> Twilight Queen > by Voidseeker > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > The beginning > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- The beginning In the middle of a mighty forest, that one day would be known as Everfree, on the side of a lonely mountain was erected a glorious castle. In the moonlight halls, guards, wearing pitch black armor decorated with gold and silver trimmings, stood silently watch, anyone walking past them might have mistaken them for one of the many statues or suits of armor that decorated the castle halls along with paintings and stained-glass windows. Servants slowly moved through these quiet halls extinguishing torches and cleaning the various rooms and hallways as they prepared the castle for its long slumber. All was deathly silent and a depressing and sorrowful mood loomed over the whole thing. But if you listened carefully you could hear faint crying coming from one of the rooms. Doors to that room were larger than others and decorated lavishly. Behind them was a mighty room painted in the colors of twilight. In the middle of that room sat a large bed and, on that bed, surrounded by teary eyed friends, relatives and even a few enemies laid an old woman. She had purple hair, but it had lost its shine and color becoming dim and greyish. Her once trained and strong body had become weak after a long period of inactivity. She was the Twilight Queen and that night she would die. Slowly the queen opened her eyes, still the shining with wisdom, looked around the room her tired eyes traveling from person to person, until they landed on a small girl with light pink hair crying next to a stoic looking man with a mighty dark beard and she frowned. Gathering the last of her strength she spoke in a quiet and kind voice. “Don´t cry. This is a welcomed death I have lived a happy and a long life filed with excitement and adventure. Now it´s time for me to move on.” “But why … why can´t you stay for a little bit longer?” The queen chuckled. “I could, but then my friends waiting for me on the other side would get sad and they have waited for a long time.” The girl sniffled and wiped her eyes with the sleeve of her dress. ”But what am I going to do without you?” “You have your sister and Starswirl. I am confident you´ll figure something out.” “But I am no ruler, and Luna is to young. How am I supposed to take care of our subjects?” “You’ll figure something out. And besides Discord is going to look after Equestria until you and Luna are old enough to do it yourself.” The girl nodded quietly and gave a faint, but sorrowful, smile. The queen nodded and turned to the man. “Take care of those two. Make sure they don´t share the fate of their parents.” The man nodded. “You can rest easy. I´ll watch over them and raise them as if they are my own.” Then the queen turned to a creature floating on the other side of the bed. He looked like someone had taken parts from at least a dozen animals and haphazardly sown them together. The creature´s mood was unreadable as it stared at the queen with blank eyes. “I guess you thought I would never go through with my promise.” “I´ll admit I was skeptical when you said you would leave me in charge after you kicked the bucket, but why me. There are hundreds of other who would be happy to do this.” “That is exactly why. Unlike them you don´t desire power, you just want the freedom to do your own thing. You wouldn´t try to harm the girls.” “And why them? I know their Platinum’s daughters and all, but she was dethroned and there are many who claim to have more right to the throne than them.” “If your patient enough you´ll see why. But know that they hold great power within and once it’s released, mark my words, they will change this world.” The queen let out a small sigh and turned her gaze to a painting of six armored figures standing proudly in front of the castle. “We did some creasy things, saw wonderous places, defeated evil villains and created a kingdom. Pity I never got to see my home again, but I have no regrets. I´m ready to go now my friends, see you soon.” And with these final words the queen took her last breath and closed her violet eyes forever, the room erupted in sobs and a rule of the last queen of Equestria had come to an end. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Twilight closed the book and thought for a moment. “The Castle of The Two Sisters is in the Everfree forest, but it´s built near a ravine not on the side of a mountain. Could there be another castle in that dark forest just waiting to be found.” She knew Celestia and Luna were Princess Platinum’s daughters, but she had never even heard of this Twilight Queen. Who was she? What role had she played in Equestrian history? Why was she forgotten? Why had she been a queen and not a princess like every other ruler? What connection had she had with the royal sisters? All these questions almost screamed for answers, but she had found the book while exploring the old castle and she knew she wouldn´t find anything if she were to look through her library. And she had read every book in the Royal Archives in Canterlot. So, the only option she had left is to try to find the castle mentioned in the book. Looking at the clock she noticed that it was nearly midnight. This could wait until morning. Everfree is dangerous at night, even for someone as powerful as her. She placed the book on her nightstand turned off the lights and drifted off to sleep. After Twilight had fallen asleep a quiet “pop” could be heard as the book disappeared followed by a feminine voice laughing sinisterly. And the clock ticked one minute past midnight. > To the castle > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- To the castle Loud knocking awoke Twilight that morning. She could hear Spike, her faithful assistant, telling her that her breakfast was getting cold. With only a little bit of quiet complaining about nighttime being too short, Twilight got out of bed and started her day with a healthy scream of terror. “My book. Someone has stolen my book.” Hearing Twilights screams, Spike sighed, knowing that the breakfast would remain uneaten today he stepped into her room. The next two hours were spent turning Twilights room upside down, but the all-important book remained missing. With a defeated sigh Twilight sat down on top of a pile of clothes and looked out of the rooms only window. “Guess I have no choice now. If I want answers I´ll have to find the castle. I just don´t know who could have stolen my book.” “Great, I´ll go heat up the breakfast, make you some sandwiches and gather the girls.” “No. As much as I like spending time with them, none of them really have a knack or patients for archeology. In all honesty they would end up getting in the way.” “Don’t you think that’s a pit harsh. I mean you six have been through countless adventuress and you only succeeded by working together. Why should this time be any different?” “I can deal with this myself. Besides this isn’t an adventure, it´s an academic study and the others aren’t all that interested in looking through some old and dusty books about ancient history.” “I guess you are right, but it would be nice to at least ask.” “If it makes you happy I´ll go and ask them before I leave.” With that Spike and Twilight began to clean the mess they made and prepare for Twilights expedition into the infamous Everfree forest. About an hour later Twilight was standing in front of her castle with a heavy looking backpack on, filled to the brim with food, paper and writing supplies. “But why can´t I come along?” whined Spike in disappointment. “Because someone has to look after the castle and keep the library open.” “Starlight can to that. I want to go on an adventure with you.” “For the tenth time this isn’t an adventure. Besides Starlight is away, remember. She went to her old home to help organize some event.” “But I still want to come.” “Tell you what, while I´m away you can have a party. You could invite all your friends and play all night long.” At that Spikes eyes lit up and he rushed off to gather supplied for the greatest party ever throne. Twilight chuckled at his antics and started walking towards Rarity’s boutique. Once she arrived she found the fashionista dashing around the store working on a dozen dresses at the same time. “Hi Rarity. How´s it going.” “Ow. Hi darling I didn’t see you there. Are you going somewhere.” “To the Everfree to search for a long-forgotten castle. Want to come along.” “Sorry darling, but I´m drowning in orders. Maybe some other time.” “That’s ok. I´ll leave you to it then. See you when I get back.” “Good luck darling.” Twilight visited all her friends afterwards and they were all busy with their own things. Applejack had her hands full with the orchard, Pinky had to look after the Cake twins, Fluttershy was tending to one of her animal friends who had gotten sick and Rainbow was nowhere to be found. So, Twilight set out on her own. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3 days later. Nearly out of food, tired, wet and in a bad mood Twilight hacked her way through yet another bush that seemed determent to keep her away from the ruined castle she had spotted buried in the foliage hours ago. Then the stubborn bush cave in and Twilight was threw. In front of her stood a mighty ruin weathered by time, ravaged by the elements and swallowed by the forest, but still standing in stubborn defiance. Its once tall and glorious spiers nothing but ruble or tilted at dangerous angles held up only by the numerous trees and vines that had wrapped themselves around them. The once impenetrable walls filled with holes were water had overtime carried away the rocks and cement. The gate was missing entirely only rusted hinges remained to show the world where it had once stood. The castle itself wasn’t doing any better, the roof was widely missing, walls had collapsed, the beautiful stained-glass windows were nothing but broken glass on the floor. Threw some miracle the floors had remained relatively untacked allowing Twilight to explore the castle freely. After a day spent wandering through empty rooms and decayed hallways. Twilight found herself in the ancient throne room. On both sides the room had been once lined with windows and tall pillars between them. The windows had met the fate of their brethren and almost all the pillars had fallen over, but those who still stood were valiantly doing their duty holding up the roof still bearing a few weathered paintings of days long past. Evening sun bathe the room in light and in the back, standing on top a dais stood the throne. Decorated with gold and gems it glistened in the fading light. Twilight could only imagen the glory this room must have held. She was about to turn around and continue her search for answers when a seemingly random thought went through her mind. “How would it feel like to sit on that throne?” Carefully she approached the gleaming seat and sat down. For a moment everything was silent then the last sunbeam flew through the window and hit the large blood red gem at the top of the throne. And the world began to spin as distant laughter echoed in her head. When Twilight regained her senses, she was in the middle of a clearing. Looking around she heard distant shouts and sounds of battle. But when she listened closely she noticed two things that made her blood run cold. The noises were getting closer and the shouts were in old Equestrian. > encounter > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Encounter Battle raged around him, wailing of the wounded and dying drowned out by the rage filled screams of their enemies and the sound of metal crashing against metal and over it all stood the stench of blood, gore and smoke as the village burned around them. He questioned the point of it all. Their Lord had feared a peasant revolt so, he had sent them here to keep order and to punish any potential rebels. And they had done exactly that. Dozens of villagers had been dragged from their hommes and executed, but every death had only fueled discontent and brought more people over to the rebel side. Fear had worked against them and now the village was in full revolt. The villagers were armed mostly with farming tools like pitchforks, scythes and hoes. Dressed in their ragged clothes they fought fiercely and without mercy. But most of them had already fallen to the knights’ superior strength. But to call themselves knights would be an insult to the profession. They weren’t trained and noble warriors like their Unicornian counterparts. Most were younger sons of some noble sent to serve their Lord so, they wouldn’t cause problems for their older siblings. Other were criminals or mercenaries looking to escape punishment or justify their hunger for murder. He as well, a fifth son of a powerful noble, who wanted him out of the way. They were untrained, poorly equipped and severely lacking in morals. He was tired. His silvery armor, that seemed more suited for a city guard whose only purpose was to stand still and look pretty, was soiled with dirt, blood and soot. The armor was in bad condition, whilst he usually kept it clean, he didn’t see a point to maintaining it properly. The armor consisted of a chest plate that did nothing to protect his neck, pouldrons that only served to get in the way, his arms were defended only by strips of cloth and leather gloves and bracelets, for his legs he had a skirt made of strips of metal that only reacted his knees, he didn’t even have shoes having to make do with poorly crafted sandals and his helmet left his ears and face unprotected. The armor wasn’t good, but at the same time it wasn’t bad either. Despite all its many misgivings it was still a suit of armor and he could have made do, if someone had thought to give them at least somewhat decent weapons. The shields were round, covered with carvings and decorations and were about the size of dinnerplates, making them difficult to use, and nearly useless to a self-trained soldier like him. Their swords looked more like long daggers and were always dull no matter how much you sharpened them. Most of his comrades had either brought their own weapons or stolen one from the corpses of their enemies. His own sword was something he was proud of. It was a Unicornian double-edged sword with a sharp and strong blade, handguard decorated with gems and silver, the handle was wrapped with leather, giving him a good grip, and a silvery spike served as the pommel. But it wasn’t the swords beauty that made it the pest in the company, that job was left to its enchantments. The sword would never dull or chip no matter what it hit and if he channeled his mana into the blade it would burst out in flame. He wasn’t a mage or a smith, but he knew it was far from the best the arcane forges in Golden City could produce. He had gotten the sword when a Unicornian knight had handed it to him in some shady tavern, before picking a fight with a drunk and swiftly getting killed after the drunk pulled out a knife. He had decided to keep the blade, decision that had saved his life many times. The battle was drawing to a close, villagers farther away from the knights were already running towards the forest at the border of the village. If it were up to him, he would have let them go, but they had their orders and he didn’t feel like dealing with some of his more zealous companions. So, he chased after them and quickly got lost. After wondering for, what to his tired body felt like, hours, he finally reached a clearing. When his eyes adjusted to the light, he saw an unusual, but not unwelcome sight. In the middle of the clearing stood a woman. Dressed in odd clothes, that did not hide her attractive figure, she had a set of majestic wings, larger than any Valkyrie’s he had seen, and long dark purple hair, that reached past her chest. But what really caught his attention were her eyes. He had once heard that the eyes are windows to the soul and he could almost feel the power irradiating from hers. Just by looking at her, he could say that she was smart, powerful and brave, judging by the magic that began to swirl around her hands when she noticed him. And that’s were his mind ground to a halt. “Valkyries can´t use magic. Who and what is this woman.” But before he could get his answers the wind turned and brought an overwhelming stench of decay followed by a feeling of intents dread. He knew of only two beings who emitted an aura like that. Timberwolves, malevolent spirits of the forest, corrupted by the violence and hatred, that his homeland had become infamous for, and husks, mindless slaves of the Dark Heart, fools who sold their souls for the promises of wealth and fortune. Neither of which he wanted to meet in a dark forest or anywhere for that matter. But since the sun was still up and the sky wasn’t covered in black clouds, the most likely culprits were timberwolves. He turned around and narrowly dodged one of the wolves, who had lunged at him. Quickly retreating to the middle of the clearing and taking up position next to the mysterious woman, he readied himself for yet another battle.