//------------------------------// // The Lunar Quest // Story: Seeing Monsters // by Hopefullygoodgrammar //------------------------------// Princess Luna, co-ruler of Equestria and Sovereign of the Night, sat on the balcony that overlooked the sprawling royal gardens and her vast, beautiful night. Ordinarily, this sight would have soothed all of the frustrations that the day had brought and made her feel content and happy. But not this night. On this night Luna’s bones felt leaden and cold, her head and the base of her horn ached. She gazed up at the myriad of glittering stars and felt their chilling presence from across the universe; it was a rare thing indeed when Luna felt ill at ease with her own stars. But tonight her mind was a whirlwind of dark thoughts. During the last three days her court had been flooded by ponies who came from small towns and cities on the outskirts of Equestria itself, all of whom were claiming to have heard odd sounds or see odd things in the dark of night. On top of that, Hoofington and Trottingham had been reporting disappearances, mostly involving foals or the homeless. And then there was the Effigy. Luna turned her gaze on the bone construct, feeling a chilling shiver roll up her spine. It took a lot to faze her, but the accursed object, made of the bones of foals, made her sick to her stomach. I loathe being reminded just how cruel me and my sister's subjects can be. she thought sadly. And yet she couldn’t drag her eyes away from it. Her gaze was affixed firmly to the small skull at the center of the circle, the skull which acted as the pupil of an eye. Luna blinked, Why has it grown darker in here? she thought as the light in the room grew dimmer and the temperature slowly dropped.   This is dark magic!  she realized with a start, I have to tear my eyes away now! Then the eyes of the skull, which had been hollow and black, were suddenly occupied by a sickly, green light that resolved themselves into floating orbs. Luna couldn’t look away now, and in the light she saw things, things that seemed blurry and vague, yet startlingly real at the same time. She saw a shadow on the moon. She saw a world of colors and shape that were almost inconceivable to the mortal eye. She saw two beings of pure celestial goodness fight a twisted shadow that towered above them. She saw an army of abominations sweep across the land, their unnatural forms corrupting the very ground that they walked upon. “Luna?” The familiar voice startled Luna and cut off the flow of horrific images. Luna turned to address her sister, but she didn’t see Celestia standing there. In her place she saw a tall figure with a head of blazing yellow fire and a body of molten earth, then Luna blinked and a very confused and worried Celestia stood where the solar phantom had been. “Are you alright?” asked the Princess of the Sun. Luna shook her head and held a silver-shod hoof to her temple. Celestia cantered forward and draped a hoof over her younger sister’s back. “You need rest, Luna.” she said with a gentle smile, “I’ll handle your court tonight.” “Nay, dear sister.” said Luna with a shake of the head, “We-I mean I-I must be there for my little ponies and if the price that I must pay for that is the occasional headache then so be it.” “But you weren’t suffering from a headache, were you, Luna?” asked Celestia. Luna gazed at her sister for a moment before chuckling tiredly, “How did you know?” “I saw you looking at that vile thing.” said Celestia, disgust lacing her tone, “It’s evil, Luna, you must destroy it.” Luna nodded, then whirled around and fired a blast of magic that annihilated the Bone Effigy with a loud BANG! Celestia shrieked and jumped a foot in the air as Luna howled with laughter. “Why must you be so… so… over the top?” asked Celestia, placing a hoof to her barrel. “Because it amuses me.”  giggled Luna, “And it helps you lighten up.” she pointed a hoof at her sister, who blushed. Luna gave another giggle before sobering up and asking her sister what she needed. “There’s someone here who wants to speak with you.” she said, “He says his name’s Professor Rathburn and he claims to know the reason behind the disappearances and all of those sightings that have been plaguing our little ponies.” Luna perked up, “Rathburn? Goodness, Tia, send him in!” Celestia cocked her head, “Do you know him?” she asked. “Yes!” said Luna, nodding her head fervently, “He’s the head professor at the Lunar School of Magic. He was the only person who dared approach me when I first returned.” Celestia nodded her head in understanding and then used her magic to pull the large double doors of the court room open, revealing a scrawny griffon in a loose-fitting trenchcoat. “Ah, good morrow to you, Princess Luna.” he greeted in a loud and hearty voice that sounded completely at odds with the rest of him. Professor Rathburn limped into the courtroom, which allowed the two princesses to see him in a better light: he had light gray fur and dark gray feathers that seemed to be whitening at the tips, his head feathers were slicked back, revealing a thin, nearly-haggard face marred by a single, lengthy scar that ran from his forehead to the left most corner of his beak. As he drew closer Luna saw Celestia’s eyes widen as they landed on his right paw, which was twisted gruesomely so that it faced backwards. Most other ponies would find their hearts filling with pity and empathy for the poor old griffon’s plight, but Luna could only admire how fast her was, despite his handicap and advanced age. “Tia.” said Luna, turning to address her older sister, “would you leave us for a while?” Celestia nodded with a smile, “Of course, Lulu, I can see that you’re excited about meeting your friend and I don’t want to intrude.” The Solar Princess swept out of the room, giving her sister one last hug and a “See you later, Lulu.” before she did. Luna watched as her sister left then, when Professor Rathburn was near enough, Luna teleported in front of him and wrapped him in a big hug, which the aged griffon returned with gusto, nearly lifting her up in the process. “Hello, Professor Rathburn!” she said happily. “Greetings to you as well!” exclaimed Rathburn with a big- if not tired-smile, “How is your latest endeavor faring?” Luna sighed, “It is no less arduous than expected, but there are many problems that our little ponies face.” Rathburn nodded, “I see, and does this outpouring of problems have anything to do with the bevvy of disappearances and the sightings of the phantasmagorical?” Luna nodded, “Yes, it is most unnatural… and there have been so many disappearances as of late, and the police can never find these missing persons. I sent out some of my night guard, but they haven’t found anything yet.” Prof. Rathburn sighed sadly, “It’s as I feared.” Luna’s ears perked. “Why?” asked Luna. Prof. Rathburn looked the lunar princess in the eyes and said, in a grim voice, “I am afraid that these displaced individuals will not be recovered living.” Silence fell across the courtroom as Luna gave the aging griffon her fullest attention. “These individuals, they were mostly foals and those who had no-one to miss them, am I correct?” Luna nodded silently. “Then it has begun.” said Rathburn severely. “What has?” asked Luna, letting worry creep into her voice. Prof. Rathburn sighed, “Forgive me if I slip into what my students call ‘Lecture Mode’, but my answer requires some explanation. Over the years I have been noticing an increasing number of strange events across all of Equus: increases in the number of disappearances in small towns, sightings of strange phenomena, reports of cult activity, insanity amongst certain families and religious groups and a surplus of mostly unexplained murders in a myriad of ghastly fashions.” The griffon looked at them and saw that she was following him fine, so he continued. “I grew interested- nay-obsessed with unlocking the secret behind these occurrences, knowing in this withering old gut of mine that something wasn’t right in the world. I took a sabbatical from my work and trekked across Equus to investigate the sites of the more… unpleasant occurrences.” Rathburn reached into his coat and pulled out a large, black folio which he handed to Luna, who asked what it was. “A dossier that includes my experiences, the locations that I visited and some of the entities that I encountered.” said Rathburn simply, then he asked “ Tell me, Luna, have you heard of the Children of Darkness?” Luna shook her head, “No, I have not. Would you explain?” Rathburn nodded, “The Children of Darkness is the colloquial name given to all of the creatures that hold the rank of fireside tales and ghost stories: blanks, vampires, skinwalkers, zombies, ghouls, frazzits, liches, deep ones, lurkers, homunculi, facsimiles, necromancers, wights, raptorians, flesh-golems and other forms of the resurrected dead.” Luna nodded and Rathburn continued, gesturing to the dossier as he did. “Hoofington and Stagnation in Equestria, The Glimmerstone Mines in the diamond dog territories, Quatermass in Trotland and the Badlands south of the Winking Isles. All of these places are accursed, poisoned by the influence of the Children of Darkness.” Luna levitated the black dossier up to eye-level and began flipping through it, taking in the pictures, drawings and bits of writing contained within. “Oh my, this is… quite detailed.” said Luna as her eyes landed on a picture of a severed head lying in the grass near an old tombstone; it’s skull seemed to have been hollowed out. “Yes, it is indeed.” agreed Rathburn, “I have been tracking down evidence of the Children’s reemergence and what I’ve found as tended to be unwholesome to say the least. I am deeply sorry if I have disturbed you.”   Luna shook her head and closed the dossier, “This is a bit too detailed to be a fake.” “I assure you, it is real.” said Rathburn, moving closer, “And the danger is growing with each passing night. I need your help, Princess.” Luna looked taken aback, “Me? Me personally?” Rathburn nodded, “Yes, Luna, you personally.” “But...why?” asked the lunar princess. Rathburn looker her in the eyes, “Because you have influence, finely-honed and powerful magical talent and skill, you know the Night better than almost anyone, you are kind, you are strong of will and you also  know darkness better than anyone else.” Luna pinned her ears and looked away, the memory of Nightmare Moon bringing the all-too-familiar prickle of tears to her blue eyes. Rathburn sidled up to her and draped a wing across her back, gently pulling her into a warm embrace. “I apologize for bringing that up, but, as I said, you are strong, you are powerful, you are the perfect pony to help me, not for my sake, but for the sake of every living soul on this planet. I believe in your goodness, my dearest princess.” Luna looked at him and saw the sincerity and truth in his golden eyes. She nodded and pulled away. “How am I supposed to help you?” she asked softly. “I have two main reasons.” said Professor Rathburn, “One is that you have a type of magic that has, at one point, came into contact with dark magic, which makes your magic able to fight off these creatures better than others. And secondly, because I think that you’d make a great leader, a far better one that I ever could be.” “A leader?” asked Luna, “A leader of what?” Rathburn straightened up, a sign that Luna knew meant that he was gearing up to say something important. “The leader of a group of talented individuals who have come into contact with the Children of Darkness.” Luna blinked once, twice, then she said, “Wh-what?” Rathburn sighed and pinched the bridge of his beak, “I want you to lead a team of indiv-” “Yes, yes, I understood that!” snapped Luna, cutting him off, “I just want to know how you expect me to find individuals like that.” Rathburn nodded, “I think that I have a very good place to start. I recently caught wind that two persons who were recently spotted entering Hoofington, both very scarred and both very...interesting to the eye.” ‘Who are they?” asked Luna. “I believe their names are Daring Do and Ahuizotl.” supplied Rathburn, turning to gaze out of the balcony window. Luna raised a brow, “Daring Do with Ahuizotl? I’m sure Celestia would love to hear about that.” she stated wryly. Rathburn turned back to her, “When asked about what happened to them, the two spoke of a temple in Saddle Arabia that lay amidst a sea of black sand, they told the questioner about hungering shadows and unspeakable tortures performed on hapless ponies that had been captured by creatures that I believe to be part of a shape-shifting race known as Facsimiles.” Luna was silent for a moment before asking, “Were you the one who questioned them?” Rathburn turned and smiled at her, “Fortune was smiling down upon me that day.” Luna snorted and Rathburn chuckled, after which they lapsed into silence that grew more uncomfortable over time as Luna began to really think about what the old griffon was asking her. Can I really be sure that he’s telling the truth about his reasoning for wanting me? What if he DID make up this whole thing? But what purpose would that serve? He’s far too intelligent and too kind to want to try and assassinate me. But what about the Children of Darkness, what are their goals? Why are they after my subjects? Maybe I’ll just ask Rathburn and hope that I can get this straightened out. Finally she asked, “Why do you think that I’ll help you, even if you’re right about these Children of Darkness returning?” And, without missing a beat, Rathburn replied, “Because you are a kind monarch who loves her subjects.” Luna faltered, but then plowed on, “What are their motives for abducting all those people?” Rathburn shrugged, “I am not sure, but I think that they might be trying to gather enough power to do something of cataclysmic destructiveness.” “What makes you think that Daring Do and Ahuizotl will join this quest of ours?” “I think that they’ll join for similar reasons to you: I think that they’ll join because they want to protect their fellow ponies.” “Where will our base of operations be?” “My office is large and in the basement of the school, it would be the perfect place.” “What would we call ourselves?” “Alright, now you are just stretching.” said Rathburn, turning to a very flustered and red-faced Luna. “I just….I-I don’t... know about this.” she admitted weakly, hanging her head in shame. “Please, don’t say that.” said Rathburn, moving to her side, “I know you, Luna, I know that you have it in you to become more than just one half of a monarchy. I know that you have the mettle to become a hero.” Luna was silent for a minute, letting that last part sink in. A Hero? The word filled her with a kind of joy that she rarely felt: a joy so clear and warm that it made all of her other doubts melt away. “I can finally, finally redeem myself for my acts as Nightmare Moon.” she said, looking up at the now-shocked Rathburn with a beaming smile. “But-but we’ve all forgiven you for that, Luna.” said Rathburn. Luna shook her head, “Not everyone.” Professor Rathburn went silent as he digested the statement, then he pulled the lunar alicorn into a tight hug. One that she returned with gusto a second later. “I’ll be a hero…” she whispered happily, the prospect of her redemption filling her eyes with happy tears. A few minutes later she pulled away, looked the old griffon right in the eyes and asked, “When do we start?” Professor Rathburn smiled, “Whenever you are ready… boss.” Luna’s smile grew. And the Lunar Quest began.