Aerohead lay snuggled up tight in the blankets of the large king-size bed he and Alnna slept in together. The size fitting for a mare of her size and at times, almost an expanse for the little pegasus to be snuggled in. It wasn’t bad, comfy and warm during the nights and snug, especially with his special somepony next to him. The ‘sickness’ Alnna had mentioned to Stencil was more of a charade, he was just being lazy, wanting to stay tucked away for awhile in the safety of the room they shared. Deep in sleep, Aero was having a dream, talking to the spirit of his mother, Kikao. She was a zebra, but with brown stripes. Her mane was short, but she had a much longer tail. She sat with her eyes closed, and legs crossed.
“My son, you have made me a proud mother, but your lacking skills of speaking can be a bother. Go out, make friends, become close to them; learning their ways will help with character judgment.”
Her words were rhythmical, a trait of all zebras, sometimes confusing, but quite intriguing. The pegasus sighed, nodding slowly.
“I know, Mom, but I get really scared with meeting new ponies, especially with the the hospitality and kindness they’ve shown myself and Alnna here. Ever since the wedding, it seems almost everypony wants to get to know us, but...” he sighed “I’m not sure whether to think it’s good or bad...”
His mother let out a hearty laugh, “Ponies seem to want to be in the light, seeing their status taken to a new height! Some may abuse, others may care, but its best you keep your head about you everywhere.” Aero nodded again.
“Head about me?” Aero asked, slightly confused “You mean that I should be cautious about everypony?”
His mother nodded, “Not everypony is as kind as they seem, some play an actor of quiet pristine. Looking deep into others eyes and actions, help you understand their true sense of attraction.”
Aero wanted to continue, but the sudden knock on the door from beyond the dream shook the void around him. His mother only smiled.
“It seems your friends have come a calling, then its best you answer, would be rude to leave them stalling.” she huffed, looking away towards the ‘door’ as it seemed to have appeared in the dream.
“A strange plot shall soon befall, be wary my son, and never forget, I will always be here for you through it all.”
The dream faded, leaving Aerohead slowly rousing from the bed as the knocking continued.
“Aero?” Alnna near-sang “C’mon n’open up, Stencil Sketch is here!”
“Stencil!?” Aero said, quickly leaping from the bed and rushing to the door, opening it wide to see his fellow Stallion as he suddenly hugged him.
“Stencil! Oh by Celestia I’ve missed you!”
His grip was fairly tight as Stencil made another Ack.
“Twice...in one day...oh Celestia! My spine...” he muttered as Aero yipped and released quickly.
“Ah.. sorry, Alnna’s been training me to beef up and well...”
“I can see shes been doing well for you.” Stencil replied, slowly stretching his shoulders “you certainly have one heck of a tight grip now don’t you. Guess a couple years with such a strong mare will do that to you.”
“What brings you back here anyway?” Aero asked “I didn’t expect to see you so soon.”
“I know, I was planning on making a return trip to Canterlot soon enough, but I was in the neighbourhood and wanted to say hi… Its… also because something rather serious has come up.”
Aero’s ears dropped, anything that Stencil put “serious” with was always something very important, he was slightly afraid that Stencil might take them on another adventure, but with a gulp and a confident flutter of his wings, he looks at the unicorn.
“Serious situation? Thats not a problem for me!” Aero said with practiced confidence as Stencil chuckled.
“Good, ‘cause it seems to be a doozy...” he slowly turned, leading Aero from the bedroom into the main foyer of their penthouse suite, there, standing in the center was their fellow drakess Cermina, and what looked like another unicorn laying down on a bed.
“Cermina?” Aero said as the drakess gave a smirk.
“Vell, if it isn’t love struck birds, good to see both so happy n’vell. Living ‘high’ life yah?” she said, noting outside “lucky birds yah, hehe, love can make much good ting happen.” she eased over to Aero, wrapping an arm around his neck “You had much fun in bed too yah, Alnna tucker out little stallion, or do you have right goods for her desire?”
“C-Cermina!?” Alnna yelped, “Ya’ll mind!?”
“Vat, girl got to know goods on couples escapes after year of silence, yah? Can’t tease you bout dem little dillies of love life.” she chuckled, easing away from Aero before returning to the stretcher they had brought it. “But...dis is no time to play games, dere is serious v’ork afoot.”
She ushered the group over as Stencil slowly pulled back the cover on the unicorn, showing it wasn’t a unicorn at all. Immediately, her dark blue and black coat, her wings, and cutie mark instantly gave light to who this mare was.
“What is Princess Luna doing here!? shouldn't she be in Canterlot?” Aero said, dumbfounded. His eyes were dinner plates as he looked at the alicorn princess laying on the bed in the center of their suite.
“We found her in the woods... I think something happened in Canterlot that made her flee it, as to what, and why, I have no clue.” Stencil said, easing his glasses on. “She’s still in bad shape; taking her to a hospital is out of the question so I have to do it here, if you don’t mind...”
Aero shook his head. “N-not at all! I would imagine some random pony showing up with the Lunar Princess hurt like this would be a very big draw of suspicion!”
Cermina nodded “Dat and drakess vith em would not be pleasant, I do not tink ponies are still okay vith dragons being here, least not like in Canterlot.”
Stencil had already picked up his medical tote bag, and supplies from his cart quickly came out of it. Being a medical practitioner himself, he went right to work on patching the last few bandages on the Princess, having already done most of the hard work earlier in his cart.
“I found several glass fragments in her body, her left wing is broken and she has several cracked ribs. She was certainly thrown around without much effort if you ask me, like, some very strong creature just slapped her about without care. That, or something very powerful with magic was able to strike her down, but... that can’t be right. Where would Celestia be in all of this? Something doesn’t smell right.” Stencil muttered as Cermina looked out the window to the city.
“Vell, ponies do not seem to know, dere is no vord of if here, not even scent of fear.”
“Then ya’ll think its sumtin’ that ain't been known yet?” Alnna asked, trotting over to Stencil, “Ah mean, news here ain’t spoken ‘bout somtin’ happen to Canterlot just yet, so ah doubt anypony here really knows.”Stencil sighed, slowly turning to the other two.
“I’m sorry if I might drag you into whatever may happen here, but, there was little else I could do, I couldn’t just leave her out there.” Alnna sighed, smiling. ‘It's alright shug, ain't no problem helpin’ our royal folk, ‘specially the Celestial sisters....’sides. We’d open our door to em any day!” she smiled as Aero fluttered over to Luna, somewhat mystified to be able to see the princess this close before. He approached the alicorn slowly, eyeing her as she rested. Her stomach ascending and descending slowly. Aero had a rather unreasonable fear of alicorns, however he felt comfortable seeing Luna, she looked hurt, and like she needed help.
“Is she in a coma?” Aero asked as he poked her side, mindful of her injuries.
“No, she’s just unconscious,” replied Stencil, shaking his head as he turned to Alnna, “I would suggest you leave her be though. Last time she woke up, she nearly attacked Cermina.”
The drakess gave a low growl. “Dat vas unexpected, she could have caused hurt to self if she did,” she grinned, quite confident with her skills as looked over the Alicorn.
Aero sighed. “Well… uhm… hopefully she won’t be mad if she does wake up again, I wouldn’t want her to hurt anypony here...” he said as he gently poked her again.
Luna fidgeted this time, muttered something, slowly, softly almost before she began to rise in tone.
“No, Sister... Sister… thou must not... fall.”
Aero meeped, quickly leaping back and hid himself underneath the bed with a soft squeaky ‘eek’ as Cermina chuckled lightly at this
"Aero scared of own ruler? Haha, Aero, you still such a silly pony, as Cermina remembers, wahaha who be scared of Princess, she dainty and small, more cute den fearful!" Aero poked his head out from under the bed
“I uh...” Aero shook his head, remembering what Alnna had told him about being afraid.
“I’m not scared, in fact I’ll poke her nose!” Aero said this with confidence and smiled as Stencil and Alnna simply shook their heads.
“Aero, its not wise to bother a patient when they're asleep. It's rather rude don’t you think?”
“I don’t care...” Aero said boldly, “I want to show you I can be brave!” and with a poke, he let his hoof gently nudge right up against Luna’s muzzle.
“S-sister....SISTER!” she suddenly cried as she shot upright. “Celestia!”
Her horn lit with magical brilliance. Everypony quickly ducked down as the mare began to channel a tremendous amount of energy through her horn before she slowly began to subside, looking around in bewilderment at where she was.
“Wha- what happened? Where have we been taken? This is not thy home of Canterlot?” she looked around, suddenly seeing several unknown ponies crouching in fear. She gasped. “Oh dear me, you have been scared of me? Oh shame upon me for my folly...” she muttered as Aero peeked his head over the bedside.
“P-Princess Luna?” he asked as the mare looked at him.
“Ah...thou art a subject of me and my sister, yes?”
Stencil and the rest shook their heads.
“Then...then we are not in our realm of Canterlot? But...how have we arrived here?” Stencil approached the Princess with a look of concern
“We found you beaten and bruised in the woods, we were concerned so we brought you here. I am Stencil Sketch, and these are my friends: Cermina, Aerohead, and his wife Alnna.”
Luna looked at the rest of them.
“Charmed. Tell me Mr. Sketch, where have you and your companions brought us, we do not recognize this place.”
Stencil Pushed up his glasses slowly. “We are in Hoofington, the home of Aero and Alnna. I was on my way to pay them a visit when I found you.”
Aero approached the Alicorn, trembling slightly. “I, uh....”
The Lunar Princess smiled at him “Go on boy, no need to fear us, for we no longer bear the name ‘Nightmare Moon’.”
Aero gulped once and said “I’m sorry for trying to… poke your nose.”
Luna laughed. “Dear colt, we do not mind such harmless antics, for we often enjoy pulling nefarious pranks on my sister back home.” Suddenly the Princess frowned and mumbled to herself. “Sister...” She looked back to Stencil.
“We must return home. We appreciate the kind hospitality, but the castle is under siege, and we must rally our troops to reclaim it.” But as Luna tried to get up from the bed, she groaned from the pain she felt in her back. Stencil and Cermina moved in front of the door, “Sorry, Your Majesty, but I cannot let you do that. You’re in no condition to go anywhere, let alone fight!” Stencil said in a stern, professional voice. The Princess gave a disapproving glare to him.
“Mr.Sketch...”
“Call me Sencil, please.”
“Stencil, I know well of your concern for me, and I know you wish not to see your ruler of the night harmed. But this mad stallion must be stopped and it seems the task is up to me. Now step aside or I will not hold back the power of the moon upon thee.” Cermina cracked her claw knuckles and gave a low growl as she stepped before Luna between her and Stencil.
“I vill advise you to return to your bed at vunce, Night Princess. Stencil is good doctor and his vords are vise. Even if you vish to bring this stallion down you must heal vounds first. Now return to bed, or I vill do it for you...”
Luna’s face turned to an angry glare, “You dare challenge me! The Princess of the Night, Steward of the Moon! Thou hast made me angry, and has picked a bad day to do so! Now if thou darest up hold your words against me dragon, then raise thy fists, and figh-!”
Cermina was already upon her, moving far quicker than the mare had expected as she reared back and slapped the Lunar Princess with a solid backhand against the side of her face.
Luna stumbled back a bit, somewhat surprised such a strike had broken through her guard, but then, only a brute would dare attack before the other was ready,
“You...dare lay a claw upon the princess!? I dare say that the gloves are now off!”
“Perhaps talk less, fight more!” Cermina rushed her again, going low to plant an upper-cut on the princess before the sudden envelope of a pink shield around each one stopped the fight.
“Cermina, stand down... No use in breaking her more than she already is.”
“You dare stop our battle?” Luna exclaimed “Have you no honor!?”
“I do...your majesty, but fighting a drakess isn’t a wise choice, especially in your condition. Cermina is the best fighter I know, and though you may possess magic, dragons have some resistance to it; your spells would be useless against her.”
Cermina only grinned, slowly easing upright as she crossed her arms. “You see, and you already vere veak enough to let slap hit face, tink vhat would happen if I vas not stopped.”
Luna gritted her teeth “You....”
“Princess, please!” Stencil boomed, somewhat unsettled by the fact these two were about to have at it inside a house. “I must ask you return to bed. Fighting won’t help you heal faster...but...perhaps it will allow you to tell us what happened and why you were found beaten and bruised in the middle of nowhere?”
Luna looked away, sighing in disbelief before she slowly eased back into the bed, the sting of her wing’s wound still prominent; but it was resting easily now.
“What can you tell me then Princess...” Stencil began, slowly leaning forward before the princess yet again, his eyes placed upon her gave her a rather unsettling feel.
“You...M-...Stencil... your eyes, they are quite...familiar. By chance was one of thy parents enrolled in the Lunar Guard?”
“My father was. Your Majesty....Shattered Comet of the Lunar Wings.”
“Shattered - oh my! Such a Pegasus he was, and you are his offspring! Tell me, is he well?”
Stencil paused for a second “He’s dead...”
“Dead? By means Stencil please lay thy jokes aside, this is a serious matter that I must tend to.”
“He is dead Luna, he and my mother both died before their time.”
“How, did they die, if we may ask?”
The stallion looked away. “A serious illness. They both succumbed to a tropical fever on a trip.”
Luna’s expression went somber. “You have my condolences.”
“Comrade Stencil, I know you are av’are of what is going on, but dere is still matter of how Princess turned up like dis at all.”
‘You’re right...’ Luna said ‘I am sorry for getting involved in your affairs Stencil, but it saddens me so to hear such news from such a humble stallion I’ve known so well.”
“It is upsetting,” said Stencil, “but we must carry on; he’d want us to.”
Luna’s face remained grave as her mind returned to the present. “We will need great courage to carry on today; there is a reason why I wished to return to Canterlot immediately. Our castle had been attacked by a ruthless dictator.”
“What?!” Aero said, suddenly sticking his head above the bed, wide eyed. “You’re saying that Celestia’s in trouble up at the castle?”
“Yes… my sister and I were in Canterlot park when a dark cloud descended into the field. A great leviathan of a pony emerged from within, and there were also were thousands of armoured ponies, each wielding a pair of deadly weapons... never have I seen such a desire for destruction! Not even from the griffons have I seen such raw show of force. They invaded our castle, and within a matter of hours had begun to pillage and torture us, finding delightful pleasure in the suffering of their… victims.”
“How’s that possible? Sounds like a right crazy monster! What kinda creature coulda taken down Canterlot so quick?”
“It can not be dragons...” Cermina muttered “a leviathan is not of dragon heritage, that is a beast from beyond the deeps.”
“It wasn’t such a thing drakess,” said Luna, “but an Alicorn instead.”
“An Alicorn!?” Stencil and Aero said together.
“How is that possible?” Stencil continued.
“He was something I never expected to see, a beast dark as night bearing the horn and wings of an Alicorn. He was ruthless, something far more devastating than the ruthless King Sombra. This one had was lythe, thin, and strong. What made him truly terrible was the evil in his eyes. They were filled with nothing but desire to destroy and control. Such a ruthless leader.”
“‘Splains v’hy army so big n’ vast, but how could somepony fell Celestia in vone day?”
“I- I’m afraid he did,” Luna choked slightly as she remembered the day. “His magic just overtook hers, and he was far more maneuverable than even she. He was upon her instantly, and gave her no quarter. He even… he even sought to bring harm to me just to drive my Sister to lose her mind, but… I was able to escape… I fled to rally help and save my Sister” she began to sob, letting her tears roll down her cheeks.
“Why did I leave her, why did she let me go! Oh sister.... why...why did you...”
Stencil bit his lip, slowly moving toward the kitchen.
He boiled a kettle, and no sooner had it heated than he poured it into a teapot, and returned with several mugs of freshly brewed tea.
“Your majesty?” he said, extending a mug to the Princess sobs a bit more, slowly looking, her eyes filled with tears. “Please, drink some tea, it will help calm th-”
She was drinking it instantly, gulping it distractedly before letting out a elevated sigh.
“Ah....thank ye, good Sir Stencil, we thank thee for thy kindness.
Stencil gave a warm smile. “It's what I do, Your Majesty.” Things seemed to calm down then as Cermina huffed, moving about the place as she gave everypony room to sit comfortably.
“If this here dictator gots it all in his hoof to have canterlot, what makes him so sure he’s gonna rule all of-”
“Attention...citizens of Equestria.”
A mysterious, sinister voice suddenly spoke from outside. It was loud enough to be heard throughout the entire city, yet it did not sound amplified but eerily flat. Everyone turned to the window to see that the clouds had began to turn a darker.
“I, Sire Landcastra, Ruler of the Shadow Abysse, have come to take your lovely world for my own. I have conquered your beloved Princess Celestia, and with the royal sisters dethroned, I hereby name myself as ruler of all that was theirs to control… you all shall now submit to me, or suffer the consequences.”
The clouds suddenly faded, becoming their usual pale grey once again.
“Seems like he wanted to make a statement...” Aero said with a gulp, “If he finds us, he’ll kill us!”
The pegasus quickly swept over to all the windows, closing the blinds. He then zipped over to the front door, locked it and pushed the nearest chair in front of it.
“Good, alright, we can keep calm, he can’t get to us for now.” he said as he looked about.
“Nay, I do not think that would work,” Luna said worriedly, “if he can astral project himself, then he could do it anywhere....even in this room.”
Aero yelped and ducked under the table at the thought.
“Aero...” Alnna said, shaking her head “C’mon, there ain't nopony gonna come get yeh.” she said, tugging the stallion out from under the table by his tail.
“Your friend has reason to worry, Landcastra is not a gentle ruler,” said Luna, “he had already begun his reign of terror in Canterlot, all we can hope is that those willing to stand against him will rise soon enough.”
“I hope the Guard can be mobilized...” Stencil muttered, “they still have a bunch of detachments along the border.”
“We realize that Stencil, but...” Luna paused “if this requires us to withdraw from the griffons, what's stopping them from capitalizing on this situation?”
Everypony paused.
“But we don’t know.” Luna continued, “its hard to gauge what they may do, but...you have a point, we’re going to have to mobilize everything soon, but, to do that, we’d have to go to the Equestrian Academy, and that...” she looked away “is far away.”
“There’s gotta be something we can do. We can go and bring the call to arms.” Stencil began, but Luna shook her head.
“It would be suicide, Landcastra would find out quickly and destroy them. It’s a wonder he hasn’t already.”
“Perhaps he vants you to show, maybe lead some valiant defense...” Cermina muttered, “and you'd be valking into trap.”
“I know… I know… oh by thorns and thistles, such folly is going to bring about nothing but headache,” Luna moaned as she thought.
Just then a sudden puff of smoke and a light green flame brought a scroll into the room.
Luna recognized its seal as her sister’s and quickly levitated it to herself, opening it up as fast as she could. She began to read aloud.
Dear Sister,
I know what you have seen has brought you great grief, but I must tell you that I have managed to avoid further harm for now. I have yet to break to Landcastra’s will, but have been able to keep him occupied. He wishes to keep me alive, forever torturing me.
Our own nephew Blueblood has turned to Landcastra’s side and attacked me to prove his loyalty. However I do not see him as truly evil, for his eyes are fueled by the corruption of this stallions will and force. I know something is not right with him, and he certainly possess that power we had both hoped would remain lost, You must remain strong if we are to fight it.
Landcastra says that the Element Bearers are dead, but I do not believe him. I sense the faint trace of life in each of the statues of the Elements Bearers and I am very sure he has merely petrified them. We must find a way to reverse this spell and use them to seal his fate, but I fear their power alone won’t be enough to stop him. This is why I must ask you go on a quest, and find the 8th element, one that has been hidden for many many years.
There is little I know of this element, but realize the time to search for it is now. With the element bearers currently incapacitated, you must seek out this eighth element and with it, free the Bearers of Harmony and bring peace back to our kingdom.
I cannot write much more for this letter; the guards check my cell constantly. I must keep my mind strong. I trust the rest to you while I continue to do what I can here. Be strong sister. May the light of the sun guide you.”
Your Loving Sister Celestia.
Luna stared for a moment at the scroll in disbelief.
“Sister...” she said before breaking into a grin. “Sister!” she took the scroll in her hooves, cradling it like a child. “Tell me, tell me where, what Element makes the 8th one!?” she demanded, huffing as she looked about, turning her gaze to Stencil.
The unicorn was just as surprised as the others as Luna recovered herself, and sighed, laying back in the bed.
“What is this 8th element?” Stencil asks
“Myth, lore of something I read long ago… but alas, I do not know all of it. Starswirl the Bearded had mentioned the existance of an 8th element in our world. Though little was known of it, it was said it could amplify the magical powers and abilities of any pony enveloped by its pure energy.”
“What sort of energy?” Stencil asked.
“Serenity.”
“Serenity?” Alnna repeated “what ya’ll mean by that?”
“It means that this pony, the 8th element, is capable of creating an atmosphere of pure calm and control so that those influenced by it can increase their strength. Again, it is only lore, but my sister seems to think we can find it!”
“Well...we better do it soon then!” Aero said urgently, “That Landcastro could be here any minute…”
“I think its Landcastra.”
“Whatever!” Aero muttered “We have to do something before he takes over all of Equestria!”
“The question though, is how?” Stencil interrupted.
Luna huffed, looking down a bit before returning her gaze to Stencil.
“I would never wish to endanger our subjects, but...I would want to ask if you’d be willing to aid me in my search for it.”
“You mean 8th element?” Cermina asked as Luna nod.
“My sister would want me to do it… but...:”
“You’re in no condition for any adventure like that,” Stencil concluded with complete certainty, “I don’t see any problem with helping, but we should first let you heal up so we can all go. Ya’ll can count me in!” Alnna said.
“Me too! I don’t want to have to sleep with that Landcastra guy around.”
Cermina smirked, keeping her arms crossed “If this vone vishes to take throne of Princess, den dat proves he is strong, perhaps Cermina take chance in fighting him, see vhat strength he really have.”
Luna smiled, flattered by the eagerness of this group.
“Very well...we shall leave as soon as I am able… though, I am sure preparations should be taken?”
Stencil nodded “you can count on me, we’ve done this once before, no real worry in doing it again!”