In a small rundown town outside the borders of Equestria, a dark raspberry colored unicorn with a broken horn wearing a cloak had just walked into town. Under the cloak, gold plated armor could be seen. She was rather intimidating in the way she carried herself. The various creatures around seemed to avoid her or move away. But the unicorn just shrugged, this was normal out here. Trust in others was hard to come by.
The unicorn made her way to a nearby inn. If she wanted information, she knew inns were the best place to ask since travelers were a common thing to find in an inn. She opened the door of the inn and walked up to the counter. The inn keeper turned to see who had walked in and smiled. “Fizzlepop! It has been a while since I have seen you here. Ah but word is you go by Tempest Shadow now correct?”
The unicorn’s expression softened a bit. “You have always been nice to everyone, even me. It has been a while. But I am not here to play catch up. I have come here seeking information about a kingdom called Neozarria. Ever heard of it?”
The innkeeper thought for a moment and placed a claw to his chin. “Can’t say I have.” Just then, the sound of a throat being cleared could be heard. The unicorn turned to the sound.
“I know the kingdom you speak of.” said a figure at one of the tables. They wore a cloak themselves and had a hood over their head. But Tempest could tell they were a pony from the shape of their body. It wasn’t uncommon to see other ponies here outside the borders of Equestria but it was a bit rare.
Tempest walked over to the other pony. “You have information?” She asked. The hooded pony nodded. Tempest took a seat at the table across from the other. “Please, tell me what you know.” She said with urgency.
The mystery pony smirked. “Sure. I’ll tell you what I know.” She said, leaning back a bit in her chair. “I am from a kingdom that used to be neighbors with Neozarria. And I was there when the kingdom fell.” Tempest looked at the other in shock. The shady pony continued. “I was the princess of the sister kingdom, Darkholm. And I was betrothed to the prince of Neozarria. I was to marry him to unite our kingdoms. But tragedy struck both kingdoms when word got out that the kings and queens were both assassinated.” The shady pony sighed. “It was the prince’s fault that mine and his parents were killed. He was like a tyrant and tried to control me and his kingdom. And that is why the kingdom fell.” The shady pony finished speaking. It was hard to see her face but if one could see it, they would see a sinister grin upon it.
Tempest sat back and couldn’t believe what she had heard. Was any of it true? Neozarria was no longer around, that much was true. But was Izar really the reason it had fallen? Tempest knew Izar had no memory of who he was, but…maybe he was faking it? She had so many questions.
“I’m sure you have questions. But I’d like to ask a few myself.” The shady pony said as she leaned forward. The little light that entered from a nearby window fell on her face. The shady pony had Scarlett red eyes and a dark gray coat. Her horn could be seen. And the mane that was showing was back and red. “How do you know about this kingdom and why do you ask about it?” She said, her voice calm but laced with a serious tone.
Tempest could suddenly tell something about this unicorn before her wasn’t right. There was a nagging feeling that she couldn’t trust the unicorn. “Oh, a friend of mine asked me to do some research for her outside the borders of Equestria. She had found an old text about the kingdom and wanted to know more.” Tempest hoped that the shifty Unicorn would believe here. Something told her this unicorn was not to be trusted.
The shifty unicorn nodded. “I see.” She looked at the other unicorn with the broken horn. “And where is this Equestria?” She asked, Her tone of voice growing cold and sly. Tempest swallowed the lump in her throat.
“Oh it is really far from here. It took me days to get here.” She lied. Tempest knew if she told this pony the truth, things might end up badly. And she needed a chance to warn Twilight about what she found out. But that chance wouldn’t happen.
The shifty pony stood up. “So you think lying to my face is going to help protect your kingdom, Tempest Shadow? That is laughable.” She let out a sinister chuckle. “My dear, you don’t know who you’re dealing with.”
Just then, Tempest was on the ground, pushed down by some powerful magic. Everyone else in the inn had fled and the Innkeeper was leading others out the back. Tempest grunted. “You…won’t get away…with whatever…your planning..” She managed to say.
The shady pony smiled and lowered her hood to show her sly yet sinister grin along with her long black and red mane. “Oh…that is where you are wrong.” She leaned down to be in Tempest’s face. “I have already won. And you have just given me the information I need to finish what I started. So just try to warn your friends. They won’t know peace for long.” She then laughed wickedly and before Tempest could say anything else, the other unicorn was gone. The magic holding Tempest to the ground was gone. She knew what she had to do. It might be pointless but she had to warn Twilight and Celestia of what was coming. And she had to do it now otherwise, there would be no hope of stopping whoever that wicked pony was. Danger was coming to Equestria yet again. And this time, it wouldn’t be as easy to defeat as past dangers had been.
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Back in the kingdom, three days had passed before the news about Tempest being attacked outside Equestria had reached Canterlot. Celestia was worried about this unknown Unicorn that was likely now a threat. It was clear from the information gathered that the mystery Unicorn knew something about Izar and his kingdom. Celestia even speculated that this Unicorn was the cause of Izar’s Kingdom falling into ruin and maybe the cause of his memory loss. But she wasn’t fully sure since the Information was so limited.
But Celestia had to decide if she should tell Izar about what she found out. Someone was after him, that much was clear. But if she told the prince, what would happen? How would he react knowing someone was hunting him down? Would he leave Equestria? Where would he go if he did leave?
To Celestia, the thought of Izar leaving was…hard to think of to say the least. She had gotten so used to him being in her castle and being around. And her kingdom adored the Male Alicorn. Why would she take that away? Izar couldn’t leave. And Equestria could protect him. Celestia nodded to herself at her own justification of keeping Izar in her kingdom.“Right, I won’t tell him. At least not right now. This is for the good of my subjects…yeah, that’s why I won’t tell Izar.” Celestia muttered to herself while she walked down a hallway, still trying to justify her reasons to herself.. She didn’t even notice Izar was walking down the same hallway.
“Tell me what?” Izar said from behind Celestia which caused the princess to jump. She turned and looked to Izar, her face red from embarrassment.
“O-Oh nothing! It isn’t important!” She said quickly. “I was just talking to myself about something.” She said, trying to move on from her muttering before. “S-So! Izar, how do you like my kingdom?” She asked, trying a bit desperately to change the subject. Izar rolled his eyes and chuckled.
“I like your kingdom a lot. The ponies and creatures here are so welcoming and kind. And not to mention friendly. If only my kingdom could have been the same.” He sighed. “Well uh, I better get going, I told Luna I’d meet with her this afternoon for tea.” He said. He flashed Celestia a smile and then walked past her down the hallway.
Once Izar was out of view, Celestia’s facial expression changed. When Izar had said he was meeting up with Luna, Celestia felt a pit in her stomach. Her heart sank and she felt annoyed again. But she still couldn’t figure out why this annoyed her. After all, Izar was just friends with her sister…right? They just had to be really good friends…that had to be it…right?
But the fact that Izar was spending almost every day with Luna now bothered the sun princess more than she would like to admit. And she just couldn’t in the name of herself figure out why it bothered her so much. But this wasn’t Important, not right now.
She took a deep breath to collect herself then made her way toward the guard quarters to speak to the guard captain about upping the security measures around the castle and canterlot. Celestia told herself that protecting her subjects was what was important right now. Not some silly annoyance she didn’t understand.
With the guard now upping their forces and the kingdom going on alert, Celestia was sure the mysterious pony she heard about wouldn’t be able to get into her kingdom, not without being spotted by a canterlot guard. But how mistaken she would be. Unbeknownst to the princess, the mysterious pony had powerful magics at her disposal. And those magics would be what she used to sneak under the princesses’ and prince’s nose before they could even find her.
What lies in store for Equestria? Only time will tell.
End of Chapter eight (Part 2)