Celestia sat on her throne and waited for her Solar Court to end its operations for the day. Her throne reflected the waning light of the sun as her day drew to a, slow but welcome, close. The large golden doors slammed shut, their sound reverberating off the walls of the chamber signaling the end of another long day of running a country. She dismissed the guards and got up from her throne as Luna entered the room at the same time she always did for the past year since her return.
"Hello Tia!" she exclaimed, walking into the large throne room from the back door.
"Excited are we, Luna?" she asked, amused.
"Of course we are... I am excited," she corrected.
"Still working on getting rid of the Old Equestrian I see," she chuckled.
Luna groaned. "Yes."
"Don't worry Luna. You will get the hang of the language eventually.
"Yes, well, I hope that I can rule the night as always?" she asked, smiling.
"Of course my sister. You are the Matriarch of Night, after all. A title that I have gladly given back to you." She smiled.
"And one that I am happy to have back," she said, walking to the door of the throne room that Luna had just entered from.
The moon was raised and Celestia had retired to her quarters in the castle. She removed her regalia and placed them inside of her wardrobe and placed her head onto her feather pillow, taking in the sensations of softness and warmth of the large white pillow. She stared at the ceiling of her room, inlaid with precious stones and white marble stone. She sighed and rubbed her eyes with her hooves, before throwing them back down onto the bed.
"Matriarch of the Sun?" she asked herself. "Giver of the Day?" she questioned again, remembering the words spoken to her by the nobles of the Court who had spoken to her that day about a vast range of topics, from economics to road efficiency. "I may be those things but even I need my rest from time to time. She closed her eyes and slowed her breathing into a slow, soft repetition of inhales and exhales. "It's good that I can sleep again," she whispered, drifting into a deep slumber.
*__2__*
The darkness of the Everfree Forest dominated the landscape around the Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters. The wind howled and the trees bent and creaked under its tremendous force. The castle itself stood unwavering and unmovable, a sight that was admired by a lone individual.
He pushed open the doors of the ruined castle and walked inside, pulling out a small purple gem and a tattered piece of parchment that was tanned and disintegrated with age. Following the words on the parchment he levitated the small gem to the altar, where the Elements of Harmony used to reside, and placed it on the pillar that supported the stone branches. "Among the darkest reaches of space and time does It reside. Waiting for the Day of the Moon and the Lowering of the Sun," he recited. "Open this gateway and show me the prison of Nightmare Moon's creation! The Instrument of Fear! The Bane of the Sun!" The stone altar shook and cracked emitting a white light that was quickly replaced by black smoke. The altar creaked and slid along the ground revealing a staircase beneath. "Well it looks like Starswirl the Bearded did know what he was talking about," he chuckled as he descended into the darkness of the bowels of the castle.
The unicorn descended the winding staircase, using his magic as a light source. He descended until he reached the bottom of the staircase, where a single door of black iron awaited. He pushed open the door and lit the room with his magic. The light pushing away all darkness to his rear and leaving the room illuminated. He looked around and saw that the room was completely empty and devoid of anything other than its walls and ceiling of iron.
"What is this?" he said, disgruntled. "It was supposed to be here! Where is it?" He moved further into the room and continued his search in vain. "Where is the 'Bane of the Sun'?! It must be here!" he shouted, throwing his head in different directions, his eyes roaming quickly from right to left, looking for his quarry. The iron door behind him shut quickly and made the room shake from the force. The unicorn stopped and looked back at the, now closed, door. His light spell was snuffed out by an unknown force and left blackness in its wake. "What is this?"
"What is it you are searching for?" a small, child-like voice asked. The unicorn's ears perked up and his body tensed.
"Who is in here?" he asked anxiously.
"I have no name. My master did not see it fit to give me one," the small voice proclaimed.
"How old are you? Why does your voice sound like a small filly's?" he said, turning and blinking, hoping to gain some measure of sight in the dark room of iron.
"I have forgotten my age. And my voice is the voice I was born with, nothing more," the voice said, like wind on the branches of a tree. "Who are you and how did you find me?"
"My name is Bright Star, I am a Magister from Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns," he answered. "I found this place through one of Starswirl the Bearded's personal journal notes, one of the last remaining."
"That name is unfamiliar to me. Tell me of this Celestia though; is she the same as the one who sealed away Nightmare Moon?"
"Yes, that's correct. She is the one who brings us the sun every day." The voice was silent and the room was quiet for a time. "Are you still there?" No response. "I asked you a question, I demand that you answer me!" he shouted into the darkness.
A shrill scream filled the room, making the room shake and Bright Star fell to the ground clutching his ears. "Tell me why you came here Bright Star! Choose you words carefully unicorn or you will never see the light of your sun again!" it shouted in a shrill and high pitched voice.
"I came here to prove my theories about a weapon called ‘The Bane of the Sun,’ as were written in Starswirl's notes. A weapon that could block out the sun itself. If I brought it to Celestia and hoofed it over, she would promote me into her court as one of her advisers," he answered shakily. "A role that I have coveted for many years, and one that I would serve in well."
"A truly disgusting reason, pony. As you have proven in this moment, ponykind isarrogant and selfish. They care only for their own gain and do not see the bigger picture. You wished to find this weapon in order to convince your leader that you are worthy of her court as adviser and you have failed greatly," the voice said, back to its original tone. "This weapon does not exist; you have wasted your time."
"But how?" He pulled out the parchment from his cloak, after feeling for it. "This said that it was a weapon and that it could destroy the sun!" he shouted, throwing the parchment to the ground. "If I eliminated such a dire threat to our beloved princess, I would be famous throughout Equestria and all the other kingdoms of the world!"
Silence filled the room once again and Bright Star was left in silence once more. "Silly pony," the voice said at last. "This is incomplete. It says nothing of a weapon or that it could destroy the sun itself. Foolish pony," it cooed.
"What are you talking about?" he asked. "It mentioned a weapon that could blot out the sun, heralding in an eternal and everlasting night!"
"As I said, it says no such thing. This 'weapon' you seek is not a weapon, but a thing," it said.
Bright Star stood in stunned silence. "What are you talking about?"
*__3__*
Celestia awoke with a groan and opened the curtains of her chambers with her magic. The moon was still showing and she sighed. Celestia put on her regalia and walked to the throne room. When she entered Luna was sitting on the throne, wearing a strange look. Celestia approached and tapped Luna's shoulder with her hoof. Luna squeaked and jumped in surprise, igniting her horn in its dark blue glow.
"Calm down Luna. I'm sorry if I sneaked up on you," Celestia apologized.
Luna took a deep breath and calmed her beating heart. "Tis, fine Celestia. I did not expect to see thee at this hour of night."
"Really? Oh, and you reverted again," she mentioned, making Luna blush slightly. "It's near time for me to raise the sun Luna. You should know that by now."
"Hehe, right." She scratched the back of her head with her hoof.
"Off to bed with you. I will raise the sun any moment now," she urged.
Luna nodded and trotted away into the halls of the castle. Celestia got up onto the throne and ignited her horn with magic. She squeezed her eyes and concentrated hard. Sweat ran down her forehead and she groaned under the strain of her magic. The sun inched its way up into the sky, bringing the colors of early morning. Her horn dimmed and she let out a long, hard breath. "Strange," she panted. "It's never been that hard to raise the sun before."
Celestia regained her composure and calmed herself down, wiping some of the sweat off of her brow. She now sat like normal on her golden throne and waited for the doors to her court to open.
*__4__*
"That... That can't be true," Bright Star stuttered.
"Oh, but it is my misguided unicorn," the child-like voice said. "'Bane of the Sun,' I never heard that one before. I like it."
Bright Star turned and searched for the door, but the darkness within the room prevented him from doing so. "Let me out of this place! I was a fool to come here! Let me out!" he screamed.
"Nightmare Moon was a good mother to me. I had so much fun playing with our guests that I wanted to do it more often you see. And that's when it happened. For the first time I saw my own mother terrified beyond recognition. She feared me. She then tried to seal me away but I escaped my first prison and went out into the world, doing as I pleased and then Celestia and mother both confronted me. Mother held me down while Celestia used the Elements of Harmony to seal me here. What happened after that, I have no idea."
"What are you that Nightmare Moon herself, in all of her madness, would seal you away?" he asked, still looking to escape this room of horrors.
"I'm afraid that I cannot tell you. But do you understand what it is that you have done here tonight, Magister?"
Bright Star stopped and he could feel his body seize and become cold to the touch. He felt his fur stand on end and the air around him became like that of a winter night. He tried to move but his legs were covered in a small sheet of ice. "What are you doing?" he managed to say through his chattering teeth.
"Your folly has broken the seal that has kept me in here for one thousand years. I had one mission before I was sealed away. But in order for me to succeed in it, I need an ally."
"I... Will... Not... Work... For... You," Bright Star said, the chills becoming worse.
"You don't have a choice in this Bright Star. You are in a high place within the kingdom and, as convenient as that was and as much as I hate to admit it, I need you."
Bright Star could feel the ice creep along his body, inching its way up his body. "I... I lied. I'm not a Magister, just a professor. I do these things as a hobby. I found the note and thought it was a fake until I opened the alter upstairs."
"Then Bright Star you are of no use to me." The iron doors swung open and revealed the staircase leading back up to the surface. The ice around his body melted away rapidly and he had regained a full range of motion within his body.
"You're letting me leave?"
"Yes, I am. You are of no use to me after all. And it's been so long since I've had a visitor but I like to play with them before they go running off."
"What are you talking about?" Bright Star was beginning to get nervous. He could see the stairs before him and he took a step forward and then another until her had broken into a full gallop. He ran for the doors and was pulled off his hooves from behind, just before the he reached the stair way. He felt a sharp pain in his chest and could feel liquid that tasted like metal in his mouth. He looked down and saw a large spike sticking out of his chest. "Wha... Why?" he stammered.
"Despair. Making you see the way out and then taking it away from you at the last possible moment is how I like to play with my guests. Mother approved for a time but she eventually turned on me when I tried to do it to her as well."
Bright Star lit up his horn and cast his light spell. He heard a loud shriek and a wail of pain come from somewhere inside the dark room. Bright Star crawled on his hooves until he reached the stairs. He cast another spell and closed the door, trapping the demon within. "Now you cannot escape, monster." He smiled as he succumb to sleep, letting his eyes darken.
The prison doors had been shut and the darkness within stirred. "Foolish unicorn. The seal was broken when you entered this place, you have failed," the voice said, opening the doors without touching them. Its "eyes" fell upon the still form of Bright Star, lying against the stone steps. "His soul has departed, that is good."
Bright Star's body stirred and lifted itself upright and looked up the winding staircase. The body moved one leg uneasily, and repeated the process with the others until it could move properly. "Good, I can walk. Thank you Bright Star. I needed you for a reason and this was it." The body of the unicorn Bright Star began to ascend the staircase, returning to the world. "Now, that I have a body again I can complete my mission. It was a simple order indeed, a simple phrase. 'The Sun must darken.'"
The body of Bright Star began to climb the stairs to the surface above.
Any references to "A voice", "The Voice", "Bright Star", and so on mean the exact same thing in section 1. This was a complaint from the first chapter.
Bright Star wandered through the Everfree Forest, looking at the familiar sights and listening to the sounds. His body's joints cracked and popped with each step. The skin was rotting and falling from the body, revealing the rotting muscles beneath.
"This body is weak," the child-voice scoffed. "I will need to find shelter should this body fail me."
Bright Star heard a rustle behind him and craned his rotting neck to look behind himself. The bushes rustled again and out ran a chicken with the body of a snake and small reptilian wings on its back. Bright Stars clouded eyes looked at the fleeing Cockatrice and recognized the fear it showed quite well. He left the Cockatrice to its own devices and followed the direction it had just ran from.
Bright Star came to small clearing in the forest where the trees had been cut down. He noticed a few pitched tents and a recently put out fire. Bright Star went into the small campground and opened up the first tent flap he came across. Peering inside, he saw nothing but an empty tent with a lantern that had fallen over. He removed his head from the tent and looked at his surroundings again.
"Nothing but empty tents it seems," he chuckled. "This could only be the work of big brother. He always knew how to clear a group of ponies." He heard branch snap in front of him and stared intently at the trees in front of him. "I know it's you. Come out here. It's been a while." A few seconds after, a large pony came out into the open. His stature was bigger than even the Princess herself and had four large-black tendrils sprouting from his back, and an "x" with a circle around it for a cutie mark. "Brother, it's good to see you again.
"I can't say the same," he said.
"Oh, you. I know you love me big brother."
"Mother put you in that prison for a reason sister. I don't know how you escaped nor do I care. What I want to know is why you came to my hunting grounds."
"I didn't come here intentionally you know. You scared a chicken-snake, thing, and I followed its trail here."
"Yes, a Cockatrice, as the ponies of this world call them."
Bright Star took a step toward the large pony, stumbling. He got back to his hooves and watched as one of his legs fell off. "Damn this body! That stupid weakling didn't take very good care of this thing!" the female-voice roared.
"So it would appear. You still don't have a body do you?"
"What do you think you big lummox!" the voice yelled again. "I had to take it from some idiot that released me."
"Follow me," he said, turning away from the rotting corpse. "I will take you to my home until the sun goes down."
Bright Star hobbled forward, taking small steps with the remaining three legs. He fell down again and another leg was close to tearing itself free. "A little help please!"
"Kids," he muttered. "Alright." He shot out a long black tendril and grasped Bright Star's rotting body with it and hoisted it up onto its loose legs, still clinging his tendril to the body. "Better?" he deadpanned.
"Yeah."
The large pony walked beside the rotting body of Bright Star in complete silence. He would occasionally risk a quick glance to his side to see if the body was keeping up with him. He glanced over and this time, Bright Star's eyes caught him.
"What!?" she bellowed.
"How'd you know I was looking at you?"
"Just because you don't have eyes, or even a face for that matter, doesn't mean I don't know when you're looking at me."
"Makes sense." He turned his large head away from his rotting corpse of a sister and guided it through a hole in the rocks. "Here we are," he said bluntly.
Bright Star and the large stallion went into the opening and inside was a large bed and a few pieces of paper nailed to the walls of the cave. "What are those?" Bright Star asked, pointing over to the papers on the walls.
"Those are... It's not important right now." He sat down on the stone floor and removed the tendril from Bright Star's underbelly. "All right. It's just you and me now. What do you want?" he asked, his voice becoming deep and menacing.
Bright Star's body fell limp on the ground and disintegrated into sand. "I need your help brother."
"With?"
"I aim to carry out my final mission that was given to me by mother before I was sealed away." The large pony sat in silence. "Always the silent one. I don't know why mother made you. All you do is silence and simple frights."
"At lease I AM SANE!" he bellowed, cracking rock. "You're crazy, you know that! You tried to kill all of us and then mother herself! Why would I help you now?! And WHY IN MOTHER'S NAME are you asking for help? You managed on your own just fine back then!"
"Because that's what families do. We help each other."
The large pony shot up and swung a tendril through the air, roaring with rage. "You're lucky I even brought you here! I could have let you rot in the sun!" he bellowed, still swinging his tendrils around.
"You know those can't hit me," the voice cooed. "Now listen," the voice exclaimed, grabbing the large pony by the shoulders and throwing him to the ground, pinning him with unseen methods. "Come now Slendermane. You can't expect me to do this alone right?"
Slendermane grunted and huffed. "Actually, I can." The force that kept him pinned eased away slowly and he got to his hooves. "Now listen to me. I've been in the world longer than you sister. I know how these ponies work. They run scared from me because I can instill fear directly into their hearts. You cannot. You have to resort to cheap parlor tricks to do that. And besides, you have been sealed away for the last thousand years. If you attack anypony directly, they will try to fight you. They are not the wimpy push-over's they were a thousand years ago. Why do you think I haven't left this forest and made it my home!?"
The air inside the cave shrieked and wailed, causing an ear-piercing sound to bounce off the walls. Slendermane stood his ground and made no movements. "SOFT! YOU'VE GONE SOFT!" the voice wailed.
"It beats being destroyed! What you plan is a death wish!" he bellowed back.
"What about Rake? Where is he?"
"Gone."
"What do you mean gone?"
"He disappeared almost seven-hundred years ago. I haven't heard wind of him since."
"That is unfortunate. He would have made my conquests so much more entertaining."
"I'm sure," Slender mane said bluntly. Slendermane turned away from the origin of the disembodied voice and looked over his shoulder. "Look sis, I may have gone soft but I know how to survive. You may be nuts, but you're still family. I want you gone by the time the moon is up. You may not have a body, but I can still sense your presence." He started to walk deeper into the cave.
"Wait!" the voice called to its elder brother. He kept walking until he was no longer visible through the darkness. The creature's "eyes" hovered over to the papers on the wall. It took in everything that it saw scribbled and drawn on the papers. "That's why you've gone soft. Silly brother. They're supposed to fear you and you're supposed to eat them."
2
The sun had set and the moon was shining brightly in the sky. Slendermane came back out to the front of his cave home and focused in on his sister. She was not there. She had done what he asked of her. Slendermane sighed and went back into the deepest reaches of his cave dwelling. He stopped by a small fire and sat down with a sigh.
"What do you think? Should we get involved?" he asked, across the flame.
"I think mother needs to be informed at the very least," another voice answered. It was raspy and sounded closer to a growl.
"Mother was defeated remember? It happened last year."
"She still knows us brother."
"What do you mean?"
"I spoke with her shortly after she was defeated."
Slendermane stared across the small fire, stunned into silence. "Wh... What? You spoke with Mother Nightmare Moon?"
"Yes and no. I spoke with her original personality, Princess Luna, when she was alone one night. She was very surprised to see me to say the least, even tried to get the guards to intervene. But after explaining myself to her and telling her about us, she accepted me after some long thought."
"Truly? She still accepts us?"
"Yes, as far as I could tell. However, when I told her about sister. She..." He broke off into a sigh, never finishing his sentence.
"I need to know. What did she say?" Slendermane asked, hoping for an answer.
The other voice was silent for a time before speaking again, gathering his thoughts. "She vowed to destroy her outright and said that she was beyond saving," the voice said sadly.
"I see."
"Listen Slendermane, mother is proud that we learned to survive using the methods that we have. But she still wants us to improve."
"How can we do that? I live off of fear, and you... You live of of pony flesh."
"I know it will be difficult but we cannot abandon her, especially after she accepted us back into the fold. She accepted us back, even after everything we've done. She gave us a second chance. We need to warn her about sister, and soon, so she has a chance to survive."
"I know, I know," Slender said quickly. "Sister is crazy but she's not stupid." He looked back to the entrance of the cave. "She will be difficult to bring down, but it must be done."
"Slender, I will go and speak with mother. She knows me and how I move. She will not be surprised by me."
Slendermane nodded his approval. "Yes, I agree." Slender huffed. "Travel by the sunlight."
"That's a new prospect for me but I've done it before," he said, slightly surprised.
"Sister can only travel by moonlight, unless she has a body to travel in the daylight with, but it does not last long. Without one, she will weaken significantly but will not perish."
"I understand."
"Good."
Slender heard shuffling coming from the other side of the fire and watched his brother walk out from the shadows. He was crouched on all fours with three long talons sprouting from his two front hooves. He would of been about the same height as Slendermane if he stood upright. His fur was a matted mess of pale grey and covered with loose strands of bandages. His eyes glowed a sickly green color and were larger than any other pony's.
He made his way toward the front of the cave and stopped short of the entrance. "Brother?" he asked, gaining Slender's attention. "What will become of us when this is over? Will we have done the right thing if sister is destroyed?" he asked worriedly.
Slendermane placed a large hoof on his brother's shoulder and looked down at him. "I don't know Rake," he sighed. "We will have to do what is necessary now and deal with the consequences later I suppose. We've survived this long. I don't think we'll have anything to worry about as of yet." He removed his hoof and turned away from Rake, who looked back over his shoulder. "Remember travel by sunlight and warn mother of sister's intentions. And be fast." Slendermane retreated back into the darkness of the cave and went out of sight again.
Rake looked back out into the dark forest.
"Mother. We will save you. One way or another."
