The sounds of gentle metallic clops echoed off of the halls of Canterlot Castle as the Princess of the Night casually made her way through them. She passed by a few stationed guards, giving them a small nod of acknowledgement while maintaining a neutral expression and nothing more. Before long, Luna arrived in front of the doors to the throne room. Using a little bit of magic, she opened the large pair of doors and entered into the room. Her turquoise eyes scanned the room briefly before locating the pony she wished to speak with.

Princess Celestia, the solar co-ruler of Equestria, stood in front of one of the many stained glass windows of the grand hall. The visage within the window was one that had been commissioned in honor of, and to celebrate, Nightmare Moon. It was an image of Luna, Celestia, and their mother… together at last.

Luna slowly approached Celestia and she turned her head to look upon the window as well. The two sisters stood side by side in companionable silence for a time. Luna was unsure what her sister was thinking, but her own thoughts drifted back to the day they had brought Nightmare to see the completed work of the window. A smile of melancholy formed on her face as the memory drifted to the forefront of her mind.

Nightmare had been shocked, awestricken if one were to be perfectly honest. Never in all her years of watching over Luna from afar had Nightmare expected to be placed in any form of remembrance, let alone for her to be seen beside her daughter. Yet there it was, standing in the warm rays of the sun and glowing radiantly. Each perfectly cut piece of glass, painstakingly selected and chosen with only the sharpest of Pegasus eyes, was set into the masterpiece that now adorned one of Canterlot Castle’s most important hallways. The sight of herself standing between Luna and Celestia in such a magnificent display had left Nightmare to shed tears of utter joy.

Luna’s smile warmed a touch as she recalled how wonderful it had felt to be embraced by her mother in that moment, wrapped in a hug that crushed both Celestia and herself together with the power of motherly love.

The memory came to a swift end as her sister finally broke the silence. “Good afternoon, Lulu.”

“Good afternoon, Tia,” Luna replied and she turned to gently nuzzle Celestia in greeting.

With their sisterly affection completed, Celestia pulled away slowly to smile softly at Luna. “It’s good to see you. How did the conference fair?”

Luna sighed softly as she shook her head and smiled a little ruefully. “About as well as I had expected it to go. Even after so many months, the nobles are still going on about how they knew it was a bad idea to allow mother to stay at the castle. Everything somehow always comes back to their fear of her… or rather, of me when I was lost to the darkness. Then of course, they bring Mathew back into the mix, saying that he needs to hurry up and accept his new position as a royal.”

Celestia’s eyes dimmed slightly at the mention of Mathew. “I see… speaking of him, how has he been lately?” she asked.

Luna’s expression quickly lowered into a frown and she sighed. She was well aware of how her sister had been toward Mathew in recent months, though the real reason for it was unknown to her. She found it odd that Celestia would ask about Mathew. “He has been well… at least physically,” she began slowly. “He still refuses to be recognized as a prince, even despite many requests to accept it from his loyal guards. All of them seem to revere him in the highest manner.” A small smile of amusement slipped across Luna’s features for a moment. “Mathew really does not like how devoted they have become, but he lacks the heart to tell them to stop. Though he has no qualms in expressing his displeasure of it to me when we are alone.”

Celestia hummed calmly to acknowledge her sister’s comment, even smiling at the thought of Mathew venting his frustrations to Luna. Sadly, her smile did not stay for long as her thoughts drifted back to why she had asked about the dark Alicorn Prince. “I see… has there been any improvement in his… searching?” she asked.

Instantly, Luna’s expression saddened. This seemed to be the only thing that Celestia persistently inquired about and, if she was being honest with herself, it bothered her deeply. It was not so much that Celestia’s asking was the problem, but more that it brought up a difficult topic for her to deal with. Luna sighed slowly as she looked back up to the stained glass window. “No. He has seen nothing that might lead to Absolution’s whereabouts.”

“I see…” was all Celestia could say in that moment as she, too, looked back up to the only physical reminder she had left of Nightmare Moon.

Though they had different reasons and perspectives for feeling it, both sisters shared a concern about Mathew. Celestia was the first to notice it as the dark Prince of Equestria began to change over time. How could she not take notice? In the beginning, Mathew had spent a great deal of his time looking to the night sky. It made sense since the night had been Nightmare’s domain… her home… and it was an ever-present reminder of the dark goddess. In an unfortunately painful way, his devotion to watching the night sky reminded Celestia of the days that Nightmare had spent looking out the window as she guarded Mathew’s crystal coffin. That, however, was where the similarities ended. During the three years that Nightmare had guarded him, she had never once neglected any who came to her. Mathew, though he had enjoyed company in the beginning, steadily grew distant from those around him as the weeks passed.

The more the distance formed, the harder things became on everpony… especially Luna and Applejack. The two of them had been at Mathew’s side every day for the first few weeks. Mathew had welcomed their help openly back then, gladly embracing them and sharing his love with them… though there were faint signs of regret hiding within his eyes every so often. It started out slowly at first, but as the weeks turned into months, Mathew stopped opening his heart to them. To this day, nopony knows what made him grow to be so cold.

Eventually, Applejack could bear it no longer and she, with great regret, took her leave of Canterlot to go back to her farm and family. Mathew had shown his sorrow only to Luna after that, but even then his pain was briefly lived. Something more spurred him on until he stopped eating and sleeping altogether. The only thing that mattered to him was finding Absolution and that was what Celestia feared would happen. She could see the signs for she had lived through them personally. Yet, for reasons she could not explain, Celestia refused to open her mouth on the subject. She couldn’t bring herself to tell Mathew that he had taken things too far, that he was lowering himself to the very same levels of obsession that she had in the past. It hurt her too much to admit that the very one who had been her salvation… had become the very same thing that he had saved her from. Or had he?

Celestia sighed silently as her gaze landed on Nightmare’s smiling face once again. She knew she had to do something to help Mathew, but she just did not know how. Her heart ached once more as she wished that Nightmare was still with them… to help her find the right path.

The low thud of the large doors to the throne opening drew Celestia and Luna away from gazing at the window. A member of Celestia’s royal guard breathed heavily as he ran up to the two princesses. He stopped before them, gasping for air, and looked to them in mild panic.

Celestia stepped closer to him and she lifted her head regally. “Catch your breath my little pony, then tell us what it is that has you so flustered.”

The guard nodded and swallowed before he stood at attention. “Your highnesses! We’ve just received reports from Cloudsdale of an anomaly. A dark portal has been spotted to the west of the Pegasus city.”

Both Celestia and Luna shared a glance of concern before a swirl of shadow in the center of the room heralded the arrival of the Equestrian Prince. Mathew stepped out of the darkness as it retreated back into his shadow beneath him. He looked to the two sisters, his gaze smoldering with long harbored anger. “It’s him… Absolution has finally made his move.”

Author's Note

I know I know... this is such a horrible teaser.

I really am going to continue this story. It's just saddening when I keep writing for Hazel Eyes and this story just keeps collecting dust. I had started this a while back and just finished it so that I could show you guys that it's not dead. I am planning to start this story, as well as Shifting Mask, up again sometime in the near-ish future. For now, this is a small taste of what's to come. I left off with Absolution planning something diabolical... we'll get to see what that plan involves in the next chapter. Look forward to it guys, I've got a few surprises in store that you won't want to miss!