Chapters The train creaked and shook as it traveled on the rails. The rails that went through the Everfree forest never were that well maintained. Not like it was used that much anyways. It was only used about once a month for the travel of goods and the occasional mover.
The tracks lead to one town of the name Hollow Shades. Almost everypony was confused as to why there was a town in the middle of the forest, or why anypony would want to live there. But there were a good amount of residents, and they were about to get one more.
One more shake woke up the train’s only passenger. The pale blue unicorn stirred as she woke. She guessed they must be almost there. She shook her dark purple mane to get her neon blue curls to fall back to where they were supposed to. She adjusted her black oval glasses so they rested where she liked on her muzzle.
Right then she felt the train pull into a stop. Over the speaker, she heard the conductor declare that they had arrived. A sigh came out of the unicorn’s mouth as she used her magic to grab her suitcase. “I guess it is time…”
She stumbled as she stepped out of the train. Her magic tried to get used to the new environment.
The poor mare’s sight was lost as a young filly, but she had trained her magic to be her sight. But since it wasn’t her talent, it took a while for her magic to register what was around her. Another sigh came out as she started walking.
She didn’t even know where she was going, and she was too shy to ask. Why couldn’t she just be back in Ponyille? She loved it there! Plus, she knew her way around. She even knew all the ponies around her. She had gotten to where she knew who was there before they even spoke.
Why did she have to come to Hollow Shades anyways? She was about to relive what went on in her head, but it was like the universe decided to interrupt her. The mare ended up stumbling and knocked into another pony.
“Oh, careful there. You okay?” A cheerful voice rang into her ears.
It was a pretty little Earth pony with a pink coat. Her mane and tail was straight and had three different shades of red in it. Part of her mane was in a ponytail. Her green eyes shined as she looked at the blue unicorn.
“Hey, I know most ponies around her, and you don’t look familiar at all. Did you just some in?” The kind pony helped her stand up and set her luggage back up.
The unicorn nodded and a soft voice came out of her mouth. “Um, yes. My name is Palette.”
The other pony giggled slightly. “That explains the paintbrush cutiemark. Is it just me or does everypony’s name go with their talent? Though, I’m kind of confused with mine. What does a name like Sugar Berry have to do with a cutiemark of crystals?
Palette had a nagging feeling like this pony was like somepony else she knew, but calmer. “I guess maybe sugar crystals.”
Sugar Berry was quiet for a moment. “I feel real stupid now. Anyways, what brings you to the middle of Everfree Forest?” She looked around at the buildings around her. It was actually a decent sized town, but something about it had an air of mystery and gloominess to her.
“Just a change of scenery…” Palette never was good at meeting new ponies. But it clicked with her that this was her chance to get some help. “You, uh, sound like you know the town well. I was wondering if you could help me find my house. A friend helped find the place for me.”
The pink pony just couldn’t help but smile. There was something about the unicorn that she found adorable. “Sure. Not a problem. I’m done with my deliveries for the day anyways.” She took the piece of paper that had the address from Palette. “Oh, Starlis Street. Yep,I know that place. Come on.” She started to walk but noticed the other mare wasn’t following her. “Is something wrong?”
Palette faced the ground. Her sight was always a touchy subject for her. “I…um…My sight is a bit bad….so…”
A soft smile appeared on Sugar Berry’s face as she looked at the unicorn’s red eyes. “Hey, don’t worry about it.” She went back over to her and nudged her shoulder gently in the direction that they were supposed to go.
The walk there was actually pretty quiet. Palette was thankful for Sugar Berry’s help. She even got use to her soft touches that told her when to turn. As she was around her, she reminded her less of a friend from Ponyville and more of a motherly figure, yet she didn’t treat her like a child.
“Well, here we are.” Palette opened her magic field wider to catch the house better. It was actually somewhat larger. She wondered if her friends went a bit too crazy on her new place. Sugar Berry helped her inside. “Wow, this place looks pretty cool! Nice pick.”
Palette nodded. “Thank you. I didn’t pick it, though. Some friends helped.” She put her luggage down. From her satchel on her back, she levitated a small picture frame out and set it on a table. She could feel Sugar Berry looking at it. “It is a picture of me and some friends from Ponyville.”
“Cool!” She came over to look at the picture. One pony stood out from the rest for her. A purple one with a horn and wings. “Wait a minute! Isn’t that the princess?! You know the princess!”
Palette was busy getting some stuff out of boxes that had arrived before her. “Um, yea. I knew her before she was a princess though, so she is just Twilight to me. She is the one that helped me find the house.” She closed her eyes and remembered the nights where Twilight would find a really good book and read it to her.
“Wow! You are so lucky! And who are these other ponies? When did you take this?”
“It is from my farewell party.” She tried to remember who all was in the picture. “Let’s see, there is Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Applebloom, Sweetie Bell, Scottaloo, Lyra, Bon-Bon, Zecora, Spike….And Big Mac was taking the picture.”
Sugar Berry was glad to see that Palette had so many friends. She had been worried for her. But she knew leaving them probably hurt her too. “Well, I am sure they all miss you.” She noticed the sad look on Palette’s face. “Hey, how about tonight we go do something fun? It doesn’t look like it, but there are actually some fun things to do in Hollow Shades.”
Palette turned away from the boxes to face her. “Um, thank you. I’ll think about it.”
The earth pony giggled. “I’ll come get you at 8 then. I’ll leave you to your unpacking then.” With that, she left to go tell her friends about the new pony in town.
Palette closed the door behind her and once again sighed. She felt happy to of made a friend, but she just couldn’t be happy about it. She missed Ponyville. She missed her friends. But she had to leave all that just because of a stupid vision. A dream. She closed her eyes and remembered the pony she saw. A beautiful purple alicorn with a long mane and tail made of beautiful oranges, yellows, and reds. She told her three things; that her name was Dawn, she was in Hollow Shades, and she needed Palette’s help.
Palette was almost done unpacking when there was a knock at the door. It looked like Sugar Berry kept true to her word.
Sugar smiled as the unicorn opened the door. “Hey there.” She couldn’t help but notice Palette’s quick progress on the house. “Woah, this is looking good. Oh, let’s go. I have some friends that are waiting on us. They just can’t wait to meet you.” Sugar nudged Palette in the right direction, closing the door behind them.
The unicorn gulped and went where she was told. She wasn’t too sure about this. Meeting new people always made her nervous. Sugar had just kind of attached herself to Palette and she was just so kind that she didn’t really mind.
Finally, the two reached their destination and waiting for them was a pegasus pony. Her coat was a dark grey, which made her bright blue eyes pop. Her wild, three-shade purple mane was pulled into a ponytail that tangled slightly as the wild blew it. There was a bored expression on her face as she looked at the other two mares.
“You’re late. Was wondering when you were going to show up.”
Sugar kept her sweet smile on, even with the harsh tone in the pegasus’s voice. “Sorry, Will-o. I was showing Palette here around a bit. She won’t always have me as a guide. Hey, where is Honey? I thought she was going to meet us here.”
“She got caught up at work. She said she will try to join us later.” Her eyes went to the blue unicorn that was hiding Sugar. “Are you going to introduce yourself or what?”
Palette jumped slightly from suddenly being spoken to like that. “I-I’m Palette. It is nice to meet you.”
She looked at the other curiously. “Will-o-wisp. And we’ll just see how the night goes. Let’s go. I want to get a good table.”
Palette looked down at the ground as Will-o lead the way. They were at a sort of café slash restaurant. Palette loved the feel the place gave out, till she heard Will-o groan.
“Crap, they got the good seats. As usual.” She sighed and went over to a different table.
“Well, what do you expect? The children own the place.” Sugar shrugged as she sat at the table. She noticed when Palette looked confused at her words. “Oh yea. I forgot that you are new around here. They are called a lot of different things; Children of the Moon, Citizens of the Moon, Lunar Republic. Take your pick. They are the ones that founded Hollow Shades.”
Will-o sighed. “You are missing a big detail, Sugar. You know about the whole Princess Luna trying to take over, right?” She didn’t even wait for Palette to nod. “Well, at first, she needed supporters for her cause. But when Nightmare Moon fell, they hid away. They fled to the Everfree Forest and made Hollow Shades. Eventually, other ponies came to Hollow Shades and it became a bigger community. Though, the ones that still worship their ‘queen’ are the ones in charge pretty much. You can tell who they are by the crescent moon jewelry they wear.”
Palette just nodded, not like she would be about to see that anyways. She didn’t understand how there were ponies that still worshiped how Luna had been. She guessed at least they had something to believe in and they weren’t hurting anypony.
Then she heard a big groan come from Will-o-wisp. “Is something wrong?” She heard Will-o getting up.
“I’m leaving. Just talking about it all has made me sick. I’ll meet with you later.” Will-o stormed out. Palette could of sworn she heard someone giggling and Sugar Berry sighing.
“I am so sorry about that. Will-o didn’t mean to be mean or anything. It is just how she is. The Lunar Republic doesn’t really treat her kindly either and it really gets to her.”
Palette shook her head. “It is fine. I understand.” She then stood up. “But I think I will follow her lead. I still have some things I need to do.”
The pink mare looked at her with a confused expression. “Will you be okay getting home by yourself? Do you need any help?”
The unicorn blushed with embarrassment from the question. “I’ll be fine. I need to do it on my own anyways.” With that, she left herself. In her head, she groaned loudly. She hated any sort of fighting like that. She felt the light of the moon on her as she walked.
She remembered being there when Nightmare Moon showed up and hearing the story of the defeat from Twilight. How do they worship her? What was the appeal of her? She tried to enslave Equestria. She shook her head. Those ponies made their choice.
She soon made it home. After the long day, all she wanted to do was curled up and sleep. Wait a minute, what if she saw Dawn tonight? She had so many things to ask her, though at the same time she didn’t want to know anything. Maybe Dawn moved onto somepony else. She didn’t even know what Dawn wanted anyways.
Palette laid her head down and closed her eyes. “Not like I could do anything anyways…I’m useless…” As Palette felt her mind drift off to sleep, she felt a gentle wing cover her like a blanket. Palette didn’t have to look up to know this place.
It was the place from her visions. In this place, she could see. She looked up to see what the most beautiful sight to her was. It was the alicorn, Dawn.
“Do not talk of yourself that way, my child.” Dawn smiled down at Palette. Her beautiful golden eyes shone from behind her beautiful multicolored mane.
The unicorn looked away. “I’m sorry…but you know I can’t do much…”
The alicorn sighed. “You have so much potential, my dear. I wish I knew how to cheer you up, but you know as well as I that I do not have much time here. I have some details on what I need you to do. I will tell you what I can, but some of it you will need to find along the way.”
Dawn used her magic to show a mirror in from of them. On the mirror, a white unicorn showed up. Her mane was wild and made of a vibrant blue. But there was something about her. “She looks like…”
“An alicorn, yes.” Dawn looked at the unicorn with longing eyes. “That is Aurora. She used her magic to give herself, as she puts it, a royal appearance. She is what I need you for. She has been powering up her magic to take over Equestria. She has been hiding away for over a thousand years, growing her strength.”
“Um, my magic is for painting. Do you really think I can take her on?”
Dawn shook her head. “She is not your task, but your target. Your job is to find her.” She mirror changed again. This time there was a pale green unicorn, but it was a little filly. “This is Spectra. She was a student of mine. When I had to hide away, I sealed her away as well. I know she is the only one who can fight Aurora. She may be small, but her magic surpasses even my own.”
“But how am I-“
“I am sorry.” Dawn stood up, taking her wing off Palette. “It seems that my time is up. I have to go.”
“But Dawn! There is still too much that I don’t know.”
Dawn leaned down to Palette and touched her horn to the blue unicorn’s smaller horn. “Rest now. All in due time.” Her horn lite up a beautiful gold as she made the mirror disappear and made Palette fall asleep.
She looked at the younger unicorn as she started to fade away. “I am sorry….This must be such a burden on you…Please, find her and you will be spared. Don’t let the dark destroy the light.”
Palette woke up the the sun shining in through the window next to her bed. The golden light enveloped the room. She made a mental note to get some curtains
As she looked at the light, she remembered what Dawn had spoken to her about. It had been 3 days since Palette last spoke to him and she still didn't know what to do. How was she supposed to find a small filly with no clue as to where she was?
She sent Twilight Sparkle a letter asking if the young alicorn could find some information about Aurora and Dawn. She was hoping it would give her some hint as to where to go, but there was no word from her friend yet.
During this time, Sugar Berry had shown Palette pretty much all of Hollow Shades. Sugar also introduced her to a close friend. It was a pegasus named Honey Comb. Her coat was an orange-yellow. Her mane and tail were short and a brilliant yellow color, but the tail has brown stripes. Sugar had also told her that Honey Comb's family raise honey bees and that honey was one of the main goods from the town.
Palette sighed. She wasn't really expecting to meet so many new ponies here. She didn't really think she was going to make friends at Hollow Shades. She finally got out of bed and stretched. In truth, she didn't even predict any of this.
Right then, she felt a magic presence in the room. She knew this magic anywhere. It was Spike's magic fire for the letters. She finally got a letter from Twilight! Palette was the happiest she had been since she got to Hollow Shades. She missed all of her friends back home and this was the first she had heard from them.
She opened the letter in excitement. She took a deep breath and used her magic to scan the letter so she could read it.
Dear Palette
It is so good to hear from you! We all miss you so much. Ponyville isn't the same without you and I miss my reading buddy. We just got Pinkie to calm down about the move. We had to promise her that you'll let us come down for a visit soon. We got the idea to send you a care package. It should be arriving about now.
The unicorn giggled as she heard a small thud of a box. That was just like Twilight. Right on time.
Everypony helped with it too. The Apple family added some delicious looking apples and your favorite apple tart. Fluttershy sent some pictures of your little Apollo. She said he really misses you and that he is the sweetest ferret she has ever taken care of. Rarity sent a really pretty dress. I hope you have something you can use it for. Rainbow Dash got you some of the rainbow coloring from Cloudsdale. She thought you could use it for a cool painting. I sent you some of the books we used to read. Thought you could use something to make it feel more like home.
Palette was just so excited. She went ahead and decided to open the box-
BOOM!
-just to get a face full of streamers and confetti.
And Pinkie sent...well, just be careful when you open the box.
We thought this would cheer you up. I know you miss home and you didn't really want to leave anyways. Hopefully, this will brighten your day. Have you met any nice ponies there? You better not of stayed home all day.
Anyways,down to business. I went to Canterlot to check the archives for you and I wasn't able to find anything about an Aurora or a Dawn. I asked Princess Celestia about it and she said she didn't know anything about them either.
I decided to go by how you said Aurora was a student and checked the yearbooks. I didn't find her, but I noticed that there are several years of the school's history missing since the founding date.
Since I couldn't find anything about them, I decided to start to researching Hollow Shades and The Children of the Moon. Something about it all struck a cord with me. It took me a long while to find any information, but I found one about their history. Did you know that some of them are so loyal to their ways that they don't find their cutie marks?
And it turns out that they worship Nightmare Moon, not Princess Luna. It seems that they are actually separate beings. The book also said that every few years they try to bring her back. That was when I found where some pony wrote in two things. 'Host' and 'Essence of the Elements'.
It may be something that is worth looking into. I will still be in Canterlot for a few days so I will do what I can when I am here. And don't be afraid to ask us to come there to help. You know we would love to. We all miss you. Make sure to keep writing.
From Princess Twilight Sparkle
P.S. Isn't the temple where we found Nightmare Moon nearby? It may be worth checking out. I'll send you a map where we found it. And do not go alone!
Palette folded the letter up and put it away. She felt a lightness in her heart from hearing from her good friend. She was thankful to have her.
She thought about the information she gave her. What was she going to do with it? None of it helped her with finding Spectra. Except maybe the temple? But what would it have to do with this? Well,maybe that is why Dawn sent her here. What else would be at Hollow Shades anyways?
The blue unicorn took a deep breathe and grabbed the map. She could hear Twilight screaming at her to not go alone. She shook her head. She needed to go. She had no choice. Not like she had anyone to go with her.
She stopped in her tracks. Her mind went to Sugar Berry, Will-o-wisp,and Honey Comb...they were her friends, weren't they? Palette shook her head. She couldn't get them involved. It wasn't their place. They could get hurt.
Palette ran out of her house and headed to the Everfree Forest.