A worthy challenge

by TheBrushFamily

Rating: everyone
Tags: Tragedy, Sad, Dark, Romance
Length: 2964

even as she looked upon the great spires of her home, she was astounded

At long last, the darkness would consume her.

Published 1970-01-01 00:00:00 UTC
Last updated 2014-07-12 08:42:57 UTC

Chapter one

Princess celestia paced back and forth in front of the large, ornate, oak doors and paused in her pacing. Will i be a good aunt? Will the foal be like my beloved? She shook her head and sat down in the hallway. She said she would come back out soon. Its soon.The princess groaned openly and the guards jumped a little at the sudden outburst.

The guards, guarding the hallway entrance, looked back and shook their heads at the nervous princess. "So, how goes the wait dear sister?" Luna trotted down the hallway and sat down next to her sister. Celestia flinched at the sudden contact, but quickly leaned into the embrace of the smaller alicorn. "I tire of this wait. I want to see her."

Celestia, being as old as she is, was a master at the waiting game. This wait, however, was trying her patience. It wasnt that she didn't like the wait, she loved waiting for things to come, but she didn't like to wait this long for a life to be brought into the world. Her wife, princess of the weather, aurora; has been in her room for over 11 months and hasn't come out yet.

She insisted on being in her room for the pregnancey and she had a reason for it. She wasn't like other alicorn's, no, she was an anicorn. A animorph AND an alicorn. Being half animorph, she could change into certain animals at certain times and on her own free will. She almost bit off the head of a pony who tried to coax her out of her room.

Quite literally.

If she decided to do something, and she often does, she does it. She had a tendancy to take her animorph genes and abuse them; only slightly. She was the definition of a pony prankster.

Celestia opened her eyes and looked to her sister. She had grown up so much since she came back a year ago. She had made many genuine friends, created an example to the fillies and colts, and modernized quite quickly. Her height had increased slightly and her coat took a dark shade of purpleish red instead of the usual dark blue. Her eyes changed slightly, but to the average pony, her eyes would look normal.

But her sister had spent the last millenia with her sister and noticed the change first.

Her eyes had become slightly darker, almost a dark green.

She shook her head and looked to the doors again. "Sister, Are you alright?" Luna had taken a notice to the way her sister was sitting and she didnt like it. When celestia was relaxed, you could tell, but she was sitting as if someone had lit fire to her coat. Her mane was disshelved, her eyes starting to form bags, and she looked ready to run at any moment.

"I am fine sister; just a little tired." She lied. She hated to lie to luna, but if she told her how long its been since she slept last, she would insist that she go to bed. "Princess celestia!" Celestia turned her head at the direction of the new, masculine voice and straighted up when she saw who it was.

Her loyal guard, wind rider, had become the new captian of the guard when shining armor got married. He was a large stallion, almost as big as shining, but he made up for the difference in size with his strength. He had a dark blue coat and a light, short blue mane and tail. His eyes were what drew most of the atention to him. Unlike most ponies, where they were usually round and vibrant, his here more like a dragons. Catlike, dull, and almost lifeless. They were a goldish yellow and made anypony straighten up.

"Princess, i have a letter for you from... her" he shuddered at the mention of...her. Celestia grabbed the letter in her magic, broke the seal, and began to read it aloud; almost in a quiet whisper.

"Dear princess celestia,

I wish to meet your new daughter in the near future and ask for your permission to come to your lands once again. I wish you no harm and, by doing so, i extend the hoof of friendship or claw, in my case. To prove my intentions, i will come with only my trusted guards and nothing more. I trust that, being the co-ruler of equestria, you will leave your guards on high alert, but ple me and my guards passage to see the new princess of equestria. My mate, Firo Bright Scales, is away in the grifforia and will visit at a later date.

With high reguards to you and your wife, Queen Eqius Bright Scales, co-ruler of the badlands."

Luna took the letter from her elder sister and gasped when she finished reading it. "Eqius Bright scales? why would she, of all dragons, want peace with us?" she looked to her sister who, being the eldest, would answer. Well, she would have, had she not run down the hallway to her own chambers and shut the door with a thud.

Luna took the letter, sighed and rolled it up. "Wind rider; i would like for you to keep an eye on my sister. While i tend to somene important." she nodded towards the doors infront of her and passed the letter back to the captian. "Of course, your highness." he bowed slightly and turned to trot to the bedroom that the alibaster alicorn disapeared into. Luna turned to the doors once again and took a deep breath before using her magic to open the large oak doors.

The doors creaked open and the princess of the night felt only one thing: fear. As she walked into the dark room, she wondered if she had a death wish or not, but one thing was for certain; she needed to do this.

weather she wanted to or not.

As the doors swallowed the night princess whole, the guards prayed to Faust that she would come out agian.

In one piece.

Chapter two

Pov: Princess aurora

It's dark here. Oh, so dark and cold. There's no light here; only the emtyness. I want to go home, i dont know where i am, and i hear voices. Sweat voices, dark voices, but voices non the less. I sometimes hear noises i dont recognize, but they seem to keep me here. I don't like the noises. I don't like the voices. I need to get out of here, i want to see the light again, i want to feel to touch of my mare's. I don't feel safe here.

"Hello?" i say into the darkness.

Silence. Not just silence; absolute silence. No echo, no soft creaks: nothing. The darkness... it eats the sound, the air and everything. I dont like the darkness. I want to see my princess' again. My sun, moon, and my dreamer. I miss them.

I feel a pulling sensation on my forhead, no, my horn. I try to ignore it, but the sensation only seems to get more desprate to get my attention. I finally relinguish to it and stand up to fallow it to, where ever its leading me. I stretch a little as i walk on the...ground? I'm not sure what it is, it's light and seems to swallow the darkness. I like it.

I close my eyes and just let it take me by feeling, or tugging, to where it wants me to go. As it leads me, I feel myself changing, physically. I feel the muscles in my back and sides start to tear me open. I open my eyes and see my hooves are growing... appendages.

They look like claws, almost dragon like. I felt my wings growing and growing and growing. My body starts to grow as well, getting bigger and growing, scales? I am used to changing, but it still hurts. I lay on the ground and wait for the pain to subside.

Someone help me. I rest my head on the ground and close my eyes as a tear runs down my cheek.

Princess luna: third person

All the alicorn could see was darkness. She slowly trotted into the dark room and tried to will her eyes to see in the darkness. She then remembered that she had a horn and almost face-hoofed at her moment of stupidity. She lit her horn with the familiar light blue magic and looked around the now dimly lit room.

It was a mess. There were books strewn across the floor, claw marks in the marble, and sheets torn from the large bed. She heard a noise, it was almost undetectable, but she heard it. She slowly turned to look in the direction of the noise and saw a large dragons tail. She fallowed the tail up to a body, no bigger than an adult dragons, and to the massive wings. They were shifting slightly, but remained at the sides of the large creature. She continued along the body up to the long neck, and eventually to the large head, almost touching the ceiling with it's spines and horns on its head.

Her eyes shrunk slightly when she realized were the sound was coming from and only increased slightly as she stood there. She

gulped and tried to back up, but she tripped over a book, and fell onto her rump. "Ouch! oh...that hurt." She rubbed her sore rump and froze when she felt breath on the back of her neck and slowly turned to face the massive dragon. The dragon was growling deep in her throut and did not like the intruder in HER space. She barred her teeth at the small pony and clacked them together in a mock gesture.

Luna wanted to scream, to run, something. But she doesn't. She just sits there and stares into the dark silver eyes in front of her. Unblinking. Unmoveing. Unwelcomeing. She steels herself and, in a moment of bravery, stands back up. The large dragoness is stunned. Oh, so she wants to be brave, huh? Well, i can change that. The moon princess, with all her might, glared at the dragoness. "YOU WILL NOT SCARE US!" she said in a booming voice that she hoped the dragon would back down with.

She's got heart, i'll give her that, but i want to try som- wait. Why does she smell familiar? The large dragoness leaned down with her powerful neck and took a sniff of the pony trying to intimidate her, and failing miserably. She let loose a low growl deep within her throat and the pony in front of her backed down. The moon princess was baffled.

Why hadn't that worked with this dragon? usually when i do that, all the dragons would be too frightened to harm me in anyway. But this one is different. Somehow, but isn't aurora supposed to be in he- oh. The large dragoness kept sniffing the small dark purple-ish red mare and found a scent she recognized. This pony... she is my mate. which means that... Her eyes turned to slits and she looked to the now frightened pony with happiness and a twinge of confussion.

Luna looked into the eyes of the dragoness and saw the eyes of her friend,  wife, and lover. She was about to speak when, her mate aurora, gently licked her cheek. Princess aurora remembered who she was and regained control, if only slightly, of her feral body. She remembered why she went feral, it was instinct. When an animorph becomes pregnant, they take the form of their strongest animal so that they can protect their children.

Aurora's largest form was a black dragoness with sharp horns, claws, and powerful jaws that could break diamond's. Dragoness' were large enough to destroy houses, burn down cities and towns, but they were the most maternal of all the other species. She was no eception. The large dragon closed her eyes and physically moved her throat to allow her vocal cords to connect with her mouth. "I know you, you are the father of my children, aren't you?"

Luna was shocked to hear her speak, but closed her eyes and nodded. "Yes, yes i am." The large dragoness took her wing and used it to pull her mate closer to her. The dark alicorn was startled at the sudden gesture, but looked up at her beloved lovingly. "I must say, i can see your spirit in our duaghters, i chose right when i took you as my mate." Luna looked up at her wife suddenly and tilted her head to the side. "Duaghters?  there's two?" at that the dragoness nodded and moved slowly to the far corner of the large room; wife in tow.

She stopped at the corner and gently lifted the torn sheets from the sleeping figures in the makeshift nest. "Are they not beutiful? come; see your new daughter's." Luna hesitantly went over to the corner of the room the dragoness was at and looked over the shoulder of her mate. What she saw made her heart flutter with joy, for in the makeshift nest, slept two foal's.

The larger of the two was dark red with red and purple hair. When she opened her eyes slightly, she saw light silver eyes, like her loves. The smaller of the two was pure white with red and hot pink hair and her eyes were open and looking up at her large mother. Her eyes were light blue. She giggled and reached up to the dragoness who, with great care, picked up her youngest duaghter in her arms. "I still have not named them yet. Would you like to?" she looked at her mate and smiled genually.

Luna could barely believed what she had heard. She wants me to name them? She looked at her wife, her daughter, and smiled. " i know the perfect name for our youngest daughter." She trotted over the short distance to her mate and kissed her on the cheek.

"How does serion sharptooth windcloud sound to you?" the large dragoness pondered the name i her mind for a moment before she nodded and looked at her newly named daughter who was playing with her hair.

She kissed her duaghter on the cheek, careful not to hit her horn, and looked over at her eldest daughter. "What about her? she still need's a name." Luna walked over to the larger of her daughters and pondered what to name her. To help her think, she picked up the foal in her magic, and gently lied down with her in her crossed hooves.

"What shall i call you dear?" the foal stared at her mother and yawned, "poor filly; need to sleep don't you." The foal sniffed and closed her eyes and unexpectanly started to whimper slightly. Luna's eyes widened before she realized just what the foal needed from her. She picked up the foal in her magic and shifted her position so that her teats were acceptable to her foal.

She set the foal down next to them and the foal quickly found her way to the nearest teat and, with what could be assumed as care, latched onto it; sucking it gently. Luna winced at the sudden contact, but relaxed when she felt her daughter suckle on her teat. She looked at the foal again and noticed how quick she was at finding the source of food. "Swift dawn windcloud." she said out loud to her wife. "Swift? that's a wonderful name darling."

The two mother's sat in content silence with the occasional hiccup of their eldest daughter suckling. That silence was broken, however, when their youngest started to cry. Aurora rolled her eyes and started to sing a lullaby she heard her own mother sing to her long ago.

She sang in a sweat voice, quite unlike a dragon's.

"Hush-a-bye, dont you cry,

go to sleep, my little filly.

When you wake, you shall have.

All the pretty little horses."

Luna was rocking her foal in her arms, just listening to the sweat voice of her lover.

"Dapples and greys, pinto's and bay's,

All the pretty little horses.

Way down yonder, in the meadow.

poor little filly, crying mama."

The princess of the night set her foal into the makeshift nest, sound asleep.

"Bird's and the butterflies,

Flutter round her eyes.

Poor little filly, crying mama.

Hush-a-bye, don't you cry,

go to sleep, my little filly."

The great dragoness continued to sing to her dreary filly with her wife next to her, watching her filly calm down and start to drift to sleep.

"When you wake, you shall have.

All the pretty little horses.

Dapples and greys, pinto's and bay's,

All the pretty little horses."

The dragoness hummed the song for a few more moment's before getting up, with the filly cradled in her massive arm, and set her next to her older sister with a kiss before she pulled the tattered covers over the sleeping pair. She watched them sleep for a few more moments before she turned silently to the massive bed and walking to it. She got on and possitoined herself to accomidate her mate before lifting a wing to allow her love up onto  the bed.

The princess of the night smiled and trotted up to the bed, took off her regalia with her magic, and settled into the arms of her love.

Aurora layed her wing protectivly over her lover and kissed her forhead.

She watched her wife and foals fall asleep before she lowered her eyelid's to greet the bliss of sleep.

Contentment, happiness, and joy. Those are what the dragon felt wrapped around her wife with her foal's within reach of her.

She was happy.