//------------------------------// // -Signed, with Love and Faith, Luke Lustrous // Story: A Letter from the Past // by The P Co //------------------------------// Luna's horn was flared up in magic, levitating her crown onto her head, necklace onto her neck, and shoes onto her hooves. A princess had to look royal in order to garner respect and compliance from her subjects, Celestia had told her when they were young. She heard something, the strange hissing sound, like the sound of the leaves of several trees that were rustling simultaneously. Looking out the open window, she found that a small cloud had entered the room, coalescing into a strange tubular shape. Finally, the mist formed into a black scroll, carefully wrapped in a blue ribbon with a silver seal depicting a sword and shield. The blue alicorn looked at the scroll, then to the window, then back to the scroll, it was still there and it was still a scroll. "Odd, I wonder who messaged me, and with such an odd setup," she pondered as her horn lit up again, levitating the scroll up, unbinding it, and watching it unfurl. It was written in silver ink to contrast the black parchment, it was a letter addressed to her. Dearest Goddess Luna Nightstone, I write you this letter in the hopes that one day, you may receive and read it. You have chosen me to receive power over your domains of divine might, and that has made me live extensively in years of my already normally extensive life, as a Paladin to your serene beauty. My body may be tested, but I am faithful beyond death, that has been my motto for all of the years of my Knighthood. The hands that once held a sword of power and a shield of courage, now hold a pen of wisdom and a parchment of thoughts. Unfortunately, time shall do unto me what no enemy could, it shall soon kill me, and I will see you soon, in the heavens. Blood so silver Still silver by night Only death will~ Stop my fight -Signed, with great love and eternal faith. Saint Luke Lustrous the Evanescent, Paladin of Luna Nightstone, Goddess of the Night, amongst many things. Circa: the 397th year of EI 24 Located: X=630, Y=250, Z=1000 "I... I don't understand what this means," Luna said in minor shock. Why had she received this letter? What was the point of this? What did this pony mean by '397th year of EI 24'? What are hands? These coordinates made sense to her, she knew the global mapping system, and tonight's schedule was free of diplomats, courts, meetings, and other princessly duties, so why not travel to this place and find out who wrote the letter? Extending her wings out fully, she took off into the night sky, flying quickly towards her destination. -Some time later- Luna was quickly approaching the coordinates, she was less than a mile away when she found a mountain was placed right where the coordinates led to. "Well then, I suppose this stallion made a cave complex his base of operations," she deduced with hope, "I hope he has not already passed away, I truly do want to meet him." Landing on an outcropping in front of a cave entrance, she looked around for any signs of activity. Nothing, maybe this guy was living alone? The lunar diarch entered the cave, casting a simple illumination spell to show the way. The spell immediately fizzled out, however she could still see in the dark, a rotted wooden plaque of ebony wood came into vision. This place is for those who have Dark Sight only, all others please stumble out of here or feel my wrath. - Saint Luke Lustrous Luna could see in the dark, so she continued further into the cave. About fifty feet in, there was a right turn, then another right turn followed by a long staircase down, then a third right turn. She came out into a massive underground chamber, the whole thing was beautiful. A massive circle in the middle, carved and stained to look like the image of the Moon, surrounding it was several ebony bookshelves, each of them half-filled with books, scrolls, tomes, pamphlets, manuals, and a few magazines. A large section of wall had been made flat and dedicated to dozens of posters, possibly this person's allies, each depicting a different bipedal being. Name: Yolo Swaggins, half kender half hobbit, Rogue, died at Level 5. Name: Talthos, god of cats, Druid, died at Level 9 Name: Rya Huyubasu, human, Ninja (Rogue), died at Level 13. Name: Hitoroki Batosi, human, Warrior/Assassin, died at level 6 Name: David, goliath, Druid, died at Level 7 Luna cringed at this next one, if whatever these things were aged like ponies, then this next being could be no older than nine. Name: Drzz'l, dark elf, Gunslinger, died at Level 3 Several names later, she found a platinum-framed painting of another female, "This one looks familiar..." Luna pondered, looking at the name. Her face fell. Name: Tara Sparkle, earth elf, Mage, died at Level 9 I failed you, Tara, I'm sorry. "Oh my, how did this happen? None of these images tell me the method of their death, and this one is special, it looks a lot like young Twilight." Luna looked around, finding a desk sitting up against another section of wall. She moved over to it and found a strange device emitting an arc of lightning that let off a bright lavender-blue glow, "Odd, I know for certain that lightning doesn't work that way, even magical lightning requires more energy than can be stored in such a small device," she looked right again, there was the doorway, it seemed that the whole room was lit with this strange devices. "I need to get back to the task at hoof, Luke Lustrous! SAINT LUKE LUSTROUS!" the blue alicorn called out, her voice echoing in the chamber. The princess of the night found something that had somehow evaded her vision before now. A massive statue, about fourteen hooves tall, made of basalt, steel, silver, and cloth. It was a massive bipedal figure, one hand held a massive sword, the blade alone was about twelve hooves long, the other hand held a large, about six hooves tall, shield. The only thing that told her that this was only a statue was the fact that it showed no signs of life. The shield was knight-style, a diamond shape with a flattened top, the rim was black and the body was dark blue, the body was adorned with a metal symbol of the moon that was completely accurate down to every last crater, a large star was positioned above the moon, and three new moons were in an arc going from the left side to the star, another arc on the right was made of full moons. Luna felt a special connection with the shield, almost like it was part of herself. The stand of the statue had a silver plaque attached to it, the words it held made Luna's blood run cold. Here stands: Saint Luke Lustrous the Evanescent, Paladin of Luna Nightstone Level 20 Honor Guard (Knight), Level 20 Papalia de Clerico (Cleric) An unstoppable man of honor, valor, respect, and wrath, commander of many, hater of few, carer for many, lover of one. "The world may run on magic, but it is dominated by strength," - Luke Lustrous, warning his allies to be cautious with their HP. "This sounds almost like a video game or something, when did h-" Luna's breath hitched when she saw the final line. Born: 100 EI-24, Died: 400 EI-24 "He lived for three hundred years? How does one do that?" her mind was reeling from all of this information. She was in a tomb carved into a mountain in the great north, reading the statue plaque of a Knight who was dedicated to her, and who lived for three hundred years in some weird time period. Then the reality of the reason she was here hit her. "I received a letter from a dead man," Luna realized, looking up at the large statue, "And his grave is a statue standing right in front of me." The statue didn't say anything in response, because it was a fucking statue.