//------------------------------// // Chapter 11 // Story: Shadow Seeds // by Orsuros //------------------------------// Luna finished her spell. She floated in a little bubble in the darkness. Orsuros, Spike, Thorax, and Rainbow Dash floated in their own little bubbles around her. She concentrated on Orsuros and the connection that led from his soul to the distant soul of Siega. She poured her magic into that connection. She felt a resistance but she broke through it. The bubbles surrounding her and her friends vanished as they came to rest in the middle of a black space. Luna’s hooves landed on stone. She lit her horn and could see a large cavern around them. Her horn only lit the room dimly. Even if this was just something in Siega’s mind, it had the smell of dragon that made Luna feel nervous. “I remember this place,” Orsuros said. “Back when I was a hatchling, the older dragonlings took me here and left me in the dark. It was the first time I felt helpless and afraid. I remember being so mad at them. I attacked them when I got back, but they were too big for me to hurt them.” “Well, Siega is made up of parts of yourself that you don’t like.” Luna brightened her horn. “We’ll have to figure out how to get to the right parts of his mind before he figures out how to fight against us here.” Rainbow Dash flapped around the cavern and found a few tunnels that led to other parts of the cave. Spike was staying close to Orsuros as he glanced around the cavern. Orsuros glanced into one of the tunnels. Instead of leading to more cave, it opened up into a small village surrounded by a forest. He stepped through, and Spike ran after him. The tunnel collapsed behind them. “Orsuros! Spike! Are you okay?” Luna yelled at the pile of rocks. Faintly, Orsuros’s voice could be heard. “I’m okay, but you’ll have to find another way to me. Be careful. Siega might already know-” Luna heard a faint growl then silence from the other side of the rocks. “Rainbow Dash! Stay close!” As soon as Luna shouted, rocks began to fall. Rainbow Dash twisted out of the way of getting crushed as she dove down and crashed into Luna. Luna hit her back on the hard rocks. She untangled herself from Rainbow Dash and got to her feet. “Looks like we’ll have to find them. I think Siega knows we’re here. Those collapses wouldn’t normally happen.” “Point me at him and I’ll give him a good kicking!” Rainbow Dash dusted her wings off and jumped back up into the air. “Just kicking things won’t work here. This is more a place of the mind and of dreams. It’s your feelings and thoughts that matter here.” “If I knew that, I would have had Twilight come. She’s better with that stuff.” Luna looked at the other tunnels before picking one to go through. "This way. Stay next to me. And I think because of your friendship with Orsuros, you’ll be far more valuable with us here.” Luna stepped carefully. Her entire body felt tense. It felt like something could jump out at any moment, and the twisting cave tunnel didn’t help her feel any more secure. But she knew she had to feel confident and strong. That was the best way to deal with dreams. She lit her horn more brightly as she heard a rustle of wings. Nightmare Moon landed at the other end of the tunnel. Nightmare Moon laughed. “Luna, you really should just give up. If you join Siega instead of fighting him, he’ll give you and all of Equestria what you need. Think about it. Equestria has always been full of soft ponies who couldn’t fight against any invaders. They’ve needed ponies like you to protect them, but Siega has made them into something far stronger. Now they can face any army. But maybe you’re just afraid that if they don’t need you, they won’t like you.” “Quiet, you!” Rainbow Dash dive bombed Nightmare Moon, but the dark pony just vanished into the shadows before Rainbow Dash could hit her. “Thanks, Rainbow Dash.” Luna forced a smile, but the words had cut deep. Celestia and she always tried to cultivate peace, talent, and strength, but there were few ponies who had all three. Twilight and her friends did, and she had one of the best ponies in Equestria here with her. She just needed to press on and not get distracted. They walked ahead and looked around. This cave looked much like the caves on the moon where Luna had spent so many lonely centuries. Out of the corner of her eyes, she seemed to see shadows of things she had seen there, but she was sure that was this place playing tricks on her. If Siega was determined to keep her here, perhaps there was only one thing to do. “I’m going to need you to go ahead without me. You can help Orsuros the most. Siega knows a lot of my dark past and will use that to confuse or trap me. But he knows nothing about you and your friendship with Orsuros. Push on and find our friend. I’ll give you what light I can.” Luna kicked at the wall until she found a good crystal. She touched it with her horn and it began to glow. Rainbow Dash took it and seemed to not know what to say. She shook her wings and looked up at Luna. “I guess this is all up to him, then?” “And you.” Luna smiled and placed a hoof on Rainbow Dash’s back. “Be a light for him now.” Rainbow Dash smiled and started to fly away. She went slowly at first but soon was charging ahead. Luna hoped she had guessed right. The light from the crystal faded. Luna tried to follow it, but soon found the tunnels led her back in circles to the same room. Nightmare Moon taunted her again. Siega was determined to keep her in a version of her personal hell, but she knew that any energy spent trapping her here was energy that Siega couldn’t use to stop her friends. She ignored the taunts and kept walking gracefully. If this was the game the shadow dragon was going to play, she wasn’t going to let him win.