This Fading Night

Night had long since fallen over Equestria, the moon shining high above even the distant, towering peaks of the Crystal Mountains. As the gentle silver rays washed down upon the world below, ponies snuggled up in their beds, pulling their blankets close and smiling contentedly as pleasant dreams filled their heads.

Yes, it would seem that all ponies in Equestria were asleep. Well, all except one.

Down in the streets of Canterlot, the large metropolis which served as both the capital and political center of Equestria, a sole figure could be seen walking, basking in the light of the gorgeous full moon above. The street on which she walked was long deserted, save for few mice scurrying about in the alleyways. The pony did not mind though, reveling in the silence, a rare commodity in Equestria these days, what with all the new/old villains which had been popping up. But that was a concern for another time.

Shaking her head, the figure, large in stature compared to everypony but one, continued her trek through the peaceful streets, casting her gaze up towards the sky so as to admire the stars as she walked. As the figure turned her head, the light of the moon bounced off her shimmering dark blue coat, which bore a black-spotted patch on the rump area, and a crescent moon cutie mark. Her mane, unique to only two ponies in the entirety of Equestria, perhaps even the world, swayed in an invisible breeze. Starting out as a very light see-through purple at the edges, it turned a dark blue the closer it got to the center, not as dark blue as her coat, but still pretty dark, and seemed to twinkle in spots, as if someone had taken the night sky, stars included, and brought it down into this pony's mane. The same thing could be said for her tail, which also flowed in a non-existent breeze, and floated behind her body for a great length. To match up with her looks was a pair of wings and a horn, both the same color as her coat, and eyes the same color as the moon's reflection off blue ice. To finish her appearance off, Luna had a full hoof set of light purple metal shoes and a small piece of chest armor which wrapped around her neck that was the same color as the black splotch on her back, and also had her cutie mark placed directly in its center. Both pieces of clothing seemed to have that same odd twinkle to them as Luna's mane and tail, though the young High Princess had not really taken note of this before.

Strolling through Canterlot, Luna watched the night sky, a small smile on her face as she admired her handiwork. Nopony else may have been up to marvel at her creation, but that didn't mean they didn't care, and Luna was not about to become jealous again. She had learned her lesson regarding such things long ago.

So focused was Luna on staring at the sky that she did not watch where she was going. Before the Princess could realize what was happening, she had tripped, chin hitting against the third bottom step of the set of stairs she had just walked into. Taking a moment to recover from the shock, Luna sat up with a small groan and rubbed her lower jaw. That was gonna hurt for a while. Scowling, Luna turned to face the stairs and the building which they led up to, and paused for a moment, the scowl vanishing as she stared up at the towering structure before her. It was the Canterlot Public Library, the one to which the unsealed books of magic and history went, alongside the fictional novels such as Daring Doo. A seemingly harmless place, one that hadn't injured her on purpose, and bore no ill will towards Canterlot or its residents. However, Luna did recall there were some books her sister had secretly sealed away here. After all, who would think to look in a public library for secret information?

Not that any of that mattered. She had no real reason to linger here, and besides, the sun would be rising soon. She had to get back to the castle and get Celestia up, or else that lazy bum might try to sleep all day.

Rolling her eyes a little and giggling slightly, Luna turned to leave, but then movement from the corner of her eye caught her attention. Turning back towards the library, Luna saw the shadow of a pony faintly outlined against one of the windows. Narrowing her eyes, Luna knew there wasn't supposed to be anyone in there at this time of day.

Trotting up the steps to the library, Luna stopped before the two heavy-set marble doors, which were  brown and fashioned in a way to look like ornately carved wood, though the shine of the marble gave away what it really was. Still, all in all, it was an impressive set of doors. Which is why Luna felt so bad when she forced them apart, causing the heavy-set lock to bend inward with a shriek as the doors just about busted off their hinges.

Racing into the library, Luna frantically glanced around, first towards the window where she had seen the pony in the first place, then at the surrounding bookshelves. There didn't appear to be anypony in here with her. Frowning, Luna thought about turning to head back out and find some guards to help her search, but dismissed the idea quickly. The pony would likely be long gone by the time they returned, and besides, she was an all powerful alicorn princess. She could easily track down this intruder and arrest them on her own.

Mind made up, Luna stalked further into the library, trying to be as silent as possible as she searched for the intruder, hoping to have the advantage of surprise. However, as Luna got deeper into the library, she began to think there was no one here, and that maybe she'd taken more than a hit to her jaw. Just as she was about ready to give up and turn back, Luna suddenly heard the front doors slam shut, and heard a lock click into place. Startled, Luna took a second to compose herself before racing back to the front of the library. She immediately saw there was nopony there, which only made Luna feel more on edge, before she raced up to the doors.

Pulling with all her might, Luna tried to force the doors open, but the lock stayed firmly in place. After a couple minutes of little success, Luna tried turning to magic, blasting at the doors with everything she had. However, they still refused to give way. Finally, exhausted, Luna slumped to the floor, her horn smoking.

How was this even possible? She had, just minutes before, smashed through these doors like they were made of cotton candy. Now, not even her strongest magic was doing anything against them, and to top it all off, someone had bent the lock back into place and locked it. Who, though? Just who was that strong, that powerful, able to undo what an alicorn had just done, and then trap said alicorn inside?

There was only one answer.

"Celestia!" Luna called out, irritation laced in her voice. "This isn't very funny! Get out here now, sister, before I have to come catch you!" Luna demanded. From the corner of her eye, Luna saw movement once more, and instantly snapped her head towards it, catching the last glimpses of a pony's tail disappearing behind a set of bookcases on the far right side of the library. "Oh no you don't!"

Racing after the shadow, Luna barely managed to get to where she had seen them in time to watch the pony's tail yet again disappear behind another set of bookcases, though the particular area that direction seemed to lead towards was the far right corner of the library. Raising an eyebrow, Luna trotted quickly after the pony, whom she was still sure was her sister, before coming to an abrupt stop. She had arrived at the end of the row she'd seen the pony run into, which led directly to the corner, but there was nopony there.

Peeking out from behind the bookcase, Luna looked down the line of bookcases before her, though saw no one trying to get away. A bit bewildered, Luna cautiously emerged from behind the bookshelf, sure that nopony could have gotten away so fast with how fast Luna had been, not even her sister. Growing suspicious, Luna examined the area around her. There didn't seem to be anything out of the ordinary at first, but upon closer inspection, Luna found a small pile of brick scrapings on the floor. Her eyes traced the dust across the floor to the right corner wall before beginning to look it up and down for clues. That was when she spotted it.

There was a small nick along one of the bricks of the wall, which the library was mostly composed of, other than the marble doors, and took note of how the brick seemed to be more worn than the others. Curiously, but also hesitantly, Luna reached out a hoof and gently placed it against the brick. She felt it shift under her touch, and, feeling a bit more confident, Luna pushed harder, and the whole brick disappeared into the wall.

There was the sound of gears turning, and then a small section of the wall slid away to reveal a doorway, which led into inky blackness beyond. Unable to resist raising an eyebrow again, Luna lit up her horn as she stepped into the passage beyond, grumbling under her breath how she was gonna get Celestia back for this.

Then she began to walk, heading down a dank, dark hallway, the only light coming from her horn, getting a couple hundred feet in before she heard the door slide shut behind her. The sound made Luna jump a little, and she glanced back in slight fear when she realized her escape route was gone. This all had to be part of the joke, right? Celestia was probably still pulling her hoof, though at this point, Luna was beginning to doubt the theory about it being her sister. This seemed a little extreme, even for Celestia. But if it wasn't her sister, who was leading her into what was obviously a trap?

Getting more nervous by the second, Luna took a moment to steel herself, then began back down the hallway, not giving herself another moment for thought. If she had, she likely would have bolted, but no, she wanted to track down the pony doing this and confront them. If this was all some sick prank, then she would make sure the guilty party got a very stern talking to. If it wasn't a prank...well, that was a conern for when she reached the end of this hallway. If she did.

Which she did. After what felt like an eternity, but was actually only ten minutes, of walking, Luna emerged from the cramped tunnel. Upon setting hoof outside the hallway, a series of fires suddenly burst to life on either side of Luna, spreading out in front of her till they disappeared from sight. What the light revealed had Luna gaping.

In front of her lay a utopia of knowledge, thousands upon thousands of books stacked as far and high as the eye could see. There were bookshelves of every height and wood type filling the unbelievably large space, each shelf crammed full of books and other pieces of literary art. From the walls and ceilings hung pictures, each of a depiction of an important pony in Equestrian history, and they absolutely crammed the walls, blocking out whatever color the room's walls might have originally been.

Marveling at the sight before her, it took Luna a minute to actually glance around her and see what was actually at eye level. In all honestly, the rest of the room's decorations were pretty boring compared to the rest, mostly being comprised of a large series of tables and study cubbies spread out by the very large hoofful across the entire library network.

Upon having taken it all in, Luna only had one thought: How much stuff is my sister hiding from Equestria? And me?

Luna would have contemplated that thought more, had she not seen something move once more in her peripheral vision. Her mind and body snapped to attention as they settled on the distant figure of the pony. For once, Luna got a good look at the pony, and knew immediately that it wasn't her sister. They were far too small in size, and only had a small, normal pony horn gracing their head. No wings, though, another big clue it wasn't Celestia, and also pardoned Twilight and Cadence, though she didn't think either of them would pull this, and again, Cadence was way too tall.

Perhaps it was...no, that wasn't right. This pony had a horn, so it couldn't have been any of the usual suspects. Her last suspect was Rarity, but she immediately dismissed that thought. Rarity would never pull something like this, not even if she was doing it for one of her friends. It simply wouldn't be lady-like, and everyone knew how important such things were to Rarity.

Which meant this had to be somepony outside her circle of friends, and that also meant this had just turned dangerous, for Luna only knew one other unicorn personally, and they would never pull this.

A stranger had drawn her into the library, trapped her in it, led her here, and trapped her here as well. She was now in a room with a mysterious pony with no escape routes should they try something.

Focusing back on her opponent, Luna took a second to realize that something was off about them. While she had at first thought it was hard to see them because of the shadows they were standing in, Luna now saw that the pony was actually a literal shadow, form incoherent and shifting within the darkness. As this realization came to Luna, the shadow pony suddenly turned and walked down the aisle they were standing next to.

Luna released a breath she hadn't even realized she'd been holding. Standing straight, Luna's face took on a steely expression as she approached the spot where the pony disappeared. No way was she going to let this pony get away without answers. There was only one pony beside herself could control shadows, but he was supposed to be dead...if that was false, she needed to know, and this shadow would give her her answers, whether it wanted to or not.

Upon reaching the entrance to the aisle, Luna peered in with sharp eyes, and saw the shadow pony almost instantly. They were standing a little ways past the center of the aisle on the left side. Their right front hoof was lifted and was resting on a series of books on one of the shelves, which appeared to be the fifth one up from the bottom shelf. Upon Luna appearing at the end of the aisle, the pony glanced over, and as it did, Luna could almost swear on her sister that the shadow pony actually took on the appearance of an actual pony.

In that brief second of time, Luna saw an unicorn mare, her fur the same color as the darkest of shadows, with a mane and tail that were both dark blue-greenish and light silver-blue in color. On her mane, which was done up in a braid that rested over her left shoulder, the dark blue-green was a stripe down the center while the silver-blue bordered it on each side. On her tail, the colors were flipped, with the dark blue-green bordering the silver-blue. Her hooves matched the color of the silver-blue, and her eyes were a dark blue in shade. The pony's cutie mark was that of an almost full moon with a couple stars twinkling around it, though Luna was quick to notice a small portion of the upper right half of the moon was missing, as if something was covering it.

As the pony's appearance shifted, they locked eyes for a moment. In that split second, Luna saw great sadness in her eyes, though also hope, a deep hope. And then, Luna blinked, and the pony went back to being a shadow, disappearing into the shelf her hoof had still been resting on.

Taking a moment to get over the wave of shock which had engulfed Luna, the Princess hesitantly stepped into the aisle, not sure what to expect as she approached the spot where the pony had been standing. Upon ever-so-slowly reaching it, Luna felt her pelt tingle slightly, picking up on the magical energy left behind by the pony, who Luna had zero doubt had been a ghost.

Shakily lifting a hoof, Luna began exploring the shelf which the pony had seemed intent on, flipping through the books. Most of them seemed to be about theoretical magic, things like resurrection and witchcraft. There wasn't anything that jumped out as Luna scrolled through the titles, and none of the authors had a name which would inspire Luna to think of the ghost mare.

Luna spent a great deal of time looking through the bookshelf that the pony had led her to, even flying up to the top shelves to check, thinking perhaps the pony hadn't been able to reach the actual shelf she wanted Luna to search. There were a couple of books and author names that caught Luna's attention, but she had ended up putting them back when she was sure they weren't what the pony had been trying to show her.

After spending a good twenty minutes examining every inch of the bookshelf, Luna sighed and landed on the ground, having been searching the top shelves, and shook her head. There was nothing here. The pony had led her on a wild goose chase, and trapped her in the library, for no reason at all.

Right? That had to be the only explanation. There was nothing here for her to see, and the pony...the pony. She had seen the look in that mare's eyes, and Luna was absolutely sure it had been real. She had been trying to show her something, Luna just couldn't see what.

Frustrated, Luna kicked the shelf slightly, causing some of the books to shift. As they did, one of the books on the shelf the pony had originally been pointing to fell out, hitting the ground with a dull thawk! Luna, realizing what she'd done, bent her head to pick the book up, but then a small, very subtle flash caught her eye. Lifting her head back up, Luna peered into the space behind where the other book had been sitting on the shelf, and noticed something crammed into the back of the shelf. The light from the fire seemed to be reflecting off something on its cover, and this is what had caught Luna's attention.

Reaching into the shelf, Luna grabbed hold of the object, pulling with all her might as she tried to dislodge it from its crammed space. As the object, which Luna now identified as another book, began to emerge, several more books tumbled to the floor, but Luna ignored them.

The book now in hoof, Luna backed away from the shelf, heading to a nearby table. The table itself was a simple one, made of plain oak wood, with a couple of chairs of the same wood pushed up on either side of the center. Setting the book down on the table in front of the chair nearest her, Luna climbed gingerly onto the seat, fearing splinters, before settling in and turning to examine the piece of literature.

The book, which seemed to be a journal of some kind, was fairly simply in make, with hardened leather for the covers and spine, all plain except for the front cover, which contained the cutie mark of the pony from before, and below that, written in loopy cursive in a faded, shimmering, light blue ink of some sort, was a name.

"Crescent Eclipse," Luna whispered, stroking the cover softly, removing a great deal of the dust which covered it. Luna had no idea why, but a tear formed in her right eye when she said that name, and fell down onto the cracked leather of the cover directly between the cutie mark and the name.

Wiping away the tears in her eyes, Luna took her eyes off the name when she saw that the book's pages were giving off a subtle glow of sorts. As she took notice, the pages flashed briefly, and then an odd click sounded through the air. A lock spell, which had just unlocked.

Luna felt this was weird upon realizing what had just happened. Why had her tear unlocked the spell? Curious, Luna slowly reached out and pulled back the front cover, ready to start reading.