Shadows of the Moon

Celestia 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.