The Prelude, Illuminate the Shadows Book 1

by SaphireTsuki

1 Elegy

Changelings have never been accepted among ponydom. Even when they knew we existed, we were seen with suspicion and fright, and our ability to transform was always envied. Even when we make unique disguises for the sake of infiltration it doesn’t change. Ponies fear what they don’t understand, and they will never understand Changelings. We were always meant to be two sides of the same coin, but in the end our future remained unchanged. Well, until the Princesses were in charge, that is. After they took control, we found ourselves at long last able to live alongside ponies, as part of their world, without having to hide. It didn’t last long, however. We found ourselves close allies with the thestrals, and they were loyal to the Alicorn of the night, Luna.

We should never have gotten involved in that war.

1000, Solar Era

Equestria at night was, to put it in a word, beautiful. Everything was still, save for the creatures of the night. The moon was only half full, allowing for deeper shadows, but yet had enough light to see where one was travelling. The stars continued their silent watch over the night, which held a slight chill, proof of the weatherpony’s skill as fall began to grip the land. There was a subtle wind, and of course the wisps of thin clouds that artfully frame the world, the mountain behind, the forest ahead. Almost unnoticed in the beauty of nature was a single rail line heading through the countryside a good mile or two away, silent in the night as was all else. In the shadow, almost completely hidden from sight, a single being was furiously preparing.

Without the light from the moon it would have been much more perilous. The color of her magic, used to light the area and write, would have been a dead giveaway. She worked with precision, careful to not step on any part of her work, her form only noticeable in that there was a stick in her mouth, used to carve her work, and her mane and tail, an attractive shade between red and pink. The way it fell obscured her face, which could only help given the general opinion of strangers around here, and her situation. Her work was a complex matrix, in the center a small, round object. With a long sigh, she closed the magic circle and allowed the stick to drop to the side.

At long last she could begin the spell. It was complicated, worlds beyond what mere ponies would ever think to do, but with the last of her people aiding her, she was able to do it. This spell would fulfill their promise to the thestrals, and more importantly, save a young life before it had begun. It was her last hope. It was their last hope. Her horn lit up at last, the same color as her mane and tail, a flash of color in a previously dark area, and her form was thrown into sharp relief. A pitch black torso as large as the Diarch of the night had been before she was lost, with holes through her legs. Insect wings with complex veins, fangs, and subtle coloring just under where her wings rested, and finally her slitted, reptilian pupils. They were closed for the moment, but if opened would been a gradient of, of course, red and pink... how ironic that a changeling’s eyes, mane, and magic would be the color most associated with love.

Speaking of Love, it poured into her from her drones, hidden throughout the valley. The spell could not be interrupted. Not even the deaths of her guard would be allowed to interrupt her, not this time, not when so much depended on their success. So, inch by inch, the magic swelled. First a tiny glow, little more than sparkles over the ground. They hadn’t time to prepare a more magically conductive surface, but even so she persisted. Finally, after what felt like an eternity but was only at most a minute, a solid line of magic glow surrounded the round object in the center, which one could now see was an egg. It was red, with internal fluids still laying on it, hardened now, due to not having time to care for it.

The glow grew stronger, and stronger still, and at a brightness enough that it was instead casting shadows on the rock that had hidden them, she began to weave the Love that had been granted her, all of it. Every last drop. Now her children were dying, much like fleas, bit by bit and one by one. Love poured into the egg, and into the spell. It was not merely a demand for action, but a prayer as well. Silence was replaced with instruments, a song filled with a mothers love, with hope, with sorrow, and with determination. Harmonic magic, lost to ponies and even to thestrals, the only vestige of such being the Heartsong... and with her death, at long last it would be lost to the world forever.

Even so, she persisted.

With a bright light that seeped into the egg, she allowed at last her own love reserves to enter the song... to allow her own life to bleed into her child. Hoovesteps were heard, felt, an entire contingent of the guard surrounded her, but their weapons could not breach the small field, unnoticed by her, of magic between the two. It was at a point where she could only say she had won... even if they had the Alicorn Princess of the Sun with them the spell could not be interrupted. Not now. Even now building, the brightness of her magic was now so strong that even she could feel it, behind her eyelids. Unseen instruments built to a crescendo.

She felt it. The magic took hold, flying up, to the sky, beyond reach of mortals, to the stars and the moon and even, though none realized it, to harmony itself. The light abruptly faded away, and when it was finally low enough for the ponies to look.... their target was gone, the matrix no longer visible, with no damage to the surroundings. If they had thought to look, they would see a portion of the light heading deep into the forest, to Hollow Shades, where it landed in the middle of town, to reveal the Changeling Queen. Now a shadow of her former self, huddling over her vibrant, shimmering egg, she shouted in the harmonic tones of her people. “I, Queen Polaris of the Starsung Hive, have come in the name of our treaty. Grant us Sanctuary!” She said it once more, for emphasis, and then passed out.

The queen didn’t know how much later it was, but she woke to candlelight. The first thing she did was attempt to jump, but she did not have the energy to do so. The second, to frantically look around for the egg, only stopping when she saw it's blurry hue. She didn’t know if she was seeing her mane or tail, or if it was the egg itself, but she could feel the rushing of blood that said if she kept trying to look, she would only hurt herself. Then, a dark blue color of some sort entered her sight. “Queen Polaris, I see you are awake.” She couldn’t really speak right now... “Ah, yes, that would be the anesthetic. We’ve managed to stabilize your mana core but there is little we can do about your love deficiencies. Honestly, how you’ve survived so far is a mystery to me... regardless, give me a moment.” A few adjustments, and a blessedly cool sensation, her eyes finally focused. It was a Thestral, her owl-like feathers and oversized, albeit folded at her sides and appearing not to be so, wings were all the proof needed. However, more than that, she had the tufted, extremely fluffy ears, the fluffy coat, and slitted eyes characteristic of them.

She tried to speak, gurgled, and swallowed. Blessed liquid, her own saliva, and then the Thestral was putting a teacup of water, pouring it down. While she drank she checked the room she was in, it was dark, with wood construction seeming to grow out of the plant, she could tell that they were on a branch. Either she was in the outpost just above Hollow Shades, or she was in one of many different villages within Thestral territory. Her bed was soft, the finely woven cloth below and above designed for maximum comfort, and the room smelt clean. That didn’t matter to her, but her Queen’s mind filed it away, ignoring for the moment the dead silence of an empty Hivemind. She tried again, once she had swallowed enough, “Need... Paper,” She didn’t know why her throat hurt so much, but she abandoned any attempts at a full sentence, “Quill... Please.”

“Whatever for? You must rest.” The kind Thestral, ah, now details were filtering in. Blue eyes, long manestyle. She was wearing a nurses’ uniform, so she was Equestrian trained. The Queen tried to sit up, but was stopped by the nurse.

“No time.” That wouldn’t be enough. Why couldn’t she be a changeling? A quick integration to the Hive and they could talk without such effort. Bah, if she were a changeling then she would be dead... it was best not to wish for what must not be. “Daughter?”

“The egg? It’s fine. We have several guards watching over it, and are keeping it warm. It... needs to be kept warm, yes?”

“Won’t hurt.” She flashed a relieved smile, but the Queen’s expression darkened, “Quill, ink, paper.” She coughed, before forcing out, ”Please.” The woman still didn’t understand, and she was growing more worried. “Dying.” Ah, the shock that had been expected. The Thestral drew back as though struck. “Can’t feed. Protect daughter.” She was rushing out the words, but had to stop. “Lessons, knowledge. Must be passed down. No hive, no,” She was beginning to wheeze with the effort.

“You must rest!” Polaris would have sighed, but she didn't have the strength. Not only was she coughing, but her limbs felt like stone. Her sight started to spot, and around the edges shadow was visible.

She thought, as the nurse pulled the blanket up her, What a kind mare. She would make a good mo- her thought didn't even finish, the darkness closing over as though it were a curtain over the play of her life. When next her eyes opened, there was a blank book, and writing utensils. Everything she would need. It was easier to move, but she knew it wouldn’t last long. She bent over, opened the book, and began to write.

My dearest daughter, I know not what name you will be given, but mine is Polaris. I was the Queen of a Hive of Changelings, the Starsung Hive. There is much I must teach you, hopefully before you begin to mature...

---

Elegy, an instrumental lament with praise for the dead.

Author's Note:

Well, here you go, the new and improved version of Illuminate the Shadows. I know no one read the old one, which is actually quite the blessing because this story is going to be quite a bit different. Next chapter will be the beginning of the story proper, and starting the life of our little Changeling Princess. I'm still feeling out where I'm going to go, but that's fine... this first part of the story is just the same, little Moonlight finding what path she wants to take in her life. If you're curious, yes Chrysalis is going to enter the story at some point.

There are a few parts of this chapter which I struggled to write, mainly towards the end, and I almost didn't have the entire hospital room scene until a friend from a different website helped me. While writing I listened to this video for most of it.

Comments

[Toriandthehorse]

Wow. This is incredible. Very few stories are written this beautifully, and this is one of them. Wow. Stories like this don't come around often; the ones that touch your heart and make you think.. those are rare. Here you really see what a story should have. I absolutely love this to pieces.
Thanks for writing such as story.

[SaphireTsuki]

9883840
Thank you so much for the compliment! I hope that I continue to hold up the quality you praised so highly.

[EverfreePony]

Lovely read so far, with superb work on the details and the beautiful and serene atmosphere. However, it seemed that sometimes you went a little overboard with how poetic you wanted to be, creating overly long run-on sentences that broke my immersion in the tale momentarily. The same goes for quite a lot of typos, tense shifts, and some randomly capitalized words. Can help you comb for these if you wish

[SaphireTsuki]

9999137
I would greatly appreciate the help. For the most part I've had to... limit how much editing I can do. I reread my story recently and noticed several points where I made typos or capitalised, partially out of habit from my hobby of roleplaying. I haven't gone over and marked all of them yet, but I plan on going over the chapters soon and would appreciate any help finding them in case I missed some.

Aside from that, I'm really glad that you're enjoying it! If you don't mind me asking, are there any places where you think I was able to pull something off properly, or where you think I need to work on? I won't ask for a full review, I just want to know what sort of things stood out to you, again if you don't mind taking the time to type it out.