A Day Without Light

by TheGrandRat

Rating: teen
Tags: Adventure, Alternate Universe
Length: 8615

Dusk, a young unicorn living in the Zebrican Isles goes on an adventure that may change his life.

Nearly 1000 years after Princess Luna was exiled to the Zebrican Isles with a small group of night loving ponies a unicorn, Dusk is his name, was born. Now nearly 10 years later Dusk finds himself making a decision and going on an adventure that could change the world for not only him, but for every pony living with Luna.

Published 1970-01-01 00:00:00 UTC
Last updated 2012-11-14 16:49:51 UTC

Prologue: Exiled

"I will be leaving and anyone that wishes to accompany me may."  Everpony was silent, none of them had expected something such as this to happen in a land such as Equestria.  The princess of the night, Luna, was saying that she had to leave.  There was an air of sadness and hate in the crowd.  Though Luna was not the mos loved princess, she still held a special place in many ponies hearts.  The night was a place to relax and think, not something that was evil or dark, as many believed.

"Why!?" a pony somewhere in the crowd shouted.  Following, there were murmurs of agreement with his question.  Why should their princess have to leave, and to such a place so far away at that.  "Why do you have to leave princess!?"  The pony asked again.

"My sister,"  A sinister tone could be heard in her voice as she addressed the crowd.  "Has believed me to be a threat to her "just and fair" rule.  She has exiled me to the Zebrican isles, on the other side of the world."  Shouts of outrage could be heard through the crowd.  Though many of them favored Celestia, this was an event that could change the whole world.  "But do not worry, for I will still control the night from where there, and please know that the day night cycle will not change... much."  No pony in the crowd heard he last statement as they still were riled up and were arguing.  Although those with astute ears could hear that she said the last few words in a whisper.

Luna left the stage and started walking.  At this, the crowd died down and began mourning for the loss of their princess.  "You may all still accompany me if you wish.  But be warned, the journey will be long and hard, and I am not in the mood to deal with stragglers."  The crowd nodded in unison at this and many of them started following.  Luna looked back and a smirked, this was going to be easier than she thought.

Chapter 1: History Lesson

"Today, we will be learning about the founding of this great Nation and the land upon which we live, everypony open their textbooks to page 42 so that we may begin."  The teacher droned on and I could barely focus on what she was saying.  Everyone knew the stories about how our great leader princess Luna founded this country as a last hope for pony kind, It was common knowledge.  "In 0 AE-" A loug groan could be hear through the class.  "Well if you dont want to hear this then I guess I should hand out a quiz on it."  The class instantly filled with silence as all the students became deathly quiet.  "Good, now as I was sayi-"

"Ill take you up on that offer ms. Shine."  I said.  I had heard the story enough times to know what was real and what was fake, and I could practically recite the story form memory.  "If I take it can I get out of school early today?"  I asked, hope filling my voice.  I never really liked history, it was just a bunch of facts that were unimporant and wont help in the future.

"Fine, if you ace it, you may leave early Dusk."  Ms. Shine said.

"When do we begin."  I asked.  'I can pass this easy, it is only about something I have heard about hundreds of times.  How hard can it be."

Roughly 20 minutes later, I trotted out of the test room filled with pride.  It was so easy, it was almost like she wanted me to pass.  "Have a nice night ms. Shine."  I shouted behind me as I ran through the door.  As I left, I didn't see Ms. Shines startled face that appeared after I acecd the test.  That was the hardest test she ever wrote... Well in her mind at least.

I couldn't wait to get home and practice my magic, my mom said that I may even be good enough to get into the Lunar Academy.  It was the most prestigious school in the world, and it was run by the Princess herself.  If she ever chose an apprentice it would be chosen from that school.  My dream was to be chosen as the princes's apprentice, but I let go of that hope awhile ago.  It is almost impossible to be chosen for that shool, let alone to be chosen as the Princes's apprentice.  I would never be chosen by someone like her.  I mean, I dont even have my cutie mark yet.

As I walked into my home my mom started yelling at me for skipping school, again.  "But mom, ms. Shine let me out of school early for acing a test of something we were supposed to learn in class.  Before she taught it!"  My mom paused at that and a thoughtful expression appeared on her face.  Before she could finish thinking however, I darted upstairs.  As soon as I got through the door, I cast a binding spell and a soundproofing spell, of my own design of course.

I love this room so much, it is dark, it is quiet, and it is mine.  I started practicing a spell that had been eluding my grasp for quite awhile now, a spell that controlled darkness itself.  Or rather, the flow of light and the control of what reflects light.  Thusly, controlling shadows.  It would be really helpful in my other spells im working on that require perfect darkness... Or a black hole.  "I know how to get through your spells Dusk."  I jumped at this and turned around readying a shield spell.  My mom was standing at the door with a grin on her face.  "Still havn't changed I see."  My mom was carrying something with magic, but I couldn't see what it was.

"What's that?"  I asked.  I dont know why, but there was a feeling of warmth in the air.  Almost as if my mom had something for me that she had been hiding for awhile.  I could see a grin appear on her face.

"What was the name of that school you wanted to go to again?"  I was speechless,  I couldn't believe what I was hearing.  Could it be possible that my mom got me into the school.  "I know what you are thinking Dusk, and no I didn't get you in."  The grin immediatly fell from my face.  "But, I did get you the next best thing.  A chance to prove you are worthy to get into the academy."  The grin reappeared on my face and I ran up and gave my mom the biggest hug I could manage.

"Thanks mom."  I practically cried, this was one of the things I have wanted since I was young.  "But, I dont even have a cutie mark yet,  I dont know if I am old enough."  My moms face changed into one of annoyance.

"You shouldn't put yourself down like this, you are on of the strongest unicorn I know Dusk.  Just because you are young, does not mean that you are unworthy."

"Thanks mom."  A grin reappeared on my face.  "When are we going?"

"Anytime."  At this, I galloped out the door and my mom followed.

Chapter 2: The Lunar Academy

Chapter 2: The Lunar Academy

As I approached the gates of the Academy, I found myself unable to advance or speak.  It was just so... Big.  It was amazing, it was almost like the tales of Canterlot from my childrens book.  I continued walking forward and approached the gates.  As I got close a guard moved to stop me.  I didn't even notice and bumped right into him.  I fell to the ground in a daze, and looked up at the guard.  "What are you doing here kid?"  Asked the guard ina demanding tone.  I nearly froze up in fear but I was able to pull myself together before the guard kicked me out.

"I-Im here to a-apply to the a-a-academy."  I stuttered.  The guard just laughed at me.  As soon as he started laughing I filled up with anger.  Why should someone laugh at me, I am going to get into the academy wether he likes it or not.  I readied a spell, one of my favorites at that, one to cause a pony to go blind for a short period of time.  The guard saw me readying a spell but didn't do anything about it.  The instant I cast it, his eyes glazed over and he screamed in terror.  Luckily for him, he didn't fall off the bridge.  After a few minutes he started calming down.  But I wasn't done with him just yet.  Right before the spell was about to wear off, I turned myself invisible and created an illusion of me in front of him.

As soon as the spell wore off the guard just stared at my illusion as if he was surprised.  "You are pretty powerful kid, maybe you are ready for this school."  He reached to pat me on the head but as he did he hoof fell through the illusion and the it fell apart.  He looked around for me before realizing I was nowhere in sight.  I chuckled, and he turned around, staring right at where I am.  "Kid, just go inside, you have earned it."  A grin appeared on my face as I started walking through the door, my mom finally catching up with me.

As I approached the testing room, I began to be nervous.  What if they didn't like me or what if Im not powerful enough to complete the test.  What if I fail, and I get kicked out of Morning Star.  I would be a laughing stock.  'NO!'  I will not let this get to me, I can do this.  I walked through the large double doors and looked at the judges.  I stared in shock, there was at least 100 ponies in here.  It might have been the whole school!  I gulped and approached the stand.  "You are Dusk Storm?"  An old nearly ancient unicorn asked.

"Yes s-sir."  I cursed my stuttering and looked sheepishly at the floor.  The unicorn looked closely at me and gave me an appraising gaze.  Almost as if he was testing me before the tests began.

"You have passed the first test."  Wait, what!?  "You have shown that you are brave enough to stand before us, yet wise enough to know this will not be a cakewalk.  You have passed."  Joy shot into my heart, and I let loose a small grin.  This was better than I though it would be.  "Now, begin."

I looked straight at him in shock.  He didn't even tell me what to do, this isn't fair!  There must be a trick to this, something im missing.  I looked around the room, it was empty except for the crowd of ponies.  The crowd of ponies, of course!  You would not bring so many ponies to the test.  I stared into the crowd and looked around, it almost seemed like some of them were clones of others.  'They are illusion.'  I glanced around and cast a simple mass dispelling spell.

The Unicorn looked around in shock as the entire crowd of ponies dissapeared.  "Well Dusk, I must say I am impressed, no unicorn before has ever completed the test that fast before."  There was a look of genuine happines in his eyes, almost as if he found something he was looking for.  "The next test will be a test of your power."

Something was not right about the room though, I could still sense magic left in the room, almost as if someone was still using an illusion spell.  I could spot one unicorn in the now fairly empty crowd and could tell it was her that was the source of the power.  However, now was not the time to find out why she resisted my spell.

"You must simply prove that you can A: Cast a high level spell, one that should be impossible for you to do at that, or B:   Dispell her illusion... Or both, if you so choose."  The unicorns looked at each other and nodded, almost as if they were having a discussion.

I started concentrating, now was not the time for distractions.  As I felt magic start flowing into my horn, I concentrated it on the shadows in the room.  I felt the light bend and I could see the shadows start filling the room, almost as if they wanted to move.  I barely had to do anything.  Once the room was pitch black I started concentrating on the unicorn in the crowd.  I could feel the magic in my horn increasing, yet nothing was happening to her.  I concentrated harder, I couldn't fail a test just because I couldn't get rid of a simple, yet powerful, illusion.  As I poured more power into my horn, I felt something snap.  Not something on the outside, but rather something on the inside.  A huge wave of magical energy was released into my horn, almost as if a floodgate was opened.  I could see the darkness radiating off of my horn.

Lightning arced across the room.  I couldn't control it, there was to much energy.  I watched in horror as on of the bolts of lightning lashed out towards the two unicorns.  To my surprise however, the black mare deflected it with simply a movement of her head.  I felt the room spinning and I felt sick.  Everything faded to black.

As my eyes opened I saw that I was in a nice black room with medical equipment in it.  I looked to my left and saw my mom sleeping on the chair next to the bed.  She must have been there for a long time, waiting for me to awake.  I glanced to the right as I heard the door open.  Standing there was the unicorn who supervised my test.  I tried to open my mouth to apologize but I was struck silent when the princess herself walked through the door.  I swear, my jaw would have hit the floor if it could.  I realized I was staring at her and quickly looked away, hoping she hadn't noticed.

"Are you okay, my little pony."  Shit.

Chapter 3: The First Day

"H-hello princess."  I stutter.  I wondered what was going to happen to me, I mean, I shot lightning at her.  She would probably banish, or imprison me, or banish me where she imprisoned me.

"You seem nervous, is there something wrong?"

"I shot lightning at you!"  I practically yell.  After realizing I just yelled at royalty, I try to hide under my bed sheets, to no avail.  "Sorry princess."

"You have nothing to be sorry about.  No harm was done, well except for that window.  The only thing you have demonstrated is your uncontrollable magic, and that is why I have chosen you to be my personal student."

"I don't deserve to be let into this aca-wait what?"  I stare dumbstruck at her.

The princess continues, "I have already spoken to your mother and she has agreed to let me raise you in the castle.  I hope that you say yes..."  It almost sounded like she was uncertain if I would accept.

"YESYESYESYESYE- I mean, of course princess."  She laughs a little at my childish reaction.  "But, I will have to say goodbye to my mother first princess."

"Please, just call me Luna"  I once again, stare right at her.

"Of course princ-I mean Luna."  I try to get out of my bed, but I start feeling dizzy and the room spins around me.  I fall back into my bed and look up at Luna.  "I should probably rest for a bit first though."

A small chuckle escapes her lips as she looks back down at me.  "Of course, my little pony.  I will come with your mother later tonight."  She starts walking out the door and turns around.  "Rest easy."

As soon as she leaves the room I start closing my eyes.  I just need a little nap to re-energize myself and to replenish my magical stores.  I'll just close my eyes for a bit...

As soon as I awake I am greeted by a huge hug from my mom.  "Mommmm," I whine.  My mom pulls back with red eyes.  I could tell that she had been crying.  "Mom, whats wrong?"  I ask.  I already knew what she was going to say, but I had to make sure.

"I'm going to miss you Dusk.  Promise me you will come home someday."  As she spoke these lines a fresh wave of tears appeared in her eyes.  She reached in for another hug and quickly received one.

"I promise."  As soon as I say this, Luna walks into the room.  She looks at us and quickly shuffles out the door, trying to be as quiet as possible.  Of course, having hooves, her efforts were in vain.  "Hello princess."  I quickly say as she walks out the door.

"Hello Dusk, are you packed and ready to go?"  I glance to my mom and she holds up a suitcase and nods.

"I sure am princess."  I leap out of bed, completely ignoring the slight dizzyness that happens when you stand up to quickly.  "When do we go?"  I ask excitedly, hoping to get going as soon as possible.

"If you wish, right now."

The instant the words leave her mouth, I leap out of the door and shout behind me.  "BYE MOM!"  As I leave I don't even notice the tears in her eyes.  All I saw was Luna and the hallway we were walking down.

"This will be your room Dusk."  Luna says as she opens the door.

I peek my head around the frame and practically lose my balance.  It was almost the size of my house!  The room, as most were, was painted mostly black and had a large bed in the middle.  Off to the side of the room, were bookshelves upon bookshelves.  Each filled to to brim with books of every topic known to ponykind.  From History to magic, everything was there.  "Its..."  I didn't know what to say.  I couldn't find any words to describe it, It was just... yeah.  Luna looked down at me with an inquisitive look.  I look at her and smile, "Its... amazing, huge, cool, and any other words I could find to describe it."

Luna gives me a smile, "It is pretty nice, I must admit.  But, there are more things in here than you can see."  She starts walking towards another door to the left side of the room that I didn't notice.  She opens it and walks inside, and I follow.

"Wow..."  I look around what appears to be the bathroom.  Well, at least I think it is the bathroom.  "Is this a bathroom?  Its so big."

Luna chuckles, "It is a very nice bathroom."  She walks back to the bedroom and closes the door.  "Ill let you get settled in.  Tommorow, you shall start your training."  Luna starts walking out the door.

"Luna?"  I ask.  She turns around and looks me in the eye.  "Thanks."  A smile appears on her face as she walks out of the room.  As soon as the door closes, I start unpacking my stuff.  A smile on my face, I don't even remember to ask if I can leave every once in a while to talk to my mom.  She will probably say yes though.

I am awoken by a knock on my door.  I didn't want to get out of bed, but what if it was the princess.  Sighing, I get out of the bed and open the door.  Standing there, were two guards with batlike wings and black armor that seemed to absorb light.  As I look in there eyes I see that they have a magical yellow glow.  I smile at them, "Hello?"  I ask.

One of the guards smiles back, and shows his fang like teeth.  "The princess has asked us to wake you up for breakfast."  Their voices sound almost like a lions growl, deep and threatening.

"O-of course, let me j-just get cleaned up."  I slam the door in their faces, and rush the the bathroom to quickly comb out my mane and coat.

A minute later, I open the door and walk outside.  "Lets go."  I say with an almost anxious expression.  "I'm starving."

Chapter 4: Lessons

"OM NOM NOM NOM."  I happily munched on the food that was offered.  From olives to Ice cream, everything was at my disposal.  I was lost in the bliss brought upon by a good meal.  As I finish my third sandwich, I sit up and realize all the ponies that were near me were staring.  "Sorry."  I quickly mumble before continuing onto my fourth sandwich.  "These are just some of the best sandwiches that I have ever had."

The students around me nod at this, remembering their first reaction to the academy's food.  "You were not the only pony who has done that you know."  Everyone looks at the small purple unicorn off to my right.  "Oh, i'm sorry, I didn't introduce myself.  My name is shadow."  I could tell instantly that this unicorn was in fact princess Luna in disguise.  "I never caught your name though."

"Oh," I quickly sputter out.  "My name is Dusk, its nice to meet you.  I just got here."  I meet her eye and she quickly winks at me.  I look to the other students at the table, "What are all your names?"  As the other students introduce themselves, I catch a smirk on 'Shadows' face.  It looked like she was trying to hold back a laugh.  I didn't know it at the time, but I was talking to some of the senior students in the academy.

The older unicorn from my test approaches the table.  "Hello Dusk."  Everypony around me stares, wondering why one of the most experienced teachers is talking to me.  "I will be your main teacher this year, others call me Sir, but you can call me Nightshade."  It looked as if the other students minds were about to break.  The stunned looks on their face making 'Shadow' burst out into laughter.  "Have a nice night Dusk."  The ponies keep looking at me with inquisitive looks on their faces, as if they wanted me to answer a question.

"What?"  I ask.  Not understanding why they were all staring.  I continued to eat my sandwich, god these were good.

"Sir just asked you to call him by his real name."  Said a small white unicorn to my left.  This was quickly followed by a loud gasp of almost everypony in the hall.  "What makes you so special."  At this, everypony in the hall had their attention on me and my response.

"I really don't know, but I think that 'Shadow' may."  I look to my right just fast enough to see her trying to creep out of the hall.  To little success.  "Shadow, why don't you tell them what your idea is."  She turns around with a nervous look on her face.  Damn, Luna sure was a good actor.

"Um, I heard that he was the..."  The rest could not be heard as her voice became even quieter.  I looked at her, and saw a mischievous look in her eyes.  I was going to regret this.  "I heard that he was the personal student of Princess Luna herself."  An ear shattering gasp escaped the lips of all in the hall, except the teachers.  I attempted to hide under my table... It didn't work.

'I heard that you like embarrassing ponies,'  I heard in my head.  I tried even harder to disappear into the floor, amazingly, it doesn't work.  A thought comes to my mind and I quickly try to cast a light bending spell around me.  I start concentrating, and the shadows seem to surround me.  In this magical darkness I attempt to teleport away.  'Oh you aren't getting out of this that easily.'  The shadows around me disappear, and I am left standing in the middle of the aisle.  Everyponies eyes are on me.

"Is it true, are you really the princes's student?"  The white unicorn from earlier asks, a smile on her face.  Her look one of hope and happiness.

I sigh, "Yes."  As soon as the words leave my lips the room erupts into noise as discussions begin and questions are asked.  I attempt to make my escape to find out my legs can't move. 'LUNA!'  A small chuckle is heard in my mind as the feast continues on, with a whole new topic of conversation.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________

"And that is why magic works the way it does."  Nightshade finishes off his lesson to the sound of applause.  I applaud as well, however I already knew this due to my large amount reading I did before going to the academy.  I look to my left and see 'Shadow' right next to me.  She notices this and smiles, an innocent smile that simply shows that she is pleased.  "Dusk, why don't you show what you know."  Once again, the attention is on me.  I step up onto the podium, my legs feeling numb.

"Sir?"  I ask as I step onto the podium.  He looks at me with a dumbfound look.

"You had a smirk upon your face the entire lesson, show us why you were smirking.  Prove me wrong."  The classroom falls deathly silent at this.  It was unheard of for a teacher to call on a student.

"Well, your point on magic being concentrated on friendship and love was something that I was wondering about.  I mean, through experience, our magic becomes stronger in times of need, and when we are angry, our magical aura changes color."  I hear a chuckle leave his lips, but he does not stop me.  "I also learned that some spells, especially ones that work with shadows, involve the use of hate, whether it be hate of a situation, or the hate of a person."  A smile appears on his face.  "Thusly, I believe that freemane's use of the term 'Black' Magic, is one that only applies to the way it works.  It behaves differently than normal magic, and it uses different feelings than normal magic."  A large smile appears on his face as I finish off the small speech.

"Well your ideas are certainly interesting.  However I believe that you should talk to Shadow about black magic, as she is well versed in it."  At this the room looks to where Shadow was to only see a her fade into the shadows and appear standing at the front of the class.  A look of fear appears on everyponies faces, black magic was frowned upon as it was dangerous.  "That will conclude our lesson today students, you may be on your way."

'Meet me in the training room'  Shadow disappears into the darkness and fades away.  I quickly teleport over to it to meet Luna for my lessons.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________

As I arrive I see that there is a crowd of ponies practicing with their magic.  Off to the right side of the room is Shadow, who seems to be meditating.  As I approach, the other ponies in the room go quiet, almost as if they feared for my safety.  Shadow looks to me and stands up.  "The ring, lets see how much you already know."  She does her weird shadow teleport, and appears in the dueling ring.  I approach and she states the rules.  "You may only use black magic, and you may not cause lasting harm on the opponent."  At my confirmation that I understood, she lowers herself into a ready stance, almost as if she was ready to pounce.

The instant I start readying a spell, she disapears into the shadows.  I quickly follow by casting a similar spell, casting the ring into darkness.  I can still see somehow, and I am not caught by surprise when a bolt of darkness comes soaring towards me.  I easily dodge and cast a spell, making dark tentacles burst out of my body.  A look of shock appears on Shadows face.  The tentacles arc towards her, however she hastily creates a shield of light that surrounds her.  The shadows start hacking away at it, I knew I had lost at this moment.  Her shield of light was to strong for me to break.  I called the shadows back and removed the shadow that had covered us during the fight.  "You win."  I say loud enough for everypony in the room to hear.  I walk out of the ring and I notice everypony is cowering, trying to get as far away from the ring as possible.  As I leave the ring, everyone moves out of my way, trying to avoid me as if I was a plague.

"You fought well, but you need to learn more."  Shadow says as she walks out of the ring.  Everyone gasps as they notice there was a few small cuts on her legs and back.  "You even nicked me a few times, no pony has ever done that before."  She walks by me and leaves the room, everypony stares at me... again.  Why am I always the center of attention?

"That was amazing, I have never seen someone even get close to hurting her before."  The small white unicorn that sat at my table during breakfast said to me.  "Oh, i'v never told you my name, have I?"  At seeing me shake my head, she continues on.  "Well, my name is Moonshine, I mainly work in healing magic.  Although, it seems like you have found your calling."  She motions at my flank and I look back at it, wondering if there was anything on it.  And there sitting right in the center of my flank, is a cutie mark.

A grin pops onto my face as I see what it is.  It looks like the general yin-yang symbol, however it involves half of it being light, and the other half being dark.  I could see the dark side represented the night, as there were stars and the moon on it.  But the light side eluded me.  "Hmm, I wonder what it means?"  I said thoughtfully, hoping that some unknown pony would answer my question.  "I can see the night, but what is the other side?"  I mumble to myself.

"Yo, Dusk, lets go,"  Shadow yells from down the hall.  I quickly run up to tell her the good news, forgetting for a second that she was princess Luna.  As I ran, I hoped that some thing from out History could tell me what this means.

Chapter 5: History

As we walked down the hall both me and Shadow started talking.  "So, that was some pretty cool magic you did in there Shadow."  I said with a genuine grin on my face, letting it show that I was actually being sincere.  "That shield was so powerful nothing I could have thrown at it would have gotten through."  I finished with a chuckle, forgetting for a second that I was talking to the Princess of the Night.  That disguise was really good.

"I was surprised that you actually hit me, no pony has done that in ages.  I think it has been, oh, roughly 300 or 400 years."  I gape for a second before remembering who I was talking to.  "You definitely have a talent in Black Magic, though I'm not so sure It would be safe for you to learn more just yet.  Maybe when you get older I will teach you more."

"Princess?"  I quickly asked not sure how she would respond to my question.  "What is the other half of my cutie mark?  I know one half is the night, but what does the other half stand for?"

Princess Luna's eyes almost seemed to bore a hole in my body before she started talking.  "Well, if you are going to be my student then you will need to get a deeper understanding of out history."  I just stared at that, knowing full well that I already knew everything I could know about our History.

"What do you mean about that princess?  I already know our history like the back of my hoof."

Princess Luna smirked as I said that.  "There is some things that you may not know young Dusk.  But do not worry, for I shall teach you."  A smile appeared on my face as when continued trotting down the halls.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________

"And here we are,"  Princess Luna said as we walked into a room.  "The Grand Library, home to some of the most ancient books that we may have."  I just stared and kept on walking, lost in a state of shock.  This place was so big that you could probably fit an entire city's population in it.  "Follow me."  Luna started walking off into one of the corners of the Library, and as usual I was accompanied by stares from everypony else in the room.  Soon we stopped in front of a huge gateway that looked like it belonged in the depths of Tartarus.  "This is the forbidden section of the library, it contains some of the oldest and most dangerous books in the library.  If you every come here alone, there is a good chance you could find something that is more dangerous than an Ursa."

"What could be more dangerous than an Ursa?"  I ask cautiously, not sure if I really wanted to hear her answer.

"Well for one, me."  Princess Luna says calmly, almost as if she thought taking out an Ursa was an everyday activity.  I gasped at that, though she didn't seem to notice.  "There are also many books in here that can corrupt the weak minded and destroy your soul."  I knew a look of fear appeared on my face at that, she just chuckled when she noticed.  "Don't worry, as long as i'm here, they cannot hurt you."  At this I relaxed slightly, knowing full well that what she said was true.  We continued walking down the corridor of bookcases.  As we approached a small table in the center of the area, the room seemed to light up.  "This is where you will learn of our History.  However, you must swear to never tell any other pony of what you have seen or read here."

"I promise princess."  I said this wholeheartedly, knowing that the princess was putting her full trust in my hooves.

"Well, let us begin."  At this I nodded.  "Roughly one thousand years ago, there were in fact two Alicorns.  There was me, the princess of the night, and there was my sister, the princess of the day."  At seeing the puzzled look on my face, Luna sighed.  "This is going to take longer than I thought.  The day and the night were cycles in the sky.  The sun was what brought light and heat to our planet.  And my moon, was what terrified children at night.  As I brought fear, Celestia,"  She said this with an almost murderous intent. "brought peace and love to her children.  I asked her nicely if I could show all her ponies the beauty of my night, and she refused.  She exiled me to this land and said I could never come back."  It sounded like she was hiding something in her speech, but I knew that it must have been a tender subject for her.  "I had all the old history books burnt, so that no pony would try to pursue this light."

"Princess, I..."  I couldn't bring words to my mouth.  My next words were some of the most terrifying words I would ever speak, and I knew it.  "Princess, I would like to go on a mission to Celestias land."  At this she gasped.

"Why, why would you want to go to that forsaken land."  Luna said, practically choking on her words.

"I know that you don't like the idea, but I believe that it could help me learn more about our culture and our world."  I said this sincerely.  I really did want to see this land, especially if it had something to do with my cutie mark.  Even if the ruler was a tyrant.

"You may go Dusk, but you must tell Celestia how I am doing."  Luna was nearly in tears.  I guess she really did love that tyrant.

"I will princess, and don't worry ill be back soon."  A fear appeared in my heart, what if I didn't make it back.

"I will teleport you to the borders of their country, in the land know as the Rise."  At this a flash of light enveloped me, and I dissapeared.

Chapter 6: The Rise

I appeared in a flash of light, and immediately had to shield my eyes using some black magic.  I looked ahead and saw the moon on the horizon.  As I turned around however, I saw a bright light, that looked like it could burn the land.  This must be the sun.  Another peculiar thing that I noticed was the sky, it was... blue?  Weird.  I looked around me and saw a large saddlebag that was probably filled with food and water, as well as some essential camping supplies.  After picking up the saddlebag and fastening it, I started walking towards the sun.

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I have been walking for a few hours and the sun is now slightly higher in the sky.  I had already eaten one of the apples and drank roughly half of a canteen of water.  It was also very hot.  I took a small break and started walking again.  In the distance I could see what looked like a small town.  However as I got closer, I could see that it was what looked like a border crossing.  Inside one of the shacks, there was what looked like a few guards wearing golden armor.  As soon as he saw me he grabbed a spear and ran towards me.

"Halt, in the name of the law." He quickly said as he approached.  "What are you doing here?"  It looked like he was almost afraid, like he had never seen a pony that looked like me before.

"Hello, i'm on a journey to this land."  I said with a happiness in my voice.

"Well your not allowed to continue.  Turn around, darkspawn."  He said with an almost threatening tone in his voice.

"Darkspawn?"  I ask quickly, wondering what he meant.  "I don't know what you mean by that."

"Turn around Darkspawn, or I will be forced to take action."  At this he lowered his spear and pointed it at me.  He looked like he didn't want to do it, but he looked like he could if he had to.

"Woah, I don't want a fight.  I'm just here on a mission from my princess."

"Then i'm sorry, but you must not be allowed to continue."  As he said this he charged at me.  I quickly dodged to the left and shot a bolt of dark magic at him, knocking him unconscious.  Well that wasn't to hard.

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I kept on walking for a few more hours, and the sun went visibly higher into the sky.  In the distance, I saw another town, but this time I approached the town sneakily.  Hiding in the nearby forest and making my way through the orchard of apple trees.  I watched some other ponies in the town and noticed that all their coats were lighter colors.  Realizing that I would stand out, I cast a quick illusion spell and walked into the town.  No pony seemed to notice me and I looked for an inn.

I was stopped by a pink blur that nearly knocked me through a wall.  I prepared myself for an attack, but none came.  I stood my ground and looked around, trying to see where the next attack would come from.  "HI THERE!"  I almost dropped my illusion spell I was so startled.  Standing in front of me was a pink pony that looked like it could hug me to death.  "My name is pinkie pie!  Whats yours?"  She said this with an almost obsessive interest.

"My name is Dusk, I'm looking to have a meeting with Princess Celestia."

"OOH, you want to meet with the princess, then you had better talk with Twilight Sparkle, she is our towns librarian."

I smiled and walked away.  "Thank you Pinkie Pie."  I continue walking into the town and realize that I forgot to ask where the library was.  After another half an hour of stumbling around, I get fed up enough to ask someone.  "Hey do you know where the library is?"  I ask the purple unicorn standing in front of me.

"Sure, I live there, follow me."  She starts walking towards a tree house.  I chuckle at this, and she looks in my direction.   "You have never seen a tree used as a building before?"  She asks, I answer with a shake of my head.  "Oh, I almost forgot to introduce myself.  My name is Twilight Sparkle, whats yours?"  Why was every pony in this town so friendly?  I ask myself as we continue on.

"My name is Dusk, its nice to meet you Twilight.  However, I was wondering if you could help organize a meeting with the Princess.  A small pink pony told me you could."  At this she laughs.

"You must have already met Pinkie Pie then."  I nod my head.  "She is very energetic, but you get used to it."

As we walk into the library I take a chance to look around.  It was quite nice I must admit, even though it was not nearly one hundredth of the size of the Academy's.  "I just have one question to ask you Dusk.  Why are you surrounded by Black Magic?"  She says this with venom in her voice, almost as if I was a blight upon this land.

"Why whatever do you mean Twilight?"  I ask innocently, hoping that she would think it was coming from another source.  "I don't have any Idea what you are talking about."

At this, Twilight's eye twitches.  "I think you know exactly what I mean."

I just smile at her.  "I seriously have no idea what you are talking about.  You must have picked it up off some other pony in town."

"Oh, of course.  Just let me cast a simple spell to make sure you are not the source of the magic."  Her horn glows for a second and I feel my illusion drop.  "HA!  I knew it was coming from you."  She starts readying a spell.

"WAIT!"  Too late, I get blasted through a window and out into the courtyard.  I stand up and try to cast a spell, but all my magic is being blocked.

Twilight walks through the door and looks at me.  "Rainbow!"  I look into the sky to see a pegasus with a rainbow mane stop in the air.  "Nuke him!"  The pegasus looks like she salutes and starts accelerating towards me.  I keep trying to cast a spell but it feels like my magic was being held down.  I start running while trying to cast that shield spell Luna taught me.  I was able to overpower her magic for a second, and threw up the shield right before the pegasus hit me.  The world outside of the shield looked like it was enveloped in a rainbow explosion.  The shield holds and as the dust clears, I see everypony looking at me with shock on their faces.

"Hi, my name is Dusk.  I would appreciate it if you didn't do that again please."  Twilight walks up to my shield and tries to get rid of it, to no avail.  "Hi Twilight, that was not very nice you know."   Twilight gives me a blank look.  "Umm, Twilight are you ok?"  Twilight seems to snap out of it after that.

"Bu-how did you do that?"  Twilight seemed to once again be in a daze.  "That shield was alicorn magic."  I give her a questioning look at that.

"Umm, know its not Twilight.  Did you get hit in the head by a rock after that explosion?"  I look at her and it seems like not a hair on her body is out of place.  "That was black magic."  I say to her in an almost childish voice.

As the smoke continues to clear, more of the townsfolk come out and look at me.  Including one rainbow maned pegasus who looks quite angry at me.  "What do you think your doing in Ponyville Darkspawn!"  She shouts loudly at me, almost as if she was trying to verbally attack me.  "Your kind isn't welcome here."

"Why are you calling me Darkspawn?  Does that not give me the right to call you... Something else?"  I was never good with insults, so I just left it at that.  "I walk into this town, trying to be friendly and peaceful, but no.  I have to get launched out a window and almost blown to smithereens before we can talk peacefully."  I say this ending with an almost snooty accent, which causes a laugh from Pinkie Pie.  "All I wanted was a meeting with the princess.  Not a bloodbath."  Even though It may have not actually been a bloodbath, I think that I got my point across.  "Well since this town is just so rude ill just wait in that forest for an apology."  I dissapear into the shadows and teleport to the edge of the forest.

The forest was nice and dark once you got inside of it.  And it reminded me of home.  I sigh, wishing that I could go back to the academy, with their sandwiches and their salads.  I hear a rumble coming from my stomach at that.  I should probably stop thinking about it.  "Hello, would you care to partake in some fine wines or cheeses?"  I fall out of the tree i'm in as I hear a voice right behind me.  "Oh, i'm terribly sorry.  Did I spook you?"  I look to my left and see a bipedal creature with a teapot for his head.  "It appears you are in quite a pickle, i'm sure that some wine would calm you down."

"I don't want any of your wine, though some cheese would be nice."  A cart appears from a small shadow on the ground and a cart rolls out.

He pulls out one large cheese wedge, and hands it to me.  "That will be 3 bits."  I hand the money to him and decide to take a closer look at his features.  He is roughly six feet tall and appears to be wearing a very nice suit and a tie.  The teapot  on his head appears to be made from some high quality porcelain.  "Thank you for your business, and remember if you need cheese or wine, ill be there."  He walks into a shadow and dissapears into the shadows, his cart following behind him.

I climb back to my branch on the tree and start eating my cheese.  OMNOMNOM, this cheese is good.  I finish it and lay down in my tree.

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"Hello!  Mister Dusk?"  I wake up and look around, sure enough I see Twilight and a group of five others walking besides her.  "We wanted to say something."  I hop out of my tree and land right behind them.

"Hello!"  I yell loudly, causing all of them to jump into the air.  "Have you come to apologize?"  I ask them.

"Hi Dusk."  Twilight says quietly, almost as if she was ashamed of what she did.  Which made me happy.  "We are sorry about what we did back in town.  We didn't know you came in peace."

"Oh yes, because walking into your town and asking for a meeting with the princess is so threatening."  My sarcastic tone seems to annoy the yellow pegasus hiding in a bush.  "Your lucky I don't hold grudges."

"Well, ill be happy to organize a meeting if you follow me into the town."  I nod and start walking behind her.  "Just make sure you don't get seen by anypony.  It could cause a panic... again."

"Don't worry, ill just teleport us to the library."  As I say this I start surrounding us in shadows.  I cast a simple shadow walking spell and bring us to the library.  "Here we are, thank you for using Dusk transit."  They simply stood there with a stunned expression on their faces.  "What?"  I quickly ask, wondering what I did wrong.

"If you want to fit in, then you need to stop using all that black magic."  Twilight quickly explains.  Obviously she hadn't told her friends, because as soon as she said that, I was bucked into next year.  Or in common terms, I couldn't feel my face.

"Ow."  I say before standing up.  Everpony in the room just looks at me.  "That hurt."  I say plainly, almost like a machine stating a fact.

"How are you still on four hooves?  No pony has ever withstood a buck from Applejack."  I look to my left and see the farmpony looking at me with fear on her face.  "And i'm sorry that I didn't tell my friends about your black magic.  Maybe if I did this whole situation could have been avoided."  Twilight looks to the floor with an embarrassed look on her face.  We sit around for a while, trying not to look into each others eyes, before Twilight speaks up.  "Well, I had better send that letter to the princess.  She will want to meet you."  Twilight seems to look around for something before sighing.  "Spike, take a note please."  At this, what appears to be a small dragon appears by her side.  Almost like that was his sole purpose in life.

"Sure thing Twilight."  He glances in my direction before gulping and looking back to her.  "What do you want it to say?"

"Dear Princess Celestia,  A Darkspawn by the name of Dusk would like to meet you.  Also, would you care to make me your student again?... Please?  Your once faithful student: Twilight Sparkle."  Everyone around her gasps at that.

"Twilight, when did you stop being her student?"  The white unicorn from earlier asks.  "And why didn't you tell us?"  She says this with a stern voice, like she wasn't going to leave without an answer.

"Well, a few months ago, I found a book in the archives detailing some strange spells and ideas.  I started reading it and tried some of the spells, but in the end it caught some of canterlot on fire.  I was exiled, but I managed to hide myself here, knowing that she wouldn't risk hurting any other pony in the town."  It sounded like she was hiding something, but I couldn't figure out what.  "That's why I am here.  The princess still comes to see me sometimes, however she always seems to be on her guard from me."  A tear appears in her eye, and she starts having trouble speaking.  "I will always remember that day, the day my life ended."  At this, she bursts into tears and starts openly sobbing on the floor.

"No matter what you did hon, we will always be your friends."  Applejack says.  Everypony else in the room nods and agrees with her.

"Thank you,"  Twilight whispers so quietly that only due to chance, am I able to hear it.  "Spike, send the letter."  Spike breathes a small flame and the letter dissapears into  a cloud of smoke.  "It should only be a minute."  Spike burps up another letter and reads it out.  "The answer is still no Twilight, but prepare for teleport."  We dissapear in a flash of light.

As soon as we land in what appears to be the grand hall of the castle, we are surrounded by guards.  A large flare goes up into the air and hovers above us.  "FLASH!"  I quickly yell before falling to the floor with my eyes closed and head down.  It bursts into a flash of light and blinds the other ponies with me.  I stand up and look at the guards around me.  They appear to be unfazed by the light, so I quickly throw up a shield and cover my friends in it.

"Stop."  A commanding voice from behind me says.  I look and see a white alicorn flanked by a royal guard and a sky blue unicorn that was probably my age.  "I order you to drop you shield, if you do not, we will attack you."  Knowing full well that my shield could not stand up to an alicorn, I let it fall.  I quickly have spears pointed at me by the other guards.

"What do you want Darkspawn?"  Shouts the unicorn on her left.  "Are you a scout?"  She asks questioningly.

I attempt to respond, but the guards had gagged me.  "MmPH Amph frumph."

"Let him speak."  Celestia says.

They remove the gag and allow me to speak.  "Thank you."  I say in an annoyed voice.  "I am here because I wish to know more about your land."  I answer matter of factly.  "Is that so much to ask for?  Also, the princess says that she is sorry, Tyrant."  At this the guards around me lower there spears more and there was an audibly gasp heard from around the room.

"Why are you calling her the tyrant.  If its anyone that needs to be called a tyrant, its Nightmare."  The blue unicorn defends her princess.  "She tried to bring everlasting night to our kingdom.  We would have died if she had."

"Would you have?"  I ask,  "I don't think you would have.  Our people live fine with no sun.  We grow crops and maintain a temperate temperature."  I start raising my voice.  "If anyone deserves to be called a tyrant, its Celestia.  She banished her sister for asking if she could raise the moon for a whole day.  She didn't do anything wrong other than ask.  Why do you hate her so!?"  At this point, I am yelling.  The rest of the room starts backing away as, unknown to me, my eyes started sucking the light out of the room.  "WHAT HAS SHE DONE WRONG?!"  A black lightning bolt flies out of my horn, and hits one of the guards.  It then sparks to the other.  A smell of burnt fur and flesh fills the room.  "WHY?!"  The room is nearly pitch black at this point, the only light coming from Celestias horn.  "Why?"  I start calming down, and a tear appears in my eye.  I finally regained control of my magic and stopped.

Twilight approaches me, "You should probably leave."  She says quickly.

"Come with me, you are not wanted here either.  I'm sure Luna would accept you."  I say this sincerely, hoping that she will be able to find a home amongst my people.  "You will not be criticized for what you have done here.  And, your coat leads you to a life in the midnight Castle."

"I'll come with you, but I can't promise I will stay."  She says this nervously, probably nervous about leaving the land she has lived in for years behind.

I quickly teleport us to the academy, using up all of my remaining magical stores.  As my vision starts fading, I see princess Luna and the other students running towards me.  It appears that I landed in the great hall.  Meh, good enough.

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