Obscured in Shadow

Luna had to bide her time, there was no use whatsoever in taking unnecessary risks with her sister. She must wait for her powers to increase, or she would surely face defeat in battle. Celestia is watching me. It seems that she is suspicious, and is expecting something. Luna sat at her desk in her room, thinking. Does she expect my attack? Perhaps it is unwise to strike immediately after my matured powers come. She shall surely begin to cease suspecting me after time. I will also have to make sure I do nothing particularly suspicious...

After this pondering, Luna simply existed by her sister's side, cloaking her visible emotions in an attempt to deceive Celestia further. Eventually, Luna's powers had reached their peak upon her 1,000- year maturity, but as planned, she did not relent her deception. But even several years after Luna's power increase, Celestia remained watchful, to the point where it became a concern to Luna.

It irritated her considerably, and she was confused as to what to do. Should she simply continue to wait, and allow time to dull Celestia's senses? This seemed to be the best option to Luna, but what if it did not work? Then all of this time spent waiting would have been wasted time.

Luna was still hesitant about the concept of killing her sister, not because of the act in itself, but because of the probability of success. Celestia was still slightly more powerful, in Luna's mind. She wasn't so sure why she thought this, but she did not ignore the thoughts. She was a cautious mare, caution being quite a helpful thing in situations such as this.

Luna must think of something else to assist her in destroying her sister. The more she thought of her original plan, the less it made sense. There was no way to tell if Celestia would give in to time. Luna decided that it would be a wise idea to find somepony to assist her in her plight, somepony who loathed Celestia as much as she did, somepony that would also benefit considerably upon the death of her sister.

----------♣LunaoftheCrescent♣----------

Luna spoke to Celestia one night on the balcony on the highest turret of the Canterlot royal castle.

"Sister, it is of the utmost importance that I leave for a short time." Luna looked up at the Alicorn who stood beside her, who's head was raised as she looked at the moon before her.

"Tell me what it is you are doing, Luna." Celestia released her gaze on the moon. "I am interested, as this is the first time you have ever left the castle without me." She added, in an attempt to show Luna that she was not suspicious, but 'interested'. This did not fool Luna.

"I wanted to search for new land to conquer in our name, land that has not yet been conquered by another." Luna was doubtful that this would convince her sister, but to her surprise, it seemed to be effective.

"Very well, although I am surprised that you are interested in such things, Luna." Celestia kept her voice as genuine as possible.

"Equestria is a great land, but expanding it would increase it's greatness, would it not?"

----------♣LunaoftheCrescent♣----------

On the next day, as Celestia raised the sun, Luna set out on a journey. At first, she did not know of a way to defeat her sister, and she assumed that her search may miraculously give her the power to do so, which was humorous to Luna at the point of her departure of Canterlot. In truth, she had been studying one of the oldest books in her possession known as 'The Legends of the Worlds Unknown'.

This book compiled several legends from around the known world, and published them. Luna assumed that there may be something that could assist her in the book, so she had begun reading it. But it was only the night before, the same night on which she asked her sister if she were able to depart the castle, did she finally find something useful.

Towards the end of the book, there was a legend known as: "The 6th Bloodline of Tartarus" which caught Luna's attention. Luna had read the legend thoroughly:

'It is said that the first of the bloodline was struck with raw power, that which came from an unknown element. It cursed him, and as he bred, his children received the curse as he did. The curse originally stung the heart, creating energy which could only be described as darkness as it came into contact with this world. It did not exist as normal things in this  world existed, therefor when it came into contact with this world, it did not have a physical form. The only form it could take was that of darkness. This linked into the first harnessing of dark powers, and it became an element of our world, which is still an uncommon element, and it can rarely be harnessed.

The members of this bloodline reside primarily within a temple west of Equestria, which cannot be seen by the naked eye. It is unknown as to how the temple can be seen, but it most definitely exists, as many have seen it before. With this taken into account, it is clear that at certain intervals, the temple appears. These times are unclear, however. It is said to have been sighted near the Great Stone Monument, (see page 361) which has been rarely touched by the ponies of Equestria, as it contains a dark and frightening energy, and is one of the few remnants of the spirit of Discord's rule on the land.'

Luna remembered this monument from long ago. It was there that her and Celestia united using the Elements of Harmony to seal away Discord. Both of them were interested in the monument, but upon further investigation of it, Celestia decreed that it never be touched, as it contained a dark power. Luna could still remember the feeling. It was a bone- chilling feeling. She would shiver in it's presence, and tears would well up in her eyes as she looked at it. She could not understand why she reacted to it as she did, but it was an experience that she never wanted to have again. No description would do the experience it's justice. It was truly a horrific thing. Not just the energy, but what it portrayed as well.

Luna realized that what she was delving into was real, so real that it frightened her. But her desperation to kill her sister drove her to accept it as an ally. Luna had experimented with dark magic before. It leaves a cold, dead feeling in the pit of the stomach when she is reminded of it. But she knew a spell which may indeed reveal the temple that she sought. It was a revealing spell, which could only work in the presence of dark energy, dark energy that was separated from the caster.

Luna realized how perfect the circumstances were. The Stone Monument was a dark energy indeed, and the book stated that the temple was sighted near it. It was all set up for the convenience of one smart enough to see it, and curious enough to delve into the darkness.

Luna felt that she was prepared, and ready to face this new power. But she could not help but worry, as the powers of the darkness were very frightening indeed. She vowed long ago to never experiment with such forces again, but here she was. It is for a reason this time, Luna. Not your foolish curiosity. She would tell herself. But she could not shake away her memories of the Stone Monument. She would shiver uncontrollably and cried lightly every time she thought about it. Her fur would stand on end and the lump in her throat would feel as if it was about to tear itself out of her.

The Stone Monument was that of a two serpents intertwined. The right serpent had it's teeth bared into the throat of the other, while the other's mouth gaped open eerily. Luna did not know what it meant, but she knew that the image was definitely a contribution to her feelings fear. There was no way to describe the image effectively. The positioning, the expression of the wounded serpent, it was all so powerful.

Luna simply shook away the image in her head as she soared through the sky towards the now setting sun, as she was almost ready to complete her flight for the day. She did have a plan, but her plan did not distract her from a fear that lingered within her. As the sun disappeared, Luna cast her spell as she raised the moon behind her. She was only an hour away from her destination, based on her current speed. But she needed to rest her wings, as she had been flying all day.

Luna found a small collection of rock slabs that jutted out from the ground bellow, and decided to rest in between them. She considered the need to be concealed as she slept, as she did not know of what lurked in these areas, for she was quite far to the west, and Equestria was far behind her. She landed lightly on her hooves, and cast a spell allowing her to inspect all movement within a two mile radius. What puzzled her was that there was no movement whatsoever, not even that of the tiniest insect.

Luna shrugged and lay down, allowing sleep to engulf her, but not before she battled with herself mentally as she tried to keep dark thoughts at bay.