It doesn’t occur to anypony, or any creature around the world, that this will be the last time that they’ll ever be able to see the majestic warmth of the sun.
And to be completely honest, who would? There’s a lot of things happening today in the nation of Eponis. Moreso in the capital city.
Today’s the beginning of a major holiday to welcome the start of summer. There’s a giant festival, children playing in the streets, sales going on in the market quarters. All the things that you would expect would happen with the celebration of a national holiday around the corner. And outside of the usual sunrise and sunset that occurs, celestial bodies don’t really do anything too dramatic.
As the hours pass, what we see right now is completely unrelated to what’s going to happen and who would blame them? Many of them are preoccupied by numerous things going on all at once. There’s magic shows, dancing, and some ponies are passing out free samples of drinks outside local taverns. Hell, some of the guards are even getting off their shifts early to join the festivities.
When the sun eventually sets and everypony goes to bed, every creature thinks that the next day will only get better as they drift off to sleep and to dreams.
Unfortunately, when all their eyes opened again, they found themselves in a living nightmare that had no end.
For it while their eyes were shut that everything around the world changed in a matter of moments. The sun was gone, leaving a haunting orange gloom in the sky. The monarchy that ruled over the kingdom crumbled and a new order was established. A regime built on fear quickly began to seize control of everything like the shadows and monsters that spread across the world.
And at the center of it all was a triumphant sister. Argent. Once known as the Princess of the night, the jealousy and hatred for her sister had finally boiled over and in the end, she stood victorious. Now, with the princess of the sun banished into exile, Eponis was rightfully hers. Though, ‘princess’ did little to justify what she was now.
She was now a queen. One of great and terrible power. One who would be either loved by her subjects… or feared by them. A cruel reflection of her former self.
A millennium had passed since that day and with it, the whole world was changed and reshaped anew.
Eponis itself, which was once a place filled with harmony and life, was now a land of fear and despair. Much of the world's inhabitants were forced into seclusion to hide from the monsters that freely roamed across the countryside. Other towns and cities were annexed into the growing empire that was the Fear Regime.
As for the neighboring kingdoms, they were ‘convinced’ to keep positive ties with them. With the alternative being that everything they have burned to the ground and expunged from the weave of history by the Royal Legions that served Argent.
Ironically enough, remember that holiday that we talked about before? Well, that is still happening. Except it’s under a different name and different purpose.
It was originally called the Summer Sun Celebration to celebrate the coming of summer. Now, it’s called the Coronatio Noctis to commemorate when the Queen of Fear first rose to power and the origins of the Regime. Many of its citizens aren’t so lively during time, and the only ones that are rather joyful happen to be those who were invited to attend the gala at the Castle of Fear.
Of course, not every creature was celebrating tonight. In fact, for one such creature, they were panicking right now.
“By Argent’s glorious mane, why now of all times!?”
Right now, numerous members of the VIII Umbral Legion were hurrying to get a situation under control. Several others in the same legion are scrambling to put out the fires that were consuming it. Some were tending to calm civilians who were watching this unfold and others were asking questions to potential witnesses. All while this one pony who spoke was losing his collective shit right now.
He’s rather important and not having the best of days, or eves as they call it here.
As this important pony was trying to obtain some sense of calm amidst what was happening, a deep resounding voice was heard and approached him, “What seems to be the matter, Consul?”
Immediately, the earth pony with the same title turned over to a figure that had just arrived on the scene. A heavily armored thestral that was colored in a metallic cobalt sheen from top to bottom with a long blade across their back. Their pauldrons appeared to resemble the heads of Manticores, with a helmet that took on the form of a basilisk, “L-Legatus! I was informed that you wouldn’t be arriving until tomorrow eve-”
Let’s make this very clear. Things are not going well for this guy at all.
The position of Consul is basically like that of a mayor or governor in a particular town or city. And this poor fellow had only been here on the job for a few days after the previous guy had retired. Not only had he been struggling to keep things running efficiently, but on the third night of his stay, one of the production buildings close to the legions barracks, where they were standing at right now, had combusted and caught fire.
Yet, despite all of his anxiety just spewing at the mouth, the thestral just calmly raised a hand and had him stop. “Tell me what happened.”
“I-it all happened so fast, L-legatus. I was coming back to my office after meeting with Censor Lilia about current affairs in Dodge Central. B-but before we could even open the door, we heard a long bang and then we… saw this,” he frantically tried to say, “T-the Architectus wasn’t sure if t-this was a malfunction or-. Oh dear stars, w-why does this keep happening?”
“Ease yourself, Consul,” the metallic figure said, “You’re letting your emotions cloud your thinking. There’s another force at work here.”
Before the Consul could even ask, the Legatus moved down to the sidewalk that was in front of the building that was still somewhat ablaze and in the process of the fires being extinguished. From a compartment on their waist, they pulled out a pouch of what looked like crystalline dust and sprinkled it gently onto the pavement.
It looks a lot like the driveway salt that’s used to melt ice. And much like ice, whatever was on the pavement here before melted away to reveal what was behind.
Two words, glowing in a warm golden hue of defiance.
Happy Neverdawn.
“Tch. Figures,” the armored Legatus said, before looking toward the earth pony that was still somewhat shaken by all this, “Consul, do you happen to know what this means?”
“N-no, I’ve never seen this before-”
“It’s a mockery of the holiday dedicated to the rightful ruler of the Regime and her subjects. And it is also a calling card,” they firmly told him, before saying a sentence that sent a shiver down the earth pony’s spine. “Rebels lurk within your town, Consul.”
“T-that’s impossible!” the Consul said, “The last Consul before me insisted that there’s n-no such signs of rebellion here! T-that the town was safe-”
“And clearly, they overlooked something. Do not fret, I will take it from here.”
Immediately, the Legatus walked past the Consul, unintentionally knocking them to the floor as they moved towards the soldiers here. All of them standing at attention and directly saluting the leader of their legion. Each one looking ready for battle at a moment’s and awaiting further orders.
“Listen up, legionaries! It has come to our attention that this town has traitors to the queen in our midst! Search every corner and leave no stone unturned!! Do everything in your power to bring them to justice, for I want this town secured!! This is a direct order and any refusal will lead to you being charged with treason to the crown and executed on sight!!! Do I make myself clear!?”
Unknown to the Legatus, the poor Consul and the armies under their command, the perpetrators for the blaze were already long gone. In fact, most of what we told you was to explain what exactly they were running from.
For you see, everything that’s happening now; the flames, the burned down building and the calling card? That’s just a distraction. There are no rebels in that town, but by getting the legion stationed there to think that there was, it gave one pony a chance to slip out of town without being seen and disappear into the night.
That pony just so happened to be a courier of sorts. Yet, he was less of a messenger and more of a smuggler. In fact, the business the stallion worked for specialized in more 'off the book' methods of getting deliveries made. After all, the greater the risk, the greater the payout.
Even if they damned a whole entire town to the wrath of a royal legion, the job came first.
As the courier continued this route though, questions started to form in his head. His boss told him of a package that needed to be picked up and dropped off at a particular place. However, he wasn’t told what was in the box or what it was for. Just that the client was somepony interested in old era antiques. Items from before Argent’s rise to power.
Items that, by royal decree, would be considered contraband.
The longer he kept going, the more troubles he had to face. Legion patrols out on the old roads were one factor, but the murky forests contained all manner or wild creatures. Those that specialized with tearing apart careless souls that wandered too far into the woods limb by limb and spitting out their bones.
Personally, he did not want to run the risk of injury to himself or damaging the package he was supposed to deliver. Though, the job required him to deliver it in a timely manner.
A difficult task, but not impossible by any means. After all, this wasn’t his first time doing a job like this.
As he continued forth though, he couldn’t help but pause. As he came over a hill, the sight of a broken wooden post. Not exactly that much of a common sight if you were traveling through the Eponisian countryside. Everywhere you look, there was also something and some particular place that had fallen into a sense of decay.
But this one was different. For it was one that his boss had told him to look out for on this delivery. A dried out wooden sign that was broken into six different pieces that were scattered across the ground. Once he had reassembled it, the size looked like the image of a tree and had three words on it that did not settle right with him.
‘Welcome to Ponyville’
Now, let’s take a moment to explain why those three words would send a shiver down the spine of any creature who read them.
Ponyville was once one of many different towns and settlements in Eponis and had existed for generations. Yet, when Argent seized power and the eternal night reigned over the sky, the residents of the town were the only ones who stood openly in defiance against the queen’s rise to power.
Their efforts were rewarded when she personally visited the town with her legions, only to unleash her wrath upon them and raze it to the ground. To this day, only the ruins now remain and many see the once happy village as nothing more than a ghost town watched over by monsters.
To make matters even worse for this stallion, he soon began to realize that based on what little information he had from the client and his employer, this was where he needed to deliver the package he was given. “Oh, what the hay did I get myself into?”
The courier reached for something that was holstered on his waist. A weapon that resembles a repeating crossbow that can be held in one hand. Whatever it was that lurked here in this place, he was not taking any chances. With a weapon in one hand and the package in another, he slowly began to make his descent into the ruined village. His head was on a swivel and checking every corner as he searched for some sign of activity.
There had to be something here. Somepony who could take this off his hands or perhaps explain what in Tartarus he was delivering.
Suddenly, fog started to roll in. A deep fog that made it difficult to see and made the courier feel rather on edge as he moved into what looked like a ruined tree… house. Yeah, it’s weird. It’s creepy. The whole town is being creepy right now and he did not like this at all.
Something was out there. Something that knew he was here. But what-?
Wait, was that the sound of magic-?
“Don’t… move.”
The threat had him slowly turn around for a brief moment to try and see who was speaking to him. However, all that he saw was a cyan colored blast of magic that forced him and whatever he was carrying to drop to the ground. Crossbow, personal belongings, the package.
And it wasn’t like it slowly fell to the floor. It just dropped and stuck there like there was a gravitational pull in the room.
“I told you not to move.” the voice spoke again. Slowly, it circled around the courier to face him, before bending down onto their knees. Among the items on the ground, one thing stood out to them. That the figure on the ground… had wings. Mostly hidden by their particular garments, but still somewhat visible now that they were face down on the ground.
“Are you Prism?”
“W-wha-?”
The other pony in the room was slightly annoyed by the daft answer, “Are… you… Prism? Prism Spectrum-?”
“Wha-? No!” The courier immediately retorted, pulling back his hood to show his face, “By the stars, no!! S-she’s my-”
While the answer did clarify things, it did little to calm anything down. In fact, it made things a bit more difficult and the voice that was talking to him started to sound more aggressive. “Then why are you here? Who I work for was expecting her, not some underling-”
“And I wasn’t expecting to do a late night run in her place,” the stallion retorted, slowly trying to get back up on his hooves without making whoever this pony was even more aggressive, “All she told me was that the Archfiend in Thunderhead was watching her every move. So, she wanted me to deliver this for her instead. She didn’t tell me what I was transporting, why or to whom. Just that it had to get here.”
The mentioning of ‘Archfiend’ had the mare in front of him tense up, and for good reason. For an Archfiend was a demonic creature with frightening power at their disposal. Frightening to the point that any talk of fighting such a monster would be seen as suicide. To make matters worse, the Archfiends were under the direct command of Queen Argent herself.
If one of them suspected that something foul was ahoof, there was no telling what sort of destruction would be left in the wake of an archfiend’s wrath.
“Were you followed?”
“No! Just who-”
Before he could even finish, the courier could see a faint golden glimmer on the figure in front of him. It was something that looked sort of like a brooch pin, but it was used to keep their cloak together to obscure who they were. Yet, the symbol could be recognized almost immediately.
It was a horseshoe, with a burning torch behind it and the flames resembling the curved edges of a star. An icon of the one group who still tried to resist the tyranny of the Queen of Fear.
“Y-you’re a hoof of light-?”
Immediately, he was silenced as a magical clasp covered his mouth. Silencing any attempt he made to speak. The same cyan colored glow from before as the figure bent down and picked up the weapon he dropped on the ground.
Different thoughts were now starting to bounce around in his head. Were they going to kill him? Torture him? Leave him for any nearby monsters to find?
“If you want to live, then listen up. Because I’m only going to say this once.”
With a flick of their wrist, the courier was thrown onto the floor. Before they could get up, a circular sigil of magic began to glow at the base of their hooves. The fur on their body felt as if it was burning up inside as the crossbow that belonged to him was still aimed at his head.
“I have some questions that I want for you to answer. What I will do with you afterwards will depend on how you answer them. So, don’t try anything stupid and you might live. Otherwise,” A click was heard as the string on the crossbow was pulled back and the bolt locked into place, aimed directly at his head, “It’s going to get really messy. Understood?”
Well, it wasn’t like he really had a choice to begin with. He could try to run, but there was no telling what sort of spell was churning under his hooves. That and they had his crossbow pointed directly at his face.
The only real choice he had was to play along and hope his answers were enough.
“First question. Who are you?”
A simple one to answer. At least, it should be.
“Lofty. Lofty Winds.”
“Who do you work for?” The figure asked. Their tone remains the same.
“Spectral Delivery Services,” he said. He then slowly reached for something that happened to have spilled on the floor, before sliding it over to the figure, “My work badge, if you don’t believe me.”
The figure looked to the ground and lifted the item in question with a levitation spell, taking only a few seconds to look it over, before tossing it back on the ground. “You’re a long way from home. So, what the buck are you doing all the way out here running an errand for your boss?”
He slowly nods, before looking at her, “She didn’t tell me much. Just that the Archfiend was watching her and that-”
A shot flew past his head, hitting the boards behind it as the sigil shimmered a bit. “I don’t believe you. You work for one of the most influential ponies in the whole entire regime. How the buck do you not know about-”
Lofty, feeling the pressure, took a risk, “You think I’m lying? I spent most of my night going as fast as I could, not knowing where in Tartarus I was going or what the buck I was carrying. To make matters even worse, an entire town is now suffering the wrath of a paranoid legion Legatus and his soldiers because they think that your friends are there. That town’s blood is on my hands to get this here, so don’t you dare talk to me about that. All I knew was that I had to get whatever the buck this is to wherever the buck it needed to go by any means necessary.”
Silence fell upon the room. The sigil did not hum or react to anything he said as he just sat there on the ground. The pegasus waited hesitantly, thinking that those words would lead to retaliation or worse. He waited… and waited… and waited.
“What’s in the box?”
Wait. Was this… happening? He expected pain or death, but instead… this?
“Well, what’s in the box?”
The pegasus shook his head, “I can’t tell you. Even if I wanted to, I can’t. Besides, you’re not the client.”
Much to his surprise, the figure that stood in front of Lofty lowered the crossbow and set it on the floor. “While that may be true,” they replied, before going into their jacket and pulling out what looked like… papers? “I’m something else.”
The moment that the papers reached Lofty, his heart skipped a few beats. This wasn’t any ordinary piece of paper. It was an order form. One from the company he worked for! Even his boss's signature was on it!
“W-wait a minute… are you-?”
“Like how your boss sent you to bring the package, I was asked to collect it,” the figure said, the sigil on the floor vanishing with a snap of a finger. “However, the Hooves of Light don’t want to take any chances. So, I was asked to pick this up for the client, as you said.”
Slowly, the cyan glow from earlier covered the package that was on the floor and pulled it towards them. But not after a leather sack was placed on the ground and pushed towards him. “Your payment for your troubles… Have a Happy Neverdawn, Mr. Winds.”
Before Lofty could even speak up or say anything, the figure had disappeared from sight. His eyes shifted to the bag to bring it closer to him… and to open it to see the coins inside.
But that’s not where this story ends. For you see, there’s another part at play here. Lofty doesn’t know it, but from merely touching what was left behind, he left himself vulnerable to a powerful spell that was on it. Like a trap that was waiting for somepony to trigger it.
A contingency to make sure that whatever happened is never spoken about. I have to admit, it’s pretty clever.
The trap in question is what we call a M.E.A. spell. Memory Erasure & Alteration. In a matter of moments, Lofty will forget everything from tonight. The town he left to burn, the choices he had to make and everything from meeting this figure. All he will remember was that he had to deliver something, he made the delivery and got the payment for it. Everything else will get cut away like snippets of film.
M.E.A spells in this case are rather simple. If the caster wished, they could rewrite the memories of anyone freely.
But before we go further down that rabbit hole, let’s see that figure one more time. For they had found their way back to where the others were. The pony that met Lofty? Well, she’s a unicorn. One with a purple mane and lavender colored fur, with eyes that matched the same color as the cyan strip of color in her mane. They held the box in their hands as they eagerly returned back to her workshop, greeting friends in their little home hidden from the rest of the world.
By the way, there’s one thing we should clear up.
Really? What’s that?
Oh, is it about the leader thing?
Yeah, the part about this pony being sent out by their leader? Well, it’s bullshit.
Absolute bullshit.
Despite the amount of propaganda and fear of who the ponies see as ‘anarchists’, the Hooves of Light are nothing more than just… a community. A bunch of ponies who either spoke out against the queen or wanted to know the truth about what really caused the sun to disappear.
There was nopony here that was specifically a leader. However, with the grip of the Regime choking out their livelihoods every day, there came a point where they were going to need one if they wanted to survive.
And that is where the package comes into play. For inside was a crown and several gems that faintly glowed with magical power. Artifacts from an age before the endless night that belonged to a princess whose heart and love for her subjects was as bright as the sun that no longer hung in the sky.
With what she needed in hand and a goal in mind, the unicorn named Comet began her preparations, for time was not on her side.
