Shades of the Past

by Necroesphere

Chapter 1: Awaken

Chapter 1:
Awaken

Luna felt a jolt of realization hit her as she rose from her bed. A memory had stirred in her dreams of three ancient warrior ponies who were guardians of her night. She knew that they were tied tightly to her destiny, but she could not put her hoof on who they were. Maybe something in the old part of Canterlot castle would yield some answers.

“Luna, it is time for you to begin raising the moon,” Celestia interrupted her thoughts as she barged in. Luna felt a bit annoyed at her sister’s constant interruptions since the royal wedding of almost a month ago.

“Tia, I think it is a bit too early,” Luna responded looking at the thing ponies called a clock. It pointed out that the time was about 5:30 in the afternoon. It was too early for the moon to rise, and Celestia should have known that herself. She had raised the moon herself for over 1000 years without Luna’s help.

“Is it? I feel like the moon should be early today,” Celestia mused before chuckling. “I guess it is a bit too early. Anyway, how was your sleep?”

“It was fine. I guess,” Luna answered, just a bit confused by her sister. “Why do you ask?”

“It is the 1002 year anniversary of you turning into Nightmare Moon.” Celestia exclaimed at her sister, smiling like it was the best thing ever. Luna was angered at her sister for feeling like it should be a day for celebration.

With a jolt, Luna remembered what happened that fateful day. About Black Paladin and Night Blade and Galeful Knight. About the promise she had made and had failed to keep but not of her own free will.

“Black Paladin…” Luna murmured to herself.

“What was that Lulu?” Celestia asked, invading Luna’s personal space. Luna leapt backwards out of her bed trying to ignore that her sister had just jumped into her bed.

“Nothing dear sister. I should go get something to eat before I go attend to the court then,” Luna waited for her sister to leave so she could get ready for the night but Celestia didn’t seem to get the hint. “Um, Celestia, can you leave? I’d like to get ready.”

“Oh yes. Sorry Lulu,” Celestia giggled as she left. She closed the door leaving Luna in solitude and privacy to sort out her thoughts. Luna sighed as she trotted over to her dresser and levitated a brush, running it through her mane. She wished this was the first time she had seen her sister act like this when she woke up, but sadly it wasn’t. It was probably the fifth or sixth time since the wedding that she had woken up to find her sister in her room.

“Black Paladin, I wish I had never made you sleep. You could have prevented the Nightmare Moon incident and kept the world safe when I could not,” Luna whispered to herself. As she finished brushing her mane, she slipped into her silver slippers and levitated her chest plate over her head. Finally, she put on her tiara before walking out onto her balcony.

She drew in a deep breath as she stretched her wings out to their full wingspan before diving off into the air. She enjoyed doing this when she was feeling stressed or if she needed to feel adrenalin rushing through her body. She pulled up so she could get a bird’s eye view of Canterlot. Very few ponies knew of this experience, even among the pegasi, who were forbidden to fly through the castle airspace.

Luna knew exactly were the entrance area was hidden, but she was still trying to remember the exact well that hid it. She landed in an ancient, overgrown garden that had been boarded up long ago except for one door that led straight back to the castle. She took a deep breath in, smelling the musty air that had not changed in over 1000 years.

She glanced around the garden, noticing that there were three wells spread out in the garden. On top of the farthest well sat a massive boulder, which was out of place compared to the other two wells. Luna strode to it, levitating the boulder off with a small fraction of her strength. With a massive shudder, the boulder moved and the well sank into the ground. A large, cavernous passageway opened in front of her, weaving deep into the ground. She levitated and lit an old torch that was held in a brazier near the entrance of the passage.

With a deep breath, she began her long descent into the passageway that would yield her final goal. She saw cobwebs strung around throughout the passageway and at times had to use her magic to clear out a few of them. She shuddered whenever she passed one of her ancient magical barriers, remembering the magic that was allowed when she last came down here.

Many ponies had created spells to control another’s mind or to shatter armies. The presence of Dark Magic during the period was overwhelming and she wondered why Celestia hadn’t outlawed the use of the magic earlier. They had been at war with the Griffon Kingdom at the time though so that could have been a reason. Even Black Paladin had dipped into that darkness and developed magic that would have made even Discord run for cover if he used it.

Black Paladin was the last of his kind who possessed black magic and the ability to wield it effectively. He was not the strongest of unicorns in this time, but his magic could easily best most of them. Twilight Sparkle would have loved to ask him a lot of questions on the time period and his magical abilities.

She noticed that she was nearing the great metal door that had sealed the three in many centuries ago. She focused her mind, trying to remember how to open the magically sealed door that stood before her. There was no way in Equestria that her strength or magic could force the door out of the way normally. The door required an ancient ritual to open it the second time it was to be used. A ritual of blood.

Luna gulped as she levitated a jagged rock over to her from the ground while she slid one of her slippers off. She tried not to think about her grim task as she used the rock to draw her blood, the golden ichor of deities. She winced at the pain of the cut but quickly put her hoof against the metal door, the freezing surface offering some relief from the cut. The ancient door rumbled in its frame as it slowly slid open, revealing an ancient room that felt more like a crypt that anything else.

Every last torch in the room had long since gone cold, the magic of the torches dissipated with the ponies that had cast them. Only the magic that kept painting Luna’s life continued to work at a normal pace, having completed three circuits since Luna had last entered the chamber. Luna cast out her magic, lighting the torches throughout the chamber to light it up, but the light sent an eerie glow from the three crystals that stood in the center of the room.

Inside each crystal was a pony of varying height and weight. They each wore armour and weapons that were kept in prime condition, thanks to the magic that was infused to the crystal. Luna felt a tugging at the back of her mind, reminding her that it was time for the moon to begin to rise and for night to replace day. With little effort, Luna moved the moon and set it on its normal pace through the night sky, as well as the stars.

Luna turned her attention to the crystals in the center of the room, deciding that awakening all three of them at the same time would most likely be the best choice at the moment. She knew that opening these crystals only required a voice activation command from Luna, but she was beginning to have second thoughts of awakening them. Finally, the promise she made all those years ago forced her to use the Royal Canterlot voice to open the crystals.

“NIGHT BLADE, GALEFUL KNIGHT, AND BLACK PALADIN. YOUR PRINCESS OF THE NIGHT DEMANDS THAT YOU AWAKEN TO SERVE AGAIN!” She yelled hearing the echo ring through the tunnel behind her.

When Luna’s commands finished echoing around the chamber, three sets of eyes slowly opened, each an eerie shade of green matching the crystals. Before Luna could register the actual color of each set of eyes, the crystals exploded into green clouds of smoke depositing the ponies inside onto the stony ground.

“Ouch!” One of them shouted. “Talk about a rude awakening.” There was a large bang as one of them was dropped onto their head after having slept upside down. Luna recognized the voice as Galeful Knight, a dark blue pegasus that was a trickster and often fast spoken. Luna remembered that he had tripped into the crystal and had slept upside down for the entire time, which would explain why he had shouted out.

“What happened?” A familiar gravelly voiced boomed from the left. Night Blade jumped forward, out of the smoke only to find Luna standing in front of him. “Princess Luna,” he bowed, “it is good to see you again.”

“It is good to see you as well young Night Blade,” Luna smiled to herself, feeling as though Night Blade had grown bigger in the crystal. He had always been the tallest stallion, standing to the height of Luna’s chin. But the grey earth pony now seemed to stand eye level. Galeful Knight flapped his wings and sent smoke flying all around the chamber as he stirred up the air. Luna covered her nose, smelling rotten eggs and sulfur from the cloud.

The smoke cleared up as Galeful Knight gave one final flap, sending it spiraling towards the windows and into the passage. He chose to hover above the ground so he didn’t feel dwarfed compared to his companion Night Blade. Along the shoes of his armour were blades that would shoot out when he clicked his hooves together, making him a dangerous enemy in close quarters. He smiled at Luna as he flew closer and landed on Night Blade’s back.

“Hello my dear princess,” Galeful Knight chuckled. “That was an interesting way to get up in the evening.”

“It is good to see that you still have your humor Galeful Knight,” Luna snickered as Galeful Knight did a few loops in his place. She looked around the room, trying to find Black Paladin but was surprised not to find him standing where his crystal was. She finally spotted him pacing next to the wall, looking at the artwork. She smiled to herself as he watched the magic work its way along the wall.

“Princess, it is good to see you again. I believe that as last agreed, we are ten years in the future. How goes the war with the Griffon Kingdom?” Night Blade asked casually pulling his massive scythe off his back sending Galeful Knight back into the air. Luna realized they believed it was ten years later like she had promised them.

“Obviously we ponies are winning.” Galeful Knight said landing back on top of Night Blade’s back, earning a playful swish from Blade’s scythe to get him off.

“Night Blade! Galeful Knight!” Black Paladin boomed from the wall. “The war is over. Long over. Luna, what year is it?” Luna gulped when she realized that he would have known where the painting would have been when he had last been awake. So he would have been able to guess the time change easily.

“Nothing seems to get past you Black Paladin,” Luna sighed to herself. “1000 years. That is how long you three have slept.”

“What?” All three of them gasped. Galeful Knight dropped off the back of Night Blade and onto the floor. Black Paladin seemed to be unaffected by this news as he drew closer to Luna.

“Perhaps we should leave this dreary room. 1000 years tends to allow one to despise the room he was kept in,” Black Paladin spoke, his emotions unreadable. His eyes were like stones and seemed to fall into a black abyss. Luna gulped, unsure of how to react to one of her closest friend’s harsh reaction.

Black Paladin began walking out of the chamber, followed closely by Night Blade and Galeful Knight. Luna strode after them, closing the chamber as she left.

“Let me explain you three!” Luna shouted after them. Night Blade and Galeful Knight both stopped though Black Paladin disappeared into the shadows. “Paladin.”

“Where are you going?” Night Blade asked the shadows. Luna was unsure of where he had gone, his magic would easily allow him to remain hidden from even her.

“I am not going to stay here. I am going to find my own answers,” Black Paladin stated, his form appearing for the briefest moments in the light of the entrance. Luna had no idea what he had meant by that statement and she shook thinking about what he planned.

“Are you going to explain yourself Luna?” Galeful Knight huffed floating above her. “I want to see the world. It would be a lot of fun to see the change in history just like you princesses have.”

“Wait? You aren’t angry with me?” Luna asked startled. She had expected all three of them to be angry at her, not just Black Paladin. Night Blade had a smile on his face.

“I am fine with the time as long as Gale has my back,” He chuckled to himself. Luna smiled at the pair who had one of the closest bonds she had seen. Those two acted like brothers even though they were not connected by blood. They cared for Luna like a sister also since the day she had pulled them off the street.

“That is good. A lot has happened the years you spent locked in that room. I myself was not here for those years myself.”

“What do you mean?” Night Blade questioned.

...

Black Paladin breathed the fresh air glad to be free of that dungeon. The garden around him was overgrown and full of rotten plants and rats. The walls looked ancient as if no pony had walked these halls in centuries, while only one passage was actually open. He tried to cast his scrying magic, but again his magic failed to work for him.

Paladin felt as though the crystal was responsible for his inability to cast any magic. He decided to find his way through to the new area of the castle to meet the Princess of the Sun, Celestia. He planned to explore more magic after being locked away from the world for so long. But first he needed help from one of the princesses. Mainly one who did not want him a secret.

Comments

[Necroesphere]

YAYYYYYYYY Updates!

Chapters 2 and 3 are under development of edits. Will get Chapter 2 out maybe next week, but I do have school beginning. So yeah. Enjoy and give feedback as you will.

Thanks for the support.

[Necroesphere]

Hmmmm... Somepony should seriously comment, or this story is going nowhere. How should I know what to do without some support from you people out there. So, please leave a comment. Or you may see something that you don't like and I would never know. So, er... whatever you like would be fine. Just keep it rated pony.