//------------------------------// // Chapter 2: Marching into the Abyss // Story: The Night is Dark and Full of Terrors // by Fanatic-Heretic-101 //------------------------------// A slit in the mighty gates of the Lunar Castle slowly grows in magnitude like the light of the full Moon pouring through it, the doors opening with mechanical rumbling to allow passage between them. Now fully opened, Dusk Spectre pauses at the gate to silently observe the world beyond the Castle; the unrivalled glow of the God-Empress’ celestial orb gazing through the gates at him and his companions like an all-seeing-eye, the supernatural blending of shadows in the far off distance that was the Everfree Forest, the passing of clouds within the night sky that blocked out patches of stars like imperial airships snuffing out city lights during war. All of it, the eternal night made real. Looking behind him, Dusk is met with the indomitable approving looks of everypony under his command, their bodies (including his own) covered head to hoof in metallic dark purple and light lavender armour of the Lunar Empire, their arm, leg and Bat Pony wing joints protected with black leather which offers full movement and even flight though at a more exhausting rate. On each of their backs their silver swords were sheathed, in addition to a secondary short sword at their waists should the primary weapon be lost in combat. A small pouch containing food, water, a magical crystal that can glow and fade with light, bandages, disinfectant, a painkiller potion and a map of their patrol route hangs from each of their waists at the opposite side of the short sword. “Remember to stick close to one another. Even with our nocturnal vision, the Everfree Forest is as dark as the deepest caves our kind has lived in,” warns Dusk, turning back around and taking the first step out of the Castle followed by many, him and his squad now marching on patrol. Morphing shadows of the trees dance all around them, the occasional rustle of flora from their movement through the forest being the only noise in this deathly quiet place. The odd streak of moonlight pierces the canopy to fall onto the forest’s ground, like a lighthouse’s ray showing Dusk and the others that there was a world outside the Everfree, which due to its density you could be forgiven for forgetting even while walking shortly through it. As the soldiers travel amongst the undergrowth, their eyes scan their area in every direction, slowly assessing the environment and listening with intensity for anything suspicious. Still retaining his position at the front of the group, Dusk does his best to pick the best route to walk which offers as little resistance as possible for everypony yet even the best was not a stroll.  It had been one hour since the patrol began, however the rough terrain had made it feel longer. During that time, Dusk analysed his map every fifteen minutes to make sure they were not drifting from the route but more than once he determined that was exactly what they were doing, having to bring the squad back on path through this unholy maze of nature. But now after all this time their energy was dwindling, the Bat Ponies' pace slowing  and breathing becoming more forced, some of them groaning. Stopping in place which made everypony else stop, Dusk reaches into his poach to pull out the map and crystal again. Squeezing the gem, the act commands its magic to life, allowing it to glow a faint orange hue like fire with the harder the squeeze the brighter the glow.  Holding the gem over the map, Dusk reads over the geography of what it conveyed, noting several natural features acting as landmarks for their assigned path through the Everfree Forest. One particular landmark stood out; a small stream that intersects their route that they had passed not long ago, giving Dusk a rough estimate of where they were.  Trailing his eyes from said estimate, he reads a promising location nearby that would help battle their fatigue. “There is a clearing a ten more minutes away. Hang in a little longer then we can rest there,” encourages Dusk with what enthusiasm he could muster, folding up the map to return it and the crystal to the pouch. “Finally!” Exclaimed Midnight Wraith in a harsh whisper, stepping into the small forest clearing behind the others. Immediately taking off his helmet and loosening his chest plate straps, Midnight slumps his back against a tree. Holding the still attached chest plate in front of him, the exhausted Bat Pony’s lungs rise and fall in quick succession, having been given more breathing room to regain air now that the weight on Midnight’s chest is gone. In similar fashion, everypony else found a place to rest either by slumping on a tree of their own, standing bent over with palms on their knees, or even laying on the ground. The clearing’s cool night air was now met with hot breaths escaping everypony’s lungs that rose like mist into the sky, quiet tired inhales and exhales being the only noise everywhere around the Bat Ponies. It would take two minute until all who were present had recovered enough to move again and speak, with the first individual to do so being Dusk, “.....Well done, everypony. A half an hour’s rest here should be enough before moving on, so get into your rations while you can.” His needle  fangs stabs the mango and carves through it, piercing its soft crust and opening up exotic juice from inside the fruit that Dusk begins to suck up, like piercing the crust of the land for oil. Delicious strong flavour falls onto his tongue, the mango succulent, only fuelling his need for more as Dusk readies his fangs for another bite, this time taking a chunk of the fruit off and chewing. “Mmmmnnnffff!”  By now every Legionnaire sat around the small clearing arranged in a circle, each trooper having undone their pouch and consuming some water and what food had been packed, mainly consisting of fruit. Quiet sounds of biting, crunching and the odd slurping was the only noise any of them made, too busy having their food and rest to make conversation. Finishing his orange, Shadow Star turns and throws the peels off into the undergrowth where their organic nature will make them decompose into the Everfree Forest. The same Everfree Forest that he looked into, staring into the dark undergrowth where he threw the peels, the depth and bluntness of the darkness hiding everything within it even from his Bat Pony nocturnal sight and not even far from the clearing’s edge.  A chill ran up Shadow Star’s back as he turns away from that abyss of an undergrowth to look upwards at the overarching trees that, with their dead branches and towering height, rose into the air with sharp points. Despite being a clearing, even the boundaries of the forest seemed to be seeping its way forwards into the open area, dozens of tree roots crisscrossing the ground as if they were tendrils reaching for the Ponies. “You ever wondered why this forest was never cleared out under Celestia’s reign?” Asks Shadow, looking at the sight of all of this with grimace. “I heard it was because what troops she had were too busy patrolling Equestria’s borders. Considering how many times these lands were attacked such as the case with the Changelings, the Storm King, Tirek and Sombra, the troops were too busy patrolling the border for external threats like those, and wasn’t able to deal with the internal threats like the ones in this forest to any significant degree,” informs Midnight Wraith.  “Oh right, the Goddess of the Sun in all her weak pacifist ways chose to stay on the defensive against those external threats, never really solving them and also neglecting the internal ones like this,” replies Shadow with sarcastic anger. “Good thing Nightmare Moon took over, she went on the offensive against those external threats and fixed them, allowing us to now fix the internal ones.” Having a break from eating a banana, Silver Night points at everypony present, asking, “Have any of you been to the satellite states recently?” To which shaking heads was his response from all. “Why?” Questions Sky Shroud, listening as she begins to drink some water. “Apparently there is news to further expand the Empire’s borders from them, this time across the ocean. A friend of mine said a few expeditions have already been launched to scout those unknown continents, thanks to the Hippogriffs.” “Let’s not dwell on what’s happening half a world away please, focus on the here and now,” interrupts Dusk Spectre, finishing his mango. For a few moments following that the clearing returns to a soft melody of biting, crunching, slurping again. And like last time the trend was broken, this time by Midnight, “Speaking about  internal threats, I haven’t heard any news from the Solarists in a long time.” Like Shadow, Silver throws his banana peel away and turns to Midnight, offering a slight snare, responding in detest, “They, like their false Empress, are still in hiding. They could be planning something big if their activities these past few months are negligible.” “Really?” “....It’s only a guess. I’m not an Inquisitor, you should ask one of them if they would even give you the information in the first place.” “Ha!” “Hey, Shadow, didn’t you apply to become an Inquisitor?” Asks Sky, looking to her companion as she begins to eat a pear. A groan escapes Shadow, his large shoulders slumping. “I did...but that’s ancient history. I’d sooner recite the entire history of the Three Tribes than the history of my failed attempt of joining the Inquisition. Let’s just say…Inquisitors are suppose to notice details inside the Empire, and I always was more of a big picture thinker.” “You should have tried joining the Shadowbolts  like me. If you prefer the big picture, I’m sure flying at cloud level would give you a very big picture of the Empire,” replies Sky, making a wide fanged grin and giving him a wink. “Oh haha!”  Rolling his eyes, Dusk moves onto a different item in his pouch, pulling out a carrot and beginning to munch on it which catches Silver Night’s attention. Conveying a disappointed face like a father stallion would to his child colt, Silver slowly shakes his head at Dusk, joking, “Tsk tsk, you traitor.” “What?”  “What kind of Bat Pony are you, preferring vegetables over fruit?” “The one that breaks the stereotype? Hey, I just like vegetables as much as fruit,” replies Dusk, looking humoured with a palm resting on his chest as if hurt by the remark. “I knew it! You have been spending too much time around those Earth Ponies, their agriculture has gotten to you.” “Like you spent too much time around the Unicorn nurses?” Retaliates Dusk, giving a fanged smirk at his opponent which had an immediate effect on Silver Night as the latter’s cheeks turned red with a blush, the past coming back to haunt him. “....That was a real injury!” Defends Silver, extending his leg and pointing at his knee to emphasise the point despite the armour he wore masking the scar on his skin there. “Sure, and Crystal Ponies are made out of real crystals.” Silver squints his eyes at Dusk, the tables having been turned against him and the situation being made even worse as Shadow Star joins in, “Come on, Silver, I saw that arrow graze your knee not impale it.” “So? It….could have been a poisoned arrow and I had to go stop the injection.” “Riiiiiiight. Did the nurse suck the “poison” out of you?” Teases Dusk, about to take another bite of his carrot but instead directs it in a back and forth motion, sucking the vegetable in a clear analogy to sucking something else. “N-no! Wha...you..oh shut up!” Complains Silver, leaning forwards and facepalming himself with both hands in strong embarrassment, hiding from the others who all burst out laughing but all in good fun. Even Dusk couldn’t resist to join in on the laughter, their enjoyment of it uplifting each of them and making even the Everfree Forest not feel so scary.  After needing a few minutes to regain composure, the Legionnaires soon return to a state of quietness, some of them having a few more of their rations, most however just sitting quietly and waiting for the half-an-hour break to expire.  Leaning forwards with his chin resting on his palm, Dusk’s mind begins to wander just like his line of sight. Slowly looking up, the squad leader’s view comes to rest on the full Moon and stars. Reminiscing over the many years ago since the last time he had seen the Sun and the blue sky of day, out of the corner of his eyes Dusk notes that a few of his fellow Ponies had followed his observation and was now looking at the same eternal night he was. “It all happened so fast,” he admits, taking a deep contemplating breath of air. “....You don’t regret it do you?” Asks Sky, unable to turn away from the heavens, like the others. “Of course not. Our Empress did what she had to do, her subjects did what we had to do…….It’s just…sometimes I can’t help thinking what could have been. If the Civil War could have been avoided.” “I hear you. But it couldn’t have, you know that.” “I still can’t believe it, despite living through it. One day the Sun turned into a blazing fire, the Moon rising to cover half of it. And just like that, gone was the Equestria of old. Years of warfare took hold of these lands, but finally the Sun fell from the sky and in its place-“ Dusk stretches out his palm and pans it across the sky, presenting the firmament, speaking in a tone soft with pride but almost hurting, “This; “The Moon never sets on the Lunar Empire.”” CLICK! CLICK! CLICK! “Hey, remember what you said about focusing on the here and now?” Interrupts Sky, snapping her finger and replying in a firm but encouraging tone to bring Dusk back down to earth. Quickly blinking his eyes and shaking his head clear, Dusk reforms his focus away from the sky and places it onto Sky, a little perplexed but otherwise fine. “...Yeah, you are right. Sorry.” Giving a small smile and nod at Dusk, Sky stretches out her legs and bat wings, making a subtle moan while doing so. Such a gesture signals her body’s awakening once more in readiness to get moving again, as she starts to re-strap her armour on to fit right. “Which direction are we going in?” CLICK! CLICK! CLICK! CLICK! CLICK! Sky’s initiative produces a ripple effect amongst the group, everypony reequipping their armour with metallic CLICK!s while having a few stretches to readjust to the attire. Dusk finishes up on his and pulls out the map and crystal again, assessing the route before placing said items away and pointing to the undergrowth in the appropriate direction. “It seems we go this way. Before long we will reach-“ “AWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!” An air piercing chilling howl floods over the clearing that came from deep within the Everfree Forest, originating in the exact same direction Dusk pointed to. Frantic movement takes control of Dusk as he shoots to his feet with wide eyes, unsheathing his silver sword and gripping it firmly in both hands in a fighting posture, his pulse suddenly racing in a fight response to fear. In the blink of an eye, his fellow Legionnaires follow suit, doing up their armour at a rapid speed before creating a defensive circle around the clearing’s centre, all of them brandishing their silver swords that gleams in the moonlight like purity incarnate, their armour doing the same with its alluring dark purple and light lavender shine. “Timberwolves,” growls Shadow between  gritted teeth, scanning the undergrowth with the focus of a magnifying glass, his ears peeking up like receiver dishes. “How far away are they?” “That howl lasted 5 seconds, which puts them at a distance of-“  “It’s Timberwolf for “we know where you are and are very close to attacking you.”,” interrupts Silver, glancing over at Midnight who he had interrupted. “How many did the academy say are usually in a pack?” “I think six, at least.” “We’ll find out soon enough,” confirms Dusk squinting his eyes into the hidden undergrowth, trying to spot the slightest shift of flora that would give the Timber Wolves away as not even the faintest of breeze was blowing to mask it, the air hanging thick with tension.  Haunting silence engulfs the soldiers, painstaking waiting dragging on from that point onwards. Each of them remain set on high alert for their opponents to appear, each watching, waiting for anything that could be a threat. Anything.- Shifting shadows at the very edge of Dusk’s line of sight occurs, the plant life rustling and the forest parting ways for a mass that was rapidly moving towards him and the others. “Over there, get ready!” Commands Dusk, pointing in the appropriate direction just as additional rustles came into view accompanying the first - more than one threat rushing them. “Attack!” “WAIT!” The Legionaries' charge ceases within a few steps of it starting, the momentum of their armoured bodies carrying them a little extra forwards to stop within arms reach of what had erupted from the Everfree Forest, what had just spoke that word; three civilian Ponies (two stallions, a mare and all three Earth Ponies) stand before Dusk and his squad, saddle bags hanging from their bodies, their shirts and pants dirty with mud and cut in some place while leaves and twigs pollute their manes. All of them look upon the troops with frantic eyes combined with exhausted breathing, their voices full of overwhelming relief. “Oh soldiers, thank the Empress!” Exclaims the dark yellow mare with reds eyes and an orange mane. “Citizens, what in the stars are you doing here!? The Timberwolves, are they pursuing you?” Demands Dusk, looking over their shoulders at the direction the three new Ponies had run from, watching for any sign of pursuit, still clutching his sword like the other did theirs’. “Yes, but we managed to get some distance between them.” “Why are you here?!” Shouts Silver, repeating Dusk’s original question as he and the others remain on high-alert, observing the forest while walking backwards to the clearing’s centre, softly pulling the civilians to follow. “For this,” answers one of the stallions (a dark green individual with a brown mane and orange eyes) upon reaching the clearing’s centre and no longer moving. Undoing his saddle bag, he pulls from it a large rose with burning red at its centre and golden triangle pattern adorning the petals.  “A flower?!”  “This is Aether Rose. It’s a magical flower that only grows in this forest.” “Why do you need it?” Inquires Sky, making sharp glances at the citizens and holding them in the corner of her sight but paying more attention to the surrounding forest, just like all her fellow Legionnaires who once more formed a defensive circle, now encompassing the new Ponies. “My foal, he is badly ill with Pony Pox, but a very rare kind of Pony Pox. I learnt from reading about the illness that only this flower could cure it otherwise he will die!” retorts the stallion, placing the flower back into the saddle bag and pulling out of it a poster-size folded up sheet of paper to replace the rose, unfolding it and holding it up. “One book had a map of where in the Everfree Forest Aether Rose could be found, that I copied.” With the help of his fellow stallion (a light blue individual with a black mane and purple eyes), they held the rudimentary pencil-drawn map up for the soldiers to see; a sea of dark crosses surrounds a collection of closely spaced circles near the paper’s centre that was labelled Aether Rose. A single thick dark line flows out of the circles which twists and turns within the mass of dark crosses, avoiding large triangles and passing through smaller, less blunt, lines  amongst the crosses, this main line leading to the very edge of the paper where a series of symmetric squares were drawn labelled Ponyville. After several glances over at what was being unfolded, Dusk nudges the Ponies on his sides (Midnight and Shadow) and gives a silent “watch” motion command with his hands to the section of the forest he was scanning, indicating for Midnight and Shadow to split it in half and for one of them to watch an extra half and one to watch the other extra half while he attended to the civilians.  The same stallion who was helping to hold the map uses his off hand to reach into his saddle bag, bringing from it a magical light crystal like Dusk had used to read his map earlier. With the primitive looking map now illuminated, the stallion who had created it points at the symmetrical squares of Ponyville and explains, “My friends and I live in Ponyville. As you can see, it’s not far from the Everfree Forest. “We gathered some supplies and weapons and left to find the Aether Rose,” he further elaborates, tracing his finger from the squares and along the single thick black line while drawing attention to the large triangles it goes around and the smaller twisting lines it passes over, “Even though the route avoids tall hills and the largest of the rivers, we still had to go get over the smaller ones and through the smaller streams.” Finally, the civilian's finger comes to rest on the cluster of circles in the heart of the crosses - Aether Rose “We finally did find the flowers after a long and tiring trek and we were heading back the way we came-“ his finger reverses over the path it took along the thick black line, however it suddenly stops part way along it and not even far from the Aether Rose “-But we heard Timberwolves howling between us and Ponyville, they had cut us off.” His finger does a sudden sharp turn and moves into the dark crosses, quickly traveling away from Ponyville to the opposite side of the paper and over its edge, concluding with, “We have been fleeing them for hours. We have been trying to escape the Everfree Forest and reach the Lunar Castle to get safety from the Empress if the Timberwolves were still following us, and a few supplies for the long walk around the Everfree Forest back to Ponyville.” Folding the crude map up, it along with the magical light crystal are placed back into their saddle bags as the stallion takes a step towards Dusk, desperation in his tone, “Please help us. My foal needs the Aether Rose, we don't know how far behind us the Timberwolves are but they have been getting closer and closer. I don’t know if we could make it out of this place without your help. Please help us!” A tightness grips Dusk’s chest upon hearing this pleading, the same intensity of pleading being silently shown in the bleak fearful looks of this stallion’s two companions, who both await without a sound, holding their breaths.  By the Empress! Dusk grits his teeth and runs a hand through his mane, taking a couple small pacing steps to process everything and think as clear as possible. Soon he meets the stallion face-to-face once more, asking, “You said you had weapons, what kind of weapons?” Bringing his hands down to his waist, the stallion seeks to bring said weapon of his fourth with the action catching the attention of his friends who did the same for theirs’, retrieving the objects from their waists. In a few moments the civilians hold their weapons up; three dull single handed axes, one for each Pony, with a kitchen knife in each of their offhands as backups. “We don’t have swords like you soldiers, or any armour, but these have to be better than nothing. You’re our best hope to make it out of here, help us please! Help me help my foal!” A sinking weight swells in Dusk’s stomach once he notes the weapons(?) the citizens have, everything coming to him in a daunting revelation - these Ponies are exhausted and afraid from fleeing for hours through the monstrous Everfree Forest, Timberwolves pursuing them the entire time while Empress-knows-what else could be in here with them. Their only weapons being no better than low-quality makeshift tools to fight off said horrors, and all in an effort for a father to save his sickly foal from death.  Dusk’s breathing becomes heavy, his heart racing. He swallows a hard lump in his throat and draws upon every bit of focus and zeal he could. We can’t leave them here. We must help these Ponies! “Okay okay, we can escort you out of the Everfree Forest and back to the Lunar Castle. Stay close to us and-“ “Timberwolves!”  Midnight’s cry precedes the trampling of plants around the clearing’s edge and the thunderous scrapping of branches on branches. A hellish growl rings from the darkness, with its only friend being the piercing glow from a pair of green demonic eyes in the blackness. Their owner leaps from the undergrowth and into the clearing - a snarling Timberwolf charging the group of Ponies just as other green soul-piercing eyes appear around the clearing’s edge……..