Cracks in Reality - Book One

Ten years later Equestrian time

(Just before season one)

Sunset Shimmer was pacing around the library as she had consumed far too much coffee to sit still while she read through her book of “Prophecies, and Predictions.” She only paused her pacing long enough to look through one of the many telescopes she had set up in front of every window of the library, before jotting down a note on a piece of parchment and sticking it on the surface of the library’s walls which were all covered in her previous notes regarding the prophecy of the “Mare in the Moon.” She had come across the prophecy two days ago during one of her studies of magical theories, and she was just going to flip past it when one of the diagrams depicting Nightmare Moon’s escape caught her attention, or more specifically the description of how the stars would aid in her escape.

Curiosity had gotten the better of her, and that night when she had nothing better to do she had set up a telescope to track and map out the constellation of stars surrounding the moon. The next morning she had compared her observations of the constellations to the ones described in the book of “Prophecies and Predictions,” and was startled to see they were nearly a perfect match. In a fit of worry that the prophecy was coming true, Sunset Shimmer had put her studies on hold to devote all her time and attention to predicting the exact moment of Nightmare Moon’s return. And after hours of studying, calculating, and pacing to keep herself awake, her efforts had paid off. Nightmare Moon was going to escape tomorrow night when they would be celebrating the Summer Sun Celebration.

The sound of Spike’s footsteps plodding tiredly down the stairs drew Sunset’s attention away from her book, and she turned around just as the tired dragon dragged himself into the library. “Really Sunset,” Spike muttered tiredly, “you’re still obsessing over this whole Mare in the Moon prophecy? Everypony knows it’s just an old pony’s tale.”

Sunset huffed and put the book of prophecies down, replacing the emptiness in her hands with a large jug of still warm coffee. She had long stopped using cups as they just weren’t doing it for her. After several gulps of the energy reviving liquid, Sunset began trying to bring some order to the mess of notes and books piled haphazardly around the library.

“I’ve already told you Spike, the Mare in the Moon is more than just a myth, and I’ve got dozens of notes and observations to prove that.” Sunset rolled up the last of her notes, before placing the large pile of scrolls into a large chest. “Now take a note please, Spike.” Sunset handed him a fresh scroll and quill, and with an unenthusiastic huff Spike began writing down Sunset’s words.

Dear Princess Celestia.
For the past two nights I’ve been studying the prophecy and legend of the “Mare in the Moon” and I’m desperate need of sleep. But that’s not important at the moment as I’ve come to the conclusion that the Mare in the Moon is actually Nightmare Moon and she’s planning on bringing eternal night to Equestria. I for one wouldn’t personally mind more time for sleeping as I’ve been living off coffee and noodles for two whole days now. But Equestria is in danger and requires our immediate attention. Looking forward to hearing from you soon.
Your extremely tired student, Sunset Shimmer.
P.S The next time you visit Ponyville please bring that brand of coffee powder I love. That would be great.

The finished letter was quickly rolled up and secured with a red ribbon before disappearing in a breath of Spike’s green flames. Sunset Shimmer gave a sigh of relief and sat down allowing herself a moment to relax. She had warned Princess Celestia of the impending danger Equestria was in, now all she had to do was wait for her mentor’s response and together they would come up with a plan to stop the threat of Nightmare Moon.

She didn’t have to wait long as Spike belched and a tulip scroll flew out of the accompanying green flames. The dragon caught the letter before it hit the ground and cleared his throat before beginning to read Princess Celestia’s response.

“To my faithful student, Sunset Shimmer.
I will be traveling to Ponyville tomorrow morning, to further discuss your letter. In the meantime, I wish for you to eat a proper meal and get some real sleep tonight so you’ll be rested well enough to oversee the preparations of the Summer Celebration tomorrow and make sure they run smoothly.
Looking forward to seeing you soon. Princess Celestia.”

“That was a short letter.” Spike said rolling the letter back up and handing it to Sunset Shimmer, who placed the scroll in a draw with the rest of Celestia’s letters that she had collected over the years. “Anyway, it looks like I’m not going to be getting anymore sleep done, now that you’re all hyped up on coffee. Got anything for us to do while we wait for the morning?”

Sunset took another swig of coffee from the jug and stood up with a small groan as she stretched out her cramped muscles. “How about we go over tomorrow’s checklist one last time to make sure we haven’t missed anything?”

Twilight saw Darklight’s sword flying straight for her and she twisted her upper body to the side, narrowly avoiding the deadly blade by mere millimeters. She watched the sword fly harmlessly past her and disappear through the portal’s exit that she was falling towards to herself. However a loud roar bought her attention to another more immediate problem as Garro came straight at her with bared fangs, and razor sharp claws. Twilight cursed and threw one of the six knives she had strapped around each of her upper thighs. It hit Garro directly in the chest, but did nothing to stop or even slow the demon down. Twilight had just enough time to draw another knife before Garro was wrapping his two front legs around her and biting down into her right shoulder.

Twilight cried out in pain as she felt her shoulder blade and collar bone being crushed in her armor by the immense strength of the snow tiger’s jaw, and the knife fell from her now useless hand just as they fell through the portal’s exit and into the realm on the other side. Twilight fell several meters before hitting the ground, screaming loudly as she landed on her injured arm. She clamped her good hand over her mouth to silence herself, before sucking in deep calming breaths. Now that she was no longer in the portal, her magic was once again flowing freely through her body, and the first thing she had to with it was heal her shoulder. Biting down on the end of her cloak, Twilight’s horn glowed and several slithers of dark magic began flowing around her shoulder. They flowed through her amour, past her fur and flesh, and began resetting her bones back into their proper place before healing the multiple breaks ad fractures. Twilight doubled over, and tears stung her eyes at the extreme pain she was experiencing, which was almost as bad as the time her wings and legs had been crushed by an avalanche of boulders.

A few moments later the last of the healing magic flowed into her shoulder and Twilight gave a sigh of relief as the pain faded to a dull ache. She moved her newly healed arm around a bit only experiencing a slight stiffness and sometimes a sharp stinging pain, but it was nothing she couldn’t handle. Getting to her feet with a slight groan, Twilight took a moment to get her bearings and figure out where she was. All around her were old and gnarled trees, their branches forming a thick tangled maze. She looked up to the sky, but it was blocked out by the forest’s canopy so thoroughly, she could only see dark shadows. Where ever she was, she needed to find a better place that offered more room to move around in case she had to fight off the multiple predators that were no doubt prowling through the forest.

Pulling the hood of her cloak over her head, Twilight began looking for a way out of the maze of tangled branches. She briefly wondered where Garro had been dropped off, he was no doubt close by and tracking her. So that meant no use of magic. She would have to rely on stealth and stamina to get herself out of this mess, and then find a place to hole up in until she had recovered from her ordeal of breaking through the walls of Tartarus. With a clear plan forming in her mind, Twilight increased her pace desperate to get some distance from Garro, and find shelter and safety.

Despite her cloak, armor and satchel bag, Twilight was able to gracefully navigate her way through the tangled mess of branches and trees, and only occasionally snagged her cloak on a branch. Had this been one of Darklight’s terrain navigation training exercises, he would have told her to start again every time she had gotten her cloak caught. Twilight shook her head to clear away the unwanted thoughts of her mentor as they only reminded her of how she had betrayed him. Twilight’s hand drifted into her satchel making sure the book she had stolen was still there and hadn’t somehow fallen out. If Garro got hold of the book, there was no telling what he would do with the knowledge it contained, so she had to hide it someplace where the demon couldn’t find it, and once she killed him she would have to come back for it.

Soon the tangled maze of trees gave way to a small path that cut its way through the dense forest providing an easier way for Twilight to navigate her way to safety. Taking off in a brisk jog, she followed the path until she came to a rotten bridge that spanned across a wide ravine and she leaned against a tree to catch her breath and figure out what to do next. On the other side of the bridge she could just make out the tall spires of a castle, which meant shelter, plenty of places to hide, and if she was lucky enough, a place to set traps and ambushes for when Garro tracked her down. The only problem was her shoulder and arm were both beginning to throb painfully, and she felt as though she’d drop from fatigue at any moment.

Gritting her teeth, Twilight forced her body to carry on despite the severe injuries it had suffered through. When she made it across the bridge, her legs suddenly gave out unable to support her weight and she fell to the ground hissing in pain. Her shoulder felt as though a red hot knife was being repeatedly stabbed into it and her breathing was becoming labored. She knew she should have rested for several hours after using the healing spell on herself, it would have given the magic time to fully set and heal her bones but time was something she did not have at the moment.

Before she continued on her journey, Twilight cut away the supporting ropes from the bridge and watched with a certain amount of satisfaction as it fell away into the abyss below. It wouldn’t hinder Garro for very long, but it would be an annoyance to the demon, and that bought a tired amused smile to her face.

Twilight had barely gotten three steps when her head swam, her vision blurred, and she stumbled to the ground once more, before leaning against another tree to catch her breath. Ripping a hole through the walls of Tartarus had taken much more out of her than she had anticipated, and Garro’s attack had only worsened her condition, Twilight was now close to passing out.

Summoning the last reserves of her strength Twilight forced her body to keep moving on, and by the time the old castle came into view she wanted nothing more than to curl up in her cloak and get some much needed rest. Resting, however, would have to wait for the young alicorn, as she had to find a secure place to sleep where she didn’t have to worry about falling debris, and where Garro wouldn’t find her easily.

Even in her fatigued and injured state Twilight marveled at all the different types of ancient magic she could feel still buzzing in the very air of the castle. It was a mixture of both dark, and light magic, and when she breathed in deeply she could sense an underlying tone of extreme loss and sadness.

Twilight was curious to know what else she would find if she delved deeper into the essence of the castle, but she had much more important and pressing matters on her mind such as sleep, and finding a safe place to hide her stolen book.

Another wave of sharp pain shot through Twilight’s injured shoulder causing her to gasp and lean against a wall for support. She had no idea what had gone wrong with the healing spelling, but whatever it was, it was causing more harm than good. She couldn’t worry about her injuries now though, she could feel herself starting to pass out and she still hadn’t found a place to rest. Walking as fast as she could Twilight entered the first door she found which led into a small dark empty room covered in dust, and crawling with all kinds of insects. Twilight slumped down in one of the corners snuggling further into her cloak for warmth, the room wasn’t very ideal for setting traps or ambushes, but before she could even perform a basic protective spell, darkness claimed Twilight’s mind and she fell into a dreamless sleep.