Appointment with Evil

by Bronyxy


3 Back on Home Ground

When Luna was younger, there had been an influx of predators into the Everfree, and her parents had reluctantly restricted her to flying only with a contingent of guards, just in case she was attacked. It wasn’t long before the young Princess had tired of this idea and learned to fly instead through the castle’s many corridors and passageways. She had even set up informal racetracks that she would time herself through, much to the alarm of the guards who got used to throwing themselves onto the floor or pinning themselves against the walls as she sped past.

Although the guards were patient with the adorable little Princess, her parents were less amused, and consequently Luna had developed an encyclopaedic knowledge of all the secret passageways, so she could get away and pretend she had been somewhere else when certain ‘incidents’ were alleged to have happened.

As she grew older, she never quite matched the physical size of her sister, which turned out to be an advantage, because although Celestia was the more powerful flyer in the open air, she was unable to extend fully her wings to fly through the castle. As a result, she was always defeated by Luna, who had developed an ability to judge very finely her own size in confined spaces, and careened down corridors with mere inches to spare at her wingtips.

Even when fully grown, Luna had still enjoyed flying at high speed through the castle in an endless quest to better her performance over those same racetracks she had set up when only a filly. This had given her a remarkable knowledge of the castle at the time, one that was now completely unrivalled by any living pony in Equestria. This then, was her old home, and somewhere she felt safe.

Barrelling towards the castle so close to the ground that her retracted hooves were clipping off the heads from clumps of dandelions, she noticed that the main double wooden doors were closed and looking as solid as ever, but to one side an access door hung off its rusted hinges. It would be tight, but she’d done this before, although the last time had been over a thousand years ago. Rolling through 90 degrees and tucking her wings in just enough, she sped through the doorway and into the passage beyond.

In sharp contrast to the outside, the interior of the castle was shockingly dark, and it took Luna an agonisingly slow moment for her eyes to adapt, even with light streaming from her horn. In the meantime, she kept flying by memory, praying that nothing would be in her way.

The passages were damp and fetid with the smell of decay hanging heavily in the stale air. Metal fittings were fighting against the relentless growth of rust, and once beautiful pictures were now covered in mould. Luna lamented the pitiful sight, but right now, she had bigger problems on her mind and sped on.

The further she penetrated the castle, the more the absence of anything unusual became obvious, and she slowed her flight, considering that based upon what she had seen, she was unlikely to encounter anypony, or any other creature that she needed to overwhelm with the momentum of a surprise attack. Also, she knew that it would only be a matter of time before she encountered a blockage that she wouldn’t be able to avoid colliding with; she had been lucky thusfar and knew her luck would not last indefinitely, especially as parts of the castle had clearly collapsed.

Slowing down, she made a plan to visit each of the castle’s key rooms sequentially; and set about a whistle stop tour of each, heading for the throne room first as the most logical centre for any activity in the castle. She entered the once revered seat of power; the roof still bearing the scars from her short battle with her sister, the tapestries in tatters and the floor covered in stone debris. It was a truly sorry sight, but gave no clues as to what was going on outside.

The picture was the same in the library, the drawing room, the kitchens and even the garrison.

Finally, she headed for the Ruling Sisters’ private chambers; the two suites of rooms she wanted to revisit least.

Luna entered Celestia’s chambers with sad reverence, head hanging low with the guilt of what she had done all those years ago, but instead of seeing a snapshot of her sister’s disappointment, room after room was bare, stripped of possessions. With a sense of relief, she suddenly realised that Celestia must have taken all of her belongings to Canterlot, and her spirit lifted fractionally.

As she walked slowly from her sister’s chambers, Luna braced herself for the last place she wanted to see. She walked down the stone corridor like her hoof guards had suddenly been fashioned out of lead and finally stopped outside a door bearing a crescent moon motif. Taking a deep breath, she gave it a gentle nudge and braced herself to confront something she had left behind a thousand years ago, and never wanted to see again.

The door stuck partway, prolonging the agony, and Luna took the unexpected opportunity to reach up a forehoof and brush away the stinging sensation in her eyes. When she pulled it away, she couldn’t bring herself to look and see that it would be wet with the bitter tears of regret and self-recrimination she knew were there. Summoning her courage, she gave the door a slightly harder push and closed her eyes as she heard it open, afraid to see anything that would remind her of the bitterness, anger and jealousy that had all but destroyed her and so very nearly killed her sister.

Finally, she opened her eyes and looked dead ahead, then all around. This room had been emptied too; maybe Celestia had thrown everything out in an effort to purge herself of any memory of her wicked sister? Luna wouldn’t have blamed her if she had. Courage returning, she entered and went into every room that had once been her private domain, noting it all to have been stripped bare, just like her sister’s room.

Whatever she was looking for wasn’t here.

Luna walked over to the balcony to take a deep breath and clear her head from the horrors she had thought she would see, so she could be clear to focus on what to do next.

She looked out of the window.

Her heart skipped a beat at what she saw.

Why hadn’t she thought of that before?