CHAPTER 3
A Voice and the Princess of the Night

Beautiful hues of orange, red and purple filled the sky. Celestia's sun was beginning to set and it would soon be time for Luna's moon. However the beauty of the sunset went unnoticed too the eight disappointed ponies. All the ponies wore a slight frown as they mumbled save Pinkie of course who was still bouncing to keep up with the group. Although general displeasure was present all around Twilight was most concerned about the well being of what could have been potential friends. "I am really sorry what happened today you two." Said Twilight sadness welling in her voice.

"Twilight you have nothing to apologize for." pointed out Octavia. "Ya it's not your fault a massive crystal monster fell from the sky." added Vinyl smirking. Twilight felt awful inside and felt she need to point out exactly how dangerous this could have been. "But if it was not for the picnic this whole mess could have been avoided. The creature would not have tried too..." Twilight paused and nervously cleared her throat before continuing."Too do what ever it was going to do. What is more my friends and I dragged the both of you into the chase as well." The ponies that had been mumbling before were now listening to the discussion. Octavia let out a sigh. "I don't remember being dragged anywhere against my will." said Octavia flatly "Do you Vinyl?" Vinyl turned to face her room mate. "Naa! If I remember right we all cased after the creature because we were all concerned about each other as friends." Twilight eyes widened "Friends!?" she screamed still taken aback by what Vinyl had just said. Octavia both raised a brow at Twilight.

"Y-you object to our friendship?" asked Octavia with a trace of sadness in her voice. Twilight quickly shook he head. "No, no!" She stammered "It's just that today has been so counter productive for making friends." Octavia frowned. "Twilight I see no reason why the things that transpired today should get in the way of our friendship." She said placing a hoof on her shoulder. "Octavia... Thank you" she said breaking into a smile.

"Um I hate to spoil the moment but Twi I think we should really come up with a plan of action to deal with this thing" interjected Rainbow making a fake cough. "Huh... Yes of course!" Said Twilight breaking out of the moment of making a new friend. Everypony felt were this was going and gathered around Twilight getting ready to hear her plan of action.

"Ok," she started "We don't know what this thing is, what it wants, or if it is even dangerous." Everypony stayed absolutely quiet and at-tentative. "That 's why no pony outside this group may speak of this to anypony else. Last thing we need is a wide spread panic." They all nodded in agreement. "Also I am going to be writing to the princess on this matter when we get back. After which I would like to continue searching for it again tomorrow."

"Alright! Now were talking!" said Rainbow with excitement. Every pony seemed satisfied with the plan even Fluttershy was beaming with confidence.

"Ya this is going to be so sick! Tracking down a monster with you gals. SO COOL!" Said Vinyl full of glee. But every pony stared at her in confusion.

"What?" Octavia asked her room mate.

"Well of course were going with them Octi." Said Vinyl taking off her shades just to roll her eyes.

"WHAT!?" screamed Octavia

"Well you said it yourself Octi," said Vinyl smirking " These ponies are our friends and friends help friends out."

Octavia just adopted several shades of pale only able slur her words. "B-but... but... VINYL!" she wined. Everypony smiled at the sight of the civilized pony being teased by her DJ room mate.

I had finally awoken from my peaceful nap only to find that the forest was even darker then before. The sun must have been setting because some light was still present. I was considering going back to sleep but realized that I was not all that tired. Besides seeing that dark was approaching this would be the best time opportunity to move. I would be able to move around hopefully uninterrupted.

With my mind made up I raised my body to a standing position and dusted myself off. I had no idea were I should be going or what I was looking for so I arbitrarily choose a direction and set off. The forest was so ominous now that it was darker but at the same time beautiful. Plants that had adapted to surviving under low light circumstances let off a dim glow of all colors. Although they were very pretty too look at they offered little when it came to illumination.

It was this time that I decided it would be wise to experiment with my powers as I walked. Just like the mirror like surface I had made to spy on the equines I made 17 more and hovered them above the tree line to reflect light onto my path. I was very pleased with the result and surprised that it took so little if any focus to keep the 17 mirrors a float above the trees. It was as if that the shards were separate entities from me and would follow any order I give them and fulfill it until I gave them another.

Pleased with my discovery I continued to experiment.

My next discovery was less pleasant but still valuable information none the less. To my dismay I had found I could forcefully or order my shards to return to me with grater haste. I face palmed at this discovery having wished I had known that earlier. Brushing away my discontent I continued to experiment.

I found that the shards I released could be morphed into almost any form I wanted from cubes to spheres to spikes etc. I also found that I could make the spikes very sharp. When I tested this on a passing tree the spike neatly embedded itself two inches into the tree. Shuddering I preyed I would never have to use my power like that on another living being.

On another note I found that the more shards I poured into an object (a sphere in this case) the smoother it became. I tried this again and again until what hovered in front of me looked like a perfect sphere. Of course it was not perfect but a combination of slightly slanted edges so it was close.

A thought jumped into my mind. If I could alter the form of my shards theoretically I could change the form of my body. I considered this to be a reasonable hypothesis and that it would be well worth a shot. I focused more shards into my right arm making an elongated blade that replaced my hand. The blade came to my elbow and was bladed along the forearm side only. The blade's edge looked very sharp the way it glistened in the reflected light. "Well it looks sharp but I will need to test if it's actually sharp." I thought to myself. I walked up to a near by tree and with a back head motion swung the blade. There was no resistance. I looked up to try again and not miss this time but the top half of the tree began to slide. I starred as the tree toppled over at the clean cut I had made. I was so surprised I almost did not move out of the way. I starred at my arm as I returned it to it's 5 dulled talons. The last thing I need is the equines thinking I am some kind of monster.

Satisfied with my field experimentation I carried on just making objects. It was truly dark now and the only reflected light my air born mirrors could grasp was moon light. after walking for about an hour I passed through some brush to find myself in a small clearing. The clearing was about thirty meters long from were I stood and maybe seven meters wide at the far end which was occupied by a cave. in the center of the clearing was a small pond in a crescent shape with a small boulder and beside that boulder was a single tree with it's trunk slanted so most of it's foliage was over the pond. The tree itself caught and held my attention. It had pink peddles with slightly white tips. Each peddle was drifting in the slight breeze that presented itself and gently moved the foliage. High above the tree was a massive full moon that illuminated the entire area. The beauty of this place was breath taking. I found it hard to move or drag my eyes away from this wonderful place.

I managed to drag my eyes away long enough to order my mirrors to return. It was very bright down here so I would not be needing them. As they made a slow return reflecting light everywhere I made my way for the boulder to sit down. The boulder had a nice flat top which made sitting on it quite pleasant.

Finally seated I turned my eyes to the tree and pond. The tree reminded me of myself in a way. Every time it let it's peddles wander my shards would do the same. however the tree had me beat in color when it all came down to it. I think I was becoming attached to this place.

"This place would make a good home." I said out loud. My eyes winded instantly in disbelief at what I had just done. "HOW DID I JUST DO THAT!?" I screamed. This voice... my voice was sounding from every single shard on my body and the ones separated from me. It gave my new voice a very echo feel like it was in more then one place (which it was). I tried to collect my thoughts to figure out how I had just done that. An Idea clicked in my head. "Alright," I though to myself "Treat speech as a command."

"Hello my name is shard." I introduced to no one in particular. The voice was still coming from every where though but I was determined.

"Hello my name is shard" I introduced. The voice sounded only from my body this time. I was getting close. Before trying for the last time I designated on shard in the middle of my face to act as the medium until further notice. "Ok one more time." I thought to myself.

"Hello my name is Shard." I introduced clearly and calmly.

Mentally smiling I continued to say things to no one in particular. My tone changed as I got excited which only excited me more. Although I eventually calmed down sitting on the rock again to admire the tree I had no name for.

"In all honesty though I think I will take up residence here." I said with my new voice in a happy tone.

Luna soared looking upon the sleeping villages and admiring her beautiful handy work. She was usually not out and about the way she is tonight but she felt she needed the fresh air. She smiled as she passed each town seeing they were having pleasant dreams. Luna was happy that they had lived happy lives under her sisters sun but at the same time felt alone for very few enjoyed the beauty of her nights. "No Luna you can't think like that!" she said shaking her head. " It is only recently that yo..."

There were glimmers of light down below some of which had shinned directly into her eyes. With her train of thought broken she searched for the disturbance. "Who dares!?" she boomed at a volume that was just below her loyal Canterlot voice. She had found the source of the light to be coming from a small clearing in the Everfree forest. Her anger was instantly replaced with curiosity. Barely anypony should be awake at this hour let alone in the Everfree forest. Luna began her slow descend wondering who it could be.

Her question was answered when she flew close enough to see a hulking mass of crystal sitting on a rock. Luna remained suspended in the air staring in awe at it. What ever it was had stunned her with it's beauty. Some of what appeared to be pieces of it were defying all gravity and hovered around it. They were stunning the way the moonlight glinted off them like mirrors. At first she thought it to be an enchanted statue of sorts but quickly retracted that theory when its head turned sending out more fragments. Luna also noted that it was wearing clothing the likes of which she had never seen. It wore a long coat that was tattered and worn as well as some sort of black pants that looked brand new.

Luna was shocked unable to process anything about the thing that was in front of her. As she got the courage to get closer she could hear it saying something. Although she could not understand it she could tell that it was male from the tone of the voice.

Luna steadily lowered herself to the ground behind the creature. She paid extra attention to try and not make a sound. Her efforts however were in vain as she stepped on a dry leave with an audible crackling sound.The creatures head wiped around to see Luna.

They stared at one another. The creature remained motionless making Luna shift on her hooves nervously. Luna was staring into the creature's eyes which glowed a dim blue. The eyes were almost hypnotic and Luna had to shake her head to avert her own.

"Goodnight sir," she said "My name is Luna and I ..." Her voice trailed off as the creature stood to it's full height. Luna's jaw dropped and remained open as she gawked at the creature's massive body. The creature stood there towering over her for a moment then bent it's knees and began to back away.

I slowly backed away from the equine. I knew it could fly but unlike the others this one also had the horn I had seen previously, but being was much longer. I did not know what all this meant but I was in no rush for a field test. I was not sure what to make of this one. It stood a little taller then others, and bore all the variations I had seen up to this point. But there was something peculiar about this one. This one's mane would not stop moving. There was indeed a breeze in the clearing but it was no were near strong enough to make it move like that. It was like that it's mane was alive. Another thing that stood out about the mane is that it was slightly transparent and held small specks of light in it that resembled the night sky.

It appeared to be desperately trying to communicate with me .I was about to say something when it's horn was warped in a dark blue aura. before I could react I was hit with a wave of energy. The wave did nothing in terms of damage, but I was surprised by the shear power behind it. Surprised enough to panic and begin running.

"Please wait!" cried a voice from behind me. "Tho hast no reason to fear us. We only wish to talk."

I stopped mid stride upon hearing the female's voice. I slowly turned to see the same equine with it's bottom lip quivering. "Please..." She said averting her eyes.

If I could see my face I would imagine I would look very shocked and confused. Oh wait... No I wouldn't, but at the very least I felt it.

"I can understand you..." I said after turning to face the equine which I presumed was female by the sound of the voice. After hearing my voice she looked up smiling at me.

"Yes I thought you could not understand me, so I cast a translation spell." She said beating a hoof against her chest.

'Well she recovered fast.' I said to myself 'Wait did she say spell? Well whatever.'

I calmly made my way over to my seat before continuing the conversation. "So what now?" I asked.

"How do you speak?" she asked nonchalantly. I was momentary stunned by the question but quickly responded. "Excuse me?" I asked in a rather offended tone.

"How so you speak?" She asked again clearly not understanding the tone in my voice. "You don't have a mouth so how can you talk."

I let out a heavy sigh. "look if this is the attitude I am going to get from this conversation then I'm leaving" I said making the motion to get up. She went wide eyed and started to panic.

"No wait! I am sorry if I offended you." she apologized. "I was just curious is all." She looked genuinely apologetic hoofing the ground while looking to her side. Perhaps I had the wrong idea about these creatures. I sighed again and picked up the conversation.

I told her my "name" leaving out the fact that I had forgotten my real one as well as most of my past. I could see she thought my name was rather odd but dismissed it for the sake of the conversation's prorogation. She then told me that her name was Luna and explained that she was an Alicorn, a combination of the three pony races: Pegasi, unicorns, and earth ponies. She apparently caught on that I was not from here and told me I was in a place known as "Equestria"

After that we continued to speak of many things at great length most of which were about my clothing and general appearance. I even showed her my shard manipulation abilities my making a small manikin of her. I make the manikin dance around in the palm of my hands. When I thought that it was time for the finally I made the manikin flap it's wings to take off into the sky and slowly disintegrated into a sparkling stream of shards. Not once did Luna stare wonder from the spectacle.

"Th-that was beautiful." she said with a smile. I mentally smiled back at her and said "Thank you."

"I am glad I met you tonight" I said "It is always is always good to talk to a friend." She seemed surprised at the last thing I had said. I was about to ask her about it but she beat me too it.

"You would consider me a friend?" she asked in surprise. I nodded. Her face light up like it was her birthday after that simple nod. I stared in a mixture of bewilderment and amusement as her composer dropped and hopped around like I child does when they get a new toy. It was kinda cute actually.

"Oh look at the time." she said after a few moments looking at the now setting moon. "The sun will soon rising I should be off." Just before she took to the skies I spoke to her again. "Luna before you go can I ask a request of you?" She looked at me excitement shown clearly in her face.

"My friend please speak!" She said doing flips in the air. "W hat ever your problem is I will to my best to help you!"

Her face was maybe 3 inches in front of mine with eyes so wide you would think that she had no room for a brain at all. Her sudden out burst so loud and surprising I almost could not remember my request. After a moment to collect my thoughts that had run from the excited Luna I spoke.

"Uhhhh.... Well what I would like you to do is not speak of our meeting to anyon... er... anypony..." I said a little unsure of myself. She nodded still keeping her smile. " As you wish my friend I will tell no pony..." She said with a pause looking at me. "What" I asked

"We will meet again, right?" she asked with an expression I could not really read. I scratched the back of my head feeling nervous under her intense gaze. "Well seeing as I am going to be taking up residence her for the time being... yes." I answered still feeling odd from the look in her eyes. Satisfied with my answer we said our goodbyes and she flew away giggling.

"Well then I suppose I should get some shut eye too." I said stretching my arms behind my head. "After all I have plans to put into effect tomorrow."

For the first time I approached the cave. I had to hunch to get inside and the ceiling was not high enough to allow be to stand either. Something I might want to work on in the future. Inside the cave were a few glowing mushrooms that acted like night lights. I wanted to continue looking around but felt dizzy and fell to the floor. Sleep came quickly but so did the nightmares.

END OF CHAPTER 3

Author's Note

I am still looking for new proof readers pm me if interested.

Also yay cover art!