as a punishment for her.
So, what had she just experienced?
She took in a shaky breath as she stood herself up and walked over to the washroom, her tall six-foot nine frame just barely making it between the archway and to the sink. As she turned on the cold water within the sink, she lifted her head and looked in the mirror at her reflection.
So much time has passed since The Longest Day. She still retained the beauty that she had when she was young, one of the few perks of immortality, but her eyes...
She could see her age radiate from her eyes which looked as if they were carved from raw amethyst. It was as if she could physically see the cracks and scars in the irises of her eyes.
Her hair was no longer just a vibrant pink color, but also that of turquoise and light cobalt, possibly a side effect of when she had to manipulate both the day and the night in her sister's absence. Yet another tell-tale sign of how ancient she was. She  cupped her hands into the cold, clear liquid and splashed it onto her face, snapping her into full alertness as she walked back into her resting quarters.
As she stretched out her massive white wings, she looked up at the ceiling and admired the intricate carvings of the constellations that traced all along the painted night sky.
Orion.
Sirus.
Ursa Major.
The breathtaking mural showed them all.
"Maybe some stargazing will do me some good." Celestia sighed, straightening out her silk nightgown as she walked over to the panoramic window opposite to her bed. "Clear the mind a little bit."
She leaned herself on the marble windowsill as she began to admire this night which Luna had graced the land with. Looking at the night and how beautifully created it was, it reminded her of those thousand years where she managed both the day and the night. She remembers how very lost she felt then, not knowing how to raise the Moon quite like Luna did.
Oh, the loneliness. No mortal could comprehend, much less understand, what one thousand years of solitude could do to a person. She remembered waking in the middle of the night once and walking to the window, looking through it to see the Moon beyond.
She remembered how she began to wonder who the prisoner actually was.
The world was not the same without another one just like her with whom to talk and converse with, and that was punishment in itself.
But as she gazed at the Moon now, that hope that she had felt so very long ago resurfaced instead of that longing sense of regret that she was so very used to.
Luna was finally safe, once again.
This realization brought a warm smile to her face as she crossed her arms on the windowsill and slid down to her knees, resting her chin upon her crossed arms.
'I'm feeling too lazy to go back to my bed.' She groaned in her head as she looked at the Moon for one last time. 'I think I'll just admire your handiwork until I sleep.'
She closed her eyes and fell back asleep.
...
((((((( The First One. Celestia of the Sun.)))))))
No.
((((((( The time is nigh.)))))))
Impossible.
((((((( They are returning.))))))
You shouldn't be able to speak to me.
((((((( The First Race has awakened once more.)))))))
I am not an Observer.
((((((( Listen to us, High Blood. We are losing our grip on your mind quicker than the others. You have long been aware of our existence, this has made your mind harder to grasp. So please listen to us.)))))))
O-okay...
((((((( Many years ago, you had a notion that the humans were destined to wield the Elements for their true purpose, that the High Bloods were never meant to use it correctly.)))))))
Yes. I do remember. And I still believe that.
((((((( You know what must be done then, what the Bearers must do to fight the oncoming storm.)))))))
I... Believe so...
((((((( The Elements of Harmony will find their last reason of being, after eons, the time has come. The story will come full circle.)))))))
I... I understand...
((((((( Good, now go. The Last One has already passed by the realm of the Moon-)))))))
What?
Passed by the Moon?
Oh no.
Luna.
((((((( Please, do not panic, she is perf-))))))
Luna.
Luna!
...
Celestia once again woke with a gasp as she shot up her head, immediately bolting her gaze to the Moon, as the voices said.
The first thing that she saw was a bright orange object glowing from behind the clouds, careening straight down in the direction of Ponyville.
A High Blood.
From the back of her mind, there scratched an old feeling of familiarity about this particular High Blood.
Old memories of a brother.
A long lost brother.
She pushed those thoughts to the side as she summoned her Solar Staff; a magnificent golden staff which was the embodiment of her magical power; and her white and gold Royal Dress with it, which held the royal symbol of the Sun upon it's golden breastplate.
"Luna." She whispered to herself as she walked with great pace out of the room, the sound of her heavy staff echoing across the halls with an audible clack each time she stepped forward.
"Please be okay."
.....................
(Luna's POV)
"Please let me not be too late." She muttered with great anxiety as she streaked through the night sky to the Citadel Castle, beating her great wings as hard as she possibly could.
A minute or two ago, she had gripped the night with her magic and casted a spell over the town of Ponyville. It was a powerful spell, but not the most powerful one that she could've used. She had done this on purpose.
She hoped that the Echoes would catch on to what she was trying to do.
She flew straight through a herd of cumulonimbus clouds as the Citadel appeared before her, in all of it's marbled glory. Carved into the side of a mountain, the Castle loomed above the rest of the sleeping world, vastly beautiful, vastly intricate.
And yet, the towering marble pillars and the expertly crafted watchtowers were still younger than she was.
Zooming closer and closer, she identified the massive archways atop the castle which led to the Throne Room beyond.
'There.' She thought to herself. Beating her wings once more to catch one final burst of speed, she dove into into the archway and hit the ground at an angle, sliding across the smooth stone floor as she slowed her momentum and broke into a quick walk towards the great ebony doors.
Summoning her black Lunar Staff into her hand, she struck the ground with it as she walked forward, sending strands of bright navy blue energy racing through the intricate carvings in the marble and up the great black doors, undoing the many enchantments that kept the doors sealed from any but she and her sister.
She reached the doors and raised her arm to open them, but they flew open before she could touch them.
Before her stood Celestia, in full dress and crown.
For the longest moment, they only looked into each other's eyes.
The look on Luna's face confirmed Celestia's fears, as did Celestia's face confirm Luna's.
'They have returned.' Celestia thought.
'She knows already.' Luna shivered.
Celestia broke the moment first as she harshly walked past Luna and summoned her Staff to her hand, the heat from the energies within clearly emanating on it's golden surface.
"Celestia, wait-" Luna begged.
"Stay in the Castle, Luna." Celestia harshly ordered as she stuck the ground with her staff, summoning the energies within the staff to solidify into it's combat form: an axe-like construct of energy in the shape of the Sun. "I'll handle this alone."
"No, Celestia, wait." Luna said sternly as she ran to catch up with her sister. "Please listen to me."
"You need to stay inside and wait until I say that it's safe, do you understand me?"
"Celestia. Stop."
"Luna. Go into the Castle. Now."
"Celestia, would you stop and just liste-"
"Did you not hear me?!" Celestia bellowed as she whipped around to face her little sister, who was now staring at her with wide eyes filled with fear. "Stay in the castle until I return! Do you understand me?”
Celestia then turned on her heel as she continued walking, unfurling her great white wings as she prepared to take off.
"Celestia, I think it might be Prometheus!" Luna yelled after her.
She froze in place when she heard the name, her wings still outstretched.
"I think that it's him, Cel." She yelled again, more assertively this time as she saw that her sister was finally listening to her. "I think he's finally returned."
A moment of silence passed with neither sister moving. Just as Luna began to think that Celestia was going to take off anyway, she saw her wings begin to slowly curl back behind her.
"That's not possible." Celestia muttered, her back still turned away from her sister. "He couldn't possibly be strong enough on his own, you know that."
"I know what I felt, Cel." Luna replied. "I know it sounds impossible, but I knew, right as it flew past me, I knew that it had to be him. The energy it gave off, Celestia..."
Celestia turned back around to face Luna, an expression between fear and anxiety clear on her face.
"... It felt like warm fire."
Celestia continued to silently read her sister's face as her thoughts ran up a hurricane in her head.
To her right, she saw a bright light rising from the middle of the Everfree forest. No doubt the High Blood had finally crash landed deep within the thick confines of the Everfree.
"Come here, Luna." She called to her sister without looking at her. "You should see this." Nervously, Luna walked to Celestia as she looked in the direction of Ponyville and saw the fireball rising from within the forest, letting out a small breath of relief from discovering that the little town was okay.
"This sleeping spell is not your strongest, Luna." Celestia noted as Luna felt her heart drop into her stomach. "The Bearers know, don't they?"
"Y-yes." Luna whispered, afraid of what her sister would do now that she knew. To her surprise, Celestia did nothing but look to her Solar Staff with a look of deep thought as the white hot heat of the weapon construct at its top hummed with power.
"You really think it's him, don't you?" Celestia asked as she rolled the staff around in her hand, still looking at the wildfire in the making.
"His body was shedding power, I think it's a side effect to what Stella... did to him." Luna explained as she looked into Celestia's eyes. "I've never seen a meteorite explode into flames on impact."
Celestia looked for a long time at the growing inferno in the distance, and then back to the staff in her left hand.
'Please don't let me be wrong. Not again.' Celestia thought to herself as the staff dematerialized into a bright light which then dissipated into the magical white markings all along her arm.
"Thank you." Luna whispered.
As she began to unfurl her wings to go with Celestia, her sister's arm shot in front of her.
"Stay in the Castle. Please." Celestia ordered as she shot her wings out to their full span. "I don't want you to go with me. It's too dangerous."
"What if I'm right, Celestia?" Luna protested. "What if it is Prometheus?"
"And what if I'm right, Luna?" Celestia retorted. "What if it isn't him? I don't want to put you in harm's way again, not after only a year."
Luna considered going against her sister's will briefly, but then tucked her wings back in, the sincere expression on Celestia's face pleading her to obey at least this little precaution.
"Okay, Celestia." Luna said. "I'll stay."
"But if I'm right..." Celestia warned coldly, "... I will not give it a second thought."
A shiver crawled up Luna's spine as those words escaped her mouth. With a powerful leap off of the ground and a great beat of wings, Celestia flew up into the night sky as she made with all haste in the direction of the sleeping town. Luna simply looked into the distance as her sister's words echoed in her head.
"If I'm right... I won't give it a second thought."
"Please, let me be right." Luna whispered into the night.
"Please. Let it be him."
:Reunion:
"Oh my..." Applejack gasped as she took in the sight before her eyes. What was once her standard wildfire had exploded into a certifiable inferno within the span of time it took to run into the town down the hill and back again.
"Applejack, what's wro-" Twilight began to ask, but as she stepped up to the top of the hill, the waves of heat that emanated from the flames took her completely by surprise. Raising her right arm to shield herself from the heat, she walked forward and stood next to Applejack.
"Ah've never seen a wildfire spread so quickly in my entire life!" Applejack shouted above the raging noise of burning wood, the heat tossing about the girls' loose hair. "Somethin's real wrong about this fire, Twi! It just ain't normal!"
"Applejack's right!" Shouted Rainbow Dash as she walked up next to Twilight. "The Weather Crew scheduled a rain above it not two days ago! There's no way it could possibly spread so fast!"
"Y-y-you want us t-to go in t-there?" They heard Fluttershy meekly ask as she looked on in fear at the writhing mass of flames before her, with Big Mac, Spike, and Rarity doing the same thing as they caught up with the group.
Twilight summoned her gloves and  ran her fingers through the heat emanating from the forest, trying to identify if the energies inside of the heat were natural or not.
What she discovered puzzled her, and caused her to jerk her hand back to her chest in surprise.
"Twilight! Are you alright?" Rarity gasped as she ran over to see if she had been harmed. Twilight gave her a reassuring look as she slowly reached her hand outward once again to see if she had not mistaken about what she felt.
"What is it, Twi?" Applejack asked. "Is it somethin to do with the fire?"
"Yeah, but that's just the thing." Twilight began, trying to find the words with which to explain her discovery with. "It is fire, but at the same time, it's... not."
"Which makes it...?" Rainbow shouted, waiting for the caramel-skinned sorceress to give the group  a straight answer.
Looking down at her gloves, pulsing with bright, lavender magic, she developed a theory.
Once again, the quickest way to explain herself had boiled down to just showing them.
With a quickness in her step, she walked straight towards the burning forest.
"Twilight!" Spike yelled out as he began to follow her, "What in the name of Celestia are you doing?!"
"Fire that spreads on moist plants is completely impossible naturally, so it's automatically unnatural," Twilight began as she felt the magic from her gloves twirl around her fingers, the great waves of heat growing as she walked ever closer. "But it also feels so real, incredibly real, in fact. Enchanted fire unlike any pyromancer should be physically capable of producing with such detail and reality..."
She stopped just close enough to the writhing mass of fire to where her pink and violet striped, dark blue hair tossed around behind her as Spike rushed to catch up with her.
"Then I remembered. The Echoes said something about the spell over this town being caused by Luna manipulating the night."
She gripped the magic within her hands as it created a visible halo of energy around them.
"This is High Blood magic, but magic nonetheless."
She horizontally cupped her hands as the halos of energy around her hands shot into the empty space between them, creating a small ball of bright purple magical energies in between her palms. She then shot her arms outwards, creating a massive bubble of translucent lavender energy. Spreading to a diameter of about thirty feet, Twilight then proceeded to walk forward, her hands still outstretched in order to continue the spell as she walked into the pyre. When the edges of the translucent bubble met the burning trees, the fire disintegrated into small mists of tiny orange lights before disappearing into the night sky.
"Come on guys! It works! Ha ha, it works!" Twilight yelled behind her in excitement. Sharing her excitement, the group ran forward and joined her in the bubble, quickly noting how cool the interior was as they gathered around her.
"Amazing, Twilight! What kind of spell is this?" Rarity accidentally shouted, unaware of the bubble's insulation of the sounds outside.
"An air conditioning spell!" Twilight giddily replied.
The entire group looked at her with a weirded out look.
"How... does an air conditioning spell... put out flames?" Spike asked, trying to recall in recent memory exactly when she had learned such a strange spell.
"Celestia trained me in spells that might be useful in dry conditions by manipulating the heat around her." Twilight explained proudly. "Apparently, what she didn't know, was that she also trained me how to counteract High Blood magic in the process. All I needed to do was tweak the spell so it dispersed magical heat and fire, and it looks to me like my logic was sound."
"But, if you're blocking out fire, then what does that mean about the High Blood in there...?" Fluttershy shakily asked, hiding her face behind her flowing pink hair like she always did when she was worried about something. Right as she asked that, a great tree within the forest came crashing down with a great noise, frightening her into scurrying backwards; accidentally running into Big Mac. Instead of being surprised, he caught her as she stumbled backwards, giving her a comforting smile as she looked up and blushed.
"T-t-thanks, Big Mac." Fluttershy said with flushed cheeks.
"Don't thank me just yet, Miss Fluttershy," Big Mac replied with a serious tone as he looked on into the direction of the fallen tree, "We ain't safe yet. Not 'till we find whatever started this here fire."
"Big Mac's right, Fluttershy," Twilight said from over her shoulder, "right now, all we need to focus on is finding that High Blood. When we find the source, we'll have a better chance of staunching the fire before it takes the entire forest."
"Do you even have an idea as to how you're gonna do that, exactly?" Spike asked.
"No. But we've gotta try." Twilight firmly replied. "Everybody huddle together, as close as you can!"
The group complied quickly, squeezing in closely around Twilight as they slowly walked forward into the blaze. Before anyone knew it, they were completely engulfed by the powerful flames surrounding them.
"Look! The trees!" Applejack pointed into the distance where along line of trees had been completely smashed through by the High Blood's crash landing. "I reckon it'll lead us straight to the source!"
"Good thinking, let's-" Twilight grimaced as the magic within her gloves burned with a bright light, an audible hissing sound emanating from them as the bubble's energy slightly weakened.
"Twi!" Spike cried out. "Are you okay?!"
"This spell wasn't meant for fire, much less magic this powerful." Twilight strained to rein the power back into her control, grasping the thin air with her gloves as the symbol in the middle of her glove burned with a hot white light. Sweat began building up on her forehead from the sheer effort and concentration needed to keep the spell alive. "We need to quicken our pace. I won't be able to keep it over us for very much longer. We need to find it, and fast."
Without further input from the party, they continued along the long trail of destroyed trees with a renewed quickness in their steps, the pained strains of Twilight ever so quietly being able to be heard as they made their way further and further into the inferno...
................................................
(Prometheus' POV)
I feel so
Cold.
The warmth. Has left me. It is leaving me.
I feel like I'm
Bleeding.
My birthright. My past. My very being. I feel it. Slipping. Away.
I am here, though.
The Cradle.
The ground beneath me is soft and strong. I can feel it. It is so old. But kind and cool to the touch.
I wish that I could just lie here and
Rest.
I wish that I could give up. Truly. I wish I could let slip my thoughts and sleep.
Maybe I should do that. Maybe I should just
Slumber.
I am so very, very tired. Yes. I think...I will do that.
I think...
I'll just lie here...
And sleep...
...
"No!"
The High Blood hit the ground with his hand, closing his hand into a fist, scrunching the dirt below his hand.
" I need to stay awake."
Gritting his teeth, some dirt still in his teeth from the crash, he slowly raised his head ever so slightly above the ground. From within the crater, he could see a bright orange hue emanating all around him from beyond the crevice of the crater. He immediately identified the lights as something that he hadn't seen in thousands of years.
Fire.
He weakly smiled to himself.
"So I am bleeding." He quietly chuckled. "After all these years, I had thought I had run dry."
His other hand snaked along the dirt near his head as he searched for something that he hoped that he had not lost. He was bleeding magic, and it was setting the forest around him aflame as it escaped his body. His only hope of reclaiming it was to find that which he was so desperately looking for, but he remembers letting it slip from his grip as he crashed into the dirt, causing a colossal discharge of his energy to exit his body as it knocked him out.
If he could not find it before the last drop of magic exited his body, the Continuity would close around him and take his life.
His hand brushed against something cold as he quickly stopped his search. As he slid his fingers further, he found that the cold object was wooden, intricately engraved, and was relatively heavy against the ground it rested on. When he picked it up, though, he found that it was as light as a feather. At first, the object felt alien in his grasp, but slowly, the textures beneath his grasp began to speak to him in waves. Memories of times long past returned to him as the realization awakened him from the sleepy haze of his mind.
"Found you."
As he tightened his grip on it, a small spark of energy jolted from the broken staff as it lit up the markings along his arms with an amber light.
"My instrument."
His eyes slowly opened, a spark of amber illuminating his tired eyes as he looked up to the fires beyond without lifting his head.
"I can't die." He muttered. "Not yet."
..............................................
(Twilight's POV)
Dripping with sweat, the sorceress cringed once again as another wave of white hot pain seared through her arms, this time causing her to briefly stumble as Applejack caught her before she could fall.
"Just a lil' farther, sugarcube." Applejack reassured her. "Just beyond that hill and we'll be alright."
"I know." Twilight shuddered. "I'll be okay."
The deeper they went, the more viciously the flames buffeted against the already flimsy barrier of the translucent bubble. Trees fell in the distance, washing torrents of flame and debris over the bubble as it caused the sphere to shudder and buckle under the aggressiveness of the flames. It was as if the flames were alive. It was as if they wanted to consume every last thing within the forest.
Including the group.
"Quickly." Twilight ordered as she looked desperately in the direction of the destroyed hill. "I can see a clearing from beyond that hill over there, that's where we need to go."
"Is that where the High Blood is supposed to be?" Rainbow Dash asked as she quickened her pace along with the others.
"I don't know, but it's the only safe place where I can release the spell without the flames decimating us." Twilight groaned as they inched ever closer to the obliterated hill.
To her left, Pinkie was looking ahead with an expression of fear unlike any that they had ever imagined the young girl to wear in her lifetime. Her mouth was moving a million miles an hour, but no words were leaving her lips; creating a haunting spectacle that was unnerving everyone around her.
"Pinkie?" Rarity quietly asked, "What's wrong? Do you see something?" Pinkie jolted at Rarity's touch, scaring them both as Pinkie now stared at Rarity with an utterly shocked expression on her face.
"Pinkie...?" Rarity asked with a concerned tone. Pinkie still ignored her as she blinked, took in a few deep breaths, and proceeded to turn back to the hill and stare. After a couple of seconds of silence, Pinkie spoke.
"Do you see the fire?" She asked in a sharp whisper, in a tone that no one had ever heard her speak in once in her life.
"Y-yes." Fluttershy replied from the other side of Twilight, still trying to keep as close to the middle as she possibly could.
"How would you describe the flames, Fluttershy?" Pinkie asked again in a sharp whisper. Fluttershy cocked her head to the side, at first taken aback by such a strange question coming from such a strange person. However, once she looked to her side once again to look at the flames, her eyes widened in realization.
"They f-feel..." Fluttershy answered as she moved her hand near the barrier, the flames licking hungrily as her arm moved closer. "... angry."
"Wrong. There is another emotion that sparks stronger desire than one born from fear." Pinkie hissed, the expression of worry still clear on her face as she tried to explain her logic, drawing in her comments into herself as she continued ranting. "What is stronger than fear? What is stronger than being trapped in it's grasp?"
"Pinkie, are you alri-" Applejack asked.
"Why is the fire so strong?" Pinkie asked fiercely, whipping around to meet Applejack's scared eyes.
All the while, Twilight walked between them, still straining to fight through the pain as the flames continued to roar past her outside.
"Ah'm sorry, Pinkie, but ah'm afraid ah don't understand a word you're sayin'." Applejack said, flinching back at Pinkie's manic behavior. "The fire ain't normal, I don't think we're supposed to understand why it's so darn powerful."
The fire continued to rush and stretch across the exterior of the barrier, washing over and past them in a rhythmic pattern of ferocity as it continued to thrive with vivid intensity. Twilight continued to only look ahead to the distant decimated hill where the High Blood had blasted through. However, as she continued to stare at the landmark, she began to notice the flames from the corner of her vision acting... strangely.
"ARGH! Why does NOBODY ELSE notice what's right in front of them?" Pinkie groaned in frustration as she clawed at her head, not knowing how else to phrase herself. "The fire isn't normal! It isn't conjured either! It's... It's..."
As Twilight kept staring, the truth ever so slowly began to dawn upon her as she, too, began to see a pattern.
The fire was spreading past them.
The fire was spreading away from the crash.
As if it was, in itself, alive.
As if it was trying desperately to thrive and flourish for the first time.
As if...
"It's..."
As if...
"Ooh, how do I say it?"
As if it's...
"Free."
"Free."
  Pinkie's eyes widened as the entire group fell silent. Twilight, with her arms still outstretched, turned slightly to look at Pinkie with wide-eyed realization at solving her riddle.
"It's as if it's free." Twilight repeated. "As if it's living free for the very first time."
Nobody said a word, but they all turned their heads to the wildfire surrounding them, each silently realizing the pattern within the roaring world of flames before them. Fluttershy reached out to the barrier once again, the flames outside dancing and twisting across the lavender bubble as she waved her hand back and forth to her side. At first, she flinched a little, but as it continued on it's way, she held her hand back to her chest and gasped.
"Oh my," Fluttershy gasped, "I-I think Twilight and Pinkie are right..."
"Don't worry," Spike said with his head upturned to the blazing canopy above him, also seeing the pattern within the writhing flames, "I think I'm starting to see it too."
Pinkie let out an audible sigh of relief as she stroked her head, as if she had just made a life or death decision and she had chosen correctly.
"Heh heh, that means I'm not crazy," Pinkie chuckled to herself, "I heard what the Echoes said to me, and they were right about the flames..."
"Pinkie?" Twilight asked in a scared tone. "What do you mean the Echoes are still speaking to you?"
"That means that if we're quick, we'll be safe." Pinkie said quickly as she turned and looked into Twilight's deep purple eyes with her own bright blue ones. "We have to run."
The entire group stared at her.
"Uhhhh, Pinkie? How many crazy pills did you eat today?" Rainbow Dash asked with a scared look on her face. "You're still in your PJ's and you wanna run in there? Into that inferno? That enchanted inferno?"
"If we run quickly, it won't catch us." Pinkie answered, her words betraying her scared eyes. "It's trying to move past us. If we run quickly, it will ignore us."
"Pinkie, we need to stick together. We're almost there- AAAGGGHH!!!" Twilight cried out in pain as she lost strength in her legs and fell to the ground. A tree had fallen outside, knocking another down with it as they both crashed to the ground next to the barrier, shooting forth a massive wave of flames over the bubble's frail frame. The force hammered the construct, causing it to crack along the exterior and bring Twilight to her knees in pain. Immediately, Pinkie bolted to her side and grabbed her by the arms, pulling her up.
"Twilight, if we don't move, the fire will consume us!" Pinkie said desperately as the cracks spread all across the exterior of the barrier. "We have to run. Now."
All around her, she heard the noise of shattering glass as the construct continued to deteriorate. The noise from the outside slowly growing louder and louder as it seeped through the cracks. Beyond was the hill, just a ways ahead of them.
Maybe it is possible, she thought.
"Twilight..." Spike said as he watched the barrier deteriorate before his eyes. "... what do we do?"
Maybe.
"We run." Twilight ordered as she looked back to the group. "It's our only option now."
She waited for somebody to protest, namely Rarity, on how such a hair-brained scheme could actually work. But, surprisingly, the only response that she got from the group were looks of determination and focus, as if they had made up their minds years ago. Even Fluttershy was wearing a defiant look on her face, even though she could see her lovely yellow wings snapped tight behind her back in fear.
"Well, we're kinda lackin' the luxury of options right now." Applejack shook out her arms, shaking herself up for the moment where they had to make a beeline to the hill. "You ain't got no complaints from me, sugarcube."
"Nor I. I can just wash our clothes after all of this." Rarity chuckled, also silently readying herself for the sprint. "On the house, girls."
"All we have to do is run?" Rainbow Dash said. "Pft, easier than breathing for me, just hope you guys can keep up."
Everybody shot her a dark look.
"Fine, I'll try and stay with you guys." Rainbow Dash said holding up her hands. "Besides, if you guys keep a steady pace, you'll be okay, right? I mean, when was the last time Pinkie Pie was wrong? Honestly?"
Again, nobody protested against the fact. Past all of the quirkiness, strangeness, nonsense, and just down-right pinkieness of Pinkie Pie, they had long learned to trust her intuition on things. She was almost always right in the end about things, and as Twilight looked to Pinkie and nodded to her, she was reminded of this fact as she nodded back and grabbed onto her left hand. Spike walked over to Twilight's right as he took her gloved right hand into his left hand.
"Fireproof." Spike said as he squeezed her hand. "Gotta stay next to you if something happens."
To Spike's right, Rarity strode up and took his right hand, squeezing it as she gave him a warm smile. Behind her, Applejack had grabbed onto Fluttershy's left hand with a firm grip, as Big Mac took her right hand at the rear of the group.
"Everybody ready?!" Twilight hollered as she slowly started to release the magic burning in her hands.
"Yeah!" Rainbow Dash yelled from between Rarity and Applejack.
"Let's do this!" Rarity answered.
"Better now than never!" Applejack psyched herself.
"Y-yeah, what she said." Fluttershy meekly replied.
"Eeyup!" Big Mac yelled from the rear, squeezing Fluttershy's hand in reassurance. "Do it now!"
Twilight released the spell, her gloves and necklace dematerializing as a cool air rushed through the smoking markings along her arms and collarbone, causing her to briefly sigh in relief.
Right after this, the noise and roar of the inferno rushed up to meet their ears with a ferocious intensity as the world turned in slow motion and the flames rushed to engulf them.
"Run!"
They rushed forward, closing their eyes as they ran headfirst into the wall of fire before them. It brushed past their skin and tickled at their nerves, making them think that the flames were catching onto their skin and that their plan had failed. As soon as the flames touched their skin, though, it simply glided along the surface and continued to move along on its way past them. One by one, they made it through to the other side of the flames as they kept on running for the hill beyond the trees.
Every step that they took landed in flames, every breath they took singed their throats, but they pressed on as fast as their legs could take them as they got closer and closer to the clearing beyond the hill.
"Almost there!" Pinkie hollered over her shoulder as she continued to support Twilight, who was running as best as she could with her burnt arms.
A great snap resonated in their ears as they saw a tree next to Applejack break in half and begin to fall. Rainbow Dash acted quickly and yanked Applejack out of the way, but the force of the pull caused her to lose her grip on Fluttershy, making the pink-haired girl stumble right into the path of the falling tree.
"Fluttershy, run!" Applejack screamed as she saw the young girl look up in horror at the mass of flaming wood falling towards her.
At the last moment, Big Macintosh came from behind her and used his momentum to shove her violently forward; propelling them both out of harm's way as the tree crashed onto the forest floor, kicking up another cloud of benign flames in their direction. Out of the cloud of flames hobbled Big Mac with Fluttershy cradled in his large embrace as they continued onward as fast as they could.
"Keep movin'!" Big Mac bellowed to the group as he and Fluttershy both broke back into a quick stride. "Don't let the flames catch you! We're almost there!"
His powerful voice snapped Rainbow Dash out of her shock as she sprinted back to Fluttershy and Big Mac, forgetting how Applejack wasn't used to running at the speed of a nephilim as she dragged her along with a vice grip. When she got close enough to the two, she used her momentum to spin around Applejack towards her brother.
"Grab him now!" She ordered in a split-second. "Grab him, and don't let go!" Understanding Rainbow Dash's fear of the fire catching, she clamped onto her big brother's large hand, as he tightened his own hold around Fluttershy. Instantly, Rainbow Dash turned heel and sprinted in the direction of Twilight and the others, making sure to always keep her legs moving regardless of the stragglers behind her holding onto her hand for dear life as she sprinted with all of the power that she could muster.
"Pinkie!" Rainbow Dash screamed under the stress of dragging her friends through the flames. "Hold out your hand!" Pinkie's eyes widened as she realized what Rainbow Dash was going to do.
"Everybody hold onto something! Tightly!" Pinkie yelled to Twilight, Spike and Rarity as they all prepared themselves for the imminent force of Rainbow Dash.
What happened next was simply a blur to all but Rainbow Dash.
She shot right next to the hobbling group and snatched at Pinkie's hand, almost dislocating both of her arms as she rocketed forward like a meteorite through the night sky. Both Applejack and Pinkie tried their best, along with the rest of the group, to run and try to lessen the amount of strain on Rainbow Dash's willowy arms; however, this did little to help except to aid them in keeping their balance as they streaked towards the hill at such an impossible speed.
With a heavy beat of her wings and a scream of effort, she and the rest of the group finally crossed that last little bit of distance between them and the decimated hill. Rainbow Dash wasted no time in disregarding the incredible straining pain in her shoulders as she took Applejack and thrust her forward along with Big Mac and Fluttershy through the trench in the hill created by the High Blood's crash landing.
"Go! Go!" She yelled as she then took Pinkie's arm and thrust her forward next after Big Mac, pushing everybody forward before following herself from the rear of the line. Instantly, they could feel the heat of the inferno being left behind them as they made their way closer and closer to the crater on the other side of the hill.
"Whew, thank goodness that we made it out of all that dreadful fire!" Rarity chimed as she fanned herself.
"Yeah, we got out of the fire. Now we're going to find out what caused it." Twilight said truthfully, instantly bringing down Rarity's positive outlook as her eyes widened in silent realization of this fact.
"Twilight? Ah think you'll wanna be seein' this..." Applejack gasped as she made her way out to the other side of the hill along with Big Mac and Fluttershy.
"What is it? Wha-" Twilight couldn't finish her sentence.
What she saw left her speechless.
Nothing but ash laid before them in a seven hundred diameter clearing that the crashing High Blood created. The trees had simply vaporized, leaving behind only the black snow of ash and smoke.
And in the middle of the unnatural clearing, in the crater at the epicenter, was the source.
And he was awake.
His massive black wings covered his entire back, looking withered, ancient, and unhealthy by normal standards. He slowly tried to raise himself from all-fours onto his feet, but stumbled sideways and fell to his hands, the sudden movement causing some of the ash-colored feathers in his great wings to shake loose and fall softly onto the ground, as if watching a great mountain slowly being weathered away by the force of time. The light from the surrounding fire illuminated his extremely toned and lean arms along with the scarred markings that traced all up and down them as he raised his head to look towards the fire, the eerie orange light shining on his face for the first time.
He looked very young and very beautiful, indeed, almost like a twenty-five year old man, but something was amiss...
His body seemed... Incomplete. As if his appearance was as it should have been, but more of a grey and deathly tone than what he should have looked like.
"The Last One..."
Pinkie's voice came from Twilight's left as she shot around to see the girl looking in absolute fear at the god before them.
"Prometheus."
Twilight turned back around just as she saw the High Blood's teeth grit, clenching something in his right hand that none of them could see well enough to identify what it was. He then reared back his right arm and thrust it out forward, revealing the object in his hand to be what Twilight recognized to be a royal staff, similar to the ones Celestia and Luna both carried, but this one was visibly different from theirs. This one didn't look like it was made of metal, like the royal sisters' staffs. Instead, this one looked as though it was made out of some beautifully intricate ebony branch, devoid of any power or magical energy, giving off a sickly and craggy air around the staff.
Also, it seemed that, according to what Twilight knew about the royal sisters' staffs, he was only holding one half of what should've been the full staff...
All of a sudden, the flames that he was pointing at began to funnel into a horizontal tornado of flames as it shot into the tip of the craggy staff, causing the markings along the staff to illuminate with an amber energy. He appeared to tug at the flames, as one might test the strength of a rope, as he twisted around and gave a great pull over his shoulder, launching the now concentrated stream of fire high into the air. With this one swift move, all of the flames surrounding them and beyond began to twist and mesh with the writhing entanglement of flames that floated vicariously in the skies above the party of eight, leaving them gazing in complete and utter awe at what they were witnessing.
"By Celestia..." Twilight heard Spike gasp as he looked all around him to find that there was no longer any fire in the forest that wasn't in the snaking mass of flames above them. In one swift movement, he had cleansed the forest of fire.
The High Blood once again reared his arm back as far as he could, and then hurled it back forward, causing the stream of flames to rush forward and crack in the air, like a great flaming thunderclap. He did this over and over again, the group covering their ears from the colossal sound as they counted twelve cracks, each one refining the stream of flames more and more. Finally, once the long stream had condensed into a fine burning whip of pure, amber-colored energy, he raised the staff above his head, and grabbed it with both of his hands. This caused the writhing stream of energy to freeze in thin air as all of the noise that once filled the air disappeared into silence.
All at once, in the span of a millisecond, the energies in the whip shot down into the staff with an impossibly loud noise.
As the group was covering their ears, they watched as they saw the amber energies streak all across the markings of the broken staff, metamorphosing the material from ebony into a beautifully engraved metal unlike any that they ever thought existed. Twisting out of the staff, the amber energy then proceeded down his arms, the energies rejuvenating the skin around the markings into a healthy complexion a little lighter than Twilight's own skin tone. The energy snaked behind his shoulders and into his weary black wings, flooding the ash-black feathers with a vibrant and beautiful amber color, making them appear to catch on fire. Finally, the energies snaked around his bare body, creating two ribbons of energy that twisted around his chest; then down his torso, exposing his extremely toned, lean stomach, and then coming together to create a cloak which covered his legs.
The remainder of the magical energies rose up to his chest and created an impossibly bright light. Lowering his hands, the light slowly died down until his body became visible from the bright light again.
Across his upper torso was a magnificent formation of what appeared to be light pure amber armor with an insignia of a flame directly in the middle of the chest plate. From the chest plate ran two crimson strands of fabric which ran around his toned body in the same way the princess' royal garments did, also coming together at the lower torso, but this time in an amber belt piece from which the bottom part flowed down like a cloak.
The group was left completely speechless at what they had just witnessed. All except for Pinkie, who was still glaring at him through a lowered head and crossed arms.
All of a sudden, they heard a wild crackling of energy emanate from the bottom half of the broken staff in his hand as he cried out in pain and fell to his knees.
"Wait, what's wrong with him?" Rainbow Dash asked Twilight in a frantic voice, obviously becoming scared from the sudden show of agony from the High Blood. "Is that supposed to be... His staff..?"
Twilight didn't respond. Instead, she ran forward to the suffering High Blood.
"Twilight! Wait for us!" Spike yelled as he and the others followed her in suit to the middle of the clearing to the High Blood named Prometheus. When Twilight got there, she immediately slid on her knees to catch him before he fell back onto the ground, but he was far heavier than what she'd expected him to be, and she strained to keep his head up.
"Big Macintosh...! Help! He's pretty heavy!" She groaned through gritted teeth as Big Mac ran to the other side of his head and slid to his knees, propping up Prometheus' head on his knee. When she looked to the staff in his right hand, she saw that it was, indeed, missing what should've been the lower half. The staff had rejuvenated only what it could, leaving the end broken and jagged. Slowly, the vibrant colors of his armor began to die down as his eyes began to slowly open.
"Are you alright?" Twilight quietly asked as she became fixated on his eyes which looked as if they were carved from raw amber. A moment of silence went by as the rest of the group crowded around, waiting eagerly for the High Blood to respond. He simply looked up wearily to the girl with purple eyes before him as a warm smile began to spread across his face.
"You are human..." He whispered. "Celestia... succeeded, then..." He began to lightly chuckle as he closed his eyes again and continued to wear his warm smile.
"Is your name Prometheus?" Twilight pressed, disregarding for the moment what he had just said.
"Who... told you..?" He answered. "Did... Celestia send you..? Or Luna..?" He began to slip back out of consciousness again as Twilight began to smack his cheek in a bid to keep him awake.
"Come on, stay with me!" Twilight said desperately as she continued to try and keep him awake. His broken staff dematerialized into flame and disappeared in an amber flash of energy as he reached his hand up and grabbed Twilight's hand, making her gasp in surprise from his sudden movement.
"I need to get somewhere with fire..." He told her as he looked straight into her eyes. "Better yet, I need to see Celestia. Or Luna. Just... somebody... I need to tell them... something... vital." His grip went limp as he once again fell into unconsciousness, his eyes fluttering into sleep as his head rolled to the side.
"The Cradle..." He smiled wearily as he closed his eyes. "I'm finally home..."
Silence filled the forest again as the speechless group watched Prometheus sleep contently, his chest peacefully rising and falling with the rhythm of his breathing.
"What'dya reckon we do now, Twilight?" Applejack asked with crossed arms. "We can't just leave him."
Twilight racked her brain, trying to grab one solid plan out of the hurricane of thoughts swirling in her head. Why did he crash land to Earth? How did he get banished? Where was he banished? Did Celestia banish him? Why is his staff broken? How was it even possible to break a staff like Celestia's and Luna's? Was his broken staff the reason he was bleeding magic? Does he still have his full strength?
Is he a threat?
Twilight snapped herself out of it. 'Get a grip.' She mentally scolded herself. 'There's only one thing we can do right now, and that's to get him to Celestia. But first...'
"We take him to Fluttershy's house." She replied after a moment of brief silence. "He needs fire, right? We need to get him indoors and let him rest for now."
"What if he's dangerous?" Rainbow Dash argued quickly.
"He's too weak right now to do anything. You saw his staff, right?" Twilight grunted as she got up and, with the help of Big Mac, began hoisting the unconscious High Blood to his feet. "I think his staff might be the reason that he was bleeding magic. I think that might've started the fire on accident."
Upon the sight of Big Mac straining to hold up Prometheus, Applejack quickly ran forward and shared her big brother's weight upon her own shoulders.
"Do you think I should send Celestia a letter?" Spike asked timidly. "Or do you thi-"
"I think you should get the heck over here and help me!" Twilight yelled through her teeth as she struggled to hold up the weight of the High Blood. Spike bolted over and shifted some of the weight over to his own shoulder as they continued on their way out of the dead forest.
"If Luna knows, Spike, then Celestia probably more than likely knows by now." Twilight answered. "She might even be on her way over here, so we need to get him back to the cottage before she gets here."
The group hobbled to the entrance of the hill, making good progress with carrying the unconscious Prometheus when Rarity noticed Pinkie Pie staring up into the night sky above them, watching something. Rarity craned her neck to try and see what the pink-haired girl was looking at, but only saw clouds and stars in the canvas of the night sky above.
"Rarity! Pinkie! Come on! Are you gonna help or not?" Rainbow Dash called from behind Rarity as she helped guide Twilight through the crater in the hill from where they had entered the clearing.
"Just a minute!" Rarity called back as she turned to Pinkie Pie and tried to get her attention.
"Pinkie, darling, we need to go now." Rarity said to Pinkie, worried that she was still going to ignore her. "Are you alright? Do you see something?"
For a moment of silence, Rarity had thought that her words had gone straight over the spacy teen's head.
"... It's okay. I'm good." Pinkie replied, still looking up at the night sky. "I just thought I saw... something."
"Alright, well let's go then. The others are already leaving, we need to catch up with them." Rarity replied as she took Pinkie's hand and walked hastily back towards the group at the hill.
All the while, Pinkie continued gazing up into the sky, confident that behind the lazily drifting clouds something was, in fact, watching them...
.......................................................
(Celestia's POV)
From the clouds above the Everfree Forest, a vigilant Celestia was quietly observing the events that were playing out below her from the cover of a tall, drifting cumulonimbus cloud. She had arrived not moments ago under the cover of the clouds when a massive, coiling stream of white-hot energy sliced through the floating herd of clouds that she was flying through, forcing her to weave and bank to and fro in order to avoid getting sliced up by the coils of energy. By the time she had found her way to a safe distance away from the energies, she heard a great crash of noise as she turned around to see the stream of energy shoot straight down below the burnt silhouettes of the dead forest.
She had never seen such a display of power ever in her entire life.
But the amber energy in the form of a whip,
This she had seen before.
"Don't take any chances, Cel." She whispered to herself harshly, refusing to let her guard down. "You need to see him with your own two eyes."
She looked back towards the sleepy town of Ponyville and was reminded of what happened to small villages like this one before The Longest Day. While reminiscing of those horrible times, she felt her paranoia become rejuvenated, pushing forward the notion to still keep her guard up.
All it took was one of her kind to obliterate armies.
She would know.
She had done it countless times in the past.
This arrival was NOT to be taken lightly. Not in the slightest. She had to be ready. She had to be paranoid. She had to think of every possible worst-case scenario that could happen from now to whe-
She felt strange wet feeling slide down her cheek, catching her off guard as she raised her hand up to her cheek to wipe it away. Right as she did that, her latent emotions resurfaced as she realized that she was beginning to shed tears. They began to flow more fluidly as she sat down onto the cloud's surface and cradled her head in her hands, losing herself in her hurricane of long-buried emotions. Not one single emotion stayed long enough in her head for her to say that she felt exactly one thing. When guilt became the source of her tears, happiness immediately took its place. After feeling happiness, she'd feel fear strike at her.
His arrival meant so many different things; but as she regained her composure and wiped away her tears, one fact still remained.
The High Bloods were returning.
And they would not be as weak as this one when they arrived.
Rising shakily to her feet, she summoned her staff and walked over to the edge of the cloud. From there she could see that her prized pupil, Twilight Sparkle, and her friends were retracing their steps back through the dead forest with her unconscious sibling in tow. She didn't need to see their slow pace to know how difficult a task it must have been to carry one of her own with only their human strength. However, not all of them were actually helping to carry him like her student was.
From her distance, she noticed that the youngest of their group, Pinkie Pie, was looking directly in the direction of the herd of clouds that she was hiding in. At first, she simply thought that the young girl was just star-gazing in her general direction. When she continued to squint as if she was beginning to see something, though, she realized that she was, in fact, aware of the presence watching her. Thankfully, it seemed that she did not know exactly where the presence was coming from, nor from which cloud, as she continued to look aimlessly past where she was hiding.
Regardless, this observation bothered her. There was physically no possible way for her to spot her from behind a cloud as thick as this one without the aid of magic. She was a simple sapien offspring. Pure and simple.
Her mannerisms, though, were so completely out of character. She seemed more...
... aware...
Her thought was cut off by the elegant one, Rarity, walking over to Pinkie and telling her something that Celestia couldn't make out. Apparently, she was trying to get Pinkie to snap out of it because she quickly stopped gazing at the sky and followed Rarity to the rest of the group. Even as she skipped to catch up with the group, she stole a glance over her shoulder every once in a while, still carrying the notion that something was still watching them.
'It seems that there are still some things that I have yet to learn.' Celestia thought to herself as she gazed on the small entourage with her piercing amethyst eyes. 'It seems that there is still very little that I am to understand.'
Looking off into the distance, she realized that Luna had gone ahead and moved the Moon back to the correct timing of what she roughly estimated to be around 2:30 A.M. in the early morning. Four hours until it was her time to raise the Sun from the east as the natural cycle had always dictated for them to do. Losing herself in the black silhouette of the Moon, she realized that she had gone to sleep yesterday thinking that today was going to be just another normal, peaceful day. Yesterday, the Citadel was thriving at its usual bustle and liveliness as the day went by as lazily as a hot summer Sunday. And Celestia enjoyed every second of it as she had simply stood against the balcony and watched as her subjects went on with their daily lives. So mundane and normal. Sometimes she envied them.
And now, within the course of an hour, her peaceful world was turned upon its head.
'Funny...' Celestia mused as she unfurled her wings and took off into the night towards the small cottage at the edge of the forest, making haste while still trying to stay out of sight from the girls below.
'... how fate can blindside you like that.'
..........................................................
"There it is! We're here!" Twilight announced to the group as they passed through the forest and into sight of Fluttershy's homely cottage. The great tree from which she lived in was darkened and unlit, obviously because of the crash-landing of the High Blood she had no time, but it's sight was such a relief to their tired eyes that they began to break into a jog to the tree's backdoor, despite the great weight of Prometheus on their shoulders.
"Fluttershy, get the door." Applejack groaned as the girl complied and broke from the group, running to the door and opening it as wide as the hinges could allow. From the dark interior of the tree jumped out a little white bunny as it frantically ran up to Fluttershy and began to tug at her nightgown.
"Oh, Angel Bunny, I don't have the time to feed you right now, I'm so sorry." Fluttershy sheepishly said to the upset little bunny as it began to kick at the ground with frustration at his caretaker.
"I'm sorry, y’all, I just gotta stop for a minute or two." Applejack exhaustively gasped as she, Twilight, Spike, and her brother stopped at the wooden steps leading up to the kitchen door, slowly easing Prometheus to the ground as they shifted his weight carefully upon the creaky steps. He appeared to shift a little under the discomfort of this new surface that he was laying on, but quickly disregarded it as he continued to contently slumber without awakening. The noise of the little wooden stairs creaking surprised the jittery white bunny into whipping around to come face to face with the slumbering Prometheus, visibly causing him to freeze in sight of this ancient creature.
"Could you get the lights for us, Fluttershy?" Twilight panted as she leaned on her knees and watched as Angel Bunny curiously sniffed at Prometheus' short jet-black hair. Fluttershy gave a quick nod as she ran into the dark interior of her kitchen and rummaged through her cupboards, throwing open all of her pantry doors until she found what she was looking for: a candle and a matchbox. Striking the match against the rough of the box, she lit the candle and took it around the dark house; lighting the various oil lamps across the room as the group fell in and dragged Prometheus through the kitchen and into the spacious living room beyond.
Suddenly, Twilight and Applejack felt the weight of Prometheus easing off of their shoulders.
"Could you get me a blanket?" Prometheus rasped as he returned from unconsciousness, leaning on the girls' shoulders as he began to stand on his own and walk slowly to the fireplace. Out of nowhere, he lost the strength in his legs and fell to his knees, the force of the fall shaking the entire cottage as the flames in the oil lamps around the room rose and fell with his heavy breaths. "And that fire... I asked for... Wouldn't be so bad either..."
As the cottage settled down from the great force, Twilight saw that some of the birdhouses were still shuttering back and forth violently, ready to fall at any second. Shooting out her hands, she surrounded the shambling birdhouses with a lavender aura, robbing them of movement as her sore arms pulsed with magical energy again. Her levitation spells were too elementary for her to need to summon her gloves and had long become simple and mundane for her to cast at a whim. From the other room, Fluttershy frantically ran over to Prometheus' side and draped over him a large blanket just as they heard a great shift of magic come from Prometheus' body. Almost immediately, his wings appeared to catch on fire and dematerialize into his shoulder blades as Twilight's and Rarity's magical garments did when they willed them to disappear. He shuddered in response to this as his amber and crimson royal armor also began to disappear in a flurry of magical amber energies, making him grasp the blanket around him tighter around his now naked body.
"T-t-thank-k y-y-you f-f-f-or-r t-t-the bl-blanket..." He shivered as he scooted closer to the little stove in the corner of the living room. "N-n-now if-f-f y-you c-c-c-could ki- kindly s-start this l-little ov-v-ven f-for m-m-me, p-please..."
"Yeah, of course." Fluttershy answered as she ran quickly to the little coffee table where she had left her matchbox and back to the oven, turning on the brass gas valve on the side of the stone oven before striking a match and tossing it in. Flames stretched and grew as it consumed the free radicals of gas in the stove and spread within it's confines, when suddenly, Prometheus struck at the little brass valve; turning it all the way around as the flames roared out of the small oven with an impossible ferocity.
"Hey! Whatever you playing at, you freaking pyromaniac-" Rainbow Dash yelled as she ran forward, but froze in place by what she saw Prometheus do next.
He leaned forward as far as he could and reached into the fire, closing his eyes and raising his head in calm concentration as the raging fire surrounding and licking at his arms began to curl and twist furiously around the now vibrantly glowing markings along his arms. Gradually, the flames condensed and swirled into the middle of the back of his hand, where a glowing amber symbol of a flame shined brightly with the newfound energy that it was absorbing. Prometheus then let out a very long and very exhausted sigh of relief as he scooted as close as he could to the flames before him.
"Thank you... So, so, so very much." Prometheus breathed as he reached around in the fireplace for a wooden log with one hand, and with the other hand, reached out to turn the brass knob to a full close. "I needed pure, raw, natural fire to regain my initial powers, nothing conjured, and you gave it to me without even questioning me. Why?"
Rainbow Dash simply retained her flabbergasted expression as she began to back away from him, fumbling with herself on her words and what she was going to say.
"Uhhhh..." Rainbow Dash fumbled as she scratched at her neck nervously before grabbing Twilight and pulling her forward. "Maybe you should ask this girl. She's the one who led us to you and kept us safe from your crazy flames."
Twilight whipped around and smacked Rainbow Dash's shoulder in anger from throwing her into the center like that, but quickly remembered that this lost and confused High Blood was still waiting for an answer from her. However, he simply chuckled at this friendly sight before him, instantly easing the obvious tension that he had caused to settle in the room.
"What's so funny?" Twilight said with a grin, his warm smile visibly infectious to the others as well.
"Well, one of two things." He smiled as he shifted around enough to where she could see him holding the burning log that he was siphoning his energy from and his extremely lean and toned body, but nothing else. "It's just... feels like such a privilege to be in the company of humans again after so, so long. It's almost like a dream."
The rest of the group felt flattered by this as they all shifted around in place, all except for Pinkie Pie, who was leaning against the far corner of the room with her arms crossed and her head lowered.
"What was the other thing?" Twilight asked.
"The fact that you haven't noticed Princess Celestia standing behind you." Pinkie Pie answered in monotone.
Everybody's blood ran frigid.
As they slowly turned around, they saw that Pinkie Pie was, to their horror, correct.
There stood Celestia.
In full crown and dress, she frigidly stared at the weakened High Blood sitting vulnerably in front of the stove as she summoned her royal staff and began to walk forward.
"Princess Celestia..." Twilight shuddered as she immediately dropped to her knees and bowed in the presence of the ruler of the Solar Empire, as did the rest of the group.
But she did not acknowledge it. She simply walked past with an urgent stride as she came to stand above her young brother, glowering down at him as he looked back up to her with a weary smile strewn across his face.
"Prometheus..."
"I'm home,Celestia...
... I'm finally home."

//-------------------------------------------------------//
                 The Prodigal Son Returns                  
//-------------------------------------------------------//
The Prodigal Son Returns
Rise of the High Bloods
"Princess..."
"Yes, Twilight?"
"How did this world come to be?"
"It is a long and exhausting story to listen to, my student. Which, thankfully, is exactly the type of story that I have taught you to love."
"Neato!"
"Well, my child, you know the basics of what our history consists of. In the beginning, there were three races of humans: The Mages, The Nephilim, and The Sapiens. The Nephilim lived in their Olympus, moving the clouds and bringing about the seasons. The Mages lived in their Citadel, studying from my sister and I, learning how to manipulate the reality around them in return for allowing us  residence in their city. And finally, the Sapiens, tending to their Earth and becoming the keepers of all Earth life."
"But... if that's where we come from... Then where-"
"-Do I come from?"
"Well, you and your sister."
"Luna."
"Yeah, that's her. How did you and your sister come to be?"
"Ah, yes, of course. You see, dear Twilight, before these races came about, there was another race. A race with what your human ancestors came to describe as 'god-like' characteristics. They had the wings of Nephilim, the magic abilities of the Mages, and the strength of many Sapiens. This fourth race became known as the High Bloods, and they were also my siblings."
"Siblings? I thought that only you and Luna were the only two High Bloods in existence!"
"Yes, this is the history lesson that you will never learn in normal schools. Indeed, there was a time when Luna and I lived happily with our many siblings under the watchful eyes of our parents: Light and Dark. They taught us how to change the seasons, how to manipulate the world around us, and how the flow of life is unpredictable and precious all the same.  Under their care, they trained us how to be the gods that we would eventually become. And we were happy. Or so I thought."
"What do you mean? What happened next, Princess?"
"Calm, my child, I am about to tell you! You see, as we delved deeper and deeper into our own capabilities, the colder and colder my siblings became because of it. They began to have delusions that emotions obstructed the true flow of life, allowing imperfect creations an escape from natural judgment because of folly like mercy and kindness. They resented emotion. Before long, only Luna, I, and a handful of my siblings were the only ones left who still held our sense of right and wrong."
"What happened then?"
"Out of fear for what their children were becoming, Light and Dark created the Human Races and allowed them to thrive and prosper on the Earth. My siblings were confused by them at first, why create three inferior races, tied down by morality, no less, when you already have a race of gods? Only I and my other siblings, including Luna, who had still held dear our emotion understood the trial put before us by our parents: it was the purpose of the High Bloods to watch over and guide the humans through thick and thin for all time, and it was the purpose of the Human Races to remind us of our innate humanity. To remember kindness. To remember mercy."
"So did it work? Did your siblings remember kindness and mercy and all that stuff?"
"Sadly, no. The ways of the Humans eventually began to frustrate the High Bloods. Life had become an equation for them, and mercy was NOT a variable. When they could take no more from the Humans, they attacked. A Great Purge of the Human Races unlike anything ever seen destroyed everything in their path."
"How did you stop them, Princess?"
"Finding no other alternative, my parents reluctantly bestowed upon Luna and I the mantle of the Moon and the Sun. Not as a birthright, which was how it was originally supposed to be, but as a last resort against their own children. With our newfound abilities, Luna and I unleashed the full powers of the Sun and the Moon upon my corrupted siblings, destroying many of them. But the battles were not without their prices, and with every battle, our numbers dwindled and dwindled until only Luna and I were the only uncorrupted High Bloods left... I will never forget the battles in that war. Not as long as I still breathe..."
"..."
"I apologize if this is bothering you, Twilight... If you want-"
"But there's one thing that I don't understand..."
"... O-Oh?"
"Where do the Elements of Harmony come into the picture? Weren't you and Luna the original wielders of the Elements?"
"Oh yes, the Elements. When only I, Luna, and the surviving corrupted High Bloods remained, Light and Dark looked upon what had become of their firstborn children. When they saw what we had done to each other, they immediately became stricken with grief from what they had allowed to pass. At that time, though, the Humans had discovered something remarkable about themselves. When facing inevitable doom, three different Humans from three different bickering races had banded together in friendship and had manifested human emotion into a magical force. This impossible force had saved them from almost certain destruction, and reunited the long divided races into a new era of peace and prosperity. However, their new era of peace was vicariously cradled directly in the middle of our long war. This peace had a purpose, and my parents acted before it was too late. Light and Dark wasted no time in using the impossible force to forge the Elements of Harmony before bestowing them upon my sister and I. We banished the remaining High Bloods to a place where they could no longer harm the Humans. No more blood was to be spilled ever again. The Elements would see to that."
"But what happened to Light and Dark? Where were the High Bloods banished to? Will they ever come back-?"
"Ha ha ha, patience dear Twilight, patience! Such questions can only be answered in due time, and you still have two years to go before you even see a decade!"
"What?! That's all there is to this story? But- who- wha- the-"
"Oh my dearest Twilight, nothing ever truly comes to an end; and nobody ever said that this story was over. But enough with this ancient nostalgia of mine, it's time for you to get some rest. We have a long day ahead of us and I don't want you to miss a beat because you're tired!"
"... Oh, all right. Good night, Princess Celestia..."
"Sweet dreams, Twilight Sparkle..."
xXX
Twilight awoke with a gasp as she jolted upright in her bed, her body covered in a cold sweat. She was no longer in her old quarters in the Citadel, and she was no longer an eight year old student. That was just a dream. This was ten years later in the Ponyville Library after a long day of shelving a mess of books once again after the Cake kids had ran through it. Of course, the kids themselves didn't actually make the mess. The wild, hyperactive teen that the entire town had come to recognize as Pinkie Pie made the mess. She ran about in a sugar-high state all across the once quiet library, running headfirst into bookshelves while the Cake toddlers navigated them with an ease that would make the Wonderbolts blush. All in all, it was a relatively normal day. So why did she relive such a vivid memory through such a vivid dream?
Turning to her left, she saw the beautiful handmade clock that Applebloom had given her once for her birthday. In the middle of the bronze clockwork apple, she saw the time displayed in old numerals: 1:20 A.M.
'Only four hours of sleep...?' She thought to herself as she heard the light breathing of powerful lungs emanating from the edge of the room. Leaning over the edge of the bed, she looked to the far corner of the room and saw the adolescent dragon Spike sleeping on his old mattress, drooling and mumbling something about a spicy pizza that he didn't order.
She still remembers when she hatched him as an entrance exam all those years ago in the Citadel School for Gifted Mages. That was the day when her magical abilities manifested themselves into the enchanted necklace and gloves that symbolized the awakened power of a mage. That was also the day when her powers went haywire and burned the pattern of thorns from the glove and necklace onto her arms and chest.
Twelve years had passed since that faithful day and now, only now did Twilight fully grasp everything that had happened in only the past year. Celestia had finally kicked her out of the castle; she had made a very diverse group of friends.
She became a Bearer for the Elements of Harmony.
And after all of this, she had remembered that one night when Celestia had told her that story. Why?
The mage lifted her arms in front of her, letting the magic within her flow from her body. She felt the ethereal energy travel from her illuminated chest through her shoulder blades and down her arms, as the bright lavender energy traced along the pattern of thorns upon her arms. When they reached her hands, she brought her arms up to her face and contemplated her thoughts as the light from her markings shined an unearthly lavender light upon her face.
"What did Celestia mean when she said that the story wasn't over?" She asked herself as she allowed her magical gloves to materialize on her hands, the magical silk garments spreading along her arm before stopping at her elbows.
"Could the High Bloods return...?"
"Twilight..." She heard Spike grumble.
"Yeah Spike?"
"It's one in the freaking morning...go the heck back to bed..." He groaned exasperatedly as he took his bed sheet and rolled back into a ball under the covers.
'Whoops', Twilight thought, 'I forgot that Spike was trying to sleep.'
"Heh, sorry Spike. Just thinking about some stuff." She chuckled apologetically as she willed her gloves to dematerialize, allowing the magic within her to recede back down her arms. "I'll try to get some sleep now, okay?"
"Ugh, so long as you actually sleep a full night for once..." Spike replied from under the sheets.
"Night, Spike." She said affectionately.
"Mrrf..." Spike mumbled back. "Night, Twi..."
Tucking herself deeply into the bed sheets, she couldn't help but steal a glance at the night sky beyond the panoramic window next to her bed. Even after twelve years, she still had such a primitive grasp on the forces around her. As she closed her eyes, the words that Princess Celestia said were still echoing in her mind, haunting her every thought until she finally drifted back into her slumber.
"Oh my dearest Twilight, nothing ever truly comes to an end; and nobody ever said that this story was over..."
xXx
Silence. Nothing but tranquility and silence surrounded the Moon Goddess Luna as she walked about on the white sands of the Moon. From where she stood, the Sun was eclipsed by the Earth just enough to where it cast an exquisite halo around the planet. Only every once in a while did this ever happen, so learning exactly where to stand in order to witness this event was a painstaking ritual. Similar to how one might perfect his or her hunting techniques, it took her decades to manually map out all of the places on the Moon where this could be seen, when it could be seen, and how it could be seen. To her though, it was all worth it just to see the midnight Sun, for it was one of the few things left in this world that reminded her of her father's old secrets. Secrets that he intended to only tell Luna: Celestia only seemed to have interest with the Day, and therefore spent most of her time with Light on the Earth with her other siblings.
She can still remember the day that her father brought her up to the Moon to show her something special...
("It's, ah... huh... somewhere around here...")
("Dad, what are we doing up here? My training is done for the day, and as much as I want to stay, we need to get back to mom so that we can rest.")
("But you just said that you wished to stay, did you not?")
("... I suppose I did, but what exactly IS it that you wanted to show me? I know practically every nook and cranny of this whole place, what else is there to see?")
("Not on the Moon, Luna. It is a unique day that your mother created today, one that only comes by every once in a while.")
("Oh...? What do you mean father?")
("AHA! I knew it was around here, I created this place for pete's sake. Here...")
("What is it? Can I see- HEY!")
("No peeking Luna, I want this to be a special surprise for you; for paying attention during practice today and being patient with the lesson.")
("Okay, then... I'll play along...")
("So you move over here...")
("Okaaay...")
("... And you turn thiiiis way...")
("Uhuh...")
("And you move your head up just the sliiiightest little smidge...")
("Aaaand...?")
("Open your eyes.")
…
("'Gasp'!")
("Hah. I KNEW you'd love it.")
("By mother's name, The Earth looks... heavenly!")
("Yeah? Didn't I tell you it was a special day? Be in the right place in the time and you never know what might happen.")
("Oh, it's just... Oh it's just so beautiful! When did you first discover this, dad?")
("Back when it was just your mother and I. Before we found out that we loved each other and we just had the entire planet to ourselves.")
("Wasn't it lonely for you two? The entire planet to yourself with a stranger who didn't want to talk to you?")
("Yes, for a long time it was. For a long time, we didn't know what to do with each other besides just letting us go on our separate lives. One day, though, I flew up here to escape the wide spaces of the empty Earth and I arrived to see your mother here on the Moon; just sitting down, looking at the Earth with a curious expression on her face. Before I could say anything, she said: 'Isn't it lonely up here?' I was confused with her sudden social gesture, so I replied:
'I suppose. Sometimes.'
I didn't want to loom over her anymore, so I sat down next to her as she replied:
'It's the same for me too, you know.'
She turned her gaze from the Earth to me as she patted the ground next to her.
'Come on,' she said with a smile, 'I'm tired of being alone, aren't you?' I was, so I scooted next to her as she rested her head on my shoulder. Her light skin radiated a comforting warmness that I had never felt before while in the cold of space, and I immediately couldn't get enough of it. She was just so beautiful in that one moment that I had to physically look away from her to keep from bursting into tears right then and there.
'It's so nice and cool, being next to you.' She muttered to me, softly rubbing her head against my shoulder. 'It's a nice change from the heat.' Bringing a smile to my face, we sat there in silence for a good couple of minutes before your mother finally spoke.
'You want to do something fun?' She asked me. I nodded curiously. Without moving her head, she raised her hand and moved the Sun until the Earth eclipsed it completely. Lowering her hand and again relaxing on my shoulder, we both leaned against each other as we fondly admired her handiwork.
'There,' She whispered to me, 'Now whenever you feel alone, this can remind you that you aren't.'
She hasn't moved the Sun since.")
("...Wow...")
("Wow, that felt really sappy.")
("No! It's a beautiful story, truly! Just one thing though...")
("And what would that be, Luna?")
("If she hasn't moved the Sun since, then that means the location on the Moon where you watch it changes constantly.")
("You do catch on quickly.")
("So, where would the spots be? Can you show me?")
("Uhhh, well, It's starting to get late anyway. Like you said, that's enough training for today. You need some sleep.")
("Oh, come ON!")
("How about this: If you're good and practice as diligently as you did today in NEXT week's lesson, I'll show you how to map out a couple of them. How's that sound?")
("... 'Sigh' Okay... It really is getting late, I guess.")
("That's a good girl. Come on, I'm sure that your mother and sister have cooked up one doozy of a sunset during practice today! Let's not drag our feet, eh?")
There was no practice the following week.
By that time, the war had begun.
That was eons ago, literally, for the now matured Princess of the Moon. First, the Moon was bestowed upon her, then it became her prison. Now, all was once again as it should have been, with her sister raising the Sun and Dawn, and she raising the Moon at Dusk.
"All is well, father." She whispered to no one as she let gravity take her onto her back. "I wish you were here to share it with us, Tia and I..." Her galactic-colored hair and dark navy blue wings pressed up against the white sand as she turned her gaze upward to the canvas of space. No sand had ever gotten inside of her dress, now that she thought about it. Her dress looked as if two navy blue ribbons had swirled around the curves of her body, modestly exposing her slightly pale toned stomach and binding together below the abdomen to create the lower part of the dress. The only true metal on the dress was her Obsidian breastplate which bore the symbol of the moon engraved in the middle. Her sister's dress was exactly the same, but was white in color and had a Golden breastplate with the symbol of the Sun embodied in the center.
Right about now, her sister was probably sleeping comfortably in her quarters in the Citadel. In five hours or so, they would switch places, as they always did, and then it would once again be her turn to shut out the world and slumber through the daytime.
But on some days, like today, she just wanted to lie on the Moon for its whole orbit and stargaze the whole way through. She had always been fascinated by the celestial bodies beyond the Moon because of one simple fact.
She and her sister had no control over them, and things that she did not understand always had a way of capturing her curiosity.
She willed her Lunar Staff, the physical embodiment of her power, to appear next to her as she reached out her hand to it and allowed the power within to flow into her arms and up into her eyes. No longer gazing at the Terrestrial Eclipse, she turned her vision to the distant planet of Mars. Using her magic, she zoomed in through a clear patch of the atmosphere and marveled at the Super mountain of Olympus Mons in all of its vast glory, standing as tall as it had when she had first discovered it during her imprisonment a thousand years ago. Her eyes drifted across the landscape as she came across the abyss that was the Valles Marineris valley.
Whilst losing herself in her gazing of the deep void of the planetary scar, something occurred in the corner of her enhanced vision. She didn't notice it at first, simply thinking that she had imagined it, until she caught the slightest flash of what she believed to be a twinkling star. Zooming back out with her vision, she got up and took a minute to see if what she had seen was, in fact, a shooting star as she looked back up at the heavens for a good minute or two. Nothing. 'I could have sworn that I saw it near Saturn...' She thought to herself as she once again enhanced her vision and looked to haloed planet of Saturn. As she zoomed in, the ethereal prism of Saturn's rings solidified more and more, revealing clouds and clouds of asteroids swimming about in the gaseous sea of colors. Beyond that, four of the planet's moons came into view, the planetary moon of Titan being one of them. From her vantage point, she could see that a massive thunderstorm was brewing within its atmosphere; a bright and flashy light show that could easily be seen from space. 'Is this all that I saw?' She thought to herself, now feeling silly from worrying about such a trivial thing. 'Just some little lightning storm from another planet?' Now she was getting very curious. Sure, she had let herself get lost in her head while gazing at the eternal hurricane on Jupiter, but now this thunderstorm was creating some small openings within the planet's atmosphere. Maybe she'd finally be able to sneak a peek at the planet's surface. With that thought in mind, she excitedly waited for an opening in the raging storm. A bolt of lightning flashed brilliantly, evaporating a space in the clouds large enough to see through. Taking her chance, she zoomed in past the murky yellow and finally took a glance at the surface below.
A horrible sense of dread overcame her instantly when she saw what was below...
Upon the surface sprawled a massive collection of structures. It didn't look organized in any way at all, so she couldn't call it a palace or temple complex, but the sheer size of the constructs suggested otherwise. From what she could see, there were no visible or apparent entrances with which to access it's interior.
But what frightened her most of all, was the formation of the constructs. When she zoomed out, they formed an ancient symbol. A symbol from her past that she had long chosen to forget. A symbol that she had once feared above all others...
"What is this...?" She whispered with a shudder of fear creeping into the back of her soul. "It... can't... be..."
Before she could observe further, the murky, yellow maelstrom passed back in front of her vision, once again closing off the surface from view.
"No, no, NO!" She hissed to herself as she was forced to zoom back out to normal function. Hastily, she pulled her staff from its vertical stance in the white sands and teleported to the edge of the dark side of the Moon. She couldn't just let this one go. Her past, along with her sister's, was supposed to STAY in the past.
She couldn't return...
She can't return...
She desperately scanned the yellow moon for another opening, no matter the size, but the more and more she looked, the more and more the storm began to die down. She zoomed back out into her normal vision and just looked up in vain at the infinite space.
The most dangerous being in existence...
... and she had just lost her...
'This is out of my hands now' she thought to herself as she looked back towards the Earth in the direction of Equestria. 'I need Celestia's guidance on this.'
She turned back away from Earth and grabbed her Lunar staff as she prepared to take off. But at that moment...
((((((( They will be free))))))
The voice came from nowhere. She could feel it speaking to her from within her head, as if it was a dream from the past...
((((((( The Elements have returned)))))))
This time, she did not feel a sense of dread; rather, she felt shocked. This voice was another specter of their past. This voice... she knew...who it was...
((((((( And...)))))))
"That's..." She whispered as she slowly turned back away from the Earth and once again looked to the void.
The star. The one that caught her eye earlier. That was no star. It was a comet. Or, at least... It appeared to be...
((((((( So...))))))
But this comet was not burning as a normal blue-tailed would. This one burned a bright orange hue, and its tail was relatively short. "Burning" didn't even really fit a proper description of the object. An energy seemed to be radiating off of it, propelling it at an unbelievable speed...
((((((( shall...)))))))
... And it was careening right in the direction of the Earth...
((((((( they.)))))))
"Oh, no..." She whispered as the object screamed past the Moon with an impossible momentum, forcing Luna to raise her arm to protect her vision from the brightness emanating from it. However, when it passed by her, she felt a familiar presence. One she had forgotten over the long course of her eternal life. One lost in conflict and strife...
"Prometheus...?"
The object rocketed past the Moon, and made an impossible beeline to the Earth's atmosphere.
"There's no way I mistook that." She said to herself confidently, "That was definitely no comet..."
That was a High Blood...
...and a powerful one at that.
She immediately grabbed up her staff, unfurled her wings, and ascended off the Moon, breaking apart the ground with the sheer force of her leap as she made for the Earth. With a great beating of wings, she sped faster and faster, attempting to catch up with the streak of orange. However, as it got farther and farther away, it dawned upon her that she took off too late; and the streak entered the atmosphere and disappeared through a massive collection of cumulonimbi.
Unable to track the object any longer, she cursed to herself and immediately changed course for the Citadel; doubling her speed. By now, Celestia must know that there is a fourth High Blood on the planet.
Which meant that Luna had to get to the castle as fast as she could...
...because she remembered that feeling of familiarity back on the Moon...
... the feeling that this High Blood might not be hostile...
And if she didn't tell Celestia soon...
... she might kill him.