//------------------------------// // Part One: They're Not All Bad...right? // Story: Absence Of Life // by AnnEldest //------------------------------// The dragon satyr hybrid with dragon-like wings known as Sabrina landed in front of the bar wearing a cloak. Standing there, she saw Luna in the distance. Not too far for her was Canight. She made sure to keep her head down and not be noticed by him. She knew he was up to no good but it would be worse to confront him now about it. You’ll get your chance soon enough, she thought. She watched as the two talked from a moment before Luna started trotting back to the castle. Canight watched Luna before walking away himself. Sabrina sighed in relief. It’s okay. She’s okay for now, She thought to herself. She knew that the princess was in pain and it was worse cause she knew it wasn’t going to get any better. "And it’s all my fault.... " She then walked into the bar, passing the guards and making sure to avoid Canight. She walked past the tables and groups of different creatures until she came upon Shredder’s door and knocked. A couple of seconds later, the door opened, and standing there was Shredder. “Sabrina! Well, I wasn’t accepted to see you tonight.” “I need to talk to you.” She leaned in closer to him and whispered: “About Luna.” He looked around to make sure no one nearby heard them. He then stepped out of the doorway, allowing her to come inside. “I see. Come in.” The two took a seat as he poured two glasses of wine. He gave one to Sabina as he took a sip from his own glass. “So what seems to be the concern? “ He asked. She looked down at the floor, ashamed and guilty. He could see in her eyes that he was not going to like what she was going to tell him next. “What did you do this time?” His voice was more stern. She let out a shaky breath. The dread and anxiety deadened her mind and body. “I…” she paused, letting her eyes roam the room. She knew she had to tell him, but at least this way her mind had a few moments longer to prepare. “Sabrina, what did you do?” He asked again. “I gave her the curse…” her voice trembled a little. “What?!” He stood up from his seat and started pacing like a caged tiger. “Do you realize what you have done to her?” “I had no choice. Shader and Ollie were fighting in her dreams. It was causing problems in the Nethers. But Shader refused to stop. Giving her the curse was the only way to keep him away from Luna,” she defended herself. He stared at her for a moment. He didn't even need to read her thoughts and look through her mind. “You hide behind your words. You want your words to mask the real you. I can see through it all. What are you afraid of telling me?" “I-I don’t understand,” She said. “Don't speak untruthfully to me. Don't try to convince me that you did this for her own safety. We both know who desires you are trying to really fulfill.” She signed knowingly. There was no point in lying to herself or to him. But she knew despite what she could say, he would never agree with this. “Look, I know she will be able to overcome it.” He scoffed in disgust. “I knew it.” “If she breaks the curse, she’ll be able to prove herself,” she said. “It’s too soon, Sabrina. She’s not ready,” Shredder said. “But you said so yourself, she is getting more powerful-” she started to say. “It’s not time!” “We don’t have time!!” Sabrina slammed her claws hard at his desk causing some items to fall onto the floor. “We do. Maybe not as much as we would like but we have enough. You just don’t understand,” he yelled. “But I do-” “No, you don’t! Luna is still very naive about this all. She has barely begun what she is fully capable of doing.” She took a moment to calm herself before looking back to the floor. She kept her head down. “I’m sorry.” “Who else knows about this?” “Not many,” she answered. He sat back down and took a deep breath. He then put his claw under her chin and lifted her head up. “It’s okay. We’ll figure something out.” “I hope we can,” she said doubtfully. “You hold a lot of faith in her.” She smiled at that. “I had faith in Selena so I must have faith in Luna too.” A few hours after the sun first rose from its slumber, I went into the bookstore, hoping she would be there. I passed a few ponies and a few bookshelves. I trotted up to the counter and waited. A few moments later, a griffin walked out holding a few books. She noticed me and smiled. “Hello, Princess Luna.” “Nice to see you again, Misty,” I greeted. She then took a second glance at me. “Hey, I like your hair.” My mane and tail no longer were wavy. It was short just like when I was younger. My mane barely reached my shoulder. “Thank you.” I blushed a little. “I was hoping I didn’t mess it up.” “I think it looks good. So what brings you here today?” She asked. I pulled out the book Shredder gave me and placed it on the counter. She peeked at it and smirked. “Shredder gave you that, right?” I nodded. “Think you could help me?” She put the books she was holding down on the counter. “Give me five minutes.” Some time later I slammed myself onto my bed and groaned. “I just can’t do it!” Misty was sitting on the floor right next to my bed, looking through the book. I would say she was reading it but I was sure that she didn’t know how to speak nor read pony Latin. “You’re trying too hard,” she said. “You just have to go by the book.” “I've been doing everything by the book!” I snapped as I glanced over to her. “If you were, then you’ll be able to do it.” I groaned again. “How do you control it?” She closed the book and sat it on the bed. “Well, for starters I stay calm and relax. You know, the things that you can’t do.” “Okay, you’re not helping,” I said sternly at her. She laughed. “You wanted feedback, right?” “Helpful feedback,” I said. “It is helpful. You need to work on being relaxed and not stressing out all of the time.” I scoffed. “That is easy for you to say. You don’t see them as I do.” Misty looked at me weirdly. “Wouldn’t that make it scarier for me since I don’t know where they are?” I paused for a moment and thought carefully about her question. “Well, maybe for normal spirits but the ones I have seen are far from the ones most psychics talk about.” “Okay fair but you are really paranoid of them.” “Can you blame me?” I thought about Barry Tarts and the mare that attacked Cadance. The only spirit I ever saw that didn’t try to kill us was Silver Blitz. But even then she wasn’t that easy to deal with as well. “No. I still think you should try to trust them,” She said. I laughed sarcastically. “You sound like Shredder.” “Unfortunately, I do agree with him on that one. You always should be alarmed and cautious with some but you shouldn’t completely shut them out and discredit them,” she explained to me. I covered my face with my hooves. “I know it sounds weird but I don’t know how.” “What are spirits, princess?” She asked suddenly. “Huh?” I blinked. “Just answer the fucking question,” she snapped sightly. “...They’re just people that have died and haven’t crossed over….” “Not all people are bad.” This time it was said as a statement. I thought about the villains and the shady ponies Twilight and her friends have faced in the past. “I would hope that.” “Then if spirits are just dead people and not all people are bad then not all spirits are bad,” She said. I sat up and signed. I knew where she was getting at. I guess I just needed more time to process it all. “I guess that can be a valid point,” I admitted. “Look, I'm not saying you have to be friends with them. If anything, it's better if you're not. But try to understand them. They're confused and they don't always know they’re dead. That's why we're here.” She grabbed the book and held it up in the air for a moment."You have to let all your worries go and focus. Use that energy to make yourself stronger rather than be afraid then you'll have more control over them and yourself." She then let go of the book, letting it drop to the floor but before it could actually land, she held out her claw and the book stopped a few centimeters from touching the ground. "What? How did-?" My words trailed off. "Freeze... it's something my grandmother could do. At least that was what I was told. It's something I've been trying to teach myself as of recently. Nothing too special yet." I only nodded. "What I'm saying is there is so much you can do. You just got to let go." I shrugged. “I guess I can try…” She smiled. “I guess that’s a start.” “So now what?” I asked. “Now let’s do something fun and get your mind off of things,” she suggested. “Like what?” I asked. “Why don’t we start with your hair?” She started messing with my new short hair. She ran her claws through my hair, feeling its smoothness. After a moment, she gasped. “We should dye it.” “Ummm, I don’t know how I feel about that,” I said unsure. “Come on, it will be fine.” She kept examining my hair as it was clear that she had many ideas going through her head. “It would be sooooo pretty.” “I don’t know…” “You said you wanted to try something new. Let’s start with this,” she said. “Then we can get something to eat. Some fun?” I thought carefully for a moment. “Depends. Who’s paying?” I asked knowingly. She laughed. “I don't know. Maybe the one who has more money than she knows what to do with and lives in a castle with way too many bathrooms in it.” I got off the bed and went by my nightstand. I grabbed a bag and put the book inside. I saw the pocket watch the spirit left behind. I grabbed that and placed it in the bag as well. I then trotted to the door. She quickly jumped off the floor and followed me. She walked past the door when I stopped her with my good wing. “But I’m choosing the color.” She put both of her hands in the air, jokingly. “Cool, fine.” “Okay then. Let’s go.” After hanging out with Misty, I decided to head over to Twilight’s school. It was the afternoon so I knew Spike would be there. I trotted around the school for a bit looking for him. I ended up asking somepony if they had seen him and was told to check the courtyard. So that was where I went.  And just as I was told, I found Spike sitting at a table with another orange dragon. I knew very little about her; mostly from what Spike had said about her. Other students passed them as they carried their own conversations. I made my way to them as they continued.  “I don’t get it,” Smolder said.  “What’s not to get?” Spike asked, surprised. “So you just dress up and ponies just give you candy?”  “Yeah,” Spike clarified. “But why?” She was confused.    “For fun of course!” Spike jumped happily.  “Right.” She nodded. “And you do this every year?” “Every year,” Spike beamed. “Mmhmm. I see.”  I laughed as I realized what they were talking about. I stepped into view and spoke. “Well, there's more to it than that.”  The two of them turned to see who had just spoken to them. I chuckled as I joined them at the table; setting my bag to the side of me. “But yes, that is a big part of it.”  Spike stared at me speechless. His eyes looked up and down as he examined me. I was confused for a moment before I realized why he was surprised to see me. “Luna...you’re hair it’s-” My mane was not only changed in length but now also color. It was a very bright shade of white. My tail also matched the color of my mane as well as a big chunk of it being cut so it was no longer as thick nor wavy as before.    “You like it?” I blushed.   “I-I love it. It’s not what I would expect from you,” he admitted. “But it suits you.”  “Good. Now I know I made the right decision.” I was relieved that Spike liked it. I was hoping I didn’t look weird like a clown or something.   “I think you did,” Spike agreed.  “I’m glad.” I looked over at Smolder. “Anyways, I don't mean to interrupt your conversation but do you think I could borrow Spike for a few minutes?”  “Go ahead.” She leaned to her side a little to look behind me. I turned and saw a small pegasus with a pink coat, curly light blue mane, and a cutie mark of a rook. She stood there staring at us.  “I need to talk to Cozy Glow anyway. See you later, Spike.”  Smolder got up from her seat and headed over to her.  “Later,” Spike said back.  “It’s a bit early to talk about Nightmare Night, don’t you think?” I spoke up to him.  “It’s only a month away,” Spike cheered. “Plus, it’s never too early to be talking about it.”   “I guess not,” I laughed.  "Yeah. And I got something special plan for Discord, Big Mac, and I. It's going to be great. You're going to love it," Spike said with a smirk. "Looking forward to it," I joked. "Anyways, how are you and Twilight doing?" Spike smiled dropped. "Okay, I guess." He didn't sound convincing. "You guess?" I raised a brow. He threw his arms in the arm with a sigh. "I mean she is still mad at me but we're not fighting like you and Celestia are." I leaned my head against my hoof. "Lucky you." "She was really mad at first but calmed after a while." "What did you tell her?" I asked. "The truth; that I was helping you," Spike explained. "Don't worry about it. Twilight and I could never hate each other. Even when we get into bad fights." I shook my head a little. While I was glad that things weren't too bad between them, I was slightly jealous. I wished that Celestia wasn't so hard on me and just let me be my own pony. “Nightmare Night and Twilight aside, what are you doing here?”  I rested my head on the tablet. “I was hoping you could give me some advice about...you know.”  “Yeah. I got it.”  “I've been thinking about the last few months,” I began saying. “I know I decided that I had to accept this life but I don't just want to accept it. I want to embrace it. But I don't know how.”  Spike was tapping his claw on the table as I spoke. “Since you know much more about this stuff than I do, I was hoping you would know what I need to do.”  “What you need to do is stop avoiding them. Do what Discord did. When Spirits called to him, he didn't ignore them. He went to them and tried to figure out what was needed from them. You need to do the same,” He said.   I groaned. “I was afraid you were going to say that.” Spike smirked knowingly at my reaction.“When they come to you, you need to listen to them and see what they need. It doesn't have to be anything big. You can start small and build your way up.”  I knew he was right. I just needed to stop being scared. I was about to say something when I noticed someone standing right behind Spike. It took a few glares before I realized that it was the same pony I saw last night. I could tell that he was scared and confused.  I tried to keep my attention on Spike. However, I didn't deny to myself that maybe the spirit could be the start that I was looking for.  Spike must have noticed the change in my demeanor because he began to look very concerned. “You alright?” “Huh?” I shifted my focus away from the spirits. “Of course.”  “You sure?” He didn’t sound convinced.  “The thing is…” If I was going to start right, I couldn't hide things from my friends anymore.  At least to the ones that knew of my secret. “I saw a spirit last night in my room. He wanted my help but I said no.”  “I figured,” Spike boasted. “Well, if you are looking to embrace it, don't do that.”  “You think I should help him? I have a feeling he will return to me.” “If he comes back, sure.” “The spirit left this before leaving.” I put my hoof in my bag and pulled the pocket watch out. I sat it on the table and pushed it over to Spike. Spike glazed over at it.  “It must be attached to this. It could have meant a great deal to him when he was alive. Maybe you should help him.” Spike grabbed the watch and opened it up My eyes went back to the spirit. “Alright then. I will make sure to make note of that.”  “Umm good.” Spike nervously shifted in his seat. He could tell that I was feeling uncomfortable about something. It then hit him. “You see him, don’t you?”  “He is standing right behind you.”  Spike yelped and jumped away from where he was sitting. “What is he doing?”  “Nothing,” I answered. “He’s just standing there.” “Well, I’ll let you figure that out." He slowly got off his seat, making small quick looks behind him. "I’m going to see if Twilight needs my help or something…” He then quickly walked off. I rolled my eyes but smiled.  I put my attention back on the spirit. There were no emotions on his face. I couldn't tell if he was sad, scared, or angry at me. He stood there tall and thin; his skin pale as the full moon. I was the first to speak up. “So you need my help?”  His voice raspy and quiet as he spoke. I shivered to from the cold of his presence. "They don't ...know where I'm at...They don't know...who did this to me..." I tilted my head to the side. "I don't understand. Someone caused your death?" I didn't want to assume the worse. He sat down and leaned his head over to the side. I wasn't sure what he was trying to do. I then saw that there was a big chunk of skin ripped off from the neck, covered with dried up blood. I put a hoof to my mouth and gasped. He went on top of the table and crawled over to me. Before I could back away from him, he grabbed my hoof with a tight grip. And just like what happened with Cadance when I saw her at the hospital, I saw a series of mixed flashbacks all played one after another. I saw a group of ponies together; laughing and drinking as they trotted through a dark night. One of them was pulling a cooling filled with drinks. I heard him laughing but couldn't see him. I noticed a pair of arms in front of me, holding a camcorder and recording the ponies. I was seeing through his eyes. I then realize that they were on the edge of the Everfree forest. "I don't like watching myself," a mare from the group laughed. She went up to him and tried covering the camcorder with her hoof. He backed away from her. "Easy there, Goldie. This wasn't cheap." "My bad," she said in a fake hurt tone. She gave him a small kiss on the cheek before returning to the others. "Come on the night is still young. Let's do something already." "Calm down. We'll get to it," A male pony said. "Troy, where are you?" "I swear if you are trying to prank us again, I'm again to beat your ass." Goldie tripped over herself. The stallion I saw ran up to her and tried helping her up. She pushed him away and got up herself. "I got it." "You sure?" he asked. "Yeah, I'm just a little tipsy." She laughed and fell over again. He rolled his eyes. "RIght. just a little." All of a sudden, a growl could be heard. They all froze and looked at each other. "What the hell was that?!" One of asked. "Was that from the EverFree Forest?" The wind started to blow harder. Black clouds sprawl across the sky, billowing in from the west. Their brassy glare drained the color from houses to trees, leaving neighborhoods tinted bronze in the faltering light. The air grew heavy and the humidity pressed down, suffocating. The scent of rain is dark and heady. The first crack of lightning rent the air and within seconds the rolling boom of the thunder reverberated overhead. Soon the rain fell, slow to start, splattering the sidewalks haphazardly. The growl returned; much louder and more aggressive sounding. "Alright...time to go." The Stallion trotted backward. The others soon joined him. A scream pierced the night storm. It echoed through the terraced trees making the origin hard to pin-point. The first cries were undoubtedly terror. The mare stopped. "Wait, that's Troy." She ran away from them and towards the Forest. "Goldie stopped don't!" There was another scream. He stood there; I could feel the tension grew in his face and limbs. His breathing became more rapid, more shallow. He turned to run only to be met with a large figure launching at him. He screamed then everything went black. I felt a tap on my shoulder. I jumped back and screamed, falling on my back onto the ground. "Oh, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to scare you." Twilight loomed over me, concern in her eyes. I looked around me and saw that I was back at the school. I gasped loudly and breathe heavily unable to make words with what I just saw. "Princess Luna, are you okay?" She asked. I sat up with a sigh. "I'm fine, Twilight. I just got scared." "You did seem to be deep in thought." I chuckled. "Yeah...I guess you can say that." My eyes went back to the table. He was now gone. “So this random guy just came to you for help?” Discord asked.  “Pretty much.” I stared down at the table Spike and I was at before the spirit came. He leaned closer to me. “And you want to help him?” “Yes.” He leaned even closer. “And you told me about this without being pressured by anypony?” “I don’t think this is as big as anything we dealt with before but just in case it is, I thought you should know.” “So a change in hair, attitude, and philosophy?” Discord stared at me before putting his paw and claw on both sides of my cheeks and pulled me up to his face.  “Alright, who are you and what have you done with Luna?” I pushed him away from me. “Discord!” “What? This is so unlike you. It's frightening.” “That’s the point,” I said.  Before any more could be said, Spike went up to the table. He then placed a box filled with newspapers, files, and articles on the table. Spike pulled some of the newspapers out of the box and handed a few to me.  I used my magic to look over them as he took a seat right next to me, looking over the ones he had. Most of them were wrinkled, ripped up, or had stains on them. A few looked like they were on the brink of falling apart. It was obvious that a lot of them haven't been looked at in years. Discord just flew around us, taking small glazes from behind us.   “Is that him?” Spike pointed to a picture on the front page of the newspaper. I took a quick look at it and nodded.  “Yep, that’s him,” I clarified.     His eyes shifted down at the paper as he read. “So his name is Timber Hall and he did live in Ponyville. It said here that he went missing about 2 months ago with a group of friends when they all went out one night. No one has heard anything for any of them since.”    “2 months ago?!” Had he really been looking for help for that long? The thought of that really hit me.  “Wow, poor guy. He was so young.” Discord grabbed the pocket watch and opened it. “The watch looks old, though.”    “Any sign of foul play?” I then asked.   Spike glanced back at the newspaper. “According to this, they don’t know. He just disappeared.” "Did he says what happened to him, Luna?" Discord asked. "Not much. I think he was attacked by something, though. I don't know what, though." Spike kept looking through the newspapers. "Hmmm. He could have been attacked by the Fallen. Some did get to Ponyvillie." "Maybe," I agreed. "What are you going to do?" Discord asked. "I don't know," I shrugged. "Guess see what I can find. He clearly wants me to find his body." "Well, if it is the Fallen then since we stopped them, it doesn't seem like we need to worry too much about it," Spike said. "Hopefully, it stays that way." Discord crossed his arms. Spike and I chuckled as I rolled my eyes. "Or at least it can wait till tomorrow after our guy night," Discord them added. "Wait, you are doing that tonight?" Spike started putting the newspapers back in the box. "Why not? It has been a while and we could use some relaxing for once." "Fair enough." I grabbed the box from Spike. "Can I take this back with me to Canterlot?" "Just bring it back when you're done," Spike ordered. "Don't worry, I will." "You'll keep us updated?" Discord asked. I made my way to the door that would lead me to the long hallway. "If I find anything, yes." I waved bye to them and made my way out of the school courtyard. I knew I needed to get back to Canterlot before Celestia started to worry about me. I was still mad at her but the least I could do was not cause any more problems between us. I kept thinking about timber Hall and his friends. Just knowing the fear they must have been in and nopony was there to help them. Their families still looking for them with the hope that they would see their brother or sister, mate or friend again. But I knew that their families' hope would be in vain. It was strange thinking about that. I already knew what happened. I already knew that they were all dead and they were afraid. I bit my tongue, trying not to cry. I had to be strong for them. It may have been too late to save them but I could at most give closure to their loved ones and find where they were now. I must have been deep in thought cause I didn't notice the filly coming towards me. We bumped into one another. My shot eyes shot up as her bag fall to the ground; a book falling out of it. "I'm sorry." I lit up my horn and handed her the bag and the book. The filly only smiled and grabbed the bag. She was a small pegasus with a pink coat, curly light blue mane, and a cutie mark of a rook. "It's okay, princess. I wasn't looking where I was going." I recognized her. "Wait a second. You were that filly-" "That Smolder was talking to," the filly finished. "Yeah, I saw you talking to Spike." "Right...yeah. I am in a rush and I didn't see you," I said. "It's okay. Really. Even princesses can make mistake." "That is very true." She opened the bag up and put the book inside. I saw the cover had a symbol on it that looked Latin. "Interesting book you got there." I pointed at it. "Can you read Latin?" She quickly shoved the book in and zipped it up. "It's for a friend who I was actually on my way to meet." I gave a small laugh. "I see." "Well, it was very nice to meet you, princess. It isn't every day you get to talk to royalty." She pulled a hoof out to me. "I'm Cozy Glow." "Nice to meet you, Cozy Glow." I grabbed and shook it. She bit her lips and let out a guilty chuckled. "...I have to...um...Have a nice day, princess." She zoomed passed around me with her head down. I turned around and watched as she headed towards the school. She made one last look at me before continuing to trot off. "Okay then..." I spread out my wings and made my way back to Canterlot.