Holly was ecstatic. The thestral filly and her mother had traveled to Fallow to see "The History of the Night Kingdom" after Holly had asked on her birthday a few days before. She loved listening to her parents tell her stories before bed, and her favorite story was the one about Princess Luna and the heart of darkness. when she heard that there was going to be real actors telling the story, she had begged her parents to go. As Thorn, her father, had drawn guard duty that night, it was just Holly and her mother, Hazel, who made to trip from The Dour Gate.

They arrived a little while before sundown on what the thestrals called First Night. The village was full of hustle and bustle. Holly had never seen this many creatures in the same place before. The Dour Gate was more of an outpost than a town, with a few dozen guards, their families as well as support staff, cooks and builders and things. Around a hundred thestrals lived there. The small school that Holly would start going after The Twenty Nights Festival only had 5 other students.

The two dark gray thestrals made their way through the crowd. "We'll go to the market and get something to eat before the play" Hazel said. Holly could only nod her head, her mouth agape at the sights and sounds of the village. Hazel stopped and closed her daughter's mouth with one of her hooves. "You'll catch flies walking around like that", she said. They both smiled and continued towards the marketplace in the center of town.

The market was a madhouse compared to what they were used to. Because of it's high walls, The Gate was a community of only thestrals. The size differences between Holly and all of the moose that lumbered through the market caused her to crawl onto her mothers back in fear of being stepped on. Hazel could understand this, only being half their size herself.

The insanity of the market was well worth it though. The sugary smells of baked goods and the sound of bubbling soups mixed with earthy smell of local produce and the hissing and spitting of various meats cooking over hot coals. Fallow was a predominantly moose village, relying mostly on farming and lumber but for the festival vendors from all over the area had come. What made Fallow's market truly different, was that It being so close to The Gate, and therefore Equestria, the moose actually had some trade with the pony villages beyond The Fangs. this brought some things to the market that were impossible to find elsewhere.

After some convincing from Hazel to try something new, the pair settled on two bowls of stew. The local recipe was made with various vegetables and barely. It was also made so thick that the moose at the counter made a point of turning the bowls upside down for a fraction of a second before giving them to the customers. while Holly was not impressed that there was no meat in the stew, this little act seemed to make up for it.

As they walked to the amphitheater to watch the play they made one last stop in the market. Thorn's only request was to check if Six Legs, a moose who passed through The Gate regularly to trade lumber for Equestrian products, had any zap apple jam to sell. As it happens, he did, though at a ridiculous price. And just like always, he gave the same old stories why it was so expensive. "Thirty miles through the snow dragging logs... lazy farm ponies not making enough... Cheap Equestrian glass breaking on the way back." They eventually settled on a reasonable price and Hazel and Holly continued toward the amphitheater.

They found seats just as the the sunset horn was blown at The Dour Gate, signaling the official start of the festivities. Holly cuddled up to her mother, still taking occasional mouthfuls of the thick stew and stared at the old wolf standing on the stage. She had never seen a wolf this close before, usually only seeing the packs of raiders passing below The Gate. The old wolf wiped the sleeve of his coat across his face, making Holly wonder why wolves only walked on their back paws even though their front paws touched the ground. She nearly spit out a mouthful of soup when the wolf on the stage began shouting.

"Citizens of the Night Kingdom", he shouted, " The tale you are about to see is one you have likely seen before, but on this, the first of the twenty nights, it is an important story to tell. It is the story of all of us".

From this point Holly half payed attention to the wolf in the red and orange coat. The other half of her attention drifted between the soup and asking her mother questions.

"What are ponies like? Were deer really that small? what does 'conflict' mean?

Hazel did her best to quietly answer her daughter's questions, but they were soon both reduced to fits of giggles as a moose calf was hoisted over the stage, screaming the whole time. the old wolf seemed to talk a little faster after that, and then the whole amphitheater went black.

Being thestrals, the pair had no problem seeing in the dark, but the quick transition between could take a moment to get used to. they were treated to a few seconds of backgrounds being changed before the lights came back up. Holly was amazed by what she saw. The new background depicted very well painted a forest. Hundreds of trees could be seen, all with slightly different shades of green for the leaves and underbrush. From The Gate, she had only ever seen two views, the white, treeless expanse of Northern Equestria and the permanent shades of red and yellow that earned the forests inside the Fangs the name Everfall.

The old wolf returned from behind a red curtain on the left side of the stage, his confidence had also returned.

"In the Fangs they found a land of plenty, with rich soil and hearty forests. Closer to the mountains and in some of the streams, gold, silver and gems were discovered. This was a place that offered everything required by the creatures that settled there."

The young ones now returned to the stage, still in their costumes, and began to take on the chores of their characters.

"The deer began growing crops and harvesting lumber, The diamond dogs soon found themselves richer than they could have imagined and the pegasi began constructing the gates that remain to this very day in order to protect this new land."

Holly began to giggle again as a group of "pegasi" attempted to move light wait blocks into the form of a gate, nearly knocking it over several times due to the size of the blocks.

"The three groups began to trade with each other. This trade soon turned into friendship, something that had been sorely missing in the ancient lands and something that would hold back the windigo once and for all. but this wouldn't be the last hardship for the three tribes in their new home, and the next danger would come out of the very mountains that protected them."

All but the wolf pup actors had left the stage. The pups, now wearing costume pieces made of gold and silver fabrics, acted out digging with their hands.They threw small rocks and clumps of dirt, mostly at each other.

"A generation after the founding of this land before the final completion of The Dour and Windy Gates, the diamond dogs found something " the old wolf continued, giving the pups a mean look. "Deep in their mines they found an artifact that would change this land for the rest of time.

"They discovered the heart of darkness."

From a small hole in the stage one of the pups pulled a large black crystal in the shape of a heart. at the sight of this a wave of silence fell over the crowd.

Holly had remained mostly quiet after the disappearance of the the blue calf. Her soup now finished, she cuddled closer to her mother in anticipation of what she knew was the next part of the story.

Author's Note

All right. chapter two. really happy with how this one came out.

So the basic reason I'm writing this is because I realized long ago that I have no ability to write emotion.
But what I can write is world-building.
Every piece of this story is going to flesh out The Night Kingdom a little more.

Also the actual play is going to become a longer part of the next few chapters.
I hope you enjoy. any criticism or comments are appreciated.