Malevolence

by Caffeine Junkie

(Prologue) The Filly and the Moon

It was such a beautiful night. The stars were spread all over the heaven’s tent and a gentle breeze blew through my mane. It was a warm summer’s day and I remember lying in the grass watching all those tiny dots in the sky. Oh I could have watched them for hours if it wasn’t for the night’s true queen, the moon. The way how she illuminated the sky was a magnificent sight. It looked as if she embraced every pony under the sky with her warm and gentle light. Princess Celestia really outdid herself, creating such a beautiful night I thought to myself.

While I was sitting near the lake, enjoying the night my father trained his successor in the arts of magic. However, their kind of magic held no interest for me. Sometimes they managed to light up the night in brilliant colours while fighting. The true beauty of that was probably wasted to anyone but me. Usually after the two of them were done with training they took a seat beside me gazing at the stars.

Once the house of Lulamoon used to be respected, it used to be great but those times were gone forever. They faded away when the second princess, our princess, had been banished to the moon. Still, my lineage passed down all their knowledge from generation to generation in the hope to stand proud by her side when she finally returns. Reclaiming our place at her court and restoring house Lulamoon to former glory had become our only incentive for centuries. The court of the night, oh how I enjoyed those tales of glory my father used to tell.

For a while all three of us sat there together, watching the night sky. However the way each of us looked at the heaven’s tent couldn’t have differed more. I watched it in awe, father looked at it in woe and the successor gazed at it pleadingly.

We always tried to avoid talking about the beautiful night sky. Father used to say that Celestia’s nights lacked love and couldn’t even phantom the glory of the nights of old, the nights of our princess. How could he even know? He didn’t live back then. According to father half of the moon wasn’t covered in the image of a dark unicorn back in the days as well. If that was true wouldn’t that mean that the moon was a giant ball of white light illuminating the night even more?

Oh, I would have really given anything just to see the moon restored to her former glory. I raised my hoof into the sky trying to touch the moon but failed. Father chuckled into his beard when he saw my little silhouette reach out for something that wasn’t meant to be touched. I gave him a quick glare and stared deep into the dark waters, which reflected the sky.

Being nothing more than a filly I sighed and took a good look at the moon on the water. I knew it wasn’t really there. I tried to touch it multiple times when I was younger and it never worked but now that I was six I knew how it worked. The moon tried to tease ponies by flinching away exactly at the moment when sompeony wanted to touch her. Well, I guess she also needs some fun, just like we ponies do.

This time however I had a great idea. Why didn’t I think about it before? I simply had to raise the moon out of the water with my horn. I tried to put as much magic as possible into my tiny horn. I already heard father and the successor chuckling behind my back but I didn’t care. I knew I could do it if I just concentrated hard enough. Sweat started to pour down my body and my horn began to glow in a subtle pink. I caught the image of the moon with my inner eye and tried to raise it.

As I watched something emerging from the dark pool of water my eyes grew wider and so did the smile on my face. I went on and on, noticing that the laughter behind my back had already ceased. The moon rose further and further and my body started to ache more and more. Finally when I lifted a little moon, nearly as big as the small lake itself a few inches above the water’s surface I realised something. This moon…it was pure white. Di-did I just find the real moon hiding in the lake?

When I felt that my power couldn’t sustain my magic any longer I was sad to see that the moon slowly faded on the spot where I left it. Looking at my father and the successor I told them with tearful eyes that I was sorry that I couldn’t lift the real moon up to the sky were it rightfully belonged.

Father went up to me gave me a hug and told me that I made an old man really happy today. I didn’t understand what he was talking about. I failed to bring the moon back so why was he so happy. My eyes wandered to the successor who looked at me angrily. Well, I could understand his reaction. He must be very disappointed in me and he was right. If I just had been a little stronger…

Father then told me that there was no reason to be sad and I should celebrate instead. When I asked him why he only gave me a wink and pointed at my flank. I-I got a c-cutie mark? B-but why? Didn’t I fail? Looking at it I was kind of proud but also disappointed. There was a blue crescent moon crossed with a wand. When I asked father what my cutie mark meant he replied with a big grin that it was a cutie mark related to powerful magic. There I was, little Trixie, happily jumping around the lake for getting her cutie mark.

After my happiness slowly faded I asked my father why I failed restoring the moon. He only chuckled once again and said that it wasn’t the moon that I raised but it’s image that I projected on the night sky. Everything seemed perfect, the shadow, the fluid movement but all of it was just how I wanted it to look like. Father praised me for what I did was rather complicated even for a grown up unicorn.

So, I would be a powerful unicorn in the future. The thought filled me with happiness and I wanted to share my happiness with the successor but he only looked at me in disgust. I didn’t understand what I did wrong and asked father. He put up a sad expression and told me that he was jealous because thanks to my power I would be the successor instead of him now.

I didn’t like that. I never wanted to hurt the other pony. I didn’t even want to be successor of house Lulamoon. However, father smiled at me and said the old successor would forgive me soon and everything would turn out fine. He was wrong…