"What next?"

This thought hit the antlered Spirit as he looked down into the raging pool before him known as the life stream, a tool the Maker used to guide her works. Once, it was clear and pristine, and showed events clearly, but now, its waters were murky and every image it showed were of the same golden eyes.

Next to the forest Spirit, sat the Maker, her once white coat and fiery mane, now dulled by the darkness that loomed over her island.

"What will you do?" The Maker asked. Her question hung in the air as she looked on. "Shattered Skies?"

"I don't know." Skies said. His eyes darted from image to image, but nothing he saw changed, only fire and dust remained. The decision of what to do bore down on him and the feeling of suffocation gripped him. "I've never known."

"You're running out of time."

"Time is already gone." Skies turned to the Maker. "But time isn't the concern here, is it? There's something you haven't told me?"

Weakly, the Maker stood and lumbered towards her old friend. She remained silent as she sat and waved her hoof over the pool, forcing it to calm, becoming a still surface. "There's nothing I can tell you that you don't already know."

Shattered's heart beat harder as memories, his memories, started to appear in the life stream.

"As you know, I can not tell you how to defeat him, but I can show you a life spent wisely." The Maker's smile calmed Skies down, she knew the magic she enacted to link his memories was unsolicited and painful, but needed. "All you need is look and ask."

"Does this hold my memories only?"

The Maker shook her head. "No."

Skies glanced back before staring into the pool, even though time flowed differently on the eternal isle, it was clear the Maker had reached her limits.

With a deep breath, Skies touched the pool. Ages passed before his eyes and when he blinked his eyes, nothing, and then everything.

The Maker looked over the land she created, to her, it was a bland canvas with limitless potential. She looked to create a world, one where anything was possible and wars were unheard of. A torrent of images, feelings, and sounds sat swirling through the time space steam; they showed the past, present, future, and much potential. She lifted her large white wings and ignited her horn in a brilliant glow.

The world soon contained both vegetation and water as well as rudimentary wildlife. There wasn’t much else to work with, but she had seen countless worlds in her time, adding to her creativity. If she started with the basics, how hard could it be?

After spending hundreds of years sculpting the planet, she ultimately admitted that it had been harder than she anticipated. The act of breathing life, true life, into a world was a daunting task that could not be achieved alone. After some careful thought, she decided to create beings to help her tame the land. Balance, that’s where all things must start. She would need harmony between all things, but enough chaos to keep life moving forward.

With these things firmly set in her mind, she dug deep into her wells of magic and started to sculpt the first two beings into existence; Discord and Harmony. They had near omnipotence and complete control over their aspects. They were avatars, embodiments of the natural forces of Push and Pull. They were polar opposites of one another, so naturally, they bickered, a lot.

As the years faded, the two grew and were released onto the new planet, leaving the Maker to continue her work. "That takes care of that. Now, to something more primal. The elements."

Before she could do so, she realized that creating beings like Harmony and Discord took something out of her, something that could not be taken back. Doing this too many more times would eventually kill her. She was weaker, the next Spirits would need to draw their power from a different source, but that still left one question. Who would become the Spirits to watch over Equus?

For what seemed like an eternity, the Maker searched. Eventually, she found a world, the world, that could fulfill Equus’ needs. A few handpicked candidates later, and she had four lucky elemental avatars; one for Fire, Earth, Air, and Water. As each one took to their tasks with vigor, they chose new names for themselves in an effort to leave their old lives behind. The Maker had given them new forms as well, as their old, mortal bodies could never hold the power she bestowed on them. Fire was a serpent that wore blazing purple spikes down his spine while wearing a cloak of flame. Earth was a large stone bear that had moss and saplings growing over her back. Air was a small colorful dragon with dragonfly wings and a long tail. And Water was a great whale with multiple fins and chromatic scales, he was so large that he could flatten a city by rolling over.

The next spirits would have less power, they would more or less be there to help the avatars and watch the world more closely than the avatars could.

For Water, she created the spirits of Oceans, Lakes and Rivers, and the Frozen Wastes.

For Fire, she made the spirits of Volcanoes, Lightning, and Flames.

For Air, Weather was made, as well as the Wind twins. One was responsible for the Northern Gales and the other for the Southern Breezes.

And for Earth, the spirit of Crystal would guard the area in the northern hemisphere full of valuable gems and precious metals. The spirit of The Harvest would be responsible for the vast plains and decide where the mortals that would eventually populate this world would be able to grow, and how. And the last spirit to be created for Earth, was the spirit of The Forests. Responsible for the rest of nature, including all of the wildlife found in the vast woods covering most of the landmasses of the world.

She had to take great care in choosing a candidate for this position, for it would have to be a caring, responsible creature to care for the rest. While looking around for a candidate able to take on the most monumental of tasks, a young man caught her eye. As she watched his life progress, she felt a great sorrow; the older he got, the more obstacles leapt into his life in an attempt to ruin it. One day, his sorrows had finally worn a crack in his mind, enough to make an unforgivable mistake. She contemplated leaving him to his fate, but the Maker sensed that fate was working with him when a branch buckled beneath him as he changed his mind. Never one to challenge fate, she stood and shattered the barriers between the worlds, saving him for her own needs.

The years had gone by and the Spirits had molded the world into a habitable place for mortal species to live. The Maker introduced Ponies along with other mortal races like Griffons, Dragons, and Flutterlings. Each culture took a liking to the Spirits in their own way and all was peaceful, for a time.

Through the ages, Discord and Harmony grew to despise each other. Discord disappeared for a great number of years and when he returned, he had changed. Discord said that the mortal races were beneath Spirits and that they deserved to be ruled. This caused mixed reactions from the rest of the Spirits, but none more so than Harmony. She insisted that Equus needed guidance, not a dictatorship, that Spirits were meant to live beside mortals. Their opinions of one another degraded into hatred. Each Spirit chose a side, either out of conviction or desperation. Discord and Harmony saw no other option, the great Spirit war had begun.

The Maker saddened by the state of her world, created Alicorns, a race that knew not the strain of time, nor bound by mortal flesh, to keep the peace and guide the mortal races. They were meant to be a beacon of hope, a force that could stop the war and calm the spirits, but the Maker underestimated the situation and could not foresee what happened next.

Over the next few thousand years, the races fought for their Spirits and annihilated each other. Alicorns were among the most powerful of the races, therefore they were the first target of Discord and his renegades for extinction. Without so much as a warning, they were attacked with the full force of Discord’s army.

The battle was over soon after it had began, no one saw it coming and when the time came to support the Alicorns, no one was fast enough. Artorias the Alicorn capital lay in ruins, only two foals survived the slaughter, missed by the vindictive Spirits.

The Maker was too weak, She reached out to the few Spirits that still fought against Discord in an attempt to save the two foals. Through sheer luck and skill, the two foals were spirited away, unfortunately they now bore a greater responsibility than one could hope for and because of this, they were given special power to aid them against Discord.

While the two foals trained in secret, Harmony gathered the remaining spirits together for one last ditch attempt at victory.

Harmony looked around the cavern at each of the Spirits and wept, there were so few left. Each Spirit fought to win for their side and killed each other to do it. Some Spirits chose a support position and gave aid to those that fought, but even that left a heavy toll.

Five of Harmony's closest friends stepped forward. Harmony and Discord were the only beings who could forcibly activate the full powers of a dead spirit, and thus far, Discord had far more power than they could hope to face head on. However, if they could neutralize his power, it would give them a chance to end the war, all they needed was a chance. Which is why she could never express enough gratitude to the two defectors in her midst. Laughter and Generosity had joined her side. Ironically enough, Discord had laughed them off and given them to her without cause. While relatively weak spirits on their own, through the power of their own lifeforce and Harmony, victory was a real outcome.

“It’s not like we are going to die all the way right? I mean, c’mon, we will be awake in these crystal thingies, and we get to have all the glory, so you are really doing us a favor!” Laughter smiled at Harmony, her wings beating at her side in excitement. She was just trying to cheer everyone up, and to be honest, it was working.

"Your sacrifice will never be forgotten. You and your friends will be immortalized in stone, and will help end this atrocity. Not only that, you will continue to protect the world for centuries to come through mortals of your choosing. This I promise."

Small tears escaped her eyes as Harmony began the ritual. One by one, half of her remaining forces died in front of her. First to be consumed was Loyalty. As the spell widened, more fell, giving themselves over to the crystals completely. Harmony's elements soon became crystallized and hovered around the spell circle.

What Harmony didn’t tell her friends, was that the spell didn't end with their passing. Harmony awakened each of their stones, activating their consciousness, and allowing anyone they chose to wield their power. Then, with tears streaming down her face uninhibited, Harmony finally fell, leaving behind the most powerful artifact of all. Of course, she would always be part of the world, but it would be a long, long time before she walked the lands again.

To the observers in the room, there was a flash of light that lasted for a full minute, and then, all was silent.

Earth, having received a near fatal wound from Fire, sat, looking at their sacrifice and lamented. Had they really reached such a point? Each Spirit had a different reaction.

Blue Line, Spirit of oaths was doing his best to hide his tears. Justice, or Feather of Truth, had a look of cold content upon his face. Innocence and Love were bawling their eyes out.

Shattered Skies and Flowing Streams looked sad, but resigned. Streams leaned on Skies, trying to bury her face in his coat. They had been pushed to this, no going back now.

They had been given one opportunity, and there was no way they could waste it. Harmony told them what the Alicorns were, and what they meant. She had used her own life force, and now there were beings with the power to defeat Discord. Those that could withstand the repercussions of using more than one spirit-stone at once. Those that could lead in the absence of spirits. She had given them exactly what was needed.

Six good, honest people had just given their lives to create the ultimate tool, something that could restore balance. Earth would be damned if she let them go to waste.

Earth understood the gravity of the situation, six dear friends were now lost to them, but this wasn't the time to grieve. She looked at the Spirits once again to see who was up for the task she was about to lay out. Each of them were qualified, but only one would be about to get the job done, Shattered Skies. "Skies, I need to speak with you."

Shattered Skies sighed. "I know what you're about to ask me, and the answer is no."

Earth cringed at Skies' cold stare, it had been obvious from the start that Shattered Skies stood against Harmony's sacrifice, firmly. He had spent so many years fighting against all of Discord's forces, they all have. Earth looked at them, she could tell that they would all rather be on the front line trying to bring Discord down, but after Discord took the Alicorn Capital and the Spirit council's city from underneath their noses, the war had never been the same. "Skies, I understand you all want revenge for what he did to the Alicorns, but..."

"No, what he did wasn't just genocide." Skies was cut off by a hoof, Innocent's hoof.

"Please, don't say it."

Skies sighed, before continuing in a quieter tone "Regardless, my men are fighting as we speak and I need to be there."

Earth stood slowly. "I know Skies, you're noble to a fault, but there is a more important task for you to take care of. You left your men in the care of Storm Front, Sif, and Crystal. We both know that they can hold their own."

Blue Line and Feather of Truth stepped up. "What's the task? Why can't we do it?"

Earth shook her head. "You can't cover more ground than Skies and out of everyone here, Skies is the most cunning."

Earth's saplings shivered, which only meant one thing. "I am afraid we are out of time, everyone."

"I feel it too, a large force led by Discord has entered the forest." Skies confirmed everyone's suspicions "I will engage immediately while Blue and Feather take the sides, Innocence, you'll remain in the rear as a medic as usual-"

"No." Earth commanded. "Leave this to us, you and Flowing Streams take the Elements and carry them to the Alicorns. With them, this long, grotesque war will come to an end."

The Spirits of Duty and Valor nodded at one another before Blue Line chuckled with his usual cheesiness. "We'll hold him off while you put an end to all this."

Skies hugged everyone there, but hugged Earth a little longer. "Stay alive, okay?"

A tear rolled down her cheek. "I will see you again."

And with that Skies disappeared into a dark cave, followed closely by Flowing Streams. Both Spirits raced for days to reach the farm that hid the two foals.

When they finally reached their destination, Flowing Streams nudged Shattered Skies. "So what do they look like?"

"Huh? Who?"

"The foals, silly."

Skies cocked his head. "Weren't you there when we found them in the rubble?"

Streams shook her head. "No, I was in Stalliongrad, smoothing over a treaty, the rescue was you, Stormy, Sif, and Leo."

Skies thought for a brief second and tsked. "You're right." He rubbed his eyes, exhausted from the days he went without sleep. "Anyway, they're typical foals, one has pink hair and the other, blue. They were small and they stink, like all babies."

Skies looked at Steams who was brooding, Skies loved to poke fun at her love of anything newborn. He went to continue pressing her buttons but when he looked up he saw a large stone structure in a valley with small lakes surrounded by mountains on all sides, the perfect place for anyone to hide.

"We're here." Skies said.

An old stallion saw the Spirits approaching and started walking with his young child before meeting them halfway across a field of dead, dry marsh. "Hail, Shattered Skies, Lord of the Forests, and Flowing Streams, Lady of the Rivers. How may I assist you?"

"Greetings, Fair Watch." Skies bypassed the formalities. "We brought your charges' gifts."

Watch nodded and turned to his grandson, Clever Watch. "Go and get the young-"

"No," Skies interrupted. "We are in a hurry, Watch, the less the foals know the better."

Fair Watch chuckled. "But the foals are young mares now my lord. Celestia has become strong, she works the field everyday and studies her heart out, learning the history of the world. Luna is doing just as well and has decided to pursue studies in magic and how to apply them to actual issues, she is is also a very spirited dancer. Both mares are individuals I'm sure you would be proud of."

Fair Watch saw the strain on the forest Spirit's face. "You aren't here just baring gifts, are you?"

Skies gave a heavy sigh. "No, the gems that are contained in my saddle are weapons for them to use against Discord, this is the destiny that the Maker has set forth for them, all that's left is for them to gain their strength and face him."

"You can't!" Watch raised his voice. "I-I raised them to live a better life, not fight that monster."

"I know." Skies said.

"You and the other Spirits can't just push your war on them because you can't settle things like rational beings!" Watch started straining his voice.

"I know."

"And what about Harmony? If she and the Maker were that powerful, why can't they handle him!"

"She can't, at least, not any more."

Streams looked at Skies change in demeanor when Watch brought up Harmony.

"Why didn't Harmony bring the gems herself?"

Skies levitated Harmony's gem from his saddle.

"No." Watch's eyes widened.

"Yes, while you live in this hidden valley, the rest of us have been fighting Discord and losing. Those mares are Equus' last chance at balance. If they don't fight and use the special power the Maker has bestowed upon them, then we are doomed."

Fair Watch understood the situation that they were in and watched Shattered Skies and Flowing Streams morph into regular ponies. Skies, being a huge silver Pegasus, wrapped a scarf around his head to obscure his features. Streams, being an earth mare with a merlot coat and a dark brown mane, clapped her hooves in delight. Before Watch could ask the reasoning he looked where the two Spirits were and saw two mares, Celestia and Luna, running to meet them.

"Before they get here, are their memories still blocked?" Flowing Streams asked Watch.

"Yes, they don't remember what happened to Alicorns at all." Watch said coldly, it was obvious that he disliked this fact.

"Uncle who are our visitors?" Celestia asked sweetly. "It's so rare to ever see anypony else."

Luna perked up. "Are they staying for dinner?"

Watch looked at Skies for a response, but he just shook his head. "Sorry girls, these are very busy ponies and have a job to do, they just brought by a package."

"For?" Celestia asked.

"You." Skies finally spoke, startling Celestia with his sudden deep voice.

Skies saw Luna slump slightly. "This gift is for both of you, but it's not something you can have now."

"Then when?" Luna asked, her smile being so sweet that it made Streams almost squeal in delight.

"When we return." Skies smiled at Luna and Celestia before levitating the saddle that held six gems over to Watch. "We will be back, but until then I will leave these in the hooves of your uncle."

Watch hoofed his saddle to the Alicorn sisters. "Here girls, put these in my room and no peeking, if you do then no desert for a month."

The two Alicorns nodded vigorously and scampered off in excitement.

"Why'd you cover your face?" Streams snarked.

"They would have recognized me without my scarf, I went into the capital in disguise and your disguise should never be figured out, it's how you can live a regular life." Shattered Skies replied in an annoyed tone.

Watch sighed at the bickering Spirits. "When will you be back?"

Skies looked at the clouds. "In sixty years, well into the twilight of your life. It will take me that long to weasel Discord into giving us an opening big enough for those two to make their move."

"Sixty years to prepare them for a battle that could end with them either winning or dying? Talk about suspense."

"I will try and get a Spirit or two here to help them with advanced studies." Skies turned to leave with Streams. "Until then, watch."

Watch bowed slightly. "My lord."

Streams and Skies ran until they were out of the valley.

"Do you think we can get Discord to give us a big enough hole?" Streams asked.

"Yes, if he thinks that he is about to win the war with one last battle, he'll throw everything he can at me." Shattered Skies said absentmindedly.

"Wait, you?"

"Yes." Skies looked to the keep once more. "But before then, I'll try and teach them what I can to prepare them for not only that day, but life after it."

Author's Notes:

Shattered Skies is a growing work, not from just me, but from everyone that adds to it. I wanted to create a lore rich universe that doesn't just take you from point A to point B. I wanted to hit the rest of the alphabet too. I've only recently figured out what to put in these Author's notes, so I apologize if this sounds like babble.

To lay out exactly what is and isn't canon in the story. Up until season six is canon and key parts of six and beyond will count as canon except the parts you read where they are apparently not. As I'm sure you all are aware, Them's Fightin' Herds is made in a My Little Pony-esque style and because of this, Fœnum is canon.

With all that being said, I truly hope you enjoy reading the story. If at any point you wish to PM me with a question, suggestion, or response, or even to just talk, I will be along shortly to respond.

If you dislike something, please tell me so I can either fix it or make it better.

We love ya