May the Shadows Hide my Secret

by Fire Feather

Long Ago This Happened

An indistinct shape flitted through the shadows of the Everfree Forest and into the castle of the two royal pony sisters. Once inside, it solidified into a pony wearing a dark cloak that seemed to render it invisible to all of the guards. The cloaked figure ascended the stone stairs silently, glad that the cloak also silenced all noises made by the pony. Not hesitating once, the pony made their way to Luna's tower with not a single guard noticing it. Once outside the door, a gray hoof reached out and pushed the door open, stepping into Luna's room.

At that moment, Luna was deep in nightdreams, remembering her childhood. She was instantly taken back to when she was a filly, and going to the Academy for Gifted Unicorns. That was before Celestia had grown up and turned it into something even better.

"Come on, take the cloak off. Nopony will notice. Please?" A gray foal begged her.

"No! I don't want to," Luna responded angrily, looking at the foal like he had grown another head.

"Why not?"

"Because I'm a freak!"

"No, you're not! I like you just the way you are, and I think you look fine."

"But that's just you. What about everypony else? They think I'm a freak! You've heard them. Remember the one who tried to pull my wings off?! He almost succeeded! I couldn't fly for days."

"Yes, I remember. But nopony can see us right here. Plus, they're all too busy showing off the spells that they just learned. Pleeeeease?"

"Fine," Luna said as she reluctantly removed her cloak, exposing her tiny wings. "There. Happy?"

"Yes," The gray foal said, nodding his head. Then he reached forward and started shaking her, saying her name over and over, but in a deeper tone of voice. "Luna, wake up!"

Luna's eyes shot open, and she leapt to her hooves, her horn aglow and ready to defend herself. She looked wildly around, searching for the source of the disturbance. Her eyes alit on a sheepish looking stallion who had his own, curved horn aglow as well. Upon seeing him, she relaxed slightly, letting the spell she had ready power down. "Sombra? What are you doing here? And why has your poor horn become curved?"

"Heh. Hi, Lulu. Nice to see you?" Sombra said nervously, backing away slightly. The hood of his cloak had fallen down, showing his unnaturally curved horn and fangs. Luna stepped forward, a sad expression on her face. "NO!" He said loudly, startling Luna. "Don't touch me. I don't want to make you sick too," He said, his voice taking on a softer, more caring tone.

"Can we fix it?" Luna asked in a slightly desperate tone. "There has to be a way we can fix it."

"No, love. I've tried. The darkness can't be removed. Once it affects you, you're done for. But that's why I'm here," He responded quickly, looking at her steadily. "Remember what we researched? The spell the alicorns came up with to save themselves? I think we can use that."

"How so? It utilizes the magic of two ponies to create a pony form, a... child of magic..." Her voice trailed of, the implications of what she was saying dawning on her suddenly. "Oh. But you can't seriously be considering that. The darkness in you... You'll transfer it."

"But I won't. I still have enough of my own power remaining to do this, Lulu. You have to trust me. Please. I'm dying anyway," Sombra said, begging Luna. "Please..."

"Very well. I shall do it," Luna responded reluctantly, not meeting Sombra's eyes. "But are you sure?"

"Yes."

And with that word, Luna and Sombra stepped forward and touched horns, channeling as much magic as they dared through them. Within seconds a glowing bubble had formed around them, sealing them off from the outside world. Outside the bubble, the contents of Luna's room were swept up in the winds created by the powerful magic. Inside though, it was the eye of the storm, with no wind whatsoever. Even Luna's waving mane was still.

Slowly, a blob of magic formed between their horns, growing larger by the second. Something vaguely pony shaped formed inside the blob as the spell continued. Meanwhile, outside of the bubble, Luna's belongings crashed around loudly, denting the walls, floor, and ceiling. The noises were so loud that they awoke Celestia from the deepest of sleeps. Rising from her bed, Celestia called upon the Royal Guard, leading them to Luna's room.

When she flung the doors open, Luna's head swiveled, briefly disrupting the spell. The Royal Guards were flung violently away by the winds, and only Celestia was left standing. Celestia could only stand and watch speechlessly as the spell progressed. She tried firing bolts of magic that would stop the spell, but the bubble only absorbed the blasts and channeled them into the growing blob of magic. Soon it was as big as a barrel. A shell of sorts begin forming around the blob, turning it into an egg.

Luna, believing that the spell was coming to a close, started to reduce the amount of magic that she was contributing. Celestia, though on the outside, knew that that was the wrong thing to do. She could see Sombra struggling, trying to maintain his darkness free magic, but failing as the darkness consumed him. The dark magic exploded in all of its terrible rage, sending Celestia flying backwards into a wall, promptly knocking her unconscious. Luna however, still linked to Sombra by magic, felt the dark magic seep into her, corrupting her as it had done to Sombra. Sombra was immediately teleported back to the Crystal Empire where he would become its tyrannical leader.

The egg however, was teleported to the crystalline caverns beneath Canterlot, where it would remain for a long thousand years, waiting...

Author's Note:

This is my first story. Please be nice. I know I am terrible at romance and cliffhangers, but I tried anyway. Feedback is appreciated.

Comments

[A Nobody]

This is a really great story! The concept so far is good, and the way you portrayed the characters makes me want to read more! Athough, you need to be careful. Stories like this one can easily go wrong if not done correctly. This could cause a bit of backlash, but it's good just to keep going.
So far, really great! ^-^ I want moar!

[Fire Feather]

-Ace Pilot What would be considered going in the wrong direction? I would like to know.

[A Nobody]

6149907 Well, there are many instamces where the story gets out of hand, and the cause of this is normally the characters in it become Out Of Character. Out Of Character in the story-verse, anyway. You've set up a certain interaction behavior between Luna and Sombra, and you need to be careful of too much straying from that, and also too much of it. Every story needs a balanced middle. For instance, if Sombra and Luna were to have a fight, but they can't stay angry with one another, you could stretch their feelings out across multiple chapters, and then have them get back together.

The illness can also lead to problems, but I'll touch on that later. ^-^ I hope this helped?

[ice wing]

I like it but it does need a little more. I really liked when Luna said "can we fix it?,"