Eternal Slumber

by Shimmer305

Prologue: A Strange Visitor

It was a few months after Princess Twilight Sparkle’s coronation. Princess Celestia sat on her throne, reading some letters she’d gotten.

Suddenly, one of her guards burst in, panting and limping.

“Your highness!” he shouted. Celestia stopped what she was doing and looked up at the guard; whatever the matter was, it seemed urgent.

“What is it?” she asked.

The guard had to pant in between words in order to get the sentence out. “You—have—a visitor!”

Celestia stayed calm. If it was just a visitor, why was he so urgent? Then again, a visitor could be anypony ranging from Twilight’s Ponyville friends to Queen Chrysalis.

“Who is it?” she asked.

“He didn’t say.”

“And why such commotion?”

The guard’s continuous panting got even faster as he recalled the incident. “He said he wanted to speak to the three of you princesses. He looked a little suspicious, so we asked him to reveal his identity to us or we wouldn’t let him in. Then he—he—“ The guard took a deep breath, trying to calm himself down. “He began using his magic to destroy the other guards! And he also destroyed some nearby ponies that had nothing to do with the incident! I was the only one he didn’t destroy. However, he did injure my front leg and shoulder with his magic.” He showed the princess his injured leg and shoulder, both of which had multiple burns and gashes. “Then he told me to beg for you to let him in, or else he’d destroy all of Canterlot!”

Celestia gasped. She turned to the guards on her left. “Go get Princess Luna and Twilight Sparkle! Tell them that the matter is urgent!” she commanded. The guards nodded and went to fetch the other two princesses. “You may take a break now. You’ve done very well,” she said gently to the first guard.

The guard bowed. “Thank you, Your Highness.” He galloped away.

The Princess of the Sun just stared ahead, wondering who this “visitor” could be. Was he a Changeling? Or maybe it was Discord’s work. Somepony who wanted to rebel against her? Whoever he was, he was clearly desperate, and would do anything to talk about whatever the matter was.

She also felt a pang of sadness for the guards that had been killed. They’d just been doing their regular jobs as guards, and the stranger had flat-out killed them! Now those guards would never be able to see their families again, never be able to resume their jobs as guards, and if they had goals in mind, they’d never be able to achieve them. And the pedestrians! They weren’t even involved with the incident, why did the stranger have to kill them as well?

Luna came flying gracefully through the window, and Twilight teleported into the room. They both looked to Celestia.

“What is it, sister?” asked Luna.

“We came here as soon as we could!” said Twilight.

“Fellow princesses, one of my guards just came in, notifying me of a strange visitor who wants to speak to the three of us,” responded Celestia.

“Do you know who it is?” Luna asked, walking up to her sister. Twilight followed.

“No. According to the guard, the stranger killed the other guards when they asked him who he was.”

“He did WHAT???” exclaimed Twilight.

“Why would he do that?!” Luna half-yelled. “Nopony should be so desperate as to kill somepony else! Sister, we should not let him in!” She stomped her hoof on the not.

“We’ve no other choice,” Celestia said grimly. “Come to both my sides, sisters, and keep your guard up in case the time to fight comes!”

Luna and Twilight did just that as Celestia gave permission for the guards to let the visitor in.

After an agonizingly tense minute, the door to the throne room opened. Waiting just outside of the room was what seemed like a stallion. He had on a black cloak that covered the top half of his face and all of his body, but one could clearly see he was a unicorn.

The stallion sauntered in, each step echoing in the dead silence of the throne room. The guards kept their eyes trained on him as he passed by, knowing already what he’d done beforehand. The three princesses had their wings open, ready to fly at the first sign of danger, and mind ready to cast a spell through their horns.

When he was a few meters away from the throne, the stallion stopped. Without his footsteps to add noise to the room, everything was completely silent. Nothing made even a single sound, as if nothing was there.

The stallion smirked under his hood.

"I like this silence. Very calming, don't you think, princesses?" His voice sounded like any other stallion's voice.

Celestia made no response. She just glowered at him. Even though she’d just met him, she could sense that something was wrong—really wrong. Was it the sudden drop of temperature in the air? The dark presence she felt? Or perhaps it was the voice in the back of her head telling her to take off immediately and hide somewhere? She couldn’t tell. Luna sensed it too.

“No?” the stallion asked. He chuckled. “Well anyways, it’s been a long time, Celestia. How has it been? You seem to have grown—“

“I’m sorry, but I don’t believe we’ve met!” interrupted Celestia.

The stallion chuckled again. “Of course you don’t. I wouldn’t expect you to, anyway.”

“Who are you, and why are you here?” demanded Luna.

“Oh, Luna! Almost didn’t recognize you! You look so different!” the stallion said dramatically. Luna and Celestia were confused. Who was this mysterious stranger, and why did he seem to remember them, when they couldn’t recognize him in the slightest way?

“And who is this?” the stallion said, turning his head sharply towards Twilight. The young princess tensed up as she suddenly felt like a dozen bricks had placed themselves on her back. “A new princess?” The stallion seemed to be suppressing laughter. “And what’s your name?”

“Uh, T-T-T-Twilight Sparkle,” stuttered Twilight.

“Interesting name.” He looked back to Celestia and Luna, and Twilight felt the huge weight come off of her suddenly. She sucked in a quiet breath, and let it out.

“I will ask again, who are you, and why—“ Luna began, but the stallion interrupted.

“My fair Luna, maiden of the night, I was getting to that. I was simply asking who the new princess was. I mean, last time I checked, there were only three princesses, and to find Twilight Sparkle here was surprising and—“

Celestia was beginning to get impatient.

“Just tell us!” she yelled. Even though the hood of the cloak covered the stranger’s eyes, Celestia could feel him glaring at her intensely. And she suddenly felt a little scared. The throne room once again grew silent.

“I will expect no more interruptions,” the stallion snarled. He cleared his throat. “Anyways, I am here with a message from my master. His name will remain anonymous until he wishes to uncover it, and so will mine. All I can tell you is that I am his top assistant. And now for the message…” The stallion grinned menacingly, revealing sharp fangs. “Your time is short, princesses. For you, Equestria, and the whole world. Enjoy your lives while you still can. For not too long from now, my master is going to rule this world. But he can’t have you filthy ponies in the way—you might rebel against him and try to overthrow his beautiful empire!

“However, he can’t kill you either. Instead, he’s going to put you in an endless sleep. That way, you won’t be born again in another body, you won’t be able to frolic happily in the land of the dead, and you won’t be able to come back to haunt him as ghosts! No, you’ll forever be in a state of sleep, you won’t die in your sleep ever, you won’t have any dreams, nothing!

“Every stallion, mare, foal, Changeling, dragon—everything will suffer from this never-ending sleep! And you want to know something, princesses? THERE'S NOT A SINGLE THINK YOU CAN DO ABOUT IT!”

Celestia, Luna, and Twilight stared at him, wide-eyed. The whole world in an endless sleep? That would be a nightmare!

The stallion laughed a little before saying, “I’ve revealed enough for now. Oh, and there’s one other thing I need to tell you…”

The three princesses grew quiet, a little scared of what the stallion would say. He just grinned extra wide and said, “There’s another one of you in Equestria.”

“If you’re talking about Cadence, she’s ruling the Crystal Empire!” said Celestia.

“I am not a fool, Celestia, I knew that!” snarled the stallion. “I’m talking about another alicorn in your kingdom. One that is not a princess.”

Celestia widened her eyes. Another alicorn? How could she not know this?! Better question, how come nopony had ever reported seeing an alicorn? After all, an alicorn wasn’t hard to miss. Had he or she done a spell that prevented others from seeing his or her wings/horn and passing off as a unicorn/pegasus?

The mysterious stallion chuckled. “Well, it’s been fun. But I must take my leave now.” Suddenly his cloak flew off, revealing a dark gray coat, white spiky hair, and yellow eyes with slits for pupils. His horn began to radiate darkness that swirled around his body. The temperature in the room became freezing cold.

“Ta-ta, princesses! I’ll see you later!” the stallion said with a wide grin from ear-to-ear. The darkness made a tornado around him, the wind pulling at everything in the room.

“Guards! Don’t let him get away!” Celestia yelled over the roaring wind. The guards rushed towards the dark tornado, but it was too late. The tornado suddenly exploded, blowing back everything its winds touched. Everything of the throne room became dark for a few seconds.

When everypony could see again, the stallion was gone. Not a single trace of him being there. The guards were littered throughout the place, one even hanging from the ceiling. The princesses had been blown against the wall, hitting their heads and blacking out temporarily.

Luna was the first to recover. “Is everypony alright?” she called. Some guards gave a nod, and others didn’t move at all. Luna looked to her sisters, and saw them unconscious on the ground. She began shaking Celestia. “Sister! Sister! Are you okay?”

Celestia opened one eye, then the other. She sat up and looked around.

“Thank goodness you’re alright!” sighed Luna, relieved. Celestia nodded, and then looked at Twilight. When she saw Twilight knocked out, she shook her with one hoof.

“Twilight? Are you awake?” she asked.

Twilight groggily lifted her head. “Yeah, I’m fine,” she mumbled. “Ow, my head hurts.” She rubbed the back of her head with her hoof.

“Sister, everypony is alright, except for a few guards who are knocked out, or worse…” reported Luna.

“Good,” said Celestia, though she didn’t seem to be paying attention. She was thinking too much of the stallion’s message, and the fact that there was apparently another alicorn in Equestria other than herself, Luna, Twilight, and Cadence.

“What is it, sister?”

“We have to fine that stallion, his master, and look for the other alicorn. He or she could be of use in this unavoidable battle. We'll also need the Elements of Harmony,” Celestia said grimly. “We must stop at nothing to keep the world from falling into Eternal Slumber.”

Author's Note:

Did you like it? Anything I can improve? Any grammar mistakes?

I'm always open to feedback, positive or negative! So long as it's not an insult.

Comments

[ideas-happen]

OhwowsocoolIwanttoreadmore.

[Atomic Vortex]

Why is the coverart of Lyra?

[LunaSilverscale]

3080808

The first victim perhaps?

[Atomic Vortex]

3081122
NOOOOOOOO!! D:

[Shimmer305]

3080160 Thanks, I'll try to update as soon as I can! :D

[Prane]

“Killed the other guards! That's terrible!" exclaimed Luna.
"Sounds pretty desperate,” pondered Twilight. “Let’s let him in.”

I'm confused. Shouldn't the Princesses' reaction be more firm? I mean, the Strange Visitor happened to kill some of their guards, and everything we have is Luna's that's terrible. Twilight also acts illogically - I think that in case of danger she'd go straight to the source to neutralize it, yet she just casually comments on the matter. And Celestia? What happened with her usual "I will protect my subjects no matter what?". For me, the scene lacked a typical "You'll pay for what did!" reaction.

Don't get me wrong, it seems that you can get a nice story of it - there's just enough mystery to make the reader interested. And my slight rant above is most likely caused by me reading a story built around Royal Guards about half an hour ago. I just felt bad for them, so if you could at least mention their bravery or describe their deaths as a great loss for the Princesses, it would really soothe my mind. And once again, it's not really your fault, I just happened to stumble upon your story after some deeper pondering over the guards as actual characters, not just plain minions.

[Shimmer305]

3087425 No problem, I love feedback! I was thinking the same thing with the Twilight saying that so casually. Even when I typed that part, I was thinking, The heck? Why would anyone say that when some guards were just freaking KILLED? But at the same time, I wanted that put in the story, 'cause I'm all weird like that. But I will change that part.