The lone stallion

Chapters

The Nightmare Begins
The Orchards' Quarell
The Castle Of Two Sisters
Basilisk Battle Royal
Epilogue

The Nightmare Begins

The bright glow of the twinkling stars shone wondrously through the calming night and stretched their heavenly light all over the peaceful land of Equestria. Through this night sky, like a phantom guardian, flew Luna, her mane becoming one with the skies above. She beseeched anypony that might need her assistance, whether it be in the awaken world or in the peaceful calm of their dreams.

Eventually she would come across a simple nightmare here and there, but it was something Luna had seen a hundred times before. All signs pointed to this being just another standard night in Ponyville.

As Luna finished her watch, she realized there was still one place she had to visit, before leaving forCanterlot; the Everfree forest. As Luna flew lower, a sudden fealing of unease crept up to the night guardian.

The silent whispering of the dark woods trees combined with an eerie symphony of nightly beasts beginning their prowl made Luna feel more and more uncomfortable as she flew over the bone chilling forest. She could feel that something wasn’t right in this hellish place.

Just as she was nearing the edge of the Everfree forest, a loud shriek pierced her ears. It was a shriek of a helpless pony in danger and a shriek that Luna was all too familiarized with.

Quickly locating the source, Luna’s dark blue wings darted her to the ground, speeding as fast as she could to help the vulnerable colt.

As she landed on a clearing below a unicorn stallion was standing in front of her.

His coat was a dark blue shad and his baby blue eyes watched, in both fear and shock, at the nocturnal regal that stood in front of him. Atop his forehead a pale blue shone viciously at the night guardian, ready to strike at any moment.

The unicorn appeared mostly normal, in line with most Luna had seen before. However one feature seperated him from the rest. His mane seem to consist of pure blue fire but it did not emit any heat, as far as Luna could tell.

"That mane," Luna began to ponder "Where have I seen it before?"

“Leave me alone!” the stallion roared, snapping Luna out of her thougths, as his horn became infused with pure, concentrated, magic. Not heading his warning, Luna inched closer.

Fueled by fear, a beam flew out of his horn and towards the nocturnal regal.

The princess noticed the deadly beam of magic hurdling towards her. In the split second reaction time she had, the ruler of night managed to evade the destructive beam and pursue the stallion in air.

“Stop young unicorn!” she yelled out to him “I am only here to help thou! I mean you no harm!” She tried to calm him down, but it only made the stallion angrier.

“Liar!” he yelled back at Luna and continued to run deeper into the Everfree forest.

His dark flaming mane was now united with the density of the wild trees, making it impossible for Luna to properly locate him. However, the princess was persistent to find out why this pony was on the run, so she quickly descended from the skies and continued her pursuit on hoof.

“Many apologies, young stallion, for ‘twas not mine intention to frighten thee. Please, I only seek to help you with your problems,” Luna spoke soothingly as she slowly paced herself through the forest.

She was still hoping that the stallion could hear her voice, but there was no reply.

Luna was puzzled by his disappearance. There was no visible trace, but seeing as he was a unicorn he could have already teleported miles away. She sighed and listened to the night.

The once ominous wind now turned to the gentle whisper as it rattled through the trees and quietly disturbed the peaceful sobriety of the forest. It eased her mind, gently alluring her into a sense of security. In this calming state Luna could hear everything around; those rabbits restlessly shaking the bushes, the quiet night birds singing their aria of beauty and even the silent twinkle of the far away stars filled Luna’s ears with happiness and joy. But something slashed through the calm.

A mysterious rumble approaching at great speed made Luna tense up. She could feel something was coming towards her. The night’s calm allowed her to hear the harsh slash of a golden spike rushing towards her.

Evading it, in a nick of time, Luna flew up back to the sky.

Once in her domain Luna looked back to the ground, trying to see her mysterious assailant, but there was nothing. Only a dent in the grass remained as the evidence of the assault. She returned to the ground ready to face the hidden beast head on.

“Show thineself foul vermin!” Luna yelled, her horn lighting up and preparing to strike.

She could hear something slither around her, shifting itself from one place to another. It was quick, but Luna wasn’t afraid.

Suddenly a creature jumped at her, with a mouth wide opened, ready to consume the alicorn.

The night guardian flew up as quickly as she could, barely avoiding the sharp rows of teeth from the beast’s mouth.

Once she was safe, Luna looked down only to see a serpent, twenty feet long with dark green scales and piercing red eyes, smiling back at her. The malicious grin plastered on this fiend’s face made Luna wonder what it had planned.

The viper hissed, looking Luna directly into her eyes. Luna felt as if her body was possessed. She tried to turn her head away, but was unable. She was completely under the control of this cruel puppeteer fearing what fate might bring.

“Gaze into my eyes. Lend me your fears. Feed my hunger!” the serpent chanted as he gazed into Luna’s eyes.

Luna was unable to look away. Her wings froze as she started to free fall from the skies above. She was still awake as her body slammed into the earth below. Still barely conscious Luna felt a dark veil come over her eyes. The reality became blurry as her consciousness slowly faded away.

She tried to resist the hypnotic influence, but it was all in vain. Soon the night sky will die out and she will be back in her own mind.

The last thing she would hear before losing consciousness was the hellish serpent quietly whispering “See you in your dreams.”

She awoke back in her room at the Canterlot castle. Everything seemed normal, like the encounter of last night had never happened.

But something was off.

It was something in the air, a slight scent of brimstone and ash filled the darkest corners of her room.

Luna felt uneasy as she looked around. Everything seemed to be in its place: the bed, the small nightstand near it, the shag carpet beneath her feet and even the nightly sky on her ceiling.

Yet she still felt a cold shiver run down her spine.

Maybe it was the lack of lighting as the room appeared much darker than Luna remembered or perhaps the fact that some smaller objects were missing from her nightstand that made Luna uncomfortable. Either way she did not wish to spend another minute here.

The alicorn princess slowly exited her room as if not to disturb the calm and quiet. She traversed the empty hallways in awe as the silence, as deafening as a thousand screams, slowly took over.

“Hello!” Luna yelled in a vain attempt to break the horrid silence.

No response.

She looked around and noticed that the Royal Guard armors were lying all over the floor. They were just barely visible under the dim fire of the torches lined up through the hall. Upon closer inspection Luna noticed traces of hair and blood in some of them, but their ex-occupants were nowhere to be seen.

“What tragedy hath been bestowed upon Equestria?” Luna thought to herself as she paced through the sleepy hallways. Suddenly she heard voices. They were barely audible at first, but became much clearer as she entered the royal room.

Upon entering it she finally saw the true horror of this demented dimension.

The murals in the room depicted the fall of Equestria. As the dark alicorn observed them she noticed that each depicted a different horrid sight.

The first one showed Queen Chrysalis taking over the Crystal Kingdom and infecting her Changeling army into every part of Equestria.

The second saw the Mane Six and Discord defeated and the elements of Harmony shattered on the floor as a dark unicorn rose above them.

The others were pictures of beasts, treacherous monstrosities Luna had never seen before. Serpentile monsters were arising from the sea and descending from the sky and were clearly seen destroying villages and cities alike and amongst them stood the same serpent she saw last night.

But nothing could have prepared her for the horrors of the last mural. It depicted the return of Nightmare Moon.

Her gaze was centered on the final mural as she felt an overwhelming sadness wash over her. Memories of that demonic being came rushing in as she closed her eyes in agony. She couldn’t take it.

The face of her tormentor, the struggles she had to endure all because of that thing. But as she forced herself to look on a new sensation came over her. A fear of what could happen, a fear that it will happen consumed her soul.

“You!” Luna suddenly heard somepony yell behind her. She turned around only to come face to face with an angered Celestia.

“Sister,” the princess of the night spoke, exhilarated to see a familiar face “What happened here?”

“You have a lot of courage to show your face here again. How could you do this to us?! We trusted you… I trusted you! I thought you had changed! But I should have known that the darkness would be too much for you to bear. You brought this fate on us!” Celestia screamed at Luna, her eyes filling up with tears. Luna couldn’t believe the hurtful words coming out of Celestia’s mouth.

“Sister I--,” the younger alicorn began to speak, but Celestia cut her off.

“Don’t speak to me like that! The sister I once had is dead! You killed her, you beast!” Celestia spoke sorrowfully.

Luna then noticed how her body started to transform. Her teeth sharpened, her coat became darker and the Nightmare armor returned.

She looked back at Celestia, but she was not there anymore.

Now, in her place stood a wicked serpent with that same hypnotic stare, looking triumphantly at the nightly guardian. A crown of horns stood menacingly on his head as his red eyes fueled Luna’s anger.

“This is the future, Ma Cheri,” the serpent spoke softly as it crept down from the throne and enticed Luna. “Accept your fate and cleanse your soul from the delusions you were told,” the serpent whispered into Luna’s ear “Unleash the thing you feared the most.”

The princes of the night stomped her hoof in anger.

“Thine lies and deceit shall not trick me so easily,” Luna stood proud against the fiendish apparition “As long as my heart is beating I will fight against this. I shan’t allow you to plague Equestria with such horrors,” the transformed princess responded valiantly. The serpent laughed.

“Dear princess. Fate guides those who accept it and it forces those who deject it. Everything is already predetermined for us. So why don’t you join me? It will make our journey that much smoother,” the snake slithered around, trying to play with Luna’s mind.

“I will never do that!” Luna restated firmly.

“We shall see about that, shan’t we?” the serpent grinned slyly at Luna. The serpent’s words angered Luna to her boiling point.

Her eyes lit up a bright glow as the world around the alicorn princess and the demonic serpent began to crumble down. First went the murals, then her nightmare armor. The serpent, seeing how his powers were weakening, hissed once more at the provoked alicorn.

“You may have more power in this world, but we shall meet once more Luna and then you will see that my words will not be ignored,” the serpent’s words echoed as the dream began to end.

Luna’s eyes slowly opened. As her blurry vision cleared up she saw Celestia standing by the side of her bed. The worried expression said it all. This was the real Celestia. Still, Luna was not reassured.

“Celestia,” Luna spoke softly, trying to adjust her eyes to the bright light of the nursery room “Is that truly you or is it just another twisted version of your likeness?”

Celestia was a bit taken back by her sister’s cryptic question. With a kind smile and gentle voice she spoke to her tormented sibling.

“It is me, sister dearest,” Celestia replied “I am as real as the sun or the moon”.

Luna was a bit relieved, but still remained skeptic. That beast presented her with a nightmare far worse than any she has face thus far and it certainly wasn’t above such underhoof trickery.

These thoughts plagued her mind and only contributed to her pulsating headache. Every time she moved her head, she felt a sharp sensation rushing through her skull and drilling into the depths of her mind. It felt to her like a worm was eating away pieces of her brain, slowly inching deeper into her mind.

Celestia noticed Luna’s struggles and used her magic to levitate a bottle of purple liquid and gave it to Luna.

“Here,” she said floating the bottle over to the bedridden Luna “This should take care of your headache”

Luna accepted the bottle with a cautionary gaze.

“Thanks,” Luna said, rubbing her templates with her hooves. As she opened the bottle a putrid scent of fermented herbs hit her hard. Luna flinched in revolt.

“What is this horrid concoction?” Luna questioned Celestia.

“It’s Zecora’s special anti headache potion,” Celestia assured her.

“It does have a rather,” she stopped for a second to find the right word “specific scent, but it works wonders.”

Luna took in a deep breath.

“Hope for the best, expect the worst,” Luna thought as she moved the vile liquid closer to her muzzle.

The second the fluid hit her taste buds, Luna felt the urge to spit it out, but she swallowed the repulsive potion with disgust. As if by magic the elixir flowed through her veins and rushed to her head, erasing the nauseating pain in mere seconds. Luna was now convinced that this was the reality.

As she became aware of her surrounding she suddenly started to notice dark circles around Celestia’s eyes and her ruffled mane.

“How long was I out?” Luna asked in disbelief.

“I believe it was a few days,” Celestia replied “One of the Royal Guards found you passed out in the middle of the Everfree forest and brought you here,” Celestia spoke in a shaky voice. Luna could easily notice the remainders of tears and distress in the solar ruler’s voice.

“And you were here with me the whole time?” Luna asked her sister.

“Well of course,” Celestia responded “I couldn’t leave my little sister alone in her time of need”.

Luna smiled with tears gleaming in her eyes like stars on a calm blue night. Still she couldn’t overlook the tired expression on Celestia’s face.

“I am so glad you stayed with me,” Luna responded.

“Hey what are sisters for?” Celestia replied as she hugged Luna with one of her wings.

“But seriously though, you should probably get some sleep. You have that big meeting with the Gryphon delegation coming soon, unless it has happened already?” Luna said. Celestia smiled.

“No there is still a week until that,” Celestia said calmly, still barely standing.

“Still a tired ruler can’t be good for her subjects. Come on I’ll help you ou,t, Luna said, standing up from her bed and helping Celestia with her wings to stand.

“What about you?” Celestia asked worryingly.

“I will be fine. After all I have been sleeping for a few days, so I hath energy to spare,” Luna joked as she led the weakened Celestia out of the nursery room. The Royal nursery room was only a few feet away from the Grand Canterlot Castle so their walk was spent silently.

As the two princess walked, everypony, even some highly esteemed dukes and duchesses, bowed down and moved out of their way to let the princesses pass through.

No matter how often this happened, Luna still wasn’t comfortable with that privilege. She didn’t feel like the aristocratic life her sister led was truly for her. She preferred to socialize with the folks from Ponyville more than the Canterlot elite as they always seemed to mask their true opinions of her.

As they came to the gate, Amethyst Gold awaited for them at the gates. Two more ponies stood by her side.

“Princesses,” she bowed down in front of the two majestic mares and commanded her other guards to do the same.

Celestia and Luna returned their greeting.

After they exchanged their hellos, Amethyst commanded the two guards to open the castle gates. As they entered Amethyst followed them inside, commanding the two golden armored ponies to stay outside.

“My dear rulers, I am so sorry for bothering but we have received some urgent news from our Tartarus Intel”, Amethyst informed the two sisters. Both princesses gazed at the violet pony with outmost interest.

“Go on,” Celestia said.

“Well,” Amethyst started “there are some rumors that certain creatures have escaped under the King’s permission of ‘scouting for resources’, “ she exclaimed the last words with heavy sarcasm in her voice.

“So all we have thus far are mere hunches?” Luna said.

“Well, yes, but we have strong beliefs that this may be the case,” Amethyst continued, stumbling a bit over her words as she spoke “And if these creatures cause an uproar we will have no control over them since they are under the protection of King Hades.”

“If that is the case I will contact Hades personally,” Celestia spoke in an energetic tone “Such decisions should not be made without my permission.”

“I understand princess,” Amethyst replied. Luna could notice Celestia barely standing on her hooves. She feared that her sister might collapse from exhaustion at any time.

“I am sorry, Amethyst, but princess Celestia needs to get some rest. She has been up for the past few days, so I hope thou could leave us alone,” Luna explained.

“Of course, thank you for your time,” Amethyst said and took a bow and stomped her hooves before exiting the room. As Amethyst exited, Luna helped Celestia to her room.

“Thank you Luna,” Celestia said as Luna tucked ‘Tia into her bed “I am so sorry for my outburst earlier, it just makes me upset that he would do such a thing. I mean we had an agreement and he just went and threw it all away”, Celestia was speaking furiously.

Luna could tell that those days of vigilance over her passed out body were doing a number on her nerves.

“Maybe it was urgent. I am sure he just forgot to tell you,” Luna claimed.

“Perhaps,” Celestia replied huffing in frustration as Luna tucked her in “but still, I would have liked at least a notification.”

“I am sure he just forgot,” Luna reassured her “Now try to get some sleep, ok?”

“Sure,” Celestia replied. Just as Luna was about to walk out Celestia stopped her.

“Could you please sing me that song you used to sing me back when we were little?” Celestia asked “I know it is a bit childish, but I could really use one right about now."

Luna smiled and began

“Close thine eyes, my soldier of light
the night has come and the stars are bright

Let the moon be your guide
as the silent sleep arrives

May your dreams be filled with delight
May the starry bliss regain thine might

To face the new days plight
And regain your majestic sunlight

Leave your tears behind
Let the dark blue sky ease your mind

And if a nightmares plagues thine sight
Call upon me to clear the fright”

As Luna sang she felt something strange.

With each passing verse a memory bloomed. With each said word a thing in the room changed.

She felt as she was flowing through time, not constricted by boundaries of the physical realm.

She was back at the Castle of two sisters, back when Celestia and she were just young fillies all the way back to the first night when Celestia’s mind was plagued with a vision of things to come and the first time she sang this song to her.

It was a time when they were both carefree and so young. As Luna sang the final words of this haunting tune, the castle returned to its primal form and she realized that Celestia was fast asleep. She smiled kindly, looking over Celestia sleeping soundly.

“Sleep tight my dear sister,” the night guardian said with tears in her. Those weren’t the tears of pain or even the tears of happiness, but tears of nostalgia.

As she exited the room, Luna noticed a single torch still illuminating the room.

With one silent blow she turned off and left the room, silently, not to disturb the serene peace that took over.

The Orchards' Quarell

While Celestia slept quietly, Luna traversed the halls and looked around in fear of something. She felt as if the danger of her grim nightmare brought about by the creature’s infernal gaze hadn’t passed just yet. The night princess closely examined each of the murals, and for one second, pictures from her dream flashed in their places like the remains of the horror still was burning within her soul. These twisted images distorted the triumphant poses of their original forms into something much more sinister. The figure of Discord being defeated by the Element Bearers changed to that of the Basilisk rising above them. The Nightmare’s defeat was now her rise back to power. The Elements of Harmony were now destroyed and shattered on the floor like they were nothing more than glass ornaments.

The nocturnal royal felt a sharp pain strike her heart as she shook her head, snapping her back to reality. Luna knew if she was to keep her sanity, she had to preoccupy her mind. She recomposed herself and went out in search of Amethyst. Ever since Shining Armor left to take care of his own kingdom his duties fell upon his second in command, sergeant Amethyst Gold. This violet mare organized all of the tasks that princesses had to do and all of those who came had to go through her first. Despite that, most other ponies had only seen her as just another guard so it came as no surprise to Luna when she saw Amethyst arguing with a Pegasus ambassador.

“I will tell you only once: The princess is unable to respond to your request at the moment!” Amethyst argued with general Cloudstorm.

“What?!” the general responded harshly “I shall not be talked to in such a demeaning manner! By a foul earth pony, no less!”

Upon hearing these words Luna wanted to lash out, but she kept her composure as she came closer to the two arguing ponies. As her gentle hoofsteps echoed the two ponies turned their heads and swiftly.

“Princess Luna,” Amethyst and general Cloudstorm said in unison as the elegant night guardian stepped in front of them. Luna looked at them both and elegantly returned their greetings before turning her attention to general Cloudstorm.

“General,” she started firmly “We are honored to have you here, but we must ask you to refrain thyself from petty insults, especially if they are directed to one of our finest guards.”

Luna spoke with a calm and collected voice, but the general could hear her threatening undertone. Her eyes looked at him strictly and the mighty general felt his heart turning inside out as a cold breeze swept across his back. Even though Luna remained silent the general felt as if a thousand screams were yelling at him from this intimidating pony.

“A thousand and one pardons, my dear princess,” Cloudstorm apologized “I didn’t mean to offend”.

“Thine apologies are directed at the wrong mare,” Luna subtly winked at Amethyst whom was standing there in shock. She couldn’t believe that the night princess herself would stand up for her. General Cloudstorm swallowed his pride and looked Amethyst directly in her eyes.

“I apologize for my insults,” he said bitterly to the Royal Guard.

"Apology accepted," Amethyst stated humbly.

“Now General,” Luna began “Why have thou honored us with thine visit?”

“A few of our scouts have noticed a strange stallion roaming around the ruins of the Old Castle,” the General said and showed her an artist’s rendition of the pony. As Luna took it her eyes widened a bit. It was that same stallion that she had seen before that hellish serpent attacked her.

“I wonder...” Luna thought to herself, but quickly chased away those thoughts and turned her attention back to Cloudstorm.

“So why art thou telling us this now?” Luna asked.

“Well, we have noticed that he seemed to be searching for something. Whenever we would send some of our soldiers to search for him they,” the general stopped and took in a deep breath “Let’s just say they were never the same again.”

“Pray tell General; Have they claimed seeing a golden eyed serpent haunting them?” Luna said as she felt a piece of the puzzle had snapped into place.

“How did you know that?” Cloudstorm asked, baffled by Luna’s spot on description.

“Call it a hunch if you will," Luna rolled back the scroll retaining the artist’s rendition of the unicorn with a stern glint in her eyes “We shall see what we can do. Meanwhile, we must ask you to keep a close eye on the suspect but don’t do anything rash. Does thou understand us?”

“Yes your majesty. Thank you for hearing our plight,” Cloudstorm bowed to both of them and exited.

“Thank you so much for what you did back there, Princess,” Amethyst said the second he had left.

“No problem, my dear,” Luna responded with a gentle smile “You know very well that I frown upon such insolence. Especially, from someone as highly esteemed as General Cloudstorm.”

“Still, thank you,” Amethyst said.

“Besides, I was looking for you before the general showed up,” Luna stated

“Really?” Amethyst questioned as her brow raised in surprise.

“I wanted to let you know that my sister is immensely tired so I will be taking over for her,” Luna explained

While Luna spoke Amethyst fidgeted nervously. The princess of the night noticed these awkward movements and calmly raised an eyebrow while not breaking eye contact with the purple unicorn.

“Is there a problem with that?” Lun asked.

“Well, I don’t mean to insult your decision making- -” Amethyst paused quickly still awkwardly hopping from one hoof to another trying to find the right words. She didn’t want to insult the princess, but on the other hoof she wasn’t sure how Luna could handle some of Celestia’s tasks.

“You think I am incapable of performing my sister’s duties because of my absence and my lesser knowledge of the present times, am I right?” Luna asked.

Amethyst’s eyes widened in shock; Luna had guessed exactly the things she was about to say.

“Please, don’t take it personally, dearest Princess. The royal duties of Celestia differ quite a lot from yours so I am a little afraid,” Amethyst claimed awkwardly like an unprepared comedian.

“Put thine fears to rest, dear Amethyst. My sister has taught me enough to replace her for a day,” Luna smiled.

Amethyst bit her lip and let out a sigh. She looked back at Luna’s comforting eyes and nodded her head.

“Now that is settled thou shalt tell me what my sister’s duties are for the day,” Luna commanded

“One moment, please,” Amethyst pulled out a scroll. She searched through the yellow paper for the Royal duties.

“Well, General Cloudstorm was here already so I can cross that off the list...” Amethyst mumbled to herself as Luna patiently waited “That leaves us with the Eastern and Western apple orchards”.

She gulped.

Luna placed her hooves to her templates.

“Please, tell me they are not fighting over the two bits again,” Luna said annoyed by the mere thought of this problem.

“I am afraid they are. Are you sure we shouldn’t wait for Celestia? I mean, they can probably come back tomorrow,” Amethyst tried to persuade her, but Luna remained persistent.

“No, I will get this settled once and for all!” Pure determination shone in her eyes.

Amethyst jumped a bit, but she was impressed. It truly was something to admire, but she remained skeptical and sighed before continuing.

“Their representatives will come in about an hour, so I think it is best that you wait for them in the throne room,” Amethyst said and quickly apologized for being so brash with a princess.

Luna just laughed it off. “It is alright, my dear. Just inform me when they arrive.”

Luna went off to the throne room. Even though the murals were present even there, Luna couldn't focus on them. She had other things to worry about now. She had to think of a way to solve this conflict once and for all.

Even before she fell into a coma Luna had heard of the plight of these two apple distributors. The Eastern apple orchards mostly consisted of those in Las Pegasus plus a few other small orchards. The Western mostly comprised of the Manehattan and Fillydelphia apple orchards. Aside from being run by two different species (the Eastern being run by pegasus and Western by earth ponies) the two unions had different approaches to cultivating apples.

The pegasi had a more modern approach using the very best technology on their harsh terrain to grow apples, while the Western used more traditional technology. These big differences caused a lot of conflict between the two unions which led to the big strike. The Western field lowered the price of their apples by two bits per pound (due to the overwhelming amount of apples they were producing). However, the Eastern pegasi felt they were getting ripped off since they weren’t informed about the price change. Now fewer ponies are buying their apples and they were pretty angry about that which led to a strike.

This summit was supposed to bring an end to that feud and bring peace to both sides. Luna had been hearing about this assembly for quite a while. She knew that if the feud went on, even for a day, the ponies would become much more bitter. She didn’t want to prolong it. She was going to put this argument to rest once and for all. Wrapped up in her thoughts Luna formulated reasons she could give these ponies to stop fighting. All of them seemed perfectly logical to her but how would the representatives take it? A loud knock on the door managed to snap Luna right out her thoughts.

“Come in,” Luna said as she opened the door.

“The delegation will be here any moment!” Amethyst exclaimed as she entered the room, “I hope you know what you are doing.”

“Oh yee of little faith” Luna said jokingly.

Amethyst smiled awkwardly and waited for the trumpets to blow. Her hooves were shaking and cold sweat was beading off of her. While Luna did understand Amethyst’s plight she still felt a bit offended by her actions. Amethyst must have noticed it as she stopped shaking her hooves and wiped the sweat off her forehead.

“Sorry,” she mouthed out to Luna.

Their wait was short lived as two pony guards entered as they blew their trumpets. Amethyst’s heart pounded quicker while Luna remained calm and collected.

“Presenting, Duke Fritter the representative of the Western apple orchards,” the first guard exclaimed as a well groomed white earth pony entered the room. He bowed down to the Princess as elegantly as he could and kissed her hoof. Luna returned his greeting.

“Presenting, Baroness Fruitfly the representative of the Eastern apple orchards,” the second guard roared as an elegant dark green pony came in. She took a bow before the Princess and barely looked at the Duke.

“Thank you, loyal guards,” Luna responded to the two guards.“You may leave us now”.

“And what about her?” the Duke asked, rudely pointing at Amethyst.

“Forgive me, but one guard must be present at all times during a meeting,” Luna explained calmly “It is the Canterlot law”.

The Duke scoffed as the Baroness dismissively chuckled at his silent commentary. The distain was pretty clear in the eyes of these ponies so both Luna and Amethyst prepared themselves for a fiery argument as they both settled in their places.

Amethyst pulled out a scroll.

“Hear ye! Hear ye! The Royal Economical Court will now be in session. Before both sides present their arguments please raise your right front hoof up,” she exclaimed.

Duke and the Baroness, as well as Luna herself, raised their hooves.

Amethyst read the royal oath from the ancient manuscript. ““Now repeat after me. 'I solemnly swear by the divine light of Celestia and the beauty of the Lunar night to speak only the truth. I will look past my selfish agenda, work towards the betterment of Equestria whether it basks in sunlight’s gaze or walks among the shadows of night.”

Once they finished the oath Luna nodded her head towards Amethyst. “Thank you Amethyst” she said and returned her gaze to the two ponies in front of her. “Now, my respectable subjects what dark fate hath fallen upon thine ponies?”

“That dark fate has a name,” the Baroness spoke snobbishly “and It’s called the Western apple orchards”.

“Such slander!” the Duke spoke with disgust. “We have done nothing wrong!”

“Oh please, our sales have gone only downhill this season,” the Baroness retaliated

“That is not our concern!” the Duke dismissed her

“ So, it just so happened that our sales dropped at the same time yours went up,” the Baroness would not give in

“It’s not our fault you have fallen on hard times,” the Duke said smugly

Luna tried to calm the two ponies, but it was to no use. They continued to blast each other with insults and slander.

“You haven’t even informed us about the price change!” the Baroness screamed. “We had no time to prepare!”

“That’s the market, my dear. If you can’t handle it maybe you shouldn’t be in this business!” The Duke smiled smugly.

“Why you filthy earth pony!” The pegasus' face burned red.

“What did you call me? You rat of the sky!” the Duke flared.

Luna saw where this argument was heading and tried to interject but her soft words seemed to fall on deaf ears. Undeterred she increased her volume.

“Calm down! We are all rational adults! I am sure we can come to an agreement,” Luna tried to ease them down.

It was all in vain. The baroness and the Duke were at each other throats.

Luna’s patience grew thinner and she knew she could only take so much before bursting. Amethyst noticed the rage taking over Luna and backed away from her.

“ENOUGH!” Luna screamed as loud as she could, her bombastic voice spreading quickly through the room. Everypony stood in awe looking at the infuriated princess.

Luna was heavily panting as she readjusted her mane and recomposed herself. She looked at the two ponies, who were visibly shaken, with commanding eyes. Amethyst gulped as she feared what might become of this.

“Now, esteemed guests we can discuss this topic but not with such crude manner. Especially not with insults,” the night princess composed herself despite her previous outburst.

“ I understand your plight, dear baroness, but I am afraid that the prices will remained unchanged. It is completely in order with the Equestrian Free Market Law” she spoke to the dark green pegasus.

Luna watched the baroness’s face turned red with anger, while the duke smugly smiled.

Luna quickly noticed that smile and turned her sharp gaze toward the Duke whose smile began to fade away.

“However, the Free Market Law also clearly states that ‘when changing an established price of a product the Royal Court must be notified at least two weeks in advance’, ” Luna smirked at the Duke just as he has smiled at the Baroness earlier “If I recall correctly, you haven’t informed my sister about this change either.”

“Well it was a sudden change! We had to act as fast as we could!” The Duke clumsily tried to justify himself.

“That may be the case, but a letter does not take that long to write. As such, we shall penalize the Western apple orchard union with two thousand five hundred bits. This sum is to be paid to the Eastern apple orchards as soon as possible,” Luna stated calmly

“B-but that’s nearly half of our INCOME so far!” the Duke protested

“Your prices will stay the same,” Luna responded coldly “Thou still hath enormous supplies of apples. Thou will be able to recover.”

The Duke had fallen silent as well as the Baroness.

Luna looked at them both inquiringly.

“Do we have an agreement?” she asked.

The two ponies looked at each other and nodded their heads.

“I believe that is fair,” the baroness claimed.

“As long as we can keep our price, we shall make it work,” the Duke responded as he shook hooves with the baroness.

“Thank you princess for solving our Gordian knot!” The Baroness graciously bowed to the Princess.

“ 'Twas my pleasure.” Luna bowed her head in response. As the two pones left both Luna and Amethyst released a sigh of relief.

“So what do you think?” Luna asked Amethyst.

“I will never doubt you again, dear Princess,” Amethyst responded with a smile of relief on her face.

The Castle Of Two Sisters

With the orchard’s quarrel solved, Luna was once again left alone. It is in this state that she began to feel the crippling fear take hold once more. She looked at the murals, attempting to find any clue to the fate of Equestria but it escaped her. The princess felt unease deep within her soul. There was something disturbing about the atmosphere in this room itself. It was the same room as before but something was different. A slight, barely noticeable scent of brimstone crept into her nostrils that made her flinch. She looked around for any abnormalities but it seemed her mind was just playing tricks on her. Luna breathed in deeply and looked out of the window.

“It’s almost time,” she thought to herself as she watched as the magnificently glowing sun descended from the daytime sky and slowly moved west. She slowly rose up the watchtower in order to get a better view of the sunset.

While Celestia did control the rise of the sun its setting was completely out of her control. The Sun itself moved freely over the pale blue sky, but without the aid of Celestia's magic the Sun would never rise. The Moon was a different story in itself. It was connected to Luna by a special bond which could never be duplicated. It moved along with her magic and went from crescent to full as the night guardian would order. An old mare’s tale said that from the moment of Luna’s birth the moon was born to accompany her during the lonely nights. It was her home, her prison and her oldest accomplice. Although, Luna could not control the stars (as that could be only done by Celestia and even then it was only to a certain degree) they were just as beautiful as her beloved Moon. They told her stories during lonely nights; stories about brave ponies fighting injustice, about weary travelers in search of a great treasure and stories about explorers whose only guide in finding their truth were these beauties of the night.

As Luna arrived on the watchtower she looked down on the peaceful valley beneath. At that moment everything seemed silent and perfect. Luna took in the calmness of the dusk’s wind. She watched as the Sun drew closer to the western horizon and pulled out her ‘phases of the Moon’ diagram. It was the night of the crescent moon.

“T minus ten minutes till sundown!” she proclaimed in her bombastic voice, echoing through Ponyville. She knew she didn’t have to do it but it felt just so glorious. Luna smirked to herself as she focused her magic to the changing sky. It was a small spectacle for the night guardian to pull the Moon from its slumber and into its position on the starry sky. She focused all of her energy as the Moon slowly awakened, guiding a trail of stars behind itself. Luna positioned it directly above the watchtower and spun it a bit, so only the crescent side of its beauty would show. A few stars nestled themselves into the dark space of the Moon as Luna took her nightly watch.

Tonight she had a predetermined task. She would visit the Castle of the Two Princesses. That ancient fortress, abandoned and alone, stood beaten and bruised, waiting for the return of its owners. Luna stood in front of the once magnificent castle with a mixture of feelings welling up in her soul. Fear, excitement and nostalgia battled for control in Luna’s heart but she couldn’t let any one of them win or they might distract her from her important business. As she walked in Luna was greeted by the same old friends, the armored ponies stood left and right of her, protecting the passageways like the ever vigilant Royal Guard. Luna smiled.

“Hello old friends,” Luna spoke to the suits of armor as if they were real.

“We haven’t seen each other for so long,” Luna sighed “Don’t let my presence disturb your peace. I am just passing by.”

She remembered how in her fillyhood she would spend hours each day talking to these suits of armor like her father spoke to his soldiers. She would give them all sorts of childish commands, such as to keep the monsters away from her closet, but ultimately she would treat them with respect.

“Just like father,” Luna thought to herself and sighed.

Luna continued her search. She saw that the Mane Six had done quite a retouch of the palace. The night regal expected it to be in a much worse shape but it seemed to be pretty well maintained, for the most part, but the library was exceptionally so.

“Twilight always did know how to keep books well-ordered,” Luna thought ot herself as she inspected each of her bookshelves. It looked magnificent.

“Oh look at this!” Luna marveled at one of her books. It was written by her friend Edward S. Nightcore. The book itself was pretty interesting as it was about a colt, lost in the world that could never understand the demons he had to fight, but Luna was more interested in the author’s dedication.

“To my dearest Princess, without whom this work could never be. Your support and love have always been my shinning guide through the darkest of nights. In the worst times and in the best of times you were there protecting me from the shadows that lurk. From the bottom of my heart I thank thee. –E.S.N”

Luna couldn’t help herself as sorrowful tears of nostalgia started to roll out of her eyes and fell onto the book. She felt old wounds being reopened that stung even harsher than they did while they were still fresh.

“I wish it could have been different.” Luna remembered what tore her away from Edward.

“The darkness was too strong and I couldn’t- -” Luna quickly interrupted her train of thought. She had a clear goal and had to stick to it.

Luna continued her ‘tour’ and reluctantly found her mind racing with memories. There, on that stairway was where she first understood the love her sister felt for her. Near that hallway was the first time she felt anger as her sister was praised by a few of her subjects while she was shunned away.

Luna stopped in front of a closed door with the crescent moon. She felt a pain shoot through her chest. It was her old room. As she entered her heart fluttered a bit as she saw the beautiful array of stars on the ceiling. Her old toy chest, the closet in the corner and that big, luscious dark blue bed in the middle of it held so many memories. Her heart warmed, remembering the nights Tia would read her bedtime stories about brave heroes whom would traverse the land and vaquish evil beings. She recalled their playtime as they pretended to be those heroes from their tales. Then one of Luna’s most painful memories hit her.

It began as a night just like any other. Celestia was out on her royal duties and Luna was left alone, for the millionth time, but this time she was angry. She felt betrayed since Celestia had upstaged her on her birthday, the day where she was supposed to be the center of attention for once, but the second Celestia showed up everypony suddenly turned their attention over to her. They ignored Luna for the most of the night and tried to talk to Celestia whom was trying to talk to her sister. Luna tried to keep her composure but as soon as Celestia had to leave the other ponies soon followed.

It was the final straw.

Tears flowed like waterfalls from Luna's eyes as she quietly sobbed in her pillow, slowly drifting away into her own mind. It was in this state that the voices began.

“Poor, little Luna. So unappreciated by the world that she was left alone on her birthday of all days,” the voices said.

As the voices spoke, Luna could feel the darkness trying to consume her. She flared her magic, desperatly trying to push away the horrors of her mind.

“Oh my dear, I am afraid that will not work” the voice commented.

Luna looked around herself in panic.

“Show thy face, fiend!” Luna struggled in the grip of the moving shadow.

“Ease your heart, sweet princess. I am only here to help you,” the shadow spoke sweetly.

Luna felt confused.

“What do you mean?” the filly asked.

The shadow slowly materialized into a magnificent alicorn in shining, pale, blue armor with a misty mane, a black horn and bat-like wings. The crescent moon plate, similar to Luna’s, was visible on her torso. In fact, she looked so much like Luna that the night princess felt like she was staring into a distorted mirror reflection of her image.

Luna trembled in the presence of this magnificent creature who inspected her with turquoise eyes and smiled at her with a mouth full of sharp teeth.

“I do look magnificent, don’t I?” the newly formed creature gloated.

Luna backed away.

“Pray tell, dark beast, what art thou?” Luna spoke in her Royal voice hoping this creature couldn’t see her trembling.

“You disappoint me princess. Can’t you see that I am you?” the alicorn said softly.

Luna looked at her suspiciously.

“Well, I am what you will become,” the beast paused “That is, I am what you will become if you take charge."

“What thou meaneth?” Luna’s heart trembled.

A malicious smile danced across the beast’s lips revealing the sharp rows of teeth that glistened like daggers.

The monster spoke, “Imagine a world of eternal night where only you rule. A world where your true beauty shines brighter than Celestia’s light and where all ponies recognize the true kindness that you have been bestowing on them all of this time.”

Luna’s eyes twinkled with hope.

“How can this be accomplished?” she asked

“Its quite simple my dear,” the Nightmare continued “Together we shall dethrone Celestia and rule Equestria as one!”

Luna felt her heart drop and her lip curl in response to the disgusting suggestion.

“I will never do that! Celestia is my sister for pony sake!” Luna stood defiantly.

"Fair enough," the Nightmare said "But if you ever change your mind, you'll know where to find me."

And with that said, the darknes retreated, left alone to infect her subconscious mind.

Luna’s eyes swelled with tears momentarily forgetting decorum befitting the otherwise strong, night guardian.

“I should have stood mine ground!” the night princess spoke through her teeth.

Luna wiped away the tears with her wings. As the misty veil was lifted Luna noticed something peculiar. There was barely any dust in the room. A few cobwebs were decorating the corners of the room but, considering her time of absence, there should have been at least a film of dust on the floor. She knew that none of the Mane Six have ever visited this room because only she and Celestia knew how to unlock it. The bed was neatly made with the sheets extending to the floor. The final piece of evidence that cemented that this truly was Celestia’s doing were the items on her nightstand. On the left was her favorite hairbrush, made from the finest opals bits could buy, in the middle was her crescent moon hairclip and on the right was her trusted Ursa Major plushy that helped her to chase away the darkest thoughts from her head.

Luna smiled bitter-sweetly as she imagined Celestia preparing this room and keeping it intact as she waited for her sister to return. Her thoughts were interrupted as the sound of hoofsteps echoed through the corridors.

Hidden in darkness, Luna followed the sound of hoofsteps anxiously clopping around. The trail lead to the Element room. Inside, a dark blue stallion seemed to be searching for something. The dark blue flames on his back and the bright red horn on his forehead made Luna instantly realize that this was the same stallion from that she had seen several nights before. Maybe, she could finally get some answers to what was going on.

“Ahem!” Luna ‘coughed’ making the unicorn sharply raise its head.

The unicorn’s horn glowed a threatening. However, this strategy failed immensely as Luna swiftly avoided his attack. She noticed that the young unicorn was trying to make a run for it.

“Not this time!” she thought to herself as her magic hit the unicorn, making him stumble.

The stallion attempted to get back up, but it was to no avail.

“What have you done to me?” the stallion yelled as he fruitlessly tried to move his limp legs.

“Easy there soldier. I just made your legs fall asleep. The poor things seemed to be tired,” Luna joked.

“What?” the stallion shook his head in disbelief.

“I am sorry if it may have seemed a bit cruel,” Luna spoke gently.

“I thought you’d be more willing to cooperate that way. You seem to have a horrible tendency of running away whenever I am around,” the night royal explained.

The unicorn fell silent as he expected the worst punishment. A thousand and one horrors plagued his mind of what the night warrior might do to him. He had heard stories of the vicious ruthlessness of the Equestrian ponies, especially from the princesses, but nothing could have prepared him for what was about to happen. Instead of painful torment, Luna simply smiled at him. It was a kind and genuine smile, as if to ease his sufferings.

“Now, do you have a name?” Luna asked the disabled stallion

“Darkrim,” the unicorn stuttered, still in shock.

Luna’s eyes narrowed as she tried to remember where she had heard that name before.

“You wouldn’t happen to be from Tartarus, would you?” Luna asked.

“That’s me ma’am” the unicorn spoke, a bit more relaxed than before “Son of King Hades and Queen Persephone and heir to the throne of Tartarus. Well ex heir to be precise,” he said with sorrow in his eyes.

“Ex?” Luna asked puzzled by his answer.

“Well, it’s a rather long and complicated story to be honest.” Darkrim laughed nervously. “Let’s just say I was banished for some things my father did not approve of and leave it at that.”

Luna nodded her head and spoke in a more serious tone.

“Fair enough” she replied “But I still need to know; why have you and that serpent friend of yours been disturbing the peace of Equestria?”

As she spoke those last words, Luna took on a much more serious tone. The pony nervously shook, his dark blue flames dancing gently with his body.

“It’s not an easy question to answer” Darkrim spoke somberly “Radifus told me that there was only one way that I could prove myself. If I stole the Elements of Harmony, I could finally prove to my father that I am powerful enough to rule over Tartarus. He would have taken me back and everything should have just gone back to normal” Darkrim stopped and sighed.

Luna gave him a signal to continue.

“The night you showed up was supposed to be our first scouting mission. I was supposed to just reach the Castle and report back. Unfortunately, I haven’t slept the best the night before and my battles with the indigenous creatures of the Everfree Forest seemed to be too much for me to bear and I passed out,” Darkrim continued his story wincing a bit as he remembered that last part.

"I see," Luna said “But one thing just doesn't add up. Why would you search for the Elements in this castle? You are aware that they are not even in their physical form anymore, let alone in this ancient place,” Luna explained.

Darkrim’s eyes raised in shock.

“That is impossible! They have to be here!” Darkrim protested “The Basilisk told me so!”

“I am afraid they are not,” Luna sighed.

Darkrim let out a disappointed sigh. Suddenly, his eyes narrowed.

“If the Elements aren’t here, then why would he--” Darkrim tried to figure out Radifus' plans.

As Darkrim tried to wrap his head around this new information, a sudden noise came from the library.

Basilisk Battle Royal

Luna quickly jumped up to her hooves and began the pursuit, leaving Darkrim alone in the Element room. She walked silently, using the supporting pillars as her ‘cloaking device’. As she approached the library she could make out the sound of a serpentine tongue.

“Where is it?!” the voice became more and more irritated by each passing second.

Luna positioned herself behind the entrance to the library, just so the serpent couldn’t see her. She could hear Radifus tossing books aside and slashing, from time to time, at the ancient bookshelves, nearly destroying centuries of precious knowledge held inside of them. Luna slowly continued to move out of the doorway and into the room, causing the Basilisk to stop his search.

“Why if it isn’t the scent of our dearest night guardian?” the serpent smiled politely as Luna came into his vision.

“Radifus, I presume,” Luna said looking at the beast with a determined look on her face.

“In the scales and spikes, Ma Cherie,” the Basilisk spoke elegantly ‘bowing’ his head.

“I can see thou moved from scaring ponies in their dreams to ravaging ruins. How progressive,” Luna spoke with animosity towards the creature in front of her.

All of the fear she felt turned into pure concentrated hatred, although Luna did not know why she felt it to such degree. Maybe it was the horrid glimpse of her Nightmare past in his glinting golden eyes or perhaps it was just the way he held himself in her presence. The inflections in his voice and the movements of his body in her presence revealed that he considered her an unworthy adversary. A weakling!

Still Luna couldn’t let her emotions come forth. She could clearly notice how this monster would enjoy her rage far too much so she had to stay calm, and collected in the presence of this abomination.

Radifus just smiled his slimy grin as he noticed Luna’s inner struggle.

“What can I say?” Radifus bantered on trying to push correct buttons to upset Luna, “I do adore the artifacts of this place. They have a certain charm,” Radifus continued to tease as he opened up Edward's book.

"My dearest Princess. How cute," Radifus condescended to Luna.

It was slowly starting to get to the night regal. She anticipated him to be as ravenous and rabid as the night she met him, but he seem to be much more calculated.

“I must apologize for my rather rude assault in the woods.” Radifus continued slowly slithering towards Luna, “It was quite crass and brutish of me to sneak up on you like that, but do tell,” the serpent said with a devilish grin, “How did you enjoy the sweet dreams I gave you and your soldiers? Were they all you hoped for?"

Luna’s nostrils flared, but she kept her composure as she laughed right in the serpent’s face.

“They were as pleasant as my stay on the Moon,” Luna said with spite “but they did manage to teach me something,” she continued as she walked circles around Radifus.

“Oh,” the Basilisk spoke with interest “And what might that be?”

Luna smiled slyly.

“You are nothing more than a coward,” Luna said as Radifus looked at her in shock.

“Yes a coward. You couldn’t face me head on, so you took your underhoof tactics, sending your student to distract me while you snuck behind. And when that failed, you simply tried to defeat me on your own playing field, not even realizing that I was the ruler of that plain. Face it you are nothing but a pathetic coward, hiding in the shadows, hoping they would protect you! Pathetic!” Luna finished with distain in her voice.

Every word Luna spoke hit harder and harder at the Basilisk whose rage was uncontainable. Luna could see he was about to strike, as she slowly prepared her stance. But instead of a destructive feral attack the Basilisk simply laughed.

“You amuse me, princess,” he spoke with much more fire in his voice “You call me ‘pathetic’ and call me out for hiding in the shadows, but who was it that fell for them? Who was it that was controlled by her shadow for more than a millennia? Please princess, spare me the hypocrisy. You call me ‘a coward’ in a faint attempt to enrage. Well if that’s what you wish, then I will be glad to show you!” The Basilisk screamed those last two words as his golden spiked tail slashed the air between them and nearly hit Luna.

Barely dodging that strike, Luna quickly rose to her hooves and pointed her horn at the Basilisk, who was still trying to get his tail out of the ground. Her horn became infused with dark blue energy as a beam shot right out of it and blasted towards the serpent. The Basilisk quickly noticed the beam and with extreme speed slithered away from it, causing it to hit a wall behind him.

As quickly as he evaded the deadly beam, Radifus quickly pounced at Luna, unhinging his jaw, as if he were to swallow her whole. In the nick of time Luna managed to escape the wide and jaw of this monstrosity which looked more like an Ursa trap than a mouth. The Basilisk clamped his teeth together as he hit the ground. Luna flew up as high as she could, but Radifus had other plans.

“Minions of the shadow land orchestrate your dark powers! Come forth and destroy the princess of the night!” the serpent roared

As the Basilisk spoke , his horn glowed a sickly green color. Luna noticed that as he spoke small, slender beings, consisted of pure dark energy with pure white eyes started to rise from the ground.

Each creature looked the same; very slander, consisted of dark air like substance like they were spirits from the darkest corners of Tartarus with sharp, jagged teeth and dark feathered wings. There were at least a dozen of these slimy buggers and Luna knew she couldn’t fend off all by herself. She shot at few with her concentrated beams, causing them to fade, but for each she destroyed, two more seem to crop up.

Luna looked around for anything she could use to at least stop these creatures. Quickly noticing the armored ponies standing around her, the dark alicorn formulated a defense strategy.

She used her magic as hard as she could, slowly breathing life into the suits of armors. Suddenly the elder stone ponies began to come to life infused with dark blue light emitting from their eyes. The figures moved slowly into a formation, making the spectral ghouls stopping in their tracks.

Luna stood behind her terracolts as Basilisk stopped his spectral beings. It was a standoff, each creature staring another.

“Waiting for dramatic effect, I see,” Luna spoke to the Basilisk.

“Only for a bit,” the serpent spoke with distain “Destroy them!”

“Stand your ground terracolts!” Luna commanded as the shadows rushed towards the stone guardians.

The massacre began as the shadow’s claws dug deep into the terracolt’s armor, even penetrating it and crushing the stone horses. However, the fatalities of stone guardians were minuscule when compared to the shadows they banished. Aided by Luna’s magic the shadows began to retreat. The Basilisk’s patience was slowly fading.

“Enough!” He yelled unleashing a destructive barrier. The barrier eradicated his shadow army and even pushed back the terracolts and Luna. As Luna got back to her hooves she noticed her stone guardians lay shattered on the floor.

“Rest in peace my brave soldiers. You did well,” she thought to herself. She noticed that the Basilisk was slowly running out of steam.

“What’s the matter?” she teased Radifus, “Can’t keep up?”

“I am just getting started,” Radifus smiled as his golden tail slashed at Luna.

Luna tried to fly away from it, but she was just that one moment too late as the crescent spike slashed at her and sent her flying into the Element room.

As Luna came to she noticed Darkrim raising up to his hooves and rushing over to her.

“Princess, are you- -,“ his voice fell silent as he noticed the dark green serpent slither into view, “Radifus! What have you done to her?!”

“She interfered with my plans. What did you think I would do?” Radifus said, launching a new attack on the weakened Luna.

He charged at her with full force, but Darkrim interfered, shooting a red beam of magic and striking Radifus right in the jaw. The wicked serpen was distracted for just long enough to allow Luna to rise up to her hooves. The scaly beaqst looked at Darkrim with vengeful eyes as he constricted him tightly.

“I will teach you to disobey me you pathetic worm!” The Basilisk hissed at Darkrim. The exiled prince tried to run as fast as he could, but the vile serpent constricted him tightly, causing him to gasp for breath.

“Release him at once!” Luna yelled as she got up to her hooves. She quickly launched a beam of dark blue energy. The blast took almost all out of her, but it seemed to have no effect on the Basilisk’s harsh scales.

“I do apologize my princess, but that will not be possible”, Radifus smiled, “He must be made aware of the error of his way and punished for it,” the Basilisk finished quickly slithering away from Luna as she fell to her knees, panting from exhaustion.

As the Basilisk slithered, Luna could hear Darkrim, kicking and screaming for a while. Exhausted and defeated, Luna laid on the floor. She felt tired, bruised, and battered, but not defeated.

As soon as she regained some of her energy, Luna got up to her hooves and rushed out of the Castle. She gave a quick glance around the surrounding area, quickly noting that the serpent had been long gone.

Once she reached that conclusion, a small smirk danced on Luna’s lips. Her horn gave off a pale blue glow as a giant map unfolded right in front of her eyes.

This was the map of the Great Canterlot area which included the Everfree forest and Ponyville. A glowing red dot appeared in the subterranean area beneath the Everfree forest. Luna examined it closely as the red dot still appeared for a few seconds to be moving before coming into a complete halt.

“I’ve got you now!” she thought to herself.

The dark alicorn slowly walked around, in search of a ground level opening. She knew the Everfree forest like the back of her hoof and knew that there were a few strategically placed underground entrances positioned all over the forest.

Not wanting to waste a single moment, Luna darted in search of the nearest entrance to the underground. It wasn’t long until she came across an opening, conveniently positioned behind a few bushes. The night guardian took one glance at the surrounding area and she noticed that the clearing where she first met the infernal serpent, wasn’t far away from her.

“No wonder he was able to appear of thin air,” Luna thought to herself as she descended down a narrow pit into the very bowels of Equestria.

Using her wings, and a little bit of shield magic, Luna was able to gracefully descend down the treacherous fissure and enter the underworld of Equestria.

Her horn glowed bright as she illuminated the damp walls of the caverns that surrounded her. Although Equestria did look quite stable on the surface, the underground was a pretty huge mess. Tunnels upon tunnels of both natural and hoof made construction seemed to stretch out into the darkness that surrounded Luna. She listened closely to hear any anomalies in the caverns.

Drops of water dripped softly from the stalactites above and onto Luna’s back, making her tension rise by the hoofstep. Her ears pricked up as she heard slight, faint voices coming from the bowels of the cavern.

Luna walked silently as not to alert the voices of her presence. The voices seem to become gradually louder and louder as Luna continued her trot. After arriving at a circular opening to a small clearing, Luna could distinguish the slithering tongue of the serpent and the deep voice of a stallion. She quickly turned off her light as she noticed a light coming from that opening. Hiding behind a nearby stalagmite Luna eavesdropped on the conversation.

“I must say I am very disappointed in you, dear prince,” Radifus spoke calmly “Your actions have set back our plans quite a lot”.

“I apologize,” Darkrim spoke “but you didn’t keep your end of the bargain either. You promised me no more ponies would get hurt!”

The Basilisk sighed.

“You are such a naïve little colt aren’t you?” He spoke with so much spite in his voice.

“What do you mean?” The dark blue unicorn questioned.

“Don’t you see? We are at war!” Radifus spoke vigorously, slashing his tail onto the ground, making Luna flinch. Silence roamed between them.

“Why do you look so shocked?” the Basilisk spoke to the wide eyed Darkrim “You must have noticed that the tensions between the counties are rather high. Creatures are escaping from Tartarus and are being released into Equestria to shake their core. Surely you are aware of lord Tirek’s ‘escape’ and not to mention the release of the infamous Bugbear. Any day now, Ares’ forces will storm the gates of Canterlot, collapsing the Equestrian society and allowing the creatures of Tartarus to rise and take their rightful place. I am merely speeding up these plans.” Radifus completed his speech as Darkrim just shook his head.

Luna’s heart raced as she listened to all this horror coming together. It was far worse than any nightmare she had thus far. An all out war on Equestria was a horrifying idea to think of. Suddenly she flashbacked to the last war before Celestia’s peaceful reign. She shivered at the mere thought of it happening again.

Suddenly Darkrim snapped out of his shock.

“Let me talk to him!” he stated proudly “I am sure I could change his mind and I can bet my life that the Equestria’s monarchs will be open to a compromise. We don’t need any more bloodshed,” Darkrim protested, much to Radifus’ dismay.

“If only it was possible,” his eyes started to glow a bright yellow glow “but alas I have something different planned out."

Darkrim suddenly started to feel weak. His knees wobbled and his head began to feel like spikes were driven through it.

“What are you doing to me?” he yelled out as his eyes began to shut.

Luna couldn’t take it anymore. She had to do something or the Basilisk would win.

“Don’t worry. Soon it will be all ove--“ the Basilisk wanted to finish his spell, but a blue beam of pure magic hit him right in the snout, causing him to lose focus. The wicked serpent slithered back in order to recover, but as soon as he did that another strike of blue magic stroke him in the back. He hissed in pain.

Darkrim watched in a haze as a dark blue alicorn stood in front of him, ready to defend the stallion like a mother Ursa protecting her youngling.

“Hide behind the stalagmites!” Luna commanded “I’ll hold him off as much as I can”.

Coughing slightly, the Basilisk spoke calmly, faintly attempting to hide his true rage, “Well, well princess. Fancy of you to drop so unexpectedly.”

“I will not let you corrupt the soul of this young stallion!” she spoke defensively. It was no longer a battle of wits to her. It took on a much more serious tone once he mentioned that war.

“It is not up to you to decide,” Radifus spoke with vigor in his voice “You have interfered with my plans long enough!” the serpent spoke as his horns and eyes glowed a bright yellow color, enlighting the cavern in a menacing golden glow.

Beams of concentrated golden energy surged from the serpent’s horns. He directed a few beams towards Luna in a vain attempt to disable her. Seeing the beams approaching the night ruler concentrated all of her might and created a pale blue barrier, protecting her from the blast.

Once the beams stopped, Luna lowered her shield, only to notice that the serpent has disappeared once again. Luna backed up to a wall, but something didn’t feel quite right.

Suddenly she felt the ground beneath her shaking.

Luna was forced to use her teleportation magic in the split-second she had before the serpent erupted from the ground.

“Is that all you got?” Luna asked smugly as she conjured levitating blades and flung them at the menacing serpent. A glimpse of gold appeared in Radifus’ gaze as he dodged each dagger with ease.

The night royal was too occupied at hitting the serpent’s head, that she didn’t notice shadows slowly conjuring up behind her. A minion of the shadow realm manifested behind her and held out its claws, ready to ensnare the night regal.

As she stepped back Luna fell into the grasp of horrid beings behind her. She struggled and thrashed, but the hands of shadows only enticed her harder and harder. The Basilisk smiled as he slowly approached to Luna with a hypnotic madman look in his eyes.

As this was going on, Darkrim hid behind a stalagmite observing the horrors unfold in front of his eyes. Fear, confusion and anguish weld in his heart as he tried to decide what to do. On one hoof he wanted to help Luna fend off the monstrous beast, but on the other hoof he didn’t know was he strong enough.

“How could I stand up to him?” Darkrim thought to himself as his heart raced with fear. He saw the Basilisk capture Luna, but what could a lonely unicorn like him do?

As he thought, Darkrim remembered how he wouldn’t be here without Luna’s assistance. Who knew what the Basilisk would have done to him if she hadn’t shown up.

He had to at least try to help her! He owed her at least that much. Using most of his magic, Darkrim managed to conjure up a smoke spell, hiding him from the serpent’s golden gaze as he swiftly moving from a stalagmite to a stalagmite, hoping to reach Luna in time.

As Darkrim rushed Radifus took his time. He had to recompose himself after using so much magic. It always left him drained too much as magic wasn’t indigenous to his race.

“Well dear princess,” the Basilisk exclaimed, gasping heavily “You fought valiantly, but alas my shadows were stronger”.

As he said those last lines, Darkrim managed to approach Luna. She looked back at him and smiled as she saw his magic hitting the shadow’s grasp and weakening it just enough for Luna to escape.

“Good night, sweet warrior,” the Basilisk spoke as his golden tail blade rushed towards Luna. Right before it was about to hit, Luna teleported herself away.

The Basilisk removed his golden spikes from the ground as he looked furiously at Luna. Luna was ready for a fight, but a red beam of magic hit the serpent right in the back of its skull, causing Radifus to slither back a few feet.

As he came to, Radifus stared at the site in front of him; Luna was standing in her battle ready stance as Darkrim came from her right side.

Luna glanced at him and shielded the banished prince with her wing, shining Darkrim a friendly smirk before they both faced the Basilisk.

“Face it Radifus,” Luna spoke with vigor “You have been defeated. I know you don’t have enough offence magic left in you, so you might as well just surrender” she said triumophantly. However, the serpent wasn't paying mind to her words. His gaze was directed at Darkrim.

“Your father would have been so disappointed,” he said and sighed.

Darkrim wanted to attack him, but he had no time as the Basilisk used all of his remaining magic.

“Oh no you don’t!” Luna screamed as she tried to stop the serpent from teleporting, but it was too late. A bright flash illuminated the cave as the green scaled serpent vanished into thin air, teleporting back to the depths of Tartarus from whence it came from.

Epilogue

Darkrim and Luna walked silently through the caverns. Every now and then, the dark alicorn would watch at the distraught unicorn, attempting to come up with something that could cheer him up.

Meanwhile, Darkrim looked utterly defeated. His hopes for return were shattered now as the only creature that could have helped him to return to his rightful place was now his nemesis. The impending war between Tartarus and Equestria was like a hanging blade over his head, adding even more anxiety to his broken heart.

His only glimmer of hope now was the night alicorn walking besides him. Her reassuring gaze made him feel a lot easier in this hard time. As they continued their walk the two reached the same hole from which Luna entered the caverns.

“Come on, climb on my back,” Luna spoke to Darkrim.

Darkrim hesitantly obeyed the night ruler's request. The night alicorn managed to barely spread her wings as they both ascended out of the caves and into the Everfree forest. Luna lowered Darkrim onto the ground below as they both began to walk through the forest.

Luna noticed how the night was coming soon to a close. She knew she had to be back at Canterlot soon, but she couldn’t just leave Darkrim.

“Darkrim,” she spoke somberly at the distraught unicorn.

As she spoke out his name, Darkrim fearfully gazed upon Luna.

“Yes, princess?” he responded.

“I know how hard this must have fallen upon your heart,” Luna spoke comfortingly.

“I will survive somehow,” Darkrim replied, fainting a smile.

“I know,” Luna continued, “But realize I don’t want you to be hurt. I know how it feels to be exiled from your home and even being betrayed by those closest to you,” Luna connected to him.

As Luna spoke, small tears started to appear in her eyes, making them glisten in the moonlight. Darkrim just looked at her with both compassion and understanding.

“I’ll get used to those two,” Darkrim responded and sighed “It’s the loneliness that’s the hardest to adapt to.”

As he said that, Darkrim’s head slumped back down. Luna noticed this and quickly straightened his head up with one of her wings.

“My dearest, prince,” she spoke calmly with a kind smile on her face “I would be most honored if you would accept my hoof in friendship,” Luna extended her hoof.

Darkrim’s eyes glistened in joy as he accepted her friendly gesture.

“You really mean that? Even after all of the things I did?” Darkrim continued.

Luna nodded her head.

“But where will I stay? Considering Basilisk vengeful spirit the caves are out of question,” Darkrim said.

Luna placed her hoof on her chin as she thought hard about it.

“Well,” Luna stated “You are most welcome to stay at the Canterlot Castle,” Luna winked.

Darkrim’s eyes widened in surprise.

“Really?” he asked in shock.

“As my friend, it would be my honor,” Luna responded.

“I am speechless,” Darkrim spoke, still a bit in shock “You have done so much for me, my dearest princess!” Darkrim’s eyes watered up.

“It’s the least I can do,” Luna said, covering the unicorn with her wing “And I promise you: We shall get you back on your rightful throne!” Luna spoke with determination proudly booming in her voice.

“Thank you so much princess”, Darkrim said as he rushed into Luna’s embraced. Luna held Darkrim with her wings close to her.

As Darkrim hugged Luna something began to happen.

A shine on his flank appeared, as a cutie mark of the moon with three stars nestled in it began to format itself.

After a few seconds Luna released Darkrim from her embrace as she looked on to the fading night sky above them.

“Come now, my sister is waking up,” Luna spoke as Darkrim climbed onto her back.

As they drifted away to Canterlot, a shining new dawn broke through the night as the reborned Sun chased the darkness away.

Darkrim could feel it in the air that something great and new was on the horizon.

Author's Note

Well my dearies it seems that this fanfic has drawn to a close. Even though one adventure has ended, new adventures are on the horizon as this is not the last you will see of Darkrim nor of the Basilisk.

Special thanks to two of my greates supporters here:

First I'd like to thank, once again, to my oldest supporter here JLB Dreamer. She has been not only a great support, but also my editor and the person that did that most excellent cover art. She is ridiculously talented (in both writing and drawing) and insanely cool and hard working. She has been with me since the beginning of this novel and always found the time to help me out :pinkiesad2: JLB you are the best! :raritystarry:

Another thank you goes to a very special pony, the one and only herald of Illogic, Psycho the Psychopath (no that name isn't redundant redundant). This guy has helped me so much and made me think of how to design my monsters and how to use my commas lol He is a brilliant, funny and all around cool pony. He is a genius world builder and I hope one day I will reach that level. Psycho, you are DA BOMB!

And of course a big thank you to y'all who read, liked and criticized this story of mine. It was a lengthy project but the first part is done now. Thank you all so much and I will see you soon! IN LUNA WE TRUST!