Chapters Strongbolt stared at Canterlot in the distance and wondered if the ponies there were questioning why the night was lasting so long. Hopefully Shining Armor had everything under control, after all, he had a strange talent of being able to reassure others. He glanced behind the boulder again, the path was still clear.
"I need to get out of here. Need to find Shiera and leave." He said, but he could not move his legs.
The thing that had followed him, called itself the Corruption. That meant evil, hate, fear and hundreds of other negative emotions, could it be that the Corruption was made up of these emotions? Perhaps born from them? Or maybe it inflicted these negative thoughts and feelings upon it's prey? That would explain why Strongbolt felt so afraid.
"Oh, Shiera where are you?"
The night seemed to drag, for some reason Strongbolt could not sleep, he had too much information flowing through his head. And the thought of leaving made him wonder if he truly was ready to go out into the wide world. He had always been so reclusive: Shining Armor and Shiera were the only two ponies he really ever interacted with. Shining Armor's sister and him were fairly good friends as well, however, he rarely ever saw her. Apparently she did not associate herself with other ponies and much preferred the company of books. He stared at the ceiling, then looked out of the window and up at the night sky, the stars that circled the moon seemed to have moved closer. He turned to Shiera, who layed motionless on his right, she always looks so peaceful when she sleeps, he thought to himself. He stared at her elegant golden hair that now rested slightly over her face, but not enough to cover her eyes, or her smile.
"This is going to be better for both of us." He told himself, and with his mind at rest he gradually drifted off into slumber. When he awoke, he saw a pink mare with purple eyes and a golden mane staring down at him.
"Ah!" He yelled and rolled off of the bed.
Shiera giggled, "Sorry, I just couldn't help it." She was so full of energy Strongbolt worried she might explode at any second.
Strongbolt got up, he smiled at Shiera. "Today's the day." He said.
Shiera raised her eyebrow, "You don't say?" she laughed sarcastically and Strongbolt joined her.
"So you're sure your family can take care of this place every so often?" He asked her as he locked the door.
"Sure." Shiera called from the end of the path. "I gave them a spare key." She was dragging their bags across the road.
Strongbolt picked up a suitcase with his mouth, and then mumbled. "Ren does the rain reave? Shiera looked at him, puzzled.
He put the bag down, then repeated: "When does the train leave?"
"Oh," she said, "in about half an hour."
Strongbolt looked down at his watch. "So nine o'clock right?"
"How did you figure that out, Holmes?" She gasped in a joke-like manner. Strongbolt just shook his head and smiled.
"Wait a minute, who's Holmes?" He asked.
Shiera laughed. "You really need to read more."
They arrived at the train station five minutes before the train was supposed to leave. Strongbolt saw Shining Armor in the distance.
"Shiera, could you load a few of these on?" He gestured towards their luggage. Shiera turned and saw Shining Armor, she nodded.
Shining Armor walked towards him slowly, with a grim look upon his face. His ears hung downwards: he was upset about something.
"Hey." said Strongbolt. No answer, Shining Armor looked at the floor. Strongbolt waved his hoof in front of him and watched him blinked twice before realizing his friend was standing in front of him.
"Oh, hey." he said and returned his gaze to the floor, shaking his head.
"What... happened to you?" Strongbolt asked, slightly shocked. Shining Armor's ear perked up slightly, like it was intercepting a signal. He breathed in heavily.
"You remember Twilight, right?" He inquired.
"Your sister or your mother?" Strongbolt replied.
"Sister."
"Yeah, I remember. Why? What happened to her?" Strongbolt suddenly became more alert and Shining Armor noticed.
"She's not hurt." He confirmed. "She's... been sent to Ponyville, for the Summer Sun Celebration. I don't know when she'll be back. I guess everything that's happening is just... taking its toll on me."
"I'm sorry, friend." Strongbolt said emphatically, he patted him on the shoulder.
He looked up. "I'm just overreacting." he admitted, "Twilight and I... well, we've always been so inseparable and I just don't want to see her go. And the fact that you're leaving isn't helping either."
"Hey, chin up, you'll see her again, I'm sure of it. Same as you'll see me again too."
"Yeah, I guess so..." he muttered.
"Tell you what, me and Shiera are heading to Ponyville now, we'll give her your regards, alright?"
"Alright, sure. Thanks, but don't tell her I miss her too much, okay? I just don't want her to feel like she needs to come back."
"You can count on me." He saluted.
The conductor blew the train whistle and gave the traditional "All Aboard!"
"Well, guess I'll be going. Look after this place for me okay." He held out his hoof, Shining Armor took it.
"You can count on me." He said as they shook on it.
Strongbolt waved him one final goodbye before disappearing inside the train. Shiera was already waiting on one of the seats reading a magazine, she watched him as he sat down.
"Everything alright?" she asked. Strongbolt watched the station fade into the distance behind him.
"Yeah, of course."
Strongbolt slept through most of the Journey there, he had a strange flashback dream of his first day in high school, when he and Shining Armor had first met Shiera. He remembered arguing with some other student and things got out of hand. He winced slightly at the memory.
"Look!" A filly called from up ahead, she was pointing out of the window at Ponyville which appeared from behind a large hill. Strongbolt opened one eye, Shiera had jumped up and pressed herself right up against the glass, she looked like a child that had just seen an ice cream truck pass by. He laughed quietly to himself at the thought.
An announcement came through the speakers above them: "Arriving in Ponyville in five minutes, please secure all belongings, including family. We hope you've had a pleasant ride with us today."
Strongbolt flew up and grabbed their bags from the overhead locker, he lay them on the floor beside their seats.
Another announcement came through: "We hope you have a safe journey from here and we remind you to avoid the Everfree Forest. Once again we thank you for joining us."
"The Everfree Forest?" Strongbolt asked himself.
A voice came from behind him, "You ever been to Ponyville before, stranger?"
Strongbolt turned to see a pale peach colored mare with bright orange hair and grey eyes laying back on her chair with her hooves behind her head. She wore a velvet cloak with a hood attached onto it, through her hair Strongbolt could make out a horn.
"No, first time actually." He replied.
"I see." She said. "Stay clear of the Everfree Forest. There's a lot of things in there you would not want to run into." Her voice was soft and calm.
"Oh, thanks I guess." He said awkwardly.
"The name's Iris, I'm travelling Equestria, like you."
"Strongbolt, and this is... wait, how did you know we're travelling Equestria?"
"It's funny, what you can tell about somepony, just by looking at them." A whistle blew behind Strongbolt, he turned towards the noise.
"What do you..." He asked, turning back, but Iris was gone.
"Did you see that?" He asked Shiera who gazed at him.
"See what?"
"Oh, nothing. There was somepony here and now they're not."
"Maybe because they walked off?"
"Oh, yeah, of course."
The train came to a halt, Strongbolt picked up a bag and flung it over his back, Shiera did the same. He glanced one more time at the spot where Iris had been, before leaving.
Shiera hid behind a large dead tree. She was breathing heavily. There was noise and movement all around her.
She looked up into the night. Darkness is coming, she thought, is this what that pony had meant?
"Where are you Strongbolt?" She asked the air.
She heard footsteps from behind the tree, she gulped.
Shiera arrived on the platform and took in the fresh air.
"Who would have thought two hours on a train could feel so long?" She exclaimed.
Strongbolt, who was dragging a bag out of the train door, replied with: "Yer, derd terk lernger thern I therght it werd."
"You need to stop speaking with your mouth full." She laughed. Strongbolt spat the handle out and swung the bag over his back.
"The hotel is just down the road from here." He said.
They exited the station and trotted down the dirt road. Small buildings with hay roofs were placed evenly apart on either side of the path, each building had a small patch of grass surrounding it.
"Sure is different to Canterlot here." Shiera said, admiring the scenery. Strongbolt seemed more interested in investigating the town; his eyes did not stop moving.
"Everything alright?" She asked. Strongbolt stopped and turned to Shiera like he had only just noticed her existence.
"What? Oh, uh yeah." He replied anxiously. Shiera put her hoof on his back, her face was sympathetic.
"Lighten up," she said, "there's nothing to worry about. I promise." Strongbolt looked into her eyes.
"You're right." He said. "I need to stop being so paranoid. This is our vacation, we're going to enjoy it."
He looked past her. " Is that our hotel?"
She followed his view and saw a large blue building with a sign that read: 'Ponyville Inn.'
"That's the one." She replied.
The reception was fairly empty, except for the receptionist, a young mare with a light grey coat and long white hair. She looked up through her spectacles at Strongbolt and Shiera.
"Can I help you?" She asked.
"Yes," said Shiera, "we've booked in for a room."
"Name?" The receptionist asked.
"Strongbolt Stonewing and..." She hesitated. "Shiera."
"Shiera?"
"Well, um..."
"Try Cherry Berry." Strongbolt finished.
"Oh yes, we received a letter from you not long ago." She handed him a key. "Room Twenty Four."
"Thanks..." Shiera replied, her tone seemed less excited and Strongbolt noticed.
"You okay?" He asked when they were out of the receptionist's earshot. She nodded. She had never liked using her real name, however, she had never fully explained why, just said that she had never liked Cherry Berry, hence why she went by 'Shiera' instead.
"Let's see now," said Strongbolt counting the doors, "twenty two, twenty three and twenty four, here we are." He unlocked the door and let Shiera in first before following afterwards. Shiera lay her bags on the table and lay down on the sofa. She stared at the ceiling for a while before watching Strongbolt patrol the rooms and unpack their luggage. He stopped when he realised she was still lying there.
"You sure you're alright?" He asked again.
"What? Oh yeah, just a little tired from the trip." She reassured him.
"Maybe take a rest for a while?" He suggested.
"I thought that was what I was doing." She said in a tired voice.
"Well, it's not like we're getting any sleep tonight anyway, not with the Summer Sun Celebration going on. Tell you what, I'll go take a look around town and you sleep for a while. By the time I get back the festival should be about to begin."
"Won't you be tired?" She questioned.
"I slept on the train." He countered.
She considered his offer for a while and then said: "Sure, I'll see you later then."
We waved at her from outside of the door before abruptly shutting it behind him. She stared at the spot where he had previously been for a minute, then turned over, lay back and closed her eyes.
Shiera had a strange dream in those brief moments of slumber. She was high up above Equestria, and looking down she could see all the different cities and towns. She soon realized she was dreaming: she was flying without wings.
Strongbolt is lucky that he's a Pegasus, she thought, he can do this whenever he wants.
"Quite true." Said a mare's voice as a pale peach pony wearing a cloak materialized in front of her. "Although I hear it's not so much fun during storms."
Who is this? Shiera thought. I don't remember seeing her before, why is she in my dream?
"Again, quite true." Said the cloaked pony. "My name is Iris." For some reason, despite her being in a dream, Shiera was shocked.
"You can hear my thoughts?" She asked.
"This is a dream." Said the pony. "Technically we are standing inside your mind at this moment. It makes sense that I can hear what you are thinking because, well, this is where your thoughts are coming from."
Shiera was momentarily baffled. "What are you?" The pony was examining the world below her.
"You must have a vast imagination to conjure up images such as this, it is quite beautiful."
"You didn't answer my question." Sheira implored.
"But it will not stay this way for long. Darkness is coming, be ready. Our hopes rely on just six little ponies."
"Why are you telling me this? How do you know this?" Shiera was worried now.
"I would say it has already begun." She pointed towards the world below, everything was growing dark.
"Be careful Shiera." She continued. "You and your husband have a larger role to play in this story than you may think. Speaking of Strongbolt..."
Shiera felt a hoof touch her shoulder and the world around her crumbled into the hotel room.
"Are you alright?" Strongbolt asked urgently.
"Yeah." She lied. "I was just having... a bad dream."
"You had me worried there." He sighed in relief. "You were shaking in your sleep." He seemed more scared than she was. She hugged him and said: "Don't worry about it." She looked at the clock on the wall.
"Is that the time already? The celebration starts in a few minutes, we should get going." Strongbolt agreed and they set off into the red glow of the afternoon sun.
By the time they had reached the town hall it was already night. Strongbolt had spent most of the journey explaining the various landmarks and shops every time they passed them. Ponies filled the room, most from Ponyville, some from other places. Shiera thought she saw Twilight Sparkle, Shining Armor's sister, however, she lost sight of her quickly in the crowd.
A young Pegasus flew up to a group of birds and commanded them like an orchestra, they began tweeting in tune. A beige mare with light grey hair, gold spectacles and a white shirt collar walked up to the stage at the back of the room, a spotlight fell on her.
"Fillies and Gentlecolts," she said, "as mayor of Ponyville it is my great pleasure to announce the beginning of the Summer Sun Celebration!" Ponies cheered and applauded.
"In just a few moments," The Mayor continued, "our town will witness the magic of the sunrise and celebrate this, the longest day of the year. And now it is my great honour to introduce to you the ruler of our land, the very pony who gives us the sun and the moon each and every day, the good, the wise, the bringer of harmony to all of Equestria, Princess Celestia!"
The curtains above her opened to reveal and empty space. There were various murmurs amongst the crowd.
"Remain calm everypony," said the Mayor, "there must be a reasonable explanation." A white unicorn with stylish purple hair appeared in the hollow room.
"She's gone!" She said.
"Um, Strongbolt?" Shiera looked at him with a worried face. Strongbolt returned the look and shrugged his shoulders. Suddenly, there was a scream and a cloud of purple mist formed on the stage, and took the shape of a dark pony, similar to Princess Celestia, but with a moon cutie mark and dark blue and purple armor. Everyone gasped.
Shiera said' "It can't be..."
The dark princess laughed.
"Shiera who is that?" Strongbolt asked urgently, but she just stood there watching.
"Oh my beloved subjects," said the princess, "it's been so long since I've seen your precious, little sun loving faces."
"Shiera!" Strongbolt yelled.
"It's Nightmare Moon..." She replied weakly.
"You mean the mare in the moon? Celestia's sister? How do you know?"
"I told you to read more." She replied brusquely.
"What did you do with our princess?" A light blue pony with rainbow hair shouted.
"Why? Am I not royal enough for you?" Nightmare Moon laughed. "Don't you know who I am? Does my crown no longer count now that I have been imprisoned for a thousand years? Did you not recall the legend? Did you not see the signs?"
"I did!" A voice called from the front.
"Twilight?" Strongbolt said.
"And I know just who you are," the voice, which did belong to Shining Armor's younger sister Twilight Sparkle, continued, "you're the mare in the moon... Nightmare Moon." Everyone gasped again.
"I guess Twilight did her research to..." Shiera murmured.
"Well, well, then. Somepony remembers me. Then you also know why I'm here?" Nightmare Moon called down to her.
"You're here to... to..." She stuttered.
The Princess laughed, "Remember this day little ponies, because it was your last, from this moment forth the night will last forever!" She shot a beam of smoke into the sky and laughed maniacally.
"Seize her!" The Mayor yelled. "Only she knows where the Princess is!" Nightmare Moon watched the array of gaurds fly towards her.
"Stand back you foals!" She shouted at them and knocked them back with lightning. Shiera and Strongbolt were speechless.
Nightmare Moon gave one last cackle before returning to her purple smoke form and launching herself out of the doors.
Strongbolt had had enough. He was going to find Shiera, get to Twilight and put an end to all this. He looked left and right before emerging from his boulder and charging into the mist.
"It moves in the darkness." He reminded himself as something shot past him. He stopped and listened, he heard a wailing in the distance and something hit him dragging him off the side of a hill and sent him tumbling down. He could have sworn for a moment he had heard something yell: "My mustache!"
Strongbolt charged through the crowd of ponies and out of the door, Shiera followed him.
"We have to find Twilight!" He said.
Shiera nodded and said: "I don't know much about Nightmare Moon, certainly not as much as she does."
Strongbolt spotted the rainbow pony from earlier chasing the purple cloud that was Nightmare Moon, she stopped and looked up. Strongbolt watched her, before realizing she was watching Twilight.
"There!" He pointed. "Twilight!"
The purple pony stopped abruptly and looked around bewildered. Her eyes fell on Strongbolt running towards her.
"Strongbolt? And Shiera?" She asked. "What are you two doing here?"
"Good to see you too." Shiera replied.
"Sorry," she said, "I'm just a little bit busy right now. I need to find these things called the Elements of Harmony." It was at this point that Strongbolt realized she was carrying a sleeping baby dragon on her back, but, given the circumstances, he did not question it.
"Elements of Harmony?" He asked. "The name... seems familiar. I think I've heard the Princess talk about them before."
"Do you know where to find them?" Twilight said hopefully.
"She never really said." He replied.
Her hope was gone. "I'm on my way to my library, I think I might have a book about them there."
"Alright." Said Shiera. "Tell us once you find anything."
Twilight nodded. "Just... try to keep everyone calm! I'll meet you back here in thirty minutes." And she ran into the darkness.
"We've got some flashlights back at the hotel." Strongbolt suggested.
"Let's be quick then." Shiera replied.
They turned and ran. Out of the corner of her eye, Shiera saw five other ponies: the rainbow Pegasus, the Pegasus with the bird choir, the unicorn who had first realised Celestia was missing, a pink pony with frizzy hair and an orange pony with a hat. They ran (and flew) after Twilight.
"Darkness is coming, be ready. Our hopes rely on just six little ponies." The words echoed in her mind.
They arrived at the hotel ten minutes after they had left Twilight. They grabbed everything they needed and galloped back as fast as they could. When they arrived back at their meeting point, Shiera saw Twilight and the other five ponies exit a giant tree which she assumed was Twilight's house. Twilight ran to them, carrying a book behind her with magic.
"Listen," she said, "we're going into the Everfree Forest."
"What?" Strongbolt questioned. "It's not safe in there!"
"I have to." She told him.
"Twilight you know I can't let you do that. Think of what your brother would do if he found out I let you do this."
"What choice do we have?" She asked, but Strongbolt had no answer.
"Do what you must." Shiera said. " We'll wait outside the entrance, if you are not back in one hour we'll go in."
Twilight nodded, and looked at Strongbolt.
He nodded back and said, "Are you going alone?"
"Unless they follow me in." She gestured towards the other five ponies and began walking away.
"Good luck out there." Strongbolt and Shiera called after her. She looked back one last time and nodded, she arrived at the mouth of the forest and began talking with the other five. She closed up the book and placed it on the floor outside. Then one by one the ponies trotted into the woods.
Fifty five minutes later, Strongbolt walked up and down anxiously. Shiera sat next to the book, briefly flicking through the pages.
"They should be back by now. We have to go in." He said at last. Shiera looked up, and gazed into the entrance.
"I guess it's time." She confirmed. "Got your flashlight?" He pulled his flashlight out of his bag, and settled the bag down by the book, Shiera did the same. Strongbolt turned on the light and placed it in his mouth. They walked slowly into the depths of the Everfree Forest. After around fifteen minutes of searching they came to a steep cliff with hoof marks all around it.
"Looks like they were here." Shiera said. Strongbolt studied the tracks. He felt a cold shiver run down his spine. A faint laugh came from the trees and bushes in front of them. Shiera stared at Strongbolt, he stared back.
"Did you hear that?" He whispered. Shiera nodded slowly. There was a sudden thud in the distance, then another, and another.
"Footsteps." Strongbolt muttered. The thudding came closer until it stopped in the shrubbery in front of them. They both looked into the darkness, and from it, a pair of red eyes appeared.
The creature stepped out into the moonlight, its body was made of black mist that shaped a stallion, its hair was a mess of dark spikes and its piercing crimson eyes glared at them. Its forked tongue snapped out and back in.
"Awful long way from home, little ponies." It hissed in a voice that changed constantly. "You need be watchful of where you wander," it continued, "who knows? You might run into a monster."
"We don't want any trouble." Strongbolt said, but he could hear his own voice quivering.
"Trouble?" The creature asked, stepping closer. "Oh, no. We want none of that." Strongbolt and Shiera continued to back away.
"W-We?" Shiera asked nervously.
"Of course." It exclaimed. "We are everywhere. Under your bed, in your wardrobe."
"Well, we'll just be leaving then." Strongbolt said.
The creature moved in front of them, and said: "Won't you stay a little longer? Not very often we get guests." It bared its luminous grey teeth. All around them the darkness seemed to grow larger and closer, surrounding them.
"Oh," it said, "where are my manners? I am The Corruption and this," he pointed to where they stood, "is my territory." Strongbolt and Shiera briefly glanced at each other.
The Corruption licked its lips and said: "Wait. Did I say guests? I meant fresh meat!"
The creature charged and Strongbolt dodged, but The Corruption caught his tail and dragged him back. Shiera jumped on it, and it turned to face her. Strongbolt got up and grabbed its head.
"Run!" He yelled at Shiera. "I'll be fine!" Shiera understood and she leaped out of sight. The Corruption kicked Strongbolt off and onto the floor. Strongbolt extended his wings and rolled off of the side of the cliff, when he landed he ran into the woods aimlessly, dodging branches and vines until he finally arrived at a clearing. He jumped behind a small boulder, he was breathing heavily.
Strongbolt landed at the base of the hill with whatever had dragged him down. He got up and was about to attack before realizing what exactly had dragged him down.
"Shiera?" He asked.
His wife looked up at him. "Oh! I'm sorry, I thought you were..."
"Sh! Quiet." He whispered and pointed to bushes on their right.
"No use now." Said The Corruption, emerging from its hiding position. "You made enough noise tumbling down that hill to let every creature in the Everfree Forest know that you were here."
"Why are you doing this?" Shiera asked, her voice was confident.
The Corruption winced. "Because I've had enough of you ponies with your 'love and friendship' nonsense. You're always so happy! Too happy! I'd much prefer a world shrouded in darkness, where nobody was without fear. Besides I haven't eaten in a while. You two, you're married aren't you? Perfect."
"You don't scare us." Strongbolt said firmly and for a moment the creature stopped, and its face grew angry.
"Don't lie to me! Strongbolt Stonewing, I know all about your fears! Your constant paranoia!"
"So I guess we don't need to acquaint ourselves. How do you know my name?" Strongbolt had an idea, he had to be brave.
"Oh, I know a lot about you, little pony. And this one too." It pointed towards Shiera. "I see fear, and where there's fear, there's memories, bad memories, the kind that I feed on!"
"Your knowledge does not frighten us." Strongbolt said boldly, and took a step closer. The Corruption watched him, for a moment his face twitched.
"In fact," Shiera continued, "you don't frighten us at all."
There was a bright flash behind them and someone yelled: "Twilight!" Strongbolt and Shiera were momentarily stunned, The Corruption took the opportunity and pounced on Strongbolt like a lion.
"Enough!" It hissed and opened its mouth wide and came closer to Strongbolt's face... and then it was on the floor, with a rather large branch protruding from its head.
"Thanks." Strongbolt said to Shiera as she helped him up.
"It's not over yet you little pigs!" The Corruption got to its hooves and absorbed the branch into its skull.
"That's not fair." Strongbolt murmured.
"I have just about had it with you two! I wait so long for this eternal night and the first two ponies I come across won't just give in and accept their fate!" It growled. "Do you know how difficult it is? Living in a world full of light? Especially when you're made out of darkness?"
"Light..." Strongbolt whispered as he watched the sun rise.
"Twilight?" Shiera suggested. The Corruption turned and watched the sunshine cover the landscape.
"No, no, no!" It yelled. "You... you two... have not seen the last of me!" And with that, it vanished into the shadows and disappeared.
Strongbolt sat down on the grass and blew out a sigh of relief.
"Well, that was... interesting." He said.
"I haven't felt this alive in years!" Shiera said. "Is this what it's like? You know, action and adventure?"
"Yeah, something like this." Strongbolt replied. He looked around them and saw a glimpse of purple in the distance, followed by pink, orange, blue, white and yellow.
"Look." He pointed towards the colors. "I think its Twilight and her friends." They got up and stumbled towards them.
"Twilight!" Shiera called.
They had arrived on a path of which Twilight, her friends, Princess Celestia and another small blue alicorn were following. They turned to see the two ponies.
"Strongbolt? Shiera!" Twilight shouted back and ran to them, her friends followed. "What are you guys doing here? What happened to you?"
"Don't worry about it, I see you found the elements." Strongbolt pointed to the crown atop her head.
Twilight laughed, probably from relief. "Maybe we should discuss things outside of here."
"Agreed." Strongbolt and Shiera said in unison.
They walked to the edge of the forest, throughout most of the journey Twilight and her friends talked, except the pink one who kept rambling on about how many balloons they were going to need, or how much cake needed to be made. When they finally returned to Ponyville, Twilight and her friends joined the crowd of ponies who had apparently been waiting anxiously for their princess's return.
Shiera picked up their belongings which they had left at the mouth of the forest, Shiera gave the book back to Twilight and said "Some rescue party we were, eh?"
"Well, It's nice to know you guys have got my back." Twilight admitted before walking back to the celebration.
"Ahem." A voice came from behind them.
"I heard you were Twilight Sparkle's rescue party?" It was the Princess, who was still with the younger blue alicorn.
"Princess?" Strongbolt asked.
"Yes, Strongbolt?" She replied.
"Oh, nothing." He said. "I just thought you would be in town celebrating." He looked at the little blue alicorn who hid behind Celestia.
"Oh, how rude of me." She said. "Allow me to introduce my sister, Princess Luna."
"You have a...? Oh, um, hi." He waved at her, Shiera did the same.
"How old is she?" Shiera asked.
"Oh, only in her early two thousands." She replied, laughing. "But, what I really wanted to talk to you about," she continued, "was this." She presented a map. "I heard you were to be travelling Equestria, perhaps you could use this." She rolled the paper up and place it in Shiera's bag.
"Thanks." They both said.
"Not a problem. Now tell me, will you be joining the celebration?"
"I think we'll probably hit the hay for a bit, had a, um, rough night." Strongbolt said. They began walking away when something tugged at Strongbolt's tail, he turned to find Princess Luna.
"You saw something else in there, didn't you?" She asked. "A creature, of a different kind."
"How did you know?" He whispered to her.
"As I suspected." She said. "Just, be careful in the dark, although I am the Princess of the Night, I work with the light of the moon, who knows what lurks out there. As long as you are under the moonlight you'll be safe, I promise."
"But, how did you...?"
"Luna!" Celestia called. "Can I talk to you quickly?"
"Goodbye, Strongbolt, and you too Shiera." She waved and flew to her sister.
"Strange." Said Shiera.
"Yeah, what do you think she meant by that?"
"No, I mean, I don't recall ever telling her my name." Strongbolt considered this.
"Princesses." He said at last. "Never try to understand them, it'll always make your head hurt." And they laughed, all the way back to the hotel.
Luna arrived by Celestia's side.
"So you think its them?" Celestia asked.
"I'm not sure." Luna replied. "They are bold, that's for sure. I don't remember much from when I was... her, but I'm pretty sure they were the ones who fought The Corruption, if they hadn't, I would have been responsible for two great catastrophes in Equestria." Her eyes began to water.
"Fear not, little sister, you had no control over what you were doing, it was not your fault at all." Celestia comforted her.
Luna looked around her. "Things sure have changed." She said.
"My sister, you understand that, those thousand years... If there was any other way, you know I would have..."
"I understand. You did what was best for Equestria. That is all that matters." There was a long pause.
Celestia spoke at last. "You know now that 'it' has returned, our subjects will no longer be safe."
Luna nodded, and said: "That is why they are here. if Strongbolt and Shiera really are destined to do this... 'it' will waste no time with anypony else." Another long pause.
"What was it mother used to say?" Celestia asked.
"'The future is a gift, one that only you can give.'" Luna stated. "I guess it is their turn to 'give' now." Celestia put her wing around Luna.
"I... have missed you so much little sister. I won't lose you again." she said.
In the gloomy midst of the Everfree Forest, in a small clearing between the sickly green, daunting trees, and the acres of darkness that cloaked them, there lay a large boulder, and behind that, lay Strongbolt Stonewing, his body was.pure white with the exception of the mud and leaves that clung onto him. He had spiked, lime green hair that ran down to the top of his neck, and deep orange eyes which shot from left to right frantically, he occasionally raised his head to check behind his stone cover. He whispered to himself, "Where are you Shiera?"
He heard a rustling in the trees on his left, then from his right, his eyes followed the sound.He swallowed, and in a far braver, clearer voice, he said, "Get a grip Strongbolt. You've dealt with plenty of guys like this."
But had he? He thought to himself. This creature was different, intelligent. It used the darkness like a camouflage, only it's piercing red eyes could be seen. It's voice shifted and changed from male to female, old to young. It's body was just a cloud of black smoke that came together to form what appeared to be a stallion. The thought of it made Strongbolt shudder.
He relaxed for a moment to gather his senses and take in his surroundings; dead trees encompassed him, their last leaves slowly decaying. He looked up, the fog was thick in the sky, yet, just thin enough to see the moon. He stared at the luminous sphere for a while then said, "I really hope you know what you're doing Twilight."
He looked down at his hooves and thought back to the day before.
He had awoken to the sound of a distant ringing, he rubbed his eyes and groaned, the ringing came closer.
"I hate mornings." He said.The ringing was next to him now.
"Strongbolt?" said a sleepy female voice.
He hit his alarm clock and the ringing stopped.
"Thank you." said the voice again. Strongbolt turned to his wife, she lay peacefully beside him, her long golden mane never looked any different to the day before, compared to Strongbolt's, which was reduced to a green frizzy mess every morning.
Strongbolt got up, and said, "Good morning to you too, Shiera." She smiled, and half-opened her glistering purple eyes.
"Last day," she said, "tomorrow we'll be on a train to Ponyville."
"Yeah, well I've got to get through today first." He called back from the kitchen.
Strongbolt and Shiera's house consisted of mainly three rooms: their bedroom, which was empty. with the exception of a few suitcases and bags, the bathroom, which had also been emptied and the kitchen, which connected onto the front door.
Strongbolt walked across the marble floor to the cupboards, they were desolate.There was only two apples left in the entire house.
Strongbolt shrugged and said, "That'll do, I guess." Before sitting down at the wooden table in the center of the room. Shiera walked in slowly from their bedroom and joined him, he threw her an apple, which she caught with her pink hoof, and began eating, Strongbolt copied.
Once they had finished, Strongbolt asked, "You'll be alright here while I'm gone, won't you?"
Shiera smiled. "I think I can manage." She replied sarcastically.
"Just checking." He said innocently, and put his hooves up.
Shiera shook her head, still smiling. "You should probably get going, you've got to be there by eight thirty, right?"
"Yeah, I'll make it, don't worry."
"I wasn't." she admitted.
Strongbolt stood up and trotted back to his room.
"Your uniform is in the bathroom!" She called after him. Strongbolt combed out his hair and put on his armor, he glanced at his helmet and shook his head, he did not like wearing it, he thought it made him look too formal.
He quickly stretched his wings before walking back into the kitchen, kissed Shiera goodbye and left for his last day of work as a royal guard.
The sunshine shone bright upon Canterlot, Strongbolt placed his hoof on his forehead to shield his eyes, he observed his neighborhood from his porch. There was a row of houses, one of which was Strongbolt's, stretching to his left and right that curved around part of the mountain, they all mostly looked the same: round marble structures, with two windows at the front on either side of the door, and two at the back looking out onto the cliff edge, they had slanted purple roofs with a chimney sticking out of one side. Connecting these houses was a light green road that split off into each of the gardens, which were separated by white picket fences, and curled around up to the front door. The road led all throughout Canterlot until it reached the Castle that stood proud atop the mountain; it could be seen from practically anywhere in the city. From Strongbolt's point of view, the sun appeared to balance on the spire of the main tower, which made sense, considering that was were Celestia rose it from. Strongbolt took a deep breath and embraced the day.
He followed the road for a few minutes until he reached the small district outside of the castle, shops, libraries and observatories lined the pathway on either side. At first they obscured the view, but then, they appeared to move further aside, when Strongbolt came closer to them, as if they were dramatically revealing the Castle. Strongbolt looked up at the great white walls and half-smiled, it never ceased to amaze him. The gate at the front was open, then again, it was rarely ever closed: Celestia wanted everyone to be allowed access to the Castle. Strongbolt proceeded past the guard's outpost, up the cobblestone path and into the main hall. He continued up the red carpet and turned right towards his station.
"Stonewing." A voice called from behind him.
He turned slowly to face Shining Armor, the captain of the royal guards, who stared at him for a while with an emotionless face, then, he smiled.
"Good to see you made it on time." He said.
Strongbolt grinned at him. "You think I'd be late on my last day?"
For a moment his smile flickered. He cleared his throat, and said, "Oh, yeah, I remember now." He seemed disappointed.
"Something wrong?" Strongbolt asked.
He scratched the back of his head. "What? Of course not..."
"You sure?" Strongbolt inquired.
"Well, it's just, I'm going to miss you not being around here. We've been friends since pre-school, and the rest of the guys are a bit too obsessed with the job, you're the only one I'm able to have a proper conversation with." He confessed.
Strongbolt looked at him for a while with his head tilted slightly.
"Hey," he said, "don't worry about it, I'll always come visit. It's not like I'm dying."
Shining Armor's smile was back. "Yeah, I guess so." He said.
They had arrived at the guards quarters, Strongbolt looked up at one of the clocks on the wall. Shining Armor followed his eyes. "I should get going." He announced.
"Alright, see you tomorrow?"
"Sure thing." And with that, he was gone.