Absence Of Life

by AnnEldest

Chapters

Part One: A New Start
Hear My Whispers Through The Dark
Part One: They're Not All Bad...right?
Part One: I Felt His Pain
Perspective
Part One: The Night Aligns
Part One: The Absence Of Light
A New Day
Part One: A Shallow Night
Part One: I Spy My Little Eye
Part One: Something That Is Dead
Part One: From The Other Side
Part One: The Same Song
Part One: A Voice To Follow
Part One: Witch Way To Go
Part One: The Story Unfolds
Part One: A Beacon In The Night
Part One: What She Made Me Do
Part One: What They Made Me Into
Part One: It All Led To This
Part One: What He Saw
End Of Part One
Epilogue
Prologue

Part One: A New Start

Beyond My Grave: The series Part One

Shredder looked carefully at me. I could see the doubt on his face. Not that I could blame him or anything.

“Are you sure about this princess?” He asked.

I really wasn’t but I knew that I needed to at least try.

“Yes,” I said. “Just tell me how to do it.”

He signed heavily as he stood up from his chair and headed over to his bookshelf. “Very well then.” He grabbed one of the books and laid it on his desk right in front of me.

I gazed at the book which had a picture of a moon with spirits flying around it. Shredder opened the book and began flipping through the pages. I saw that the book was in another language. From what I could see it appeared to be in pony Latin. He stopped flipping and pointed at the page.

“Quot capita tot sensus,” Shredder read to me. “It means-”

“‘As many heads.’ It also means ‘in so many perceptions’,” I finished for him.

“Oh I see,” he laughed to himself. “Do you know what this will do?”

“I am hoping it will help me,” I said.

He nodded. “If done right, yes it shall.”

“Okay, what do I need to do?” I asked as I read over the page.

“Well according to this, the best way to connect your mind to the Nethers is to let the spirits guide you there.”

I looked confused at him. “I don’t understand. Am I already connected to it?”

“A part of it at least,” He answered. “Think of it as the layers of the earth. They are many layers before we get to the crust. Well, same here with the Nethers. There are different ‘layers.’ What you see is one layer of it. But what you are wanting to do is to go even further into it.”

I nodded as I listened to him explain it to me.

“As you know when Discord is asleep, he can go far into the Nethers. Though you can’t necessarily enter into the Nethers, you will be able to see more of it. And with this book, you will learn how to not only see them but also be able to use them as a power source,” he said.

“Power source?” I asked. “You mean as a source to help me and Discord with our weird “spirit” magic?”

“Correct. Discord told you about the pact with Soul Dreamers and Psychics?” He asked.

“Soul Dreamers help protect the psychics as they both work together to protect everyone else and have a connection with each other involving mind-reading and weird spirit powers....then yes he has,” I said.

He sat back down in his chair. “I must say, I am surprised that he agreed to this,” he admitted.

I shrugged at him. “Why?”

“I just never saw him as the type to care when things got too rough.”

“With most things, yes but this is different. And it’s not that he doesn’t care it’s…,” I thought to myself for a moment. ”It’s complicated. Discord is not the easiest of creatures to understand,” I told Shredder. “But with this, he’ll always be there for me.”

“I sure hope so,” He said doubtfully.

I looked down at the floor. I was hoping too. I never doubted Discord anymore but to say I didn’t fear that he would leave me alone would be a lie. Not that I thought poorly of him. It was more me than him.

“Ready to begin?” He asked.

I took a deep breath as my mind was yelling at me to back out from doing it. I knew I could hurt myself if I did it wrong but I needed to learn more about my new powers. If Discord and I were going to help ponies with the living and the dead, I needed to know how to control it and see how far I could go with it. I couldn’t keep depending on Discord anymore. Especially, with the risk that he might not be there to help me.

“Yes, I am.”

“I will help you this time but after this, you will have to learn how to do this on your own.” He grabbed the book.

“Understood.”

He lifted the book and began to read the tome silently. When he was done, he carefully closed the book and set it aside. He walked up to me and went down on his knees. He then put a claw to my cheek.

“Now close your eyes and remember these words. They shall be of great use to you in the future. But whatever you do, don’t let anything in the Nethers tell you where to go. You can’t trust anything in that place,” He warned.

“Okay. I will be careful,” I assured him.

“Good. Now close your eyes and I will begin.”

“When do I open my eyes?” I asked.

“You’ll know when.”

I closed my eyes and he began to whisper: “Per oculos omnium Ruit Omnis qui viderit. Per oculos omnium Ruit Omnis qui viderit.”

He repeated the phrase over and over; getting quieter each time. It got to the point where I couldn’t hear him speaking at all. I could still feel his claw on my cheek. The world around me suddenly felt heavier as it weighed down on me. It took more effort to sit up straight and I felt sick as if I was going to throw up.

Then I hear something...a voice. No… many voices. A variety of them. Now, this wasn't anything new to me but somehow this felt different.

This must be it.

I slowly opened my eyes. Shredder was still by me and I was still in his office at his bar. To any normal pony, nothing seemed changed. However, for me, that was not the case. I stood up and stepped back away from my chair as I stared at the world around me.

There were so many creatures surrounding us now. Most of whom were just roaming around. There was no indication that any of them noticed me or Shredder. The world was darker and it felt much more faded. It was hard to see from a far distance. It was like I was back at the graveyard the night I first met Dusty except it was much more peaceful here.

“You can see them, can’t you?” Shredder asked.

I didn't answer him as I approached a young little filly who was by his bookshelf. She was simply singing to herself as she danced to her own little tune. I carefully reached a hoof out to touch her shoulder but my hoof though only went right through her. She didn’t appear to notice that.

“I can’t touch her.” I turned back to him.

“Remember Princess Luna, you can only see into the Nethers,” He reminded me as he stood back up.

“Right.” I looked back at her as she continued to dance and sing. “Is there a way that she can see me?”

“Only if she chooses to or if you force her too.”

“I can make them see me?”

“It takes a lot of strength and power but yes. I said you couldn’t go there but I never said you couldn’t bring them to us,” he said.

“What?”

“Discord in the Nethers has all of the power and control there. But he's nothing in the real world. You, however, do. You may not go to them but you can bring them here to us. With that, you will be able to use their power to help yourself, them, and your friends in this world,” He explained. “That is where your power comes from. The problem comes from your lack of control. It appears there are moments where you and he can use it for a brief time but not enough to be able to use it whenever you please.”

My eyes widened. There was no way I could be able to do all of that.

“I told you, princess. You have such a strong connection and potential of power then I have ever seen in such a long time. You're special.”

I looked around at the wandering spirits again. “They look so peaceful.”

He chuckled. “It’s because they know it’s safe here. Most of Nethers are far more aggressive. I am sure Discord can inform you of that.”

I laughed a little at that. “It's so strange. Knowing that they are always around us every day and no one knows.”

“We do, though,” Shredder said.

I lifted my hoof and concentrated as I tried to form a blue orb similar to the one I made back at the Crystal Empire when I first used it to protect Flurry Heart. My hoof slowly lit up blue but it was difficult keeping it lit as it kept fading out.

“In due time, Luna. In due time,” Shredder said from behind. I sighed heavily. That was the problem. I had so much to learn that I didn’t know if I had time.

“Teach me, Shedder,” I ordered.

He chuckled again. “One thing at a time. First, you have to learn to see them on your own then I can teach you.”

“How long will that take?” I groaned. I could already feel the spell wearing off. The spirits began to fade away as I saw fewer and fewer by the second and the voices went away.

“As long as it needs to,” He answered.

“Of course,” I slightly snapped.

“Don’t worry, Luna. You’ll get there. I know this hasn't been easy for you but once you let go of the things that frighten you and hold you back, you'll be amazed at what you can accomplish.”

I had to believe that I could. I had to learn this. It was the only way to protect me and my friends. Without my alicorn magic, this was all I now had.

“I know.”

He smiled at me. “Good.” He looked over at his clock on the wall. “I am afraid that is all the time we have tonight.”

“Same time Saturday?” I grabbed my cloak that was hanging on his coat rack and was already heading for the back door.

“Of course.” He handed me the book. “Remember to practice on your own time as well.”

“Okay. I will,” I promised him as I took the book from him. “See you then, Shredder.” I then trotted out the door.

“As always.”

I trotted through the back door and went outside as I put on the cloak. I looked up at the night sky; the moon would have to be lower soon. I began to feel a sharp pain in my side. It was my wing Dusty broke many months ago. Sometimes it would feel fine and I would have no troubles with it at all but other times like this it tended to hurt.

Though the bandages and cast had been removed, it still occasionally hurt a lot. Usually, I could ignore but it was really bad that it was impossible to. My doctor said that the pain was normal and would go away. However, I felt like the pain had worsened in the last few weeks. Probably meant something bad but what did I know? Maybe it was just me thinking too much about it.

I leaned against the building and groaned. I knew I should have brought the painkillers with me. Not that they helped much anyway.

“You alright?”

I turned my head to the right and saw a diamond dog walking up to me. It wasn’t common to see them in Canterlot. I wasn’t surprised though. Many creatures of all kinds came to Shredder’s bar so it wasn’t the first time seeing creatures that weren’t from or well-known Equestria.

“Oh...I’m alright thank you.” I tried sounding polite. “Just recovering from a broken wing is all.”

“Sorry to hear that. You just look like you’re in a lot of pain,” He said.

“Is this the part when you offer me drugs?” I laughed sarcastically.

He smiled and laughed as he got close to me. “Funny but no.” He looked at the bar as a few ponies trotted out the front door laughing among each other.

“You friends with Shredder?” He then asked.

I shrugged. “I guess you can say that. Why? You know him?”

“Yeah, I do.” He nodded. “Haven’t spoken to him in a while, though.”

“Huh, I see,” I said.

“He’s alright. Just really old school with things,” He said.

“Not always a bad thing,” I defended.

“True. Well, I best be going. Hope your wing feels better.” He gave me a light tap on my shoulder.

“Me too,” I laughed.

He passed me and was about to head for the front door when he stopped suddenly. He turned and faced me again.

“Will you be at the Midnight Fest?” He then asked. I gave him a weird glare.

“You know where all beings and creatures surrounded by the Nethers and spirits go too.”

“I know what you’re talking about,” I said sharply. “I have a friend that asked me to go but I said no.”

“How come?” He asked.

“It’s not meant for me…” I sighed heavily. “I didn’t ask for this.”

A look of realization came to him. “Oh, I see.”

“Good, then you know why.”

“I know why but I think your friend has a reason for wanting you to go. I get that this isn't something we all ask to be in our lives but it doesn't mean it's a bad thing. You can learn a lot by being around people that are like you.

That's what the festival is meant to do. It's meant to help you learn more about yourself around people that can understand. You seem to forget that we are all different from the outside world. That's what makes us better than them.”

I listened carefully to what he was saying to me. I couldn't deny that he made a valid point. I couldn't be ashamed of what I was. I accepted this life but I didn't know how deep I was willing to go. Maybe that wasn't the point though. Maybe I was missing what was being said to me.

“I’ll consider it,” I finally stated.

“Okay good. Hope I see you there.” He turned to walk away when I called him.

“Wait.”

“Yes?”

“What’s your name?” I asked.

“Canight.” he simply said.

“Well nice talking to you, Canight. I hope I see you again.”

“I hope I see you again very soon…”

I watched him as he walked away and entered the bar before trotting away myself. It was time to go back to the castle before Celestia woke up and found me gone. I didn’t need to start my morning with another fight.

My only hope was that I could get some sleep even with the pain I was feeling.

I trotted back into my bedroom. I was very sore and my side ached. I went into the bathroom and opened the drawer. I took two of my painkillers and groaned. No matter how I moved it, it felt impossibly numb. They say the pain dulls with time, and that things will get better. But how can things be better when the reason the pain isn’t as bad anymore, is because I’ve forgotten or gotten used to it?

I just need some sleep is all.

I stared at myself in the mirror when I heard something. A moan; somepony moaning in pain. I turned to the open bathroom door. I slowly trotted to it and peered around for the source.

“Celestia? Is that you?”

I knew better than to believe that. The air chilled to ice. Abruptly, a chill rose up my spine making me shiver. Something was here with me and I could feel it. I slowly trotted out of the bathroom, closing the door behind me.

At first, the sound was no more than the soft susurration of leaves in a summer wind. Then it became more like a ponies stomping on crunchy brown paper; sounds of hushed whispering began to erupt. A breath so hoarse and so faint echoed around me. I moved around actively trying to locate it.

I noticed a black silhouette in the corner of my bedroom. It stood there patiently as if it was waiting for something or someone.

“Who’s there?”

The figure slowly trotted into view. It was a late teen, young adult, male pony. He had a black coat with a teal mane. His cutie mark was a ball of blue fire surrounded by stars that seemed to be glimmering. The clothes he was wearing were old and all ripped up.

He stopped about 4 feet away from me. None of us said anything. We only stared at each other. I wasn’t scared like I used to be but I felt very uneasy. I was shaking a little as I tried to say something to him.

“Who are you?” I then asked.

He took a step forward. “I know you can see me.”

“So?”

“I need you to find me. I need your help.” His voice sounded dry and out of breath as if he was dehydrated from not drinking water for days.

I shook my head slowly at him. “I don’t know if I can.”

“Please.” He took two more steps towards me. “I need your help.”

I started backing away from him. “Stop! You shouldn’t be here.”

“It’s cold and dark...they need to find me.”

“I’m sorry…”

He pulled something out of the front coat pocket and dropped it. He then turned to face the window and began trotting. I only could watch as he disappeared as his body made contact with the wall.

I went to where he was standing to see what he had dropped. With my magic, I picked up what turned out to be an old pocket watch. I didn't know the purpose or his reasoning for doing so but it must have been important to him. I simply said it down on my nightstand next to my bed. I told myself I would have to look into it later.

Then there was a sudden knock on the door. I lit up my horn and opened the door. I already knew who it was.

“Morning sister,” I said calmly.

“Morning, Luna.” She tried giving me a warming smile but I could see right through it. She was still very angry with me. “The moon has to be lower in a few minutes so I wanted to make sure-”

“I was still here,” I finished with a sarcastic smile.

”You really want to go there now?”

“I knew you were going to regardless,” I said.

“I was hoping we could talk about it without fighting for once. I don’t want trouble,” Celestia said to me.

“Is that why you’re having the guards watch my every move?!” I snapped. Celestia looked shocked at me with her eyes widened. “Yeah. Didn’t think I knew about that, right?”

“And do you blame me?!” She scoffed. I stared at the floor, unable to answer that. “You just take off for a few days without letting anyone know and just expect me to be okay with it? Especially, since you don't even want to tell me what happened.”

“I told you what happened,” I mumbled to myself.

“Then why does it always seem like you're hiding something from me? I can't even trust my own sister.”

I stared at her coldly. “You never trusted me. Even before any of this happened.”

She gasped. “I did trust you. I took your word at first. When your wing got broken I trusted what you were telling me was truthful. I can't trust you now because I know that you're lying to me most of the time .”

I was breathing more heavily now as I felt my stomach twisting and turning. “I am telling you the truth. It's not my fault you don't believe anything I tell you.”

“Then why are you afraid to tell me what’s been going on with you?”

I shook my head. "There are some things I don't think you need to know. There are things I know that you can never understand. It's pointless to even try to talk about it."

A strong wave of sadness and anger crashed through Celestia as she did her best not to cry.

“It’s not like you never lied to me before and kept things from me.”

“Don't do that, Luna. Don't you dare put this on me!” She yelled. “I always trusted you. But how can I now?”

“Why should I trust you, Celestia?!” I countered back at her. "All those years ago, I begged you to give me a chance. I cried to you, wanting you to believe me. Wanting you to just listen to me and you said no.” Tears began the form in my eyes. I tried my best not to cry but I could feel a lump in my throat as it started to burn.

Celestia took a deep breath and stayed silenced. Her expressions soften. She nodded her head as the realization started to come to her.

“Oh, Luna...I know I didn't treat you well before. I know I said things that must still stick with you. I guess there are reasons for you to be hesitant.”

I kept my eyes to the floor. I couldn’t look at her anymore.

“But sister, that was a long time ago. Times have changed. I've changed. Please just let me in. Don't shut me out. Let me help you. I know I wasn't there for you then. But I'm here now.” Her eyes were pleading with me. There was so much I wanted to say. So much I wanted to let out to her but I didn't know if I could.

“You’re too late. You’re 1000 years too late.”

She sighed in disappointment. “Is that really the road you wish to trot on?”

“No,” I whispered. “It’s the road you put me on.”

“What are you even talking about!?" snapped Celestia, rolling her eyes. "I'm not asking for a lot. All I'm asking for is the truth. I don't think that should be too hard for you.”

“You have no idea,” I stammered. I began to sniffle as I hung my head toward the ground, I saw a few tears slip from my eyes.

“Because you don't talk to me!!! I'm trying to help you.”

"Ever consider that I just don't want your help?" I snapped. "I tried talking to you. I tried telling you how I felt. But if it didn't have anything to do with you, you didn't want to hear me. If it didn't make sense or every pony thought I was crazy, you sided with them."

"Luna, what is going on with you?" She begged for an answer.

I looked downward and only shuddered.

"Luna tell me!" She demanded. "Answer me!!"

"STOP!" This time I screamed in the Canterlot voice. "Stop telling me what to do! You don't need to know about every little thing in my life. You don't get to control what I do or what I say or how I do it. There are things in my life that I just don't want to tell you. Get over it. You're not my mother so stop treating me like a foal!!"

"Then stop acting like one. You go on and on about how much you hate your life and how miserable you are. But you did this to yourself. You are the one that started to withdrawal from everyone, you were the one who started having problems with everyone, and you are the one that started distancing yourself from me. You have no right to feel sorry for yourself because you put this on yourself."

My heart sank; I could not believe what I was hearing. “But you were the one who shut me out! You were the one who was not there for me!” I screamed, on the brink of hyperventilating.

“I’m here now. I want to help you. Why can’t you just talk to me?”

“Because you never listen to me! You say you want to help and understand but you don’t. You never understood me. You never wanted to.”

“Luna, I’m trying to talk to you. But we are going all over the place and it’s getting us nowhere,” Celestia said flatly.

“Then get out of my room.” My voice was shaky and out of breath from screaming. My eyes red now and my throat burning even more intensely.

“It’s impossible to talk to you. I want to help you but you’re hopeless.” Celestia then turned to trot out the door.

“You don’t think I know that?! You made that very clear to me,” I said as she trotted out the doorway.

Celestia stopped and faced me. “How so?”

“Ever since we were young, you were always embarrassed by me. Even now I see it in your eyes that I'm just this burden to you. Why would I want to talk to you?”

I continued before she could interrupt me. I wasn't giving her the chance to talk.

“There is so much I want to say but I know you will never accept me for it. I can't be what you want me to be. I just wish you would just tell me how much I disappoint you for who I am, then try to make me something I'm not. Trust me, it would hurt a lot less.”

I then slammed the door on her before she could say any more to me. I knew she wouldn’t come back in to talk to me. She would most likely let it go and wait for another opportunity to bring it up later. Which would most likely lead us into another fight.

I laid down on my bed and covered my face and screamed. There was so much I needed to let out. I just didn't know how to. I hated what my relationship with my sister had become. I wanted to fix it so badly but I couldn't fix it the way she wanted me to. But I didn't like being mad at her and I especially didn't like her being mad at me. she was right, though. I was pulling the victim card and feeling sorry for myself when really it was my fault. It was me that was hurting her. But as always, I had to make it about myself and my problems.

I was too busy pondering on the fight that I almost forgot to lower the moon. I quickly lit up my horn and lowered the moon and helped my sister bring forth a new day. It was funny. The sun wasn't even up and my day was already off to a wonderful start.

She’ll never understand.

I guess that was what I was afraid of. Something needed to change. I couldn’t keep living like this. Something had to be done. I needed to do something but what?

“Once you let go of the things that frighten you and hold you back, you'll be amazed at what you can accomplish.”

His words echoed in my mind. I thought about everything that Discord and Spike and Shredder had told me in the past. And then thought about the small conversation I had with Capper the night I reunited with him.

“A guardian is still cooler.”

“Perhaps. But doesn’t mean that a psychic isn’t cool either.”

I went back into the bathroom and turned the light on. I stared at my reflection. I needed to know who I saw in myself. It wasn't anyone I was too fond of but I knew I needed to change that. I was tired of feeling sorry for myself and being angry at everyone. It wasn't going to be easy but based on everything that had happened in the last few months, I needed not only to accept what my life had become but also embrace it.

I looked at my long mane and tail that were still waving as if there was always a breeze wherever I went. I guess I always thought that was the best part of my hair.

I thought back to when I was a young child when I was starting to learn magic and looked much different. I was weak but I was learning; embracing myself into a new life that I had agreed to go into. Just like when I found out I was a psychic, I didn't expect to become a princess. It was offered to me and I took it. And now just as I was when I first became a princess, I was weak but learning to become stronger as a psychic. A new life I agreed to go into; a new start.

With my magic, I opened up one of the bathroom drawers and pulled out a pair of scissors.

Author's Note

I have been waiting to write this for such a long time. I am so glad I am finally here.

Also, I know the last book was only in the third person. I did that because Luna came in late in the story and because it focused on a lot of other characters, it seemed pointless to do it for that story. But I like writing in the first person. Especially with Luna. So I am bringing it back for this.

Besides all of that, I hope you all like this series. These problems are going to be short and get right to the point. And a lot of them won't be as big as the first three books. But there will be more problems for them to face and hopefully, because of this, chapters should come out more frequently.

Till Next Time!!! :pinkiehappy:

Hear My Whispers Through The Dark

I am the maker.
The creator of your dreams.
I have the sights of things you'll never see.
I hear the voices that go creeping through the night.
And I have the power to bring them back to life.

I say the things that need to be said.
You are alive but I am dead.

Go beyond the mountain.
Go beyond the day.
I'll lift up your soul when you fall down to your grave.
Go beyond the horizon.
Higher than the sky.
I'll be your voice, your comfort. I'll be your guide,
Even when the world falls apart.
Even when life gets hard
I'll hear your whispers through the dark.
You are never far. Never fear,
I'll hear your whisper through the dark.

Hear my whispers through the dark.

Author's Note

I missed writing poems so I decided to bring that back as well. I like to think of this poem as the theme song for the series. I wished I can play something and could write music so I could actually record this cause I really like this poem. But oh well. Hope you liked it.

Till Next Time!!! :pinkiehappy:

Part One: They're Not All Bad...right?

The dragon satyr hybrid with dragon-like wings known as Sabrina landed in front of the bar wearing a cloak. Standing there, she saw Luna in the distance. Not too far for her was Canight. She made sure to keep her head down and not be noticed by him. She knew he was up to no good but it would be worse to confront him now about it.

You’ll get your chance soon enough, she thought.

She watched as the two talked from a moment before Luna started trotting back to the castle. Canight watched Luna before walking away himself. Sabrina sighed in relief.

It’s okay. She’s okay for now, She thought to herself.

She knew that the princess was in pain and it was worse cause she knew it wasn’t going to get any better.

"And it’s all my fault.... "

She then walked into the bar, passing the guards and making sure to avoid Canight. She walked past the tables and groups of different creatures until she came upon Shredder’s door and knocked. A couple of seconds later, the door opened, and standing there was Shredder.

“Sabrina! Well, I wasn’t accepted to see you tonight.”

“I need to talk to you.” She leaned in closer to him and whispered: “About Luna.”

He looked around to make sure no one nearby heard them. He then stepped out of the doorway, allowing her to come inside.

“I see. Come in.”

The two took a seat as he poured two glasses of wine. He gave one to Sabina as he took a sip from his own glass.

“So what seems to be the concern? “ He asked.

She looked down at the floor, ashamed and guilty. He could see in her eyes that he was not going to like what she was going to tell him next.

“What did you do this time?” His voice was more stern.

She let out a shaky breath. The dread and anxiety deadened her mind and body.

“I…” she paused, letting her eyes roam the room. She knew she had to tell him, but at least this way her mind had a few moments longer to prepare.

“Sabrina, what did you do?” He asked again.

“I gave her the curse…” her voice trembled a little.

“What?!” He stood up from his seat and started pacing like a caged tiger. “Do you realize what you have done to her?”

“I had no choice. Shader and Ollie were fighting in her dreams. It was causing problems in the Nethers. But Shader refused to stop. Giving her the curse was the only way to keep him away from Luna,” she defended herself.

He stared at her for a moment. He didn't even need to read her thoughts and look through her mind. “You hide behind your words. You want your words to mask the real you. I can see through it all. What are you afraid of telling me?"

“I-I don’t understand,” She said.

“Don't speak untruthfully to me. Don't try to convince me that you did this for her own safety. We both know who desires you are trying to really fulfill.”

She signed knowingly. There was no point in lying to herself or to him. But she knew despite what she could say, he would never agree with this. “Look, I know she will be able to overcome it.”

He scoffed in disgust. “I knew it.”

“If she breaks the curse, she’ll be able to prove herself,” she said.

“It’s too soon, Sabrina. She’s not ready,” Shredder said.

“But you said so yourself, she is getting more powerful-” she started to say.

“It’s not time!”

“We don’t have time!!” Sabrina slammed her claws hard at his desk causing some items to fall onto the floor.

“We do. Maybe not as much as we would like but we have enough. You just don’t understand,” he yelled.

“But I do-”

“No, you don’t! Luna is still very naive about this all. She has barely begun what she is fully capable of doing.”

She took a moment to calm herself before looking back to the floor. She kept her head down. “I’m sorry.”

“Who else knows about this?”

“Not many,” she answered.

He sat back down and took a deep breath. He then put his claw under her chin and lifted her head up. “It’s okay. We’ll figure something out.”

“I hope we can,” she said doubtfully.

“You hold a lot of faith in her.”

She smiled at that. “I had faith in Selena so I must have faith in Luna too.”

A few hours after the sun first rose from its slumber, I went into the bookstore, hoping she would be there. I passed a few ponies and a few bookshelves. I trotted up to the counter and waited. A few moments later, a griffin walked out holding a few books. She noticed me and smiled.

“Hello, Princess Luna.”

“Nice to see you again, Misty,” I greeted.

She then took a second glance at me. “Hey, I like your hair.” My mane and tail no longer were wavy. It was short just like when I was younger. My mane barely reached my shoulder.

“Thank you.” I blushed a little. “I was hoping I didn’t mess it up.”

“I think it looks good. So what brings you here today?” She asked.

I pulled out the book Shredder gave me and placed it on the counter. She peeked at it and smirked.

“Shredder gave you that, right?”

I nodded. “Think you could help me?”

She put the books she was holding down on the counter.

“Give me five minutes.”

Some time later

I slammed myself onto my bed and groaned.

“I just can’t do it!”

Misty was sitting on the floor right next to my bed, looking through the book. I would say she was reading it but I was sure that she didn’t know how to speak nor read pony Latin.

“You’re trying too hard,” she said. “You just have to go by the book.”

“I've been doing everything by the book!” I snapped as I glanced over to her.

“If you were, then you’ll be able to do it.”

I groaned again. “How do you control it?”

She closed the book and sat it on the bed. “Well, for starters I stay calm and relax. You know, the things that you can’t do.”

“Okay, you’re not helping,” I said sternly at her.

She laughed. “You wanted feedback, right?”

“Helpful feedback,” I said.

“It is helpful. You need to work on being relaxed and not stressing out all of the time.”

I scoffed. “That is easy for you to say. You don’t see them as I do.”

Misty looked at me weirdly. “Wouldn’t that make it scarier for me since I don’t know where they are?”

I paused for a moment and thought carefully about her question. “Well, maybe for normal spirits but the ones I have seen are far from the ones most psychics talk about.”

“Okay fair but you are really paranoid of them.”

“Can you blame me?” I thought about Barry Tarts and the mare that attacked Cadance. The only spirit I ever saw that didn’t try to kill us was Silver Blitz. But even then she wasn’t that easy to deal with as well.

“No. I still think you should try to trust them,” She said.

I laughed sarcastically. “You sound like Shredder.”

“Unfortunately, I do agree with him on that one. You always should be alarmed and cautious with some but you shouldn’t completely shut them out and discredit them,” she explained to me.

I covered my face with my hooves. “I know it sounds weird but I don’t know how.”

“What are spirits, princess?” She asked suddenly.

“Huh?” I blinked.

“Just answer the fucking question,” she snapped sightly.

“...They’re just people that have died and haven’t crossed over….”

“Not all people are bad.” This time it was said as a statement.

I thought about the villains and the shady ponies Twilight and her friends have faced in the past. “I would hope that.”

“Then if spirits are just dead people and not all people are bad then not all spirits are bad,” She said. I sat up and signed. I knew where she was getting at. I guess I just needed more time to process it all.

“I guess that can be a valid point,” I admitted.

“Look, I'm not saying you have to be friends with them. If anything, it's better if you're not. But try to understand them. They're confused and they don't always know they’re dead. That's why we're here.”

I shrugged. “I guess I can try…”

She smiled. “I guess that’s a start.”

“So now what?” I asked.

“Now let’s do something fun and get your mind off of things,” she suggested.

“Like what?” I asked.

“Why don’t we start with your hair?” She started messing with my new short hair. She ran her claws through my hair, feeling its smoothness. After a moment, she gasped. “We should dye it.”

“Ummm, I don’t know how I feel about that,” I said unsure.

“Come on, it will be fine.” She kept examining my hair as it was clear that she had many ideas going through her head. “It would be sooooo pretty.”

“I don’t know…”

“You said you wanted to try something new. Let’s start with this,” she said. “Then we can get something to eat. Some fun?”

I thought carefully for a moment. “Depends. Who’s paying?” I asked knowingly.

She laughed. “I don't know. Maybe the one who has more money than she knows what to do with and lives in a castle with way too many bathrooms in it.”

I got off the bed and went by my nightstand. I grabbed a bag and put the book inside. I saw the pocket watch the spirit left behind. I grabbed that and placed it in the bag as well. I then trotted to the door. She quickly jumped off the floor and followed me. She walked past the door when I stopped her with my good wing.

“But I’m choosing the color.”

She put both of her hands in the air, jokingly. “Cool, fine.”

“Okay then. Let’s go.”

After hanging out with Misty, I decided to head over to Twilight’s school. It was the afternoon so I knew Spike would be there. I trotted around the school for a bit looking for him. I ended up asking somepony if they had seen him and was told to check the courtyard. So that was where I went.

And just as I was told, I found Spike sitting at a table with another orange dragon. I knew very little about her; mostly from what Spike had said about her. Other students passed them as they carried their own conversations. I made my way to them as they continued.

“I don’t get it,” Smolder said.

“What’s not to get?” Spike asked, surprised.

“So you just dress up and ponies just give you candy?”

“Yeah,” Spike clarified.

“But why?” She was confused.

“For fun of course!” Spike jumped happily.

“Right.” She nodded. “And you do this every year?”

“Every year,” Spike beamed.

“Mmhmm. I see.”

I laughed as I realized what they were talking about. I stepped into view and spoke. “Well, there's more to it than that.”

The two of them turned to see who had just spoken to them. I chuckled as I joined them at the table; setting my bag to the side of me. “But yes, that is a big part of it.”

Spike stared at me speechless. His eyes looked up and down as he examined me. I was confused for a moment before I realized why he was surprised to see me.

“Luna...you’re hair it’s-” My mane was not only changed in length but now also color. It was a very bright shade of white. My tail also matched the color of my mane as well as a big chunk of it being cut so it was no longer as thick nor wavy as before.

“You like it?” I blushed.

“I-I love it. It’s not what I would expect from you,” he admitted. “But it suits you.”

“Good. Now I know I made the right decision.” I was relieved that Spike liked it. I was hoping I didn’t look weird like a clown or something.

“I think you did,” Spike agreed.

“I’m glad.” I looked over at Smolder. “Anyways, I don't mean to interrupt your conversation but do you think I could borrow Spike for a few minutes?”

“Go ahead.”

She leaned to her side a little to look behind me. I turned and saw a small pegasus with a pink coat, curly light blue mane, and a cutie mark of a rook. She stood there staring at us.

“I need to talk to Cozy Glow anyway. See you later, Spike.” Smolder got up from her seat and headed over to her.

“Later,” Spike said back.

“It’s a bit early to talk about Nightmare Night, don’t you think?” I spoke up to him.

“It’s only a months ago,” Spike cheered. “Plus, it’s never too early to be talking about it.”

“I guess not,” I laughed.

"Yeah. And I got something special plan for Discord, Big Mac, and I. It's going to be great. You're going to love it," Spike said with a smirk.

"Looking forward to it," I joked. "Anyways, how are you and Twilight doing?"

Spike smiled dropped. "Okay, I guess." He didn't sound convincing.

"You guess?" I raised a brow.

He threw his arms in the arm with a sigh. "I mean she is still mad at me but we're not fighting like you and Celestia are."

I leaned my head against my hoof. "Lucky you."

"She was really mad at first but calmed after a while."

"What did you tell her?" I asked.

"The truth; that I was helping you," Spike explained. "Don't worry about it. Twilight and I could never hate each other. Even when we get into bad fights."

I shook my head a little. While I was glad that things weren't too bad between them, I was slightly jealous. I wished that Celestia wasn't so hard on me and just let me be my own pony.

“Nightmare Night and Twilight aside, what are you doing here?”

I rested my head on the tablet. “I was hoping you could give me some advice about...you know.”

“Yeah. I got it.”

“I've been thinking about the last few months,” I began saying. “I know I decided that I had to accept this life but I don't just want to accept it. I want to embrace it. But I don't know how.”

Spike was tapping his claw on the table as I spoke.

“Since you know much more about this stuff than I do, I was hoping you would know what I need to do.”

“What you need to do is stop avoiding them. Do what Discord did. When Spirits called to him, he didn't ignore them. He went to them and tried to figure out what was needed from them. You need to do the same,” He said.

I groaned. “I was afraid you were going to say that.”

Spike smirked knowingly at my reaction.“When they come to you, you need to listen to them and see what they need. It doesn't have to be anything big. You can start small and build your way up.”

I knew he was right. I just needed to stop being scared. I was about to say something when I noticed someone standing right behind Spike. It took a few glares before I realized that it was the same pony I saw last night. I could tell that he was scared and confused. I tried to keep my attention on Spike. However, I didn't deny to myself that maybe the spirit could be the start that I was looking for.

Spike must have noticed the change in my demeanor because he began to look very concerned. “You alright?”

“Huh?” I shifted my focus away from the spirits. “Of course.”

“You sure?” He didn’t sound convinced.

“The thing is…” If I was going to start right, I couldn't hide things from my friends anymore. At least to the ones that knew of my secret. “I saw a spirit last night in my room. He wanted my help but I said no.”

“I figured,” Spike boasted. “Well, if you are looking to embrace it, don't do that.”

“You think I should help him? I have a feeling he will return to me.”

“If he comes back, sure.”

“The spirit left this before leaving.” I put my hoof in my bag and pulled the pocket watch out. I sat it on the table and pushed it over to Spike. Spike glazed over at it.

“It must be attached to this. It could have meant a great deal to him when he was alive. Maybe you should help him.”
Spike grabbed the watch and opened it up

My eyes went back to the spirit. “Alright then. I will make sure to make note of that.”

“Umm good.” Spike nervously shifted in his seat. He could tell that I was feeling uncomfortable about something. It then hit him. “You see him, don’t you?”

“He is standing right behind you.”

Spike yelped and jumped away from where he was sitting. “What is he doing?”

“Nothing,” I answered. “He’s just standing there.”

“Well, I’ll let you figure that out." He slowly got off his seat, making small quick looks behind him. "I’m going to see if Twilight needs my help or something…” He then quickly walked off. I rolled my eyes but smiled.

I put my attention back on the spirit. There were no emotions on his face. I couldn't tell if he was sad, scared, or angry at me. He stood there tall and thin; his skin pale as the full moon.

I was the first to speak up. “So you need my help?”

His voice raspy and quiet as he spoke. I shivered to from the cold of his presence.

"They don't ...know where I'm at...They don't know...who did this to me..."

I tilted my head to the side. "I don't understand. Someone caused your death?" I didn't want to assume the worse.

He sat down and leaned his head over to the side. I wasn't sure what he was trying to do. I then saw that there was a big chunk of skin ripped off from the neck, covered with dried up blood. I put a hoof to my mouth and gasped.

He went on top of the table and crawled over to me. Before I could back away from him, he grabbed my hoof with a tight grip. And just like what happened with Cadance when I saw her at the hospital, I saw a series of mixed flashbacks all played one after another.

I saw a group of ponies together; laughing and drinking as they trotted through a dark night. One of them was pulling a cooling filled with drinks. I heard him laughing but couldn't see him. I noticed a pair of arms in front of me, holding a camcorder and recording the ponies. I was seeing through his eyes.

I then realize that they were on the edge of the Everfree forest.

"I don't like watching myself," a mare from the group laughed. She went up to him and tried covering the camcorder with her hoof.

He backed away from her. "Easy there, Goldie. This wasn't cheap."

"My bad," she said in a fake hurt tone. She gave him a small kiss on the cheek before returning to the others. "Come on the night is still young. Let's do something already."

"Calm down. We'll get to it," A male pony said. "Troy, where are you?"

"I swear if you are trying to prank us again, I'm again to beat your ass." Goldie tripped over herself. The stallion I saw ran up to her and tried helping her up. She pushed him away and got up herself. "I got it."

"You sure?" he asked.

"Yeah, I'm just a little tipsy." She laughed and fell over again.

He rolled his eyes. "RIght. just a little."

All of a sudden, a growl could be heard. They all froze and looked at each other.

"What the hell was that?!" One of asked.

"Was that from the EverFree Forest?"

The wind started to blow harder. Black clouds sprawl across the sky, billowing in from the west. Their brassy glare drained the color from houses to trees, leaving neighborhoods tinted bronze in the faltering light. The air grew heavy and the humidity pressed down, suffocating. The scent of rain is dark and heady. The first crack of lightning rent the air and within seconds the rolling boom of the thunder reverberated overhead. Soon the rain fell, slow to start, splattering the sidewalks haphazardly.

The growl returned; much louder and more aggressive sounding.

"Alright...time to go." The Stallion trotted backward. The others soon joined him.

A scream pierced the night storm. It echoed through the terraced trees making the origin hard to pin-point. The first cries were undoubtedly terror.

The mare stopped. "Wait, that's Troy." She ran away from them and towards the Forest.

"Goldie stopped don't!"

There was another scream. He stood there; I could feel the tension grew in his face and limbs. His breathing became more rapid, more shallow. He turned to run only to be met with a large figure launching at him.

He screamed then everything went black.

I felt a tap on my shoulder. I jumped back and screamed, falling on my back onto the ground.

"Oh, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to scare you." Twilight loomed over me, concern in her eyes.

I looked around me and saw that I was back at the school. I gasped loudly and breathe heavily unable to make words with what I just saw.

"Princess Luna, are you okay?" She asked.

I sat up with a sigh. "I'm fine, Twilight. I just got scared."

"You did seem to be deep in thought."

I chuckled. "Yeah...I guess you can say that." My eyes went back to the table.

He was now gone.

“So this random guy just came to you for help?” Discord asked.

“Pretty much.” I stared down at the table Spike and I was at before the spirit came.

He leaned closer to me. “And you want to helphim?”

“Yes.”

He leaned even closer. “And you told me about this without being pressured by anypony?”

“I don’t think this is as big as anything we dealt with before but just in case it is, I thought you should know.”

“So a change in hair, attitude, and philosophy?” Discord stared at me before putting his paw and claw on both sides of my cheeks and pulled me up to his face.

“Alright, who are you and what have you done with Luna?”

I pushed him away from me. “Discord!”

“What? This is so unlike you. It's frightening.”

“That’s the point,” I said.

Before any more could be said, Spike went up to the table. He then placed a box filled with newspapers, files, and articles on the table. Spike pulled some of the newspapers out of the box and handed a few to me.

I used my magic to look over them as he took a seat right next to me, looking over the ones he had. Most of them were wrinkled, ripped up, or had stains on them. A few looked like they were on the brink of falling apart. It was obvious that a lot of them haven't been looked at in years. Discord just flew around us, taking small glazes from behind us.

“Is that him?” Spike pointed to a picture on the front page of the newspaper. I took a quick look at it and nodded.

“Yep, that’s him,” I clarified.

His eyes shifted down at the paper as he read. “So his name is Timber Hall and he did live in Ponyville. It said here that he went missing about 2 months ago with a group of friends when they all went out one night. No one has heard anything for any of them since.”

“2 months ago?!” Had he really been looking for help for that long? The thought of that really hit me.

“Wow, poor guy. He was so young.” Discord grabbed the pocket watch and opened it. “The watch looks old, though.”

“Any sign of foul play?” I then asked.

Spike glanced back at the newspaper. “According to this, they don’t know. He just disappeared.”

"Did he says what happened to him, Luna?" Discord asked.

"Not much. I think he was attacked by something, though. I don't know what, though."

Spike kept looking through the newspapers. "Hmmm. He could have been attacked by the Fallen. Some did get to Ponyvillie."

"Maybe," I agreed.

"What are you going to do?" Discord asked.

"I don't know," I shrugged. "Guess see what I can find. He clearly wants me to find his body."

"Well, if it is the Fallen then since we stopped them, it doesn't seem like we need to worry too much about it," Spike said.

"Hopefully, it stays that way." Discord crossed his arms. Spike and I chuckled as I rolled my eyes.

"Or at least it can wait till tomorrow after our guy night," Discord them added.

"Wait, you are doing that tonight?"

Spike started putting the newspapers back in the box. "Why not? It has been a while and we could use some relaxing for once."

"Fair enough." I grabbed the box from Spike. "Can I take this back with me to Canterlot?"

"Just bring it back when you're done," Spike ordered.

"Don't worry, I will."

"You'll keep us updated?" Discord asked.

I made my way to the door that would lead me to the long hallway. "If I find anything, yes."

I waved bye to them and made my way out of the school courtyard. I knew I needed to get back to Canterlot before Celestia started to worry about me. I was still mad at her but the least I could do was not cause any more problems between us.

I kept thinking about timber Hall and his friends. Just knowing the fear they must have been in and nopony was there to help them. Their families still looking for them with the hope that they would see their brother or sister, mate or friend again. But I knew that their families' hope would be in vain.

It was strange thinking about that. I already knew what happened. I already knew that they were all dead and they were afraid. I bit my tongue, trying not to cry. I had to be strong for them. It may have been too late to save them but I could at most give closure to their loved ones and find where they were now.

I must have been deep in thought cause I didn't notice the filly coming towards me. We bumped into one another. My shot eyes shot up as her bag fall to the ground; a book falling out of it.

"I'm sorry." I lit up my horn and handed her the bag and the book.

The filly only smiled and grabbed the bag. She was a small pegasus with a pink coat, curly light blue mane, and a cutie mark of a rook. "It's okay, princess. I wasn't looking where I was going."

I recognized her. "Wait a second. You were that filly-"

"That Smolder was talking to," the filly finished. "Yeah, I saw you talking to Spike."

"Right...yeah. I am in a rush and I didn't see you," I said.

"It's okay. Really. Even princesses can make mistake."

"That is very true."

She opened the bag up and put the book inside. I saw the cover had a symbol on it that looked Latin.

"Interesting book you got there." I pointed at it. "Can you read Latin?"

She quickly shoved the book in and zipped it up. "It's for a friend who I was actually on my way to meet."

I gave a small laugh. "I see."

"Well, it was very nice to meet you, princess. It isn't every day you get to talk to royalty." She pulled a hoof out to me. "I'm Cozy Glow."

"Nice to meet you, Cozy Glow." I grabbed and shook it.

She bit her lips and let out a guilty chuckled. "...I have to...um...Have a nice day, princess."

She zoomed passed around me with her head down. I turned around and watched as she headed towards the school. She made one last look at me before continuing to trot off.

"Okay then..."

I spread out my wings and made my way back to Canterlot.

Author's Note

A nice chapter to start things out. The problem will begin in the next chapters. Hope you enjoyed it.

Till Next Time!!! :pinkiehappy:

Part One: I Felt His Pain

It was close to nightfall when I went back to Shredder's bar. Normally, I only saw him once a week but tonight I needed answers. Shredder seemed surprised by my presents though he still let me into his office. I took a seat in front of his desk as he poured a glass of wine for himself.

"What brings you here, princess?" He asked.

I kept thinking about Timber Hall and his friends. The vision I saw was still fresh in my mind.

"I had another vision..." I simply said.

"Oh, I see," he smiled.

I scoffed at him. "It wasn't good. I saw a poor man and his friends get attacked by something! Now they've all been missing for 2 months."

He nodded his head a little. "I'm assuming you don't know what attacked them."

"I didn't see it. He didn't see it," I recalled.

"He?"

"TImber Hall." I pulled out the newspaper from my bag and laid it on the table. He leaned over he looked down at it. "That was his name. He keeps coming to me, wanting my help. It was as if I was him. I felt his fear, his pain...I-I even hear his last thoughts."

He grabbed the newspaper and read over it.

"Shredder, I don't know what that was. I mean, I had visions before but never like that." My voice was shaky as I lightly tap the table with my hoof over and over again.

"Maximo dolore."

"What?" I tilted my head to the side.

"Great di-"

"I know what it means," I snapped. "What's the relevance of it?!"

"You saw the visions when they were at their most distress. You saw what caused them to end up to that point." He took another sip of his wine.

I blinked. "Is that is?!"

"It's not that complex, princess," He said with a chuckled. "Though I will warn you to be careful. Going too far into someone's mind could cause damage to your own. But you most likely could come up with that conclusion from your dream ability."

"I can't forget the fear he felt just knowing that he was going to die." My eyes laid on the ground trying so hard to not cry. "How do I move on from that?"

He signed sadly and frowned. "You don't for your mind will never let you."

That was what I was afraid of.

"It d-didn't e-even happen to me so w-why does this hurt so much?" I could feel tears forming in my eyes. Shredder got up from his seat and went next to me. He put a claw on my arm.

"Don't hold in your tears. It will only make it harder for you."

I immediately started crying, not even knowing why I was. Shredder gave me a small hug as I ended up crying into his arms.

"This is what he is feeling. This why you must be careful. You are no longer just feeling your own pain but his as well," he explained. "You made not be able to get over it but you can make the pain easier to deal with."

I looked up at him desperately.

"What do I do?" I whispered.

"Make it easier..."

I left shortly after and headed back to the castle. I needed to think about everything over. Maybe Discord, Misty Spike was right. Maybe I needed to relax and stop worrying so much. The stress was overwhelming and it was starting to consume me.

Just as I got back to the castle, my horn lit up and a scroll appeared in front of me. I opened it up quickly read over it. It was from Spike.

Dear Princess Luna,

I thought about what you told me and Discord and did a little digging myself. And well, I found out a few things I think you would like to know. Mainly about the poket watch. I could write it out and tell you but it might be better to talk about it face to face. I'll be at the school with Twilight all day tomorrow. It doesn't matter to me.

Also, I know you have been feeling down lately and I have a pretty good idea why. I know things have been hard between Celestia and you. You know how I feel about you keeping your secret from her but that doesn't mean you can't tell her how you feel. Just know you can always come to me or Discord if you need to talk.

From, Spike

I folded up the note and went into my bedroom. It was almost time to raise the moon. I sat the note on my nightstand. I would worry about that later. I opened my window and lit up my horn and began to bring forth the night. I smiled at the sight of stars glimmering across the sky.

After a few moments, I laid down on the bed. I knew what I needed to do and tomorrow I planned on speaking to her finally. I wasn't going to avoid her anymore. All I hoped for was that she would listen to me but most importantly that I would be able to listen to her.

"I was searching all over for Smolder. We were supposed to meet at the library during lunch but I didn't find her there. I assumed she either forgot or something came up. So I went looking for her. That's when I saw you and Spike talking to her. I didn't want to interrupt so I waited until she was done. I needed to make sure that everything was still going to plan. It seemed all was well. Now, all we needed was to wait till it was night."

"She said she needed to talk to you about something," I remembered Smolder saying something like that.

"Yeah, she did. We were planning a little sleepover with our friends. We were planning in meeting in my room," she explained herself.

"Twilight allowed that?" I asked.

"We had permission. She said as long as we didn't leave the school pass curfew, it would be fine." She put her head down in shame. "I really wish we listened to her now."

"Pardon me but what I don't understand is how did a slumber party turn-" I started to say.

"Into one of us going to the hospital," Cozy Glow finished with a guilty smirk.

"Yes." I gave her a stern look.

"Welllll....."

Author's Note

Short and simple. I just wanted to post something. The next chapter is when things get started. This chapter is to let you all know that I haven't forgotten about this story as well as getting a few things out of the way. Hope you enjoyed it.

Till Next Time!!! :pinkiehappy:

Perspective

I am the truth being cover through the lies.
I am a demon with an angel in disguise.
I am the hope that shines in the light.
And I am the pain that causes strife.

I see the ones who live or fall.
I see the eyes through them all.

I am the Angel Of Darkness.
I bring the fears to life.
I am a demon in the shadows.
But I hide within the light.

I don't know who I should be.
The world keeps on changing.
And I don't know if I should be afraid
every time I beyond my grave.

Part One: The Night Aligns

Spike and I trotted down the halls of Twilight's school. I found him with Twilight in her office and he dismissed himself. I didn't try to say much to her. I knew Celestia and her were talking about me leaving so suddenly to help Capper with the Fallen. Knowing Twilight, she would have most likely sided with my sister and I didn't want to start any problems with anypony else.

"You said you found something out?"

Spike nodded. "Yeah, you can say that. I think it could help you."

"I will take any help at this point," I admitted. We went around another corner. A few students stopping briefly as they spotted me.

"Then you might want to hear this then."

Before any more could be said we what sounded like a door slamming. Spike and I looked down the hall. My eyes widened as I saw no other than Trixie trotting down the hall. Her mane was a mess and she looked really pale. She appeared to have lost a lot of weight since I lost saw her as she was nearly skin and bones.

"Trixie Lulumoon?" I said out loud; more surprise on how she looked. But she must have heard me for she stopped and stared over at me.

"Princess Luna?!" She grinned, surprised to see me. She trotted over to me and Spike. "What are you doing here? Are you once again in need of the Great and Powerful Roxy?" She sounded hopeful.

I chuckled knowingly. "Not today but when I need her, I'll let you know."

"Pity. Of course, you always know where to find me. I love your mane by the way. Not enough mares really appreciate this color." She began playing with her own mane in pride.

"Thank you."

"I didn't realize you two knew each other," Spike jumped in.

Trixie and I smirk at each other. I knew she was thinking the same as me. "We met before."

"I still have the costumes," she cheered.

I mouth "So do I" to her. She chuckled lightly in response.

Spike noticed this. "Do I even want to know?"

"For your sake," I started.

"No," Trixie and I said in unison.

"O-okay then," Spike said weirdly.

"So how are you doing?" I then asked Trixie.

Her smile quickly dropped and faded as if it was never there, to begin with. She quickly cleared her throat and said, "I'm great! Better than great. Beyond it."

"Sure you are," Spike said sarcastically. I shoved him lightly with my wing. Spike pushed my wing away and let out a "hmph."

"Enough about The Great and Powerful Trixie’s emotional life! I, unfortunately, must attend to other matters but am looking forward to speaking with you princess hopefully sometime in the near future.” Trixie managed to pull a cheerful, cocky smile on her face. “See ya later, my faithful friends!”

She threw a smoke bomb on the ground and ran away. I quickly lit up my horn and put a shield around Spike and Ito to prevent us from breathing in the smoke.

"Thanks," Spike said. "I don't get why she always needs to do that.

"It's fine, really," I replied with a shrug. I had a sick feeling in my stomach. Something wasn't right with her. I made a note to myself to check on her later to see what was up. "So anyway, with that out of the way, what was it that you wish to tell me?"

Spike pulled out the pocket watch Timber Hall gave to me. "I didn't find out much about him but Discord pointed out something that stuck with me."

"Which was?"

"The watch. It's old," Spike said. "I did some research on the watch and I found quite a bit about it."

I used my magic to take hold of the pocket watch and held it in front of me. I examined it, trying to see what Spike meant. It didn't look special to me. It looked like a normal old watch.

"What's so significant about it?"

"It's the company who made it." Spike turned the watch around and pointed to a name that was imprinted on it. It was mostly covered in rust but you could make out what it said. "It's called a Flex Watch."

"I never heard of it." I kept my eyes on the watch. It still was thinking. I didn't realize that the watch still worked.

"I'm not surprised. It was around after you were sent to the moon and though the company is still around, they stopped making them over 200 years ago. Well anyway, back then they didn't have digital watches or clocks so it was common for everypony to have a pocket watch. You could get a cheap one or a really expensive one made of gold or ruby. Now because of this, it was a way to tell one wealth and how much they made and their job and stuff."

I smirk brightly at that. "Flex Watch."

"Thus the name." He nodded with a grin. "As I said, they stop making them. So having one is rare but they are also worth a lot as well. Even getting ahold of one of the cheaply made Flex Watches are worth something."

"So this is worth something?" I pointed to the pocket watch.

Spike scoffed. "Worth something?! More like a lot." He leaned in closer to me and whispered: "The gold is real. That pocket watch is made entirely out of pure gold."

I lifted my head up in surprise. "What?"

"It's old, a little rusted but it's real."

Spike and I both had our eyes on the watch as the big question came.

"How much is it worth?"

"If you found the right seller, you could get at least 100,000 bits."

My mouth dropped. "What?! That much for a watch?"

"They are very very rare," Spike repeated.

"Unbelievable," I whispered.

"So your spirit friend was literally holding onto a goldmine," Spike let out a small laugh. "His kids could have kids before needing to worry about getting a job."

"I wonder if he knew," I then pointed out.

"That's the problem," Spike added. "If he did, why didn't he sell it. He worked as a cashier for minimum wage. If I was him, I'll be selling that thing so fast."

"You mean you wouldn't have eaten it," I teased him.

Spike crossed his arms. "No. I think."

I chuckled a little when a thought came to mind. "Unless it wasn't his."

Spike sighed as he nodded. "That would mean someone killed him."

I thought back to the vision I saw of them by the Everfree Forest. "I don't recall seeing anypony else but them. It looked like they were attacked by something."

"You just don't know by what or possibly who," Spike interjected.

"Unfortunately."

"That's all I got to tell you. I know it brings out more questions but it also gives you a lead," Spike said cautiously.

"Spike, you're fine. This actually gives me something to go on," I reassured him.

"Well, I'm glad," Spike gleamed.

"Thanks again. I'll let you know if I find anything else."

"Same here," Spike said. "I should get back to Twilight. Don't want her to get worried about me again."

"We wouldn't want that now," I laughed.

Spike groaned yet gave a small smile. "See you around?"

"Yeah."

Spike gave me a quick hug before walking off. I watched him disappeared as he went around the corner. I then started to make my way out of the school. The world outside teased me with its calmness; everypony trotting by chatting and laughing with one another as they went through their day.

I looked up at the sky. It was past noon. I would need to sleep soon to be ready for that night. I could only hope that in the meantime I was not aware of every second of every minute. My mind constantly regurgitating the worries of the day, the worries of tomorrow, the worries of yesterday. Always wanting answers yet could never come up with a new or brilliant solution to offer. The only thing I could do what I had always done; take each day as it comes.

Though, it seemed that doing so was not working as well as when I first came back from the moon.

"Luna?"

My ears perked up and looked around for the one who called me. "Yes?"

“Well isn’t it the princess of my favorite time of day?"

I immediately smiled as I figured out who is well. I soon saw Capper coming up to me.

"Capper! It's so good to see you." I said as I gave him a hug. "It's been a while."

"Sure has," He laughed. "I see you cut your hair."

"Yeah, I did. You like it," my face glowed.

He examined me for a few seconds. "Not the color I would have chosen but it really works for you," he approved.

"Good. I was hoping it looked okay." I started messing with my hair. "But what are you doing here? I thought you went back to Los Pegasus with Shira."

"I did but something came up and she had to leave with my uncle," he explained.

I raised a brow. "What?"

"Apparently a Guardian went missing and they needed to start a search. They think he got into some trouble deep within the Nethers so nothing that should affect us," he added in relief.

"That's good." I smiled.

"Yeah. Anyways, after she left, I realized that I liked being around friends and decided to stick around here for a while."

"Glad to hear it," I said. "How have you been?

"Alright I guess," he answered. "You?"

"Other than the strain between my sister and I, good."

"Okay. That's good." I couldn't tell if he actually believed me or not. Luckily, he accepted my answer.

"When did you move here?"

"About a few days ago."

"Have you spoke to Twilight or any of her friends?" I then asked.

"Not really," He shook his head. "I did however ran into Trixie yesterday."

"Really?! Huh. Oddly enough I just spoke with her. She was at Twilight's school."

His eyes widened in surprise. "Oh. So you noticed that she-"

"Looks awful," I interpreted Capper. "Yes, I did. Do you have any idea what that was about?"

Capper puts his paws in his coat pocket and kicked the tiny pibbles on the ground. "No. I didn't ask her and I won't. I knew she wouldn't tell me but she probably figured out that I was concerned for her."

"I wonder what's going on with her."

"I'm sure whatever it is, she'll be fine." I could by his tone of voice that even he didn't believe that himself. I didn't say anything though. "What are you doing here anyway?"

"Spike wanted to talk to me about something. It's not really a big deal." I didn't want to get into Timber Halls and his friend's with Capper. "I was on my way back to the castle. I actually should be going."

"Really, now?" Capper asked sadly.

I signed. "Yeah, if I'm not asleep in a few hours then I won't be ready to go to the dream realm tonight."

He leaned in closer to me. "Is there a way I could convince you to stay for an hour?"

"Sorry but not today. But maybe some other time." I faced the direction of Canterlot and spread out my wings.

"I'll hold you to that," Capper said.

I smirked. "I was hoping you would say that."

Then I took off.

You are mine...come to me, Luna. I know you can hear me. You can't run from me.

The world turned dark and gray as smoke covered the sky. Everything was on fire, destroying everything in its path. Black shadows ponies and creatures of the Fallen roamed the streets and buildings of what was once known as Canterlot. Luna only smiled darkly as she hears the screams of the ponies being ripped apart by the monsters. They cried and screamed for their lives. Some even tried fighting back and run away.

Shader came from behind and placed a claw on Luna's shoulder. "Well, done my child. You know what you need to do now. Kill them, my Angel Of Darkness."

"Let me help you," Discord pleaded with her. Spike hid behind Discord's back as he too was crying.

"We can all still walk away from this," Spike cried out to his lost friend.

"Don't make us hurt you." Tears fell from Trixie's eyes.

"Sister, it doesn't have to be this way..." Celestia shouted.

But the one who was hurt the most came from the eyes of an unexpected friend. Capper was never much of a cryer. He has been upset but never to the point where he cried. He never even cried about his parent's death. But seeing all that the two have been through and where they are at now, it killed him too much from inside. Seeing Luna in so much pain and too far gone from them and it was all his fault. He could have done something to stop her. He could have saved her but it was too late now.

"Luna, please! Don't do this!" He began to tear up.

Luna smiled venomously at her sister and her friends as they gave her pleading eyes. Her eyes turned into a red with green auras.

"I've already made up my mind."

"LUNA, NO!!!"

"Funny how they say this is what you will become but I know the truth. I know everything, Selena."

"Luna! Luna, wake up!"

I felt myself being shaken. I opened my eyes and saw Celestia looming over me clearly concerned.

"I heard you screaming and I got scared."

"S-sister?" I sat up and covered my face. Tears were already forming.

Celestia hugged me in a warm embrace and nuzzled me to calm my shivering down. "It's okay. You're okay."

The picture of Shader behind me and me willing doing as he told me was fresh in my mind. The things I did to those innocent ponies were all too much for me. It's okay. It wasn't real. Your friends are safe. You didn't hurt anypony. Equestria is okay. The Angel Of Darkness...he called me it again.

"I'm sorry. I had a nightmare," my voice crack as I tried my best not to cry. I turned away from her. I couldn't bear to look at her.

"Do you want to talk about it?" She asked with her sweet caring soft voice. "You know that you can tell me anything, Lulu. I won’t judge, no matter what it is. I'm here to listen."

I wanted to believe that so much. Just tell her the truth. Spike is right. We don't need to say everything but just at least how I feel. Maybe she'll understand.

"Not really." I sighed disappointedly at myself. Or maybe not...

"Oh, okay. That's fine." I could hear the sadness in her voice. There was so much I wanted to say. So much I needed to say. Yes, I was still mad at her but her holding me like this felt nice. It was a peaceful feeling to know she cared.

"Could you stay with me? Just until I go back to sleep?"

Celestia's face lit up brightly. "Of course."

She sat down next to my bed. She tucked me back into the bed with her magic. "I know things been rough between us but I want you to know that I'm always here for you."

"I know," I whispered.

"I love you."

"Love you too."

It was the first time we spoke without fighting in a while.

I closed my eyes and a few minutes later I fell back to sleep. I woke up a few hours later, lowered the moon, and went to the dream realm. It helped to get my mind off of things at least for a little while.

What’s going on? I was jolted awake by someone shouting. "Celestia, is that you?" I lifted myself up, and I looked around my room.

"Luna!"

I screamed loudly as jumped off my bed. I quickly stood up with my horn already lit only to see Discord standing on the other side of my bed. He was covering his ear. Most likely because of how loud I screamed.

"Discord?! Could you stop doing that?!" I shouted.

"Sorry, Lulu." He held his arms up as if he was surrounding himself. "It's not like I mean to do it. I forgot you would be sleeping still this late in the day."

I took a moment to take a few deep breaths to calm myself down. "What are you doing here?"

Discord took a seat on my bed and signed heavily. This wasn't going to be good. I could tell already by his demeanor.

"You ever found out if Timber Halls and his friends were killed by the Fallens?"

I blinked, confused at the random question. I answered anyway. "No. Why?"

"Two people were attacked last night in Ponyvillie." His voice dropped.

I put a hoof to my mouth. It couldn't be. We stopped the Fallen. They were no way they could have gotten away. Unless we missed one. No, we couldn't have.

"This doesn't make any sense. I thought we stopped them."

"I thought so too," Discord threw his arms in the air.

"Oh my stars." I was now pacing both and forth. "Are they alright? Tell me that nopony was..." I didn't even want to say it.

"That's the problem. We don't know. Spike told me this morning and said I should inform you." Discord watched me as I continued to pace. "That's not all that Spike wanted me to tell you."

I stopped pacing and looked cautiously at Discord. "What?"

"The ones that got attack last night. One was a student of Twilight from her school."

My eyes widened at the thought that a child was attacked by one of those monsters.

"And the other," He paused and stared at me with the same look I had.

"...was Trixie."

Author's Note

Yeah, I know. Just more talking. The next chapter should be when things really start up. Can't wait for that.

Till Next Time!!!! :pinkiehappy:

Part One: The Absence Of Light

The day started like any other day; lectures, classes, occasional daydreaming. Just what any other kid would do. I personally was excited for that night. Everything was all set. Smolder and Cozy had planned this for weeks. Since it was going to be their first Nightmare Night, Smolder thought this would be a great way to celebrate it. Just something to spook the other with. It was more of Smolder's idea than Cozy. She asked Cozy Glow to help her since none of them would have expected her to do something like this. Today, she just needed to make sure that everything was all set to go.

"Smolder, I thought we were supposed to meet in the library," Cozy was slightly annoyed.

"Yeah, I'm sorry about that," she apologized to Cozy. "I ran into Spike in the hallway and we started talking. I completely forgot about meeting you."

"It's fine. You're here now."

"Anyways, you got the book?" Her voice got excited.

Cozy Glow sat her bag down on the ground and pulled out a book. Nothing was on the cover and the color was a faded brown with a couple of water stains that were now imprinted on the book. A few pages were held together with tape so they wouldn't fall out. Though it wasn't close to falling apart, it did have to be handled with care. Which was why she was holding on to it. She knew it would be ruined with Smolder.

"Right here." She showed it off to her. Cozy Glow didn't want to actually give it to her so she opened the book for Smolder to see. She leaned in closer and looked at the page.

Her face turned from excitement to confusion. "What is this? I can't read it."

"Of course silly. It's in pony Latin," Cozy Glow smiled.

"You can read Latin?" She asked doubtfully.

"No, but Ocellus can...or somewhat can. She's going to help me translate after school."

"Perfect. Now we wait for tonight and by tomorrow it will be the talk of the school. Every creature will definitely be freaked out by it," She mischievously chuckled.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Cozy was unsure about it.

"Relax, Cozy. It will be fine." She gave her a light punch on Cozy’s shoulder.

"I just don't want to start trouble," She said.

"We're not doing anything wrong. Just causing a few spooks."

"A few spooks, huh?" Cozy laughed knowingly.

She crossed her arms. "It will be worth it."

"Okay, I trust you." However, Cozy didn't fully believe she knew what she was doing. Maybe that was the reason why she agreed to help smolder.

"Lunch was about to end so that was all the time we had to talk. The next time I would see her would be with the others."

"And this is the book we were talking about?"

"Yes, Princess Luna." She pointed at the page I was on. "That was the story we were looking for."

I kept looking over the page. It showed a mother and daughter tied to a pole being burned alive in front of a cheering crowd. You could have mistaken it for a party for a special occasion. Well, it seemed to them it was. I gagged at the sight.

"So what happened next?"

"That night we met in my room. We had a few things planned before Smolder and I would do our thing. But first, we had to get it all set up so I decided to start with a movie. You know something small. I didn't have a lot of good movies. Luckily though, Sandbar brought over a bunch of films for us to pick from."

Sandbar dumped a pile of movies onto the floor. The group glanced over and looked at the varieties. There were horror films, romance, actions, and even a few classic films that were obviously older than any of them.

“Wow, so many many choices. We get to watch all of these, Sandbar?” Silverstream screeched in excitement

"There is no way we could watch them all in one night," Sandbar chuckled.

"Yak don't want to watch something too scary."

"Why a movie? Why don't we do something more exciting?" Smolder groaned as she flew around the room.

"Like what?" Sandbar asked doubtfully.

"Hmmm, I don't know. Just not sit around and watch something."

"I'm sure a movie could be fun." Cozy got up from her spot and jumped off the bed. She trotted to the pile of movies, bumping her book bag in the process. The bag fell on its side and a book fell out of it.

Cozy started looking over the movie. Gallus saw that Cozy Glow didn't realize that she knocked her bag over. He sat the bag up straight again and glad the book to put it back into the bag. He got a glance at the cover which had different symbols surrounding a crescent moon.

"Umm Cozy," he stared. Cozy looked back behind her and saw him holding the book. "What is this?"

"I thought you would be smart enough to know what a book is, Gallus," Smolder said sarcastically.

"Shut up. You know what I mean."

Cozy quickly jumped over and grabbed the book from him. "It's nothing."

"Surely doesn't look like it," Gallus said.

"Is that the book you showed me early, Smolder?" Ocellus asked.

"Yeah..."

"Don't worry about it. It's a book about demons, spirits, and things like that," Ocellus then said. Cozy and Smolder needed help reading it since it's in pony Latin."

Sandbar scoffed. "You believed in that stuff?"

"I don't know. I wouldn't go far to say yes but I would like to," she answered.

"I believe in them," Silver Stream jumped in.

"Yak doesn't like to think about dead creatures," Yona scarily spoke.

"Who does?" Smolder pointed out.

"It can be very interesting. They are so much to learn about them," Ocellus said.

Cozy opened the book and laid it on the floor. They all gathered around it as she flipped through the pages. They all saw the pictures of monsters and demons bleeding and fighting each other or ripping apart ponies limb from limb.

"I don't like this," Silver Stream said. "These monsters don't look so nice."

"Where did you get this?" Sandbar gasped.

"Oh….well….I…borrowed it from Spike," Smolder nervous smile was enough to convince them of her resolve but the earth pony only responded with a concerned and sarcastic expression.

Smolder leaned back with a smile on her face. She grabbed the bag and pulled a few things out. The group only watched as they waited to see what the dragon was up to. Then her orange scales tightened as fire erupted from her mouth. The room was centered by a small fireplace that was lit ablaze by the dragon. She took a small pile of dirt and created a mist over the flames.

“Oh, throughout history there have been many tales and stories about the afterlife. Many Gods and spirits roam around our lands, unseen to our very own eyes. But...but the worst are demons,” The calls of the young orange dragon filled the darkroom.

“Demons?” the young pegasus pony stuttered.

“Oh yes, terrifying creatures that come to eat your soul,” The orange dragon growled.

“Yona isn’t scared of soul-eating creatures. Yona would crush it.”

“Well, you should be!” the dragon roared. “You’re brute strength won’t help you. They fear no living creature and tear through anything in their path."

"Come on Smolder," the blue griffin scoffed. "There's no way demons are real. I mean spirits that come to eat your soul; that sounds completely stupid."

"Oh...but they are real. Very real indeed. They have been thought out by many who have learned of their terror. It has been written in books and told in songs of the shape-shifting spirits of deception." The dragon encircled the group as her voice was but a mear growl in the night.

"Wellll golly!" Came the cries of the small pony. "These things sound pretty scary." Her sweet kind-hearted voice took little command over the room. Instead, it was but the mere presence of a puppy's wine that filled the room.

"Why yes Cozy, they are," Smolder grunted with some satisfaction.

"Come on," the older blue-haired earth pony laughed. "I'm with Gallus on this one, that can't be real."

"Well mister big brain," Smolder scoffed. "I don't see you bring any evidence or facts to the table."

"Well….either are you," the earth pony chuckled.

Smolder hovered in the air for a moment as she chuckled became more devious. "Ocellus!" She called out as she snapped her fingers and pointed to a spot next to her.

"I would rather stay out of this debate," the bright young changeling chuckled.

"You're the office book worm of this group and therefore this is your place amongst us." Smolder swooped down and picked the changeling up. She sat Ocellus beneath her and dropped a book in front of the little changeling. "Read it and see it."

Ocellus backed up from the book which was full of mysterious markings and had clearly been made from an unknown substance.

Smolder landed next to the book and flipped to a bookmarked page. "Ahhh ha!" She called out. "Demons. "The legendary harvesters of time and despair." Smiled looked up from the book as the group started to slowly gravitate to the open knowledge.

"I don't know," Cozy Glow's cutie innocent voice opposed. "This book feels like the sort of thing that we shouldn't have."

"Oh come on," Smolder laughed. "Twilight is always reminding us to read more, so this is a great started."

"Ya… I doubt Twilight would approve of this….book," Gallus smirked.

"Well you wanted proof, and now you've got some." Smolder ran her claw across the page as she started to read the inscription. "These dastardly spirits are not bound by our world and only seek to flood it with despair and death. It is unknown why they are naturally led to this inclination, but it still brings them great pleasure. They feed off of the fear of the living and care not for their well-being. Instead, they use the living as pawns to bring death and destruction to the living world, and usually, any encounter with them ends in utter ruin. What is best known about these spirits is that where they go, death will follow."

Smolder looked up from the book with a smile full of her sharp teeth. She saw the horror that stained the group's faces and even chuckled as she saw Yona hide behind her ponytails.

"So what do you think?" Smolder gowled.

"I think I wanna go home," Cozy cried.

The earth pony cleared his throat as he slowly closed the book. "This is definitely something we shouldn't have."

"Oh come one Sandbar," Smolder teased. "Admit it, you're scared.

"I'm not scared, this is…. I mean… where did you actually get this book?"

"I already told you," Smolder scoffed.

"Come on, did you really get this from Spike?"

"Yup," She chuckled. "I swear it."

"And why would Spike have this book. I mean what is it even made of? Cause it isn't paper." SandBar ran his hoove across the page to feel its weird properties.

"I really don't know the answer to either of those questions,” Smolder replied. “But clearly he too knows the truth of these terrifying creatures.”

“Yona doesn’t want to meet any demon,” Came the cries of the frightened yack

“Trust me,” Smolder laughed. “No one does.”

"I don't know," Sand Bar scoffed. “I'm not still not convinced that demons are real.”

“Really,” Smolder scoffed. “Alright Mr. Sceptic, what’s going to convince you.”

A small devious smirk washed its way across the pony’s face as he chuckled. “How about you show me.”

“What?”

“I’ll believe you if you show me one.”

The whole room came to a sullen silence as an odd feeling of dread and awe-filled the empty space. Smolder hoovered in the air as she stared down at the opposing blue earth pony. The rest of the group exchanged glances of approval from one another as the silence droned on.

“So I have to show you a demon?”

“Yes,” Sand Bar froze for a moment as his brain slowly processed his command. “Oh wait, I mean no! They're not real so there’s nothing to show.”

“Woh woh woh,” Smolder laughed. “You can’t make a challenge like that and then just back down. If they’re not real then what’s the issue if I show you?”

“Well, you can’t show me because they aren’t real.”

“Why not give it a try then?”

“Listen,” Sand Bar chuckled as he cleared his throat. “Say they were real. You said it yourself that no pony lives to tell about, so it would still just be a really bad idea.”

“Yona is confused,” The Yak laughed.

“About what?” Replied the blue pony.

“I thought you were an earth pony, not a scaredy-cat.”

“What!?” Sand Bar turned to see the rest of the group giggling at the remark.

“Ya SandBar,” Smolder taunted. “That just sounds like a cheap excuse to hide the fact that you're scared.”

“Come on Smolder,” He pleaded. “It’s not like that. It’s perfectly normal for someone to be a little skeptical. Professor Twilight is always reminding us to question things.”

“Ya well, Twilight also reminded us that a good argument is only made better through facts.” The Dragon’s face lit up with glee as she took in an enormous amount of pride.

“Alright right Mrs. Smarty,” Gulus scoffed. “How exactly do you intend to do that”?

The room was stained by another ocean of silence. Smolder slowly descended to the ground as her mind started to race. She tilted her head as her thoughts started to drag on her physics. She turned to her commands to see their reactions. Their faces were stained with concerned yet curious expressions. She knew that they were wondering exactly what she was going to do just as much as she was.

“That’s a good question,” Sand Bar added. “How do you plan on showing us, a demon?”

Smolder only continued in her silence as her mind continued to race.”Welllll….. I…. You see….” Her drawn-out high pitch voice-only brought amusement to the skeptic griffon and earth pony. “There is one place…. I think….”

“Well golly Smolder, surely you don’t mean Savannah?!”

“Who and the what now?” Smolder and Sand Bar said in perfect unison.

“You never heard about Savanna?” Cozy Glow’s sweet concerned voice flooded the group’s curiosity with glee.

“Who in Equestria is Savannah?” Gallus chuckled.

"Well, about 60 years ago, there was an old small village on the other side of the EverFree Forset. The villagers there were afraid of the forest and anything involving dark magic. However, there was a family that lived in the Everfree forest and they had a young beautiful daughter named Savannah. She was always known in the village for singing in the Everfree forset the same song every day. She had a big heart and treated everypony with kindness. She had such a bright view of life, always saw the good and never the bad."

"However, some held a huge hatred towards her because she a strange love for dark magic. They say she was using it but she always she otherwise. Even the town leader wasn't so fond of her. So when a pony in the village died, they blamed her for it. Even though there was no proof she did it and they killed her. Rightfully angry by this, Savannah placed a cruse on the village and one by one her murders died mysteriously until the village was no more. Even though the village has been gone for many years, they say anypony who goes to her old house can still hear her singing her song."

There was a moment of awkward silence as they all stared at her with surprise and fear.

"I-is that true?" Silver Stream's voice was shakey.

"Yep. All of it," Smolder answered.

"Come on. It can't be," Sandbar said.

"Why not?" Smolder snapped.

"I lived here my whole life and I never heard of that," Sandbar explained.

"That doesn't mean anything!" Cried Smolder. Sandbar shook his head and rolled his eyes. "Well, they is only one way to find out."

"You don't mean-" Ocellus started.

"Why yes, I do. We should go to the house and try to find Savannah," Smolder smirked.

"This is crazy," Sandbar crossed his hooves.

"It would be more fun than watching a movie," Gallus shrugged.

"See. Thank you, Gallus. Alright, who's in?" Smolder's voice rose in excitement.

"I am!" Cheered Silver Stream. "It does sound like fun."

"Umm Yona not sure about this." Yona shivered a little.

Ocellus looked down at the book, unsure of herself. "Yeah, I don't know either." She flipped throw the pages, each one scaring her more than the last.

"Don't worry. None of this is real," Sandbar resurrected her.

"Then there shouldn't be no problem going," Smolder throw back at him. "Or you could just stay here and watch a boring movie alone while the rest of us goes out and have fun without you."

"Okay, Yona goes if all her friend goes too."

Ocellus looked over to Sandbar. "I'll go if you think it's a good idea."

Sandbar saw he was outnumbered and sighed heavily in defeat.

"Fine. Only to prove you wrong."

The moon hung low in the sky as its light forced its way through the thick layer of clouds. The cold blanketed the ground in a thick layer of mist. The students all stood in front of the old broken-down house that reak of horror. The ambiance only helped instill a silent scream that echoed in each of the children.

“This is the place!?” Gulous’s whisper scream seemed to be captured by the old rotting wood.

“Surly,” Cozy whispered as she gulped.

“Yona doesn’t like this place,” The Yak whimpered as she hid behind her braids.

“Well,” Smolder gulped. “You said you wanted proof, so this is how I’m going to show you.” Even the mighty dragon cowered before the swaying of the night sky.

“Are you really sure you want to do this?” Sand Bar objected.

“Well if it’s the only way….” Smolder turned to see the group of cowering animals looking at the slaughterhouse.

The group slowly trailed behind the one brave cowered that was a mighty dragon. She led the group like a shepherd to the flock of sheep. The wind seemed to pick up as they approached the old wooden door. Smolder slowly turned the doorknob and listened with concerned ears as the old rusted gears ground together in the rotting metal.

The door slowly creaked opened with a loud awakening as if it were a sleeping giant that awoke from years of slumber. The rest of the house seemed to follow the same awakening as the moonlight hit the surfaces that had laid dormant for many years.

The group walked into what appeared to be a large walk-in the hallway. They looked around at the large old rusted decore that seemed like it was once welcoming to those who entered. However, all that remained was a shadow of a tragic past.

“So what exactly is the plan here?” Sandbar asked as he kicked over a broken photograph.

“Well it’s like I said, you have to find a mirror.”

“I still think this is a bad idea,” Sandbar gulped.

“Don’t tell me you’re scared of a creepy old house.” Smolder tried to hold back the quivering fear within her to little avail. Luckily for her, her sad attempt was masked by the cowering mist that hung over their heads.

“What, No, of course not. I just don’t think we should be….”

“Well if you’re not scared then let’s do this,” Smolder interrupted.

Sandbar only grunted as he watched the prideful dragon walk towards one of the broken-down hallways. The group followed like a pack of wolves in search of their next meal. The hallway’s style followed the rest of the house’s design of rotting wood, old and broken photos, and the signs of mold and other scavengers.

The bathroom was perhaps the one room that showed signs of the past. The large mirror was still intact and timed seemed not to disturb its stature. The group pilled into the half-decent bathroom as Smolder walked up to the mirror.

“Alright, so what do we do now?” Gallus asked.

“We say the chant that brings her forward.” Smolder shrugged as she wiped the mirror in front of her.

“And exactly is suppose to happen?” Sand Bar gulped.

“I guess we’ll see,” Smolder chuckled.

“Wait,” Sand Bar gasped. “You have no idea what is supposed to happen?”

“I mean… I guess she just….apears.”

“Well, this bad idea just turned into a horrible idea,” Gallus gulped.

“What even was the chant?” Ocellus whispered into the dark.

Smolder pulled out a small piece of paper and scanned through it slowly. “So it says we must say this phrase into the mirror at the dead of night and saturated in darkness.”

“Come again?” Gallus groaned.

“We have to read the paper out loud in pitch darkness,” Ocellus chuckled.

“So… who’s gonna do it?” Smolder asked. Her response was eyes of judgment that rained over the dragon. “Ya, I kinda figured,” Smolder sighed.

The dragon turned and stared into the glaring mirror as the group watched in awe. She took a deep breath before she turned to the changeling that stood next to the door. Ocellus slowly closed the door as the group was encased in darkness. Smolder look another deep breath as she turned back to the mirror.

“See now spirit from the depth of the night, come forth now into the absence of light.” The words of the dragon echoed through the room and filled in the gaps in the darkness. The groups’ wandering eyes scanned the room in search of any activity foreign to them. “Should I say it again?”

“I don’t think so,” Sandbar whispered. “But like what’s….”

“Stop bumping me.” Ocellus called out.

“What?” Gallus whispered back.

“Whoever’s bumping me, can you please stop?”

The group stood in silence as they waited for someone to respond. “Who bumped you?” Gallus asked.

“I don’t know,” Ocellus growled. “Whoever’s next to me.” Silence followed.

“Alright stop messing around,” Gulus growled.

“I’m not!” Ocellus growled back.

“Alright!” Gallus growled. “Whoever just touched me, you’re not funny.” The group only remained silent. “Alright! Open the door!”

Ocellus quickly opened the door and let the moonlight flood the room. The light revealed the group standing inside a decent yet dirty bathroom. “Who was doing it?” Gallus groaned.

“It wasn’t me,” Cozy proclaimed.

“Me neither,” Yona interjected.

“Wasn’t me.”

“Or me.”

Gallus looked around to see that everyone had removed themselves from the situation. “Well….Someone had to do it.”

“Clearly it was Sandbar,” Smolder scoffed.

“Me? Why me?”

“Cause you’re next to him, and it wasn’t me.”

“Well, it wasn’t me,” Sandbar objected.

“Yona thinks dragon is trying to scare everyone.”

“What!?” Smolder gasped. “That’s ridiculous!”

“Is it,” Gallus added. “It makes total sense to me.”

“In what way!?”

“Well, obviously you would want to scare us so you can prove your point.”

The group continued to throw their accusations as their voice rose in volume.

Open your eyes.
It's time to see the morning sun
Don’t cry.
Don’t run.
Let’s see what the day becomes.

Silver Stream turned around and looked behind her. She looked back to the group as they kept arguing. Did they hear it? Was it just in her head?

I wait for the time when the sun will truly rise. See now spirit from the depth of the night, come forth now into the absence of light.

There it was again. The voice sang beautifully but who was it from. She turned back to the hallway where the voice seemed to originate from. She knew it couldn't be her. She inched forward towards the door and reached out for it.

"Ummm g-guy." She stepped back shaking badly now.

The group kept yelling at each other.

"Guys!" She screamed louder this time.

The group silenced and looked over at Silver Stream.

"What?!" Smolder and Gallus yelled.

"I s-s-see s-something."

Suddenly their voices were cut off by the horrific scream of a mare. The group froze in place as the scream shook the very walls around them. She was meet with the distorted face of a screaming mare. Her head popped around the corner and her voice shook the very walls. The group all jumped back as they too screamed in return. The door slammed shut as the darkness flooded the room.

They all kept screaming as they trembled and rushing out of there. They ran into each other and knocking one over as they headed for the door. They ran out of the house and got as far away from it as they could.

"Wait! Wait!" Yona cried as she stopped running. "Yak don't see Sandbar."

Ocellus stopped and looked back where they came from. "I don't see him either."

The other soon stopped and they looked around him."Sandbar! Sandbar! Where are you?!" They all called out for him.

"Where did he go?" Smolder asked.

Ocellus gasped. "We didn't leave him behind at the house?!"

They sure didn't want to go back to the house. Before any more could be done, there was a creak heard nearby them causing them all to jump. They glanced at each other as none of them knew what to do.

Then there was a loud thump as something fell from the sky and slammed hard onto the ground in front of them. It only took them a moment to realize who it was.

The moon slowly approached the night horizon as the screams of the innocent echoed into the night sky. A bird jumped from its resting place upon a branch as the atmosphere shook in fear.

Author's Note

Finally!!! This chapter was so hard to get done and I'm not sure if it's any good. Well, I hope it is. Now let's see what shall happen next with them.

Till Next Time!!! :pinkiehappy:

A New Day

Open your eyes.
It's time to see the morning sun
Don’t cry.
Don’t run.
Let’s see what the day becomes.

What scares you is never knowing what‘s meant to happen next.
I feel that the beauty is not knowing what to expect.
So whether the day brings me luck or leaves me to my death
I shall treasure each moment from dawn till I go to bed

Part One: A Shallow Night

The clash of the night gods roared overhead as their light streamed down into the world below. A heavy dread of dark clouds and thick moisture blanketed the large school as an ocean was poured over their heads. Ponies rushed to their rooms as they tried to avoid the assault from above.

The school was quiet as the air was clogged with a thick sense of anguish and worry. Classes were in session, but every student seemed to feel the sense of danger that had taken place.

The rest of the students seemed more or less fine, apart from being in near shock from their experience. They sat in chairs in the waiting room of the ponyville hospital as they all thought about their injured friend.

Sandbar laid on a bed of white cloth and light padding. He laid unconscious with a three-inch deep gash in his leg. His head was wrapped with bandages that covered one of his eyes. The nurse watched over him as she tended to his wombs.

Ocellus sat in the corner as she watched her friends participate in the ancient ways of the politicians: screaming and throwing accusations as they threw logic aside.

“He told you that it was a bad idea!” Gallus screamed.

“I’m not the one who wanted to go there, alright!” Smolder roared back.

“Yona didn’t want to go,” The Yak cried.

“Well, you didn’t have to go you know.” Smolder snapped.

“She was just trying to be a good friend,” Cozy interjected.

“Shut up Cozy!” Smolder growled. “This wouldn’t have happened if you didn’t tell us about that stupid place!”

“Me?” Cozy whimpered.

“Yes, you.”

“Hey,” Gallus roared back. “This isn’t her fault, it’s yours.”

“How’s it my fault?”

“You’re the one who just had to prove yourself.”

“You all wanted to see it just as much as me,” Smolder defended. “I’m not the one who’s wrong here.”

Ocellus lowered her head as she shut off her ears from the world. Her head droned on with thoughts and suspicion. She too thought about how things could get to that point. She thought about who really was the one to blame for what had happened. She shook her head to ease the crippling battle that took place inside of her.

She looked up to see the group continuing their assault on one another. She was even shocked to see little old Cozy joining the blame game. Her attention was stolen from the hippogriff in the corner who sat staring at the ground. The once cheerful silly outgoing hippogriff now had a grizzly look into space in front of her as if she were an animal at slaughter. The changeling shrugged off the notion as she too was in shock.

Ocellus looked back to the ground as she took in a deep breath. Her eyes slowly crept open as they became heavier. Each blink seemed to cause her vision to dissipate more and more. Soon the world was no more than a blur of colors and rays of light. Her head lowered as her energy seemed to drain from her body. Soon heavy darkness came upon her that stole her consciousness away. She was a mear corps sitting in a chair. Her breath steadied to a near stop as her muscles slowly froze in place.

Almost as quickly as the darkness came, it was sent away with a single scream. Ocellus jumped as her eyes shot open. The scream echoed in her head: it was a familiar scream. She looked around as her breath matched the panicked rhythm of her heart. It was the scream she heard in the house; she could never forget it.

Her attention was once more stolen away as she saw Twilight walking towards the group. Their war raged on even as the alicorn stood above them. She watched as Twilight stood and observed the battle for a few moments.

“Excuse me!” Twilight shouted. “This isn’t the time or place to be fighting.”

The group coward before the alicorn and ceased fire at each other. Gallus and Smolder dropped to the ground as they both stared each other down.

“How is he?” Gallus growled not looking away from the dragon.

“He’ll be okay,” Twilight gasped as she saw the tension between the group. “He’s just going to need to rest for a while and won’t probably be out of here any time soon.”

Cozy, Gallus and Smolder all sighed in relief.

“Now then,” Twilight said as she cleared her throat. “I would like to ask all of you about what in Equestria happened?” Her voice was concerned yet strict; a notion that most hadn’t seen.

“Well we didn’t do it,” Gallus snapped.

“I didn’t say you did it,” Twilight struck back, still in her strict tone. “I asked what happened?”

“Gee Twilight,” Cozy sighed in her usual sweet voice. “We really don’t know. It was far too dark for any of us to truly make out ....” Cozy froze as she stared down at the ground.

“Dark?” Twilight gasped. “What were all of you doing out by yourself in the middle of the night?”

Ocellus sighed as she saw Cozy, Gallus, and Smolder exchanging glances just waiting for one of them to come up with a lame excuse. She then glanced over to Silver Stream who remained lifeless in her chair. Her eyes were dead and showed no concern for anything around her.

“Was it supposed to be a joke or something?” Twilight’s firm voice rattled the room.

“No,” Smolder pleaded. “We just wanted to do a little project."

Twilight raised a brow at them, knowing there was more than they wanted to let on.

"We may or may had gone to house in the EverFree Forest to see if some stupid story was true...” Smolder quickly finished.

Twilight looked at them in disbelief and gasped. “What?! Why would you go to the EverFree Forest of all places in the middle of the night when you know very well you would get in trouble?”

“We didn’t think something was going to attack us,” Gallus scoffed.

“It's an old house surrounded by wilderness,” Twilight shot back. “There’s going to be dangerous things.”

There was a long moment of silence as none of them knew what to say about what happened. Their eyes went to the floor, ashamed.

“We’re sorry, okay.”

Twilight signed spoke more empathy this time. “I appreciate it but I'm afraid sorry won't cut it right now. Your friend got hurt because of your carelessness.” Twilight stopped to look at the group's response.

Gallus clawed the ground as he tried to avoid eye contact, Cozy’s head was lumped over as tears filled her eyes, and Smolder just looked annoyed.

"So what are we going to do then?"

"I don't know," Gallus whispered to himself.

"Well for one thing, since all of you snuck off on your own little field trip, I think it's only fair that all of you take a week to think about it."

"What?" Gallus gasped as he raised his head.

"I'll let you stay here for the night so you can be by Sandbar but in the morning I want all of you back at the school and none of you are allowed to leave the school for a week."

What?!" Yona cried out.

"You can't do that!" Smolder defended.

"Actually, according to the agreement I made with all of your parents and guardians, I can," Twilight assured them; her voice back to being firm. "And if they have a problem with it, I'm sure after explaining my reasons for it, they would also understand if you all choose to take it there."

None of them said anything.

"Good," Twilight said after a moment. "Then I will accept to see you all in my office in the morning before class starts. Now if you excuse me, I must speak with Sandbar's parents."

Yona and Cozy Glow only nodded as Twilight trotted away from the group.

Ocellus flinched at the remark as if it had pulled her back to realization. She looked forward to her friends who argued back against their punishment, but then her attention was once more stolen away. She looked over to Silver Stream who still was frozen with her gaze to the floor. It was then that she got an awful feeling creeping down her spine. She turned down a darkened hall that had only a flickering light for illumination.

Her breath quickened as she could hear the steady sound of a wheezing breath. She could feel eyes locked onto her from the darkness but she could not see them. Her vision became blurry as the darkness began to envelop the light. She could feel her skin tighten and contract as she began to choke on her own breath.

“Ocellus!”

The changeling's daze was shattered by the call of her Griffon companion. She turned to see her friend in her face with a stain of anger on his face.

“Come on, let's go.”

“Go?” She whispered.

“Ya, didn’t you hear what Twilight said?” Ocellous'ss frozen gaze gave the answer to his question. “She said we’re suspended for a whole week.”

“What!?” She gasped.

“Ya, it’s so dumb, but what can we do?” Gallus scoffed.

“Oh, ok,” She whispered.

“Okay?” Smolder scoffed. “Aren’t you at all mad?”

“I’m...I guess I’m just worried about Sandbar.”

“Silver Stream?” Cozy’s sweet voice drew the group's attention. “Are you alright?”

The group all looked to their hippogriff friend who still stared blankly at the floor. She didn’t acknowledge their voices in any way.

“Silver?” Smolder called out. “What’s up?” There was only silence as a response.

“I think she’s just shocked,” Gallus sighed. “Or just mad...I guess.” They continued to stare at their unresponsive friend.

“Silver?” Ocellus whispered as she approached her friend. “What’s wrong?” She went face to face with the hippogriff until she could see right into her eyes. She flinched as SilverStream jumped back. The hippogriff looked up as locked her gaze away from the changeling. Ocellus looked in the direction of her friend.

Her breath quickened as she realized that it was the same dark hallway. She could feel the same gaze staring at her from the darkness. Suddenly SilverStream began to breathe heavily. She leaned into Ocellous’s ear and gasped.

“She’s here,” SilverStream gasped.

Author's Note

I was going to make this one big long chapter but thought it was getting too long so I had to cut it up a little. But hey, that just means we won't have to wait long for the next one.

Till Next Time!!! :pinkiehappy:

Part One: I Spy My Little Eye

The grizzly day streamed on as the clouds seemed to feel the dread and pain of those below. Cozy stared out of her window at the tears that flew down from the clouds. She sighed as the gloom settled in the waiting room. Sandbar still hadn't woken up still being brought in. She closed her eyes and listened to the sound of the rolling clash of the gods overhead. The pegasus was really putting on a storm that day, and it would continue for many moments afterward. She would have to return soon. All her friends had seen since left. She decided to stay as she wasn't looking forward to being stuck at the school.

She opened her eyes to see a bright flash crazy across the gray sky. It was then that she thought back to the night before. She couldn’t explain what had happened; all she remembered was the pitch dark followed by screaming. She remembered running towards the moonlight as the bathroom door slammed open. She remembered the sounds of SandBar screaming and then she saw Gallus and Smolder hauling his lifeless body.

Her trip was interrupted by another clash of the sky, and she shook her head as she returned to reality. She really regretted ever mentioning that dreaded place. She couldn’t help but think the worst; what happened if the story was actually true?

Her thoughts were interrupted by a strange sight. She saw an odd cat walking into the hospital. She saw the tall orange cat wearing a red coat. He looked somehow familiar without looking recognizable at the same time. She thought that perhaps he was merely only mentioned to her. She couldn't help but get an odd feeling about this. She never saw him there before.

He walked up to the counter and spoke to the lady at the desk.

"Sorry, sir but family only at this time." Her voice sounded harsh.

Cozy watched as he put his paw to his face and sighed heavily. He didn't seem to let her tone get to him.

"I understand that and I get why you have that rule. But she doesn't have a lot of families left and none near here. I was told she most likely won't make it and I will like to see her one last time if that is to be the case."

"Sir, I'm really sorry about your friend, truly I am. But I can only let family in."

"Come on is there anypony here that would care-"

"Sir I can't. You're going to have to-"

"Let him through." Spoke a stern yet calming voice.

Cozy turned as the other two stop and looked to see Princess Luna standing in the doorway. She was wearing a cloak that was mostly stoaking wet from the rain. She went up to the counter and gave a small smile to the cat.

She knows him?

"It's okay. We're both here to see the same pony."

Who do they want to see?

The mare wasn't pleased but knew she couldn't say no and told them what room they needed to go to. Cozy waited till the mare at the desk wasn't looking and jumped out of her seat and followed them through the quiet hallways till she stopped at a corner as they stopped by a door.

“How bad is it?” Luna asked.

“Spike said they should be okay,” the cat responded. “But I just had to be sure. I have seen it go down both ways”

"I didn't want to believe it..."

So he is friends with Spike.

They went into another room. Cozy stood in her place afraid if she got any closer and one of them walked out they would notice her. No one left the room for a few minutes. She wondered what they were talking about if they were talking at all. A few more went by when she saw that they walked out of the room.

"Where is he?" Luna asked.

"I think this door." The two walked towards Sandbar’s room as Cozy trailed behind. This time she gathered enough courage to get closer. She watched them entered and went up to his bed.

Why are they by Sandbar's room? ...he never said anything about knowing a cat. She watched from around the corner as they engaged in an exchange of whispers.

“I don’t think it’s The Fallen.” The cat walked up to his leg and bent over to examine it. Cozy unintentionally made an odd face of curiosity as she observed the cat’s actions.

“Are you sure?” Luna asked.

“Ya, it would be much worse if it was from one of them. Plus the womb would be black and scorching.” The cat walked around the hospital bed and continued to examine the earth pony. “I don’t feel any of their presents either.”

“That’s good I guess,” Luna sighed. “But then what the hell did this to him?”

“You think it’s something…. Not alive?”

“I honestly have no idea,” Luna chuckled. “Well, where did this happen?”

“Spike said that the kids he was with told Twilight they went to some old house in the Everfree forest,” He explained.

Why did Spike tell him all of this?

“I have heard that there are some old ghost stories about the place, but I really doubted any of them were true,” Luna assumed with a shrugged.

“Well, we could always check it out,” Capper suggested. “It’s not too far from here.”

“Ya, but do you really want to?” Luna sighed.

“I mean sure,” Capper chuckled. “Better to be safe than sorry, right?”

The two left the room and headed off to their destination. Little did they know that they had a tail, another sweet innocent tail.

The sun hung low overhead as the birds bathed in its rays. The clouds scattered and left the land a beauty of life and luxury. All creatures of the land look the time to celebrate the weather as they ran across the crisp grass and breathed the cool air.

The Griffin stared up at the sky which all enjoyed on that today, all except for him. He laid in his windowsill as he let the breeze brush past his feathers. The way of regret had found its way and then routed itself deep within his soul. along with a great amount of anger they penetrated through. That night was supposed to be nothing more than childish fun and innocence yet it turned out to be such a disaster. He growled doesn't spot enveloped him and took over a little in his since I was left with him. He then rolled over and jumped onto his bed as he took in a deep breath.

Suddenly he could hear the sweet rhyme are an enchanting lullaby that flooded into his room. He sat up as he searched for the source of who is responsible for the noise. He looked around to see that there was no other life in his room it's somehow the sound seemed to radiate from the very walls. A strong feeling of eyes that were locked onto him made a shiver run down his spine. it was a bright sunny day out with nothing to fear yet somehow he seemed alarmed.

“Hello?” He called out. “Is someone there?” He heard a giggle at a response to his call as a little bit of tension eased out of his body.

“Witch?” The Voice called out. Gallus Opened his mouth to respond as nothing came out. “Sorcerer? Evildoer?” The voice seemed to grow in volume and darkened at the same time. “What did they call me?”

Gallus backed up on his bed as fear once more crept his way through his room. At the same time, dark ominous clouds blocked out the sunlight and left his room in a gloomy shadow. He stared at the door that led to his only exit. It was so close to him yet somehow seemed so far from the bed. He quickly got up and ran to the exit like a lost puppy running through a dark forest. Once he got to the door, he quickly turned it and tried to force it open but it didn't budge. Perplexed, he tried again. Still, the door would not open. He banged his body against the door as it refused to give away. He started to scream for help.

He stopped at the sound of crackling wood. he smelled the familiar scent of charcoal Woodsmoke. he could see an ominous glow that emanated a shadow against the door in front of them. In the darkened room there was all the one light that seem somehow dark. He slowly turned around to see the Flames that enveloped a pony. Her eyes gleamed as a fire Pierced her Iris. Her gaze locked with his as her hatred pierced through him.

“Witch?!” She screamed as she lunged at the griffon.

Author's Note

I am happy to get back on with this story. Summer is here so hopefully, I will post more. So what will happen next for our heroes?

Till Next Time!!!! :pinkiehappy:

Part One: Something That Is Dead

In the school, a small pony roamed the halls scared with the curse of boredom. She sighed heavily at the quiet empty halls. Classes were scarce on that day, leaving the school empty to all those who weren’t confined to its walls. She paused as she passed a familiar hallway.

She stared down at Gallus’s room which too wreaked of silence. She sighed as she slowly walked away from her friend’s door. She checked the library for any signs of life but was only greeted by the buzz of a fly that too shared in her loneliness. She slowly walked away from the empty display of books as she clung loosely to life. Suddenly her ears perked up in instinct. She turned as she heard the melody of an enchanting tone emanating from the hall of books.

She slowly crept back into the library as she tried to locate its origins. The very books seemed to sway to its sweet melody as the air became heavy. She began to search every hallway of bookshelves searching every crevice. It was pulling her closer. The voice was her guide leading her like a tour guide. Her journey led her left and right up and down till she had searched nearly the entire library. Just as she was about to give up hope of ever finding her mystery pony, she heard a sweet innocent echo.

She turned around to a darkened corner of the library where the voice emanated from. A weird sensation took over her body as if her body was alarmed. Suddenly her legs became heavy and her breaths quicken. The Voice became a home that echoed into the dark corner. Cozy follow the trail slowly creeping towards what felt like danger. She swallowed hard. Her actions seemed horribly wrong but her mind could not come up with the reason why her body knew it all too well.

“Cozy?”

Cozy snapped her head around and let out a scream preparing herself to be attacked.

"Oh, dear. I'm sorry! I didn't mean to frighten you."

Cozy took a moment to catch her breath. “...Princess Luna?”

“Ya?” Luna chuckled. “What are you doing?”

Cozy turned back to the corner that was now let with the rays of the sun. The darkness had subsided and the light had rained once again. The sense of danger had vanished just as quickly as it had arrived at all seemed to be in order once more. Cozy took a deep breath and her body relaxed and the tension had eased its way out of her body.

“Nothing,” she replied. “I was just lonely that's all.” Her sweet innocent voice filled the room with something other than fear. It made the princess smile and filter her heart with something other than worried.

“I was informed about your friend. I'm sorry about him."

"It's okay," she said in a low tone.

"Well, I heard that you all got in trouble for what happened.”

“It was all my fault,” she cried. “I should have never told them about that place. Sandbar would be all right if it wasn't for me.”

“Now now, it's not time to play the blame game and he's alright and that's what matters.” Luna’s words of comfort brought more delight to the room. “Besides, you seem to have learned your lesson and you won't do it again so that's another plus.”

“I suppose,” she sighed. Her ears perked up once more as her thoughts had one due to another place. “What are you doing here by the way?”

“Oh,” Luna paused. “ I came to check up on a friend of mine; to make sure she was alright.”

“Really?” Cozy tilted her head as our thoughts processed the princess’s words. “Weren't you in Sandbar's room yesterday though?”

“Oh, I mean... I was yes.” Luna’s thoughts race to come up with another lame story as she wasn't prepared to be confronted. “I was also trying to get a word on what had happened.”

“And you didn't ask one of us?”

Luna paused once more as she searched her thoughts for a response. “I didn't want to bother any of you yesterday. I figured you'd had all been through enough for the night.”

“That makes sense,” Cozy chuckled. “I appreciate your concern for him.”

"Of course..." Luna leaned in closer to Cozy. "Do you know what happened?"

Cozy stared at the ground as her mind process went into overdrive. She didn't quite see how the pieces fit together. Luna seemed too nervous and somehow seems like she was hiding something about the incident. She thought back to the sight she had seen in the hospital with Luna and the orange cat. She remembered the words they said and the concern they showed for Sandbar. They seem too worried about his injury for it to be so simple, Luna was worried about something, something that she clearly didn't want to share with anypony.

"Have you ever heard of the story of Savannah?"

She tried gathering all of her friends at the library during lunch when they all could talk. Cozy Glow couldn't get what she heard Luna and her friend said out of her head. None of it made sense to her. She was hoping that the others would understand or maybe even know what the "Fallens" was.

Much to Cozy's dismay, Silver Stream nor Gallus showed up. She figured that Gallus was still mad at Smolder and Silver Stream was still shaken up about what happened to Sandbar.

"I'm telling you, girls, something is weird is going on."

"I don't know Cozy. Are you sure you're not overthinking it?" Ocellus asked. "We were all there and none of us saw anything strange."

Smolder was barely paying attention as she was deep in thought. "What happened was just an accident. Just a dumb accident."

"I want to believe that," Cozy cried out. "But after hearing what Princess Luna said, I can't."

"Pony spied on the princess?" Yona's voice was shaky. "Yak don't think that was a good idea."

"Yeah. Didn't take you as one to be nosy," Smolder added.

"I wasn't being nosy. I was simply trying to be informed by speculating a conversation from people without their awareness nor consent." Cozy puffed put her chest out in her defense.

"So in other words, you were being nosy?" Smolder repeated herself.

"Or stalker," Yona nodded.

"No!.. I mean only when they went into Sandbar's room."

Smolder and Yona gave each unsure glances.

"What were they doing in his room?" Ocellus asked.

Cozy shrugged. "I don't know. But her friend mentioned something called the 'Fallen'."

The others thought to themselves as if trying to figure out what Cozy was talking about.

"Yona's confused. What was princess doing in Sandbar's room?"

"Exactly!" Cozy pointed toward Yona. "Why? It doesn't make sense."

"I'm sure she has her reason. The thing Cozy Glow is that its none of our business," Ocellus said.

"I know but if she does know something, we should have the right to know," Cozy pointed out to them.

"But we don't know what she is doing," Ocellus tried being more firm.

Smolder finally stopped looking at the ceiling and glanced at Cozy then to Ocellus. "Then why don't we find out for ourselves then."

"Smolder wants to spy on the princess?!!" Yona's eyes widened with fright. Smolder only shrugged uncaringly.

"No. Not going to happen." Ocellus jumped in on them. "Haven't we caused enough trouble already?! Let's just let it go and move on."

Smolder laughed a little. "You scared?"

"No. I just don't want to get in more trouble. Had we listen, we wouldn't be in this mess and Sandbar wouldn't be in the hospital." Her voice dropped low and she put her head down. Ocellus looked up at her friends for a moment before turning her head to the side.

"None of you have to help me..." Cozy got off of her seat, went by Ocellus, and then put a hoof around Ocellus. "I wouldn't want any of you to get into trouble and be mad at each other because of me."

"Don't worry. Pony only looking out for her friends," Yona smiled at Cozy.

"Well, I care about you all," Cozy said proudly.

"Was her friend was a cat wearing a red coat, right?" Ocellus suddenly asked.

"Yeah," Cozy answered only to realize she never told any of them what Luna's friend looked like."Wait how did you know that?"

"Look behind you."

Smolder and Cozy turned around and there standing in the hallway right in front of the library, was no other than Princess Luna and the cat Cozy told them about. But it wasn't just them. Spike was there with them. They couldn't make out what they were saying but whatever it was, it looked important from where they were sitting. They stood there for a moment before walking away. Cozy stepped away from the table and made her way out of the library.

"Cozy Glow what are you doing?!" Ocellus called from behind her but Cozy Glow didn't stop nor took the time to answer.

Cozy tried to keep up with them without being seen. She turned the corner and saw them standing in front of the door. only this time the Lord of Chaos himself was there. Cozy recognized as the door to Twilight's office but had a strange feeling they weren't there to speak to her. Once again they stood there and spoke to each other. Cozy wanted to get closer to hear them but worried that they would see her. The cat and Spike soon walked off as Discord walked into the room.

Cozy Glow remembered them bringing up Spike but to also see Discord involved. Now she knew something was going on and she was going to be the one to find out what it was.

"So in an hour then?" Spike called out to them.

"In an hour," Luna confirmed. She looked around her as if to make sure nopony was watching them then followed Discord into the room.

Cozy Glow knew this was her chance. She slowly trotted right next to the door and pressed her ear against it, hoping to hear them. Though she couldn't hear everything, she was able to pick up a few key details here and there.

“Well, I guess it's just you and me now,” The Echoes of a Charming devious voice brought a smile to the princess’s face.

“Looks like it, Dizzy,” Luna chuckled. “ You're late.”

“Rule number one, I am never late,” Discord corrected as he dropped down from the ceiling. “You are just early.”

“Whatever. Keep telling yourself that,” Luna sighed as she shook her head. “Why did you want to meet here anyway?”

“I was in the neighborhood and I had something to do that was close by so it worked out in my favor.”

“Sure. Whatever you say, dizzy.”

“What? You think I'm lying?”

“Nope,” She blurted. “I just don't really care.”

“Fair enough,” he replied. “Anyways, shall we continue?”

"Well, we only got an hour so let's get to it."

Cozy Glow leaned in closer to the door unaware of the two figures coming towards her from behind. They watched cozy Glow as she listened in on Luna and Discord. They gave each other weird confused looks before joining her and pressing their own ears on the wall, not actually sure what they went meant to be hearing.

"So what are we listening to?" Smolder then asked.

Cozy jumped back and screamed causing Smolder to flinch and fall on the floor. Yona stepped away to avoid being bumped into.

"Calm down, geez. It's just us," Smolder said, annoyed.

"Oh, Golly. You scared me!"

Before any more could be said, Yona had grabbed the two of them and quickly ran away from the door and around the corner. Cozy heard the sound of a door opening and a pair of hooves storming out. She knew that it was most likely Princess Luna. She was glad Yona got the hint that they shouldn't be seen by Luna. They all stood quietly hoping that the princess wouldn't check the corner.

"I never know what I see is real or not..."

Luckily for the students, the door closed a moment later. They were safe for now.

"What are you doing here?!" Cozy snapped at the dragon.

"What? You run off and you think we're not going to follow?" Smolder countered back. Cozy noticed that Ocellus wasn't with them.

"Ocellus-"

"Yeah. She walked off slowly after you did," Smolder finished.

"Ocellus afraid of getting into more trouble," Yona added in.

"Well, you didn't need to scare me." Cozy's voice cracked a little.

"I didn't think you would react like that," Smolder defended herself as she flew above the earth pony. "So tell us. What did you hear?"

"Wait, so you were spying on me?!

Cozy shrugged guiltily. "I wouldn't say spying more like listening in on your conversation that you weren't aware that I listening to..."

I rolled my eyes and chuckled a bit. "Okay, sure. We'll stick with that. Just please continue. What happened next?"

"You kinda know that. We heard you and Discord saying you were going to go to the house and the door we first stuck out of, the lock was still tape. We knew we could sneak out without nopony knowing." Cozy paused and waved a hoof in a sorta motion.

"Or at least we hoped."

The trio ran to the side of the house. Smolder and Cozy flew up to the window and quick glances inside in hopes not to be seen. Yona was tall enough to climb up to the window and look through the window that way. Roaming around the living room was, sure enough, the Lord of Choas and the Princess of the night.

It felt strange to Cozy Glow. Just a few nights ago they were there, having fun with no care in the world. Now the place left a sour taste in her mouth.

"Yona won't go inside the spooky house."

"Good thing we don't need to go inside," Smolder reassure her yak friend.

The claws of a lion slowly pushed on the old rotting door causing it to sway and its rusted hinges. Its rejection could be heard and the loud creak of the resistance it was backed by. The house was silent as it showed no opposition to their presence. Discord walked by its creepy old decor.

“I'm not seeing or feeling anything,” Discord reassured the princess.

“Neither am I,” Luna confirmed back. “Just keep looking.”

"What are we looking for?"

"Anything that stands out. Maybe something about this Savannah girl," Luna calmly said.

She trotted out of the student's view as she headed up the stairs. Discord followed suit as he walks up the old rotting stairs. He trod carefully as each stair-step felt like it could collapse under the weight of a feather and they showed the rejection to any pressure as the wood creek to bend beneath them.

"Maybe if we're lucky we'll see her. Hope she's hot," Discord chuckled with a big grin.

"Grow up, Discord!" Luna's disapproving voice could be heard from the upstairs.

Outside the window, Smolder looked over to Cozy with her own disproval.

"You shouldn't have told them about her."

"Savannah isn't real, remember?" Cozy said with a bit of sass in her voice.

Smolder only shook her head and looked back inside the house. They saw Discord coming back down the stairs and roam around the house. He came in and out of the living room a few times. Nothing more was said between the two. It went on this for a while. Cozy flew to some of the other old broken windows and tiny holes to get a better look at what Discord was doing.

The house to him was another horse sight of mold and followed by old memories and voices that whispered through the wind. He made his way to one of the doors that line the hallway and was quick to open it. Inside revealed a bathroom with a shower toilet and a mirror above the sink.

"Almost as good as upstairs," he spoke to himself as admire the two-bathroom multi-bedroom house for what it was.

Cozy wasn't surprised. She also knew that the house in its prime day was surly once a luxury sight to be seen, but now it laid waste and ruined; waiting for time to finish its meal. He walked up to the old mirror and wiped it clean with his paw. He smiled as their function revealed a rather dashing devilish individual.

Cozy smirked as Discord took the time to admire himself. At least he was enjoying himself.

He then looked down to the sink which was full of rusted metal and glass chippings. He ran his claw along the side of the sink and held it up to his face. The brown felling coded the tip of his claw and revealed its age.

Suddenly, as he was investigating, a loud crash echoed throughout the house grabbing all of their attentions. Yona gasped as she looked over to Smolder who also was more than concerned.

"Aaaahhhhhh!!!"

"LUNA!" Cozy and Discord cried out.

"Cozy, no!" Smolder whispered.

Smolder and Yona worried that their presence was now known and started running away from the house. Cozy then realized her mistake and covered her mouth but it was too late. Discord turned to see the flash of a pink pony with curly blue hair. They only stood and stared at each other unsure what to do. Cozy saw her friend already a bit away from the house running, and quickly joined them. Discord ran over to the window to see the pony disappear into the bushes.

Cozy Glow ran as fast as her little legs could carry her. She tried catching up with her friends but wasn't able to find them. Not that she was too worried about that. She was the one who led them all to the house so she knew how to get back to the school. She was more afraid of dealing with the Lord of Choas, knowing all of what he could do with his power.

It took some time but she found her way back to Ponyvillie. She saw the school and sigh in relief. She entered through the same door they left and trotted over to her room.

It's okay. Everything is fine. Nopony knows you left. You're fine.

She got to her bedroom door and trotted inside where she was met by a blue alicorn standing in front of her bed.

Author's Note

Took some time but I got it done. In other words, Cozy Glow is now fucked. Let's see what Luna does now.

Till Next Time!!!! :pinkiehappy:

Part One: From The Other Side