Arcane was locked in the cellar of his basement. He had documents and books piled of everywhere. While consulting a book, he drew a giant sigil with chalk on his floor. "Almost Done..." He dropped the chalk. He hadn't slept in almost a month , and he needed to keep quiet about this. He was commuting a taboo. Sure, he might get sent to the gallows, but if it helped Ponykind he didn't care. He would be willing to throw aside his life to continue the existence of society. He lowered his horn, and it glowed a dark black, different from his usual cyan. The sigil lit up like an Hearth's Warming Eve tree. There was banging on the doors. "Arcane! Please, don't do this!" "You can't stop me!" The sigil flashed, and there was an explosion. Darkness. As Arcane regained consciousness, he saw a vision. Of himself, and... A green mare in some hellish looking place, with a regal-looking Alicorn in chains. Another flash. The same Alicorn appeared, and she said to him, "You must go to the compromised city, Ponykind's Outpost and find a mare named Starnsy Warnsy. We're counting on you." He woke up, in a military prisoner cell.
Starnsy was... Running. Running from a cave in. A rotted wood beam had finally given way, causing a chain reaction of cascading rubble. Incoherent screaming coming from her throat but she was too focused on running to care. She could feel the dust coating her hindquarters and her tail as she galloped for her life. Eventually, she was able to escape the crumbling rubble and emerge into the night air, looking around at the ruined city. She looked back at the caved in tunnel and soghed, sitting down and pondering just what to do. "I'm lost."
There was a militaristic-looking pony in front of him. "You're awake." He said, with a cold voice. "Who are you?" "I am the lead strategist for Ponykind's Counterattack, Commander Shield Valor. I know who you are, so let's cut to the chase. You're in here because you committed the taboo. What, may I ask, were you hoping to accomplish?" Arcane cleared his throat. "I wanted to send my self back in time to prevent Discord from even existing..." Shield Valor scoffed. "And how did you plan to do that? As far as we know, he was born from the chaos and strife in the hearts of ponies. Now, when we recovered you, you were muttering something. Care to explain?" "I think I had a vision of Tartarus. I was there. And so was Celestia. And this other mare. Then Celestia told me to go to Ponykind's Outpost, that city that was compromised by Discord's Army." "Is that so?" "Yes, sir." "Celestia used to appear in visions of ponies all the time before Discord's reign. Whatever she told them was usually true. Now, are you certain you saw Celestia?" "I am certain, sir." "Very well. If that is true, we must muster our forces immediately. You're coming with us. Don't try anything funny or I'll strike you down myself." -The next day- The army was rallied at the Porticulus, or gate of the city. Arcane leaned over. "Uh, sir, I don't have any combat experience." Shield Valor turned and said. "Don't worry, you'll be with my squad. We'll tell you where to aim your horn and what to do." The gate opened, and the galloped out. They would be there in a day.
As Starnsy slinked about the crumbled city ruins avoiding Discord's minions, she wracked her brain to remember a location where she could return to the underground tunnels. But this thought was a fleeting one, as she ducked into a shadowy alleyway to avoid being seen. She took a deep breath and held it as one passed by, exhaling only afterwards. She snuck down the alleyway and looked around, unfortunately this was a heavily patrolled area and she had no choice but to hide out in this alleyway for the time being.
As they galloped through the vast, empty fields, the smoke from the ruined city just barely came into view. Shield Valor stopped. "We'll camp out here. We'll sleep in shifts. I can take first shift." "Yes sir!" Yelled his squad. As Arcane settled into his sleeping bag, an oranges maned mare approached him, and whispered in his ear, "Your the new one, eh? Nice to meet you, I'm Spark. Be careful tomorrow. He commander wants things done by the book, to the point. No room for mistakes." Arcane flinched a bit at the presence of the mare, and then said, "Noted."
