MLP FiM: Lock of Shadows.
Author: Xeroed_1n (Cameron D)
Chapter One:
The night was cold and dark, the shadows a silent miasma flowing over Canterlot.
Les Luna, the Moon, hung like a huge baleful eye, pale and watchful in the cloud streaked sky above the sleeping populous. A lone figure trotted through the streets, walking with confidence down the stone paths that he had walked so many times before. His name was Zero Gee, a cream and brown colored pegasus with a close cropped mane that managed to stay straight in even the strongest wind. The party had finished at a little past 10 o'clock, a party celebrating the anniversary of Fancy Pants and Fleur de 'lis, and now all the party-goers had begun to toddle off to their respective homes, full of food and joy and each a little bit giddy from the large mugs of cider served.
Zero Gee stopped and looked up at the castle in which Princess's Celestia and Luna resided, then at Les Luna, which stared back and comforted his solace. He turned homeward and then decided to take a shortcut through a nearby alleyway, his house was eight blocks away after all. Before he entered the brick passage he gave one last glance at the buildings behind him, one last look at the shadows that layered the tops of their roofs then turned and trotted away down the alley....towards a home that he would never reach.
Behind him the shadows lay on the rooftops like a blanket of black over the rough surface of the tiles, amongst the moss grown from rainfall. Then one of the shadows stirred, opening a reptilian red eye that narrowed and followed the path of Zero Gee. The shadow stretched it's legs, flicked it's tail and cracked it's neck and then was off, skittering over the close packed rooftops in silent pursuit.
Zero Gee was nearing the end of the alleyway when he heard a noise.
Skritch.
His heart caught in his chest and he involuntarily held his breath, listening intently to the darkness that all but surrounded him.
Skritch.
There it was again, but closer this time, almost....above him. Zero whipped his neck upwards to spot where the noise had come from. Nothing. His tail swished over the ground softly and he nickered in fear. Skritch....skritch.
"Hello?" he called into the night, "Anypony there? Hello?"
Silence answered him and he turned to carry on his way but was stopped by a sight that chilled his blood and made his coat stand on end. Two blazing crimson eyes floated in the shadows that gathered at the end of the alleyway, blocking his exit. They were reptilian, slit-pupiled and blazed with a fury, or an ambition, that Zero couldn't comprehend. A voice hissed out from between the eyes, those eyes that locked Zero in his place.
"Miiiiiiiiiiiinne..."
Zero made the biggest mistake of his life then, he let the voice know that he had heard.
"W-What's yours?" he asked, fear adding an extra quiver to his question. His body began to shake uncontrollably as he began to think of what fate might befall him. But his heart really almost did stop when he heard what came next.
There was a sharp intake of breath that seemed to suck in all the air around them then,
"Your wiiiiings."
Those eyes flashed in a blur of motion, sucking Zero into the infinite darkness of their pupils and then his screams rent the air, ripping through the silence of the night.
And as always, Les Luna watched impassively from the sky.
Chapter Two:
"Out of the way! Out of the buckin' way!" Twilight Sparkle dashed through the crowd in a purple, pink and sapphire blur of hoof-beats, having to actually shove her way between mares and stallions of all shades of the rainbow. An actual rainbow, this being one of her best friends Rainbow Dash, kept easy pace with her wingbeats and jogging along behind her was her loyal confident Spike, sweat streaking his purple dragon scales. The crowd parted before them like a hot knife through butter and even the burly stallion guards ringing the yellow KEEP OUT tape stepped aside to allow them to pass, because after all who hadn't noticed the prestige of Twilight Sparkle, Princess Celestia's top student.
Celestia herself was already at the scene of the crime, her unmissable cloud of a mane flowing a full foot over the head of Nurse Redheart who was also in attendance. Among the few allowed in were the rest of Twilight's friends; Rarity, Applejack, Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy who was hiding behind Applejack's orange hide, peeking over the top at the shockingly white corpse laid out on the ground.
Twilight stepped under the tape and held it up for Spike, who scooted through while Rainbow Dash dropped down out of the air, took one look at the body and then turned away gagging.
"Nurse, is he....?" Twilight let the question hang in the air, not daring to finish the horrible thought. Nurse Redheart nodded sadly, "Yes, he's gone."
"But I see no blunt trauma marks, or magical residue that could have done this."
"It was hypothermia actually. Something sent this pony into shock and dropped him where he was....and it was cold last night."
Twilight nodded in thought, "But what gave him the shock?" she wondered.
Horn twitching, she dropped down on her front hooves and looked at the corpse in intricate detail, from every angle, lifting the legs and sifting through the mane, all the while fighting back the feeling of revulsion that boiled in her stomach. The creamy brown coat looked familiar somehow...
"Spike, take a note." she said and then after the rustling of paper had finished, she continued, "Homicide, cause of death; lethal pneumonia. Stallion, middle aged, creamy brown coat, earth pony..."
"No, that's wrong," said Rainbow Dash hoarsely, perturbed by the corpse "He's a pegasus pony, his name was- is Zero Gee."
"That can't be right Dashie," said Twilight, staring at Rainbow like she was a mad pony, "He has no wings, therefore he can't be a pegasus."
"Exactly my point Twilight, he has no wings, but he did. I'm no pony anatomy expert but I know that wings are directly tied into a pegasus's nervous system. Whatever it was that took his wings, sent him into shock at the same time."
"Taken his wings?" Twilight mulled over the idea, unconsciously rubbing her jaw at the same time. "Celestia, is that possible?"
Princess Celestia looked up at Twilight with red-rimmed eyes, it was evident that she had been crying. Zero Gee hadn't been directly tied to the Princess, but it was still saddening to find one of her citizens cut down in her own city. She swallowed back her tears and after a moments hesitation nodded solemnly, "Yes, yes. But it's old magic. Necromantic and lost in time."
"Necromantic?" asked Rarity.
"It means of the dead." said Twilight, "Ages old magic, designed only for the resurrection of evil. I understand that Discord had a hand in creating it."
"Good Lord." whispered Rarity, remembering the horrifying ordeal of fighting Discord and the embarrassing encounter with Thom the Diamond.
Twilight turned back to Celestia, "When you say 'lost' Princess you mean that the instruction scrolls are in the Canterlot Archives?"
Celestia shook her head, "No. Luna and I destroyed the scrolls quite some years ago. I watched them burn and their ashes float into the sky."
Twilight looked around them. The previous crowd had been dispersed by the stallion guards, but some still milled around craning their necks for a peek. No doubt Diamond Tiara would be looking for her latest scoop.
"Uhm....Twilight?"
"Yes, Fluttershy?"
The yellow pegasus scratched at the ground with her hooves, peeking out from under her bright pink mane. "I'm going to go home now....if um, that's okay with you."
Twilight could see how nervous she was around the death and turned to the others, "Thanks girls, you can all go home now. Spike, I'll see you back at the library." Spike nodded and hurried off with the others, aiming to catch the last train back to Ponyville.
"Celestia." Twilight nodded curtly to the Princess and turned to leave as well.
"Wait!" exclaimed Celestia and Twilight turned back to her teacher. "I want you to find out who did this and report back to me....whatever means necessary"
"Got it, Your Highness," said Twilight with a smirk, "I'll make them pay."