Darkrim smiled as he and Luna flew through the beautiful starry sky. She held him on her back so gently as if he were her own foal, showing the banished prince all of the beauties that her wonderful night could show.
The moon was at its brightest tonight and the stars themselves twinkled in a wonderful array of blinking light mimicking the slow waltz as they danced their lights across the sky.
Luna continued her flight showing Darkrim sights of Equestria which were simply marvelous at this night.
The Wild Joke, a subspecie of Poison Joke that only blossoms at night, spread across the Everfree forest gave off a beautiful pale blue glow under the bright moonshine. It looked to Darkrim as if the sea itself spread across the grassy floor of the Everfree forest.
As they moved higher the dark blue unicorn noticed Luna’s horn glowing in an array of rainbow colors.
Suddenly, from Luna’s horn came out a wonderful spectrum of colors, spreading their gorgeous shine across the sky. Darkrim watched in awe as Luna’s regal magic made the colors dance alongside with the twinkles of the stars above them.
He felt mesmerized as the beauty of the night sank into his night.
Luna couldn’t help but smile as she noticed Darkrim’s amazement of her wonderful night.
It was so long since somepony enjoyed it and the night guardian felt like all of her hard work was finally being appreciated. As she looked up to the skies above, Luna suddenly had an idea.
She smiled a playfully smile at Darkrim.
“Prey-tell Darkrim”, Luna said in her royal voice, “How would thee like to see the moon and stars up-close?”
Darkrim’s grin widened.
“Princess”, he spoke slyly, “I would be most honored”.
The second Darkrim uttered those words Luna’s horn became infused with white energy as she enveloped them in a bubble of protective magic. Luna’s wings then began to dart towards the skies above.
Darkrim looked at the lights of Canterlot slowly shrinking until they were nothing more than just a dot on the vast land below.
Once they reached this altitude, Luna turned over to Darkrim.
“Hang on, your highness” she said.
Darkrim held for dear life onto Luna. She sped faster and faster until her speed became so fast that she looked like a beam of light being shot into outer space.
Darkrim closed his eyes in anticipation as he felt a mixture of fear and excitement well up in his heart.
Soon the night regal slowed down and ultimately came to a full stop.
“You can open your eyes now, your highness” Luna said comfortingly.
Darkrim slowly opened his eyes as a miraculous sight appeared before his eyes.
Magnificent stars that shone so bright back on Equus now seemed so close to him that the prince felt like he could touch them and, yet, they were just as far from his grasp.
Beneath his hooves Equus shone in all of its beautiful glory.
Equestria was unnoticeable anymore and only a field of green remained in its wake.
From this height Darkrim saw just how many lands there were, unexplored by equine hooves.
What creatures they held, what secrets they told?
As Darkrim pondered all of this, Luna flew over to the moon.
Darkrim’s gaze was still glued to Equus as he felt they landed on something.
Luna lifted up her shield and bowed down, to let Darkrim off of her back and onto the grey surface below.
Darkrim, still in a daze, observed this new place he was led to by the nocturnal guardian. It was so much different from Equus, but it had a certain charm.
As he walked through the cold stone of the land below he felt like he was being watched. Something was lurking in the dark shades of the Moon, beneath the core.
Every now and then he could see something dark slip just past his eyesight.
He chose to ignore it and followed Luna. She sat on the lunar ground and looked up to Equus.
“It looks so amazing from up here” Darkrim commented, but Luna didn’t reply back. Instead she just looked at the Equus. The banished prince found this weird.
“Umm, Luna” he waved his hoof at Luna’s eyes, trying to get her attention. Nothing happened.
Darkrim shook and yelled at the princess, but she did nothing.
She just blankly stared at Equus.
The dark blue unicorn averted his eyes at Equus only to find, to his shock, that it wasn’t there anymore.
In its place was now a dark void, slowly consuming everything around him.
Only now did Darkrim truly realize what was going on.
He began to panic as the dark void began to slowly morph into a shape of a pure black serpent with purple eyes and purple energy coming from its mouth.
The beast unleashed a hellish roar as it rushed towards Luna, engulfing her whole.
Darkrim wanted to run and scream, but he couldn’t move his legs.
He felt trapped, paralyzed by fear.
As the monster devoured the night regal it turned its unrelenting purple eyes towards Darkrim.
With its jaw unhinged the monstrosity rushed towards the banished prince, showing off the sharp rows of its black teeth and a hellish purple glow coming from within.
Darkrim managed to scream once as the monstrosity came hurdling towards the banished prince.
He awaited the worst, but instead of ending up in the beast’s digestive tract, Darkrim woke up with a loud scream.
He panted quickly as beads of cold sweat erupted on his forehead. His screams alarmed Amethyst, who was ordered by Luna to guard him.
“What’s wrong?” Amethyst panicked “Has there been a breach in the parameter? Do I need to send out a search for the intruder?” Amethyst bombarded Darkrim with questions upon questions as he just put up his hooves defensively.
“Calm down Amethyst” he spoke quietly, in a vain attempt to preserve the rest of castle from waking up “It’s nothing like that. I only had a nightmare. That is all”
Amethyst sighed out of annoyance.
“Really dude?” she told him in annoyance “A nightmare scared you so badly you had to scream like that?”
“Trust me”, Darkrim began in an overdramatic fashioned, “If you had seen the things I saw you would have gone mad!”
Amethyst rolled her eyes.
“I am sure I would” Amethyst said. As she prepared to leave, Darkrim stopped her.
“Wait!” he yelled. The purple pony stopped in her tracks and sighed.
“What is it now?” Amethyst asked Darkrim.
“Could you please stay with me until Luna arrives? I just don’t think I could get back to sleep and could use some company” the banished prince asked as he awkwardly scratched his mane.
Amethyst looked at her watch.
It was already close to dawn, so Luna should return quickly.
“Fine”, Amethyst responded reluctantly, “but the second Luna is back I’m out of here! Got it?”
“Of course”, Darkrim said understandingly.
As Amethyst entered Darkrim’s room, she pulled up a wooden chair and sat next to his bed.
Since his arrival at Canterlot, Darkrim was given a big guest room near the balcony.
It had a huge bed in the middle, a small table and chair near the bed. On the ceiling, above, was a painting of the starry sky similar to the one in Luna’s room, and around him on the walls were various drawings of Tartarus and even a big picture of his pet Cerberus to the right of his bed, guarding him like he used to in Tartarus.
Amethyst observed the paintings of strange creatures surrounding her. She felt a bit unnerved, but attempted not to show it.
Darkrim chuckled.
“What are those creatures?” Amethyst asked Darkrim as she looked at the beasts painted on the walls.
“Those, my dear Amethyst”, Darkrim began in a slightly condescending tone, “My friends from Tartarus”.
“You’re kidding me?” Amethyst said raising one of her brows.
“Not at all, my dear” Darkrim began “That right there is Larbo” the prince said as he pointed to a creature in front of him, which resembled a rhinoceros with volcano horns “He is a real softie and quite a nice guy”.
“That thing is nice?” Amethyst asked with a surprised look.
“Do not be so quick to judge”, Darkrim told Amethyst, “Looks can be quite deceiving”.
“I guess”, Amethyst replied.
“I remember this one time,” Darkrim began retelling one of his old memories, “When Larbo and I found a lost Phoenix in Tartarus. Poor thing had a wing broken by some wicked harpies” Darkrim let out a huff of anger “The demonic things shot the poor Phoenix right in the wing, separating it from the migration!”
“Why would they do that?” Amethyst asked in curiosity.
As much as she didn’t want to admit it, Amethyst was starting to get into Darkrim’s story.
“Just to prove they can”, Darkrim let out a sarcastic huff, “Those damn things always do stuff like that to poor phoenixes. Every time a few of them migrate over the border of Tartarus, you could bet there would be harpies taking pot shots at them. It’s a disgusting sport if you ask me” Darkrim said in revulsion.
Amethyst nodded her head in agreement.
“So one day”, Darkrim continued his story, “Larbo and I were just casually walking by when we saw a pair of harpies tormenting this poor phoenix. He had an arrow stuck in his wing and the two beasts were laughing at its misery. Both Larbo and I were fed up with this disgusting display of torture so we went up and confronted the harpies. As soon as they saw me approaching both harpies fled the scene as fast as they could, leaving the wounded bird behind. The poor thing twitched and struggled to take flight, but it was all in vain”, Darkrim said and took in a deep sigh.
Amethyst gave him a sign to continue retelling the story.
“Anyway”, Darkrim said, recollecting his thoughts, “We saw the poor thing damaged and hurt and we just couldn’t leave it there. A weakened creature in Tartarus is like a stack of hay in front of a hungry mule. Don’t expect it to last very long. With that in mind Larbo and I knew we had to do something so we approached the injured bird. At first the phoenix was hesitant to let us come near it, but we made sure our movements were slow and assuring. Phoenixes can be very jumpy at times so you have to approach them with utmost care”, Darkrim spoke like an old stallion providing his pearls of wisdom to a young colt.
Amethyst, despite herself, couldn’t help but chuckle at his remark.
“As we approached the bird”, Darkrim continued his story, “Larbo picked up the phoenix in his large mouth. At first the bird was scared, but it seemed to trust us enough to let Larbo hold it in his mouth. He always was good with animals”, Darkrim said, reminiscing over his past, “As he gently held the bird I took a few leaves from the ground and prepared to pull the arrow. I took the tip of the torturous device with my magic and pulled, quickly releasing the bird of its heavy burden. As the arrow came out, the phoenix cried out, flaring up, but Larbo quickly consoled it. Even in his mouth the phoenix could feel the warm embrace of Larbo’s breath, mimicking that of a phoenix mother caressing its young”, Darkrim said as Amethyst chuckled once more.
The mere thought that something, that looked like Larbo did, gently caressing a phoenix, in its mouth no less, was a bit funny to her.
Darkrim responded with an amused sigh.
“Chuckle now my dear, but I am dead serious”, Darkrim continued, “Larbo took care of that poor phoenix like it was his own youngling. After I put on the leaves, to relieve the phoenix of its pain, Larbo placed it on his back as we returned to Tartarus. For three weeks he took care of the phoenix, tending to its every need until it was time to release it. You should have just seen the two. They were inseparable”, Darkrim got lost in his memories once more.
“I bet he and Fluttershy would get along swimmingly”, Amethyst commented.
“Who?” Darkrim narrowed his eyes in confusion.
“She’s just some mare I know”, Amethyst brushed it off, “Anyways you were saying” she urged Darkrim to finish his story.
“Well”, he continued, “naturally, we had to release the phoenix once its wing has been healed. As the day arrived, Larbo was so reluctant to release his little friend back to the wild. He kept adding scenarios upon scenarios of what could happen to a fragile phoenix in such a cruel world. I assured him that the bird probably wants to go back to its family who miss it very dearly and it seemed to do the trick. As the bird took flight I could see a mixture of sadness and happiness in my friend’s eyes. That moment taught me something very important”,
Darkrim spoke somberly.
“What’s that?” Amethyst asked.
“We have to sacrifice so much for the ones we hold dear”, Darkrim finished. Suddenly he fell silent contemplating the things he had done.
Wishing to break the damning silence, Amethyst turned her eyes to another picture.
“Hey”, she spoke, making Darkrim snap out, “What does that picture represent?” Amethyst spoke as she pointed to a painting of a skeletal ferryman leading ponies through a river and onto the beautiful fields.
“That” Darkrim spoke slyly, “is the ferryman Charon, carrying the souls of deceased warrior and noble ponies alike to the Elysium fields”.
“Elysium fields?” Amethyst inquired.
“Oh yes”, Darkrim began to speak mysteriously, “Legend has it that all mortal ponies upon their last day shall be judged by how they lived and that those who lived in kindness, love and friendship shall be taken by the skeletal carrier and be granted eternal beauty in the Elysium fields”.
“And what will happen to those who were ‘less than favorable’ to do so?” Amethyst asked.
“I don’t know”, Darkrim spoke, “Besides it is only a legend. Nopony knows what truly happens after their final moon has set”.
“You mean sun?” Amethyst corrected him.
“I know what I said”, Darkrim replied.
As Amethyst rolled her eyes a question popped up in her mind.
“If you think it’s only a legend”, she started, “Then pray tell; why do you have a whole wall dedicated to it?”
“Simple really”, Darkrim spoke, adjusting himself on the bedpost, “It is there for two reasons. One reason is to remind me that there is always something better waiting for us”, Darkrim explained.
“And the other?” Amethyst inquired.
“The other is to remind me that nothing lasts forever”; Darkrim said as he pointed to Charon’s skeletal figure.
The rest of Amethyst’s stay was very silent. She didn’t know what to say after Darkrim spoke of such heavy subjects. As she sat there awkwardly, a loud horn began to blare though the castle, calling her to the gate. Amethyst quickly glanced at her watch. It was dawn already.
“Well it seems the princess has returned”, Amethyst spoke quickly as she rose up from her chair, “I shall send her over to you”.
“Thank you, Amethyst”, Darkrim said gratefully, “Oh and sorry if I spooked you with my previous statement”.
“Don’t worry about it”, Amethyst brushed it off as she exited Darkrim’s room. She rushed over to open the gates as the night guardian herself was walking in the castle.
Celestia was already at her post, raising the Sun, but Luna wanted to check up on Darkrim first. As she saw Amethyst rushing towards her, Luna became a bit worried.
“Your nocturnal majesty”, Amethyst spoke with utmost respect, causing Luna to smile, “Prince Darkrim has requested to see you as soon as possible”.
“You can leave us alone”, Luna spoke to the Royal Guards surrounding them.
She could notice that the Guard’s ears pricked up and she didn’t want such attention.
“As you wish, princess”, the two stallions spoke in unison and left Luna and returned to their duties.
“At least my spies are a bit more subtle”, Luna thought to herself as she rolled her eyes at the two stallions.
“So why has Darkrim summoned me?” Luna asked. She had a good feeling, but she wanted to hear from Amethyst first hoof.
“Well”, Amethyst began, as the two walked, “He screamed himself awake from a horrid nightmare”.
“Really?” Luna said in surprise “I didn’t feel anything”.
“Must be another one of Radifus’ doings”, Luna thought to herself.
“Well I sure felt that scream”, Amethyst replied sarcastically, “And then something strange happened” Amethyst continued.
“Oh”, Luna exclaimed in intrigue, “What do you mean?”
“He asked me to stay with him until you came”; Amethyst said and awkwardly scratched the back of her mane.
Luna chuckled a bit.
“And did you?” Luna asked.
“Well of course”, Amethyst responded awkwardly, “We even had a nice little chat about the paintings on his walls” Amethyst continued.
“Oh did he tell you the one about Larbo and the phoenix?” Luna interrupted her, “That one is my favorite”.
“Yeah”, Amethyst responded, “That one was nice, but then it turned a bit dark when he mentioned the Elysium fields”.
Luna sighed, “He’s quite a wise colt, isn’t he?” Luna trailed off in her thoughts.
“Is it really just a legend?” Amethyst asked a bit worried about the answer.
Luna simply gave her a smile.
“We shall all find out one day”, Luna replied mysteriously. Amethyst sighed. Luna sure did love keeping things hidden from her.
“I still don’t understand why you appointed me as his guard”, Amethyst complained, “I mean couldn’t you have somepony else do it”.
Luna smirked at her friend.
“It is because I trust you the most”, Luna explained, “You’re one of the rare members of the Royal Guard that I could truly trust with such a task”.
“I guess”, Amethyst smiled faintly.
Luna returned the smile at Amethyst.
She saw so much potential in that earth pony.
Ever since Amethyst joined the Royal Guard, Luna could see a passionate twinkle in her eye.
She always fought the hardest for what she wanted and, despite her being one of the lowest ranking ponies among the rows, she managed to rise to the top, remaining as pure as the day she arrived.
Because of her struggles, Luna respected this pony more than she did most of the Royal Guard.
“Well here we are”, Amethyst spoke as they arrived at Darkrim’s door.
“Thank you, Amethyst. For everything”, Luna bowed her head in gratitude.
“Aww, it was no biggie”, Amethyst responded as she rushed off to her other duties.
Luna knocked on Darkrim’s door.
“Come in”, Darkrim spoke as he got out of his bed. His eyes gleamed with joy as he saw Luna enter through the doorway. She smiled at the banished prince. Darkrim returned her smile, but it quickly dropped.
“I saw the shadow serpent again”, he spoke somberly as difficult memories flooded his head. Luna approached him, concerned for the prince’s well-being.
Darkrim sat on the edge of his bed as Luna sat next to him.
“It was in your recent memory, I presume”, Luna inquired Darkrim.
He simply nodded, remaining silent.
“Which one was it?” Luna asked on, slowly trying to understand the cause of Darkrim’s nightly terrors.
It was unquestionable that this nightmare was caused by his recent battle, but it didn’t seem like a typical bad dream. This shadow serpent seemed to invade his memories.
It spread through Darkrim’s mind, like a virus, consuming every memory in its wake.
Darkrim took in a deep breath.
“The night you took me to the moon”, Darkrim spoke, much to Luna’s surprise.
She was pretty certain of the serpent’s dream pattern, but this was a bit unusual, mostly because it had nothing to do with the Basilisk or his defeat.
“It must be focusing on his happiest memories”, Luna thought to herself.
“I cannot go on another night with this”, Darkrim said with a heavy heart, “It is getting to difficult”.
“Perhaps you won’t have to”, Luna spoke comfortingly.
“What do you mean?” Darkrim inquired with interest.
“Well”, Luna began, “While I was on my nightly watch, I managed to uncover a book from Starswirl’s library” Luna said, pulling out a dark blue book with a starry cover.
On the book was written “Nocta et umbra”.
Darkrim observed the book with intrigue.
“If all what I am hearing is correct”, Luna said, “We could be looking at a case of Umbra Tantibus”.
“What is that?” Darkrim asked, scratching the back of his head in confusion.
“Umbra Tantibus is a very powerful curse that can only be casted by a very powerful shadow magic user,” Luna began her explanation, “the curse manifests itself in the shape of the one who casted, much like a bad copy of its creator”, Luna said showing Darkrim the picture in the book.
“If the curse becomes too powerful it could very well corrupt your entire mind”, Luna said grimly.
Darkrim’s heart skipped a beat.
“That’s quite frightening”, Darkrim responded, “but is there a cure for this horrid curse?”
“Well yes and no”, Luna explained, “You see the curse has been in your head for quite a long time now so it probably spawned a lot of smaller copies of itself through your memories in order to feed off them”
“I see”, Darkrim said in shock.
“But fear not my dear prince”, Luna spoke comfortingly, “for you have the princess of dreams herself by your side”, Luna winked. Darkrim smiled.
“And what, pray tell, did you have in mind?” Darkrim inquired.
“Well, I have an idea. If I could go inside your mind and see all of your memories I could easily find the shadow serpents and dispose of the smaller ones” Luna explained.
“But what about the big one?” Darkrim stuttered
“You’ll have to deal with that one” Luna responded.
“What? You expect me to go against a beast that is roughly the size of Equus! Are you mad?!” Darkrim lashed out in fear and anger.
“The serpent is a creation of shadow magic and it only has as much power over you as you allow it. Trust me, I know a thing or two about the influence of these things” Luna said with clear spite in her voice.
Darkrim fell silent for a moment.
He felt so scared and so lost. Not even in his dreams was his safe now!
As he contemplated, Luna placed her wing over Darkrim’s shoulders.
“I know this must be very hard for you”, Luna said comfortingly, “but trust me, you can win this fight. The shadows may seem powerful, but their range is very limited. They are only a reflection of our fears and nothing more”.
Darkrim sighed.
“You’re right princess!” he spoke with determination “I must face my fears. It truly is inescapable”.
“And I will be right by your side”, Luna said encouragingly.
“Thank you princess”, Darkrim spoke with gratitude, “You truly have helped me so much in my darkest times. I wish I could repay you somehow for your kindness”.
“Your friendship is all the payment I need”, Luna smiled at the banished prince.
“So when were you planning on messing with my head?” Darkrim asked, moving his hooves in a circular motion around his temples. Luna chuckled a bit at his gesticulation.
“Easy there, your highness”, Luna said, lowering his hooves down with her magic, “I need to take care of some business around the castle beforehand. I will be back here tonight before you go to sleep”.
“What am I supposed to do until then?” Darkrim asked in bafflement.
“You could explore the castle”, Luna suggested, “You have been her for quite some time and barely seen any of its beauties”.
“Well that’s mostly because I just don’t feel very comfortable out there. What if the Guards look at me funny?” Darkrim asked fearfully.
He feared that the Royal Guard would feel some sort of hostility towards him, considering what he did.
“Trust me, they can’t look at you any worse than they did when I had returned”, Luna joked.
“I guess you’re right”, Darkrim sighed.
“Excellent!” Luna exclaimed as she prepared to leave the room “I’ll see you tonight”.
“See ya then” Darkrim replied back to Luna as she exited his room.
As he was left alone now, Darkrim sighed.