Shadows of the Moonby MortefleurChaptersDeath of a WorldReborn AnewThis was a TriumphStartling RevelationsDeath of a WorldRain pelted down on the wastes of the earth, buildings crumbling around as the last vestiges of humanity try to eek out a small existence among this hostile world. A small group of men and woman stood around in the halls of a museum, donning the ancient armour of ages past, decked out in gear from a time of knights and maidens. Swords, spears, shields and Platemail divvied out amongst those present, some of the last of the living left upon the desolate planet, standing together in their last hours. harried and chased for days thy had finally been corralled into a situation with no hope of escape, number depleted from their "escape" to the museum they now found themselves in. Armies numbered in the millions slowly crawled their way to the entrenched humans, countless legions of the dead spilling out from the gates of hell, though these were different from those portrayed in the old world, nay these monsters before held sinister intellect and the knowledge for warfare, though still numberless shambling hordes, they had the know how of how to utilise weaponry, marking them as a dangerous foe. Standing shoulder to shoulder, the men stood in the foyer of the museum decked out in armour with spears, swords and shields. The women stood on the upper levels wielding bows and arrows to cover their inevitable retreat farther back into the museum. One man still holding onto some technology from the time before hell's gates were opened decided that he would use the last of his Iphone's battery in his final hour. Earphones plugged in and music beginning to play, Samuel Darius stood with the other men awaiting the tide of the dead. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VaEY7Z3QsOA) The doors to the museum burst open as the first of many stormed into the foyer. They rushed towards the oncoming spears, the front ranks sacrificing themselves to please their gods of evil and allow those behind to close on those men holding the spears themselves. the second line of undead smashed into the now disarmed humans before they could fall back behind their brethren, hacked down and brutally beaten with a bunch of makeshift weapons, from clubs to lead pipes the armour proving useless against such crushing power. Those behind the front row decided that it would be best to fall back, and funnel the dead up the stairs to provide a bottleneck and a chance to take down more of their murderers. Signalling to the women, the men quickly fell back up to the next level whilst the women opened fire with their bows, felling several dozen with their salvos. Darius stood on the stairs, readying himself and steeling his heart to what he would have to do. The tactics of the dead were but true evil. Children were the next to begin their charge at the surviving humans who now resided on the stairs.Holding his blade before him Darius swung out and cleaved into the head of one of the onrushing children, a few tears making their way down his face at the monstrous acts he had to perform. For some it was too much as they hurled themselves form the top floor of the museum to come crashing to the floor below, ending their suffering and creating more for those who yet lived, returning to fight their previous allies. Darius stood firm holding the line as they were slowly being pushed backwards by both the ferocity and numbers of the oncoming tide. Moans coming from the throats of the dead in an unnatural chorus to further unnerve the defenders of the Museum.cutting legs and arms in an effort to slow down their advance, Darius took several blows against his armour, one or two breaking through the steel to cause injuries to the flesh underneath, seeming to drive the dead into greater frenzy. Back-stepping further even as those around him were being cut down, he began to make his way up to the next floor of the museum, women already beginning to fire more arrows down at the dead beneath them, some with flames to set alight the mass of rotting putrid flesh, aiming to ravage the bodies of the living dead, several collapsing into a smouldering heap the smell of burning flesh rising up through the air to mix with the sickly sweet smell of the rotting flesh. The defence of the third floor was even more dire, many of the men had fallen by now leaving about twenty left to stem the never-ending tide to allow the women a possible chance of escape onto the rooftops. Those women who did manage to break the windows let out a wail of despair. They were completely and utterly surrounded, a wall of rotting bodies for miles upon miles shuffled slowly towards their position in a large circle surrounding the premises of the museum. They were well and truly trapped, doomed utterly to die in the building they had run to to escape from the dead. For some this realisations was too much for them to bear, straw that broke the camels back. They sank to the floor and awaited their fate. Those of a stronger composition turned to the oncoming swarm and unleashed a righteous indignation, raging at the cruelty and injustice that had befallen the world, firing a constant stream of arrows in an adrenaline fueled frenzy. Darius and another five men were all that were left of the defenders of the women, they had been pushed back by the droves of horror, doomed to die next to their sister in the raging crescendo of war. The women left fighting rushed forwards in a rage, a cold fury next to the tempered stoicism of the men. Fighting in anger, the women were quick to make mistakes and were soon overwhelmed leaving a handful for fighters left standing. Music still blaring in his ears, Darius fought even harder to stave off the effects of exhaustion and dismay, he would take down as many as possible before the end. Crying could be heard from some of the women who had been broken, in crumpled heaps on the floor as some of the dead decided that they would begin their feast early, the cries of anguish quickly turning into screams of pain as they were devoured alive. Another man went down, quickly followed by two more as they were being overwhelmed, bushed back towards an unbroken window in the futile fight for survival. All that were left now of the eight odd survivors numbered two, Darius himself, bloodied and bruised, and the last of the women. Both stood together fighting for all their worth, slaying dozens in their adrenal trance induced by both exhaustion and fear. Time seemed to slow for Darius as he heard a whistling sound at the same time as he saw a large figure wielding archaic armour and wielding a pike in one hand. Raising his shield on instinct Darius was saved from the arrows which quickly pierced the body of the woman, blood seeping from the piercing arrows in her armour, crumpling to the floor as the last of her life left her. Standing alone before the undying horde, Darius felt a sense of peace, moonlight shining through the unbroken window to his back. Preparing himself for death at the hands of the brute before him. The music in his ears beginning their final crescendo as he was about to begin his own. Thinking back over his life before hell on earth began, he awaited his end with pride and dignity, to have come so far and denied the evil his soul, he felt safe in the knowledge that he had ended more than had ended him, with the knowledge that he had made survival easier for those that yet remained on the broken earth. When the giant was upon him, it ended quickly impaled upon the pike, the monster kicked his soon to be corpse off the end. Unnatural strength lending force to his body, Darius was knocked backwards through the window, shattering it into a thousand pieces, the heavy armour he was wearing aiding in his fall. the last thing he saw was the monster standing in the shattered window as he fell towards the ground, the final notes of the song he was listening to ending as he was about to hit the floor. His body disappearing into the moonlight. Equestria: The Nightcourt Princess Celestia sat in the throne room attending to the duties that her sister would perform. Tonight was a different matter, tonight a tragedy had occurred. after months of carrying a foal, on what was meant to be a momentous occasion of celebration had instead turned into a night of anguish and depression of which Luna was not handling well at all. For that night the Child of Luna, soon to be Celestia's niece or nephew had been still-born. This small detail had shattered the will of Luna and it would be a long time before she would be ready to return to her duties. Her hopes and dreams of becoming a mother all crushed in a single moment, a pain so great Celestia feared that Luna may even try to take her own life for the pain she was dealing with. For now though she would have to keep up appearances, so she had Princess Cadence watching over her sister to keep her from doing anything too rash. Her morose thought track was broken as a loud smash issued through the room as something came hurtling through one of the windows sliding across the ground, leaving a trail of blood and the sound of metal scraping across stone, the new creature came to a stop in a pool of its own life fluids before the throne. Celestia's guards readying their weapons in case this mysterious intruder was a threat. Immediately realising that the newcomer was on the precipice of death she ordered several guards to different places in the palace, two she sent towards the infirmary to get the staff to prepare the private room, and the others she reluctantly sent to her sisters chambers to summon both Luna and Cadance to the infirmary for a most dire medical emergency. Pushing all other thoughts out of her mind, Celestia concentrated and summoned magic to her horn, and with a blinding flash of golden light, both she and the dying figure were transported to the private rooms in the infirmary. Placing the creature on the medical bed, She anxiously awaited the arrival of the other two princesses. Reborn AnewCelestia stood opposite Cadance and a dejected and broken Luna inside the private rooms of the infirmary. On a bed next to her was the prone form of the mysterious creature, still unconscious from losing vast quantities of blood. Speaking quickly and Celestia spoke to both Cadance and Luna to explain to the the situation. "I'll be brief as there is not much time. We must act quickly a life hangs in the balance and we are the only ones present with the power to prevent it from passing on into the void, will you help me to prevent such an event from occurring for I sense it is not time for this soul to yet pass on to the next world." Luna gave a nod alongside Cadance showing their affirmation to the task, but she looked on with a blank look. The previous events of the night still weighing heavily upon her soul, and in her haste Celestia was not prepared for the consequences of a grieving mother upon the magical energies that were soon to be unleashed by Luna. Using her magic Celestia moved the medical bed to the centre of the room before removing the armour of the creature. Next the three Alicorns positioned themselves in a triangle around the fading soul before them. With an unspoken command the three began to channel their magic in unison. Should there have been an onlooker they would have been able to view the powerful healing magic's that were being cast in the room at the time. The power of the sun began to knit closed the wounds of the creature, the power of love casting a soothing aura on the creatures mind to help dull the pain, but it was the light of the moon that was the most interesting of all. Inside Luna's mind she was thinking to herself in quiet reflection about how young this creature before her was. This proved disastrous to the spell as these thoughts led to a darker thought track. It left Luna wondering about the possible's for her child lost and the things she was now denied, the ability to help her child grow in life, of becoming a Grandmother, and other such futures which would now never occur due to that one loss of life. Tears running down her muzzle, Luna tried to refocus upon the healing effects of the spell, but found her mind wandering even farther from the task at hand. This lapse in concentration altered the spell from its purpose, the focus of a spell changing to something more primal, the desire of motherhood from Luna was so powerful it directly altered the purpose of the spell. A swirling vortex of magical energies began to form in the middle of the room, taking control of the spell's of the other two Alicorns present, the vortex grew, flinging paper and other such utensils around the room, all three of the spell's working towards the goal of Luna's the primal urge of the innate magic to grant one of her most base desires Motherhood. As this was occurring both Celestia and Cadance opened their eyes in shock at the feeling of an overpowering magic wresting control of the function of their spells and altering it to its own will. Looking across at Luna, Celestia could see a blank stare in her eyes as tears slowly dropped down her face, with a pained look before coming to drop into a pool at her feet. The next thing that Celestia noticed was a swirling vortex made up predominantly of a deep blue magic, similar to the coat of Luna herself followed by smaller streaks of gold and a light blue to match the magics of both herself and Cadance respectively. Suddenly all three of the Alicorns felt a large drain upon their magic, before they succumbed to unconsciousness, the last thing Celestia saw before she blacked out was the vortex circling in upon itself and the creature surrounded in a blinding glow of light. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Several Minutes Later ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Celestia's eyes shot open and she found herself on the floor of the infirmary, a spate of confusion passing as she remember what had happened just before she passed out. She quickly went over to check on her niece and sister to make sure that they were okay. Confirming that they were fine and just exhausted as she had been, Celestia turned her attention to the centre of the room and the bed which occupied it. With a stifled gasp Celestia's eyes opened in shock at the scene she found before her. The spell had certainly had the desired effect of healing the creature, it just happened to be in a more..... round about way. Instead of the large bipedal creature from before, Celestia was instead faced with a young foal lying asleep before her wrapped partially in the blankets before her. The coat of the foal was a very dark blue, so dark it hinged upon being black. His mane, (for this foal was most definitely male) was a deep and very leafy green colour, a shade you would often find on some of the more dangerous plants that inhabited the lands. The most prominent features of the foal were leathery wings at his sides that looked more at home on a bat than a foal, denoting them to be of Thestral ancestry. Moving around to the front of the foal, Celestia used her magic to gently lift one of his eyelids. He had turquoise eyes but what caused her to take a step back in shock was the discovery that they were slitted pupils, like that of a dragon reminding her of....... no she would not take that train of thought. This was a young foal and formally a relatively young bipedal. There would be no way in Tartarus THAT would have any relevance here. It was gone buried in the past where it should remain, confined to her memories and the halls of time. Releasing her magical hold on the foals eyelids, Celestia also noted the tiny stub of a growing horn. Letting out a slight huff of annoyance, Celestia walked over to rouse her sister. This turn of events would complicate things greatly, but after all it was her job to see this through as the ruler of Equestria the safety of her citizens was paramount. Waking with a groan Luna looked up to see her sister standing before her looking just as exhausted as she felt. The spell they had performed had taken a lot out of them, and looking to the side she saw the prone form Cadance still unconscience on the floor. Regaining her feet, Luna stood up and looked towards her sister, her gaze asking for an explanation of what had just happened. Letting out another sigh Celestia began to speak. "there were some..... complications during the spell and some side effects have occurred." "What kind of side effects sister" "The incantation did more than just heal the creature, it has altered it on the most base levels." "It is both more than it once was and less" "Wha-" "Look for yourself Luna, you will understand what I mean" interrupted Celestia Slowly walking over to the bed, Luna's heart caught in her throat. Seeing the foal before her Luna's motherly instincts kicked in as she began to nuzzle the sleeping foal before her. "Luna" Celestia called whilst tapping her sister with a wing to grab her attention. "There is still one more task to be done." "You must use your magics to seal away the memories of this ones previous life, I don't know what or where the creature before came from, but I fear that these new changes will leaving a permanent scar across his psyche, especially that of a young child as he is now." Nodding in affirmation Luna began her task. Entering into the mind of the "foal" Luna began her task. Memories unbidden came before Luna as she was sealing them away, shocking her at the contents they held. The scenes she saw were what appeared to be the last of this one's former life. She saw about 100 similar bipedal creatures all wearing armour similar to that of the royal guards. Their faces set in grim determination and the underlying fear in the atmosphere unmistakable. These creatures were about to enter battle, to fight for their very survival. The foe yet unseen, but Luna could hear the marching of millions of feet approaching towards the building that they resided in. Along with the marching and clatter of armour, Luna could hear the sound of music playing, a song of death and war, and of duty and reluctance. A large crash resounded as the doors at the front of the building burst inward as more bipedal creatures rushed into the room, chicks of putrid flesh falling from their bodies as they charged forwards. The front ranks of both sides fell, and the group that the host was apart of fell back, climbing up the stairs to bottleneck their foe even further. What Luna saw next made her sick to her stomach. This opposing army truly must have come from the depths of Tartarus itself. What entered the room next was a horror that not even Discord had dared to perform. This species young were the next to enter the fray, rotting as with their counterparts in the first wave. Some of the fighters beside the host fell, their will broken at the sight of being forced to fight against children. The host fell back further and soon he was one of the few defenders left alive, even the women were fighting in this battle, fot hits was a battle for survival not a war of occupation. Turning to the side quickly Luna could see through her host that some of the woman had lost the will to fight and had given up in the field of combat. These were the unlucky ones, for some of the horrors began to stop in their march to devour them alive, causing a lurch in Luna's stomach. Not long after there were but two of the creatures left, a female and the host whose memories she was viewing. With a whistle which Luna could immediately identify as arrows her host raised up his shield arm to protect himself. The female was not so lucky as she fell to the barrage. The next thing she saw was a large monster in heavy armour wielding a large pike in one arm move towards the host with purpose. The next thing she knew as a stab of pain as she relived the memory of the moment, before she could recover from this she felt an impact before the feeling of weightlessness was presented before her. her host could see the monster standing at the top of the building which they had just been kicked out of, before the memory ended with blackness at the same time as the music. Luna paused in her task for a moment before finishing her job. A greater understanding of what had befallen the young one whose memories she was now sealing to allow him a chance at life anew. But she also felt something more, a sense of longing and she knew next what she would do. returning to the consciousness of her own body Luna looked at the foal before her. His physical appearance had been altered yet again, no longer did the Thestral wings reside at his side, only the unicorn horn remained. "It is done sister" With a nod of affirmation, Celestia cast another spell, an illusory charm on the foals eyes so that they would appear as those of a normal unicorn to any onlookers. What happened next startled Celestia, Luna walked over to the bed, picked the foal up in her magic and placed him on her back as a mother would her child. With a look of determination in her eyes Luna turned to Celestia. "Sister, we shall take care of this foal" Celestia was about to protest, but seeing the look in her sisters eyes, she knew she would not be swayed from her choice. Letting out a sigh of defeat Celestia spoke up. "Very well" Deep down Celestia hoped that caring for this foal would help to heal the wound in her sister's heart after such a tragic ordeal. "Tis settled then" spoke Luna before she walked off to her room for some rest. Celestia stayed a moment longer before sighing again. She picked up Cadance and transported her to her old room within the before Celestia returned to hers for a few hours of sleep. This was a TriumphLuna layed on her bed looking down at the foal asleep by her hooves. The Unicorn's chest was rising slowly up and down. A tear dropped down her face as she mulled over both what was lost, and the comfort she had now gained. She wondered how this foal before her would grow, how would he interact with the world around them. A name came unbidden to her mind, "Nightshade" Smiling to herself she thought, "Yes, We shall name thee Nightsade" Before she settled herself down to sleep. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 3 days later~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ After several days of allowing both Luna and the Foal, Nightshade to settle in. Celestia decided it was time to test him for any untoward energies or magical signatures to best discover what the effects of the mysterious magics that had been unleashed there were, and if anything would need to be done in order to keep both Nightshade and her little ponies safe before she would release his existence to the rest of the kingdom. To this end she had summoned her old student Princess Twilight Sparkle, The element of magic and Princess of Friendship to the palace as she knew of nopony better to perform this task. Twilight was sat inside the library of her palace researching Transdimentional Portals and the hypothetical effects they would have upon the world around them as they were displaced from their world to another. Running through possibilities in her head, she was interrupted from her thoughts as Spike entered the room a letter bearing the seal of Princess Celestia held within his grasp. Quickly taking up the message in her telekinetic field, Twilight thanked spike and began to read the letter. Glancing over the page for several minutes before Spike spoke up. "What does it say Twilight?" "It's an immediate summons to Canterlot Spike, Princess Celestia wants me to perform some magic based tests on somepony. Though it doesn't say who, only that it is of the utmost importance and that I should tell noponyelse what the true reason for my trip is." "Spike will you look after the Palace whilst i'm gone please?" "No problem Twilight. The Palace will stay in tip top condition, i'll make sure of it" replied Spike as Twilight began a checklist of all the possible things that she would need for a trip to Canterlot. Having checked her list several times, Twilight gathered her stuff and teleported to Canterlot to meet with Celestia. When Twilight arrived, she briskly walked to Celestia's bedroom where she was set to meet her old mentor. Knocking on the door and announcing her presence, Twilight watched as the golden hue of Celestia's magic unlocked the doors before she told Twilight to enter the room. After greeting each other, Celestia decided that it was time to get down to business. Letting out a sigh Celestia spoke up. "Three days ago several "Events" happened in the Palace. The first and most important was that Luna miscarried in her pregnancy." This revelation elicited a gasp of shock from Twilight as she listened to her fellow Princess. "The second and third events are linked together. The first of these two events is that an unknown creature was propelled through the window to the throne room. This creature was severely injured so he was transported to the infirmary within the palace." "This leads into the third event. To save the life of this new creature, Cadance, Luna and I all set about a complex healing spell to save the life of this creature. During this process something unexpected happened. The magic acted upon its own and, after draining a large portion of magic from all three of us, there were unexpected consequences. Upon awakening, the creature had been transformed. In its place was an Alicorn foal, but with some rather glaring differences. Instead of the usual Pegasi wings, he had the wings of a Thestral and eyes of a dragon". At the mention of his physical appearance, Celestia repressed a shudder which came unbidden with her memories before she continued with her explanation. "Due to this regression in age, I though it best to seal the memories of his past life. The brain of a foal would not be suited to such an overload of information so to prevent potential injuries and other more dire consequences, Luna sealed away the memories, which also appears to have sealed away the magic linked to his Thestral nature and thus sealed away his wings." "My task is for you to find out what caused this strange occurence, as well as if the foal will pose a threat to either himself, or any of the citizens of Equestria. Currently Luna has taken it upon herself to rear the foal. I have allowed this as I hope it will help her to heal over what she has lost in these past days. I am allowing you leeway to perform any tests you deem necessary, though I will ask that you refrain from causing undue harm, i'm not sure Luna would be able to take the mental strain of another unfortunate event occurring again." "You'll have a week to perform your assessment, we can only keep the infirmary cordoned off for so long, and the energy signatures will most likely have faded by the time your week is up. I only ask that you keep the testing and the results between us. We don't want this information leaking out, especially with Luna's intentions to raise him as her own." Suppressing her excitement and curiosity, Twilight affirmed to her mentor that she would work in secret and have the results before her alloted time was up. With the meeting concluded, Twilight left Princess Celestia's chambers before making her way to the infirmary to begin with her testing. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 2 days later ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Twilight stood before a graph reading off its results to try and gleam some more information on what had happened in the room several days ago. She had collected stacks of notes and had set up multitudes of magic detecting instruments within the room. There were four distinct magical signatures left behind in the room from "the event" The first and most prominent was that of Princess Luna, the next Princess Celestia and Cadance respectively. The final signature was still a mystery to her, it appeared to be the most closely related to Princess Luna, and still relatively close to Princess Celestia but she wasn't yet sure of who it belonged to. Running through several scenarios in her head, Twilight decided that she would best move on to the next set of tests. Looking at the time, Twilight noted that it was nearing mid afternoon. For her net tests she would need both Luna and the foal awake. Twilight spent the next hour packing away the magical instruments and storing away her notes before she walked to the kitchens to grab a meal. Once she'd finished eating Twilight went to her room to get some rest. Startling RevelationsTwilight awoke with a jolt, fearful for being late, she quickly glanced towards the clock to check the time. “Good” she thought, there was some time left for a quick meal before meeting with Luna and the new foal to perform some basic tests upon him to try to gain a greater understanding on what happened several days ago in the infirmary. Exiting her bed, Twilight entered the bathroom to both shower and use the provided facilities. Once finished she checked the clock again, just to ensure she would stay on time before entering the dining hall for the evening meal (Morning for Luna) Deciding to eat something high in energy, Twilight opted for some porridge with chopped slices of fruit in them to help keep her going throughout her planned experiments. After several minutes she finished her meal and walked to Luna's bed chambers to await for her there. After several minutes Luna approached, the foal asleep on her back, with an inclination of her head in acknowledgement, Luna opened the door to her room and stepped aside to allow entry to Twilight which was standing behind, before she shy the door and soundproofed it against any prying eyes and unwelcome ears. Several moments passed before awkwardly, with Luna waiting patiently and Twilight scuffing a hoof on the floor before she let out a sigh. “Princess......” she paused. “Princess Celestia has asked me to run a few tests to make sure that there will be no dangers to Equestria, or to the health of the foal, Luna took a slight step back, Maternal instincts causing her to glare at Twilight for any signs of suspicion, before she regained her composure, knowing it to be for the best interests of everypony. “Very.... Well” said Luna tentatively, before setting Nightshade down on her bed to prepare for Twilight to work. Letting out a breath she didn't know she was holding, Twilight stepped towards the bed and began to magically scan the sleeping foal for signs of any out of place or otherwise insidious magic's. The first thing that struck Twilight was that she had now identified the four magical signature, belonging to that of the foal before her. Getting over a brief startle she began to dig deeper, gaining more and more in depth information. Magically, the foal would be more capable than most, understandable due to his nature, and in time he would be mighty indeed with the correct training. Further she delved, this time deeper and into the more scientific areas of the body, viewing the DNA of the foal. What Twilight saw shocked her giving to what was known about the incident, told to her by Princess Celestia. Eyes widening in surprise, Twilight quickly finished up her checks, ready to get the last pieces of data to present to Princess Celestia. Cutting out her spell, Twilight turned to Luna (who was hovering (Not in the literal sense) worriedly over her shoulder) to reassure her that everything with the foal was okay, before she left the room with hardly contained energy of both a nervous and excited nature. Going back down to the Medical wing she pulled out the folder of Luna's recently deceased foal and checked in correspondence to what she had just learned. Letting out a gasp, she quickly placed the folder in her saddlebags before making her way to the morgue. Nearly as fast as she entered, Twilight left the morgue, and then the medical wing to go back to her room. Now she had all the information needed to present before Princess Celestia on what had happened in the room on that night. ~~~~~~~~~ The next day, Celestia's Bed chambers~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Twilight entered into Celestia's bedchamber's, an empty cushion appearing before her as she took in the three other occupants of the room, the three other Princesses of Equestria Celestia, Luna and Cadance waiting patiently for the information which she had managed to gather surrounding the events of the past days. Taking a seat, Twilight brought forth her notes before clearing her throat to begin. “From all of the data which I have accumulated over the past few days, I have concluded that there is a 0.7893% of Nightshade causing any harm to others and a 3.26% of causing harm to himself whilst growing to adulthood.” “Though there was another more...... startling revelation” she nervously continued. Shuffling her notes and scuffing the floor slightly before she continued after her pause. Turning to Luna she paused again before speaking out her point. “Genetically the foal is yours Luna” Flinching back in shock Luna blurted out her words “Wha? But..... how?” “I also checked on the.... Lost one and found him to no longer be there” Luna stood staring blankly at Twilight's latest revelation, her mind running through various scenarios over what could have happened to her birthed child. Twilight continued oblivious to the stare she was getting, slipping into her scientific mannerisms to further explain the situation. “I can only conclude that the magical “incident” in the infirmary must have somehow fused both the creature and your foal together into one body, the form of the foal and the soul of the creature. This could explain the slight differences in appearance as well as the genetic relations. So far this is only a theory, and I'll need to run a few more tests to be certain, but I'm fairly sure that this is an accurate recanting of this particular part of the mystery." The other occupants of the room were wearing looks of shock on their faces after what they had just been told, all except for Luna who was still looking on in disbelief. Celestia was the first to regain her composure, her speaking up allowing Cadance to regain her own. "I think it would be best were we all to retire to better digest the information we have been given." Turning to Twilight she spoke again "I'd like several copies of your final notes so that we can study this when we are able to try and draw anything more from this data that may help us in the future." Nodding in confirmation, Twilight stood up, along with the other members of the room, Cadance helping Luna to her feet ready to escort her back to her room. Luna and Cadance left first, followed closely by Twilight before Celestia closed the doors with her magic and climbed into her bed. Letting out a sigh she mulled over what had been revealed to her before wondering what these recent events would do to affect the world and the effects that would be caused by Nightshade himself.
Death of a WorldRain pelted down on the wastes of the earth, buildings crumbling around as the last vestiges of humanity try to eek out a small existence among this hostile world. A small group of men and woman stood around in the halls of a museum, donning the ancient armour of ages past, decked out in gear from a time of knights and maidens. Swords, spears, shields and Platemail divvied out amongst those present, some of the last of the living left upon the desolate planet, standing together in their last hours. harried and chased for days thy had finally been corralled into a situation with no hope of escape, number depleted from their "escape" to the museum they now found themselves in. Armies numbered in the millions slowly crawled their way to the entrenched humans, countless legions of the dead spilling out from the gates of hell, though these were different from those portrayed in the old world, nay these monsters before held sinister intellect and the knowledge for warfare, though still numberless shambling hordes, they had the know how of how to utilise weaponry, marking them as a dangerous foe. Standing shoulder to shoulder, the men stood in the foyer of the museum decked out in armour with spears, swords and shields. The women stood on the upper levels wielding bows and arrows to cover their inevitable retreat farther back into the museum. One man still holding onto some technology from the time before hell's gates were opened decided that he would use the last of his Iphone's battery in his final hour. Earphones plugged in and music beginning to play, Samuel Darius stood with the other men awaiting the tide of the dead. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VaEY7Z3QsOA) The doors to the museum burst open as the first of many stormed into the foyer. They rushed towards the oncoming spears, the front ranks sacrificing themselves to please their gods of evil and allow those behind to close on those men holding the spears themselves. the second line of undead smashed into the now disarmed humans before they could fall back behind their brethren, hacked down and brutally beaten with a bunch of makeshift weapons, from clubs to lead pipes the armour proving useless against such crushing power. Those behind the front row decided that it would be best to fall back, and funnel the dead up the stairs to provide a bottleneck and a chance to take down more of their murderers. Signalling to the women, the men quickly fell back up to the next level whilst the women opened fire with their bows, felling several dozen with their salvos. Darius stood on the stairs, readying himself and steeling his heart to what he would have to do. The tactics of the dead were but true evil. Children were the next to begin their charge at the surviving humans who now resided on the stairs.Holding his blade before him Darius swung out and cleaved into the head of one of the onrushing children, a few tears making their way down his face at the monstrous acts he had to perform. For some it was too much as they hurled themselves form the top floor of the museum to come crashing to the floor below, ending their suffering and creating more for those who yet lived, returning to fight their previous allies. Darius stood firm holding the line as they were slowly being pushed backwards by both the ferocity and numbers of the oncoming tide. Moans coming from the throats of the dead in an unnatural chorus to further unnerve the defenders of the Museum.cutting legs and arms in an effort to slow down their advance, Darius took several blows against his armour, one or two breaking through the steel to cause injuries to the flesh underneath, seeming to drive the dead into greater frenzy. Back-stepping further even as those around him were being cut down, he began to make his way up to the next floor of the museum, women already beginning to fire more arrows down at the dead beneath them, some with flames to set alight the mass of rotting putrid flesh, aiming to ravage the bodies of the living dead, several collapsing into a smouldering heap the smell of burning flesh rising up through the air to mix with the sickly sweet smell of the rotting flesh. The defence of the third floor was even more dire, many of the men had fallen by now leaving about twenty left to stem the never-ending tide to allow the women a possible chance of escape onto the rooftops. Those women who did manage to break the windows let out a wail of despair. They were completely and utterly surrounded, a wall of rotting bodies for miles upon miles shuffled slowly towards their position in a large circle surrounding the premises of the museum. They were well and truly trapped, doomed utterly to die in the building they had run to to escape from the dead. For some this realisations was too much for them to bear, straw that broke the camels back. They sank to the floor and awaited their fate. Those of a stronger composition turned to the oncoming swarm and unleashed a righteous indignation, raging at the cruelty and injustice that had befallen the world, firing a constant stream of arrows in an adrenaline fueled frenzy. Darius and another five men were all that were left of the defenders of the women, they had been pushed back by the droves of horror, doomed to die next to their sister in the raging crescendo of war. The women left fighting rushed forwards in a rage, a cold fury next to the tempered stoicism of the men. Fighting in anger, the women were quick to make mistakes and were soon overwhelmed leaving a handful for fighters left standing. Music still blaring in his ears, Darius fought even harder to stave off the effects of exhaustion and dismay, he would take down as many as possible before the end. Crying could be heard from some of the women who had been broken, in crumpled heaps on the floor as some of the dead decided that they would begin their feast early, the cries of anguish quickly turning into screams of pain as they were devoured alive. Another man went down, quickly followed by two more as they were being overwhelmed, bushed back towards an unbroken window in the futile fight for survival. All that were left now of the eight odd survivors numbered two, Darius himself, bloodied and bruised, and the last of the women. Both stood together fighting for all their worth, slaying dozens in their adrenal trance induced by both exhaustion and fear. Time seemed to slow for Darius as he heard a whistling sound at the same time as he saw a large figure wielding archaic armour and wielding a pike in one hand. Raising his shield on instinct Darius was saved from the arrows which quickly pierced the body of the woman, blood seeping from the piercing arrows in her armour, crumpling to the floor as the last of her life left her. Standing alone before the undying horde, Darius felt a sense of peace, moonlight shining through the unbroken window to his back. Preparing himself for death at the hands of the brute before him. The music in his ears beginning their final crescendo as he was about to begin his own. Thinking back over his life before hell on earth began, he awaited his end with pride and dignity, to have come so far and denied the evil his soul, he felt safe in the knowledge that he had ended more than had ended him, with the knowledge that he had made survival easier for those that yet remained on the broken earth. When the giant was upon him, it ended quickly impaled upon the pike, the monster kicked his soon to be corpse off the end. Unnatural strength lending force to his body, Darius was knocked backwards through the window, shattering it into a thousand pieces, the heavy armour he was wearing aiding in his fall. the last thing he saw was the monster standing in the shattered window as he fell towards the ground, the final notes of the song he was listening to ending as he was about to hit the floor. His body disappearing into the moonlight. Equestria: The Nightcourt Princess Celestia sat in the throne room attending to the duties that her sister would perform. Tonight was a different matter, tonight a tragedy had occurred. after months of carrying a foal, on what was meant to be a momentous occasion of celebration had instead turned into a night of anguish and depression of which Luna was not handling well at all. For that night the Child of Luna, soon to be Celestia's niece or nephew had been still-born. This small detail had shattered the will of Luna and it would be a long time before she would be ready to return to her duties. Her hopes and dreams of becoming a mother all crushed in a single moment, a pain so great Celestia feared that Luna may even try to take her own life for the pain she was dealing with. For now though she would have to keep up appearances, so she had Princess Cadence watching over her sister to keep her from doing anything too rash. Her morose thought track was broken as a loud smash issued through the room as something came hurtling through one of the windows sliding across the ground, leaving a trail of blood and the sound of metal scraping across stone, the new creature came to a stop in a pool of its own life fluids before the throne. Celestia's guards readying their weapons in case this mysterious intruder was a threat. Immediately realising that the newcomer was on the precipice of death she ordered several guards to different places in the palace, two she sent towards the infirmary to get the staff to prepare the private room, and the others she reluctantly sent to her sisters chambers to summon both Luna and Cadance to the infirmary for a most dire medical emergency. Pushing all other thoughts out of her mind, Celestia concentrated and summoned magic to her horn, and with a blinding flash of golden light, both she and the dying figure were transported to the private rooms in the infirmary. Placing the creature on the medical bed, She anxiously awaited the arrival of the other two princesses.
Reborn AnewCelestia stood opposite Cadance and a dejected and broken Luna inside the private rooms of the infirmary. On a bed next to her was the prone form of the mysterious creature, still unconscious from losing vast quantities of blood. Speaking quickly and Celestia spoke to both Cadance and Luna to explain to the the situation. "I'll be brief as there is not much time. We must act quickly a life hangs in the balance and we are the only ones present with the power to prevent it from passing on into the void, will you help me to prevent such an event from occurring for I sense it is not time for this soul to yet pass on to the next world." Luna gave a nod alongside Cadance showing their affirmation to the task, but she looked on with a blank look. The previous events of the night still weighing heavily upon her soul, and in her haste Celestia was not prepared for the consequences of a grieving mother upon the magical energies that were soon to be unleashed by Luna. Using her magic Celestia moved the medical bed to the centre of the room before removing the armour of the creature. Next the three Alicorns positioned themselves in a triangle around the fading soul before them. With an unspoken command the three began to channel their magic in unison. Should there have been an onlooker they would have been able to view the powerful healing magic's that were being cast in the room at the time. The power of the sun began to knit closed the wounds of the creature, the power of love casting a soothing aura on the creatures mind to help dull the pain, but it was the light of the moon that was the most interesting of all. Inside Luna's mind she was thinking to herself in quiet reflection about how young this creature before her was. This proved disastrous to the spell as these thoughts led to a darker thought track. It left Luna wondering about the possible's for her child lost and the things she was now denied, the ability to help her child grow in life, of becoming a Grandmother, and other such futures which would now never occur due to that one loss of life. Tears running down her muzzle, Luna tried to refocus upon the healing effects of the spell, but found her mind wandering even farther from the task at hand. This lapse in concentration altered the spell from its purpose, the focus of a spell changing to something more primal, the desire of motherhood from Luna was so powerful it directly altered the purpose of the spell. A swirling vortex of magical energies began to form in the middle of the room, taking control of the spell's of the other two Alicorns present, the vortex grew, flinging paper and other such utensils around the room, all three of the spell's working towards the goal of Luna's the primal urge of the innate magic to grant one of her most base desires Motherhood. As this was occurring both Celestia and Cadance opened their eyes in shock at the feeling of an overpowering magic wresting control of the function of their spells and altering it to its own will. Looking across at Luna, Celestia could see a blank stare in her eyes as tears slowly dropped down her face, with a pained look before coming to drop into a pool at her feet. The next thing that Celestia noticed was a swirling vortex made up predominantly of a deep blue magic, similar to the coat of Luna herself followed by smaller streaks of gold and a light blue to match the magics of both herself and Cadance respectively. Suddenly all three of the Alicorns felt a large drain upon their magic, before they succumbed to unconsciousness, the last thing Celestia saw before she blacked out was the vortex circling in upon itself and the creature surrounded in a blinding glow of light. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Several Minutes Later ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Celestia's eyes shot open and she found herself on the floor of the infirmary, a spate of confusion passing as she remember what had happened just before she passed out. She quickly went over to check on her niece and sister to make sure that they were okay. Confirming that they were fine and just exhausted as she had been, Celestia turned her attention to the centre of the room and the bed which occupied it. With a stifled gasp Celestia's eyes opened in shock at the scene she found before her. The spell had certainly had the desired effect of healing the creature, it just happened to be in a more..... round about way. Instead of the large bipedal creature from before, Celestia was instead faced with a young foal lying asleep before her wrapped partially in the blankets before her. The coat of the foal was a very dark blue, so dark it hinged upon being black. His mane, (for this foal was most definitely male) was a deep and very leafy green colour, a shade you would often find on some of the more dangerous plants that inhabited the lands. The most prominent features of the foal were leathery wings at his sides that looked more at home on a bat than a foal, denoting them to be of Thestral ancestry. Moving around to the front of the foal, Celestia used her magic to gently lift one of his eyelids. He had turquoise eyes but what caused her to take a step back in shock was the discovery that they were slitted pupils, like that of a dragon reminding her of....... no she would not take that train of thought. This was a young foal and formally a relatively young bipedal. There would be no way in Tartarus THAT would have any relevance here. It was gone buried in the past where it should remain, confined to her memories and the halls of time. Releasing her magical hold on the foals eyelids, Celestia also noted the tiny stub of a growing horn. Letting out a slight huff of annoyance, Celestia walked over to rouse her sister. This turn of events would complicate things greatly, but after all it was her job to see this through as the ruler of Equestria the safety of her citizens was paramount. Waking with a groan Luna looked up to see her sister standing before her looking just as exhausted as she felt. The spell they had performed had taken a lot out of them, and looking to the side she saw the prone form Cadance still unconscience on the floor. Regaining her feet, Luna stood up and looked towards her sister, her gaze asking for an explanation of what had just happened. Letting out another sigh Celestia began to speak. "there were some..... complications during the spell and some side effects have occurred." "What kind of side effects sister" "The incantation did more than just heal the creature, it has altered it on the most base levels." "It is both more than it once was and less" "Wha-" "Look for yourself Luna, you will understand what I mean" interrupted Celestia Slowly walking over to the bed, Luna's heart caught in her throat. Seeing the foal before her Luna's motherly instincts kicked in as she began to nuzzle the sleeping foal before her. "Luna" Celestia called whilst tapping her sister with a wing to grab her attention. "There is still one more task to be done." "You must use your magics to seal away the memories of this ones previous life, I don't know what or where the creature before came from, but I fear that these new changes will leaving a permanent scar across his psyche, especially that of a young child as he is now." Nodding in affirmation Luna began her task. Entering into the mind of the "foal" Luna began her task. Memories unbidden came before Luna as she was sealing them away, shocking her at the contents they held. The scenes she saw were what appeared to be the last of this one's former life. She saw about 100 similar bipedal creatures all wearing armour similar to that of the royal guards. Their faces set in grim determination and the underlying fear in the atmosphere unmistakable. These creatures were about to enter battle, to fight for their very survival. The foe yet unseen, but Luna could hear the marching of millions of feet approaching towards the building that they resided in. Along with the marching and clatter of armour, Luna could hear the sound of music playing, a song of death and war, and of duty and reluctance. A large crash resounded as the doors at the front of the building burst inward as more bipedal creatures rushed into the room, chicks of putrid flesh falling from their bodies as they charged forwards. The front ranks of both sides fell, and the group that the host was apart of fell back, climbing up the stairs to bottleneck their foe even further. What Luna saw next made her sick to her stomach. This opposing army truly must have come from the depths of Tartarus itself. What entered the room next was a horror that not even Discord had dared to perform. This species young were the next to enter the fray, rotting as with their counterparts in the first wave. Some of the fighters beside the host fell, their will broken at the sight of being forced to fight against children. The host fell back further and soon he was one of the few defenders left alive, even the women were fighting in this battle, fot hits was a battle for survival not a war of occupation. Turning to the side quickly Luna could see through her host that some of the woman had lost the will to fight and had given up in the field of combat. These were the unlucky ones, for some of the horrors began to stop in their march to devour them alive, causing a lurch in Luna's stomach. Not long after there were but two of the creatures left, a female and the host whose memories she was viewing. With a whistle which Luna could immediately identify as arrows her host raised up his shield arm to protect himself. The female was not so lucky as she fell to the barrage. The next thing she saw was a large monster in heavy armour wielding a large pike in one arm move towards the host with purpose. The next thing she knew as a stab of pain as she relived the memory of the moment, before she could recover from this she felt an impact before the feeling of weightlessness was presented before her. her host could see the monster standing at the top of the building which they had just been kicked out of, before the memory ended with blackness at the same time as the music. Luna paused in her task for a moment before finishing her job. A greater understanding of what had befallen the young one whose memories she was now sealing to allow him a chance at life anew. But she also felt something more, a sense of longing and she knew next what she would do. returning to the consciousness of her own body Luna looked at the foal before her. His physical appearance had been altered yet again, no longer did the Thestral wings reside at his side, only the unicorn horn remained. "It is done sister" With a nod of affirmation, Celestia cast another spell, an illusory charm on the foals eyes so that they would appear as those of a normal unicorn to any onlookers. What happened next startled Celestia, Luna walked over to the bed, picked the foal up in her magic and placed him on her back as a mother would her child. With a look of determination in her eyes Luna turned to Celestia. "Sister, we shall take care of this foal" Celestia was about to protest, but seeing the look in her sisters eyes, she knew she would not be swayed from her choice. Letting out a sigh of defeat Celestia spoke up. "Very well" Deep down Celestia hoped that caring for this foal would help to heal the wound in her sister's heart after such a tragic ordeal. "Tis settled then" spoke Luna before she walked off to her room for some rest. Celestia stayed a moment longer before sighing again. She picked up Cadance and transported her to her old room within the before Celestia returned to hers for a few hours of sleep.
This was a TriumphLuna layed on her bed looking down at the foal asleep by her hooves. The Unicorn's chest was rising slowly up and down. A tear dropped down her face as she mulled over both what was lost, and the comfort she had now gained. She wondered how this foal before her would grow, how would he interact with the world around them. A name came unbidden to her mind, "Nightshade" Smiling to herself she thought, "Yes, We shall name thee Nightsade" Before she settled herself down to sleep. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 3 days later~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ After several days of allowing both Luna and the Foal, Nightshade to settle in. Celestia decided it was time to test him for any untoward energies or magical signatures to best discover what the effects of the mysterious magics that had been unleashed there were, and if anything would need to be done in order to keep both Nightshade and her little ponies safe before she would release his existence to the rest of the kingdom. To this end she had summoned her old student Princess Twilight Sparkle, The element of magic and Princess of Friendship to the palace as she knew of nopony better to perform this task. Twilight was sat inside the library of her palace researching Transdimentional Portals and the hypothetical effects they would have upon the world around them as they were displaced from their world to another. Running through possibilities in her head, she was interrupted from her thoughts as Spike entered the room a letter bearing the seal of Princess Celestia held within his grasp. Quickly taking up the message in her telekinetic field, Twilight thanked spike and began to read the letter. Glancing over the page for several minutes before Spike spoke up. "What does it say Twilight?" "It's an immediate summons to Canterlot Spike, Princess Celestia wants me to perform some magic based tests on somepony. Though it doesn't say who, only that it is of the utmost importance and that I should tell noponyelse what the true reason for my trip is." "Spike will you look after the Palace whilst i'm gone please?" "No problem Twilight. The Palace will stay in tip top condition, i'll make sure of it" replied Spike as Twilight began a checklist of all the possible things that she would need for a trip to Canterlot. Having checked her list several times, Twilight gathered her stuff and teleported to Canterlot to meet with Celestia. When Twilight arrived, she briskly walked to Celestia's bedroom where she was set to meet her old mentor. Knocking on the door and announcing her presence, Twilight watched as the golden hue of Celestia's magic unlocked the doors before she told Twilight to enter the room. After greeting each other, Celestia decided that it was time to get down to business. Letting out a sigh Celestia spoke up. "Three days ago several "Events" happened in the Palace. The first and most important was that Luna miscarried in her pregnancy." This revelation elicited a gasp of shock from Twilight as she listened to her fellow Princess. "The second and third events are linked together. The first of these two events is that an unknown creature was propelled through the window to the throne room. This creature was severely injured so he was transported to the infirmary within the palace." "This leads into the third event. To save the life of this new creature, Cadance, Luna and I all set about a complex healing spell to save the life of this creature. During this process something unexpected happened. The magic acted upon its own and, after draining a large portion of magic from all three of us, there were unexpected consequences. Upon awakening, the creature had been transformed. In its place was an Alicorn foal, but with some rather glaring differences. Instead of the usual Pegasi wings, he had the wings of a Thestral and eyes of a dragon". At the mention of his physical appearance, Celestia repressed a shudder which came unbidden with her memories before she continued with her explanation. "Due to this regression in age, I though it best to seal the memories of his past life. The brain of a foal would not be suited to such an overload of information so to prevent potential injuries and other more dire consequences, Luna sealed away the memories, which also appears to have sealed away the magic linked to his Thestral nature and thus sealed away his wings." "My task is for you to find out what caused this strange occurence, as well as if the foal will pose a threat to either himself, or any of the citizens of Equestria. Currently Luna has taken it upon herself to rear the foal. I have allowed this as I hope it will help her to heal over what she has lost in these past days. I am allowing you leeway to perform any tests you deem necessary, though I will ask that you refrain from causing undue harm, i'm not sure Luna would be able to take the mental strain of another unfortunate event occurring again." "You'll have a week to perform your assessment, we can only keep the infirmary cordoned off for so long, and the energy signatures will most likely have faded by the time your week is up. I only ask that you keep the testing and the results between us. We don't want this information leaking out, especially with Luna's intentions to raise him as her own." Suppressing her excitement and curiosity, Twilight affirmed to her mentor that she would work in secret and have the results before her alloted time was up. With the meeting concluded, Twilight left Princess Celestia's chambers before making her way to the infirmary to begin with her testing. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 2 days later ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Twilight stood before a graph reading off its results to try and gleam some more information on what had happened in the room several days ago. She had collected stacks of notes and had set up multitudes of magic detecting instruments within the room. There were four distinct magical signatures left behind in the room from "the event" The first and most prominent was that of Princess Luna, the next Princess Celestia and Cadance respectively. The final signature was still a mystery to her, it appeared to be the most closely related to Princess Luna, and still relatively close to Princess Celestia but she wasn't yet sure of who it belonged to. Running through several scenarios in her head, Twilight decided that she would best move on to the next set of tests. Looking at the time, Twilight noted that it was nearing mid afternoon. For her net tests she would need both Luna and the foal awake. Twilight spent the next hour packing away the magical instruments and storing away her notes before she walked to the kitchens to grab a meal. Once she'd finished eating Twilight went to her room to get some rest.
Startling RevelationsTwilight awoke with a jolt, fearful for being late, she quickly glanced towards the clock to check the time. “Good” she thought, there was some time left for a quick meal before meeting with Luna and the new foal to perform some basic tests upon him to try to gain a greater understanding on what happened several days ago in the infirmary. Exiting her bed, Twilight entered the bathroom to both shower and use the provided facilities. Once finished she checked the clock again, just to ensure she would stay on time before entering the dining hall for the evening meal (Morning for Luna) Deciding to eat something high in energy, Twilight opted for some porridge with chopped slices of fruit in them to help keep her going throughout her planned experiments. After several minutes she finished her meal and walked to Luna's bed chambers to await for her there. After several minutes Luna approached, the foal asleep on her back, with an inclination of her head in acknowledgement, Luna opened the door to her room and stepped aside to allow entry to Twilight which was standing behind, before she shy the door and soundproofed it against any prying eyes and unwelcome ears. Several moments passed before awkwardly, with Luna waiting patiently and Twilight scuffing a hoof on the floor before she let out a sigh. “Princess......” she paused. “Princess Celestia has asked me to run a few tests to make sure that there will be no dangers to Equestria, or to the health of the foal, Luna took a slight step back, Maternal instincts causing her to glare at Twilight for any signs of suspicion, before she regained her composure, knowing it to be for the best interests of everypony. “Very.... Well” said Luna tentatively, before setting Nightshade down on her bed to prepare for Twilight to work. Letting out a breath she didn't know she was holding, Twilight stepped towards the bed and began to magically scan the sleeping foal for signs of any out of place or otherwise insidious magic's. The first thing that struck Twilight was that she had now identified the four magical signature, belonging to that of the foal before her. Getting over a brief startle she began to dig deeper, gaining more and more in depth information. Magically, the foal would be more capable than most, understandable due to his nature, and in time he would be mighty indeed with the correct training. Further she delved, this time deeper and into the more scientific areas of the body, viewing the DNA of the foal. What Twilight saw shocked her giving to what was known about the incident, told to her by Princess Celestia. Eyes widening in surprise, Twilight quickly finished up her checks, ready to get the last pieces of data to present to Princess Celestia. Cutting out her spell, Twilight turned to Luna (who was hovering (Not in the literal sense) worriedly over her shoulder) to reassure her that everything with the foal was okay, before she left the room with hardly contained energy of both a nervous and excited nature. Going back down to the Medical wing she pulled out the folder of Luna's recently deceased foal and checked in correspondence to what she had just learned. Letting out a gasp, she quickly placed the folder in her saddlebags before making her way to the morgue. Nearly as fast as she entered, Twilight left the morgue, and then the medical wing to go back to her room. Now she had all the information needed to present before Princess Celestia on what had happened in the room on that night. ~~~~~~~~~ The next day, Celestia's Bed chambers~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Twilight entered into Celestia's bedchamber's, an empty cushion appearing before her as she took in the three other occupants of the room, the three other Princesses of Equestria Celestia, Luna and Cadance waiting patiently for the information which she had managed to gather surrounding the events of the past days. Taking a seat, Twilight brought forth her notes before clearing her throat to begin. “From all of the data which I have accumulated over the past few days, I have concluded that there is a 0.7893% of Nightshade causing any harm to others and a 3.26% of causing harm to himself whilst growing to adulthood.” “Though there was another more...... startling revelation” she nervously continued. Shuffling her notes and scuffing the floor slightly before she continued after her pause. Turning to Luna she paused again before speaking out her point. “Genetically the foal is yours Luna” Flinching back in shock Luna blurted out her words “Wha? But..... how?” “I also checked on the.... Lost one and found him to no longer be there” Luna stood staring blankly at Twilight's latest revelation, her mind running through various scenarios over what could have happened to her birthed child. Twilight continued oblivious to the stare she was getting, slipping into her scientific mannerisms to further explain the situation. “I can only conclude that the magical “incident” in the infirmary must have somehow fused both the creature and your foal together into one body, the form of the foal and the soul of the creature. This could explain the slight differences in appearance as well as the genetic relations. So far this is only a theory, and I'll need to run a few more tests to be certain, but I'm fairly sure that this is an accurate recanting of this particular part of the mystery." The other occupants of the room were wearing looks of shock on their faces after what they had just been told, all except for Luna who was still looking on in disbelief. Celestia was the first to regain her composure, her speaking up allowing Cadance to regain her own. "I think it would be best were we all to retire to better digest the information we have been given." Turning to Twilight she spoke again "I'd like several copies of your final notes so that we can study this when we are able to try and draw anything more from this data that may help us in the future." Nodding in confirmation, Twilight stood up, along with the other members of the room, Cadance helping Luna to her feet ready to escort her back to her room. Luna and Cadance left first, followed closely by Twilight before Celestia closed the doors with her magic and climbed into her bed. Letting out a sigh she mulled over what had been revealed to her before wondering what these recent events would do to affect the world and the effects that would be caused by Nightshade himself.
