Chapters The Journey of Night and Day
Astrum shook his great head to clear it. The world tilted and shook around him, the sky a now a bloody red and bright orange, and other alicorns shot great blasts of magic at opponents. A group of changelings attacked a thin green alicorns, who Astrum recognized as the Insect Queen, Bestiola. The dark blue alicorn shakily rose to his hooves, and started a spell to protect the queen.
Suddenly, a flash of blinding green light invaded Astrum's vision, and he covered his muzzle with his starry wings. Astrum could see the light dim down noticeably through the feathers of his wings, and put them down.
Astrum's violet-blue eyes widened in horror and in anger as he spotted a hoard of changelings attempting to break down the castle doors.
Before he had the chance to react, however, an orange alicorn mare flew at top speed to the castle's defense. She lifted her beautiful head and sent a golden ray of magic out of her horn, paralyzing the changelings instantly. They fell from the sky, eyes shut tightly in pain, and crashed into the ground with several loud cracks .
Astrum raced over to stand beside his wife. "Well done, Lucerna!" Lucerna nodded thankfully. "Do not praise me yet," she lifted her gaze to the red sky.
Millions of black shapes were hurtling towards the castle at a rate faster than Fulgmis, the King of Lightning, could fly, their pointed horns holding fire. "MOVE!!" Astrum shouted, pushing Lucerna away gently but firmly.
"No way am I going anywhere! They are my children as much as they are yours," Lucerna argued, her voice raised loudly above the low and steady hum of insect wings. Astrum sighed. If they were to die, they would both die fighting, that was one fact Astrum couldn't deny. And he had made a promise. A life-changing promise, an 'until death' sort of promise.
Astrum had sworn, on that fateful day, that he would protect his new children until the end of eternity. And that is what he planned to do.
The changelings hit, and the two great ponies were thrown back into the castle wall. Astrum's gaze blurred, and he blinked it away. He could not die yet.
A sleek black changeling smashed into Astrum's chest, horn pointed, aiming. Astrum growled and delivered a powerful kick with his hind leg, which sent it a good distance before it landed in the dust, unconscious.
A blood-curdling scream resounded to Astrum's right side. He blasted two changelings off his wings, and turned to Lucerna. The world froze as changelings flew away from the orange alicorn's body, revealing the damage done. He raced over to Lucerna, checking frantically for a sign that she was still alive.
Astrum's heart froze. He sank to the ground, complete numbness washing over him. Changelings rained down on him, but he barely noticed. Lucerna, the only thing that would ever be able to comfort him in the dark of night, was dead. The love and light in his life, gone forever.
A sharp pain ripped through Astrum's tired heart, and his eyes snapped shut in agony. The King of the Night's life was ended in a fiery blast of bright green, the world spinning in a seemingly endless torrent of war and hate.
The Journey of Night and Day
1- Escape, or Search and Rescue?
Tears streamed down the tiny alicorn's white cheeks, as she held her shivering sister to her chest tightly. The crashes and screams outside had stopped, but the two sisters had been instructed to stay behind the castle walls until their parents came to get them. It had been four days since the battles had silenced.
Celestia and Luna had lived hidden from battle for several months. Celestia was a white filly with long, wavy, light pink hair and pink eyes. Luna was a dark blue pony with a short, light blue mane. As the daughters of the King of Night, and the Queen of Light, the two were raised as the Princesses of the Sun and Moon.
Luna looked up, teary eyed, at Celestia. "W-we should go... look f-for them..." she began quietly. Celestia shook her head vigorously, tears pouring out of her closed eyes. A lump had formed in Celestia's throat, and she decided against speaking aloud.
Princess Celestia and Princess Luna stayed in the castle, living off of the limited supplies in the castle kitchen. They spent two years there, until one morning. This particular morning, the sun rose.
Celestia squirmed to cover her eyes, but then realized the source of her discomfort. The sun was rising shakily into the sky for the first time in nearly three years. Celestia bolted out of bed, across the room to Luna's bed. "Luna! Luna wake--" Celestia stopped short. Luna was not in her bed. Celestia raced about the castle, quickly beginning to panic, calling for Luna.
Finally she reached the front entrance, where Luna was having quite a difficult time squeezing her way through a tiny hole in the cracked wall. "Luna? Where do you think you are going?" Luna froze, then pulled her head back in. "Sister! I did not realize you were awake!" Luna's blue-green eyes sparkled with excitement. "Did you see the sun rise? Do you understand what this could mean?"
Celestia nodded sadly. But it is impossible, she thought. "Our parents--" Luna started.
"Our parents would want us to stay safe." Celestia pulled Luna into a hug, but Luna persisted, pushing her away.
The dark blue filly began pounding on the edges of the hole determinedly. When that didn't work, she then began to desperately throw random large objects at it. "Luna," Celestia said. "You must--" Celestia promptly lost her train of thought as a deep crevice crawled its way all the way to the ceiling. Celestia gasped as the wall broke open, and morning sunlight flooded into the room.
Luna's eyes lit up. She bounded through the wide gap, Celestia hurriedly on her heels.
The landscape before them was barren, but beautiful. Long, flowing grass replaced what used to be dusty gravel. Lush forest could be seen in the distance, dark shadows covering the interior. The kingdom, once beautiful as well, was now in ruins. Large blocks of cement jutted out from the ground as painful reminders of the War, and the dirt path that led throughout the city was overgrown and covered nearly entirely in an assortment of plant life.
Celestia sat in the tall grass, soaking in the warmth of the sun. Luna collapsed, a wide grin on her face, next to her sister. Celestia glanced at her happy sibling, and smiled.
Luna rolled onto her back and said lightly, "We should look around, Tia." Celestia was taken aback for a split second, then replied. "Why? What more is there to see? Do you not like it here?" Luna looked the older filly straight in the eye. "Of course I like it here," she said, "but would it not be a good idea to search for our missing parents?"
Celestia's heart dropped to her hooves. She realized suddenly that she would not be able to convince her sister that they were not coming back.
Just as Celestia had opened her mouth to respond, she heard a noise. A brushing sort of noise, getting closer and closer. "Luna," she whispered. "Get down. Something's here."
The Journey of Night and Day
The shuffling in the grass stopped. Luna lifted her head cautiously. Celestia tried to pull Luna back to the ground, but Luna's curiosity outweighed her wish to stay hidden.
From over the top of the grass, Luna could see the tip of a swirling blue horn. She stood up carefully and began pushing through the long blades. "Luna!! " Celestia hissed in a low whisper. Luna ignored her elder sister's warning. She pulled a clump of weeds out of her way with her hooves, and gazed at the creature huddled on the ground.
The creature had one off-white deer horn, and one blue horn that spiraled out of his small head. He was covering his muzzle with one bat wing, and one pegasus wing. His long red snake tail quivered in fright. Luna lowered her head to poke him with her muzzle. The creature opened his eyes, revealing his red irises.
Celestia came to stand next to Luna. "Hello!" Luna greeted the serpent-like creature. He backed away slightly so he could sit on his haunches. "H-hello." He stammered, clearly not used to meeting strangers. "I am Princess Celestia, Princess of the Sun," Celestia introduced herself. "This is my sister, Princess Luna, the Princess of the Night."
The strange creature dipped his head politely. "I am Discord," he said, "I am a Draconequus." Luna was confused. She had never heard of such a being. Discord seemed to pick up on her puzzlement, and elaborated. "I am the son of a creature known as a Draconequus. My father was a great chaos-bringer. I got my name from the chaos he and my family brought."
Luna gazed at Discord in silent wonder, while Celestia stepped forward.
"Where are your parents now?" she asked him.
Discord shrugged. "I don't know."
Luna finally snapped out of her state, and blurted, "Neither do we! You wanna come look with us?" Celestia gave her sister a sharp look. "Yeah!" Discord replied, apparently overjoyed at the suggestion.
Celestia closed her eyes and smiled at the ground in a defeated sort of way. "Well, we should start looking, then," she said. The draconequus opened his wings and began to hover above the grass.
The three young creatures began to head towards the rainforest, in search of their missing parents.
