The garden was dark in the city of Canterlot. Not many ponies went far into its deep recesses. There sat statues from time so old that the name of the pony they represented was lost to time. In these dark paths only the keeper of the garden did tread. It had been a long week and the stallion was tired. He chuckled to himself and muttered that he must be getting old. Taking out his machete he went to work on the side of a random section of the maze. Then he slipped. To his surprise he felt not the bight of wood in his mouth but firmness of stone accompanied with a clang. Piercing into the bush he was surprised to see what looked like the base of a statue hidden by the overgrowth. Muttering to himself he began to cut away at the growth. A few hours later he stood back to admire the large stone monument. It was a pony adorned in armor vaguely similar to the night guards. What caught his attention was not the clothing of the pony however. No it was what adorned his head and the scar under the eye. The ponies' horn was adorned with a strange artifact. Using a latter he had brought earlier the pony climbed up to get a good look at the item. It was exquisitely detailed with strange marking covering it entire length. The Earth pony leaned in a little closer and screamed out in pain when he slipped. The old stallion's eye had been rammed right into the pointed end of the statues horn. Blood now adorned the face of the stone as the living pony walked slowly toward the palace office to call a doctor... He was gone for a good time when the first crack appeared in the stone work. Slowly, agonizingly the stone began to fall away. Even as it did the rest began to grow to cover the gaps but the stallion would not be denied with a force of will it shattered the broken remnant of the spell and turned his head skyward for the first time in a thousand years.
His lips formed a single word as a wave of magic came to fill the void left in his being
"Luna." Staring out from eyes frozen forward. Looking at a leafy wall until the greenery itself had swallowed him... and yet he still loved her. The moon goddess. He had cried every morning in his soul knowing that her dreams had yet to be realized. He stretched and reached over his back pulling out the sword named bloody sonata. He listened for its song but the cry for blood was so quiet.
"How long hath I been cast upon the winds of time?" he asked. The answer shocked him. A thousand years. A thousand years. How could he still be sane after so long? A cold voice answered he may not be but the warlock ignored it. Looking up once again his eyes cleared enough to look upon his beloved queen. Then his heart froze, but quickly leaped with joy!
"She hath escaped! hahahheha" The laughter came out slightly mad and broken as if from a soul that had almost forgotten how to laugh.
"Twas quiet in my favor that the clumsy gardener hath spilled so much blood upon me. Even an Earth pony's essence hath enough power to break the seal. That was always the weakness of stone sealing. Tis meant to keep the victim in not others out. With his magic I could break the spell." Then he thought why am I saying this aloud? I know what I did.
Jumping down he knew that escaping undetected was the most important thing. The queen would want him to raise an army quiet soon. He smiled thinking how good it would be to see her again.
He mind flashed back to the time before the stone. It had been him guarding Nightmare in the command tent as she spoke with her commander. It had been nothing but business. They talked of the final battle and of alternatives. They could think of none. Just before leaving however she had stopped and smiled at him. He was a lowly captain but she had been speaking with him recently. Not on topics of war but of... normal things, how she was feeling and what she thought of different ponies. The queen of the night leaned low and.... kissed him on the cheek. She had whispered in his ear telling him she would need a prince and he had whole heartedly agreed.
It was a broken dream now anyway. The battle had gone so badly. In the end he had watched as the elements hit his beloved queen and her image appears on the moon. He had grown mad at the sight. As he cried tears the Sun tyrant had come before him using her honeyed words asking him to lay down his weapon.
He had struck out at her with his power. In the end a hundred guards had fallen with him. He ran. For six years he had fought on with a small army. He became the commander and tried his best to fight on. In the end though he had faced Star Swill alone... The coward had sealed him away instead of killing him. The palace was destroyed with their fight however. It still made him smile to think of Celestia's face as she looked at the damage.
The warrior snapped back to the present and moved like a shadow. He dared not use magic in what was likely the Tyrants back yard. No he would have to escape unnoticed. Leaving the guardians was easy just follow the blood trail. He smiled as he saw the guards at the exit were distracted by the injured stallion. They heard nothing as he slipped by. The main gate was carefully guarded. All of the soldiers wore the armor of the tyrant. It was obvious his queen must be elsewhere. Then his heart skipped a beat. Did his eyes deceive him? Or was that his queen standing on yonder patio looking at her beautiful moon with sadness in her eyes. What should he do? It was obvious. He hid till one guard was distracted then stabbed him in the backt of the neck and sent a bit of magic to make him sleep. Pulling him behind a building he stripped the sun guard and allowed his magic armor to enter his hoof bracelet. He hoped his queen would forgive him but there was no hope without the desecration.
