When Nightmare Moon returned, ponies had panicked at first. She had easily defeated Celestia despite the valiant efforts of Celestia’s prize pupil; Twilight Sparkle. The poor mare had made a good effort, but it was ultimately futile, as centuries of rankling hatred had empowered Nightmare Moon with far greater strength than the aging and complacent Celestia and her unicorn protégé could muster. Celestia had been taken during the summer sun celebration in Ponyville, and Twilight Sparkle had been ‘dealt with’ somewhere in the Everfree forest in a mad quest to find some elements of harmony or something. Nopony knows what her plan was, but it was a moot point now.
The everlasting night sounded horrible at first. We had all imagined pitch black everywhere we went. No lights except those of our torches and no heat whatsoever. That turned out not to be the case. Somehow–probably magic–there were still changes in temperature and weather. The moon provided different amounts of light at different times of day. Crops grew, winter happened, but all of them under the dim light of the moon. Life continued, but changes had been made.
One such change was crime. With much less light at all times of, well, night. It was a lot easier to commit crime. The bat pony guards tried, but they were still far fewer in number than Celestia’s previous royal guard, many of which had been killed or exiled following Nightmare Moon’s return. The other problem was that now, with perpetual darkness, creatures long thought lost or merely myth were making their return. A vampire kingdom had supposedly been founded in the west, stories of a necromancer were surfacing, and warnings of boogeyponies were being told. Ponies fear of the dark had not yet disappeared, and tension was reaching new heights. Nightmare Moon was fighting it, but only several years had passed.
My job under the new regime was simple delivery. I had been a member of staff at Canterlot Castle, but Nightmare Moon had replaced everypony there with bat ponies. She was trying to make a statement or something. Well, her statement had been made, and everypony was too scared of associating with anypony that had touched the castle out of fear of retribution, so my options were now limited. Delivery meant I could be swept under the rug, and I was never around for very long. I was easy to overlook this way.
“Hey Chatelaine, I’ll see you next week or so, eh?”
I turned to look at the voice. It was Throw Rug, waving from the train. He was another pony ousted from the castle. He helped me find my job.
“Yes, I’ll see you then I’m sure,” I replied.
He waved, and I waved back, and we went our separate ways. We’d arrived on the edge of the Whitetail Woods, and he was heading down to Applewood, while I got to go through the woods to some Podunk little village crammed deep inside it. It was probably one of those that kept trying to fight back against Nightmare Moon. Nightmare Moon loved trains, so she had bat ponies traveling them in squads, quelling fears and quashing uprisings. Which, ironically, did little to quell fears.
Nevertheless, they had a shipment of reagents, spices, and strange fluids on order, and I wasn’t getting paid to not deliver them. I lifted the harness with my magic and hitched myself up, then set off away from the train station. I pulled the map out of my saddlebags and checked my route. It should be just a short distance to the north, within the woods. Hopefully there would be a path. I didn’t want to have to start cutting down bushes and pulling a wagon through them.
I skirted around the edge of the woods, searching for a path, and I eventually found one. It was a narrow thing that looked more like an animal trail than a path, but I could see some hoofprints, so I started down it.
As I entered the forest proper the dim light from the night sky was obscured by the canopy, so I lit up my horn for light. It was a rudimentary spell, light, but all unicorns had been forced to learn it upon Nightmare Moon’s coup. I didn’t know how well earth ponies were dealing with it, but pegasi had taken to carrying bottled lightning with them. I suspected earth ponies were just using lanterns and candles like they always had, but they were going to burn through their supplies very quickly. Calls for magical lighting had already been made for all major cities, though cities on the outskirts were going to suffer greatly.
My light worked fine, however. Being one of very few clavigers at Canterlot Castle, I had to patrol the grounds at night on occasion. My light spell worked just fine, and was more powerful than most. The darkness held no sway on me.
I heard an animal call in the darkness and I flinched. It was just a bird, but the call reminded me that there were creatures out there who were much bigger, and they thrived in darkness. There had been reports of magical creature sightings. The sort of creature that hadn’t been heard from in recent centuries except in books. Personally, I had seen none of these supposed creatures, but the prevalence with which they were coming to the kingdom’s attention was worrying. Nightmare Moon was ruling with an iron fist, but her focus was the major cities. The ones truly suffering if these stories were true were–yet again–towns on the outskirts.
Towns like the one I was headed toward.
The path was difficult, but I plodded onward. My map showed a small town called Stone’s Throw just north of the train stop of the same name. It had been written in with a quill after the map had been transcribed, so I was wary of its accuracy, but I had been assured it was here. Why else would the stop be named after it, you know?
I had the sneaking suspicion the town had been named after the stop. It was, after all, a mere stone’s throw away from the farms and the like just south of the stop. All those farms fed Applewood and Las Pegasus. I didn’t know what this town was supposed to do.
My thoughts were interrupted by the snap of a twig, and I whirled to face the source of the noise. My horn light focused in on the spot to illuminate whatever was hiding, but all I found was a badger. It looked at the light and made weird snuffling noises, then continued what it was doing, unconcerned by my presence.
I sighed and let my light go back to its default spherical shape, and continued on my way. The further I went, the more tracks I saw. In fact, the sheer amount of tracks were alarming with how many there were, and how fresh they seemed. There were tracks crisscrossing the path I was following, and they weren’t heeding any of the foliage, nor were they trying to stay on the path.
I focused my light and looked over the mess of tracks, surveying my immediate area. The path had widened, and was now more what I would expect from a town’s main road. There was a fork, where it split and meandered off somewhere. That path was well-used, so it must be a well or hunting ground.
The hoofprints themselves, however, were mad and messy. Bushes were trampled, saplings snapped, and the ground pounded into a boggy mess. The fact that this had happened wasn’t concerning, it was that it had happened recently. This was panic. This was ponies running from something and trying to escape. Some part of me wanted to go find them and help, but the other part of me, the part that was still afraid of what was hiding in the darkness… that part of me hoped it had done what it had come to do, and already left.
Wary, I continued down the path. It widened, and I could see ruts for wheels hidden among the hoofprints. My wagon dropped into them and I proceeded further, until I could see something that looked like a building up ahead. Maybe several buildings! I had found the town!
Pleased, I rolled up the map and stowed it in my saddlebags and picked up my pace. I broke out of the woods and into the clearing where the town was situated, but I stopped as soon as I entered.
There were no lights, whatsoever.
Not a single house had a light on, and now that I noticed, I could not see the perpetual moon, either. Nightmare Moon allowed it to phase, but tonight was not a new moon. The stars weren’t even visible!
I heard it before I saw it, but a hoof whipped out of the darkness beside and struck my horn. My light fizzled out and I was plunged into absolute darkness. I panicked and flailed in the direction the hoof had come from, but I hit nothing. I screamed and flailed, but there was nothing there.
“Hush fool! I will not harm thee, but thou must maketh hast. ‘tis a miracle you made it this far with thine foolish headlamp. I requested no lights. Thou didst not read the instructions, I see,” a voice said.
I was still scared, but whoever it was could speak, and they hadn’t hurt me beyond the horn flick. “Okay, okay. I didn’t fully read them, but I can’t see otherwise. How would I have found you?” I said.
“Hmph! If thou had read the instructions, thou would have seen allowance for red lights.” At this, a small amount red light appeared. It looked to be coming from a small box the pony had opened, and the source looked to be a fungus or stone of some kind.
“Okay, okay. I get it. My horn’s still tingling from you flicking it, but I can do that in a few moments,” I said.
“Excellent. Come, quickly. Many things hide in the darkness. From which there is no longer any escape,” the pony said.
The pony, or rather, the red light, moved away, and I had to yank my wagon out of the ruts to follow. The contents rattled behind me, and the pony turned back to hiss at me once again. “Carefully!”
I was led to a small hut on what looked to be the edge of town. I could not see much of it, but there was a small path of stones leading to the door which had a small garden on either side of it. The plants were still growing, thanks to the magic keeping everything alive in the darkness, but there were hoofprints in them, and some of the plants had been trampled.
The pony opened the front door, and came to look at the wagon. “Hast thee brought what I requested?”
My talent was memorizing things. Seemingly useless at first glance, but as a servant in a castle it was invaluable. It also served me well in my current job. One of the reasons I had been hired.
“Yes sir. All 40 bottles of various reagents, fluids, and spices,” I said.
“We shall see.” The pony, who I could now see was wearing clothes that had seen better days, picked up a crate and carried it into the hovel.
I lifted two crates out of the wagon and followed him. I didn’t want to be left in the dark, and his red light was all that was available to see by. As I got close, a smell filled my nostrils, strong and cloying. It was even stronger inside the building, and the building, what little I could see, indicated a pony that lived a very natural life. Herbs, spices, stones, and even–I gagged at the sight–some dead animals, were piled on shelves and hung from the walls and ceiling. Not a single inch of space was wasted, and the smell was nearly overpowering.
The pony cleared some space on and under a table and placed his crate beneath it, then motioned for me to do the same. He waited until I had placed the crates before we both went back out to get more. I was curious about the village and opened my mouth to speak, but was cut off by an angry yelling.
“He’s outside! He’s outsiiiiiiiide!”
Other voices joined in soon after. “Outsiiiiiiiide!”
“There’s a stranger with him!”
“Strangerrrrrrrr!”
“Outsiderrrrr!”
“Stranger outsiiiiiide!”
It was ponies, clearly, but something about their voices was strange. “What is that?” I asked.
“The villagers.” He was hurrying to grab the crates, and had picked up two, though he was having difficulty balancing them. He urged me to grab the remainder, but I could only pick up three of the weighty crates with my magic. He waved a hoof at it in dismissal. “Leave it. We hast no more chances, if thou would complete thy delivery, thou must take the rest of the crates now. I pray what I have will suffice.”
He hobbled back to the hut as fast as he could, and I followed his dim red light. I could hear hoofsteps pounding up behind us, and my inability to see how close they were send chills up my spine. He held the door for me until I was inside and slammed it shut as soon as I entered. He latched and barred the door with a heavy wooden slab, and left his crates on the floor as he hurried about his home. He looked to be checking all his windows, and some strange clay containers situated about the building. I couldn’t see anything other than him and his light, so I waited.
I heard the pounding hoofsteps approach, and I soon heard the sound of breaking pottery, splintering wood, and snapping timber. They had destroyed my wagon and all its contents, and I didn’t know why.
“What–“ I began.
“Shh!” The pony held his hoof to his lips.
The sounds of destruction outside had stopped, but I could still hear the murmured sounds of “Strangerrrrrr, come outsiiiiiide.”
Despite myself, and the knowledge that this wasn’t natural, I did feel an overwhelming desire to go outside. My vision wavered, and I realized I didn’t need to see everything so clearly. The night would be beautiful, and it would smell crisp, clean, and cool. I would hear night creatures seeking a mate. The call of crickets, toads, and the occasional hooting of an owl. I could feel the night wind on my fur, and it would tickle my ears as I hunt by sound alone.
My reverie was interrupted by the smell of morning dew, and my vision cleared. I could see the pony in his rags before me, holding a bottle of something under my nose. I inhaled again, and the smell of morning dew became stronger. I recognized it, but it had been years since I had last smelled it. Without mornings, how could there be any dew in them?
“Wh–“ I started to speak, but he put a hoof against my mouth.
“Strangerrrrrrr.” The voices outside continued their chant, calling me to come out into the darkness with them. The pony in front of me kept the bottle under my nose, and eventually the chanting died down. Their calls continued, but grew faint as the distance increased between them and the hut. Finally, when he was satisfied they were far enough away, the pony removed the bottle and stoppered it, then put it back in his ragged clothes.
“The other villagers, in case you were wondering,” he said, his voice still low.
“I rather imagined that was them, since nopony else came to greet me,” I said, copying his volume. “…hey, wait, what happened to your speech? Shouldn’t there have been a ‘thou’ in that sentence?”
He fumbled about in the darkness and picked up one of the crates. He turned to me and gave me a smile that did not look reassuring in the red glow of the red light he carried. “With Nightmare Moon ruling, and the old ways taking hold once more, what better way to sound like you agree than to speakest as the old ways wouldst have us do?”
I looked at him and raised an eyebrow. “Does that work with the other villagers?”
“They are desperate to please the queen of the night, and speech like hers calms them. Help me take the crates down below.” He opened a trapdoor in the floor, and descended. Not wanting to be left in the dark, I picked up two of the crates myself and followed.
I kept an eye on his light and felt my way down after him. The stairs were steep, and I had to struggle to find the next one by feel since his light was not quite enough for both of us to see by. I had always been shorter than most, and this was making me feel tinier than usual.
“Quickly now, grab the last two, and shut the door behind you,” he said.
I grunted in annoyance as I placed the two crates I had next to him. “I can’t see at all, how would you have me do that?”
“Is your horn not yet recovered enough to make red light?”
I rolled my eyes, but he was right. I had been distracted by the threat upon my life. I thought about the light spell, and with a little alteration I lit up my horn with a small aura of red light. I struggled back up the stairs to grab the last two crates, and hobbled down the steps to the basement, shutting the hatch behind me.
“Lovely, let me just make a few checks here, and we’ll be ready.” He checked the edges of the trap door, locked it from below, and then went to a table where I could see a lamp was set up. He pulled out a match and struck it, then lit the lamp. The smell of burning kerosene wafted to me, and my eyes stung as they adjusted to the light.
“Is that safe? You told me no light,” I said.
“I have securely prepared this basement to allow no light to escape. The floor, hatch, and everything else, is sealed,” he said. “Now I believe I can properly introduce myself. My name is Crow’s Flight. I am Stone’s Throw’s pellar.”
“A pellar?” I wracked my brain trying to recall exactly what that was. “As in, the wise pony? Like a soothsayer?”
“Yes, though I provide medicine, banishments, and blessings as well. You’re very well-read, mrs…”
“Chatelaine. Miss Chatelaine,” I said.
“Yes, of course. From Canterlot Castle.”
I looked at him askance. He was dirty, and his clothes were not just ragged but made of rags. He had a necklace and headdress made of bones, feathers, and twigs. He was old as well. Well past his prime if I didn’t miss my guess.
“How did you know I used to work at Canterlot Castle?” I asked.
“The bones, miss. They tell me many things. The bones are how I knew you would be arriving today.” He pulled a hooffull of small animal bones carved with shapes and symbols out of a pocket of his rags. I grimaced at the sight. I was not unfamiliar with death or the short lives of small animals, but carrying bones was creepy.
“Now, you are probably wondering exactly why a pellar from a backwater town such as this would be doing with such strange supplies, and especially why I sent for them by carrier-pigeon,” he said.
“I heard it was a strange request, but I didn’t see the arrival of the pigeon itself. I took the job because it was going to pay extra. But go ahead and explain. It’s not like I can leave,” I said.
“Ours was a happy village, once upon a time. We would enjoy the blessings of the sun and work our days in the light as ponies are wont to do. Needless to say, come the Summer Sun Celebration and the loss of Princess Celestia, the nights started taking their toll.
“As with all ponies, we strove to continue life as it had been, but without the sun to alert the roosters to tell us when to awaken, ponies began to lose their regular hours. Some would awake at one time, others at another, and soon the village was a 24-hour bustle of constantly fluctuating activity.
“I do not know who began the rumour, but after a couple of years, somepony decided that Nightmare Moon needed more of our worship, and demanded that we begin living without lights in the village, as our beloved Queen would want. It was decided that we must become creatures of the dark, and live in utter darkness, as was clearly intended.”
“I should understand that you were the only pony that thought otherwise?” I said.
“You would be correct.”
“But they’re not behaving like normal ponies. They were acting strange and… creepy.”
“That came later. Maybe you noticed, but you cannot see the stars or the moon from the village.”
“I did notice, yes. What happened to them?”
“Nothing happened to them, but the village has been permeated by a darkness that is more than just the absence of light. This darkness is alive!” He gestured in a wide circle with a hoof. “It covers the village in a somber blanket, affecting the mind and changing a pony to serve some purpose I cannot yet fathom.”
I scratched my head with a hoof. “When the villagers were calling me, I started feeling like I should join them despite myself. That was the influence you are referring to?”
He nodded. “It subliminally encourages you to favour senses other than sight, and live immersed in darkness.”
“So, the scent you wafted under my nose, why did that fix it? Because it smelled like something you can only smell in the sunlight?”
“You are remarkably astute. That is correct. I have surrounded my house with pots of the oils for protection. It has worked thus far.” He began pulling bottles out of the crates and organizing them. “That is why I believe this darkness is related to Nightmare Moon, and is also why speaking like she does fools the villagers. They have an image in their minds of how Nightmare Moon should act, and any pony that acts like that subconscious image must already be part of the group.”
“It seems like they want you either to join them, or die. Why are you still here? Trying to save them?”
“Of course. I have lived here all my life, and was here before much of the village even existed. It would be remiss of me not to give my all to help those I watched grow into the stallions and mares they are today.”
“That’s very commendable. I don’t know if I could do the same if somepony tried to kill me or make me lose my mind,” I said.
“I hold no grudges to them for their current behavior. They were frightened, and before this darkness took hold of them they were merely experimenting with new ways to please their current ruler. They are not behaving by their own wills anymore.” He opened one of the bottles and took a whiff. “Ahhh. Delightfully fresh.”
“What are you doing to help them?” I looked over the bottles he had on the table. I recognized none of them save a few oils that usually went to the kitchens in the castle. “Are they affected by the scents you used on me?”
“Some might be, but I have not had an opportunity to try it on many of them. The two I caught seemed unaffected, but I did not manage to expose them to the smell for very long,” he said.
I nodded and watched him separate the bottles into groups that I’m sure made sense to him, but I could not make heads or tails of. He began moving about the basement, placing them on different shelves and racks and started a fire in a furnace set into one wall. I asked for no further information and he volunteered none, but there was something unspoken I thought he was waiting for, but I was not willing to give.
“So, when will it be safe for me to leave?” I asked.
His movements didn’t falter, but I could tell he was disappointed, even if he wasn’t surprised. “It is as safe now as it will ever be. Merely speak no words as thou taketh thy leave, and use no lights, as even red draws their attention, though not as fast as regular light. All light causes offense to thy Queen.”
“How am I supposed to find my way if there is no light to guide me?”
He turned and looked at me. His gaze was intense, and did not waver. “The villagers are asking that same question.”
I averted my eyes first, but said nothing in response. He was right, and I knew it, but I had my own problems. His village was not the first to suffer under the yoke of the new Queen, and it would not be the last. I was merely trying to make my own living as an ostracized member of the royal household. It was hard enough without crazy magic getting into the mix.
I heard a sigh from the old stallion, and he picked up a carrying yoke from one side of the basement from which two buckets dangled on each end. “Come then. I require water for my mixtures, so we shall go down to the stream. I can point you in the correct direction from there, if your intent is to leave.”
“Oh, well thank you,” I said.
“I need not thine thanks. Thanks shall not bring back neighbors who even know struggle to regain their identity. Come if thou would quit this place, but be warned once again: No lights this time. No magic. Speak not unless thy voice carries with it the timbre and power of the Queen of the Night herself!”
I nodded and said nothing.
“Hold my robes while we walk. I shall not be using the red light for guidance. Even in darkness I will not lose my path,” he said.
He put out the lights and shuttered the furnace, then swished robes in my direction with a hoof. Without being able to use my magic per his insistence, I grabbed part of his filthy robes in my teeth and followed him up out of the trap door. He walked slowly but steadily, giving me some leeway to keep up as he opened the front door and stepped outside. The permanent night air had the faint scent of smoke in it from his chimney along with the scented oils, and there was the sound of night creatures surrounding us, but nothing else.
True to his request, I said nothing, and he led me through the darkness. I didn’t know what direction we were going or what the landscape was like around me. Sometimes the sounds coming to my ears were muted for a moment, and I felt the cool breeze surrounding me coming from only one direction. I took that to indicate we were going between two buildings or in a narrow passage of some kind. I assumed it was buildings because I could feel wagon ruts underneath my hooves. Despite it all, as I followed Crow’s Flight he did not bump his head, stumble, or even slow down as he continued trudging along some path only he knew.
I thought it was smooth going, and I would be out of there and on my way back to the train station within the hour. However, that was not to be the case. I heard hoofsteps within the darkness that matched neither my nor Crow’s cadence. There were multiple sets, and at one point Crow stopped and I heard the hoofsteps pass within hoof’s reach of us. I could hear somepony’s breath rasping in the air. The pony muttered to himself, a stallion’s voice talking to himself about something to do with beer. Beer being the only word I caught in the quick chatter.
I tried to remain calm, but my breathing sped up at the prospect of being caught. I didn’t want to lose my mind to them and their praise of the night. No matter the circumstances surrounding the Queen, I wanted to be my own pony and live my life how I saw fit. Worshipping the night would not accomplish that, no matter how much Nightmare Moon might want to hear it. She and others like her could worship her own damn moon, just let me be.
I waited with Crow’s cloak clenched between my teeth until the hoofsteps had put some distance between us, then felt a tug as Crow started walking again. I followed, but I felt like there was still somepony out there I couldn’t see following us. If I was honest, there probably was. Probably several or more. I didn’t know how many ponies lived in Stone’s Throw, but if it was an average village there were at least dozens. If every single one of them, with the exception of Crow’s Flight, had given themselves up to the night, then that was a lot of ponies out for his and my blood. Or sanity, as the case may be.
As we traveled further, I could hear the sound of running water. That would indicate we were getting close to the destination. That was excellent, as I didn’t want to be here any longer than I had to. These mindless ponies were driving me mad. What did they eat? How could they live like this? I didn’t know how a group who seemed mindless could live any sort of a fulfilling life.
The sound of running water got louder, but with it I began to hear a murmur that didn’t match up. As we got closer, I could make out words, and it began to take on the tone of a sort of musical chant or prayer.
Queen, our Queen, our savior. Lost deep in the light.
We know she will always, be found in the night.
Dark and deep and distant, night seems far away.
Wisdoms, truths, and virtues. What the night will say.
Fullest Moon! Newest Moon! Take away your eyes.
Fullest Moon! Newest Moon! They only tell lies.
Live in deepest darkness, stay away from light.
Nightmare Moon’s direction, shows up in the night.
Live for her my ponies, though she’s far away.
Darkness is a virtue, that’s what night can say.
Fullest Moon! Newest Moon! Take away your eyes.
Fullest Moon! Newest Moon! They only tell lies.
Take my sight away from me, let there be no light.
What I want the most from life can only be the night.
Lose your eyes in darkness, take your sight away.
That’s the only path to hear, what the night shall say.
Fullest Moon! Newest Moon! Take away your eyes.
Fullest Moon! Newest Moon! They only tell lies.
The chanting continued, and I could hear deep male voices, higher female voices, and even young foal’s voices all chanting along with each other. This must be where the ponies all spent much of their time now that they were influenced by whatever caused this darkness. Why choose a body of water, though? At least they weren’t going to die of thirst, but that chanting! It wormed its way into my ears and set my head to swimming. Why were they doing this? Was this darkness trying to accomplish something by making them do this, or was it a byproduct of its influence?
I clutched my head with a hoof and rubbed my ears in an attempt to alleviate the sound, but all it did was allow the sonorous chant’s cadence to worm its way deeper into my head. I heard the splash of Crow’s buckets touching the water, and waited impatiently as he filled them from whatever dark waters lay within this part of the night-blanketed trees.
The second splash came and I waited for the tug to indicate we were leaving, but as I heard hoofsteps passing away I felt no tug on my teeth. It was then I realized that in my confusion, I had released Crow’s rags. I was no longer tethered to him by anything!
I opened my mouth, but quashed any speech before I released it. I remembered his admonition that if I was going to speak, I needed to make sure it sounded like somepony from the court of Nightmare Moon; archaic, and imperious. Trouble was, I didn’t think I could. I was frightened almost to the point of no words, and trying to think about what an archaic and imperious voice sounded like was futile. I squeaked slightly, but that was it.
I fumbled about with a hoof, trying to find any sign of Crow. It had only been half a minute at most since I heard the buckets splashing in the water, so he couldn’t have gone far. But despite my scraping the ground around me, I found nothing. I felt no ragged clothing, nor a hoof, nor a bucket. I didn’t want to move because I knew I was surrounded by ponies who believed the darkness was some sort of lord and savior here to usher in some magical night-soaked golden age.
I tried to steady my breathing, but my fear prevented me from steadying myself. I couldn’t inhale as hard as I needed or it might make too much noise, so my struggled just managed to make me hyperventilate. Despite the darkness I began to see spots in front of my vision, and I knew I couldn’t stay any longer. If Crow had abandoned me out of some malicious hatred of me not wanting to help him or his village, I wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction of getting captured by these cultists his village had become.
I pricked my ears up, despite the chanting causing me almost physical pain at this point, and oriented myself so that the loudest chants were situated behind me. I put a hoof out a short distance in front of me and when it didn’t hit anything, I placed it down and leaned forward with care, making sure it was on solid ground before leaning onto it. I took one step, then slowly took another. It was slow going, but before I knew it I had taken a dozen steps. The chanting hadn’t gotten any quieter, which meant I had not made much progress, but it was progress nonetheless. There was still the little issue of being lost here in the forest in the dark, but all I had to do was get far enough away from the village and I could use my light.
I was calming down as I got further away, and my breathing, while still a bit too quick, wasn’t causing my vision to show spots anymore. The chanting was still in my head, and my ears were plastered back on my head, but it was just a matter of time. Just a matter of time…
It was with this thought that I cracked my skull on something. “Ow! Celestia’s shiny ass!”
The area went deathly silent.
I smacked a hoof to my mouth, but the damage had been done.
“The defiler! She invoked the defiler!”
“Defiler of darkness! Traitor to umbra!”
“Strangerrrrrr!”
“Strangerrrrrrrrrrr!”
“Come to us, strangerrrrr!”
Their voices pierced my skull, and I felt that tugging at my mind once again, only this time Crow wasn’t here to waft the scent of morning under my nose. I could hear them moving about searching for me. The fact that they couldn’t see and relied on smell and hearing was of small comfort. There were many of them and only one of me. It was only a matter of time before one of them stumbled into me or I gave myself away again.
“Strangerrrrrr.”
“Fullest Moon. Newest Moon. Take away your eyes.”
Their voices became a cacophony of the chant, and calls for the stranger. I wanted to give myself up, to let them find me and get it over with, but instead I whimpered inside my head and wept in terror. Hooves passed next to me, and somepony even bumped into me. I stuffed a hoof into my mouth, placed the other over my head and covered my ears and tried to think of anything other than how dark it was. I remembered my memories of sun-filled days playing in the park with some of the other schoolponies at Celestia’s school for gifted unicorns. I tried to remember what the sun looked like, but all I could come up with was a yellow circle that I knew didn’t properly do it justice.
My thoughts drifted from the sun to the moon, to how the cool night air felt on my fur. It would be so easy to just allow my mind to go. To speak out and let them find me. Surely they wouldn’t hurt me too much. They wanted to recruit new ponies to the night’s cause, and killing me wouldn’t accomplish that.
My tears stopped. The chanting no longer grated. Now it all seemed to calm and peaceful. I was surrounded by friends, after all. Friends who wanted me to join them in praising the night. I would no longer have to fear the dark, it could be my friend and keep me safe. If only I’d allow it.
A voice boomed out in the darkness. “Dost thou fear uncertainty? Doth thine efforts to live in darkness bring thee only fear? Taketh mine hoof and we shalt face it as one. As long as thee holds strong, so shalt I.”
It was Crow’s Flight, giving away his position in darkness so that I could crawl to him! Around me in the dark I could hear the other ponies speaking in confused tones. A voice not unlike their Queen was speaking, but there shouldn’t be one here. They didn’t know if they should find it and question it, or if they should let it pass.
I took advantage of their indecision and stumbled to my hooves. I felt light-headed, but I plowed through brush and pony alike to try to find the source of the voice. “There be no cause for alarm, though thine eyes deceive thee hourly, and nightmares do plague thine sleep, hope shalt ever be thine shield.”
I was close! I felt bushes and brambles tug at my fur as I plowed blindly toward the voice, but it was much louder. He wasn’t far! The voice was right on top of me, and I finally felt myself bump into somepony. Hooves grabbed me and I flinched, but I waited to see what would happen.
The pony the hooves belonged to grabbed my head and held tight. They moved across my features, tracing out my muzzle, ears, and brow, then disappeared. I felt something flick at my face and I grabbed it with my teeth. This was a tail and not a cloak, but I wasn’t going to let go. I held tight, tears flowing fresh, and as the tug came I followed.
The crowd around us was still muttering quietly as we left. I was amazed that his speech worked so well. I didn’t want to believe it because it had sounded so ridiculous, but it worked, and it worked beautifully.
We left the crowd behind us and I felt the ruts beneath my hooves once more. We had made it back to the road and possibly back to town. Safety—as much as it could be called that—was within reach!
When we reached his house and he opened the door I stumbled past him into the dark interior. I yanked open the trap door and disappeared down below without a word. I reached a corner and curled up, then proceeded to sob into my hooves.
Crow took his time getting inside. I could hear him thumping about and there was the occasional splash of water. His hoofsteps came downstairs into the cellar and he busied himself preparing some sort of work. He left me to my crying, not saying anything or offering any sort of comfort.
I heard him open the furnace and light from the fire brightened the cellar. Above the roar of the fire, Crow finally spoke. “It isn’t about what you worship, you know. It’s about why.”
I wiped my eyes and pulled my head out of my hooves. “What?”
“They can worship the night and the darkness all they want, if I thought they were doing it freely.”
“I don’t—” I sniffled and wiped my nose on my hoof. “—I don’t think they are.”
“No. I was worried I had lost you to the darkness when you dropped my cloak. I was not going to stay and wait for you to turn on me, but when they began their search for you I knew it hadn’t quite taken you.”
“Thank you, for coming back. I thought you were trying to get rid of me.”
He sighed. “I wanted you to see the worst of it before you left. I have been working to help them for so long all by myself that I was frustrated at your unwillingness to do so. It was foolish, and dangerous. I hope you can forgive me.” He bowed his head.
“Well…” I choked out a half-sob, half-laugh. “…it didn’t quite get me, so no harm done?”
He offered me a kerchief, which I gratefully took. I blew my nose and returned it. “I still don’t know that I want to help, but I will stay for a short while longer. It is much better in here than it is out there, and I’d rather enjoy the warmth of your fire than brave the cold night air.”
“I would welcome the company.”
I stayed sitting in my corner and watched Crow work. He collected several vials and other liquids into one area and began mixing stirring them. From my place in the corner I could smell traces of different plant oils and various extracts. One of which may have been vanilla, but it was quickly overpowered by something else I didn’t recognize.
Once he had a lot of them mixed into a vial, he went to one of the buckets and with a small scoop, pulled out a scoop of water. I thought it might have been a trick of the light, but from where I was sitting, the water looked black as night. I squinted, but the water was gone into the beaker before I could see much more of it.
I watched and waited as Crow set the beaker of fluids into a holder and moved it closer to the furnace. I knew nothing about alchemy, so couldn’t venture a guess as to what he was doing, but it was interesting to observe. He returned to the counter and began grinding up some seeds in a mortar and pestle. The smell of lavender hit me a few seconds later and I felt myself relax.
“That smells lovely,” I said.
“I’m glad you like it. I used to make a calming pomander for some of the villagers before everything changed. I thought you might be able to use it right now.”
“I think I’m calm enough, Crow.”
“Hmmm, but is it thanks to you, or thanks to my scents?”
I had no response, so I just shrugged.
“It is not difficult to create, and I am waiting for my potion to percolate anyway.” He crushed the lavender, added it to a small vial of fluid, then shook the bottle and brought it over to me. “There you are. Just sniff that if you feel anxious. It should calm you right down.
“Thank you.” I took the bottle and popped off the cork just for a second to smell the concoction. True to his word, it smelled soft and comforting. “What are you cooking, if I may ask?”
“That—” he pointed at the beaker near the fire “—is an attempt to purify the spring-water.”
“Purify it? What’s in it?”
“Darkness.”
“Darkness? Like, the thing influencing the village?”
He shrugged. “The truth is, I know not what it is, but it is dark, and it is in the water.” He pointed at the buckets next to the furnace. “The pool where I fetched water from is where it is most concentrated, and is also where the villagers congregate. They sing to it, or for it, I’m not sure which.”
“What effect does the chanting have?”
“Again, something I do not fully understand,” Crow said. “I do know that it increases the influence of the darkness, but that is the extent of my knowledge.”
I shuddered remembering how it had wormed its way into my mind, making me feel like it only wanted what was best. “I felt it, and I liked it at the time, which is even scarier now that I’m free of it.”
“Indeed. That’s what makes it so sinister.”
I thought for a moment. “Have you felt it? You seem nearly immune.”
He shook his head. “I assure you I am not. It whispers to me just as it does to you. I am sure it whispers to the villagers as well.”
“It almost sounds like a good idea, but then where does life go from there? You worship darkness for the rest of it? That sounds like a terrible life.”
“It does. No choices to make. It is why I do what I do.”
“How do you think you can fix it then?”
“I have succeeded in treating small portions of the water. With this, I hope to create a mixture potent enough to treat the pond itself.”
“Will you be able to make enough?”
“We can only wait and see.”
I nodded, and when no more conversation was forthcoming, Crow turned back to his work. He waited while the water boiled, and took it off the fire. He swirled it, added some more ingredients to it, and scrutinized it under a magnifying glass. He took a larger portion of water and dropped a tiny bit of his mixture into it, but he shook his head, and I assumed it did not work.
He turned to the other bottles, vials, and containers on his table and got to work mixing up another batch of something. His actions seemed random as well as his choices, but I was no alchemist, and could offer no advice.
I don’t know how long he was at it, but I eventually woke up to find myself alone in darkness. It was pitch-black, and at first I panicked, I squeaked out in terror and gasped, but a hoof quickly reached out stroked my neck.
“Shhh, calm down. You are safe here, my girl.”
I quickly calmed down once I realized I was in Crow’s home. “Ah, thank you, Crow’s Flight.”
“You’re welcome, Chatelaine. I promise I will see you out of the village. It was wrong of me to try to keep you here to help.”
“It’s… alright. It was callous of me to dismiss your concerns so lightly. You’ve been trying to help your village for a long time, and it’s only been you. I can’t imagine how that must feel.”
“I am old. There is no greater goal for my life than this,” he said. “I will either die alone in the dark, or I will die with friends and family in the dark. Given a choice, I will work towards the latter.”
“I am rested, if you want to get back to work. Have you slept much?”
“Very little, but that is all I need. Sleep matters little to me these days.”
I pulled myself to my hooves. “Then I will help where I can. What do you need?”
“Well…” He grunted and I heard his knees popping as he pulled himself up. “I have a mixture that may work, but the only way to tell is to throw it into the pond. Do you think you will be okay with another trip down to the water’s edge?”
I gulped, but nodded. Then I realized he couldn’t see me nod. “Yes, I will come. Cowering in fear will do no good.”
“I appreciate the help. Let me prepare the bucket and we can go.”
Crow picked up one of the two buckets he had. He had covered it with a lid, so I couldn’t see the contents, but I heard it sloshing about inside. “Do you think it’ll work?” I asked.
“I hope that it will. It was a struggle to get a carrier pigeon that would fly to Canterlot in the first place. I hope the ingredients you brought will make the difference.”
No other words were spoken and the two of us crawled up out of the basement and into the darkness. My teeth were firmly clenched on his cloak again, and his tugging led me along through the night. His decades of living here had given him a preternatural sense of where everything was and his sure-hoofed pace took you through the buildings back to the pool.
There was no chanting this time when I arrived at the pool. There was only an intense and overwhelming silence, broken only by the trickling of the water as it arrived at its destination. I wondered if we were at the same place, but I heard Crow place the bucket on the ground and I knew it was here he wanted to work.
Crow tugged at his cloak and I let go, albeit reluctantly. I didn’t move and waited. I heard splashing, but I wasn’t sure what his plans were. If he was walking out into the pond, he was probably going to dump it into the center, or as close as he could get to it. The splashing eventually changed into the *swoosh-swoosh* of somepony wading through deeper water, and I continued waiting with bated breath. If he needed rescuing from the deep water, I could do that, but I was concerned about the darkness that was ‘living’ in the pond. What would it do to him? What could it do?
I heard the squeak of wood rubbing against wood, and a quiet *pop*. In the next instant my eyes stung as a glow appeared near the middle of the pond. I gasped in surprise and wonder at the same time other voices gasped in fear and anger.
Crow lifted the bucket filled with glowing liquid above his head. “Long hath mine efforts dragged me forward toward a day when thine spirits should be freed from this heinous grasp of darkness.” The ponies around the pond muttered in confusion and indignation as his speech began. “Pray, forgive this old fool his indulgences and realize your own worth. It is not the light from above that gives life meaning, it is the light from within.”
He tilted the bucket, but before the glowing liquid could begin to pour into the pond, the water below him surged and swamped over him. His words were lost, and the bucket was held carefully in the water’s embrace, firmly sitting upright as Crow thrashed and choked in the deeper portion.
I gave a cry of despair and stepped forward, but I saw dozens of pairs of eyes lock onto me the instant I moved. They didn’t move, but in the glow emanating from the bucket I could see them staring daggers at me, as though daring me to move forward to help.
Crow was drowning. I watched another pony step forward into the pond and press Crow’s head into the mud beneath the water, and I stood watching. As Crow’s struggles weakened, everypony around me watched me with imperious eyes. I was paralyzed with fear, and I cursed myself for my weakness. Another pony waded into the pond and picked up the bucket’s lid. They moved to where darkness held the bucket rigid, and placed the lid on top. As darkness filled the area once again, the last thing I saw was Crow’s body, unmoving, his cloak billowed around him in the water.
I ran.
It was dark, but this time they did not pursue me. They didn’t even call out to me. They had one prize and they were intent on taking advantage of that. I was ‘free’ to leave. As free as I could be, anyway. I could run as far as I wanted and I could probably get away.
I slammed into a tree and crumpled into a heap on the ground, head ringing. I felt tears welling up and started crying. I couldn’t tell if I was crying from fear or sadness, but I knew I was both afraid and heartbroken. That sweet old pony that just wanted to see his village freed had died trying to help them, and they had been the ones forced to kill him.
I pulled closer to the bole of the tree I had hit and allowed myself to cry. The saddest part of Crow’s death was that I knew he wouldn’t blame them for doing what they did. That ‘thing’ in the water was affecting their judgment, and had been the one pulling the strings.
I sobered upon that realization. I had seen the thing in the water.
There was something there! It wasn’t just the rantings and ravings of an old pony who had gone strange in his old age. He was right! He had been right about everything! The darkness in the water, the darkness controlling the ponies, and the darkness about town; all of it was true! It was alive!
Crow had found something that would hurt it, so it had been forced to lash out directly. The bucket was still intact, and had been sealed. It was unlikely it would destroy it or empty it, because the very sight of it made it angry. It was still being kept somewhere, and I could finish what Crow started!
I calmed myself down and waited. Then I listened. The sounds of the forest around me overtook those of my own unsteady heart. I perked my ears, and could hear no calls for a stranger, nor any songs of darkness, and I determined that I was alone. The darkness still enveloped me like a suffocating quilt, but I was in no immediate physical danger.
I lifted myself on shaking hooves. My orientation was askew, and I didn’t know from which direction I had come. I thought about if it would be more beneficial to return back to Crow’s home and try to put together more of that fluid, but dismissed the idea. I had no knowledge of alchemy. My hopes of creating a new batch of whatever it was Crow had mixed together were slim. It would take years, and by then the influence of the darkness over them would be far too great. No, if I was to save them, it would have to be now.
I thought back to the path Crow had taken to the pond, and I remembered that beyond the wheel ruts from wagons, it went downhill. I tested the ground around me in a small circle. There was a minor slope to it, so I walked carefully downward.
It turned out that I had not deviated far from the road in my panicked flight. I encountered the wheel ruts, now covered in hoofprints, and not too long after that, I began hearing voices.
Some voices were chanting. Those not engaged in praising the dark were muttering. I slowed in my approach, but none of the voices stopped to pay attention to me. I was unmolested. I imagined it hinged upon my silence, as it had before, so I kept my mouth closed tight. As I entered the group, I heard a strange sound. It sounded like… crying.
Not knowing where to begin my search for the bucket, I followed the curious sound until I reached the pony it was issuing from. They were saying nothing, but their grief was plain. They were also alone. I walked in a circle around them, and nopony else was nearby. All others were busy with whatever dark business they attended to when not mindlessly chanting.
I reached out a careful hoof and touched them. They flinched at the contact, but did not withdraw. Emboldened, I pulled them into a wordless hug. At first, they did not hug me back, but after a moment of confused sniffling, trembling hooves wrapped around my back. A low voice spoke: “I killed him,” it said. “I didn’t want to but it made me do it.”
“I know,” I said back. I heard the water in the pond splash. Our voices were quiet, but it was safe to say it knew something was wrong. I didn’t have much time. “Where is the bucket?”
The pony froze. Their shaking stopped entirely as they understood my intent. All other sound had stopped. The jig was up. I heard splashing next to me, frantic and active. On a hunch, I released the hug and reached out where the splashing was coming from. I felt wood and seized it with my magic, just as the splashing increased in volume.
The glow from my horn was faint, but in its light I could see a liquid form take shape. A pony, made of the dark water existing in the pond had grabbed the bucket across from me. It was strong. Stronger than my magic alone, and I had to wrap my hooves around the bucket to prevent it from pulling away. The frigid water it was made of bit into my fur and skin as we wrestled, but neither one of us was willing to let go.
The ponies around us were silent and still at first, but those I saw in the glow of my horn were staring with those awful, blank-eyed stares. After a few moments of wrestling, I heard them begin to chant, and I felt those awful suggestions enter my mind once again.
“Strangerrrrrrrr,” the crowd intoned. “Strangerrrrrrrrr.”
This time, however, I felt no desire to obey. My goal in coming back to this pond was not to help myself. This time I was trying to see the lives of others improve from my actions. This was not for me. This was for Crow and his village, and I’d be damned if I gave up just for my own benefit.
I shifted my grip and my hooves broke through the watery skin of the thing fighting me. One of its limbs was separated from the rest of its body and fell to the ground with a splash. It began to lose its grip, and I grinned in triumph. However, just as I felt that small glimmer of hope, I saw the ponies around me begin to move. They converged on us and I felt hooves grab hold of me. They lifted us both up, the liquid pony maintaining its grip on me and the bucket, and suddenly we were flying through the air.
The icy waters of the pond closed over my head just as I took in a breath. The cold tried to force the air from my lungs, and the now invisible form of the watery pony enveloped me. It closed in all around me and I felt myself descend into darkness. The glow from my horn showed nothing except for me, the bucket, and interminable black.
My ears popped, and I realized it was taking me deeper into the pond. It was going to suffocate me, and be done with it. I tried to kick, to swim upward to the surface, but I could barely move. I was in its element, and it held the upper hoof here.
I was running out of air, and I could not escape. I had failed.
I would be gone, and the ponies up above who had given themselves up to darkness would remain trapped the rest of their lives. Slaves to whatever this creature was. They would live out their lives praising it, and never again live for themselves. Never see what their own desires, thoughts, and goals would accomplish. Crow died for nothing.
My lungs burned, and I was getting weaker. I tried to wrench the lid off the top of the bucket, but the force of the dark water pushing in around me was too strong. I couldn’t budge it. It was cradled in my hooves, and I held it tight. The darkness couldn’t yet take it away from me, but neither could I release the contents… not the traditional way anyway.
The pressure of the water on my ears was increasing and beginning to hurt. I didn’t know how deep this pond was, but I was still going down. I didn’t believe it was the natural form of the pond, but that mattered little. I released my grip on the bucket with my magic. I would need every bit of my magical force to do this. I felt the water tug at the bucket, and I let it pull away from me a small amount.
With the last bit of strength I could muster, as air bubbled out of my lungs, I fired a blast of magic at the bucket. It splintered and broke apart, a golden explosion pouring out of the remains and coalescing into a beautiful yellow orb. The water around me roiled as though in pain, and the darkness receded, disappearing to someplace I did not know.
I inhaled, but all that came in was water. It hurt, and I reflexively tried to inhale further to get air instead of water, but I only managed to bring it more water. I finally felt myself hit the bottom of the pond, and I flopped onto my back. From my position, as blackness crowded along the edges of my eyes, I looked upward and felt peace. There in the water, just above me, was a beautiful golden sphere, floating above me in blue. Next to it, wavering from the water it shone through, sat a pure, white moon. The pain in my chest receded, along with my vision, and the two orbs were the last thing I saw, floating next to each other, both with a beautiful light to share with the world.
The End.
