Dark Shines

by Glen Gorewood

Rating: everyone
Tags: Royal Guard, Horror, Adventure, Princess Celestia, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Alternate Universe, Main 6, Princess Luna, Drama, Original Character
Length: 9640

Somewhere in the land of dreams, where mortals cannot tread, the Night seeks a being of legendary dread. A boogeypony many believe is long dead. What is Truth and what is lies? And should it be that dark that is despised?

Somewhere in the land of dreams, where mortals cannot tread, the Night seeks a being of legendary dread. A boogeypony many believe is long dead. What is Truth and what is lies? And should it be the dark that is despised?

A myth of the past is sought by the Night, as a long gone terror is freed from its plight. Rumors of ages long gone reappear, whispers of a monster, a boogeypony to fear. But what is Truth, and what is rumors and lies? Time often twists things even if written by the wise.
Is the boogeypony of ancient times as horrid as described, or is the true terror the shining grand light. What is Truth and what is lies? Who is the true monster whose evil does blind?

And what of the ruins sealed far below? The corpses, the shadows, and the sparkling glow? In this tale the answers of truth, will be found within the rumors and a confrontation long overdo.

This is part of another new alternate universe continuum, the world of Dark Shines. Enter a realm of bogeyponies, where dark magic has very real and horrific costs. Where the light and dark are often mislabeled, and where monsters can be found gilded in gold. Where old tales hide real secrets, and rumors are woven to hide the truth. And where actions of old are causing havoc anew.

Glen Gorewood

Published 2018-05-01 20:10:07 UTC
Last updated 2018-05-01 20:10:07 UTC

The Boogeypony of Old - Prologue

Somewhere in the land of dreams, where mortals cannot tread.
————

Interesting, very few ponies even make the attempt to venture out in the ethereal realm let alone search me out. You are the first my dear, what exactly are you after?

“How long ago did you first lie creature? Why? What would lead any being to become so utterly dishonest, manipulative, and vile as you are?”

Well that is a very long story, are you sure you want the answer? You will need to patient and bear with me till the end to get the answers you are really after my lady.

“We...no I have patience. I will listen to your story, so long as you answer my questions you may take as much time as you need to craft the take as you see fit.”

Very well then, I am pleased that at least you are pleasant enough company. It has been so very long since I last had somebeing to speak to. Apparently I’m not exactly well thought of, though I suppose that makes sense all things considered. Your questions give me answers as to why that is the case, and as promised I will answer them in due time. I must warn you this isn’t a very kind story, nor is it something for the weak of mind. Are you certain you wish me to tell it still?

“So long as we receive our answers it matters not how they are given. Weave your story creature, I will listen.”

Very well, then let me continue, well in truth begin the tale to answer your questions my dear.

Concerning your first question, well that’s quite the difficult one to answer honestly. How long ago did I first lie? The real question you should have asked is why, you ponies never seem to think of asking the why first. After all the when and the why of the first lie are equally important.

It’s difficult to say how long it’s been. When did I first succeed, with a straight face, telling a bold faced lie. The why is more clear, the screams, threats, and shouts that would only be stopped by the right words. These words need not be truthful, they never were, they just needed to be right. You may wonder how could anypony do such a thing, resort to such means for an end. Lying, manipulating, misleading, all of these things are counterintuitive to goodness. But when it comes to survival, a foal or filly under duress so extreme it can be compared to a soldier at war is capable of doing whatever it takes to survive. For many that is to bow down, obey, or just take it and hope for escape.

My own sibling became that which we both at one point despised you know. He did everything as they asked him to, going beyond the point of no return over and over; all to survive. In the end he was naught but a shell, a copy of our tormentors. He turned on me when they asked, and I left them all behind. You may think that heartless, and indeed in a way it was. But one cannot give any quarter to those who will take everything from you given the slightest chance. Even ones own flesh and blood is capable of this, perhaps if I had been more of the mind to submit like so many others I would still be there. Giving chances to those who deserve none, and repeating a pointless cycle until I was worn out and dead. Thank Faust for small favors they say, indeed this is true.

However unlike him, I was always different. Perhaps my early development was the reason, or perhaps my memory of the good times kept me grounded. Unlike my sibling, may his soul rot in Tartarus, my mind was never one to give in easily. You could say I was born with the inherent drive to survive, no matter what I had to do.

Though the skills that brought you here were not inherent at birth, surely not, you gained them over time with due diligence. It was the same with me, the capability was there, but without my oh so horrendous two faced parents and charming cockroach of a brother I would never have honed them so. Perhaps if I had been born to a better family, one like that of the young Princess Twilight Sparkle, I would have used that capability for something better. Alas, that was not the case, and the past cannot be changed without consequences too dire to be worth it.

My family, my tormentors by blood, are why I could stand before a royal court and blatantly mislead. Why I could walk through life without seemingly a care in the world, while inside my being screamed in agony and torment. It is how I disguised my goal of escape from them, for if they had known I would surely be dead. Not all I say is manipulation though, indeed more often than not I speak the truth. Think of me as one with a talent that can only work if used sparingly. When I was younger, bound by rules and regulations to monsters, I was far less truthful. It was a game to them, survival to me. One slip up and they would bar me in my room for a week at best, or try to break my mind and body at worst.

So I learned how to lie so well that none could tell it was such a thing. I learned to find the right strings to play in the symphony of madness they created, and how to slip my own concerto within in such a way that they were blind to the changes. My young mind began to adapt and change, despite my inherent goodness and empathy I learned to partake of the dark. Knowing what you are doing and why, that is what keeps one from falling to evil in its entirety you know. Well of course you do, of all ponies you would know this all too well.

After all you fell into that mire didn’t you?

“We do not wish to hear of our own past but of yours.”

Understandable my dear lady, very well then.

As a child I risked that fall daily, yet managed to remain halfway in the light. I do not claim to be good for my nature is not truly of the moral sort entirely. Nor am I evil, for I do not believe in harming others if there is any other option. I am sure that you know this, likely having perused my records or deeds before visiting. Indeed, it is likely that abnormality that gave me away to you.

Tell me does your sister know of this visit?

“..........”

Ah, your reactions says it all. She does not know does she?
You had best tell her upon your return, it is best not to lie if one can help it.

Where were we, ah yes, why I learned to lie.

Well as I told you it was survival, back then things were disorganized and sadly the concept of “child abuse” was foreign. The idea of “emotional and mental” abuse considered a falsehood, for no scars were left. In families of some degree of privilege and wrongness of mind this was a rule, abuse did not exist, for the child who was bad deserved to be punished. My family was like that.

My brother was named Golden Shine, a paragon of purity with a golden mane and tail and a yellow body that nearly glimmered in the sunlight. A quite literal golden foal with eyes that shone like brilliant golden orbs. Yet contrary to popular belief he was the younger not the elder. Perhaps darkness and evil in general age you faster, no matter how much you polish yourself up it finds a way to seep through the cracks in the facade. He wasn’t always bad though, that is perhaps the greatest tragedy in this whole affair. Perhaps it is as I said of myself, had he been born into a better family he may not have gone bad at all.

Then again who am I to say such things, no doubt you know what I can do. Of course that doesn’t mean I will do anything. That look on your face shows skepticism, that is a good thing to have though this is not a situation that requires it. After all we are meeting on your terms not mine. Besides, I have no reason to mislead you since you no doubt have already read the saga itself and researched everything in triplicate. Not only that but I practice a thing called self restraint, just because a pony is capable of something doesn’t mean they will do it.

Do you wish me to continue the story?

“ Of course, you promised us answers. ”

Good, very good, at the very least you are curious. Be careful with that your highness, it can get you into trouble like a cat. Used properly though it will unlock many paths you can follow to many possible ends. But enough tangents, the story proper must be continued.

My brother though younger than I, his existence changed everything almost instantly. To this day I am unsure if it was his birth or the unfortunate events afterward that led to my world becoming a hell. Perhaps it was a bit of both, but it does not matter for dwelling won’t change the past. Or perhaps I do know, and I’m lying to you right now. Or perhaps not hmm?

My brother was born within the season of winter and of love, while I was born in midsummer. A few years separated us, though you might claim at a glance we bore no relation at all. For where my brother bore brilliant colors of light, I bore a coat of dark grey and a mane of black. Before you even ask I must correct the cliche in your mind, my eyes were not red like blood by any means. They were a piercing icy grey in tint, more akin to a glacier than a sun. Or perhaps more akin to a ghost, for they did not tend to stay grey.

My friends, when I had them for a short time, described my eyes as being the most odd of things. The tint was always the same, but they seemed to shift color for no discernible reason at all. The doctors of the time, if you could call them that, thought that it was due to a developmental defect. Normally a foal’s eyes gain a set color by the age of two, but in my case it didn’t happen for some reason or another. Modern science has a term for it I believe, maladaptive eye transitional coloration syndrome. It is simply related to a gene or magical fluke en utero that causes the foal to be born without the gene for a set eye color turned on. You could say these foals and other younglings, and myself, have no eye true eye color. All we have are tints. Instead of a set eye color, we have a set tint. There is nothing supernatural about it, those who say there is are full of nonsense.

Alas this knowledge did not exist in my youth, if it had perhaps the horrors I experienced would not have been tolerated. But nothing can be done to change it now, for it was so long ago.

My brother and I were as different as night and day, in appearance and name. He was the infallible Golden Shine whose every success no matter how small was cause for celebration. Before he came along I received somewhat similar but more muted treatment as the first born Dark Shine, I would dare say it was far healthier than the mindless gushing he was given. Do not think my life in full was dark to his light, for before he came into the family I was treated quite nicely. It is not his fault what happened occurred, at least before he aided in the horrors himself it wasn’t.

As I mentioned earlier I was born different, but not merely due to eyes or early development of the mind. I’m sure you can see them clearly, here in this place I see no reason to cast illusions upon myself. As a child they were but stubs, and hidden by a well crafted false appendage strapped about my head. Of course this appendage had unfortunate effects to the center one, and in time it was abandoned in favor of hats. Yes hats and headgear, that was the secret to keeping them hidden from the world. My parents back then may have at one point truly loved me, and knew if the secret got out that I would be shunned or worse.

When I said before that I do not believe my brother entirely to blame I meant it. For you see shortly after his birth my father met with an accident on the job, receiving a rather severe injury to the head and brain. He changed seemingly overnight from the man I now know died from that injury, to the monstrous thing he would become. My mother too fell to a similar fate, falling deathly ill and nearly losing her mind in the process. Sadly it did not return to her entirely, if it had perhaps she could have lessened the severity of that hell. Or perhaps not, maybe that version of her was always there right beneath the surface.

And so things came to pass as they did. It was during this time after the injuries and the changes in my parents that I learned my dark skills. For you see it was they who created the very hell that initiated in me the need to survive at any cost. The right words could halt, or at least reduce their anger and the pain they inflicted. Being silent gained me precious space and time, not to mention some semblance of privacy. Lying and playing between the lines gave me the means to allow them to delude themselves into thinking they were in control. And finally, my own cunning and preparation allowed me to escape with the, none the wiser for a good two months. Not like they could find me even when they did notice my absence, I had made sure to cover my tracks very well.

You may be wondering what I did to bring on such treatment by those who loved me once, and I will answer simply. Nothing. I did nothing a normal child would not do. I would be screamed at for reading, playing, studying, or daring to speak. I would be beaten or locked away for any “defiance” real or imagined. I observed other families and came to the realization that I was being put through that hell for being relatively normal. In essence, for being a good pony I was being punished. For acting as a normal foal or filly I was being locked away with nothing but my books, if I was lucky. There was no logical reason, though they must have gained something from their torment and torture of me to warrant such horror upon an innocent. Though I dare not think of what sick pleasure they gained from such actions, while pretending and being treated as paragons of virtue by the public masses. If only the others in town knew the truth behind the lies. However, if they did know the entire time and did nothing while knowing, would that make what happened worse still?

It is a small wonder I did not truly fall to darkness as you did before my escape.

My family, though they deserve not that title, were and perhaps are still monstrous. My life as it was, and is, I made separately from them using my own skills and talent.

I have not checked on them recently, the last I heard of them personally was my brother Golden Shine’s first wife when she showed up on my doorstep begging me to take her child in. The poor mare was a wreck, and had kept this third child a secret all in the hope that it would be spared from him.
Though you may think otherwise I am no monster, I took the child in and raised him as my own. His father never came for him, and I never harmed him.

For all my horrible traits I was a caring parent, and that child grew up to be a wonderful stallion with a lovely family. His foalhood was one of support and love, for I am capable of such a thing. When he told me he wanted to be a traveling scholar, I encouraged him and was there when he needed me though I did not impose on him. In time he would write many great works of fact and fiction, and all the while I could only smile. That child was the light in the night for myself, and his family to this day have thankfully not continued that vile cycle of his birth father.

Don’t look at me like that, in truth though he was my brother’s blood born offspring he was still my son. Blood does not raise a child and encourage them. Blood does not hold them tight in a storm, nor help them to weather the tides of life as needed. Blood does not teach them what they need to succeed, then watch with a smile as they carve their own way. Blood does not love, nourish, and live with a foal or filly. Blood is merely the thing in our veins, an ephemeral connection that on its own has no meaning.

Blood alone does not make one family.

Might I perhaps clear something up for you my lady.

“ Have you lied to me? To Us? Is there a reason to clear things up for us concerning your story? Tell the truth creature.”

Well I will confess I lied a bit about not seeing my family of birth again besides my adopted son. Perhaps I did so to spare you the truth of an atrocity of sorts, but I can see that you are not one to balk from such things. Let me tell you of my last meeting with them, the one that likely became the mystery that brought you here.

For better or worse many years after my escape they found me, though the state that the creature that called itself my brother was in had fared badly in the intervening years. He wore a uniform of the guard and medals galore, but it smelled unkempt like some ratty old vestige left in a gutter. His mane and tail had gone pale and fell in tatters, and his coat was still yellow though cracked and patchy from skin infestations or some sort of blight.

My parents fared little better, both appearing akin to walking cadavers who stank of malice and hatred. I dare say their hatred was all that was keeping them alive. What was it they hated so much you might be wondering in that deep blue head of yours. Well the answer is simple.

Me.
They hated me.
They despised the very concept of me and what I had become. My family by blood hated that I had escaped, that they had been outwitted and outplayed for so long. Furthermore, they hated that I had used my darker skills to better those around me as well as myself. In my life I had often found work in the grey areas of the world, and gained a few pointless titles as a result. In the world of the light and good I was merely a benefactor of sorts, an advisor to those who needed my aid.

Yes I did lie to some to save certain ponies grief at times, but never out of malice or spite. I was a diplomat, an advisor, a traveler, and much more. My trademark hats and headgear hiding that greatest of secrets, my penchant for objects that covered my hindquarters leaving my nature a mystery. Though I did not hide my cutie mark for dark reasons, no I did so for the simple fact that it would be easy to identify me were it well known. As you will soon see, or hear really, I was not wrong to do so. Indeed my fear was quite well warranted.

As those wretched fiends stood upon my doorstep all those years ago, you could have cut the air with a knife. The looks on their faces were as thinly veiled as a soaked parchment, false smiles and joy hiding murderous intent. Did they think I had not heard the rumors? Perhaps they truly believed their own lies about me by this point, all the falsehoods and myths they had concocted to justify their evils. Or maybe they just thought me trapped within my home on the hill, and believed I didn’t get out much.

The prideful are so easily fooled by their own lies, and the malicious so easy to believe themselves truly good no matter how much blood stains their hooves. I do not harbor such false views, I know what I am for good or ill. But they, that monstrous family by blood of mine, had lived in their deluded fantasy so long that they could not see the truth before them. To this day I wonder how far they truly fell before they appeared before me, and if what ensued was truly the right path to take.

The rumors I mentioned though, they interest you do they not? After all that is the real reason you came here by such unorthodox methods my dear Princess.

Indeed you may wonder if I lack basic decency and morality after your own research into them. After all to be capable of such dishonesty as they claim, you must think me a monster. Is that not why you are here Princess? To prove to yourself on your own ground that I am vile and horrible, an infection that must be routed for the safety of all. Alas, I must disappoint you in that regard. The truth is the rumors of my duplicity and willingness to mislead have been greatly exaggerated. As have the legends attached to my name. You could say I am indeed the victim of the greatest of lies.

“”The rumors and stories say otherwise. However we are curious as to the truth, not the lies. The rumor of how to find you, foul creature, turned out to be true. Who is to say the others are not the same as well?””

Very interesting my lady, it would seem however that you believe too much of what is said at face value. At least as far as rumors of old are concerned. However your interest in them I will respect, and indeed use to answer your asked and unasked questions.

Since you found your way here due to rumors, let me see what I recall of the rumors from that time ages past. We can come back to that terrible night later, indeed I would rather wait to tell that part of the story for many reasons. It is an unnerving truth that is best saved for after you know more than what you have found in moldy rumors from times long past.

Then again, back then rumors often held the truth that written word was prone to hiding. The core of what they represented may have been hidden behind changes and falsehoods, but behind each one was a grain of truth. In the case of my forever damned blood family, it was more like a storehouse of truth. There were too many rumors to recount in the time we have, so I will merely speak of the ones that are most relevant to that night in some manner.

Before I continue I must admit I have misled concerning certain matters until now.

“” We are not surprised considering what you are creature.””

I am most appreciative of your understanding Princess. So I shall now I reveal the truth, horrible as it may be, hidden within rumors from mouths long since dead.

The first rumor of note concerned my own birth, and in a twisted way explained why my brother was so profoundly different from myself. Did you know Princess, that there is a way to guarantee a perfect offspring? The look on your face tells me you don’t, but I can say it is not worth the trouble and cost. However for some another sort of malady is worth any cost to remedy, that of having a barren womb.

My mother, or so the rumors say, was barren before I was born. No matter how hard that mare tried, she could not have a foal. The timing of my birth it seems was no coincidence, or so the rumors of old claim. There is a way, and my research into the darker side of the world has verified there is more than one way indeed, to have children from a barren mother. However to have two such as my brother and I, that is something else entirely.

In essence for my brother to exist, I had to exist. For myself to exist, a rather vile ceremony had to be enacted on the night when the veil thins. The rumors claimed that my mother offered up something invaluable to gain a child, and in the process used the darkest of magics to make her womb able to carry a life. The method is monstrous, and involves allowing a sort of otherworldly spiritual infection into the barren mare herself alongside the seed of another. The result is a foal born with all of the traits the mare and her husband subconsciously despise. What they would consider horrible, monstrous, weak, and terrible traits in all forms.

Then in time, the mare shall bear a second foal that embodies everything they treasure in all its forms. The Eldest shall embody the darkness as they see it, and the Youngest the light. The cost of this method is not one to be laughed at, for it is in essence the sanity and wellness of those who use it. However to be capable of using it in the first place, one must be inherently unwell of mind at some level. For the preparations of the ritual are terrible indeed my princess.

As for the other rumors? Well if you wish to believe them, they say that in order to maintain fortune for the parents and the golden offspring the dark one must bear punishment. Essentially, to have their light they must forsake the dark child that allowed the light to exist and put that dark elder child through a veritable hell. Most importantly that child must never be allowed to go free. It would seem my escape from that horrible household had repercussions far beyond what I had imagined.

Of course then again all of these rumors could boil down to the simple fact that my parents and brother were unhinged and utterly mad. What other kind of mentality could commit crimes so monstrous as they did. Of course with his sickly sweet words, my golden brother attributed these horrors to me. For a time he was believed, for my parents had sown the seed of the myth years before. However all lies are eventually found out, and it was by a great dark irony that Golden Shine’s own blunders would eventually grow too large to hide. Perhaps it was due to the fate of his first wife, whose third child I raised as my own.

No, the truth was found out not long ago wasn’t it Princess?

Don’t look so surprised, after all I have been waiting for such a long time for it to become known that those rumors were far more than gossip. His deeds, his name, once so legendary is no doubt forever blackened by the truth of his evil. The same can be said of my parents, whose statue I will witness being taken down with a glass of the finest vintage in my grasp.

Back to the rumors of old, beyond those that have become myth in time of course. Quite some time had passed after my escape, and many rumors had circulated in secret of horrors occurring within the town of my birth. Bodies found devoured as if by wild beasts weeks after going missing. Young mares and stallions disappearing never to be seen again. Deaths of distant relatives with assets being unequally distributed to Golden Shine and my blood parents, even if they had been on bad terms with the deceased. Friends of his showing up sickly to work then passing away due to illness, conveniently after his own wife at the time would go missing. Marriages born of those losses, and rumors of rituals of horrible and obscene form. However nopony, for some reason or another, ever suspected my pure and perfect brother. I suspect if you were to research the behavior of those in that town, you would find possible proof of some sort of magic. Or merely a community in denial, that is also possible.

Of course there was always the mystery of his eternal shine, for as others faded he did not. It seemed as time passed and the rumors increased, Golden Shine remained as perfect as ever. His glow seemed to be at its brightest as those nearest to him fell ill or befell misfortune, but always his perfection seemed eternal. Or at least, to those who only saw what they wanted to see. I knew deep down from the end of my first century, that the truth was far different. For if we are as opposites to each other, then he could not be eternally beautiful and retain his shine naturally you see.

After all, though I take no joy in my appearance I know that my face is the same as it has been since I was a little over or under two decades old. My body is the same, and unlike my brother I need not use others for this purpose. Unlike him, I never needed to hurt those around me or twist them to be alive. My current state is not by my own hoof Princess, it is a result of that last encounter so long ago. However I did not wish for it, for unlike my brother I have always had self restraint and some semblance of morality. Indeed, I would have been content to live out my quite long but finite lifespan had they not found me. Death did not scare me you see. Ah but my brother, he was absolutely terrified of death. He despised the idea of growing old, Golden Shine and my parents it seemed had become obsessed with the idea of being eternal by any means.

Even if it meant toying with things better left alone.

Did you know that the ritual that may or may not have brought both us into this world had an interesting twist. My blood parents had no doubt intended to fulfill that part shortly the day after I escaped so long ago. Perhaps the only reason they noticed I was gone was due to needing me for this purpose. If that is the case then in their mad desire to fulfill it eventually, they were willing to do the unspeakable and beyond until they could find me.

It’s a rather common twist actually, you would be surprised how many dark magic rituals and spells of that magnitude have this particular bit in them. Of course you have already guessed it haven’t you Princess? I can see it in your eyes, welling up with tears at the realization. Tears of horror and sorrow, I commend you for that.

However I must put into words the truth you have come to understand within yourself. That twist, the caveat if you will to the ritual, is that for the Light or Golden child to retain its shine eternal the Dark one must be killed. A common sacrificial part of dark magic. However the rather ironic twist is that the one to be sacrificed shall not change until they are destroyed by the light child, or vice versa. Then again, it could be the rambling of a family of madponies, but in this world of magic such a thing is truly possible. Especially back then when things were so very different.

That evening however, none of this mattered to me. All I knew was that after hiding from them, after going so far as to change my identity to escape their lies and falsehoods; they had found me. My parents, whose names I pray lie forever forgotten, and my brother Golden Shine were upon my doorstep.
How they had come to find me to this day I do not know, but they had after almost three centuries discovered where I had made my home.

The village, or town really, where I lived was rather prosperous. This was in no small part due to my own machinations, a repayment to those who had taken me in when I had nowhere else to go centuries prior. Over time that town had become my family, and for all my oddness they saw me as much the same. It was a wonderful feeling, such a time of joy only comparable to the time I spent raising my son. That place, those people, they were my family I had never been born into but found.

Thus my first thoughts upon seeing those monsters before my home was not of myself and my safety, but of those who lived in the town below. As I am sure you, know having read up on my tale, what had occurred as I slept was exactly what I had feared. To this day I commend the brave actions of those who helped my family of heart escape, or at least as many as possible. Of the town of a little over a thousand, three hundred lay dead upon the streets below. Their corpses disfigured at best, for as I mentioned my family by blood is monstrous in many ways. For that reason alone I shall not go into detail concerning the state of the dead of that town.

Of course time has seen fit, at least until recently, to blame me for the Massacre of Maremoon Hollow. However had you been there that night, or spoken to the survivors, you would know the truth. ‘Twas Golden Shine and his parents whose hooves ended so many innocents. Note that I am not referring to them as my parents anymore, for at that moment I disowned them. For no kin of mine would enact such atrocities for so petty a reason as eternity. They did not need to speak and admit what they had done, for the scent upon them and state of themselves told the tale in full.

To put it simply Princess, they were as true monsters, demons in pony form. They had fallen so far that even you at your darkest could not compare to those fiends upon my doorstep that night.

They explained why they were there, and those two parents of Golden Shine begged me to listen to reason. They begged me to let them finish what they started, that if I loved them and my brother I would do this one thing. In essence, they were trying to convince me to give up my life so that they might take what they saw as theirs. The sick form of kindness they spoke of, their bargaining chip, was that if I complied with their demands they would not continue their ways and reform. In exchange for my life, creatures who had been so monstrous as to not be capable of being called ponies for so long claimed they would be good.

Princess, I must ask if you were in my position would you believe them?
Whatever your answer, I can tell you I did not. The reason was more than knowing and seeing what they truly were, in fact at the time it was the most horrible thing about the scene that drove me to act as I did.

You see in that town there had been a young filly who adored flowers. Each evening she would make the trip to my home with a handful of lovely Starflowers. As had her mother and grandmother before her, and like I had with them I accepted the gift. In return I told her marvelous stories before walking her home. She was like a daughter to me, and for her seventh birthday I had given her a mane clip with a hand carved starflower design upon it. It was a simple gift, and one she cherished. She never left home without it, and as she grew older it never once left her mane.

She couldn’t have been more than sixteen when Golden Shine and his sires came that day. That hair clip she cherished so much, was adorning the mane of that wretched fiendish mare who was trying to tell me she loved me. It’s once light wood finish coated a horrible crimson. A smell so vile that the cause cannot be mentioned saturated the air around them. What monsters they were to take such innocence so freely, to end such a young life before it had a chance to blossom and grow.

My eyes could not break free from that Starflower hair clip, and as those horrible creatures tried to beguile me my rage grew. Each word brought about memories of those in the village below, the lives of those loving ponies cut short by these vile beasts who claimed we were family. As I gazed upon them, I reached up a single hoof to the hat I always wore. Slowly, ever so agonizingly slowly, for the first time in my long life I willingly removed it. Revealing that secret that I now knew was not shameful, that set of aberrations upon my head.

Golden Shine for all his false heroism, could not help but gasp and a growl at the sight. The other two no doubt had similar feelings, and the pleas quickly turned to jeers. At the sight of that secret, their false selves fell into the abyss and their true ones came to the fore. The fact that such a simple act of defiance, a rejection of them, could cause such a reaction was proof of what they were.

You see them don’t you Princess, after all I no longer feel shame about my horns. Though they seem a sign of something diabolical, I can assure you they are nothing of the sort. The middle one is deformed as it is due to that false appendage I was made to wear in my youth, the other two are just like that naturally. I imagine that if I had not been made to wear that device, the middle one would have grown as a normal unicorn’s horn should. Albeit a tad longer, but normal nonetheless. It is just another horror visited upon me by those monsters who claimed to be my kin. A lasting mark that will never go away, a reminder of the depths of depravity to which certain ponies will go willingly for petty and terrible ends.

It is perhaps in the end the greatest irony, that what that wretched mare and stallion viewed as evil and horrid for a pony to have inside was the opposite of what most see as such. That what they reviled was a foal that was not perfect, but not evil. A foal with a balance of both good and bad, one who wished to use their gifts to help others and not just themselves. In essence, for all my appearance and my label as the Dark foal I am at worst merely one who is neither good nor evil. I am what I made myself to be, as well as the embodiment of everything that real monsters loathed.

Monsters that I admit I killed that night.

Yes Princess, I am admitting to the killing of three ponies, though to call them ponies is to defile the very word pony. Such atrocities your researchers are no doubt finding as we speak were committed by them. All so their lovely Golden Shine could become perfect in every way. I do take some sick joy in the fact that there was little left of them after my rage had spent itself. Perhaps the act was made easier due to them no longer truly seeming ponylike beneath the illusions they lived under. In the end they were fiends, and I killed them as mercilessly as they had killed an untold number of others. The difference being that even in my rage born of anguish and pain repressed for centuries, I did not enjoy killing them.

The act brought me no pleasure, no release, yet I felt no guilt as I avenged those whose corpses rotted in the town below. Those three were simply monsters that needed to be removed once and for all from this world. Nothing more, nothing less.

I still think of Golden Shine from time to time, but not the fiend he became. I think of the young colt who would become a monster, the innocent one who was indeed my brother. Sometimes I think of the two who were my parents, before the change that eventually led them down the path of atrocity.

The rumors from ages ago have long since become myth, and Golden Shine’s disappearance no doubt aided in that. Indeed, if I am to judge by your reaction alone Princess; well it would seem I have become quite the boogeypony. Or perhaps something worse, a mythical fiend that is still believed to be real that haunts the night.

Oh come now what is with that expression?

It is quite obvious you came here expecting to meet a horrible monster akin to other foes you have fought. One you could simply seal away without a second thought. Are you surprised that I am not that which you were led to believe lived here? It would seem so, yet I get the feeling you suspected something was off from the moment you laid eyes on me.

Of course if that is the case that begs the question, why did you really come to my home Princess? You were not just looking for answers to things found recently, the truth behind a myth. Nor were you curious as to whether I would lie to you or not. No there is something more urgent that brought you here.
After all, why else would you come visit me in my dreams.

You know that caveat was true, I did become eternal after I killed him. However it came with a slight catch, as dark magic often does. You see I wasn’t supposed to be the victor, after all Dark must lose to Light.

In the end my eternity came with a price, one that I have but a few ways of paying. Of course you already know that, they call me such scary things in those stories. Whatever happened to my titles that I put such effort into earning? Alas they have been twisted by time itself.

Regardless you need not fear me Princess, it was my brother who fed on the blood and flesh of others. Me? My chosen price is different. I subsist off energy in general, it’s really quite boring and not glamorous at all. Though I could go without, it would require I sleep. Believe me, I did that for a few centuries. I’m still sleeping actually, a stasis spell keeps my home safe and immaculate. Like you I can wander the ethereal realm in my sleep, unlike you though I can’t fight Nightmares. Quite frankly those things creep me out, I’d much rather avoid them and just observe things and events as time goes on.

It’s like one very long and always interesting play. No I don’t interfere, that would mean waking up and feeding. Honestly I’m content as I am now, I have no reason to wake up.

Why do you look so pensive Princess?
I have told you my tale, so why are you still worried.
Could it be the reason behind you being here.
Why have you stopped responding?

Tell me, why did you seek out the legendary “King of woe and lies” as they call me now. The blood sucking monstrous demon who lies sleeping in a place no mortal pony can find. Honestly the fact that I ended up with that title is just another legacy of the lies and rumors my brother told when he was alive. He is far more deserving of that title than I.

That look on your face..it can’t be. You came here looking for a blood sucking demon didn’t you?
The reason you are searching for one, the reason you looked into those rumors and legends; it’s because bodies have started appearing isn’t it?
Why don’t you again speak to me? Do you fear the truth of what you have come to realize is happening.

Or is it that you cannot lie in dreams, and somepony or something might be listening. I see now.
In that case I will meet with you in the Waking world.
Do not look shocked, if what you cannot tell me is indeed true then it seems I have been lying to myself for a long time concerning that night.

It would seem, only two truly died that night.
For all that is good in Equestria, I hope I am wrong.
I will meet you, and anypony or anyone else you wish to include in this in three days time, after the sun sets by your sister’s magic in the Canterlot Gardens.
Until then Princess Luna, I bid you to take your leave and be careful in the darkness of the night. Do not fall prey to evil clad in the guise of light, if you value your nation that is.

Till then dear Princess of the Night, farewell.

Author's Note

In case it’s confusing. Italic speech is Princess Luna. She is talking to a being of old, and seeking answers to a problem that has recently arisen. Obviously not all is as it seems. I’m going for a hybrid writing style this time.

Glen Gorewood

Ruin of Lies

——- Canterlot Palace - Night

Luna wakes from her duties in the world of dreams with a start, a cold sweat coating her body. Her mind is racing from the encounter with that thing, that being that sleeps as rumored within the dark where no mortals can reach. If what it said is true, then she and all the others were very wrong. The bodies, the ruins, everything is the work of another monster lost to the mists of time. Something even that being, that somehow virtuous abomination that refers to itself as the Dark, thought long dead.

And she and her sister had just sent a platoon of royal guards-ponies deep into the ruins to find more information before she left to investigate the dream realm. With the information she has gained, a terrible realization dawns on Luna.

She can’t help but whisper aloud in a trembling voice, “Dear Faust, we and our sister have sent those ponies...by the heavens we may have sent them into the very maw of the monster itself.”

Unable to stay still, the Princess of the Night hurries to make arrangements. In any other circumstances she would be wary of words from one known as “The King of Woe and Lies”. However the reason that she had chosen to believe it is due to the circumstances behind their meeting.
You cannot lie in dreams, and as that creature spun its story she saw it all. Everything it spoke of was reflected as true in some way. Even the things it chose to not detail, all of it was real. The horror of that alone causes her to pick up her pace. Luna can only hope she isn’t too late.

———- The ruins

Far beneath the ruins in an old town somewhere in Equestria, a platoon of guards marches through catacombs. Laughing and joking about, the ponies are blissfully unaware of being watched and followed. A glint of gold shimmers upon the armor of the pony guarding the rear, a young unicorn with a pale blue coat and yellow mane and tail. Startled, he glances behind him only to see nothing but blackness beyond the flickering magic light.

“Yo, Sky Lights you see anything back there?” Shouts a rather boisterous and large framed earthpony guard stationed on the rear left flank of the platoon. His sandstone colored coat contrasting severely with his pink and red mane, a jovial expression mirrored by two red eyes.

Sky Lights turns his attention towards the stallion, rolling his eyes as he catches up to the rest of the platoon.
“Yeah Neon Cliff, I saw your identical twin from Manehatten in a gorgeous glitter coated outfit just trotting along behind us swaying his hips.”

The earthpony Neon Cliff just stares slack jawed in shock at the sky blue unicorn. “I never told you about Glimmer Cliff. Sky Lights, buddy, why didn’t you tell me you were friends with him?”

An equally shocked Sky Lights states back and responds sheepishly. “Actually I was making that up. Thought I saw something shimmering out of the corner of my eye, turns out it was nothing.”

Neon Cliff snorts before chuckling, as the platoon moves deeper into the catacombs. “Well your joke hit close to home man. I really do have an identical twin like that, well his mane is much brighter than mine. He’s also just completely fabulous if you get my drift. Best brother a stallion could ask for though, you would not believe the amount of martial arts skills he can pull of in hoofheels.”

Sky Lights just blinks slowly before shaking his head, his mane sticking our from his guard helmet in tufts. “Are you joking Neon? Because this just sounds like too much to be true..”

The sandstone coated earthpony flashes his friend a grin, “Nope. Not joking at all buddy. Glimmer Cliff, stage name Glimmer Nights, really is my identical twin brother. He’s a master of defensive combat, and nightlights as a trot n dale and burlesque performer in Manehatten. He’ll be stopping by in a week if you want to meet him. Don’t worry, he’s bringing his stallionfriend along so he likely won’t hit on you. Much.” Neon Cliff winks mischievously at his friend, as the rest of the platoon breaks out in laughter.

Another unicorn stationed further up fun the line shouts back, “Oi Sky Lights, I didn’t know you rolled that way in the Hay!” His deep green back shaking with giggles.

His face beet red Sky Lights shouts back, “For your information I roll both ways, and my barn door opens both ways too Meadow Path! Though I prefer fems myself.”

The entire platoon can’t help but break out in friendly chuckles at this, a red and blue earthpony mare adds her piece while trying to keep a straight face.
“Well Meadow, what do you think? Should we introduce Sky Lights to one of your ex’s from the Night Guard? After all you broke up with that one because she wasn’t buff enough for your tastes.”

The green unicorn responds in mock anger “How dare you insinuate that Rave Light would ever go for a unicorn like him Earth Rush. She was just too classy for me that’s all.”

Earth Rush shouts back with a laugh, “That’s not what she told me Meadow, but whatever helps you get over her...”

The jovial banter continues as the platoon continues to move deeper into the depths of the abandoned tunnels and catacombs. The talk eventually turns to the topic of the mission at hand, leaving raunchy humor and jests behind. The deeper they go, the more Sky Lights can’t help but feel like something else is in the caverns with them. But no matter how much he checks or how often, nothing is there.

Then again, he hasn’t looked up in quite some time. If he had, perhaps he would have spotted the golden glimmering light that is barely visible against the darkness of the catacomb walks. A light that has been following them silently for some time, and an impossible set of teeth set in a hungry grin that grows wider as they go ever deeper into the darkness before them.

Author's Note

So the light shines once again, and the princess races to save her guard from its grasp.

I actually started this story way back before I fell ill.

Glen Gorewood

The Maremoon Misbegotten Manor Monster

————
A large home upon a hill shrouded in fog, in the woods somewhere in Equestria, by the village of Maremoon Hollow.

————

The night is clear as the forest holds its silence. Something is changing in this world of foliage and fauna. Or perhaps the better term is something is returning. For in the home sealed away from time, a hoof moves aside a blanket that has for so long covered its master. The ancient woven work would be considered a valuable piece of art by modern equestrians, however to the one resting beneath it the value is priceless. Long ago someone important had crafted this blanket for the one who now moves it aside with great care. A great yawn and cracking sound echo as a body long dormant begins to move again.

The creature, hungry and still tired, gets out of bed and walks over to the washroom. Time may stand still within the home, but smells can still accumulate on the body. A quick wash fixes that, and the creature makes its way to the closet to dress. Once satisfied with its attire, and other items, the entity moves down a few flights of stairs to the floor that holds the kitchen. Grabbing a jar from the chilling box, it sniffs the contests before drinking them greedily. A slight trickle of silver liquid dances on its muzzle before being lapped up by a greedy tongue. With a contented sigh, the creature placed the empty bottle on the counter. Grabbing a bottle of wine, and checking the year, it places it in an ancient traveling kit meant for day trips of old.

Satisfied, the creature places the kit to the side before placing two straps upon its center and hindquarters that are attached into a harness with hooks. Carefully attaching the kit, the creature moves from the kitchen to the door of the home. Two ancient saddlebags sit by the entry, and are added to the harness as is an unusual pole like object. Finally the master of the home, the creature, grabs a cloak and hat from the rack by the door in its magic.

Placing the hat upon its head to cover its horns, and the cloak upon its back while using its magic to attach the straps in front by use of a decorative clasp. Finally the creature grabs the house keys, and leaves the home. Stopping to lock up before placing the keys in its saddlebags, the well hidden entity gazed up at the night sky overhead.

Though to its eyes it may as well be daytime.
With a sigh, it mutters to the air. “Well, I suppose I am off to meet a Princess.”

The creature chuckles a bit at that. “To think, something like me would be meeting with a Princess. Times have truly changed haven’t they?”

With another snort of laughter, the creature makes its way into the night enshrouded forest. The most parting before it, as if unwilling to touch it. Within a few minutes, the house frozen in time is once again silent; yet the forest has yet make a sound again.

The locals in the nearby village would report the next day that an unusually high amount of older animals were found dead by the tree line of the forest. Attempts to discover the cause with magic deemed the cause to be old age, or an unknown cause likely related to stress. However rumors began to be whispered among the village folk. Stories of a dark pony like creature that had lived in the woods for as long as any can remember. Supposedly it was sleeping, but the rumors told questioned this. After all, what if the sleeping creature of the woods had woken up at last?

If so, where was it now? The villagers would spend many a sleepless night whispering and pondering this. Unaware that the being they worried about, and in some cases for, was now far away from their tiny town.

Author's Note

And so the story truly begins.
The legendary boogeyman is off to meet a princess.
The princess is heading to the ruins to try to save the Guard.
The light of glimmering gold grins behind the gaggle of Guards ponies.
The bodies have begun to appear.
The so called king of lies and woe draws near.
Nothing is as it would seem.
And the light is not the one with golden gleam.

Glen Gorewood