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// Beginings: Part 1 
// Story: The Darkness Within 
// by Eclipse Blackblood 
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	My dad ran an orphanage. He practically hated everyone but himself. The only reason he ran the orphanage is it was the family business for the past three generations or so. He couldn't get rid of it without having to pay massive taxes or something like that. I don't really know I only see him for about five minutes a day. 

He REALLY hated bronies. I also happened to be a brony. Well, I only became a brony because it annoyed my dad. He took advantage of that fact by having me spy on the other bronies that were in the orphanage. They snuck out once a week, so he sent me to see what they did. I would have gone even if he didn't tell me to. But then I found out what they did. 

I just expected them to watch Friendship is Magic on a portable TV. That is nothing like what I found. They took this show to a near cultic extreme. And they were the most normal people there. 

Their city was in a series of abandoned warehouses, which they had restored to the point they could safely live in them. Their houses used the same architectural styles that were used in Ponyville, but they were larger. All of the citizens wore very little clothing, but it was enough to qualify as modest, but just barely. They also had special tattoos that made them match several of the ponies, but none of them matched the elements of harmony, or the princesses. 

"Looking for the main six?" one of the bronies who I came here with asked.

"Yeah, I expected about fifty of each."

"Don't bother looking; it's against the rules to pick one of the ponies someone else already chose."

"Sounds like you've been here before."

"I have," he told me, "And this time I'm staying." I looked at what he brought with him.

"You sure that little bag's going to be enough?"

"All I need is my new identity, and the ruling council’s approval. After that, they'll provide the rest."

"'Ruling council?'"

"You'll see in a minute," After he said that he nodded his head forward. I looked ahead of our little group. I saw a faithfully done and lovingly detailed mural of Canterlot Castle, and in front of it a table with ten chairs. 

"Are we supposed to sit and wait on something?" I asked the same person form our group who mentioned the ruling counsel. Every other member of the small troupe stared at me with looks that varied from shock to disgust. Except for him. He looked like it took all of his strength to contain a burst of laughter. 

"I asked the same thing my first time here," he replied, as if to put the rest of our group at ease. "No, we're not allowed to sit there. That is the ruling counsel's table. And they should be here any second."

 Patrick, (no last name or middle initial on record) recounting events that lead to his involvement in with the Planescape. 





It had been a year since we were defeated as our greatest victory was nearly completed. We were repulsed out of Canterlot by the one pony we had least expected to be defeated by. Te result was the loss of half our numbers, and the birth of a constantly growing desire for revenge in queen Chrysalis, who was also my mother. 

"Nurel, come here." She was using  that  voice again. The voice that when you heard it you just know not doing what she wants would be very dangerous for your health. 

"Coming, mother." I had to sound confident, no matter how nervous I was, no matter how great my doubts. If she knew what I thought of her plan... The result would not be pleasant. 

I moved quickly through our stronghold, avoiding areas under reconstruction for some unknown reason. Unknown to most, by any means. Only three beings in all of reality knew the true reason, my mother, myself, and my mother's adviser, Piak. The reason behind the damage, as my mother's desire for revenge grew, so did an insanity that had come into her mind at the same time. 

I arrived shortly in the throne room, which was always in immaculate condition, despite the state of anything else. My mother was there, but that was where the normality ended. There was a triangular table in the middle of the room, one of the sides was facing the throne, and my mother stood there. Piak stood at one of the other sides, and even from the entrance to the room, I could tell the table was covered in documents on some form of esoteric lore. 

"Come, Nurel, the three of us have much to discuss."

 Events leading up to Nurel's involvement in the Planescape, pieced together from his lingering memories.





I had an average life, for a spy employed by the royal guard, that is. I lived in a mid-sized apartment in Manehattan, had no romantic relationships, and a slightly above average income. I speak about twelve languages fluently, can fake several different accents, and know every major dialect of the languages I know. I have seven locks on my front door, and regularly check my apartment for monitoring devices of any kind. All in all, it was a pretty normal life. I had no idea what started out as an average day on the job would end in one of the most life changing event in my life. 

I was undercover in a group of smugglers. My cover name was Shady Crate, obviously a fake to anypony with at least half a brain, but luckily that level of intelligence is seen very rarely in smugglers outside of Canterlot. Unfortunately they were transferring goods to a group in Canterlot. That's when they knocked me out, bound and gagged me, and tied me to a tree.

"Who are you really?" I had just regained consciousness when I heard that question. I must have gotten hit pretty hard, because everything was a shapeless multi-colored blob. All I could tell was my interrogator had a blackish coat, and a fiery red mane, and judging from the voice and accent was a mare from Canterlot. I also recognized her voice from somewhere, although I couldn't quite place it. 

I tried to answer but my voice was muffled by a piece of think cotton tied over my mouth. They we interrogating me, while I was gagged. How did they plan on getting any information out of me if I couldn't talk?

"I might not be the sharpest knife in the drawer," Somepony else was talking, and whoever they were I couldn’t see them. "But I think it might be better to take the gag off before you try to make him talk."

"It was a rhetorical question," the pony I thought was interrogating me was definitely a mare, but I still couldn't see her clearly. "I already know who he is; after all he is my younger brother." 

That was where I knew her voice from! She was my older sister, Silver Blade. She applied for a position in the royal guard, but was denied for undisclosed reasons. Not even a week after that she was the most wanted criminal in Equstria. 

Excerpt from the journal that belong the Black Cross, who was, at the apparent time of writing, head spy of Princess Celestia's Royal Guard.