Chapter 1: Before the Storm

Luna flew as quickly as she could, a tinge of panic lending her speed as she raced towards her objective. Smoke billowed and curled upwards from the impact site she was headed towards. The landscape blurred below her, such was her speed. Yet the Princess of the Night feared that she still wouldn't be fast enough. A red glow on the horizon alerted her to the nearness of her objective. The alicorn crested a hill, and saw a scene torn right from Hell. Fires burned everywhere, illuminating the devastation around her. Thankfully, nopony lived anywhere around here, so there was no property damage or, more importantly, injuries. Acrid smoke filled the air, giving the whole place an air of evil. Before long, the smoke forced the princess to land.

Her eyes burned from the sheer intensity of the billowing clouds. The second her hooves touched the ground, a slight whispering started in her head. She couldn't quite make out the words, though. She didn't realize that she had stopped moving forwards until she consciously thought about it. She shook her head and continued to move forwards. Very quickly, she came to the crater she was looking for. It was the deepest one, and had the most smoke rising from it. Surprisingly, there was very little fire that the Moon princess could see or hear. She took another step forwards...

And screamed in agony as a spike of pain was driven through her mind. The pain was too much, and Luna passed out. When she came to, she found that she had curled up into the foetal position and had a mild headache. She exhaled shakily and got up. The crater was steep, and she almost fell many times. When she reached the top, it was almost time for her to lower the moon. She looked down and saw a... a...

The alicorn stood there in stunned silence, trying to comprehend what exactly it was that was lying below her. A smooth skin of some metal covered its entire body from head to hoof. Its forelegs weren't of the same proportions as its hind legs, and ended in what appeared to be dragon-like claws. Where the muzzle and face should be, a plate of some reflective material connected to the rest of the skin. There was a skull motif of some creature she had never seen before on it. A golem of some sort perhaps? Then why wasn't it moving? And where was its master? She took a step forwards to get a better look and slipped on something wet, warm, and sticky. She landed badly, and her wing caught on the golem's skin. There was a barely audible snap, and then pain flooded the princess. Everything went black.

* * *

Canterlot Castle, Equestria
4:00 a.m.
3 hours after initial impact

Three hours ago, Celestia had been woken up by panicked shouts and yells from the castle staff as a ball of fire had come roaring down from the heavens and turned night, briefly, into day. After her initial grogginess had worn off, it had taken somewhere close to an hour to sufficiently calm down one of the staff to the point at which the unicorn stallion could give her a coherent answer to "just what the buck is going on here?!?"

Looking back on it, Celestia winced at how harsh she had been to the poor guard. She had been tired, confused, and severely irritated at how nopony had seemed capable of recovering from their panic. After the castle staff had finally been calmed down, it had taken another hour and a public speech from herself to calm the populace of Canterlot and convince them to return to their homes. After which, the Solar Princess had gone back to her room, hoping to return to her warm bed and sweet dreams.

Unfortunately, it was not to be. She had spent half an hour just tossing and turning, battling with the growing sense that she was forgetting something rather important. So, Celestia had spent another thirty minutes fully waking herself up. Showering, brushing her teeth, mane, and tail, that sort of thing. Oh, and coffee. No morning was complete without a nice, steaming cup o' joe to jolt your systems awake with a burst of caffeine(Celestia did love her coffee). Just as she was finishing up, a tentative knock sounded at the door. In a good mood now that she'd had time to wake up and come to terms with the fact that she would be getting no more sleep tonight, Celestia called out in a sing-song voice.

"Come in!" The door opened slowly, creaking very loudly on un-oiled hinges. Celestia winced, and made a mental note to have that fixed as soon as possible. It was Lemon Slice, one of Celestia's personal hoofmaidens. "Yes, Lemon, what is it?" The yellow pegasus seemed oddly reluctant to speak. Celestia felt a small frown form on her face. "Lemon? Is something wrong?"

"Well..." Lemon froze up, unsure of how to say what she had been told to report. Finally, she decided that being blunt would be best for now. "Princess Luna seems to have locked herself into her chambers again, and she refuses to answer any of our attempts to come in." Celestia's good mood evaporated almost instantly.

"Again?" Celestia's voice held no anger or irritation, only sorrow and concern. Lemon hated seeing her ruler like this.

"Yes, milady. She's been ignoring us completely." Celestia sighed softly as her shoulders slumped. The moment of weakness passed so quickly that Lemon wasn't sure if she had actually seen it or if it had just been a figment of her imagination.

"Very well. Take me to her, please," the Solar Princess said, resolve filling her and lending her new strength.

Minutes later, they stood before Luna's door. Celestia raised a hoof and knocked ever so softly on her beloved sister's door. "Luna? Is something wrong?" Just as Lemon had warned her, no response came. "Sister?"

Celesia knocked again, slightly louder and more rapidly this time. "Luna, please talk to me." Lemon watched as Celestia's frown grew deeper and deeper as the minutes passed with still no response. "Luna, this isn't like you. If there's something wrong, tell me, please!"

Author's Note

That's all for now, folks! More coming soon, though, I promise! Please remember to leave a comment, and if you're a new reader(or old), thanks so much for giving my humble story the time of day!
See y'all tomorrow!