I came up to the library and just as Twilight told me, there were two guards waiting to take me away back to the princess. I went inside the library, packed up my clothes and got ready for the flight back. It didn't seem to take long, I guess my mind was too clouded by all the thoughts that rushed around in my head and seemed to be without end. When we finally arrived at the castle I didn't wait for an invitation to go inside. I pushed open the door to the throne room and walked up to the foot of Celestia's throne.
"Well hello, Alex. Its good to see you again. How was your time in Ponyville?" Celestia asked.
"It was fine, I completed all the tasks you asked me to do, Twilight told me to come back here after I was done, something about you wanting to see me or something. What would you have me do?" I asked.
"Yes, there I somebody I would like you to meet. This is my sister Luna." she said motioning over to a door at the side of the room.
I looked over to see the doors open and reveal a beautiful mare. She had a sparkling bluish mane and tail with a dark crown on her head. She had a long horn and beautiful blue wings. She looked over at me as she walked to her sister's side. It was a similar look that Rarity gave me in her boutique. It was a sparkle. If only for a second or two.
"Hello, Alex. I am Princess Luna. It is a pleasure to meet you." she said in a very formal voice.
Then something strange happened. My body felt heavy and my chest felt like it was in a knot. I fell down on one knee and bowed my head.
"The pleasure is all mine, Princess Luna." I replied in a voice did not seem like my own.
I stood back up and saw that Luna was blushing. I saw the sparkle again. Celestia looked over at her sister and I felt a strange aura around her. One of regret or something.
"Um, well, now that you two have met, Alex, I have a task for you. I wish for you and my sister to return to Ponyville. There you will find the Everfree forest. In the forest you will find some ruins. Search through them and bring back anything of interest." she said.
I told her to consider it done. Luna walked down from the throne and joined me in front of the castle. We both boarded the carriage driven by two guards. We took off, and in a matter of minuets we were back in Ponyville. The guards dropped us off the both of us walked towards a path that was the way to Everfree forest. The forest was dark and menacing.
"Do not worry, Alex. It's just a forest, nothing to fear." Luna said in a voice that said otherwise.
We both moved forward. Even though it was during the day the forest seemed dark. We walked past many fallen and broken trees and Luna seemed to jump at every little noise. A few times Luna would walk a little closer to me and blush. A few times we were almost touching each other. We came across a rope bridge that seemed very unsteady, in the distance I saw the ruined towers of the ancient castle. Luna was just about to begin to walk across the bridge when I stopped her.
" I should go first princess, you fly over to the other side and wait for me." I told her.
"Okay." she replied in a worry filled voice.
Luna spread her wings and flew to the other side. I moved forward and began to walk across the bridge. It was actually a lot more stable then I thought. A few times it creaked and Luna seemed to flinch with every creak. I made it across and as soon as I got off the bridge, it snapped and fell down.
"Well, that was interesting. Good thing I wasn't on there." I said.
"Yes, it was a good thing too." Luna replied awkwardly.
We both looked forward and saw the ruins. We both moved forward at the same time and entered through two old doors. I looked around and found out it was a giant ballroom. It was now in ruins but I could tell it once held a great amount of beauty. I told Luna to wait here, was going to look around. She refused to let me go on my own. I told her she could follow if she wanted. We began to walk the corridors. Everything seemed to be normal, just an old castle. Then we found something, off. It was a door. A hatch to be closer. On the door was written a word in a language I was not familiar with.
"It says Aroc." Luna said.
"What is Aroc?" I asked.
Luna then told me the story. Apparently there had been a being named Aroc and he wished to rule the world. The celestial beings had stopped him and had defeated him. I knew this was creepy. But something was making me want to open that door. I reached down and pulled. The hatch opened with no resistance. I told Luna to stay point. She said she wouldn't. I told her I didn't care. I told her that nobody knew what was down there and that I could not risk her life. With that, I climbed down a latter into darkness, but this wasn't nighttime darkness. This was pitch darkness. The kind of dark you see in your worst dreams. The kind of dark that is as dark as it gets. I got to the bottom of the floor and looked around. I was in a tunnel. At the end a light cut through the darkness like a blade. I moved towards it. I entered a small room. In the center was a pillar. A part of the pillar had been cut out and in the center, was a ring. I mean a normal ring. Like a wedding ring. It was silver and had a strange symbol etched into it. It is hard to describe. It seemed like it was a crown like shape with flames coming out of it. I reached for the ring and grabbed it. At first nothing happened. Then the ring seemed to come alive. And it showed me things. Horrible things. Death and destruction of an unimaginable scale. Then I was zapped back into reality. Luna was calling to me. Asking me if I was okay. I told her I was fine and that I was coming up. I tried to put the ring on my ring finger but it would not fit. I tried my middle finger and it fit perfectly. Then something crawled up my arm. It was coming from the ring. Power coursed through my veins. My eyes widened and then I could see. I don't know how but I could see through the darkness. I took the ring off and it returned back to the awful black darkness. I moved back to the ladder and climbed up. Luna asked me if I found anything. I told her what I found and what I saw. She had a worried expression on her face. I showed her the ring and I said we should bring it back with us.
"Are you insane? After what that thing showed you you want to keep it?!" she asked. She was getting hysterical.
"Yes, I am. Our orders were to investigate and bring back anything of interest. She agreed. I put the ring in the pocket of my jeans. I stood up and before I knew it I was back on the ground. Luna was on top of me and was holding me down.
"Whats wrong with you? Let me up!" I told her.
"I just want you to know something, Alex. I don't want anything bad to happen to you. I don't know why but it seems like if I lost you I could not live with myself. The minuet I saw you I felt a spark. I don't know what it means but all I know is that our lives are intertwined." she said. She was starting to blush again.
"Its okay, Luna. Nothing is going to happen." I told her.
Then something happened. She leaned forward, closed her eyes, and kissed me. It was just a small one on the lips but I could tell she wanted it to mean more than that. She backed off of me and apologized, she said her actions were not lady like. I told her it was fine. We both walked out of the castle. Luna helped me across the place where the bridge had broke. We walked out of the forest and back to where the guards had left us. Soon after they returned and picked us up. We traveled back to the castle. We both walked into the throne room and were greeted my Celestia.
"Well, how did it go? Did you find anything interesting?" she asked.
"Yes, we did." I told her.