• Published 24th Sep 2012
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Light and Shadow - oop



A young inconspicuous colt of Ponyvillian residence explores the time between widely renowned seasons 3 and 4, and through his eyes are seen the magnificent events which transpire.

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Chapter 20: Luna

Shadow looked around curiously, unsure of where he was or how he’d found his way to his present location, and was more than a little confused by it all. The night sky was twinkling above him, a dull navy blue in the bright light of a full moon. His hooves were hidden by a multitude of flowers, the petals colored the same periwinkle shade as the sky above. He turned a circle, rustling the plants as he did so, finding no obvious horizon, only more flowers. He took a whiff, finding the scent difficult to detect. It could have been blueberries, he was oddly sure of the fact they smelled like blueberries, but the idea of their scent could have been imagined. In a vague attempt to confirm the smell he took a bite out of the nearest bloom, finding it pleasing to eat, but the taste no clearer than the smell. Something was off about this place, but he wasn’t bothered by that in the slightest.

The flowers continued to shuffle under his hooves as he started walking. With no destination in mind he simply enjoyed the crisp night air and the pervasive blueberry scent. He flapped his wings once, finding flight easy, taking to the air as if wind resistance and gravity were totally gone. He began a free-floating sort of air trot, taking huge leaps then gliding down with a poof into the plants again. This action continued for what felt like a very long time, not getting bored in the slightest, until he suddenly felt a strange and insistent compulsion to turn around.

Deciding another turning observation could hardly be counterproductive (but not thinking in nearly such elaborate words) he swiveled around, surprised, but not startled, to find himself facing Luna. He wanted to call out, say something like “hey mom, where are we?” but found he couldn’t open his mouth to ask. Still possessed by the strange sense of calm this area gave, he merely stared silently back at her.

“Shadow,” said Luna “You will come at once to the celestial tower to meet me, do not bring Lightning.”

Despite the obvious flaw of not being able to speak, Shadow fully intended to ask at once where he was in the first place and how he was supposed to get back to the castle from here. But before he had the chance to so much as try and speak he was jerked violently back to the reality of his bedroom, staring up at the high ceiling from his top bunk.

“Are you alright up there?” Lightning’s tired voice floated up from below “It’s like two in the morning… shut up…”

So he had been talking in his sleep, wasn’t that fantastic. What had he even said? Maybe his inability to speak in the dream hadn’t carried over to the real world. In that case he could only hope he hadn’t said anything detrimental. “It’s nothing, go back to sleep.” He said, hoping she wouldn’t question it further.

“Well it’s obviously something,” said Lightning, a shuffling sound conveying to Shadow that she had sat up in bed “Bad dream?”

“Yeah…” said Shadow “I’m going to go get a drink…” he hopped off onto the plush center bed and started for the door.

“Um, Shadow,” said Lightning “The pop machine is over there…”

Shadow gulped as Lightning clambered out of bed and walked over to him “Are you going to tell me where you’re really going or am I going to have to beat it out of you?”

It was a tense moment to say the least, particularly because there was no doubt in his mind that Lightning would absolutely attack if he didn’t provide some quick answers. The fact that Luna had told him specifically to go without Lightning was tricky, but if he told her she would more than likely insist on coming. Gears whirred wildly in his mind as he tried to figure out the best course of action.

“Look, Shadow,” said Lightning “It was just a dream alright? It wasn’t real so just tell me what’s got you so freaked out okay?”

A surge of relief flushed through his mind. Yes, it was just a dream, what was he getting so worked up about? “Okay, fine” he said, unwilling to give Lightning the satisfaction of being right by agreeing too quickly.

The next five minutes were spent explaining the entire dream to Lightning, consisting of about as much time as it would take to read four long paragraphs of a novel. Lightning listened curiously, bored at first, but immediately perking up upon hearing he had dreamt about Luna.

“Well you know,” she said as he finished “Princess Luna is well known for her ability to cross into ponies’ dreams.”

“Well it’s still probably just a coincidence right?” said Shadow “It really was just a dream, I mean why would she want me to go up to the tower? We’re not even allowed in that part of the castle.”

“Actually I don’t think it can be…” said Lightning “You can’t just dream about Luna, she actually has to want to appear in your dreams. I think it has something to do with the whole Celestia versus Nightmare Moon thing…”

His heart sank again, he really had just spilled the beans about this to Lightning “Well I guess I should go see what she wants…” he said, praying Lightning would let the matter rest.

“You mean “we’re” going to go see what she wants,” said Lightning with a confident smile.

“Well um…” said Shadow, trying to think of some way to not offend her “Mom kind of said I was supposed to go alone… I think it’s important or something…”

“So?” said Lightning, the prospect of another adventure setting her tail to bounce again “Since when did we ever follow rules just to follow rules? Not that you’re the one who gets to decide what I do anyway.”

Shadow flinched, this was almost exactly what he expected her to say “I really don’t think that’s a good idea this time Light…” he said cautiously “Mom sounded really serious about this, like, really serious…”

“Like I said, not your call,” said Lightning, tugging on the secret book and sending the door swinging open “Let’s go already Shadow, she may be mad if I’m there but imagine what she’ll say if you aren’t!”

As usual Lightning’s argument was completely airtight. He sighed, resigning himself to follow her down the impossibly dark hallway. The castle really was frightening at this time of night. With the torches snuffed the space between windows was too dark to see each hoof placed in front of the other. Even the occasional wisp of bright moonlight provided little to no solace from the inky blackness. Lightning’s shivering was perceptible every time they bumped into each other, but Shadow felt oddly serene. It could’ve been due to the fact that he was Luna’s son, or because he spent most of his life very close to the Everfree forest, but the dark on its own had never been enough to frighten him. It was true that light could hide terrible monsters and the like, but he had knowledge many foals his age did not, that the darkness could hide him from the monsters just as effectively.

Some magic must have been guiding them that night, because even though during the daylight they wouldn’t have been able to find the silver ladder, they walked right to the tiny room in total darkness. A light snoring from either side conveyed that the guards posted on the staircase had either fallen, or been put into a deep slumber. This could either be a very good sign or very bad depending on which it was, and Shadow desperately hoped it was the former.

They ascended the ladder again, Lightning first this time, but stopped as they reached the heavy trapdoor. No words were spoken, they both knew why Lightning would have reason for pause, and Shadow was either too tired or too afraid to urge her on. It was a tense moment, somewhere between the mysterious darkness and whatever it was they would see at the height of the central tower. It was a long time before Lightning finally found the strength in her hooves to reach up and throw open the door.

It was much brighter on the Celestial tower-top than it was in the hallways, as Lightning and Shadow quickly discovered. The light of the stars and full moon danced over the mirror-like floor with a harsh light. The lunar orb itself hung in what seemed like the perfect center of the sky, reflecting directly under hoof in the polished glass. Shadow looked up as he stepped out of the trapdoor, surprised and intimidated to see not only Luna, but her solar counterpart standing together at the edge of the tower’s precipice. They looked down at the two foals with an almost identical expression of reverence. This, if nothing else, was cause for intimidation. Whatever was happening here was deadly serious.

“I instructed you to come alone,” said Luna in a toneless voice that still conveyed her disappointment.

“Sorry…” was all Shadow could muster to say.

“Luna, there’s no time for specifics,” said Celestia “Arguing would only cause us to lose more time. If she insists then let her make the journey. You’ll need every hoof…”

“Journey?” asked Lightning curiously, the bravado of being here against Luna’s wishes in the first place keeping her a bit steadier than Shadow “Where are we going?”

The question was ignored as Luna and Celestia turned back to gaze out over the starry night sky. The few flickering lights of the city below were a perfect contrast to the swirling expanse above. The moon seemed unusually large as it hung in the sky, a fantastic center jewel in Luna’s crown of stars. Twin glows pierced into the darkness as Luna and Celestia lit their horns together with intense magical energy. The striking yellow of Celestia drove like a spear into the night, illuminating the path from her horn upward like the sparkling path of an arrow. Luna’s, a deep calming blue, sped upward on a perfect parallel, blending into the darkness and quickly vanishing. Slowly and imperceptibly, the two beams of magic expanded, the colors of light and shadow blending into each other as they connected in the space between, becoming a bright striking light.

A dull, flat hum rose from the base of the tower, sounding like a violin being strummed along one of the lower strings. The royal sisters backed slowly away from their magic beams as they fell across the sky to land against the edge of the tower. With a sudden imperceptible movement, the light morphed, changing into a jagged stair’s step, leading upward into the night. The princesses had created a staircase of light, leading to somewhere in the deep dark.

Lightning remained still, staring in wonder at the magnificent display of archaic magic, stunned into a shocked silence just by the majesty of it all. Shadow, slightly more bold, edged forward to nudge the surface of the first step. It had some give under his hoof, and for a moment he was possessed with the mental image of sinking his hoof into an overly large marshmallow. He backed away quickly, opting to wait for further instruction from Luna before tampering with the magic any further.

“You must be swift,” said Celestia, her weariness from the spell hardly showing “The night is already failing, if it continues for long in the summer the kingdom may grow fearful…”

“I am aware,” said Luna, rising to step onto the glowing stoop “Come along now Shadow, as she said, make haste.”

Shadow didn’t dare argue, clambering up behind Luna, Lightning following suit immediately behind. It took a moment to learn the stable footing of the stairs, by which time Luna had already walked up, wings spread to each side majestically. The two foals could only struggle to their hooves and emulate the best they knew how.

Given the magical nature of their pathway upward, it should have come as no surprise that Canterlot fell away from them at a disproportionally fast pace. It seemed as if every step forward brought them another mile higher, the dim lights of Canterlot sinking quickly away before vanishing entirely. Shadow was used to heights, of course, but nothing like this fast. Before long they would be further and higher up than he had every even dreamed of flying. Poor Lightning, whose experience with heights ended with the tree house, was already starting to feel sick.

“Are you alright?” Shadow asked her, turning around so he could walk back to her “You don’t look so good, do we need to stop?”

Lightning shook her head resolutely, taking a deep breath to help steady herself “I’m fine,” she managed to say without hurling “It’s just that, you know, I’ve never been up this high…”

Shadow looked forward to where Luna was still walking, albeit much slower, as if to urge them to pull themselves together and continue upward. “Come on then…” he said, helping her up, then allowing her to lean against him for support. A nod was all he received in thanks as they half climbed, half bounced forward across the starry night.

It wasn’t long before the pale navy of the sky gave way to the inky black darkness that Shadow recognized as what he called the star level. A few stones floated past as they kept walking, huge and intimidating as they were, they passed consistently above and below, their deadly potential masked by their slow and steady pace. With a jolt of realization, Shadow thought of the other times he had been on this level of the sky. Usually the darkness would bring with it shortness of breath, due to the lack of air, as well as almost total weightlessness. Whether it was by the power of the magic staircase, or some tampering of Luna alone, neither of these effects had come into play. He felt a short pang of annoyance for the fact he wasn’t able to get away with these shortcuts himself, but it passed quickly as Lightning shook the shoulder she was leaning on.

“Shadow…” she said in a voice that contained some deep seated terror “I think I know where we’re going…” she brought them both to a halt so she could point forward at the lunar sphere that now dominated the path ahead, seeming to envelop the entire sky. It was shocking to look up and see now, probably because his gaze had been trained hard on Equestria falling away from him, but it was clear enough now. He nodded to convey his understanding and kept walking.

It was never clear at any point that the staircase changed from upward to downward, but at some point it must have. Because when they finally descended onto a solid terrain they were going downward. Luna looked from left to right over the pock marked gray landscape, a look of somber remembrance coming over her. Lightning and Shadow stumbled down only a moment later, landing with an audible poof as dust flew up around them in a cloud.

Shadow stood, now dusted a pale white that made a terrible contrast with his fur. Lightning followed suit, able to stand on her own now as the ground was more solid. The place where they had climbed to was a strange sort of dark, with no light from the sky above, but with a strange sort of glow all about the ground. It was dusty, very, very dusty, and the dust was an odd color of white that didn’t match any sort of sand the foals were familiar with. Luna, still preoccupied by the landscape, allowed them to approach.

“Mom…” said Shadow in a slightly quavery voice “Are…are we…?”

“Yes,” said Luna, letting out a long breath “This is… the moon…”

The crater strewn white landscape took on a whole new dimension just with the utterance of these words. This was the moon, the Moon, the one that rose every night and fell every morning, the place that, for almost a thousand years, had been Luna’s prison as she wrestled with the spirit of Nightmares Moon. It was a symbol of hope, strength, and a light path in the dark of the night, a monument of Equestria that had stood since the beginning of time. Surely no pony had set hoof on this hallowed ground for centuries…

A mixture of repressed excitement and terrified reverence surged through Shadow’s mind. He wasn’t sure if he should feel honored or afraid to be here at all. Within these thoughts was still the mystery of why Luna had brought him here in the first place, why she would do something so very dangerous. Sure this landscape was one he would keep in mind as long as he lived, but there was surely some darker motive behind all this, something that had to do with a balance far greater than he could comprehend…

Lightning shivered beside him, looking pale and frightened by some unseen terror. “This is as good of a training exercise as you’ll ever receive Lightning,” said Luna, almost on cue “If you had to create a song to represent this place, how would it go?”

The expression of terror in Lightning’s eyes seemed to grow slightly as she cast about for the answer. “I…I don’t know…” she said with a stutter “There’s nothing here… it’s all… silence…”

“Indeed,” said Luna “The best way for you to identify your focus on the echo of time is to know where it is not present. No song has ever been uttered on this Queen forsaken land and none ever shall…” As if noticing Lightning’s terrified expression she continued “This may be the only place you cannot hear the echo in the entire realm of Equestria. The reason you haven’t noticed it before is that there are so many songs you don’t even know you hear them.”

Lightning nodded, training her eyes on Luna as she relaxed slightly. The notes of Shadow’s lullaby filled a void in her mind she hadn’t even noticed before. Whatever this skill entailed for her, she hoped it wouldn’t always bee this high maintenance.

The princess of the night began walking again, the two foals sticking to her sides to ensure they wouldn’t be lost on the vast and repetitive lunar landscape. There was no indication of movement as they raised and lowered each hoof as every crater looked just like the last. To break the monotony somewhat, Shadow jumped, attempting to take to the sky, and found the first bound propelled him high over Luna’s head. Elation pushed intimidation aside as he made the first attempt to flap his wings.

His elation disappeared in a single muscle motion. Despite the powerful sweep of his wings there was no air to catch and ride, leaving him to fall slowly down back onto the dusty ground. Heat rose up his neck as Luna glared down at him, conveying again the sense of reserved dignity that was afforded to the blank landscape. Spirits sinking, Shadow returned to the slow, steady trek across the dust.

Fortunately for the sanity of all involved a monument at last rose up from the dust. It was easy, very easy to miss, so well blended in to the rest of the landscape that Lightning and Shadow didn’t see it at all. Only the eye trained to this world for a millennium was able to see the single altered aspect, and guided the young ones to it. The monument itself was nothing more than a large lifted bump among the ground that was mostly pushed inward. The crescent moon shape carved into the side of the mound was all but invisible until Luna’s horn came alight with magic, causing the symbol to glow a pale blue. Lightning gasped, and Shadow came to a terrified halt as the rock slowly slid open, revealing a small hole.

“This is where you are required, Shadow,” said Luna, the Light of her horn extinguishing “The gap is too narrow for me to pass through myself.”

“Wait a minute,” Lightning interjected as Shadow moved forward “You still haven’t explained to us what exactly we’re doing here, if we go down that hole we won’t know what’s going on or what we’re supposed to do!”

“Lightning, just listen to her…” Shadow said, already resigning himself to Lightning’s stubbornness.

“For the sake of time I will explain,” said Luna, probably anticipating the same thing “There is an important magical artifact hidden in this cavern. Due to some worries Celestia and I have determined that it would be easier and safer to defend in Canterlot.”

“So why do you need us?” Lightning needled “Can’t you just get it with magic? Or if you can’t do that just teleport yourself inside?”

“There is more protecting the artifact than just its remoteness,” said Luna “There is a negative magical field around the cavern, preventing any spells used to get inside as well as the artifact itself. The artifact cannot be removed from the cavern with the intent to keep it in your own possession. It must be removed for the sake of someone else.”

“A treasure…” Lightning said, turning back to the cavern as her mind whirled “That only a kid could get and only for someone else… whoever made this was seriously sick in the head…”

Luna felt a slight twinge in her heart, she had been desperate to protect the shard, not angry toward those who might seek it. “The artifact is a helmet,” she said “A blue one, like the ones worn by the night guard. But it’s much larger, as well as slender. Can you retrieve it?”

Shadow gave a determined nod while Lightning gave her usually characteristic shrug “I guess if it means that much to you, sure.” She said “But if a moon monster eats us I’m not going to be at all happy.”

A smile slipped past Luna’s lips at this statement, the filly’s uncanny ability to jest even in such dire times becoming situational perfect. “Good luck,” she said “I know you can do it.”

“Are you coming or not?” Shadow hastened Lightning forward, already at the tunnel entrance “We don’t have much time remember?”

“I’m coming, jeez,” said Lightning, throwing off a quick salute as she followed Shadow “Let’s go already lamebrain.” One at a time the pair vanished into the impossibly dark tunnel, totally lost from sight. Luna nodded, taking a firm stance near the entrance, prepared in case… something happened…

The sight of a sickly viridian glow on the horizon confirmed her suspicions, “something” was coming indeed…

Author's Note:

Yep, this whole final story arc is actually going to end up moving along much faster than I initially anticipated. My theory is that this is going to be... fourth to last of the chapters? I hate to make assumptions because they always end up wrong but that's what you can hope to see. Can't wait to finally say I wrote an entire full-length fanfiction, so you can look forward to finishing this story at long last.
Best wishes, Comet Chaser.