Author's Note

*unedited, please point out errors if any.

3-Visions In The Dark

She closed her eyes for but a moment, the moment she opened them the world looked very different. At one moment, she was in a crystal castle that belonged to Princess Twilight Sparkle and she was on some sort of battlefield. The ground was scorched black, trees were on fire and the longer she looked around, the more ponies she saw. One's in a crystal like armor and others in a golden suit of armor with a helmet. A look at herself showed crystal armor, except it had a darkened look to it. As if it were pitch black and absorbing every bit of color around her. "Where am I now?" She asked herself as she watched the ponies fight to the death.

"Why am I here?" She asked herself once more before something clicked into place. Vivid memories filled her head, mostly of combat with other ponies. She felt herself blast some into absolute dust. A pony there one second and another, ash that was blown away in the wind the next. Not one of them even had a chance against her, at least that's what she felt. As the memories faded to another place in her mind, she heard a dark chuckle and a cold pair of hooves wrap around her shoulders.

"Azure Formido!" A stallion shouted as she felt something pierce her chest.

The vision ended abruptly and she awoke on the floor of the library gasping for air. She felt a something cold grasp her once again and lift her up. After the last pair of cold hooves, she bucked her hooves back into the chest of whatever was lifting her up. She heard a grunt in response. Though it didn't stop her from trying again, she refused to relive what she had only a moment ago.

"Enough of that!" A mare's, although deep, voice shouted into her ear. Her struggling immediately ended and she whimpered quietly. Her ears were just about ringing.

"Princess Luna, please be considerate with how loud your voice is. You're going to wake half of Equestria!" Twilight shouted from behind them, earning another whimper from the nameless mare.

"I'm sorry dear, but you were kicking in your sleep, I thought it was the same thing again. Considering I couldn't enter it, I think you understand my alarm for how you were acting." The Lunar Princess quietly spoke.

"I'm sorry for shouting as well, I didn't think first." Twilight, though blushing, quietly apologized as well.

"It's alright, I don't know what happened, once again. Please tell me you can help me now, Princess Twilight." The mare quietly spoke up, her ears no longer ringing from the loud assault that had befell onto them before.

"I believe that we can, though I must leave this to Princess Luna, she's more fit for this and I'll just be in the way if I try to help. If that's alright?" Twilight asked with her general gentle tone, though it was mixed with tiredness.

"Yes, that will be fine. I'm sorry if this has kept you up longer than you wished." The nameless mare said shaking her head as Luna put her down. She wobbled and barely stood, eventually falling straight onto her flank.

"Very well, Twilight, who don't you go and get some shut eye? I'll take her to the castle with me.?" Luna dismissed Twilight, whom immediately went off to her bedroom. Now it was just the two of them.

"So you don't know what your name or where you are, dear?" Princess Luna asked. The mare simply looked up at her as once again, something clicked. The name she had heard in the vision, or at least she thought she heard, felt so familiar. As if she had already been called that since she woke up. Confused as she was, she felt right about this one thing. Which could easily be wrong.

"I think that my name is Azure, Princess Luna. Why I was down on the floor, I had a vison or something. I heard that name and it feels like it's my own. It feels rightful to me, and I don't know why either." Azure quietly explained to the princess.

"Well until we find out otherwise, I think we will call you Azure. For everyone's sake, instead of a miss no name." Luna spread her wings with a smile as she spoke, her tone a melodic perfection to Azure. She could listen for hours, to justbthat tone. Azure simply smiled and nodded her head slowly.

"That is more than fine with me, I'm happy to have a name now. But were you able to read the book?" Azure asked and gestured to the strange book left on the desk. She was tempted to pick it up and try to, but she felt that would be rude.

"No, I have not around to that. I only arrived recently and I was more worried about you on the ground shaking and kicking. Do you know what's in it, Azure?" Luna asked as she levitated it over and looked over it's cover, which to most ponies was a bunch of weird symbols. But to Luna, she read it perfectly. It was how dark magic was written, in another language not quite native to Equestria.

"No, I do not yet know. I never had the chance to find out yet, with running for my life and then following a princess through her castle." Azure hesitantly explained and hoped she hadn't offended the princess as her eyes narrowed.

"This is a book involving dark magic, Azure. How did you obtain this? Where?" Luna shot her questions like arrows, each hitting their target, Azure square in the chest.

"I-I have no idea Princess Luna, I'm sorry." Azure squeaked and took a step back. Something in the very back of her mind was itching to be remembered and her nervousness was certainly helping it.

"Relax dear, maybe I shouldn't ask so rapidly. This must be a lot for you to the handle, if you could barely remember your name, let alone not knowing at all where you are." Lunda once again, lowered her voice and took a step toward Azure, whom wasn't sure of what to think. One moment, she's essentially being yelled the same questions that she's asking and the next, being assured that it's fine that she doesn't know the answers. But to Azure, it was anything but that.

"Princess, could we please just stick to one topic at a time? I'm asking the same questions as you are and I have no answer, which is why we're here, to hopefully figure out what all of this about." Azure let out a sigh, it hadn't even occurred to her that the morning sun was rising in the background.

"Yes, yes I'll try to do that. It was an impulse to ask like that, but if we want to find out what any of this means for you and who you really are or were, I suggest you come with me. I must return to the castle soon, tomorrow night we shall look into it after we've rested." Princess Luna slowly explained and smiled down at Azure, her mane glowing slightly.

"Alright, maybe some rest will do me some good anyway, though I'm not sure how long I was sleeping anyway..." Azure trailed off, though by the time she looked around, she realized the room had changed once more.

"Again? Where am I this time?" She asked aloud only to hear a giggle, to which she turned around and looked up at the princess.

"We're in the Royal Halls, dear. I didn't want to waste time, so I teleported us here. And I also didn't want to find out if you're afraid of heights the hard way." Luna explained as she walked past Azure.

Azure simply followed the princess, having nothing to say and or instructions. She looked among the walls, having expected to see paintings, instead it was however just plain walls with a hardly noticeable trim along the whit walls. Up ahead, both a red and golden trim outlined a door and many other doors farther down the hall. It certainly had a royal look to it, not that Azure had much to compare it with aside from Twilight's castle, which also looked amazing.

"Azure, please take the room farthest down the hall on the left. I'll have my guards ready to escort you to my chambers tomorrow night, then we will try to get to the bottom of all of this then. Until then, please get some rest." Princess Luna smiled at the mare and began to trot back down the halls.

Azure stood there for a moment, as if her hooves weren't working. Taking a deep breath, she closed her eyes and shook her head. Except when she opened her eyes, she was no longer in the castle, instead she was somewhere dark and cold. With quick thinking, her horn began to glow and illuminate her area. It was simple stone walls a wooden floor. Nothing rang a bell, as the castle as far as she could tell was some sort of marble or new stone. Freshly polished as well, not to mention the engravings along the wall.

"Now where am I?" She asked and trotted across the wooden floor, not truthfully sure what to expect. Perhaps she had walked into the room without realizing it? No, it was too dark for her to have walked in and not turned a light on. Or was it? Perhaps she blacked out for a moment and didn't consider a light at first? But this room was massive, certainly not a guest room.

All was quiet as the room seemed to go on forever and ever, never ending. Sighing, the mare put more magic to her horn for a brighter glow. Now, she saw chains along the walls and bones at the bottom of some of the chains. Skulls of ponies laid lifelessly, though one by one their eyes were filled with a green fire and they lifted themselves into the air.

"It's been so long my warrior, did you rest well?" One of the skulls asked and began to laugh hysterically.

"What's wrong? Have your forgot who you are!" Another shouted questionably at her as floated around her.

"You're weak and pathetic now, where's that spirit that made even myself worry?" A skull asked, though could no longer tell which ones were laughing and others speaking. But one thing was certain, they were all targeting her. Harassing her and getting into her head.

"S-shut up!" Azure shouted, though stammering with the first word and losing the power of her voice instantly.

"Weak, pathetic and useless. Why did I ever keep you arornd rather than end you!" A skull shouted as she drew close to her breaking point.

"I said, shut up!" She screamed, her horn glowing even brighter as the anger fueled her and her voice even shattering a skull under the sheer volume.

"Listen here you pathetic mare, you are nothing! You will be nothing!" A final skull shouted and she slung it straight into a wall, shattering it to pieces.

"I will not listen to your lies! I am not pathetic!" She shouted back as her body began to shake as the her magic built up even more.

"Yes, yes, yes! Out with it you worthless mare!" The last skull screamed before being obliterated in a blast of magic, engulfing the entire room.