//------------------------------// // Prologue: A Message to Deliver // Story: Herald of the Night // by Commentaholic //------------------------------// Herald of the Night Prologue: A Message to Deliver Once upon a time, in the magical land of Equestria, there were two regal sisters who ruled together, and created harmony for all the land... The lavender unicorn's eyes idly scanned the words upon the page as the book levitated in the glow of her magical levitation. She had read the words many times before during her numerous sojourns into the vast archive contained within the Luminus Castle. Of course, she had most of the library to herself, Twilight being one of the few ponies both priveleged and interested enough to be granted access to the largest compendium of knowledge on the bright side of the Moon. The book snapped shut, Twilight's eyes glancing out the window at the massive floating orb of Equus. The ever-present reminder that they weren't alone. Many thousands of miles away (only Princess Luna could really say for sure. She had a habit of changing the position of the Moon just to mess with the astronomers who were eternally trying to measure the distance with their mathematics. Those who said that their ruler had no sense of humour obviously had never met the Lunar Alicorn in the flesh before), there were ponies frolicking in the sun, swimming in the ponds and wandering through the forests. From here, those features were mere blobs of green and blue, even when viewed through a telescope, of which there were many in Luna's domain. But Twilight didn't envy them. In fact, she almost pitied the ponies of Equestria for not being able to see the Stars as the Lunar Ponies did. Though a large portion of the Moon's surface lacked the comfortable amenities of the 'soft, coddled' Equestrians, under Luna's rule, those that had followed her into her self-imposed exile had thrived upon the moon's surface, under the protection of her mighty magic, which was even more powerful in proximity to her heavenly charge upon which they stood. There were cities, schools, roads. All shielded from the airless and cold environs of the pale surface of the planet's satellite. Even gravity was maintained, to an extent, in the larger cities. Sure... maybe it got a bit too chilly on some nights when Luna was seeing over a particularly annoying session of court... But the Stars were fantastic. "Twilight Sparkle?" came a voice from behind. Inquisitive. Unsure, perhaps a bit nervous. Twilight turned to see a teal pegasus stallion peering cautiously around a stack of books. One of many stacks arranged in a ring around Twilight's study desk. "Yes?" Twilight responded, floating the book back into the saddlebags which bore her cutie mark - a full moon radiating five lines of small, white stars - and turning towards the newcomer. "P-Princess Luna wishes to see you. S-She says it's important. Wouldn't say what it was about," the pegasus said, stammering out his message. "The Princess?!" Luna usually left Twilight to her own devices when there were no important tasks that needed to be done. Twilight had actually only just got back yesternight from bearing a sealed missive to the mayor of Craterville, and Luna didn't just summon Twilight for any small task. Without a moments hesitation, Twilight nodded in gratitude to the messenger, hefted her saddlebags and took off running, magic already spiralling its way up her horn, which began to shine like the brightest moonlight before she vanished in a flash and appeared in the gardens, comprised of many large, intricately carved moon rocks, outside the Throne Room. After taking a moment to compose herself, she took a deep breath and knocked on the large doors (Familiarity with royalty was not license for bad manners) which opened with a pale blue aura. The Princess sat upon her throne, alone in the tall, white hall, lined with dark blue tapestries. No guards were in sight. In fact, Luna seemed to be the only pony in the building at the moment, gazing out of one of the large windows, much like Twilight had been doing before receiving her summons. Upon the lavender unicorn's arrival, her melancholy expression sprouted a small smile. "Twilight. Come here, please. I apologise for the brevity of my summons, but I have a mission of the utmost importance and you are the only one I trust to carry it out: I'm sending you to Equestria." The unicorn's jaw would have hit the floor if not for the fact that it was securely attached to her face. "Wh-What?" Twilight blurted, books already flying out of her saddlebags and floating before her. "But I've checked! There's no way back! You said it yourself hundreds of years ago when the final portal closed!" Luna looked almost embarrassed. "I may have... garbled the truth, perhaps. It is closed to me and to many of my subjects. But I've found that certain ponies of sufficient magical properties can still be sent over, with the proper rituals. That eliminates our Moon Ponies* as candidates, and I've already dismissed sending a Pegasus due to their inevitable difficulty in adapting to flying in a normal-gravity environment." "But that still leaves any number of unicorns." "A very small number of unicorns, actually." Luna said, shifting on her throne to relieve some stiff muscles. It came across almost as an impatient squirm. Then again, it may have been just that, given the current conversation. "And you are one of the few that I have found to have sufficient power to do so and who also has my trust. We have many ponies in our kingdom, Twilight Sparkle, but few friends. Fewer who would risk such an undertaking." "Umm.... alright... I suppose...." Twilight murmured, "But that still doesn't explain how I'm supposed to get there, if I agree to go, that is." she continued, kicking a hoof awkwardly at the ground. Luna's expression grew into one of amused mischief, "Ah... that's where it gets complicated... Actually, no. Fairly simple. Come! I shall explain on the way!" Twilight tried very hard not to imagine that this would involve her getting hurled out into space before an insistent pale blue aura tugged her swiftly off down the hall.