The royal throne hall was as silent as the deepest reaches of outer space, not a single sound was to be heard; moonlight shone through the stained glass windows, all of which designed uniquely to honour significant parts of Equestria’s extensive history, creating differently coloured beams of light throughout the room.
In this blissful, beautiful silence, a baleful shadow darted across the floor, toward the royal thrones.
On the left side was Princess Luna’s throne.
Made entirely from a midnight blue marble, the royal seat had shallow carvings of star constellations across every square inch of it, each constellation lightly twinkled in the darkness, as they been enchanted to do so. The armrests had much deeper carvings along them, showing the different stages of the lunar cycle; these carvings had then been filled with molten obsidian, giving the armrests a perfectly smooth finish. At the very top of the throne, sat a silver crescent moon.
There was a single cushion, fashioned perfectly to fit the dimensions of the throne; it was plum in colour, with a glistening silver thread along the hem. This cushion in particular had been meticulously crafted with silk from the giant spiders that dwelled on Kra Island, a dangerous place that dwelled far to the west of Equestria; an island that housed all sorts of terrifying creatures with unique qualities, the silk was tougher than Kevlar, yet also soft as the fur on a velveteen rabbit.
The throne of the Lunar Princess, was perfect.
Beside hers, was the throne of Princess Celestia.
Akin to Luna’s, it was made from only the purest of marble, this time a pearly white, opposed to Luna's midnight blue. The throne was ever so slightly taller than Luna’s, and possessed carved patterns of dancing flames all the way up to the top, where there was a large symbol of the sun, made from the purest gold. The armrests, like Luna's, had deep carvings, only these carvings were of long, dancing flames. Just like Luna's, they had been filled in to allow a smooth finish, only this time they had been filled with molten gold, perfectly complimenting Princess Celestia's eternal radiance.
The seat too, had a cushion, almost completely identical to that of Luna's. Made from the same silk, it was coloured in the same deep plum, with the only differing feature being a golden thread for the hem, and not silver.
The throne of the Solar Princess, was perfect.
Both thrones were truly unique, yet no less beautiful than the other.
The shadow slowly rose out of the ground and developed a physical form, it grew to about eight feet before the black smoke surrounding the shadow dissipated, revealing Nah’Lek, the Defiler…
Stepping towards the throne, most of the demi-god's form was still concealed with a large cloak; all that could be seen were six plated legs on either side of his body, and five lifeless purple eyes that faintly glowed from beneath the hood of his torn mantle.
“Nafì’u ‘awpo eyktan… Ohe eyk tsamsiyu ne tsam ye’rìn; ulte krra Ohe si, nìwotx nìsoaia terkup…” He chuckled to himself, pulling a short blade from his cloak.
He began to carve deep into Princess Celestia’s throne, scratching into the marble to create a message; the sound was similar to a fork scraping down a dinnerplate.
Following that, was the sound of hoof steps, and the royal courtroom's door being burst open.
“Intruder! Back away from the royal throne and state your name!” Ordered a royal guard.
Nah’Lek slowly turned around without a shred of anxiety, and glared at the two guards whom had disturbed his vandalism. With their spears levitating beside them, the guards were almost frozen solid upon making contact with the amethyst eyes, devoid of life. Despite the terror coursing through them, the guards remained vigilant to their duty, and began to approach The Defiler.
“Lower the blade, or we will attack.” The second guard commanded.
“I’m counting on it…” The cloaked demon replied.
In the blink of an eye, Nah’Lek flicked a claw and the blade whizzed like a bullet into the guard’s throat, his spear dropped to the ground almost as fast as he did. Clutching his throat in agony, he desperately tried to gasp for air, only for blood to seep into his lungs.
“Copper Horn!” The other guard cried out, rushing to his companion’s side.
Seconds later, and Copper Horn was dead, blood oozing from his mouth and nose.
Now alone, the guard looked back to Nah'Lek to find the assailant had disappeared, he looked around frantically with both spears floating either side of him, trying to spot the creature before it was too late.
“Foolish creature, I assumed you were Celestia's finest protectors…”
Nah’Lek’s coarse demonic voice rippled throughout the room, bouncing off the walls and viciously breaking away at the guard's strength and vigilance, his forehead began to sweat as his heartrate grew faster and faster.
“A guard of royalty, trained to be fearless in battle. Yet you stand here, terrified out of your pathetic pony mind."
“I... I'm not afraid of you, creature...” The guard muttered, pacing in circles.
Tears began to run down his cheeks, whatever this creature was, it was going to kill him and he knew it.
Nah'Lek's jaw lightly quivered with euphoria, delighting in every second of toying with his prey; all the while slowly descending from a single line of his own sticky silk.
“Look at the little bug, spinning in a circle, not quite sure of where to go...
Does he run? Does he scream? Does he fight? Where is his foe?
To the left? To the right? No...
Forward or backward? No...
How about beneath him? No...
Have you looked up above, fearless defender of the throne?"
Crying to himself and urinating on the spot, the guard slowly tilted his head upwards as two swords stroked in either direction, slicing his head off completely. His body dropped to the ground and splashed into his own puddle of piss, all while his head rolled to a stop, lips continuing to tremble.
“No...” Nah’Lek hissed.
The Defiler sheathed his swords and released himself from his web and approached the guard’s body, and pushed his claws deep into where the head used to be, drenching them in thick, warm blood. He then walked back to Princess Celestia’s throne and wiped the blood all over the message he’d engraved, making the message more visible as the crimson liquid seeped into the etchings in the stone.
Nah’Lek stood there for a moment, admiring his work and listening carefully to the sounds around him; before suddenly whipping around and withdrawing his swords again, slicing at his new target, only for his blades to be blocked by a gigantic hovering silver sword, trimmed in gold and illuminated by a magical aura.
“So… Here we are again…” Nah’Lek grumbled.
“So it would seem… Nah'Lek...” Said Princess Celestia.
Nah’Lek jumped back and then sprung himself off the throne, gliding over Celestia and landing a few metres behind her; much to the princess’s surprise however, he did not attack, but instead backed away.
She took a step forward and swung her blade at him, only for him to dart out of the way, she continued to consistently swing her weapon at him, to which he merely slinked out of reach from each strike.
“You return to my kingdom, desecrate my throne, kill my loyal subjects, and then tease me…
Why do you not fight me with honour, beast?” Celestia asked, gritting her teeth.
“I wish to kill you in the daylight, when your subjects are watching…” He chuckled deviously, sheathing his swords.
Celestia bared her teeth in anger and fired a laser from her horn, to which Nah’Lek easily dodged.
“Fight me! You coward!” The princess barked.
Nah’Lek hopped away from yet another swing and removed a staff from his back, he aimed at the floor between them and fired a burst of bright emerald magic, which upon impact created a dark portal that emitted wisps of green energy. Princess Celestia was all too familiar with this magic and recoiled in fear, growling at the Defiler with seething hatred as he approached the swirling void.
“All in good time… Your Royal Highness…” He hissed as he entered the portal.
As soon as he crawled into the smoky entrance, it closed behind him and generated a sonic boom, which rippled throughout the hall and shattered every single window; the princess created a force field around herself to evade the shards of glass as they showered across the room.
Deactivating the shield, Princess Celestia looked around with tears in her bloodshot eyes; she had worked so hard to restore order and peace after the bitter hardships that had come to Equestria over the millennia, and now the worst evil imaginable had returned, with a vengence…
A bright flash of blue light lit up the hall, followed by Princess Luna rushing to Celestia's side.
“Sister! Are you alright!?” She cried out with worry.
“I am fine, little sister… But I fear the six do not have as much time as we thought…” Celestia replied.
The sisters walked to their thrones, where they read Nah’Lek’s blood splattered message.
Oe kxakx a trr’ong
“'I Will Break The Dawn...' Written in the language of old… It’s really him, isn’t it…?” Luna muttered with worry.
“I’m afraid so, Nah’Lek truly has returned…” Celestia sighed.
The princesses reluctantly approached the dead guards and used their magic to clear up the blood and urine, and then placed the bodies side by side; Princess Luna closed Copper Horn's lifeless eyes with her hoof.
“Do you think it was wise, sending all six of them without the elements of harmony?” She asked, looking at her sister.
Princess Celestia looked out the broken window into the night, and sighed once more.
“I don’t know little sister… I don’t know…”
Luna stood beside her and placed a foreleg over her neck.
“The boy will keep them safe... I know he will...” She said reassuringly.
“I know that too, but now more than ever, no chances can be taken, which is why I gave Twilight the vision.”
“I still think the vision was unnecessary sister, young Twilight will no-doubt take it too far. Neither of you remained long enough to witness what I did, your student has seen an obscured truth, and your refusal to heed my council will take its toll on the company. Twilight still has much to learn; including self-control.” Luna sighed.
Celestia, too, gave a long sigh and turned around to face her sister.
“Twilight saw what she needed to see, the added complication you received from Callum changes nothing, and telling Twilight would only bring further confusion to her."
She paused before looking back out into the night sky.
"But perhaps you are right, Luna... Perhaps I have rushed her into this..."
Princess Luna draped a wing over her sister and looked out at the stars.
“There is little we can do now, we must trust in them, and hope they succeed in their mission...
Before Nah’Lek succeeds in his…”