Descendant of the Night: Beginnings

Things were suppose to happen differently, I’ve lived long enough to confirm that. Swift Spell holds back a lot about what he has really been through. What I do, was little to grasp at first, and sometimes I still find it hard to believe. A long time ago, artifacts known as the Elements of Harmony were created. How? Swift never told me. All I know is they were suppose to play a monumental role in the future of Equestria. They were weapons, but not meant to kill. No one understood how they worked, but the power they held couldn’t be denied.

The time of those artifact to resurface would have occurred a month from when this all started. The longest day of the thousandth year, if memory serves me right. This was when the first of Swift Spells great evils arrive. The nightmare: an entity that uses the darkest feelings of its host and overwhelms the with it. We don’t know what form it will take or who it’s host will be, but it will surface. Swift, ever since he first mentioned it to me, had been scared to talk about it. He knows things we don’t, and in time I hope he tells me.

Sadly, what I do know isn’t bright. The elements of Harmony, the very artifacts that were to purify the souls, were all destroyed along side the alicorn sisters. We are without the very thing that was to protect Equestria. Our only hope lies in my sister, Luminous. At least, that’s what we believe. Swift and I have no idea what the outcome of this will be, but he is sure that my sister will prevail. To him, the only way to assure her safety from the nightmare was to make her leave, which Swift and his ‘anonymous assistant’ was able to accomplish. To them, Luminous is the only hope for Equestria, the Solar Empire, and the Lunar Republic…

… If only I had that much faith in my own sister, and in me.

After several minutes of having to keep Rarity from giving Luminous a lecture on fashion and the disaster she had made, Sweetie Belle manage to calm her sister down. Topaz had turned the lights back on due to Luminous complaining about the voices she was hearing, something that concerned the young dragoness. Rarity had left the room to get some more tea, giving everypony a chance to calm down. Luminous has had some encounters like with Moondancer given the unicorns love of books, but never before had she had somepony try to scold her over fashion. Then again, there was a lot of things that had started to become normal.

The Lunar String, the aura of princess Luna that she now possessed, was like another hoof. Of course, calling it a ‘hoof’ would be wrong, considering it seemed to be able to take on any form Luminous chose as long as she could concentrate. That being said, keeping focus on the Luna String was hard. With what little practice she had slipped in while Rarity got tea, she realized just how difficult with her eyes open. Even the slightest distraction seemed to mess up her attempts, and considering that the String seemed to sometimes react with her even try made it even more challenging.

“AAAARG!” She roared at was another failed attempt to grab the same exact teacup she had before. “Why is magic so hard? Do unicorns have this kind of trouble when they first learn how to do it?”

“I think you're the first pony I’ve ever seen fail to pick up a cup,” Sweetie commented. “I’m not that good at magic and even I can do simply telekinesis.”

Luminous groaned in frustration, the comment only making her less confident in herself. Luna expected her to master use of the Lunar String and she was doing worse than a younger unicorn! Topaz, on the other hand, was on the ground laughing her tail off at Luminous. The ex-captain glared at the dragoness, although she knew it was impossible to get him to stop. If there was anything she could make clear about Topaz’s character, it was that she was a misfit. As the laughter in the room died down, Topaz laid on the floor, exhausted from laughing and his stomach aching.

“Please tell me how in Equestria you became the assistant of princess Luna?” Soarin asked confused.

“Exactly how you expected,” Topaz said, a smirk on her face. “I was assigned as a personnel aid when Luna’s previous one quit unexpectedly. I had to move to Canterlot when that happened, and if it wasn’t for some unicorn with a cloak on his head I would have died on my way,” She stood up and hopped onto the couch next to Luminous. “Luna was actually quite depressed when I met, telling me how nopony cared about her. I helped her out of that conundrum and we became best friends after time.”

“That's… not what I expected,” An astonished Luminous replied, eyes wide. “Considering how Luna acted back in the Farplane I would have never guessed. She seemed so confident; so… powerful.”

“You could be that powerful as well with practice,” Topaz teased. “First thing you have to do is pick up that cup.”

Luminous looked to the cup that had been her nemesis for the past hour. She stared at it, imagining the Lunar String extending outward slowly. Her brain sent messages to the the force, and it once again extended out. It shivered nervously, Luminous trying her best to remain calm as excitement started to once again take over. The Lunar String shared nervously as it wrapped around the tea cup like a ribbon, finally picking it up. A smile crept onto her face as Luminous now mentally told the ribbon to bring the cup to her. This was the farthest she had gotten, and as it closed half the distance between the table and herself, Luminous was sure she had one.

“I got tea~” Rarity sang as she entered the room, breaking Luminous’ concentration.

Rarity watched with horror as the Lunar String let the tea cup go, falling to the floor. The world seemed to slow down as the small, ceramic cup fell before finally hitting the floor. It broke apart, several large pieces bouncing slightly into the air as the shattered cup made the sound of breaking glass. As the now fracture cup came to a rest, Luminous looked to Rarity. The fiery glare, she had seen only moments before returning to the unicorn. The Pegasus looked to the cup, then back to Rarity, the Lunar String once again taking the form of a bow in her mane.

“Okay, this one is not my fault,” She said before Rarity could open her mouth. “You broke my concentration, the only reason this hundred bit tea cup is broken is because of you.”

“The tea cup only costed ten bits darling,” Rarity corrected as she floated the a tray of tea onto the table. “The entire set was thirty, and because of my family's debt I can’t buy anymore! You just broke one of our last cups in the entire house!”

“I take responsibility for the others,” Sweetie Belle said, her hoof raised and head hung.

“Ten bits?” Luminous asked confused. “This looks like the quality of the tableware at the castle, yet that is so much more expensive,” As Rarity’s words finally finished connecting, she realized exactly why she was angry. “Wait, you own this gigantic mansion and you're telling me that you're broke?!”

“You saw how our entrance is,” Rarity replied, sass contaminating her voice. “I’m sure nopony such as you ever had the castle in this sad state. My boutique isn’t paying well enough and I’m scared for Sweetie to leave in case something worse happens,” She sighed, turning around and looking at the floor. “We only got a few more days here until we are evicted. We were leaving tomorrow, hoping that an old friend of mine is willing to give us room.”

“A friend?”

“Arcane Glyph,” Sweetie Belle answered. “He researches magic in a small hut in the darkness. He can be a bit much to handle at times; he’s so smart he doesn’t have very good social experience. I don’t like him, especially with his way of solving problems.”

Soarin half closed his left eye and tilted his head. “Why is that a reason to not like him? I thought that would make him better at solve problems.”

“Well, let’s just say magic doesn’t fix everything. Sometimes the best assistance is through emotions and love, not tricks and games,” Rarity replied, looking back to Luminous. “I would be more then happy to assist you in your journey, your highness. Always wanted to see the Lunar Republic, but the problem is that nopony can find it. Then again what can you find in the darkness, no maps going to help.”

Luminous looked to Topaz, who was resting against her shoulder. Topaz looked up to the pegasus, both knowing two very clear things. The first thing was that Rarity was going to be no help to learn to control the Lunar String. Then Again, no pony would probably be able to understand the String other than Luna. Luminous would have to teach herself to use it, and considering her trouble lifting up a tea cup, that was not going to be easy. The second thing was that this Arcane pony might actually know something about the war long ago. It was the only lead they had, and they weren’t going to pass it up.

“Rarity,” Luminous addressed. “I would like to meet this friend of yours. Surely somepony with magic of knowledge like he does can help us find the cause of the old war.”

“Of course!” Rarity exclaimed, her eyes beaming. “You have no idea what this means to me your highness. To travel with a princess! Usually only nobles would dream of such a thing, and I doubt I’m of that high class. To travel with you would be an honor your highness! I’ll pack my things and we can be on our merry way!”

“Rarity wait I didn’t-” Luminous stopped talking as Rarity disappeared in a flash of light. After a few seconds, the ex-captain turned to Sweetie Belle. “Is this normal?”

Sweetie let out a sigh before answering “If you're lucky she won’t start bowing to you.”

“So Luminous really is gone,” Thunder repeated to herself as she stood on the opposite end of the dining room, ears folding back in disappointment. Neon and Swift had just explain everything that was going on. She looked to the princess with sorrow “She’s… never coming back here is she.”

“Most likely not, which is why I’m calling you here to ask if you would take over as captain,” Neon answered, sadness filling her voice just as it had Thunder Shield’s. “It would do us a great honor, especially since we know just how much Luminous trusted you. Of course, you do have the ability to turn the promotion down, in which case we’d look for somepony else.”

Thunder Shield was still trying to understand why she would leave, even with Neon and Swift’s answer. The two pegasi had actually known each other for a long time, joining the guard about the same time. Through sparring, tactics, and even just normal conversation the two had become close. In the end it was Luminous who took over as captain when the old one retired, which he knew she well deserved. Even if Thunder was her right hand mare, Luminous saw the pegasus as her closest friend. It didn’t ever occur that something like this would happen, because Luminous was forbidden from leaving the castle grounds.

Yet at the same time Thunder knew sending Luminous on this was a great mistake. Looking at Neon, his heart skipped a beat at the look on her face. She was looking at the ground in regret, ears back to the point where the princesses long, wavy mane seemed to hide them. Neon knew exactly what danger her sister was going into, and caused Thunder to leap to her hooves. The chair fell behind her as her gaze rested on the princess she had served. There was a reason Luminous was never to leave the castle, a reason that had let her live more years than normal. Neon had just intentionally sent her sister away from the castle, and that reason was darker then what Neon was showing.

“Princess, you couldn’t seriously send Luminous out there in the hope she can’t return?” Thunder asked, her heart pounding like a drum. “I request you send a rescue party out there at once to retrieve her before the creatures find her.”

Neon didn’t respond, instead turning to Swift and motioning to the door. The unicorn bowed before making his way out of the room, Thunder watching him with fear of what he knew was coming. As his gaze feel back upon Neon, he could see her smile cheerfully at him. A cold feeling developed Thunder, making him shiver despite the warmth of the candles around them. Neon crossed her front hooves as she leaned on the table, the lighthearted grin feeling twisted like that of a psycho. This was a look that Thunder had never seen on the princess, and worry gripped him like claw.

“I know how close you and Luminous are Thunder,” Neon finally spoke, too cheerful for what was being discussed. “You’ve been together for so long, growing as friends as the years past, but it's time to let it go. I’ve heard ponies in the castle rumor you got a crush on her, and I hate to say it but you won’t get to tell her how you feel. You want to know something good about this?” Neon giggled like a foal playing with a toy. “When this all ends I won’t have to deal with the filth that Luminous rubbed on our family. I’m surprised I didn’t do it sooner.”

“I don’t understand your highness,” Thunder explained, her body as cold as snow by this point. “She’s your sister, you’ve known each other since you were foals. You two use to be so close, even with her many mishaps. Please telling me this is some cruel joke. What could ever make you want to-”

“Thunder Shield, please understand how stupid that sounds,” Neon interrupted, the cheerful manor in which she spoke only making her words sound harsher. “I’ve want that nopony out of my life for a rather long time, and you witnessed it first hand. I know you understand deep down that I’m only cleaning up the injuries she caused the kingdom, and the greatest injury she ever gave me. To think that pony, who isn’t even real, was the favorite of my mother has burned me for years.”

“How could you call her such things?” Thunder asked, dread and betrayal filling her soul. “She is your sister, and I know that she’s done many things wrong but that’s no excuse. You know for fact Luminous is real, and that there is nothing imaginary about-”

“Are you really going to go down this path right now?” Neon asked as she glided over the table, landing right in front of Thunder. “If she didn’t exist, like she was suppose to in the first place, my mother would still be alive. Besides, she couldn’t possible stopped the nightmare from returning. She’s a screw up, and the only reason she looks better is because you were with her. With no elements of harmony, she couldn’t stop the Nightmare especially when it will give power to all that she holds dear.”

Thunder stumbled back, eyes wide as he stared at the twisted grin of Neon. This wasn’t the princess she knew, and she had known Neon for many years. In her head, Thunder decided exactly where her loyalty stood, and it wasn’t difficult. Something was wrong with Neon, and if her words told her the truth the Nightmare was already here. With trembling hooves, Thunder ran out of the dining room as fast as she could. She ran down the hall until she felt safe enough to stop, breathing heavily from fear. Looking behind her, Thunder’s tense muscles relax slightly, but the fear of the situation was unnerving.

“I have to find Luminous,” Thunder told herself. “That being said, finding her in that darkness is going to be hard unless…” Suddenly, an idea popped into her head. “Moondancer!”

“Yes, I have one on the desk right here,” The sleepy unicorn said as she rubbed her eyes. Moondancer looked to the figure that was Thunder Shield, pointing at a large stack of scrolls on a table. “It’s right there, don’t know why you need a pathkeeper.”

Thunder looked at the mountain of scrolls, blinking twice before looking back at Moondancer. The unicorn was already asleep, and even with what little Thunder had gotten she was left confused. The only way he was going to find a pony in the darkness of Equestria’s countryside is if he had a physical trail to guide him. A pathkeeper was meant exactly for that, so travelers and merchants could go through the pitch black of the world without being lost. However, that was all Thunder knew about them, and considering Moondancer was needed for even more he would have to do the one thing Luminous had found out never to do.

“Forgive me,” Thunder apologized to the dreaming unicorn before turning to the shelf of books in her room. “Our highness needs us.”

Randomly selecting a book titled The Paradox Pony, she proceeded to open it to a random page. With a sigh Thunder looked to the page in front of him and took it in his teeth before starting to tear it out. Then, almost as if she was never asleep Moondancer tackled Thunder to the ground with rage in her eyes. Quickly the unicorn teleported the book safety back onto the shelf, and moved in front of said shelf before letting Thunder up. The pegasus rubbed her back for a small amount of time before finally speaking up.

“You know that I wouldn’t have come here if i was just looking for a pathkeeper,” Thunder explained. “Considering the situation, I need somepony who knows magic to deal with whats going on.”

“And what is so important that you had to wake me up in the middle of the-” Moondancer stopped talking and raised her hoof to her muzzle. After a few seconds she continued. “-night or whatever when you could have simply gone into Canterlot and bought a pathkeeper.”

Thunder let out a sigh before answering. “Luminous has left Canterlot.”

The slowly expanding eyes of Moondancer was the exact response Thunder expected. The unicorns ears flattened against her bedhead mane while her mouth opened just wide enough for a fly to buzz in. Moondancers pupils dilated until they seemed like specs, a feeling of true horror coming for the first time in her life. She had been warned about this, and the invisible barrier kept around the castle. While nowhere near as close to Luminous as Thunder was, Moondancer had formed a friendly bond with the former captain.

“Y-your kidding me. This is a joke, right?” Moondancer asked, terror blackening her heart. When Thunder Shield’s answer was simply to look to the ground, Moondancer took a few steps back to contemplate on what it meant. “I… we did this. This is all our fault for not believe her. She was right all along, something really is wrong with Swift-”

“It’s not Swift,” Thunder interrupted her. “I don’t know why… not just why, I don’t know how, or what, or even when it happened but… Neon did this,” Thunder had to stop, unable to believe what she just said. “Neon did this for some reason. She said it to my face yet I don’t understand why. I know why but… it just doesn’t make any sense.”

“It was because of their mom, wasn’t it?” Moondancer replied, a nod coming as her answer. “Well if it was Neon then I guess it makes a little sense, but neither of us were around when it happened. Whenever I try to talk to Neon about it she’s reluctant,” She starts to pace as she thinks about it. “This wouldn’t make sense though, Neon always cared about her sister. Nothing natural would cause her to do something like this. What happened to cause this sudden anger at her sister?”

“I don’t think that’s the biggest problem right now Moondancer,” Thunder stated, stepping in front of the unicorn to stop her from pacing. “The biggest worry is that Luminous is out there, and without her equipment she has nothing to defend herself with. I need the pathkeeper to light a trail to her, and I need you because the hunters are probably already on her. Please say you’ll come with me?”

Moondancer only took a second to decide before looking back to her desk. She floated one of the many rolls of paper on the table with her magic, opening it as it reached her. It contained what she assumed was a map of Equestria before the darkness fell over them. Thunder smiled as she looked at the map before Moondancer motioned for him to step back. Once Thunder was far enough away from her, Moondancer focus her magic on the map. She concentrated on the image of Luminous she made in her mind, and seconds later the map lit up. When Moondancer opened it the light fell away, and revealed only to her a strange blue aura leading out the door. A smile fell on her face for only a second, before looking back with a more grave look upon her.

“Grab everything you can!” Moondancer ordered the pegasus behind her. “We’ll buy a sun lamp and some food in Canterlot, but after that we head straight out.”

“Oh Luna, oh sweet Luna,” Neon cried as she curled up on the floor of the dining room, Swift trying his best to comfort her. “I did it again… I did it and now I’ve put Thunder in risk. I… I never ask for this, why would I?”

“You know it felt good to do it.”

“SHUT UP!” Neon yelled to a voice in her head. “Just go away! I’ve already broken the promise to my mom, what else do you want?”

“Neon listen to me,” Swift Spell’s voice finally pierced her ears, yet the princess didn’t look up. “Will fix this, Luminous will fix this. You're going to be

“Do I look okay to you?” Neon said as she looked at Swift, her right eye a dark blue compared to her left’s green. “You said it yourself. The elements are gone! Who’s going to fix this? How is Luminous going to fix this?”

Rarity packed the back of the wagon, taking one last glimpse back at the mansion that she would most likely never see again. She looked to Sweetie Belle, who was going to pull the wagon thanks to her metallic strength. To say Rarity was uncomfortable bringing her back out into the darkness was an understatement, as she couldn’t describe the fear inside her. Yet Rarity was just as much excited as she was nervous, looking back to the two pegasi and dragon that was traveling with her. This was an adventure on it’s own, and while she was worried about the possible things that could mess up her appearance she was invigorated to set off. Quickly she double checked everything before hopping in with the others. She opened the gate with her magic and without a word Sweetie Belle effortlessly started off into the darkness that consumed Equestria.

“Do you know where we are going Sweetie Belle?” Soarin asked as they left the mansion’s courtyard, gate now behind them. “I thought you’ve never seen this arcane pony.”

“Soarin, have you never used a pathkeeper?” Sweetie responded.

“Sweetie Belle, pegasi… usually can’t use magic,” Rarity reminded her younger sister before turning to Soarin. “A pathkeeper is a special map we unicorns use to navigate the darkness. It shows the caster - or the target of the caster in this case - a trail to that destination. It can be used to find towns, ponies, or really anything in the darkness. You pegasi have something similar, don’t you?”

“Illumination goggles,” Luminous answered. “Never seen one myself, but I’ve heard they dissipate the shadows to show everything as clear as day… Or at least what day should look like.”

Topaz looked to the ex-captain, seeing that she was bobbing her head slightly. “You okay Luminous?”

“Yeah, just a little light-headed,” Luminous replied, shaking her head to clear the feeling away. “Everything's fine.”

Topaz checked over the pegasus to see if anything else was wrong, but was lucky to see Luminous was fine. Looking behind her, Topaz was surprised to see that the mansion had completely vanished from sight. If she could see it, the dragoness would have noticed the strange creature standing on top of the mansion.

In an unknown location in Equestria, a wolf stood covered in a purple light emanating from the amulet on her neck. She stared at the moon as she waited on the edge of a forest, humming quietly to herself. She could hear the voices of things around her, to scared of the light to attack. She knew why they existed, but never thought about it as her mind was always occupied by something else. One of these things was how long ago it had been since she had seen those of her pack, and how long she had been on this job.

She was pulled from her thoughts when another wolf jumped out of the cloak of darkness surrounding the small, illuminated area. She got back on all fours as he walked closer, glad to see he was okay. The two were siblings, both with the same job. The sister sniffed at her brother’s grey coat to make sure he didn’t smell strange. This comforted her brother, who backed up slightly.

“Sis I’m fine, nothing hurt me,” He said, only getting a cold nose to the neck in response. “Silvia please! I can hear them and it’s creeping me out.”

“You’ve been rolling in laughing grass, haven't you Ralf?” She asked her brother as she backed off, putting a paw on her nose. “The stuff smells like burnt meat, and I mean horribly burnt,” She shock her head as the smell lessened slightly, still bothering her. “Hopefully you weren’t too busy rolling around like a mutt to not get an idea on where our target is heading.”

“Which one?” Ralf replied, getting a cold stare from his sister in return. He sighed “You're no fun. One’s in a small town called Ponyville, the other is heading off somewhere else. Judging by the direction, they’ll be heading to Ponyville as well. Now can you get off my back about taking me time.”

“You know what the alpha would tell you,” Silvia reminded his brother before reciting. “ ‘The job of a paradox hunter is to eliminate ponies, griffins, and even our own with incomplete souls. Souls of the old times were fractured and created these ponies that can break the fabric of existence. They are merely echoes of who they should be, and can-’ ”

“I know, I know, you’ve told me hundreds of times by this point.” Ralf interrupted, rolling his eyes at his sister. “I get it, they’re dangerous. Doesn’t mean we can’t have some degree of fun, and exploring ruins is not my idea of fun,” He looked to his sister, who closed her muzzle in response. “What happen to you when you had your Rising Ceremony? You’ve become an entirely different wolf.”

“Some could say the same for you,” She pointed out. “Who was the fat, lazy brother I once knew? That was you, and you are still slightly chubby. Once you get in better shape, I’ll consider letting you off easier.”

Ralf reflect back to the happy times of his puphood, and how his mom would always give him the biggest portions. Silvia had all the reason to call him spoiled, but knew that any insult or comment would just make him retort back. Of course, as soon as he was chosen to be a paradox hunter such as herself the first duty was to beat the laziness out. Quiet literally in fact, as she swat him on the nose anytime he tried to rest during training. Not to say they didn’t love each other, but anyone wouldn’t believe it when first looking.

“So considering that both targets will and shall approach Ponyville it is fair to say we stake out there,” She said in an affirmative manner. “Oh and to finish up my little reenactment from before ‘They are merely echoes of who they should be, and to let them live for long may prove disastrous for our future. I know it’s hard to bring a claw against what could be innocent, but the future must be preserved’.”

“You really do sound like that old wolf sometimes, you know that right?” Ralf responded, only once again getting a stare in response. “Okay, fine. Let’s just start off to Ponyville if you're going to be commander cranky all this time.”