Chapters Moonlight could hear voices around her, but she couldn't make out any of the voices. All she knew was that she was on something cold and she couldn't tell what it was. Suddenly, her body started to shiver on its own, she was cold and a blanket was gently thrown over her. The voices started to become clearer.
"Listen Rainbow, ah don't think Twi knows where she came from either. That portal is only supposed to go to the one place she went to!" one voice said in a thick rural accent.
"I have to say, her suit is positively ugly. She should really accessorize better," another voice said in a pouty voice.
A horn touched her and magic started to flow into her. "This should help her come to," a third voice said quietly.
The dark blue woman started to come to, the darkness gave way to light as her eyes opened. She found herself in a white marble hall. Groggy, she started to look around a little bit, unsure of what was going on. She had been chasing an aberration and then she had entered a mirror. Next thing she knew she was waking up here. She tried to stand up on her two feet, but immediately became unstable. She started flailing her arms around, but was quickly caught in a magic field.
"Hello, I'm Twilight Sparkle and these are my friends. You seem different from the other that came through the mirror. We tried to stop him, but he was able to do something to my guards and he escaped," the same voice as the third said to her, except louder.
Moonlight's eyes shot wide open as the realization of what she had to do hit her finally. She started to try to struggle against the magical field that was holding her and she instinctively started to try to make hand gestures to cast a spell. Her fingers weren't responding and it was only at that moment that she realized for the first time since she woke up, she couldn't feel her hands or fingers. She looked down at her arms to realize that not only were they forelegs and covered in a dark blue fur, they ended in hooves.
Her heart and mind both started racing. Thoughts raced through her mind at a million miles per hour. She had no idea what kind of spell had been done to her. She was placed back onto the ground on all fours and tried to bolt out of the room, only to trip over her forelegs and hit the ground on her chin. A crack echoed through the chamber as flesh and bone impacted marble and she felt pain in her lower mouth. She sat up and held onto her face to see a muzzle and she gasped. She was terrified at what was going on with her. She turned around to see that there were multicolored ponies walking towards her. One of them was far taller than the other.
"What did you do to me!?" she screamed, fear and anger overwhelming her.
The tallest one, the purple alicorn looked down at her with a gentle smile. "We didn't do anything, this is the magic of the mirror. When you enter our world, you become a pony. But when you go through it to your world, you become a human. You're safe here though, no one will hurt you," she tried to reassure the human turned pony.
Moonlight wanted nothing to do with this. She tried to charge the Princess, but was stopped not just by her inability to keep steady, but by a griffon flying in front of her. "I won't let this one slip by, Princess Twilight," the griffon said.
The Princess sighed, she was mildly upset at this. She had hoped to at least be able to talk to this one, but until the mare calmed down, there was nothing either of them could say or do. The unicorn mare tried to punch Gallus with one of her hooves, but was thrown off balance easily and was knocked onto her back. The griffon captain pinned her to the ground with ease, but Moonlight knew how to take advantage of this as her legs were free. She placed them under the griffon and kicked upwards, causing him to fly into the air. She felt triumphant, she felt confident. For the first time since she got her, she did something.
Unbeknownst to her however, the kick merely surprised the Captain of the Guard and did no damage to him. He had flown into the air to get out of her range. She tried to roll over so that she could get back up and the moment she was on her belly, the griffon landed back down on her, this time pinning her to where she couldn't fight back. "You aren't going to attack the Princess of Equestria like your friend tried to," Gallus whispered into her ear.
Moonlight tried to struggle, but it was to no avail, she wasn't able to get any footing or any grip. Her new pony body was too unfamiliar to her to be of any use. She continued to struggle, "He's going to get away! You don't know how dangerous he is!" she screamed.
A rainbow blur moved close to her and a Cyan Pegasus stood next to her in an instant. "Who is?" she asked.
"Get this oversized bird off me first," the dark blue unicorn demanded.
The rainbow maned mare didn't appreciate the demand and neither did the griffon. Unknown to all of them, the door opened up and a guard walked into the throne room to fall to the ground. "Princess... Luster Dawn is here and she's... she's..." he started.
Twilight looked panicked, "Luster is what!?" she cried out.
A voice that the dark blue mare recognized rang out. "Your student is going to be fine, she posed no resistance to me. None of you are my real target. My target is that mare that you have here," it said.
Moonlight's heart stopped for a moment, she was frozen with fear, but before any of them could act, a spell erupted from the shadows to knock the griffon off of her. A pony with a gray coat and fangs walked out slowly from the corner where he had remained hidden. His horn was still lit up and she noticed he had wings in the shape of a bat's. The faded yellow maned mare tried to stand up, but her legs just weren't working. "Him! He's the one!" she yelled, panicked.
Rainbow Dash was the first to act, she flew towards the bat pony and tried to tackle him to the ground, only for her opponent to flip around her and swiftly bite her wings and take some of her magic. "Delicious magic, do any of you five want to try?", he taunted at the rest of the Council of Friendship.
A purple dragon lunged at the bat pony in question, "Why don't you try me!", he called out.
The batpony stepped to the side and hit the dragon with his hoof, draining the dragon of some of its magic. "Oh, this is different, I wonder what kind of spell this will give me!" he yelled out.
Applejack and Rarity were the next ones to try to attack as both of them just watched as someone dear to them go down. The fashion pony tried to charge from the left and fired off a spell to attack the batpony while the farm pony charged from the right with a lasso. The batpony smiled and opened his mouth, allowing the spell to enter him and feed him further. The farm pone threw the lasso onto him and closed it tight, but his horn lit up and he used a telekinesis spell to throw it off him and to tie her up.
While tying Applejack up with her own lasso, a gemstone slammed into his face, knocking him off balance and surprising him, but not doing much else. Rarity was suddenly in his face with a brightly glowing horn, but unfortunately for the white unicorn, this opened her up to having her magic absorbed too. She hit the floor like the other two, unconscious, but unharmed.
"Now if any of you wish to get in my way, I'll deal with you as well, but all I want is that mare... right there." The batpony pointed at Moonlight with a hoof.
Fluttershy looked upset, "This is just like Tirek..." she muttered.
"You're right Fluttershy! It is just like Tirek, which means...", Twilight stated in revelation.
She teleported between her guest and the assailant who had been making a mess of things in her castle. She fired a magical blast from her horn and he tried to open his mouth to absorb it, only for it to impact him on his face and send him reeling back. "What witchery is this!" the batpone cried out, hurt and angry.
"You remind me of a villain known as Tirek. He too was able to absorb magic, but you seem only to feed on enough magic to survive rather than actively try to absorb all of the magic that you can get. When Fluttershy pointed this out to me, I realized that there was only one pony that could beat you and that pony is me. I won't let you hurt my friends anymore and I won't let you hurt my guest!" the Princess stated angrily.
The batpone charged a powerful spell and Twilight did the same. Both of their spells met in the middle, but it became immediately obvious which one of them was going to win. The former aberration turned batpone was immediately outclassed by the alicorn. His spell immediately dissipated as it was torn through by the Princess' spell and he wasted no time in making his escape, running from the guards as he did so.
Moonlight however was in awe, it took some of the most powerful of human spellcasters to defeat even an aberration of that level without light magic, yet this one pony had driven it off as if it was nothing. The alicorn cast a quick spell and her friends quickly came to. But Moonlight wasn't about to stick around. She stood up and walked out of the throne room, sneaking away from the others.
She wandered the halls of this unfamiliar castle unable to get her bearings. It was massive, bigger than any building she had ever been in. She was still very unsteady in her gait, but she was slowly getting used to it, so long as she kept her steps small and consciously thought about where she placed her hooves. As she turned a corner though, she bumped into a pink unicorn and fell on her flank. The unicorn extended a hoof to her, "Are you alright?" she asked concerned.
Moonlight looked at this unicorn, but a voice behind her scared her. "Ah, Luster. My wonderful student, I see that you found our guest. Can you do an important task for me?" Twilight asked.
"What's that, Princess?", the Unicorn replied.
"I need you to help this unicorn get adjusted in this world," she replied.
Before any of them could say anything, Moonlight stood up, "My name is Moonlight Gleam and I don't need any help. I work alone. What happened earlier was born of pragmatism, nothing more," she stated as coldly as she could as she slowly started to walk away.
"Luster?"
"Yeah?"
"I need you to teach Moonlight the magic of friendship as I had taught you. It won't be easy, but I have confidence that you will be able to do it."
"I'll try, Princess."
Twilight ruffled her student's hair with a hoof and a smile, "And I have no doubts that you will succeed, you've learned so much since you first came to me. Think of this as just a test. One that you're bound to pass," she stated.
"Thank you, Princess," Luster replied.
The two of them nodded in understanding and went their separate ways. Twilight would return to her throne to rule over Equestria and to ensure that her friends were okay. Luster Dawn on the other hand wandered off to look for the mare she had been charged by her teacher to find and teach the magic of friendship to. Something had felt off in the the dark blue mare's response to her teacher, but the pink mare couldn't put her hoof on it. Whatever it was, little did she know, it wasn't going to be easy to find out.
The sun was high within the city of Canterlot and very few people tried to pay attention to the unsteady unicorn mare that had left the castle. Those who did, didn't bother to try to help. They were busy with the tasks of the day and assumed that she was just some newcomer who had gotten in trouble and talked to the princess. The mare stumbled into an alleyway and sat down to hide from everyone to get her bearings. She was in an unfamiliar world, she knew no one here, she was now a pony and she couldn't make the hand gestures to cast magic. Her target and worst enemy was here now, but he could use magic.
She slammed her hoof down, creating an echoing sound that got someone's attention. A kirin slowly walked into the alley, wondering what that sound was, "Hello, is anyone here?" he called out.
Moonlight tried to move, but the Kirin was able to see her, "It's alright, miss. There's no need to be afraid. I know that a big place like this can be intimidating at first when you come from a town like ponyville, but everything is going to be alright," the red maned kirin said with a smile.
The mare looked at the Kirin stallion and frowned, "I wish to be left alone."
"Miss, I believe it would be better if I got you something to eat. A hay burger perhaps?"
"I said I want to be left alone."
"But you must be hungry and lost and confu—"
"I SAID BEAT IT!", Moonlight snapped, glaring daggers at the Kirin who merely reached into his saddlebags and pulled out a pouch with his mouth, placing it on the ground.
"Some money for you, Miss. If you need it," the stallion replied.
The Kirin left the alley and the mare crawled over to the pouch and tried to pick it up with a hoof, but to no avail. She became frustrated with this and punched the pouch, sending the coins scattering out of it. She tried to pick up one of the coins, but it was to no avail. If she still had her fingers, it'd be an easy feat for her to pick up the money that was scattered about. She stomped her hoof and sighed, annoyed at what was going on.
A pink hoof entered her vision and she looked up, "What are you doing here?" she asked angrily.
Luster was surprised at this, no one had ever treated her this poorly before, no one had ever been this rude before. Sure there were some whispers that she had been treated better than others because she was Princess Twilight's best student, but there was a real feeling of hostility from this pony.
"I want to be left alone, kid. I have a duty to fulfill, and I will see it through to the very end," the dark blue mare stated.
"I do too, and I promised my teacher that I'd complete the task she gave me," the pink mare replied.
"What duty is that?" the dark blue mare asked. She was curious, someone here with a sense of duty as strong as her own.
"Princess Twilight told me to share with you the magic of friendship and to help you get adjusted in this world. You're not from here and I've heard stories about a world beyond the mirror in the castle, but I've never been. But you being here proves that they are true," Luster replied, oddly cheerful about this.
Moonlight didn't respond, she just slowly walked towards the mare and pushed her aside, "Trust me, kid. It'd be better for you if you didn't follow me. You don't know who I am and just how dangerous the creature I came here to chase is. Go home and tell your princess that I'm not interested in her little games or her helper," she said as she walked past.
She wandered into the town and a familiar sensation hit her. She was hungry. The aberration had been spotted before she could have her dinner and now that she was in an unfamiliar world, she didn't know what they served and she didn't have any money. She silently chided herself for leaving the money behind, but she walked into a shop anyhow.
"Welcome to the Hayburger Emporium, the home of the best hayburgers in canterlot," an employee said cheerfully.
The mare walked up to the counter, the idea of eating a hay in general was foul, but as a burger was even worse. She however had no choice, she didn't know what else she could eat. "I'd like a hayburger and an order of horseshoe fries, please," she ordered.
"That'll be five bits," the employee said in the usual cheerful tone.
"I... don't have any bits and I don't know what those are," the mare replied back.
"Then I'm sorry, we can't make you any food."
"I'm not from wherever this is and I'm hungry, can you make an exception?"
"I'm sorry, rules are rules. I can help the next person in line."
Moonlight was defeated, she could now add hungry onto her list of problems. The thought of stealing some food crossed her mind, but she decided against it. Being a special investigator didn't grant her the right to break the law in her world and she was certain that it wouldn't grant her that right in this one. She slowly slinked towards the door, but tripped on another pony's hoof. She tried to catch her balance and right herself before hitting the ground, but couldn't. Fortunately for her though, a magical field prevented impact.
She looked up to see the mare from before standing there with a Kirin, this one having a green mane and gray fur. She had a rounder snout than the one she had met before. This Kirin's horn was lit up and the special investigator found herself being gently placed on her hooves. Luster stepped forward and frowned, "You were in such a hurry that you had forgotten your money. My friend, Floral Blossom noticed you were still very unsteady and told me that you had come here. She's a little shy at the moment, but she'll warm up to you in time," the student of Twilight said.
It was a moment of confusion for Moonlight, she couldn't remember the last time someone had showed kindness like this to her. She froze up and sat down, unsure of what to do unsure of how to process this. None of this felt real, she felt like she was in a terrible dream and that when she woke up, she was going to be back in her bed with the aberration still on the loose in her world. She stood up and walked over to a table and raised her head. She swiftly attempted to hit the table with her face to see if she was dreaming or not, but a magical field caught her head and stopped it.
"Don't hurt yourself!" the Kirin exclaimed worriedly.
The student of Twilight slowly walked over to the counter, "Can we please get three hay burgers and three orders of horseshoe fries?" she asked.
"That'll be fifteen bits."
"Here you go!" Luster used a telekinesis spell to lift the bits from the pouch and onto the counter. She walked back to the table and helped Floral Blossom to get the shocked mare onto a chair. The two friends sat down and there was silence between the three of them. The dark blue mare sat there, her faded yellow mane looking like a complete mess. Her eyes were wide, but she had pupils the size of pinpricks. She was obviously extremely shocked about the other two near her being kind to her.
The food was delivered to the table and Luster picked up her hayburger, she was about to bite it until her Kirin friend pointed towards the third at the table. "Luster, look," she quietly said.
Moonlight's eyes had shut finally and though she didn't trust either of these two, she couldn't help but feel like she had been shown genuine kindness for the first time in a while. Tears started to leak down her cheeks and off of her face and onto the table. Memories of her family, who she hadn't been able to see for years flooded through her mind. She thought about how she wanted to see them again and this only increased the aching in her heart. How long had she been this lonely, she wondered. But she couldn't let either of these two into her heart or mind, as far as she knew, they could hurt her further.
Floral Blossom put a hoof on the shoulder of the dark blue mare and the pink mare smiled a little. "It's okay to feel sad or upset, but there's no reason to deny us. We just want to be your friends and we just want to help you," Twilight's Student said calmly and gently.
Those words were enough to snap Moonlight out of her emotional outburst. "I don't need your help, I got by on my own and I'll keep going on my own," she stated as she tried to climb out of the chair, only to fall out and be suspended in the magic field of the Kirin next to her.
"Do you have a place to stay?" the gray furred Kirin asked.
"No, and I don't need one, I'll be fine living on the streets!"
Moonlight stormed out of the place and found a good alleyway to take residence in. She was still hungry as she hadn't eaten anything. She ignored the feeling in her stomach and stretched out on a box that was left out. She closed her eyes to make sense of what had been going on and to try to relax her mind a bit, but she drifted off to sleep.
A frigid breeze woke her with a sneeze. She was shivering strongly and she looked for anything to wrap around herself. Night had fallen and the moon was high in the sky. If it wasn't a full moon, she might have had trouble seeing her way around. Unfortunately, nothing that had been thrown out would be suitable to keep her warm. She wandered out of the alleyway and a royal guard patrol spotted her immediately. They moved towards her and she considered running, but she was unsteady in this new form when she wasn't shivering.
She chose to stay where she was and lowered her head, expecting to find herself being arrested and locked up. But one of the guards wrapped a blanket around her. "Poor mare, you're freezing. Let's get you inside of the castle. Valiant Glaive, send a flare up. The Princess' student will find us," the guard ordered.
The mare didn't care, she just wanted to be warm and she knew that she wouldn't be able to flee anyhow. The sky suddenly lit up from a magical flare and the pink unicorn from before came running around the corner. "There you are, Floral Blossom and I have been looking all over for you! We were so worried when you stormed out!" she cried out, concerned for the pony that her teacher had told her to teach.
"F-f-food. W-w-warmth," was all the investigator could sputter out as she shivered.
"Please, you both have to get her into a chariot! Floral Blossom's parents agreed to allow this mare to stay with them for the time being," Luster said worriedly.
The guards nodded and lifted the freezing cold mare into a chariot. The pink mare climbed in and they rode off to Ponyville. On the way there, Moonlight felt herself warm up a little, but she saw a hayburger contained within the magical field of the unicorn in front of her. "You left without eating this earlier," she said.
The dark blue mare reached out and bit some of the burger. She didn't know what it was, but despite the fact that it sounded terrible, it was rather good. She continued to eat the burger with Luster's help and then gave a weak but knowing smile. "I don't normally say this... but thanks," she said quietly.
"You're welcome," the other unicorn said with a smile.
The chariot landed and the two royal guard ponies helped Twilight's student with carrying the weakened and still cold unicorn to Floral Blossom's house. A knock at the door was met with an opening of it and a Kirin smiled, "We've already got a bed prepared for her," the Kirin mare said, pointing down the hall.
Moonlight was carried into what would become her room for the time being and placed into the bed. Extra blankets were placed over her to try to keep her warm and to help her warm up. The guards left once their duty was done, they were going to head back to Canterlot. Luster stayed for a moment longer and then turned to leave, only to be interrupted by a hoof touching her. She turned her head to look at the unicorn that she had brought in with the help of the guards who was now sitting in the bed. "Thanks for saving me from the cold," the investigator said with a confident smile.
"You're welcome, that's what friends are for," the pink unicorn replied.
She left the room to go to her place in order to work on a report for Princess Twilight, leaving the dark blue unicorn alone. The warmth provided by the blankets along with having food in her belly made her relax and she soon drifted off to sleep to have pleasant dreams for the first time in several years.
Author's Note
Floral Blossom is the name that I gave to the Kirin at the end of S9E26 - The Last Problem. She doesn't have an official name, but here's hoping it'll catch on.
A few days had passed since Moonlight Gleam had arrived in Equestria, she was still weakened by being hypothermic a few days ago, but the Kirin family she had been allowed to stay with was very nice to her. She was still a little weakened and hadn't been on her hooves since then, but she was restless now. It was night and the air outside was warmer than it was on that day. She climbed out of bed and lifted the window with her hooves. A look behind her told her that no one was entering her room to check up on her. She climbed up and out of the house and into Ponyville.
She knew how to be quiet with feet, but unfortunately her hooves kept making a clop clop noise on the ground. This annoyed her deeply, but it was something she had to deal with. The streets were barren and everything was quiet. The moon was still full which was odd considering how the moon went through phases where she came from. The mare walked through the streets as quietly as she could, though full control still eluded her, so long as she took things slow, she was able to keep her balance. Her destination was simple, or so she thought.
A light blue mare walked towards her with a purple mare and the dark blue mare wondered to herself if she'd be able to hide. Her heart started to race in her chest, but she chose to try to walk past them.
"Trixie, it is wonderful that you've settled down in the last twenty years and became a great guidance counselor," the purple mare said as she and her friend walked.
"Trixie is glad that she can be a great and powerful guidance counselor and a great and powerful friend," the blue one replied.
The three mares passed by each other on the road. The exchange between the two parties was a simple nod, leaving Moonlight to continue along the path she had chosen to walk. She couldn't shake the feeling she was being followed though, so she turned her head to scan the area with her dark blue eyes. Unfortunately for her, by looking away from where she was going, she ran into a cart.
This caused an excessive amount of noise and woke the ponies in the nearby house up. Moonlight however wasted no time and tried to gallop away. However in her lack of experience, the moment all four of her hooves left the ground, she realized she didn't know how to trot yet, let alone gallop. She hit the ground again and rolled onto her side. She might have been an investigator, but she was a woman first and a woman with some sense of dignity and pride that had just been fractured.
Luster Dawn had been awoken by a commotion near her place and she slowly walked out of her house to investigate what had happened. When she looked to her right upon exiting the door, she noticed a cart that had been knocked over. Fruits and crates had been scattered everywhere and it looked like someone had tried to steal some fruits but was clumsy. She trotted over to the cart to see that it had been smashed when the owner of the cart galloped over to her, "Miss, did you happen to see what happened here?", the stallion asked in a hurry.
The pink unicorn shook her head, "I just left my home to see what happened out here. I heard a loud noise. It scared me a bit, do you think that there are any troublemakers out here?"
A groan caught both of their attention and then turned to see a dark blue unicorn mare on the ground trying to get back up on all fours. The mare looked very annoyed at the crowd that had gathered around her and a sudden yell woke up the rest of the sleepy town, "WHAT ARE ALL OF YOU LOOKING AT!?"
Luster quickly ran to the unicorn's side and helped her up, looking a bit nervous at the outburst, "Heh heh, come on Moonlight, we need to get you back home before you alert the whole town. We'll figure out what happened in the morning. Besides, you need your rest, the doctors said so," she said nervously.
"I broke the cart..." the investigator replied quietly.
"I can't hear you," the student of Twilight replied back. She really couldn't hear her companion over the murmuring of the whole town.
"I said that I broke the blasted cart," the dark blue mare said louder.
"You broke it?", the pink mare asked quietly
Moonlight tried to break from the grip, but Luster was having none of it. She turned around and trotted the both of them back to the owner of the cart. "My teacher taught me that Applejack taught her to always be honest, now tell him what you did," she said in an attempt to convince the other mare to both be polite and honest.
"I broke your cart, I wasn't watching where I was going and I ran into it," the investigator said flatly.
The stallion's concerned expression suddenly became jovial, "Oh, it was an honest mistake, miss. Don't worry about it in the slightest," he said.
Luster immediately could feel that her companion was make uneasy about this and unlike the previous time, did make a successful attempt at escaping.
Moonlight ran awkwardly, but as fast as her legs could take her. Everyone in this world was so nice to her, it was discomforting and awkward. To her, it felt fake, as if they wanted something. No one she ever interacted with was ever that genuinely nice. She could hear the voices of other ponies, but she didn't stop. She ran for what seemed like miles before stopping.
Before her was a lake and she slowly walked over to it and looked into it. Her face looked back at her, but then it morphed into her human face. But before she could even gasp, the face changed further, becoming younger. She felt angry at this and punched at the water with her hoof, but this caused her to lose her balance and fall into the water.
To her surprise, it was deeper than she had expected and she started to sink. She wasn't good at swimming as a human and her body was more dense as a pony's. She bent her knees to get ready to kick off from the bottom of the lake. Her eyes narrowed in the inky blackness of the water. She hit the bottom of the lake and pushed up, only to stand with her nose above the water. Though confused, she was grateful, but she still sneezed.
A yellow pegasus landed next to the lake and animals started to swarm the unicorn, carrying her out of the water and wrapping her in a towel. "My, you poor dear, you fell into the lake," the Pegasus quietly said.
"What do you want from me?" Moonlight asked.
"What do you mean?", the Pegasus replied, obviously confused.
"Nevermind," the unicorn muttered.
The investigator left the pegasus with her animals, dropping the towel behind her. She felt weighed down by her wet fur, and a cool breeze blew through the trees. The breeze chilled her to her bone, but she persisted. She had to get away from all of this. But something in her ached, something she couldn't put her hoof on. The moonlight shined in a clearing where she stopped and she looked up to the skies. The stars looked so different and the moon was so much better than it was where she came from.
She remembered what it was like to look up to the night sky and be filled with hope. How long had it been since she had been active during the day, how long had been since she had joined the Special Investigators? These were questions that she no longer had the answer to. The last few years of her live blurred together. Every night she'd work, every day she'd rest. It was to protect the people of her city, but it was a lonely job.
She heard a leaf crunch and turned around to see somepony standing there. There was a silence between the two of them, neither of them daring to say anything. The other pony was a pegasus stallion of a black fur color, on the flank was the mark of a constellation. The stallion was the one to break the silence. "Miss, not many people are awake at this hour, much less wander out of Ponyville. Mayhaps you are the one everyone else is looking for?" he said in a soothing voice.
That voice sounded extremely familiar to Moonlight, but it couldn't be. She inched a step closer to the stallion, "What is your name?" she asked, her voice being absent of the bitterness she had showed time and time again upon arriving to this place.
"My name? Why it's Starshine, young lady. What is your name, perhaps?", the stallion said a hoof on his chin.
"Moonlight Gleam, you don't happen to teach astronomy, do you?", the mare replied.
"Why yes, I do. It's not as important as Miss Starlight's job at the School of Friendship, but it is nice for us to know the constellations in the night sky that Princess Luna had given us." The black furred stallion said with a smile.
"At least some things are the same," the unicorn mare muttered.
The Pegasus tilted his head, curious as to what the other pony was saying, but the investigator just shrugged. "It's nothing," she lied.
The two of them sat in silence as they looked up to the skies, Moonlight wouldn't admit it, but having someone familiar made her feel a little bit better. Starshine pulled out some charts and started drawing on them, making sure to take detailed notes that he could reference later on. The silence between the two lasted half an hour, but the mare suddenly sat up and started to walk in a direction she felt was familiar.
"Excuse me miss, but where are you going?" the astronomer asked, concerned.
"Ponyville. Everyone's probably worried about me," she replied flatly.
"Ponyville is the other way," the astronomer replied.
The unicorn nodded and traveled in the direction she had been told to go.
Luster Dawn and her Kirin friend had been searching all around Ponyville for the missing unicorn mare. They were used to the fact that she was rude, but the last time she had stormed off like she did, she ended up hurt and sick. Neither of them wanted a possible new friend to be in danger like that. Not only that, but Moonlight wasn't familiar with the world and this meant that she could easily walk into danger that she didn't know about. Luster's heart raced at the thought of the possibility that the other unicorn had wandered into the Everfree Forest. Twilight had never allowed her to go in there, but she had heard tales of the dangers within.
Floral Blossom placed a hoof on her shoulder and shook her head in order to try to calm the pink unicorn down, but it was to no avail. Just like her teacher, the student was prone to freaking out if the circumstances were right. She started to hyperventilate when her friend tapped her on the shoulder. Luster looked up to see a dark blue mare wander into the city and she breathed a sigh of relief. The mare walked past them without a word as was expected, but she noticed something different. Moonlight was walking better than she had been before and on top of that, she seemed more relaxed than she ever had been before.
"Moonlight, glad to see that you're feeling better," the pink unicorn said cheerfully.
The investigator didn't look back, she just continued towards the house of Floral Blossom. The Kirin smiled sheepishly at her unicorn friend, "I have a feeling she'll talk to us when she's ready, but for now, I think we should both get some sleep," she said.
Luster nodded and the two friends parted ways to go to their homes in order to go to sleep. Before the pink unicorn drifted off though, she made a note to ask Princess Twilight about the world on the other side of the mirror. Perhaps if she knew more about it, she would be able to make the other unicorn mare feel more relaxed and at home.
Luster Dawn wandered the halls of the Canterlot Castle, she had one thing in mind on this day, she was going to find her teacher and figure out how to get something to help Moonlight feel more at home here. She quietly walked into the throne room where her teacher was sitting in her throne with Spike next to her. The purple dragon took one look at her and smiled, "Hey, what are you doing here, Luster?" he asked curious.
Twilight Sparkle looked at her student and stood up from her throne. She walked down and hugged the pink unicorn with a smile. "I thought I told you to try and make friends in Ponyville, what brings you here?" she asked, happy to see her student, but concerned that she might be giving up.
"Moonlight seems very distant and she can be a jerk sometimes. She's very rude to everyone and last night, she ran away from us. I'm very concerned about her and I thought that if we could get something from her world, it'd make her feel more at home. I was wondering if you would let me go through the mirror, Princess," Luster answered honestly.
The purple alicorn broke the hug and backed off a bit, she had a serious look on her face. "Luster, we do not know if the mirror is still connected to that world and we know that world is dangerous. The day Moonlight came to us, a strange bat pony came through the portal. His power reminded me of Tirek and seemed to have the same limitations, but he put my friends to sleep as he drained them of their powers. Curiously enough, they weren't harmed and their magic replenished itself. Who knows what could be lurking on the other side of the mirror that has the same kind of powers or worse. You could be very badly hurt, Luster. I won't allow it to happen, I'm sorry. It is heartwarming to see you care so deeply about someone I told you to help, however," she stated firmly.
The pink unicorn looked down, she was dejected by her teacher telling her that she couldn't help her friend. But a hoof on her shoulder made her look up. "Luster, I know that you want to help her, but do you know what she likes? You might end up getting her something she doesn't like and that might make things worse," the Princess of Equestria said with a frown.
This frown bothered the student, but Spike quickly spoke up, "Don't worry about Twilight's frown, Luster. She's just bothered by the fact that the aberration was Moonlight put it is still unaccounted for. There hasn't been any reports of any wrongdoing, she's not upset at you," he said reassuringly.
"Thanks, Spike. And thank you, my teacher," the unicorn said with a smile and a bow.
Floral Blossom watched as the dark blue unicorn she had welcomed into her house sat on roof of it. The Kirin was confused as to what this pony wanted to do other than seemingly be alone. A yak walked over to the Kirin and looked up at the pony on the roof, "Floral, why is Pony on roof?" he asked.
The Kirin shook her head, no closer to an answer than she was before, but at least the unicorn was quiet. Her attitude towards the family who took her in out of the goodness of their heart annoyed green maned Kirin, but she wanted to be compassionate like she had been taught in the school of friendship. "Moonlight, my friend and I are going to go get something to eat, would you like to come with us?" she offered.
The unicorn on the roof looked down at the two of them and was about to protest when the sound of her stomach rumbling reached the ears of everyone who was present. She looked down at the two before her, the look on her face wasn't a comforting one, but this didn't confuse the Yak, instead he became excited. "You look like you want to smash! Yak love smash! Yak smash best!" he excitedly exclaimed.
The investigator looked down at the Yak specifically and only uttered two words, "Be quiet," her tone was sharp. It was obvious that she didn't take kindly to the antics of the Kirin's friend.
The Yak's expression turned to anger, "Pony no tell Yak be quiet!" he yelled.
"Hmph."
"Pony come down!"
"When you calm down."
"Yak will smash pony down!"
Floral Blossom's horn lit up and both the unicorn and the yak floated in the air, with the unicorn being brought off the roof. "Both of you, stop fighting!" she yelled at them, annoyed at the childishness of the two.
"Yarwood sorry for fighting, Floral," the Yak said sadly, upset that his friend was upset.
Moonlight started gesturing with her hoof. This confused the two, but the unicorn also started to mutter something under her breath. Suddenly she thrust her hoof forward and both the Kirin and Yak recoiled, but nothing happened. The investigator looked at her hoof, surprised at this. "But something was supposed to happen, that spell was a telekinetic spell to try to counter your own!" she protested.
"It would seem that your magic doesn't work here. Moonlight, we don't want you to be angry, we just want to be your friends. Why won't you let us be your friends?" Floral Blossom asked.
The Kirin lowered the unicorn to the ground, but the investigator started to walk towards her. This was a first and the green-maned student of friendship had no idea what to do. She backed up a few steps, but the unicorn kept moving towards her. Yarwood stomped a hoof, but this didn't bother the investigator. Floral found herself pressed against a wall, the neutral expression of Moonlight bothering her to no end. She felt anxious and upset, anger started to bubble up inside of her. She knew what would happen if she allowed it to consume her, she would transform into a Nirik.
The unicorn's hoof reached out and touched her on the shoulder, "You offered to get some lunch, I'll go with. But I need to learn how to use my magic, do you think there is someone who can teach me?" she asked in a very calm voice.
The Kirin was surprised, Moonlight wasn't angry by what she had did. "I don't think you should learn magic until you get your temper under control," she said, nervously.
"Meh, whatever. Let's get a bite to eat, I'm starving," the unicorn replied.
The three of them walked to a place in Ponyville that sold food. Yarwoof and Floral Blossom spoke with each other on the entire way there, but Moonlight didn't find and of the conversation amusing. All that the two talked about was homework from their professors and how a group project was coming along. A twinge of sadness pulled at her heart though. She missed her high school days, back when she had friends that she hung out with and went to places with.
That changed after high school though. She started keeping to herself, she slowly became more and more distant towards others. More standoffish. She started to wonder exactly when and where everything had changed so much. The thought of her speaking to the other two entered her mind, but when she opened her mouth, nothing came out of it.
She was ashamed of herself and instead of following the other two, she broke away. It wasn't like her to let this kind of thing to get to her. She was confused and she needed a break from all of these ponies to understand what was going on.
Luster Dawn arrived back in Ponyville without any answers to her predicament. She was a little annoyed, but she figured that if she couldn't get something from Moonlight's world, she'd get her a gift from here. She walked into a shop and a yellow earth pony mare looked at her with a smile. "I know you, you're the student of our Princess, what are ya lookin for?", she asked.
"I want to find something to give to someone so that they'll feel more comfortable around others instead of being emotionally distant all of the time," the student replied.
"Hmm, I don't know much about that, but I'm sure if you got them a gift, they'd find it heartwarming," the earth pony merchant said with a smile.
Luster looked around the shop, looking for something special. Nothing really caught her eye as she looked along the shelves. She wanted to find something that really was special. Her hopes started to dwindle when the bell to the door rang and when she looked back, Moonlight Gleam was standing there. The two locked eyes, but the dark blue unicorn broke eye contact and she started to look around the store. She turned around to face the door and Luster's heart sank further. "If you want to get something nice for yourself, I recommend the snow globe," the investigator stated.
The dark blue unicorn left the building, the last that Luster saw of her was the pale yellow tail. But what she said gave the pink unicorn an idea, she picked up the snow globe and walked to the counter. The yellow mare smiled down at her and said, "I see what you mean, Luster. I'll give it to you for free, just go put a smile on that mare's face."
Luster nodded, but still placed the number of bits that it was priced at on the counter. She gripped the trinket in a telekinesis spell and ran out the door. Fortunately for her, Moonlight hadn't gotten far. She galloped over to the other unicorn and held out the snow globe in the telekinetic field, "I got you this!" she yelled.
The investigator stopped in her tracks and turned around to see the student of the princess barreling towards her. A simple side step allowed her to get out of the way of the student, but this action left her off balance. She struggled to stop herself from stumbling, but was able to right herself. Luster was able to stop in front of her regardless of this maneuver. The two unicorns locked eyes again, but while the pink one had a look of hope in her eyes, her dark blue counterpart looked visibly annoyed. "Is there some reason you yelled in my direction and insist on bothering me?" she asked.
The pink unicorn held up the snow globe and immediately Moonlight's eyes softened. "How did you know that I like snow globes?" she asked.
"You mentioned that I should get one if I wanted a gift for myself. It was easy to figure out that you like them from that comment alone," the other unicorn replied.
Moonlight reached out to touch the snow globe and Luster let go of it. This of course was a mistake as it started to drop. A quick telekinesis spell allowed the pink unicorn to catch it. "I guess I'll have to teach you how to use your hooves to grip things one day. That was a close call, you know," she said with a sigh of relief.
The investigator stepped closer to the student and nodded a little bit, "That would be helpful yes. But, I want you to understand that I'm not interested in friends. Not as long as he is out there," she said flatly.
"It doesn't mean that I won't still try, how about you and I find the others and get some lunch?", Luster offered.
"Okay," was the only response from Moonlight.
Floral Blossom and Yarwood were upset that they had been ditched by their guest. The rudeness briefly caused Floral to undergo the transformation into a Nirik, but her Yak friend was able to calm her down. The bell to the establishment that they were eating at rang as the door opened and two unicorns walked through. The pink one led the dark blue one to the table and the three friends started chatting about how their day went. The dark blue unicorn's gaze was fixated on the snow globe that had been placed on the table. Though she wouldn't say it aloud, she had to admit that she felt less lonely now, and that being around others felt nice.
A week had passed since she first arrived in Equestria and Moonlight Gleam had finally started to properly adjust to walking around on all fours. She wasn't completely steady by any means, but she was getting there, it was better than she was before. She was out and about to do her usual exercises so that she could get used to walking, but she couldn't shake the feeling that she was being followed. Every time she looked back, she couldn't see anyone though. This put her on edge, she didn't like it. She looked like a crazy mare with her constant checking her back. She knew that someone was back there, but she couldn't put her hoof on where they were or who they were. Eventually the annoyance became anger and she stomped her hoof and yelled out into the air, "Whoever you are, come out!"
A gray griffon flew down from the sky and landed next to her, the mare tensed up, the last time she had encountered one, it was a one sided battle. But her little outburst caused everyone to look at her. On top of this, it caught the attention of a nearby earth pony. "Now Moonlight, ah know yer new and all, but yellin ain't appropriate behavior here in Ponyville," the earth pony said.
"Applejack, right?" the unicorn asked in response.
"Yup!" the earth pony said cheerfully.
"Back off, this isn't your business, this is between me and the bird brain," Moonlight hissed.
Applejack positioned herself between the two parties, she gave Moonlight a stern look, "Ah've been hearin that ya've been rude ta jes about everyone ya meet, that ain't no way to make any friends," she said sternly.
"I don't care about friends, why can't any of you see that. All they do is slow me down and weigh me down, they're nothing more than a burden to me!" the unicorn snapped.
"Yer just... yer jes rude, Moonlight. All we try ta do is help ya out and all ya've done is throw in in our faces!", the earth pony huffed.
The unicorn mare walked closer to the Earth Pony, "I never asked for your help! I'll take care of this issue by myself!" she yelled.
"Ah can hear ya jes fine! There ain't no need to yell," The farmpony replied.
"Tell that darn griffin to stop following me then! I have no need for her. I have no need for you. And I have no need for the Princess' friendship lessons from her student!" the investigator snapped.
The farmpony didn't get a chance to respond. Moonlight walked away from her to be alone. She traveled to the edge of town and then looked back for a moment. She considered going back for a second, but she wandered out to a hill underneath a tree. She sat down on the grass and looked up to the sky. It was a very calm day without a cloud in the air. The sun was shining brightly and she found it relaxing. She laid down on the grass and closed her eyes. She intended to sort her thoughts out, but instead she fell asleep.
She found herself in Canterlot, but as a human. She thought it was great, she wanted to be human again. She'd give almost everything to be human once more, but something was wrong. She found herself in a cage in the castle. She grabbed onto the bars and looked around. There was no one around her, nothing but a giant castle greeted her. Booming hoofsteps hitting the stone reached her ears. A giant alicorn entered her view and then two giant eyes locked eyes with her. Her heart started racing, she could feel it pounding in her chest. She was terrified.
"You have been the worst creature that I ever had to deal with, Moonlight Gleam! I hope you enjoy your punishment of being punished in the royal throne room at the size that you deserve! No one big enough to allow friendship in their heart would act anything like you!" the Alicorn boomed.
Moonlight tried to rush towards the bars, but chains around her arms stopped her from moving far, "Let me go!" she screamed.
Suddenly the scene around her melted away, there was inky blackness that was replaced with a library. The alicorn from before appeared in the place next to her. "This was my favorite place to go when I moved to Ponyville," she stated.
"A library isn't a bad place to go, but why are you here?", the investigator inquired.
"Simple, you were having a nightmare. The former Princess Luna gave me the power to dreamwalk. Our minds are connected at the moment," the Princess of Equestria started.
Moonlight tensed up, she was ready to fight the Alicorn Princess.
"Relax, I am not going to go into any places that you don't want me to go into, I am merely here to stop your nightmare from happening. You might not think it, Moonlight, but you are not alone here. My student, her friends, my friends, and even myself. We all want to be your friends, we want you to trust us," the Alicorn continued.
"Trust you? What have any of you done other than try to get close to me when I don't want you to. What have any of you done to help me?" the investigator disdainfully asked.
"The one you came with, he's a danger to Equestria. But we cannot find him if we do not work together, Moonlight. You feel that you are alone, you feel that you've always been alone. My student has reported that she can tell that your heart aches for something that you've been denied for a long time. We're here for you if you ever need us, that's what friends are for," Twilight said calmly.
The Alicorn tried to wrap a wing around the unicorn, but the investigator had a different idea. She opened her mouth and clamped down hard on the wing. A quick spell from the Alicorn pried her jaws back open and moved her away from the wing.
"What is bothering you, Moonlight? What's upsetting you so much that you bit me?" The princess asked, trying to keep her calm, but she was visibly annoyed at the unicorn's action.
"I don't want any of you to come any closer than you already have, you don't know what any of you are getting yourselves into! He's ruined so many lives, he will not stop just because he entered this world, he'll keep doing it! He feeds off magic and this world is just so chock full of the stuff that he'll gorge himself off the world itself if he has to," Moonlight protested.
"You said he's ruined many lives, Moonlight. But tell me, what did he do to you specifically. Most people do not pursue something so fervently. Why does him being out there make you so afraid to get close to others?" Twilight replied calmly.
The unicorn walked away from the alicorn, the two of them became more and more distant as the investigator's pale yellow mane fell over her eyes as she looked down. "That aberration, the vampire as we usually call it. He destroyed a close friend of mine. My friend's name was Sunrise Standing and he helped me with my homework and self-defense training. He left one day and that aberration returned to tell me that my friend wouldn't ever come back," Moonlight said, tears forming in her eyes.
"So your pursuit is about revenge?" the Princess inquired.
"Justice. It is not my duty to destroy an aberration, it's to capture them so that the Judges can deal with them. Special Investigators are tasked with investigating aberration activity and if possible, capturing them. Their weakness is light magic, so we're usually equipped with a device that allows us to create a cage of it in order to trap them. We call transport teams to pick them up and take them to the facility as we call it. None of the Investigators have clearance to go there, so we don't know what happens there, but according to rumors, the aberrations are purified," the investigator replied, tears still falling towards the ground.
"Luster can help you, Moonlight," Twilight tried to reassure the other mare.
"Luster will get herself hurt or worse if she gets involved in my affairs! The only reason I'm telling you is that he wasn't able to absorb your magic at all, it was something that I had never seen before. Almost as if you have a natural immunity to his powers or something!" The unicorn snapped as she turned to face the taller mare.
"You don't know if you don't try," The princess retorted.
"I choose to not try and I consciously made the decision not to let anyone get close. If you or any other winged and horned ponies wish to track that vampony down, you're free to do so. But do not get anyone else involved!" Moonlight demanded, stomping her hoof on the ground.
The look Twilight gave Moonlight froze the smaller pony in place. "Since you're obviously letting this get in the way of forming friendships and allowing yourself to trust anyone else. I don't want you involved in this anymore. I will send a message to the Crystal Empire to my sister-in-law and my niece and we will discuss a plan to deal with this. Until such time, you are off the case, Investigator," the Princess of Equestria replied angrily.
Everything melted around Moonlight, she started to become disoriented and confused and she found herself alone in an inky black void.
Her eyes opened up to see the familiar sight of the hill that she had chosen to stay on, the sun had moved closer to the horizon, but it wasn't sunset yet. She sat down on the hill, not knowing what to do. For the last four years, this case was her life, it was the thing that kept her awake at night, it's what kept her going during the day and now just like that, she had nothing.
Even though it was a dream, everything felt so real. Magic here was astounding and she could scarcely believe that someone could appear in her dream and order her around, but here she was.
A rustling of the grass sounded behind her and she turned around to see who it was. It was the griffin from before. "What do you want?" she asked angrily.
"I just wanted to apologize for making you uncomfortable. You deserved a lot better me sneaking around to try to see if what Luster said was true. My name is Ginger and by the look you gave me earlier and what you told Applejack, you didn't have a good experience with Griffins when you came here. I'm sorry that you were treated like that," the griffin replied with a smile.
The smile made Moonlight uncomfortable, but she didn't say anything, instead she turned back to see the land before her. She wanted to gather her thoughts as the wind gently blew through the grass.
"I'll just go then," Ginger said sadly.
The sound of wings flapping reached the unicorn's ears and she sighed. "Look, if you promise not get too friendly or chatty, you can stay. I admit that it's a bit lonely out here, but I'm not ready to go back to town," she said.
The griffon landed next to her and nodded, sitting down next to the unicorn. The two of them watched nature go about its course as minutes passed by. The two of them appreciated the beauty of the world, how nature went on despite the problems of individuals like them.
"Ginger, I shouldn't have been a total jerk like I was earlier. I'm sorry."
"It's okay."
Those were the only two sentences those two said to each other for the rest of the day. When the sun started to set, they looked at each other and nodded. Quietly returning to town where they parted ways. Even if they didn't talk much, Moonlight had to admit as she returned to Floral Blossom's place that this companionship thing that she had experienced today was a good feeling within her heart. She stopped for a moment and placed her hoof on her chest, letting out a sigh as she had a single wistful thought. She hoped that maybe someday her best friend would see justice and the aberration that caused all of this would be able to be normal. She shook her head and continued towards her destination wondering what the future would bring.
It had been two full days since Moonlight had the nightmare and the dream involving Twilight Sparkle. Floral Blossom was starting to get worried about her guest. She didn't eat anything, she barely drank the water she had been provided and every time the Kirin tried to check up on her, she didn't even react. The unicorn mare just stared at the wall if she was awake, but most of the time she slept. This wasn't like her, she was rude to all of them, sure, but she at least interacted with them. This was just abnormal for anypony. The young Kirin knocked on the door of the guest room, hoping for an answer this time, but there was none. She hesitantly opened the door and saw that the bed was empty. She flung open the door as her heart raced and she looked around the room to see that the window was open and the curtains were flapping in the wind.
She immediately feared the worst and turned around to gallop out of the house to look for their guest. It wouldn't have been the first time she had ran away. She ran through the hall of the house and stopped at the kitchen when she saw the familiar unicorn mare rummaging through their fridge. The student of the School of Friendship hesitated for a moment, she didn't know what to do or say in this situation. She merely chose to sit there and watch the unicorn to make sure nothing happened
"It'd be easier for me to tolerate you if you were to speak up," an annoyed voice said, breaking the Kirin out of her confusion.
"S-sorry," was the only word that she could muster.
The unicorn mare silently continued to rummage through the fridge, trying to find something to eat. Not only that, she was trying to find something to drink, she was thirsty even though she had drank and whole glass of water. The two of them continued in silence, but a huff from the investigator broke the silence. "Say something, you're making me uneasy, Floral," she demanded.
The Kirin squeaked, she had been put on the back foot by this. But fortunately for her, her father had walked into the room. "Listen here, miss. We have been nothing but kind to you, we have shown you the utmost hospitality and all you have done in return is be rude to my family and I," he said, his voice doing nothing to hide his annoyance.
The unicorn mare turned around and slammed the fridge door with her rear leg. She gave the Kirin stallion a glare that would get most ponies to back off from her, but this one was different, he didn't stand down. He pointed at the door with his hoof and glared right back, "I think you should leave until you get your attitude in order," he stated.
The unicorn stormed out, slamming the door behind her. Floral Blossom looked up at her father, "Dad, was it really necessary to throw her out like that. She's lonely and has no friends..." she asked him.
"Sometimes, you have to put your foot down. I know that it's not the easiest thing to do, but you need to tell them what they need to hear, not what they want to hear," the stallion replied.
An hour had passed maybe more and Moonlight still kept galloping. She was furious about what had happened earlier. But more importantly, she was lost. This forest she had wandered into was seemingly endless, there weren't any landmarks that she was familiar with for her to find her way through it, there wasn't enough sunlight filtering through the trees for her to get her bearings from the positioning of the sun.
She cursed herself for running into a forest, but something caught her attention. Something that caused her blood to freeze in her veins. A howling from her right. She stopped and then leapt forward, barely avoiding an attack by a Timberwolf. She quickly reared back and slammed her front hooves together, she was looking for an excuse, any excuse to blow off some steam.
A rustling behind her should have alerted her to the fact that this Timberwolf wasn't alone, but it didn't. She was so focused on the one in front of her that she completely ignored the one behind her. The weight of what felt like a pile of logs slammed into her back. She hit the ground immediately and felt the breath of the Timberwolf on the back of her neck. She regretted coming out to this forest alone, without any friends, and without a guide to help her. She closed her eyes and screamed out loud. Hoping anyone would hear her.
There was a rustling in the bushes and a clinking sound of glass hitting the ground. A bright light erupted through the trees and the Tinderwolves both backed off howling in pain. The investigator was blinded by this as well. A hoof grabbed her own, "Let us go to my place. There you will have your space," a voice in a thick accent said.
Moonlight was dragged blindly by this creature through a path that offered as little resistance as possible. She couldn't see her rescuer, but something in her told her that whoever had chosen to rescue her wasn't so bad. Her rescuer suddenly stopped, but the unicorn mare remained calm. This didn't go unnoticed. "You seem to know that the blindness will wear off. It is unusual for a pony to bear such observational skills," the voice said again.
There was an involuntary sigh of relief from the unicorn mare. This also didn't go unnoticed.
"I see, you thought your vision would be gone for good. That vial was only to blind those wolves of wood," the voice reassured her.
A door opened and the black void of Moonlight's vision started to become a colorful blur. She wasn't able to see anything in the form of shapes, but at least her vision was returning. She walked through the door and placed her muzzle to the ground. She used that as a way to sense where she was going.
"Ah, I see this isn't your first time you have been blind. Let us hope this isn't the worst time," the voice from before stated.
Moonlight found her way to a bed and climbed into it, she laid down not knowing where else to go or what else to do. She was confused, alone and she had just been attacked before and now she was blinded by someone who rescued her. She was tense from everything that had happened, but the fact that this mysterious pony had saved her hadn't done anything to earn her trust, she wouldn't let her guard down.
"It has been long since a pony hasn't trusted me, but the last time they saw that they were wrong. If you must know my name, then I ask you to do me the same," the creature rhymed again.
This rhyming was starting to annoy the unicorn mare, but she sat up as best as she could, "Moonlight Gleam."
"Zecora."
"You didn't rhyme, thank the maker."
"I only rhyme when I have enough time to say what I need to say," Zecora said smugly.
"That is annoying," the investigator replied.
The Zebra laughed and handed the investigator a concoction. "I was told that you need a change of perspective. If you would be so bold to drink this, it will grant what you need," she said.
The investigator grabbed the vial in both of her front hooves, she didn't exactly know how grip anything properly, but she was figuring it out slowly. She brought the vial up to her lips and started to drink it.
It was foul tasting and she found herself retching at the taste. Her vision started to become more clear, and she saw and felt something was off. Everything started to feel so far away. No, everything was getting bigger. Her mind started to panic, she had no idea what she was going to do, but a hoof on her shoulder kept her pinned down. A stern look from the Zebra made it known that she wasn't going to go anywhere.
"What did you do to me!?" Moonlight protested.
"You think you are big, so the Princess and I believed it was time for you to shrink a little," Zecora replied.
The unicorn mare's mind flashed back to her nightmare. Her breathing became shallow and rapid, her heart started beating faster and harder than it had ever done before. She wouldn't have admitted to it, but she was terrified.
"I know you are scared young Moonlight. You will be allowed to choose to stay or go, but in either instance you will be safe," the Zebra tried to assure her.
The investigator squirmed out of the Zebra's grip and rushed to the door. She slammed into it hoping that it'd bust open, but she was too light to have such luck. The shaman hadn't moved from her position since, but she held out a hoof with a caring smile on her face. "I do not do this to hurt you, though it seems curt, it will teach you," she said in a caring tone.
"How! By turning me into a glorified mouse!" Moonlight snapped back as she backed up towards a corner.
"If you weren't so afraid, you would go to a mirror. The shrinking has stopped, it was intended to make you the size of a filly," Zecora stated.
The unicorn caught her breath and looked around, everything had indeed stopped getting bigger. She was unsure of this shaman, but then the larger zebra pulled out a plate of food and set it on the bed. "Here is some food for you little one, may it improve your mood," she said as she backed away from the bed.
Moonlight slowly inched towards the bed, things were much bigger than they used to be, but Zecora didn't seem malicious, nor did it seem like she really wanted to hurt her. She gained a bit of confidence, which caused the older and larger zebra to smile. She climbed up onto the bed and sat in front of the food. She started to sniff it hesitantly.
"I know you do not trust me after what I did to you, but you must know that I would not harm you," the Zebra reassured.
The unicorn's stomach growled in protest and she started eating the food she had been offered. A hoof stroked her on the back gently, which caused her to feel as if she had belonged for the first time in the world. It started to remind the investigator of her times with her mother back when she was a child. She had enjoyed being held by her mother and her mom gently rubbing her back to help calm her down during storms.
"Everything will be alright," her mother's voice said.
Moonlight stopped eating and started to look around, only to be met with the motherly gaze of Zecora. "You were lost in your mind, however I think it's time for you to unwind. The decision is for you to make. Stay here or go to Ponyville, but you will walk the path you take," she said calmly.
The unicorn didn't know exactly what she wanted to do, she knew about the dangers in the woods and she didn't know exactly how everyone would feel about her in her current form. She was scared, unsure. She looked down at the sheets on the bed that she was occupying and then she looked back at the shaman, "Are you sure that I can stay here?" she asked.
Zecora nodded with a smile and patted the unicorn on the head.
"Then, I'll stay here until I'm made big again or Luster and her friends come and get me," the investigator said.
"If that is what you choose, make sure you have nothing to lose," the shaman warned.
"I know that I won't be able to leave without you or one of them and this is a safe place in this forest. I'll try to be on my best behavior, I don't want to get tossed out," Moonlight squeaked.
Zecora gave her a shake of the head, "I will never put you in danger, but remember that I am a shaman, not a ranger," she stated.
The unicorn mare nodded and laid down on the bed, curling up. She was tired from running, the potion, and from the panicking. Her eyes closed and she fell asleep quite quickly, her mind wondering what Luster would think if she saw her.
Moonlight opened her eyes finally after a couple of days of sleeping, hoping that everything that had happened was just a dream. She had hoped that she was back at Floral Blossom's place or better yet, her own world. The feeling of hooves at the end of her limbs made it apparent that it wasn't the latter and when everything came into focus finally, she looked down, upset that it wasn't the former. She was the size of a filly instead of a full grown mare, she was more helpless than she was previously. She stood up and walked over to the edge of the bed, the smell of food reached her nostrils. She was admittedly hungry after her slumber and wanted some food. She didn't know how she'd get down though. At her normal size, she'd just walk off the bed and use her hooves to balance. But now she'd have to jump.
Or so she thought. Zecora appeared before her, scaring the daylights out of her. Without a word she could tell the unicorn mare's intentions and gently grabbed her by the sides. The investigator was lifted off the bed and placed on the ground. She started to try to walk around, but a hoof on her back stopped her from moving. "I have someone that you should meet, but first something to eat," the shaman told her.
Moonlight was guided to a table, where a bowl of oatmeal and a glass of water sat. She was helped up into her chair by the Zebra who sat down across from her. The two of them sat in silence, waiting for the other to speak up, but neither of them would. The unicorn started to eat her oatmeal, her dark blue eyes not moving from the shaman who had done this to her. She was upset, but she didn't bother trying to fight it in fear of being made even smaller.
"That hate you have for me will do nothing to change your fate. If I may be curt, it will only continue to hurt," the shaman warned her.
The investigator didn't care, she still carefully watched the shaman who didn't seem to mind. She tried to get any read on this zebra, but she was unfamiliar with any of the body language signs of ponies, she was used to reading the body language and facial expressions of of humans and aberrations. She quietly ate her oatmeal and drank her water.
Zecora helped her off the chair and Moonlight finally decided to ask, "So who is this person you wish to have me meet?"
"She used to be a stage magician, then she mused and became a counselor," was the reply from the shaman.
Zecora packed some food in a bag and carried it in her mouth, she motioned towards the other mare to follow her and without a choice, Moonlight did so. The two of them quietly walked through the Everfree Forest, the Timberwolves from before didn't bother either of them. It was almost as if they had respect for the shaman. It wasn't long before the two of them left the forest and wandered into Ponyville.
She stomped one of her front hooves into the ground and stopped herself, "Take a blasted picture, it'll last longer!" she yelled.
This didn't escape the notice of the shaman and she swiftly turned around to narrow her eyes at the unicorn who recoiled instantly . Moonlight looked to the ground and slowly walked towards Zecora. She was given a disapproving look by the zebra and the two of them continued on their journey to the counselor that the shaman had mentioned.
They arrived at a building that was surrounded by a moat, stones lined a path that led into the school. "Go inside and ask for the pony called Trixie. She will help you find that you were the one who walled your heart in," the zebra shaman said.
Moonlight turned around to see the zebra walking away, her lunch on the ground, "Aren't... aren't you going to come with?" she asked, nervous.
"I am sure we will meet again, young pony. Until such time, you should take a seat in this school," she replied as she kept walking away.
The unicorn mare was left alone, she was small, in an unfamiliar place and the one person that could have helped her was gone. She gently picked up the bag in her mouth and pushed against a door. Much to her surprise, it opened. She walked into the extravagant hallways and was immediately greeted by an excited purple unicorn with a purple mane that had a blue streak running through it. "Hi, are you here to enroll in our School of Friendship?" she asked.
The investigator had to lay her lunch down, she was upset that she had been tricked by the shaman to come to some school. She had graduated from school years ago, yet she was being dragged back as if she was some common child. This didn't escape the taller unicorn mare. "Don't worry, I know that you can be anxious but the School of Friendship is for ponies and creatures of all walks of life and all ages. You don't have to worry, you're among friends here," the headmare tried to reassure her.
Moonlight didn't care, she tried to shove past the larger unicorn, but this didn't work. A hoof blocked her path and her small size made it impossible to fight through. "You'll get lost if I don't show you around the school, little one," the headmare warned.
"Just show me where Trixie is. I couldn't care less about what the rest of this school had to offer," the smaller mare replied.
Starlight was confused at this, the filly sized mare had spoken in the voice of an adult and it was unsettling to her. Not to mention that she had been extremely rude to her when she tried to help her. The headmare pondered what to do for a moment and decided it would be best to let Trixie help out. "Follow me," she said.
For the first time Moonlight had gotten what she wanted and she was happy about this. A smug grin crossed her features and she followed the larger mare through the halls of the school. There weren't any words exchanged between the two of them and the shrunken mare had no issues with this. She was also thankful that the halls were mostly empty. This meant that no one would be gawking at her or her stature.
Starlight opened a door to a room and an azure unicorn sat at a desk, her mane was striped white and blue as her tail. "Starlight, I see that you have brought another student in need to Trixie," the mare at the desk said observantly.
"This one isn't yet a student, but she wanted to come straight to you. I will try to find what parents she has so that we can enroll her in the school," the headmare replied.
Moonlight walked into the room and tried to climb up into the chair. A telekinetic hold was able to lift her onto it properly and she stared into the purple eyes of the counselor. No words were spoken, none had to be. She could feel the counselor's eyes watching her for any slight movements that would show a shift in her mood. Being watched so carefully made the investigator nervous, this reminded her so much of the end of many investigations she had been sent on.
Her superiors had always debriefed her and it always made her uneasy to be stared at like they did. Every question needed an answer, whether or not she felt like it was important to the investigation at hand. One of the questions she remembered answering was what color were the shoelaces of the shoes an aberration was wearing. The counselor took her hat off of and she pulled a rabbit out of it to try to relieve some of the tension.
The air grew thicker between the two of them, it was obvious that the shrunken mare wasn't at all amused by this parlor trick. "Sorry, Trixie tends to try to use magic tricks to make ponies more comfortable," the former showmare said quietly.
Moonlight arched a brow, "That seems mildly pointless," she stated.
Her voice surprised the counselor, the taller mare wasn't expecting the voice of an adult to come from someone so small. This annoyed the investigator, "Do not gawk at me! I was reduced in size as some form of punishment devised by a shaman and I presume the Princess!" she snapped.
"S-sorry, Trixie just hasn't ever encountered something like this before. Let's start from the top, what is your name?" the counselor asked.
"Moonlight Gleam," was the curt reply from the annoyed smaller mare.
"Well Moonlight, can you tell Trixie anything about yourself?" the mare sitting at the desk asked.
"I was told to come to by that striped witch who did this to me. I didn't want to be this size and I didn't want to be here. I don't know you, I don't know any of you and I don't trust any of you. For all I know, all of you could be waiting for me to lower my guard in order to betray me and sell me to the creature that I had followed into this world for a bit of temporary safety or money," was Moonlight's reply.
There was absolutely shocked silence between the two of them. Trixie couldn't possibly believe that anyone would insinuate that anyone in Equestria, let alone the School of Friendship would willingly put anyone in danger. It wasn't just wrong, it was hostile and rude for her to have done so. Without a single hesitation, the counselor lifted the smaller mare off the chair and placed her in the corner. "When you are ready to talk to Trixie without being so hostile, you can let Trixie know," she said.
Moonlight enjoyed this corner, it allowed her to be alone. She closed her eyes and withdrew into her own thoughts, tuning the rest of the world out. She slowed her breathing, but a shake quickly broke her out of her thoughts. "The time out corner isn't for sleeping, it's for reflecting on your behavior," Trixie told her.
Starlight walked back into the room, "Well, I got her enrolled in the school, even though there are apparently no records of her existing at all in Equestria. The Princess did tell me that she came from the human world while we were talking. I set up her schedule so that she'd have classes with Luster Dawn, Ginger, Floral Blossom, Yarwood and Gallop J. Fry," the headmare announced.
Moonlight turned around, she recognized four out of five of those names. She looked down at the mention of Floral Blossom, she had been kicked out of her house by her father. Would the Kirin want to see her again she wondered. She stepped out of the corner and was immediately greeted by the voice of Trixie, "Are you ready to talk?"
"No...", was the honest reply from investigator.
The tone in shrunken mare's voice suggested regret for everything she had done. She tried to walk towards the door of the room, but Starlight stood in her way. The headmare had a gentle smile on her face and she placed a hoof on the smaller mare's back. "Moonlight, if you ever have an issue, you can come to Trixie or myself. I want you to know that you can trust us and that we will never hurt you. I promise that she and I will do everything in our power to help you as we do all of our students," she said in a reassuring tone.
Moonlight wanted to believe these two mares, they seemed so sincere. But she couldn't allow herself to do so, she slid past Starlight and walked the halls until she found a dorm. She slipped into an empty room and locked herself in. She didn't want any company. She sat down on the floor and once again closed her eyes, shutting herself off to the world. She calmed her breathing and then focused on it. Meditation was something she did when she needed to calm herself or to try to quiet her mind so she could find the answer to her problem. In this case, she was doing it for both reasons. She found it odd that Sunrise hadn't appeared in over a week, and she wondered if she would soon find out why.
The mysterious pony that had attacked Canterlot nearly two weeks ago had finally reached as far as he could get without swimming. He found himself at the Peaks of Peril and was relieved to put as much distance between him and the castle as he possibly could. He had spent eleven days and eleven nights constantly looking over his shoulder, feeding only when he needed to in order to keep himself from being discovered. The wind echoed through the cavern passage he had found, it was dark and he liked it, but he could smell magic on the other side. He hadn't fed in the last two days and he was starting to get hungry. His pupils shrank into slits as the smell got stronger, his appetite started to grow.
"You weaklings! Give me your food!" a gruff voice yelled out from outside the cave.
"We know that you're angry and upset, but that's no reason to be a bully. Would you ask for our food instead?", a gentle voice replied.
"No! Now give me your food! You owe me for protecting you all!" the gruff voice from before stated.
The pony galloped towards the exit of the cave and saw a primate standing there with a staff, the strange creature had a mask on his face. But it was apparent that his exit from the cave didn't go unnoticed. "And who would you be? Do you come to pay tribute to this former lackey of the Storm King?" the creature asked the pony.
The gray pony instead flashed his fangs as a warning and spread his bat wings. He wasn't in the mood for any of this. He took a single step forward and the creature turned towards him. IT was at that moment he noticed the Kirin that was standing next to the creature, she had brown fur, darker brown scales and a lighter brown mane. She was also nearly as tall as the creature was. "This is no place for any disputes or fights," she pleaded.
The two male figures both started to walk towards each other and then started to walk in a circle. The two of them were sizing each other up, neither of them were willing to make the first move without getting any sort of clue as to what the other was going to do.
"I see that you do not fear me," the primate stated.
"That's obvious, I shouldn't have anything to fear from an oversized oaf like you," was the mysterious pony's reply.
The former soldier of the Storm King's army waited until the pony's back was to the Kirin and then swiped at him with his staff, expecting a quick retreat. To his surprise, the pony leapt forward over the staff and gripped onto his unarmored shoulders.
"You will never harm these creatures ever again, you will walk away now and never return," the pony demanded.
The primate's response was to try to grab the pony with his free hand, but two fangs sunk deep into his arm. The pony wasn't going to let go that easily, but something else was wrong. The former soldier's arm started to feel like it was burning. Not only that, he could feel a little bit of his magic leaving him. The strange gray pony let go and jumped to the ground. "Hear my name and remember it well creature, I am Sunrise Standing," he boasted.
The former soldier looked at his arm and started to grab it, the feeling started to slowly spread through him and he started to run away. Sunrise knew his opponent wouldn't get far until he fell to the ground and started to feel like his whole body was on fire. He turned around to face the Kirin from before, "There's no need for you to thank me for ridding you of that buffoon," he stated.
The brown Kirin looked down at him with saddened eyes, "There was no need to resort to fighting, but I guess you did get rid of the bully. I am Fern Flare and I am the chieftain of the Kirin. I'm surprised Autumn Blaze hasn't come out to greet you yet, she is usually the most excitable of us all. You do look tired and hungry from a long journey," she stated.
Sunrise nodded, "I could use some rest and food, thank you," he replied calmly and politely.
Fern Flare nodded and led him into the village, it had been a while since they had gotten any pony visitors, but they were all happy to meet the new mysterious pony. A blue Kirin walked up to him and placed a crown of flowers on his head with a smile and a wink. This caused the vampony to shudder slightly. He wasn't used to being showered with praise or shown any sort of affection, it was unsettling to him to say the least.
He started to shy away from the Kirin, not wanting the attention and fearing that if rumor got out that he was there, he'd be quickly found by the Canterlot guards. He started to walk away, but a green Kirin ran up to him and gave him an apple. He didn't want to seem rude, so he grabbed the apple and placed it in his mouth, biting into it. It tasted foul, like all other food he had eaten in the last few years. It was a distant memory of his, eating food that others ate. He forced himself to eat the rest of the apple with a forced smile on his face, even though he couldn't stand the taste.
The green Kirin smiled and went about her day as Sunrise continued to try to find some sort of solitude in this village. However, that wasn't going to happen. A white coated Kirin with green scales and an orange mane walked up to him. "Hi, I heard that you're the savior of the village. We Kirin would've handled it ourselves, but our leader, Fern Flare doesn't want us to repeat the same mistakes we once made. You see, when we get angry, we tend to turn into Nirik and she was trying to ensure that all of us remained calm. Oh my goodness, you are a strange pony, I've never seen your kind before. These wings look different from my friend's and your eyes don't look the same as they do. Oh, but I'm getting ahead of myself, I'm Autumn Blaze! What's your name?" she said rapidly and excitedly.
"I'm surprised you didn't hear it when I told that creature that was attacking your village my name," the vampony said, amused a little.
"I was out around the edge of my village, I was looking for some more flowers, because I like flowers. So does every other Kirin, I also like putting on performances and plays for my fellow Kirin. Do you have anything you like to do?" the orange maned Kirin said, still talking fast.
Sunrise could tell that she was very excited, but everything before a few years ago was a blur. It's as if none of that existed, as far as he could remember, he focused on one thing and one thing only. Making sure that Moonlight Gleam suffered as much as possible. Was it for revenge? Was it something he was ordered to do? Was it just his fate? These were questions he didn't have the answer to. He raised a hoof to his face in a vain attempt to try to coax anything out of his mind, but nothing came.
"You look like you're in thought, is something wrong?" Autumn Blaze asked, concerned for her new potential friend.
The vampony started to feel the hunger start to rise. What little magic he had taken on his way here and from that creature he had fought wasn't enough to satisfy him. He needed more to sustain himself. He was out here alone with this lone Kirin, he could feast off her magic without anyone knowing. But something in the back of his mind told him not to. This was an innocent who had a lot of friends. It wasn't worth the risk to feed on a little bit of her magic. He stood up and started to try to leave.
"Where are you going? Can I follow? I'd like to get to know you!" The Kirin quickly stated.
"You don't want to follow me, I'm a monster. I have been for as long as I can remember," Sunrise warned.
"You don't seem to be a monster. A monster wouldn't help out my village!" Autumn Blaze replied.
The vampony raised his hoof at her, he muttered a simple incantation under his breath and the Kirin's eyes started to grow heavy. She started to wobble about and her stance became unsteady. She tried to keep herself awake, but it was to no avail. He caught her before she fell completely asleep and gently placed her on the ground. "Forgive me, but I cannot risk you following me," he said.
Sunrise wandered through the woods, trying to get away from all of the Kirin and their delicious magic. He didn't want to bring harm to any of them. He figured that if he could lay low and only feed off of the natural magic in the land, he would be able to survive. But he didn't know how he would do so, despite the fact that this land was full of it. Back home, it wasn't the same. The land did have a lot of magic, but the people had more. His mouth opened and he started to salivate at the thought of draining something of a bit of their magic. Not all of it, but just enough that it'd sate his hunger.
His body turned around on its own, he started walking towards the village again. He started trying to fight his instincts, none of the Kirin deserved this. He could tell that none of them had ever met Moonlight, they didn't have her stink on them. He tried to pull his body away from the path that he was walking, but his legs didn't listen. The hunger started to grow even further, it was consuming every ounce of his mind.
He reached the edge of the village and by that time, he was single minded. All he knew was hunger. All he wanted to do was feed. His eyes were narrowed down to paper thin slits. His fangs bared and his mouth salivating. The Kirin took notice of this and they all looked concerned. He stepped forward slowly towards one of them, causing that Kirin to back away and then run. This was a mistake. Sunrise's instincts kicked in, his wings unfurled and with a flap of them, he took to the air.
Sunrise flew towards the fleeing Kirin, screeching as he did so. The other Kirin tried to stop him with their magic, but he swerved between their magical fields. He quickly caught up with the fleeing Kirin and swooped down with a hiss. He was able to tackle her to the ground and he placed his hooves on her face. Magic entered him and he could feel the hunger start to subside, but as he feasted, his coat grew slightly darker. His eyes became a brighter red than they were before. His fangs grew a little longer and claw like protrusions burst from the ends of his wings.
The vampony let go of the Kirin, he was done feeding. His mind was no longer clouded, he could tell exactly what he just did and he was ashamed of himself. He turned to see all of the Kirin that were there behind him. They were all very irate with him and he could smell that they were on the verge of a transformation into the Nirik that he had been told. "She will recover on her own," he tried to reassure them.
This did nothing to placate them. Fern Flare stepped forward and gave him a stern look, "I do not want you to ever return to this place. I will not have you endanger my Kirin ever again!" she demanded.
Sunrise nodded and turned around, he flapped his wings for the second time since he arrived at the Peaks of Peril and started to fly away. He would need to not only put distance between himself and Canterlot, but now himself and the Peaks of Peril. He had no idea where he was going to go, but he knew deep down that he would need to find some way to gain some allies in this world. Otherwise, he'd be alone when Canterlot finally did end up finding him and he knew in the event of that happening, his only choice would be to flee. Yet, he doubted that they would allow him to get away a second time. He would try to find some answers, but he didn't know how long it'd take or if he did find help, where it would come from.
Moonlight found herself in one of the dorms of the School of Friendship. She wasn't too pleased to be here, nor was she pleased to have been tricked into coming here. A bigger pony walked into the dorm room and this caused the shrunken pony to turn around and glare at him. She noticed the orange hair on him and the beige coat. The cutie mark on the flank told her who this was. "So I'm surprised to see you here and not in a cryogenic freezing tube," the smaller mare said with a smirk.
Gallop J. Fry looked at her confused, he had no idea what she was talking about. But she walked closer to him, that same smirk on her face. "You know, find yourself in the year three thousand. End up with a nice cycloptic pony with purple hair. Delivering packages throughout the universe on a ship that moves the universe around it," she continued teasing.
"Listen, I don't know what you're talking about, I'm just here to pick up my books. You're going to be late for your next class if you don't come with," the stallion replied.
The mare's face turned stoic and her teasing nature dropped instantly, "I'm not going," she said.
"Why not, Professor Sweetie Belle has the best classes. She makes learning fun," Gallop asked as a frown crossed his features.
"I don't want to be here in the first place, and you're no fun anyhow, not getting any of my references while I was trying to tease you about your name," Moonlight stated coldly.
"Headmare Starlight says that it's not nice to tease anyone," the stallion said to her sternly.
The investigator didn't care, she shoved past him despite her smaller stature and walked into the halls of the school. She was going to skip classes, she had already dealt with high school and had graduated. She walked through the halls, avoiding students and teachers alike. She wanted nothing to do with this school and she was determined to find a way out. By chance she found the front door of the school and she started to wave one of her front hooves in an attempt to cast a spell, but nothing happened.
Much to her annoyance, the sound of hooves hitting the ground sounded behind her. It was faint, but the fact it was getting louder meant that whoever it was, was heading her way. Moonlight looked around quickly for some place to hide. She found some potted plants, but quickly surmised that she wasn't small enough to hide behind those. The shrunken mare cursed her luck and turned to face whoever was walking toward her with a grimace on her face.
Her expression became one of confusion when she saw who it was. They had a coat of orange, a mane and beard of a deeper orange and were wearing glasses. This distracted her long enough for an unfamiliar sound to go off behind her and suddenly she was lifted off the ground in a blue magical field. "Hey! Let go of me!" she yelled as she started to struggle and kick against it.
"Your first day here and you're already trying to skip school. That's not a worthwhile use of your or anyone else's time," said the headmare from behind her.
"I said, LET GO!" Moonlight screamed.
"No, you're going to your scheduled class, young lady!" Starlight sternly replied as she started dragging the shrunken unicorn to her class.
"I'm twenty-two!" the investigator growled.
"I'm forty-six!" the purple unicorn replied in turn.
This shut Moonlight up, she knew that she had nothing that she could say that wouldn't get her smacked across the face so she kept her comments to herself. She continued to silently struggle all the way across the school, not caring anymore that ponies were watching her. The door to a classroom opened and she was placed in the class.
"Professor Sweetie Belle, this is your tardy student. If she's found to be tardy again, she'll be given detention," the headmare stated to the teacher.
An alabaster unicorn with a purple striped mane looked at the investigator with green eyes. "If you would take a seat, we could get this lesson underway," she said with a smile on her face.
The magical aura gently placed moonlight on the ground and she walked to a chair. She placed her front hooves on it and tried to pull herself up, but she hadn't quite figured it out yet. She backed up and bent her knees to jump, but a pale green aura encompassed her, "I heard rumors from the Princess, but I guess it's true that you aren't used to being a pony," the teacher said gently.
Moonlight didn't enjoy this, but she also could feel a familiar stare, "The shaman did this to me, Luster, in case you are wondering why I'm smaller than the last time you saw me. Your precious Princess and her decided that this would be the best course of action to teach me a lesson of seeing things from a different perspective or something. I don't really care," she stated harshly.
Luster Dawn recoiled at this, she was expecting some rudeness from the now smaller unicorn, but she wasn't expecting that. Sweetie Belle on the other hand didn't tolerate the rude outburst. She walked over to the new student with a frown on her face and looked down at her. This was the first time another pony had done this to the investigator and she was a little bit intimidated. "If you continue to be rude, you will be sent to in school suspension. As much as I would hate to do that to a new student, rules are rules," she said in a stern voice.
No one would've expected the reaction that came from the shrunken unicorn. She recoiled a little, realizing that she was small in a big world. "Yes m-ma'am," the investigator spoke timidly.
The teacher walked back to their desk and went back to her lesson, "Alright students, what are the six elements of Harmony?", she asked the class.
A voice spoke up behind the investigator, "Why don't we let the new girl answer?"
Sweetie Belle looked at the dark blue unicorn, "Moonlight, do you know the six elements of harmony?"
Moonlight shook her head, "I haven't learned any of them," she said truthfully.
The teacher smiled, "You demonstrated one of the six, honesty," she said.
This surprised the shrunken pony, she wasn't exactly expecting that outcome. She then felt a hoof on her shoulder and then Luster's voice spoke out, "Professor, the other five are Kindness, Laughter, Generosity, Loyalty, and Magic. A good example of Generosity and Kindness are my friend Floral Blossom agreeing to give Moonlight a place to live when she first arrived in Equestria."
Sweetie Belle nodded with a smile and turned to her chalk board, "That was very good, Luster Dawn," she said.
The teacher started to draw six different symbols on the chalk board and everyone else started to take notes, but Moonlight wasn't able to grip her pencil properly or the paper. She felt terrible, but the stallion from earlier's voice spoke up, "Professor, is it okay if Moonlight Gleam uses my notes to study for the test this week?" he asked.
The alabaster pony turned her head, "Moonlight hasn't been in our class long enough to take the test at the end of the week. She will be exempt from it, Gallop. But, that was very kind of you to offer," she said.
Moonlight started to feel bad, despite everything she had done, these ponies still wanted to be around her. They cared for her, they were kind to her. She cracked a smile, but quickly hid her face to keep everyone from seeing it. "Professor, can I come up to the front of the class?" she tried to ask, muffled by her muzzle being in her chest.
"What was that?"
She moved her face away from her chest and looked up, "I wanted to know if I could come up to the front of the class. I... haven't introduced myself yet and I'm a new student after all," she said.
Sweetie Belle smiled widely, this was a spectacular idea. She nodded enthusiastically and the dark blue unicorn hopped off her chair and walked to the front of the class. She poked the teacher on the leg, "Um... I'd have a little more confidence if you'd let me stand on a chair," she said timidly.
The teacher smiled and used her magic to lift the filly-sized mare onto a chair. She gently placed her on the seat and the investigator looked down at the floor, "I've been rude to some of you for a while and I think you should know the truth about me. As the professor said, I'm still getting used to being a pony. I'm not from this world. Where I come from, Ponies are from toys and cartoons that I grew up watching as a little girl. My name is Moonlight Gleam, and I guess you could call me an exchange student," she said without looking up.
Her head moved up and her eyes became sharp, she looked around the entire room to see the reactions of everyone. "Despite my stature, I'm a full grown adult. This was done to me by the shaman of the forest, the one you all know as Zecora. She was the one who brought me to this school against my will as well. She said that the Princess believes I have something to learn from all of this," she started to explain her position.
Laughter erupted from some of the ponies in the back, but a glare from the small unicorn shut them up. "Professor, I would like to be excused from the rest of the class if you will. You already said that I am exempt from the test this week," Moonlight requested.
Sweetie Belle put a hoof on her chin and sighed, "I guess you do have a point, but if the Princess of Friendship says that you need to learn about Friendship, then it wouldn't do for you to miss any of your lessons," she said.
The pink unicorn was quick to respond to that, "Professor, you know how studious I am and how much of a good student I am. Not only that, but the Princess tasked me with trying to share the magic of friendship with her. I can be her personal tutor," she offered.
The teacher clapped her front hooves together, "That's a wonderful idea, Luster. You and Moonlight may have the rest of the class off," she stated.
The two unicorns got out of their seats and left the class. "Why did you help me like that?" the dark blue one asked.
"Simple, you didn't feel comfortable in that class. Not only that, the two bullies there were going to try to give you a hard time for being a blank flank and I didn't want to see you get hurt," replied Twilight's student.
Moonlight walked in the direction of her dorm, followed closely by the larger unicorn. "There's more to you than you're letting on, Moonlight, why don't you be honest with us?" Luster asked.
"The less you know about the truth, the safer you and everyone you care about will be," came the cold reply from the filly-sized unicorn.
"How will you know we won't be safe unless you put your trust in us?" the pink mare replied.
Moonlight suddenly regretted showing herself as vulnerable and trying to be part of the class. Anger bubbled up inside of her and she stopped suddenly, causing the larger unicorn to run into her. She grit her teeth as she tried to work through everything and she turned around to look Luster Dawn in the eye. "Because the less you know about the truth, the less chances that he will try to come after you. All you need to know is that trying to get too close to me is dangerous and I don't care what your blasted Princess of Friendship told you to do. I have to keep my distance from all of you or I will be putting you all in danger. If you cannot accept that, then you are a fool!" she snapped
The student of Twilight Sparkle was left stunned as the smaller unicorn stormed off. It was a strange experience, neither of them had expected that experience. A frown crossed Luster's face. Despite all of the tenderness that Moonlight seemed to show, she wouldn't let friendship take root in her heart. Doubts formed in her mind and she came to realize that she would need to speak to one of the council of friendship about this, but she started to wonder just which one would the right one to go to.
Moonlight Gleam sat upon a hill the day after the party had happened, this was her favorite place to sit and think. The wind blew threw her mane and her hair as she sat under a tree. It was a peaceful day and she was alone just like she wanted to be. She had to admit that the party was nice, but she couldn't allow herself to get close to anyone. A familiar sound popped off next to her to interrupt her good day.
"My my, I heard that you were rude to my dear Fluttershy," an unfamiliar voice said to her.
Her head snapped to face the voice, it was the strangest mishmash of creatures she had ever seen. It didn't take her at all long to figure out who this was, "Discord, I presume?" she asked.
"My my, you are the studious little investigator." the draconequus replied.
This unsettled the mare, her guard was instantly thrown up and if she could figure out how to cast a spell, she'd raise a barrier around herself. She didn't trust this creature and she wasn't shy about showing it.
"I see, you're right to not trust me. You were mean to Fluttershy and no one is rude to Fluttershy on my watch!", Discord threatened.
For a reason unknown to her, Moonlight's confidence vanished. It was replaced by fear, she wanted to run and she turned to try. A snap of the draconequus' fingers turned the ground into a thick mud. "You aren't going anywhere until you apologize to Fluttershy!" was the next threat from the spirit of chaos.
Moonlight tried to track her way through the thick gunk, but another snap caused it to solidify around her hooves, only giving her enough room to not harm her. She struggled to get out to no avail, only finding the ground around her legs tighten around them. The investigator was truly stuck. She gripped at the ground with her teeth trying to dig it up, she didn't like the taste of it, but a snap from Discord made her mouth vanish.
She struggled to make any sort of noise, but when the red eyes of the draconequus stared into her own, her heart stopped beating in her chest. Time seemed to stop for her. She couldn't breathe, she couldn't so much as twitch. The fury from the creature in front of her gripped her in an icy cold grip. She was paralyzed with fear. "You want your mouth back, don't you?" he taunted in a voice that made ice form around her.
This confused her, but her mind had no time to dwell on the facts. The cold was getting to her, she was shivering. She was terrified and she tried to look away from Discord, but he kept moving to where she would turn her head. She eventually gave up and her eyes pleaded to the spirit of chaos to stop this madness. "Oh fine, but only because you need it to apologize to my dear Fluttershy," he said, annoyed.
A snap returned her mouth to her and she had a gasping breath, she could feel her heart slam in her chest. She looked down and away from the draconequus, "P-please, let me go. I'll do whatever you ask me to," she sputtered.
"Excellent!" Discord exclaimed, happy to hear what he wanted to hear.
Another portal open and a soft and gentle voice yelled, "Discord! You let her go right now! When I told you that she was a bit rude to me, this wasn't necessary!"
"But, Fluttershy! She agreed to apologize to you!"
"I don't care! You promised not to do this anymore!"
"Fine!"
A snap from the spirit of chaos freed Moonlight who immediately started to gallop away in fear of all that was happening. She had encountered aberrations who were more monster than they were human and she encountered people who were just inherently monstrous within. But this was something different, it defied all the laws of physics and the theory of magic that she had learned. It was chaos, pure and simple.
Adrenaline surged through her and she kept running, constantly checking behind her to see if she was being followed. During one of these moments, she didn't notice a portal open up in front of her and she ran into it, slamming face first into a wall and disorienting herself.
"Oh my, are you alright, Moonlight?" a voice behind her asked.
She shook her head, she wasn't alright. She was in pain and disoriented. Everything seemed to be doubled for her. She stood up and tried to take a step, but she came crashing to the ground. "I think I might have a concussion, I don't know how bad. Hey how come there are two of you right now, Fluttershy?" the investigator asked, obviously dizzy as she stood back up.
"Oh no no! We have to get you to bed right away! I'll go get Zecora as soon as possible!" Fluttershy said as she tried to wrap one of Moonlight's hooves around her.
"Leave that witch out of it!" the unicorn exclaimed, fearful of the Zebra.
Fluttershy was not having any of it. She carried the injured unicorn to her couch and helped her on it. The pegasus put a cover over her guest, "You're going to have to stay awake for a bit and don't try to move. Discord will be here to make sure that you stay awake," she said.
Moonlight's heart sank in her chest as the yellow Pegasus left the cottage. The Draconequus was very opportunistic. He approached the wounded unicorn with a smile on her face, but was shocked when instead of the fear that he saw in her eyes earlier, it was a death glare. The unicorn was furious at him, "You caused this, you arrogant freak!" she hissed.
"Oh it was all in good fun, you needed to learn a lesson anyway", the bored draconequus replied.
"Is that all you have to say? You want me to apologize for being rude to your pegasus friend and yet you think it's okay that I'm nursing a concussion!?" the investigator snapped back.
The two of them looked each other in the eyes closer, both of them sporting a glare. It was apparent that neither of them liked each other. "Get out of my face, now," threatened Moonlight.
"Or what? I don't know if you noticed, but I am the Lord of Chaos. You wouldn't be able to do anything to me if you tried. I mean look at yourself, you're not even really threatening to begin with. Oh I'm so scaaared of your glare. Get over yourself, Investigator. This isn't your home where some random aberration lives in fear of you because you hold a device that lets you use light magic," Discord taunted.
A cruel smile crossed the draconequus' features. Moonlight was taken aback, she was left on the back hoof as it were. How could this creature know so much about her, how could he know about her world? How could he know about what she did? She had to press further. "How do you know about my world, how do you know about me ?" she asked, her frustration with the creature rising.
"Oh, just a lucky guess is all. You're not very hard to figure out anyhow," Discord taunted again.
The unicorn wasn't at all amused by this, she turned around to face away from the Lord of Chaos. She was annoyed by his antics, no longer afraid now that her mind could work out what was going on. The creature that was near her used chaos magic, it was a branch of theoretical magic that defied everything they knew about magic. A spell that was intended to turn something into a teacup would instead create a hippo. No one was allowed to practice it where she came from because no one could control it. At best it would fail spectacularly, at worst it would cause the end of the world as they knew it.
She shut her eyes as she could feel drowsiness take hold, but cymbals slammed together loudly next to her ears. This startled her awake, "Ah ah ah, I promised Fluttershy that I would keep you awake til she got back," Discord said to her.
She wanted to argue, but he was right, even if she didn't like his methods. She couldn't risk going to sleep with a concussion like she had, she had to remain awake until she was cleared by a doctor to go to sleep. She looked up at the ceiling and held out one of her hooves to see her vision was clearing, The two hooves that she saw were merging back into one. She groaned and held her head, it was still pounding and she still felt a bit dizzy. "Just... leave me alone, I can stay awake on my own," she said with a moan.
There was no response to her, much to her delight. She stared at the ceiling, focusing on the wood of the cottage. It wasn't much but it allowed her to try to at least focus her vision to stop the double vision issue. Her eyes started to focus properly again as the vision problems faded, but her headache didn't. The unicorn sighed a bit as she looked towards the window across from her. She didn't have anything to keep her occupied. Not even a book.
The door opened and Fluttershy entered with Zecora, "She's on the couch," the yellow pegasus said panicked.
The zebra walked over to the unicorn and looked her over, "She is bigger than I last saw her. Maybe she is moving past her flaws," she stated.
"Headache... won't go away. Still dizzy. Want to vomit. Please, get a bucket," Moonlight said quietly.
"You took a blow to the head. Perhaps next time you should take things slow?" Zecora stated.
"Hate you... so much right now," The unicorn replied.
Fluttershy retrieved a bucket and placed it next to the couch, the investigator leaned her head into it and she threw up into it. A potion was brought out by the shaman leading to fear in the unicorn. "Relax my pony friend, this potion will tell me what's wrong. Depending on how bad you are, you might need to take a pill," she rhymed.
Moonlight nodded, she didn't want to resist. The potion was poured on her and spread all over her body. It started to glow around her head. "Ah, I see. There is no reason to worry. A little rest for her would be the best," Zecora cheerfully stated.
"Are you sure, she was in really bad shape when I left," the pegasus asked, curious as to why her friend said this.
"She is healing on her own. She will need to rest for a few days, but once she's done, it will probably be best for her to return to her studies," the shaman reported.
"Thank you, Zecora," Fluttershy said to the Zebra with a smile.
The two of them shared a smile with each other, confusing Moonlight. She looked down to the ground which got a gasp from the yellow pegasus. "Are you alright, Moonlight?" she asked concerned.
"Zecora, thank you for checking up on me. And Fluttershy, I'm sorry for being rude to you a few days ago. It was uncalled for," she said quietly enough to where only the two of them could hear her. Unbeknownst to her though, Discord heard it as well. The Draconequus appeared out of nowhere with a smile and winked at Moonlight who growled when she felt it. "Oh you don't have to be such a sourpuss," Discord replied.
"You are very welcome, my pony friend. You are however looking a little bony, perhaps Fluttershy can feed you better," the zebra said with a smile.
Zecora left the cottage and the pink maned pegasus walked over to her guest, "If you ever need anything, just ring the bell next to your couch. I'll be here to help you in any way you need," she said with a smile.
Moonlight nodded her head and Fluttershy started to turn around. The unicorn quickly grabbed the pegasus who turned around with a smile. "Thank you for being so hospitable towards me despite everything," the investigator said with a weak smile.
"It's nothing, I'm sure if given half the chance, you'd do the same for me," the pegasus replied.
The dark blue unicorn let go of her host. She was left staring at the ceiling with that comment as doubts entered her mind. She wasn't entirely sure if given half the chance or even a whole chance to do the same that she would. She looked at her hoof and quickly came to realize that no, she wouldn't have. She was unable to sleep as her thoughts quickly turned to who she had become. She was confused as to when she changed and how slowly it was for her to not notice it. A chuckle escaped her lips, if anyone was going to be able to help her, it'd be that Discord creature. He knew more about her than he let on, that wasn't a lucky guess. But she didn't know of any way to make him talk. She rolled over and closed her eyes, quickly drifting off to sleep.
Twilight Sparkle sighed as she laid down for the night, it wasn't easy for her to do the jobs of both the former Princesses. She knew that she would have to scan the dream realm to ensure that none of her subjects were having nightmares before she went to sleep, but she was just extremely tired. She closed her eyes and started to concentrate as Luna had taught her, she pushed her presence outwards towards the kingdom. Colors started to fade around her until they became a blue void with bubbles floating around her. Dreams of the myriad creatures that existed within the borders of Equestria. Everyone was having such pleasant dreams, a good change of pace for her. She thought that this job would be easy tonight and smiled about that.
One bubble floated in her face, it was her student, Luster Dawn. She was dreaming about writing a report to the Princess. This filled the alicorn with pride until she realized that the message in the dream was a doubtful one. Her student wasn't entirely sure that she was going to be able to share the message of friendship with one very stubborn unicorn. Twilight concentrated on the dream and entered it.
"Luster," she called out to her student.
"Princess, what are you doing here? I'm sorry that I'm failing you!" the pink unicorn exclaimed.
"You haven't failed me. But perhaps I could assuage your fears by having you come with me into Moonlight's dream. She has been asleep for a while," the princess said with a smile.
The younger unicorn walked over to the alicorn who wrapped her wing around her student and nuzzled gently. "I know that you have doubts that you can do this, this is normal. When I was your age, I had doubts about many things, Luster, but my friends were always there to ensure that I'd see things through and they always worked out in the end," Twilight assured her student.
"I guess I still have a lot to learn, then. Thank you, Princess," Luster replied.
Twilight's facial features suddenly sharpened, surprising her student and causing the unicorn to reel back. The pink pony was worried that she had failed her teacher. "The one who taught me how to dream walk was better at this than I am, but it would seem that Moonlight is having a nightmare," the princess reported.
The alicorn princess wrapped her wing around her student and concentrated, she brought the unicorn across the dreamscape and towards one particular bubble. "This is going to be a bit strange at first, but please bear with it," she said to calm her student.
The two of them entered the bubble and were greeted with nothing but darkness, they couldn't see anything that was near them. Twilight tried to concentrate and gather her magic, but that wasn't able to cut through the darkness around them. She looked around to try to find any sort of light, but she found nothing. She could hear nothing. When she looked down, she couldn't see or feel her own student with her. "Luster!" she exclaimed, terrified.
She started to look around, hoping that Luster Dawn had joined her in the dream and was only just lost in this shared dream. She had no idea what she'd be able to do if her student was lost in the dreamscape itself. The princess cursed herself for her carelessness. There was a rumbling behind her and she turned around to see a massive monster looking down at her. This didn't surprise the alicorn, she knew of Moonlight's other nightmares, none of them were what anyone could call mundane.
The shadows retreated to reveal her student standing in a field, the two ponies ran to each other and hugged each other. "I was so worried when I couldn't find you, Princess!" Luster exclaimed.
"I was scared that you had gotten lost!" Twilight said, fighting back tears.
The two shared a hug that was interrupted by distant sobbing. The two ponies looked towards the source and they silently nodded to each other. The alicorn led the unicorn towards the source of the crying. The two of them walked quietly as the sound became louder. Luster was surprised when she didn't see a pony as the source, but rather a young human woman. She had dark blue skin and faded yellow hair, but the unicorn couldn't believe this was the same Moonlight she knew.
A ball of flame flew through the middle of the three of them, causing the two ponies to look towards the source. It was a full grown woman with long faded yellow hair and dark blue skin. There was a sharp look in her eyes. "I don't think I invited either of you into my head. Now get away from me," she threatened.
Twilight Sparkle rolled her eyes and her horn lit up. A barrier formed around her and her student, she wasn't in the mood for fighting. Much to her surprise, Luster tried to break through it. "Luster!" she called out.
"Someone has to reach out to her, if I don't... then who will? She's angry, sure, but she's also alone!" the student replied bravely.
The barrier was dropped and Moonlight Gleam aimed the next fireball at the unicorn before her, a glare on her face. "You're not going to throw it at me Moonlight, I know that there is good within you. I know that you care about me, you were so happy at the party that Pinkie threw for you. Please, put the fireball away," Luster Dawn pleaded.
The fireball grew in size, turning blue. "Put the fireball down, Moonlight," Twilight finally threatened.
"Get out of my head," was the woman's only reply. Her voice as cold as ice.
"It's okay, my teacher. I don't think she'll throw it at me. She doesn't want to hurt me deep down," the unicorn reassured the Princess.
The alicorn nodded, but kept a spell at the ready in case her student was wrong. The fireball increased in size, but then suddenly shrank into a glowing white ball in Moonlight's hand. "Please Moonlight, let go of the fireball, let go of your anger. You can trust me, I'm your friend," the pink pony pleaded.
Moonlight glared at her and thrust her hand forward to throw the fireball, but the hand closed into a fist instead. The flames vanished as quickly as they had erupted to the relief of Twilight Sparkle and Luster Dawn. The two ponies watched as the woman they were familiar walked towards them much to their surprise. She didn't look pleased at all with their presence, but at least she wasn't threatening either of them anymore.
The unicorn backed up a few steps as the woman closed the distance quickly. The princess readied a telekinetic hold to stop the dark blue skinned woman. The two ponies were caught off guard when Moonlight instead walked past the pink unicorn. "I will be watching you both carefully, if you do something I dislike, I will throw you both out of my head," she warned.
Twilight didn't like Moonlight's tone, but she accepted her words. Luster however felt upset, she had tried time and time again to help the investigator, but nothing worked. She looked down at the ground and dug at it with a hoof and a frown, but the crying from before caught her attention. She walked towards the woman who couldn't have been older than eighteen.
"Moonlight?" was the only question that escaped the pony's mouth.
"Y-yeah?" replied the young woman.
It was a surprise to the student of Twilight, these two were indeed the same person. "What are you crying about?" the unicorn asked.
"I lost the person I looked up to the most and my best friend has been lost as well. I'm never going to get to see my family or friends again and I just feel so alone," the dark blue young woman replied.
"You are not alone, Moonlight. You might feel like it sometimes, but you are no longer in the world you came from. Here in Equestria, people are trying to be your friends, but you keep pushing them away," said the calm voice of the princess herself.
Twilight Sparkle walked over to the younger Moonlight and offered a hoof with a smile on her face, "You just need to take one of the hooves we've offered in friendship. You won't ever have to be alone again," she said with a smile on her face.
"I... I don't know, the other me tells me not to trust you. She doesn't like you very much and she says that if we allow you to get close it'll put you in danger. But, I want to have friends again, I want to have a family again," the young woman said sadly as she looked away.
"I understand your pain, you don't have to respond immediately. Take your time and talk to us when you are ready," Twilight stated calmly.
The older Moonlight walked back towards the three of them and the two Moonlights looked at each other. Luster found it confusing, but the princess knew exactly what was going on. They were different aspects to the personality of the woman. One of them had lied dormant until she had come to Equestria and became a pony. "Luster, what you have been doing has been having an effect on her. You just need to keep trying to awaken her dormant nicer side," she said.
The student nodded and then turned to the two versions of Moonlight gleam that stood before her. One of them wore a suit, the other wore simple clothes.
"You can't keep yourself isolated forever," said the servant girl.
"I can try," replied the cold voice of the investigator.
"Then why have I resurfaced. Why do you yearn to be me. Why do you allow yourself to be vulnerable?" replied the younger Moonlight.
The older one didn't have anything to say to this. She was right and there was nothing that she could do. She stormed off with a scowl and her fists balled up tightly. The servant girl turned to Luster Dawn and got on her knees, motioning towards the unicorn. The pink pony walked towards the nicer version of the one she had tried to be friends with for a while and was shocked when she felt two hands wrap around her in a hug.
"Luster, thank you for being nice to me. I don't know if you'll ever hear me say those words in the waking world, but I want you to know that I really do appreciate what you have done for me from the bottom of my heart. It'll be a difficult process, but I'm certain that you will be able to defrost the ice queen in due time," she said.
The unicorn returned the hug, closing her eyes and smiling, "Anything for a friend. My teacher told me that friendship lasts forever if you make it work, so I'm going to do everything I can to ensure that you and I become lifelong friends!" she replied.
Twilight Sparkle walked over and joined the hug. The three of them noticed the investigator watching this scene unfold before her very eyes. "Whatever, it's true. I do care about you guys, that's why I keep trying to keep my distance from you. If Sunrise were to find out that you were close to me, he'd go after you in order to ensure that I suffer," was the frustrated comment from the woman.
"Sunrise would be a fool to try to attack me, and if he tried to harm Luster, I would not only know, but be there in an instant. You do not have to worry about us, Moonlight, just please give friendship a chance," Twilight assured her.
"I can make no promises, but I would appreciate it if the two of you were to get out of my head. I have to reconcile with my other self," the investigator stated.
The princess nodded and grabbed her student, "Thank you, Moonlight," she said.
She left the dream of Moonlight gleam and deposited her student to her rightful dream. With no more nightmares to deal with, she exited the dreamscape and retreated to her bedchambers. The sight of a sleeping dragon on the bed next to hers caused her to smile. "Sorry I'm late, Spike," she whispered as she climbed into her bed to fall into her own dream for the night.
Morning had come and gone and Moonlight had wandered outside of Fluttershy's cottage. The guest room that she had been given was comfortable and all, but she'd much rather lay outside in the grass. It was something she enjoyed doing, the wind flowing through her hair, the sounds of nature. It was all relaxing and pleasing to her. Her eyes closed and a smile crept on her lips, the mare was content with where she was and she didn't want to go anywhere else.
"I see that you are rather enjoying yourself out here," said Discord to her left.
"Go away, Chaos," was the reply of the investigator. Her tone was more of annoyance than any genuine threat.
"But you and I could be having so much fun! What do you say!" the draconequus replied to this in his usual fashion.
"I believe you were asked to leave me alone by your precious Fluttershy. Unless you wish for me to go in there and tell her that you aren't allowing me to relax, you will leave me to my own devices!" Moonlight threatened.
Discord folded his arms and pouted, "Hmph. You're no fun," he said. A snap of his fingers caused him to vanish and leave the mare to continue relaxing.
The investigator closed her eyes as she had been taught, she listened to the wind and the water. Everything else became distant to her. The animals made their usual sounds near her and she lost herself to the sounds and feelings of nature. Moonlight breathed in gently and deeply as her mind finally focused. It was a calming technique that her former master had taught her to use in times of stress.
The crunching of leaves near her snapped her out of her trance and she opened her dark blue eyes to see none other than Luster Dawn standing there holding a basket of apples. "Applejack wanted me to deliver these to you, said that perhaps you could use some good food while you were recovering," the pink unicorn mare said to her.
Moonlight stood up on all fours and only gave a nod. She walked over to the apples and grabbed one with her teeth. It wasn't difficult for her to pull out and she grasped it between both her front hooves as she sat down. The investigator started to chew on the apple with a neutral look on her face. Luster however was smiling at this. "So how do you like it?" the student of Twilight asked.
"It's juicy and sweet, I prefer my apples to be a bit more tart than this, apologies," was the only reply from the investigator.
There was silence between the two, the pink unicorn kept smiling at the dark blue one. This put the investigator on edge, her face twisting from a neutral expression to a scowl. She didn't like being watched as closely as this. "Ask your question, Luster. I know you were there in the dreamscape, I threatened you there," she demanded in an angry tone.
"Who was that woman that you were so adamant about protecting?" was the question from the curious unicorn.
This caught Moonlight completely off guard. Her scowl was traded for a look of bewilderment. She didn't expect this question even though she should've. Normally the annoying persistence of the unicorn and her friends angered her, but now it just left her confused. She was at a loss for words and left on the back hoof for once in her life. She stood up and started to walk away as thoughts and memories she had buried deep within her mind started to surface.
"Moonlight?"
The dark blue unicorn turned around to see Fluttershy standing there with Luster. She knew that she wasn't going to be able to get far and she had a feeling that she wasn't going to be able to get out of answering this question. She sighed and looked down at the ground, pawing at it with her hoof.
She couldn't run anymore, she couldn't hide. She couldn't fight back as Discord would be there watching to make sure that no harm came to Fluttershy. She was backed into a corner, her face twisted in pain and anger as she looked up. "Fine, you want to know who that was? That was me! I used to not be like this, but Sunrise turned to dark magic to get revenge on me. I wasn't allowed to grow close to anyone or he'd go after them to make me suffer," she said in a low voice.
"Oh my, that's horrible," the yellow Pegasus said with a gasp and a hoof in front of her mouth.
"I've not been able to live a normal life in the last four years. That person that you saw in the dreamscape, the person that I was trying to protect from you and Twilight? That was me back then. She's who I once was and I would love nothing more..." the dark blue unicorn said in the same low voice.
She raised her hoof and looked at it, her facial features softened. She was hurting inside, fighting tears that were trying to stream down her face. The investigator closed her eyes and let out a heavy and saddened sigh. "To go back to that. I used to be so carefree and happy despite the fact that I came from a poor background. My family, we didn't have much of anything while I was growing up. I didn't even get to go to a normal school. When I was fourteen, I got a job at the nearby self-defense school and lied about my age. I was nothing more than a servant girl that brought tea to the teacher and the students and cleaned up the gear. It was hard work, but it was honest and it made me happy. It didn't take long for Cloud Runner to find out the truth, but he was able to enroll me into high school. He cared about me as if I was his own family and when I was old enough for him to pay me for his work, he made sure to pay me more than what my wages were so that my Mom and Dad could have a living too," she said sadly.
"I... I didn't know. You had things so hard growing up. That must be the reason why you're so afraid to let people get close," Luster said.
"My socioeconomic status has nothing to do with it. Back in high school, I was a social butterfly. I didn't have much at all growing up, but I treasured what I had and I was happy. Sure, I didn't have the latest games or the fanciest gadgets. But, there was warm food on the table every night, we ate well. We could afford some basic clothes to keep us warm. My needs were taken care of, but it was Sunrise that caused me to become like this. He... no, I'm not going to tell you the full story, it's better if you don't hear it," Moonlight replied.
"You have to trust us if you want us to help you," the pink unicorn stated.
Moonlight's facial features returned to the scowl she had before, she knew when she was being pushed. She hated it constantly, memories of her being called into the director's office surfaced in her head. Her teeth gritted as she remembered how he would always try to push her for more information, unlike his predecessor who was very nice to her due to her particular circumstances.
"Is everything okay, Moonlight?" Fluttershy asked, concerned for her guest.
The dark blue unicorn shot the pegasus a glare, she didn't want to answer any more questions. She stormed inside the cottage and slammed the door behind her, startling a few of the animals and stormed into her room. She flopped on the bed and punched her pillow with a hoof. She was furious at this, first these ponies enter her head without her permission and now they continue to keep getting her to drop her guard.
She wondered what it was about this world that kept causing this to happen. Back where she came from, it wasn't a problem to keep up her cold and distant persona. No one tried to approach her, no one tried to talk to her. She was left alone and she enjoyed that. The unicorn looked out the window and she could hear the birds chirping and she tried to use the calming technique that she had learned years ago, but her mind was too deep in turmoil. The sun shined on her face and she could feel the warmth of it. She started to remember the picnics that she had gone on before Sunrise had sworn revenge on her. She enjoyed eating the cooking of others and she enjoyed the sweets.
"Moonlight..." a faint voice spoke out to her, it sounded familiar to her.
Her head shot up from the bed and started to look around. She had no idea what she was hearing, but it sounded like someone from her past. "Who are you?" she asked.
There wasn't any answer, she looked around to see if there was anything near her again. When she found nothing was around her, she looked down and laid back down in the bed, disappointed. She wanted an answer, she wanted to know what was going on, but she wasn't fully recovered yet and she knew it. She would have to rest some more before she went out to investigate this new mystery.
She reached for a glass of water and sipped at it quietly. She opened up a book and started to read it. It was a Daring Do novel, not something she was interested in normally, but it at least passed the time. A few hours passed as she read the book before a knock on her bedroom door broke her out of her concentration. "Come in," she said instinctively.
Fluttershy walked into the room with a bowl of food and a glass of water. "I'm sorry for disturbing you. I know you want to be left alone, but I figured you could use something to eat and drink," she said timidly.
The yellow pegasus placed the bowl and glass on a table next to her guest and turned to walk away. She reached the door before a sigh stopped her and she winced, thinking that she had annoyed her guest.
"Fluttershy, thank you for the food and drink and the hospitality. I'm sorry for being so hostile, it's not your fault that I'm like this. I hope that once this whole thing with Sunrise is taken care of, you and I can be friends," Moonlight said calmly.
The pink maned pegasus smiled and didn't notice as the unicorn grew a little again. "I look forward to the time we can be friends, Moonlight. I know that deep down, you're a really good and kind pony, I just wish that you would allow yourself to show this side of you," the pegasus replied
The investigator didn't have a response, she fell silent knowing that deep down she wished that she could show this side of her too. But ultimately, she didn't trust any of the ponies, she didn't believe that they would be able to stop Sunrise if he were to try to attack them. She started to eat the meal that she was brought by her host with a heavy sigh. She was going to have to go back to the School of Friendship once she recovered from her concussion. Her thoughts turned towards the professors and fellow students that would try to keep teaching her how to make friends. All she could do is groan as she fell back onto the bed and closed her eyes. She just knew that the day after the next was going to be a very long day for her.
The bell rang and Luster Dawn smiled as she left her classroom with her friends. The five of them had been very excited to get some time to relax during the break of the weekend. She walked back to their shared dorm room to pack up as they idly chatted about their plans for the weekend. Ginger was going to head up to Cloudsdale to watch the Wonderbolts. Floral Blossom was going to spend time with her family. Gallop J. Fry was going to try practicing tricks with his skateboard. Yarwood was going to do what yaks did best, smash. But Luster didn't have any plans.
She opened the door to the dorm and waved her friends goodbye, she'd see them again on Monday. She turned to see a dark blue mare standing in the room, she was none too pleased to have been interrupted. "Do you mind, I'm trying to learn how to use my magic. I would dearly like to be able to undo the effect of that the potion that Shaman tricked me into drinking. Or better yet, return to my human self," the mare quipped.
The pink mare smiled, her orange and yellow mane bounced as she nodded when she found something she could do over the weekend. "I can teach you how to use magic, just like my teacher taught me!" she exclaimed.
Moonlight looked her in the eye, her dark blue eyes looking into the pink unicorn's orange eyes. Neither of them flinched, the dark blue mare became uneasy at the smile the pink mare had on her face. She backed up a few steps and tensed up, but Twilight's student didn't chase her. She knew that her classmate would need some space to get used to opening herself up. She instead concentrated on her horn and made it light up with an orange glow. This startled the other unicorn who instinctively tried to cast a spell to counter, but nothing happened. "Relax Moonlight, I'm just showing you where unicorns cast their spells from. We have horns for that reason," Luster said in a soothing voice.
"So what you're saying is, all I have to do is focus my spell into my horn?", the dark blue mare asked.
The pony that was trying to be her mentor felt a bit of pride and she smiled with a nod, "Yeah! It's simple!" she said.
Moonlight closed her eyes and focused all of the magic she could muster into her horn, she was going to try a basic light sphere spell. Her horn glowed with a faint blue glow that intensified rapidly. A sphere of light formed at the end of Moonlight's horn and she released it into the air. The sphere illuminated the room more than the lights had, but it wasn't so bright that Luster had to look away, "You did it, Moonlight!" the pink unicorn exclaimed.
The student of Twilight wasn't ready for what her student was going to do next. She found herself unable to move as she was lifted off the ground in a telekinetic hold. She found herself crashing to the ground swiftly afterwards as the aura vanished. She was surprised and sore at this, but she figured she'd give Moonlight a chance to explain herself. She stood up and looked at her fellow unicorn who was holding her own head with a hoof. A classic sign of a unicorn overexerting themselves.
She frowned as she walked towards the pained unicorn, "Why did you try to lift me up?" she asked.
"So that I could be sure I could move people out of the way or if need be, to safety," Moonlight replied coldly.
Luster wasn't sure about the honesty of this statement, but the other unicorn looked out to the window. As if a voice was calling to her. The dark blue unicorn shook her head, "Why is there suddenly a voice calling me now?" she asked.
The pink unicorn had no idea, but she knew who would. "Come, we'll go to Canterlot and ask my teacher. It'll be a great excuse to get some out of the school, plus I'm sure you'll be able to ask the Princess if she'll restore you to your normal size!" she excitedly exclaimed.
Moonlight showed visible uncertainty, but she had no other options. She nodded ever so slightly to confirm that she will accompany the pink unicorn. Luster smiled and led her friend out of the school and to the train station. She knew that her student wasn't one for talking much unless she had to and she knew that if she pushed any further, it would cause her to snap and that'd ruin any progress she was making.
The lead unicorn ordered two tickets for a train and they boarded for Canterlot. Moonlight immediately appeared unsettled by the idea of being on a train. Her eyes grew widened, she started to shake a bit. Luster helped the other unicorn into a seat, but the dark blue mare's anxiety furthered. The whistle of the train to signal that it was going to start moving sounded off, causing the smaller unicorn to jump out of her seat and start looking around.
The pink unicorn was confused at this behavior, she knew that Moonlight was afraid sometimes. But this didn't look like fear, this looked like agitation. She decided to ask her friend what was bothering her. "Moonlight, what's wrong?", she said in a concerned voice.
A spell ripped from the dark blue unicorn's horn, bathing everything in a gentle blue glow. The glow was barely noticeable by even her, and she was one of Twilight Sparkle's most gifted students. Judging from the fact that no other pony even reacted to this, it would seem that they didn't notice this. It seemed to Luster that it was a random spell, but the moment it went off, the smaller mare relaxed a bit. She climbed back into her seat and sat down, "Sorry about that, my head was pounding and I felt a bit anxious. Sunrise could've been on this train, so I cast a detect magic spell that encompassed the entire length. There isn't any dark magic," she whispered so as to not alert anyone.
"That seems incredibly useful, how long can you maintain the effect of that spell?" Luster asked.
"Roughly thirty seconds and on my own I can cast it once per day. Back when I was home, we had devices that would help us detect these aberrations so I wouldn't need to use the spell," Moonlight replied in a low voice.
It was a disappointment to the pink mare, she felt like she was going to be able to tell her teacher that there was a great new spell. She felt like the other mare was watching her carefully. "You're strong in magic, stronger than anyone else on this train," the dark blue unicorn said quietly, a hint of confusion in her voice.
It was as if her entire world view had been turned upside down, as if everything had been challenged. She knew that Moonlight didn't have a high opinion of the ponies. "So what you're saying is that I could hold my own if Sunrise were to try anything funny," Luster concluded.
Moonlight snapped out of her stupor, "You wouldn't last fifteen seconds against him. You have raw power, even more power than I do. But like me four years ago, you lack experience. He's trained his entire life to defend himself, he knows how to fight. You've lived your entire life in an era of peace, I can tell by the way you carry yourself and your lax attitude. He'd take advantage of this to take your magic and knock you out. Don't bother trying to fight him, Luster. I don't want to see any innocents getting hurt because of me," she warned bluntly.
This candor took the pink unicorn by surprise, she wasn't expecting the bluntness from her student. The dark blue unicorn stood up from her seat, "I'm going to go out back and watch the scenery go by. If you would like to join me, you're welcome to," she offered.
Luster nodded and smiled, but deep down she was confused. Her teacher had always taught her magic and had taught her to use her incredible gift for it to help others. Now she wouldn't be able to help her student with her greatest issue. It would be something she would have to bring up with her teacher, but she wasn't aware of how she would do it. She closed her eyes and sighed, wishing that her friends were there. They had always seemed to be able to point her in the right direction.
She was alone though and wasn't half the teacher her own teacher was, but a friend needed her. Even if the other mare didn't consider her a friend. She stood up and walked to the back of the train where a member of the train crew tipped their hat to her. She opened up the back door to see Moonlight leaning against the rail, standing on her back hooves. Her posture suggested that if she did fall, she would fall backwards into the train, instead of into the rail. "We don't have cabooses where I come from anymore. They were phased out when my parents were young. Seeing one up close for the first time in my life is a wonderful experience," she said with a content smile.
Luster was taken aback by this, for the first time, she saw Moonlight at peace. The smaller mare didn't have an ounce of tension in her stance or her face, she just seemed like she was enjoying herself. "I know you're standing there, Luster Dawn, you can come join me if you'd like. I told you that you're welcome to," the dark blue mare said calmly.
The pink unicorn nodded, her orange and yellow mane moving in the wind as she stepped out on to the back platform of the train. There was a silence between the two of them for a moment. But it wasn't awkward or tense, questions rose in Luster Dawn's mind, but she didn't know how to approach how to ask any of them. "You're wondering why I'm relaxed at the moment. You're also wondering how I knew it was you who had come out of the train car. Oh, and you're wondering why I'm not trying to yell at you or drive you away," Moonlight said to her with a sly smile on her face.
Luster was shocked, everything that the other unicorn had said was entirely accurate. "Y-yes, but how did you know?" she asked.
"I didn't. I merely guessed based on evidence," the dark blue mare said as she turned her head to look at the larger unicorn.
"That was a very accurate guess," the pink unicorn observed.
"It's part of my job," Moonlight pointed out.
The two of them fell silent for another couple of minutes. But then the dark blue unicorn went back to watching the scenery go by. "This is my first time ever being on a train. Typically when I have to travel long distances, my employer would book a flight for me to get where I had to go. Trains were very rare there, but I always wanted to ride one. Just getting to watch the grasslands go past, the rivers and the animals. Feeling the wind in one's hair, it's so relaxing. I... don't know if I'll ever get to go home, but if I do, I won't forget any of this. All of this is beautiful and it just makes me want to stop Sunrise even more, so that no one can harm any of this. Your world is serene and peaceful, Luster... and I envy you," she said, hiding her emotion in her voice.
Luster nodded and placed her hoof on the smaller unicorn's shoulder, "If you can't go back to your world, I hope that you can make Equestria your home. You seem like you've gone through a lot," she said.
Moonlight started to grow a little again, surprising the both of them. The dark blue unicorn didn't resist a hoof on her shoulder, but she started to wonder why she wanted to return to her world. There was constant conflict there, she had to endure going out to track down aberrations with little sleep and no help. She sighed a little and then smiled, "Perhaps I will consider staying here, this place seems better than where I came from anyhow," she said.
The pink unicorn was surprised but she smiled gently, "Twilight would tell you to not make your decision until you were sure," she said.
The two of them shared a knowing nod as the train pulled into the station. They didn't know if Twilight was in the middle of her council meeting or not, but they were determined to see her. For Luster, she was happy to be going to see her mentor once again, she couldn't wait to tell her all of the wonderful things that happened in Ponyville. For Moonlight however, she was afraid of what Twilight would do. The two of them hadn't exactly gotten along in the past. Fear gripped her mind and she gulped, but a squeeze on her shoulder told her that she wasn't alone in this. She nodded with a hint of confidence, she was ready to talk to the Princess about what was happening to her, so long as Luster was there.
Moonlight quietly entered the throne room of the castle. The purple and green dragon she had seen before was sitting in a chair next to the throne. He gave her a nod, "Twilight will be here after she gets done with a meeting. Is there anything I can do to help you?" he asked.
The mare didn't pay attention to the dragon, she walked up towards the throne and sat before it. Her pale yellow tail positioned itself in front of her as she calmly and quietly waited for the Princess to return. "Twilight's kind of busy, I could take a message for you if you want," Spike offered.
"I am not interested in her receiving a message, this is something that I need to talk with the Princess alone. I am here to request that audience. I apologize for my brusque mannerisms, but this is something of the utmost importance and I cannot risk her not receiving the full message," Moonlight retorted without even bothering to turn his way.
The dragon was surprised at the fact that the mare in front of him apologized despite everything else she had said being par for the course for her. She didn't seem like she was trying to be rude, despite her choice of words. Spike shrugged and continued looking towards the door. The investigator stretched out and rested her head on the floor. Her rest was quickly interrupted when the doors opened, getting her attention. She turned her head, hopeful that it was the Princess, but instead a griffon stood there.
The griffon's body tensed up upon seeing her, but the mare shook her head, "I am not here to fight you or the Princess. I have important business I have to discuss with her," she said in reassuring tone.
"I'm real sure you are," the griffon replied sarcastically.
"If I was here to attack the Princess, why would I have come here and not attacked her friend here to find out where she was or have tried to find out her exact location so I could fight her easier?" Moonlight asked with a smirk on her face.
She knew that the royal guardsgriffon was doing his job, but she had brought up a good point. The two of them locked eyes for a brief moment, both of their bodies tensed up as both of them prepared for the other to go on the offensive. Despite the tension between them, nothing happened. Neither of them were looking for a fight, Gallus was only doing his job of protecting the Princess and Moonlight was merely here to speak to her about the voice that kept calling out to her.
"Come find me in the Everfree Forest..." the voice rang out in her head.
She now knew where she would be able to find the voice, but her heart sank as memories of her almost perishing to those Timberwolves started to rush back. Her eyes widened, a fact that was not missed by the royal guard that was watching her like a hawk. He tensed up further as he prepared for some sort of aggressive move on Moonlight's part. But again, it never came. The mare shook her head to break free from the memories that were gripping her.
The two returned to staring at each other in silence. But a lavender alicorn stepped into the throne room. "When I left, I didn't expect to see you and Gallus here staring each other down, Moonlight," she said somewhat disappointed.
"She could still be a threat your highness," the griffon reported.
"Luster taught me how to use magic. If I had wanted to be a threat, I'd have cast a spell to get rid of you," Moonlight pointed out while tapping her horn with a hoof.
She was surprised at how sensitive it was, but the Princess of Equestria sighed at this, "Gallus is here to defend me, Moonlight. Pointing out how you could possibly be a threat to me or anyone else isn't a good way to earn friends, nor is it a good way to get the Captain of the Royal Guard to relax," the larger mare pointed out.
"I'm not surprised, but I don't really know of any other way to try. The reason I came here though is because I need to talk to you alone, or at least without that feathered brute here," the smaller mare replied.
Gallus was immediately angered by that comment, "Hey!" he yelled.
"Let it go, Gallus. I will hear her out, if she does anything aggressive, I will stop her and you can put her in the dungeon for a few days to cool her head," Twilight said calmly.
The griffon immediately smirked at the smaller mare and then saluted the Princess. He left the room and then Twilight looked at Spike who sighed, "I knew that I was going to have to leave the moment she told me that she wanted to speak to you alone," he said disappointed.
The dragon followed out of the room and the Princess assumed her throne. Moonlight stood up and there was an awkward silence between the two. The first time the two had met, the unicorn tried to attack the alicorn. The second time, she had bitten the Princess. The unicorn wasn't exactly the best example of someone that could be trusted to not be a danger to anyone.
"Come... find me..." the voice in her head said again.
Moonlight slammed her hoof into her head trying to shake the voice out, but all that did was cause her pain. She shook her head as she tried to regain her balance from the blow. This did not go unnoticed by Twilight who looked at the mare before her, worried, "Normally ponies don't hit themselves, what's wrong?"
The unicorn mare grit her teeth in anger, she was very distressed by the voice and the pain. "Someone familiar to me keeps trying to call to me, to try to get me to go see them. They mentioned that they're in the Everfree Forest. However, I know that it can't be them, because they didn't come to this world," Moonlight hissed.
"How do you know that he's not here?" responded the Princess with a question and an arched brow.
The unicorn mare fell silent, she turned away and started to walk away from the throne. She wasn't ready to talk about this, not yet. No one in Equestria except for one other person knew what had happened and he was the one she was trying to pursue. Her legs suddenly locked up, she expected some sort of spell was cast on them, "Remove this spell," she demanded.
"That's not me, that's you. Something inside of you won't let you leave, Moonlight. Tell me what's wrong," Twilight replied calmly, ignoring the demand.
"I want to be returned to my normal size, I feel like a child like this," the investigator requested.
"That potion you were given will wear off when you learn how to be grateful and not so aggressive towards my friends and the various creatures of Equestria. Tell me, what have you learned?" the Princess informed Moonlight, ending with a question.
The unicorn mare turned around, her pale yellow mane falling before her eyes, but a flick of her head placed it back behind her. "Can you please affix my mane into a ponytail, I much would rather have my mane bound in some way instead of having it flow freely?" she requested.
Twilight smiled and nodded at the politeness that the unicorn was showing, it was a pleasant change of pace from her usual standoffish attitude. She used her magic to grab a scrunchie and use it to fix Moonlight's mane into a ponytail. The unicorn nodded a little when she was done, "Thank you, Princess," she said.
The Princess watched as the smaller mare grew a little bit more, getting ever closer to her full height. "Are you willing to share what had happened to the person you keep hearing, why they cannot be here?", she asked quietly.
The investigator sighed, her shoulders sagged and she looked down so that the alicorn wouldn't be able to look into her eyes. It didn't stop the tears from hitting the ground. She opened her mouth to form words, but all that came out was a sob. She heard the Princess stand up from the throne and the clip-clop of her hooves as she walked over to her. "Don't touch me!" she warned.
A sigh left Twilight Sparkle's mouth, she wanted to comfort this pony who was obviously hurt. She wanted to bring her into an embrace. "Sunrise is nowhere near here. I've had scouts trying to find him ever since we met, Moonlight. He isn't within Canterlot and he isn't within Ponyville. The last known sighting of him was at the Peaks of Peril and that was a while ago. I know that you don't know where that is, but it's very far from here. Reports said that he was heading further away from Canterlot. It's okay, he can't hurt you and he won't be able to see me try to help you. You can let down your walls, you can let me in," she said in an attempt to calm the investigator down.
Moonlight trembled slightly, she didn't like the idea of being embraced by someone other than her father. But when the wing wrapped around her, she didn't resist it, much to her surprise. It felt warm and reminded her a little of her mother back when she was a child. She felt a feather brush beneath her eyes to wipe her tears. "There there, Moonlight. I know that you feel hurt deep down inside, but we can get through this together. I do have an answer to the one that's been calling you though," the Princess said to her calmly.
"W-what's that?" the investigator asked, a little afraid.
She felt herself being pressed closer to the Princess, much like her mother had did when she was a child. For the first time since she turned eighteen, Moonlight felt safe. She felt secure and protected. For the first time in a long time, she wasn't afraid of what might happen. She closed her eyes and just allowed the hug to continue, the tears continued to flow, but they too soon dried up.
"It's the Tree of Harmony, it's calling you. I don't know nor understand why it chose you specifically, but I believe it has sensed something within you that it can help you with," Twilight stated.
The investigator looked up at the alicorn, the two of them remained silent for a moment. It was the unicorn that broke the silence, "The last time I was in the Everfree Forest, I nearly perished at the claws of Timberwolves. If it wasn't for Zecora, I wouldn't be here right now," she pointed out.
"I can see that you're afraid to return there. Do not worry about anything, I can just teleport you there and when you're done, the Tree will show you a safe path through the forest," the Princess assured her.
Moonlight nodded slightly, she knew about teleportation and knew the theory behind the spells. She however had never seen it in practice, at least not successfully. The only attempts she has seen were of inanimate objects, but even then, they weren't able to be teleported. The best case scenario is that the magic had pushed the object ever so slightly in one direction. The usual scenario was that nothing happened. A few worst case scenarios resulted in a magical backlash which burnt the object to a crisp.
Twilight wrapped a hoof around Moonlight and lit up her horn. She concentrated on where the Tree of Harmony was and in a flash of light and magic, the two of them stood before it. She nudged the unicorn to walk up to the Tree itself. "This is something only you can do. I cannot accompany you any further, I'm sorry," she apologized.
Moonlight nodded as the Princess teleported back to Canterlot. She looked at the treehouse in the tree and sighed. She walked up the stairs and to the front door which opened for her. It was a surprise to be sure, but she had seen weirder since she got to Equestria. The door closed behind her as she walked in, which startled her. She started to look around, agitated by this. "Show yourself!" she demanded.
"As you wish," the voice replied.
Moonlight turned to see a figure step out of the shadows. The white skin and blue hair. The silver eyes stared at her. She knew exactly who this was. Her heart started to race, her body started to tremble as her mouth suddenly became dry. "How can this be? The reports said that you were lost to us... how can... how can you be here?"
The figure merely smiled in response.
The figure from the treehouse continued to watch Moonlight Gleam, neither of them speaking or moving. The unicorn eyed the man standing before her, she wasn't sure if she was seeing a ghost or if some shapeshifter had taken his form. Her brow furrowed, she was upset at either possibility for sure, even if the latter wouldn't surprise her all that much. The faded colors and the sparkles on her former master did lend credence to the fact that this was a ghost. She silently cursed herself for using her detect magic spell for the day. The two entities continued to stare at each other, in silence.
"Moonlight Gleam, you have endured great pain and hardship in your life..." the figure started.
The moment her full name was said, she realized that whatever or whoever she was speaking to wasn't Cloud Runner. Her facial features sharpened as she shot a glare at the figure before her, "You're not my master, stop using his appearance," she demanded.
The figure shook its head, "I cannot. To Twilight Sparkle and her friends, I was merely a tree. To their faithful and most brilliant students, I appeared as Twilight Sparkle to them. You see me as your Cloud Runner because it is the person you most trust. This isn't my doing, this is yours," it said.
This took Moonlight by surprise for sure, but it wasn't hard for her to figure out what was happening. "You're the Tree of Harmony," she stated.
The spirit before her nodded, "I am. Many moons ago, I took a different form. King Sombra destroyed me, but Twilight's students were able to put me back together in this new form," it said to her, the voice as gentle as ever.
The unicorn kept hearing the word students, she only knew of one student of Twilight Sparkle. The one unicorn that had taught her how to use her magic in this one world. She was confused to say the least, but she found herself less defensive, knowing that the form of this spirit that was talking to her was her doing and not some trickery. The spirit smiled at her more relaxed posture, but there was still a tenseness in the air. The investigator didn't lower her guard completely.
The spirit motioned towards the unicorn and light wrapped around her. Moonlight felt herself grow as the potion that had been used on her over a week ago had been negated. "You will need this size of yours to handle the upcoming challenge," the spirit stated.
Moonlight didn't move from her position, she was confused by that statement. What did the spirit mean about upcoming challenge she wondered. Was this some kind of threat or was it supposed to mean that she was going to have a test of some kind in the near future. She didn't have any of the answers, only questions. She was alone with the spirit of a tree and she didn't believe that this spirit would give her the answers that she sought.
"I can tell that you do not trust me. I am not affiliated with Sunrise Standing, he is currently seeking to disrupt the harmony of Equestria. Thanks to Twilight Sparkle, the golden age of this world was ushered in. The people of this world have found themselves more together than they have ever had been before. Griffons, Hippogriffs, Sea Ponies, Bat Ponies, Changelings, Kirin, Yaks, Buffalo, Crystal Ponies, Unicorns, Pegasi, Earth Ponies, Alicorns. All of these creatures call this world their home and they all live in peace. The one you have been chasing is seeking an ally to help him disrupt this harmony. One dangerous Shadow Pony, a creature who had given his heart to dark magics much like your Sunrise. Now he is a twisted and corrupted version of himself, seeking nothing more than to rule this world," the spirit informed her.
"So you know where he is and can tell me?" the investigator asked.
The spirit shook its head, "If I did, you wouldn't learn the lessons of friendship or harmony. You seek to solve this issue on your own, but if you continue to do so it'll be your downfall. I know that deep down you wish to be a hero, but you alone cannot save this world. You require friends, especially one pony that has been trying to get close to you. Only with them and only by working with them in harmony will you be able to stop the coming threat," the spirit said.
Moonlight walked to a table and looked at the wall across from her. She wasn't sure why she was hearing this. She always worked alone, she always wanted to work alone, now even a tree was refusing to let her go after the person she was trying to capture. She wanted to bring him to justice at all cost.
"I must ask, how did you know that I wasn't your master?" the spirit of the tree asked, a hint of curiosity in its voice.
"He..." Moonlight started as she looked away to hide the pain in her eyes.
She placed a hoof on her chest and let out a heavy sigh. Even four years later, the pain was still weighing her down heavily. She didn't know if she'd ever be able to let go and move on. A thought entered her head, one that she had buried long ago. She looked at her hoof wondering what was the real reason she was pursuing Sunrise so doggedly. If it was really for justice, then would she be working alone? Would she refuse to allow others to help her? These questions flooded through her mind as doubt started to settle in. Was her goal really to protect others, is that why she drove them away? She was no longer sure. Her mind raced as her heartbeat started to quicken.
"I see that you've started to question yourself and your motives. You've pushed everyone away from you since you got here. Are you afraid that Sunrise will try to hurt them or are you afraid that they'll take what you believe is rightfully yours away from you?" the spirit asked.
The answer rose inside the unicorn's head, she started to realize exactly why she was so persistent. Why she had never given up, why she had never let anyone try to get involved. She told herself and others for years that it was for their protection. Not just the innocents who were uninvolved in all of this, but potential allies as well. She wasn't interested in justice, a dark flame burned within her heart and had been for years. She did her best to ignore it, but she couldn't hide from it anymore, she hated Sunrise for what he had done to her and his father.
Moonlight was shocked by the truth that she couldn't hide from anymore. A shadow of herself, with jet black fur and red eyes materialized in front of her. She backed away from the doppelganger, horrified at it. The shadow merely smiled, "What's wrong, Moonlight? I'm everything you really want. All your true desires. I am the hatred you ignored and tried to justify. I'm your desire for revenge against Sunrise. Why won't you embrace me?" she asked.
The unicorn stomped a hoof down, "I am not like you! I want to help people, I want to ensure that they don't have to live in fear!" she yelled.
Her doppelganger laughed at this notion, "Deep down you want Sunrise to suffer just as much as he has caused you to suffer. The more you try to deny it, the more powerful I will grow. Eventually you won't be able to hide who you really are underneath and you'll give into the darkness that you held repressed for the longest time. You're no better than Sunrise, he's just more honest about who he really is!" she taunted.
Moonlight smiled, she had been given the solution to the puzzle, "I just have to accept it then? Fine then I accept that I want revenge!" she called out.
"NOOOOOOO! MY ONLY WEAKNESS! IF ONLY YOU HADN'T SAID THAT! NOOOOOO!" the doppelganger screamed tauntingly.
The unicorn smirked as this happened and waited for the doppelganger to vanish. She was naturally confused when it didn't. There was an awkward silence between the two for a brief moment. "Why didn—" Moonlight started.
"Because you merely said that you accept who you are and the hatred that you hold in your heart, moron. Jeez, why is it that I'm smarter than you are and I'm literally another part of you," the doppelganger said disappointed.
"So if I can't fight you and I can't lie to you... how do I..." the unicorn thought aloud.
Suddenly an idea popped into her head, she lowered her guard completely and closed her eyes. She retreated into her mind and started to breathe slowly and deeply. She couldn't fight what was effectively her, the two would be evenly matched. She couldn't embrace it, because that would lead her down the path she desperately wanted to avoid. Her choice was simple, she wasn't going to fight it anymore, she wasn't going to deny it anymore. She was going to be honest with herself and others, but in doing so, she would choose to take a new path. A more just and honest path.
The doppelganger attacked her, only to watch as the attack passed through the body of the unicorn who smiled peacefully. "How!? You're an aggressive and stubborn person! You shouldn't have given up your hatred!" she screamed.
"You told me that I have to accept it, but you never told me that I had to embrace it. Yes, I was motivated by revenge. Yes, I wanted Sunrise to suffer as I had done. But I don't have to be that way if I don't have to. This is my life and my path and I want you out of my way," Moonlight boasted.
The doppelganger shrieked in rage and hatred as she tried to attack the unicorn once more, but she vanished before she could. The investigator could still feel the anger and hatred for Sunrise within her, but she knew that could be worked on and slowly let go of. It would take time for her to finally be able to recover from years of this.
"Twilight Sparkle will be pleased by your performance here in this trial. You are ready to leave here when you want to. However, I regret to inform you that the only thing I can do is open up a safe path through the Everfree Forest. It'll be your job to make it back on your own," the spirit informed her.
Moonlight bowed her head to the spirit and smiled genuinely, "Thank you for showing me who I really am underneath and forcing me to come to face what I hadn't wanted to see for a long time," she said.
The spirit smiled and then suddenly frowned, "Sombra has already engaged in his attack on Canterlot. I'm sorry that I cannot do more, but hopefully nothing bad will come of it. If you run, you might be able to get there in time from Ponyville," it said to her.
The unicorn nodded and started to gallop as fast as she could through the safe area that the Tree of Harmony had opened up for her. She noticed that nothing tried to attack her, as if the creatures that made this place their home were being magically repelled. It was a quiet run, but her mind raced with a thousand different questions. She ended up distracted enough to run into a particular lavender alicorn who had a pink unicorn near her.
She hit the ground and stood up quickly. She was short of breath, but she still had to inform her of what was going on. "Princess... King Sombra has... attacked Canterlot!" she said.
Twilight Sparkle nodded solemnly and motioned towards the empty town of Ponyville, not a single soul was around. "I know, he took over everyone in town, including my friends. He wants to see me suffer. I was only able to save Luster from him. I will save our friends in the end," she informed the dark blue unicorn.
Moonlight looked at Luster Dawn and then at the Princess. For once in her life, she honestly wanted to protect something. "I'll come with. The more ponies we have to stand up to the tyrant, the better," she offered.
The two other ponies smiled, they were happy to have a third with them. The three of them started to walk towards their destination of Canterlot, with a single goal in mind. They were going to stop Sombra.
Hours prior, Sunrise Standing had stumbled upon a cavern. It was nondescript, except for the fact that dark magics were flooding the place. He wondered if he would find an ally here, one that would also have given themselves to the dark magic as he did. The vampony smiled, flashing his sharp canine teeth as his red eyes lit up at the idea of this. He walked through the cavern trying to find the epicenter of this dark magic. If he found it, then surely he would find the master of this place, he figured. The magic grew stronger and started to enter him, his wings grew sharper, his fur and mane grew paler and the hunger within him grew. This place, it wasn't ordinary he figured, it was something special. He began to wonder if it was a prison of some sort.
His suspicions would be confirmed once he reached a spot on the ground, the epicenter. There wasn't just magic in this cave. Through the magical pulses, he could feel a consciousness. One that was very angry at being imprisoned by the feel of it. He smiled and started to gather magical energy into his horn, "You who have been imprisoned here. You who have great rage for the ones who did this to you. I call you forth!" he yelled as he cast the spell.
The dark magic in the area started to gather and a portal of shadow appeared before him. A unicorn stepped out, but this one was different, he had a curved horn that was red, different from the coat. His eyes were as red as the normal unicorn's but the white of his eyes were glowing green instead. The mane of this pony also seemed to wave about. Sunrise smirked, perhaps he had found a fellow aberration.
"Finally, I am once again free to take over Equestria!" the shadow pony boasted.
"I'm the one who summoned you from your prison, you're going to work with me," the vampony replied sternly.
"Do you think that you have the clout to command a king ? Do you believe that you , a commoner has the right to tell King Sombra what to do?" the shadow pony hissed.
Sunrise looked over this pony and started to use his senses to see if there were some way to bring this creature under his control. But it was strange, though he could tell there was dark magic in this being, he couldn't tell exactly how high the concentration was.
That didn't stop him from baring his fangs threateningly, "Listen here, I brought you back into this world for one reason. The person I am after has allied themselves with a lavender alicorn. If we work together, we can beat her," he growled.
Sombra started to laugh at the notion of him working with anyone else, which annoyed Sunrise. The vampony tried to bite the shadow pony, but was shocked when his teeth harmlessly passed through. His opponent had no problem capitalizing on this opening, using a magical blast to send him flying backwards into the cavern wall and knocking him out instantly.
"You'll make a fine prisoner and an example of what happens to those who defy me," the shadow pony said ominously.
In the present time, Moonlight galloped through Ponyville with Twilight and Luster Dawn. Everything was disturbingly quiet, something that none of the three of them liked. It was as if no one was there anymore, as if they had all been ordered by their enemy to fall back to Canterlot. "The quickest way to the city is by teleportation, but for some reason I can't get a lock on the city. It's as if Sombra is blocking it from me somehow. We'll have to take the train," Twilight stated.
The dark blue unicorn nodded and made her turn towards the train station, but her intuition told her that this was a bad idea. A hoof slammed through the wall next to her, slamming into her and sending her rolling into a nearby shop. "You will not make it to our king!" the voice belonging to the pony called out to the three of them.
The Princess started to cast a spell, but a burst of magical flame erupted from the shop and hit the pony square in the chest. The flames didn't spread and instead died out on contact, surprising the pony long enough for Twilight to finish casting her sleep spell. Moonlight walked out of the shop looking far more angry than she was hurt. "That was a cheap shot," she pointed out as she rubbed her face.
"Princess, that pony is wearing some kind of weird mask. What is it doing?", Luster asked.
"It's for mind controlling ponies. Unlike Sombra, we haven't given into the dark magic, so he can't control us without using those masks. They've never hid within ambush before, that's new. Usually he just waits until we confront him in his throne room or he attacks us directly," the alicorn stated.
The investigator nodded and started to gallop towards the train station, hoping that her feeling was wrong and that they would be able to have a quiet train ride over to Canterlot. The others followed suit and the three of them arrived in short order. It was empty, but that in and of itself provided another problem. None of them knew how to operate the trains.
The two Equestrians looked at the investigator who shook her head in disappointment. "I'm sorry, I never learned how to be a train conductor where I came from. Even if I did, your trains are different enough to the ones from my world where I wouldn't be able to operate them anyhow. Our best bet to get there fast is from the air, but I assume that you aren't capable of carrying two ponies at once while flying," she stated with disappointment.
"I can, but I would have to hold you both in my magic. Perhaps I could cast some sort of spell to make us move faster or something like that?" she offered.
The dark blue unicorn didn't bother to wait, she climbed aboard the train in hopes that someone would be able to work it. She found the train engineer with a shovel in his mouth and the same mask that the pony that had attacked her was wearing. The shovel was swung at her head and she ducked under it, just barely avoiding getting hit by it. She capitalized on her position to jump onto the engineer of the train and she grabbed at the mask to rip it off the face. A blast of magic sent her flying backwards instead of her intended outcome.
Twilight entered the train and the engineer nodded his head, "Our king wants to see you in particular. Bring your student with you," he said chillingly.
Luster Dawn entered the train and rushed over to Moonlight who for the second time had been launched off the ground. "Are you alright?", she asked.
"Ugh, I don't know who this Sombra guy is, but I'm going to give him a piece of my mind when I find him!" she yelled.
The train started moving and the pink unicorn helped the dark blue one to her hooves. The two unicorns then looked at the Princess who sighed. Moonlight then turned to Luster and shook her head, "You grew up in an era of peace, while you might be helpful, you don't have any experience. It might be best if you were to hang back or stick close to Twilight," she stated in a matter of fact tone.
Twilight nodded and this caused her student to look a bit sad until the Princess gave her a reassuring hug. "So aside from these mind control masks, what should we expect from our enemy?" the investigator asked.
"He is capable of turning himself into shadow to avoid attacks, he can use portals of shadow to move from place to place. Not only that, he can inflict unicorns and alicorns with dark magic blocking crystals to stop our magic. Without my friends, I'm not sure if I can do this. I've never been able to defeat him on my own," Twilight said sadly.
Moonlight placed her front left hoof on Twilight's front right leg, "You're not alone, you have us," she stated.
The Princess smiled and nodded, with renewed hope and confidence as the train barreled towards Canterlot's train station. She and her student both stayed together, waiting in silence as the train continued along. The investigator on the other hand closed her mind and readied herself. She expected to find Sunrise where they were going and she was going to capture him at all costs.
The train stopped at the destination and the three of them exited it, making a beeline for the castle. At the castle, they saw a white unicorn with a blue mane and a pink alicorn. "Cadance, Shiny! What are both of you doing here?", Twilight asked.
"Sombra took over Flurry Heart, she's acting as his Princess at the moment. We came here to try to get her back!" Cadance replied quickly.
Moonlight could feel the rage boiling within the Princess and judging from the facial expression of the pink alicorn, she could surmise that this Flurry Heart was her daughter. She was torn between her goal of finding Sunrise and helping this mother. She figured that she could solve both problems at once by fulfilling her objective so she walked up to the castle doors and raised her head, "Sombra! We're here! All five of us! You wanted to see Princess Twilight? She's here and we are her entourage! Where she goes, we go! Now let us in!" she screamed.
The doors to the castle opened and the five ponies rushed in. Luster Dawn and Twilight made a beeline for the throne room, while Cadance and Shining Armor left to search the castle for their daughter. Instinct told the investigator that she shouldn't go search the throne room as that wasn't Sunrise's style. He'd much prefer a smaller room so that his opponent wouldn't have as much space to move around. She joined up with the rulers of the Crystal Empire in their search for Flurry Heart.
Whereas Sunrise Standing proved difficult to find, the same could not be said of Flurry Heart, the white alicorn walked out of a room, "Mother, Father... why don't you join me with Sombra, we can be one great family again!" she taunted.
"You know that we can't do that Flurry, you need to come back to us. Take off that mask and stop letting him control you. We're your parents and we love you," Shining Armor replied.
"Please Flurry, come to me. Come to Mommy," Cadance said tearfully.
Moonlight rushed forward between them, realizing that this wasn't going to end well and she erected a barrier in the nick of time to stop the two parents from getting hit with a magical blast. She felt drained after it hit her barrier. This was to be expected as she had been using a lot of her magic that day. She didn't know the extent of an alicorn's power, but she knew the extent of her own. She didn't know if she could win a fight against one, but she knew that she had to at least buy some time.
"You two, I'll buy you some time and direct your daughter's aggression towards me. You keep trying to reach her!" she yelled to the other two ponies.
They nodded and kept trying to reach their daughter who was now focusing on the dark blue unicorn. The investigator rushed towards the alicorn in a feint, but she was quickly lifted off the ground in a telekinetic hold. She tried to use her own magic to break the hold, but her horn merely sparked. Her stomach sank from this revelation in addition to the rapid acceleration into the ceiling. She slammed into it at high speed, letting out a scream before being slammed into the ground and immediately losing consciousness.
The two other ponies looked horrified, but the eyes of the mask that Flurry was wearing stopped glowing all of the sudden. None of them noticed that the dark magic started to leave the mask and enter the prone unicorn. The two parents ran over to their child who looked at them, "Mom? Dad? What happened? Is everything alright?" she asked.
The three ponies embraced in a hug, "Everything's going to be fine, sweetheart," Shining replied.
"Yeah, I didn't know if we'd be able to reach you, but it was thanks to Moonlight that we had enough time to do so," Cadance said.
The three of them didn't notice that Moonlight was standing back up, her eyes were glowing red with the whites of her eyes having become green. When she fully rose to her feet, she clapped her hooves to get the attention of the three ponies, "Excellent. The parents are reunited with their child. Such a touching moment indeed. If you do not mind, my king would like to see all of you now..." she said in a chilling voice.
Author's Note
This is a supplementary chapter to show how Sombra took over Moonlight Gleam. You do not have to read this chapter to understand the plot of the rest of the fic or even the next chapter. It only provides more insight as to what happened during the end of the previous chapter.
Struggle Within the Mind
Moonlight found herself in an endless black void, a place of nothingness. She couldn't see or feel anything. She couldn't hear anything other than her own breathing. She watched as a portal opened up revealing her enemy, King Sombra. She rushed towards him, intent on using her horn to attack him. The shadow unicorn smiled and dissipated. The investigator growled and skidded to a halt, turning to face her opponent. "You can't beat me. The only way for you to escape this is to swear fealty to me. I know your greatest fear, it's an opponent that you cannot overcome!" Sombra taunted.
Moonlight concentrated magic into her horn, an orb of light formed at the end of it causing the shadow unicorn to recoil. "What's this!?" he yelled out in pain.
"Basic light spell, it's incapable of causing harm to those that walk the light. To those who choose to embrace darkness, it burns them!" The normal unicorn said with a smirk.
Sombra hissed and vanished, the scene of the dark void changed to her world. She watched Sunrise appeared before her and she attacked him only to find that his hand wrapped around her horn. She was effortlessly thrown into a building and she tried to cast a spell only to find that it didn't work. She stood her ground and tried to fight, but the scene changed to her getting chewed out by the director.
"That's the tenth time this month, Moonlight! People are getting hurt because of your carelessness! You're not only being taken off the case, but you're fired!" he yelled at her.
She found herself on the street, walking in a crowd of people. No one recognized her. As far as they were concerned, she didn't exist after all. Records had been altered years ago to state that she had perished when she tried to fight Sunrise for the first time. As the crowd ignored her, she arrived at her old house. She knocked on the door and her mother's voice replied, "Coming!"
The door opened to reveal her mother, this filled Moonlight with joy. She hadn't been able to see her parents in a long time. The woman standing in front of her looked at her with a bit of confusion, "Who are you?" she asked.
This cut the investigator deeply, "I'm your daughter," she replied tearfully.
"My daughter isn't some pastel colored equine! Not to mention she was taken from us by Sunrise Standing. You're that investigator that has failed to ensure that he would see justice and that my baby girl could rest! Get out of here! Get out now!" the woman yelled at her.
Moonlight growled and looked around herself with a scowl on her face, "Is this the best you can do Sombra? Make me be unrecognizable to my family!? Show me that I have failed to catch Sunrise time and time again!? That's not my worst nightmare, that's my reality!" she yelled out to the shadow king.
"What is your worst nightmare then? It seems you already don't exist to your world. You are a constant failure in your endeavors to capture the one person you are trying to capture. You have failed time and time again, you're constantly alone, pushing everyone away! It would seem that my usual tactics won't work on you," Sombra replied, confused and shocked that this one unicorn was resisting him.
The mare yelled in anger and ignited her horn. Flames wrapped around her as she prepared a spell that would use up a large portion of her magic. But if Sombra was anywhere close to her, he'd be caught in the flames. She smirked and unleashed the spell. Flames erupted in a dome around her, spreading for three meters as she unleashed a scream. Though the fire show was flashy, it ultimately did nothing. Darkness swirled at her hooves and she started to sink into darkness. She flailed and fought, but ultimately she was overcome.
The darkness gave way to her standing in front of her home. Things felt different, the sky was brighter than usual, the tension that tended to be thick in the air was gone. Everything was peaceful. She knocked on the door with a hoof and her father answered. "Moonlight, you're alright! You've been missing for four years, honey!" he exclaimed.
Moonlight tried to open her mouth, but her father turned into the house, "Hey, Sunset Aurora! Come here, you won't believe this!"
"I'm coming, Thunder Spots!" her mother replied from inside the house.
Her mother arrived at the door and the mare tensed up, agitated by what she had seen before. "This is another one of your tricks Sombra. You're going to get me to lower my guard so they stab me in the back!" Moonlight hissed.
Sunset Aurora frowned at this, "Don't you recognize me, honey? You look different, but I can tell that you're still my little Moonlight Gleam," she said with a saddened tone.
The mare backed up a step and tried to cast a spell, but nothing happened. No magic came out of her horn. Her parents looked down at her, somewhat confused as to what was going on with their daughter. To them, she was acting extremely strange. "Hey pumpkin, don't you recognize your parents? I know you haven't seen us in four years. But we're still your mom and dad, you know," her father said in an attempt to disarm the situation.
"I've seen you last month, and I've done so every month for the past four years. Neither of you knew that it was me. I had to hide my identity for years, just so that neither of you would be in danger. I had to make sure that Sunrise didn't know you were here, if he got wind of it, he'd go after you without a second thought. He wanted any excuse to make me suffer, any excuse to get to me," she stated.
"Sunrise? You mean that man that went missing and turned up recently too? He's such a wonderful man. He brought us cookies and told us what a wonderful person you were. How you had never given up on trying to find him after he was lost. You brought him back to us and now he's planning on taking over the school for his father!" Sunset Aurora said with a huge smile on her face.
Moonlight barged past her parents and into her house with a growl, if Sunrise was here, she was going to make him pay. She stormed into the dining room where she found a light blue skinned man sitting in a chair. His faded orange hair hung to his shoulders and when he looked at her, she noticed his eyes weren't red. They were their normal gray. "Moonlight! I'm so glad to see you! I'm sorry that I haven't had any success on finding some way to return you to normal. I won't give up until I figure out how and I want you to know that you're safe here and when I get the school back up and running, you'll have a home there too. I promise," he said reassuringly.
Sunrise stood up and walked towards the mare who backed up a step before charging at the man before her. "Get away, you blasted aberration!" she yelled.
The human deftly dodged the charge of the much smaller unicorn, leading to Moonlight being forced to recover and try to change directions, but a pair of pink arms scooped her up. "Now now, Moonlight, we don't attack guests in this house. Sunrise isn't an aberration, whatever that is," her mother said to her.
"An aberration is someone who gave themselves to dark magic, they were tainted and corrupted by it, becoming more of a monster than a human," the mare stated.
"Those were all purified, Moonlight. The dark magic that was so pervasive around the world was driven back to where it came from, thanks to you. You were almost lost in your efforts, but we found you as this unicorn. You were held by the Special Investigators to ensure that there were no ill effects and that you were really you. Once you were cleared, you were allowed to leave," Sunrise pointed out.
"So that's why I'm like this? But what about Equestria? What about Princess Twilight and Luster Dawn? What about the other ponies!" Moonlight exclaimed as she started to panic in her mother's arms.
Sunset Aurora placed her hand in Moonlight's mane, stroking her daughter's head gently. "Sunrise told us that you might have had some coma dreams about another world. You were in a coma for a month according to him. The Special Investigators allowed him to visit you every day to make sure that you were okay," she said in an attempt to calm her daughter down.
The unicorn started to relax a little bit, everything clicked in her head. This was her world, this is who she was. She started to remember saving the world, she remembered herself saving Sunrise from becoming an aberration. She had joined up with the Special Investigators in order to protect her world as a strong sense of duty and justice. She wanted to ensure that future generations of people would be able to live in peace, without fear of having to deal with the aberrations anymore.
Thunder Spots smiled as he walked around the corner, "It's been a while since you were small enough to fit in our arms, Moonlight. How do you feel?" he asked.
The dark blue mare looked down at the floor, it was laminate in the appearance of wood. It was all they could have afforded. She was home, the world was safe and she didn't need to fight anymore. A dark gray human walked into the house with red eyes and everyone knelt before him. Something in the back of her mind told her that this was her enemy, so she continued to stand.
"We are not enemies Moonlight, I just wanted to come see the one who saved the world with my own eyes. I have many rewards to give you as your king, if you would only accept them," the shadow king offered, holding his hand out with a kind smile.
Moonlight was placed on the ground. She felt her body move towards Sombra. Something inside of her didn't like this, but she couldn't risk this being real and messing it all up. She placed a hoof in the outstreched hand. "You have chosen wisely, Moonlight. I will ensure that you will always be happy and live the life that you have always wanted to live. Your family will no longer live in poverty, you will have access to the wealth you've always wanted," the king said confidently.
Moonlight nodded and finally bowed her head, "Thank you King Sombra, I am at your service and command. I will do anything that you ask of me if it means that my family can be happy," she stated.
Sombra's smile turned wicked while she wasn't looking, "Oh, I know, my faithful servant. You will serve me very well," he said, holding back an evil laugh.
Luster Dawn looked at Sombra from the cage she was in. Her horn was covered in crystals as was the Princess', neither of them could use their magic to escape. Sombra had won this battle. The shadow pony laughed at the two of them and he sipped a drink from a glass that he levitated near his mouth. "Tell me, did the two of you really think you were going to win against me. Without the Elements of Harmony, the Crystal Heart, or Twilight's friends... you didn't stand a chance," he taunted.
"Just you wait, Cadance and Shining Armor are going to free Flurry Heart from you and they'll come here to free us and we'll stop you!" Luster snapped back, trying to be brave.
"I'm afraid none of them will be coming to your rescue and for that fact, neither will I, Luster Dawn. King Sombra is going to give me back my old life, my family. All I have to do is work for him and help him take over this world," said Moonlight's voice as she paraded the rulers of the Crystal Empire through the throne room to see Sombra.
"Excellent, you're far more agreeable and reliable than that cursed little Princess," the shadow pony said with a cruel smile.
"You won't get away with this!" Cadance threatened.
"I already have," Sombra retorted.
With a magical blast, dark crystals grew over the horns of the rulers of the Crystal Empire and guards put them in cages. With no one to oppose him, Sombra smiled, he had finally won after all of these years and the many different attempts. He now ruled over Equestria and would soon turn his eyes towards the Crystal Empire. Once the Crystal Heart was under his control, there would be no one in the entire world that could stop him.
Moonlight Gleam walked over to the cages and smiled sadistically, none of them ever expected this from her. She had been a bit of a jerk in the past, but to allow herself to be taken over by Sombra? This was too far, even for her. Luster Dawn had to know the answer to the question that was on everyone's mind, "Why did you do it?" she asked, hurt by this turn of events.
"I had everything taken away from me by one person, I would be willing to do anything to get it back. When my king showed me the future that I could have, I jumped at the opportunity to join his cause. What happens to any of you is of no consequence to me," the investigator pointed out bluntly.
She turned around to face the pony on the throne, "My liege, considering these ponies are incapable of using their magic, may I take a squad of guards and escort these rebels to the dungeon?" she requested.
"They are of no use to me for the moment. It'll be an excellent place to keep them so that I could gloat about my accomplishments as they can only watch and do nothing!" Sombra gloated.
Moonlight left the throne room for a moment and arrived with armed guards. The ponies that weren't under Sombra's control were let out of their cages and were surrounded by the guards. The dark blue unicorn shot them each a glare, "If you try to escape, you will be stopped by any means necessary," she threatened.
None of them tried to resist and she led them into the dungeon, locking each of them in their respective cells. She finished up with the last one when a familiar voice called out to her, "This is pathetic, Moonlight. For someone who has dedicated her entire life to stopping me, you sure chose to walk down my path."
The investigator walked over to a particular cell, inside of it was a vampony. An aberration. "Hahaha, my king has already done the work that I wanted to do for me! You're captured here and now you'll be easy to eliminate. Begone guards, I don't want anyone interfering with this," she stated.
The guards nodded and left the dungeon. Moonlight lit up her horn and unlocked the cell door. She grabbed it with her hoof and grabbed a spear in her magic. She was going to make this as quick as possible. She wanted her revenge, she wanted Sunrise to pay the ultimate price for what he had done to her and his father and now, no one was here to stop her. She opened up the door to the cell and was immediately blasted back by dark magic. Her spear snapped as it hit the stone wall of the dungeon.
"No matter what he promised you, you forgot one thing. I'm more powerful than you are, Moonlight," the vampony taunted.
"Well then, if that's the case. My liege, I need more power!" Moonlight called out.
Dark magic swirled around Moonlight who sadistically smiled. It started to enter her and demonic wings burst from her back as her dark blue coat turned jet black. Her mane and tail turned pure white and she roared as she launched herself at her enemy.
Sunrise was able to catch her and throw her into the cell. He tried to lock her into it, but a magical blast was able to launch the door into the wall and him with it. The door clanged as it hit the stone floor as the newly corrupted investigator screamed in rage, "I will make you pay for everything you took from me! And I will ensure that you pay for it slowly!" she threatened.
The vampony stood back up and stared at his opponent. The two of them stared each other down for a full minute before they tried to blast each other with dark magic. Moonlight however with the new power increase was able to best Sunrise, who smiled and absorbed the spell, his features slowly becoming more vampiric. "I forgot you can do that, I guess I'll have to engage you at close range then!" the corrupted unicorn yelled.
She quickly closed the gap but was unfamiliar with how to fight as a pony, she tried to punch her opponent, only to find herself being bucked against the far wall. "It's very rare that life grants me an opportunity such as this one. I both get to tell you the truth and make you suffer. Sombra isn't going to be able to give you your old life back. Your new director? That Filthy Rich guy? You're nothing but a disposable pawn to him. You'll never be able to be the woman you want to be ever again! He doesn't care if you capture me or if I get rid of you, you'll never be free!" Sunrise called out to her.
Moonlight stood up, part of her knew that what Sunrise was saying as true, but this confused her for a moment. Why was he trying to reach to her other than to make her suffer. "Why are you telling me this instead of continuing our fight?" she asked.
"You're just as disposable to Sombra as you were to Filthy Rich. He doesn't care about anyone other than himself. All ponies to him are pawns. He defied me and locked me up in this dungeon when I brought him back to get revenge on the Princess. He'll dispose of you just as easily when your usefulness comes to an end," the vampony said with a smirk on his face.
Moonlight held her head and started to grunt in pain. She knew that what Sunrise was saying was true and some part of her was trying to get out, trying to break the hold that the shadow pony had on her. "Get out of my head !" she screamed.
Sunrise smiled at this, but was soon decked in the face by the corrupted unicorn. "I don't care if you were right, I still don't like you and it unbelievably ticks me off that I need you at the moment," the investigator pointed out.
She walked to the cells of the other ponies, unlocking and opening them one by one. The ponies didn't question this, but were alarmed that the green glow in her eyes was replaced by an inky blackness. "Can you get rid of the crystals on their horns, we will need their magic if we're going to defeat Sombra," she asked.
Sunrise walked to Luster Dawn and placed his hoof on her horn. He wanted to feed on her magic, but he knew that he would need them to stop Sombra. He could feel the desire for revenge from Moonlight, but he himself wanted his own revenge against that shadow pony. He concentrated and absorbed the magic that created the crystals on the unicorn's horn, causing them to vanish. "I've taken none of your magic from you," he pointed out.
"Why should we make you more powerful?" Twilight asked, knowing the danger of this.
"I want one pony to suffer, I don't care about anyone else so long as they don't get in my way. At the moment, our goals align. We both want to stop Sombra, the enemy of your enemy is your friend as the saying goes and I have no reason to betray you," the vampony replied calmly.
The rest of the ponies allowed him to get rid of the crystals that were preventing them from using their magic. Sunrise nodded at Moonlight, who looked up the stairs and started to lead the group back towards the throne room. The guards oddly didn't try to stop them, almost as if Sombra had some sort of plan. She wasn't foolish enough to believe that her fighting his control off went unnoticed.
The seven ponies marched into the throne room, Sombra immediately met them with an attack at Moonlight. Sunrise stepped into the way and absorbed the attack with a smile on his face. "Your highness, perhaps you should've realized that I'm a vampire. I feed off magic and I have to admit, yours doesn't taste at all that good and as loathe as I am to admit it, I need her to enact my revenge on you," he taunted.
"Your revenge, what revenge do you think you're going to get?" Sombra asked.
Twilight Sparkle closed her eyes and the power of the two other alicorns, her brother and her student started to enter her. The shadow pony realized what was going to happen and fired another magical blast, this one to disrupt the charging of the attack. The investigator in return fired one of her own to intercept his attack. She then fired one at the ground near him to kick up dust and she rushed him.
He wasn't aware of her position when she tackled him to the ground and encased the two of them in a barrier. "You're going nowhere, Sombra," she said chillingly.
"You'll be eliminated by the beam as well!" the shadow pony warned.
"That's a price I'm willing to pay. You deceived me, lied to me about getting my family and my old life back. You took over Equestria, you took over the minds of thousands of innocents. If I have to perish so that you may receive the punishment you deserve? Then so be it," she stated coldly.
Sombra tried to turn into his shadow form, but it didn't help him escape. He then tried to open a shadow portal only to find himself being punched in the head by a hoof. Twilight finished charging and fired the beam at the two of them and Moonlight lowered the barrier to allow it to hit both of them. The two were lost in a rainbow light and Sunrise took this opportunity to make his escape while everyone was drained and distracted.
The five remaining ponies looked at the scene, worried. When the light faded, two unicorns lay on the ground. One of them was a charcoal gray color, the other was dark blue. The dark blue unicorn opened her eyes and looked at the other unicorn before her, "What... we're alive?" she asked.
Luster rushed over and hugged her and Twilight walked over to them. "Sombra was returned to his normal form so that he may finally answer for his crimes and have a chance at redemption. As for you, Moonlight, you were one of his victims. I've known that you harbored a strong hatred in your heart, but it took real courage to push that aside for the greater good," she said to the investigator.
Moonlight nodded as she looked around for Sunrise. However, he was nowhere to be seen. She expected him to have gone back into hiding again. "We will do everything we can to find him and we will bring him to justice to answer for his crimes, Moonlight. But you need to focus on healing your own wounds. Luster and I will help you to the best of our abilities, but for now, we need to get these ponies back to where they came from. Hopefully you'll start opening up soon now that you've seen how good it feels to work together with others," the Princess assured her.
"Thank you, but if you don't mind. All I want to do is sleep, it's been a very long day," the investigator replied shortly before closing her eyes and falling asleep.
Luster lifted the other unicorn up and carried her to a guest room, placing her on a bed and tucking her in. As she left the room, she looked back at her. Moonlight wasn't the same pony she was when they first met and she hoped that the investigator would finally start to truly lower her walls to allow others in so that they could help her heal. However, she was needed to assist her teacher with the task of helping ponies get back home. She closed the door and left the tired unicorn to rest.
A month had passed since Sombra had been dealt with. Equestria had returned to normal and all of the ponies had gone about their usual lives. However, within Canterlot Castle a dark blue unicorn lay in her bed tossing and turning, fighting some unseen enemy. "No, I won't become you again Nightmare Eclipse!" she screamed. A burst of flame erupted from her horn that hit one of the curtains, catching it on fire. The fire started to spread across the room as the screams got louder, prompting the guards to investigate. When they saw the fire, they quickly leapt into action to wake the unicorn and carry her out of the room. Twilight Sparkle quickly galloped into the room and cast a spell to put out the flames.
"If you don't like it here, you don't have to set the castle on fire!" the youngest guard reprimanded the unicorn.
Moonlight looked up at the smoke in her room, the damaged curtains and covers. She then looked back down at the floor, her heart racing in her chest from both fear of the nightmare she had and of the potential punishment. "She was having a bad dream. One that was extremely powerful," the Princess said to defend the investigator.
"You mean that she was casting magic in her sleep?" the guardspony asked.
"Yes, but it wasn't a conscious effort, she was attacking something that only she could see. Something that I couldn't reach. You're not in trouble, Moonlight. You can calm down," Twilight declared.
Moonlight nodded and walked away from the scene in shock. She was shaking uncontrollably. The nightmare she had felt so real and she could still feel the pull of Nightmare Eclipse at the back of her mind. She wanted to take over, she wanted to be the one to control her. The unicorn made her way up to one of the towers and sat down watching the sky as the moon hung there. She had heard legends of one pony that could enter anyone's dreams, but they were just legends as far as she knew.
A few hours later Twilight Sparkle had arrived at the tower to raise the sun as she had been doing for the last twenty years. Her horn lit up and the moon set as the sun took its place, signaling daytime in Equestria. "A beautiful sunrise, though it's a bit quick for my taste," a voice said to her right, startling her.
She turned to face the creature who said that to see Moonlight Gleam standing there with a sheepish smile on her face, "I didn't mean to spook you, Princess," she said apologetically.
"You've been up here all night?" the alicorn asked with an arched brow.
"Yeah... can't really set anything on fire from up here. My spells don't really have the range unless I focus," the unicorn said quietly.
The two nodded to each other, understanding the predicament. The lavender pony didn't have any solutions at the moment, she was going to have to find some way to enter the dreams of this pony in order to help her. She started to walk towards her library when she felt something grab her tail. She turned to see Moonlight standing there with her tail in one of her hooves. "I can't very well help you if you won't let me go, Moonlight," she told her.
The unicorn sighed and let go, she looked away to hide the fear that she was feeling. She didn't want to be alone, she hadn't ever since she woke back up after she had been returned to normal. "Princess, I've not slept since I woke up. I'm tired and I need some rest. Is there some place that I won't be a danger to myself or anypony else if I cast another spell in my sleep?" she asked, worried.
Twilight Sparkle paused as she thought, there weren't really any areas of the castle where Moonlight wouldn't be able to set something on fire aside from the balconies and those had the issue of her falling to her demise. She brought the unicorn close to her with her wing and expected a bite, but instead she squirmed out of the embrace. "Moonlight, you have to trust us if you want us to help you," she stated, disappointed in the unicorn's actions.
Truth was, the investigator wasn't retreating because of a distrust for the Princess, it was a distrust of herself. She backed up towards the railing, tired and afraid. Her rump touched it and she let out a yelp, her horn ignited instantly as she wheeled around to torch whatever it was that hit her. She saw nothing and the light of her horn extinguished, she backed away from the railing and fell on her backside with a heavy sigh.
"It's not me, it's you... you're scared of yourself," the alicorn observed.
Moonlight nodded as she looked at her hoof, she still vividly remembered being controlled. She remembered her transformation and what the Tree of Harmony told her and forced her to confront. The memories haunted her deeply and were possibly the source of her nightmares, but she couldn't be sure. "I'll cast a fireproof spell on everything in a different guest room, you can rest there and if you have another nightmare, you won't damage anything. I promise," Twilight offered with a smile.
The unicorn replied with a weak smile and followed the Princess quietly to the room in question. The alicorn cast a spell on everything in the room and to test it, the investigator cast a strong fire spell at the bed. The flames hit and died out immediately on contact without doing even the slightest bit of damage. Satisfied the unicorn entered the room and flopped on the bed to go to sleep. "I'll be in the library to find any sort of solution to your issue, Moonlight. I promise that I won't stop until I find something to help you," she offered.
The only response from the unicorn in question was a wave of her hoof. Twilight took this as an acknowledgement of her words and headed to the library.
Hours had passed and Twilight Sparkle was no closer to an answer. She had called all of her friends to the library was well as Luster Dawn and her friends. None of them had any luck on finding a book about dreams and how to reach into them. If there was one thing the Princess wished her predecessors did, it was keep better documentation on how to preform their duties. She sighed and buried her face into a book in frustration.
"Darling, we've searched this entire library and we haven't found anything. Perhaps the answers aren't here?" Rarity offered her.
"They have to be!" the alicorn protested.
"Now now, Twilight. Ah know that ya rely on books a lot, but ya can't jes use them as yer solution to everythin," Applejack said.
"Maybe if she's having a nightmare, we could all try to help you get into it. We've always been stronger when we worked together," Fluttershy pointed out.
"Fluttershy, you're a genius! Quick, follow me!" Twilight replied as her head lifted off the book.
She galloped out of the library with her friends following her. She hoped that Moonlight would still be asleep so that they could help her. When she opened the door to the room however, her heart sank. The bed was empty, the investigator wasn't there and there was no signs that she had ever even been there. "Fan out and search for her, she's a dark blue unicorn with a faded yellow mane in a ponytail! We have to find her!" she panicked.
"That won't be necessary, your highness," rang out the tired voice of the investigator.
Moonlight walked into the view of everyone, she had puffy bags under her eyes which were struggling to remain open. Her mane was disheveled and she looked like she was ready to fall over at any moment. The unicorn in question was obviously fatigued and looked like she had been pushed further beyond her limits.
"How horrid, you could use a makeover right away!" Rarity protested.
"I don't want your makeup!" the investigator snapped.
"Hey! There's no need to be rude to my friends!" Rainbow Dash yelled as she zoomed into Moonlight's face, their muzzles pressing against each other.
"She's very tired and irritable, Rainbow. She's been having constant nightmares and by the look of it, she had to help the staff out with something. While yes, it doesn't excuse her rudeness, you should try to go a little easier on her," Twilight said in an attempt to defuse the situation.
"She ain't a bad gal, Rainbow. Just a tad standoffish is all," the farmpony said.
Pinkie Pie pulled out a party cannon to try to introduce some cheer into the situation, but this set Moonlight off. The dark blue unicorn's teeth grit and her horn erupted in flames. "I think it would be best to put the party cannon away, Pinkie," the Princess said to her friend.
"Aww, but I wanted to cheer her up," Pinkie protested.
"Party... cannon?" the investigator asked, her face contorted in confusion as the flames around her horn extinguished.
Pinkie set off the cannon, spraying confetti everywhere. There was a loud thud as the dark blue unicorn hit the ground. She was surprised by this, but also confused. "I'm... just going to go back to bed," she stated.
The investigator stood up and walked into her guest room, she left the door open because she didn't want to close it on the Princess. "I don't know what the six of you are here for, but if you're going to try to enter my dream together, I wish you the best of luck. Any sort of relief would be preferable to the torment that I've been enduring," she stated.
Moonlight climbed onto the bed and closed her eyes. Within moments, she was asleep and Twilight held out her hooves to her friends, "Come on, let's do this together and help out this pony in need," she requested.
The other five ponies formed a circle with each other, each one holding another pony's hoof. The Princess closed her eyes and with her friends entered the dream world. She looked around for a singular dream, that of the pony that was in her guest room. Being that there weren't too many nocturnal ponies, this wasn't too great of a task. She found the bubble she was looking for, but it looked different. It wasn't a normal bubble. It was red with spikes around it and it pulsed ominously.
Undaunted, she tried to enter the dream, only to be thrown back away from it. This wasn't like Moonlight trying to fight her before. This was something different. She tried a different approach and tried to force her way into the dream, only to be thrown back again. She could hear the screaming of the pony she wanted to help. She thought it was within the bubble, but something was different. She usually only heard the sounds of dreams when she was inside of their dream.
Her eyes opened up in the waking world, all five of her friends were staring at the unicorn that was thrashing about on the bed, tearing her covers and sheets with her horn. Primal screams erupted from the unicorn's mouth as if she was fighting something for her very existence. Twilight let go of her friends and the six of them rushed over to the unicorn's side. She gently shook the unicorn with one of her hooves, "Moonlight, wake up. Wake up, it's all a nightmare, it's not real," she said soothingly.
The investigator's eyes opened widely and with a primal scream, she leapt from the bed and tackled the alicorn. This action caused the Princess to stumble back a couple of steps out of surprise, but she embraced the unicorn who started sobbing into her chest. "There there, it's okay," she cooed.
"All six of you couldn't even help me, am I going to be like this forever?" Moonlight cried.
"No, I have one other option to try. I'm going to take you to see one of my predecessors and Luster is going to come along. I'm sure my friends would like to see them as well, but for now, I need them in Ponyville in case Sunrise tries something," Twilight stated.
"Aw man, why can't we go?" Rainbow protested.
"You heard Twilight, we are needed here, Rainbow", Applejack scolded.
"Thank you friends. Moonlight, get ready. I know you haven't had any sleep lately, but I'll cast a spell to refresh you before we leave. It won't be the same as sleep, but it'll help you keep going in this emergency situation. I'm going to go get Luster," the alicorn stated.
Moonlight nodded with a smile and as the six ponies left, she closed the door. Once she was alone, her smile turned to a frown. She could feel the presence of Nightmare Eclipse, it wasn't just in her dreams. She could feel her in the waking world. She hoped that this predecessor of Twilight's would be able to help her, but deep down, she doubted it.
Twilight, Luster Dawn and Moonlight had left the castle, yet it wasn't undefended. From the shadows, Sunrise standing held a book in his hand and cursed his luck. This wasn't going to be easy, not by a long shot. He only needed to get to the courtyard, that was his main objective. He couldn't wait til night, he would have to get in and get out in the bright of day. He cast a spell on himself, it was a simple illusion spell. It wouldn't pass any real scrutiny, but this was the only solution he could think of. The vampony walked through the doors of the castle and a guardspony looked at him suspiciously, "Hey you!" the guard called out.
Sunrise tensed up a little, he was ready to fight his way through the castle to get to the courtyard. His red eyes turned towards the guard, "Yes?" he asked.
"Don't forget to return that book to the library, Princess Twilight's been looking for it," the guard said with a smile.
"Will do," the vampony lied.
He entered the castle grounds and made his way towards the courtyard, avoiding the patrols as he did so. Much to his annoyance Twilight's friends were there. If any of them would be able to spot him, it'd be them. Much to his relief though, none of them paid any attention. Without incident he reached his destination, the courtyard and one particular statue. It was of a changeling, a pegasus, and a centaur.
A smile crossed the features of the vampony. He opened up his book and concentrated, an aura formed around him as he opened his mouth. "You who have been wrongfully imprisoned in the stone, I free you!" he called out. The illusion spell dropped and he started laughing manically as the statue started to glow.
"Where is she!? I'll make her pay!" a female voice growled.
"Golly! I sure am glad to be free from that statue, thanks mister!" A filly's voice said to him.
"Are you a rescuer or another person trying to ally with me to take over Equestria," a male's voice said.
Chrysalis, Cozy Glow, and Tirek, now free from their prison looked down at the vampony that had freed them. The changeling queen circled around the one who freed her, "Tell me why I shouldn't just feed off your love right now, pony?" she threatened.
The other two watched the aberration, none of the three of them were willing to make a move. But then Chrysalis decided to feign an attack. As her hoof came slamming down on Sunrise, he swiftly moved out of the way and onto her back. He gripped her neck in his magic and smiled cruelly, "Because if you don't follow me, you'll go back into that stone or worse," he threatened.
This commotion alerted the royal guard who swarmed the courtyard. In an instant, Cozy Glow realized which side was the better side to go with and she surrendered herself to the guard in the hopes that she wouldn't be turned back into stone or worse. Tirek looked at the two that had been fighting and slapped his face with a hand. "If it helps, I'm not with either of them, I tried taking over Equestria and all it's done is get me thrown into Tartarus twice and imprisoned in stone, I'm done," he stated as he stepped out of the way of the guard.
Chrysalis screamed in rage, "I will find you Starlight Glimmer! And when I do, I will make you pay for what you did to me!"
"You're not going to get anywhere without me. We're surrounded if you can't tell and two traitors are with the guards. Either we work together to get out of here and I help you get your revenge or we both end up captured here and now!" Sunrise warned.
The changeling queen was furious, but she knew the vampony was right. "Fine. What do you have in mind?"
The aberration didn't respond, his red eyes started to glow and he cast a spell that hit everyone within the courtyard, knocking them off their hooves. "Run!" he ordered as he jumped off her back.
The two of them ran out of the castle, being chased by the Royal Guards until they made their way into a nearby forest. They were safe for the time being. "So what's your plan, pony?" Chrysalis spat in anger.
"Let's start a new hive for you, your highness," was the aberration's only response.
The carriage continued on its path towards Silver Shoals with none of the occupants any the wiser about what had happened in the castle. Moonlight Gleam looked out the window, she couldn't shake the feeling that something had happened. She wanted to go back to find out, but she knew that in her condition, she was going to be able to help nopony. "Long ago, before either of you were born," Twilight started.
"I'm twenty-two," the investigator interjected.
"So you would've been born two years before they retired, this makes you older than Luster Dawn by four years," the princess observed.
"I thought you'd have been younger than that," Luster pointed out.
The dark blue mare arched a brow at the pink unicorn and the alicorn cleared her throat, getting both of their attention. "Before I was the Princess of Equestria, the land was ruled by the Princesses of the Sun and the Moon. The Princess of the Sun was my teacher back when I was a filly. She was a kind and wise leader that had ruled the land for a thousand years alone. Shortly after I had come to Ponyville, my friends and I had freed the Princess of the Moon from her anger and jealousy. She would become an ardent protector of Equestria, ensuring that her subjects had pleasant dreams and never had to worry about nightmares. We are going to see both of them, but your focus is the Lunar Princess, Moonlight," she said.
The investigator had climbed down onto the floor of the carriage, not wanting to see the sunlight or the outdoors. She rested her head against her tail, but a hoof gently shook her awake before she could go to sleep, "Huh, what?" she asked, a bit startled.
"You can't go to sleep before we get there, I'm sorry. We're almost there though," Twilight pointed out.
The carriage came to a stop and the occupants left. The three ponies walked into the retirement community with the Princess taking the lead and Luster Dawn close behind her. Moonlight Gleam however was lagging far behind. Something was wrong with her, she started growling and then Twilight felt a surge of magic behind her. The alicorn turned around and ignited her horn, but a spell intercepted the magic that was just cast. "While your visit was unannounced, it is pleasant, my former student," a gentle voice called out.
"This one is horribly sleep deprived, sister. I am not surprised that you have brought her here. She has been crying for help in her sleep, yet I assume you cannot reach her, Twilight," a different voice said.
"Her nightmares are too strong. I can't enter them, even with my friends," the lavender alicorn replied.
A dark blue alicorn revealed herself with a smile frown on her face. With a wave of her hoof, she put the dark blue unicorn to sleep. "She's not enduring normal nightmares. She's enduring something far deeper and far more connected to her psyche. I shall enter her dreams, Celestia, can you please carry her inside?" she asked.
"Very well, sister," replied an alabaster white alicorn.
Luna's eyes turned bright white as she entered the dreamscape. She followed the others to the place where her sister and them lived in the meantime.
The alicorn found herself in the dreamscape, it was a simple matter to find Moonlight's dream in the realm. She noticed the red spiked bubble that the dream was contained within and frowned, this was more serious than she thought. She focused her magic and entered the dream itself.
There she found Moonlight fighting a demonic copy of herself, the two of them were locked in battle. Spells flying towards each other. Luna could see that the unicorn favored fire magic while her opponent favored darkness. "You want to become me, I'll give you the power to exact your revenge!" yelled the demonic copy.
"I'll never be like you! I have ponies that I can count on! Ponies who care about me!" Moonlight screamed.
"Face it, Sunrise was right! You're nothing more than just an expendable asset! These ponies see you the same way!"
"You're wrong! Twilight Sparkle, Luster Dawn, Floral Blossom, Yarwood, Ginger, Gallop J. Fry! They're all there for me! I don't have to be alone anymore!"
"You're denying who you really are!"
"I'm denying you!"
The two ponies clashed one final time, there was a bright flash and the demonic copy seemed like it had come out on top. But it instead fell over, it was no more. It melted into a pool of black and rushed towards Moonlight who started to run away from it. It was to no avail, though. She only got three steps away before she found herself ensnared by the inky black pool. It started to engulf her and the unicorn screamed as much as she could.
This was the point where the nightmare was, Luna realized. She swiftly blasted the ooze off Moonlight and shifted the dream to a more pleasant one. "You are scared of becoming her, but you do not know how to stop it. The answer is within you, if you would just look," she stated.
The investigator was about to protest when she found herself face to face with herself. Something felt different about her, she was less withdrawn, less defensive.
"Just because you became her doesn't mean that you cannot become me. Your choices are your own and I know you want to do the right thing. I know you want to open yourself up to your friends and you want to trust them. I know this because, I am part of you," the figure said.
Moonlight was shocked slightly by this, but she looked at the dark blue alicorn. "Can you change this to a cliff overlooking a sunset?", she asked.
Luna nodded and waved her hoof, the unicorn watched as the scene before her changed. She walked to the edge of the cliff, "My entire life, I've been scared of one thing or another. I never really had the courage to stand up for myself or for others. Nor was I smart enough to realize that I was expendable. Some part of me knew that I would never get to see my parents again as their daughter. But... I didn't want to believe it. It's true that I'm scared that Sunrise will try to hurt the people that get close to me, but..." she started.
The alicorn could only watch as Moonlight leapt off the cliff. She rushed to the cliffside and watched as the unicorn had turned into an alicorn instead, rising back up with a smile. "Twilight was kind enough to bring you to me. She truly cares about me and the friends she wanted me to make feel the same way. I have been the one in the wrong, now I must dedicate myself to making this right. It won't be easy, but it is possible, all I need to do is take that leap," she said.
Luna smiled at the young unicorn as she flew about the dreamscape, she had found the courage within herself to take the first step. "If you need anyone, I will be here for you, the spell I cast on you will have you sleep for two days. You need it, badly," she stated.
The investigator came to a landing and folded her wings with a smile, "Thank you, your highness," she said with a bow.
"I am no longer a Princess of Equestria, I retired along with my sister," the Alicorn stated with a smile.
"Even if you aren't now, you are still royalty and it would be rude to not treat you as such. This place is wonderful and with my friends at my side, I have nothing to fear," Moonlight stated.
The two shared a sweet smile before the investigator took off to the skies again, for the first time since she became an adult, the loneliness felt distant. It was still there, but it wasn't suffocating her as it once did. She had friends to rely on and she promised to herself that the next time something happened, she'd let them know what was going on.
Moonlight Gleam and the others had returned to Canterlot after the visit to Luna. Twilight Sparkle realized she had something important she had to take care of, leaving the two unicorns alone at the gate of the castle. Luster Dawn looked at her friend and the two shared a small smile. "I'm going back to Ponyville, would you like to accompany me?" she asked.
"I would, but I have something I have something I need to confront alone," the investigator replied with a frown.
"You don't have to be alone you know, I'm your friend. I can help you," the pink unicorn protested.
"This is something I have to do on my own. I know you wish to help and I would love for you to be able to help in this situation. However, if I am to end these nightmares decisively, I'm going to need to face this alone. If you wish to be nearby, that would be highly appreciated," the dark blue mare said with a smile.
The other unicorn smiled. Even if her friend had to do this alone, she wasn't abandoning her friends or trying to push them away. She was being gentle and genuine about needing to face things alone and not being afraid to allow ponies to be nearby in case things went wrong. She waved at her friend and turned to leave as she had things to do in Ponyville. This left the dark blue unicorn on her own.
Said unicorn sighed as she walked into the castle, a pair of guards nodding towards her as she did. She remembered where the dungeon was, if only faintly from her time being mind controlled. She reached the top of the stairs leading to it and hesitated for a moment. She would have to someday confront the pony that was down there, but she didn't know if she was ready yet. She was afraid somewhat, but she had learned much about this world since she had arrived. It was very different from her world, yet still easily understood. Well, except for Discord, but chaos by its nature is difficult to understand.
She walked down the stairs slowly, her hooves making a clopping sound against the stone. The guards at the bottom looked up the stairwell as she came down, wondering what was going on. "Excuse me, miss, but the dungeon isn't safe," one of the guards, an earth pony told her.
"I'm used to not being safe," the unicorn dismissively replied.
The other guard, a pegasus looked at her carefully, clutching a spear in his wing as she walked between them. To test her readiness, he tried to poke at her with the weapon's shaft, only to find that it didn't move. "Nice try, Lieutenant," the mare said with a chuckle.
She continued on her way to the farthest cell, she herself had chosen this cell for the prisoner in question. She wanted him to be as far away as possible from any other pony in case he tried anything funny. Much to her surprise, she passed by Twilight Sparkle who was talking to two figures that she didn't recognize. She didn't want to interrupt her though, so she had said nothing and didn't listen in.
"I didn't expect you to be here, a surprise to be sure," a deep voice emanated from the cell.
A gray unicorn with a black swept back mane walked towards her, he looked at her with his green, sorrowful eyes. There was regret written all over his face, but Moonlight didn't believe what she was seeing. "That cell fits you, your highness," she taunted.
"I am King Sombra no more, just Sombra. Ever since I had been freed from the evil that had influenced me, I've had plenty of time to reflect over my misdeeds and my sins," he replied sorrowfully.
"And I'm sure you're telling us that you have regrets because you want to get out of here," Moonlight hissed.
Sombra pushed open the door to his cell, it had been unlocked the whole time, but he closed it back up to show that he was a prisoner of his own choosing. "I do not feel that I am ready to go back to being part of society. I've spent most of my life trying to hurt and dominate others, I do not feel they will accept me," he replied calmly to her venom.
The investigator opened the cell and walked in, closing herself in with her foe. She didn't like him and the look on her face could make his blood run cold in his veins. It was one of pure hatred. Nothing could stop her from doing what she wanted to do to him. Yet, she didn't start casting a spell. She couldn't bring herself to do anything to the other unicorn in the cell.
"I understand if you hate me, I lied to you. I used your greatest desire to bring you under my control. If you want to harm me, I will not stop you," he said.
His words were genuine, his tone was sincere. There was a silence between the two of them that lasted for several minutes. Neither of them choosing to say a word as the tension between them eased. Moonlight walked towards the door of the cell with a heavy sigh, she wanted to hate this unicorn, but something was different about him. He wasn't the same creature that she had faced a month ago, it was as if they were completely different entities.
She opened the door to the cell, "Your eyes, they are a bit like mine once were. You're lonely inside even in spite of your new friends," Sombra said.
She paused for a moment to contemplate what he meant by that. "You're half right, I am not lonely despite my new friends. But I have had something taken from me that I can't ever get back. I used to be lonely," she replied.
She turned around and closed the door to the cell with her magic. The stallion walked towards her and sighed heavily. His shoulders sagged as he looked down at the ground. It was obvious that something was weighing him down and Moonlight didn't need years of training as an investigator to see that this was the case. The dark gray unicorn sat down on the floor and looked up at the ceiling. "I guess it would have been over a thousand years ago. I was just a normal unicorn in the Crystal Empire, a low born unicorn. Because of my social status, I wasn't very popular with other unicorns or ponies in general. Every year at the Crystal Faire, I became sick. As I grew up, it became worse year after year. The Crystal Ponies shunned me for this and by the time I was nine, I felt truly alone. Not even my own parents wanted anything to do with me. If it wasn't for one special unicorn, I would've fallen to darkness much sooner. She helped me and healed me as best she could. She was there for me, until... I became the monster you had fought in my adulthood," he recounted.
"That sounds like a shortened version of a very long story. You're telling me that the Crystal Heart was hurting you, do you know why?" Moonlight asked, being an investigator.
"No, neither Radiant Hope nor myself figured out why this was happening. It was unknowable. Eventually we went to Princess Amore to find out why. She told us that it was fate and we couldn't change it. I decided on that day if that was going to be my fate, I was going to embrace it fully. It was at that moment I had embraced the dark magics and my first act was to encase her in crystal and shatter her," Sombra recounted regretfully.
Rage filled Moonlight's entire being, she rushed the other unicorn in the cell and slammed him into the door, sending it flying open. She then slammed him into the wall and held him up with a foreleg against his neck. A fire spell charged on her horn and she aimed it directly at him.
"Moonlight, enough !" came Twilight's voice.
Before she could cast the spell, it seeped away from her and a voice that was unfamiliar to her spoke up. "Sorry about that Princess, but I couldn't let her hurt that pony."
"You'll get a pass on that one, Tirek," the alicorn said annoyed.
"She was a distant ancestor of mine! And he destroyed her in this world!" the dark blue unicorn yelled.
"I can bring her back!" Sombra stated weakly.
The investigator dropped the gray unicorn to the ground. He stood up and sighed, "If I can find all the pieces, I can restore her and then reverse the spell. She'll live," he stated with a cough.
"I grew up hearing stories about my ancestor. She lived a wonderful life, one greater than I ever had. You were right that I was once alone, Sombra. I lived a life of poverty that none of you ever had to even worry about even once. There were days in my life where I worried if I would get to eat that day. There were weeks had to go with little to no food. No one wanted to help us, no one wanted anything to do with us. You had a friend that you threw away, but mine... he betrayed me and I've been trying to track him down ever since," Moonlight said angrily.
"That's not the entire story, is it?" the former king asked.
"No, but you don't deserve to hear the rest of this story. Why did you bring up this Radiant Hope pony anyhow?" the investigator hissed.
The gray unicorn sighed heavily, "Two reasons. One, I love her and I never had the chance to tell her. I was consumed with anger and hatred before I could. The other reason is that she's the only one that could help me restore Princess Amore to her old self. I know you don't have any reason to trust me, but please, I beseech you. Find Radiant Hope for me and bring her here, I wish to make things right between her and I. I will do anything in my power after that to bring your ancestor back," he stated.
"Wait... you're the descendant of Amore? My old foal sitter is a descendant of her's as well," Twilight stated.
"If you're thinking we're cousins, we're distant enough at this point for me to be as related to Sombra as I am to her. My parents traced back our family history far back enough for us to realize that our relationship to the famous movie star, Cadance was pointless to pursue. She wouldn't have helped us or accepted us as family," Moonlight said to cut the princess off.
She then turned back to Sombra and started to think about whether or not she should consider the request of the pony who had taken over her mind. She was still furious at the other unicorn. Thoughts of repeatedly punching him in the face entered her imagination and she smiled at them. However in the pursuit of pragmatism, she couldn't harm him. Her brow furrowed as she became irate, in her world, her ancestor was long gone by the time she was born. But here was a chance to be able to meet her and ask her the questions she had always wanted to ask. Maybe this was her chance to be something more than just a lower class investigator.
"Fine, I'll do what I can. Remember this though, I'm an investigator, not a miracle worker. I have no clues to go off of. I doubt the Cadance of this world would know either, if I find anything, I'll let you know. Until then, I wouldn't hold my breath, usurper," she said, putting an exceptional amount of venom on the last word to show her hatred of him.
Everyone looked at her with surprise, but she left the dungeon. She was left with questions and didn't know where to look, but her first instinct would be to find out where she was last seen. She was going to head to the library to find some sort of clue and she'd play it by ear from there. Maybe something would turn up, maybe not, only time would be able to tell.
Moonlight Gleam sat in a room, her eyes closed and her breathing slowed considerably. To the outside world, it would seem like she's sleeping. However, she was in a deep meditative trance. She entered this state when she was pressed for time, but needed to properly gather her thoughts. However something felt wrong to her. Her intuition was screaming in her brain, telling her that something was heading her way and it was dangerous. She kept her meditation up though, making it appear as if she were defenseless. She had no idea what was going to happen, but two black insectoid ponies walked into the room, their blue eyes gazing at their seemingly helpless target.
Neither of them shared a word between them, they didn't have to. The hive mind shared each drone's thoughts. The two of them jumped to try to attack their chosen target only for them to hit the ground instead as she moved quickly out of the way. The two of them looked up at her and hissed. "I don't understand why we have to go after this particular pony, it doesn't seem like she'd have much love to drain," one of them stated.
The unicorn opened her eyes and her ears twitched. Dull orange flames wrapped around her and she turned around to glare at her attackers. "You were expecting a helpless mare, weren't you?" she asked with a voice full of anger.
One of the changelings transformed into Floral Blossom, but Moonlight took notice of the color of the magic. Her friend had a silverish aura to her magic, but this was a sickly green color. She wasn't going to be fooled by this, the flames wrapped around her more fiercely as she grew angry. The two changelings looked at each other and the one that had transformed into her friend turned into a nirik to try to get through the flames.
The flames burning around investigator suddenly shifted luminescent blue as the temperature in the room rose drastically. Neither of the changelings were able to handle it in their current forms as Moonlight glared at them both. She then started to walk towards the changeling that had made the critical mistake of changing forms into someone she cared about in front of her. "Come on, you bug. You chose a form that would be fire resistant because they use fire, but you failed to account for the fact that I can make my flames burn hotter. Not to mention, the palace is going to notice the magical energy that I'm expending. It's only a matter of time before they descend upon this room," she threatened.
The two changelings looked at each other and then at her. The sound of hooves galloping towards the room sounded in the distance. They turned to run, only to see a barrier of flame appear before their path. They looked back to see the barrier of flame was still surrounding the unicorn. They hissed as they realized that they were going to be captured. Moonlight started to struggle to maintain the two barriers. The heat that the flames were putting off was intense and it was burning through her magic reserves at an exceptional rate. The hooves got closer to them, she only needed to last a few more moments.
The flames started to change back from luminescent blue to dull orange, her reserves were running dry. The changelings noticed this and one of them shapeshifted into her. This changeling "chased" the other one out of the room, forcing the unicorn to drop her shield. She was low on magic, another spell like that would be impossible for her, but she could cast a few basic spells if need be. The guards and a white unicorn with a blue mane ran into the room.
"I was able to chase one of the changelings out, but this one is too burnt out to leave. Look at it, it can barely stand," the changeling that had taken her shape said as she joined up with the others.
The guards immediately looked to Moonlight, their weapons at the ready to defend the Crystal Empire. She was going to have to come up with something and fast. She knew her particular choice of spell type and smirked, "Cast a fire spell," she demanded.
The changeling looked shocked, "What do you mean, everyone knows I don't use fire spells. That's some changeling trick!" it tried to deny.
Moonlight frowned as she had expected that to work, but she wasn't a fool by any stretch of the imagination. Doppelgangers were rumored in her world, and shapeshifters most certainly did exist. However developing a spell to find them was difficult as their magic wasn't different. She remembered that the magic of the changelings was a different color than normal in their normal form. She hedged her bets that it would remain the same while shapeshifted.
She smiled and ignited her horn, the blue glow emanating from it, "You said that I was burnt out to the point where I could barely stand. When the two of you escaped, I dropped the barrier," she stated.
Everyone in the room looked at the other Moonlight Gleam who immediately became nervous as she saw the orb of flame appear on the real Moonlight's horn. "The game is up," the unicorn taunted.
The changeling became desperate and tried to rush the pony whose form it had taken to try to confuse the guards. The investigator moved to the side and placed her horn on the ground, infusing it with what little magic she had left. Flames erupted underneath the changeling, lifting it into the air a few inches from surprise and forcing it to land on its side. The guards quickly entered the room to apprehend it as the unicorn collapsed, having expended her reserves of magic.
The last thing she remembered before everything went dark was feeling like she was being lifted off the ground by somepony.
She awoke after what seemed like days, she could feel that her magic reserves hadn't replenished themselves. Her head pounded as if someone was taking a sledgehammer to the inside of it. She started to sit up, but a light magenta wing touched her, "Mother told me that you're very weak after what you had done. If you didn't use up so much magic, we wouldn't have known what was going on. Don't worry, your friends are safe. Father told me that is a bit strange considering what the changelings used to do," a voice said to her.
"Your highness," the unicorn replied. It was all she could say with her concentration being the pain in her head.
The alicorn near her placed her horn on the investigator's head. A light yellow glow, close to the color of Moonlight's mane emanated from the horn. The pain started to subside, allowing her to concentrate again as the white unicorn from before and Princess Cadance walked into the room. "Flurry Heart, how is our guest?" asked the other alicorn.
"She's doing just fine, Mother!" said an excited Flurry Heart.
"Well, now that my head doesn't feel like I just tried to tear a building down with it, I'm fine. According to your daughter, those creatures are changelings, that would explain the security around here. And... why I couldn't detect them," she said trailing off to mutter on the last few words.
"How did you know that they were changelings in the first place though," the white unicorn interrogated.
"I didn't, I sensed danger and one of them shapeshifted into my friend in order to get me to hesitate. I have never done anything like that with my magic before, but you know what they say. The flame that burns twice as hot burns half as long. Before I knew it, I had run low on my magic. That stunt with the changeling to shock them into being lifted off the ground drained the last of it. It would appear that they use a distinct version of magic that wouldn't be too hard to distinguish from the magic that unicorns or alicorns use. If I were to be able to study it, I could potentially modify my detect magic spell to be able to detect changelings," she stated truthfully, her face turning towards the unicorn.
"What are you doing here?" he asked.
Moonlight stood up out of bed and walked over to Princess Cadance, "You and I share a common ancestor. We are both descendants of Princess Amore," she stated.
The two alicorns in the room were shocked by this. They thought they were the only ones with lineage to Amore in the Crystal Empire. The pink alicorn looked down at the unicorn before her, "Are you sure?" she asked.
"Yes. Where I come from we have extensive records of family lines. My name is Moonlight Gleam. I'm her descendant, fifty-one generations down. If you really want to get an idea of that, that would be forty-nine greats and then granddaughter," the dark blue unicorn said as she stretched.
"So we're family?" Flurry Heart chimed in, excited.
"In a loose sense. Our genealogy diverges from her great-grandson. Your family descended from her great-great granddaughter, I descend from her great-great grandson. We're so distant that we're basically not family anymore," the investigator pointed out.
Cadance walked forward and wrapped a wing around Moonlight Gleam, "Nonsense, all members of Amore's family are my family," she said with a smile.
The investigator frowned, slightly annoyed by this gesture. Not to mention the reminder of her situation. "You'll have to forgive me, but I do not wish to be part of your family. The Cadance of my world wouldn't have lifted a finger to help my family!" she said, starting to raise her voice as she backed away.
The family watched as the dark blue unicorn backed away, she looked like she was getting angrier by the minute. "Some famous movie star while my parents broke their backs to try to provide food for us. She never looked at us! She never cared, we were too distant of family for her to notice! Both physically and genetically! I don't want your help! I don't need your help!" she screamed.
Flurry Heart tried to move towards Moonlight, but the white unicorn shook his head, "Flurry, let your mother handle it," he stated.
Cadance moved towards the angered unicorn, well aware of the power she had displayed earlier. "Maybe she wasn't there for you or your parents. But you're here now and... I'm afraid to tell you this, but you and the pony you're looking for aren't the first two to arrive to Equestria from your world," she stated.
This caught the pale yellow maned pony's attention, she looked up at the alicorn that was approaching her attentively. "Go on," she said.
"Another pony, an Earth Pony came about ten years ago. He tried to return to his world through the mirror, but over the last ten years it didn't send him to his world. Even when you both arrived here and he tried, it sent him to the world Twilight went to. I'm afraid that the mirror was a one way trip," the Princess of the Crystal Empire reported.
The only thing that sounded in that room was laughter. Moonlight Gleam was laughing. She had clung onto hope that she would see her world again, see her family again. She had imagined that it would be as simple as just going back through the mirror again. Now she'd be stuck for the rest of her life as a pony. Her laughter started to become more unhinged as the revelation started to sink in. The three ponies in the room with her looked a bit uneasy, but Cadance knew that there was a fifty-fifty chance of what would come next. Either the unicorn would become exceptionally angry or she would break down crying. She hedged her bets on the latter.
The laughter gave way to sobbing as the revelation that everything had been taken from her set in. Her tears hit the ground and she unleashed a wailing scream. The pink alicorn swooped in and hugged the unicorn as tightly as she could, burying her face into her chest. "There there, let it all out," she said.
Moonlight just continued to cry, soaking Cadance's fur with her tears and staining her own. She had lost, Sunrise had won. He had finally taken everything from her and she felt like she had nothing left. This was going to be her world now, her life. What was the point of her continuing to try to fight him anymore she began to wonder.
The pink alicorn started to sing gently to try to calm the unicorn down, but instead it started to make her drowsy. The sobbing slowed down and eventually the crying stopped. Moonlight recognized that song, it was the same one her mother had sung to her when she was a child.
"Moonlight, I know that the Cadance of your world wasn't there for you. But I will be here for you, if you ever need me, know that you can count on your Aunt Cadance. Your Uncle Shining Armor and Cousin Flurry Heart will do the best we can do to help you," the alicorn holding her stated.
"We're... distant though..." protested the investigator.
"Aunt Celestia had no relation to me, but she still took me in. I'm just following her example," was the gentle reply to her protest.
Moonlight smiled, she felt warm and safe. She had no idea how she would continue from here now that she had learned that she couldn't go back to her world, but she wanted to at least stay here in the Crystal Empire for a while. Learn a bit about the culture and about the food. But first thing she did was wrap her hooves around the alicorn that was holding her. The pink alicorn smiled and wrapped her wings around the unicorn. The two hugged gently for a moment before Moonlight let go, "Thank you, Aunt Cadance."
"You're welcome, niece," said Cadance as she placed Moonlight back into bed to recover from her ordeal.
Night had fallen within the Crystal Empire and Moonlight found that she couldn't sleep. She was restless after learning that she wouldn't be able to return to where she came from. The moon shone on the balcony that she stood on, looking up to the stars. She didn't know what to do anymore, the entire reason she had come here ended in failure. Her entire mission had failed. She was a Special Investigator with no way home, she was AWOL now. The unicorn leaned against the railing and looked back into the castle. Floral Blossom and Ginger were sleeping as was most of the residents of the castle, the only ones who were awake at this time of night were the night guard and they weren't much for conversation. This suited the mare.
She always had wanted her freedom from that organization, yet now that she had it, she didn't know what to do. The unicorn walked back into the castle, but a sound from behind stopped her. "How did you get here?" she demanded.
"I'm here to see if the rumors my partner's drones told me are true. I could've attacked the Crystal Empire at any time, but that infernal Crystal Heart senses my intentions and would repel me if I tried," came the response from Sunrise Standing.
"That doesn't answer my question," sneered Moonlight.
The vampony shrugged, "Wings. I can fly. My counterpart here is a Pegasus, just like yours is a unicorn, just like you're a unicorn. Figured someone as smart as you would've figured it out by now," he said as he rolled his eyes.
The unicorn turned around and the two looked at each other. Upon their eyes meeting, Sunrise started to laugh. All the rumors he heard were indeed true. The fire in Moonlight's eyes was gone. The unicorn didn't bother to try to stop him from laughing, she instead turned away from him. "You've won, Sunrise. I hope you're happy now, because it's not going to give you your dad's school and he's not going to come back from what you did to him," she stated bluntly.
"It was never about getting the school, can't you see! It was about making you pay for what you did, Moonlight. It was always about that and now I've won! You won't be able to stop me anymore!" the vampony gloated.
Two guard ponies walked towards the balcony and the unicorn shook her head, "Leave the fool alone, he'll soon realize that his victory was hollow," she ordered.
"Yes, Miss Moonlight," one of the guards responded.
"A hollow victory is still a victory!" Sunrise yelled as he started to dance.
Moonlight couldn't believe what she was seeing, an aberration, someone who sold themselves to dark magic was dancing before her. She hated every moment of this and wanted nothing more than to shove her former friend off the balcony. It was insulting to watch him debase himself. However, the dancing started to slow and eventually stopped leading to a vampony that looked down at the ground in a bit of shock.
"Realized that now your singular drive has been fulfilled, you don't have anything to fall back on and now life is meaningless?" she said with a smirk.
"Yeah..." was the quiet reply.
"Sucks don't it, now if you don't mind. Get off my aunt's balcony and get out of her city!" Moonlight hissed.
Sunrise hissed back and took to the skies, "Mark my words, Moonlight, I will find some new purpose to fulfill, and when I do. I shall ensure that you are there to witness it!" he yelled at her in a feigned gloat.
The unicorn shrugged it off, she literally couldn't care less what Sunrise was doing. She walked through the corridors of the castle and to her bedroom to fall asleep finally.
"I'm not going back," said Moonlight to a surprised Floral Blossom and Ginger.
The kirin looked at her friend puzzled, but the griffon got up in her face about this, "What do ya mean you aren't going back?" she asked.
"Simple, I'm not returning to Ponyville. Not yet anyway. Look, I wrote two letters. One for Princess Twilight and one for Luster Dawn. They need to understand what's going on, but I need to spend some time on my own and figure things out. I need to clear my head and all that good stuff," the unicorn stated.
She pulled out two envelopes and handed them to Floral Blossom, "I promise that we'll see each other again. I haven't forgotten about our friendship," she reassured the kirin.
"But what about Sunrise? Isn't he still a threat? Don't you want to pursue him to the ends of the world?" Ginger rightfully asked.
Moonlight shrugged and walked away from them, "He's not going to be a threat to anyone in his current state. He's just as lost as I am, but he doesn't want to show it. You'll be safe going back to Canterlot without me," she said dismissively.
She didn't give the two a chance to respond as she closed the doors behind her and made her way to the throne room. The unicorn was hoping to find Cadance there, but it was empty. There wasn't anyone in there except for the guards. Dejected, she walked towards her room that had been given to her the night before. Moonlight watched as two guards nodded to her as she entered her room, but she didn't respond in kind. Instead she walked straight into her room and slumped on the bed.
She felt empty and completely demotivated. It was something that she had never experienced to this degree. She's been like this before, but in this case it was an all consuming emptiness and lack of desire to do anything. She closed her eyes and tried to go to sleep, but sleep wouldn't come. It was as if the universe itself was taunting her. Images of her parents flashed in her mind, reminding her that she'll never be able to see them again, not even while disguising herself as she usually did.
"Hey, you going to come have breakfast with us? I know you're new to the family and all, but... wait weren't you supposed to go back to Ponyville with the others?" a voice asked her.
Moonlight picked her head off of the pillow long enough for her to speak up, "I'm not hungry and I don't want to go back to Ponyville. I've got important work to take care of here," she stated before putting her head back on the pillow.
Magic wrapped around the investigator and dragged her out of bed, "Sounds like me you're suffering from a bout of depression. Come on, staying isolated isn't going to do you any good," the Prince of the Crystal Empire said to her.
She was carried through the castle until they reached the dining hall. Cadance and Flurry Heart were already present and Shining Armor placed her down in one of the chairs. She looked at a stack of pancakes in front of her, but her first action was to immediately leave the chair and start trying to walk away. Moonlight didn't want to be around anyone, let alone her new adoptive family. Especially when they reminded her of her old family. The dark blue unicorn wanted nothing more than to get away from all of this, to walk into the frozen wastes and not look back.
The investigator didn't look back and she walked back towards her room, however Cadance landed in front of her and gave her a strong hug. "Moonlight, we're your family, you can tell us what's bothering you," she said sadly.
The unicorn tried to break from the hug, only to find that it got tighter. She knew that her new aunt wasn't going to let her go until she heard what was bothering the investigator. "Sunrise won, I've lost. I lost everything and now there's no point in continuing my mission," the unicorn said angrily.
"You think that it's all over because you feel like you've failed? Moonlight, there is always a reason to keep going forward. You might have lost your old family, but according to what Twilight told me, you weren't able to be with them as their daughter anyhow. You were forced to be something you're not and you want to go back to being who you really are deep down inside. With us, you finally get the chance to be the girl you want to be," Cadance said in a reassuring tone.
Moonlight broke free from the hug, but she was shocked rather than upset. She had never thought of things in this way. She was free to be who she wanted to be. The unicorn walked over to a window and looked out of it at her new home, the Crystal Empire. A smile crossed her face as she closed her eyes. She might have lost her old home, but there wasn't much worth going back for. This new world, this Equestria, was a beautiful place where she didn't have to constantly watch her back or worry about someone punishing her for her failures. She didn't have to feel like a weapon anymore with a singular purpose.
Her eyes opened and they appeared focused once more, "Well Director, it would seem that you've lost once and for all. I'm no longer on your so-called payroll and you no longer have any control over me or what I do. I'm my own woman now and there's nothing you can do about it," she boasted, confusing Cadance.
The alicorn looked around to see who her niece was talking to but Moonlight's laughter echoed through the halls as the unicorn removed her ID from her mane and looked at it one last time. Her horn ignited and the ID card burst into flames. She was no longer a Special Investigator, those days were behind her. But she knew the skills that she had learned during her time in the organization would benefit her.
The unicorn turned to her aunt with a smile and hugged her tightly, the alicorn replied in kind. "Aunt Cadance, do you know where Radiant Hope is? She's the only one who can help us aside from the reformed Sombra find all of our Ancestor's pieces and only together can they reverse the spell," she asked.
"I don't, but perhaps I know someone that does," Cadance replied.
Sunrise Standing returned to the new hive, he was livid about what had happened. He had finally won, yet he was empty inside. Changelings hissed at him as he passed by, but he shot them a glare that froze them in their tracks. They knew what happened if they attacked him, though they fed off love, he was capable of draining them to the very last drop of their magic. The vampony walked into his private chambers and sat against the wall to think about what he was going to do next.
He had believed that getting his revenge, finally breaking Moonlight would grant him satisfaction. All he felt was empty inside, but an all consuming rage was filling that void. A dark aura formed around him as he screamed in frustration. The whites of his eyes turned pitch black as he absorbed more magic. A pulse of energy flew from him, collapsing the chamber around him, but a quick barrier saved him from being crushed.
A tall changeling walked over, "Throwing a tantrum isn't going to get us any closer to our revenge," she chided.
"I saved you from that stone prison, I can put you back," Sunrise threatened.
The changeling queen hissed at him, but the vampony stood up on his hind legs and clapped his hooves together. A familiar magic coursed between them, but it was tainted and evil, "Like I said, Chrysalis. I can put you back and I can do the same to the entire hive if you'd like. Just like I can force you all to endure never ending torment through darkness," he threatened again.
The changeling queen backed off very quickly, realizing that this pony wasn't bluffing. The rest of the hive did the same, leaving the vampony alone to figure out his issues. Sunrise left his chamber of the new hive and eventually walked out of the hive itself. They had set up shop in the mountains away from Ponyville and Canterlot. He had tolerated his partner's insatiable desire for revenge because he held the same desire but aimed towards a different target.
The wind picked up and blew through his mane as the hunger returned to him. He wanted more magic, more power. But he had no goal in mind to use it. He looked out towards a village at the base of the mountain. He could smell the magic coming from it, but they weren't ponies. They were something different, half-feline, half-avian. As daylight shined however, he wouldn't dare go down there and feed, not while everyone could see him.
He waited patiently for the sun to go down, knowing that the changelings wouldn't bother him in the slightest. He eventually closed his eyes and took a peaceful nap. He was not surprised that neither Twilight Sparkle nor Luna entered his dreams. His mind was a dark place after all, full of dark magic, so he rested uninterrupted.
Night fell and he woke back up, his eyes started to glow in the dark as the hunger intensified. He slowly walked down the mountain like a predator stalking its prey. For tonight, every griffon in that village would be his prey. He licked his lips as he entered the village. There were a few griffons on patrol, but it wasn't something that bothered him too much. He slipped behind one of the solo patrols and smirked as it was a foolish tactic to have a singular person patrol any given route.
He quickly closed the distance and forced the griffon's beak shut and used magic to pin the wings to his body. No sounds would come from this griffon as he opened his mouth and sunk his fangs deep into his victim. Magic flowed from the creature into his mouth and Sunrise savored every moment of it. This griffon magic tasted different from the magic of the ponies or the kirin. It tasted much more sour, yet at the same time sweet. Almost like a lemon candy.
Once the griffon lost consciousness, he discarded the body and quickly moved towards another guard as his body continued to change from the magic he was draining. The guard he moved towards had no idea what was going on until it was too late. He was drained of his magic and suddenly a metamorphosis took place within Sunrise. His body started to ache as it forcibly changed. He felt his hooves return to being hands and feet. He could feel the fingers and toes that he had missed. His ears returned to their usual place, but became pointed. He looked at his body, the fur was replaced with hair, which was just as ashen as his skin was.
He was still the size of a pony, but he didn't care. He swiftly descended on a third guard, draining them of their magic and then using his supernatural strength to toss him aside. He regained some of his old size as he walked towards the door to a griffon house. The vampire grabbed the handle and ripped it off the hinges. Three griffons lay inside the house. None of them were expecting an attack. He quickly grabbed the child and glared at the parents. "If you care about your child, you will willingly surrender your magic to me," he bluffed.
"And if we don't!?" the mother taunted fearfully.
A smirk crossed Sunrise's face, "I've heard from Chrysalis that the love a child has for their parents and the world at large is pure and untainted. Which would explain her constant attempts to go after young ponies. Perhaps I shall deliver your child to her," he stated. The vampire turned around as the child struggled and screamed in his grip.
"No! We'll surrender our magic to you!" screamed the father.
"I thought you griffons didn't care about anything except for yourselves. I guess you really have changed from what you used you be," Sunrise stated as he gently placed the child down.
The vampire turned around and placed his hands on both of the griffon adults. He drained them of their magic, only to the point where they fell unconscious, he didn't want to drain them completely. As he walked out of the house, he looked towards the child that he had used against her parents, "Relax kid, I wasn't going to harm you, I'm not a monster," he said reassuringly.
The child ran to her parents as the vampire left the house. His hunger had yet to be sated, but he knew where he could find the best source of magic in the village. He strode to the elder's place and kicked down the door. Guards heard the sound and rushed towards the house, but Sunrise waved his hand behind him, "Sleep!" he commanded as he cast the spell to make them sleep. The elderly griffon in the house lunged at the vampire in a vain attempt to make the attack stop, but it didn't nearly as well as he had hoped.
The vampire sidestepped the griffon and grabbed him by the neck. Magic flowed from the elder into Sunrise who regained his original size as the hunger was finally sated. He let go of the elderly creature and looked down at it with a smile.
"Why... why are you doing this to us? We didn't do anything to you!" the elder protested.
"The weak exist to serve the strong. As an aberration, I am the strong and you are the weak. Your magic exists to be food for me, nothing more. You can't even use it, that's how weak and pathetic you are! Oh and don't bother asking for help, I have an entire army at my beck and call. If you griffons are good little birdies and let me come down and feed once in a while in peace, I'll mostly leave you all alone to your own devices. But if you try to fight back, if you try to resist, if you try to get help? Well, I'll raze your village to the ground," Sunrise taunted with a gleeful and sadistic smirk on his face.
"But why?" the elder asked again.
The vampire didn't have an answer to this, he had lost his meaning for living. He had lost his purpose, as of now, his only purpose was to feed and grow ever more powerful. He was determined to do this at the very least. It was his new purpose, he had no other purpose that he could think of. Every attempt to try to take over Equestria in the past had failed, he had no reason to think that if he attempted to do so, he'd fare any better.
"Because I am a vampire that feeds off magic, you are creatures with magic. All I wish to do for now is figure out a plan how to go forward. All I need is a little sustenance from time to time," Sunrise replied finally.
He left the elder's house, more guards came to try to arrest him but he towered over them, looking down at them with a glare. He stretched out his arm and a cape formed around him, covering him as his red eyes glowed at the griffons. His glare was enough to get them to back off as his cape shapeshifted into a pair of wings, allowing him to take flight within the night.
Though he had an army of changelings at his beck and call, he didn't quite know how long Chrysalis would remain loyal to him. This was something that deeply bothered the vampire and as he landed on a branch in a tree, he looked over his new dominion. There were no Special Investigators coming to stop him, there weren't going to be any armies coming to try to stop him. His new village would keep quiet about what had happened there, he was sure of it. He formed a cup out of magic squeezed a few fruits that were on the tree into the cup.
He drank from it and then threw it down to the ground as he stood up and teleported from the tree to the ground. He started to laugh as he walked deeper into the woods. This was his new purpose for now. He was going to be the Lord of this land, the one the villagers paid tribute to. Now that Moonlight Gleam was demoralized and thus out of the way, there would be no one who would know how to stop him. He looked at his clawed hand and vaguely wondered if even the Alicorns' magic was out of his reach now.
He shook his head, realizing that such a move would be risky at best and foolish at worst. He turned back to his village and suddenly came up with an idea. If he could find some way back into his world, he could use the army that he had raised in the changelings to take over his world. On top of that, he could gain enough power to raise an even larger army, with more than just the changelings in it. He believed that there would come a point where he'd be unbeatable. A smile crossed his moonlit features as he started to laugh maniacally.
His path was set he was going to quietly accrue more power and once he was strong enough, he would lead his army through the mirror back into his world. Once there, he was going to crush the Special Investigators and from there, the world would be ushered into a new era of darkness, with him at the throne. With this new path in mind, he wandered back towards the new hive, ready to tell his partner what he had in mind.
The streets were quiet within the city of Canterlot, not a single human was out late at this hour by the order of the police. Because of attacks by creatures known as aberrations had been happening with greater frequency at night, the populace was afraid. One gray skinned aberration moved through the city looking for his next meal. He feasted upon the magic of others, but was effective enough to not leave a trail for people to follow, or so he had thought. His case was being thoroughly investigated by a group of people known only as the Special Investigators.
One Special Investigator, a dark blue skinned woman with faded yellow hair patrolled on the streets for her target. She worked alone as usual, a baton at one side and a pistol a the other. In her line of work, she had to be prepared for anything. Some aberrations came quietly, others had to be put down. This particular one was the case she had chosen and had been pursuing for her entire adult life. She wasn't about to let the aberration get away from her.
A device in her pocket alerted her to the presence of dark magic near her, and she was immediately put on high alert. She knew the cravenness of those who had willingly been consumed by the dark magic they chose to practice. They rarely attacked from the front. She kept her head on a swivel, knowing full well that her choice to work alone had put her in more danger simply by not having someone to cover her back. Her steps echoed through the empty streets, the only sound that she could hear. Except for a rustling of leaves.
Her intuition told her to investigate the rustling. She pulled her baton out and pressed a button to electrify it. The soft crackling of the electricity running along the baton reached her ears and she knew that it would tell anything that was intent on attacking her that she wouldn't go down without a fight. She slowly walked towards the leaves, which continued rustling. The wind wasn't blowing, so she had no reason to believe that it was a coincidence. She stepped even closer, her heart started to race. Despite the fact that her face showed no fear, she felt it and she knew that some aberrations were able to sense that, but not the one she had been following.
She reached the pile of leaves and the moment her foot hit the ground, a mouse moved out of it. But her intuition told her that the real threat was behind her. She turned around only to be tackled to the ground, her baton thrown from her hand from impact and she was pinned to the ground. Her assailant reached into the holster and removed the pistol from it, tossing it away as well. He lowered his face into her's, opening his mouth to reveal his fangs. The smell of the breath on the aberration was putrid, as if he hadn't brushed his teeth in years. The woman would've vomited at the smell if she wasn't struggling to get free.
"Ah ah ah, Agent Moonlight. You know that you normal humans aren't strong enough to free yourself from us," the creature threatened.
Moonlight knew he was right, she wasn't strong enough, no normal human was. But she opened her mouth to start to talk, but it was covered quickly by a hand. "Tsk tsk, we can't have you casting any spells, can we?" the creature taunted.
The creature made one critical mistake by covering her mouth with his hand. He had to free up one of her's. She didn't need to chant to cast a spell, but she did need to make the hand gestures. She swiftly made a few gestures for a basic fire spell. It wouldn't do much, but it would create enough light and heat to scare her attacker off her. Predictably, the moment his clothes caught fire, he was startled and let go of her. This gave the investigator enough of a window to get back up and start to prepare a better spell.
She started moving her hands and her fingers to form gestures for a spell that would allow her to form a cage of light magic around the aberration. This would prevent it from accessing or using its dark magics and would allow her to bring him in. Her opponent however saw what she was doing and instead of attacking her, he fled.
She had no time to continue the spell, it was something that was only supposed to be done while they were dazed and they had enough time as it was a very complicated spell. The investigator was furious at herself for letting her long time target get away, but there was no time to feel sorry for herself. She had to get the creature before it hurt anyone else. She ran as fast as her legs could take her, but the aberration was superhuman. This naturally, was normal for their kind.
She chased it to a school, the very same high school she had once wanted to attend, but because of having moved during the eighth grade, she went to Crystal Prep instead. She started making gestures with her hands once more, vines creeping out of the ground and heading towards her target's legs. But her target suddenly walked into a statue, but didn't emerge from the other side.
This gave her pause, forcing her to stop where she was. She confused as to what happened. She used a detect magic spell, one of the few spells she was able to do without any hand gestures or chanting. There wasn't any red glowing of dark magic anywhere in the vicinity, it was as if it had completely disappeared. She silently cursed herself for letting this happen. She turned to walk away when it dawned upon her, people don't just vanish and teleportation spells were unheard of in their world. Moonlight turned around and walked back to the statue, it was glowing a bright blue. This wasn't dark or light magic, it was just magic.
She looked into the mirror and saw her reflection, she placed her hand on it, curious as to what kind of magic the statue had. To her surprise, her hand passed through the mirror. "This must be how you escaped from here. Well, you're not going to get away from me," she stated with a smirk on her face.
She knew that the only way forward with her investigation, the only way that she could continue to track down the aberration that she had been trying to find and stop was to enter this mirror. With a deep breath, she steeled her nerves. A single step is all it took for her to enter and then everything went black.
Luster Dawn walked through the streets of Ponyville, she had known about the council of friendship for a while and she decided on who she would go to. If this pony couldn't cheer Moonlight up, no one else would be able to. She had left alone to do this task, it was something she felt she had to do. The pink unicorn knew that her other friends were with the very irate investigator. She arrived at a bakery shop. Hesitation gripped the student for a brief second, but the door flew open, revealing Pinkie Pie on the other end. "Oh my goodness! Luster, you've come to visit! I should've prepared some sweets for you!" the pink earth pony excitably started yelling out.
Luster was taken aback by this, she knew of Pinkie's energy and excitability, but she wasn't expecting this. "Uh, thanks... but it's really more for a friend of mine, she's lost and alone and confused. I think she's really hurt by something in her past and I remember Princess Twilight telling me stories of how you could cheer anyone up. Could you help me?" she asked.
The smile on the pink earth pony grew to an impressive size. Luster was taken aback by this, she had to admit. A gasping breath escaped the older pink pony's mouth. "Of course I can! It sounds like your friend just needs a party!" she exclaimed.
Pinkie grabbed Luster and took her into the shop, where she had the entrance to her party cave. Once in the cave, the earth pony immediately went through her files while the unicorn looked around in awe, "You have to have..." the unicorn started.
"Everypony and creature in Equestria's favorite kind of parties and their favorite foods documented in here!" the earth pony exclaimed always as excitable as ever.
The pink unicorn was taken aback by this, she wasn't expecting any of this to be honest. She heard rumors, but she always dismissed them. There was no way that any pony, not even her own teacher could be this thorough and yet here it was in front of her face.
"What's your friend's name?" the pink earth pony asked.
"Moonlight Gleam," Luster Dawn almost reflexively responded.
Pinkie Pie immediately went to work on trying to find Moonlight's file, but the student of Twilight Sparkle didn't expect her to find anything. After all, Moonlight had come from the human world, not Equestria. There wasn't any way that there would be a file on her here after all.
"Found it!" said the jubilant pink earth pony.
Luster's eyes went wide, there was a pony here known as Moonlight Gleam as well. "According to this, the last time she left her village was when she was brought here for the coronation for Twilight Sparkle. Her favorite sweet is vanilla cupcakes with lemon frosting! She really likes balloons and streamers and her favorite gift is snowglobes!" Pinkie said excitedly.
The pink earth pony ran up the stairs to leave a bewildered unicorn in her party cave. But a voice came up from above, "Oh, and Luster, don't tell her about the party!"
Moonlight arrived in the cafeteria of the School of Friendship, but for some reason it was empty. No one was there despite the fact that it was the middle of the day. She shrugged and grabbed a tray, helping herself to what food she could get and sitting down at a table. It was nice to finally have some peace and quiet for once. She had no qualms about the silence, but it was the fact that no one was there that bothered her.
She tried to eat, but she couldn't. This mystery was nagging at her and she wanted to get to the bottom of it. She climbed out of her seat and walked around the cafeteria looking for clues of any sort, but she came up empty other than the food was still warm. Whoever was here was there not too long ago. She tasted the food for anything that could've given her a hint, but nothing. The investigator walked into the kitchen to look around, but there weren't any signs of a struggle or a magic duel. Everything was orderly, it was as if everypony had disappeared all of the sudden.
The unicorn grabbed one of the kitchen utensils off the counter. It was dirty, but nothing suggested any sort of foul play. It was too creepy. Her heart started to race, but she placed the utensil back where she found it. She slowly walked out of the kitchen and into the hallway, keeping her head on a swivel and her eyes and ears open.
"There's nothing out of place in the kitchen or the cafeteria, other than nopony is there," she muttered to herself.
The dark blue mare walked to one of the classrooms and opened the door slowly, making sure to jump behind the door frame in case of a trap of some sorts. She waited and held her breath, her heart pounding in her chest. The door opened all the way, but there was nothing. Moonlight peeked into the room, there literally wasn't a single pony in the room. She grew far more uneasy. The halls were too quiet for her, the fact that there wasn't a single soul around was bothering her.
She rushed to the counselor's office, surely Trixie would be there. Surely someone would be able to tell her what was going on and why the school had been abandoned. Her heart felt like a jackhammer in her chest. She turned the corner into the door and there was nopony there, not even the clothes that Trixie normally wore.
Moonlight wanted to be thorough, so she checked the headmare's office too. Nothing was there either, it was a mystery she couldn't solve. There wasn't a single clue for her to discover, not a single lead for her to follow. There was just nothing. She was used to there being something for her to follow. Her fear started to give way to frustration as she left the building itself.
She wandered the streets of Ponyville, desperately trying to find any signs of life, any clue as to what happened. Her search was in vain, there was nothing. She was angry at herself for not being able to find anything. She walked up to City Hall and slammed a hoof against the door. She had failed everyone here, they were gone and she'd never find them. She slammed that same hoof on the ground and wondered what Sunrise must be thinking right now.
She pushed the door open, expecting to see nothing like the rest of the town. She hadn't seen a single soul since she left her dorm room earlier. The place was dark, not even the sun shone within it. This bothered her, some kind of magic had to be behind this. She refused to enter the building and instead concentrated on a simple spell she knew. It was the most basic spell that anyone could do, but the magic wouldn't flow through her.
"I don't get it... why won't it work?" she asked aloud to herself.
"SURPRISE!" yelled the entire town all at once.
Moonlight jumped back as far as she could with a startled yell and a burst of magic shot from her horn, unleashing the spell she had been trying to cast. A ball of light zipped into the building and a blindingly bright flash forced everypony to avert their eyes. She started breathing heavily as her heart simultaneously raced and slammed in her chest. She had thought that something bad had happened, but all that happened was everyone was planning out a surprise party for her.
She clutched her chest and gave every pony in the city hall a glare that would bring hesitation to anyone sensible. The other ponies rubbed their eyes, but a pink earth pony bounded out. "Wow, that was an amazing lightshow, Moonlight. I didn't know you could do something like that!" she exclaimed.
Moonlight tensed up, she remembered this one from when she first arrived in Equestria, but the smell of food tempered her attitude. Her stomach growled and she walked past the earth pony to help herself to some food. She grabbed something to eat from the party table, noticing a lot of different snacks. From salty to sweet, this table had it all. She munched on a few pretzels and wandered to a corner to be by herself. She was hesitant around parties, but a griffon flew next to her with a glass of punch, "I think you'll want something to drink, those pretzels are a bit salty," she said.
The unicorn grabbed the glass of punch and brought it up to her lips, sipping it gently. The griffon didn't bother to wait for her to thank her, she knew the investigator wouldn't, but a hoof on her tail stopped her. "Ginger, was it?" the unicorn asked.
Ginger looked back and nodded with a slight smile, things were going better than she had thought they would, "Yes, Moonlight," she said.
"Thank you for the punch, it means a lot to me," the unicorn said.
Everything around Moonlight suddenly got a little smaller than it used to be, disorienting and confusing the investigator. She hadn't expected something like this, but then again, she hadn't expected to ever be shrunken down to the size of a filly. She almost fell over, but she was caught by Yarwood, "Yak has Pony, Yak won't let Pony friend fall over!" he boasted.
This confused her deeply. "I had been rude to all of you, yet you're trying to be nice to me still. Why are you all doing this?" she asked.
The voice of the Princess spoke up, "Because they want to be your friend, they want you to stop trying to fight them as if they are your enemy."
Moonlight tensed up as she watched the ruler of Equestria herself walk into the room, a plate of cookies held in a telekinetic grip. "You did this to me," the unicorn said with venom in her voice.
"As you found out, being genuinely nice and grateful to others reverses the effect of the potion. Once you have learned the lesson we are trying to teach you, you will return to your normal size, Moonlight. I didn't want to do this, but you were starting fights with even my friends. Relax for a bit, eat some cookies, have some cupcakes, this entire party is a welcome party for you," the alicorn replied.
A cookie was levitated towards the mouth of the dark blue unicorn. Moonlight sniffed it and then took a bite. Much to her surprise, it was her favorite kind of cookie, white chocolate chip with macadamia nuts. She didn't know how that was possible when no one knew about what she really liked. "I heard these cupcakes are your favorite too," Twilight said to her.
A cupcake got levitated to Moonlight's mouth and she took a bite. It wasn't her favorite, but it was good enough. "Not bad, but I prefer chocolate cupcakes and cherry frosting," she stated.
A loud gasp reached her ears and Pinkie Pie ran over to her, "I was wrong !?" she exclaimed.
The Princess stepped in, "Pinkie, you're right about the Moonlight Gleam in Equestria, but this one came from another world. She isn't the same pony," she said.
Much to everyone's surprise, Moonlight took this all in stride. "Wait, you're not confused or shocked about any of this?" Twilight Sparkle asked.
The unicorn simply shrugged, "I've come from a world where people turn into monsters by giving into dark magic. I have personally investigated the cases where this has happened, I've dealt with a few of these apparitions myself. I've chased one into this world and you've taken me off the case. Not to mention, I've seen versions of all of you in my world. Sure it was weird at first, but I got used to it. There was bound to be another me around here, I just hope she had a better life. Now if anyone needs me, I have a buffet table to get back to," she said in a low enough voice to ensure that only Twilight would hear her.
Luster walked over to her teacher as Moonlight walked away, the two of them shared a smile as they watched the dark blue unicorn return to the party and finally allow herself to truly relax for the first time since she arrived in Equestria.
The train ride had been an uneventful affair despite having a kirin and a griffon with her. Moonlight had told Luster Dawn that she could've handled this easily on her own, but both Floral Blossom and Ginger had elected to come with her as they had never seen the Crystal Empire before. The unicorn turned to her companions who were looking at the train station in awe, it was as if had been carved out of crystal. Which to the investigator, was to be expected from some place called the Crystal Empire.
"How do you know where Princess Cadance is going to be?" asked the Griffon.
Moonlight shrugged and pointed at the large spire in the middle of the city, "I don't, but if I had to wager a guess, I'd place all my money on that building right there," she replied with a smirk on her face.
"You could do without the sarcasm, Moonlight," Floral Blossom said, slightly annoyed at this.
The unicorn shrugged as she started to make her way to the spire in the center of the city, "I wasn't being sarcastic. I've never been here and there's no Crystal Empire where I come from," she stated.
This caused the other two to pause as the investigator continued walking. Neither of them knew much about the world that she had come from. Curiosity took hold of the two creatures and the kirin ran towards her friend as the griffon flew towards her. "Say, Moonlight, you don't say much about your world. Why is that?" Ginger asked.
The unicorn stopped in her tracks, her brow furrowed and a grimace reached her face. She was obviously unhappy that she had been asked about this and as her muscles tensed up, the other two became a little defensive. Without Luster Dawn or Twilight Sparkle here, they wondered if they could calm her down. Moonlight looked up to the sky above them as memories of her past life had started to flood her mind. Was it worth it to go back in the first place she wondered. She was nothing there, no one even knew she was alive aside from a handful of people. Her name had been erased from the record, she was treated as just a number. An expendable agent that the Special Investigators didn't care if she lived or not.
"Not here in the open. Follow me," she stated firmly.
The investigator led her companions to an abandoned house. Much to her surprise the door was unlocked and they gained easy entry. She closed the door behind them and was sure to lock it. As she turned to the other two, the look in her eyes was enough to chill them to the bone. The two of them worried that all of the progress that they had made with her over the last month was being undone.
The unicorn started to walk towards one of the chairs as she relaxed somewhat, "I apologize for my reaction, the memories are deeply unpleasant and it's not your fault. Four years ago, my life was ruined by Sunrise Standing. He attacked his own father because he felt like his father had given me everything and had given him nothing. The truth of the matter was, his father wanted to make me a teacher's assistant at some point, but he was going to give the school to his son. Because I had first showed magical prowess that night and had survived an encounter with what we know as an aberration, I was conscripted into what is known as the Special Investigators by my world's Twilight Sparkle."
Moonlight Gleam sat down in the chair and looked at the two creatures before her, "An aberration is a person that had turned to dark magic for whatever reason, corrupting them into a monster of some sort. Instead of timberwolves, I had to face down werewolves . Instead of bat ponies, I had to face down vampires. I've faced down all manner of demons instead of the terrible trio that were faced twenty years prior."
The jaws of both Floral Blossom and Ginger dropped as they heard the kind of horrors that their friend had to face in her world, both of them were thankful that Equestria was far more peaceful with far fewer monsters as the investigator continued speaking. The two of them started to shift a bit uncomfortably with the anger that was still written on the face of the unicorn.
"All within four years and with sub-standard training. When Twilight Sparkle was the director, she was insistent on giving me the best training that I could be given. Within six months, that all changed. She was removed from the position and our world's Filthy Rich was placed in the role. I was geared up and thrown out onto the field without any more training."
The sharp look on Moonlight's face shifted into one of sorrow, she looked down at the table and let out a heavy sigh, "On top of this, I'm listed as deceased in my world. No one, not even my parents know that I didn't succumb to my injuries that day. To be honest, I didn't have many injuries in the first place. I passed out because I used so much magic that night that my body couldn't handle it anymore. I've seen my parents in secret, posing as a friend while hiding my identity and my appearance, but that's been the last four years of my life. Before then, I lived my life in poverty," she told them.
Floral Blossom walked over to the unicorn who was starting to cry and embraced her in a hug. "You have us now, you don't have to worry anymore," she whispered into her ear.
The investigator started to cry into the shoulder of the kirin. The two stayed there in a gentle embrace while Ginger watched out for any danger. "You've had it rough, which explains why you weren't trusting of us and wanted for us to stay away for our own safety. I can understand now why Sunrise would try to go after your friends to see you suffer," the gray kirin said gently.
Moonlight broke up the hug and wiped her tears, she looked away shamefully, "I also wanted revenge. Out of everyone where I came from, the only people who ever treated me or my family well were Sunrise Standing and his father, Cloud Runner. Sunrise took his father from me and from himself. I'm sure if the dark magic wasn't corrupting him and twisting his mind, he'd regret what he had done. I came here to capture and bring him back, yes. But I wanted it to be me alone who did it. Now I see that I can't do it alone," she stated.
The two others were shocked by these words, she had never said them before and they never thought that she would ever say them. It was a massive step up from the old Moonlight Gleam that they had known. However, Floral Blossom was curious about something, she placed a hoof on her green mane as she looked at her friend with purple eyes, "If you face creatures that have been tainted with dark magic, then do you use light magic?" she asked.
Moonlight's horn lit up, but instead of the usual blue aura, it was a mix of white and blue swirling together. She cast a spell, a basic illumination spell that used light magic. "Very few people where I come from are born with a natural ability to use light magic," she said.
Ginger arched a brow, "I suppose you're one of them," she interrupted.
The unicorn shook her head causing the orb of light that formed on her horn to move with it, "I'm one of those who were infused with light magic after repeated usage of it. Unlike dark magic which corrupts and twists us, light magic purifies us. When Twilight Sparkle was part of the Special Investigators, we used light magic in the purification process for the aberrations that we captured. Ever since Filthy Rich came into power..." she hesitated on that last word. Something deep down told her that she knew the truth, but she didn't want to accept it. Nor would the creatures here be able to handle it.
The two of them eagerly hung onto her words, but she merely stood up from the chair with a heavy sigh, "We have a job to do here in the Crystal Empire. We still need to find Princess Cadance and Princess Flurry Heart. Twilight wants us to find Prince Shining Armor and pass on a message at some point," she stated firmly to stop talking about the previous topic.
"You're just going to leave us hanging like that?" the griffon replied angrily as she folded her front forelegs in front of her.
"Just like that," Moonlight confirmed.
"You're hiding something and I want to know why!?" Ginger replied as she flew in front of the door.
The unicorn's response was to merely jump out one of the windows and keep going about her day. She wanted to ignore the topic for as long as she possibly could. Her friends joined her, a very annoyed griffon and a concerned kirin. The three of them walked towards the spire in the middle of the city, the ponies around them going about their day as if nothing was out of place.
As the investigator reached the spire, a pair of guards blocked her path, "State your name and your business," they ordered.
"Moonlight Gleam, I am here speak with Princess Cadance about an important matter. Apparently, the first Princess of this empire can be restored to being whole again and brought back from the statue she was imprisoned in. As for these two," she pointed at the kirin to her left, "this is Floral Blossom", she then pointed with the same hoof to the griffon on her right, "this is Ginger. They are friends of Princess Twilight Sparkle's star pupil, Luster Dawn and they are here to accompany me," the investigator stated.
The guards looked at each other and one of them turned to walk into the spire. The other guard didn't move his weapon away from the door, "The three of you will wait here," he commanded.
Something didn't sit well with Moonlight, she felt that something was off about all of this. Nowhere else in Equestria had such tight security, not even Canterlot. She quietly concentrated and cast the detect magic spell to see if there were any traces of dark magic. Everything in her vision glowed blue, except when she turned around to see the center of the city which glowed a bright white. It was almost blindingly so. How could one place have so much light magic, she wondered.
"Is something wrong, you seem to be trying to avert your eyes," Floral Blossom asked out of concern.
"No pony would dare to avert their eyes from the Crystal Heart!" the guard behind her bellowed.
The investigator's intuition screamed in her brain and she dodged to the left, avoiding a blow that would've knocked her out. "I'm using a detect magic spell. It's something I can't cast as often as I'd like, but during the duration, I can see magic, whether it's mundane normal magic, dark magic, or light magic. Your Crystal Heart has extreme amounts of light magic in a concentration that I had never seen in my entire life," she turned around to face the guard in question, "and it's my job to utilize light magic to capture monsters that would haunt your nightmares," she pointed out.
The guard wasn't very impressed, thinking it was a mere boast, but he did know about magic detection spells. He shrugged and a pink alicorn exited the building. "I hear that you're here to talk to me about something important. I'm Princess Cadance and I'll hear out what you have to say. After that, I would like for you to stay in the Crystal Empire and enjoy our hospitality, I apologize for the treatment that the guards have given you," she said.
Moonlight smirked, "It's no problem your highness, however. As I told your guards, I heard that we can bring back Princess Amore. I thought you would perhaps know more," she stated.
Surprise was written all over Cadance's face, she had no idea how to take this, but she hurriedly led her guests inside. The investigator knew that she had shocked her host quite a bit and retreated to a guest room to wait until she was summoned. She knew it was going to take a bit, but she didn't mind. She had a lot to talk to the alicorn about and it would take her just as long to gather her own thoughts.