//------------------------------// // Chapter 1 - The First Spark // Story: Night Reigns // by tursi //------------------------------// Everfree forest was not fit for ponies to enter even at the height of Equestria's majesty. The dark, enchanted wood grew slowly, ancient and comfortable with waiting decades for every small gain. It slowly created majestic ruins like the ancient Castle of the Two Sisters while biding its time, barely kept at bay on the outskirts of smaller towns like Ponyville. Within those woods dwelled horrible creatures that loved the darkness, and while they would occasionally venture out of the woods, once driven back in even the most stalwart of pony would not pursue them. Within Everfree, predators both natural and enchanted roamed free and unchecked, and especially in these dark times, ponies who entered the woods often did not come out. It was unusual then, for a bright white spot to lay in the middle of this dark isolation, but lay there she did. A tear in the thick canopy above smoked gently, letting in the light rain beyond, and a long scar in the otherwise unmolested detritus testified to a hard landing. A light steam rose from wings left spread across the forest floor, and her majestic horned head lay on a pillow of debris as she took deep, slow breaths to regain her strength. Celestia recounted what she remembered while she waited to catch her breath. She had read the signs correctly; Luna escaped from her prison almost to the minute of her predicted time. Celestia could not know for certain what to expect, but their confrontation was short. Luna had cast a banishment spell of her own, sending Celestia to a magical imprisonment in the Sun - certainly one of the outcomes she had expected. This had not worried Celestia as the Sun was practically an old friend. A magical banishment left her soul intertwined with its core in a nearly timeless state of not-quite-being. Like Luna's own exile to the moon, she was a part of this body and could work the spell from the inside, as if picking the tumblers of an intricate lock. But Celestia had an agent on the outside as well - her student Sunset Shimmer. Celestia had counted on Sunset to detect the signs and unlock the Elements of Harmony, defeating Nightmare Moon and ending the threat. Meanwhile, she worked the lock. While Luna had to take advantage of celestial alignment to aid her escape, this banishment spell was brute force and had neither the elegance nor the tenacity of the spell crafted by the Elements of Harmony. Celestia was able to break it on her own, given only time. The only problem was… how much time had it taken? Her head lifted, finally, and she looked around herself. It had been difficult to guide herself to the Everfree Forest, but she knew that the ruined old castle would be a familiar place to regroup far away from any prying eyes, who might prematurely reveal her return. She also hoped to find out what had happened with the Elements, which had still been stored there. She could see through the treetops that the darkness persisted well outside of the forest, which could only mean that Sunset Shimmer had failed. If the sun could have risen, she would have returned with it. Rustling in the bushes around her landing site informed her that she needed to move on. She felt that she could still handle a medium sized predator like a manticore, but her current state was no match for a pack of timberwolves or something larger. She folded her wings deftly, wincing some as she folded them against her body. Pushing herself to her hooves, she stood to her full height, lighting her horn just enough to sense her way. The rustling drew back a bit at the glow, not quite ready to tangle with a full grown alicorn. But Celestia knew that the creatures of these woods would detect her weakened state soon enough and so she made her way to the ruins of her old home. Neither hesitant memory nor darkness impeded her progress, and as her hooves struck the stone floor marking the once-great atrium her eyes cast about for any clues. The ancient stone had clearly not been tread in many years. Celestia knew that the beasts of Everfree shunned the ancient castle, for the magic that once resided here still echoed, but even the most recent hoofprints were buried under years of dirt and debris. She followed the barely visible trail in deeper, towards where the Great Hall once stood. Here the Elements had been stored after they stopped working. The hoofprints in the dirt approached the ancient podium upon which the Elements were once displayed and then grew muddled, as though circling and doubling back upon themselves. Of the Elements themselves, Celestia could see no trace. Sighing softly, she ventured deeper into the ruins towards where some of the ancient rooms still stood. She could stay there while she evaluated the situation, learned what had happened in her absence, and formulated a new plan. But first she needed to take stock of herself. She turned down one derelict hallway, then another, deeper into the ruins until surrounded by several layers of ancient stone. Her memories guided her flawlessly as she remembered these halls - running through them in play, pacing through them in times of political crisis, storming through them when some self-important administrator needed to be reminded where his authority ended. But only protected in these deepened halls did she finally allow her horn to brighten enough to actually look around. She had made her way to one of the ancient libraries, where tomes of knowledge rotted on the shelves. She allowed herself enough magic to light just one of the lamps lining the pillars of the room and drew forth a dusty cushion. Settling herself down, her eyes gently closed and she took stock of her own health. Carefully, she opened her wings, wincing once again as her left wing complained particularly bitterly. Gritting her teeth, she reached out with her magic and gently felt the wing structures, finally confirming her suspicions: she'd broken it crashing through the trees. It would need to heal before she could fly again - not that it was safe to fly until she understood the situation better. Her magic reached out further and finally located both a suitable tapestry and a wooden chair. She tore the tapestry into strips, and broke the chair into splints, carefully setting and securing the wing against movement. A slight flash of additional magic secured the splint into place, making it far less makeshift. It left her wing awkwardly pointing up and back, but she was convinced it would heal well enough. Other than the broken wing, she had gotten off easily, only scrapes and cuts. Satisfied, she rose again, stepping back into the hallway. Her hooves echoed in the stillness as she made her way further in, turning left just a few passages along. The room she entered was once a small indoor garden, fed with pure water from a deep, clear spring well. Now, however, she could barely enter the room before she was blocked by the thick vegetation. Her horn lit again as she began to cut through it, slowly slicing back and forth, slowly making her way to the center of the room. As she grew nearer to it, she realized that the ceiling had fallen in here - crumbled rock and stone lay in a jumbled heap overtop of where she believed that the well once laid. With a small cry of frustration, she began to shift the boulders aside, one by one, moving them only as far as she had to. At last she revealed a small, circular hole, and stilled her magic. She lowered her head and panted softly. Her magic was the one thing that she was trying not to take stock of, but this seemingly simple exertion made it impossible for her to ignore. She knew that she was greatly depleted. Breaking Luna's spell and returning to Equestria, without the direct path of a dawn and entirely on her own, had been more difficult than she cared to admit. She dropped her head, unsurprised as the long strands of her pink mane - devoid of the large magic reserves she once wielded - draped across her face and hung towards the floor. She could use simple magic, but it would take months to regain her original level of power. Without it she was no match for Nightmare Moon. Thirst finally ended her self-meditation, and she looked down into the hole, lighting her horn gently again. Fate smiled upon her, as she noticed the reflection of her light glinting back from water near the base. The old wooden bucket was nowhere to be found, but she simply scooped up some of the water in a small bubble of magic and lifted it up to the top. She gave it a cautious sniff and then, satisfied that it was still fresh, drank deeply of it. Her eyes closed in absolute pleasure as the cool liquid began to hydrate her exhausted form. She imagined it spreading through her body, filling every artery with refreshment, and she was convinced as she finished the bubble that she already stood stronger. A second, then a third bubble followed until she forced herself to stop, not wanting to overdo it. Still, she brought up one more bubble of water, this time taking another strip of the tapestry, and using it as a wash cloth. She soaked it in the water and began to clean her wounds, working slowly and deliberately. Again, she noted that she was not very injured save for her wing, and only one larger cut required additional magic to seal it. When at last she was done, she returned to the library. Settling down again, her thoughts turned to her student, Sunset Shimmer. What had happened to her? Celestia felt that the hoofprints she saw near the podium where the Elements were once stored might have belonged to Sunset, if her student had been able to follow the clues. But it must have been years ago, and why were her hoofprints alone? Further-more, where were the elements now? Celestia mused that Sunset may have determined that the Elements were important and taken them with her to activate them. But then she frowned - it clearly hadn't worked. Did Sunset successfully activate the Elements? Did Nightmare Moon stand against them this time? Or had Celestia's own actions a thousand years ago truly drained them of their magic, leaving everypony defenseless? She couldn't say. And Luna… her own sister turned monstrous Nightmare Moon. Did she in fact rule? Was this nighttime still hers? More importantly… was she still angry? Or did she get her wish and keep the night because the ponies finally loved and appreciated it? Would Celestia have nothing to fix after all? She snorted, shaking her head. That last thought was clearly fantasy. But, for just a moment, she let herself hold onto it. With that moment's pause, fatigue caught up with her rapidly running mind and sleep overtook her; dreams following closely behind. A small smile creased her muzzle as she dreamt of Luna's beloved night.