The Fall Of Innocence

Chapters

Chapter One: A Day's Work
Chapter Three: What Was, Isn't Anymore
Chapter Four: Intentional Misgivings
Chapter Five: The Smoldering Inn
Chapter Two: Of Things That Crawl And Creep In The Dark

Chapter One: A Day's Work

A Day's Work

As the sun rose above the three, Atla woke his sisters, they talked excitedly over everything that they'd been through to reach this land, and of the promises it would bring. They stayed on the raft for they wanted to conserve their energy as well as the belief of a well deserved reward. Then Celestia pulled out some parchment once more, and she wrote a letter addressed to her father. Atla and Luna were discussing what they thought would be there when Celestia had finished her letter.

Atla was saying, "I'd bet we will find tons of gold."

"And silver, maybe even Mitheril!"

"Don't be silly, sister. We both know Mitheril is only found on Shalfallaheln."

"I know, but what if there was?"

"Then Mitheril prices would plummet, and everypony would be happy! It does sound like a wonderful notion..."

Celestia breaks up their erratic chatter, "C'mon, we've got to go. We have a big day ahead of us!" Atla looked at his sister, his face smiling, but his eyes sad.

"Sister, you need to brighten up! We've just made the biggest discovery in history, second only to finding out how to use magic to heal those afflicted by Teresephles!" Celestia looked at Atla. What he'd said weighed heavy on her. Maybe I should lighten a little. After all, this is a day of triumph, she thought.

Celestia's change of attitude was obvious in her voice. "Let us continue our journey, to explore and uncover!" The raft kept it's inevitable course towards the land before them. By the time the moon had reached mid-sky, the island had grown double it's size.

Celestia and Atla's horns glowed brightly, Celestia's yellow, Atla's light blue. Luna was looking upwards to the moon, her eyes curious and thoughtful. Atla moves over to Luna and puts a hoof on her shoulder lovingly. He begins telling her a story.

"You know when I was younger, like you, I'd always sit outside and look at the moon. I would always wonder, 'What is up there, is there life there?' alas, no pony could answer that. I felt out of place in school, seeing how our mother was Empress, and our father Emperor. Everypony treated me like royalty, treated me with respect that I felt I hadn't earned. And everypony seemed to expect something from me, like I was supposed to have discovered another use for Mitheril and Platinum by then. I didn't really want to join the army, or to protect the Emperor or Empress. I didn't want to sit in a laboratory, and discover alchemical cures for diseases. I will say that I was childishly bored, I yearned for something new." Luna turned her head and looked at Atla, surprised to see tears forming in his eyes. "It was then that you were born. I was foolishly jealous at first, but then I realized that all attention would be focused on you, and I was glad." Atla laughed sadly as he said this. "I was also glad, because you were my sister, you still are. I loved to watch you grow, to watch you become the mare you are now. But I miss the days of zipping around the castle, trying to fnd you when you would fly away, innocently exploring the world about you. We are alike, you and me. We both are pressured by our elders to be the best, and sometimes we can't keep up." Atla looked down at Luna, and smiled a smile of sorrow and pure happiness. "I guess the need for adventure was why I went on the prowl in the other colonies, and learned about this place, before us." As he said this he lifted his other leg forward, pointing towards the land that awaited them. "We've come so far, and it has taken us so long, but we're here. Luna, sister, I ask you to always keep in mind, that where ever you go, no matter how bad you feel, I'll always love my little sister." His voice dropped off to a whisper, and he brought Luna's body close to his own, and gave her a soft hug. "Don't ever forget it." He squeezed her harder, then he lay his head atop hers.

While Atla spoke to Luna, Celestia measured the atmosphere around her, using once again an instrument based of Mitheril. The island grew closer, and the three ponies eventually drifted off to sleep, dreaming of their future, and of their history.

1,027 Years Before Nightmare Moon's Exile...

As the sun was born over the horizon again, the raft carrying them became obsolete. They woke up, and took flight the rest of the way to the land in the distance. As they approached the island they began to recognize white-capped peaks in the distance. And they saw what appeared to be many caves dotting these mountains. The land rushed below them, and Atla gave out a great cheer when he first passed the shore. All three felt wonderful, as if nothing could ever tarnish their day. It took them a few sun position transitions to reach the inner part of the earth below them.

Celestia had taken the lead, and she stopped and hovered over a long windy river. The other two stopped as well, and looked at their sister, questions on the tips of their tongues. Celestia informed them that she felt a minute presence of life, and that if they followed this river they would find it's origins. Atla flew down and took a sample of the soil, and flew back up to the rest of the group. Then they proceeded to let the river guide them.

"How close do you suppose is this life?" Atla asked his sister. She looked back behind her at him and shouted over the rushing wind.

"I'm not sure, but it has to be close. We've never exactly perfected spells involving life."

Luna questioned Celestia further, "What if it's just a small insect, or another unintellegent life form?"

"If it was I would've been unable to pick it up in the first place." The three continued their plan of following the water, and got closer to their target.

Their flight continued in silence until Atla decided to lighten the mood, "Too bad we still have to follow water, I'm getting sick of seeing it beneath me." Luna and Celestia chuckled, but none too relaxed as Celestia was straining to keep flying and perform a difficult spell all at once. Celestia could feel it, the life she sensed HAD to be big, big enough at least. Then she got it, and she knew it all at once.

"It has to be a pony! I can feel it's life force and intellegence now! It is definitely another pony!" The excitement in her voice could be contained no longer. "This is MONUMENTAL! We never knew--no pony has ever settled anywhere but back home! This could be a whole new race!" She looked back again at her brother and sister. "We have created a moment in history that is to be never forgotten!" In her excitement she forgot to check the signature of the life form. "I mean, how could we have known! That we would be making history in the near future was only a dream, a wonderful one, but still only a hope!" Then Luna said something only to true.

"Sister! I have to disagree with you about this being a dream! But I wholly agree on it being a hope, for everything great starts from a hope, or an idea!" Luna smiled so much, her joy overwhelming her, tears collecting in her eyes. "We have finally done something for the books, something for everypony to truly respect us." Then she turned to look at Atla. "We aren't just the Emperor and Empress' children anymore!"

"We've earned respect now, dear sister!" Atla said this and he whooped in joy.

All three felt a deep satisfaction in their hearts, and it was magnificent! Celestia returned her attention to the life form they were following. Her previous satisfaction dissappeared, and it felt as if her stomach had sank to the bottom of her body. It was gone, the life signature was gone. In their brief moment of revel it had dissipated. Celestia broke the news to them.

"Halmir forsake us! It is gone." The effect was instantaneous. Their faces fell, and Atla had not a single thought of rebreathing light-heartedness to the trio once more. They stopped and landed gently upon the grass near the river, hoof imprints being pressed by their weight. Luna asked if they couldn't just follow the river, but Celestia shook her head.

"It is completely gone now. We don't know how far this stream goes, so we could waste hours of daylight following it. Best to take some samples of the salt levels in the water for now." Celestia walked a little ways from the others, and said over her shoulder, "Look, I'm sorry, sister. I'm sorry, brother. I've failed you both, as well as the rest of the ponies waiting for results." Atla couldn't allow her to be in this state, it was tormenting him.

"It's okay, sister." He reassured her. "If you found a life signature as fast as you did when we got here, I'm sure we'll find another soon. And this time I won't distract you from your work." He gave her a loving smile and her heart lifted a little once more.

She moved away to a large rowan tree. She sat under this and mundanely retrieved her ink, quill, and some parchment from her saddlebags. She wrote a letter to her father, Unas-lahn, and then proceeded to write one to her mother:

Dear Equinna,

I just sent a letter to father, and that was regarding our mission. But this is about Atla and Luna. I don't know why you two worry so much about Luna. She feels so much like she is expected to do great, and she tries her hardest, but sometimes she just can't take it anymore. If you want to know why she has had "rebellious actions" against you two, it is precisely this reason. You treat her like a Princess, but you need to remember to treat her like your child. She feels pressured. I'm just very glad Atla is here with us, or I don't think we could have made it this far. He loves her deeply, you know? And she looks up to him so much. Please, just be more kind to her, lose the royalty when you are together. She is becoming lost, and I don't want her to BE lost. Consider these much before replying to me or anypony.

Your own daughter,

Celestia

She sealed both letters, and was startled for she just noticed Atla standing over her.

"Wh--wha?" Atla looked down at her, his face stern. Then his face broke into a wide grin.

"Hm. You know, you are fairly easy to sneak up on!" He just laughed and walked back to a fire that Luna had just conjured and was feeding with twigs. Celestia audibly sighed, and put her letters away into her saddlebags.

Celestia followed Atla to the fire, which was busy incinerating every twig that came into reach.

"So, what's the gameplan, sis?" Atla said to his sister in his ever-happy tone. She looked disgruntled, and moved closer to the fire.

"Well, we don't know where that pony--yes, it WAS a pony--went so I guess we could search the mountains, maybe the caves?" The other two nodded their approval.

"It is too bad, sister." Luna said, "I wish that we had been able to find this pony." She paused briefly, then went on, "But all is not lost! We know that there are, in fact ponies in this seemingly deserted land!" At this Celestia's spirit lifted, and they all ate some late supper around the fire, talking merrily of days before.

As the night grew older, and Atla and Luna lay asleep, Celestia took out the letters she hadn't time to send before again. She placed them on the grass, looking them over for mistakes. Celestia couldn't stand having bad gramar! It was just something that she had developed as a child, she supposed. The female Alicorn enveloped the two letters and worked a spell on the one to her father's to delay it's arrival. She then forced a large amount of energy through her horn and the floating pieces of parchment had dissappeared.

Celestia lay on the damp grass, and stared up at the stars in the heavens above. She searched through them, finding some constellelations from her childhood. "If only things were as simple now as they were then." She reflected. Then her eyelids fell, and she was consumed by sleep until daybreak.

Chapter Three: What Was, Isn't Anymore

What Was, Isn't Anymore

"...War is never to be justified...we fight if only to survive as a species..."

- Alphidesh, Long nights of terror

Atla awoke because his sisters' curiosity couldn't be left unsated. He hadn't slept very long because of this, and was still tired, but not dangerously so. Celestia had created an Invigoration Field around the area, restoring much of his lost energy. And when Atla got up he was immediately bombarded with a torrent of questions from his two little sisters.

"Listen. I am very tired right now and would like to rest up a bit. I promise I'll answer everything you want to ask as truthfully as possible when I am less ready to pass out again. Just give me a moment." He slumped on the ground and breathed the clean air with much enthusiasm, taking pleasure to be out of the stuffy cave. Atla made sure to take his time, finding it very amusing to see his sisters impatient faces in front of him. The silver Alicorn was ready to recount everything. But first he had a few questions, to completely solidate his suspicions.

"What do you two remember?"

Celestia answered first, "We flew away from the river, then we........ I landed next to Luna. My head got foggy and.....Then...... Well, exactly. Nothing, I don't remember anything beyond landing on the ground near Luna and thinking that this place was so pretty."

"Hmm..... And you, Luna?" Atla questioned Luna, and all he got from it was that they both had similar experiences. Except Luna had fought it better than Celestia. Atla had experienced that first-hoof when she had suddenly seemed to change her demeanor, then returned to her trance-like state. It was their turn for the questions. Atla had told them everything from when he had hit the ground behind them, to his escape from the cave. When he had told them about the Dreconi, their faces showed surprise, then conviction. (It seems that we can never escape those cursed Dreconi)

As Atla had told his tale, the day had become old once more. Luna and Celestia had just realized how oddly tired they were, and they decided to bed in the grass another night, closer to completing their mission than before.

The Same Day, About Midnight...

Atla woke to screams, and the sound of fire roaring. He quickly lifted his head, and was stupefied to see the forest all around him aflame. The screams persisted, and his ears strained to distinguish them from the encircling blaze. He looks quickly about him, looking for the source of the screaming. When he found it, his heart shattered.

Luna was tied to a tree, her wings, legs, and head pinned back by strongly woven ropes. He stood, petrified. She writhed around, trying to break her bonds. It was useless. Then she screamed to Atla.

"Atla, help! I can't break free of this on my own!" Atla just stood, still rooted to the spot, his eyes staring in pure terror. "Brother! HELP!" She tried once more to break free, but it was as successful as the last. "Atla, don't just stand there! I NEED YOU!" This seemed to return Atla to his body, and he rushed over to her.

As he reached her his fear grew tenfold, the fire was spreading closer to her. He tried to perform a Severing spell, but his magic was being blocked by something. That option was dead. Atla then gripped one of the ropes in his teeth and proceeded to try and chew them off. He grinded the rope in his mouth, but it was too thick, and the process too inefficient. So he left her there, (her face worried and terrified) and he picked up a branch lying on the ground. He lit one end and ran over to her, holding the fire under one of the bindings behind her.

The flames had spread to her tree now. Sweat trickled down his coat, flames licking the bottom of the tree now. He pressed the branch hard against the rope, almost extinguishing the flame and slowing him down. He gasped, the smoke not healthy for him or Luna. Luna screams again. He stamps his hoof in frustration and fear. Then Atla holds the flaming branch under the ropes once more, and is rewarded by a snap.

His heart lifts, but only just barely. He puts the branch under another rope, in the hopes of breaking his sister free. But he hears a loud cracking noise and turns around just in time to see a large tree, covered in flames, coming down at him. Atla has no time to react as he is knocked out cold.

The Same Day, After Midnight...

Atla wakes up gasping for air, his coat and mane heavy with sweat. He looks around at the calm forest around him. He sighs, and lays his head back down on the ground. "It was all a dream..." He thinks, happier at his understanding. His eyes move over to Luna who was still in a deep sleep. Then he finds Celestia, sitting awake, a little far from where he lay. He rolls and gets to his hooves, walking calmly over to her. She hears him approach and turns her head to look at him. Her eyes are curious, her thoughts are elsewhere.

"Hello, brother." She greets Atla solemnly. He sits down next to her.

"What are you doing awake, dear sister?"

She takes a moment to respond, "I could ask of you the same. I am not altogether very sure why I am awake. Something must've disturbed me in my sleep, I guess." Atla gives her a doubtfull look, and she continues more truthfully. "If you really must know, I had a terrible dream. A very, very, HORRID dream--more of a nightmare than a dream." When she said "horrid" Atla noticed that she closed her eyes and shuddered. Her voice quavered, "I--I awoke in the middle of the night. The whole place was on fire, this whole forest was ablaze. And--and Luna was--was--"Her voice dropped off, and her shoulders started to shake out of control. She bent her head down, and Atla placed a hoof on her shoulder to comfort her. He knew what she had seen, it was obvious. So he didn't let her continue.

"Shh, you don't have to say anymore. I know what you went through. It was the same reason I woke up." At these words Celestia looked up at Atla's face, her face tear-streaked.

They sat there the rest of the night, Atla holding Celetia until both dropped off into less troubled dreams.

After Previous Events...

Luna awoke the next day fully refreshed. She also awoke to see Atla and Celestia sleeping on the ground together, and she wondered what had caused this? But she didn't ask, out of respect for her sister and her brother's dignity. So the morning began. And Atla and Celestia had finally awoken. It was a new day, but their trials were far from over...

"What are we to do today? We've no leads, and this land is more dangerous than we originally thought." Luna had asked this question twice now, and she received no differing answer. The reason being that none of the trio knew what to do next. Their only lead was eaten by a group of voracious monsters, and they didn't want to go searching all through Equestria looking for more ponies. Fortunately for them all, Celestia had just been struck with an idea. A flimsy idea, but it was somewhere to go.

"What if we pooled our collective power?" Her family gave her awkward looks. She elaborated further, "If you two channeled your energy to me, letting me be the focus point, I could perform a wide-ranging Detection spell! We would be able to pick up any lifeforms big enough for our purposes in an area over two-hundred leagues all around!"

"Great idea, sis. But how would we even go about doing this?" Celestia put her left fore-hoof on her chin, in deep concentration.

After a few minutes she said, "Give me a minute." And walked a little ways to their left, pacing, to and fro. Atla laughed inwardsly at the humor. "Give me a minute!" We just gave you more than three! He left that where it was and sat down on a rock, watching the clouds overhead. The time seemed to inch at an unbearable rate, leaving two Alicorn's at their most boring point in life. "I don't know how she can pace like that!" Luna thought after twenty minutes of Celestia pacing back and forth in front of her. Then (after the most boring moment anypony could ever take) Celestia exclaimed with joy, "I have it!" and Atla and Luna felt like cheering.

"If you two just stand right here..." Celestia stated, pointing to two spots in front of her. When they stood where she had specified, she continued her instructions. "Now, if you could just focus all of your energy in your horn, and direct it at mine when I say so." They both followed her instructions to a "T", so to speak. When both had a large amount of energy stored in their horns, ready for use, Celestia said "NOW!" and they let the energy loose, right at Celestia's horn. As it hit Celestia, she felt a huge surgence of power flow throughout her body. The blasts of energy were so powerful, however, that when they made contact with Celestia's own pool of power, she was scooted back a couple of yards. She bent down low in an effort to contain and absorb the power. She succeeded, and she quickly devised a Detection spell in an umbrella format. She pointed her horn up to the sky, directly above herself, and let it go. The energy blasted out the end of her horn, and shot forth like lightning. It went straight up and reached about seven-hundred eighty feet into the air before exploding. A wave of energy leveled out in the sky above them, and swiftly spread from it's origins. The spell was so powerful that when she released it, she was thrown to the ground, completely spent of all her energy. The others were the ones who had to maintain it, so they had to stay there and keep a constant flow of energy to Celestia. They waited. Nothing. They waited some more. Nothing. Then, after a few minutes.......Nothing. Celestia began to think that she performed the spell wrong when she felt a ping, about one-hundred and thirty leagues to the North-East of their valley. She almost let it go to find this source when suddenly she felt many more life forms, over three hundred, all in the same vicinity of the first one. "It must be a settlement" She thought, contented by recent events.

Then she let the spell go, and told her brother and sister to cut off the connection. When they did, they wanted to know why. The excitement was apparent in her eyes, and in her posture. Though tired, she was almost hopping up and down. The excitement was contagious as she told them what she had gleaned from the spell's search. Many would have called them childish, un-professional, but in their current age and their current mind set, they were easily succeptible to being over-joyed. Especially since they had discovered multiple ponies (they probably were) in one area.

They discussed the plan, for it wasn't as straight forward as just showing up, un-announced. Not to mention that all three were tired after their ordeal, and so they couldn't fly very far. So they sat and worked out plans on how to introduce themselves to the natives of this land. They decided it best to arrive all at once, but not from the air. Maybe fly close, land, then walk the rest of the way? Also, what if they didn't speak the same tongue? The trio talked well into the night, laying out multiple plans for communication, and introductions for these mysterious ponies. By the time they were done, the moon had passed it's middle point, and so they lay around the fire that Atla had created and talked sleepily of what was to come.

The Day Of Travel...

Again, the three Alicorns woke up on the grass, wet from dew, and stretched in preparation for a long flight. No pony had much to say as they flexed their wings. Too much excitement. So they bent their wings, went down low, and flung themselves into the air with powerful wing strokes. And in a second they were on their way. Just as they didn't have much to say while preparing, they were silent throughout their journey. Only a few "wind has picked up" and "strong headwind behind us now"s every once in a while, and they continued their flight.

As the day dragged on, and the first aches in their wings began to form, the trio stopped for a rest.

"How far do you think we've got?" Luna asked her sister, who was always better at keeping track of distance than her other family.

Celestia replied between inhales, "Only about--eighty--leagues--" She was doubly tired from the day before. The surge of energy she had gotten from her brother and sister was fairly hard to contain and concentrate. Atla poked his mind into his saddlebags, searching for some food. He found some tomatoes and other assorted vegetables that had been magically preserved, and prepared a fire. He conjured an iron frying pan out of the millions of microscopic pieces in the dirt around him, and cooked some food for his sisters and himself. As the fire heated the pan, and the vegetables sizzled, he thought of how meals would have been cooked back in Faerlahern. With a roaring stove and dozens of skilled cooks tending to the food, adding spices and other additives all the while. His stomach growled, signaling his hunger, as he pictured the massive heaps of food he would have been offered while only eating a few plates. Atla grinned in the irony, how he would love one of those magnificent meals now.

A wonderful smell crept into his nose, causing his mouth to water a bit. The meal was ready. Luna created a few ceramic plates for them to eat off of, while Celestia collected small amounts of wood from the trees around themselves to create a table. They sat and ate, each not talking because of their current occupation with their "feasts". Once their appetites were sated, they set to the sky once more, renewed of determination and energy.

By nightfall, they had cut out a huge chunk of distance to the settlement. As Celestia put it, "It will only be about thirty leagues now." They didn't eat any supper that night, hoping to conserve their depleted supply. Though they went into sleep hungry, they were content and as happy as they ever could be. They were making history, doing something their mother had only dreamed of. Something that all of FAERLAHERN had only dreamt of. That there were settlements in this hostile and curious land was inconceivable to the Alicorns back home. And though they had these heart-warming thoughts to think, no pony could ever guess the tragedy that awaited them...

A Day Of Greetings...

Birds chirping, the wind blowing, sun shining, all of it was a very stereotypical good day. The trio woke the next day, feeling like today had so much promise. They "saddled up", if you will, and started once more the monotonous process of flying through air. The air was clear, no head winds, and no sudden changes of atmospheric pressure, or turbulation. They rocketed through the air cleanly, and made very good time. In a matter of hours they were at their much awaited destination. At least, they were close enough to see it from the sky. Settlement didn't do this place justice. It was a large city, with many buildings stretching far back to a large bay behind it. A large paliside wall had been placed around the buildings, gates at the North-West and South-West entrances. The sun was shining behind it, reflecting beautifully off of the bay water's surface. The trio of Alicorns' altitude declined all the way to the ground, and they landed lightly upon the soft ground. There, they gave excited looks and went once more over their plans. After that, they approached the South-West gate, and came across a guard.

The guard's face was priceless. His jaw dropped, his eyes widened, and he dropped his pole-axe on the ground. Atla laughed heartily, a wide grin spreading across his handsome face. The guard was a pegasus, a deep crimson coat, his wings outside his uniform. But he wasn't wearing any type of hoof-crafted, or fancy armor. Just some clothing that had been dyed green, and was heavily padded. Atop his head was a strange cap, a kind of helmet that didn't cover is whole head, like a helmet should. And no where to be seen was any type of war shoes. He looked kind of like an Earth pony farmhand back in Faerlahern, Celestia had thought.

"St-st-stop th-there!" The guard managed to stutter. Luna took charge of this conversation.

"Ho, colt. Calm down. We are three members of the Royal Family of Faerlahern! We mean you, or your ponies no harm." His eyes had enlarged twice their normal size at the mention of a family that was apparently of royalty, that hailed from Faerlahern, whatever that was. "We came here to this land, led by some rumors. It was told that this land was unsettled. It is obvious that those were fallacy." Luna seemed to calm him down, and so she introduced them to him. "My name is Luna, and these are my family, Atla, and Celestia." She pointed to each in turn, indicating whom was who. The guard responded with his name.

"M-my name is Flame Shard. I am a guard for this city." His voice became much more relaxed, but he was still in shock. It was obvious to them that he had never seen an Alicorn before, for his eyes kept runnig from their wings to their horns and back again. Atla almost burst out laughing when he noticed. But, he managed to keep it under somewhat.

"I'm pleased to meet you!" He said, his voice staying rather flat in an attempt to conceal his amusement. "It is obvious, your astonishment." Atla decided to point this out to him. "We are a race of pony on this earth, same as you. Well, same except for being extraordinarily gifted with wings, magical abilities, and size." Flame Shard's cheeks turned a bit red in abashment.

"Well, may I ask of you your business?" The guard said rather puffily. "It is the law of the land, so to speak, that I ask you why you are hear. Then you may enter Sholda, should I deem it safe." His chest swelled as he spoke. He thought his duties of the utmost important, and so felt very proud that he had done so without fault.

Celestia was curious about this statement. "What does he mean by, 'should I deem it safe'?" She voiced her inquisistion to this crimson guard pony. "And what, if you don't mind my asking, would one have done to be barred from this--Sholda?" The pegasus watchpony's face became very suddenly serious, and much cautious.

His voice was but a whisper. "There have been strange happenings around here lately. Ponies have up and dissappeared, and our appointed leaders seem to find no cause to be worried about this. Not to mention that many cloaked ponies have suddenly started appearing in our streets, speaking to none but whom they must know. When us guards tried to tell them to leave, they just--fanciful as this sounds--evaporated!" They must be Unicorns, Luna thought. "We have kept double watches since then, and we haven't seen any OUTSIDE Sholdan, but they have a disturbing knack for showing up un-invited." His eyes darted upward to their horns once more. Luna, like Celestia, had guessed that he knew they were magical. Unicorns must not know how to fully use their magic here, Celestia thought.

"We would like to speak to your superior," Celestia said, "if that can be arranged." Her eyes flashed an inner cleverness.

Flame Shard's voice faltered at her directness, "Uh--s-sure. Just uh... just go on in and look for the big white building, surrounded by market stalls." The three threw him some thanks, and began walking to the entrance to Sholda. But, just as they passed the guard (who was in the act of picking up his pole-axe) he gave some advice. "Don't be alarmed if you are not well received when you enter that city. Folks are just paranoid with all that has been happening." As they turned back, he added, "And if you see one of those hooded figures, make sure to give them a good kicking."

As they walked throught the gates, they had to deal with another distracted guard. He too, dropped his (pike) weapon as he caught sight of them. They had to explain everything all over again, and then were allowed into Sholda.

Sholdan is a destitute city. Many buildings were wooden, and much of the pathways were cobbled streets. The buildings were very thin, and the city was as condensed as possible. The streets were packed with ponies walking about, repeating their everyday cycles. And these cycles were only broken by the appearance of three strange ponies. All three of these new arrivals had wings--and they had a horn, each. This was impossible, it was improbable, it was incomprehensible. At least it was to these ponies and their boring lives. This fact was made all the more open as heads turned everywhere and ponies rushed to move out of the paths of the strange trio. Luna, Atla, and Celestia walked ever still proud, but still a little embarrassed at the amounts of attention they were receiving. For the city was packed with ponies. Most, Luna realized, were mundane Earth ponies, a few were pegasi, and none that she could see were Unicorns. And so, most eyes were directed at their horns, wondering what that was used for. Some kind of signal, or part of impressive old age? And then there were their cutie marks. Everypony was put in a state of confusion on these. Especially Celestia and Luna's cutiemarks. The Sun and the Moon. Atla's was a star, burning bright. All around was filled with the entranced chatter of their poorly hushed voices. The three were glad to have finally found the large white building. It was magnificent in comparison to those around.

The building was large, larger than all before. And in front of it were marble steps leading up to a massive entrance hall. As they walked in they admired the expert crafting skills of whomever had done this. There were enormous pillars of logs, intricately carved all the way to their top. The building itself was built out of a mixture of iron and molten marble. The floor was covered with wooden planks, and many beautifully crafted weapons and coats of arms lined the walls on either side of the hall. And up in the center was a--desk? An ordinary desk? Celestia and Atla were taken aback by how magnificent this place was, and then seeing this were fairly confused. Where is a throne? A chair of high authority? Anything? But alas, all there was was a simple little wooden desk, and a green Earth pony sitting behind it. What was ironically funny, to Atla, was that this pony didn't seem to care what you were, or who you were. She had a very indifferent attitude when the trio approached, and introduced themselves.

"My name is Luna."

"Mine is Atla."

"And many call me Celestia. We are three Alicorn siblings sent here to find more about Equestria, and we......" Her voice trailed off. The pony sitting at the desk had given her a look that said she didn't care where or who you're from, just state your business and be done with it! Celestia revised her introduction. "We uh, we would like to see your top official, or leader." The pony just rolled her eyes and pointed to a door to her left, or the three's right. As Atla passed her, he managed to encouragingly whisper, "Great work," and walked on by, leaving her in a state of confusion. Atla laughed, having much fun.

When they walked through, they were surprised once more. The door had had a plate on it, and some words had been inlaid in it. They paid no heed to this, as they walked past the door. The door concealed another desk. But this desk was much more beautifully carved. And it was made out of ebony, much more expensive than simple oak. Behind it was a dark coated pegasus, unusually large. His coat was a heavy blue-black, his mane copper. His eyes were gray. And his pupils were strangely cold, as if there wasn't life in them. But he came off as a joyful colt.

"Greetings! Greetings, friends! Welcome to this city of mine! I am the sole ruler of this county, and I have heard of your arrival swiftly, expecting you to be where you are now!" He motioned for them to sit at his desk where there were five chairs. They followed his instructions respectfully. "Now tell me! How do you like my wonderful city? Isn't it just fantastic!"

Celestia, not wanting to offend him by telling the truth, said "It seems like a nice enough place. I am warmed by your welcome as well, sir--?"

"The name's Flet Flight. I am a pegasus, as you've probably seen for yourself."

"Flet Flight. We need to speak with you on matters we've only just learned of. Plus our original reasons for being here." She said this with as much respect as she could've ever mustered. That was why all three were taken back by his sudden hostility.

"Well, I should warn you to keep your snouts out of business that doesn't belong to you! You might sniff out something you wish you hadn't..." He said this with a tone of malevolence.

"Excuse me, Flet Flight. But I may not have heard your tone quite correctly. Was that a threat?" Luna said, anger rising in her voice, her wrath becomming terribly evident. Flet's tone lightened considerably after that.

"No, no! Not a threat, only a warning! I know what you speak of, those blasted spell weavers! They have plagued my ponies for the longest months, making life a living damnation! I just don't want to see a group of visitors get involved in the wrong places!" He said this with a bit of a nervous chuckle, making his regret as unsubtle as probable. Luna still didn't like him, he had an air of ill will about him she didn't like breathing. He told them of a place that they could lodge in after they had told him of their original plans. They courteously left him to his "arse sniffing" as Luna had put it, and left the magnificent abode.

They strode out with a new purpose! To get to the bottom of these mysteries, and put an end to these ponies suffering. After all, it did seem just as Flame Shard had put it, '...leaders seemed to have no cause to be worried about this....' His words had proved to be true enough with their encounter with Flet. But they did listen to his advice on where to stay that night. In an inn named "The Canters' Cart Inn."

Again their walk through Sholdan had everypony's eyes focused on them, just not as dramatically as before. They walked around a corner in the thin winding roads of Sholdan, trotted down a dark alley way, and found a decrepit building. Small stone stairs led up the foundation to the front door. On the door was painted a large white eye. Celestia shuddered when she saw this, it gave her goosebumps. Above the door was a sign haphazardly hanging on by one rope. On it read, in roughly carved words, 'The Canters' Cart In'. The second "n" on inn had been wore down so that part of the sign's width was off by a few inches. The creaking of the solitary rope holding on to the sign added to the eerie feeling that somepony was watching them. Atla quickly looked up the alley walls and to the sky above, recalling this feeling in the cave of Dreconi. He mentioned this to the others, and they prepared some small quick-to-fire spells of anti-matter. Then, Luna enveloped the door knob in her blue energy, and turned the door magically. The sight that awaited, was horrifyingly normal.

Past the malign door were several tables. On these tables were candles and mugs full of strong cider. This cider was being drank by several normal looking ponies. As the door had opened and flooded the room with the bright sunlight from outside, the ponies' attention flew to the three young Alicorns. Upon seeing this sight, the three extinguished their stored energy, and walked to the bar tender as if everything about three mysterious Pegasi/Unicorns appearing out of thin air was a normal part of maturity. They moved to the bar, and greeted her.

"Hello my fair pony! We've heard tale this place being of one to find some rest, and food." Atla announced in mock royal voice.

She just looked at him and replied, much more ordinarily, "Yeah, you can rent a room here. But what are you, and who are you?" She realized her rudeness and immediately ammended it. "I don't mean to be rude, it's just that you are--a curious bunch!"

"That is quite alright!" Atla reassured her. "We've gotten that a lot since arriving here, in Sholdan. We are a group of three of the Alicorn race. We are the sons and daughters of our ponies' rulers, being here to scout. We found this place and met with it's leader." Her face expressed immense surprise, as if she couldn't believe it. But she figured "Alicorn" was a tribe or something. In the dark of the room, she couldn't make out many details about these ponies. The same for them. It has to more than a scouting mission if they are staying in an inn in the city, she thought. Atla saw this, and was spared from having to answer her by his sister, Luna.

"Look, we just want somewhere to stay for tonight. We will pay the necessary expenses, and will stay out of your mane." Luna was tired of having to explain everything to these ponies, especially since she didn't think it best to tell every peasant of their plans.

Sun Blossom was not taken aback by this sudden outburst from this deep blue pony. Her attitude suggested she was tired, and Sun Blossom was used to impatient, tired ponies needing rest. She understood Luna's urgency, and set about getting them a room.

Sun Blossom told them the cost, "It will be eight-teen bits for all of you." Celestia just magically counted out eight-teen bits on the counter in front of Sun Blossom. This rang some bells in Sun's mind. Magic?!? she thought. What are Unicorns doing here, they aren't usually anywhere near us! She decided she'd do something about this.

"Thank you! It is the last door, upstairs and to the left!" She played it cool until they had left to go upstairs. All the while going over what she should do now. There were Unicorns in the city, and the guard had given her explicit orders to notify them immediately if one should find one in the city walls. She called over her waiter, Crystal Storm, and her everything about the mysterious arrivals. When she got to the Unicorns part, she had to cover Crystal's mouth to avoid directing attention to themselves. She explained the importance of alerting the guard, and pleaded with Crystal to tend to customers until she got back. She calmly walked to the door, and opened it. As soon as the door closed behind her, she broke into a gallop, searching for a guard. She found one on the square near the trade and stock buildings.

Chapter Four: Intentional Misgivings

Intentional Misgivings

"...Around every bend...every corner. There is an enemy. There is also a friend...."

- Equinna, The Discovery of Dreconi

Atla, Luna, and Celestia walked into their rented room. It was a feeble, cheap room. It was also fairly dark, except for one candle in the corner of the room on a nightstand. There were four beds, each with their own pillows, and each with their own thin blankets.

"Look at this place! This isn't worth TWO bits!" Luna scoffed. She was much dissapointed with what eight-teen bits had got her at this inn.

Atla consolidated his sister, "It's alright, dear sister!" He moved over to a blanket and pulled of a small, pathetic insectoid. "At least we'll be kept company in our beds!" He gave a brief fake smile, and he threw the bug carelessly away from himself. His temper was almost as hot as his sister's, but not quite. Celestia had no words for this, she was shocked. How they live here, like they are barbarians! No standards of living, no cleanliness! It's disgusting! She had thought.

Atla walked over to the window, pulling apart the blinds. He looked outside to the darkness, altogether unhappy. Just then he heard the floorboards creak outside their room. He quieted his sisters and motioned for them to prepare some hexes of Paralization. He didn't like the way the floorboards had creaked so suddenly, then became dead still. A silhouette was prominent from under the door, indicating the presence of a sneak outside the door.

Luna was in the process of perfecting her hex when the door exploded outwards in the room, smoke obscuring their aims. Splinters flew everywhere, multiple spells were loosed in every direction. Celestia's hearing was cutt off for a second as a bright red bolt whizzed an inch above her head and tore apart the wall behind her. Luna was hit full in the face by a Paralization Hex thrown by off course in the confusion. Two heavy thuds were audible over the chaos, and the Alicorns stopped their frenzied defence. As the smoke cleared Atla identified the body of the attacker. He was a Unicorn, obviously none other could have fired curses at them. His mane was black, his coat red, and his cutiemark that of a black, shapeless blob. Atla searched him as Celestia looked for the other body. She found it--Luna. In the pandemonioum, Atla had whirled around and sent a bolt of Paralization straight into Luna's face. Celestia worked on counter-acting it's effects as Atla weeded out anything useful on the prone stranger. Atla tore through his pockets, seeking some useful information. He found a letter on the mystery pony. He ripped open the seal and read the address. He got the name of this pony, Soular Shadow. He read what he could as the ink magically erased itself, and managed to find that this pony was contracted for this little escapade.

Atla stood back up and turned to his two sisters, Luna now recovered. She gave him an irritable look, and went to sit down on a pest-ridden bed, thought better, and sat on the floor. Celestia looked inquisitively at her brother.

"What did you find?" Celestia asked.

Atla turned and said, "Well, look for yourself." He said in a jaunty tone. Atla passed the blank letter to her. She caught it, looked it over eagerly, was dissappointed that it was blank, and saw Atla suppressing laughter.

"What is this? It's blank!"

"Exactly! But it wasn't so when I found it." Celestia gave Atla an impatient look. "When I found it, I read who it was addressed to. It was addressed to this bloke," Atla pointed down at Soular, "his name being Soular Shadow. I ALSO read that he was CONTRACTED to burst through our door and become paralized!" He grinned at his explaination, enjoying his sisters' amused faces.

"So somepony doesn't want us in here..." Luna said in a thoughtful voice.

"Shall we find out who and why?" Celestia prompted.

Atla's green eyes glinted, "Definitely, dear sister."

After the trio had agreed upon the investigation, Atla had walked down into the main part of the inn to find everypony gone. The bar tender, the consumers, everypony. Celestia had stayed up in their rented room to help Luna regain some feeling after the accident. Atla decided to search this area for some leads.

He walked further downstairs and examined the chairs and tables. It was apparent to him that everypony had left without struggle. But there were still remaining mugs of cider that they had drank from sitting on some of the tables. Atla checked their contents. They were drained. Obviously these ponies didn't want to lose any of their coin unnecessarily. Then he walked to the bar.

He examined the many glasses that lay washed and unwashed, but to no avail. Then he looked in the many cabinets covering the wall behind the bar. He pulled cabinet after cabinet with no leads sprouting up. As he closed the last cabinet, he had an instant idea. The drawer. Atla swiftly moved over to the drawer behind the counter, and excitedly opened it. The drawer slid open seamlessly, and he saw a small poster type paper in it. Curious, he reached down and lifted it from storage. He put it on the counter and gathered his mind for an Illumination spell. The tip of his horn suddenly glowed bright green, throwing light on the paper.

The light revealed that this paper was more imporant than Atla had originally thought. Up at the top was a seal, obviously that of an official. And it wasn't just a paper, it was a letter addressed to the innkeeper. It gave explicit orders to seek a guard should she see a Unicorn. The rest was instructions to clear out her customers and go to another inn. The Smoldering Flagon. "Well, here's where we can start." Atla thought. He searched the bottom of the letter for a signature, but was thrown back by what was there. In the place of a signature, in a swooping font, was scrawled the words, "Protection of Bliss." Atla read this twice over, not sure what he saw was real. He then stowed the letter in his saddlebags, closed shut the drawer, and rushed upstairs to find his sisters just leaving their room.

Atla skidded to a stop. "Where were you two going?" He asked.

"To find you. In case of more sneaks." Luna answered her brother while Celestia closed the door behind her.

Atla nodded his approval. Then Celestia asked, "Did you find anything? I was going to look in the cellar. I have already prepared an Invisibility Spell. But it looks like it isn't needed."

Atla was about to tell her to dissipate the spell, but he stopped. "Keep it ready. We may need it soon." Luna and Celestia's faces bemused, Atla says, "I'll explain on the way."

Chapter Five: The Smoldering Inn

The Smoldering Inn

"...Alas. Wars are as sure and bitter as winter in this world...."

- Equinna, Fall of Old Shera

The trio advanced from their previous location, all the while Atla was explaining everything.

"I came downstairs and searched around. Everypony had left of their own accord. I looked through multiple cabinets, and found nothing. Then I searched the drawer behind the counter, and found a letter addressed to the innkeeper." Atla told his sisters as they ran through the dark streets. "I read it's contents and found out why that colt had attacked us." Soular, they had left on one of the beds for somepony else to find. "The most magnificent and respected innkeeper had been told to alert the guards should a Unicorn arrive." Celestia caught on almost immediately. However, Luna needed more of an explaination than the one she'd received.

"If she were to go to a guard because of Unicorns, why did we get attacked?"

"I was getting to that, dear sister. In the horrid lighting, the innkeeper had mistook us for Unicorns." They galloped around a corner, alarming a guard who was drifting off to sleep. "Another thing I found was a mysterious signature, "At the bottom were the words, 'Protection of Bliss'."

"Protection of Bliss?" Luna said curiously under her breath, then aloud, "What do you think it means?"

Atla's panting words shone with determination. "That is what we are going to find out, Luna."

Three Alicorns sped down an alley, kicking up dirt everywhere. They were headed to an inn. Little did they know what awaited them, and what events would unfold after.

As they rounded a corner and entered a small, square courtyard, a large wooden building came into view. It was very cleanly put together, the iron door enlaid with silver. Surrounding it was an iron fence, about eight feet high. An expertly laid cobblestone path led to the wrought iron gate.

The trio of Alicorns slowed to a halt, watching the cozy inn from the alley. There were five windows in the front, three small ones on the bottom, two long windows on the top. Light shone from behind curtains in the windows, showing that it was still active. The Alicorns slowly canter up to the open gate. As Celestia's hoof landed on the first step up to the door, a low dull THUD issued from the stairs. She froze. This place was simple and practical. All but the heavy iron door, inlaid with silver markings. The other two reached the steps and eagerly moved up them. Celestia hesitated, then walked up to the others.

Celestia sensed something terrible wrong as Luna's energy field held the door handle and started to turn the knob. Just as Luna had started to pull the door open, a loud screeching noise sounded from inside the inn. Everything seemed to slow down. Celestia looked at the iron door to see it start to glow in the middle. She dove forward and tackled Luna out of the way of the door, just as it grew red hot and shattered outwards. Angry red shards slamming into the wood and flying everywhere.

Atla hadn't time to move, so he had performed a Protection Spell. The shards had skimmed the surface of his shield. As Celestia picked herself up, Atla let his shield break, and moved next to where the door had been.

Smoke was covering the doorway, so none could see in or out. Luna got up and joined her brother's side while Celestia scanned through the smoke. She picked up more than one life signatures.

"There is a lot of them in there!" Celestia released her spell. "I can guess about seven to ten!"

"Good!" Atla looked at his sister, an interesting light in his eyes. "We could use some practice!"

"I would be more careful, brother." Luna warned. "That was a very powerful Incineration Spell!"

"And we are very powerful Alicorns!" Atla charged some Paralization Hexes, and dove in.

He burst through the smoke as three curses whizzed past and out the door. He loosed a hex in the direction where he thought the curses originated from. Then he dived left, and Levitated a table to him, to serve as cover. Just then, Celestia flung herself through the door and was met by several curses. She sent a ball of Frost forward to her left, and jumped to her brother. A few curses made contact with the over-turned table, making an audible CRUNCH.

Atla formed a Cleansing Spell as Luna stumbled through the doorway. She looked wildly about for her family as a bright blue Curse caught her side. The impact made her gasp loudly, knocking the breath out of her. She swung around to face her assailant. She couldn't see anything through the thick cloud of smoke, so she turned and found her brother blasting a spell up at the ceiling. A blue haze spread throughout the room, making swift work of the smoke. Luna rushed over and fell behind the table.

The spell worked, and they could now have a proper fight with these attackers. Atla poked his head up and aimed a hex at a jet black Unicorn. Just as he shot his hex, Luna lifted herself and threw a spell of Blindsight at a bright red Unicorn hiding behind the bar. She ducked back behind the table. A loud scream about somepony's eyes told Luna she had hit well.

Dark green, and very angry, a large Unicorn charged from his cover, yelling loudly. Celestia rose up quickly and hit him full in the face with a blast of fire. The fire had no affect as he continued his reckless charge. The green Unicorn leaped over the table and turned to face the trio. Atla rushed forward and engaged him in horn to horn combat as Luna shot another Unicorn in the face with a Bolt of Lightning.

Atla swung his long horn down at the large Unicorn's neck, intending to break his spine. The green Unicorn expertly parried his attack, and drove his shoulder into Atla. He was thrown back, and fell. He landed hard on the ground, and was attacked by the green Unicorn again. The large Unicorn thrust his horn forward directly at Atla's throat. Atla rolled out of the way as it was driven into the wooden floorboards. Atla got to his hooves, and realized that the other was stuck. He lowered his horn and charged this Unicorn. The large green Unicorn blasted apart the floor in a desperate attempt to get free. His horn was pulled loose as Atla's slid in between his ribs. He gave a cry of pain and toppled to the ground, Atla's horn still in his ribs, pulling Atla to the ground. Blood spurted in the gap between Atla's horn and his flesh, splattering Atla's silvery coat with crimson. The green Unicorn thrashed around on the ground as Atla ripped his blood-covered horn free. Atla sighed at the sight, and ran to his sisters who had just taken out the last Unicorn. The green Unicorn gasped heavily, his lungs punctured. He died, blood soaking his orange mane and pooling around him.

Celestia and Luna both inhaled sharply at Atla's blood spattered mane and coat. "It's not mine." He reassured them. Their eyes lingered over the large limp body of the green Unicorn, understanding filling their eyes.

"Ah! Well that was a most spectacular party, was it not?" Atla exclaimed in a jolly voice. "I do hope you left some alive!" His mind roved to his deceased opponent.

Luna's face was worried. "We intended to, but they all commited suicide." Celestia nodded in agreement, then added. "We aren't very good at Paralization Hexes, as you are. WE weren't hoof-picked for the Royal Guard."

"That is a shame." Atla said more to himself than to the others. "Well, we have to hope our dear innkeeper is still here, and well! Come, let us find her!" The others consented and they searched the dead bodies with much regret. They didn't find out much from the crumpled corpses, except that all were Unicorns.

Celestia walked past one of the many shattered tables and chairs, searching through bodies. She looked at one female Unicorn, who couldn't have been older than her sister. (At least when compared with lifespans, not direct years of age.) Atla moved over to the bar, looking for some leads as to why they were attacked, again. He looked throught the many cabinets and drawers expectantly, but in vain. There was nothing. Nothing at all. So he CLIP-CLOPPED to the foot of the staircase that most likely led to the rooms.

"I haven't found anything!" He called to his sisters, still searching. "And by the way of the mass silence, I assume you haven't either. Let's go up and have a word with our innkeeper!" He motioned to his sisters, and they started up the staircase.

"I don't know anything, I swear! I was only to follow those instructions should a Unicorn appear! It is obvious now that we were all deceived." A dandelion yellow Earth pony told her interrogators. The three Alicorns had found her upstairs in a rented room, completely oblivious to the shootout below her. They had purposefully opened her door and walked inside, Celestia binding the surprised Sun Blossom. The Alicorns figured that was because of a Softening Spell. "All I was told was--"

"We know what you were told." A dark blue Alicorn had cut her off. "Atla here, found your letter in a drawer." She indicated a silvery coated Alicorn, his eyes green, by the door. "What we want to know is WHO gave you the letter."

Sun racked her brain, thinking back to a few weeks ago. Who was it? Who was it? She couldn't think of it now. Sun tries again. Searching through her memories, she finds a vivid image of a crimson coated guard handing her a letter. Said it was from "high up".

Sun turned to the blue Alicorn's impatient eyes. "A guard gave me the letter!"

A pearly white Alicorn responded. "We're going to need more than that to go off of."

Sun inwardly cursed her rushed reply. "He was crimson-coated! And--he had wings."

An inner knowledge shone through the blue Alicorn's eyes. It obviously had some significance, for the white Alicorn muttered "Flame Shard" under her breath.

Sun didn't understand. "Flame Shard?"

The silvery Alicorn walked over. "Don't you worry too much about that. We have business elsewhere now, sisters." The other two nodded solemnly. "I didn't catch your name, miss--?"

"Sun Blossom. My name is Sun Blossom." Why did he want my name?

"Alright, Sun Blossom. My name is Atla, here is Luna," He looked at the blue Alicorn. He then pointed at the white-coated Alicorn. "She is Celestia. We came here for answers. And we received a few. Thank you for your time, Sun Blossom." He turned to leave.

"Wait!" Sun didn't know what she was doing, but she didn't want to be left here alone. "Let me come with you. I want to find out why I was involved in all of this, and who did it." Also another reason.

Atla turned abruptly, smiling. "Then you'd better come with us, yes?" He held out his hoof as Celestia removed her bindings.

As the group walked out into the street, (Sun Blossom was alarmed by the bodies, which then took a few minutes to explain) the sun just starting it's slow but inevitable ascension, Luna said, "We came because of questions. We are leaving because of questions. The world has an interesting sense of humor..."

"That it does." Celestia responded. "That it does, dear sister."

They raced through the narrow cobbled streets, on their way to the great white building. They needed to have a word with Flet Flight about Flame Shard. But, as they sped past three old mares in a deep discussion on what color wool should be dyed and how, they heard many shouts. The group stopped and redirected themselves towards the shouting, curiosity present on their minds. Luna also noticed how the sun was blotted out by clouds so suddenly, and how the sky seemed to grow unusually orange.

Celestia was the first to round the corner into the square and see what was the cause of the shouts. A large group of guards were in the process of fighting off a large Dreconi. The Dreconi was seven feet tall, his horn gnarled and twisted. He swooped low and impaled a cobalt-coated Pegasus on his horn, while a guard rushed forward and swung a long heavy broadsword in his mouth at the Dreconi's armor-plated leg. It created a loud CLANG, and the Earth pony guard dropped his sword in the recoil of his swing. The Dreconi braced his right front-leg on the impaled Pegasus, and ripped him off of his horn.

Celestia stood, terrified as the rest of her group followed her. They all stopped, mouth's agape, at the horror of it. A Dreconi? In Sholdan? Just then another shout reverberated throughout the entire block. "THE CITY IS UNDER ATTACK!!! TO ARMS! TO ARMS!!!"

Chapter Two: Of Things That Crawl And Creep In The Dark

Of Things That Crawl And Creep In The Dark

"...When confronted by un-calculable odds, add tactics to the equation...."

- Alphidesh, Siege of Eskrimilee

The day was bright, clear, and all together very happy. The mood was more or less strained. The three Alicorns had gotten up around late morning, and had immediately stretched their tired bodies, readying for flight once more. Their course took them away from the river they had followed with so much hope the day before, and towards the gloomy mountains off in the distance.

"It has to be twenty leagues until we get anywhere near those mountains!" Luna had said this as they flew over a wide-ranging forest.

"I know, but we don't have any other leads!" Celestia had to shout above the wind to be heard. "This is all we have got at the moment!" Atla looked in the direction of the river they had left this morning. His doubts had doubled, but he wasn't one to share these sort of feelings with his sisters.

"It isn't that far! We used to fly way farther than this back in Faerlahern!" His optimistic words renewed their determination. "And anyway, I'm sure that if there is life in those caves, it won't move for a long while. It has gotten colder since we arrived! The breath of winter is almost here!" He hadn't realized how much that had reversed his previous words effect until he saw Luna, breathing heavily and exhausted. His attitude once again lifted another from doubt. "But this day is so beautiful! I haven't seen a more perfect day than this since I was a young Alicorn running around the castle!" The mention of their home seemed to help lessen the effort in the tired wings of his sister. He sighed a breath of relief, glad that he knew his sister so well.

Their course was direct, and it wasn't long until they had reached a valley six leagues away from the nearest peak.

Luna landed first, none too gently, and looked about her. Not only was this a broad valley, it was filled with trees. She identified several large oaks before Celestia landed next to her.

Celestia was breathing heavily in exhaustion. "This--this is pretty." Celestia said as she gazed about her, admiring the scenery. Then Atla landed lightly a few feet behind them. They turned at the noise, and he was surprised to see their faces in a trance-like state. He stumbled back a bit in alarm.

"Isn't this place just serene?" Luna's voice sounded odd to Atla. And he just realized how unnaturally quiet this valley had suddenly become. As if it were holding it's breath, waiting for something to happen. "This place is--" She cringed for a half-second, then she went back to normal seamlessly. Atla saw something in Luna's eyes he was horrified to see. They had a hungry look about them. "--is like we're in a dream!" If only it were so.

Atla then takes a look at Celestia, wanting to check her eyes as well, but she had her back to him turning her head this way and that at a slow pace. He knew what this was. It was a Hypnosis spell. But who was casting it? They had to be powerful if they were affecting Celestia and Luna so.

"Celestia--let's finish our mission. Let us go to those caves up there!" He said this to try and snap her out of it. It was a failure. It seemed that in their more tired state, they were more succeptible to influence than normal. Atla cursed under his breath. He had to find the source of this, then he could disrupt it's connection. His horn started to faintly glow light blue as he focused his thoughts there in an effort to catch a trace of this Hypnosis spell. "It's a good thing father thought it best for me to be in the army," Atla thought ironically. Unas-lahn, Atla's father, had had him trained extensively for a defensive role in the army, protecting the Legionarres from magical harm. He didn't get anything. Until he carried his blanket of searching towards the mountains. He caught a spike of power coming from one of the caves, and he stamped his hooves in excitement.

Celestia and Luna looked far from wanting to accompany him, and so it proved when he asked for their assistance. They had stated that they'd rather stay here, in this "mesmerizing region," and so he left them there, muttering bitterly under his breath.

He didn't have much longer to go to reach the caves as he had thought. This helped bolster his resolve as he trudged up the rocky slope to the cave that he perceived to be the origins of his distress. A rush of foul air met his nostrils as he reached the cave opening. His eyes watering, Atla performed an Illumination spell and plunged into the mouth of the cave.

The stench had only strengthened as Atla pushed farther into the hole. He had to bow his head down because of the stalactites dotting the ceiling. In the tunnel, it was pitch-black dark. There wasn't any light except that coming from Atla's horn. And even that was second to useless, only providing enough light in the twisty cave system to see several yards ahead of himself. His muscles tensed whenever he reached a bend in the tunnel, preparing for the worst. The atmosphere in there was altogether very eerie. He could've sworn he heard whisperings behind him and above him, but whenever he shined the light on the areas of suspicion, they suddenly hushed. He didn't like it in there, not one bit. But Atla had to keep going, he couldn't stop. He had to save his sisters.

The walls seemed to be moving! Like they were quivering. Atla shook his head vigorously, thinking the smell was making him light-headed. Everything began to swim, and he realized somepony was tampering with his mind. He quickly formed a protective spell, and let it explode out of the end of his horn, light falling around him. He regained his balance and felt the tamperings slowly cease. Whew! He wiped the sweat gathering on his deep blue mane off, and continued forward.

The time he was in the cave seemed like eons of monotonous labor, every stalactite and stalagmite looked exactly the same in the claustrophobic space. But he wasn't walking in circles for the cave only led him in a single direction. And when the end of the windy cave system came into view he yelled some words about thanking Halmir.

Or he would have, had he not seen something that caused the words in his throat to catch. He instantly stepped back four paces, extinguished his light, and he slinked behind a large stalagmite. His breathing became fast as he said a prayer to his ancestors. What he had seen around the corner had been some Dreconi. Dreconi were a race of semi-Unicorn creatures that the Alicorn Legion had fought for thirty years on the island of Shalfallaheln, the only known place on the planet to contain pure, natural Mitheril. Dreconi were large creatures, their bodies similar to Unicorns. But they had scales on their torsos, without a covering anywhere else. On their backs were enlarged scales, like ridges. And though they have manes and tails when they're younger, they quickly fall out, leaving them bald. If these Dreconi had been older they might have been wearing armor on their legs and their body, but fortunately they had been but youths.They were intellegent enough when they aged, for they knew how to perform a few incantations and operate a forge. But they lacked purity, for they were rumored to be Unicorns who were corrupted by a dark chaotic magic in the beginning ages of time. They did not have a constant color, but most were either a ruddy brown or a deep crimson. Their eyes were balls of fire, showing their pure hatred for everything else living. And they had long jagged fangs used for devouring anypony to have enough misfortune to come across them. But the one thing they hated more than Alicorns was the sun, their only naturally found fatal flaw. For in the sun their magic becomes completely useless, the sun's ultra-violet rays blocking their heartless spells. Dreconi blood is very hot, and when their skin is in contact with alien heat, it boils. That is why you would find them in the Mitheril-filled mines of Shalfallaheln, brooding in the darkness. And that is why Atla had found them here, in this cave huddled about a small, limp body. They were feasting on recent prey.

Atla gave a deep shuddering breath, and he began to prepare an Incineration spell. Fire. In the war over Shalfallaheln, the Alicorn armies used spells of Incineration and developed fire bombs to be used when the Dreconi tried to advance upon Legion positions during the night.

He hoped it would strike true, for he would not have another shot if he missed. He took another deep breath in a relevant attempt to calm himself, and moved out from behind the stalagmite. He would've crumpled to the floor on the spot had he not braced himself against the stalagmite. He bent his head down, aimed as best as he could, and loosed the spell at the horde of Dreconi. A raging inferno consumed the Dreconi. The Dreconi screeched in pain, blisters popping up where their raw skin was exposed, blood vaporizing. Atla's ears almost seemed to explode as the Dreconi burned. He covered his ears with his legs trying desperately to drown out the intense, high pitched wailing from the dying Dreconi. Their bodies were blackened, and steam was issuing from their faces. The horrible stench only increased, forcing Atla to perform a Filtration spell so he wouldn't pass out. He was completely spent.

He moves over to the destruction he had brought upon the corrupted Unicorns. There wasn't much that he could discern from their corpses. He grimaced at the irony, for his spell had been strong enough to kill them, but it was so powerful to leave him without any leads. He cursed the future of the Dreconi, for he had wanted something to help him discover how ancient enemies of Alicorns had gotten here in Equestria. The only thing recongnizable in the refuse of bodies was a single red leg that had scorch marks up it's length. He turned and retched, the sight was sickening. Atla turned back as a nasty thought crept into his head. We now know what happened to that pony Celestia had sensed earlier. Atla found his way out of the cave, a most impressive feat for him in his current condition.

As the sun burned onto Atla's eyes, he caught sight of Luna and Celestia some distance away. They were in a heap upon the grass. Atla flew over to them in a worried rush, fearing the worse. As he reached them, he saw that they were still breathing. He let out a long, heavy sigh of gratitude. He believed that the hex the Dreconi had weaved around this area was designed to lead prey into the cave, straight into their gaping jaws. But since Luna and Celestia were Alicorns, and these Dreconi were fairly young, it had only managed to confuse then subdue them. It was directly a good thing for Atla as well, that they were young. Older Dreconi would have resisted his Incineration spell with ease, and he would have ended up as a nice desert.

Atla roused the two sisters, who woke with much difficulty. They just stared at his sweat-drenched face. Atla breathed deeply, and exhaled, satisfied. Then he toppled onto the warm grass half-awake. He panted,"Promise me you two won't let your guard down again, will you?" and passed out before they could promise anything.