//------------------------------// // Chapter Twelve: Luna's Journey Begins // Story: Princess of Shadows, Darkness, and Light // by jwizard //------------------------------// Equestria, Canterlot Castle, 06-10-05, 10:22 P.M. A.N.M. (After Nightmare Moon) Luna waited for almost an hour after she had raised Lune before making her way back to the Royal Archives. The Lunar Guards-mare at the door saluted her with her wing as she made her way past the door. Even though she was slightly preoccupied, she was still aware enough to give the young Nocturne mare both a nod and a smile. Luna debated exactly how she wanted to do this. Though she already had her sister’s blessing to follow the path that was now before her, she knew that disappearing for however long of a time it was going to take was going to cause a big stink. It seemed the better part of prudence to do so from her private chambers rather than the Archives. Having set upon a course of action, Luna made her way to the proper shelf. As she started to move the collection of tomes, she paused as she felt a vibration down her horn. Looking closer at the shelf itself, she groaned at finding the shelf was also enchanted. Luna used an old scanning spell to feel out the lines of magic. She scowled as she realized that the enchantment was tied to the Royal Archives itself. In essence, it meant that she could only use the entrance- if it was even an entrance; that had yet to be determined -from the Archives. “Stupid past-self making asinine hoops to jump through,” Luna mumbled. “This had better be worth the effort I’m taking.” Any further action on her part was interrupted by an azure flash. Luna turned without surprise to see a smirking Rainbow Dash behind her. “‘Twas expecting you to join me earlier Princess Rainbow,” she said in mild reproof. Rainbow Dash rubbed the back of her head sheepishly. “Sorry LuLu; I would have, but I kinda forgot that I needed to finish some paperwork for the morning. Gah, I hate bucking paperwork; no matter what kind of job you get in this world, there’s no escaping it.” Luna chuckled at the complaint. “Such is the way of things. I was most displeased myself when I found out that there still was such a thing upon my return.” Luna had a smile on her face as she related the tale. “The look on ‘Tia’s muzzle when I complained was most amusing. It seems as though the paperwork monster is as bad as it was in this kingdom's earlier days despite some major reforms.” “Yeah. Even Twilight gripes about paperwork. You would think it wouldn’t bother her, but she says most of it is a colossal waste of time. All I know is that a lot of it was repeating stuff that I had already entered into forms.” Luna nodded in response. “Well, all of that can wait; let us away to see what lies beyond yonder door,” the lunar alicorn said as she once more touched the specific tome with her magic. The entranceway revealed itself once more. Rainbow looked on in amazement as the moonlight shining in from a conveniently placed window caused a criss-crossing of runic lines to appear. Luna frowned in sudden remembrance as she traced the thinnest of said lines with her hoof. “‘Tis an old form of runic writing that was an affectation of one of my apprentices,” she said. “I would wonder why I would have used her, except for that most would find her to be forgettable, skilled as she was nonetheless.” “Why would she be forgettable if she was skilled?” Rainbow asked in confusion. Luna had a smirk on her muzzle as she remembered the unicorn in question. “Oh, that was her value, she had remarkable skill in going unnoticed. ‘Twas part of her special talent it was, and she wove the same quality in many of her spells. In fact, one of the most popular invisibility spells taught in unicorn universities is one of her creation. She’s never been given credit for it until recently.” “Huh. Well, I guess I can see why you’d use such a form of writing now. But, why all the hoops?” Rainbow frowned. “I mean, you’re likely the only one that could use this entrance anyway, so why secure it so strongly?” Rainbow asked as though she didn’t already know the answer. Luna frowned. “That is something I’ve been wondering myself Princess Rainbow Dash. I can think of any number of reasons why I’d do so if it were important. However, if it were something truly important, I wouldn’t have hid it here. Mine own tower would have been a better bet.” Luna’s frown deepened as she found the two lines that linked with the one she was tracing. “It seems as though I had a pressing reason to make sure that this entrance was at least accessible in some form, bound though it was. The question is why. I’m beginning to think that this isn’t the entrance in and of itself; rather, it’s just the first gate.” Luna’s muzzle cleared as she found the lines tied to the one she was tracing. Working quickly, she tapped four specific runes in the four thickest lines. The whole weave began to shift as the lines all flowed to the outside of the entrance, revealing a padlocked door made of copper. Rainbow frowned. “Why would anypony make a door out of copper? You would think that iron would work better.” Luna nodded. “Iron would be better if one was worried about thievery. However, copper is a better bet since it is magically inert. Any spell cast on it by anyone would be traceable, and if one had enchanted it right, such traces would last. As long as the would-be thief were still alive that is. Such a door was used in olden times to prevent thieves with magic. Mithril works better, but was astronomically expensive in those days. Plus, a smart thief could find a way around a mythril seal much faster than one made from copper; mithril does not hold trace mana well even when enchanted.” Luna frowned as she began to examine the door. “This has been reinforced at the subatomic level; it has bands of carbon running through it. We are going to need the key.” Rainbow groaned. “Great, so now what?” Luna frowned as she continued to examine the door. Her expression suddenly cleared. “Clever that,” she said as she channeled her alicorn nature. Eyes now glowing, she tapped the door in a number of spots. A spider-webbing of runic lines created a unique pattern in the center of the door; after a moment, the pentagon-shaped wedge flipped out on concealed hinges, revealing a ring of keys. Rainbow blinked as all but one of the keys was glowing. Luna frowned as she used a hoof to lift the ring. “They are all the same,” she said in frustration. “They are also enchanted; if I pick the wrong one, it will melt the lock. It will take a fortnight to reform, and I will have to spend that time recalling everything Silent Measure said about her runic; the melting spell will reset all of the spells tied to the door. Faust, but it seems we are stuck.” Rainbow shook her head. “Luna, try the second one from the left; that one is glowing.” Luna frowned as she looked at it. “I see no glow,” she said. She looked at Rainbow Dash, blinking as she did so. Rainbow wasn’t aware that her irises had taken on a decidedly feline cast. Luna shaped her irises in the same manner, allowing them to see in spectrums not native to most ponies. “Well, that IS clever; said key has been coated with an enchanted layer of mother-of-pearl. It radiates a glow that only those sensitive to the ultraviolet spectrum can see. Yet another old method of hiding things.” She nodded in satisfaction as she used the key to unlock the padlock. Luna removed the padlock from the door and opened it. She beckoned to Rainbow Dash as she entered the darkness beyond the portal. As both ponies entered, the door clanged shut behind them. Light flared from the walls, revealing old style lamps along each one. The room behind was actually a series of small linked chambers. Luna had a surprised look on her muzzle  as she walked towards a nearby bookshelf. “Mine private study! I wondered what I had done with the entrance; I could not enter from the one I customarily use.” Luna placed the padlock on an empty ring next to the bookshelf before removing a book. She briefly paged through it before replacing it, shaking her head in happy disbelief. Rainbow’s ears popped. She quickly turned around to see a wooden door behind them. “Luna, did you placing that padlock on that ring reseal the entrance we used?” she asked. Luna nodded. “Yes it did; that lock is part of a linked pair I forged ages ago. Whatever spells are on the one also exist on the other. It seems as though that is yet another piece of knowledge I sealed away. The question before us is one that I have already asked myself; why?” Rainbow frowned as she walked around the first chamber. Now that she was here, she was wondering the reason why herself. She knew some of what Luna was supposed to do; after all, she had Seen both the hidden entrance to the chambers they were now in, and the significantly more important Gate that was here. Why she needed to be here to reveal said Gate eluded her however. Luna walked over to the small bedchamber to the left of the entrance they used. She frowned in confusion as she looked at  two other archways that were linked to it. “One of those likely leads to the sealed entrance to my old chambers back at the old Palace; the other eludes me.” Rainbow stared at the other archway; she knew without any doubt that it led to the Gate. Frowning, she channeled the magic unique to her. Suddenly, the archway began to shift as it revealed what it really looked like. Luna looked on in bafflement as Rainbow Dash traced her hoof along the outside of the archway. After a moment, the cyan alicorn began to speak. Though Luna couldn’t understand a single word Rainbow uttered, she nonetheless understood exactly what was being spoke. Rainbow abruptly plunged her horn into a slot in the center and twisted it to the left. Luna blinked in shock as the archway revealed itself as a door not unlike the one that housed the Vault in the Tower of Harmony. The door folded inwards in a unique manner, revealing a polished marble staircase going down. Rainbow looked at Luna in concern. “How you were able to get Serenity to enchant this I have no idea, but I’ve done my part. The rest is up to you LuLu.” She started to channel mana for a teleport and frowned as it fizzled. “Huh, anti-teleport field. Good one too.” Luna sighed as she nodded. “We have to either leave the way we entered- impossible unless I fully UnSeal it -or from this entrance here.” She walked over to yet another archway back in the center chamber. Placing a hoof on it, she channeled earth pony mana into the wall in the center. Said wall began to shift into yet another door. Luna nodded in satisfaction before opening it by tapping the knob with her horn. The door opened up onto a small alcove just off her bath chamber in her tower. “You can leave by teleport from here; I keyed the field around my tower to allow all I consider family to enter and leave.” Rainbow nodded. “That entrance going to be okay like that, or should I close it?” she asked as the both walked through the door into Luna’s tower. The alicorn shook her head. “Nopony save a handful can get into my tower; plus, yonder door can only be seen by those that know it exists.” She gestured at the door that they just passed through as she said that. Rainbow Dash nodded. “Clever. Well, it’ll remain open for the next couple of days before Resealing itself. It’s not the Gate I had originally Seen; that’s actually further down.” Luna frowned. “I had the sense that you were hiding some things from me Princess Rainbow. Why would you do such a thing?” Rainbow sighed. Before she could give the reason why, the remainder of the blocks on Luna’s memories concerning the Binding on her old chambers vanished. Luna abruptly facehoofed. “”Twas not your doing Princess Rainbow, and I apologize for my unseemly question.” Rainbow scowled. “I wish I was more learned in the ways of alicorns; had I been so, I would have told you everything. There’s still things I know that I can’t talk about. I’m not alone in that; Selene and Serenity both are in the same boat I’m in. I guess that you wanted it that way; maybe you never really intended for anypony else to be able to follow this trail of breadcrumbs.” Luna stomped a hoof in aggravation. “Zounds, but I’m vexed at why my younger self felt the need to be so vague,” she grumbled. A fragment of a memory flashed before her eyes, and she frowned. “Something about a unicorn horn? What does that have to do with anything?” She shook her head. “‘Tis a conundrum. What it means will have to wait until tomorrow; I have duties to attend to, and you have a lover that is likely missing you.” Luna grinned at the blush that rose on Rainbow’s cheeks. “Yeah, I told her I was going for a walk. I’ll see you tomorrow LuLu.” With that, the cyan alicorn teleported back to her and Twilight’s chambers. Luna made her way to the cushions she used while patrolling the Realm of Dreams, after making sure that the door to her hidden study chambers was closed properly. “Time enough tomorrow to dust off more clues,” she said as she slipped into trance. She wasn’t aware that a shadow-wraith was making its way from a secluded corner. A burst of darkness from the far side caused it to dissipate soundlessly. All of this passed by unnoticed by the meditating alicorn. Far to the north, a frustrated presence felt the loss of yet another servant. He felt this one most strongly; it seemed the Bound One was somehow involved. Only time would tell. Lune, Moon Kingdom, 06-10-05, 10:52 P.M. A.N.M. (After Nightmare Moon) Nightingale looked on impassively as the pony before her continued to rant, though she was supremely annoyed at having to deal with this issue at the tail end of her day. “I do not get where you think you have the right to stand judgement over a member of my house Princess; nor do I think that the replacement is at all suitable. My wife has served as a Royal Governess for over sixty years; by extension, Silent Wonder is not even thirty. Besides, she is not even a noble.” Nightingale rolled her eyes at the last part. “Lord Brightfeather, the Royal Governess is a position that I myself formed centuries before birth, and nearly every single one was a pony that I myself chose. The one time in the last three centuries that one was chosen by others besides me was your wife. In addition, that is one of only three that was a noble by birth. As if that makes any difference; you and your wife’s status as nobles is currently under question as you have yet to accept the meritocracy system I intend to implement.” Brightfeather scowled. “I have stated repeatedly that my family will refuse it, nor can you force it. You simply do not have the right--” “My Lord, I have EVERY right to do so. Any House that wishes to remain a noble house has less than thirty days to accede to the order. Those that refuse will lose all assets and will be Exiled from the Kingdom. I refuse to allow any more future iterations of the Moon Council to fall in the manner of those before them. Were it not for your own daughter and others that are what I consider to be noble, I’d abolish hereditary nobility completely! Much of the suffering this Kingdom has dealt with over the years is because of selfish nobles repeating the same ways of their ancestors.” The noble-stallion flinched slightly at the intense gaze the alicorn was leveling at him as she continued. “My ruling against your wife stands. It was about to change in any case; I had already decided earlier this year that Silent Wonder would be named Royal Governess. Her mother was the one I had before your wife took over; I only let her because the Council pressured me. Had I not been certain that you and she weren’t involved in the conspiracy against this Kingdom, I would have refused the appointment. I plan to do so in the future; in no way should the Moon Council have any right to choose members of mine own House!” Brightfeather stomped a hoof like a petulant foal as he gave his rebuttal. “If you think for one moment that I am going to tolerate any more of your tyrannical treatment of the nobles of this Kingdom, then you are as stupid as my father once said. The days of your autocratic control over this Kingdom are over *urk*--!” Brightfeather was abruptly cut off as a maroon glow of magic surrounded his throat. He gazed in anger at the unicorn mare that had just entered the audience chamber. “Pater, do you have to keep sticking your hoof in your mouth every time you open it? I already told you that it was useless to protest this issue. Mother made her hay bed in this; she was told well before I was born that Princess Nightingale has the final authority over all foals in her care. As to the rest, it’s my pleasure to inform you that your and mother’s actions have finally gone too far; our House has rejected your suit as Lord.” Brightfeather’s expression turned from anger to shock as Sweet Hooves smiled. The crimson coated mare gave a bow towards Nightingale. “Princess, I must apologize for Pater’s actions; his statement that our House was refusing the meritocracy system was one that only he, his brother, and my mother made. The rest of the elders in my House had no desire to refuse it, and had informed Pater that he and mother would not retain their place if they pushed the issue. Our House has long been allied with yours Princess; we wouldn’t even be nobles were it not for your largess all those years ago.” Nightingale nodded graciously. She smiled as she gazed on the young pony before her. “Sweet Hooves, you show the same courage, intelligence, and wisdom that your ancestress once did. You reaffirm the decision I made all those years ago to ennoble her. I’m glad there’s some young nobles I can count on. I do need you; I can’t be everywhere at once, so sharing the load of rule is vital.” Sweet Hooves bowed again, blushing slightly at the praise. After a moment, Sweet Hooves gestured behind her. Two of her family’s retainers came forward; one took over the silencing spell she was holding on her father. “Please escort Pater to the waiting carriage; he will be joining mother at our family’s Holding along the western border of the Rift. It is by House Raincloud’s order; any elder of our House that has refused to accept the direction that Princess Nightingale is taking in concerning nobility has suffered the same fate.” Brightfeather continued to scowl as he was led away. Nightingale shook her head as Brightfeather was led away. “I sometimes debate whether I was wise to leave most of the noble families intact. At least the new system should weed out the chaff; Equestria has had it for over one thousand years now, and they haven’t had a tenth of the problems we have in this Kingdom.” Sweet Hooves nodded. “It won’t get rid of all of those who act in self-centered ways Princess. It’s equine nature to do so. We all act in that manner in some form or another; it truly only becomes a problem when we place our selfish desires above the needs of others.” Nightingale nodded at that. “‘Tis true, even for pegacorns and alicorns. While there’s no such thing as a selfish alicorn, we still are apt to act in a self-centered or self-serving manner. After all, we’re still equine.” Bell frowned pensively. “I wish it weren’t so with my parents. Either I was odd in the faith to adhere to my ancestress’ ways, or they worked too hard to convince me that they were. ‘Tis only been the last couple of years that I’ve seen how selfish my parents truly can be. It hurts Princess; no matter what I say otherwise, it hurts to see mine own parents act like a pair of spoiled foals. My daughter acts better than they sometimes.” Nightingale shrugged. “I always knew that your father’s support was selfish; he thought he was so clever though. He was smart enough to stay away from the greater conspiracy; other than that though, he’s proven to be like a great deal of the more traditional nobles I’ve known over the years.” Belle scoffed. “Smart? Princess, staying out of the conspiracy had more to do with cowardice than smarts. He was scared stiff that the conspiracy would fail, and did all he could to stay away from it. At the same time, he was too craven to further ally himself with you as other nobles did, fearing the fallout from the conspirators. He’s little more than a wet blanket really, and mother is too much like how her own mother was raised to stand up against him.” Nightingale sighed. “He was such an engaging colt when he was younger. I often wonder if fostering him here as your grandsire wanted would have been the better course. Still, deferring to the mother’s wishes has served me far more often; I wasn’t aware of her idiosyncrasies until it was too late to do anything about it.” The two would have continued on the topic had a set of eight hooves running into the room not stopped them. Glorious Dawn stopped abruptly as she and another unicorn filly raced in from the doorway. Nightingale chuckled at the blush that Dawn was wearing. The filly had been acting more and more like a real filly would as of late, even with all of her memories of being an adult. Sweet Hooves turned a stern gaze onto her young daughter. “What do you have to say for yourself missy?” she asked Bright Hooves in an aggrieved tone. “Dawn said that she had seen Grandpa walk in here earlier; I was hoping I’d get to say goodbye before he left,” the tiny unicorn said in a meek tone. Bell sighed before lifting up her daughter to give her a hug. “Your grandpa has been sent away to the farm for being a naughty pony, sweetheart. I promise that should he want to, we’ll go see him okay?” Bell told her daughter. The filly nodded, sniffing a little. “Why don’t you and your friend go find the new Royal Governess? I’m sure she’s been looking for you.” “She’s busy with all of the nobles’ foals ma’am,” Dawn said. She gave a half-lidded sardonic look to Nightingale as she continued. “I was told to watch Brighty here until she was free.” Sweet Hooves nodded as she set her daughter down. “Well, go play in the gardens then until she’s free okay?” The two foals ran off. “She’s as polite a foal as I’ve ever known, yet she’s still a hoof-ful. Yet I wouldn’t trade her for all the stars in the sky.” She frowned pensively. “I find it odd that Glorious Dawn is acting like a filly though. She’s actually almost as old as my mother.” Nightingale shook her head at that. “Mentally perhaps, but her body is that of a child’s. The reason she acts like one more and more is partly because it’s expected of her, and partly because she never had much of a foal-hood. Her family was lost to us when she was barely older than she is now, and they didn’t have an easy life before-hoof.” The light purple alicorn smiled. “I think every pony wishes that they could relive their foal-hood at some point in their lives. I myself have even entertained that wish a time or two.” The two continued to talk for a few moments. Since it was likely that her family would name her into her father’s former position, Sweet Hooves needed to hear what her new duties would entail. Nightingale was about to finish her short instructions when a vibration she hadn’t Felt in centuries brushed along Lune’s surface. Luna’s opened the ancient path! She’s actually coming here! What if she finds it? I need to make preparations in case she does; I won’t be able to stop the spies from alerting the Dark One, so I must tread carefully. “Well , it seems you have a good grasp of your duties despite not being formally trained in them milady,” Nightingale said, smoothy disguising her startlement. “I don’t wish to be abrupt, but I do have other tasks I need to get to. Please let the pro-tem Council that I’ll be meeting with them tomorrow morning to prepare more of our fortifications against a possible attack on the Rift.” Sweet Hooves nodded. There was a slight frown on her muzzle. “I will Princess. I certainly hope that the Moon Princess will soon return; maybe then these attacks will end.” Nightingale sighed in frustration. “That’s not likely to happen even when she returns. It will make the battles against the Dark One easier though. I don’t have the command over Lune’s power that Luna has.” The unicorn nodded. She gave a bow before making her way to her new office. Nightingale wasted only a moment before making her own way to her son’s chambers. She knew that there was only a short time to prepare for the coming storm, and she needed to get the Kingdom ready for the return of its Sovereign.