Secreta et Lamia
I awoke and stretched my hooves. The royal guards were calling it a day and it was time for the night guards shift. My name is Nero, I am the captain of the night guard.
I sighed with contentment and left the barracks with my comrades and my second in command, Nightwing. It was our jobs to watch over the princess', Specifically Luna. We patrolled our usual routes while I made my way over to the palace. Nightwing had a job to do tonight and that was patrol the boundary of the Everfree Forest.
I saluted him, "I'll see you Tomorrow morning."
He returned the gesture and smiled.
"You to Cap."
I grinned and shook my head at him. When I reached the palace I decided I would patrol the royal gardens before I got to my post, I was early after all. The moon was shining bright and it was just short of a full moon. I noticed Luna out sitting by herself just staring at the stars.
Without looking down she asked me.
"Who are we, Nero?"
The question took me off guard.
"You're our princess, You control the night sky and the night guard will follow you to whatever end."
"Then why is it, that our subjects fear and despise our night?"
I looked at the moon and sighed.
"Luna your night is beautiful, Equestria just doesn't know it." I tried to comfort her as best as I could. Luna had been depressed that her subjects slept through the night and feared the darkness.
Luna sighed "Why can't we just be loved by our subjects. Celestia is all they care about."
I took a deep breath, The moon and the close proximity of Luna were making me anxious. I had a deep love for Luna and I had yet to act on it. I decided now was the time.
"Thats not true... Because... Luna, I love you.."
She looked into my eyes shock apparent in her expression. My heart pounded as I awaited her response. Luckily, she slowly started to grin and hugged me tightly. My heart almost exploded. Her face was inches from mine.
"Nero...Your the only one who understands my night. Your the only one I can confide in. And for that... I love you to."
She kissed me softly and I restrained myself from going overboard. She smiled at me and she had to depart.
"I must go. Celestia will surely be mad if she found out I was courting my own captain of the night guard."
I took a deep breath. "This will be a secret then?"
"Yes."
I nodded and saluted her. She grinned and whispered to me.
"Before I go.. I want to give you my blessing."
I turned my head. "What do you mean?"
She kissed me this time more forcefully. Her horn glowed a deep blue and I felt lightheaded. My vision blurred red for a moment and I felt my whole body tremble with energy. I collapsed shortly after she finished.
I took a deep breath and It felt like I was breathing for the first time.
"What did you do?"
"Look upon thyself, thou is truly one with the night."
She took off as I inspected my limbs. They had grown significantly darker. My horn had grown to a point and I had gained a few inches. I began trotting back to the barracks and I could notice that I felt full of energy. I began galloping and before I knew it I was going so fast I tripped and cut my side when I fell
"Ahhhh" I groaned in pain and stood up. I inspected my side and I could literally see the cuts in my side healing on the spot.
"What the hell?"
I starred at it for a while and I concluded this was the blessing Luna had given me.
I started walking again and when I reached the night guards section of the barracks I noticed the place was empty so I decided I would patrol for a few hours before I called it a night.
Canterlot was mostly quiet, all that stirred was the occasional pony looking scared of the dark. I sighed at their incompetence. This was the reason Luna was so depressed lately. Several more hours passed without incident. Like most nights, the majority of Canterlot was sleeping.
I headed back to the barracks when the sun was risen by Celestia. When I reached the barracks I was saluted only to receive confused looks shortly after.
"Commander Nero? What happened to your eyes?"
"What?"
I looked in a mirror next to my bed and noticed that my eyes had indeed turned a tealish blue color and my irises had changed into slits.
"I'd rather not go into detail, private."
"Yes sir."
He continued undoing his armor and placed it on a rack next to his bed. I ordered lights out and we night guards slept in complete darkness. I began to drift into unconsciousness.
I was awoken by a muffled gasp and I quickly looked around. The barracks were empty and I had a splitting headache.
"Ugh"
I got up and quickly gathered my equipment except my chest piece. I looked up and gasped as I saw the sun being blotted out by the moon.
"Luna."
I galloped towards the palace and I saw several guards both royal and night arguing about what was happening. I had to get to the bottom of this before a massive fight broke out. I took a deep breath and began galloping as fast as I could. I was flying though the streets and in a minute or two I had reached the palace. There was several royal guards trying to figure out what to do.
I approached them and when they saw my appearance they pointed at me and charged. I was confused for a moment but quickly acted. I dodged a sword the lead guard had swung at me and in the process I was struck with an arrow to my leg. I hissed in pain and griped it as best as I could.
I slowly pulled it out and growled at the guards. I could feel fangs on my lips I bit down in anger and blood was drawn. They gave me a fearful expression and when I stabbed the arrow through another guards neck they scattered.
Without thinking I leaped over the gates and thrust myself through the palace doors.
I quickly galloped to Luna's bedroom and noticed that her doors were covered in her magical grip.
"Luna its me! Nero! Open up!"
The shield around the door shimmered and then dissipated. I entered and the door was quickly resealed.
"Luna whats wrong?"
I sit next to her and she had tears going down her face.
"Luna?"
She looked at me and hugged me tightly. I returned the hug and she looked me in the eyes.
"No more will I put up with being the second princess. No more will I be mocked by my subjects."
"Luna what do you mean?"
Her eyes glowed the same color as mine. As I had discovered last night.
"I will bring nighttime eternal to Equestria. They will bow to me as the sole ruler of this land."
"But Luna!-"
"And I want you at my side my love..."
"I-I..."
She kissed me and I leaned into the kiss.
"Anything for you my love."
Just then a large white alicorn burst through the door with six floating orbs of light. Each one a different color.
"Luna stop this immediately!"
Luna shook her head and stated "Do not call us that name anymore."
She doubled over and a swirling black mass radiated from her horn. She began to transform and thunder could be heard outside of the palace. The room grew dark and the air sparked with lightning forming around Luna. Her eyes catlike and full of hatred.
"We are Nightmare moon."
She launched herself at Celestia and collided with a shield with enough force to send a shockwave throughout Canterlot. There was a bright explosion and I was blinded. Nightmare was dazed and she teleported inside the shield only to be flung out of it by one of the glowing orbs.
Nightmare Moon grew desperate and charged a beam of energy to strike the shield. It was absorbed into the shield and rendered useless. She was panting and she charged at the shield one final time. I was sent flying into the wall by the force of the impact. When I regained focus Nightmare Moon was laying still on the ground with a charred horn.
Celestia began to charge the orbs for a blow to her when she was down. Celestia had tears in her eyes and I leaped towards the shield myself. I was sent flying like a ragdoll and landed next to Nightmare.
I covered her body and stared defiantly at Celestia.
She bit her lip and cleared the tears from her eyes. She charged her horn and a massive rainbow beam launched itself towards us. When it struck I felt a tingling feeling and I felt like I was floating. I felt myself being dragged into the air by an unknown force. My hooves were transparent and I could see my body still on the ground. I was sent flying out one of the palace windows.
I noticed Nightmare was with me. She had tears in her eyes and we started going even faster. I hugged her tightly, she looked me in the eyes and kicked me away. I was shocked when I felt myself fall and start barreling towards the Everfree forest.
"Nightmare!!"
She rocketed out of sight and I cried out her name
"LUNA!"
*CRASH*
I laid there looking into the sky only to see a shadow on the moon in the form of an alicorn.
An Unexpected Visitor
One Thousand Years Later
I stared blankly at the sky, How many times had I gone insane? To many to count. I couldn't leave this Celestia damned forest. I had been alone for what felt like an eternity. I sighed again and I dozed off, I had lost all sense of time and my time here felt like a giant blur.
All I had to do with my free time was think about the mess I was in. I tried to remember what it was like to be free. I couldn't remember a time when I was free to do what I pleased. I had stopped feeling angry, for anger was pointless and wasn't going to help me out of this mess. I zoned out staring at the sky and remained there. Somewhat recently I noticed that the mare in the moon was no longer visible. I sighed and just thought to myself.
The moon shimmered and I gazed at it curiously. I felt a burning sensation and I furrowed my eyes. I looked down and my body was shimmering as well. I opened my eyes wide and looked at the moon again, If I had a pulse It would be thundering wildly.
I sat there as the burning sensation increased in intensity. I collapsed and continued looking at the moon. The pain spiked and then stopped, I laid there unmoving. I tried taking a breath and I was shocked that I managed. I shot up and looked at my hooves. They weren't transparent.
A huge grin sprouted on my face. I was alive again. I laughed and rolled in the grass where I was laying. The sensory overflow was almost mind numbing. After a few minutes I got up and realized a dark truth.
Everyone I once knew is dead, Except for Luna. I began trotting in the general direction of Canterlot. I slowly began picking up speed until I was dashing through the Everfree Forest dodging trees left and right. I saw a clearing and spotted a small town.
"Things must have changed after so long.
I did not remember a town here before. I decided I would stop here for now. To say I was socially out of touch would be an understatement however. I noticed most of the ponies living here were mares. I needed some place to stay but I had no contacts in this village.
I walked into a shop called "Sugercube Corner." and looked around. They were getting ready to close up when I noticed a pink mare with balloons for a cutiemark.
She looked up at me and gasped dramatically and dashed off.
"Well that could have went better..."
I walked back outside and sat down. I sighed and shook my head in frustration. A single tear rolled down my face when I heard someponys voice.
"Hey? are you ok?"
It was the pink mare. I shook my head and she gasped.
"Why? is something wrong?"
I shook my head, "I have no place to go."
I was suddenly engulfed in a flying pink hug and my eyes flew open.
"Hi! I'm Pinkie pie, I know a place where you can go! Follow me!
She began hopping off, What she didn't know is that I had been an inch away from biting her throat. I ran my tongue over the two points in my mouth. I started following Pinkie as I tried to clear my head.
Where did this come from? Since when did I have sudden urges to rip ponies throats out? I took a deep breath and noticed that we were approaching a tree house.
"What is this place?" I ask her.
I look around and notice that she had vanished. I shook my head again and thought.
"That mare is absolutely crazy."
I went up to the door of the treehouse and opened it. I walked inside and the lights turned on and a cannon exploded with.. Confetti?
"Surprise!"
I noticed that six mares, two pegasi two unicorns and two earth ponies. One being that crazy pink mare.
The pink one immediately started hopping around me in circles talking faster than I could keep up with, And that was something.
Hiwelcometoponyvilledidwesurpriseyouhuhuhdidwe?
The white unicorn spoke up
"Pinkie Pie would you calm down? You are probably creeping out our guest."
Pinkie calmed down for a moment and allowed her to introduce herself.
"Hello, I am Rarity. Whats you name?
"N-Nero."
They introduced themselves to me one at a time, Lastly however was the purple unicorn.
"My name is Twilight Sparkle. It is nice to meet you Nero."
"Its nice to meet you all"
I had yet to show them my eyes, I was afraid that you don't see a stallion with draconic eyes everyday. I sighed and they gave me concerned looks and I confessed.
"I don't have anywhere to stay."
To my relief the one called Twilight offered me to stay with her.
"You can stay here if you want."
I nodded, "Thank you."
The rest of the group had their reasons and left shortly after. Once they were gone I wanted to make a few things clear.
"Twilight?"
"Yes Nero?"
"I just wanted to straighten a few things up.. It would probably be better If I didn't stay here."
She gave me a confused look. "Why's that?"
I sighed and looked into her eyes.
She froze almost instantly, I expected this response.
"Your eyes?..."
"Yeah.. What about them?"
She flinched and looked away, I sighed
"If you want me to leave thats fine."
Twilight shook her head, "It's okay, Its just that I'm kind of curious."
"You wouldn't believe me if I told you."
"Try me"
I looked into her eyes again and I could tell that she was sincere.
"In a moment."
I looked around the library recognizing some of the older books.
"If you wish to hear my about my past, You'd best get comfortable."
"Follow me upstairs, Thats where you can sleep."
I sat down on one of the couches with a blanket wrapped around my back. Twilight sat next to me and asked me.
"Where are you from."
I took a deep breath,
"I am from Canterlot, Thats where my story begins."
Twilight sat there listening intently. I looked into her eyes with a serious expression.
"I was the captain of the night guard in Canterlot... Roughly one thousand years ago".
Twilights eyes shot wide open and she covered her mouth with her hoof.
I continued with the story.
"It was my job to watch over princess Luna, I did just that. After a long time I started falling for her... The day after she accepted my love is when she was banished to the moon..."
Twilight seemed to still be in shock.
"When I tried to protect her from Celestia's wrath I was sent flying like a ragdoll, She prepared the elements of Harmony to banish Nightmare Moon. I covered Nightmare Moons body and I was banished with her... However she kicked me away.. And I landed in the Everfree Forest."
"After one thousand years... This is my first night of freedom."
Twilight gave me a slightly fearful expression.
I sighed. "Don't worry... I have changed my ways."
After that Twilight warmed up a little bit but kept her distance
I didn't mention Luna's blessing to her. I didn't need any other reasons for her to be afraid of me. She shook her head.
"I don't know what to say.."
"Neither would I."
I noticed a faint thumping, My vision blurred red for a moment and I stumbled off the couch. I groaned and felt my fangs elongating to their full length.
"Nero are you ok?"
"No.. Give me a moment."
I closed my eyes and shut out my surroundings. I held my breath for several moments and the haze eventually cleared. My fangs remained elongated however. When I could think clearly I opened my eyes and sighed.
"I don't know why that happens." I lied.
Twilight was biting her lip and I looked down and shook my head.
"I'll just go."
Twilight uttered an objection but I was already downstairs. I heard a purple flash and she was in front of me. Twilight had a pleading expression on her face.
"Please don't go."
I looked into her eyes and they were almost impossible to resist.
I took a deep breath and shrugged.
"If you insist."
She breathed a sigh of relief.
"I'll be sleeping down stairs though."
Twilight bit her lip and decided best not to argue. She yawned and started going up the stairs.
"I'll see you in the morning."
"You to."
I got as comfortable as I could and entered the world of dreams.
*Twilight's Pov*
I had sneaked a book about mythology into my room. Spike was already fast asleep and I opened the book and started reading with a dim light on my horn. I crawled in bed and covered my head with my blanket. There was several chapters about creatures that supposedly existed in myth.
I ruled out the obviously wrong answers. The ones that did remain however made me bit my lip in thought.
Werepony?, Unlikely
A Changeling?.. Not likely either.
I stopped for a moment and thought.
"Am I seriously checking a book on mythology right now?"
Just before I was ready to close the book and throw it to the side. A single word caught my eye.
Vampony, Page 98.
I decided I would look at one more thing before I closed the book, Just to satisfy my curiosity. I started reading.
Vampony's are Nightmare moons creations, They all have draconic eyes with a teal hue in them. They also have a tinted black coat and A slightly longer horn then the average unicorn, "If the vampony was a unicorn upon being bitten." All of them have either starved or been killed off by now. They are blinded by the sun but can travel through it if determined enough.
I stopped reading there and closed the book thinking deeply. To my surprise the book at almost perfectly described my guest downstairs. Tomorrows forcast? Sunny.
*Nero's Pov*
I laid in bed with a searing headache, I heard Twilight coming down the stairs and she greeted me,
"Good morning Nero."
I groaned, "Do you know what time it is?.."
"Yes... Hey Nero look."
I groaned and lifted my head only for Twilight to rip the blinds off of her window.
"Ah!"
I shielded my eyes from the infernal sun, The bright light only increased the intensity of my headache to an actual painful level.
"Stop!"
I got up and flung the blanket over the window and most of the sunlight was blotted out. I began rubbing my eyes from the pain and I eventually looked at Twilight.
"Hey whats the...deal?.."
Twilight was giving me a look that could kill. I stepped back from her a few hooves and she spoke up.
"Care to finish the story about your past or do I have to guess?"
