//------------------------------// // Prologue: "Is someone there?" // Story: Kingdom of the Moon // by PheonixCircle //------------------------------// Luna stood in her room, staring at the altar in front of her. Her room looked exactly the way it was in the old residence of her sister and herself. The bed was apparently brought over. The cushions and mattress were new, but the carvings she made as a young filly were in the wooden frame of the bed. Beside the dark blue bed were two blue bookshelves containing now-ancient manuscripts she read in the past and had held dear over all the time she had been banished to the moon. But the most important object was still the altar she intensely looked at. The ancient stone basin contained immensely old and powerful magic. After a thousand years the magic has grown weak, but it only needed a spark to reignite it once more. Solely the fear to learn a horrible truth let Luna hesitate, but in the end curiosity was stronger. The dark blue alicorn activated her horn, targeted the basin, and shot the spark. The blue flame lit again, emitting cold light after a millennium of rest. Luna smiled, but only for a moment. She knew it wasn't over yet. 'Come on Luna, just a small step to go now' she thought. The letter she had prepared, which was resting on a new desk on her left side, floated towards the basin. It rested in the air before it finally went into the flame. The letter vanished in the flames as it did in the past: seemingly melting into nothingness. Now all Luna needed to do was to wait for a reply. She left the room through the huge door containing a carving of her banishment. Her sister promised to change the carving into the same she had; two alicorns, standing face to face, the sun above one, the moon over the other. A symbol of cooperative reign. Luna turned around, looking at the strange flame before closing the door behind her. ---------------------------------------------------- Priestess Moonprayer XV was bowing in front of an ancient basin glowing with a blue flame. The flame had been burning for many generations of priestesses. The unicorn was praying towards the rising moon in hopes for a sign of guidance. Terrible things had occurred, many of them in the past few years. As Moonprayer looked up a strange piece of paper was thrown out of the flame. She caught it in a levitation spell before it touched the ground. As long as the source of the object was unknown, it was not supposed to touch anything. Moonprayer opened the letter and read through it. Her eyes widened. Her prayers had finally been answered. She ran to her grandmother, Moonprayer XIII. The elder would certainly know what to do. ----------------------------------------------------- The letter contained following message: Dear Priestess I hope that everything is all right in the north. How are the settlements? Did you do what I have told you? Are there any problems? Also, I have to excuse myself. I couldn't answer you for a very long time. This is because I turned into a monster: Nightmare Moon, the darkness within me. She had taken over, and got us both banished to the moon. My sister was powerless, and couldn't do anything to help me, which she regretted until I returned. I trust you with this information but must ask you to keep it hidden from the others to prevent a possible panic. Now that I am back, I will be here again for you. If you need any help, I will come and support you. Your rightful ruler and humble servant Luna ----------------------------------------------------- It wasn't until after the sun had risen that Luna had time to return to her room. She was the guardian of dreams after all, and she was proud that she did her job to a certain extent even when she was Nightmare Moon. At first she didn't notice the paper lying on the floor in front of the basin. Only when she stood on it and heard the paper crumple did she pick it up with a levitation spell. The seal was unmistakably the sign of the priestess she had assigned as the messenger between her and the people. She wasn't so sure that she wanted to do it this way, but it wasn't important any more. She had finally received an answer, but the situation was worse than she could ever imagine. Your majesty, I have dire news. We did as we were told, settling in the four locations you assigned us to, keeping silent until you wrote again, and everything else. I now know the extent of your planning, oh Great One. The thousand years banishment was all in your plan, and even if the settlements could sustain themselves, there is only one left that is still loyal towards you. Icewind, the castle city in the northern province of your realm, has decided to be an independent kingdom. While they still accept you as a goddess, they began to deny your right to rule over them, and the noblest of lords became their king. They left us alone, aiding in times of need, but the diplomatic relationship deteriorated more and more, not accepting our view on political matters. Flankrium, the city in the southern province, has also parted from your rule, but they decided that the only rule applied to people should be by the people. They also neglected you as a deity, and stopped acknowledging you all together. They even tried to take over Icewind and our village, but Icewind was too strong and our village inaccessible to them. But the worst fate was in the village in the eastern province, Osttor. It was taken over by some strange creatures, looking like a mixture of ponies and insects. Nothing is known about them, only that they are extremely sneaky and that they have taken an interest in the south. I believe they want to take over Equestria, but this is only a theory. Westbrucke, the village I live in, still sees you as the rightful ruler, but there are only a few left. We need your help to unify what is left of us. The prosperous south and the strong north, the hopeful west and the sick east, under your rule, we might grow in strength again. I hope that you are as loyal to us as we are to you. These are the words of Moonprayer XIII, elder of Westbrucke Your most humble servant and messenger Priestess Moonprayer XV Luna was astonished by the fact that only one settlement was lost, and that none were willingly abandoned. But she was also sad to hear about the splitting of the settlements, especially that Flankrium turned against the other two and that Icewind was close to do so, too. For the dark-blue alicorn, it was clear that she had to help. Luckily, there was another purpose for the basin on the altar. She put both her hooves onto the basin and concentrated on the feeling of the other in Westbrucke. She felt her body torn from its place and vanished from her room. When she opened her eyes a white unicorn looked at her, the unicorn's eyes as large as dinner plates. "I came as you wished" Luna said. The unicorn nodded before she fainted . Luna smiled, put the unicorn on a cushion nearby, and left the building. She took a deep breath. The ponies around her gazed at her as if they had never seen an alicorn. Luna, after a millennium, had finally returned to her people, and set up a meeting at the town hall. She wanted to explain everything, but before she went she told a pony to get a doctor to look after the white unicorn. The stallion nodded and did as ask of him while everyone else started to go to the town hall and awaited the speech of their long lost ruler.