Shadows Of The Night
Chapter One
By Forestshadows
As the One Thousandth Summer Sun Celebration draws near I can't shake this feeling of foreboding. Through all the research I've done over the past few months, I've learned one solid fact. The Mare in the Moon, the fable we all hear as little foals, is a real pony. I've never felt this way before in my life. Never so surethat something will happen.
Ever since the beginning of summer I've been plagued with these unexplainable headaches, especially when the moon is full. The nights the moon is full there is no sleep for me. I feel drawn into the forest, to an old castle, to the castle of the Royal Pony Sisters.
The first time I had an unexplainable headache and the first time I felt drawn into the forest is why I begun my research. The feeling that started then only gets stronger and the headaches only get worse as the celebration draws closer.
What’s most troubling is that I don’t know if these coming events are for good or ill… Do I want it to come? Something that has been missing from Equestria nigh on one thousand years... I do not know.
Shadow gently blew on the ink before shutting her journal and preparing to go about her day. The mare stretched her wings and trotted into the next room where a baby panther was lying asleep on the couch. Shadow had rescued her nearly six months ago from a group of Timberwolves, after she failed to find the mother she took her home and nursed her back to health
“Ebony, time to get up, little one,” Shadow crooned, nuzzling the panther as she yawned and stretched adorably. Ebony hopped off the couch and curled around the her forelegs affectionately, looking up with bright eyes that asked for breakfast. Shadow chuckled. “You know I don't have any food for you yet, Ebony. It's out in the pond.” She shook her head and stepped away from the cub, careful not to step on her tail.
Shadow grabbed her water bucket from the kitchen and trotted to the door, glancing back at her pet “You behave while I'm gone, you hear?” She said, slightly muffled by the worn wooden handle of the bucket in her mouth, and stepped out onto the balcony.
Shadow's home was a tall old tree situated on the edge of The Everfree Forest and just a short flight from Ponyville. The mare took a moment to enjoy the fresh and gentle breeze ruffle her coat while looking at the forest. Most ponies, she knew, feared the Everfree Forest and yes, there were things to be feared, but Shadow had learned how to avoid everything dangerous. Now she was happier living there with Ebony than she would be in any town no matter how big or how small.
Shadow leapt off the balcony and let herself fall a few feet before spreading her wings and catching the air currents. The adrenaline helped her to fully wake her up and it was just fun anyways. She covered the rest of the short distance calmly and lighted on the pond’s shore.
She set the bucket down on the edge of the pond and splashed some water on her face. As she looked into the water she saw the ripples distorting the image of her face, slowly calming until her dark green eyes and almost black fur are clearly visible. She brushed her black and silver gray mane out of her eyes and filled the bucket with water, distorting her reflection once again.
Before Shadow headed back to her house she stopped by the net she rigged up in one part of the pond to catch fish for Ebony's food. Bait was fastened at the bottom and fish swam over to eat it, and were then trapped, stuck there until Shadow came by. The pegasus took two small fish from the ones in the net and let the rest go, there was no need to take more than she needed. With nowhere else to put them, Shadow dropped the fish in her bucket and flew back to her house.
Ebony was waiting patiently for her adopted mother to come back and feed her when Shadow came back into the house, just like every other morning. “Just a moment, Ebony.” Shadow told the panther as she set the bucket down. Shadow grabbed the two fish from the bucket, and tossed them into Ebony’s dish.
“There you go.” She smiled, and turns back to the kitchen to clean up before she went to make her own breakfast.
Shadow rummaged through her cupboards and found all the ingredients that she needed. She didn't measure anything exactly, just putting about that much in and about this much in, her breakfast had been interesting on some days. Shadow mixed a couple hoof-fulls of oats, a splash of milk, a dab of butter, a little flour to help things stick and a few choice spices such as cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger together in a bowl. The mare replaced the ingredients back in their proper places before turning to her carefully crafted fireplace to cook her breakfast.
Before cooking her oat mixture Shadow filled her kettle with the water she had brought up from the pond and set it to boil, the water never tasted too fishy, no fishier than the rest of the pond at least. The mare kindled the fire on the stones, careful to not get any smoldering embers on her wooden floors, and set her large cast iron frying pan on the livened coals. She grabbed a spatula from it's hook on the wall and prodded the cooking mixture a couple times, then gathered it all in one side of the frying pan and pressed it down in an attempt to make it all stick together better when it was done.
Shadow's mind wandered back to her research as she watched her breakfast cook, the Mare in the Moon, who was she exactly? None of the books that she read had said exactly who that pony was, only that Princess Celestia had been forced to seal her in moon, and the ominous prophecy that she gave about the stars aiding her escape in one thousand years.
A noise in the other room disturbed Shadow's musings and she turned to look, “Ebony?” Shadow called, taking a step towards the doorway and accidentally knocking her hoof against the hot handle of the frying pan. “Ow!” She exclaimed in surprise and some amount of pain, shaking her hoof. She recovered quickly and pushed the handle carefully back where it wouldn't get knocked against again. Doing so caused a spark to jump out of the fireplace onto the wooden floor, Shadow stamped it out quickly. She did not need a fire in her kitchen, or anywhere else for that matter.
The bit of excitement that just happened had caused Shadow to temporarily forget flip her oatcake, she grabbed her spatula once more and flipped it neatly, the side that had been cooking was a deep brown, darker than her usual golden brown but not burnt. After a few more minutes her breakfast was ready to take out of the pan, using the spatula she neatly scooped it out and placed it on the plate on the counter. A moment later the tea kettle began to boil.
“Excellent!” She grinned, trotting over to the kettle with a hot pad in her mouth. She carefully poured the water over the tea leaves in her mug then took her breakfast to the table. Shadow pulled out a chair and sat down, moving the various books strewn across the table to make room for her food.
Once she had settled, Shadow found the book she had been reading the night before. So far it seemed to be a little more collected than other books she had read, the information was presented neatly and concisely instead of the rambling that was somewhat similar to what she wrote in her journal. However, she mused, her journal was for her personal use and she didn't expect other ponies to read it.
As she took a bite of her oats Shadow flipped to the spot she had been reading last night before heavy eyes forced her to bed. She found her place, paused to take another bite of her breakfast and began to read.
The book told a story she had read various versions of before, though this one went into more detail and sounded more sure of itself than some of the others. It told of two sisters, a younger and an older, the older ruled the day while the younger ruled the night. All the ponies would laugh and play during the day, but during the night they slept, not seeing the younger sister's beautiful night. After time this brought about jealousy and resentment in the younger sister, she couldn't stand the fact that her subjects didn't revel in the beautiful night that she created. Eventually the jealousy and rage brought about a change in the younger sister and she turned into a wretched creature of darkness, Nightmare Moon.
“Yes, I've read about this before...” Shadow muttered to herself. The younger pony turning into Nightmare Moon was always the same, either becoming the Mare in the Moon, turning into Nightmare Moon and then being banished to the moon, it always had that same aspect.
The Princess of the day was forced to use the Elements of Harmony to banish her sister to the moon, but not before Nightmare Moon uttered a prophecy: In one thousand years the stars would aid in her escape and she would plunge all of Equestria into eternal night.
“The Elements of Harmony?” Shadow asked, Ebony looked up from where she sat, but saw that Shadow was talking to herself again and laid down again. “I've heard that the older sister banished the younger to the moon but I haven't heard of these Elements of Harmony before...” The mare pulled out a sheet of paper from under a book, it was a list of things that she had to research. Shadow took the list to her desk where she had left her quill and ink then added 'Elements of Harmony' to the bottom of the list.
“What do I know so far?” Shadow asked aloud, addressing her panther just to not be talking to no one, “Well... Long ago, almost one thousand years ago. The princess of the sun, the older, banished her younger sister, the princess of the moon, to the moon. The younger sister was so jealous that nopony appreciated her night and turned into Nightmare Moon, which is why she was sent to the moon. Before the power of these Elements of Harmony banished her to the moon, Nightmare Moon put forth a dire prophecy, in one thousand years the stars would aid in her escape. The one thousand years ends the day after tomorrow on the Thousandth Summer Sun Celebration...”
The mare sighed rubbed her head in confusion, “I guess my feeling that something will happen the day of the Thousandth Summer Sun Celebration was right... And a terrible thing too. I happen to like the night... But if there's never any day things will get very bad very fast.” Ebony got up and curled around her mistresses legs, sensing her frustration.
Shadow absentmindedly petted Ebony as she went on, “And this book is the only one that has anything about these Elements of Harmony. None of the others that I've read say a thing about them... The day after tomorrow is when Nightmare Moon is supposed to come back and I may be the only pony aware of it!”
She didn't take into account that anypony could have read the same books that she read, and come to the same conclusions she did. Shadow was too riled up to think about that, all she knew was that Equestria was in danger of being plunged into eternal night and she didn't know nearly enough to stop it.
“Be good, Ebony,” The mare told her pet, “I need to go to the library, perhaps they'll have books about the Elements of Harmony?” Shadow grabbed her cloak from the peg, a rainstorm had started outside.
The cool air the rain brought helped to soothe Shadow's mind, she was still worried, just not frantic. Shadow did not know what the Summer Sun Celebration would bring, how would the stars aid in Nightmare Moon's escape? Did Celestia know what was going to happen? If she truly had a sister why had she never heard of her? What was the sister's name? She doubted that her name was actually Nightmare Moon, Nightmare Moon was just what she turned into.
These and many others were the thoughts that flew around Shadow's head as she flew to Ponyville, it wasn't raining there yet, but she saw the rainbow maned weather captain instructing her team where to place the last few clouds. It would soon be raining and that made her glad she brought her cloak.
A closed sign hung in the door of the Golden Oaks library, making Shadow confused, Dusty Oaks, the old mare who ran and lived there nearly always kept her doors open. Then she remembered talking with her a couple weeks ago, she was planning to go move in with her son in Canterlot, running the library was getting to be a little much for her and she wanted a rest.
Shadow stamped her foot in annoyance at the revelation, she needed to find a book about the Elements of Harmony and Golden Oaks was the only place in town that would be a possibility. She didn't have time to wait for the new librarian, whoever that may be, to get there. Who knew when the new one would get there, and what they'd be like. She needed information now.
After a few minutes contemplation Shadow came to a decision, she had already tried the door, it was locked. However, there may be an unlocked window or somewhere she could get in. She would find the book and read through it in the library, and then fly home with notes. Shadow soon found a point of entry. The door on the balcony had no lock, and thus she was able to get in without breaking, only entering. Unless the new librarian arrived very soon nopony would ever know that she had ever been there.
The room was dark with the clouds blocking the sky as well as the fact that it was supposed to be empty, there was not a single light on, so Shadow found and lit a candle before she looked for a book that would help her answer her questions. It took her a bit longer than she had expected, Dusty Oaks usually kept everything very organized but the book, Elements of Harmony: A Reference Guide, was underneath another of all things.
Once she found the book she set it on a table and flipped through the pages until she found the spot she wanted. She read aloud, “There are six Elements of Harmony, but only five are known: Kindness, Laughter, Generosity, Honesty and Loyalty. The sixth is a complete mystery. It is said, the last known location of the five Elements was in the ancient castle of the Royal Pony Sisters. It is located in what is now the Everfree Forest. When the five are present a spark will cause the sixth Element to appear.”
Shadow sighed in annoyance, “What does it mean 'a spark will cause the sixth Element to appear.'? I don't know how these Elements work... Only that Celestia used them to banish Nightmare Moon to the moon... At least it says where the Elements are suppose to be, I know the Everfree Forest... And I know the castle they are thought to be in.”
She fell silent as she stood up to put to book away, these past months since the beginning of summer, they made more sense, her headaches and urges to explore the castle during the full moon. It was starting to come together, but it only scared her more.
The pegasus put the book back underneath the other book exactly where it had been, then she blew out the candle and left the library, making sure to close the door carefully behind her. Shadow paused for a moment on the balcony, the rain was really starting to come down and it was always harder to fly when she had wet wings. At least nopony was outside anymore, her appearance and way of life gave most ponies bad ideas about her. Even the overly friendly pink pony, Pinkie Pie, didn't interact with her nearly as much as she did with the others in the town.
Shadow spread her wings in the rain and took off, flying past the town hall and the boutique run by the white unicorn, towards Sweet Apple Acres and the small cottage closer to the Everfree Forest. As she flew she thought about what she had discovered and what she suspected. The Elements of Harmony were in the castle that she had been drawn too during the full moon, they also seemed to be the only way to defeat Nightmare Moon, that is, if she could even find the sixth or figure out how they worked. The past few months weren't as unexplainable, the time she first felt the call made sense, Nightmare Moon was prophesied to return in about a day and a half. However her headaches and the fact that she was drawn there during the full moon still didn't make any sense to her.
What if the Elements of Harmony aren't calling me... What... What if it's actually Nightmare Moon? That would explain everything. The headaches... The sleepless nights... Everything.
Shadow shook her head to try and rid her of the thought she just had, it didn't work. The thought that Nightmare Moon may be trying to call to her and get her to do something, probably something terrible, terrified her more than anything. The stars were supposed to aid in her escape, what could she do? Nothing. She wouldn't betray Equestria like that.
Shadow.
An imperious voice filled her head and brought along with it pain worse than any of her headaches prior. Shadow cried out and her wings faltered, nearly dropping her to the ground fairly far below.
Shadow, listen to me. You must-
Shadow never heard the rest, the pain in her head grew worse with every word and darkness closed in on her vision. Her wings stopped moving and she fell to the ground a small distance out of Ponyville with a wet thud.
