//------------------------------// // Through the Valley of Shadows // Story: Majesty: Queen of the Castle // by Paradise Oasis //------------------------------// "Are you sure this is the way, Holly?" Wind Whistler asked nervously, her hooves shaking in her horseshoes as she walked along quietly after the others. "This place is scarier than a whole army of trolls." "I don't like it either, Windy. But this is the path that follows the river, and that silly stallion could've washed up anywhere downstream." The flutter mare replied. "We can't just leave him, he could be drown, or hurt!" The five ponies trotted their way along the dark and winding road, huddling close together to protect themselves from the bitter cold. It had become evening by the time the group had reached the pathways of the dead, and a chilly wind and dark path lie ahead of them. The only sounds they heard were the dead leaves crunch beneath their hooves, and the sound of the swiftly running river off to their right. Majesty tried to keep the way lit with her horn, but nothing could break the eerie gloom that seemed to surround them on all sides. "I really can't believe it, this is totally insane!" Majesty grumbled, leading the entire group from the front. "First, I set out on a quest to get away from my mom and to discover myself, and I end up rescuing ponies over and over again!" "Well, what did you think you were going to find out in the world outside of your safe little castle?" Applejack replied, raising an eyebrow. "Out here, ponies often get captured. Out here, ponies can even get killed. Rescuing them is the thing a princess- no, a queen- sees to. Did you really think this was going to get any easier?" "Applejack, I don't really need you lecturing me about my faults and failings." Majesty growled, looking back to face the earth pony. "And I do believe I've thoroughly proven I'm willing to make the hard decisions, that softie you first left Dream Valley with is long gone." "We know, and that not entirely a good thing." Ice Crystal muttered to himself, trotting just behind Majesty. "You're becoming just as harsh as some of the monsters we've been facing." The five ponies had gone down the path a ways, when that all noticed broken up bits of an old rusted iron fence running along the left-hand side of the river. Several carved stones, of many different shapes and sizes, dotted the left side of the path. Their surfaces etched with a writing none of the ponies could read. "W-What is this place?" Wind Whistler asked. looking around nervously. "It looks really, really creepy." "It's called a cemetery, Windy. I've seen them in the human towns." Thundercloud responded, trying to hide his own fear. "It's where they bury their dead in the earth." "They put the dead.... underground? That's kinda creepy." Windy asked, shivering in horrific disgust. "But there aren't any human towns around here... what is this one for?" "This is a cemetery of ponies, Windy. Used by the ancients long before our time." Applejack replied, eyeing the tombstones warily. "The ancients used to bury their dead like the humans do, instead of interring their dead in the citadel catacombs like we Ponylanders do." "Why, that's horrifying!" Hollywood replied, disgusted. "How could you just throw your loved ones in a hole, and cover them with dirt for all eternity?" "A lot of things the ancients didn't don't make any sense, Holly." Ice Crystal replied, the only pony not shivering in this cold. "We'd best keep moving, if we wish to reach the path's end by sunrise." Suddenly, there was a strong gust of breeze, casing the leafless tree branches to rock around in the wild winds. A low moaning filled the air, as eerie orbs of light began to rise from the tombstones, and swirl about the ponies walking the path. Then, they swore they could hear voices on the wind. "Turn Back!" "Turn Back!" "This path is filled with great danger, turn back!" "Whoa, what are those things?" Hollywood asked, flapping around in a panic as the wispy orbs of light swished all about her, leaving trails of light like small comets. "Are they some kind of night pixie or something?" One of the balls of light drifted in front of Wind Whistler's eyes, causing her to recoil in horror. "Faces!" The Pegasus cried out. "There are pony faces in the orbs!" "We see it too, Windy!" A terrified Thundercloud replied, as the glowing balls all morphed into glowing pony heads. "There aren't pixies, they're ghosts!" "Go away." One of the spirits whispered. "Turn around and go back." "You are in grave danger here." Another whispered. "The singers of songs will take your lives, just as they took your friend." "Turn back, unless you wish to become like us." A third whispered. "Stay away from the horror that lies ahead." "W-what are they?!" Holly shrieked in fear. "It's the ghosts of the ancients, rising from their graves!" Majesty exclaimed, averting her eyes from the whirling spirits. "In life, they didn't believe in our great goddess B'zekre, and now they can't enter the Friendship Gardens, the pony heaven." She turned her head, to look back at the others. "They have no afterlife to go to, and so wander the world, trapped in limbo forever!" "Eeeee! Let's get out of here!" Windy cried out, zooming though the air. "I don't wanna end up a ghost, too!" "Wait, where's Applejack?" Majesty asked, looking around. "She was just here, a moment ago..." The four ponies looked back, and saw a full-sized pony ghost appear in front of A.J., staring at her, as the translucent mare stared back. The two seemed transfixed by the sight of each other, as if they were both looking at something they hadn't seen in a very, very long time. "What... what do you want?" Applejack addressed the shade. "I don't know why, but I get the feeling you're trying to tell me something." "Song....Song is the key, Ponylander." The earth pony spirit with the grey coat, mane and musical note cutie mark told her. "The ones who took your friend use song as their weapon, and it is a song that will defeat them." A.J. thought for a moment, then nodded. "Thank you for your advice, but... who are you? I feel like... I should know you, somehow." "Help your friend, Ponylander, and remember that we helped you." The ghost's icy voice chilled the mare to the bone. "And when the day you pass away comes, comes and you go to meet your goddess, ask B'zekre to remember our good deed. Ask her if we might be allowed some relief from our suffering in this living death, that all who did not believe in the goddess must endure." The Ghost faded away. "Goodbye forever, Applejack of Dream Castle. We shall never meet again." An eerie but beautiful song filled the air, calling all of the other ghosts back to their graves. The five ponies turned to the east, where they saw the sun rising over the trees. The darkness was banished away, and the five ponies found themselves alone once more. "Look, there's the exit to the path!" Windy rushed ahead. "Oh man, I never want to see another ghost for as long as I live!" The others all trotted out of the forest, but Majesty turned back to see Applejack sitting in front of a larger headstone, with the small statue that looked just like the ghostly mare they had all just seen. "Something wrong, A.J.?" Majesty asked "She helped us, and sang the other ghosts back to sleep, but..." The earth pony shook her head. "Who was that mare, and why did she seem so familiar to me?" "Who knows, Applejack? But there's nothing we can do for her now." The princess replied. "the best we can do is figure our what her advice meant, and how it can help us to rescue Tornado." She motioned with her head. "For now, let's get our flanks out of here, and let the dead rest in their graves." Applejack nodded, and began trotting out of the forest. But as Majesty turned back to the gravestone, she could only stare at the statue of the singing earth mare with the aqua-grey coat, and wonder who she had been...