Obscured in Shadow

Luna awoke to a bright sun looming above her. She yawned and scrutinized her surroundings, but nothing could be seen. She arched her back and stretched her wings out before she began her journey. She had had a peaceful sleep. She couldn't recall any particular dreams, all she could remember was nothingness. That's a good way to describe this entire landscape. Luna thought to herself. There isn't a living thing in sight.

Luna leaped into the air gracefully, and allowed her wings to take over and pull her body higher into the air. When she had reached an optimal altitude, she let her wings grow still, and glided quietly through the air currents. The wind was blowing in the same direction that she wished to go, as if the wind was pulling her towards her destination.

She continued to glide through the sky for several hours. Not much effort was spared in the process, but she was bored, to say the least. She decided to flap her wings, and speed up. She wanted to get to The Stone Monument as quickly as possible. The more she dreaded the experience she had had long ago involving the monument, the more she began to grow tired of her own susceptibility to the thing itself. She thought it best to simply confront it, and get it over with. It would likely not be as bad as she was expecting. Experience only told her too well that when one dwells on something such as this, it often seems worse in theory than in practice. She continued to convince herself that this second experience would not be as bad as the first. But her sixth sense would constantly kick in, in an attempt to smack the brain into consciousness.

Her brain was telling her now, (through her self brain- washing), that The Stone Monument was not dangerous, while her gut was telling her that she shouldn't even go near it. But Luna's thoughts were interrupted by an abrupt change of scenery. The yellowed grassy plains had transformed into a dark and rocky surface. It was clearly a volcanic area, as she noticed veins of lava crisscrossing bellow her. She looked further along the landscape, and noticed several fiery mountains. But, the land was still bereft of life. She continued to assume this, until her peripheral vision spotted something in the distance, interrupting her thoughts.

As far as Luna could see, it was significantly larger than she was, if not three- times her size. It was obvious to her now why it was so easy to spot using her peripheral vision, as it flew parallel to her in the sky at 2 o'clock. She was not concerned with what it was doing, her mind was occupied with different thoughts. She was indeed concerned, but not because of what it was doing, but because of what 'It' was; a black- feathered Amphithere.

Luna had read legends about them, and had read many books that contained eye witness accounts from those who had sighted them on the boarders of Equestria. All eye- witness accounts were documented for one out of two reasons: the first being that it was simply a rare sight, or two, that it had done something to somepony. That something, most commonly, was a barbecue by way of fiery breath.  

She was as cautious as she was because it was rumored to be a rare species of magical dragon, but did not know how well the Amphithere could manipulate magical energy. Any magical ability the dragon may possess would be increased two- fold at the very least, due to it's size. As Luna began to glide closer, it was clear that she was wrong about it's size. It was at least four- times her size, no, perhaps even five- times. The Amphithere's beating wings were loud and powerful as Luna pulled back again, fearing that her presence may be realized if she were to glide too close.

Yet another reason for Luna to be cautious, was that out of the fourteen eye- witness accounts that have ever been documented in history, none had described the Amphithere as black. All of the sighted Amphitheres sported green, blue or red- feathers, some even having mixtures of all three. But this one, was black.

Perhaps It's black feathers are a sign that it possesses dark magic. Luna thought to herself, but quickly dispelled the thoughts with a short (and quiet) laugh. Yes, Luna. You see a dragon with black feathers and immediately come to the conclusion that it is capable of performing dark magic. Although, Luna was merely a few hours away from The Stone Monument. Luna shivered and began to calculate a plan in her head.

I should get away from this thing, but I must do so carefully to avoid being noticed. Luna looked down towards the dark rocky surface of the earth below her, deep in thought; not a wise move when facing an unknown foe. But, the dragon is flying in the direction that I wish to fly. Luna contemplated the possibility of landing on the ground, and waiting for the Amphithere to fly out of sight, but she did not feel comfortable landing on the ground. She expected if a potentially magical dragon was in the air, then perhaps something worse still resided on the ground.

Luna had to make a decision. Her mind was quite tired of the battles it had to face on a regular basis, whether it be determining the best cause of action in a situation, or something emotion- related. At that moment, Luna had made up her mind. She would continue to fly the way she intended. If the dragon were to see her, and if attempts to greet the creature were met with hostility, then Luna would simply have to fight it.

Luna did, come to think of it, feel safer now that her matured powers had come to her. She felt that if a battle were imminent and ultimately unavoidable, then she would most definitely be able to, at the very least, hold her own. With different situations of battle with the dragon playing out in her head like a movie, Luna, the princess of the night, flew into the dusk that began to fall across the sky.

As Luna began to raise the moon, she grinned to herself. Soon, I will reach my goal. Soon, I shall destroy the one true enemy of my peaceful existence. Scorn and malice filled Luna, and cloaked her comfortingly as she completed her spell, and continued to fly, the oblivious Amphithere in front. Luna laughed quietly. She did not know why she laughed. In her experience, it seemed that laughter was a visible effect of focusing upon deep- seated hatred in the mind. When focusing on the hatred, laughter is expelled. Or at least, a need for laughter.

Emotions are interesting, are they not? The Alicorn mused to herself, unable to wipe the grin off her face.

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

The moon was directly above Luna as she touched down on the rough and rocky ground. She looked up, to see just what she had feared, just as she remembered. She had feared it for endless nights and days; The Stone Monument of the intertwined cannibalistic serpents. Their eyes bulging and mouths gaping, as they ate each other. Eating... eating... eating...

Luna's eyes flew open. Falling... falling... falling...

Luna regained consciousness, to find that she had ceased moving her wings, and was now plummeting head first towards the earth. She immediately cast a spell, freezing her in mid air, her horn glowing a dark purple. She manipulated the air around her as she turned her body. She heaved as she released the spell and allowed herself to fall once again, but this time, she unfurled her wings and glided upwards.

Luna blinked slowly, cold sweat dripping down her face. She was in shock. Her actions immediately after regaining consciousness were practically involuntary, she simply acted upon her instincts. Luna shivered. She felt so utterly pathetic. Embracing her hate one minute, and in next, she had fallen victim to hate beyond that her own.

She was close to the monument. That short dream was so incredibly real to Luna, down to the very last nerve. It must be the power of the monument. I've never had a dream that vivid. Luna decided to continue without hesitation. The Amphithere from an hour or two ago, was gone. And the night was still young. She was not prepared, but she did not cease lying to herself, commanding her mind to believe that she was indeed prepared. Subconsciously she knew she was weak in spirit, she was not prepared for the dark power of the monument. But she no longer cared for her inner feelings. They were dead to her now. All that mattered, was the future that she sought after. To hell with everything else. I will have none of it.