The sky grew dark. The sun still hung in the sky, but dimmed more and more as time passed. Princess Celestia was known as the sister of the sun. A bright, beautiful alicorn who gave the land sunlight by directing the sun's course through the sky. Seeing the summer solstice cut short forced her to hurry to her castle home, with worry eating away at her mind.
Princess Celestia burst through the front gates to see her sister, Princess Luna patiently staring up through the skylight.
"Luna! What has become of the summer sun? Has something happened?"Celestia asked.
Princess Luna kept staring into the darkening sky. Sister of the moon, Luna was a darkly colored alicorn. She held dominion over the night, and was always considered the lesser sister, and at times considered a menace by those who loved the day.
"The summer sun... The shortest night of the year, what a time to celebrate, isn’t it?" Luna said in almost a whisper.
Celestia's eyes narrowed, noticing the magic building around Luna. "What? Sister, I don't-"
Princess Luna's eyes locked onto Celestia filled with wrath. "Have they not celebrated the day enough? Can they not appreciate one night? Is it wrong to try?!" Her voice grew louder and angrier as she spoke.
The shadows crawled up from beneath Princess Luna. They crept up her legs, staining her coat pitch black as they slowly consumed her. The pupils of Luna's eyes strained and tightened into vertical slits as she focused all of her attention on the pony standing before her.
"All of Equestria has poured its hatred into me. I did all that was in my power to show them truth,but you simply watched. I once called you sister." Luna's words of disgust echoed through the empty halls of the castle.
"What I had done was wrong, I can see that clearly now, but please sis-"Celestia began.
"Do not ever call me sister again!" Luna howled as tears began to well in her eyes. Luna's wings snapped open, each feather responding with strictness to the shadows that washed over them.
"I trusted you to stand beside me, and yet you did nothing when I needed you most."Luna grunted through tightly clenched teeth that were slowly sharpening. A small stream of bright red blood fell from her nose.
Celestia planted her hooves into the stone floor as she tried to speak to Luna. "We can fix this! They are wrong, I was wrong, don't prove them right!"
The last of the shadows had seized Princess Luna's body.The hairs of her coat stood on end and snapped down, pressing tightly against her skin. Her sense of touch expanded beyond her flesh, and Luna felt open and free.
"Why shouldn't I?" There was no more pain,wrath or fury in the words escaping Luna's lips. Rather a chilling sense of surrender. "Princess Luna has died according to Equestria's desires. Empress Nightmare Moon is born according to your actions."
The sky was darkened, the last of the sunlight extinguished entirely. Princess Celestia could feel the situation was slipping into an assault, the chance to convince her sister with words was long since passed. Celestia cautiously drew her magic into her horn.
Nightmare Moon immediately recognized the magic and her horn flashed a bright blue spark toward Celestia.
The Princess had taken to the air to avoid the bright crash beneath her hooves and released magic from her horn in several golden tendrils, each arcing toward their target.
Nightmare Moon leapt backward and fell into the shadows, seemingly disappearing entirely before dropping on Celestia from above. With a heavy beat of her wings, she threw the white alicorn to the floor.
Crashing into the floor,Celestia shattered the stone beneath her, raising a plume of dust. Without warning a beam of golden light shot out from the dust cloud toward Nightmare Moon.
The beam splashed across a turquoise sphere surrounding the dark mare, and Nightmare Moon faded from her position like dust in the wind.
Princess Celestia took the opportunity and fled. Flying close to the ground, she cast herself through the halls of the castle. A voice echoed directly to her ears with perfect clarity despite the winds rushing by.
"You thought yourself irreproachable, Flawless and divine. We know better, and soon they will all know."
Celestia's breathing was rapid and fragmented, between her exertion and the terror that sank into her heart, she was losing this battle both physically and mentally.
The voice came again, as though it were inside Celestia's skull.
"You hid your shame away,but the night will share the sky no longer. Equestria will be bathed in an endless night forever more."
"NO!"Celestia cried.
Celestia reached the Elements of Harmony, carefully stationed on their pedestals. Taking the empowered gems up in her magic, she felt the monstrous eyes of Nightmare Moon burning into the back of her skull.
Nightmare Moon blocked the exit and planted her hooves."All hiding is over. You cannot hide from me, Equestria cannot hide from their sins, and I will no longer hide from Equestria. The night has begun."
Celestia didn't take the time to think or prepare, turning to Nightmare Moon,she instinctively wove her magic through the Elements and locked in on her target.
There was the sound of hooves and a breath caught short.
Blood dripped to the base of Nightmare Moon's horn. Celestia tried to look down and see what had happened, but Nightmare Moon's head rested directly under Celestia's jaw, holding her in place. Drawing herself back, Nightmare Moon's wide eyes saw the pony in front of her drop to the floor. Blood flowed freely from the hole in the mare's neck, staining her mane and coat as it pooled around her limp form.
Tears dripped from Nightmare Moon's eyes, falling into the pool of blood at her hooves.
The Elements of Harmony hadn't fallen, however. Celestia's golden magic still flowed through them, and the spell hadn't stopped.
Just as Celestia's eyelids grew too heavy to hold open, a silver light enveloped her.
Nightmare Moon somberly placed the coarse, lifeless Elements of Harmony back on their pedestals. The only sign of the dying pony now was the red stain left on the floor.
Nightmare Moon looked through the window into the sky, and saw the moon where Celestia was now sealed.
"You always refused to lose." A sad chuckle escaped her as tears rushed down her cheeks. "so annoying...Sister..."
The daylight was always obscured by the smooth, grey veil over the sky. Foals would tell tales of the Empress who ruled over the sky and distinguished day from night by commanding the light of the moon to change. Bloom however, couldn't be bothered with nonsense like that.
According to her sister.
"Ah keep tellin' ya Bloom, the day moon has always been this way. 'Sides, even if there was some magic sky Empress, don't ya think she'd let us know?" Applejack said tiredly as she bucked another tree.
Bloom couldn't help but wonder though. "But Granny says there was another light, and that the sky was a clear blue... don't ya wonder, sis?" She said as she carefully picked apples from off the dry ground.
Applejack sighed. "Granny's also been sayin' there're worms two stories tall and dragons that can read. I love Granny too, Bloom, but her mind's just... not all there. There 'aint no magics aside from the unicorn spells. Trust me."
Bloom's mind churned like the sea in a storm. The night moon illuminated the night with its silver glow, but despite her work in the fields that day, sleep escaped the yellow filly, as she stared out her open window.
She heard a light clamor outside. What sounded like whisperings and the ruffling of tripping over one's own hooves. Looking out her window she could make out the dark shapes of ponies, all dressed in dark robes. Bloom's curiosity led her down the stairs to follow the figures outside.
Bloom kept a safe distance as she stalked these strange ponies. They roamed the family orchard, and would only speak in hushed whispers. Bloom's worry escalated. What were they up to? Why in her family's orchard?
Unfortunately, keeping her focus on the ponies in the distance left her ignorant of the one right behind her.
When a hoof landed on her shoulder, she let out a quick, but loud yelp. She turned to see the pony behind her, and fell on her back in the process.
This pony was not in a dark robe, but left undressed. His faded grey coat seemed patchy and unkempt. His mane was a dark obsidian that matched his deeply set eyes.
"Who are you!? What do you want!?" Bloom cried loudly, having momentarily forgotten she was trying to be sneaky.
The dark robed ponies all lifted their heads and turned toward the sound.
"Bloom?" A familiar voice called from among them.
The patchy grey pony stepped past the prone filly, and with a gruff voice uttered one word.
"Go."
Applejack turned to see her sister lying close to the monster they had been searching for.
"Bloom?"
All the robed ponies with her charged toward the beast. Applejack rushed straight for the filly.
The hairs of the grey pony's coat lengthened. His muscles expanded, and his muzzle extended to a point. The moonlight bathed the beast as he stepped from under the shadow of the trees. Drool fell from his jaw as teeth sharpened. The hooves beneath him broke apart into claws as the werewolf finally revealed his true form.
With a loud snarl and roar, the werewolf threw himself upward into the air, aiming for the dark robes that were charging toward him.
Applejack ran as hard as she could, slipping just under the beast's leap and lifting Bloom off the ground.
Bloom didn’t recognize her sister beneath the hood, and fought for her life, kicking and screaming. "Let me go!"
Applejack lost her grip as she ran, and dropped Bloom. In the same instant, she pinned her sister to the ground, hoping to protect her.
"What in tarnation are you doin' here Bloom? You could get yerself killed out here!" Applejack tried to reprimand the young filly, but Bloom could barely understand a word.
Bloom looked her sister in the eyes, her own wide in disbelief. "A-Applejack?"
Behind them, the dark robes kept a loose formation surrounding the werewolf. Each pony took a metal cord from under their robes and kept just enough distance from the monster to stay out of its immediate reach.
The beast leapt forward and landed its claws into one of the pony's shoulders. Pinning the pony down, the grey werewolf quickly arched its neck and bit into the neck beneath him. Rearing its head back, teeth tore the soft flesh. Strings of blood vessels snapped apart spraying a red mist into the monster's muzzle.
While the dying pony's screams drowned away in the gurgling of hot blood, the rest of the robed ponies pounced onto the monster. The metal cords in hoof, they took whatever purchase they could find on the beast and wrapped the cords around whatever they could.
The smell of burning flesh soaked into the air as the beast wailed and screamed under the silver bindings. Finally, behind it, Applejack came and bound its every limb in a silvered hogtie before the werewolf seemingly passed out.
Without turning around, Applejack addressed her sister.
"Get in bed. Now."
Bloom stared into the pit that centered town square. The monster from the night before had changed into the earth pony Bloom saw before and lay at the bottom.Bloom could see the pony's hooves bound with silver cuffs that were attached to the grate above him.
"Ah thought you said there were no magics, 'sides from the unicorn type." Bloom said without looking away from the seared pony in the pit.
Applejack stood for a moment behind her sister, saddened that this was the way Bloom learned of her moonlighting.
With a brief sigh Applejack responded. "It'd be best to believe there aren't."
Bloom didn't respond. Applejack simply turned around and started back toward the orchard.
"Yer chores 'aint excused, sis. Your time's gonna be your problem if ya don't get to it."
Bloom looked into the pit as the pony beneath cast his dark eyes up toward her. He looked into her eyes with sadness, and whispered through his blood-stained lips.
"Go."
Taking a small step back, Bloom turned around to follow her sister.
The scent of fresh rainfall still lingered in the air. The day moon broke through the darkest clouds, reaching down into the earth beneath Sweetie Belle's hooves. She trotted back toward home from school, thinking precious little of that day's lessons.
Daughter to the town's resident tanner, Sweetie Belle was a young unicorn filly. Her pink mane was cut with purple curls that wrapped around her horn. She was a decidedly average pony for her age, the only noticeable feature was her unadorned flank. Most foals would grow up to receive some kind of emblem on their haunches to distinguish them as unique. This mark would typically take shape when the Lunar elders pronounced a blessing on a foal. The nearest cathedral was in the mountain city of Canterlot, however. The pilgrimage was expensive, and many foals would wait until they were nearly adults before receiving a blessing.
Today however, Sweetie Belle's father was going to receive payment for one of his largest orders. He promised her that their savings would finally be enough to finally take her to Canterlot. Sweetie could hardly contain her excitement.
Excitement turned to dread the instant her eyes caught a glimpse of her home.
The windows were shattered, and the front door broken in. Nearly all of the few belongings in the house were torn and soaking in the mud outside. Sweetie could hear angry mumbling inside, and her mind swarmed with disorientation.
"Dad!?" Sweetie rushed into her home, worried for her father's safety as she weaved between shelves and glass that blanketed the floor.
She reached the room she expected to find him in to find two unfamiliar ponies in her home instead.
An earth pony with a washed out turquoise coat locked his maroon eyes on hers. His gaunt figure was accented by his straight, dark grey mane which seemed to fall to the floor as though it were being pulled down by the ends.
"Well what have we here?" Asked the turquoise stallion with a mischievous grin.
Sweetie Belle tried to back away only to find the other pony blocking her way out. His granite coat looked almost like the actual stone, given the sheer muscle just underneath.
"Come on Nightdust," The burly one chided. "ask nicely."
"Ask what?" Sweetie Belle asked nervously as Nightdust backed her into a wall, forcing her to her hind legs as her back pressed against the wall.
Nightdust's forehooves landed forcefully on either side of Sweetie Belle's head, causing her to flinch.
"Your papa's got debts to settle, but sadly, he isn't home. Now where do you think we could find him, hm?" His voice conjured the image of a dried toad in Sweetie's mind. The raspy, guttural sounds matched horrifyingly well with the putrid smell of his breath right beside her face.
Choking back frightened tears, Sweetie answered honestly. "I don't know."
Nightdust backed away for a moment before taking Sweetie's head in his hoof and slamming it against the wall. "Don't play games, foal!"
Sweetie's head ached as she regained her focus. The pressure of Nightdust's hoof lightened as it trailed up toward her horn, then he pressed again. With the tip of her horn pinned against the wall, the stallion pressed the angle, threatening to snap her horn clean off.
Sweetie Belle couldn't suppress the scream of unbridled agony as she felt cracks begin to trail up the horn. Slapping her hooves against his forelegs in futile resistance.
The bulky, granite stallion sighed. "Lunar's sake, Nightdust! She can't tell us anything if she's busy screaming!"
Nightdust let his vicious smile widen across his entire face. "Oh, but it sounds so... what's the word..." He leaned his head in to whisper in Sweetie Belle's ear.
"inviting."
Sweetie howled in pain as Nightdust beat dark bruises out from under her coat.
Sweetie Belle was only partially conscious until the thugs were long gone. Who knows how long it had been until they grew tired of her weakening spirit and left. Sweetie Belle simply worried for her father's safety until sleep had overtaken her.
A rich, airy chime wove its way through the town. This sound's source moved gracefully and with purpose through the streets, finding its way through the doors of the bar.
"Filthy foal."Nightdust muttered as he chugged the ale in his hooves.
Nightdust sat alone, hiding beneath his mane and an average, leather cloak. An unfamiliar voice drew his attention away from his alcohol, as it was right beside him.
"Rough night?" Asked the mare. Her voice had a proper, yet casual tone.
Nightdust turned around to see a beautiful alabaster mare standing behind him. She wore a lavish, layered crimson dress with tiny garnets sewn into the hem, which would tinkle against each other as the dress swayed. Golden threads distinguished the border between each layer in intricate lace. A black laced fabric pulled close to her skin all the way up her neck, which drew the eye to her mane, rich purple lengths of hair that were carefully tied upward. The entire ensemble radiated luxury and nobility, leaving Nightdust not only speechless, but feeling awfully shoddy.
The mare sat herself across the table, laying her black parasol across the surface. Looking through the edges of her royal blue eyes, she addressed the stallion again.
"You seem to be troubled, darling. Of all the ponies, one as handsome as you shouldn't be drowning his problems in cheap liquor." She gave Nightdust a passionate look, one that he found quite... inviting.
Nightdust was practically thrown into the room of the inn. The mare pressed her body into his, pinning him against the back wall. Her lips pressed aggressively against his own, as the stallion sank into the wall, surrendering to the passion.
Breaking for breath,Nightdust panted as the immaculate mare drew her lips down to his neck.
"Rarity...How about... the bed?" Nightdust asked between heavy breaths.
Rarity pulled back to look him in the eye as she drew her tongue across her lips. "I thought you'd never ask."
Nightdust fell to the bed as Rarity disrobed. Carefully dismantling her dress, setting it on one side of the room.
"Aw, I like the dress."Nightdust complained.
Rarity gave a sly smile. "Well we don't want it getting... messy."
Seeing Rarity's uncovered body excited Nightdust. Most every pony would walk undressed all the time, wearing clothing was more unusual than not, but something about the glow her ivory coat gave off in the candlelight filled him with emotion.
Rarity crawled over Nightdust's body, before pressing more assertive kisses into him.
She lowered her head, so her mouth was mere hairs away from Nightdust's ear.
"This is for hurting my sister, you animal!"
Rarity's mouth opened wide, revealing large, sharp canines. Her teeth clamped down on Nightdust's neck, crushing his windpipe and preventing him from screaming.
The stallion flailed wildly underneath the mare, but couldn't budge her position over him in the slightest. Rarity's bite crushed harder, tearing the flesh away. As blood poured out into her muzzle, Rarity bit down again, scooping away the arteries of the still, dying pony.
The whole affair was silent, save for the sheets dripping warm blood on the inn's floor, and the gulping sound of a vampire finishing her meal.
"Ugh." Rarity grumbled as she licked away the blood dripping from her hooves. "That really was cheap liquor."
A young pegasus slowly skirted the edges of the forest. Her hooves lightly flirting with the boundary between the safety of home and the adventure of the unknown. Scootaloo was known to be a bit of a troublemaker, many of the ponies in town thought to blame her underdeveloped wings, leaving her with few constructive outlets for a filly her age.
A breeze from the wild forests brushed against Scootaloo's fuchsia mane. There was a surprising warmth in the air, beckoning her inside.
"All those stuck up adults think I'm some little filly who can't take care of myself, I'll prove to them I'm stronger than them!" Scootaloo pronounced, nervously looking over her shoulders to ensure nopony was watching, or going to stop her.
Carefully, one hoof in front of the other, she walked beyond the boundary into the wild brush and darkened canopy. The air outside hung still as the soft crunch of hooves on twigs faded away deeper and deeper into the wilds.
Bloom's mind was constantly haunted by the memory of mere nights ago. She was investigating some suspicious ponies in the night when a pony turned into a beast before her very eyes. Said pony was captured and was now in the pit of town square.
Bloom looked down to the grate at her hooves. Underneath was a faded grey pony with a sharp obsidian mane. His coat was patchy and scarred and Bloom could see his ribs protruding through his thinning flesh.
"Hey." Bloom said, catching the prisoner's attention, bringing his dark, deep set eyes to meet hers."Mah sis said the execution's gonna happen soon as the Lunar Vicar arrives. Could be 'soon as tommorow."
The prisoner simply lowered his head.
"Who are you?" Bloom asked quietly.
The pony beneath her slowly sighed. "My name..." He began, "was once Iron Pyrite, until 'beast' took its place..."
Bloom could feel the sadness in his voice. This was the pony who had transformed into a monster right in front of her, but stood between her and the mysterious robed figures like a defender. Among those mysterious robes was her own sister, but Bloom could simply feel it in her gut, something was wrong.
"Well Iron," Bloom said as she settled down. "Tell me yer story."
Iron Pyrite didn't meet Bloom's eyes. Attention fixed firmly on the ground beneath him, he began.
The last of the firewood cleaved apart beneath the axe. Wiping the sweat from his brow, Iron Pyrite bent over and collected the split wood, placing it with the rest.
"Dinner is on the table dear!" Announced a sweet, feminine voice from inside the cabin. Accompanying this voice was the tender whining of a baby who could smell the food, but wasn't allowed to eat until her father joined them.
Iron Pyrite approached as the mare finished setting the table. One hoof around her shoulder, he pulled her in and gave her a kiss behind the ear.
"It smells great, Diane." He said as he let go to sit at the table, the smell of a steaming bowl of dairy vegetable soup causing his muzzle to drip as his appetite only grew stronger.
"I just hope it's enough for that black hole of a stomach." Diane replied.
"Oh, come on, Milly's a growing foal, she'll eat as much as she can get!" Iron said before a spoon smacked him over the head.
"I was talking about you." Diane said with a smile. Earning a sheepish grin from Iron.
Scootaloo kept her eyes and ears attentive as possible. The trees and shrubs all seemed the same to her, meaning getting lost would be a very real concern if she decided to make any real turns. She felt comfortable with her path, however.
"What's the point of making the woods forbidden if it's so BORING!" She shouted.
The sound of her shout incited a lot of rustling as birds and animals increased their distance from the strange filly. One bird however, stayed awfully still.
Scootaloo noticed the large raven perched on a branch just in front of her. The bird's eyes fixed on hers as it tilted its head. Letting out a caw, the bird spread its wings and flew a very short distance to another branch, then fixed its eyes on Scootaloo again.
"Are you... telling me to follow you?" Scootaloo asked the bird.
The bird rustled its feathers and let out another caw before leaping to another nearby branch.
"Okay... I guess you know this place better than I do."
Iron Pyrite awoke in a cold sweat. Looking beside him, he saw his wife snuggled up comfortably under the sheets of their bed.
"A nightmare?" He whispered. He couldn't remember any dream, but his muscles were shaking.
Deciding he needed some fresh air, he carefully got out of bed as to not disturb Diane, and quietly left the cabin, keeping in mind Milly would be a real nightmare if he had to get her back to sleep.
Iron felt the cool night air against his skin. Taking a deep breath, he allowed his lungs to feel the crisp air of the woods before letting it out. Iron looked up to see the moon, shining especially brightly tonight. The moon's silver light would fall like rain each night, softly illuminating the earth, but tonight there was something strange about the moon.
Iron could see strange colors in the moon's light. Somewhat pastel pinks and greens swirled through the silver light like oil, making the earth light up in sickening disarray.
"Honey?" Iron heard Diane's voice as though it were right beside him. He turned to find nopony was around, but the voice continued clearly.
"Are you alright? What-" Iron couldn't hear the rest of the voice as a baby's crying swam around his ears. He was alone, outside, but the crying became louder, the sound bouncing from every surface directly to his ears.
The moonlight's glow dimmed. Looking up, Iron saw the moon shining as brightly as before, but looking down, the glow cast upon the earth became a dark red.
The crying grew louder, the forest grew darker, and with pained tears falling from Iron Pyrite's eyes, his legs grew weaker as he fell to his knees in quiet sobs.
Scootaloo followed the raven. The bird never turned back, flew away, or let too much distance between itself and the orange filly. It was obvious this bird was leading her for some reason, but Scootaloo couldn't imagine what.
Letting out a caw, the raven perched itself on another branch, but this time when Scootaloo approached, it stood still.
"Well where to now?"Scootaloo asked the bird, but it remained still.
Looking around, she saw the bird had brought her to a small clearing. A small, dilapidated cabin at its center. The windows were broken, the door was missing, and nearly every surface was beaten and splintered. There was a stump in front of the cabin with a rusty iron axe planted firmly inside.
Scootaloo looked at the raven that led her here, but it stood still, not even looking at her anymore.
"Okay, I guess here then." Scootaloo said as she started investigating the overgrown ruins before her.
She entered the humble home to find the inside was in no better shape than out. Everything broken or torn to shreds, she noticed twigs, leaves, and what looked like beastly prints of mud over many of the surfaces.
"There must have been some animals using it as a shelter." Scootaloo deducted.
Bringing herself to the one separated room of the home, Scootaloo could smell it before she even looked, something had died in there a long time ago. The smell of rot sank into her pinched nose as she pushed the broken door aside.
Blood was plastered on every wall, but it had sat undisturbed for so long it turned black and flaky. Scootaloo tried to supress her body's demands to vomit as the image of rotting ponies was burned into her eyes.
Bloom watched Iron Pyrite through the grate. The beast had broken down into sobs as he finished his tale.
"The execution can't come soon enough!" He cried.
Bloom held her tears back as two armored ponies came close.
"What are you doing?" Asked one of the town guards. "Come to see the beast? Sorry to disappoint, seeing as how he keeps looking like a pathetic pony."
"Oh, maybe he's thirsty?" Asked the other. "Let me help out with that."
The armored pony spread his legs apart, allowing a stream of yellow liquid to fall through the grate, onto the pitiful creature beneath him.
The two guards let out a hearty laugh at the prisoner's expense before stomping past Bloom. One turned to her and gave her a tight frown.
"Leave him, the last thing anypony needs now is a monster's advocate." He growled.
As they left, Bloom looked back down to the pony beneath, as her conscience battled itself.
Scootaloo ran to the exit of the cabin, her eyes weary and lips stinging with the stomach acid that just washed over them. She had to get out. Out of the house, out of the woods, out of her memories. She ran as hard as she could, but ran straight into the pony blocking the doorway.
From her haunches, Scootaloo looked up to see a pegasus mare blocking her way. As a light pink mane slowly fell in front of her canary yellow face, a familiar raven perched itself on her shoulder.
The raven let out a quiet caw and the mare turned her attention to it.
"I see." She said softly.
From under her thick hide cloak, the mare raised a large wooden staff, planting it firmly in front of Scootaloo.
With a voice barely louder than a whisper, she addressed the frightened filly.
Scootaloo was led deeper into the forest by the strange pony. The undergrowth became increasingly thick as the crawled through the low hanging branches. The canary colored pegasus led the way wordlessly, never ensuring the filly behind her was keeping up. Scootaloo wanted to hang on to the skin cloak draped over the mare so she wouldn't be lost but was too frightened to step within her reach.
The brush opened up to reveal a large tree with strings of beads hanging loosely from the lower branches, and sloppily painted markings on its trunk. Scootaloo noted what appeared to be a door in the base of the trunk before the pony ahead of her spoke.
"Come inside, little one." She ordered from behind her long pink mane.
Scootaloo nervously did as was told. The door to the hollowed tree opened without a sound, making the orange filly feel as though it was a living thing swallowing her whole.
Inside the tree was surprisingly spacious. The floor was set lower than the ground outside, with the steps from the front door leading to a large, black cauldron in the center of the room. Inside the cauldron bubbled a sparkling fluorescent green liquid, it seemed to be boiling despite there being no fire beneath it.
The mare spoke as she unceremoniously removed her cloak, dropping it by the door.
"My name is Zecora. It is the name given to me by my predecessor and will be yours before the day is through." Zecora spoke plainly.
"Wait, what?" Scootaloo's mind turned in on itself, trying to process everything she was seeing, while still trying to forget what she had just seen earlier.
Zecora sighed. "I don't have time for lengthy explanations, you will know everything in due time. For now, know that I am the witch of the forest, and the forest called you to succeed me. Noir confirmed it to me."
Upon saying the name, the black raven perched by the window let out a soft caw.
Scootaloo felt as though the world was spinning away from beneath her hooves. Struggling to stay upright, she cast her eyes to every corner of the room, as though there would be some escape waiting for her. Every surface denied her silent pleading, seeming instead to draw closer.
As Scootaloo's chest quivered from her accelerating heartbeat and shallow rapid breathing, she felt a hoof run gently through her mane.
The whole world stopped. The frightened foal turned her eyes upward to see Zecora's gentle smile.
"Trust me."
This was only the second night Bloom had ever tried sneaking out of the house. She knew now however, that Applejack wouldn't be at home to keep her inside, since she was out searching for the moonlight creatures. One of those creatures lie in the pit of town square and weighed heavily on Bloom's mind.
Bloom walked casually to town square in the dead of night. The streets of the dark night were empty, not even the robed ponies were anywhere to be seen.
Bloom arrived to see a large sheet covered the pit where Iron Pyrite was being held. The sheet had gold thread inscribing strange symbols along the edge and was pinned down with stakes at each corner.
The yellow farm filly took one of the four stakes in her teeth and uprooted it. Apparently making enough noise for the prisoner to notice.
"What are you doing?" Iron cried in nearly a whisper, as to not disrupt the quiet of the night.
The filly responded at the same volume, going over to the next stake. "Ahm gettin' you out of here!"
"Are you insane!?" Said Iron. "You of all ponies know that's the most hair-brained-" Bloom cut him off.
"Ah know you're not a bad pony. Ah aint gonna let ya die without doin' somethin' about it!" Bloom removed the second stake and with the corner of the sheet in her teeth, she pulled it aside, uncovering the grate.
Iron looked up through the uncovered grate and saw the open sky. Moonlight poured down into the pit and Iron Pyrite felt its power wash through his body. The patchy hairs of his coat started to stretch and lengthen, his muzzle pointed and his teeth sharpened. Hooves split into claws and muscle expanded throughout his body. The chains holding him burst under the pressure of his growing stature and finally, the beast of the pit took the grate above him in his claws and ripped it from the ground.
Bloom had taken several steps back, and while her body urged her to run, her heart commanded her to show faith in the monster that crawled from the pit.
The beast's dark eyes looked into Bloom's, and it stood still for a moment.
Turning away, the creature carefully took the sheet that Bloom had uncovered into its claws. He then turned back to Bloom and sat, almost like he was waiting for something.
Scootaloo's eyes were wide and unfocused. She stood in the silent room, listening for the echoes of Zecora's voice as she was commanded, trying to ignore the display before her.
Zecora's lifeless body dangled motionless from the ceiling as though it were a puppet with the strings cut. The mare's eyes were missing, leaving dry, black holes in her skull, her jaw was slack, revealing a long sharp tongue that fell over her teeth. Many cuts appeared over the dangling limbs, but no blood spilled. The body that hung there was dry, many flies and mosquitos had swarmed over the carcass but found nothing to be had.
Zecora's voice drifted quietly through the room like the air itself.
"Halo of burning light shall herald the end. Spores of the eldest will reach across the land and raise up eternal daylight from the earth. Before empty glass,the stars become lifeless."
The orange filly saw darkness encompass the room, leaving only the glow from within the cauldron visible. Looking inside, she saw a clean skull float up to the top. A crack formed from the nose that ran along the center.
Upon touching it, the skull dissolved and left a bracelet of the teeth of wild creatures in her hoof.
Everything returned to normal. Natural light filled the room again, and the hanging corpse was gone. The young pegasus brushed aside the new pink streak of her mane aside and wrapped the bracelet around her fetlock. She then looked to see the eyes of Noir, the raven fixed on her.
The filly Pulled a hide cloak over her back and waited for a moment as the raven perched itself on her haunches, letting out a caw.
"Zecora... yeah, it has a nice ring to it."The filly mumbled as she stepped into the darkening woods.
The transformation between the night moon and day moon has altered. The normal change as described in previous observations occurred until the time at which the grey veil usually appears over the sky. This day, the veil covers everything except the moon.
The moon appears dark in its center, due to contrast. The majority of light appears to be focused at the edges of the disk. I have no previous data to support or deny whether this is the usual behavior of the body behind the grey veil or not.
Upon further observation, the light is growing on the bottom edge of the moon and waning elsewhere. This may be a result of
The notes end there.
The purple unicorn known as Twilight Sparkle sits at her desk silently. Quill and parchment in front of her, beside a small telescope pointed out the window.
The hum of her lab was occasionally interrupted by the sound of sparks arcing between machines and the scurrying of small claws.
Twilight's homunculus was a small, scaled beast with a mouth stitched shut and only one bloodshot eye. She affectionately referred to him as 'Spike' due to his stiff tail. Acting only on orders, he brought the still pony more parchment until he was told to stop.
Rolls and stacks of paper began to mount over the lavender body. Spike nervously ran back and forth with more paper, awaiting new orders but would never receive any.
His master was dead.
Vicar Honeydew looked out the window of her carriage as it approached the village. The eggshell colored unicorn sighed and brushed aside her carefully cut azure mane.
"Such a small community, it's remarkable they were able to restrain a werewolf until my arrival." She mused to herself. Looking up, she saw the day moon acting strange. "I pray that's not an omen."
Many ponies of the village ran in a panic. The sky burned a red color rather than its usual subdued grey. The new, circular light of the moon illuminated the beast in town square.
Three ponies in dark robes ushered ponies away into the streets while carefully surrounding the monster.
"Filly! Run!" One called out.
Bloom stood near to Iron Pyrite, the beast everypony feared. Bloom had sat with him all night, urging him to escape. He simply sat with his eyes bound to the moon as the night turned to day. Now, he growled fearfully at the commotion around him.
"Come on Iron! Ya gotta go!" Bloom pressed her forehead against his furry, muscular haunches, urging his escape.
Instead, Iron took the runed sheet that had covered him the night before and threw it over Bloom. The cloaked ponies rushed in to save the filly from the monster.
Bloom could hear Iron's voice inside her head as the sheet shrouded her.
Don't look.
The werewolf's hind leg outstretched in a blur, striking one of the robed ponies square in the chest. The pony flew backward as Iron let out a booming roar.
One of the other ponies stopped in his tracks, stilled with fear. The final pony grimaced as she pulled a knife out and without pausing her charge, ran it straight into the monster.
The knife embedded into Iron's side, but the monster hardly reacted. The pony slowly looked up with wide, frightened eyes to see Iron Pyrite glaring sidelong at her. Letting go of the knife and falling to her haunches, the robed pony started to sputter in fear.
"wha-bu- but,no...nonono, I, but, the-"
Iron slowly turned to the nervous wreck of a pony and reached his claw over to the knife. Pulling it free, he dropped it directly between the pony's legs before lowering his snarling muzzle to her level.
The power was palpable. Overcoming fear, all three of the robed ponies ran away.
Iron's swollen body sagged slightly as he turned to see the small lump under a sheet. Pulling the sheet off, he saw Bloom's eyes squeezed shut.
Tightening her whole body, Bloom carefully opened one eye to see Iron standing in front of her, breathing heavily.
"Iron! Are you okay?" Bloom asked as she released her tension and approached him.
She saw a quick breath as though he was preparing to respond before lightning struck down. Iron released a quick yelp and placed himself defensively between Bloom and the eggshell unicorn.
"I should've known they couldn't handle it alone." Vicar Honeydew grumbled. "This strange day moon must be why you're able to hold a beast form at this time... That warrants investigation later. For now, I am Vicar Honeydew under the order of the Lunar Cardinal. Your execution has been advanced."
Honeydew spoke clear and decisively as she brushed her hoof in an arc in front of her. The arc in the dirt began to glow with white light and erupted into glowing, ethereal feathers that hung stagnant in the air.
Iron crouched himself and tightened his muscles, letting a low growl escape between his bared teeth. The translucent feathers began to orient themselves, pointing toward Iron like a barrage of arrows waiting to be released.
The tension heightened to bursting before everypony felt a tremor coursing through the ground beneath them.
The halo of light surrounding the moon dripped to the bottom edge. The sky darkened as the light crept away from the sky and approached the earth beneath. The earth let out groaning wails as it reached up toward the light in the moon.
The light took shape. Growing as it descended, a mountainous teardrop of flesh grew in scattered patches across the light. The figure grew and grew, filling out the entire horizon. The air ached loudly as it made room for the titan's landing.
The ground crunched as the indecipherable giant touched down. The oceans leapt from underneath, releasing a haze that hid away the most grotesque features of the moon's newborn.
Everypony stood in complete awe at the sight of the god that stood in place of the sky.
Honeydew, Iron Pyrite, and Bloom stood silent, watching.
The horizon let out a deep thundering roar as golden light flared from fissures across the land.
A living mountain encompassed the horizon. Golden light leaking from fissures over its pale, fleshy surface. Lights like lanterns on a foggy night extended forth and whipped around like a sea creature's limbs. Near to this monstrous titan, one small dark dot flew through the sky.
Nightmare Moon approached the giant, stopping close enough to touch the massive glassy surface in front of her. The surface would be close enough to call an eyeball if it weren't for the oily colors swirling across its surface, and the milky plumes of fluid churning beneath.
"Sister, how I have missed you." The dark alicorn spoke toward the behemoth. "I see the years have not been kind."
The wall of flesh let out a bellowing crunch, sounding like collapsing metal in response.
"I apologize for forcing you to seal yourself away to survive... Your magic has festered like an untreated rot and warped the land under your light... But now you have returned! Celestia, let us go home." Nightmare Moon asked gently.
The disks of Nightmare Moon's spine began to swell. As pulses of pain flushed through her body, Nightmare Moon smiled at what was once her sister, a few tears dripping from her closed eyes.
"That's right. Home."
Those words were her last as the veins under her skin snapped apart and pressed their way out of her pores like earthworms. Every bone in her body extended sharply through her flesh, piercing through her coat and feathers. As blood dripped over every hair of her coat, her form drifted apart like sand in the wind. Leaving only one tear falling toward the earth to be the only remnant of her existence.
Vicar Honeydew dropped to her knees. She could only see a dark dot settle against the mountain, but once it had burst into a mist, she could feel the difference.
"The Empress is dead..." She gasped to herself, ignoring the werewolf that stood only a pony's distance from her.
Bloom stood behind the werewolf and heard Honeydew's crestfallen words.
"Empress? Ya mean there really is a pony ownin' the sky?" Bloom asked.
"Not anymore there aint."
The orange earth pony accompanying the voice walked into the town square.
Applejack's body was relaxed, despite the beast she had captured standing so close to her precious sister.
Honeydew narrowed her eyes and got back on her hooves angrily.
"What is that thing!?" She demanded.
Applejack turned her head over her shoulder to get a long, clear look at the abomination.
"That there is The Promise." She stated soberly. "All o' us in the order were told of her arrival. She's the one who will take the select few to paradise and wipe the slate clean. A new beginnin'."
Honeydew, Bloom, and even Iron looked straight to Applejack incredulously.
One of the glassy disks began to glow, as though a light from it were pointing directly to town square.
"YES!" Applejack exclaimed. She ran for the most open portion of the square, hopping up and down like an excited school filly. "PICK ME! AH'M RIGHT HERE!" She shouted to the sky.
An orange pegasus filly appeared out of nowhere and bolted for Bloom.
"HIDE!" Zecora shouted as she pushed the yellow farm filly through the doorway of a nearby building. Honeydew and Iron decided to follow instructions rather than ask questions and ran for shelter themselves.
A bright light accompanied by churning winds wandered through the town square, where Applejack's excited smile aimed upward. The light snapped to attention on the orange pony and began to expand and brighten.
Bloom watched from behind a storefront counter and saw her sister's flesh wash away like the light were a waterfall washing away dirt. Applejack's bones hung in the air for only a moment before a golden fire enveloped them and they turned to ash.
Ponies across Equestria looked to the blood-stained sky and couldn't wrench their eyes from the mountain that appeared before them. Some of the ponies abated to nothing, like Applejack, others simply died at the sight.
Others however, were not as lucky. Sickening tendrils grew from their flesh and wrapped themselves tightly around the pony. Some ponies could hear the sound of bones snapping under the tight squeeze of the stringy growths. Coats would peel away, revealing a loose mesh of scar tissue openly displaying a pony's innards. Each sight was more gruesome than the last, causing the air to ring with horrified screams, harmonizing disturbingly with wailing cries.
Sweetie Belle shook with fear as she saw little creatures dance about outside her window. They were closest to worms, without limbs or bones, but they flailed about with nerves lining the outside of their bodies. Sweetie was shaken to the core, clueless on what was happening, or what to do.
The door to her room burst open, revealing a white unicorn mare wearing a beaten and torn red dress. Strings of deep purple mane dangled carelessly over her face.
"Are you alright?" The unicorn asked through the buzz of adrenaline.
Sweetie Belle backed herself against a corner, hardly able to breathe through the fear, but nodded slowly.
The white unicorn let out a deep breath she wasn't aware she was holding, and relaxed her body, approaching the quivering foal extremely carefully.
Slowly placing a hoof to Sweetie Belle's cheek, the unicorn's eyes pressed closed from her warm, genuine smile.
"Good."
Silver light stretched upwards, snapping into pointed javelins before falling, piercing rows of unexplainable creatures in front of Vicar Honeydew.
She hadn't noticed the front half of a dead pony slowly crawling towards her from behind. Right as it would have been dangerous, the wild form of Iron Pyrite landed his claws down on it, before tearing it apart in his teeth.
Honeydew turned to see the monster she was sent to execute just save her life. Wordlessly, Iron looked the eggshell unicorn in the eye before bolting off to tear apart more abominations.
She looked over the burning corpses she had lit to see a small filly in a heavy skin cloak command roots beneath the earth to work their way into several oncoming monsters from beneath their hooves and expand, causing them to burst apart.
"A witch too?" Honeydew whispered. "I don't think this day could get any weirder."
As if in response, a swarm of ill-defined bats rushed past her, coalescing into the form of an alabaster unicorn throwing her large fangs into one of the abominations and tore it apart.
"Now a vampire!?" Honeydew complained aloud as a small unicorn filly rushed to stay close to the new arrival.
The fight continued to grow fiercer as fissures cracked through the ground, allowing golden lights to leak out. Bloom could feel the warmth of the lights and wondered what it meant before the warmth grew hotter and hotter.
A fissure opened up beneath Bloom's hooves, and all at once, her body burst into flame.
Sweetie Belle backed her head from the campfire in a confused look. On the other side of the fire sat Applejack, Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, and Rainbow Dash, the young fillies holding tightly to the stiff mares beside them.
Rarity sat beside Sweetie Belle with a clipboard in hoof, excitedly sketching out a dress design.
"What? You said to tell a scary story." Sweetie responded.
Rarity stopped her sketch momentarily to join in the conversation.
"I told you she has a wild imagination, she's got at least three notebooks filled with such ideas."
Sweetie turned angrily to Rarity. "You said you wouldn't tell!"
Rainbow Dash coughed. "So where was I during this whole thing?" She spoke with a nervous waver in her voice, betraying her calm appearance with the fear tightening in her throat.
"I don't know, you died a long time ago or something, does it matter?" Sweetie asked.
A muffled, barely audible sound escaped Scootaloo, who was hiding her face deep into Rainbow's side.
"Yes."
"Welp! Ah sure am tired,Ah think it's time to hit the hay!" Apple Bloom announced loudly as she practically teleported to her tent. Applejack just cleared her throat and joined her sister.
Sweetie Belle sighed. "I was just getting to the good part..." She complained.
"I think it was already quite fantastic dearie." Rarity said as she put away her sketch.
"You just like the dress." Sweetie said as they both turned into their massive tent.
"Hey squirt." Rainbow said, trying to pry the filly from her side as she quenched the fire.
Scootaloo didn't let go but at least lessened her grip so she could look Rainbow in the eye. "Yeah?"
"Don't tell anypony, but that was terrifying. Your friend is freaky." Rainbow said with a smile.
Scootaloo gave a light nod as Rainbow Dash led her back to their tent.
A dark alicorn drifted through the sky just above the recently doused fire.
"I am inclined to agree." Said Luna before making a mental note to hug her sister as soon as she could.
