Element of the Spirit

Height of the Summer Sun Festival

-11 hours remain-

Twilight and myself walked slowly through the large crowd of ponies inside the town hall. Twilight seemed very nervous about something, but she wouldn't tell me why. I could understand to a degree: she had just met me, and probably wasn't very comfortable with speaking to me about one of her problems. But then again, what if this was a matter that would affect all the ponies in this room, like the Nine Eleven chariot bombings of Manehattan's trade towers. The more I thought about it, the more concerned I got.

While I was lost in thought, I lost track of Twilight in the crowded, which was sorta ironic considering that aside from Big Mac, I was the tallest pony in the room. She was my charge and I had lost her, and that would make me look bad. That didn't bode well with me.

I set out into the crowd, looking for Twilight. It was not easy to navigate through the living labyrinth of ponies in the building. I would turn and walk a few paces and have to completely alter my course every few seconds. I swear, it was as if Discord himself were directing the crowd just to spite me.

I eventually found myself at the front of the crowd, much to my dismay. I never liked being able to be seen by everypony, and being as tall as I was didn't help. It seemed like my arrival at the front was like a trigger for the event to start, simply because l got to the front just as the mayor began to announce Princess Celestia's arrival.

All noise in the room stopped and everypony turned to face the balcony upon which Celestia would enter the room in all her glory. Now call it what you wish, but I had a bad feeling in my stomach as soon as the curtain raised. Celestia was not here, and a swirling darkness was beginning to form another alicorn. Now I couldn't place it at this time, but I think that I've seen her before. I knew upon gazing at this midnight black alicorn she was bad news. Just her aura alone was sickening and evil.  Against my better judgement, I leapt into the air and drew my sword from its scabbard. As soon as I was airborne, the dark alicorn's gaze was on me, and she smirked! I couldn't believe it; she had the audacity to just look at me and think I was too weak to even bother with. If I had a cucco right now, she would be regretting everything about that choice.

Acting like the idiot I was, I flew straight at her, and brought a vicious swing of my sword down on her head. Or at least I would have if she hadn't caught my sword with her left had and let me have a nice punch to my side. She then levitated me in front of her with her magic.

Oh goddesses above, she was going to spin kick me. And spin kick me she did. Right in the same spot she punched me in.

"Clever girl," I said as I was launched out of the Town Hall, all the way to my house, and into my bed, upon which a particular blue cucco was sitting on. Naturally I did the same thing that most flying objects do; I fell, and I landed right on top of the blue cucco.

-meanwhile-

Across Ponyville, Nightmare Moon was about to address the rest of the crowed gathered since she was rudely interrupted by a sword wielding moron. Suddenly a noise of the likes of which she hadn't heard since the time of her banishment. A terrible sound, striking fear into even  Nightmare herself; a cucco caw, the offspring of the Demon Chicken and a cockatrice. Nightmare Moon suppressed a shudder and tried to continue addressing the crowd.

-back at my house, or what was left of it-

I had jumped down my stairs as soon as He let out that caw, or laugh (never could tell with him.) But I seriously need to come up with a better name for that cucco. Maybe I could sit him down one of these days, look him dead in those cold, soulless eyes, and ask him what he wants to be called. But if he's truly  as evil as I think he is, then He will kill me and then that's that.

He wasted no time following me, cawing (or laughing) all the way down the stairs. I got halfway to my front door before I heard something fall and break, and it sounded like one of my priceless rune cases. Runes, back in the days of Discord's rule, could be used by any species of creature attuned to any form of Equis' magic, and that crazy bird had broken one of the last collections of runes in existence. I could tolerate many things: being stuck on an Island in the middle of nowhere, retarded nobles, even everypony's misconceptions about Pinkie ( I swear to the Great fairy, she is the most sane and normal pony on this planet) but that was the final straw.

I turned around and looked over to where the rune case had been, and sure enough, He had destroyed the display, and,  surprisingly, had eaten all the rune stones. I found Him sitting next to the broken display just looking content as ever. That struck me as one of the oddest things in the world; He never messed with it before, and He always went past it when he came into my house uninvited.

Could runes be used to calm down a raging cucco? If so I could try to learn how to make runes again. Then I could probably use cuccos as a special line of Ponyville's defense. Maybe that was just wishful thinking, but at least He was calmed down, at the price of my precious runes. With the blue menace calmed down to his normal self, or at least what seemed like it,  I slowly exited my house.

Night of Eternity

-10 hours remaining-

Once I was outside of my house, I drew my sword from its scabbard. Reading the inscription on the hilt ("In darkest need and gravest age, draw this blade and speak my name") and said "Arbiter come forth."

A light began to emit from the sword and a shadowy figure began to take form on ground. The figure stood straight up and I caught the sight of a small grin.

"You called, my lord," came the commanding voice of Arbiter. I swear I'll never get used to how his voice sounds.

"Yes, old friend. I require your assistance in finding the mare known as Twilight Sparkle."

"Sire, what you ask is much too simple; had you considered checking Golden Oaks, you would have found her." Arbiter stated with no trace of mirth in his voice. He started to disappear as quick as he came, but not before I called him a smart ass, to which I was whacked by the cane of an old donkey walking by at that precise moment. I probably deserved that.

Holding my head, I flew over to Golden Oaks as fast as I could.

-5 minutes later-

As soon as I landed in front of the library door, I was caught behind the door as it flew open faster than any normal object of that door's size and shape should ever go, unless your door is a revolving door that has been recently oiled. As soon as the door closed, I fell, muzzle-first mind you, into the cobblestone street.

Upon contact with the ground, I mumbled "Somepony get me the number of the cart that hit me," and felt myself get lifted into the air with magic.

A few minutes and a bucket of cold water later, I stood in the company of six familiar mares. We stood in front of the Everfree, close to the place where I first entered the forest as a colt.

"So, let me guess; that creepy mare that speaks just like I used to is at that abandoned castle fortress in the Everfree. You also want me to me you to the castle since I'm the only pony in Ponyville who would have any knowledge on how to navigate the forest safely." I stated bluntly. I only recived a few nods and a thumbs up from Rainbow and Applejack, but that was good enough for me.

It took the seven of us nearly twenty minutes to reach the Sacred Path. We came across a few minor obstructions, such as old worn bridges, a bunch of trees that I found hilarious but creeped out the girls in ways I couldn't comprehend at the present time, and a manticore that had a thorn in one of its paws. But other than that, we had a very quiet walk in the woods.

As we neared the edge of the Forsaken Woods, I heard timberwolves. A memory I had hidden in the deepest reaches of my mind returned, haunting me again for the first time in over seven years.

I stood in the large clearing known only as the Solar Grove. It had been almost two years since I had arrived with Leafy Breeze and her friends in this comfortable little village. Since then, I had acquired a literal treehouse, a timberwolf pup, became one of the protectors of the village, and had even been invited by Leafy to see the monument of the sun and moon a few times.

In a large clearing to the east there lies a small monument that was erected in honor of the alicorn sisters, although the monument for Luna was eroded and covered in moss. By contrast, Celestia's monument gleamed brilliantly, the marble polished with great care.

As Leafy and I walked into the massive clearing today, I noticed for the first time that there was a second entrance to the clearing and decided to asked her about it.

Leafy was silent for a few minutes, and I told her she didn't have to say anything about it if she didn't want to.

"No, I don't mind; it's just weird to be asked about that. To understand this completely, you'll need to know a little more about our history. What you've lived in for the past two years is just  half of the Solar Grove. A very long time ago the Children of the Night also found a home here in the Solar Grove, but it was called the Celestial Meadow back then. There was a long period of peace in the land; the three tribes were united under the Pony Sisters, and Discord was imprisoned. However, Princess Luna became envious of her sister due to a multitude of different conditions. Ultimately Luna became Nightmare Moon and fought Celestia for the right to rule over pony kind. Celestia, with the help of a Stallion of undying Spirit, defeated Nightmare Moon with the Elements of harmony. The stallion's body was destroyed, but his spirit took the form of a seventh element. This element lay resting in the Sacred Forest Meadow, waiting in a deep slumber for the return of Nightmare Moon." Leafy sighed and continued with her tale.

"The other entrance that you noticed leads to the Forsaken Clearing. That was where the Children of the Moon used to live before they were banished to the moon along with Nightmare Moon. We don't go there unless we have to get an important nocturnal plant for a potion. But now that you mention it, we do need a few things from the village," she said to me, using the puppy eyes technique on me. I sighed deeply and followed Leafy to the entrance to the Forsaken Clearing.

We walked for a few minutes before I heard the familiar flapping of leathery wings. That did not bode well with me at all. I instantly drew my sword and passed Leafy my slingshot. A large group of keese suddenly burst out of a nearby tree and thus the fight began. There were nearly twelve of them, three normal, three fiery, two ice, and a large one with a combination of all three. I took on the fire keese knowing all too well what they could do to Leafy's livingwood body. The keese started to dive at me like they normally do and then I went to work with my sword. Two were gone in a puff of black smoke before they knew what hit them. The last one fled but was hit by a well aimed shot from Leafy. The Ice keese were all gone thanks to Leafy's marksmareship. That left the normal keese and combination keese. All three of the normal keese started to circle me, so Leafy took the opportunity to hit every single one of the normal keese out of the air before they could close in on me. Furious at the loss of its kin, the large keese dived for Leafy, who bare jumped out of the way of its flaming wings. The keese quickly whipped around to catch her while she was still disoriented. Seeing her in danger, I threw my sword at the keese, slicing a good chunk of its wing off, and catching my sword as it returned like a boomerang.

The large keese hit the ground like a rock and let out a blood curdling screech as it blew up into a large plume of black and green smoke. As soon as the smoke cleared, I walked over to where Leafy sat in the cold grass. Extending my hand, I lifted her up and dusted her green tunic off. I handed her a bottle of red healing potion, and watched as she downed a third of the bottle and placed the rest carefully into her magic pouch.

"You need to be a little more careful, ok.You could have been seriously hurt." I said while tending to a tear in my own green tunic. "Are you sure you really think we need those herbs and materials? I'd hate for us to risk ourselves if there was no need for these materials."

She looked at me and slowly nodded. "If they weren't needed I wouldn't have had you stand and fight those keese."

"Ok, but if we find anymore keese, or anything more dangerous for that matter, then we leave with or without the stuff."

We walked the path for about five more minutes before we came into a rundown village filled with all sorts of bioluminescent plants. The pale light of the foliage cast an eerie glow over the surrounding area.

"Alright, lets be quick about this," I said earnestly. "This place is beginning to freak me out."

"Ok, we just need to grab a few mushrooms, a sprig or two of guam leaf, and four pounds of marrentill. They all grow together so we don't need to go too far into the village."

As Leafy and I walked to the place we could find the herbs, I noticed a thick mist had begun to settle over the village. Dark thunderclouds began to let out an occasional lightning strike in the distance and a decent amount of rain began to fall at a steady rate. We quickened our pace and found the herbs and mushrooms at the entrance to what looked like a shrine to Luna. Dark energies seemed to resonate from the statue out into the surroundings, casting an intricate web of darkness and despair outward into the village's decaying timbers.

Gathering what we needed, we turned to leave when suddenly a bolt of lightning struck the ground in front of us, knocking us off our feet. The impact sent us about ten feet back, but what really scared us was what stood before us. A large alicorn clad in lunar armor and wielding a blade of darkness stood rigidly at the base of the shrine. Its breathing was the only thing that gave any indication of it being alive, but what was scary was the predatory look in its eyes. She looked the pair of us over from head to hoof and shook her head.

"Little foals should not be out taking a stroll in the Lost Woods after twilight. Thou may find more than thou bargained for hiding amongst the tree line." She said with venom, giving a deathly cold glare at Leafy. "Forestborn know better than to test the wills of the fates. Thy life was forfeit the moment thou entered into my realm, the realm of Nightmare Moon. Look long and hard at the face of your coltfriend, for it be the last you will see."

With a swift lung, Nightmare Moon placed a good seven inches of pure hatred into the chest cavity of Leafy Breeze, extinguishing the light of her beautiful emerald green eyes. running frantically to my friend's side, I cradled her in my arms as she breathed her last, golden amber flowing like a river onto my tunic.

Turning my head to face Nightmare Moon, I looked her dead in the eyes. "WHY!" I screamed at the top of my lungs, hearing my voice crack with a sob.

"SILENCE! The filly was a sage, a keeper of our prison. Be grateful we do not end you in the same fashion. No, we are feeling generous tonight; we shall grant thou the burden of carrying the soul and conscious of this filly. Bear this curse as a reminder of who granted thou mercy this eve. Next time we meet thou might not be as lucky."

She thrust her hand out and a dark blue aura surrounded Leafy's body and a light blue form rose from it and flew into me. I could immediately hear a thought that wasn't my own invade my mind. But my focus was on what was happening to Leafy's body. Her corpse was morphing into the shape of a timberwolf, but the eyes were a feral yellow instead of the natural green. I hurried to my hooves and began to run out of the village, hearing the howl of a feral timberwolf for the first time in my life. Nightmare Moon's cold laughter followed me out of the clearing, haunting me every step I took until I collapsed in the safety of my bed. Terrified, I closed my eyes and hid beneath a large woolen blanket until I could no longer hear the laughter of the devil in my fragile mind.

I lurched forward off the ground as I came back to reality. I was breathing deeply and had my sword drawn, the action scaring the six mares that surrounded me with looks of concern.

'Shh, take it easy Jonathan; it was only a memory. I'm still here for you, just relax and focus on the task at hand.'

"Thank you Leafy, I'll try everything within my power to return you to your body, just hang in there old friend," I mumbled to myself incoherently. "Alright," I said while jumping up from the ground and dusting my tunic off. "Who's ready to end this night?" I asked, getting a simple raise of hands from everypony. "Good, lets get started."