Unbroken

DARKNESS

It was night, in the deep woods of the Everfree Forest. Few ponies dared to tread between those trunks, let alone at night, but Sickle Moon had no fear of them.

The pony standing before Sickle Moon looked unearthly, as though he was made almost entirely of shadow itself. It looked at him, and its eyes were orbs of darkness so deep they seemed to draw the light out of the world. Sickle Moon shivered involuntarily, but he was not afraid. By Luna's grace, he would face whatever he needed to in order to become her worthy servant.

Then it spoke. "You are the one they call Sickle Moon," it stated in a gravelly voice, steeped with time. "Are you afraid?"

Defiantly, the young pony shook his head.

"You should be. I am called Noctis, created by Luna's will from the Font of Shadow. My purpose is to guide you, until you truly become the sickle of Luna's moon. For your first test, answer me a single question, mortal pony: What do you fear?"

"What do I fear? I fear nothing, Noctis, for I have Luna to guide me."

"And if Luna is gone? What then?"

"Luna would never leave me!"

"No, she would not. Not of her own will, at least. Yet, there are powers which surpass her own. Celestia once used one of them to lock her away for a thousand years in the moon. Or did you forget?"

Sickle Moon stumbled. It was difficult to imagine Luna not being there, even though he knew she had returned only recently from that long imprisonment.

"What will you do, mortal pony, when Luna cannot guide you? If you wish to achieve true control, you must think for yourself. Strike me, pony."

Sickle Moon looked at the ghostly pony before him. The creature looked to be a thousand years old. "I don't want to hurt you…"

Instead of a response, the spectral figure kicked Sickle Moon, hard enough to send him reeling from the blow.

"Strike me, pony."

Sickle Moon was angry now. He lunged at the other pony, only to fall flat as his hoof passed right through his target.

"Strike me, pony."

Again, Sickle Moon struck, this time with a hard backwards kick. Again, his hooves passed right through his target.

"Strike me, pony."

"Why? When I strike you, Noctis, it does nothing."

Noctis looked impassive. "So I cannot be touched? You must successfully strike me in combat to progress in your training. You know this."

Sickle Moon frowned, uncertain. "Tell me, Noctis. How many ponies give up?"

Noctis' expression remained unchanged. "At this level, some ponies give up, yes. Eventually? They all do. "Strike me, pony."

All of them? If the training was impossible, then where did the Centurions come from? Sickle Moon's confusion was interrupted by an attack from Noctis, knocking the pony to the ground.

"It's impossible!" Sickle Moon yelled.

Noctis was unmoved. "Do you give up, then? Will you join the rest of the ponies who failed to pass the test? Or will you keep trying the same thing over and over? Strike me, pony."

Something in the shadow pony's taunt resonated within Sickle Moon.

Sickle Moon's eyes flashed. In order to strike Sickle Moon, Noctis had to be solid. Watching for the trainer's blow, Sickle Moon dodged it and counterattacked with a blow of his own. It hit something that felt incredibly cold, but yielded under the force of his hoof. Noctis stumbled, hard.

"Well done, mortal pony. You have gone outside the limits you set for yourself, and done what you could not before. We shall proceed to the next lesson. This one is a little harder. To make things easier, I will remain in a solid form during this test. Strike me, pony."

A breath of wind passed along Sickle Moon's flank, and he shivered. Reaching out, he hit Noctis in the flank, but his hoof passed right through, with no resistance. Something tripped him, and he fell to the dirt.

Sickle Moon swore. "You said you would remain in solid form!"

Noctis spoke, standing behind him now. "And I did."

Sickle Moon whirled to face the trainer.

"Strike me, pony."

A breath of wind passed by again, Sickle Moon's hoof passed through the pony's form, and he was tripped again.

Noctis' voice was behind him again, impassive as ever. "You must learn to do what you cannot. Strike me, pony."

Sickle Moon remembered the previous test. If Noctis was in a solid form, and his hoof passed through where he knew Noctis to be, then Noctis wasn't where he should be. He was tripped again.

"You are correct. Your senses deceive you. Strike me, pony."

Sickle Moon faced Noctis and closed his eyes. When he felt a breath of wind pass by, he turned and struck at its source. Noctis shimmered into view, stumbling, as his image vanished from where it had been.

"You have passed this test, pony. Your eyes will not always tell you true. You have learned this now. You have gone outside the limits you set for yourself, and done what you could not before. We shall now proceed to the next lesson. This one is a little harder. To make things easier, I will again remain in a solid form."

A brisk breeze sprang up, rustling the leaves around the two ponies, and Noctis vanished entirely.

"Strike me, pony."

With the Sickle Moon couldn't feel the trainer's passing with the breeze interfering. He struck where the pony had been before, blindly, his hooves meeting only air.

"Strike me, pony."

This time, Sickle Moon struck to the other side, but again he found only air, and Noctis tripped him from behind, as he had before.

"How am I supposed to hit you when I can't tell where you are?" cried out the frustrated pony as he got to his hooves. "You could be anywhere! If I strike blindly, I'll just miss!"

"This is true, pony. Blindly lashing out will not-" Noctis' response was cut off as Sickle Moon tackled him. After a moment, he spoke again. "You could not see me yourself, so you tricked me into revealing my location. An interesting tactic, but not the purpose of this exercise." Noctis got up, and then faded from view once again. "Strike me, pony."

"You must learn to do what you cannot. Strike me, pony."

Sickle Moon feinted left, then struck right. He missed.

"Your feint is unconvincing and needs work. You will not fool somepony as experienced as I with such a tactic. Strike me, pony."

Standing on one of his front legs, Sickle Moon quickly swung his body around in a circle, just to see if Noctis was even there. One of his rear legs touched Noctis' cold body.

"You have touched me, yes. However, a blow that was not. Spreading your power over such a wide area will leave little force behind your blow. Strike me, pony."

Abruptly, Sickle Moon knew what he had to do. He rapidly swung around as he had before, but this time when his leading rear hoof touched cold flesh he planted the other and pushed off towards Noctis' location with his front hooves. Sickle Moon's body swung around and slammed into Noctis, knocking them both to the ground.

"An effective maneuver," the spectral pony admitted, "if inelegant. You have gone outside the limits you set for yourself, and done what you could not before. I can see that your body is exhausted. We are done for tonight. Practice what you have learned, and then return to this place."

The pony faded from view one last time, with a sense of finality.

With a sigh, Sickle Moon began the flight back towards Canterlot, his wings beating heavily through the night air.