Hollow Shades

by Dilos1


Evolution

A light fog had settled over the mountain city of Canterlot, seeping through the side streets and alleyways and obscuring much of the city itself, even some of the ornate towers, from view and giving the entire city an almost eerie quality. The mist itself was actually caused, somewhat accidentally, by a scheduled rainstorm earlier that morning, and if one looked closely they could see groups pegasi darting back and forth as they busily went about their task of clearing it away before it became too much of an inconvenience.

Personally, Rose Flare hoped that they took their sweet time in doing so. Considering that she was currently staying at her uncles house located on the very outskirts of Canterlot, it was likely that it would be some time before they would be able to take care of this portion of the city, if the fog had not already naturally dissipated by then. Rose Flare was perfectly fine with that however.

While most ponies would view the weather phenomenon as little more than a hindrance, made evident by just how quiet the city had fallen on account of many ponies taking the day off, Rose herself welcomed it completely, finding a certain tranquility in the fog. It reminded her very much of her home in Hollow Shades, just a short flight to the North-East of Canterlot. In Hollow Shades, weather such as this, along with rain and the occasional bit of frost, was actually a common occurrence whether it had been scheduled to happen or not. Sometimes there were days when it was so thick she and Roughshod would be forced to spend the entire day indoors to keep from getting lost just by walking around.

Rose Flare sighed longingly, wondering when the time would come for her to return to her husband. It had been six days now since she had agreed to be sent away, and she was feeling more than a little homesick. She looked forward to the moment when she could give Roughshod the good news in person as opposed to through a letter.

A quiet murmuring interrupted her moment of longing, drawing her attention to a small bundle of blankets wrapped up in a basket sitting beside her. A small gap in cloths allowed her to see the face of a tiny orange unicorn foal as her little eyes peeked open a tiny bit before she shut them again, muttering a small cry of complaint.

"Hey there," Rose said softly as she gently picked the foal up with her magic, bringing her over to her waiting forelegs. The filly squirmed a little under the blanket keeping her warm, voicing her displeasure at the world. "It's okay, momma's here," Rose soothed, cradling the infant in her forelegs as she sat down on her haunches. She felt a smile cross her face as she looked at her daughter, gently rocking her to sooth her back to sleep. Before long, the very young pony was gently snoozing away once more. "You know," Rose whispered quietly so as not disturb the child, "your daddy's not going to like that he missed you. He really wanted to be there for you when you came."

Rose imagined that Roughshod was probably going nuts back in Hollow Shades, assuming he got the letter that she had sent to update him on what had occurred, complete with a little photograph of her holding their new daughter. She decided to make it up to him by letting him be the one to pick out a name for her. . . provided that it was not after any mares from his side of the family that were still alive. That was a given.

Suppressing a chuckle, Rose slightly readjusted herself so that both she and the as of yet unnamed foal were comfortable as she laid down on her stomach, still cradling the tiny filly in her forelegs. Once that was done, Rose sighed contentedly as she enjoyed the view of the fog from the wooden back porch of her uncles house, content in knowing that neither of them were likely to be disturbed. Her aging uncle was asleep as he should be after putting up more of a fuss than his great niece had, and Nightshade was currently somewhere in the city, likely galloping back and forth between different stores in search of foal supplies. Rose doubted that many of them were still open, but that was hardly a deterrent for Nightshade. She could still recall the frenzy the mare had worked herself into upon learning that as soon as they had set down in Canterlot that Rose's water had broke.

She hoped that one pony was okay, especially after being physically dragged over to help.

Suppressing another laugh, Rose closed her eyes, comforted by her foals presence as she sat in silence, looking forward to the moment when she could return home.

Somewhere within the cloud of white, Rose heard the muffled sound of a twig snapping. She opened her eyes, mildly startled by the unexpected noise but otherwise not letting herself become too alarmed by it. Her uncles' house was on the very fringes of of the mountain city after all, and was just a few dozen yards away from the trunks of tall pine trees. It was one of the reasons she came here after all, for it reminded her very much of her home. Small critters regularly migrated between the forest and and the garbage can, especially when her uncle forgot to retrieve it like he did last night. It would not surprise her in the least if she saw a raccoon or something scurrying between the trees.

Deciding that that was probably all that she heard, Rose shrugged and closed her eyes again, listening to the sound of her breathing, her foals gentle snoring, and. . .

Once more, Roses eyes flew open, this time in alarm. She could have sworn that she had just heard something out there. Something that was most definitely not a raccoon or any other creature she was familiar with, and instantly she became extremely tense as she considered the possibilities of what it could be that was lurking out there. She had no idea what she had just heard. The closest comparison she could make to even begin describing it was like a heavy and steady breathing of some large animal, and she instinctively pulled her daughter closer to her chest as she continued to look around, trying to see through the mist.

She wondered if maybe it was a mountain lion, or even a bear. Animals such as them had occasionally been seen wandering around the mountainside, sometimes venturing into the neighborhoods around Canterlot, and instances of ponies being mauled were not unheard of. With that thought crossing her mind, Rose Flare decided that the best thing to do was to simply go back inside where it was safe.

She was just about to do just that, when all of sudden another sound reached her ears, causing them to twitch in response as they pointed to her left. Looking at where the din seemed to be coming from, Rose felt her heart rate steadily climb when could clearly make out the distinct sound of multiple tree branches being snapped off, along with a heavy groan as the trees themselves were pushed aside by something very, very big. Upon this realization Rose's thoughts turned away from bears and mountain lions to things such as lupus minors and wyverns, both of which, while rare, had occasionally been seen on the mountainside in the past and posed a much greater threat.

Before long Rose could plainly see the tops of even the tallest pine trees swaying back and forth as something huge moved between them, causing a flock of birds to flee, screeching at whatever was beneath them in alarm. It was so close that she could hear its skin scraping against the bark of the trees. Deciding that she had stayed for far longer than was necessary, Rose picked up her daughter in her magic and slowly began to walk backwards, wanting to be inside before whatever was out there showed up.

She did not make it very far however as she stopped, and felt her heart skip a beat entirely when she saw a massive shadow take form in the mist, growing steadily larger with each passing second it came closer, until finally a sleek, eyeless head emerged out of the white cloud, followed by a slender, multi limbed body that wove through the air like a massive, airborne serpent.

Rose's heart rate skyrocketed as she could do little more than watch as the unearthly creature hovered closer and closer to her, all while Rose fumbled with the doorknob with her hooves. Much to her frustration her hooves simply could not get a grip on the smooth metal, and she was beginning to panic when she realized that the monster was almost upon them. Shielding her foal behind her, Rose ignited her horn and was about to let loose with the most violent firework spell that she knew at the monster.

To her utter confusion however the beast was not where she was expecting it to be. Glancing all around, she found that instead of making a beeline right for them as she feared, the creature instead had floated right past them, as though it had taken no notice of her whatsoever. As it passed by Rose could not help but notice the many scars indicative of past injuries that covered its body, ranging from large bite marks along its spine to puncture wounds that riddled its flesh. The most notable of its injuries was a massive discolored patch of flesh that seem to cover its entire left side. For a brief moment, Rose could not help but feel a certain amount of pity for the strange creature, as it had obviously been through much pain in its life. She could even hear it wheezing as it glided past.

The feeling quickly vanished when the creature paused momentarily to cast a single glance at Rose over its shoulder. Unable to keep a small yelp of fright from escaping her muzzle, Rose tightened her grip on her daughter as she stared at it. For a long and extremely nerve racking moment the creature met her stare with its own gaze, before it continued onward, vanishing like a specter in the mist as though it had never existed in the first place.

Not waiting around to see what else would happen, Rose finally remembered that she could simply use her magic on the door as she yanked it open and ran inside, and proceeded to securely lock it. She doubted it would do that much to prevent the creature from forcing its way in if it so chose, but it still helped to calm her down slightly as she sagged down to the floor, feeling her body go limp. Shivering, Rose wanted nothing more than to pass out from whatever had just happened. She glanced down at her daughter, seeing the foal was once more fast asleep, completely oblivious to the entire ordeal. Rose was almost jealous.

"Have I got a story to tell you when you're older," Rose commented. Gathering her composure, Rose set off to pack her things, wanting to be ready to leave for Hollow Shades the moment Nightshade returned.


Luna awoke from her dreams as her eyes creaked open, slightly crusted over as the rays of the afternoon sun filtered through the single large window of her chambers straight into her retinas, momentarily blinding her until she was able to adjust to it. Rolling over onto her side, she absentmindedly wondered if it would not be too far out of the question for her to sleep for just a little while longer. Rolling her eyes to look at the grandfather clock pushed up into a corner, she soon found all hope for that dashed in an instant when she saw that it was nearing the time when she would have to raise the moon and take over the court for her sister. Even now she could see that the sky was beginning to gradually fade into an orange twilight as the sun began its descent towards the distant horizon.

Luna blinked her eyes blearily to clear away what little bit of sleep remained as she pushed away the blankets covering her with a flick of her magic. She sighed through her nostrils as she stared upward at the ceiling, decorated with an assortment of paintings meant to replicate the night sky. It was almost tacky. Would it have killed the painter to incorporate something a bit more welcoming?

Rolling out of her bed, Luna winced slightly as her back legs met the floor. They were still red in places, particularly where the bones underneath had been broken. They still had yet to fully recover from being forcibly repaired, even after an entire week had passed since. . .

Luna pushed away the thought in her mind before it could manifest itself into something unhealthy, knowing that it would not help her in any way right now. She fought with it, wrestled it into submission, and locked it away in a private place at the back of her mind where it would not be as distracting to her duty. But she could never completely make it go away however. No matter what she did to distract herself it refused to be omitted from her thoughts as it stubbornly remained like a persistent thorn in her side.

A young girl, her eyes full of fear and regret as she looked at Luna, almost seeming to plead for help as the monster of her mind loomed behind her like a monolith, its fangs and claws glittering like diamonds in the pitch black darkness. . .

Luna stood in front of her mirror as she dressed herself in her familiar silver regalia, restored of the dents and scratches it had accumulated. She never would have guessed that it had once been struck by a blow that in all likelihood should have killed her if not for Stalwart's quick actions. Briefly, Luna checked to make sure that everything was as it should be, with no misaligned pieces or stray bits of her mane. Satisfied that she was at least presentable, Luna exited her room, not wanting to be late.

Although it was hardly noticeable, and if it was none of the guards she passed by said anything, there was a very subtle limp in Luna's stride as she trotted forward that she forced herself to ignore, even as her legs protested against her every step of the way. She wondered for how much longer her condition would persist. She hoped it was not too long, as she had duties that she needed to attend to. Anything to keep her from being stuck in her room as she recovered, leaving her to dwell on that had happened, and all that could have been.

"Luna?"

The familiar voice brought Luna to a halt. It sounded mildly surprised, though at the same time it was also laced with something that suggested that the voices owner knew exactly what she was doing. As always, Luna found it difficult to completely decipher everything that her sister said to her. Turning around, Luna's blue eyes met Celestia's violet ones as the elder of the two looked at her sister in concern.

"Celestia," Luna said, raising her head slightly in acknowledgment of her sisters presence. Celestia was not quite as formal in her greeting however as she stepped over towards her younger sibling.

"What are you doing out of your chambers?" she asked, her voice laced with barely controlled worry. "You know that the doctor specifically told you not to move around for another week so you would not exasperate your injuries. What will I tell the Guard if you should happen to collapse right in front of them?"

Narrowing her eyes at Celestia, Luna responded, "I am well enough sister, no matter what that quack may say otherwise, I assure you. Do not presume me to be a helpless foal to be coddled."

Celestia recoiled slightly from her sisters stinging remark, and Luna realized then that she may have been a little bit more harsh than she meant to. Celestia meant nothing by it after all, she was only concerned for Luna's well being, and she could hardly fault her for that. However, she would not back down from her claim now, and for a few long moments the two alicorns simply stared into each others eyes, one in worry and the other in grim stubbornness. Eventually Celestia finally seemed to relent as her eyes softened and she said, "You are right Luna. I apologize. I should know by now that once you have your mind set on something, you are not one to give up easily."

"I should say the same thing about you sister," Luna replied, unable to suppress a small grin from adorning her muzzle. Celestia chuckled at her sisters prodding, but before long her mirth was replaced by the same worried frown that she had greeted Luna with.

"Luna," she said softly. "You are not well."

Luna turned away, unable to meet her sisters eyes. "I am well enough, sister. I am more than capable of handling the Night Court, in spite of my injuries."

"That is not what I meant, and you know it," Celestia responded as she set a gold clad hoof on Luna's shoulder, the cold metal chilling her fur slightly. The younger alicorn was still unable to look her elder in the eye as Celestia continued. "Luna, I know what you are going through. I know better than anypony else what it is like, to feel as though you have failed." As Celestia spoke, Luna took a quick glance at her sister, and she see that her eyes seemed to have become glazed over, as though she were somewhere else entirely, and she herself was reminded of that fateful moment centuries ago. "I had hoped that you would never have to know what it was like, but. . ." Celestia faltered, unable to bring herself to finish the sentence. Eventually she said, "Please Luna. Do not dwell on what cannot be changed. You did everything that you could for Angela."

"But it still was not enough, was it?" Luna replied. Celestia opened her mouth as though she wanted to say something, but instead was unable to think of anything that she could say that would console her sister. Eventually she seemed to give up on that as she closed her mouth and cast her eyes downward. Taking that as her cue to leave, Luna continued on her way. She was about to go around a corner when Celestia spoke up.

"Luna," she said. "You know that I cannot stand to see you like this. If there is anything that you want to talk about, then my door is always open for you."

Luna glanced at Celestia out of the corner of her eye. Their gazes held for few seconds until Luna nodded her head, a small appreciative smile on her face. "Thank you Celestia," she said, and then disappeared around the corner, leaving Celestia by herself.


Luna had forgotten how boring it could be at times to sit on the throne for potentially hours at a time as she listened to various ponies voice to her their nightly complaints. How she longed for the days when all she had to do was issue a royal decree and have the whole day and night to herself, and nopony would stop her under threat of capital punishment. But no, her sister just had to try using democracy, leaving the both of them to listen to whatever inane gripes were brought their way.

She was of course more than glad to know that the general population no longer viewed her as something to be fearful of ever since her return, which by itself had turned the entire governmental structure on its head for a little while. It had helped that, despite Luna's insistence that she not do so, Celestia had taken it upon herself to sponsor Luna, always vouching for her little sister at almost every opportunity. Luna of course was never one to steer away praise, but there were times when their ponies attempts to placate her were rather trying to put up with on a nightly basis, if not blatantly obvious.

She would never say that out loud right now however, as Luna listened intently to the pony currently in front of her at the base of her throne. A group of well dressed mares and stallions whom she represented stood immediately behind her as the wiry, middle aged mare waxed eloquent about how some of their trade partners in the nobility had apparently found a loophole in their agreements to pad their accounts at the expense of Canterlot shop owners. Luna was not sure for how long the mare had been talking, only that when she was finally finished her legs had long since fallen asleep beneath her.

"I see," Luna said thoughtfully, considering what she heard. "I do thank you for bringing this to our attention. However, without knowing exactly who is responsible for this extortion, there is very little we can actually do to stop them without conducting an investigation." Noticing the groups unanimous disappointment Luna added, "However, to help I can at least recommend a number of analyzers of the law to look over these agreements and help you decide what course of action you all should take until we learn who is responsible."

The mare nodded, grateful for the assistance as Luna gave them a list of names. "Thank you, your highness," she said, and with that both she and the other ponies filed out of the throne room, allowing the next pony to enter.

Luna was mildly surprised to see it was actually two ponies, a mare and a stallion, both of them earth ponies, and most likely farmers by their appearance. They had taken the time to clean themselves up so as not to be disrespectful, as evidenced by their brushed manes and freshly scrubbed coats, but Luna was not blind to the small amounts of soil that stubbornly clung to the bottoms of their hooves, which she could see with every step they took towards her. It helped that their marks were that of a stalk of wheat grass for the stallion and a sickle for the mare.

"Your highness," they both said in unison once they were close enough as they bowed deeply before her, already showing more respect and dignity than a good portion of the so called nobles that came before her with their trivial complaints. If these ponies were trying to placate her, it was working.

"Arise, my little ponies," Luna bade them with a wave of her hoof. "Do tell, what brings you here?"

They did as she commanded, and the stallion was clearly nervous as he cleared his throat and began to explain. "Well, ya see your highness, my family owns a plot of land down near the base of the Canterhorn mountain range. It's a pretty sizable one too, and we supply a good deal of the surrounding area, Canterlot included, with our fare."

"Go on," Luna acknowledged.

Tapping his hoof on the marble floor nervously, Luna had to resist asking him to stop as he continued to explain. "Well, the thing is your majesty, we don't just deal in produce. We also have a large stock of animal products, most of which is raised right on the farm. Meat products basically."

"Meat?" Luna questioned. She was not adverse to the idea of raising animals for either their meat or hide, but finding a place that openly sold animal products was an uncommon occurrence in Equestria, though not unheard of.

"Yeah, that's right. Chicken, pork, fish. You name it, we have it," the mare said. "The local griffons appreciate it. They can't live off of pony fare after all, and we don't mind the extra business they give us. Plus, the pigs are pretty good for waste disposal."

For a moment Luna considered what she had just heard, then said, "Am I to assume that the reason you are here has to do with your unconventional stock?"

"That would be correct your highness," the stallion confirmed with a nod of his head. "Ya see, not too long ago we. . . lost a large portion of our stock, and we were all just wondering if there was any way that something could be done about it."

"Well, that depends," Luna replied. "Namely on how much you lost, and how you lost it. You see, this is not really the place to come to ask for compensation for a few lost animals, especially if they died of natural causes. If they had been stolen, we may, and I stress may be able to help you recover, but for the most part this is not a particularly pressing concern for the crown. A few unaccounted for farm animals is not normally an issue to be brought before either myself or Celestia."

"We understand that your majesty," the stallion said. "But that's just it. Our pigs weren't stolen, and they didn't just up and die either. They were. . . well they were eaten."

Luna's eyes widened slightly upon hearing that, and she cocked her head to the side in interest. "Eaten?" she repeated. "Are you certain."

"Of course we're sure," the mare replied. "We have the bones littered all over the corrals to prove it too. That's mostly why we're here in the first place, hoping that maybe you could send somepony that can do something about it. We were thinking that. . ."

Luna had stopped paying attention to what the mare was saying, and she herself was silent as she considered the possible ramifications of what she had just heard, and a tiny seed of suspicion began to grow in her thoughts as she began to wonder. Was it even possible? She saw no reason to believe otherwise, but at the same time she was still somewhat skeptical of her own rising suspicions. She needed to learn more.

"Describe what happened," Luna commanded, interrupting the mare in the middle of her sentence. "Give me every detail that you can recall about what happened."

Momentarily caught off guard by her request, the stallion cleared his throat before explaining. "Well it started out as any other night. The work for the day was done, everypony was heading home while myself and a couple others stayed behind to make sure we would be ready for the next morning. Just a couple hours later we hear some sort of commotion going on in the pigs pens. We ran outside to see what was going on, but by then it was too late, and whatever it was that ate them was already long gone."

"We still don't know what it was that ate them," the mare interjected. "So far the best bet we can come up with is that it was a big pack of wolves, but their usually too skittish to even come close to the farm. We're worried that it might be something else, something that is brave enough around ponies to be a serious hazard."

"No," Luna said muttered, finding herself looking out of one the many stained glass windows out towards the treetops of a distance forest. "Could it be?"

"Uh, I'm sorry what did you say Princess?" the stallion asked. "We couldn't quite hear that."

Startled out of her thoughts Luna shook her herself slightly to clear her head before saying, "Er, um yes. Thank you for bringing this matter to my attention. Now if you would be so kind as to excuse me." With that she lit up her horn, and in a brief flash of light vanished of the throne, leaving everypony in the throne room dazed and confused as to what had just happened. The stallion and the mare glanced at each other uncertainly, before they both shrugged and started to trot back towards the entrance.

They did not make it five steps before another flash of light appeared right in front of them. They had just finished blinking away the spots in their eyes before they heard Princess Luna say, "Here, take this," right before she dropped two large burlap sacks laden with bits into their hooves. "It should be adequate for you to recover from your loss. Consider it a gift from my own personal savings." Before either pony could begin to question what was going on Luna once again teleported elsewhere, blinding them again.


Gerald had lost track of how long he had been cooped up in this prison cell, and a few times he found himself recounting the chalk marks he made on the wall opposite the bars to remind himself. He imagined that it was only about a week, give or take a few days, since Princess Luna had ordered him to be arrested, but still the days and nights dragged on to the point where the griffon was not even sure what exact hour it was, and he often had to ask the guards for the time.

Letting a tired sigh escape his beak, Gerald laid down on the thin mattress he had been provided, glad that his wing, encased in bandages, no longer pained him as much as before. At least the Princess Luna was not cruel enough to let him suffer, and allowed him to receive medical treatment. Still, he was quite morose at being kept inside of a cell, and made sure to alert anypony within earshot to his displeasure.

Just when he was about to go to sleep, one of the few things he had left to pass the time, Gerald heard the sound of at least dozen pairs of armored hooves approaching, the din echoing down the corridors and keeping him from his rest. Grunting in frustration, Gerald attempted to block out the noise with a pillow over his head, which only helped marginally to keep the disturbance at bay as he waited for it to go away. It did not go away however, and before long Gerald heard someone clear their throat, sounding like they were standing right at the bars of his cell.

"Bugger off!" Gerald exclaimed, his voice muffled by the pillow. His guests response was to forcefully remove the pillow as it became enveloped in an aura of blue magic, tossing it aside. "Hey!" Gerald sputtered. "Ya can't just-" Gerald stopped the moment he saw who it was that was standing at his cell, her icy blue eyes regarding him with an expression that clearly said she would rather be doing something else right now as several Royal Guard ponies bearing similar looks stood behind her.

"Gerald," Princess Luna said, her tone as cold as her expression. "I have a proposition for you."


Its breath was shallow and ragged as it forced itself to keep moving forward, and every time it inhaled it felt as though its lungs were rattling around inside of its chest. Its entire body ached in protest with every minute motion it made, and oftentimes it found itself paying less and less attention to where it was going as a result. In short, it hurt. It hurt a lot.

Only paying enough attention to its surroundings to make sure that it did not collide into anything such as a tree, the wraith had to struggle to stay conscious, as every second that passed by brought it closer and closer to simply falling to the ground beneath it in an unconscious heap, leaving its already scarred and mutilated body vulnerable to anything, or anyone, that wanted to do it harm. It knew that no matter what it had to stay awake, to keep moving forward so it would not be found.

It had to get away from them, from those that had wounded it so, because its instincts were telling it that if it did not, it would die, having learned from previous experiences. So it obeyed, following the will of the only thing that could keep it alive long enough for it to eventually recover from the injuries that the little equine creatures had inflicted upon it.

It continued like this for a long while, trying to make as little sound as possible as it moved across the countryside, sticking to the cover of any patch of trees it could find, only going out in the open when no other choice was available. Doing this made it incredibly nervous, putting it on edge, for it knew that every moment that it spent out in the open was an opportunity for it to be spotted and pursued.

Where it was going, it did not necessarily know. All it knew was that somewhere ahead of it was safety, a haven for creatures of its kind to hide and rest and never have to fear from interacting with the small equines ever again.

It injuries made it difficult for it to concentrate however, and most of time its thoughts were muddied and unclear, all while flashes of moments in the past whirled through its head in a confusing and jumbled mess. Memories of pain, anger, fear, hunger, among many others, all of which were made fuzzy by its relentless desire to get away, to hide from them so that they could no longer torment it, where it could just simply forget.

Even now the memories were gradually beginning to slip away, yielding to the thoughts and urges needed only for survival. They were the only ones that mattered at the moment. Everything else was unnecessary.

Some however, stubbornly remained a fixture in its mind. But they were not memories of pain. They were something else. Something different. But what were they? A sound? A sight? A voice? It did not know what they were exactly, so why did it refuse to forget them? Why did they continuously dance at the fringes of its thoughts, just out of reach? Why did it care enough about them not to forget, when it could not readily recall what they even were?

Did they even matter?

It could not decide if they were, and thinking about it only made its head hurt more than it already was. So it ignored the feeling, the sense that it was missing something important in favor of focusing solely on the unmarked path ahead of it, searching for a place to rest as it let itself be guided forward by its instincts. Eventually the sparse woodland it traveled through eventually faded into a dense forest full of tall trees with large, arching branches that loomed over its head, almost completely blocking the sky which had long since turned a dusky orange from view. The ground beneath it changed as well, as it was littered with fallen logs and dense underbrush. Many small animals fled at its arrival, chittering and squawking in protest at its presence as it floated past, mostly ignoring them in favor of finding a place to sleep for the night.

Yet even then the wraith was unable to completely ignore the uncomfortable feeling that something was wrong with what it was doing, something that it had forgotten about during journey over the mountains, something important. But no matter what it could not remember, and its weariness combined with the pain of its injuries were doing it no favors. Instead they continued to wear it down even further, to the point where its tails dragged along the ground and its pace slowed to a crawl.

Its breath became heavier and more labored than ever, and before long the wraith found itself on its hands and knees, barely keeping itself propped upright with its saber claws as it struggled to inhale, all while a thin stream of black fluid leaked from its jaws. Its limbs trembled violently, and soon enough its arms gave out completely as it fell to the ground with a heavy thud.

It was dying, it realized. The injuries it had sustained were simply too much for the wraith as they finally caught up with it. As consciousness began to slip away and its vision slowly faded into blackness, the wraith still struggled to stay awake, unwilling to give up just yet. And during its fight for life, it could finally recall a few of the things it had forgotten.

It remembered a time, during its earlier life. A time when everything was normal, without pain. It remembered when that normality was shattered in an instant by a single, ill fated decision. It remembered despair, and hopelessness at finding a way out of the pit it had dug for itself, at ever finding a way to remedy its actions.

It wanted to keep going, to do something about them, but its once great strength was gone now.

Everything was going cold as it laid on the ground, barely able to move.

And just before consciousness left it completely, the wraith heard someone calling her name.


"Angela!" Luna shouted, glancing all around in the hopes that she might catch even a fleeting glimpse of Angela through the dense forest as the sunlight continued to fade away, forcing her to rely on the light of her horn. It would not be long until she had to raise the moon, but at the moment that was the furthest thing from her mind as she desperately searched for Angela. Behind her trailed a small group of six Royal Guard that she had personally hoofpicked for this task, and among them was a single earth pony mare with a cream colored coat, and a griffon who was none too pleased with being here.

Gerald glanced around nervously, causing Bon-Bon to give him an odd look as she said, "What's the matter? Scared?"

Giving her an annoyed expression, Gerald replied, "And why shouldn't I be, eh? After all, it's not like we're in one of the few places in Equestria where monsters still roam freely, and here I am with nothin' to defend m'self with." Somewhere nearby an owl hooted, causing Gerald to jump slightly as the birds call echoed through the forest. Even though they were only on the fringes of the Everfree Forest, there were still many things that would not turn their nose up at an easy meal.

"Relax, will you," Bon-Bon told him. "We're not in any danger."

"Yeah, so ya say Miss Drops. But given the fact that your glorious Princess over there is havin' us look for the same monster that almost did us both in, I'm findin' it hard to be reassured by that statement there."

"Gerald!" said Princess called over her shoulder, her tone laced with impatience. "Get up here and do what you are here for."

Not wanting to test her patience any more than he already had, Gerald hurried up to Luna's side, trying not to let her hostile expression distract him too much as he surveyed both the ground and the trees. Even in the dim light of the fading sun, his avian eyes could still see clearly enough to make out small details in the shadows. Before long, he spotted what he was looking for, and walked over towards it to get a better look, as Luna and her entourage followed close behind.

"Here" he said, pointing with a claw. "See these branches here? Somethin' big passed by, and not too long ago either I'd bet. Could be your monster." Gerald glanced back at the Princess, noticing the stern look she was giving him. Realizing his error regarding his choice of words, Gerald cleared his throat as he added somewhat awkwardly while pointing forward, "Right, um, this way. The trail leads this way your highness." With that, he continued onward, leading the group of ponies deeper into the forest. As time passed, the trail became easier to read, even in the now near pitch black darkness cast by the branches overhead.

Angela had definitely been here, Luna thought. She simply could not imagine it being anyone else that could have made a trail like this. The trees had been stripped of some of their bark, and the ground was mostly devoid of any normal set of tracks, indicating a creature such as Angela had passed by. The thought that she was now so close to finding her filled Luna with a mixture of excitement and anxiety. As much as she looked forward to finding Angela, she was also quite trepidatious as well, for she had no idea how the girl would react given what she had endured. Would Angela be receptive, or hostile?

Whatever state Angela was in, Luna knew she was going to find out soon enough as she continued to follow Gerald's lead through the Everfree Forest. As she trotted along, she noticed that Bon-Bon had sidled up along beside her, a question on her lips. "Um, Princess Luna?" the mare inquired timidly. "I know it's not my place to question your judgement, but why exactly am I here? Gerald I think I understand, but why me?"

Keeping her gaze focused forward, Luna responded, "You were the first pony to actually make contact with Angela. Given this, it seemed only prudent to have you present when we find her. I feel that right now she may need both of us to be present, if only to provide a familiar face that she may yet recognize."

Bon-Bon opened her mouth to say something, but found herself unable to come up with a counter argument, as she did not really want to be in this forest any longer than she had to. Still, she supposed that Luna had a point, and decided to simply accept it as she fell back a little, following the Princess' lead.

After a while Gerald stopped, as he bent down to take a closer look at the ground. "Hold up," he muttered. "Somethin' ain't right here."

"What is it? What do you see?" Luna questioned. Pointing at the ground, Gerald directed her sight to what had caught his attention, where Luna saw a series of impressions in the forest floor. They looked eerily reminiscent of a trail left behind by a trio of serpents, although much larger than any snake had any right to be. They wound through the trees, many of which had been stripped of their bark.

Something was most definitely wrong here, and Luna did not like it in the least. Trotting past Gerald, her pace quickened considerably as she followed the trail. "Angela!" she called out. "Angela, are you there?!"

"Princess! Wait up!" her guards exclaimed at seeing her suddenly dart off as they moved to catch up to her. Luna slowed down for them, but only slightly as she kept glancing at the ground, not wanting to lose the trail for even a moment. It was not long before she could see something up ahead, something that was not a part of the forest. Something that Luna recognized.

"Angela!" Luna exclaimed as she surged forward, almost tripping a few times in her excitement as she came ever closer to Angela. But the closer she got, the more she could see that something was wrong. Angela did not appear to be moving. In fact, she was not moving at all as she laid down on her side, her tails limp and the spines on her back sagging downward. In addition, an odd shiny black fluid was leaking out of her fanged jaws, forming a small pool of the substance beneath her head.

"Angela!" Luna shouted fearfully as she rushed to the girls side, heedless of the warnings that her guards were shouting at her as she went directly over to Angela's head. "Angela! Wake up, it's me! I'm here!" she proclaimed as she placed both of her front hooves on Angela's head, trying to shake her into wakefulness. However, she received no response of any kind from Angela. She did not even seem to be breathing, and Luna felt an icy spike of fear pierce her heart as a result, and her blood turned cold in her veins.

"No. . . no, Angela you. . . you can't. . ." Luna muttered weakly, unable to bring herself to finish the sentence. She felt a hoof hook around her leg, attempting to pull her away.

"Princess, please," a voice, far off and distant said to her. "It's not safe for you to-"

"Unhoof me!" Luna bellowed, tearing herself away as she circled around Angela's body over to her chest. Placing her ear against the rough skin, she strained to hear even the slightest indication that Angela was not yet gone. She waited for what seemed like an eternity, hoping against hope that could hear something.

"Princess," she heard Bon-Bon said quietly behind her, the mares tone laced with a hint of dread. "I. . . I don't think that-"

"Quiet!" Luna shouted forcefully, silencing the mare with a raised hoof as she waited and listened. Just when she thought that she would not hear anything, confirming her fear that she had found Angela too late, she felt a very subtle vibration echoing from within Angela's chest. The moment she heard the heart beat, Luna felt as though she were about to pass out from the sheer amount of relief. "She's alive! She's still alive!"

No sooner had she said that however than did Angela's heart beat start to become ever more faint by the second, and Luna realized that she was not of the woods quite yet. Refusing to let her die, Luna began to charge her horn, summoning forth as much healing magic as she could before pointing it directly at Angela's chest. Once she felt the spell was sufficiently powerful enough, Luna let it flow out of her horn in a single concentrated wave. Unlike the spell she had previously used on Angela, which was simply meant to revive her, this one was much more direct in that it actively sought out the abnormalities inside of a body, upon which it would set out to correct them. The only downside to it was that the entire process required the user to supply their own strength to use it, and Angela was so large and her anatomy was so much more different that Luna was already beginning to feel lightheaded after only a few seconds. As time passed, Luna found it ever more difficult to stay on her hooves as she felt her magic run its course though Angela's body, healing the more serious internal injuries first before moving on to the smaller ones. The spell seemed to be working, but even after a full minute Luna could still sense that Angela was fading rapidly as her heart beat all but inaudible.

Unable to keep the spell going, Luna let out a exhausted gasp as her horn dimmed and the spell faded into nothingness. "I-I don't understand," she said as sweat dripped down her brow. "I'm doing everything that I can, but still it's not enough. What am I doing wrong?" Taking a brief moment to catch her breath, Luna looked over Angela's body to see if there was something that she was missing, wondering why Angela refused to wake up.

Breathing heavily, Luna's gaze drifted over to Angela's head, and she thought back to the moment when she had first encountered the girl within the realm of her thoughts, recalling how distraught she was. It was then that realization dawned upon Luna.

"It. . . it's her," Luna whispered quietly. It was not just Angela's injuries that were killing her.

Luna looked back towards her entourage, hoping that there was something they could do to help, but instead saw that the majority of them were watching her with a mixture of expressions ranging from concern to outright perplexity at her behavior. There was nothing they could do to keep Angela from deaths door. Then she saw Bon-Bon, who instead was gazing at Angela's motionless body, her brow furrowed and her eyes filled with the same worry that Luna herself felt, and the Princess realized what she had to do.

"Bon-Bon," Luna said, gaining the mares attention. They held each others gaze for a brief moment before Luna added, "Keep watch over me for a moment."

Bon-Bon blinked, unsure what the Princess was going to do, but chose not to question it as she nodded. Satisfied, Luna hurried over to Angela's face, whereupon she placed the tip of her horn on her leathery skin as the spirals began to emit a faint white light, and within moments, Luna's vision faded into a stark white.


The first thing that Luna noticed as she attempted to orient herself was how much different her surroundings were compared to when she had previously entered Angela's thoughts. There were no streets of cracked black stone, there were no vacant buildings made of red bricks, there were no tall iron lamps. Instead, in their place was an endless expanse of pure white mist that was so thick that Luna could barely see her own muzzle. She lit up her horn in an attempt to cut through the murk, but it was having only a marginal effect.

"Angela?" Luna called out into the field of nothingness, noticing how her voice seemed to have become muffled. She trotted forward slowly, turning her head left and right in search of Angela. Her movements felt slow and sluggish, as though the fog was actively holding her back. It was almost suffocating in a way as Luna forced herself to move forward, her hooves barely making a sound.

"Angela, where are you?" Luna called again. But just like before she received no response. However, her voice did seem to have an effect as the mist suddenly began to shift, as if it were being parted by a gust of wind.

Then she began to hear something. It sounded like. . . somepony talking. But instead of reassuring her that Angela was somewhere nearby, Luna found herself growing more and more unsettled the longer she listened to it. It was not just one voice either, but many voices, all of them speaking in tandem, whispering things that she did not understand.

"Angela? Angela is that you?" Luna's question went unanswered aside from the whispering, the words of which she still could not understand aside from a few scattered phrases, their exact meaning lost to her. Then as suddenly as it came the whispering stopped, and once more Luna was surrounded on all sides by silence. However, instead of relief Luna felt as though she was in great danger for some reason.

It was then that she saw a warped and twisted shadow looming over her.

Whirling around, Luna found herself face to face with the creature that she had seen in Angela's thoughts as it looked down at her, trapping her in its sights.

"A-Angela? Is that you?" Luna stuttered, having to resist the urge to back away from the beasts imposing presence. It did not respond to her question. Instead it lowered its head down to her level so it could look her straight in the eye, so to speak. Cautiously, Luna attempted to see into its thoughts, hoping that if Angela was somewhere inside that she could be reached. What she found instead as her mind brushed against it was something completely different to what she was expecting. While Angela's thoughts had been somewhat strange during their first encounter, they were still structured similarly to that of the average pony's.

What Luna felt right now was something else entirely different, something that she could not even begin to describe. The best comparison she could come up with was that it was like an animal, but at the same not an animal. It was feral and lacking in precise structure but many times more complex in its reasoning, with strange wordless thoughts that were so different, so alien, to anything else that she had ever felt before.

It was frightening.

"You. . . you are not Angela. . . are you," she said. It was not a question. The creatures spines bristled as its jaws flexed, its teeth clicking against themselves from the action, and it responded by speaking a single word to her.

"No."

Feeling as though her heart was about to explode from within her chest, Luna struggled to keep herself calm in the monsters' presence while it continued to stare down at her, and she wondered why she was so afraid of it. It was only an apparition, a ghost born of Angela's own fear that haunted her thoughts. There was nothing it could do against her, this was practically her domain after all.

So what was this primal fear that Luna felt deep in her very soul? Why did it feel as though she were being sized up?

Fighting to ignore the terror that continued to well up inside of her, Luna gathered her resolve and proceeded to ask, "Where is Angela? What have you done with her?"

The monster hissed angrily, the harsh sound echoing in Luna's ears as it bared its teeth at her in a threatening display. "Why do you pretend to care?"

"I am not pretending!" Luna retorted. "What reason could I possibly have to pretend?"

"You lied to us," it replied accusingly, as its form grew larger and larger to the point where Luna felt she was going to be crushed by its presence alone. "You promised us we would not be harmed. You gave us your word, and they hurt us. They pierced us, burned us, tried to kill us. . . . You lied then, why should we believe you now? Why should we believe that you are not here to finish what they started?"

At this point Luna was seriously considering severing the connection as she backed away from the beast slowly, if only so she would not have to face its accusations. It was not just the monster itself that frightened her, but what it said as well. Its words cut into her like a knife. She had promised to keep Angela safe, but in the end had been unable to keep her promise. But she knew that if she did flee, it would make her look all the more guilty, and she could lose any chance she had left of reaching Angela, the real Angela.

"Please," Luna begged. "I realize that there is very little that I can do to make up for what happened. I cannot even begin to imagine the sort of torment that you were forced to endure, much less how to remedy it. But please, allow me to prove myself to you by helping Angela. I fear that she does not have much time left, and if I can't find her, she may very well perish."

Silence reigned between them for a long time after Luna said that as the creature gazed at her, and she hoped that it was at least considering her request. Enough time passed that Luna began to fear that it would refuse, until it finally spoke as it brought is jaws inches away from her muzzle.

"She was always weak hearted," it said with no small amount of disdain in its tone. "I dislike being bound to her." A pause, then it added, "But if she dies, then so do I."

With that said, the creature began to move away, its monstrous form disappearing into the murk, leaving Luna alone and more than a little bit rattled at the encounter. The moment that it was out of sight she released a breath that she did not know that she had been holding in as her legs gave out from beneath her. Her heart was still racing within her chest, as though she had just galloped a hundred miles without stopping. She allowed herself a few short seconds to recover from her harrowing encounter before she resumed her search for Angela, calling out for her.

Just then she saw something else in the distance, and for a moment Luna thought that it was the monster again as it was in same direction it had disappeared to, coming back to finish her off. She quickly saw that it was not however, as it was much smaller in comparison. Cautiously Luna began to approach it, unsure what she would find. When she was close enough to see what it was she gasped, her feelings a strange mixture of relief and worry.

It was Angela, sitting on the ground with her back toward Luna. Her head hung low, her hair covering her head like a shroud as she hugged herself as though she were simply cold. Luna wanted to rush forward. She wanted nothing more than to run up to Angela to see if she was alright.

But instead she hesitated. She was afraid, wondering if the girl would even bother to listen to her after what happened, as the monsters' words echoed in her ears, filling her with worry and self doubt. Deciding that simply standing in one place was not going to get her anywhere, Luna slowly walked forward, closing the distance between herself and Angela before coming to a stop a mere arms length away from her. Angela was completely still. She did not even seem to notice Luna's presence as the mare cautiously raised a hoof, intending to place it on her shoulder.

"I remember now," Angela said before the Luna could make contact. The Princess, caught off guard by the vague statement, lowered her hoof down to the floor, and simply waited. Angela still had her back towards the Princess, and her voice had a solemn tone to it as she added softly, "I forgot for a little while. . . not all, but most of it. Mostly the small things, like where I was, whether it was night or not. But the whole time I could remember that something had happened because of me. . . something bad."

Luna furrowed her brow slightly, and opened her mouth to say that it was not Angela's fault that her ponies had refused to see her attempts at peace for what they were. Before she could utter a single word Angela interrupted her. "But now I remember. I remember losing control of myself. . . I hurt so many." Angela's voice started to break slightly, and her shoulders heaved. "And I hurt you."

Seeing Angela in such anguish, Luna instantly rushed forward and knelt down beside her, placing a comforting hoof on the girls back as she began to sob quietly.

"I'm so sorry," she whimpered as tears fell from her eyes. "I didn't mean to, I just. . . I just couldn't stop myself. Everything was just hurting so much, and I was so angry at everything. And I tried so hard to come back, but I just couldn't." Angela said nothing else as she broke down completely, and Luna enveloped her in her feathery wings, offering what little comfort she could to the distraught girl. They remained like this for a long time, with neither one of them saying a single word.

After what felt like a small eternity, Angela's sobs died down, and she simply stared ahead at seemingly nothing.

"She's right you know," she said, causing Luna to look at her in confusion. "What she told you earlier. About me being weak. It's true."

"And what makes you say that?" Luna questioned.

Sighing heavily, Angela answered, "Before this whole mess started, before I became. . . this, I was too afraid to take responsibility for what happened, for what I did. I was too afraid to accept what I had done." Looking away she added, "I wonder if this is some sort of punishment. It would serve me right."

Luna blinked, unsure what to say in response to that. She wanted to tell Angela that she was wrong, that she had done nothing to deserve the pain she went through, but could not refute that there may be some truth to what she said. She had done something terrible, and it was only right that she reap the consequences of her actions. But at the same, Luna knew that she could not really just allow her to continue like this, for the road that Angela was currently was a very dark one. She had to do something at least.

"Angela?" Luna said softly. Angela did not answer, but the subtle turn of her head was enough indication to let Luna know that she was listening. "Can I tell you a secret?" Again, she received no reply from the girl, but Luna continued anyway as she began to speak. "The truth is Angela, that you are not alone in what you are feeling. I know perfectly well what you are going through, and how it feels. That coldness in your heart that refuses to leave you be, no matter how much we may try to forget it. It stays with us, the regret." Luna placed a hoof to her chest, remembering that fateful moment a thousand years ago. "The thought that if you had acted differently, then none of the hardships we have endured may come to pass. I. . . " Luna swallowed the lump that had formed in her throat. "When I returned from my exile, for a long time afterward I felt as though I still had yet to atone for my own sins." Luna cast her eyes downward at the ground. "I hated myself. . . and not a moment goes by when I don't feel the sting of regret for what I did."

"What did you do?" Angela asked, surprising Luna a little with her question, but the Princess was at least glad that she had gotten some sort of response out of her, and she continued to explain.

"Well, I finally realized that by doing this, I was not just harming myself but also the ones closest to my heart. They helped me to see that, while I cannot change what happened in the past, I still have much to look forward to in the future. A future where I don't have to believe that I am beyond forgiveness, both from others and myself."

At this Angela turned her head towards Luna, allowing the Princess to see her eyes, so full of fear and self loathing. But in them Luna saw something else. A small spark, a single solitary ray of hope amidst a sea of doubt. Seeing that she was making progress, Luna continued.

"Angela," she said with a small hopeful smile. "I know what you are going through. As I said before, I understand better than anypony else. So please, believe me when I tell you that this is not the right path for you to take."

For a long while Angela said nothing as she held Luna's gaze. Then, turning away she said, "I. . . I don't know if I can do that. I don't have anyone to help me like you did."

"Then let me help you," Luna replied, rising up to her full height as she looked down at Angela, extending a hoof towards her. "Allow me to offer to you the same friendship that I was given, even when I felt it was undeserved. And I promise you that you will never again be alone."

Angela stared at the hoof in uncertainty. Luna saw and felt many things running rapidly through her head. Worry, fear, disbelief, anger, confusion, sadness. All these and much more were plainly visible in her eyes as she contemplated Luna's offer. Then, ever so slowly, she reached out with her right hand towards Luna, tentatively inching closer. She glanced up at the Princess uncertainly, as though she did not really believe what was happening. Luna simply nodded once, a gentle and caring smile adorning her muzzle.

That was all that was needed for Angela to make her decision as she closed the distance between them and took hold of Luna's hoof, allowing herself to be gently pulled up off of the ground, and she let a small appreciative smile adorn her lips, mirroring Luna's own expression. A moment later she started to laugh, and another moment later her laughter devolved into a fit of crying as she fell onto her knees, overtaken by emotion as Luna once more embraced the girl in her wings.


Angela slowly yet steadily regained her senses as she awoke, uttering a slight groan of annoyance as she picked herself up off of the ground. She was still sore all over her body, and for some reason she had a phenomenal headache. She shook her head in a vain attempt to clear away the fuzziness of her mind, and briefly glanced around at her surroundings.

'How did I get here?' she wondered when she saw the large amount of trees that surrounded her on all sides. After a few moments her senses finally returned to her in full, and she finally recalled exactly how she got to this place. She sniffed the air, taking in the many scents of the forest, feeling like she ought to know the name of this place for some odd reason.

The sound of shuffling hooves interrupted her moment of pondering, and she looked to her left to see a small group of ponies looking at her with expression of wonder and a slight amount of concern. The predominant members of them were grey ponies with bat like wings dressed in silver armor. And standing in front of them was none other than the Princess herself.

"Angela," Luna spoke softly, looking at her in concern."Are. . . are you well?"

'Sure,' Angela thought, even though Luna could not hear her thoughts anymore. 'My head hurts like it's been kicked a bunch and I feel like I just came out of a bar brawl but other than that I'm peachy.' As Angela thought this she grunted and gave Luna simple nod of her head. Luna sighed in apparent relief at the reply.

Still finding herself too drained to stay up in the air for very long, Angela propped herself up on her knees, favoring her right side a little to ease the strain on her injuries. It was then that she noticed that aside from Luna and her guards there were two other individuals among their number. She recognized them both as the cream coated mare whom she had spared not a few days ago, and the other as a familiar looking griffon that she recognized only too well from their previous encounter. The moment she saw the griffon Angela let out a feral hiss in his direction, causing the hybrid to slowly back away, only to find his path blocked by the mare. 'What is he doing here?' Angela thought angrily, her displeasure made all too clear by her body language.

"Angela, be calm. I know what you are thinking," Luna stated, placing herself between the wraith and the griffon. "But believe me when I say that Gerald is not here to cause trouble. I made an agreement with him to help me find you in exchange for his freedom. I assure he is not here to cause you any more harm than he already has."

Angela stopped hissing, but even with Luna's reassurance she did not let the griffon out of her sights as she continued to stare at him. Then she began to slowly glide past Luna straight towards him. Luna did not object to this action, but she did look on in worry, and her guards became noticeably tense, anticipating Angela to suddenly attack him. The mare was smart enough to move away, putting as much distance between herself and Gerald as possible. As for Gerald himself, he could hardly move so much as an inch as Angela continued to approach until she was directly in front of him, with her fanged jaws a mere arms length away from biting him in two.

Gerald was shaking like a leaf and stuttering incoherently. He was absolutely helpless before her, and he knew it. A tense silence pervaded the area as Angela simply stared at him, with everypony watching in worry, waiting to see what she would do. Looking him over, Angela took notice of his injured wing, encased in bandages.

'I guess we're even anyway,' she thought with a snort before turning away, moving back towards Luna, and everypony relaxed slightly. As for Gerald, he was still rooted to the spot, too terrified to even move so much as an inch as his legs quivered underneath him while the mare looked at him in bemusement.

Placing herself in front of Luna, Angela settled down onto the forest floor, looking at the Princess expectantly. 'So what happens now?' she thought, punctuating it with a tilt of her head. Seeing the question on her mind, Luna sighed heavily as she looked down at the ground.

"I suppose you are wondering what our plan is now," she stated, to which Angela responded with a nod. "Well, the original plan was to have you brought back to Canterlot. There are still many things that have been left unexplained, and I'm sure you can agree that we cannot simply leave them be." In spite of her dislike of the idea of being forced to accompany Luna back to Canterlot, or any place where there was a high concentration of ponies, Angela supposed that Luna did have a point in that there certain things that she would have to answer for.

Then Luna said something that she was not expecting to hear. "However," she continued, "given recent events, and your current condition, I now feel it is only best that the matter is. . . set aside for the time being."

Of all of the things that Angela expected Princess Luna to say, that was not one of them. She really had thought that she would have been brought in regardless, if only to be questioned about her origins. Yet even after everything that happened, everything that she did to earn whatever punishment that may come her way, Luna was just going to simply let her go? While preferable to being carted off to a dungeon or something like that, it still sounded rather odd to Angela.

Before she could attempt to orchestrate a question to pose towards Luna, the mare beat her to it when she said, "Princess Luna, are you sure that's the right choice? I mean, I don't want to see the crea- er, Angela, locked up any more than you do, but ponies are going to wonder what happened in Hollow Shades, and they're going to want answers."

"I realize that Bon-Bon," Luna replied. "And that is exactly why I feel Angela should not come back with us, at least not yet." Upon hearing that, everyone present gave her a questioning look. Noticing their confusion, Luna explained, "As you have said Bon-Bon, many ponies in Canterlot are likely going to be looking into what occurred, and even with mine and Celestia's attempts to conceal it, they are going to find something out eventually, including information regarding Angela here." At this Luna began speaking to Angela directly. "If that were to happen so soon after the incident itself, it is very likely that ponies would be unwilling to see you as anything more than a savage beast to be rid of. For the time being, it would be best if you were to simply disappear until everything has calmed down, when ponies would be more willing to hear you out. Do you understand Angela?"

Angela did understand, but still it did not feel quite right for her to go free, even if it was only for a little while as Luna pointed out. Still, she could see the logic in Luna's statement, and could absolutely see the appeal in waiting until things were in her favor, more or less. Angela nodded slowly. Even if she did not want to be immediately subjected to the scrutiny of ponies that would likely rather see her rot in a hole, the idea of being by herself, alone with nothing to keep her from falling back into the same carnal insanity that she dreaded so much was not much more appealing.

She glanced forward, at the depths of the forest before her. It seemed almost endless. It would be all too easy to get lost in there, and given enough time she would eventually forget who she was, and become that which she feared the most. In truth, she was not just scared. She was terrified, and the terror paralyzed her, holding her in place and refusing to let her go, and she trembled because of it.

Suddenly she felt something touch her left wrist. She looked down to see what it was, and found Luna had flown up to place a comforting hoof on her, looking at her with warm blue eyes. "It's alright," she said softly. "You do not have to be afraid anymore. I am with you."

With those few simple words, Luna had somehow eased Angela's fright, replacing it with a calm serenity that she could not remember feeling before. It was as though everything that happened to bring her to this point did not matter anymore as she looked deep into Luna's eyes, knowing full well that she could trust the Princess.

Taking a deep breath, Angela felt her nerves relax slightly. Dipping her head towards Luna, she signaled that she was ready. Luna nodded in return, and retracted her hoof, alighting back to the forest floor with a few flaps of her wings. She was joined by both Bon-Bon and Gerald, the latter of which still regarded Angela with caution, but now it seemed to be accentuated by a certain amount of respect and wonder.

Taking a deep breath, Angela picked herself up off of the ground, and glided forward, heading in a straight line for the innermost depths of the forest, aware of Luna watching her take her leave. She paused for a moment to glance back at the Princess. Luna eyes seemed to be glistening slightly, and she bade Angela a temporary farewell with a wave of her hoof.

Returning the wave with her clawed hand, Angela redirected her attention to the path before her. Silent as a ghost, she slipped into the dense forest, disappearing completely.