Prologue
“YOU!”
Nightmare Luna spoke in the Traditional Canterlot Voice, but with much, much more force and ferocity than Royal Protocol required.
The reddish buckskin unicorn whom Luna roared to was less than impressed, much less terrified, of the huge black Princess of the Moon. At the moment, she seemed preoccupied with the bottom of her hoof.
“Ugh. Cockleburrs. Stuck in my frog again! These damn things are so annoying.” She rolled her eyes to look up, not moving her head, to the angry Princess. “They’re about as annoying as your voice. Princess.”
It was how this insolent unicorn pronounced “Princess” that truly infuriated Luna. As if it were an insult. Further angered, Luna raised herself to the height of her intimidation. It was a look that made dragons shiver, griffins hesitate and everyday ponies shit themselves into oblivion.
“WHY! ARE! YOU! HERE?!”
The little unicorn gave a bored sigh. She put her hoof down, and replied to the Night Goddess, “Can’t a pony simply take a nice midnight walk through this lovely expanse of fruit trees? Besides, you know I have horrible insomnia, and…”
Nightmare Luna interrupted. With blazing dragon’s eyes, she roared again, “WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?!”
The unaffected unicorn snorted. “Well, at least I’m trying not to awaken everypony who’s sleeping at this hour.”
“DEMON DEALER! YOU SPEAK NOTHING BUT LIES! SHOW YOURSELF!”
The unicorn blinked slowly in disbelief. “Oh. So we have resorted to name-calling. How very much like royalty. Have it your way. Princess.”
She shook her black mane, and took a deep breath and exhaled it downward. From the ground beneath her feet a little bit of dirt moved around her and began to rise up, circling her. The rich earth became sand, and a dust devil formed, swirling around the unicorn until it completely concealed her. Just as quickly as the dust devil appeared, it fell like a window shade and dissipated back into the earth.
In the place that once stood an average buckskin unicorn now stood a leering alicorn as big and tall as Nightmare Luna. Her buckskin color gave way to the muted purples and oranges reflected on the sands and mesas of the desert when the setting sun hits them. Her mane, tail and wing feathers were black with an electric blue iridescence. Here eyes were a hungry, feral amber-orange that drank in the frightening beauty of Luna. Luna, despite her anger, felt the familiarity of the desert alicorn’s ogling, and found herself becoming aroused.
The alicorn spoke with a deep, sexual voice that tinged with laughter. “Mmmm. You know why I’m here, Princess. It’s not to relive our youthful past, nor is it to take you up on your recent promise of a wonderful night of delicious sex. As good as it still sounds.” The alicorn licked her lips in genuine anticipation.
Still on guard, Luna gave her a hard look, then slowly remembered how the alicorn looked when she first met her in the orchard. A look of mild shock hit her face.
“That was… you? Then who was…?”
“Surprised? You know how many lives I go through, thanks to the deal I have. It’s not too different from the deal you cut.” She hoped for a rise out the Goddess, but received nothing but stone cold silence. She continued.
“This is the life I’ve put together this time around. And the handsome stallion with me? He…” and she gave wistful sigh, “is the one I’ve found for this life. I must say, I’m very happy with the arrangement. He’s incredible! We once…”
Impatiently, Luna stamped a Royal Hoof on the ground, causing it to shake for about a mile away. “ANSWER US! WHY ARE YOU HERE?”
Coyly, she replied, “Why, Princess, why do I always appear? Because somepony has spoken my name.”
For just one brief second, The Dominant Princess of the Night hesitated. Her eyebrows raised imperceptibly. Her eyes bugged out ever so slightly. Her elegant moonlit coat of black shivered somewhat, then broke into a tiny mist of sweat. The mere thought of summoning this... beast...
Her fury undiminished, she demanded, “Who? Who was fool enough to utter your name? How would they even know it, much less say it?”
“I have no idea, but I’d like to know. That’s another reason I’m here. Curiosity. Besides, it’s been ages...”
“And it should stay that way!” snorted Luna.
The feral amber eyes of the alicorn opposite of her flashed, and she smiled wryly at the opposing goddess. “Why, Princess, you know my name. Perhaps it was you who said it. Do you miss me?” She batted her eyelashes, hoping to infuriate her further.
Luna snarled, baring fangs. “I think not! We have no need for your mayhem and deceit!”
A fleeting moment of genuine sadness crossed the face of the desert alicorn. She sighed, and took a step forward in sincerity. “Luna. Beloved Goddess of Night. I do not lie. I never have. But, we know that many cannot accept Truth.” She looked down at the ground, then back up to the Princess before her. “Including you.”
Wordlessly, Nightmare Luna took one small step back, flexed her wings and flew above the line of trees. Before gliding away, she sneered back at the alicorn. “You will be watched. We will be sure of it.” And she flew off.
As the alicorn changed to her less-intimidating unicorn self, she waived to Luna and yelled after her, “Call me!” She shook her head, and trotted on her way out of the grove.
And, in a nearby copse of bushes, the silent one who called her name watched the false unicorn as she left.
“What th’ hay...?”
Normally, at this time of year, Applejack didn’t ride the fence of Sweet Apple Acres. That was a chore she saved for after completing the harvest, but not before the first snow arrived. But, she decided this ought to be done. Just in case.
She was just a might concerned about that odd earthquake that hopped up in the middle of the night. Mac was checking out the barn to make sure it was still standing, while Granny Smith and Apple Bloom took another look around the house, and she rode the fence, her canine buddy Winona in tow.
It was a strange looking feather that made her exclaim out loud to her dog. The feather wasn’t real big, maybe about a few inches long. What made it odd was the color: a black feather that had an electric blue shine when sunlight hit it. Never seen a bird ‘round here with that kinda color, she thought to herself. Might ask my gal Fluttershy if’n she knows what it goes to. She popped the feather into the band of her cowboy hat, satisfied with the new look.
An excited bark came from Winona, and Applejack trotted quickly to her faithful companion. “What is it, gal?” Winona cocked an ear to AJ, but didn’t take her nose off the ground.
What had her interest were three sets of tracks in the rich loam. Winona ran back and forth among the three sets, trying her best to analyze each one. She was far more used to seeing deer tracks or rabbit tracks on this end of the farm, so this was a true find!
One set of pony tracks were rather small and delicate, almost like a foal. Nothing too unusual there. Somebody’s youngster must have been wandering around the orchard. The foals in Ponyville come around from time to time, sometimes looking for Apple Bloom and her friends. Winona loved those visitors.
It was the other two sets that confounded her, and made her give a low growl in her throat. She gave Applejack a serious look, and pointed to the magic-smelling tracks.
Applejack studied them for a few moments. One set had to have been some sorta pegasus with some mighty fancy, well-made shoes. The tracks didn’t lead in or out, so the owner of those hooves flew in and out. Okay. Maybe they saw the lost foal, and lead them out of the orchard. Mighty nice thing for them to do.
But, it was the third set that concerned her most. The imprint of the frog, the cushiony part of the pony’s hoof, could be seen in the rich dirt. The frog print didn’t follow the normal circular shape everypony’s does. It was lobed, like the shape of the middle pad of Winona’s paws. Or, even worse: maybe a wolf’s paw.
Winona, feeling Applejack’s concern, snarled fiercely and quickly ran after the trail of those tracks.
Applejack looked up, saw where Winona was headed, and ran as fast as she could after her. Awww, road apples! Those tracks lead right out of the apple orchard and straight to Ponyville!
to be continued...
Author's Note
Remember, kids, this is just the beginning. You know, because, Prologue.
