Chapter two: A Royal Greeting
Hood gaped for a moment before remembering his manners and bowing low before the Moon Princess.
“Please rise, Hood.” Luna said with a smile.
Hood did so and hopped off his bench. “Princess Luna, it’s an honor to meet you.” He lowered his hood.
“The same to you, Hood, although I already know a great deal about you.”
“About me, your highness?”
Luna nodded. “Indeed. I’ve been watching you for a long time. You’re the pony who likes the night time.”
Hood nodded vigorously. “Oh yes, your highness. The stars and moon have always been beautiful to me.”
“Actually, I was hoping you would come to Canterlot with me to discuss some things. That is, of course, if you aren’t too busy.”
“Of course not, I would be honored.” Hood said excitedly. Luna smiled and moved aside to reveal a large black carriage being hauled by two intimidating pegasi.
Luna led Hood to the carriage. “I am surprised you were not frightened, Hood. The last time I made an appearance in Ponyville I was greeted with fear.”
Hood shrugged. “I remember that. I wasn’t around town at the time, but I watched what I could of the event from my home. I imagine it was sparked by how different you looked from when you were first changed back from Nightmare Moon.”
Luna looked as if she hadn’t thought about this at the time. “I suppose you may be right.”
Luna hopped into the carriage and motioned to a seat opposite her. Hood climbed in carefully and the two bat-winged pegasi took off, hauling the cart behind them.
“So, princess, if I might ask, what would you need my help with?” Hood inquired, gazing over the carriage side to the ground quickly leaving them behind.
“I understand you have an affinity for foresight, Hood. Is this true?”
Hood nodded. It was true. He was gifted with a particular form of magic, the ability to see into the future or the past.
“That is a powerful gift, young unicorn. I’ve never met anypony who could use magic like yours.”
“Um, princess, right before we met, I had a dream. I think you may have been in it.”
Princess Luna raised an eyebrow. “A dream...” She was silent the rest of the ride to Canterlot.
-
The carriage touched down in the courtyard next to Princess Celestia’s world famous Golden Apple Tree. Hood followed Luna out of the carriage and was greeted by none other than Princess Celestia herself. The gorgeous white alicorn was flanked by two grey unicorn guards, her marvelous mane and tail flowing behind her majestically.
Hood bowed low.
“Ah, Hood, it’s good to see you again. My, I don’t think we’ve spoken since you graduated from the magic school.” Celestia said, approaching Hood and touching her horn to his shoulder.
“It’s good to see you again as well, your highness. Speaking of which, I spoke with your pupil Twilight Sparkle this afternoon. She seems to be doing well.” Hood was more comfortable around Celestia. He had become well acquainted with her during his time at the school.
“Yes, she’s one of the few students I see regularly. Now, why don’t we head inside before we catch cold, hm?” Celestia said warmly, leading Hood and Luna towards a large gate.
Hood blinked against the light in the long throne room. It had been many years since his last time in this place. Celestia and Luna took their places on a pair of thrones at the far end and Hood laid himself down on a cushion at their hooves.
“Now, has my sister explained why you are here, my dear student?” Celestia asked.
“Only briefly your highness. Something to do with my foresight?”
Celestia nodded. “My sister and I have been receiving troubling messages from a place beyond the borders of Equestria.
Some kind of cult has gained a foothold in the nation where ponies originated from. This place is outside our normal jurisdiction, and we need to know if they are anything worth troubling ourselves with.”
“And you need my help?” Hood questioned. This seemed like the kind of thing the royal alicorns could handle themselves.
“You see Hood, we can’t see the future as you do. None besides Starswirl the Bearded have ever had your kind of power as far as we know. We need you to look into the future and see if this er… group ever becomes a danger to Equestria.” Luna explained.
Hood thought about his response for a moment. “Well, you see your highnesses, viewing timelines in such a way is somewhat reckless. I’ve injured myself once or twice attempting to foresee events. I usually just await visions in my dreams.”
“Like the one you had before arriving today.” Luna said, more a statement than a question.
“Yes, although there’s really no telling if that was a vision or just a nightmare.” He said the word nightmare slowly, not catching himself in time to avoid saying it. “I would have to wait for the event to come to pass before I could ever know.”
Celestia looked thoughtful. “Could you describe this dream to be, young one?” She asked.
“Certainly. I remember that I was in a room full of ponies. They were all looking at somepony who looked a great deal like princess Luna.” Luna lowered her head a bit when he said this. “And I could hear a voice, talking about night time.”
Celestia and Luna looked at each other, having a wordless conversation.
“Hood.” Celestia said sternly. “I need to do something, but I’ll need your cooperation.”
“Of course, ma’am. Anything.” Hood rose to his hooves.
Celestia lowered her head and closed her eyes. She crossed horns with Hood and he could feel powerful magic coursing into him. This went on for a moment before Celestia jerked backwards with a gasp. Luna looked alarmed and Celestia’s guards took a step toward them.
“Oh, no…” Celestia muttered sadly. “This is bad. Very, very bad.”
“Sister, what is it? What did you see?”
Hood rubbed his head with his hoof. His memory of his dream had suddenly gone, as if it had been drawn from his mind.
“Hood’s dream… Nightmare Moon was there, she was the one talking to him and the other ponies. I could see her and… and she could see me as well.” Celestia explained, her face taking on a flushed grey.
“What does that mean?” Hood asked. He couldn’t remember his dream, but oddly, he could remember what it was about.
“I’m not sure, Hood. But I don’t think it’s good.” Celestia said, shaking her head.
“But I thought Nightmare Moon was destroyed? I mean, you turned back to normal.” Hood turned to Luna as he said this.
Luna looked at the ground. “Well, yes and no. While Nightmare Moon was using my body, we weren’t the same pony. She was her own entity, with a will and mind of her own. The whole time I was Nightmare Moon it was like a dream. Or, well, more like a nightmare.
“But I had thought she was gone for good as well. When the Elements of Harmony purged her from my body she should have been eliminated completely.”
“The Elements aren’t a force of violence, Luna.” Celestia explained softly. “They don’t have the power to destroy anything, that’s why Discord is still a statue in the sculpture gardens.”
“So what do we do?” Hood asked.
Celestia thought for a moment. “Would it be possible in any way to look into a designated point in the future Hood? I know you don’t want to, but it may be important.”
Hood grimaced a little. “It’s possible, but like I said, it’s unreliable. The only times I’ve ever tried it the vision has been blurry and I couldn’t get much from it.”
“Maybe we could share our magic. With my strength then maybe you can see more clearly.” Luna offered.
Hood considered it for a moment. “That could work, I’ve never tried.”
“Would you? It would be ever so helpful.” Celestia implored. Hood had no choice but to agree. They were the rulers of Equestria.
“Alright. Do what you need to.” Hood said with a sigh.
Luna smiled and crossed her horn with Hood’s. Once again, he could feel magic much more powerful than his own pouring into him. He tapped into his own magic and let the two combine, a very strange sensation. He poured his effort into his foresight spell. It was much easier than the last time he had tried, and the vision filled his head.
He designated a spot in time exactly one year in the future. An image filled his head. It was his town, Ponyville. Much of the western part of town had been destroyed. He paused for a moment, but continued to search. As the image shifted to the sky, he could see it was nighttime, but something was wrong. The Mare in the Moon was back in place. This made no since, as Luna was standing right in front of him. His gaze shifted east, where one could see Canterlot from Ponyville, and he stopped.
Canterlot was gone. Not in ruins, not shrouded in fog. Gone. As if it had never been there. His vision blurred and faded away. He realized Luna had moved her horn from his.
“What did you see?” Celestia asked excitedly.
Luna looked troubled. “We were looking at future Ponyville. Much of it was in ruin. Canterlot had vanished entirely…”
“Did you see anything else? Anything to support Nightmare Moon’s possible return?”
Hood answered. “The Mare in the Moon was back. What could that mean?”
Celestia thought about it for a moment. “The only ponies that could be the Mare in the Moon would be Luna or Nightmare. I would never send Luna back, even if she were Nightmare.” She looked to Luna with a sad smile before continuing. “The only thing I can think that happened is that Nightmare returned, and I banished her.” She said with finality.
“Then we have to stop this somehow. Somepony needs to travel to the old lands and stop these cultists.” Luna said.
“But how can we even know that this cult is who will bring Nightmare Moon back? Maybe she’ll somehow bring herself back.” Hood offered. “And even then, wouldn’t ponies from the old lands not even know about Nightmare? She never went there.”
Celestia nodded. “Perhaps they went there from Equestria? The old lands are a dangerous place, and if there’s anywhere that somepony wanted to do something without being caught, that would be the place.”
“We can’t run any risks.” Luna said. “We’ll need the element bearers to search the old lands.”
“You’re right, little sister.” Celestia said. She climbed off her throne and led the two along a long hallway. Large stained glass windows covered either wall, depicting all sorts of events from Equestrian History.
Celestia approached an enormous door at the end. She lowered her head and inserted her horn into a hole in the center like a key. Her horn lit up and the door opened. Inside was a jeweled chest, resting on a stone plinth.
“What’s in there?” Hood asked.
Celestia levitated the box out. “This chest contains the Elements of Harmony. We’ve stored them here since Twilight and her friends defeated Discord.” She magically opened the box. Inside rested five necklaces and a crown, each decorated with a different shaped gem. Celestia looked satisfied and put the chest back.
“You were just checking on them?” Luna asked.
Celestia nodded. “They have a nasty habit of not being easy to find when we need them. Now, I must send a letter to Twilight Sparkle and her friends. Hood, would you like to stay at the castle as our guest? Your input may be needed on what you and Luna saw.”
Hood nodded. “It would be my honor, you highness.”
Celestia smiled and instructed her guards to show Hood to a guest room. Hood followed the stern looking grey unicorns to another door a ways from the throne room.
“You’ll be staying here, if you need anything, we’ll be right outside your door.” The guard said. Hood thanked them and entered the room.
It was beautifully furbished with a canopy bed and large vanity. Hood pulled his cape off and set it down on the back of a chair. He lay down on the bed.
He was exhausted. A great deal had occurred over the night. He looked to the window and saw the sun rising in the east. Something was bothering him.
Princesses Celestia and Luna seemed quite sure that they would be able to stop the future he had seen from occurring. However, Hood wondered if it would be possible. They had seen the future, yes. Not would might happen, but what would happen.
Or had they? Nothing was more complex nor simple than the passage of time.
It was a complicated concept, but one that he had come to understand better than most over time. He didn’t want to bother the princesses with this, but he didn’t want anypony to get hurt. But then, if Nightmare Moon did come back, somepony was going to be hurt regardless.
Hood rubbed his eye with his Hoof. He looked out the window to see a carriage being pulled by two white pegasi flying down towards Ponyville.
He decided it would be best to at least try to get some rest. There wasn’t much he could do right at the moment, and he should be going to bed right around now anyway.
He laid his head down on the remarkably soft pillow and let himself drift off.
-
Hood found himself walking slowly through a dark stone ruin somewhere. To his left and right, ponies of all kinds watched him, all perfectly still, their faces hidden by black hoods. He looked forward. His vision was blurry, but he thought he could see a pony nearly as tall as Celestia standing on a podium before him.
A voice filled his head. “Ah, so you’re the one who helped in my return…”
Hood tried to respond but found that his mouth would not form the words.
The voice laughed cruelly. “You’ve been very helpful, my little pony. And for your aid, you shall receive a fine reward…” A bolt of blue lightning flew toward Hood from the large equine figure in front of him. Hood tried to scream, but could not.
-
Hood bolted awake with a strangled cry, looking about frantically trying to see where he was. His eyes adjusted to the sunlight and he recognized the room in Canterlot castle. He looked out the window and saw that it was getting late in the day.
He climbed out of the bed and picked his cape up off the table. He tied the string around his neck and opened the door.
The two unicorn guards stood utterly motionless as he walked by them and towards the throne room.
Near the throne, Hood could see six ponies talking to Celestia and Luna. He trotted over.
“Ah, Hood, good to see you’re awake. I was just discussing something with Twilight.” Celestia said.
Twilight and the others looked troubled, but smiled softly when they saw Hood.
“Hi, Hood, we didn’t know you were still here.” Twilight greeted.
“Hello, everypony. Did I miss anything important?” Hood asked.
“We were just talking about what you and Princess Luna saw. What did you think of it?” Twilight asked.
Hood looked away as he spoke. “I’m not really sure. It didn’t seem good.”
“I never heard of magic like that.” Applejack spoke up. “Seeing the future an’ all? How can we be sure it’ll happen?”
“Foresight is a rare gift that not many unicorns have. Hood was very lucky to be born with it.” Celestia explained.
“Why didn’t you tell me you had magic like that at your party yesterday? I would have loved to talk about it.” Twilight mused, giving Hood a playful shove. Hood blushed and lowered his head.
“So what are we gonna do about Nightmare Moon?” Rainbow Dash asked.
“We need to try to stop her from returning to Equestria before it happens. That’s why I called you all here, to ask you if you
would make the journey to find these cultists and stop them.” Celestia explained.
The six ponies exchanged looks.
“I… I don’t know…” Fluttershy said, lowering her head.
Applejack kicked at the ground. “That’s an awful long ways to go, I’m not sure I can just leave my farm underponied like that, I mean, applebuck season will be startin’ soon and all…”
Celestia looked disheartened. This clearly wasn’t the answer she had been hoping for.
“Well, I can go.” Twilight offered proudly.
Even Pinkie Pie looked unsure. “I mean, I would go if I could, but the Cakes have been giving me a lot of work at Sugarcube Corner lately, plus they might need someone to watch Pound Cake and Pumpkin…”
“Well, I know I’ll go. I won’t let Nightmare come back and make it dark all the time.” Rainbow offered.
“I’ll go as well. My clients will just have to wait, this is far more important.” Rarity said, flicking her mane.
Celestia still looked unsure. “I understand that you all have responsibilities other than this… Perhaps I could get some royal guards to accompany you…”
“I’ll go.” Everypony turned to look at Hood. “I mean, I know I can’t use the Elements, but if everything goes like we want then we won’t have to, right?”
Luna looked to Hood with pride, but Celestia looked skeptical. “I suppose that couldn’t hurt.”
“And I could probably get my friends Elderberry and Solar Flare to help as well.” Hood said, lowering his hood over his face a little.
“You don’t have to do that, Hood.” Twilight said with a friendly smile.
Hood waved his hoof. “It’s not a problem.
Celestia smiled despite her skepticism. “Very well. Hood, I’ll have some guards escort you back to Ponyville to speak with your friends. Would they be busy right now?”
“Probably not. Elderberry does most of his work in the morning, and, well Solar Flare doesn’t really work much.”
“Very well then. We should begin immediately. Twilight, would you and your friends accompany me to my study? You’ll need maps, and I can have some servants…” Celestia’s voice faded as Hood, Applejack, Pinkie, and Fluttershy followed four Pegasus guards back toward the courtyard.
Applejack nudged Hood with her hoof. “Yah, know, I was wrong about you.”
Hood raised an eyebrow. “How so?”
Applejack chuckled. “I saw the way you looked when you offered to help out. I’m thinkin’ you might be crushin’ on Twi a bit.”
Pinkie shoved her way between them. “Oooohh, Hood’s got a crush!” She squeaked cheerfully. “Hood and Twilight sitting in a- oof!” Pinkie had walked into a pillar. She shook her head, her eyes rolling about before continuing her song, which she edited without any thought.
“You’re both crazy.” Hood said sheepishly, pulling his hood down over his face.
The three mares giggled as they climbed onto one carriage as Hood climbed on another. The pegasi strapped themselves to the carts and took off, hauling the ponies back toward Ponyville.