//------------------------------// // Everfree Forest: Cursed Castle of the Alicorn Sisters // Story: Saddlemon // by unknownmercury //------------------------------// Shade Heart was nervous, and for good reason. Growing up in Canterlot, you heard a lot of stories about the castle hidden inside the Everfree Forest. But apparently, those stories weren't told in Cloudsdale and Ponyville, because her two new friends were leading her inside. She recalled the history she'd learned in the pre-trainer school. The Castle had once housed the two Alicorn Sisters, Luna and Celestia. They had ruled in that castle, and it was there that they had created the seventeen elements that were then bestowed on the various Saddlemon of the world. What they hadn't counted on, however, was some other entity getting a hold of the elements and using them. A pony, who was now known only as The Nightmare, broke into the castle, took the seventeen gems representing the elements, and used them to make herself an Alicorn goddess on par with Celestia. With these powers, she slew the court and servants living in the castle, and challenged Celestia and Luna to battle. The two sisters called upon their Saddlemon subjects to fight for them, and a war was waged. The Nightmare used her elemental powers to destroy the castle, raising the Everfree forest around it and making an army of corrupted Saddlemon whose hearts had been darkened. It was only through a combination of Celestia, Luna, and the Saddlemons' elemental powers that they defeated her, turning her into a phantom who could do no real harm to anyone. It spoke volumes of the power of the elements that, even with all that, they couldn't completely destroy her. The Saddlemon who had been corrupted, known as Nightmare Saddlemon, were all either destroyed or purified in time. But the castle was still supposedly haunted by the ghosts of nobility, servants, and Saddlemon who had died in the battle. In short, Shade Heart wanted nothing to do with the place. But Snow Hoof and Feather Rush were both going in, and they had agreed to stick together. She just had a feeling that it was going to be a long night. The weirdest thing about the castle, in Feather Rush's honest opinion, was that there was no dust. The castle had been abandoned centuries ago, but not even a mote of dust was to be seen. Of course, she didn't know much about magic; perhaps they'd had a refresher spell placed on the castle to keep it clean. Or maybe there were ghost maids who cleaned the castle even in death. Though she didn't give any sign of it, Feather had heard the Cloudsdale version of the castle's story. The two sisters made the elements, and the power of the elements went awry, accidentally killing everyone in the castle except the two sisters. Then the Nightmare had showed up, a shade created by the hatred of the ghosts in the castle. She had fought an epic battle with the sisters and lost, though just barely. Her spirit defeated, she had turned back into the many ghost ponies who lived here, and they didn't know that they were dead. And maybe that was the creepiest part of all. Feather wouldn't say anything, though. Both of her friends seemed perfectly happy to be there, and she wasn't going to look cowardly in front of them. Snow Hoof was the only one of the three who hadn't heard tales of this place. Ponyville usually minded its own business, so nopony spoke much of the Everfree Forest, let alone what was inside of it. The white mare was perfectly content to wander through the castle, staring in awe at the stained glass depictions of the Alicorn Sisters and their creations. Something did stop her, though. A tall stained glass window that showed Celestia and Luna with the elements, apparently in the process of creating them. But there were too many of them. From Celestia's horn came the elements of fire, earth, flight, water, magic, normalcy, electric, rock, and grass. Luna was creating the elemental types of darkness, ice, dragon, steel, ghost, poison, bug, and fighting. But, at the bottom, where the magic seemed to pour to, was an eighteenth element, its color a mix of black and white, its colors forming the symbol that seemed to be one of balance. She tilted her head, recounting quickly. "I wonder what that last one is," she murmured idly. Feather came over. "What's up, Snow?" She looked up. "Woah, cool! Hey Shade, check this out!" Shade Heart walked over a bit nervously. Anything exciting in this castle would surely be dangerous, she thought. As she looked up at the stained glass, she frowned. "That's odd. I've never heard of an eighteenth elemental type before. I wonder what it is." Feather Rush shrugged. "I dunno, you're the one who graduated the trainer's academy." Snow Hoof smiled a bit. "Let's see if there's a library here. Then we can figure it out." She hurried off, deeper into the castle. Feather and Shade looked at each other for a second before following their friend. Neither was eager to go deeper into the haunted place, but they couldn't let Snow get hurt. Shade looked over her shoulder quietly, sighing. Ever since they'd found the library in the upper west wing of the castle, she had felt like she was being watched. It was probably her imagination, but it still left her nervous. The books in the library were all in surprisingly good condition, considering their age. She had found several first editions of her school's resource books, as well as scrolls and tomes about combat strategy. Those had been snatched by Feather Rush, who was now reading through them, looking to be the very best. Shade herself was reading through a book of legends detailing the creation of the world and the elements. Snow Hoof was studying the myriad of techniques for caring for Saddlemon. None of them had found anything mentioning an eighteenth element. A loud crash startled all three of them from their reading materials. The noise had come from the back of the library, an area that none of them had ventured into yet. The trainers glanced at each other, and Shade took command. "Feather, get Charmander out. His tail can give us a bit of light. You and me will go check out the noise. Snow Hoof, stay here. If we're not back in five minutes, call out your team and come searching." She shivered. "If you hear... something happen to us, just run. All right?" Snow nodded, and Feather frowned. "Try not to sound so optimistic, Shade. Charmander, c'mon." The fire lizard appeared, and the two trainers followed him towards the back. As they came around the corner of one of the book cases, they saw the source of the noise. A bookcase's contents had fallen to the floor, some of the books quite large, easily enough to make the noise. As they were turning back, though, Shade Heart couldn't help asking herself what had caused the mess. Feather Rush seemed unperturbed by it, however, and Shade let it go. They got back to Snow, and Feather explained to her what had happened. Shade's mind was still working. There was something else in the castle, and it wanted them to know it. The three decided to share a bedroom that night, to keep away the chill they said, though two of the three were somewhat afraid of what might be in the castle. They hadn't found any clue to what the eighteenth element was. Snow Hoof was insisting they stay to find out, her curiosity out-matching even Shade's. The black Unicorn probably would have been more eager to solve the mystery if something hadn't made its presence known to them. She was generally intellectual, but her fear outweighed her quest for knowledge. Feather Rush didn't care about any of it. She had packed some tomes on combat strategy into her saddlebags, and was ready to high tail it out of there. She hadn't seen a ghost yet, and she was happy to keep it that way. She wasn't afraid of them, so she kept telling herself, but she certainly didn't want to risk an encounter with one. Ghost type Saddlemon were bad enough for her tastes, thank you very much. They did not think to set up a watch pattern in case anything was trying to harm them. Instead, the three all slept through the night. And as they slept, they each had a terrifying dream. In her dream, Snow Hoof found herself talking again with Earth Quake. Standing to his right was a tall, dark creature, its fangs glinting in the light, red eyes staring at her with a malice she'd never felt. The white Earth pony was powerless against the overwhelming presence of the monster and its apparent master. Earth Quake was speaking to her, though she couldn't make out the words. Her eyes were locked on the monster, its evil filling the air like a poisonous gas, suffocating her. As she stared, she started to make out a somewhat familiar shape. She was no expert on Saddlemon, she hadn't even gone to school. But Ponyville had enough trainers pass through as a shortcut to Trottingham that she could recognize a good deal of the creatures. This one seemed to be a Rydon, though much larger than any she'd seen. Its skin was a deep purple color, almost black, and as it looked at her, she knew that it wanted her dead. As she came to this realization, Earth Quake finished his speech. These words rang clearly across the void between them. "Kill her." She ran, the Rhydon chasing after her, faster than its bulk should have allowed. A scream made its way past her lips before the beast was on her, one large paw batting her far to the side of her intended course. She felt the air 'whoosh' from her lungs as she landed. The pain in her side as she tried to breathe implied at least one broken rib. It didn't matter, though. Even if she'd been capable of recovery, the Rhydon bore down on her, this time slamming its full weight onto her fragile frame. She felt several bones snap, and knew this was the end. Her eyes snapped open, but, to her credit, she didn't scream. Her two friends slept fitfully on either side of her. Reluctantly, she closed her eyes. The dreams didn't wake her again that night, which was both a blessing and a curse. Shade Heart was crying. She was back home, in Canterlot, in the pre-trainer academy. As usual, her classmates were ostracizing her, calling her evil. Her black coat, purple mane, and even her red eyes all caused this. It wasn't her fault, she knew, but it still made her angry at herself. The fact that she was extremely sensitive to light didn't help. They called her all sorts of horrible things. As she walked away from them, she caught sight of her reflection in a window. Staring back at her was a foul creature, its red eyes slit. Fangs hung from her mouth, dripping a noxious purple liquid. Her horn was deformed, twisting in a cruel spiral, and on her back were two bat-like wings. With a cry, she shot a bolt of purple magic at the window, shattering it. Her classmates surrounded her, calling her a monster, throwing things at her. A few even shot at her with their own magic. She ran, crying, until she was lost. She was in the woods; the night was dark, which was perfect for her eyes. Nothing stirred around her. She made her way to a cave and hid there. She would never go back into society. But they came looking for her, intending to get rid of the monster that had plagued them. They assaulted her with magic, fire, even various Saddlemon. And finally, the two Alicorn sisters appeared to destroy her. Celestia rained fire down on her, melting the rocks around her. Luna brought forth the power of ice, freezing her into the cave. "Now," they said as one, their voices almost deafening to hear, "no one will ever have to worry about this monster anymore!" The cave came down on her, destroying her body. She stirred awake, gasping for air. She looked to her right, saw Snow sleeping there, and shook her head. "Just a dream," she told herself. Just a dream that she'd had many times in the past... Feather Rush wasn't afraid of anything. But when she found herself alone in the halls of an abandoned castle, of course she was a bit concerned for her own well being. This place didn't look safe at all. "Hello?" she called out tentatively. "Is anyone here?" Her ears pricked forward, but all she heard was the echo of her own voice. "Guess not. Okay then. Just gotta find the exit." She went to take off, but remembered why she had landed in the first place when her wings protested. She had pulled a muscle in her back, and couldn't fly as a result. She hated being ground bound. Even back home in Cloudsdale she rarely walked. She started trotting quietly, looking around. The stained glass windows in this place were... creepy. Various depictions of cruel, unfeeling creatures feeding on innocent ponies. Dark, lurking shapes that seemed to watch her as she walked. This whole thing had been a bad idea. She came around a corner and halted; standing in front of her was a familiar shape. A colt who she knew from Cloudsdale was standing there, watching her. He had always been a rival to her. His name was Sonic Boom, a name he'd picked out for himself. He and she had always competed over everything. Who was faster, who was smarter, who was funnier. And every time, he had beaten her. Now, he stood in the hallway, grinning at her. "I knew you would chicken out and try to find the exit," he told her matter-of-factly. "Yeah, well who wouldn't. This place is liable to come crashing down on our heads. Besides, have you seen the windows? Who knows what lives here." "I know." The grin was still plastered on his face. "I mean, I've only been trapped here for the past year." "You... What?" With a growing horror, she took real notice of him now. He seemed paler than the last time she'd seen him. And, it seemed, she could almost see through him. He snorted a bit. "I snooped where I shouldn't have. The Nightmares got me." He gave a small wing shrug. "I've been watching you. You should leave, really. It's no place for a... chicken." He grinned. "Hey, I'm no chicken! This place just seems dangerous!" She glared at him, wanting to wipe that smile from his face. "Whatever you say. Get out of here." As he said it, a loud roar rattled the stained glass windows. His eyes widened and he shook his head. "Sorry, guess not. It's too late. But hey, at least I'll have company." "What do you mean?" She was panicking, looking around nervously. All of the windows seemed to be coming to life, their evil depictions moving towards her, cackling, screaming, moaning. A dark shadow moved over her. She looked up, opened her mouth-- and woke up. A pair of red eyes stared into her brown ones and she let out an actual scream. She felt the two other occupants of the bed jolt awake, and she watched as a purple mist disappeared through a wall. Shade Heart shook her head. "Feather, what's going on?!" Feather Rush was panting, looking around. "N-nothing! I just need some air is all." She took off, flying out the window as quickly as she could. Shade Heart frowned a bit, looking to Snow Hoof. The white pony yawned, standing up. "I'm going back up to the library, I think. I'm having trouble sleeping tonight." Shade Heart nodded. That seemed like a good idea. Read away the hours. She followed quietly, but not before leaving a note for their friend. As the door closed, the dark purple figure appeared again, a grin plastered on its face. It took the note, ripping it up, before returning to inform its Master of the split up. Shade and Snow browsed through the contents of the library, each wanting something to read to help them calm down. In Shade's case, a good adventure story would do the trick; Snow was looking for something more along the lines of 'Caring for your Saddlemon.' Neither of them spoke about their nightmares. Both assumed that the other had slept fine, and didn't want to cause worry. The feeling of being watched was nagging at Shade again, and she was doing a less than stellar job of ignoring it this time. She kept peering over her shoulder, glancing around corners, and generally acting suspicious. Snow pretended not to notice, but her friend's nervousness were rubbing off on her. They each found a book and started to read, but those nervous feelings continued. Neither noticed the figure floating up near the ceiling, watching them with boredom. And neither noticed said figure float through the wall to report and receive orders. Outside, Feather Rush was debating whether she should go back in or not. She hated the place. But your friends are still inside. Her friends were obviously a lot braver than she was. Or maybe they're in danger. Shade Heart had magic, Snow had that soul stare, and they both had more Saddlemon than she did. None of which does them any good if they're fighting ghosts. With a groan, she flew back up through the bedroom window. When she saw Shade and Snow missing, her first thought was that she'd gone to the wrong room. But the way the covers were rumpled suggested otherwise, and the fact that she could see their hoofprints in the dust confirmed it. Her friends had gone elsewhere. With a quiet curse, she went into the hallway, looking around. Towards the library, she didn't see or hear anything. In the opposite direction, however, she saw the silhouettes of two ponies. She couldn't make out the features, but what other two ponies would it be than her friends? She flew towards them, sighing in relief. "Shade, Snow, you have no idea how...." She trailed off as the two turned to face her. Now that she was closer, she could see how mistaken she was. Both of these ponies were dark purple, for one thing. They both had red eyes, and their mouths contorted into grins that showed razor sharp teeth. They both changed shape, and Feather Rush had time for one short scream before the two creatures had grabbed her and vanished. She struggled to reach her saddleballs, but couldn't quite manage it. Her saddlebags were pulled off of her, tossed into a corner. She was thrown to the ground in front of a set of steps, leading to a raised dais with a deep black throne on it. There was a figure sitting on the throne, and as Feather looked up at it, her mind stumbled. Tall, intimidating, ethereal mane, horn, wings. An Alicorn. She stared quietly. The Alicorn was a dark grey color, with golden eyes. On closer inspection, Feather realized that she could vaguely see through her. A ghost Alicorn. Then this must be... The spirit smiled kindly at her. A voice rang in Feather Rush's head, agonizingly loud. She screamed, covering her ears, though it was a futile effort. The voice in her head drowned out everything. It was as if she were flying through storm clouds, thunder and lightning making hearing impossible. The Alicorn seemed taken aback. Silence returned to Feather's mind. Then, a voice spoke to her ears, calm, melodic, and quiet. "I... am most sorry about that. It has been so long since I have spoken with one of your kind, that I had quite forgotten the proper method." Feather looked up quietly, weighing the situation. On one hoof, she had just been kidnapped by ghosts. On the other, this creature didn't seem to want to harm her. She sat, listening, as the Alicorn continued. "Forgive my forcefulness in bringing you here. I couldn't think of a way to invite you that would not be rejected." The Pegasus nodded a bit. "Oh, yeah. It's cool. I mean, sure I'm kinda freaking out right now, but hey, as long as you got your invitation through." The ghost smiled, failing to understand the sarcasm in Feather's voice. "I am glad you are here though. This means you can invite your friends here to join us." "Join us for what?" "For the rebirth." "And that would be... what, exactly?" "I will explain it when your friends are here, and no sooner than that." Feather sighed a bit, standing. "All right, I'll go get them. Do you know w here they are?" "They can be found idling in the library. You might not tell them that you're taking them to talk to a ghost, though." "Right, so.... What should I tell them?" "That you found something interesting that you want them to see." Feather nodded a bit, flying out of the room, towards the library. Shade Heart was in the middle of a book explaining the Elements. There were three sections to the book,each with six chapters. The first section was 'Celestia' and detailed the elements of Normalcy, Magic, Flight, Fire, Water, and Grass. The second section was 'Luna' and described her elements of Darkness, Fighting, Ice, Steel, Bug, and Dragon. Shade Heart was on the section detailing the Ice type's weaknesses and strengths. The last section was titled 'Sylph' and it listed Electric, Rock, Ground, Poison, and Ghost. And then, under that, was a chapter titled 'United Powers: The Eighteenth Element,' which implied that all three had created it. She was just deciding to flip to the back (she knew everything the book was telling her already), when the door slammed open. Feather Rush came in, landing on the table top with a crash. "Shade, Snow, come with me! I found something that you both need to check out." Before her friends could respond, she was out the door. Shade Heart frowned, putting the book into her saddlebag and following after Snow, who seemed worried for their friend. They followed Feather through corridor after corridor until they got to a set of large oaken doors. The doors swung open, and the three entered the throne room. Shade Heart stopped short when she saw the figure sitting on the throne. The Alicorn smiled at the three, a cold edge on her lips. "Greetings," she said in the same soft voice she'd used with Feather Rush. The three trainers went closer, and she looked down at them. "It is good to see such brave ponies in the world. Before we begin, do you have any questions?" Shade Heart swallowed nervously. "Are you... Are you the Nightmare?" The grey ghost sighed sadly, looking away. "Yes. I am the Alicorn Sylph, who would later become Nightmare Spirit." "Sylph. You mean, you're one of the creators of the elements?" The Alicorn smiled at her. "I see someone found the book my servants planted. Yes, I am one of the three who made the elements. I, being the youngest, got the last pick on which ones were created, and got fewer of them. But I do not mind. I never minded. I was allowed to harness the powers of the soul, creating the Ghost types. That is all I really wanted when I set out." She tilted her head. "I suppose you are curious about the unified element." Snow Hoof stepped up. "Oh, is that the eighteenth one? Yes, please, we're so interested!" Sylph chuckled. "Very well. I suppose I can tell you before you get a direct demonstration." She turned, focusing for a second on a door to the side of the throne. A moment later, it opened, and a unicorn stepped into the room. He had a red coat, blue mane and tail, and grey eyes. He wore a strange costume, completely black except for a red N on the chest and front of the hat. He bowed low to the Alicorn, who asked him, "Are you ready for the Rebirth, Flare?" "Yes, my queen." Sylph turned, smiling, to the other three. "The eighteenth element, the one my sisters and I created together, is very powerful. It is the element of creation and destruction, of good and evil, of purity and corruption. The only name we found to suit it is Void. This element is different than the others. Because of its raw power, it cannot be placed to any being except for an Alicorn. And it is used in the ritual of rebirth that my followers use." Flare had stepped over to a small altar, on which rested a black and white gem. He slowly placed one hoof on the crystal, taking a deep, slow breath. Sylph smiled. "And this is what it can do." She let a small spark of magic out of her horn, causing the Void gem to light up. The black and white lights shrouded the red pony. The three trainers heard a ripping sound, followed by Flare's screams. Shade Heart started to step forward, but a ghost Saddlemon - Gengar she noted quickly - stepped in front of her. Sylph shook her head. "If you interrupt the ritual, it will be bad for everyone." The light show lasted for only a minute, though it seemed like hours. When the gem faded, Flare was standing in front of it still. The outfit he'd worn had disappeared. He was taller now, and looked more graceful. His horn had grown longer, and a pair of wings had appeared on his back. He grinned a bit. "This is what Void can do. It will break things down, and then reconstruct them as the wielder sees fit. It can be used to make Alicorns. It is what my sisters and I were made of from the start!'" She grinned, a cruel, evil grin. "And it is what I used to destroy this castle. It is what I will use to bring myself back to life and rule the world!" She cackled. Shade Heart stared in horror. Feather Rush and Snow were backing away. Flare was walking towards the ghost quietly. He bowed. "What are your commands for me, my queen?" "Oh. Yes, I forgot about you." Magic flowed from her horn, surrounding him. "Unfortunately, you were just a demonstration. I wanted these fools whose destinies are entwined with mine to see my power." Flare screamed again, and then vanished, leaving one stray feather to float to the ground. Sylph took a deep 'breath' and smirked. "Ah, invigorating." She stood. "Now. I will give you one warning only. Do not interfere with the plots of Team Nightmare, or you will deeply regret it." The three didn't ask who Team Nightmare was. They were too busy running from the room, Gengar chasing them from every direction. They ran out of the castle, into the light of a new morning. In an unspoken agreement, they moved on towards Fillydelphia. Shade Heart turned to give one final look towards the castle, and was only moderately surprised to see it had vanished.