The Chronicles of Moonshade

by Kix

Chapter One; Confrontations and Revelations

Author's Note:

I know there isn't as big of a change in this chapter as there was in the prologue, but I really didn't think it needed much, just some additional dialog and some rewording. I hope you guys enjoy.

"NO PLEASE, I… I BEG YOU… DON'T... DON'T KILL ME!" The pathetic creature before me screams while trying to scurry away from me, covered in a mess of shallow cuts all over his body. slowly I advance, cloaked in the shadows so only my eyes are visible, shining like a pair of blood diamonds.

"You don't wish for death, pathetic creature? Fine, I’ll let you taste something sweeter than death." With a smirk my horn glows, pointed directly at the near comatose unicorn stallion. His eyes bulge as my black aura wraps around his own horn. As the spell begins to take hold, a scream of pure terror rings through the night just before he falls onto his side, the rapid movements of his chest as he breathes is the only indicator he is still alive.

As I close with the fallen stallion, my blood colored eyes examine his rigid body, my smirk growing wider. I bring my muzzle next to his ear, which the top has been torn to ribbons, and I whisper coldly, though I doubt he can hear me. Maybe his subconscious will remember this, though. "There are worse things than death. Enjoy your time in my spell. I'll see you when you wake up." The faintest sounds of galloping hooves approaching reaches my ears as I start to leave. However, curiosity takes hold of me and I take cover, waiting and wondering who is going to discover my latest victim.

The wait is not long as they close in, multiple voices are barely heard in the distance, but quickly getting closer until I can make out the words. "What... was that... scream?"

"I don't… know... You...You think that...?"

"I… I hope not... I… I can't take seeing... another corpse"

"Please Celestia... don't let us… get there... too late." Upon mention of the solar princess I perk up, watching as four forms, two unicorns and two earth ponies come into view, wearing the uniform of Celestia's royal guard. Upon the realization of who is coming I have already decided on my next course of action. "I... is he… dead?" huffs one of the earth ponies, his voice chalk filled with dread as a unicorn, surprisingly a mare, approaches the fallen stallion. Immediately my attention focuses mostly on her, noting mentally her insignia of rank.

"No he... he's still... alive, thankfully… but is caught up in some weird dream or something." She answers as her scan is completed, a relieved breath escapes from the quartet simultaneously. "This… this isn't like the… the monster, normally it just---”

"So Celestia's vaunted royal guard finally caught up to me, huh?" My voice booms all around the darkened alleyway, interrupting the unicorn mare and causes all four to drop into a combat stance with weapons drawn, their swords glinting in the moonlight.

"SHOW YOURSELF, MONSTER!" An emotionless chuckle quickly answers her as I step out of the shadows purposefully, my eyes closed as tendrils of black swirl around me, some attaching to my barrel, others to my legs and more to my head while another tendril begins to take the form of a scythe. "By Celestia's command you are under arrest, lower your weapon now!"

"So this is what She sends after me? I'm disappointed, I was expecting her favorite toys to show, or at the very least herself." Once the armor solidifies I give the foals a clear look at me through the bright light. "I'll say this once... return to her ‘highness’ and tell her I'm looking forward to meeting Princess Luna alone in her old castle in a month's time."

"No, you're coming with us. Now drop your weapon and surrender peacefully." Irritation and rage color her voice, the emotions awakening my blood lust.

"You will deliver my message, only now there will be two less of you to deliver it." As my eyes snap open, the scythe slashes forward, catching the other unicorn in his eye before he can react. A tendril of shadow stabs upwards at the same time, catching one of the earth ponies in her abdomen, piercing through her armor and body to jut out from her back.

The two remaining guards jump into action, the Lieutenant's aura surrounds me as the remaining earth pony guard races forward, a collar locking around my horn as cuffs are snapped around my front hooves.

"You'll pay dearly for what you have done, monster." The mare says coldly as she approaches, her voice and glare filled with nothing but rage. "And I hope they'll let me be the one to execute you." She whispers in my ear, a hint of a smile in her words.

With a smile of my own my form begins to melt, the antimagic collar and cuffs clanking as they hit the ground, taking both ponies by surprise as the figure they thought was real melts into a puddle of shadows. "please, you think I'd make it that easy for you?" More tendrils from the shadows wrap around and capture the two guard ponies, holding them in place as I step back into view. "So lieutenant, are you going to go and relay my message yet, or do I have to convince you further?" Her snort of disgust and refusal are all the answer I need.

"Why are you so inter… You want to bring Nightmare Moon back don't you?"

"Maybe, but that is none of your concern. Last chance to leave here peacefully."

"NO I WON'T LET YOU!" with her cry of fury her sword flashes, wrapped in her magic and buries itself in my back, a non lethal blow meant to incapacitate me. Her eyes widen as her faux victory crumples, the sword imbedded in a large solid mass of shadows that has grown from my armor to catch and hold the blade before it is extracted by my own magic.

My horn begins to glow again with it’s black aura as I touch the tip against her own horn. Before I release my spell I lean in to whisper in the lieutenant's ear, watching her reaction just before the spell engulfs her mind. After a short while the spell is released, perspiration flowing steadily from the lieutenant as she wakes up, her breathing is heavily labored as her eyes are filled with pure terror as she cries.

"Th- that can't... No." Tears begin to spill uncontrollably from her tightly closed eyes before she passes out in a heap.

"Now, take your leader and deliver my message and this warning. If anyone but Luna shows up at the castle, especially Celestia's pets, I shall destroy a town per day until Luna appears, starting with Ponyville. Now GO!" I release the two, watching in disgust as he picks up his commander and hurries back in the direction of Canterlot.

As the pair disappears, I turn and examine the wreckage around me. The two dead Royal Guard lay broken and twisted, their blood feeding the shadows as the still comatose unicorn locked in my spell is right where he was left. With a snort the shadows fall from my body, becoming gaseous before completely wrapping around me again, changing my outward appearance and hiding my horn.

When my new disguise completed, including a voice changing spell, I scream at the top of my lungs, using my magic to project traces of fear into my words. "HELP! SOMEPONY... IT... IT STRUCK AGAIN!" As my words echo through the night, the sounds of many hurrying hooves break the stillness, converging on my position.

"What the..... Royal Guard?! This thing killed them?" one of the crowd blurts out, completely in shock.

"I...is he...?"

"No he's still alive."

"Wait, I... I recognize one of those guards!"

"I'm gonna be sick."

"Hey, are you ok?" A silent chuckle bounces around my mind as I stay still, pretending to be unconscious as a few of the crowd notices me, their jumbled conversations ending abruptly.

A few hours later I wake up, feigning grogginess and confusion, mentally noting my roommate is the unicorn from last night. "Shh don't make any sudden movements, are you okay?"

"Wh- Where am I?" the voice alteration spell is still going and inflects the proper tones of confusion and surprise as I speak, adding onto the performance by rapidly darting my eyes around, increasing the tempo of my breathing and even some shivering.

"Canterlot hospital. We were going to keep you back in Hoofington, but due to what happened, Princess Celestia wanted to talk to of you two personally." The nurse replies, concern and fear slowly fading from her voice.

"The... The Princess?!... she… she's coming here?" This is an interesting yet unwanted development. I already begin to sort through my possible options, looking for the most beneficial ones to cover any possible situation. At that time I let my eyes fall on my victim, and another fake shiver courses through my body. "Wha..... What happened to him?" I wonder if these idiot know exactly what is going on or just guessing.

‘Don’t get too cocky. We do not want to have our true purpose discovered, especially not by the false princess.’

Relax, I have all my possible escape routes covered, and even a couple of distractions.

Before the voice can retaliate the nurse answers me. "All we know is he's trapped in some weird spell, but we don’t know what spell specifically." With an inward smile I settle back, deciding to wait for a bit. The nurse finally gives me an opening as she leaves, the only pony with me is my comatose victim.

I form a clone from the nearest shadow to look like my current form as I meld into a cloud and hide inside the ceiling vent. Eventually the wait is over as a flurry of activity picks up in the hallway, the unmistakable voices of the celestial sisters drift into the room. The arrival of Luna yet again throws a rock into my plans, forcing me to reevaluate my options. Before I can decide what path to take, the sisters enter, Luna's pools of cyan going from the clone to the stallion back, her gaze attempting to bore into me as I meld my senses with that of the clone’s.

"I feel it most strongly in here my sister. Darkness is surrounding both of these ponies, specially the mare."

"I see, Luna, and what do you make of it?"

‘Buck it all, we need to leave, now. The fake moon princess can easily sense my presence. And while you are strong and have been trained well, you cannot hope to take on both alicorns at once.’

I’m not, I just want to ensure my message gets delivered.

"Princess, the stallion here is under the influence of some kind of spell, but we can't make out what is going on." The nurse interrupts as she reenters, the charts floating before her.

"Very well, thank you nurse, I shall see what I can find out." Luna's horn begins to activate and glow as she focuses on the stallion. Anxiously Celestia and the nurse wait for her discovery and ideas. "He's locked in some kind of… nightmare, just like the lieutenant was. Now what is wrong with her?" With Luna's focus now directed at my clone it reawakens, forming an expression of surprise at the sight of both rulers. Before it can say a thing Luna's spell is directed towards the fake me and I can immediately feel her presence in my clone's mind. Her mental probe is short lived as her eyes widen in surprise and anger. "GUARDS! SEIZE THIS ONE, NOW!" with her alarm raised Celestia looks at her younger sibling in concern as the room fills with Luna's own lunar guard mixed with royal guard.

"What is it, Luna?"

"She's the one that has been causing this fear amongst our citizens. She is the one responsible for the recent deaths, Tia." Luna explains, covering the clone in her aura as the guards quickly shackle it.

"Hm, you're not as easy to fool as these others are, Luna, or should I say, Nightmare Moon." As I quip back the clone’s disguise falls, revealing my true form, causing me to chuckle a bit as the lunar imposter gives a shiver of disgust at her true name. "You WILL meet me in your old castle in a month’s time, Nightmare Moon, and you WILL come alone."

"And pray tell, how are you going to pull off being there whilst you are in the dungeons or worse?"

"You'll just have to wait and see. As for you, Celestia, don't even try to interfere or sick either your oh so loved Element wielders or Discord on me. If either arrives I will destroy a town of my choosing, as well as wreck the lives of those you hold dearest." As I finish, my clone's body begins to become undone, melting into shadows as the sisters jump in surprise, though Luna’s face also registers shocked recognition.

“M… Moonshade? Is that… is that... really you?” Luna’s question is soft and full of sadness but is slightly tinged with hope and plenty of surprise.

“It… it can’t… how… Moon?” Celestia’s words are filled with pain and in my anger and confusion I accidentally alert them to my escape with a ringing against the metal surrounding me, causing her and Luna to shout. “MOON, WAIT! DON’T LEAVE!”

What was that? Why did they call me Moonshade? And how come they were able to recognize me so quickly?

‘I do not know, you have a plan to escape, right?’

With a snarl I wind my way through the vents before finding an opening. As I take it, the sisters exit the building and frantically survey the area, even doing flybys of the surrounding area. Their attempts only make me laugh inwardly as I veer towards the south and loose them.

Once I’m sure I’m in the clear I land on the dirt path I’ve been following and take my solid form. As I walk in silence I stick to the woods as much as possible until day begins to show signs of breaking. My eyes seek out any hint of a safe, hidden place to sleep the day away. Finally I just settle for laying in a field, as far from the road as I can just as the sun begins to fully clear the horizon as I use my magic to create a small shelter, which camouflages into the surroundings.

Unfortunately, sleep eludes me as I lay in the dew covered grass, watching the nauseating colors of the dulled but still vibrant sunrise, my frustration growing. After a decent, scrounged breakfast and a short nap I take on a new disguise before continuing, pushing myself onward while ignoring the weakening in my legs as the hours pass by.

Eventually I collapse, huffing as the day draws to an end and my legs become rubbery. The lights of the closest city start to grow brighter, taunting me with its closeness which only angers me. As I settle onto my belly I gather any nearby edible plants and berries magically. While there are small critters around, the attempts to catch them quickly drain me of what energy I have.

As I finish my scant snack a couple of ponies in a caravan approaches, stopping as they come alongside me. "You know miss, it ain't safe to be staying out here all alone."

"Is everything ok, you're not hurt, are you?"

"Poor thing, it looks like she hasn't slept for days. Just look at the state she's in. I'll bet she's starving as well." As the trio unhook themselves from their wagons they keep a bit of distance from me, giving me time to respond. My brain quickly formulates what the best response would be and the proper tone of voice to include as they wait.

"I know, I… I didn't realize how far I had to travel and miscalculated. I'm fine, just... tired and hungry." I let loose a yawn as a loud rumbling from my stomache follows, both of which require no faking or magic to produce. "I didn't pack properly and it... has been a while since I ate some real food. And yes, I haven't been able to sleep well lately." As I finish responding two of the ponies lift me up and settles me into a wagon.

"Don't worry miss, you can rest on there, we'll take you the rest of the way." The light pink coated earth pony mare opens a box and empties it of the contents. "Now go ahead and eat, we packed too much and don't want to waste any food. And before you say anything, no we don't want any payment for this." As they hook back up and head towards the lights, the mare of the group focuses on me with a smile, her sea green eyes sparkling with happiness. "What's your name by the way? I'm Lily Bloom, the stallion to my right is Almond and the other stallion is Sunstreak."

"Howdy." The blonde coated earth stallion with a brown and white mane that is sorta spikey greets as Lily points to him first. He turns his head back towards me and nods as he is the one hauling the cart I’m currently occupying.

"Hello there." As she introduces him, my attention turns to the orange stallion to her right. His mane is cut short and neat, red streaks apparent in the yellow.

"So, what's your name?" Lily asks after a couple of minutes of silence, in which I spent examining the scenery, ignoring these three. On both sides of us are a small patch of woods behind a large field dotted with yellow flowers. A couple birds and small animals move through the dancing grass blades. The sun now throwing off its last rays of light.

"Huh, oh it's....." Their interest in me is confusing and increases the unsettling feeling that is quickly growing inside me. A quick shake of my head is a pretense to clear it as I try to think of a name, not remembering if I ever had one or not. "Moon, my name is Moon." I say as I remember the picture that decorates my flanks before I go back to being silent. The stirred up feelings awaken a darker but more comfortable feeling I’m used to, conjuring up images of these three laying in a pool of blood just before the entrance to the city. Maybe I’ll keep Lily alive but destroy her mentally, turn her into a mindless servant or something. For now I just relax and eat my fill before drifting off to sleep as multiple images of these three cross my mind while they engage in a personal conversation, not a hint of unease or fear colors their voices as they laugh and joke.

As night fully falls we near the city and I jump off silently. Sufficiently rested, I disappear into the shadows and cast, surrounding them in a shadowy dome which allows just enough light so they can watch helplessly as I appear, my disguise dropped while I wield my favored weapon.

"Wh... What is going on? Wh... Who are you?"

"What's the meaning of this? let us go!"

"Don't step any closer fiend!" the trio respond at the same time.

"For helping me, I'll reward you by making your quick and painless, Almond and Sunstreak. As for you Lily, I think you'd make a good slave."

"MOON?! WHY… WHY DO THIS? WE JUST HELPED YOU!" Lily cries, huddling behind the two stallions, tears streaming down her cheeks as she shivers, her fear is so thick I can taste it, exciting me as I move in, the scythe ready to strike behind me.

Comments

[Sphinx_Herald]

Right, I think I'll start by getting the errors out of the way.

"I... is he..... dead?" huffs one of the earth ponies, his voic chalk flled with dread

'Voice', 'chalk full of dread'

Another, slightly smaller one being the dialog. Don't worry, it's a minor one which might be how I missed it in the prologue.

"Don't step any closer fiend." the trio respond at the same time.

Again, this is something minor, but it still counts as grammar. If you're describing the way they are talking you don't use a period at the end of the dialog. Instead you use a comma, exclamation point, or question mark. Here are a few examples of what I'm trying to say.

"Don't step any closer, fiend!" the trio respond at the same time.
"Don't step any closer, fiend," the trio respond at the same time.
"Don't step any closer, fiend."

The period marks the end of the sentence. So, used when there is nothing more to say or way to describe it. Also, since I'm on the topic of dialog, if you use a pronoun or an article to describe the person that's speaking you keep it in lower-case, save for 'I'. So instead of "They said" it's "they said", instead of "He says" it's "he says". Again, this is a minor thing, more so than the 'period at the end of dialog' thing. I highly doubt many people other than me will notice or even care it.

Okay, now that my nit-picky little rant is out of the way, onto the actual chapter. I have to say this chapter did catch me rather off-guard, mainly because I didn't think she would be so violent. It is painfully clear that she is a powerful magic user, makes sense given that her parents are Sombra and Luna. She seems rather overpowered, mainly due to her ability to simply phase out of magic inhibiting cuffs and rings, however I have not read far enough into the story to make that judgement for certain. On a side note, I get the sense she has some sort of weakness to the sunlight. I can guess her motivations, though it's rather hard to imagine what must have happened to her over to years to turn her foalish attitude into sadistic glee. Anyways, nice chapter. Until next time,
-Sphinx

Ps. In the upper right-hand corner of my comment you'll find a button of two arrows pointing right. If you click on it it'll allow you to reply to this comment, if you want to that is.

[Marisher]

Besides the concerns of mine that were addressed in the previous comment, what happened to meeting and beating up Twilight Sparkle? That seemed like the next logical step, but instead we up inducing living nightmares on a couple ponies. Any chance we're getting a flashback?

Also, Luna and Celestia don't recognize Moonshade when they see her. With Luna I have no idea what's going on but Celestia has never been anyone else, and you'd think the first thing she did after banishing her sister was go after her niece, but nope. Better for Moonshade to spend a thousand years trapped under a pile of rocks.

And why is Moonshade evil? What makes a mare so young so evil so fast? More reading is required, but first I must rest.