Fire that burnsby Poniard DaggerChapterspreludeChapter 1Chapter 2Chapter 3preludeHere follows the accounts and annals of Princess Luna Alicore, Princess of Equestria, Keeper of harmony, and Defender of the Faith, concerning the beginning of the Solar Flare and the days therein. Day one hundred the seventh of the year 2322 of the Third Age: The Age of Harmony: I find now how dull our job truly is, we stay awake during the time when most ponies sleep. My night court does not have but near twelve visitors any one night, and only on holidays. I sometimes wish that out shift had any interesting ponies to visit us. The royal guards have taken to playing Chess in between visitors, a game that I declined, as it is not proper for the night princess to be seen playing games while there is work to be done, what little work my sister trusts me with. Today we saw only seven ponies, two traditional couples, one group of two mares, and a stallion. As is usual in my night court, the two couples wished a blessing on their marriage, both I gladly provided. The two mares, one cream-white and the other a pale green, wished a rather strange blessing, one I have not heard for quite a while, they wished a fertility blessing, I am not certain how it will help, for, as my sister once put it, “Slot A cannot go into Slot B”. The stallion, a handsome deep purple unicorn, if I do say so myself, simply wished for an approval of a project he wished to gain government funding for. He spoke of a magical box, he called it a storage box, he said it opened to a new dimension, he wished for government funding to develop and stabilize the spell to make it possible. When I granted his request of one million bits he seemed overjoyed, and told me he would name the spell after myself, how kind of him. I forgot to ask his name, I very much wish to find him again. Day one hundred the eighth of the year 2322 of the Third Age: The Age of Harmony: My sister troubles me, she showed me several plans of hers, she spoke of a new government. She spoke of what Nightmare Moon wished, she spoke of how she now sees the wisdom. I fear she has succumbed to the same shadow which overtook me. In secret, I have gathered my personal guard, and four of the six. Should she wish upon us a Solar blaze, I hope Equestria is ready. The last time one of the three separated, Equestria was nearly destroyed, along with the world. Apart from my sister's strange ideas, the night came and went as is usual, I saw but one pony today, the purple unicorn again, he simply wished to convey gratitude for his grant. I am pleased to see him again, I asked of his name, for which he replied, “Silent Shadow.” His name startled me, but I am not sure as to why, I feel as though I have known him, but it cannot be possible, I have just met the stallion yesterday. Day one hundred the twentieth of the year 2322 of the Third Age: The Age of Harmony: It seems my sister has come to her senses, I have had little type to write my daily log, as I was attempting to head my sister off. This evening however, she appears to be much more herself, no more talk of the new regime. I hope we may put this small bump in the r Here ends the accounts and annals of Princess Luna Alicore, Princess of Equestria, Keeper of harmony, and Defender of the Faith, concerning the beginning of the Solar Flare and the days therein. Chapter 1“Princess Luna!” a young guard, possibly twenty-five years old, decked out in the night guard uniform, ran into Luna's royal chamber. Upon realizing what he did, he quickly bowed, flaring his wings out to brush the ground. He trembled slightly, he knew it was a capital offense to enter the Princess's chambers without first being invited in. The room he had entered was decorated in an Old Equestrian style. Luna had changed her speech greatly since coming back, but her taste in decoration had not changed. The bed was seated to the right of the door, a single four-poster bead twice the size of any normal bed, draped with dark blue silk smattered with white dots to give the appearance of the night sky. Opposing the bed, on the other side of the door, a single vanity sat calmly, laden with the night princess's crown and hoof-shoes, made of the finest obsidian, Luna's personal favorites. Luna however was at neither, and sat in the center of the room, facing the door, on a light blue pillow, writing in what the guard assumed to be a diary, it was old, ancient in fact, the leather binding of the book was falling apart, and what pages he could see were yellowed with age. Looking up from her written page with a raised eyebrow to look upon the out of breath messenger, the night princess nodded to him to continue, “I assume you have something important, if this is about the trade agreements between Diamond Dogs and Equestria-” He cut her off quickly, “No, Majesty, it has happened, Princess Celestia, she has killed ponies, in the middle of the evening court, two stallions, they were arguing over a small land-piece near Trottingham, she seemed perfectly calm then she flared her wings and the two of them cried out and... I could not see, a blinding light, and they were gone, two scorch marks on the floor, thats all that was left.” “Are thou sure?” she asked simple, momentarily slipping back into her natural tongue. Her tone conveyed concern and fear. A single nod from the intruder was all that was required to confirm her fear. Rising quickly, the matriarch motioned to the two guards outside her room, “With all haste, go to Ponyville, gather the elements and the bearers, with force if necessary. Bring them to the safe-house under the statue in the Everfree, and guard them until my arrival. Nopony is to leave or enter that area. You will know it is me when I speak these words to you, 'Filia sum Atlas.' Am I understood?” With a quick salute and a nod, the pair of night soldiers flared their wings and took off out of Luna's balcony. Turning to the young guard, she motioned for him to come near, walking herself the desk behind her. The desk itself was plain, made from wood found only in the Everfree forest, but apart from its distinctive coloration, a dark mahogany, it bore no special markings. What was on the desk however was something of interest to the young stallion. On the surface lay scattered pages, most with charts and maps of Equestria, as well as a small cup of ink, and a quill lain peacefully to the side. The guard watched closely as Luna grabbed a specific sheet, and after magically dipping the pen in the ink, began to draw a pattern on the back of one of the charts. After a few seconds, she handed the chart to the guard, “On the front of this chart is the location of a temple known only to a select few, it is a temple in the Griffon Kingdom, built to protect against the possibility of one of the two of the princesses attempting to destroy the world. Your sole duty is to go to the area marked on the chart, and prepare the temple inside. You will need the symbol I have drawn on the back of this chart to enter, along with a drop of blood.” Startled only slightly at the mention of blood offerings, The guard nodded once. Looking over the chart, the guard recognized the mountain range as the Taishuh mountains, nearly 200 miles inside the Griffon Kingdom. His mouth pursed a his pegasus instinct to discover the quickest path surfaced. After several moments he stared up to his Princess and asked, “Your majesty, if I may, why me?” Smiling softly the nocturnal matriarch replied simply, “You were the only one here,” and turned to leave the room. The guard bowed to her majesty again and flapped his wings, before flying quickly from the balcony. Sighing softly, Princess Luna walked to the door, “It is time to see what my sister is up to, hopefully I have put in place these safeties for nothing but a short temper.” The walk to the throne room was quick and uneventful, for Luna at least. Solar guards ran to and fro, barking indistinctly to each other, one unicorn mare stopped her and begged her not to go to Celestia, telling her how the day princess had changed. Luna paid her no heed, but smiled softly and told her calmly, “go to your family, make them safe, they need you now more than I do.” Upon reaching the throne room door, she noticed two unexpectedly calm guards, standing stoically at either side. As she approached the doors, they looked at each other and lowered the pole arms across the door. “You will let me pass,” The night princess glared at each of them in turn. It was then she noticed the guards blue eyes, or what should have been blue. In place of the normally bright blue instead were hot pink. Luna's head cocked ever so slightly to the right. “No Ma'am, The Queen ordered that none shall enter.” they spoke in a monotonous voice, filled with what sounded like a hundred voices speaking as one. Their eyes never moving from looking straight ahead. The voices startled Luna, she herself recognized several voices, one of which was Luna herself. Luna nodded quickly, and lit her horn, “Very well.” She called to herself a power she had not used in several centuries. Closing her eyes, she reached out to the guards' minds and slowly smothered the flame that had ensnared their minds. The eyes glowed a vibrant navy blue on top of the pink, and slowly fell shut, the pair falling to the side to begin resting peacefully. They would wake in several hours time, refreshed, rejuvenated, and the hold on their minds removed. Walking slowly and carefully levitating the guards to the side, out of the way of anypony who might have run over them, she slowly opened the doors. Inside the doors at the center of the room, Celestia, or what should have been Celestia, stood, towering over a pair of ponies who trembled, on their backs, completely exposed to the solar ruler. Celestia had lost all semblance of a benign ruler, her mane had become magenta flames, encapsulated by blue plasma. Her cutie mark had become darker, oranges becoming reds. The cutie mark itself moved, the flames on the sun flapping as if real fire. Celestia's eyes glowed a bright white, and her coat followed suit. The air around her distorted with heat, the ponies beneath her clearly roasting alive. “Sister! Cease this at once!” Commanded the night princess. The thing that used to be Celestia slowly turned her head towards Luna, the smile on her face unmistakably evil. The ponies beneath the solar ruler took the opportunity to slide backwards along the marble floor, seeing a chance at escape. “Why hello my dear little sister, come to talk?” The creature's voice, filled with thousands of other voices, flared out. Quickly she turned back to the ponies hurriedly attempting to scoot along their backs to safety. The creature roared out at them, and just as quickly the two ponies burst into the same flames that erupted from the creature's head and neck. Luna watched in absolute horror as the two ponies literally melted in front of her, their skin burned black, and cracking open. The water inside them evaporating to dry them out. They cried out in pain, the mare of the two grabbing hold of the stallion. The stallion acting on instinct to cover the mare he loved in an attempt to protect her. Luna's horn lit as she attempted to beat back the flames she saw, but she was too late. The two were left as husks, black smoldering crisps of what used to be two young ponies. Luna growled carnally, “What have you done to my sister?” her teeth bared, her canines grew to a point. She struck a defensive pose, head low and horn bared, the Nightmare inside her beginning to stir. Luna knew it was dangerous to call upon her darker self, yet she also knew she was completely in control of it. The elements did not rid her of Nightmare Moon, they simply locked her away, the power that the Nightmare held locked deep inside her. Luna's coat grew darker, and her teeth sharper. She knew in an all out brawl she would need as much help as she could get, and if that meant using the darkness inside her, then so be it. “Nothing my dearest little sister, I have chosen this path.” “Celestia listen to reason, you just killed two-” Luna began, hoping that somewhere inside her, Celestia still was fighting to be free. “THAT IS NOT MY NAME!” the creature roared, The heat concussing Luna, causing her eyes to water from the sheer heat. The creature regained her composure quickly, and smiled, the same smile Luna had seen many times, the smile that Celestia used when speaking. “My name, sweet little Luna, is 'Solar Flare.'” Luna's resolved hardened, and she steeled herself, “In that case, Solar Flare, thou will release our sister or thou will suffer our wrath.” Luna's horn flared to life, the night blue aura coating the alicorn that comprised it. Solar Flare responded in fashion, striking a defensive position opposite that of Luna. Luna had the high ground in this fight, and she knew it. Her eyes scanning the room quickly, her combat experience rising quickly. Luna was always the one to fight in wars, Celestia always attempted to find diplomatic solutions to some griffon slicing open a pony near the borders. As a result Luna's instinct in fighting was light-years ahead of her sister's, and Luna hoped it would be enough. Luna's horn flared and a small bolt of pure lunar energy propelled itself towards Solar Flare. Before reaching home however, the creature's own horn flared brightly as she disappeared, only to reappear behind Luna, catching the night princess off guard, before smashing her down the small flight of stairs. Luna grunted as she landed on the marble floor, sliding a few feet before regaining her composure. Luna flared her own horn and teleported herself to the top of the stairs, before turning and bucking where Solar Flare aught to be. What she found though was air, the solar queen had blinked out of existence in the moments before Luna would have landed the blow, only to reappear a second later grabbing hold of Luna's read legs and twisting them around to cause Luna to fall once again. The lunar princess was caught on her back, with the creature standing over her, gazing down upon Luna's lightly beaten form. “You lost little sister, and now you will pay the price.” Solar Flare's horn glowed with the brightness of a thousand burning suns, as she pointed it directly at Luna. The creature prepared to burn her sister out of existence as her horn continued to grow brighter. “Neigh, Solar Flare, thou are not our sister.” and with that one phrase, Luna simply disappeared into the dark mist that was her mane. The dark purple mist slithered along the floor and out the main door of the throne room, Solar flare staring in silence as she watched it leave. Snarling to herself, she walked slowly to the golden throne. She stared at the walls that surrounded her throne, the roared and began to blast out the stained glass windows that decorated the walls, each symbolizing a different element. She melted the glass with ease, growling to herself and roaring at the windows. She paused however on the one representing the Element of Magic, focusing on the lavender mare depicted in the glass. Several moments passed before she growled and melted that window as well. Author's Note This chapter is dedicated to Advent of Mechanus, I took a few artistic liberties with your character, but I think I captured his essence well. Chapter 2For a city of nearly a million ponies, Canterlot was rather calm on any normal evening. This eve, however, was no normal evening. Ponies everywhere ran, screaming, packing up their homes, and fleeing the city by air or hoof, fleeing for their own lives. Riots broke out for no reason other than fear, fear of the new princess, if she even can be called a princess anymore. The wisp of night that used to be the nocturnal princess slithered its way through all the riots and the turmoil. It made its way unto a darkened ally, seemingly untouched by the chaos that progressed outside. Luna's body reformed as her consciousness rematerialized, the shadow becoming flesh and bone. Shaking off the few remaining shadows from her form, no longer injured from the battle, due both to the shadow's healing and her own physiology, Luna walked from the darkness of the alleyway and gazed upon the atrocity that was Canterlot. Blinking back several tears, Princess Luna walked from hiding, and towards the edge of the city. The edges of the city, as is true in most cities, are where most of the seedy areas are located. The dark alleyways home to many sorts of crime. More than once has a pony gone to these areas and not returned, only to be found in an abandoned building barely alive or worse. These area were the places that royalty ignored, and smart ponies tended to avoid. Luna feared not these areas, but was still cautious of the ponies therein. One obviously inebriated stallion, still holding a bottle of what Luna assumed to be some form of scotch, stumbled up to the princess. “End of the world, sweet-heart,” his voice slurred as he spoke, betraying the amount of alcohol he had consumed. He took another swig from the bottle and continued, “End of the fucking world!” Luna thought for a moment on her options, then simply replied, “Have one on me.” The drunkard raised his bottle and stumbled away, unaware that Luna had not given him any money. Continuing on her journey, she walked further toward the edge of Canterlot. The city became more and more sparse, and the buildings became smaller as small, single-story, stores took the place of the apartments that dominated inner-Canterlot. Also increasing were the number of criminals that ran to and fro, ponies with stolen goods ran around the streets, fighting amongst themselves. Luna largely ignored the malefactors, focusing on the edge of the city. One thing she could not ignore was a Earth pony mare, a pale yellow thing with salmon colored hair, being brutalized in the middle of the street. Two male pegasi beat the poor thing down, as her cries for help went unanswered. The bigger of the two pegasi began to drag the bruised and bloodied mare into an alley before Luna stepped up. Luna said nothing as she reached out with her magic and crushed the windpipes of both pegasi, watching calmly as they writhed in pain, their bodies shutting down from lack of oxygen. The bigger of the two managed to wheeze out, “please stop” before falling unconscious. Luna however did not let up, she held her grip until she felt all life fade out of their bodies. She stood over the two and growled at the two lifeless corpses beneath her. It took several seconds for Luna to realize what she had done, and she stepped back hastily, a shocked look on her face. Luna turned to face the mare, barely conscious, and leaned down to assist the yellow one. The mare looked up at her, her eyes begging for relief. Luna smiled as a mother would to a foal and placed her horn on the forehead of the mare. Lending the broken body her own power, accelerating the healing and restoring the life energy. After a few moments the Earth mare stood to her hooves, smiling softly at the matriarch. Luna nodded to the pony, who bowed quickly and ran off out of sight. Luna looked around, watching as several stores were vandalized right in front of her. She looked around, and chose one that stood out to her, the glass still intact, and the store itself unscathed. The sign above the door read Shadow Safes and Storage. The front of the store was red brick, and the sign a dark purple, punctuated by the orange text. As she began walking up to the store, three stallions ran forward and began to break the attempt to break the door down. The stallions in question, a Unicorn and two Earth ponies, had seemingly crazed looks in their eyes. The unicorn, brown maned and with a coat of dark blue, appeared to be leading both the red earth pony and the green one. Upon failing in the endeavor to break down the door, the red earth pony picked up a discarded stone, likely from the vandalisation of the nearby stores, and chucked it at the window. The window shattered, showering the inside of the store with glass dust, the rock itself knocking over several of the safes inside. The store owner, hidden in the shadows, began firing off random magical bolts at the intruders. The first two bolts caught the red earth pony, who fell over outside the window. The unicorn responded in fashion, firing off several of his own, while barking orders at the remaining earth pony to get inside. The lime green pony hopped the barrier and grabbed one of the safes, tossing it outside the window. By this time, Luna had reached the store, and decided to make her presence known. She walked behind the unicorn, and watched for several seconds as the fight continued, rolling her yes at the display. She found no need to kill these three, and had no doubt that the owner would eventually prevail. She watched as the owner in the back was struck several times with bolts, and yet kept fighting to protect his store. “CEASE THIS AT ONCE!” her voice, magically enhanced, rang out stopping the three in mid motion. The Earth pony turned around slowly, eyes widening and irises shrinking to pinpoints when he saw who had addressed them. The lunar princess watched as the unicorn turned quickly and attempted to attack the source of the voice. A single magical bolt fired off, splashing into nothingness when it hit the princess. Luna gave him a bemused smile and a chuckle as he quickly turned tail and ran down the street, disappearing into the shadows. Stepping forward into the shop, the lunar princess walked past the petrified earth pony, who shook violently when she passed. Walking towards the back of the store, Luna ignited her horn to provide illumination from the shadow at the back of the store. Upon reaching the counter she flapped her wings once to gracefully hop over the counter to eye the store's owner The store owner was the same unicorn who had requested the grant from her nearly two weeks prior. He groaned slightly as she walked towards him, burn marks evident on his torso and neck. However injured, he remained standing, looking up at his savior. “Thank you, your majesty,” he spoke, voice shaky. Upon an attempt to bow, he collapsed onto the floor, moaning from the pain. Luna bent down to help the unicorn rise, but a shaking hoof warded her off. After a few moments, he reached up and grabbed the countertop, using it to hoist himself into an upright position. When he had his hooves under him, he looked to the princess and smiled. “Silent Shadow,” Luna began, positioning herself to catch the pony should he collapse again, “I should have known I would run into you again.” Her voice was soft, and she smiled upon him. “I am glad you did, I would be dead if you had not.” Luna's smile faded slightly, “You are aware of the happenings in the palace?” Shrugging slightly, the unicorn groaned at the movement, “Only basic things, I have heard the yelling in the street. Something about the princess killing ponies, a dark lord, and something about the end of the world, but not much else, no specifics.” Luna nodded, “I am not sure what the dark lord refers to, and I will die before I see the end of the world happen due to actions of my own or my sister's. The Darkness has returned, the very same one that had corrupted me has now corrupted my sister. I am not sure how it is possible, Darkness cannot thrive inside a being made of Light. I was easy to influence, I am the antithesis of my sister's power. The Darkness should not be able to survive inside Celestia.” A crash outside the store caught the two's attention, Silent tried to stand tall, moving to place himself between the sound and Luna. He lit his horn to prepare for any oncoming attackers, steeling himself and baring his teeth to whatever may come. Luna lit her own horn and watched as many heavily armed solar guards walked into her view. She noticed the pink eyes nearly immediately, and spoke under her breath to the unicorn beneath her. The now de-petrified earth pony hopped out the window and ran after his comrade, never turning to look back because he dare not out of fear. “This is a battle we best be not a part of.” she spoke quickly, and flared her wings out into a fantastic display of plumage. The guards outside, all at once, lit their horns, and instantly began to pelt the store with solar magic. Luna acted upon instinct and covered her charge with her wings, reducing the both of them to shadow and mist. The guards continued to bombard the store for several minutes before finally ceasing, the store having been reduced to rubble. Small fires burned on the inside, the walls collapsed in on themselves, and the merchandise totally annihilated. After they were satisfied that whomever was inside was now dead or dying, they marched away, leaving naught but fire in their wake. Several minutes passed, and nothing stirred in the dark, until finally a dark mist rose from the rubble and reformed into the two ponies. As the darkness cleared, Silent Shadow stumbled forward, in shock and blushing profusely. “That certainly was...intimate,” he said looking down and brushing shadow off his coat. He felt amazingly refreshed, the burn marks on his chest and neck completely healed. “A side effect of two ponies sharing the same consciousness for several minutes, nothing more.” Luna smiled gracefully, shaking her own body free of the darkness. She preferred not to share a shadow with another pony as it had some...interesting side effects. The two ponies sharing the same shadow, shared each others thoughts and memories. It was literally impossible for you to be closer to another pony. Of course, Luna had long since learned to block her own thoughts and memories from the other pony, a defense which her companion unfortunately lacked. Also included was the feeling of a complete and utter connection to the pony you shared the darkness with. It usually left un-expecting ponies feeling attached to, or in some cases infatuated with, the other pony. Luna looked around carefully, spotting her exit vector with ease, a simple ledge overlooking the Saddle Lowlands, and as a result, a straight shot to Ponyville. Walking towards the ledge, her wings flared out as she braced herself for a swift flight. A soft cough brought her mind back to where she was, and she turned to face Silent. Sighing softly, she motioned for him to come to her. Kneeling down into a crouching position, she allowed the stallion to climb on her back. Luna grumbled slightly, feeling the weight of the stallion pressing on her backbone. Luna was not a touchy feely kind of pony, she preferred ponies to keep their distance, but seeing as leaving him here would be condemning him to death, she decided to do the honorable thing. “Nopony hears about this understood? I am not a taxi service.” She looked back as the unicorn climbed to straddle the wing-joints, surprising Luna, she had assumed that most ponies would have tried to take the more comfortable position at the small of her back, which in turn would have inhibited her wing movements. Perhaps there is more to this stallion that she thought. He nodded once to her and smiled, eliciting a soft smile from the matriarch. After he had become situated between the wing-joints, the nigh princess rose up to a standing position, loosening up her wings. “It has been a long time since I carried someone other than myself, best hold on tight.” Giving the stallion no chance to respond, Luna catapulted herself upward, bringing her wings to bare and gliding forward towards Ponyville, but more importantly, towards the cavern housing six young mares, and the Elements of Harmony they represented. Chapter 3The flight to Ponyville could have been described by any onlooker as uneventful. The night princess's mind solely locked on the task of finding and protecting the Elements of Harmony and their bearers. The stallion she bore on her back was content to look about and gaze in wonder at the surroundings, for he, by virtue of being a unicorn, had never seen the Saddle Lowlands from above, much less during a sunset. Luna gazed ahead, comforted by the mere fact that she was still able to influence her heavens to move, forcing the sun to go down, though it resisted her. The plains below him stretched out to the horizon in front, and to the mountain behind, greens and soft yellows mixing to form all the hues between. Freckled around were ponds, adding rich blues to the landscape. Albeit dark, the sun not yet fully up, the view before him was beautiful. The one river that flowed from Canterlot, the clean blue waterfall behind them a stark contrast to the smoke of the city. Canterlot burned, and at the heart, a creature who had stolen Luna's sister from her. A creature that Luna vowed to herself would not best her again. Luna, as focused as she could be at times, could not concentrate on what she wished to task herself. She was attempting to form a strategy to protect the Elements, but her mind continually replayed the events of her fight with her sister, how she had lost, as if her mind was mocking her failure. She fought a near perfect game, and under any normal circumstances she would have felled her sister in a single blow. Earth pony battles consist of testing the other's strength, pushing oneself, and the enemy, to the limit while doing so. Whereas Pegasi fights consist of complex areal maneuvers, the two combatants flying in ever shrinking circles around each other until one is able to score a blow. Fights between Unicorns involved feats of ever complicated magic, until one is either unwilling, unable or too exhausted to continue. Alicorn confrontations were as much spectacles as the Alicorns who fought in them. The battles usually ended quickly with one of the two combatants either dead, dying, or heavily wounded. Most of the time a battle was mental, the two parties facing off, examining each other for weakness, finding the best point to strike, and channeling their Katra, their life energy, through their horns. Even more often, literal mental battles occurred, the two parties attempting to convince the other they were the superior. Sometimes even going so far as to use some form of psycho-magical influence on the other. Luna herself was infamous for using a simple spell she had formulated herself, a blast of lunar magic propelled outward from her location, putting most anypony caught in the blast into a deep sleep, often inducing a coma from which the ponies affected quite usually never recovered. Likewise, Celestia, during the first and second battles for Old Canterlot, had developed and used a rather gruesome spell that cooked the opposing party from the inside out. Both sisters agreed shortly after Luna's return that these spells would never be used again. All record of those spells had since been wiped from recorded spell books, and mention of the spells by name had been reduced to mere footnotes in even the most detailed historical books. “Your Majesty?” the sudden voice startled the lunar princess from her deep thoughts, causing a slight buffeting of her flight path. The stallion clinging to her back tightened his grip ever so slightly in response. Looking back to the stallion on her back, she raised her left eyebrow to him. “I -uh- sorry, I just was wondering...where are we going?” “Master Silent Shadow, we are currently en route to the town of Ponyville, wherein should all goes according to plan, we will find six ponies who we will then escort out of the country through the port at Manehattan.” Luna's voice carried all the authority, and serenity that one would expect from a princess, but there was a slight trembling, one only the most discerning of ears might pick up. He stared at her eyes, no, not her eyes, past her eyes, into her soul. “Princess, I have my name for a reason, when I was a foal, I never spoke, but I would listen and watch. It is amazing what you see when you never speak. The mute, the blind, and the deaf, they all see the changes in the world, the subtleties that everypony else miss, but can never tell another pony. I can see in your eyes, something troubles you, more than just your sister. There is a sadness, deep inside you, fears, terrors, regrets, Nightmares even, all surrounded by a burning blackness of fury and rage, lust and dark desires.” “H-how can you know, nopony should know that.” the trembling in Luna's voice was most certainly noticeable now. His knowledge was impossible, not even her own sister could read her in such a way. “You see my eyes, these are old eyes.” smiling softly, he looked into her eyes, a comforting gaze of his own returned to her own still confused stare. “You will understand when you are older little Luna.” The nickname of her past shook her from the trace he had seemingly put on her, she shook her head quickly clearing it. She blink-blinked at his still smiling countenance, before giving him a quick glance and turning her head back to the flight ahead, her face now masked with a determined expression, an “I will not be moved” mentality she adopted whenever the situation demanded absolute stubbornness. “Oh -um- about what you did back there, i-in my store,” he began, subconsciously laying his head down on her back, “I just wanna say, thanks.” The expression Luna carried softened, she sighed softly to herself, turning back to face the task ahead. The stallion on her back content to sit and rest. Several minutes of silence passed as Silent Shadow's breathing became slow and steady, drawing the attention of the princess. Turning her head, she gazed down upon his sleeping form, smiling softly as a mother would to a foal. A small glow of magic lit up her horn, a light blue orb jumping off the tip to fly towards, and be absorbed by the sleeping pony. The light blue glow surrounded him for a moment, before fading into his resting form. A promise of pleasant dreams and her protection, even through the darkest veil. No darkness would haunt him tonight, nor pony threaten. It had been several hours, even at Luna's flight speed, Ponyville was still quite a distance. Luna had decided long before not to land in Ponyville proper, but instead bypass the sleepy-eyed town, and go directly to the Everfree forest, and the statue which now should hide the Elements of Harmony and the six ponies responsible for them. Ponyville had not changed since the last time Luna had visited. The town hall still stood boldly, proudly in the centre of the town, with the famous Carousel Boutique nearby. The town library, the Golden Oaks, had since grown quite a bit, it was much fuller, and taller. Both were dark on the inside, assuring luna her guards had done their jobs properly. A single pony stood, or rather jumped, near the centre of the town, outside the town hall. The pony in question, who was now frantically waving her hooves to signal the princess, appeared to be the mayor. The grey-maned mare jumped around, rather comically, reminding Luna of the young mare bound to the element of laughter. Touching down softly as not to disturb the “sleeping foal,” Luna walked over quickly and quietly to the mayor. Her mane was disheveled, and the bags under her eyes told luna of many sleepless nights. The mayor, still dressed in her customary ruffle-tie, and suit, straightened her glasses as the Princess walked over. “Princess Luna, I apologize for the lack of pomp and circumstance to signal your arrival, you came unexpectedly, though I may add, not unwelcome. I saw you flying from Canterlot, are you alright? I can see the smoke from the mountain even from here.” The mayor bowed quickly to the princess, straightening her white lace ruffles after she stood erect again. “Nay, madam,” Luna waved her hoof dismissively,” I assure you, I do wish it could be under better circumstances, I can assume from your still wakened state that you were waiting on somepony?” “Not precisely, I have just received via dragon-mail, that Canterlot has changed government, we are no longer a matriarchy I assume?” the mayor's face was one of concern, not for herself but more-so for her constituents. She had been seated at her desk, nearly an hour ago, filing some last minute paperwork before retiring for the night. The message came in a blast of heat and fire, and rested softly on her desk. She had opened it quickly, assuming something important if either of the princesses had wished to contact her so late at night. “Not so long as I have anything to speak of it. Princess Celestia has fallen...ill, she is delusional. You are to disregard any orders she gives to you, unless they bear my signature and seal.” Luna's voice commanded authority, giving no margin for discussion. “Yes, majesty. Several of your guards have told the town to leave Ponyville and head for the mountains northward, I, and a few select others remain, most of the town has heeded their call.” “Well done, it is wise to get far from Canterlot. Who, pray tell, has remained?” more so from Luna's own curiosity was the question asked. “Myself, Cheerilee, Scootaloo, Granny Smith and her grandson, Doctor Turner and his wife, we are the only ones who remain.” Nodding curtly, Luna looked around, taking in the sight as much as she could, “Mayor Mare, I leave you in charge of their safety, you are to make certain no harm befalls to any of them. I must go into the Everfree, I trust you have the situation covered here.” After a short farewell and a good luck from the mayor, Luna turned towards the dark forest that housed the statue, and the Elements. Walking forward, she steeled herself, wondering what would greet her in the forest ahead. The Everfree forest was not always the unruly place it is today. Once the entire forest was a thriving agrarian town, aptly named Everfree. The town was the old capital of Equestria, before Luna's fall and eventual banishment. The old castle stood, in ruins, near the center of the forest. The forest surrounding it, and the inability for most magics to work properly inside the forest, was due to the final two battles of Luna's rebellion. The insane magical turmoil caused by the constant fight ruined the harmonic fabric in the region. At the heart, in the center of the castle, when Celestia forced the Elements of Harmony to seal Luna in the moon, Celestia tore the fabric, and to this day, the wound has never healed. If one knows where to look, and can get past the ancient seals Celestia placed on and inside the room, somepony can find the room where it occurred. Inside the tear is visible, a bright white scar in the skin of the world. And inside of this tear, one can see eternity, everything that has happened, is happening, or will happen. To do so would kill any living thing in a matter of seconds. Of course, Luna was not planning on going near the castle today, her destination was a small clearing inside the first kilometer of the forest. Inside of the clearing, a statue of Nightmare Moon, of Luna herself, stands menacingly. At this moment, two guards stood on either side of the statue, keeping watch for anypony foalish, or crazy enough to wander into the Everfree Forest at night, also creatures, they were watching out for those as well. Luna's brisk walk to the edge of the forest took near five minutes. The Everfree forest had a single simple path leading to the castle, non-paved and partially grown-over. Luna's path however, led her only a few hundred meters into the forest, from which she left the path, heading towards the small clearing. Vines and loose branches hung around loosely as she magically pushed through the overgrowth, the effect of the Everfree causing her to expend more effort than normal. She made sure to avoid causing any harm to the slumbering stallion perched upon her back. Luna's eyes caught sight of the slightly less dark area of the clearing. Walking boldly into the clearing she spotted the three things she had hoped to be present. Most notably the statue of her darker half, and the two Lunar guards posted on either side. Their gold, reptilian eyes focused on her immediately, and the spears they carried lowered in her direction. “Filia sum Atlas,” she announced to them, “I am your princess.” The spears bolted upright as the guards assumed a salute, standing stock-still as she walked up to them. Looking around carefully for any signs of life other than the guards and herself, she touched her horn to the base of he statue, forcing it to react to her lunar magics. A light glow formed around the base, spreading outward to the hooves, then up to the stone horn. A low clunk echoed for several seconds before silence overtook the forest once again. The guards moved aside as the base of the statue moved rather silently, and anticlimactically, backwards, revealing an opening into the ground below. An unlit linear stone staircase continued onward into the blackness below. For any normal pony it would be impossible to see how far down the staircase went, or even if it ever ended. Luna however knew the staircase itself wend down only a few feet, before the passageway to the bunker would take over. The subtle glow from the safe house would be the only light her eyes required, and the only light her eyes would receive. Luna nodded to the guards, and walked into the darkness, walking several feet before the base above her began to move forward to cover the opening. Slowly but surly the staircase, the princess, and her companion were plunged into the utter darkness of the tunnel.
preludeHere follows the accounts and annals of Princess Luna Alicore, Princess of Equestria, Keeper of harmony, and Defender of the Faith, concerning the beginning of the Solar Flare and the days therein. Day one hundred the seventh of the year 2322 of the Third Age: The Age of Harmony: I find now how dull our job truly is, we stay awake during the time when most ponies sleep. My night court does not have but near twelve visitors any one night, and only on holidays. I sometimes wish that out shift had any interesting ponies to visit us. The royal guards have taken to playing Chess in between visitors, a game that I declined, as it is not proper for the night princess to be seen playing games while there is work to be done, what little work my sister trusts me with. Today we saw only seven ponies, two traditional couples, one group of two mares, and a stallion. As is usual in my night court, the two couples wished a blessing on their marriage, both I gladly provided. The two mares, one cream-white and the other a pale green, wished a rather strange blessing, one I have not heard for quite a while, they wished a fertility blessing, I am not certain how it will help, for, as my sister once put it, “Slot A cannot go into Slot B”. The stallion, a handsome deep purple unicorn, if I do say so myself, simply wished for an approval of a project he wished to gain government funding for. He spoke of a magical box, he called it a storage box, he said it opened to a new dimension, he wished for government funding to develop and stabilize the spell to make it possible. When I granted his request of one million bits he seemed overjoyed, and told me he would name the spell after myself, how kind of him. I forgot to ask his name, I very much wish to find him again. Day one hundred the eighth of the year 2322 of the Third Age: The Age of Harmony: My sister troubles me, she showed me several plans of hers, she spoke of a new government. She spoke of what Nightmare Moon wished, she spoke of how she now sees the wisdom. I fear she has succumbed to the same shadow which overtook me. In secret, I have gathered my personal guard, and four of the six. Should she wish upon us a Solar blaze, I hope Equestria is ready. The last time one of the three separated, Equestria was nearly destroyed, along with the world. Apart from my sister's strange ideas, the night came and went as is usual, I saw but one pony today, the purple unicorn again, he simply wished to convey gratitude for his grant. I am pleased to see him again, I asked of his name, for which he replied, “Silent Shadow.” His name startled me, but I am not sure as to why, I feel as though I have known him, but it cannot be possible, I have just met the stallion yesterday. Day one hundred the twentieth of the year 2322 of the Third Age: The Age of Harmony: It seems my sister has come to her senses, I have had little type to write my daily log, as I was attempting to head my sister off. This evening however, she appears to be much more herself, no more talk of the new regime. I hope we may put this small bump in the r Here ends the accounts and annals of Princess Luna Alicore, Princess of Equestria, Keeper of harmony, and Defender of the Faith, concerning the beginning of the Solar Flare and the days therein.
Chapter 1“Princess Luna!” a young guard, possibly twenty-five years old, decked out in the night guard uniform, ran into Luna's royal chamber. Upon realizing what he did, he quickly bowed, flaring his wings out to brush the ground. He trembled slightly, he knew it was a capital offense to enter the Princess's chambers without first being invited in. The room he had entered was decorated in an Old Equestrian style. Luna had changed her speech greatly since coming back, but her taste in decoration had not changed. The bed was seated to the right of the door, a single four-poster bead twice the size of any normal bed, draped with dark blue silk smattered with white dots to give the appearance of the night sky. Opposing the bed, on the other side of the door, a single vanity sat calmly, laden with the night princess's crown and hoof-shoes, made of the finest obsidian, Luna's personal favorites. Luna however was at neither, and sat in the center of the room, facing the door, on a light blue pillow, writing in what the guard assumed to be a diary, it was old, ancient in fact, the leather binding of the book was falling apart, and what pages he could see were yellowed with age. Looking up from her written page with a raised eyebrow to look upon the out of breath messenger, the night princess nodded to him to continue, “I assume you have something important, if this is about the trade agreements between Diamond Dogs and Equestria-” He cut her off quickly, “No, Majesty, it has happened, Princess Celestia, she has killed ponies, in the middle of the evening court, two stallions, they were arguing over a small land-piece near Trottingham, she seemed perfectly calm then she flared her wings and the two of them cried out and... I could not see, a blinding light, and they were gone, two scorch marks on the floor, thats all that was left.” “Are thou sure?” she asked simple, momentarily slipping back into her natural tongue. Her tone conveyed concern and fear. A single nod from the intruder was all that was required to confirm her fear. Rising quickly, the matriarch motioned to the two guards outside her room, “With all haste, go to Ponyville, gather the elements and the bearers, with force if necessary. Bring them to the safe-house under the statue in the Everfree, and guard them until my arrival. Nopony is to leave or enter that area. You will know it is me when I speak these words to you, 'Filia sum Atlas.' Am I understood?” With a quick salute and a nod, the pair of night soldiers flared their wings and took off out of Luna's balcony. Turning to the young guard, she motioned for him to come near, walking herself the desk behind her. The desk itself was plain, made from wood found only in the Everfree forest, but apart from its distinctive coloration, a dark mahogany, it bore no special markings. What was on the desk however was something of interest to the young stallion. On the surface lay scattered pages, most with charts and maps of Equestria, as well as a small cup of ink, and a quill lain peacefully to the side. The guard watched closely as Luna grabbed a specific sheet, and after magically dipping the pen in the ink, began to draw a pattern on the back of one of the charts. After a few seconds, she handed the chart to the guard, “On the front of this chart is the location of a temple known only to a select few, it is a temple in the Griffon Kingdom, built to protect against the possibility of one of the two of the princesses attempting to destroy the world. Your sole duty is to go to the area marked on the chart, and prepare the temple inside. You will need the symbol I have drawn on the back of this chart to enter, along with a drop of blood.” Startled only slightly at the mention of blood offerings, The guard nodded once. Looking over the chart, the guard recognized the mountain range as the Taishuh mountains, nearly 200 miles inside the Griffon Kingdom. His mouth pursed a his pegasus instinct to discover the quickest path surfaced. After several moments he stared up to his Princess and asked, “Your majesty, if I may, why me?” Smiling softly the nocturnal matriarch replied simply, “You were the only one here,” and turned to leave the room. The guard bowed to her majesty again and flapped his wings, before flying quickly from the balcony. Sighing softly, Princess Luna walked to the door, “It is time to see what my sister is up to, hopefully I have put in place these safeties for nothing but a short temper.” The walk to the throne room was quick and uneventful, for Luna at least. Solar guards ran to and fro, barking indistinctly to each other, one unicorn mare stopped her and begged her not to go to Celestia, telling her how the day princess had changed. Luna paid her no heed, but smiled softly and told her calmly, “go to your family, make them safe, they need you now more than I do.” Upon reaching the throne room door, she noticed two unexpectedly calm guards, standing stoically at either side. As she approached the doors, they looked at each other and lowered the pole arms across the door. “You will let me pass,” The night princess glared at each of them in turn. It was then she noticed the guards blue eyes, or what should have been blue. In place of the normally bright blue instead were hot pink. Luna's head cocked ever so slightly to the right. “No Ma'am, The Queen ordered that none shall enter.” they spoke in a monotonous voice, filled with what sounded like a hundred voices speaking as one. Their eyes never moving from looking straight ahead. The voices startled Luna, she herself recognized several voices, one of which was Luna herself. Luna nodded quickly, and lit her horn, “Very well.” She called to herself a power she had not used in several centuries. Closing her eyes, she reached out to the guards' minds and slowly smothered the flame that had ensnared their minds. The eyes glowed a vibrant navy blue on top of the pink, and slowly fell shut, the pair falling to the side to begin resting peacefully. They would wake in several hours time, refreshed, rejuvenated, and the hold on their minds removed. Walking slowly and carefully levitating the guards to the side, out of the way of anypony who might have run over them, she slowly opened the doors. Inside the doors at the center of the room, Celestia, or what should have been Celestia, stood, towering over a pair of ponies who trembled, on their backs, completely exposed to the solar ruler. Celestia had lost all semblance of a benign ruler, her mane had become magenta flames, encapsulated by blue plasma. Her cutie mark had become darker, oranges becoming reds. The cutie mark itself moved, the flames on the sun flapping as if real fire. Celestia's eyes glowed a bright white, and her coat followed suit. The air around her distorted with heat, the ponies beneath her clearly roasting alive. “Sister! Cease this at once!” Commanded the night princess. The thing that used to be Celestia slowly turned her head towards Luna, the smile on her face unmistakably evil. The ponies beneath the solar ruler took the opportunity to slide backwards along the marble floor, seeing a chance at escape. “Why hello my dear little sister, come to talk?” The creature's voice, filled with thousands of other voices, flared out. Quickly she turned back to the ponies hurriedly attempting to scoot along their backs to safety. The creature roared out at them, and just as quickly the two ponies burst into the same flames that erupted from the creature's head and neck. Luna watched in absolute horror as the two ponies literally melted in front of her, their skin burned black, and cracking open. The water inside them evaporating to dry them out. They cried out in pain, the mare of the two grabbing hold of the stallion. The stallion acting on instinct to cover the mare he loved in an attempt to protect her. Luna's horn lit as she attempted to beat back the flames she saw, but she was too late. The two were left as husks, black smoldering crisps of what used to be two young ponies. Luna growled carnally, “What have you done to my sister?” her teeth bared, her canines grew to a point. She struck a defensive pose, head low and horn bared, the Nightmare inside her beginning to stir. Luna knew it was dangerous to call upon her darker self, yet she also knew she was completely in control of it. The elements did not rid her of Nightmare Moon, they simply locked her away, the power that the Nightmare held locked deep inside her. Luna's coat grew darker, and her teeth sharper. She knew in an all out brawl she would need as much help as she could get, and if that meant using the darkness inside her, then so be it. “Nothing my dearest little sister, I have chosen this path.” “Celestia listen to reason, you just killed two-” Luna began, hoping that somewhere inside her, Celestia still was fighting to be free. “THAT IS NOT MY NAME!” the creature roared, The heat concussing Luna, causing her eyes to water from the sheer heat. The creature regained her composure quickly, and smiled, the same smile Luna had seen many times, the smile that Celestia used when speaking. “My name, sweet little Luna, is 'Solar Flare.'” Luna's resolved hardened, and she steeled herself, “In that case, Solar Flare, thou will release our sister or thou will suffer our wrath.” Luna's horn flared to life, the night blue aura coating the alicorn that comprised it. Solar Flare responded in fashion, striking a defensive position opposite that of Luna. Luna had the high ground in this fight, and she knew it. Her eyes scanning the room quickly, her combat experience rising quickly. Luna was always the one to fight in wars, Celestia always attempted to find diplomatic solutions to some griffon slicing open a pony near the borders. As a result Luna's instinct in fighting was light-years ahead of her sister's, and Luna hoped it would be enough. Luna's horn flared and a small bolt of pure lunar energy propelled itself towards Solar Flare. Before reaching home however, the creature's own horn flared brightly as she disappeared, only to reappear behind Luna, catching the night princess off guard, before smashing her down the small flight of stairs. Luna grunted as she landed on the marble floor, sliding a few feet before regaining her composure. Luna flared her own horn and teleported herself to the top of the stairs, before turning and bucking where Solar Flare aught to be. What she found though was air, the solar queen had blinked out of existence in the moments before Luna would have landed the blow, only to reappear a second later grabbing hold of Luna's read legs and twisting them around to cause Luna to fall once again. The lunar princess was caught on her back, with the creature standing over her, gazing down upon Luna's lightly beaten form. “You lost little sister, and now you will pay the price.” Solar Flare's horn glowed with the brightness of a thousand burning suns, as she pointed it directly at Luna. The creature prepared to burn her sister out of existence as her horn continued to grow brighter. “Neigh, Solar Flare, thou are not our sister.” and with that one phrase, Luna simply disappeared into the dark mist that was her mane. The dark purple mist slithered along the floor and out the main door of the throne room, Solar flare staring in silence as she watched it leave. Snarling to herself, she walked slowly to the golden throne. She stared at the walls that surrounded her throne, the roared and began to blast out the stained glass windows that decorated the walls, each symbolizing a different element. She melted the glass with ease, growling to herself and roaring at the windows. She paused however on the one representing the Element of Magic, focusing on the lavender mare depicted in the glass. Several moments passed before she growled and melted that window as well. Author's Note This chapter is dedicated to Advent of Mechanus, I took a few artistic liberties with your character, but I think I captured his essence well.
Chapter 2For a city of nearly a million ponies, Canterlot was rather calm on any normal evening. This eve, however, was no normal evening. Ponies everywhere ran, screaming, packing up their homes, and fleeing the city by air or hoof, fleeing for their own lives. Riots broke out for no reason other than fear, fear of the new princess, if she even can be called a princess anymore. The wisp of night that used to be the nocturnal princess slithered its way through all the riots and the turmoil. It made its way unto a darkened ally, seemingly untouched by the chaos that progressed outside. Luna's body reformed as her consciousness rematerialized, the shadow becoming flesh and bone. Shaking off the few remaining shadows from her form, no longer injured from the battle, due both to the shadow's healing and her own physiology, Luna walked from the darkness of the alleyway and gazed upon the atrocity that was Canterlot. Blinking back several tears, Princess Luna walked from hiding, and towards the edge of the city. The edges of the city, as is true in most cities, are where most of the seedy areas are located. The dark alleyways home to many sorts of crime. More than once has a pony gone to these areas and not returned, only to be found in an abandoned building barely alive or worse. These area were the places that royalty ignored, and smart ponies tended to avoid. Luna feared not these areas, but was still cautious of the ponies therein. One obviously inebriated stallion, still holding a bottle of what Luna assumed to be some form of scotch, stumbled up to the princess. “End of the world, sweet-heart,” his voice slurred as he spoke, betraying the amount of alcohol he had consumed. He took another swig from the bottle and continued, “End of the fucking world!” Luna thought for a moment on her options, then simply replied, “Have one on me.” The drunkard raised his bottle and stumbled away, unaware that Luna had not given him any money. Continuing on her journey, she walked further toward the edge of Canterlot. The city became more and more sparse, and the buildings became smaller as small, single-story, stores took the place of the apartments that dominated inner-Canterlot. Also increasing were the number of criminals that ran to and fro, ponies with stolen goods ran around the streets, fighting amongst themselves. Luna largely ignored the malefactors, focusing on the edge of the city. One thing she could not ignore was a Earth pony mare, a pale yellow thing with salmon colored hair, being brutalized in the middle of the street. Two male pegasi beat the poor thing down, as her cries for help went unanswered. The bigger of the two pegasi began to drag the bruised and bloodied mare into an alley before Luna stepped up. Luna said nothing as she reached out with her magic and crushed the windpipes of both pegasi, watching calmly as they writhed in pain, their bodies shutting down from lack of oxygen. The bigger of the two managed to wheeze out, “please stop” before falling unconscious. Luna however did not let up, she held her grip until she felt all life fade out of their bodies. She stood over the two and growled at the two lifeless corpses beneath her. It took several seconds for Luna to realize what she had done, and she stepped back hastily, a shocked look on her face. Luna turned to face the mare, barely conscious, and leaned down to assist the yellow one. The mare looked up at her, her eyes begging for relief. Luna smiled as a mother would to a foal and placed her horn on the forehead of the mare. Lending the broken body her own power, accelerating the healing and restoring the life energy. After a few moments the Earth mare stood to her hooves, smiling softly at the matriarch. Luna nodded to the pony, who bowed quickly and ran off out of sight. Luna looked around, watching as several stores were vandalized right in front of her. She looked around, and chose one that stood out to her, the glass still intact, and the store itself unscathed. The sign above the door read Shadow Safes and Storage. The front of the store was red brick, and the sign a dark purple, punctuated by the orange text. As she began walking up to the store, three stallions ran forward and began to break the attempt to break the door down. The stallions in question, a Unicorn and two Earth ponies, had seemingly crazed looks in their eyes. The unicorn, brown maned and with a coat of dark blue, appeared to be leading both the red earth pony and the green one. Upon failing in the endeavor to break down the door, the red earth pony picked up a discarded stone, likely from the vandalisation of the nearby stores, and chucked it at the window. The window shattered, showering the inside of the store with glass dust, the rock itself knocking over several of the safes inside. The store owner, hidden in the shadows, began firing off random magical bolts at the intruders. The first two bolts caught the red earth pony, who fell over outside the window. The unicorn responded in fashion, firing off several of his own, while barking orders at the remaining earth pony to get inside. The lime green pony hopped the barrier and grabbed one of the safes, tossing it outside the window. By this time, Luna had reached the store, and decided to make her presence known. She walked behind the unicorn, and watched for several seconds as the fight continued, rolling her yes at the display. She found no need to kill these three, and had no doubt that the owner would eventually prevail. She watched as the owner in the back was struck several times with bolts, and yet kept fighting to protect his store. “CEASE THIS AT ONCE!” her voice, magically enhanced, rang out stopping the three in mid motion. The Earth pony turned around slowly, eyes widening and irises shrinking to pinpoints when he saw who had addressed them. The lunar princess watched as the unicorn turned quickly and attempted to attack the source of the voice. A single magical bolt fired off, splashing into nothingness when it hit the princess. Luna gave him a bemused smile and a chuckle as he quickly turned tail and ran down the street, disappearing into the shadows. Stepping forward into the shop, the lunar princess walked past the petrified earth pony, who shook violently when she passed. Walking towards the back of the store, Luna ignited her horn to provide illumination from the shadow at the back of the store. Upon reaching the counter she flapped her wings once to gracefully hop over the counter to eye the store's owner The store owner was the same unicorn who had requested the grant from her nearly two weeks prior. He groaned slightly as she walked towards him, burn marks evident on his torso and neck. However injured, he remained standing, looking up at his savior. “Thank you, your majesty,” he spoke, voice shaky. Upon an attempt to bow, he collapsed onto the floor, moaning from the pain. Luna bent down to help the unicorn rise, but a shaking hoof warded her off. After a few moments, he reached up and grabbed the countertop, using it to hoist himself into an upright position. When he had his hooves under him, he looked to the princess and smiled. “Silent Shadow,” Luna began, positioning herself to catch the pony should he collapse again, “I should have known I would run into you again.” Her voice was soft, and she smiled upon him. “I am glad you did, I would be dead if you had not.” Luna's smile faded slightly, “You are aware of the happenings in the palace?” Shrugging slightly, the unicorn groaned at the movement, “Only basic things, I have heard the yelling in the street. Something about the princess killing ponies, a dark lord, and something about the end of the world, but not much else, no specifics.” Luna nodded, “I am not sure what the dark lord refers to, and I will die before I see the end of the world happen due to actions of my own or my sister's. The Darkness has returned, the very same one that had corrupted me has now corrupted my sister. I am not sure how it is possible, Darkness cannot thrive inside a being made of Light. I was easy to influence, I am the antithesis of my sister's power. The Darkness should not be able to survive inside Celestia.” A crash outside the store caught the two's attention, Silent tried to stand tall, moving to place himself between the sound and Luna. He lit his horn to prepare for any oncoming attackers, steeling himself and baring his teeth to whatever may come. Luna lit her own horn and watched as many heavily armed solar guards walked into her view. She noticed the pink eyes nearly immediately, and spoke under her breath to the unicorn beneath her. The now de-petrified earth pony hopped out the window and ran after his comrade, never turning to look back because he dare not out of fear. “This is a battle we best be not a part of.” she spoke quickly, and flared her wings out into a fantastic display of plumage. The guards outside, all at once, lit their horns, and instantly began to pelt the store with solar magic. Luna acted upon instinct and covered her charge with her wings, reducing the both of them to shadow and mist. The guards continued to bombard the store for several minutes before finally ceasing, the store having been reduced to rubble. Small fires burned on the inside, the walls collapsed in on themselves, and the merchandise totally annihilated. After they were satisfied that whomever was inside was now dead or dying, they marched away, leaving naught but fire in their wake. Several minutes passed, and nothing stirred in the dark, until finally a dark mist rose from the rubble and reformed into the two ponies. As the darkness cleared, Silent Shadow stumbled forward, in shock and blushing profusely. “That certainly was...intimate,” he said looking down and brushing shadow off his coat. He felt amazingly refreshed, the burn marks on his chest and neck completely healed. “A side effect of two ponies sharing the same consciousness for several minutes, nothing more.” Luna smiled gracefully, shaking her own body free of the darkness. She preferred not to share a shadow with another pony as it had some...interesting side effects. The two ponies sharing the same shadow, shared each others thoughts and memories. It was literally impossible for you to be closer to another pony. Of course, Luna had long since learned to block her own thoughts and memories from the other pony, a defense which her companion unfortunately lacked. Also included was the feeling of a complete and utter connection to the pony you shared the darkness with. It usually left un-expecting ponies feeling attached to, or in some cases infatuated with, the other pony. Luna looked around carefully, spotting her exit vector with ease, a simple ledge overlooking the Saddle Lowlands, and as a result, a straight shot to Ponyville. Walking towards the ledge, her wings flared out as she braced herself for a swift flight. A soft cough brought her mind back to where she was, and she turned to face Silent. Sighing softly, she motioned for him to come to her. Kneeling down into a crouching position, she allowed the stallion to climb on her back. Luna grumbled slightly, feeling the weight of the stallion pressing on her backbone. Luna was not a touchy feely kind of pony, she preferred ponies to keep their distance, but seeing as leaving him here would be condemning him to death, she decided to do the honorable thing. “Nopony hears about this understood? I am not a taxi service.” She looked back as the unicorn climbed to straddle the wing-joints, surprising Luna, she had assumed that most ponies would have tried to take the more comfortable position at the small of her back, which in turn would have inhibited her wing movements. Perhaps there is more to this stallion that she thought. He nodded once to her and smiled, eliciting a soft smile from the matriarch. After he had become situated between the wing-joints, the nigh princess rose up to a standing position, loosening up her wings. “It has been a long time since I carried someone other than myself, best hold on tight.” Giving the stallion no chance to respond, Luna catapulted herself upward, bringing her wings to bare and gliding forward towards Ponyville, but more importantly, towards the cavern housing six young mares, and the Elements of Harmony they represented.
Chapter 3The flight to Ponyville could have been described by any onlooker as uneventful. The night princess's mind solely locked on the task of finding and protecting the Elements of Harmony and their bearers. The stallion she bore on her back was content to look about and gaze in wonder at the surroundings, for he, by virtue of being a unicorn, had never seen the Saddle Lowlands from above, much less during a sunset. Luna gazed ahead, comforted by the mere fact that she was still able to influence her heavens to move, forcing the sun to go down, though it resisted her. The plains below him stretched out to the horizon in front, and to the mountain behind, greens and soft yellows mixing to form all the hues between. Freckled around were ponds, adding rich blues to the landscape. Albeit dark, the sun not yet fully up, the view before him was beautiful. The one river that flowed from Canterlot, the clean blue waterfall behind them a stark contrast to the smoke of the city. Canterlot burned, and at the heart, a creature who had stolen Luna's sister from her. A creature that Luna vowed to herself would not best her again. Luna, as focused as she could be at times, could not concentrate on what she wished to task herself. She was attempting to form a strategy to protect the Elements, but her mind continually replayed the events of her fight with her sister, how she had lost, as if her mind was mocking her failure. She fought a near perfect game, and under any normal circumstances she would have felled her sister in a single blow. Earth pony battles consist of testing the other's strength, pushing oneself, and the enemy, to the limit while doing so. Whereas Pegasi fights consist of complex areal maneuvers, the two combatants flying in ever shrinking circles around each other until one is able to score a blow. Fights between Unicorns involved feats of ever complicated magic, until one is either unwilling, unable or too exhausted to continue. Alicorn confrontations were as much spectacles as the Alicorns who fought in them. The battles usually ended quickly with one of the two combatants either dead, dying, or heavily wounded. Most of the time a battle was mental, the two parties facing off, examining each other for weakness, finding the best point to strike, and channeling their Katra, their life energy, through their horns. Even more often, literal mental battles occurred, the two parties attempting to convince the other they were the superior. Sometimes even going so far as to use some form of psycho-magical influence on the other. Luna herself was infamous for using a simple spell she had formulated herself, a blast of lunar magic propelled outward from her location, putting most anypony caught in the blast into a deep sleep, often inducing a coma from which the ponies affected quite usually never recovered. Likewise, Celestia, during the first and second battles for Old Canterlot, had developed and used a rather gruesome spell that cooked the opposing party from the inside out. Both sisters agreed shortly after Luna's return that these spells would never be used again. All record of those spells had since been wiped from recorded spell books, and mention of the spells by name had been reduced to mere footnotes in even the most detailed historical books. “Your Majesty?” the sudden voice startled the lunar princess from her deep thoughts, causing a slight buffeting of her flight path. The stallion clinging to her back tightened his grip ever so slightly in response. Looking back to the stallion on her back, she raised her left eyebrow to him. “I -uh- sorry, I just was wondering...where are we going?” “Master Silent Shadow, we are currently en route to the town of Ponyville, wherein should all goes according to plan, we will find six ponies who we will then escort out of the country through the port at Manehattan.” Luna's voice carried all the authority, and serenity that one would expect from a princess, but there was a slight trembling, one only the most discerning of ears might pick up. He stared at her eyes, no, not her eyes, past her eyes, into her soul. “Princess, I have my name for a reason, when I was a foal, I never spoke, but I would listen and watch. It is amazing what you see when you never speak. The mute, the blind, and the deaf, they all see the changes in the world, the subtleties that everypony else miss, but can never tell another pony. I can see in your eyes, something troubles you, more than just your sister. There is a sadness, deep inside you, fears, terrors, regrets, Nightmares even, all surrounded by a burning blackness of fury and rage, lust and dark desires.” “H-how can you know, nopony should know that.” the trembling in Luna's voice was most certainly noticeable now. His knowledge was impossible, not even her own sister could read her in such a way. “You see my eyes, these are old eyes.” smiling softly, he looked into her eyes, a comforting gaze of his own returned to her own still confused stare. “You will understand when you are older little Luna.” The nickname of her past shook her from the trace he had seemingly put on her, she shook her head quickly clearing it. She blink-blinked at his still smiling countenance, before giving him a quick glance and turning her head back to the flight ahead, her face now masked with a determined expression, an “I will not be moved” mentality she adopted whenever the situation demanded absolute stubbornness. “Oh -um- about what you did back there, i-in my store,” he began, subconsciously laying his head down on her back, “I just wanna say, thanks.” The expression Luna carried softened, she sighed softly to herself, turning back to face the task ahead. The stallion on her back content to sit and rest. Several minutes of silence passed as Silent Shadow's breathing became slow and steady, drawing the attention of the princess. Turning her head, she gazed down upon his sleeping form, smiling softly as a mother would to a foal. A small glow of magic lit up her horn, a light blue orb jumping off the tip to fly towards, and be absorbed by the sleeping pony. The light blue glow surrounded him for a moment, before fading into his resting form. A promise of pleasant dreams and her protection, even through the darkest veil. No darkness would haunt him tonight, nor pony threaten. It had been several hours, even at Luna's flight speed, Ponyville was still quite a distance. Luna had decided long before not to land in Ponyville proper, but instead bypass the sleepy-eyed town, and go directly to the Everfree forest, and the statue which now should hide the Elements of Harmony and the six ponies responsible for them. Ponyville had not changed since the last time Luna had visited. The town hall still stood boldly, proudly in the centre of the town, with the famous Carousel Boutique nearby. The town library, the Golden Oaks, had since grown quite a bit, it was much fuller, and taller. Both were dark on the inside, assuring luna her guards had done their jobs properly. A single pony stood, or rather jumped, near the centre of the town, outside the town hall. The pony in question, who was now frantically waving her hooves to signal the princess, appeared to be the mayor. The grey-maned mare jumped around, rather comically, reminding Luna of the young mare bound to the element of laughter. Touching down softly as not to disturb the “sleeping foal,” Luna walked over quickly and quietly to the mayor. Her mane was disheveled, and the bags under her eyes told luna of many sleepless nights. The mayor, still dressed in her customary ruffle-tie, and suit, straightened her glasses as the Princess walked over. “Princess Luna, I apologize for the lack of pomp and circumstance to signal your arrival, you came unexpectedly, though I may add, not unwelcome. I saw you flying from Canterlot, are you alright? I can see the smoke from the mountain even from here.” The mayor bowed quickly to the princess, straightening her white lace ruffles after she stood erect again. “Nay, madam,” Luna waved her hoof dismissively,” I assure you, I do wish it could be under better circumstances, I can assume from your still wakened state that you were waiting on somepony?” “Not precisely, I have just received via dragon-mail, that Canterlot has changed government, we are no longer a matriarchy I assume?” the mayor's face was one of concern, not for herself but more-so for her constituents. She had been seated at her desk, nearly an hour ago, filing some last minute paperwork before retiring for the night. The message came in a blast of heat and fire, and rested softly on her desk. She had opened it quickly, assuming something important if either of the princesses had wished to contact her so late at night. “Not so long as I have anything to speak of it. Princess Celestia has fallen...ill, she is delusional. You are to disregard any orders she gives to you, unless they bear my signature and seal.” Luna's voice commanded authority, giving no margin for discussion. “Yes, majesty. Several of your guards have told the town to leave Ponyville and head for the mountains northward, I, and a few select others remain, most of the town has heeded their call.” “Well done, it is wise to get far from Canterlot. Who, pray tell, has remained?” more so from Luna's own curiosity was the question asked. “Myself, Cheerilee, Scootaloo, Granny Smith and her grandson, Doctor Turner and his wife, we are the only ones who remain.” Nodding curtly, Luna looked around, taking in the sight as much as she could, “Mayor Mare, I leave you in charge of their safety, you are to make certain no harm befalls to any of them. I must go into the Everfree, I trust you have the situation covered here.” After a short farewell and a good luck from the mayor, Luna turned towards the dark forest that housed the statue, and the Elements. Walking forward, she steeled herself, wondering what would greet her in the forest ahead. The Everfree forest was not always the unruly place it is today. Once the entire forest was a thriving agrarian town, aptly named Everfree. The town was the old capital of Equestria, before Luna's fall and eventual banishment. The old castle stood, in ruins, near the center of the forest. The forest surrounding it, and the inability for most magics to work properly inside the forest, was due to the final two battles of Luna's rebellion. The insane magical turmoil caused by the constant fight ruined the harmonic fabric in the region. At the heart, in the center of the castle, when Celestia forced the Elements of Harmony to seal Luna in the moon, Celestia tore the fabric, and to this day, the wound has never healed. If one knows where to look, and can get past the ancient seals Celestia placed on and inside the room, somepony can find the room where it occurred. Inside the tear is visible, a bright white scar in the skin of the world. And inside of this tear, one can see eternity, everything that has happened, is happening, or will happen. To do so would kill any living thing in a matter of seconds. Of course, Luna was not planning on going near the castle today, her destination was a small clearing inside the first kilometer of the forest. Inside of the clearing, a statue of Nightmare Moon, of Luna herself, stands menacingly. At this moment, two guards stood on either side of the statue, keeping watch for anypony foalish, or crazy enough to wander into the Everfree Forest at night, also creatures, they were watching out for those as well. Luna's brisk walk to the edge of the forest took near five minutes. The Everfree forest had a single simple path leading to the castle, non-paved and partially grown-over. Luna's path however, led her only a few hundred meters into the forest, from which she left the path, heading towards the small clearing. Vines and loose branches hung around loosely as she magically pushed through the overgrowth, the effect of the Everfree causing her to expend more effort than normal. She made sure to avoid causing any harm to the slumbering stallion perched upon her back. Luna's eyes caught sight of the slightly less dark area of the clearing. Walking boldly into the clearing she spotted the three things she had hoped to be present. Most notably the statue of her darker half, and the two Lunar guards posted on either side. Their gold, reptilian eyes focused on her immediately, and the spears they carried lowered in her direction. “Filia sum Atlas,” she announced to them, “I am your princess.” The spears bolted upright as the guards assumed a salute, standing stock-still as she walked up to them. Looking around carefully for any signs of life other than the guards and herself, she touched her horn to the base of he statue, forcing it to react to her lunar magics. A light glow formed around the base, spreading outward to the hooves, then up to the stone horn. A low clunk echoed for several seconds before silence overtook the forest once again. The guards moved aside as the base of the statue moved rather silently, and anticlimactically, backwards, revealing an opening into the ground below. An unlit linear stone staircase continued onward into the blackness below. For any normal pony it would be impossible to see how far down the staircase went, or even if it ever ended. Luna however knew the staircase itself wend down only a few feet, before the passageway to the bunker would take over. The subtle glow from the safe house would be the only light her eyes required, and the only light her eyes would receive. Luna nodded to the guards, and walked into the darkness, walking several feet before the base above her began to move forward to cover the opening. Slowly but surly the staircase, the princess, and her companion were plunged into the utter darkness of the tunnel.
