The Toa stood in front of the Everfree Forest, looking at the path that they were about to take. It was wide, wider than the one that they had originally walked when they entered the forest with the mane six.
Behind them, stood Luna, still fully armoured from head to hoof, and her two thin swords sheathed on either side of her body.
“Are we ready?” She asked, looking at the Toa, who turned around to look at her.
“Us?” Onewa asked in amusement. “Listen princess. We were ready to go as soon as we left that temple. We just felt that it wouldn’t be possible to do this one our own.”
“I am sorry.” Luna apologised.
“What of your sister? Have the delegates arrived yet?” Nokama asked.
“They have.” Luna nodded. “The Griffon king and Diamond Dog Alpha of Alphas have already arrived in Canterlot, and the Minotaur chieftain, Zebra shaman and Changeling queen are nearing the capital. As soon as they all arrive, decisions will be able to be made.”
“Let’s hope they come to terms quickly.” Nokama said wistfully. “If the Makuta really was behind the last assault of the shadow ponies, then this could be devastating if we are unprepared.”
“I agree. But we need to go now regardless.” Nuju said. “Vakama and Twilight are depending on us.”
“Castelian.” Luna called, and instantly, the bat pony was beside her.
“Yes your highness?” He asked, bowing deeply.
“The time is now. Signal the advance.” Luna ordered.
“As you wish.” Castelian smiled, before turning around. “Lunar Guard! Forward march! For Luna! For the Night-time! For Equestria!”
As he bellowed the orders, the assembled members of the roared in return, rising their voices until the very trees in the Everfree Forest shook from the force of the cry.
“Let’s go.” Matau growled, setting off into the forest.
Instantly, the four other Toa followed their brother, and behind them, the ranks upon ranks of Lunar Guard began to move as well.
“Luna?” Whenua asked, calling the dark Alicorn to his side.
“Yes?” She asked.
“Exactly how many ponies are in your guard?”
“Three thousand nine hundred and sixty five.” Luna said proudly. “Each one has seen more combat than the entire royal guard together. The worst monsters only come out at night.”
“And the Moonlight Wardens?” Whenua continued.
“There are ten of them. Each one taken from the ranks of the Lunar Guard, and given specialist training. They are told secrets that are kept from the rest of Equestria, and sent on missions that in all likelihood, should result in their deaths, and yet, they always come back smiling.”
“So what’s his story?” Whenua asked, thumbing at Castelian. “He didn’t want to speak about himself when I asked him.”
“He has been a member of the Lunar Guard all his life. Joined as soon as he was old enough, and was asked to join the Wardens a year after that. He was the youngest member in the orders history, and arguably, one of the best. I read the files from when I was gone. They were kept underground by my sister for those thousand years, even more than they are now, sent on extreme clandestine missions. After seven years, he was in command of the Moonlight Wardens. A further three years, and he took over from the past captain of the Lunar Guard. He is the first pony since the time of Discord and the Nightmare to hold the rank of Lord Commander. In times of war, he can take command of the entire military, centralising command and making decisions that he deems necessary. Even Celestia and I would not be able countermand him if he took this course of action.”
“So, what about the current situation?” Whenua asked. “Does this…”
“…count as a war?” Luna finished for him. “That depends.”
“On what?”
“On what the leaders of the other nations decide on as a cause of action. If they believe that war is the cause of action to take, then their forces will be included in the joint military. Castelian, if he survives, will be placed in command. Personally, I think he would rather die on this mission to make it succeed, rather than survive and fail. I think the idea of taking command of everything terrifies him.”
“You’re damn right I’m afraid.” Castelian said, walking up on the other side of Whenua. “I signed up as a soldier. I was promoted to lead a squad, then the guard, but the thought of commanding millions of soldiers from the rear…” He trailed off.
“Let’s just make sure we don’t fail, and then you won’t have to worry about duty-taking.” Matau said, dropping back to the trio.
“Agreed.” Luna smiled. “If we complete our mission here, war will not be needed.”
“Let’s go then.” Castelian growled.
***
The army came to a halt outside of an unfortunately familiar building, deep within the Everfree Forest.
“This is the temple?” Luna asked, looking over the building. “It looks like a Marean temple.”
“That’s what Twilight said. Marean.” Nokama observed.” Who were they?”
“Ancient Equestrians, from before the time of Discord, even before the Windigoes. They were one of the first civilisations to rise in Equestria, making peace with the Romares that owned most of the world at that point. The Romares were warriors, and the Marean’s were builders of great skill.”
“Enough history-learning.” Matau growled. “We need to find Vakama and Twilight, and the only way we can do that is by searching in their again.”
“Agreed.” Nuju said, coming up next to his brother. “Signal the guard to move in.”
Turning on the spot, Matau and Nuju walked towards the steps of the temple, their brothers and sister joining them as they moved. Behind them, Castelian was barking orders, organising the guard into search parties, before sending them after the Toa, who were already halfway up the steps before the first ponies reached the first step.
By the time all the search parties had entered the temple, the Toa had already been inside for half an hour, searching the area that stretched from the mural to the entrance of the temple. Outside, yet more ponies searched the surrounding areas for any sort of clues.
After almost three hours, nopony inside the temple had had any success. The temple wasn’t just bare of evidence, it was bare of anything. Unicorns had scanned for anything they could, searching first for larger organisms, but finding nothing. On a hunch, one of them had searched for microscopic life. Once again, they found nothing. This was when the Toa and Luna knew that something was wrong. There should have been something, even if it was simply bacteria, but there was nothing. It was as if the temple had been swept clean of all life.
“This is bad.” Luna said nervously, addressing the Toa in the entrance way of the temple.
“In what way?” Nokama asked.
“When the Shadow Ponies walk, they leave dark magic in their wake. Nothing can survive after a march, not even microscopic life. That is what made them so deadly to Equestria. After the war, most of Equestria had been trodden on by Shadow Ponies. The effects didn’t fade for generations, and in that time, nothing could be grown. That is their true power. Not their ability to hide, not their ability to multiply quickly, but what comes after the assault.” Luna said, scowling at the memory.
“Then shouldn’t we be able to find the dead ground and follow it?” Onewa asked.
“Unfortunately not.” Luna frowned. “A trait is to be able to become one with my shadows. They can move freely if they choose, but they cannot attack, and they cannot pass through magic. That is all that allowed my sister to win the war, and what allowed Equestria to survive for so long, but then they can just fall back on numbers and swarm again.”
“So we have nothing?” Matau growled.
“My queen!” A guard shouted, rushing up the stairs, and revealing herself to be one of the few unicorns of the Lunar Guard. “Toa warriors.” He said quickly, catching sight of the five Toa and bowing deeply.
“What is it Lieutenant?” Luna asked, looking at the pony.
“Squad Alfalfa Saddle has reported a strange object in the forest. I ordered it not to be moved in case it damaged the object, or made us lose some other significance.” She reported.
“Show us.” Luna said urgently.
Instantly, the guard turned and ran out of the temple, cantering down the steps, as Luna and the Toa followed. Hitting the ground, they set off towards a group of ten ponies, skidding to a halt just next to them.
“Well?” Luna asked.
“This.” The lieutenant pointed, indicating a small object almost hidden completely in the grass.
“What is it?” Luna asked, looking at the object, before turning to the Toa.
“It…Vakama’s.” Matau said, bending down and picking up the small object. “It’s something he was working on. A mask or something. I think he planned on giving it to you as a cultural gift.”
“But if it is here…” Luna began.
“Then Vakama must have dropped it.” Nuju finished with a smile.
“They went this way then?” The Lieutenant asked.
“That is what it looks like.” Luna smiled, before raising her voice. “Castelian! Form them up and get them moving!”
Grinning, Luna looked at the Toa, who grinned back. With a silent nod, they set off at a run, sprinting into the undergrowth as the thunder of hooves signalled the Lunar Guard following suite.
***
The Toa and Luna skidded to a halt after running nonstop for twenty minutes, looking at a second building in the forests. This building had similarities to the first one, but was also different in many others. For starters, it was smaller than the first one, and was also lower, having the entrance on ground level.
“Do you suppose that Vakama and Twilight are in there?” Luna asked.
“Yes.” Nuju said, crouching down and looking at the dirt.
“I can’t see anything.” Nokama pointed out.
“The marks in the dirt.” He said, indicating a few scrapes in the dirt. “Something was dropped here, and was picked up, before the imprint was scrubbed out.”
“How do you know it wasn’t simply an animal covering its tracks?” Luna asked. “A manticore, or a hydra maybe.”
“Animals wouldn’t be this thorough. The dirt has been smoothed over and cleared for at least ten meters. Unless the object was that large, this was a sentient being, and it was over zealous in cleaning up after itself.”
“So it made more of a mess by trying to clean up?” Matau asked.
“Essentially, yes.” Nuju nodded, before standing up again. “They are here, or at least, they have been through here. We should search this building.”
“I agree.” Castelian nodded.
While Castelian turned to assemble the guard, Luna and the Toa walked towards the two massive doors that guarded the entrance to the building. They were easily as high as the building was, and was almost as wide, being large enough for fifty ponies to comfortably walk through shoulder to shoulder.
“How should we go about opening them?” Onewa asked.
“I could make a hole, but it wouldn’t be big.” Whenua said, drawing his weapons.
“Luna? What do you think?” Nokama asked. When she received no answer, she turned to face the Alicorn princess, only to find her with closed eyes and a faint glow around her horn. “Luna?”
“Move back.” She growled softly.
The Toa looked at each other uneasily for a moment, before they moved slowly behind Luna, watching as she prepared for whatever she was about to do.
Luna grunted once, before her eyes went wide, and she threw her head back, her horn glowing brighter than the sun, and being shrouded a silvery light. Instantly, the doors were surrounded in the same silvery light, and with a screech of stone on stone, the doors began to slide open, swinging outwards towards the Toa and the Lunar Guard.
Groaning from the effort of the spell, Luna turned and smiled weakly at the Toa.
“The door, is open.” She said softly.
“That was impressive.” Whenua smiled.
“One of the benefits of being an Alicorn.” She smiled, before turning back to look inside the building.
All that was within the building was a deep hole, a steep staircase leading down, the dim light of the moon not reaching all the way down to the bottom, which was shrouded in shadows.
“Are we going down there?” Onewa asked.
“Could Vakama or Twilight be there?” Matau asked.
“It is possible.” Nuju nodded.
“Then of course we’re going down there.” Matau growled, before walking towards the temple, placing his foot on the first step, before beginning his descent into the darkness.
Without a word, the Toa followed, followed swiftly by the Lunar Guard.
***
Eventually, after walking through an area where even Whenua’s mask had trouble lighting, the six Toa reached the bottom of the staircase, and emerged into a dark, cavernous room. In short order, the guard began to reach the bottom of the stairs as well, and the Toa moved forwards to allow them to fit in to the room. Luna walked up to stand in line with the five Toa, their sigils glinting softly in the dim light cast by the torches secured to the wall. Behind them, the Moonlight Wardens formed up, as Castelian approached Luna.
Looking around, Nokama took in every aspect of the room. It was massive, that much was instantly obvious by the fact that the entire Lunar Guard was within it, and they did not even occupy a quarter of it. All around the room were large doors, all of which were barred shut, and Nokama briefly wondered where they lead.
“I have a bad feeling about this.” Castelian said, shifting his weight from one set of hooves to another, though whether this was due to nerves or anticipation was unclear.
“And why would you say that?” A voice echoed around the room. It was a deep, female voice, punctuated by an undertone that no one present could quite make sense of.
“Who’s there?” Nokama asked, nervously reaching for her weapons.
“Oh Nokama. So swift to forget?” A new voice continued, this one being male, and holding a different undertone, one that sounded like immense sorrow. It was one of the saddest sounds Luna had ever heard, and she nervously tightened her magical grip on her sword hilts. “We’ve met before, you and I.”
“Makuta?” Matau snarled, clenching his hands into tight fists.
“No.” The male voice said, and suddenly, the torches at the end of the room that had previously been empty sprang to life, flames flickering within the sconces, revealing the outlines of two figures at the end of the room, one biped, and one pony.
“Vakama?” Matau shouted.
“Twilight?” Luna shouted in unison.
The pair began to move forward, but were restrained by Nokama and Castelian respectively.
“Something isn’t right.” Nokama said.
“Agreed.” Castelian nodded.
“Well look who has the brains after all.” The female voice spoke, as the pony figure began to move forward.
“Not Matau.” The male voice sneered, as the biped followed the pony.
The pair continued to walk forward, their features remaining hidden, until suddenly, they stepped into a pool of light being cast by one of the torches.
The Toa, Luna, and the entire Lunar Guard gasped in shock, and a tiny part of fear, as the two figures revealed themselves properly.
The first, the pony, had mottled, near grey, purple fur, divided into small patches by large scars and cracks that slowly oozed blood. Every time she moved, the cracks that managed to healer-opened, spilling out more trickles of blood. On her body rested tattered looking black armour, and a helmet rested upon her head, covering her mane, but somehow managing to accentuate her eyes. Her glowing, green eyes.
The other figure on the other hand, was the complete opposite. While the pony looked like she was in pain just from the act of moving, she was still clearly a Unicorn. The biped on the other hand, was clearly a Toa, but he didn’t look anything like the Vakama that Luna or the others remembered. His chest was near identical to how it looked before, the only difference being a vicious looking burn mark right in the centre of it. That was where the similarities ended however.
His legs were no longer facing the right way, and it looked like a child had simply twisted it round at the waist, resulting in back hinged legs that were as dark as the shadows that seemed to flow around it. On one of its arms, it sported a large pincer type thing, and Luna could see a small flame flickering within it, while the other arm ended in a tightly clenched fist. The worst part however, was his mask. The once clean and pristine face had been warped and twisted on the right side, as if it had been held in a fire for too long, while the other side, looked like the mask of a Hordika. A grimace was fixed upon the mask, while the eyes set deep within were flicking from Toa to Toa to Alicorn to Bat-Pony.
“V-Vakama?” Luna asked, taking a tentative step forward. “Twilight?”
“They’re not here anymore.” The creature that was once Twilight snarled.
“We’ve been expecting you though.” The not-Vakama chuckled darkly. “The guard are an added bonus.”
“We’re here to save you brother.” Matau said, pushing past Luna and running towards the two figures, aiming to grab hold of Vakama and drag him back to the others.
“How can you save us, when you can’t even save yourself?” Twilight asked, a menacing tone slipping into her pain wracked voice.
Just before Matau reached Vakama, he realised his mistake. These two weren’t just physically changed, their minds had been altered as well.
As this thought went through his head, Vakama twisted on one foot, bringing his other foot right up into Matau’s chest, and sending him skidding back across the floor towards the others.
“Now.” Twilight growled, lowering her body to the floor.
As soon as she uttered that one word, a massive slab of stone crashed down behind the ranks of Lunar Guard, blocking off the stairs to the surface, and their means of escape.
At the same time, the bars that had previously been holding the doors around the room closed slid back into moorings on the wall, and the doors swung open with ominous creaks.
Although Luna could not see anything beyond the doors, she could feel something. It was something she had not felt for one thousand years, and she had hoped not to feel it for another thousand years from now.
The not-Vakama creature dropped to all fours and raised its head to the high ceiling, before opening its mouth, and roaring. It was a deep, primal roar, and slowly, it was taken up by thousands of other throats.
Luna suddenly realised exactly how much trouble she and her guard had walked into, as thousands of Shadow Ponies poured into the room, and charged straight at the ranks of Lunar Guard, the Toa, and Luna.
Finishing his roar, Vakama sprinted forward, being joined by Twilight, who had drawn or conjured a long scythe. The pair ran, over taking the Shadow Ponies, their eyes fixed on the ponies in front of them.
Luna barely had time to draw her weapons, before the wave of Shadow Ponies washed over her, crashing into the guard behind, as battle was joined all across the room.