Cold, that's all he felt. Yes, he knew he should've been in excruciating pain, he could feel his blood spilling down his backside, yet all he felt was cold. The roof of his classroom had collapsed in him when a miss-fired spell slammed into it. Of course, he was the only one in the room when it'd happened, just his luck. He was normally the only one in detention and had promised his parents he'd try to break this cycle. If only he'd done it sooner.
He wondered who miss-fired the spell, it was a strong enough one to collapse a roof after all, so it had to be a pretty strong pony. Maybe Ms. Sparkle had been practicing a spell and simply missed? Or had he just missed a fight?
His eyelids felt heavy and NightWalker fought the urge to fall asleep as he tried to wiggle his way out of the collapsed room. He didn't get to far when his eyelids finally won the fight, and letting sleep take him.
When he woke up, he instantly panicked. He was now laying in the middle of an old path in the dead of night, alone and quite cold. The path infront of him seemed to stretch on and on forever, trees blocking him in from each side.
"Hello?" He called out, shivering as the wind seemed to pick up in intensity.
He waited for what felt like hours before he finally decided to make his trek. One hoof after the other, he cautiously made his way down the long trail, jumping at the slightest of noises made by the wind. The longer he walked, the more confused he became. Within the last 10 years of moving to Ponyville, NightWalker had visited every nook and cranny of the town, he pretty much knew the place by heart, however he'd never seen a place like this before. He couldn't have ended up too far, could he? How did he even get there in the first place?
"Is anypony there? I'm pretty chilly!" He called out again, only to be met with silence.
"I don't quite remember it being winter!" He yelled angerly, rage building inside him.
Hoof steps echoed out infront of him, and for a moment he dared not to move. After awhile of silence, he forced his hooves into motion, praying to Celestia that somepony was on the old path, perhaps as lost as he was. Climbing a slope, he finally found who had made the noise. An elderly looking buck stood in the middle of the path, staring directly at him. For a moment Night wondered if it could see him, from the looks of it, it seemed blind? It's glossy almost white eyes shone in the moonlight, and Night debated retreating. It's old fur, black mixed with grey, and antlers tangled in vines, made the buck seem almost like something out of a fairy tale.
"Lost?" The old buck spoke up.
"Y-yes, I was wondering if there was a town nearby..? Or for that matter, Ponyville-" The buck instantly started to move away, quickly speeding off down the long winding trail.
"Wait!" Night futilely called out, chasing after the buck.
Scenery blurred as he rushed past, pursing the runaway-deer, as questions piled up into the front of his mind.
'Why am I here?' 'Who is he?' 'Deer can talk?' Where just a few of the questions bubbling in his mind when suddenly, he bumped into something, something soft and blue.
"L-luna!" Night stuttered.
Luna placed a gently hoof on his mouth, giving him a warm smile.
"All of your questions will be answered shortly, little Night. Come, walk with me." She cooed, making Night feel oddly relaxed. He obeyed.
They walked together in silence for what felt like hours, Luna could not help but stare at the young unicorn out of pure dread. She knew what was coming, she knew what she had to say, for she had been doing this since thousands of years prior, yet looking into the black furred colt's eyes - that is, after she brushed his dark blue mane out of the way - she could not bring herself to do it. So instead, she asked him a question.
"Where do thou live, young one?" She inquired, trying her best to keep from weeping.
"Ooh ooh, I live right near Golden Oak Library! Golden Oaks is my favorite place, Ms. Twilight is so nice and she has so many books about ponies like Starswirl the-" Night paused, reddening slightly, feeling embarrassed for his rant.
"Sorry Princess Luna... I got a bit carried away.."
Luna giggled slightly. It was too hard for her not to get attached to young ponies such as this one. Ones ignorant to what had happened to them not long ago, or ones who refused to accept they'd passed. She took a deep breath, knowing what was to come.
"Tis' alright my child. Do thou remember where thou was before here?" She replied, knowing the storm to come any moment.
Night hesitantly nodded. "The roof of the school house collapsed on me while I was in detention. I was so cold.. Princess.. how did I get here..?"
Luna bit her lip. She sat, wrapping a protective wing around Night and tried her best to calm her nerves. She explained to him what had happened. She explained to him that he'd died and how the roof had collapsed. A miss-fired beam from a being dating back from long ago, Tirek. At first he refused to believe it, however after hours of convincing, he finally broke down. Luna stayed with him while he wept, it was never easy to stay, but she knew it was her duty to. Finally, after hours more of silence, Night looked up at her with eyes swollen from hours of crying, and asked one question.
"Was anypony else hurt during the attack... Princess, did anypony else die..?"
"There was a couple injuries, but nopony else died..." She quietly responded.
The young colt pressed his face into Luna's wing, she could hear his sobs, yet no more tears came. His mood seemed to have improved a bit knowing no more casualties had occurred, and that was really as much as she could hope for. She suppressed a sob herself, knowing all the things the colt would never get the chance to do. Looking down at him, she could see he was a blank-flank. He'd never obtain a cutie mark. He'd never have children, a wife - or husband. He'd never buy a house, or perhaps live off-grid. He'd never complete school.
Eventually, Night fell asleep, and Luna gently enveloped him in a light blue magic, placing the sleeping colt on her back. She continued down the path, watching as gradually, the path became more and more lit with lanterns, lanterns to help guide the way as the path became older. While Luna was the princess of the night, she was always there to bring the spirit of those passed to the afterlife. She'd done it a million times before, each with every unique individual you could imagine, yet everytime when it came to a young foal or filly, she struggled. Today, she struggled even more so.
Eventually, she'd arrived. The passage to the afterlife loomed infront of her, light flooding in from the inside of the path. She couldn't bring herself forward, no matter how hard she tried. Everytime she tried to take a step, her mind was filled with images of things the filly would miss out on, places he'd never see, friends he'd never make, families he'd never have. Luna bit her lip again, almost hard enough to draw blood. Eventually, she quietly sighed, turning her gaze to an area she'd never thought she'd use again.
A much older path loomed ahead of her, branches obscuring view of the end. She'd done it once before, going against her mother and father's wished to bring back a foal supposed to have died. She knew how that choice had ended. Corruption. She took a hesitant step forward.
'We know Tia will surely punish us for this, but tis just a young foal, he hasn't had a much a shot. Little Night is only ten... I know he won't end up like the last, I won't let him become corrupt.' She'd wrestled with her thoughts before eventually giving up.
Sparing one more glance at the colt rested on her back, she made her decision. She was in-need of an apprentice anyway.
Author's Note
I'm back! Hopefully my chapter writing should have improved, and we'll have longer bits of writing.
Slowly but surely, the King of Shadows rised from death once again, stretching his hooves out from the soreness they'd obtained. He didn't see his Crystal Empire, or perhaps a cage of some sort. He was in the middle of some sort of town, a collapsed building resting right infront of him.
He watched as, surprisingly, a very familiar lunar princess plucked a young colt from the wreckage, place him on her back, and fly away before she was seen.
'She's taking on a new apprentice?' A voice emerged from the back of his mind, shoving it's way to the front.
'She's replacing us, I see.' Another voice commented.
'We'll show her.' Yet another threatened.
Sombra whimpered as each voice fought for their right to speak, placing a hoof on his forehead.
'Shut it, all of you! We'll get our revenge, yes, but for right now I need a level head to think.' He whispered back, annoyed.
'Calling the shots now, Sombra?' Sombra just simply groaned in annoyance, wishing he could slam his face into something, anything, and knock the three idiots out of him.
Sobbing caught the unicorn's attention, and when he turned, he saw who he could only imagine were the late colt's parents. Stretching his back hooves out again, Sombra got into character, and prepared for the long - and rather tedious - acting job that lay ahead of him.