//------------------------------// // Chapter 3 // Story: Changing moons // by Jeweled Pen //------------------------------// "Oh this is going to be marvelous!" The purple creature said as he carried Big Mac on his back to what the stallion could only hope was a watery grave. Sadly it was just a watery cave. The cave had formed near the river that cut through the everfree forest. "Its been far to long since I've had pony company! Why the last time was when that white unicorn fixed my beautiful moustache!" Big Mac glanced up at the creature. He could not deny the fact that the sea dragon did have a marvelous moustache. Even if one side was purple compared to the opposite sides blonde. "Now that poor hat is completely waterlogged, but don't you worry! I have just the accessories to go with your colorations!" As he reached for the hat. The stallion growled as he turned and bucked the hand away and deposited the hat on his head. "Eenope! Ain't no dragon takin' my sister's hat." He glared at the creature angrily. "Ohh testy testy. And i'm not a dragon you silly. I'm a sea serpent. But if you really want the hat so bad... Wait. With that accent. And maybe some boots. Ohhhh! Ideaaaaa!" The serpant shrieked as he darted into the cave, unceremoniously dumping the red stallion on the hard floor with a oof. The large stallion slowly got to his hoofs. As he slowly applied pressure to his hurt hoof, he cringed. "Eeyup." Definately broken. "I have the perfect accesories to go with that hat. Have you ever thought about a-" He was cut off as a scream pierced the air. A very familiar scream. "That was Fluttershy!" Big Mac yelled as he turned towards the forest. He ran forward but fell face first into the ground as his leg gave under the pressure. "Dagnab it..." Then his eyes turned to the serpent. And a grin formed on his face. "How are yah outta the water?" "Sea serpent. I'm not just some common serpent. Oh no no. The sea is very important. Well, the water. I never actually liked the sea myself, the sand gets all in your scales and it just does horrible things to your hair. And where are you going?" The serpent yelled as Big Mac hobbled at a decent pace towards the source of the scream. The scream had come from the top of a nearby high hill and as Big Mac limped towards the top he couldn't help but grumble to himself. "Of all luck it had to be uphill. I swear when I get mah leg fixed the first thing I'm doin' is finding one of those freaky lil gremlins an' showing them the underside of my hoof." Sweat began to bead on his mane as he pulled himself to the top of the hill, looking around. His eyes caught a few strands of pink hair on the ground as well as a large paw prints leading away from the pink hairs. "Oh horse apples." He put his front good hoof in one of the prints. His hoof was tiny compared to whatever had made it. Taking another quick look around he failed to see any blood or feathers so he assumed Fluttershy was still alive. Taking a deep breath he began to follow the prints. After all, what kind of gentlecolt would he be if he left Fluttershy to her fate? A livin' one? A little voice in his mind responded. Oh shush up an' keep walkin'. Luckily for him the only way for the tracks to go was down. Unfortunately going on only three hooves left him much less stable as the ground turned from grass and trees to loose rocks and weeds. Sweat covered his body as he occasionally would stumble, forcing him to put pressure on his hurt leg. But he couldn't give up. Fluttershy was a pony he concidered a friend, not to mention one of his sister's closest. He'd never be able to live with himself if he gave up and abandoned her to her fate. Besides, as he glanced up to the hat on his head, he'd already failed to protect one mare. It just wouldn't be right for him to fail to protect another. It was with that thought that his good leg hit a patch of unstable rocks and as they rolled under his hoofs he pitched forward, rolling down the hill as rocks and scratchy weeds clawed into his coat. After a minute or so of tumbling he once again felt the unpleasant feeling as he felt nothing under him but the air. Followed momentarily by the completely original but unwanted feeling of slamming into the ground. "Ow..." He thanked the heavens he was built so sturdy, even for a earth pony. And as he opened his eyes to gaze into the face of the lion he silently cursed the heavens for his horrible luck. ****** Far away from the wounded stallion in a little shop in ponyville, the Carousel Boutique, the fake Twilight Sparkle was forming a mental list of things he would rather be doing right now. Amazingly being eaten by a large fanged creature was on this list. "Is all this really necessary?" General Fang asked with a groan as Rarity began to adjust the saddle on his back. He thought longingly of the boring reports of the obsessive purple mare he could be reading, as opposed to this torture. "Oh Twilight darling relax. This won't take to much longer. Only another hour or so. And you did Pinkie promise." Rarity said in her most charming voice as she pulled out a group of ribbons, slowly pulling out different ones to compare with the saddle. Finally she settled on a ruby encrusted strip of ribbon. "If you had only let me wake Spike, we could have-" "There is no need for that!" He interrupted quickly. "Let Spike rest. Besides this gives us a chance to talk. Have you noticed the moon in the sky? Have you heard anything about it?" "The moon? Why yes actually, it coming out like that was... Quite startling. I thought you would have sent a letter to the princess about it by now?" Rarity asked as she momentarily stopped her work, staring at the disguised changeling suspiciously. "Ofcourse I will." He said quickly, the white unicorn seemingly sated as she pulled out a pair of scissors to cut the ribbon. "But first I want to form a report on how everypony is reacting. It could be possible that this is a sign of Nightmare Moon returning." The changeling was rewarded by the designer momentarily freezing and dropping her scissors. "Twilight don't even joke about such things." Rarity said fearfully as she hovered the scissors back up to cut the ribbon. "It was fine during nightmare night but could you imagine how ponies would react if they thought princess Luna might... Revert?" She shivered. "I know. But as the elements of harmony isn't it our duty to concider such things? If it's possible that she has returned to her previous ways, it's our duty to warn the princess and stop her." "Twilight. I think you might be taking this a bit to seriously. We had a temporary eclipse, that was all. For all we know the princess's are planning a festival or holiday." "Then why is the moon still there?" The fake mare said as she made a fake worried face. She suppressed the urge to grin as she stoked the flames of worry in Rarity's mind. "Perhaps... Part of the festival?" Rarity said softly as she glanced out the window. She couldn't see the moon from that angle but she could still imagine it up there. Just sitting there. Waiting. "I'm sure once night comes it will be fine." Though her voice betrayed her doubt. "Please don't worry Rarity. I'm sure you're right." Fang said softly, denying the thoughts he put in her head. "But while we are talking about this, perhaps we should make a trip to canterlot? All six of us? In case we're needed." "Huh? Oh... Ofcourse. Yes. Maybe that would be the best course of action." Rarity pulled her gaze away from the window. Slowly removing the saddle from the fake Twilight and putting it away. "I think we can finish this later. If we're going to canterlot I'm going to need to prepare after all. I can't just visit the princess's in any old ensamble, now can I?" "Ofcourse. I'll get Fluttershy and Applejack." The changling resisted the urge to laugh at that. "You get Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash. We can meet back here at... Lets say dusk? Bye!" And then he ran out the door, slamming it shut. Rarity stared at the door for a moment, shaking her head. She hoped Twilight was wrong, that it was just her being paranoid and over analyzing everything. But as she thought about what happened last time she ignored her friends paranoia she couldn't help but feel a stab of guilt. Flipping the open/closed sign of her boutique to closed, she decided she would trust her friend's instincts. After all she didn't want to make the same mistake a second time. ****** In a small chamber locked deep within the canterlot castle, five unicorns wearing black cloaks decorated with stars stood in a circle surrounding a small pit of fire. Five pillars were in the room, one behind each pony. The only light in the room was from the flame, casting ominous shadows across the room as a low chant filled air, funneled in from small speakers attached to the pillars. Luna glanced to her sister, Celestia, as they sat in the corner of the room. "Is all this really necessary?" "Oh dear sister. Ofcourse it is. What good is a powerful spell if there is no flair? Besides it makes the court mages feel special to have their own special room. Sorry." The white alicorn stiffled a giggle as the five unicorns glared at the two for interrupting their ceremony. "We'll be quiet, carry on." The ponies began to whisper and mutter into the flames, their horns glowing. The flame turned a dark purple as they pulled back from them. "It is ready. Your highness if you would please?" Luna nodded as she got to her hoofs and walked towards the flames. Celestia let out a soft sigh as one of the unicorns motioned for her to leave. "I will be outside. Don't strain yourself Luna." As she walked out the door. As she went into the hallway adjoining the dark room she smiled at the ponies waiting outside. Her own pegasus guards were there as well as some of Luna's servants. She slowly moved through them as she looked out a window towards the sky, in particular the moon. In a few hours the sun would set leaving the moon alone in the heavens, and she prayed it would be moving by then. Behind her she could feel magical energy building up as her sister gathered her might. The power started out as little more than a spark but gradually increased. Celestia closed her eyes as she focused on the outspilling magic, letting it wash over her like a bubbling stream. Within a few moments it was beyond what even a dozen unicorn could do. But even that was not enough to move the moon. No, she would need to- Celestia gasped as her eyes shot open. She turned towards the door unable to suppress the worry as it spread across her face. Her sister's magic had changed. Different from the cool, gentle, and beautiful magic of her sister, it had turn cold and harsh, almost cutting in its flow. It had then cut off completely. Celestia darted to the door as she opened them with her magic. Inside the five unicorns were unconscious, scattered around the room, and her sister was laying near the flame. "Tia?" Her voice called out, weak and delicate. "Luna I'm here." Celestia said as she gingerly picked her sister up with magic. She could hear the ponies outside the room talking, but she didn't care. She turned and walked down the halls with her sister held close besides her, as she headed towards the princess's personal physician. "Did the moon move?" Luna asked softly, looking up at the sun princess. "No. But it's ok. Don't push yourself." The white alicorn repeated softly as she carried the princess. She tried to shake those thoughts away, but again and again she felt her mind going back to them. That cruel magic. She tried to repress the words as they slowly bubbled to the top of her mind, refusing to allow her to ignore tham. That wasn't Luna's magic. That was Nightmare Moons.