Darkness Falls

Darkness falls.

I had never thought I'd ever feel fear of the dark while Luna ruled the night.

But it appears that our Princess of the Night now has competition for ultimate power over it.

These are my records of everything pertinent that has happened in your absence, Princess Celestia.

It had only been two weeks after Celestia's disappearance that the sun began to lose its momentum, and ultimately stopped rising in the sky. Flowers wilted, warmth was lost, the darkness encroached upon our humble town of Ponyville, but we did not fear, for Luna was using her powerful arcane magic to keep us all safe during this trying time.

It was after an odd looking pony with a chubby frame, wide cheeks, a large muzzle and stumpy legs had been admitted entrance to the royal palace that things had started to change for the worse. After the Pony entered, three palace guards were apparently found dead and horrifically disfigured. Celestia became paranoid and visibly scared, she lost her calm and collected demeanour that she had maintained throughout countless millennia of service to Equestria. And devoted much of her time to researching obscure historical records and ancient magical resources – leaving her sister Luna to administrate the land and provide a bastion of seniority and strength for the disturbed masses to rally behind.

Despite all of this, she still made time for her protégé and her friends – the very elements of harmony with which this land was protected for all time. I still saw Celestia as a guiding light, a leader with both fire in her belly and a good heart. Always understanding, always loving, never hurting, only nudging toward the correct path and resolving disputes amicably.

Celestia never told any of us of what the rumours meant, of why that pony had caused her to become so altered in behaviour. The one time Twilight asked her about it, she looked as though she had awoken from a nightmare, and immediately left the room to look for a specific book.

Not long after that, Princess Celestia left Canterlot entirely with a very large detachment of royal guards and researchers, leaving the city without a third of its police force. Thankfully, crime was almost non-existent in Canterlot at the time, so this was not an immediate concern. Shining Armour and his wife Cadance directly supported Luna as best they could in Celestia's absence, Shining sending the guards into overdrive with training and equipment, while Cadance did as best she could to spread love and joy in the hearts of the citizenry.

Canterlot was safe, secure, and happy.

Luna had been keeping daily contact with her dearest sister through a similar system to that which Twilight uses Spike for in communication. Only instead of dragonfire, they used some kind of ancient alicorn magic. In time, it became apparent to Luna that things were not going well for her sister, and despite attempting to keep a brave face on things, her sister was obviously lying in her letters.

One week after the last letter from her sister was delivered, the odd looking pony arrived again, deposited the head of a royal guard from Celestia's personal detachment on the floor outside of the palace, and proceeded to devour it whole. The grisly sight of a pony's severed head entering the creature's gaping maw, only to then slowly travel down the expanding oesophagus of this strange pony was more than the present palace guards could bear, and, ignoring Luna's pleas to stand down, they rushed it in a fit of sheer righteous fury. It vanished the moment their spears struck its chest.

Luna was understandably distressed, and sought comfort in the arms of Cadance and Shining Armour, the latter of whom was greatly angered by this breach in security, and ordered his most elite, heavily armed and armoured soldiers to a 24-7 guard duty on the princess. These guards did their jobs admirably for a total of four days. Luna decided that things had calmed down enough for them to stand down, and allowed them to stay in her chambers for the night while they recuperated from their monumental vigil.

The day before the last event misshapen hoofprints were found all over Canterlot, and the regal unicorns of the Royal Canterlot University spoke in hushed whispers of horrific and disfigured entities roaming the city streets and back alleys.

That night, something happened. Luna refuses to speak of it, but all that is known is that all six elite guards vanished from her chambers, never to be seen again. There were signs of battle, and broken windows, but Luna declared this would be the last time such a thing happened within Canterlot.

And so it was.

My friends and I are now in Ponyville, making sure everypony is alright and supporting them through this trying time. We are, as Luna says, paragons of virtue that light up the night. We will see the day when Celestia is back to her old self, and sitting pretty once again in the royal throne room. But this day, I fear, will only come after a period of all-encompassing darkness – of which the absence of light is not my only meaning. Things will get much darker before we see the eventual dawn.

Though Luna can only raise the sun with her own magic to a certain degree, we are grateful to her for any sunlight we can see. The twilight she creates when raising it with her meagre strength for several hours every few days is enchanting to behold, but makes everypony I know long for the glory days of Celestia, with blazing hot summers and bright, sunny days. The pegasi are continuing to control the weather, and the earth ponies continue to work the land. Crops are still being grown, but I don't know how much longer we can survive on the weak and runty food that is pulled in from the fields.

We have to get Celestia back soon. We must defend her against these creatures. We will stay together as friends, and defeat all obstacles as sisters.

My name is Rainbow Dash, and these are my records of the days after darkness has fallen.