Guardians of Light: A Shadow Forms

by Alphadude007

Dark Developments

-Canterlot Castle-

"What a wonderful celebration." Luna said as she walked down the white-walled corridor that led to her quarters. Turning to the right, Luna began walking towards a semicircular obsidian archway. On top of the decadent black archway was a silver crescent moon, . While the black and silver clashed with the white of the walls surrounding her, Luna liked the contrast. As she walked into her chambers, she sighed in exhaustion. She was not usually awake during the day unless it was a special occasion or emergency that her sister needed her help for. While the coronation had been a joy to attend, she was really missing her sleep.

She looked around her room. Nothing had changed, even in the thousand years she was gone, no one had touched a thing. She looked up and smiled at the illustrations of the white moon and constellations that covered the black ceiling. Her eyes travelled down as she looked at the circular bed with midnight blue covers. She trotted across the black tile and lay on her bed after taking off her crown. She closed her eyes and began to slumber.

Luna looked around the dreamscape. The moon hung high in the night sky, stars filling the black void of the night. She appeared to be in some sort of village. Colts and fillies played in the schoolyard outside a big red schoolhouse. She saw some mares that were going to a spa to catch up on the latest gossip while others were manning stands in a marketplace.

In the middle of the town was a large circular building with a conical roof. Down the street from that, a tree with a door and windows stood tall among the buildings. In the other direction, there was what looked like address shop with pony mannequins in the windows. The village looked familiar. She had been here before.

Ponyville. Luna thought as she continued to look around town, smiling at the busy villagers and the children that played under the moon. Ponyville was such a peaceful place. Not at all like the bustling urban centers of cities like Manehattan or Canterlot. Because of that, Luna had a deep-seated love for the small rural town.

She trotted towards the tree with windows, feeling a familiarity with the place. She looked in the window and saw shelves of books. Ah. Twilight's library. Luna thought as she was reminded of the purple bookworm-turned-princess.

Luna walked to the window, expecting to see Twilight and her dragon assistant working, but saw that the lights were off and nopony was home. Out of curiosity, she walked to the door and pushed at the door with her hoof. The door slowly creaked open, the uncertainty of the place beckoning Luna inside. The entrance gave way to a large circular room that was filled with books. Books on pony history, spell casting, cooking, fashion, and myriads of others lined the many shelves in the room. Luna looked around the room but saw nopony. Her gaze travelled around the room until a certain book caught her eye. It was a large bright white book with gold binding. Her curiosity piqued and she trotted over to it. As she neared it, she began to hear strange whispers. Incoherent and disjoined whispers filled the air as Luna began to feel uneasy about the book. Luna could make out what some of the whispers were saying.

"He is coming soon."

"The ancient one returns."

"The sun will become cold."

Hearing these made Luna's eyes widen. Was it a warning? Was it a riddle? She shook these thought from her mind and decided to find out what was in this book. Her horn glowed a dark blue as the book levitated off the shelf, a few of the books next to it fell over where the book had been. She levitated the book in front of her and saw the cover, the whispers now becoming louder as the book hovered over to Luna. The first thing she noticed was the cover. On the cover was a pearl embedded in the cover with a layer of solid gold encircling it. There was no title or author on the cover, just the pearl and gold.

Luna narrowed her eyes as she opened the book to the first page. As she turned the cover, the whispers grew suddenly silent. Luna looked around, feeling suspicious. Her attention turned back to the book as she beheld the first page. Nothing? Luna thought as she stared at a blank piece of paper. She turned the page to see if there was anything written. Still nothing.

Frustrated, Luna began flipping through the pages using her magic. She suddenly noticed a word as she flipped through the pages. A paper flip book? Luna thought as she read the first word: "He". Luna flipped back through the pages, this time in reverse. Upon doing so, she saw a second word: "Has". He has? He has what? Luna wondered as she flipped through the pages a third time. Luna narrowed her eyes as the third word was revealed: "Found". He has found? Found what? Luna thought, turning the pages forward a fourth and final time. Strangely, no word was seen as the pages flipped. As the last page turned, Luna gasped at what she saw. Inscribed on the inside back cover of the book read: "YOU".

Luna dropped the book in fright, a look of abject terror on her visage. The book landed on the ground with a loud THUD. Luna looked down at the book, seeing no damage. She then looked up and screamed at what she saw. Two bright yellow eyes were staring at her. Two eyes Luna could never forget. The eyes began to float closer to Luna as she tried to run away and escape, but the door to the library kept getting farther away the harder she tried.

"YOU'RE DEAD! I SAW YOU DIE! GET AWAY FROM ME!" Luna shrieked as a white fang-toothed smile appeared beneath the eyes. Luna looked back to see the eyes and smile catching up to her. Not seeing where she was going, Luna felt something catch her hooves and felt herself beginning to fall. Luna looked back to see that a loose board was the cause of her fall. She then looked up and saw that the yellow eyes were staring right into her. She tried to scramble up, but the eyes and mouth were floating over her.

"Hello, Luna." The bodiless monster lunged at Luna with fangs wide open. All Luna could do was scream.

"NO!" Luna shouted as she shot up in her bed. Luna began panting as sweat dripped from her brow. She looked around and saw that she was in her chambers once more. She immediately relaxed after realizing it was only a dream. She lay back down and stared at the night-patterned ceiling above her. Thoughts swam through her mind as she remembered the nightmare.

That monster. How could it still exist in my mind? Luna thought. The sheer implications of what her dream was about terrified her to her core.

Now, now, Luna. It was just a bad dream. Go back to sleep and it'll be out of your mind in the morning. The more reasonable side of her brain began to speak.

I suppose so. She thought, closing her eyes reluctantly. Soon, to her amazement, she began to doze off. One final thought crossed her mind before slipping into unconsciousness: But what if it was really him?

-Changeling Hive-

Chrysalis looked over the drones that stood before her in her quarters with Raspian standing at her side. She knew that each were ready to do whatever it took to accomplish their mission, even if it meant self-sacrifice. The three changelings that stood in a line in front of their queen were at attention, not flinching a muscle as they waited for their orders. "Before we begin, what are your names?"

A scrawny changeling on Chrysalis's left was first to speak. Chrysalis noticed that he had a broken right fang.

"My name is Fang, your Majesty." The changeling said with a hiss, bowing before her. Chrysalis nodded and Fang took his previous stance.

The larger changeling in the middle stepped forward, puffing his chest out with a confident smile plastered on his face. On the outside, Chrysalis made no notice of his actions. This one seems a bit overly confident. She thought as the presumptuous changeling revealed his name.

"Your Highness, my name is Chassis. I am ready to serve in any way possible." He said, bowing low to the queen. Chrysalis nodded and motioned for Chassis to get in his former position. Chassis nodded and returned to where he was before.

The third changeling simply bowed to Chrysalis. This one had a different body frame than the other two. This changeling seemed to be slimmer didn't have as thick a snout as the others. Ah, a female. Chrysalis thought as the changeling said her name.

"My name is Cipha, your Excellency." She said, staying in her bowing position. Chrysalis gave Cipha a nod and allowed her to return to a standing position.

"Very well. Now that I know your names, I'll know who to reward for accomplishing this mission." Chrysalis said as she began to pace in front of them. "I've had my captain bring you here to discuss a plan that may save this hive from starvation." She said. The three changelings before her gave each other confused looks at hearing this.

"Sorry to interrupt, my lady, but did you just say that we won't be hungry anymore?" Fang asked as a hopeful look found its way onto his face.

"Not immediately, no. But in time and with the success of this mission, your hunger will become a thing of the past." Chrysalis said with a grin. The three changelings smiled at hearing this. "Now don't expect immediate results for your mission. What you do will be step one in the plan to eliminate this cursed famine."

"What task do you have for us to do, your Excellency?" Chassis asked, bowing again. Chrysalis rolled her eyes.

"First, resume your former standing position, Chassis." Chrysalis said in an almost scolding tone. Chassis shot back up to his hooves and stood at attention. "Now then, we shall begin." She said as her horn glowed green. Out of a wooden chest on the far side of the room, she levitated a rolled up scroll into their midst. She unrolled the scroll to reveal a map of Equestria.

"But my queen, didn't we try to take a city once before?" Cipha asked, raising an eyebrow.

A bitter memory of how the changelings lost Canterlot flashed in Chrysalis's head for a moment. "We tried and failed, yes. However, we are doing things more covertly this time." She said, pointing a holed hoof at a village on the map. "This is Ponyville. It is a small town with less than half the population size of Canterlot. Don't let its small and peaceful nature distract you, for it holds the key to our success." She said, looking up from the map.

"And what are we to do in this village?" Fang asked, raising a hoof in curiosity.

"You are to do what you do best. Disguise yourselves as three newcomers. Establish a connection to the populace, start a life there, but whatever you do, don't feed on anypony." Chrysalis said, her voice getting edgy on the latter half of the sentence.

"I thought you said this would take care of our hunger problem, Highness." Chassis protested.

Chrysalis put on an irritated look. "I wasn't talking about you three specifically, Chassis. You will get your love soon enough, but until then, don't feed on a single pony." She said sternly. Chassis tensed, not saying a word in reply.

"Now as I was saying." Chrysalis continued. "You three are to disguise yourselves as average ponies. Pesasi and earth ponies only. No unicorn disguises." She paused to see if the three changelings had anything to say.

Fang spoke up. "And may I ask why we should not be conceal ourselves as unicorns?"

Chrysalis grinned at Fang. "Because your mission is to find and bring me a unicorn." She said, earning some confused looks. "Not any normal unicorn, mind you. I want a unicorn that is skilled in using many varieties of magic. This is because that unicorn will be critical to how our hunger problem will be solved."

"How could one unicorn satisfy the hive? We'd need at least fifty ponies to satisfy half the hive itself." Cipha asked.

"I did not say we were going to feed off the unicorn." Chrysalis gave Cipha a stern look. "All you need to do is bring me a skilled unicorn in an unharmed condition. Is that clear?" She asked. All three changelings in front of her gave her a salute.

"And where do we deliver the unicorn? Back to the hive?" Cipha asked as she put her saluting hoof down.

"Tell them that there is an emergency that requires her magical powers. You are to take her to this mountain south of the Crystal Empire. There you will meet Captain Raspian and I disguised as earth ponies." Chrysalis said, pointing to the map again. This time, she pointed at one mountain in particular. The three changelings looked at the map, memorizing the location of the mountain.

"What do we do then?" Fang asked.

"The captain and I will show you where to go with the unicorn. Once you have done that, your mission is over. And then, you'll have your reward." Chrysalis said, causing smiles to break out onto the changelings' faces.

"We will go at once, your Majesty." Fang said, bowing to her. The other two followed suit and got on their knees before their queen. Chrysalis smiled at their devotion.

"Rise, my subjects. Now go and do your duty. Report back to me when you have established a base of operations in the town." Chrysalis said, pointing in the direction of the hive's entrance. The three changelings extended their wings and flew towards the tunnel that led to the cave opening.

Chrysalis looked on with pride, yet some doubt lingered. She then realized that she was risking everything on the three changelings she just sent out. "You sure they will accomplish their mission?" She asked Raspian.

Raspian looked his queen in the eye. "I have known those three for years. If anypony can do it, they can." Raspian responded in a confident voice.

Chrysalis accepted the answer and sat down on the cave floor, her head lost in thought.

"Thank you for your service today, Raspian. You are dismissed." Chrysalis said. Behind her, Raspian nodded.

"Very well, my queen. I shall be guarding your chambers outside." Raspian said, turning to leave, but Chrysalis's voice stopped him.

"No, Raspian. I don't need any guard duty tonight. You may go back to your alcove for the evening." She said, sounding despondent.

"Is everything alright, Highness?" Raspian asked, furrowing his eyebrows in concern.

"Yes, captain. Everything is fine. You are dismissed." Chrysalis said, still keeping her back to him.

"Yes, your Majesty." Raspian said, walking under the cave archway that opened up to her chambers to leave.

It's a good thing she never turned to face him, because Chrysalis couldn't bear to see his reaction if he saw her crying.