//------------------------------// // Prologue // Story: The Chronicles of Moonshade // by Kix //------------------------------// Throughout the castle halls, a couple of guards rove on their normal scheduled patrols while more stand statue still next to certain doors, keeping vigil in the darkness. The silence of the princess’ abode is broken by the steady purposeful hoof falls of those walking the deserted, gray stoned hallways and the sounds of a mare crying her heart out. "Luna, dear sister, how are you doing? I heard you crying." Celestia's worried voice comes from the slightly ajar door, concern glistening in her purple orbs as she looks over at the form of her younger sister, abdomen swollen greatly as she lays on her opulent bed, surrounded by ice cream mixed with jelly and jalapeños. "You still love him, don't you, Lulu?" With a sniff the lunar princess could only nod before burying her head into her pillow and mane. "Why sister, why did he turn on us?” As another series of sobs wrack the dark blue alicorn, her forehooves interlock behind Celestia’s neck as tears soak into the trio colored strands. “On me?” "That I cannot answer unfortunately sister. But despite him not being here, your foal will not go unloved. We shall teach and raise it together." Celestia attempts to console her younger sister gently. As they stay locked in the embrace Luna lets out a pained noise as tremors crash through her body. Her words groaned out. "Ti...Tia it's.... it's almost.... time." A barked order from the elder alicorn has a mirade of royal nurses and doctors swarming the room and getting Luna ready to be moved. After the frantic rush from the room, the sisters find themselves in a clean hospital room smelling of disinfectant while Luna is covered in a thin blanket. Her breathing is rapid and irregular as Celestia holds her sister's hoof. A royal doctor settled between the moon princess’ haunches. "Ok princess, now breathe and puuussshhh." The lunar sister's screams of pain and labored breathing can be heard throughout the castle’s empty halls, startling the guards on shift as the doctor continues to instruct and encourage her. Celestia, in the meantime, screws her eyes tightly shut, her upper teeth biting into her lower lip hard enough to draw a trickle of blood at the powerful grip Luna has on her hoof, nearly breaking the bones. The mixture of pained screams, the doctor's orders and even her own words of encouragement mix with each other in Celestia's ears until it becomes a jumble of sound. Luna's screams turn into whimpers that mix with Celestia's as another sound, louder than the pained screams of the ruler of the night from earlier, is heard for the first time. It's the crying of a just born filly taking her first breaths. A little while later the filly, revealed to be a unicorn, is wrapped tightly in a pink blanket and gently passed into Celestia's hooves first. The visible coloring of the coat is unusual, primarily her father's dark grey as a patch of dark blue surrounds her muzzle and left eye, the same color as her mother's coat. The ebony flecks in the dark blue mane are also a telltale mixture of the filly's parents. "She's so beautiful sister, what name are you going to give her?" The daytime ruler asks as she passes the wrapped, squirming bundle into Luna's waiting hooves. At that point the fillies’ eyes blink open rapidly, exposing the left eye to be a very bright red while the right eye is a darker cyan. "We think her name shall be..... Moonshade." Upon naming her, the filly rolls over onto her right side and yawns, nuzzling against Luna's chest as the blanket unwraps, exposing the whole left hind leg and flank to be completely dark blue. "Moonshade, it is a fitting name, sister." The royal sisters stare lovingly at the newest member of the royal family who yawns again and stretches before curling up, falling immediately asleep. ~~~~~Five years later~~~~~ "Moon are you excited for your first day of school?" Celestia asks, giggling as she watches me bounce energetically into the dining room while carrying my saddlebags with my magic. "Oh yes, Auntie Tia, We can't wait. Momma and thee taught us so much already. We can't wait to learn more and make some friends!" Excitedly, I hug auntie happily and eagerly, practically bouncing off the walls before settling at the table and wait for momma to join us for breakfast. The wait is short lived as she sits next to me, smiling tiredly as she hugs me happily. "And how is our little Moon today? We see thou art excited for this day." Comes Momma's exhausted voice as she surveys my plate and adds a few more pieces of fruit. Despite how busy the rest of the castle has been, so far the dining room is empty, except for the three of us gathered at the high table. The emblem of the two sisters is centered in the highly polished wood where mom and Tia sit. "Oh yes, Momma We can't wait! Oh, thou should see something, Momma, Auntie." Anxiously I look about, smiling as I find a big enough pool of shadows to work with, which is hard despite how large the room and the number of tables inside. Immediately I begin to focus on the shadows, beads of sweat covering my face as I strain to show off. Eventually the shadows rise and tendrils dance in the air as I open my eyes, smiling widely. "Look Momma, Auntie, isn't that amazing? Can either of thee do something like this?" My smile begins to fade as I look from Aunt Celestia to mom, their looks of surprise and concern starting to worry me. "Wha.... What's wrong?" "Please Moon, don't do that ever again." Momma's voice loses its exhausted tone but is instead replaced by surprise, alarm and worry at the show of my newly discovered ability. "Why mom? Is it evil?" After a few minutes of awkward silence, she finally responds. "No little Moon, it's...... complicated." I can't help but note the tears and sadness in mom's eyes and voice, causing me to direct my gaze to Auntie questioningly. "No more time for questions, Moon. It's time to leave. You don't want to be late, do you?" Auntie responds, cutting off any questions I might have. The mention of the possibility of being late makes me immediately forget them. Once my bags are properly secured, both Celestia and Luna work a shape altering spell to hide their true selves before escorting me to the school. “Mom, why are thee and Auntie in disguise? Are ye not supposed to be out in public?” I ask as we exit the outer doors of the castle, staring at their changed form in shock “No little Moon, but we do not want to cause thee any problems that may arise when the foals thy age see who thine true family is. Too many ponies around here will take advantage of thee or seek to cause thee harm just to get our favor or to hurt us. Please, do not tell anypony who thou are.” The answer comes from Momma as we near the building, surrounded by many foals my age. Despite how early we left by the time I’m dropped off at the door the bell begins to ring, giving me just enough time for a quick hug and bye. ***** ***** ***** Later on that day, after taking care of their royal duties, from dealing with ambassadors from Gryphonstone, Yakyakistan, Zebrica and other places to the most minor of land claims, the two sisters head back to the school with Celestia noting the growing change in Luna’s demeanor. “What is wrong dearest sister?” "Sister, we are worried; what if the darkness that affected him came to plant a seed in our daughter?" The younger asks as they stand just outside the door of the school, her gaze focused on the empty playground or beyond while waiting for the bell to announce the end of the school day. Celestia, not knowing how to alieve her sister’s fears, nor her growing worry at Luna’s ever growing depression and shorter temper, takes in their surroundings. The sky, while still a light blue is dotted by slightly grey clouds in the distance, probably full of rain. The breeze is fairly strong today and whips the lush, green grass into furious waves, loose leaves and other natural debris are pushed along past the growing crowd of waiting parents and strike against the dark red wood of the single story school building. The silence between them grows to much for the elder and finally she answers, but in a low whisper so none of the others can hear her. "I do not know sister, the ability your daughter has to be able to manipulate shadows can be turned into a blessing in disguise. If we can teach her how to properly control them as well as give her the knowledge to know when and how to use her gift..." Celestia’s train of thought is broken by a small, smiling missile aimed directly for Luna and herself. Small hooves wrap tightly around her sister’s neck, causing her to smile at the added extra weight suddenly hanging from Luna. "How was school sweetie?" "It was good Auntie.... we made a new friend and.... we played tag and we learned.... there is a lot more to magic.... then what thee and Momma already told us. We.... we never thought there'd be so much history to learn.... about Equestria and the math was really fun and.... easy as well." My words coming out in bursts as I try to regain my breath, breathing heavily through my nose as droplets of sweat forms on my forehead. "Oh sounds like somepony had a very upbeat day today." Comes Momma's voice, sounding different, though the excitement of my first school day distract me. All throughout the walk home I talk nonstop about what happened at school. Once inside the castle, both Mom and Auntie drop their disguises, and our first stop is the kitchen for some after school snacks. Auntie suggests we take the snacks out into the garden. Still riding high from the excitement of my day at school I bounce around like a large rabbit as we walk down the path created by large, smooth stones mixed with swirls of white and grey. The breeze lightens up some to where it barely causes the various flowers to dance for us. The dancing, various colored petals mixed with the sweet scents blowing into my nose and the chirping of the many birds around bring a sense of peacefulness to me as we go over the large stack of papers that the teacher handed out, making a list of what supplies I’d need and eat the snacks. For the the rest of the day the three of us spend time before and after dinner playing together until it’s close to bedtime, as much as I don’t want it to be. That night, I'm plagued by terrible dreams of monsters so evil I wake up with a scream and start crying. Surprisingly it's Auntie Tia, not Momma, who comes and comforts me, even singing my favorite lullaby. The next morning I'm awoken early by the angry shouting of Auntie. Curiously, I get up and follow her voice, taking cover as it leads to the main hall, crawling and wiggling to spy from one of my favorite hiding spots. "Sister please..... don't do this.... don't follow in Sombra's hoofsteps.... don't make me punish you, Luna! Think of Moonshade, and how devastated she'll be knowing her own loving mother ended up leaving her like her father did!" As the scene unfolds, I notice Momma is standing on top of the raised balcony looking down at Celestia, a large window is behind her, bathing Momma in the silvery glow of the full moon. The rest of the argument is a blur as I take in what I just heard and am witnessing. My body frozen as I watch in horror while Momma is surrounded by darkness and transformed into a new form before she and Auntie begin to fight, the sounds of their fighting scares me so much I huddle in a tight ball onto the cold stone floor, crying and screaming as loud as I can while wishing for it to be nothing more than a dream. The destruction caused by the battling sisters loosens some of the stones of my hiding spot, and in terror, I look up just in time to see a stone fall straight for me. Trying to scramble away, I realize that my left hind hoof is caught under some rubble. As I let out another scream and cover my head, I cringe while trying to steel myself for the unavoidable impact. Darkness surrounds me as pain courses through my body. My final image is of my transformed mother about to beat Celestia as my eyes close and I go limp. ***** ***** ***** I have no idea how much time has passed before I finally come to. The last images I remember are of a dark, ominous figure bathed in the moonlight and then the strange voice that kept me company with whispered dreams of power and glory and unbridled magical strength. With a groan I try to stretch, only to find myself encased in total darkness as I open my eyes. After a couple of seconds of pounding against the barrier it finally gives way, revealing myself to be trapped by gray, moss covered stone and rubble. As panic begins to set in, my magic surges through me. Despite the growing pain in my head, an opening is formed just big enough for me to scramble through. Once I'm free, I find myself laying down on the cold floor of a ruined tower. Looking around weakly, I notice the room I’m in is overrun with vegetation and all the windows are broken out, there are even gaps in the wall, exposing a wild looking forest. As I try to stand, voices come from the distance, but my weakened state prevents me from shouting or galloping to them. As I lay there, a flash of light appears, forcing me to shield my eyes for a moment. Once my vision clears, the only thing I can see is a cloud of starry shadows until the figure of my dreams appear. I stare in awe of her power, confidence and demeanor. However, the sight of a purple unicorn defiantly standing up to the royal looking figure angers me. As the fight begins, I can't help but feel my eyes begin to roll upwards, and I pass out. ‘Wake up my daughter.’ I immediately recognize the voice as that of the one who has kept me company for as long as I can remember. Groggily, I get up onto unsteady legs with my stomach aching painfully, forcing me to stand and walk despite the weakness to find nourishment. Going through the woods nearby, I get this feeling of unease, though I push it away, more concerned with finding something to eat. As I’m standing around in the overgrown grass I begin to munch on the strands, trying to ignore the taste. A sound close by grabs my attention and there in front of me are two furry, long eared things with a bump for a tail. One of them is white and the way it stands seems a bit bossy while its companion is more greyish and is standing slightly further away. The grey one hops forward and holds out a long orange stick to me with a pointed end, its nose twitching weirdly. The sight of these two for some reason triggers a rush of… I have no idea how to explain it, but I can feel myself tense up as my muzzle lifts, a snarl sounding from somewhere. Alarmed the pair start to run off but before they could get far a black, pointed spike catches the grey one and pulls it towards me, despite it’s protesting screams and struggles. The sounds it is making brings my lips to curl as one thought crosses my mind, I wonder what it tastes like. Blood coats my muzzle as I finish and instinctively I run my tongue along the red stained fur, which only makes my curling lips grow wider. After a short nap, the images of that dark figure from earlier fill my mind as I wander the ruined halls. The walls are overgrown with vines, the once colorful tapestries and paintings are destroyed or dulled. I still study them as best I can while exploring my current home. Eventually I find myself in what used to be a library. What I find the most surprising however, is the fact that the room and the books are in good condition, unlike the rest of the castle. I excitedly go through the books, ignoring the more whimsical ones in favor of the ones that seem the most educational. Many days and nights pass as my time is spent between honing my magical prowess, strengthening myself physically and studying any of the books I find interesting. I gravitate towards the ones focusing on magical instruction and theory. Finally, after an unknown amount of time spent in the castle, I take my first purposeful steps outside and away from the place I called home. Determined to explore the world as well as find out who the mysterious dark figure is that I saw, I travel down a dirt path, unsure what I might find. My trip is interrupted by many creatures. Some, I fight, while others either run or just leave me be. The weakness shown by each creature that runs disgusts me to no end, but especially the chittering of the small animals who try to offer help are most annoying. Those I am able to catch are turned into a quick snack. Their cries of terror make it just a little more enjoyable as my fangs dig into their flesh, painting the ground with their life essence. Eventually a small, quaint town comes into view, causing me to break into a trot. At first, the ponies I come across wave and smile at me before taking a good look at my appearance, causing them to stop and stare at me in fear or run away. Pathetic weaklings, they don’t deserve to live. ‘True my daughter, but we have work to do after you satisfy your curiosity and it won’t due to be thwarted this early.’ Ignoring the voice with a huff, I step inside the first building I spot after slowing my pace. A wooden sign decorated with a piece of candy hangs above the door. "Hello there and welcome to Bon- Bon's BonBons Candy Shop. I'm Bon- Bon, may I... help… you?" The shopkeeper pipes up cheerily as I step inside. Her last couple words are a bit shaky as she takes a look at me while I stand there, winded. "Where am I, what is this place." I demand, my tone of voice obviously unsettling the cream mare even more. While waiting I look around the pink walled room and the many shelves holding various pieces of food in many different colors and shapes. "Well uh, you're in Ponyville, and this place is a candy store." "Candy store? Nevermind, tell me, do you know a pony that looks like this?” Immediately Bon-Bon cowers and attempts to hide as I conjure up an image of the dark nare of my dreams while a mint colored unicorn mare yelps and shoots off to hide as well as she was making her way down the stairs. "T- that's N- Nightmare M- Moon!" She answers, terror quickly filling her voice. "Oh, and where can this Nightmare Moon be found?" Bon- Bon's fear stirs up an emotion that I can't name, causing my heartbeat to increase rapidly as I press her for more information. "S-she's n-now kn- known as P-Prrincess L-Luna a-after T-Twilight S-Sparkle d-defeated h-her." As she continues, I start to get upset while also enjoying the feelings her fear awakens inside me. "What does this Twilight Sparkle look like and where does she live?" I demand, my voice getting harder and more intense, my eyes widening as the terrified mare describes Twilight and where she lives. As she finishes I storm off, each step hard and filled with rage as I approach the library. "TWILIGHT SPARKLE, SHOW YOURSELF!" I shout out as I slam the door open, the commotion causing every pony to stop and stare before scurrying for safety. An owl hoots in fright as it leaps and flies away in alarm. After a couple more minutes of waiting, I start to tear up the place with my magic. Books I don’t find interesting are destroyed while I smash the table into the wall with enough force that it is embedded in the wood. A beam of magic blows out the only window and I make my way upstairs, tearing apart the single bed and the basket with tendrils of shadows. A crowd gathers around the tree and looks on in horror as I exit, my new purpose is to find both Twilight Sparkle and this Princess Luna, beat the former and return the latter to her powerful true self. 'The time for revenge has to wait, but it will come. In the meantime you have a more important mission. Find a certain ritual and spell, the general location is known but you have to seek out the exact location.' The voice urges and mentally shows me a couple locations. Who are you and why have you been contacting me? The voice isn’t my own and as I focus I can feel another presence somewhere in my mind. ’I am your mother. As for why I have contacted you is because I need your help in making my dream a reality.’