The Ascent: To Liberate a Kingdom

Chapter Six: The Prophecy

Celestia stepped through the doorway of the prison, and noticed an immediate change in her surroundings. It was what looked like Canterlot Castle’s basement, with its white stone marble walls and cobbled floors. It was a nice homely change from her previous surroundings, and she felt her heart lift just a little bit. The passage that she was traversing came to an abrupt end, however, with just one door ahead of her. She pressed her ear to it and could hear what sounded like a young child humming a lullaby. She gently pushed the door open; much to the child inside’s shock.

“Ah!” The filly yelped, and bolted under her bed.

“Easy there my little pony.” Celestia softly spoke. This was no doubt the filly that Celestia had been searching for. She had the purple coat, darker mane and even the pink streak. Yes, this was her alright. The filly came out from underneath the bed at a snail’s pace, before getting back to her feet.

“Oh no.” said the filly. Her face dropped sullenly. “You’re here to kill me now aren’t you?”

Celestia frowned. This child could be no more than seven and was already faced with her own mortality. A concept no youth should have to come to terms with. Celestia sat down beside her.

“Not at all. As a matter of fact, I need your help.” smiled Celestia. She was being as compassionate as the last few hours were letting her be.

“Wait... are you..?”

Celestia nodded.

“Huh?” exclaimed the filly.

“Like I said I need your help.”

“Huh!?” exclaimed the filly a second time.

“Yes.”

The filly inhaled again, but was quickly suppressed by Celestia. She gave to child some time to calm down as she looked around the room. It looked like any typical young filly’s room. There was the bed, a desk by a window, and two posters hung up on the wall.

“So you’re Twilight Sparkle?”

“My name... how do you know my name?”

“I need to know your name if I’m going to find you!” chuckled Celestia. Her expression was genuine, and could tell that Twilight knew it too.

“And you say you need my help? What are you trying to do, brush your mane?”

Celestia chuckled heartily. “No my dear, I need your assistance in a matter far more important.”

“Wow... if the Princess of the Sun needs my help then it has to be something really difficult.”

“Indeed. But I’d like to talk with you a bit first, and rest a bit. I’ve had a hard time getting here.”

“So you beat that nasty shape shifting Queen then?”

“How do you know about her?”

“She brought me here with that scary Alicorn. I couldn’t look him in the eye, every time I did he shouted at me.”

“That’s probably because he was scared of you.” Celestia nudged Twilight. She laughed briefly, but returned to her previous expression. Celestia looked closely at the two posters on the wall. They were clearly hand drawn. The one on the left was of a dry, arid desert. The only features in it were the dunes that composed the desert.

“What’s that picture meant to be?” She pointed Twilight towards the poster that she was observing.

“Oh. That’s what I imagined would be the worst place in the world. I can’t imagine hating anyone enough to want them to go there.

“And the other one? Tell me about it.”

“That’s what I think the rest of the world is like.” Celestia observed the features of the picture as Twilight spoke. There was a large field full of flowers and apple trees, and a candy shop that looked like it was made of confectionery and a smooth river with a bridge over it.

“What about this tree-house?” asked Celestia.

“That’s where I’d live.”

“It’s very nice.”

The silence returned between the two. She opened her mouth to address Twilight again as the door was thrown open. Celestia had no time to think. She positioned herself between the two intruders who were storming the room and closed her eyes, waiting to be struck down. “At least I’ll protect someone before I go.” Celestia thought to herself.

“Ladies.” said a familiar voice.

“Wow!” said Twilight, in awe of the sight. “I get to meet the Princess of the Sun AND the Princess of the Moon I one night!”

Celestia opened her eyes. The two intruders were both unconscious and underneath the hooves of Princess Luna, who was stood in the doorway.

“I was hoping they’d lead me to the right place.” said the Mistress of the Moon as she carelessly threw their bodies to the floor.

“And you must be Twilight Sparkle!” said Luna in a serious voice. “I take it you two have already met?”

“We have. Twilight here was just telling me about those beautiful pictures over there.”

“Forgive me for not joining in, but there are far more pressing matters here.” said Luna. “Have you told Twilight anything yet, dearest sister?”

“No. But now that you’re here, you can help me explain.” responded Celestia. “Twilight Sparkle, you have an astonishing gift.”

“I do?”

“You do.” continued Luna. “It’s your destiny to save the world, it seems.”

“That sounds really cliché.” commented Twilight. She was clearly unimpressed by how the sisters phrased it.

“This is no time for jokes. Your gifts are capable of beating The Archon.”

“The Archon...” stammered Twilight. “Just how astonishing are my gifts?” she asked.

“Well... You certainly seem like a talented Unicorn.” mentioned a smiling Celestia. “You’re smarter than you appear.”

“I agree.” interjected Luna.

“If I told you that your latent abilities dwarf even mine and Luna’s combined, would you believe me?” Celestia said. She then winked at Twilight.

Twilight could only remain silent. A response to a statement of that magnitude was just not possible.

“I think I know how your abilities are the key to beating The Archon too.” said Luna.

Celestia was the most shocked by this. It seems Luna wasn’t just checking on the other settlements when they parted ways at Tartarus.

“Luna.” began the Princess of the Sun. “We need to talk outside for a while.”

“Indeed. Wait here, Twilight Sparkle.” She ordered.

The elder sister followed her sibling through the door and pulled it shut.

“What news do you bring from the other settlements?” asked Celestia.

“They’re not lost yet. I’ve managed to rally the townsponies into forming a resistance with what’s left of the guards.”

“Good. Now you can tell me what else you were doing.” responded the elder sister.

“I went to the library in Ponyville and gathered what information I could about the prophecy.”

“Whatever for? Didn’t you think I could’ve needed as much help as possible?”

“I suppose it would be improper of me to wear a sisterly face and apologize. But if you hear me out, you will see how the ends justify the means.”

“Okay then. How do you defend your prolonged spell away from here?”

Luna summoned a small, dark blue dossier; Celestia quickly recognized it as Luna’s journal.

“Moonlight.” Luna whispered into the journal; its seal unfastening upon hearing the word. Celestia knew it was enchanted, not that she ever wanted to read it to get a better idea of what went on in her sister’s head.

“Here.” Luna handed Celestia a small page; it was loose in the dossier, and had been clearly ripped out from another book. “It states about a prophecy found in a small book found in a far away land.”

Celestia read ahead. It certainly looked genuine, and its text went into vast detail about ‘The End of Days’. She flipped that page over.

“Amazing!” exclaimed the Sun pony as she saw a picture at the back of the page. “This looks exactly like Canterlot!”

“Indeed, not to mention it had been written aeons ago. Now look at the bottom.”

“That’s..!”

“The Archon.” finished Luna. “They saw his arrival in the stars; this whole war was fated to happen. I’ve also written down everything I’ve keenly observed from The Archon.”

“Do tell.”

“First of all, there’s the main one. He’s the brain of the group. He does all of the talking, the strategizing, you name it.”

“Okay...”

“Secondly, there’s The Blademaster. His domain is his masterful combat skill. He carried out several assassinations for The Archon.”

“And then?”

“Thirdly, there’s The Brute.”

“The massive one?” asked Celestia.

“Yes. He is usually tearing down obstacles ahead of the group. His strength is unmatched.” Luna exhaled. “Furthermore...”she began. “We have The Elemental. He is a master at all types of offensive spells. There are no spells that he couldn’t master.”

“Then? Then we have The Mender.”

“The Mender...” repeated Celestia.

“Like The Elemental, he is profusely talented at defensive and healing magics. He is the one that heals the others. Taking him down first is our main priority.”

“Of course.” added a bewildered Celestia. She was in awe of the wide array of the powers at The Archon’s disposal. “And the sixth?”

“The sixth is a complete mystery.”

“Wait.” interjected Celestia. “So we don’t even know what this one does? How are we supposed to counter that?”

“We’ll just have to make room for him in our plans.”

Celestia looked at Luna expectantly. “What else did you find?”

“Prepare yourself; this is even more shocking than the original prophecy.” Luna handed Celestia a picture taken from what looked like the same book; there were similarities in the way they had been drawn.

“This is Twilight! This is a picture of that young filly on the other side of this door!”

Luna simply nodded. “I know how she can defeat The Archon. But first, we need to go back into Twilight’s room. She needs to know about this.”

Celestia turned to open the door, but was pulled back by Luna.

“Oh, and I forgot to give you this too.” Luna gave Celestia her armour. “I picked this up from the Armoury on my way back here; I suspect we’ll need all the help we can get.”

The two sisters stepped back into the room. Celestia could see that Twilight hadn’t moved a muscle since they left, save for her now staring wishfully at the two posters.

“Young filly.” began Luna. “Look at these excerpts from a book I found not long ago.”

“Did you... tear these from a book!?” gasped Twilight as she was given the pages.

“Is there a problem?” inquired Celestia.

“Why would you harm a defenceless book!?” she yelped. Both Luna and Celestia looked at each other blankly.

“Regardless. Just peruse those pages for a while.” said Luna. The two sisters watched intently as the young filly’s expression turned from wonder, to shock, and finally to amazement.

“These pages must be centuries old!” cried Twilight.

“You see now just how important you are, my dear.” said Celestia. “And we need to include you in our planning to help us defeat The Archon.”