//------------------------------//
// Chapter 1: A Royal Audience 
// Story: H.P. Hoofcraft: Shadow Of The Sun 
// by Inkwell_the_writer_horse 
//------------------------------//

As I followed the Princess into her den, the doors silently closed behind me, whether this was the will of the wind or the aid the Princess’ magic remains a mystery to me. She pulled the hood from her head and walked over to a table, on which where many maps and scrolls, the crispy, yellow paper unfurled on the table and held down by assorted mugs, rocks and other paperweights. Princess Luna placed her fore hooves onto the table.  She spoke under her breath.

“I have requested your presence here because I believe that your knowledge of the occult may be vital in solving the latest crisis to grace the kingdom.”

I stepped closer, the mere mention of a crisis requiring knowledge of the occult simultaneously exciting me and filling me with dread. I halted the slight grin that began to curl from my lips and my face contorted to an expression of unease. 

As the princess’ horn was engulfed by a glowing aura of  blue magic, a large, leather bound book floated into view, engulfed by the same magical aura. The book was quickly place onto the table and flipped open, the front of the book connecting with the parchment beneath it with a dull thud. The princess quickly flipped through the pages of the book before stopping  on a page on which one could see a large symbol, and several paragraphs of text on the opposite page. 

The symbol was familiar, it was the royal sun, but it seemed different, wrong, some may even say unnatural. It was the royal sun, there was no doubt about that, but instead of yellow, the symbol was a dark green or black. I attempted to rationalize it, the book was clearly ancient, perhaps yellow ink was a concept the creators of this book were ignorant of. I then realised the colour wasn’t what disturbed  me about the image. The lines radiating off of the sun were not normal, they appeared skinnier, slimier, more tendril like. I creeped closer to discover that the inner circle of the insignia bore words. 

“Nog ron shagg”

Shocked, I quietly whispered to myself. The princess quickly moved her head up from the book, staring into my eyes. 

“You know these words? What do they mean?”

I stumbled back, fear overtaking me. The royal boom in the Princess’ voice had returned. I stuttered, choking on my own words. 

“It’s a dead language of mysterious origin. The same language has been found carved into ancient stones found in the ocean and lakes within the Everfree.”

I finally manage to spit out an explanation and I see concern form on Princess Luna’s face. She begins to tell me a story. Long before the reign of the royal sisters, three pony tribes had divided the land amongst themselves, occasionally warring over the territory now known as Equestria. During a particularly fierce war between the pegasi and the earth ponies, a small group of earth ponies believed that the continued conflict between the two tribes would result in the extinction of the earth pony race, and thus, they left. It was said that the followers of North Star, as they would come to be known, North Star being their leader, disappeared deep in the mountains. The earth pony tribe soon developed many myths and legends around the legend of North Star, who led a small army of stallions, mares and foals to their death, or to paradise, depending on who you ask. 

The official royal records indicate that an emissary from the small colony arrived at the newly constructed Canterlot, and death followed him. Though his name was lost to the ages, he is remembered as the herald of chaos, as on the very same day he arrived, the age of chaos began, the age when Discord, the spirit of chaos ruled the land of Equestria. Princess Luna spoke of the colony as if it truly where a myth, until she began to talk about Book Case. Several moons ago, she told me, an earth pony travelled from far north, seemingly without rest or nourishment. He had walked from beyond the eyes of the royal sisters. From deep into the unknown, he emerged, battered and broken. He is still being treated at Canterlot royal hospital, Princess Luna informed  me that he was under special protection there. She told me to go to him, and I did. 

I am escorted to the Canterlot royal hospital by the same stallion who had come to my home in Ponyville. He leads me to a small room guarded by two large stallions in golden royal guard armour. I enter the room to find another stallion. His coat was dirty, his light grey hair almost blackened by countless specs of dirt. His mane, ruffled and matted with the same specs of dirt adorning his body. He moved without grace, constantly twitching and darting his head in multiple directions. He looked at me, gritting his teeth and slowly creeping backwards. I looked into his eyes, yellowed and bloodshot, with deep bags hanging beneath them. I spotted a clipboard at the foot of the bed in the center of the room. I slowly walked over to it, keeping a close eye on the twitching stallion who had backed himself into a corner. I took up the clipboard in one hoof and began to read it, adjusting my large, thick, circular spectacles on my muzzle. Severe schizophrenia, vivid hallucinations, voices, the symptoms wouldn’t have been hard to gather from his physical appearance, though I would have expected a certain degree of malnourishment to be present on the clipboard. I placed the clipboard back on the bed and began to walk closer to the patient.

“Book Case, I presume?”

I attempted to lower my voice to sound as soft as possible, warm and motherly. He lifted his head to see me, and then nodded . He began to stand, more naturally, though still shaky and twitchy. He told me that the voices told him to expect me. I asked him what voices, and my worst fears were confirmed.

“They call themselves… The old ones.”

I swallowed my fear and asked him where he came from.

“Far north, there’s a mountain range. It’s tall and circular, but in the center, my ancestors formed a settlement, a paradise, pure and clean. A land where only earth ponies tread. It was beautiful, ma’am.”

Then it was true, the legend of North Star was more than a myth. He spoke highly of the colony, but why would he leave? I asked him and he told me. He was branded a heretic, why he was branded as such, he wouldn’t tell me. I asked that he accompany me to meet Princess Luna and he obliged. Though the doctors were opposed to releasing Book Case, they were unwilling to argue with somepony who had a royal escort.

We swiftly arrive at the front gates of Canterlot palace, where a group of royal guards lead us to a small room, far to the back of the palace. The room didn’t share the same regality as the rest of the palace, or the intimacy of Princess Lunas den. Two of the guards stand by the doors as I entered the room, closely followed by Book Case. We met Princess Luna in the small room. The princess was conversing with three other ponies, an aquamarine unicorn, her face, widely spread into a smile, a swift contrast with the light apple greenish gray earth pony, putting her hoof to her face beside the unicorn. I notice the third pony in the corner, a creature shrouded in a brown cloak, with two, yellow, glowing ovals, peering out from behind it. 

The Princess turns her gaze towards me and Book Case, behind me. She introduces us to the unicorn and her partner, an anthropologist and her assistant, Lyra Heartstrings and Bon Bon respectively. I share a hoof shake and a pleasant greeting with the two ponies before my gaze returns to the shrouded creature in the corner. Princess Luna notices my wandering gaze and steps to my side, before calling out to the creature with her characteristic booming regality.

“Breeze, you may unshroud yourself.”

With hesitation, the creature raises a hoof to it’s shoulder, lightly yanking the brown cloak wrapped around its body. The cloak fell to the floor, and rested at the hooves of the creature. 
The creature beneath the cloak intrigues me, a mostly normal looking pony, whose bat like wings evoke the night gaunts from the nightmares of my youth. 

Princess Luna informs me that the creature is a bat pony, a subset of the pegasi whose origins remain shrouded in mystery. She also informs me that the bat pony was named Night Breeze. I shake Night Breeze’s hoof and turn to the Princess.

“Your majesty, may I inquire as to the relevance of these ponies to the issues we were discussing earlier?”

She nods.

“You may. I feel that this team would prove to be a useful asset in this investigation. Though Ms. Heartstrings is a noted anthropologist, she and her partner have had experience with the occult and supernatural phenomena. And as for Night Breeze, I don’t think I need to tell you that a creature such as a bat pony would be useful in this situation, especially considering that she is my right hand mare, I would like there to be some form of royal presence on this expedition.” 

I nod and the same royal agent from earlier enters the room.

“Eclipse will show you to your room. You don’t mind staying the night do you?”

I shake my head, forgetting my life in ponyville for an opportunity at a single adventure. The princess nods.

“Good.”

The agent I now know as Eclipse leads my to my room with nary a single word. He opens my door and waves me in, closing it behind me. Though I bristle with excitement, I sleep easy, dreams of old gods and the unknown dancing through my eased mind.