A young filly with no one to look to for several years is trying her best to get some answers about her past, and her family's. (With a little help from Princess Luna.)
Emma is a young unicorn living out by the edge of the Everfree Forest with a magnificent view of the Dragon Mountains. She lives a life alone and scared. Every day of her life could be her last. Due to a dark magic parasite using Emma's horn as a host, she is a threat to pony kind. She is aware of being a threat, but is she aware of what is really going on?
A proud mare and stallion stood in front of their newborn filly. She had dark green, curly mane with a short tail. Her fur was the purest white any pony had ever seen. The mysterious golden color of her eyes, everything about her made her parents so proud. They loved her so much. “Ma’am, may we see her for one second?” One of the nurses asked.
“Yes, but don’t keep her!” The mother jokingly called. The nurse chuckled and brought the baby to another room. The room was dark when the nurse first entered. The mare only saw a table in the middle of the room with a towel atop, with surgical tools lined up along the rim of the far side of the table. She laid the newborn down on the table, and backed away from the center of the room.
“You can come out, it’s me, Nurse Supporter.”
Almost immediately after the mare spoke, a dark figure rose behind the table, with crimson eyes. “Is it the right one?” The figure questioned. Supporter nodded.
“But what did you need her for aga-”
“You may leave now”, the figure demanded before the mare could finish speaking.
“Excuse me, I-” SHINK. The nurse fell to the floor, gasping for help only to choke on her own spilled blood. Nor could she talk, for her throat had been split wide open. The only sounds she could make were unrecognizable gargles, and her hoof scraping the floor trying to crawl towards the exit.
The cloaked mare pushed her hoof down on the nurse’s back until her spine gave in. The mysterious creature smiled as she heard a sickening crack from beneath her. She then turned back to the newborn. Trotting slowly up to the table after finishing her dirty work, the mare took down the hood she was previously being covered up by. Glistening red eyes looked upon the newborn. “Say hello to your new mother, Emma”, the mare sneered.
It was a colorful evening in Ponyville, with the sunset’s radiant beams of light blending perfectly with the purple-tinted clouds. I was heading back home after another stop at the Canterlot Library. Recently I’ve been researching survival tips, just for the heck of it. The book seemed to be one of the very few I haven’t read in the library. Most of the books in the Canterlot Library are stories, remedies, or legends/myths that have occurred in the past. Every day I go to the same old library, looking for new books. This time, I decided to try something different.
On my way home, I stopped by the Everfree Forest and gazed passionately, almost longingly, into the depths of the dangerous woods. I have always wanted to enter those woods. But a young filly like me should never enter them alone. So on I continue, to my house, not waiting to read my new book. I live in a small cottage off the side of the Everfree, on a cliff which provides a breathtaking view of the Dragon Mountains. If you haven’t already caught on, I tend to live dangerously. I reach my cottage with relief knowing I can read in peace since nopony (besides me) would live on a cliff OR live by the Everfree Forest. Unless you’re Fluttershy, but she can kick anything’s flank if she needed to.
Okay, you’re probably wondering who I am. Who am I? The answer is simple: some idiot filly who is basically a recluse to society. What’s my name? My parents passed before I could recognize my name, but I call myself Emma, short for Emerald. I’ve always liked emeralds, they just have a mysterious feel to them, you know?
Yeah, I figured you wouldn’t.
Anyway, I live out away from every other pony because I don’t think I was ever taught social skills, and I suppose I have SPD. I’m not sure, but I am in no way going to socialize with a psychiatrist to find out. No way. But there is one other reason I don’t think I’d be ‘allowed’ to go out and talk to others. I’m dangerous. There’s something wrong with my horn that makes it go berserk sometimes, and nopony knows why. Unfortunately, I have killed ponies, or I’ve been told. For a while, I had an aunt who took care of me who had the same issue, and she would tell me anything I asked her. But then something took her away, and I’ve never seen her since.
I sit down on my bed, using my hooves to flip pages instead of my horn. I try to make my horn use a minimum so if I had it removed, I wouldn’t be so dependent. Water filters are metal tubes used to get water out of a tree if you’re dehydrated, I read aloud. “Huh, didn’t know that,” I stated to absolutely nopony. Well, I guess Abby would count. Abby is the creature in my horn, the one infesting my brain with magnificent powers, but dark magic. I’ve never seen her true form, she just looks like a black mass with purple, beady eyes that has a string of mist attaching her to my horn.
Sometimes I’ll read Abby bedtime stories, if she’s in the mood for it. She can sometimes be a little forceful, but if I say anything more than that, I’ll regret it later…
You must think I’m crazy now. I live on a cliff by the most dangerous forest in the world, I talk to a parasite in my head, I’m a recluse, and I’m fatal to our world. Yeah, it sucks, but it’s not going to bring me down. Surely Princess Luna (my personal favorite princess) went through much worse when she became Nightmare Moon. Not to mention she was banished to the moon for approximately 1000 years. Wait… could Princess Luna help me overcome my dark magic problems? Could she get rid of Abby? Oh wow, I need to talk to her about --- oh, nevermind. I love Abby, she’s the best thing that ever happened to me. I love her sooo much! She’s always so kind to me and I love to read her bedtime stories! --- Oh no, not again. There she goes again with switching my mind around to make me brainwashed --- Abby would NEVER brainwash me! She loves me so much and she would never, EVER hurt me. We love each other so much, we’re practically sisters! --- I’m just gonna give up.
Abby wakes me up at 5 in the morning to go for a sunrise stroll, even though I prefer sunsets. She likes sunrises more though, probably just to wake me up at some awful hour. I get up, knowing it’ll be cold when I exit my cottage. So I throw on a coat and head outside. I was right, it was freezing. I immediately head back to the cottage in hopes of staying warm. As I galloped towards my destination, I waited for Abby to turn me back around and make me turn into a pony-sicle.
I was slightly surprised when she didn’t hold me back from going back home. Maybe she was freezing too, especially since I didn’t cover my head. Haha, I pity her not. She can go die --- I’m sorry Abby! I didn’t cover you when I went out on my morning walk, what can I ever do to repay you? --- FFFFF --- I love you ABBY! I LOVE YOUUUUU!!!!! --- STOOOOOOOOOOP!!!!!!
I run outside to the nearest tree and ram my head into it. Specifically my horn. For a good ten minutes, I continued to injure my horn. Becoming weaker, I began to slow down my hits, but increase the force. My horn began to acquire a purple aura. Then Abby takes the form of a timberwolf and bites into my back with her piercing fangs. I start to bleed but it doesn’t stop me. I can hear my horn cracking, the aura is getting weaker. Good. It’s working. With one final thrust, I break my horn in two. Shortly after, I become dizzy and nauseous. I fall to the cold snow as my vision slowly fades.
⚜ ⚜ ⚜ ⚜ ⚜
I wake up to find myself in a bed with a cup of coffee next to me on a desk with a dimmed lamp. This isn’t home. Am I in a hospital? I look around and notice there are family pictures on the walls. A mare and a stallion with their colt. He had a small smirk in every picture. There was something about the colt that just made me smile, I don’t know why, it just did. But then I realized they were the same ponies in each picture. Every single one. Oh no.
I was in a house! I have to get out right now, right now!!! Right as I started to flop around in the sheets attempting to escape, I saw a figure in the doorway. It was the colt who smirked in the pictures. He immediately rushed to my side as he saw me rustling around. “Don’t move, it’ll only hurt more!” he tried to calm me down.
“I don’t know you!” I scream. I immediately cover my mouth with regret. He chuckles.
“Don’t worry, my parents aren’t home so they won’t freak out about having a stranger in the house”, he says with ease. He offers me the coffee that was resting on the table from earlier.
Immediately gulping down the warm, chocolatey drink. He lets out a sigh of relief as I smile and thank him. “As soon as I saw you outside on the ground I panicked. You looked so weak. You couldn’t really speak clearly, but I understood enough.” I looked up, alerted.
“…What did I say?” I couldn’t remember anything before waking up, at least not at the moment. He starts to giggle like a filly who just got a new toy.
“You said I was cute and that you wanted to marry me, at least that’s what I made out of it.” My face automatically turned a bright shade of red. “I-I’m sorry… Uhm…” “No, no, it’s alright. It was funny. Don’t worry about it.” His dark brown eyes seemed to calm me, somehow.
“Hey, what’s your name?” I blurt out without thinking.
“Oliver”, he replies smoothly. “You?” I look down and smile.
“Emerald, but you can call me Emma.” Oliver tilts his head slightly and compliments my name with a typical “cool name” response. I thank him and blush a little. His eyes then trail up to my now destroyed horn. His smirk fell into a concerned frown.
“What happened to your horn?” he asked with a worried tone, I could tell. Pausing my casual sips of the second serving of coffee, I simply lied and said I tripped and hit a rock on my head. Oliver’s look didn’t change. “I didn’t see any rocks around… Are you sure it was a rock?”
All I say is “yes”. I continue to sip my coffee to sound less conspicuous.
I turn to him and ask when his parents would be coming home. “They won’t be here until Thursday. They’re on a cruise”, the gray pegasus replies. Ironically there was a calendar across the room. It was Monday.
“Okay, well I better get going. It’s getting late”, I say, trying to get out of the house. I wasn’t scared, it was just awkward being in a stranger’s house. He stops me with a gentle hoof.
“You are in no condition to walk outside in the freezing cold by yourself.”
I look at him sternly. “Okay, fine. But at least let me walk you home.” I nod in agreement; it sounded like a good idea.
As we exited his cabin, we walked down the path he must’ve taken to bring me to his house. There seemed to be hoof prints in the snow, except going the opposite way. Oliver was right, it is pretty cold out here.
My vision began to blur. Oh no, not now… Did you miss me, Emma? Ignore her, she’s just trying to get on your nerves. Oh no, I would never do that! I can’t believe you think I’d do that. So rude. “Shut up, Abby” I say aloud. Crap… To my horror, he turns to me in confusion.
“Who’s Abby?” He asks. I try to play it off like I’m still light-headed.
“Ah, I see the rainbows…” I mutter, hoping it would work. He gives me a hysterical look.
“Uh, Emma, what rainbows?”
“Right there….” I point to his face with an attempted drunken look. It seemed to work, but not the way I wanted.
“I think I should watch over you for the night. One more time can’t hurt”, he says.
]I think he’s got a liking for you…You better shut up before I make you. What are you gonna do? You can’t keep breaking that precious magic source of yours. What a waste.Abby, not now.Oh no, I’m so scared! What will I ever do?!Sigh… You know, I couldn’t help but laugh when you started hitting your horn on that tree.It hurt you and you know it did. No, I’m stronger than you and you know that. Only I can change my form, and that horn of yours isn’t going to continue growing back. Those things only have so much magic to heal themselves. I’m just infesting your life to make it your nightmare. All your family is gone, you have no friends, you’re dangerous, it’s fun toying with you and testing your sanity.
I stumbled to the left, ironically right by that same scratched up tree. Oliver attempted to help me up, but my horn somehow managed to gather enough magic to send him flying backwards. “Nooo!” I scream, tears falling down my face from utter shock, fear, and something else I’m not quite sure about. “Abby, this isn’t right!! You need to STOP!!!” I cry out. I run into the tree countless times cursing her name.
Oliver gets up again and charges towards me in an attempt to help me out. Unfortunately, Abby makes me dodge his leap and he softly crashes into the snow.
Knowing that he landed safely in the soft snow, I quickly ran inside my cabin with just enough time to grab a saw and began to end the chaos. Sawing through the horn, I picked up the pace. Oliver barged in and began to fight with me for the saw. My next move was pure luck. I let go of the saw, immediately making him fall backwards. With just enough bone to hold on to my head, I swung my head against the wall, breaking the last part of the horn I had left. “Ha…ha, I got it that time”, I stuttered, blood dripping down my face.
When he gets back up, his face only shows pure heartbreak and distress. He runs to me and begins to cry. “Why did you do that?! That’s not okay!” He screams. I flinch at the tone of his morbid voice, even though it wasn’t to threaten me; it was merely a frightened voice.
“Oliver, you don’t understand, I’m dangerous… There is a creature that infests my horn every day that taunts me, hurts anypony I know, and pushes my sanity to its limit. Please know that this is not your fault and there was nothing you could do…” I rest my crimson-stained forehead on his shaky shoulder. “I’m sorry Oliver, I’m so sorry…”
He hugs me tighter. “Don’t be, it’s only the parasite to blame. I wish it would go away too, but you would have to ask one of higher class to break the curse.” I look into his luring eyes and kept that gaze for a while. He chuckled softly, and said “Hey, how about I watch over you tonight, then in the morning we can go for a nice morning walk?” I guess he didn’t know about my “morning walks”.
“How about we could watch the stars come out and then head back inside?” I ask, which didn’t seem like that bad of an idea.
“Sure”, he said, smiling as I wiped his tears away.
We looked at the stars for about 20 minutes, just casually watching them pass by. Sprinter turns to me with the sweetest look. I try to play it off and continue pointing out the constellations, until he spoke. “Emma, has anypony told you how beautiful you look?” My face, I swear, was as red as a cherry that night.
“I…I don’t think so…” He smiled.
“Well, you are, and I have never seen any mare as gorgeous as you.”
“Thank you, you too-” He burst out laughing. I realized what I had said. “Um I mean you’re handsome! Handsome, not gorgeous, sorry!” At this point I wasn’t sure what was making my face more red, how flattered I was or the embarrassment. Very slowly, smiles stretched across our faces and we began to chuckle loudly. We later headed inside, and I decide to head to bed. He decides to sleep on the couch, but says goodnight before he rests. I reply with the same sentence.
⭐✨🌙✨⭐
The next morning, I woke up to see a colt on the floor, snoring. I guess he fell off the couch. I laugh to myself. So I get up, make toast, and head outside to get some fresh air. The snow melted completely, in fact it was unusually warm out here. Just last night, the snow was up to 24 inches. Where did it go? It was pretty odd, but it wasn’t extraordinarily weird. Until I hear a gasp of shock from the door.
I looked over to see an astounded Sprinter. He looked a bit ruffled up, I guess that’s because he fell. I guess this weather was unusual for civilized ponies like himself. I honestly didn’t understand the problem. “The climate was expected to be freezing temperatures!!!”
“Expected?” I ask, with certainty it was merely a false prediction.
“The pegasi control the weather, there isn’t supposed to be warmth yet!” He screeches. “Something is wrong!!!” I clearly didn’t understand.
He said he’d head into town and see if anypony else noticed the issue with the snow. “You want to tag along?” He asks.
“I don’t know, I may still be dangerous.”
He gave me a stern look. “Emma, that thing is out of your horn…for now. You should be fine.” Still feeling a little uncertain, I follow him into town anyway.
As we began to walk across the bridge separating Canterlot and Ponyville, I start to feel a sharp pain in my head. I flinch from the pain, but I don’t think Oliver saw. I was reassured that he didn’t, since he was already a little perplexed. We continue on, but the pain gets worse. I try to hide my pain, but it’s not going very well. It seems the closer I get to the town, the worse my head feels. I reached my breaking point, I could go on no further. I fell to the floor and began to scream, sounding like one of those screeches from a horror film.
He turned to see me on the ground, crying in pain. “What’s going on?” Oliver blurts. It took a moment for me to realize what actually was going on. Eventually, I pieced it together. Abby left my “not-really-a-horn-anymore” horn. I only feel this kind of pain when she’s in my horn… She must be here!!! She must have messed with the weather!
“Oliver, we need to find the princesses, right now.”
“What?-”
“We could be in grave danger. Bring me to the princesses.”
We greet the Solar Princess with a bow and began to explain the problem. “This creature is on the loose, and we must find it!” “My Princess”, Oliver quickly adds. Princess Celestia, puzzled, asks us about its characteristics.
“What does this creature look like?”
“Well, it’s this floating indigo mass that usually infests the horn of a unicorn and turns their life into a mania.” “My Princess”, Oliver, again, concludes.
“Luna may know of this creature, or at least I hope she will.” The Princess, Oliver, and I run down the stained glass hall.
Into the bedchambers we ran, looking for the Night Princess. “Luna!” Celestia calls. Less than five seconds, we see a shadow down the turn of the hall.
“Sister! I heard your call. What is the matter?” Luna questions her sister.
“There is a wild spirit on the loose and we hoped you would know more about it.” Luna looks directly at me when Celestia informs her of Abby.
“Is her name Abby?” Dumbfounded, I nod my head slowly. “Is she indigo and does she massacre others’ lives?”
“Yes… How did you…?-”
“No time to explain. We must find her.” Luna then yells "guards!" Shortly after, 8 bat-pony knights line up, saluting and all.
“Emma, when did you last see Abby?” Luna quickly asks.
“Last night, I think. I can’t exactly remember.” Now that I think about it, I can’t remember anything from yesterday. Maybe I’m just taking it all in too much. “Okay, so how are we going to track this thing down?” I ask with curiosity.
“I’m using a spell where I can track down a spirit if needed. If I get it wrong, the spirit can be lost forever. So bear with me here, one moment.” She began the spell. At first, her aura was glowing. Then, she began to levitate and mutter what seemed to be an ancient chant. “Give me sight that many fear. Bring the spirit to me here. Show me all truth and no lie. Give me the forbidden eye!” Her horn was like a beacon in the torch-lit hallway. At this point, beams were flying every direction and it was complete chaos.
After the spell was finished, a large ellipse-shaped whole formed in the sky merely feet above us. Inside the oval were trees, tall grass, thick bushes, and a dark path. “Is Abby in the Everfree Forest?”
“I believe you are correct.” The oval showed a large rock placed oddly, almost as if it was covering a ditch. I couldn’t believe my eyes. This is not happening. No way.
”Luna, that spirit is heading to the Mirror Pool. If Abby multiplies, she’ll take over Equestria in no time. What are we gonna do?! Luna?-” I look to my left, where the princess should’ve been.
Luna must’ve caught on before us. We need to help her! I began to attempt to teleport, till Oliver stops me. “Emma, don’t use your horn. Not only will it cause you pain, it also might affect Luna’s progress if she’s trying to capture Abby.” He proves a good point.
“You’re right, but…” I quickly finish teleporting till I’m completely beside Luna, galloping to the Mirror Pool’s entrance.
“Emma?! Go back to your ponyfolk. This is no place for a filly!”
“I don’t care! I live dangerously and that’s how it’s gonna work for the remainder of my lifespan.” The princess rolled her eyes.
“Okay, but just stay close to me.”
We reach the Mirror Pool with an unsettling feeling in our gut. The large stone blocking the entrance had been overturned. Abby has already multiplied. Luna quickly whispered “listen for my word: wish”, before barging in the underground area. As soon as I got down there, Luna was already fighting the dark masses and it wasn’t going too well.
“Over here, you creeps!” I yell to the spirits. “Abby, I didn’t know you had friends.”
“I have more than you!” Most of the masses screeched those 5 words simultaneously. “But what if…one.” “One.” “One.” “One.” “One.” All the masses started chanting “one”.
Then, when I thought it couldn't get any worse, all of the spirits took the form of Luna. Now what was I supposed to do? “Peasant? Get rid of it!!!”
They screamed as I ran through the crowd of Abby’s. “Wish.” Wait. “Wish!” Isn’t that what...? “WISH!” That’s what Luna said before running into the crowd.
“Who said that?” I ask.
Of course, some Luna walks up and says, “I said ‘wish’ when we first entered the cave.”
“Luna! There you are! How do we get rid of all of them?” I presumed. She looked down at her hooves as the crowds of other Luna’s slowly surrounded us, still chanting.
“I know a spell that might make this stop.” I back up giving her space to do her magic. Her horn begins to take on a shimmering aura, and soon the copied masses disappeared.
As we exited the cave, we started talking about how the whole situation was crazy. “I’m glad it’s done with”, I sighed with relief. The princess of the night nodded in agreement.
“It was indeed interesting, I don’t think I’ve encountered such a spirit. Hmm. Yet it seems so familar...” She suddenly gasped in disbelief.
"What’s wrong, princess?” I ask, as a feeling of intense worry glides over me like a ghost about to scare somepony.
Luna looks to me and screams “Where did the spirit go?!” Oh no. The spirit…
“Luna, the spirit haunts whatever it takes the form of last, or last inhabited.” This is NOT good. Abby is either infesting the Mirror Pool, or is haunting the second most powerful being alive.
“Luna, do you feel anything in your horn? She is a creature that defects pony’s lives and feeds on their magic.” She shook her head to say ‘no’.
“I only feel fear for what the future may hold.” Luna sprints back to the cave, so fast that the nearby trees swayed in her breeze. I just decide to teleport into the Mirror Pool’s cave. What I see is the most terrific scene ever to be seen. The evil mass had cornered herself, and was just screaming. No rhyme or reason as far as I know.
"Abby?” I, out of stupidity, got closer to the sobbing spirit. “Is something wrong?” She looked up at me, her eyes bloodshot red.
“Emma, she’s too strong. She’s hurting me. All I can see is the darkness of her heart and the nothingness of her soul. Her soul… is nonexistent.”
“Who?” I questioned, begging for answers. Abby has never acted like this.
“The vile beast you call ‘the princess of the night’ is the problem. All I wanted was her magic-” I stopped her in her tracks.
”Princess Luna is not a BEAST!” I shout, clearly angered by what she said. “Princess Luna is a lovely, humble, and honest pony who is just as pure as the sun’s rays when they first peer over the Dragon Mountains. And you beg to state she is a beast. Explain yourself, peasant.” This made Abby very mad. She began to snarl.
“YOU CALL ME PEASANT? YOU ARE THE ONE WHO GETS BEAT TO THE GROUND, AND NOT KNOWING ANY BETTER, CRAWLS BACK BEGGING FOR MORE. SO REALLY, WHO’S THE PEASANT?!”
My horn begins to glow without me realizing what I was doing. Abby was soon in the air, surrounded by what appeared to be my magical aura. “YOUR MAGIC IS NOT SUPPOSED TO WORK! HOW ARE YOU-” Before she finished her sentence, my magic was bashing her pony form to the ground, knocking out teeth and breaking bones. Then to the walls. Then back to the floor. I started to laugh hysterically as she was tossed across the cave. As soon as Abby became motionless, Princess Luna had barged in.
“Emma? What are you doing?!” She, completely flabbergasted, called.
Before I could think, I blurted out, “She’s done it! She’s pissed me off!” Luna, a little confused, attempts to take Abby out of my magical possession. “Let me kill her! She’s done enough!” I scream.
Luna, managing to take her from my grasp, and says “No. It is my turn to handle the situation.” Luna bubbles herself (and Abby) in an enclosed area that I cannot pass. I see her examine the malevolent being closely, looking for a clue to where she came from. I walked up to the magic bubble and tapped on it. I loudly stated that it was getting late, and she must raise the moon soon.
She slowly lowered the bubble, still holding on to Abby. “Come with me. I’d like to show you something.” I nod, she sends the bubble off somewhere, and I follow her out of the cave. We go down the path we came, it just looks darker. Not with sight, but by power. The trees appear to look more observant, almost if they were watching us. “I would like to bring you to the Royal Spirit Vault to show you what happens when we find creatures like this.”
“I didn’t think Abby was THIS major”, I claimed. Luna shot me a glance of mystery and legend, almost to tell a story of what she has faced. “Was it like…Nightmare?”
As we got closer to pony life, I realized we weren’t by Ponyville. We were heading towards a castle. “Princess, where are we going?” I questioned. She looked at me, with a shocked face.
“Have you never been to Canterlot?” The princess, flabbergasted, blurted out.
“Only for the library. Once I get the book I'm looking for, I'm out of there in a heartbeat. What am I missing?”
“My sister and I live in that castle, Emma. Did your parents never tell you about the ‘Two Sisters’ tale?” I turn away quickly, noticing she was trying to catch my gaze.
“I… found out myself.”
“Hmm. Where are your parents anyway? Shouldn’t you be going home soon? Where did you-”
“My princess, I apologize but I have been avoiding this... I don’t have parents.”
Baffled, the alicorn stopped in her tracks. “You live alone? As a filly?! My stars… Why are you so alone?” She inquired, looking very worried.
“I’m sure you have many questions, but may I answer them after we deal with the bigger problem, my princess?” She shot me a glare. She then began to strighten up her position until she was as tall as she could be, towering over me like a goddess. Well, I mean she technically is one. Sort of.
“I am the highest rank of pony-kind. I demand my answers and I demand them now. I will send you back home if you refuse my command.”
I give her a smirk, and say “Can’t send me home if you don’t know where I live.”
“Clever filly, but I don’t want your jokes. Who are you?”
“In all honesty, your highness, I have not a clue.” Princess Luna looked down at me. She seemed very confused about what I said.
“Pardon?” she asked.
“I have little memory of my childhood. I was raised by my aunt who adopted me after my parents died. However, she’s gone now too. Princess, I have nopony. Nopony in my life except you and Oliver, who I met just recently.” We kept walking, however, Princess Luna did not speak. Eventually, I looked up in shock to see her crying.
“My princess, what is the matter?” I asked the weeping mare.
“I’m… so sorry. It must’ve been hard for you.” I looked down at my own hooves, feeling nothing but guilt for causing her to cry.
“I don’t remember much, please don’t stress over this. I’m not suffering more than anypony else-”
“How could you say that, Emma? You have been tormented all your life by an evil spirit, your parents are gone, and any other pony you loved is gone.” She looked at me with the most tear-filled eyes I’ve ever seen. “Do you know how your parents passed?” The saddened alicorn asks.
“No, I don’t know anything about them.” A determined look swept across the princess’s face as she wiped away her tears.
Princess Luna and I were almost to the castle when Oliver appeared out of nowhere. “WHERE HAVE YOU TWO BEEN? I’VE BEEN SEARCHING EVERYWHERE FOR YOU!” He screeches. Luna and I look at each other and laugh. Oliver was obviously not amused, but puzzled.
“We got lost in the forest after finding Abby and banishing her”, Luna calmly lied like this was a normal thing for her. She winked at me behind her wing and we shared a quiet laugh. How come she was so nice to me? , I wondered.
After bringing Oliver to his home, Luna and I headed back to Canterlot. She looked to me and said, “You know, I don’t know much about you. What are you like?” The question seemed difficult to answer. I didn’t really know what I was like. I never thought about myself all that much, let alone what I was like.
“I can’t say I know the answer. I know very little about my life, funnily enough, and what's around me. But I do research quite often about mythical creatures and where to find them, what they do, and just some other background information. I like to read survival tips too.” She smiled.
“Who’s the author of the first book you mentioned, young filly?” The princess asked. "It sounds interestingly familar."
“Star Swirl the Bearded, he didn’t just write spells, he wrote about creatures he came across on his many journeys across the land.”
The alicorn’s eyes lit up. “You like Star Swirl’s reads, hmm? You do know there was a talented unicorn who became an alicorn princess for reading his books?” She shot me a glance of determination, and a little bit of support.
I immediately respond with a quick “No, I couldn’t. I would put ponykind at risk with such power. Not intentionally, but if Abby comes back-”
“Emma, the spirit is currently paralyzed. When we get back to the castle, we are going to put her in the Spirit Vault.”
“Spirit Vault? Princess Luna, what do you-”
“Ah hah! We are here now. Follow me young filly.”
The entrance of the castle was guarded by four guards. Two solar, two lunar. They shot a glance at me, looking prejudicial. “Moony Moony up at Noony”, she said.
“Permission to Enter: Access granted.” The guards uncrossed their long spears and made way for us. I smirked as I realized that is how she got in, 'moony moony up at noony' was her password.
“Nice password, Luna”, I sneered. Baffled, she alicorn turned around and laughed.
“I made that password when I was a wee filly”, she snickered. "I kept the password since it brings back wonderful memories of when Tia and I were young and reckless... irresponsible... we didn't have to rule, just play in the castle and its many gardens."
The castle was so…beautiful, yet daunting. I was in a castle of the most two powerful beings in Equestria! Oh wow!
“Before we visit the vault, let’s go to my sister first. I believe she can gather information about your past.” I wasn’t sure why, but I didn’t exactly want to find out what happened at the beginning of my life.
We made our way to Celestia, and the closer we got, the more nervous I became. Something wasn’t right. I just felt like I shouldn’t be doing this. Almost like I’m in danger. To my horror, the princess noticed my cold sweat. “Emma, what’s wrong?” Luna, looking concerned, asked. I wasn’t sure how to answer so I looked up to her and shrugged.
Still walking down the halls, I began to stumble. Why was I like this? “Princess, has any other pony been like this to observe their past?” She shook her head, leaving me to wonder why I’m any different. At this point, my horn had almost fully grown back, which I probably why Luna has me in her sight. I can’t say I blame her for watching my every move. “Anyway, why can’t we visit the Vault first? I want to see it”, I blurted out.
“Emma, what is going on? You’re sweating really bad and seem to resist from seeing your own past. Were you a bad pony?” She interrogates me and gives me a very serious look. She is not playing around. I wasn’t sure how to answer, but it just felt wrong.
“Princess, I think there’s something wrong with me.”
She stopped moving. I looked up at her weakly. The back down to the floor beneath me.
“Well of course there is, little one. There’s a monster possessing you all the time! I plan on keeping it away from you for as long as I can.” She smiles, and continues to walk to Celestia’s chambers. There it was. The door that would make a world of a difference. Luna knocked on the door two times. Not even ten seconds later, the door opens and lets out a white alicorn, bright as the sun with shimmering fur and mane. She looks down and smiles at me. I simply wave and sheepishly smile back.
“Greetings Luna. What seems to be the issue?” Celestia asks.
“We’d like to look into Emma’s past to find out more about her.”
The sentence makes my heart beat faster. Why was this happening to me?
“Of course, dear sister. Follow me.”
I felt sick. I don’t know what’s going on, but it isn’t good. We stop in the middle of the hallway. Celestia turns to us and asks, “Are you ready?” Luna nodded, and I was just in a perpetual state of fear. I was stiff as a lamp post. However, I found the muscles to move my head up and down, and regretted it as Celestia began the spell.
Before I made it back to consciousness, the princesses already started their walk down the starry path with images of when I was younger. I opened my eyes and sprinted to catch up with them. Sadness was visible in both alicorns’ eyes. Images of abuse flashed past them, constant pain and sadness throughout the slideshow of moments. Each one showed Abby and I, usually fighting. The farther back the memories went, the more often they saw me praying. To Celestia.
She began to cry, but tried her best to conceal the pain she felt for me. Why did I bring this upon the two princesses? Maybe this is why I was nervous. I didn’t want them to see how my life went downhill so quickly. But the younger I became in the short clips of my childhood, the nicer Abby was. In fact, I’m pretty sure I saw Abby reading me a bed-time story, instead of me reading her one. It all seemed so much nicer than she is to me now. At this point down the path, I was almost 4. When my aunt disappeared.
This is what I longed to see. My aunt who loved me and cared for me. But just then, she princesses halted. Their eyes only showed shock. I looked up to see what they were so frightened by. It was my aunt, but she didn’t look anything like me. She was being dragged away by cloaked ponies. I was left on the couch, watching, crying as they stabbed her over and over again with spears.
We moved to the next memory. A much better view of my dead aunt. She had dark red eyes with a long, dark blue mane. She wore a cloak, and never left the cottage. But what she was doing was even more shocking. She was performing a spell on me, like one that takes away a pony’s magic. Celestia and Luna must have known her, but I’m guessing they didn’t like her. “Luna, is that… her?” Celestia gaped. Her younger sister looked to her in worry.
“I…I’m afraid it is.”
At this point, I was eager for answers. “Princesses, what’s going on?”
They ignored me and continued down the path.
“Celestia?” She still didn’t answer, walking farther away each step. “Luna?” I called to the other princess, but she was doing the same thing. Like before, I looked up at the wall, and saw my aunt with a group of ponies, in a cave. They all wore hoods with some sort of emblem on them. One was holding what looked like me, as a very young filly, not even 2 years old. Possibly less than 1 year.
Another memory. A very bloody memory. I was in a dark room, with my aunt fully cloaked, snapping what looked to be a nurse’s back. “Oh my-” Celestia and Luna turned to each other in fear, the looked back to me. “It can’t be…” Luna stared at me with the most horror filled eyes I have ever seen in my life. We all sprinted to see the farther back memories. I gasped loudly, as tears began to fill my eyes. My parents, looking down at me, smiling. “She’s beautiful”, my mother said, in a soothing voice softer than a warm silk blanket.
I began to cry uncontrollably, and melted to the ground in depression and confusion. Why was this happening to me? Why is my aunt dead? Why was she trying to take my magic? What is going on?
That was it. That was all my memory. Nothing more than a movie with missing parts. “Princess Luna, who were those cloaked ponies? Maybe they had something to do with Abby.” The princesses looked down at their own hooves. A long silence took place. Before I could speak again, Luna took a step toward me.
“Emma, those ponies are a part of a dangerous group called ‘The Dark Era.’ They are ponies who followed Nightmare Moon’s ways, and formed a group not long after I was banished.”
I didn’t understand. “Why did they have me? Why was I there?” The princess of the night looked upon my bewildered expression.
“They wanted your magic. They take powerful figures in our ponykind and drain them of their magic.” I stepped away from them, with worry.
“Uhm, well… wait. Why did they take me?”
The princesses seemed as if they did not want to tell me something. Eventually, Luna spoke again.
“Well, we believe you may be a descendant of Star Swirl the Bearded’s brother, Raven the Vengeful.” I could’ve sworn I heard that name from somewhere. Ah, I think he was in one of my books… Oh no. He wasn’t a good pony.
The princesses were beyond scared. The eldest was pacing the starry hall, as the dark blue alicorn seemed deep in thought. I wasn’t sure what to do, so I just stood and looked at the moving memories. After several minutes, Celestia spoke. “Emma, I don’t know much about this. If any pony will know, it’s Luna.”
The lunar alicorn looked up with fear and began to shudder. I tried to comfort her but she pushed me away. “It all makes sense”, Luna cried. “Why she had no parents, why a mysterious supposed aunt came by to care for her, and was taken away, and why Abby is here.” Still confused, I nodded anyway.
“And what does that mean?”
“Well, so Raven as you may know was a necromancer. He got away with it for many years, and was eventually caught.” I was aware, but was still puzzled about what he had to do with this since he’s been dead for a long time. “He was executed, but before he died, he spoke of his daughter. When he was killed, a dark aura surrounded him, then left his body and diffused into the air. His daughter’s name was Abby, and she was killed by the Dark Era for not wanting to join. In order to be in the Dark Era, you must murder, commit necromancy on evil spirits to raise hell upon our planet, and learn dark magic spells. Abby wanted to live a normal life and dreamed of going to Canterlot and owning her own bakery.”
“But what does this have to do with me?!” I pleaded. “I don’t deserve this!”
“I know you don’t”, Luna nodded, “But… there’s more.” I shivered with fear of what she’d say next. “Before she died, she had a son and sent him far away because she knew she would die, and her son would be next.” I listened intently, yearning for an answer. “We protected him for a while, then let him go, thinking this mess would be over. But, unfortunately, I was wrong. I am guessing he did a spell to release evil, and became the spirit we now call Abby.”
Questions whirled around my head, flying at hundreds of miles per hour. Was his soul so powerful it took on a mind of its own and named itself after his dead daughter? What does her son have to do with this? What is going on?! “Continue Luna!” I shouted. “I need answers!” Startled, she turns around to look at me.
“I believe you may be related to Raven the Vengeful, necromancer and leader of the Dark Era.”
