//------------------------------// // The Castle Of Two Sisters // Story: The lone stallion // by Lunaexcelsior //------------------------------// With the orchard’s quarrel solved, Luna was once again left alone. It is in this state that she began to feel the crippling fear take hold once more. She looked at the murals, attempting to find any clue to the fate of Equestria but it escaped her. The princess felt unease deep within her soul. There was something disturbing about the atmosphere in this room itself. It was the same room as before but something was different. A slight, barely noticeable scent of brimstone crept into her nostrils that made her flinch. She looked around for any abnormalities but it seemed her mind was just playing tricks on her. Luna breathed in deeply and looked out of the window. “It’s almost time,” she thought to herself as she watched as the magnificently glowing sun descended from the daytime sky and slowly moved west. She slowly rose up the watchtower in order to get a better view of the sunset. While Celestia did control the rise of the sun its setting was completely out of her control. The Sun itself moved freely over the pale blue sky, but without the aid of Celestia's magic the Sun would never rise. The Moon was a different story in itself. It was connected to Luna by a special bond which could never be duplicated. It moved along with her magic and went from crescent to full as the night guardian would order. An old mare’s tale said that from the moment of Luna’s birth the moon was born to accompany her during the lonely nights. It was her home, her prison and her oldest accomplice. Although, Luna could not control the stars (as that could be only done by Celestia and even then it was only to a certain degree) they were just as beautiful as her beloved Moon. They told her stories during lonely nights; stories about brave ponies fighting injustice, about weary travelers in search of a great treasure and stories about explorers whose only guide in finding their truth were these beauties of the night. As Luna arrived on the watchtower she looked down on the peaceful valley beneath. At that moment everything seemed silent and perfect. Luna took in the calmness of the dusk’s wind. She watched as the Sun drew closer to the western horizon and pulled out her ‘phases of the Moon’ diagram. It was the night of the crescent moon. “T minus ten minutes till sundown!” she proclaimed in her bombastic voice, echoing through Ponyville. She knew she didn’t have to do it but it felt just so glorious. Luna smirked to herself as she focused her magic to the changing sky. It was a small spectacle for the night guardian to pull the Moon from its slumber and into its position on the starry sky. She focused all of her energy as the Moon slowly awakened, guiding a trail of stars behind itself. Luna positioned it directly above the watchtower and spun it a bit, so only the crescent side of its beauty would show. A few stars nestled themselves into the dark space of the Moon as Luna took her nightly watch. Tonight she had a predetermined task. She would visit the Castle of the Two Princesses. That ancient fortress, abandoned and alone, stood beaten and bruised, waiting for the return of its owners. Luna stood in front of the once magnificent castle with a mixture of feelings welling up in her soul. Fear, excitement and nostalgia battled for control in Luna’s heart but she couldn’t let any one of them win or they might distract her from her important business. As she walked in Luna was greeted by the same old friends, the armored ponies stood left and right of her, protecting the passageways like the ever vigilant Royal Guard. Luna smiled. “Hello old friends,” Luna spoke to the suits of armor as if they were real. “We haven’t seen each other for so long,” Luna sighed “Don’t let my presence disturb your peace. I am just passing by.” She remembered how in her fillyhood she would spend hours each day talking to these suits of armor like her father spoke to his soldiers. She would give them all sorts of childish commands, such as to keep the monsters away from her closet, but ultimately she would treat them with respect. “Just like father,” Luna thought to herself and sighed. Luna continued her search. She saw that the Mane Six had done quite a retouch of the palace. The night regal expected it to be in a much worse shape but it seemed to be pretty well maintained, for the most part, but the library was exceptionally so. “Twilight always did know how to keep books well-ordered,” Luna thought ot herself as she inspected each of her bookshelves. It looked magnificent. “Oh look at this!” Luna marveled at one of her books. It was written by her friend Edward S. Nightcore. The book itself was pretty interesting as it was about a colt, lost in the world that could never understand the demons he had to fight, but Luna was more interested in the author’s dedication. “To my dearest Princess, without whom this work could never be. Your support and love have always been my shinning guide through the darkest of nights. In the worst times and in the best of times you were there protecting me from the shadows that lurk. From the bottom of my heart I thank thee. –E.S.N” Luna couldn’t help herself as sorrowful tears of nostalgia started to roll out of her eyes and fell onto the book. She felt old wounds being reopened that stung even harsher than they did while they were still fresh. “I wish it could have been different.” Luna remembered what tore her away from Edward. “The darkness was too strong and I couldn’t- -” Luna quickly interrupted her train of thought. She had a clear goal and had to stick to it. Luna continued her ‘tour’ and reluctantly found her mind racing with memories. There, on that stairway was where she first understood the love her sister felt for her. Near that hallway was the first time she felt anger as her sister was praised by a few of her subjects while she was shunned away. Luna stopped in front of a closed door with the crescent moon. She felt a pain shoot through her chest. It was her old room. As she entered her heart fluttered a bit as she saw the beautiful array of stars on the ceiling. Her old toy chest, the closet in the corner and that big, luscious dark blue bed in the middle of it held so many memories. Her heart warmed, remembering the nights Tia would read her bedtime stories about brave heroes whom would traverse the land and vaquish evil beings. She recalled their playtime as they pretended to be those heroes from their tales. Then one of Luna’s most painful memories hit her. It began as a night just like any other. Celestia was out on her royal duties and Luna was left alone, for the millionth time, but this time she was angry. She felt betrayed since Celestia had upstaged her on her birthday, the day where she was supposed to be the center of attention for once, but the second Celestia showed up everypony suddenly turned their attention over to her. They ignored Luna for the most of the night and tried to talk to Celestia whom was trying to talk to her sister. Luna tried to keep her composure but as soon as Celestia had to leave the other ponies soon followed. It was the final straw. Tears flowed like waterfalls from Luna's eyes as she quietly sobbed in her pillow, slowly drifting away into her own mind. It was in this state that the voices began. “Poor, little Luna. So unappreciated by the world that she was left alone on her birthday of all days,” the voices said. As the voices spoke, Luna could feel the darkness trying to consume her. She flared her magic, desperatly trying to push away the horrors of her mind. “Oh my dear, I am afraid that will not work” the voice commented. Luna looked around herself in panic. “Show thy face, fiend!” Luna struggled in the grip of the moving shadow. “Ease your heart, sweet princess. I am only here to help you,” the shadow spoke sweetly. Luna felt confused. “What do you mean?” the filly asked. The shadow slowly materialized into a magnificent alicorn in shining, pale, blue armor with a misty mane, a black horn and bat-like wings. The crescent moon plate, similar to Luna’s, was visible on her torso. In fact, she looked so much like Luna that the night princess felt like she was staring into a distorted mirror reflection of her image. Luna trembled in the presence of this magnificent creature who inspected her with turquoise eyes and smiled at her with a mouth full of sharp teeth. “I do look magnificent, don’t I?” the newly formed creature gloated. Luna backed away. “Pray tell, dark beast, what art thou?” Luna spoke in her Royal voice hoping this creature couldn’t see her trembling. “You disappoint me princess. Can’t you see that I am you?” the alicorn said softly. Luna looked at her suspiciously. “Well, I am what you will become,” the beast paused “That is, I am what you will become if you take charge." “What thou meaneth?” Luna’s heart trembled. A malicious smile danced across the beast’s lips revealing the sharp rows of teeth that glistened like daggers. The monster spoke, “Imagine a world of eternal night where only you rule. A world where your true beauty shines brighter than Celestia’s light and where all ponies recognize the true kindness that you have been bestowing on them all of this time.” Luna’s eyes twinkled with hope. “How can this be accomplished?” she asked “Its quite simple my dear,” the Nightmare continued “Together we shall dethrone Celestia and rule Equestria as one!” Luna felt her heart drop and her lip curl in response to the disgusting suggestion. “I will never do that! Celestia is my sister for pony sake!” Luna stood defiantly. "Fair enough," the Nightmare said "But if you ever change your mind, you'll know where to find me." And with that said, the darknes retreated, left alone to infect her subconscious mind. Luna’s eyes swelled with tears momentarily forgetting decorum befitting the otherwise strong, night guardian. “I should have stood mine ground!” the night princess spoke through her teeth. Luna wiped away the tears with her wings. As the misty veil was lifted Luna noticed something peculiar. There was barely any dust in the room. A few cobwebs were decorating the corners of the room but, considering her time of absence, there should have been at least a film of dust on the floor. She knew that none of the Mane Six have ever visited this room because only she and Celestia knew how to unlock it. The bed was neatly made with the sheets extending to the floor. The final piece of evidence that cemented that this truly was Celestia’s doing were the items on her nightstand. On the left was her favorite hairbrush, made from the finest opals bits could buy, in the middle was her crescent moon hairclip and on the right was her trusted Ursa Major plushy that helped her to chase away the darkest thoughts from her head. Luna smiled bitter-sweetly as she imagined Celestia preparing this room and keeping it intact as she waited for her sister to return. Her thoughts were interrupted as the sound of hoofsteps echoed through the corridors. Hidden in darkness, Luna followed the sound of hoofsteps anxiously clopping around. The trail lead to the Element room. Inside, a dark blue stallion seemed to be searching for something. The dark blue flames on his back and the bright red horn on his forehead made Luna instantly realize that this was the same stallion from that she had seen several nights before. Maybe, she could finally get some answers to what was going on. “Ahem!” Luna ‘coughed’ making the unicorn sharply raise its head. The unicorn’s horn glowed a threatening. However, this strategy failed immensely as Luna swiftly avoided his attack. She noticed that the young unicorn was trying to make a run for it. “Not this time!” she thought to herself as her magic hit the unicorn, making him stumble. The stallion attempted to get back up, but it was to no avail. “What have you done to me?” the stallion yelled as he fruitlessly tried to move his limp legs. “Easy there soldier. I just made your legs fall asleep. The poor things seemed to be tired,” Luna joked. “What?” the stallion shook his head in disbelief. “I am sorry if it may have seemed a bit cruel,” Luna spoke gently. “I thought you’d be more willing to cooperate that way. You seem to have a horrible tendency of running away whenever I am around,” the night royal explained. The unicorn fell silent as he expected the worst punishment. A thousand and one horrors plagued his mind of what the night warrior might do to him. He had heard stories of the vicious ruthlessness of the Equestrian ponies, especially from the princesses, but nothing could have prepared him for what was about to happen. Instead of painful torment, Luna simply smiled at him. It was a kind and genuine smile, as if to ease his sufferings. “Now, do you have a name?” Luna asked the disabled stallion “Darkrim,” the unicorn stuttered, still in shock. Luna’s eyes narrowed as she tried to remember where she had heard that name before. “You wouldn’t happen to be from Tartarus, would you?” Luna asked. “That’s me ma’am” the unicorn spoke, a bit more relaxed than before “Son of King Hades and Queen Persephone and heir to the throne of Tartarus. Well ex heir to be precise,” he said with sorrow in his eyes. “Ex?” Luna asked puzzled by his answer. “Well, it’s a rather long and complicated story to be honest.” Darkrim laughed nervously. “Let’s just say I was banished for some things my father did not approve of and leave it at that.” Luna nodded her head and spoke in a more serious tone. “Fair enough” she replied “But I still need to know; why have you and that serpent friend of yours been disturbing the peace of Equestria?” As she spoke those last words, Luna took on a much more serious tone. The pony nervously shook, his dark blue flames dancing gently with his body. “It’s not an easy question to answer” Darkrim spoke somberly “Radifus told me that there was only one way that I could prove myself. If I stole the Elements of Harmony, I could finally prove to my father that I am powerful enough to rule over Tartarus. He would have taken me back and everything should have just gone back to normal” Darkrim stopped and sighed. Luna gave him a signal to continue. “The night you showed up was supposed to be our first scouting mission. I was supposed to just reach the Castle and report back. Unfortunately, I haven’t slept the best the night before and my battles with the indigenous creatures of the Everfree Forest seemed to be too much for me to bear and I passed out,” Darkrim continued his story wincing a bit as he remembered that last part. "I see," Luna said “But one thing just doesn't add up. Why would you search for the Elements in this castle? You are aware that they are not even in their physical form anymore, let alone in this ancient place,” Luna explained. Darkrim’s eyes raised in shock. “That is impossible! They have to be here!” Darkrim protested “The Basilisk told me so!” “I am afraid they are not,” Luna sighed. Darkrim let out a disappointed sigh. Suddenly, his eyes narrowed. “If the Elements aren’t here, then why would he--” Darkrim tried to figure out Radifus' plans. As Darkrim tried to wrap his head around this new information, a sudden noise came from the library.