Cantervania: Symphony of the Nightmare

Cantervania

Symphony of the Nightmare

By Bigwig6666

Thousands of years ago, two god-like sisters ruled Equestria in perfect harmony.

The elder sister used her powers to raise the Sun, while the younger sister summoned the Moon at night. After several centuries of bliss, the younger sister, Luna, grew resentful as the ponies of Equestria continuously shunned her dark and jewelled night, instead choosing to relish and play in the Sun’s yellow rays.

The last time Luna raised the Moon, she refused to make way for the dawn. She declared that Equestria would either love her as much as her sister, or face an eternal night. Her jealousy and bitterness transformed her into a mare as black as night: Nightmare Moon, the self proclaimed Queen of Darkness.

The elder sister, Celestia, confronted her. Their conflict culminated with Nightmare Moon unleashing her abominations and dark ponies, as well as the hordes of Tartarus upon the world, now free from the Sun’s light and enacted a bloody war upon all of ponydom.

To combat them, a group of brave ponies who became known as Shadows formed the Shadowguard Order, and were renowned monster slayers throughout the world. However, due to their underhanded tactics and hoarding of ancient forbidden knowledge, they became reviled by ‘polite’ society, labelled murderers and blood thirsty thieves, wanting only coin in exchange for their services. Celestia, however, refused to believe her sister could not be saved, and tasked the Order with recovering the ancient Elements of Harmony, artefacts from a bygone era, and one of Equestria’s most powerful known magics.

Soon the Order was successful, although their numbers dwindled daily, and produced the Elements of Harmony to the Princess herself. After years of bloody conflict and monsters roaming the countryside, despite the Shadows’ best efforts, Celestia realised her sister was truly corrupted by her own jealousy, and used the Elements, forcing Luna’s soul in two, separating the Dark from the Light within her heart.

Weakened by the separation, Nightmare Moon was defeated. Cast down and banished to the Moon itself, but at a terrible price. Princess Luna lay still, not dead but in a slumber she could not wake from. Celestia despaired, and as her soul was not in perfect harmony, the Elements were shattered, lost forever.

The ponies of Equestria rejoiced as their beloved Princess smote the Dark Queen, and named the day of victory as the Summer Sun Celebration, the longest day of the year where the Sun shines it’s brightest and Evil is at it’s weakest. The Shadows faded into legends, a long forgotten order as monsters receded into the dark corners of the world.

Legends became myths, and the story of Nightmare Moon became an old pony’s tale, used to warn children that if they did not behave, the Queen would take them to her dark court in the depths of Tartarus itself...

***

Deep in the countryside of Equestria, in a tavern with no name, a unicorn with a broken horn sat alone at the bar, drinking something warm and foul. Her hood pulled down around her purple eyes and her shock of reddish-pink hair. A scar over her right eye shone in the dim light. She glanced down into her mug and saw a spider crawl out from under it. She twisted her face in disgust.

“Somethin’ the problem, ‘ere?” grunted the bartender, an ugly, burly looking pony with a heavy accent and one eye.

“No not at all, just admiring your filth,” Tempest Shadow jeered. Her voice was softer than you’d expect to hear judging by her appearance. Her armour bore the marks of many battles, and her cloak was ragged and caked in mud. The bight symbol of her order a stark contrast to her dark armour--two lightning bolt shapes mirrored.

“Do you always live in utter yak shit?” She knew provoking the bartender pony would do more harm than good, but she was dreadfully bored and restless from a day’s travel.

The bartender grunted again and nodded to a couple of his patrons, who slowly rose from their seats and approached carefully. “Well missy, I fink you should ‘ave more manners than that around ‘ere.” He grinned.

Tempest looked unimpressed and raised her eyebrows at his yellowing teeth as she took another swig of her drink.

“Especially for a Shadow.”

Her eyes focused on him. She stopped drinking and set the mug down carefully. She sighed quietly, not taking her eyes off the ugly stallion. Underneath her armour, her muscles rippled in anticipation. She shrugged and winked at him.

“I don’t have a fucking clue what you’re talking about.”

His throat croaked with laughter. “No point in lyin’ missy, I saw that mark on your flank when you first stepped in. Your rag isn’t enough to stop that. See, we remember the old tales, ‘bout Celestia and the like. Ponies like you... Dressed ‘ead to ‘oof in dark armour, with broken ‘orns. What’s your name then?” His beady eyes watched her carefully.

“Princess Mi Amore Cadenza,” Tempest laughed at him and waved a hoof. She noticed the two ponies behind her then and sighed. She retrieved a coin from a pouch around her neck, and placed it down on the counter. “Listen, if you’re going to do this then at least let me make one thing perfectly clear.” She cracked her neck and flexed her legs. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes.

The two behind her stopped approaching and glanced a teach other. The bartender tilted his head as he reached for her money. “Yeah? What’s ‘at then?”

She snapped her eyes open and grabbed the bartender’s hoof with her own, pinning him to the counter and twisting it, causing him to yelp out in pain. “If you’re going to start a fight with a Shadow, at least do it when they’re not looking.” She released him and rounded on the two behind her.

The tall, skinny one moved around to her side, while the shorter, fat one lunged for her with a grunt.

Tempest easily dodged him and gave him a powerful kick in the face as he fell past her. Blood spattered from his nose. Without effort, she side stepped a swipe by the skinny one and somersaulted over his head, giving him a swift kick to the jaw as well. Her eyes narrowed as the bartender emerged from the bar to confront her directly.

“Get ‘er, lads!” he cried as he lunged at her.

She smirked and thrust her head back, throwing her hood off, as the base of her horn crackled to life. She fired a bolt of energy at him. Her magic collided with his ear, ripping it off and splattering blood on the wall behind him. The giblets that remained hit the ground next to him as he shrieked.

“Owww!” He fell to the floor and writhed in pain. “My fucking ear!”

“Ooh,” Tempest murmured. “I was aiming for behind you, I’m so sorry.” She stifled a chuckle. “Now you have an ear per eye.”

The bartender roared as he lunged towards her, blood tangled with his mane, resembling an old Nordic pony from ancient times.

She raised a hoof to strike him but was grabbed by the skinny pony. He held her leg aloft as the bartender thumped his hoof into her side with a sickening crunch. The skinny pony watched in horror as the bartender recoiled with another howl of pain. The fat pony cradled his broken jaw and gazed up at her in fear.

She gave a hollow laugh as her armour deflected the blow, and glared at the bartender clutching his injured hoof.

“My name is Tempest fucking Shadow,” she growled. “I have never lost a fight to monsters or ponies.” Her tongue flicked out and licked her lips.

The bartender waved his least painful hoof. “Just get out.” His voice was hoarse, his ear bled and ran down his face, trickling into his mouth. He spat. “Now. Let ‘er go.”

The skinny pony released her on command. She glowered at them and pulled her hood up over her face again.

“Sorry for the trouble, bartender.” She winked at them all. “It won’t happen again... Will it?” Her broken horn crackled with energy.

All three ponies shuffled and looked nervously around, averting her gaze and shaking with indignity and pain. She chuckled and kicked the door open, exiting to the wider world.

As she made her way down the road, she cast her memory back to what her parents had told her of the Shadows of old. How they were fabled warriors who fought the forces of darkness at night, serving their Princess Luna with the greatest of authority. She wondered how many Shadows would be left in the wold had the Princess not been betrayed to Nightmare Moon’s corruption. She scowled as the grey clouds burst and and began to pour with rain. “Typical,” she muttered, “must find shelter soon and get out of this damnable weather.”

The Moon shone bright in the night sky, it’s light reflecting off of parts of her amour that weren’t covered by her cloak. Her armoured shoes sunk into the mud. She sighed and slopped her way towards the next stop on her travels: Canterlot.

***

It was only a few hours until dawn as Tempest strode through the crowd of ponies. Clearly something important was happening. She’d walked for hours, through the mud and the rain, stumbled through the forest nearby and lost her satchel to a pack of timberwolves. Her stomach grumbled as she passed a fruit stall. She stopped and flicked a coin at the mare behind it.

“Apple.”

The stall pony beamed. “Thanks, miss!” She reached down under the stall and produced a large mug and handed it over, along with the apple. Tempest looked at the mug curiously and then at the mare.

“Oh we’re giving away a mug of cider with every purchase, as part of our one time only Summer Sun Celebration deal, " said the mare with a smile, feeling slightly uncomfortable by the strangers glare.

Tempest groaned inwardly as she grasped the mug, promptly downing it in one go. “Thanks.”

“The Summer Sun Celebration,” she thought. “A waste of time, it’s just the longest day of the year.”

The fruit pony watched her with wide eyes and took the empty mug back. “Geez take your time, there’ll be none left at that rate,” she chuckled nervously. “Where did you get your cape? It looks super heavy.”

The unicorn paused and glared at the pony. “It’s a cloak, and none of your business,” she growled.

The salespony raised a hoof and apologised awkwardly. “Sorry, miss, just we don’t see a lot of ponies like... You. No offense.” Her face struggled to hold a smile when confronted with this grim pony in front of her.

“None taken.” Tempest gave a curt nod and walked away into a nearby ally, biting into her apple as she did so. “Mmm,” she thought as the juice trickled over her chin. “This is the best damn apple I’ve ever had.”

She eagerly tucked into the rest of it as she heard the crowd talk amongst themselves. She closed her eyes and listened to the sounds of the city. The hubbub and bustle of carts and ponies trotting everywhere. She swallowed and traced the scar over her eye, recounting a misadventure when she was a filly. “That ursa major gave as good as it got.” She shook her head and tucked into her apple, savouring every bite.

Before long she was left with just the core. She spat out the seeds and threw it on the ground and made her way through the crowd once more. She kept her head down as she moved, being taller than most ponies helped with certain situations, but not with bringing too much attention to herself. She thought back to the bartender, and although Canterlot was a reputable enough place she still suspected somepony would try their luck with her. Deep in thought, she noticed a unicorn and two burly looking earth ponies walk up to a stall in the street and start harassing the mare behind it. As she observed the encounter she felt sick; clearly this trussed up noble was exercising an abuse in power. When one of the earth ponys threw the mare to the ground she stepped forwards.

“Watch it,” she growled.

The unicorn turned to her and sneered. “Be careful with that tone, don’t you know who you speak to?” His voice was laced with venom and his words dripped with malice. He leered at her, his eyes tracing up her legs and focused on her face.

She got a good luck at him and snorted. “Or what? Some stuck-up, pompous bastard will ‘teach me a lesson’? Please.”

The unicorn’s nostrils flared. “Do you know who I am?” he demanded, clearly upset that a pony was not bending over backwards for him. “I am Prince Blue-”

“I don’t care who you are. Just leave her alone.”

Tempest gestured to the pony behind the stall as one of the earth ponies moved very close to her. She glared at him.

“Excuse me.”

The earth pony leaned down and spoke to her. “You’re going to apologise for speaking to his majesty like that.”

She sighed and looked at the unicorn. His lip curled upwards in satisfaction. “Fine. I apologise.” She bowed dramatically and glared at him. “Now may his lordship let me move on?”

The unicorn gave a small nod to his henchponies. One of them made to grab Tempest, while the other moved quickly and thumped her side. He recoiled and clutched at his hoof, making Tempest chortle as she flashbacked to the no-name tavern from the previous night. She dodged the one behind her and gave him a swift kick in between his legs. She rounded on the remaining pony and grinned viciously.

‘His majesty’ the unicorn stepped back, his mouth agape. “Guards! Help!” he cried as a pair of guardsponies walked nearby. He quickly turned on his theatrics, and explained that this ruffian had accosted him and his friends for no reason at all.

“Shit,” muttered Tempest as her grin faded. The earth pony with an injured hoof socked her in her mouth while she wasn’t looking.

“Cheap shot.”

The guardsponies began to disperse the crowd, and as Tempest was a first time visitor to the capital, let her off with a warning, but making it very clear to the unicorn that they were deeply sorry for the trouble caused.

He snorted and sauntered off, his henchponies trailing behind him, one of them limping in a funny way. He turned to her and called with a sneer. “You will know your place sooner than you think, bitch.”

Tempest just glared after them and turned to the mare who was trying to pick up her goods. “Sorry,” she grumbled. “Need a hoof?”

The mare shook her head. “S-sorry miss, but I don’t want any trouble.”

The Shadow shook her head. “Please, I don’t mean any-”

“Just leave.” The mare stated and stared at her in fear. “Only trouble can come from talking to Prince Blueblood like that. Please just... Leave.” She turned back to her stall and ignored Tempest’s presence.

Tempest sighed and waved a hoof. “Fine, suit yourself.”

She hated nobles like this ‘Prince Blueblood’ character. And she resented ponies like the salesmare who chose to ignore a good deed.

“Ingrates, the lot of them,” she grumbled and walked away towards the town square, in front of the Church of Canterlot, where a large congregation had gathered and clouds darkened the skies above.

***

The crowd was full of stuffy nobles, commoners and anypony and everypony. A large, very fat pony stood atop a platform at the centre square and addressed the crowd. From his attire, ivory robes with a sun emblazoned on the front, Tempest guessed he was an official of the church.

“For twenty years, I have served you, good ponies of Canterlot, and our beloved Princess Celestia, as the archbishop of Canterlot.” He paused to let the crowd applaud and cheer. “But never have I felt our lady’s grace shine so lovingly on this great city, as on this day.”

He cleared his throat. “For one thousand years ago to this very day, the great Celestia fought and banished the dreaded Witch-Queen Nightmare Moon.”

His congregation gasped at the mention of her name.

“Yes, I refer to our former Princess Luna, may her soul rest in peace. Most of you will have heard the prophecy that regards the dread tyrant, who would threaten our lives so in her mad quest for power; ’On the longest day of the thousandth year, the stars will aid in her escape, and she will bring about night-time eternal.’ My friends you must not fear, for today is that supposed day, and where is she?” he bellowed, waving his hooves around gesturing to the buildings and skies above Canterlot.

The crowd murmured amongst themselves, a few started to cheer praises to Celestia.

Tempest snorted as a few ponies around her jostled her. She glanced upwards at the rapidly darkening sky and felt a sense of dread.

The archbishop continued. “Nowhere, my friends. Do we not know the devil for a liar? Do we not know her works to be of illusions and treachery?”

He smirked as the crowd responded with enthusiasm.

“Of course we do. Illusions and falsehoods hold no fear for us, my friends, for we are the righteous of Canterlot, home of our Solar Sovereign, living, as if cradled in the love of the Sun itself.” He opened his arms out as if to give a proverbial hug to the crowd. As the first droplets of rain fell on him, however, he glanced down and furrowed his brow.

As lightning flashed and cracked the sky, shrieks ran out as skies continued to darken. Several ponies panicked and started to flee as a swirling mass of blue shadow descended from the dark clouds. A sinister laughter rang out setting everyone’s hair on edge.

“Finish it, archbishop!” a voice cackled with glee.

The crowd that remained began to shuffle nervously and talk amongst themselves. “What’s happening? Is this part of the ceremony? Celestia will save us don’t worry...”

Tempest stood alert and ready from near the back of the crowd. “That voice...” she whispered, remembering the old tales. The old legends. She gazed upwards and saw the Moon plain and bare, the Mare in the Moon having vanished.

The voice cackled again. “Archbishop... You haven’t finished your sermon,” It called in a sing-song voice.

The archbishop started to sweat profusely and stumbled over his words. “Ah... It is... Celestia.. That.. We... Thank... Oh-”

The shadow descended as the crowd stood transfixed and terrified. With a flap of black wings, the smoke dissipated and there she stood in her regal splendour. Nightmare Moon. The archbishop spluttered and stumbled backwards, falling off of the stage and blubbering like a lunatic.

Nightmare Moon sneered at the archbishop. ”One thousand years...” she boomed. Her serpentine eyes regarded the crowd with cold and intense hatred.

As she spoke, several of the crowd covered their ears and shrieked in terror.

“Oh, my beloved subjects. It’s been so long since I’ve seen your precious little sun-loving faces,” she cackled manically. Her eyes narrowed, lizard-like pupils regarded the crowd with disdain. “Where are my praises, my songs and cries of worship? Am I not royal enough for you? Don’t you know who I am?” Her tongue flicked out between her fanged jaws and she grinned mirthlessly.

“Perhaps you all need to be reminded of my beauty.”

She let out a sadistic cackle as the clouds formed a great vortex above, and from it poured a massive horde of grotesque creatures, some resembling ordinary beasts: bears, cats, rats, bats, while others resembled ponies with leathery wings and glowing green eyes. The dregs of Tartarus squealed and squawked in delight as they descended upon the crowd, teeth gnashing and claws glinting in the unholy light.

Nightmare Moon laughed as the crowd turned to flee. She noticed one pony standing tall, not watching her horde but instead watching her. They locked eyes and with a sneer, she flapped her wings and faded into a cloud of smoke.

Tempest Shadow grimaced. “Shit...”

The smoke moved from the ground into the air, and Nightmare Moon’s face appeared in the clouds. With a snarl and uncaring eyes, she addressed her ‘children’. “Kill them all. Kill everything you see.”

The beasts turned their heads upward, watching their Queen with dark intent.

“And when Canterlot lies but a ruined graveyard, go forth into the wild. Go now,” Nightmare Moon commanded. Her voice piercing into the very heart and soul of the ponies of Canterlot. “Go to the other cities of Equestria: Manehattan, Stalliongrad, Ponyville, Fillydelphia, nowhere shall be safe from my wrath. If Equestria will not love me then it shall drown in it’s own blood.”

With her final words, the image of Nightmare Moon vanished into a great storm of smoke and magic.

As Tempest watched, she scowled and swore, and stamped at the ground as ponies all around her screamed in terror and fled from the nightmare beasts. She spotted the salesmare from before running and shrieking for her life as one such creature with red eyes and long claws bared down on her and tore her to shreds. Soon bodies of all sorts lay in the streets, rivers of blood trickling down the slopes of the once great city.

Tempest threw her hood back as her broken horn hummed to life. With a blast of magic, the creature feasting on the salesmare lay dead, it’s fangs red with fresh blood. She looked down at it’s body and sighed, giving it’s head a light kick.

“Fuck.”

She quickly stepped into an alleyway to collect her thoughts and catch her breath.

Tempest looked around her and knew she had to get to out of the city as soon as possible, but how? Monsters were everywhere and no doubt there were going to be some dark ponies who fell in league with Nightmare Moon roaming the streets. She took a deep breath and made a dash through the alley, blasting any creature that came near her. She rounded a corner and spotted six more bat-like monsters. They hissed and growled at her, teeth bared and claws dragging along the ground. She lowered her horn and-

Wham!

Something, or somepony, collided with her, knocking her off balance and causing her spell to miss. She growled and rounded on the culprit. The Shadow’s face softened momentarily as she saw a young filly in a blood stained dress, her eyes awash with terror and pain. The filly noticed the monsters and squealed, turning to flee.

“Wait!” Tempest shouted after her, but it was too late. A monster jumped at the filly, catching her in one of it’s claws. The Shadow snarled as it snapped the young pony’s neck and threw her body away in an unceremonious way.

The stub of her horn glowed with energy, and she cast a lightning bolt at the beast. The remaining creatures approached her, swiping with great claws and gnashing their teeth. She saw she was outnumbered, and closed her eyes. Her breathing steadied. Her mind calmed. She felt magic deep inside her, a fire in her heart. She thought of the filly’s family.

Her eyes snapped open, now as black as night. Her mane darkened, and her broken horn glowed black. Veins broke out around her face, twisting and turning as the magic corrupted her. She snarled and bared her teeth. With a crack and a flash, a whip of black lightning lashed at the monsters, connecting with one. It howled in pain as the magic tore it’s skin off. The others hissed and circled around her.

Tempest struck again, and again, sending the beasts fleeing into the night. They spread their wings and leapt into the air, in search of easier prey. Tempest glared up at them as her eyes dimmed to grey, then white. The black veins around her face receded. She turned, her cloak billowing in the wind, and strode past the chaos and carnage in the streets of Canterlot, and exited through the great gateway.

The nightmare had truly begun, she thought as she galloped into the night.

***

After what felt like at least a solid day or two of travel, Tempest finally spotted the town of Ponyville. Even from a distance, and in the darkness, she could see the scattered banners of the Summer Sun Celebration, beaten and battered decorations lay around trampled into the mud and dirt; indicating many ponies had been in a great panic. She snorted, and stepped over a banner that read:

”Welcome, Princess Celestia!”

The Shadow’s ear flicked as she heard voices shouting. She spotted a large group of ponies gathered outside of a tree house. Not a treehouse, like fillies and colts would play in, but a literal house that was a tree.

“Must be a library,” she muttered as she saw books stacked in the windows. “Maybe there’s something useful in there.”

“Rainbow Dash will you settle down?!” an elegant sounding voice called out, interrupting her thoughts. “Throwing insults at everypony won’t help!”

“Settle down?!” another voice shouted in response, tinged with anger. “Twilight’s gone missing, Spike says she was going into the Everfree Forest alone, and you’re all standing around! We gotta go after her!”

Whoever was speaking was clearly brave, but hot-headed and foolish, Tempest thought as she approached the crowd. She tutted as she remembered the last amateur who risked his neck instead of hiring a professional.

Several ponies in the crowd noticed her and gasped, moving aside as the Shadow strode through them. Soon the entire crowd’s eyes were fixed on her, whispering about the dark stranger in their midst. She ignored them and stared ahead, at the five ponies in front of the library.

One, a white unicorn with purple hair, addressed her. “May we help you?” she asked, her eyes tracing over Tempest’s ragged cloak and muddy hooves with a grimace.

Tempest glared at her. “I need to use the library.” Her words were cold, uncaring. Her eyes moved over from one pony to the next. The white unicorn, a yellow pegasus who hid behind her own mane, an orange earth pony with a wide brimmed hat, a blue pegasus with rainbow coloured hair and a pink earth pony with unruly hair.

The orange mare stepped forwards. “Beggin’ your pardon stranger.” Her voice twanged with that Apple clan accent Tempest had encountered somewhere in the west. She glanced at the pony’s flank and spotted an apple.

“Well that would explain the accent,” she thought.

The mare continued. “But this here’s an emergency and the library’s closed until further notice. It’s all hooves on deck now as we gotta look after these refugees.” She gestured behind Tempest, where a large group of ragged looking ponies were approaching them slowly.

Tempest said nothing and narrowed her eyes as the crowd darted about, making sure every one of the survivors had a blanket and a cup of something warm.

“So,” she said quietly and looked at the five in front of her. “How much for me to get your friend back safe and sound?”

They all balked. The white unicorn spoke up. “Excuse me?” she asked with a puzzled look.

“I take jobs for money.” Tempest kicked a rock on the ground with mild disinterest. “Of course... If no-one’s willing to pay anything, I’ll just be on my way. I’ve just come from Canterlot so I’m in no hurry to stay.”

They gaped at her. “You’ve been to Canterlot?” the blue pegasus--Rainbow Dash asked incredulously.

Tempest nodded. “Just came from there.” Her eyes darkened. “Saw the bitch herself.”

They all fell silent and shifted uncomfortably. The door to the library creaked open, revealing a small purple and green dragon. He rubbed his eyes as he blinked into the light. “Twilight said she was going to look for something to stop Nightmare Moon...” he mumbled.

The Shadow sighed. “In the forest?” They all nodded grimly. She snorted and flared her nostrils.

“Fine. We’ll discus price first, then I’ll go get her.” She pointed at the unicorn. “You look expensive, what do you have?”

The unicorn snorted. “My name is Rarity, I’ll have you know. Rare-it-tee. It would do you well to learn some manners,” Rarity grumbled as she used her magic to open a pouch she wore on her saddle. “Thankfully, I always keep some jewels on hand in case inspiration strikes.”

She used her magic to pull out several expensive looking jewels and placed them in Tempest’s outstretched hoof, who inspected them carefully.

“They’re quite real I assure you, and more than enough for all of us. Please, whoever you are, find Twilight Sparkle. She is our very dear friend.”

With a bite, Tempest checked to see if the jewels were real. She nodded to herself and placed them in her pack.

“Well done, ponies, you’ve just hired Tempest Shadow. I’ll do it.” She glanced down at the dragon, who gazed at her broken horn with wide eyes. “Something to say?” she grumbled.

He looked at her in awe. “You’re a Shadow?”

She glared at him and said nothing.

He took a deep breath and started shaking. “Well...” he gulped, “Twilight said she needed a Shadow to open the so-called Tomb of the Moon underneath the old ruined castle in the Everfree Forest.”

“What the fuck is the ‘Tomb of the Moon’?”

He gaped at her. “You haven’t heard of it? I thought a Shadow would...”

She continued to glare at him. “I haven’t, and I don’t care.” She turned to the others. “So this forest?”

The mares all looked away, towards the treeline. “What about it?” the orange Apple mare asked.

Tempest rubbed a hoof in between her eyes. “What am I walking into? What’s in there?”

The yellow pegasus started as if she were about to speak, but quickly fell silent under the Shadow’s steely gaze. Her blue pegasus friend nudged her with a forced smile.

With a deep breath she looked at Tempest. Her voice was soft and gentle, truly a pony undeserving of this cruel world they inhabited. “Well, there’s at least one manticore, timberwolves, timberwargs, barghests, ursa minors and majors, cockatrices, basilisks, there’s a friendly sea serpent, giant spiders-”

Tempest held up a hoof. “That’s enough.” She turned and started towards the forest. “Tell me more on the way there, we don’t have all night.”

The ponies followed her, each introducing themselves properly to her. Each time she muttered she didn’t care, and was only doing this for money. Rarity found her to be utterly appalling apparently, while Applejack and Fluttershy thought she was a touch meaner than needed to be. Meanwhile Rainbow Dash seemed to think she was awesome by how many scars she had, both on and under her armour. She told the brash pegasus that having scars doesn’t make one ‘cool’ and hers were all an exercise in failure.

They soon arrived at the edge of the forest. A howl rang out in the distance as the trees shook, some unknown force moving through them, probably watching with hungry eyes.

Tempest turned to the ponies. “Alright, listen. It’s dark, and dangerous in there, so I’m not going to babysit you. If you follow me, it’s on your own heads. If you follow me you only increase the risk of danger, so stay here for the love of Celestia.” She glared at each of them. They of course argued that this Sparkle was their friend and they wouldn’t leave her. Tempest argued back that ‘friends’ only slowed her down, and she’d be back within a few hours at the latest.

They finally relented, and with a heavy sigh, the Shadow stepped forth into the forest, the ponies behind her watching her go with worry on their faces.

Above, the Moon shone brightly in the darkness, a watchful eye to light her way.