“This is sooo relaxing, Marim. Why don’t we do this sort of thing more often?” The creamy white alicorn mare relaxed in the rivers’ current, allowing its steady movement to carry her troubles along with it. Her pink and red mane billowed around her head underwater as a soft cloud.

“Because you always say you’re too busy, silly,” the sky-blue filly responded with a laugh. “You really should relax more often.” The small earth pony swam steadily back and forth in the gentle currents.

“Well, you’ve convinced me.” Corvare sighed as she felt knots in her neck she hadn’t even realized were there start to loosen at the rivers constant pressure. The calmness of the forest surroundings helped to clear her mind of the dozens of responsibilities she was letting pile up while she lay there.

“What’s this?” came the more masculine voice of her older brother, Nemus. “Is my uptight sister actually enjoying herself for once? Will wonders ever cease...?” The slightly mocking tone set Corvare’s teeth slightly on edge, but her older brother’s presence was part of what was relaxing her, so she let it go. She really didn’t get to see enough of Nemus these days.

“Aww, don’t be so mean, Nemus,” Marim piped up. “She works hard to keep us all safe, just like you do.”

“Don’t worry about me, Marim,” Corvare spoke up. “Not even Nemus could spoil my good mood right now.”

“A challenge? Now don’t tempt me further.” Corvare sighed again, this time in annoyance. “I tease, sister; enjoy your day off.” Reassured, she settled back, determined to make the most of the day.

“So, where is Celestia?” Marim asked. “I thought she was going to join us.”

And just like that, the moment’s ruined, Corvare thought as she felt all those knots begin to tighten back up. She couldn’t really blame Marim though; being tactful was never a strong aspect of eight-year old fillies.

“How should I know,” Corvare responded, trying her best to keep her tone light and civil. Her jealousy dripped through her charade though, making Nemus and Marim exchange an awkward glance. “She’s probably somewhere showing off to mother.”

An uncomfortable silence hung over the three, the flow of the river the only noise until Nemus cleared his throat. “Ahem, well, any idea where Luna got off to? I saw her run off with Atton this morning.” Marim looked pointedly away.

“Not sure, they could be anywhere by now.”

“And what’s that supposed to mean?” Nemus asked, slightly concerned. Luna wasn’t known for being the most level-headed of fillies.

“Oh, nothing, I think Luna asked Atton to teach her how to, uh, fly.”

“What!” Corvare sat up hurriedly, throwing water over the other two. “Luna is far too young to be trying to fly! Where is she?” Marim shrugged her shoulders and opened her mouth to reply, but stopped and tilted her head as if listening to something. Looking up, she smiled and pointed.

“Oh, there she is.” Nemus and Corvare both looked up in time to see a blue blur come crashing down into the river. Corvare and Marim both jumped back in surprise, but Nemus quickly dove after his little sister. He came back up a few moments later several meters downstream from where Luna had landed, the blue alicorn filly securely held in his teeth.

He swam to the edge of the river before dumping the sputtering and coughing Luna on the shore and hauling himself out. “Are you okay, Luna,” he asked as he helped his sister sit up and spit out an impressive amount of water. She nodded, but was still coughing too hard to speak.

Marim and Corvare pulled themselves out of the river as well and ran to check on Luna as Nemus tried to shake the water off of his feathers. Marim ran up and started to pound on Luna’s back. “There you go, Luna, just cough up all that water so you can breath.”

“It’s okay,” Luna choked out between coughing fits. “I’m... fine.”

“Wow, Luna,” came another voice from above. They looked up to see another sky-blue pegasus, Marim’s twin brother, Atton. He floated on a cloud just above them, an excited grin on his face. “You did much better that time.”

“That was a complete free-fall,” Corvare practically yelled at the young colt. “How could that, in any way, have been an improvement?!”

Atton thought carefully for a moment. “Well,” he answered carefully. “She managed to not hit the ground this time.”

“Oh, by the stars, Luna.” Corvare kneeled down next to her sister, taking a closer look at her. Her small body was covered in bumps, scratches, and bruises, and she was carefully nursing her front left leg. “Nemus, help me with her smaller injuries.”

Nemus nodded and closed his eyes. His horn lit up, and a green aura surrounded Luna as his healing magic went to work. The scratches closed and the bumps and bruises faded away. Luna squirmed around, giggling.

“That tickles,” she squeaked out as the strange sensations made her skin crawl slightly. “Ow!” she exclaimed as Corvare tried to extend her hurt leg all the way. Luna slapped her sister’s hooves away. “That hurt, Corvare!”

“Of course it hurt,” Corvare said as she tried to get Luna to hold still. “I’m pretty sure your leg’s broken.” Corvare grabbed Luna’s hoof again and started to extend her leg, slower this time. The pain made Luna squirm around more, instinctively trying to pull away from the source of pain.

“Marim, can you help hold her still so I can fix her leg?” Corvare asked the blue earth pony. Marim wrapped Luna up in a hug, holding her still and comforting her at the same time.

“It’s okay, Luna, just a few moments, and you’ll start to feel much better.” The amber glow of Corvare’s spell wrapped around Luna’s injured knee, and she whimpered at the prickling pain that pierced her leg. “It won’t last much longer; remember when I broke my leg? Corvare fixed it up so fast I barely felt it.”

Sure enough, just a few moments after Corvare started her spell, the pain in Luna’s leg began to fade, leaving a slightly numb sensation behind. As Corvare let the spell dissipate, Luna stretched her leg around, glad to be pain-free once more.

“Thanks, Corvare,” Luna said, smiling at her older sister. Corvare smiled back and patted Luna on the head. Then she straightened up into her ‘lecture’ pose that Luna recognized so well.

“I’m so sorry, I promise I won’t do it again,” Luna blurted out quickly, hoping to head her sister off and avoid a lengthy lecture.

“Sorry isn’t going to do it this time, Luna.” The serious look on Corvare’s face left Luna slightly worried. “You were seriously hurt; you could have died!”

“I really am sorry this time though. I promise not to do it again, please don’t tell mother.”

“This is far beyond telling mother, Luna. I’m of half a mind to not let you out of my sight for the next fifty years!” Now that was a scary thought; Luna loved her eldest sister, but Corvare was boring! All she ever did was walk around the forest and look out past the borders into the wasteland.

“Oh, there’s no need to go to that extreme,” Nemus spoke up, earning him a heartfelt thankful look from his youngest sister. “I think it’s time she starts her magic lessons, and who better to teach her than mother?”

Luna’s relieved expression turned to one of horror; mother spent all her time in dusty laboratories and moldy libraries. She couldn’t imagine a more boring experience. Corvare thought it over carefully for a moment.

“You may be right, Nemus,” Corvare said thoughtfully, looking at Luna’s face. She had no intention of having mother teach Luna; mother was far too busy for that. If Luna was forced to ‘choose’ her mentors though, Corvare preferred she chose her siblings rather than be forced into it. Corvare opened her mouth to give her ultimatum, but Atton cut her off.

“Hey, look over there,” he cried out, and everypony else turned to look where he was pointing. “Is that a vesper pony?” Sure enough, walking through the trees was a dark grey pony with the large ears and leathery wings of a vesper.

What’s a vesper doing here? Corvare wondered. Vesper, or bat ponies, lived apart from the rest of the three tribes, living in their secret home, The Hollow. It was rare to see one in the forest, and judging from the direction it was traveling, it had just come from the Tower.

The pony turned to look in their direction and its eyes met with Corvare’s. Instead of the reptilian eyes of a vesper though, a normal rounded pupil set within pale yellow stared back at her. Corvare stiffened, a low growl sounding deep in her throat.

“It’s him!” she spat out.

“It is?” Nemus sounded surprised and he took a much closer look. “Well, well, it’s been a few decades since we saw him last.”

“Who,” Luna asked, wondering who could visibly upset Corvare so much.

“His name is Umbralaven.”

“Nemus!” Corvare spun on her brother, furious.

“What?” Nemus replied, unshaken by her temper. “She’ll only keep bugging us until we tell her.” Corvare growled again, but kept quiet as Nemus turned back to Luna. “Umbra is a shapeshifter; you remember the stories father would tell you, about how he and mother used the Elements of Harmony to defeat the Heart of Chaos and bring order to the world?”

Luna nodded; it was only her favorite story of all time! “Do you remember the part about the chaos demon, the one who guided mother and father to the Heart?”

“That was him?” Nemus nodded in reply. “Then if he’s a friend, why is this the first time I’ve seen him?” Nemus started to respond, but Corvare cut him off.

“Friend? Ha, he’s more like a lost animal that father turned into a pet. I don’t know why father allows him to roam free.”

“He prefers his privacy,” Nemus answered Luna, ignoring Corvare. “Sometimes though, he comes to visit to help our parents out with a magical problem they might be having.” Luna’s eyes lit up at that.

“He’s good at magic?”

“Very good, apparently, though I don’t know how powerful he really is.” Luna sat thinking for a long moment.

“Hey, Atton,” she suddenly spoke up. The pegasus colt peeked at her over the edge of his cloud.

“Yeah?”

“You hungry?”

“A little,” he admitted cheerily.

“Then let’s go back to the Tower, I’m starving.”

“Oh, okay; bye Marim, I’ll see you later.” Marim waved goodbye to her twin before jumping back into the river with a splash.

“I’ll want to talk to you later, Luna,” Corvare called out as Luna and Atton zoomed off on the cloud together. Marim, Corvare, and Nemus settled back into the rivers current, Corvare doing her best to relax again. Nemus shifted around for a few minutes uncomfortably.

“You do know she went after Umbralaven, right?” he finally spoke up.

“What?” Corvare stared at him, dumbfounded.

“Why else would she want lunch at nine in the morning?”

Corvare sat stunned for a few tense moments before shooting out of the water. “Why didn’t you say something sooner?!”

“I thought it was obvious,” he responded.

“Well, it wasn’t! Oh, when I find her, she is going to be in so much trouble.”

“This is far enough.” Luna had to shout to make herself heard over the rushing wind; Atton really enjoyed flying fast. Atton turned to her, confused.

“Far enough from what?”

“Far enough from Corvare so she can’t find me before I catch up to Umbra-what’s-his-name.”

“So, wait,” Atton said as he slowed their speed enough so they didn’t have to yell at each other. “You mean we’re not going to get some food?”

“Of course not, it’s only— don’t tell me you’re already hungry?”

“A little, yeah,” Atton answered defensively. “You would be too if you had to fly another pony around all day!”

“Ugh, alright fine, just put me down here. Then you can go stuff your face.”

“Alright,” he replied cheerfully, lowering the cloud until it hovered only a few feet off the ground. “Bye, Luna,” he called as she jumped off, then took off, flying back in the direction of the Tower. She head into the forest, quickly finding the trail that Umbralaven had left.

The trail he left was obvious to the filly, who spent much of her time in the forest. The disturbed leaves and broken branches allowed her to quickly and easily follow him. She kept a brisk pace, her head down as she kept her eyes open for the trail.

Her heart leapt in her chest at a sudden rush of movement behind her. Spinning around, she held as motionless as she could as she looked among the trees for any sign of movement. Her ears twitched, listening for odd sounds, but all she heard was her own pounding heart.

Nothing was there.

Luna’s heartbeat slowly returned to normal, and as the sound of birds and scampering of squirrels returned, she sighed in relief. She relaxed and turned to follow the trail again— and recoiled in surprise.

A pair of ponies stood not five feet away from her, studying her closely with orange reptilian eyes. How did they sneak up on me like that, she thought in amazement. The vesper stared at her, and she stared back. Vesper ponies were so rare and reclusive, this was the first time she had been close to one. It was amazing to her how something so similar could be so alien.

The two had dark grey fur, but the one on the left was slightly darker. They were the same size and build, though Luna thought the one on the right was male. Their extra-large ears swiveled and twitched, the only movement except for the occasional slow blink. Their muzzles were slightly shorter than an average pony, their mouths slightly wider with the tips of their pointed teeth showing.

“Uhh... hello?” Luna said, finally breaking the silence.

“Is there something we can help you with?” the one on the right asked, its deep voice confirming that it was male.

“Oh, no, not really,” Luna replied, hesitating a moment. “I was just following somepony.”

“You were following us,” The mare on the left said caustically, baring her fangs slightly.

“My mistake, I was trying to follow... you know, it doesn’t really matter, sorry for bothering you.” Luna turned and started to run, but ran smack into something standing behind her. She staggered back with a yelp, holding her nose.

“Perhaps I could help you then?”

It was another vesper, but this one was slightly taller and instead of the reptilian slits, his pupils were a normal circle. His eyes were a pale yellow that seemed to glow slightly. Luna gasped in surprise, but when she realized who it was, she stood up straight and tried to give a welcoming smile.

“Hello, my name is Luna,” she introduced herself, taking care to be respectful. “Are you Umbralaven?”

“Yes,” he replied, a bored look on his face.

“Is it true that you’re a shapeshifter?”

“It is.”

“Cool, can you show me?” Luna asked in excitement.

“I could, but I won’t,” he deadpanned in reply.

“Oh,” Luna said, greatly disappointed.

“Is that all you wanted?” He started to move around her without waiting for an answer, but she jumped quickly in front of him again.

“Wait, I had one more question,” Luna cried.

“Very well,” he replied, but now he looked and sounded bored and impatient.

“I hear you’re good with magic; is that true?”

“Yes, I am; do you have any other questions, or can I go now?”

“Just one more,” Luna said, and her chest tightened up a bit with nervousness. “It’s more of a favor really; could you please teach me magic?” She closed her eyes tight, her chest swelling up as she held her breath.

“No.”

...

He brushed past her and continued through the trees leaving her behind. Luna blinked a couple of times in surprise before whirling around and chasing after him. His two companions were following him closely, but she pushed past them to walk behind Umbralaven.

“Why not?” she asked, careful to not sound as though she were whining.

“Because I said so, isn’t that enough?”

“Of course not; that only says that you don’t really have a reason, you’re just lazy.” He gave her an arch look over his shoulder, but she just smiled sweetly at him.

“I have no desire to teach someone as young as you,” he finally answered turning back to look where he was going.

“As an alicorn, isn’t my age relational? After all, I’m already older than most ponies I know.”

“The word you’re looking for is ‘relative’, and no it isn’t. By my standards you are still very young, barely more than a squalling infant.”

“There’s no need to be condensing,” Luna replied, slightly annoyed now.

“That’s ‘condescending’, and stop using big words you don’t know the meaning of.” Umbralaven’s tone had gone from impatient to annoyed.

“Are you going to be my teacher,” she asked innocently.

“No.”

“Then you really can’t tell me what to do, can you? Now give me a real reason.”

“Listen,” Umbralaven snarled, his tone causing Luna ‘s smile to fade. “Even if I wanted to teach you, which I don’t, your father would never allow it.” That stopped Luna in her tracks; it really was a good reason. Even if he did agree to teach her, she would need her father’s permission. And why would he give permission when she had an entire family of powerful magic users to teach her? The thought angered her, and she felt her chance to learn something different and exciting slipping through her hooves.

“So, my sister was right then,” she yelled after him, letting her anger speak for her. “You really are nothing more than my father’s pet.” The reaction to that was instantaneous. The vesper mare spun angrily to snarl at her, while the other stared at her darkly. Umbralaven’s reaction was the most interesting though.

He paused for a moment, his head tilted slightly before turning to look at her as if seeing her for the first time. The vesper mare crouched as if to pounce at Luna, who backed up in alarm, but just as she moved to leap, Umbralaven held out a hoof to restrain her. She looked up at him in confusion that only deepened when she saw his face.

Umbralaven walked towards Luna slowly, intensely studying her. Their eyes met, and the scrutiny of his gaze gave Luna the shivers; it was as if he was not just seeing her, but every little thing that she was made of. Every hair in her mane, every speck of dust on her hooves, every vein in her eyes. She even imagined that she could feel him looking into her very thoughts.

Luna couldn’t take it any more; she broke eye contact, looking down at the ground and the sensation vanished. She felt his continued gaze on her for several long moments before he spoke again.

“An attempt at manipulation,” he remarked thoughtfully; it wasn’t a question. “To try and evoke an emotional response on my part in order to force me to choose to give you what you want, just so I could prove you wrong about me.” He chuckled softly before continuing.

“Unfortunately for you, I couldn’t care less what you think of me. Still,” he continued, his tone still thoughtful, “you show more cunning than I would have expected from one so young.”

“I’m little, not young,” Luna remarked obstinately, daring to look at him once more.

“You’re both,” he countered coolly, and Luna scowled at him. “Still, you have managed to make yourself a bit more interesting.”

“So you’ll teach me then?” Luna asked, her heart soaring with hope.

“Not quite yet, I need to know if you are even worth the time it would take to teach you anything worthwhile.” Umbralaven raised one of his wings, revealing a pouch he had concealed underneath. His eyes glowed brightly, and a pale yellow aura opened the pouch and removed what appeared to be a small rock, its surface uneven and multi-hued. He floated the rock over to her, and she took it hesitantly.

“What is this?” she asked nervously.

“A test,” he answered. “If you can make that seed grow into fruition and bring me the flower that sprouts from its top, then I will agree to teach you anything you wish to know about magic... within reason of course.”

“And if I can’t?”

“Then I doubt very much that we will ever speak again. There is a simple rule that you must follow. It must be you who casts the spell to make the seed grow, as well as pick the flower. I don’t care if you get help, but it must be your work or it doesn’t count. Be careful as well who you show the seed to. Show it to the wrong person, and they will want to know where you got it. If they don’t like the answer... well, they’ll probably take it from you.”

“You have three days to do this; I will be waiting for you here at sundown on the third day. If you break the rule, I will know, and I won’t even bother showing up. Do you understand?”

Luna nodded and looked down at the seed she held in her hooves—

“Enjoying the memories?”

Luna sat up in bed with a start, her breath coming in gasps as she tried to place where she was. A quick look around showed she was in her room at the tower; she gave a relieved sigh. The sunlight streaming through her window gave her a clear view of her spacious bedroom, as well as her young guest. The sight of Starswirl still curled up in his small bed snoring softly brought the events of the previous night back to her.

Rolling out of bed, she stretched herself out and rubbed her eyes awake. She felt far better after a good night’s sleep, though she still felt slightly sore. Walking over to his sleeping form, she made certain the protection spell she placed on him last night was still in effect, relaxing further as a blue aura shone around him.

What a strange thing to dream about, considering recent events, she thought, both her dream and Starswirl’s still weighing on her mind.

“Very strange indeed.”

Luna froze, confusion and nervousness tightening her stomach. There was no one else here, but she had still heard the voice clearly. “Umbralaven?” she whispered.

“A messenger will be arriving soon,” came the voice again, and Luna realized with fear that it was coming from her own mind. Now that she had noticed, she could feel his presence in her head like a wet cloth resting on her forehead. “It would be best if you were ready to receive her.”

“Get out of my head,” she whispered again, the best she could manage through her fear and surprise. The bizarre sensation faded away as quickly as she had noticed it. Feeling light-headed, she leaned against her bed for a moment, trying to come to grips with what had just happened.

He has grown much more powerful since we last met, she thought with a twinge of concern over Starswirl’s safety. Whatever Umbralaven had planned for the colt, it certainly didn’t seem too concerned with his mental health. Well, he isn’t the only one who’s learned a few new tricks, she thought as confidently as she could manage.

Walking over to one of her cabinets, she opened a drawer filled with jewelry, some expensive, others not quite so. Selecting a small necklace of silver, she held it up for closer inspection. The necklace itself was simple, just a silver chain, but the adornment was of the moon, skillfully carved.

It had been a gift from a vesper filly who had admired her from afar. It was the first piece she had crafted after earning her cutie mark in metal-working, and she had made it as a sign of appreciation for the young mare she had looked up to.

This will do just fine, Luna thought as she carried the necklace over to her desk. Dipping a quill into some ink, she carefully wrote a few simple lines onto a piece of parchment that she then rolled into a scroll.

Grabbing both scroll and necklace, she stopped to look at Starswirl one more time. He slept soundly, still under the effect of the sleeping potion. She stared at him, her expression unreadable. She watched his side gently rise and fall for a few moments, then turned, leaving the room to find her sister.

Author's Note

It's been a long time, but the new chapter is finally up. Also, if you don't mind just leave a short comment to let me know what you thought, I'd appreciate it, especially since it has been so long.