Seeking Answers

by Skye Mist

Unpleasant Encounter

"On the longest day of the thousandth year, the stars will aid in their escape, and they will bring about nighttime eternal..."

"What...what's going on?!" Skye cried out as she stood in the Castle of the Two Sisters. Strangely enough, it wasn't completely in ruins.

"The Mare in the Moon is what they'll call them, but it will be no legend..."

"Wha-" Skye was cut off by a cackle in the night sky.

Silhouetted against the moon was a mare. But not just any mare: Nightmare Moon.

"Mother?!"

But she didn't seem to hear Skye. Instead, she fired a beam of magic at another figure in the sky: Princess Celestia.

"A-Am I seeing...the past?"

"A pony from olden pony myth. Defeated by the Elements of Harmony and banished to the moon..."

"What? Who are you? Are you trying to tell me something?!"

Skye felt herself drifting further away from the battle. 'What did that all mean?'

************

Skye blinked open her eyes. 'What a strange dream...'

Elsewhere, an alicorn stirred from her slumber. Putting a hoof to her head, she whispered to herself, "Was that a prophecy? 'On the longest day of the thousandth year, she will return and bring about nighttime eternal...'"

She called for her scribe.

************

400 years later...

Over the last near-half millennium, the technology and economy of Equestria had grown considerably. With it, cities like Baltimare and Manehattan had sprung up.

Skye walked silently through the streets of Manehattan with her hood over her head, her eyes narrowing suspiciously at everything around her, as her disguise, Snow Dusk. As a unicorn, though. Skye had long since figured that ponies would notice if a pony remained constantly young and unaging. Her solution: Two disguises. Both were Snow Dusk, but one was a pegasus while the other was a unicorn; they were also different in mane styles, tails, and voices. She switched them out every so often so as to not arouse suspicion.

Skye had gotten curious of these new developments in Equestria and decided to pay a visit to Manehattan, leaving Majesty and Arctic, who were now fully grown, to tend to the castle.

Turns out, city ponies payed a lot of bits to have singers in their clubs and at events, so she was now walking with a bag of bits in her saddlebags.

She also discovered that the ponies in general were very untrustworthy. She had lost count on how many stallions had tried to seduce her only to have reality buck them in the muzzle, and how many muggers she had to incapacitate.

'I swear, I'm glad I vowed to never be trusting of other ponies after that first stallion tried something.' Skye grinned micheviously for a moment. 'Well, at least he had time to take a nap. I wonder how long he'll be out for...'

As she left the city behind, she turned into her mist form and sped off towards the Everfree. Nearing the darkness of the undergrowth, she reverted back to her pony form, this time as her true alicorn self.

Skye flew high above and scanned the forest below for the peaks of the Castle of the Two Sisters. Finding her target, she dived towards the ruins. She landed gracefully in the middle of a hallway: the same hallway where she had wept in 400 years ago.

"I still haven't explored this entire place yet." She muttered under her breath. "There must be some secret passages around here that I haven't found."

Then, something caught her attention. The sound of hooves off in the distance and a hushed buzz.

"Hello? Anyone there?" She questioned uncertainly.

SIlence rang out. Not a sound stirred the air.

Walking around the ruins, Skye steadily grew more uneasy. It was too silent. Her ears twitched and strained to find any sound, but it was deathly silent. Other than her breathing, she could hear nothing.

What she didn't notice was that her eyes began to emit wisps of purple smoke. Nor did she notice the hushed buzzing that followed.

"Look at her, Stryker. She's obviously the spawn of that monster!"

"Quiet down, Moth. She'll hear you. We wait for Her Majesty's orders."

************

Skye looked up to the sky to see a star-filled sky. "How long have I been here?"

Her eyes drifted to the moon, where a figure was silhouetted. She was then reminded of a song she'd sung in her time in Manehattan. She closed her eyes.

Constant as the stars above,
Always know that you are loved,
And my love shining~
In you
Will help you make your dreams come true
Will help you make your dreams come true~

"Did you feel that, Stryker? All the love!"

"I did feel it and the other emotions as well. And Her Majesty says to move in, so let's, Moth."

"Sheesh, have some fun, Stryker. Just because you're a lieutenant doesn't mean you can shut out your sister!"

"Keep it down. And we're on a mission; I'm supposed to be this way."

Skye flicked her ears. Her eyes closed.

In an instant, dozens of pupil-less eyes shined from the shadows. A message went through all of them. 'Bring her to the hive.'

They erupted from the shadows. Fangs bared, their tattered wings propelled them towards the alicorn.

Skye remained unmoving. They closed in.

"Why are you attacking me?" Skye said, opening her eyes again. That alone caused the forces to stop. Their eyes blinked. Did she just speak Changeish?

"Quite impressive, no? It's amazing what you can find in a book." She said cooly, reverting back to Equestrian. She showed no emotion and stared at the swarm. She raised an eyebrow. "Are you going to answer my question?"

...

"Wow! That's so cool! I never met a pony that knew our language before!" An purple-eyed changeling exclaimed as she popped up beside Skye. Skye gave the young changeling a disconcerted look.

"Moth, get your carapace over here!" A blue-eyed changeling commanded, clearly irritated. "Our mission wasn't to befriend the pony!"

"Shut your trap, bro! Her Majesty's orders were to bring her to the hive. If she comes willingly, it's better for us!" Moth said defiantly.

Her brother, the blue-eyed changeling, used his magic to move his sister towards himself. He growled at her. "Moth, you are seriously going to be punished by Her Majesty when we come back with the pony." He cast her to the side.

Skye quirked an eyebrow. "I'm sorry. One, I have a name: Skye Mist. Two, you still haven't answered my question. And three, I'm not going anywhere. Willingly or not."

The blue-eyed changeling simply grinned, his fangs glowing in the pale moonlight. "Then we'll have to do things the hard way. Attack!"

Skye tensed herself and narrowed her eyes. She felt a wave of fear and anger crash down upon her. She began to emit wisps of purple smoke from her eyes. She, however, did not notice. But others did.

"Lieutenant, is that why she is to be captured?" A green-eyed changeling asked as they attacked.

"Indeed." was the response.

Skye fired her magic at the changelings. Some hit their targets, others didn't. They counterattacked with their own magic.

One word to describe it from Skye's perspective: chaotic.
One word to describe it from the changelings' perspective: frustrating.

As the number of changelings able to fight decreased, Skye's magic supply also decreased. Her magical reserve was running low. It brought forth a painful memory: the time the Timberwolves attacked. She squeezed her eyes shut, trying to rid her mind of it. Skye could take no more of the haunting memories.

Unbeknownst to her, her magic aura turned a sickly shade of black and blue. As she opened her eyes, a magical barrier of dark magic slammed the rest of the changelings back.

Her eyes blinked back to normal, and she immediately fled. Her heart beated rapidly in her chest. As she soared high above the treetops, her eyes almost immediately found the cave entrance, and she dived as quick as she could. Flaring her wings at the last second, she flew directly into the cave instead of landing. As continued down into the cave's darkness, her horn lit up. But it wasn't for light.

To anyone standing outside the cave, it seemingly disappeared. All that could be seen was an empty clearing, surrounded by trees.

Author's Note:

Yay! Got one more chapter done before I had to go back to school!

Comments

[Angel Star]

Ah snap! It's Changelings!

[Skye Mist]

6800666
Get used to it b/c this may or may not be a chapter promoting the sequel. Hint hint wink wink.