> A Figure With a Porcelain Face. > by chonkjbe > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Chasing a Myth. > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Princess Luna stood alone on the balcony that connects to her bed chamber and gazed across the moonlit Canterlot streets. She glanced at every little detail she could see in the darkness of her own night before giving a small sigh as boredom crept into her system. She felt energetic and jumpy, like a foal who had too much sugar for their little bodies to handle and Luna wanted nothing more than to expel that energy. She looked back into her personal quarters and closed the glass doors to the balcony before taking off into the sky with a strong flap of her wings. She had decided to take a flight towards Ponyville and maybe a little over the Everfree before returning to the castle. As she glided through the air she noted how nice it felt to have the wind pushing against her mane and fur. Feeling the sensation of it made her close her eyes and smile while she thought of simpler times in her youth, like when she and her elder sister Celestia would play together in the royal gardens. But alas, times change and the only thing left of those moments are the memories shared between the two of them. Luna slowly opened her eyes with subtle content and continued her casual fly. Luna spotted Ponyville approaching from the distance and she sped up slightly to maybe catch some pony out late at night for a quick greeting but when she arrived and flew over the quiet town she found that no pony was awake, and with a gentle huff she continued her fly over. Until some movement in her peripherals caught her eye. She could almost swear she saw a figure dart out of sight. She hovered in the air for a moment and scanned the area where she saw the shadow dart away towards but saw nothing. She shrugged and proceeded to keep flying forwards but stopped and turned when the loud clanging of a tumbling trashcan could be heard behind the home where she saw the figure dart towards. Luna knew now she had not been seeing random spots in her vision, but had actually seen something avoiding her. She quickly flew over the house and looked down secretly hoping she would find something exciting, but instead saw nothing but lousy raccoon digging through a trash can it had knocked over. "And to think that thy was getting excited." Luna spoke with disappointment as the raccoon noticed the spectator and ran off into the night. She sighed and turned around to keep flying. Luna had passed Twilight's library and was tempted to stop by for a hello, but saw no lights on and continued on. Shortly after passing the library Luna had changed directions and started heading towards the nearby lake, for there was a nice bench there overlooking the lake and the land after it and she thought it might me a nice spot to just sit and think for awhile. When Luna arrived at the lake she was caught of guard at the sight of another figure sitting on the bench. She attempted to study the figure better but it vanished after she blinked. "Maybe thy truly am seeing things?" She doubted herself for a second, the figure looked so real, but she shook the thought out of her mind. Maybe she was more tired than she thought? Luna landed beside the bench and saw nothing out of the ordinary with it, it looked as though it hadn't been used in awhile. The thought crossed her mind that maybe it was something she ate at dinner that is causing these hallucinations, but thought nothing much of it. She was an alicorn, if it was poison it would need to be alot to affect her health majorly. Though she doubted any pony in the castle staff would attempt such a crime. She plopped down on the bench and stared at he reflections of the moon in the lake water, sometimes even catching a glimpse of a fish jumping slightly out of the water, the ripples stretching far from were the fish had originally emerged before disappearing into a calm lake once again. After some time looking over the water she stood up and stretched before taking flight again. She was gonna turn around and head back to the castle but a subtle sound caught her ear, so quiet that if she had been a common pony it would have gone unnoticed. Luna frowned and slowly lowered back to the ground. "Thy know thou art there. Emerge from thee hiding place at once." Luna demanded and turned her gaze to a large bush over to her left. She waited for a response that didn't come and she started walking towards it. She was going to say something more but was interrupted before she could speak by a dark flash of a tall figure darting out of the bush and towards the Everfree. Luna immediately took chase and caught up on it just as it was going to reach the forest. She grabbed the blur in her magic and was taken aback by what awaited her gaze trapped in her magic. There, floating in the air suspended by her magic, was a very tall cloaked bipedal with a featureless white face. Luna was speechless, just what is this thing? She stared at it and it was hard to tell but she believed it was staring back. Luna had realized that this being was familiar in an odd way, like she had heard it described before, and like a balloon popping she registered that this was the Porcelain Demon that she had heard so much about in a common Folklore amongst Ponyville's and Canterlot's ponies. This was insane, unbelievable. She truly was seeing things now. To see something from a tale used to scare foals into going to bed at the proper time right in front of her encased by her magic? This was madness. She approached it and it's head followed her position, watching her intently with shadowed eyes. Luna had raised a hoof and poked its shin with the tip of her hoof before fumbling back a couple steps. There was no doubt in her mind now. The creature that was suspended before her was truly the being from the tales. The only thing Luna could muster into words were 'how?'. Her bewilderment was only increased when it spoke perfect Equestrian. "Remove me from your magic, tiny one." It spoke to her. Luna noted that its voice was sinister sounding, and very deep. The sheer power behind the beings voice almost made her do it, but she snapped out of it and strengthened the containment spell. "How do thou exist? Thou should be nothing but a mere tale!" Luna almost shouted at the being and she flinched when it yelled back. "I command you to place me down!" Luna was surprised. No pony had made her flinch like that since she was a foal. And it filled her with unease but it would not break her. Luna stood her ground and stared down the mythical being. She walked back towards the bench, the being dragged along with her and put into the light of the moon. "You will answer thy questions." She commanded and glared at the being. Her glares were soon turned to fright as the being grew sick of its binds and started raising its arms towards her despite all of the pressure from her magic trying to fight it. It was strong, stronger than it should have been. She backpedaled as the being broke free and in an instant had her lifted into the air by her throat. "You dare approach me tiny one? There is a reason I am nothing more than a tale." It spoke to her in a deep voice that seemed to travel throughout her mind, bouncing off of every surface in her head. She tried to teleport out of the beings grip but no matter how hard she tried she couldn't muster the concentration needed. In a desperate attempt Luna began clawing away at the beings arm. The being snarled and threw Luna down onto the dirt path hard, allowing a loud thud to resonate through her ear's as a gasp of air escaped her mouth. She tried to look up at the being but had her head pushed into the ground by it's large hand. She began to tear up, which was a weird thought to her but that thought was rushed away by fear. She was afraid. The being grabbed her horn and raised her off the ground again, causing her to cry out in pain. She wanted to escape, she needed to escape. This thing was going to kill her. Luna struggled to get her horn out of the creatures grip time and time again but couldn't. No matter how much strength she used it wasn't enough. Luna had tightly shut her eyes and awaited her death, but it never came. She opened one eye slightly and saw the being staring off towards the town. She did not know what it was staring at until she heard it. Hoofsteps. She realized that it was almost dawn, and shopkeepers were awaking early to attend their stands. In an instant she was dropped to the ground once more and the being vanished into thin air. Retreating to the shadows. She had lived, Luna had lived and somewhere deep within herself she knew it was luck. If the shopkeepers hadn't been there that thing would have killed her. That demon.