The soft scratches from a quill on paper sang softly though the brightly lit room. Celestia’s eyes scanned each letter with care as she confirmed the words she wrote. Her horn giving off a glow of gold as she held the quill with her magic. Pausing to dip her quill in the ink cup she took a small breath. Negotiations with Griffon Kingdom had always been troublesome, especially when it came to trade. They provided Equestria with many resources, but they also drove a hard bargain. As she picked up the quill again the room turned dark. She jumped up at the strange commotion and prepared her magic for the unexpected. As everything brightened up again she noticed that she was in a familiar place. The castle she grew up in. Abandoned now, but still whole.
Hoof steps rang out behind her and she flipped around to ready a blast of magical energy. Luna stepped into view and Celestia powered down her horn. The bright sun gleamed through the giant window behind Luna, causing her mane to cast a shadow across her face. “Luna? Were you the one who brought me here?”
“Yes, I was.” Luna responded, monotone. Her face still refusing to show.
“Why did you bring me here? If you wanted to talk privately you could have just walked into my private room. You didn’t have to teleport me.” Celestia took a step forward toward her sibling.
“Don’t you dare move closer, sister.” Luna rumbled. Celestia, surprised, pulled her hoof back.
“Luna are-“
Cutting off her elder sister, Luna said, “DON’T, call me Luna anymore.”
Celestia put her hoof down in its original spot, making a clanking noise from the metal embracing her hoof. She could hear the patter of liquid and she spotted several tears fall from her sister’s chin. “What’s wrong? Are you hurt?”
“It’s your fault!” Luna shouted, slamming her hooves against the ground and raising her head to show the streams of tears produced by her eyes. “Why do they love you instead of me? What makes you better than me?”
Taken back, Celestia took a quick breath in. “What are you talking about? The ponies of Equestria? They love you just as much as they love me. What gave you that idea?”
“No they don’t! They enjoy your light that you bring! Why do they reject my night? They all hate it, don’t they? You hate it too, don’t you! You hate me, don’t you!”
“N-no! Luna I-“
“I SAID, DON’T CALL ME LUNA! I won’t accept that name anymore. Never! I will make sure that every, single, pony will feel my pain. Today the world will suffer a black day. Today, Equestria will fall under my control!” Black energy shot out from behind the princess of the night and, like fog, covered the entire floor. Luna’s horn glowed dark blue and behind her the giant orb of the moon rose into the sky, stopping in front of the sun, covering it completely as the day fell into darkness. The black energy lunged for Luna and engulfed her in a whirling sphere, rising up to the center of the window. Traces of light flashed, trying to escape, but the black energy swirled violently, sealing its openings.
Celestia, horrified, realized the situation and began firing her magic at the black aura, trying to free her sister. Creating a shield of dark energy, the black aura covered itself from the oncoming fire. A shrill scream of her sister filled her ears. “LUNA!” She shouted at the orb, firing her magic much faster. The scream slowly began to morph into laughter that Celestia couldn’t recognize. The laughter sounded heartless, dark and evil, nothing like her sister’s cheerful laugh. “L-Luna?” She stepped back and stopped her magic. What had become of her sister?
A voice came from the orb, “Luna? Luna is dead.”
Celestia’s, breath quivered as she continued stepping back. “Dead…” Her heart dropped. She couldn’t be dead. No, she wasn’t! That thing had done something to her! “NO! She isn’t dead! Not Luna! What have you done with her!”
The orb laughed again. “What have I done with her? Ha ha ha ha ha!” The orb exploded and a dark mare resembling the Princess stood in its place. “I am her!”
Celestia stomped her hoof. “That can’t be! She wouldn’t give in to such darkness!”
“That’s where you’re wrong. You were blind Celestia! I needed you and you did nothing, but stand by as I suffered! Now that the Nightmare energies flow through me, Luna is dead, and in her place stands Nightmare Moon! With this new power I will conquer Equestria!”
“No! Never. I will release you from your dark prison Luna. Even if ends me!!” Celestia rolled her head back charging up a magic bolt. She had to be careful. One wrong move could result in losing her.
Nightmare Moon laughed. “Release her? My heart is black sister and it’s freer than before.” Celestia released her magic at Nightmare Moon. The evil mare dodged it swiftly, causing the magical energy to slam into the back wall and explode, creating a hole. Nightmare Moon teased, “Now we can’t have that now, can we, Celestia? You’ll interfere with my plan.” Reeling back, she charged at the sun princess.
Doing the same, Celestia rushed at her opponent. “Luna, you must stop this! This is madness!”
Clashing head to head, a shockwave blew out, shattering the windows. The force of two goddesses was immense. “This isn’t madness, this is vengeance!” She pushed Celestia back, raised her hooves in the air, and charged up a ball of magical energy and thrusting her hooves down, she threw the ball of magic at her sister with explosive force. Celestia, not having enough time to dodge, fired a continuous beam of energy, forcing the ball to slow and detonate, sending magic flying into the sides of the building. Bending her legs she opened her wings and boosted up through the ceiling and into the sky. “Running will get you nowhere.” Nightmare Moon shot up through the ceiling as well, following close behind Celestia.
“Luna! Snap out of it! All you’re causing is destruction! Conquering Equestria is fruitless! There is nothing you will gain out of it!” Celestia screamed out to her sister.
“You still don’t get it. I’ve made my mind, Celestia. Trying to change that is pointless, meaning your death will be in vain.” Nightmare Moon’s horn glowed dark blue as an aura began to grow around it. “Disappear!” Whipping her head around, she shot several energy missiles out of her horn. Traveling through the air they multiplied into many others till the sky was filled with missiles.
Quickly jerking herself around to face the oncoming fire, Celestia swung her head around and fired hundreds of magic bolts across the black sky. Colliding together one by one, explosions lit up the darkness with plumes of orange, red and yellow fire, quickly fading back into its darkened state. “You are not my sister! Give her back!” She bolted towards Nightmare Moon, her horn glowing gold, readying for a magic strike. Nightmare Moon rocketed toward Celestia in a similar manor.
Right before clashing together they both pulled up protective shields. Impacting with tremendous force, the shockwave blew out sound itself and cut into the earth. Pushing off each other they came in at different angles for another assault, producing the same result. Flashes of bright light from their clashes illuminated the environment. Again and again the two sisters rammed each other, their blasts tearing the world around them apart. Falling back once more, Nightmare Moon shouted with fury in her voice, “CELESTIA!” She flipped her horn around sent a blade of condensed magical energy hurtling toward the sun princess.
Responding, Celestia screamed, “LUNA!” Nothing else came to her mind except the one pony that she held most dear. She flipped her horn around sending the same attack. The two blades of energy burst together sending out a giant bang that decimated the environment, causing both Nightmare Moon and Celestia to hurtle away in opposite directions. Nightmare Moon was thrown toward what was left of the abandoned home, slammed through a wall, and smacked the ground, skidding to a halt against another wall. Celestia hit the dirt backwards and dug into the earth, causing mud and roots to pile up, the rubble slowing her body down. She lay in the dirt for several moments, resting and trying to comprehend what had occurred, before struggling to rise up.
The blast was unlike anything she had ever seen before. Standing up straight she felt a sharp pain below her right wing, and she doubled over. She looked at the source and spotted a large gash that dug deep into her flesh. She had been wounded badly and her magic could stop the bleeding, but she would need medical attention. However she wasn’t worried about her own health, she was worried about Luna. She tried lifting herself into the air, but the wound had dug into part of her wing’s muscle as well, making it extremely painful to lift off. She touched ground again and began to make her way to the abandoned house as best as she could.
Arriving at the abandoned house she spotted Nightmare Moon still lying next to the wall. She struggled to quicken her pace so she could ensure her sister was alright. “Luna! Luna, are you okay!” She knelt down beside her sister.
Nightmare Moon quickly broke her façade and swung her horn towards Celestia. Before the sun princess could react, Nightmare Moon cast a spell saying, “Be gone to the sun!”
A portal ripped open behind Celestia. Immense heat clawed out of the opening as the sound of millions of explosions filled the air. Celestia began to slip away from Nightmare Moon towards the portal. She slammed her hooves onto the ground to try and hold on to something. Seeing how futile it was, she looked into Nightmare Moon’s eyes trying to find her real sister inside and finally said, “Luna…help me.” She was sucked backwards and the portal quickly disappeared with a puff of smoke that drifted gently to the ground.
The world was quiet. Nothing dared to make a sound. Nightmare Moon gently picked herself up, debris sliding off her smooth dark blue coat, and stood in front of where her sister had disappeared. The sound of the explosions still rung in her ears. Seconds passed by and then minutes. Everything was silent. Her eyes kept darting back and forth, scanning the area of the portal. Finally grasping what had happened she slowly began to laugh. She threw her head back as her laughing gradually increased into excitement. She brought her head back to stare at the spot of the portal and said, “You know Celestia. You’re right. I won’t gain anything out of conquering. But destroying Equestria, no, the world; now that sounds likes fun. Everypony will now know what it means to suffer!” She began laughing again as her horn glowed its eerie dark blue. “Let the tides rise!”
Author's Note
This is just the prologue introducing you to the universe. Every good story needs a foundation. I hope you enjoyed the prologue of Barren Waters. The end has just begun.
Coughing for air, Swift pulled himself onto the side of the tub. He coughed a few more times, trying to get all the water out of his lungs. Breathing hard, he stayed clung to the side of the tub. What the heck happened? He looked back down at the ripples trying to think of what happened. He must have fallen asleep and slid underneath the water. He gave a small sigh and slid back down into the tub, making sure to keep his head above the water.
He rested his head back and thought about the dream he just had. His dark blue eyes stared at the ceiling. The fight between the two sisters, Nightmare Moon and Celestia. What was that all about? He didn’t really know what to think of it since it all felt so real. Nightmare Moon was real and so was Celestia. The school teachers taught him about the two princesses in school, and how one thousand years ago, Celestia disappeared and the tides of the oceans rose to flood the world. He trusted what the school teachers said. School.
His ears perked up at the thought of education. How long had he been asleep? He jumped out of the tub, grabbed a towel and quickly dried off his light blue coat and sea-foam colored mane and tail. He burst through the bathroom door and ran into the kitchen where his mother was. “Mom, what time is it?” He blurted out.
His mother looked at him and looked at the clock. “It’s eight twenty-three. Why?”
Swift rapidly ran his hooves in place, panicking. He wasn’t going to have enough time to walk to school. “Where’s my saddlebag?” He threw his head from side to side looking for his belongings.
“It’s in your room.” His mother stared at him suspiciously. “You’re not going to be late are you?”
He ran into his room shouting, “Oh no, no, I’ll be right on time.” Entering his room he slid into the side of his bed and ran to his desk, pulling his saddlebag off and tossing it onto his back. His mother trotted into his room.
“I told you to never be late. Being late can greatly affect your life, especially if you had a job.”
“I know, I know!” He stopped running his hooves and looked back at his mother. “Wait, why are you still here? Don’t you have a job?”
She smiled nervously as she tried so come up with something to say. “I-I have the day off. Mr. Solace said that he has somepony covering for me.” Swift looked at his mother a little confused for a few moments. She quickly changed the subject saying, “Shouldn’t you be off to school?”
Breaking his suspicions with his mother, he snapped back into the current situation. Panicking again, he bolted out of the room and out the front door leaving his mother behind, her sighing with relief. He ran down the street at top speed, dodging ponies and carts on his way to school. He looked up and saw several Pegasi, flying around faster than he could run. He looked left at a group of Unicorns teleporting objects and themselves to certain places. He grunted and continued running, ignoring the fact that he was an Earth Pony and was at a disadvantage.
Seeing the tall red school house in the distance, his face lit up. He was going to make it! A loud ring came from the tower of the school and his face broke into panic again. Seven more rings and school would start. He pushed himself to run harder as the second ring went off. There was still a lot of distance between him and the school. He kept going as the bell rang its third fourth, fifth and sixth rings. He was almost there but his legs began to fail him. The seventh ring went off and he tripped over his own hoof and began to tumble across the street.
Ponies jumped out of the way as he continued rolling. Just as he hit the school house the eighth ring went off. He was late. He had gotten a few scrapes, but that was the last thing on his mind. Sighing in defeat he pushed himself up and went up the steps of the school house, and entered his classroom with foals hooting at him and calling him late. Attendance was done at the door by the door monitor. The job of door monitor changed every week and he had been door monitor about two weeks ago. He sat in his seat and let his head drop to the desk. The teacher, Ms. Cauliflower, was already going over something about the world outside of the Dome.
The Dome. The one thing, that kept the sea water and the town of Sperohoof separated. Foals are strictly permitted to stay inside the Dome. Once a pony turns the proper age is he or she allowed leaving the Dome. Ponies leave the Dome for several reasons such as trade, visiting other towns or to travel into the unknown. The ones who travel into the unknown are the guardians of each town, the Aqua Knights. Becoming an Aqua Knight meant dedication, determination and protecting the lives of everypony inside the Dome. He had always looked up to the Aqua Knights since his father was one.
“Swift Currents, can you hear me?” The teacher called.
He raised his head, alert. “W-what? Yes?”
“Can you tell the class what the Dome is made of?”
He looked around and the entire class was watching him. He didn’t know what the Dome was made off. Ms. Cauliflower must have said it when he wasn’t paying attention. “Um…really strong…Plexiglas?”
“That is incorrect. It’s made up of Transparent Alumina. Transparent Alumina is three times stronger than steel and is, of course, transparent. I know this is your first time being late, Swift, but please pay attention.” She urged.
He sighed. This was his first time being late and he hated it. Everypony laughing at him and making jokes. He sighed again, laid his chin on his desk and surrounded his mouth with his hooves. He looked down at the flanks of his classmates, looking at each of their Cutie Marks. He hadn’t gotten his yet and he didn’t know why. He had tried a multitude of things from making drawings to building houses. He just didn’t know what to do. He pushed the thought out of his head and listened to the teacher talk about Aqua Knights.
Swift knew just about everything that related to Aqua Knights. He knew that they each had two hoof blades on the top of their hooves that would slide out when needed and a harpoon gun on their hip. He knew that each suit had a large flood light in the center of the chest, two lights on the helmet, a light on each front hoof and lights strung across the suit in case of emergencies. The lights would flash if the pony inside needed assistance with something. Each helmet had sonar which was developed through magic and the helmet’s facemask could flip up along with the visor. They had four hydro jets, two on the back and one on the outside of each of the front hooves. They had exactly ten hours of air inside each oxygen tank and each Knight carried two tanks. The suit itself was made of a very hard alloy which was both waterproof and flexible.
Swift imagined himself inside of a suit, walking around the town being admired and fighting anything that tried to threaten Sperohoof. He smiled at the thought when the bell rang three times. He broke out of his trance and looked around at everypony leaving the classroom for recess. How long was he daydreaming? He shook his head and left his seat, walking out the door. He spotted one of his friends and sat down on the steps next to her. Her name was Lily Blossom. She looked up at him while he sat down.
“What happened? You’re never late?” She asked intrigued. She pulled out a small sandwich and munched on it.
Sighing he looked at the ground, “I fell asleep in the tub.”
She chuckled a little. “That’s your reason? You must have been pretty tired. What’cha dream about?”
Swift’s head quickly rose back up. The dream. He completely forgot about it. He was about to tell her, but stopped himself. Should he really tell her what he saw? He sighed and turned to her. She had been his close friend for a while and he could trust her. “Well, it was a little weird. It was about the two princesses fighting. You know, Nightmare Moon and Princess Celestia.” He was unsure how she would react to that.
She looked at him almost taken back but then looked into her sandwich, thinking. “Nightmare Moon and Princess Celestia, huh? You must have had one wild dream.”
“You don’t believe me, do you?”
“Personally I don’t believe the whole Nightmare Moon, Princess Celestia thing, is real. I think the whole thing is just an old mare’s tale that somehow got in our history books.” She swung the sandwich around, adding gestures to her statement.
“But that can’t be right. The entire dream felt so real, it felt as if I were actually there. I’ve never had a dream like that.”
“I’m sure you just can’t remember having a dream like that. I mean it was a dream, nothing more, nothing less.”
“No, I know I’ve never had a dream like that. “
“It was a dream. Dreams aren’t supposed to be real.”
Swift sat silently, thinking to himself. The dream had to be real, he just knew it. “Everything felt real. The Princesses, the environment, the fighting-“
“Fighting? What were they fighting about?”
“They were fighting each other. There were big explosions and everything. Then there was one giant explosion that knocked them both back and when Celestia went to check on Nightmare Moon, Nightmare Moon sent her to the sun.”
“Now I know that can’t be real. The sun? Really? The sun doesn’t exist either. Like I said before, just another fake thing that was put in our history books. Come on, think about it. It’s been one thousand years or something and there is no proof that any of this happened.”
“Well there were the tides. Nightmare Moon raised the tides right after she sent Celestia to the sun.”
“And that’s it, but even that isn’t enough proof to make me believe anything in your dream actually happened.” She finished off her sandwich and wiped her mouth, turning her full attention to Swift.
Looking off to the side, Swift sighed frustrated. She shot down everything he said with logical explanations. “Well, I think it’s real. I mean, I know what I saw in my dream and it felt real enough to believe.” Almost cutting him off, the bell rang three times signaling recess was over.
Lily got up and began walking inside. “Fine. Believe what you want, but I’m telling you it was just a dream.”
She was stubborn. Although it was annoying, he also admired her a little. She thought differently than most ponies do and because of that she can come up with a very good argument. Swift got up and began to turn just as an explosion went off in the East side of town. He whipped his head back around as black smoke trailed into the sky. His house was near the East side. Ms. Cauliflower ran out the door and quickly grabbed him and pulled him inside.
She closed the door behind her and announced to the panicking class, “I want each of you to sit in your seats and stay calm. I’m sure the authorities can handle it. Just stay ca-“Another explosion cut her off, this one sounding closer.
Swift had to know what was going on. He rushed to the window and looked out, along with several other foals. Fires were beginning to break out and the Dome was filling with smoke. He looked up at the sky and what he saw horrified him. There were several Griffons in armor and helmets dropping what looked to be large packages. When the package fell out of view an explosion followed right after. The packages were bombs. Sperohoof was under attack.
Author's Note
Alrighty, chapter one is finally out! Just like the prologue it is an introduction to give foundation. The prologue was the foundation for the setting and what happened and this is the foundation for the main character. The chapters will get more exciting soon. You better hold on because we're taking our first few steps into hell.
