Guardians of Light: A Shadow Forms
Chapter 9-Developing Situation
-Canterlot Castle: 1,000 years before Nightmare Moon's return-
Ugh. What a night. Luna thought as she got ready to perform her royal duties for the day. She remembered the dream she had the previous night and shuddered as her horn glowed a deep blue. Her lunar neckpiece levitated and secured itself around her neck. What that alicorn said was a lie! Celestia and I rule together as equals. She thought, but something inside her said otherwise. Luna groaned as she walked over to her vanity. The vanity was made of obsidian and had small diamonds surrounding the mirror. Luna walked to her vanity and looked in the mirror. Goodness. My mane looks atrocious. She thought with a chuckle. Her usually neat flowing mane was frazzled and tangled in multiple places. Well, nothing a simple brushing cannot solve. She thought, looking down and opening a drawer on the right of her using her magic. A brush levitated out and she looked into the mirror to begin brushing.
Luna looked back into the mirror and her eyes widened in shock at what she saw. It was her… yet it wasn't. She stood taller and was thinner in the reflection than she actually was. Instead of dark blue fur, her fur was black as the void between the stars in the sky. Instead of soft cerulean eyes, they were a harsh teal with slit pupils. On her head was a silver helmet that allowed her horn and ears to stick out. On her chest was a protective plate made of the same metal.
Luna's breathing now became quick pants as her heart beat began to quicken. What is this thing? She thought, not tearing her gaze away from the image of herself. Slowing her breath, Luna narrowed her eyes at the image, the larger and darker image in the mirror doing just what she was doing.
"Who art thou?" She whispered, her reflection mirroring her every action. A few knocks to the door to her chambers caused Luna to jump and look at the door. "Just a minute." She said, turning her head to see the mirror again. She was surprised to see that her reflection had turned to normal. There was no taller and darker version of herself, only a small lunar princess stared back.
The large wooden door opened to reveal the princess of the sun, her white mane shining in the sunlight that came through the window. "Sister, didst thou sleep well last night?" Princess Celestia said in a soft yet authoritative voice. Seeing Luna's mane, she chuckled. "I assume not."
"Nay, dear sister. I slept well last night." Luna responded, but the uncertainty in her voice made Celestia raise an eyebrow. Luna began to brush her mane as Celestia approached her.
"Is something the matter, Luna?" Celestia asked, her voice filled with worry.
"I said I slept fine, Tia. Why art thou so concerned?" Luna asked hastily as Celestia now stood behind her.
Celestia decided to back off. She is hiding something. I shall question it further at a later time. She thought, making a mental note. "No reason. I was just wondering how thou slept." Celestia said, sounding innocent.
Luna looked at Celestia suspiciously in the mirror. "I slept well. No major troubles occurred in the night. So what is on the agenda for this day?" She asked, hoping to change the subject.
Celestia's ears perked, happy for the subject shift. "We are to oversee preparations for the Summer Sun Celebration next week. We journey to Fillydelphia whenever thou are ready." She said with a smile.
Luna forced a smile in return, masking her inner contempt. Ah yes, the one day of the year that serves completely as an ego stroke for my sister. Luna thought, immediately shaking the thought out of her mind. Wait. Where did that come from? She wondered.
"I shall be ready in the hour, dear sister." Luna said, returning her attention to her mane.
Celestia nodded. "Very well, I shall get the carriage ready." She said, turning to leave Luna's bedroom. Luna watched as her sister left the room, Celestia closing the gilded door behind her with her magic. As soon as the door clicked shut, Luna snapped her head back to the mirror, her reflection showing her original image.
I do not know what that was, but I hope to never see it again. Luna thought. Although, it may be more bearable than watching our subjects drool over Celestia. She thought with a sneer. Her mind went back to the dream she had the previous night. Maybe her sister was getting more praise and attention than she was. Maybe- No! Stop thinking like that! She shut her eyes and shook her head. This is a child's jealousy. I am over such immaturity. She thought, opening her eyes and looked at her reflection. And yet… Her mind trailed off as she resumed brushing her periwinkle mane.
On a cloud overlooking the castle, a steel gray alicorn stallion watched as the lunar princess brushed her mane. His slitted yellow eyes stared at the alicorn princess like a hunter stalking its prey. Yes. It was a good decision choosing her. His thought as his lips slowly formed a grin. Now that Sombra has been taken care of, only she remains. He thought, looking at his hoof blade.
The gauntlet's black metal glinted in the sunlight, casting a dark purple reflection onto the stallion's face. Lifting his right hoof and thrusting it forward, a blood red two-foot long blade extended from the gauntlet with the sound of metal sliding against the inside of a scabbard. The alicorn brought the blade to his face and stared at it. Small anxious whispers filled his ears as he looked at the red blade. Not now, Siphon. The alicorn's thoughts directed at the blade. Your thirst for blood will be satisfied in due time. However, events must be allowed to take place until then. The stallion thought, holding the gauntlet to his face. The whispers died down soon after he addressed them.
The alicorn focused is mind on the blade, the sharp metal sliding back into the gauntlet. As the blade disappeared from sight, he gave the lunar princess below a smile as his horn lit up bright yellow. I've waited so long… and now I am so close. With a yellow flash, he was gone.
-Canterlot Archives, Present Day-
A bright blue flash illuminated the Starswirl the Bearded wing of the Canterlot Archives. Once the flash died down, in its place stood Luna, a determined and fearful look on her face. She sprinted to the nearest bookshelf and began going through every title. On the History of Pegasi? No. Dealing with the Arcane? No! The Princess and the Peasant? No, no, no! Luna thought as her mind was going frantic. She just had to find that journal!
A bright yellow flash in the corner of her eye caught her attention. Luna turned to see the source of the light to see Celestia teleport into the Archives.
"Luna, what are you doing?" Celestia asked in a concerned tone.
Luna responded as she resumed scanning the titles of various books. "Looking for clues. Things that may hint as to when he's coming back."
"Sister, how can you be sure-" Celestia began to say, but was cut off.
The lunar princess spun around to look at her sister. "It is him, Tia!" Luna shouted with a fierce look in her cerulean eyes. "I have never been more sure of anything in my life!"
"But how can you know for certain?" Celestia asked, giving Luna a worried look.
"When I looked into Twilight's eyes, they were yellow. Not just any shade of yellow, but a glowing bright yellow. I've only seen one other…" Luna paused to think of how to describe the ancient being. "…thing that has that set of eyes. And your faithful student even spoke to me, but not in her voice! You saw and heard the same things I did. How could there be any doubt in your mind that the Ancient Shadow has returned?" Luna exasperated.
"We can't just rush in and assume this was the Shadow. For all we know it was an elaborate set up by a pony practicing dark magic." Celestia said.
Luna's eyes narrowed. "It takes a very powerful magic to induce dreams, let alone on multiple ponies at once. A magician that is still practicing would be nowhere near the skill set to produce that kind of magic. You should know these sort of things, Tia." Luna said in a cold tone.
"You think I don't!" Celestia said, her voice rising with each syllable. "You think that I want to relive sending you to the moon? Well I'm sorry to disappoint you, Luna! But you were not the only one that suffered during those thousand years!" Celestia shouted, her voice bouncing off the white walls of the usually quiet Archives.
"I am aware of that!" Luna retorted. "And I know you don't want to go through it again as much as I do, but there is a clear threat right now and you are trying to ignore it." Luna said, her voice getting dangerously low. "We can't pretend the problem isn't there, Tia. Not again." She said, looking at the ground in shame. "Not again." Luna said in a worried whisper. The memories of her banishment, though a thousand years old, still came through as clear as crystal.
Celestia slowly approached her sister. Celestia gently put a hoof on Luna's shoulder. At the touch, Luna looked up to see her solar sister. "We will take care of this, Luna." She said, embracing Luna. "Together." Luna returned the hug, a small tear dropping from her eye.
-Western Griffon Kingdom, sky above Dayguard of the Aegis Province, Present Day-
Gilda sat on the poofy cloud and looked down on her hometown of Dayguard. It was once filled with life and happiness, but now it was a quiet shantytown. A lot of the buildings had been condemned due to the fact that they were mostly unused and fell into disrepair. The government was too busy with the Eastern Kingdom and reforms for the cities to help out griffons in the countryside. Whatever griffons had lived in those parts of the kingdom had moved on to the bigger and rapidly growing cities in the central districts. As a result, she lost many friends when they moved with their families to the cities. In addition to this, all her friends that didn't go to the cities were drafted to fight a war that could erupt at any time. Well, save for one. She thought.
The flapping of wings behind her caught her attention. Gilda turned her head and a small smile graced her beak at the griffon she saw. Before her was a griffon that was slightly larger than she was. His eyes were a bold golden yellow that gleamed in the sunlight. His head was covered with speckled black and grey feathers and the fur on his torso was a mahogany brown.
"What's up, Hawkeye?" She asked. Hawkeye smiled back at her and shrugged.
"Nothing, huh? Yeah. Same here." Gilda said. "How's the therapy going for ya?"
Hawkeye's smile faded and was replaced by a sad frown.
"Not good?" Gilda asked with a concerned look.
Hawkeye drew a deep breath and answered. "No." He said, his effort making itself known through his labored and raspy voice.
"I'm sorry to hear that, dude."
Hawkeye shrugged and pointed a clawed finger at Gilda. He then pointed to the right, eastward. He looked back at Gilda with a questioning look.
Gilda folded her arms and huffed. "There is no way in Tartarus I'm going to those cities. Too many dweebs to be around anyway."
Hawkeye then began gesturing again. Gilda watched as he drew a half circle with his claws and pointed west towards Equestria.
"After what happened, I doubt Dash would want to see me again." Gilda said with a sigh. In hindsight, she had realized how much of a jerk she was to Rainbow and her friends, especially the pink one. But what was done is done. The past can't change. Gilda shook the thoughts from her mind. "But that doesn't matter. What matters is what will happen in this bucking country." She said.
Hawkeye glared at Gilda for her language.
"Sorry, but I'm just so frustrated with this place." Gilda said, her complexion turning fierce. "The king leaves us behind, drafts my friends into a possible war with our fellow griffons, and even worse, that lame Princess Celestia can't make the time to try to settle the issue when she knows that our governments can't agree on anything." She said, bitterness dripping from her words.
Hawkeye placed a hand on Gilda's shoulder. Responding to the touch, Gilda turned to see Hawkeye looking her in the eyes. He had a serenity about him that made Gilda feel better. "Don't…" Hawkeye rasped, his vocal chords straining with effort. "Worry." He said with a calming smile.
Gilda's hardened expression melted away as she listened to Hawkeye. Eventually, a small grin found its way onto her beak.
"For a griffon of few words, Hawkeye, you sure know how to cool my jets." She said, embracing him as a token of thanks.
Hawkeye returned the hug with closed eyes and a soft smile.
Despite all the chaos going on in their homeland, two griffons were at peace.
-Changeling Hive, Present Day-
"What is taking them so long? They should have reported back by now." Chrysalis said, pacing her bedchambers anxiously, her hooves making clopping sounds on the black cave floor where she stepped.
"Be at peace, your Majesty." Raspian said from the corner of the room. "They'll report when they have something to report."
After a few more minutes of pacing, the changeling queen huffed in frustration.
"Gah! Okay, I'm contacting them right now. I can't wait any longer." Chrysalis said, her holey horn glowing a sharp green.
"My Queen, wait! What if they're somewhere public? It would blow their cover!" Raspian exclaimed, trying to stop Chrysalis.
Chrysalis looked back at Raspian a fierce look. "They are taking their sweet time while their fellow changelings here starve and die each hour they are gone! We are losing time, Raspian!"
Raspian backed off. He knew he was treading dangerous ground here. "While that is true, Highness, I must object to contacting them right now."
Chrysalis's eyes narrowed at her captain. If looks could kill, Raspian would be as good as dead. "So then you recommend taking our time." The irate queen spoke slowly, venom dripping from her words. "You recommend taking our time while the only creature that can help us is trapped. And you recommend that the three changelings I sent to that Equestrian village wait for a magic user to just make itself known to them." Chrysalis's gaze softened, much to Raspian's surprise. "Very well, then Captain. I'll follow your recommendations on one condition."
Raspian tentatively looked at the changeling queen that stood over him. "What is that, your Majesty?"
Quick as a flash, Chrysalis swept Raspian's hooves from under him, causing the captain to fall onto his back. As swiftly as she had taken him down, Chrysalis lunged at Raspian's throat. Raspian closed his eyes and readied himself for the end. But it never came. He slowly opened his blue eyes to see Chrysalis's fangs that were mere millimeters from his neck.
"Should you ever question my authority again, I'll have to look for a new captain while my previous one is fed to the hive. Understand?" She whispered in a threatening tone.
Raspian gulped. "Y-yes, your M-Majesty." He said, tripping over his words in fear.
Chrysalis got up from her fallen captain and turned her back to him. "Good. Now I hope that those three call soon or I'm going to-" Chrysalis began, but was cut off by the sound a magical field. She turned around to see a green magical ball suspended in the air, casting a green light around the room.
"Finally, it's working!" A feminine voice from the ball said.
Raspian perked his ears at hearing the voice. "That's Cipha!" He exclaimed.
"Captain? Is that you?" A light male voice asked.
"Of course that's the captain, you dolt." A lower male voice responded.
"And that's Fang and Chassis." Raspian said dully after hearing Chassis's comment.
"Good. I've been waiting to hear from you three for the past couple days." Chrysalis said, staring into the talking magical ball.
"That's what I've been saying to them, your Majesty." Chassis's voice said, both Raspian and Chrysalis's eyes rolling as they listened. "I kept saying that you needed a report, but no. The others kept insisting on-"
"Chassis! Shut up and let the queen speak!" Raspian shouted to the changeling.
Chrysalis gave Raspian a surprised look, then turned to the orb. "Some silence at last. Now, what have you found?"