Determination, Destination, Fragmentation
The scent of pancakes and fresh coffee filled the air of the Royal Dining Room as Twilight joined her fellow princess' for breakfast, taking the chance to unwind after the highs and lows of the last few weeks. Spending time with the royal sisters had helped her come to terms with some of the choices she'd made but it also reminded her of just how quirky they could be. Her teeth ached just watching her mentor pour maple syrup into a bowl of oatmeal. “Good morning, Celestia. Is that healthy?” The impulse to add on ‘Princess’ was strong but constant reinforcement had worn away that desire.
“Good morning, Twilight.” Celestia replied, meticulously adding sugar cubes to her tea, “It probably isn’t, but Kibitz won’t find out, will he?” She arched a brow and Twilight hastily nodded. “Luna would greet you as well but she had a rather busy night dealing with nightmares in the wake of the Storm King’s arrival.”
Princess Luna twitched an ear at mention of her name and yawned widely, head resting on the cool table top, letting out a garbled, “G’morn..” The bags under her eyes and lack of 'floof' in her mane spoke of long hours. "We find it difficult to sleep lately, as have many of our subject."
"I know what you mean," Twilight winced, watching Luna groping for her coffee cup and snagging the pot itself, drinking the near boiling liquid without flinching. “Not the usual method of enjoying morning coffee. Isn’t it rather harsh without cream?”
“It’s extremely and unpleasantly bitter.” Luna grunted then shook herself, “But it’s nothing compared to some of what I’ve endured.”
“I suppose being turned to stone and having your magic drained, again, probably rates higher.” Twilight mused. Her own experience at the hands of Tirek had been one of her darkest moments and her friends kept finding reasons to have to sleep over. It helped a little, but she disliked storms now, the flashes of lightning and rumble of thunder always reminding Twilight of the battle with the centaur. The Storm King's arrival had only made it worse. More than once, she’d woken from a memory only to realize she was crouched over Spike protectively, horn charged with some of her most potent spells.
The young dragon would hold her tight and just talk until she could move again, then wipe her tears away. The last time had been bad and he’d suggested talking to someone who could help. “Then again, I suppose there are worse things.”
“Oh no,” Celestia caught the change in her pupil’s mood and piped up around a mouthful of oats. “You should ask her to point out on a map all those places I had to rename after some Nightmare cult tried to summon her back early.”
“Wait, what? I thought Nightmare Moon only returned on the millennial anniversary? I never saw anything in the history books about her returning early.”
Luna snorted and laughed quietly, reaching for the newspaper, “Then the NRS did their job. The Nightmare was very active at first. Tormenting the dreams of ponies, luring those who might free it towards its own ends and often their own doom. It took a century or two, but it did learn that casting the net so wide carried its own risks.”
“But, how? Wasn’t there the Prophecy? Wouldn’t the Elements of Harmony keep you- er, it sealed away?”
The Princess of the Night looked up and slowly slurped from her coffee cup. “In order: with magic. Again, magic. Lastly, yes, but magic.”
“What?” Twilight looked on, baffled, until the sisters relented.
“Twilight, I wrote that book and spread the rumor of a prophecy.” Celestia admitted, “If I hadn’t, I’d still be having to root out and put down short sighted fools who are more a danger to those around them than anything.”
“Okay? But what does a map have to do with anything?”
The Princess of the Sun rubbed a cheek in thought gesturing at her sister. “Silverwood's Folly and Crater Mountain went by other names once. Oh! The Moonlit Lake, it used to be called the Shadowed Glade before some enterprising sorcerer tried to claim the Moon’s power. To be fair, his plan went very well indeed.”
“And then it went so very wrong, like every time before,” concluded Luna.
* * *
Rumors had persisted of a voice that spoke when the shadow grew darkest, offering hope and power for those without either. Drawing in ponies with little to lose, or worse, those with much to gain. The Sun Princess had done her best to silence the stories but ponies still went missing when the moon was full and the night lasted longest.
The dilapidated temple stood high atop the hill, the howling wind battering at its walls and clawing its statues until they were smooth, as it had for years on end. A place that had been devoid of life since its original occupants abandoned it in the aftermath of the loss of their Goddess.
Now, however, lamp light once again warmed its chambers as muttering ponies surrounded a massive cauldron. Beside it, balanced on a creaking platform, a robed pony leaned over and stirred the bubbling contents.
Some had followed the whispers of power, the regal voice dripping through their dreams offering control over their lives in return for little more than acceptance. Others were lured by the offer of hot meals and a dry bed, a fresh start on a life burdened by bad luck or poor choices. A rare few led the congregation with faith, eking out a life while hiding their worship of their dark princess.
Their leader stood proud and smiling from his perch, horn glowing harsh purple hues as he carefully guided the rising well of raw magic. To his followers, he’d promised much and delivered some; supplying warm stew and clean blankets.
The few who’d balked were ‘encouraged’ to stay, those rumors of a dissident going missing were purely incidental and, anyway, it was hard to hear them snuggled into a clean blanket.
Dusky Gloom, the Lord of Shadows, laughed softly as the mists began to build around him, shadows turning darker, the dilapidated temple creaking and groaning as his faithful followers continued to chant around the bubbling cauldron.
“Good work. Soon, my followers, soon the Goddess will return and reward us with wealth and power! No longer subject to the whims of the Sun’s fell champion.” He cackled, tossing another stone to the bubbling concoction, the runes he’d slaved away for days flared with vivid violet lights before vanishing into the depths.
The ragged band of followers dutifully stepped up their chanting, the words were indistinct but the mist danced with them like music, swirling out into the corners of the room.
Dusky could feel the magic saturating the room now, his horn gaining an unnatural glow as the ritual went on. Who cared about 'minimum skill requirements' when you could just brute force the solution. “Yes, it’s working! Forget breaking the seal when I can just open a window and pull Her through!”
The mist thickened and almost seemed to look towards him, the lamps dying out one by one.
Years of planning and research were about to pay off, he could feel it, and when it did, he’d be able to return to his old school and return the humiliation he’d received. Dusky Gloom chuckled cruelly, envisioning all his old teachers bemoaning their choice to kick him out of the Academy, begging at his hooves. 'Ethical and safe magical means' were just a way for the lazy masses to hold back those with the drive to follow their ambition!.
He didn't notice the swirling mists begin to draw towards his glowing horn, nor his 'cultists' backing away as a shadowy form began to superimpose itself over him. Not until his horn began to ache and burn as the accumulated magic flowed in.
"Wha-what's happening? Wait, the focus stone! Where is the focus stone!?" Dusky shouted in panic, a chill touching his gut as every other pony looked at the overflowing cauldron. “You fools! It thinks I’m the, no-nonono-”
And in the moment between blinks, as the misty image coating him started to solidify, Dusky’s form twisted and bulged before exploding. Coating the horror struck cultists who watched as a titanic figure stood and stretched its wings, horn flicking with azure magic.
Her voice flowed heavy with power and several ponies found themselves kneeling. “I have returned, my dear subjects. So much time has passed, but now I…”
The Nightmare Princess felt oddly wet as awareness returned, wiping her eyes before opening them and looking at the fearful ponies. ‘How strange’, she wondered. Should they not be excited by her return? Something seemed stuck to her hoof though and the lighting in her old temple was dismal. She might be Princess of the Night but some lighting was still desired!
A simple lighting spell and she could finally see her surroundings, the gore coating it.
Memories boiled up and for a moment, serpentine eyes flashed blue, and she shrieked in horror, before her eyes rolled back and Luna toppled from the platform in a faint.
The silence was thick but even as the cultists tried to light the lamps again, silver armored guards stormed in, cuffing ponies and hustling them away as more guards loaded the comatose princess into a wagon.
*
“Captain Silver Steel, I thought I had made my orders clear regarding my sister. That I would deal with her myself. Why has it taken me two weeks to hear of a raid on a cult who nearly succeeded in returning her?”
Silver Steel stared back at the towering princess, her narrowed gaze trying to force him to spill the details he was sworn to protect. “I am sorry, Your Highness, but NRS regulations forbid me from following those orders. All I can tell you is that the Princess is being taken care of before we undo the binding that pulled her here.”
“I wish to see her-”
“No.” That brought her up short. “The realm cannot risk you being tainted by the entity. Our task is to find our Princess and retrieve her so we can remove the Shadow inside. If we can’t, then we will tend to her as best we can before your seal returns her to the moon.”
“Thirty years, Captain. I just..” He could see the flexing of her jaw, the thin lines of fire that streaked through her mane before fading as Celestia slumped. It was cruel kindness for her, knowing that Princess Luna had returned but being forbidden from meeting her.
It was still kinder than seeing the wreck of a pony they’d spirited away, a princess consumed with guilt and anguish who they’d had to strap down to prevent from self harming. Anger and rage tried to take hold before despair set in.
“We will find a way to save her, even if it takes lifetimes.”
But the NRS had a duty to do and sad alicorns were not going to stall them in their work.
*
They’d known the nature of their enemy thanks to a surviving Dreamwalker, and a specially constructed room, etched with runes, dampened the Shadow inside Luna. Silver Steel and his cohorts hoped it would be enough but some testing made it clear that the entity was only frozen in place, and they lacked the spells to even start pulling away its taint.
“Captain, I have worse news. The spell that called our Night Princess is already breaking down. We can extend it, but even then, we have barely two months to work with.” Sapphire Robe reported, the slightly rotund unicorn standing proud, though dark bags at his eyes told of how exhausting the day had been.
Silver nodded to his second. “Then we’ll adapt. If we can’t pry it away, we’ll heal her spirit. Get the best counselors and doctors we know of, offer them whatever they need to spend their time working here.”
“As you command, Sir.”
“She might have forgotten us, but we will never give up on her. Let's get to work.”
*
A month later, Doctor Hot Spot was frowning as he gave the news, “I’ve given her a physical as you requested and comparing the records, it doesn’t look good. She’s suffered significant weight loss, her fur has thinned and I treated her for ear mites, of all things.”
“Has she been awake much? I’ve been busy organizing things elsewhere, I haven’t had time to read the whole report.” Silver Steel replied. A sword had turned up that once belonged to the Nightmare’s favored champion, with the unfortunate side effect of sending the pony who found it into a paranoid fit. Keeping the matter from escalating into a bloodbath had taken up too much time in his opinion.
“The Princess woke up at the end of the first week. I’ve put her on a strict diet to reverse her condition though she had some problems keeping food down. By the end of the second month, she should be on the path to recovering physically.” the doctor glanced to the side where a soft, curvaceous earth pony was browsing Silver’s bookshelves. “Mentally? Counselor Steady Pace has been with her every day.”
“Counselor? It’s been a month, what can you share?”
Steady Pace hummed for a moment before responding, “Luna has been traumatized by what she’s done and what was done at her hooves. She still barely responds to anything despite my best efforts, so as expected, it's going to take time for her to come to terms with the memories. Probably even longer to accept that she isn’t all knowing and that reaching out to others is better than withdrawing.”
Stretching up to grab a book, Steady continued, “Unfortunately, the deadline is going to arrive before I can make much more progress, but I shall give Luna all the support and comfort I can. My successor shall have to continue my work but if what I’ve learned so far is accurate, it will be an uphill battle every step of the way.”
“A battle we shall overcome, no matter how long it takes.” Sapphire Robe stated as he pushed into the spacious office, “I’ve some new formulas to try that might gain some time, but I’ve been recording everything just in case. Until the Moon flies free.”
“Until the Night is pure.” Silver finished the chant, nodding in agreement.
*
The binding did fail as expected, but Sapphire Robe’s efforts bought an extra week. Time that was not wasted as Captain Silver Steel and the tattered remains of the Luna Guard fought to heal their Princess’s heart.
When the spell finally shattered it wasn’t a cold, hateful Queen of the Night, but a tired and wounded Princess of the Moon, who vanished in a puff of fading mist, while the NRS returned to its vigil against the things that went bump in Her night.
Author's Note
Hey all. I got busy and wanted to relax some. Other projects are still underway, but I wanted to try a slightly more episodic story. Not sure how it'll go but like taking an ice bath or sky diving, you kinda gotta go all in on these things.
