The hallway seemed to go on forever as Spitfire walked along. She could hear her every hoofstep echo off of the marble floor in the eerie silence of the night. Positioned along the hallway were stainglass windows depicting scenes from Equestria's history. There was one depicting Princess Celestia imprisoning Nightmare moon in the moon for a thousand years, another telling of her return and defeat by the Elements of Harmony.
As she put one hoof in front of the other, Spitfire tried to figure out why she had been called here so late at night. It couldn't be because she had done anything wrong. As Captain of the Wonderbolts it was her job to solve problems and overlook important events. The only thing she could think of had happened a couple weeks ago, but it couldn't be that. Spitfire had personally seen to the repairs of the shop and paid for all the damages.
Spitfire stopped as she reached the massive door to the throne room. Inside, she knew, the Princess was waiting for her. Spitfire took a minute to look herself over. Her golden hair had finally laid back in it's normal un-windblown style. Spitfire breathed a sigh of relief as she noticed her red highlight's were still in her mane from her last haircut. "Amber Locks does do a wonderful job," said Spitfire to herself knocking on the door.
Spitfire waited patiently, as was custom, until the door opened. A guard stepped up to her and, with a confused look on his face, asked, "Spitfire, is that you?"
"Yes, it's me," replied Spitfire, with a bit of a chuckle. Spitfire had chosen not to wear her Wonderbolts uniform. She was hardly ever seen without it, so it's no surprise someponies get confused when she doesn't wear it. "Decided to leave my uniform back at home tonight. I hope that's not a problem?"
"Not at all," said the guard, a blush of embarrassment on his face, "The Princess will see you now. Please come this way." Spitfire followed the guard into the throne room the door being closed behind them. Spitfire began to wonder again why the Princess had called her out here in the middle of the night alone. If the rest of the Wonderbolts had been called then it would be a formal visit.
"Princess, Spitfire is here to see you," said the guard bowing his head.
Princess Celestia was high atop her throne at the end of the room. Yet even so, her presence dominated the entire room. Her multicolored mane was blowing as if by some unseen force, light sparkling through it. "Thank you," she said gracefully, clapping her hooves together.
As if hearing some unspoken message, all the guards left the room, leaving Spitfire alone with the Princess. Spitfire began to get a little anxious at this point. As if sensing her discomfort Celestia asked "Spitfire is something wrong you seem ill at ease?"
"Nothing, your highness" replied Spitfire at once "I am merely wondering what it is you called me here for."Spitfire took a step forward as she continued "Listen if it's about that incident back in Las Pegasus..."
"Oh no it's not about that" replied Celestia reassuringly "I need your help with something"
"Need my help with what exactly?" asked Spitfire cautiously, wondering if she would regret asking
"It started 800 years ago" started Celestia taking a deep breath "Back then a great evil named Erebus tried to plunge Equestria into a state of Darkness and extinguish all light in the land. Even the light in ponies hearts..."
"How is that even possible?" asked Spitfire confused
"Erebus had made a pact with a great darkness called The Nightmares" said Celestia "They are beings from another plane of existence. They are beings made of the night itself. He swore he would never stop until all light was extinguished, in return The Nightmares gave him the power to do it."
"What happened to Erebus then?" asked Spitfire curiously "Where is he now?"
"Defeated, with the help of an old friend of mine Star Swirl the Bearded. We cast him out of Equestria and imprisoned him in the Shadowlands to the south forever.... or so we thought." said Celestia with a sigh
"What do you mean you thought?" asked Spitfire watching Celestia get down from the throne and walk over to the window on the left side of the room
"About a week ago my sister Luna went to our souther border on a diplomatic mission. She was to meet an emissary from the Shadowlands about the state of Erebus's seal. Yesterday she was abducted from her room by an unknown assailant. All that was found in her chambers was this" Celestia's horn glowed a soft gold as a photograph hovered out from behind the throne and landed in front of Spitfire.
At first glance it seemed a normal enough photograph. It looked to be a rather expensive looking rug, at a hotel room. On second glance however it was actually a carving into the stone floor of the hotel. It seemed to have been burned into the floor. It looked like a moon with a ponies face in it.
"What exactly am i looking at?" asked Spitfire curiously "I've never seen anything like this before"
"What you see is a glyph left from a rather powerful forbidden spell. One I haven't seen performed for 800 hundred years." said Celestia "I fear that somehow Erebus has broken free from his imprisonment and has taken Luna. If that is indeed the case I fear I may not be able to stop him this time."
"Then why call me?" asked Spitfire confused "This seems more like a job for Twilight and her friends. They're the Element bearers after all."
"You are half right Spitfire" said Celestia turning to look at Spitfire "This is a job for the Elements of Harmony, but Twilight and her friends are still unexperienced in real combat. I fear they are not yet ready to handle this task on their own."
"So you thought it best to call me in to lend a helping hoof?" questioned Spitfire
"Yes they need a pony like you who has had real combat experience and knows how to handle herself in stressful situations." said Celestia with a nod
"In that case I am happy to help Princess" replied Spitfire "Where should I begin?"
"I believe that my niece is doing some late night studying in the Royal Archives." said Celestia waving a hoof giving Spitfire permission to leave "That is a good place to start I think."
"Thank you Princess" said Spitfire turning to leave
"One more thing" said Princess Celestia with a wink "Try to catch her between books"
Spitfire bowed respectfully and turned to leave. As she stepped out of the door she took a deep breathe. "How do i always end up getting dragged into these sort of things" thought Spitfire starting out in the direction of the Archives.
Spitfire rounded the first corner on her right and continued down the hall, until she reached the staircase to the upper levels of the castle and the Archives. She spread her wings and flew up the staircase in a matter of seconds. As she reached the top she gave a strong beat of her wings to stop her momentum and tucked them back in to her sides as her hooves hit the floor. "Much better than walking" thought Spitfire to herself as she trotted into the archives a smile on her face
Spitfire had only been in this part of the castle a few times to get a book on flight mechanics, but that had been during the day. There seemed to be something different about it at night. For one it seemed bigger, hauntingly so. It felt as if it the shelves were trying to swallow her and never let her escape. Spitfire decided to find Twilight and get out as quickly as possible.
Spitifre walked down the first isle she could find. Before she could get halfway down the books were enveloped in a purple glow and began floating off of the shelves. Spitfire trotted after the books hoping that she could follow them to their source. As she made a final turn around a shelf and ducked another book whizzing overhead, Spitfire looked up to see Twilight.
Twilight was floating in mid air in a meditating state flipping the pages of five books at once with her magic. Her eyes were shining with an eerie light and flittering between all five books simultaneously. Spitfire began to wonder if she should wait for twilight to be finished, when five new books replaced the five old books as soon as they were finished. The old books were then levitated over to the side and stacked into a neat pile.
Spitfire realized it would take way to long waiting for her to be finished, so she took a leap of faith. "Twilight" she said hoping to get the unicorn's attention She immediately regretted her decision as the unblinking eyes shifted to look in her direction. They seemed to look straight through her and it gave Spitfire a creepy feeling. The books floating around the room stopped and Twilight lowered herself to the ground.
"Spitfire?" asked Twilight curiously "What are you doing here? I haven't seen you in four years"
"It's been a long time Sparkle" said Spitfire extending a hoof for a friendly shake "Sorry to interrupt, I wish I had come with better news."
"It's no problem I can study anytime" said Twilight with a wink "What's the bad news" she finished more seriously
"It seems that an old evil has resurfaced and is threatening Equestria once more" relayed Spitfire "Celestia has reason to believe it has kidnapped Princess Luna and seeks to enact it's revenge upon all of Equestria."
"That sounds awful" said Twilight using her magic to put the books back where they belonged "Any Idea what this evil force is? I may have a book on it somewhere in here."
"It's name is Erebus" said Spitfire "Princess Celestia said she and Star Beard the Swirled fought it 800 years ago. That's all I know"
"Let's see here" said Twilight her horn erupting with purple sparks "A list emerged floating in front of Twilight. It read "Archive Index" It unrolled and twilight sped through it until she let out a "Ah- Ha" A book on the far side of the library flew over to Twilight who read aloud "Star Beard the Swirled's Biography. Written by princess Celestia herself. There should be something in here."
Twilight opened the book and pages flipped like a gust of wind was driving them to turn. She stopped at a page and showed it to Spitfire. It read "The founding of the Shadowlands. Where Nightmares come to life."
"Well that doesn't sound good" said Spitfire looking at Twilight "Anything else in there?"
"It says here that Erebus was once a pony himself, but he was corrupted by darkness and twisted into something sinister and wicked. His name even means Darkness" said Twilight
"You think somepony would have seen that coming?" said Spitfire with a shrug "Is that all it says?"
"That's it" replied Twilight closing the book "Though it does mention a third pony helping Star Beard and the Princess fight against Erebus but it doesn't give his name."
"What do you mean it doesn't give his name?" asked Spitfire confused looking at the book over twilight's shoulder
"There's a page missing and it doesn't mention him again" said Twilight with a sigh "to think somepony would deliberately damage a book"
"Well at least we know a bit more about this Erebus" said Spitfire with a look of appreciation "I assume your coming with me then?"
"Of course" said Twilight "It is my duty as an Element bearer to help in any way I can. Besides I never miss an opportunity to study something new. I don't think I've every read anything about the Shadowlands before."
"That's one way to look at it I guess" said Spitfire looking for the exit "Um.. Twilight you wouldn't know how to get out of here would you?"
"Of course" said Twilight with a smile Her horn flashed bright purple as Spitfire felt a kind of nausea. It was as if her body had been shifted inside out and then put back almost instantaneously. Then suddenly they were both standing outside the castle gate.
"Warn me a little before you do that next time" said Spitfire shaking off the oncoming waves of nausea "I'm not used to that kind of stuff"
"Oh sorry I forgot" said Twilight with an apologetic smile "Rainbow Dash was the same way"
"It's fine just warn me next time" said Spitfire feeling a little better then a realization hit her "Did you just mention Rainbow Dash... Teleporting?"
"Yes why?" said twilight a confused expression on her face "She used to love it when I teleported us too and from her cloud home and the library"
"But I thought you said Rainbow Dash didn't like teleporting" said Spitfire accusingly
"Oh yeah..." said Twilight blushing a bit "It's not that she didn't like it she just disliked the nausea. You get used to it though trust me."
"So you and Rainbow Dash?" started Spitfire jokingly "Was she really as good as she says she is?"
"She was fantas...I mean she was okay" blushed Twilight "We were just friends"
"I understand" said Spitfire with a warm smile
"Besides she was always more interested in Fluttershy anyway" sighed Twilight her horn glowing as a dark purple cloak levitated out of one of the tower windows and descended wrapping around twilight's neck and a pair of glasses blinking into existence on her nose.
"Sorry to hear about it" said Spitfire noticing the change of uniform "What's with the cloak?"
"It's a gift from the princess" answered Twilight "I got it when i passed my final exam and entered my independent studies. It means I'm an official archmage."
"Congratulations" cheered Spitfire giving her a hoofbump
"So where to now Spitfire?" asked Twilight adjusting her glasses
"Now it's off to Wonderbolt Headquarters to pick up Rainbow Dash" replied Spitfire with a empathic glance at Twilight "Sorry if it makes you uncomfortable"
"No" said Twilight reassuringly "It's quite alright. It was 4 years ago anyways. Me and Rainbow Dash will always be friends"
"Good to hear" said Spitfire starting out for the cloud district of Canterlot "Follow me"