Chapters H.P. Hoofcraft: Shadow Of The Sun
Prologue: Fever Dreams Of A Disturbed Mind
I lay in my bed, my throat dry and my head aching, a bitter cold filling the night air of my home. My eyes are dry, they sting and the skin around them begin to tighten, it becomes harder and harder to keep them open. I force dry gulps of air down my throat, without the aid of my nose, I undoubtedly would have choked. I step out of my bed and light an old lantern with the book of matches resting beside it on my nightstand. I grab the lantern in my mouth and leave my room, descending the stairs and passing a diagonal line of photographs on the wall to my left. Photographs. Memories. Memories almost lost to my own foolish reclusion and my work, leaving me shunned by the others, the inhabitants of Ponyville. My eyes sting as tears form atop them. I gently place my hoof upon an old photograph, yellowed, crusty and cracked through time. I tilt my head forth and my tears of nostalgia fall to the ground from a single blink of my reddened eyes.
“Goodbye, mother.”
For the second time, I bid her farewell, and for the second time, a whisper, accompanied by tears I know she can neither hear, nor feel. I notice my front door, barely open, a small sliver whistling as the wind blows through it. I walk to my door, opening it, slowly, hoping that the door being open was only a momentary absence of mind on my part, and not some cosmic horror whom I had summoned in my studies of the occult or, worse still, a pony, a familiar, grey, doctor, with a warrant, looking to send me to Arkham or a servant of the old ones, wishing me to join their ranks. A strong gust of unnatural wind summons the door forth, outwards of my small cottage, and, revealing to me a pony.
The pony stood there, close to ten feet away from my home, shrouded in a large, beige trench coat which billowed in the strong wind, and, atop their head, a fedora, as beige as the coat, staying on their head against all laws of gravity. The hat shrouded the ponies face in a dark shadow, the only part of their face visible being their eyes, yellow and seemingly glowing through the darkness and thick smoke surrounding their head.
I slowly walk forward, getting all but five feet away from the mysterious figure before placing the lantern at my hooves.
“Nog ron shagg”
It speaks a language, neither foreign to my ears, nor familiar. Memories of fever dreams fill my head and I understand.
“No.”
I reply, coldly to the creature and my ears fill with loud, rhythmic banging. The world around me dissipates and the glow of the creatures eyes become a separate entity of the pony form it had formerly possessed. Both eyes becoming a single blinding light, stinging my eyes as the banging become louder and louder and the light becoming brighter and brighter, the stinging of my eyes becoming burning on my flesh. Hotter and hotter, louder and louder. I scream as it all becomes too much, my grey flesh becoming redder and redder, before blistering under the intense heat.
Abruptly, it all stops, my burning flesh, the loud banging, echoing in my ears, only the blinding light remained. slowly, my eyes begin to adjust to the light, my curtains, wide open revealing to me Celestias bright, scorching sun. My surroundings become clear to me. I lay atop a bed, dampened from sweat that still sticks to my hair, my mane, heavy and draping my shoulders as an impatient knock reverberates through my humble cottage. I quickly make my way to my front door, pressing my eye against the peephole and evaluating the creature that had disturbed my disturbing slumber. It’s a pony, again, but fortunately, now without the unnatural glowing eyes. I open the door and greet the the stallion standing on my porch. The stallion is tall, with a slicked back purple mane and a dark pink coat, complemented by a bright pink tie worn on his black collar.
“Why, hello. Is there anything I can do for you?”
I wear a warm, inviting grin on my face as the stallions face contrasts it with a cold, expressionless face.
“Ma'am, I’m Going to have to ask you to come with me.”
I adopt a more formal expression and reply in an even tone.
“May I ask where?”
There is something else on his collar I notice.
“Canterlot, the royal crown requests your presence.”
A small badge, silver with a blue outline.
“This is such short notice, May I even ask which crown?”
A crescent moon.
“The crown of the night, princess Luna requests an audience with you.”
In little time, I found myself sat beside the stallion in a chariot, black with a blue interior, pulled by two heavily armoured pegasi, inconspicuous in spite of its regency. Through a dark night, we quickly arrive at Canterlot. The chariot lands atop a small structure extended from Canterlot palace. As we step off of the chariot and onto the cold stone of the palace's extension we are greeted by a tall, slender figure, draped in a brown, tattered cloak. The royal boom in her voice allowed me to deduce that this was in fact Princess Luna.
“Ms. Hoofcraft, I’ve been expecting you, please come.”
She turned, waving me into her den atop Canterlot Palace.
H.P. Hoofcraft: Shadow Of The Sun
Chapter 1: A Royal Audience
As I followed the Princess into her den, the doors silently closed behind me, whether this was the will of the wind or the aid the Princess’ magic remains a mystery to me. She pulled the hood from her head and walked over to a table, on which where many maps and scrolls, the crispy, yellow paper unfurled on the table and held down by assorted mugs, rocks and other paperweights. Princess Luna placed her fore hooves onto the table. She spoke under her breath.
“I have requested your presence here because I believe that your knowledge of the occult may be vital in solving the latest crisis to grace the kingdom.”
I stepped closer, the mere mention of a crisis requiring knowledge of the occult simultaneously exciting me and filling me with dread. I halted the slight grin that began to curl from my lips and my face contorted to an expression of unease.
As the princess’ horn was engulfed by a glowing aura of blue magic, a large, leather bound book floated into view, engulfed by the same magical aura. The book was quickly place onto the table and flipped open, the front of the book connecting with the parchment beneath it with a dull thud. The princess quickly flipped through the pages of the book before stopping on a page on which one could see a large symbol, and several paragraphs of text on the opposite page.
The symbol was familiar, it was the royal sun, but it seemed different, wrong, some may even say unnatural. It was the royal sun, there was no doubt about that, but instead of yellow, the symbol was a dark green or black. I attempted to rationalize it, the book was clearly ancient, perhaps yellow ink was a concept the creators of this book were ignorant of. I then realised the colour wasn’t what disturbed me about the image. The lines radiating off of the sun were not normal, they appeared skinnier, slimier, more tendril like. I creeped closer to discover that the inner circle of the insignia bore words.
“Nog ron shagg”
Shocked, I quietly whispered to myself. The princess quickly moved her head up from the book, staring into my eyes.
“You know these words? What do they mean?”
I stumbled back, fear overtaking me. The royal boom in the Princess’ voice had returned. I stuttered, choking on my own words.
“It’s a dead language of mysterious origin. The same language has been found carved into ancient stones found in the ocean and lakes within the Everfree.”
I finally manage to spit out an explanation and I see concern form on Princess Luna’s face. She begins to tell me a story. Long before the reign of the royal sisters, three pony tribes had divided the land amongst themselves, occasionally warring over the territory now known as Equestria. During a particularly fierce war between the pegasi and the earth ponies, a small group of earth ponies believed that the continued conflict between the two tribes would result in the extinction of the earth pony race, and thus, they left. It was said that the followers of North Star, as they would come to be known, North Star being their leader, disappeared deep in the mountains. The earth pony tribe soon developed many myths and legends around the legend of North Star, who led a small army of stallions, mares and foals to their death, or to paradise, depending on who you ask.
The official royal records indicate that an emissary from the small colony arrived at the newly constructed Canterlot, and death followed him. Though his name was lost to the ages, he is remembered as the herald of chaos, as on the very same day he arrived, the age of chaos began, the age when Discord, the spirit of chaos ruled the land of Equestria. Princess Luna spoke of the colony as if it truly where a myth, until she began to talk about Book Case. Several moons ago, she told me, an earth pony travelled from far north, seemingly without rest or nourishment. He had walked from beyond the eyes of the royal sisters. From deep into the unknown, he emerged, battered and broken. He is still being treated at Canterlot royal hospital, Princess Luna informed me that he was under special protection there. She told me to go to him, and I did.
I am escorted to the Canterlot royal hospital by the same stallion who had come to my home in Ponyville. He leads me to a small room guarded by two large stallions in golden royal guard armour. I enter the room to find another stallion. His coat was dirty, his light grey hair almost blackened by countless specs of dirt. His mane, ruffled and matted with the same specs of dirt adorning his body. He moved without grace, constantly twitching and darting his head in multiple directions. He looked at me, gritting his teeth and slowly creeping backwards. I looked into his eyes, yellowed and bloodshot, with deep bags hanging beneath them. I spotted a clipboard at the foot of the bed in the center of the room. I slowly walked over to it, keeping a close eye on the twitching stallion who had backed himself into a corner. I took up the clipboard in one hoof and began to read it, adjusting my large, thick, circular spectacles on my muzzle. Severe schizophrenia, vivid hallucinations, voices, the symptoms wouldn’t have been hard to gather from his physical appearance, though I would have expected a certain degree of malnourishment to be present on the clipboard. I placed the clipboard back on the bed and began to walk closer to the patient.
“Book Case, I presume?”
I attempted to lower my voice to sound as soft as possible, warm and motherly. He lifted his head to see me, and then nodded . He began to stand, more naturally, though still shaky and twitchy. He told me that the voices told him to expect me. I asked him what voices, and my worst fears were confirmed.
“They call themselves… The old ones.”
I swallowed my fear and asked him where he came from.
“Far north, there’s a mountain range. It’s tall and circular, but in the center, my ancestors formed a settlement, a paradise, pure and clean. A land where only earth ponies tread. It was beautiful, ma’am.”
Then it was true, the legend of North Star was more than a myth. He spoke highly of the colony, but why would he leave? I asked him and he told me. He was branded a heretic, why he was branded as such, he wouldn’t tell me. I asked that he accompany me to meet Princess Luna and he obliged. Though the doctors were opposed to releasing Book Case, they were unwilling to argue with somepony who had a royal escort.
We swiftly arrive at the front gates of Canterlot palace, where a group of royal guards lead us to a small room, far to the back of the palace. The room didn’t share the same regality as the rest of the palace, or the intimacy of Princess Lunas den. Two of the guards stand by the doors as I entered the room, closely followed by Book Case. We met Princess Luna in the small room. The princess was conversing with three other ponies, an aquamarine unicorn, her face, widely spread into a smile, a swift contrast with the light apple greenish gray earth pony, putting her hoof to her face beside the unicorn. I notice the third pony in the corner, a creature shrouded in a brown cloak, with two, yellow, glowing ovals, peering out from behind it.
The Princess turns her gaze towards me and Book Case, behind me. She introduces us to the unicorn and her partner, an anthropologist and her assistant, Lyra Heartstrings and Bon Bon respectively. I share a hoof shake and a pleasant greeting with the two ponies before my gaze returns to the shrouded creature in the corner. Princess Luna notices my wandering gaze and steps to my side, before calling out to the creature with her characteristic booming regality.
“Breeze, you may unshroud yourself.”
With hesitation, the creature raises a hoof to it’s shoulder, lightly yanking the brown cloak wrapped around its body. The cloak fell to the floor, and rested at the hooves of the creature.
Princess Luna informs me that the creature is a bat pony, a subset of the pegasi whose origins remain shrouded in mystery. She also informs me that the bat pony was named Night Breeze. I shake Night Breeze’s hoof and turn to the Princess.
“Your majesty, may I inquire as to the relevance of these ponies to the issues we were discussing earlier?”
She nods.
“You may. I feel that this team would prove to be a useful asset in this investigation. Though Ms. Heartstrings is a noted anthropologist, she and her partner have had experience with the occult and supernatural phenomena. And as for Night Breeze, I don’t think I need to tell you that a creature such as a bat pony would be useful in this situation, especially considering that she is my right hand mare, I would like there to be some form of royal presence on this expedition.”
I nod and the same royal agent from earlier enters the room.
“Eclipse will show you to your room. You don’t mind staying the night do you?”
I shake my head, forgetting my life in ponyville for an opportunity at a single adventure. The princess nods.
“Good.”
The agent I now know as Eclipse leads my to my room with nary a single word. He opens my door and waves me in, closing it behind me. Though I bristle with excitement, I sleep easy, dreams of old gods and the unknown dancing through my eased mind.
H.P. Hoofcraft: Shadow Of The Sun
I am awoken the following morning by the sound of ringing bells atop my head, and the smell of cooked eggs wafting by.
“Breakfeast.”
I mumbled to myself, licking my lips that had already contorted into an idiots grin. I held my hoof to the ringing dinner bells, silencing them. I took my spectacles from the bedside table and allowed them to rest on the tip of my muzzle, before brushing my mane into a presentable fashion. As I pull the brush from my mane for a final time, loose strands of hair tearing out with the brush,the door opens behind me, once again, Eclipse summons me to the Princess, though now for the much more casual affair of breakfeast.
As I pushed past the large wooden doors towering above me into the the dining area, I was greeted by a long table, roughly six yards long. It was apparent that I had enjoyed the luxurious beds for far longer than the the other guests as they had already dug into the full breakfeast laid out before each of them, though the Princess was oddly absent.
I took a place beside Book Case, who was alone, staring into his full plate as the fork in his hoof broke and tore through the variety of eggs atop the fine china. Out of the corner of his eye, he briefly glanced at me, before quickly looking back down to the yellow mounds of scrambled eggs taking up a majority of the breakfeast plate. It was apparent he hadn’t ate, only disturbed the breakfeast.
I spoke not a word as I carefully studied him, his mental state still a concern to me, as he would be joining us on the expedition. A perturbed expression began to overtake the stallions face, and so I averted my gaze to the mare on the opposite side of the table. Lyra had dug into the meal with a ferocity akin to a manticore with a thorn in it’s paw, though I doubt such a beast would gleam with such delight as it tore into it’s prey. Though Bon-Bon had attempted to contain herself and enjoy her meal in a much more regal manner, she had seemed quite accustomed to the manner in which Lyra ate. I, myself had lacked anything of an appetite that morning as more and more questions came to my mind about the expedition. I took a piece of the scrambled egg in my fork and and rested it on my tongue, not wanting to appear rude in the presence of royalty. There was no denying that it was one of the most well prepared eggs I had had in my time, however, I managed to stifle my excitement as a thought came to mind. There was a face missing at the table. I turned my head back and forth, searching for the bat pony I had been introduced to the previous night. As my curiosity reached an apex, I finally spoke to myself.
“Where could Night Breeze be?”
Having heard my mumbled queries, Lyra had ceased shoveling the variety of eggs into her mouth and swallowed, a massive lump descending down her throat before she leaned over the table, bringing herself mere inches from my own face. She whispered.
"I can't say anything for sure, but my research tells me that bat ponies are nocturnal, so she’s probably still asleep.”
the very moment she finished her sentence, she dove once more unto the meal, with the same ferocity as previously. Book case slowly lifted his head towards me, and below his breath, began to mutter.
“They can wear cloaks, though.”
Both I and Lyyra immediately turned our gaze towards the stallion, amazed that he had attempted to join a conversation of his own accord.
“E-excuse me?”
I stuttered, still in shock.
“The old legends say that they can wear cloaks to shield themselves from the holy fire of Celestia’s sun.”
I slowly creeped closer to him, believing that an extended conversation would be best to achieve before our departure.
“I don’t believe I’m familiar with these legends. Perhaps you could enlighten me?”
I was, of course, quite familiar with the old tales, being rather infatuated with them in my youth and extensively studying them during my adolescence. I did however believe it important for Book Case to appear as an asset to the team.
He went on, relaying onto me information from countless bat pony legends. I stared at him, slack jawed. I soon realised myself and brought my hoof to my muzzle, closing it. After a brief, awkward silence a gong was struck.
Each of our heads immediately snapped towards the source of the noise to find Princess Luna standing at the head of the table. She spoke.
“Now that you have all had some rest, I believe the time has come for you to embark upon this expedition. I have told you all you need to know. You will be boarding a train to the Crystal Empire shortly. You will then walk to the mountains with the aid of a guide. I wish I could accompany you on this journey, but my duties as Princess Of The NIght restrict me.”
She lowered her head and stepped away from the head of the table. Eclipse takes her place, clearing his throat.
He waved us towards the same carriage that had brought me here, and, before I knew it, we had departed for the expedition.
Author's Note
I'm really sorry that I haven't been able to write as much as I used to. My laptop caught fire a few months ago and I'm currently broke. I should be able to get a new laptop around Christmas. I hope you enjoy what I managed to pound down in between classes.
H.P. Hoofcraft: Shadow Of The Sun
Chapter 3: A Trek To The Mountains
We journey across the Equestrian landscape. The beautiful cities which the Royal Equestrian Railway ran through are truly a sight to behold. The train crawls from Canterlot through Fillydelphia until we meet with the frozen wasteland surrounding the Crystal Empire. It takes no longer than for me to take a final sip of my coffee as the train barrels through the fierce blizzard in our path. We soon pulled to a stop, the train coming to screeching halt outside of the Crystal Empires central train station.
We are immediately greeted by our guide, a griffon, a surprise neither welcomed nor shunned, but a surprise nonetheless. The griffon was prepared for the treacherous mountains of the icy north. A scarf was tightly wrapped around the griffons head, obscuring all of its features, save for a peak of the creatures beak and its sharp, piercing eyes. A thick, worn tarp of cotton hung from the griffons body, held on by saddle bags, strapped to either side of the griffon.
The creatures voice boomed through its shroud as it exchanged pleasantries with my party, before finally coming to me.
"I am Gertrude, of the Griffon kingdom. I was asked to lead you into the mountains by your queen."
The beast held its talons out, expectantly. I politely took it, limply shaking as I mumbled to the creature.
"Princess, actually. Princess Luna of the night. She had not informed me beforehand that our guide was not actually pony folk."
I noticed a look of confusion in the creatures eyes as I quickly slung my saddle bag on, clearing my throat as I attempted to change the subject into something less sensitive.
"Shall we be off?"
The creature quickly shook its head, before stuttering in agreement.
The trek to the mountains was not as long as I had predicted, but, in fact, longer. The superstitious ponies of Equestria past had avoided the mountains for centuries before the eve of technology, so much so that there was not even a simple foot path leading from the crystal empire to the mountains. My party and I relied on the intuition of a Griffon, an emissary from a foreign land who somehow had a better understanding of Equestrias landscape than us.
The road we travelled was indeed dangerous, with our path often obscured by a heavy blizzard and the very floor beneath often becoming the victim of numerous small avalanches. after hours of climbing vertically up the mountain, it becomes clear that the rest of my party was not only obscured by snow, they were gone completely. As I feel a cold embrace enthrall my body,it suddenly becomes harder to move, to breathe, to keep my eyes open.