The Two Sisters

Leaves blew freely in the wind, adding a veil of foreboding darkness to the abandoned cottage that stood deep in the Everfree Forest. It was a cold night, colder than most to hit this region of Equestria. However, nopony was around to feel it. This area had been long abandoned years ago when magic vanished. Snow never reached this part of the Everfree while magic was present in Equestria. And with the return of it, snow once again failed to fall in the dense acres of trees and shrubbery.

The cottage nestled deep to the north of the main path leading through the Everfree Forest, was in complete disrepair. Shingles missing, holes in the walls and roof, and the front door hanging off its hinges as the quiet wind echoed its song through the creaking dilapidated wooden structure. It was a place of unrelenting solitude, and... a place where the darkest spirits rested from their long hauntings. So it would make perfect sense she would return here.

As a crow shrieked in the distance, the wind began to pick up. Leaves swirling around in a tornadic spiral of high speed wind. Frogs and rabbits alike scampered away to the safety of their hideaways, as a glowing figure began to take shape, rising from the ground. A low growling pierced the night, the figure forming the body of a pony from whisps of black smoke.

As the figure opened its red eyes, a loud booming voice ruptured the otherwise stagnant silence.

"SUNNY..... STARSCOUT..."

~~~~~~

A heavy wind blew in from the swelling seas of Maretime Bay. Bringing with it icey seaspray and thick puffs of snowflakes. The streets were mostly empty, save for a few ponies trotting around doing their weekly shopping. Nopony else was crazy enough to be out in this weather. Not even Zipp who loved a good windy challenge. She instead, was nestled under the covers of the blankets Sunny had lent her while she stayed in Maretime Bay.

The Pegasus snored quietly as the wind battered the old lighthouse. After the repairs had been completed, the building was more structurally sound than before Sprout had collapsed it. So, Sunny had guessed she needed to thank him for that. However, even after representing him in the case of his treason, he still received punishment for his actions. The court found prison to be too harsh for a pony with as clean a record as Sprout had. So they opted for him to spend the next year taking friendship lessons under the supervision of Sunny herself. His duties as deputy were terminated immediately upon his arrest, however, Hitch had been able to convince the mayor to hire him as a security guard for the lumber yard on the south end of town. It was.. demeaning according to Sprout, but, still better than prison.

Across the room from Zipp, Sunny was seated at her desk, eagerly writing. Since her first encounter with the realm of past, present, and future, she had been practicing going back to view past events and learn as much history as she could. Being the Elemental Queen, there weren't exactly a set of papers with the job description. So she opted to learn from the guardian Celestia she had created. Apparently the previous Elemental Queen deemed the halls of the future too mentally challenging for anypony to handle, so rule number one was:

1. "NEVER view the events of the halls of the future."

Which seemed reasonable to her. Alongside the scratching of her pen, the only other sounds were Zipp's snoring and the crackling fire. Hitch had turned in for the night and was sleeping upstairs in Sunny's room. So far, she had come across several spells that were close to being what she needed to open Limbo, but not close enough. And the more she poured through the books stacked on her desk, the more she wondered if all this research was paying off. Her thoughts were interrupted however as a loud bang, sounded from the kitchen area.

Looking up, the earth pony raised an eyebrow and then shrugged. It must have been one of the shutters slamming against the lighthouse wall. A few minutes later however, another loud bang sounded in the kitchen. This time, it wasn't the familiar sound of a shutter hitting the wall. Sunny set her pen down and stood up, staring into the inky blackness that was the kitchen.

"Hello?" She called out, "is anypony there?"

No response.

Sunny wasn't surprised the banging didn't wake up Zipp, that mare could sleep through a war. Taking a few tentative steps forward, she called out again, but was cut off halfway when the banging happened again.

"Hello-"

She jumped in surprise, and grabbed the earth globe sitting on her desk. Holding it in her muzzle, Sunny continued forward towards the kitchen as the banging became more and more frequent.

"W-who's there??" She called out again, shaking a little. This entire thing was extremely off putting. The lighthouse wasn't haunted, at least not to her knowledge. And the banging was too rhythmic sounding to be the wind. Reaching over to the lightswitch, Sunny slowly flicked it up. The bright overhead light lit up the kitchen, showering the area in brightness. Upon seeing nothing out of the ordinary, she sighed in relief. The banging had stopped when the light came on, and upon further investigation, she found that a pot lay on the floor. Leaning down, she picked it up with a hoof and turned to set it on the table when she stopped dead.

Standing on the other side of the table was a dark shadowy pony figure with glowing red eyes. The air around Sunny grew colder as she stared at the creature. Too scared to move or scream. Smiling, the dark creature brought a hoof to its muzzle and made a "shhhh" motion.

"Quiet now, we mustn't wake Zipp," said the creature in a deep voice. Sunny stood there frozen in fear as a lump formed in her throat.

"What's the matter my queen? Fear got you frozen in place?" The figure let out a quietly low chuckle. "Hehehe, goooood... it'll make it easier for us to become one." Swallowing, Sunny found her voice.

"W-w-w-what are you?" She stammered softly, taking a small step backwards. The figure trotted forward tentatively, phasing through the wooden table separating them.

"I am the darkness that lurks deep in your soul. The fear that preys upon your every doubt. The shadows that crawl along your bedroom walls as the moonlight pierces the clouds."

The black figure's eyes bore into Sunny's, causing her to back into the wall as the pony of shadows stepped closer. "S-so.... cold.." she whimpered, panting softly as she tried to remain conscious while strings of smoke wrapped around her body.

"I do apologize, I tend to have that effect on my hosts. You might remember my last one. You should know, you freed her from me."

Sunny slid to the floor looking up at the wicked pony standing above her, tears forming in her eyes as she grasped at her throat. The darkness wrapping around it tightly, however just loose enough to allow her to breathe.

"P-please.." she whispered quietly. The dark mare grinned and leaned in close to her face.

"There was so much HATRED in her heart, so much bitterness and RAGE... such a delicious host Luna was. But.. alas.." The shadow pony looked away for a moment. "Our cooperative was broken by your... FRIENDSHIP" She spat out the last word with anger.

Sunny felt herself slipping into unconsciousness as her body shivered from the cold.

"Surrender to me Sunny... and I will make you more powerful than you could EVER imagine." A lick of smoke ran down her cheek and towards her nostrils.

"N-no..." She gasped out, looking over to Zipp's sleeping form. "Z-Zipp.."

The last thing Sunny remembered before everything going black, was the rush of coldness as the dark mare turned to smoke and filled the earth pony's body, and the quiet words that followed.

"I am. You're nightmare..."

~~~~~~~

Zipp yawned as she stretched and opened her eyes. Looking around she sat up and cracked her back.

"Damn, that was a good night's sleep. Thanks for letting me sleep over Sunny," she said, peeking over the back of the couch. However, the earth pony was nowhere in sight. "Sunny?" Zipp got up and flew into the kitchen. The light was on and a single empty pot sat on the table. Raising an eyebrow, the Pegasus looked at the pot confused. Peering around the rest of the first floor, Zipp scanned it for her friend. "Sunny??" She called out.