Duskrunner Chronicles

by Gigglebrony

Ch3 Clues at Last.

Pagette turned the pages of her book throughout the night. It seemed the entire first half of the book was just about Duskrunner's daily life. During the day he would spend time among the ponies of Canterlot. Despite his words, he tried very hard to convince some ponies to attempt to enjoy the night. But none of them ever did. Something about the night seemed to scare them despite his assurances that there was nothing to fear. Everypony assumed that, being a magical pony under the protection of the princesses, he was safe from any danger, but they were not.

For years Duskrunner kept trying, and comforted Princess Luna as best he could. But despite his efforts, there still came a day when she became bitter and transformed into Nightmare Moon. When she tried to get him to help her bring about eternal night, he refused, though it broke his heart to do so. She turned on him and said that she never wanted to see him again. When he tried to go back and see her later on, her tower was magically barred against him somehow.

When Celestia was finally forced to trap her sister in the moon, Duskrunner went to her. he was convinced that he would be able to calm the princess and get her back to normal. Pagette turned the page to see what happened next.

=+=+=+=

Duskrunner walked into the grand hall and swiftly made his way to the throne where Celestia sat. For most ponies it would have been all-out running, but for him it was barely speed walking. It took min less than 3 seconds to make it to the throne. Duskrunner did not look like a happy pony as he stiffly bowed to the princess out of habit.

"Princess, I wish to speak with thee."

Celestia sat up stiffly, looking less than happy herself. "Speak, Duskrunner."

"Princess, I wish to see thy sister. I am sure I can calm her enough that she will-"

"No, Duskrunner!" Celestia almost shouted, stamping her hoof. "we wilt not release our sister from her confinement until we are sure of our ability to suppress her again if it be needed."

"Then do not release her. Allow me to go to her. I wilt be able to bring her back from her transformation. I wilt-"

"Duskrunner," Celestia slouched a bit, sighing. "We are aware that thou hast a special relationship with our sister, but we can nay allow this. If thou were to go to her, We are almost certain thou would end up falling under her spell. We would not be able to subdue both of ye if she were to ensnare thee."

"Princess, I must insist that thee-"

"Duskrunner, we have made up our mind. You wilt ne're see our sister before we are prepared. Begone."

Duskrunner stamped his hoof, leaving a solid indention in the floor. He turned and ran from the room, causing a whirlwind to follow. Celestia looked down at the floor and sighed again. She knew that Duskrunner was desperate to see her sister again, but she could also see that he understood, in some small part, why she couldn't allow it. had he been truly angry, his powerful leg could have left a crater in the floor wide enough to swim in. A guard walked in looing concerned, but she waved him away and told him to call in a cleaning crew.

=+=+=+=

Page stared at the page that showed Duskrunner leaving the castle. She had never heard of anypony talking to the princess like that; or acting so rashly anywhere near her. Duskrunner must have been really angry to risk having Celestia mad at him. Page found herself starting to admire the crazy stallion.

As she turned the page, she was glad to see that she was finally getting to the part where the book told about where Duskrunner had gone. The page told about how everypony in Equestria had felt a strong wind blow past them, and there had been the sound of a stampede, but nothing to cause it. This had gone on for days until it suddenly stopped. Then everypony went on feeling slightly fearful that it would start up again.

Page was now on the last page of the book, and felt like she had wasted her time. As she ran her eyes over the last page, though, she started to change her mind.

Though there is little evidence of where Duskrunner finally ceased his run and settled down, many scholarly ponies have made it their life’s work to discover it. It has been stated by a few ponies of note that several strange occurrences came to pass not long after Duskrunner’s absence. Some examples are that a number of weather patterns were disrupted by the raging winds, several smooth roads suddenly appeared in places no pony had ever set hoof, and a large region of Equestria was suddenly covered in ominous craters. Geological experts have stated that there is no evidence of any natural cause.

The most famous and notable occurrence has been studied at great length, but little discovered. This notable occurrence took place in a region not far from Canterlot, which had no name at the time and was just a normal forest. But, exactly 14 days after Duskrunner’s disappearance, and 3 days after the winds stopped, there was a strange explosion that rocked the very earth itself.

This explosion came from the center of what is now called the Everfree Forest. It is noted that this explosion seems to be the cause of the strange and wild nature of the forest. Throughout the years, many scientist ponies have gone in search of the source of the explosion, but none have ever found it. Pegasus that have flown over the forest have reported a strange black mark at the heart of the forest, but have never ventured close enough to examine it.

Some Duskrunner experts believe that the fabled pony has made his home among this wild land. Others believe that nopony would ever survive in that dangerous place for so long, magical or not. Nopony has ever found Duskrunner, but that could be in large part due to the fact that he does not WANT to be found.

Page slammed the book shut and excited bounced around the room. She had a clue! Duskrunner had to be somewhere in the Everfree Forest! All she had to do was go there and look for him!

Page stopped in mid-hop, both because she realized that she was acting like Pinkie Pie and because she had realized what she was thinking. The Everfree forest was a dangerous place that very few ponies ever dared to go into. A young filly like herself would never be allowed in there, even if it was the mystery of a lifetime. And if she tried to go there alone, she would was certain she would get lost and her mother would worry.

What she needed was a guide; somepony who knew the Everfree forest better than anypony else. But where would she find somepony like that? Maybe she could ask Twilight for help, or maybe Fluttershy. They had been there before, but they didn’t know much more about the forest than she did. Plus, the only pony who would probably be willing to take her was Rainbow Dash, and Page didn’t really think she could keep with a Pegasus.

As she paced her room, she felt her stomach rumble. She giggled and headed for her door. Solving ancient mysteries was hungry work. She walked down the stairs and into the kitchen to see if her mother had gotten dinner ready yet.

As she came to the bottom of the stairs, she heard her mother out in the shop. “Alright, here’s your order of clay and paints. That’ll be 12 bits.”

“Thank you, Ribbon, very much. For giving me the paints and such.”

Page giggled again. It was Zecora the zebra. She liked the way the strange pony always talked in rhyme. It made it fun to talk to her, though some ponies complained that they couldn’t stop after a conversation with her.

Now that she knew Zecora, Page had a hard time thinking why she had ever been scared of her. Sure Zecora looked strange, and spoke in funny rhymes, but that was no reason to be scared. She guessed the main reason people had been scared was because she lived in the… Page slapped herself in the head with her hoof. Why hadn’t she thought of that before!?

Comments

[Nexodas]

A very nice story.

I do have a few things you may want to consider, though. In Chapter 1, you made a small typo when you spoke of the two castles. You said Celestia lowered the moon and Luna raised the moon. Secondly, you find that in many books that numerical instances are often spelled out. For example: "Somepony stop those 2!" reads much smoother as "Somepony stop those two!" and such. Those are the only two things I can think of that may help you improve your writing.

As far as the story goes it seems fine. You even remembered to use the royal canterlot voice. I am somewhat curious to see what you do with the plot, and for a first attempt it is quite well written so far.

Keep it up and good work!