Soul Edge stood quietly impaled in the hardened earth of the dark ruins, it slowly opened its eye, looking around it saw that everything was the same, black. 'Three million six hundred and forty thousand' it thought to itself, 'Three million six hundred and forty thousand days since I healed.'

Soul Edge was now weaker then when it was first created, all the souls it had collected were gone, exercised by the accursed crystal sword, Soul Calibur and only had enough power left to tell if it was light or dark outside the mountain. Using this the sword counted the days, a habit it took up after its second defeat, a battle forever lost to history.

As time slowly moved forward Soul Edge found itself wondering if it would ever see day light again and what it would do if it was free. As always it told itself that history always repeats itself, it will be free and it will continue a glorious slaughter across the lands, though now these thoughts bore less weight then they once did over three million days ago.

Eventually it started to close its eye to drift back into a deep sleep, 'All I can do now, is count the days.'

--{-----

The sun shined down upon a tall, scarred mountain surrounded by an ancient and lush forest. At the base of the mountain stood a ruined village hidden by the trees for untold generations. The ruins were focused mostly to the mountain thinning out as it got further away. Many pony like creatures wandered these ruins working endlessly to their goal.

An aged stallion no more then five feet tall with a powerful muscular build, a dark chestnut coat with short grey mane and tail. His body bore many battle scars and the image of wind wrapping around a stone stood proudly on his flank. He continued to wander the ruins keeping a sharp, cold brown eye on the workers and foreign soldiers, a mixture of ponies.

There are three types of ponies in the world.

He himself was a Unicorn, this is known due to a horn mounted firmly on his head, they are creatures gifted in magic and use it in there daily life's. The second breed are known as Pegasus or Pegasi, these creatures don't have a horn and lack the magical ability but bare a pair of powerful wings given them the ability to fly and interact with clouds as if they were solid. Finally there were those who were born without these gifts, Earth Ponies, the aged stallion bore great respect for these type of ponies for even though they did not have the gift of flight or magic, they made for fierce, proud and formidable opponents.

He heard a trotting noise behind him moving closer, turning to see who was running up behind him, unafraid or worried for the trot was too light to be anything other they a foal.

"Hi Dad!" came a young cheery voice.

The aged Stallion smiled at the young Unicorn filly standing before him, she was no more then two and a half feet tall wearing a blueish black coat with a light golden mane and tail of medium length, her bright green eyes stared lovingly up to him.

"Hello Nor." said the stallion. "Are you having fun?"

"Yes, I'm playing hide and seek." she replied. "Have you seen Crescent?"

The stallion smiled, "Are you seeking him?" He asked.

The little filly only looked away. He put on a stern face to hide a smile and suppress a laugh.

"The point of hide and seek is to find the hidden on your own." he said, "It would be unfair if I told you where he is."

"So you do know where he is." She said looking up to lock eyes.

The stallion flinched, she had managed to trick him into given her that much information. She stepped forward.

"Where is he?" she asked gently but her eyes were demanding.

"I don't know." said the stallion as he slowly backed away.

"You know it's not nice to lie." she said factually.

He was losing ground fast, he knew how relentless she can get but he was determined to stand strong.

"If you don't tell me the truth I wont bake your favorite."

His determination broke, lowering his head in defeat. Her cooking was second to none and her apple crumble was his favorite treat.

"He went up to the excavation site." he indicated to the base of the mountain. "You had better make me a dam good apple crumble." he said.

"Of course I will." she replied cheerfully. Stepping forward she hugged him, "Thanks Daddy."

She then turned on her heels and ran straight for the excavation site. Smiling the stallion continued his task.

(>'.')>--{-------

Nor ran as fast as she could in order to find Crescent. When it came to hiding Nor was unmatched but Crescent was smart, he knew the best places to hide just by knowing the seekers personality and he knew hers well. She herself thought he would not go to the excavation site due to the soldiers, they seem to hate Crescent though thankfully that isn't the case with the workers. As she came up to the site she stopped and called up to a nearby cloud;

"Is Crescent ahead?"

The cloud seemed to shift and a blue head emerged out of the bottom, lime green eyes looked down to her. The head wore a silver helm covering the mane.

"Crescent?" came a soft voice, "Let me check."

The cloud dispersed and the Pegasus landed gently in front of her. The Pegasus was a four foot Mare barely out of her teens, her coat was light blue up close. Her tail was long, silver and flowed elegantly behind her, a picture of a silver music note on her flank. The most unusual and beautiful thing about her was her silver feathers on her large wings. She proceeded to enter the site.

"Thank you Melody!"

Melody simply waved a hoof back at her. Nor waited patiently while staring at her own blank flank, 'I wonder when I'll get mine.' she wondered. Looking up she saw Melody return.

"He's ahead helping out." she said gently.

"Thank you again Melody."

"Anything to help." she replied, "Give my regards to Sleipnir."

Nor paused at the mention of her fathers name.

"I'm making apple crumble for us tonight, would you like to come over for some?" she quickly asked.

"Alright." came the soft reply.

She watched as Melody took to the sky.

"And give Crescent a nice hug for both of us." she added with a wink before shooting upwards.

Nor sat silently, a slight blush formed on her face. Moments later she shook herself and continued into the site. The site itself was where the majority of the ancient village sat, collapsed houses scattered here and there, some ruins half swallowed by the earth. She stopped to admire the beauty of the scene. Many ponies were working hard up closer to the mountain. Pegasi were flying supplies around the site while Unicorns and Earth Ponies were busy moving rocks and carefully tending to relics found in the excavations.

Nor looked around carefully and smiled as she saw a small Unicorn help move supplies. Quickly moving across the site she ran straight up to the young Unicorn.

The Unicorn, a young Colt was two and a half feet tall, same as her, though young his physique was slender and well built. He had a chestnut brown coat and dark brown, almost black mane and tail. The mane was short but thick and unkept though his tail was the same length as hers. He also bore no cutie mark. The truly stunning thing about him was his ivory horn mounted on his head.

"Found you." she said joyfully.

"It took you long enough, I've been here for most of the day." he said curtly.

"Doesn't matter, I still found you." she countered.

Crescent lifted the supplies he had onto a nearby table.

"And I suppose you had no help?"

"Nope." lied Nor.

Crescent locked eyes with hers. She stared back afraid to blink or turn away, his eyes a captivating grayish blue.

The stare lasted but a moment but felt like years for the young filly.

"I suppose Melody stopped by for the fun of it?"

Nor froze, she knew she was caught, Melody never stepped into the site because of how the soldiers acted around her. Lowering her head in defeat she began to apologize but Crescent cut her off.

"It doesn't matter I suppose, you did find me in the end."

Looking up she saw that his face was as set as always but his eyes told otherwise, 'He is worried he upset me.' she thought a small smile creeping across her face.

"Anyway, we should go, the soldiers are getting restless around me." said Crescent with a hint of worry in his voice.

Looking around she noticed the nearby soldiers eying them dangerously.

"Why would they care so much about a Filly and Colt." she said annoyed.

"You know why." Crescent replied walking away from the site.

Nor followed, she knew why but she didn't like it. Crescent was a Taint, a pony whose main appendage is a different color from their coat, for Pegasi it was their feathers, for Unicorns it was their horn and for Earth Ponies it was their hooves though there are times when Earth Ponies are born with hooves colored the same as their manes, these ponies are not considered Taints.

Like Crescent, Melody is a Taint. 'But they are so kind and gentle, why would anypony hate them just for being a Taint?' She thought sadly.

"It's because of the old legends." said Crescent seemingly reading Nor's mind.

"I know." she replied.

She thought about the old legend, about how Ponies appeared with different colored appendages. They always became masters at whatever they specialized in but one day, led by a golden horned Unicorn they rose up and attempted to usurp the throne. Warriors grouped together and formed a brotherhood under the name of a sacred but lost Order called the Edanite's. These brave warriors drove back the army and ultimately saved the kingdom. They say the Order still stands and protect the kingdom in secrecy and the rare few born with unusual coloring were branded with the name Taint and are feared and hated even now.

They had walked most of the way back to camp, all was silent as everybody was back at the excavation site.

"You know Dad doesn't hate you right? He wont do anything to hurt you."

"I know." replied Crescent. "I trust Sleipnir with my life."

"Even though?" she stopped herself. "I'm sorry." she whispered.

Crescent paused for a moment, Nor began to shack, afraid and upset that she may have hurt him, Crescent never liked talking about his family. He slowly turned and embraced her.

"I don't hate you or him." he said gently, "And nothing will change that."

Nor returned the embrace, she felt warm and safe in his gently yet strong hooves, slowly her shaking stopped. A long time had passed before they finally broke away from each other and continued down the path to the nearby camp.

A smiling blue Pegasus watched them from the clouds.

"I'm amazed at how strong you are." Melody said to no one.

Lifting herself from the cloud she smiled thoughtfully. 'I too trust Sleipnir, he gave up everything to protect you both, he even saved my life.' With a beat of her wings she lift herself into the air and silently glided after the two young ponies.

<('o')>

An odd noise woke Soul Edge from its sleep. 'What is that?' It thought. It patiently sat in the dark listening. Suddenly it grew excited as it recognized the noise. It was the sound of digging, something powerful slamming into rock, 'Someone or something is trying to get in!' it thought with great anticipation.

<(-.-)>

Sleipnir stopped at the excavation site entrance. He Looked up to see that Melody had disappeared.

'Guess that means they aren't here.' he thought.

He remembered back to when they first arrived at the camp to act as guard as per their contract, he noticed how the other soldiers stared at both Melody and Crescent. Melody noticed as well and promised to keep an eye on the young ones while he focused on his work.

'If Melody isn't here then that means that Crescent and Nor are elsewhere.'

He hated bringing the young ones with him but since he was a traveling Mercenary without a home and had plenty of enemy's who would happily use them against him, he had no choice. The good thing is that Melody travels with them and has always been willing to watch them while he worked. He fully trusted in Melody and her skills in combat having fought her himself a few years back. He had taken her in and thought her to control and focus her mind but never once tried to teach her psychically as her techniques and style were completely the opposite of his.

His thoughts wandered to her style, it completely opposed even the Pegasi hit and run fighting style. Unlike the Pegasus style which involved staying out of reach before quickly swooping in for a single hit then taking to the sky again. She prefer close quarter combat, her moves were fluent and graceful but also lethal.

His thoughts were interrupted by a commotion coming from the site. With a shake of his head he brought himself back to reality, he jogged further in to see excited ponies run wildly around the ruins.

Stopping a nearby mare Earth Pony, he asked;

"What's going on?"

"We found a large hollow pocket at the base of the mountain!" she replied, to say she was excited would be an understatement. "We're rushing to get through the mountain wall to it!"

"Take me there." he said politely.

The mare nodded and ran ahead of him. It didn't take long to reach the location. A large wall of ponies blocked their way but he pushed through them with the mare close behind.

When he finally made it to the front he was amazed to see the magnitude of the ponies effort to get to the pocket. Earth Ponies slammed and bucked the hard rock till it gave way while Unicorns levitated the boulders and rocks away to help the Earth Ponies dig faster without wasting time. As they worked the Pegasi were busy constructing the supports to stop the developing cave from collapsing on the miners.

Sleipnir could only watch in awe, while normally the different breeds hated and distrust each other, the level of cooperation between them in this work site was amazing, but what he was witnessing was something else. He had only seen cooperation like this once, in a Kingdom called Equestria.

/('-')\

Soul Edge vibrated with delight, the sound of digging and shattering rocks echoed violently across the cavern walls. Suddenly the sound of collapsing rock filled the cavern. Closing its eye against the sudden blinding light. It fell still, basking in the glow of the sun, the first touch of light in over four million five hundred thousand days.

It then heard voices, a language he didn't recognize. Opening its eye it was surprised to see not humans but the silhouette of many odd creatures. A voice rose above them all and the silhouettes receded from the newly formed cave, then one large silhouette walked in. It drew close to Soul Edge until finally it could make out what it was seeing.

In shock it saw a horse, 'No.' It corrected itself, a pony.

A large, aged pony no more then five feet tall loomed over it, the pony had a dark chestnut coat with a short grey mane and tail. The body was large, muscular and refined and covered in scars showing its many military experiences.

Soul Edge stared into the pony's eyes, suddenly it was shocked, behind those dark brown eyes he recognized something it only saw in humans. The pony before Soul Edge was sentient.

The pony shouted something behind it before leaving. More commotion and shouting could be heard but Soul Edge didn't care. It was busy taking in its new discovery and enjoying the light as the sun slowly descended behind the forest.

(>'.')>   <('.'<)

Sleipnir stepped out of the cave shouting to the nearby soldiers;

"Barricade the entrance, no pony allowed in or out, that includes the guards! If anypony does go in there do not touch the creature inside, not even with magic!" he bellowed.

The soldiers did as commanded. Three soldiers placed themselves in front of the cave entrance standing firm and at attention. The rest began to disperse the crowd in an attempt to clear the area. The mare that guided Sleipnir earlier approached him.

"What is wrong?" she asked not hiding her annoyance.

"There is an unknown and possibly lethal creature in the cave," he replied factually, "it is incapable of moving but I don't want to risk anyponys lives, once we figure out how to remove it you can do as you please."

The mare stood silently for a moment, the story was odd but she couldn't help but believe the stallion. His voice bore wisdom, strength and kindness. "I'll spread word around." she said before leaving.

Sleipnir left the Excavation site slowly, if what he saw was what he thought it was, then things could get violent and soon. With a shake of his head he thought, 'I can't think about it right now, I'll go back to camp, rest with my family and eat apple crumble, then drift to sleep. In the morning I will start working on a plan.' Sleipnir continued in silence towards the camp.

(>'.')('.'<)

Soul Edge sat in the silence of the dark night, it was awake, now it must revive. Next Chapter: Chapter I : The Calm Estimated time remaining: 13 Minutes