Prologue: Under The Silhouetting Moon (Edited & Extended)
I walked through the path in the forest, the tree's seeming to part as I walk past them. Almost as if the forest was calling me. I continued to walk, not letting anything distract me. I heard the moment you step off this path, the forest will take you somewhere you won't be able to escape from. Even if that was made-up, I wouldn't take that chance.
I looked up from the path to see the moon, Shinning brighter than ever. The clouds in the sky float in front of it, obscuring the moon. Looking back down; I noticed a figure of a pony in the distance. It was completely shrouded in the shadows of the forest. I could make out a long horn and a pair of wings.
Although I almost missed the wings, as this pony's coat was a dark color. With the size of her, I could tell she was female. I began to put the pieces together. An alicorn, female and dark colors.
"Luna?" I said, walking up to her. Pulling her hoof up, she pulled back her hood to reveal her face.
"Sorry for scaring you... With all the strange events happening, we are still worried something is lurking around here..." She brought her head down to make eye contact with me. "Better safe than sorry, right?" I nodded, looking behind her. Off in the distance stood a tall tower covered in overgrown vines.
"Is that where we're headed...?" I asked, looking back at Luna. She just nodded in response.
"Then we should probably hurry... That seems to be quiet the distance, and I don't think we're alone here..." Again, she nodded, turned, and began to walk in the direction of the tower.
It had been a couple of moments before I had said anything. Luna had even pulled her hood back on.
"So what do you believe is causing these strange things to happen around equestrian?" Looking to me, Luna just stared at me for a couple moments.
"The shadow, we like to call it." She finally said, looking back at the path. "It seems to take the form of a large floating black shadow... Though, I believe it’s something more sinister than it appears... I cause tragedy where ever it is seen." Luna was staring at the ground, now, making it clear that she wasn't happy talking about this. I was about to stop her, but then she continued.
"Did you hear about the Manehattan incident...?" I nodded, waiting for her to continue. "The bridge between the islands collapsed into the water, leaving Manehattan disconnected from the rest of the world for a week..." Luna paused, looking up at the moon, still shinning brighter than ever. "That was The Shadows doing..."
Luna turned back to me, a sorrowed frown crossing her face. I could almost see her crying, but her hood covered up her eyes, leaving me standing her, feeling like I need to comfort her. I brought up my hoof and placed it gently upon her shoulder, hoping I was enough to comfort her. We had been standing here for quite a few moments before I said anything.
"Come on, Luna... We need to get out of this forest." Luna just nodded, and began to walk. I had so many question's I could ask her, but after that, I was afraid of asking the wrong question. I have never seen a Princess cry the way she did. Almost like she felt responsible for that tragedy.
"Poor, Luna..." I whispered making sure she didn't hear me. Why would she feel responsible for something that happened a long way's away from Canterlot? I could hear a branch snap, making me lose my thoughts. I turned to confront the creature, only to be pounced on by some sort of black dog.
Luna turned a look of shock on her face. Pulling out her sword, she trotted over to me and pulled me up. By now, the strange dogs her circling us.
"Are you OK...?" Luna said, watching the dogs as they circled.
"I'm fine... My chest just hurts." Pulling out my katana, I looked back at Luna, her eyes focused on the dogs, which were still circling. "Think we can take them all...?" I counted around six or seven of them.
"I don't think we have a choice..." She was right. They were blocking the path leading to the tower, and she couldn't just leave me here. Turning myself around, I put my back to her and began to watch the dogs as they circled us once more.
"Come on!" I yelled. Finally, one of them jumped towards use. I quickly swung my katana in its direction, slicing its head clean off. It stumbled backwards before falling over, blood pouring from the place where its head should be.
The sight sickened me. But that sickness was short lived, as the body quickly turned black and faded away into the air. I didn't have time to think before another dog jumped up and swiped its claw at me. Luna was quick to respond. Quickly parrying the claw, slicing one of its forelegs off in the process.
It fell to the ground, crying out in pain and anger. I swung my katana at it, finishing off.
"That's two down!" I yelled, a small smirk crossing my face.
"There attacks are easy to parry. Keep that in mind." I nodded, looking back in front of me. I watched one of the dogs preparing to attack again, when I could hear a loud ring come from deep in the forest. They seemed to cower at the noise. I fell down, trying to block out the sound with my hooves, but it seemed to emanate from inside my head.
Looking to Luna, I found her down on the ground, doing the same thing as me. The sound was excruciating. I could almost feel my ears bleeding, but then the sound seemed to stop. I fell to the ground, my energy seeming to be drained from me. The sound had come and left in the blink of an eye.
Getting back up, I look around to see the dogs had vanished into the forest, leaving me and Luna sitting here.
"Luna!" I turned, looking to her. She had one hoof held to her head.
"I am... fine..." She finally said, getting up. I placed one hoof against my chest, trying to calm down. I looked to the place where I had dropped my katana, only to see it had vanished. Had the dogs taken it? What would they need my katana for...?
I looked up at the moon. Still shinning.
"Are you OK...?" Luna asked, standing up.
"I think so..." I turned my gaze to the tower. We were still a distance away from it. "We should keep moving." I turned back to Luna, starring at the sky.
She brought her head down to look at me and nodded.
"But carefully..." I nodded, and turned back towards the tower. One hoof after another, we retched the tower without any more interruptions. I walked up to the front door. Bringing my hoof up, I knocked three times.
With a loud click, I could hear the door unlock and slowly open. On the other side of the door stood a tall guard. His coat was white and, from what I saw, his mane was a dark brown.
"Can I help you?" He asked. With that, Luna stepped forward, pushing me to the side. "Princess Luna." The colt said, jumping back slightly.
"Sorry. I didn't know it was you." He pulled the door open, letting me and Luna pass. I turned to look back at the guard, my eye's meeting his. He just glared at me; making it known that he doesn't trust me.
I looked back to Luna. She had stopped just before a large staircase leading up to a large door.
"My sister is waiting for you up ahead." I nodded, looking up to the large door. "Good-luck, Miss Octavia." I began up the stairs, trying not to smile. Luna has never said my name before and, it’s nice to know she said mine.
Once I reached the top of the stairs, I came face to face with the large door. It seems much bigger up close, then far away. Bringing my hoof up, I placed it against the door and pushed it open, revealing a large room with a thrown at the end of it. There, sitting on the thrown, sat Princess Celestia. Right in front of her stood a small piece of chocolate cake covered in chocolate frosting.
"Oh... Hello." She said, looking up from her cake. A worm smile on her face. I found myself smile back without even realizing it. "I've been expecting you, Octavia... Come in." Princess Celestia said, pushing her cake to the side.
"I can wait until you finish you cake."
"It’s fine. I'll finish it later... Besides; this is more important." I nodded, walking up to her. The smile on her face remained there as I approached. I stopped just in front of her, brought my head down to bow.
"That's not necessary, Octavia." Celestia said, bringing her hoof up as a visual sign. I brought my head, a look of confusion on my face. "We are equals now."
"Equals...?" How am I equal to Celestia? Last I checked, I wasn't an Alicorn nor, am I related to the royal family. "How am I an equal to the ruler of Equestria...?"
"Because, Octavia. I'm hired you." The words caught me by surprise. So much so, that I began to chock on my spit. After I swallowed the large clump of saliva, I starred at her for a couple of moments.
"How does that make me equal to you, still...?" I finally said, my throat still acing from the spit ball.
"Do you think that I don't treat my guards like ponies...? I always treat my guards equally and no less." I never thought about it. Everypony knew that Celestia was possible the nicest pony alive, but I never knew how nice. Now I see she is even nicer than anypony could ever guess.
"I see." I simply said.
"Good... Then let’s get down to why I called you here." I straightened my hoofs and back to look as serious as I could. I am always used to looking formal when the situation call for it, but with Princess Celestia, I don't think looking formal is enough. "Alright, than... You've heard of the shadow wondering around Equestria, right?"
"Right; Me and Luna where talking about it on our way here." I said, trying to keep myself from remembering Luna's reaction to the conversation. Celestia nodded, keeping her eyes on me. By now, her smile has faded from her face, replaced with a small frown.
"I have reason to believe this shadow is the remnants of Nightmare Moon's dark power."
"Nightmare Moon…!" I yelled in shock, making Celestia cringe slightly. I backed up, realizing what I did. "Sorry." My ears dropped to the back of my head.
"It’s fine..." She said, still looking at me. "That would have been my reaction if I figured it out the way you have." Celestia got up, and walked over to me. "Please follow me... I have something to show you."
I nodded and began to trot beside her. We have been walking for about 2 minutes. The halls felt different as we walked by each column. Where was Princess Celestia leading me? It felt like we were in a different building when we finally reached the end of the hall.
Crimson red lines drawn on the column's, leading up into holes in the ceiling. This caught my eye, and the princess knew it. I could tell by the look in her eye's. I was tempted to ask, but I didn't want to say anything to make her worried. The Princess turned, placed a hoof on the wooden door in front of her, and turned her head to look directly at me.
"What you see in this room must stay in this room... You must never talk to anyone about this." She said, keeping her voice steady. I nodded in response.
"I won't say anything." I said, backing up my nod. We keep our eye's locked on each other for a couple of moments, than turned back to the door. Celestia sighed, and began to push open the large wooden door. Whatever was in this room managed to send shivers up my spine.
As Celestia pushed the door open, I began to feel wrong, somehow. The feeling was intense and, I knew it wouldn't just fade away into a small worry. What was in this room and, what is causing me to be afraid of it. The door was fully open now, as the princess stepped out of the way to reveal a large black void.
"What do you see, Octavia...?" Celestia asked, catching me off guard with such a strange question. I turned, meeting her gaze.
"Nothing... The room is pitch black.." I replied, the confusion clearly on my face. She turned back to the door and just started at it.
"Look closer, Octavia." She turned back to me, and looked me straight in the eye. I nodded in response, and turned back to the black void in front of me. The void in front of me seemed to be shifting. I starred into it harder to find it was moving more than I thought. Just then, the void split open, revealing a large room with a crimson red table with a large hole in it.
Inside the hole, there was a crimson red glow. Turning to Celestia, I gave her, what I thought was, a worried look. Celestia gave me a serous face, in return.